jinXed

Time Machine

2011-10-09T00:51:00.000+05:30

Light travels at almost 300,000 km per second. That's a lot of distance in a second. So in 3 seconds, light would travel almost 900,000 kilometers. And light reflects off objects and make them visible to the human eye. If light doesn't reflect, nobody sees anything.

If I look at you from 900,000 kilometers away, I will see what you did 3 seconds ago. That's looking at what you did in the past. Now if I try to capture the light that got reflected off everything years ago from some far off place, or make a device that can replicate that light using some complex mathematical equation, I can see the past. There's my idea for a device to see the past. Simple.

Is it worth it?

2011-09-25T01:45:00.000+05:30

Xavier is a fifty nine year old central government employee who retired from official duty last March. All his life he has been waiting for his retirement, which he planned to spend reading all the classics in English literature he never found time to read. He has two sons who are living in England working in different multinational corporations for the last five years.

Mary and Sara are very similar in many ways. Both of them spend most of their time sleeping. And when they're not, they're a handful. They talk the entire time they're awake, which mostly doesn't make any sense. They ask the same questions again and again, and cry most of the time. It has been very difficult for Xavier to spend his dream retirement with these two around. They fall sick all the time, and lie awake most nights crying and talking rubbish. For an old man like Xavier, who finds it difficult taking care of himself, tending to these two is a nightmare.

Xavier doesn't like Mary's presence in the house. Her repeated questions irritates him, and he ignores her rubbish talks bluntly. He finds it a pain to take care of her when she's sick, and wished she was gone. He gets angry and shouts at her almost everyday. But he loves Sara. He would always spend time with her, talk to her and never get bored, He wakes up every night Sara cries, and would spend time with her till she goes back to sleep, even when he ignores Mary's cries completely. Retirement has been difficult for Xavier than he thought.

Mary is Xavier's eighty one year old mother. She has been in bed ever since she had a stroke two years ago. Sara is his grand daughter. She turned one a couple of months ago. She has been staying with her grandfather ever since she was born. She'll go to her parents in England next month when her documents for travel gets approved by the embassy, and most probably will never come back.

Old people have become a burden to most these days. Fathers and mothers who have spent most of their lives taking care of you, saving money for you, giving you a good education, looking after you, and showing you the right way to lead a good life suddenly become a nuisance in your life. They're a difficulty you want to live without. You send them to an old age home, and visit them once in two months if possible because they become a hindrance to your daily life. And they had sacrificed their whole lives for your happiness. Doesn't it seem obvious that the kid you're preferring over your old mother will put you in the same old age home someday? Do we love and cherish each and every moment together with our kids to finally end up in an old age home, and spend the last years of our lives with other unfortunate people whose kids abandoned them?

Is the life we live abandoning them worth it at the end?

The God I almost met

2010-11-22T14:40:00.000+05:30

"Sometimes in life you call out to a god out there you have never met or doesn't believe that exists, out of desperation rather than faith. This was one of those days."

It was our third year college tour to Karnataka. We visited Mysore and Bangalore, and the fourth days plan was to visit Shravanabelagola. It's a rock hill on top of which is a Jain temple, with a giant statue of Gomateswara. To get to the temple, we have to climb around 650 steps cut in the rock.

I was in charge of handling finance for the trip. I had one of those college bags that hung around the shoulder in which I kept the money, the accounts, and some of my personal stuff. It had around Rs. 50,000 when we started the climb. That was the remaining amount to be paid to the bus we hired, and the water theme park we were supposed to go the next day. As soon as we started the climb, me and Jisha started counting the steps. After a while, I gave up, and walked in front. About three quarters of the way up, there is a small temple of some lesser god. We took almost thirty five minutes to reach it. I walked into the complex tired and weary and sweating. The first thing I did was remove the bag off my shoulders and put it under a pillar inside. That was when Sherin and Shabna joined me, and we sat there to rest for a while. Somebody called for a group photo, and being the show-off I was, I jumped off the temple and ran into the frame. What I realized 2 hours later was that I didn't pick up the bag when I went to get my picture taken. We climbed again to the reach the main temple, and then came back all the way down the hill and went shopping.

I liked something in a shop which I thought I'd buy and reached out to my back pocket to take my wallet out when it struck me that the bag that should have been hanging on that side was missing. I cannot explain the feeling that ran through me at the exact moment. I was petrified, already thinking about the consequences. But in an instance, I recollected where I had kept it on top of the hill, and how I jumped off to get my picture clicked, and how I crossed that temple on my way back, and didn't realize that the bag with all our money was missing all this while. I ran out of the store, and told Rajeev about it. I told him I'm going up to find it and started running up the steps. Being the cool head he is, he replied saying he'd send Justin up behind me. Justin was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of my class, and he was the only one capable of climbing that hill twice in a day. Other than me of course. He had the muscles and the energy to do it. My ass was on fire.

I wasn't counting the steps this time. I couldn't think of them. The hot blaring sun right above my head, and my tight jeans were not helping me either. I was running with all my energy, climbing the 650 odd steps that led to the temple on top at an athletes pace. I think I clinched a national record to climb 600 steps when I reached the small temple complex in under 10 minutes. My head was spinning and my heart pounding when I ran into it. I looked under the pillar where I kept the bag, but it wasn't there. I didn't know what to do next. I thought I should run up all the way to the top of the hill, and stay there with Gomateswara all my life. I didn't know what I'll tell my friends if I went down without the money. Exhausted and deprived of my senses, I sat down in the middle of the temple. Justin reached the place by that time. I told him I couldn't find it where I'd kept it. He said he'll go all the way to the top and check out in the main temple as well, and continued his run. I was in deep shit, and I knew it. Sometimes in life you call out to a god out there you have never met or doesn't believe that exists, out of desperation rather than faith. This was one of those days.

That's when I heard somebody call me from inside the temple. I turned around and saw a person. He was sitting behind a table writing something. It was God. I was sure. He had a divine feel to the way he sat on the floor, the way he wrote on the paper and the way he called out to me. He asked me what I wanted. I told him the whole story. Then he asked me to describe the bag and its contents. When I told him everything, stuttering as I did, he took out a bag from a box, and showed it to me. It was my money bag. I was so happy to see it. He asked me to examine the contents, which I did, and confirmed that nothing was missing. The money, my walkman, some clothes and my cap. I was so relieved at that point. I thanked him with all my heart and told him that he saved my life, as I didn't know what to do if I couldn't find the bag. This was one of those moments for me when all the principles I had against the existence of God, all the debates I've had with my friends, all the books and articles I have read and all the fights I had with my mom for not going to the temple suddenly became obsolete and meaningless. It was very difficult to change a belief that has been instilled in my brain for years and accept a simple fact that negates the credibility of everything I accepted as true until then. My mind was still in conflict between God on one side, and my beliefs on the other as I got up to leave, when he asked me, "So you got your bag. Aren't you making any donation to the temple?". And that's when the divinity of that moment came to an end. I suddenly came back to my senses and realized that he was no God but a human after all. Even though I was taken aback from the things happening suddenly around me and inside my head, I was extremely happy that I got my bag back, and I picked a hundred rupee note from my pocket and gave it to him. He asked for more, which I humbly declined, and ran away from there.

