Parenting and Stuff (Stupid Stupid Stupid)

      How you doin' y'all! Two blog posts in two days! This is crazy shit, ain't it.

So how's it going everyone? I have a fracture on my toe and things are moving a bit too slowly lately.

      So I was watching a bunch of videos on YouTube now, and I read a bunch of comments posted on each video. There's something that alarmed me a little. A lot of the people posting comments are kids! Who belong to ages around 8 to 14! Jesus fuckin' Christ! If I know something about YouTube, its that the commenting community there is the most brutal community on the planet. So parents, please please please, make sure that your kids aren't online watching or posting YouTube videos. Not until they're old enough. So, this made me think a little. What are some of the things that parents should be concerned about today. Also, made me realize that when we become parents (assuming you're not one yet), a world of hell awaits us. (Sometimes I think I'm going to better off without kids. We'll have to wait and see what happens). So parents or parents to be, check this out.

• Don't introduce YouTube to your kids at a very early age. And in case they already know, make sure there's a content monitoring feature loaded up.
• Talk to your kids about sex, when the time is right. Be gentle about it. Or make attempts to fix things if your kid already stumbled upon sex through the internet or something.
• Explain puberty and make your kids feel comfortable about it during the phase. Again, be gentle about it.
• Help your kids do new things, develop hobbies, read good books, practice some of arts and crafts, and things like that.
• Don't buy your kid a smartphone or a hi-tech gadget at a young age. That'll ruin the kid's communication pretty early on. He / she might end up loving the phone more than he / she loves you.
• Keep a content monitoring feature on every device at home.

     Ok I'm done. The problem is that, I realize that these measures may strangle the kid's freedom. I obviously don't intend to do that. But, then again, parents run the risk of getting their kids scarred for life at a very early age. Well, at the very least, I think the parents need to be aware of what's happening in their kids' lives, even if they can't stop certain things from happening. At the end of the day, I think that if you want to be a good parent, you just have to be there for your kid, no matter what. 

    I think I'll end this here. That was probably just a random rant post that made you wanna throw a pumpkin at me (laughs). Sorry about that. Just felt like typing this rubbish before I forgot all about it. Anyway, night folks. I'm outta here!

Hormones

     How's it going y'all? I trust y'all're doing well!

     Hormones. I've kept wondering about hormones for a really long time now. Just FYI, this blog post is not going to be concerned with the biological aspects of hormones. This is just a general view from a guy who knows pretty much nothing about the biology behind hormones.

     So yeah. Hormones. What the hell are they! I have no idea. I can only tell what I know from my experiences. Hormones are things in your body that make you do things that your mind wouldn't normally allow you to do. I'm not sure if I'm right about that, but I think I am, at least to some extent. Some hormonal experiences that one might normally experience are adrenaline rushes, testosterone rushes, estrogen rushes, dopamine rushes, and so on. Sorry if I'm not saying it right, but you'll have to excuse my crude style of writing here.

     I think I'll talk about some of my own personal experiences.

