Mjkgupta

Game of Theories app

2019-03-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

I recently found out about a new app in google play store that provides you with all the different kinds of theories in just one place. You can like the particular theory and vote for it. There are constant updates about the new theories and its well up-to-date.

If you have an android phone then download the app using the following link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gadduapps.thetheroyapp.got

Give it a shot and please leave a review.

Goodbye, nice to know you !

2016-04-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

“When you win nothing hurts”, Frank you always said this. But, you can’t win all the time can you? I will keep it simple and short, as I know that there would be only a handful people who will read this.

Ever since I was ushered in this world, I was told about how I should behave towards society and people. The sheer embarrassment and delusion that people surround themselves in order to appease others makes me choke on my own vomit. The fake smile, the show of money, the status, fancy cars, watches, gadgets and things, these things that surround people all the time. I renounce this dogma. I am sick of it. Do this at this time, do that at another time. Religion, government and all the people have told me to do things as they wanted. I have had enough of this and now I need to take control of the things that I want to do.

Frank, I will be honest with you. You have given me all the luxuries that any woman could ever dream of, but in the event of giving me things to live, you forgot to give me a life. A life, where you and I could be together when we want, talk to each other face to face, holding hands and not through skype. I want to see you in the morning when I wake up in the morning not the walls of this huge and lonely house. Although, I am legally married to you, but work has been your life. I have failed in everything that I have done. I have neglected my life so much that I can barely think of any positives about it. I can’t fake it anymore now. Death comes only once, but I have died day in and day out. Every hour that I have spent in this house alone, makes me die, and every time I try is when every time I die.

When I think about the aims and desires that I had as a child, I can’t help myself but sulk. Deep down there is a great amount of regret that is burning my heart each moment of every hour that I live here. When and where will I meet my fate? Confined in these giant walls where there is nothing that my mind can perceive of life. The more I look outside, the more I feel my life starting to disappear. But, it all ends today.

Take care of Maggi. She will not miss me, as she loves the things that you have given her more than me. There is nothing more to write, nothing more to give. Just my life to take and leave this world.

Goodbye.

What if i die?

2015-11-19T10:02:00.001-08:00

What if I die? I hope this question goes unanswered. The horns were honking, as I lay flat on my bed watching the monotonous rotation of the fan on my ceiling. Is my life the same, going through the same rough patch all the time? The only difference being that I could change my motion, I could put a full stop to my existence. I closed my eyes to search for answers that could put a stop to this misery I was going through. Who has abandoned me? Oh God! Is it my friends or my family- no it can’t be my family they love me too much. I have only let the world, magnify my agony. Or are you the one who has abandoned me, just because I am a dot in this crap hole of existence, we call Life.

Life to me has been great, a wonderful family to begin with, surrounded by good company of my friends and my well wishers. I graduated from one of the premier institutes of my state. I am an engineer, a software engineer. I was placed in a company which is renowned for making operating systems for any computer in this world. That is their credit and its worth mentioning. I wanted to go for higher studies preferably for a M.B.A.

I wanted to do it from abroad so that I get a good job and the competition will be a lot less as compared to what it is in India. So I filled up forms for the exam and it was due in September. I also wanted to buy a flat as a gift to my parents before I leave. Everything was set; my girlfriend still wanted to continue with our relationship crossing borders, I don’t blame her for that, I love her too, but I didn’t want to force her for the sake of my greed. We promised to stay in contact, come what may. She told me to keep my cool and don’t worry about anything. My parents liked her too; she is very caring and humble. She always takes good care of my parents considering she is not from our caste. The real truth was that she loved me more than I did to her. I will miss her greatly because once she is far, my life would be hollow without her, but my decision was final.

I cleared my exam and I got a good scholarship for my further studies. I booked my flight tickets and it was ten days away from this date.

13th November: I was a little nervous considering this would be my first time in many years that I will be leaving my family and my girlfriend - Simran. I had to do my routine work of getting vegetables from the store nearby. I also needed to do a bit of shopping for Simran and possibly I could gift her something valuable. It was already half past four, so it was getting late and I asked Simran to be quick because there was a probability for heavy showers.

We got on to my car and the store was not too far from my home, but I had planned differently that day- I wanted to propose Simran for marriage. That would be a great surprise for her. I wanted to take her to the loneliest place in the city so that we could be happy in our solitude before we drift apart. I had already bought her a diamond ring- a woman’s best friend. We were driving and talking at the same point regarding general things, and every now and then she warned me not to have any affair. I always regarded myself as a one woman man. I could never cheat on her; she was the most precious being after my parents in this world. It started getting murky and driving was difficult, I was just a starter as far as my driving was concerned. I did the driving only when I felt happy and rest of the times it was Simran. She was a fantastic driver, very cool and composed. I was a little rash on the turns.

Simran asked me a question “Do you have to go?”

I replied “yes”.

She turned her face; I knew this was the time; I tried to get the ring out of my pocket and while doing so I didn’t see a little girl running on the street, to add to it there was a sharp turn ahead. I tried to control but my driving was not pro enough, I could only manage to turn the steering wheel right in order to save a valuable life. In that event I rammed my car onto a still truck loaded with rods. The next moment I was in comatose, when I saw Simran’s body ruptured by those rods.

She was spot dead. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t have my seat belt fasten adding to the rash driving I was doing I hurt my head but I was unlucky to survive the rods. Unlucky I was, because I deserved those iron bars through my guts. I survived, but that left me shattered my Love was dead and the left part of my body was permanently disabled. I was semi paralyzed- half in the body and half which controls it- the almighty brain. The next few months were equally worse I had never imagined this in any of the wildest dreams that I had pictured.

Presently 6th July: I remembered a quote, I don’t know who quoted it but it hardly matters-“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst”. Now all this was making sense to me but what am I to do. I lost the opportunity to go abroad, I was paralyzed and the worst of all I lost Simran. I started to ponder if suicide was the only option as I lay discomfort ably on the couch.

I thought about it again and again. I was not getting a clear vision but as I was about to make up my mind to finish things off as the great guitarist and singer Kurt Cobain had said “It’s better to burn out than to fade away”. I saw a man on TV he was fully paralyzed at the age of six. He was still alive and now he was seventy five, he had done all this by the help of yoga. He was not perfect, he still had clear indications that he had suffered from a major accident, but the thing that mattered was that he was living a life. I gave it a second thought when my mother approached me and said “beta, you know, when you were about a year old, you hardly walked “she added “Son it’s the same here the only difference is that, you learnt how to use your body in the next few years, it didn’t matter then why does it matter to you now” she paused to continue again “You were still a kid for us and you still are.” She left me with a book of questions……… I had only one question to answer –What if I die, what will I get?

Feminist and Misogynist.

2015-08-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

“Why are you a misogynist?”

“What? I am not a misogynist, why would you say that?” I replied, amazed by the sudden accusation made towards me.

“I think you are an anti-woman.” She continued to put her thoughts forward.

“I am not against women, I treat them the same way I treat men. Both are equal in my understanding, well almost equal.”

“That is not how you should treat a girl. Girls think very different from how boys think!”

“I will agree on that part, we are very different”, I smirked making a sarcastic remark, hoping she wouldn’t get it, and she didn’t disappoint me.

“I have seen you making remarks about girls, saying that they behave in strange ways. You should respect women. We have tolerated for a very long time, and now we should be treated equal.”

I knew that I had sparked a fire in the conversation.

“To be honest, girls do not use their brains when they have to, they are always living in a fantasy world of some sort. I say to you and all the others, come back to earth and face the reality!”

If I could portray an emoji for her reaction it has to be the one with the red face. She continued not to back down.

“You are constantly telling that women should be more responsible, but then there are things that we cannot do, like being physical and lifting heavy weights, that is a man’s job. I can accept that, but we should stop having words like chairman, mankind, and spokesman. Instead, we should be using words like chairperson, humankind and spokesperson.”

“Oh please, suddenly you are against words, what kind of sick idea is that. See, I told you, where you need to apply brain, you don’t. You are worried about changing words.” I remarked with a good comeback, hoping that she will back down. But, she didn’t.

“Again the same topic, you are not treating women with respect. That is not how you should talk to a girl. Your tone is rude to me, and its hurting.”

There is no comeback from this. Spinning around the same topic all the time. I stood up to leave but I -remarked one last time – “If you want respect, you need to earn it. Don’t demand it. You can continue to live in your fantasy world while I have to go to office.”

“What do you want for dinner today?” she asked with genuine concern.

“Some Italian would be great. Bye, and I love you”

“Love you too.”

Inspired by George Carlin's stand up comedy.

Young Guns

2015-08-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

Back in 1983, when Sujit Banerjee and his ally Jatin Dasgupta fled Calcutta after a robbery, they carried with them two bonduks (locally made guns) and twenty thousand rupees. Bonduk is called tamancha in Uttar Pradesh and desi- kata (sometimes just katta) in Bihar. A bonduk is a small hand gun which is indigenously made in parts of India. It comes in handy and is cheaper than the foreign made guns, something that the killers and robbers of the country favored before the nineties. These guns were made by gun smiths and were sold only if their identity was kept in the dark. During the British colonialism, when the rebels fought against the British raj, they obviously didn’t import guns from outside. There were special gun smiths that learned the craft of developing a locally made gun and supplied it to the rebels. As India is a country where occupation is heredity, this art is still in practice and is kept under the eye of the government. Some also claim that the police knows about it, but they never say a word, because they are fed, under the table.

Sujit was a school dropout and Jatin dropped out from the famous Hindu college of Calcutta, which is now known as the Presidency University. Both knew each other for a long time, since they lived in the same hostel- the Bakers hostel in Taltala. Not only did they share the room, but also the poverty stricken nights without food. There were nights when they would satisfy their cravings with puffed rice and green chilies. On some nights, neither of those was available. The planning of the robbery was simple, hold a gun to the face of a businessman and take his money from his house. The motivation was obvious- money. The idea of robbing someone is difficult to execute, it is entirely on a different level of danger, but the motive and the most important thing in their mind was not to get caught. The execution was next to perfect and they managed to run away with twenty thousand cash. The police were informed and the search was on. But, both were not found, because they didn’t stay in Calcutta, they were on their way to Siliguri and from there to Nepal.

To dodge the police, they changed their modes of transportation, sometimes they travelled by train and sometimes by bus. Sometimes they walked for many kilometers, just to make sure they didn’t leave any traces behind. Jatin knew someone in Nepal who could help them settle there with the recently acquired cash. They first stopped in Asansol, then Malda, then travelled for 3 days to reach Kishangunj and finally they had to reach Siliguri. Between Kishanganj and Siliguri, they made a stop at Bagdogra- ten kilometers away from Siliguri.

Back in the days, Bagdogra was a notorious place and there was a lot of illegal smuggling that went on via the border of Nepal. Both of them decide to halt for few hours and then continue their journey hence. The border through Panitanki was not heavily guarded and even the police didn’t care about it. But, they did indulge themselves in random searches. If your luck ran out, they could seize the money and you end up in prison, Chances of that happening was one in a hundred. Both Sujit and Jatin were aware of the possible danger, but they were prepared to take the risk.

They made a stop near Bihar more at a local bar called the Mohini bar. Mohini bar was located at a deserted place, where few buildings were constructed. Unaware of the fact that this bar was owned by a rich landlord, it was a haven for thugs and hooligans. There was a sign board that read- “Children are not allowed”.

“Why are children not allowed?” asked Jatin trying to think that there was after all some sanctity in people alive.

“So that they don’t learn drinking and smoking” Sujit replied with some disgust and dragged Jatin in.

Most people who came to the bar were laborers and they didn’t have much cash on them. But, there was an illegal betting room, where some of the well to do people gambled during the day. During the day it is safe, as the police are busy with their activities and once in a blue moon, the raid is performed at night. Betting during the day was highly classified activity and only a few handful of people were allowed to enter the private room. The bets went on for hours without disturbance from people. Only alcohol was permitted inside through a waiter called Subhojit. Subhojit was twelve years old and was absolutely harmless, hence the selection. Nobody actually knew how high were the stakes but legend has it that few thousands were on offer.

Sujit walked in and scanned the place. He didn’t see many people, owing to the time of the day. Jatin followed a second later. There were seven tables with seating for four at each one of them. If the crowd was large, the tables were joined manually. The bartender was a burly man of late thirties, with less hair on his head and more on his face. He had a scar across his forehead, from an earlier confrontation of a physical battle. He wore ragged clothes and gave the impression of running the place smoothly without much money on offer. He gave a ghastly look, at the new customers and assigned them a table from the corner of the eye. A man of few words, Pradeep the bartender summoned Subhojit to service the new guests.

“What do you want sir? Ki lagbe?”

“What do you have?” said Sujit.

“Do you want Indian or foreign?”

“How much for foreign, and what is the pri..?” questioned Sujit to know his options, when he was interrupted by Jatin.

“Foreign kano? (Why foreign liquor) Manush aamader shondeho korbe! (People would suspect us)”, with the hinge of discomfort Jatin tried to stop Sujit.

“Chaap nis na bada! Kichu hobe na, accha foreign nibo na”, Sujit in turn consoled Jatin to relax and that nothing would happen and that he wouldn’t order foreign liquor.

Jatin relaxed for a while. Sujit in the meantime placed the order for a bottle of Indian liquor. To complement the alcohol, he also ordered for some snacks in the form of ‘bhuja’, which is referred to as Bombay mix in Great Britain.

The order was served in a few minutes and both of them indulged themselves into a private conversation regarding future plans.

