The Public Diary

I know I'm way behind my schedule but there were some things that needed to be sorted out first otherwise they would have kept disturbing my mental peace. Plus, I'm also feeling a little awkward to write a post after over a month, I don't know from where to start. But my drafts came to the rescue.  I look younger than I actually am. And I believe it is because I'm underweight which lends me 'growing' looks as opposed to a 'grown-up. Once I went to an office which is a sister concern of our office so we don't need to show our identity to enter the premises. So, I was moving at a pace as usual, when I was interrupted by a security official. Without giving it much thought upon seeing my free-to-enter attitude, he shot a question at me, "Kid, is your mother an employee here or your father?" His confidence made me let out a smile. How sure he was that he was giving me both the possible options which could have been. With equal confidence, I reverted...

I think after achieving this 100-post-feet I should pen down a few anecdotes which depict my losses, (not the financial ones).  None is perfect. Everyone is bound to make mistakes. You never know when do people start idolizing you which I don't want. Even your negative actions might be making an impression on someone else. So, all of it gives me a sense of responsibility to carefully take actions as people may be following my footsteps.  Laughing? How did you find my joke? (Dr. Mash-hoor Gulati style?)  It so happened once that after doing something silly I tried to cover up by saying, "I should keep on doing stuff like this before I become a goddess." "Yes, you're," I was told totally unexpectedly. No matter if it was said in a joking spirit but I've now taken it seriously. Jokes apart.  How obsessive I am. I've started portraying myself in a good light even in that post in which I intended to do completely opposite.  Let's begin. I got to know ...

By the time you reach this post, I would've hit a century of posts on this blog. A certain sense of pressure started to prevail on me upon disclosing this fact because jubilee(s) are expected to be special. I'll leave that up to you while I try to behave normally by not trying so hard to please. Rather I'll tell about what's been the hot topic in my life these days.  It has been 3 years that I'm shuttling between 2 cities day in and day out. I'm not sure if this chapter is ending now but it seems like ending at the moment, so all the good (and bad) old memories started flashing in my mind. I am writing this rough draft of the post on the very date on which my connection to this second city came into existence. Exactly 3 years ago, I got my posting orders. You're always in a dilemma that if you really belong there or not.  In my case, I never read local editions of the newspaper of either of the cities, purely because of disinterest. Any developments and inci...

Has it ever happened to you that you didn't indulge in a particular activity because for long you have been claiming to be not doing it? Sometimes we start behaving in a specific way because we have been telling others that we act like that always, irrespective of the fact that we want to turn the tables. Illusory truth effect started ringing in my mind while I was writing this, which says that false information seems to be true due to repeated exposure. For instance, there are people who say, "We don't have the habit of clicking many pictures." They may deny it even if someone else asks them to get clicked, although in one corner of their heart they do want to be clicked. Coming upon me, 'I don't take siesta' is one of the statements that I take pride in. But even if I'll be feeling sleepy on any given afternoon, I don't think I'll be able to catch my daytime nap because of the claims that I've been openly and proudly claiming. O...

Disclaimer :   You don't need to facepalm on seeing 'Corona' written. I can imagine your pain, everywhere we go we find it omnipresent. But this post is not going to bomb you with numbers and figures relating to Corona; neither is this going to be about precautions to be taken in this time nor to create any sort of panic. Earlier I was going to start my post this way:  Have I shared this quote written by me on this platform? But now after doing my homework well, I noticed that I’ve already, so I won’t ask you that question and directly plug it in.  “Don’t let anything overpower you so much that it becomes your weakness.” I believe thoughts and their consequences are in our own control if we manage to keep the mind in place, so I religiously follow this rule. You might be thinking why did I plug in my quote amidst all this. No, it was not for the heck of promotions. It might seem like a heavily worded thought which must have been inspired by a life teac...

I was getting suggestions from people around (not physically - Covid doesn't allow - but virtually) that I should indulge in some blogging. But who would tell them that a writer doesn't write out of boredom or just for the sake of timepass. At least, that is not the case with me. My writing depends upon the ideation of my mind.  So, here is a poem that I had written earlier; probably at the time when all the lights in my house were out and I was finding it hard to sleep due to the sheer influx of ideas. Upon re-reading it, I find it somewhat relative to the present day scenario. It goes like: All day long I watch comedy, But still I'm unable to find for my problems any substantial remedy. To be in peace and at content I wanna be, Do I need to go in for some another therapy? I keep on singing parody(ies), For all of the life's so-called tragedy(ies). I try to strike a camaraderie, But amidst all the chaos I fail to reach harmony. Anxiety is getting all of us into...

I was telling a person that you are very weird, that you behave strangely all of the times. His comment directed the conversation towards me, "But you are the one who sets 'Stay Weird' as your status." I was speechless. Yeah, I tend to be weird at times. Once in a while letting my childish antics take-over the sensible version of mine. For instance, I always had this confusion: "What should be my imaginary name?" when I had to write it in the answer sheet during exams, as you are not supposed to disclose your identity. ( 'What a confusion,' y ou must be thinking.) Back then, Comedy Nights With Kapil got broadcasted on the TV all day long. So, I attempted two questions, naming myself 'Guthi' in one letter and 'Palak' in another. When I told my friends about this, they were in disbelief earlier but relented later on. Moving ahead, I was at a wedding function once. After all the major part of the event had unfolded, my sister and ...