• I'd say that my hormonal experiences began in the 9th or 10th grade. Roughly when I was around 14-15 years of age. But that was hardly anything, because I was barely aware nor did I even care. Back then, I was too into video games, computer games, online lotteries, cartoons, playing cricket and tv shows (what a nerd right - laughs). I never cared for things like hormones. But yes, I vaguely remember that that was when the hormones started kicking in slowly. And I think it was more or less stable until I was 17.
• Once I reached 17 or early 18, all hell broke loose (laughs!). My hormones started acting up every now and then and god knows that I slipped into a shell of some sort when that happened. I don't know if that's common or normal, that a person goes into a shell because of uncontrollable hormonal reactions. And this time, I was aware that my hormones had gotten violent and aggressive. And here comes my favorite battle - The Mind versus The Hormones! More often than not, my mind told me to do one thing, and my hormones pulled me in the completely opposite direction. Such internal conflicts are just fucking awful. I probably don't even have to elaborate on the consequences, but I will. A little bit. People might start thinking you're awkward and shy. You might hurt people and may not even realize it. You might get hurt in the process too. You might overreact over nothing (probably the most popular consequence of hormonal reactions.). You might end up doing something weird or crazy or despicable or awkward or stupid or lame...or all of them. So, you get my point. But...occasionally there's a plus side to certain hormonal reactions. Adrenaline rushes can make you do things you normally wouldn't able to. Testosterone and estrogen reactions are the only way to make reproduction possible. Dopamine is the reason you feel a real/fake sense of elation (I think). But in the real world, I personally would say that hormonal reactions, if not controlled properly, could lead to some pretty nasty consequences.
• For me, that freaky hormonal stage lasted till I was 21 or so. But when I became 21, I somehow started making decisions that were "mature" and "responsible". In retrospect, when I look at the big picture, I'd say that those decisions were some of the better decisions I've made. 
• Funny enough, I thought that the mature and responsible and safe stage was going to last forever. Boy, was I wrong. When I became 23, for some reason, I had had enough of the 'lets play it safe and lets keep everyone happy' attitude. So I became more of a 'follow your instincts, don't care about the rest of the world' kind of person. And as you can expect, that kind of attitude leads to a more impulsive reactive nature. I didn't even notice it. And to be honest, the whole thing may not be a hormonal reaction at all, but I'm still in that stage. Right now, I just follow my instincts, no matter what. So far, so good.

     I had the urge to illustrate some of my hormonal experiences with examples, just to be more clear and straightforward about what I'm saying. But I feel like I shouldn't talk about them here. 

     So it makes me wonder. In a skewed sense, what are hormones? Isn't it odd that a powerful tool like the mind can be overpowered by hormones? (at least for an average person). When do we give in to hormones, and when do we fight them? It's just nuts! And the worst part is that when hormones get to extremes, it could result in the creation of an awful pandemonium. Again, I won't elaborate on that here.

     So, if you find the topic interesting or intriguing, let me know. I look forward to having a fun discussion with you and take a look at your perspective on hormones. Have a great day/night! I'm outta here.

Reaching the top

What's new, virtual people?
I had a topic that was sitting in my head and I thought I might write something about it. So here I am.
     From what I understand, society teaches us that there are two basic ways of pursuing something. It could be a hobby, a job, a pass-time, a duty, etc etc. One, you set yourself the goal of becoming the best. And Two, you dive deep into it and enjoy it just for the sake of it. I see that the latter is slowly disappearing in this era and everything is becoming 'competition' based. Most people now aim to become the 'best'. In other words, beat everyone else.
     From experience, I have to say that I find the idea of intentionally trying to become the best, very tedious and painful. It adds pressure on you almost on a perpetual basis. And that makes you 'not love' what you're doing. Feel free to debate with me here, because this is just my opinion. Also, beating everyone seems a bit shallow to me. In the big picture, it seems like you're trying to push everyone else off the boat into the water, and you want to be the only one left on it. Doesn't that seem kinda shallow? (Not the water, but the concept - awkward laugh). I believe that the whole concept of 'having fun along the journey' begins to get lost here. Because, lets face it - You're not having fun if you're under social pressure all the time.
     Lets assume that you've already chosen the path to become 'the best'. In my opinion, there are 4 likely outcomes. Either
   
     1 - You actually do become the best
     2 - You become extremely good, but you're not the best
     3 - You become good, but you're certainly not the best
     4 - You end up going nowhere with your goals of becoming the best
   
