Of Paradoxes and Oxymorons

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on 

No guys, I am NOT trying to take any grammar or poetry lessons here. Just a rhetoric on the paradoxes of life. To be more specific, a part of my endeavour to put forth my weird thoughts on Life. (I am really sorry, if u guys think that kya philosophical bakwaas hai!)

I was always fascinated with paradoxes and oxymorons...words and phrases that seemingly contradict themselves. And nothing like these lines from John Keats (from his immortal “Ode on a Grecian Urn”), to depict paradoxes. [Fact:  The word "oxymoron" is itself an oxymoron, deriving it's meaning from the Greek words "oxy," meaning "sharp," and "moros," meaning "dull." (Thanks Wikipedia.)] Etymology aside, I am fascinated by the way that two diametrically opposed concepts can collide to create something counterintuitive and, oftentimes, powerful.

I think my fascination primarily stems from my own paradoxical personality:  

Organised Chaos: Often I have a haphazard pile of clothes on the floor in my colour-coded wardrobe unit. Managed to have good successes on the academic & professional front, but still consistently mix up my right and my left. Always smiling, idiotic, happy go lucky me; yet told that ‘my thoughts run as deep as an ocean’ [Ahem, Thanks MG for that poetic description; girl, amazing display of your artistic ideas!!]. And the worst of the lot is the fact that though I am publicly very savvy, when it comes to expressing my emotions I clam up! Everything gets bottled within me. I could go on and on, but in each example, the idea is the same:  that I am who I am - a colorful, eccentric, unexpected ME - and I would not be me if these contradictions didn't exist side by side.

It is with that collision of contradictory thoughts and feelings and colors and ideas that I write now. I have often thought about the concept ‘Life’. Rather have always pondered over the ‘Meaning’ of Life the last couple of years. And thought that the paradox that explains life best is bittersweet. We are sometimes bitter that things didn't work out as we had hoped in the past, but isn’t it sweet that we are constantly given the opportunities to do something which we love so much (though it’s left to us whether we convert these opportunities into realities!). Bitter is the feeling of sadness and nostalgia that we have of days gone by that will never return, but sweet is the hope we have that exciting new possibilities may be just around the bend.  As I go through the ups and downs of life, no other word could possibly portray the combination of thoughts and feelings, the way that bittersweet does.

I always thought that it's the oxymorons & the paradoxes that make life life. They give it a meaning. They make it art. They tell the story. They keep it interesting. The wonderful disasters, the organized chaos, yes, even the bittersweet moments... Who would want to live a bland,uninteresting life, right?

Until I came across the ultimate paradox of life (No, I am not going to explain it, just leaving it for you to mull over it!).If you understand this paradox, it sets you FREE, because its akin to understanding that small four-letter word which confuses the hell out of all of us- LIFE!

“The meaning of life is that Life is Meaningless.

And it’s meaningless, that Life is Meaningless.”

Wanted....

 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Wanted...

...Someone who is extremely smart and brave

...Someone who is courageous and self-sacrificing, especially in the face of dire adversity

...Someone who can keep in pace with pace

...The ability to read me is welcome, but moreso the ability to read a map is an absolute necessity.

...Having a license, but not to kill

And more importantly, someone who can distinguish between what is right nd what is not (literally!)

No guys, not advertising for my 'someone special', I actually need someone to teach me how to drive a car...

Ahem , Can I see any brave volunteers here???? :)

P.S. Read on a car bumper: "I'm NOT speeding, I'm qualifying!"

A modern Love story: Heer-Ranjha

Off -late  my friends & fellow bloggers are churning up some good short stories. So inspired by them, i came up something with my own. It started out as a modern love story, but true to my form, it turned out to be something very different. Somehow I am not able to find a suitable title, so suggestions are invited for the same.

A guy, we’ll call him “Ranjha”, became obsessed with a girl named “Heer”, whom he met in a conference. Heer not knowing his obsession, gave Ranjha her business card.

He left her three voicemails:

Message 1:

Hey Heer, it’s Ranjha.

Sorry I had to rush when we met the other day. In any event, I thought I had better leave you a more detailed message and explain why I approached you. I am single. I have no trouble meeting women; I mean, women approach me six or seven times a day. But I’m extremely particular about what I like. You’re an extremely elegant woman. I couldn’t take my eyes off you, and your friends were very jealous; even if they say they weren’t, they were envious of the fact that I approached you, and I was very taken by you. Elegant women are very rare. I’m extremely particular about what I like. So I’m giving you an opportunity here. I don’t know if you picked up the message on the weekend but I’m working on a client so I’ll be doing that all weekend…

This looks like land line, and if it is, you may not get the message till Monday. But when you do, call me and we’ll get together for coffee or drinks, and let the romance begin. You looked very taken aback by my approach, and I hope that wasn’t timidness, I hope it was just shock at being approached so directly. Because I don’t really like timid women, because I’m a very direct, very passionate, very assertive man, and I want a woman who is very independent and strong. So… we’ll talk about that, but I just wanted to formally introduce myself. I leave the ball in your court. You call me as soon as you have the courage to. Okay, Heer? Talk to you soon, bye.

