Reflections of a restless eccentric

"Never in the history of mankind has there been such extensive and elaborate documentation of nothingness" I was texting a friend the other day and in the course of our conversation,he said this to me,referring to present day social media.I instantly starred the message,my brain having seen the potential of using this perfectly worded sentence a s a good opening line to an article:D Disclaimer:I'm not saying whatever I say in this article perched on some high pedestal of perfection.Although I don't have a presence on social media,I still am influenced by the current trends,more so than I'd like to admit. Which would you rather have,a good life or everyone thinking you have a good life? A few decades ago,the answer would have been unanimous.It still teeters close to unanimity,only the option has changed now.Most people would choose to have their lives  seen  as perfect. If you asked me to introspect on this,I wouldn't attribute it entirely to social

By the way,remind me never to eat junk food in bed again.I woke up feeling like someone had poured acid into my eye.After drowning my eye in cold water repeatedly,it turned out that there was an ant in my eye.And the acid-like feeling was because of the formic acid.My right eye is still in a sorry state. Note to all people,please do not eat junk food in bed.Unless you want to go through what I just did:P A suitable starting point for this article would be to first contrast asocial and anti-social.I do this at the risk of sounding condescending,yet that seems a reasonable compromise to make lest my reader mistake the former for the latter.I quote, Asocial  and  antisocial  are often used interchangeably in colloquial speech, but they are not the same thing;  asocial  means " avoidant of society" while  antisocial  means " hostile toward society". Remember in the early 2000s when the word automation was starting to make its rounds in conversational circles? A

I shall pack away these memories and take with me to cherish Especially on those days when nothing seems right and I wonder what I'm doing These moments seem hauntingly perfect now I want to live them forever instead of having to remember them I could lament the rose tinted reality that I extrapolate from them But seldom is life that predictable and reality that consistent Truth often masquerades itself as a beautiful lie With time the mask peels off and you see it for what it is I wonder at times if everything is this way The dystopian truth inside the utopian lie Waiting for you to stumble upon So that you realize yet again how naive you were Which is why I question not what I have to do It is what it is and that's all life will ever say I shall take away these few tiny memories with me to cherish Especially on those days when nothing seems right and I wonder what I'm doing

I spent quite a lot of time figuring out what my 100th article for this blog should be.I wanted it to be something special,but then,that itself was a tremendous pressure that sapped my creative juices.I decided that the first impulse I have to write would decide the topic.So,here I am. Inspired by a sleepless afternoon and three hours of TEDx talks:) Btw,I can't believe it's been 100 articles:)  We put on so many masks that we sometimes forget who we really are.The mask we put on to make ourselves more agreeable to people.The mask we put on unconsciously expecting people to approve of us.The mask we put on even to see who we are.For a moment,take off all those masks.What do you see when you look at yourself? Do you like that person? Answering my own question,I don't.Not really.I'm not very comfortable in my own skin,for a plethora of reasons.Let me mention a couple.I look at myself and see how little I know.How ignorant I am.And when I see someone far wiser,whi

This series was kind of incomplete and I've always wanted to give it a good finish.My social life has somehow taken a hit this year and I've missed out on a lot of things I'd planned to attend.That's probably why I didn't write it sooner.But better late than never,right? In case you want to read this from the beginning here's the link: http://virtualramblings10.blogspot.in/2017/02/the-wedding-chronicles-part-1of.html This happens to be the 99th article of my blog,by the way:) Where did I last stop? I was not able to make it to the engagement and was really miserable about that.You can read about that here.:D http://virtualramblings10.blogspot.in/2017/03/efmlpriority-inversion.html The rest of the animals however,did attend and had a blast.Thank God for technology.I got a virtual walk-through of the venue(Thanks,Rishi:P) and minute by minute updates with pictures.I heard tons of stories--how gorgeous Ramya looked,how often she changed outfits w

I'm sort of on a writing spree today.I don't think I'll be able to write much in the next two weeks so I might as well do it now:) This one's again from school.I was much older when this happened--around 13(7th standard would be right,I think) One of the predominant trends in a South Indian family would be the importance given to coconut oil and oiling your hair:P Mothers will not let you go out without drowning your hair in oil citing the hundred miraculous and nourishing properties it possesses to overpower all your protests.Ten years later,you will look at all your school photos and cringe at the overdose of oil:P Typical scenario. My house was no different.Wait, there was a difference--I never used to protest the oil.I had really long,thick,lustrous black hair back then--hair that I would kill to have now:P I happily let my mom oil and comb it everyday. I used to look in the mirror(cursory glance lasting two seconds) but my perspective was different at that po

Lately,a lot of what I've been writing is about people I know and how much they mean to me.While I do like writing these articles and it makes the subjects of the articles really really happy,I don't want to turn this into some kind of an "ode to my friends" blog:P So,here's something funny,hoping to compensate and restore the humor-sincerity balance of my articles:) I would have been 5 years old at the time.I belong to a typical South Indian family.I was studying in a convent which enforced absurd rules very strictly to the tee.One of these rules was that students should not wear gold/silver earrings(and other ornaments of course).In a South Indian family,wearing no earrings is taken as some sign of doom and every girl is made to wear one within 3 years or so:P My Mom (well aware of the no-gold rules) sent me off to school with a tiny gold earring which was promptly spotted by my kindergarten teacher who proceeded to remove it and hand it over to me with a r

Dedicated to Sri.Happy Birthday! :) The lush green path abruptly forked in two My heart turned cold with dread For I knew deep down That I was headed one way and you another Parting of the ways they say But how do you bid adieu to a part of your life? Wisdom has no measure of punctuality Yet its epiphanies are worth waiting for Years from then I've realized Our paths were parallel and will always be From time to time, I stop and wave at you from the distance And you smile at me just the same Nothing's changed, nothing ever will For we're bound not by circumstances Nor by a transient materialistic whim Not even by blood 'Tis our souls that are intertwined And bonds of the soul can never be severed

This is a story that's very special to me.I suppose the beginning is as good a place to start as any:) About nineteen years ago,I was a naive 4 year old kid who had no friends.I also didn't know how to make any--pathetic social skills were something I inherited at birth.I was apparently running around a jackfruit tree at lunch,lost in my own imaginary world.She saw me and at 4 years of age,in all her infinite wisdom,decided that she wanted to be my friend. This was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me:)  So, she started running around the same tree following me.She was a people magnet--right from the beginning,everyone wanted to be around her,including me:) In a minute,4 or 5 kids started running around following her coming up with some kind of a game,I guess.This is all I remember from that day. There have been countless times when I have wondered What if she didn't follow me that day? In all probability,I would have been a loner