When my dad lost his phone, I thought that I would write about it as I was in search of a topic. But I couldn't find anything substantial in that episode to write about. Apart from the fact that he called me up in the afternoon to inform me, saying, "The phone has run." I was clueless.  I thought he was talking about the courier guy who must have brought his new phone, that I had ordered online for him to give him a surprise, but has now returned due to some unknown reason. I tried to act innocent and not spill the beans immediately. Thankfully, he was still unaware of 'it' and not-so-thankfully broke the news of his phone getting lost. I advised him and cut the call. After getting all the necessary things done in the evening: lodging the FIR and getting the new SIM with the same old contact number issued etc, (I should cut down the steps, for it's not a tutorial blog on 'Steps to follow after losing your phone') we reached home.  And ...

"I want actual feedback on my piece of work. I want people to criticise it so that I can improve it." A quote also goes: Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.  ~ Paul Arden I get surprised whenever I hear this sort of words coming. I mean how are people able to take criticism so sportingly? Or they are too fine an actor to conceal their emotions. Because I get an instant feeling of 'How can you say this?' on listening to critical comments.  Be it when someone tries to point out errors in my drawing, pointing out parts which could have been better; or for instance, a few months back, when I was told from multiple references that my blogposts had started to become boring and philosophical. Side note:  I got so pressured on getting that feedback that I ended up writing almost two posts trying to deflect from the ' Philosophical ' label. No matter how truthful I felt that was, but I quite didn't like it. I was aware of t...

Amidst the monotonous routine of life, encounters with oldies do add a bit of humour. Not because they have a great sense of humour or anything like that, what I'm referring to are the situations that arise due to their difficulty in operating these tech devices; computers and smartphones to be precise. They say, "Charity begins at home". So I'll start with my own dad who has a different OS based phone. Let me disclose here that his OS is not-so-popular and not at all user-friendly. Poor he! He keeps on facing one problem or the other every week or so and he would have to ask me to fix them. Sometimes it's the app not being opened. So, I update them through their shitty app store. There are times when I'm unable to find one of the most popular apps on that store. I remember he had to shell out a few bucks also once at the dealer store to get the desired app running. At other times and places, it is quite common to find elderly asking how to save a number,...

“All of our family is invited to a program where I’ll be honoured,” my dad announced on an uneventful evening. “Who is honouring you?” “What is the reason for such an honour?” “Where do we have to go?” our Pandora box of questions opened. When he answered the queries, we realized that it was for an initiative that he had kind of supported during his headship days at school. (I would like to disclose here that we belong to that category of people who like to remain in the background, not desiring much limelight.) Add to it the fact that it was scheduled on a Sunday evening – the supposed lazy day. So, we were reluctant to accompany him to the event. He tried to persuade another of my married sibling who eventually backed out of the plan due to her prior commitments and our would-be absence. Poor dad! He had to be there for the sake of honour that was to be bestowed upon him but he was left all alone. ...

That day I decided to take an off from work because the weather forecast had predicted two days of continuous and heavy rains. So I had an excuse. I didn't set an alarm for the morning. Amidst the dawn, I set aside the curtain to take a view of the weather with sleepy eyes and all I could see was a clear sky with no backdrop of clouds. *Shit happens* Moving forward, I had a long pending visit to the doctor that had skipped my mind the preceding weekend. So I utilised the day. I thought I'll take panjiri for him. This gesture was based upon easing the stressfulness of job lives , especially of a doctor. I was trying to be a babe thinking, 'Let's  just make his day,' because once in earlier conversations he had told us that his mouth got watered on listening to the word 'panjiri, "It reminds me of my mother," he had said. Fast forward ---》 The doctor handed over the prescription to me. Before getting up, I gave him the box of panjiri, ou...

Of late, I wasn't satisfied with the way my brain had started thinking. I was often found complaining about my workplace and how unfair life is. Briefly, I was getting a bit thankless (to put it modestly). Deep down, I knew it was a toxic habit so I was contemplating ways to soothe and pacify my mind. I started getting engaged in activities for they say, "Idle mind is devil's mind." I thought of starting meditation as well as it is claimed that it helps in calming the mind. Then one day, I saw a video on Youtube. The speaker was telling about what we should and shouldn't talk about. One amongst the key points was to not to complain. 'Nobody l ikes to pay heed to an always complaini ng person, ' it rang a bell. Amidst all of it, a few weeks ago, I went to my village-place on an occasion. Man, what to say about the quantum of work people undertake there. I saw people literally sweating themselves out in what they call their 'routine chore...

My patriotism post has been interpreted by most as a war of languages between Hindi and Punjabi, no matter how hard I tried to shield the underlying thought. But the truth might be different from what got portrayed. So, clarification: I don't have any problem with any of the languages. I am fluent in all three of them, namely English (yes, even it was slightly referred to in the so-called controversial post but I guess all the focus was shifted to the other two), Hindi and Punjabi. ( Disclaimer : These are not in order of my liking towards them, but I just put them in alphabetical order.)  I can switch to any of them as per need of  the hour. In fact, nowadays I'm often switching between languages even amidst the sentence. That a part of my sentence is being spoken in one language and the other part in another; which I admit is not a good trait as per linguistics. The whole habit generated from the fact that I belong to a Punjabi speaking family having...