Its always about the people and the city...

"No." Its not just a word; it's a complete sentence in itself... This dialogue got its overdue appreciation in the hindi movie 'Pink' wherein a lawyer is trying to point out meaning of No on behalf of the protagonist and all women in general... He says this regarding consent and how a simple No is a sentence in itself in all matters of will and accord. I completely agree with it though that's not what this post is about. That's the trigger of my particular thought which got pronounced in following months after watching the movie. My thought was a complete antithesis of the point presented. Later I happen to be attending a training where it came up how one must be assertive and not hesitate when they want to say No. This is known to be a very common problem it seems that people find it difficult to say No. It maybe to reject someone's idea or proposal or in general extends to all experiences in professional and personal life. Last nail on coffi

It was between sixteen stations, or twenty-two. It was between thirty-five minutes or fifty-one. She was gauging it continuously like she always did. The daily train ride from office to work was precisely thirty-five minutes travelling through sixteen stations. She liked to calculate and reaffirm her calculations, counting stops and time traveled and left to travel. What the commute on train does to you is identifying your defined set of rules and realizing that everyone has theirs. In few weeks you figure out that you are taking the train at same time seeing same people around. You also understand their inkling towards which bogie, seat or area to take. You know the ones who read kindle, and the ones who spend time on candy crush. It’s a continuously recurring Deja Vu. Everyday is so similar in terms of people, behavior and ambiance that it’s hard to distinguish one journey from another, except today. Today was no different on all these aspects except that she had a date. She

Sequels have historically been a failure. They suffer with consequence of comparison, burden of excelling in improvement and challenge of raising the already raised bar. But here I am still. Attempting the sequel to ‘ Practical love, Actually ‘ Partly because many asked me to complete or alter the story, but mostly because the die-hard romantic in me says if it’s not a happy ending, it’s not over. So I attempt to write the story further. I am alarmed and jostling between what should happen hence- should I write through my hopelessly romantic ink or shall I splatter my overtly practical self? Let’s see. This is what happens… Have you done it? I feel there are many people who have. So, have you done this to yourself….telling and bewaring yourself about something before you go ahead and do it? It’s not the normal stance of caution or word of concern you get or give yourself. It’s more like a statement you will make in future when you will be talking about this day in hindsight. S

He said he was old school while she was ‘the new age kid.’ He said she was a little stupid but nice; she said he was too nice and needed to be a little stupid at times. This was not a love story from the books but in a way it was very bookish. Opposites attract. The simple guy falls for the chirpy girl while the zealous girl likes the simplicity and hesitation that she thought all her male friends lacked. They were friends, are friends. He knew her and the guy she was in love with – the college romance that had blossomed into destination living in. He also witnessed the ebbing away of love by long distance… And then they became animals of conversation. They would sit all night talking about purpose of life. Well a correction. She would rant all night. Asking questions and answering them and then analyzing, proving and questioning the proof. He just listened and then somewhere, the chatty voice slipped in with the sound of clock hands signalling time ticking away, stealing away th

"It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?" I've had chills down my spine every time Will Smith narrates this in the movie' Pursuit of happyness' It has been the kind of feeling, or rather a hunch wherein I felt totally in agreement of what he says without knowing or rationalizing it. Cut to a recent self ranting and later me watching this movie again today. I finally had a closure. A closure not in ways of finding a solution or way out of this argument but in fact in terms of why I felt the same way. The incident goes like this... I was on a long flight from South Africa to Dubai after a month long vacation

"Jism Ma'moon, Insaan ma'moon; this just a machine, khalli walli" The now slightly tired cop finally drove a nail in my head with his Arabic wisdom which he tried to put across in our common language. I understood what he meant, noting down the word in my head to look up later once I was in senses enough to google. It had not sunk in.  Just like everything else in my life, this realization was also delayed...I knew it was something that will have a lasting impression but I wasn't ready to internalize it as yet. I was seemingly functioning normally, knowing well it will accentuate very soon, giving a full impact. Things had slowed down but everything was happening quickly. My beloved car, which now looked nothing less than a piece of trash was blinking gloriously still in the middle of the road, royally guarded by multiple police cars while first respondents continued asking me if I felt ok. I did feel ok. I did back then at least....  After few