Just like that.

There are some instances in your life, when you meet someone, and you instantly connect with them. It's not often, but it happens. It doesn't mean your similar, it may even mean that you're completely different. But you just- get along, to be precise.  The conversation isn't forced. It's not awkward. It's smooth, and fun, and, well, different. 

The question is, is it just you, or does the other person feel this connection too?

Carrot and Potato

Tonight's midnight conversation (after a pretty successful cooking session; yes, you read right!) consisted of such a vast range of topics that it's left me completely confused as to what to blog about. Take atheism, culture, and religion. Add that into a boiling pot of future goals, lack thereof, relationships, and the concept of being #foreveralone. Stir twice, add in a pinch of happiness, a dollop of confusion and a cupful of making fun of a certain someone's male characteristic (singular).
You've got yourself a pretty tasty dish. 

Chill out.

Sometimes, we need to take the backseat in life and just relax. I mean, yes, do what you need to do (in my case, a million assignments and the constant intake of chocolate-filled substances), but apart from that, don't bother too much. If you do, it's only going to lead to you obsessing over things that needn't be obsessed about. Let's say I've been there, done that. Maybe I'm still there, knowing me. But if there's one thing I've learnt, it's that this constant obsession about insignificant things that can very easily be brushed off the table of your thoughts, is simply not worth it.
Trust me, I know. Channel your energy into things more worthwhile, things that will actually change something about you, about the world, about your life.
Ah, if only I took my own advice. 

What you see is what you get?

So, another really interesting midnight conversation with a friend (when we were supposed to be studying really hard, mind you), was utterly shocking for me. He made me realize something so very true- it all boils down to looks. I mean, yes, I've always been cynical in terms of the shallowness of humanity; I myself have displayed various streaks of shallowness in the past. However, when put into perspective, so many acts are based on looks- on how attractive the other person is, how attractive we think we are. People who are attractive get away with a lot, have the more outgoing and confident personalities, and genuinely do draw more attention.
We took into account the people around us. The extroverts are, in most cases, the people who are confident about their looks. Even people who aren't inherently extroverted gain the most attention, care, and company, if they are good looking. Very rarely do you find an exception to this case, unless the persons' personality greatly outweighs their looks.
This conclusion, and, well, realization after taking a look around, was a genuine eye-opener for me. For someone who claims to thinks so much, I have surprisingly never thought of things from this perspective; probably because, up until now, my views on shallowness have been slightly selfish.

Across the seven seas.

If there's one thing that I really, genuinely know I want to do, it is to travel. There's a high chance that i'll choose my job based on how often it will get me to cross oceans. Going to new places has always fascinated me. It's so much fun and it is an experience like no other. New people, new cultures, new sights to see and even food; despite being a vegetarian it's still pretty interesting, and, well, challenging. Languages. Artifacts. I know it's what I want, and I hope that some day I do end up traveling a lot, seeing more than I ever imagined I would. I know it would make me happy and leave me satisfied. Longing for more, but satisfied nonetheless. 

Stop.

So, it's very easy to make your judgement, pass your comments and jump to your own conclusions about the way someone might be dealing with a situation. However, I think it's horribly unfair to do so without knowing even one percent of the situation that the other person might be going through. Their actions are influenced by so many factors- like their personality, the personalities of the people involved, and past experiences. Whether their moves are smart or not, whether what they are doing is something that you would do or not, it must be understood that they are doing what they are doing for a REASON. There's a reason why they deal with it in a certain way, and not the way that you would deal with the situation. Understand that, accept that. 

Neutrality

I think this world would be a much better place if kids were brought up gender neutral. I'm not talking hardcore gender neutrality where people aren't even identified as boy and girl- those differences are bound to be there due to different bodily functions that nature has put forth to us. I'm talking about a more personality-oriented perspective. Bring up children without typical gender stereotypes. Don't teach them the conventional, rigid gender roles that society offers us. Let them be free to experiment, to lean more towards an androgynous behaviour. After all, androgynous individuals are believed to lead the most all-round and fulfilling lives.There is never a one-size-fits-all.
Gender neutrality can eliminate any sort of gender discrimination that society so often sees. Issues like same-sex marriages would not be "issues" any more. People would be free, open, less held back by all these restrictions and notions as to how they're supposed to be, how the should live their lives, what they are supposed to like, what they are supposed to dislike. How they're supposed to look, to dress. Oh my. It's a pain, isn't it? So much time and effort unnecessarily wasted, and for what? To be unhappy at the end of it all anyway, because you know that you're only doing what you're supposed to do and not what you want to do?
I think, if I were to ever have kids, I'd do my best to make sure they aren't affected by society's cruel stereotypes. I've seen how destructive stereotypes can be, and it's not something I'd want for my children, or for anyone in fact.

