Drunk-truths

The problem with doing stupid stuff while you're drunk is that firstly it isn't exactly stupid, and secondly, it isn't just the drunkenness.

So is it the alcohol makes you do things you wouldn't do while sober? Again, no.

But I guess, what being drunk does is it brings out the real you. And the real you is actually full of contradictions. For instance, you like somebody. But not enough that you go out and do the stupid things that lovers do...

Now is that because of the other person, or because you are incapable of being like a lover...

Being drunk let's you be the true you. Where you don't adhere to conventional norms of who you should be vis a vis another person. Where you can express what you feel about another person without the binaries that society decrees.

How about, you like, respect, admire somebody... but you're scared that it might be not enough. And it really isn't enough (in your head). But then, will anybody be enough for you...

Maybe not.

Reasons Why I have Procrastinated Writing

They say well begun is half done. Clearly not, in case of my fledgling daily writing habit. All last week, I have been planning to write a good short piece a day, just to develop a habit. Thje blog is evidence that I have miserably failed. Rather than prolong the streak, I thought I will jot down the reasons why I couldn't write regularly (Also, Saturdays are good for reflection). 

1. I feel I am not adequately prepared to write about the topic yet. I don't have my own thoughts framed, in place. The thoughts I have is rustic ideas, which are based on initial opinions.

2. I feel that others have written what I want to say in a far better form (which is true).

3. Procrastination. There's always a distraction, and if you add up all the distractions, there's always a compelling reason to put it off for tomorrow, or to tell yourself that you arent ready to begin writing yet. 

*Ends abruptly*

 

 

Who Do We Hurt When We Hurt Others?

Often times I joke to clients who are in the middle of divorce proceedings - "you treat your spouse as if they were your greatest enemy in the world. you will do whatever you can to ensure they are not happy. But have you ever considered that the rest of the world probably cares even less about you than your spouse?"

But of course, it never works. We still continue to inflict the most pain on those who, at least at some point in the past, were the closest to us. 

But lets leave aside the past. Even the people who continue to love us, our family, how much pain we inflict on them. Why is it so difficult to make peace with the ones we love, the ones we know love us? 

Part of it is the nature of love, I imagine. We want not just to be loved, but also accepted in so many different ways. So a slight, a word said in anger, a slap cannot be allowed to pass. Or maybe it was the proverbial last straw on the camel's back. 

And yet, who are we hurting? For one, just because we act petulant doesn't mean that the other person is about to apologize (and perhaps that wouldn't be very healthy either). So we just cause hurt both to ourselves and the other person, and then the ego takes over.

Imagining me, the Booker winner

Of all the strange ideas that have come over me, this should take the cake: "I should write a novel!" 

Its a different matter that the idea came to me when I was trying hard to shrug off procrastination and actually write a blog post. And if you have read my writing, or known my story tellling skills, its an ROFL right off the bat. 

But the strangest part was the thought that immediately succeeded it: "Wait, people will actually read the sex scenes I write". And then, of course, I was amused. Why was I embarrassed of writing a sex scene that the world reads?

One, I have read way too many instances of cringe-worthy sex in books. Two, if my flirting game is anything to go by, then I better desist. 

So anyway, the conclusion was that I will write a novel without sex. Or maybe I could outsource the sex part. After all, the story is going to be a family drama. It will explore the themes of guilt, self-sabotage, and constant self-questioning.

I can already hear the applause!

Oh, and you asked about the original blog post? That was a non-starter!

 

Breaking Down News

Eleven past eight in the morning was when I woke up. That’s early by my owlish standards. The first chore is checking Facebook on my phone, drowsily. One of my old school chums, now settled in the States has just walled saying something to the effect that if it REALLY was Laden’s body they found and not a body-double, then its sweet revenge for America. That’s enough to get anyone wide awake, forget a news-hack.

Iv already typed in nyt.com on my browser. That’s logical, considering it is an American story. If it was anywhere else, the logical choice would have been one of the wires, like Reuters, Associated Press or Bloomberg. The Times has a very short story quoting an AP report that Laden has been killed in Pakistan, and that President Obama will make a statement shortly. The three biggest pointers, Laden, Pakistan & Obama, which went on to be blown up manifold over the next day was very much there in the first twenty minutes of news gathering.

I decide to double check on Reuters. Reuters also has essentially that much information, again quoting AP. Bloomberg has still not updated its website. I have a wisecrack and text my boss, and his boss. Four words. ‘Laden dead, says nyt’. That’s important, because the name of the source carries a lot of credibility. If it was Fox News saying it, the news  would have been trashed.

Ten seconds later I get a reply saying ‘we have it, we’re already running it’. I feel foolish and out of touch. By now its twenty minutes since the first report on the New York Times website. But by now all four business news channels (not to mention the dozens of non-business news channels in India) were all broadcasting the story in their own version of the flashy red Breaking News tickers.

In fact, by then NDTV profit had even made the first blooper, pronouncing Obama dead, instead of Osama. Iv worked the ticker. I know the pressure a ticker person goes through. The bigger the story, the higher the decibel levels around you urging you to finish writing that line and click on the Publish button, higher the force of the blood pumping through the veins of your hands, and in spite of that, higher the need to actually publish that line before your counterpart in the competition.

The entire competition probably would have laughed at that blooper. We allow ourselves that luxury. It’s too high-strung a world to not indulge yourself with a moment of relaxation. Very soon, we also make that same mistake. The girl who was responsible got it personally from the Chief Editor for about twenty minutes, not to mention the mails that went to the entire office calling attention to the error. She was in tears.

Within an hour, the Times had a proper 500 word article, accompanying an image of people in front of the giant screen on Times Square proclaiming Osama’s death, written, Im assuming, with inputs from their White House correspondent, and their reporter covering the CIA. This they do by getting the reporters who are regularly in touch with high placed figures in the White House and the CIA or the FBI to verify what happened. With the news already out, and America already taken to the streets in celebration, this verification should have been relatively easy. But then again, for a journalist, news is important only till it becomes news.

In the meanwhile, I continue to text a few friends about the news break. The fellow journalist has also seen the piece of news, and replies saying they’re carrying it on her channel too. The non-news friend hasn’t. And that is the essential difference between a news person and a non-newsperson. For a hack, news just has a way of finding you. That happens on different levels. For a reporter, like the AP correspondent who first broke the story, the people who make the news tell them. In this case, probably one very-high placed CIA operative, who was in the loop. For someone who’s job is to sit in the office, it comes through the reporters or the many wire services around, or if not, one of the rival television channels. But news is never hidden or obscure for a long period, and by that I mean around a quarter of an hour.

Another aspect of being in the news business is how news keeps changing like its nobody’s business. Every week, the world had brushed aside a happening event and moved on to the next.

Lets take this year for instance. In the last week of January, it was the Egyptian uprising, and the toppling of President Mubarak. In ther beginning of February, it was the arrest of A Raja and his aides. The last two weeks of Feb were about the budget. March brought the Tsunami in Japan. A week later, it was the crisis in Libya. Early April was the world cup victory. Later on the Royal Wedding, and now this. Each of these stories can vie for the biggest annual news event any other year, and we’re through with just four months in the year.

(Will probably be completed... Whenever that is)