India and Batman
It was a fun filled month for all the Indian Batman fans as we had our very own desi version of Bruce Wayne trying to fight for justice and attempting to clean up our Gotham city. Mr. Hazare in his own unique ways reminded me of The Dark Knight, trying to rejuvenate a slowly decaying system. His greatest problem however is that unlike Batman, he has to face more than one Joker, and all of them are actually very SERIOUS, when it comes to standing against them. I attempted to analyse his actions against the government, and noticed certain very peculiar things, not uncommon for Batman, but certainly astonishing if you consider Mr. Hazare a simple Gandhian.
Timing of the protest: A fast unto death was organised during the auspicious period of Navratri. Whether Mr. Hazare seeked Goddess Durga’s blessings along with an approval for the Lokpal Bill, is merely a speculative question but the timing may have proved beneficial for the entire protest. Fasting Indians must have thought it was better to sit in Jantar Mantar or other parks across India, for it would not only help them show solidarity with Mr. Hazare, but would also covertly please Goddess Durga, so that they can have more of wealth, health, fame etc. etc. A protest squeezed in the week falling between Cricket World Cup and IPL, coinciding with Navratri was either a well thought out strategy (just like Batman), or a mere fluke. Anyways, lets move on to the next point.
Role of Indian Media: That Mr. Hazare’s protest was highly publicised and discussed is a well known fact. What astonishes me actually is that, there were and are, several other issues of critical national importance which have been sidelined by the Indian media. Whether an 80 year old man staying hungry by choice deserves more attention than a 60 year old farmer dying of hunger is a question answered by TRP. No one wants to know whether a city in India has been cut off so badly from the mainland that leave alone medicine, even the necessary food items have not been available to its residents for more than 20 days. People are more interested in seeing a close to 40 year old getting badnaam because of his brother in law, while his husband is nowhere to be seen. But my point is, how come Mr. Hazare gathered such media attention in such a short time? Think about it.
The name calling: Indian media has a very bad habit of adding prefixes, postfixes or using a pseudonym for a popular or infamous personality and frankly they are not very good at it. More than 90% of the names for scandals are an allotrope of the famous Watergate scam and it makes me wonder that we need either more creative or at least better read people, in Indian journalism. Anyways, calling Mr. Hazare a second Gandhi is an insult to both individuals according to me. While Mr. Gandhi was a great man who deserved to be called the Father of India (ignoring the subaltern studies), though it is another issue how his entire family has been shrewdly kept out of Indian politics by the Congress, he would never have preferred comparing himself with Hazare. Its like comparing Dhoni (Hazare) with Sachin (Gandhi), where Dhoni is yet to achieve what Sachin has accomplished. And also, we should have first asked Mr. Hazare, how he felt after being called a semi nude old man who needed a stick to walk straight. However, whether the name ‘Second Gandhi’ was coined by the media or passed to it by someone else is an important question. Yet again, think about it!
I thought it would be a great disrespect to our PM if I ignored him in this post about issues which matter to us. As it is, he has been ignored so many times by his own cabinet and his party that I feel sorry for him. Ministers in his ministry have acquired wealth equal to Ghana’s annual GDP, while he still has the same old blue turban on him. When the entire Anna Hazare issue took place, PM only said “Yeh acchi baat nahi hai” like Mr. Vajpayee used to say, but in English. Moreover, the Govt. sent out Mr. Sibal to act as the mediator while the PM remained silent as usual. Sir itni safai leke kahan jaaoge? Anyways, I hope he has not forgotten that his first responsibility is towards Indian citizens and then to the Gandhi family. Sometimes I get the feeling that he has his priorities the other way around! L
P.S. : Sometimes it is better to play the devil's advocate. Not only does it bring out better perspectives, but it is also fun!
WISHLIST
Lets make this simple. Following are few of the things I wish should happen in the coming year, and why I have come out with such a list would become obvious to you by the time you reach the end. So lets begin.
