R : Roads are Empty #AtoZChallenge2020

When I peer out of my window, all I see is stillness. Stillness of the empty roads. This is one of the key and defining features of this lockdown. Roads that now lead to nowhere for most of us. Yes, I am exaggerating a bit. But you get the drift? Right?

Newspapers report that road rage cases and road accidents have dropped sharply since lockdown started. Yeah! Geniuses! We needed a newspaper to infer that.

Despite these positive side-effects of the empty roads, I have now started missing the buzz. On day 28 of the lockdown, am I missing those traffic jams? Not really! But I am also not liking this long pause in our lives. It feels like a midnight halt of a train at a deserted railway station. How would the roads be feeling? They must be growling from inside, that they have been rendered completely useless. Just like us. But then as these random ramblings bother my mind, my phone rings. Something related to work demands my attention. Then for next few hours I am in work-mode. And I forget those lonely and empty roads, till the time I next peer out of my window.

I see an ambulance sometimes. A Zomato delivery guy at times. A vegetable vendor daily. If it is early morning, I see municipal workers too, cleaning the roads. When roads are empty, you notice things that you didn't notice earlier. Roads are not really empty. May be they are happy, that essential people are only using it. No one is spitting on them! Littering! But then roads are so inexpressive. I would never know. Like a meandering road, my thoughts then travel towards the emptiness of our lives. Before I can further go down this path, my little son, walks into the room. He fills my heart like all those essential people who are filling the empty roads now. We go to our terrace for a walk. And I look at roofs of all the neighboring buildings. Every roof has its own walker. An exercise freak. A star gazer. The night sky is beautiful. For many years, we didn't notice these stars too. Then I look down towards the road. It is still empty. But I realize our lives are not.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here. 

Previous Challenges : Letter R

2017: Robbed

2018: Recycle Bin

2019: Remixes in Hindi Films / Bollywood

R : Remixes in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

In 2018, a movie called Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety released. The film was a commercial success. The soundtrack of the film was also super-hit. I personally liked a lot of songs in it because of their foot-tapping music. The music album of the film had 8 songs. And 4 out of them were remixes or recreated versions of hit songs from the past. I think remixes work when they are an improvement over the past work. I think they also work when really old songs are presented with a new sound. That makes these remixes relevant today. Like "Dil Chori" from the movie is a really good recreation, especially for party playlists. 

And as it happens with anything successful in Bollywood, there is a mad rush to remix songs. Herd mentality dictates. In March 2019, a movie called Luka Chuppi (Hide and Seek) released. The film is a commercial success. The same can't be claimed about the film's music though. Its music album has 5 songs. And hold your breath! Not even one song out of these 5 is an original composition. All 5 are remixes. In fact Wikipedia calls it a remix album. While I like some of the original songs which have been recreated for this film, I didn't like the versions in the film. The reasons were simple. The recreations were not improved versions of older songs. And some of the songs recreated were very recent, so bringing in a new sound is not that easy. So I share with you the video of the original song which I like a lot but the recreated version of the film really spoils it for me. Khaab is a Punjabi song by Akhil, which was remixed as Duniya in the movie.

While I believe that remixes should be done only when the situation in the film requires them, but if they must be done, I would prefer them to be done in a way that it enhances my auditory experience. But the trend of remixes is any day better than the trend of plagiarizing that plagued Bollywood once. It was so bad at one point of time, that Anu Malik plagiarized the original song Macarena twice. Listen to Dil Le Le Lena from the movie Auzaar and Dil Maka Dina from the film Dhaal. The compulsion to recreate a successful song led to really bad lyrics in both. I will prefer an official remix any day over this.

Which one is your favorite remix? Which according to you was the worst case of plagiarism in Hindi Film music?

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter R: Robbed - My experiences with money. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter R: Recycle Bin - A post about memories one would like to delete. Click here to read.

R : Recycle Bin #AtoZchallenge

Memories are strange. The ones you want to remember have a tendency to fade into oblivion. Like the footprints on the sand.  And the ones you want to forget tend to stick forever. Like that irritating gum on the sole of your shoes. 

I often wonder, if there was a recycle bin, where you can trash your bad memories, and forget them forever; what would be those bad memories. Then almost like a snake, a poisonous thought rears its ugly head. If you don't remember your bad memories, would you still remain the same person as you are? Wouldn't you be incomplete? After all, what is a life without regrets.

