Day 36 : John Goddard !!

Today. A colleague sends me this link. And then I go berserk the rest of the day.

Prior to my seeing it, if you had asked me who I thought is my role model. I wouldn't have a straight answer to give to you. I mean sure I would’ve made up some clichéd story like my folks, or a teacher, or a famous writer/thinker. But that would to some extent be false. Now I am happy to say I won't have to make up stuff anymore. I officially have a role model now. And his name is - John Goddard.

He has every right to look smug!

Seriously dude, look at his LIST! He has done everything!!

There are things in this list that I think you will find in the bucket list of every single human being on this planet. And then there are things so exciting, they definitely deserve to be in everyone’s list.

Visiting exotic places, doing extraordinary things, doing ordinary thing and actually enjoy them, speak more languages, learn new musical instruments, re-trace famous voyages by other famous explorers, read more books, write books, go around the globe (four times!).

 And so many more...

There are few people on this planet who can confidently say "been there, done that" without coming off as a lame bullshitter. He has actually been everywhere, done everything, and experienced everything. He even has a list to prove it. And books, and shows, and pictures.

He even went on the lecture circuits in the States speaking about his myriad experiences. I mean, he is the one guy on this planet who should be everyone's role model. The one guy who's very life is a lesson on how to live life to the fullest!

I guess when Mr. Goddard passed away couple of years back and reached the pearly gates up top. My guess is he would have been welcomed with open arms by the Creator. Who else to get the feedback on how beautiful his creation is!

Today, I will make a bucket list. One more resolution to accomplish this year.

P.S. I know there are way too many exclamation marks in this post. But darn it, this guy is awesome!!!

Day 26 : The Random Guy On The Road

There is this one guy I came across recently. I don't remember the guy's name but he really was quite unique. His whole appearance was.

He looked like someone out of a Sergio Leone movie. He had deep face lines, strong sharp jaw, deep set eyes, a tight lip crease, his ears were sharp and upwards like his nose, a week’s stubble covered his face, he had a slender physique with a taut back, his arms were tanned and with callous hands and thick fingers. The look he gave you was piercing and openly challenging.

He wore tattered dirty shirt with sweat stains with seams that were too dark of dust and of wearing too long. He wore faded jeans, which probably weren't faded while store bought, the hems were torn and threadbare.

He spoke zero Hindi or very little of any other language I understood. He spoke some dialect of Gujarati I barely could comprehend. All I could decipher was that he was travelling to his hometown back from selling some garment clothes. At least that’s what I thought his sign language meant.

The reason I even got around to talking to this guy was because I was staring at his knuckles a bit too long and he began to feel uncomfortable and came at me. How was I to help myself? It was such a sight to behold. I asked him about what he did; he tried to communicate his profession to me in broken Gujarati, all I understood that he was a laborer of some sort, not the skilled kind I'd guess. That explained his physique. He was built like an ox.

Damn how I wish I had taken a picture of him.

This guy would have been some painter's or sculptors or photographer's vision a salt-of-the-earth guy. Like John Wayne or a less toothy Eli Wallace maybe. Yeah well, maybe Anurag Kashyap finds him to be the next Nawazuddin.

Today, I will think of that face while I see “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”.