I never wrote book reviews, although I always wanted to. I started writing this review, because I felt the most of the reviews on this book (just like the book) are incomplete and biased except one. I need to acknowledge this guy, who really made me to think and write this review.
Note: You should have read the book to understand this review completely.
Coming to the point, the first reaction that I had after reading this book is that "This is not true". I was depressed, dejected, and little bit frustrated. The book was acclaimed to reflect the "real India". But it didn't. What I actually felt is that, it is meant to grab focus. When everybody is saying "Indian is shining", you just create a fiction which symbolizes the opposite of that. There are certain things that I agree with the author but not all.
Certain things that I really liked about the novel are: The way it starts. Balram Halwai, a Bangalore based entrepreneur writes a letter to famous Chinese personality, Premier who is going to visit India to learn about entrepreneurship. In this letter Balram writes his own story of entrepreneurship in way to unburden the pain that he is carrying by killing his ex-boss. I really liked the way he unveils his story starting from his poster, which shows that a driver has killed his boss and ran away with that money.
Coming to the other end, the author mainly focuses on the fact that there is a vast gap between the rich and poor in India, between cities and rural areas. He symbolizes these things as "the Light" and "the Darkness". I agree with this fact. But the disturbing factor is that the narrator of the story kills one person to cross this rich-poor barrier. Somehow, the novel reflects that the only way for a poor person to become rich in this country is to kill somebody or to get corrupted or to get amoral. The narrator, Balram, justifies this saying
"But isn't it likely that everyone who counts in this world, including our prime minister (including you, Mr. Jiabao), has killed someone or other on their way to the top? Kill enough people and they will put up bronze statues to you near Parliament House in Delhi—but that is glory, and not what I am after. All I wanted was the chance to be a man—and for that, one murder was enough."
Well, I agree with this point w.r.t politicians in India but not for entrepreneurs. This is really a misguiding factor about the present day entrepreneurs.
One other factor is that, the author tries to show a worst-case scenario instead of a balanced view. For example, he says that every thing that his school gets, mid-meal programme, uniforms, books; everything is swallowed by the school teacher. This reflects that the system is completely corrupt. I don't agree with this. I would say that there is corruption; there are things which are swallowed in the middle. But definitely, there are people who are good and who are not corrupt. And there always remains something at the end. Its not 100% corruption.
Sometimes, I felt that author was not really describing the present. Some of the descriptions made me to imagine that he is writing about the past some 2 decades back from now. I may be wrong in this point. For example, the narrator who lives in Bangalore city listens to All India radio for latest updates of news. I don't think that people living in cities are still dependent on All India Radio for news updates.
During some descriptions, the author praises the communist attitude of China, while degrading the India's democracy before it. I accept that China is the fastest growing economy but I don't support that India should follow this communist attitude to become China. We all know what communism could lead to. Democracy is the only solution for the future.
The most disturbing factor for me in this novel is "Balram killing his ex-boss Mr.Ashok". I don't think that there is no symbolism in this novel. I guess, the author deliberately choose characters as symbols. Balram, the main character is symbolized to represent the poor of India. Stork, Buffalo, Wild Boar, and Raven are symbolized to represent the rich, feudal lords of the past India. The two sons of Stork, Mukesh and Ashok represent two diverging Indian perspectives. Mukesh is just like his father, another feudal lord. Ashok is an educated man, who returns from US, with an American wife. Ashok is a sensible, good mannered, socialistic type of guy. Just like any typical educated Indian man. Ashok is portrayed to be a helpless man, who is confused by his own principles and the society, the show-cased real India. Because of this helpless nature, his ambivalent nature, his wife (a foreigner) leaves him. And then he gives into corruption and becomes amoral. And finally, the good-natured guy is killed by the poor Indian man, Balram. This is totally wrong. Completely misleading. My take on this, if India has changed in the recent past, one of the main reasons is: people like Ashok. They have directly and indirectly contributed to the growth of the India. In spite of the Government failures, they have pushed lot of money into various NGO's to reform India. They became entrepreneurs to reshape the economy of India. They are the next generation leaders. If people like Ashok are killed, then there will be no India. I would have been happy, if Balram (poor guy) has killed Mukesh (rich, feudal lord).
About writing style and all. I think this is not a book, worth to be a Booker Prize winner. I have read the past Booker Prize winners from India. Midnight Children, The God of small things and The loss of Inheritance. Definitely, this author, Aravind lacked that kind of subtlety. He tried to show India in a symbolic way, which could never be complete and perfectly right. Just being sarcastic won't make it a perfect book.
There is one more thing I wanted to add. After about 100 pages (total of 193 pages), the book became somewhat monotonic. I got a repulsive attitude towards the descriptions of rich-poor differences.
In conclusion, I would say that it’s a book for a weekend reading, but don't think that it is India. India is a far better world
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Story of 'Man'
I want to tell the story of Man, who went in search of Peace and Happiness.
Man was born to a lady called Love. When he was a child, he used to play with Honesty and Peace. Peace had a sister called Happiness. He liked Happiness. It was good, all of them playing together like that. But one day he fought with Honesty for the sake of a choclate. With that Honesty, Peace and Happiness left him and they never returned. He felt longing for them, especially for Happiness. He went to his mother Love and cried. Love told him that he has to search Happiness and marry her. His father Ambition came inbetween and told him : "There is only one way to find Happiness. You have to travel a long distance with Education, who only knows the way to Happiness".
Education introduced him to a co-traveller called Friendship and then three of them started for a long-distance journey. On the way, Education gave him fruits called Knowledge, eating which he became stronger. But occasionally, he was attacked by a monster called Exams which threw spears called fear at him. But Education and Friendship came to his rescue and they gave him a shield called Courage,using which he fought with the monster. This continued for a very long time.Only Friendship and his dreams of Happiness made him move. He sometimes felt that this is not going to end at all. But after a very long journey and many attacks by the monster Exams they came to a junction called Life.
Education looked at him and told him: "I can accompany you till this point only. After this you have to choose your path and travel alone". He looked at Friendship, who said "I am sorry. I have to go in my way. But I will keep in touch with you". He became confused and lost. He sat in the middle of the junction called Life and he saw two people coming towards him from two sides. One of the said 'Hi! My name is Selfishness'. and the other one said "My name is Principles ". Both of them asked 'what are you searching for ?'. He replied saying that he was looking for Happiness.
Principles told him "If you could come along with me, we will go to the village of Satisfaction and start searching from there". But Selfishness said: "No! No! No! That is uncertain. If you come wtih me, I will introduce you to Money and you could marry his daughter. She is more beautiful than any other girl. Even your Happiness would not be as beautiful as her". Principles tried to convince him but he didnt heed and started with Selfishness.
Selfishness took him to Money and Money introduced him to his daughter called Ego. The moment he say Ego, he thought of marrying her. He felt that Selfishness is right, Ego is more beautiful than Happiness. After the marriage, Money gave him servants called Comfort,Status, Power and Religion and built a palace called Hatred for them which is always locked with a lock called Responsibilities. After sometime, Ego gave birth to a child called Conflict. As Conflict grew older, Man's longing for his playmates Peace and Happiness also grew. So, he ordered his servants called Power and Religion to search for Peace and Happiness. Power and Religion created Wars to search for Happiness. But they never found Happiness.
As Man grew older and older, his longing for Peace and Happiness also grew.He sat and thought. He searched in himself and found a sword called Self-Realisation. Using this sword he broke the Responsibilities lock and went out. Leaving his wife Ego, his son Conflict, his father in law Money, his servants Comfort, Power , Religion and especially the palace of Hatred , he went out in search of Peace and Happiness. He walked like that without food and water for as many days he could. And he fell down after somedays.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a very old man.The old man gave food &water and nursed him. He felt bad that he was being nursed by a very old man. After he became healthy, he asked the old man: "What is your name?".
The old man replied "My name is Humanity".
"How old are you?"
Humanity smiled and didn't reply. After that Humanity said that "I am longing to see my son and daughter. But I am so old that I can't walk.". He replied that: "You have done a great service to me. No matter how long it is, I would carry you on my back and take you to your son and daughter". And then he took Humanity on his back and walked & walked. On the way to relax him, Humanity read out lessons from a book called Sacrifice'. When he carried Humanity on his back and heard the stories of Sacrifice, he felt that he is nearing Peace and Happiness. He felt that he is going to meet Peace and Happiness soon. As he is also old, he is unable to walk now. He is becoming weaker and weaker day by day. Often, Humanity made a juice for him called Hope. Like that he travelled for a very long distance and finally reached a place. Humanity showed his children. Although he saw them very long time back, he recognized them at once. They are what he is searching for. The children of Humanity are none other than his playmates - Peace and Happiness.
After that he carried Humanity on his back and travelled all over the country, along with Peace and Happiness. And finally one day, he died in the hands of Peace and Happiness.
Man was born to a lady called Love. When he was a child, he used to play with Honesty and Peace. Peace had a sister called Happiness. He liked Happiness. It was good, all of them playing together like that. But one day he fought with Honesty for the sake of a choclate. With that Honesty, Peace and Happiness left him and they never returned. He felt longing for them, especially for Happiness. He went to his mother Love and cried. Love told him that he has to search Happiness and marry her. His father Ambition came inbetween and told him : "There is only one way to find Happiness. You have to travel a long distance with Education, who only knows the way to Happiness".
