White, Red, Brown, Green, and Everything in Between

Being an introvert, I have been trying to avert crowds all my life. So when it comes to travelling, it is always a tough call to choose between the more popular destinations versus the ones less explored. After quite a bit of brainstorming, we chose to explore Arunachal Pradesh - the land of dawn-lit mountains.

This was an epic road-trip of 8 days and over 1,200 km. We started from Guwahati airport and visited Bhalukpong, Bomdila, Tawang, Dirang, Nameri, and ended our trip in Guwahati. The Northern Arunachal Pradesh region is sensitive due to proximity to Indo-China border, and is strategically important being the only road through which the supplies are delivered to the Indian army at Indo-China border. Therefore, there is a heavy army presence throughout the region.

Here, the Sun rises typically at around 4:30 a.m. and sets at around 4:30 p.m. Due to the hilly roads, we had to start our journey early morning and be on the road almost all day to cover the distance and reach our next stop before it got dark. This could easily qualify as one of the most difficult terrains to be driving in. Border Roads Organization (BRO) workers were at work relentlessly to keep this highway functional among numerous landslides. The patience, skill, and presence of mind of drivers to co-operate and let others pass by also play a huge role in keeping these roads from getting clogged.

Road-trips like this give you a lot of time to reflect. It was a road-trip of silent contemplation and inward reflection for me, and it gave me enough nudge to get over my writer's block.

We passed by the helipad in Baisakhi. We heard sounds of practice gunfire a couple of times. Enroute, we also visited a few war memorials, teaching and reminding us about the price of the freedom.

The region is filled with rivers, lakes, hills, valleys, waterfalls, snow, clouds, monasteries, stupas, and flags. The mountains are home to huge pine trees, rhododendrons, snow-clad peaks, some bare sharp rocks, boulders, and some sandy ones. Trees that are arranged so dense and in almost symmetrical manner as if God painted this canvas himself. Each frame was picture-perfect. This is truly a paradise for a landscape photographer.

Buddhist monasteries, rotating drums with the chants embossed in Monpa language, and flags fluttering in the wind are typical of Arunachal Pradesh. The Buddhist monasteries have a serene and peaceful aura. Some of these were also educational institutions and hostels where some young monks were playing around. The chants are printed on flags as well. Locals consider it sacred tying the flags as high as possible; the more wind they catch the better it is considered. Different colors and chants printed on the flags signify different things like peace, memory, valor etc.

Living in such terrain is a pure bliss. At the same time, survival here is no joke. It takes a lot of hard work to do basic chores here. Life at such places is a testament of mankind's will to survive no matter what. Hailing from the bustling city, we might think that such unpredictable weather and life conditions can easily make someone harsh and unpleasant. On the contrary, the grit of the locals in the face of adverse situations, and yet their audacity to stay grounded, warm, and kind intrigued me the most. It reminded me that, after all, it may not be that complicated to stay simple.

After cherishing all the moments during our onward journey to Tawang, it was then time to start our journey towards home. Gazing out of the window of our car while passing through the same route as our onward journey, I started recognizing the hills, rivers, bridges, and waterfalls as if I had made friends with them. This, mixed with soothing music was the recipe for philosophical 'high' for me.

As we crossed Sela Pass at the height of 13,700 ft from the sea level, we passed a stretch where we were literally driving through the clouds with a very little visibility. The quirky road safety slogans and quotes by BRO were our constant companions throughout the journey, I have included some at the end of the blog.

The sheer amount of imaginative vision it would have taken to build roads here still amazes me, not to forget about the architectural finesse that must have gone into planning and execution of making of this highway which is the only road connecting Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of India. The mountains are enormous in size and we have scratched their surfaces to carve roads here. You keep spiralling up and down on a mountain and keep looking at the adjacent hill facing your window till you reach a pass, and then you do it all over again with the next hill.

The lights were playing hide and seek with the peaks and valleys. Witnessing this was a mesmerizing and almost a spiritual experience. It humbles you and makes you realize how tiny we are in front of nature.

P.S.:

Some BRO slogans and quotes which made this rather long journey engaging and fun:

• Excellence doesn't happen by accident, it is a process
• On the bend, slow down friend
• Stop accidents before they stop you
• Alert today, alive tomorrow
• Speed and safety never meet
• Normal speed meets every need
• Start early, drive slowly, reach safely
• Better late than never
• Speed thrills but kills
• Feel the curves, don't hug them
• Go gentle on my curves
• Haste makes waste
• Peep peep, don't sleep
• Check your nerves on my curves
• Speed is a knife that cuts life
• Donate blood but not on road
• It is better to be Mr. Late than Late Mr.
• Safety at road, safe tea at home
• This is a highway, not a runway
• Simplicity is the peak of civilization
• The best view comes after the hardest climb
• Love safety, marry rules, divorce speed
• After whisky, driving risky
• We cut mountains, but we connect hearts.

