Wednesday, December 5, 2007

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Child is the father of man n the world's view is much clear seen through a child's eyes. Anything that defies a child's logic is illogical for sure. so here u see the prejudice against coloured folks in Alabama in 1930's through a nine yr oldies eyes, but the same is true for every society in every era of civilization.

its a beautiful story where a lawyer stands up against the conventions of society to uphold what is correct. Atticus the lawyer, initially passes as the run of the mill folk who does nothing but reads newspaper. Even her daughter rues the fact that her father is good for nothing. but as u turn the pages he almost appears a superman. Atticus is an upright whose determination for upholding justice is complimented by his being a responsible father who sets right examples for his kids. he does no jaw dropping stunts but his presence is as reassuring as James Bond........ its not time to worry yet.

as for scout, the narrator, well..... i fell in love straightway. holy Christ !!! she is nothing more than a 9 yr old gal. but then i can wait for her to grow up. she is intelligent beyond her years, has innocence befitting her age, courageous n fiercely proud. n she poses questions which makes grown up ppl think.

other characters are equally well painted. you get your share of humour also that makes it a happy reading.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

the city of joy

There is a famous temple just across the road where I live. There are a few thelawalas who put their stalls next to the mandir selling flowers, garland and other pooja like stuff. They sleep, eat and live on their thela only or on the road if the thela cannot accommodate them.

One night while I was returning from a late night movie, I crossed them. Then I just thought to myself how do they live and turned my bike to have a look at them. They were all stretched on the rd; there were a few utensils and a stove to make for all their household stuff. That’s all I did, I looked at them and turned back.

The story is not remarkable in any sense except for the fact that for once I realized that they are not the pariahs or even worse ‘objects’, but they are living human beings in blood and flesh like u and me are. I owe this realization to this remarkable book “the city of joy” by Dominique Lapiere.

There couldn’t have been better blend of misery with riches, the hellish condition where ppl are destined only to filth, poverty, sickness, heaven couldn’t be found at a better place. The utterly hopeless sit where all that ppl can cling on to is their hope.

For starters, the city of joy is the description of life in Anand Nagar, a slum in Calcutta, the erstwhile Paris of the East. Here comes a Pole father in service of God. While he affects the life in slum in more ways than one, there are a few lessons which he himself couldn’t learn anywhere else.

The ppl in the city of joy are remarkable because while the resources are scarce, love flows in abundance. They are the forgotten sons of god but god has never been out of their minds. God snatches from them all their means of livelihood but they cling onto him all the more.

They are the ppl the Pole father goes to heal, to bring comfort to them and he finds the serenity n calm in their eyes. The zest for life is remarkable, life goes on unabated hail comes or storm.

A few books leave their permanent mark on the readers mind, this book certainly counts among them. Reading this book certainly makes me a better person at least more human than I was. When next time I see a rickshaw puller or a beggar the least I can do is not to treat him like an object. I am not extolling poverty, its not a virtue but nevertheless lets not make it a crime.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

THINK BIG

oh , the thinking stuff again. but dont worry , this one wont stress your brain the way it did in earlier posts. i only aim to drive home the point that opportunities knock at the doors of all of us. the lucky ones are actually those who can think big when the situation presents itself. chalo, enough of lecture baazi , i will get on with my story.

but for the benefit of those not well versed with hindu mythology, there are our evil frnds who always pray the hardest to appease our Gods. then the first thing they want to do is to dethrone the God himself. and traditionally our Gods have always been the most gullible of the lot. they always get pleased and concede to all demands made by the evil frnd.

so there was our evil frnd again praying for years long doing all sorts of things that ramanand sagar had shown you, like hanging upside down on the trees for days, standing on one leg for weeks, going without food for months n all that. but he had designs as evil as he was. like all our evil frnds he wanted to rule the universe, and enslave the god himself. our good old gullible god knew of it all, but was in a fix now.

the crisis emerged and as always god had to outthink the evil.

so he gives audience to the evil frnd.

" son, i m so pleased with you . say what do you want of me."

" god i want to ......... oh god some one help me with this itching on my backside."

" son , as you wish. your itching will stop immediately."

so the god conceded to his wish and left to enjoy the company of rambha and urvashi, putting back the itching powder in his pocket.

the evil frnd was thinking ," just when i had to think of owning the universe, all i could think was this itching."