Education introduced him to a co-traveller called Friendship and then three of them started for a long-distance journey. On the way, Education gave him fruits called Knowledge, eating which he became stronger. But occasionally, he was attacked by a monster called Exams which threw spears called fear at him. But Education and Friendship came to his rescue and they gave him a shield called Courage,using which he fought with the monster. This continued for a very long time.Only Friendship and his dreams of Happiness made him move. He sometimes felt that this is not going to end at all. But after a very long journey and many attacks by the monster Exams they came to a junction called Life.
Education looked at him and told him: "I can accompany you till this point only. After this you have to choose your path and travel alone". He looked at Friendship, who said "I am sorry. I have to go in my way. But I will keep in touch with you". He became confused and lost. He sat in the middle of the junction called Life and he saw two people coming towards him from two sides. One of the said 'Hi! My name is Selfishness'. and the other one said "My name is Principles ". Both of them asked 'what are you searching for ?'. He replied saying that he was looking for Happiness.
Principles told him "If you could come along with me, we will go to the village of Satisfaction and start searching from there". But Selfishness said: "No! No! No! That is uncertain. If you come wtih me, I will introduce you to Money and you could marry his daughter. She is more beautiful than any other girl. Even your Happiness would not be as beautiful as her". Principles tried to convince him but he didnt heed and started with Selfishness.
Selfishness took him to Money and Money introduced him to his daughter called Ego. The moment he say Ego, he thought of marrying her. He felt that Selfishness is right, Ego is more beautiful than Happiness. After the marriage, Money gave him servants called Comfort,Status, Power and Religion and built a palace called Hatred for them which is always locked with a lock called Responsibilities. After sometime, Ego gave birth to a child called Conflict. As Conflict grew older, Man's longing for his playmates Peace and Happiness also grew. So, he ordered his servants called Power and Religion to search for Peace and Happiness. Power and Religion created Wars to search for Happiness. But they never found Happiness.
As Man grew older and older, his longing for Peace and Happiness also grew.He sat and thought. He searched in himself and found a sword called Self-Realisation. Using this sword he broke the Responsibilities lock and went out. Leaving his wife Ego, his son Conflict, his father in law Money, his servants Comfort, Power , Religion and especially the palace of Hatred , he went out in search of Peace and Happiness. He walked like that without food and water for as many days he could. And he fell down after somedays.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a very old man.The old man gave food &water and nursed him. He felt bad that he was being nursed by a very old man. After he became healthy, he asked the old man: "What is your name?".
The old man replied "My name is Humanity".
"How old are you?"
Humanity smiled and didn't reply. After that Humanity said that "I am longing to see my son and daughter. But I am so old that I can't walk.". He replied that: "You have done a great service to me. No matter how long it is, I would carry you on my back and take you to your son and daughter". And then he took Humanity on his back and walked & walked. On the way to relax him, Humanity read out lessons from a book called Sacrifice'. When he carried Humanity on his back and heard the stories of Sacrifice, he felt that he is nearing Peace and Happiness. He felt that he is going to meet Peace and Happiness soon. As he is also old, he is unable to walk now. He is becoming weaker and weaker day by day. Often, Humanity made a juice for him called Hope. Like that he travelled for a very long distance and finally reached a place. Humanity showed his children. Although he saw them very long time back, he recognized them at once. They are what he is searching for. The children of Humanity are none other than his playmates - Peace and Happiness.
After that he carried Humanity on his back and travelled all over the country, along with Peace and Happiness. And finally one day, he died in the hands of Peace and Happiness.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Santosh
Disclaimer: - All resemblances to people who are living or dead is purely coincidental.
Hello, I am the Sun. Ya, the one whom you love the most in winter and the one whom you hate the most in summer. My life is pretty bored here rotating around myself. So, I have cultivated a special habit -to study human beings. I watch one particular human being everyday. India is one of my favorite places and there is lot of buzz about software engineers in India. So, yesterday I watched a software guy’s life and wanted to share with you.
It was a cloudy day. So, clouds have covered up me and I came out late. It was about 6:30am (in Hyderabad) when I could clearly see the earth. I went into his bedroom through the window. Btw, his name is Santosh. But I never saw 'Santosh'am on his face (except once). Okay, let’s try and wake up him. I warmed him a bit and woke him up.
"Bloody Sun! Why the hell it is so warm today." How dare you to scream at me. He continued his screaming "Who the hell constructed this building. Bloody civil engineers! They don't know how to construct buildings also. They get their degrees copying and cheating and construct these kinds of buildings". Then he sat there cursing every possible person. After sometime, he took his towel and observed that his roomie has already occupied the bathroom.
"Why the hell do people occupy it when I needed it? It’s always like this. People are selfish they don’t think about others. I need to go to office early today. Otherwise, my manager would screw me up". He talked with himself for about 5 mins and his roomie came out. He gave a disgusting look at his friend and rushed into the bathroom. When he came out his friend bought him idly. He saw them and muttered "I am very hungry today. These idlies are not sufficient. Don’t you know that you have to bring more? Selfish people then don’t even understand their roomies hunger". [You can imagine his friend face expression]. Nevertheless, he didn’t say anything. Probably it is common to him.
He ate his breakfast cursing the tiffin center guy for giving less chutney to him. He called him lot of names like miser and all. And he took out a neatly ironed T-shirt and Jeans pair. And he started at the 'dhobi' now, for leaving stains on this T-shirt and not ironing them properly. The caption on the T-shirt (ironically) said that "If attitude is money then I am worth a billion". If I had been his dhobi I would have erased that billion and wrote Zero in its place.
He came out and saw that his bike was punctured. His anger shoot up like anything. He thought for a while and remembered that he gave his bike to Shivaram yesterday. "Bloody Shivaram! If he don’t know how to ride a bike why the hell he took my bike. Stupid people! I would teach him a lesson today. Shit! I have to take an auto today".
An auto driver was waiting outside looking at him and asked him whether he wants to hire the auto. "How come these auto people know that my bike is punctured? May be he is also involved with Shivaram. Now he is going to make a fortune out of me. But I don’t have any choice. Let’s go". He got into the auto and the auto-driver started his auto and played some latest songs. Traffic jam. He was saying it aloud "why does everyone come in my way and make things difficult for me. Why do people create traffic jam? Why can’t they wait and go one-by-one. Filthy people!” For this the autodriver laughed out aloud and then our santosh started screaming at him "why are you playing those songs. I am getting headache because of that. What is this smell? Are you mixing kerosene with petrol for your auto". The autodriver understood his frustration, smiled and said "No Sir! My auto runs with gas not with petrol/kerosene". And our hero turned his attention to traffic jam and started calling names at everyone he saw.
He got out his auto before his office campus and then it started drizzling. "Filthy rain! Why does it rain always! Can't we live without rains? If I see this rain god, I would kill him". Oh! Now he started screaming at my friend, rain god. He ran into his office, wishing none and cursing everyone under his tone, for not wishing him. He logged into his machine and checked his mails. "Why do people send forwards at all? Bloody buggers! Useless creatures, only thing they do in the office is read mails and forward them nothing else. Wasting their time and others time also". And then he wrote mails to everyone cursing them to stop sending forwards to him.
And then came lalitha. He is eagerly waiting for her. He asked her to do his work and it was urgent. His manager asked him to complete it by today. When lalitha came he asked her "what happened? Did you complete my work?". She said "I was busy yesterday. I will complete it today" and smiled. His anger shoot up, he thought why people don’t understand how important it is for me. He wanted to yell at her but controlled it and went with her, sat at her desk and stressed her to complete it. Finally, lalitha completed his work.
Meanwhile, Shivaram came to office. (Without even saying thanks to lalitha) He ran to him, folding his fingers to give him a punch in the stomach. Shivaram stopped him when he was about to reach his stomach and asked him "what happened santosh? Why are you so angry at me".
"Rascal! You have punctured my bike and acting as if you don’t know anything".
"Me! What! Are you joking? I took your bike yesterday afternoon and If I punctured it then how come you went home in your bike yesterday".
"I don’t know that! Its you who has done that I know it"
"How? It could have happened when you went to home back" saying that Shivaram pushed him aside and went to his cube.
"Bloody Rascal! He did the mistake and blaming me for puncturing my bike".
It was lunch time. He went to lunch alone. His team members were sitting in his adjacent table and laughing. "Stupid fools! They don’t have anything else to do except making fun at someone all the time. May be they all are playing jokes at me. Stupids! Why don’t they mind their own business".
After that in the afternoon his manager called him to his office and he went in. "Good Man! You did it! I appreciate you for that". Santosh remained aloof.
Manager asked him "what happened santosh! Why are you so dull? Anything wrong". "Wrong! Everything is wrong. I do great work and you don’t give me hikes".
"I gave you hike and a 'Good' rating".
"But not Excellent or outstanding why?"
"I think it is useless to talk about that now". With that manager continued with his work.
Santosh came out burning like a hot iron in the furnace. He felt why people don’t allow him to be happy. "Happy" he thought. His synonym to "Happiness" is siri, his girl friend. He promised her to meet at durgam cheruvu at 5pm. He looked at the time, 4:30pm. As he don’t have bike, he has to start now to reach there. While going, a boy came and started begging "Brother! Brother! Please brother! Give me one rupee brother. Just one rupee". He gave a disgusting look at him and said "che!! che!! filthy people! get the hell out of here. Go out of my sight". And he thought how bad his day had been. Its been like this only everyday. Everybody hates me. They don’t understand me. They don’t allow me to be happy. I hate this world. Anyway, I have siri. She only understands me. No one else.
