Prakash_ Blindsighted

The Paradox of Surrender: A Dialogue on Divine Intervention and Self-Reliance

2026-01-25T20:45:00.003+05:30

"Tell me," the Student began, settling into the worn chair across from the Teacher, "how can we reconcile two truths that seem to contradict each other so completely?"

The Teacher looked up from the garden visible through the window, where rain had begun to fall. "Which truths trouble you?"

"The paradox of surrender and strength," the Student replied, leaning forward. "I have heard countless testimonies—read them, witnessed them myself—of people who claim they found salvation only when they reached the absolute end of themselves. They speak of being at the end of their rope, as the saying goes. They describe a moment of complete capitulation, when they had exhausted every ounce of their own strength, hope, and willpower. And it is precisely then, they insist, that the divine intervened. The miracle arrived not when they were fighting, but when they stopped fighting."

The Teacher nodded slowly, saying nothing, allowing the silence to deepen the question.

"But then," the Student continued, "we are confronted with an entirely different teaching: 'God helps those who help themselves.' This wisdom demands that we not ask for deliverance from our challenges, but rather for the strength to face them. It suggests that divine assistance comes to those who are actively engaged in their own salvation, who are vessels through which Providence can work. The intervention becomes almost... naturalistic. An observer who doesn't subscribe to religious thinking could easily attribute such outcomes to serendipity, to fortunate coincidence, to the inevitable statistical probability that sometimes our actions align with positive outcomes."

"So you see a contradiction?" the Teacher asked.

"How can both be true? How can surrender be the path and self-effort also be the path? Are we meant to collapse in exhaustion before the divine, or are we meant to stand tall and work as instruments of our own deliverance?"

The Teacher rose and walked to the window, watching the rain pattern the glass. "Consider the rain," they said. "The earth must be receptive to receive it—it must surrender to being soaked, transformed, made muddy and dark. Yet simultaneously, the seed buried in that earth must exert tremendous effort to break through its casing, to push toward light it has never seen. Which is the way of growth—surrender or effort?"

"Both," the Student answered quietly.

"Perhaps," the Teacher suggested, "the paradox dissolves when we examine what we mean by surrender and what we mean by help."

The Student waited.

"When the testimonies speak of reaching the end of the rope," the Teacher continued, "what has actually ended? Not the person's existence, clearly. Not their fundamental capacity for action. What has ended is a particular kind of striving—the striving of the isolated ego that believes it must solve everything through its own cleverness and force. This is the exhaustion of the illusion of complete self-sufficiency."

"The illusion that we are separate," the Student murmured, beginning to understand.

"Precisely. And in that moment of surrender, what has changed? The person remains the same person, with the same hands, the same mind. But those hands and that mind are now open rather than clenched. They have become available to possibilities they were too rigid to entertain before. Their surrender is not to powerlessness but to something larger than their previous conception of self."

The Teacher returned to their seat. "Now consider the other path—help yourself so that heaven may help you. What is this but recognition that the divine, if it exists, does not work through magical suspension of natural law but through the very fabric of cause and effect? The person who asks for strength rather than deliverance has grasped something profound: that they themselves must be the vehicle of change."

"But doesn't this contradict surrender?" the Student pressed.

"Only if we imagine surrender means inaction. But true surrender—the kind that precedes transformation—is not passive. It is the most active thing in the world. It is the seed splitting open. It is the letting go of one way of being so that another can emerge. When someone says they surrendered and then experienced divine intervention, what they often mean is that they stopped insisting reality conform to their expectations and instead became available to what was actually present."

The rain intensified, drumming against the window.

"And the observer who sees only serendipity?" the Student asked.

"That observer is not wrong," the Teacher said, "only incomplete. Yes, what appears as divine intervention often arrives through perfectly natural channels—a chance meeting, a sudden insight, a door opening at the right moment. The skeptic sees the mechanism and thinks they have explained away the mystery. But they miss the deeper question: why this convergence, why now, why this person?"

"Meaning and mechanism need not exclude each other."

"Exactly. The religious person and the skeptic are watching the same rain, the same seed, the same growth. One traces the pattern back to intention and consciousness, calling it Providence. The other traces it to prior causes, calling it chance. Both descriptions can be accurate at their own level."

