Enemies

What is the deal with enemies? Is it a person you hate? Or is it a person who is out to ensure you do badly in everything? I know a few people who believe that a friend’s enemy is an enemy. And that is final. They might not even know the person, but they’re an enemy, for better or worse. I've had my fair share of experiences with 'enemies'. People who are jealous of my math marks, or hate the fact that I get picked over them for debate. But again, does that make them MY enemy? Is it symmetric?

A few people completely hate me, for highly trivial issues.  As of now I’m indifferent, does that still make me his enemy? Argh! It’s so idiotic, today’s society. Everyone hates everyone. Iraq hates America, Pakistan hates India and everyone hates the Australian Cricket Team. Even in today’s children circles, everyone hates everyone. If they aren’t open about, be sure that stealth late night conversation is taking place between two people with nothing but scorn in their hearts.

But does that mean we must not hate? Or that we must have greater tolerance level? How much of a tolerance level ensures we won’t be a door mat? Argh! Too many questions. But I guess if there was only love- love, joy  -joy in the air then it would be plain scary, a bit boring as well.

Today’s society has so many groups. There are the ‘cool’ ones (Note the sarcasm), there are the ‘smart’ ones, there are the ‘I don’t care about anything’ ones, there are the ‘where’s the party?’ ones, there are the ‘we rock’ ones and then comes the mix. But I sense there is more of love for one’s group and hatred for another’s. The cool can’t stand the smart and the we rock, and vice versa. India is said to possess a demographic dividend. If this is what we indulge in, then what’s the point? We will probably be able to boast of a media with the most amount of gossip per second. The animosity, it’s scary.

It reminds me of blind superstitions. But then again, that might be just me.

Math!

Mathematics. A world of rules made by no one and everyone. It’s a maze filled with greater than, lesser than, equal to and square root symbols. All you have in your itinerary are the big four - + , - , x , / . Problems come your way and you have mere minutes to deal with each one. But the beauty about math is that you can attack the problem from where ever you want; from the middle, and work your way both ways, or from the back to the front. Or you can follow the old fashion way of doing it from the start to the end – Boring :) .  When faced with a question mark, attack it with an exclamation mark, and if that doesn’t work, pray.

Who said you can’t cheat in math? The same way you write really BIG answers in history when you don’t know an answer, you can ‘cheat’ in math. Vedic Math! Who said you have to multiply 35 into 35 to know the answer? Who said you have to divide 11/7 to know the answer? Who said you have to multiply 14 into 1234534354 to know the answer? Oh, wait, that you have to do :).

But if all fails you, pray. Pray like you’ve never prayed before and like you never will pray again. If you’re lucky, a light bulb will flash. Else, in the words of an Australian, “Good Luck, Mate!”  

As for me, I have my board exam two days from now. My math board exam : The exam in which I MUST get above 97, or else, hide my head deep under the surface of the earth. Certain people I know will never let me forget it, NEVER. And remember, Decimals have a point ;).

Conscience.

Its all consuming.

It suffocates a person the same way a plastic bag does.

It is praised; compared to God even.

It is unjust, betraying those who lay their trust in it.

It is honored, and proclaimed to be greater than anything one could ask for.

It is unholy, arising only to stifle the growth of such as any of us.

It is deadly, only because we put so much faith into it.

It is said to be essential in leading a happy life;

It is the reason I’m bleaugh today.

What is it? That’s the million dollar question. It is none other than the highly praised Conscience. . A Conscience that consumes suffocates and is as deadly as deadly can be.

I wait to see the day it comes to my rescue, that is, if that day ever comes.

    The Sexes.

A mystery. Women. A Fog. Men. The war of the sexes has been around for many years, but its one that will be around for many many more years. Why? How can one defeat an opponent one does not understand? Men fail to comprehend the existence of women, other than those of their assets. Women on the other hand feel they have completely understood men, when indeed, they too are in the same boat men are in.

A woman is a truly unique creature. Unique, that is, for a man. She puts unheard of importance in the most trivial things. And expects men to be just like her girl friends. Women are indeed unique. They choose Oprah over wrestling and condemn the latter. Better still, they condemn those who watch the latter. They fail to understand that men and women aren’t the same. They fail to realize that Men are oranges and Women, peaches. The battle of the sexes is not really a battle. The men are fighting with the women on their terms, on their ideas, on things THEY give importance to. On the other hand, women are the doing the exact same thing, just from their perspective.

A man. What is he? He is more of a rational creature, but I may be biased. He is insensitive to a large extent. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care for the other person, or women in particular. Its just that men don’t give as much importance to ‘feelings’. A woman would find that hard to understand, and I understand that. Men are oranges and Women are peaches. Man is probably a tad bit more immature as compared to women, but then again, whose is it to say what’s immature and what’s not? If maturity is based on sound thinking, logical conclusions and not worrying about unnecessary problems, then men are more mature by a huge way. But if maturity is understanding another’s feelings, knowing how to deal with them and not hurting another emotionally or otherwise, then women take the cake. If its both, then both men and women have a lot to learn.

My thoughts are devised from my own personal experiences with men and women. If a woman or a man disagrees with me, then they must understand that not all men and women are the same. And that brings us to our next point, we must not generalize. We must not say boy A is like this, thus, all boys are like this. The minute we call boys insensitive, we’ve lost the bait. Note, that’s what I’ve done in the above two paragraphs and you either agreed or disagreed with those views. Each individual is different. I know many a guy who is more sensitive than some girls I know. And I know a girl who is more of a guy than most guys. You probably want these persons’ numbers. I don’t blame you.

Now, is it wrong for a guy to be sensitive. Sensitive to his feelings, that is. The minute a guy takes offence at something, its a trait to be laughed at by girls. The very same thing said to a girl would ensure a guy a nice, clean slap across his face. But when a girl says it to a guy, and he takes offence, its okay. Its works the other way around, as well. But I guess I'm not well experienced in that, so I'll keep me thoughts to meself.

That brings me to my last question. What do girls want? Do they want the mean ‘badboy’ on a harley. Or do they want the poet who can write romantic poems for them and understand their feelings completely. Or do they want both? The grim reality is that neither exists, or if they do, they’re taken. I believe you accept me as Nikhil. Or you accept me not, I’ll live.