Hello readers!
I’m so sorry for not having posted in so long!
I’ve been caught up in an endless string of messed up events.
So much drama, so much pain.
Exams too!
I did write a poem, my first one that too.
It’s a dark poem, but makes me feel good every time I read it.
Hope you can connect to it too!
Posting it after this!
Love you always x
And yet again, you’re stuck in college with the professor blabbering stuff that is incomprehensive and pretty much like Greek to you. He orders the class-in his meek and annoying voice that makes you want to slap him in the face, with a chair- to write something down, but all you can do is scribble in your notebook. Sitting on the last bench without your lenses, which you had forgotten in a hurry that morning, just escalates your problem. In addition, your stomach starts growling, voraciously. Thanking your stars for having nobody around, you slyly eat an energy bar and then get back to staring into your textbook trying to make sense of it, but in vain.
College to you is both insane and necessary. It is, without doubt, the only place you can get your peace of mind. Home can more appropriately be termed as a hell-hole with all the fights, cries and drama. But then again, college lacks all the coolness in your life what with all the dumb professors, ugly nerds and the assignments and blah. If only all your epic friends were in your college! Why did you have to be so retarded and buy all the crap about applying in a college that would ‘ensure a bright future’ and ‘guarantee a great career’? All that stuff, as you now know, was bogus and it resulted in you being stuck here, oh so bored! All your friends are in better colleges where nobody cares about attendance and assignments, it’s all just about having fun. Going into a state of self pity, you sigh.
Finally, after what seems like a millennium, you get out of the gates of your stinky college and see all your friends waiting for you. You jump into one of the black SUVs. Seeing your friends always cheers you up. The smell in the air reminds you of the song ‘Must Be The Ganja’ by Eminem. Except that there was no Ganja! Haha? After letting out a sigh and after a long bout of gossiping about random stuff, you ask for a joint. Lighting that piece of rolled up paper is always so delightful! After taking a drag, you attempt unsuccessfully at making a ring. Jake laughs and tries teaching but his efforts are futile, just like always. On finishing the joint, you change the music. Listening to rappers, rapping around meaninglessly about drugs and alcohol just seems perfect. All your worries just mysteriously get washed away due to the high of the joint.
All these exhilarating thoughts quickly vanish when you hear someone calling out to you. Realising it was the professor giving you a bewildered look, you get a little scared. You quickly answer the question he poses and then sit down. The trance of coolness was broken and you are now snapped back to reality. Just like always, you had been caught daydreaming about how you wanted your life to be. You wanted to be that super cool guy who everyone admired; who guys were jealous of and all the girls were in love with; the one with the coolest clothes, the coolest set of friends. All in all, you wanted to be the one on top of the social circle leaning on the support of drugs and alcohol. But, sadly you were just an ordinary geek who wore glasses and still had braces; who had never even tasted wine, let alone whiskey or the likes; who had asthma and coughed uncontrollably even when some smoker passed by.
But, you are sure that one fine day you will also be leading a life that everyone would day dream about. And, it wouldn’t include drugs or alcohol. You know that to make your parents and more importantly, yourself, proud of you, you had to be a bookaholic and later a workaholic but never an alcoholic or druggie. To complete that one set goal of your life, you get back to your books and start paying attention with newly induced enthusiasm.
And again, that sense of immense pride overwhelms you. Completing another level of defeating gory, bloody zombbieies is solace from studies. Oh, how lucky you are to have parents cool enough to let you play C.O.D.- Black Ops just the night before your Physics finals!
Finally, Ryan comes online. You gear up to kill more dead soldiers and beat him at the task. You know this is going to be a piece of cake. After all, you’ve been World #1 for almost two weeks now! Ryan’s way too amateur to beat a professional like you.
After another winning streak against Ryan, you head back to your study table for a last revision of Physics. But, your mind is fraught with green bodies having deep red bloodshot eyes.
The usual thoughts then start filling in. What if your connection with zombies is meant to be deeper? What if you are playing this game for a reason? What if the purpose of your life is being a real zombie slayer? What if you are an actual secret agent or mediator of some sort?