The Student sat quietly for a moment, thinking. "So the resolution is that surrender and self-effort are not opposite approaches but different aspects of the same movement?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps the paradox itself is the teaching. Perhaps we are meant to hold both truths simultaneously, to live in the creative tension between them. In moments of despair, we learn surrender—we learn that our small, desperate strategies are not the only way. In moments of possibility, we learn agency—we learn that we are not helpless passengers but active participants in our own becoming."

"The person at the end of their rope," the Teacher continued, "does not simply wait for rescue. The very act of surrender is itself a kind of action, a radical reorientation. And the person who helps themselves is not acting in isolation but in relationship with all the forces—call them natural or supernatural—that make action possible. Your hand cannot help itself move; it requires nerve signals, muscle tissue, the oxygen brought by blood. Are you helping yourself, or are you being helped? The question loses meaning."

The Student looked out at the garden, where despite the rain—or perhaps because of it—everything seemed more vibrantly alive. "So both the mystic who collapses in surrender and the stoic who stands in strength might be right?"

"They might be describing the same territory from different vantage points. The landscape of transformation has many paths, and the paradox is that they all lead to the same place: beyond the illusion that we are either completely powerless or completely self-sufficient. We are neither, and we are both. We are waves that are also ocean."

The rain began to soften. Somewhere in the garden, a bird called out, testing the clearing air.

"The quirk that baffles," the Teacher said finally, "is only quirky if we demand that truth be simple, that reality conform to our either-or categories. Life is more generous than that, more paradoxical, more willing to embrace contradictions that resolve at levels we haven't yet glimpsed. The blessing comes to those who surrender. The blessing comes to those who strive. These are not different blessings."

The Student nodded, feeling something settle and simultaneously open within. The question hadn't been answered so much as transformed into something richer, something that could be lived rather than merely solved.

Outside, the rain had stopped, and the first light was breaking through the clouds.

Catastrophe Bonds: An opportunity for India

2025-12-13T19:53:00.001+05:30

With climate and nature-related disasters now being reported with greater frequency and intensity, the dependence of exposed communities on sovereign and philanthropic aid seems to be growing by the day.

Yet for such aiding institutions—especially sovereigns in stressed economies—compartmentalizing a significant portion of their funds for disaster response is a challenge, given their exposure to a host of competing demands. Amid these constraints, insurance is frequently viewed as a go-to solution, designed to soften the blow by helping compensate for losses. Yet, the reality remains that insurance payouts often face delays, bogged down by the complexities of loss assessment and the procedures required to distribute funds to the affected.

The diverse and ever-evolving world of financial products, however, offers another tool worth our attention—the catastrophe bond. This instrument represents an effort to address disaster response with the immediacy that traditional mechanisms often lack. Here, the payout is triggered not by cumbersome damage assessment, but by clearly defined catastrophic events. Naturally, this prompts the question: who foots the bill for such instruments? After all, money cannot simply be conjured—governments that attempt to do so, even with good intentions, court economic risks and unintended consequences. Simultaneously, the broader investment community traditionally looks for reward alongside risk, and rarely for the elusive but critical public good, unless incentivized by higher than market returns. The solution lies in attracting those willing to accept risk in exchange for potentially higher returns, alongside the social impact their investment can make.

Take a country the size of India, with its kaleidoscope of climatic zones and frequent exposure to natural calamities. In such instances, the involvement of local government gives rise to multiple benefits: The local administration is typically attuned to ground realities and long-term development needs. It is exposed directly to risk-mitigation behavior—knowing that reckless actions which heighten the chance of disaster may lead to bond failure and financial loss. Populist, short-term measures that could jeopardize community safety may be further discouraged, with both fiscal and reputational consequences becoming public knowledge.

Catastrophe Bonds: Origins and Emergence

Catastrophe bonds—part of a broader suite of insurance-linked securities (ILS)—arose from necessity. In the face of unprecedented disasters like Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which resulted in mammoth financial losses and failures among US insurers, the industry found itself at a crossroads. Traditional insurance and reinsurance mechanisms were increasingly buffeted, failing to keep up with the magnitude and unpredictability of catastrophic risks. New ways of sharing and financing risk were urgently needed.

Consequently, markets opened their doors to outside capital. Institutional investors, from pension funds to hedge funds, entered the fray, seeking the diversification and returns that catastrophe bonds could deliver. When the first cat bonds were floated in 1997, their adoption was rapid—accelerated by disasters throughout the decade and into the 2000s, each underscoring the need for large, swift infusions of recovery capital. Innovations did not stall there; the instruments have since become global in scope, embraced by private entities and governments alike—especially in developing economies where climate risk is a persistent specter.

