light of the day

Tea or Leaves

2006-10-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is the real tale of folks who had never drank a cup of tea in their whole life. And when the situation presented itself, they couldn't help to make matters much worse than it already was. All in all it was one cup of tea (leaves) they won't be forgetting soon.

Once there were four chums, a wise guy amongst them. They were studying in the holy city of Vanaras. It was around the time when the city was taken by storm. The newsest fad to hit the holy city was tea. It was a new and novel drink to hit the city and the folks were going gaga to take the first sip.

"Hey man," said the first one, "why not go and sample this thing called the tea?"

"Nice idea. Why not do so in its place of origin? Wouldn't that be neat? While the rest of the folks slack off here in the Vanaras heat, let's head off to Darjeling. I have a friend there. He insists our presence there to taste the new blend he said he has brew."

"Yes, let's do that. I am also too eager to taste this tea thing. I want to see if it really stands up to its hype," remarked the wise guy.

They headed to the abode of the tea, Darjeling to taste this 'tea thing' that was described back home as the best in the world. They say curiosity kills the cat. Without the slightest hint of what it was, they headed for the country where the tea flowered.

In Vanaras, all they had tasted was the Paan. Now with already reddened mouth they wish to savor this thing called tea. They wanted to eat it, not drink it (if you get my drift).

Their common friend came to pick them up in the bus terminal. They hurried to his place. All hurried and excited to taste this tea thing.

"The moment has finally arrived," they all felt.

The friend left a pot of water to boil.

"When the water comes to boil, add the tea leaves. No sooner than that. You wouldn't want to ruin the aroma, now would you?" he bellowed.

He then left to take a bath. He never mentioned the process to follow after that.

Pretty soon the water came to boil. They dutifully added the leaves to the pot.

The water kept boiling, but the friend was taking forever to emerge from the bathroom.

One of the wise guy examined the 'texture' of the leaves.

"Still tough. Maybe it needs more time for the leaves to cook. But lovely smell this."

"Yes, I would say," exclaimed other.

Five minutes later the aroma of the tea was all over the place.

"Bring on the plates, will you?" the wise guy ordered his chum who was witnessing the whole event with utmost interest.

A moment later all the plates were nicely laid. The best China was brought forth for the occasion.

The wise guy leaves the water intact. Serves the leaves.

"Fine moment this. Now let us enjoy the tea. Funny we have to left the soup out."

"Sour taste this tea," exclimed the wise guy.

"Yah, unlike the cooked pan, I daresay. It does resembles the taste. Slightly burnt though. A little sugar sprinkled over the top wouldn't hurt."

"But the paan leaf is easier to swallow, does it not?"

The nicely bathed friend was bemused to see his eager friends enjoying the tea. Or rather, the leaves.

My take on this:

There is an obvious difference between a Wise Man and a Wise Guy. And you would be?

Inspirational Essays ii

2006-10-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

Draw your energies from the people you love. No point making some alien (people you don't know but have come to admire) your energy well.

Let the people yopu love and know really well be your source of excellence. You can
learn much more from them.

Imaginary Rasbari

2006-10-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

A distress call silences the chatters of the telly. A hungry man with a sweet tooth is searching for something.

“Where is the damn thing?”

“Where did you put it?”

“Can’t say. It was there previously. But the only thing there is empty space.”

“I will search the kitchen again,” my father remarked and ransacked the kitchen. He returned empty handed.

“Call you mum. She might know about it.”

I rang up long distance. She’s out of the valley. She is surprised by my call. It’s usually my sister who calls her. She is more perplexed by my question.

“Where did you put the Rasbari? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“It’s in the kitchen. You haven’t searched the kitchen properly.”

“But I just searched the whole place..”

“Do it again. It’s there somewhere. Things just don’t vanish off in the thin air, now does it?”

I put down the receiver and scour it kitchen. Still no luck. My sweet tooth is aching to bite the ever so soft flesh of Rasbari. Now I am desperate. I want it. I want it now. Can’t go out to buy in the middle of the night, I can’t.