Your mother’s voice asking you to brush before sleeping interrupts the thought chain. You then go back to the realistic world and start revising Physics. Just like the others, even this day ends a mystery.
ie
A few days ago, my teacher told me, every generation is smarter than the next. While I do believe that, as advances in science and technology do help us be more aware of world events as such, do we actually use this so called ‘advancement’ in the right place and in the right ways?
Recently, in a third world country, terrorists used instant messengers to contact one another and make their devious plans. These instant messengers are what every youngster is so addicted to and thus, after the government planned on banning them, there were tons of protests led by youngsters.
The youngsters of this generation are the leaders of the coming years. Maybe, it’s time they start acting like they are responsible enough to be so. Youngsters are the dynamites of society that question anything and need answers for everything. They crib about the lack of efficiency of government bodies but they themselves supposedly do nothing about it. I feel, it is the need of the hour to change that. They need to prove to the older generations that they are just as good as them, or even better. Terrorism has always been the one thing that shook the entire world. May it be 9/11 or 26/11, the impact of these heart-wrenching events was humongous on citizens of not only the respective countries but also the citizens of the world.
The youth needs to take charge and do something about world problems, the greatest being terrorism. Terrorists use youngsters for their missions as their minds are easily influenced and they have a lot of energy as well as passion in them. Therefore, they need to be shown the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Terrorist leaders make them believe that the bombings are in the name of religion or for their country, but that is not true. It is merciless killing. Youngsters, who are so full of the want to do something for a cause, don’t usually realise whether the path they’re choosing is ethical or not.
They need to be made more aware of what terrorism means and how it affects every aspect of the targeted country- the economy, the people etc. The stories of the innocent lives that are lost in these events, must be publicized to inculcate sensitivity in people world over. We, the youngsters are the most important people of today and it’s time we showed all the others that.
We all have to make choices. Some are trivial matters on a daily basis and some are opportunities that are presented to us only once in our lifetime. Some of us make the right ones, some don’t. It’s not easy to decide what’s going to be helpful in the long run. It’s often the adrenaline that pumps you up and makes you choose impulsively. Sometimes the choices are on an emotional basis. But, no matter what, if your choice is sincere, it’s going to work out. Although you have to be practical and cautious, hardwork can get you exactly where you want. No matter how much people pressurize you, don’t give in to them. You have a mind, you have a heart. Use them both and choose. Impulsive decisions aren’t always wrong. They can be good for you if you work on them. Modify them to be more practical and convincing. It’s pointless if you’re just doing it because you’re scared of treading on alien path. Wise and helpful advice can be found in Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Some people like to rebuke that by saying ‘The road not taken is not taken for a reason’ but in the real world, all those who have chosen to be different, are the successful ones. The want for success must consume you and willingness to risk it all must overpower you. After all, things can go horribly wrong but they can be perfect as well. Those who do ground-breaking stuff haven’t followed the herd, they have walked out and chosen a path that they felt was right.
Whatever you are passionate about, follow that. It is pointless becoming a doctor or engineer when all you like is dancing. The money musn’t always be the deciding factor. If you’re not going to be happy, is it really worth it? Your top priority should be listening to your inner voice. The choices you make against that are the ones that are going to cost you big time. Always trust yourself. You know much more than you think you do. Never underestimate yourself. Everyone’s good at something. The hand life has dealt you isn’t what makes you a winner or loser; how you handle your problems is the deciding factor.
Choosing wisely doesn’t happen with everyone. Even the wisest of all can make mistakes. Nobody is divine enough to know all the right and distinguish between all the right and wrong of this world. Things that are extremely indecisive for you, you should try talking them out to somebody else. They might just be helpful. After all, what do you have to lose?
