Why John Cena is not impressive as a maturing pro-wrestler?

I was just seeing the latest Summerslam match, which had Roman Reigns compete with John Cena. Though there was nothing too impressive or outright dislikeable about the match, I must say that Cena is not balancing the maturing act too well. Many former and recent superstars from the WWE have run the seasoned course a lot better. However, John Cena seems to be struggling. His 16-time World Champion credentials stand, and he still has the physical strength, but largely, he seems a bit lost, and this is why:

1. The boyhood charm is not working anymore

When John Cena started, one thing that caught everybody's attention was his boyish, cute looks. He seemed a bit undercooked and too much of a collegiate wrestler for many, rather than being a serious pro-wrestling contender. However, as things progressed, the same look became a bit of a signature for Cena. Even when he completed a decade in the industry, the clean-shaven face and the short, cropped hair looked the part. Cena seemed blessed with a sort of anti-aging gene - this is what many people had to say, and yes, his chiseled physique only strengthened this image. However, now that Cena is clearly a senior in the industry, the hair is thinning, and the boyish charm is not radiating. The hip-hop mad looks are not delivering. In fact, he seems to be oscillating in a state of confused identities. I compare him to Michael J Fox and Tom Cruise - two more faces that refused to age for the longest time, but when aging did start showing up, it just did not blend into their persona. Cena seems to be going through something similar. The white sneakers and the Bermuda-like ring attire seem to contradict that; along with Triple H, he is perhaps the most experienced ex-champion right now.

Buy It for the Texture alone...

This has been happening for almost four years now—I have been buying shirts purely because of the texture rather than looking at the shades or various hues of the same primary color. I had bought some Khadi shirts almost a decade back and when they started aging, they developed a unique texture. This was not the worn-down, distressed look but something interesting. Something that takes well to repeated washing and light ironing and does not crease a lot and even when it creases, the overall look is not that bad. This texturing thing is akin to a combination of linen, khadi, and cotton - mixed together. 100% cotton is being branded too casually these days. The result is many cotton shirts not looking the part as the thread count is often too low. The texture I am talking about has a subtle hint of the linen, as if in the background with good cotton at the forefront. This fabric blend is hard to define because my interpretation is different from what the package reads. But invariably this is without any type of spandex or elastane that tends to add a polyester-like sheen. Instead, this fabric blend tends to hang rather well rather than clinging too close to the skin. Linen on its own is highly crushable – something I have always hated. Mixed with cotton in the usual form, it tends to lose its essence. My blend is about a fabric that has no see-through features, looks like linen and khadi blended, with a very summery-cotton type aura about it. My shirt shopping for reasons as illogical as the ones discussed here have taken another leap in the work-from-home ecosystem where I am still buying a lot, wearing very little, and hoping beyond reason that I will again get the opportunity to flaunt a few good ones. As of now, on September 7th, 2021, the fact is that buying more clothes is just about feeling good rather than bringing about any practical utility. Have some money? Use it a bit to buy a few moments of happiness and hopefully, some of these worldly possessions will become useful when the new normal goes away and the conventional normal is back!

An apple pie a day can make Jack a less enthusiastic boy
...not my best rhyme by far!

Like anyone who was born in the 80s, I have had some fascination about postcards mailed by people from faraway cities, especially international destinations. As I grew up, traveling seemed to get less challenging, more celebratory and without the premium that people once put on postcards. The traveling demographic today is rather different...so drastically convenient that perhaps a good journey or a memorable trips seems readily attainable. Back in the day, receiving these postcards meant a lot of sighing.

Lohri – yes, it is essentially a Bonfire Thing!

There is a recurring discussion each time it is Lohri time here in Delhi – is this a real festival, why aren’t more people celebrating it or is this just a bonfire that makes people come together? For me, the cheerfulness is essentially about the bonfire thing. In a way, it is the perfect recipe – winter season and the opportunity to light-up a bonfire in metropolitan locales that are inhumanly low on person-to-person interactions, where running into each other seems like a mishap. Lohri carries the aura of coziness in the most literal sense. For the more dedicated Lohri enthusiast, this bonfire is like a beacon of sustaining sub-cultures that are in stark contrast to the city pattern that compartmentalizes and mechanizes our life.

Are your dreams always wintery?

This is a bit strange and somewhat personal – I tend to dream very sporadically and within the realm of visuals that my mind sketches, there is always a preference for winters being the background. As long as I am dreaming about having turned into a father, raising a family, the retirement years or feeling good about my financial might, the landscape is always extreme winter. Really cannot understand the reason for this. There is nothing special I have achieved in this time of the year. In fact, the last two winters have been rather hard on me, financially, health-wise and from an emotional perspective. Even when the mind ruminates about how I can make my mother’s last year’s happier, the setting is always cold, with the temperatures dipping rather drastically. When dreaming about my imaginary baby son, whom I would love to call JUNIOR, the setting is same – the boy-toy is dressed in cute, costume-like woolens.