Your Move

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt Retrospective

What are people striving for in life? What is it that they ultimately want to achieve?

People offer various answers when you ask them these questions. Some claim they want fame, others want money, some want to be able to return to their blog after months of not writing in it and expect to get the same level of response that they once used to get (Is it so much to ask?)

Where did everyone go?

But in the end, if you break it down, people are looking for control. To reach a state in life where they have power over what happens to them. Look back to anything being done around you and you will see that in some aspect or the other, it is true:

• Why did Nelson Mandela suffer in jail? He wanted people of his country to have control over themselves
• Why did Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone? He wanted a degree of control over long distance communication
• Why did Hitler commence a World War? He wanted control…. Er, you get the point

That brings us to the next thing. What if we give people that they want. Give money seekers a winning lottery ticket, give fame seekers Instagram followers, give meditators a quiet place to be. Does that solve the problem that each one of us is facing?

Not exactly!

Because all the things that we are seeking are what we believe are means to give us power and control over what happens to us but that is not entirely true. So, once people achieve these things, they realise that there is more that they can have and start seeking out more control.

From what you have read so far, you probably think I am going to soon start talking about how we should not obsess of the materialistic things and live life in a void with no wants but that is akin to being empty inside.

Welcome to the VOID

In fact, I am here to stress the complete opposite.

People look at things which they believe give them control and follow it blindly. If you do that, Jack the Ripper had a better sense of purpose than you have.

Hey! I have better morals! (Maybe)

The point is that we as human beings get in a comfort zone doing what we are doing and do not think why we are doing it. We abandon things that we really want to do just so that we get – at times – a false sense of control, which we ultimately realise is insufficient. Things change and over a course of time, we realise that there are things that we can’t have back. And ultimately when we look back at all our effort, even though we might have enjoyed what we did, we might come to realise that there were things that we abandoned that need not have been left untouched.

The Pursuit of Happiness is not fulfilled by just rushing ahead and not looking at either side. If it were so, it would be called Horse Derby of Happiness

I will be happy if I reach the end

Yes, it is important to get fame, money, glory, safety, etc. but it is also important to not lose sight of other things that you want to do along the way.

I always thought that whenever I need an idea to write something in my blog, I could always go to the Daily Post‘s Daily Prompt and get some inspiration but, alas, upon my return to WordPress, I found that they have stopped putting up Daily Prompts. Now I will have to dig into their archives and search for random words like Retrospective and think about writing something, all the while not even getting enough people directed to me from their page.

So, that brings me to the final part of this blog.

Was this entire post about me being sad of having not utilised the Daily Prompt to get more internet readers for my anonymous blog posts? Or was it an actual satire for what we fail to do in life?

What can I say? We are who we are!

I will let that be a cliff-hanger as you control what you choose to make of it.

But till next time, from one writer to another, WRITE ON!

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Road Rage Recital

Inspired by Daily Post’s Daily Prompt:
Honk

Time had simply ceased,
the air was completely still.
It was as if everyone had
simply taken a sleeping pill.

People had probably
just accepted their fate;
till eternity and beyond,
would they have to wait.

For only the devil himself
could devise such a plot
that humans be trapped
in heated metal to rot.

The sole purpose of cars
is to make the journey fast
but given the current pace
one could have amassed

Enough courage and will
to walk there on foot.
Was that not how God
intended that we should?

Maybe that is what one
should do when stuck:
Just abandon their car,
to get out of the muck.

Half tempted, half impatient,
I was ready to leave
when the traffic light flickered
giving me some relief.

I sighed and smiled.
My anger was gone.
Cause when the light changes,
I would step quickly on

The gas pedal and scurry
my way out of here;
beyond the horizon,
I planned to disappear.

But my mood was not meant
to be all calm and serene.
For just as the light turned
from red, to yellow, to green,

A driver behind me
sounded the car horn,
and at that instant
my anger was reborn.

Maybe the road is not
a place for a quiet soul.
It really is very tiring,
and it takes a huge toll.

Annoyance is provided
by the traffic in which you dwell
Or by the impatient drivers
who could all just go to hell!

