Entry 4.0 - Little Things

Entry 4.0 - Little Things

Hello World..

Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

Do you feel the same I’m feeling?

These monuments of development which are usually filled with crowds of zillions seem so empty today..

They feel like an abandoned city or a planet, with completely empty streets which once were filled with a plethora of dead man walking and their ghosts following their infinite loops..

So now what, has the Maker finally shown his true powers ?

Or are we too timid and delusional to accept the consequences of our own desires..

Are these lock-downs and quarantines just for public safety or will they also be used in way to serve propaganda's and establish weapons of illegal mass surveillance..

Am I against any of the measures or am I simply a man experiencing and observing the True and the Bigger Picture..

Are Big things the only thing that matters ...or are the little things which create the ripple factors...

I am too small a man to comment or pass judgments on this blasphemy of a pandemic or its measures....

Than what am I doing here?

What do I have to say?

Well Dear Readers, I think it’s also the little things that matter and in this times of lock-downs and quarantine, we have got enough time to pay attention to the little things and realizations which somehow impact not just to us, but to each and everyone around us...

Mind you,

This is not some structured story, it's rather a recollection of random yet overthought little things and realizations..

(P.S. : I have tried to remove all the common things everyone is posting nowadays on Social media and tried a new approach)

1. You can be good and passionate about more than 1 thing in Life

- This is that one thing this quarantine proves for once and all. You can be actually great and passionate about more than one thing in your life. If we take a deep dive in history, all great people had at least 4-5 professions. It wasn’t their greatness which made it happen. It was just their interest and dedication that made it possible, something which we have all the time in world for, in the coming weeks. This is not some exceptional cases I am talking about. I am actually seeing these examples floating all around-

- An engineering student making cooking videos and uploading it to his YouTube channel

- An introvert friend finally being courageous enough to create a YouTube channel for posting his Stand Up/ Open Mics.

So we all have those things, hobbies and interests which we couldn’t in the normal routine/ loops of our life. But this is like a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore that piece hidden in our hearts and minds, to accept it, try it and excel at it.

2. Smiles

Its one of those ideas in life which comes and goes away once in a while. But this is one of the most positive things which happens to everyone in their lives. We walk around everyday, entering and exiting buildings and places. Giving out a simple smile to those acquaintances during that time may not feel like a big thing, but believe me, it has a deep impact. A smile has the power to make someone feel good and happy. It can convert someone’s bad day to a good one. It is the easiest thing we can do to spread happiness.

This is something I noticed while seeing people smile at each other in grocery lines during these times. Though this thought has deeper roots.

- Some years ago during my exams, I joined a 24 hour library for 2 months. We were a 30 odd students who buried their heads in books for whole day long, completely bored and exhausted.

Every once in a while our heads came up looking at each other and out of social awkwardness we all smiled at each other. Though it didn't mean much, it just made us all a bit happy and content knowing there was someone sitting besides us and unknowingly acting as a positive moral support.

- As all Mumbaikars would agree, they know a lot of people from their everyday train ride, not by names but just from the tradition of smiling at each other. Imagine a local train bogey full of people standing awkwardly to each other and someone passes you that little smile making the journey a lot less annoying. (I did this for 2 weeks in Mumbai, it’s quite a thing.)

3.  Your quarantine would be a horror story if not for the artists who made these music, books, poems, Movies and Paintings.

- I know, i know, this is something everyone keeps posting and saying these days, its a repetitive thing. Yet I feel this is rather an important little thing in our lives, but people seldom pay attention to. Lets talk about India, Is it easy to choose becoming a writer, actor or painter in today's time.

How many homes and parents would actually support these artistic dreams of their children?

Sorry to say, but a very few. Their usual argument is that we would not earn enough money and respect from this. One thing which we all need to understand for once is that, we need to choose a thing as our daily profession/ activity which makes us feel passionate enough and something we are good at (Refer IKIGAI from Post 1.0).

This is not just an issue of parents. This is something the young people, our so called today's generation also has to realize. We all have friends and relatives who are artists in some way and we once in a while praise them personally. But is that enough?

Why cant we go on to their shows (by paying for the tickets instead of asking for free ones) or purchase their books and give them a big shout out by posting about them on our social media.

You see, actions are always way more better than words. And god knows we all, you all, are surviving this lock-down on music, TV shows and books.

4. Indian Cinema VS Web series

- This is rather a very acute thing I have noticed in the past few months. Hopefully I don’t have to convince you to understand the shitty level of content and film-making we see in the majority of the Indian Cinema today. But it seems there is a new type of film-making and storytelling in India taking over the interest of the masses.

