Thursday, January 24, 2008

ok, i admit -my memory sucks!

When the mind stretches to a new level, it never goes back to its original dimension. Never mind who said this, but when it does, I think there might be some tears in the fabric, causing some facts to leak out of the brain. Ok, this is a mad theory I cooked up to defend the bare truth that my memory sucks! And this lack of retention thing has lead to some embarrassing, some funny and some downright bizarre situations in my life.

Some people complain that they have a poor memory for names. And some whine that they don’t remember faces. My case is a little weird- I remember both, but not the link between them! It’s like-“I know you, but can u please tell me where do I know you from?”. .This very thing happened today morning. A guy came up to me and said “hi manasa!. Though I flashed a big smile and said “hi”, something about my face told him the truth. He gave this nasty look-“so u don’t remember me?” and walked away.. ‘uh-oh!’. Five minutes later, i get it. He was someone whom i met just a few days back and made friends with.

And then there are these far-off relatives who turn up and say “ do you recognize me? Come-on, tell me who I am..” I’m giving this really stupid smile and a blank expression which is positively shouting ‘I don’t know you!!’ , but they still keep waiting with an expectant smile for aeons. I know, it must have happened to you too!

A few weeks back, there was a classic case of ‘foot-in-the-mouth’. I was talking to a friend and had just received a taunt about my poor memory. Somewhere in the conversation, he was talking about his bike and I said “hey you own a Karizma, right? See..i do have a good memory!”. He laughed for about a minute and told me-“yeah right! But I call my bike CBZ extreme.” Oops…

Well well well, I’m not a dunce, I do know stuff. I just belong to the ‘Sherlock school of thought’. I don’t know the exact dialogue, but he says something like –“I remember only the things which are of use to me. Rest all facts can be dumped out”.

But then, I also remember all the obscure, funny dialogues from some movie called ‘bheja fry’ I saw ages back. “it’s ringing!” remember that??
hmm so the conclusion? go figure!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

early morning nonsense..

When I woke up this morning.. it was just another day.. d usual coffee, music and the “I don’t feel like going 2 college” struggle within my head. But when I finally got outside, all I could do was stare… the fog, or mist( I dunno d difference) was soo thick that my usually plain world had an eerie, ethereal look. Something from my fantasy-infested mind said-“sumthing’s going to happen today!”.
I woke up fully and looked around. The scene was just perfect-like straight out of a Harry potter movie, or a Sherlock Holmes story. I conjured up this image of Sherlock in a long billowing coat, stealthily moving down a shady London road, in a similar mist. WHY do the best things in life have to be fictious??
I wanted to turn down some winding lane and just amble about, purposelessly, waiting for something to happen.. or enter that dilapidated “haunted” house nearby just for d heck of it. I’ve been dying to take a look inside it, but some boring, prudent part of my brain said it’d rather remain dying to enter, than enter and die! Whatever..
My mind thus weaving in and out of foolish fantasies, I boarded my college bus and was jerked back into reality. No Sherlock, nothing unusual, just d same faces and the same old mundane chatter..”seen dat movie?” ..”wow! dats quite a hunk!”..umm well ..i shrugged off the foggy thoughts and sat down..”yeah, he’s cute, but he’d look a lot more ‘you know what’ in blue!!”…..

Monday, January 21, 2008

just some stuff..about che and all..

I recently started reading ‘the motorcycle diaries’ by Che Guevara himself. I’m assuming you know him-he’s got a cult following all over the world. I still remember the ‘dropped-jaw’ look on my brother’s face when I told him I didn’t know Che. “You don’t know himmmmmm??”..
I said “ok, so whaaaaattt??”, but I asked google pronto- che (Ernesto Guevara, actually) was a Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas.





After his death, Guevara became an icon of socialist revolutionary movements and a cultural icon worldwide. A photo of him has received wide distribution and modification, appearing on t-shirts, protest banners, and was called “the most famous photograph in the world and a symbol of the 20th century."

Anyways, all this, though pretty impressive, did not particularly interest me. What did, eventually, was his book, recounting his early days. I’m in the middle of this book, and he has such a refreshing take on the world. His thoughts are so young, funny and subtly mischievous even.




He studied medicine, and when he was in his final year, FINAL year!, he suddenly decided to go roaming around the world on a bike with his friend Alberto. Now that’s the height of reckless INSANITY that I can only dream of achieving!!! I mean, I get frustrated with my college too, but my detours are limited to a movie, perhaps, or a spin round the city with my friends. But then, I can’t even imagine in my wildest dreams doing any of the things Che did.

Traveling hundreds of miles on a motorcycle with meager belongings, meeting strange people, doing all kinds of works to get money and spending nights in just anybody’s place, sneaking out in ships…and goodness knows what else he’s done .. wowww ..not my idea of traveling, but it’s quite fun, reading about it.

Well go read the book! You’ll enjoy it!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

homeostasis..

do u know why it's so hard 4 us to move out of our comfort zones n try out new stuff? (ok, i'm not talkin abt freaks or superhumans who just love doin it..just us normal ones.. )

Ever wondered why its almost impossible to acquire a gud habit or bring about a positive change in ourselves, inspite of knowing dat it's going to enrich our own life?? why in the world can't we start getting up early, or stop watching dat stupid tv, even though somewhere deep down we really want to..

It's ok..don't go blaming yourself ..we are made that way..it's all in there..in our genes!!
I've just learned that we human beings are genetically programmed ( i really hate to use the word"programmed" for humans, but it sorta suits here..) to resist change and maintain a state of equilibrium. This condition is homeostasis..it evolved as a means by which our anestors could survive constantly changing conditions. I know mother nature did it for our best, but this stupid thing works even when more favourable conditions exist!

Hmmm..now that i know this what do i do..obviously, can't wait for us to evolve in order to counter this..we have evolved enough..(more than enough, look at the population explosion!!) So now it's upto us to control this thing. Ever since i've come to know about this, whenever i feel the inner inertia pulling me back from something i need to do..i find myself fighting the homeostatis thing. It's easier now for me to flex my will power.

Actually there's a way to use this thing to our advantage. When u want to create a positive life change, start acting on it until it becomes a habit, and this same homeo.. thing will make sure u keep doing it for the rest of your life!!

all the best!!