Sometimes you will make the wrong choice, and that’s okay. As long as you learn from your mistakes, it is all sorted. Just be sure to not repeat it. People say you must learn from others’ mistakes because you might not have the time to make them all. While that is true, first-hand experience is the best tutor. No matter what your choices are about, if you feel strongly about something, it will probably be right. Trust your instincts. Be a leader, not a follower because nobody remembers the person who comes second. Try to be the best at what you want to pursue. Passion and hardwork must always go hand in hand. Remember that and you will definitely go a long way.
Nothing’s better than walking on a nice beach, with a slight drizzle on a pleasant evening. With a few drops of rain, falling on your face from time-to-time, you suddenly look up to the sky. The warm hues of orange, pink and purple have you awestruck with God’s most delightful gift- Nature.
This seems like the most amazing sunset you’ve ever witnessed. The bright playful shades would even make a box of pastels seem, oh, so dull. The soothing aromas from the surrounding foodstalls captivate your taste buds, getting your mouth to water.
You see scores of people gobbling up tons of plates of the delicious paani puri. You obviously know it isn’t hygienic enough, but the temptation is just too much and you think, “One plate won’t hurt anyone, right?” Having been overcome by your senses, you walk up to the cleanest looking stall and buy a plate of those gorgeous looking things.
The delicate mixture of sweet and sour flavours, tickles your taste buds. The plate of six huge paani puris now seems to be just so limited. You want this plate to have been some magical one that would keep these yummy paani puris re-appearing. Alas, it gets over. A dismayed look covers your face. You want to have another plate but you know it wasn’t right. Losing weight was more important than savouring these yummies.
After disposing the plate, you walk towards the water. The cool sea breeze gives you a high that no alcohol or cigarette could ever give. The slight goosebumps on your skin complement the weather. The wet sand below you has a texture softer than that of the finest velvet. The white gulls flying above stand out from the warmly shaded sky. You are completely mesmerized by this whole divine look.
You know you have to go back, back to reality. Walking heavy heartedly to the busy main road, is one of the hardest things you’ve ever done. This evening was just perfect. With a partner, or without. Waiting for a cab is boring. Finally, you get one and sit inside it. Tuning into your iPod, you realise that joy isn’t found in the riches and the luxuries of life rather, in the simplest things like an evening spent on a beach can delight you majorly.
On formal occasions, the male sex is usually required to don a suit that is more commonly than not complemented with a tie.
In my former school, the regular school uniform featured a tie as a necessity. This ensured that boys as well as girls had definite knowledge of knowing how a tie is well, tied. In my new school though, the lack of a tie-featuring uniform in the earlier years of schooling has rendered most of the student population as unable to decipher the code of tying a tie. The embarrassing moments when a guy has to get his tie tied by someone actually bring up hilarity as well as pity as I barely remember knowing a person in my former school who didn’t know how to tie a tie.
Well, I’m going to keep this one really short but guys, do remember, formals make you look much more appealing than casuals and a tie just accentuates that appeal! As an allusion I’d like to include the so-commonly quoted ‘Suit Up!’ by the legendary Barney Stinson.
And yet again, I see a young man passively dying. He fills the air with his high-end Ramieres smoke, putting our tender lives at stake too. Without realising how much he threatens his life with each puff, he hastily finishes the cigar. And, carelessly enough, starts smoking another one.
Many young folks today think smoking is very ‘classy’ and that to be ‘popular’ and ‘cool’, they should smoke. Little do they know about the varied problems, due to ill health, that would later come across their way. These people fail to realise that they are subtly setting an expressly wrong trend for the younger generation(s) to follow and that, all the upcoming destruction, is all due to their misguiding the youngsters.
Smoking is a very popular hobby in most influential schools and colleges today. The ‘popular’ people and the ‘wanting-to-be-popular’ people, all fall into this evil’s clutches. Those who manage not to, are really accomplishing a major feat and need to be awarded. The young souls who start smoking, or ‘fagging’ as it is popularly known as, are oblivious to its after effects and since they do it secretly, nobody can offer them any guidance and hence, they continue with this habit even later in life, often setting a bad example for their own children as well.
