You keep on taking them for granted...again and again and again. You don't pick up their phones, maybe you are genuinely busy or maybe you are just irritated. You keep blabbering to yourself: 'God, can't they wait? It has just been a couple of hours and it's not even 9pm!!'

You ignore them, avoid them at times and maybe shout at them just because you know it for a fact that they are not going anywhere...

And then, suddenly, the phone stops ringing, the room starts emptying, the house is not home anymore...you are the one who has to face the fire and grow up...you cry like you've never cried before, you are angry, sad and most of all...you are guilty...guilty of not being able to express your love, your care. You hit yourself in the head wondering 'What if...' and then and only then do you become the philosopher who gets to tell the others...'Do it, say it while you still have the time...embrace it while you still can...'

"Cheers to the ones here today, cheers to the ones that we lost on the way"

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If you are a person who is still not well settled, not financially stable, please try not to get carried away by your surroundings with your friends settling down with their sweethearts, having kids and all. Let's say you indulge yourself and get hitched without financial stability, go with the flow, get pushed by your relatives into marriage, remember: a couple of years down the line you will have a kid or kids. You will be attending get togethers with the friends who inspired you to get married and have kids, but now, even though you are accepted fondly by your childhood friends into the party despite the financial/social mismatch, your kids will be disheartened, sad and jealous of the other kids whose parents, i.e your financially stable friends, were able to send them to a fancy school, buy them fancy toys, maybe take them to a trip abroad. You will fit in, because your friends love you, but just because your friends love you, doesn't mean that their kids will definitely love your kids. You might not care about social status and rightly so, but remember, your kids will be affected and they will ask you one day: Dad/Mom, why can't I have that same toy your friend's kid has?

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In a post pandemic world where people are still recovering from losing their loved ones, in a world led by psychotic war mongers, in a country with 90% inflation and lack of presence of disposable income in the hands of the middle class, humans looked for a reason to smile. A smile that comes from within, a smile from of a sense of involvement, a sense of being, a sense of togetherness. A togetherness that transcends beyond the concepts of conventional theology/religion/culture/ethnicity, was essential, even if it was temporary.
Only football had a capability of being that entity beyond convention, a jab of morphine.
The first time since 'The God' Diego closed his eyes forever just in order to look at his favourite son: the prophet Lionel and his men, from above and beyond the clouds...a nation, a continent and the globe got a reason to smile...no matter whether they like football or not, humans, in general, were in it together; they nodded, they smiled, they stayed still, they cried...Diego looked on, Lionel played on and the perpetual 'Sol De Mayo' kept smiling from inbetween the blue and white stripes...a smile for humanity 🔵⚪🔵

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I remember when a few of my colleagues asked me, 'bro, why don't you invest more time in learning coding which will help you in your work career? Or maybe invest more time in learning how to become an entrepreneur, how to make money in your sleep, how to invest in share markets, etc...why spend your spare time reading books? Do you think reading theories, speeches, stories, novels will be of any help in the long run? What's the utility?'

My answer to that question is crisp but maybe not that simple...

First of all, there's no rivalry between reading and becoming an entrepreneur or learning coding, you don't have to sacrifice one to do the other. Bill Gates is an avid reader and a billionaire, at the same time there r successful businessmen who r not fond of reading.

Secondly, the utility of reading novels and speeches might not be directly conceivable, but what reading does is, it helps me look at my surroundings through a very dynamic pair of lenses which allows me in turn to observe the various colours of human nature and life without limiting myself to black or white or even grey; it goes beyond the concept of good or bad. Reading gives me clarity, just as experience does.

