Me and You

He opened his eyes.

The sunshine was making a beautiful golden hue all around. Air smelled of fresh rain on mud. The sunlight was dancing on the surface of the lake like a procession of lights. Trees surrounded the lake. It was an oasis in the desert of trees. His escape from the world.

He was sitting behind a tree. Hiding. He was crouched like an embryo, his hands pulling his knees to his chest. He had dark, hawk like eyes, which seemed to absorb everything it saw. They were constantly moving, as though looking at a tense football game.

He thought to himself : 'I need to go and buy soap'.

He stood up. He was wearing a plain green shirt and black jeans. He put on his slippers and made his way through the sea of trees to the road where his car was parked. He revved the engine and zoomed on the smooth road, his window open, enjoying the cool air.

At a distance he could see a lone figure, standing by the road. He saw that the man was asking for a lift. He stopped the car and opened the door and said, 'Hop in'.

I hopped in.

'Thanks', I said, with genuine gratitude.

'No problemo. Where are you upto?'

'The bus stand. I hope you are going till there?'

He smiled. 'Don't worry. I am going into the town'

He looked at me, as though trying to judge me by my appearance. He made no comment, turned his head forward, back to his driving. We were in silence for several minutes.

I took out a coke can from my jacket pocket and broke the newly formed ice.

'Want coke?'

'No, I don't drink coke'

'Why not?'

'Soft drinks are unhealthy'

'Yeah but, coke tastes good. Mountain Dew tastes good'

'7up may taste like strawberry milkshake but I'm no drinking that piece of crap'

'Are you that health conscious? Do you like, never eat oily food?'

'No, not that health conscious, but I saw what happens when you put mentos into coke. Nothing which does that goes into my goddamn mouth', he declared with finality.

'If you start thinking like that, you need to stay away from a lot of things', I said quietly.

'Why so?', he asked, surprised.

'Many things you see you see as harmless, aren't really so. Take little kids for instance. One kid is good. Fun. Make it ten kids, ten minutes in that room, you'll start searching for a razor'

'Yeah, well, I don't want ten kids anyway'

'You didn't get my point. What I wanted to tell you was that you can make bad from good'

'Example'

'Did you know if you mix gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm?'

'Really?'

'Yeah. This reminds me of a story by Tolstoy. A kind hearted farmer is turned into a wife-beating, ever-fighting scum by an imp who just teaches him how to distil spirit wheat grains from his fields'

He thought for a while.

'The beast within eh?', he said.

'Precisely', I smiled.

'You know what I say? Living with a beast within is better than with one outside'

I laughed.

'Hey, drop me right here', I said, pointing at the approching sign of the bus stand.

'Sure thing', he took the car to the left and skidded to a halt.

'Thanks for the ride', I said, smiling radiantly at him.

'You didn't tell me who you are', he pointed out.

'What?'

'What do you do for a living?'

'Soap. I make, and sell, soap. Here's my card', I winked.

He stared at the card for a long time. His head was humming. He suddenly realized and turned mouth open, to speak something.

I wasn't there.

Chop Suey

I woke up.

I couldn't open my eyes. But it was dark. I could feel it.

I shuffled slightly where I sat. My arms wouldn't move. It was as though the heavy darkness was weighing it down. Not that I wanted to move them anyway.

There isn't a thing you can do in this 5x5 room I have been locked up in.

I tried opening my eyes, gave up the futile attempt. Its the same outside.

Suddenly, I was standing. I swayed my arms around, searching. Nothing. It looked like I was standing on solid ground. I carefully put my leg forward, and suddenly pulled it back. There was nothing.

I was on the precipice.

Brilliant light pierced my eyes. It was as though someone had switched on the floodlights of a stadium at the middle of the night.

I was indeed on the edge of a cliff. It wasn't a free fall though. The cliff curved into something between the shape of a 'C' and a 'U', the shape of a crescent moon. The surface was smooth as marble. There was heavy mist in the air, I could barely make out the end of the curve. Everything else looked smudged. Just when I was wondering what should I be doing here I realized, I had something under my right foot.

Oh look, a skateboard.