1. Removal of ‘About Me’ from all social networking websites. For God’s sake only three kinds of people who actually take the trouble of filling it. First in the list are those obnoxious, self-dignified narcissists who find themselves too hard to resist! Second are those who are new to such social networking websites and fill out all the details asked, as if they are filling an entrance examination form. Lastly, the third breed uses (copies) quotations, various fonts and satires which makes them seem like overly intellectual or creative! In all cases, the purpose of having an ‘About Me’ is subverted. So, Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Page please save us from the trouble!
2. Indian Prime Minister should start taking an ‘energy’ drink: The reason I wish this happens is because somehow in past year one of the most educated leaders of the world has shown his vulnerability when handling certain potent issues. His ‘perceived’ impotency will be alleviated if the Supreme Court (which itself requires a vaccum cleaner to remove all the filth it has accumulated) ‘suggests’ (as it usually does) a remedial drug for his ailment.
3. Mr. Suresh Kalmadi should become the IPL commissioner: The only reason why I want this to happen is because Mr. Kalmadi’s ineptitude at handling such events would ensure that we do not have to see to cheerleaders dancing like a mooncalf when a boundary is hit. It looks lame, seriously, those fair cheerleaders ‘grooving’ around near the boundary! If we want to watch a lady ‘groove’ like that, there are much better ways, please don’t soil the game of cricket.
4. Farah Khan should start full time social service: Studies show that after the release of ‘Tees Maar Khan’ sale of dispirin and other analgesics increased dramatically! May be coincidental, but she is not good at making movies anyway. May be her PR skills and ability to wheedle out money from poor producers can help in a social cause and contribute more to India’s growth than filling government coffers through entertainment tax.
5. India should win the cricket world cup: However, seeing their current form, the men in blue seem to be riding on a strange kind of luck than on performance! I hope it gets rectified because Sachin alone cannot always save the team from sinking.
6. I want less bloodshed: Half of our energy goes in controlling the Indo-Pak border, quarter of it goes in keeping an eye on the Sino-India border and the remaining is spent on handling internal violence and terrorism. My opinion (which does not count for obvious reasons) is that these problems should be added to the list of Millennium Problems if we are interested in a solution.
2011 is going to be full of surprises and mega events! So, till the time December comes hold on tight, because this is going to be the year of change!
The Unseen Thread
Scene 1
Scene opens: Two farmers talking at a distance, a young hermit sitting under a tree deep in meditation
Farmer 1: “Who is this strange sage, I have never seen someone so deep in meditation? I had once met a rishi from the Himalayas, he told me that meditation was a way to connect to God, however he never talked about a meditation after starving yourself”
Farmer 2: “I have heard he is some dethroned king looking for salvation. I wonder why he chose our city. He had the Himalayas to go to. Everyone goes there to meditate!”
Farmer 1: “Anyways I have got lots of work to do. You keep admiring him while I finish my chores”
(Farmer 1 walks off)
Farmer 2 walks closer to the hermit and watches him for some time. The farmer knew that the hermit had been sitting under the tree more 48 days now and had neither risen nor had eaten anything. He wondered what madness drove this lunatic so much that he wished to die of hunger while meditating. The farmer was of a kind heart though, and wanted to help the hermit. So he decided to wait there for sometime hoping that the hermit would open his eyes and he would then ask him if he needed any food or water.
So, the farmer silently whispered in the hermit’s ears, “I will wait here for some time. If you plan to open your eyes and eat something, just tell me” and sat down. No sooner did he sit than the hermit opened his eyes and smiled at the farmer.
Farmer 2 was a little surprised and said, “So you actually were hungry!”
The hermit kept smiling and replied, “Not anymore!”
[Scene closes]
Scene 2 (Post war scene)
Bodies lie pell-mell, with red blood strewn all over them. Bows, arrows and spears all red with blood thrown around carelessly. One man stands in the middle of it all with tears in his eyes. He walks up to one body after another crying endlessly, frantically. He was looking for something, someone probably and suddenly stops. He falls down on his knees and picks up the body of an old lady.
