Simplifying The Daily Existence

- Position Yourself, Give-in, Only to Fight Back

Everyone seems to have some experience in the niche of observing facial expressions, forms and shapes in the clouds. However, that is not the only place in our immediate surroundings that provides plenty of fodder for such undefined exercises. I have found some of the most beautiful shapes, including the face of a frowning bear, a small hut, and the masked face of a big, brawny Batman in unusual places like:

Not all of us can claim that our present lifestyle, academic progress, workplace achievements, relationship status, reputation of being a good sibling or a son and the newest business venture has been a totally independent journey. Most of us have taken the liberty to extract that extra effort from someone else, ring-in a few favors or managed to polish some egos to push our life’s cart. However, this is not the case with a truly self-made man. His credentials are entirely different. He wears the scars of failed attempts with upmarket pride. Even the manner in which he orders food has this air of conviction, as if he owns the moment, as if not tending to him is breaking a social law. It seems that with time, God has been arm-twisted into helping him along the way, bowing to his will.

This is not about the billionaire guru’s bowel movement, the consistency or the regularity of it, or his constipation battles. This was during a small marathon of breezing through lifestyle channels and TV shows that I have begun to hate because they are potentially really good, but never seem to be aired during a time of the day when I can watch them along with the rest of the world. I caught a few minutes of catching up with a celebrity-type of program that featured Richard Branson. This show would take you deep into his private island paradise. Turns out that the Virgin head owns a toilet seat that is like a throne with a personal island view and the serenity that people like me don’t even know about. This personal and sacred toilet seat happens to be situated in such a way that Richard Branson can view untamed oceans for miles without any ship or commercial vessel. Necker Island is like a vacation pad for the billionaire. I was just thinking what it would be like to take a crap like this guy.

Not trying to play it smart but I guess that in some way I have acquired the great art being happy with the smaller things in life. It is no longer about being frustrated when career goals are not accomplished. Instead, am happier at watering the plants that seem to be low on enthusiasm or as the image says, when served coffee in serve-ware that is vibrant and zesty. These habits have take a lot of time to develop. At one point, finding smaller reasons to smile was really tough. It seemed like an assignment. Now, it is natural. I don't need to enact it like a routine. It pours naturally and the sentiments are not camouflaged with a serious look. Am not turning away my face when a stupid grin comes on for absolutely no reason! It seems smiling a bit each day adds up to longer-term happiness!

It has been just about 3 hours since I saw a brilliantly rendered version of freshly caught fish marinated and then shallow-fried. This episode was on one of those food shows, and the theme was Spanish cooking that is high on using zest of lemons, oranges, and other citrusy fruits. While it is also called the peel or rind in some parts of the world, the zest is essentially just the outermost part of the peel.

I have seen this in many European food-themed programs. These guys are big-time users of peels, ensuring that they capture everything there is to value in any food that can naturally season the dish. The Indian way of cooking is perhaps least likely to do this. Here, the emphasis is on roasting, fast, slow, medium or at any pace that suits the doer. Overtly roasted meats and vegetables that have lost their natural essence is common to many types of regional Indian cuisines.

It is basic human psychology, mixed with some social impressions and anthropological conclusions, that clearly dictate a fact—bigger, stronger physiques will never lose out to the athletic, more toned body types as far as men are concerned. The way we perceive the sense of security, the feeling of being protected, that extra edge that you need to believe that this can help you flourish…this is the aura of bigness. It makes people believe that things are sheltered, taken care of, or protected against possible mishaps. It cannot be described in words. It cannot be recreated in an assembly-line production setting. Ask a gym regular who seems to have gone crazy with the bench presses or a grizzly middle-aged man trying to find that last straw of energy to eke out another deadlift – their reasons can be very similar! I have personally experienced more self-confidence when I have been squatting hard or when deadlifts begin to yield results. That feeling of filling out your old Tee with more muscle mass across your chest or the back and legs is more than narcissism...it gives you a definite high!

Ask any guy about his footwear choices, about a pair that he wants to upgrade, repeat, replace, or buy immediately and chances are that SNEAKERS would be quoted with shocking regularity.