My sister gets suspicious and asked my father,

“Did you really buy one extra packet of those thing? “

”Well, I did bought three packets: two of Rasbari and one of Lalmohan. And two of those went to the uncle........"

"Oops!”

“I must have forgotten that myself. “

I just made a complete ass of myself and wasted a good fifteen minutes to search for the ghost Rasbari.

It’s the middle of the night and I have just made a complete fool out of myself.

[This is a reality show. Not a fantasy. Unfortunately.]

Inspirational Essays

2006-10-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ain't no such thing as that.

A thin line indeed!

2006-10-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

A wise guy once said, "It does not matter if you win or lose. It's how you play the game that matters."

The wise guy never probably won!

Paradox of Reality
The biggest loser in this whole wide world is the man who penned the song "We shall overcome someday".

That someday never came.

Paradox of reality

2006-10-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

A Diabetic man married to a Sweet Girl.

Black Mail

2006-10-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

Black Mail
A one sided negotiation.

Do try this at home
Earn money in your free time. Blackmail your friends.

Too little, too late

2006-10-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

What I don’t like about the people and the government here is that we recognize talents a little too late.

Sometime back a helicopter crash killed the cream of the talents in the conservation field (That’s what I was told, I didn’t knew that previously). The paper next day was naturally filled with condolences from institutions and people from all walks of life and working fields.

Scores of articles populated newspapers, tabloids and weekly of all colors. Most of the people intimately described the deceased ones leaving no words of praise unturned.

Exuberance (Wrong all the while). Yes, that’s the rhetoric style used by the writers of such columns to describe the late personalities.

I wonder where was the words when the personalities of question were alive? Where was the word of praise when they were alive? Where was the exuberance when they were alive?

Why it is easy to say good things about people when they are dead?

Recognizing a talent after they’ve passed... Doesn’t that give their talents were taken for granted when they were alive?

I won’t write any words of praise for them. I didn’t knew them as my brothers when they were alive, nor was I illuminated by their glorious (The papers won’t use other words that this) works (Some writers are bent into being their brothers, brethrens more like it). Now, my words would only be superficial and will betray the true memories of the dead for those who have genuine feelings towards them.

It’s all too little too late.

Blog Mantra

2006-10-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Keep on blogging in the free world

Paradox of Reality

2006-10-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

The man who caught alligators and crocodiles all his life died at the fins of a fish.

[Reality: It is something that happens when you are busy making other plans]

Why I write

2006-10-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

(May be I should call this post that!)

I am hopeless when it comes to speaking. Not so much of an excellent speaker, or a breath-taking orator as I would sometime like myself to be.

I have thoughts that run dry when I open my mouth to speak. A moment it was there, a moment next it has run dry like the fields of a farmer without water. That is what happens if you are too much inclined to rely on seasonal rain and not on modern irrigation methods. (Is that water the liquid of life, Wine? That I’d rather not)

But then again the world is overpopulate stream (keeping up with the water symbolism) of speakers who speak out their mind. Loud. The only problem is that they don’t know (most of the times) what they have on their minds. (Do they really have it, I sometimes wonder). Rather, I’d take them to be a ‘little hollow in between the earphones.’ (It’s a technical term, you see for both mentally challenged and a loose tongue)

The biggest problem for such orators (I’d rather drilling machines) that they don’t have their tongue attached to a fiber of their brain. I sometime ponder over, as I’ve already stated, have they any brains? Maybe. Maybe not. The only thing that challenges their mental hollowness is their unused storage space behind their ears. They don’t really ponder over their thoughts before they speak, do they?

I thought not.

I am not in that category. I am someone that loves a moment of solitude with the words. I am a writer, you see. And I would like to believe (sometimes) not a bad one at that. I am a learning one. Not a fully realized one. Just an apprentice. I have much to learn before I can respect the responsibilities the word bestows down upon the bearer of the name. And I am trying hard. (This compulsive blogger thing is one of such aspect)

Sometimes I give myself a hard time. It’s mostly when I start to ask myself when and why I tended to associate myself with these words. I don’t really know when. I really don’t know why.

One of the possible reasons is that I was a natural loner (for someone good at that) and loved the ear-piercing numbness of silence.