On my climb down hill, I thought of how I almost screwed up the tour for my entire class with my carelessness and lack of responsibility. When I reached the bottom, I saw Rajeev and Kavitha, who were the only others apart from me and Justin who knew about this 'averted-tragedy' standing outside a restaurant. Everybody else were inside, having a wonderful lunch, with no idea that I almost lost the money to pay for that lunch, and their way back home. I told them about what happened on top of the hill, except the part where I almost saw and started believing in God.

72 virgins

2010-09-17T11:13:00.004+05:30

I met my terrorist friend Ahmed who died in a suicide bomb blast a couple of months ago in Delhi at the park yesterday. He was reborn as a dog. I was surprised to meet him. He seemed really pissed.

Apparently, he was promised paradise after death where he will be given 72 virgins if he did what is right for Jihad and blow up innocent people in some coffee shop in Delhi. That's what his trainer Amir told him in the Pakistani mountains during training. And all his classmates were looking forward to it ever since. So when they asked for volunteers for the coffee shop blast, he was more than happy to oblige. And in turn, he reached heaven, where he met God, and his promised 72 virgins.

He went into the immigration department for Muslims in heaven. It was a huge monument, resembling the Juma Masjid. There he saw 72 fat, ugly looking women waiting for him. He was shocked as this was not what was promised. So he went to God for an explanation.

'God, I sacrificed my life for Jihad. Why are my virgins fat and ugly looking?'

'Ahmed, where do you think the virgins come to heaven from? They come here from earth after they die. And since they were fat and ugly looking, they remained virgins all their life.'

Ahmed got really angry at this, and asked God if he can go back to earth to his wife and kid, which God declined, saying that rebirth was not an option among Muslims. He should join Hinduism for that. So Ahmed went to the Hindu office right across the street and talked to almost 4,897,232 gods there to accept him and send him back to earth which, after a lot of discussion they agreed to. And since they didn't want him to join forces with Muslims again on earth, they sent him as a dog, so that Muslims keep him away from them.

So my message to all the terrorists out there blowing up people all around the world along with themselves in the name of Jihad, which even Muslims denounce, all for the prize of 72 virgins, is that it's not worth it. Spend time with your wife and kids while you are on earth. Live for them instead of dying for 72 fat and ugly looking women.

മല്ലി ഇട്ട മീന്‍ കറി

2010-09-09T13:49:00.004+05:30

പെണ്ണ് കാണല്‍ എന്നൊരു ചടങ്ങ് ഇന്നത്തെ കാലത്ത് വലിയ ആടംബാരത്തോട് കൂടി നടത്തുന്ന ഒരു ചടങ്ങല്ല. പെണ്ണും ചെറുക്കനും എവിടെയെങ്കിലും വച്ച് കണ്ടു മുട്ടും. അതിനു ശേഷം മൊബൈല്‍ ഫോണും ഇ-മെയിലും ചാറ്റും ഒക്കെ ഉള്‍പെടുന്ന കുറെ പ്രണയ സമ്പന്നമായ ദിവസങ്ങളും മാസങ്ങളും കഴിഞ്ഞു തമ്മില്‍ കല്യാണം കഴിച്ചു ജീവിക്കാന്‍ തീരുമാനം എടുത്ത ശേഷം വീട്ടുകാരെ-കാണിക്കല്‍ എന്ന ചടങ്ങായി അത് മാറി കഴിഞ്ഞു. അങ്ങനെ ആകുമ്പോള്‍ മകള്‍ കൊണ്ട് വന്നിരിക്കുന്ന സാധനത്തിന്റെ മാറ്റ് അച്ഛനും, അമ്മയ്കും, അമ്മായിക്കും, അമ്മാവനും, അപ്പൂപ്പനും, അമ്മൂമ്മയ്കും, അനിയനും, അനിയത്തിയ്കും, ആലിസ് പൂച്ചയ്കും, കൈസര്‍ പട്ടിയ്കും ഒക്കെ ബോധ്യമാവനം. അത് ഇന്നത്തെ കാലത്തെ ചെരുപ്പകാര്‍ക്ക് ഒരു വലിയ പ്രശ്നമായി മാറിയിരിക്കുകയാണ്.

അങ്ങനെയുള്ള ഒരു ചെറുപ്പക്കാരനും ചെറുപ്പക്കാരിയും മരം ചുറ്റി ഓടിയും കണ്ണ് പൊത്തി കളിച്ചും പ്രണയിച്ചു കല്യാണം കഴിക്കാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. പെണ്ണിന്റെ വീട്ടുകാരെ കാണാന്‍ എത്തിയ ചെറുക്കന് വലിയ സ്വീകരണമാണ് പെണ്ണിന്റെ വീട്ടുകാര്‍ ഒരുക്കിയത്. ചെറുക്കന്റെ കയ്യിലിരുപ്പു പെണ്ണിനും പെണ്ണിന്റെ കയ്യിലിരുപ്പു ചെറുക്കനും അറിയാമായിരുന്നതുകൊണ്ട് തമ്മില്‍ ആദ്യമേ ഒരു ധാരനയായിട്ടാണ് ഇങ്ങനെ ഒരു പ്രഹസനത്തിനു അവര്‍ തയ്യാറായത്. എന്നാല്‍ പെണ്ണിന്റെ വീട്ടുകാര്‍ക്ക് ഇതൊരു അഭിമാനത്തിന്റെ കാര്യമായിരുന്നു. ചെറുക്കന്‍ പിന്നെ കുറ്റം പറയാന്‍ ഇടയാക്കരുതല്ലോ. അത് കൊണ്ട് ടിന്നെറിനു ക്ഷണിച്ച ഭാവി മരുമകനെ ആദ്യം കേരളത്തില്‍ എങ്ങുമുള്ള ആചാരമനുസരിച്ച് ടൌണിലെ ബാറില്‍ കൊണ്ട് പോയി ബിയര്‍ വാങ്ങിച്ചു കൊടുക്കാന്‍ അമ്മായി അപ്പന്‍ പുറപ്പെട്ടു. വേണ്ട എന്ന് ആദ്യം പറഞ്ഞെങ്കിലും അമ്മായിയപ്പന്റെ നിര്‍ബന്ധത്തിനു വഴങ്ങി അവന്‍ സമ്മതിച്ചു. ബാറില്‍ സംഭവിച്ചതെന്താണെന്ന് ആര്‍ക്കും അറിയില്ലെങ്കിലും തിരിച്ചു വന്നുകേറിയ പെണ്ണിന്റെ അച്ഛന്റെ മുഖത്ത് ഒരു വലിയ തെളിച്ചമുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അമ്മായിഅപ്പന് മരുമകനെ വല്ലാണ്ട് ബോധിച്ചു. ഒരു പകുതിയെ കയ്യിലെടുത്ത സന്തോഷത്തോടു കൂടി നമ്മുടെ ചെറുക്കന്‍ വീട്ടിലെത്തിയിട്ടു ബാക്കി പകുതിയേ എങ്ങനെ വലയിലാക്കം എന്ന ചിന്തയില്‍ മുഴുകി. അപ്പോഴേക്കും അത്താഴത്തിനു സമയമായി. അച്ഛനും, അമ്മയും അമ്മായിയുമൊക്കെ ഇരുന്നു ആലോചിച്ചു തീരുമാനിച്ചതാണ് ചോറിന്റെ കൂടെ മീന്‍ കറിയുണ്ടാക്കാമെന്ന്. വടക്കന്‍ രീതിയില്‍ വറ്റിച്ചു വച്ച മീന്‍ കറി വിളമ്പിയിട്ട് കേരളത്തിന്റെ സാധാരണ ഏതു വീട്ടിലെ അമ്മയും ചോദിക്കുന്ന ആ ചോദ്യം പെണ്ണിന്റെ അമ്മ ചെരുക്കനോട് ചോദിച്ചു.

