Contortions of a smoke ring!

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PLACE: Somewhere in the 24 x 7 cafeteria of Telesource.

TIME: 0100 HRS

At a nondescript corner of the cafeteria, their sat a girl in her late 20s. She demanded a lot of attention from the onlookers in her flimsy noodle strap and high heels, complete with a strategically placed gothic tattoo  and nose piercing. Meet Maxi. She was a girl with a lot of nonchalance.

Maxi was on her scheduled 1 hr break from the job of a call centre agent at Telesource. Lately, she had been feeling the heat, with frequent pink slips for her colleagues and extra long working hours.

“I need a smoke.”  She murmered.

She took out her favourite Marlboro Lights from her handbag, and her hands were now searching for the zippo she bought herself on her last birthday. ” I cannot find it. Must have left it at home.” She thought.

“Need a light Maxi sweetheart !” Enter Raj. As he proceeded to light the cigarette between those luscious lips, he could not help but adore the girl of his dreams.

Raj was a colleague, an aquaintance and may be more than that. She had never been quite able to understand him. He dressed in an extravagant manner and had a great presence. Even now it did not escape her attention that he was probably trying to hit on her, and appeared overtly charming with a hint of smile between his lips.

“You have become very easy to predict. You give away too much Raj.” As she spoke, the smoke coming out of her lips assumed many shapes before dissolving into the thin air.

“I guess so. Don’t you have work on your head tonight? Traffic is too high for the new telemax product that I am handling. I tell you, life sucks. I need a smoke too.” He opened up his new B&H packet, and lit a cigarrete. As he puffed on it, a ring of smoke emanated from his lips, meeting the smoke from Maxi’s lips, contorting itself to many different shapes before becoming one.

“Well, you definitely have a better life than mine.” As she started cribbing about the problems she had, Raj could not help but notice the way she held her light. It was precariously positioned between her long and slender fingers, placed ever so lightly. Everytime she puffed on the smoke, she did not stop talking. As a result , the smoke coming out of her formed the very words she spoke. He could not stop himself from tracing the way the smoke danced about the arm’s distance between them.

“Are you even listening to what I am saying?” She frowned, taking note of the way his eyes kept tracking the imaginary shapes from her mouth in the form of the white smoke against the backdrop of the black night.

“You are beautiful.” Was his reply.

The break was nearing its end, as was the cigarette. They would have to go back to their desks in some time.

“I need to get back to work! And next time come up with something interesting, something I don’t know already !”

And their in the ashtray, lay the two sticks, the last draw of smoke  emanating from them, living the last breath that assumed those dying shapes, only to be one with each other for the last time !

A utopian vision of life !

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UTOPIA.

A mythical land where every person is free to do whatever he wishes to. Where their is limited or no crime at all, and hence no rules bind their citizens from doing or not doing something. A land where promiscuity is tolerated and their is food for all. A seemingly perfect socio-political system that gives its dwellers complete liberty to choose their interests. Everybody enjoys free will in utopia, which is such a prized possesion in our times.

The work culture in an utopian land is remarkable. A worker who does a hazardous job does so for a very less duration when compared to a normal worker, and everybody is free to choose their area of work. This in turn often leads to an abolition of currency, since everybody would be paid equally, thus bridging the divide between the rich and the poor. The entire society in such a system is based on the concepts of liberalism and mutual respect for the individual.

The very description of an utopian land brings to memory the harsh realities of our times. A society plagued by terrorism, religious divide and economical instability that is immersed in puritanism and orthodox doctrines.

Would not all of us long and love to be in such a society based entirely on the concepts of independence and freedom. What is it then that stops us from achieving a life size utopia, the ultimate feeling of happines, of being and of  being content in the pleasures of life. The enormity of imagination of such a society itself is so heavy to carry on our minds and bodies, that we often find ourselves using ‘utopia’ in reference to sacrilegous cacophonies.

All of us at some point or another have experienced a situation where we long for peace, freedom to think and act, solace from the tentacles of prejeduce and the desire of freeing ourselves from the horrors that others have to offer aplenty. What then stops us from breaking free of this bondage. Is it us, or it them?

When we take a look at our life, many memories spring up from the bottom of our minds to enthrall and appall us alike. The key is to take those memories to shape up the future. Memories are the threads that keep us hooked on to our beings. The ghosts from the past are those that determine the outcomes of our lives, and who we are ultimately.