Silence. It is the thing that draws me more than a chattering box (I’d rather a radio station I can turn off at my whim). Silence gets me to ponder over, think back and think ahead. Writing must have originated from these depths of silence. I write because I cannot vend for myself by speaking; I simply cannot. I don’t have a booming voice for an instance, nor the nerve to chatter and howl over.

Apart from my own disabilities to yell and mull at the same time, my tongue also lacks a direct coordination with my brain. I cannot risk running it loose. I have to censor it. So I keep in shut up in my mouth.

It just isn’t that I don’t speak. It’s merely that I shut myself up.

Thus, I like to write. It gives me an opportunity to think deeply, ponder over and mull on the issues and talk myself out at the same time.

“A great thinker is also a great writer. He has an excellent and almost inherent skill with words. “

I cannot say the same about yappers, mental slackers and radio mouths.

CAPRICORN MAN (The Dear Hororscope)

2006-10-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

(Good things about me, ahem)

A man in this Zodiac will has a pair of round big beautiful eyes, a nice structure jaw line. He is a good listener and can understand everything easily and clearly. He can guess what you will say before you even say it. He often shakes his head or touch his hair. He is a big built, but he will tend to have a small ear. He tends to have a darker shade of hair and eyes' color. He will likely have a short and strong neck, broad shoulder, muscular, strong hands and grips. He has a shorter fingers compare to the man of the same size and same height in the other zodiac. His hands can work well at the same time can protect and care for his woman.

His height will be proportional to his weight. He will walk firmly and always take a big long step. As he walks he will look around in caution with no disturbance from his problems at present or in the past. He likes to watch things built with fascinate and wonder about how it is done, so you could see him watching a construction site and not get bored.

He is a good dancer. He is a careful person in instinct, so even at dance floor; he will already have to know what in front or behind him before he will take any steps.

Green is his favorite color. You will mostly see him wear green, navy, blue, or brown. In all 12 Zodiacs, he is the one who can get the most satisfaction from possession of beautiful thing, and cherish it as if it is very valuable to him even it is just a crystal ball made in France.

It is his luck that he hardly has to chase after woman. They always come themselves without his invitation. He likes to treat his guest in his house than visiting his guest at their house. He does not like to be a center of attention, so if you need his help, you have to look up for him. He lives his life in stability and simplicity. Every decision made are already "Sure" and carefully thought out. He will not do what he has been asked to do if he is not interested in doing it. He acts casually but in reality, he always doing things seriously.

He loves peaceful and quiet environment so in his free time, he will stay at home instead of going out and look for adventure. He loves nature and dreams of a nice and quiet house with lots of trees, or he may dream of a house in a beautiful countryside.

He will let you have freedoms and watching you in a distance. If you are over doing something, he will let you know by his icy cold look. He is the perfect lover in all the Zodiac for nothing he will not do for his love one. He won't allow people to laugh at him or think he is a joker, so he will spent for himself luxury for what it is worth.

He likes neat and well-dressed woman, so do not be a slop if you are dating this guy. If you do that he will loose his face. He is the romantic type who would dance with you under the moon light.

Love will make him shines and you will see it in his face. He will not say it out loud, you have to know it yourself.

THE BEST OF PART OF ALL THIS IS THAT I DON’T BELIEVE IT!

I’M SOMETHING ELSE

Money and Happiness

2006-10-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Money does not buy happiness. It just makes misery easy to deal with.

Why does the superheroes wear their undies outside their pants?

2006-10-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

An answer to the greatest brain teaser since time immemorial.

“With great powers comes great responsibilities” (and great stupidity in dress sense)

Yes, it’s the same monologue our friendly Spiderman blurted out. (The extra dialogue in parenthesis is my addition) He said so in the graveyard attending to the grave of his uncle. Such a pity, there wasn’t a single living soul to hear such tremendous words of importance. Only the corpses witnessed the birth of a great doctrine that has affected every superhero of yonder years, is still affecting the superheroes of our time and will affect the upcoming ones as well.

