Post date: Apr 1, 2015 9:09:17 PM
Few factual things first -
- I meet awesome people, and everyone I meet always has something to teach me.
- Tough-to-believe level of simplicity impresses me like nothing else.
- I know a few people who don't like publicity (read showoff).
Now fictional part –
I met a girl last week who once was a professional model. As I was talking to her, I felt like show off is terrible, but then what's the point doing anything in life if no one even knows about it?
In this narcissistic times, when I see people posing, doing photo shoots for FB, posting all possible pics of food, streets, museums, selfies, collages, and what not! I see people shouting after each click "delete karo achchi nahin aayi hai". This girl was like… "I don't like getting clicked!" how a girl, visiting for the first time, will not like pics with New York landmarks? Maybe it is not that surprising, but soon I realized it was not just about getting clicked. She likes to keep her professional pics private to herself, as well… That was one of the most contradictory statements I have ever heard. A girl who appeared on cover pages and likes to keep her pics private? Does it even make sense? How can such a public thing be individual? But soon, I learned what it means and how it is possible.There are people who fascinate me and this was one of those moments.
She tried to explain – "maybe I lost the charm at a very young age. or maybe I don't like people commenting about me even if it is a praise, or maybe I don't see a value in these things." Looking at my unconvinced face, she continued - "Ok, think this way... You see empire state building every day on your way to office. How many days you feel like clicking a pic? Perhaps it is the most clicked thing in New York, but why don't you click then? Maybe I find clicking myself the same as you not clicking the empire state?"
I laughed, but I was still not convinced… the conversation changed a little and -
"…listen! I am a model and modeling to me is what maths to you. At the age when you were doing maths I was doing photo-shoots. My things can be as alien to you as maths is to me. It's just that… that's how I am."
I wanted to say that I am not a mathematician; I just studied it. I love it, but that doesn't make me a mathematician. …but ironically while I was enjoying the thing of not showing off… I loved to be called a mathematician so much that I didn't say anything. Probably that is where the difference lies. Seldom are people who can renounce a-beautiful-looking-illusory-life (read online-life-praises-likes-comments)!
Then I thought... It is easy to meet people who buy fake Rolexes from Canal Street*... but you rarely meet people who own real ones but they don’t even wear it or the rarest kind who wear but either not talk about it or at times lie that it is not original. No attachments kind of people. Maybe it sounds ridiculous… but the highest form of such people is like Yogis, who see everything around with indifference! I know she is not like that, but that’s how I interpreted :). That can either be seen as dispassionate about everything around or equally passionate about everything.
Maybe I still don’t get it... why in the first place you buy an original Rolex then. ? :)
Perhaps she has it without desire for it, or maybe it’s just like any other thing to her. Or whatever… all I know is - I was impressed. …awesomeness of simplicity is highly underrated.
*Canal St is China town market of New York City.
PS: All characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
PPS: If you believe this disclaimer (which you will not) then it is a failure of my blogging abilities, because I tried my best to make it look real :P
[added later -]
A valid question is "https://twitter.com/tushti/status/583428969694887936” - a person comparing herself/himself to empire state and simplicity?
True that ! Thanks for reading Tushti, I generally think - chhod na padhta hi kaun hai :P
The state of my mind while writing this was very philosophical; I talked about it for almost half an hour with someone in office… then I just wrote it in a flow. But my point is -
Make sense? some of it? I guess too much ho gaya :)