Para- normal pressures of the daily mind...

So, finally my mind is going to emptied out... and the frustration of today's irritating times will be lettered out via a LinkedIn post.

2019 - Everyone is on a "Rockford like journey" a journey of self-discovery, a quest to travel, see new places, empty out old cups, drain new ones, challenge others and showcase their individuality. We are re-inventing our image, our hobbies, activities, trying to gain incomplete perspectives via social media and also jumping to self-judge all the floating information on it. No wonder such an explosion of disproportionate demands and supply of irrelevant choices is making us berserk.

On one side is the ever brimming funnel of information being literally forced down our neck a la foie gras – suggestions to better our spouses, then ourselves, then our kids, reverse suggestions to accept situations as they are, U-turn suggestions to speak out and be heard. All of which are creating a mental tornado with the warm air of un-filtered information, a bit like an un-natural brain weather.

Like little ants we think we are building our perspectives, but without a proper background and maturity we are just doing one of these 3 things: showcasing, littering, or judging.

Indeed, the “ebola virus of vanity”: judging our spouses actively by the number of vacations others take, judging our friends by the number of school friend meet ups our colleagues have, judging ourselves by how hot other moms look at 37, ‘yummy mummies’ and then ordering a ton of cosmetics after being aware of how we can ‘stop ageing’ and erase the fine lines on our faces. I wish we would erase the fine lines of stupidity, or rather ‘gashes’ by now in our mind…

Or typing away to be recognized as the next Ruskin, the next Amitav, authoring the next glass palace – bereft of Burma – in the confines of our minds, or self-publishing, or sharing home videos on you-tube or tik tok- wonder how much more cloud storage can take, the cloud is ready to burst.  

Ruskin Bond has wisely said ‘there are so many more writers than reader’s now’ and if everyone writes who will read? The world around is wrapped in a blanket of self-absorption where everyone is set to create a forced “personal brand” – creating a hobby out of an interest, and interest out of mental emptiness, and mental emptiness due to a lack of self-worth and loneliness- all due to the breakdown of warm personal relationships.

All of which is being replaced by the “internet of advice” IoA, all of us are being pressured to be the best versions of ourselves we can be, being coordinated from head to toe, reading impressionable books, being bibliophiles, running marathons, doing Pilates, eating chia seeds, yoga (face yoga, mental yoga, LA studio yoga..), observing a Keto diet (what is kale? Hello? – why should I buy an avocado when I can buy 4 times the cauliflower in its place), and I cannot even pronounce quinoa – heard it sounds like Keenaw – not Keanu reeves (he is special though another post of that and his John Wick, I promise).

1990s - I remember my grandfather’s friend circle – who would come to our house every day at 6 PM, talk over a cup of chai, their lives simple and un-complex, celebrating birthday’s at home with home cooked food – no theme based parties – blowing up balloons, streamers, kids stacking up on cake and sandwiches, with the photos developing after a week, in a forever to be remembered memorable album. Uncle chips, Crax, 5 star, DD network, sanp seedhi, Vikram vaital, life was binary, the mind easy, the relationships primarily with the Five Find outers (Fatty and his lovely dog- I was jealous how could someone be so rich and intelligent both)and Famous Five, evenings spent playing at home or in the park, chow mien of Bengali market, power cuts on a camp bed spent under the stars.

I remember, I recollect; those memories are clear – those conversations honest, those viewpoints valuable, those times real.