I put my left leg on the skateboard, gave myself a push using my right foot, and let myself go. The frosty wind rushed to my face. I could barely open my eyes. I still tried to open them. Bad idea. Tears started streaming out due to the sheer force of the wind. They trickled down my cheek making a cold path.

I let myself go.

I was stretching my arms like Jesus Christ. I reached the edge, and due to the momentum, I was projected into the chilly air. I thought my heart would give away, judging by the frequency and the loudness of the beats. I closed my eyes and just sunk into the joy of flying. So free, so liberating.

'To fly like a bird in the open skies..', someone had said.
I landed. I was all dark again. I was on top of the cliff again. I must have traced a circular trajectory.

Oh look, a skateboard under my right foot.

I was in the dark room again.

I sniffed. The room smelled of rust, my own sweat, my own guilt.

Slowly, I found something wrong with the air. I was breathing deeply, but I still seemed to want more.

Oh damn.

I pushed my eyes open. The fear seemed to give me strength. I looked around. There was no opening in this godforsaken place. I was suffocating. My hands still wouldn't move. Sigh.

I woke up.

Clear sunshine was streaming into my face, making a beautiful golden hue all around. The air was warm, smelled of fresh rain falling on the earth. Looks like I was out of my 5x5 box after all.

I can, I thought. If I try.

Did I really wake up?

I don't know.

"I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe my actions still have meaning. I have to believe when my eyes are closed, the world is still here."

The Unusual Suspects

I have heard of stories of people getting sudden enlightenment and jolts of never-before-known knowledge under a tree. Be it Siddhartha under the Mahabodhi tree, becoming The Buddha, or Isaac Newton getting plonked on the head by a rogue apple and becoming the Newton-guy-who-discovered-gravity (Disclaimers: Frankly dudes, I don't give a damn. Its a good story, and it makes sense. I still see Newton as a man thinking with his chin on his hand, while an apple is falling from the tree onto his rockstar-hairdo. Even wikipedia says this happened, so stfu).

I tried this actually. I sat and meditated under the banyan tree, under the peepal tree, under the gulmohar tree, and even under the mango tree (I might have had more than one intention there, but thats not the point), and as you can see, I ain't got no understanding about the absolute truth of life. Yet.

I have learnt some stuff till now. Foremost of them is that my chances of getting uber-knowledge under a tree is as high as Quentin Tarantino making a romantic comedy. Its true however, that I have found small pieces of knowledge in the most unexpected places.

1. After watching a kick-ass dishum dishum movie, me and my friend were walking down Brigade Road (yeah, you know why) discussing the movie loudly, when suddenly out of the blue he says :

"You know what the sad thing about life is? The best moments don't last. You know, I wish it was like this movie. I wish I could go home and watch it over and over again somehow, just skipping the boring and the sad parts".

This coming from someone who thought James Hadley Chase is the best author in the world.

2. Teachers can be funny.
Once our lecturer said, 'I'll tell you a guys a joke today'

We eagerly anticipated the joke, to fake the laughter later.

'Which is more smart, a triangle or a square?'

'Triangle sir, it looks "sharp"'

'No pa. Ok, don't know aa? See the joke has a bit of tamil joke ok? Square I say, because it has naal-edgu. *Stupid smile* Did you fallow me? Yes now tell me, which is more smart now, square or an octagon?"

'Er, sqaure because it has naal-edgu, octogon has ent-edgu'?

'No pa, octogon. Octogon has EXTRA naal-edgu'

*Chorus of fake hahahah*

Yeah, they can be pretty stupid too.

This teacher, once told me, "Life is like a lathe machine. Your soul is the workpiece. Life holds you and spins you. You are the operator. You are always in control. Its your duty shape your soul, the way you want it to be"

Sorry for the mech fundae, but still pretty impressive I must say.

3. I am one of the people for whom nature calls pretty often.

I have missed several buses, several classes, and more recently, climax of movies because of The Call. Once while answering The Call in a public restroom, there it was written:

"The most difficult moments make you appreciate how beautiful your life is. Without the lower moments, you wouldn't be able to appreciate the height of your happier ones".

I found this hilarious, meaningful at the same time.

