LIFE

Note:  This post can be a bit boring.  So if you want to quit, do it now.  Do check the last lines before getting out of here.

It is so strange that even though the blog title refers to life, not a single post has been written on life.  Today, I am going to write one.

Observing life and experiencing it has taught me so much that I think, I can become a philosopher or a motivational speaker.

My personal favorite is of becoming a saint.

Life has always intrigued me.  My own and other people lives too.  I always wondered what it meant.

Childhood is one of the best stages of life.  As a child, everything we do evokes joy and no amounts of punishment takes away that mischievous smile from our face.  No wonder we all want to be a child again.

Being a curious child, I always asked questions (like the Paresh Rawal from Judaai) and sometimes answer question with a question.  What bothers us most are the questions of which answers we cannot find.  Then there are times when we ask the wrong questions.  Only time will provide us with an answer if there is one.

As we grow up, we realize that life is not all about having fun, it does have its share of suffering too.  We suffer from our own negative thoughts, our needs and wants, from others and the society.

Everything that we want comes down to a choice that in itself  is not easy to make.  A choice in living the life we want or let others dictate.  Choice between freedom & responsibility.

We all have our little desires of what we want in life.  It fills us with a sense of accomplishment & joy when we do achieve it.  Then its time to wish for a new desire and make it happen.

Fear at times makes us do things that we regret later.  This happens when we are uncertain/desperate about achieving our goals.

We fear when we are not prepared, not willing to accept decisions that go against us.

Not everyone dreams comes true plunging them into the dark or take the lonely path in search of their own self where they would rise again from the ashes.

If things don’t work out we term it as failure.  The reality is sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t but calling it failure is a mistake.  We fail to see what we have learned.  Failures are practice shots for success.

Life is about what you make out of it.  The hard part of life is accepting the truth which comes in many forms and the easy part is to live life like there is no tomorrow.

I have realized that life is not a mystery, we are.  We come to know more about ourselves as we move ahead.  We live an adventurous life but seldom do we realize that.

In the end what matters is the journey and not the destination…..

Last Lines:  Wishing you all a belated Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year :)

The Letter

Ayan was going through the stack of paper from his drawer, when a photo fell on the ground. He bends down to pick up the photo which landed on the wrong side. Picking it up, he saw himself and Jhanavi in a traditional Kashmiri outfit, sitting on a yak and smiling gleefully in the picture.

Looking at the picture brought back all the memories of Kashmir and the fun they had. Among the stack of papers, he began to search and found holding a letter in his hand. A letter he had written to Jhanavi.

He read the letter again. He had expressed his love for her and what she meant to him. He had thought of giving her the letter by slipping it on her bed side table on the eve of her birthday. So that it would be the first thing she would read it in the morning.

What he did not anticipated was the turn of events the day before. He reached his home in the evening only to find it empty. On the table, a letter was kept with his name on the top. As he read the letter, he found himself shattered and heart broken.

Jhanavi had left the house and in the letter she revealed her love for another man and hoped he would understand...

Marriage Talk

This is one of my favourite topics that I like to read/know about. I guess it was from the time that I was a teenager that the “arranged marriage” system intrigued me.

I know someone who said “yes” just because she thought that she might not get good proposals after a ‘certain age’. I even ended up writing an uncompleted story on the arranged marriage.

I have came across posts few weeks back that was dedicated to the same topic. I have seen girls worry, wondering if the one they are marrying is the right choice. Not came across any guys until a few weeks back, my friend made me wonder about that.

Whenever I spoke to this friend, the topic would get diverted to “Marriage” and I was wondering what was wrong. I asked him but the answer never came. The last phone call cleared the air.

He called up and the first question that was put to me was “When are you getting Married? (Reminded me of my post). I was like after you. It was then a volley of questions were directed at me like “Whether you would go for someone working or not and why?” and other similar questions.

For a moment, I thought I was the one being scrutinized and wonder if my friend was trying to play a matchmaker. After a lot of prodding, the beans were spilled out.

He was on the process of seeing marriage proposals and this was his way of having a discussion on the subject. The discussion went further until my friend felt that he knows what he needed.

In an arranged marriage system, I don’t understand the traditional setup of a boy meets girl in the presence of families. After a supposedly 10 min or more talk they are required to take a decision of their life time. If they are lucky, they might get a chance to meet again to see their compatibility.

Even today, most of the families are not open to informal meeting between the boy and girl where they can talk & discuss openly. Which I think should be the norm On the top, a boy can go on to see as much more than 10 girls to decide his life partner but a girl (in some communities) cannot do the same and if she does, she gets stereotyped. Does this represent the so-called modern society of India?

I am not sure if this approach will change in the coming years but the mindset has to. As for my friend, I wished him luck for his search who is also seeking divine intervention like matching horoscopes.

Looking Out

 

People walking down the road, vehicles passing by was the view Shimir saw outside his window.

The calmness on his face hid the turmoil from within. For a moment being isolated from the world into his own gave him the sense of tranquility that he was trying hard to seek.

The calling of his name brought him back to the reality. He turned around and started pushing his wheel chair forward...

P.S.: In case you are wondering why a lot of fiction lately, its because I have not been able to jot my thoughts in a better way. Hope that changes. I have also created a new social blog called Freedom Expression (do check it out) and am experimenting with Twitter too :)

My Friend Ganesha

“When will Ganesha come to our house” the four year old Shreya asked her mother innocently.

“Ganesha lives in the sky, he cannot come to our house” her mother replied. “He is my friend, I want to play with him” she persisted.

Her mother looked at her and tried her best to make her understand that Ganesha is not seen by the humans and that’s why we worshipped him in the form of idols and pictures. “I want to play with Ganesha” Shreya kept repeating.

The father who was sitting on the sofa nearby, lost behind the newspaper was roped in by the mother to explain the absence of Ganesha.