Anatomy of a Catastrophe Bond

The essence of the catastrophe bond is risk transfer. Unlike indemnity-based insurance, which ties payout to exhaustive post-disaster assessments, the cat bond model is clear-cut: funds are released when agreed “parametric triggers”—such as specific wind speeds, atmospheric pressures, or storm paths—are met. Complexity is reduced, and instead of a drawn-out claims process, liquidity arrives within weeks, if not days, of the event. Core mechanisms typically include: Time-bound issuance, most often three to five years. Upfront investment by institutions who in turn receive floating-rate coupons—returns generally higher than elsewhere—so long as catastrophe does not strike. Should calamity fit the pre-agreed parameters, the principal invested is redirected to emergency response, bypassing many bureaucratic hurdles. In short, cat bonds bring much-needed certainty and promptness to relief efforts—qualities that are essential, yet all too rare, in times of crisis.

Broadening Global Horizons

Initially centered in developed economies like the US and Japan, catastrophe bonds have in recent years gained favor among sovereigns as tools for prearranged disaster financing. Here, Mexico provides early leadership, launching a national cat bond in 2006, continuously renewed and expanded since, safeguarding against earthquakes and hurricanes. The Philippines, too, pioneered this space in Asia, its 2019 sovereign cat bond listed on the Singapore Exchange, introducing a model with multi-tiered payouts reflecting disaster severity. Further consolidating their role, regional risk pools—for instance, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility—demonstrate how multi-country risk sharing and parametric bonds offer resilience at scale, reducing costs while broadening coverage.

A Case in Point: Jamaica’s Cat Bond Initiative

Recent developments in Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa that made landfall on October 28, 2025, with atleast 50 confirmed deaths and 52 millionUSD damages; illustrate the sophistication and real-world value of these instruments. Supported by the World Bank, Jamaica’s latest cat bond insures 150 million USD against hurricane risk, its structure mapped carefully to local geography and historical hazard data. The bond’s payout hinges on precise, objectively monitored triggers: for example, if a hurricane’s central pressure dips below a defined level within specific “boxes” (zones) tracked by meteorological agencies, a payout of anywhere from 30% to 100% of the principal may be triggered. Moreover, quick, independent verification ensures capital can reach government hands for emergency response rapidly—demonstrated during Hurricane Melissa, when such a payout was expected within weeks.

Further innovations emerge in these instruments: Jamaica’s cat bond forms part of a “tower” of protection, layered with other sources of disaster funding and insurance. Noteworthy, too, is the dialogue now taking place about “pause clauses”—temporary halts in debt repayment that could be enacted if catastrophe strikes, signaling the ongoing evolution of disaster-financing tools.

The Benefits—And What Remains Unresolved

From the investor perspective, catastrophe bonds bring high yields, diversification, and the comfort of well-defined risk, while also furthering the cause of disaster resilience and social impact goals. For governments, the advantage is even starker—rapid access to substantial funding, fiscal stability in the face of adversity, and the flexibility to tailor protection to evolving risks. Not least, the clarity and transparency of parametric triggers provide a buffer against administrative inertia, contributing to a culture of preparedness and swift response. Yet, these instruments come with challenges of their own: the possibility of misalignment between trigger events and actual losses (“basis risk”); significant costs for structuring and execution; and the effort required to keep the solution responsive to changing climate models. Public understanding and trust still lag in many quarters, reinforcing the need for effective communication alongside technical innovation.

India’s Opportunity: Market-Linked Disaster Financing

India’s experiences with climate-related catastrophes in recent years—ranging from extreme floods in Assam and Kerala to cyclones battering the eastern and western coasts—have underscored the sizable fiscal burden borne by the exchequer in the quest for swift relief and rehabilitation. Routinely, substantial sums are released from state and national budgets as emergency response, diverting resources from development programs that might otherwise bolster long-term resilience. The country’s vast and varied geography multiplies the challenge, turning disaster funding into a persistent and at times precarious exercise for government. In this context, a well-designed, market-linked initiative such as catastrophe bonds presents a compelling alternative. By pre-arranging capital through the financial markets, the government can access rapid payouts immediately following a trigger event, easing the pressure on state coffers. The outcome is twofold: not only is disaster relief decoupled from the volatility of annual budgeting cycles, but funds that might have been allocated for ad-hoc relief can be redirected towards resilient infrastructure, social protection, and adaptive planning. This approach builds fiscal headroom and strengthens the broader foundation for climate resilience—an imperative given the increasing frequency and severity of natural calamities across the country.