“Listen, we will leave this place here and go to Panitanki, from there we go to Kakarbitta and from there to Kathmandu. Three days to do so, after that we need to plan together and stay focused.” Sujit reiterated the plan just to keep the conversation going for Pradeep not to be skeptical.

“Accha ekta kotha, tell me a thing, is ten thousand enough for one person? What if we need more money to send home? What if we run out of options?” Jatin tightened his brows with a worried look on his face.

“Tor mane ki? (What are you implying?)”

“What if this money is not enough? What do we do then? Should we steal again, but we can’t take this gun to Nepal.”

“Thik bolchis, you are right, but do you have a plan?”

“We need extra money, just in case we need to bribe the police or for dire circumstances.” There was a silence and Jatin spoke again “What if we loot this place? It’s kind of deserted here, few people, no police nearby and these people hold in a lot of cash within their drawers, my gut feeling is kicking in. If we show them the gun we can get the money without bloodshed.” Before Jatin could finish Sujit interrupted.

“Bahire dhore nibe, they would catch us outside. We can’t run till Nepal like this, you are crazy.”

“No I am not, I saw a motorcycle outside and I saw the waiter deliver the keys to the bartender, we can run away on the motorcycle and ditch it somewhere after 10-15 kilometers. We will go to Panitanki after that. Nobody knows us and they wouldn’t even suspect us.”

“This sounds too good to be easy, let’s be satisfied with what we have. If you need money you can take some from me.” Sujit tried to shun the devilish idea that Jatin was having.

“Okay, let me observe for few more minutes and then I will tell you to abandon or to execute. There are currently two people here. One waiter and one bartender, which makes it four, excluding us.

These are laborers and they will comply when a gun is at their face. The waiter is a child he will not do anything. This leaves us with the bartender, we are two and he is single. He is outnumbered and he will be unarmed, at least I hope so. He will not take a chance with his life. There is nobody outside. It’s hot and except the petrol pump there is nothing that could house people. I say let us do it.” Jatin thought about this in haste, but he was confident that he was not wrong.

A robbery here would be much easier than the one they had pulled out five days back. The bartender would naturally fear for his life and he is surely not the owner, so he would give the money.

“Oh sob thik aache, kintu taka kato pabo?” Sujit counter questioned Jatin about the quantity of cash they could loot. He continued “Maximum, he will have five hundred nothing more than that. Let’s not risk everything for such a petty amount.”

“True. Let me find out if he has more cash. If he doesn’t we pay the bill and go out. Else we wait.”

“Ja khushi kor (do as it pleases)” replied Sujit and finished his drink.

After eight focused minutes on the bartender and the waiter and some more drinks Jatin was sure that he wanted to rob this place. There was an instance when the waiter came up to the bartender and asked him something. The bartender gave him something wrapped in a cloth. Jatin was sure that it was the earnings of a few days and it could be more than five thousand. The bar was a single floor building so there had to be a safe somewhere inside. Possibly there could be more than that meets the eye. Jatin was absolutely sure that he wanted to execute the plan.

“Let us do it. I have done all my research and my plan is full proof.”

“Pagla na ki? Are you crazy?”

Sujit received a stern look “No I am not crazy, I am sure about the cash this place has and we are going to rob it in the next minutes.”

Sujit looked at Jatin to read his face, he was at the peak of his concentration and he was not at all joking. Sujit had no option, he had to carry out the task.

“Thik aache bada, but if I die, you will pay my share to my family in Bankura.”

“Sure” replied Jatin, he stood up and walked to the bartender.

“Dada, kato hoyeche bill? (How much is the bill).”

The bartender ran a quick check of his notepad and replied “eighteen” only to look at a gun that was pointing at his nose.

There was silence and Sujit, locked the doors of the bar, told all the customers to remain seated and called the waiter.

“Chotu, ja taka niye aai. Get the cash in this bag.” The waiter stopped and looked at the bartender for instructions. The bartender didn’t move. Nobody else did.

Jatin holding the gun even firm asked the bartender to give him the cash “give me the cash and you can live, do something silly and I will shoot you. Do not speak a word, just do what I say. Send the waiter to get the cash you sent inside and put the rest in this bag.”

The bartender didn’t blink an eye, he stood firm and said “No, I will not give you what is sent inside, we hardly have a hundred rupees here in the counter, you can take that and leave the boy.”

Jatin was unabashed “Give me what you have here and tell the boy to get the rest of the cash from inside.”

Bartender was stern again and replied “the child will not go inside, I can give you the money that I have here.”

Jatin asked him to fill the bag “Thik aache.” After receiving a thrifty amount, Jatin was not satisfied, he couldn’t agree that his planning was wrong and he was sure that there was more money. He told Sujit to take a look inside with the boy while he grabbed the motorcycle keys.

Two seconds later, there was gun fire in the inner room. There was a series of bullets that were fired and Sujit didn’t move. He fixed a gaze at the door and was sure that anybody walking outside that door would be shot. There were few more shots within the next seconds and then the sound subsided.

Nobody walked out from the door. Baffled about the recent events, Jatin asked for explanation to the bartender “What happened?”

The bartender tried to pull out his gun and point at Jatin. But, Jatin was quick and shot him dead with the first bullet. That was the first bullet he had ever fired. He saw the blood spill on the wall behind and his face was also covered in spots of red. One of the laborers tried to run, but he was shot was Sujit. There remained only one laborer, the waiter and unknown amount of people inside the room.

Sujit was scared so he ordered the last laborer to take a look inside the room. He was told at gunpoint so he couldn’t refuse. The laborer took slow measured steps. Turning around after each step and almost asking to let him go. He reached the door after a total of ten steps. He opened the door and almost in the next second he too was shot dead.

Jatin was sure that there was cash in there and he didn’t want to give up on his plan, but he had less time. So he decided to go in and shoot anybody who was in sight. He started to walk towards the room. Sujit wouldn’t approve “are you crazy, there is no way you are going in there.”

They had to know if there was an imminent danger in that room. Both of them looked at chotu Subhojit and asked him about the shooting. He was scared and he didn’t reply for a minute.

“Inside, there are four gamblers, I don’t know how many are alive or dead. They have a lot of money, please don’t kill me, let me go” said Subhojit and pleaded for mercy.

Sujit worried for his life said “Let’s get out of here, this doesn’t seem to be a good idea. There is money there, but risking our lives would be nonsensical.”

Jatin was unabashed “No, I am not leaving without the cash that is inside. Chotu, go in and check if there is anyone alive?”

Scared for his life, Subhojit, took baby steps and said “Maalik, aami aaschi (master, I am coming in).” While following him closely were Jatin and Sujit. Both of them clasped the gun in front of their eye and were ready like a sniper. Slow measured steps brought them close to the door. They ordered Subhojit to open the door.

Subhojit, opened the door, which creaked giving shrill noise. Inside, the room was a bloodbath, there lay four men, with bodies punctured by bullets. There was approximately fifteen thousand cash on the table. After observing that all the people were dead, both Jatin and Sujit collected the cash and headed out. They had to dart for the bus to Panitanki, when they heard the sobbing of the waiter.

He had seen such a horrific incident and he was the only witness that was left behind. Jatin wanted to run away, but Sujit felt for the child. He grabbed a couple thousand rupees and told the child to run away and lead another life. He was twelve and he could start anew. The money meant nothing for the time being, as the trauma was more painful. But, they had to leave. Subhojit’s family would take care of him and time would heal everything. They told him not to cry and to take the money to his family and run away from here. Time was less and they had to move on. Sujit said a soulful bye to the waiter, but he didn’t respond.

Both of them knew something was wrong, Sujit showed his emotions while Jatin hid it. When they opened the door for a new start with more than thirty thousand rupees. They saw a young girl standing outside.

“Tui ke? Who are you?” asked Jatin.

“Aami Debo. (I am Debo).”

“Why are you standing here?” asked Jatin again.

“My dad is drinking inside!” Silence, and then Jatin fell to his knees, clutching his gun and teary eyes.

Stupid people using social media.

2015-04-26T04:54:00.003-07:00

It is a sad day for the people of Nepal and parts of India, where thousands have lost their lives due to earthquakes. Many world heritage sites are demolished and infrastructure along with the people are in disarray. In this time we can only hope that people are safe and the ones who have lost their lives- may their soul rest in peace. I hope the families and the people of the affected parts have the strength to bear the pain of the trauma they are going through. Time will heal everything but scares always remain. Neighboring countries have extended their support and are helping the people of Nepal get through this difficult times. May peace be restored as soon as possible!

Now I have been following stories that are covering the social media. Some ass clowns are really dumb. They have updated their statuses as “Experienced the first earthquake.” I say to these people do you have a sense or have you sold that to the local garbage collector, because I can see how nobody would be interested in such kind of brains. Which sense makes you update shit like this and not feel for the people who have lost their lives? Is status updating so mandatory? Is getting like a part of your life? I know these kind of people who tend to take selfies and update it as “Earthquake selfies.” These are nimrods, who in paper have the necessary document to warranty that they are educated but lack it when it is most desired. Stop spreading garbage and think what you do. It may be fine with you but people who suffer will be hurt. You can get a 1000 likes from a friend but you can never get a friend from a 1000 likes.

I also see people saying God help us. Isn’t he the one who has done it? Isn’t he responsible for all the activities that happen in the world? He wanted people to die so came the earthquake. Why are you praying to him for help? It’s like asking the cigarette who has given you the cancer, to ease your pain. Here is a story I would like to share.

There was a person from the insurance company who was getting enormous amount of calls post such natural disaster. According to the company rules and regulation this was supposed to be an act of God. During such times the insurance company bears no debt to the insurant. After forceful and frequent calls, he dialed God.

“Hello”, he said.

“Yes, hello” replied God.

“May I speak to God?”

“Speaking.”

“Ahh!! Never expected you to answer.”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, yes, this natural disaster, is that you.”

“Yes, who else would it be?”

“Okay, just another small question, last week did you make the tree fall on my car? It was a black Mercedes near the hospital?”

“Date?” asked God.

“19^th April 26, 2015.”

“Hmm, no that wasn’t me.”

“Are you sure?” asked the man.

“Of course I am, that time I was busy giving AIDS and EBOLA to the children of Africa.”

The point is there is no God. If there is a God, I don’t believe in such kind of a supernatural power that kills children using natural disasters and diseases and leave out the terrorist to carry out their plan. There is no God. There never was and there never will be. Help people- that is the biggest currency. Give the faith that you are ready to help- that is the biggest assurance.

Story taken from the stand up by Ricky Gervais.

My Choice.

2015-04-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

So these people are at it again. One video has created massive outrage throughout the country and every keyboard warrior is out on the streets of the internet mocking, spreading hateful messages and ridiculing Deepika. They are making their voices heard and stamping their authority to say that this video is wrong in so many levels and dimensions. There was a news too where a man was found peeing in public and he was heard stating that that was his choice.

Freedom of speech is granted by the constitution, but you don’t go and abuse your father do you? Do you challenge the constitution of India and demand that you should have a right to abuse whoever you want? You don’t.

“It is my choice if I want to have sex outside of marriage”- this is the statement that has hauled every so called lunatic out of his shell and onto the streets. Men can’t take it if women start to rise and say things like this. In this country women are not equal to men, I agree to that. Women are not equal to men. They are far superior in the aspects of life.

It’s has always been about men in this world. The history, the evolution, the wars, the destruction, the guns, the murders, the drugs, the killing and the mayhem on this planet we call ‘Mother Earth’. Have you ever given it a thought as to why it is mother earth and not father earth? It’s plain and simple- had it been a male he would have destroyed himself long time back. It’s the patience of the women that is tested time and again and on multiple occasions. These male chauvinists who claim that women are being given too much liberty should go fuck themselves.

It’s always been about dicks to these men. The bigger dick will rule the world. USA bombing other countries, just to prove that they have bigger dicks. They tried it with Russia, but hey, Russians have big dicks too, so they started a cold war. Everywhere it has been these men who have created violence and destruction in the life of other humans. All the wars till date have been fought primarily by men. The evilest men that this earth has seen have been men, be it Hitler or Stalin. So why the sense of pride if I may ask? Why is there a bloated ego that you are a man and you have a right to do things? Well, for your information, you don’t.

Let’s come to the topic of women empowerment. Most of you would have never heard about Maggie Doyne. Look up in Wikipedia, you will know about her. She is an American citizen living in Nepal. She had opened an orphanage there to take care of the orphans who had no one to support them after the civil war. She started with the orphanage, now she has a school where there are around fifty students. She has a health clinic too. She helps women by teaching them the art of sewing. She teaches them to be independent and self-reliant. She teaches them to read and write in English. Together these women are learning the art of doing something useful that can not only help themselves but also their families. This is called empowerment. These women who would have otherwise not done anything are now learning ways of life.

Women empowerment is not a video by Vogue. Vogue magazine that portrays slim, well maintained female models showing their body, cannot be the source of empowerment. Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It does not refer to the flaunting of sexuality. It does not mean wearing a set of clothes, having sex with someone, returning home late. To be frank no one should be even awake at four in the morning let alone returning from somewhere.

The video is an effort to say that women have their choice in terms of sexuality and sex. It has nothing to do with empowerment and it has nothing to do with the people endorsing it. So to the men who think that a women cannot do what she pleases, well neither can you. So stop poking your dick in others matter. My point is that people are being made role models for things that they do not support and feel. Wrong people are being put on TV for wrong things, and we need to stop that. On the other hand being men, we need to say to our dicks- let the brain do all the thinking, you should rise for sex.