The wailing gets louder as the man hugs the dead old lady close to him. His eyes, redder than the blood flowing, filled with remorse, guilt and pain, look up seeking redemption. He falls down un-conscious.
[Some hours later]
He wakes up in his camp. Still no word spoken. He lifts his sword and arrows and places it down on the ground and folds his hands kneeling down before the bodies lying in front of him.
Little did he know that he was about to write history on stone (literally!)
[Scene closes]
Scene 3
Two gentlemen seated in a makeshift meeting room consisting of a table, two chairs, two teacups and a briefcase. The older of the two seems animated and starts off, “Don’t worry now, you just leave the briefcase here and sleep peacefully”.
The younger man gives a sheepish smile, folds his hands and leaves the room. Another man enters the room and complains, “Sir, it is wrong! Taking money for granting a project is ok, but this would put lives of a thousand common men in jeopardy!”
The older man retorts, “Shut up! Just do as I say and you will get your share too!” The man shakes his hand as if dismissing all complaints and gets back to his unfinished tea.
The younger, seemingly displeased, lifts the briefcase and leaves the room.
[Few months later]
A newspaper headline reads, “Train derails near Kushinagar, as newly constructed bridge collapses. More than 700 feared dead.”
[Scene closes]
The ideas that should have paved the way forward for a new India somehow got lost in the sands of time. A young prince disregarded all his wealth and left his home in search of truth, because he could not bear the pain which he saw people suffering from. An emperor probably the greatest ever, wrote down in stone the facets of effective governance. Yet very few pay heed to it!
The thread that should have been a binding force for our nation has either been lost or chooses to remain invisible.
The Lost Pages
Imagine a child, a very young child, too innocent to understand the meaning of money, power and politics, whose restless hands are constantly itching to play with a new toy, given a book to read, as a gift. The child overwhelmed by his twitchy fingers tears off pages from the book, strewing them all over the house.
Now imagine, God being that child and that book containing the story of our lives. God being too arrogant and 'god-like' to make things easy for humans, enjoys ripping apart the story book of our lives and throwing the pages all over, like the child earlier. While we live, breathe, walk, smile, cry, dance, admire, love, get loved etc. all of us are picking up those lost pages of our life book trying to make sense of the ‘story’ as it unfolds and hoping to figure out the climax before it is reached!
For the past many years I have been picking up those lost pages trying to make sense of ‘my story’ but the only thing that I have learned is that God is an amazing mystery story writer, because ‘my story’ (like yours too) is one with amazing twists, dramatic scene shifts, soothingly funny incidents and agonisingly sad moments. No matter how hard we try to predict the occurrences in a mystery novel, by the time the novel ‘finishes’ we understand how naive we had been all the while. We try to judge ‘characters’ as good and bad, classifying ‘acts’ into evil and angelic and assuming that story will proceed as we expect it to be, yes we all make the same mistakes. We never understand that “good and bad never exist in reality; rather they are mere false conclusions made by us about characters and events, without reading the novel till the very last word!”
Thus it is best to pick up the pages as and when we find them, keep them and hope that one day we find that elusive last page and be able to make complete sense of our lives!
Why I chose to write on ‘The Lost Pages’ is because this happens to be the blog title [click here]of a person I have learned to admire and respect a lot! Somehow he had figured out much earlier that life wasn’t an aimless dance of a falling leaf, rather it was a continuous search for the lost pages of your life. Hats off!
A wall stands by the road that leads to the old town of Tinsel. A wall that has seen times change, and has been withered down by torrential rains, heavy gusts and scorching sun. The wall painted in orange white green, each colour neatly painted as a horizontal stripe, now reeks of ammonia and mosses grow along the fissures. The white color has fallen apart, as flakes, at various points in time, when the sun was too hot or it rained heavily or whenever a young man newly in love, felt like making his love immortal by etching down his beloved’s name alongside his own. The green being closer to the ground is decorated in places by betel marks, red in colour, such that the green now looks like the political map of a democratic country, with spots of green separated by blood colored lines.
