Black as night, sweet as sin

"True friends find the greatest happiness in just being together sharing coffee." ~unknown 

Last week I attended this interview. As always I was asked this weird question, (you know how weird interviews can be!! – and interviewers can be even weirder)

“What was the best food/drink that you ever had?”

I could’ve come up with any number of answers for this. Suddenly all my favourite food started lining up in my head .. But this question also brought me another memory – one that was long forgotten; one that brought me fond memories of a friend whom I have lost contact over time.

For a spell I worked in a call center. And the important aspect of a call center job is its night shifts. The timings may range, starting from anywhere between 9 to 12 (in the night) and ending with an 8 hour shift. All the candidates will have to undergo training on various aspects – phone etiquette, communication, language et al. But above all we are made to get acclimatized to the night shift before we are actually made to handle any real call.

Working in a night shift didn’t bode me well. And on the fourth day it became worst - I was running a temperature. During these four days I became friends with many of my colleagues but the closest of them all was Anita. Now she may not be looking like Kirsten Stewart but once you get to know her you can tell that she is really beautiful – and not just on the outset, mind you. And we both are from the same city which bonded our friendship even more.

During our break – a half an hour break in the middle of the night, she found out that I am running a temperature. I don’t know how she managed to get them in the middle of the night, but she bought me some medicine and a coffee. She insisted that I take it and only after that she left my side. (Later she would remark how weak I looked on that day).

As always with life, time, made us to take different routes. I don’t know where she is now. Only that she will always remain one of the best friend that I have ever had.

Back Pack!!

“What’s in your BackPack?” – This is what George Clooney questions all in the movie “Up in the Air” and gets himself proved wrong by the end!

Clooney says we carry a lot of weight in our backpacks…house, office, cars, property, etc….so many materialistic things which slows us down and doesn’t let us enjoy the luxuries life can provide. Even worse when we replace these materialistic things with relationships. The backpack gets way heavier…parents, siblings, wife, children, relatives, friends…all in one BackPack makes our life a back-breaking experience!! We should let all this go and live life at our terms. Feel light…live light!


Whats in your Backpack? As Clooney gets proved how wrong this theory is in terms of people, relationships and life, how he is just another man scared of responsibilities, I realized the “backpack” theory isn’t that wrong afterall.. Its all about what you fill your backpack with…

Stepping away from Clooney, the movie and whatever they wanted to say…here’s my version of the backpack theory..

You have a backpack…now fill this backpack with moments that have caused pain in your life. Fill it up with those people, relationships, memories that have become past and only remind you how wrong things went. Fill it up with all the mins, hours, days lost in crying over it. Time went in asking yourself Why me? Why did this happen? Why didn’t it last? Was it even worth me? Fill it up with the people who have hurt you, broken your trust and taken you for granted. The hours of wait which tended to reap nothing… The tears that never stopped flowing…

Take everyone is your life who matter or did mater at one point of time. Now sort out all the good and bad memories knit with them…(don’t be surprised if you can think of more bad ones!) Take the stack of bad memories, quite a pile huh!?, and shove them in that backpack!! Add those love letters of forgotten love, the lonesome collar, the empty chair, bit by bit everything that reminds you of the pain…to the backpack!!

Once done, you will be surprised of how much more the backpack can still hold…now try carrying it around… Don’t you feel a lot heavier, unable to move! This is all you have been carrying around in your head but never realized the weight. I say, throw this backpack away. You deserve a happier life, a chance to enjoy it in all ways. Give yourself the hope that you are great the way you are and deserve to be happy. Smile at the life and see it smile back.

Set yourself free We miss so many beautiful things around us worrying about the inevitable, cribbing over what’s done and mourning over all lost. I am not saying your loss doesn’t matter but what is important is to feel the pain, acknowledge it but not live it. Live only the life you have received as a gift which seems long but reminds you everyday that its getting shorter! Relish it as long as it lasts… Once you get all the things and more I mentioned above out of your head and simply dump it in the backpack, trust me you will feel welcomed! What do you think?

 P.S. – Send the backpack to the Trash can today. May not be easy but you won’t regret. Do not carry it around!

P.P.S. – “Up in the Air” is a good watch and is not just about the Backpack theory. Watching George Clooney play the role of a person who fires employees company to company is…ummm just go watch it. :)

Awesome Pleasures

“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.”

~Bertrand Russell

At his website www.1000awesomethings.com Neil Paschrica catalogues the really little pleasures. He has collected 200 of them in ‘The Book of Awesome’, which also happens to be a international bestseller for 65 weeks.


1) Wearing underwear just out of the dryer
2) When cashiers open up new checkouts at the grocery store
3) Intergenerational dancing
4) Paying with exact change
5) Fixing electronics by smacking them
6) High-fiving babies
7) The other side of pillow

Just wanted to add some of the other real pleasures, which are in my list.

1) Small change in your old jeans pocket when you are in need of money
2) Waking up to find that today is a Sunday
3) Turning up late to work only to find out your boss too turned up late
4) Cool water after a perfect workout
5) A gorgeous lady sitting next to you in a bus, on an otherwise uneventful day
6) Fixing a car for someone in the middle of a highway
7) Holding the hand of your loved one in a beach
8) Hearing the Right Song at the Right Moment
9) People Watching
10) A Familiar Smell

So, what the heck you still looking at?? Find a pleasure and live your life.

His Last Lecture Before Death - Randy Pausch

Randolph Frederick "Randy" Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This was his last lecture. There are so many positive messages in this video, but the most important one being "live your life".

Curiosity killed the cat.. Or Has it?

Curiosity - the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness

Curiosity has been man’s aide since the beginning of time. Without it we would not have invented fire, wheel or the self cleaning toilets. It has seen Newton’s apple turned into a law that stands solid in a science world where everything is ever-changing.

How can one be curious?

• - Keep an open mind: Don’t limit yourself to the tried and tested methods. Go out of the way and find a different solution.

• - Read something you have never tried or thought to be boring

• - Be creative: Always find a way to improve things in your own way.

Benefits of being curious:

• - It makes your mind active instead of passive

• - It makes your mind observant of new ideas

• - It opens up new worlds and possibilities

• - It brings excitement into your life

And finally here is a saying from someone who has made his business to be curious and made millions out of it

Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

- Walt Disney