Category: Life Ordinary

  • The Room

    He sat in the room and looked around – lovely view, clean and neat, soothing ambience,but he was still not at peace.. for it was a hospital room, and the patient was his wife..
    they had been married for several years and were a model couple to everyone around them -rich, good looking, famous, with friends who were devoted to them…in short everything anyone could ask for… until disaster struck in the form of a terminal disease. It was as though even the Gods were jealous…
    Though the disease was terminal, he hadnt yet given up… he had tried all the methods of medicine known to man and all the holy men whom friends had referred, but to no avail..he told his friends that he was willing to do anything to get a cure for his wife, andthey nodded in sympathy, helpless against what seemed to be the will of God.
    That was when he heard about the room. although no one had any proof of its existence,rumour had it that in the remotest parts of the country, in forests so deep that even an animal planet or national geographic had not been able to penetrate, there existed a room. it was believed that if anyone manged to overcome the obstacles and reach the room, the romm would automatically fulfil his greatest desire.
    his friends tried to convince him against the idea of going there, for the jungles had already devoured many who had set out to get their wishes fulfilled, but he was adammant.for weeks his friends waited for him, but there was no trace of him… many thought he was dead, but he had survived, not only survived but also managed to reach the room and get his wish fulfilled….
    once he got out of the forest, he called his closest friend, to get the good news… “i am sorry”, said the friend.
    “what happened?”, he asked, surprised..
    “your wife is dead. in fact all the major channels covered the funeral, and many have even asked me whether you will be interested in a series that showcases your devotion to her. you couldn’t find the room, could you?, but at least you are alive….”, said the friend.
    he kept quiet, for he suddenly realised what his deepest desire had been…
    until next time, clean your room.

    P.S.. the current edition of “outlook” has a wonderful article by Sandipan Deb. this story idea is from a little paragraph in it.

  • Ownership Issues- A non ambani story

    When the police knocked on his doors one fine morning, he didnt know what hit him. the story made the first page in the days that followed. He still remembered the conversation with the policeman who first questioned him.
    Policeman : are you the owner of this apartment complex?
    He: not exactly, but i am paid to look after it.
    P: are you related to the owner.
    H: no, but i have full authority in all matters pertaining to it.
    P: so you are liable as well as accountable.
    H: yes, but why these questions?
    P: do you personally know all tenants?
    H: not all, but my office makes sure that all papers are intact and we give it out only to good citizens.
    P: do you know the tenant in 6A?
    H: not off the cuff. but let me look at the records.
    (after a quick look) ah yes, the schoolteacher, he has been here for quite a while.
    P: can you explain why he has so many schoolkids visiting him?
    H: well he offers extra tutions to help out weak kids.
    P: oh well, the kind of tutions he has been giving, are not for the weak of heart. he has been running a pornography racquet here.
    H: you must be mistaken.
    P: we are not, and we have come to arrest you.
    H: Me?! what did i do? why dont you arrest him?
    P: he is absconding, and by your earlier admission, you are
    accountable and liable for whatever that happens here.
    H: well, i have been a law abiding citizen. i have his permanent
    address and i can help you trace him.
    P: thanks for the help, but thats beside the point and i’d still
    have to arrest you.
    H: but i didnt do anything.
    P: legally you facilitated the base for the operation.
    H: but i didnt know what he was upto.
    P: again, by your own job description, its your liability to have found out, and if you didnt, you are accountable for it. sorry, but you are under arrest.
    H: i am a respected citizen and the community is not going to stand for it.
    P: sorry, but no one is above the law.
    As they took him away, he wondered what would be the scenario if a similar issue had occurred in the organisation in which he was CEO, an online bidding site.
    until next time, be a responsible owner!!

    P.S: for an alternate version of this template, please check this out and tell me if i should use that one.

  • A Bubble of plans

    They met at one of the Bubble Cafe chain outlets. They sat near a window, and so could see the sea down below…. not a sight which many people were comfortable with.. but they were, for they were quite confident of their role in the scheme of things..and if still something happened to them, well, it would happen for a reason..
    They were meeting to review the plans that were being implemented as part of the legacy that had been handed down to them a long time back.. some of them were people whosevoice mattered in business and society, and some were normal people.. but it didnt matter,between them, it was their job to make sure that everything was done keeping the plans in mind.
    the origins of the legacy was at a time when mankind still couldnt grasp the significanceof the messages being sent to it by the system in which it operated.. and therefore earthquakes, cyclones etc ravaged the lands one after the other.. each time a calamity occured in one part of the world, it was seen in isolation and mankind’s typical response was two fold – one was “god, whats happening?” and the other was “lets all pool inresources there to help those affected”…
    between these calamities, people moved to ‘safer’ locations, and those unaffected continued to lead their normal life after ‘pooling in resources’, feeling smug about having done their bit. the normal life included massive felling of trees in tropical areas to overtaking from the wrong side and everything in between…
    sometimes consciously, and sometimes otherwise, the million year old mankind and the billion year old system fought each other in a ‘who blinks first’ contest till the system left mankind with nowhere to run, literally.. fortunately, a few had begun to understand the significance of what was happening around them and had begun to try and set things right.. from trying to inculcate values that were longforgotten, back in to humanity, to designing alternate habitats and lifestyles that didnt harm the system, they tried to make peace with the system…
    and thanks to the way of life advocated by those few, and followed increasingly by others,the system stopped its war with its favourite creation… what was lost couldnt be regained,but mankind had learnt a lesson it should have never had to learn- humility…….
    and thus they sat in the Bubble Cafe, uncorked the water they had specially ordered for the occasion, and toasted the few, who ages ago, had revamped mankind…. the few who used to have meets then too, the few who knew each other only through their words, and thoughts…
    until next time, make a plan

