Being Interesting!

To begin with, i was never a carefree, fearless girl. I was always a good student, careful about submitting assignments and projects on time and having ample attendance to sit through exams. I was always a darling with teachers, my friends' parents, etc. Typically, a good girl and not really a cool girl. So, being reckless, or having the "How do I care?" attitude was never a part of my being.

However, I have met many others for whom having the attitude and being fearless and in a sense careless, is an essential part of their make-up. It defines them and makes them "interesting people". I mean, come to think of it - you may remember the geek in your class but you remember her just as that - geek! and it may take a while for you to place her in case you bumped into her today. But, think of who you remember mostly, the interesting people. Those people mostly would have showed some attitude, didn't fear and hence added thrill and excitement to an otherwise rule bound life. Don't get me wrong, I am not talking of the ill-mannered, class flunking variety. I am just talking of those who questioned, reasoned and then had the guts to follow thru too. In school, it may have manifested in little things which would make them interesting at that age, but in adult life too I see the same trend continued.

Now, the real interesting people, are focussed about what they want to do, what they believe in, and pursue it fearlessly and carelessly with care only for what they believe in. Those pave a path for themselves and make a name for themselves, set trends, etc etc. Those are well, the "rich" in interestingness. 

And, like everything else, there is a middle-class in interestingness. I think, that really is the "interesting" part and I have formulated a theory of Interestingness!

So, most of us fall under the middle-class of interestingness. However, the typical bane of being middle class in anything is, you don't want to be just middle class! so, you need a differentiator! And, you create one! and then another! and you make that your USP in interestingness! So, you are either a fitness enthusiast, a photography enthusiast, heavily into nature and animals, fashion, and it goes on and on. Typically, if a person is only about work and home and family, the person is "not interesting". So, the way you introduce yourself now-a-days is: "I am Nidhi. I work in IT and travelling is my passion" and then you have to back it up with a travelling portfolio may be. Or, if you are into music, then converse about a few artists, concerts, slightly heavier stuff and you are interesting and passionate.

Then, there are the un-interesting people, the lower middle class of interestingness. 

"Hi, I am Nidhi. I work in IT and I like listening to music, reading books, travelling or shopping whenever I get time from work and home." 

Your interestingness quotient is calculated as negative and the person you are talking to probably wouldn't want to be seen with you again. Ofcourse, You cannot be passionate about work and family - that doesn't sound right - does it?

So, thats' the pyramid!

The rich interesting really don't have time to care for middle or lower interesting classes.

The middle class of interestingness doesn't want to be seen with lower middle class since it effects their reputation or simply, doesn't help them anyway.

The lower middle class of interestingness either needs to chose a passion and move up in the hierarchy of interestingness or stick to other un-interesting people.

There was a time, when just having a good career was enough. Now, apart from having a good career you need to have something interesting to do on your weekends. And, it just can't be "spending time with family". Only then do you become "interesting"!

My cynical view is - this is a conspiracy. When basic needs were met easily, and profits on basic needs reduced, really rich needed a way to make more money. So, some bright brain created the concept of 5 day week, not to give you more time to spend with your family at home but spend your money together with your family on interesting things. That same bright brain and friends created those "interesting things" too. Its a WIN-WIN anyway. You earn more, spend more, do more interesting things that result in more profits. Whats the point?

The mere notion of leisure and spending time with family is lost. Leisure needs to be made interesting. Spending time with family needs to be made interesting. And "making interesting" is mostly commercial!!

Interesting??

God's joke

God created this beautiful planet and then created intelligent humans to inhabit it and enjoy its beauty and joys. When handing over this planet to mankind, Lord said to man “Here you go! Follow your true calling and experience great peace and joy. Have Fun!”

The puzzled man asked “But Sir, how should I know what is my True calling?”

God shrugged, smiled and said “Oh! That’s your problem, not mine”. And, He vanished.

How to find a Topic

And I thought it was easy to become a writer. Yes, I made the mistake of thinking that the easiest thing I could do was to become a writer. After all, what does a writer do? She first thinks of a topic / a plot to write about and then puts her thoughts on paper, in words. That’s all; Simple enough. Or so I thought about 10 days ago and setup this blog. I also was stupid enough to think that I can write a short story in 5 days and post it. Now, here I am – wracking my brains to find a topic, a plot, something, anything - to write about. I haven’t been able to figure out anything yet, other than the topic “How to find a topic”. They say, ‘Failure is the best teacher’, so let me tell you how it doesn’t work – this search for a topic.

Initially, I wanted to write a short story with characters from my own life. But with a pen in hand, fear gripped me much before the first letter could get formed. Fear of letting my innermost thoughts come out into the story and God forbid, if any of those characters chanced upon my blog and recognized themselves – How would they react? Would they take it kindly?

So, to deal with this fear, I came up with another bright idea – to write a story about imaginary characters. Come on, now that’s what fiction is all about – about fictional characters. When J.K.Rowling can write seven novels out of some non-existent world, can’t I write a simple short story? So I set out to write a fictional short story. I tried again and again and yet again to get that bright idea; for that plot to form clearly in my mind; for that character to describe. Alas, it didn’t work. My imagination didn’t seem up to the mark. Worse, I did not have the time or patience to ignite my imagination.

There went the second option but while leaving, it gave me a gift of another option – copy a topic. Now, that was a doable option. Fine, it won’t be original but I can surely get inspired. So, I can pick from hundreds of topics already written about and write something original about it. So, I set out to read all those articles in recent newspapers, magazines - about hope, faith, fitness, relationships, and work-ethics - a mind boggling list of topics was ready in no time. But were my original thoughts ready? Neah. It took me some time to realize that all articles are written after research and come out the way they do after the desired efforts have been put in.

In exasperation, I chose the only topic on which I had done some research and had put in my efforts – ‘How to find a topic’.
It’s pretty simple really. Just follow these insightful guidelines –
• Keep your sensory organs and mind open. This will enable you to sense a topic when it comes along.
• Give it ample time. Don’t rush. Some topics and ideas take their own sweet time to form.
• Don’t have preconceived notions. Don’t attempt to write that emotional, heart-wrenching saga when your mood is in slap stick comedy mode. Be open to write just about anything.
• Don’t be fearful. If you are planning to write, know that you essentially are sharing your thoughts with everybody and you cannot control or predict their opinions and reactions. If you are scared, don’t write.
• Always know that this is not an exhaustive list and you will always be able to make some additions.

So, Happy topic finding then...

Kick-off post

Trust that still, small voice that says, 'This might work and I'll try it'. - Diane Mariechild

and thats what I am doing. Actually, I belong to that variety of people who would like to do everything that appeals to them and yet are never serious enough to try out anything. So, while I want to be a dancer, singer, actor, sportsperson, writer, traveller - I never dare to start on anything and keep doing it for long enough.

However, today I decided to get out of the habit and attempt writing; and blogging seemed simplest to do. I will see about the other things that I want to be later on. :-)

So, tomorrow is Christmas - a holiday. Will see if I can create a nice article. Let me attempt to do my first article by the end of year 2007.

Wish me all the luck and willingness in the world!