Generation Y

What do we mean by Generation Y? For starters, what did we mean by Generation X anyway? I grew up in the 90's... well the 80's too but at that time I was mostly learning to walk, talk, read & write.. :) So in the late 90's we started hearing that we are supposedly the MTV generation, or Generation X. In India, where I come from, we suddenly got exposed to a whole lot of TV channels in the early 90's. These channels included a lot of American & European channels. It gave us new insight into what is going on in the rest of the world. Alien concepts started becoming commonplace for us. To be frank the channels even helped improve my spoken English! India has a rich cultural history & the older generation believed that our generation was changing much faster than previous generations. The reason? TV ! Yes! TV, and not even computers! Because we were getting all these various novel ideas from TV. Back in the 80's the only pop star I knew was Micheal Jackson. We now knew who George Micheal & Elton John was.. yes the connection might have been deliberate ;), but you get what I mean.. And we used to watch Baywatch & MTV Grind... which gave the "Elders" all the more reason to condemn these channels. But what they did not realize is that we also learned a LOT of stuff that was never taught in School. We also watched National Geographic which showed dolphins & sharks & migrating habits of salmon... stuff that we never cared about! But we were so excited!

That was Generation X. Then came computers... and the Internet. Thank God for that! And hence this generation is now Generation Y. Let's not even go into what happens after Generation Z. Will that be the end of progression??? Ok let's think about that later, or in the next blog post :P

So Generation Y progressed faster than Generation X. But it is great, is it not? People learned about so much stuff by just surfing random sites or even checking their email! Now when I come to think of it, so much can be taught & so well! My work involves Medical Imaging. If instead of teaching these concepts from big fat books, if the professors showed us videos of interesting concepts, we would have learned much faster! Yes well, work is in progress I must say. I have attended some trainings where we are assigned personal computers & we go through various interactive software to learn. But its still not there yet.

In the next 10-30 years the regular classroom will be out. Our Web Skills class was by far the most interesting course I've ever had in my lifetime - hands down! We learned to CREATE things. Most of my college assignments were copied from my friends. Plagiarism you say? Not if you didn't actually photocopy them! But this particular homework for example? Would I dare copy it? Are you kidding? This is the very FIRST assignment I've done where I'm supposed to speak my mind! Hope this is a first of many classes to come. If so, the world will be a better place for students... :)

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What's your 'thing'?

I was wondering… right now all of us are doing something – working or studying in their chosen field of interest …but when u come to think of it, is it really THE field of interest for you? Did the thought ever strike you 'Given the choice, what might I rather be doing?' No, I don't mean like if u got better marks in such and such subject in your HSC/SAT, then maybe you would've been doing Computers rather than Mechanical or something like that – I don't mean that. I mean like your other passions, interests.. Many of u might have been good at say, singing or playing an instrument, or sports, or writing etc. But u didn't make a career out of it because u didn't see a future in it (And more so, nor did your parents). You didn't even take it seriously, did you? And somehow, u never really gave it too much thought, and within no time, it ceased being a genuine interest and became something you 'used to be good at'.

Most of us never even stopped to think what it is that we are good at. We never asked ourselves, 'What's my thing?' But right now just take a moment and think about it. Can u think of an alternative profession?

I have given it some thought. If things would have turned out differently, I might have been a good psychotherapist/psychiatrist or u know, one of those things. Now I will sound a bit immodest here but what the hell. Among other things I consider myself to be good at connecting with people at an inter personal level. I'm not exactly a first impression kind of guy I'm sure, but the more I've gotten to know most people, the better the relationship has been. In retrospect, I have always been lucky with friends. I have always had good close buddies around me. That has contributed heavily in my having had a happy childhood and a happy & fun filled college experience as well. Now you're probably thinking, what the hell, there are a lot of people with loads of friends. But here is where the 'thing' comes into the picture.

I'm still thinking about it. I will think more on the subject and get back on this blog. AS of now I think this will suffice for my homework! :)

For all bloggers

I don't get the concept of 'Blog writing'.. actually the problem is, I DO know what it is. Its supposed to be just your thoughts.. just write what u feel, what u think about, what bugs u etc.. but the problem starts when u begin wondering how people will react to your writing! Ideally u're not supposed to care about that, but we do, don't we? Its not like we're authors & just HAVE to sell our books to put food on the table, but still.. the need for acceptance is strong in everyone. You want ppl to read your blog & think u're smart & intellectual, don't u? And that is exactly why you write & re-write your sentences, trying to come across as 'cool & smart'. Think about it, its true. Are u thinking up a witty comment yet?

Prose or Poetry?

Are you a poet? If no, then this blog is for you. If yes, ask yourself this: Do u really believe u're any good? If the answer is yes, u may or may not want to read this piece of useless info. But if the answer is no, then again, read on...