"മീന്‍ കറി എങ്ങനെ ഉണ്ട്?"

"നന്നായിട്ടുണ്ട്. മല്ലിയിട്ടു വച്ചതാണല്ലേ?"

ഇത് കേട്ടതും പെണ്ണിന്റെ അമ്മയും, അടുക്കള വാതിലില്‍ ചാരി നിന്ന അമ്മായിയും ഫ്ലാറ്റ്. അടുക്കളയില്‍ ഒത്തു കൂടിയ അമ്മയും, അമ്മായിയും ഒരേ സ്വരത്തില്‍ പെണ്ണിനോട് പറഞ്ഞു,

"ചെറുക്കന് പാചകത്തില്‍ ഒക്കെ ഭയങ്കര ജ്ഞാനം ആണ്"

കണ്ണ് പൂട്ടിയെറിഞ്ഞ കല്ല്‌ മാങ്ങയും കൊണ്ട് താഴേക്കു വീഴുന്നത് കണ്ടു കൊണ്ട് ചെറുക്കന്‍ ഒരു നിമിഷം ഒന്ന് മനസ്സില്‍ പുഞ്ചിരിച്ചു. ഡൈനിങ്ങ്‌ ടേബിളില്‍ കൂടെ ഇരിന്നു ഡിന്നര്‍ കഴിക്കുന്ന അമ്മായിഅപ്പനെ ഒന്ന് നോക്കി. അദ്ധേഹത്തിന്റെ മുഖത്തൊരു പുഞ്ചിരി. 'പ്ലാന്‍ സക്സെസ്സ്'

കൈ കഴുകി എഴുന്നേറ്റ ചെറുക്കന്‍ അമ്മായിയപ്പന്‍ തന്ന ഒരു പൊതിയും വാങ്ങി എല്ലാവരോടും യാത്ര പറഞ്ഞു ബംഗ്ലൂരിലേക്കുള്ള ബസ്‌ കയറി. എന്നിട്ട് അവന്റെ ആദ്യത്തയും അവസാനത്തയുമായ പെണ്ണ് കാണല്‍ ചടങ്ങ് ഭംഗിയായി അവസാനിച്ചതിന്റെ സന്തോഷത്തില്‍ അവന്‍ അവള്‍ക്കൊരു മെസ്സേജ് അയച്ചു.

ശുഭം.

PS: ഇപ്പോള്‍ കിട്ടിയത്. രണ്ടു വീട്ടുകാരും ചേര്‍ന്ന് ഇവരുടെ നിശ്ചയം ഡിസംബറിലും കല്യാണം അടുത്ത കൊല്ലം നടത്താനും തീരുമാനിച്ചു. ഏതായാലും ശ്രീകാന്തിനും ആശക്കും എന്റെ ഹൃദയം നിറഞ്ഞ ആശംസകള്‍.

The day I became the Director General of Police

2010-09-07T15:29:00.000+05:30

Someone stole my mobile phone from my hostel room one evening while I was playing football a few years ago in college. It was my new Nokia 6600, which commanded a lot of respect those days. I knew I would never get it back, but nevertheless, I registered a complaint at the local police station. The police officers were very supportive. They told me that it is lost forever, and there's no way to retrieve it. Now that's encouraging. On top of that, they were sure the culprit is one of my room mates, and they can take them into custody and beat the hell of out them till they agree for the theft. This was the Kerala police way of doing things. But I wasn't amused. I told them if it's one of my room mates that took it, then I'll let them keep it and withdraw my complaint. I went back to my hostel cursing the utter uselessness of the so called 'Police Force'.

One of my friends in college, Nirmala knew the then district Superintendent of Police. Being an IPS officer, he once came to our college for inaugurating some function on her request, and talked for an hour about global issues. I didn't listen then, but I later realized that he was a very educated person. She called him and told him about the stolen phone, and the complaint I registered at Pampady police station. He then called the station, and 'recommended' the case. This is the best thing about Kerala Police. They work on cases only if they are recommended by superiors. They don't bother otherwise. So now, all of a sudden, my stolen phone has become the hottest case for the police in Pampady police station. The same day, four police men came to the hostel where I was staying to talk to me and make the First Information Report. Like every case, they needed suspects. And since they are utterly useless in anything, they made my room mates the prime suspects. After that, I never heard from them again. Maybe because I didn't have my phone. :-)

Another friend of mine told me that mobile phones can be tracked using the IMEI number by the service providers, even if the thief uses another SIM card. That's when I had a glimmer of hope that I'll get it back, and decided to call the SP. I thought maybe if I tell him about how phones can be tracked using the IMEI number, he might be able to 'recommend' the local police into doing some work for a change and find my phone. So on a Thursday morning, I wake up around 9.30 am and calls his mobile number. I was a little nervous knowing that I was going to speak to an IPS officer, so I decide to go with English instead of Malayalam. A great decision, I was reckoning. I'll realize that was a mistake later.

'Hello'

'Hello?'

'Is this Mr. Sreejith?'

Angrily, 'Who is speaking?'

'Hi, My name is Anish, studying in RIT, Kottayam. I'm Nirmala's friend. I believe she called you regarding a stolen mobile phone.'

By this time, his voice seemed angrier. 'Call me later. I'm in the judicial court in Calicut now.'

Phew. That was tense, for no particular reason. Why are police officers angry all the time, and for no particular reason? Part of their training I guess.

So I go to class, late by an hour. Nothing relevant ever happens there, so fast forward to lunch time. Nirmala comes to me and starts shouting.

'What the hell did you tell him?'

I have no idea what she's talking about. 'What did I tell him?'

'You called him Mr. Sreejith???'

Me, naively, 'Ya. Did I mess up his name?'

'Did you ask for MISTER SREEJITH?'

'Yes. Can you cut the crap and tell me what his name is?'

'He is really pissed off you called him as Mister Sreejith. You should've asked for "Sreejith Sir" instead. He was furious over the phone. He wanted to know if you think you are the Director General of Police to address him as Mister Sreejith.'

I didn't know what to say after hearing this. Actually, I didn't know if I had said something wrong. Maybe he didn't expect a civilian to call him Mr. Sreejith. He was so used to being called Sreejith Sir that he couldn't comprehend the simple fact that Mister is how men are addressed in English, with NO DISRESPECT. I lost the little bit of respect I had for him after that.

I didn't call him again after that, and didn't bother to check with the local police on the status of my mobile recovery. I never saw my phone again. There's still an open case registered at Pampady police station for a stolen mobile. The prime suspects are my college room mates Nadeem, Pavan and Jayadevan, in that order. I don't think they know that.

When customer care calls

2010-08-15T01:39:00.001+05:30

A few months ago, I got a call from Vodafone customer care. They told me that they analyzed my phone bills and figured out that there is a new plan introduced for corporate customers which is much better than the one I'm subscribed to now. I hate it when I get calls from customer care numbers, or credit card companies, so I was trying to avoid being dragged into a conversation. But somehow, the guy on the other end started explaining the plan. The sad part was that he was speaking English in some weird Indian accent which I couldn't understand, and he was talking extremely fast. After listening to about 5 minutes, the guy asks, 'So can I activate this plan Sir?'. Now I didn't say no. Because if I did, I know he will start asking me why, and then explain the plan all over again. So I didn't give it much thought and said yes. And he concluded with the usual 'Thank you for your time, Have a nice day'. I had no idea what I just subscribed for, and I never bothered to check.