Also if I am going to list those memories down today, won't they be recorded for ever outside my brain? Wouldn't that be self defeating? So should I really write them down? 

I realize the best way to deal with this dilemma which I find myself in, is to list categories of bad memories or experiences which I generally would like to put in a recycle bin, without getting into specifics. 

Bad Words

There have been times, when inadvertently or deliberately, I have said something offensive or hurtful to people in past. While mostly the cause would be lack of judgement on my part but these moments spoil relationships. Apologizing to the aggrieved person(s) helps in such situations and people move on also. But, I wish I could forget those moments as they bother me. There is always a tinge of regret that I did say those things.

Break-Ups

They are tricky. They are painful. The stronger the relationship, the more vicious the breakup and thus more awful the memories related to it are. I have had a few break-ups. But the one that hurts me the most is the the one where nothing was said. (In others, there was anger involved, followed by dejection and eventually acceptance. They completed their antibiotic course) But this one is incomplete. It is like that the third act was never written in this love story. Sometimes words, even bad ones, serve a purpose. They take away the anger.  I wish I could put this break-up with her in a recycle bin.

Decision Inertia
There have been instances in my life, where I was at cross-roads. I had to take decisions. Generally, I am very decisive, especially at work-place. But there were moments, where I chose to stay at the crossroads a little longer. This is a dangerous place to be in. When you don't decide for yourself, you relinquish the control of your life. You let others decide for you.  Never let that happen to you. Take control of your decisions. There was this one man, whom I allowed to take some decisions for me. I have been happier since I took charge. But I can't bring back the time I lost wallowing in self-pity. I wish I could delete that man's decisions.

Leeches
There are people you come across in your life, whose only purpose is to teach you a lesson. They are people who held you back. They are people whom you put your trust in, but they never deserved it. In a parasitic relationship, you allow these leeches to sap your energy, time and creative juices. Investing time in symbiotic relationships is far more important. Take control of your time by pushing the leeches and sadness out of your life. Only place these leeches belong to is the recycle bin of your life.

Till the time, scientists develop such a recycle bin or make it affordable for people like me, I can't wish away these memories or experiences. Like good memories and experiences, the bad ones, also make me, what I am today. So I accept the mistakes I made and forget the ones others made. I decide to move on today, everyday. 

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My last year's challenge post from letter R was about me getting Robbed. Read it here.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.

R : Robbed

Money makes the world go round. We all knew this, in a way or other even when we were kids. Yes, our interpretation of the same, or the value we associate with money kept changing as we grew older. As we earn more, it seems we tend to cling to it with higher intensity. Money has always been important for me too, but to get a unique experience or to go through some emotion which I have never felt before has always been more important than money. Some of the best experiences I had in life were free. Like sleeping under the winter sun on the roof of my house. I haven't been able to replicate that experience, in last 15 years, since I started earning. Then there are some really great experiences where I didn't care about money and splurged it, rather than clinging to it. Like my foreign holidays, that have always been hedonistic and heady.

There have been times, when people took money from me with no intention to repay. I still gave them the necessary help when they needed the most. Because for me relationships were more important than moolah at that time. Sometimes, when I gave money to acquaintances, despite multiple follow-ups I never got it back. But I never stopped trusting people. Because it is not the money, but trust in humanity that makes the world go round. 

I remember an incident around 8 - 9 years ago, when I was at Delhi Airport and a guy came up to me - a complete stranger - and told me a story of how he needed to reach some place urgently and he didn't have any money. He asked me to buy him a ticket and also asked for my bank account number, so that he could send me the money back once he reached his destination. I found his story genuine and gave him money. And, guess what, he actually sent it back. Isn't it an amazing thing? He didn't really need to do it. But he was a good guy. 

I don't remember his name or face. 

But only his act. 

You can't put value to goodness.

But still there is one minor incident related to money, which I always feel bad about. I must have been 7 or 8 years old then. My uncle gave me a Rs 10 note and sent me on an errand. I had to buy curd from a nearby shop. I bought the curd for Rs. 5 and shopkeeper returned the balance Rs. 5. It was a decent amount in late 80s, for a kid. A twenty something boy approached me and told me that to avoid losing money, I should keep it in my handkerchief. He helped me with it. I held that handkerchief tightly in my hand. When I reached home, there was no Rs. 5 note in the hanky. That bugger had robbed me in the broad daylight. I never felt bad about losing that money. I felt bad because he took me for a ride. 

I don't remember his name or face either.