As the climate crisis accelerates, nations and communities cannot rely on ad-hoc aid or conventional insurance alone. Catastrophe bonds, while no panacea, carve out a vital space in the disaster risk financing landscape—offering speed, certainty, and market discipline where it is needed most. Their enduring promise will depend not only on prudent design and execution but also on a collective willingness to adapt, educate, and invest in resilience, ensuring that future catastrophes are met with preparedness rather than shock.

2010 to 2019, a decade in review

2019-12-31T19:44:00.001+05:30

Recalling a year is in itself is a task and yet here I am trying to unbox a decade full of memories and then I will say why not? Isn’t it a story to tell. To come around how much you have evolved, how much you went through and how different you are to the person you were then.

The only similarity I would have of when I started this decade and this day is, I still remain a student and that I am at home on this date. But this journey from student to a student also is filled with being employed, serving across different geographies, going places and meeting people.

Well I started off the decade as an engineering grad in my penultimate year of studies. Learning to look ‘cool’ and growing long hair was an easier option. That and the next year brought me to my knees to realize that hard work did matter and it would pay off.

2011 to 2013 had been probably most tumultuous, got down to being an employed citizen and started in construction sites for about 2 years to resign and prepare for a ‘better future’. Cut off myself from friends just to do so and ended up landing an opportunity for a Masters and a service with the Government. As luck would have it, rather y laziness would have it, I did go on for the job offer.

2013 to 2018 these 5 years were of such learning experience that I couldn’t even imagine. To serve at various places, solving myriad issues and coming across such a wide gamut of people was an eye-opener. It did feel like that I had arrived and there wasn’t any more to go forward. But, still got hold of a camera and started learning the art, and I am at it still. Gifted a car to my father, traveled to places and worked to make some people realize their dreams. I know not how much I feature in their prayers but yes, the recollection of such memories does give me joy.

Driving through non-notified highways to get home quicker at night, to facing wild elephants and long gossips with policemen on highway checkpoints. Freshest of teas, budding gardens, tastiest rasgullas in the borders of Assam, the boiled pork at Arunachal and what not and faking the top speed of the car to make a co passenger afraid.

The advent of 2018 however brought in some realization, that had I arrived, or did I need more, and to see someone close move to an institute for studies spurred me, to go and start preparing for being a student, working around to prepare for CAT, do my duties, and hope for the best only to doze off during the exam.

Thankfully I did manage to clear the examination and sneaked out to Kolkata to appear for interviews while my friends knew of them to be dating trips (dating was a long-gone activity). Nonetheless, I did manage to get through.

2019 brought in the biggest decision for me, to leave a comfortable life of being a government servant to be a student. And yes, as I did happen to mention, I am a student now having brought unto myself the rigors of being one and jotting this blog.

May you have a great decade ahead and wish you a Happy New Year to start off with.

Whatever it takes

2019-06-22T04:46:00.002+05:30

I have been working around for almost all my life right after graduation. But there always has been a zeal in me to try newer things, take up new challenges and strive to never make my life easy for something better.

I got selected into Tea Board of India in 2013 and have been an officer of the government till the day I quit (erm yesterday; look at this post’s date). But unlike a typical babu, or rather the typical impression of a babu I have always strived to be as clockwork as possible. Maybe the reason why I was feared for my punctuality by many of the stakeholders. I have also been appreciated a lot of times for striving to find solutions for the same people who would fear me and designing a path amid odds.

In 2018, probably the bat hit my head, figuratively of course. My younger brother, cracked CAT, graduated in engineering and headed off to join IIM Ranchi. This is when I realized while coaching him for the WAT-PI that these are the stuff that I would too like to do. So, we packed him off in a plane and off I went back from home to my workstation with the books he had been lugging around.

The role that I worked in required a lot of travel and even my commute to the office on a train would be about an hour long at the least. To top it up, I had already paid up for the gym and had cooking and chores duty at my residence. With all this in hand, I realized that sitting at a table would be almost impossible albeit for the weekends and some holidays.