While he was thinking about her, she came running. He took her hand and kissed it. She was very happy about something. He said "You know how ..." and she completed the sentence "wonderful my day have been! I am very happy. Everything went perfectly alright today. I am so happy. You know what happened. I will tell you everything, come we will sit there".
They sat on a bench and she started "I fell asleep and had nice dreams. Thank to this sun! He woke me up today. I went out and saw the sun it was in red color. He was partly hiding in clouds. I took his pic. See this! How good na?"
"Ya! Ya! Very good very good". I am pleased. Long live my child siri.
She continued.” Then when I was about to go to bathroom my roomie came and pleaded me that she wants to go an interview and she wants to use the bathroom. And asked me to leave my bike and to get her tiffin. I went out and while coming back I collected my ironed pair from our dhobi. When I said thanks to her, she replied me saying 'welcome'. You know I am teaching her English. She is learning a new word everyday. I felt extremely happy. And then I went home. My roomie ate her breakfast took the bike keys. She went out and came back. I asked her 'Did you forget anything?'. She said, 'yes, I forgot an important thing'. 'What?'. She gave me a hug and said 'Thanks dear! Thanks for everything. Wish me good luck. You are my well-wisher'. I felt like crying. I became emotional for her words. You know how good it would be to be loved?”
I don’t know whether he understood anything or not. I couldn’t read anything from his face. He just remained with the same expression from the moment she arrived.
She continued "Then since, I don’t have bike. I took the bus. It was jam packed. It was hard to stand also. But that conductor was amazing. He was singing old melodies. It was fun. I never felt that I have traveled one and half hour. While getting down I said 'Thanks’ to him. He felt happy for that and said ‘May god bless you my child'. Then I came out of bus and walked to my office. Meanwhile, rain started. I like rain. I like getting wet in the rain. Btw, did you see the rainbow at the time? It was beautiful with seven colors".
His face showed all the rainbow colors in his face. It showed that he never saw a rainbow in his life.
"Yesterday, I told you na Banti made some changes because of which some issue was coming. Banti told everybody that I did something wrong in my code. Even my manager scolded for me doing such a thing, yesterday. Today they sorted out the issue was in Banti's code. He felt ashamed of himself and felt shy to look at me. His hand was trembling and he said 'Sorry! I am really very sorry for making it a big mess' and I felt pity for him. I tenderly touched his hand....
[He is not listening now. He is hotter than me, now. I felt that he is radiating energy towards me--jealousy]....
And said 'Its OK. Don’t worry'. He felt happy and all our teammates went for lunch. We had a nice time. We cracked jokes on everyone of us and everyone enjoyed it. After lunch, Banti gave me a big 5Star. I felt extremely happy and meanwhile my manager came and apologized for his rudeness, yesterday. My joy has no bounds. And then I was coming in a rush to tell you all these things. One small boy came for begging. I checked in my purse, I have no change. I saw the 5star that Banti have given me. I took it out and he grabbed it at once. He ran away and came back. He kissed me on my hand"
She showed the spot on her left hand. Its exactly the spot on which Banti kissed her, on the other hand. Although he is not showing anything outside, I could understand how he is feeling now.
"You know! Life is wonderful. I love it. Everybody loves me. I love everyone. I love this world for being so nice to me."
And then he looked straight into her eyes. She felt a bit shy and looked down. He took her head in his hands and moved closer.
Bloody Earth! Why does it always rotate so fast? Hey! What happened to my language? This 'Santosh'(am) is infectious. Well, that is the story. I couldn’t see anything more. I will come back with a new story tomorrow.
If you still wanted to know what happened afterwards.. "Choosthoone undandi nirantara varta sravanthi TV9!!”
P.S:- This is dedicated to all santosh's in this world.
Names Courtesy :- Nuvvostanante nenodantana.
Hello, I am the Sun. Ya, the one whom you love the most in winter and the one whom you hate the most in summer. My life is pretty bored here rotating around myself. So, I have cultivated a special habit -to study human beings. I watch one particular human being everyday. India is one of my favorite places and there is lot of buzz about software engineers in India. So, yesterday I watched a software guy’s life and wanted to share with you.
It was a cloudy day. So, clouds have covered up me and I came out late. It was about 6:30am (in Hyderabad) when I could clearly see the earth. I went into his bedroom through the window. Btw, his name is Santosh. But I never saw 'Santosh'am on his face (except once). Okay, let’s try and wake up him. I warmed him a bit and woke him up.
"Bloody Sun! Why the hell it is so warm today." How dare you to scream at me. He continued his screaming "Who the hell constructed this building. Bloody civil engineers! They don't know how to construct buildings also. They get their degrees copying and cheating and construct these kinds of buildings". Then he sat there cursing every possible person. After sometime, he took his towel and observed that his roomie has already occupied the bathroom.
"Why the hell do people occupy it when I needed it? It’s always like this. People are selfish they don’t think about others. I need to go to office early today. Otherwise, my manager would screw me up". He talked with himself for about 5 mins and his roomie came out. He gave a disgusting look at his friend and rushed into the bathroom. When he came out his friend bought him idly. He saw them and muttered "I am very hungry today. These idlies are not sufficient. Don’t you know that you have to bring more? Selfish people then don’t even understand their roomies hunger". [You can imagine his friend face expression]. Nevertheless, he didn’t say anything. Probably it is common to him.
He ate his breakfast cursing the tiffin center guy for giving less chutney to him. He called him lot of names like miser and all. And he took out a neatly ironed T-shirt and Jeans pair. And he started at the 'dhobi' now, for leaving stains on this T-shirt and not ironing them properly. The caption on the T-shirt (ironically) said that "If attitude is money then I am worth a billion". If I had been his dhobi I would have erased that billion and wrote Zero in its place.
He came out and saw that his bike was punctured. His anger shoot up like anything. He thought for a while and remembered that he gave his bike to Shivaram yesterday. "Bloody Shivaram! If he don’t know how to ride a bike why the hell he took my bike. Stupid people! I would teach him a lesson today. Shit! I have to take an auto today".
An auto driver was waiting outside looking at him and asked him whether he wants to hire the auto. "How come these auto people know that my bike is punctured? May be he is also involved with Shivaram. Now he is going to make a fortune out of me. But I don’t have any choice. Let’s go". He got into the auto and the auto-driver started his auto and played some latest songs. Traffic jam. He was saying it aloud "why does everyone come in my way and make things difficult for me. Why do people create traffic jam? Why can’t they wait and go one-by-one. Filthy people!” For this the autodriver laughed out aloud and then our santosh started screaming at him "why are you playing those songs. I am getting headache because of that. What is this smell? Are you mixing kerosene with petrol for your auto". The autodriver understood his frustration, smiled and said "No Sir! My auto runs with gas not with petrol/kerosene". And our hero turned his attention to traffic jam and started calling names at everyone he saw.
He got out his auto before his office campus and then it started drizzling. "Filthy rain! Why does it rain always! Can't we live without rains? If I see this rain god, I would kill him". Oh! Now he started screaming at my friend, rain god. He ran into his office, wishing none and cursing everyone under his tone, for not wishing him. He logged into his machine and checked his mails. "Why do people send forwards at all? Bloody buggers! Useless creatures, only thing they do in the office is read mails and forward them nothing else. Wasting their time and others time also". And then he wrote mails to everyone cursing them to stop sending forwards to him.
And then came lalitha. He is eagerly waiting for her. He asked her to do his work and it was urgent. His manager asked him to complete it by today. When lalitha came he asked her "what happened? Did you complete my work?". She said "I was busy yesterday. I will complete it today" and smiled. His anger shoot up, he thought why people don’t understand how important it is for me. He wanted to yell at her but controlled it and went with her, sat at her desk and stressed her to complete it. Finally, lalitha completed his work.
Meanwhile, Shivaram came to office. (Without even saying thanks to lalitha) He ran to him, folding his fingers to give him a punch in the stomach. Shivaram stopped him when he was about to reach his stomach and asked him "what happened santosh? Why are you so angry at me".
"Rascal! You have punctured my bike and acting as if you don’t know anything".
"Me! What! Are you joking? I took your bike yesterday afternoon and If I punctured it then how come you went home in your bike yesterday".
"I don’t know that! Its you who has done that I know it"
"How? It could have happened when you went to home back" saying that Shivaram pushed him aside and went to his cube.
"Bloody Rascal! He did the mistake and blaming me for puncturing my bike".
It was lunch time. He went to lunch alone. His team members were sitting in his adjacent table and laughing. "Stupid fools! They don’t have anything else to do except making fun at someone all the time. May be they all are playing jokes at me. Stupids! Why don’t they mind their own business".
After that in the afternoon his manager called him to his office and he went in. "Good Man! You did it! I appreciate you for that". Santosh remained aloof.
Manager asked him "what happened santosh! Why are you so dull? Anything wrong". "Wrong! Everything is wrong. I do great work and you don’t give me hikes".
"I gave you hike and a 'Good' rating".
"But not Excellent or outstanding why?"