In my opinion, this is just plain ‘suicide’. After all, everyone knows that smoking takes a severe toll on one’s health. So, all these people who are depressed and feel rejected and are scared of committing suicide in one go, sought to smoking as they know the end result of their suicidal act. But, by smoking, you have an advantage. You get friends. And not just friends, but, ‘popular and cool friends’. The ‘friends’ who drive without licences, get into clubs with fake ids and smoke carelessly all the while, in a world where nothing is important except having fun by breaking all the set rules.
Many say, ‘pulling’ a.k.a. doing Hookah is safer, but it all depends on how much. Hookah flavours are said to be available tobacco-free also but the flavours are proven to be more harmful than the tobacco as they are artificial and thus dangerous for the lungs. Also, according to specialists ‘pulling’ for a few hours is pretty much equivalent to smoking those many cigarettes.
But most argue that a cigarette a day is healthy for the heart according to various researches that have been conducted by scientists. That maybe, but how many of us can actually limit ourselves to one of anything? Can you eat only one piece of chocolate if the whole bar is in your hand? No. Can you drink just a sip of Vodka if the whole glass is in front of you? No. In the same way can you smoke only one cigarette if the whole packet is with you? Having answered that, it is very clear that this addictive evil must be put to an end.
Also, people ailing from lung diseases like Asthma or people with weak hearts who are prone to heart attacks, are strictly warned not to smoke. If smoking was really good, why aren’t these people allowed to smoke a single Cigarette a year also? I mean really, have you EVER seen an asthma patient enjoying the ‘high’ of a Cigarette? Isn’t it apparently ‘proved’ to be ‘beneficial in keeping the heart healthy’? Doesn’t this prove something? If it didn’t, why this impartiality to these patients? Why should only fit and fine people be allowed to enjoy this ‘privilege’?
Most hospitals today, are full of people who are suffering from various types of cancers due to smoking. Pictures of these people, which are released in support of Anti-Smoking Campaigns are so gory and horrendous that most of us refrain from even glancing at them. Do we ever refrain from looking at pictures of models who have used beauty products? No. So, doesn’t this show that Smoking is no good game? It is just an addictive substance that is used by people to attain particular ‘high’s. But, hasn’t it been proved that Chocolate too releases the ‘feel-good’ chemicals that give you a similar high? So why not switch to such a safe measure? Is it because of the natural tendency of a human to want to do what we shouldn’t? Perhaps, that must be it.
Isn’t it true that today’s generation of youngsters, idolizes a celebrity instead of any other worthy role model? Celebrities should take pride in this fact, and do the right stuff to encourage correct behaviour and inculcate good habits in their fan following. But, what do they do? Abuse in public, get involved in drug, rape and murder cases and, smoke. Almost every other celebrity is spotted at one high profile event or the other, holding that white piece of paper lit at one end and sucking it and blowing out the hazardous smoke. Instead of holding and supporting Anti-Smoking Campaigns, these celebrities take pictures of themselves smoking and post them on their social networking sites, indirectly influencing all their followers to do the same.
Concluding, I think it is necessary for one and all to realise the harmful and life threatening aftermath of smoking and that, to prevent the inculcating of this habit in the generations that follow too, we must all take the effort to stop ourselves from smoking, or others from smoking. This might sound lame and stupid to do, but cough uncontrollably and shout out stuff like, “Why do people smoke? Yuck!” on seeing a smoker pass by. Also, posters of Anti-Smoking Campaigns should be seen at places instead of illegal hoardings put up to impress politicians. I’ve done my bit now, please do yours. You could help save a million lives!
Walking into the playground, my weary eyes search for the ONE THING- The Swing. The only thing that helps me get over all my problems and forget all my worries. However my mood maybe, a swing can set it right. No matter what problem persists in my head, I can solve it while on a swing. It gets me to think my clearest. It is the sole solution for everything.
To most, a swing is just that playground object. For me, it is much, much more. It is my mood-changer, my solace, my therapist, my everything. No other activity can give me more joy and happiness and comfort than swinging. The swing helps me acknowledge and understand the basic facts of life.
