There were days I used to eagerly look forward to watch a movie. That too in a theater. No proper flooring in the theater, just sand spread on the ground, front bench ticket for a meager 50 paise, language no bar - Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil or even a Telugu "purana" movie will do, ending with comedy or tragedy or even with no proper ending - any thing will do. Going and sitting in that environment itself was thrilling for me. Once my uncle took me for Rajesh Khanna starrer "Haathi Mera Saathi" in "Star" theater, one of the best in town. To our bad luck by the time we reached the ticket counter, that merciless fellow shut the window saying "houseful". That shut my hopes of watching that elephant with equally "huge" Rajesh Khanna those days. I started crying, my uncle did not know what to do. He had to take me to another Hindi movie to another near-by theater "Royal" talkies. Those benches there were empty for obvious reason, some "ugly" hero had acted in that movie with no elephant around. My uncle would have slept through the whole show, though I watched every scene with so much of interest.
My daughter shook me up while I was snoring. While I was sitting comfortably in "Shankar Nag Chitramandira" on MG Road. Others were watching one of those "Harry Potter" movies while I was sleeping. I thought it was time for popcorn and coke. To my disappointment I still saw those weird animals and human beings on the screen. I went back to my sleep. Yes, my priorities have changed. I am no more interested in watching movies in a theater. For that matter I struggle hard to watch part of a movie on any screen at home.
That "Bismillah" hotel manager used to give a dirty look at me when ever I used to go and stand in front of the hotel. He had every reason to do so. There were delicious vadas and other fried items nicely displayed in that glass almara at the front itself. A lean fellow, 12 years of age, seemed to be starving for days together, staring at those nice food items, can raise a doubt or two in anybody's mind. That too in the afternoon during lunch time. Little he knew that I had rushed there and stood in front of his hotel to hear the afternoon news in his loud, tall and broad radio - even not bothering to take my lunch during that break. To know whether GR Viswanath and Farookh Engineer managed to take the final day of that cricket match to a draw in Australia ! I knew only what scores meant, did not have a clue as how one used to bowl or bat, forget about a little advanced things like square cuts and googlies ! On holidays, I used to listen to cricket commentary at home in that expensive valve radio by Philips. To hear from commentators like Suresh Surayya who were more excited than the players themselves. That too tapping gently and at times harshly on the left upper side of that monstrous radio. In between overs to enable that fellow to receive signals properly. That was the level of craze for my cricket those days.
Now the story is different. Whether Chris Gayle hits sixer for every other ball, whether he dances in "gannam" style". Whether those ladies - who do not know the game of cricket like many others in the stadium - jump up and down cheering for fours and sixers. Whether MS Dhoni coolly wins or loses for India. I am not able to watch two overs continuously on the screen at home, forget about going and sitting in that crowd. I would take a break in between and impatiently look forward to those final two overs of the match.
There were days when I had coded round the clock to complete the interface between mainframe and CNC machines. Now I am not interested to spend even five minutes to write a simple piece of code to display "hello world" on the screen.
These are just a few examples. I had developed and then lost interest in many such things as time progressed.
Does that mean I lost interest in every other thing in life ? Getting ready to attain the "nirvana" state? The answer is a big no. I still enjoy food at Adiga's Restaurant as I used to at SriKrishna Cafe in my town, till the last bite. I still enjoy driving not only on highways after paying hefty tolls, but also on those narrow lanes of Shivaji nagar by honking continuously. I continue to read to know the new technology trends.There are many such items which are routine, but I still enjoy.
Haven't I developed interest in new things? Many. I started watching stock market, do my own research not to lose much money there ! I experiment some new recipes in the kitchen. Of late my interest is in looking continuously at FB or Twitter to know what is happening around. To continuously post, like, comment, share, follow and what not. I am not sure how long these would last before I jump into newer and totally different things.
Yes, it is quite natural that my priorities will change in time due to various reasons. I might lose interest in some. I might develop interest in some. I will forcefully continue to show interest in some.
But, it is important for me to pursue one or two key interests relentlessly, passionately, come what may happen. And try to stay fully focused on those throughout. That will help me say - yes, I am happier.
My daughter shook me up while I was snoring. While I was sitting comfortably in "Shankar Nag Chitramandira" on MG Road. Others were watching one of those "Harry Potter" movies while I was sleeping. I thought it was time for popcorn and coke. To my disappointment I still saw those weird animals and human beings on the screen. I went back to my sleep. Yes, my priorities have changed. I am no more interested in watching movies in a theater. For that matter I struggle hard to watch part of a movie on any screen at home.
That "Bismillah" hotel manager used to give a dirty look at me when ever I used to go and stand in front of the hotel. He had every reason to do so. There were delicious vadas and other fried items nicely displayed in that glass almara at the front itself. A lean fellow, 12 years of age, seemed to be starving for days together, staring at those nice food items, can raise a doubt or two in anybody's mind. That too in the afternoon during lunch time. Little he knew that I had rushed there and stood in front of his hotel to hear the afternoon news in his loud, tall and broad radio - even not bothering to take my lunch during that break. To know whether GR Viswanath and Farookh Engineer managed to take the final day of that cricket match to a draw in Australia ! I knew only what scores meant, did not have a clue as how one used to bowl or bat, forget about a little advanced things like square cuts and googlies ! On holidays, I used to listen to cricket commentary at home in that expensive valve radio by Philips. To hear from commentators like Suresh Surayya who were more excited than the players themselves. That too tapping gently and at times harshly on the left upper side of that monstrous radio. In between overs to enable that fellow to receive signals properly. That was the level of craze for my cricket those days.
Now the story is different. Whether Chris Gayle hits sixer for every other ball, whether he dances in "gannam" style". Whether those ladies - who do not know the game of cricket like many others in the stadium - jump up and down cheering for fours and sixers. Whether MS Dhoni coolly wins or loses for India. I am not able to watch two overs continuously on the screen at home, forget about going and sitting in that crowd. I would take a break in between and impatiently look forward to those final two overs of the match.
There were days when I had coded round the clock to complete the interface between mainframe and CNC machines. Now I am not interested to spend even five minutes to write a simple piece of code to display "hello world" on the screen.
These are just a few examples. I had developed and then lost interest in many such things as time progressed.
Does that mean I lost interest in every other thing in life ? Getting ready to attain the "nirvana" state? The answer is a big no. I still enjoy food at Adiga's Restaurant as I used to at SriKrishna Cafe in my town, till the last bite. I still enjoy driving not only on highways after paying hefty tolls, but also on those narrow lanes of Shivaji nagar by honking continuously. I continue to read to know the new technology trends.There are many such items which are routine, but I still enjoy.
Haven't I developed interest in new things? Many. I started watching stock market, do my own research not to lose much money there ! I experiment some new recipes in the kitchen. Of late my interest is in looking continuously at FB or Twitter to know what is happening around. To continuously post, like, comment, share, follow and what not. I am not sure how long these would last before I jump into newer and totally different things.
Yes, it is quite natural that my priorities will change in time due to various reasons. I might lose interest in some. I might develop interest in some. I will forcefully continue to show interest in some.
But, it is important for me to pursue one or two key interests relentlessly, passionately, come what may happen. And try to stay fully focused on those throughout. That will help me say - yes, I am happier.
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