The Days Of Our Lives

I've moved to an underground bunker completely cut off from all civilization.

Thanks for visiting and wasting your time reading my crap.

:-)

I just don't. I have never been able to comprehend them, nor do I think I ever will be able to. A woman is just too complex a creation of God and I wonder if man possesses the ability to understand what a woman wants/expects from him. Their minds work in such mysteriously different ways.

If "Are you able to guess a woman's mind?" was a reality show on TV for men, no one would ever win (no man atleast). The contestants would just jump off the 5th floor of the building, where the shooting would be taking place, after losing all their accumulated wealth horribly. Yet, every week there would be some poor SOB trying his luck - "Such a simple show! I bet I could easily win it!!" Tsk tsk! Such over-confidence would rarely NEVER reap results. Yet, somehow this show would go on forever. Because men don't like to lose. Atleast men don't think they would lose.

I seriously think it would be easier turning gay than trying to make sense of our oppositely-gendered partners. Then, even the concept of romantic nights and boys-night-out would be same. But then, the women couples would go absolutely crazy bickering over trivial things! Ha ha...FATALITY!!

P.S.: A quote by my friend Vartika sums up relationships nicely :

"Relationships are not about being fair
They are about being there.

The fact that I write this post at about 2:30 at night must mean that it deals with an issue which is plaguing me dearly and it is rightly so. It is said that grass is greener on the other side; I completely agree with it. Infact, I've learnt that I hunger for things I do not possess (like all mortal men do) but procuring them does not end my hunger. It merely redirects itself to other greener pastures and some pastures which are not so greener than my own.

I've had a good life - infact quite a terrific life - so far. I've been at some good places and I've stood out from the crowd. At the age of 24 I've achieved quite a lot of things men do quite later in their life. I'm not stating that I stand supreme; there are lots I know personally who are way above me and who inspire me. But I lead a happy life right now. After being away from home for my college studies, I was lucky enough to land back in my hometown. I have quite a unique job - not only has it led me to work with some of the most brilliant people I have ever know, it gives me the freedom to not having to follow mindless work ethics and gives me the pride to know that I am competitively placed among my peers. I've gotten back to my hobbies which I had left for whatever reasons and I have ample time to attend to my social needs. No job is perfect, but my current one comes quite close.

Yet, I am not content. The reason eludes me somehow. Perhaps I subconsciously yearn for a alternate course of future suggested to me by family. Perhaps I am trying to make some of the aspirations of my friends, my own. The fact remains that I wish to change certain aspects of my nearly perfect life for a much more painful adventure, whose end result I am unaware of.

Many would believe that true happiness lies in being satisfied with what one has. I think the illusion of their wonderland follows the principle of Ignorance is bliss. For me, I think, its time for a change.

Labels: future, introspective, philosophy

I like VH1. I've liked it ever since I was in Bangalore doing my internship; when I was living in a house with some 12 other batchmates of mine - and we had only one TV. We all unanimously used to watch VH1. Morning, night - we used to watch it all the time. These days, I sometimes have the TV on for some background noise and what better than to watch skimpily-clad women dance about with music playing. (More of that later for me ;) )

Anyway, VH1 has some pretty retarded shows related to musicians (which is probably because musicians are supposed to make music; not talk about their homes and all), an exception being 'Pimp My Ride' (I dunno why they show it on VH1 though). Today, I just switched to VH1 and saw this show called 'The White Rapper Show' (I'm sure it has a shady inspiration behind it). This show had some 10 white guys/gals pretending to be the next (you guessed it) 'White Rapper' (sheesh!!)

The 10 of them were split in 2 groups and had to go about their ghetto doing rap infront of the local black boys and some old grandpas probably wanting to catch up on some sleep and being rudely interrupted by these bozos making sure not only did they not let them sleep but also tortured them by making them listen to their 'talent'. The only saving grace - one of them did seem like the next Eminem;he dressed like him too. And at night, they showed the 'rappers' getting right in the characters by getting completely drunk and calling each other the N* word. Wow. This show is sure to take away the 'idiot' from the idiot box!!

