Any Hunk can woo a babe,
Pleasure is to dream doing it when you look ordinary.
Any Filthy Rich can own a Merc,
Pleasure is to dream of it while you walk under burning sun in your worn out jeans, in torn foot wear with an empty wallet.
Any Genius can become successful,
Pleasure is to do it with your average intelligence.
Any one can use and admire natural gifts of fortune
Pleasure is to create that, which does not exist and leave a legacy...
The Happy Prince.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Cricket of Life
May be because I’m an Indian but I see cricket as a game that represents life the best. No matter what happens, every situation in life is so amazingly depicted in the rules, situations and strategies of this game.
Just imagine yourself as the captain of a team. Your goal is to win the game at any cost. For this purpose you pick players. You pick players according to the weather conditions, pitch, team you are playing against and your strategy.
Suppose you have batsman like Sachin Tendulkar on your side, you put your trust in him to score. You trust him and expect him to make runs for you. In your strategy that precise is his role. You have a bowler like Anil Kumble. You put your trust in him to take wickets for you. That is his role.
Sachin may get out on the first ball, Kumble may be hit for sixers over after over. You never know who will work, who will fail. You may win or lose the game because of it, but whatever the result, as a captain of the team, you are responsible for the result.
Sometimes your best players may be sold out. They may fix the match against you, turn their backs to you and yet, you will be responsible for the result. You can’t cite their unfaithfulness as a reason for your loss.
Just imagine a situation:
You’re sitting in the dressing room while your best players are getting out one by one. They’re coming to the dressing room with their heads bowed in shame while your strategy, your game, your goal is going for a toss. Or another situation, you’re on the field and all of your bowlers are being taken for a ride.
At such times, there’s no use getting angry at these players of yours. Their part in your game is over. They are out of your strategy and plan of action. The question in front of you at such times is, “What can I do now?” And not “How could these players be such big fools?” or “How could this X fool forget his basics? Is he cheating? Has he sold himself out?”
There is no use of asking the later questions. If you have an answer to the first question only then you can win the game. Because your goal is not to teach cricket to your players, your job is to use their skills to win your game; not to instill values among them.
One thing you must always remember: You can’t play without others. You’ll have to trust them but you can’t and shouldn’t depend on them. Ultimately, it’s your game, your win and your loss.
Play your game with players. Don’t let players play your game.
The Happy Prince.
Just imagine yourself as the captain of a team. Your goal is to win the game at any cost. For this purpose you pick players. You pick players according to the weather conditions, pitch, team you are playing against and your strategy.
Suppose you have batsman like Sachin Tendulkar on your side, you put your trust in him to score. You trust him and expect him to make runs for you. In your strategy that precise is his role. You have a bowler like Anil Kumble. You put your trust in him to take wickets for you. That is his role.
Sachin may get out on the first ball, Kumble may be hit for sixers over after over. You never know who will work, who will fail. You may win or lose the game because of it, but whatever the result, as a captain of the team, you are responsible for the result.
Sometimes your best players may be sold out. They may fix the match against you, turn their backs to you and yet, you will be responsible for the result. You can’t cite their unfaithfulness as a reason for your loss.
Just imagine a situation:
You’re sitting in the dressing room while your best players are getting out one by one. They’re coming to the dressing room with their heads bowed in shame while your strategy, your game, your goal is going for a toss. Or another situation, you’re on the field and all of your bowlers are being taken for a ride.
At such times, there’s no use getting angry at these players of yours. Their part in your game is over. They are out of your strategy and plan of action. The question in front of you at such times is, “What can I do now?” And not “How could these players be such big fools?” or “How could this X fool forget his basics? Is he cheating? Has he sold himself out?”
There is no use of asking the later questions. If you have an answer to the first question only then you can win the game. Because your goal is not to teach cricket to your players, your job is to use their skills to win your game; not to instill values among them.
One thing you must always remember: You can’t play without others. You’ll have to trust them but you can’t and shouldn’t depend on them. Ultimately, it’s your game, your win and your loss.