“He is my friend and I want to play with him” she retorted as her father made his attempt. “How can he be your friend, have you met him or seen him?” questioned her father. “No” Shreya replied with her head down. “How will he come to your house now if you have not met him or invited over?” The question was met with a silence. She went back to playing with her doll lying on the floor.

The cell phone rang which the father picked up and hung up after a few minutes. “Who called up?” Shreya asked from a distance. “That was my friend Ganesh” he replied.

“Ganesha a friend of yours?” she asked her father who on realization gave a puzzled look and the mother broke into a laughter.

Come Back

Jigna moved her hand on the other side of the bed and on finding nothing started moving her fingers up and down. Quickly she opened her eyes to see that there was no one else on the bed.

She came out of the room looking here and there when light emitting from the hall caught her attention. Curiously, she moved towards the hall only to find the door ajar. The house was searched and there was no one’s presence except hers. She panicked, grabbed the house keys and went downstairs.

Jigna ran outside in the middle of the night and found her standing at the gates of the building. “Mom, what are you doing here?” she asked her mother, who was dressed in a sari and her long hair open. “I am waiting for you Dad. He told me he was going to come” she replied.

“He is not going to come back, he is gone”. She tried telling her but she won’t listen. “Okay, let’s wait for him at our home” Jigna told her mother and took her back to home. She had managed to put her mother to sleep and still somehow sleep eluded her.

Tears kept flowing through her eyes as she looked at her mother sleeping peacefully. She took out the newspaper cutting from the side table and looked at it for a while.

It was the obituary of her father who had passed away a year ago, still her mother longed for him to come back.

Tagged: With An Award

 


Sunil gave away the award which took me by surprise. Thanks for the award Sunil.

The award comes with a tag which as usual took a long time as I was scratching my head for the answers. This is what I could up with:

1. What is your current obsession?

I, me and myself

2. What are you wearing today?

Now, T-shirt and shorts

3. What's for Dinner?

Chicken dish

4. What are you listening to right now?

Pardesi from Dev D

5. What do you think about the person who tagged you?

Someone with a sense of humor, a book lover and likes to click pictures. Knows what he wants from life.

I hope I did justice :)
 

6. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

An unexplored remote island like the one found by Robin Crusoe.

7. What are your must-have pieces for summer?

Nothing (if its clothes related). Living in Bombay means a long summer except when the rain decides to cool the place.

8. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

Taj Mahal & Angkor Wat, Cambodia

9. Which language do you want to learn?

Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam

10. What's your favorite quote?

Don’t have any favorite as such but for now I like this one:

“If we act out of fear and not hope we get bitter and not better”

— Jesse Jackson

11. Who do you want to meet right now?

My naatku niece

12. What's your favorite colour?

Light Blue

13. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?

Black T-Shirt with a White Tiger image

14. What is your dream job?

I have two dream jobs

1) To own a media production company, shoot short films and produce TV shows something on the lines of the Alva brothers or may be different.

2) Entrepreneur.

15. What's your favorite magazine?

Reader's Digest.

16. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?

I would probably save some and spend the rest on clothes.

17. What do you consider as fashion faux pas?

Govinda’s fashion statement

18. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?

Megan Fox, her face looks odd and the ‘sexy’ tag puts me in a mystery.

19. What kind of haircut do you prefer?

The one that makes me look good

20. What are you going to do after this?

Take a nap.

21. What are your favorite movies?

This puts me in a tight spot. I have a long list of them and don’t remember names of the few. So here is what I could recall.

Hindi:

Bombay to Goa, Amol Palekar & Hrishikesh Mukherjee Movies (don’t remember the names), Andaz Apna Apna, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Dil Chatha Hain, Lakshya, Hyderabad Blues, Teen Deewarien, Nayak, Taxi No. 9211, Ek Chalis ki Last Local, Dev D 13B. There are a few others that I am missing out on.

English:

Remember the Titans, Ron Howard movies, Die Hard Series, Stranger than fiction, Terminator Returns, 1408, Ed TV, Hero (Dustin Hoffman), Kill Bill series, Freedom Writers, Harry Potter series, Enemy at the gates, The Bucket List, Bourne series, Monster House, Sixth sense and many more.

22. What are three cosmetic/ makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?

Shaving kit does the trick (That too I use because I don’t want to scare away people)

23. What inspires you?

The ability to make a difference.
 

24. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:

1) Be Yourself

2) Smile, always works

3) Wear what looks good on you, not what you think

25. Coffee or tea?

Tea

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?

I eat, call someone, surf the net, walk or jot down those thoughts.

27. Which other blogs do you love visiting?

The ones on my Blogroll and Google Reader.

28. Favorite Dessert/ Sweet?

Anything that tastes good.

29. Favorite Season?

Rainy season.

30. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?

Won’t snacks do? I can cook an omelet and toast some bread.

31. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?

Give them something back that they were not prepared for.

32. What are you afraid of the most?

Fear of fear.

33. My question (Borrowed from Sunil): Funniest one-liner you've ever heard?

That I should get a degree/award for being a “Friend of Lovers”.

I pass on this award & tag to Meena, Grayquill, Rakesh, Shruti & Mad Alpha Moggie for having such wonderful blogs.

Revenge: The Solution?

I was watching the news, when I came across this (see below) and surely the media channels are falling to a new lows in an attempt to report news.

I am not sure if anybody talked to the boy about what he is saying and shows complete lack of apathy from the channel side which goes on to flash news about the boy's vow for revenge.

One can understand the plight of the child who lost his father but trying to cashing on it by covering his admission of revenge is something I think could have been avoided given the situation and the emotions involved. What does a seven year old know about revenge?

It's time that we have media watchdogs, so that such incidents are reported and taken off the air instead of showcasing the lack of sensitivity!!