So, off went the table plans, the books that were huge weight out of the window (again, figuratively) and in came all the gadgets I had at hand namely the iPad, the laptop and the cell phone.

In managerial roles, it is told that one should listen to their juniors, and I had one at home. This brother of mine happened to quip, you can either learn or you can practice for the tests and learn on the job err test. Being a person who would like to take the efficient route (I have never been able to sit at the table for more than 30 minutes ever in my life and I proudly have the attention span of a fish) I took the test and learn way. To spice it up, it was “test and learn on-the-go”. What it meant was, all learning happened in my commute. That probably had been the toughest learning methodology for me till date. Imagine standing with your nose stuck to someone’s back or bag on a good day and armpit on the worst, holding the iPad or the mobile, scrolling through the applications and solving quant and DILR. There have been times when I have dozed off while in comprehension questions, though it even happened on test day. The other spare time I could find was while cooking, so wait for the rice to boil, the fish to fry and do the sums at the same time.

The biggest takeaway through that process was that I was always under pressure of either the commute, the nearby passenger wanting to gossip, the calls from the office, of overcooking the rice or burning the fish or some other trouble for the day which I was gifted by the Almighty. The biggest pressure maybe was that I have been out of academics for almost 6 years when I started crawling back in. And as a lovely friend of mine put it, the ‘dil maange more’ trait in me is what makes me do these things (though the exact words used was madness)

So, the test came and the test went away and I had no idea what had happened inside the hall, except that I got some shut-eye in the verbal section. Cut forward to January and I get interview calls from IIM Lucknow, IIM Shillong, all the IIMs participating in CAP and the newer IIMs who didn’t.

The interviews were another game of their own and the only common theme for me was defending, “why at this age?”. If you ask me how I defended, my honest submission (pinkie promise for all who still believe in it) I do not recall the exact words. But I can surely tell you that it contained something or the other from the passages above. And who says no to a caffeine-laced drink over some conversation?

So, here I am, with conversions from almost all the institutes interviewed for and finally having selected PGPSM at IIM Lucknow. I am Prakash Roy, an engineer by profession, a former Factory Advisory Officer at Tea Board of India, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, a humble being with hobbies in photography (Instagram: @prakashray), blogging (utopianfisherman.blogspot.com, prakashray27.blogspot.com), micro-blogging (Twitter: @prakashray) and a knack to speak in public. This is my story of whatever it took for me to get through CAT.

And if you are in search for some inspiration, look up the Stanford Commencement Address of 2005.

some musings when drained...

2015-05-11T20:09:00.001+05:30

It has been a long time since i posted, nothing in particular this time around, totally ill and weak just something to say out.
Going in through a lot of turmoil, personal, professional etc. Maybe i feel that more communication has harmed us, gotten into our lives so much that now talking to your own self is crazy, there is absolutely no scope.
Shut out the lines and maybe sleep but the moment you are back on, all that needs to go out is explanations to whomsoever it may concern
Why am i writing this i have no idea..
waiting till i make sense, until then...adios

I ain't me...

2014-03-26T15:15:00.002+05:30

You called me the gifted one

The one with the lucid tongue

For my illusion fooled you

I still stay on this earth

With just a smattering of false clouds

Swirling to cover my bare feet

On the inside i squirm

For the praises coming by

Are not which i will ever deserve

To you have'nt i told

The truth of the lies in me

Yet you believe not

I may seem to be someone

I amnot who i am

Rage

2013-04-25T19:44:00.003+05:30

In my trance i remained

Battled the elements which passed

But its your prick hat hurt

Call it my fall or blame my pride

My armor is segmented

Not a uniform hardened hide

The fire your prick had

Burns now, an inferno

I am running all places

But why is't there nowhere to go?

Kill this fir, for you know the cure

O his scar will sign me;

I walk to water, a reflection beckons

Alas, a mirage it was only

And now there's no hope

Only time remains the healer

To kill within me his rage

the initiation of a healer

2013-04-12T20:26:00.000+05:30

Set out on the world with a mission

A will to learn, to understand

Got down to the task, in its earnest

The belief of completing it remained

The day arrived, to walk through fire

But the ambers failed to scar

The soul, the mind, the body

They said was ready for the war

Defeated they came, ailing

Walked them through the cure

Victorious while parting away

Blessings, gratitude came in galore

The days went by,

The battles unending

Heralded on the horizon

Not a moment’s rest was given

The war never seemed ending

But brothers in arms were they now

No more the demanding master

As water flowed by

All seemed better

And now they said, completed

It was, the initiation of a healer

inspired by the post http://spsultana.blogspot.in/2013/04/internship-in-amc.html

Fashion, prices, heritage and people

2013-03-30T13:02:00.002+05:30

Every place with a thriving business has its roots deep into history. And in the case of fabrics and other fashion trends as handicrafts, they tend to have an emotional connection with the producers and the local people.

