Individuality and how we are losing it

Mark Zuckerberg – Time magazine’s person of the year 2010 , is probably the fourth most recognized geek in this world after Bill Gates , Steve Jobs, Sheldon Cooper. Ever since his brainchild ” The Facebook ” was launched , it has not only captured people’s interest, it has made them switch loyalties(from orkut) and has even made them act like  prisoners – writing on walls, get poked by people you don’t know.  A multi million dollar movie did his company no harm as the visibility of Facebook grew by leaps and bounds. People started connecting more , connecting to this entity – a man’s work of art in just white and blue ,perhaps more so because of the mesmerizing silver screen  . His reputation took a dent though, as Zuckerberg was often related to as a man who was ruthless and as someone who would go any distance to get what he wants. Mark Zuckerberg might be the bespectacled Computer geek , but he surely knew his history. Success has always beckoned people who were ruthless and meticulous in their approach and Mark Zuckerberg was no different . Brought up in a Jewish household , he has come a long way from his upbringing – someone who had his bar mitzhvah at the age of 13 to someone who slaughtered goats and pigs at the age of 26 as part of the sustainable living project.

Now the intent of this piece was not to bring to light information which Wikipedia will gladly oblige. The idea is to highlight how the  routine of  almost half the world is influenced by what a certain man thinks. The swagger is undeniable and the love is unquestionable – like it or not , Mark Zuckerberg has entered our lives and has become a permanent resident. Facebook status messages now reflect the pulse of a person better than his actual demeanor  and heated discussions ranging from politics to cricket find its common roof under Facebook. Slowly but gradually, the world is moving towards a new kind of social system – one where people’s popularity are gauged by the number of likes for their status posts . Smart comments are seen as ways to stamp superiority . Some people are tagged , others targeted. Facebook applications calculate Friendship , Love , Hate and even predict who is going to kill you! Some of them are funny and are supposed to be swallowed like those tonnes of tablets that we have been taking in since childhood .Again , there is always someone with a hiccup or two. Every event has an update – be it a trip to the cinemas or even a barber shop . People are slowly being driven by what others ‘like’ and perceive as good and not what they actually stand up for or represent. Ofcourse there are a million instances that will contradict my statement.  A not so typical ‘What if ‘ would be the perfect answer to that.  What if it was just a way to say they stand up for it(probably not fully) and they are proud of it and they want you to recognize the pride? A partial belief can be interpreted as fanaticism with just a few powerful statements. Should this madness end? Are we acting like puppets to this invisible hand which is guiding us towards a world where people are inching towards living two personalities? One what they actually are and the other which they want the world to perceive. Or is it just a hypochondriac doing what he does best? Over reacting to a situation which is non-existent?  Just take a minute to analyze what life was before the advent of the blue and white of Facebook. Imagine .

The truth however is that,in our attempt to connect with millions we are implicitly losing our individuality and idiosyncrasies to something that is non-tangible . Science has indeed taken over.

This blog post could actually be an attempt to garner more likes and increase my reputation in the new social scale . Is it because it is fashionable to go against the ‘ herd ‘ , or is it because I believe in what I said?  I don’t even want to know.

P.s. We all know the advantages of Facebook , i.e. Connecting people , etc. etc.  Its just too boring to write about how FB brings long lost brothers into contact and how it can be used for spreading messages. We all know that!

‘Royal’ ly massacred

Mumbai india had their colonoscopy performed by the rather enthused Rajasthan Royal clan. Opting to bat on a not so mysterious track, Sachin Tendulkar survived an absolute plumb lbw shout before struggling in one of his less fluent innings. Ofcourse Mumbai boast of  people like Kieron Pollard in their ranks, whom they use only in the name sheet. They have kept the big giant west Indian in Fixed deposit in Kumbakkonam Farmer’s bank and he looks worse than a rusted piece of metal with his club. Yes, he can hit. But Mumbai Indians are keen on restricting him to play station and video games alone. Which brings us to the second question of the day – If symonds is not batting nor bowling? Why is he playing? If the team management were of view Bhajji would get motivated, they have surely got it wrong .He got absolutely clobbered by Watson and ended with such a tiny face that he would have given the Smurfs some tough competition! Oh btw, Rohit Sharma was pretty good in his knock! Finally some responsibility taken up by the wasteful right hander!

Malinga’s slingas were hardly on target and he got taken apart by Mr.Watson . Watson was looking like a character taken out from Gladiator and sent into this time machine fast forwarded by few centuries to annihilate the Mumbai Indians. Annihilate he did. Turbanator was sent for three boundaries on the trot, Malinga couldnt’ stop smiling and Gavaskar started screaming more and more into the mic as the Mumbai Indians slipped towards another sorry defeat. Warne will take this farewell gift- he didn’t have to bat!  Should punjab beat DC and KKR beat mumbai ,  the IPL chapter will close at Wankhade after having promised so much.

