One more drag, please!

Disclaimer: Views are personal. Read, only if you want to. It would be very much appreciated if you take it easy.

"Long time no see"

You make us read facts about the perils of smoking. You make us see the tar-studded lungs of the John Terry look-alike in every pack of cigarettes we buy. You make us watch the cancer patient Mukesh die, every time we visit a theater. Yet, we don't say a word! All of us know how injurious cigarettes can be. Yet, we smoke! Not that we don't care.

It helps! Imagine yourself trapped in the middle of a conversation so boring that you start caring about Neil Nitin Mukesh more. Time lost can't be retrieved or reversed. But, you don't want to be rude. There is always an exit for us. Not sure if there is (always) a definite one for you. You are so busy thinking about everyone else's life that you don't need it anyway.

It helps! Imagine yourself having an unusually good time at work. You are working at your own speed, just letting the feeling set in. Then, all of a sudden, there are random rumblings, something that distracts you and you don't like it. You can  switch to music, but sometimes you don't want to. There are people who can't work at the same time as listening to music. You make your way to a quiet room, but none is available. You can be rude to those people. But, you would want to save that for worse times. There is always a way out for us. But, you have so much interest in everyone else's life that you don't need it anyway.

It helps! Imagine yourself in the need to vent out frustration. At anyone, anyhow! But, you might regret that. Not everyone is equipped with venting out that, at the right time, at the right people. There will always be future regrets. No other way, right! You just do it.

Sometimes, the light doesn't seem bright enough. On other occasions, it seems to produce a terrible inferno that might compel you to shut your eyes and relish the darkness within you. It's just that feeling, the feeling that lends credence to existence, no matter what. Sometimes, when the feeling doesn't come from within, we need to create them. It helps!

Everyone is inexorably addicted to something. It may not be right, but not everyone is too irrational to want death. That's it! Sometimes, it is okay for us to tolerably listen to the well-wishers genuinely asking us to quit. It feels good to be cared about. We just don't need every random passerby to remind us that. Cheers!

For the love of that "non-living" fag!

Of memorable travelogues

It was the summer of 2010. I was doing an internship at a research organization in a small town near Venice. One fine day, frustrated with the monotony of life, I decided to spend the weekend in Paris. I reached out to a few friends, only to realize that everyone either had prior plans or was skeptical of travelling at such a short notice. That didn't deter me though and I went ahead to book my flight tickets. Without thinking about anything else, I packed my ruck-sack and left for Paris the next day.

I reached Beauvois Airport (an airport located at a distance of 85 km from Paris and used mainly by low-cost airlines) at 11 pm in the night. I decided to skip the last bus to the city with the hope of spending the night at the airport and saving some money for other adventures. A few minutes later, airport officials asked me and a handful of others still at the airport to vacate the area. The airport had to be shut down at night.

It was pouring briskly outside. There weren't any means of transport available and we had to restrict ourselves to the enclosed area of a bus stand that seemed to be a few hundred yards away. We were drenched and cold by the time we reached there. 

A few hours later, when the rain had cleared up, we could see a jeep coming towards us. At first, we ignored. But, as it passed by, its brakes suddenly squeaked and a group of extremely sloshed people started walking towards us. They looked like thugs. I could do nothing but stare at them. They bombarded us with questions in an unintelligible language. We couldn't understand a word. We just tried to explain that we weren't in any better situation than them. They seemed clueless but perhaps realized, to our surprise, that we weren't the best people to mug. They were kind enough to leave us with a few abuses in "the unintelligible language". We heaved a sigh of relief.

They went ahead, found a few airport officials smoking outside and started shouting at them. Abuses in "the unintelligible language" were being passed on from both directions. We couldn't understand a word but kept our eyes fixated at them. Then, something happened and the parties suddenly started fighting. One of the thugs took out his shotgun and shot a bullet towards the sky. There was silence after that. The officials, certainly terrified by then, took out their wallets and offered them to the thugs, who grabbed them willingly, got into their jeep and drove away. We could hear evil laughter followed by a few more gun-shots. The officials quietly went back.

We were terrified and decided to hide somewhere. Luckily, we found a place in the wilderness. It was quiet again. Gentle breeze was running across the lush green bushes. Rain droplets on the leaves were shining in the dim light. I kept breathing the atmosphere of sorrow. And, the very first thing I did the next day was to go to Paris and book a hotel. Everything was awesome thereafter.