FaceBook - You Ruined my Life ;-)

              The other day, one of my friends came rushing to me and said, “You know that hot chick that was dating a loser? They just broke off. Now is my time to woo her and I shall do it before people even know about the break up”. I answered with a big grin, “Dude, we all know about it. It’s on her Facebook page. And in the last 24 hours, she has accepted 28 friend requests. You are very late.”

               I wondered about life before Facebook. It was so nice and calm. Being nosy was an art. It required efforts to know about people’s ‘personal’ business. Something like interfering in other’s life and expect a ‘meddle’ for it. I have seen the pride when people gossiped about what they found out. To know about someone’s personal life, you either had to be inquisitive or had to be a very good friend. These days it is just with a click of the mouse. All we have to do is add that person on FB and there, we might even get his/her horoscope lying abandoned on the Wall. Seriously, there is more than enough drama happening on Facebook every day that it negates the need of having reality shows.

                I used to wonder what it was like to read people’s minds but now that I too have a Facebook account I’m over it. It tells me about personal conversations between married couples. It talks about how much somebody loves his/her parents. It tells me all the places people have been to. What they have been drinking, eating, worshipping, ignoring or even playing. It has saved some from a terrifying ‘keeping-my-thoughts-to-myself’ addiction as well. It also provides visual aids. I don’t even have to go out of my house anymore to ogle at beautiful women. I do it all on my phone or laptop. I have started to worry about my physical stamina because I’m wondering when was the last time I ran to catch a bus just cause there was a hot chick in it. ;-)

               And I am sure Mark Zuckerberg did not see it coming too. He made a social network to be circulated among the nerds of the university. Among people who lacked the conviction and capability to chat up with people or the time to visit an old friend. He did not realize that there is a nerd among all of us. There was a time when my interactions were required by other guys too. Now they rely on Facebook because they think it’s like the voices in my head are being put on a speakerphone.

               And Mark you sure had no clue that with the advent of your website, we would be entering an age of too much information and that it would also act as a big morale booster for women and also be responsible for gender inequality. A morale booster for women, yes ofcourse Where else do you see a girl being so appreciated other than her FB picture. What they fail to understand is that there is a distribution pattern among those likes. 15% likes come from people who ‘Like’ everything. 35% likes come from female friends cause they hope that you would like her pic back.40% Likes come from Guys who would Like everything you put cause they feel with that they have a chance to woo you. Remaining 10% are the people who genuinely Love you and will Like everything you put. The rest from those women who feign the ‘Like’. ;-)

                In short, to do everything that required people skills, can now be done through FB. This sure is not good news for me. I mean come-on if you do not have to do anything special to know stuff , it levels the playing field and I hate it.

Oh Facebook. I hate you so much. J

Yes, I Need a GUN...

 

         With the recent Connecticut school shooting massacre ,  where 20  kids were shot dead, the debate  on Gun control bill  in news again. I was surprised to see the media here voicing an opinion on the bill. Or perhaps this was a prime example why Facebook is famous. We were more interested in the bill debate of the USA rather than worrying about our own problems. Precisely,we were more interested in other's life. Now I might have a personal opinion  that the law and order is better in the USA  and the society is more civilized so they do not really need Guns , but again I want to worry  about what happens here first so I wont go in those details.

            There were 3 incidents reported in the last 2 weeks that I would like to touch upon. First, a girl gang raped in Delhi with her beau beaten and thrown out of a moving bus,second, a bunch of thugs killing a young boy who came to help the girl who was been teased by those thugs  And third,when an elderly lady of around 40 walking with her husband and son was subjected to cat calls in public and then the male duo thrashed by those thugs. Doesn't give us a pretty picture right? I have always been proud of my country, India , and have given the good side  of it to my friends overseas. Needless to say, they and the rest of the world would be in for a shock if such despicable truths continue to rear its ugly head. 

