Yesu and the Cyclone

Exhausted though he was, he was determined that he could not possibly allow Death to claim him, despite the severe cyclone attempting otherwise. Not after the pains he had gone to for the past few months.

Yesudass, or Yesu had had a fairly good and laid back life, born as he was into a fishing community in the Katupally village, north of Chennai. Long days spent out at sea with friends, and longer nights spent at the local liquor shop with even more friends had pretty much defined Yesu's life since he had started working- that too had happened early due to the advancing years of his parents who had conceived Yesu more as an afterthought quite late in life.

Most of the trouble had begun when he had gotten married to Nina, one of the most beautiful and sought after maidens in his village. His parents were almost senile, and it was his mother's wish that he marry before they were to completely lose their senses as it would facilitate a peaceful and regret free demise.

Nina, being the headman's daughter, was entitled to a grand wedding- and a grand wedding it was! The labourers from the neighbouring ship yard under construction were drawn irresistibly to witness the spectacle.

The "first night" as it is known was to take place that very night and Yesu was literally bursting with excitement and anticipation! He had seen a pornographic video once and it had vividly remained in his memory. He could barely wait to live the very dream that had consumed his nights leading up to the wedding.

Little did he know that an earthquake had occurred in Indonesia creating near panic among the local officials who immediately issued a warning against the possibility of a tsunami similar to the massive one that had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in 2004.

Yesu gently made the beautiful and shy Nina sit on his lap, nuzzled her neck and held her tightly. Just as he was ready to kiss her tender lips, there was a loud knock on the door. Ignoring it, Yesu started disrobing Nina who protested due to the incessant knocking on the door.

A very grumpy and irritated Yesu could only frown as his friends kept asking him for intimate details of his "first night" as they sat together in the local school which had been turned into an ad hoc  shelter. The tsunami had not happened at all and Yesu was livid with the police inspector who had very dutifully evacuated the village just as Yesu had begun to live the fantasy that had consumed his mind for months.

He was a literal nervous wreck by the time the sun had set and Nina and Yesu found themselves alone in their bedroom once again. But this time, Nina fended off every attempt made by Yesu to get close to her!

"I think it is a sign from God that we aren't ready for this yet", stuttered Nina. "We should probably just go to sleep now."

Yesu's mind could very easily have been diagnosed as that of a demented and delusional person's by the end of the first week. His friends who had also got to know of the facts could not keep from guffawing in his presence. Soon the whole village got to know of Yesu and Nina's predicament and the local temple priest called on them with very sound advice.

"It had been a threat issued by the God of the ocean that had interrupted the nuptial communion. So it logically follows that you two should begin to sleep within the same room only when there is a sign from the Lord of the waves that all is well. Nina, I command you to not allow Yesu into your bedroom until he is able to capture a large fish!" said the priest gesturing with his arms nearly a meter apart.

"But that is impossible! You know what rotten luck I have at fishing! Are you doing this to take revenge for the time when I made fun of your fake predictions and astrology?" cried out a deeply perturbed Yesu.

But Nina had taken the God man's advice seriously leaving Yesu only one way out of their predicament. With a new found energy and zeal, he would awake hours before daybreak and set out in his fiber glass catamaran. He would rove the seas looking very much like the captain Ahab chasing Moby-Dick.

Day after day, he would return with the usual catch of small fish. He would silently spread his bedsheet on the pyol of his house and promptly fall asleep due to the exhausting work. Days congealed into weeks which very quickly turned into months. Yesu and Nina had not had a physical relationship as yet, and both of them were getting frustrated, Yesu more than Nina. They had bought in to the God man's story too deeply to realise that the dredging being done within the ship yard under construction next to their village had muddied all the waters and scared away the fish.

Come November, the whole village motored their boats out of their berths in the sea into the safer backwaters, as it was cyclone season. Yesu however, continued to fish in the sea with single minded determination. His friends tried pleading with him at first and then with the God man to change his definition of a "large" fish, but to no avail.

The day when the Fishing board sent a vehicle with the loudspeakers blaring out a "Cyclone Warning" was when Yesu had reached his breaking point. He was sure that if his luck were not to change soon, he would definitely lose his mind permanently.

He silently slunk away when his friends who had come to keep a watch on him had been sufficiently distracted by alcohol induced intoxication.

To say that the sea was rough would be a huge understatement, as huge an understatement as calling the sun a 100 watt bulb, or the planet Jupiter a mere pebble floating in space. Of course, scale does matter, and if you are a giant organism, many hundred times the size of humans, then the waves in the sea on that day would have seemed like ripples. As far as Yesu was concerned though, the wind and the waves were DEADLY!

But in his delusional state, Yesu was convinced that this was nothing but another taunt from the Lord of the Ocean. Barely had he launched his boat a few meters into the roiling waters when a huge wave bodily lifted him and his catamaran and flung it across at the rocks that had been piled along the breakwater of the shipyard under construction. His boat got wedged between the boulders and Yesu was lying in it in a semi-conscious state. The heavy rain poured, poured and poured until it seemed that all the air in the atmosphere had been replaced with water. The wind blew with such force and venom as if to reassert its presence. The huge droplets whipped around by the wind hit Yesu's face with lashing force.

Yesu groggily looked around at the sea as the waves broke onto the breakwater from both sides. In the distance, towards the sea side end of the breakwater, Yesu thought he had seen a boulder standing as tall as him being rolled by the huge waves. He held out a single fist and spat out an angry curse at the Sea God, only to be hit by a wave that had managed to sweep onto the high breakwater. As he tumbled and rolled along with the wave, he saw in the brown, foamy and turbulent waters a huge black shape with fins and a tail. It was as big as a motorcar and Yesu was sure that it was the hugest fish that humanity had ever laid eyes upon. He latched onto the barnacles growing on the underbelly of the large marine creature that feebly thrashed as it was deposited onto the breakwater. He lied down beside it and fell unconscious.

The storm had passed, and the following day had dawned with a brilliant and azure blue sky. The news channels were the first to arrive onto the breakwater, followed by the villagers and last but not least, the police and paramedics.

Yesu had been revived by one of the paramedics who very readily allowed the television journalists to interview the man who had captured a baby humpback whale with his bare hands! The glucose shot in his arm had managed to bring him to his senses and the saline drip gave him sufficient strength to begin to comprehend the happenings over the last twenty four hours.

The whale carcass was still lying where he had lain along with it.

"How are you feeling right now Yesu?" cried out a hyperventilating reporter who seemed obsessed about reminding the viewers that her news channel had been the first on the spot.

"I really caught a big fish didn't I?" cried out Yesu in Tamil.

"Heh heh, the humpback whale is actually a mammal, a warm blooded creature very much like you and me, it is not exactly a fish, but Yesu here, the amazing fisherman who had lain unconscious and had been protected by the carcass of the whale is fortunate enough to have survived this amazing ordeal, I don't think he would be worrying very much about the distinction between fishes and marine mammals." said the reporter into her mic in one breathless sentence. It was all said in English though, and was lost on Yesu.

That night was the beginning of an extremely satisfactory and a joyous married life for Yesudass and Nina.

The Curious Case of Pyarelal Indrajeet

Pyarelal Indrajeet sat leaning against one of the pillars of the small Vinayak temple beside NH8, a few kilometers from Vapi in Gujrat. His face had a blank expression as he stared at the elephant faced idol which seemed to be mockingly smiling back at him.

The last of the season's monsoon was drizzling outside. The headlights of the innumerable vehicles plying on the busy highway provided illumination inside the temple intermittently.

The monsoons had always boded ill for Pyarelal. He had barely been ten when a fever had gripped his tiny frame along with the onset of the monsoons. For months, he lay under the fever's deathly spell. So much so that, even his parents had given up hope, however, with the last of the season's monsoon, young Pyarelal's fever too subsided.

He had been fifteen when he found to his great dismay that he had failed his board examinations. The first rains of the season washed away his red hot tears which poured profusely after his father had administered a sound beating. His father decided to discontinue Pyarelal's education and bought an autorikshaw for him, dashing all his hopes of higher studies.

A few years later, it was during the monsoons that he got married and the very next year, it was during the monsoons that he lost his father and became one himself.

Understandably, Pyarelal had been jittery while transporting a few engineers in his autorikshaw as black clouds could be seen lining the horizon. As he took a turning off NH8 near the Vinayak temple, it began to rain. Pyarelal- who had always been an astute and keen observer of the rains due to his fortunes being inexplicably and inextricably linked to the monsoons- noticed that the rain was especially heavy and intense. His small auto bumped up and down over the ill maintained road leading to a quarry.

Pyarelal wasn't especially shocked when his auto's wheel got stuck in a puddle and refused to budge, after all, this was the least he expected. Since the quarry was well removed from the highway, no mechanic could be found nearby. Leaving his auto behind, Pyarelal braved the downpour to find a mechanic near the highway. As he trudged past the Vinayak temple, he noticed that the Bhilkadi river flowing next to the highway had flooded its banks and had formed a great lake where there had once been green pastures.

The mechanic got his scooter ready after much coaxing by Pyarelal and the two of them rode out to the place where the auto had gotten stuck in the mud only to find that it had simply disappeared. The mechanic explained to Pyarelal that either the auto could have rolled into the deep hole in the ground that had been blasted by the quarry owners, or it could have been stolen. Pyarelal thanked him for pointing out the obvious and cursed the rains, and Indira, the God of rains.

The police inspector laughed so violently that his huge belly wobbled. Pyarelal sat with hunched shoulders and looked around him with a sheepish expression. Apparently, the bribe that Pyarelal had offered for tracing his autorikshaw had been abysmally low when compared to the industrial standard prompting the jocularity on the part of the huge man in khaki.

