Monsters in your Living Room

This is not a post about childhood nightmares or a spin off the animated movie Monsters. it's about the possible monsters lurking in each one of us.

Sounds scary doesn't it...well it is. Each one of us has a dark side, whether we would like to admit it or not, we are all capable of committing the most vicious crimes known to man. What prevents us from indulging in these horrific acts is our conscience. It's the little voice in our head that helps us choose between Right /Wrong and Good /Evil. In animated cartoons it's the little angel on the right shoulder and the devil on the left.

After I wrote the post on The Mayan Were Right, it got me thinking, could we really pin point why such acts of violence manifests itself in some individuals ? what drove them to a point where the lines of right and wrong were blurred.  I remember in the movie 8MM when the serial killer was caught he told the Detective, "it not what you expected did you?" He said he had a happy childhood and was raised right" then what drove him to go off the handle?

Some things will always be a mystery, are people who appear to be socially well adjusted really sane?
Can we be certain that the monsters that lie within stay controlled? it's a scary thought.

Alcohol most often brings out the real person, and some people fight so hard to appear well adjusted. For those in relationships, watch-out for the signs, If you don't like what you see when your partner is drunk, its not going to go away once they are sober. It will always be under the surface waiting to explode. Men who hit women in a fit of rage, are likely to repeat this again and again.

Most women, who are abused mentally, physically and emotionally need to know that the tormenting will not stop IF they do not put a stop to it. By forgiving a physical assault no matter how minor it may be, they are subconsciously okaying that abuse. 

I did make some references to computer games in my previous post, people do enjoy shooting at each other and after sometime they need a bigger stimuli to get a high, could this be one of the causes for violence ? well it just could.

By banning violent games the problem will not go away as most have tasted blood and will go to great lengths to get that high. As humans we are programmed to survive and they will find a way to hide their deviant selves. A new strain of delinquent behaviour will surface once they control what they know to avoid getting caught.

We need to reinforce the right behavior with our peers, social groups and raise our children to be good citizens. Reinforcement of the right behavior will not cure but prevent the deviant behavior from surfacing. 

We are all living on the edge and dancing with wolves in sheep's clothing, we can never say that we are really safe, cause you never know what lies beneath.

16 Weeks

At 16 weeks, a baby is over 4.5 inches long from crown to rump, a baby's facial muscles are developed enough to grimace, frown, and make other faces in the womb.

At 16 weeks, I am still frowning and making other faces I learned as a baby, as I am still unemployed and the job hunt is pretty frustrating.

I can swear that when your on leave a week last only 4 days. You have your Monday, so that you know its the start of the week then before you know it is Wednesday and while your still trying to digest the fact that its already Wednesday, Friday has already made its self comfortable and the weekend lasts 24hrs. I

ts been 16 Weeks since I quit and I've gone through a quarter in no time. If you ever happen to meet me or speak to me, don't be surprised if all my conversations are peppered with topics on the economy, unemployment, and job hunt.

My family has stopped asking me questions as I have a standard request. I Need a Job. What do ya want for Christmas ? : I want a Job. I'm going out do u need anything ? : I Need a Job. Any plans for the new year ? : To get a job So how are you ? : Unemployed, I Need a Job.

I paid a recruitment agency Shine.com to spruce up my resume and contact recruitment firms and companies. So I've explored I guess all avenues. With the US fiscal cliff teetering towards a collapse. The job market will probably get affected world wide. I just hope and pray I get a job before the market collapses.

I've begun to seriously consider becoming a delivery boy for a restaurant. I know bandra really well and I am sure I will speed up the delivery process for any restaurant. So currently all the bells and whistles are ringing and I'm almost in panic mode, but it will take another 8 weeks until I have to start selling stuff like a kidney, liver, car, clothes, movies. Etc.

if you are still reading this post you can either let me know if there are vacancies or wait for the BIG SALE and get a good bargain on a kidney.

The Mayans Were Right

21st December 2012 3:54am… According to the Mayan calendar the world is supposed to end today. If you are expecting a worldwide catastrophic calamity that will bring an end to humanity, well it’s not going to happen.

However I believe that the Mayan’s were right, but it doesn’t mean that the Earth is going to explode before the day ends, it just means that humanity is scarce and will soon be non existent.
The horrific senseless acts of terror and inhumanity, that occurred in the last couple of weeks is proof enough, that humanity no longer exists.

Last week a 20 year old, mercilessly massacred 27 people most of them kids. How depraved do you need to be to shoot innocent kids for no reason? and most of them were shot more that eleven times.