Play your game with players. Don’t let players play your game.
The Happy Prince.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Fake smiles...
She’s one of the cutest ones in my class. I’ve always wanted to be friends with her. We talk, we laugh, share messages once in a while but I’ll never say we’re friends. We’re class mates. She knows me and I know her. That is all. But I’ve always wanted to be friends with her…
Today the moment she entered the class, I knew there was something different. She wasn’t wearing her regular make up. The kajal, the lip stick and everything else she uses was all missing and yet she looked cuter than she usually did. She was happier I guess but that is just a guess and since we’re not that close, a guess is all I could do. Sometime later, her friends announced it was her birthday. We all sang and wished her.
After the classes are over I’m on my bike when I spot her walking by the road, talking to someone on her expensive Nokia N93. I pull over, hold my hand out and say, “Hey ‘X’! Happy birthday to you!”
Frankly, I can see she isn’t even interested. But she has no choice. She shakes my hand and gives a fake smile. But I like that smile. Though fake, it too is cute like her…
I like people who give fakes smiles. Particularly when those smiles are either cute, sweet or sexy. A smile says so many things. It is quite difficult to say all that animatedly and that too when you know that the person you are smiling at knows that your smile is fake. One has to be both while giving a fake smile, a good actor and above all, shameless.
Just imagine two opponent gamblers having high stakes against each other smiling. Smiling at each other while the game is just about to begin. Both know each others cards. They know the questions in each others minds and they know their answers. Yet they smile and wish best of luck to each other. They don’t ask each other any questions. They don’t say “I know your cards” to each other either. They just wish and they smile. It is a cunning smile and yet a friendly one. Their eyes say, “Just wait and watch how I slaughter you” but the muscles on the face and the lips say “May the best man win.”
Then after the game is over, after one has lost and the other one has won, they shake hands again and they smile. This is a different smile. The winner smiles thinking, “Son of a bitch! I’ve shown him his place finally. I guess I fell a little short of getting him on streets. No problem though, next time I’ll see to it that he sweeps my floor at home.” The loser smiles too. He says, “It was your day Johnny.” But he thinks, “Son of a bitch has cheated again. I must learn his trick of shuffling the cards though. He’s too good at it. I haven’t lost anything though. Just a small price for learning his tricks in the game.” And thus, they move on to meet again.
Johnny doesn’t stop either learning new tricks or cheating. Tommy doesn’t stop gambling either. No matter how badly Tommy has lost, he will play again. That’s both, his profession and passion. When he will walk on the street, people will point out and say, “Yeah! You see that loser? That is Tommy. Johnny fell short of getting him on the street the other day.”
Tommy will borrow more to gamble more, people will shoo him. Still, he will ask shamelessly. Smile at them when they abuse him. They will kick him and yet, he will smile. That will be a different smile. Foolish, sheepish. The one that says, “Yeah, say that. I’m used to that and I expect that.” Then eventually someone will lend him some money. Some day his tricks and all previous experience along with luck will favour him. He will start winning.
Then he will decide to take revenge from those who abused him. He won’t go and say that to them. One by one he will acquire their properties. Get them on streets. They will come to him and whine. They’ll ask for mercy. His eyes will say. “Oh! How I love to see you whine like that? You remember me when I used to whine like that in front of you? Who’s better at whining do you think? You or me?” but muscles on his face will just smile. His lips, if at all they say anything, they’ll say,”Oh! They did that to you? How cruel! How I wish I could help you. But I have nothing to do with this. I’m so sorry!” and he will smile.
All fake shameless smiles. Smiles that don’t mean what they say. But they are the smiles one must yearn for in life. They’re the most useful ones and they take years to cultivate. It takes defeats, wins and a lot of experience to cultivate a smile like that. So smile. Be shameless and move on.
The Happy Prince.