The hook:

Handloom and other cottage produces are labour intensive activities. With inclusion of sourcing the best of materials and keeping up with the demand the toll on the producers is quite high. For the buyers, the intrinsic attachment to the products being their exclusivity, uniqueness and most importantly the human touch. The other aspect for the buyer being the ‘bragging rights’ of having one, just like the ownership of a luxury brand in some cases.

The line:

Difficult accessibility to raw materials and labour intensity tends to a high pricing of the products. But historically, handloom has been the shopping preference for the middle class of the society. With inflation the acquiring of handloom becomes harder for that particular class. However, the aspiration to have them never fades away.

This is the point where low cost produces come to play. The methodology employed being mechanization, adulteration or adjustment of raw materials and finally the glitz to sparkle eyeballs.

As a result of the above actions the demand supply chain is normalized, the flaws acquired in handmade products are to an extent removed and the oomph being added by means of adoption of latest fashion trends and adopting them into these products.

The sinker:

The newer practices however hurt the income of the handloom workers. And also bring down the exclusivity of their produce. Due to reduced costs, the products are not always expected to have the quality as in handloom, however failure in performance directs the ire of the buyer toward the local producer rather the one mass producing. With customer satisfaction going down high priced products take the beating. Thereby affecting he whole community economically as well as culturally.

Perceived solution:

Local produces could get geographical indicators and also restriction of manufacture of those produces by any other agency with provisions of punishment inducing deterrence in involvement in such activity. Total ban on sale of he products other than by the partners endorsed by the geographical indicator. And last but importantly, creating attraction towards the produce of handloom by local people and increase in number of the workers thereby bridging the gap of supply and demand.

As a suggestion, I would like to ask all readers and experts in such fields that is grading of products possible wherein the same product varying in minor qualities be graded such as to offer them in a wide band of prices and make them available to all masses?? Leave your comments

Don't fall my friend

2013-02-20T20:34:00.001+05:30

Your words i feel
From my heart's core
The disappointment isn't hidden in it
I too pass through your path
As you speak out to me
Greatness isn't that shrouds me
Illusion is that all
I keep that smile on me
For otherwise i myself shall fall
You have it in you
What you believe i have in me
For it's not lost that you think
As its a battle in a war
Get back your arms
Put on your shields
For we will be together on this battle path
Let not your will sway
I wil be there always my friend
Please do not fall away

o my valentine

2013-02-14T20:24:00.002+05:30

The nights deep

And your lap i have for comfort

your breath on my shoulders

feeling your hair on my face

i dive into your ocean of love

for i want you always

close to me, holding me each moment

and now as you i miss

when u sleep far away from my lands

in a fairy tale of your own

let me come to you

let me touch you as i love to

and we be together again..

Ek tha tiger: torture in science

2012-09-22T23:59:00.003+05:30

After a watch of the movie 'Ek tha tiger' starring the heartthrob of the Hindi film industry Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif i am simply confused of the theory i studied and as someone put it 'maybe the director didn't know there is Physics'. Some points i put down here for your reading pleasure.

1. Iraq: The first scene, Salman jumps out of the window to land on a car. When he jumps, the car is at such a distance it cannot be there in the next second. Considering the fact the car was going real fast he must have been thrown off it: the relative velocity thing comes into play here. Anyways a hero is a hero.

2. Dublin: Salman going on the roof of the train to stop it. Come on there is something called to the emergency stop button on any operative system!!! Ok he didn't know that maybe, up he goes and the suit is his insulation from maybe say 33000 Volts of electric potential and he comes unscathed while we use specialised gloves and equipment in the power sector. Amazingly, the suit is still wearable after the action scene, next time i gotta buy that make of the suit.