Why then should we keep ourselves chained to the ground shackled in that pain? Should we not break free of all bonds, and remove the dystopic glasses that our eyes are accustomed to.

Such a revelation would result in a seemingly extravagant chaos, but underneath that callous sheath would lie a soft, orderly and genteel layer, which would welcome us with open hands into that land of exemplary joy.

Welcome to UTOPIA !

The urban experience !

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Bangalore/India

These are truly demanding times.  Everyone of us wants more out of everything. The same notion applies to organizations in the service industry as well. And they do not mind going the extra yard in ensuring a dedicated base of users.

That brings us to the Bangalore Municipal Transportation Committee (BMTC). In a city where the radii keeps on increasing to accomodate the ever adding population and thus increased infrastructure, it is important to ensure that the commuter gets to reach from one point to the other. And the BMTC is really going out of its way towards ensuring that the needs of the common man are met.

One quality that I really like about the BMTC as an organization is foresight. Clearly, it has attempted to provide apt services for different stratas of commuters. One one hand you have the plush VOLVO B7R buses plying to the city hotspots from the outskirts, while on the other you have economical and frequent buses plying to the commercial centres of the city.

To demarcate and differentiate between these different services that the commuter gets to choose from, their is also a lot on his platter. You have the usual VOLVOs plying on the main routes of the city in addition to some innovative naming for the others.

“Kendra Sarige” is a service that takes you from the main places in the city to the commercial hub  - Shivajinagar. Then their are VOLVOs named BLUE line & ORANGE line. I have not yet been able to decipher what the colour codes possibly means.

“HOHO” buses are another class of buses plying on the city roads. HOHO is abbreviated as Hop-On-Hop-Out. The name says it all.

Lastly, “BIG10″ is another bus service. This consists of brightly coloured buses plying on the 10 major arterial routes across the city.

Apart from these offerings to the customer, their are a number of other services ranging from Mall-To-Mall special, Ladies Only etc.

If you are looking for a discount on the prices, BMTC has a range of bus passes that you can opt for depending on the kind of buses you might choose.

Also, to help commuters not familiar with the local language, you have information placards and banners written in english.

So after these initiatives would you call the BMTC a ideal service provider?

Their is no doubt to the fact that conditions, ameneties and services to the commuter have improved over time, but a lot is left to be desired. Still, and I know it firsthand; The average commuter in Bangalore finds it a less hassle to board one of the comfortable VOLVOs numbered 335E to reach Whitefield rather than manouvre his four-wheeler through the dense traffic of Marathalli .

Gratitude and thanks for this

The author uses the services of BMTC everyday to reach his place of work; Although he does not mind an occasional lift

Love blues and folly !

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“I Love you…” … said the woman before embracing him into her arms. She kissed him on his lobes and forehead before letting him fall into the abyss of love. The best part about the entire routine was that it felt so perfectly natural to the naive eye. It was flawless – the timing of eyelashes blinking fervently, the nervous lips shivering with sensuality and that occasional blush on those cheeks. The man could not resist the beauty; he is not used to ignoring or passing by such beautiful objects of desire.

In the audience sat a man, who had seen it all. He could spot a genuine emotion from a false one.  He was a spoilt brat in the world of flings. Never ever had he found himself wanting for love. Everything seemed to work his way. I do not know how he found time for this opera night, more so since he was seated alone.

Speculation was strife about the man whether he was single again. And then, their were rumours. But after all the hue and cry died down, and the audience went back to their lives, their was this one version that was the most popular one.

People said, he was tired of dragging his relationships. That he did not enjoy them anymore. The man had given it all up for the sake of his own life.

One fine day, I happened to meet this man. Let us call him shapeshifter (SS). After exchanging pleasantries, I soon got down to the topic – “Why do you think people talk about you?’. “Because they are all fools. I have a relationship with them. They talk about me and I am supposed to criticize them. It is how social contracts work. Now if I do not respond, the relationship automatically dies down”.

I was not at all expecting such an answer. This man considered all social exchanges, commitments and relationships as contracts. And, if one party does not uphold his/her side, the relationship is over. I wanted to know more.

“Then why are you alone these days?”