With time, the orange has slowly seeped down like slowly flowing lava consuming everything that falls in its path. Parts of white now appear orange-ish, with the wall giving the appearance of painter’s masterpiece that did not come out well in the end. The old and forlorn wall is often talked about by both the young and the old, as to how the wall was the dream of a few artists, who wanted it to compliment the journey to Tinsel. They wanted the travelers (going to Tinsel to realize their destiny) to stop by at the wall, sit in its shade and probably elongate the wall further along the road to make the journey even more beauteous.
But the wall today, made ugly by the fissures, patches from color that has peeled off, strong smell of ammonia and the red marks, now appears like a blood thirsty stinking monster, waiting to gobble down any human soul that passes it.
Its time to repaint.
The Snitch
In the game of quidditch, the snitch is third and the most important of all balls. It is the job of the seeker to catch hold of the snitch and as soon as that happens, the game ends. In real life, all of us irrespective of our gender, position, age and background are in search of our own snitch. It may be wealth, success, tranquility, leisure, pleasure, love, gain, glory etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Just like the seeker, we need to be alert and quick to grab hold of the snitch. If we are too lazy to move or too distracted to look out for the snitch we shall miss an opportunity that might be decisive in determining the outcome of our life/game.
Each of these hunts for our snitch, ultimately boils down to a process of introspection followed by a period of evolution. The first step is always the identification of your goals followed by a series of attempts to achieve them. It is just like chasing a snitch when you see it. You may not be able to get hold of it the first time, or second time or the thousandth time. But each time you make an attempt to grab it, you learn something new about the snitch. You learn how fast it flies, how quickly it can turn, the response time, the effect of wind on its speed etc. All of this information will ultimately help us to reach closer to catching that elusive high flying treasure.
Those who understand the game of snitch are the ones who ultimately end up catching it. Only those who have the patience and determination to chase it are the ones who will be able to grab it.
‘All of us are like actors on stage, and there is only one thing that we should do. Play our character and leave the stage with a smile.’
Coffee.. anyone??
‘The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one’s self. All sin is easy after that’
I got very poor grades in my Moral Science in school, so theoretically I flunked at the very beginning of starting out my life as a social animal, and hence the following article is not exactly certified by the Board for Secondary Education. But then this is a free country, I can do and say whatever I like and get away with it. So this time, I am merely jotting down my views on a very common occurrence of our lives. A thing that gained my interest very recently, when I had to sit down for half an hour with a friend of mine constantly whining about cheating in examinations.
I do not intend to take a stand, and spit fire at those involved in the highly skilled art of cheating. The article merely mentions some very key elements involved in the complex problem. The difficulty with any argument against such things is that it continuously revolves around ethics and morality, thereby making it not only cumbersome but also hypocritical. I intend to elucidate certain aspects of this grievance which very often are forgotten when examining a problem of such nature.
Firstly, we need to define cheating. As oxford puts it ‘an act of dishonesty to gain profit’ is cheating. Overlapping the above definition with our educational system we get a clear idea of what cheating is. An action which gives you an unfair advantage over others in an examination will be termed as cheating. Therefore any such act like carrying chits, writing on desks, and other means can be easily clubbed together as an act of cheating liable for punitive action. But the definition has a flaw. Suppose in an examination of 100 students, 60 are involved in the unfair practices, does it still give you an extra advantage or does it simply bring you at par with others around you? Think about it..
Secondly, the ‘art of cheating’ as I put it requires both skill and courage to carry it out successfully without being caught. The level of difficulty involved in any method of cheating clearly keeps a check on the practice and only those in dire need of passing the examination resort to such methods. But when it becomes easy to cheat and gain marks, obviously there will be a swarm of students indulging themselves in such acts. When you are sure of not getting punished for doing a bad deed, can you be held guilty for trying to gain an added advantage in today’s competitive world?