Pyarelal's wife couldn't make ends meet and had weeks ago decided to take the kids and go to her maternal uncle's house. This was indeed a great insult to any Indian "man", and Pyarelal couldn't brook the embarrassment of not being able to provide for his family. But there was little he could do, now that his only source of income, the autorikshaw had been taken by the rain gods.

The monsoons continued to beat down mercilessly upon the Indian subcontinent, bringing great joy and vibrancy throughout the region, however, Pyarelal's situation had only worsened with each passing soggy day.

Driven to work as a casual labourer, Pyarelal joined the workforce at the very quarry where his fortunes had taken a huge dip. This however only worsened his mental and physical condition such that he decided to let the very rains take away his life.

So, Pyarelal walked through the last of the season's rain, which had turned into a gentle drizzle. As he reached the Vinayak temple on NH8, he decided to sit there to rest his aching bones and curse the unhelpful Gods before taking his final plunge into the lake that had been formed by the Bhilkadi river which had flooded its banks. However, sleep overcame his tired mind and body and it was the temple priest who woke him in the morning which had dawned sunny and bright.

Pyarelal walked around the temple preparing to jump into the lake when he noticed that the water level had considerably reduced, and visible right in the middle of the river was the top of a black submerged object. He suddenly noticed that the skies were clear blue and hope sprung in the deep dark recesses of his soul. Excitedly, he jumped into the lake and swam to the middle. He dove under the water to inspect the submerged object and found to his unbounded delight and amusement that it was indeed his lost autorikshaw!

With the help of a considerate and kind-hearted manager at the quarry, he managed to get a crane to pull out his autorikshaw. With the little money he had managed to accrue while working at the quarry, he got it repaired. The mechanic reported with great amusement that the auto's engine had started at the very first attempt to crank it after he had serviced it.

"You must be a very lucky man!" cried out the mechanic.

"Only until the next monsoons my brother, only until the next barsaat!" replied Pyarelal in a resigned manner,

How to Survive if Machines Take Over the World

Most of us are familiar with the concept of genes, which are basically strands of molecules which try really hard to replicate and, if possible, to suppress the competing genes of competing specie. Now apply the same theory of natural selection and evolution to ideas or "memes" (a term coined by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene”). There are innumerable memes doing the rounds. They require human minds for their very existence and they replicate themselves throughout the population. Religion is a prime example of a virulent meme which replicates itself. There are many other examples, such as the ipod culture, or anti-semitism during Hitler's reign.

Today, with the rapid advance in science and technology, we are experiencing a golden period in terms of the tech solutions to the problems ailing us and society. Technological ideas and applications are termed as temes (a term that was first used by Susan Blackmore at the February 2008 TED conference).

Temes and memes are transmitted through language (spoken, written, or mathematical) and their very existence depends on the existence of humans. They replicate themselves, but only the best survive, very much like the process of natural selection in the natural world where the useless genes or the bad genes are discarded and evolution proceeds by selecting the strongest and the fittest.

Though temes right now require human minds to dwell in, the day is not far off when temes will be able to exist , develop and replicate without requiring human hosts at all. This will be made possible by artificial intelligence. In fact, the limbic system of a rat has been built artificially with modern computing systems. It is quite within our capabilities to be able to develop artificial intelligence such that it exceeds the performance of the human brain.

When that happens, temes would be able to survive in silicon processors and magnetic memory storage devices. I'm not predicting some “matrix” style doomsday scenario here, I am just saying that today, we are the dominant species on the planet and we disregard the rights of all other specie. We wipe out those that cause problems to us, and many specie have gone extinct due to the environmental damage that we have wreaked. We didn't do it intentionally, it just so happened that we needed food, so forests had to be replaced with monoculture, we needed metals, so mines had to be dug and so on. This is what is popularly known as “collateral damage”. Similarly, temes too would treat us with equal disregard once they are free of their dependence on us. Just like how genes do not care about competing genes if they are unimportant to their own survival (the case in point being the collateral damage that we have caused to innumerable specie in our quest to improve our own living conditions) temes too would not care about any of the organisms present here on our planet, unless they need the life-forms for some purpose.

This is not entirely such a bad situation. After all, the technology created by humans would have many human characteristics. The single most important factor that defines the identity of humans is the brain and the self awareness generated within it. So, it logically follows that humans will live on in the form of temes and technology as technology is nothing but the product of the human brain.

Another very probable scenario is if humans merge seamlessly with technology making one indistinguishable from the other. Artificial body parts today make it possible for the deaf to hear, the blind to see and the limbless to run. Soon, these parts would outstrip the performance of natural organic parts, because machines evolve exponentially faster than biological organisms. The blind will then be able to see in any spectrum that they wish to see in, the deaf would then be able to hear any frequency, the paraplegics would be able to run faster than automobiles.

We are all part of the technological tsunami, and we ought to be thankful that we shall witness probably within our lifetimes the dawn of the machine and the AI era.

Has?

Has the River ever told the raincloud of its love?

Has the Wind ever told the ocean of its love
as it blows on by creating ripples on the surface?

Have the Trees confessed of their affection
to the honey-gold orb of warmth and care?

Has Gaia confessed her undying devotion
to the center of her orbit?

Has the Soil ever whispered loving words
to the farmer's drops of salty beads of sweat
as they kiss the ground with a splash?

Has the dolphin ever confessed its love
to the salty glistening spray of sea water
as it somersaults out of the water?

Has the parched and ignorant mind ever
whispered sweet nothings to the first drops of wisdom
as they trickle in through the senses?

Has the ascetic monk ever seen through
the veil of religion to realize her love for God?

Has the Heat of passion ever sung paeans
of their love for the warmth and comfort of Love?

Huck, Me and Arjun- Chapter 1

Chapter-1
The Beginning

Huck Finn had always been a very good friend of mine, sort of a chamcha who looked up to me and my brother as we went about our adventures. He was a first rate fellow, let me tell you that, but the only thing that irked me about him was the manner in which he would carry on about Tom Sawyer, and how we would never be able to live up to his reputation.

If we were to embark on a grand adventure to set off the alarms in all the cars parked on our street, he would tag along and have a super duper time, but would hardly pitch in and help us out. There was no satisfying him! “Tom Sawyer would'a dunn it this'a way” or “Tom Sawyer would nair let a dog scare 'im off, I can tell u that. I Injun swear it tha he woulda got that car alarm to not only shriek but to sing all the sonnets and remix versions of Khaike Paan Benares Waala!”.

Pretty soon, my brother and I would see it fit to rain whoop ass on him, but he would simply smile and take it all saying that “Tom Sawyer woulda made me ache in two score diff'ent places than the two 'o you managed ta”. There was simply no pleasing that guy!

If you were to ask me how Huck Finn came to be with us, I would have to tell you to go ask a witch or one of the priests in the Ganesha temple down the street, for I have as much a clue as one of them astrologers have after carefully looking at a plate of beetle nuts.

It was one hot summer when me and my brother were in Chennai at my grandparents'. We had just finished yet another tome of Twain's and were looking for some adventure, but Paati wouldn't let us go out into the sultry heat. While Arjun and I- Arjun of course is my brother- were cursing our blamed luck and were wondering what Tom Sawyer would have done in this pickle, along came Huck out of nowhere and told us to sneak out like an Injun. Yes, he just came along out of nowhere and told us exactly what Tom Sawyer would have done: “He woulda gone out Injun style and gathered his horsemen and rode of to war against the Yahootee tribe, thas wha he woulda dunn, so wha you two louts still waitin for? Get a goin!”. With Huck Finn's able guidance, we were able to sneak out under my granny's not so watchful eyes, but Huck made it out to be like we were raiding a castle and were sneaking out with the loot, and my snoring granny was the dragon guarding the precious treasure, the peerless Haaji's diamond! He wouldn't let us slink away without nicking my granny's reading glasses from right of her nose, making them out to be the diamonds!

Needless to say, Huck Finn had most of the fun that day, while me and my brother were lumbering under the weight of guilty consciences. He made us borrow my grandfather's scooter and wouldn't let us start it with the key. He forced us to hot wire it like they did in the movies, though that didn't work and we simply ended up switching the headlight's switch with that for the horn, so he made us imagine that we had hot wired it and let us use the keys to start it up. “Tom Sawyer woulda had this horse whinnying away to glory in no time, you two greenhorns are goin to haff ta learn fas, or you will ne'er have half as much adventure as Sid Sawyer!”, so saying he started up the scooter and made me race it around town scaring old men walking along the street and making a huge ruckus with the croaky horn behind the temple elephant waking him from his slumber, which caused his mahout a whole lot of trouble.

That night, when we got home, we were given one hell of a beating. Our parents were on the phone the next minute asking us to return home- which by the way is in Bangalore- and my granny was all teared up and making a fuss over Arjun, but nobody said a word to Huck, he got away with it clean as a whistle! The police inspector who was a friend of thaatha's was at home, he told my paati not to worry him over such trifles in the future and gave us a glare that could have melted the entire Arctic before the methane and carbon do it eventually. We were mighty pissed off after that and refused to talk to Huck, but he just made faces at us, that infernal brat and called us girls' names.
“My Pa woulda bin ashamed of tha lickin, his philosophy in life is to lick a boy till ya can see he is an inch from Death's grubby paws, and here you two are goin on abou tha beatin tha a girl coulda tooked without grimacin!” taunted Huck.