3. Istanbul: Both protagonists go out of the hotel the next morning they plot and no hotel staff notices in a place where diplomats are being hosted there is no security protocol. But in the spur of the moment, why do governments pay so much to maintain such big estates for their embassies?

4. Cuba: So seasoned are our protagonists, they kill a 'bad man' in front of a security camera and still keep staying in the country. My thought, maybe they assumed the camera to be a dummy as in our places at times.

To my reader, i am not against the movie industry just that an appeal if forwarded to them, just keep the physics in mind.

Surrender, to your magic

2012-08-07T18:35:00.001+05:30

A beat in my mind sounded

Suddenly the feet tapped away

As you sang the melody

The heart leapt with joy

For all this happened

When you were on the other side

And then you walked in

The song in your lips, still ringing

Your look, into my eyes

You had me feeling, mesmerized

O enchantress, how do you spell magic

Defeat me without a blow

For this surrender at your feet

I had never dreamt of

But what is that you do?

Take me up to you

Am I the compliment to your magic?

But all the same, I’m all for you

You will be remembered...

2012-06-06T22:52:00.000+05:30

For all the sunrise shared together

The false alarm of snow far away

The paneless windows

And the lightless nights

For all are flooding in tonight

As I sit alone, without you

The trips, the cribs and

The fights for the loo

The snowy days when we played

The snowmen which grew

Evenings drowned in auction bridge

Drowned in rum were few

The parties the shopping

And washing all the clothes

For all the great times together

For us the ‘Balti team’

Remembering you…

Musings of the snow times

2012-03-07T19:00:00.000+05:30

As every droplet in the air condensed

All the water iced up

The rain came down frozen, soft

Snowfall had begun

Now there was all next nowhere to go

The wind lashed the mountains hard

All that prevailed was silence

Where did the roar of the river die?

Has any soul heard the chirps?

The sun set into the horizon

But lo! The shine fades not

The moon lights up, all in pure white

As one gapes in wonder, breaths freeze

Day breaks and the sun begins its move

All the sounds return, snow-men arise too

The battles to move begin for the walls are high

Fights go on with the sleet below

For the soul of the plains

The memory has a great glow

But alas draws in the flood pains

Untitled II

2012-03-03T22:41:00.000+05:30

Tore through the bowels of the behemoth

Went on all the way end

Cold, dark, damp and wet

Bleeding all where the orifices were

For the looks were saddening

The beast tamed by brute

It sounded out too, groaning

The rumble and falls of itself, in pieces

Its intestines they caked

Moulded and hardened, the agony remained

The brute treatment prepared again

Drilled on the insides, a torture

The wounds healed to explode

As the shudder passed by

All but nothing trembled, in terror

Lest all hell breaks loose

And in a pass through the inside

Darkness prevailed all around

Scaring out all the living that was

The beast commanded respect

This soul gratified, said out soft

‘Didn’t get lost in a tunnel’

HURT

2011-12-04T12:31:00.001+05:30

Chilled through the spine

The wave that flew by

The fear of the mortal

Quaked away my heart

Rambling my thoughts I searched

Looked for all the memories

Something snapped inside

For there was no scar on me

Pain excruciating only it was

Then your face flashed

The knife twined to your fingers

Seared away my soul

That character that image

I lost of me...

Was I the foe you despised?

The enemy you wanted killed?

Know, I won’t go away

Not to be defeated by a cut

I would stay, scarred

Mark my words o’ friend

Title at the bottom

2011-11-24T21:13:00.003+05:30

The day brought in a promise

The sun shone bright

The wind did its little jig

And the run began

To scale heights

To go past all in between

The point awaited arrived

The point of no return

So it happened then

Saw what was in dreams

Reality tasted sweeter

The wind ringing in my ears

All else the silence around

For the pin won’t fall

All was in a tight grip

Mother earth came close

Took me back in her arms

The day in golden letters

The moments I flew

Or glided down in a parachute

The Heights I scaled

2011-11-08T20:20:00.000+05:30

As I walked down the dusty path,

All the earth flying away in my steps

Feeling powerful I surge ahead

And lo!! What greatness beheld my eyes

For the heights dwarfed me

The sheer being standing tall

As the awe came over

The realization dawned

For I, this puny human

Can too dwarf these heights

The little trick of the brain

The act of making it look up!