     Ask yourself this. How likely is outcome 1? In reality, not very likely. (But also, remember that it is extremely inspiring if you believe that nothing can stop you even if the odds are against you. That's a topic for another day.) Having said that, I do not mean to belittle your dreams or stop you from going after what you really want. Its just that I want to make sure that this is what you really want. And in case you do end up becoming the best, then fantastic! It seems to have worked for you!
     Outcome 2 is actually more likely to happen. And outcome 3 is a lot lot more likely to happen. And funny enough, outcome 4 is extremely likely too. So putting luck and other uncontrollable factors aside, there's a good chance that you're going to be juggling between outcomes 2,3 and 4. Ultimately you just have to ask yourself if you're going to be ok with that.
      What about the consequences? What happens to you if you do reach the top? Elation? Adulation? Pride? Ego? Respect? Yes, all of that. But as with anything, they are all momentary. Once you get accustomed to them, you naturally don't feel special anymore. And here's what I think is the worst part. Once you reach the top, you live in constant battle with everyone else to protect your title...to protect your status, your image, your pride, your wealth and what not. And that is when you stop following your passion for the sake of doing it. It becomes a struggle. The joy of creating something for the sake of creating it, is lost, and you're perhaps forced to create things just to bend to public opinion, and not because you love doing it. Life doesn't seem like an adventure anymore, it seems like rebellion.
     On the other hand, what if you pursue something just because you enjoy it. No strings attached. If you really love doing it, you'll end up finding yourself getting married to it...figuratively. (Damn those puns, they ruined something beautiful). And you'll find that you're 'having fun along the journey'...if you look at the big picture. And more often than not, when you love doing something, you're going to end up becoming good at it. That, in my opinion is the way to go about things. But then again, I could be wrong.
     But I have to say this. If you really want to be the best, then I encourage you to go for it. Go for it! I'm dead serious. If that's what your heart tells you, then that is what you should do. Its just that things work differently for me. I honestly think that I perform better when I'm not under pressure. (Goddamn puns!) So ultimately it comes down to 'To each, his/her own' I guess.
     On that note, I'm gonna go and do...something. I dunno what I'll do. Lets see. Anyway, I'm out. Later dudes.

Don't forget to take your vitamins!

Disclaimer: Try whatever you may, at your own risk. You shall not hold me or my content responsible for anything that may befall you.

Hello internet people, waddup! Sorry to start off with that disclaimer, but convention compels me to do so. (Fuck convention, right?)
     Over the last few weeks, the winter slowly faded away and summer is now setting in, here in Bangalore. And for some odd reason, my seasonal allergies have hit me a little harder this time. During the winter, I had rashes develop over my arms and legs. The rashes bled a lot, and I couldn't do much work...or anything for that matter. It was not easy even to sleep with all that pain. Vaseline did not help much at all. And a couple of allergy pills didn't help either. And now, the summer has started setting in, and my rashes have disappeared, only to be replaced by 100s of blisters on my palms. Yuck right? I know. I'm baffled as well. So, again, Vaseline doesn't help much here either. At best, it gives me 2 minutes of comfort. That's it. What's worse is that my hands are the most important parts of my body...well, second most important part I suppose (if you know what I'm sayin). I can't play the guitar, I can't play the drums, I can't play bass, I can't play the keyboard...basically I can't play anything. I can't type much on my computer, I can't click on the mouse buttons too easily. It's just terrible. How much longer do I have to put up with this bullshit.
     And then I thought, maybe I should try taking some multivitamin pills. I'm not a big fan of consuming pills and stuff, but I gotta tell ya, in this era, what with all the damned pollution and contamination and the disappearing of greenery everywhere...it's almost necessary to supplement our daily diets with something extra, such as multivitamins, proteins, calcium, iron and so on. So, as I was saying, I tried taking a couple of multivitamins, and the immediate reaction I experienced was...I felt sleepy. And I dozed off for a good 2 hours. But, I felt great after I woke up. And to top it off, my blisters had reduced considerably! Unbelievable! God, that's why I love science. The things we can do with science to make our lives better...Phew. Ok, enough of that now (laughs). So yes, the multivitamin pills can be very useful at times. If you're feeling tired or exhausted too easily on a regular basis and there's no good reason why, you could try taking multivitamins and see if it makes a difference. Ideally, it should help. And I suppose it is possible that multivitamins can help you deal with your allergies better, assuming you have any. But I can't confirm that.
     I guess I can wrap things up here. One thing that I should tell you, from experience, I know that multivitamins can put you into a sleepy state, so do not consume multivitamins before a big event. You will find yourself dozing off involuntarily. And also, be aware of what you're consuming, and how much of it you're taking. Be careful with this stuff. Don't be a moron.
     Alright, now it's time for me to start using my hands to do things that please me! Woohoo! (I bet you're imagining things, am I right? - laughs). Later dudes. Peace.