It helps me realise that there are always going to be ups and downs in life that should be enjoyed, not avoided. To move up in a particular aspect of life, you have to go down in another. It makes me realise that there are factors in life, like the wind when on a swing, that when used at the right time and in the right direction, will help me move ahead faster but at the same time, makes me aware of the perils of their over-usage. It helps me understand that nothing in life is stationary. It all moves; it all changes.
I really wish my parents would let me have a swing at home but they think it’s useless. I do have a big one at my weekend house, so that’s pretty cool. But it’s pretty far away. Swings give me a rush that is nothing compared to any high. They make me want to reach higher, not just in the air, but in life as well. They make me set higher aims and strive to achieve them. They really are my biggest guides in life.
As John Green puts it, “No matter how hard you kick, no matter how high you get, you can’t go all the way around.” A swing gets me to a very philosophical level, but I enjoy it. And although it’s sad that small kids hate me for not letting them swing, I shall always continue doing that because a swing will always be my constant.
And once again, the world is divided. This division isn’t one that is naturally created by an earthly barrier like a mountain or ocean, it’s the barrier of a person’s thoughts. Negative thoughts to be more precise. It could be about any sort of discrimination. Religion, caste, sex, colour etc. To most of you, this discrimination may seem trivial, stupid and measly, but to the sufferers of the tormention and insults, being the exact opposite of what they are, is the one and only thing they pray for all day and all night.
Discrimination, especially racial discrimination is something that’s been around since a very long time. An example would be that of the time the British took over roughly the whole world. They believed that being fair skinned, it was their birth right to do as they pleased and dominate and torment the Indians, Africans etcetra for not being privileged enough for being white. This right was exercised by them to such an extent that they had notices outside posh hotels, clubs, restaurants saying “Dogs and Indians, Not Allowed”. This was definitely an outrageous action and so, karma paid those bitches back. This myth of supremacy has been carried forward over the generations and some people still face the tormention. Even if a person is intelligent, smart and beautiful, this one quality could bring his or her self confidence and self esteem down.
Another discrimination that has engulfed the entire world is religion. In India, which is still quite a socially backward country, this goes a long way. The random rallies of destruction of either Muslim or Hindu dominated areas by the other are very common. Muslims, mostly, are the worst affected by this. Why can’t people of different religions co-exist? Muslims are termed as terrorists by most people over the world but they should really think over- “Most terrorists are Muslims, but not all Muslims are terrorists”. Is it fair and just to categorise a whole lot of people just ‘cause a handful of them aren’t ideal human beings? And also, it’s not true that just Muslims are terrorists. In so many cases, there have been terrorists of other religions being the heads of their groups.
Most men still think they are superior to women. This world, to some extent, is still male dominated. But, powerful and dynamic women who rise to power, prove to the world that women are nevertheless as good or even better than men. Most scholars, scientists, doctors, lawyers etc. are women nowadays. All the professions that were supposedly ‘manly’ are now becoming as easy and open to women as any other household job. Glass ceilings are almost extinct in the corporate world. Most working women expertly handle their households as well as their offices. Single mothers’ singlehandedly take care of their children also. Most men are wife-dependent but it’s never vice versa. Women are known to be the stronger ones but men with their ‘no crying’ are termed as stronger even though they’re just a bunch of control freaks that keep their emotions bottled up inside them and end up getting nervous breakdowns later.
Concluding, i would say that this whole racism thing is bullshit and really needs to be ended. It is very unethical and the world would definitely be a much nicer place without it. Why can’t people of all sorts just live happily with each other’s support, not hatred? Why don’t we realise that just as all the pieces of a puzzle are different and yet fit together, we humans are the same? Nobody is like anybody. That’s the beauty of a person. We should get to know a person before denying their existence on mere discriminatory grounds. We should try to be nice to everyone and motivate everyone, not bring their self esteem and pride down by commenting on aspects of their life that they have no control over. That’s what all great leaders always wanted and we really can do this bit to repay them for all that they’ve done for us, right? Let’s make this world a better place to live in!
Jigsaw 101 