So the battle began

As I scaled the heights

The duels grew harder

For once it would win

The next bout taken by me

The dust it threw to disarm

The shields with me I brought

As the summit came to sight

The chord struck me

Tall I have become

But on another’s shoulder

But that despise had given way

For all that was, was one

I became it, it became me...

LIVING WITH YOU

2011-10-18T07:22:00.002+05:30

As I sit in these heights

Watching the sky above

It looks as that far as it was below

I stare at the stars

They twinkle back to me

In this wilderness

I roam for civilization

In this jungle

This soul left alone

She too ignores me

Only I know how

This feeling eats inside

Someone to embrace I love

But she’s far away

Will you tell her I long

For her touch, to look in her eyes

These chains bind me

But I bide my time

For the links will rust

Is she doing it too?

If you are reading this

Please let me know dear

For it’s not living without

But living my life with you…

The weather pinks and blues...

2011-09-11T11:47:00.003+05:30

A wet morning

Cold and wry

All the shivers that come

Just cannot remain inside

The droplets I brave

To dry me, to protect

But now the gale is strong

And all that is, is flying away

The mighty birch

Shaken to the roots

The ground creaking

All hail! For the sun’s out

The rays bring warmth

Let the breeze be welcomed

A red carpet for it

Rejoice for all is well

The children shout out

Even the wails are sweet

The music in my ears

Drums a drummers joy

The happiness of heaven

The dreams of a paradise

Why they too seem true

For now I sleep deep in peace

I wish you do too…

A squire i need

2011-08-28T10:24:00.000+05:30

in the lands unknown

i explore the frontiers

all the new features

while it looks a blurry future

the tongues they speak

all those unheard

but the eyes say it all

the fear of the unknown

curiosity in the un-chartered

away from my abode

i search for a home

why do the tornadoes not come?

but just the thunders?

missing the twinkle of my eye

when will that shine be back...

they say i glow

but isn't it the ambers of pain

that light me up??

smiling on my scars

need a  coverup to hide

i wish to win

victory i will have

all i ask for is a squire...

AN ODE TO MOMO...

2011-06-08T22:33:00.001+05:30

Born in the orient

Thy arrived at our lands

Exclusive, hard to have

Thy art all who performed

Praise them the alchemists.

Savior of the cold

Friend of the joyous

Companion for all who cried

They ain’t say in vain

The times they are a changing

From the royal heights you descended

Came down to the masses

Who worshipped you,

But when the heights came down

The widths expanded

Wont you say to you

Love is better when more

Your genesis we know not

Neither do we ask for it

As your divine presence

Fills our heart with ecstasy

Metamorphosis you underwent

By the hands of sorcerers

Some just heavenly, some hell down under

The fault is not yours as we travellers yearn

To find a sorcerer

An apprentice to the alchemist

To have a newer you

Or an older one we never knew

Thy small white dumplings

We yearn for every moment

Stuffed with multitude choices

Your treat of soup

Thy divine aura mesmerizes

As I bow down to you

Thy greatness, o Momo…

LOST AND FOUND

2011-06-08T06:15:00.004+05:30

The day we parted

Was one I chose to forget

For all your memories are cherished

Remembrances of the times we shared

Those small chit chats

The long drawn fights

Every chance I asked of you

To know how you’ve been

As it’s been long years

Since the last of yours I’ve seen

And lo behold!

You again are before my eyes

Refined, refreshed and

The best of your kind.

I see you remember me too

The days you too didn’t forget

It’s nice to be together again

My words at times choke

So many words and a single mouth

You too have been essence

In my life or it would be vain

Your friendship I kept safely treasured

And the safe will always be

To lock you in my heart

That we never have been and won’t be apart

We met to part

Parted, and then we met

Loved will you be, o dear friend.

SPARKLES

2011-06-08T06:13:00.000+05:30

They sparkled with a crackle

A crackle, a resounding thunder

For then the sight beheld

A sight worthy to be survived

To be called upon in cheer and gloom

For there were sparks above

And it blew fire below

Charred were all who’er in its way.

The ode to the all powerful

To invoke his calm, to heal the burn

How shill they all wailed!

The clouds tore up and the earth gave way;

The swaying tres stood silent

The aviators listened crouched in fear.

Which all had dreaded,

Tidings of fury it contained within

Fury unknown, unseen and unheard of

But then it all ended.

The calm, the fury, the fear the wail

As the sweep that arrived

All that were and would be

Consumed up like nothing

All there was and now none.