A couple of weeks later, I got another call from Vodafone telling me that the majority of my bill amount was contributed by STD calls, and he has the exact remedy for that - a new STD pack. And again, before I could say no he started explaining the plan. I was in the middle of some work, and so I didn't bother to listen to what he was saying. And as usual at the end of the call, I ended up saying YES to the 'Shall I activate the pack sir?' question. I didn't know what plans I was subscribed to at that point of time. Again, I got lazy and didn't bother to check my plan details.

In the next couple of months, my phone bill amounts started climbing for no reason. I used to pay around Rs. 400 - 500 every month on an average. Now I'm paying around Rs. 1000. And I don't even call anybody; at least that's what my mom complains all the time. So finally I decided to check my detailed e-bills in my mail. I saw that the rental for my plan has increased to around 399 per month, and some other charges all add up to around 1000 per month. Now I can't blame the customer care guy, because it was my carelessness that led to the whole mess. So what do I do? - Nothing. My laziness has grown to extreme levels by now, and knowing how much I have to wait talking to the IVRS if I call Vodafone customer care, I put it away for some other time.

So here I am paying around Rs. 1000 every month for my phone bill, and on top of that, my mom calls once in a while and shouts at me for not calling her. Then one day, I get this call from my beloved Vodafone customer care employee and I pick up. It was a girl.

'Hello good afternoon. Am I speaking to Mr. Anish?'

'Yes'

'Hi sir, I'm calling on behalf of Vodafone customer care. Our computers have found out that you are paying around Rs. 1000 every month, and most of this amount is because of STD calls......'

At this point, I’m pissed.

'…….We have introduced a new plan that can help you save a lot of money on your monthly bills'

'Hold on. Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that I pay a lot of money to Vodafone every month?'

'Yes sir.'

'And you, who work for Vodafone, call me with a new plan that will help me reduce my phone bills every month?'

'Yes sir.'

'So that's good for me. Now how is it going to help Vodafone?'

'It's like...er...it's like.....we believe in customer satisfaction. That's why....er...'

'Ok. Then reduce my rental amount to 50 per month. That will improve customer satisfaction.'

'Er...Thank you for calling Vodafone customer care. Have a nice day'

'But I didn't call you. You called me'.

CLICK. She hangs up. I felt really good. I call the customer care number, and waits till they transfer me to a representative, and tells him I want to change my monthly plan to the basic one I had a couple of months ago.

I was so happy. I slept like a rock that night.

Bitter Oranje

2010-07-14T01:29:00.007+05:30

116 minutes.

I watched my team hang on for 116 minutes, and the score was still 0-0. There were four more minutes to go for a penalty shootout, when the chances come down to 50:50 to win the trophy. And after seeing the 116 minutes already played, I was sure that was the only way we could have won it. Then, in a moment of genius by the Spaniards, all my hopes were shattered when Iniesta blasted a rocket into the bottom far corner of the Dutch goal and finished the contest with four minutes to spare. I know there are millions of Dutch fans around the world who felt the same way when that shot went in.

I was sad. I was sad the whole night. Then, the next day when I woke up and started thinking straight, I realized it was good that my team lost the finals. That is a difficult statement to make from someone who has been supporting the Oranje from the day he started watching international football. But believe me. I’m not drunk when I write this.

About ten years ago, when I started watching international football, I stood apart from everybody else I knew when I said my favourite team in the world was the Netherlands. It was not one of the obvious choices during that time, which were Brazil and Argentina. My childhood football hero was Edgar Davids. He was the master of freestyle when freestyle was not even invented. And to watch him play, I started watching the Dutch team games. That generation had a bunch of extremely talented players who were playing in big clubs in big leagues across Europe. Players like Edgar Davids, Cocu, Overmars, Zenden, Makaay, Bergkamp and Kluivert. These guys were my heroes. That was the best generation I’ve seen who have worn the Oranje jersey and went out on the field. But I was wrong. Looking back into the history books, I discovered greater individuals who have given more to football than anybody else. Players like Marco van Basten who was the best player in the world during his time. And then, the biggest name of them all, Johan Cruyff. The best player the Netherlands has ever produced. And the concept of Total Football which his team of 1974 gave to the world. Actually, the whole team of 1974 holds legendary status in football history for the way they played. Even today, the Dutch are known and respected by the way they play football - The total way.

Which is why I said I’m not sad that they lost the finals. A nation with such a beautiful history in football, who have given world class players like Cruyff and van Basten to the world, and who have defined the way football should be played - the total way, displayed a surprisingly startling strategy when they kicked around opponents and played disruptive football to try win the trophy that has eluded its greatest teams over decades. I cannot apprehend the fact that to win the biggest trophy in football, you can go to such extreme levels, where you consciously lose your integrity, and for a change play rugby in the FIFA world cup final match.

People have been criticizing the referee Howard Webb for officiating the match the way he did by handing out yellow cards to every person he saw wearing an orange shirt. But that is a biased reaction. He made a couple of mistakes in the overall course of the game, but then, he is Howard Webb. He makes stupid decisions all the time in the English Premier League. But that doesn’t hide the fact that the Dutch were playing negative football, with bits and pieces of Karate in it. They knew the only way they can have a chance against a Spanish side that resembled the Dutch team of 1974 was to kick them around, which made their game even more resentful. Accept it. The Spaniards were brilliant, and not just for the one final day. They played marvelously over the entire tournament, and finally scored the prize that has eluded them for so many years.

I’m sure I’ll see the Dutch lift the world cup trophy someday. They actually deserve it, for all the wonderful things they have given to the world of football. And that will be the day people will wash away the bitterness of the Oranje in 2010.

It doesn't work like that

2010-06-02T23:47:00.001+05:30

'Ja Simran ja. Raaj ke saath ja. Is se zyada pyar tujhe aur koyi nahin kar sakta'

This is Amrish Puri's dialogue in the ending scene of the most successful movie in Bollywood history 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', when he finally agrees for his daughter to marry a guy he hated all throughout the movie. It's one of the most famous love stories in Indian cinema, and a lot of people find inspiration in it. But there's a problem here. This doesn't work in real life. Life's not a two and a half hour movie, which always ends happily. Don't expect your girlfriend's father to forgive and accept you just like Amrish Puri did to Shah Rukh Khan. That's just a movie. An overhyped movie, with a typical Bollywood ending.

I might sound pessimistic. But listen to me. It doesn't work. If it does, you're a very lucky guy.

Believe in your love. Not in movies.

Avatar, and the delusions

2010-06-01T11:48:00.002+05:30

Ever since the movie Avatar got released, I’ve been getting mail chains saying it’s a copy of the Malayalam movie ‘Vietnam Colony’. Yesterday, almost 2 months after the movie got released, I went to watch it. And now, I’m so pissed off at all those people who heard the comparisons, believed it, and forwarded them by mails and mouth.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie Vietnam Colony, here’s the summary. The hero gets a job with some real estate corporates who want him to go to a colony, make friends with the people there, and make them leave the place. Apparently, the colony stands in a very prospective location to build a shopping complex (or a housing colony. I don’t remember, but it doesn’t matter). The colony is ruled by a group of resident thugs who won’t leave the place, and won’t let the people either. The hero makes friends with the people, falls in love with a girl there, becomes one of them, and finally goes against the company.