Thirdly, any student involved in the act of cheating can never be trusted with a position of responsibility. As a student there are certain norms we must follow and groom our self for the future difficulties, while working within those rules. An act of cheating does not indicate a rebellion, rather it accentuates the weakness of a person’s moral fiber. A person who succumbed to the small pressure of passing an examination will obviously not be able to handle situations in real life which not only pressure but also money and lives of a lot of people. Entitling such a person to key position in any organization would only jeopardize the company’s future.
Fourthly, nobody is born a criminal; you become one only when the circumstantial pressures become overwhelming. Students resorting to cheating shows the amount of pressure being put on the young minds, and the fact that knowledge today is judged by the grades and not on abilities. I have so far avoided speaking on cheating being wrong morally simply because we today are living in world where we need logic and reasoning to prove everything. People today don’t understand emotions and look for reasons to explain every action. But there is a sense of right and wrong in every human being which cannot be denied, and our conscience clearly tells us what is morally correct and what is not. Stabbing a person is not the same as slapping him, and our conscience tells us this. We don’t need rocket science to prove the difference between good and bad. In a similar fashion cheating and using unfair means is simply bad and we know it. You don’t have to prove or disprove it. We already are blessed with a sense which does it for us.
Finally, cheating does in fact get you in a position of advantage over others. As we know that in war it is always beneficial to have a vantage point under your command. Hence I ask what is wrong with a person seeking a head over others in a difficult competition? Now the only answer I got was, that in a society like ours, driven solely by monetary gains, it is completely rational to cheat if it benefits you.
As you can see, most of the points mentioned above simply turn out to be self contradictory, and complexly intermingled. Also it can be seen that it is not that cheating is itself the problem, it is merely an outcome of a lot different things spiraling in space and intertwining with each other. Moral weakness, failure of educational system, overburden, pressure to succeed and most importantly the lack of moral values in today’s society, all add up to cause this evil.
A LESSON FROM THE PAST
Every great civilization has a history. A history which is very often marred with battles, conquests, achievements, and a continuous process of change and development. Ours is one such great civilization. We have a culture filled with engrossing myths, tales of valor, ideas of great thinkers and a thread of unity that has until now been able to tie us together into an ornament adorning the planet. We are a free country now, {or much better, were subjected to foreign rule for a few years in between}, a country marching proudly {seemingly} under the influence of the new found exuberance of technological bubbles.
I write today about something that is very closely related to our history and has somehow managed to travel through time and has now become a symbol of our existence and freedom. Something that epitomizes not only dynamism and change but also stands for unity and equality of humans. The object of discussion is an integral part of our national flag and very often gets ignored because of its size and diminutive appearance. It is merely ironic that the ‘Ashoka Chakra’ which once represented a great ruler and his flourishing empire now marks the presence of a free Indian society. The greatness of the ideas that this chakra represents has almost been forgotten today. Not only does the ‘Ashoka Chakra’ stand for a wheel of change and a continuum of evolution, it also symbolizes the views of a great king, the very reason for which the emblem was used.
In a country bleeding due to wounds of widespread parochialism, the emblem stands for equality and peace. In a country ruled by short sighted, self centered and selfish leaders, the emblem preaches the ideas of morality and righteousness in action. While we are governed by a bunch of [#$%^] who put their conscience up for sale for a few votes, the emblem marks the empire of a great emperor who realized the importance of good governance and citizenship in a civilization. In a country where people fight in the name of religion the emblem preaches non-violence and mutual respect. The emblem stands for ethics, freedom, change, and most importantly the forgotten human values of love and compassion. It is funny how a person realized these ideals more than 1000 years ago, whereas now while we call ourselves a modern society, our closet reeks of intolerance, corruption, suppression, and hypocrisy.
