Faces

As the bus comes to a halt, you scamper and hurry to get in. The peak hour traffic is building and the bus gets crowded with every approaching stop as people scurry and squeeze in. Sandwiched between people, as you struggle to maintain your backpack, wallet, ticket and the change given back by the TC, you spot the Face.

The same aquiline nose, the same brows, the same hairstyle, the same eyes. A sudden smile of recognition lights up your face, and on an impulse you call out,"Hi Dd! It's so good to see you again!" Imagine your embarrassment when the Face looks back blank, without a trace of recognition - only to make you realize that it's not the friend you thought it was! (and in a crowded bus caught in traffic, where people have nothing better to do than hang on and balance themselves, you have provided some comic relief :-| ) You try to salvage the situation by smiling impishly, and mumbling an apology. The Face is someone else...and when you think of it, it does make sense. Your friend, Dd, is nowhere near town, in fact she's not even in the country! Then how the hell did the Face trick you into believing it was her, and making a fool out of yourself? 

How many times does it happen to you that you 'think' you spotted Faces you know in the most unlikeliest of places? How many times do Faces, Noses, Eyes and Hairstyles trick you - almost till you call out the person! Your Professor from Powai in the lane next to your home, your friend (who's in Pune) at a bus stop near Kurla? The friendly clerk from your Chembur college in a lift at your Bangalore office? Your Manager (from Bangalore) at a temple near Dadar? Most of these 'oh-i-thought-its-someone-i-know' moments span geographies, time zones and (yes) logic! :-P

What is it with Faces and associations that make you jump to conclusions? Remember the email that was doing the rounds some time back, about being able to read words even if they were misspelled (but the first and last letter were kept intact)?
Wonder if that's the sort of thing which our brain does with Faces as well? If the eyes/nose/hairstyle/features look familiar, we decide the Face is the person we know - without taking into account the location, the time, the context or (yes again) logic! :-P

Direction-less

PS: This is a "pre"-script...(no idea if such a word exists, merely had to warn you that this is one of those TOTALLY random posts I often come up with, and one that you can choose to safely ignore...plus it also rhymes with the usual "post"-script PS)

Have you ever felt lost? As if you are in the middle of a vast desert with dunes and dunes of yellow sand stretching away on all sides...As if you are stranded on a tiny island with miles of blue ocean staring at you till as far as you dare to gaze... As if you are in the middle of a crowded street, standing on the divider with vehicles buzzing past at full speed in both directions - caught like a deer with headlights in its face, rigid, incapable of action...

As if you have been given a map without any specific destination, a map that seems to change directions randomly at will...As if you are caught in some weird time-warp and everything seems to go on either in slow motion or in fast forward mode...you are either just dragging away the day routinely doing stuff you are supposed to do or are whirring away in your own sweet world at fulll speed, your thoughts sometimes switching at the speed of light, quite oblivious to what's happening around you...

But then again, isn't this what they told you is supposed to happen - that the journey is more important than the destination itself?
Maybe, perhaps it is true...that being direction-less is indeed a blessing...but at this point, all I badly need is a compass and the safety of relying on that li'l black pointer...

Random Ramblings

I am writing something after ages...not as much due to the busy schedule and blah blah as much due to my laziness...:-)

Disclaimer: (Should be read as "Statutory Warning") - This one may seem full of cliched gyaan and highly over-the-top for some (read "most") of my friends. ;-)
I highly recommend skipping this post and waiting for a better one! (in case I decide to publish this)

Well, if you are still reading this, here's a set of absolutely random ramblings from the past 6 days - things I did/didn't do - thoughts I had/didn't have - some may not even make any sense and seem (rather they ARE!) totally out of context.

1. Your family is THE BEST GIFT you have ever got/ever will get.

I can never be enough grateful for a wonderful,understanding and supportive family - all of whom pamper me silly (well, they always do but the dumbo (dats moi) had self-realization).
Love you people!


2.Sometimes, you find humour in some of the most unexpected and unlikely of places/books/events.

I had sworn I will not read another Chetan Bhagat book after the crappy "One night @ the call center"...but circumstances in the past 6 days, forced me to read "2 states" (I had no access to any other book immediately and had entire 2-3 days to kill).
2 states is 2 goooddddd - it had me rolling,guffawing,snorting and rollicking with laughter - so much so that when I was reading the climax (and had a heavy blanket draped around me) my Mom asked me whether I was shivering!!! (hey folks, this is a true incident...trust me ;-) )
It helped me tide over the initial shock of the hospitalization and the initial two days... :-)


3. It is better to just let go - let go of prejudices - let go of grudges - let go of expectations - let go of fear - just let go!


4. A higher qualification may not always give you higher common sense!

My nurse had tons of common sense - much more than the trainee doctor who pierced my right arm twice in search of a vein (unsuccessfully each time...wonder whether that's the reason why doctors "practice" (no offense please!) )
Anyways, she suggested that we should try the left arm instead - that way she will be able to eat her food by herself...
Good old common sense - hope we get more of that!


5. You need not worry about a thing BEFORE it actually happens.

Well, this may sound strange, but if you know that you have a blood test scheduled in 4 hours, it's better to block all thoughts of it till the time it actually happens- else you tend to feel the pain a hundred times during the 4 hours you spend dreading the test when in reality you needed to have faced it only once i.e when it actually happened.
Again, common sense!


6. Friends are the Next BEST GIFT you ever got/will ever get.

Played "Yaaron Dosti" in a loop... :-) Guess my "sorry & thank-you ki dukaan" can never ever find a substitute for friendship...
I couldn't have gotten past these 6 days without your moral support - Deedums, AM, Gayu, Sush, Harshada(plural) (sorry for the PJ;but guess that tells you am back to normal ;-) ),GL,Kanchi, Chitra,Anu,MB, AJ, DVB, Tree Trunker, Sandy, SK, PP(the official ASC Cult Secy) and all my friends who called/missed call/SMSed ...
:-) :-) :-)


7. Well, I accept, this one's a bit over-the-top... Sometimes all you need is a "divine" little signal.

I know (at least MD will say so!)this sounds like the gyaan the sadhu/baba on the "Aastha TV" show your grand-mom watches @ 6 AM in such a loud volume that the songs/keertans enter BANG into your head :-)
But couldn't help writing this one although can't bring myself to write about the exact incident...but I guess you got the point.


8. All manual labour is dignified.

Sadly, not every one thinks so. It's time we learnt to respect and recognize their presence - not merely assume that no one has walked past your desk,or move away under the pretext of being thirsty - when the janitor comes to clean it.


9. OK, this stuff is getting sentier and graver - fear not, I have no more gyaan to baato-fy.
Just one thing - F.R.I.E.N.D.S Roxxxxxxxxx - TOTALLYYYYY !!!!! :D :D :D

Well, Congo - you have managed to reach the end of my ramblings (for today) ;-) Hope you are still sane and sound. :-P
I promise not to get freaky and belt out another one of these (soon).
Till then, ciao!!!