Look , people!

I must admit, I am a chronic stalker. I love going through pictures of strangers and acquaintances. I love watching people go on with their lives, as I observe them from a distance, not really knowing what they are going through, but weaving a story in my head. And when you already know a tiny bit about them, it is even more interesting to extrapolate that and paint an imaginary picture of their life. Do I really have so much time in hand, to be curious about other people? I think I take it on priority, that’s all. Haha.

I am also a great fan of reading Linda Goodman’s books of zodiac signs. It is really entertaining. Her generalizations are quite insightful sometimes. Whenever I have been with someone, I made it a point to read the zodiac compatibility. Such a joy! :D

On social media, I not only stalk my friends, but I also stalk friends-of-friends. Like, you know, you are talking to a friend and he tells you about someone, his school friend or whatever, who travels a lot or bakes amazing cakes or takes beautiful pictures, or just in general, has an interesting life. I make it a point to check them out on FB (I never send them friend requests, of course, I am not that BIG a nut case).

I love how people project their lives on social media. I am sure they have some stress or the other but what they choose to present in front of the world is a happy shiny face. Sometimes they go overboard, but that’s ok, I don’t follow them all the time. Only when I am bored. (On that note, I hate people who criticize those who post selfies and stupid pictures and are hyperactive on social media. Why don’t you just delete or block or hide them from your feed if you are so annoyed with them? But you prefer bitching about it I guess.)

It’s the joy of knowing people that got me into blogging – reading blogs is like reading people’s personal diaries. While you can’t do that in real life (rather, you shouldn’t), by reading someone’s blog you can experience someone else’s life. Human emotions are so universal that almost always you end up identifying yourself with some or the other bit of their life or personality. And if their life is drastically different, that’s even better, coz you can live a new kind of life, vicariously through them.

I love people watching in the real world social life also. I love peeping into the trolley of the people standing in front of me in the supermarket queue. I like to observe the different things they are buying. If someone is buying loads of biscuits and cookies and Maggi and ready-to-eat stuff, you know s/he does not like to cook and perhaps, is living away from family. Then there are people who load their trolleys with fruit yoghurt, Farmlite oat biscuits, Hide-and-Seek biscuit, mango soft drink, Venky’s chicken nuggets, McCain’s aaloo tikki, Amul Nutralite you know that they are trying really hard to have a healthy lifestyle but are also giving into temptations sometimes. Then there are people (I hate standing behind these people coz they take a lot of time) who would be buying groceries for the month – there is atta, rice, dal, Harpic, Vim, Surf, etc in the overflowing trolley. The husband would be standing in front of the counter, looking at all the objects being billed. Sometimes he looks at his wife with an expression – “do we really need this?” The wife would be removing things from the trolley and placing them on the counter table (yes, husbands also help sometimes, but their job is to check if the person on the other side is billing correctly). The kid would be looking greedily at the candies kept nearby, pulling his mom’s dupatta. The mother would be screaming at him or ignoring him, depending on which side of wit she is at.

In a restaurant, I sometimes look around to see what others are eating. I am almost tempted to order my food by pointing finger at what is served on the other table. But then I pretend to be sane, and start guessing what they are eating by reading the menu more carefully. I love menu cards – the prospect of eating good food makes me so happy! And then to choose – everything looks so good, which one to pick, which one to order next time. ~sigh~ Conundrums of life.

So you see I may look quiet and anti-social, but my mind is actually very social, it likes mingling with other people, but let’s just keep some distance. That’s all I ask.