Where Men became Gods

People who were hapless witnesses to nature’s frenzy in Uttarakhand…

Stood helplessly, and believed this was the end of the road for them…

Where hope seemed to crumble with the relentless gushing rage…

Even the God of Destruction himself stood helplessly surrounded…

And then, from the skies…

A marginalized and often forgotten God emerged, and rushed selflessly in…

And stood brave in front of an unknown foe…

They did, not what they had been asked to, but did everything they possibly could. And still are…

Amidst the greed that has trickled into the farthest veins of the country, these brave, selfless and righteous men and women give every Indian a ray of hope;  a glimpse of Indians that we were, and of Indians that we can be.

Love at First Bite

While the title may be a little misleading to some, this post isn’t a vampire or cannibal’s love story. And there are no pictures of Eliza Dushku here either.

With this post, I was thinking about some light topic to briefly change the tone on the blog. And recently while looking something up online, one of the Google search results was a link to one of my first few posts on another blogging site, posted way back in 2009 when I had first thought of giving blogging a shot. So thought I’d re-post it here, best served at room temperature for any foodies around. Here goes…

A music channel has this show where they show random people making some really outrageous dishes/ snacks at home. Something they accidentally stumbled upon as a result of a culinary catastrophe, or just something they made up along the way by mixing n matching different foods; perhaps in an attempt to be different, to prove their craziness to friends, or in most cases, to just survive the hunger when mommy wasn’t home.

It reminded me of my childhood, when I used to try my hand at a few such ‘snacks’ – sandwiches to be precise, to cater to the unbearable hunger somewhere between breakfast n lunch, usually on a Sunday afternoon.

Sandwiches were pretty much the only option, being the easiest to make,  n least messy food option of them all.

I’d start with a slice of bread, put a slice of cheese on it. Then another slice, this one laden with some mixed fruit jam. Top that with another slice with peanut butter on it, spread on fairly thick. And finally, the last slice with thick coating of Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) on it. Sometimes if I was hungrier, there could be an extra slice of cheese thrown in. And that surely was a treat of sorts.!

Now believe me, if you haven’t gotten nauseous, just trying to imagine all that, and you might just like it.

Like the saying goes,

“if it doesn’t kill ya, it only makes you stronger.” 😉

If you’ve got some of your own recipes for tasty food with odd combinations, let’s hear about it.

Feedback from a friend about a post

I just received probably the best feedback yet, regarding a post on my blog,  ‘Death and The Maiden‘, from Jimmy, a good friend of mine.

Now Jimmy’s the youngest friend I have. At over 65 years of age, he’s actually more fun to hang out with than some people my age. His sense of humour would make the rest of us look grumpy. And that’s when some of his dirty jokes aren’t leaving people red in the face with embarrassment.

Anyway, he is excellent at writing, and even better at poetry, and he was kind enough to email me this.

Here’s what he wrote..

Dear Shrutin

Read your article on the analysis of suicide – well analysed and considerable inputs

Perhaps sometimes it is not as simple as it appears. How often does one comment He/she had everything going then why

Another factor which is of great importance in keeping the balance tilted to the right is the “guardian angel ” This is extremely important and I say this from personal experiences I have been extremely  fortunate in this regard

There is a lot going for you and your writings are extremely profound. A thinker in the making. It is not important if someone likes it or not but if it sets even one person thinking it is good.  Keep at it my friend

Jimmy

Thanks a lot buddy.! Truly inspired and humbled by it.

Death and The Maiden

 “Tonight’s happy song, kinda like a walk in the park ..the sun coming through the window in the morning on a beautiful day… and you have nothing better to do than commit Harakiri, so…is this? Alright. This is called..Estranged..”

– Axl Rose, at a GnR Live Concert 

Last morning I woke up to the news of young starlet Jiah Khan’s suicide. Possibilities and reasons were many. But whichever way you looked at it, the 25-year old hanging herself came as a shocker to most of us.

Now, to be honest, I have probably watched her in 1-2 movies, and even though she acted well and was very beautiful, I wasn’t exactly a fan.

But news of her death triggered a discussion with a close friend of mine, about what drives people to commit suicide. My friend was of the view that suicide is a cowardly way to go, irrespective of the magnitude of the battles one fights.

I used to be of that exact view until a few years ago. But along the way I realized I was wrong. Reading about similar suicides generated a curiosity. Questions like what factors could result in someone even considering suicide, can it be avoided, and what leads someone to intentionally race toward an eventuality that even the bravest of us fear and dread. Death.

“People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.”
– Jim Morrison

While I was in college, my mom bought me a t-shirt that read ‘Life’s tough..but I haven’t hit the Panic button yet.!’

In light of why I’m writing this post, that line on the tee somehow doesn’t seem as amusing as it used to. Anyway, I boiled my thoughts down to 5 factors that I believe influence a mental imbalance, which in turn results in somebody ‘hitting the Panic button’ (here’s my definition of it, and let’s just call it ‘Panic’ for simplicity. And if you’re wondering, yeah you too can make definitions of your own).

