Random Ramblings

The Toyota Qualis and the Chvrolet Tavera stopped after a long journey. It was almost 9 in the night and it was pitch-dark. Night times in a forest are always pitch-dark. Adding to that it was a good `thirteen days since the last full moon day. Adding to this, the cloudy weather made visibility close to zero. Later in the night the forest would be engulfed in a fog making it nearly impossible to see. The only noise audible was that of silence, few random insects and that of a train going at a distance. After a long journey they all were quite weary and all they wanted was some rest so that the next day morning they can head for tiger and rhino spotting among many other species of flora and fauna in the wildlife sanctuary. Right now it was time for some parathas, maggi and booze. All fifteen of them headed for the cottage which they had booked, sat near the fire place relishing food, chit chatting about college life, universe and everything. But chit chatting wasn’t what they came

There was a family of 3 frogs - Ma Frog, Pa Frog and kid frog. Like may other frog families and many other insects, reptiles and amphibians, they existed peacefully within confines of the well. The world outside the well didn't mean anything. In fact many of the residents were unaware of the existence of the outside world. One fine day, Kid frog told his parents - "I want to go out and explore the world". His parents were initially reluctant, but they grudgingly granted his wish, with an understanding that the kid would be back in well after some time. The kid went out and moved around in the vast world. And how different it was from the world within the well. It was beautiful. Things he never imagined ...they actually existed! Yes. There were few things that were quite eerie, and some made him desire to run back to his home. Nevertheless, the world was different. Quite a contrast to the world he had seen in the well! He continued his journey, and loved exploring the wor

He was bored. It was last term of his MBA. Placements were still at least a month and a half away. Number of subjects in this term were very few. He sat at the local canteen nibbling a samosa and leisurely chatting with a friend who was apparently having a hot cup of coffee, but had actually become cold coffee in last 25 minutes. He was not so bored, and wished that his bored friend becomes not so bored. "Why are you so bored" "I have nothing to do" "Nahi yaar. Kuch to hoga? Classes" "Yeah. I have one at 3: 30 PM" "What you'll do till then. Still 4 hours to go" "Dunno" "Have you read the Harsha Bhogle Article on India's tour of Down under? Those cheater Aussies" "Yeah. I read it on internet yesterday. Seriously ... Too much hai yaar ... But seems that notheing else is happening int he universe in last 2 days ... hadh hai " "No. A different one came in today's newspaper" "I haven&#

Very Far Far Away was a large and diverse country. It had many ethnic and religious groups and subgroups and castes. But there was a problem. The constant infighting had taken a toll on their country. People were driven by diktats of religion and not its principles like love or brotherhood. This had taken a toll on almost all aspects of the country. Then HE came. HE, through numerous efforts managed to establish peace. HE established a new religion. A religion without any groups, caste, gods or rituals. A religion that was driven by ethics, equality, freedom, love and brotherhood. The countrymen now channelized their energy in more creative and useful things and prospered like anything. That was few centuries ago. But many things haven't changed. The country is extremely prosperous. HE is revered even now. People now worship him. They follow few principles of the religion and any deviation is not tolerated, and punishment is of highest order. Equality is still there, although the

He waited for almost 2 hours. The Captain was about to come. He was about to be given a hero's welcome in his home town, a not so big city. And why not ? After all he had won the world championship after beating arch rivals in a nail-biting final, when people had almost written them off at the beginning of the tournament. They were now the world champions in that format of game. This was a shorter version of the game. But things were never the same. He was among many people who burnt the captain's effigy few months ago. They were protesting against him. They even tried to attack his house and car. Reason - Extremely poor performance in the World cup tournament., which was another version of the same game. The captain was then just an ordinary player, who performed miserably in the tournament. Back then, he was even referred by someone as a disgrace to the team by few people. But now it was a different situation. The noise was becoming louder by each passing moment. The captain

The lights faded. The shooting for the day was over. The hero retreated in his van, away from the public glare. He was one of the most popular man on the silver screen in the tinsel town. He had been ruling the roost since over a decade now. It was he who dictated shots to the directors and producers. He was linked with half a dozen ladies, mostly the top most beauties of the silver screen, before tying knot and breaking it up with his schooldays buddy. He enjoyed public adulation to the maximum. The public once went gaga over him, only to love to see him fall after a string of flops, before he came back with a bang with the biggest grosser of the decade. This was four year ago. Since than there has been no looking back. He had delivered 9 blockbusters in a row since then. He now commanded highest billings in the industry. Calling him a superstar would e an understatement. Now he called shots. The public loved to imitate him. He enjoyed the limelight earlier. He had always dreamed to