Avatar has a similar story line. The Navi’s are a group of people (blue colored human like forms) who live under a huge tree (Tree of life) in the far away planet Pandora. Below this tree lies a huge deposit of a mineral called ‘Unobtainium’ which fetches about 20 million dollars for one kilo in the earth market. That’s more than enough for humans to go there are start mining. The only problem is that the Navi’s won’t move from their tree, because they believe that everything in nature is linked to everything else, and finally to this sacred tree. The hero tries to become a part of their tribe to learn about them, and eventually to tell them about the human invasion plan and negotiate the terms of their migration to another place, which never happens. He is unable to convince the Navi’s about the human military power; the humans attack and destroy the tree, along with killing a number of navi’s including their chief, and the Navi’s fled to another sacred tree called the ‘Tree of Souls’. The hero comes back to the Navi’s and unites many clans of this blue colored people, inspires them to fight the humans and finally defeats them.

Now, the people who saw the movie and came out saying it is Vietnam Colony in English with a lot more graphics and animation is (as I would assume) prejudiced. Avatar has a lot more in it than Vietnam Colony. The movie is not just about a snitch turning hostile. It’s about cutting the big tree. It’s about how human beings have gone to the extent of destroying Mother Nature for his own selfish reasons. The Navi’s are a group of people who believe that everything in their world is inter-connected. The trees, plants, animals, birds, insects and all other living organisms are part of a whole system, which is a balanced ecosystem. The humans came into this system and disrupted the Navi’s way of life. Their greed destroyed the whole balance of the system. This whole concept is similar to the one happening on earth today.

The human greed has grown so vast that the resources available on this once green planet will not be enough to sustain their life in the coming years. We used to read about the ill effects of felling trees years ago. Nobody anticipated the consequences, and continued cutting them down. Now, years later, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has gone so high it’s causing the ice in the arctic to melt; and gifted us with the new problem -Global warming.

An ending where good prevails over evil is one which everyone looks forward to, and is more commercially viable. Avatar is one such movie. Even though the message is right there in front of everybody’s eyes to see, we act blind. Avatar is a movie with a simple message sewn into a simple story illustrated on a movie screen. But the directors imagination is magnanimous, and that make this simple movie very special.

So here‘s my question, what’s the message in Vietnam Colony?

The Rise of India

2009-09-17T00:03:00.019+05:30

Lately, I have grown an affinity towards reading books about world history, the rise of India, current affairs, and stuff like that. I've been reading articles on various websites about how the recession shook the whole world, brought out frailties in the biggest economies in the world, and how a gradual shift in power has begun which will see India and China to emerge as super powers.

I read a book by Edward Luce 'In Spite of the Gods', in which he talks about the different problems faced by the Indian system. Problems like corruption(now that's not new), bad politics, religious biases, caste biases inside religions and stuff like that. He talks about how Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar and other visionaries saw the future of our country in their own ways and helped in setting the foundations of this great nation. He also talks about how todays India has been shaped all the way from the Indus valley and Harappa civilizations.

He talks about how religion is the key for politicians today. Lower caste leaders are emerging today in India, and how the prejudice towards them from the upper caste still persists. He sees how religion is trying to market itself in new packages like 'The Art of Living', christian missionaries, Sai Baba's and similar organizations. He agrees that our nation with an outdated civil service network that hasn't changed from during the days of the British rule has to change for this country to go forward.

But the most important thing that struck me and made me think in his book was a fact he mentioned regarding our system. He is awestruck at how a corrupt, old aged, bureaucratic, unrevolutionised system like ours actually work. Now, there's something that really doesn't have an explanation. Well. I think it doesn't need any. I call this the system of chaos. Everything in this country is based on that theory. You get out of your house one fine day and walk to the busy crowded market along the footpath(if there's one; I'd bet you'd be walking on the road even if there's one). There are bikes, cars, lorries and buses flying along the small 2-lane road in both directions, at speeds that are not even allowed on some major highways in the so called civilized world. No one cares. The roads are not just for the vehicles. People stop their cars in the middle of the road to go buy a cigarette causing traffic jams everywhere. The traffic police officer is asking for money from a biker for not wearing a helmet, even though he was speeding on the footpath. Government offices have people standing in queues outside who want to get their work done; with the officials inside listening only to recommendations from superiors or bribery from inferiors. More than half the population of this country(I'm bad at stats, but I think it's a lot more than half) is illiterate, poor, hungry and homeless, and still India is on the verge of becoming a global power. There are communal clashes, caste discrimination, woman and child discrimination everywhere in this country, people dying without proper health care, epidemics, AIDS, and much more. But, the system is working. Things are getting done. People are living their lives. Roads are geting built, cities are being formed, the standard of living is improving. No one has a clue how it works. But it does. Everyone, including Edward Luce says that these are challenges India should face and overcome to become a global power in the coming years. I don't agree. I think our system works. Our country cannot change. It cannot follow a book written system. It won't work. It would be a waste of time and energy trying to even implement that kind of a strategy. I think our huge population won't allow that. And for once, I'm proud of it. I think no other country can ever imitate our system of chaos and produce positive results. I bet they will be terrirfied even by the thought of it.

I read somewhere how different nations announced themselves as the new world powers in history. The English dominated the seas with their Royal navy, then the steam engine kickstarted a revolution. The Americans gave capitalism to this world. They became a nation where anyone can fulfil their dreams, irrespective of their natioanlity or color. They didn't get involved in the world wars unnecessarily, and they held the high cards when they eventually did. The bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki announced their arrival as the super power of the 20th century. Now it's Indias turn. The Indian economy is standing tall even when the world crippled under the recession of 2009. Indians are popping up on every field in the world as leaders and winners. The nation is growing exponentially, and the world has put a lot of expectations on her already.

But how will she announce her arrival. This is what I think. (Everything from this point of this article is completely my imagination. I have no proof to substantiate it, nor do I want to). The fight for Kashmir will lead to many Islamic terrorist activities in India, leading to the deaths of many innocent Indians. Pakistan will still try to harbour the terrorists, Al Qaeda will find a new enemy in India. This will start world war 3 between India and Pakistan, with Pakistan using nuclear missiles against India obliterating a whole city(I reckon it to be Delhi, or one somewhere in North India). India will retaliate with full force, and blow Pakistan out of the world map. By the time the world nations come for a compromise, there won't be anymore of Pakistan left. America would have sided with India for a change, since they want to be on the winning side(they have already started siding with us in international matters), making China to side with Pakistan since it's an Asian subcontinent issue, and intensify the problem to go out of hand across two continents, leading to a large scale nuclear attack, and destruction of the human race as well as any other life form out there. The civilized form of humanity dies forever in this holocaust. Thus bringing to an end(and a very ironic one) this civilized form of humanity, by destroying itself at the same place it started 4000 years ago, the Indus valley, that stretched from the north-west part of India to Pakistan and beyond to Afghanistan. I hope I'm mad.

A Predicament

2009-09-16T01:39:00.010+05:30

Four years in college earned me only a handful of friends. That's because when I say friends, I mean people who you can trust with anything, anytime. For a person like me, trust was a very important virtue in people, which attracted me magnetically towards certain people. And they have remained forever.

There was one such friend of mine in college whom I met in the first year. In the first month of joining the college, he fell in love with his classmate. I respected their relationship. I used to look up to them, and believed in what they shared. She became a very good friend of mine, and I used to tell her how I'll help her elope with my friend after college when the time comes. They were my role models when I fell in love with my classmate in the last year of college. And they supported us too.