To all men, let women be empowered (see the meaning above).

To all women, empowering doesn’t mean you wear the same clothes as men and join the exact corporations that they join and ruin the lives of the others making money and going after materialistic items. Be different. Sexuality is not democracy. You can be more.

Deepika- do shampoo and moisturizer advertisements, don’t make a fool out of yourself coming on youtube and saying you support empowerment. Let’s face it. You don’t.

Maggie- you are the real hero.

Inspired by the words of George Carlin.

The easily excited men of India

2015-03-12T16:26:00.003-07:00

Recently on 4^th of March 2015, the official broadcast of the documentary called ‘India’s Daughter’ was blocked by the government of India, 4 days prior its release. The official release was supposed to be broadcasted on NDTV 24X7 on the 8^th of March, on international women’s day. However, due to the court orders BBC had little to no options, so they complied. The documentary was however channeled throughout the UK on BBC four and was soon uploaded on Youtube.com and within no time it went viral. On the 5^th of March the government of India ordered Youtube to block the documentary. Youtube complied as well.

“Do you want a working wife or a housewife”, I asked one of my close friend who was an engineer from a very reputed university of Andhra Pradesh.

“Housewife bhai, you should always marry a housewife. Working women will ruin the house.”

“Oh! How is that so?” I asked trying to dig his thoughts.

“If women start working, who will take care of the house, who will take care of children and who will teach them our customs and traditions.”

My friend was oozing with machismo and I didn’t want to hear from him any further. So I walked away from a pride filled engineer, bloating with male chauvinism. From the brief discussion that I had with him, I could only comprehend two things. First, women do everything from cleaning the house, cooking for the family, raising children, teaching them values and feeding them. Second, and most important, they bear the children.

I could also infer that all of the men’s activity can also be summed in two broad engagements- earning money and having sex, because obviously rest of the work is taken care of by the women folks.

Coming to the topic of sex, there was an interesting question asked by my biology teacher during the discussion of the chapter called reproduction.

“When is a frog’s birthday?” he asked trying to get an answer. None of us replied as we didn’t know the answer.

“It’s mostly during June and July, because they only reproduce during that time, but in the case of humans, it’s different, humans are always ready. That is the reason people share their birthdays from January to December.”

We all laughed at that time, but that simple example makes so much sense now. Men are always ready to have children, more importantly ready to have sex.

Every 20 minutes a female is raped in India. If that is not a shame for these so called macho hunk dudes, claiming to call themselves ‘MARD’, then I cannot fathom what is? They want a son as a child because a daughter will not take care of them in the future. A son will bring dowry whereas, a girl will siphon all the money during her marriage. That is some utter blasphemy right there, and no matter how hard you try to convince them that women are equal, they will just walk away. I don’t call them educated, I call these sick viruses of the society as literates, because all they can do is read and write. They do not know the difference between right and wrong, all they care about is themselves and their pride.

One of the lawyers from the defense council of the rape accused was ready to burn his own daughter if she had relations with another man before marriage.

Burn her down!! I mean what is she? Is she a paper or a piece of trash? She calls him dad and expects him to be her first line of defense from all harm. But, in return he claims on a documentary that he would burn her if she had relations with other men before marriage! I have no words to describe such a monster. He should be refrained from all sense of family. That might teach him a lesson or two. But I doubt that, these people can feed on their pride and survive for years. They are very close to cockroaches and mosquitos in terms of survival.

Coming back to the topic of sex. There is a quote by George Carlin which needs to be mentioned – “I wonder, does a rapist have a hard-on when he leaves the house in the morning, or does he develop it during the day while he's walking around looking for somebody.” None of the above might be true in all fairness. Some rapes might be planned, like the bastard had nothing to do with his life. But, most of them are out of the misunderstanding that they can get away with it. This is the common misconception they have, and so far it has proved to be more or less true. Thousands of rapes go unreported. Family pride is involved. I say to hell with this family pride and give the devil what he deserves.

I sometimes think why the women don’t lodge a complaint. Sure, there is a thing called family name involved and the omnipresent “neighbors” who always speak at the wrong time. But I really think why they can’t. Then I remembered the police, the doctors and the lawyers are the three worst people you could get tangled to if you want problems in your life. Doctors and lawyers can still be fine, but on an average, I haven’t seen people praising the policemen. I don’t generalize them based on most of them, but the most people would agree with me on that. Oh the policemen, money thirsty government employees. All they crave is money, as if they will be in procession when they die. To tell you the fact the police have the power to stop it. The people have the power to stop it. But nobody is stopping it.

This is the exactly the chance that a rapist needs, a chance to think that he can get away. A chance that he thinks, no one will notice and a chance that everything will be buried in time.

Today, one of the students were denied internship in a German university because the professor was troubled by the amount of rapes that were happening in India and she wanted to ensure that nothing of that sort happened (as we all know from the biology class, that humans are always ready to have sex). This letter went viral. The ambassador to Germany wrote a mail to the professor and she later apologized.

Wait, if you think that is the end of the story then let me tell you more. That wasn’t the end. The easily-troubled middle class erupted on social media to voice their opinions. “Rape the professor”. “Germans are racists”. “Western countries do not have sense”, and so on and so forth. If you haven’t guessed it, these are the aforementioned literates. They only know how to read and write. Applying thought and knowledge they never learned. On one hand they go on to say that you cannot generalize every Indian because some are rapists, and on the other hand they go on and generalize the entire German population as racist, based on the comments made by a single Professor.

10000 people in Nagaland invade a prison and lynch a person who was arrested on rape charges. The public was fast to react. In the words of one of my friend these are “blood thirsty and vengeful public.” They will not sit down and stage a nationwide protest. They can certainly lynch a person who was arrested on charges of rape (he was not convicted yet). Isn’t this the problem of the middle class in India, they will only rise and fight for it, if and only if it is directly hurting them. As long as they are not hurt, everything can lay in its place. This attitude is the main reason that politicians are not put in jail. Corruption is a major problem, hunger is an epidemic, where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

This country, with the large bulk of middle class has given the priority to burgers and not beggars, and if this attitude does not change then there will always be poor people in India who will sleep without food. There will always be rapes in India, where the rapist still thinks he can get away. The police will only act if the government tells it to act. The government will only act when the people force them to act. Every middle class needs to be hurt by every rape so that they understand the pressures and the pain involved in this trauma. It is only then when the nation will hear if we all stand up in one voice and say that this ends today. If a party can come in full majority to win the biggest democratic elections in India playing the middle class card, then I have all the more reasons to be supportive that the same middle class can stand up and fight against the epidemic called rape.

The above was the actual writing that were suppose go online. But, yesterday I read about a rape of a 6 year old. Did she wear less clothes or did she excite him? How did he get turned on by a 6 year old child? I hear of these incidents and think to myself whether we do have freedom. A freedom to say no to a guy’s proposal and not be attacked by acid over our face. No we don’t and sad that we can still pour our fake remorse and empathy over the internet and not take one step towards the betterment of the society in general.

Dream for the blind

2014-09-19T07:49:00.002-07:00

My world is diminishing with every breath I take,

A conscience effort to make right goes all in vain.

Crowded by this cumbersome feeling,

I wonder, whether there is any escape?

The condition is petrifying and demotivating,

It feels like a heightened state of tension,

The questions that arise are fast and loathsome,

And the answers are beyond my comprehension.

I have always let my tiny mind, magnify the agony,

Thinking and worrying I punish myself again,

Dejected, rejected yet never resurrected,

I walk alone through the path unknown.

Through the fallen leaves and the stones,

Among all the troubles that hurt my present,

There finally comes a vision to my mind,

When I think of an eye and dream for the blind.

(Pic courtesy: http://www.zingzoo.com/2013/02/14/riveting-vision-breakthrough-for-the-blind/)

Origin and Nicknames of Premier League Clubs

2014-09-07T03:39:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered why your favourite club is nicknamed the way it is. Here is a list of the premier league teams of 2014-2015 with the origins of their nicknames, in alphabetical order of course.

1) Arsenal aka Gunners: This nickname is a perfect case of evolution, Back in 1886 when the workers of the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory, decided to open a football club they named it Dial Square, named after the workshops. It was renamed Woolwich Reds in subsequent weeks and Woolwich Arsenal in future and finally dropping Woolwich to keep it as Arsenal. The name Gunners name was just synonymous with the close connection to the engagement in arms.

2) Aston Villa aka Villans: Aston Villa was formed when the local cricket club Villa Cross wanted to keep themselves occupied during the winter months. The nickname Villans ultimately evolved from their name Villa.

3) Burnley aka Clarets / Turfites: The name clarets refer to the colour of the crest. The colour resembles the colours of Aston Villa, which was supposed to be a mark of respect towards the dominant side, and it was supposed to motivate Burnley players and supporters.The name turfites is taken from their ground Turf Moor which has been home to them from 1883.

4) Chelsea aka Blues / Pensioners: Known as the pensioners previously, they are now referred to as the Blues owing to their jersey colour. The name pensioners were synonymous to them because there was a hospital nearby the club’s stadium. The Chelsea crest even portrayed a pensioner before 1950.

5) Crystal Palace aka Eagles: Initially called the Glaziers, the club ended the relationship with this nickname with the name Eagles which is seen on their crest. The palace after which the club is named was destroyed in a fire in 1936.

6) Everton aka Toffees: Though there are many legends that are associated with this name, but the most plausible is that there was a local sweet shop known as ‘Mother Noblett’ that advertised and sold the Everton mint. This shop was located right opposite to the lock up what is portrayed in the Everton crest.

7) Hull City aka Tigers: Hull city has traditionally played in the black and amber with a striped design, resembling the colours of a tiger, and hence the nickname. The club’s mascot is called Roary the Tiger.

8) Leicester City aka the Foxes: Leicester City has a fox incorporated into their clubs crest since 1948, this lead to the nickname the ‘Foxes’. The mascot is called ‘Filbert Fox’.

9) Liverpool aka the reds: This name doesn’t take too much of understanding and explanation. The name just follows the colours of their jersey.

10) Manchester City aka Citizens / Sky Blues: The name citizens have evolved from the name City whereas the name sky blues evolved from the home colours.

11) Manchester United aka Red Devils: Legend has it that during a trip in 1960 to France, they were called the Red Devils owing to the colours of their kit. Sir Matt Busby liked the name so much that he incorporated the Devil in their badge. Another story that is equally realistic is that the name is derived from the local rugby team of Salford, who were called the red devils. Manchester United trained in Salford, so the name just stuck.

12) Newcastle United aka Magpies / Toons: The name Magpies originates from the iconic Black and White colours of the club, whereas the name Toon is the local pronunciation of the the word Town.

13) Queens Park Rangers aka Rangers or Hoops: Called as Hoops because of their team’s white and blue hooped shirts. The name rangers, is also derived from the name of the club itself.

14) Southampton aka Saints: A name has stayed with the club right from its inception. The club was known as a church football team, and was founded by St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association. Their Stadium is also called St. Mary’s.

15) Stoke City aka Potters: There have been no other nicknames for this club except the Potters owing to the Pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent. Together with Port Vale, Stoke city play the Potteries Derby.

16) Sunderland aka Black Cats: there has been a long history of Sunderland and the Black Cats. In 1997 the clubs official nickname was the Black Cats. During the 19th century there was a company called the Black Cat Battery. During the 1960’s a black cat was taken care of and fed by the club.

17) Swansea City aka Swans: Another club that doesn’t need much explanation about their nickname. It is just the short form of their club’s name Swansea.

18) Tottenham Hotspur aka Spurs / Lillywhites: Spurs is obviously a shortened version of Hotspur which comes from the clubs connection with Shakespeare character Harry Hotspur. Lilywhites simply comes from the colour of Tottenham’s home shirt.

19) West Bromwich Albion aka Baggies: One of the most debatable nicknames of football clubs. Initially known as the “The Throstles”, the name Bagpies was initially was looked down upon and later embraces. But club historian Toby Matthews claims: “In its early days The Hawthorns had only two entrances, one behind each goal. On match days the gatekeepers would gather up the takings at each end and be escorted by policemen along the sides of the pitch to the centre line where there was a small office under the stand.

“The gate money, mostly in pennies, amounted to a considerable sum and was carried in large cloth bags. It wasn’t long before some wag in the crowd started shouting “Here come the bag men!” at their appearance in front of the main stand, and this developed into a chant of “Here come the Baggies,” giving the team its nickname.

20) West Ham United aka Hammers: The name is derived from the football club from which it developed – Thames Ironwork Football Club. The West Ham crest features two crossed rivet hammers and the club has been known has the Hammers ever since

Bomb

2014-01-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

I have seen the politics of this country turn around in these years. Cricket is no more a sport now, it’s a religion. People are making more money than ever and the poor are getting poorer each day.

I am a retired government servant who lives on pension. I had to bribe the officer to get my pension started. The other day there was a burglary in the neighbourhood, the report was filed at a local police station and the case is pending. Murders happen and still no action is taken. Women are not protected; even the garbage is not collected. I have come to the end of my life, after suffering from prolonged illness. The governance is so bad that people are scared to come out at night. By the time anybody reads this I will already be dead. Under my bed there is a ticking time bomb. The way I built this bomb is irrelevant, but the fact that it is ticking is more important, and you all have twenty four hours only.

The code to detonate this bomb is a six digit number, all the numbers are non-repetitive and the game starts after the point. I hope now the police will get to work. Keep counting.

