Story of Stories

2:30 PM Sunday afternoon

Time is on my side
Yes it is Yes it is
-Stones song playin on the radio

(Hey! how da peep man!! you ve got amazing radio stations playin just the right songs at the right times in all your stories.And when i tune into one it's either some run-o-the-mill remixes or some sick paris hilton shit)

(Chillax O objector!! This is a story and it is mine!! Even the radio station is!! Atleast here! So lemme bask in the goodness of life atleast in my stories.

lemme tell you that i don't need to justify why i'm doin what i am.but since you are pissed rite now for god knows what! and i see a potential smile on your face after listening to me, I'm tellin you this.

It's like this you see.Reality doesn't give you everything.It kindof creates gaps actually.You feel the lack of romanticism a lotta times. You ve either thought about it or haven't but felt it in some way.

So you re left with two options.option a) accept reality for what it is and hope for glimpses of romanticism in between.This is like acceptin lifelessness like fate man. You think thats it.Sit hopelessly by the window at someone's mercy man.

option b)Keep dreamin.Generate romanticism out of anything.For example ,you see a man (better if it's a woman(best if it is julie delpy ;))) drawing cash from an ATM. Now, given the worst possible scenario: A total dickhead drawin cash and you want some romantcism in life. You know.Somethin that ll take your mind off somethin that s eatin your head.A moment of peace.

And you see this dickhead drawing cash. What d'ya do? you also see a jammed signal near by and people are gettin restless by the second seein the red light.Now what you do is create life.cos thats where romanticism lies.

So you can see the ATM machine eatin your card and pukin cash.eww!!thats disgustin! No its not.It is cash man.You can buy stuff from it.If you want to be more refined (whatever the fuck it means) see it like this. The ATM machine-dickhead relationship is a give and take one. He gives her his card and she promptly gives cash and they live happily ever after.No! Not so easy bud!! even in an ATM-dickhead relationship there can be trouble.This guy feeds his card and she says 'Invalid Transaction.Please collect your card' This means the dickhead has missed her birthday (oh Yeah! ATM Machines have birthdays too!! Everythin is born someday man! the cake makers would go out of business otherwise).

Ya! So you ve missed her birthday and she is sayin 'piss off dickhead! you are a dickhead anyway! what was i thinkin when you stepped in?!!'And then the dickhead stamps his foot on the ground! Damn!! I m late to work today he s thinkin and no cash!! Shit!

But you can't hear all this. So you can actually see this in whatever way you want.He sees 'Invalid transaction' You see 'you ve just missed your girlfriend’s birthday'.And you can relate to the situation man!! that s the best part!!

I mean See! I missed my Mom's birthday only 2 days back and felt like shit man!!It's the same expression on the dickhead's face now. So I see this and smile to myself and increase the romanticism quotient (call it RQ from now on) ya! so increase the RQ by addin thoughts like 'This is life man!!Shit happens to everyone around you! And you think why me?! Why did I miss my Mom's birthday?! I am a good son.I eat good day choco nut! (Now where did that come from?!)

But maybe these things happen cos there s somethin that someone wants to teach you.Like in my case I wouldn't have thought of how my mom would ve felt when I din t wish her on time.I now value it.I appreciate what it means to wish somebody. If I'd wished her on time and all that , I wouldn't have bothered thinkin bout the value of wishin as much as I do now. So there's the lesson. Chapter 1: What birthday wishes mean.

Now what you ve done is turned a reality that is sad (in my case) or that is totally lifeless(in the ATM-dickhead case) into somethin more alive.You ve transformed negative emotion into a constructive positive emotion.

Listen man!!I m NOT tellin that you miss your mom's birthday so you can appreciate the value of wishing her.Thats bullshit man!Wishin anyone on time is the best thing!You know that and so do I!

What I am tellin you is always be a spectator.Be the audience. Don't be mired in your own shit man!!look outside for inspiration!See People!See ATM Machines!! See anything man! Don't sit sadly in the corner of your room crouchin and all that and listen to some really depressin music like Smog's 'Rock bottom riser' or somethin.

Life puts you through situations and you learn from them cos thats what she wants you to do. ya! actually you can do nothin about it like not be bothered bout it at all and be happy all the time. I ve tried that man! But this is better because you can atleast make yourself believe you ve learnt somethin!

Doin nothin about it means no progress. And bosses hate no progress you know!But I kind of appreciate people who do nothing with conviction.It makes me think that they must have a really strong reason to do nothing man!! It requires quite some stength to do nothing!!You have to deal with this masochistic feedback from your head that you are doin nothin! Why do we think doin nothin is bad! Beats me man!