Today the moment she entered the class, I knew there was something different. She wasn’t wearing her regular make up. The kajal, the lip stick and everything else she uses was all missing and yet she looked cuter than she usually did. She was happier I guess but that is just a guess and since we’re not that close, a guess is all I could do. Sometime later, her friends announced it was her birthday. We all sang and wished her.
After the classes are over I’m on my bike when I spot her walking by the road, talking to someone on her expensive Nokia N93. I pull over, hold my hand out and say, “Hey ‘X’! Happy birthday to you!”
Frankly, I can see she isn’t even interested. But she has no choice. She shakes my hand and gives a fake smile. But I like that smile. Though fake, it too is cute like her…
I like people who give fakes smiles. Particularly when those smiles are either cute, sweet or sexy. A smile says so many things. It is quite difficult to say all that animatedly and that too when you know that the person you are smiling at knows that your smile is fake. One has to be both while giving a fake smile, a good actor and above all, shameless.
Just imagine two opponent gamblers having high stakes against each other smiling. Smiling at each other while the game is just about to begin. Both know each others cards. They know the questions in each others minds and they know their answers. Yet they smile and wish best of luck to each other. They don’t ask each other any questions. They don’t say “I know your cards” to each other either. They just wish and they smile. It is a cunning smile and yet a friendly one. Their eyes say, “Just wait and watch how I slaughter you” but the muscles on the face and the lips say “May the best man win.”
Then after the game is over, after one has lost and the other one has won, they shake hands again and they smile. This is a different smile. The winner smiles thinking, “Son of a bitch! I’ve shown him his place finally. I guess I fell a little short of getting him on streets. No problem though, next time I’ll see to it that he sweeps my floor at home.” The loser smiles too. He says, “It was your day Johnny.” But he thinks, “Son of a bitch has cheated again. I must learn his trick of shuffling the cards though. He’s too good at it. I haven’t lost anything though. Just a small price for learning his tricks in the game.” And thus, they move on to meet again.
Johnny doesn’t stop either learning new tricks or cheating. Tommy doesn’t stop gambling either. No matter how badly Tommy has lost, he will play again. That’s both, his profession and passion. When he will walk on the street, people will point out and say, “Yeah! You see that loser? That is Tommy. Johnny fell short of getting him on the street the other day.”
Tommy will borrow more to gamble more, people will shoo him. Still, he will ask shamelessly. Smile at them when they abuse him. They will kick him and yet, he will smile. That will be a different smile. Foolish, sheepish. The one that says, “Yeah, say that. I’m used to that and I expect that.” Then eventually someone will lend him some money. Some day his tricks and all previous experience along with luck will favour him. He will start winning.
Then he will decide to take revenge from those who abused him. He won’t go and say that to them. One by one he will acquire their properties. Get them on streets. They will come to him and whine. They’ll ask for mercy. His eyes will say. “Oh! How I love to see you whine like that? You remember me when I used to whine like that in front of you? Who’s better at whining do you think? You or me?” but muscles on his face will just smile. His lips, if at all they say anything, they’ll say,”Oh! They did that to you? How cruel! How I wish I could help you. But I have nothing to do with this. I’m so sorry!” and he will smile.
All fake shameless smiles. Smiles that don’t mean what they say. But they are the smiles one must yearn for in life. They’re the most useful ones and they take years to cultivate. It takes defeats, wins and a lot of experience to cultivate a smile like that. So smile. Be shameless and move on.
The Happy Prince.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Love
It is difficult to be complimented for your virtues in heaven or to be criticized for the lack of them in hell. That is perhaps why human beings fall for angels and angels fly away. Perhaps, they have their own angels to fall for, in their own world…
“What is love?” is an eternal question. This article is not about answering it, it is about talking about the experiences I’ve had while trying to find an answer to it. Mind well, answers to this question are subjective. This is just what I think.
