Meh…

Every time you walk past that curb always hoping to run into some off the hook, weird, cool, awfully crazy thing, ninja, totally hipster thing that would make you gawk like an OMGcat and go ZOHMYGAWD! The thing that’d make you jump up and down all crazy as hell or stand rooted to your spot and scream your mind out. Each time!

Turning round that curb to watch the earth falling into itself right before your eyes, and you swerve back, totally ninja style and run while dodging all the flying cars, animals and pigs. Jumping over the fence that tripped you last night, watching that dog which chased you around the block, fall into the huge gash, and you just keep running all ninja. Till you finally run into a damsel in distress and pick her up and you’re suddenly running with her in tow or in your arms (depends on your views towards proximity). Dodging that cylinder that just chose to explode as you “flew” past it. The earth behind you cracking… That large crack running from the black emptiness and reaching out, ever-reaching out towards you. All the world is suddenly a stage that’s falling in on itself and you are playing lead! The lady whom you never knew till moments back, is suddenly featuring in your dreams (even as you run past blocks of mud and decapitated living things falling through the sky, miraculously not once falling on you, despite you being bereft of the luck of not being hit by bird-poop on any normal day). Running past those everyday faces and you’re like the most popular guy on campus as people are all calling out your name for help, but you face a stronger moral obligation towards that hottie in your hands. Your head gets all muddled up with emotions (actually its not your head thats muddled, because you are not thinking from your HEAD at the moment!) * :D get it?? not thinking from your head! :D huh? get it? get it? :| oh just go kill yourself! that was good!*.

And the whole earth gobbles itself up as you run and run tirelessly… with the mother earth behind you wanting to lovingly fill you into herself, singing “You can run you can hide but you can’t escape my love”!! (Damn, wrong playlist i put on last night!!). As you rest for the night in a seemingly tiny from the outside shed in the middle of nowhere with your new “companion”. The land too has seemed to decide it needs a break, so it has stopped falling into itself. *Time for a nap* (The details of the night again are subjective to your view of PMS).

The morning sun brings with it a coffee shop somewhere close by so that you and the lady can enjoy some mocha only to find out that the earth has quit falling into itself and that it was due to some f*ck up by the American government and that some responsible, non-corrupt officials found out the ghapla and saved the day while those corrupt a**holes fell into the earth, never to be seen again! The girl you rescued suddenly is all into you and talking about the whole thing being a setup by the universe to bring you two together and shit like that. You go all smiles but in your head you’re thinking “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? Crazy b*tch tryna’ play me down'!” *Yeah… you speak nigga style in your head!*. The sun seems to shine brightly upon you two going nom-nom-nom all over each other’s face while the rest of the survivors start clapping all around you and screaming “Bravo! Encore! Woot!”.

Every time i close my eyes wishing the above… turning round the curb… just wishing … …and…… BOOM! Bird flies over-head screaming “HEADSHOT BIATCH!!!”…

“Meh…”

P.S. As you might have guessed, its exam season… And I’m bored. Crazily hectic combo! :|

~Kharashe~

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high 
Where knowledge is free…”

The human mind manifests many a secret. How this complex architecture works, is a mystery to all its owners. When utilized, it can produce results that stand to amaze even time. Yet every coin has two sides. The dark side of human emotions. A force just as capable as the good side. Misdirected energy that causes harm and leaves only destruction as its tell-tale. There is the Nanhi Kali Foundation, and there are the likes of Moninder Singh Pandher.
The newspapers have a dedicated section for recent rapes, honour-killing, religious-riots, and all such HOT TOPICS. It makes for excellent eye popping material. Makes an excellent USP. A play i recently saw, titled Kharashe, showed a beautiful scene of a Bengali household. The wife slowly slit the body of the fish for the day’s lunch, its limp body, its mouth slightly open as if trying to say something. Trying to call for help? Mercy? While the husband read the paper that showed how another helpless girl had been raped and murdered, the picture showing her limp, lifeless body, and her mouth slightly open… as if trying to say something.
Human beings adapt to situations and environments very well. It is something that we learnt as students in an early class. If there is one pit-fall for the human mind, it is at time of crisis. The human mind is the sanctum-sanctorum of faith. There comes a time in every human’s life when the mind fights itself over faith. And this is the situation hundreds are stuck in every day. Not knowing whom to trust, the very foundation of relationships crumble in the minds of victims. Once the foundation has fallen, it is only natural for all logic and reason to collapse, and people rush into rash decisions. We all wonder what it is that pushes the extremists and rebels to jump into this mad suicidal idea of justice that their front bears. Some think, they are “born that way”. But that never is the case. Many of the rebels who happened in the past riots, were BORN in earlier riots. Watching their family, best friends, belongings being slaughtered by people in the name of religion or land, embeds those ideals deep within them. After that its as simple as a 9th class Science Textbook: “Every Action Has an Equal and Opposite Reaction”.

