If tomorrow never comes....

If tomorrow never comes,
To all those people I have hurt- I am truly sorry
To all those people who love me- I love you all too
To all those people I have fought with- Please forgive me
To all those people who have touched my life, knowingly or unknowingly- I am deeply indebted
To all those people who have strove for me and supported me- Thank you for being there
If tomorrow never comes, I won't regret what has passed. What I didn't do and what I won't be able to do would be my only regrets.
Thank you for today.

Musings

Why is it easier to give advice but not take it? Why is it easier to preach than practice? They say walk a 1000 miles in a person's shoes to understand what that person is going through. But hey, when you can give free advice without having to do that, why would you even bother? Only when you find yourself in the same or similar situation does the gravity of it hit you. The same advice that you handed out without measure becomes infinitely tough to use on yourself. We are all hypocrites, changing our spots at our convenience. Twisting the rules to suit us. Hardly accountable, even to ourselves. Psychopaths convince themselves that their actions are justified. They believe in a lie so strongly that it becomes the truth for them. No lie detector/polygraph can detect a lie, because there isn't any when it has been made the truth.We convince ourselves of our actions in a similar fashion. Providing excuses for why something was done, even eliciting sympathy by justifying our predicament, while belittling others'. A voice within us pushing, prodding, encouraging, supporting our actions as needed.And we concede. Hypocrites, all of us.

The Time Is Now

Procrastination
n. the act or habit of procrastinating, or putting off or delaying.

It is 1:12AM and I am telling myself "Let's hit the bed now, let me finish this blog tomorrow. After all, there is no hurry." Well, this isn't the first time but I am hoping it is the last time I ever procrastinate.

We are all procrastinators. Sitting on that office Power Point presentation that you were supposed to have finished a week back. Or catching back to back episodes of The Mentalist when your mom had asked you to run an errand. It's endless!

I have come to realize that this has to end (influenced by a close friend who drove home the point during the course of an hour long sermon!). I am going to give in to The System. I do it now or I don't do it ever. The more I postpone things, the more lethargy I build and the more stagnant I become in life.
If you want to achieve something in life, you have to start working for it. Take the path first, as my friend said, before you think of the destination. And this is possible only when you sit your mind down (Oh the all powerful, persuasive, sweet talking, diverting mind) and say "Hey, I have had enough of your blarney and sweet enticements of laziness. Begone! My time starts now." and you just start.
It is like running the 100m sprint as soon as the gun is fired.
And there is no looking back till you have crossed the line.
Time is short.
Make the most of it.
Fire the gun.
Now.

Dream on

I was browsing through my timeline on Facebook a while ago and happened to see a couple of adverts (share by my friend) of the company I used to work with a few months back. Don't quote me, but the blurb went something like this: "Are you content and satisfied? Worry! Stay restless. Join us for a restless life."
Sound similar to Steve Jobs' "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."?
Of course, contrary to what many people think, that is not an original quote by Steve Jobs. The catch-line was the last words printed behind the cover of the last issue of Whole Earth Catalog which Mr. Jobs happened to read. But that's besides the point.

The point is what these taglines wish to convey or infuse into the minds of people who read them.
If you take the literal meaning, is it wrong or mundane for someone to be content and satisfied? If you ask around on what people want in life, some may say adventure. Others may want some sort of thrill. Most would, however, want to lead a content and satisfied life.

What is content and satisfaction? 
Nothing but a state of mind, just what the ad is all about.
Of course for the companies themselves, this is an attempt to showcase that they are one of the best places to be working at and by working there you somehow set yourself apart from the crowd (!).

I, for one, would apply the punchline to life in itself.

Why limit satisfaction to a 9-5 job with a decent pay and simple home with a happy family to return to? Or to being content by downing a couple of beers with a few friends on a Friday night?
In fact, if you are working your 9-5 job only for the pay so that you can survive and satisfy some of your and your family's materialistic needs, then you are fooling yourself if you think only that is satisfaction and being content.
 Push the boundaries. Do things that you love doing. Try different things, you never know what you will fall in love with next.

Content, satisfaction and happiness are about living life and not about existing.
They cannot be a destination, the journey and the exploration takes precedence.

