The Accidental Friend

Sia boarded the train to her native along with her sisters as she was hell bent on reaching home for Diwali. The start of vacation season had left all three of them with no seats and tickets in waiting list. They all started their journey with a waiting list tickets and no seats. The younger ones sat on their luggages till Sia went in to speak to the TTE for negotiating about at least one seat for the GIRLS. To Sia's luck, they found exactly three seats in the otherwise full train, however, in the upper tier with some extra cost incurred to bribe the TTE. Bless their luck. They settled in their new seats, now when they had places to relax by.

Sia settled her sisters and baggage’s on their respective seats, and she herself got cozy in her seat. She started to read her favorite book 'Sons of Fortune' for the nth number of time. After some time, when she was on the verge of dozing off, she heard her sister's voice in conversation with some guy. In her sense of relief after getting seats, she had forgotten to notice people seated around them. She saw a nerdy, lanky guy with glasses on, settled on the upper berth and chatting with her sister.

Sia had always been skeptical of strangers while travelling with all stories of these unfamiliar people drugging others and looting everything. She stared at her sister and told her in coded language (they had a secret language) not to talk to the stranger. Apparently, the stranger was persistent and now that he realized that Sia was along with them, he started to notice her as well. He commented loud enough that Sia is fast reader to make her hear the remark and attract her attention. She thought, he succeeded and what now. She looked up at the guy and saw that he was staring at her. Although Sia was giving him filthy looks, he was smiling. Sia got up to go to the loo to avoid this annoying guy.

She came back to see that the guy was sitting on the lower berth opposite her and chatting merrily to both her sisters. She hated him from the start and now she had to face him for the rest of the time till he chooses to sit opposite her. He started popping questions for Sia to answer and Sia dodged them by answering in monosyllables. The guy is damn persistent, she thought. May be she can give talking to him a shot. May be talking about girly subjects would bore him and he would buzz off. She still had the choice of sleeping off if he is as annoying as he seems. She started talking to him.

The guy introduced himself as Rahul. He was pretty well spoken, nicely dressed and seemed well educated too. She thought, then why on earth is he behaving so annoyingly and trying to talk to people who are not even remotely interested in talking to him.  Still they started on a conversation and after some time it was difficult to tell that they have just met a few hours back. They were talking about almost every possible topic on this earth, starting from engineering (guy’s topic) to advertising and bitching (girl’s topic) to their respective jobs and places of postings. They apparently had close posting places, just 2 hours of drive and you are there.

Rahul and Sia talked and talked till they reached their destination the other day, with train being 13 hours late from the usual schedule (Indian railways - I tell you are never on time). Sia was aghast that she won’t reach home for Diwali. And a bigger trouble awaited at hand that they were left at an abandoned railway station at the graveyard hour. Rahul's father being in army had send a vehicle to pick him up from the station but he opted to stay back with Sia to give her company.

Sia agreed, at least a little known devil is better than unknown evils. They shared their email addresses to communicate in future and waited upon, chatting in the waiting room for the night to get over. The next morning, Rahul made sure that they all boarded the correct bus and left safely to their home town, which was another 1w hours of journey from that place. This one nice gesture of Rahul made both of them inseparable friends for life. An unprecedented waiting list train journey gave both of them real good friends for life.

Resurfacing

After a long time, I felt like writing today. I cried a lot last evening thinking about what I am doing with my life. I came to realize that I had stated to spin my life around a fancy that was never to exist for me. I have to work all my life. I can’t afford to live such a laid back life of doing nothing and simply cribbing about what’s lost.

I have stopped writing altogether – that what makes my life worthwhile – I had stopped doing it. I have written so many short stories but they are not worth the effort of publishing. I am resurfacing with a firm decision that now it’s my turn to dictate my life. I won’t take anyone’s term to rule me. I have a lot sensible people to guide my efforts to the correct path. Let’s start a new life.

New ME is to welcome the changes. I am no housewife to crib & cry and I have no future as one. So why waste myself. I love you Richa Vani. Welcome back love.

Death

Right here, front of my eyes

It died

Pain shot up through heart

All went white

Why you seem so far

So blurred, so cool?

Why can’t I touch you?

Who died?

Why did it hurt?

Did it belong?

Time is so long

It’s a healer

I’m fading

Right here, front of my eyes

I see myself fade

I saw my death awhile aback.

Darkness

Darkness-Why am I scared of it? Why are so many other people scared of it? Why can't we just light a bulb or any other light source and get over with it? It will be easy to get rid of it-won't that be? After all, what we need to do is just to flip a switch or strike a match, isn't it? Then why is it that we prefer stay in fear of the darkness.