By,

Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sister

2013-12-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

They thought for months and plied you would not be born,
Kept their fingers crossed and prayed to god till the candles burnt,
They tried more than once, and hoped it wasn’t you this time,
Finding the sex of the foetus is all they wanted to determine.

They didn’t care about your first cry or the first smile,
They didn’t see your tender hands and feet so fragile,
They didn’t watch over you when you took your first steps,
All they saw was a boy’s face who had to be in your place.

Oh sister, little sister, you have a choice.
Oh sister, little sister, you have a voice.

There is no use they said when you wanted to learn,
Go to the kitchen they said, and make the woods burn,
When you started to play and have some rejoice,
They slapped you in the face and enforced you to devoice.

Oh sister, little sister, you have a choice.
Oh sister, little sister, you have a voice.

So let them try to stop you now, lay hurdles in your path,
Don’t stand down or give ever up, even if the way is black,
Take you stance and fight for your right, as there is a long way to go,
Don’t ever feel helpless and alone, even if they tell you so.

UnMalala

2013-10-30T02:44:00.003-07:00

All I wanted- was a father on whose shoulder I could rest my head,
a mother to stand by me, who could teach me the ways of life.

All I wanted, was to be a sapient and read a few books,
to learn a little, and to know a little more,
Talk what I felt was right in the country so frail,
And to go to school with my friends not covered in veil.

All I wanted, was to have a little freedom,
Wear the things I like, and dance to my rhythm.

All I ever wanted, was to be at peace even in a state of war,
Strive ahead to learn, and teach them all,
From the ones so young, those carry a gun,
To the ones so old, who ought to drop the weapon.

All I ever wanted, was to go to school and play with my friends,
and return back a happier and a wiser person.

All I wanted, was to live a regular life that is promised to a child,
when they are ushered with hope, happiness and reliance,
to grow up in this mundane world and be successful,
and learn to give it back in right time, to be more respectful.

All I wanted, was to be fearless, and do the right.
To live by the truth, and walk with my head held high.

All I wanted, was to fulfill my dreams and reach my destiny,
The thing that people call the motive of life,
But, when I walked through the school corridor to take a test,
I breathed my last, when I took three bullets in my chest.

My father wasn't allowed to weep, and my mother couldn't cry.
As I was left blood stained, with empty shells, abandoned, to die.
All I ever wanted, was a life that was free,
all that I eventually got, was what they had decided for me.

(Above inserted pic is taken from a video: Jawab de )

Anthony

2013-10-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

“Only the dead have seen the end of war”, I have always regarded that a quotation has more impact than a boring dictated paragraph. Remembering Plato, I threw one of his favoured quotations to take a glimpse at the reaction of my students. They usually, just stare blank at me. Some of them stay with eyes rooted in their books, while a small portion of them stare at the wall behind me, as if the answer to all questions were inscribed there. Very few of them actually possess the optimum amount of concentration, as they are grilled by all the teachers to excel in studies.

A class full of bright students is a myth which is carried on from generations and brought forward in each class of each school and of every country. On most occasions, I am on the lookout for just a single hand that is raised or a plain nod. But, as it turned out, today was different; nobody was interested in what I was saying. It seemed the entire juice of excitement has been siphoned out by other teachers, and classes in the second half on most occasions are soporific.

Clueless faces sat on the wooden chairs, as if I had thrown in a math equation of a higher standard, at them. This was supposed to be an unconscious body language gesture for me, indicating the course of the day. So I take the textbook, close it and slam it on the table- “No lesson for today, today we hear a story. How many of you, boys and girls want to hear a story?”

Watching them the next moment was like watching a bud opening up into a flower. The life that is infused with a single word echoed is worth observing. As expected the drooping faces suddenly lit up with the sound of the word- ‘story’. They closed their books in unison and looked up towards me for a start.

As a history teacher of Kendra Vidhyalaya, I could tell them any story that I wanted to. But, I wanted them to explore their imaginations. Few things in life are more exciting than watching a young bird fly, or for that matter, the first tender step your child takes. For me, the only captivating thing is the way students explore their vivid imaginations. The ability to think and reason differently under similar circumstances is the unique characteristic of a human. I find that quite enchanting, but as time passes by, and we start to age, the answers conform being similar, and the ability to think different is a quality that is being highly sought after.

As the environment had changed to being like one in the morning, or rather as the students would feel like on a Sunday morning- I made myself available to every eye in the classroom.

“I want all of you to listen to this story, and answer me a simple question. Would you all be able to do that?”

“Yes Sir”, replied all.

Informing someone that there is a tunnel on the way gives them an element of surprise, but telling them that there is something unexpected at the end of the tunnel will get their adrenaline rushing. Everybody started thinking about the question and wondered less about the story.

“What is your ambition in life? What would you be or who do you see as your role model?”

There were discrete answers to my question. Part of the crowd wanted to be doctors, save people and help them recover from their disease. That is a great profession, where you can come directly in contact with the patients and cure them. All classes in India have aspiring doctors, if I am not wrong. That is a well-known reason for producing the best doctors in the world.

Some of them wanted to be engineers. There are so many disciplines in engineering that the students themselves are unaware of it. A couple of girls wanted to be pilots or astronauts. Some wanted to be teachers, some politicians, some police officers, some actors and finally, there were three students who had no idea what will happen to them in the future. A common thing that is haunting most students these days- lack of vision regarding ones future.

I expected such replies and I also knew that during the course of their lives, they would change their ambitions and careers. I remember when I was young, I wanted to be a pilot, then a doctor, then an actor, and then a cricketer but, I finally managed to be a teacher. A decision that I don’t regret, and I hope I won’t in the near future also.

After collecting the required data, I began.

“Have you heard of thanksgiving?”

Once again cluelessness filled the room and I had to speak again to stop the murmurs.

“Thanksgiving is a custom in North America, most famous in United States. It is celebrated on the 2^nd week of October, every year. On this day, the entire family joins together for a hearty meal, and share the day together. A lot of time goes by for the preparation and the main recipe is a turkey.”

“Excuse me sir, what is a turkey?” asked a boy with profound innocence, while some of the students laughed at his ignorance.

“A turkey is a bird, it is larger than a chicken and it is favoured by many as better than chicken. But, it is more expensive and not so common in India.”

He thanked me and I could sense that under his breath, he was cursing himself for such a silly question.

“So, one time during thanksgiving, there was a family of the Robbins. They lived in a small town in the state of Michigan. It was thanksgiving and the entire neighbourhood was celebrating, eating their favourite ‘turkey’.”

“The father, the head of the family was John, who was jobless for quite some time and his wife, Nikki, was washing dishes in households to bear the expenses for their living. At thanksgiving they had no money to buy a turkey or even a chicken. All they ate was porridge every day. John and Nikki had two children, William and Anthony. Both of them were young, but they understood the complications their family were going through. So what was the name of the father of William and Anthony?”

“John”, said the majority of the students convincing me that they were paying attention.

“As a custom, they needed to have good food that day, but the Robbins’ had no money. The children were disappointed but they didn’t let their parents sense it. Meanwhile, Nikki was complaining all day about John and his drinking habits that got him thrown out of his job and brought them to this condition. John was cursing his luck and threatened Nikki repeatedly.”

“Both the boys watched their parents fight, but they couldn’t do anything. The racket went on for about an hour, while Nikki prepared the last porridge left in the house. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Shocked at the sudden knock, John thought that the neighbours had come in to complain of the fight and noise.”

“John, ordered Anthony to open the door. Anthony hesitated for a second, but followed his father’s command. To his surprise there was no one at the door, but lying ahead on the floor, close to his feet was freshly cooked food. He looked out to see if anyone was visible, but no one was in sight. On procuring the food delivered at the doorstep, he brought it in.”

““Who was there?” asked John in a stern voice””

““Somebody has left food for us”, said Anthony”

““Food? Why would someone bring food for us?” Commanded John”

““I don’t know dad”, replied Anthony with his pale voice.”

“Silence was common to all, as their eyes lay fixed on the food that was delivered. William wanted to make a move but he held back. He, as well as the rest of the family had grown tired of satisfying their hunger with porridge day in and day out. Anthony being the youngest of all couldn’t resist anymore and asked his dad.

““Dad, can we have this food, I am hungry””

““No, absolutely not, someone must have deliberately kept food at our doorstep to make us look petty and miserable”, said John suppressing any thoughts of eating the charitable food.”

“Meanwhile, Nikki who was watching everything from the kitchen came closer to Anthony and looked at John. She saw a shrewd man, whose bloated ego could lead their children starving even on thanksgiving.”

Amongst the serious atmosphere, where the story was taking a turn, a hand moved vertically upward with a state of confusion. I had to stop my story and tend to the immediate problem faced by the zealous, back-bencher. This was the first time he had raised his hand in my class.

“Yes Sandeep, what is your question?”

“Sir, I didn’t understand the word you mentioned before ego.”

“Did you mean bloated! You see bloated means something that is pumped or swollen up, like a balloon. Hence, bloated ego simply means his big ego or being stubborn, or notorious.”

He let me continue after a confirmative nod.

“Nikki tried to intervene and told John that this could be a sign from God and that they had to accept it as it was thanksgiving.”

“Although John was outnumbered, he still didn’t budge from his initial decision. He ordered Anthony to throw the food outside. The next few seconds of silence was awkward. Nobody spoke and everybody stared blank. There was no intention by Anthony or Nikki to throw away the food. But, there was John who would not allow them to eat. In this family everything happened as per John’s command, and to be fair his decisions were not good for the family’s current state. He was reckless to quit his job and to add to the misery he got drunk every day, ruining thanksgiving.”

“After few more seconds, John rushed towards Anthony to snatch the plate. But, Nikki was quicker and she stopped him midway.”

““John, if you try to throw the food that has been delivered to us on thanksgiving, I swear to God I will leave you and take the children with me”, said Nikki taking a stand against John who was crueller than ever.”

“He tried to shove Nikki to the side with his sheer strength, but failed to do so because of the high amount of alcohol in his body. The two boys stood behind their mother and supported her stand. They held her by the shoulder signalling John that he was outnumbered. ”

“John was angry and upset, and watching his family turn against him, he left the house in a fit of rage and slammed the door shut. Nikki stood there immovable for the next few seconds. She finally breathed a sigh of relief that nobody was hurt.”

“The main reasons that prompted John to leave at that moment were three things- the food that is delivered is charity, it means that he is worthless and he has to leave his family. So, without further ado, kicking up the dust, John set out on his own journey. That was the last time the rest of them saw John. The situation was the same but the decision made by Anthony on the other hand was different. I would like to point this out- The ability to think and reason differently under similar circumstances is the unique characteristic of a human. Anthony thought otherwise, the first thing he thought of was that they had food. That was the best thing that anyone could have provided, to him and his family at that point of time. The second thing that he thought of was that even in this dog eat dog world, there was someone who actually cared about someone else and didn’t want anything in return. It made him believe that strangers care. The third thing he thought of was that if somebody cared about him, then he should do the same and that he will make a difference in his life.”

“Anthony grew up without his father for the rest of his life and at the age of seventeen, he gathered enough money to feed two families at thanksgiving. That was the most moving and humbling experiences of his life. It brought solace and peace of mind and the best part was that he loved it. He didn’t even tell anybody or even asked for help. He just did it, because strangers care. The following year, he assembled enough money to feed four families doubling the number every year henceforth. This went on for many years and after decades into helping others, Anthony along with his foundation fed more than four million people in hundred different countries on festivals and holidays.”

The next moment I could sense the self-realization that was overwhelming few of my students. That brought me to my question- “What is your ambition in life?” But before I did that, I wanted them to take a moment and understand the meaning of the story. It is very important that children grasp the meaning of the story; else the entire story remains unimportant. I took a quick glance at the faces- some were perplexed, some were happy and some were waiting for me to talk. I took some more seconds before I finally spoke.

“So, what do you think about the story? Now is the time for my question.”

I once again saw those exiting eyes and felt happy.

But, before I could say anything the school bell rang, signalling the end of the academic day. I wanted to ask my question but the children were in a hurry to leave. The entire school burst out shouting and running for the exit. I didn’t want to stop them from going home, so I postponed my question to yet another boring second half class.

I felt bad that nobody wanted to listen to the question at the end of the story. Everybody was in a hurry to go home. This made me realise that school is such a burden on the children. They are only looking to pass the time whilst they are here. Hopefully the next day would be a better day.

I gathered my text book and decided to leave when I saw Sandeep approaching me. He stood determined and resolute.

“What happened Sandeep, is everything all right?”

“Sir before this class I didn’t know what to do. But now, I want to be like Anthony Robbins.”

(P.S: Anthony Robbins is an American life coach, self-help author and motivational speaker. He has spoken at Harvard Business School and was ranked by the school among the “Top 200 Business Gurus” (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). In 2007, he was named to Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. Forbes estimated that Robbins earned approximately $30 million USD in that year.)

Lost & Found

2013-06-16T09:35:00.002-07:00

Lost & Found

I remember that night as if it was yesterday, clear and vivid. I walked out of the railway station alone, with only my handbag. I was lost in my own thoughts and moved along the path that was unfamiliar. It was late and I could see only a handful of people on the road. It was both scary and comforting to see a few fellow humans on the road. Scary- as in what if there was someone lurking in the dark and comforting that it was not totally void of humans. A girl does feel scared to walk the road, with the fear of being abducted or even further sinister consequences. At that time, I didn’t know precisely where to go, so I had to pick one of the paths from the rest.

