SHIT Happens.. but why ?

What the hell is wrong with the world ? Yesterday was like a whirlwind for me... I got to know that when misfortune falls upon a really nice person, it doesn't matter how well you know him, you get affected.

A guy you couldn't talk to because you spoke different languages and knew only for 3 -4 days, one day has to pick up his bags and just leave for Barcelona looking for a job since he couldn't find one in Valencia. He has no place to go to in Barcelona, no idea where he will get work and no money. And he doesn't have the answers to this even when he is on the bus. The last thing I remember is a forced smile on his face and him claiming that "Allah will do something" before praying and leaving Valencia.... forever (?). But behind that assuring smile I see the doubt, the fear, the hopelessness and try as I might, I cannot stop feeling gutted. All for a guy I barely knew. Was it him, or was it his situation, or the false pretense of everything being ok.. i don't know, but I could not stop my eyes from welling up. And I am NOT the kind of guy to get emotional at stuff. Come to think of it, its the second time my eyes have welled up since I can remember. Again, all for a guy I barely knew.

Then I wish a friend of mine "Happy Birthday" and I get to know that her dad died a week ago from a cardiac arrest. Right-o. Great. Now I felt even worse. And sitting on gtalk on a different continent, theres not much I can say or do about it.

So I think to myself, put on some metal and try to forget it, because like it or not, when things are not going your way, there is nothing better than metal... maybe bashing some stuff with a baseball bat but then thats just going too far. So I start my iTunes and put it on shuffle and am browsing the web just for passing the time and I come across this article in the TIME magazine about the recent oil spill and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (read it please)... and I think.. what is the world coming to ?? Okay so I knew that the government was a bunch of inept goons, but even our judiciary is inept ?? Wtf is wrong here ?? I know it is an old story but hey, coming on top of what had just happened, it just filled me with outrage and unbridled anger. Oh and to top it off, guess which song happened to play when I was reading the article ? Creeping Death - by Metallica. Appropriate.

Which brings me to what a lot of people keep telling me... SHIT Happens. Really ?? And why ?? Why can't shit not happen ??? Even if it does happen, why does it happen to the good folk ? Why cant shit happen to fucktards like Warren Anderson and Union Carbide ? Why cant shit happen to Lalu Yadav and Pappu Yadav and Raj Thackeray ?

There is something seriously wrong with this world that we have been given.

P.S. Apparently its the great circle of life.

Viva La Espana !

Hola mi amigos !

Uno semana en Espana y estoy tratando de aprender este idoma.

Ok so I got a little help from Google translate in that. Basically its been a week since I've arrived in Spain and the moment I got here I realised how important it is to know Spanish if you have to live in this place. No one and I mean NO ONE speaks a word of English in Burjassot, Valencia (where I am) and that just makes everything a wee but more tough for communication. Dos mesas left !! I have to learn spanish !

Since my work at the university has not really started, I have a horde of time left on my hands to do absolutely nothing and let me tell you, its TOUGH. Not doing shit day in and day out while sitting behind a desk for 10 hours a day is the toughest job in the world... the only light at the end of the tunnel is that A.) I'm in Spain :P ...and B.) I'm probably getting paid for it (not that I like it though.. i think for the first time in my life, I am actually dying for some work.. which will probably be the other way around once I do start working but whatever..).

That reminds me... the best thing about Spain are the people here and the roads. Why roads you ask ? Well, its sorta a little bit similar to Kharagpur in the fact that the pedestrians have power. In Kharagpur, people walking and on cycles are the Kings and cars always have to play second fiddle.. while everyone walks down the middle of the road. Its not exactly the same here but its awesome when you want to cross the street and all cars just come to a complete halt for you, unlike in India where you will probably get run over if you don't keep your eyes open and reflexes sharp :P !! Here you can walk across a zebra crossing without looking either left or right, safe in the knowledge that if there are cars there, they WILL STOP. Also trams by the way. Everyone stops. Its quite enthralling and call me juvenile or childish or just plain sadistic, I love crossing streets for no reason apart from this !!

About the people, never have I met more friendly and helpful people. In India, if you ask a random person on the street for directions and the person doesn't know, he'll just shrug and move on but not in Spain, atleast that has never happened with me. I get lost sometimes, well actually almost every other time I'm outside I get lost but then I don't know the place or speak the damn language so what do you expect ? Anyway, all the times I've asked someone on the street to help me out, basically by repeating the address a hundred times, I have ended up with a street full of people eager to not just point out the direction, but actually lead me there !! One guy in Madrid actually took me to the Metro, came with me to the train station AND bought me a ticket to Valencia, all because my bus to Valencia had got cancelled and I'd asked him how to get to Valencia !! Now that was amazing since I'd just arrived in Spain and the guy spoke NO ENGLISH AT ALL... I couldn't even thank him properly. So Antonio and Fran, wherever you guys are.. MUCHAS GRACIAS ! Then the people at the Residencia where I stayed the last week... well what can I say ? They totally made me feel at home, albeit in a different language and I met a lot of amazing people. Not least Christina, the person incharge at the Residencia who charged me only 15 euros a night when I was leaving when the actual price for a room is 25 euros per night, and thats just for the heck of it !! And all the Pakistani and Indian shop owners, Kebab and fruits and vegetable, for the numerous mind boggling discounts they gave me just because I was from India again making me feel that all these wars between our two nations is to what end ? Even earlier whenever I've met people from Pakistan, educated or not, they have always been of the same opinion, "India - Pakistan ek hi hai" , which makes me wonder if all people feel that way, then who are the one's fighting ? Of course I admit that the older generation (of Hindus from my perspective) has an inexplicable distrust of Muslims, but then aren't we the generation that is actually incharge here ?

Anyway moving on from these matters, I visited a place called the Oceanographic here, which is the largest aquarium in Europe. Now, aquarium is actually a misnomer but man was it insanely amazing !! Whales to great whites to more mundane beings like manta rays and jellyfish to creepy ass shit like giant spider crabs (they are fricking 12 ft !! TWELVE ...!), all within an inch of your face just behind that glass... it was awesome !

Having no work though ensures that I spend an insane amount of time on facebook (and I am quite sure its not healthy) , which made me realize today that I have 453 "friends" on facebook !! FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THREE ! Do I even know that many people ???! And not only that, when you have time on your hands like I do now, you want to talk to people (no not hand gestures and broken Spanish, actually TALK)... and then you realize that out of all those 453 there are just a handful that you really want to talk to anyway. And they are usually not online at that moment... x-( . So if by any chance they are and they are busy or something, it just makes you madder.

Anyway, tengo hambre... and its off to lunch for me. Hasta luego !