“Well, I am tired of relationships. My concept of relationships was wrong earlier. I tried to look for love, care and affection. Don’t you realize that these are all fictional terms for the sole purpose of luring you? I have had my moments. I respected all of my commitments. I went out of my way to please people. I was the model paramour. But the problem was,  I was not the catch. I was the bait. Believe me or not, all relationships are based on the fundamental understanding of mutual folly. One person makes a fool out of another towards his gains, and the other reciprocates by doing the same. That is how it works. And finally when one of them have the catch, they let go off the bait – to rot in his own little bubble that he would have submerged himself into by now. I was duped , but I managed to burst that bubble each time. And finally when I thought that the mutual folly was slowly being replaced by love, when I thought that their would be no more scavenging to do, it happened again. I was just the bait. But this time the bubble had engulfed my soul, and I started to rot in the lifelessness and the abyss of what I thought to be paradise.”

“So SS, you mentioned that you were the bait for the catch. Who or what was the catch?”

“Don’t you realize my friend, its folly that everyone is running after. All they want is more foolishness in their blood. To become boorish and carnal. To desire and crave for whatever comes their way. To have the most innocent of souls trapped in those bubbles to rot.”

“I believe you made your point SS, but I am curious. Have you given it all up for good?”

“Going by the degree of folly in your questions and failure to realize the obvious, I bet you are in a relation. From now on I am not in bubble, but outside. And now I am the scavenger, without wisdom, and very foolish.”

You should have seen the pacifying calm in his eyes. He meant every word he said. I could see what he aimed to do now. The opera was not an imagination any more. Only the roles were reversed!

(Happy) New Year 2009 !

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Have you ever wondered the psyche of someone wishing you a happy new year? Have you asked that person in turn why does he think that it will be a happy new year. And why this whole brouhaha over the new year. I mean, the world is not getting any newer; instead its old by one more year and so is the next ice age .

Without much ado, and coming back to the psyche of that person wishing you happy new year, ask him about the year bygone, and how happy it was? It might be very happy for a few, and very sad for a few. But let us all agree that for most of us it was utterly boring, not bringing any pleasant surprise with it or otherwise. Why then should we wish each other one more happy new year !

Perhaps the answer lies not in the mechanism of wishing a happy new year, but in the act of recieving the same in return. (Being brought up in a world invaded by science, forgive me if my thinking has become too logical for comfort )

As human beings, we are hopefull by default. When we have nothing to turn our face on, their is always hope. And hope is what lets most of us believe in ourselves, push forward and strive that extra mile. What then is the motivation for us to do so? I guess, all of us are just trying to be happy. More happy than anybody else can ever get. And perhaps that is the reason we never miss an occasion to wish each other and recieve happiness. And this assumption is corroborated by the fact that we tend to get irritated when we wish someone happy new year and we do not recieve a wish in return. I mean is it not customary to say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Same to you’ whenever a wish comes your way. Not doing that makes you a moron in the eyes of others.

So finally is it indeed a happy new year? Going by what all of us have sufferred and recieved in the past year, let us join hands and hope that the coming year will bring with it less problems and more happiness.

Let us pledge, take action and hope to eradicate terrorism. Let us pledge to go as green as possible, cutting down on those fuel expenses and helping to keep the atmosphere clean. Lets clog the roads to the minimum and contribute to the cause against global warming. Let us learn to respect each other as an individual and try to give others their due.

Let us learn and try to give happiness to everyone possible. And since all of these endeavours are powered by happiness, I wish you and your family a very HAPPY new year 2009.

And before you start cribbing, Thanks for your wishes.

Couriers from god !

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Couriers from god!

“You got to be kidding me! What kind of stupid title is that?”

That is the kind of response some of you might have uttered. Read on…

I was in my birthday suit. Standing before those giant hallways and blinding light. Pure, unbridled white light. The kind of light that makes your head dizzy but you just cannot afford to close your eyes for the fear of losing on the moment. Before me stood the longest and most diverse puzzle of stairs that I ever seem to have seen. And all of them led to different specks in a blue sphere. After me were a million others awaiting there turn to go down on one of those stairs based upon the token they recieved from the Halo bearer.

Something about the Halo bearer. Who was he? I do not know who was he. All I could make out was that he was the source from which all that pure white light emanated. He had a list of things to tell to everyone waiting in that queue. One of the most intriguing things I remember to have heard was particularly astonishing. I realised the full gravity of the matter years later.