Sometimes you meet someone and that someone changes you completely. They’re usually the times when you’re low about something and then that someone suddenly enters and teaches either of the two: to solve your problems if they’re soluble or to live with them cheerfully and gracefully as if they don’t exist. As if their existence doesn’t make any difference in your life. These are not people as far as you are concerned, these are angels who make your world a better place for you to live in. Their approach to life fascinates you. They don’t teach you anything you don’t know, they just remind what you’ve forgotten.
The most fascinating part about these angels is that they do all this quite casually. They’re just themselves, acting like themselves and casually, they’re making you like themselves.
But this feeling is not always reciprocated. Many times your attitude is not something that fascinates him. May be he makes your world better, but angels come from another world and you may not always have something that makes you an angel in an angel’s world. That is the reason why I find finding love is so difficult. It’s difficult to be an angel for someone who’s an angel to you.
I have discussed this topic several times with several people and particularly in detail with a dear friend who loved someone once too but before she could tell him, he once casually said “We’re so good friends, but I can never see us in that relation.” After this, she never asked. They’re still friends, he still changes her and is big contributor to the current her. But still, they’re just friends.
Then one day you start understanding it really isn’t about changing. Not all problems can be solved with one attitude of one person who fascinates you. It really isn’t about changing you. It is more about accepting you as you are. It is about being able to bear the whims and fancies of the other without asking or telling the reasons for them. It is the simplicity and the comfort in the relation. About hearing both, what is said and what is unsaid. Hearing the unsaid takes time but being comfortable and understanding the unsaid is important. It is not a sexy figure, cute looks or lot of money. They’re just three simple words “I Love you” and everything unsaid that goes with them.
The Happy Prince.
“What is love?” is an eternal question. This article is not about answering it, it is about talking about the experiences I’ve had while trying to find an answer to it. Mind well, answers to this question are subjective. This is just what I think.
Sometimes you meet someone and that someone changes you completely. They’re usually the times when you’re low about something and then that someone suddenly enters and teaches either of the two: to solve your problems if they’re soluble or to live with them cheerfully and gracefully as if they don’t exist. As if their existence doesn’t make any difference in your life. These are not people as far as you are concerned, these are angels who make your world a better place for you to live in. Their approach to life fascinates you. They don’t teach you anything you don’t know, they just remind what you’ve forgotten.
The most fascinating part about these angels is that they do all this quite casually. They’re just themselves, acting like themselves and casually, they’re making you like themselves.
But this feeling is not always reciprocated. Many times your attitude is not something that fascinates him. May be he makes your world better, but angels come from another world and you may not always have something that makes you an angel in an angel’s world. That is the reason why I find finding love is so difficult. It’s difficult to be an angel for someone who’s an angel to you.
I have discussed this topic several times with several people and particularly in detail with a dear friend who loved someone once too but before she could tell him, he once casually said “We’re so good friends, but I can never see us in that relation.” After this, she never asked. They’re still friends, he still changes her and is big contributor to the current her. But still, they’re just friends.
Then one day you start understanding it really isn’t about changing. Not all problems can be solved with one attitude of one person who fascinates you. It really isn’t about changing you. It is more about accepting you as you are. It is about being able to bear the whims and fancies of the other without asking or telling the reasons for them. It is the simplicity and the comfort in the relation. About hearing both, what is said and what is unsaid. Hearing the unsaid takes time but being comfortable and understanding the unsaid is important. It is not a sexy figure, cute looks or lot of money. They’re just three simple words “I Love you” and everything unsaid that goes with them.
The Happy Prince.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Smiles
A warm golden yellow sun quite pleasantly beaming on your eyelashes. A sweating, heavily breathing you with still enough desire and energy to live an entire day and smile on your face which is for absolutely nothing but thoughts in your own mind is the way I describe my perfect tea time evening in winter.
On two such evenings, on two such walks, two such thoughts that brought two such smiles on my face:
I.
Me, age 20, wearing a worn out, torn jeans on soft cotton crumpled white dirty shirt. Left sandal broken near the little finger, legs filthy with dirt since I have been walking without socks the entire day, a blue tattered back pack with holes on its bottom and an expensive leather wallet, almost empty.Wandering lazily, hands in pocket, eyes on the road and around, mind-- dreaming. Dreams that may or may not come true, hopes that may or may not materialize. A body that will certainly support whatever I decide to do, for a few years at least.