Resilience and Comfort Zone

For a long time now, I have been feeling incomplete, tired, lost, and lethargic. Many of us are. And we have the pandemic to blame for most of it. The never-ending lock-downs, working from home, managing the health of ourselves and the loved ones - we have been dodging the attacks at multiple fronts (or at least we are trying).

It is a fact that life is not fair, and even though deep down we know our true potential, we seldom are able to actualize it. However, when you can't fly, you got to crawl. So, the real test of our resilience and grit in such times is in understanding what we can make out of the life that is given to us. And it can never be the same for two people.

In the moments like this, we realize that we are the only backup we have got in this multi-front war. This realization can be scary, but it can be liberating as well.

photo credits: https://www.ey.com/

You see, the human psyche is a funny thing. We long for the change and resist the change at the same time. We get uncomfortable when something new happens, and eventually, we get ridiculously used to it. We get so comfortable in the confines of our circumstances that we deny looking out of it. Even when we know that there are treasures of life that lie outside of our comfort zone, we simply don't want to try to reach out.

We get trapped in this bitter-sweet place called comfort zone with our souls still dreaming of bigger and better things outside of it. And this makes us extremely unhappy and helpless. Eventually, many people, in fact, forget and forego the feelings of dissatisfaction and stay where they are; for them, their comfort zone is their safe place.

But for those who can't let go of their bigger desires and ambitions, the interesting catch is that their comfort zone is not constant. For them, their comfort zone is like a room with its walls closing in on them. They feel more claustrophobic and powerless with each passing day and feel that eventually, their comfort zone would consume them.

If you are one of them, please know that it is not true. You just need to muster all your strength and punch one of the walls of your comfort zone real hard. And well, keep punching until you make a big hole in one of those walls. Sure, your knuckles will get sore and may bleed in doing this. But then also remember that you possess a double-edged sword called resilience. And here is a funny thing about resilience - it is the very thing that helps us adapt to a change and throws us into a comfort zone with seemingly no way out in the first place, and it is also the only thing that can help us tear through the walls of the comfort zone.

Don't be afraid of getting tired before you actually do. Remember to recharge yourself. And if you do get tired, remember that you are packing more reserve fuel than you think. It is a war to be fought within. And while the bright light at the end of the tunnel can be distant, there is a warrior's pride (or ego I may say) to satisfy with each small battle won, and that would give you almost instant gratification as you start moving.

As someone has truly said, remember that resilience is a muscle, it can atrophy and hypertrophy, and luckily it is entirely up to you what you make of it :)

The Great Little Experiences in Vietnam

2018 has been one of those years when I mostly kept wondering that why this year existed on the calendar at all, until very recently, when I found out why.

One more solo trip added in my travel bucket - Vietnam. The underdog destination, which is not usually in the 'to do' list of most of the Indian tourists, I sincerely don't know why. I am glad that I chose it, for several reasons.

Much has been said about the places to visit and stuff to do in Vietnam. This blog is not about that. It is about those experiences which made my trip truly awesome.

During the trip, I met people from United States, England, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Israel, Denmark, Australia, Chile, India (Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra), and Vietnam of course.

Nice group of welcoming westerners:

During a walking tour organized by my hostel in Hanoi, I met a bunch of European and American people. Being an introvert person that I am, I did not start conversation with anyone. It was them who drew me into the chat while having famous Vietnamese egg coffee at a cosy little cafe. The things which usually matter while striking an "impressive" conversation with a stranger back in India - appearance, clothes, looks, fluency in English etc. - to my disbelief, did not matter there at all. And once you start talking to people, you realize that they are, in many ways, same as you. They also wanted to interact and be a part of it, and make their time worthwhile, just like I did. And once you break the ice, you know that everyone wants to talk, and it is so easy to do that, contrary to how difficult we imagine it to be in our heads.

A young German couple:

When I first met them at my hostel in Hanoi, this perfectly-made-for-each-other guy and girl from Germany appeared to be just about same as other European people whom one meets during such backpacking trips. The guy had a full beard, and both of them looked quite matured, but were only 22 and 20 years old. As I interacted more with them during our trip to Halong bay, I came to know that they were much different than what I made of them by first image. They were indeed very matured for their age, quite unlike the people I know back in India who are of similar age. Among the group of people with drink-till-you-pass-out kind of attitude during our Halong bay tour, talking with this couple about their responsible career choices, and choice not to drink/practicing responsible drinking felt very genuine.

German guys in hostel room:

There were 2 guys in my hostel room in Hanoi. They were having a general chat which I was not even a part of, as I was resting. Soon, I found out that both of them were German, but were still talking in English just because I was in that room, so that I didn't feel left out. This made me compare my experiences with people back in India (in Hyderabad and Maharashtra) which were polar opposite to this experience. In India, people often talk in their regional language purposefully to keep someone out of the conversation. They often talk nasty things about the other person in their presence, but in the language that the person doesn't know, and also feel proud of themselves for having done that. We need to improve folks.