“When you decide to take one of the stairs”, the assuring voice of the halo bearer said, “you will see me in one of the many forms that I have. Even if you do not see me now, do not worry my dear, As I will always keep an eye on you. But remember that which ever way you go, they indeed lead to different places and geographies. Some are beautifull and others are barren. But you all are on your own there. To help you with your endeavour there, I am giving you these 2 boxes.” Saying this, he handed over two boxes. One of them was marked with courier stamps.

“The first of these boxes is empty. You can decide to fill this one as much as you want to the brim, but there is a limit on how much it can take. You can decide to fill it with good things and bad things. But remember that whatever you fill it with, it has to be empty when you come back.” I understood the gravity of the situation. Years later I could hear Raj Kapoor singing the halo bearers lines -

I came empty handed and

I will go empty handed, For Whatever I have taken here,

will have to be given back here.

After that the Halo bearer spoke about the other box. He said “The other box contains 10 couriers that I will send you from time to time. Now you have to tell 5 things that you want in your journey.” Being highly materialistic was one point because of which I was chosen on this journey, I thought. I was quick to point out  5 things, all material objects and pleasures. Fame, Success, Love, Care and Glory. The Halo bearer smiled. He quickly packed 5 small couriers with these things and wrote a future date on those. And then he packed 5 more couriers and put all of them in the second box. I was curious. What were the other 5 things I had not asked for?

The Halo bearer said “Along with the 5 things that you asked for, I will send you 5 obstacles to those pleasures. And you must prove yourself worthy of all them. The onus rests on you now to overcome these obstacles and retain the pleasures, or to get thrown and drowned in the dungeons of the same. Do you understand?” He asked.

“Yes I do”. And I picked up my box and started on one of the stairs he directed me to.

“Have a safe journey!” the placard in my hand read. It was neccesary I thought; After all I was going to start a new life on the planet earth. A new life. And though I have lots to do before I finish the journey, I never miss the couriers from the Halo bearer.

Freaks thumbs down !

Freak Chart

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What makes you normal? Frankly asking I dont know. Well, the first thing to ponder about is that why do people go to extent of doing such a bothersome job of going out of their way  and bothering so much so that you actually say – ‘that person is such a freak’. Just to drive home a point I am putting up this post with lots of benevolence. To start off, how many of us have this thing going with them to speak up about others?

On the contrary there is indeed a categorisation to be done. I will step up and present a case. There are 3 kinds of people in this world – or at least the people in and around me and those that I have interacted with. The first kind are the sub-normal (read ab-normal/dumb).  Then there are the so-normal (read boring) people. And then of course there are super-normal poeple. Now of course no body is interested in the normal subs. Instead what makes the existence of our race worthwhile and enjoyable are the first and the last kind of people.

A word about the sub-normals. Now they might want to argue that who am I to say to say that? Dont worry, all you got to do is to read between the lines. What they mean instead is thanks for noticing us ! But sometimes I really get frustrated with this kind of people who fail to realise obvious. I mean, why on earth would you be be pondering about what to eat in dinner the next day while having dinner right now. (Believe me, I know the person very well.)

Now coming down to super-normal class. These are the people with highly blown up self egos. What they think is that come what may ( maybe even a holocaust) they will survive it. And no, they do not have any superpowers contrary to the popular belief.

Finally the big question to ask is what is the spectrum which you can call freakish. Or better still, is there anything called a properly defined spectrum for the freakish. May be some attributes that define the characteristics of  freaks ! Well, may be not. I mean I myself have been called a freak so many times and then there are times when I find myself the most sublime and soothing person around. Perhaps there is a freak in all of us. Our virtual blown up alter – ego that denounces anything and everything that screams normal. At that point of time we want AB/SUPERnormal plastered all over.

So now I will attempt to find out more about that spectrum a la ‘Shangri La’.

Consider this figure below. Allow me the liberty to explain to you with a Pie Chart. Without being too specific, I have assumed the majority to be So-normals and distributed the rest equally between the super-normals and sub-normals.

Now, the conclusion!

As you can make out (oops…) from the Freak Chart, the freaks are not endemic to any particular spectrum. What instead is the case is that the freaks lie across all spectrums in some quantities. What is  sure is that they do exist. And I expect most of us to believe this hypothesis without any specimens (We do not need that now, Do we!).

That reminds me of Riemann zeta-hypothesis ! Would someone volunteer to prove/disprove my hypothesis now.

