A Christmas tryst

So there I was. Standing alone on the rink of the balcony. Squinting into the horizon filled with the hot and happening of Mumbai. Exaggeration? Only a little. There were bright lights and enough noise to fill a cup. Lots of people walking by, looking, buying and selfieing. And I was watching them do those things. A few moments pass like that. I got a tap on the shoulder from a random dude. I responded. He pointed to the ground. There was a folded up currency note. I bent down to get a closer look. It said 1000 Rupees.

Random dude - "Is that yours?"
Me - "No, I don't think so." *Picking up the note*
Random dude - "Really? Are you sure?"
Me - "No, I don't think so." *Handing the note back*

Random dude points me in the direction of a staircase. On the top, there is another random dude. Holding his phone up, pointing towards my direction.

Random dude - "You were part of a social experiment. You were honest! Congratulations."
Me - "Ok. Nice"

I smiled and waved to the camera. Then I went back to my people watching business. Looks like I am a pretty decent human being after all. Honest and all. My mom was right all along, I AM special. This is proof. You know, that warm fuzzy feeling. Like hot tomato soup with pieces of toast.

But as usual, my mind did a back track, and what I realized gave me a bit of sweet shock. Here is the revisited version.

So there I was. At the Palladium mall in Mumbai. Christmas time and I hadn't had any bakery products. The first patisserie I chanced upon, I barged in. Shooed away the girls ogling the shelves and placed my order. One Belgian Chocolate cupcake. For immediate consumption. Paid for it. Got the cup cake. Hovered around for a vacant spot on the balcony rink. There was lots of space. I was looking at the people standing below. Slowly opening up the wrapper around the cupcake.

Then I get a tap on the shoulder from a guy. My impulse was to respond and resume ASAP. The Random dude pointed out to the ground. There was a currency note. All folded up and scrunched.

I didn't care. I had a cupcake in my hand that needed my immediate attention. Besides I had just emptied my purse at the counter.

Me - "No, I don't think so". Carefully balancing the cupcake in one hand, picked up the note.
Random dude asks again - "Really? Are you sure?"
Me - "No, I don't think so". Let's get a move on. Please. Just take the note and go. Even if it is not yours. Cup. Cake.

Random dude points me in the direction of a staircase. Now what? I have to turn? On the top, there is another random dude.

I understood the situation. I had just shown someone honesty. Inadvertently. Just smile and wave. Act natural. Smile. Wave. Cupcake.

Smiled, waved and cupcake! I didn't bother asking any details. Just turned and stuffed my face into the creamy, chocolatey goodness of the Belgian people. Sweet Baby Jesus, that hit the spot!

If anyone happens to see my honesty chops in action, I blame it on the Belgian Chocolate cupcake. A little bit me, but mostly the cupcake.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

Note to self: Never make conversations with a cupcake in hand.

Experiment 3 - The nightmare at 3:15

"What gets you to sleep at night?", somebody asked. I remember the first time I was asked that. That was a long time ago. But I am not ready to answer that. What wakes me up is more answerable.

A couple of months back I changed a couple of things in my bedroom. Then I started having a cluster of bad dreams. When I was discussing this with my boss, he suggested that the direction could have an effect on your brain activity and sleep cycles. So I was curious to find out more.

So I did some research. Does direction impact the nature of dreams? Are dreams supposed to wake you up from your sleep? Can you focus your mind to dream the kind you want? This is my experiment with sleep and how seemingly unrelated/related things affect the nature of dreams/nightmares. Below are a few of my observations.

Direction - West to East
Tiredness - Very tired. 4-5 kms jog/cycle around 9-10 PM
Sleep start - Around 12:30 AM - 1 AM
Rituals - Brush teeth, under sheets

1. Cycling along the side of a cliff and suddenly losing control and falling off it. Then I wake up from the fall
2. Jobless, totally broke. Everything I have is obsolete followed by cacophonic laughter from nowhere. Then I wake up
3. Slowly drowning by hanging upside down into a pool of water. Then I wake up gasping and looking around
4. Accidental pipe leak on the runway just when the jet is about to take off from the point. I am at the ground trying to fix it. The time is running out, the jet is getting closer. Then I wake up.
5. Lost my legs, both of them, a blast perhaps. Had to amputate. Now couldn't walk, or do anything without help. Then I wake up with a cold sweat
6. Beating a friend to a pulp thinking him to be an impostor, but he is not. Left how it could have happened, trying to make sense. Then I wake up
7. I killed someone in the past and I cannot get over it. If I agree to it, I cannot live peacefully. If I don't get jailed, I cannot be who I am. Guilt wrecks the mind. Then I wake up
8. Feeling that someone is watching me sleep, but obviously nobody. But then again I should just check. Then I wake up

All these dreams happen around 2-3:30 AM. Then I wake up. More often I remember seeing the time as around 3:15 AM on my phone. Then I sleep again, the tired kind of sleep where I don't remember anything.

Direction - East to West
Tiredness - Very tired. 4-5 kms jog/cycle around 9-10 PM
Sleep start - Around 12:30 AM - 1 AM
Rituals - Brush teeth, under sheets

No clues of any dreams. Pleasant or unpleasant, none of them were potent enough to disturb my sleep and wake me up.


My observations are inconclusive. Is it my subconscious mind fighting the battles my conscious mind doesn't want to? But why is the direction affecting it? There are a few more patterns to try out before attempting an explanation. This could just be a whim waiting to be brushed off. Or is it? Intriguing. This experiment is far from over.

So now, I ask you, my reader, a borrowed question. What keeps you up at night?

P.S: Some disturbances and interferences have been there, but ignoring that sort.