Us Computer Engineers!

Call Me Crazy

As a kid, I was quite a handful. Justifiably enough, I used to get a good thrashing,every other day.

Therefore, holding or keeping my back against the wall all the time had become my natural course of moving around or sitting, in the house. One can understand why. I'd rather face my merited medicine during dosage, than fall upon an abrupt ambush from behind. Funny thing: Years later, I felt flattered watching one Mr. John Rambo adopt the same technique as he went about his escapades, on the silver screen.

Now on occasions,this happened-
My parents,more often Dad,would call me close,for any random reason. Kid-Me was adorable you know. The inclination to shower some affection,twiddle with me,was enticing. So, taking someone to the threshold beyond which there remained no choice but to whack me, needed some doing. But of course, I would never fail to get you there. If you know me, you Can imagine.

I knew that it's just a matter of time till I'm beaten up,so I refused to go near. He would ask again,and knowing the obvious reason for my reluctance,he would promise not to hit me. I still wouldn't listen. However, when he would relentlessly insist that me being such a lovely child it'd be a shame if I didn't oblige to my parent's request, and make a sincere promise that he's definitely not gonna hit me this time,I would soften up; rather count on his assurance, and let my guard down.

(Image: Google)

Meanwhile, the warmth would ease me up, and before I knew it, I was back to being my natural, impish self. Within minutes, I would get the hardest & loudest,full-fledged swat, on my back. It hurt. Beyond measure. But even more because I'd known for certain this'll happen. I was the only one responsible for it, Every Freaking Time! That,apart from the physical pain,used to choke me up,real bad.
The entire thing was an unending cycle. Every time, I would swear never to step into that well-familiar puddle, yet eventually, I would end up slipping, and encounter the same. And so on.

(Image: Google)

I still remember,vividly, the time I had an epiphany about my parents,teachers - practically everyone who'd ever rebuked me for my alleged misdoings. "They are ordinary. That they fail to comprehend me, is not their fault. It's me who is just too good for their perception."

Cracks me up, when I'm reminded of it nowadays. But at the age of 10, I'd taken it pretty seriously. In fact, it was the very reason that I never felt as bad at similar incidents, from that moment onward.

Call me crazy.

P.S. - Some days, I would sit before the mirror and take a good,long look. And I used to think to myself, "Ohh god... How can anyone,ever, hit such a cute kid? Are they blind?".

One (More) Wolverine Wannabe

Summer of 2012. Nokia had just launched the 808 PureView,its first 41 MP cameraphone. This one was a dazzler, and quite understandably so. As a part of promotions, they held a contest, titled 'My Hollywood Impersonation', on their worldwide blog NokiaConnects. The winner would be getting a brand new Nokia 808 PureView. All we had to do is pick our favourite Hollywood character and act out a scene playing the same.

I happened to learn of this ongoing event from an uncommunicative,camera-shy person who's otherwise ever-enthusiastic about any activity that might yield such lucrative rewards on success. And the allure of the promised trophy wasn't my only incentive for leaping at it. My profound childhood dream of becoming an actor in life had taken a (permanent) step back by the time I reached 11th standard. I mean, sure we had school plays and the occasional college fests here & there, but that was pretty much it. The drive to thrive in front of the camera wasn't getting a scope to fulfill itself.

So there I was, on our terrace,with my schoolmate-cum-neighbour and a Nokia E63 in his hand for the filming. I'd chosen Wolverine,my unrivaled favourite since back in our Cartoon Network days. The objective was to capture a short clip in which I would be portraying Hugh Jackman's character from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
For the next 15 minutes or so, we made a complete fool of ourselves before the surrounding terraces' spectators. But the feel of it,the entire thing, was out of this world! The 'shoot' took a very short while, but its effect was long-lasting, liberating. With a simple upload, I'd entered the contest by evening.

    

I didn't win the phone. A guy from Hong Kong did,with an extraordinary impression of Heath Ledger's classic, The Joker. However, the European judges' panel had made a special mention of a couple other entries they'd liked. Mine featured there, along with some words encouraging me to take up acting someday, professionally. The appreciation pleased me. My peeps would argue,that it's stupid, that all the effort,ultimately had nothing to show for it, and that it was a mere promotional event online; but I know what superlative joy I had attained from that brief experience. And given a chance, I'd do it again...over and over again!

I Want My Morning Back!

Starting off the weekend isn't easy. For starters, last night I could afford the luxury of not setting an alarm to wake me up this morning. Oi, it's Saturday after all! Any prospective disruption to my prized morning sleep is immensely unwelcome.

(Image: Google)

  "13:01", read my phone's lock-screen. My first sight of the day. Damn, am I a slug!
So where do I stand now? Let's see. Something I've never quite got around to doing, before this moment - putting these on record for future reference; Here goes:

• It's past noon. So technically, it's afternoon. Hence, I've deprived myself of an entire morning.
• No Bournvita for me today. No breakfast either. Lunch will be my first undertaking now. (Man I hate missing meals!)
• The further I delay getting off the bed to go about my chores, the groggier I'll feel through my first few strides. This one,notably, is from first-hand experience. 

The list goes on. To sum up, this can't keep happening i.e. I have realized(for the millionth time) that I should not let this happen. The way I see it,now there are two choices:- Either I take up an added responsibility of following an uncompromising regime hereon, OR, I renounce waking up altogether.

Footnote: A certain Charlie Harper from the widely popular American sitcom 'Two and a Half Men', comes to mind.

CHARLIE HARPER [slowly making his way down the steps] Never again! Never, ever, ever again!

BERTA You gonna quit drinking?

CHARLIE HARPER Don't be ridiculous! I'm gonna quit waking up.

#Two

If you ask them for a solution to something, you open a door to alternative angles which you yourself, overlooked; but you also turn yourself into a sitting duck for deception. I mean, sure, they're going to help you out anyway, but it's pretty much certain that they won't have your best interests as the foremost priority. And frankly, can they be blamed for the same? In a contrary scenario,you would perpetually be taking up the same role as themselves,either consciously or unknowingly. Maybe I do not know as much, but from exemplifying experiences, hardly can I recall the contrast ever happening.

Was Asked To

Q.- Why did the chicken cross the road?
A.- Because it was asked to.

  Yes. It was least bothered about the other side. That's just what it'd been taught for ages. It didn't matter what its own wishes were. Others' opinions matter the most. The chicken wasn't even aware of the possibility that it could do something else,too, at that point.
Therefore, All we know now is that it did cross the road... And there cannot be a better explanation of that than this one. That's my understanding of it. The chicken, crossed the road, because it Was Asked To.