“Hello … Is anybody sitting here?” “No”, she said, making room for him to keep his book on the library desk. She kept wondering why he would come to sit on the same table as hers in the library, while others were lying empty and more importantly, when they did not talk much in first 3 years of their engineering. In fact, they usually did not get along well, especially after many spats earlier during their college life. They did not see eye to eye in any matter be it scheduling of tests, sharing of notes, or even sorting out an issue with a faculty member or anything. In fact, once in the canteen they were arguing over petty issues like who should get the sandwich first, as both ordered same thing nearly at same time and the sandwiches came at an interval of 2 minutes. But there was more to it than plain not getting along. It was after all a matter of image. If he relented, his image would be tarnished in his group, and more so in the boy’s hostel. Same was the case with her.

The vegetable vendor yelled. It had been an hour since she ventured out in a somewhat posh locality to sell vegetables. This has been her routine since around a decade. She made a small profit in a day and on some good days the profit touched Rs 100 mark. But in most of the days it was much less than it. She managed few hundred rupees, usually breaching the Rs 1000 mark a month. That was barely enough to make her family earn a decent living. She had been living with her 3 children, which she had before leaving her abusive, alcoholic husband. Like many others she dreamed that her children will have good education. She was an illiterate but she understood the importance of education for good living. This was one of the reasons she did not allow any of her children to work, though occasionally they helped her. Today seemed a bad day. Not even a single buyer since an hour. Finally one lady showed up. She was a 30 something, stout, seemingly snobbish lady with loads of make up. She cam

“ Churchgate", I said. He dumped my luggage into the boot space and went to the driver’s seat. He was a man probably in his late 50s, seemed like a person who hardy opened his mouth, so unlike many drivers who start blabbering the moment you step in the taxi. A tall man, with some hairs white, though they were mostly covered by a cap, rather a hat. His face wasn’t visible, especially in the dim light little after sunset. But fifteen minutes in the journey which would take probably an hour, his baritone voice started talking. He was quite amazed by the level of ignorance I had about Mumbai. I told him that I belong to a small town near Allahabad. He also belonged to Allahabad. And then came numerous discussions from government policies to sports to Indian economics. He revealed that he left his hometown in his 20s and is has been a long since then. He had a daughter who was married and a son who would be getting married shortly. However, I didn’t go deep into his personal life

It was yet another mundane day at the office. The client had once again told to pull up the socks, if the project had to be completed in time. My manager had one again told that my work was still not upto the mark. I was feeling totally demotivated as I strolled past the park on my way home, when I decided to sit on an empty bench in some corner of the park, which was surprisingly vacant. I was throwing stones at the tree which was a few meters away, but missed it every time. This wasn’t a proper day to try all these. Maybe I would end up hitting somebody, and probably landing at a hospital.Then suddenly this old gentleman came and sat beside me. I smiled and he reciprocated. This man seemed to be somewhere in his 60s, but yet seemed full of energy. He was dressed in an executive suit, which I found a little odd initially. Maybe, he was someone in the high echelons of the corporate world. Anyway, it was none of my business. Yet, few minutes later I found myself engaged in a deep conver

(My first attempt at writing a short story … read at your own risk!) Moments later after I somehow managed to throw myself in the train compartment, it started moving. Had I been stuck in the traffic jam for even a minute more, I would have had to book my tickets once again. But finally I embarked on the journey, the one which will lead to my homes, the one which will make Bangalore “the city I lived in” from “the city I live in.” I finally landed in my seat, somehow adjusting my luggage below and over the seat. I was really exited about the journey. I had managed to secure an admission into an IIM and was soon going there for a management education. To add to this I had a beautiful girl sitting next to me in the train. This was sort of unusual, as the coach usually I travel in hardly has any beautiful girls in it (courtesy Murphy's law). Later on I got to know from the reservation chart that she was Aditi Mishra, Female (obviously!), 21 years, going from Bangalore to New Delhi. “H