And the best way you can do it is to experience the freak yourself firsthand. All you got to do is to push yourself across the brink of the spectrum and try to be  in the common intersection area in the (Oh so familaiar) Freak Chart. Happy Trying !

DISCRETIONARY NOTE: The Author has just written his point of view. No Offence to anyone whatsoever. ENJOI!

Is it good to be evil ?

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This was made from a stress ball. And then I realised how easy it is to modify your conscience…All it takes is a few pen strokes and voila…you are transformed from a person who is meek and all smiles, To a person who still smiles but that smile carries a wicked perspective to it. And then with a little bit of improvisation, you can even carry your attitude on your sleeves. Or so to speak, you become the cynosure of your own eyes, where you begin to understand and imply your thoughts with more clarity and insight. I don’t see any of this happening to your regular run of the mill guy who is just happy to have a sphere of comfort around himself. You live in that sphere and you die in that sphere and when you do die, nobody outside that sphere bothers a penny. And thus arises an uncomfortable question… Do you want to be so insignificant in your life that when you die nobody cares a splinter about you? As far as I am concerned, I don’t want to be like that and so to emphasize that, I just created the devil from the smiley.  And to my surprise, the smile that now emerged was even more attractive than the earlier simple smile. Some might call that smile shrewd or wicked.

I prefer to cal it quintessential. Something that is important to you and is still you tend to forget about it. Isn’t that beautiful… carrying your thoughts on your face is the single most important thing. And believe it or not…

IT ATTRACTS ATTENTION which is beneficial to attain/acheive anything.

Although thats not important to many, It is for a few. And these few people would perhaps understand the thing that I am trying to convey. After all its all about living life king size.

…Or so to speak…

The higher you fly in the sky

The smaller you seem to people who cant fly !

Are you the one?

And the penguin says – ‘USE ME’ !

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Bangalore/India

‘USE ME !’ – Isn’t that a very pragmatic expression !
Almost all sections of society have their own way of perceiving this expression that can be found everywhere starting from public parks to malls. And its written on top of garbage bins that are in the shape of monkeys, penguins etc. Kudos to all those brains who thought of  writing ‘USE ME’ on top of a penguin or monkey and think that would instill a sense of public discipline among people leading them to throw the trash inside the subject.
But I beg to differ. Last week I was visiting a park and by the poolside i saw the same happy penguin that spread out its arms and said to me saying ‘USE ME !’. I don’t know but on the first instinct – I just hit it on the face.
I know it might seem very un – animal friendly to some but I just could not keep myself from the temptation. After all the subject said ‘USE ME’ and I used it as i liked. The whole point is not about I love animals or not – but its about the brains who come up with such frugal ideas. And if you are so intent on using this phrase – then go ahead and use it everywhere!
Imagine the next time you get on an aeroplane and the air hostess/ Steward comes across with ‘USE ME’ painted all across him/her. That would be a interesting sight ?
Imagine walking up to an ATM machine and seeing USE ME or T-Shirts on pretty somethings saying the same phrase.
So my dear friends, next time you see ‘USE ME’ anywhere – go ahead and give it a punch. And let yourself feel the bliss. Although, I don’t advise it in public. Reader discretion is advised.

Why so Nervous !

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” To be or not to be !” – When Shakespeare’s Caesar uttered these words, little did he know the various scenarios and perspectives it would be understood !

Coming to a very interesting question, how many of you have turned to Self help books that teach you the effective techniques of presenting before a large crowd. Also it does not help if you do that in front of an all knowing crowd or a particularly hostile crowd. Who can not reminisce the butterflies in your stomach when you face a crowd !

So that leaves us with the problem of finding out the soultion to this. Trust me, the easiest way is to go the opposite way, and stand in front of a crowd to speak on any topic under this sky – against your wishes. Once you are accustomed with the attention that you get on the dias, coupled with the fact that you have already done the requisite homework about the topic; it gets addictive. You would want to go back again and again to that familiar turf, where your audience always looks up to you.

Then again, after you have done all the homework, ready to do a great presentation, how do you tackle your audience. In my case, I just follow the thumb rule – Have a presentation agenda and a target audience. And do not falter from the path that you have drawn. So guys, just roll up your sleeves, get your laptop under your arm, and get on the dias – your crowd (audience) is waiting !