Am I Fat?

“Am I looking fat” she asked as she kept looking in the mirror and then looked towards her mother. The mother gave her a glance and said “You are looking fine”

“You never say anything right” she said and went inside to try another of her dresses to see if they make her look fat.

Came out like she was doing a ramp walk and again the same question, the answer no different than the earlier one. “Why does she say I am looking fat?” “At least I am not fat as he is, look at his bloating stomach and his ass looks bigger than mine”

I found myself at the center stage and was puzzled with the attention. I kept quiet as I did not mind them and that should have put an end to the debate.

That was not meant to be...

Few days later a cousin dropped by and all the girly talk began. I kept listening as I had nothing better to do. I lost track of the conversation when I was talking with my aunt and then I heard the same game being played “No, you are fat, look at you” as they talked and giggled. Then it happen.

“Look how fat he has become” one of them said as their eyes went scanning each part of my body and then zeroed on my stomach. “Yeah his tummy is coming out like a pregnant lady” they said and laughed again.

I maintained a stoic silence on my physical changes and decided to get even by talking about how fat she is going to become after marriage (I have seen that happen) and that she should watch out. I thought that would put an end.

But it just refuses to die down.

Weeks later, another sister came who had lost weight that she had put on and was flaunting that fact to her. Then she went on to tell her how fat she has become.

I was working on the computer when I heard this conversation taking place as it happens my name too was dragged in “who is the fattest” list. I realized that I was being used as a decoy so that she could feel that she is slimmer than someone, in this case me.

After that whenever the fat issue comes in, finger are pointed at me like I am a specimen in some lab of what happens when you gain weight.

I know my tummy has started to resemble a 2-3 month old pregnant lady but I am okay with it and don’t have any issues. People around me seem to make a big deal about it.

Just to remind you, I never asked the question but am still getting the answers that someone else should have…

Not the end of the story though; now even Mom has taken upon herself to tell me that I have become fat.

I don’t think this will end unless I lose some weight which I will anyway.

P.S. I know you must be giving your imagination a push but the truth is I could have explain them scientifically that if a tall man gains even a few pounds one tends to look fat.

Will they listen? Naaah…. (nor shall you I guess)

As for the tummy, it has become too lazy to go back to its original place. The least thing that I want is to end up like this.

From Real to Reel Love

Why is it so difficult to find someone to fall in love?

It seems that everyone around me is falling in love with the exception of me. Even the people one thinks would find hard finding love would find it and that would lead me to ask the question “What about me?”

I somehow believe that one should fall in love at least once to know what it takes to work and how it feels to be in love. Its easy to love the close ones unconditionally but how does one fall in love with a stranger and then decide to spend their lives together. What makes them know that this what they were looking for?

I have my share of crushes, love and heartbreaks (which are nothing but a figment of my imagination). When I look around I often find that someone not meeting my requirements (I don’t have any; but they come up mysteriously).

I am wondering whether the gals have stopped reading the Mills & Boons books.

Yes, I am that tall, dark (not dark but will tan do?) and handsome guy (I consider myself so) that every girl used to dream of. Nowadays nobody seems to read it given the poor response that I receive and plus I have to decide whether I should let someone be a pain in my neck or let the other one bear the pain for me. Read this post to know.

Whenever I see some pretty faces on the idiot box, I ask myself why don’t I meet such girl in real life or is that the reality in which I am living is different?

Here is a list of them:

I saw her first time when she had the character name Zoya (I like that name) and she had caught my eyes attention even though she was not the central character of the show. Any chance of me going on a date with her?

Most of the discovery that I made happen, when I was forced to watch the serials by my family. Well what could I do, I do belong to the minority league.

When I saw her, I was in awe of her. She is beautiful. I though find myself skeptical whether I would go out with her. I don’t feel that vibe or connection. What do you think?

She is cool, that’s what I think about her. I would look forward to go out with her. Do you think she will say yes to me?

I was surfing the channels when I spotted her. The first thing that came to my mind was what was she doing here? She was talking about stock prices, figures indicating the health of financial companies. I am not the one who is hooked on to business channel to know how up the sensex have gone or fall (our sensex apparently is a very sensitive one; even a news of a probable earthquake would rattle off a few stock prices).

When I saw her, I saw myself falling head over heels. I am wondering at my chances of going out with her. Considering she might have a long waiting list of guys, who would like to go on a date with her.

Every guy dreams of girl without brains but beauty. Not me, I find myself running in opposite direction when they approach me. This was another “find” by me when I saw her showcasing her skills of playing a dumb character but at the same time I found her cute (Did I use that word?, I hate someone telling me that). She came across as innocent and honest about herself, that’s what I like about her. I think I would like to know her better.

I did found someone who I liked. I met her in the theatre for the first time and almost found myself falling for her. I loved everything about her but yes I did prefer her to have more common sense. I again went to the theatre to see her again. She charmed me all the way. She brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh. What more could I ask for?

Perhaps I could turn her from being a character role to a person in real life. Wondering who that mystery lady is? Here is a glimpse of her.

BTW, just to clear the air I did not send her the solitaire wedding ring she received. :((

P.S. This list is a part of a list which is quite exhaustive :)

Regressive Indian Television

My family thinks I should have been born in a foreign land and that I have mistakenly born in India. The reason I watch too much of English movies and soaps. I don’t think I am responsible for that.

If anyone watches the Indian television soaps, one would come to a conclusion that men in India just don’t exist. All the soaps are aimed at women and the men are supposed to stick to sports, news, business (if they have stock investment) and yes of course discovery and national geographic channels if their interests lies in science and nature.

There is hardly any kind of show on the Indian television which caters to the need of the men. I don’t think that leaves me with much of a choice except to watch Hollywood movies and soaps which does not show any kind of bend towards gender.

