Di Wa Lee

The evil Ra Wang joined his fist to palm and muttered ‘I bow to thee master. You are God lee!’ as he took his last breath lying outside his fort at Liangzhou. His 9 other heads looked on in confusion until all his 20 eyes shut for good. Lord Rang smiled with a glimmer of divine forgiveness in his eyes. His ‘arm of god’ move had done the trick, killing the demon who had kidnapped his wife.

He then handed over the kingdom to V.B.Chang, the younger brother of Ra Wang and headed back to his kingdom at Anyang in Northern China. Lord Rang was going home after serving a penance of 14 years of exile. During course of which, he along with his brother Lax Ming and wife Xi Ta toured innumerable jungles of southern China, lived a life of abstinence and sucker punched innumerable monsters. 

When the news of Lord Rang’s return reached home at Anyang, celebrations were in the air. And so were fireworks. The scent of gunpowder and incense filled the air as households brewed lavish feasts with generous amounts of Ajinomoto. The streets were adorned with Chinese lamps of all shapes and sizes. From little spherical red lamps to gigantic Dragon shaped lanterns, the city was a staggering display of lamps and light. Children and elders alike, gathered and chanted Di wa lee, we’re happy our king has returned. 

The festival would go on to be known as Diwali, the festival of lights. And till this date, Chinese fireworks fill the skies, Chinese lamps fill streets and Chinese flickering lights twinkle at homes, even in India. To be more specific, especially in India. The only thing, left Indian about Diwali was the legend around it. So I thought of doing the honours. Now let’s take it all the way by exchanging boxes of chicken Manchurian and wishing each other Di wa lee!

What's on your mind, what's happening, etc.

Social media has very often been projected in many ways. But here, the point I’m trying to make is how social media actually makes us altruistic.  And no, I’m not talking about those pictures you can share to save an elephant’s life or that like button you can hit to kick a corrupt police officer. I am talking about how social media has made every event and moment in our lives worth sharing.

When you see a beautiful landscape, you no more sit back and enjoy it as the selfish you in the pre-social media era would. Instead you incessantly click pictures to show the world how beautiful the scenery is. Such is our unselfishness that we don’t just show them one or two pictures but 700 pictures of the same place. And we don’t stop at places. We know the sufferings of those who can’t enjoy the same delicacies as us, so we instagram their pictures, add a filter and click pictures of coffee to help them overcome the boredom inflicted by 700 pictures of the same place.

We are so inclusive even in our celebrations that when the football team we support scores, we don’t just selfishly celebrate at home, we celebrate with the world by tweeting “YESSS!!!“  or putting up a facebook status like ‘What a goal!!!’ Or even better, we like or comment on such statuses to join the party. We are now in an era where we like things we used to merely acknowledge before. That’s how concerned we are about other’s feelings.

Some people take benevolence to another level altogether by helping their toddlers and pets express themselves and share their experiences (or what is believed to be their experiences) through specially opened accounts for them. The other day a friend’s 2 year old son replied to one of my tweets. The kid has grown so fast! Now if only, my friend would.

Our compassion breaks all boundaries and touches an all new high when we even acknowledge the needs of stalkers. While walking into a restaurant, we just don’t walk in. We put up updates on Foursquare as a noble gesture. Because we understand that stalkers too, have feelings.

Inclusiveness is the key in today’s world. Meeting one person does not make us forget the rest of the world. We continue chatting with the rest of the world on our smartphones after greeting that person. Our lives are not just our lives, they are several parallel Big Boss/Big Brother shows that play non-stop on computer and smart phone screens across the globe. And it is our duty to do everything possible to keep it entertaining and fun as a service to mankind.

Now that I’m done with penning down my personal views, I will go ahead and do a selfless act of shouting about it on all possible social media. Thanks for reading. Please join the selflessness by sharing.

Me

Since when did I turn a deaf year to the tides.
Since when did Sunset become a stranger.
I don’t remember our last conversation.
But since when did I stop talking to me?

Was I running behind dreams
or fighting my insecurities?
Either way, I was stuck in a vicious circle.
But why did I turn a deaf ear to me?

Friends became facebook profiles
and numbers I never dialled.
I have no complaints, I was always a loner.
But I wonder when I ‘unfriended’ me.