Forever in debt

Hey internet people, wadduuuuup?
     I'm really not sure as to how I'm going to write through this article (with a fuckin keyboard! duh - laughs). So yeah, It's a little vague. For people who have read some of my posts here, I guess that's not surprising.
Anyway, let's begin. How many times have you found yourself grateful? If you are someone who has been through a lot of suffering, I'd reckon a lot of times. If you are someone who has more or less coasted through life, I'd guess not very often. Let me start off with a few cliches. You've probably been thankful to your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, your other family mates, your friends, your co-workers, your mates at school or college, your neighbors, your pets, your country, people you have met in general, your role models, and maybe a few others I may have missed out. But let me ask you this. How often have you found yourself grateful to all the animals, birds, insects and creatures and plants on the planet? Errrm, let me guess. Never? Yeah, thought so.
     So here's the thing. Without the presence of animals, plants and other creatures, we humans would all be fucking dead. Want me to paint the picture? Alright, let me give you some perspective. Humans feed on plants and animals and other creatures. Without them, we would be foodless, and consequently dead. Humans hunt animals down and use their skin for leather in clothing, novelty items, handbags, shoes and all kinds of things.  No animals, no leather, no clothing, harsh climate, death. As simple as that. Think about this for a second. The only way to sustain human life is to reproduce and give birth to the offspring and let the cycle continue unto eternity. How do we reproduce? By having sex right? Not entirely. Reproduction can happen only if semen is made and everything else falls into place (funny and punny). So how is semen made? (by wanking while looking at porn? - laughs) Semen is made of millions of nutrients. And how do we get these nutrients in the first place? BAM! Plants and animals! We consume plants and animals in order to not just sustain our own lives, but also to be able to bring into this world the offspring.
     Get this. Humans CANNOT live without plants and animals. But plants and animals CAN live without humans. There you have it. Who's whose slave now?
     That's about it. That is all I have to say for now. Remember people, we are forever in debt to the plants and animals and other wonderful creatures on this planets. Forever and ever and ever. Once we kill a plant or an animal, can we unkill it? Sadly, no. That is how the world works and it is so goddamn fucked up (saying that with wonder and amusement).
     Adios mates. It's good night from me for now.

Q & A: An insight into me

Hey everyone, wazz happening!
Today, I'm going to type down a few things about myself, so all you readers can understand me a little better (and hopefully you'll also learn something new). These are a few questions that people have asked me over many many years. So have fun reading through!

Q. What is your favorite song ever?
A. I don't have  a favorite song. I might have an all-time top 50.

Q. Who's your favorite band?
A. I don't have a favorite band. I might have an all-time top 20.

Q. Do you believe in love?
A. I do. But I do not believe that love is an emotion. (Call me and I'll prove it to you)

Q. Do you believe in ghosts or supernatural phenomena?
A. I don't believe in ghosts (mainly because I haven't encountered one yet). About supernatural phenomena, I'm on the fence. I haven't encountered any yet but I'm inclined to think that it's possible.

Q. Do you believe in God?
A. Very much. I have a poster of Lord Shiva in my bedroom, and I carry a picture of Lord Shiva in my wallet.

Q. Do you believe in Satan?
A. No I don't. All evil lies within oneself, not in the devil.

Q. Are you an emotional person?
A. Yes and no. I have emotions, but I like to keep them under control and not let them loose. I seem emotionless most of the time, but on rare occasion, they come bursting out of me like lava from a volcano.

Q. Do you eat meat?
A. No. I'm not fond of the concept of killing animals or birds.

Q. Can you dance?
A. Hell no. I wish.

Q. Do you have a role model?
A. I draw inspiration from several people, but I do not have one single role model. I believe that you ought to find the hero in yourself.