A couple of days ago, six men gang raped and mutilated a young 23 year old girl in a bus. The girl was later thrown out of the moving bus and she succumbed to her injuries yesterday. Rapes and murders have become an everyday affair. Bombay was once known to be the safest cities for women, but was it really safe? Or have the media become more vigilant. I believe that more than half of the crimes committed are not reported. The recent spate of murders and rapes makes Bombay no safer than swimming in a lake infested with hungry crocodiles.

Scores of protests demanding for stricter laws to curb these crimes are spurting all over the world. But what we fail to realise is that, the frequency of these heinous acts are increasing. Sure, we have laws that will prevent people from carrying weapons, and have the harshest punishment given to people who commit such crimes, but will it deter people from committing these monstrous acts of violence? I think not, it will only make them look for other alternatives to commit these crimes.

The people, who resort to these inhuman acts, are sick depraved heartless individuals and no law will change their state of mind. The question we should ask ourselves is why are so many people resorting to such inhuman acts of violence? What drives them to commit such crimes? are television and media fueling such violence?

I would say it does play a part, but it can't be the sole reason why people go off the handle and become monsters. I do believe that lack of adult supervision and guidance is also one of the major factors.
Parents are so busy trying to either make ends meet or working to secure a better life for themselves and for their children that they forget to spend that quality time with their kids. They substitute that lack of time shared by giving their kids money.

I have seen work-life balance go out of whack and it’s not surprising why some kids do become deviant. However this is also not the sole reason why people commit such crimes. It is a combination of heredity and environment.

Life is not what it used to be, video games have become far more advanced from the times of ‘Super Mario’ and ‘Packman’; they have artificial intelligence and are realistic.

With the advancement in technology these games have become more realistic and some of them fuel these acts of violence. I read that there are games created with the objective of raping and stalking a person. The videos on the internet also cater to the sick needs of some licentious soul.

We have movies that showcase some of the harshest realities of life. 8mm showcases pornography to its extreme (snuff films) in which at the end of the act the woman is actually brutally murdered.

It is illegal, but some people will pay a lot of money to see it. Humanity is dead and we are living in a world that gets more apathetic day by day. After a horrific crime, we tweet about it, we talk about it, we hold protests and ask for the death penalty and after a few days, weeks or months, we go back to our busy lives and forget about it.

Do these heinous acts really shake our spirits, or are they just topics of discussion? Have we become inured to such behaviour? I guess we have. Our only hope is to instill the right values in the youth of today, so that we may have a better tomorrow.

Shop-a-Rush

 Shop-a-Rush

I saw a friend’s status on Facebook stating that he went to exchange a shirt and bought 9 more. I could immediately relate to this. I have done many crazy things like this; I call it ‘shop-a-rush’

This impulsive desire to buy stuff while casually browsing or talking, walking, dreaming, driving, watching and the other ’-ings’ sends a normal, well-adjusted, level headed individual  into a must have mode.

Some of my shop-a-rush episodes date back to the 90’s, back then the condition was controlled by the lack of vitamin M. The intensity of the condition saw a steep rise once I started working. One of my 1^st big ticket items that I bought impulsively was my bike.

I went to Kurla with a friend and in less than 5mins; I made the down payment and walked out of the Bajaj showroom.  Before I continue, let me point out that some men also like to shop and it’s not a ‘Girl Thing’ the only difference is I believe that most guys shop way quicker than women.

In 2004, I was a loyal customer of Dockers, but since the clothes were expensive I wouldn’t buy more than 2, but this all changed when Dockers had a 50% sale, I went into the store and got a pair of pants and a shirt, however the pant given to me was the wrong size. I went back into the store…

10mins later I walked out with 12shirts and 6 pants. I still have some of them with their price tag on.

A couple of years later, my sister asked me to get her the sound of music DVD, So I went to town Planet M and got the DVD and was heading home, I stopped in Bandra to get something to eat and I then waked into an electronics store I think it was Metro, and I bought a new DVD player and a TV.

In 2009, I was on my way home from work and I walked into the Maruti Showroom to check the cost of a car, 10mins later I had booked my A-Star and 2 weeks I got my delivery.

Many years later, my dad wanted polish for his shoes and so we went to shoppers stop, we walked out of the store without the polish but with 4 pairs of shoes.  

So the above incidents of shop-a-rush are related, clothes + clothes, DVD + DVD player + TV, Shoe polish + shoes, intent of buying a car = Buying a car however sometimes it may not be related.

My sister asked me to get her some chocolates from Theobroma (Bandra) I got the chocolates and then decided to go to Croma and low and behold an LED TV.

At that moment when you are in the store it makes perfect sense to make that purchase, sometimes you look back and say I didn’t really have to get that right now.