I don’t stay like that because I don’t have a choice. I stay like that, because I do.
On my right, an old lady is limping with a walker for support. A face freshly washed. Smells talc. Diamond necklace in her neck, pearl ear rings with a diamond in the centre. Diamond ring in a finger on hand. Expensive, pink, cotton saree freshly ironed. Smile on face but wrinkles too. Open eyes that see, but they’re deep, hollowed. They don’t know whether to dream or to hope. A life that has just gone by…
Thought that brings a smile on my face: Which of us two is richer?
II.
Taste of my 7.00 PM coffee still in my mouth. Wearing lanky shorts, slippers and a T for comfort; lazily walking on Marine Drive in Bombay.
A big business tycoon comes jogging. A body guard on each side, a white expensive imported car following him. The moment he is tired, he will just sit in the car right there and go back. His head band is Nike, other brands, too expensive for me to know. Because he is famous, I know he didn’t earn all this, he was born in it.
Someone behind me utters: “What a life! A ready made business empire, fame like that, power like that and money like that, what else is there to earn?”
I see a beggar lying on the foot path on the opposite side. He is always right there, lying in that same fashion. Filthy, worn out, ill fitting clothes, more displaying his privates that covering them, the way he lies making their sight more prominent. He doesn’t care about food etc. He doesn’t have to. Eats whatever they throw at him, drinks from whatever they donate. No dreams, no goals, nowhere to be and no where to go. Once I asked him his life story, he said he didn’t earn all that, he was born in it.
Thought that brings smile on my face: Who is poorer, the business tycoon or the beggar?
The Happy Prince.
On two such evenings, on two such walks, two such thoughts that brought two such smiles on my face:
I.
Me, age 20, wearing a worn out, torn jeans on soft cotton crumpled white dirty shirt. Left sandal broken near the little finger, legs filthy with dirt since I have been walking without socks the entire day, a blue tattered back pack with holes on its bottom and an expensive leather wallet, almost empty.Wandering lazily, hands in pocket, eyes on the road and around, mind-- dreaming. Dreams that may or may not come true, hopes that may or may not materialize. A body that will certainly support whatever I decide to do, for a few years at least.
I don’t stay like that because I don’t have a choice. I stay like that, because I do.
On my right, an old lady is limping with a walker for support. A face freshly washed. Smells talc. Diamond necklace in her neck, pearl ear rings with a diamond in the centre. Diamond ring in a finger on hand. Expensive, pink, cotton saree freshly ironed. Smile on face but wrinkles too. Open eyes that see, but they’re deep, hollowed. They don’t know whether to dream or to hope. A life that has just gone by…
Thought that brings a smile on my face: Which of us two is richer?
II.
Taste of my 7.00 PM coffee still in my mouth. Wearing lanky shorts, slippers and a T for comfort; lazily walking on Marine Drive in Bombay.
A big business tycoon comes jogging. A body guard on each side, a white expensive imported car following him. The moment he is tired, he will just sit in the car right there and go back. His head band is Nike, other brands, too expensive for me to know. Because he is famous, I know he didn’t earn all this, he was born in it.
Someone behind me utters: “What a life! A ready made business empire, fame like that, power like that and money like that, what else is there to earn?”
I see a beggar lying on the foot path on the opposite side. He is always right there, lying in that same fashion. Filthy, worn out, ill fitting clothes, more displaying his privates that covering them, the way he lies making their sight more prominent. He doesn’t care about food etc. He doesn’t have to. Eats whatever they throw at him, drinks from whatever they donate. No dreams, no goals, nowhere to be and no where to go. Once I asked him his life story, he said he didn’t earn all that, he was born in it.
Thought that brings smile on my face: Who is poorer, the business tycoon or the beggar?
The Happy Prince.
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