Only one channel probably comes close that has been able to cater to the needs of the youth in form of reality shows, this does sound a bit of irony considering the fact that the highest percentage of age group population is the youth in India and there is nothing on the television that caters to their need.

I do consider myself lucky that when I was growing up, there were some great soaps on the Indian television with messages and everything shown in a positive way.

The Sundays have never been the same as they were back in the old days which started with Rangoli and ended up with watching Ramayan/Mahabharat which would have the whole family glued to the television set and streets would be empty. I don’t think that is a sight I will ever see again.

There were so many great shows like Giant Robot, Malgudi Days, Nukkad, Vikram aur Betaal, Bharat Ek Khoj, Rajani, Fauji, Param Vir Chakra, Byomkesh Bakshi, Circus, Surbhi and many more that I watched as a kid. Cable channels too had some good soaps in the beginning!

I am still clueless how the Indian television which had such a great start came to a point that regressive soaps replaced it and the only thing that one could imagine is that a women’s past time is to hatch plans against her family on flimsy grounds for personal gain.

As for the men they are reduced to side actors or helping the women in their plots. We are supposed to call ourselves a modern India yet the Indian television represents an orthodox, conservative mentality that should have been best left in the past. I am not really sure if people understand how powerful the television can be in influencing human minds.

Just consider this as an example; Nitish Bhardwaj who played the famous role of Krishna in Mahabharata was treated like God when he visited villages for campaigning elections this was at a time which the reach of the television was still limited to the cities. One could only imagine the kind of influence it would have on the thinking mentality today when these regressive serials reaches in the living rooms of the rural people with a belief that if its on TV then it must be true!!

Why is there such a gross misrepresentation of the modern society in the Indian television? What is funny that all this is done saying that the audience demands such content and that’s why they show it. Do they really think that one can make a fool out of the audience not knowing what kind of crap is being showed? The makers of such shows do seem to live in a different reality.

In a bid to garner the highest TRP’s for the show, they sometimes give the shock effect. Remember the character Mihir Virani (Remember the Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi serial) coming back to life after a public outcry. I am still wondering what kind of audience that would be who would sit and watch crap serials like this.

Off late reality shows seems to be the new fad, with every channel coming out with its own reality show. Reality shows like KBC, Dus Ka Dum are good but some of the reality shows are shown with an attempt to show how low one contestant can fall with all the twisted kind of tasks put in.

To be honest, living life is nothing short of battle that we all go through and at the end of the day; I don’t think anyone would like to watch the same thing over and over again. Unless these reality shows have a point to prove they won’t have a future!!

Who decides to telecast such soaps? They are the guys who apparently have a master’s degree against their education qualification and approve such “narrow-minded” shows that are aired on the channels. For them, TRP’s seem to be more important than showing good content. What I don’t understand how good content can be considered overrated that regressive serials are favored over them?

Though there have been a few exceptions where certain shows have come out with a social motive. I hope that others (makers of the serials) too understand that nothing attracts the viewer’s attention than good content.

Yes, last but not the least, do make serials for the younger generation too and yes men do watch the idiot box when they are at home, so please if anyone is planning to make a show keep that in mind...

BTW, came across a trailer of a new reality show which is nothing short of sadism at its best. Its about couples taking care of a babies. Here is the clip. I think that this should be banned and wonder what kind of parents give away their child to strangers just to earn a few bucks?

This is what we call entertainment?

P.S. Doordarshan channel recently completed 50 years of telecast. I miss those old days!! Koi lauta to woh bete huiye din :((

Appreciate The Effort

I came across a very well written post on why people quit their jobs and I knew I had to write this one.

I remember one colleague of mine saying the words “That’s why people quite their jobs, they are not happy and they choose to move on and keep doing it unless they find one”.

The statement came at a time when I was amusing myself with sarcasm when I saw a mail from the HOD (head of department) asking to explain on an email received from the client side. All this happened when I took a loo break.

Before that an email from the client appreciated my team efforts for delivering in a short time. The HOD also acknowledged our team effort on the same email.

What amused me that day was the way the boss chooses to change sides without trying to find out what happened. It kind of reflects how much trust he has on his own team.

Anyone who has worked would know that the number of your mistakes pointed is always higher than the times your work has been appreciated. I would put that in a ratio of 10:1.

An office environment is nothing short of being in a sports team where everyone’s contributions decide the final outcome. Very few people actually realize this and treat their team in such a way.

I remember doing a presentation in one of the session how an employee morale gets affected with and without feedback being received.

The first stage was about the employee who joined the organization trying to give his best. In the second stage he feels lost when his efforts don’t yield the appreciation/recognition that he was looking for. In the third stage he loses his enthusiasm to give his best which results in bad performance without a feedback. With a feedback, he knows where he stands and gives his best and that gets him rewards & promotions.

In reality, the feedback session is nothing short of being told where one should improve and reminded of their past mistakes. Appreciating an employee rarely happens unless it’s outstanding!! How many of the employees manage to do that?

There is also a perception among the management that if they appreciate the work of the employees, it would send out a wrong sense of hope that they would be moved up the ladder. This is totally wrong!!

Not everyone aims of becoming a leader, how is one suppose to lift a team member’s morale without appreciating the effort he/she has put in, irrespective of the outcome? Does cribbing, pointing out their mistakes are going to make them do things right? The answer is NO.

People choose to work for various reasons, and not everyone is going to follow the office ethics!! It’s a myth if people think it works, no wonder office politics sustains because of the above reason, often finding people who are incapable to inherit the much desired position. Then again, it’s the management who holds the control over how much politics should be allowed to exist.

We end up spending most of our time in office than at home, which only keeps getting longer as one moves up the ladder. It does makes a difference on one’s state of mind on how one is treated.

Everyone likes to be appreciated once in a while. A small pat on the back, telling someone that they are doing a good job goes on a long way to boost one’s morale.