The long and short of it is that Huck stayed with us the rest of our lives to mentor us in the ways of the pirates and highway men. I began this chronicle to make the truth universally known, because not many people know that Huck Finn played a major part in many of the 'adventures' that Arjun and I got into; and in case you are wondering, my name is Advaita, and I'm all grown up now, so I'm no more afraid of getting scolded, so I am going to come out with my whole story on this blog. Keep reading this blog and I'll regularly post our stories. Of course, I also want to thank Adi for lending me space on his blog, and Mark Twain for creating Huck Finn, for without his guidance and mentoring and constant taunts, we would never have had “half as much adventure as Sid Sawyer”!

The following is an article found in a magazine that is wildly popular throughout the galaxy, though not so much on Earth... I went to great pains to translate this article, hope you enjoy reading it...

A planet situated at the very edge of the spiral arm of the Milky Way, was once dominated by a bipedal species which thought of itself as having originated through divine means. The chimps and gorillas who knew better always had a good laugh when they saw these creatures.

However, the situation rapidly deteriorated into something that the other wiser organisms couldn't laugh about any more. Humans continued to be their smug selves with major superiority complexes. At one point, some of them realized that they were literally raping their mother, Earth. When they spoke about it in public, others hushed them; incest wasn't something that their society allowed them to talk about openly, especially when everyone was doing it.

Oedipus complex aside, many of them thought that they had the right to do as they pleased, because after all, they had been made in the image of God!

When their world leaders gathered together to discuss matters such as dangerous weapons being amassed and the pollution of valuable resources which could effectively make the planet unsuitable for habitation, they ended up arguing about who was responsible for the state of affairs, and who ought to clean it up.

Apart from their utter disregard for the life forms that co-habited their incredibly bio-diverse planet, they also displayed extreme nausea towards others of their own species who chose to think differently. What the majority ordained would become the norm, so much so that in some cultures, it was acceptable to terminate the life of infants if the gender of the infant was female (for further details, see pg 1,380,567 of the detailed analysis of the human race). Further, their irrational imaginary skills made many believe that theirs was the "chosen" race, much like the Brazorgans of the 311AG68 sector who were captured and quarantined by the Galaxy Pre-emptive Strike Organisation. Individuals subscribing to a certain religious ideology would preach "universal love", "forgiveness" and "brotherhood" amongst themselves, but would display extreme intolerance when in the presence of other individuals of a different religion.

Many wars were waged throughout the world due to the irrational ideology preached by innumerable pontiffs that their ideology was the only Truth, and all others must be silenced by any means!

The first instance of contact between us and them was on 1EE-560-6700 when a remote outpost of the Galactic Navy was seized by a "scientific expedition" of the Earthlings. This scientific expedition consisted of more military personnel than researchers. The outpost at first did not retaliate and attempted to make contact with the Earthlings. Soon, 20,000 years later, talks broke down, and no diplomatic solution was within sight. The Earthlings refused to give up their unsustainable methods, and had ruined a few thousand planets making them impossible to inhabit for the next 3 millennia.

Which is why the Galactic Administration has decided to assign the Earthlings to the same fate as the Brazorgans. This article has been published at the specific request of the Galactic Administration which needs your endorsement to carry forward the "Earthlings Reassignment Act". Kindly exercise your franchise on 21EE-309-1099 at a polling booth in your respective home sectors and help rid the galaxy of the menacing influence of the Earthlings.


This might have floated in through a wormhole as it appears to have been written many millennia in the future. Well, at least this means that there is hope for our species yet. We now know that we shall at least survive a couple of million years.

People-4

In continuation of my "People" series, I present here an interview of my brother. Thank you bro for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions, and I wish you all the very best with your exams.

Q1) Define yourself.

Defining a person is pretty hard, but i'll try my best. The first thing that people generally remark about me when we become friends is that i have an inferiority complex. I agree, no point arguing with so many people. I have this notion that however hard one tries to perfect something, somewhere in some corner of the world, there will be someone who can do it better. So i work for myself and myself alone. Call me selfish, but thats how i work.
I make friends very slowly, something i don't actually like about me. But once i do make friends i end up trusting those people a lot. Thats it i think..

Q2) You are about to outgrow your teenage years. What are your feelings on that front, how were your teenage years and what are you looking forward to now?

There's this one opinion i have. Each person grows at their own rate, mentally or physically. So although one does outgrow his childhood at some point, it remains to be seen if that someone has become an adult. Each person has their own span of teenage-hood and that could extend upto any point in their life. My teenage years were great. I feel i kept pace with my physical age by growing up with it :D
I'm looking forward to the usual, car and bike license and so on. But there's one thing i can't wait for. to vote!! i follow politics quite closely although i prefer not taking any sides. I feel responsible now, and i want to learn more about the world and how it works (you have no idea how hard it is to get a banker's cheque)

Q3) As a younger sibling, do you feel that life might have been different had you been the older one?

Definitely. Being the older sibling requires one to display a greater maturity. I've never stuck up for any one, or tried solving any one's problems. But you've done that for me, and having that sort of common sense and maturity is quite different. Although life may not have been drastically different, it definitely would have been.

Q4) What are your feelings now that you are at the crossroads of your life? (I mean the 12th board exams et al)

Ah. I have to admit i'm quite nervous already. The sort of competition for higher education is insane. My exams just got over, and that has given me some slight confidence because i feel i have done reasonably well, although results are yet to come out. It eventually comes down to the board exams i think. Everything that has happened doesn't count. Just that one exam is going to predict what is to come. Freaky!

Q5) Do you know clearly what it is that you want out of life? What is going to be your career choice?

I haven't made any choices yet. Thats something i like about myself. I don't actually despise anything, i see that in myself everyday. Movies which everyone else hate, i would've watched it twice. The same is the case with my higher studies. I like everything i have seen till now. Law, Engineering, Pure Science, Journalism, Business studies (though that is practically ruled out) and so on. Right now though, i feel it comes down to the first three, and more importantly the first. That is an added advantage considering the amount of competition. I won't be overly disappointed if i do not get some course.

Yellow

What is your family name cried out the yellow faces with green eyes

What is your heritage and ancestry... do you know anyone with a crown?

With derision they buried the young lad who answered thus

I am what I am as I stand before you now, do not question me of my past

for i have none to speak of... i know not anyone with a crown

My purpose is to remove the veil of darkness and the thorns of prejudice

outside the mob awaited the shrunken yellow men bent with age

Peace! I demand silence! Listen for the wise men have filed out onto their balcony

Withered hands they raised to wave at their wagging minions

Yellow pride flowed through their conceited veins bringing a yellow glow on their cheeks

That man is not to be trusted, he is of low birth and unknown ancestry- cried out the wise

He conspires to steal your adulation for your elders, for he is evil and of inferior birth

The wagging minions stole furtive glances at each other, and raised a blood curdling cry

We shall sally forth and destroy this evil you speak of O wise ones!

No! Don't you see they are using you- cried out the young man with the halo

I may not look like you, but I love you the same as my brothers, let us have peace.

The mob rushed at him armed with prejudice and blind hatred

Manipulated brains festering within their craniums, blood thirsty red eyes watering with rage

The young man lay on the ground mortally wounded, he staggered up to his feet

He caught the nearest man who raised an arm to beat him to the ground again

He kissed him with a loving smile, that of a mother who chides her erring child with loving care

His second fall to the ground seemed to stretch through aeons...

The man with the raised hand had a single tear in his clear blue eyes

Clear blue eyes that could see for the first time...

Dreams Soiled

Nourishing, caring mother, I kiss you
Today I bid you goodbye against my will
For they shall come in their machines black
My only mother that I had known since birth
Selfless and caring, with bounteous plenty
Today I must leave you for they have come
They who sit in palatial offices have decided
They who eat what me and my brethren milked
The land that my grandfather had ploughed
now belongs to a fat man in fine silks
He intends to produce automobiles aplenty
and sell them to others who have eaten my harvest
I have but a few pieces of useless paper in my hand
and the pieces of my futile, shattered life
Hope, dope or rope is what I ask myself now...

People-3

This is the interview of my mom...



Q1) How would you define yourself?

Defining myself - very easy. simple quiet and basically background kind of person not out of modesty but I have not much choice with my limited knowledge.



Q2) You are a very religious person, what started this off?

Religious ? I don't know. I am not religious in the strict sense. I take what I like and believe in it.

I should thank my maternal grandfather for initiating me into religion when I was quite young ,say between seven to thirteen years of age. I have seen him performing pooja, helped him sometimes but above all it's the daily trip to temple in his company that stands out in my memory.

During summer holidays grandpa used to take all his grandchildren ( about 4 or five of us) to kapaleeswara temple in mylapore every evening. Most of the time I was the only girl in the group unless some of my cousins joined. There used to be a small library in the temple(I am not sure if it exists even now) which had a good collection of books based on religion.

Grandpa knew that I was a responsible child and so he would allow me to be in the library till sayaratchai pooja (evening pooja) for he had to keep an eye on the boys who loved to run and play. Once the bell of this puja is heard I was told by him to reach the main temple mantapa(hall). In that library I was introduced to many stories of people devoted to religion which might have initiated me into this path.

Later I was caught up with studies and career the fire was just a spark.
Post marriage in the company of your Appa, also a religious person himself my faith was revived and gained momentum. I should thank both you boys who have supported us for in many households of my friends I have seen constant confrontations between parents and children on this issue.



Q3) What do you think today's explosive religious environment is due to?

Today religion is perceived multi-dimensionally with each one trying to exploit the deeply ingrained faith. Religion to me is not just chanting prayers, visiting the places of worship, I would say if you see a well finished job i'd call it done religiously.

