It happened about 6 months ago. I was going through a personal low when suddenly one of my friends told me I was wierd. I normally let them pass, but not this time. I prodded her as to why she felt so. Though the explanation wasn't quite satisfactory she sensed a feeling I had taken it to heart and then said "Don't bother!! All of us are. " I actually took this to heart and started thinking how wierd people actually were. Hell!! People are.
I recently watched the movie Tashan. What a horrible movie! Comic stunts, crazy dialogues. Then suddenly a friend pointed out to me saying isn't that how all Rajinikanth movies are supposed to be. Hell No! I said. But as the movie went forward I thought it was the perfect script for a Rajinikanth movie. Its so wierd I can picture him doing the stunts and enjoying it but not an Akshay Kumar. Its so unbelievingly vague how we have pictured somethings in our mind and refuse to move out of that plane.
Ever wondered why its always Jerry who wins in Tom and Jerry cartoons. Can you picture a victorious Tom and still enjoy it? No! We want Jerry to win. So what if in real life its always the cat that gets the better of the mouse. In that cartoon it has to be Jerry. Thats the food and fodder "pharmoola". Ever read a Dr. Watson brainstorm winning a case for Sherlock Holmes. No. Even if there were we wouldn't have enjoyed it. How many people know for a fact that Sherlock Holmes himself, in the words of the author, said he has been duped by 3 women in the past. People refuse to acknowledge that. Can you picture a Marlon Brando becoming a Gandhian? Its wierd when it comes to Bollywood we have gone on to make dark-hero-dies-in-the-end movies to become classics. But when its comics or fiction we want the Jerries to win.
Lets get more specific now. My mom had a flat in Noida that we had rented out. The last person who had occupied the house was a Punjabi and created a lot of problems by not vacating it. After everything was settled my mom was hell bent against renting it out to Punjabi. We had to lock up the house for about an year without renting it out. The next year I accompanied my mom to Delhi, we had to pay some tax dues. We landed up in the wrong place and a person offered us to drop us at the right location. Here is the hitch: he was a Punjabi. Surprisingly my mom accepted the offer. Just when I was about to think my mom was over it, she asked me - "How much money do you think he expects from us? He is obviously not doing this for free. " I laughed. We rented our house to a south Indian for half the market price and after 2 years my mom tells me - " See, I told you. South Indians are safe bets. He hasn't given us any problem. " I told her - "Why would he? At half the price the house is a steal. He'll do whatever it takes to keep us happy. " When people become obsessed with a particular fact its hard to believe they aren't wierd.
My grandfather hates the Congress(read Sonia Gandhi) so much that he still keeps arguing Narsimha Rao was responsible for demolishing the Babri Masjid and not the right wing parties. There is this friend of mine who hates Tamil people because her family was once duped when they were in Chennai. Its wierd she happens to be one of my best friends. When I confronted her with this fact I expected a response "OK! Not all Tamil people are bad. " But instead this is what I got - " You were born in Delhi. You are a pseudo-south Indian. You are actually a north Indian." She refuses to acknowledge me as a south Indian. How about the fact that I watch Rajinikanth movies? No!! Thats just cos you are wierd. I just laughed.
Hey! But wait a minute. Wasnt this blog supposed to be about how wierd I was? Thats right. Lets see how it is. I'll explain it with an instance.
About two years ago when I joined NITIE, not surprisingly my room mate fell in love with a girl. During one of our outings I heard HIM tell HER how to get the glow on the skin and how curd helps in getting it. I laughed my stomach out. I told a mutual friend about how wierd that was and both of us laughed. Fast forward a week later, I happened to accidentally scan the mutual friend's gtalk chat messages with his "interest" and what do I find. Smileys being traded. She throws one smiley, our hero types two. When I asked him about it, he started smiling sheepishly. I asked him are both of you having a competition as to who is wierder? He gave me this bizarre explanation saying thats how you talk to girls. I got totally pissed off. I wanted to prove to him he was wrong. The next day when I was talking to the girl I was in love with, I decided I'll not use any of the "wierdo expressions" and you wont believe I didnt have words other than Yes, No, I dont know prompting her to ask me if I was doing ok. Its hard not to be wierd, I realised. It actually ended with my friends making a big issue out of catching me type three smileys in a row.
The point of this post is all of us are wierd. But why do people selectively acknowledge that some people are wierd? The reason according to me is, some people( read me) in an attempt not to be wierd and be a notch above the rest lose our original identities. These are the people who are "classified" as wierds. There is nothing wrong in being wierd. All of us are. People love us for our stupidities, our dogmatic ideas. Why try and be different? There is nothing wierd about it.
Signed,
Batty
P.S. For people with a keen eye, wierd is actually spelt "weird". I, on purpose, let it remain "wierd" throughout the post. In the first attempt everybody would spell it wierd. Why let a Microsoft correct us? There is nothing wierd about it.
