Subhajit

"I do not like travelling, I do not like noise, Italian food, crowd, crabs, honking, spontaneous plans at midnight, people on social media, selfies, people getting married." "What do you like?" "I like mountains, chocolates, bikes, beaches, Mughlai Chicken, the smell of coffee, picking up a nice shirt to wear in the morning and I like you." The conversations between June & Sydney never stopped. They meet to talk and talk about almost everything under the sun. They were friends, more than friends and less than what people usually loved to term them as. They never cared what others thought, except for the times when they had to lie, a rare for them. Life has changed quite a lot between them in all these years, ten to be precise. They studied together, started working together and then moved cities, separately. But the chemistry never died. They always started from where they have left. It has been close to a year they are in the same city a...

Not that I am complaining, but seeking some time with the people I know is the only take away I look forward to. When I seek time, I seek happiness, nothing more or nothing less. Being an introvert till date, I have to fight my fears for public speaking which I have to do regularly. I also find it very difficult to say 'no' to someone. I feel equally arduous to start a conversation even though my profession requires me to ask questions to people I have never met as if I have a right to know everything about them. But those who know me closely, often complain that I speak too much, sometimes without allowing them to complete their stories. I change into an extreme extrovert from in no time at all. Anomaly, isn't it?  I have never breached the privacy of anyone while seeking some time from them. Friends are an integral part of my life and I devote quite sometime for them. In the growing up years, my family was not quite in favor of the time my friends used to consume fro...

Well, how many of you bought you that iPhone 5 S recently when the price got slashed? Whoa, just 21500 rupees, let's buy an iPhone and become famous.  No? Good. Yes? Well, we will keep the joke for the end. What kind of start is that for a write up? Brands sell, bigger brands sell even more. And Apple? Oh my freaking God, it sells like anything. Like really anything. But why am I obsessing over Apple phones? Well, let me stay away from it, or like I said already, save the joke for the end. 2016 is a year that is seeing a lot of things we always feared. Too much of tabloid news in mainstream media, too much of serious news in just 140 characters (also known as Twitter, जी हाँ आपने सही पढ़ा ) and almost anything becoming a news, that's even more dangerous. The ways we consume news has also changed. We are now hungry for spices in everything, as if Indian spices were less famous worldwide. Many of my friends are now writing for Newspapers & online. Good to s...

Do not get surprised or offended by such an outrageous title of the post. And if you do, then do not kill me. I normally keep opinions related to religion or spiritual beliefs to myself. I know eyebrows will be raised and I will be judged for my opinions. I neither have the energy nor the interest to defend my stand or my views to people who would just want to align my views with theirs. I used to be an atheist but tilted towards being an agnostic over the last few years. I am not exactly proud of being a Hindu or for that matter a Brahmin (no reservation quota, you know). While growing up, I was equally inclined to Islamic & Christianity and never could understand what differentiates ‘them’ from ‘us’. I remember asking my friends to know who created this differentiation. At that age, they didn’t have the answers nor did I. When I went to my parents, they only told me these are beliefs that are there since centuries and being a part of ‘this’ religion; we need to abide by it....

There is this person who always told me how she loves my words more than me. She has always maintained it. Never changed her stand. I tried persuading her all throughout. Catherine is one stubborn yet sincere reader of my irrelevant work. But each time she says that she loves my words more than me, I honestly feel jealous of my words. I felt I need to crosscheck with Aditya to find if I deserved some attention just like my words. He also declined to oblige my contribution to my words. I felt disowned. It was almost getting proved that my words were actually better than me. It was obvious on my part to feel restless and not so happy. I felt what should I be doing to be liked by people. It was hard to find a reason. It was equally difficult to find a better alternative to the 'words' either. In Marketing terminology, I almost went on to sell myself. It was of no use. I was falling behind in the race to my own words. My words were going ahead each time I wrote. I decided to...

I am not able to blog. Blog regularly. This used to be "my space". A space where I used to vent, shout & seek peace. I still want to do that. But I am not able to write. My reading habit too, is on a decline. I was doing so many thing when I was busy, now I am not able to do half of it with double the time in my hand. I am not able to meet my evenings, the ones which used to energise me. I am not able to sprint hundred yards to catch my next destination. Are things slow around? Yes they are, they will be. I was ready for this transition, but was not ready for people becoming unknown entities. May be I thought I am getting into a more real world, only to realise artificially has made its way deep into my old place. People have turned into something that I am not able to comprehend. My nights are stretching into oblivion. Are these my complaints? Am I unhappy? Who defines 'unhappiness' index? And what makes us 'happy' in real terms? I try to look at thing...

