As a kid, life is all about unconditional happiness, school, bicycle, fighting with friends over an eraser, homework, birthday parties, naivety, chocolates, sunshine and butterflies. There’s no self realization, there's no self pity, there's no self loathing, there's no cynicism, there's no arrogance, there's no heartbreak, there's no resentment, there's no remorse, there's no regret. Life’s one big party and it’s all about spontaneity.
Watching a kid hold her dad’s hand and walking happily down the road, unaware of the vagaries of life that lies ahead of her made me realize how amazing it was to be a kid. As we grow up, all that tends to change and life is all about the ‘pay package’, the ‘branded car’, the ‘luxury apartment’, the ‘trophy husband’ and so on.
The basic question is: Did we all readily sign up for it or is it a forced entity ?
Some like predictable monotonous way of living.
Some seek thrills every single day. Be it cheap or otherwise :P
To each his own.
Life as a whole is a pretty overrated concept if you come to think of it. We never asked for it. But we still have to live, survive and move ahead. So why not soak in the sun, lie like a log, eat like a pig, watch the grass grow, admire the sea with its set of unending possibilities, jump around, love someone whole heartedly, sing our guts out and dance like no one’s watching J
Coming back.
This post is about all things overrated in and around us. A few observations basically.
1. Happy Birthdays:
We were born on a particular day. What is the big deal about it? If by being alive we are contributing anything for the benefit of others, it’s something worth celebrating. Otherwise it’s not. One fine day, out of the blue, you are obliged to have ‘fun’, smile all day, receive calls from long lost people whom u talk to only on your birthday or their birthday :\ , fake laughs and waste shit loads of cash treating different set of friends (in expectation of a proper gift obviously..barter system you see :D) all because of your birthday..!!
(Mine is on 17th of April btw, in case u want me to have ‘fun’, send me gifts….I love anything for free :P)
2. Weekends:
Following the league of having ‘fun’ comes yet another hit phenomenon of the contemporary world…Weekends. When you slog the whole week, logically you would want to just sleep and while your time away. But the element of ‘fun’ will haunt you even then because ideally ‘having fun’ is what you are supposed to do on a weekend..!! I wish someone could define ‘fun’ for me. Standing in long queues waiting for food cuz all the good places are crowded is not fun. Drooling over a doughnut all week to find it all sold out by the time you reach the counter is again no fun. Neither is the unavailability of tickets cuz everyone wants to watch an anticipated movie in its first week of release any fun.
Most people I know booze their weekends out or do some similar random shit. (Cobra venom is the new ecstasy for those who didn’t know..!!)
So I’ll never understand the hype about weekends.
3. The Oscars :
Recent event.
Too much hoopla.
Who wore what, who exposed what body part etc. etc. I have seen The Descendents and The Artist. None of which is as big a deal as they claim it to be. The interesting thing about Hollywood is that a lot of interpretation is left for the audience to ponder over, be it the metaphorical representations, the reading between the lines, the storyline or the intricate thought process of the writer. But I still feel it gets an undue share of limelight year after year since Americans are such experts at marketing and branding.
4. Facebook :
America’s gift to the world, revenue for its own coffers and the power of information at their mercy has been blown out of proportion in such a way that it has become an integral part of almost everyone’s lives except the Chinese. A basic look at a person’s FB profile gives an approximate idea about the person in general, the likes, the dislikes, command over the English language, their party circuit, the clothes in their closet, their friends, their GPS co-ordinates everything..!! A stalker’s delight, Facebook is creepily getting more popular with each passing day. I don’t know whether it’s good, bad, ugly or evil but it’s quite an overrated way of the social and the anti-social mingling on a common platform.
5. Kolaveri Di :
Mere mention of the song and my ears start bleeding. It’s just a gimmicky song. Why the fuss ? I was in Kerala when the song started creating ripples first and then waves..!! I was having a mini sabbatical from FB-land but when I returned, all I could see is Kolaveri, Kolaveri and more Kolaveri which left me wondering…Why this why this Kolaveri Di…???!!
I sit in an auto, the auto guy is suddenly singing it out loud, kids when asked to sing a song starting singing Kolaveri when it is not even a song..!! It’s more like a nursery rhyme. Maybe the closet-bathroom-singers finally felt emancipated and the soup song became such a rage.
Anyhoo my cynical eyes will be scanning for more such worldwide spread entities that are overrated, over-hyped and over-the-top. I love Vidya Balan for being crass with such elan. Obscenity was never this hot. But her overdose on tv these days is getting my goat and one fine day she might end up featuring in my overrated list..!!
Or I am just being air-headed :P
Either ways, mere ramblings…no apologies :D