“…Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit…”

I reiterate, not all take up swords when slashed. Sometimes a moment of chaos brings out the true side of humanity. If there were one heaven on earth, it would be one such moment. As the aforementioned play brought out, two strangers scrambling for their lives come together in the most unfortunate of scenarios. Within that moment they forgot all caste, creed and religion and despite discovering that each was from an opposite party involved in the dispute, they mingle to form a bond that would live even through their death. Its funny how we realize the true worth of something only when it is taken away from us. We realize the true worth of a human life only when its been taken away.
It is pretty sad to note that a lot of friends and juniors alike are unaware of incidents like Ayodhya. While the media did an overly ambitious attempt to blow up the issue, it is not something that can be treated with nonchalance. The Ayodhya issue was kind of a wakeup call to all orthodox religious groups. With the extensive destruction and all the tension and suffering that followed, the concept of secularism itself was sent into a tizzy. Ayodhya lived in peace for years after Babur first established the controversial mosque amongst the many temples. This order was brought to unrest by a certain clique in the name of religious righteousness. This clique functions under the motto “Dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ” or “Dharma protects its protector”. Apparently their Dharma (which in actuality constitutes ideas of Vedic ritual, ethical conduct, caste rules, and civil and criminal law) was to kill anyone who opposed their thinking. This, i brought up to highlight how little knowledge is very very dangerous. These “leaders” with their little and misconceived knowledge of Dharma, go around propounding their screwed up notions and hence screw up a hundred other lives.
Unbiased opinions. Thinking before doing. Gaining an entire idea of a concept before imbibing it. Eliminating all preconceived prejudices. These are only a few ways to achieve freedom of the mind, and wake up to a newspaper that would read “Another Indian girl makes it to the space station, nation watches in pride” rather than “Another girl raped and murdered, as people watch helplessly”.

“…Where the mind is led forward by thee 
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

The Other Side Of The Moon

The prince of the darkness, yet not princely by far,
Every night, watches over the dozing population.
Over the calm, sleepy wind, drearily rustling the proud tree.
Observing the last of the midnight bird, and its unsuspecting prey.
Passing by the window of that boy, that the sun spoke of,
Naughty little brat, but in the streaming moonlight, a harmless angel.
The cool moonlight that drenched the burning sands of the deserts,
The naughty moonlight that stole peeks at cosy, cornered, lovers,
The magnificent moonlight, that cut through the dark forest,
The soothing moonlight giving company to distressed souls,
The creepy moonlight, frightening humans off the zombie’s-land,
The majestic moonlight, cutting through the blinding darkness,
Giving eyes to the living dead, and taking them from the rest.
The soft feather, trampled all day under the reign of the sun,
Floats freely guided by the moonlight, and upon the drowsy wind.
Smiling upon all the wonders, in their true state that he sees,
The moon, in all his glory, shines brighter with pride.
The spotted moon, himself, for days, turns away and sleeps.
As the bright face that lit their ways, now wanes away,
The lost wind, now stops to blow, and rests till the light returns.
The proud tree, a glory in the white, now stands ignominiously hidden.
The feather, with no companion or medium, lies… caressing its wounds.
And the distressed souls, distressed, now more, sit distressing further.
Sans the saviour, the blinding darkness, fills every waking corner,
As the hoot of the owl, adds fuel to the fire that blazes in the night.
The cheer dies down, amongst the lovers, as the gloomy darkness sets in,
The wicked dark, reflecting only the wicked in that little brat’s face.
The land holds its breath, waiting and praying for return of the calm moonlight,
For the other side of the moon, is dark and eerie, not a very pleasant sight.