Religion is basically discipline and faith from within. Only when I have doubts in what I believe in I'd indulge in comparing, mud-slinging and so on. Today's religious environment is nothing new.

If you look up history religion has been used time and again as a tool to gain power. It's when someone claims ownership to religion then trouble starts limiting it to within certain boundaries. Can anyone claim ownership to the sun, the moon and the stars or anything in this universe for that matter. I feel many of us confuse our social obligations with religious faith which results in total chaos.

(Very well said Ma!)



Q4) As a young person, what were your aims in life? How have these changed as you matured?

My aim........ I am not sure for when I was young, the general trend was to graduate, maybe land a decent job and then get married and settle down. Maybe the general scenario has'nt changed much for almost in all the movies and serials the purpose of the very existence of women is projected as though they are born only to attract men and start to live with them. But i had a dream , yes, a dream of becoming an IAS officer.



Q5) What are your thoughts about the status of women in India today?

In the urban regions, the trend is changing. I see women pursuing their dreams, living life according to their terms. But the casualties of this trend is also rising, a major one is that of rise in number of divorces. Divorce ,per se, I am not against, but when it touches the lives of children then it becomes an issue does'nt it? Another casualty is, there is rise in number of old single women who are in need of care and protection. Since they have been independent always they are not happy in staying in care homes, hence they have to live a life of loneliness in their old age.



Q6) Where do you think that religion ends and blind madness begins? How should people be sensitised to the dangers of the fake Godmen/women?

Good question. If we consider godmen/women as social workers then most of our animosities towards them will die down. Anyway most of today's godmen are social workers only. Don't we hear about mismanagement and ill-treatment meted out to inmates in some of the homes/institutes run by either the Govt. or NGOs? There are only very few dedicated religious leaders who belong to traditional institutions and who do not cross their traditional limits. Not everybody can be a leader and people are always looking up to others to be led and these are the ones who fall victim to false motivated beliefs. As long as there are gullible people, the deceivers also will continue to be active. It's the law of physics - did'nt you learn it in school?



Well Ma, I know I'm no one to judge, but I just have to say this: I don't think I know a more level headed person than you. You are able to see many things in perspective and get the global picture, nice right brain you've got going there...

People- 2

This is the interview of a good friend of mine. She however said she would kill me if I revealed her identity on the blog, and as I truly fear for my life, I shall not do so. Though for those who already know her, simply reading the questions and answers will reveal her identity... Thank you dear friend for taking so much time out for answering all these questions...


My Friend: "Ok... so... time to dive into the Q&As. This is so weird. I am usually the one doing the interviewing for my newspaper job."


Q1) If one asked you to define yourself, how would you go about doing it? (If you are going to use the word "Goonkie", then you have to also give the full meaning here... :=) )

I would describe myself as a goonkie (you are right... you caught me!) But now maybe I should elaborate on that. I think I would define a goonkie as someone like one of those perpetual motion machines - constantly seeking equilibrium. Someone confused and easygoing but with good intentions. Of course, with a person of that character, the definition of goonkie is also subject to change so that is why I always say, "You just know if you are a goonkie or not. Its not exactly definable."


Q2) As a girl, did you feel like things were unfairly going against you at any point in your life? If so, then when, where, how and why?

Fortunately I have never had to face any discrimination because of my gender and even if I did, I probably didn't notice. I have felt indignant and angry on behalf of other women many times but never had to for myself.


Q3) You have been around the world, what were your experiences? How did you adapt yourself to your new surroundings?

Ok... so this is a very broad question... Travelling to different places is very different from living there because as a tourist, you are allowed, no actually, encouraged to stand out. I can't really say how I adapted to different surroundings because that differed each time. The one thing I always have to do, whether living there or just being a tourist is get a map - I am a compulsive navigator. It almost becomes a quest for hidden treasure or something. I hate being wrong while map reading, I hate asking for directions (I'm worse than a guy that way) and I hate not being able to walk or take public transport.


Q4) What is your most treasured memory? Walk us through it...

O...K.. THis is another tough question. I have way too many fantastic memories. One of them definitely has to be Sports Day Closing Ceremony. I remember that as if it were yesterday - pulling down the flags in the rain, and slowmarching forward together to the strains of Abide with Me, with the rain pouring down so hard. I have a confession to make: I was actually crying, weeping at that moment. We were all wet anyway, raindrops were dripping down our faces mingling with tears. It was one of those, "No one will notice if you cry in this rain, so you can actually be a little weak girl and cry now!" kinda moments.


Q5) Give me an insight into the extremely active child component in your mental make up... What sort of changes has this part of your character experienced over the years?

hahahaha... I think its still very much alive and well. I think what usually happens to people when they grow up is that this part gets disillusioned during college life and goes through its adolescence as well and slowly grows up. Whereas in my case, I went to college with people who were much older than I was, so I became kinds schizophrenic - sometimes being very grown up and other times being a child and constantly trying to find a balance. It usually never comes out for the big things but little things - like when I was travelling in S.E. Asia last year with my friends, I got super-excited when I saw one of those small paper cocktail umbrellas in a smoothie store in Singapore. I got so excited in fact that I had to buy myself a smoothie just so I could have the umbrella and took pictures with it all day long. Small pleasures like that are just unbeatable - a paper cocktail umbrella, jumping in puddles, playing with balloons, eating ice cream and dripping it all down the front of your clothes. sigh...


Q6) As a girl in India, did you feel like there were certain problems with the way society expects women to fall into stereotypes? Do you think that it is any different in the other cultures that you have been a part of?

I think every society has a stereotype of women. That is necessary because without stereotypes people would go mad trying to deal with the diversity. Everyone needs to compartmentalize thoughts in someway. Its funny because I was just talking about this with a friend of mine (you won't believe how long this mail has taken in preparation). My friend is actually exploring the concept of feminism for her poltical science studies right now and we were talking about it during lunch. She is originally from Congo but has grown up in France and Denmark and other parts of continental Europe - so she understands the problem of the stereotypes of women similar to what we have in India but also understands the Scandinavian way - where there is a less of a gender divide, where women tend to behave less feminine and men behave more feminine to make up that gap - so everyone becomes kind of androgynous.

We agreed that these stereotypes of women were actually quite universal. Women, everywhere, are considered the primary care givers in a family, and even in Scandinavia, women still do fulfill that role. Basically, we felt that these stereotypes were merely a result of societal expectations - expectations that arose from a practice of supression from almost pre-historic times when women, being the weaker sex, did actually depend on men to protect them. We were trying to trace back the origin of this practice and we reached the conclusion that it is sort of like a 'which came first - the chicken or the egg' argument... For example, were women being oppressed and subdued into being the primary care givers by men, who in turn felt it was their right to exert their power over women OR did women accept the role of being the primary care givers to make life easier for men who protected them...

I guess this was a far more convulted answer than you were expecting. Its just that I was stuck on this question today morning and then at lunch we had this huge conversation and so I couldn't help giving you the highlights. Sowwy.. *gives sheepish look*


Q7) With skewed sex ratios in many parts of India, it must be extremely aggravating for a freethinking girl like you... what are your comments on this situation? How can change be brought about?
Firstly, thanks for calling me freethinking. That's pretty cool.. :P I think in a lot of cases, women are themselves responsible for these skewed sex ratios. Some of the most chauvinistic people I have ever met are women. And yes, that does make me very mad because I just feel this leads to a lot of senseless waste of time, energy, resources and often, even a waste of life.

Secondly, and perhaps what I loathe the most about the situation is the hypocrisy. In general, all Indians, naturally, are born with the ability to cope with paradoxes on a daily basis that most Westeners cannot understand. This can be a great source of pride but it can also be a source of disappointment because this very same ability enables us to turn a blind eye to all the hypocrisy in Indian society. For example, have you ever noticed that the most religiously chauvanistic men are the biggest devotees of Lakshmi, or Durga, or Kali or any other goddess? How are we so comfortable with this?!?!

I don't know how change can be brought about - I wish I did. I think a lot has to with economic well-being. The moment people are economically well-off, they demand an education for their children and this education leads to an enlightened future generation who will have the opportunity to be even better off and lead to more awareness. I think its something that needs to start at a young age - something that should start in school. I wish I had a more detailed plan but I don't know enough. I mean, these are just the rantings of an ignorant but opinionated fool that can mean nothing without a more specific context or scenario.


Q8) Tell me about music in your life. What sort of a role does it play in your life day in and day out?
hahaha.. Again, another question that is so vast I cannot even begin to think of how to answer it. Maybe I should start at the beginning. I love music - it makes me happy and I love all kinds of music (with, possibly, the exception of some heavy metal, but you never know with me). My iPod is filled with the most random music from the most random parts of the world. When I hear music I like, I tend to get obsessed about it and cannot function until I have heard it a million times. Its almost a necessity - its like breathing. I need to have music.

The first ever memory of musical obsession I have dates all the way back to when I was 3. We used to live in Bombay at the time, in Bandra, and our house was really close to this big school ground where they used to host weddings. During that time, there was a song called 'Didi' by this Arabic artist Khaled that was on top of the charts and so it would inevitably land up being played at all the wedding parties. I would stay up late at night, way past my bed time listening at the window everytime there was a wedding there, in the hope that I would hear it. My parents gave up trying to get me to go to bed on those days because I couldn't budge. And even now, for some strange reason, I still love the song.

