Titles are overrated. Cant think of one.

What if you were told you had only 3-4 healthy years ahead? What would you do? Would you be in the same relationship you are in? Would you stay in the same job? Would you live in the same house? Are there people you would call on more often or are there people you would avoid? Would you be more thankful of the time you have or would you turn cynical with each passing day? What choices would you make? Ask yourself - what would you do differently and then do it.

Anyway, I thought to pen down a few of life's lessons and many do's and don'ts (some from my experience, some from experiences of those around me).

1. The best people for you are the ones who bring out the best in you. Don't let them go.
2. We need atleast one person in our lives who thinks we are superman! :)
3. If you can still smile when thinking about it - it was worth it.
4. Never love too well.
5. Trust your instinct- always.
6. Drink lots of water.
7. Nobody worth possessing can be quite possessed. (borrowed from some famous dudette)
8. Dress up. Everyday.
9. Money doesnt buy happiness but it rents it well. :)
10. Exercise.
11. Sleep under the open skies once.
12. Give a baby a bath.
13. Go swim in the sea once.
14. Get yourself a dog, love it dearly.
15. Do something uncharacterstic of your own self some time.
16. Buy yourself a gift- celebrate your own success.
17. Watch a movie alone. Its liberating- in a weird way.
18. Get soaked in the rain. Enjoy it and dont run for shelter.
19. Go on a long drive with someone you enjoy a conversation with.
20. Laugh loudly.
21. Text friends- lots.
22. Confess your love.
23. Admit your follies to yourself and then forgive.
24. Tell someone they are your hero!
25. Listen to mummy.
26. Confide in someone.
27. Write your thoughts and revisit them months later. Its fun to get reintroduced to your own self of a decade back.
28. Play the fool sometime.
29. Dance with abandon.
30. Buy me a teddy bear.
31. Go picnicing.
32. Leave your worries by the pillowside.
33. Listen to someone else's collection of music.
34. Explore. Travel. Learn. And yes, try the local cuisine.
35. Play sports. esp. basket ball (and avoid cricket).
36. Forgive and don't carry a grudge.
37. Fight the establishment.
38. Be true to your own self.
39. At a party make conversation with the one who looks the most lost/lonely.
40. Never make anyone feel small.
41. Read comic books.
42. Never drag a dead relationship. Or hold on to someone who isnt there.
43. Tried and tested by almost all I know : If you love someone let them go. if they come back, they are yours, if not they never will be.
44. Never trust a man fully who lies to his own mother.
45. Keep the faith.
46. Cultivate the art of writing and reading
47. If someone gives you a compliment- donot contradict. Accept it. Graciously.
48. Read a holy book.
49. Spend a day without looking at the watch. Just keep your own time.
50. Learn some jokes.
51. Sing.
52. Be the life of the party.
53. Never apologise for your tears or your feelings.
54. Study hard.
55. Get up early in the morning.
56. Watch the sun rise once with someone you love.
57. Once, just once, love lavishly someone more than they love you.
58. Succeed graciously and lose admirably. Hate losing.
59. Give compliments.
60. Never let a few rupees keep you from doing what you want to do.
61. Dare I say- splurge once in a while :)
62. Write letters.
63. Be organised.
64. Stand up for what you believe in. Never compromise on what you believe in.
65. Find yourself a passion.
66. Take a break from it all.
67. Smile and let it reach your eyes.
68. Say good morning cheerfully. Mean it.

Give title, win reward

Right now, I don't have anything to say. But since when has that stopped me from talking to you.

Okay so got the first para down. First paragraph kahan hai?- you ask. Sir jii, upar hai. Two lines do a para make (err or some thing like that.) Still the question remains what should I talk about? Mature topics like Union Budget (papa paise bhejo, stock market mein nuksaan ho gaya), global recession (and how long will we have to wait before asking for a raise) etc. come to mind. But then who am I kidding! For a person whose sole source of daily news is the facebook status updates of overzealous high-IQ friends such topics can safely be ignored.

