Rants due to the distresses of a vacation

Catching up with friends of the yonder has become a tedious job now. Suddenly I have to put up with monosyllabic replies from those who used to talk loquaciously (at least not the extreme of being monosyllabic).
What is it that has changed?

1. Is it me?
   
2. Is it my attitude?
3. Is it the whole deal?

This is the conversation that typically happens -
Me/Them - How are you?
Them/Me
(If the reply is "hmmm ... fine", there it goes for a toss and forget catching up)
This is a typical defensive reply implying "I am okay and do not wish to divulge/share the details of my own life".
This reply can be delayed by deliberate additions of "Who are you", "What are you doing here", "Long time yaar" etc etc.
Me/Them - How is work?
(Again if the reply is "hmmm .. fine", it means that yet another thread for opening a conversation is lost. I don't try and neither do they)

Lessons learnt -

1. Catching up means like a cultivation. Without the regular watering and tilling, the soil won't produce cauliflowers (a flower, still)
2. If you have not caught up, try as soon as possible. But in my case, my conversations have dried up and I have not picked up the skills of how to keep a conversation fertile.
   
3. I have lost and have stopped catching up. I always see the same question in my mind - "On what pretext should I talk? What do I speak with them?"
4. Friendship is an effort and distance not only separates them but also their lives, from me. There is always an implicit need to keep that connection with their lives. Once the connection is lost, all such conversations become superficial and baseless without the "masala" that I used to share.
   
5. Friendship can become a chore more often than not it can become a useless chore.

All throughout I just remember one song that has pestered me long enough. Verbatim copy of lyrics, now make much more sense now.

Champagne Supernova / Oasis

How many special people change
How many lives are living strange
Where were you when we were getting high?
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannon ball
Where were you while we were getting high?

Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova in the sky

Wake up the dawn and ask her why
A dreamer dreams she never dies
Wipe that tear away now from your eye
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannon ball
Where were you when we were getting high?

Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova in the sky

Cos people believe that they're
Gonna get away for the summer
But you and I, we live and die
The world's still spinning round
We don't know why
Why, why, why, why

How many special people change
How many lives are living strange
Where were you when we were getting high?
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannon ball
Where were you while we were getting high?

Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova in the sky

Cos people believe that they're
Gonna get away for the summer
But you and I, we live and die
The world's still spinning round
We don't know why
Why, why, why, why

How many special people change
How many lives are living strange
Where were you when we were getting high?
We were getting high
We were getting high
We were getting high
We were getting high

Rants of the misguided nature

Days before the election day in Bangalore a billboard on the road exclaims -
"YOU are the reason why we are ashamed of ourselves. Change that and don't forget to vote this time"

Excuse me, I am the reason why some crapbag is ashamed of himself. Much fun came along. Perhaps they meant that we should be ashamed of ourselves for constituting such a lackadaisical political setup. That is why we should go ahead and vote and constitute an incrementally better setup this time.

But am I offended, yes. Everytime I see this billboard. Gosh my english sucks.

Fights of logic in a vacation

Scene - 1
Vacationing in Sringeri (a Jyotirmath) and on a dip in the nearby river of Tunga.
Scene - 2
Perfectly undressed (with the undergarments on, I mean) man jumps for the water with shampoo on his hands, waiting to be applied on his head.
Scene - 3
Lets call the man, TM (troublemaker). TM's wife (TMW) calls out loud in an endearing tone (for her husband) which more than reveals a fear inside (of the guard sitting beside) and says

TMW - TMji don't use shampoo or soap, otherwise the guard will do some galatta (create a scene)
TM - No it does not matter (and rinses his hair and his action is perfectly coordinated with the movement of the guard's neck away from the river)

Me - Sir, please don't do that. Like you there are zillions, like me, who like to and love to take a holy dip in these waters (and do their pujas etc).
TM - How much difference (damage he should have said) can the amount of shampoo, on my head, can make?
Me - (Boom, baah, bust) I mumble. Can I say that the 8 grams of shampoo on your head causes a damage of Rs. 1000 worth of aquatic life.

Lessons learnt -

1. Economics - Had it worked?
   
2. People - Only driven by fear, ruckus and not logic.
   
3. Education - My education is not helping me and most importantly his education is not making him aware as well.
   

What the heck?