Laughter

It's true, i'm a sucker for laughing. If you can make me laugh like there's no tomorrow, you're already halfway towards getting my loyalty and, well, anything you ask for. Really.
I don't know what it is about people who can make me laugh (and by laugh, I mean uncontrollable, genuine laughter), but it's almost an instantaneous attraction for me. Yes, everyone likes laughing, but this somehow has an extra appeal for me. And I think I know why. That degree of laughter- well it makes me forget everything, right from my name to what year it is.
Like the conversation I just had. One of the main things that gets me to dial that same number, to answer those same phone calls, over and over again.

Blogging

One of my friends doesn't get the concept of blogging- of putting your thoughts out there for the whole world to see. I definitely understand her point of view (especially after certain specific events that scandalized her!); there are some feelings that are just too personal to put out to the world. It's hard to be comfortable with something like that- in fact, it's better not to be comfortable with something like that, in a way.
But sometimes, I like putting down my feelings. I rarely talk about the context, that's always something personal for me; more personal than my emotions in fact. Somehow, i'm used to letting out my emotions on the internet- maybe it's just a certain blogging culture, I'm not sure. Yes, I do talk about them to the people concerned, too, but a blog feels like such a good ... dumpster to deposit all your thoughts in. Irrespective of anything, it's going to take in everything you say (and mirror it on an internet page, but oh well.)
As Anne Frank said, paper has more patience than people.
And I'm really too used to blogging to bother right now =P

Lost

So i'm not exactly the most aware person around. I forget easily, be it deadlines or the content of my Air Pollution Control Engineering textbook. This, more often than not, leads to painstakingly stressful situations and a few days of trying to undo the mishap caused by my clear absentmindedness. End result: me wishing that I had a LITTLE more presence of mind and, well, that instinct to do everything perfectly and in time. As inherent as it is in me to mess up just a little, I think this is something I really need to work on.

A Penny for your Thoughts

We all have our secrets. There are some things that we don't mind sharing with the world, and there are other things that are buried deep within, sometimes hidden even from ourselves. However, I occasionally come across people who are very guarded about every bit of their lives. For me, this arouses so much curiosity; I automatically want to KNOW. Not everything, but something. Anything, really. It's a reflex; I always get attracted to these type of people. It's such a mystery to me, as to what goes on in their heads. With some people there's a lot going on in there, things that shock and surprise me. With others, there's absolutely nothing. What's on the surface is really what's inside.

Human

I always thought that it was your ability to experience emotions that make you human. Yes, emotions are a sign of weakness, but they're also a sign that you can FEEL, that you can let go and lose control at times. They can be exhilarating and fun at times, depressing and unwanted at others. Yet, they're always there; I believe that emotions make you feel alive.
However, someone recently pointed out to me that it isn't emotion that makes you human; it's your ability to think and reason and rationalize that makes you human. Emotions, they hinder with these processes, and consequently, make you less human.
Two opposing opinions, yet both make equal sense to me.

Ten Years Later

A recent conversation with a friend led to us wonder where each of our peers would be in ten years time. It was rather easy to predict this for some of our friends, while for others we remained genuinely curious. Job, marriage, kids- all integral parts of the life that society has chalked out for us. But how many of us are actually going to follow this conventional path? Quite a few of us, definitely. We could pin point one or two people who would take the path less traveled, but everyone else may more or less go by the norm.
Still, I guess you never know where life is going to take you; not until that moment actually gets here.

War Torn

Because that was the only word that could describe her world right now.

The town that once ebbed with color and life was now cloaked in a black-and-white stupor that even old movies could get past. The patter of children’s feet through the yellow cobbled paths was now replaced by an almost deafening silence, an irreplaceable stretch of emptiness, of void space.

It hadn’t always been like this. She remembered, very distinctly, of a time when things had been different- when colors were bright and the wind wasn’t cold, harsh and painful. And food. How she longed for the hot, steamy smell of cooked rice mixed with every delicious, spicy vegetable conceivable. That was miles apart from the cold rawness that entered her mouth and settled at the bottom of her stomach every day.

But cooking was not an option, for electricity was a thing of the past. If they were lucky, a few candles would be passed around town, providing momentary light, conquering the darkness for barely a few hours. At other times, the only thing they could see by was the light of each other’s eyes. And occasionally, the helicopter searchlights. For they would come, dutifully, once a week. No one knew why, but she did.

They wanted to make sure that the town wasn’t changing, that it was as dead as ever.

Inspiration

What drives people, what inspires them? Sometimes, I look at people around me who seem so driven, so focused, and I wonder where all that passion comes from. I feel that I seriously lack it. Even with things that I really, genuinely do like, I get so lazy at times. I think I'm yet to find something that will get me to work indefinitely, unconditionally. I'm still searching; I guess it's the search that counts...