Genthu

On Story Telling

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Got this gem from Natasha Badhwar, who is a gifted story teller herself, on Twitter (follow her now). The quotes below are from Steve McCurry‘s (of the iconic Afghan Girl photo fame) wonderful blog.

The story was the bushman’s most sacred possession. These people knew what we do not; that without a story you have not got a nation, or culture, or civilization. Without a story of your own, you haven’t got a life of your own. — Laurens Van der Post

People did not wait until there was writing before they told stories and sang songs. — Albert Bates Lord

To be a person is to have a story to tell. — Isak Dinesen

Reminded me of a chapter from the wonderful book, “Soccer in Sun and Shadow” by Eduardo Galeano.

Have you ever entered an empty stadium? Try it. Stand in the middle of the field and listen. There is nothing less empty than an empty stadium. There is nothing less mute than stands bereft of people.

At Wembley, shouts from the ’66 World Cup which England won still resound, and if you listen very closely you can hear groans from 1953 when England fell to the Hungarians. Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium sighs with nostalgia for the glory days of Uruguayan football. Maracana is still crying over Brazil’s 1950 World Cup defeat.

At Bombonera in Buenos Aires, drums boom from half a century ago. From the depths of Azteca Stadium, you can hear the ceremonial chants of the ancient Mexican ball game. The concrete terraces of the Nou Camp in Barcelona speak Catalan, and the stands of San Mames in Bilbao talk in Euskera.

In Milan, the ghost of Giuseppe Meazza scores goals that shake the stadium bearing his name. The final of the ’74 World Cup, won by Germany, is played day after day and night after night at Munich’s Olympic Stadium.

The stadium of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia has marble and gold boxes and carpeted stands, but it has no memory or much of anything to say.

Random Post

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After slightly over a month, I will have come to the end of an amazing time at my current job, and start as a student at the Indian School of Business. Does that scare me? Yes. It’s natural. Not the best time to risk a stable job, and take on a lot of loan. But hey, I am up for it and hope it will be good. And hope, you know it’s a good thing.

As with Rahul, enthu at work has been low for me too. I had started moving out of an active role on most projects for the past couple of months, and am now just picking up small duration projects which I want to complete before I leave. It is wierd to go to the office when everyone knows I will be leaving in a month’s time and gives you the wierd look.

Most often people think you work hard because you like doing it, but that’s not entirely true. You do it because of the satisfaction a challenging project/task provides. I remember the feeling after the first good client feedback after I took up the challenge of building our Chem search team. That was something. Of course, I had some of the smartest people working with me and that made the task that much more enjoyable.

I hope I still able to motivate myself during this last 5 weeks, and keep myself going.

Random Notes

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Some random notes from the extended weekend I am enjoying.

  1. Andrew Symonds is an idiot. Why would you call another player a “lump of shit”? That too on air. That too when you take offense at someone calling you a monkey. And that comment about Hayden’s wife. Funny, but not done!!
  2. Slumdog Millionaire is a good movie. But it does not deserve to be in the Top 250. And 10 Oscar nominations. Are you kidding me?? Frieda Pinto looks good 🙂
  3. The Wrestler is another good movie. Bottom line – you need someone to talk to. The scene where he is getting a lap dance, but is clearly not interested in it, is very real.
  4. The Big Lebowski is as random movie as any. For me, it is the one that comes closest to Cool Hand Luke. Must Watch.
  5. Will also be watching Milk. 

So there. 3 movies down. A couple more to go. Now that time well spent.

Ten Random Things

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Rules of the game: Check if your name is at the end of this blog post. If so, type out a similar blog copy-pasting these rules. After that, list down 10 random things about yourself (that many do not know) and then tag 5 more people who have to do the same.

My List:

  1. I love doing nothing, and I mean nothing. Not even thinking. Just sit down and do nothing.
  2. I love walking. Also, I almost walk like Morpheus does in The Matrix – supremely aware of the people around me.
  3. Unlike Parul, I love being barefeet. In fact, I take off shoes at office in evenings. Once I almost got caught by our COO walking barefeet in office while he was showing clients around.
  4. I still can’t explain to my dad what I do for a living.
  5. I have a very short attention span. I can not work on something for very long.
  6. I am very bad with names – they just don’t stick.
  7. I love good music, but I hate musicals.
  8. I am a very light sleeper, and wake up to cellphones on vibration modes, and snores.
  9. I don’t understand why “Big Daddy” or “Independence Day” aren’t on the IMDB Top 250. For that matter I don’t understand why “A Clockwork Orange” is on it.
  10. I am a very biased person when it comes to liking sportspersons. I hate the Australian cricket team other than Warne and Lee. I like Schumi and hate Alonso. And I worship Tendulkar.

My Tags: Ojas