Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ignorance is probably the worst virus to have ever afflicted the human mind.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dedicated to my Family & Friends

It feels good. Really. Spent the first quarter of my life (i'm gonna live to be a 100) evolving,learning, falling, getting up, getting hurt, loving, getting love, hurting some.....and being myself..just myself all along.
There were some who saw only my shortcomings..there were some who overlooked those shortcomings.....and then, there were a few ppl like you. You acknowledged my shortcomings. You like me not inspite of my follies..but with them...maybe even because of them. You not only accepted me into your life, but welcomed me!
You knew i was far from perfect. Way too mean to be good...way too dense to be sharp. You knew i cared even though i sometimes acted difficult. You stood by me even when i knew i was wrong--gently steering me in the right direction. you were patient when i felt my sanity hang by a thread.
I don't say it often enough..but i love you. I don't bind myself to you..my freedom is precious to me..but that doesen't mean i don't appreciate you.

Like me for what i am
Not for what you want me to be
Hate me for what i am
Not for what you believe me to be
Forgive me for what i did
Not for what u think i do
Leave me if u must
But not because i'm not like you

Stay only if u want
Not because i put up a fight
Say only what u mean
Not whatever sounds right
You ask what u mean to me
And i say you're my family n my foe
I may sound a bit confused
But u are equally unsure

Anticipation vs. Apprehension

Last night, an old friend asked me why the entries on my blog border on the unmentionable. Firstly, i don't believe i have ever done anything in my life that is "unmentionable"..i've been rude, crude, nasty....i've insulted, been insulted ...i've hurt and been hurt...i've forgiven and been forgived....but the one thing i've never been able to do successfully is forget..maybe i've been forgotten by some...but i haven't forgotten a thing. And , believe you me, it has not been out of choice.
It's strange....isn't it? Sometimes people you've known for years and been very close to fail to understand why you behave in a particular fashion..but somebody who you hardly know can anticipate your next move with admirable ease.
But why is anticipation followed by apprehension? Why cannot you see that there is no need to read between the lines? Why is it that you cannot differentiate between what is superficial and what is real?
More importantly, why is it that you need to talk to somebody to come to terms with yourself? If you are fighting battles inside your head, you must know that you are not alone.
In your quest for the undefined what will you gain?

India - Then & Now

Once upon a time, before the world was demarcated by border lines and religions and Earth was taken over by the Human Race, there existed a tiny magical kingdom called India.
India was so named after its beautiful and generous queen, Indiana.
The inhabitants were a mixed lot consisting of elves, brownies, pixies, ghouls and goblins.
There were only two humans in the entire land.
The Queen, Indiana ; and a wizard, who went by the name of T.Ray.
Those were magical times when feelings such as jealousy, hatred and discontentment were unheard of and everyone was equal. Nobody was poor because nobody was rich. Even Indiana led a simple life, inspite of the fact that she ruled the land and could have had anything she wished for.
But she lived in a small wooden cottage where she grew pink and white lilies in the front lawn and a small vegetable garden in the backyard.

In India, the daily assembly addressed issues that were settled in front of the whole kingdom.
The inhabitants helped each other whenever they could and feelings of animosity were alien.
The only person who was not satisfied was T.Ray. A wizard by birth, he was the most powerful man in the entire kingdom and was called whenever someone was ill or needed a stroke of good luck.
The wizard secretly desired to be the King and make radical changes throughout India. He wanted to drive out the goblins from the land and assign important positions to the elves, who were an innocent lot and worshipped and admired the wizard because of his magical powers.

One day, after much deliberation, the wizard decided to speak to Indiana and to show her a magic preview of what the ideal India would be like if only she would let him make a few changes. He knew he would never be able to fulfill his dream without her consent, as Indiana was the most powerful woman in the entire world and nobody ever dared to refuse her word.
The wizard woke up early in the day and got ready for the daily assembly.
By the time he reached the assembly venue, the daily issues had been resolved. T.Ray-the wizard, went to see the queen who welcomed him, unaware of his propositions.
The wizard explained to her how beautiful a world he thought it would be, if they drove out the goblins from their land.
Indiana listened to him patiently and tried to reason with him, telling him all living beings had a right to live wherever they wanted to and that the great kingdom of India had never discriminated against any section of people. She warned him that such an action would cause unrest among all the inhabitants and disturb the peace.
But the wizard was not willing to listen.
He thought he had formulated a perfect theory for existence and felt insulted that Indiana didn't welcome his views.
Finally, when Indiana saw that the wizard was not going to relent, she started fearing the outcome of his obstinacy.
She banished T.Ray from the kingdom forever and asked him to leave India within the next two days.
Feeling dejected and insulted, T.Ray experienced an alien feeling take over his entire being. Always hailed as the wisest man in the entire land, he had not foreseen the possibility of the Queen declining his suggestions.
Anger and an urge to wreak havoc began to dominate his thoughts and he vowed to avenge himself.
He went down to his basement where he stored all his magic potions and brews and began to practice his black magic.
T.Ray concocted a strong magical potion and with the help of a few of his faithful elves, sprayed the potion over every vegetable garden in the entire kingdom, with the exception of the Queen's garden which was always heavily guarded by the ghouls.
Within the next one day, every brownie, pixie, elf and goblin had eaten from their vegetable gardens and the magic potion sprayed over the vegetables made every inhabitant go mad.
They started behaving in a most peculiar fashion. Arguements and disagreements became commonplace and everyone resorted to reacting violently at the slightest provocation.
The only unaffected people were Indiana, because she consumed only the vegetables which she grew in her own private garden which had not been infected by the magic potion; and of course, the wizard himself, who had by now left India.
It didn't take long for the queen to realize what had happened and she immediately issued a series of edicts governing public safety.
But now, since she was the only one left who could think in a rational manner, her words of wisdom were misunderstood by the inhabitants and they together stormed her cottage and beat her to death.

Elsewhere, the wizard saw in his crystal ball all that had happened due to his magic potion. He was not a cruel man, just greedy for power and status. He started repenting all the trouble his actions had caused and his guilt for causing Indiana's death became so enormous that he went into solitary confinement and his mind deteriorated. He became a mad man and lost all sense of reason. He travelled all over the world looking for Indiana to appologize to her. But Indiana was already dead and the kingdom of India was being divided again and again - sometimes by the pixies, sometimes by the goblins, till all that was left of it was small pieces of land that its inhabitants called States. The pixies stayed in one state, the elves in another, the goblins in yet another and so on. Nobody came for anybody's assistance.
The effects of the magic potion were so strong that it had now permeated itself into the very soil where all vegetables were grown.
Everyone went mad and behaved in as violent an irrational a fashion as they could- sometimes in the name of religion, sometimes in the name of politics and sometimes without any excuse at all, till the very name of India was wiped from the face of the Earth.
And what happened to the wizard? Well, that's another story altogether.......



Of all the things I keep losing, the only thing I don't miss is my temper...