Gossip...

I don't know what's wrong with my settings, not being able to set the heading/title for any of my posts, so doing it the chalu way. (chalu for the uninitiated is the Indian word for stop-gap arrangements). If you have been following my blog for sometime then you will know that a lot of time if I have something interesting to share then I will ramble about it for a few lines (ok not so few) and you know what is coming is fan-wait for it-tastic.
So as a lot of my friends know, I love gossiping and at times bitching,( ok I will save bitching for another day but trust me I would recommend it as the most effective stress buster better than alcohol, dope, better than anything you have ever tried, and some day someone will bend science to prove it!) Anyways coming back to good ol' harmless gossiping. Now without a doubt there can't be two oipnions on this can there? Gossip is a fun thing, and morever I am damn sure the foundations of news,print and electonic media must lie on gossip. Its human nature to be curious about others and other things and I am an advocate of the harmless fun bits your friends sometimes whisper into your ears or you discuss in hush hush tones in groups and I love the feeling when my dahlins are just bursting at the seams coz they have something interesting to tell me. And I love it when I have that can't-wait-a-micro-second-longer-to-tell-you feeling! Its bliss I teeeell you, ranks fifth on my "the best-est feeling to feel" list.
I have been gossiped about a lot in my school college,office,school (have to live upto a certain drama queen image ;) )days and I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me, coz it did, it did affect me, it always gave me a good laugh!
So, coming back to what-I-can't-wait-a-millisecond-longer-to-share find of the day. I was browing through blogs( jokemail.blogspot.com) and I chanced upon this pearly, and you just have to read this. That will give me the satisfaction that I am doing my bit by way of social service ( that thing about laughter being good for health blah) and also spreding gossip about Socrates :D

The Great Socrates




Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you hear, or are out to repeat a rumor.



In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students...?"



"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."



"Test of Three?"



"That's correct," Socrates continued.



"Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"



"No," the man replied, "actually I just heard about it."



"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"



"No, on the contrary..."



"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"



The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued, "You may still pass though because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"



"No, not really..."



"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"



The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.



This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.



It also explains why Socrates never found out that Plato was banging his wife.

43 things about me

1. I often live in some place other than the present and mostly it is some faraway distant future.
2. I visit the past but not much, seldom to be precise. Sometimes some happy memories do trigger a sojourn into the past and sometime some not so happy ones.
3. When I was a kid I used to live in the present but a present that was very different than the one I would be in.
4. I was quite a lost child. I think I have carried that trait to my youth as well ;).
5. I used to read a lot. A bookworm. Still try to do, though not as much as but reading still is a first love.
6. I have the reading genes from both mom and dad.
7. I was an indoorsy kid, never much out and about, partly coz I was diagnosed with asthma very early on at 8 years of age.
8. I would be sitting in some corner of my own room, I wasn’t much fond of the bed and reading away.
9. I used to finish reading books at an alarming pace and would soon bug my parents to buy me more. Still do the former.
10. I got into bartering books in school, reading up books from the library whenever I could. All this reading led to a lot of day dreaming or so I believe.
11. Kid me would always be playing different situations and stories in my mind, and of course I would be the lead protagonist in all of these plots. Some of the plots were pretty elaborate.
12. Also I was very happy in my own fantasy world. This is not to say that I wasn’t friendly or popular but yes I had realized that I preferred my own company to that of others from a very young age.
13. Thankfully for me my parents let me be except the occasional push to socialize.
14. I found socializing a big burden even then.
15. I saw no point in being nice to people and smiling and making small talk when I could spend that time reading books, writing(yes I used to scribble lots of things by way of creative writing then too) or yes watching tv and day dreaming. These were my favorite pastimes.
16. The first thing that I wanted to be when I was young was a teacher. I really liked my teacher then.
17. I have always been a teacher’s pet and sometimes the affection was mutual.
18. Other kids hated me for being the teacher’s pet. And I loved being hated 
19. I still hold 2 sayings 2 of my teachers, at different points of time, had said to me very close to my heart.
20. The next thing I wanted to be was neuro surgeon or “brain surgeon” as I thought then. I have no clue why.
21. Sometime between 6-10 years of age I also wanted to be a writer. Still hold that desire somewhere deep in my heart.
22. My life was not uncomplicated though. My kiddy life was very happening. I always had a lot of performance pressure in terms of academics and I was also very competitive by nature.
23. Dad was more interested in my doing well in extra-currics. And I used to excel in that too. I have a ton of certificates to show for my efforts in my school life.
24. I grew up idolizing dad. Still do. Papa - you are my hero.
25. My mom was the biggest influence on me in my early life and I know a lot of me is her. Though it took me lot of time to realize that.
26. I call her twice everyday atleast. My day is incomplete if we haven’t talked.
27. My sister was my pillar of strength all through my childhood. She used to dote on me. I bullied her in return.
28. I was brought up like a single child. My sister lived with my grandparents.
29. She used to visit us during school vacations. We fought like crazy.
30. The worst fights were when she moved in with us when I was 17, she was a year older. But looking back, I couldn’t have done without her. Ever. Period.
31. This list suddenly doesn’t seem chronological. But what the heck, I didn’t mean it to be anyways.
33. I have changed a lot as a person from my childhood, to my teens, to my youth to whatever phase it is that a 28 year old belongs now.
34. I used to fiercely independent as a child, as a teen, as a gangly young adult, but now I am totally dependent on the apple of my eyes, my husband for emotional support.
35. I still think I don’t say it enough to him. So here goes – I love you… more 
36. I don’t know why this list reads like a life story. I didn’t intend it to be.
37. I moved around a lot as a kid.
38. The initial days used to be very difficult. But I was never afraid of change. I always used to look forward to it. Still do.
39. My illness(asthma) was a very convenient excuse for me not to participate in games and sports. However I was a tremendous sport. Always used to stand in for absentees on the field.
40. I won the badminton girls double champions in the eighth grade.
41. I also am lazy to the bone. And lose interest very quickly in people, places and things.
42. I have learnt classical dance-Odissi for two years. I say that I couldn’t continue coz Dad got transferred but the fact is I found it very tiring and after coming back from classes I would feign headaches so mom got worried and had me discontinue them 
43. The idea of putting together such a list is not original. I saw this in a blog I follow. I liked the style, but the content is original.