Disconnect & Darkness :-(

Last few days I feel a huge disconnect - between me and the world. I no longer relate to lots of things that I am supposed to- to things that would have hurt me, pained me, made me care about, made me think- even a year ago. I scoff at almost anything I see. TV shows, newspaper columns, advertisements... I can't relate to any of the stuff shown there. Agreed, most of it is junk, but still.
If that is not such a big deal then I can't relate to my friends either, it seems, they don't understand me either. Why blame them, things they discuss seem so trivial to me. Surely we shouldn't be wasting so much of our time on these topics. Discussions about relationships being an apt example.
In the past year, there have been only a handful of intellectually stimulating discussions with anyone at all. Although they have been fun, I seem to not want to argue with people most of the time. Everyone should form his or her opinions on their own. Arguing, discussing with others is a crutch that you need when you are unsure about yourself, when you need the approval of someone else to know that you are right.
As Ayn Rand put it, privacy and seclusion is a sign of human development. Since the world began, we have been moving from a herd mentality to living alone. So is this mental isolation yet another sign of progress?
I view most of the world in a disconnected way. Like I am removed from it, and that it cannot affect me. And even if it does, I don't care. I shall live through the pain.
Living up to my name I guess - 'Aniket' - it means unaffected, or one who is above worldly matters. :-)


Or maybe then again, I am just losing touch with reality. Going crazy...

Beckham!

A tribute to his genius. Not only as a wonderful footballer, but also as an awesome marketing guy :D

This was supposed to be posted long back. Somewhere in March. Wanted to edit somethngs, but that is not likely to happen. So decided to post as it is.

David Beckham is awesome. He is a fighter and coming back into the English squad and complete his 100^th match is what showcases his fighting spirit. Just a year back he was down in the dumps, McLaren not picking him, not even playing for Madrid. From there he has really taken it upon himself to do things. Leading Madrid to the title, after all his coach put him through is a glimpse of his brilliance. And its not the first time either. It was like this when he was not picked by Sir Alex in that fateful Champion’s League match against Madrid, when he had it in him to come off the bench and score two. Though that didn’t keep him at Man U, it certainly proves that the guy loves a fight and will give his all when cornered.

Maybe I should put up a poster of his!

Of Street Urchins and Humaneness

Today I happened to see a slew of these young street-urchins all over the place. Maybe, beggar-kids even.

Incident 1: I was parking my bike at this one-single free parking slot at a crowded roadside market. These young boys – some 7-8 years of age – were poking hands into every open bike pocket that they could lay them upon. Any documents, papers, grocery items that the unsuspecting owner had left there would be gone. I stood there, wondering whether too reprimand them or not. From their point of view, they were just trying to earn a few extra bucks. Sucks to the careless, moneyed class. I decided to remain a mute spectator to there deft stealing fingers.What would you have done?

Incident 2: After dining out, when I was returning to my car, another of such kids was playing with a stray dog, tickling away the playful puppy into fits of pleasure. For a fleeting moment I had a thought: Was the street-urchin kid more like a puppy than like a Yuppie-bred kid who struts around in jerseys of his favorite soccer team?

On my getting in the car, I have no idea why (or how) he did this, a kid of 8 years, he opened the other door and tried to come and sit in! My natural reaction was to stoccatedly scream at him. The poor thing shrunk away like a puppy would have done. On second thoughts, maybe I should have granted him a joyride. He took pleasure in forcefully slamming the car-door at my face. Then he went on to beg for another rupee…