I mean I am sure loads can (and will) be written on Federer beating u-know-who and winning u-know-what and breaking u-know-'em records; but let’s leave it to those who care. I am as much interested in Federer's win as you would be in estimating the length of Kareena Kapoor's hemline in Kambhakt Ishq or evaluating the sociological psychological impact of legalised lesbian weddings on young teen age boys in Bihar and South Delhi.

Did you see Khambhakt Ishq by the way? Awesome movie. A definite must watch. It is sooo shweeet. Akshay keeps making cute crass jokes and Kareena keeps pretending she can act. Between the two, they display all prominent fashion labels and make you realize good fashion is not to wear anything too much - make up, clothes - sab kam se kam hone chaiye. Barely-there types. The songs are any music lover's delight and you would want to fast forward err rewind each and every one of them. So make sure you catch it today- even if it means bunking a client call, leaving the office before your boss or ignoring your girl friends' calls.

Btw have you ever done that? Leaving the office before your boss, that is. That brings me to another question: Have you ever worked in a 'La-la' company? These days, post placements at ISB, we are all busy exchanging notes on who got the cooler laptop, stupider boss and grosser coworkers. Sometimes we also talk about our roles as well and how much strategic impact will we be making to the company, its bottomline, its clients, its customers, the Indian economy and the world at large. (We are all not that petty all the time you know.)

Anyhoo (I like this word. Anyhoo. Say it aloud in your mind. Stress on the hoo part. Hold the ‘oo’ longer than 2 seconds. Doesn't it make you smile? No. Well okay it must be just me then. I find ‘anyhoo’ cute.) Any hoo, while making these comparisons and comparing notes sometimes a phrase crops up. 'Meri toh Lala company hai yaar, damn it'. The speaker with a pained look etched on his face looks around for support and comfort – much like I did while watching Kambhakt Ishq (mast movie hai, dekhna zaroor). Immediately concerned voices come up with stuff like:

Stuff 1:(confessional 'me-too same-boat-sailing' counseling) "Yarr meri bhi" and both start comparing the lala-ness of their respective companies and we watch waiting for the bigger lala to emerge victorious.

Stuff 2:(motivational 'recession-going soon, resume banai-ing, job badal-ing, yaar’ counseling) Economist is quoted and so is Wall Street Journal (Well, not really. Simply because we assume whatever our analysis is, it must match the experts. And if it doesn't, we are positive they will correct their misjudgements soon.) The discussion then veers to resume rebuilding tips, cursing placement season, are there news jobs in the market, cursing placement season, how we should renetwork again, cursing placement season, debating when recession will get over, cursing placement season. Incase you haven’t figured out my contribution in all such discussions is - yes you got it- cursing placement season.

Stuff 3: (mocking 'Really!-how unfortunate-my company is great-check my latest blackberry-company ne diya hai' counseling) Yes, sometimes someone comes up with that and it is always greeted by cold stone silence, awkward glances, shaking of heads, an occasional disapproval cough, clandestine abusive smses aimed at the speaker and few ‘oh-hmmms’. We all 'hmmm' to this monologue and then move on to topics that are slightly less apealing than KK's hemlines. But yes, the damage is done. Mental notes are made and exchanged that this guy shouldn’t be invited to the next meet. People try to recollect who got the bozo here in the first place. Silently the group stares at the unfortunate dude and he squirms, avoids eye contact for the rest of the evening. Typical in-group/outgroup thing this is.*

But ain’t I digressing. My original question was: Have you worked for a ‘lala company’? ‘La-la’ here is not the truncated ‘tra –la-la’ of the Buffalo Soldier song. The'Lala' here is…

Shh …cant talk now. Zoom TV (‘isko dekho’ tagline wala ) is playing suuperhit Kambhakt Ishq’s most melodious song of 2009 – Bebo Main Bebo. Have to watch this. Will continue the ‘lala’ post later.

Bebo main bebo..dil mera le lo.. la-la-la-lala..la-la-la lala

*will explain the ‘ingroup-outgroup’ phenomena later.**

** Bebo ki song aa rahi hai yaar abhi. Dekhne de.