The Winds of Raiden

Do not ask me why I name this post so (I am sure there is someone out there thinking … The winds of RaIden ? What in the blue blazes is that ? Raiden passing wind ? Bloody bloke!)

Anyway so there are instances. No! Not just instances but whole fleeting hours! When I visualize me-self having Raiden’s powers (For those who do not still know Raiden, refer to this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_(Mortal_Kombat) )

Aah so before I digress further, Raiden’s powers of wind lightning and thunder to just blow away , blast away, pulverize away the annoying irritants ! Which  I seem to encounter with alarming frequency in recent times. Which , well is such an a-monkey-obsessively-scratching-his-back  type irritant. Uh ! Doesn’t sound like a critical issue you say ? Well ..do read on anyway  ..

Chapter 1: Mind type

Yes! I am writing. I want to go all macho and say  “I care a rat’s a** about writing and sharing my thoughts…blah blah blah“. But that is not so. Because like the rest of all you good folks out there, no matter how much a mean bastard I think I am, I love my family  and my pals, or anyone of you who graces my blog 😉 ! And if one can either have a jolly good chuckle or a chest-thumping blood-boil at what I write , I am happy to be of service.

Perhaps what initially inspired me (and brought out the currently hyperbole-ing mean streak)  is this man and his autobiography.  The guv’nor is one major “#badass” .May he R.I.P ! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_McLean )

And oh the irritant! The current irritant is  because I believe the thinking-speed of the mind is faster than the speed of typing! (Unless you are “Superman” who is dumb and superhuman, hence a faster typer).

I wish I had some device which reads my thoughts and directly translates it onto the blog-editor. With of course, me having the edit-control of having to either shift between finger-typing and mind-typing. So that I can edit anything that might not want itself to be captured for public viewing (What! Dont give me the “Holier Than Thou”. I know all of your minds have stuff you don’t want out and prefer to keep inside!)

But alas! Why is no one creating this already ? Oi, Mr.Elon Musk  ?

Chapter 2: The dogs of Noida

There are (like in most Indian industrial cities) “societies” in Noida. You know …”condos” ! And since most of Noida along the Noida-Greater Noida Express highway is a barren land with….

1. the odd buffalo herd,
2. the less odd UP bhaiyya trying to ask your address and the price of your flat and how much jewelery/ cash  you have in your house
3. and the least odd Gujjar dude with a gun and  driving a sports car, 

….security is a big issue. Hence, staying here is like trapped in an island with other …err… islanders!

Now the issue with these islanders is that they are absolute zombies who got zombified  in the 80s. Meaning, their awareness has not got into post-liberalization or post-21st century or post-internet mode yet. I am talking about mentality and awareness of doing things optimally. I am not talking of their ability to hit “Likes” on Facebook or “swipe” on Tinder. Anyway, one of the most annoying examples is the way they rear dogs ! Now you see, getting a pet dog (or  any pet for that matter) is a responsibility. Like having a kid, nothing less!

And I see huskies! Yes, Huskies in 45 degree Celcius weather. These families methinks have to show off (Huskies in India means the owner is well off, very well off). But think of the dog, it suffers in any place where the temperature is above 13 degree Celcius! And you cant trap it in an AC room forever , it loves open spaces! Hence, its as if the reasons for banning the whole circus concept are back at a household level again.  The sodomized showboating sadistic poor-dog-exploiting scoundrels!

Then there are another set of dog-owners. Who have no idea that the pets have to be socialized from a young age with both humans and other pets alike. And considering most folks here have pets, it should in theory not be a  problem. But however, the aging paranoia of the conservative pre-liberalization Indian mindset is back.It is so “back” that most people here pull their dogs away hard from both humans and other dogs alike, as if its a blasphemy. And thus, that little dog grows upto be a big dog, who barks and attacks anyone who is not its master, human or  dog alike. This is so rampant around here that folks’ way of greeting another person with a pet is “Namaste ji! Katega tho nahin ? ” .  That is the precise moment when I want to say, “Yeh nahin katega! Main Katoonga bc!!!” 

Well! since natural instinct at least prevents the badly-conditioned dog from being overly aggressive with fully grown humans, it focuses all its mal-conditioned  aggression towards little kids and other dogs. Yes, the targets include well-behaved and well-trained dogs like my Lilou.

Hmm …hate to say it ! But come near my bacchhi and her Papa will have a fatherly duty of reminding the bad dog, the bad owner, etc. about another really big dog in the yard around Noida! A-f***ing-men!

 

Chapter 3: The Elektras

Well, I am a happily married chap who thinks the word “bitch” is the common noun attributed to his four legged little kid (For the blokes who read that wrong  … I am talking about my pet beagle, my little lilou!)

Anyway, perhaps this is what I think makes me make an objective assessment without getting distracted/ mesmerized by the well ..ahem! the whole Elektra thing! What ? Didn’t get it ? To the unconditioned male bugger who lives through a coolest-movies-are-from-comicbooks phase, this is Elektra …beautiful, sexy and seductive  superhuman character with a limitless fantasy-appeal.