The Vietnamese:

I travelled by flights, trains, buses, taxis, and bike taxis, rode motorbikes and bicycles, rowed a kayak, walked on the streets, struggled a bit finding vegetarian food options, and blew nitrous oxide balloons in Vietnam, but did not have any unpleasant experience. I might have been lucky to have met almost all nice people on the trip. But, I have read some other travellers' unpleasant experiences as well. Also, I have been to Hanoi, Halong bay, Hue, and Hoi An cities only, and stayed there only for 10 days. So, I can't really generalize, but I would like to generalize to some extent.

-- While many westerners consider cleanliness an issue in Vietnam, I feel the opposite, for obvious reasons. I found the public places (e.g. Hanoi railway station), hostels, and roads very clean. Though some places were also dirty, but still they were either cleaner than or almost as dirty as those in India. So, I have not much to complain about cleanliness.

-- Almost all the Vietnamese people I met were very welcoming and friendly in nature. Especially, those in smaller towns (Hue and Hoi An) appeared more warm and welcoming than those in big cities (Hanoi). The hosts at my hostels in Hue and Hoi An were real gems, especially the lady at the homestay in Hoi An. She had an amazing work ethic, always smiling face, and willingness to walk an extra mile to help others. She treated her guests like one of her own. These people, despite living in small town, and not being particularly rich, maintained their homes in a very decorative and asthetic way. Their way of life was both humbling as well as inspiring.

-- Language was bit of a barrier in Vietnam. However, young people in Vietnam who could speak even a bit of English, always made a very good friendly conversation. Middle-aged men in my train coach from Hanoi to Hue, a software engineer whom I met at the office of a travel agency in Hoi An (who had a similar passion for travelling as me), 2 university teachers who became friends with me during the train journey from Hue to Hanoi, and an automotive engineer whom I met at Hanoi airport - all of them talked with me very openly without any prejudices, the likes of conversations which I hardly ever had before while travelling.

Made new friends:

Well, I always read and heard people talking about making new friends on such trips, but I always doubted its feasibility. And I am very happy that I was wrong after all, for I made 3 new genuine friends on the trip. A journey bonds people in a way that nothing else does. And when I think about my social awkwardness back at home, all these seem to be unreal. Friends are made by the stroke of destiny perhaps.

Personal growth:
-- As a non-drinker, non-smoker, I felt a bit out of place in the drinking and partying culture on Hideaway Island (Halong bay). While it is easy to withdraw from the place and sleep in the room, sticking around for a while keeps you going. While smoking and drinking might certify you to be a part of "cool" group, not drinking and smoking doesn't make you unfit to be hip.

-- Of all the voyages I have done, this one was by far the most enriching in terms of meaningful human interaction. During my trip to Thailand last year, I hardly made much effort to interact with people. Even during this trip, I noticed that I was not talking to the fellow passengers during my onward flights to Vietnam, but was talking with mostly everyone around in Vietnam and while coming back to India.

-- It is so strange that we can talk freely with strangers from other parts of the world, but can't do the same with the people of close proximity. For instance, in my last connecting flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in which most of the people were from my own state (Gujarat), again the prejudices, judgements, and pre-conceived notions came into play, and I did not talk with anyone, neither did they.

-- I also realized the best thing about solo travel, which was till now only a theoretical concept for me - that only while travelling solo, you can interact so freely with other people. It is hardly possible if you are travelling in a group.

Experiencing natural beauty, culture and traditions of the locals and their way of life, and tasting the local cuisine are usually what such trips are set out for. This trip did all of that and more for me. It enriched me, and added a layer of perspective to my being.

Vietnam is beautiful, and so are the Vietnamese. I so want to go back there :)

An Open Letter to Policymakers of India

And it was announced - the Union Budget 2018. Highlights and figures are already all over the media. So, without going into the numbers, I will focus on 'What's for me in it?' Well, I may sound selfish by doing 'me'-centric analysis, but then who isn't selfish – at least I am being honest.

Sorry in advance for the length.

To clarify few things:

• I have never been a dedicated follower of news channels and debates.
• I condemn politics.
• I am often more cynical than optimistic.
• My name is 'Hardik Patel', but I condemn every kind of reservation.
• By far, I have always voted for BJP either due to faith or due to lack of better options. But, I am neither a 'bhakt', nor otherwise.
• I belong to a salaried middle-class.

I understand that no government can make a 130-crore population happy. In a democratic country like ours, me being on the unhappy side doesn't matter as much as the fact that how many are on the happy side does. And by 'how many', I do not mean just the numbers, I mean the magnitude of tax payers.