Or the time in 10th standard, during the boards, when I was haunted by this Japanese song that I had heard a snippet of while channel surfing. It drove me mad - I almost screwed up my boards because I had to keep hunting for that song. Or the day I heard the soundtrack for the Lord of the Rings and spent hours locked up in my room pretending I was a conductor, conducting my stereo system with a hairbrush. hahaha...

The other thing I love about music is the way it forms connections in my memories so much so that I end up linking people to songs. For example, I link you to that Aasma song, Tumse hi Pyaar because of how you and Yao mangled the Hindi words during music competition practice to annoy Pri. I also remember you with Annie's Song. I link Yao to A Tout Le Monde and Blood Brothers because he would constantly try to make me play those on my violin. I link Baba to the song Plaisir d'Amour (which Rodrigues sang for one Music Competition) because I spent almost an entire hour trying to give him the correct French pronunciation. My favourites though, are songs I have danced to with people. Basically, when I hear those tunes, its like the memory of those moments plays in my head with that song as a soundtrack.


Q9) What do you think about love? Have you ever been in love?
I don't know about love. I firmly believe that people as young as 16 or 17 cannot ever experience true love. However, since its me, and I hate ever having an extreme opinion about anything, this firm belief does tend to waiver a bit. ;)

I don't know if I have ever been in love. Do you know that? How does one know? I know we all laughed at Sid when he went around in 12th asking the whole class, "What a crush was? And if we thought he had a crush on Ron?" but the man does have a point... How does one know these things? Maybe it like happiness or anger, people don't need teach you what they are for you to feel it but then again, maybe its not like that... Who knows?


Q10) Tell me something about your family...

My family... is my life. I would be lost without them. Its interesting how when you grow older you begin to see you family in a different light - you see your parents as human, not perfect and you see your siblings for the adults they grow up to become. My folks are nuts though, like all good parents and siblings. My Dad is a workaholic and the most practically idealistic person I have ever known, my Mum is an incurably efficient multitasker and resident tower of strength and my brother is the world's greatest bookworm and general all-round troubleshooter. Put all these people in a house together and you have organized chaos...

People- 1

As part of a new "People" series, I have decided to interview a few interesting people that I know. What follows is the interview of my father. He is an aeronautical engineer at HAL, Bangalore and has been my mentor and inspiration since my childhood. Thank you Pa for taking time out for this...



My Father: "I will try to answer them as my true response without any cosmetics to it. It may be raw sometimes."


Q1) Define yourself. What makes you, you?

Basically I am very simple and like to be sincere. I plan every thing. I want quick decisions. I am very straight forward in handling any issue. I am not a good negotiator as I am not a good listener. I am quick in reacting with emotions. I like to maintain a good balance between work and home. I love my family and my children. I like company of my friends. Sometimes I like to be alone. I do not like to boast around about myself, my achievements etc. I give due respect to all my elders. At work I am very supportive to all my colleagues and bosses as long as they are reasonable. I am a strong believer in God and would like to visit more and more temples. I like to listen to carnatic music , Bhajans and discourse in tamil on various epic.


Q2) You are a very deeply religious person, what made you so?

From child hood my mother has built in this habit with regular sloka classes in the morning and daily temple visits etc. Your amma has nurtured it further and given polish and shine to it. For performing religious activities family support is required and I am blessed with it. I feel religion is part and parcel of every individual without which there can be no dynamism in life. It is a lubricant and acts as a good bond to life. All values in life are derived from religion. A creeper requires good support. Religion is similar to that support in life. Creeper can grow without proper support frame also, but it will not be presentable. Likewise people can lead life without religion but to make progress in life religion is required.


Q3) What has been your experience as a devout and religious person? In what way did it change your life?

I strongly believe in God. Every action of ours needs his blessings. My experience is wonderful and you get self confidence and can view all happenings around us in proper perspective.
My level in all religious endeavour is still in ground level but actual requirement is to reach sky level with stars. So in short my position is like having intention to travel but not starting the journey.


Q4) Tell us something about your very interesting and long career.

Yeah. It is truly interesting. I love my job and the line in which I am working. I do not know whether I developed interest after I joined. Because I never aspired for a career in aviation. Even now for any body including me looking at every take off and landing of any aircraft is indeed an enjoyable sight each time and every time. Being near to the civil airport at Ecuador, here also I see a take off and landing every five minutes which is enjoyable whenever I watch. Initially I used to get frustrated with non-functioning individuals and indecisive bosses. But later I realized such people will be there everywhere and reconciled. I used to get frustrated when incompetent people got promotions and bonuses. But later I realised that in their eyes I might look like an incompetent person and I reconciled. Now I have no more frustrations and I realised that in life what ever anybody deserves will automatically fall in line, provided that you continue to do your job at your best and maximum efficiency.


Q5) Leh Ladhak, Thar desert, Ecuador, UK, Tawang and so many other diverse places have been on your travel itinerary. Tell us about what sort of perspective on life all this traveling gave you...

It was the first time I experienced -20 degree Celsius with sleeping bag and one mug of water (If u leave for 5 minutes it will turn in to ice) for all morning requirements etc. Food was good at Army mess. I used to wonder how the locals had been living under those extreme conditions.
Rajasthan another extreme of +48 degree celsius. There also normal activity was going on in scorching heat. Arunachal pradesh was very interesting layout and living on hills.
In UK, I admired their cleanliness of city and their marvelous metro system which they evolved 100 years back. Some metros have 4 levels of underground tracks.
At Ecuador we are in a far away place leaving family .... We are learning a new language- Spanish.


Q6) You allocate a huge amount of importance to the time you spend with your family, tell us something about what sort of a role family has played in your life...

Yes I love my family and my sweet children. Children are so nice to be with and have fun. Nice to be with them and talk to them about small things and play with them etc. Because that is the time parent should pay full attention because, afterwards they grow up and they are on their own. I like to spend time with family. As a parent I have learnt many things from my family. Life is full of learning and continuous and never ending.


Q7) You are a regular practitioner of yoga and you meditate regularly... In what way has this affected your life?

I have spent most of my schooling and college in NCC- for nearly 7 years. Hence that tenure taught me basic discipline in life and orderliness and need for physical fitness. Unless you are physically fit you cannot execute things. That is the basic need in life.

Yoga is one step higher. Other than physical fitness it helps blood circulation to each and every organ in your body and keeps them fit. It keeps the mind balanced and calm. Even Veda emphasises the need to keep the body and mind fit.
Earlier I was simply doing yoga through self learning. Now after I learnt Yoga through a Yoga teacher, Iam able to do it with focal concentration with each part getting exercised. I am getting the benefit of it. That is why I keep telling you guys to practice at least Suryanamaskaram every day along with Pranayamam in daily Sandhyavandan.

Arvee's Satyagraha

The moment Arvee had boarded the train, he had received stares and frowning countenances seemed to stretch all the way to the rear of the coach. Arvee had been forced to travel in the Mixies coach after his surgery, but ever since he had heard the inspirational speech by Clive-52, he had decided not to remain silent and submissive any more.

Arvee was not born a Mixie, it was only after a hover boarding accident while racing with friends at his law school that some of his body parts had to be replaced by bio-mechanical robotic parts. It had been a very tough decision for his parents. His father had never consented to the cyborgation process, he had in fact even suggested euthanasia. However, under section 232.334 of the constitution of the Republic of Sol System of Planets, since Arvee's mother had consented to the cyborgation process, Arvee received a new lease of life.

Arvee though had not been too grateful to his mother, for though he seemed to have changed only on the exterior, with three robotic limbs and a minor base interface implant in his sub thalamus, many of his friends had suddenly turned cold towards him. Arvee had been aware of the disgust with which Mixies were treated by society at large, but he hadn't expected to be clubbed in the same category. Not with such a minor bio-mech replacement surgery. After all, he had grown up watching the controversies that Clive-52 kept getting involved in, and C-52 was no more human than the holo-vision set he used to watch the news bulletins on; or that was what Arvee believed until he himself started to receive the same treatment that C-52 had been put through right from when he had been born.

The day Arvee returned to college after his surgery, his entire universe came crashing down around him. Odd things started happening that morning at the Gravity Train station. Somehow, news of Arvee's surgery had percolated through to the masses. Arvee received many curious stares, but some of the curious stares also had an element of disgust in them. The security personnel on the platform walked up to Arvee just before the GravTrain pulled up at the station and escorted him to the separate coach meant for Mixies. Arvee felt a burning sensation at the back of his neck and his larynx failed him when he attempted to protest.

At school, not one of his previous friends seemed to want to talk to him. Soon, a crowd of some fifty odd persons collected outside the school, mostly consisting of the members of the Socialist Party of Titan (SPT). They raised slogans against the school for having retained Arvee on their rolls. The school administration had tried reasoning with the irate mob; after all, Arvee wasn't exactly a Mixie, with barely visible changes (the robotic limbs were designed to appear natural, they could even perspire), and with no quantum processor brain implants, he was almost as normal as any other kid.

At home that night, Arvee had locked himself in his room and had refused to come out for dinner. His worried mother though couldn't pay attention to him as she had been summoned to the sessions court of Crysdo (formerly known as S III Tethys- a moon of Saturn) to defend Arvee's case against the PIL filed by the SPT.

Arvee switched channels of his holo-vision, only to find his case being scrutinised on almost all the channels. Even Neuroz, one of Arvee's favorite channels which beamed their entertainment programmes directly to the cerebral cortex of the brain had changed their usual programmes and had instead put on a horror programme in which the machines/robots subjugate humanity for centuries until the “Chosen One” manages to destroy the machines and restore humanity to its past glory. On one of the news channels, a cadre of the SPT passionately spoke about how Arvee's father had been against the cyborgation.