It’s been a while

He walked to the bar and sat down on the stool like he had many times before. It wasn’t unusual that he was doing it. It was just awkward to be doing it after so long.

The bartender turned and looked at him, a familiar face. He could have passed him on as one of the regulars but he did not. He walked up to the man and blurted out, ‘Oh! You’re alive? Thought you to be dead by now.’

‘Aren’t you supposed to ask what drink I would like?’ the man sniggered. He did not mean it in a snide way. Just a sarcastic speech pattern he had developed over the years. And if anyone would understand the remark’s jovial nature, it would be the man standing in front of him.

‘Yeah,’ the bartender said. ‘I normally would, but I just got my newest gin. Imported from Spain. The first one’s on me.’

‘Don’t risk it,’ the man said. ‘I might just have one shot and leave. Leaving you to have paid for my entire stay.’

‘Well, if that is how it would be, I will accept it; but the first one is on me,’ the bartender presented a glass: one part gin, three part Cola.

The man picked up the glass, raised it to toast the bartender and tipped it down his throat.

A strange burning sensation shot down his throat and into the belly. It was not a bad feeling; it never was. It always was a little tough in the start but it grew into him. The taste developed an aftermath of an emotional plethora which he had long since experienced. The taste was nice: a bitter sweet kind, just as he imagined it to be before he had arrived in the bar.

‘So, what do you say?’ the bartender smiled.

‘Reminds me of the old times,’ the man twirled the glass around. ‘Makes me want to return.’

‘Then why don’t you?’

‘I am not sure if I can.’

‘Do you mean your friends?’

‘No, I made most of them when I became a regular. If they are around here even now, I will find them again.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘Maybe it’s just because it has been so long that I don’t think I have it in me anymore.’

‘Well, I won’t force you if you don’t want to but it really was nice seeing you again.’

‘Well, let me pay you for the drink at least, lest I abandon the place again,’ the man took out his wallet.

The bartender shook his head. ‘It’s already done,’ he said. ‘I have charged it to myself. I will wait for you to return; and if you don’t, consider this as a treat from an old friend.’

The man smiled and put his wallet back in.

‘I can’t guarantee that I will see you again soon,’ the man got up and put on his hat. ‘But I do promise that I will definitely try.’

Inspired, among other things, by The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt:
Dubious

 

No Offense

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: No, Thank You

If I could ban a word from general usage, huh? This is tricky. There are so many!

And NO, I am not thinking about banning swear words. Swear words add another dimension to any language—it’s like the ‘deep internet’ of languages. You know about it; you visit the place often; but if somebody asks, you act like you don’t know what they are talking about. (Except if they are your friends)

What Are You Talking About?

In fact, I sometimes believe all those words should just stop being a taboo. Frankly, it is stupid to feel bad because somebody used a certain word. It really doesn’t matter. I mean, why make a big deal out of it? And we all know that humans are attracted to things only if everyone makes a big deal out of it. Don’t believe me?

Fine. Look at Helen of Troy. Sure, she was called the most beautiful woman in the world but do you think it would have mattered if people didn’t make a big deal about it? A war could have been averted!
Still, don’t believe me? Look at the Kardashians. Do you think they will matter if people stop making a big deal about it? No!

How about pineapples on pizza, then? Should people stop making a big deal about that as well?
No! Nobody should face atrocities such as having your pizza with pineapples!

But seriously, everyone should stop worrying about what people are saying. If you don’t find it helpful, you can ignore it. Take it as moo point.

A Moo Point

Anyway, moving on from what I don’t want to ban to what I will want to ban. I wouldn’t ban one word. I would ban the whole phrase… *drum roll please*… “No Offense.” (The title gave it away, I know)

It’s pathetic, it’s docile and most of all it’s useless.

Think about it. Every time the phrase ‘no offense’ is used, what is it followed by?
That’s right, you guessed it – An Offense.

Definition of No Offense

If you are going to offend the person anyway, why claim that you mean no offense.

‘No offense, dude, but you run like a wimp.’

‘No offense, but I don’t go for guys like you.‘

‘No offense but you don’t seem like a person who can write a blog.‘

(None of these have ever been said to me, I promise)

Cross My Heart

So, what do we do then?