Photo credits: https://sbitutorials.com

I have some important questions to ask:

• By announcing schemes for agricultural and rural development, whom are you trying to please? The farmers? Good. I am fine with that. But were we not already paying Krishi Kalyan Cess (before GST)? Anyway.
• You announced the biggest healthcare scheme which would cover 'the poor', which by the way are 50 crores (out of 130 crores). This obviously doesn't cover middle-class people like me, who pay the highest tax, to whom no relief was given. Tax slabs were untouched. The fixed deduction of 40,000 INR is also nothing but just 'jaggery on the elbow', as it is in lieu of medical and transportation reimbursement which already constituted 30,000 INR.
• Whatsoever small savings the middle-class people do in equity, you introduced a tax at 10% on that too, as if the tax slabs were not unjust enough.
• In simple mathematical terms, % itself is a relative phenomenon. So, equal % of tax for any income would levy a higher or lower amount of tax to the individual proportionate to their income. Then what is the need of slabs, and why a high-earning individual is supposed to pay more tax?

I have the answer. To provide the freebies to the so called 'poor', and thereby creating (and reinforcing) the vote bank.

• You also increased stamp duty on some imported goods. This will also make basic necessities such as mobile phones costlier for us.
• On the top of everything, I do not understand the need of 150 crores budget for Gandhi's 150th anniversary. Are the living countrymen less important than one overrated dead fellow?

All in all, as I understand, we (the middle class people) are supposed to:

• Pay maximum taxes,
• Give up subsidies,
• Stand in long queues for your dictatorial non-productive decisions like demonetization,
• Pay more for everything due to GST,
• Pay more for fuel because it is not covered under GST,
• Be preached maximum about keeping India clean,
• Make all the efforts to keep India clean, and still pay Swaccha Bharat Cess (before GST) even on internet packs,
• Gain less from bank deposits and provident funds (thanks to demonetization),
• Gain less from real estate (thanks to demonetization),
• Gain less from equity (thanks to the new LCGT),
• Pay for our houses, education, healthcare and all other expenses on our own,
• Hear the lectures on patriotism from 'bhakts' while criticizing any policies by current government, and
• Always remain ‘middle-class’.

So that you can give gas connections, healthcare, and even houses for free to the few.

You claim to improve the overall economy of the country, and hold the fiscal deficit of the country, which is very good. We are willing to contribute to that.

You claim the budget to be oriented towards ‘easy to live’ principle, but for whom? Why do you want to please one set of people by taking away from another set of deserving people who contribute the most to the economy?

Isn't this (for lack of better term) exploitation?

I do not have anything against the farmers or the poor. But these acts of yours are only making me apathetic towards the pain of the less privileged, whom I am supposed to consider 'brothers and sisters' by the 'National Pledge' which I read my entire childhood on the first page of all text books while studying. You are indirectly promoting classism.

Exploitation of the middle-class is not something new that this government is practicing, you may argue. Well, you are right. But the sad thing is that the current government is continuing the trend of previous governments, and thereby contributing heavily to my pessimism.

Again, this is a debatable topic, and I might not understand fancy economic statistics. But, I understand the sentiment based on what is practically in front of my naked eyes. I bet majority of the common population judge the governments by the visible outcomes than by their electoral manifestos. I may not be able to see the long-term picture or the so called 'vision'. But, so do you. You also seem to be more worried about short-term upcoming political events focusing only on your tenure.

I know that this letter will only be seen as a negative outrage, and nothing more. The exploitation of middle-class will prevail as always.

• Because we are so busy earning our breads, and rightly so.
• Because we have to be ready and equipped to face potential exploitations in future as well.
• Because we can only show our outrages in debates and social media platforms for a short duration.
• Because we suffer from chronic short-term memory loss.
• Because we get accustomed to each and every situation.
• Because we get so easily carried away in the name of (pseudo) patriotism.
• Because we are seriously short of genuine options to vote for, and you are leveraging on that fact.
• Because after every such discussion, we do not reach to any conclusion.
• Because we truly believe in 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' (My India is great) due to our inherent respect for our nation, but we are now growing skeptical about 'Saare Jahan se accha Hindustan hamara' (India is the greatest in the world).
• Because we are gradually and systematically losing all the points to pursue the youngsters to take active interest in ‘constructive politics’, because it simply doesn’t exist.
• Because I can no longer judge a person for their lack of love for nation when they move to abroad for better future.
• Because the fact that this country is still in working condition despite this dysfunctional political dynamics, inclines me to believe in God.

I rest my case.

An Open Letter From A Liberal to Fellow Liberals

I am Hardik. But the world hardly seems to be interested in the name. Every damn form asks me my native, my religion, my caste, and my gender. Are all these things that important? Well, I don't really think so. But then because everyone seems to be so interested in these details, I thought to dwell into it for a moment.

What could be the reason for my native, religion, caste, and gender to matter so significantly compared to who I am? May be because I was not born as who I am. I wasn't born as 'Hardik', the nomenclature was done later. Rather, I was born a Gujarati; I was born a Hindu; I was born a Patel; and I was born a male. So, this could be the reason they associate my identity to these titles.

