The world we live in, and 'sprituality'... hey SPIRITUALITY!

I am very passionate about this. I am probably way too passionate about this.

There is one thing I believe very strongly in, yet rarely reveal to the elders in my family for fear of sounding inappropriate or 'out of order' or rude - it is this - very bluntly, knowledge is, for me, more useful, necessary and urgent than 'spirituality'. First, spirituality is not reading books by 'spiritual gurus' and trying to live up to their instructions; that is simply being a student. 'Sri Sri' may be a great man, but I promise you he is not repeating someone else's teachings to you. I'm sure he knows what's up, because he's experienced it. He won't tell you, but to be a great man or woman, you need to have made mistakes yourself, you need to experience this shit yourself.
I haven't myself, obviously, but I wish to, and till I do, I won't take anyone's word for it.

I do not presume to know what spirituality is. My personal idea of it is to be at peace with yourself, at peace with everyone around you, at peace and in place with the world, yet that is and will always be own personal, and perhaps stupid opinion.

I gave my parents both, two unbelievably good books - 'Cosmos' and 'Pale Blue Dot', both by Carl Sagan. I ask them about these books everyday, they rarely seem to have read them any further. I feel sad about this.

I am also linking an article for both of them, and for the rest of the people who read this blog, so that you can read it in your free time at work or otherwise during the day.
Here it is - http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
(Thanks to Alam for that one!)

Now I will rant like usual -

While it's true that, thanks to my parents, I have always had access to the best of the world that has been available, books and the internet, I also realize that generations before mine might not have had it available freely in their years.

I look at people in my own generation who have had access to the same information as I have and see that they do nothing with it and stay ignorant, I feel bad.

When sometimes, in my blog I have said that there is just too much beauty in this world to comprehend, I am not lying. There is. It's depressing that however much I will try, I will not get to it all myself. I will try my hardest but, shit.

For someone as untrained in these things as I am or most of my friends are, there are tons of books to read about the world, the universe and about things that have been and that probably will be. Like the ones I mentioned above that I gave to my parents, there are others - 'A Brief History of Time', 'The Elegant Universe', 'The Selfish Gene', 'The Origin of Species', 'A Short history of almost Everything', oh my god and so many more. Then for the lazy, there are audiobooks, or there are documentaries.

The most common response to when I say something like this, is 'So what? I'm having fun. Life is more than science,'
To them I say, somewhere down the line, when you're old you will feel the need to 'praise god', and 'be thankful' or 'seek forgiveness'. I implore you, before that happens, arm yourself with the knowledge to be precise about what you're 'praising god' for. or 'being thankful' for.

I've been called young and immature when I've expressed these thoughts to older people close to me. Well now, I've grown, and now I call them old and uninformed.

Blink, and realize.

You are an animal. Millions and millions of stupid animals died in order for your ancestors to survive and for you to be born.

You are capable of observing and comprehending unbelievable insights about you and your place in the universe. You are the first of the generations that will have all the knowledge of the world at your fingertips, literally, simply keystrokes away, and only tens of years ago, people would have dreamed of such a situation.
If you are unwilling to pay monetary compensation for such knowledge, you are perhaps the only generation who will be able to get away with stealing this information off the internet without consequences.

You... We... we are special. This is a special time in the world.

There is so much to learn.

Wake up.

I know not what I write about. Tonight, I simply write.

The paths that we take.

The people that we love.

Where we want to go.

Where they, who we love, want to go.

Never the same.

The people that we meet on the way. 

Shooting stars, streaking through the sky.

Fleeting obsessions.

Where we think we'll be tomorrow.

The people we think we'll end up with, there, tomorrow.

Beauty is the saddest thing ever created by him or her who created it.

A curse, for those who behold it. It breeds desire. 

It conceives corruption.

I cannot have enough of it. 

If only we could share paths. And walk together.

Those that I have loved and I.

Stars, shooting through the sky.

A great shower of lights. Perhaps, in our final hurrah.

Love is a rationalization of our greatest fears and insecurities.

Akin to a fear of the dark.

Happiness exists. I have seen it.

Have known it.

Love, is at once happiness and devastation.
Yet I realise true love exists.

The most overwhelming things in this world are the stories each one of us has to tell.

The paths we walk.

Her path.

The sky, waiting for stars to shoot through.

The places we want to go.

Friends, Lovers, Countrymen, Lend me your hearts.

Blink and you've missed it...

Disclaimer: If it is possible, read it with the music. Or if, unhappily, the music is choppy, pause it and don't worry about it.
Otherwise, the music just adds to it.


"Where's C-Hall?"
"C block? This says E block and F block...and D block. There's no C block."
"The registration is in C-Hall, man."
"I know. B is that way, so it must be...there-"
"First day and we're lost."
We walk towards the huge wooden doors off the main Thapar lobby, when I see her, and she's beautiful.
"Look! God I wish she's in my class!"
This really cute girl, she's with her family, looking at the board we were a second ago, probably looking for C-hall.
"Wish she's in my class."
We're all in the same class.
Friends to this day...somewhat.