Are we used to the fear part so that we can brag about it later we were so scared? When we have a choice of getting away from it, we chose not to but can anyone tell me why? It's always easy to step in light and see everything for what is real and what is original. Why do we chose to stay blind from the beauty of light. Just as we think that light plays tricks on us with its various colors and warmth. We love to rot in the damp darkness, where everything rots to stink, but since we are unable to see it – we do not have any problems.

Are we shying away from good, because what I have grown up to understand is that darkness is equivalent to evil and wretchedness. Why are we so reserved in the everlasting reign of darkness? Darkness has made us oblivious to the reality of pain, rot, stink and every other phenomena as it has started to reside in us. Why do we not want to get rid of them? Is it so difficult?

Happy Valentine's Day

This post is dedicated to my would be husband. Happy Valentine's Day Mister..


You flow through the veins
with every beat of my heart
my life goes easy with you
I sing a song on your tune.

You make me smile
You make me happy
You make me dance around
with every beat of my heart.
 Is this love that I feel for you

Or is this what life is?
Is this the feeling of your smile
Or is this what waves are?


My heart is full of you
It smiles at your thought
Wish it would be real
the blue ocean around.

You flow through my veins
reach every bit of my soul
you beat in every moment
through each nerve over all.

Wish words could convey
how much I love you...

Burnt (Complete)

The phoenix was born from ashes the day Raji and Nitesh saw each other in the college classroom for the first time and immediately took a liking to each other. They were so different that people could not understand the reason that made them best of friends and that they both would share almost everything with each other. The first thing she saw about him was his nice cute face and a different persona who genuinely looked decent but a typical MCP who would dominate her for just being a girl. He saw her as a hot and sexy girl, an extremely shallow impression of hers. His outlook for her was that she could be the perfect girlfriend he had wanted for himself.

God only knows how they became inseparable friends. They would be huddled, heads down everywhere and had a world of their own that made everyone around them jealous. As soon as he started to learn her, he found her more in being rather than just her external appearance. He found her to be the perfect partner one can ask for. She was an amazing person with the rare combo of beauty with intelligence. She was caring, smart, soft hearted and of the things she could cook. She found him to be dominating and powerful, what she had always wanted in her man to be. He could take care of her at the same time could protect her. But something very essential was amiss from their relation.

They never stayed aloof from the rest but even when they were around others, their sense of communication would be their eye contact and nothing else. They never felt it necessary to let others know of what they were thinking and planning. The never present and omnipresent communication made them all the more invincible to the attacks from other friends. People never could understand the kind of relation they shared.

That fateful day came when Raji had to meet a family for marriage. It came as a shock to both of them. They had just finished their college and had big plans for their future. She realized that she loved Nitesh and she could not imagine her life beyond him. She had not seen them separate after three years such a close relationship. They had never confessed their love to each other but all knew it was there. Raji confronted Nitesh with her feelings and another bomb dropped. Nitesh loved her too but he would not marry her, “could not” that’s what he said.

She was heartbroken. She could not understand where she stood as the hindrance in Nitesh’s future plans of becoming someone big. He considered her to be his strength, his pillar of support and someone he could look up to in a lot many aspects. He could not let her go, but she had to now as he didn’t have any reason to hold her back.

Raji was going, and he felt miserable every minute of his life thinking about that. He noticed that Raji had started to be a little reserved in his presence and that they had lost their key communication. He had to say things for Raji to hear, which made him flare up at every small piece of talk they had. Nitesh felt Raji going away from him. He would still not let his authority loose on her. He would bash everyone up whoever, he felt, made his advances towards her. She could not understand this behavior of his as it made her scared to talk to him anymore.

Just another day, another piece of conversation - and she supported another guy, Aseem, in there as he made better sense. Nitesh got so angry that he called her names publicly and said that she was a back-stabber. Raji could not contain herself when Nitesh called her names as she could not figure out a reason for that. She asked, but all she got was anger, hatred and nasty sarcasm from him. She tried to reason but they fell on deaf ears.

It was all a part of the joke being carried forward from one person to the other. Why was it so difficult to understand? One person got fired earlier and now it’s her turn because she supported someone else. Nitesh didn’t know about Aseem and his presence in Raji’s life that why he blasted her using offensive words, which were unbearable for any (would-be) husband. Aseem was protecting Raji, and so was Raji.

This was the first time that Raji lost her cool too. She yelled back that he had lost his right to run her life and he was no one to comment on her preferences and she again supported Aseem. She said that she is getting married to him and he is the one she will always support for the rest of her life. She had felt that it was her fault that led to end of their relationship. She could not fight for Nitesh this time as she had to stand opposite and defend Aseem who was more important.

How can love get nasty? Why can’t it just be contained as a good feeling? She lost Nitesh, forever, when she wanted to hold him but he was unworthy of the effort. She would not. Aseem felt her pain and stepped forward to apologize to Nitesh, but she could not let her fiancé down in front of her friend. She fought for him after all. She had to choose and she chose Aseem.