Our history is replete with such inspirational stories of great men and women. The significance of ‘Ashok Chakra’ is just one of many great ideas that survived the test of time. Next time you have a look at our flag, just remember what Ashoka realized after Kalinga,…. and passed down to us… to follow…
REQUIEM
In the world filled by darkness cold and fear,
I feel lonely again, longing for someone dear.
I speak now as if in a trance,
Caught in this state not by mere chance.
But due to some frailty of my mind,
When it pains me by showing dreams unkind.
And then I remember what I have seen,
And heard tales, fables, and stories, umpteen.
Of bees and blossoms and, springs and flowers,
Of wind and light and thunderous showers,
Of pain and gain and love and hate,
Of tear and smile and luck and fate,
Of blood smeared battles, and lustrous fairs,
Of acts of cowardice and courageous dares,
Of places where darkness sleeps,
While sunlight to the corners keeps,
Of people who killed for pride and power,
And of those who fell from their Ivory Tower.
I have heard it all and seen it all,
And I ask you know to make a call,
Of why you think it happens so,
That when you should let things go,
You hold fast as if holding a dream,
Undreamt, but you wish to dream?
Its strange how from so many stories told,
None spoke of how souls were sold,
For dreams that were, or were not, seen,
And world that is now or should have been!!
MOSER-BAER
I have always stated that I subconsciously try to emulate people I have met in my life and all I pen down is nothing original or creative. So in future if you come across someone who calls me a cheating liar, well, believe him.
“I came to say bye. That’s all.”, I replied.
He smiled and said,” And how am I supposed to react to that? I am not very experienced at talking to people bidding me farewell.”
I had actually disturbed him at a time when he was busy burning DVDs with the movies and TV Serials he had watched [and Downloaded], so that he could take them home. But he wasn’t displeased, on the contrary, he went on to say something that I still cherish and value.
“So, since I am the senior, I am supposed to tell you something which would help you survive in this hostile environment. Well, all I can say this that there were a lot of wrong things happening here when I joined, and nothing much has changed since then. Its not that I didn’t try to change them, but I just couldn’t. I have seen programs, circuits being copied from the net and being shown as a final year project. We already know what is good and what is not, yet most of the times we choose the easy way to bail out. The fault is not in the copying or apathy, whole of
“Yes, just before I came here”.
“Good, then come, we’ll have a chocolate shake at Evergreen.”. He kept the case aside and we walked out of the room.
As we were about to lock the room before leaving, something happened to him. In a flash he unlatched the door went inside and came out with a DVD. “Take this, its blank. I don’t need it anymore. I couldn’t use it. It might be of greater help to you.”. I took the blank DVD and we walked out to savour the local ambrosia.
_________________________________________________________________
I hope you liked it. Because I certainly did like the free chocolate shake. ;)
A girl’s speech on Independence Day
So much has been said already by people whose words carry much more meaning than mine, that it seems that whatever I write here might just turn out to be a mixture of ideas of various people over time. So I am not going to burden myself with heavy quotes and deep philosophical and social relevance of independence. What I will write about is a young girl’s speech on 15th August. A speech which very few people heard and even fewer grasped. A speech that I remember to date, not because the speaker was voluble or cogent, but simply because it was the first honest oration I have ever heard in my life.
“Dear friends we gather today on the occasion which you are very well aware of. People before me have spoken about challenges in science, space and economy. They have talked angrily about our system’s failure in certain areas. Being a junior as I am, I agree to whatever that has been said by my predecessors. Therefore I will not discuss those things again with you. What I will tell you is the story of a young boy born somewhere in
His parents sent him to school to carry on the family tradition. To carry on the business already handled by his brothers. The business, he saw only benefited some of his brothers while others accumulated losses. So he decided not to take up the regular business. He decided to be a miner and dig for diamonds. The people around him, told him that there were no diamonds left in the country. All mines had already been exhausted of its jewels.
