On turning 38 & what they don’t teach you at the institute called life!

Ya, that’s me on the left. Cheers! Sometimes I wish there was a printer attached to my head so that all the thoughts which comes to my mind as I jog, walk, drive gets printed out by press of a button or click of a mouse.

The above statement in a way paraphrases the inertia, which we have got into because of our innate need as a human race to fulfill all our wishes. I am not saying it is negative, if we as a human being didn’t have the desire to fulfill that need, we would not have reached the moon, discovered the cure for malaria, build bridges and prevented earth quakes.

While the above-mentioned example have a life / society / world level changes we hardly get to listen / read / understand these things. Let me explain, in last 10 days I have been hearing of this innovation done by Nike – wherein a sensor is attached to the shoes which gets linked to the ipod and as you jog you can not only hear your “jog playlist” which pumps you up. After you finish jogging you will know how many calories you have burnt, sounds great. Even I got tempted.

But then as I was driving past the hoarding when a begging bowl was thrust at me by a 5 year old in tattered rags, in one of the traffic signal. Suddenly, I had a reality check. What about those children in India who are walking the street naked without shoes and for all you know some of these kids would be making these shoes.

At one level, It’s bizarre – why can’t Nike spend money in creating a shoe for 50/- there is enough people in the world who will lap it up. There is potential, as we all have read in bottom of the pyramid so why would Nike not touch this segment with a barge pole. I guess because the top of the pyramid is too lucrative too let go. And that is point I was trying to make when we started out.

I feel our life is revolving too much around the periphery, superficial needs created not because it’s life and death or core to our reason of existence but because it helps us to live life comfortably…but essentially it’s cottoning our brains with layers and layers of inertia and slowly we will be so comfortable in that cocoon that only a jolt will bring us out

Most of the inventions are a result of a focus group discussions of the expected needs of a person which is actually our superficial side and it lists down the expectations / desires and sometime fantasies. If somebody asks me “will you be happy if there is a button which if you press before u enter the house so that everything is exactly in order”. I would be tempted to say “YES” but I will say “NO”.

Because life is not about listening to music while jogging, it’s about running. Writing this blog is as much hard work as writing my marketing presentation because it requires disciplining my mind – soul and heart to bring the right words in right intensity, which makes me, feel satisfied when I upload the same.

But most of us will let go because it is too much of an effort. Why? Isn’t there a dichotomy – you have used your intelligence and hard work to earn money and thanks to the technology (and our marketing inventiveness) we have created everything possible to be available at your finger tips so why the emptiness or a lack of reason for leaving.

Because most of us lack the discipline and that has been my biggest learning as I roll up my sleeves and cut the cake.

Objectivity without discipline is like when we went swimming in Phuket. Huge waves which swept us off our feet. We waited for them to come. Some of us swam underneath the wave to escape the fury but some of us got hurled back into the beach.

That was sea - this is your life. But the choice is always yours to make.

Sputnik Sweetheart & Murakami

Nice Name for a book. Isn’t it? Sputnik in Russian means “fellow traveler”. The book is written by Murakami (my current craze). The book is about a 22 year old girl who is in love with a woman who is 20 years older than her. Importantly, the book is also about a person who wants to be a writer.

When I read the first Murakami “Kafka on the shore” I found it, how should I put it – quirky, unusual, over the edge. It’s difficult to slot but there was something in that book which held me and somewhere I made a mental note – I wanna know this guy! I read about him on the net and discovered that – he and his wife used to run a jazz café in Japan and one day while seeing a baseball match he had a revelation that he can write. Rest as they say is history!

In the process of that discovery I read – Norwegian Wood, The wild sheep chase & now Sputnik Sweetheart. Norwegian Wood has been translated in 16 languages and he apparently has a cult following. And as it happens with cult following his writing won’t appeal to all.

What’s interesting about Murakami’s books is that, while every book has a different plot, the key protagonist and his character is almost the same – someone who thinks he is ordinary but he is lonely proud, well read – hence philosophical, not disillusioned but detached, doesn’t have a strong objectivity in terms where he wants to be in 2 yrs / 3 yrs but whatever he does tries to find a meaning, lot of growing up angst hence experiments with things.

Most of his books are in first person and since the characters are the same you almost feel like the author is trying to project you or take you along with him on certain episodes in life. The books although set in Japan, portrays the urban man-women relationship beautifully. Also every book has a very high intensity not in terms of plots / sub plots etc but in terms of the topic – Sputnik Lover is about an intense love of a women for a women & Norwegian Wood is about a man who loves a women who is engaged with somebody else, Kafka is about a boy who is run away from his home and his journey, The sheep chase is bizarre story of yes a sheep chase …I can’t explain but I loved it.

Although I was told, Sputnik Sweetheart is not one of his best books, according to me, it is probably the best in terms of his usage of the language / metaphors / words which is not his typical style. Imagine linking the non-existent life of a satellite (read empty shell), which is rotating around the earth because it can’t exercise his choice to a relationship where two people are constant companions but actually empty shells …just tied to each other because they don’t want to exercise their choice.

I kept awake for a long time after I read the book…..trying to conclude – Was it my current state of my mind? Or was it the author in me, which was shaken up. Let me sleep over it....I think I will end up picking up my next Murakami.