THINK BIG

Monday, July 16, 2007

thought for the day :THINK

Have you ever picked up a shirt or a trouser (gals pl make suitable replacement if you are not shirt/ trouser type) that you had not put on for quite some time, put your hand in the pocket and suddenly found a hundred rupee note. Great feeling…. eh. Those of you who haven’t had this experience are a bit too organized to have such simple pleasures. There is no greater joy than finding a thing you thought you had lost. I experience it far too frequently. While I m working in the office I find my pen ten times a day because I loose it ten times a day n the ocean of papers/ files, so have I found my key ring, notes, watch, diary, purse and mobile.

When a thing is lost (or you presume it to be lost while it is only misplaced) there is a great anxiety and so many thoughts work up in your mind. You promise to be more careful, better organized, you pray to the God for ‘ this one time only’ and some time you make some real weird promises to your deity.

So this piece of nonsense is just another promise kept. I owe it to my mobile which I discovered at the dead of the night that I have lost it, by early morning I discovered that I cant get it before mid day if et all I can get it and till mid day this was the most voluminous thing occupying all my thoughts. And did I tell you of the promises that I made…Like being a good boy, a weird one like writing a new post even if not many ppl subscribe to it and the weirdest of all – ‘I will put on helmet religiously while driving for at least seven days’ (think of it, how the hell is putting on helmet connected to the lost mobile).

Thoughts as they occur to you are very different from purposeful thinking which takes a lot of energy, . Haven’t you heard that coming to a conclusion is just another way of saying that you have got tired of thinking? So here a few ways of thinking: -

(a) painful thoughts. Just notice the fact that it is a thought that has occurred to you and you have not conditioned it. but you can not escape the thought of the misery that has befallen you.

(b) sequential thinking. I try to go about it sequentially as to how did I start my day, where all did I go, the office, residence, café, the vehicle I was sitting in at the same time trying to recollect where all I used my cell.


(c) pictorial thinking. then I try to pictures location by location like when I was there in the shop, I put my hand in the pocket, took out my cell ( or not) put it on table ( or not ).

(d) lateral thinking. Like ringing up my cell no to see if it is hidden under the pillow or behind the curtain or inside the files. (Doesn’t fall in the category of lateral thinking ,but had to add it for want of better example). Or may be my good frnd is playing pranks on me who can this good frnd be?

All the above type of thinking fall in the gambit of rational thinking because they have some logic behind the thought. They are however interrupted by some irrational thinking.

(e) Fearful thinking. No one dies of hard work but why take a chance…right?? Yeah all the time I am afraid that my mobile has gone for good.

(f) Preconditioned thinking. All my sequential thinking, pictorial thinking and other kinds of rational thinking is marred by the prejudiced notion that the mobile should be under the pillow and I leave all the search half way to pick up my pillow and find nothing underneath.

(g) Wishful thinking. When wishes father the thought then every thing seems so rosy, suddenly I find myself dreaming that my good frnd of lateral thinking has had enough of fun and he is soon returning my cell to me.

(h)……..

(i)….

(j)…..

……….

………

while you may be thinking what I am thinking next, think along – that’s the food for thought for you. I have reached the conclusion because I got back my cell.

Don’t believe me?????? Call up at 9410233346 to confirm.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

knowledgeable??????????

newton ruined my chances way back when he discovered gravity, Edison did the same with the bulbs. these oldies haven't left much for me to do. if only i had dated back some 500 years ago. but then, these days every second day there is a new gadget in the market - some mp3, some ipod, some apple or black berry (or mango or cheeku for that matter) always surprises me and off course leaves me disappointed with another missed opportunity to serve the mankind.

however, i am always enthusiastic about what other lesser mortals have come up with and seek to know what is what.

so i was travelling in a hired innova the other day. it was again the latest model sx4, tx 4 wx6 (why do all these vehs come with x ratings) or i don't know what. as we started on, the dashboard seemed to be a running light and sound show. naturally i got curious and flooded the driver with whole lot of 'whats' and 'whys'. the driver seemed to be quite knowledgeable and with great enthusiasm he explained to me all.there was some display showing you fuel, some showing you oil, the odometer, speedometer, one to tell you that you have travelled this much, then the compass. . then there were lights of all kinds left indicator, right indicator, fog light, pass, don't pass, brake, the light to tell you the rear door is open or the boot is open.

but then i was stuck up at one blinker, couldn't guess what it was blinking for.

" ooh it's nothing , it only shows that i have not put on my seat belt". he didn't fail to add " the cops wont know , there is no blinker outside".

this left me quite confused as to whether i should appreciate his knowledge or the lack of it.


passing thought :
when an apple falls from the tree, the genius sees the gravitational force.
and the wise man sees a tasty fruit to eat.