Panic: a reaction to a combination of the 5 internal and external factors that could manifest itself either in a

• defensive way (nervous breakdowns, depression, suicidal tendencies, etc.), or offensive way (bursts of anger and rage, attacking people, etc.). Signs for both need to be identified and avoided.

Now here are the 5 internal & external factors which cause someone to ‘lose it’:

• the situation or circumstance: tough boss, harassment, etc.
• importance given to the situation: whether a situation or person affects you strongly, or you are indifferent to it
• duration of the situation:
• the strength or resilience: how much of a situation can you handle before you throw in the towel
• a balancing factor(s): someone or something that helps you cope with a difficult situation (family, friends, pets, hobbies or work)

And the math for these factors works something like this.

On the left, you have three negative factors, and two positive factors on the right.

That seesaw is mental stability. As you’re looking at it right now, the objective is to always keep the seesaw tilted to the right (where things go between well and manageable). The moment it levels off or tilts left, you’ve got a problem.

So whether it is you, or someone close to you, you have to be observant and aware of how strong you or that person are, how much they can take, and where you or they might need someone to step in (a balancing factor) to keep the seesaw tilted right. There are some problems one can overcome alone. For others, you have the option of facing it with a balancing factor, or of getting out of the situation (quitting a job, getting out of a strained relationship, escalating a matter at work, etc.) But whatever the factor, you need to understand what the problem is, how you are holding up, and what you need or might need to do if it continues. But you have to do something about it. And let’s not lose any more people to the swinging of the seesaw.

“I am troubled, immeasurably
 by your eyes.
 I am struck by the feather
 of your soft reply.
 The sound of glass
 speaks quick, disdain
 and conceals
 what your eyes fight
 to explain.”
 - Jim Morrison

Social Media, What Next?

Hybrids come naturally in most businesses. Hybrid products/ services. The easiest example that comes to mind, is the BMW X6 (something between an SUV and a sedan). I don’t think that particular line has been very popular, though it does look massive, and reasonably cool. A more common hybrid is a mutual fund or similar investment program. Another recent hybrid is the Connected Camera by Samsung. We are surrounded by hybrids.

Hybrids attempt to give you the good of two or more worlds, and unfortunately more often than not,  not the best of those worlds.

Surprisingly, I don’t see any hybrid social media sites yet, that have tried to take a shot at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (unarguably the top 3 social media sites on the net today) by capturing the good bits from all three.

All three lack certain features, or are an overkill when it comes to certain  features. And they’ve been around long enough for some, if not a lot of us to have started getting bored of them. Here are some of the lacking & overkill features.

Facebook recently added a ton of sections to the Timeline (I know a good number of people who find the Timeline itself way too complicated). Anyway, the new sections include one for movies you’ve watched (bringing to you, the likes of themoviedb, etc.), for books you’ve read (that’s like shelfari or goodreads on FB), for tv shows (phew.!). All in all, overkill.!

LinkedIn’s got a lot missing. It won’t let you add an acquaintance without knowing their mail id. But if you select that person as a friend, it doesn’t complain. Then why the fuss differentiating between everyone from an acquaintance to a long-lost childhood friend? Look at it differently, and I might raise an eyebrow (if I could) if someone I’d just interacted briefly with at a conference added me as a “friend” on LinkedIn. The discussions pages on LinkedIn are just bleeding boring. Plain, dull, and I think its something to do with the layout as well.  Sleep-inducing. I’ve already written enough about my reservations with the endorse feature already.

And a la Twitter, while quite progressive in thought with the ‘all-you-can-do-with-140-chars’, could have been way more useful from an information sharing point-of-view, if the limit was more like, say a paragraph. Because unless you’re at a school chatting with friends or reading one-liners or short jokes off my Twitter page, apart from getting news updates, most of the interesting stuff is still a click-of-a-short-link away. And the click takes you to a big post or news article. I have a view about a lot of things, but it’s difficult to sit them comfortably in 140 chars. Now imagine if you could tweet a short-link along with a short note sharing your views about a certain event or news item. Kind of like a comment on FB. Maybe even have a conversation about it there  with like-minded people. Wouldn’t that make Twitter more interesting?

What I had in mind about a new social media site, is a hybrid that can be used for professional as well as personal purposes. Firstly, because it would be less complicated than managing stuff across 3 or more sites. And because I believe for most of us, our Facebook profiles would be a better reflection of who we are in real life (if you’re extremely formal and uptight, and are more at home on LinkedIn than for FB, that too would reflect easily on FB, right?) Instead of everyone looking all formal and uptight on LinkedIn when they may be just the opposite in real life and on FB. It would even make it more accurate for your colleagues or prospective employers to understand your personality better (of course, they’d only have a limited view), enabling better job fits. LinkedIn is a little too formal, a little lacking and quite boring. Facebook’s alright to stay connected. And Twitter does really well when it comes to communication, but it does feel a little too restrictive.

So if you do plan to create such a site after reading this, I wouldn’t mind 15% of revenues or the venture funding received 😉

Just kidding there, but let me have your thoughts on it. On what next after Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?

Social Media images:Courtesy sayingitsocial and DesignBolts