But, undeterred he carried on. He chose a site and started digging. He dug day and night, toiled hard but could get no diamonds. People around him, his brothers, forced him to stop, but he never lent an ear to what they had to say. He was determined to get diamonds for he thought that this was still a precious country. Then one day it happened. God appeared in his dreams and told him the exact site to look for diamonds. Next day he started digging at the same place and got what he wanted most. Those precious jewels which he had earned by his hard work and courage, were all his now.
This is where the story ends. You might think I wasted your precious time by telling you a story without any message. But if you think closely the message is clear and loud for all of us to hear.
“ At present we need less businessmen and more miners”
And with that message I close my speech so that I can also get a taste of the ice-creams to be given out today.
Thank you very much for your patience,
Jai Hind.”
I hope you liked it and I don’t think I have anything more to say now. So even I say “Vande Matram” and sign off. Have a nice day.
A CUP OF TEA……
It is 2’o clock at night and I find myself sitting on the old, crippled bench on roadside teashop. I have decided against narrating my cause for being at such a place at such time. But, just to give you an idea, I had been working continuously for 2 hours and failed to find a proper solution to the problem at hand. The weather itself was not too great, so even while I was sitting outside I could feel no breeze, even at this time, thus obviously making it difficult for me.
Sorry, I have this peculiar habit of digressing into insignificant details when they can very easily be avoided. The reason I write this is that somehow I feel that I have degraded as a human being.
Living in this decadent world thriving on iniquity, I found that even I have been influenced by it. My reason for saying this is that while sitting on that crippled bench, I witnessed the state of poverty in
Had I been a human being I would certainly felt something, but I had this strange apathy towards all of this as if it was usual for such things to occur. I was not like this earlier but somehow I have transfigured into this strange obnoxious fellow, who cannot see others’ pains. I was thinking all this, while the events unfolding themselves infront of me told a sorry tale. The kid and his brother took rest in turns on a disfigured three-wheeler nearby. And I did not feel anything in my heart even then. I paid the kid and walked back to my room, discontent with myself. All along the way I felt sad, not about the poverty neither about the kids and the beggar. I felt bad because I did not feel that way. I had been a good kid, but somehow during the growing up process, I had lost my compassion and soul or may be I had been robbed of it.
“ Is this what my mom wanted me to be?”, I asked myself. . But the discussion seemed fruitless and so did the introspection.
I went to my room, switched off the computer, and decided to go to sleep. I know I could not answer the question honestly, so hence I to put the matter to rest. I don’t know what went wrong where, I don’t know what kind of a being I am going to end up as, but I know one thing for sure I am not the only one at fault, for the change in me….But for now I feel as if I have hit rockbottom…
Signoff:::
“Sometimes I wonder... will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other?
Then I look around and I realize. God left this place a long time ago.”
-Blood Diamond
TIME-TROUBLE
I have been thinking of writing this one for a long time now. Till now I have only written about some truths and done a little bit of surgeon-like dissection of facts. I have always tried to present facts, without bending them to suit my needs. Well in this one I try out an entirely different genre, and it might not come out well. But still taking a little liberty I try out my hand at fiction. The story proceeds thus:
Not so long ago there lived a boy called Timothy Green in a sleepy little town of
Lily lived on the outskirts of the Picaris and had to take a bus to come to school. She was also fond of her school. Studying in seventh grade with kids of her age, with whom she could play in the intermission and chatter in-between classes, gave her enough of a reason to go to school everyday.
Like everyday she was playing hide and seek during the lunch break when suddenly someone hit against her while she was hiding behind a pillar. That someone was Tim, and Lily started scolding him, “Of all the places in the school, you had to choose this pillar to hide behind, now we’ll both get caught!”. Tim said, “ Not if you remain silent”. For five minutes they both hid behind the tall and broad pillar silently, until Lily decided to speak, “Tim, we have been best friends for quite a time now, and I talked to my mom about you and my other friends, and how I really love this place and how I didn’t wish to leave it, but she always tells me that people change and things change as we move on in life. Promise me Tim that you will always remain the Tim I know, the Tim I like, the Tim I….”, with this the bell rang and Lily scurried off to her class with a shade of pink on her cheeks. Tim stood there and simply breathed out something which sounded like, “I promise”, with his eyes looking in the direction Lily had taken.
