Confessing Love Anonymously

Confessing love is what I had been thinking of, for the past 24 hours. Everyone needs love. Not all the time. But at least at some point in their life. It may be in teen, adult life or even at death bed. Some flaunt it, some run away from it, some confess it, some renounce it, some try to ignore it.

Confessing love to someone was, is and will always be the toughest part of being in love. Be it between a father & son, between friends of opposite sex or between married couples. But in all scenarios, confessing love is an extremely daunting task for the person confessing it.

I, personally have been terrible at it. Read all about it in 'How not to propose a girl'.

There are number of excuses why people opt out on expressing their love. The biggest of them is the fear of rejection. At the second place is the fear of losing the concerned person. I too have my own fears. The fear of not expressing it. I don't care if the person of interest abandons me, starts hating me or makes a mockery of my love. The only thing that concerns me is getting it out of my system. It is like a bug or virus that has infected me and the only cure to this is to 'debug' it. The question is how to do it. Presenting the 'Confess-love-anonymously' love letter template -

To,

The Beautiful You,

I Love You!

Yours,

The Common I.

Image Courtesy - smileslovesyou.tumblr.com

How Not To Propose A Girl

The title is derived after learning from my own experience. I am no Hitch or Prem or any other 'Love Guru'. And this post won't give you any advice on love or relationships. There are hundreds of blog-posts and content on relationship advice. Google them, if you may like. 

Recently, a bunch of old pals from my junior college created a Whatsapp group and are planning a reunion sometime in the near future. What I did not know was that I might connect back with one person in particular, the one who I have been looking for since past 8 years, a girl who I had proposed, rather blurted my feelings out, like I had to catch the last flight out before annihilation took place.

Let me take you back in time with 'Flashback Kitty'

So, back in 2006, after months of listening to a playlist that comprised of Himesh Reshammiya (don't you judge me... back then, he was everywhere), Jal, and a few other romantic numbers, I decided it was time to confess my love, or so I thought it was then.

Preceding numerous occasion to the D-day were days, when I would stand outside her college way past college hours, almost for 2-3 hours with another friend; who too used to wait for her girl. The only difference - he had a girl, I didn't.  The following was the outcome after waiting for so long -

• Girl exits college
• Looks at the Guy
• Guy looks back at her
• Both Smile
• Exchange Pleasantries (from a distance of 2-3 feet)
• Girl leaves
• Guy also leaves 

As for the other friend, he walks away with his girl.

Cut back to the D-day. I followed the same routine. Stood outside her college. Waited for 2-3 hours. Girl comes out of the college with a bunch of friends. Panic strikes within. Still continuing the same routine, I smile, exchange pleasantries. She is walking with her group to a canteen nearby. She sits and I approach her. 

It has been eight years since this incidence, hence I am not able to recollect every word, but this is what I told her; without any pauses or an iota of emotion -

I want to talk to you. I don't know what this. For the past few months, 3-4 months to be precise, I have been listening to Himesh Reshammiya, Jal and other romantic numbers which I have kept on my winamp (RIP) playlist for eternity. It's something like love, but not exactly the same. I won't call it love. It is definitely not an infatuation, I am way past that phase of my life. I am not looking for an answer. I just want you to hear me out. I have developed kind of feelings for you. That's about it. Thank you.

Phew! What a relief it was. I left from there. I did not wait for an answer. I wasn't even expecting one. But that was the day I last saw her. No, she did not die, she still is alive and healthy. At least that is what my sources say. Sometimes I used to Google her as she is not present on any social networking sites. I still look forward to speak to her, one last time for a (dis)closure.

Image Courtesy - http://bit.ly/1DyI2IL

I Want To Do Everything!

Since I graduated in 2008, I have been through number of jobs - Transcriber, Annotator, Production Assistant, Actor, Trainee AD, Assistant Director, Short- film-maker, Call Centre Executive, Copy Writer, Content Writer, Social Media Executive, Client Servicing Executive and Digital-Social Media Strategist.

For me the most dreaded part during job interviews is when I have to explain the HR executive or Department Head as to why I have been through so many jobs. For your information, people like me are labelled as compulsive job hoppers and are looked down upon by many organisations. I beg to differ. I am not the guy who jumps from one job to another looking for a raise in salary. It is just that I believe life is too long to do just one job. Life is also too short, so why waste time doing just one thing. I want to do everything. I want to be the jack of all. Life is all about experiences. With every new job profile, comes a new challenge. What I do, is take up the challenge, finish the task and move on.

But such a "lifestyle" comes at the cost of financial stability. Companies do not count your previous experiences as you shift from one job profile to other. They do not look at how much you have achieved in the limited period of time. No matter how much of the new age philosophies an organisation preaches, it will tread the same traditional path.

In these times of social media, one often comes across inspirational and motivational anecdotes that talk of personalities like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, etcetera, who had dropped out of colleges and did not take the by the well-trodden path. But tell me, how many of these multi-million dollar companies hire dropouts and let them prove their potential? Zilch!

In the past 5+ years, I've got more knowledge than our 10+2+3 year education system was ever able to give me. And believe me that did not caome from sitting in one cubicle or desk, doing the same thing over and over again. It came because of the new challenges that each job profile brought along with it.

As I write this post, I am now looking for a new job. But not in the same field as before. I want to try my hand at coding, application development. For that I am researching and learning new things every day, thanks to abundant resources available online. I am also considering pursuing journalism or photography. May be next year, around this time, I will write another post talking about a new job at hand. Call me crazy if you want. But that's what I am. I just want to try my hand at everything. I want to do everything.

For the lack of a better ending, I leave you with the wise words of Steve Jobs -- “Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Flags That Divide.

Happy Independence Day!

Now that I am done with the formal greetings, let me get to the point. No, this post is not about how far has the nation come in the past 68 years. Nor this post is a rant on common man's issues. The sights of flags which I have witnessed fluttering on streets and at local chowks have made me pen my thoughts and share it with the virtual world.

It has been a while since I last attended a flag hoisting ceremony. I despise the whole idea of this day, which at the end is just a reason for people to take a day off. This year especially, it is a joy-ride for all the working class people as they got a long weekend to enjoy with their families. I on the other hand went to watch the morning show of Singham Returns at a local multiplex.

On my way back to home, I witness a series of flag posts with flags fluttering; on the streets, in the building compounds, outside shops and balconies of apartments. Well so what's new. On Independence Day, one is bound to witness the tricolour at different locations. Well the flags I am talking about is not the national flag, but flags belonging to either a community or that of local parties.

What bothered me was that on a day when we should celebrate the independence of our country and unity of its citizens, this sight came across as cracks which are widening, creating rifts among the people of India. 

As per the Wikipedia page on Flag Of India - When the Indian flag is displayed with non-national flags, including corporate flags and advertising banners, the rules state that if the flags are on separate staffs, the flag of India should be in the middle, or the furthest left from the viewpoint of the onlookers, or at least one flag's breadth higher than the other flags in the group. Its flagpole must be in front of the other poles in the group, but if they are on the same staff, it must be the uppermost flag.

The question that I have in mind is why do citizens, corporates, political or religious organisations have the permission or authority to hoist a flag other than the tricolour on any day, let alone on Independence and Republic Day. I see these different flags not an instrument of one's individuality or ideology, but more like  a device used to divide the citizens amongst themselves.

As I write this post, I don't know whether I am right or wrong, just wanted to put my thoughts out there. Can there be a petition to ban hoisting of any flags other than the Indian Flag? This  idea might sound extreme and aristocrat, but I think that's the need of the hour. Do share your views on this in the comments section below.

Jai Hind!