Pretending to be wise isn't always nice.

There are people whose adrenaline gushes through their body when they fall off a cliff, a plane, a building or their roof top. It is amazing to think how someone would choose to trust a rope than a mother screaming, "The roof is not strong enough, you idiot!" to her 30 year old son, who just replies, "YOLO, dude!" and plummets into eternal brain damage, not that he had much of an IQ before.

And then there are those who get their rush by just coming across this set of words. Sale, Discount, Half Off, Promotion and best of all "FREE". Everything that is free is a very essential thing that we just have to have for our past, present and future. But even the neediest person will avoid this, even if it is free. And that, my friend, is FREE ADVICE!

The world has changed and everyone has a very secure and closely watched personal space. Place a single toe on that perimeter and you will regret your birth. Some of us are just getting used to this generation's method of dealing with pain and depression. I am from an era where just one question "Are okay?" would open up even the most locked up hearts. It might be a story worse than twilight, but hey, you asked for it.

But now, even such a question, would be treated as "stepping out of line". If the words "none of your business" can hurt, then I'd probably be a walking dead zombie right now. So I would like to give you a free advice on how to curb your enthusiasm for giving free advice.

There are three types of people.

1. The ones who ask for your advice

2. The ones who just want a shoulder to cry

3. The ones who apparently are very passionate about us starting our own business and minding it. May be they really understand my potential like no one does. BANK LOAN, here I come!

The ones who ask for your advice are a dangerous type. You have to be very careful as there are chances of them dumping the consequences on you and run away when your advice backfires.

The ones who just want a shoulder to cry would look like they are seeking your advice and when you try to give them your piece of wisdom they will just answer, "That will not work! You don't understand me! Baaaaaaaaaah!". Well, that means you have to shut up and listen to them with occasional "OMG! Wow! Oh No! That's horrible!".

And now we come to the third type. It is very easy to judge people who need their space. But we never know what made them so secure in the first place. When these type of people share their problems with you, do not rush to solve them. If they do ask you for your opinion, think twice if your advice could in anyway bring any change. If the answer is no, then be honest and tell them you have no thoughts about this. Respect their personal space and they will respect yours.

Learn to stop jumping to the rescues you were never called for. Not everything that worries you needs your attention, not every person who looks worried needs your help and not every problem needs your solution. I can say that with confidence as one of the permanent members of 'Paranoid Mothers Club'. Even if you do stand in their shoes, you may not be as comfortable with their stench as they are and your experienced foot may never fit their shoe size. You have no idea where all they have stepped and how long they have traveled to come where they are right now. And a premature free advice would definitely taste worse than literally putting your own foot in your mouth. (I would appreciate it if you can respect my privacy and never ask me how I can compare the taste. Thank you.)

Wisdom is not the quantity of knowledge you hold, but the quality of presenting even a petty little fact in a way that can help others instead of pushing them further towards rock bottom. When you find a way to pinch your nose shut every time you hear someone sob and start lending your ears instead, consider yourself wise enough to wear a peruke (a powdered wig) and start quoting Shakespeare or maybe sit on mountain tops and do this.

And if someone asks you what made you to conquer the realms of your sanctity, tell them you live by the best advice in the history of advice, by the oracle of mankind, Michael Scott.

All comments are welcome.

When the bells ring...

Summer! The one time of the year every kid dreams about. That last day, that last bell, makes kids scream and cry like they have won independence from a cruel king. 

I remember my plans when I was in school. I couldn’t even concentrate on studying for my exam because my brain was busily testing every artistic skill of mine to be sharpened during the upcoming summer vacation. “ooooh! I have got to try baking! And painting! I am going to learn some martial art. No, no, I am going to learn stitching. And I will become an astronaut too!”, these were some of the ridiculous plans that I had made. The first week would go with some success in those plans, but the next weeks you could probably find me lying on the couch snacking on God knows what and my eyes glued to the television.

What was on the TV? Well, there was this guy who was fighting, fighting for love, to save a damsel in distress before the beast could devour her. His love for her made him strong, strong enough to grow big, big enough to stomp the life off those guardian reptiles. He broke boulders with his head and leaped across valleys for her. His love, his passion, his strength was all a girl could ask for. But his life was in my hands, I shouldn’t blink, if anything happens to him I will not forgive myself. Oh Romeo! No, wait. That is not his name. “Oh! Mario. I will do everything in my will to get you to that princess. I swear!”

