Feels Like Heaven ...

 There is a popular Indian ad by Raymonds, where they highlight the touch of the fabric and its tag line says "Feels like Heaven, Feels like Raymond". Quite an interesting notion... Makes you wonder if heaven would really feel only as good 😊.

More than a decade ago, I had embarked on my first international trip and was introduced to the wonderful land of California. There were a lot of things to learn right from the accent (thanks to the series "Friends" it wasn’t much of an issue), driving, cooking and managing the temperamental weather changes. I have had days when in a matter of a few kilometres, I have seen sunny, windy, rainy and snowy climate on the same road. That’s just one of the many wonders of that state. What was the most challenging was getting used to the layers of clothing and managing them. The key word there was "feels like". You could have a sunny weather and still be shivering in the cold under your jacket or be playing in the snow and be perfectly comfortable. One of my friends told me always look at the feels like temperature.

Life moved on and I even got used to the winters in Melbourne as well, but the feels like stuck on. Not only in the weather app but in life as well. Emotions, relations, friends, family. There are relations where even after years of togetherness there is no attachment and some who have stayed apart for decades and you still know them like the back of your hand. All people and relations change, but some people live and grow in your heart. They change as life moulds them and somehow their impressions grow and change in tandem as well. What is truly comforting is the fact that the distance didn’t rust or wear off the relation. There is a dialogue in Aandhi, that goes, "Woh rishta hi kya jo hath chhutne se tut jaaye". It means that a good relation doesn’t break off just because you were apart. Now that, my dear, is what feels like a connection.

Whether you are right next to me or millions of miles away, whether I talk to you daily or not for ages, whether I remember what you looked like or not at all, when its right it just truly feels like heaven...

Refill Please

"May I have a refill please?", I asked the tenth shopkeeper. He looked at me with what I would like to call a cocktail of disbelief, disdain, distaste and a lot of other dis's. He would have told me no with another dis - disinterest, like the other 9 but I think he was kind enough to have a word with me and said, "son you won't find it anywhere." It did summarise my experience till now, but I had a perplexed look on my face. I had heard all sorts of answers like, "the company doesn't make refills" (made me wonder if I had magic pens?) to " sir the new pen is cheaper than the refill" (I was in half a mind to teach this guy some basic math and economics, but I didn't). The shopkeeper on seeing my dilemma said, "no one wants to keep it." I asked why not. He said its not worth the trouble. I asked him, "what should I do with the empty plastic tube that I have? I cannot even give it to some under privileged child, because its utter rubbish without a refill." He said he understood but that's the way it is. I moved on and gave up on finding the refill, but my mind was still on it. 

I am a conservationist by nature, of nature, (please side step the sad attempt of a pun). I try to reuse things as much as I can. I prefer minimalist design. In fact, when I travel on an airplane I prefer not using a tissue or prefer using the same plastic glass till the end of my trip. Even the air hostesses are surprised. But I don't see the point of wasting multiple glasses to drink apple juice. 

One friend of mine, whose intelligence I respect, recently made a comment that he didn't like a particular airline, because they asked him to save the glass for the whole trip. I am sure it was not statutorily mandated and they would have given him another glass in case he dropped it or something. But, I wouldn't mind hearing that and in fact I would applaud the airline, but apparently I am very lonely in feeling this. 

What I fail to understand is why are we turning into these monsters who want to just gobble gobble gobble. What's wrong in using a handkerchief instead of a tissue? Or a water spray instead of toilet paper? Or use the same plastic glass for a 6 hour flight? Nothing actually. We are intelligent humans. We have always respected nature and tried to use as judiciously little as we could. But we have changed. We have all changed. And I am not liking it. 

I think it's time we compel companies to make those cheap refills and reuse our cups. We have a lot of generations following us (hopefully)!! Let's save them a little. And now I am literally out of ink, so let me have a refill... Oops let me buy a new pen!!

Are You Happy?

Let me begin the first post of this new year by wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year! May all your dreams come true and may you forever dream more!! December brings a lot of memories to the mind. Birthdays, anniversaries, reunions. Most of my college mates come home in December and that leads to a lot of dinners together. The cold and the chill in the air in contrast to the warmth in the heart that grows by meeting old friends is a feeling that is very difficult to explain. Its just elating.

Over one such reunion with friends, while chit chatting, he said, have you realised that people never ask you if you are happy? They will ask you questions like how’s work? How are things? But nothing related to if you are happy. I said aren’t these things a part of what makes you happy. A good family, a good balanced work, even if its stressful work (which it normally is), knowing that it is still ok is what makes you happy. And the second reason people don’t ask you if you are happy or not is because they kind of know the answer to it already. They know very few would be genuinely happy and it shows on their face, when they are. He disagreed. So, I said, let me ask you, “Are you happy?”, and surprise surprise he said “No.” I burst out laughing. The conversation and the evening continued.

We were nearing to the end of meeting. Good-byes were being said and promises of staying in touch and meeting up again next year. Promises, that may or may not get fulfilled, but let you continue for the next year… While saying good bye, he asked me, what would your reply be. I replied, nobody knows, because fortunately or unfortunately, nobody has ever asked me that.