Where Did We Get Lost Along The Way?

BBM broadcast - "We R burning d Sony factory @ 11pm, u lads in?"

We live in strange times, people.

We live in a world where Barack Obama, who promised to be the messiah that Americans were so eagerly anticipating, turned out to be just another sweet-talking illusion.

We live in a world where an entire government was turned on its head by the power of a mass revolution: Egypt – Cairo – Tahrir Square, to be precise.

In this mental world of ours, IMF chiefs turn out be rapists, IPL masterminds turn out to be criminal masterminds, everyday - countless politicians are proven to be serial liars – why can’t people just be who they claim to be, for once?

Everybody seems to be talking about corruption right now, in my country. Corruption here, corruption there, corruption bloody everywhere! ‘Corruption is a disease that we must cure’ they say. Cancer is a disease, but just by talking about cancer it isn’t going to go away now, is it?

Civil violence is another issue I would like to touch upon. Israel, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Algeria and even England– I daresay? It certainly seemed that way a few days ago. These uprisings may have been spread through Facebook and Twitter, but their effects were far from harmless. Rioting, looting, arson – there really ought to be better ways of showing your frustration towards your government? Britons are known for their tea, right? Drink some of that famed tea and calm down! Punch a pillow, if you’re really that angry! Ridiculous scenes, we witnessed on our TV screens. 

The world is getting smaller by the day. People in the Middle-East eat more Burger King than Americans these days and chicken tikka massala is the new fish ‘n chips in the UK. 

As we march along, unsteadily, towards the Last Day, this world of ours is just going to get even crazier. Wishful thinkers and space scientists can argue all they like, but we have no other place to go! These wars that are being fought over petrol will soon be fought over H2O! One thing we all agree upon is that it's all going to end one day. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself - where did we get lost along the way?

An essay I wrote on the topic "An ordinary person's guide to being cool."

Comic courtesy one of my favourite websites - www. xkcd.com

Do you remember that day in the 1^st grade when the coolest kid in class was the one who had a massive 64-colour Crayola crayon set? Honestly, I would give anything to go back to that day. How times have changed.

First of all, I would like to make some things clear. I am an ordinary person only based on the fact that I have two hands, two feet, two eyes, two ears, a nose and the rest of the ordinary human-being-like physical characteristics, thank you very much. The rest of me, I’d like to think, is extremely extraordinary, unique and different, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is my guide to being cool.

Coolness is now an official quantitative measure. I remember my first day at the Cathedral and John Conon Infant School at Malabar Hill as if it were yesterday. The coolest kids were that smug little boy with the three-storey pencil-box, the other one with that Spiderman lunch-box and the pony-tailed girl with the best handwriting. As we moved on to Middle School, coolness began to take different shapes and forms. The boys who knew the names of all the top football players were so cool and the girls who wore make-up and carried Chanel bags to school were the stars. Things changed again in High School, when girls and boys started dating around the eighth or ninth grade. Now everyone looked at the coolest couples and all sense of individuality was thrown out the window. For my part, it didn’t bother me what other people thought was cool. I always behaved according to what I considered appropriate. When people started collecting Pokémon cards in the 3^rd grade, I was busy collecting shells from all my trips to beaches. When people threw away their Gameboys and switched over to PlayStations, my favourite game was still Mario Cart on the Gameboy. Its small things like that; it’s not that I wanted to act differently; it’s just that I didn’t get affected by the dreaded peer pressure.

So, my guide to being cool, huh? Here goes….

Stay fit. Okay, I’ll admit - I’m a bit of a fitness freak. I work out at the gym around four times a week along with playing football and other sports in between.  When I see someone who is grossly overweight, I feel sorry for them because I know of all the possible health risks they face. But I also feel a tinge of anger as I wonder why they don’t do something to make a change in their lifestyle?

Believe in God.  You’re probably going, “Religion. Seriously? You think that’s cool?”

Well, it is. Think about it - if we don’t bother acknowledging our Creator and thanking Him for all the blessings He has showered upon us, then what exactly is the point of living?

Also, DO NOT get influenced by your peers. Trust me, ever since I’ve left school and joined college, I’ve seen so many of my friends change drastically. They’ve started drinking excessively, smoking uncontrollably and even trying out drugs! I’m not saying don’t have fun and be a saint. But there are some lines which one cannot cross and drugs are definitely on the other side of that line. 

And finally, love the people who care for you. Your family and your friends, and never do anything that will hurt them. There you go, so put on those shades and rev up that white Lamborghini (just kidding, that’s just for me) – congratulations, you’re Mr. Cool now!

NOTE: The challenge was to write a light-hearted, yet meaningful essay on the topic within 600 words. Let me know if I was able to do so. Leave a comment!