"I think it is useless to talk about that now". With that manager continued with his work.
Santosh came out burning like a hot iron in the furnace. He felt why people don’t allow him to be happy. "Happy" he thought. His synonym to "Happiness" is siri, his girl friend. He promised her to meet at durgam cheruvu at 5pm. He looked at the time, 4:30pm. As he don’t have bike, he has to start now to reach there. While going, a boy came and started begging "Brother! Brother! Please brother! Give me one rupee brother. Just one rupee". He gave a disgusting look at him and said "che!! che!! filthy people! get the hell out of here. Go out of my sight". And he thought how bad his day had been. Its been like this only everyday. Everybody hates me. They don’t understand me. They don’t allow me to be happy. I hate this world. Anyway, I have siri. She only understands me. No one else.
While he was thinking about her, she came running. He took her hand and kissed it. She was very happy about something. He said "You know how ..." and she completed the sentence "wonderful my day have been! I am very happy. Everything went perfectly alright today. I am so happy. You know what happened. I will tell you everything, come we will sit there".
They sat on a bench and she started "I fell asleep and had nice dreams. Thank to this sun! He woke me up today. I went out and saw the sun it was in red color. He was partly hiding in clouds. I took his pic. See this! How good na?"
"Ya! Ya! Very good very good". I am pleased. Long live my child siri.
She continued.” Then when I was about to go to bathroom my roomie came and pleaded me that she wants to go an interview and she wants to use the bathroom. And asked me to leave my bike and to get her tiffin. I went out and while coming back I collected my ironed pair from our dhobi. When I said thanks to her, she replied me saying 'welcome'. You know I am teaching her English. She is learning a new word everyday. I felt extremely happy. And then I went home. My roomie ate her breakfast took the bike keys. She went out and came back. I asked her 'Did you forget anything?'. She said, 'yes, I forgot an important thing'. 'What?'. She gave me a hug and said 'Thanks dear! Thanks for everything. Wish me good luck. You are my well-wisher'. I felt like crying. I became emotional for her words. You know how good it would be to be loved?”
I don’t know whether he understood anything or not. I couldn’t read anything from his face. He just remained with the same expression from the moment she arrived.
She continued "Then since, I don’t have bike. I took the bus. It was jam packed. It was hard to stand also. But that conductor was amazing. He was singing old melodies. It was fun. I never felt that I have traveled one and half hour. While getting down I said 'Thanks’ to him. He felt happy for that and said ‘May god bless you my child'. Then I came out of bus and walked to my office. Meanwhile, rain started. I like rain. I like getting wet in the rain. Btw, did you see the rainbow at the time? It was beautiful with seven colors".
His face showed all the rainbow colors in his face. It showed that he never saw a rainbow in his life.
"Yesterday, I told you na Banti made some changes because of which some issue was coming. Banti told everybody that I did something wrong in my code. Even my manager scolded for me doing such a thing, yesterday. Today they sorted out the issue was in Banti's code. He felt ashamed of himself and felt shy to look at me. His hand was trembling and he said 'Sorry! I am really very sorry for making it a big mess' and I felt pity for him. I tenderly touched his hand....
[He is not listening now. He is hotter than me, now. I felt that he is radiating energy towards me--jealousy]....
And said 'Its OK. Don’t worry'. He felt happy and all our teammates went for lunch. We had a nice time. We cracked jokes on everyone of us and everyone enjoyed it. After lunch, Banti gave me a big 5Star. I felt extremely happy and meanwhile my manager came and apologized for his rudeness, yesterday. My joy has no bounds. And then I was coming in a rush to tell you all these things. One small boy came for begging. I checked in my purse, I have no change. I saw the 5star that Banti have given me. I took it out and he grabbed it at once. He ran away and came back. He kissed me on my hand"
She showed the spot on her left hand. Its exactly the spot on which Banti kissed her, on the other hand. Although he is not showing anything outside, I could understand how he is feeling now.
"You know! Life is wonderful. I love it. Everybody loves me. I love everyone. I love this world for being so nice to me."
And then he looked straight into her eyes. She felt a bit shy and looked down. He took her head in his hands and moved closer.
Bloody Earth! Why does it always rotate so fast? Hey! What happened to my language? This 'Santosh'(am) is infectious. Well, that is the story. I couldn’t see anything more. I will come back with a new story tomorrow.
If you still wanted to know what happened afterwards.. "Choosthoone undandi nirantara varta sravanthi TV9!!”
P.S:- This is dedicated to all santosh's in this world.
Names Courtesy :- Nuvvostanante nenodantana.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The 25th April
25th April 1997:
Next day. I woke early in the morning at 5:00 pm. It was a beautiful morning with those chirping sounds of birds. I thought "How beautiful it is in this village environment?” I got ready quickly. I went to the kitchen and asked my mom
"What is the Tiffin?”
"Dosa"
"I am bored of eating dosa's and idlies. Gimme some mangoes ma!!!"
I ate 5 big mangoes happily. My mom was screaming behind me "It is not good for health to eat that many mangoes at once".
My dad chuckled and said "Let my son eat whatever he wants".
I asked "Are you going to the farm? I will also come with you".
My mom quickly responded "NO! NO! Don’t go into the sun. It will affect you. You will get sun stroke".
I looked at my father, he smiled and then we (me, my father and two of my cousins) started walking to our farm. It’s about 4-5 Kms. We were very much excited. It seemed that those fields, those ducks in the water, those cranes waiting for fishes, everything and everyone was excited about the summer. We went to our fields, played in that bore water till we were exhausted and then took rest in that dry grass and came back with the same excitement and enthusiasm. We had a sumptuous lunch with the fishes from our village's local pond. It was so tasty that you could never forget that taste in your life.
25th April 2008:
P.S:- This blog is dedicated to the person who inspired me to write this.
That was the last day of our seventh class exams. Social Studies. I filled up the bit-paper in 10 min. I was overwhelmed with joy. I felt like screaming and jumping in the examination hall. I don’t know whether it was because the tensioned exam days were over or it was because of the coming most-awaited-summer-holidays. Then one of the teachers came and leaked the bit paper answers (I think this is why they have aborted the seventh class public exams, now). I realized that I had made two mistakes in the bit paper. But who cares? I wanted to get away from that place and run screaming "I love Summer". It was very hard for me to sit and wait in that 15 min. I don’t know Einstein’s theory of relativity then, otherwise I would have known why that 15 min seemed so long. And then the bell rang and I came out running and got into the school bus. Most of the faces are glowing just like the sun in the summer. I tore some pages from my notebook and then the bus started. We made those papers into small pieces and flied them onto the road outside. We don’t know what we are doing. Only thing we have in our mind is "We are going back! Going home! Summer holidays!!!” The bus reached our school. My dad was waiting there. I rushed like a rocket and hugged him. Within two hours, we were in my village.
Next day. I woke early in the morning at 5:00 pm. It was a beautiful morning with those chirping sounds of birds. I thought "How beautiful it is in this village environment?” I got ready quickly. I went to the kitchen and asked my mom
"What is the Tiffin?”
"Dosa"
"I am bored of eating dosa's and idlies. Gimme some mangoes ma!!!"
I ate 5 big mangoes happily. My mom was screaming behind me "It is not good for health to eat that many mangoes at once".
My dad chuckled and said "Let my son eat whatever he wants".
I asked "Are you going to the farm? I will also come with you".
My mom quickly responded "NO! NO! Don’t go into the sun. It will affect you. You will get sun stroke".
I looked at my father, he smiled and then we (me, my father and two of my cousins) started walking to our farm. It’s about 4-5 Kms. We were very much excited. It seemed that those fields, those ducks in the water, those cranes waiting for fishes, everything and everyone was excited about the summer. We went to our fields, played in that bore water till we were exhausted and then took rest in that dry grass and came back with the same excitement and enthusiasm. We had a sumptuous lunch with the fishes from our village's local pond. It was so tasty that you could never forget that taste in your life.
In the afternoon, mom ordered strictly not to go out. I waited carefully till everyone was sleeping. And then I moved out on tip-toe, like a cat, without making any noise. I met my old friends and we quickly divided ourselves into two teams and started playing the much famous one-tappa-gully-cricket. I still remember all those curses and scolding we got from our neighbors. When we were completely wet with sweat we stopped the game, we sat there and talked about the latest WWF matches and the cricket matches. We collected our pocket money and bought the ice fruit from the street hawkers and ate it as if it was amrutham. (My mom specially warned me while giving the money, not to eat those ice fruits). And then I went back home completely exhausted. My mom started to scold me but became soft, took me and gave a clean bath. I intentionally took a light dinner and then ate a lot of thati-munjalu with all excitement. We lied down on the top of our house. Counting those stars, watching the full moon, hearing the bed time stories of my grandfather, I slept.
25th April 2008:
Now, I wake up at 7:00 am. There is no excitement in life. There are no exams now. We only have software releases now. We don’t like summer now. Infact we hate summer now (For that matter, we hate rainy season and winter season also). We are now addicts of A/C and internet. We just sit in this small cubicle with A/C all the time to avoid the sun. Whenever we want to talk to people, we ping them on IM or some messenger, even though the person is in next cubicle. We write scraps in orkut. Whenever we want to express opinions, we don’t meet, we just write blogs and distribute (just like this one). We don’t need anyone's help, we don’t follow our friend's instructions but we just follow those googled search results. If internet is down then everything is down. Life will be upside down.