Photo credits: http://wallarthd.com/

If life is a castle, and growing up is like climbing a ladder, I have reached to a certain floor of the castle where I have a window to have an aerial view. The way I see it from this window, the 'native', 'religion', 'caste', and 'gender' were my first 4 steps onto the ladder. Then there were few other steps. Then I can see 'education' and 'exposure' as the prominent steps of the ladder which are nearest to where I am standing currently.

The lower storeys of the castle until before 'education' and 'exposure' didn't have windows for me to be able to look outside. So, the journey up until then was more of a one-way traffic - a 'herd mentality' in simpler terms.

Now, as I climbed up significantly, and had the privilege of the window, I started looking out and applied logic to everything that I came across - this included questioning the validity of the first 4 steps of my own ladder.

I knew my native, religion, caste, and gender much better than any outsider could ever do. So I also knew the shortcomings of my roots better than anyone else could. I started singling out illogical things. I condemned casteism, declared myself secular and atheist (partially). I started hating regionalism. I supported feminism and condemned patriarchy too. These all were good things to do. I became a 'liberal' in true sense.

But then, as now I see that howsoever liberal I become, my 'titles' are never detached from me, albeit on paper. I am anyway a Gujju, Hindu, Patel, and a man. And also the fact that if I cut down the first 4 steps of the ladder, I will lose some altitude (read: 'identity'), and may not have the window-view then. I certainly can't afford that.

So, what could be a solution to this? To think a bit differently may be.

Can I be a Gujarati without the stereotypical traits that are often associated to the region? I think I already am.

Can I acknowledge Hinduism for all the good that it offers, and be ready to fight the perils within? Probably, yes.

Can I just accept that I am a Patel, without associating any pride or disgust with it? I think I can.

Can I be a male, proud for the right reasons about manhood? I think I'm almost there.

For I understand by now, that the world is a place full of people who more often than not, don't make sense. In such a place, if I cannot acknowledge my roots for the right reasons, and be ready for improvements within, then no one else could probably do that for me.

So, here I am. I'm Hardik. I am an atypical (yet) Gujju; a partially atheist, secular, and non-fanatic (yet a) Hindu; a Patel on paper; and an equality-seeking, non-feminist, non-patriarchal (yet a) man. I am a liberal with roots.

The world does not need educated people fighting like stray dogs over genders and religions on Facebook. The world also does not need hypocrites who in the name of 'liberalism' accept something and condemn the very thing on different occasions at convenience, and still enjoy the privileges of the same.

Our world is in a desperate need of the people who are willing to do the patchwork from within, for our world is suffering from serious internal injuries.

Hopelessly Motivated

As confusing as it may sound, but that's what I felt after reading few verses from GITA on this Independence Day and then trying to make contemporary sense out of it.

One thing that I realized is that there are multitudes of dimensions, and I got a different message from the same verses than what I got two years back while reading them.

That was about 'fear' and 'strength'. We are taught since the childhood to be strong, so that we can be fearless; and fearlessness is close enough to freedom, if not the same; and things like that.

But can one be truly fearless?

For instance, a great stuntman might appear fearless to the world, but he fears that he doesn't break his bones or suffer any injury which could potentially render him jobless. What is his greatest strength (i.e. ability to do stunts), is his greatest fear as well.

Movie-stars who sound vivaciously independent to everyone, also fear the fading of beauty, fame, and money - all of which are their greatest strengths.

Let alone the stuntmen and movie-stars, what could be the greatest fear of us commoners?

[Side note: 'Commoner' is indeed a funny term to me. It truly represents the person who is so 'common', that he/she is regarded with its comparative adjective form!!]

Being loved, accepted, and acknowledged by the world. And guess what -  failing at that, is our greatest fear too.

So can we be truly fearless? Can we let go of the layers of that fear like a snake lets go of its skin? Probably not so easily, because unlike the skin to the snake, the fear is not superficial to us. It is much more internalized - so much so that we don't ever dare to think of letting go of that fear of not being loved.

We behave well because we have a great need to be accepted by others. We pray because we feel that God will bless us. We believe in Law of Karma because we fear for the outputs of our misdeeds. And so on.

What if we free ourselves from these fears? What if we determine that our physical, mental, or intellectual beauty is not bound to the number of 'likes' we get on social media? What if we decide to pray without making a wish? What if we choose to look at the Law of Karma from a different perspective?

Theist or not, let us assume for a moment that God (or Law of Karma) exists, but is dysfunctional at the moment; and things are happening randomly. We (may but let's assume for a moment that we) are not gonna get love in kind for the love that we give out. We are not gonna get accepted as such by the world, even if we are true gems in absolute sense. And even if God is functioning properly, he somehow doesn't seem to like us; what if so? Are we okay with it? 

Do we still have the grit to face the life head on?

What if there's no freaking hope out there? Are we still up for doing our bit in the best way we can?

Rather than a religion (read: fear of God), can we learn to make our conscience as our only guide?