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Woh bhi ek din tha jab saare baithkar 10 channel waale TV pe Doordarshan dekha karte the, ye bhi ek din hai k sab alag alag apne apne dhun mein web series binge watch karne mein lage hain;
Woh bhi ek din tha jab hum DDLJ ya 'Josh' ya 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' ka ek gaana sunne k liye dinbhar 9XM ya B4U chalakar intezaar karte the, aaj bhi ek din hai k 5 din mein 'Kesariya' ko 58 lakh views mil jaate hai;
Woh bhi ek din tha jab uski ek din ka chat conversation scroll karne mein 1-2 minutes lag jaate the, ye bhi ek din hai k sirf ek screenshot mein uski 2-3 din ka chat conversation dikh jaata hai...

Hairaani toh iss baat ki hai k hum badalne se darte toh hai, magar badlav hi humaara aadat bann jaati hai. Dil sachcha rahe bass, badlav achchha hai...aur baaki, God is Great ♥️

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Have you ever felt like you are good at everything other than the things you are actually expected to do? 🤔

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The biggest strength and weakness of the human race is the fact that each human being is unique and can think or act differently...even a single human can show different sides of themselves at different points in time. The good thing about this uniqueness is the fact that it helps in the growth of the race, helps us keep away from extinction like dinosaurs or stagnation like cockroaches...
But then the problem with this ability to think differently and be a different person from time to time is that u never know what to think of someone or how to b in front of another human...for example...take the concept of "decency"...everyone likes a decent person from a distance, but if u r being too decent, some people might go mad...ur spouse wants u to b decent in front of every other person, but if u r being too decent in front of ur spouse, consider that the end, he/she will say: 'u r not the person u were before, maybe it's not working anymore.' Similarly, if I am being too decent in front of my mom or brother for too long, I'm quite sure they will consider me depressed and consult a psychologist.

Humans...when will we ever learn and also, what to learn exactly?

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हमें तो अपनों ने लूटा, गैरों में कहाँ दम था,
ये कश्ती वहाँ डूबी जहां पानी कम था...

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Let me think, when was the 1st time I heard his voice? Was it Gangster? No.. पल? Nope... Dil Chahta Hai? Not really...
It was a morning, afternoon maybe...maybe I was 8 or 9 or 10? Taking a walk, passing by some club or maybe while sitting in front of our age old CRT TV with 8 channels, I heard a voice cry out the words: 'प्यार है जो, तू वही है... तू मोहब्बत, तू आशिकी है'
Again, I was 8 or 9 or 10 maybe, not matured enough to understand whatever that voice wanted to convey, but to me teleportation became a reality in that instance...I was completely transferred to someplace else mentally...it was love for a voice, for music...love doesn't die, neither does music...

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প্রিয় মান্যবরেষু,

'বহুযুগের ওপার হতে' এই পত্র তোমায় লিখিতেছি| তোমার বেদনার আজ অবসান হইয়াছে! বর্তমানে দেখিতেছি তোমার প্রিয় দল অতীব বলিষ্ঠ, খুঁজিতে গেলে দুর্বলতা খুঁজিয়া পাওয়া দায়| গত যুগের তোমার সেই ব্যাথার কান্না আজও আমার দুই নয়নের সম্মুখে বিদ্যমান; তোমার দলের পরাজয় তোমার পরাজয়: ইহাই ছিল তোমার দর্শন| তোমার সেই প্রেম আজও অটুট রহিয়াছে দেখিয়া অত্যন্ত প্রসন্ন হই|

আজ তোমার দল সেই সমস্ত সমালোচকদের যোগ্য জবাব দিতে সক্ষম হওয়াতে আমরা উভয়েই অত্যন্ত আনন্দিত হইয়াছি, ইহাতে সন্দেহের অবকাশ নাই| তবে স্মরণে রাখিবে, গতকাল কাঁদিতে বাধ্য হইয়াছিলে, আজ হাসিতেছ, আগামীকাল হাসিবে কি কাঁদিবে তা শুধু ঈশ্বর জানেন, তাই বিনয়ী হইতে ভুলিয়া যাইও না...তবে আজ তোমারই দিন, এই বর্তমানটুকুই সত্য!

ইতি,
তোমার বর্তমান...

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