Facebook Tag

Here's the latest in-thing doing the rounds on Facebook. I thought I'd share it with the non-Facebookeans too. Basically, someone sends you his or her list, tagging you in the process. You complete and publish yours, tagging 25 more victims, including the person who was (un)kind enough to forward this to you. But I have to admit, it makes for a great read. Not mine, silly. That of others. Sort of voyage of discovery.

Just for the record, Romila tagged me.

25 THINGS YOU NEEDN'T KNOW ABOUT ME

1) I love cleaning and sad music. They act as catharsis.

2) Water drives me crazy. I would willingly drown in a bathtub. I might have been a mermaid some time way back.

3) I’ve a thing for colours. Almost an obsession. Blue, green, purple, maroon are my favourites.

4) Maths helps me de-stress.

5) At various points, I wanted to be a lawyer, a doctor, an interior decorator, a pilot, a tour guide, an IPS officer, a fortune-teller, a librarian, a crime reporter, a politician, a poet, an author. Some of them I’ve given up, some I still toy with..

6) I believe in the supernatural. But I’m not scared of it. Death has always fascinated me. I don’t think I’ll be afraid to die.

7) One day, I’ll publish a book named ‘100 Ways to Make an Omelette’. I hope.

8) I hate waking up early in the morning. I’d rather stay up till 3 am.

9) I often hate my closest ones as much as I love them. There. I said it.

10) I miss sleeping in the sunshine on the JU bridge. Obviously I was supposed to be wide awake and in class at that time. I miss my tutorials with Tintin Da the most. I actually think I had fun.

11) I detest alcohol. In all forms. Even if I happen to say it’s ok to drink socially.

12) I read somewhere that my nature would permit me to murder, but not steal. I still wonder.

13) I always hated sharing everything with my sibling. Especially parents. Nowadays I wish I could share all I have with her.

14) I try not to be but I so am. Possessive about K.

15) My first ever crush was Ajay Jadeja. I even wrote a 37 page romantic novelette starring him and me. Man.

16) I criticize too much. Especially myself.

17) I need lots of space and solitude. The cellphone is a bane that way. There are days when I need to be just left alone.

18) I can’t write happy poems. Sadness inspires me.

19) To me, plagiarism, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, war-mongering and snobbery are crimes. When caught, the guilty should be hanged. Well, at least boycotted.

20) I need to learn diplomacy. But using tact somehow makes me feel like I’ve been lying.

21) No one has a best friend. I realized that recently. We only have friends. That too, if we’re lucky.

22) I’m afraid the Kolkata Metro automatic ticket checking gates won’t let me past some day. No particular reason. I might have an ‘I, Robot’ or ‘Eagle Eye’ hangover, perhaps.

23) I’m capable of watching most Bollywood productions. Good or bad. I even cry at most of the sad scenes. Oh, and the happy endings too. However clichéd they may be.

24) I want to create my own record of having read each and every work of Agatha Christie, Saki, Freud, Rabindranath Tagore, Hardy, P.G. Wodehouse, R. K. Narayan, Shirshendu. There should be some more names, I think, but can’t recall them right now.

25) I can’t be bothered to small talk or go out of my way to try and impress my intelligence on others. You have to draw me out. Lots of people consider me aloof. I think I’m just reserved.

Whewww. I'm weird.

Blues

I miss you, Ma.

This one's for you.

What's in a Name ?

A certain classmate of mine back in MHS used to claim the latest kid-on-the block as her relative. Be it a recently acclaimed singer or the reigning Miss Universe (at that point, Sushmita Sen), everyone with even the faintest trace of fame shadowing him or her seemed to form part of her immensely talented family tree, irrespective of how tortuous the path of ancestry appeared to us. Others used to laugh at this tendency of hers the moment her back was turned but were either too timid or too tender-hearted to tell her exactly what they had to say about this silly habit.

Strangely enough, she is not a rare instance. After several years of my pitifully plain and plebeian existence, I've come to be acquainted with numerous variations and specimens of this type. Several of them being educated adults with sufficient potential of their own and making a name for themselves in their respective fields of work. And therefore, you would think, not likely to have to glorify themselves by such a puerile habit. Unfortunately, such reasoning doesn't help when you encounter the complex species that is human. On countless occasions, I have had to bite my lips to prevent myself from vociferating against this inclination, in order to not strain my relationship with these people, often very decent, friendly and kind from every other viewpoint. Hence, the problem remains.

However, the issue is a disturbing one, to me at least. Gone are the days when one needed to provide proof of allegiance to a certain monarch or party or to be of illustrious lineage to claim right to a job or jewel, a possession or position. Nowadays, merit is supposed to be all that counts. I remember the case of Sanjeeb Basak, a boy whose mother worked as seamstress to sponsor his education and their family needs. Our parents were overwhelmed by his dedication and determination and did their best to convey the same to us. We deciphered that it was important to be lauded for earning one's own laurels rather than falling back on the feats of others to gain appreciation in any form. Another case I recall was that of a batchmate of ours in SPHS (let's call her A), who was extremely dark-complexioned, short and painfully thin. A used to avail of the schoolbus in which I travelled and provoked immediate attention by the skimpy and faded navy blue skirt that formed part of her school uniform. In short, she looked poor and plain. But I was touched by the great awe with which a very wealthy male classmate of ours (and who, btw, I was madly in adolescent love with) used to accord to her whenever he referred to her. This was because of her record in academics, which was scintillating. I myself have been at the receiving end of such bizarre difference in treatment when I shifted from MHS to SPHS. At my previous school, most (not all) classmates were from stinking rich families who distributed pencil torches with their ward's name carved on it on her birthday and viewed with disdain commoners like me who received a mere Rs 10 as pocket-money for a school fete or who, along with her sibling, carried a torn and tattered bag to school for several months at a stretch simply because their father lacked the time (not money) to go get them new ones. I felt I had come home when I moved onto SPHS. Everyone respected me only in terms of my academic performance, which was by a great stroke of luck, good. I therefore still consider the latter my true alma mater.

I diverge. The point is that when someone name-drops, it immediately gives you an impression of the way they perceive people. Not as friends or relatives or good or gifted or graceful. But as of being either potentially useful or useless to themselves in their climb up the socio-economic ladder. These are a different category of snobs. Parasitic and piteous. They thrive on their connections and networks for giving value to their own selves. They measure you in terms of set standards of the branded clothes you buy or the people you disco with or the car you whizz by or the profile of the company you work in and the salary you receive. Neither do they evaluate your intrinsic merit nor do they treasure your integrity as a person. They are too busy dropping names (in all possible ways) of the inside scoop on important things and persons (thanks to their contacts) to bother about such things as possess sterling worth.

I'm not being vitriolic. I really feel sorry for them. I was watching 'Luck By Chance' yesterday and it suddenly struck me that the Greek concept of 'Anagnorisis' still holds water. Only, some people are too busy and un-blessed to attain it. In time.