Emotionally, I am not that strong. I do not claim to be as well. But just when I do not want a particular phase of my life to turn emotional, it does. Then what! Complete screw up (I'm refraining from using extreme words here). Men and the theory of them not breaking down, they being super strong while getting emotionally trapped is all but myths. I am not only referring to me here, but discovered many such folks around who sulk alone while boasting of big things in public. In my research, it is the men who are most alone, they are the ones who need a company more than their female counterparts contrary to the common perception. Then why this facade in the outside? Life is how you define it. But then it also has its own tricks up its sleeves. You better be prepared for it. I never was and when I realised it, I realised it tough way. I struggled to meet people, I started searching for companions, I felt alone than ever before. Nostalgia is what I live in, but this sort of melanch...

You have great roads, well designed fly-overs, metro rail and now a super terminal in the airport. All the basic infrastructure is in place, there are still few things to improve, but it is still far better than other metro-cities. Delhi, or Delhi – NCR, has ‘almost’ got everything that will merit this city to be as India’s capital. When I visited this city, after a gap of a decade, I went with a lot of apprehension. And the apprehension was built over the same last decade where the crime rate in our capital city has gone up several notches up. Today, it is a known fact that a girl cannot step outside her house after 7 in the evening alone. What has happened to a city like this that the situation has reached IGI Airport such a point! During my last visit before this, around 2003 – 2004, it was only the taxi & auto drivers along with the shopkeepers were unruly and rude. The number of species has now grown manifold to an extent wherein you will start suspecting every person yo...

7.5 years in Mumbai. 6.5 years at blog. 5.5 at work. And the sum of all right and wrong choices made in life stands at 28.5. While I want the span of the first three to go further, I want the last one to shrink. But life only moves in one direction: 'forward'. There is no 'pause' button to hold back and the 'stop' button is not under our control. The 'play' button is on auto-mode since birth. So all these tells us that there is no break, until the final one. When I came to Mumbai, my life was wandering in many directions. The priorities were slightly different. Today, there are still directions and priorities, but the definition of terms itself has changed. The perspective of looking at life has taken many turns, while it has matured, it has become more restrictive as well. I seek answers, for I believe that asking right questions are so important. Else, we should not be repentant about the outcomes. I remained silent for the majority part of my...

They say marriages are made in heaven! But nobody ever thought where divorces came from! I have seen and been with many girls in my life, each having their individual place in my heart. They all have their unique identities. And I have been transparent enough with each of them about the feelings I share. The best part is they know each other; it has been only possible when you are true to yourself and with the person in front. Life has moved on a lot since my first love. Loved many, few loved me back…. But today I still stand officially single. With no instant plans to get into the marriage-thing. I love being a single; it has got its own benefits and drawbacks as well. Finding love, being in love and marrying are three different things, realized it later, but a good realization. I met different people at different stages of my life. Each came with their priorities, preferences and expectations. They are still there, quite in touch. They have been a part of my life and wil...

A handful of people, in the name of ‘mob-fury’, has beaten a professional with an iron rod, broke his legs. Then they put him on fire and waited till he died. All these happened because he was representing the management and was up against the union workers of a plant. He was doing his duty and was not letting the negative venom get into every worker. In the name of mob-fury, only a specific section of people instigated by political backing brutally killed him. And all that the Chief Minister of the state saying is: “ no one can take law in his hands ”. Is that what we deserve to hear after such a killing, is it any less dangerous to our democracy as compared to any communal violence! Or do we actually, need to wait for a mass killing of hundreds of thousands people before we wake up. The man leaves behind a 12 year old son, who will keep asking ‘questions’ for the rest of his lifetime why his father got a treatment like this. Now, the case here is, the management knew there was an ...

I do this. I do that. I do so many things. I have moved on. So far. So long. Still every morning makes me believe I am behind. I am chasing. Actually, the families people like me come from, are meant to chase. Studies, career, money, growth, happiness and then die. We have an in-built fear to think beyond. Fear of failure. The pressure of society. The unfinished quest of success. The trouble of identity crisis. The madness of claiming victory. The heroics of grabbing a bigger pie of accomplishment. Pain of the distance of near ones, bitterness of the lost opportunities and hope of a better tomorrow.  Then these unpredictable rains. Those late night hours. And some unforgettable moments goes off in a whisker. The melancholic evenings - on things which could have been done better, for people who could have stayed back, for those days spent on having roadside delicacies, thinking how Mom has always made me believe that every stranger has some motive to come near you. Oh God!...

Being Single (5th February, 2011) Situation 1: You get down from train where u should, go home, eat, drink & sleep. Situation 2: You get down 2 stations before, go to a mall & realize there's nothing to do there, take a rick, reach home, listen to some no-sense talks, eat while being watched, go for a walk, then listen some more, tolerate the mood swings and then get the feeling that your best friend should not be important, come walking back with a terrible mood, tired body & don't feel like drinking. Which one is better! Situation 1! Being Single is awesome & I am quite liking it. Do hell with all complications in life! Work hard, party harder. Being Single: 2 (22nd April, 2012) I don’t' know, but when I thought of jotting down one more 'Note', it is the same idea which played as the catalyst again. There is this guy on the verge of getting married who has been boasting around since ages of how large-scale his bachelorhood is, suddenly says...