    P.S : with regards to the template i have 3 ayes yet (pleo, stone and blues) and 5 vehement nays (cynic, pallavi, wings, austere, coolcat) :).. have made some changes to make it better looking at all resolutions (as part of my new year resolution).. so, can we wait for a few more responses and a few more days, before we take a final decision on this? 🙂

  • A New Ear

    for all the nonsense we hear around us……

    Manmohan Singh will discover the man within like a certain Mohan Bhargava we know, and stop singing Italian tunes.
    Americans will have a new president as George W Bush gives up the presidency in favour of his long cherished ambition – to become a permanent faculty at america’s premier institute – MIT- institute for the Most Insane Truants.
    Nipplegate will become a tradition at Superbowl, with actresses, models, singers, socialites all vying for the honour (of course there will be a live telecast by DD)
    Uma Bharti will feature in an Adnan sami video, thus giving cross border cultural relations the much needed boost.
    Shahid and Kareena will tie up with Airtel to provide live lessons of mouth to mouth resusciation so that people can use it on other people when the need arises.
    Chandrababu Naidu’s plans will become the blueprint for development activities in all states.
    Real Madrid will pay the biggest contract amount ever to get Bhaichung Bhutia and complete their star ensemble.
    Yechury and his ilk will be sent to his beloved land Russia, to be more specific, Siberia, forever.
    Potholes will be found only in museums as they would be a thing of the past.
    Traditional Indian stuff will make a huge comeback as things like sari (with accessories like blouse) and karva chauth will be endorsed by Mallika Sherawat, Neha Dhupia etc.
    Sourav Ganguly will become the first non playing captain ever, in the history of the game.
    Women will be legally permitted to cut off the appendages of men who try to use it on them without their permission.
    I will convince myself that the paunch i possess is not an integrated 6 pack.
    School children will use MMS for more constructive purposes like copying during exams.
    Holland will take on Bangladesh and India in a triangular series to decide the #1 team in one day internationals.
    Laloo Prasad Yadav will be given charge of the ministry of animal husbandry so that he can manage buffaloes and other ministers, and keep his nose out of mechanical contraptions like trains which are beyond his scope of reality.
    Indians will find it in their hearts to outsource labour intensive work like construction to developing nations like USA.
    Seers will take over the business activities of bhais, and corporates like Ambanis will seek them to eliminate those who try to bring out shady deals.
    TV ads without Amitabh Bachhan will be back.

    That, if you look closely was literally the manuscrypts wishlist for the year 2005, some with tongue in check, while others with tongue firmly in cheek.

    until next time, go get that new year…. and spare a thought, a prayer and anything else you can spare for the less fortunate. this might be of help. (thanks kraz)

  • The Cemetery

    he had the graveyard shift today. unlike others, he always had it, because after all he was watching over the cemetry.. but again, unlike others, he liked this, watching over the remains of an existence that once was.. youth, old, male, female.. once in the cemetry age, sex, nationality , nothing mattered…. to the monitors that scanned the cemetry they were all the same.
    they would not have spared their mortality a thought while they existed. it was only when age and fatigue slowly crept up on them that some of them would have even thought about mortality.. of course there were some who were so young that they werent capable of such thoughts, their existence was as though a little kid was given control of the life creating mechanism- the kid crated the life, then, treated it like most of his other toys- played with it till he got bored and then either ignored it or snuffed its existence… yes, these little ones deserved pity, for they did not know what it was to grow, and grow old; they didnt have the time to love enough, or be loved enough, in their short burst of existence they were given a glimpse…
    the majority of the occupants were ones that had gone through the entire life cycle, felt the pain and joy of existence, felt happiness, sorrow, anger, hate, envy, love, peace, companionship and all the thrills and frills of existence…
    his job was to guard the cemetry, from gravediggers, who came to pilfer from the remains of what once was.. but that was the lesser part of the job, there was another part which actually made the job interesting to him.. sometimes while he sat staring at the monitors, he would suddenly detect an occupant coming back to life..strange, but true!!
    for these were no ordinary cemetries, they were giant servers – virtual cemetries, that housed blogs which had ceased to exist, and to him, there was no sight more thrilling than a blogger becoming active again…
    this one’s for all those blogs i once used to read, for those who have moved on….
    until next time, think about the symmetry…