Shopping I do believe is therapeutic however it needs to be controlled. 

As I write this I am looking at a box packed 32GB pen drive and about 20 packed movie DVD’s  and wondering why did I have to buy it at that time.

Follow the Leader

As I watch the cursor blink on the blank page, I try to reminisce about something interesting and poignant, but as I rifle through the deepest recesses of my mind, every thought both past present and future seems to link to my quest of getting a job.

It’s been exactly 3 months since I quit and my hunt for a new job is proving to be quite a pain in the Gluteus Maximus. 

I have however consciously decided to steer clear of writing about my job hunt as I have already covered that topic in my previous posts.

I went over to a friend’s place yesterday and we were talking about tradition and rules. It is surprising how some people follow rules to a ‘T’ and are absolutely clueless why they are doing such an activity. 

They never question the task or purpose of that action. I have seen this irrational behavior manifest itself abundantly at malls, restaurants and even in a big multinational.

Post the terror attacks, every mall has ‘Beefed up’ security, so before entering a mall you are required to go through a security check. If you walk in, then you are patted down and the women have to get their handbags scanned.  

If you drive to the mall the security will ask you to open the boot and the hood and post that they let you go. They never check, in the car or have a bomb squad dog check the car.

Now if I was looking to cause some serious harm, why in the world would I put a bomb in the boot or the hood of the car? It would be easier to carry it in the car. When you go to a company, they only check the boot of the car. So how secure are you really?

On the other hand I have seen a display of great security at the Taj, they have sniffer dogs and they do check your car thoroughly, even the body and bag scan is thorough. 

Some might argue stating that with the amount of footfall malls have each day, it’s not practical to conduct an exhaustive scan for each person. My argument here is if you are conducting an activity you should do it well, or not do it at all.

At some restaurants, the staff will wear gloves to prevent bacteria from spreading, however while wearing those sanitized gloves they will handle used plates and then food. So the point of using the gloves ceases to exist.

At work, at times you are required to create a report on your team or departments performance. Sometimes the frequency of this report may become a daily affair if your team or department is not doing well, or the project you are managing is new.

However when the business stabilizes or the process changes some the reports are not required but still get generated day after day consuming precious man hours. 

I remember an extremely time consuming activity that was done, because it was in the process, however no one bothered to question why we were still doing that activity. 

I have always challenged decisions or sought clarity why I doing a certain task, I could never get myself to follow something that didn’t make sense. If you are a leader or a person in power, encourage the people you work with, to challenge decisions, if they feel it doesn't make sense. 

If people start questioning the 'Status Quo' and use their head, our city and our businesses will do a lot better.

No Touching - Brumotactillophobia

This post is not about touching a rare dinosaur in a museum, it’s a post about my food phobia as a child. If you have read my previous post ‘Old Man’ you would not be surprised as, I had certain oddities as a kid. There were specific rules I followed diligently during meal time, let's just call it my meal mantra.

I had my own plate with my name engraved on it and no one would dare touch that plate. I had a specific fork and spoon and the same rules applied. I had other rules which I have explained in details in the following posts Things I Eat and How and Gastronomical Idiosyncrasies.

The rule of 3 drops of gravy was short lived, and I became less fussy over the years, however between the ages of 4 – 7 I was an absolute pain. Let me set this up for you, if I was eating chicken, fries, rice and chicken gravy. Then rule no 1, stated that the fries and the chicken should not touch, if you find this confusing, don’t bother to read anymore.

I love fish and chicken, however I would not or could not get myself to eat them at the same time. (same meal)  I could not bear to see a piece of chicken and fish in the same plate. I am sure you are wide eyed right now, wondering what a weird kid I was. I had these rules for a reason, which was logical only to me. 

My reasoning behind this odd condition was that, if the chicken touched the fish then the taste would get compromised. However if I ate them separately I would get to fully experience the flavors individually. It does sound like a plausible argument, well at least to me.

I was reading an article on the Internet and I realized that I was not the only weird person on the planet. This condition has a name and it's called brumotactillophobia, it’s a food-related phobia of food touching other food.

Over the years I have improved considerably and although I do not suffer from brumotactillophobia anymore, I still have a few quirks.

There are some rules I still follow till today, I don’t let anyone eat from my plate or sip from my glass, except my girl friend. It's not that I feel they are infested with some deadly bacteria, I just don't like it. What I do, is request them to get another glass or a plate. 

During birthday's it is customary for the birthday boy or girl to cut a piece of cake and give all the close family members and friends a bite. I however I can't and won't participate in that act of sharing DNA. The only person on the planet who will be allowed to eat stuff from my plate or share my food will be my girlfriend. 