[keeping manhood alive] 

There is an unspoken bond between white sneakers and men. For some, it is about continuity a legacy of sporting culture they once had, now lost to regular jobs, and they will continue to chase it, keep some of it though their current exercise endeavors might be merely moving the steering wheel. #sneakerlove

[style correctness]

Most men are more prone to packing their wardrobe with safe over probably good choices. Sneakers make them feel more assured. It is a can-not-go-wrong-with choice in the niche of casual, casual, relaxed, and formal relaxed wear for men. Readily available in all sorts of whitish hues, these sneakers are rarely looked down upon. They provide fashion safety that many men desire. #sneakerstyle

Read about Men & the Man-Bag Here

Thanks to contemporary workplaces being digitally progressive and fitness-wise redundant, men want to capture that nimble-footed, liberating feeling that comes with walking longer distances or running in the outdoors. The outdoors are now office lobbies, the wilderness is our parking lots, and liberation lies in wearing snug-fitting sneakers. Sneakers have this aura of being active, on-the-go, even if you aren't really, the vibes count, and for a decent pric,e this is not too bad a feeling to capture and own. #sneakerpower

Read about How We Interpret Colors Here

[Sneaker-heads is a global breed]

From growing a goatee to wearing a wrist watch with the dial turned inside, men will try to own and style something that gives them that edgy, unconventional feel. Sneaker-hoodism is one such thing. These men groom their wardrobe with unending pairs of white or predominantly white sneakers from all the trending brands. Every outing is about owning a pair more. Every week at the workplace is about flaunting a new pair. Every weekend is a time for an overview of these collectibles. So, in a way, sneaker-headism is as relevant and sensible as manscaping your beard. #sneakercommunity

Read about How Some Men Prefer the BIG Look Here

[easiest fashion update]

Men struggle to come up with easy fixes to their falling style standards. An easy cure lies in white sneakers. That day, when you wear a new pair to the office or at a date night, you do engage a lot of glances. Proud and shining with the knowledge that they are revered, white sneakers seem proud, somewhat uptight, and help you get noticed. Not such a bad deal for someone whose idea of shopping is buying serving spoons in shades of aqua blue. Please respect the testosterone! #sneakerlife

This came to mind when viewing the list of usual suspects that make it to a vegetarian platter these days. From a lounge to a club, the platter choices are essentially the same, with little room for customization. However, I feel that this is an underserved niche, i.e., platters that can be somewhat personalized and are more creative. This is about re-inventing and recreating the lost burger. Yes, the contemporary burger is pretty much losing its identity with fake, less-than-soulful patties and an overload of sauces. The result is a mess that is dry, too much, and leaves a huge room for improvement. This can be done by creating a burger platter. You can line up small burgers, each dressed to deliver a different type of taste. Ingredients hand-picked to deliver the unique flavor can vary from heavy lettuce, overtly tomato, zero veggies, soya patty, no-patty-only-eggs, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese only, macaroni filling, layers of salads with fresh mint layering, finger fry as patty version and those that use fruit sauces, sauteed vegetables, sweet fillings, multiple types of dried fruits and nuts, etc.

Each of these platter burgers needs to be just about 2-bite-big. Easy to finish, whether you happen to hate or love the flavors, these burgers should be served with the option of adding more fillings as you please. Each platter should have pre-dressed x 6 burgers at least, with about 10 to 12 customized as-you-go options. Just thinking about this again - how about a burger with every ingredient dipped in a thick coating of thick, hung curd, without a patty? These burgers would naturally come without any overwhelming, taste-killing excesses like too much of a tomato or chili sauce. Diners should have the option of getting more DIY with chopsticks that can be used for picking up small ingredients and then shoving and pushing them between the buns.

Don’t pour it, he says with the look of a seasoned campaigner, someone who has paid his dues in the murky landscape of having laid your senses to waste with unending pints, pegs, and kegs. This is the usual sentiment when it comes to lashing out instructions when ordering beer. For some reason, most folks, including me, look down upon the supposed elitism associated with having an alcoholic beverage served in a glass. Let us get one thing straight – beer glassware is a niche of serving glasses dedicated to how beer is served. From shaker pints to pint glasses, from bigger beer mugs to steins and pilsner glasses, there are many types of beer glasses doing duty across the world. Yes, I did my homework on this! So, why are some people so uncomfortable with beer poured in glassware?

Recently, a friend of mine had this moment when all the corporate terminology he had imbibed, along with the social media acumen gained via hearsay, was blended into one contorted viewpoint about how social media was getting so tough to score for branding professionals. I don't argue that Social Media outreach is getting more methodical, more massively interpreted, and difficult to categorize. However, there is one very simple thing that most online marketers don't seem to realize - social media channels are not your content publishing or syndication platforms - they are fueled by content but thrive via interaction. If your branding approach cannot converse on social media, if you cannot make small talk about the simple things and important events that happen every day, you are looking at a hopelessly skewed relationship with your social media presenc,e where your digital agency will alienate you from what should be something simple and present all the social numbers with layers of intentional complexity.