Whenever we go out we apply all kinds of sunscreen lotions and moisturizers to avoid the sun. We go to A/C Gym’s to do our regular exercises. We go to A/C restaurant to eat some costly-tasteless-fish-curry. We don’t sleep in the open air environments anymore. We live in air-tight rooms with split A/C's. We don't eat mangoes anymore we just drink fresh mango juice or canned mango juice. We don't play in water anymore. Infact, we hate any water that is flowing outside (and also we never care to complaint about such things. We just hate). We hate ice fruits and thati-munjalu now. We just taste ice creams in A/C restaurants.
Even now, our parents, uncles are going still going out to their usual works in the same sun. Only we, software engineers, have changed. All those beautiful summer holidays are crap now. Only thing that is important now is Career. We are just bloody professionals now.
P.S:- This blog is dedicated to the person who inspired me to write this.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Survive,Breed and Multiply
Life is dry now and so are my eyes. I cried all the night and there are no more tears left in my eyes. A single night has taken away everything from me. I lost my wife and 20 children yesterday night. iss! my body is paining like hell. I lost two of legs. I am unable to move in my usual speed. I am completely filled with grief and revenge. I have to take revenge on this creatures but I am so small infront of them. I just can't do anything. I am helpless. what should I do know? I have no feeling to live now. For what should I live now? For whom? I hate myself. Atleast I couldnt get my wife's deadbody. I wanted to die. I went near the fire. Its very hot. I wanted to jump into that. Then remember an old voice inside my head, which said "Live! Live as long as you can!Survival is our aim".
I closed my eyes and remembered that scene.It was my third birthday. My grandmother brought a sweet for me and I ate it with delight. I have never eaten such kind of stuff. I asked my grandmother "when will my next birthday come?". she laughed and said "after one month". And then she kissed my head and said "May God bless you! may your live completely and celebrate your 25 birthdays (~ 2 years)".
And then she said "Baby! You are old enough now.Let me tell our great history. This is the information that I heard from my grand parents,which is passed down from millions of our generations. We, cockroaches, are considered to be living from very very long time (300 million years). Some of our ancestors have lived with gigantic creatures,whose feet can cover millions of us.Those were the dangerous times. Time has changed, some creatures are not seen now-a-days.New creatures have evolved. But we are the ultimate survivors. It has always been a tought time for us. There are enemies every whereever,especially these creatures called humans, try all possible ways to kill us.We have survived in all possible living conditions.O my dear! As you grow old,remember only one thing in your life.Live! Live as long as you can!Survival is our aim.Survive,breed and multiply as much as possible.Happy Birthday my dear".
I understood my duty. I know what to do know. I moved slowly. First I went to the big basin where water used to come suddenly as a flood for sometime and stops suddenly (sink). This is the place where we lived when I was young. Whenever there was water flood, I used to go into it, float for some time and come back. It was fun time. I went there and found two of friends there alive.I told them my plan. Then I moved ahead.
I went to the (dust) bin, where I fell in love with my wife some time back. I was very hungry and was running to find out something to eat. This is our favourite place. We can find readymade food at any time here. I ran fast onto to the top of it. Then I found myself moved away from ground. Ah! I realized that someone is picking up that bin, I closed my eyes and jumped down. I have observed that someone else is also falling along with me. When I landed on the floor, I saw her from my half closed eyes.She saw my situation and offered the food that she was carrying with her. It was a beautiful experience. "OH! you are alive?". I came back to sense and found my uncle there. I told him the plan and move ahead.
Then I went to this place, which is almost always moist (bathroom). This is the place where I proposed my wife. After that bin encounter, I moved all around to find her. I have waited a long time at the bin, to find her again. She came there once. We moved around there, collected some food and when we are about to leave, I asked her how to find her again she told me that she will leave traces of her (called phermones) smelling which I can easily find her. It was true. After some days, I felt like seeing her. I had traced her and found her in this place. I proposed her. She said Yes. Now. I found some of her relatives and told them the plan.
Then I moved ahead to my favourite place. This is a small place. The inside of it is very cool and when we come out of it, it is very hot (Refrigator). This is a special place. Here we have spent the first days after our marriage. It is splendid inside that box. We made our first love here. I found some of the young couples enjoying their honeymoon here and told them the plan.
And I moved to all those places, small small holes, darker spots, where I hide my wife, when she was pregnant. Now, I found some of the pregnant ladies and told them the plan.
The plan is this, one member from each family will come and attend the meeting. I choose one dark,warm and humid spot as the meeting place. This is the place where my wife produced the eggs of my 20 children and hatched them.
I went to the meeting spot and waited there for everyone to arrive. When sufficient coackroaches have come I started my speech. "My dear fellow coachroaches! Yesterday we have witnessed one of the greatest massacres I have ever seen in my life. I lost my wife and my 20 children. We have to take revenge. Everyone of us. Don't bother how? You might be wondering how we being such small creatures take revenge on those creatures. Yes we can! It is very easy. I will tell how!
I once happened to fall from the top on to the head of a human. With the help of a smooth slope(hair) from it's head I ran fast to the floor. It(she) saw me and jumped and screamed. Another human saw me and tried to kill me. Thanks to my speed (12feet per sec) I have escaped successfully. So, I concluded that some of the humans are scared of us.Now,our job is to scare them more than they have ever thought to be.
How? Simple. Surive, breed and multiply. These humans use many techniques to kill us. First of all, they will reduce the waste left on floors and bins. We need to attack every piece of food that is found. Most of the humans,don't clean that dirty-stinking-moist place (bathroom) well. That is the best place for us to survive. Go there! You can multiply 100 times before then can find out.Then they use some white colour powder(boric acid) to kill us. Never ever eat that. You will slowly die if you eat that stuff. They use some baits and traps to catch us. Never eat any substance that you find to be suspicious. Whenever they try to kill you by beating. Just run. Run as fast as you can. Remember they being big and stout can't move as fast as we can. Sometimes, they use a spray which used to kill us. Now we have become immune to that. Breed well and pass your immunity to your next generations. Now this is the mantra 'Survive,breed and multiply'. Let us all multiply by 100 times as soon as possible and let us show them our power, our right to live". Everyone nodded happily. I am happy. Very soon(within 2 weeks), my limbs are going to grow back. After that I need to find a new wife and start my revenge. I moved away hearing a loud scream "Survive,Breed and multiply".
P.S:- Yesterday night, we killed some lakhs of cockroaches in our room.I myself have killed thousands of cockroaches with my hand (first time in my life). I felt bad about that. This blog is dedicated to all those cockroaches which were killed in that massacre.
I closed my eyes and remembered that scene.It was my third birthday. My grandmother brought a sweet for me and I ate it with delight. I have never eaten such kind of stuff. I asked my grandmother "when will my next birthday come?". she laughed and said "after one month". And then she kissed my head and said "May God bless you! may your live completely and celebrate your 25 birthdays (~ 2 years)".
And then she said "Baby! You are old enough now.Let me tell our great history. This is the information that I heard from my grand parents,which is passed down from millions of our generations. We, cockroaches, are considered to be living from very very long time (300 million years). Some of our ancestors have lived with gigantic creatures,whose feet can cover millions of us.Those were the dangerous times. Time has changed, some creatures are not seen now-a-days.New creatures have evolved. But we are the ultimate survivors. It has always been a tought time for us. There are enemies every whereever,especially these creatures called humans, try all possible ways to kill us.We have survived in all possible living conditions.O my dear! As you grow old,remember only one thing in your life.Live! Live as long as you can!Survival is our aim.Survive,breed and multiply as much as possible.Happy Birthday my dear".
I understood my duty. I know what to do know. I moved slowly. First I went to the big basin where water used to come suddenly as a flood for sometime and stops suddenly (sink). This is the place where we lived when I was young. Whenever there was water flood, I used to go into it, float for some time and come back. It was fun time. I went there and found two of friends there alive.I told them my plan. Then I moved ahead.
I went to the (dust) bin, where I fell in love with my wife some time back. I was very hungry and was running to find out something to eat. This is our favourite place. We can find readymade food at any time here. I ran fast onto to the top of it. Then I found myself moved away from ground. Ah! I realized that someone is picking up that bin, I closed my eyes and jumped down. I have observed that someone else is also falling along with me. When I landed on the floor, I saw her from my half closed eyes.She saw my situation and offered the food that she was carrying with her. It was a beautiful experience. "OH! you are alive?". I came back to sense and found my uncle there. I told him the plan and move ahead.
Then I went to this place, which is almost always moist (bathroom). This is the place where I proposed my wife. After that bin encounter, I moved all around to find her. I have waited a long time at the bin, to find her again. She came there once. We moved around there, collected some food and when we are about to leave, I asked her how to find her again she told me that she will leave traces of her (called phermones) smelling which I can easily find her. It was true. After some days, I felt like seeing her. I had traced her and found her in this place. I proposed her. She said Yes. Now. I found some of her relatives and told them the plan.
Then I moved ahead to my favourite place. This is a small place. The inside of it is very cool and when we come out of it, it is very hot (Refrigator). This is a special place. Here we have spent the first days after our marriage. It is splendid inside that box. We made our first love here. I found some of the young couples enjoying their honeymoon here and told them the plan.