If only it ended with that, this post would not have been there; but no, like all reality shows, there had to be an elimination round - in which 1/2 the 'pennywises' were confined to a room (which was all white...ZOMG, can this show get any worse?!) and made to write lyrics to be recited rapped in front of the I-have-no-expressions-whatsoever host/judge. To think the Enimem wannabe would easily stand out was an understatement; it seems our wannabe friend didn't write any lyrics at all (WTF!), which made the host/judge blurt out explicits and make completely brainless outbursts such as 'This is not a game!' (Really Einstein??)

All in all, good stuff. My faith in the retarded-ness of reality shows is completely reinstated. Which brings me to the second part of my post (read the title carefully). A word to the producers who pour money in this garbage - "The next you feel like putting your extra dollars to good use, GIVE IT TO ME!!" (I'll give you a hug in return.)

How else can you pick up and throw cows at police cars (and unsuspecting, innocent pedestrians) at 4 in the morning?!!


[The Incredible Hulk - Ultimate Destruction]

Labels: why i love video games

I've come to realize now that carefree days end when one starts earning. It really is a world which is dictated by money, and most of the time it is a 15-rounds match between money and happiness. Heres my take on the 'why'.

During school and college days, one hardly used to care about saving any money, since good ol' mom and dad used to provide a steady monthly pocket money. It was that steady minuscule income which kept things carefree, since all the (also minuscule) demands were met by that. But once you start earning your own money, your demands would go up - the latest cellphone/laptop, a big LCD TV, a nice car, etcetera etcetera. Not only that but (somehow) all these expenses get added on; like petrol costs, grocery costs, eating-out costs and lavish birthday/raise/promotion/anniversary treats. Hence, proper monetary management can no longer be ignored.

And then one gets to hear about friends/colleagues investing in the stock market and making profits (nobody talks about making losses though. ;) ) And, on surfing channels during the IPL breaks, all you would hear about was the rising inflation. Thats when the realization strikes that just saving money would not cut it; even your already-earned money would need to grow.

Thats when the stock market comes into the picture. But to be a 'clever' investor, one must monitor it continuously. It is your hard-earned money after all. So, endless hours in front of the computer screen are spend looking at numbers and analyzing charts. Add that to the hectic money-earner job hours and hours spent per day on miscellaneous grown-up day-to-day surviving activities and there you have it folks - the end of carefree days.

(And all this while not even considering marriage into the picture, nor raising kids! Egads!!)

Ending thoughts: Theres a popular joke which mentions how much better life would be if it were in reverse - starting with old age, moving on to raising kids and earning money, and then to being in college/school, running around as little kids and finally ending up as a foetus in a womb. How I couldn't agree more.

I write about movies all the time so a post about a video game shouldn't seem too far off. As I've mentioned before, I absolutely adore a well told story. Most video games are too bang-bang to focus on a good story but there comes along one in a while which puts good fiction novels to shame. And since as a gamer, you get to be an interactive part of the story, it makes the experience unforgettable.

Take the case of Bioshock, a video game released last year. I've been playing it for a while (the hard part is just getting started; its impossible to put down) and it has completely sucked me in. Bioshock, in short, is about an underwater utopia gone horribly wrong. The protagonist is a mysterious figure by the name of Jack who survives a plane crash over the Atlantic and discovers an (erstwhile) underwater haven called Rapture. Conceptualized by the objectivist Andrew Ryan, Rapture was intended as a self sufficient sanctuary comprising of the best and brightest individuals whose creativity/brilliance would not be held back by socio-political constraints.

I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?

No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose...
Rapture.

Andrew Ryan

As Jack, the gamer gets to explore this world and piece together its history. Might I add, Rapture, itself, is hideously beautiful.

Being a game, of course, Bioshock has its fair share of enemies jumping at you left-right-and-center but what makes this game truly unique are two particular character types - called 'Big Daddy' and 'Little Sister'. Big Daddies are creatures who, due to being fitted inside irremovable metallic body armour, resemble enormous deep-sea divers; their only sole objective being to protect the Little Sisters. The Little Sisters are small (very cute looking frock-wearing) girls who wander about Rapture collecting genetic-enhancing bio-material (or something like that). Deeply twisted storyline, huh? Anyway, after defeating the hard-as-nails Big Daddies, the player has to choose between either freeing the little girl or killing her. And here is where comes morality into play. Does one go the righteous way or commit sin, thereby earning more points?

And that, in a gist, is Bioshock. Three cheers to game makers who treat their audience as mature and intelligent beings, and who have the creativity to envision such an unforgettable experience.