When it isn't just love anymore...

Only when one lives the life of a robot in a factory that has been programmed to deliver a set number of products by end of day, one realizes how important it is to get a break. Continue with this same routine everyday and then one finds himself/herself becoming the routine. He/she forgets how to live, how to observe every little thing surrounding him/her, how to enjoy every moment in this precious life. Just like a machine would need a break to be serviced, even a human being needs to break apart from the routine and replenish all that energy. We all know the consequences of not servicing a machine, don't we? Nuts get loose. Parts of it break. It rusts. It malfunctions. It breaks down. It falls apart.

I myself am living that very same lifestyle. Office hours span across 10 hours of my day which leaves no room for any of my hobbies and regular exercises which I would usually do. Weekends are usually packed with some pending task that I had not carried out during the week. There is always a craving inside me to break away from the system and go to a place where nobody can find me. A place unfamiliar even to myself. A place where the grass is green, the sky blue and the sun shines subtly over my head. Obviously that land can only be found in dreams in a tropical country like mine. There are many beautiful spots all around the country though.

The place that I would choose to travel to may not be specific. It may bring eternal peace to my mind and soul, but we have to remember that the journey is what brings the thrill and gives us a time of our life to remember. Again, the path you choose to travel is what makes the story and the companions that you travel the path with is what completes it. For me, my girlfriend could be the greatest companion I could ever have and yes, the second love of my life, the only one I would ever deny my girlfriend for - The 2013 Ford Mustang GT500... The comfort her seat gives in times of need, the sleekness in the way she moves through bumps on the road, the way she steers through the most tight curves, it even makes my girlfriend give into the most beautiful threesome you may have ever seen.

India should be termed as a Traveler's nest. Every 100 miles we witness a different landscape, a different culture, a different language and a different people altogether. Take a road trip from Mumbai to Panjim/ Panaji and one will understand my point.It isn't that big a distance but it surely is the best example to show the vast cultural differences along this short expanse of the country's coast. Cover a few kilometers and you can observe the difference in the masalas used to prepare the cuisine. My girlfriend and I both happen to be big foodies (maybe we are a match made in heaven) we stop be every dhaba trying out the butter chicken and mysore dosa and they tasted vastly different almost everywhere. The roads in the rains were so bewitching and enticing that it made us forget the destination we're headed to and we were lost in awe at the marvelous sites of the hills lush with green bushes and waterfalls suddenly jumping out of slopes on the hills and skiing all the way down out of the view can soothe your senses just like a yoga session. Once we reach Ratnagiri, there is nothing like the smell of the mud in that area. The red mud covered by tall green trees - the exuberant environment that surrounds you can just make you want to dance in the rain! Once you reach the borders of Goa, it feels like you're entering a different country. I belong to the state, but I've been there only three times as of now. It felt like taking your bride home to meet the family (just that in this case there were two ladies) Once we crossed the Toll booth, we could almost imagine the smell of the sand, the beach, the sea water, the mouth watering goan sausages and the deliciously rich chicken xacuti.

Sitting on the secluded side of Vagator, hearing the waves hit land and roaring while it moves back and forth, a pint of beer in hand, the soft sand under my feet, the soothing purple red sky with a setting sun, that waves out saying goodbye through the breeze whispering into my ears and most important of all, my companion sitting by my side. This is the moment I have always wished for... The moment that I wish, lasts forever...

It's at that very moment that I realized that life isn't just about love anymore. It isn't about happiness. It isn't always about making a difference. It is about finding peace with myself, with the things that I already have around me and what I can make of it in this small life that we have. We spend time striving to get things which we don't have and in the process forget about everything that we already have. We need to stop and look around... Observe with our eyes... Hear with our ears... Feel with our skin..

Phoenix from the Ashes

The title surely doesn't have anything to do with what I have to share here, partly because I'm writing here after aeons now and partly because I like misleading people and creating confusions. (JK)

Life is something that just cannot stay stagnant at one position no matter what you try. One day you'd be happy with the way everything is and then in the next moment, you would be trying to rest your overworked heart that may any time break open your rib cage and jump out of it.

There are times when you do wish for some stability but then, even the best know that one should always welcome a change whenever it comes knocking at your door. After all, would you ever watch a movie if the story was only about a free flowing story with no twist in its plot? 

It's time for me to accept changes in my life and make a few changes of my own. This article is just the beginning of that and I hope life takes all the required turns it should and weave out a story  (no, not a beautiful one, but a real one) One that will be recorded right here in this blog. Till next time...

And we thought alcohol is expensive..

There was a time when the only commodities in our country that were flying high with its prices was alcohol and onions. Sadly, this is old news now. Its time that everything has become a very expensive. What happened to be cheap and affordable back in my childhood seems so unaffordable now. I usually would travel by an auto rickshaw to my place of work till one fine day the inconsiderate hike made my eyes pop out with shock and anger. A frustration that grew in me was unexplainable but I knew I had no choice but to adjust and adapt to the world I live in. Buses are now my primary means of transport apart from the local trains which have been the most stable thing in my life. On a daily basis I commute from home to the station which is a fifteen minute walk and then from there, I have to switch trains twice to reach my destination. Its a long journey to my work place. Lunch again is unaffordable, so I have convinced my mom to pack it for me and she does that with all her motherly love and it is always fresh even when i unpack it on my desk four hours later. The problem here is the not just this. To top it off we have a wave of recession sweeping through our country which not only causes downsizing in corporations, it also causes a cut in the pay for most  employees. Living in such times is not just a difficult task but also a burden that the bread winners of the family. Even with the amount they earn, no one is able to give their families the lifestyles they dreamed of. Two keep themselves going especially in a city like Mumbai, it is a must that at least two members provide support to the larger family.

Sure, this is a problem but it can't not be dealt with. The ones who are least affected by these problems are the ones on the top who play with everything under them as if its all a game. These are the real masterminds who hold power to make or break anything and everything in this world. If their eyes are ever opened as to what responsibility rests on their shoulders over just profits as their final motive.
Sometimes, I wonder, if I am complaining excessively about living in such an expensive age, what is it going to be like for the future generations? Provided they see the light of day beyond 2012, if the predictions are true that is.

No work makes Jack a sad boy.

Its been almost a month now that I have been on a wild job hunt with either no responses or with people who do contact me but for all the wrong job profiles like Business development - the last one on my list of profiles that I can handle.
Most jobs available on the job portals are for people who have experience. How does a fresher land a job if there are no openings for freshers?
Sitting at home and looking out for jobs is the worst experience one can ever have. After a few months, your parents begin to feel that you are a good for nothing heap of flesh sitting on the couch browsing the internet the whole day, doing all the useless things possible and what a waste their hard earned money that they spent on me has been.
And in such times I really wonder if I actually am just that. All my mates have landed jobs. Some in fine positions, some in not so fine positions. But in the end, they are heading somewhere. When I look at them, I realize that I am still on square one and it is time to take the leap to swim into the ocean along with the others. Being a bit conservative, happy with my space and never wanting people to interfere in my affairs portrays me as a little egoistic person which is why maybe most of the interviewers decide to reject me in the first round itself. The reason for the existence of this blog is only to kill my time during these dark days and also to build a portfolio, which is good enough to prove my skills which truly proves the fact, that the world believes what it sees.
Hoping to keep everyone enticed and looking out for more. Have a good reading. And last of all, I take time to write a post. Hence, I would like to warn you well in advance about my philosophy, 'patience is a virtue'.