I have observed that unless one does an outstanding work, one’s work will never get appreciated even if it’s a good effort. How many times are people able to deliver outstanding work? Very few!!

Where does that leaves an average employee? No wonder after a certain period of time people quit as boredom sets in and the constant reminder of how bad one is doing.

If one wants employees to stop quitting, start appreciating the efforts not the result, and one could see the difference…

The Score Read 1 0 0

He flicked the ball towards the offside and ran towards the other end as he saw a fielder moving in quickly towards the ball and throwing it towards the bowlers end. He made a dive making sure he ground his bat through the crease.

The sound of the stumps being uprooted by the ball was heard. Shouts of “Howzzat” were called by the nearby fielders but the umpire was in no mood to give him out.

He got off the ground thumped his punch into the air, removed his helmet and pointed his bat to the people who came to watch him. It was his maiden century.

If you are wondering what this is about, well it’s to highlight the fact that I completed 100 posts, which I never thought I would.

Thank you, for taking the time out to read this blog and commenting on posts which means a lot to me!!

To summarize the whole thing, I am giving out a commentator’s award to each and everyone of you who choose to comment on this blog and still keep coming back for more :))

He took his guard again, hitting the ground with the wood in his hand, with his eye on the ball which he knocked down with his defensive shot towards the on side as he went on to add another run...

The After Effects

Nowadays, people are acting strange around me. I don’t know if it is the swine flu effect but I do intent to find it out.

Already the swine flu effect is showing on people as they walk around wearing masks, men tying a handkerchief covering up their nose and women holding one end of the dupatta on their faces while crossing the road. Yes there a few brave people like me who walk down the streets like everything is normal (I do wash my hands though, thanks to all the information that everyone is spreading about maintaining hygiene).
People give me disgusting looks, keep staring at me and talk under their lips or choose to stand away from me when I am standing in a queue.

The first time it happened, I immediately checked my fly thinking it might be open, but it was not. The second time I went to the public toilet twice to check in the mirror if there was something on my face that was evoking such a behavior. All I could see was my reflection.

I did realize one thing that such reactions would happen when I came in close contact with people. It's not like I have cold or I sneeze around, drops dripping from my nose to make myself a threat to them.


I even had my body odour checked by my friends (yes, it was a surprise testing). They gave me an O.K. stamp. Of course I made that out when they fall to the ground unconscious but others who come in close contact with me seem to have a stronger resistance.
Yes, they do tend to cover up their faces with anything they can get their hands or best they run away from me. No I don’t nuke them with the gases that my digestive system releases. The gases that are released have not reached to the nuclear capability to make other nauseous. Bad breath again is not a problem, coz all this happens with my lips sealed.
It’s the strangers who act weird while my family and friends don’t find anything wrong with me. Nor did I saw them maintaining any distance from me. I guess then it should be the problem of the strangers and not me.
I will find it out sooner or later...

Anyways, I have subscribed to a number of SMS alerts which keeps coming in throughout the day.

BTW, have you listened to my message alert? Check it out.

P.S. I came to know how the swine flu transmitted from the swine to the humans. Here is a peek.

Mom's Nightmare

She kept pushing; still the doctor kept saying push a little harder. She took a deep breath and then gave the push with her hands holding the sides of the bed tightly. 

 

“The head is out” the doctor exclaimed, keep pushing he continued. She kept pushing until the whole body was out. The doctor holding the child informed the mother it was a boy, by then she was already exhausted but the news did make her happy, as she felt her prayers were answered. She had prayed for a boy this time to Lord Ganesha to complete her family. What she did not know that she was going to regret that later in the life and keep reminding the boy of the same. 

 

 Apparently the boy was born on Ananth Chaturdashi of Ganeshotsav. He was the only boy to be born that day in the hospital. He had grown up drinking buffalo’s milk as his mother found herself back in the hospital after coming home from the delivery. It is said that the boy is lucky that his mother survived to live and tell the tale.

 

What was among the rumors that he might have picked up the habits of the buffalo, but drinking buffalo’s milk often prevented him from getting into fights when anyone challenged him for one saying “Maa ka dhooth piya hain toh samane aa” (if you had drink your mother’s milk, than come forward) and he would then walk off saying bhais ka dhood piya (I had buffalo's milk) and turn his foes into friends. 

 

Growing up the boy gave the early signs of humans being related to chimpanzee as he would be often found sitting on the top of the cupboards and climbing the walls (with the help of his back & legs) between the passages that was used for entering the rooms. His mother can still recall how he made her living almost miserable with all his antics, the list of complaints that others would have. His aunt could very well open the Pandora’s Box when the child’s name is mentioned. He even made her run behind him, he thinks that she should be thankful to him for losing weight in the process. There have been so many feats that could be recalled about the boy. He broke the refrigerator’s door when he was being chased by the SisterHood Clan. 

 

Wasted a whole container of flour by raising it above his head, turning it upside down and getting hurt in the process. Got his head stuck in the window grill as he was showcasing his skills. Started a small fire in the house which was quickly doused off. He still thinks that his best act was when he broke the tube light with his badminton racket as he played an indoor badminton game in the hall. His name is associated with the highest number of bizarre incidents in the Family Book of Records. The boy had a good side too. He was one of the early ones who started praying to god and doing an aarti as he tried to imitate his elders. 

 

He also started shaving early as he wanted to grow big, later he realized that he was been fooled as the shaving kit turned out to be a toy given by his Dad. The boy showed his early signs of dealing with money by asking for pocket money a trend that he started in the family. He even invented the “paper ball cricket” (which involved the ball made of papers and tied by rubber band and the bat is made of cardboard) in which the sisterhood clan also took part. Being the youngest and living with the sisterhood clan he would always have to listen as everyone around him were speaking 16215 words per day while he could just utter 15669 per day. No wonder when he grew up, he was quite a listener!! He was also told by the clan that he was the “adopted” one but he knew it was one of their tactics to distract him from his mission. He has the family rabbit tooth that refutes their claim.  