So if you ever offer me a bite of your sandwich or cake, don’t be offended if I refuse.

Old Man

Growing up was pretty stressful, well stressful for people living with me. I have however improved to a great degree in the past 3 decades. I don’t know what elicited these quirks but had it not been for them I would had nothing to write about. I was thoroughly spoiled as a kid, that’s what my sisters tell me and looking back I think, I did get whatever I wanted, well almost.

We had two Au pairs and a maid, and they did spoil me, I got my favorite food every day, right down to specifics, 3 drops of gravy, on rice not 4, not 2…but 3; weird huh? I still can’t believe that they complied with my unusual requests.

I did have a lot of quirks; I have out grown most of them over time. One that made absolutely no sense and is still baffling till today was my belief that I would become an old man if my maid touched my clothes.

Ok, I’ll give you a moment to read that again and another minute more to absorb what I just wrote. I was 4 years old and whenever my maid touched my clothes, I would get upset and say “you made me an old man” I do not know for how long this quirkiness lasted but let’s just say only my mum and my Au pairs could dress me.

As I grew older, I out grew this odd behavior developed new ones. Now let me just say that some of them were actually a blessing for my mum. From the age of 7 to 15 I never let anyone wash or iron my clothes. My shirts had to be ironed correctly; every seam had to be in place... I did spend a lot of time ironing clothes.

I grew older I developed some other quirks but let’s leave that for another post.

 

Alien

With the Communication Device set in place, I tinkered with the antenna and adjusted the frequency, the signal was weak, I could hear something in the background tried to decrypt the celestial mumble, but there was too much static, a few adjustments and suddenly it was clear, a voice boomed “You are listening to 98.2 FM”, No this can’t be right! … I was puzzled and disappointed. The satellite radio didn’t work. I was expecting to reach people from my planet Neptune.

Now before you think I should dial down the crazy, let me just say my childhood was filled with such crazy stories and adventure, thanks to television and my sisters. I was led to believe that I was adopted and my birth mother and father were from Neptune. 

Shocked? Perplexed? …Well that’s what you get when you have sisters who are way older than you; let’s just call it sibling hazing. I was 6years old and very gullible, unlike kids today. I was at an impressionable age, watching Superman, Star trek and E.T. made it a lot easier for my sisters to convince me that I was adopted and from another planet.

I was so convinced that I was an alien, I wore a pair of silver gumboots throughout the year. 

I have always been interested in finding out if there is life beyond earth in some distant galaxy, I was fascinated by space and I wanted to become an astronaut, however math was not my best friend and apparently that is required.

So getting back to the story, I firmly believed that I was sent by my birth parents to earth to serve a purpose, something I am still trying to figure out; the purpose and not that I was sent by aliens. So a story combination of superman and E.T. encourage me to contact my planet (Neptune)

Armed with a radio, Foil, a hanger, and a plate, I created my ‘Communication Device’, well apparently E.T contacted his planet, so how hard could it be? My fantasy was short lived when after 2 hours in the backyard and surfing through numerous radio stations, my mum called me in for dinner.

My 1st Love

Date:-13 July 2005, Time: - 15:59:21 Seconds… It has been 3 Years 2 Months 9 Days, 3 Hours, 12 Minutes and 2 Seconds and counting…since I first dated her. I would not call it love at first sight, but I had seen her, a couple of years ago but I did not have the courage to approach her, nor did I have the money to entertain her. I got my first big break when I had joined a call center, the money was decent and that is when I realized that it was now or never. 

I went to kurla to meet her. I had gone with a friend of mine, as I was not too sure, what would happen. It was precisely 7:30pm, we finally met her and we were on our way home when she got upset and refused to talk, after a lot of coaxing, and questioning we found out that she needed something to drink as she was very tired, so after a quick refill, we went to my place.

She has always been a little moody, but I guess you can expect that, from any girl (No offense to the women), she was a bit possessive, and would refuse to speak or interact with any other guy, unless I was around, or if I had introduced her to him. I could not complain I rather liked that.

I still remember when I went to Australia last year, she was so upset when I got back, because I did not let her know that I was not going to be with her for 3 weeks, nor did I ask about her. I guess I took things for granted. I can still remember the day as it was yesterday, she was so angry, it made Mount Etna seem like a minuscule spark. She just refused to speak to me for days. I bought her gifts, but it was of no use. Nevertheless, I knew that in her heart she loved me. A week later, after apologizing a million times, she finally relented.

We were back, since that day I have never neglected her. However lately, I have got bored and I guess the spark in our relationship needs to be rekindled. So this Saturday I am taking her to the Kawasaki Bajaj Auto Center in Kurla to give her a complete makeover.