 

Anyway, so about all the Elektras . A substantial number of beautiful, strong, well groomed , well spoken ladies who delusionally and proudly believe that they have the “darkest” , most “sinister”, even more “enigmatic” life stories .And because of this , they again delusionally believe they intimidate everyone. Well! A certain chap even said there is a term for them, “The Sigmas”. Hmm …

And hey! As twisted as it sounds, there are by definition Elektras among men too. Pardon me for the brutal honesty! Unfortunately, there are more  Elektras among the men :O How ? Many Indian men emulate their dads, especially with the chauvinistic and male-egocentric-insecurities  part 😐 You and your obsession with your dads! 😛 Read the definition now ..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_complex

Anyhow!! If its “mysterious”, isn’t it supposed to be “entirely” mysterious ? And spare the good world the hint-dropping of their self-fabricated enigmas, just for the purpose of intimidating others. So goes the Elektra award to my former high school principal, to the several corporate ladies around NCR (to whomsoever its applicable only please), to the judgmental aunties in the societies of Noida, to the artsy ones who think engineers just add  and subtract digits 😐 and to the watchman in my condo for just being a wuss !

By the way, the mythical Elektra’s depiction is like this below . This person can definitely pass off for a guy too..hallelujah ! Up yours, you bad men !! And no credit to you, you bad women!!

One more time, yours truly,

The dark the fast and the fiery,

Ghost Runner

 

This week that year

A cautionary fore statement would be that this post is in no way related to Valentine’s day or the likes. (The author believes the whole concept of Valentine’s day blah is nothing more than overrated celluloid induced kitsch, but well! That’s just the author’s opinion and a completely different story reserved for another day)

Anyway, I just sit here wondering what was going through my head and life at this time of the year over the last many years. I am surprised with a realization that I  am mildly victimized by a selective memory phenomenon. In other words, I don’t really remember what I was doing during the Valentine’s day week pre-2006. Honestly, I really don’t  😉

In 2006, I remember being on a roll. I had just lost some weight, feeling very good. IIIT-H (my alma mater) was having her annual fest , felicity. It was fun though I spent my moments wondering

1. if I should get a girl friend (haha! As if they grow on trees!)  or continue to live a free life ( Khula saand if I am allowed to use the partial profanity :p)
2. if I should seriously give CAT a shot or have a happy workless life working in some small time company

2007   V-day week was a little more eventful. I had to prepare hard for two things  … the IIM interviews  and trying to finish more than 4 laps at the Gachibowli stadium’s  swimming pool (never managed to 😦 )  And of course, life was taking quite a beating on the emotional side due to my sheer lack of emotions (or rather no opportunity to display them)  in life around that point of time. (dead inside ?! What a loser … :P)

2008 V-day week was at Joka (God bless Joka!! ) , the IIM-Calcutta campus. Academically, it was the worst period of my life. No dont get me wrong . Life was awesome … but my scores were low  that term. So thats why the previous statement.

Anyway, it was also the time when I carried out some self inflicted fradulent romanticism. For instance, since most of my pals were blaming me for the highest levels of insensitivity, I went to the jetty on the night of 14th Feb, took a chocolate , said *happy valentine’s day* and  threw it into the lake. The jolly good batchmates of mine actually thought I was treating the campus lake like a wishing well for future romantic opportunities . Lol …  how sweet of them ! little did they know that I did it only because I was a tad drunk and was trying to get rid of the chocolate because a caterpillar crawled on it … voila !

2009 and 2010 V-day weeks were  killers … I wouldn’t talk too much about personal stuff 🙂

2011 V-day week …. started off with Lalla getting married  😀  and I was so happy for him…see! So much for fellows blaming me on the insensitivity factor. Now I have to go someday to London to party with Lalla and Lalli 😉

Well ! Right now … I am sitting here with my bags packed and would be on a flight to  Palolem, (Goa) in another couple of hours . Well I am not exactly a romantic… more like a party fella who enjoys the dark paradoxes of life a little too well …need I say more ! 🙂

– Ghost Runner

Incept the dream among shit squeaks …

Everybody is talking about Inception. I see that this one `s rating shot up in imdb from an astonishingly ridiculous 6.* to an expected 9.*  in two days flat. Hmm … Probably the people who rated the movie before are all Americans … lol … the yankees don`t understand anything do they ? 😀  (Its a joke me hearties!)

A collegue and friend of mine writes this whole scene to scene description on imdb. Talk about serious fanhood 🙂 More dope on the movie is to be found  here and here!

The defn

Anyway, the dictionary defines it in a simple way as below :The beginning of something, such as an undertaking; a commencement

So I guess the combo of the successful movie`s theme and the definition prove the fact that dreams are in most cases the primary genesis of ideas.

The movie

To put the plot short, its about the protagonist and his team trying to change the thinking of a person by altering the origin of his thinking ,i.e.,  his subconscious. The medium to tap that subconscious is his dream.