That is how most of my summers went. Play, eat and sleep. The game used to be so annoying especially when you have to start all over again. At times I would ask, “Why should I help you? What have you ever done for me?” He never replies, his mustache never moves.

But anyways, the whole concept of finding out what the mystery princess would look like, kept me motivated. I never stopped to properly collect those coins, I just ran to finish every level as quick as possible. My patience was tested every time on those moving ladders and as a summer surprise I had to fall into a lava pit more than once. Finally, I reached the base ball pitching machine and the fire breathing, ridiculously fat and funny dragon. I guess he had too many mushrooms, if you know what I mean.

The first time I finished the game, I was super disappointed. Really, that is the princess I fought for so long? And I threw the console down and went to eat whatever my stomach could digest.  But after a week, due to boredom, I picked up the grey brick of console and started playing once again. This time trying to collect all the coins, using every bit of bonus, fire ball and magic stars. I just wanted to barbecue every visible tortoise for absolutely no reason (may be this is how serial killers are formed).

It was different, as I concentrated more on secret dungeons, trying to sit on every pillar just to see if it would lead somewhere. MOM! I have completed my squats for today!

Slowly I pulled my little brother into this world. He had been a very good audience till then, so he deserved to play too. And without any complaints, he took the role of Luigi because he was green and my brother was a firm believer of an idiotic theory that boys are always green or blue. By this time, I was tired of the game already, but I had to play. My entire dignity was on trial here, what if he wins with more coins? Couldn’t let that happen. Besides, I had to show him the tricks so he could learn and play on his own without bugging me. After all, there is no Luigi without Mario. And that ungrateful little princess didn’t care who was saving her. Apparently, she was not a marriage material.

The game was one of my strongest memories of my childhood. After so many years, I still remember those levels and struggles I crossed to finish it. I never thought that game would in any way help me out in future. I was wrong…

Life is not a rat race. I absolutely hate rats, so I would rather not compare myself to one. According to me, life is a Mario game. For the ones who grew up playing this game would know how much we had to endeavor to cross each level. What astonishes me even now is our perseverance to reach our goals. Though we failed time and again to even reach a check point, we took breaks and came back to play or at least to eat those mushrooms. (Well, as long as they are legal). 

Those stupid tortoises were supposed to be slow in real life but unfortunately, not in Mario world. And yet, we tried again and again, doing the same things, learning new strategies, patiently fighting the same battle and all for a princess, whom we never met.

And now we are here, doing the same thing, striving and fighting for a future we never know. We fall, we break our bones, we get up and we walk just to fall again. We blindly believe that we will succeed sooner or later till we reach our saturation point, then we give up. The problem is we forget that we don’t have to fight for one single goal throughout our life.

Initially we start running for us, then slowly the track changes and we are no more running for us. We run for money, love, family, kids and for their future. And if we come across a big wall, we stop, we give up and wishing we didn’t have to run anymore, wishing we were dead. Well, if Mario comes to know about this, he would probably sue us. Hasn’t he taught us enough through that mind numbing game? We don’t have to always play for the princess, believe me, she is fine. The dragon seems to be a vegetarian. Why can’t we keep running just to see where each level takes? Why can’t we keep running to see how many dungeons we can discover and how far we can jump? Why can’t we keep running for Luigi?

Sometimes, life takes a different course and we lose our sense of direction. We lose the ones we love, we lose the things we love and we even lose ourselves in our struggles. We may not feel the gravity which used to pull us towards our destination, but that doesn’t mean we stop our journey. We just have to adjust our sails and keep on moving. We can go back to our checkpoints and try not to repeat the same mistakes. The trick is to keep moving and someday, our life will turn around and when it does all our struggles will be worth it.

It doesn’t matter for whom or for what we are running for. As long as we are running, we will reach our destiny. So let us keep this in mind, if we don’t want to run for the princess anymore then let’s run for Luigi. 

All comments are welcome.