This school of philosophy is validated in every superhero’s case. This school of thought is their bondage. It is their chains that weigh down upon them. Anybody that understands this school of thought automatically becomes a superhero. In a jiffy, they are on their way to save the damsels-in-distress.

Even though the famous dialogue has been accredited to Spiderman, sources claim that he nicked it off. Originally the famous doctrine was uttered by Greek philosopher Aris T (Totally Cool Dude). He uttered the famous words in a duel with equally famous opponent Plat et’ O (Wisdom on plate, served hot).

It is said that Aris believed that he was buoyant when he bathed naked. Plat et’ O heard this when he was practicing the sacred art of Peeping Tom. He disliked the theory so much that he couldn’t stop himself to charge on the naked man. And thus began the rat race that was immortalized in the name of Aris T (Upon realizing the shame of running behind a naked man with an outstretched tunic, Plat et’ O stopped chasing him. The wise ones believe that his wife saw Plat et’ O chasing the naked man down the streets. She took it otherwise. From that day forth, Plat et’ O was heard preaching the philosophy of celibacy).

Plat et’ O was merely discouraging that fact when he chased Aris, still naked, on the streets of ancient Greece. It is further believed that Aris uttered those words aiming towards the raised cudgel Plat et’ O was carrying. He was perhaps trying him to throw it away by using his superior rhetoric skills. Science was his loosest spot (he did ran naked on the streets over some foolish theory) and so was his dressing skills (he ran naked on streets in broad day light).

Legends doesn‘t provide a clue to what happened to Aris in and after that incident. It’s any one’s guess. But, the legends say that, whenever someone realizes that doctrine or utter it in utter desperation their sense of logic (especially their dressing sense) goes flying out of the window.

Phantom (The Ghost who Walks) realized this in his own way. He swore an oath of revenge on sea pirates that swarmed the seven seas. That oath muddled his sense of judgment. Afterwards he wore a skin tight custom that was too tight around the crotch areas. Since there was no place for his favorite boxers inside the pants, he wore them outside his pants. He proudly wore the undies (glittery purple ones) outside his pants. Comic philosophers believe that this was due to the curse of Aris-the-not-so-totally-cool-dude. However, they fail to describe the curse. They only point to the fact that, “With super powers comes great responsibilities,” and add “and great stupidity in dressing sense.”

They also maintain that it is the working of the same curse that has resulted in the institutionalization of such uncomfortable ‘uniform’ for the superheroes. Due to the extreme body hugging properties of the uniform, especially around the crotch, superheroes have started to become impotent in their own right. The effects of such garments on superheroines are yet to be determined.

The common folks are yet to encounter superheroines with their lingerie outside their pants. Unfortunately, the curse of the Aris seems to work only on the other half. But hopeful aspirants in the comic world are unblinkingly waiting for the moment when the curse of Aris will finally start to work on their better half as well.

The day is eagerly awaited.

Death of the author

2006-10-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

“The understanding of any text by the reader is independent of the actual meaning the author tried to establish within the text. “

That is the postmodern take on the topic, “Death of the Author.” It strongly argues that whenever a form of ‘text’ leaves the ‘author’ the author has no control over it.

Got my drift? It seems not, isn’t it? Read on

It so happened in the country populated by smart asses where people drank alcohol instead of water. The government (though enjoying the massive revenue collection from it was sad to see its people dying for a silly cause like alcohol. Desperate measures were taken to reduce the ill of its people.)

The government launched an awareness program. A team of experts would inform the common folks about the ills of alcohol. They used practical demonstration to support their theory. Otherwise it would have been hard to convince the naysayer villagers.

In one of such occasions, whole village had turned out to see the demonstration put by the health camp officials.

One of the demonstrators poured out some alcohol and some water in two glasses. Then he took two earthworms, still alive, and dropped them in those glasses. The earthworm dropped in the alcohol died after writhing for a moment. The earthworm dropped in glass of water came out from that ‘hurdle’ quite easily.

Then the demonstrator asked the people who had gathered to see the demonstration, “What have you learned from this?”

One smart ass replied, “Alcohol kills the germs of our stomach. Therefore we should drink it more.”

