People Change

Fear not, there is another post waiting to be published, but that I refuse to put up until my cousin sends me the pictures she's supposed to. Of course, you probably don't actually fear for anything regarding these blog posts. What is this, if not the ramblings of one of your friends that you're going through to pass the time? Why should you care?

I'm being morose. It's past midnight, ignore me. But don't ignore my words. (<--LOL.)

As our lives change, we move into a new group of friends, a new way of thinking, new system of living. We move forward. Who says it's a bad thing to move forward? It's worse if you're being held back.

Take, for instance, a newly married couple (this is just observation, you are by no means compelled to follow this way of life.) After the honeymoon's over and they settle down, they're still not going to settle down. They're going to go party with all their other couple-friends, their work friends. They're going to learn to manoeuvre themselves around each other, maybe tentatively at first and gradually more boldly. But then she gets pregnant. Things have to change. Less partying, more staying at home and working long nights to save up for when the baby's here. A new set of friends, these ones with kids, and if you're lucky, some of them will be friends moved forward from your couple-friends.

Doesn't mean you're leaving your old life behind. It just means you're moving forward - seems like the same thing, but it's not. You'll still keep in touch with those old friends, see them from time to time, just not as often. You've moved on.

It's not a bad thing.

I miss everyone, but I'm not going to hound them to spend time with me. They've moved on to new people - I've moved on to new people. But we still keep in touch, still check in to see how they're getting on. It's what all those years together were for. We'll always love each other, even if we don't show it as much anymore.

Felt like that needed to be aired out. Feel free to disagree and let me know what you think (I just realized there's a comment section on this. =P I'd love to hear from you people.)

Don't be a stranger.

Ja ne. 

Of Cricket Stands and Funny Things

So we went to a cricket match yesterday. Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan.


We had VIP parking or something, and dad had gotten irritated with Mum's direction-giving at one point and made her hang the ticket thing on the rear-view mirror. This was an excellent decision, because when we got stuck in the massive line leading up to the stadium, this official-looking fellow saw the VIP sign hanging from our mirror and ran up and moved aside a couple of cones. This allowed us to go through a lane that no one else was using, and he closed the lane off as soon as our car was through. I glanced back in time to see the pissed-off faces of the other drivers, while my dad kind of laughed maniacally.


Since we had sprung for the Premier seats (we HAD, apparently, gotten Platinum seats initially, but downgraded to Premier because most of our friends were there), we got a buggy ride from the car park to the stadium. We recognized an uncle as we were driving up in the buggy, so we waved. He was at a bit of a distance, but recognized us right back. He'd been arguing with some security officer at the time, but when he saw us, he stopped and screamed a greeting at us, much to the guard's consternation. Like, seriously, he SHRIEKED his hello. It was freaking hilarious. 


Even though there wasn't anyone my age (Aehshaan doesn't count, he's my brother), it was still quite fun. The adults were rowdy and SO, SO VERY VERY FUNNY. They screamed abuse at the ref when things didn't go the way they wanted, and cheered like madmen for when it did. For instance, one of my uncles started screaming at the pitch, "HE'S CHUCKING! UMPIRE, AFRIDI'S CHUCKING THE BALL! HE'S CHUCKING!" And continued in this vein for the rest of the match. Even the Pakistanis were laughing. It was classic. I had to shush him a bit when he yelled "GO HOME YOU PAKKAS!" though. Seemed a bit offensive. =P


Then they started passing around their "tea" in a silver flask. They got more pissed, more rowdy with each sip, but nothing over the top. Just genial yelling at the umpire, at most. So yeah, it was fun. I took a picture for the Worldwide Moment thing, which is when people all over the world, at 11:11 a.m on November 11th, 2011 all take a picture. Since the whole world wouldn't be taking it at the same time due to the time difference, the world follows New York time. The picture:

We headed back to Uncle Nigel's after that, for dinner. There's a funny story there, too.


Uncle Nigel: Do you want butter with that?
Yomal: No, it's alright.
U.N: No, but do you want butter?
Y: No, it's fine.
U.N: Okay, but do you want butter with that?
Y: No, seriously, it's okay.
U.N: No, but we have butter.


Doesn't sound as funny on screen, maybe, but it was at the time for the rest of us watching that exchange.


Ja ne.

We're Capable

Today I thought, human beings are capable of so much more.

I thought, for instance, of our capacity to love. We're a reservoir of passion, compassion. You think, at some points if not most, that you're at your limit for loving. Your lover. Your family. That special friend. You think, How could I possibly love another as much as this? How could I possibly be able to love another as much as this?

But you do. It's infinite, this power of ours to care for those that eventually walk into and embed, buries themselves so firmly in our lives, and does it so expertly that we never notice the push when they do. 

It's not all roses and butterflies, though, is it? As much as we love, we hate. We loathe. We despise. It poisons us. Thinking, lingering over bad thoughts about someone else will cause it to grow - you're feeding your hatred, aren't you, when you're thinking about it? I think that's where the old adage, Forgive and Forget, comes in. Don't think about it. Forgive. Forget. Let bygones be bygones, leave your past behind you.

And yet, we don't.

It's a bit of a difficult topic, this. Your past makes up who you are. So maybe, when they say forgive and forget, they don't actually mean you should forgive and forget. Forgive, yes. Hatred will poison you. Maybe they mean that bit wholeheartedly. 

Forget, on the other hand. It's a different kind of forget. You have to remember it in order to not make the same mistakes with someone else, maybe, or you should remember it for the sake of the memory for someone else. You have to remember it, I think. But I think they mean for you to forget enough that you don't want to hurt anyone, least of all yourself. Forget the hurt it may have caused, but remember how to deal with that hurt. Forget the bad times, but remember how to charge right through. Forget the person you turned into, and remember the person you want to be.

Just thinking, is all.

Ja.