Arvee felt like throwing up and his chest felt like it would explode. His vision blanked out and a saline sensation filled his mouth as he bit hard on his tongue. His hand seemed to move of it's own accord as it reached for the remote and soon, the Suicide Help Network's call in programme filled up half of Arvee's room.

Arvee lay slumped on his bed as he watched the programme. When it broke for a commercial, C-52's image filled up the holo-vision. Though a sympathetic government had come to power, C-52's civil rights movement was still largely marginalised, hence most of his campaign's adverts were featured only on non-mainstream channels such as the Suicide Help Network.

C-52 had been born with a debilitating and progressive motor neuron disease. His condition could have been treated with stem cell therapy. However, Lun, where his home was situated was where the pontiff, his Holiness, The Supreme Sumwump presided and stem cell therapy had been banned on Lun a century ago when one of the first colonies were being set up there.

C-52's parents had instead opted to sign him up for an experimental programme in which his brain would be fused with the quantum computing processor of a C-52, fusion fueled spacecraft.

C-52's soothing, deep voice calmed Arvee, and his passionate speech calling for the equal treatment of all humans dislodged the last bit of doubt clouding Arvee's mind. He became convinced that he too deserved to live and nobody had a right to marginalise him or demean him.

The next day, Arvee boarded the regular coach of the GravTrain. As the train freely fell down the tunnel at an acceleration of 9.8 meters per second squared, Arvee's own conviction to fight his fight to a logical and rational end swelled up within him. The stares and frowns around him didn't seem to matter anymore. Suddenly, the brakes of the GravTrain were applied and the train pulled up at a minor service station where passenger trains rarely stopped. The doors blasted open letting in a whiff of dried fish that were being loaded into a goods train docked nearby.

Two bulky security guards marched in and shouted out Arvee's name. When Arvee responded, the two of them roughly picked Arvee up and bodily threw him out of the train. His backpack came flying after him and as it landed, it spewed out it's contents all over the docking station. The doors slid shut and the train whizzed away leaving behind a trail of water vapour as the fusion engine ran at max rpm to work the train up to the required velocity.

Arvee stood up and brushed the dirt off his trousers. His face was red with rage, but he drew in two deep breaths and calmed himself. As he stood there amid the jeering of the workers at the loading bay, Arvee silently swore to never rest until he and the other cyborgs were treated with the respect and dignity that they deserved. Much like another great soul who had stood on the platform of Pietermaritzburg as he resolved to start off Satyagraha, Arvee too fisted his hands and raised it upwards and yelled out to the universe in general, “The day Clive and me and the other cyborgs are treated as humans shall be the day of enlightenment for humanity, until then, my body and mind shall know no rest!”

Hashi Bhaiya- Short Story

For all those who had had a rough night, the following day would invariably start under Hashi Bhaiya's expert stewardship. His push cart which had one day turned up under the Banyan tree near the student's activity center quickly became the one source of solace for Advaith and many of his friends who liked to enjoy the occasional wild night.

As a bleary eyed Advaith walked up to Hashi Bhaiya's corner one sunday, late in the morning, he noticed a long faced fresher sitting on the improvised bench next to the cart. Hashi Bhaiya was preparing his special Sikanjvi, so it quickly became clear to Advaith that something had badly shaken up the “kid”. Advaith had not paid much attention to the freshers that year as the university had tightened it's grip on ragging and had gone to extraordinary lengths to curb the so called social evil. So much so that, the freshers' hostel resembled a jail after sunset.

Advaith gave a nod of acknowledgement to Hashi Bhaiya who returned it with a knowing smile. He knew that the MADS (music and dramatics society) gang had been hanging out at Wadia Bros., the alcohol store/improvised pub, the previous night. Wadia Bros. was an establishment which had for years been the mainstay for all the thirsty souls. It was an alcohol store like none other. With a clinic adjacent to it, the frequent visitors to this watering hole par excellence quite often joked amongst themselves about how TIP (This Is Punjab, inspired by the movie “Blood Diamond”) the entire set-up was. There were plastic chairs and tables on the pavement in front of the store with a tiny tin shed to one side which served starters for those who preferred their drinks with something spicy.

Hashi Bhaiya served the fresher his drink and counseled him about surviving the initial bout of home sickness that most freshers go through. Advaith stopped worrying about the “kid”, he almost felt a supercilious emotion; he looked towards the fresher for one last time with a condescending smile. The “kid” nervously looked away; Advaith decided to leave him alone and instead turned his gaze upon Hashi Bhaiya who had prepared the pick me up that he knew Advaith would eventually order. Advaith accepted his Pudhina (mint) tea with deep gratitude which he somehow managed to convey to Hashi Bhaiya through his puffy, bloodshot eyes. “A plate of chole kulche will do you a lot of good, don't skip breakfast Puttar”, said Hashi Bhaiya in rich, flowing, Punjabi accented Hindi. Advaith readily accepted the offered plate, knowing that the mess in his hostel would have stopped serving breakfast this late in the morning.

A light drizzle started and Hashi Bhaiya quickly moved his push cart further into the recesses of the shade provided by the banyan tree. One of the wheels had long since rusted and the cart moved only when Hashi Bhaiya threw his considerable bulk behind it. Advaith sipped on his tea while he gently tested the waters as he attempted to slip back into the turbulent pool of consciousness.

“Why don't you get your wheels repaired Bhaiya?” asked Advaith through the slowly clearing haze clouding his mind.

“My customers and children that I love are all here, what need do I have to move my cart?”

Advaith returned to his hostel to get back to his books. He had had enough of fun and it was time he got started with his studies since campus placement season was about to begin. His resolve to cut out the distractions even led him to refuse to answer Sachi's, his girlfriend, calls. He had reasoned that he could always have fun again, all he had to do was abstain for a couple of months and he could always make up for it later.

Twenty years later, Advaith found himself returning to his campus, which apart from a few shiny buildings remained very much the same familiar home away from home. He had indeed managed to land a lucrative position with an MNC, and for twenty years since the day he had refused to answer Sachi's phone call, he had had little or none of the kind of fun that he had grown accustomed to during his four years on campus. On the day he had been promoted to the top position which put him in charge of the Indian wing of his company, he had received an email from his institutes's Training and Placement Cell requesting for an appointment.

The email sent a jolt of excitement through his body. For twenty years he had worked eighty hour weeks and never had he even contemplated a vacation until that moment. Putting all activities on hold, he called his institute to let them know that an appointment with his offices would be unnecessary as he had decided to personally visit the institute.

As the cab neared the familiar marble decorated gates, Advaith felt like a child entering a toy store. He felt like whooping and jumping in the air.

The two hours with the dean of industrial liaison turned out to be a drawn out affair, Advaith was reminded of all the red tape that he and his friends had to cut through during the many times they had had to organise tech-fests or cul-fests.

He was relieved when he finally was able to step out of the dean's office and walk out onto the campus. He walked around his erstwhile favourite haunts and spent ageless moments gazing at the many once familiar spots. Now that Advaith was taking a close look, what emerged was almost perverse. The innumerable nooks and corners of the campus which had once been an integral part of Advaith's universe had all changed in some small way or the other. There were a couple of new buildings, but what was more alarming was the smaller changes. The Gulmohar tree under which he had first met his girlfriend had grown taller and seemed somehow, older and weaker with many branches cut off. As he rounded the corner around the student's activities center, his mind flew to a moment which had occurred twenty years ago, to a moment spent in the company of Hashi Bhaiya. He dreaded what seemed to him the inevitable. It felt like all the omens and portends which had built up a sense of foreboding in Advaith were all meant to climax at this moment when he would turn the corner...

And there he was, with a lot more grays in his hair, and his push cart missing a wheel entirely. The three other wheels had developed a lot more rust. Advaith walked up to the cart with palpitations building up in his chest. Would Hashi Bhaiya recognise him, would it be just like the old times, or would this too be another perverse metamorphosis, alien to the treasured forms that he held so close to his bosom?

“Why so jittery? Sit, I'll make you some Pudhina chai- Baijao- sit.”

Advaith walked around the cart to take his usual place on the bench, wondering if Hashi Bhaiya had actually recognised him. He accepted his tea with shaking hands and drank half the contents in one go. Hashi Bhaiya had remembered how Advaith would insist on being served chai which was not too hot, but at just the right temperature. However, he was still unsure, the tea had only increased his heart beat rate and had made him even more protective of his memories. If he opened up now, it would only make him more vulnerable.

“Have you been in touch with Sachi?” asked Hashi Bhaiya.

A shocked expression was all that Advaith could muster up in terms of a reply to the question.

“Ha Ha! Drink your tea first, then we can talk.”

The laugh too had remained unchanged, Advaith's temporary lapse from sanity was remedied by the Pudhina Chai.

“It is only you children who forget us, can any father stop thinking about any of his children?” said Hashi Bhaiya with a saintly smile on his face.

Advaith's throat had developed a curious condition, no matter how hard he tried to swallow, his saliva refused to flow down his oesophagus.

“You haven't been in touch with Sachi have you? Look puttar, money, power, fame are all things that we thirst for, it is only love that can actually quench our thirst. Sachi is also here in Jhelum hostel, she is doing her post doctorate, go meet, who knows, maybe something good will happen. Ha Ha! Wipe the drool off your face puttar, you look like you have just seen a ghost!”

Advaith recovered enough to laugh along with Hashi Bhaiya. For the next two hours, he sat under the banyan tree enjoying himself like he never had over the past twenty years.