This isn’t just another article about positive thinking. This discussion is essentially a condensed narrative of how I have struggled, fought, and also won on some occasions, small battles en route to trying to create a better lifestyle, especially something that can help me improve my mental health. You might think that push-ups are meant for pectoral gains only. Believe me, the connection between push-ups and mental health is very real, easy to understand, and can be pursued by anyone who is above 15 years of age…the image captures the essence of a push-up regimen. What seems like a long flight of empty stairs can be the challenge of a lifetime for someone chasing cardio gains. All of a sudden, the dead, cold steel and concrete seem to have all the weapons to break your resolve. But, you must persist...!

I keep wondering about when I will get to keep a pet. Attempts so far have been thwarted by life, my schedule, and the uncanny ability of destiny to ring a surprise just when I think that everything I want is back on track, at least along the track and moving in the right direction. One recurring thought is about owning a beagle. These dogs are more than just cute companions. I call them a breed with "proper eyes". You have to Google up to realize what I am saying. Beagles have really expressive eyes. They tend to have reasonably recognizable facial expressions, too. The look, overall, is not inherently angry or submissive - a beautiful midway that seems like a personality that can go either way depending upon the circumstances. This humility and the vulnerability of this behavioral thing make them perhaps a more human-ified species. Reasonably smart, as I have been told, Beagles don't tend to put on weight like their Labrador friend, who are genetically recipe to contracting lifestyle conditions like diabetes or cardiac problems. You don't want to be stuck with a dog challenging you for checking on the weighing scale!

Somewhat innocent but eternally hopeful faces in the team often ask me - Sir, will we get this for the team? - Sometimes, I just blink and act like not caring, trying to look my ignorant best, and yes, the poker-face talent really helps. Little do they realize that every team is not leveraged with a manager who can make actionable decisions. MBA classes won't preach about how teams positioned vaguely need to perform every day. They cannot afford bad days, let alone a poor week of production. While globally-trending workplaces insulate their team with on-the-floor amenities, some live to survive, hustling a bit, always performing out of their comfort zones. There are better-positioned managers who can take the time to sit down with a cup of coffee, perhaps stare at a bare wall that is bare-naked like an unpainted canvas, and get the time to recollect their thoughts, fully aware that they have sufficient people in the desired roles to execute a project.

Honey chili potato is not a real food item; it is not Chinese, it is not oriental - it is a drab, stupid, and hopelessly twisted preparation! Why?

No real flavor or texture is being created. All ingredients are coated with heavy sauces. There is no real intermingling of flavors. The guy in that shady kitchen has just pumped a million types of cheap sauces into the wok and made it look like something exotic. This is not real cooking. Getting hold of something as basic as French fries and dipping them like a maniac in overtly citric, sour, and sweet sauces and then calling it a true Asian, oriental preparation? This is blasphemy. I look at the morons eating honey chili potatoes at food vans with this impression on their face that they tasted something really zesty. The only thing I can think about is how many past-their-expiry fries were used, how many almost-empty bottles of sauces were given one last rinse to extract something, and how clueless the cook must have been when mixing all the sauces. This is as atrocious a food choice you can make - this is not even food. It is the hateful creation emanating from an incestuous relationship between different ingredients. Worried about your stomach now? Don't be alarmed. The fact that you ate it more than once means your Mind needs help!

Pretentious Chefs, Falling Dietary Standards are Killing Grilling Holiness

I believe everyone can find their individual reason to love the typewriter, You have to try it more than once to find yours to start the love affair!

It is that time of the year when I have the confidence to let go of my self-imposed rules, ready to break away from the overdose of official duties, and plan a small break with my wife. This time, we have Chamba, in Himachal, in mind. Needed very little persuasion about the choice of place. Chamba has everything you need if you want basic food, remote green spreads, and hot tea throughout the day. This is what our priorities happen to be, and we have booked a homestay. Again, booking a hotel never crossed our minds. We don't want a front office to wake us up. We don't want cable TV programs competing for attention. This is also about resting my overworked immune system, if there is any, actually, and getting better from the 3-week-long bout of flu & related symptoms. Yes, the image talks about beaches and tan lines, but I found it very contextual when Googling...will keep sharing more updates.                                     

What is it exactly that people seek when visiting online discussions about sexual health? Some sense of closure? The assurance that their problem is shared by millions around the world, or just that what they wanted to talk about with their partner has now been published online and now, makes it much easier to read. Yeah, reading about sexual performance or sexual health might be good, but if you are using it to supplement the real thing that you and your partner should be having, you are headed towards Pain City - Where Sex is Never Good Enough! I have been a slow starter. Very laidback and hesitant when it comes to intimacy.