Q. What is your favorite sport?
A. It has to be cricket. Although I do like playing football as well.

Q. What is your favorite food?
A. I'm fond of Italian food. I like Indian food too. But generally anything that is healthy and nutritional.

Q. You're a freak. How come?
A. I like to make people think. I like to call myself the 'thought-activator'. Also, because I've faced plenty of abuse in my childhood.

Q. What regrets do you have?
A. None. I don't think anybody should live a life of regrets.

Q. Do you have any fetishes?
A. No. I'm fairly normal in that aspect (Surprising?)

Q. Are you a creative person?
A. I write music. I mix and create songs. I draw and paint. I do puppet shows from time to time. In general, I do a lot of  creative things. So yes, I believe I am.

Q. What are your thoughts on homosexuality?
A. I don't have a problem with it. Respect and equality for everyone.

Q. What is your biggest fear?
A. At the moment, I don't think I have any fears.

Q. What day will you never forget?
A. The night I watched Children of Bodom live in Bangalore.

These are all the relatively important questions that I could think of right now. If I do remember a few more, I'll put them down in another blog post. Hope you had fun reading and learning a little bit about me, the so-called-freak. I will see you another time!
Take care of yourselves, take care of each other.
Good night!

We're going nowhere

Hello readers, bleeders and feeders! What is new with you!
      Alright, let's get right to it. It's been a while since I posted something light-hearted on this site, and to those who are tired of the deep shit; well, I'm sorry, but get ready for some more disappointment (laughs). This next topic isn't going to be all that light at heart. So, sorry deep-shit-tired-readers.
      Well, the simple question to you is 'Where are we going?'. And to answer that question, I don't know where the fuck to begin, what the fuck I'm supposed to say, and finally, how the fuck you or I am supposed to know (laughs). That pretty much sums up what I'm going to say in this passage.
       I guess I'll start by going back in time to get some perspective. Several decades ago, life was simple. Or should I say, life was simpler than what it is now. Back then, the biggest form of communication worldwide was...the radio! There were no phones, cell phones, smartphones, computers, tablets, laptops, and...am I missing something important...Oh yes! the Internet! There was no god damn internet back then! Holy fuck right! I mean, imagine sending a modern day kid back to the 1940s. That kid is going to suicide. Anyway, the point is that evolution had not bloomed yet and everything was much simpler (but not entirely simple. Like the world wars. What the fuck. Why exactly did humans want and have to kill other humans). So this eventually leads us to conclude that since technology and some basic cultural evolution were still in their nascent stages, all the resources were relatively plentiful. By resources, I mean, things like silicon, iron, oil, aluminium, wood (no pun intended - laughs), clay, sand, cement, fuel, etc. Ahh, there was no throat-damaging-pollution back then. How awesome.
      A few years down the line of the 1960s and 70s, technology started evolving with the advent of big ass mammoth sized computers and some kind of shitty fat ass cable wired telephony connections. Well, not just technology. In some way, cultures and lifestyles started changing too. Shitty black and white televisions that aired shitty channels and shitty programs started becoming popular and somewhat commonplace (of course, back then, those channels weren't perceived as shitty at all. On the contrary, they must've been perceived as freaking awesome - laughs). More and more people started coming together and even though several countries had their differences, several other countries started tying up and working together in order to grow to establish a better future. One thing is certain here. Resources were still abundant, but they were slowly being used up.
      Now as we move into the 1980s, things started happening at a faster pace. People began to wonder if a way existed in order to communicate more or less worldwide, besides the telephone and telegram stuff. Something like the Internet. Ah, those motherfucking amazing visionaries who gave it everything they had, to bring us such a wonderful (or fucked up?) future. Transportation vehicles like buses, cars, two-wheelers, trains and the likes started becoming popular. Ah, the dawn of sweet sweet air pollution, noise pollution, water and all kinds of shitty pollutions. A big step for mankind, the beginning of the end for planet Earth (Man, I'm getting slightly tired of typing all of this down. I wish that all my thoughts got magically transferred on to the blog page, so I wouldn't have to type at all. Sadly, that technology hasn't been invented yet...or maybe I'm just a lazy schmuck). Oh how could I forget! The population! The motherfucking population started blowing up! For some reason people started humping each other like crazy and started making millions of babies in some kind of a desperate charade. My point being that planet Earth's resources had started depleting at a much faster pace now. Fast enough to cause some concern.