Five years passed. Lily’s mom had admitted her to a new school close to their house as soon as she had completed her class seventh. Tim had kept his promise and as a result now when he was in his final year at school Tim had no friend as he did not interact with people around him and kept all by himself. He had stopped going out with his friends after class eighth and kept himself locked up in his room. He did all this to avoid getting affected by worldly influences. He had seen how boys in his class had changed their hairstyles, and girls had stopped talking freely to boys. In short he had seen people around him change. In order to stay away from all this and keep his promise to Lily he had done all this, though he had not seen her after she left school.
And then one day he saw her, there she was having a pizza in the shop nearby, he went to her and introduced himself. She failed to recognize him, and then Tim left the place with a broken heart and wet eyes. The fault wasn’t Lily’s. Anyone would fail to recognize you if you appear in a public place with outdated clothes. But a fault had occurred, and it had made Tim lock up his door from inside leaving him to cry out alone.
He felt dejected and cheated. She was the one who had made him promise not to change with time and today she also had left him. He did not feel like living anymore. And thus with a heavy heart he continued shedding tears until he felt someone touch his head. He turned back sharply and saw a beautiful creature sitting behind him. It looked like a girl except for the fact that it had a pair of gleaming golden wings. Tim stood up, startled by this sudden apparition and weakly said, “Who are you? And what are you doing in my room?”
“Stay calm Tim. I am a fairy who has come to help you. My name is Tira. You have been a good boy Tim, and have never done anything wrong, so God sent me to help you find yourself again”., said the creature.
“I don’t need anyone’s help. I have suffered enough. I am not able to understand the fact why things, people and surroundings change, Why cannot they remain static. The sun, the moon, the stars they never change then why do we have to go through this?” inquired the lad, in visible anguish.
“You see Tim, you trouble yourself too much over this. The fact that you decided to keep a five year old promise speaks volumes about you.”
Tim wasn’t satisfied with this, “Why do people have to change ?”
“Who is your favorite player Tim? And why do you like him?” ,asked Tira.
“Federer without doubt, I like him because he never bows down against any opponent and gives his 100%, but what has this got to do with my question?”
“This has everything to do with your question That Federer is able to compete so well is because he adjusts his game well. I hope you understand when I say that he has actually evolved himself. He takes the level of play to an entirely new dimension. Or we can simply put it as, that he has changed the way tennis is played.”- replied Tira.
“I think I am beginning to understand you Tira, but what is the use of such a change in life?”-inquired Tim. He wasn’t sad anymore but was rather intent on knowing more from his heavenly friend.
“What you call change, I call metamorphosis. You see Tim, when you chose to freeze time for yourself, you decided to violate the most basic law of nature. It is the destiny of the caterpillar to change into a butterfly. If a caterpillar refuses to develop, it is playing with its own fate. By changing I don’t mean that you become an entirely different person rather you groom yourself to face the challenges of life. A baby bird has to learn to fly, it cannot remain in the nest forever. Some people change for good others for bad but they do change, that is the rule and when you decide against it, not only do you hurt yourself but you also hurt the people around you who care for you.”- came the reply from Tira.
“I think I get you now. I promise you that I would never again force things on myself.”. No sooner had Tim said that than Tira disappeared in a flash of golden light so bright, that Tim was forced to shut his eyes. When he reopened his eyes he could see the rising sun through the window of his room.
First time in last five years had he woken up early enough to witness the birth of a new day……….
With this I complete my experiment on writing styles. If you have read this far I thank you. Please forgive me if you found the piece boring. It was my first ever attempt at writing such a thing. Now I sign off with a quote from a movie I watched recently:
“Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up.”
- V for Vendetta
Previous blogs :
http://erebus-on-earth.blogspot.com
http://leoheel.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/04/i-sat-for-a-while.htm