Well, you have two options.

Either, a, you shut up! Don’t say anything bad. That’s it!

Or, b, you say it like it is.
>Don’t like his shoes? Say, ‘I don’t like your shoes.’
>Feel that using a phone in vacation is wrong? Say, ‘Using your phone during the vacation makes the vacation useless.’
>Pizzas with pineapples aren’t your thing? Say, ‘WHO the HELL puts PINEAPPLES on their PIZZA?!’

If you can’t say it as it is, you shouldn’t be saying it. Obviously, it would be much better if you could tell them why you don’t like a certain thing. It is then up to them. They may choose to accept it or tell you it’s their choice and you have to accept it.

Either way, don’t hide behind the fake cloud of No Offense.

And if you are by any chance offended by the post, No Offense!

Nope, nope, screw it!
Take all the offense you can. Specially if you are pineapple on Pizza lover.

Till next time, WRITE ON!

If You Are Reading This

Activity of Daily Task from Blogging 101

Today’s activity involves us writing from the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt. Ha! Piece of cake.

Many Pieces Actually

I have been writing from prompts my whole life.

Well, not my whole life but my whole blogging life.

Well, actually, not even my whole blogging life. Some of the posts are my own thought, some are inspired, some are… What I mean to say is that I have written on the basis of many blogging prompts. (See, this doesn’t sound as fancy. The “whole life” thing was so cool!)

This prompt comes from the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Community Service

Now, I know you guys would be lazy and wont click on the link to find out what the prompt is so I will write it here. (Don’t blame you, actually—would have done the same if I were in your place).

The prompt says
“Your entire community — however you define that; your hometown, your neighborhood, your family, your colleagues — is guaranteed to read your blog tomorrow. Write the post you’d like them all to see.”

Okay, then. *inhale*

Alright, then. *exhale*

No pressure at all. Everyone I know is going to read this and I feel no pressure at all. *breath deeply*

Take Deep Breaths

Are you kidding me? Everyone I know is going to read this?!

I am anonymous, how did you find my blog? How did you know I even write a blog? How did grandma know how to use the internet without calling me twice? So many questions, none that can be answered but I just have to go on writing.

First up, Mom, Dad, I have to tell you something. I write a blog. I know it is pretty obvious now that you are here and reading it but I don’t want to have a conversation later where you tell me that I never tell you what I keep doing in life.

Great, now that that’s out of the way…

Oh wait! There is one more thing – To my family. If you decide to read a few other posts in the blog they might contain words such as…, well words after which you would generally try to wash my mouth with soap.

Clean The Filthy Mouth

As surprising as it may seem, yeah, I know them.

To my colleagues, if you happen to find a post here where I wrote something about not liking people at work, rest assured it’s not about you. It’s about those IT guys in the bottom floor. Unless, you are the IT guys from the bottom floor, in which case, it is totally about those guys in my floor.

Apparently, my neighbor is also reading this. Obviously, using my wi-fi. Yes, I know—I just don’t change the password because of decency and the fact that I have an unlimited data plan. By the way, you should know that I can access your searches (yes, even the incognito mode ones). Also, your dog is really loud.

Oh! If you are the pretty girl who stays above me, that paragraph was not for you and your cat is totally not loud, especially at two o’ clock at night.

My friends who happen to be reading this, all I would like to say is—nothing. Go, sod off! You all forget to invite me to parties and then come here to read my blog? Go away! (But seriously, invite me next time, okay?)

So, to all of you, as you can see, I am internet celebrity now even though I am anonymous. I mean, I manage to get a humongous total of 10 likes on my posts (Well a few them have managed to reach 10).

So, stick around and read more of my posts and have fu…

…Where are you all going? I write well. Okay, slightly well. Fine, I spew out nonsensical words.

Come back, please! I will get better. I promise.

…

Damn!

The Checklist

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Obstacle Course

Warning: This post is low on humor content and does not take responsibility for any lack of induced laughs. It , however, does take complete responsibility for the laughs it will induce.

I have been asked to think about the week that was and check to see if I accomplished the thing(s) I wanted to.