Four years of college together later, we went our separate ways. I joined Infosys, my friend was unemployed and was at his house in Kerala, and his girlfriend was in a software company in Trivandrum. This is where she met a guy who tried to hit on her all the time. She hated him, and tried to avoid him all the time. A few months later, my friend calls me up one night and tells me that his relationship with her was over. It came as a shock to me, and everybody else in our group who knew them. And guess what the reason was? She fell in love with the guy who used to hit on her. The guy whom she hated all this while.

I went to meet my friend who was in shambles by this time. He took a long time to recover from it, and get back to his original self. Months passed by and he's back to normal now. At least I think so. I heard she got married to some other guy(a third one, as far as I'm aware of) recently and quit her job. My friend trusted her with his life. And she trampled over his dreams in one quick moment, with no feeling of guilt, or remorse. I would think from my friends side how he watched the love of his life go away with someone whom even she hated and complained about to him. I have never met this person but I hated him for what he did. I know he was selfish for his own reasons. The world would say that anyone in his position would have done the same thing. But I don't believe in that bullshit. I think what he did was wrong, and what the girl did was much worse than that.

Which brings me to my predicament. After a couple of years in Infosys, a very good friend of mine(not anymore) saw a girl whom he liked instantly. He found out that she had a boyfriend who was working in another company. He was selfish like every other person would be. Humans. And the same story continued. This time, the point of view was different. He started hitting on her. She hated him the most in our group. Months passed by. One day she realises she is in love with him. She tells her boyfriend who has sacrificed a lot for their relationship to get lost(I've realised from many of my friends relationships that girls love doing this. Each one story can be a new blog).

I saw how it hurt my friend from college. I know how much I hated that guy who robbed his girl away from him. And now, I'm in a completely different position to judge. A predicament, so ironic.

PS: After what happened to my college friend, I don't believe girls anymore. My female friends have always come up with counter arguments against my stance saying that not all girls are alike and stuff like that. If you feel the same, you can always tell me. I would simply reply with a polite 'F*** Off' to that.For quite a few have said this: Frailty, thy name is woman.

Bad politicians

2009-09-11T11:03:00.012+05:30

Inquilab Zindabad.... Jai Hind.... Bharat Mata Ki Jai....

These were the common cries uttered by the great freedom fighters of India before they laid down their lives for a great cause. These were the cries that urged the English to spray bullets into the hearts of the proud and brave Indians who fought for what they believed in. They believed in honour, and respect, and ethics. These are the reasons why even after so many years of British dominance, our ancestors were able to chase them out of this country. They lived for a cause and they died for it.

Fast forward 60 years and see what we have made ourselves into. A bunch of lazy, selfish and greedy lot who do not understand the value of life anymore. Look at our politicians. They are supposed to be the political descendents of the greats that have walked the land. I bet there's not even a single one out there who comes close to deserve the very minimum of respect. Our leaders had high hopes on our future when they fought the war for independence. They trusted the ones that came out alive to uphold their wishes and lead this country to a free democracy, become self-sufficient and a super power in the world. On the contrary, the ones who remained back screwed up the country big time. In the war, the men with balls stood in front when bullets were fired at them. The hermaphrodites hid behind the ones that fell, survived the scare and lived long enough to goof up our nation. This is why the group of leaders that we have today fight among themselves for power and have no responsibility towards the welfare of this nation. They're living for today, forgetting the vision of our founding fathers who dreamed this day a hundred years ago.

I believe this lot should all grow old and die and a new generation of men with balls should emerge if we have any hope of getting back the reins that our forefathers tried to pass on. And I really think that has started now. New faces with the proper attitude has started to enter the political arena. I just hope they're not dismissed away by the toxic politicians who are still clung on to system.

I've got feelings for you...(Part 3)

2009-02-09T14:07:00.009+05:30

'I want to spend the rest of my life with you.....'

I told the guys about what happened with Tina during dinner. We were in summer sand, and I narrated it in a very beautiful way which left Nadeem's mouth hanging wide open all evening. It took some time for him to come back to his normal self. They were all surprised at it. Coz they never expected me to do something like this. They couldn't swallow it. We talked a lot that night. And I still had that pain in my heart.

August 18, 2006.

I reached class before 9(the first time that was happening). Tina was there already. As soon as I got to her, she said we'll go out and talk. So we came out and started walking towards the civil block. As we got between the road between the electrical, electronics and mechanical blocks, she told me that she thought a lot about what i said. She said she didn't sleep the whole night thinking about it. And then she said the magic words. 'I think i want to spend the rest of my life with you...'

She caught my left hand and leaned her head towards my shoulders. There were a lot of students coming towards us, but I didn't care. We walked around and talked about the same things over and over again. After an hour, we came back to the class. And about 10 minutes later, Anish and Deepesh came outside. I guess Pavan messaged them. They got to know what happened and was hugging each other and started jumping around.

Everybody got to know about us after that. Almost all of them were amazed to know that I fell in love with a girl and proposed to her. Somehow, they could not believe it. I had that pain in the heart for a few more days. I don't know when it went away. But I'm sure I'll never have that feeling ever again.

Two years later, her parents came to know about us. We had the regular kind of problems, and finally, they asked us to take her away, get married and never come back. We got married on 07-07-07 in Jayanagar, Bangalore, and married again in front of my relatives on August 21, 2007. Now her parents have accepted our marriage and took us back home. This whole episode is another great story, but I ain't gonna write it.

I've got feelings for you...(Part 2)

2009-01-13T23:20:00.020+05:30

I didn't rehearse any lines beforehand. So I said what came to my mind. I told her that I've been thinking about this for almost a year and finally decided on telling after I realized it was not just a crush. She told me she has never felt anything like that for me ever before. And she asked me what my plan was! I told her that I would go to her parents when the time is right and ask them for her hand in marriage. If they said no, I would ask again. If they say no again, I'll ask a third time. If they still say no, I'll marry her. She didn't smile. She told me it was impossible for her parents to accept her getting married to a Hindu boy. I was optimistic.

I had a pain in my heart. I could feel an unknown heaviness with it. It was aching. I have never felt like that before. It was paining so badly, but I liked it. I believe that is what you feel when you are in love. They say you hear bells ringing when you meet the person of your dreams. I didn't hear any. But my heart was paining. A pain which I've never felt before. A pain which I was sure I'll never feel again in my life. I was not bothered.

We reached Royce, ordered two milkshakes at about quarter past three, and managed to finish half of it by quarter to four. Somehow, I couldn't swallow. My whole body was not responding to me. And I bet she felt the same way. We talked about the same things we talked while on the way there again. Then we sat quietly, looking at each other. I think we held hands for a moment then. We decided to go back to the classroom as the last hour was almost over. As soon as we got out of Royce and was about to cross the road, it started drizzling. They say it rains when Gods celebrate. I surely felt so at that moment. It was raining only a few feet around the place where we were standing. It was bright sunshine everywhere else. It drizzled for about 30 seconds and then it stopped. It was beautiful.

While we were about to enter the classroom, I asked her how she felt. These were here exact words, 'You took almost a year to tell me how you felt about me. I'll take at least a day.....and tell you tomorrow'.

To be continued........