I recently watched the movie Tashan. What a horrible movie! Comic stunts, crazy dialogues. Then suddenly a friend pointed out to me saying isn't that how all Rajinikanth movies are supposed to be. Hell No! I said. But as the movie went forward I thought it was the perfect script for a Rajinikanth movie. Its so wierd I can picture him doing the stunts and enjoying it but not an Akshay Kumar. Its so unbelievingly vague how we have pictured somethings in our mind and refuse to move out of that plane.
Ever wondered why its always Jerry who wins in Tom and Jerry cartoons. Can you picture a victorious Tom and still enjoy it? No! We want Jerry to win. So what if in real life its always the cat that gets the better of the mouse. In that cartoon it has to be Jerry. Thats the food and fodder "pharmoola". Ever read a Dr. Watson brainstorm winning a case for Sherlock Holmes. No. Even if there were we wouldn't have enjoyed it. How many people know for a fact that Sherlock Holmes himself, in the words of the author, said he has been duped by 3 women in the past. People refuse to acknowledge that. Can you picture a Marlon Brando becoming a Gandhian? Its wierd when it comes to Bollywood we have gone on to make dark-hero-dies-in-the-end movies to become classics. But when its comics or fiction we want the Jerries to win.
Lets get more specific now. My mom had a flat in Noida that we had rented out. The last person who had occupied the house was a Punjabi and created a lot of problems by not vacating it. After everything was settled my mom was hell bent against renting it out to Punjabi. We had to lock up the house for about an year without renting it out. The next year I accompanied my mom to Delhi, we had to pay some tax dues. We landed up in the wrong place and a person offered us to drop us at the right location. Here is the hitch: he was a Punjabi. Surprisingly my mom accepted the offer. Just when I was about to think my mom was over it, she asked me - "How much money do you think he expects from us? He is obviously not doing this for free. " I laughed. We rented our house to a south Indian for half the market price and after 2 years my mom tells me - " See, I told you. South Indians are safe bets. He hasn't given us any problem. " I told her - "Why would he? At half the price the house is a steal. He'll do whatever it takes to keep us happy. " When people become obsessed with a particular fact its hard to believe they aren't wierd.
My grandfather hates the Congress(read Sonia Gandhi) so much that he still keeps arguing Narsimha Rao was responsible for demolishing the Babri Masjid and not the right wing parties. There is this friend of mine who hates Tamil people because her family was once duped when they were in Chennai. Its wierd she happens to be one of my best friends. When I confronted her with this fact I expected a response "OK! Not all Tamil people are bad. " But instead this is what I got - " You were born in Delhi. You are a pseudo-south Indian. You are actually a north Indian." She refuses to acknowledge me as a south Indian. How about the fact that I watch Rajinikanth movies? No!! Thats just cos you are wierd. I just laughed.
Hey! But wait a minute. Wasnt this blog supposed to be about how wierd I was? Thats right. Lets see how it is. I'll explain it with an instance.
About two years ago when I joined NITIE, not surprisingly my room mate fell in love with a girl. During one of our outings I heard HIM tell HER how to get the glow on the skin and how curd helps in getting it. I laughed my stomach out. I told a mutual friend about how wierd that was and both of us laughed. Fast forward a week later, I happened to accidentally scan the mutual friend's gtalk chat messages with his "interest" and what do I find. Smileys being traded. She throws one smiley, our hero types two. When I asked him about it, he started smiling sheepishly. I asked him are both of you having a competition as to who is wierder? He gave me this bizarre explanation saying thats how you talk to girls. I got totally pissed off. I wanted to prove to him he was wrong. The next day when I was talking to the girl I was in love with, I decided I'll not use any of the "wierdo expressions" and you wont believe I didnt have words other than Yes, No, I dont know prompting her to ask me if I was doing ok. Its hard not to be wierd, I realised. It actually ended with my friends making a big issue out of catching me type three smileys in a row.
The point of this post is all of us are wierd. But why do people selectively acknowledge that some people are wierd? The reason according to me is, some people( read me) in an attempt not to be wierd and be a notch above the rest lose our original identities. These are the people who are "classified" as wierds. There is nothing wrong in being wierd. All of us are. People love us for our stupidities, our dogmatic ideas. Why try and be different? There is nothing wierd about it.
Signed,
Batty
P.S. For people with a keen eye, wierd is actually spelt "weird". I, on purpose, let it remain "wierd" throughout the post. In the first attempt everybody would spell it wierd. Why let a Microsoft correct us? There is nothing wierd about it.
3 comments:
original masterpiece!
Liked the "wierd" twist. Sums up the entire blog
Well written !!
Proves the fact that Batty is a farter, but a logical one at that :D
Thouhg opposite in meaning, I guess Logic and Weird can go together !!
I am sure this is not Weird either :D
Being a fellow south Indian & ardent rajni fan..i agree..and no one is more wierder than someone who calls himself atlee :P
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