HOW TO NOT BE A BROKEN ANDA?

We live in times when competition is so fierce that even a hundred is not good enough. SRCC's 2015 cut off itself was 100.75. can you believe it? The Apsara guys would definitely be rejoicing since finally their projection of a boy getting 105 out of 100 has come true! Their sales have believed to be shot up because it seems now that the only way to get into SRCC is by using apsara extra dark and scoring extra marks for good handwriting.

But in times of such competition how can one determine their worth in a sea of people as good or even better than him/her? How can a person know that they are truly special when even the idea of being one in a million does not make you special? (In India, if you are one in a million, there are 1450 people just like you.) Hence, most kids nowadays face a sort of identity crisis; in a country with so many everybodies what will make you stand apart? How will you win this race? Since, life is a race, and if you don't run fast enough you would be a broken andaa right?

The answer, I believe, lies in changing the whole process of upbringing.

Usually, children are asked what do they want to become when they grow up. and usually in India, parents already pick out an answer for their kids in the form of doctors and engineers and every type of conventional profession that would keep you stuck in a rigid, unbreakable mould.

So what question should be asked?

What problem would you want to solve.

This question changes the whole dynamics of our existential crisis. We would no longer be just and engineer or a doctor or a teacher but a problem solver, an explorer, a discoverer, a person who is making his own little contribution in changing the face of the earth instead of just slogging for paychecks every passing month.

And then we would see, how our life changes for the better. How we become someone irreplaceable from just another.

If you don't believe me look at this kid who just figure out the puzzle and tell me she doesn't look satisfied.

KYA AB RAHEGA SAMOSE MEIN AALOO?

A TALE OF KACHORIS AND SAMOSAS

Nitish Kumar who was once again elected the chief minister of bihar for his fifth term recently imposed a ban on ‘desi’ liquor, receiving applauds from the masses for trying to curb consumption in the hamlets of Bihar which has been ridden with the ill effects of alcohol in the form of thousands of addicts who have fallen into vicious traps of debt and addiction, taking their entire families down the hole. The welcome thought comes at a huge cost to the Bihar exchequer with an estimated revenue loss of about five thousand crores, a crucial amount considering the mass poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and lack of basic amenities clawing at the state’s resources. Hence, to compensate the fall in revenue the government has devised a ‘novel’ tax system, putting luxury tax on commodities such as samosas (yes, one of the country’s favourite chai companions), mosquito repellents (needed in abundance in Bihar due to the uncountable number of mosquitoes, perhaps over numbering even the population of the state.) Also feeling the heat are kaju katlis, saris and kachoris. Hence, the Bihar government resonates the one fact even five year olds joke about : that Bihar is a poor state, in fact so poor that the people who can afford samosas come within the crème of rich folks. The people in Bihar should certainly feel happy, its not too difficult to become rich in Bihar. Its not long before the police waalas in Bihar would be tightening their leash on poor halwais churning out hot samosas while the murderers and the rapists would be freer than ever. While it is being speculated that Nitish Kumar has perhaps taken notes from the 14^th century English government which taxed citizens for merely  being ‘alive’ (yes, its true.), the country has set its eyes on Bihar betting whether it would be ‘Jungle Raj-2’ or ‘bade achhe din’.

A NERD'S ADDICTION

One of my most favourite things to do in the whole world is reading. (One major reason why I know some fancy words.) And it could be reading anything. LITERALLY anything. Sometimes I even read the grocery lists. That too with keen interest. 

To me the best feeling in the world is when you are so engrossed in a book that the real world just becomes a blur, and your whole attention is focussed on this little device made of paper which is the only link to port you into another world, different than yours, another world filled with hope and despair and magic and tragedy and love and betrayal and all the emotions that make us human. But in this world, we are merely a spectator, a bystander, so close to the protagonist that we can read his mind and the feel the hues of emotions buried in his heart; but at the same time we are so far away from him that we can do nothing to change his actions, to try to reason with him, to tell him that perhaps, we know him better than even he does. And it no longer matters if you missed your stop in the metro or if you are getting late for that presumably important event that doesn't seem too important anymore or if you have an exam the next day. The only thing in your mind is finishing just one more page.

Books work like LSD. Ask someone who just read a good one.

Karma is a BEACH!

One thing I am completely fixated with nowadays is Quora. It's such a wonderful and refreshing way to connect with total strangers.

Ask a question and there are hundreds to provide answers. And some of them provide such interesting answers that your whole outlook towards the problem is just twisted 180 degrees.

And even if you have no questions to ask or answers to provide, just reading through it everyday is entertaining, for the lack of a better word.

But this post is not about Quora, even though I might have come off as a Quora ambassador to you by now.
This post is about KARMA, and how doing good deeds actually gives us brownie points, no matter how irrelevant in might seem in our immediate line of sight.
And one instance of this is taken from one of the answers I read on Quora.

A blessed homeless Man

When Billy Ray Harris a homeless man found a very expensive diamond engagement ring, he tracked down the owner for days searching everywhere and handed the ring over to its owner. When the news spread across, complete strangers fixed his bike and provided meal for him and he also received a $100,000 in donations online from all over the world.

He still remains a very close friend to the family . He moved into a new house which he bought from the donations received for his good deed!

Karma also means good things happen to people who think good even when the going is tough.

So the next time you come across someone who needs help, do it for your own selfish purposes, because someone is adding brownies to your own Karma list.

HEY THERE EVERYONE!

(Or whoever would like to read what I have to offer)
I thought a lot about the name I wanted to give to my blog and all I could come up with was this (weird) name. Reasons:-1.) I am just a bit cheeky.
2) I am a marwari hence the word 'Madu'.
3) I am definitely a chick (girl).
And lastly, 4.) It's really the only decent name I could think of. (Another one was lazy leo.)
I am a twenty year old girl from New Delhi who thinks she is too smart to do any work. Reading between the lines one would understand I mean lazy and just a little bit pompous. Just a little. I promise. I like using fancy words once a while, hence I thought, hey why not start writing a blog?
But i didn't think I could make such a commitment since it actually required me to get off my ass and use my fingers and just a wee bit of my brain. Hence, it took me some time, almost a year to actually log into this thing. But I would do my best to maintain a regular flow of my thoughts, ideas, ideologies, travel accounts and basically any amount of crap that goes on in my life.
I do hope it interests some people. Or else the only views I would get would be from my mom. I hope.
And, and, and, what else?
oh.
Happy new year. May there be something new about your year!

P.S.   A famous writer once said that using exclamation marks in your sentence is like laughing at your own joke. But I guess one is allowed?

P.P.S. Cheers everyone!

Here's a new year photo with the jokers. My life seems to be filled with them! Oops. Another exclamation.