I've got feelings for you...(Part 1)

2008-09-24T19:55:00.013+05:30

'I've got feelings for you. You make me the happiest person in the world, and if you give me the chance, I will try to make you feel the same for the rest of your life'.

This is how Chandler proposed to Monica in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. And ever since I watched that episode, I've written it in my mind that I'd use the same words when I meet the girl of my dreams.

It was August 17, 2005. I don't know why but I planned to tell Tina that I love her today. Shabna asked me to accompany her to Amal Jyoti College to invite them for Virtuoso. The devil in me said no, even though I wanted to go. So she took Shebi and Pavan with her. So that's 3 out of the picture. Somebody called Nirmala for some Virtuoso work, and she had to go too. That makes it 4. It was me alone with Tina for lunch today. I suddenly started believing in God. We walked all the way to the cafeteria and ordered our regular Porotta-egg curry combo. After lunch, she wanted to take some book from the library, so we went in. As soon as we were about to leave, my phone started ringing.

'Sibin calling....'

Shit! CGPC work. If I pick up this call, I won't be able to go back until midnight. That's how all of Sibin's calls were. I cut the call and switched off the phone. Phew! That was a close one.

We walked back to the electronics block. The first period after lunch was (I forgot the subject) by Harris sir. It was 1:45 pm, and we were sitting in the second last row. Kamchal, Vaisakh and somebody else were sitting behind us. I turned to Tina and reminded her about the thing I wanted to tell her for a few days. She got excited and started asking me about it. I played around without telling her what it was for some time, rehearsing Chandlers exact words in my head a million times. Then finally, at about two minutes to 2, I said it.

'I've got feelings for you........'

Shit!!! I forgot the next line.

'Whaaeaa(whisper)?'

Silence.....

She was looking out of the window after the words have registered in her head. I was still trying to remember the second line. I could hear my heart beat. And I could feel it's weight. Harris sir walked into the class. Shit!!! There goes my perfect timing. I still remember what he taught that day. It was zip-coding. After an hour, when he left, I told her that we'll go out and talk. She said yes. My heart was paining, there was some weird heaviness with it today. I didn't bother. We got out of the class and walked towards Royce.

To be continued........

e-Mail-ized

2008-08-05T20:19:00.005+05:30

I don't know if it's just me but I have developed this new kind of syndrome lately. I can't go through a day without reading at least 50 e-mails. Now, you might be wondering what the big deal is. But I'm the kind of guy who never used to deal with emails until I joined the software industry recently. Every single day, I come to office and switch on my computer and see that there are about 200 new e-mails to be read. I have always wondered why people sit in trains, buses, coffee shops and even shopping malls looking at their laptops and reading e-mails. I thought they were pretending to be some kind of cool people who form the high class of society and can afford to buy laptops and show off. Why would you come to a mall to read mails? Unfortunately, now I know. It's addictive(And I kept myself away from alcohol and cigarettes all my life). Does it make you look cool? I don't know. What will you think of a guy sitting in a train reading mails on his laptop and replying to it using his blackberry. I guess you will have some sort of respect for him assuming he might be a very important man in whatever he does. Who else would have a blackberry with them? Or do you think I should get therapy?

Perspectives

2008-05-23T21:52:00.016+05:30

Rohan's manager Roger Heathrow came to India last month from Dallas for a week. This was his first time in India, and he was really looking forward to it. He came to attend Rohan's marriage in Bangalore. He got here on a Saturday morning, and I went to the airport to pick him up. We walked towards our Taxi to start our one-hour 6 kilometre journey to the hotel he was staying. He was stunned to know it will take 1 hour to travel almost 4 miles in his metric system. He asked me why that is. I thought I won't spoil the surprise and put him in the front seat of the cab. The driver entered the HAL road and stopped at the first traffic signal we encountered. It said 34 seconds. We were stopped right behind a petroleum truck. There was about 3 feet between the truck and our car. And Roger was sitting in the front seat with his mouth wide open. He was rechecking his seat belt, but I didn't know how that would help. Terrified, Roger asked me why isn't there a safe distance between the two vehicles. It was at that moment a biker went through the 3 feet gap and somehow reached the front of the waiting line. There was a policeman standing on the side controlling the traffic, and he didn't even care. I can't express how shocked Roger was seeing that. He started talking about how the people in America follow traffic rules and how good their traffic department was. When the light turned green, the traffic started moving very slowly. And by the time our car reached the front of the queue, the signal turned red again. But our driver out of impatience drove through the red light and dashed away like a lightning. Roger was shouting to me that we ran through a red light. It was no big deal to me. We reached the hotel in almost an hour. I left for home after he checked into his room.

I had to pick him up the next day to get to Rohan's wedding in time. We got into the taxi and left for the auditorium which was about eight kilometres away. We didn't have much of a traffic this time since it was a Sunday. When we were on the highway, we saw a kid(about 16 years old) do a wheelie in the middle of the road at about 70 kmph on a Yamaha RX100. Roger was shocked to see this and started from where he left off the previous day talking about the bad driving conditions in India and the superior ones in the United States. Even though whatever he was saying was making me really angry, I didn't comment and kept nodding my head. Partly because whatever he was saying was true, and partly because he was Rohan's manager. He described the lines on the road as 'Suggestions' to the drivers, and not rules. He was talking about the policemen who didn't do their job, how close we drive zig-zag on a straight road, how dangerous it is to drive in these conditions, and how much traffic this kind of driving is causing. Finally, I replied saying that we don't have big accidents and pileups here in this traffic because we can't drive that fast. He heard the bitterness in my voice and stopped talking about traffic anymore.

He left soon after the wedding for Texas. He was a busy man. And again, I had to drop him at the airport. This time I took Ashwin's car and drove myself. I tried my best to follow all the traffic rules this time. He didn't talk about the traffic this time, but enquired about the places to see in India the next time he visited. He promised he would surely visit when he gets a chance. At the airport, after saying our goodbyes, I was about to leave when he told me to drive carefully and gave me a funny smile. I smiled back at him and left.

I heard from Rohan that Roger died last week in Dallas at the age of 37. He was hit by a stray bullet inside a supermarket when two 15 year old kids were trying to rob the place. He was on his way back home from office and stopped to buy beer. I was sad to hear that. He was a nice guy.

Perspectives...

...footPrints...

2008-04-16T20:54:00.010+05:30

I got my first real six-string, bought it at the five and dime…

Played ‘til my fingers bled, it was the summer of 69…

Me and some guys from school, had a band and we tried real hard…

Jimmy quit, and Jody got married, I should’ve known, we’d never get far…

Oh when I kook back now, that summer seems to last forever…

And if I had a choice, ya I’d always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life...

There is a reason why this Bryan Adams song is, was and always will be the best in the world ever. It sings a story about life. A part of life that every one of us has lived through. A part of life everybody wants to live all over again.

Today, we are all in different parts of

India

, some of us even beyond. We have struggled to stand on our own feet, and finally got the first breakthrough. We are happy to be where we are today. And we are happy to remember the four years spent together in RIT. The place, where on an October 16^th in 2002, a bunch of about 60 kids came together in a classroom to start one of the most exciting journeys of their lives, a journey which brought them to where they are now, and which will take them much beyond hopefully.