Message 2:

Hi there, Heer it’s Ranjha calling again, the guy u met the other day at ……

I left you a message several days ago; u didn't respond back. Now here’s the way I work. I don’t like leaving second messages but I like you, you’re a very elegant woman, you’re very attractive, but, you know, I don’t play that game. I know your friends tell you not to return calls, you’re playing games like you see in stupid TV shows. So here’s how it’s gonna work it is now 7.30 pm on Wednesday. Now I’ll assume, I’ll assume that you’ve already left work, because, you know, some people leave work early, so I’ll grant you that. But if I don’t receive a phone call back from you by 9 o’clock Thursday night I’m no longer interested and I’m going to erase your number. I don’t play games like that. I’m completely single, I’m very intelligent, I make great money. Believe it or not, I’m a complete catch. I’ve only been single four months; I had a long distance relationship for about a year, it’s very tough to maintain it like that; there’s nothing wrong with me. As a matter of fact I’m one of the few men in the city that has nothing wrong with him. So I’m giving you the nine o’clock deadline. If I don’t hear from you by then, you lose my number — I’m erasing your number right now, so you won’t be hearing back from me.

So that’s it: nine o’clock tomorrow, or you can just completely forget it.

Message 3:

Hi Heer, Ranjha here. Had erased your number. But somehow managed to get my eyes on your business card, so calling you back. I dunno why you didn’t call me back. I first thought you are playing games with me. Hey, its your loss. But you are too elegant a lady and I felt I should prevent you from incurring this loss.

Now I understand if you’ve got other issues, maybe you’re not playing games, I don’t know… maybe you were abused by somebody?… maybe you’re just a person who’s extremely frightened or has an anxiety disorder, maybe you’re on some medication for that…I don’t know, there could be another issue that I’m not aware of. But nobody  hands  me a business card and then doesn’t return calls. It’s extremely passive-aggressive. You should actually look that up, passive-aggressive personality disorder. You let me know, if you’ve got issues, psychological issues, if you’re on any sort of medication for anxiety or depression, I’m not interested. But if you’re psychologically normal, and you haven’t called me because there’s been some horrible thing that’s happened in your life that’s prevented you from returning my calls, that’s fine. But otherwise? Don’t call me. Okay, bye.

Heer never returned Ranjha's messages. And they lived happily, separately, ever after. THE END.

Running Away....

Yes, Run away.

Run away. Run from everything that claims you as your own

Dont stop the run, because the moment you do,

your heart tells you to return back to those who wait for you.

Run away. Run away from what you have or can have

with have-beens dwelling in your mind.

Run away with the past so entrenched in you

that you forget to see whats in the present

Run away. Run away with the citadel that you call your heart

which has stopped dreaming, stopped living.

Go, lose yourself in some nameless obscure world

where people dont know u, u dont know them.

Run away. Run away with the shadows that have gripped your eyes, 

making you blind to the people around you.

Run away from the destiny you had once chosen for yourself,

onto unchartered unknown paths.

Yes,  run away. Nobody will stop you.

And now that you are running away, pray tell me-

How can you run away from yourself?

To MK. Girl, you know why.

Hope

Every morning I see him standing at the same point, giving me a broad smile. And every morning I ignore him. 

‘Him’ is an 8-9 year old street-kid who stands everyday at the corner of Marine Drive, waiting for the traffic to crawl to a stand-still, before he can get into his practiced routine. And inspite of me ignoring his entreaties, he never fails to recognize me & give a cute, lopsided smile. It has become a sort of a tradition, amidst my daily morning chaotic schedule to rush to office in time.

Today I didn’t see him. And kinda missed that grin the whole morning. Was pondering over it in the evening while returning back, when a curious thought stuck me, ‘Why does he stand there smiling at me everyday, knowing that I will ignore him yet again? Surely it can’t be hope alone that one day i will give him something?’

And then an equally baffling answer: ‘Somebody surely must be answering that hope in his eyes & his smile, for him to be pursuing it earnestly for so long….’

‘By faith we begin, by hope we continue’

It's only Words!

A forward from a friend. Had me in splits :) 

A guy wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. "Honey, breakfast is on the table, I left early to go grocery shopping.Love You!" 

Totally shocked with the note, he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. He asks, "Son, what happened last night?" His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some crockery, puked in the hall, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door". Confused, the man asks, "So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me? I should expect a big quarrel with her!" 

His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your clothes n shoes off, you said, 

"LADY LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M MARRIED!" 

Moral:

Self-induced hangover - $ 400.00 

Broken crockery - $ 800.00 

Saying the Right Thing While Drunk – "PRICELESS" 

There are truly some things that both money and MasterCard can't buy!!!