Monday, June 25, 2007

read between the lines

Blame it on govt or society or history or geography; even biology if you feel so, i call it economics - simple equation of demand and supply. but the matter of fact is that marriageable gals are becoming precious and precious gals are becoming more precious. the matrimonial columns looking for suitable grooms are becoming more and more demanding. all the difficult words from dictionary are finding place in the matrimonial columns.



so there was a column inviting grooms ( or superman ) with following specifications:-



" should be tall, handsome, charming, quick witted, intelligent, caring, well settled, modest, humorous". did i call him superman ...well, inject a few more adjectives that i might have missed.



the gal was precious, so the column was well received and even better reciprocated. but you know ' har kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta , kisi ko jamin to kahin aasmaan nahin milta' . somebody was not tall enough,the other was not charming enough, somebody talked too much, the other listened too much.



it was not difficult for the gal to reject all of them out rightly. the difficult one came when someone came with a proposal " hey, i am none that you are looking for , save one. i am not so tall, not so handsome. charm keeps at arms length from me, humour escapes me except when i am the one being laughed at. i am often at my wits end when looking for a witty reply, intelligence can be graded average at best. all i can say about me is that i am quite MODEST



hellllllllllooooo .... what do you say m'am"



Sunday, June 24, 2007

CONCERNS OF A 30 SOMETHING

Hey gals, the situation are very bleak demands immediate intervention of a tender heart. A 25 yr young guy, seemingly settled, with no disabilities (visible or invisible), friend circle decent enough to call him social and no GIRLFRIENDS????? Oh, ppl take it for granted that I should rightfully have a girlfriend. The general niceties start with ‘ man, how are you and how are your girlfriends (pls note that ‘girlfriends’ is no mistake of grammar, it is meant to be plural).All the charming one liners that my frnds have tried on their galfrnds and succeeded are on my fingertips , only they never reach my lips.

so it made me think , what if the situation doesnt improve down the line. i will sure get some vices - diary writing will surely be one of them. so read on what my diary entry would look like five years hence:-

08 jan 2012

at home


The New Year brings no joy sitting in a corner at a party with a bunch of morons who are destined to share the same fate as me, but the valentines day is even worse when I have to be contend with wishing my heartfelt love to all my friends’ girlfriends.

It was all acceptable till I was made to confront a very harsh realization, rather innocently by one of my juniors. He had returned from a course and like a very good senior I was taking feed backs from him about the course. During the conversation he mentioned one of my course mates and I naturally told him that this guy is my course mate.
“ Sir! He is your course mate!!!!!!!!” (You should have seen the look of amazement in his eyes.)

“Yeah, of course, he is.”
“Sir, he looks so young.”

There was such innocence in his voice that I couldn't tell him there that he was in fact calling me an oldie.
Anyways. I set out on yet another leave and my colleagues wished me luck yet again. Yet again I my excitement level was high for train journey always excites me. railway stations have contributed more than anything in bringing the world closer. you always bump into some long lost frnd of yours. i also met one. his jubilation at seeing me was instantaneous

"oh my god , you have turned to such smart , handsome and dashing hunk. a few pounds added here n there notwithstanding. and like they say' BALD IS BEAUTIFUL'.

he is such a sweetheart, never hurtful but never misses a point. he even went a step further and suggested a few quick fix to hair loss. however, i forgave and forgot him in the excitement of the journey. even with a confirmed seat ,i was the first one hovering over the chart minutely scanning it for all F 16 to F 36 types. but i have never found favour with the lady luck. and when the lady luck smiles at me the lady in front doesn't. haan if they smile its only for 'bhaiya, can you fetch me a bottle of water from the platform',

'yeah , sure why not ( not without a frown).

but this time it was insult added to the injury. guess what i heard last

"uncle, can you fetch me a bottle of water".( UNCLE???????????).

enough of it, no more of train journey. lets reach home. my mother is an ardent devotee. she spends 4 hours a day in front of the representatives of the 33 crore odd gods that we have. she has prayed to each one of these 33 crore odd well wishers for a beautiful, slim, educated,cultured, same caste and kundali waali bahu.aah...not many takers.but that history now. very recently she has turned liberal " beta , caste wont matter as long as long as we find a suitable gal for you( what a way to tell that there aren't gals in our caste finding you suitable,lets venture out in hope). she also spoke of going to kerala on a family trip, it economics working again- matter of demand and supply.

oh god if only i could get a posting to kerala- i call it quits with this thought .

good night

well ,you see gals, the appeal is desperate . help if you can, those who cant, kindly pass on this mail to 10 of your frnds. even if you do so, i cant promise any of those soaps dished out by chain mails but it might just help my cause, might just change things for better.

haan, change se yaad aaya.

there is nothing permanent except change...................and receding hairline.............and growing waist line after 30".