There is a lot of noise on lifestyle TV shows and editorials online about living a really simple life - most of them have idyllic settings with beach-front properties that seem slightly rustic, and highly retro. However, a question comes to mind. Shifting from a metropolitan to the countryside, complete with signing out of your regular job, starting a young family, and ensuring the accommodation is actually as good as what the images suggest, needs some serious money. Who is going to pay for this? Why do these folks say that living on a farm or starting your organic produce setup is easy?  There is nothing easy about leaving the entire ecosystem that you were born into, were nourished within, happened to flourish in for some years before things started falling apart, and then you decided to change the entire landscape. In some countryside, the power supply is poor. What is going to power your wi-fi music delivery systems and even if they do, can you count upon 4G speeds that you have grown so fond of? Even if you do, reconnecting with a new network of community, too, is hard. Giving up your city life and moving to hilly areas or beachy paradises still means a massive portion of your savings would be consumed - does that not induce serious anxiety?

This must have come to your attention too but perhaps, I am the only who is blogging about it - if you look around, no matter what type of heart-related topic we are talking about, whether it is a cardiac disease or myocardial infarction, whether it is an ambulance stating that its owner happens to be a cardiology specialist or the logo of a healthcare facility that specializes in cardiac healthcare, it seems that all pictorials of anything that is cardiac, happens to have the heart pictured in its Valentine-type shape. Why? Beats me! I think that by now, we are reasonably progressed as a society and as educated consumers, that matters of the heart and heart-related matters that take you to the surgeon's table, each deserves a different type of image. How different? Extremely, I say, because they are denoting an entirely different idea. An image that shows the lovelorn heart with electrical beats of a cardio-meter-like machine does not make sense. Is the image talking about loving the heart no matter how sick it got, or is it saying that the person with the heart condition is deeply in love, or that love makes your heart suffer? Please clarify this & get back to the drawing board...this is a no-brainer!

I have always wondered if all the fancy-ass professional management courses tell young adults anything about how to end their day - there are things you should be doing when you are on the verge of signing out. Some ideas, from fatal observations, at the top of my head include:

- Never ask if you can leave: you should have your day sorted. You should know if you have completed your chores for the day, and when you have, you ought to know, so don't ask. Be sure about your work, and if you are not, you are not worthy of being in the team

- Don't leave as soon as the clock strikes 5: this is basic human psychology. No matter how much your reporting manager adores you for the work you do, there is a tendency to think that if you are not ready to spend a second more than your mandated presence on the floor, you might not be doing your best. Since you are working hard, why give space for such suspicions to surface?

- Don't leave with a bad feeling: you are most likely to carry the vibes home. There are many situations and solutions for diffusing this, including:

- Make yourself heard: this is the most critical rule to calling it a day on a good note. There are many ways in which to do this, i.e., ensure that you punch out with a mannerism that resembles the things you do when you come in for the day. Choices include:

- start creating the to-do list

- set up reminders on Outlook 

- drop Skype messages to co-workers who forgot to update you

- Check your LinkedIn messages if your workplace allows this

- Borrow some quick shut-eye time to get closure on a hectic week

- Switch off any social media or work-related pings as you want to start your quality time at home

There will always be more tips about how to end your workday, but some of these are purely habitual and might not come to you easily. For instance, you might not be in the habit of cleaning up or tidying your desk. However, this can be a habit you might want to adopt since it helps you de-clutter and creates a better working environment. This editorial piece clearly says that one of the winning habits when winding up your shift at work is not to leave your desk messy. Also, the minutes leading up to your exit should not be about idle gossiping. This should not be about bitching about things at work or about people you don't like. You want to exit the workplace with a lighter, more composed mood and not with the overhang of negativity...

I think Millennials should always be printed in Green, the brightest shade, the most intense hue, and if possible, against a background that also has a semblance of Greenish colors. Why? Just look around you - from anything that can be stacked on a retail shelf, from cars to their fuels, from breads to cookies, and the visual interpretation of anything that is contemporary - Green is the chosen path. By buying supposedly healthier breads, paints that have green footprints, and electrically powered appliances that promise to be highly Earth-friendly, we are swimming in a cesspool of misdirected buyer enthusiasm. Retailers have been rather busy. Quickly branding anything that can be priced higher with a sweet-coated Green story. The script is out for everyone to see, but nobody is really reading.