*Blink*

Two months later, it's the night before my first birthday in college. 

I was out, that night, but I enter my room, there's a cake on my bed, with candles, and the room is a brilliant shimmering orange.
Suddenly out of the bathroom, burst out five of the best friends I've made in college by then.
It is the single best birthday I have ever had. That night, and the day after it.

*Blink*

Aranya '08.
The most enjoyable of all the fests in four years.
Jal. That amazing band.
Aadat. Screaming.

*Blink*

We've bought a friend a backpack for a birthday gift.
Fifteen people have chipped in for a back pack. Well, the girls have also made him a poster. Well, the girls always liked him. He's quite the amazing dancer.
That's why we've decided to fill his newly bought backpack with...condoms before we gave it to him. Well, honestly, I wasn't really consulted. I'm sure I would have protested. Maybe.

*Blink*

We go to the canal.
We take eight medium pizzas with us.
We see a dead body floating in the current. We panic. Fuck the pizzas, really.
We run away. (We ate the pizzas a few kilometres away.)

*Blink*

We bunk a Bhatia math class.
We try to make a student movie. (A student spoof movie really, never panned out.)
I almost fail math that semester.
I don't know how to tell my parents.
I pass by half a mark.

*Blink*

Branches separate, and friends separate, most of us.
We miss certain people.
You try to maintain ample contact.
At times, you succeed.

*Blink*

You begin noticing girls you never noticed.

They got cute over the summer.
Your female friends are suddenly attractive, now that you're in different branches.

*Blink*

Third year?
Lots of romantic gestures, you know?
Things you thought you'd do that would melt a girl's heart, and she'd be fucking forced to ask you out...you know? And not the other way around?
Lots of romantic fucking gestures.
And I ask out a girl. "We're just friends," she says, of course.
"Yes."
We're friends.

*Blink*

Internships, staggered by branches.
Friends leave for six months at a time. It's hard.
But you know, maybe the administration staggered them because they knew they needed to prepare you for how hard it was going to be a year from then...when you left for good.
Anyway, internships.
You make new friends, because friends are suddenly scarce.
Sometimes you make friends very late. And sometimes you make the very best of friends very late.

*Blink*

Suddenly, when you realize that nothing is forever, you grow up.
People come back, people leave. Friends make girlfriends. Friends make boyfriends. You realize that it's the end. You make promises.
The end is near. You ignore it for a while, but it catches up with you eventually. You bargain with time. You plead with time.

*Blink*

Placements. Interviews. Jobs.

*Blink*

You say you will spend a lot of time together. But you have a lot of friends.

*Blink*

Time runs past so quickly.
There is never enough time.

*Blink*

You go away.

It ends.

*Blink*

Four months pass. Convocation. Friends. Reunions.
Parties. Alcohol. Robes.
...
Regrets.
...
Degrees.

*Blink*

The 17 types of women that I have known.

I can already hear in my head the words that might be used by some to describe this post and me, after reading it - sexist, misogynist, pig... might be popular examples.

But the people who know me well, know that I love, admire, and am awed, inspired and sometimes confused by the opposite sex just as much as the next guy. What is listed below is simply my observation thus far, into the largely incoherent, confusing and expansive female universe that I've encountered in my adult years.

While many women who know me and read this will undoubtedly be tempted to find glimpses of themselves in the numbered categories below, I must assure you that I have (except in very few cases) stayed away from personalizing anything written below.

Also, read it as light-heartedly as I wrote it - very.

Let me finally start,

1. The 'Wild, "Let's-do-something-craaazzyy!"' ones -
   I'm talking about the real deal here, the fake-crazy is another category altogether. These women are genuine adrenaline-junkies. They're usually fun to be around, but when you're just not in the mood to be in the newspapers the next day, she'll waste no time in emasculating you.
   'Woohoo! Fuck yeah! Drive faster, pussy!'
   
   
2. The '"I'm bad!", but she's really not.' ones -
   These are the ones that aspire to be members of the first category, and will make every attempt to seem that they are. But really, when things seem they might get hairy, she'll freak and you'll feel guilty for the rest of your life. She's usually a pretty good person though, and good to hang out with.
   'Let's do something craz- wait, is that a cop?!?'
   
   
3. The 'victim' -
   Yeah, her...
   Usually someone-you-know's ex. Spends the majority of her time either crying, or calling someone else an asshole.
   'Why does this always happen to me? Tell me! Tell me!'
   
   
4. The 'competitor' -
   'Anything a guy can do, I can do better'. Not that anyone ever said that she's in any way inferior to men, but no, she still has to put it beyond any doubt. But there is no doubt, I hear you say. No, says she, but I bet if I tried I could put a doubt in your head, since you couldn't!
   'You're doing it wrong, wait let me do it!'
   Oh and, 'My phone's just better than yours!'
   