After losing the skin of all the fears (disguised as hopes), if at all we get what we desired to achieve at the outset, then it would be a jackpot.

But are we also willing to let go of hoping for that jackpot?

The day we become consistently-ruthlessly-hopeless-yet-motivated, will mark the Independence Day of our souls.

#FindYourFreedom

The Great Scrolling Mercurial Mess

Well, a lot has been said, debated, and argued upon pros and cons of social media; of the craving for likes; of the ease to connect and still finding difficult to be connected; of the fading realization of existence of things other than virtual reality; of frequent needs of so called 'virtual detox' and stuff like that.

I am not gonna talk about any of those, and I am not even against social media, for sometimes it is the virtual reality that keeps us going when the 'real' things fall apart.

Having said this, I have a different concern with the virtual world. I have a problem with social media for it makes us go through the plethora of emotions of vast extremes in a fraction of time. For instance, I am reading a post on patriotism for a moment, and then immediately I stumble upon a comic video, and soon on a post with righteous political outrage, followed by some gossip about celebrities, followed by some video trying hard to convince me to do some charity, all these supplemented by quirky memes, and WWE posts every now and then in between.

Well, I like them all, but damn, it doesn't let me settle for a singular feeling for a fraction of time. As I keep scrolling down, it keeps me treating as an 'emotional machine' rather than an 'emotional human being'. It turns the switches of emotions ON and OFF so fast, that I can hardly truly feel anything now. A good post will certainly leave an impact, but just for a while, for it will be washed off so quickly by some other random material being thrown at me vigorously. It's also sad because it doesn't leave a room to ponder or reflect upon anything that I just read/watched, for scrolling down is a norm and I can't be the exception. And soon before I realize, the feeling or charm of a good stuff which I just saw is long gone.

Photo credits: huffingtonpost.com

Not only the random posts appearing on the Facebook wall, it is the comments which we get to read. At times, they are hilarious, more often they are not. I remember a time when 'debate' was visualized as a picture of two groups sitting on two tables face to face, and arguing with reasonable logic and facts, either for or against the topic under discussion. Also, debates occurred on very important topics on which a reasonable contrast in opinions could be understandable. There is no such thing in the virtual debates which we witness in the comments section of almost every post on Facebook nowadays. People fight on the most random topics, often unrelated to the original material posted. And there we see a lot of extremist comments, diplomatic bystander comments, lot of abuse, personal attacks, lack of compassion, ill-informed judgementalism, and what not.

We often witness and participate in the clash of clans (e.g. clans named 'Bhakts' and 'Anti-Bhakts'). We often fall prey to believing in something which is created just by a trend, and then the bullying of people who don't follow the trend. People be sarcastic as it is 'cool thing to do' on internet.

The thing we felt while reading a post, is soon vanished as we read the comments. And no, our view is not corrected for good by reading any of the comments, it is simply clouded. For there are so many contrasting arguments that we don't really know who is talking for and who is talking against it. The whole spectrum of this weird randomness leaves us speculating what should be the message we take from the post. The answer narrows down to - 'Nothing'. And then again, as usual, we continue - scrolling.

And more often than not, we end up spending hours and hours scrolling down without gaining anything.

All these things collectively, don't let any feeling sync in well - and perhaps also makes us less compassionate, and emotionally numb in real life too. We don't have great pleasures or great sorrows, for we move on (read: scroll down) too fast from everything.

And silently but steadily, the virtual demon trespasses the realm and turns us into the 'mercurial mess' from the 'beautiful mess' we originally were.


"Well, happy scrolling" the demon says :D

Kickass Trip of a Complacent Crybaby

There are times in life when we are messed up on so many levels. We seek something, but we don't know what is that 'something' which we are truly seeking. We panic as we feel that we are alone in this struggle.

We love to travel, but we don't plan for apparently no reason at all. We crib about our current situation, but are also not ready to get out of comfort zone of the current misery. Probably because we fear a greater misery outside the comfort zone, and so we become ‘complacent crybabies’. We say that life sucks, and we are like okay about it.

It's not that the life inside us has died. It is there, alive, but veiled under the practicality, clouded by the wisdom, compromised by the reason. We often fantasize a miracle whereby one fine day, the veiled life inside us will be able to break the barriers and growl. I call it a miracle because it seems otherwise impossible to come out of that infinite loop called 'routine'. Sometimes the miracle happens, and sometimes we have to make it happen. Well, I can say I made it happen.

Thailand trip - one of the kind and a very special one for me. Special because of many things - to name a few:

·       First international trip

·       First solo trip of more than 3 days

·       First time stay at youth hostels

·       First skydive

·       First scubadive

·       First time on a ferry

·       First time rode a Mountain bike, a Jetski and an ATV

·  Met people from France, China, UK, USA, Germany, Japan, Iran, Ireland, Australia, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Dubai, India (Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Aasam, Mizoram, Bangalore, Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala, Nagaland) in a single trip.