From a distance, I heard muffled noises, as if somebody was playing loud music and the door being opened and closed at discrete intervals. I tracked the sound and walked slowly keeping a watch all around. The population increased as I approached the source of the sound. I felt happy and approached the bar.

There were many people crammed in that place, some were seated and some stood tall. Most of them had a drink in their hand. I browsed through the fellow associates who had occupied the bar at the same time. There were some very pretty ladies with lesser clothes. Their hair went in all directions and not one of them looked odd. They simply looked stunning and beautiful. They were raising toast for every drink that was placed on their table and they even shouldered all the men in whose company they found peace and happiness. Some women were older and I wasn’t sure if they had come in with their husbands. Maybe their better halves were at someplace else more important than this bar.

Few of them were boys and girls and I didn’t know if they should be allowed to enter and share drinks. I shouldn’t be allowed too, but somehow I sneaked passed the security guards. There were others who seemed like office goers and had come there because it was a weekend. They were talking intellectual and most of their topic was related to ‘how to grow financially’ or ‘which company could make them happier’. If there was another topic it had to be of ‘girls’. There were other old gentlemen who were having this air of superiority to go with the hefty amounts deposited in the bank accounts. There were carefully watching the crowd that had turned up that day and simultaneously having their usual conversation.

I took a peek of my own. Most of the people were indulged in their own drinks and the way their life had spanned. I further looked at them all. After careful observation I saw a man, probably in his mid-thirties. He was wearing a rimless frame with lenses that were not over excessively expensive. He wore a dark blue collared t-shirt to go with the even darker shade of denims. He was with two of his friends. He looked a little nervous maybe because he wasn’t drinking, while all the others around him were reeking of alcohol, cluttering their glasses and shouting ‘Cheers’. He kept looking at this watch as if he had to be somewhere else. Something worried him that was missing among all the other occupiers of the bar.

As I was glanced and made my own assumptions about the person, he appeared to catch me unguarded. Within that moment our eyes were in line and nothing seemed to come in between. He saw my eyes- and I saw his. He gave a look of concern as well as misperception. Maybe he was confused regarding the next step he should take. Our eyes didn’t blink and we kept watching each other. He sensed the melancholy that had filled my heart. I saw his look change from partially confused to fully concerned. Within a split second, he put down his soft drink.

He signalled to his friends about my existence, but before his companions could spot me I hid myself behind a wall. He kept pointing out in my direction, but his friends were least bothered. After a minute he gave up too. He retired to his drink but there was still my image at the back of his mind, I could sense it as he looked even more worried than before. He knew it and I knew it as well. The entire time I was out-alone and indecisive on the next step. But, when I glanced at him I knew within that one very moment that this man in picture is the one man I wanted to be with.

I took another glimpse from the corner of my eye and he was still searching for me. I knew it that it was right and I could not afford to waste time. I made up my mind to meet him and talk to him. The next moment I took a look at his table and he was gone. I felt bad and lonely, just the same way how I had been feeling the entire night. Probably he had gone to the place he was worried about, but I hadn’t seen him heading for the exit. I had lost the time and now it seemed that it was hard to make up for it. ‘The door of opportunity knocks only once’, this saying was coming to be true. I stood and scanned the entire bar once again and still there was no sign of him.

Could I walk up to his friends and ask them about his whereabouts? Probably that would be a bad decision as they didn’t seem as noble as he was. I was scared and looked for him everywhere. It took about another thirty seconds before I saw him reappear in my range of vision. Apparently he had gone to the washroom. I didn’t want to waste another precious moment and I took rather lengthy stride making advancements in his direction. I slowly reached in his vicinity without him even noticing me. I mustered all courage and touched his arm. He saw me and rose without any hesitation. He signalled his friends and took me outside.

He asked my name and the reason I was there. I told him everything and it took me roughly seven minutes to give him my story. He looked me in the eyes and embraced me. The warm embrace felt very assuring and I knew that my decision was right. He was the right man. He held me with a tight grip as he walked towards his car. He abruptly ended his party and took me home. His house wasn’t far from the bar and we reached there in no time. On the way we picked up dinner for both of us. We entered the house silently and tip toed our way to the kitchen.

He withdrew two plates from the drawer and placed it carefully on the dining table, making no sounds. I sat on a chair and saw him doing all the needful. We didn’t speak much during the late hour dinner. After us both finished our dinner he asked me for anything else that I wanted. I bluntly replied no and asked him where the bedroom was. It had been a difficult day it was better to end it with a smile on the face and a bloated stomach. He walked me into one of the rooms. He carefully switched on the lights and brought me closer to the bed. Thence, he pulled the quilt and told me to stand closer to the bed.

With a slight shrug he woke up the person sleeping on that bed and said “Son, from today this is your younger sister and her name is Alisha”.

Mother.

2013-06-08T09:00:00.003-07:00

Hello mother, my mother, can you hear me?
I haven’t slept in a while and I didn’t want this to be,
Behind this pantomime, I have become a body of inevitable lie,
Constantly terrified and this is not what you wished for me.

Oh mother, tell me now, what to do and who to be?
Battling this life, I am frequently and decisively intrigued.
Behind this network of masks, still lies your child,
Helplessly alone, thinking about you all the time.

Tell me mother, if a wrong can be made into a right,
Will my past frequent me with torment and dismay?
Or will my sins come undone for an emotionless final foray.
Oh! How I wish you would be here, but you, you are so far away.

Forgive me mother, for I tried my best and yet I have failed,
All your teachings and education have gone in vain,
Its time to sanctify my soul and liberate my mind to pasteurise the fate,
Please don’t wait by the door tomorrow, because I will be late.

FEAR

2013-06-06T07:40:00.003-07:00

Fear- an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight).

To be true, we all have our own fears to deal with. Some face it every day, while some encounter them once in a while. Some of them can be overcome, but some persist for the rest of our lives. I remember I had a fear of addressing people from the stage. I have gone blank a couple of times, but now I have overcome, by gradually practising it. But, fear of getting an electric shock still gives me torrid times. These are fears that the mind has perceived and they will continue to stay there until we fight them out. Similarly, there are fears that are planted in our head. (For induced fear I would like you to watch a video called Little Albert. Although it was an inhumane experiment, psychologists believe it as a breakthrough).

Let’s say, when we were young we were all taught not to play with the gas stove or we might get burnt. Our mothers have enacted that to us, or to most of us. That fear had resided in our mind unless we figured it out that was not entirely true. As time passed by, we came to a comprehension that if we are careful we will not suffer burns from a gas stove.

This was just an example which is actually unimportant. This fear was placed in our head so that we could be safe. Whereas, some fears are introduced to us by people we don’t know. I remember, when I was young, my father always brought home Colgate toothpaste for all of us. The plain and simple white coloured toothpaste. Our entire family used that until we saw an advertisement from Pepsodent. They pointed it out that most of us suffer from bleeding gum problems. The next I found out that it was true. Blood did ooze out from my gums. The more I saw the ad the more I was tensed. So, after a huge debate I convinced my father that Pepsodent-G gum care was the best toothpaste and we needed it for the safety of our gums.

6 months down the line, the blood was still oozing from the gums and I thought as far as it doesn’t pain, its fine. After some time, I saw another ad- this time it was my favourite cricketer Sachin Tendulkar endorsing the brand. The toothpaste was talking about its relentless twelve hour fight against the bacteria and we had to brush twice a day to keep our teeth healthy. So my father and I had another debate, but this time I was unsuccessful to convince him that Colgate Total was better. He instead reverted to the traditional ‘Laal Dant Manjan’ for himself. So, I was left with my last resort- to convince my brother that we needed a change in the department of dental care. He agreed, and we got our first Colgate Total toothpaste. Expensive than most of the other toothpastes and the work it did was same that of the normal Colgate. Few more years passed and then there were many kinds of problems that were aired on the TV- plaque, bacteria, gum problems, cavity and sensitivity. I don’t bleed through the gums now, and I have changed my toothpaste so many times that I don’t even remember which one did the magic. Or was it just the fear that was planted?

Then there was the case with shampoos. To be frank, when I was twelve years old I never used a shampoo. It’s only after the ads in the TV that people were suddenly educated. They found out the problems in their hair. Thin hair, dandruff, breakage and baldness were the problems pictured to us. Every six months the product companies come up with some new revolution and tried selling their products.

The list goes on- from deodorant spray (frankly I haven’t seen one advertisement that shows the features of a deodorant, all they end up showing is a boy who ends up with girls) to cooking oil.

Fear is a big weapon that these companies use to sell their product. Take for example the detergents, all the detergents show ads cleaning the white shirts- none of them show cleaning a coloured clothing. With clothing I remember what the brand and media has done to us. If we buy a t shirt for 1500, we are proud. We will buy a pair of shoes for 2000, with our heads held high. But, when the time comes to donate a rupee to a beggar, we are overburdened by the weight of life and shoo them off. Same goes for mineral water, they are pure, and we should drink them. Don’t use the ear buds they are made from used hospital cotton, instead use Johnson and Johnson ear buds, it will cost you ten times more, but you will be safe.

Don’t drink sugarcane juice; the ice is bought from a morgue. Paint your nails and look glamorous or else no boy will approach you. Drink carbonated water to quench your thirst, but they don’t mention that it contains caffeine. Don’t wash your face with soap, apply face wash. If it is dry then apply moisturiser (of the same company of course). Use the great fair and lovely cream to be fairer and beautiful. Are they serious? They sell us cream which will make us fairer! Somebody has a conflict with their pigmentation. Wasn’t it natural the way God built you? These petty things have put fear in our hearts and it has become difficult to lead a simple life we use to live when we were young.

The media is jointly to be blamed for this- my father owns a general store, after the sensitivity problems were aired on the television by Sensodyne, the next day, every customer wanted Sensodyne. I have even seen parents buying fruits for their children. It’s a nice thought, fruits are source of vitamins, but the same family ends up dining at McDonalds, munching burgers and putting on fat.

Now I don’t say that you should not eat in McDonalds or restrain yourself from using branded high priced tooth pastes, or for that matter clothes. I am just saying that there is vast difference in being literate and educated. All of you who are reading this are literates, but are we educated? Sadly the answer is no on most of our parts. Do we fold the wrappers of eatables and place it in our pockets when we don’t see a dustbin? No! We throw it on the road. As long as our houses are clean to hell with the environment. This is the new attitude people are carrying.

We have convinced ourselves that education means reading and writing in English. Well, let me direct your attention towards China, very advanced and they use their own language everywhere. I see young children in the malls taking in English. I am impressed, young cheerful lads and lasses talking in beautiful English. Mothers tend to propagate this English attitude. But, when asked about their mother tongue, they hardly know a thing. This is also fear- fear of competing with the others at school.

Actually, the answer lies within you- will you educate yourself around the things that are thrown at you or simply squat and waste money, logic and brains buying things you don’t need? Meanwhile, I have changed my toothpaste to the simple Colgate and I use any shampoo that is available- because I need to wash my hair, I try not to use those which damage my hair and rest everything is fine. I don’t use deodorants because I don’t want girls falling for me (pun intended). I do eat sometimes at McDonalds and KFC and also buy branded clothes because I earn so much money I have to spend it somewhere. And whenever I see a beggar I take care to give him/her some amount so that they are happy.

“Let not fear consume you, let education fill your mind so that you consume your fears”

~Mjkgupta.

So Far Away

2013-03-06T06:47:00.003-08:00

The rain is always beautiful, if you have a home.

The return is always wonderful, if the person waiting is your mom.

Sometimes it feels miserable and all alone,

Sometimes it feels you are still there and I am not on my own.

Sometimes in the dark when I am scared,

I turn on the lights to ward off the pain.

Relentless and in dismay,

I call out your name, but you are so far away.

Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night,

And only a lullaby can make me sleep tight.

I advance ahead to kiss your face so grey.

I am all alone, because you are so far away.

I see your smiling face in a photograph, and I wish you were here.

To revive me with your grace, ever so clear.

Somewhere very close and whispering night and day

Then when I open my eyes, I realise, you are so far away.

When tears roll down my eyes,

And I try to find solace in compromise.

When I close my eyes and realise,

I miss you in silent thoughts and in woeful cries.

And it still doesn’t feel that you are gone,

You will come by and hold me when I am down.

Keep me away from falling,

Lend me a shoulder for crying.

I stretch my arms for the comfort,

Then I realise that I am still hurt.

Now my life starts to go astray

Then I wake up to find, you are still so far away.

Untitled- by Raahi

2013-02-09T07:55:00.001-08:00

The night dawned and her thought came to mind,
This questions haunts, why is love so blind?
Until now, a smile rested on the lips,
But all now seems hidden by an eclipse.

The twinkling eyes did such a wonder,
Wherever they turned, they seized plunder.
There is an intoxication in the way you see,
I always find a reason to watch you and take glee.

To love thee is my life, to love thy was my bond,
I was shattered and shocked when you did respond.
You inhabited my world, which now lays waste,
Tell me, was not my affection chaste?

Everyone divided their share of happiness,
And I was left with my chunk of distress.
Thank me, bless me, that I made you a murderer.
I will now stand in front of this world, a perjurer.