And I moved to all those places, small small holes, darker spots, where I hide my wife, when she was pregnant. Now, I found some of the pregnant ladies and told them the plan.
The plan is this, one member from each family will come and attend the meeting. I choose one dark,warm and humid spot as the meeting place. This is the place where my wife produced the eggs of my 20 children and hatched them.
I went to the meeting spot and waited there for everyone to arrive. When sufficient coackroaches have come I started my speech. "My dear fellow coachroaches! Yesterday we have witnessed one of the greatest massacres I have ever seen in my life. I lost my wife and my 20 children. We have to take revenge. Everyone of us. Don't bother how? You might be wondering how we being such small creatures take revenge on those creatures. Yes we can! It is very easy. I will tell how!
I once happened to fall from the top on to the head of a human. With the help of a smooth slope(hair) from it's head I ran fast to the floor. It(she) saw me and jumped and screamed. Another human saw me and tried to kill me. Thanks to my speed (12feet per sec) I have escaped successfully. So, I concluded that some of the humans are scared of us.Now,our job is to scare them more than they have ever thought to be.
How? Simple. Surive, breed and multiply. These humans use many techniques to kill us. First of all, they will reduce the waste left on floors and bins. We need to attack every piece of food that is found. Most of the humans,don't clean that dirty-stinking-moist place (bathroom) well. That is the best place for us to survive. Go there! You can multiply 100 times before then can find out.Then they use some white colour powder(boric acid) to kill us. Never ever eat that. You will slowly die if you eat that stuff. They use some baits and traps to catch us. Never eat any substance that you find to be suspicious. Whenever they try to kill you by beating. Just run. Run as fast as you can. Remember they being big and stout can't move as fast as we can. Sometimes, they use a spray which used to kill us. Now we have become immune to that. Breed well and pass your immunity to your next generations. Now this is the mantra 'Survive,breed and multiply'. Let us all multiply by 100 times as soon as possible and let us show them our power, our right to live". Everyone nodded happily. I am happy. Very soon(within 2 weeks), my limbs are going to grow back. After that I need to find a new wife and start my revenge. I moved away hearing a loud scream "Survive,Breed and multiply".
P.S:- Yesterday night, we killed some lakhs of cockroaches in our room.I myself have killed thousands of cockroaches with my hand (first time in my life). I felt bad about that. This blog is dedicated to all those cockroaches which were killed in that massacre.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A Little Precious Gem
Brief Intro:: Just trying some different stuff this time.
Lemme tell you a story about a prince and his precious gem. Once upon a time there was a prince. One day he went to a jungle, full of wild animals. He was lost in that jungle and it was night. He found a small gem, radiating luminous light in that darkness. This gem helped him to get back to his kingdom. The next day when he saw that gem, it was dull and gloomy. The prince was shocked. He has treasured that gem but somehow it was lost (The prince later learnt that the gem chooses its owner and its position). The prince almost forgot about that gem.
Later after some time, a gem-trader brought his collection of gems. The prince liked the gems. He bought them all. In those gems, he found his old-gloomy-gem. He could spontaneously identify that. Its always gloomy. But it is special. Because whenever you are in need, it will glow and drives away the darkness. So, the prince liked it very much. Although it was gloomy most of the time, the prince used to spend a lot of time with that gem. He used to laugh with it. He used to talk with it. This small gem has driven away his loneliness. He was very happy with that gem. And so, he has asked his gold merchant to embed that gem into his necklace(so that it will be close to his heart). The prince became happier than ever. And time passed like that. Suddenly, the prince observed that gem was becoming more and more gloomy these days. He felt sad. And then he gave it to gold merchant to cut it and make it brighter.
The gem was properly cut and it looked brighter than ever. The prince has embedded the gem into his necklace and he is happy that the gem is now looking brighter. But because of some sharp edges of the gem, it made scars on his chest. Prince beared those scars for sometime. But after some time, he changed the position of the gem. He embedded that gem to his bracelet instead. But after a day or two, he lost that gem. He felt very bad about that. He sat lonely and thought about that gem- remembering his happy days with that gem. He became sober and sober day-by-day. Whenever he slept, he got only one dream. The dream in which he went to the same jungle, where he found that gem and then he is screaming all around "O! My Little Precious Gem"....."O! My Little Precious Gem". And then he woke up with excitement. He opened his palm and found a little gem in his hand. And the Prince cried aloud "O! My Little Precious Gem! I have realized my mistake. Its a mistake. I have never known that. I realized it, that you choose your owner and your position. Its my mistake to change your position. Whether you are in my necklace or in my bracelet, you are one of those very few things that are close to my heart. I am sorry. Please, Please gimme a chance... A Chance to retain your position. The loss of little-stripes-of-skin is nothing compared to your loss. I have learnt the enormity of sadness that strikes when we loose things. I have understood what you have lost. Why dont you come back? Why dont you give me one more chance?." He tried to touch it with his other hand. Its not a gem. Its a droplet of water.And then the story continued like that. The prince became sick and sober. He never ruled his kingdom. The prince waited throughout his life for a little-precious-gloomy-gem, which never returned.
Lemme tell you a story about a prince and his precious gem. Once upon a time there was a prince. One day he went to a jungle, full of wild animals. He was lost in that jungle and it was night. He found a small gem, radiating luminous light in that darkness. This gem helped him to get back to his kingdom. The next day when he saw that gem, it was dull and gloomy. The prince was shocked. He has treasured that gem but somehow it was lost (The prince later learnt that the gem chooses its owner and its position). The prince almost forgot about that gem.
Later after some time, a gem-trader brought his collection of gems. The prince liked the gems. He bought them all. In those gems, he found his old-gloomy-gem. He could spontaneously identify that. Its always gloomy. But it is special. Because whenever you are in need, it will glow and drives away the darkness. So, the prince liked it very much. Although it was gloomy most of the time, the prince used to spend a lot of time with that gem. He used to laugh with it. He used to talk with it. This small gem has driven away his loneliness. He was very happy with that gem. And so, he has asked his gold merchant to embed that gem into his necklace(so that it will be close to his heart). The prince became happier than ever. And time passed like that. Suddenly, the prince observed that gem was becoming more and more gloomy these days. He felt sad. And then he gave it to gold merchant to cut it and make it brighter.
The gem was properly cut and it looked brighter than ever. The prince has embedded the gem into his necklace and he is happy that the gem is now looking brighter. But because of some sharp edges of the gem, it made scars on his chest. Prince beared those scars for sometime. But after some time, he changed the position of the gem. He embedded that gem to his bracelet instead. But after a day or two, he lost that gem. He felt very bad about that. He sat lonely and thought about that gem- remembering his happy days with that gem. He became sober and sober day-by-day. Whenever he slept, he got only one dream. The dream in which he went to the same jungle, where he found that gem and then he is screaming all around "O! My Little Precious Gem"....."O! My Little Precious Gem". And then he woke up with excitement. He opened his palm and found a little gem in his hand. And the Prince cried aloud "O! My Little Precious Gem! I have realized my mistake. Its a mistake. I have never known that. I realized it, that you choose your owner and your position. Its my mistake to change your position. Whether you are in my necklace or in my bracelet, you are one of those very few things that are close to my heart. I am sorry. Please, Please gimme a chance... A Chance to retain your position. The loss of little-stripes-of-skin is nothing compared to your loss. I have learnt the enormity of sadness that strikes when we loose things. I have understood what you have lost. Why dont you come back? Why dont you give me one more chance?." He tried to touch it with his other hand. Its not a gem. Its a droplet of water.And then the story continued like that. The prince became sick and sober. He never ruled his kingdom. The prince waited throughout his life for a little-precious-gloomy-gem, which never returned.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Concept of Religion
These are just random thoughts and are not supposed to be coherent. So, please excuse me for that....
Here it goes.....
Why do we need religion? Simple straight forward answer: We need it to live in a society. Most of animals live in groups and so did we, the humans. Because of the extraordinary qualities of the human being, they made themselves some set of rules, to live peacefully defending for each other. And these rules were added, deleted, amended in multiple forms by multiple people according to their whims (either for good or bad) and that's how the present day complicated religion evolved. This is the basis point which I will quote in the further discussion.
Why do we need God? I found one straight forward reason. We need God to cover our inabilities or insufficiencies. I tell you one bad example.. Let us say that I am in a very bad situation, whatever I did is just failing. Irrespective of the amount of energy that I pour into it, only thing that remains is "failure". So, I am in a helpless state. This is the state which takes people to take refuge under the cover called "God".
Lemme give you more examples. Let us say that I am very poor and one of family (or friends) got a dreadful disease. I just can't afford the huge amount of money needed for treatment. So, what can I do? I can do nothing. I just can't raise so much of money in that short period of time and besides this disease. These diseases not only eat the person they attacked but also their family and friends. A state of helplessness. And you find refuge in "God". Same is the state, even if I am rich and don't know a way to treat the disease. Same state of helplessness. So, We just sit quite and pray… for the unknown.. for the faith... for God... the mysterious.. the omniscient.. and just wait for a miracle to happen and swipe out our problems.