I remember the days when we started our journey. The ragging sessions everyday. All the things the seniors made us do in front of the class, and we couldn’t look up and smile, ‘coz it could be us next. The dosas Preena made, the duet by Sen and Tina, and finally, the fresher’s day celebrations which was the icing on the cake. The way we embarrassed ourselves was out of this world. I don’t remember one programme out of the 60 minutes we had which was worth applauding for. We showed our talent, and got booed big time. This was the first step and we went for it, even though it ended on a very bad note. Those memories bring smiles to me now, and I bet it would do the same to you. Our class tours, they were the best. The trip to Ooty in the second year, the Mathews-Rincy enactment, the KK-Sherin enactment, and the Rajavu ki Jai, the Hogganakkal falls, the Ramoji film city, the late night songs in the hotel corridor. I miss those days. The lab sessions, the lab exams, and the lab records, the assignments that somebody wrote, the classes I never attended, the virtuosos, the arts festivals, the strikes, the exams, the suppli’s, the Thankachan Sir, and all the other things that passed us during our stay there. Our Vadam-Vali team, our pookalams, our Mr. University. We really had a lot as a team, even though we never won anything as a team. Until the last year, when we won the biggest of all the prizes in the last competition we took part as a team, Keli-06. I really miss those days. I guess that’s what Bryan Adams was trying to say. Those really were the best days of my life.

Now I’m in some city where time runs faster that I can catch it. Days zipping past by like bullets. I’m still in my journey in life that has no destination. And when I think of the days in college, it brings tears to my eyes, a tear of joy for the days we spent together, a tear of sadness for the fights I had, a tear of joy for the friends that I made, and a tear of sadness for the friends that I lost. I realize that I could have got back everything that I had lost in college if I ever get to live that life again, but I know it’s impossible. And today, when I think of the batch of ’06, the rhythm of RIT, which has become a rhythm of my own heartbeat, I realize that I have gained much in life in those four years than anything I have or ever will in my whole life.

The beAuTifuL sTraNger

2007-07-27T16:47:00.003+05:30

“Ok pal, see you next time you come home”. I was shouting my voice off. Man I’ll miss Abdul. But that’s fine. I’ll bring him to Bangalore after I settle down there. After all, he was my best friend.

I was going to Bangalore to join Siemens as a software engineer. I’ve never been to Bangalore in my life before. But I have a good idea about the place. If what I heard is right, I’m gonna meet a lot of hot girls there. Coming from a place like Kerala, the word hot chicks mean a lot to me. And I think I’m speaking for every other guy when I say that.

The bus started from Trivandrum, and was supposed to get here an hour ago. I was really sad to say goodbye to Abdul until I saw the girl sitting in seat 23, which was the one beside mine. I could say she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, but that would be an understatement. She was wearing jeans and a pink T-shirt. And she looked really good in that. I started to believe in angels. There will be one sitting right beside me for this trip.

“Excuse me, Can I get in? “.

“Sure”.

She moved aside to let me in. A window seat and hot girl beside you. What more can you get? This was my day. I thought of starting off with a conversation, but then, that would seem too desperate. Let the bus move. That was the longest 4 minutes of my life. Man, time really moves slow at times.

“So, what are you doing in Bangalore? ”.

“I’m working at Infosys”.

“Cool, I’m working at Siemens”.

“Hey, that’s right beside our campus”.

“Great. By the way, I’m Kevin”.

“Hi Kevin, nice to meet you, I’m Nitika”.

What do you do when you really don’t know what to say next? Look out the window? Take out your phone and pretend to make a call? Read some messages? I went for the ‘make the call’ routine and called 123.

She had an iPod to her ears. Stupid Apple Inc. Why did they make the iPod- stupid conversation-killer machine? I started looking out the window. It is going to be a long day today.

I turned around looking here and there once in a while just to get a glimpse of her. It’s really hard to talk to hot girls. The words just dry up. And this one was way too much for me. An angel in a Volvo.

It was about 9.30 when we got our blankets. Time to sleep. She still had her iPod to her ears. I couldn’t sleep. So I sat there looking out the window for another hour or so. Then when I turned back, she was sound asleep. I could see her beautiful face so calm and serene. I can look at her all night long. It was the best Volvo journey ever in my life. Maybe it was the cold but I don’t know when I fell asleep. I was standing in a garden of lilies. And there she was, the girl of my dreams. She was running towards me with some flowers in her hand. She was more beautiful than before. She got hold of my hand, and was about to give me the flowers when I heard a horn beside me.

“What the?”, I mumbled. I checked the time. It was 5 in the morning. Some truck has honked its horn right beside my window. We’re almost there. Damn it. When did I doze off? I looked at the girl. She had the blanket over her head. Damn again. I started to sleep, hoping to see the rest of the dream.

“Hey pal, get up. We’re here”.

I woke up to see a horrible creature right beside me.

“Whoaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!”.

I screamed so loud all the other people on the bus were staring at me. Where did the beautiful girl go? And where did this girl-kinda-thing come from? I was beginning to come into my senses. How come this girl is wearing the same dress as the other one? And her voice sounds similar too. Was I dreaming about the hot girl? No way. She was real for sure. I couldn’t believe it. So angels are devils in disguise. I stood up, got my bag and started for the door, never looking back once. That horrible face got imprinted in my head, forever. That’s the day I learned one of the most important lessons in life, a lesson so horrific. It’s sad but true friends. There is a lot of makeup in this world.

cRusH

2007-07-27T16:43:00.005+05:30

There was this girl in my college. I remember when I first saw her. That was the day I fell in love for the first time. She was sitting in the library reading a reader’s digest. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what I was doing there on that fine Wednesday morning.

I didn’t know this was love. How can I? I’ve never loved anyone before. But then again, I’ve never had such a feeling in my life. So this must be what being in love feels like. Aha! Now what could I do about it. I knew I couldn’t tell her how I feel. No way. What would she feel? How would she react? For Christ’s sake, she doesn’t even know me. Even though the real reason behind it was my lack of guts, I cannot admit it here. I couldn’t sleep for 3 days. She was all that was in my head. And the funny thing was that she had absolutely no idea about it.

I’ll call her Nisha. You can call her any other name you want to. She wasn’t very beautiful to my friends. But she had something in her that stole my heart away. She was too naïve. She was too simple. She was too different. She was too good for a guy like me.

We were in the same class for the last 4 years. We spent a lot of time together. She used to teach me before the exams. She used to write my assignments all the time. She used to give my attendance when I bunked classes. I always felt special when I was with her. But she never knew I loved her so much.

She gave me a watch on our farewell day. She always knew I loved watches. It was a titan fast-track. Red, my favorite colour. It must have cost her a fortune. She told me she’d miss me after we leave. She had no idea how I’d feel. I thought of letting her know my feelings for her. But then, what if she didn’t feel the same way? It would be awkward. What if it jeopardizes our friendship? I couldn’t live with that.

She’s getting married this month. She called me yesterday. I said I’d come. She sounded very happy. After all, she’s marrying a very successful guy. I think I’ll let my feelings for her die with me. After all, I’m too late now. I should get her something. Maybe a watch.

For all the people out there who got this far, I would like to say that this is not my story. Also, this is not a work of fiction. It’s your own. Almost all of us have had a crush on someone we’ve met someplace. And almost all of us have never let them know our feelings for them. This is how almost all our stories end. Maybe we’re missing out on something in our lives. But who knows, we’ve never tried further.

The author of this piece of work would like to stress on the fact once again that this is not his life story. For the record,
· The ‘I’ referenced in the above article has nothing to do with me.
· I have never been to the library.
· The girl has nothing to do with any girl getting married this month, or any other month for that matter.
· I don’t wear a watch. Especially a red one.