It has been some time since Moha and I went to the shop for our coffee table. I was always attracted to the raw, more basic layouts. The countryside feel of thick-planked tables always attracted me. Now that we bought something more refined, my mind often wonders - why is that such a simple coffee table would grab my attention? I introspected a bit. Turns out it has nothing to do with the beauty or charm of natural wood. Yes, the slightly under-finished grain patterns add a more rural charm, but this was not the reason. I looked around and realized that most textures and finishes around us were almost flawless. Even the ceramic cups and plates were glazed to perfection. The walls wear a very well-groomed look. The glossy paints and assembly-line printing processes have ensured that nothing we purchase has any type of design impurity.

Like most wannabe poets, during their formative years, I have tried to get philosophical, forcing myself to sky-watch, hoping that some stroke of genius will hit me like a meteor from space, turning me into some sort of lovelorn poet. However, that did not happen - obviously, you won't have a seriously blossoming poet blog as much as I do without earning a penny out of it! As time passed, I realized that sky-gazing is actually about the emptiness of it all. There is something about the infiniteness of the setting that perhaps helps people transcend their apprehensions, think in a way that is beyond the everyday struggle. Star-gazing can be astronomical, sky-gazing is more soulful. Star-watching can be a Valentine thing to do, sky-watching can be a thinking catalyst, making every worry you have seem menial. If you have not experienced it yet, try it once. Give it a real shot, and you will find that watching the changing, always-transforming skies is some sort of therapy that actually works. It only needs YOU and a SKY, and from what I can tell, neither of these is difficult to find unless you are a lly sought terrorist...

This is going to sound strange to many of you and I would like to clarify at the outset that I am not the wrong one here. We get a lot of invitation cards and calendars and other items that have images of Om or Ganesh Ji on them. Undoubtedly, we like the fact that people choose such stuff to signify peace and prosperity. However, after some time, everything loses its utility. You cannot hold on to everything you own. A few days back, I dumped a few of these invites that carried such images. After a few hours, I realized that during my growing-up years this was a serious issue with my mom. She would go hysterical upon realizing that I had mis-accomodated God!

This is not about the fear of heights or the diseases of being preoccupied with your height. I happened to chance upon a blog called the DailyDot, and it turns out that Heightism is now a real community that seeks to connect people who regularly face criticism (veiled or obvious) due to their limited altitude. Heightism also isn’t about dwarfs. This is about discriminating against those who don't seem tall "enough," where one school of thought believes that, among men, Heightism is perpetrated by women.

This was in 2014 [when the change had begun]:

Yes, I am in the middle of a transformation. It is both intellectual and spiritual. You can say that it was brought about by circumstances that were getting piled on for nearly 5 years. I am learning to be less egoistic, not touchy about the smallest remarks or criticisms. In fact, I am turning into a keen listener even if I realize that the discussion is headed towards waters that will most probably sink me. This humility is all around, in my everyday living. It is not as if I am humble at the workplace and stubborn at home or when dealing with outsiders - the aptitude to be better, more tolerant, less proud is all around me, and I am absorbing this bit of wisdom, hoping it will start to pour out of my pores one day.

This was in 2015

Being humbler has come about as a process of recognizing the smaller things in life…things I sinfully took for granted all along. I have lived a rather ungrateful life, never thanking my parents or the Big Man ruling this world. For me, everything was either perfect or just not worth consideration. This perspective had suffocated my horizons, making me more critical, unaware that happiness is often packaged in the most unassuming, daily life activities. I guess when sleeping pills fail to work, you realize the importance of a good night’s sleep. A good, hearty meal is also reason enough to thank Life. A good day, free from confrontations, when work was smooth at the office and the house resounded with positive vibes, is now a gift for me. However, this does not mean that I am turning docile or turning into a walkover. I can be as stoic and argumentative if I feel that someone is trampling on what is rightfully mine. Being humble or trying to be helpful has nothing to do with allowing people to take advantage of me. I still stay away from folks who can talk a mouthful but cannot bust a grape in a fruit fight. This shallow type, the all-talk, all-nonsense variety, just does not sit well with me.

This is today, in 2018 [when the change has brought about significant results] 

I am still judgmental, but I am learning the art of keeping the judgments to myself, not getting overwhelmed with them and not allowing unpleasant situations or people to upset my day. A demanding, energy-draining, or upsetting day is still good enough if I hear my mother has done well in physiotherapy, the new bed-sheets look beautiful, and the supper warmed my soul.

Even as I share this, somewhere deep down, I am grateful that Life gave the opportunity and the gumption to blog in an honest manner…Thank You, Life!!