 

As he grew up, he was often seen lost in deep thought trying to understand the world, the universe and in the process gain wisdom and wished to become a saint. He wanted to take sanyas but he was aware of his responsibilities. So he decided to do the next best thing of becoming a Cyber Yogi Baba (Hamari Koi Branches Nahi Hain) He was aware that he had caused too much pain to his mother when he was growing up. So he decided to ask her how to make up for it. He asked her to tell him “the one thing that would make her happy and proud of her son”. She replied that she did not want anything for herself and the only thing that she wanted was the boy to be happy.

 

The boy was stumped, all his wisdom could not help him decipher what she meant. It was only by trial and error method did he came to know that what she actually meant. That would be to cause less trouble or be good in hiding them from her and taking good care of her. The boy took pains to do avoid getting in trouble (still trouble has a way of finding him, after all they are friends). As a result of which he would often hear the much stated phrase once in a blue moon. 

 

Somehow the boy thinks that it’s his mother’s fault as she should have been clear on what she wanted from Lord Ganesha, did she forget that he himself was a mischievous child (I am not his reincarnation).  

P.S. In case you are wondering what prompted this post, well today is the day when her nightmare began and shows no signs of ending…

Looking for Answers

I happened to have made an entry in the journal saying that looking for answers is futile, its like one never gets the answers when one is looking for and often ends up finding them when it could be of no use or doesn’t matter as one moves on.

I happen to have the book “The Fifth Mountain” besides me that I started reading. Funnily enough the note from the author talked about related to what I had written about.

Reminded me of this post.

P.S.: I was looking to read other books by Paul Coelho but none were available except this one.

Take A Stand

Mayur ended the call on his cell phone; went inside his house sat on the sofa stretched his legs on the table and spread his arms around the sofa.

“I thought she would listen to me, and agree to make the changes on whose name the flat is going to be, but she did not….” He said to himself.

After a moment of deliberation, he said “What difference does it make anyways? Once I marry her, I’ll get a flat and a share of her wealth. All that I have to do is tie a mangalsutra around her neck and rest of all the expenses would be taken care of by her parents. Once married, I will convince her to add my name instead of her as the owner of the flat”.

Never in his wildest dream he had seen this coming, where he would see himself moving into a flat from a slum and get a slice of huge wealth without spending a penny. All he had to do was marry a girl, who was constantly being rejected because of her dark complexion.

His face broke into a smile; after all he was the one who was going to have the last laugh.
__________________________________________________

Such marriages do take place where the girl belongs to a well to do family and the guy is inferior in respect of status. Most of these alliances takes place as the family of the girl find it hard to get a boy of their status in the community or the reasons could vary from the girl been highly educated, being of too dark complexion or for other reasons.

Not all such marriages that take place are based on “Get Rich Quicker” route there are sometimes genuine individuals involved too.

Our society norms are such that once you grow older, one is expected to get married and start a family of their own and if they don’t do so, then rumors starts spreading on the probable causes for being single.

The lackadaisical attitude of the girl’s parents who treat her like she has become a burden on them and if she is not married after a certain age, people will start wagging their tongues!!

What is the point in getting a daughter married in such a way which appears nothing more than a business deal?

It would do more good to give the girl more freedom and letting her live the way she wants to, who knows she might find love in the future instead of giving her away in such a manner where dark clouds looms over her future, which can only be predicted after marriage.

On top of that, where is the self-respect of a man who cannot stand up for themselves and prefer to depend on their wife’s kitty. The man would end up utilizing the wife’s fund for more than often instead of finding it through other means of resources.

In such marriages, there is a role reversal where the bride takes on groom’s role and the groom plays the bride, providing other amenities such as a flat to live in, in case the groom does not own one or help him set up a business.

Such marriages do go through a litmus test of the society wherein the groom would be constantly reminded how his life has changed due to his marriage (this will only hurt the individuals whose motive was not money, a male bruised ego can take bad turns), as for the girl too, life is not going to be easy especially when the shameless relatives talk about her how her marriage got fixed in her presence.

What is the point in getting married in such a way? so that the parents feel that they have fulfilled all their duties? or the girl to think that this is her fate and that she should live with it?

There is more to life then just settling down and starting a family, something that we, Indians seem averse to.

The society norm needs to be broken when it starts to strangle the people for whom it was built for….

The Threat SMS

Last month, around 9 in the night, I was working on the PC when I received a Threat SMS on my cell phone which was lying besides the monitor, the message read something like this: 

 

Excuse me, Don?t dare to call up on this number,
Or else u would have to face sever consequence from police
And I will finish you off 

 

The first thought that came to my mind that someone was playing a prank with me, as the message came from an unidentified number thinking that one of my friends had changed his number and this is their way of letting me know about it. I did not bother to call up the person; instead I decided to send a message asking the person’s name. One or two hours had passed since replying the message. I got a second message from the same number, this time saying: 

 

Stop all this nonsense

 

For a moment, the thought came to my mind that may be it’s a girl who is getting irritated because of some loser sending messages continuously and she might have accidentally send the message to the wrong number which would be mine in this case (the thought of a guy being behind this did not came coz in such cases they would prefer to call and swear expletives or the message cannot be expected to be so polite if this was a genuine case). I still had my doubts though…. Giving the benefit of doubt and still thinking that someone was pulling a fast one on me, I decided to send a second message asking them what their name was and they probably send the message to the wrong number. Again there was no reply soon. I was staying up late night playing a newly downloaded game on my cell phone when I got the third message from the same number which went like this:

 

What is Mobile?