As daunting as the task may seem to me I choose to write about it.

Bring it On

Every week begins with me setting certain targets as to what should be achieved by the end of the week and every week ends with me lamenting on how miserably I have failed at achieving all of those. (In my experience, ice cream helps in numbing the pain – wait that was for after the dentist, forget it)

Why do I lack the ability to get my work done? Why?

I will tell you why – Procrastination.

Procrastination is like a superpower nobody wants. (If it were a superhero, it would probably be Aquaman.)

On one hand, it grants you the ability to find interest in a mere wall of your room, allowing you to stare at it for hours at end, but all at the cost of not doing your work.

And the biggest villain of all, the internet. (It’s like Procrastination’s trusty side kick.) I mean, with the advent of technology you would believe more work would get done quickly. Well, you are wrong!

The Deep Ditch

Anyway, all fun aside. This week I discovered a technique called the Pomodoro Technique.

This asks you to force yourself to work for 25 minutes straight and then reward yourself at the end. The thing with the technique is that once you force yourself to work for a little while, you stop feeling the urge to put it aside for something else, since you are in a flow.

Endless Flow

So, what have I managed to achieve this week? (Apart from the regular work which I HAVE to do)

Start working out again – Check

Write in the blog – Check

Learn fluent German – Nope

Talk to some old friends – Check

Obtain Hitler’s archives – Nope

Read a book – Check

Achieve World Domination – Nope

Stop Making Jokes with Dark Humor – Check (well, sort of)

Call Mom – Nope—

Oh no! I forgot to call her again! No worries, the week’s not over yet. I can still do it.

Till the next post, From one writer to another, WRITE ON!

Tattoo or Not Tattoo…

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Tattoo….You?

When I was in fifth grade, we had newly started using pens instead of pencils to write in our notebooks. It was in those early days, an ink pen broke and spilled it’s ink all over me and my clothes. Needless to say, my clothes, my notes and obviously my hands and arms were all covered with ink. It was at that moment, I decided never to get ink on myself again; and so far I have succeeded.

Sure, when I decided not get ink on myself, I did not mean it in the sense of not getting a tattoo but the idea of getting something permanently etched on my body does not enthrall me.

Plus, what if there is a typo in there? Not like you can press Ctrl + Z. ‘I am sorry we just etched “Fart Minor” on your biceps by mistake.’

It’s not that I will never get a tattoo done. I mean, I am totally against it right now but I don’t know the future. (Any psychic or clairvoyant in the house?) That being said, there are few tattoo fads that I would never get into.

Names. Of anyone, with special mention to name of girlfriend (or as internet calls them – bae). Who knows what might happen in the future.

Quotes. I know I want to inspire people but not by making them stare at a quote (probably written by a teenager on the internet) plastered on my neck. If people want to read stuff, they can go buy a book.

Matching Tattoo. Tattoos that make sense only when you have the other half, which is probably half around the town. Or not interested in seeing your face again. (Read Names again)

Bands/Books/One time internet sensation. Things don’t stay popular for ever. Enough said.

There are so many more, but I will stop now. Although, there is this image I found on the internet where CollegerHumor answers the question — “Should You Get That Tattoo?”

This Could prove useful in a dilemma, if you are in one.

Although, I do promise to get a tattoo done, whenever Batman gets a tattoo done on himself. (Yes, I know he is a fictional character. No, the condition still stays.)

Till then, from one writer to another – WRITE ON!

Your Wish is My Command

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Lucky Star and Three Coins in the Fountain

In an undiscerning age such as ours, people seem to want everything instantly. They want money, but aren’t willing to work for it as much. They want to be talented but aren’t willing to put in that much effort to learn. They want, but aren’t willing to wait.

In a time like this, getting a wish granted is probably and apt solution for all the woes of people.

The thing is whenever I hear about wishes being granted, I always think about the story Monkey’s Paw. You can ask for a wish but it might not turn out how you wanted.

Keeping that in my mind, here are the wishes which I would like to ask for.