Photo credits: myself :)

Well, here are few things which I learnt about myself, about travel, and about life from this trip:

·   Everybody is going through the exact same struggle. The transparency of it varies, that's it.

·   We might have been inspired from time to time, by reading or hearing stories about particular type of travel. But, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's our thing. I was and am inspired and fascinated by the idea of RTW trip, and travelling the globe as nomad, with minimal needs, spending few months at each place and soaking in the culture of the place. While, I still want to do that, I have understood that I don't really want to be gone away from home for a very long duration at a stretch. No, I am not homesick, but I like to get back to a place which I can call my own after some time. That's something with me. The sooner we know our genre of travel, the better we will get at it.

·    Journey begins not when you take off for your destination, but when your thoughts take off in the direction of planning a travel. It's imperative to get involved in planning our own trip, to get psyched enough about the trip, to pour our hearts into making it a real kickass travel - rather than leaving that wholly to a travel agent or someone else. I luckily stumbled upon ITHAKA, a group of driven individuals who love to make people's travel an unforgettable experience. And they planned it with me and just made that happen.

·     Solo travel, especially for a longer duration, needs a lot of courage, and it is not everybody's cup of tea.

·      Journey with a group of like-minded people will almost always be more fun than a solo one, but it doesn't mean that we should postpone life waiting for a group trip to materialize.

·    It's apt to expect a journey to be truly liberating and enriching, but expecting it to be dramatic or poetic could be disappointing.

·     Initial homesickness and cultural shock is something which fades in a day or two, so be patient.

·       Having a plan (albeit rough) is what keeps us going.

·       Keeping some snacks and water bottle in a daypack always comes in handy.

·      All airlines and airports have their own ways of doing things, so flexibility is a real need of the hour.

·     At times, we need to learn to communicate without language, which can be a true challenge.

·   Keeping the religious beliefs aside for a moment, having few reservations about food, and learning to eat anything and everything (including non-vegetarian) can make our lives easier anywhere in the globe.

·      Going out is a must thing for human brain to function normally.

·   Kicking ourselves out of the bed is a bigger struggle than most of the other seemingly more demanding physical struggles.

·   As much as we try to make most of the trip, it is not always possible and nor necessary to cover each popular spot at a destination of travel. We need to enjoy what we do, rather than regretting about what we couldn't. Same applies to our daily life.

·     Large oceans are humbling. They teach us that nature is humongous and needs to be respected.

·   Skydiving was phenomenal. The adrenaline rush of falling from an airplane and gravitating towards the ground made me realize that the nature wants us to stay grounded.

·  Scubadiving was mesmerizing. I struggled a bit with the concept they call as 'equalize' the water pressure in ears as we go deep in the ocean, else it may be deafening. Life also demands us to 'equalize' the pressures to keep ourselves balanced, else it becomes very painful.

·     As someone has said, if you can mix somewhere doesn't mean that you belong there.

·      The ordinary at home becomes luxury while we travel.

·    Having stayed at a distance from the routine boring life at home can make us value the family and same 'boring' things again when we return.

·     Travelling makes us more welcoming and accepting of people and cultures which are different than us. I realized this when I found myself talking to a guy with beard, and long hair rolled on his head and made in a shape of huge turban (not an actual turban though), and piercings in his nose. He was from Mizoram and was boarding the same flight with me at Calcutta airport. People gave him weird glances due to his appearance, and were staying away from him, or avoided talking or making an eye contact, but made sure to stare at him all the time as if he was an alien. Yes, he was kind of 'hippie' (to describe his appearance), but that adjective didn't really occur to me while talking normally with him while standing in that long queue.

Travelling adds a new dimension to my perspective every time I do it. I don't have a concluding note to this post. As travelling is an ongoing learning about ourselves, so is life - a 'work in progress' draft :)

Demonetization... Let the sanity prevail...

Well, politics is something which usually doesn't make it to my blog... But an exception can always be made when a strong government makes the lesser known words such as 'Surgical Strike' and 'Demonetization' as the top-trenders overnight...

The social media has gone berserk... The news channels have got the sigh of relief as they won't have to create artificial news items for at least few months, all thanks to NaMo...

Photo credits: qz.com

A lot has been said about positive impacts of the decision and the nationwide support which is really commendable...

However, there are few things to highlight from a different angle... (I am neither a Modi-fan nor am I anti-Modi)...

Demonetization to curb black money and corruption is a great theoretical tool... However, the actual outputs are yet to be seen...

There are high probabilities that the smart people are getting ways out of this dodgeball game successfully. The others who are not able to figure out the ways, are either burning or flushing down the black money... But due to the humongous amount of tax and penalties (tax plus 200% penalty), no black money hoarders will come in front to surrender... In such case, all such money will not come to the government and will be rendered useless... Government is not likely to get benefited out of it...