Turns out these web series, a concept Indian Artists started using just a few years back is where all the actual genius and talent is moving towards to. It feels like some of the young brilliant minds have already shifted to this brilliant world of web series where you find a better cast, screenplay, direction and level of storytelling than a movie at a lower cost. The recent brilliant ones out there are as follows-

- Asur – Voot Select

- Special Ops- Hotstar

- Criminal Justice – Hotstar

- Made in Heaven – Amazon Prime

- Kota Factory - TVF

5. Convenience and Communication Gap

This is something people realize when they are in their early 20's.  Around 99    percent of the world population suffers with eternal problem communication Gap.

Why is so hard to talk to people?

Why have chats become more convenient than phone calls and meet ups?

Why is their no continuity in conversations?

Why?

There is no complex answer to this. Actually, if you are observant enough (which everyone is), it’s just a matter of convenience. Everyone acts in complete accordance with what feels convenient and feasible to them. One may argue that that's how this world works. But to say that its easier to pretend and be in a constant communication gap is something which feels like a  completely foolish and baseless argument. We usually measure it in terms of the real efforts and investment we would have to make. This might not be a bad thing necessarily, but this world and its relationships are built on trust, respect and good communication. Once there comes a gap, its not that easy to forget and mend things and move forward just turning a blind eye to things as it is the most easy thing to do.

As some great man said once, “You have no idea how rare it is to find people who understand and acknowledge for who you are. How rare are people who can understand your mood and opinions based on your giggles and facial expressions. To find the ones who love you and are always there for you.”

6. Choosing our people is the closest we come to controlling our destiny. Because while everything else may change, if you choose right, your people will stay the same.

- All of us feel a need or desire to control things and situations in our environment. But however, much you try, life and destiny always have their own plans.

Hence the closest we come to controlling  our destiny is choosing the right people around us. Because people are like pillars and cornerstones, if you choose right, they will be always there for you.

An Analogy on the same

We all have highs and lows in our life. That's why some people often compare life with the heartbeat graph a machine shows, sometimes its stable and sometimes its volatile. But I think life is like a straight line.

Why?

Because of the people around you. Those 4 or 5 people that you completely trust for anything in your lives. They act as a big support and in bad times and a reality check in the good times. No matter what happens, they are always there for you creating a normalcy and stability in your lives. And after a while in life, everyone craves a bit of normalcy and stability,so however generic and boring they may seem, they are priceless. And if any day life feels too volatile, please give a hard look to it.

Now, Pause.

Take a step back.

Look at the bigger picture.

Think of this as a more of a conclusive point. We all have always shown a loathe about our routines and how we don't have much free time.

Well here we are now, locked in our homes, some doing work from home and others some Netflix and chill. This is the best time to press PAUSE.

This is the best time to press PAUSE and TAKE A STEP BACK. Evaluate your life, relationships and question yourself,

Ask yourself that are the efforts you are putting somewhere today gonna help you achieve the future you picture for yourself ?

Are their any relationships which you don’t care for much but just keep on pretending and allow to waste my time?

Is there something that you are missing or noticing about your own life, behavior or people around you?

Is there something more you want to explore?

Finally stop generalizing everything and LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE. Notice those little things you have been ignoring in your lives. Take a magnifying glass to decide what matters and what doesn't in your life.

Think of it as a once in every few years health check up. If it seems boring, let it be, but do it once, because you may even surprise yourselves with the little and big things you realize.

So much for the big and little things, I have seen everybody asking each other about what to do in this quarantine. We may think on a 100 things, but will end up watching a movie/ series or reading a book. I have mentioned some great works of art below, take a sneak peek if you like.

TV Series Suggestion

1. Westworld - HBO

2. The Newsroom - HBO

3. Mr Robot - Amazon Prime

4.  This is Us - Amazon Prime

5. Descendants of the Sun - ZEE 5

6. Money Heist - Netflix

 If you haven't seen the classics like The Office, HIMYM, Friends, Sherlock, House, BBT and Mentalist, please watch them first and then follow the list.

Movies Suggestion

(Hollywood Movies)

1. Schindler"s List

2.The Shawshank Redemption

3. Batman Series (By Christopher Nolan)

4. 12 Angry Men

5. Parasite

6. Inception

(Underappreciated Bollywood Movies)

1.Nautanki Saala - Hotstar

2. 404 Error not found – Google Play

3. Roy - Hotstar

4. The Lunchbox - Netflix

5. The Tashkent Files

6.Chal Mann Jeethva Jaiye – Youtube

Well do one thing, just finish the IMDB top 100 chronologically :)

Books Suggestions

1. The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

2. The Robert Langdon Series by Dan Brown

3. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

4. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

5. The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov

6. Permanent Records by Edward Snowden

#Stay Home, Stay Safe...