Oh btw, I didnt’ see Nita Ambani today. Was she even there? And just a point , do MI always lose when Kieron Pollard misfields?!

#19

This comes from a ‘high’ or the ‘giddy’ of knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. Yes, the one they were seated on like a fat arsed crow refusing to budge. United have respectfully folded eight of their ten fingers and showed the twin towers right on Liverpool’s face .  The problem with statistics is that as an Aberdeen boss once said , they are like mini-skirts , they give you good ideas and hide the most important parts. Now,United have clearly torn those mini skirts into a thousand parts. Even if you take a look at it from thousand and one angles it is going to reveal only one thing , loud and clear – the naked truth . The truth that Manchester United are seated on top of the tree.  As pointed out by Football’s Saba Karmis and Navjoy singh siddus’  this United side might not be the most adventurous and glamorous side , but it is one of the more effective ones.

5 games that changed United’s season

1) United 1 – 0 Arsenal  at Old Trafford

A typical cagey encounter between two top of the table sides. United packed their midfield and Park-Ji-Sung drove home a finish from Korea with love.

2) United 1-0 Bolton at OT

Johnny Evans had a low IQ moment. Berbatov found himself feeling like Einstein of footballing world. 1-0 to the red devils .  It was late drama , btw!

3)  United 4 – 2 West ham Away

One of the united performances after pulling on the white colors. Trailing 2-0 at half time, United responded back like how they did against Tottenham a few seasons back.

4)United 3-2 Blackpool Away

Trailing 2-0 at half time. Hair dryer . 3-2 win. Yawn. A run of the mill story.

5) United 2 – 1 Chelsea

Touted to be the title decider , United took 30 seconds to take lead. 26 minutes to establish their credentials . 77 minutes to scare. 90 minutes to make SAF bow towards stretford end.

Cheers to the nineteenth !

Few Conclusions from CSK vs DD

Chennai Super Kings performed the last part of the vasectomy for Delhi in front of  their  ‘excited’  home crowd. Playing in front of a not so packed venue, where I was present live to witness the procedure ( Not that I am the chairman of selectors or something) , Chennai Super kings went about the ritual just like how it had been performed 10-12 times before in this month. Here are some of the conclusion :

1) In the prematch warm up session, Anirudha Srikkanth was running around the Chepauk stadium as though he was going to be fielding at Third man. After seeing the match , the number of times Srikkanth ran across the ground to serve water , we can understand why he took the pre-match exercise so seriously

2) Murali Vijay thinks he is the Hindu version of Santa Claus . The number of chances he gifts per game are as many as the number of sixes he scores per game!

3) CSK treat the IPL like gully cricket. Win the toss, bat first is their motto. Dhoni,their star player makes it a point to steal singles off the last ball . They call it ‘Gaaji’ in local language.

4) Ajit Agarkar 3.0 is the same as 2.0 is same as 1.0 . If he thinks he has found his line , length and rhythm back , he has to understand that cricket is played on Planet earth and not on Mars.

5) Just for around half an hour ,the entire city of chennai was gasping for its breath as Irfan Pathan was contributing to the game in a positive fashion. His last over however proved beyond doubt that he is one of Dhoni’s favourites. The ones he chooses to slaughter like a butcher in those road side Shops.

6) Irfan Pathan is India’s Misbah ul haq minus class plus delusions ( he thinks’ he is an all rounder).

7) Now that Sakshi Mahendra Singh Dhoni  is on board, can we see less of Joginder Sharma ? Even as a water boy, his contributions are poor. Let alone getting whacked all over the park.

8 ) Dwayne Bravo is the vertically challenged Kieron Pollard (while fielding atleast)

Conclusions from the footy world!

1) Javier Hernandez and the Goal line form the muggle equivalent of Priori Incantantem. They just cant’ get enough of each other.

2) Peter Crouch has taken the job of putting a team into Champions League every season quite personally. Last season it was Tottenham , this time it is Manchester city.

3)  Guys who have maggi noodles as hair are cute. They are cuter when they are angry. They are ‘ Choo chweet ‘ when they throw their hands up in the air and scream ” Hes not my Man ” . Ancelloti was not very impressed.

4) Maxi Rodriguez scored his second hat-trick in four games for Liverpool. In other news , Dexter has quit serial killing. And Ted has introduced his god-damned wife to his children , who were feeling a little bastardly.

5) Arsenal got their customary end of season thrashing. And this time, it was not from the children of UNICEF.