An argument is made that even if the money doesn't come to the government, its destruction will reduce the corruption... Well, this is again a doubtful reasoning... Because corruption doesn't lie in money, it lies in mentality... So even if this so called economic detox may temporarily make the bribers out of money to bribe... But it is just a symptomatic relief... and not the permanent one...

If the government tries to find out the roots of the problem that why a person tries to save tax, it is very evident that the disproportionate assets have their roots in disproportionate taxation system... The ridiculous 10, 20, and 30% income tax slabs mean that if someone is working hard and earning high, they are doing it not for themselves but just for paying higher and higher taxes... It is disheartening to see that the taxes paid by honest working class people are used to build free houses for the people who illegally occupy lands and create (and recreate) slums everywhere throughout the country... 10% of a high-salaried person is proportionately higher than 10% of a low-salaried person... As simple as that... This unjust system taking 30% income tax from high-earning individuals plants the seeds of evil ways to save taxes in the minds of the citizens... If these tax slabs are normalized for all, there will be a real economic balance...

People act from perspectives. Salaried people who are least impacted are welcoming the decision of demonetization... The ones who are impacted may or may not be saying it out loud but they are kind of pissed off... The fact is each one of us is biased depending on our own situation in current scenario...

When we talk of the 'patriotism' of the 'common man' standing in long queues... Well, not to undermine the spirit of a common man, but the fact is, it is 'imposed patriotism', not a voluntary one... Human psychology to take the credit of the situation comes down handy here... In simpler words, most of us who are praising the decision despite enduring the pain, are simply boosting their egos by conveniently proclaiming themselves as the most patriotic creature (consciously or subconsciously)...

The most worrisome part of the whole process is that there is no genuine opposition... RaGa and Kejri are not taken seriously by anyone for obvious reasons... People have revalidated their verdict of electing Modi as PM by hugely supporting Modi's decisions... It is good to see the highest majority of the country having similar opinion... Till now, it's all good... I see the problem when the people start following a leader so religiously that they don't even want to listen to any reasoning against it... I have seen Modi-fans slamming and condemning anyone and everyone who even tries to open their mouth against it even with logic... I see democracy being a bit suffocated somewhere...

All in all, we the commoners of India, even if we are not sure of the outcomes, will give a benefit of doubt, and will support our elected PM in such well-intentioned decisions... But I urge to my fellow citizens to not blindly support any leader... Let's follow the voice of reason... Let's learn to live with a logical opposition as well to keep the authorities in check... Please let the democracy prevail... Let the sanity prevail... 

'Happy'ness or 'happening'ness?

The more I think, the more I grow. The more I grow, the more I realize that - we, the man/woman-kind (not to be gender-biased here :-P) are funny creatures...

The heart wants joys which enrich soul, whereas the brain considers practical aspects, material stuff, and rationality... This is an age-old story, honestly nothing new in this which can make my blog more interesting (well, more interesting than it already is ;-) )... Therefore, this post is not about the heart vs. brain duals which we all face on a routine basis.

As many intellectuals/spirituals would put it, let's call it 'mind' now on... the entity which takes joint decision of heart and brain... the peace-maker, and the storm-creator... The thing which makes us or breaks us... The one which gives us a unique identity...

Now, what the mind needs in life? The unanimous answer would be 'happy-ness' (the spelling error is intentional - inspired by a movie 'The pursuit of happyness')... So, it sounds simple, we should do what makes us (or our mind) happy... True... But does the same thing makes us happy throughout our life? May be Yes, may be No...

Photo credits: http://cdn.shopify.com/

In a similar dilemma, there is a guy, who lives by the sea... and is a fisherman... As a small boy, he struggled a lot learning the art of catching fish... It gave him happyness to learn catching fish... Every day he struggled to get a breakthrough till one day when he finally learnt and mastered the art... And that was precisely the point when his happyness started to vanish... Few years down the line, the same thing doesn't give him happyness anymore, for he has already learnt the art of fishery... and what he does now every day is just a mundane routine...

After a thorough brainstorming, he somehow realizes that his was the passion for 'learning' the process and not the 'process' itself... Even though he used to face new levels of frustration and challenges, and hit rock bottom everyday while learning, it gave him happyness as something new was 'happening' in his life everyday...

Now as a seasoned fisherman, he just does the task as a chore for it is no longer a 'happening' thing for him... He even gets frustrated with his not-so-passionate attitude now because he feels the same urge of fire within himself which ignited him while he was learning... but sadly it is missing now...

There is this metaphorical fisherman in almost each one of us (except the rare species who has the passion for the 'process' and not just 'learning' the process)...

We struggle to be happy, and eventually get bored of stagnant happyness... We claim that we know our mind best when it will be happy or sad, and we do know it the best... We do know that it is the pursuit which makes our mind happy... But despite knowing, we fail to make it 'happening' enough for our mind to stay 'happy'... We live the rot routine till we get rotten... We are funny creatures, the most evolved yet the most primitive... Isn't it?