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT


Correct me if I am wrong, but inspecions seem to serve a strange purpose (Don’t misquote me, I never said that they don’t serve any purpose). The inspecting officers generally have a liking for all that is good i.e. neat and clean roads, nicely laid out lines and offices, carefully trimmed plants and trees, boys in excellent turn out. And they get to see all that they want to see; the beds laid in the dormitories are a lesson in symmetry with exactly one pair of undergarments hanging to dry and exactly one pair of shoes for display. The toiletries on display would be brand new and you would think for once that all the inmates had finished with their toothpastes together.

And then, there are some inspecting officers with their particular likes and aversions. Someone is accustomed to seeing everything in a straight line and you will find even the trees so aligned that a geometry student can be put to shame. Somebody loves to see the surrounding green and the instances of trees made to grow overnight aren’t a rarity.

The inspecting officer in this particular instance has particular aversion to stray dogs and cattle moving around. When his visit is scheduled, the wheel set rolling, the roads are broomed more than a young damsel’s hair is combed, plants get geru chuna with more regularity than they get watered, everything from trees to stones to furniture is put in line. That cant be put in line is put out of sight. All that is in line gets its share of geru, chuna and paint with the main entrance getting the lion’s share. Here special emphasis is being put on combating dog menace. Sentries have been placed at all possible points of infiltration and have been briefed to sue away any dog as soon as one is seen.

On the fateful day, the whole hierarchy takes its turn to ascertain that the arrangements are foolproof. The point about dogs has been driven home so much so that the sentries are more on the lookout for the dogs than the VIP.

Finally the visit has commenced. The commanding officer conducts the VIP around and as the visit progresses, he feels more and more confident. Even a flicker of smile is seen on his face when the inspecting officer conveys his encouragement. Smile …. such precious smile, it had eluded him the day the news of visit was broken to him. And smile eludes him once more, for he can see a dog on to his right.

Thousand things of interest appear suddenly…all on to the left. He points them all to the VIP hoping all the while that the VIP’s interest remains alive. Gradually he feels safer as the vehicle moves ahead and the dog is slowly left behind. And then suddenly Bhoun…..bhoun…..bhoun.

Sep kuldeep singh is at his wits end. He can’t understand why is he being hauled up. All that was told to him was to keep the dogs away and all that he did was to throw a stone at the dog as soon as he saw one. He had even complimented himself for such an accurate hit.

Monday, June 4, 2007

click it.... read it ..... forget it

The memory has a way of failing you when you need it most ....like any other good frnd . And like any other good frnd it fails you in more ways than one. it has happened to you,me and all. now comon dont hide it . when was it last that you met a frnd of your and just in time it so happened that you couldnt recollect his name. look how the conversation goes: -



PRASHANT : - arre YAAR , tu yahan kaise , waht a pleasent surprise.


FRIEND:- bas yaar PRASHANT, main abhi abhi posting aaya hoon . tu bata .


PRASHANT:- bas DOSST, chal rahi hai gadi . tu bata NEHA ( how could you forget his wife's name) ka kya haal hai. aur BETA ( who the hell wants to remember his name ) jyada pareshan to nahin kar raha.

FRIEND:- nahin yaar ,ANSHUDEEP (son ) is such a darling , kabhi bhi pareshan nahin karta.

( ohhhh..... now I remember ,my friend is ANSHUMAAN..... eh i always knew it )

PRASHANT:- arre ANSHUMAAN yaar ( you need to emphesize thata you remember his name ....off course), thats gr8, chalo now that we r in same station , we will keep bumping into each other . NEHA ko mera hi bolna.

so that was it , but i m not here to tell you whether NEHA invited me over dinner at her place or not. have you forgotten, we are talking of forgetfulness.......right?????

so the stage setting is of my home and i m on my annual leave. while i m on leave , i m known to be quite ' NIKKAMMA'. nikkamma ,because back home nobody gives me a work to do . reason is easy enough to guess...because nobody entrusts me with a task . those who entrusted have fared badly.

for example my mom would tell me to fetch tomato , potato and onion and for sure i ll return home with one item less. she would tell me to pick up my sister from college and i wont move until i am reminded of it. half an hours delay is to be expected only natural. i can attribute this forgetfulness to many different things, but irresponsibilty comes as the natural and most honest answer. i have felt really guilty about it at times and one fine day i said that it , now i shall be more careful.

the occasion to prove myself comes rather early as my mom tells me only two things (rather apprehensive she is, even after my promise to change for better). " beta , get these medicenes and collect the photographs from the studio."

yeah , i am going to change for better. after all forgetfulness is only an euphamism for being careless. i'll prove to be more responsible....... my bike kicks off . all the way to the market i keep reminding myself ....... photographs ....medicines .....photographs ........medicines.

i actually have to meet my friend also . after all i have come on leave after such a long while . but ..no , first thing first .....photographs.......medicines......photographs.......medicines.

i reach the studio.