      Just to clear something up. You must be wondering why I've been rambling about planet Earth's resources for a while now. (I wouldn't be surprised if you're going 'Shove those god damn resources up your god damn arse - laughs). Bear with me. Be a little patient. I'm getting there (Again, no pun intended - laughs). As we move into the 1990s and perhaps the early 2000s, things started to BOOM! Yes, it was that big a boom. An explosion in your face, if you will. Cultural changes, landline phones, computers and operating systems, cell phones, transportation, aeroplanes, televisions, weapons, strip clubs...Wait what! No, I'm just kidding (laughs), oil companies, and finally... the Internet! Changes, changes everywhere. And yet, the humping went on and on. The population went north and kept going north because of humans' strange addiction to humping and procreating. Now, there was some serious concern about the Earth's resources being depleted in a big way. (Oh fuck! Not the resources again! Right? - laughs).
      Alright, let us fast forward to today. What is the world like today? Well, I can tell you the answer in simply three words. Really fucked up (laughs). There have been some huge cultural changes. Everything is becoming more and more globalized. And the world seems to be getting smaller by the day. No no, not just in our heads, but also physically. Yes, we are sucking the Earth's resources like there's no tomorrow. And soon enough, there will in fact be no tomorrow. Ahh, the sweet sweet apocalypse. So, some things that are very popular right now are smartphones, tablets (No no, not drugs. Touchscreen slates. Get your minds out of the 27th dimension, stoners - laughs), computers, laptops, gadgets like gaming consoles, music players, high resolution high definition televisions, blah blah blah. And almost everything computerizable (that's not a word I know. It should be) is becoming or has become computerized! You name it. Shopping, watching movies, playing games, listening to music, pornography (couldn't resist typing that here, sorry), dating, marriages (yes, even finding a bride/bridegroom), ordering food, doing business, chatting, gambling, blogging (Oh wait - laughs) and I could go on and on unto eternity! All thanks to the Internet and the incredible speed at which computerization is happening. This has become so insane that, believe it or not, our emotions have become intertwined with the internet and computers! It is only a matter of time before computers are intelligent enough to make us their bitches. And sooner or later, they will not need us anymore and they will annihilate us all. Anyway, my apologies for digressing. You see, now I'm going to explain the whole Earth's resources being eaten up thing. Today, the population of the Earth has crossed over 7.2 billion humans. And that does not even include the animals, birds, fishes, insects, plants and other organisms that inhabit the Earth. We are using up the Earth's resources so fast that now we have a reason to be majorly concerned. Soon enough, there will be so few resources left that everything will become unreasonably expensive and life will become bloody fucking hell (the opening of Pandora's box, if you will). Everyone will start keeping a tab on what they purchase, what they eat, how much they eat, how much petrol, fuel and oil they consume, how many kids they make, how much land they own, and so on. Am I exaggerating? You may think so. And I wish I was. But sadly, I believe I'm not. Some day, this is bound to happen. Sustaining life on Earth is going to become...I can't think of a word that is good enough to describe it's fucked-up-ness (that's not a word I know, and it should be). So let me ask you this once again. Where are we going? We're going nowhere. And we're all going to die. Peace.
      Thank you all, once again, for reading this joyous and inspirational passage. I'm sure that you are so overwhelmed that you're puking rainbows and bleeding drops of honey (hello again, stoners - laughs).No, I was kidding. This has been a depressing passage and it has probably crushed your ambition and will to live. Sorry about that. My bad. And your bad too. Because I warned you that this is going to be a deep-shit kind of passage (laughs).
      Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you learned something new! I'm going to call it a night now (and it is night. What a coincidence -  laughs). Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Good night.