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   ↓ 

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  Neeche neeche kya dekha raha hain
Hath main kya kabutar pakda hain

 

It was 1:30 in the night when I got this message; I was now 100% sure that one of my friends has to be behind all this. I know two people who stay up late and even narrowed it to one as he worked in the evening shift and is also known for changing numbers frequently. I decided to call but I did not know what was coming for me next. The voice said “Hello”. I did not say anything for a moment as it did not sounded like any of my friends. “Who is this” I asked. 

 

“I have been getting a lot of abusive messages from you for the past two days. I am warning you to stop all this” the voice sounded like someone who was older than me and sounded disturbed. That made me take the call seriously and I explained the person how I thought that someone was playing a prank on me by sending the “Threat SMS”. He again told me to stop sending the messages and asked me whether this is a good time to call anyone? I once again explained him how I had just received a message from your mobile and asked if whether he was sure that the number sending him the messages was from my mobile number. He spelled out my number and I told him how that is simply not possible. I asked him his name and he said “Rajiv Jain”. 

 

I gave my memory a push to recall. I did not know anybody by that name. “Why do you want my name” the voice said with fear that could be felt in his voice. He told me that he would call up the next day in the morning to talk about it. I kept the phone down saying thanks. By the time I kept the phone down, my sister was standing outside my room listening to the whole conversation. I told her and Mom what had taken place right from the start. 

 

My sister started grilling me “Try to remember, you haven’t uploaded your number to any sites” She went to say how foolish I was to call up the number something that she does not even when she receives a message saying Happy Birthday from an unidentified number. I went back to my room thinking about what just happened, how something like this could be possible. When it comes to gizmos and gadgets, I know a lot of stuff especially on how it can be misused. So I was pretty sure that it was not the case here. Either the other person is lying or there is something else going on here.

 

As I was asleep, I told myself there is nothing to be worried about and there was this gut feeling that things are not like they seem to be. My instinct has been right on many occasions and I decided to go with it. The next day I was expecting a call from the person in the morning, which did not happen. I had donned my detective cap by then and decided to investigate the matter. 

 

My first task was to find out which network did the cell number belonged to which was easy all thanks to the internet. I came to know the number belonged to a new cell network operator launched recently. That helped me narrow down to one of the suspects behind this mystery. I decided to call that friend of mine and inquire whether he has got a new number; coz I remember very well of him telling about changing to the new network as it was giving away a free umbrella for every subscription. He denied it and asked me what made me that question. I went about telling him about the incident right from the scratch as it was narrated before. 

 

My friend asked me you did not get afraid by such message? I said what is there to fear; after all I have not done anything wrong. He told me maybe someone might have pulled a prank on me and asked me how does one complain about it. The only thought that came to mind was complaining to the cell operator about such an incident taking place. Soon the topic changed and I realized that my friend’s voice was different. He had just woken up and was not keeping up well thanks to the cold and fever but was feeling better. I was in my room reading the paper in the afternoon when the thought of the person not contacting came to me. Minutes later, I got the fourth message from the same number saying:

 

Hello don’t give miss call

 

I did not even bother to reply thinking that if he is indeed getting so much troubled, he would call me up. I was sure that if I came to know that it was someone I know then he is gone, dead, and kaput. Sometime later the phone rang; it was from the same number. I picked up the call and this time the voice sounded different. The person on the other side kept threatening me saying that I am sending him messages with expletives, giving him miss calls and that if I did not stop, it won’t be good for me. I tried to pacify the person saying to cool down and listen to me first before he starts abusing me. He still kept threatening me saying that he has connections with the underworld and the police. That just did it. 

 

I stopped being nice and told him how I have also connections and tried to reason with him why I would try to send him messages when for the past couple of days I have not send it to anyone? I told him he was trying to make a fool out of me by saying abusive messages were being sent from my mobile. I told him that is not possible and that if he is so dead sure I’ll file a complaint with the police and then see what happens.

 

He was still not done, telling me that he would file a complaint. I again asked for his name, this time he told me it was “Rajiv Mehta” and again try to make him understand that why would I do such a thing in the first place? Soon his tone changed he kept asking me “Pechana nahi kya” the voice on the other side said. “Pechana nahi kya” the voice said again. This time I actually took notice of the voice and I said “Ma****” and yes it was him. I made sure I gave him an earful. 

 

It was the same suspect whom I had called in the morning. He wondered how I came to know which network the number belonged. I came to know that I was not the first one but the second victim. The first one happens to be one of his girlfriends; who just refuses to talk with him when she came to know that it was all a prank. The next thing I know, I was being asked for some mushy messages so as to cool her down. 

 

Thanks to his cold and fever his voice sounded very different than it normally is. That’s why I could not nail him the other day.  

 

P.S. I am waiting to meet him so that I can beat the shit out of him for pulling such a crap. BTW, my friend did not get that umbrella as he brought the new number through a friend under a different scheme.

The SisterHood Clan

Born and bought up in one of the flats in Bombay, they went to rule the place. This is the story about the Sisterhood Clan with whom no one messed.

The place ran according to their whims and fancies. They always had their way as they had the power, the power of five. The only way to become a member of the clan was to be the female gender and be related by birth.

Their luck was going to run out soon. They were going to be part of the history. It was the beginning of the end. The prophecy was out there on the wall. The birth of a boy in the family was going to change everything.

The Sisterhood Clan was aware of the prophecy; so they started wielding their power on him. They made him do things that he won’t do. They tried to turn him a member of their clan. They had put earring into his ears, a bindi on his forehead and a pony out of his short hair. The only thing they could find was a dress of his size. The manhood in him survived that day.

That was not the end. They tried to expose him when he came out after a bath wearing only a towel. They laid a trap to call him in the hall to find something. As he went on the search, without knowing behind his back an effort was made to pull the towel with a camera ready for the click. The boy knew how to tie strong knots so the towel did not gave in. To make fun of him they even gifted him a pair of inner vest and underwear on his birthday.