 

• People become more tolerant of things. This is like asking for World Peace but that seems to be a temporary solution. A new matter would arise, differentiating people on the basis of something new entirely. If people become more tolerant of each other, most problems in the world would be solved right there.

 

• I remain motivated to do my work. Instant money, instant fame etc. can only go so far. I want money, I want fame but in all honesty, I want to work to get all that. I have already done it in a smaller scale and I know that getting something after putting effort into it is much more fulfilling than getting instant gratification.

 

• I really do not have a third wish, as of now, so in a normal scenario I would save the wish for later; but if hard pressed to make a wish I would ask for the ability to learn quickly and store that information indefinitely. There is so much to learn in this wide world of ours, that it is estimated that in a life time, one cannot learn all things presently available. A chance to learn all those things at a quicker pace would be much more fulfilling than asking for the entire knowledge at one go. Chances are that entire knowledge of the Universe would be so profound that one might not even comprehend it at one go, resulting in an explosion of head. Literal, mind blown.

I do not see the use of getting to the end, without having experienced the journey in the first place. That’s like asking for a vacation to end, before it has even begun.

Faux Pas

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Dictionary, Shmictionary

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental… ALRIGHT, fine, it’s not. It happened to me.

It happened long time ago when I read the words “faux pas” in a book I was reading. By context I felt the word to be a wrong doing of sort which was correct, in a sense. The fact that I decided to use a new word without looking at the dictionary was already a huge blunder but I decided to do it with a word for which the pronunciation mattered a lot.

‘This just in, the world famous boxer has just been tested positive for illegal drugs just before Olympics. The boxer’s manager claims that the test might have resulted positive due to the presence of the substance in his prescribed medicines. Investigations are on going…’ the TV blared as my friends and I played Monopoly on a weekend. We kept the TV on for reasons which were never clear to me but all of us had accepted that it would be on. I guess, we needed some sort of noise to constantly run in the background since all of us had gotten so used to it.

‘Oh man!’ one of friends complained probably in attempt to distract us from the fact he had landed on an already owned property. ‘I really liked this boxer, he shouldn’t be banned.’

‘If he got caught it is really a fox pass on his part,’ I shrugged.

‘A what?’

‘You know, a fox pass. When someone does something wrong.’

‘Oh! You mean faux pas! You didn’t even use it correctly. What a failed show off you are!’

I hung my beetroot red face as everyone laughed at my hilarious “fox pass“.

Pointless Abbreviations

In response to Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Game of Groans

Warning: The following post is rated TV-MA L. It contains strong sarcasm and is intended for mature audiences. Reader Discretion is advised.

I have written about this before and I am writing about it again.

Why? – I hear you ask. Well, because I simply admire the way language has evolved into the filth *coughs* — I mean, the wonder it is today.

After various trial and errors, English Language evolved into a form which is seen and used today. I am not talking about language we learn in the grammar classes in school. I am talking about the type which everyone uses while texting.

It all started many years ago, when the cell phones had only just become a common man’s necessity. Some wise-ass decided that the devices should be used to send small memos (which we commonly know as text messages nowadays). The best idea which this person had was to restrict the world limit to each sent text.

This, combined with the fact that we had to punch a button three freaking times just to get the letter ‘I’, led us to believe that it would be better to just abbreviate words and cut out on unnecessary letters while having a conversation.

It was not Easy

I wish I could find those kids who started off with this trend. They definitely deserve a big slap *clears throat* – I mean, thank you. After all, “OMG! It’s just 2 kul!”

The world evolved into a place where character restrictions no longer remained a problem – except on twitter (which, by the way, is also so amazingly cool) – and the typing changed to qwerty mode in almost all phones but THANKFULLY, people did not drop the cool lingo.

I think about the future when the civilization looks back and sees immortal phrases such as

‘ikr! Ur lyk totz my bae’

‘Lulz. K.’

and the best of them all,

‘mah lyf, mah rulz’

The last one does not even involve shortening a word. It in fact, makes it longer than before. Who would write my, when one can write mah, amirite?

I am glad people don’t write complete sentences anymore. Even though, sometimes, it gets tough to follow the conversation but who cares about having a nice talk when one can be stupid *ahem* – I mean, fancy!