Maybe The Call makes people philosophical.

4. South Park rules!

I just used to watch it just for the humour. But the this speech by Kyle, changed my perception of South Park. This is Imaginationland part III episode, where the govt. decides to nuke 'Imaginationland' where all imaginary things created by humans live.

"I think they are real. They are all real. Think about it. Haven't Luke Skywalker and Santa Claus affected your life than most real people in this room? I mean, whether Jesus is real or not, he's had a bigger imapct on the world than any of us have.. and the same could be said for Bugs Bunny, Superman and Harry Potter. They've changed my life.. changed the way I act on the earth. Doesn't that make them kind of real? They might be imaginary, but they are more important than most of us here.. and they're all going to be around long after we are dead. So, in a way, those things are more real-er than any of us"

Applause.

A wise-guy named Sarvajna once said,

"Taking small bits of knowledge from everyone, Sarvajna has become a mountain of knowledge"

That, for me, is the only way to get enlightened. Don't waste your time under trees.

Heaven?

I am not a believer is Gandhigiri. But I do believe that 'An eye of an eye makes the whole world blind'. I am more of an extremist, I look up to Azad, Bhagat Singh, who died in a meaningful battle, to free their homeland from the occupiers. But I do not get the point of the recent 'extremists' who seem to fight for nothing but to spread fear in the world they live in.
This was in the offing but the current state in Mumbai just acted as a catalyst. I will not go as far as http://www.faithfreedom.org/ to condemn anyone, but whatever do you get by taking innocent tourists into hostage, without any demands? Does god send people to heaven for such criminal acts? Is this what you call as a 'Holy War'? There can be no 'heaven' waiting for people who take 135+ lives, whatever religion they may follow.
Our government looks to have taken a very soft stand on terror. After 9/11 in the US of A, there has been no major acts of terrorism. That's what we call learning through experience. But we, the very hospitable citizens of India, are planning to give a pardon to a guy, who attacked our parliament, and hence the heart of the whole country. The government needs give powers to the ATS, instead of playing vote-bank politics just to please the minorities.
Sometimes I dream of all this ending, living in a peaceful world, where everyone respects each other, and most importantly, let them live their life.

As the 'Stairway to Heaven' says,

And its whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn, for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter.


I hope.

Death and Decay

The Light pierced through the charcoal sky
From the lone beacon standing;
I saw it once, now its gone again,
Its time to start the mourning.

The Heart is is still, the Soul is crying,
All alone now, its time to pay;
The Light gives me strength no more,
Its time for Death and Decay.

Love and Hate

Crackers and me have been quite distant from each other for the past 6 years, reasons three :
1. A big 'green' activity group coming to school making us swear to god not to burst crackers ever again.
2. My newly acquired knowledge about the noise and smoke produced by the crackers.
3. (The one which 'might'(very slightly) have tilted the scales) They're scary!!

The small, green, innocent looking bundle of thread when set on fire makes such a big noise, you can never get used to it >.<. Especially not when the small-kid-next-door bursts right next to you when you are out on the day, though fully aware there are bound to be land-mines everywhere.
The reason that I am scared of them can be attributed to one primary incident, which happened around the same time when the above(more important) reasons started influencing my cracker bursting life.
That night, I took a normal, a 6-inch-long sparkler (better known as sur-sur-batti) to light up a 'pilley' flower pot. I lit it up using a candle, holding the flower pot on my left hand. Placing the flower-pot carefully on the freshly-tarred road, and bent to light it up. Small sparks oozed out of the flower pot as I touched its tip with the sur-sur-batti's dancing sparks. I ran back, to watch the flower pot show its majestic glory.
Nothing happened. The sparks went back to bed. Ayyo tuss pataki. Went close to check if the flame was off and to see if the pot was re-lightable, I bent down.
BANG!
The flower pot, which was supposed to emit colourful sparks so that the little children can clap, and the others would watch it in awe, that friggin conical piece of cardboard and paper and phosphorous and god-knows-what, exploded right on my face! Fortunately, no pieces of it came to me, and no lasting injury on me, unless you consider the sprouting of the seed of hatred for the crackers in me.
Ironically, crackers found their way to my home yet again this year, thanks to my cracker-enthusiast father :x
Crackers may have all their what-dyou-call-ems, negative points, but on the perfectly clear nights the Deepavali festival always promises, sitting on the balcony, watching people run when they light the crackers, smile when it explodes, watch in wonder when it shows its multi-coloured magnificence, the beauty of the pitch-black night sky when its lit up with green and yellow and red, carries you to a different world.

