Don't tell me, you have not been to The Third Level? | No Small Talk
If you had your school in Delhi, you must have read this story. I have used, "I am at the Third Level", "You seem to be at the Third Level" so many times myself, casually, very casually.
I did today one more time. And she asked me what is it about because she had not read it, being with a different board of education. So I shared the story with her. She read it and exclaimed "I was shocked at the last line". Now I didn't even remember the last line. I had read it 7 years ago, no amnesia to be blamed, may be Alzheimer's.
I had to read the story again.7 years ago, it took me and a class of 48, four lectures to read it through. It took me 15 minutes today. Now this story is hitting me so hard, putting me into trance and oscillating me back and forth. Boards and education institutions trusted us to be so mentally aware, evolved and receptive. I feel obliged to have received such an education.
15 minutes of throwback enriched me today and also put me into a deeper thought. What do we talk about today, with our colleagues, our friends, our parents, our lovers and strangers? "Hello, how are you?" "Nothing much" "Had food?", "I just want to smoke up", "getting bored" , "Or bataao". One word. Small talk.
I ask you for a hundred dollar bill with an assurance that I won't give it back. You might give me one, since I have been nice to you. I come the next day for another bill. You give one again. I come again and again and again. You would shoo me away, want all your bills back. You would be enraged. Time is money.
When we indulge in small talk, I am highlighting it in bold I am taking your oh so precious 10 minutes talk time and throwing it down the drain in front of you, along with mine. I am not giving anything to you. You are so furious when shopkeeper gives you candies instead of your change. Here I am throwing your limited, non-replenish-able resource, without giving you even a candy, why are you not enraged?
Be enraged. Shut me up and shut anyone who does small talk with you. You deserve true value for your time. If you don't get it, take them to a consumer court instead of a coffee shop. Small talk is useless. It is so easily replaceable with something of much higher worth. You do not need to be a scientist for it. Talk about movies that moved you, the failures you have seen, how you think, how people think, what inspires you, what doesn't let you sleep, what do you want to do before you die. Talk about the books you loved. I don't read books, I talk about poems I wrote. That's how poetry open mic happened. But a 3 hour work out a week can only tickle that fat. To stay fit we need to absorb this in routine.
I am leaving you with a snapshot from the 12th standard book which inspired this write up. I am not giving a hyperlink to the story. You can google it or message me for one. If you take the easier route of messaging me then you are obligated to read it through and talk to me about how it changed you. Dare you "or bataao" me!
I did today one more time. And she asked me what is it about because she had not read it, being with a different board of education. So I shared the story with her. She read it and exclaimed "I was shocked at the last line". Now I didn't even remember the last line. I had read it 7 years ago, no amnesia to be blamed, may be Alzheimer's.
I had to read the story again.7 years ago, it took me and a class of 48, four lectures to read it through. It took me 15 minutes today. Now this story is hitting me so hard, putting me into trance and oscillating me back and forth. Boards and education institutions trusted us to be so mentally aware, evolved and receptive. I feel obliged to have received such an education.
15 minutes of throwback enriched me today and also put me into a deeper thought. What do we talk about today, with our colleagues, our friends, our parents, our lovers and strangers? "Hello, how are you?" "Nothing much" "Had food?", "I just want to smoke up", "getting bored" , "Or bataao". One word. Small talk.
I ask you for a hundred dollar bill with an assurance that I won't give it back. You might give me one, since I have been nice to you. I come the next day for another bill. You give one again. I come again and again and again. You would shoo me away, want all your bills back. You would be enraged. Time is money.
When we indulge in small talk, I am highlighting it in bold I am taking your oh so precious 10 minutes talk time and throwing it down the drain in front of you, along with mine. I am not giving anything to you. You are so furious when shopkeeper gives you candies instead of your change. Here I am throwing your limited, non-replenish-able resource, without giving you even a candy, why are you not enraged?
Be enraged. Shut me up and shut anyone who does small talk with you. You deserve true value for your time. If you don't get it, take them to a consumer court instead of a coffee shop. Small talk is useless. It is so easily replaceable with something of much higher worth. You do not need to be a scientist for it. Talk about movies that moved you, the failures you have seen, how you think, how people think, what inspires you, what doesn't let you sleep, what do you want to do before you die. Talk about the books you loved. I don't read books, I talk about poems I wrote. That's how poetry open mic happened. But a 3 hour work out a week can only tickle that fat. To stay fit we need to absorb this in routine.
I am leaving you with a snapshot from the 12th standard book which inspired this write up. I am not giving a hyperlink to the story. You can google it or message me for one. If you take the easier route of messaging me then you are obligated to read it through and talk to me about how it changed you. Dare you "or bataao" me!
