The story so far

I love a good story.  I am in awe of the humans behind each and every great story told. Stories help people. Stories make us laugh and cry. Stories lift us up. And Storytelling is one of the few human traits that is truly universal from time immemorial. When the cavemen picked up that piece of charcoal and scraped on the walls of those caves, little did they know they were writing one of the first stories, ever! (Or maybe they did and were just acting cool about it)

In the early 20th century American writer Ernest Hemingway made a bet with a friend who told him he couldn’t write a story in under ten words. It’s impossible, they said. Not one to give in, Hemingway came back with this one-line tale:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

It really did have it all — an introduction, multiple characters, an emotional turn. Spinning a yarn seems to be a universal human instinct.

Think about your favourite teacher at school or the stories your grandparents would tell you for hours.’Just one more story,’ you’d demand. Why did you want more? What makes a story so appealing?

People in societies of all types weave narratives, from oral storytellers in hunter-gatherer tribes to the millions of writers churning out books, television shows and movies. But the best stories—those retold through generations and translated into other languages—do more than simply present a believable picture. Call it a script, plot, book, gossip or anything else; stories make everything interesting. How and Why do we remember great books or movies? It is for their brilliant characters, the one's that lived that story, it is for the emotions that we felt while watching/reading them. You can tell a story is great when you can put yourself in it, immerse in it whole and feel it as it progresses. Stories in a way are like 'flight-simulators' for life, a means of putting you in different situations. Cause when it happens for real, you know what to do.

In 1979, before the movie 'Alien' was released, a brilliant man Steve Frankfurt wrote a line to promote the movie- "In space no one can hear you scream". The sheer brilliance of this one line never ceases to amaze me! It allowed the audience to put themselves in the story and co create its own sense of claustrophobia thus capturing the idea of the movie and aligning every experience with it. A story in its own right!

For all the years that we've lived, each of us have been introduced to new characters. From the pesky elder brother who dragged you off your mothers lap to your best friend, without whom you wonder what would you be, not to forget your doodhwalaa and of course Batman. All of them have once central character and that is you. So now that you feel all special and important, the least you could do is make you story a little more interesting, isn't it? Imagine watching a movie or reading a book that rambles on without making a point. You'd be like just another Tushaar Kapoor movie or one of the books from the Twilight series. Nobody wants that, nobody.

And no Tushar Kapoor is not the note I'm not ending this post on but on this one.

"We all want to meet someone who will tell us more about ourselves".

Of Threads & Bonds

So now I get some of it, not all. There were times, when they made me run till I wouldn't run out of breath. Watch that terribly scary movie, while I screamed and clawed their hands so that I wouldn't fear the other demons I'd meet in real lives, or was that just for kicks? Make fun of me and tease till I would get angry (which wasn't too difficult) and beat them up, and they still wouldn't stop, so all the teasing by random losers didn't even make a mark. 

They are shamelessly possessive, terribly kind , incredibly crazy and hilarious to the point of being ridiculous, wait a minute, they are!

Brothers. The best characters in my life.

There hasn't been a moment in my life that hasn't been influenced by one of them and at times all. We grew up together, we watched each other rise and fall, make it big in our lives, celebrate each others accomplishments; whether it was climbing the first mango tree together or graduating with honors. They nursed me when I was unwell, bore all my tantrums, taught me a million lessons. The immense pride and regard that I have for them and everything that they do is inexplicable. Role models, Superheroes, Knight in shining armor; they fit the bill for all of them, and more.

I have a million reasons to thank them but majorly for introducing to all the cool apparently "boys will be boys" talk. Ask me anything and not everything about computer configurations, football clubs, action movies and I will yap your ears off for hours together.

Not because it's Raksha Bandhan, or maybe it is because it makes me miss these guys more than ever. And despite distances, arguments or time, we are going to be this crazy bunch of old timers, listening to 90's bollywood tracks, chasing dogs on the road, driving a beaten up old car and laughing till we couldn't breath.

Always here..

People do not last forever their impressions do.

It's the little things they do that sets them apart from the others, their mannerisms, sense of humor, the uncanny one of a kind style, the funky colorful eye wear and the hard to miss slang.

You'd think that I am being specific.. I am.

You could pick him out of a crowd, the one cheering the loudest of 'em all, that'd be him. You can ask everybody who knew him and they will all have a story to tell you : how he helped them fix their car, how he resolved a lovers-tiff, how he ferried them back and forth from places, how he enjoyed every single moment, how he swept people off by his cooking. A million times over and again, that's how far he'd go to help his friends. 

I have teased, troubled and annoyed him to extents I didn't know I could and he still took it in his stride. He had his ways of getting back but there never goes a day where I wish I could take it all back.Always up for an argument, always at the front of things and always enthusiastic. You'd be amazed at the things he'd do for a dare.. we certainly were.

He had that zing which'd make people get up and dance even if it was reluctantly. Birthday's were incomplete without his trademark midnight wishes and of course the cakes. Always had a tale to tell, long,descriptive and immensely entertaining.

A year has gone by, and it's not gotten any easier to accept that i won't get repreminded for not keeping in touch,that i lost a brother, a friend. 

Prankit.. for all of us.. never gone.. always here.