           So, is the common man in this country really so safe? Are we portraying ourselves as uncivilized? And that is where the thought  arises of me owning a gun in India, nevertheless being unknown of what could happen if I own one in the US.But certainly, I feel the need of owning one here for the safety sake of me and my family. Unfortunately  I spend a lot of time trying to earn money  to give my family a decent living.  Unfortunately, surviving in this booming rat-race of a metropolis called Mumbai doesn’t leave me much room to learn martial arts or other forms of physical combat. That’s when the coveted gun could take its charge. If ever I see myself in such situations, wherein a woman is being eve-teased by a handful of goons, I will brandish the gun, deeming that would be the best way to cow them into dispersing.. On the other hand, it is equally appalling to see a dozen ‘onlookers’ who do not bother to take up the cudgels against those involved  in such petty anti-social   elements. Perhaps they are to be blamed too.Why is that when the husband and son trying to  guard the lady of the house were getting over powered and beaten by those goons, the remaining people around  deny to save them??

           Like the rest, I would be pleased if my country's law and order  became one of the best  in the near future. However, I  do not expect these  abhorrent individuals to become civilized.They know  they belong to a country where the Minister says that girls should dress up properly to save themselves from being eve teased. They know they belong to a country where a few institution[ bars girls from wearing  denims to keep them safe. They know they belong to a country that is made up of selfish and self centered bunch of losers. And so I need a gun and I do not feel my demand is unjustified.

          All I want is to stay in a civil society. A society where, when your car gets crashed, the person doesn't come running to you hurling abuses ready for a fight, but like the one in the Europe or the US where human safety seeks an utmost importance.And I do realize that owning guns might rather take us away from forming such a civilized society. But then what are my options if the educated and civilized people around me choose to look the other way when an innocent girl is eve teased.

        Life always gives us options. Either we continue to live in misery or we decide the need to stop this. And for that we, the common men, will have to raise them to the occasion . Do not expect anyone else to bring us out of this. So let’s decide, do we want to stop this shit  by getting involved or shall we all have a GUN

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All Ye Who Enter...

             Yup, the title is coming from the line you would see on hell's gate 'Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here'. But Hell is not what I mean here. I was talking about all the people who enter in your life. They might stay or they may leave. The experiences may be happy or may be sad. But they all enter you life and help you learn or help you grow. I had heard of the phrase that people enter your life for a reason or a season or lifetime. I kinda feel that no matter what their length of stay is, they all enter for a reason.

              In one of the movies they say, whenever you fall do not forget the reason. Same holds true for the people in our lives. One of my male friends, who is a good guy actually, had a girl who liked him alot.But he always ignored the girl. Would not accept her calls for a reason as simple as watching a movie which could be paused. A few years later, he started liking another girl who treated him the same way. Now like any other guy, he could have just cussed about it but as I mentioned he was a Good guy. He realized how he had been on the other side before. He learnt his lesson. The girl in his life might have given him some pain but she did teach him a valuable thing. He would be a better man now.

              This also leads me into what we Hindus believe. We believe that there is no heaven or hell after we die. Both are faced in this planet earth itself, when we live. We believe in Karma and that Karma is a bitch ofcourse. For every good deed you do, Every good Karma, you get good in return. May not be from the same person but you do get good things back. Same holds true for all the wrongs we do. I love this concept. This is how God maintains a balance. This also means that all those people who enter our life and do good/bad is actually coz of the good/bad we did before. Someone who enters your life and treats you like shit is not actually his fault. He was there just to give you a lesson for your Karma. And his time will come later. May not from you but it will.

               One should therefore never blame the people. And should always remember the reason they came in your life. I know a friend of mine who was an under confident shy teenager till he fell in love. He had one of those epic love stories but in the end they had to quit. Not coz they fell out of love but coz of other reasons. Whenever he feels sad or feels like cussing the girl who left him, I remind him that the super cool awesome and confident guy that he is, is just cause the girl came in your life at the right time and made you what you are. And he agrees.

             I always had this notion and could also be said as conclusion from observation that girls in USA are so unlike Indian women.They do not want to compromise. The concept of sacrifice is rare. But just when I am in my final few weeks of journey in this country, I became good friends with a good looking blonde in my office. She is recently engaged to a guy who does not reside in US. He is away from USA in his home country from last 1.5 years and the girl still patiently waits and loves him. A country where PDA or physical intimacy is of paramount importance, such example gives you a new vision. It opened my eyes and mind. She probably entered my life so that when I leave, I do not leave with my established notion.

          Maybe it is time for us to think of those reasons and thank all the people we have in our life or were a part of our life. Good or bad, they help us grow. They help us learn. All I wanted from the post is to help you guys think...

Cheers!