"bhaiya, yeh photographs aap aaj dene waale the. yeh develop ho gaya hai kya."

" haan bhai , yeh lo tumhare photographs . 50 rs advance diye the , 100 rs balance hain".

"oh...... thik hai bhaiya, main inhe shaam ko collect kar loonga".

oh good god ...... guess what ...... I HAVE FORGOTTEN MY PURSE.

Friday, June 1, 2007

wheres my baggage

Hey, No introduction..... I come straight to the eventful part of the journey i.e. when I am trying to get back my luggage from the clutches of ‘ NO FRILLS AIRLINES’. Why skip the initial part of the story??.... because as the saying goes ‘ NO frills, no thrills’.

It was so uneventful being a no frills flight.More seats mean the seats were cramped together so that one can’t get out of his place. You want to get out of your place... because the airliners told you, the free citizens of free India, that all passengers are free to choose their places. No classes: that’s communism at its best.Very conveniently, I take a place, leaving two for the good company and very conveniently all the good company passes by without even sparing a thought or more importantly a look. So all I get is the old company. I bet you would like to get out of your places.

Another part of journey goes uneventful when the nick nacks come for munching. Your old company enlightens you by telling that there is nothing in life as free lunch. The not so stylish (so sad) airhostess confirms that there isn’t a thing in the plane known as fair priced lunch. You try to look convinced of the fact that your survival doesn’t really depend on the tetra pack of juice or a sandwich priced Rs 50.So this was the uneventful part of the journey.

Coming to the eventful part of the journey i.e. the baggage claim or recovery or discovery depending on the time you spend around the conveyer belt.First few things you notice is an empty slow moving conveyer belt, passengers crowding all over it and of course butterflies in your stomach.This is one of the few occasions when I wished I were taller so that I could manage more than a peep over one of the ladies shoulder to locate my baggage (don’t get me wrong, ladies are shorter in height, that’s it). First of the luggage comes on display and then more and more of it comes. But they disappear as they come without lighting up one pair of eyes and you wonder if they light no displayed is correct.

First pair of eyes light up, first pair of hands claims their baggage and my faith on the good old Indian aviation industry are restored.Then there are more and more claimants, but why is it that they are always the guys standing far off. My vicinity is still as crowded as it is unlucky.

My cell is ringing “ haan baba , I’ve landed . it is just a matter of 5 mins(fiercely optimistic)/ 10 mins(optimist)/ 15 mins( glass is half full,but who drank the first half ) / 20 min ( politically correct ) /45 mins (realist)before I get my baggage”.

I can’t agree with my neighbour more when he notices that the adjacent belt is moving much faster. We need communism more than anything else. All belts should move equally slow.).

Hey, look at that guy. He got his stuff so fast… What luck man. He is not half as handsome and cool as I am and he was sitting with the prettiest face in the flight, must be his sister. Look he is already on his way home.

Aah ….at long last, I can see my bag coming. There is no greater joy known than regaining a thing you believed you had lost. So, I haven’t fared that bad. But wait. Who is this guy picking up my stuff? “Hello there, you must be mistaken. That’s m stuff”. I cut a sorry figure but not before looking embarrassed and losing my prime spot next to the belt. I wonder how similar they looked. Thank god its not communism, else how could you figure out your stuff among hundreds of similar looking pieces?

Yours truly and his neighbour are the last men standing. The two of us have discussed everything under the sun. Together we have solved the Kashmir problem, showed out concern for the Iraqi population, picked up the next govt in UP and off course figured out what BCCI should do to bring home the world cup 2011. Ban all endorsements and who knows we can even lay our hands on FIFA world cup also.But I like it when he speaks of the virtues of patience and advises to travel light. I help him him with his four suitcases before I pick up my bag. We bid adieu….. he reaffirms his faith on ponting and co. while I know that sri lanka will win the world cup( higher sense of loyalty you see, if not India then at least some asian countryThe two realists get out. Its dark already and the taxis are charging double…
Labels: journey
draft
by prashant singh