Days of our lives

Last weekend, my friends and I had a get together at my place. For the first few hours, our conversations kept going and we were having a lot of fun. The next day, after the hangover set in the horizon, I wondered - we were not talking about sports or girls or politics, but still the conversations were very interesting and engaging - how come?. Then it struck me - we had been talking about how we went about our daily lives. Dropping kids to school, making calls to the insurance companies, taking our cars for service et al. Also of note - none of us were leading particularly interesting lives. All of us called our lives mechanical, hated the daily grind and were of the opinion that life nowadays has become too robotic.

But is it really that mundane? If it were, how come ramblings about it are so interesting? How come it evokes so much laughter and excitement? Yeah, that's my point. Our lives are are not even close to mundane. By we, I mean the middle class, the working fabric of nations everywhere and people who by and large make up the biggest pie of the term "populace". We don't solve rocket science problems, do not hold bilateral discussion between countries or don't enact a scene that can get an Oscar nomination. Yet, for us, no day is like the previous, and what is to come is totally different from what was.

Can you imagine a favorite TV show or a movie that was not about ordinary folks? What would TV shows like Friends or Seinfeld look like if all of the characters were super rich? What would they talk about - How they lost money in the stock market? Come on, give me a break! The lives of ordinary people, in contrast, have lot more spice and flavor churned from their daily struggles to fix things and their effort to keep the wheels turning - kids education, insurance compliance, getting dates, figuring out when to get engaged (or get married) to their sweetheart etc. It's not that the wealthy don't have to do this, but they don't have to tie these to any successfully goal completions - like a bonus, a promotion or a tax refund.

Case in point - Before we call our lives too ordinary, robotic and mundane, let us reflect on it and recognize it for what it really is. It is the fuel that keeps us on the run, the tunnel that we keep building and the journey we keep on planning. In retrospect, we will find out that it was anything but boring - kind of like how we cherish our childhood and college days after we are done with those. So let us enjoy the day as it happens, take in the view as we drive through the journey, pause, and take time to smell the roses.

Flashbacks can never take you to the real thing, so enjoy the moment while you are in it and remember not to rush through the "Daily Grind". Just make sure you are armed with the best grinder available.

P.S. If you are a very rich person reading this, discard all of what you have read and contact me ASAP - I have a really good idea on how to start a great company with your money.

Shameless Self Promotion - Do we have a choice?

Scene 1: The camera zooms into my living room. Scrambled toys, a swing and an open shelf greets the viewer. Zoom out, pan and scan the hall. More scattered toys, and a a pair of kids shoes. The viewer is now sure that there are at least a couple of kids in this living space. Ah, finally, there is a shot of a room with some light. Wait, is that me sitting in front of my computer? Yes, it's me alright. Zoom in to the computer display - The words that are displayed in the computer monitor are clear now. It reads - "2008 Performance Objectives, Goals and Results".

There is a reason for the screenplay-style writing above. As I was writing the performance review for the past year, that's exactly what it felt like - a screenplay. I was trying to write the whole story of what happened at my job over the past year so I could prove to my manager that I am a keeper. So I penned it with care - my bread winning capability depended on this not being a tragedy, musical or a comedy. The story line needed to be inspiring, touching and "feel good" at the same time. Like "SlumDog Millionaire" - the target audience (in this case my manager) should feel that I have worked hard in difficult conditions and that I deserve more, and more often.

Now the mind wanderer that I am, I started thinking. Can we get by without marketing ourselves these days? Marketing oneself aggressively for the right job is a given, but what about other venues? On digging that thought-mine deeper, I realized that we end up doing it more often than not.

For a good insurance premium, we tout our sans accident driving record, years of driving experience and clean driving habits. For a good life insurance policy, we even praise our genetics - "no heart attacks on my mom's or dad's side - Alzheimer's maybe, but that was my uncle - Moreover, I don't keep touch with him that much anyway". When your kids complain that you never get them this or that or that you never take them out, your inner salesperson wakes up from deep slumber and fires back - "What about the days we went out to the park and I got you Cheetos and all that popcorn? Remember when I took you the cinema and you cried for Ice Cream? I even bought you two. Remember?" When your significant other notices that you are not romantic as you used to be, you immediately put on your mental suit and tie and the sales pitch starts - "Oh so the diamond means nothing to you now? What about our trip to Hawaii? And the flowers I bought for our anniversary- Your appreciation did not even last much as the roses did, Honey!" Bravo , you finely tuned selling machines, Bravo!

In the era of increasing "Me First" mentality, people who take notice of good actions, intentions and hard work are few and far between. If anyone had doubts about Darwin's theory of "Survival of the Fittest", now is the time to look around and see proof of it. Success is no longer measured in goodwill, but on how much you can afford to donate at GoodWill (the store). The world is increasingly being transformed into a multitude of ladders and each one of us have multiple ones to climb - in pursuit of prized possessions, stable relationships and towering finances. The yardsticks used for measuring a country's well being are the Dow and Nasdaq, not the quality of life being lived by its people.

So the world leaves us with no choice but to market ourselves as good worker bees, good parents, great lovers and loving sons and daughters. However, I don't remember the last time I had to market my ability to be a good human being; a person whose policy is "Live and let Live". I guess that would be up to the orphans, the homeless and all the charity institutions that serve the greater good. They have to pitch to me, the greedy and self indulgent common man, as to why they are in dire need of money I have saved to help me climb the selfish ladders of life. Benevolence has never been a great asset to market anyway.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that when it came to this blog, I did have a choice in not indulging in shameless self promotion. I went along with it anyway and judging by the traffic to my site, it looks like I would have to fire the salesperson for lack of skill and poise. I know what you are thinking - let me dismiss that thought right away. No, it does not have anything to do with the quality of posts. "Remember that time when you read the awesome post and said it was good? Remember?"