Hate

This is a story I found very recently in a Tinkle. I loved it so much that I thought I'd share it with all of you. It was supposedly written by some German author. So, I don't deserve any originality credits for this. ;).

Neighbours
Georgv and Uhrlich were two boys from two very rich and powerful families in Germany. Their properties were next to each other separated by a patch of forest. Due to the fight for the ownership of this patch of forest, there was severe enmity between the two families, and it showed itself in Georgv and Uhrlich too.
They grew up hating each other and when they inherited their respective properties, their hatred only intensified. If anyone related to the other family was found, they were imprisoned without water or food until proper ransom was paid.
One night, Georgv was having his supper with his wife. A storm was building up. Suddenly, a sound which sounded like a gunshot pierced the silence of the night.
Georgv sprung up from his chair. "Looks like Uhrlich's men are hunting in the forest".
His wife protested the disturbance to the supper. "Let them be !"
"Its high time I show them who the real owner is"
"Listen to the wind outside ! Its suicide to go into the forest on a night like this !"
Nothing could Georgv at that moment. He grabbed his rifle and put on a big coat. All the hate right from his childhood was coming out now. Even the nature was angry. Its growled, it rumbled, the wind was cruel...
"You!"
It was Uhrlich. He too was holding his rifle.
There was a loud roar of thunder.
" Your luck has run out Uhrlich!", Georgv growled, "The law says I can shoot poachers. This time you won't leave the forest alive !"
"You think so?"
Georgv shot. It whistled by Uhrlich's ears.
It was Uhrlich's turn. He took aim.
CRASH !
A heavy tree fell on the two men trapping them beneath its massive branches. The two foes lay there inches away from each other, each silently enduring the pain of broken bones. Despite their plight, their hatred remained alive.
"My men will be here soon", Uhrlich moaned, " And when they do, things look black for you dear neighbour!"
"My men won't be gentle with you if they get here first either"
But even after an hour there was no sign of rescue party from either side. The night became bitterly cold. Both men were chilled to the bone. Slowing, painfully Uhrlich reached into his coat pocket and found a small flask containing soup. He took a big satisfying gulp of it. He felt a little warmer. He looked at Georgv. Georgv looked frozen and very much in pain. Uhrlich felt a tinge of pity for him.
"Listen, I have some soup", Uhrlich said. "Can you move your hand to take it?"
Georgv didn't reply. The wind was howling. He spoke after a long silence.
"Perhaps I misjudged you", Georgv said, pain evident from his voice. "I feel too nauseous to drink, but I appreciate your kindness. Neither of of our families have showed any neighbourly concern for centuries"
"That is true Georgv. Let us end our enmity. Let bygones be bygones."
"I feel that way too. Let us bury our past", said Georgv. "When my men come, I will tell them to attend to you first. That will show everyone a beginning of a new friendship".
"If my men come earlier", said Uhrlich. "I will do the same. I will insist they take you out before me"
There were distant footsteps footsteps heard.
"They're coming!", cried Georgv."They must be your men as they are coming from your direction"
"I cannot rise my head to look. How many?"
"I cannot see properly in the darkness. But I can make out six or seven shapes outlined against the horizon.
Slowly time passed.
"They're coming closer...", said Georgv,"Uhrlich ! they're not.... "
"Not my men?", said Uhrlich, "Your's then?"
" No, Uhrlich, They are not men at all"
"Not men ! You have lost your senses"
"No, neighbour. I have not lost my senses. I can see them clearly now. They're.. they're.. ", screamed Georgv, fear etched in every word he spoke.
"WOLVES !"

"We hate some persons because we do not know them; and will not know them because we hate them" ~Charles Caleb Colton

Life is too short. There is no time for hate here.