Raji was in pain but she realized that if Nitesh was unable to understand her stand and would desert her just because she defended her fiancé then he was not worth being a friend. She felt emotionally drained and thought that all of the last three years with Nitesh were a waste of her feelings. She chose now to burn their relation and feelings down at her own will. She knew she will never be able to respect Nitesh for what he had done to her and that Phoenix’s are imaginary.

Inflation and the stupid Economist

Hi Falcon


I am taking these posts from your link to publish on mine...Coz I think all the more people need to read this..this is an excellent piece of sarcasm with proper know-how combined together...hats off to you for writing this...






Child Psychologists say that a man who has got 20 years of formal education, has irrevocably lost or damaged 70% of his IQ. I have completed 18 years of formal education by 10 + 2 + 4 years (and 2 years in kinder garden) so I must have lost 63% of my IQ. Hence I have no qualms in saying “Main panchvi pass se tej nahin hoon” ( I am not smarter than a 5th grade kid.) Having said that, I hope the readers will spare me for my stupidity and mistaken concepts regarding Inflation and Economy.


Though I don’t have much of an IQ, I have my basic chemistry intact and a little bit of common sense.

Basic crude oil Refining


As seen from the image, petrol being lighter and more volatile, distills out first at about 120˚C while the diesel comes out much later at 270˚C. Obviously more energy is required to extract diesel from crude oil and as such it must be more costly. However in India we get Diesel at about INR 34 and Petrol at about INR 50. Diesel is subsidised, as India being an agro-based country needs diesel for tractors, tube wells etc.


If that’s the case then I don’t understand what the Under Performing Alliance prime-minister and the famous economist Dr. Manmohan Singh means by “subsidy cannot be given forever”



Does he mean to say that Diesel prices will be raised by about INR 15? Does he mean to say that the successive government knowingly gave the Oil companies huge losses and deliberately planned a situation where they don’t have funds to buy crude oil? Does he mean to say that in last 60 years none of the oil companies ever made a profit? And ONGC being rated in Fortune 500 is a hoax?




Unfortunately, facts tell otherwise. In Pakistan, as on 16 March 2008 petrol was INR 39.64 where as Diesel was at 24.59 INR. In 2002, petrol in India was costlier by 22% and 45% compared to Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively.




Anyways, as I said I am no economist, so before starting this post I looked up to the dictionary to know what the term subsidy means. Well, Webster defines subsidy as “a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public”. Unsatisfied with the definition I referred a second one and it defined the word more precisely as “an amount of money that the government pays to help reduce cost of product or service”.




Obviously the whole and sole aim of subsidy is to reduce the cost of product, so if the world wide oil prices are increasing, the best buffer can be to reduce the taxes on the fuel. And it is a well known fact, that if taxes are removed from petrol and diesel their prices will fall in India irrespective of the current state of the world market.


It follows that our government and Dr. Manmohan Singh thinks that leaving a tax of INR 20 on an item priced at INR 100 whose production cost is at INR 1 is also a subsidy and it cannot go on forever.


To show the greatness of our economist and our budget planners, let’s look at a very simple item. Milk in India costs about INR 20 while as a Soft Drinks are priced at INR 30 a litre or INR 42 per 1.5 litre. And before you jump to say that Soft drink is a Luxury while milk is a necessity, I haven’t finished yet. Mineral water is at INR 10 per litre!!!


Now, does the government thinks that drinking water is not as big necessity as that of milk? Or it simply wants to state that two litres of water are equivalent to 1 litre of milk? And don’t you think that 250 ml of carbonated water ( 1.5 litre of soft drinks) should be made cheaper???


It is pretty strange that we will fight with our grocer for charging 50 paise extra, fight out in court to avoid paying a rupee extra over MRP but never ever utter a single word when the government makes us pay through our nose in name of inflation. Like I said, we all have had formal education and has lost our IQ somewhere during our education.




So, what’s wrong if we pay more? We are making our country developed, Right? No wrong again!!! Let’s see how we spend the money! 5-year plan is turned into a 50-year plan of corruption. So our Under Performing Alliance (UPA) government takes pride in the sucess of the “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna”. It is simply a waste of money. It’s an insult to labour and mockery of intelligence.


What kind of road do they build? Is it a pitched road? a concrete road?NO. It is a road that is made of clay. Motorable during summers and with monsoon it disintegrates, and the next summer the process is repeated again. Why can’t they sanction a pitch road?


I guess, our Prime minister has done a PhD.and thus has more than 20 years of formal education and has lost more than 70% of his IQ. He is incompetent to make his own decisions and thus needs guidance in everything he does. And the God Sent guidance in form of Under Performer’s Alliance chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi!!!