Ya! so comin back to the point of choosin the path of generatin romanticism and learnin from it. It's way better than feelin like shit all day listenin to some depressin music man!!You know that! You might have thought you r all alone in this shit and need some help. No man! you r not!!

I almost forgot option c man.ya! option c) is being this guy who listens to smog all day in the corner of his room! Listen man!!I ve nothin against Smog! I think he is a master of minimalist instrumentation,a truly great Lo-fi artist and the guru of Emiliana Torrini (ha! she s another person I d like to see in the ATM. It makes romanticism so much easier man!!You don’t even need to imagine stuff).

What I am sayin is don't let the mood of the situation affect the way you look at it.If you are down and listen to sad music you ll either hit the bottom or try to garner some sympathy from whatever source you can.Like thinkin .Ha! some shit might ve happened to Smog and he s sayin 'Been there done that'.

So be the audience!! That s what I try to be in all of my stories. I don't think of em as MY stories cos it's a little unfair. I m borrowin partly from real life and whatever remains from adventures of this Random-Romanticism-Generator that is there inside anyone.You,me, anyone!Just hafto dig it out.

So it's anyone's story. I' m just tellin you that 'it's runnin in PVR and DON'T MISS THE SHOW!'.Now have you bought your ticket yet?(politely smirkin))

(PVR s costly man!!)

(Whatta fuckin waste of time!)

(Relax man! I m lookin for an ATM now!!)

(Now give the kai!!See even i get pissed.I am like you man or anyone else. It's just that it's not the end of it.You might have missed a chapter by just gettin pissed!
See I bought you a smile. It feels good man! buyin smiles for people.The hard part is convincing people that it don't cost a thing man! Smiles are as cheap as you want 'em to be. What an irony!! Buyin smiles!Good day man!You ve been a good listener.Some stupid assholes just don't see the point.haf some story writin to do.See you man!)

(ya!thanks for the smile man!But tell me this…Why are we talking in brackets.Is it some secret stuff? Are you real?Shit! are you a ghost?)

(Relax man! The brackets are because our talk is disturbin my story.You know I started writin one and you objected to my RRG Radio(A real smirk now))

(oh ya! Thanks again man!)

(no probs man…good day (choco nut))!

And so the story begins...(and you thought it was over!!)

"eh! pass the cards yar!will try some patience"
"arre yar!akele kyun khelte ho! Lets play some thing na?three of us are there"
"hmm...we can play bridge"
"arre! ditch cards man! lets play somethin unusual for a change"
"like what?"
"here's the game.We sing a rhyme a line a piece.Like if we choose twinkle twinkle rhyme, I sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' and you sing 'How i wonder what you are' and it continues till the end of the rhyme"
"what da peep! anyway it's better than patience. I'm in. Wake this lazy ass man. He s still sleepin"
"ok. we ll wake him up when his turn comes.We ll start.'Ba Ba Black sheep have you any wool?'.Now wake him up i'll sing again"
"Ba Ba Black sheep have you any wool?"
"what the fuck! It's 2:30 and i got up now? shit!"
"Wrong answer!you r out"
"Out of what?"
"You ll know soon man"
"Yes Sir Yes Sir 3 bags full"
"Shit! I don't remember how it goes now man! Google!!!!"
"One for the master,one for the dame"
"One for the little boy who lives down the lane"
"hey! unfair man!he din't know the third line and he's still in and you wake me up without tellin me anythin and the first thing I'm out!"
"True!!Life's a bitch man!Go brush your teeth first and catch some lunch.Or sleep for some more time and you ll be in time for dinner"
"Fuck you!"
"Sorry yar! Took my anger out on you"
"Oh yeah! what r you angry about?that you ve nothin to do on a lazy sunday afternoon and you are jealous of somebody sleepin peacefully?"
"No man. I am angry cos I won't be quite as jobless as now, the same time tomorrow.Kal monday hai na? office jana padega!"
"Give the kai man!!Now you go brush teeth!"

Time is on my side, yes, it is.
'Cause I got the real love, the kind that you need.
You'll come runnin' back,
you'll come runnin' back,
you'll come runnin' back to me.

(Yeah! Even if it's an hour since i started writin, the radio s still playin stones!!)

Quote from Before Sunrise:

And Here's what Jesse said:
"Why is it, that a dog,y'know,sleepin in the sun,is so beautiful ,it is,its beautiful,y'know,but a guy standing at a bank machine,tryin to take some money out,looks like a complete moron"
Here's what celine thought but din't say:
"Oh yeah!!Haven't you heard of Random-Romanticism generator?!"