   
5. The '"I'm good.", but she's really not.' ones -
   Always polite, always nice, always helpful, you know the type. You say to yourself, what a nice person! But then, eventually it comes to light how she's been badmouthing someone to someone else, bitching about her roommate and so on; all the while telling everyone what an asshole you are.
   'Awwwwwww...'
   
   
6. The 'I'm such a lesbian, ya!' -
   You know, you laugh along when these ones say weird things, because you're thinking, 'hey, guys make gay jokes too.' But then one day she gets so explicit, you almost crash your car into the divider.
   'We got so drunk, we kissed, ya!'
   
   
7. The 'I'm a bro, bro!' -
   She listens to death metal more hardcore than you, chugs down beer faster than you, swears more than you, wears baggy jeans, doesn't know what make-up is, and best of all, she doesn't make a big deal out of it and you don't care.
   All good, but sometimes you forget she's a woman and you almost give her a chest-bump.
   'You should've banged that bitch, man!'
   
   
8. The 'All-over-you, until you make a move.' ones -
   It may be that the language of 'coming-on-to-someone' is different for both the sexes, but these ones will climb all over you in public, stroke your arm for no reason, play with your hair all day, whisper in your ear so seductively that you'll have to walk bow-legged for a few minutes, but when after a long time of all this, one day you say, 'Hey, maybe we should go ou-'
   'No! We're friends! What's wrong with you?'
   
   
9. The 'future-wife' -
   Extremely rare, and usually unexpectedly discovered. These ones are usually diamonds in the rough for a long time, and then one day...
   'I will! Yes I will!'
   
   
10. The 'I can't go anywhere unless I wear this year's spring line!' ones -
    These ones will try on five different outfits, finally choose the latest Armani dress and a matching Dolce & Gabbana handbag, and then with 3 similarly dressed girlfriends, they'll go to the neighborhood rehdi-waala and say, 'Teen paapdi chat aur ek pani puri, bhaiyya.'
    Perhaps I exaggerate, but then, no I don't.
    'Gooooochiii?'
    
    
11. The 'sex-bomb' -
    *wink *wink
    You can't tell it to her face but, god! Wayyy out of your league, and you know it, so you never even try. But one can dream.
    'I'm up here!'
    
    
12. The 'easily shocked :O' ones -
    In her presence, you say something as nasty as 'bastard' or perhaps in punjabi, 'saala', she'll clap her hands to her mouth and shake her head, while you suddenly look around, thinking a bomb just exploded behind you.
    I imagine these are the ones who will one day have the 'Mummy ko bataunga' type kids.
    ':-O'
    
    
13. The 'great friend' -
    These are the ones you love, the ones you and your friends love, usually in a quite platonic way; the sweetheart of the group and the one that's picked on the most. She'll end up going out with someone quite outside her circle of friends and you'll warm to him as well, soon enough.
    But you know if he hurts her, you'll murder his entire family.
    'Stop taking my goddamned hairclip!'
    
    
14. The 'My daddy never loved me.' ones - 
    I've met a few who said this, and I was always really saddened by it. Popular culture always had me believe there was a majority of 'daddy's girls' rather than those who felt otherwise. I met some in the opposite category too, but surprisingly few.
    'Just someone who's not like my dad.'
    
    
15. The '"I'm so hot!", but she's really not.' ones -
    These ones walk with the air of someone who has the crown-jewels bedecking her, wondering why more people aren't gawking at them. She'll talk down to you if you ever happen to engage her in conversation, nose in the air, eyebrows raised, while you're just trying to ask her her friend's phone number.
    'Don't these people have something else to do than look at me. Hey, hey! I'm talking to you - don't these people...'
    
    
16. The 'Now that I'm not fat, let the proposals fly in!' ones -
    Yeah, okay, you're half the woman you used to be, but you didn't have to lose half your personality along with the fat. And they'll constantly remind you how much weight they lost and exactly how they did it.
    'Remember when I wasn't so...hot?'
    
    
17. The 'communal-cups' -
    I don't want to say more, it'll be too...nasty.
    'Sure we can!'

I could come up with more, but then this post would be too long (it already is), and I'd have to be really reaching to make it interesting.

A lot of the women I've known fall into a lot of these categories simultaneously, some are specific to one, and of course none fall into all. I have tried my hardest not to sound overtly misogynistic but where I seem to have, I ask that you excuse me and know that my intentions were not such.

I am a hardcore fan and an ardent follower of womankind. 

And it is my great hope that one day I'll have at least one and hopefully many daughters of my own. And I'm sure their friends will say they fall into many of these categories themselves. Not, it will be my strongest endeavor, No.17, and of course never No.14.

Still, a lot of you might find a lot of that I've written awful and horrible; I urge you that if this is the case, and also if it is not, to let me know in the comments, and I invite you to read further into my blog, and find more things awful and horrible, or perhaps, hopefully, good.