I cry because I lost my heart.
Why do you laugh, what have you got?
May you lose your heart like I lost mine,
Then you will realize that love is divine

_____________________________________ By RAAHI.

Prologue

2012-06-15T05:45:00.001-07:00

Kolkata, India
November 19th

Pitch black darkness has enveloped Kolkata in the middle of the night. The city lay in peace and silence when a muffled sound of an ambulance is heard at a distance. It was fast approaching and the sound which seemed muted at first was now clear and distinct. The watchman, a potbellied man in his late fifties jogs back to the hospital and informs at the reception ‘There is an ambulance arriving, get up!’
The receptionist struggles to fight her late midnight slumber but finally succumbs to the high pitch sound of the watchman. She reacts rather slowly and opens her eyes reluctantly. Within a minute the ambulance arrives at the hospital in Dhakuria. The driver darts out of the van and orders the receptionists to inform the doctors of an emergency. The watchman now opens both the doors for the ward boys to work with ease. Within no time, the ward boys arrive and open the ambulance’s back door.
The patient is lying on the stretcher, moving her head to and fro, while her husband was holding the right hand. She was breathing through a Bag Valve Mask, as she was nauseated and claustrophobic. He was constantly coaxing her ‘It’s okay; everything is going to be fine.’ He kept blowing air from his mouth on her forehead, in order to keep her calm. Her perspiration was perpetual and the pain was increasing exponentially. He caressed her both out of concern and happiness. One of the ward boys enters while the other stays outside. They lift the stretcher and rush towards the Operation Theatre (O.T). Meanwhile, the husband of the patient follows till the threshold of the O.T., where he is forced to stay outside by the doctor in charge. The husband looks worried and pale. The doctor, in his early fifties was very experienced, he stood firm and upright. He also assured the husband that everything would be fine and placed his palm on his chest and said ‘She is in good hands, you need not worry.’
The husband felt assured and nodded in affirmation…he had no other option but to believe the doctor. The doctor placed his hand over the husband’s shoulder and asked ‘What is your name?’

‘Vivek Sen’, replied the husband.
‘Don’t worry Mr. Sen, I assure you once again, she is in good hands, I am Doctor Arijit Banerjee’, he was familiar with the pre delivery jitters and pointed out to the reception and added ‘I urge you to please complete the paper work, it’s important too. Ja hobe bhalo hobe’, and he entered the O.T. Vivek progressed towards the reception area after feeling a little assured. As he walked towards the lobby, he remembered something very important; he reached out for his cell phone in his pockets and in his heightened state called his father.

‘Hello Dad?’
‘Hello Son, what’s the news? Is she okay?’
‘Yes Dad, she has just been taken to the Operation Theater, and the doctor has assured me that everything is fine.’
‘Thank you God’, said Vivek’s father Mr. Sujit Sen, who was calmer than his son, given the experience and level headedness.
‘Dad, I miss you and Mom here, I feel alone and panicky.’
‘Well son, it’s perfectly normal, although it is a moment of chaos and panic, the thing is, you should remain calm and composed. Only a brave heart can go through this time, and you are my proud son, I have faith in you, don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.’
‘Thank you Dad, but when are you coming here?’
‘I am taking an early morning flight and will be there first thing in the morning’
‘Okay Dad, I will be waiting for you, good bye’
‘Take good care my son’ and the senior Sen disconnected the call.

After gaining confidence, Vivek now sat on one of the chairs facing the reception desk. The receptionist who was now wide awake was arranging for some paper work. There was a large television which was switched off. Apart from a few ward boys, nurses and attending doctors, there was no one in the lobby. The chair seemed to be rather uncomfortable for him, and he twisted his body to find a relaxing posture. Sweat seeped from the pores of his forehead and trickled under the frame of his glasses. The eye brows were wet and he constantly dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief. Time was ticking very slowly for him. He perpetually shook his legs in tension. Every few minutes he would run his fingers through his hair, exhale through his mouth rather heavily, squeak and pray everything is fine.
The receptionist after a slight struggle with her drowsiness found the required paperwork and called for Vivek. She handed them out to him and very quickly ran though the instructions in filling up the form. He took a while in filling up the form, he was in quite a lot of pressure and nobody from his family was here. There was no old hand to comfort him during this time. He carefully filled up and gave it back to the receptionist.
The receptionist, Kristy, cross checked and gave the form back to Vivek, ‘Please sir, fill the form entirely. You still have to sign here and you haven’t mentioned the relationship.’
Vivek was rooted in his thoughts and turned a deaf ear to Kristy.
‘Sir, you have to sign here!’ said Kristy amplifying her voice to wake Vivek up from his dreams. Vivek was suddenly brought back to reality by the semi-awake receptionist. He shrugged himself can cleared his throat to speak ‘Excuse me; I am very sorry, I was thinking about something else.’
‘Yes you were Sir, please sign down here and mention you relationship with the patient, you are the husband right?’ Kristy was losing all the calm she had after being woken up by the watchman past midnight.
‘I am sorry once again’, Vivek took the paper and signed it. He took a look at his signature and gave the form back to Kristy.
‘Sir, are you not her husband?’ asked Kristy now doubting the relationship of Vivek and the patient.
He takes the paper again, apologizes to Kristy and ponders again about the first day he met her- 20th February. Although, it seems like a short time, yet this was one of the best days of his life. Kristy looks at Vivek with utter disdain and running out of the last bottle of patience squeaks ‘Sir, are you the husband?’
Vivek is clouded by thoughts and reluctantly writes ‘HUSBAND’.

When i earned real friends...!!

2012-04-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

“Maybe love won't let you down. All of your failures are training grounds and just as your back's turned you'll be surprised...as your solitude subsides.”- Beatles. My solitude was on the rise when I walked back to my flat; my home for the past eighty days. The flat was silent, and lacked skirmish of any human vocal. I felt lonely; the feeling is one of the worst that I had felt. I still remembered the first day I had come here, alone and curious. Curious I was, because I didn’t know the kind of people I would meet. I regard myself, an anathema.
          After finishing off my Post Graduation, I stayed at home for a month. Tragedy struck thrice during my stay, first I and my brother were charged with physically abusing a woman. A fake complaint was lodged. No evidence was found and nothing bad happened. Secondly, one of my uncles’, who was battling with cancer, succumbed, and left a void in his family. Thirdly my Mother suffered a septic attack, precisely Septicemia. She survived the attack, but she was diagnosed with bronchitis. My mind took a battering that time and within ten days I had to join TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) Hyderabad, for the start of my career.
          I landed in Hyderabad on the 9th of July 2011, at about half past nine. I took a cab and reached the home of one of my chum, Ashutosh. He was in Hyderabad for the past eighteen months. He made arrangements for my night stay, and also helped me in shopping. The next evening I went at the accommodation provided by TCS, known as Manjeera towers. It was far from the city, but closer to the training center. I reached with my entire luggage alone. Although my college students were also called, yet I knew no one. I could make out some familiar faces, but I had interacted with none. I hoped to find somebody I knew. All my classmates were called to Trivandrum and I was told to join Hyderabad.
          July 10th 2011: There is a perception, I don’t know where it comes from but I got it too. It’s said that South Indians are not good people. They speak their own language, eat different food, and hate people who speak in Hindi or English. Some of my friends, back at home, who have been ignorant throughout their entire lives, claimed that the only food you get in South India is Dosa, Idli, sambhar, and wada. I had heard this from a long time. I was terrified at the thought of it and walked towards the reception.
While on the way to the reception desk, I saw parents of my prospective colleagues, I remembered mine and hoped that my mother will be discharged soon. She was still in ICU while I arrived in Hyderabad. I finally reached the reception desk. I saw a lady there who was very busy. She told me to register my name address and mobile number. I jotted down as fast as I could. She then told me that my room will be in the ground floor, numbered H-005. I requested her to give me a room with my university fellows. She declined. I moved with my baggage and met my first flat mate- Sarath. Full name, Karanam Venkata Sarath Chandra. The people in the south do have long names, I don’t deny the fact. Most people in Andhra have Venkat or Venkata in their name, as a matter of fact; Venu is also a common name. Then I met my room partner Ajay, full name Ajay Mohan Arasada. He probably had the shortest name in my flat, after me of course. Back in the place from where I come from, people regarded my name as long. I like long names; it gives an aura of a dignified person.
I started talking casually to Sarath, after he asked me where I came from. My SIM could not connect to the service provider and I had to call home. I asked Sarath for his phone, he accepted without reluctance. I asked him for one call, but I made three, I panicked and thought that informing everyone concerned was more important. Till this date I don’t know if Sarath knows about the three calls, but it hardly mattered to him. This is the first natural fact I got to learn about Telegu people (not everybody but most of them), they are very helpful. It doesn’t matter even if it costs them money, they will go to the stretch to help you. Meanwhile I also spoke to some other people, one of them wanted to change rooms’ with me. I tried requesting the receptionist who accidently was from Darjeeling. She declined again.
    It was late when I arrived and Ajay told me that we had to get up early the next morning for the first day. College has spoiled my habit, I usually slept at two, and now I had to get up at half past five. I usually take a long time to sleep, but today was different. I slept fast and woke up at half past five. All my flat mates were up on time. I am ready too I said to myself. It’s a very uneasy feeling when you see people talking among them but not to you. I looked in the mirror for a final glance and saw one of my flat mates approaching me.
“What is your name?” he asked
“Manoj” I replied.
“You don’t have any friends from college?”
“No”
“Okay, no need to worry, we are friends now”, he extended his hand for a shake and I gleefully accepted. It was a big hand indeed. He looked dangerous from the outlook, but he surprised me by his gesture. He was Sai Ram, full name Satya Alla Sai Ram. (Just for fact, alla is not pronounced same as the Muslim god Allah, it’s pronounced aa-la, but everybody called him Allah). He is tall and well built; he even claims he has the most beautiful body structure in this world, no six packs but just natural. Then I met two others Prasad and Anil, Vattikolla Venkata Siva Prasad and Yerramsetty Anil Bharath respectively.
Although the people I met were very nice to me, but I didn’t get along with them instantly, maybe because of the language barrier. I looked to befriend other people, who spoke the language I knew. I found some of them in my batch. They were from Haryana.

          July passed by and I was hanging out with my Haryana friends more often. Watching movies, going to the training together, eating and watching TV I did all of it with them. They were funny at times, but abusive on most of the occasions. They abused more than anything else. Haryanvi is a coarse language, I didn’t like the way it’s presented, but I can’t help the fact. There were six people in the so called Haryana flat viz. Sumit, Sagar, Punit, Yogesh, Surender and Vikas(aka Pahadi). There were few others whom I saw occasionally, Vikash (aka chotu because of his enormous size), Sandeep and KD. Till date I don’t know the full form of KD. He is the most difficult of all of them. Sometimes I couldn’t figure out if he was speaking or abusing. Chotu was a very informed person; he had the knowledge and remained cool and composed. He is the only person who knew where Darjeeling was and the political condition there. Sandeep was a self parsing person, I didn’t know him well, and neither did I want to. Same was the condition with Punit, a lanky, miser boy who was in love. I spoke very less; I was open to Surender, Sumit and Sagar, because they were my batch mates at training. I didn’t connect to the rest of them much. The other Vikas (Pahadi) was very intelligent; he had the knowledge of almost all the things I liked. In fact I can even say that his knowledge was better than the other five combined.
There is one more thing which I learnt about Haryana folks, they are believed in castes. Not all of them but a few, Yogesh specially. He used to ask people of their caste on the very first meeting. I have always hated such prejudice, I do it even today. Caste is no means to differentiate people, for that matter there are no means.
          Some of them misunderstood my silence. They thought I was not open to them. I don’t blame them, but I am only open to few people, to my close friends and family, and with the name of family I remembered my Ma, I hoped she would recover from her diseases faster and return to her good health. I hardly contributed to their discussions because on most occasions it was futile.
In came August, I started to bond with my room partner more. He is a nice guy. He wants to be a musician. I hope he succeeds. We also connected with music; he played the guitar better than me. I wrote stories and made him read. He analyzes it very well. I like the way he says “Ah huh….” It assures the speaker that he is being listened to. He is from Vizag. At times he calls me Annaya, meaning brother. I feel nice to hear it. Anil and Sarath also call me the same.
         On alternate weekends I paid visits to Ashutosh, I never missed it. I even cancelled other plans to see him over weekends. I went over to his place even if it was raining cats and dogs. Certainly one of the best friends I have ever made.
         During the training, I kept mostly to myself, soft spoken and a man of few words. My batch was good. But, like every rose has its thorn, there were a few, who were competitive and not friendly, I don’t want to take their name. There were some people who looked down upon people. They had the air f condescension flowing around their head. I pity them.
         I was the only Post graduate in my batch, which meant I knew more. I did know but, I never voiced it in the sessions. My knowledge was fair enough, but I lacked concentration. My mind could not concentrate on things that were taught. It always thought about other things. I missed my home very much. I wanted to return home, to Ma and Dad, but I couldn’t. Slowly August passed away too, but before going it gave us out first salary. It felt nice, very good in fact. In the first week of September we got a holiday for four days. I decided to spend all the four days with Ashutosh. But, before I could go, Sumit, my good friend decided to leave TCS and go to Videocon. It paid him more and he will be working on electronics, he had majored in that.
         In September, I couldn’t bond well with my Haryana friends, Sumit left and his place was taken over by KD. I didn’t like him, because of his aggressive nature. So I started to ignore them. My relationship with my flat mates developed exponentially. I was closer to them more than ever. Anil became the closest to me. We went to the training together and even took evening walks together. It is during this period, that we were grouped into projects. Each team comprising of six people and one of them will be the leader. Lucky for me Sai ram and I were in the same group.
          Our leader was Udit Kararia, from Haryana, but he always claimed he was from Delhi. I don’t know the reason why he does it. Maybe he considers them as yokels. He is a typical person and I doubt anyone will see a similar kind. He is fast in calculations, sharp mind but he had the air or condescension around him. He hardly trusted us for anything. He wants to be a leader, give ideas and lead. But the place where he lacks is that he should lead by example. He never does that. I appreciate his brain, its fast and filled with ideas, but he has knowledge of very few things. He has no knowledge about current affairs or sports. I personally feel that every person should be good at something other than academics. We as a team did well. Except Udit, every one shared a good relationship with each other. I just hope he learns how to make friends in future so that he doesn’t get lonely.
         Back in the flat, I enjoyed more than ever, I watched Telegu movies without subtitles, and astonishingly I never complained. I liked it. I heard news in Telegu, I didn’t get the news entirely but I could understand some of it. I was so into Telegu that I started leaning it. This is one thing I thought was impossible, learning a south Indian language. I started with the abuses; I started to swear at most of my flat mates. They enjoyed it and never took it to heart. I respect them for it. We had biryani’s together. We even had a karaoke evening one time. Ajay brought me prawns cooked by his Mom, while Sai ram got me cakes. I loved both of them. I stayed with Anil most of the time, I told him about things, my love life and my mother. Well I actually told about my mother to all of them. Anil and I had breakfast together, watched movies together and studied together.
         Project completion was a daunting task and when we were all engrossed in it, we stayed in the training center for thirteen hours. Those were tough times, and I am happy I did my part. We did have our usual differences with Udit. He even made one of our team mates cry. Jackass he is. The times I spent at my flat were very good and filled with joy. In September I didn’t go to Ashutosh’s place. Not once, and I didn’t want to, because I had such great friends here. This was the first time I didn’t feel home sick, I didn’t think about my Ma as much as I had done in July and August. Slowly it all came to an end on 30th September.
After the final see off of our batch, it suddenly felt hollow. I couldn’t believe that my time here was over. I could not help it but I had to leave too. I had two days in hand; I thought I will spend it entirely with my friends. But, it was not to be. Prasad and Sai left on the 30th itself. When they went they had tears in their eyes. Sai cried. I remembered our first interaction, when he told me not to worry because we are friends. I wanted to cry but I could not. I had to be strong. I waved them good bye and returned to the flat.
          Ajay left to search for his room as he was posted in Hyderabad. Anil, Sarath and I remained. Sarath left that day too but in the evening and Anil the day after. Ajay left in the evening the next day. I met his Mom. She had also come. I felt nice to see his family. Finally we made way to his car to bid farewell. He greeted his friends and told me to go or else he would cry. I understood the feelings, even I wanted to cry, but there was no one, I couldn’t cry here too. I came back alone in the flat H005, Manjeera Towers. I left the day after for Mumbai, far away from all my flat mates. I don’t know for sure what they think about me, but I left with some fond memories which will be cherished forever.