[ORO, O_O]

The demonstrator couldn’t even utter a word.

Magic? There aren’t any

2006-10-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Who wouldn’t want to speed things up? It’s only natural for a wounded to heal faster, isn’t it?

If there was any Harry Potter type of magic available to cure instantly wouldn’t that be tempting? Say an incantation aloud and hey presto things have mended for themselves. But if there was such thing like that, would our world be better off than now?

I don’t think so. If you ask me I would retort,” I find this cure-in-an-jiffy, heal-it-up-instantly thing far too unconvincing. This is the stuff that only the gullible would fall for. Wise men (ahem, like myself!) tend to take their time to things to heal (if they are broken and mend (if things are in bad shape).”

But why? It’s simply because it just isn’t natural to have the circle complete so fast. The circle is that of being wounded and recovering it. It is also of being broken and mending it and so thus and so forth. There exists a certain time frame in between the former and the latter process. That time frame is the circle I am talking about.

For example, in the case of a disease, it takes its time to appear and so it shall take its time to heal up. Without the period of recuperation, it seems, the whole process losses its charm. It is in this period the beauty and the complexity of the issue at hand is fully understood.

With understanding dawns the appreciation of the whole and healthy state. Then people will be on their guard to prevent such situation. It is always better to be prepared than act on impulse upon facing the threat.
It’s sometimes good to be on your tiptoes for a while. It’s good for a change.
Take Bagmati for a change, it has been polluted for decades. Now, unable to bear up with their own do-do, people wish and pray for its rapid return to its former self. How bizarre, such fanciful thinking that.

If such thing were to happen, would then the people appreciate the work that will to towards to renew it? Will people appreciate the values that the river stands for?
No, never. They will not. There’s a good phrase to denote what will happen if there was such thing like that.

It’s called “TAKING THINGS FOR GRANTED”

The only magic is the magic of perseverance and hard work. Summon your incantations for that: It works like magic. Really.

SUPERHERO SPOONERISM

2006-09-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

As of lately, Bollywood has started to produce more and more films in the superheroes genre. The recent Krrish (a block buster, I sadly report), the previous Shaktiman, forgettable karma and even one Indian Superman (!!!). People have been going gaga over that. But for me, I have made it a point not to watch it.

Why?

It’s simply because it stand against my superhero image. What they portray is strayed from what it should have been: the Bollywood superheroes don't even wear body hugging spandex. And worst of all THEY DON'T WEAR NO UNDIES OUTSIDE THIER PANTS!!!

It's a slander, I say. A conspiracy! An outrage! A libel !

What kinds of superhero don’t wear their undies outside their pants?

Wearing the undies outside the pants have been recognized the world over as the trait shared by the superheroes. It's something special reserved for our beloved superheroes.

How dare the Bollywood ones defy their ancestors? How can they forget their roots, their Proud Heritage?

They have derailed from the code of superheroism so valiantly proclaimed by Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks. True superhero has never strayed far from this image. When even Superman doesn’t dare to be an outcast from this heritage, who the hell is Krrish to defy the most holy code of the superhero?

I have taken this issue at heart and reported the misbehaving to the world superhero council. Stan Lee has taken up the issue personally and the other guys who inks other Indian superhero has also nodded their agreement in this motion. This serious issue will be reported to the World Superhero Council (WSC), an autonomously secret UN body headed by Toffee Baniyan (alter ego of Kofi Annan).

Fans of the true superhero image, I assure you the decisions will be on our favor. Till then, don’t support any superhero that strays from their true heritage.

SHAME TO ALL SO CALLED SUPER HEROES WHO DON’T WEAR THEIR UNDIES OUTSIDE THIER PANTS

What I looked like when I was a child

2006-09-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

That is me on the extreme right. Yes, the one with the cigarette pack. I grew up to be a non-smoker though. Sigh. (What a relief, at least I won't die of Cancer!)

Light of the day

2006-09-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thoughts. Random thoughts. Thoughts that surface on the endless currents that sweep across the minds are either significant at most and useless at max. These are some of the thoughts that seem to drift across the endless sea that constitutes my mind