Things I was (Am) Scared of

As a kid, I was scared of a few things, like the dark corners, snakes, and exams. And boredom. But managed to read everything I could lay my hands on, watched films (any I could) and spent time with friends (any who were ready to tolerate me) to keep the latter away. I was also scared of the mythical Count Dracula, though I saw only a film about him a lot later in life. The Hindi horror films I saw were actually funny-and the whole Ramsay family seemed to work in the horror genre films.

In the present times, I am scared of fanatics (maybe it comes from being in Delhi during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984), bores and hypocrites, in that order. Not wild boar, as in Asterix and Obelix, but Bores. Since my mega theory of Life revolves around the idea that every one of us is trying at all times to avoid boredom, I like to avoid the Bores like the plague- actually the Plague must be a lot more interesting.

Hypocrites are the people who take the Hypocritic Oath like the doctors do theirs. They say one thing, and do the other. But you can get used to them, after a while, and discount their statements by around 100%.

The other category that I am scared of is people who are Clueless. I will give you two examples-

They speak in a language not understood by all the people in the conversing group.

They like speaking on the cell phone at all waking hours (haven't checked about their sleeping behaviour) as if the Earth will stop rotating if they don't do that.

QED.

Characters You Meet

These are a few character sketches, though brief, of characters I have met in my life spanning around 54 years so far. They enlivened my life, and I am ever grateful. Maybe you had a few, too to enliven yours. If not, have fun with these.

A guy who perpetually carried a funereal expression on his face, as if he had just returned from one. The guy resembling him the most is Chief Vitalstatistix from Asterix comics, who is scared of the sky falling on his head.

Another who spoke as if he were preparing for CAT, MAT, GMAT, and GRE all together. Meaning, high-flown English. Alas, they don't make them like that any more.

A guy who would talk only about the opposite sex, and how to 'win friends and influence people' of the right kind. He was in the U.S. in a cosmopolitan environment, and was country-neutral when it came to his friendships, but not gender-neutral.

Another who was just the opposite of this 'friendly soul', who was not just tongue-tied, but also shied away from women. So much that he even walked away if a woman entered an area within a few square metres of himself. Luckily, his mom was not aware of this as he came out into this world!

A friend who would be fine until his third drink (in one evening), and then turn into a hilarious caricature, doing things that are too funny to put down in print, but many of these alternately entertained and scared people around him.

One who repeated himself at least four to five times in a short time. So you could only progress so much in a conversation with him. And he had a theory about everything that happened in the world.

A guy who thought he was the resident wit and wanted the world to think he was the funniest guy alive. I know what you are thinking- no, it's not me. Though if you want to think of me that way, I wouldn't mind at all!