Ajay: a budding musician, lover of music and a great fan of Dhoni. He is surely one of the best roommates’ I have ever had. He is also one of the best riders of the bike I have seen, smooth as whisky. We shared some good times together. One thing about him I want to mention is that he always listened to songs before going to sleep. And he would get up half an hour later to switch off the music player. He is surely dedicated and passionate about music; I hope he turns into a musician soon.

Prasad: he is an excellent manager; he manages events and takes good responsibility. He is a very cool customer, a fine man. I don’t know what he really wants to become, but whatever he does, he does it very well. One thing about him I would like to mention is that everybody said his father owned a train. I know for certain that he possesses a heart as big as a train.

Sarath: he read novels and my stories too. He danced well. He is a great Ganguly fan. Lover of cricket and watched all the matches. We spoke less but when he said anna I liked it. He wants to do MBA, and I hope he does it from a premier institute. He speaks well and will do well in life.

Sai ram: A hi-fi big shot, Sai never looked down upon anyone. His sarcastic remarks were noteworthy. He acts well too. I will never forget his birthday party. It was awesome and the best party I ever had. Sai wants to do nothing and live a happy life. He has a sharp brain and he has the ability to learn anything. I think that is a Sollu. Sai ra, can understand. I hope he does better than what he is doing now.

Anil: he is like a younger brother. Stunt is what everybody called him. He is a great Green Day fan and listens to all of their songs. He is also one of the biggest fans of Power star Pawan Kalyan. I hope he gets a girl friend who robs him of his money. He too called my Anna. He is the reason I am on twitter.

The greatest and the best thing I liked about these guys were that whenever they call me or vice versa they always ask about the health of my mother. Each one of them, without any exception and it is this gesture that makes me cry when I write about them or even think of the times we spent together. I stayed there for eighty days, I was close to them for only one month, but in that one month I got a set of truly awesome friends for life. I hope they turn up for my marriage.
I had not been my best during the first two months; I hope you forgive me for it.
In July and August, I missed my family and especially my Ma, In September I didn’t miss her because I had a family here with me.

Naaku Telegu ante ishtam
Naaku Telegu manushulu ante ishtam.

Biography- Guess, who am I?

2012-03-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

Countless number of times we have wished to be lucky. We wish to have fate of a superstar, a rock star, a businessman or even a politician (considering the immense amount of fortune they pile up during their tenure). There are some, who are born rich and some who turn rich. It’s all about hard work. The rich try to maintain their riches and work hard, while the poor works hard to get rich. Some believe destiny is scripted and some are the makers of their own. My story is among those famous stories that you would have heard from your mother at bedtime. It motivates some and some are left thrilled. I hope this article leaves you enthralled, yet keeps you motivated.
    The youngest child of four children in the family of French Canadian roots, I was born as James on January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada to Percy and Kathleen. My father was an accountant by profession and also an aspiring jazz saxophonist. Both my parents suffered from ill health. My mother Kathleen used to suffer from hypochondria, an extreme depression of mind or spirits often centered on imaginary physical ailments. She used to lie on her bed and take pills all day long. I wanted to cheer her up, so I used to walk over and do impressions of praying mantises and other weird things. I’d bounce of the walls or even throw myself on the stairs, just to make her feel better. This led to habit of entertaining people. I loved it very much. As a child I’d performed constantly, for anyone who would watch, and I even mailed my résumé to "The Carol Burnett Show" at age 10. Later I extended the funny performance to my classmates at Aldershot School in Burlington. I even obtained the teacher's permission to regularly carry out a stand-up comedy in class few minutes before the end of school day.
    All laughter and humor all took a drastic turn when I was in the 9th standard, my father, who was 52, lost his job as accountant. The financial status plummeted like the pack of cards and we were in dire monetary straights. That was a huge blow for my mild mannered father who had given up musical dreams in favor of family security. Due to this fiscal turnaround we had to sell off our home and relocate to the eastern part of Toronto. This was our family’s bleakest period, as we all agreed to work as factory cleaners for secured accommodation. We even took up janitorial jobs at Titan Wheels factory in Scarborough. I continued to study at the town's Agincourt Collegiate Institute. I did my schooling there and then worked at the factory for eight long hours every day. Inevitably the A grade student began to fail and this showed in my behavior in the community. I decided I had no option but to leave school.
Eventually my family decided the hostility between fellow factory workers and their general unhappiness was too much to bear and we moved into a Volkswagen camper van. Despite the cramped space my family was happier again. Seeking an opportunity for my stand up comedy abilities, my dad and I explored the whole of Toronto’s comedy clubs. Finally at the age of fifteen I landed with a show at Yuk Yuk's. I appeared in the show with a bright yellow suit made by my Mom. The initial performance at Yuk Yuk's sadly did not result well, but I was not discouraged, and kept reworking and refining my material to satisfyingly become the club's headliner when I made my comeback two years later.
My early routine comprised mainly of impressions and along with the positive feedback I was receiving I took the brave step of moving to Los Angeles in 1979. The Comedy Store soon had me on the bill and I found myself spotted by Rodney Dangerfield who booked me to be his support act, leading to Vegas gigs. During this period I called my parents to move in from Canada to the U.S. I knew things had to change and above all I realized I wanted to make people laugh and headed back to the comedy circuit, began to explore new material, often bombing in front of the audience but never giving up. However with less money and with no option I was forced to ask my parents to leave, Therein followed a bleak period in my life. During this time I wrote myself the now legendary cheque for $10 million for services rendered.
My personal life however looked more promising. In 1986 I met an actress Melissa Womer at the Comedy Store where she was waitressing, fell in love and married her a year later, shortly followed by the birth of my daughter, Jane. I was no longer a single man; I had a family to think of.
I had already taken part in small budget movies before I married Melissa. Other movies began to filter through soon after, "Finders Keepers", "Once Bitten", "Peggy Sue Got Married", "The Dead Pool", "Pink Cadillac" and "Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All" then came "Earth Girls are Easy". Despite being an unimpressive movie I managed to make an impression on co-star Damon Wayans who recommended me to meet his brother for a new show "In Living Color".
This was to be his big chance. The role led to my Unnatural Act in 1991 and led to a role in Fox's Emmy nominated TV film "Doing Time on Maple Drive". A serious role in which I played a young man with a serious drinking problem, it showcased my straight acting talents but I continued with "In Living Color", sticking with comedy.
I was able to push boundaries and test audience reactions and across the industry I was receiving attention and acclaim, which lead to my first blockbuster in 1994.
During my bleak period I had written myself a cheque for $10 million, which I kept in my wallet. I was given that amount when I signed a film in 1996, the cheque which I had in my wallet all the time I poignantly placed in his father’s pocket at his funeral. I am James Eugene Carrey, known famously as Jim Carrey, the 94 movie is called Ace Ventura and the 96 movie is called The Cable Guy.

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Sites from where the information is taken:
1.    http://www.imdb.com
2.    http://www.jimcarreyonline.com
3.    http://www.aceshowbiz.com