I guess, this might be the reason where this concept might have grown. Because there are always different kinds of people, with different mindsets involved in the development of this concept. There is a main flaw in this concept, the concept of God being mysterious. This flaw in the system gave rise to different kinds of difficulties. From the starting of mankind, inherently in all human beings (I guess), there is an attitude to control others (not only humans). I suppose that this kind of attitude is present in everyone in large or smaller quantities. There are different ways to attain this. Some people use their physical power, some their mental power. A very clever way to do is, use both. Use the physical power and reason out to people that these are the acts of God. And since God is the same power which creates and destroys things, no more questions. Everything we do is for the sake of Greater Good. And this is how the concept of God has been explored by the "Power".
Next concept. Like the review on the social behavior of the human beings has revealed that people find it easy to express their problems, reveal their uniqueness and things like that, in a smaller group rather than a larger one, different kinds of division happened in the society. In fact, it is a good idea to recognize ourselves with a smaller group (like a family), where we have a more significant role to play than the bigger society where we are like drops of ocean. But the only problem is that, these groups started fighting among themselves, which is perfectly against the basis for the formation of religion. The reason for these fights is multiple and the most significant thing that I found is "Power".
During the evolution of the religion and God, main concepts or rules have been made as a set of moral values. Most of these moral values teach us that, we should contribute to the Greater Good and we should not be selfish. And all those people who proclaimed themselves to be non-selfish (and pretend to be so) became the leaders and thus the "Power". And this "Power" has raised its voice and reinforced the same ideas. So, from childhood people we were taught the same concepts.. live for others.. (Believe me, go back and read your copy writing books, these are the things you read). But here is the problem, inherently human beings are selfish. So, this has become a contradiction in life. Not only this, there have been N number of contradictions in life. And again, the "Power" has used this fact, declared that you are sinners. (Everybody is a sinner in different magnitudes) and asked you to submit to "God". NO! Not really to God! Submit to the whims of the "Power". And people acted quietly like that, without asking questions (asking questions is sin). Thus, a group psychology has been developed; no questions just follow whatever is told and nothing else.
And then it continued, men (watch the gender) have created laws. Suppressing the suppressed. And many people suppressed, most of them are females. I wonder that in most of the religions, females are hated. I tell you my crude concept for this. Possibly to avoid any conflicts and encourage the concept of single-partner, "sex" has been framed as a sin. And the object of this sin is female. May be because of the "Power" got a ditch from females or for whatever reason, females were hated and suppressed. And because of the general tendency by everyone to show their power, everyone did the same and it so badly affected people that present-day women also think that they are less efficient that their counterparts. This is the awful part of the story.
And so and so the story continued and people became frantic followers of their religion. And the struggle between "Power"s started. Power's started fighting for different reasons like food, women, land and majorly "Power". And thus, it gave raise to all kind of wars including the world war-I and world war-II. But then something happened. There doesn’t happen a third world. Why? The reason is simple. Everybody knows what would happen in the event of third world. And suddenly there were talks about peace. Some people are trying to adjust to this new kind of globalization. They are realizing that we are all the children of same community. But still the Power has its own influence. People make nuclear bombs, flaunt with them and then say "Peace, Peace and Peace". (I really don’t know how we can achieve peace manufacturing nuclear bombs).
Like every concept, this concept of religion has created insurmountable issues. There are flaws in every concept and this one had. We need a different kind of religion. A religion which is global, which doesn't put any restrictions on what we eat, what we wear and what we do. A global religion with no restrictions. A religion which has the emphasis on individual development but not affecting others (I think most of the western philosophy is based on this). This religion supports you to develop yourselves but never asks you to believe anything and anyone blindly. You can have your own sentiments, I will have mine and I am not going to offend you. You can believe in your God and I will believe in my God but it doesn’t matter for me whoever you pray or whatever you pray for it. I don’t mind whether it is idolatry or if you just pray in the air. Only thing that matters is "Peace and Development". Here I am, to develop myself.
There have been arguments saying that "You can’t have moral values if there is no (single) God". I think we can have. I tell you people why. People are told that you have to be like this and like this. If you do the bad things, you will be punished (in hell? that is the funniest concept I have ever heard). But nothing happens here. If I do good, good doesn’t return to me. That is the nature. So, one day you will give-in. You betray your God. (and sometimes you scream where is the God when all these bad things have been happening in my life?). And then enjoy your life. Tell me what’s happening to all those people who are cheating, raping, murdering, bombing, massacring and all those things. Believe me, most of them are committed in the name of God. For all those people, who feel that "Helping others make me happy", this is the same kind of happiness these people attain by killing, bombing. Just tell me one thing, all those people who have hijacked the planes and bombarded the twin towers, what’s driving them?. The same kind of happiness. So, my whole point here is that the same concept of "God” is giving raise both the things. There are Mother Theresa’s and Bush's (and Osama-bin-Ladien’s).
Instead of this error prone, conflicting, contradicting ideology, there should be an ideology which simply says that You are responsible for all your deeds and no one else. The only concept is "Peace". Attain Peace without disturbing others. Develop yourselves. There is no refugee for the inabilities and insufficiencies in our religion.
This may seem little bit out of this conversation. Just to add to the "God-centric community based" religion. The funniest thing that I have ever read in the scriptures is the concept of Hell and Heaven. People say that you wont have any body after you die and then how are going to be get tortured. One of the arguments is that "The picturisation of the torture to your body would be like hell rather the physical pain". I tell you dude, soul is connected to body by another thing called mind. And when you die, your mind also dies. There is no identity with any of physical being. And this heaven, what is that you find there, ramba urvasi meenaka... all kind of prostitutes. So what do females do there? NO heaven for females or what. In all this life, you are told that sex is sin and then finally you go there and do the same thing. Heights of Stupid reasoning.
A small quotation from the movie "Lord of War": "Never go to war. Especially, with yourself". (In other words, live without any contradictions in your life).
P.S:- Needless to say that I am greatly influenced by Ayn Rand.
Here it goes.....
Why do we need religion? Simple straight forward answer: We need it to live in a society. Most of animals live in groups and so did we, the humans. Because of the extraordinary qualities of the human being, they made themselves some set of rules, to live peacefully defending for each other. And these rules were added, deleted, amended in multiple forms by multiple people according to their whims (either for good or bad) and that's how the present day complicated religion evolved. This is the basis point which I will quote in the further discussion.
Why do we need God? I found one straight forward reason. We need God to cover our inabilities or insufficiencies. I tell you one bad example.. Let us say that I am in a very bad situation, whatever I did is just failing. Irrespective of the amount of energy that I pour into it, only thing that remains is "failure". So, I am in a helpless state. This is the state which takes people to take refuge under the cover called "God".
Lemme give you more examples. Let us say that I am very poor and one of family (or friends) got a dreadful disease. I just can't afford the huge amount of money needed for treatment. So, what can I do? I can do nothing. I just can't raise so much of money in that short period of time and besides this disease. These diseases not only eat the person they attacked but also their family and friends. A state of helplessness. And you find refuge in "God". Same is the state, even if I am rich and don't know a way to treat the disease. Same state of helplessness. So, We just sit quite and pray… for the unknown.. for the faith... for God... the mysterious.. the omniscient.. and just wait for a miracle to happen and swipe out our problems.
I guess, this might be the reason where this concept might have grown. Because there are always different kinds of people, with different mindsets involved in the development of this concept. There is a main flaw in this concept, the concept of God being mysterious. This flaw in the system gave rise to different kinds of difficulties. From the starting of mankind, inherently in all human beings (I guess), there is an attitude to control others (not only humans). I suppose that this kind of attitude is present in everyone in large or smaller quantities. There are different ways to attain this. Some people use their physical power, some their mental power. A very clever way to do is, use both. Use the physical power and reason out to people that these are the acts of God. And since God is the same power which creates and destroys things, no more questions. Everything we do is for the sake of Greater Good. And this is how the concept of God has been explored by the "Power".
Next concept. Like the review on the social behavior of the human beings has revealed that people find it easy to express their problems, reveal their uniqueness and things like that, in a smaller group rather than a larger one, different kinds of division happened in the society. In fact, it is a good idea to recognize ourselves with a smaller group (like a family), where we have a more significant role to play than the bigger society where we are like drops of ocean. But the only problem is that, these groups started fighting among themselves, which is perfectly against the basis for the formation of religion. The reason for these fights is multiple and the most significant thing that I found is "Power".
During the evolution of the religion and God, main concepts or rules have been made as a set of moral values. Most of these moral values teach us that, we should contribute to the Greater Good and we should not be selfish. And all those people who proclaimed themselves to be non-selfish (and pretend to be so) became the leaders and thus the "Power". And this "Power" has raised its voice and reinforced the same ideas. So, from childhood people we were taught the same concepts.. live for others.. (Believe me, go back and read your copy writing books, these are the things you read). But here is the problem, inherently human beings are selfish. So, this has become a contradiction in life. Not only this, there have been N number of contradictions in life. And again, the "Power" has used this fact, declared that you are sinners. (Everybody is a sinner in different magnitudes) and asked you to submit to "God". NO! Not really to God! Submit to the whims of the "Power". And people acted quietly like that, without asking questions (asking questions is sin). Thus, a group psychology has been developed; no questions just follow whatever is told and nothing else.
And then it continued, men (watch the gender) have created laws. Suppressing the suppressed. And many people suppressed, most of them are females. I wonder that in most of the religions, females are hated. I tell you my crude concept for this. Possibly to avoid any conflicts and encourage the concept of single-partner, "sex" has been framed as a sin. And the object of this sin is female. May be because of the "Power" got a ditch from females or for whatever reason, females were hated and suppressed. And because of the general tendency by everyone to show their power, everyone did the same and it so badly affected people that present-day women also think that they are less efficient that their counterparts. This is the awful part of the story.