Goodbyes

A lot of things crossed his mind as he walked past the last cycle chained to its stand. The week that had passed was something that had left him mesmerized, dazed almost. And in that moment that he walked back, a moment that had decided to make itself feel at home and linger, time just ran back.
It was an exciting thing for him. A long anticipated moment that had finally seemed right around the corner. He was going to finally be with what made him happy. With what made him feel like himself and more. With what gave him a word to define cuteness. With it, meant the world to him. And now, it was coming to him, to be with him, and be his… All the excitement, he could not contain! He would sit all day, as his books stared at him, longing for attention acting all desperate by throwing up random highlights and “Did You Know”s. But they were to get none of him, as he counted down the days, to hours, to minutes to seconds.
At first he did not know how the situation was to be handled. He always saw them in the open or under adult constraints. But now it was all his and he was in it’s possession. Its face, its walk, its playful gestures, everything that made him forget the existence of a life outside of the realms of this new world, this new world of fun, of being fun, of being himself, open and free. And he wanted to make the most of it. As he spent more time with it, he learnt more of it. And it only played along very happily. In return, he made it get the best, and only the best. Never leaving it hanging, and always getting it what it wanted. When it was happy, he would be exhilarant.
They had fun together, as he sneaked it into places that were deemed out of bounds for one or both of them. Not wanting to let go, he sneaked it into his home, without knowledge of anyone, and had fun all night as sleep took a seat ordered some burgers and coke, and watched contently as the two played around. Never letting the other feel a moment of emptiness or loneliness. He treasured his time with it. The smiling moon, after watching over them all this while, finally took his leave and left them to their ways. The sun, wanting a peek too, scrambled its way through the sky, only to find them peacefully perched and greeting him with warm smiles and even more warmed hearts.
It wanted to explore, he wanted to explore with it. They made moment after moment happen, and moment after moment happened with them. They played under god’s nose, and in the devil’s den. And nothing beat their company and they made a new friend… TIME.
Even time seemed to enjoy their little squabbles and childish giggles. “Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations”, said some great man. As the time came to part ways, and goodbye was the word that fought its way through his throat and grumbled as it squeezed between his clenched teeth and fell out in one agonizing flick of the tongue. A goodbye that seemed to summarize, in a moment, what they had built, over that time. He hated that word. He hated everything about it! The way it sounded. The way it was spelled. The way it FELT.
But it had to be done, and he could just turn and walk. Not having enough courage to watch his love part from him. Not wanting to watch it leave, just as he sniffled to hold back the drop that was so eager to run out his, across his cheek. He walked off, away from the van that carried his beloved away. His pup. The one he had got for his birthday, the one that he had wanted throughout his childhood, and had finally been rewarded on HIS most special day. Now it was going back home, and his heart was going back to its shell. Every step through the mud felt like walking through quicksand.
The cycle still stood there, laughing at him, chained to its stand… and laughing.

Will You Be My……… Facebook Fraand!?

I quote my favourite, Bob Dylan, from one of his many inspiring tracks:

“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.”

The times truly are changing. Just yesterday i received a friend request from a professor of my college. Believe me, this is not a very happy place to be in! You are put into a dilemma with the mouse precariously hovering over the “respond to friendship request” button.

Dilemmas have been passed over from generation to generation and many have been modified over the transition to suit the changing society. There are the class 5 dilemmas, the very scariest of them all (Hint: Unprotected ventures can lead to these). Then there are the class 1 dilemmas: “What to eat first, the egg or the chicken!? Hmmmmmmm…”. Apart from these there are ‘ye old lame and stupid dilemmas: “To be or not to be, THAT is the question!”. Hah! Stop being and start doing mister!!

Anyway, getting back to the point, after years of dilemmas of the conventional kind, there came this new one. The fraandship dilemma. “Will you do FRAANDSHIP with me”? Will i do WHAT with you!? It seems that with the advent of technology, the people in rural and uneducated parts of the country learn first about FRAANDSHIP and then about A for Accept and S for Send Request. Oh and now that they have Fraands on the computer, they have to look good for them! So they watch all the hood-movies and rap-videos to take a few lessons in being cool. Yes, if you are pseudo-black and wear loose ill-fitting clothes and a cap two sizes too big for your head, you are COOL! This is not me speaking, this was what i overheard while enjoying a quiet meal in my mess. “Oye woh tera sidie toh ekdum rapper lagta hai bey! pura colour, size sab vohi hai! Mast hai bidu, bada cool hoga” (“Yo, that sidie of yours totally looks like a rapper maan! Colour, SIZE (!?), everything’s the same! Damn cool bro, must be cool!”).

That is another aspect of life on the EDGE *. But still dangerous is the phenomenon of relatives on Facebook. ITs something of a trend that has evolved over the years, with more and more families opting this way to monitor their kids. The kids on the other hand are always two steps ahead. With scarecrow profiles and extensive research on Facebook privacy settings, the cat and mouse game never sees an end. “Pinky, WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS in this picture!?” “Sonu, WHO IS THIS GIRL, and why is your hand THERE!!?!” “HAI! MERA BACHHA! Kaise kaisse logon ke saath ghum raha hai!?”.

There were times when i would meet people and we would sit and have long talks on strong existential topics. Or maybe share a laugh or two. Maybe we would exchange mobile numbers and then we would part, calling each other an asshole under the breath for having wasted so much time of our precious lives! We have come a long way from there. Now i meet new friends through mutual contacts, we chat and call each other assholes while reading the other’s profile. (“Activities: Football, watching television, hanging out with friends, reading books (LOL!!)… boy what an asshole”).

Social protocol no longer demands you being courteous and polite on a first meeting, it requires you to “friend” them on Facebook. Social protocol no longer requires you to greet people each time you meet them, it requires you to write on their wall / poke them. Social protocol no longer requires you to be presentable in public, just add an “LOL, god knows what i was thinking” caption below a not-so-presentable photo and your job is done. Social protocol no longer requires you to be WITH your friends through their hardships, you can just water their crops or gift them a hug or a heart. Social protocol is obsolete. Social network is the new organization, and Mark Zuckerberg is CEO, BITCH!

* Anyone who did not get this pun, sorry for making it so technical, http://cellphones.about.com/od/phoneglossary/g/edge.htm