A kind word and a compliment
A laugh at the inane joke and banter
The light awkwardness
A question showing interest
A subtle term of endearment
The light-hearted messages
A second conversation within this all
A second unsaid conversation
An incomplete conversation
Things go on well without a fear
Until the unsaid remains unsaid…

The boys kicked the ball to each other. The game of football was proceeding nicely amidst a few games of cricket. It did not matter that they had only a quarter of the ground as their zone. Shouts of near victory arise and fall.

The grandmother was trying to keep up pace with her grand-daughter as she set out to explore the world. You could see the clear amusement and the displeasure of having to run behind a 4-year old.

In another part of the ground, the two puppies were up to their own game, jumping on to each other while their mother lay a few meters away watching. The score wasn’t clear.

The young executive clearly had no time for the rest of the world. She had promised herself that she will do her jog religiously. The ipods made it easier for her to drown the rest of the inconsequential world.

The old men’s gang was back to their discussions on what ailed the country. It did not matter that they had themselves lived their lives in the country. But they had a right to their opinion and it didn’t matter that they were being quickly forgotten.

In the only obscure part of the park, the couple had occupied the only private bench where they could whisper to each other. The giggles, the light touch and the flirty hands all told a story.

I stood on my balcony watching yet another day at the park and thought to myself, is this not a world full of peace…..

Then the newspaper arrived….

It was like picking up from where they left off…
Everytime he tried to tell her what she meant to him..
And everytime she logically proved why it wouldn’t work
And everytime he would tell himself….
Somethings are not meant to be…
Yet he was at this point every single time…
Thinking ‘Que Sera Sera‘!!!

We all find conversation topics to crib about so many things in life…work, people, call centers, traffic, infrastructure..in fact, it seems papers like Hindustan Times (one of my Delhi discoveries) seem to make money only out of the misery of the world as they see it ..

Yet we find so little time to appreciate the fact sometimes it is not so bad after all!!!

I have always been of the belief that in general, people are good most of the time. This has been my belief system always. By god’s grace, there hasn’t been too many reasons for me to change that view. Well…there have been disappointments, letdown before but I have in most cases, managed to see beyond that….sometimes it has taken time, sometimes sooner… In fact I remember, long ago in B-school, when the whole world used to talk of RG (Relative Grading), that dirty word, I used to have the exact same conversation. Am happy that there has been no reason to change that yet.

And I then realized that actually for most people that I know, I suspect, that if they looked closer, each of them will have a reason to believe that there is goodness that still exists in the world. People like us (urban, educated folks especially the pseudo-intellectuals) tend to take for granted all of the things that we have, that we stop recognizing the good that is around us. Maybe if we started recognizing the goodness around and were thankful for it, we would be happier too.

Yes, there will be people who argue that you as an urban populace will live in your ivory towers. I suspect that the people who have to struggle through their lives (financially at least) probably encounter more goodness in people than we do.

When I searched for this, I hit upon this eBay commercial. Quite evocative. It’s worth a watch!

After a long time, felt good writing a post. Sometimes, doing the most simple of things take a whole lot of effort…and sometimes the most simple of gestures have the greatest of impacts…I think maybe we should just stop once in a while to look for and say a thanks for the goodness around….or maybe just say a kind word…

May we always have a ‘Joie de vivre‘!

Oh yes, and apparently these stray thoughts run in the family….maybe its a gene thing!!

And yet he watched her walk away from it all..
Knowing well that she would return to roost..
There was nowhere else that she could go…
Yet she walked hoping he would call him..
She walked and he let her…
She had walked too far this time…
Life wasn’t always a drama with happy endings!!

After a yet another long month in Gurgaon, it was now my chance at the spanky new Bengaluru International Airport which was initially thought to be the start of the city’s redemption from the growing list of grouses..

Like any new airport, it really does look impressive with all its fancy glass and shops (though one could argue that it should have been bigger). But then the only thought that came to my mind, it did not look Indian…This looked like any of the other airports across the world.It even looked like the Frankfurt or Munich airport given the fact that the consortium that built this airport was largely German.

Now that should have been a good thing with the German efficiency etc etc…but then yet it seemed almost a ‘clinical structure’ almost like a hospital…unavoidable but just that…..
Well several would argue, I need an efficient airport not a good looking one….

Courtesy:Photoyogi

But then I look at the Kochi International Airport (which incidentally is the country’s first greenfield private airport and doing remarkably well at that)…It’s now a few years old and not too many people know the success of the airport in India. It is now already a Harvard Case Study.

It’s been a fairly pleasant experience for me always here (partly due to the sparse traffic out there). But beyond all the good experience and service in the airport, it is also about the construction that has a truly Keralite character which I think is very refreshing. In fact, I haven’t heard of or seen any other airport that tries to reflect the character of the location where it is situated. Even after 9 years of existence, it still does look elegant. In addition to looking good, I think it gives a Kerala feel to the traveller the moment they step down the aircraft…Now that should be good for tourism too!!

Given the number of greenfield airports that are expected to come up, wouldn’t it be so cool to have more airports do this. India would then have a really unique set of airports…..given the diversity we have to offer…but alas, we just love ‘if it works out there, it must be good for us too’ airports…

Bring on the glass houses!!

Sometimes you wake up.
Sometimes the fall kills you.
And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.

And sometimes the free fall seems for ever…and you just want to know what the hell is coming up… .the feeling of nothing happening yet too much happening….

Courtesy: The Ideasmithy

Sometimes I wonder…we claim these are what we live for..money, love, comfort, power etc….And yet if I think about it, most of things that we remember are by the symbols around it….

The job that always seems to us as fascinating (the greener side)…its actually not so much about the job but what it symbolizes.. be it the money or the travel or the glamour. Its not the actual job content..or maybe just simple peer pressure….which is even more ironical.

When we think about the people who actually made an imprint on us, is it about them or is it more to do what they symbolized to us? Even when people say they are in love, is it the person that they are in love with or what the person symbolizes to them. Is that why we hear about so many relationships not working out because the symbols dont match up later?

Then the basic question comes by..if all that we are running our lives by are just mere symbols and not the real thing, then is it all worth it? Actually going a step further back, since we have never known the real thing, what are we then doing always on the run trying to achieve something??

I have no clue what I am writing about…but am finding that the whole thing of work, career etc is becoming more and more pointless….and frankly i dont think too many people also realize the pointlessness of it..

Sometimes Nostalgia is about bringing a smile to your face….

When I see the ‘Hero’ fountain pens that is used by the boy…those pens were probably the ones that stayed all through schooling days…an excellent mix of music and visuals..quite a refreshing ad…

While I am at it…one of those evergreen ads…

Some of these you dont know why they worked..just that they worked and it touched people universally….

Makes you think..life was so simple back then or maybe it feels so looking back…
Well…for whatever it is worth….

Is this why this man is called a genius?