There are people for whom poetic words come very easily. They see the 'real' beauty of nature, they can rhyme beautiful words together.. they like to call themselves romantics, and according to them, those who aren't poetic, are NOT romantic. WRONG! I consider myself a romantic, but I don't feel the particular need to prance around with a flower in my hand, or say, bend over double to look at the morning dew on blades of grass... So what am I supposed to do? Can't a guy just be a guy these days? Can't he still be 'sensitive' without showing the obvious traits of a sensitive guy?... by sensitive traits I mean like getting all mushy mushy when he sees a sunset, or stuff like that..(that's just gay isn't it? I'm sure the women would agree with me too on this one) I had read somewhere 'How 'sensitive' should a guy be?' - the answer is obviously, just enough to get the girl he wants. Sadly that is the truth ladies. That's how sensitive your guy really is. And trust me, any more and you wouldn't have liked it either.
How would you feel if he looked at your dress and instead of saying "Wow babe you look hot!", he said "Wow this is such a lovely design! Its chiffon isn't it? and I love the flowery look, it goes well with the spring season... you know, I really think the new Spring collection is all about chiffon & flowers....blah blah"
....
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, I know......Gay. Very Gay.

ANYWAY, what was the topic about? yes - poetry. And NO, before you're thinking up a comment, I do NOT mean to say that all men who write/love poetry are gay.

Well since this is my blog, I think I have earned the right to blab a bit about myself here. It concerns my prose vs poetry writing skills. I remember once when I was in school, we were asked to write for the school magazine, the whole class - One poem & one story. First we were asked to write a peom & given half an hour. I sat there racking my brain for one good line. After about 10 excruciating moments I came up with one sentence! Then I realised Oh no! I have to rhyme the second sentence! How the hell do I do that? And so went the remaining 20 minutes - extremely painful moments of my childhood. Then finally we were told to write a story, and were given a choice of 5 topics, one of them being, 'The most exciting adventure of my life'. Wow! I remember scribbling away merrily, I wrote a story about being chased by bear in a jungle! That was a really good story by the way, and it got selected for the magazine! I was 9 years old and remember using the word 'petrified'. Pretty impressive at that age I think. (I really can't explain why I remember this piece of trivia; my brain seems to have an amazingly large capacity to remember the tiniest detail ONLY if its a totally useless fact)

So there. If you can write, but can't write poetry, don't be discouraged. You can always write a blog! ... or at least a comment!

Note to reader: If you read the whole blog, that means you really had nothing better to do in those few precious moments you wasted reading it. So please don't complain about your time being wasted!

What is love?

Now this question has been asked since the beginning of time. And people have never failed to give you their pearls of wisdom about it. So I'm not gonna be a smartass and act as if I know all about it. But yes, I am very happy to say I am in love with a wonderful person who loves me back. I feel the wonderful effects of it every single day. Having felt love, I can definitely say that and it is an amazingly beautiful thing.

Now reverting back to my question 'What is love?'Let's try categorizing it. Forget crushes, infatuations, adorations etc... you know way too much about those. I'm talking about real relationships. I can look at it from a guy's perspective. I certainly say it changes certain things about u. Even if you stay apart, it affects your lifestyle to some extent - but in a non-invasive way, in a better sortof way. And let's not get into that right now! It'll just get ickily mushy & u'll stop reading!

I truly believe that each an every love story in the world is absolutely unique.When u hear somebody's story, it always sounds familiar. Oh its the same old story - boy meets girl, falls in love, girl refuses intially (As proper Indian girls should :-D), then girl accepts, then dad comes into picture, problem, tension (as all respectable Indian fathers are supposed to behave - protect their darling daughter from the clutches of the evil scheming son-in-law), then the moms rush into the melee, try to pacify everybody and in the end?? All's well that ends well. Simple isn't it? I don't think so.
Its because you dont know the whole story. You don't know all the complications involved. When u go through all the tortuous details, u realise there's a different twist at every corner. Why else do u think there are so many lovie dovie movies? If u summarize them in a nutshell they're all the same, but u still go to see them right? Kya pata ye wala shayad 'zara hatke' hoga! That's just the thing!

I have been in the US for the past 3 & a half years. I have seen so many kinds of relationships that I can't even begin to tell you about it. As good boys we came here thinking virginity is a big thing. It took me about 2 weeks to realize people dont give a flying fart about the big V. Now realize, I said 'people', not me. Now let's not get into that. The point is, if a relationship starts with the American style dating: dinner, movie, coffee (at her apartment ) and then the inevitable, well what do u get? In other words, well, a 'test drive'. Now what happens when u take a test drive? You want to see what else is in the showroom before u go ahead. Right? See? See what I mean? That's not love! Love is when u flip open a Men's magazine and see a Lamborghini Murcielago staring back at u - a little lewdly I might add.. then what do u do? You fall in love! Yeah! That's reeeal love right there! At that time will u care how many miles to a gallon it gives u? Will you care how much the insurance guys will milk out of u? NO! You're in love!!! Aahh that feeling... if u can get her (assuming u obviously have a quarter mill to throw away), u WILL take her, no matter what! That's what I'm talking about!Now well, if you're a woman reading this, I'll have to give u a whole new example... like beautiful curtains or maybe an exotic and insanely expensive bouquet of flowers, which won't last more than a few hours - really what's it about women and flowers anyway? The same about men and cars I suppose...

Phew! I think I've gone on enough! And I think u get the drift... if not, well u can believe what Stewie Griffin has to say, "There's really no such thing as LOVE, really. It's just a puffed-up word used by Madison Avenue to sell their skin creams and two-seater cars."