A Stranger Thing - Rare Creature

This little guy was taking a tour of our little garden.

Acquired Taste: Psychology 101

Its all about acquired taste. What is an "acquired taste"? It means getting habituated with an unknown thing. Here things could stand for a type of food, like an Indian eating "Durian" or an European eating "lychee or jackfruit", a Bengali having "idly" or Kannadigas having "chholar dal", a British having "postor bora" or an Indian having "liver pate" or "cow tongue". Or a Bengali having Nagaland "dog n cat" and a Nagaland having "Tel koi". 

If it is a smell it will be like getting used to heady Gardenia, dry fish curry, long time partner's socks or horny hubba hubba scent of his armpits, or a fallen family start to live in a slum and get used to the open drain with its blue black glossy sludge and a dead puppy in it. Or in a govt. hospital sharing a room with a fellow patient with a gangrene foot - the soon to be amputee.

Acquired taste in the matter of tactile arena is a boss or a colleague who is the kindest gentlest soul on earth never forgets to put his hand on your back, just over the bra strap the hand lingers a few seconds more, but as he is the kindest gentlest soul on earth you acquire taste in his touch. A man calls you a saggy breasted ugly bald smelly woman, but you have no option but still to be honored with his touch on your ugly face, saggy breast. But your baldy head goes on crying during a fever for a motherly touch. 

Getting used to hearing and liking it is also very simple. If one has his house on a busy road, initial irritation will soon convert into a "not even noticing anymore" acceptance and banality. Give him a quiet home in the meadow, he will now complain about absence of familiar honking cars.

Acquired taste in seeing is quite similar to smell. One feels comfortable with the sight of his or her baby's poop in the diaper, or a baby on a dirty cloth lying on a pavement with boiling rice on a open fire just 2 feet away from her, or the overflowing bin at the cross of the road, or dendrite sniffing toddlers and teenagers at the railway station. 

Yes, everybody acquires taste. But here i'm not trying to make it a propaganda, agenda, pamphlet to raise awareness. No, man, no. Who the hell am I to do that? My point is this particular phrase, "acquired taste" is an yardstick for intellectuality. And also the moment you say its an acquired taste, it makes you a superior being, people also secretly thinks you are a snob, but the slight elitist patronizing tone if the phrase makes people want to join the group. If I tell somebody "I don't think you are gonna like it, its an acquired taste", without a fail, I know they are gonna tell me after few weeks "its awesome, I'm liking it". It is because if you do not have an acquired taste, you are not intellectual enough. For example, I use Moroccan oil, I first saw its ad on Vogue, there was something about the photo, I just fell in love with it. And I promised to myself Moroccan oil. There is something about the smell, the dark brown bottle, the very name Morocco make me feel very happy. When after a sad day I take a shower, I wash my hair and then I sit in front of my dressing table and I pump this thick heady very unusually scented Moroccan oil on my palm and apply it to my hair, instantly my mood gets uplifted, I feel like a princess in her boudoir, very luxuriant. I told somebody about the oil, and she smelled it, I distinctly remember her nose crinkled. I knew people will generally not gonna like the smell. I was embarrassed, and said I guess its sort of like an acquired taste, it takes times to like it. Few months later I came to know she is loving it, this the best thing in the world, and oh the smell!

So if you need to make somebody like anything that you know they are going to dislike it, just say "I guess its an acquired taste". This phrase has an appeal that make people like it. Psychology 101.

There is no such thing as New Story. All stories are OLD!

There is no such thing as New Story. All stories are Old.

The Lipstick is better than the song

Fifth Harmony's "I'm worth it" is a fabulous awesome song, nobody can stop 'self from dancing to it. I love it. I show it to people and to people who don't even like these types frivolous light music videos, they were left open mouthed so wide that they almost drooled. Was that a sign of lust or a sign of fatigue for keeping their mouth open for a long time, who knows! There is something about the video, the colour scheme, the super confident sensuous movements, there is definitely something unique about it. 

But, I have a huge I mean HUGE problem with the song. See if somebody has to say "give it to me I'm worth it", isn't it sad? It is not like the L'Oreal ad where women are pampering themselves with good expensive things and saying to the world "I'm worth it!"  in that ad they are saying, I deserve this luxurious vibrant coloured lipstick, do not dare to judge me, "I'm worth it". I know these types songs are not meant for deep thinking, they are only for grooves and moves, but just that one line bothers me and I cannot shake off a feeling of unjust and humiliation. My advice is if you need to remind somebody you are worth it, so they would give you things you deserve, no matter what is the thing, leave that place immediately, go somewhere where you don't need to remind anybody anything. They know.

Dead Joker - More a Story of Life than a Murder Mystery

Dead Joker by Anne Holt was published in 1999, but it was translated in English by Anne Bruce in 2015. This is one Hanne Wilhelmsen book that shook me gravely, and the reason is not the murder mystery of the story, but Hanne's own life, to be precise her partner Cecile's life, again to be precise - her death. 

The mystery is like this, chief public prosecutor's wife is murdered, he is found in the room with the dead wife, she was killed with a souvenir like Samurai sword. When Hanne is struggling to solve the mystery, a journalist is also killed. During the investigation Hanne told herself this case will be solved in 3 weeks and on March 29, 1999 at 3 o'clock she realised the deadline she gave herself was up that day. But it was only 3 o'clock! That evening Hanne and Cecile would go to Karen Borg and Hakon's house to stay. Hakon's son Hans Wilhelm, named after Hanne would tell her there was secret. And soon Hanne would ride that secret alone late in the evening, a Yamaha Diversion 900cc. While riding lost in thought she would come across a country road with mailboxes, there was a particular name that would attract her mind, Eivind Torsvik. It was a name from Billy T's report, the ear less writer/murderer. She would meet him, and yes, he is the one who would give the ultimate clue to Hanne to solve these bizarre murders. So in a way Hanne was right!

In the midst of all these Cecile was dying. She had cancer and she told that to Hanne the day before her operation. Now why she told her then and not early, why a life partner missed the fact that one of them is ebbing away? Enters conjugal life that has been lived long.

Hanne always had her demons. She kept her being a lesbian a secret for a long time from his colleagues, she kept her Cecile a secret, she is someone who experienced neglect, lovelessness, exclusion from her family, and that didn't make her a strong rebel who couldn't care less, the problem is she cared, and that is why over the 20 years of their conjugal life only a feast full people from her life came across Cecile. But Cecile wanted recognition of love, the appreciation from her partner that she is glad to have her in her life. But what Hanne gave Cecile was a name plate with their initial HW & CV. Hanne was scared that if people saw their names-2 girls' names on the door they will know Hanne and Cecile a couple. Hanne couldn't bear that. Or was it that Hanne didn't love Cecile enough to give her the recognition, the status of her life partner! Because last time what my romantic googly misty eyes read somewhere, "love conquers all". When one day Hanne was coming back home, Cecile was still in hospital after the surgery, recovering, Hanne seeing their incomplete declaration of love as HW & CV on the door realised how much it hurt Cecile! So only when the other half is dying another half realises her worth? When everything is super good, A-Ok, she is happy and smiling, why cant you love her then? Why to get the love and care and the recognition one has to die always?