The Curtained Love

2012-03-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

She comes over to my store, yashmak (burkha) clad every three days. I could only view her eyes. She gets to the imagination of every person she speaks or even looks at. With long eyelashes and pitch black eyes, she casts a spell among all boys, and I am no exception. She is fair as snow, and applies thick, heavy kohl around her eyes; she looks stunning. I was blown away the moment I saw her. She was beautiful and shyness added that extra mile to her gorgeousness. The instance, I first saw her is still vivid and glorified in my memory. She is Yasmin.
She stays in a bungalow across the street. She is a daughter of a Biryani outlet owner, a wealthy man indeed. She has two brothers, one elder and another younger. The elder brother Yusuf is married to a rich man’s daughter and stays in foreign lands. The younger brother Asfaque has just hit adolescence. She comes to my store with Asfaque, every time to take paan (betel plant) for her grandmother.
It was easy for me to fall for her. She is attractive not only by looks but also by nature. She speaks with ultimate calm and serene voice. Although being from a rich family, she never let the riches arrogant her nature. She is humble towards all the people she speaks to. She has her brother as company when she comes to my store, well actually it was not my store, and I work here. I like to call it my store, not because it makes me feel rich but I love to work here. The owner is a kind hearted man who had given me a chance to work and earn a living. Little did he know that I was love struck and mesmerized by the charm of Yasmin.
It had been a year; I watched her come over to my store and ask for the regular paan. Although one year is a long time to get accustomed to anybody, but, for her I am just an acquaintance; I still blush and turn red when she approaches me. Let alone the feeling when she accidently touches me. The moment she appears, I feel the time freeze. The scene lasts for only two minutes, but I always feel it is more. I wanted to speak to her, in order to extend the precious moments and prolong her stay, but resented on most occasions. There are thousand thoughts that cross my mind- what if she rubbishes me off? What if she abuses me? No she couldn’t abuse, she is much better than that. I was clouded by such thoughts and always postponed my assignment.
I look myself at the mirror every day and think about the improvements I can make to make my entire package, make it worthy or notable. Finally I give up that argument too, when I hear John Abraham on the television quote “Money makes you look good.”
Approaching a girl of your dreams is no joke; I don’t know how people do it. Maybe that is one of the reason people say Love happens only once. It is a herculean task when the girl is pretty and rich and the boy, poor. Moreover, I had no friends whom I could talk to, no one who is an old hand and could guide me through my misery. Adolescent love is so restless and relentless; it eats your head and time. It will always provoke you to focus only on it. The worst part is boys will be impatient and will be in a hurry to propose and get into a relationship. Noteworthy, I had less time too.
Almost the Day: She came in with the usual fragrance and charm. Without any reluctance I prepared her regular paan. She paid me the money. I looked on for motivation and finally, I mustered all the strength and approached her. I wanted to ask if she had a boy friend, lame, as it may sound but I had decided that was the way to go about things. I opened my mouth only to ask “would you like candies? I don’t have change.” I chided myself many times, while she gleefully accepted. I gave her an extra piece from my side. She didn’t know about my small gift. One step at a time I thought. She took all except one and said “This one is for you.” Every time I am blown away, but this time, I am cloud nine with her gesture. I kept the candy under my pillow from harm’s way, my treasured possession- a candy.
The next day I thank her for her gesture, she acknowledges and smiles. I want to see her smile. I am sure it will adorn her and make her more beautiful, but to my misery I only see her eyes. We speak sometimes about general things, some regarding her brother and some about her family and sometimes about my family. She is innocent of my intentions. I still remember the day when she had asked my name. I think I am progressing, from no one to my name, it means a lot to me.
Time passed by faster after that, we spoke often and it took more than four minutes. One day she told me that she likes to talk to me, and left. I was flabbergasted. She had touched the soft spot in my heart and I very well knew that the time had come. I thought I was making amends and it was time for me to strike the iron while it is hot. It seems like a fairy tale, rich man’s girl and a worker at a store falling in love. I am afraid at times, because her family is respected and well known. My employer will throw me out of this job as soon as he gets the news. Little things bother most, and this prevented me from approaching her. I had my family to support too, but the moment I think of her, all the sense flies out of the window. I keep falling for her, building castles in the air. I see her fading from my sight as I once again postpone my execution.
I am content with my behavior towards her; she is unaware and happy too. This could not go on for long if I have to transform the castles into a fine house. I preferred to wait, but I did not know how long.
The Day: She turned up as always in her black yashmak with her brother. Her brother had locked hands with her. She asks for her regular stuff. I start the preparation and look at her at frequent, immediate intervals. She looks beautiful as ever. I am ready with the paan, she hands me the exact amount and turns to leave. Suddenly, I feel my life was going away from me. I wanted to stop her, tell her all that I had in my mind. In the mean time she had moved a good distance away from the store. I panic and grow restless, and finally in desperation I call out her name. She turns back without reluctance.
I approach her out of breath. I think again, whether to postpone or go for it. She looks on for me to say. I look in her eyes and open my mouth. I tell her how crazily I am in love with her, and although monetarily I am not competent enough yet, I promise to keep her happy. I tell her about how she had impacted my heart and if she gives me a chance I will keep her happy. Her eyes look at me in disputation. She then turns towards her brother who was a witness to my confession. Finally, she gazes at all the people around. She says nothing. She then turns to her brother and leaves me without a reply. I call her again, but this time she didn’t turn back. Her brother looked at me all the while; maybe he would understand my feelings. Already people were watching us and it is not good for her to talk to me in public. I felt assured that, that was the reason and she would reply me on her next visit.
She didn’t turn up for a couple of weeks, and I thought that was her answer. Day in and day out I had imagined her coming to my store and replying me or rather accepting my proposal. The feeling had left me happy at first, but slowly it turned into a nonsensical and fictitious. Maybe she is upset at what I had said. Maybe I am not worthy of such a human being. Too many maybes crowded my brain. I was baffled, and didn’t know my next step. I thought about it for days and felt reckless. The mind can be fascinating at times and at times it can be haunting. I felt no good. I am now lazy in my work and often forget the things I have to do.
My boss decided to fire me seeing my ignorance at work. It cost him money, but I am concerned with my life. I had to return to my village in four days. On my finals days of work suddenly, I spotted her. She is with her brother as usual. The street is rather crowded as it is evening. I give no second thoughts, and walk to approach her.
Her bungalow was close by, all the people knew her, because of her father’s stature. I pay no attention to them as I want my answer. I was not been feeling well, I lost focus on my work, I forgot how to smile and most importantly I forgot how to live. I walk over to her; I want to know the reason why I was discarded. She tells me to go away and never show my face and left. She was definite with her answer. I felt awestruck at her answer while she left. I spoke to no one. I felt I had committed a crime by breaking her heart.
I walked alone back to my room, desolate and shattered. Time could be a great healer; I just needed some time so that I could continue with my regular life. Difficult times are hard to pass, but they will pass eventually. I reach my room, lock the door and crawl into bed. I keep thinking about the incident in the market. It was agonizing. It still is. I close my eyes but the thoughts still chase me. I wanted to get away from this world, take a holiday or spend some time with my family. I think over and over again. I wake up look beyond the window. I spot a bar. What a view? It suits the occasion fine. Finally to get over my wretchedness I walk over to the local bar.
In the Bar: It is crowded and each one is busy drinking their stuff. I take a sip. The taste is bitter, as it is my first time. Nothing happens in the first two pegs. After a couple more, my head started spinning, and it gets me tripping. I can’t even walk the fine line, and struggle for an erect posture. There is something about drinking I feel, when you have a little- you stay a human. When you have little more- you turn into a tiger, pretend to be a renegade, raging and hostile. This can be troublesome for both- the drunkard and the one who gets into an argument with him. Well, a little more than that a man turns into a pig, falling in every pit and on every bend. I leave the bar at nine in the evening, like a pig, too drunk to sense anything. I slowly make my way back home. My room was not far away, just a small bridge and a bend to cross. I was in high spirits; the liquor in me was influencing my thoughts as well as my control. Slowly and steadily, I make it to the bridge. The cool wind blowing feels nice. I felt a sudden urge to get some more air. With boisterous heart and thoughts I climb the railing. I stand in akimbo. Bah! Forget all the things that happened, I will lead a good life now, it feels great. But, deep down I missed her, I knew that this enthusiasm is out of anger and not motivation. I outstretch my arms and feel the wind. I then close my eyes and feel much better.
Hello, he said what are you doing here? Come down or else you will fall. I heard these words but choose to ignore. He then shook my legs. I get startled and yet, try to control my posture. Within seconds I am moving uncontrollably and take a fall, but on the wrong side. It was a bridge but no water flowed under. It had dried a long time back. I could not make out the face of the man who tried to save me. I cry out loud Yasmin, and strike the ground with a great thud. My head bangs on the hard surface which consisted mainly of stones. Blood gushes out perpetually, I feel the pain but only for few seconds, I think my neck and skull both were broken. I lay there immovable. I try to figure out the person on the bridge and close my eyes for the last time.
My soul left the body and my call from heaven had come. Perhaps I had done some good deeds to get a call from heaven. But, a soul only leaves the earth after the list rituals are performed. I wept like a small kid, I felt bad for my family. They would definitely miss me. My body was recovered from the stench within an hour (thanks to the man responsible).
My body was cleansed and kept in my employer’s house. It reeked of alcohol. My family had arrived and they were in tears. I felt like returning back to life, but it cannot be. It was ten in the morning and it was time. They carried me to the cemetery. A grave was already dug, all people had gathered who knew me, but I waited for Yasmin.
Yasmin, on seeing the shop closed inquired to few people. She got the news that was related to them by the man on the bridge. Apparently, when I called out Yasmin, he heard it. When people questioned him regarding the incident he said, I jumped off the bridge and committed suicide. Before I jumped he heard me shouting Yasmin, I love you. Plain and simple, he got away without a trial; he as well as I knew that it was an accident. Neither he nor I were to be blamed. But, when I heard the story I felt bad, because it made me weak. I was ready to accept a new life, but a false story gave entirely a different picture.
Everybody watched each other; finally the time for my cremation had come and the time my soul was to be taken to heaven. When my body was lifted to be buried, everyone heard a loud cry. Yasmin had come, it was against the customs for a girl to attend funerals, but no one could stop her. She came in running and out of breath. My body was still in air; she dropped on her knees and cried. She was warned that the time had come for me to go. She cried and asked for few seconds of time. All men grumble among themselves. I was watching my Yasmin. She lifted her veil, showed her face and with tears in her eyes said, I Love you too! The next moment she was pushed aside and I was buried. My soul got the signal from God for heavenly aboard, I cursed myself “Kal jab main usse pyar karta tha, tab wo parde me thi; aur aaj jab wo mujhe pyar karti hai to main parde me hu.” (When I loved her yesterday she was in a veil, and when she loves me today I am draped).

Remember the Titans

2012-02-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

On 18^th of February 2012, India will again be playing to qualify for the men’s field hockey for the forthcoming Olympics. The London Olympics 2012 will begin on the 28^th of July. A record eight time winner, India will again go for gold.

This article, deals with Hockey, Olympics and the District of Darjeeling. Confused? Read further to understand. The people who don’t know, will think why Darjeeling? This article is about remembering what and how does the district of Darjeeling connect to the Olympics and Field Hockey.

There have been three Olympians associated with Kurseong, a town 30 kilometers away from Darjeeling. The fourth player who will look to qualify for the London Olympics 2012, according to my sources is from Kalimpong, 50 kilometers from Darjeeling.

Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong has the following notable alumni.

Cyril James Michie : (August 20, 1900 – 1966) was an Indian field hockey player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was educated at Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong.

In 1936 he was a member of the Indian field hockey team, which won the gold medal. He played one match as goaltender. No goals were scored against him. (Source: Wikipedia).

Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Michie

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any solo pictures of Cyril. The only picture that I found on the Internet was of the 1936 winning team. Unfortunately again, (as far as I know) no evidence is there to prove which one of them is Cyril. If there is anyone who can identify him please let me know.

1936 Berlin Olympics Gold Medal

2. Joseph "Joe" Deville Thomas Galibardy (January 10, 1915 – May 17, 2011) was an Indian field hockey player who competed in the1936 Summer Olympics.

In 1936 he was a member of the Indian field hockey team, which won the gold medal. He played five matches as halfback.

He was the last surviving member of the 1936 Indian field hockey team that won the gold medal. He came to his alma-mater, Geothals Memorial School during their centenary celebrations in 2007.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Galibardy

The Winning Hockey team of 1936 Berlin Olympics.

(Joseph is second from the left in front, Dhyan Chand second from left standing but don't know about Cyril)

India in 1936 Berlin Olympics (Germany was under Adolf Hitler’s rule)

Played: 5
Won: 5
Goals For: 38
Goals Against: 1 (The only goal that was struck was against India was in the finals by Germany. India won that 8-1 under the leadership of Dhyan Chand).

India was up by 6 goals in the finals. The Germans now decided to play rough. Going for Dhyan Chand, the German goalkeeper removed one of his teeth. Coming back after receiving first aid, the bare-footed Dhyan Chand instructed his team to go easy on goals. "We must teach them a lesson in ball control," he said. As the stunned crowd watched, the Indians repeatedly took the ball up to the German circle and then backpassed to dumbfound their opponents. India ultimately prevailed over Germany 8-1 in the finals to win its third successive Olympic gold medal.

The Fuhrer was very impressed by Dhyan Chand's performance in the finals. At a dinner party after the finals, Hitler offered to elevate Dhyan Chand to the rank of a Colonel if he migrated to Germany. Dhyan Chand turned down the offer.

(Source: http://www.bharatiyahockey.org/olympics/golden/1936.htm)

3) Chaman Singh Gurung: I could get no information about his date of birth and death. He hailed from Kurseong and he too studied from Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong. He was a gifted player who participated in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and won a gold medal. Unfortunately the information I got was that his gold medal was stolen. A man of such caliber and gift died a long time back and very few people know about him till today.

India in 1952 Helsinki Olympics (Finland)

Played: 3
Won: 3
Goals For: 13
Goals Against: 2

1952 Helsinki Olympics Gold Medal (which was stolen from C.S.Gurung's house)

4). Bharat Chettri: is an Indian hockey player. He has been appointed the captain of the Indian hockey team for the four-nation Super Series and an international tournament in Australia beginning 12 October 2011. (Source: Wikipedia)

(Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Chettri)

He is currently the fourth player who will eye an Olympic Gold, but as a captain, from the Hills. I hope and pray that he along with the team do us proud and bring back those glory days.

Lastly I feel sorry when I see that Hockey is no more a part of school sports in many places, (at least in Kurseong) even after the association of so many great players and also being the National Sport. If there is any information anyone can add, please provide it in the comments section.

Googling for better results.

2012-02-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

I really can’t imagine a life without www.google.com. I would have never completed my projects if it wasn’t for Google™. As we all use the Internet so frequently, we use Google™ quite often (at least I do). While searching the contents we first open www.google.com. Then, we fill in the search keywords and press enter. Sometimes we don’t even have to press enter; thanks to AJAX technology it displays us the options as we type. I have seen many people follow this procedure and I have compiled some tips here which I think will help you refine your search and get results faster.

1. Searching through specific sites : You can reduce the search criteria specific to only a website
e.g.: type espncricinfo: tendulkar, and this will show you the instances of Sachin Tendulkar in www.espncricinfo.com
P.S Not all the links provided by Google ™ will be of espncricinfo, only the first few links will be of espncricinfo.

2. Searching your name: Have you ever tried searching your name?

If no, then try this, type facebook : “your name” in Google’s search bar and see if your profile link is displayed.
(Tip: try without quotation marks to see different results)

3. Excluding words from search: you can also exclude a word from your search criteria by adding a "-"(minus/ hyphen) sign followed by your word after typing the search term.

e.g.: If you want to search Burman but not Sachin Burman, type burman –“sachin”. This will list all the burman results excluding sachin.

4. Calculating via Google : Google can also be a calculator.
e.g.: Type 36 * 36 and press enter. If your network connection is good you don’t even have to press enter.

5. Google as a dictionary: you can Google to find out meanings of words. Type, define: “your word”.
e.g.: Type, define: bogus and press enter. Again, if your network connection is good you don’t even have to press enter.

6. Google as a converter: You can use Google to use it as a converter. Type 1 foot to inches.
Similarly, you can also try 5USD to INR or 50miles to km

7. Searching for a file type: If you know the file type you are finding then try this.
Type pdf: dining, you can also do this for ppts.

8. Searching maps : I have seen many people do this, they first open www.google.com. Then they click on the menu bar title “Maps” and then do their search. To the people who do this and want to save time, this is for you. Type map: “place you want to search” e.g.: map: Mumbai.

9. I have also noticed many people; they type the website address in the address bar instead of using the quick search bar. If you haven’t set your default quick search www.google.com. I suggest you do it. This saves time and if you are on a slow connection you know you have to do it.

10. For chrome users, if you don’t want to use the quick search bar then just type your search keywords in the address bar and press enter. If you are using Internet Explorer then the search is done via Bing. (I don’t know about the others, you can check it out).

11. Finally, Happy Googling and I hope this blog helps you out in the future.

Cheers. 