I hope we also get to pick our powers

Small talk with you better be worth something

Is action any good without the right intention? If I help someone out of obligation and resent doing it, do I still get my karmic credit? I have realized that the only time I help people with stuff is when I can’t get out of it. I wish everyone was well settled so no one would ever need me.

Ironically, I find helping others terribly self-indulgent.

p.s. I should add that by help here I don't mean helping kids in wars or famine; I just mean doing daily favors for people who should have managed on their own in the first place. For kids in war or famine, I don't have the balls. Although I find those people self-indulgent too. But when even God wants people to go to temples and sing his praises everyday, how can we be any better?

Two bright bulbs

Christmas comes early

Q. If you hate your job, when is the best time on it?

A. The month leading up to your last working day.

I finally got the dates for my transition. One more month and then the time to back my words with action. My current assignment in Boston ends July first week, and I move back to India. And then I resign as soon as I get there. I get paid a lot of money for what I do so its fucking insane that I can't wait to give it all up and do nothing for a few months.

And to all my "well-wishers" who keep trying to talk me out of it, back off! You are not me so don't tell me what you would have done if you were me. Just wait for me to regret it all in a couple of months, and then you can gloat secretly but right now, just be envious. That is all I ask of you.

Just wondering

Would Kurt Cobain be the legend he is if he hadn't killed himself? If he had lived, who knows he might have been on "I am a celebrity, get me out of here". Alright may be not that low, but he married Courtney Love.

Death is like the end of a movie; we know what happens till the happy ending but we don't stick around long enough to see the passionately kissing couple at each other's throats in a matter of days. Girl would find out that the guy opposes gay marriage and guy would realize he can't afford the girl's shoes.

From the deep end of the ocean

Everyone has heard about the Air France flight that went missing over Atlantic. I have been following this news, looking at pictures of relatives waiting at the airport for the news about their loved ones. "Loved ones", that is how it is always written. May be they are not looking for their loved ones, but just for people they are responsible for and are actually annoyed at the additional responsibility of filling the forms and showing up at the airport.

For some this event might make them feel a little important; being a part of an international news. Being one of the 228 (or less) families that are directly affected by this. This would be a story they would tell for years. There would be some small details that would get magnified in their memories and would keep getting added to the story. He almost missed his flight. She told me that she was feeling uneasybefore this flight for some reason. He always joked about plane crashes and told me how it was statistically safer than road travel.

Then there are those for whom their world disappeared along with that plane. And no amount of logical explanation will convince them that no one is coming back.

(a part of me wishes I was on that plane - lost never to be found)

It would have been better if I could hear more clearly

This Memorial Day weekend, I went to SFO. I live in Boston so it was a very long flight. Now we all know the bad things about a long flight; strange smells, feeling hungry when there is no food around, need to pee when you have a window seat and both the aisle and centre seat guys are sleeping. My worst experience was when I had the centre seat on a flight from Paris to Dallas and both window and aisle seat guys were sleeping and snoring into my ears. I swear I wanted to die that day (or night, my time zones were screwed up).

Anyway, this weekend none of these terrible things happened to me. On my flight, 31A and 31B was occupied by an unkempt young man and very pretty girl in red sweatshirt. As soon as we boarded the flight, they started talking. I could hear only the sweatshirt talk, but not clearly enough to make sense of what they were talking about. As irritating as it was, it reminded me of my days of college in India.

I studied at a place about 2 hour away from home and used to come home every weekend. We used to travel by bus and while most of my friends dozed off, I and gags would spend almost entire time talking. We weren’t loud or animated, just incessant. We never thought we were disturbing anyone, until one day a passenger decided it was enough. He waited till gags was off the bus and round me up telling me how stupid we and our debates were and how we knew nothing about life. Never the one with quick comebacks, I just let him lecture me. It was humiliating. Although it didn’t fix me for too long, I always looked around in the bus for him before I took my seat.

Watching unkempt and sweatshirt talk continuously brought back memories of my days and as irritated as I was, I was jealous that she was traveling with a good friend, while I almost always travel alone these days. When we landed, I took another look at them and I heard unkempt say to sweatshirt, “It was nice meeting you”.

What?? They had just met in the plane!

As I stepped out of the plane, unkempt caught up with one of his friends who was also in the same plane. Friend asked him, “Dude who was that girl. We could hear her all the way.” Unkempt said, “I don’t know man, she is gone so its not like I am going to get to fuck her. Why did I have to listen to her!”

While I walked away, I wanted to tell unkempt that while he was listening hoping to get laid, women rarely pour their hearts out to men we wish would see us naked. From where I stand, sweatshirt had it all planned out.