The kid being divine never complained, accepted everything with a smile. To maintain their control over him, they decided to make him pay “protection money” every year and that too to each member of the Sisterhood Clan.

To make everything look legitimate they tied a Rakhi across his wrist and in return he would hand out the money. No body found it suspicious. Being the youngest in the family he could have chose not to give in, but there was a time for the end to come and so he obliged.

As the kid grew and mingled with the Sisterhood clan, they found it hard to hold back their emotions and the affection that was developing among them but no one dare to talk about it.

The boy’s charisma had the clan in awe. He was treated with love and affection by each member of the clan. They accepted the boy in their fold and the clan ceased to exist. Each one of them vowed to protect the boy when he would need their help. The boy too promised to help them in their need but mostly in their tasks which turned out to be a day to day affair.

The tradition of Raksha Bandhan is still followed today and the money handed out in return for the rakhi tied. Only now it represents the affection of a sister and the money a token of gift from a brother.

The boy is none than me who put an end to the Dangerous Sisterhood Clan without any fights :)))))))

Let me give a brief description of each member of the Sisterhood Clan who helped me learned the ways of life (I was going to write a book soon on how understand a women and put an end to the guys misery, but they made me promise not to reveal the secrets of women).

Sister I: She was the "Ringleader" of the Sisterhood Clan. She was the one responsible behind all the harassment & pranks played on me. Nowadays, the only thing she wants is to see me get married. One must have heard about the “list”.

Sister II: The “Talented”. She taught me all the tricks of the trade. She is so talented and could learn anything that she wants. I picked up that trick from her. I used to act as her assistant and she as my boss. I happen to have sign a non-disclosure agreement so cannot reveal much.

Sister III: The “Book Keeper”. Everything that she did was by the book, so much so that almost everyone got influenced and they began to read books. Thick and heavy books which I thought were meant to use as means of weapon in a fight, now I end up reading them.

Sister IV: The “Loudspeaker” who would warn if someone was coming when they were pulling their tricks on me. She still likes to believe that I was born to serve her. Her favorite line is “What have you done for me?” The irony is I do end up serving her. She is the one who is responsible for me developing so much patience.

Sister V: The “Kid” of the clan, she would run errands for them. For her my phone no. is the IT helpline no. which she dials every time any of her gadgets starts acting weird. I also end up being a counselor and at times polishing my skills of being a “pakav” (boring) on her.

The Day Bombay Flood

I was in the morning shift that day, deep into my work and no time to look here and there. Unaware of what was going on. Every time I popped my head up, I would see one of the managers, supervisor or someone else looking out of the wall-sized windows. I turned to look outside and it was raining.

The clock ticked three and there was no sign of anyone telling the morning shift to leave. Few people from the evening shift turned up; still there was no sign of leaving the place.

I was running out of patience, so when I saw my superior walking towards me. I got hold of him and asked him about leaving for the day. He took me to his superior asking if I could be released. “If he thinks he can manage, then let him go” was how he replied. I wondered why he would say that but I was going to find that out soon.

I was happy to leave the place and had given my usual Colgate smile to my friends who saw me standing at the lift door and telling them that I was leaving for the day. What I did not know was how soon the expression on my face was going to change.

As I got out of the lift on the ground floor, and walked towards the main entrance, I could see water gushing in and half of the building space disappear in it. I stood there for a moment and looking amusingly as the water was been thrown forcibly back on the main road from the nallah (drain) that stood besides our office building.

As I stood there contemplating my next action, I found two other colleagues of mine who were also wondering what to do now. Soon the three of us decided that we will go out through the second entrance which had the road connected to the main road which happened to be the only way out.

The water level was relatively low on the road but as we got on the main road, it kept on increasing and reached up to my waist height. That reminded me of someone telling in the office that two people had ventured out but came back as the water level had submerged their bodies with the exception of their heads.

The water had so much force that it was dragging people with it; human chains were formed for safe passage of people from one side to the another. Even the cars that were left on the road were moving with the current of the water.

We kept moving ahead only to find that there was a drain kept open in the middle of the road which was acting like a whirlpool, somehow we manage to keep hold of ourselves and overcome it. Once that hurdle was clear, the water level kept receding low and we kept walking towards the railway station which was at a good distance.

My colleagues made a call to their families through a local PCO as the cell phone networks were jammed and informed that they were safe and coming home. I on the other hand did not call up my family thinking that I had just a 10 minute distance to reach my house.

Once we reached the station we bid goodbye to each other. Normally, I used to catch a bus to reach my place which was not there today, thanks to the rains. There were auto rickshaws parked on the side of the road but none agreed to take me to the destination, so I ended up walking to my home.

By the time I reached home it was already 5:30 on the clock. In normal circumstances it does not take more than 15-20 mins to reach home and back to work by the bus, but it almost took more than an hour to reach home.

The rest of the morning shift stayed back till the next morning. To pass time they played antakshari and then they were back to work as there was nothing else left to do. There was hardly any food left in the cafeteria as nobody saw this coming.

I reported to work the next morning only to hear that people (the morning shift which decided to stay back) who come from far away places decided to walk all the way to their homes in case they don’t get a lift in between. The transportation system was still down but a few vehicles were plying on the road.

News channels kept flashing the news of people stuck in their cars, buses and how they were being rescued provided food and shelter by strangers and then they were people who lost their lives to this day. Stories were being told by colleagues about animal carcass flowing down and conditions in their area.

What is pathetic to see that even today the disaster management that was formed to tackle such situations is nothing but an utter failure where if it rains heavily, places still get flooded and every time we keep hearing the beaten line “This time we are well-prepared and equipped to handle such situations”.