About a dog

A huge, shiny black dog belonging to the neighbourhood has been adopted by our office. He is friendly enough for me to be able to look past his size and admire him. I think he is the first ever non-filmy dog that i have found beautiful! He shares our parking lot with some chickens , who also belong to the neighbourhood.

As i leave for home, i see a kid (also i suspect belonging to the neighbourhood) playing with a laser pointer kind of thing. He moves it around so that the light shines on the ground. The dog, thinking that it is a ball, chases the light around, barking part in fun, part in frustration at not being able to lay its jaws on it!

You know you have grown up when you cant look at such a scene and not see a deeper message.

The circle of life

Do you ever get the feeling that nothing new ever happens anymore? That everything that happens has already happened before, either to you or to someone else? That all motion is just an illusion, we are moving sure, but not really getting anywhere because it all a giant cycle and at some point, you are going to be right where you started?
My Aunt was talking to my grandmom a few days ago, and she says - "Can you believe it, the kid who delivers newspapers at our home called me Ajji?" (Ajji is grandmother in Marathi and probably several other languages). And my granny lets out a properly shocked But you are so young! And i think, is this what life is all about? Going from indignation over being called Aunty to indignation over being called Ajji?
Recent months have seen me as a participant in more than my fair share of married girl talk and mum talk. Not having experiences of my own to contribute, i naturally turn to those of my mothers. And you know what, one generation later they are still facing the same issues!! In-laws, kids, domestic help, balance between work and home - you would have thought they would have found a solution by now! Think i am being a little naive here? That these are universal issues that actually unite us as a species? Like, how many ever ages the little fish have been around, how many ever tricks evolution has taught them about hiding better, they still have to worry about being eaten by the big fish, dont they? That never goes away. Somehow, i thought humans would be more intelligent.
Take babies. How idiotic is it that every baby has to start form the very beginning? Shouldn't evolution have evolved by now that babies come in knowing some of the stuff humans have perfected over generations? (Am reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. In one story he goes to deliver a lamb. The moment the little ones come out, they totter around for a few seconds as they learn to stand on their feet and then head straight to the mother's udder! And the shepherd, who has seen this a thousand times, still stares in amazement and says - How do they know?) . I must admit though, an all knowing baby without the whole wide-eyed-wonder thing? Not very appealing! Also, i'm not exactly clear how much pre-programming the babies should come with. I mean, life is generally mostly about the journey, they would be missing out on that. On the other hand, they do get a lot of stuff ready made anyway. No one gives they kids a couple of sticks and says - go, discover fire! (see how confused i can get? I no longer know which side i am arguing on!)
What is really offended here, is in some sense my ego. The belief that i am an individual, i am unique. That i choose my own roads. That my life is not a rehash of lives that have already been led before. That at the end of it all, i will be standing where no one has stood before.

P.S. Scott Adams says it much better with his moist robot theory and you being a hologram programmed by a prior real version of you theory.

Good health implies bad hygiene

And hence it has been proved. That washing your hair, however scant it may be, is injurious to health. Especially to your shoulder muscles. And especially if you have just re-started going to the gym after 4 months. And especially due to attempted bravado, wherein you assume you can literally pick up where you left off and start with 4 times the minimum weight. And especially if you have a history of shoulder problems.

If and when i have a house of my own, the bathroom door will have the following message printed in large friendly letters

Enter at your own risk

Once there will be a young girl

You know the armour of indifference is cracked when:

• you want to kill people who flout traffic signals. You do not want to look at them indulgently and think aisi bhi kya jaldi hai baba, you want to kill them.
  

• it is one of those rare weekends when the starts have smiled. An empty court, 3 available people and you are off to your hour of badminton. An extended family member says - i don't know why you waste your time playing. Cant you find anything better to do? And instead of the "you will never understand me but i still love you" smile, your first reaction is a "how dare she" spike of anger.

• it has been decided, for excellent reasons, that everyone will report to work by 10. It poses no practical problems to you since you hail from a family of early risers. But still, you object to the decision on principle, it seems un-democratic. It takes all your self-control to stop yourself from going to the people in charge first thing in the morning and saying - Sir! Vinaya N reporting for duty, Sir!

People get to you. Their attitudes get to you. Their actions get to you. And you wonder, isn't it supposed to be the other way round? Aren't the sharp edges supposed to get smoother with age? Aren't you supposed to become more tolerant?

Yesterday's TOI had an article about how age is all in the mind. Maybe that is it! I am getting younger in my mind!! And hence more porcupine-y. Assuming this continues, if after a few months you come across a 20 something girl giggling without a cause and replying with a "shendi cut up" to your "shutup", that would be me.