“Theek hai puttar, enough time you have spent with this old man. I have a special treat for you!” said Hashi Bhaiya as he whipped out his mobile phone.

That evening was the first of the innumerable evenings that Advaith would eventually spend in the loving company of Sachi.

Four Little Red Pigs

Four little red pigs waddled up the hill
"Why did the farmer sharpen his sickle?"
The first little red pig asked his siblings

"To harvest his crop of paddy in his fields"
"Isn't it obvious?" said the second little pig

"But isn't his crop of paddy all still green?"
"So why did the farmer sharpen his sickle?"

To answer her third little red piggy brother
The fourth little red pig said the following:
"We've all grown very fat haven't you noticed?"
"To escape a stewy doom we must waddle over the hill"

Rejoice!

Cracks in the parched Earth
Invitingly dark and deep
If only I could bury my burning body
away from the harsh white heat

The dusty blazing wind in my face
turns it into a clayey cake
It howls Death's grand name
and cackles at my stooped figure

I squint into the blue expanse
for a glimpse of Monsoon's bounty
Alas, the searing heat burns my retina
leaving behind a white noose

With waistlines thin as my scrawny rooster's neck
My children await me at the threshold of my hut
My wife smiles as our eyes meet
With as much passion as our loving first gazes
Alas, this wasn't a smile in anticipation of Life
This was a smile of a soul to be released
Death shall be my children's first and last love!
Rejoice! Rejoice!

Baisakhi

Rejoice my love, for 'tis time to sharpen the sickle
The Punjabis are dancing their colorful Bhangra
Kashmiris enjoy a last game of cricket on the Dal
The Tamils are boiling their sweet savoury Pongal
The beautiful Malayali girls are plucking flowers

The fiery chariot drawn by seven horses blazes across
The sickle is sharp now, my Love!
'tis time to harvest our souls, for crops we have none
Death's embrace do we seek, kiss me one last time!

A True Life Story

The frail wrinkled hand reached for the remote. Overhead the rickety ceiling fan swept the dense, humid air as it futilely attempted to comfort Rajaram.

The black and white television set had long since given up the ghost and mostly displayed faint, grainy images accompanied by barely discernible sounds.

Rajaram however attributed the low quality of his television viewing experience to his failing vision and hearing.

He lethargically browsed through the few free channels that streamed through his dish antenna and found yet another serial which had a storyline and characters similar to the five others he had already seen since the morning.

His morning had been just like the ninety five mornings he had spent in his personal room at the nursing centre. Ninety six mornings before that day however had been anything but routine.

He had had a restless and lonely night. Not exactly lonely though, for had he been just lonely, it would have been unremarkable given that he had no family. On that night, a dull pain in his chest kept him company.

Saying that he had no family would also be slightly inaccurate. No, he had an ex-wife and two children somewhere in the vast Indian sub-continent. However, ever since he had severed ties with his wife, he had become so much like the floating jetsam of a wrecked ship, floating all by himself in the ocean called life.

His two sisters had tried to mend his marriage, only to face the egotistical wrath of Rajaram.

The television set continued to weakly beam an episode of a serial that Rajaram had been a regular watcher of for the past three years. He had felt an instant connection with the protagonist's husband. The story had begun in much the same way as his life had.

The “husband” had been an IAS officer, just like Rajaram had been one. The “husband's” family too had arranged his marriage with a well educated woman who was a General Physician.

Rajaram had been amused by the similarities between his own life and that of the “husband” in the serial.

The “husband” in the serial too was an egotist and a male chauvinist. He too had believed that the right place for a woman was to be by her husband's side. Much like the “husband”, Rajaram had been irked by the fact that Susila, his wife, was a successful private medical practitioner who made much more than what his paltry “government salary” amounted to. This had led to a great deal of tension and ultimately, the protagonist left her husband's home and went elsewhere with her children.

However, this was where the similarities ended. In the serial, the “husband” realized the error of his ways and after suffering many privations of the soul and mind (which was very melodramatically portrayed by the director) he re-established contact with his wife and attempted to get back together.

Rajaram's life had however been very different. A few months after Susila had left him, his sisters had come to him with the news that she had moved to Bombay and had become the director of a prestigious medical facility.

With demented eyes, he had thrown his sisters out of his bungalow when one of them had mentioned that Susila had become immensely wealthy.

A few years after having alienated himself from his siblings, he had been discharged dishonourably from the Civil Services after a popular newspaper had exposed his “under the table” deals with many industrialists.

Rajaram felt cheated. After all, he had only been trying to right a wrong, how dare a woman earn more than her husband? Life had continued its downward spiral as Rajaram drowned his frustrations in alcohol and cigarettes. Not even his ill gotten wealth could support him as he frittered it away on booze, drugs and random sluts who he would pick off the streets.

The image in the television set flickered and became grainier than before as the final episode of the serial came to an end. It was followed by an interview of the director.

As previously stated, ninety six mornings before that day, Rajaram awoke to a lovely spring day with an ear piercing scream as the dull pain in his chest had spiked in intensity.

The ambulance ride and the three days in the ICU had been a blur. Three days later, the doctor had come up to him and told him that his death was imminent and that all that medicine could do for him had already been attempted. They had helped him find the 24x7 nursing facility where they had promised to manage his pain and make death as comfortable as possible.

The last of his savings in his Swiss Bank account had had to be withdrawn to pay for the enormous fee of the nursing centre.

The interview with the director seemed to be dragging on, so Rajaram reached for the remote but stopped in his tracks when he heard the director say that the story had been based on a true life story. He went on to reveal that he had been a ten year old when his parents had broken up and his mother had never once spoken about his father after she had moved away with the children. He went on to say that his mother had died three years ago when his serial had gone on air. Towards the end of the interview, he pleaded with tear filled eyes for any information regarding Rajaram, his father.

The fan continued to sweep the dense, humid air downwards towards a Rajaram wearing a shocked expression on his face, his hands limp on the remote as he painlessly suffered his final myocardial infraction.

Guest Post- What's Your Problem?

Hello, what follows was written by my brother- Arjun. He promised to give me a short story, but ended up giving me this. But I shall still pester him until he gives me a short story...

At a time when the whole world is reeling under the combined effect of climate change, recession, starvation, malnutrition and terrorism, it seems quite amusing that so many people find the time to make mountains out of seemingly non-existent mole hills.

Just the other day, a front page article in a supplementary newspaper waxed on endlessly about the commercialization of the ongoing IPL. The author seemed to have a big problem with the use of certain phrases, like “DLF Maximum” and “a CITI moment of success”, by the commentators; this, while the little boy collecting newspapers from homes, or his friend who cleans the tables at restaurants, seem to have escaped the authors hawk-like vision. Of course, child labour is boring and passé.

When the largest democracy in the world wakes up to vote, can controversy be far behind? The dirty face of politics obviously left an impression on the “Aam Admi” in the run up to the elections, and he felt duty-bound to put pen to paper. Just a day or two before Gujarat went to the polls, the “Letters To The Editor” section of a popular newspaper was flooded with the words of anxious citizens of the nation baying for the blood of one Mr. Modi. He was accused of being a criminal and the mastermind of a genocide. They went on to denounce Mr. Modi’s participation in the elections and demanded his immediate withdrawal from the race. So much for “innocent until proven guilty”. Another section of the Indian Public seemed to have a problem with Sonia Gandhi, arguably the most powerful woman in India, being of Italian birth. In the process, unfortunately, the big issues of farmer suicides, low voter turnout in many constituencies including the National Capital, poverty, heat waves, power cuts and crop failures don’t seem to be on the agenda.

I guess it is human nature to find the tiniest of flaws in any given situation. Consider this example. Nowadays, it seems to be the ‘in thing’ to hate politicians. If one is a politician, then one is written off as an overweight, under-educated and corrupt individual. We must learn to appreciate before we deliver our criticism. The entire nation runs on the will power of these very same politicians. We are ready to jump down their throats at the slightest hint of a mistake, yet, how many of us thank them when a new power plant is installed, or a stretch of road is repaired. Forget politicians. How many of us thank the auto-driver as we alight from his vehicle?

In spring 2008, the world was stunned by the Josef Fritzl case. Leading news channels all over the world broadcast the story. Recently, a case of similar nature, involving a man, his daughter, his wife and a ‘tantric’, was unraveled in Namma Bengalooru, but the story disappeared after just a short article in a newspaper.


Each day, thousands of animals face a gruesome death in China as they are skinned alive for their fur, and all we worry about is how poorly India was portrayed in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. However much we may dislike it, majority of Indians live below the poverty line. India does have the largest and the most number of slums. Instead of whining, how many of us actually tried to change that statistic? How many of us pocket a chocolate wrapper instead of littering the road?
It’s time we woke up and asked ourselves what our problem really is.

Arranged Marriages

I am going to state at the very outset that I am against the very concept of arranged marriages as it is practised in India. So, yes, this little essay is going to be heavily biased, but what the heck, this is my blog after all and I should be allowed to say what I truly feel. The only problem is that my folks back at home are eventually going to read this, and let me tell you, you cannot find a more orthodox and conservative tamil brahmin family anywhere else.

Firstly, I do not get the whole idea of the caste system. Shockingly, our IT boom did not help us lose our pretentious divisions, it led to the creation of matrimonial websites which shamelessly and openly flaunt the adverts placed by many desperate people out there.