I would take the pains to mention the character of Mal because the actress is sexy 🙂 and of course also because she is the main antagonist. The hero`s dead wife who being such a strong surpassed part of his memory? keeps popping up in his dreamland missions.

Yup! I guess memories are painful sometimes.

Hero

Leonardo de caprio is soon becoming an immaculate actor both because of his acting and the stories he selects. I mean his recent movies , Shutter Island and Inception (not to mention older ones like Catch me if you can, the Departed, The Aviator) make Titanic look like  shit-squeak.

Back to the movie ….

What this movie is  …

1. Another feather in Leo`s cap
2. Another diamond in Nolan`s treasure chest
3. Good thought provoking movie leading to endless debates and interpretations
4. One with the keep-guessing ending where the audience are free to make their conclusions on the hero`s fate
5. The movie that shall make the totem famous  😉

What this movie is not …

1. Though a brilliant piece,  its not an epic ,  like The dark knight or The Matrix or LOTR …. its more like a dramatic documentation of events (of the mind,yes !  but just events none the less) . The complexity is in the novelty of the theme not in the plot.
2. It is like a lecture on the fictitious theme, but sans the ending, doesn`t leave much for the audience`s interpretation  ( audience`s imagination inducing … try the joker from dark knight for instance)

But still it is definitely a good movie, a messiah-like relief  compared to the shit-squeak  called knight and day which released at about the same time in India  (Of course! Wouldn`t deny that Cameron Diaz is still all woooooooh inducing)

Proud people

Boy ! The ones who would be so proud of the movie`s ideas are Freud (due to uncontrolled overwhelming projections which cross boundaries irrespective of the dream host …  the character Mal for instance) , Jung (due to the whole dream within a dream within a dream thing) and good ol`Lyn Chat (the technical reason why she likes it is something I don`t know.Just a hunch)

Emperor`s clothes analogy

Remember the  short kids` tale , The emperor`s new clothes ?

The amusing thing I observed about this movie is that some people , even if they might not  actually like it, end up saying that it was good.  Why ? Because they might possibly be scared that  denying its enjoyability is synonymous with shouting , *I am too stupid to understand!*

Awesome job by the makers for successfully inducing that kind of mass-thinking , even after the audience walks out the theatres … Not many movies do that these days!!  🙂

Mindset of solitude

****

In a city of mechanical cold

Filled with true facts of old

About unending stuff on a platter

Like weekends, parties and babes

And all  a hedonist could behold

At an annual time of yearly vacations

When you strive on stuff of relations

Like a social being in all bliss

Surrounded by pals, allies and money

And the scorchers you could kiss ….

Yet he sits in a mind set of solitude

All seems immersed in platitude

To stare, frown  and shrink in darkness

Wouldn’t care  if gobbled by a lochness

The only feeling is cold … heavy … numbness

****

Its pretty obvious that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. So said dad during the holidays at home.

So said the legendary El Papa , the flat mate of mine in Mumbai.

The author doesn’t really understand whether its any evil or bad-guy allusion in particular. But the thought flow in fursat (idle state) is certainly chaotic

Anyway, Christmas hols are here and I am stumped with a 3 day long weekend. One does live  weekdays wondering about the relaxing long weekend one would have at the turn of the week. But yet, when it arrives you have no idea what to do other than sleep and eat. And yeah! The thoughts flow uninterrupted by day to day phenomena …

Throw in flat mates going away for the weekend and you are stuck in your huge 3 bedroom apartment all for yourself. Its an amusing kick, the thought that goes the Culkin way , “The guys left me home alone” . Freedom ..pristine, invisible and unaccountable! But yet , the kick is temporary and gets overshadowed by thoughts. Just thoughts …old thoughts which one usually tries to subdue with the weight of your job, your businesses, and living through the present day deliverables.

I wonder if something like The last solace in a Universe of Chaos exists. A romantic would impulsively say that the panacea to this requirement is love! But borrowing from good ol’ Al Pacino from the Devil’s advocate , Insipid! The same sensation that occurs as an equivalent to consuming a buxom quantity of dark chocolate ….

So good ol’ Pacino suggests a substitute that is way cheaper and free of baggage.So I actually tried chocolate and ice cream while watching TV. Nopes! Didn’t really work. The claustrophobia and the solitude persisted. That reminds me of good ol’  Sam , an old friend from IIM-C.

With Sam, I worked out this concept of bliss in solitude . But I guess besides  the kick of a soundingly, apparently , theoritically peaceful approach, it didn’t really work. Perhaps because I am not into being a lone ascetic yet 😉 Or perhaps because all these days, I have been lonely anyway, irrespective of people always being there around me.

So its not even physical solitude that seems to be the problem. Just the thought coming up since I have the time to let it come up for these 3 days. The thought that I have been living  in a mind set of solitude, either dormant or active. all along

I shall then,pump up at the gym a bit, do my twilight jog,  dress up in my funkiest way to date,  and hit the city after the Sun goes down.

Is there such a thing as the last solace in a Universe of Chaos .  . Lets see, wonder and hope an answer comes …

yours truly,

still the dark,fast and fiery,

Ghost Runner