Fade to black

The very thought of death makes me numb. Can anyone prepare for death, knowing that it will eventually, inevitably greet you? I don't think so. What would be one's state of mind when he or she knows that the sands of time are running low? What thoughts would seep into the head? How does he or she go about everyday affairs? How would the people around this person react? The days would seem truly numbered. One can't possibly fathom the feeling.
All that a person can hope to do is to try and live a relatively satisfactory life, a life of content, with the near and dear ones taken care of; so that when life passes by in front of the eyes as he or she looks at the sky for one last time, there will be no regrets.

Do clothes really maketh the man?

How much does the way you dress really matter? A lot, I would say. I, for one, believe that the shirt you wear, the trouser you put on, the skirt and blouse the lady across the floor dons, the tie you choose and even the colors and patterns of your dress speak volumes about you. You wear your personality and attitude.

More often than not, clothes reveal a sense of character of the person wearing them.

All around you, you see the stereotypes of dressing. Rock and metal music fans are usually dressed in a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans with an unshaven goatee. Rap musicians are often seen with a baseball cap, a loose, long T-shirt or hoodie and a lot of bling-bling. You would normally associate a fine, smooth suit with a business honcho. Or FBI agents or lawyers if you have been watching way too many western TV shows.

Clothes set the tone to how you approach a person and how others approach you. Most people would turn up for a job interview in their formal best. For men, a crisp shirt, pressed, complementing pair of trousers, a tie even, a staid belt to go with matching, polished shoes would be the norm. For women, it could be western formal wear - a plain shirt or blouse tucked into a skirt or a pair of trousers with appropriate shoes to go with the outfit- or it could be an Indian dress like a salwar kameez. If you carry yourself off well, the interviewer would be impressed and feel that you are serious about the job you are applying for.
How your interviewer is dressed also has equal significance. You might approach the interview and the interviewer himself/herself with a little more caution and deliberation if the interviewer is dressed to the occasion in formal wear. On the other hand, you might warm up a bit if he/she arrives in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
I know many will counter these thoughts by saying that it doesn't really matter how you turn up as long as you know what you are doing and what you are up against and you are confident in your approach. Google, for example, doesn't really care if a job applicant attends an interview in shorts and a tee as long as he/she has the talent and acumen to clear the interview, get selected and do well on the job.
I don't deny this entirely. My point is, for any occasion or even just coming to the office or college everyday, it always works to your advantage and favor if you are better dressed. First impressions always last. Your dress adds to your persona. When you walk across the room or hall, you can command attention, appear frivolous or be completely oblivious to everyone else, all depending on how you dress. Power dressing is what it is called.

All this does doesn't mean that you should never wear your favorite faded jeans and T-shirt and bandana. What it means, is that one should be smart in choosing the right dress for the right time and that irrespective of what you wear, formal or casual wear, you should be able to carry it off with elan and style and make a positive impression.


So, do clothes maketh the man (or woman, lest I'm labelled a chauvinist or a sexist!)?
In the true and literal sense, no. But together with talent and the right attitude, clothes definitely play their role in defining a person.

QLC

Another month and I will be 25. 25 years of existence. As I look back on all those years, I can't help but feel that I have only existed, not lived. Yes, I had a great childhood. Yes, I enjoyed all those years spent at school and at college, well, at least to a very large extent. Yes, I was elated when I landed my first job, perhaps even satisfied of having reached a significant milestone.
Period.


I remember my teachers at school constantly drilling into us that class X was the turning point of our lives. And then it was class XII. And then graduation. And then corporate life.
Now it is marriage that is on the lips of everyone I meet! The next "turning point".

"Hey, how are you? It's been quite some time since we caught up, isn't it? How's everything going on? When are you getting married?"
"Abhishek, you seem to be "settling down" pretty well. All that is left is for you to get married and "settle down completely"!"
"You know, ABC aunty's daughter is getting married next month. Right time and age to get married. When are you planning to get married?"

Sheesh! Can I too have a say, please?
I am not even 25! I have hardly found my feet on the ground. I have just scratched the surface of what I want to do and who I want to be. Right age? That is purely subjective. The state of the mind is what is more important. 
And "Settle down"? What on earth is that supposed to mean anyways? Bah!

This is the time to dream big. To find your groove. To chase the clouds. To carve your identity. To let your hair down. To explore. To quit doing something if you'd rather be doing something else.
Not the time to be bogged by societal expectations. Or the time to have terms dictated to you by others. Or the time to bother about buying that house or piece of land, which always seems to be out of reach.

The time to tie the nuptial knot will present itself.

Now is the time to live.