It disgusts me when I see one of these typical adverts which usually run like this: "Software engineer, IIT grad, working with MNC, looking for tall, fair, housewife of such and such caste and such and such gotra"

Many proponents of the arranged marriages cite the extremely low divorce rate in India, which is at present 1.1% and compare this with the much higher divorce rate in USA, which is 48%. Simply put, this argument is bull-crap! The divorce rate is not high in India because our society still frowns upon those who choose to leave an unhappy marriage. Partners in a malfunctioning marriage are usually expected to grit their teeth and hang in there no matter what.

It doesn't matter if their mental health keeps taking a beating every single day that they spend with each other forcibly, it doesn't matter that their psyche takes a beating when they are forced to sleep on separate beds because they cannot stand the sight of each other, it doesn't matter if their children face abuse and mental trauma from all the bitching and fighting everyday, because what really matters is family reputation and honour isn't it?

Women in the USA are not like the women in India who have been and are being oppressed. A woman here is usually perceived as nothing more than a house-maker and as a baby producing machine. As my biology teacher put it, the reason behind India's failure at population control is nothing more than "lack of recreation". Women are even today traded like livestock, the only difference is that people pay the seller for the livestock; in the case of women, the seller pays the husband a huge dowry to take away his daughter! Even educated women quietly consent to marriages wherein they are forced to play second fiddle, where they are forbidden from studying further or from working.

It is the double edged sword of lack of women empowerment and the ferocious, feral need for societal approval that has contributed towards India's low divorce rates.

Now I am not saying that arranged marriages go hand in glove with dowries or with the trend of subjugation of women. I do concede that many open minded people today are not averse to the idea of an empowered woman. Many have awoken and said no to dowries. But the fact remains that arranged marriages still do function on the principle of marrying within your own community.

We are a nation of bigots who make a loud hue and cry when a pretty face receives racist comments on some game show on UK's cable TV, go figure!

The Giant's Fall

The blank white noise of terror gripped at the pit of the giant’s belly. For years had he terrorized the denizens of nearby villages, for years had he exploited his natural gift of greater size and stature to subjugate the peasants. For years had he fed off the plates of the tillers of the soil and grown old and fat, his family had grown in size and he had begotten limbless offspring, for they had adapted to a life of ease and lack of need to exercise one’s limbs to eke out a living.

With time, his sight failed, his muscles weakened, his nimble limbs grew limp. The villages at the extremity of his realm withdrew from his liege-ship. Gradually his radius of influence shrunk and the day came when it shriveled to nothing. The wronged peasants drew up their cudgels and the frenzied mob frothed towards the cave of the fallen subjugator.

Ebullient blood cascaded out the hillside, the giant putting up a last stand, a clamorous battle ensued. In a last bid, the giant, with pulsating, raging veins beat back the rebels, and then, exhausted, he fell like a huge oak tree being felled.

One fat green eyed peasant settled the others. With soothing oily words, he convinced them that he would be a good replacement for the giant. The farmers picked him up on their shoulders and declared him their new liege-lord. The oldest, frailest among them remembered the moment many decades ago when the fallen giant started out in much the same way as the scene that was playing out now.

With a frantic palpitating heart, he shouted out a warning, “Fools! Don’t you see, he is the same as your fallen foe lying before you.

The bearers smiled, “Fret not old one, young be we, but not foolish!” They hurried out of the cave and quickly ascended to the summit of the mount, and with one powerful heave, they ejected their green eyed brother over the edge.

Happy Wedding Day Ma and Pa!


The waves rolled gently into the shore,

the sun played on the sand,

the light drizzle adorned the sky with a rainbow.

The two children played without a care

Ma and Pa stood by ever watchful

looking out for the storm and lightning



Never a moment's rest did they seek

Forever watchful they remained

Their bond of marriage, a golden hammock

upon which the children romped and matured

A home did they build with bricks of love

mortared with happiness and peace.



A few summers before, on this very day

the foundation had been laid

Do you see the stars celebrate?

Yonder, the birds sing and the very Earth

brims with joyous bounty to mark the day

My verses though weak flow from my heart

Please do accept my best wishes and love

The Queer

To the peaks, cried the voice. In a hurry, they swarmed up the slopes. The queer ran ahead, with his shiny white butt exposed to the world.
Everyone has a red butt, like a baboon, how dare he practice witchcraft of an unnatural nature to morph the pigmentation of his butt to white?

In a frenzy they bore the torches with flames flaring high, with a pungent odour of hatred did their breath flume out of their flared nostrils. Chanting their leader's limericks, they proceeded with self righteous zeal, their quarry with a white shiny butt remaining but a fraction of a yard ahead. To the summit did force the mad crowd, the white butted queer looks over the edge to find a sheer drop. Turning around, he faces the frothing mob. In his desperation, he looks upwards to find clouds with leering gazes towards his shiny white butt.

The rioting mob proceeded forth with a united blood-thirst and a loud piercing cry which awoke a pensive monk from his contemplation of the infinite. He appeared with a trail of vapour before the rabid rioters, his calm, electrifying gaze stopped them in their tracks. Through his aura of blue electric arcs, the queer could be seen with a dumbstruck expression on his brow.

What be this soul's misdeed that merits such repercussions from society queried the ascetic suspended before the mob.
He holds the magical skills of sinister potential, he is capable of alchemy which turns our proud race's red butts into disgraceful shiny white butts.

I am capable of even greater alchemy you insane fools. Of powerful energy be I possessed, now shall I smote you all with some of my purifying piety. As fools did you summit this mount, now I shall make you turn tail as enlightened, clearer minds.

The queer returned home a normal person that night and thanked the great soul who came to his timely rescue. White or red mattered not any more, peace was restored until another issue were to surface.

High Times-2

“Who runs the show?” asked the man in green, with fledgling limbs. In reply, he hears noise of a strange tongue, of Betelgeuse and Irish it was a mix.

Of greater wisdom the man grew, black and white suits him fine. “Who is bad and who is good?” asked the man in black and white. In reply he hears laughter of cackling disdain. “Black I know not of young one, and neither be I acquainted with White. All I see is a twilight grey, of no man's land be I.”

Upward did rise the man on the scale of life. Of grey whiskers and greyer attire be he now. “What is my purpose?” asked the man in grey, “where does my twisted path lead?”
“Grey be the no man's land where a man's stuff be not made of purpose, of unclear knowledge be he of the grey hue. All I see is the golden path of sacrifice and asceticism.” said the hermit in reply.

Further toward the zenith did rise the man of golden heart and ascetic exterior. Of virtue be now his stuff made, of twisted paths he cares not, with a known but still unknown destination in mind, seeks he the bliss of unknown quality. “Why is everything?” asks the man of gold.
“That be not the question that us the hue-less seek, of lesser words be our question framed.”

Up or down matters not any more, suffice to say, the man progressed, of hue-less quality be his interior and exterior. Of austerity be now his path made, with hurdles of the mind preceding foremost. “What?” asked the man of colourless identity.
“Be you now close to what thou seek”, said the voice of nothing and everything, of the infinitesimal and the infinite.

Of un-followable path did the non-identity take, of everything and nothing did the non-identity learn... of bliss and violence.... of the infinite and the infinitesimal....

High Times-1

A deep dark recess juts right through a huge boulder. As I enter into this, a huge lizard which looks more like a dragon is seen approaching at a tremendous pace with its tail whipping about and tongues of flame licking about its mouth.

I dance around the monster's mouth, stepping in and out of range, when all of a sudden, my vision projects forwards, almost as if my eyes have been moved forward through a long tunnel, straight into the throat of the monster, where I see the source of the flame. An orb of fire much like the sun remains suspended near the base of the throat of the lizard. The orb had a fiery female form dancing at the very core. The lizard reminded me of the frustrating admin of our university, the desires and distractions along my path to gaining the orb of knowledge. The lizard tried its best to close its jaws lined with the sharp and menacing teeth on me.

With a lot of luck, I manage to somehow grab the orb and free her from the grip of the dragon whose jaws prevented her from spreading her light to the whole world. With the orb I race out of the recess which was now flooded in dazzling light. As I exit the crack, I find myself in a thorny valley with green slopes populated with menacing gorillas and other lizards. Hundreds of these creatures surround me as I try to escape with the orb which has now changed form and has taken the shape of a girl with flames dancing around her.

As the creatures closed in on me, the situation started to look dire. However, when I seek a way out of my predicament by consulting the fiery female form besides me, I immediately gain reassurance and my anxiety was replaced by a new found determination.

The flames danced all around me and a fiery circle started expanding from the very centre, repelling all the creatures as it advanced outwards. The surrounding darkness was gradually consumed by the light from the centre of the ever expanding circle. A fiery and flaming tower of manic proportions jets vertically upwards into the sky and the light starts to engulf the entire planet. Many centres of darkness resisted the light, a battle ensued with sometimes the darkness prevailing over the light and sometimes, the other way around. Gradually, the light managed to engulf the entire planet, that was when my vision zoomed outwards at an unimaginable speed and soon I could see entire galaxies going through the same process of the alternating between light and darkness. Whenever an entire galaxy became engulfed with light, a few streaks of light would escape from the galaxy and disappear out of the universe, going to some place which I was unable to imagine.

Whenever an entire galaxy would be lit up completely, there would be a short period during which a few streaks of light would escape out of the known universe. After some time though, small parts of the lit area would start growing dark, cracks would appear, and gradually there would be more and more areas of darkness, and soon, the entire galaxy would be plunged into darkness. This process would go on alternating...

The only thing that I could conclude was that true freedom would be obtained only when we decide to search for that something which we truly require... for me that something is knowledge. In this age of instant gratification seekers, it has become something of a rarity to witness anyone thinking deeper about the realities of life and the universe. A few minutes of self contemplation can go a long way to help a person gain a perspective on their lives.