The year that is zooming by

This year is officially the fastest year I've ever lived. What does that mean? It is going by sooo fast, I saw an ad for a Garba event on my company alias and was so freaked out.

Is it Navratri time already!!!

The other reason for this feeling is the fact about how the financial years here get so messed up with the real year. Only yesterday my colleague waved at me and said, "Hey, I am going on PTO, see you in '07", this was the beginning of my freaking out feeling and I shouted back "Buddy, please say FY'07, that would mean a lot to me" and he chuckled back saying, "I know what you mean, ain't the year passing by tooo fast"

BINGO :-)

So what's the solution to this seemingly innocent problem? Everyday, do one thing that takes some effort but gives you immense joy. Simple? Yes. Memorable? Yes. Would make the year seem longer and well lived? Yes.

Okay here's a little quiz - just think of the year in which this event happened, you'll be surprised at how recent it is in your memory yet how further down the year actually is.

START (noooo cheating!)

1. The Columbia space shuttle explosion in which India's Kalpana Chawla died

2. The Kathmandu-Kandahar hijacking of Indian Airlines flight

3. The shocking epidemic of Plague that struck Gujarat and killed 100 people

4. Berlin Wall demolished

5. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi killed by Tamil suicide bomber

6. Nelson Mandela becomes first black President of South Africa

7. Indian Ocean Tsunami

8. IBM introduces its first personal computer

9. The Godhra Train Burning episode and Gujarat riots where ~ 2500 people died

10. Internet electronically connects the globe.

Don't peek until done ;-)

1. 2003
2. 1999
3. 1994
4. 1989
5. 1991
6. 1994
7. 2004
8. 1981
9. 2002
10. 1995

Figures of Speech

How I wish I had an English teacher I could have looked up to in school. Unfortunately, all my English teachers were dry and disinterested in their students and worse- their subject. Add to that the fact that they weren't such masters in their subject too (I found that out much later when I confirmed that sentences cannot be started with 'because' because 'because' is a conjunction- ishhh that was a mouthful!)

My love for the language was largely developed at home with grandpa being one of the best orators that I've ever met and my parents writing flawless English and also encouraging me to read as much as I could.

The best thing I like about English language is the impact that it creates when used correctly. Words have varying degrees to express just the emotion that is needed. I am happy-I am overjoyed- I am delighted!

There are a bunch of things that delight me and Figures of speech (FOS) is one of them.

Oxymorons is a FOS that uses two terms together, that normally contradict each other.

Here's some that I came up with (add to the list if you have more!)

almost exactly
exact estimate
friendly fire
true lies
virtual reality
open secret
found missing
only choice
terribly pleased
pretty ugly
rap music

I love the way 'Hyperbole' lights up a comedy piece. Here's some for you guys

"I nearly died laughing."
"I heard that a million times."
"She had a zit the size of Texas!"
"That's the worst idea I've ever heard."
"You are the ugliest person in the world!"
"This is the worst film ever made."
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

How about this one?

I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!

Waging Peace

Crafty people confuse me. They confuse me with their words, their insults, their actions and their constant endeavour towards thinking and executing a misdeed that supercedes their earlier ones exponentially.

Psychology fascinates me and so I am currently involved in a small project to understand more about the psyche of a person whose main aim and occupation in life is to hurt people- emotionally.

There are many types- some do it with a brash on-your-face attitude, some do it with slick understated sentences, some really prepare hard for it and then strike at the perfect moment, and some are just plain geniuses- they excel at this craft like they always knew it.

So, why do some people like to hurt other people by their words? I like to call it the 'War of Words'. I say that because it is actually like a war that is being waged by one person on another unsuspecting person with the intention to win by emotionally insulting, bruising, hurting (= defeating) the opponent.

In my view people do this for several reasons- lack of confidence, lack of opportunities in their own lifetime (or atleast the belief that they had less opportunities), jealousy, more jealousy, addiction to sadistic pleasure, lack of control of their own lives and of those close to them, plain hatred for the opponent that can stem from one or several of the above with different degrees of permutations and combinations.

I've dealt with the brash ones and the understated ones at several times in my life. I deal with these people with patience because I truly feel that they are unfortunate souls. Unfortunate because they need someone else feeling bad to feel good about themselves. That, I feel is a very pitiable situation to be in. Imagine not having anything in yourself or around you to make you happy and imagine being in a constant state of heightened high-pitched hatred for someone...the thought itself tires me out.

That is the reason why I am patient while dealing with such people. You talk to them, try to counsel them, and generally make them realize that there are indeed things in them and around them that can give them some pleasure and satisfaction that this new feeling can be perhaps a different experience than the sadistic pleasure that they have so gotten used to; and this works a lot of times...At least the now seemingly sober war experts eliminate me as their opponent!

But how does one deal with the really seasoned players for whom this genre of war is a passion- they love it and excel at it. This is still a question for me and I am delving deeper into many a psyche to discover the truth. I shall surely post it up on my blog (if and) when I find the answer.

Till then, I am going to continue waging peace...war of words is not fun.