“Because I’m a stupid common man”

“Because I’m a stupid common man”

While the rest of the country was mourning over the latest & the steepest ever petrol price hike the stupid cricket fans were engrossed in the high voltage first eliminator of IPL season 5. Chennai’s win or Mumbai’s loss are not going to help in any way to cope up with the never ending hikes, still we overlook the hike & enjoyed the match. How stupid, I wonder why these people give so much of importance to cricket, movies, film stars, idiot box & that too over the most important social issues??

I am a common man, I might be anyone reading this post who works his ass off for more than 12 hours a day with an innocent hope of getting enough increment once a year to cope up with the perpetual hikes. The prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG & all the essential commodities keep teasing me for the amount I earn. They keep reminding me about the continuous race between them & my salary. Unfortunately they cover a long distance with the leaps & bounds & my salary keeps crawling steadily(?) Every week I come across at least one of my old friends who have achieved a position which gives me an inferiority complex, who through their gestures suggest me that they are a way too ahead of me. Every day my boss doesn’t miss out on a single opportunity to screw me like anything in front of my colleagues & even my juniors in the office. Every month my kids expect that I’ll have enough savings to get them the things they have been demanding since a year or so. It’s not that I am not satisfied at all. At times I am satisfied & sometimes unbelievably overjoyed to see my kids’ progress in their academics, happy to see my own performance at work, to have a loving family. Though I have been dealing with the pressure from all sides, I am quite happy about the way I am. I know life’s been throwing challenges at me every moment & will continue to do so henceforth too. That doesn’t mean I have to just keep thinking about those challenges, pressure & the adversities. I don’t believe in discussing all these issues all the time. No matter how many times you discuss about all this, you have to deal with them alone. Instead of keeping them afloat in the head I prefer doing things that I like, they help me divert my attention from the so called problems.

Yes I watch cricket, I watch IPL. I fight over silly issues, I have a debate with my friends about who’s great Sachin or Dhoni? I enjoy the pressure game with a thumping heart. I curse Dhoni, I get upset with the way Mumbai & Pune are thrown out of IPL. I feel extremely angry about the way BCCI treats the legendary player like Kapil Deo. I treat Team India’s success as my own success, I celebrate Sachin’s century.

Yes I watch movies, I am an insane fan of SRK, though I never admit I know Aamir is a very good actor, “a Perfectionist”, I watch his “Satyamev Jayte” with closed fists, I get emotional while listening to the experiences of the victims, I watch a love story relating myself with the leading hero, I envy Shahid Kapoor for his dancing skills, I wish I had six pack abs, I like serious movies, I love the meaningless comedies too, I go gaga over even an average movie of SRK, I respect Amitabh, I love Rekha as much as my father does, I watch every other Hindi movie & love Marathi movies too.

Yes I watch stupid daily soaps with my Mom & Dad, I tease my Mom for watching senseless melodramatic serials, I criticize the way they are narrated, I discuss about the unreal characters & incidents, I make fun of it & of the viewers too.

I read news paper, cry foul over the price hikes, Government regulations, I feel extremely agitated while reading the news of the ever so increasing scam figures, I feel proud when the test of the new missile is successful, I feel sad when government offers RS seat to my favorite player & even more sad when he accepts it.

I meet my friends whenever I get time, I text them the same old PJs, laugh over silly things with them till my cheeks hurt, I love to be completely silly with my close ones, I miss those who have parted ways with me, I discuss cricket, movies, politics, state of police officials, increasing crime rate & yes I speak about meaningless stuff with them for hours.

I do all these things but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the present situation of the country, I am not aware of the financial crisis, political imbalance, Government’s stupid policies & all the things happening around me.

Even after knowing all this, all the adversities that I have to deal with, I prefer doing things that make me happy. It’s not because I don’t understand their importance, it’s just because I want to find out reasons to smile, reasons to live & reasons to move on…

Its because I am a common man, just a stupid common man.

Kunal Prakash Rudrake.

24/05/12