You must be familiar with Snow White but you could be forgiven for not realizing how much it fidgets with the concept of white supremacy. Imagine a wicked woman staring in the mirror from time to time asking a cute but brittle question: “...who is the fairest of all?” It’s not clear whether that mirror is one of its kind or whether others have access to it as well. But the script goes well until the day Her Wickedness finds out that she is not the Undisputed Fairness Champion of the World anymore. That is more than a shocker to her: after all, the mirror is joined at Shakira’s hips. It doesn’t lie. So, she sets out on her abominable plans to get rid of her stepdaughter to eliminate competition. For the record, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Walt Disney’s first full-length feature film and even won an Oscar. But I genuinely wish somebody could adapt this plotline and make the story about a mirror that tells you who is the fairest—somebody who is upright in their everyday dealings and never swindle anyone—person of all. Wouldn’t that be a competition worth following?
For someone who is a part of the millennials, I do criticize them/us a lot. This generation, for all its blushes and warts, has its heart in the place but doesn’t have the spine to sweat. Too much noise, too little work. As a result, we are a bunch of people who want to speak out and feel good about how awesome we are. One of the reasons why the so-called bad guys are so damn successful is because they are focused and hardworking. The cartels and the warehouses don’t run on their own. There is a plan in place and more importantly, words are sparsely used. In other words, words are precious. Getting things done is a lot harder than throwing hollow phrases around.
Speaking of which, have you noticed how the generation gap is increasing? Somebody who is barely 10 years younger to you appears distant already? To put it not-so-subtly, you are old to that person. This fast widening chasm, if you may, tells us how we perceive time in our daily life. Since things are moving way too quickly—from data to production to delivery, not to forget planes, carriers, cars and trains—we tend to overestimate the stretch of time. Because our growing impatience dictates our outlook, we perceive those who are younger to be a lot younger than they are and those who are older to be much older than they really are. And therein lies the difference between generation and era. This silent behaviour could also tell us why we discard reasonably good clothes as ‘old’ before looking for ‘newer’ options on Amazon.
Three months ago, it seemed like Messi would end his European football career in Camp Nou. As of now, he is probably the most popular resident of Paris. Over the past weekend, he made his debut for PSG and played for less than 25 minutes. Quite frustratingly, I must add. No assist or goal. For someone so used to designing the flow of the game from the very onset, it would be a delight to watch how he fits in. If he manages to shine, which he must, it would be considered normal. However, if he struggles, then there will be a barricade of media hostility. In this entertaining equation, the French fans won’t care. They are beyond happy to have someone of his stature playing in their league.
This morning, model-turned-actor Sidharth Shukla passed away at the age of 40. My earliest memory of him is from that quirky Bajaj ad in 2005 where the protagonist “feels like god” while riding a bike. Imagine using the G-word in an ad in today’s political milieu. That might also explain why the golden days of Indian TVCs are long gone. Anyway, it always feels like a slap when someone young passes away, particularly to something as stereotypically mature as a heart attack. In a society, we expect old age to be the bare minimum return for all our suffering. As ironic as it is.
Ideally speaking, everyday should be an attempt to be(come) a better person. We keep crying that life is short but in practice, it’s quite a long ride. If we are sincere enough, we might just crack the code. Each one of us has issues and each one of us can improve too. Of course, each one of us can get worse as well. That’s the downside of chance. Yet, if we stick to the mission—using my friend Ashwin’s favourite phrase—we might end up surprising ourselves. Unless you are a brilliant poet, there is nothing noble about being low, confused and sorrowful. The trick is to pick ourselves up and get moving, and carve ourselves one day at a time. Sometimes, we make it and sometimes, we don’t but most of the times, we just need to get started. Either you are going to be a rot or a bloom. Whatever you turn into, you are going to attract the same spirit. Rot attracts rot, bloom attracts bloom.
I am not sure about you but watching a human being laugh really hard makes me happy. The kind of laughter where tears have a part to play and the belly is pressed. It’s a rare sight, especially in this pandemic, but yes, those moments filled with the perfect mix of absurdity and joy is what makes life liveable. I am known for my sharp wit and blunt jokes but people who have been close to me (mostly at work) would tell you that I laugh on my own. Tripping at the most banal of incidents is my hallmark of humour: I will laugh and laugh and laugh trying to tell why I am laughing and then make others laugh because they find my laughter funnier than what I am trying to say. I completed 10 months in Mangalore on Sunday and such an episode didn’t happen even once in this city. So far.
Noam Chomsky has often suggested that a job is the most totalitarian phenomenon. You get a job only to get stuck in a system where you are told when to wake up and how to dress and how to think and how to basically live. Because your life revolves around your job, not the other way around. Now, if you think about it, there is no escape. But if you think harder, there is an escape. Those who are wise enough to understand the game learn to detach themselves from unnecessary accessories and paraphernalia and assets. And somehow learn to live as distinctly as possible. It’s a tough act to adopt but definitely not impossible.
My emotional rant of a blog is incomplete without mentioning my pappa. To give you context, what happened was he stayed with us for a little while in January and during that period, he made friends in my neighbourhood. I barely talk to anyone in our building but he, being his affable self, connected with a lot of fellow Tulu-speaking crowd.
Below is an excerpt from my recent conversation with him –
He: “How is Avni doing?”
Me: “Who is Avni?”
He: “Ashwini’s daughter.”
Me: “Who is Ashwini?”
He: “Your neighbour da.”
Moving on to another interesting chat. I was talking to a friend who is going through a breakup. And I must tell you that he is one of the funniest simply because he doesn’t have a filter. His mind works at supersonic speed and his jokes don’t land, they skid. As usual, he was being unkind jocularly to some folks we both know.
Me: “Yaar, you are very mean.”
He: “At least I am not as mean as my luck.”
Me: *speechless*
Everybody wants to be a warrior nowadays. Pretending to be saviours of a cause they don’t fully comprehend. You will find them everywhere. Climate saviours. Religion saviours. Culture saviours. Language saviours. Poetry saviours. The list goes on and on. If you have even the faintest idea about human history, you wouldn’t care. At all. They say it’s all written, right? I don’t know about that but I feel, I think, what has to go will go and what has to come will go as well. In essence, we are all here to go. Nothing is forever. Every element associated with humanity has to fade away. Absolutely everything. That’s about it.
You know who is the fastest swimmer in the world right now? Caeleb Dressel. This American human fish is splendid but the reason he is featured in one of my esteemed paragraphs today is thanks to what he said about his relationship with water: “I watch nature videos—dolphins, sharks. It’s just art, a giant puzzle that I’ll never win. Every time I dive in, it’s a completely new element, just you in the water and your relationship with it.” I believe that’s the most beautiful thing you’d read today. You are welcome. Have a blooming life ahead.
Gem of a blog! The fluidity of thoughts. Ahh.Take all the hearts please 💕💖💜