Of Trivial Matters..

A friend had recently mentioned in passing conversation that in the big scheme of life, little things are not more than incidental.

It’s true I suppose. There were things that I bothered about to no end, things that were my primary preoccupation at various points of time, things that made me cringe with angst and things that gave me many sleepless nights. And they ceased to be a matter of concern very shortly afterwards. I could look back at them and laugh at my own silliness.

But even though I accept that, I also realize that it is the immediate outcomes that are of significance in the present time. They make us happy or unhappy, agitated or tranquil, content or perturbed. Reflecting back might make us scoff at the pointlessness of the energy we wasted fretting about them. But it does not take us back to that moment and it does not undo our emotions of the moments gone past.

And therefore as profound as the thought might be – of letting the small things be – I find it extremely tough to live by it. Impatience still gets the better of me, ambition still makes me want more than I get and my dreams still make it hard for me to accept failure. The little things might not affect the big picture, but they do affect the picture’s little pieces. And isn’t it those pieces that make up existence?

Meeting Mr. Khan

Yesterday I loved Manhattan more than usual. Yesterday I saw Shah Rukh Khan.

Some things would make you happy no matter what your age – they would bring the same joy if you were 10 years younger or 10 years older. And when you actually do cross paths with one of them – well – you feel exultant. And so did I.

I rushed from office when I heard he was shooting near my house by the Hudson. They were wrapping up and I saw him walk down and get into his car. And I saw him from a distance of less than a foot. I waved to him and he waved back. I felt joyful like a little kid. Not because I am a crazed fan. I do think he is great but I am not one of those star crazy people who live in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their favourite celebrity walking down the road.

But some things are symbolic. Shah Rukh Khan is similar – he embodies Hindi cinema for me – he became a star when I was growing up, he came out of nowhere and conquered the country, he proved that dreams come true and successes are not made in heaven but created by people, he established his own rules and had people playing by them. He brought hope to millions. And icons of your youth remain with you forever as the symbol of things that you went through as you were growing up. For this reason, seeing Shah Rukh Khan even today, when I am much older and, I like to believe, wiser, is still a big deal.

Besides, it is always wonderful to come across small things that make you happy unconditionally. All troubles were forgotten for those few moments, my day seemed brighter and the world seemed a more beautiful place. Which is always good.

Ahhhh….Chocolate!

And then one day god decided to create chocolate. He really must have been happy with mankind!

Let me tell you something very fundamental to my being – in case you haven’t guessed it already (and you have to be kinda slow not to have!) – I am extremely fond of chocolates. And that’s putting it rather mildly. I can survive on chocolates. Gloom or stress, exhaustion or frustration – chocolate therapy works best on me.

So yesterday I thought I would do something perfect on a prefect fall day. Which turned out to be driving down some 160 miles south of NYC to a little town in the heart of Pennsylvania that goes by the name of ‘Hershey’. Yes yes you got it right – it’s home to the Hershey chocolate company, and therefore rightly enjoys the title of the ‘chocolate-land’ of U. S. of A.

The sun-kissed trees with their beautiful orange and red leaves that hail the descent of fall provided the perfect scenery on our way to the quaint little town that is plush with rolling fields for the cows to graze (remember chocolate needs milk?!) and where everything evoked the sense of being enfolded in chocolates. The roads had cute little names like ‘Cocoa Avenue’ and ‘Dairy Street’ and the street lights over little bridges were in the shape of chocolate blobs. It was perfect.

The Hershey Company offered a tour called (any guesses?) – Chocolate tour – that took you through the entire process of the creation of chocolate right from the point of harvest of cocoa beans to where the chocolates are wrapped and packaged and sent across the world. Watching the rich liquid chocolate being swirled and twisted, then flow through and drop lusciously from one container to another, all the while being enveloped by that luxurious aroma of chocolates, was close to an other-worldly experience for a chocolate-lover like me. When I got out of the place I felt like I had been to heaven and back. Truly.

It’s good to have something in the world that makes you happy with no exceptions – I don’t have to be in the right mood, or say the right things, or do the right stuff to enjoy a bit of chocolate. Eating it is complete in itself. So go on...indulge... :-)

Cometh Friday...

If I was asked about what is the one thing that is even more dreadful than a Monday morning – my answer would undoubtedly be – a Friday morning. Needless to say, I am not a huge fan of mornings in general. But there is something particularly vile about them on Fridays. Or maybe it’s just me.

I always awaken on a Friday overcome with joy at the prospect of the weekend being right around the corner. And then as I drag myself out of bed it slowly dawns upon me that there is still a day to go – that I still have to pay heed to the alarm clock by my bed, I still need to run to catch the ferry and I still need to go through the motions of work before I can finally be happy. And the prospect of liberation so close at hand makes it all that much worse! I feel cheated to say the least.

And today was no different. Add to that the fact that New York continues to be battered by the rains that aren’t-quite-rains and therefore end up being a lot more irksome than a downpour. I mean I have spent a good part (ok 2 years!!) of my life in Kolkata and one has to spend a summer there to know what God meant to create when he thought of ‘Rain’! The good part is – a rainy Friday morning can only get better - so tomorrow shall be my day of joy and merriment.

Goodnight world…dream away!

Of Rains and Writing

It's raining in New York. Which translated means - I got drenched, broke an umbrella and almost got blown away by the wind. So I thought to myself, why don't I take a break, have a cup of tea and create a blog for myself. And here I am.

The city is soaked. I was just looking out of the office window and through the haze of clouds and fog I could just about make out the shapes of some other buildings. They seemed to me to be emerging out of a mist with this very fairy-tale, mystical quality about them. And I could sit back for a moment and imagine that on the inside they weren’t really buzzing with humming computers, coffee machines, haste and office gossip. That they actually had knights and kings, elves and jesters, making magic and creating fables. In moments like these I wonder what it is about those ages gone past that makes them so fascinating – if we really lost the merriment when we found the machines, if modern-day Neo could ever measure up to yesterday’s Gandalf?

With that thought in mind I am jolted back to reality – because you see, I still am in office and I still have a lot more to do than smelling fresh hay!