And so and so the story continued and people became frantic followers of their religion. And the struggle between "Power"s started. Power's started fighting for different reasons like food, women, land and majorly "Power". And thus, it gave raise to all kind of wars including the world war-I and world war-II. But then something happened. There doesn’t happen a third world. Why? The reason is simple. Everybody knows what would happen in the event of third world. And suddenly there were talks about peace. Some people are trying to adjust to this new kind of globalization. They are realizing that we are all the children of same community. But still the Power has its own influence. People make nuclear bombs, flaunt with them and then say "Peace, Peace and Peace". (I really don’t know how we can achieve peace manufacturing nuclear bombs).
Like every concept, this concept of religion has created insurmountable issues. There are flaws in every concept and this one had. We need a different kind of religion. A religion which is global, which doesn't put any restrictions on what we eat, what we wear and what we do. A global religion with no restrictions. A religion which has the emphasis on individual development but not affecting others (I think most of the western philosophy is based on this). This religion supports you to develop yourselves but never asks you to believe anything and anyone blindly. You can have your own sentiments, I will have mine and I am not going to offend you. You can believe in your God and I will believe in my God but it doesn’t matter for me whoever you pray or whatever you pray for it. I don’t mind whether it is idolatry or if you just pray in the air. Only thing that matters is "Peace and Development". Here I am, to develop myself.
There have been arguments saying that "You can’t have moral values if there is no (single) God". I think we can have. I tell you people why. People are told that you have to be like this and like this. If you do the bad things, you will be punished (in hell? that is the funniest concept I have ever heard). But nothing happens here. If I do good, good doesn’t return to me. That is the nature. So, one day you will give-in. You betray your God. (and sometimes you scream where is the God when all these bad things have been happening in my life?). And then enjoy your life. Tell me what’s happening to all those people who are cheating, raping, murdering, bombing, massacring and all those things. Believe me, most of them are committed in the name of God. For all those people, who feel that "Helping others make me happy", this is the same kind of happiness these people attain by killing, bombing. Just tell me one thing, all those people who have hijacked the planes and bombarded the twin towers, what’s driving them?. The same kind of happiness. So, my whole point here is that the same concept of "God” is giving raise both the things. There are Mother Theresa’s and Bush's (and Osama-bin-Ladien’s).
Instead of this error prone, conflicting, contradicting ideology, there should be an ideology which simply says that You are responsible for all your deeds and no one else. The only concept is "Peace". Attain Peace without disturbing others. Develop yourselves. There is no refugee for the inabilities and insufficiencies in our religion.
This may seem little bit out of this conversation. Just to add to the "God-centric community based" religion. The funniest thing that I have ever read in the scriptures is the concept of Hell and Heaven. People say that you wont have any body after you die and then how are going to be get tortured. One of the arguments is that "The picturisation of the torture to your body would be like hell rather the physical pain". I tell you dude, soul is connected to body by another thing called mind. And when you die, your mind also dies. There is no identity with any of physical being. And this heaven, what is that you find there, ramba urvasi meenaka... all kind of prostitutes. So what do females do there? NO heaven for females or what. In all this life, you are told that sex is sin and then finally you go there and do the same thing. Heights of Stupid reasoning.
A small quotation from the movie "Lord of War": "Never go to war. Especially, with yourself". (In other words, live without any contradictions in your life).
P.S:- Needless to say that I am greatly influenced by Ayn Rand.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
MR. SATISH KUMAR
Around five days back, I was relaxing after my dinner. I received a call. My roomie, veera. I was wondering. “Why this guy is not yet back!”
He said in a hurried voice "Please block my SBI credit cards!"
"What sup man? What’s the matter?"
"I lost my wallet half an hour ago. Try to block the cards as soon as possible".
"Sure. Tell me the credit card numbers"
"I don’t remember the card numbers. I will tell you my online banking username and password. You can find the numbers there".
"Okay"
I have noted down those credentials. Thanks to Airtel broadband connection and Google. But the online banking authentication was failing. Meanwhile, veera called twice or thrice. He was really worried about his credit cards bills. At last, we found the credit card numbers, customer care number and we successfully blocked the cards. Customer care guy confirmed that there was no transaction on that day. Thank God!
Veera was home after an hour.
"What happened man! Where did you lose your wallet?" I enquired.
"I don’t know. I think I kept it in my jerkin pocket, which already had my cell phone. Probably, it has slipped somewhere while I was riding on the bike".
"How much amount was there in the wallet and what else was there?"
"Some 3500 plus cash, 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards".
"Oops!! Have you blocked the debit cards?"
"Yes! I have blocked the citi bank card. I have to block ICICI card"
"Hurry up man!"
************************************************
Today. I came home a bit late. Veera was jumping like a kid.
"Hey, was up man! Why are you so happy?"
"I met a gem of gems today. I don’t know. I find words neither in Telugu nor in English to describe him."
"Was up dude? Who is he?"
"You know! I found my wallet."
I exclaimed,” but how?"
"Some person has found it on the road. He picked it and called me".
"I wonder how he found your number!"
"He called up citi bank customer care and found my number".
Frankly speaking, if I found some wallet on the road, I wouldn't have done it. Probably, I wouldn't have picked it up. He might have fought with that citi bank customer care guy. Because, I don’t think they will reveal the phone numbers of their customers that easily. May be that is why it took him 5 days to call. Anyway, I was so happy hearing all these. I was happy to hear about some character which we could see only in movies or stories. Above all, I was happy to see the joy in veera's eyes. I looked straight into his eyes. I could see his happiness. Eyes are so expressive!
Veera said "You know! I am so happy not because I found my wallet. But because I met this person".
"Interesting yaar, very interesting. What is his job?"
"He is working as a delivery boy in MGInn, near SRNagar".
"How does he look like?"
"He is a bit black. But he seems to be a confident person"
The other day I was reading some profiles in orkut. One girl wrote in her about me "I am a girl with lots of moral values (honesty is my biggest strength and I hate people who lie)". I wondered for a moment, how these HONEST people look like. Pch! I missed a chance. I wish I would have seen him. May be his confidence came from his honesty. Doesn't this honesty make people strong?
"So, what did you do?" I asked.
"I bought him a T-shirt".
"Good. And btw what is his name?"
"Mr.Satish Kumar".
P.S:- Is this the kind of stuff you want me to write?
He said in a hurried voice "Please block my SBI credit cards!"
"What sup man? What’s the matter?"
"I lost my wallet half an hour ago. Try to block the cards as soon as possible".
"Sure. Tell me the credit card numbers"
"I don’t remember the card numbers. I will tell you my online banking username and password. You can find the numbers there".
"Okay"
I have noted down those credentials. Thanks to Airtel broadband connection and Google. But the online banking authentication was failing. Meanwhile, veera called twice or thrice. He was really worried about his credit cards bills. At last, we found the credit card numbers, customer care number and we successfully blocked the cards. Customer care guy confirmed that there was no transaction on that day. Thank God!
Veera was home after an hour.
"What happened man! Where did you lose your wallet?" I enquired.
"I don’t know. I think I kept it in my jerkin pocket, which already had my cell phone. Probably, it has slipped somewhere while I was riding on the bike".
"How much amount was there in the wallet and what else was there?"
"Some 3500 plus cash, 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards".
"Oops!! Have you blocked the debit cards?"
"Yes! I have blocked the citi bank card. I have to block ICICI card"
"Hurry up man!"
************************************************
Today. I came home a bit late. Veera was jumping like a kid.
"Hey, was up man! Why are you so happy?"
"I met a gem of gems today. I don’t know. I find words neither in Telugu nor in English to describe him."
"Was up dude? Who is he?"
"You know! I found my wallet."
I exclaimed,” but how?"
"Some person has found it on the road. He picked it and called me".
"I wonder how he found your number!"
"He called up citi bank customer care and found my number".
Frankly speaking, if I found some wallet on the road, I wouldn't have done it. Probably, I wouldn't have picked it up. He might have fought with that citi bank customer care guy. Because, I don’t think they will reveal the phone numbers of their customers that easily. May be that is why it took him 5 days to call. Anyway, I was so happy hearing all these. I was happy to hear about some character which we could see only in movies or stories. Above all, I was happy to see the joy in veera's eyes. I looked straight into his eyes. I could see his happiness. Eyes are so expressive!
Veera said "You know! I am so happy not because I found my wallet. But because I met this person".
"Interesting yaar, very interesting. What is his job?"
"He is working as a delivery boy in MGInn, near SRNagar".
"How does he look like?"
"He is a bit black. But he seems to be a confident person"
The other day I was reading some profiles in orkut. One girl wrote in her about me "I am a girl with lots of moral values (honesty is my biggest strength and I hate people who lie)". I wondered for a moment, how these HONEST people look like. Pch! I missed a chance. I wish I would have seen him. May be his confidence came from his honesty. Doesn't this honesty make people strong?
"So, what did you do?" I asked.
"I bought him a T-shirt".
"Good. And btw what is his name?"
"Mr.Satish Kumar".
P.S:- Is this the kind of stuff you want me to write?
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