Silence...

She says not a word, no matter how desperately he pleads. She just stands where she is, as she has for all these years. "Please, Mother! Call us back home. Let us be what we were before. I promise you I will never make the same mistakes again." He cries and he pleads but the Mother does not relent.

This article is an extract from the life of a young boy and the years he spent with his mother. He was neither the first nor the last child of his mother, but like every one of his mother’s children, he too was special. She did for him all that she had done for the rest of her children, and more than what she had done for some because he was a very special boy. When he was little she cared for him and gave him the comforts he so desperately needed, yet did not hesitate to use the stick when he got too comfortable. When he grew a little older, she taught him to believe in himself and imparted to him a strong value set which would be with him for a long time to come. As he morphed into a young man she taught him to test his strength in waters outside her and in most cases he succeeded with flying colours. When the time came for him to leave, she sent to him the most precious gifts she possessed – gifts which would keep his feet from faltering on the road. She did for him all that was in her power, while at the same time ensuring that her genius boy did not go overboard.
But one thing she could not cure him of, was his growing jealousy for her daughter. Like a poisonous rose it bloomed and pitched him into a stormy sea of infatuation. But the rose did not wilt nor did the poison lose its potency nor did the sea its storminess. The chains of time bound them together – the son, the daughter, the rose, the poison and the storm. Until that day when the storm reached its highest pitch and his ship broke into a thousand pieces all of them scattered by the stormy waters. Then just as he was about to drown, the mother pleaded with the sea to send him to the beautiful island she had prepared especially for her son and accordingly the sea washed the half dead boy ashore. By then the daughter’s ship had already reached the home of their mother’s sister. But the boy was sick for many days and could not stop vomiting the poison of love nor could he see much in the bright light on the island. Months passed and the poor boy could only plead to his mother, that she call him back, but mother would not say a word. But mother heard him and she dimmed the intense sunlight until her boy could look around him and he beheld the beauty of the island around. The storm was gone and so was the poison. The daughter’s ship could not be seen anywhere on the horizon, but the fragrance of crushed roses lingered.
Soaking himself in that fragrance, the boy now a man thanked the mother for all that she had done for him. The island was beautiful and he made many friends on that blessed piece of land. Until one day out of the blue there emerged the daughter’s ship on the horizon as it made its way back towards the land of the mother. The man looked towards the land of his mother and finally the soul mother spoke “…

Where do we go from here?

Peace and happiness is what all people on earth desire. (Atleast that is what I believe) It is sorrowful indeed that the world has not been given that which it so deeply desires as can be seen from the latest activities in Mumbai. (26/11) During the past few days the whole world has seen blood and gory violence (which till now existed only in the vague past and PC games) enter the everyday real life. How and why this happened has already been discussed in may places on the internet and in the print media. However there have been precious few people who have suggested some solutions to the problem. What should be done now to rebuild the world all of us desire - one filled with peace and happiness. It now seems evident that unless the common man comes out with some solution nothing will happen especially since even after 3 serial blasts in the country within 1 year, there was yet another attack in the commercial capital itself. So where does the common man go from here? Will he sit moaning about the government(which has truly failed to protect its people) or will he go on a protest march today and forget about it tomorrow or is he going to do something concrete and constructive? If he is willing to do something for his country then what is it?

Hottest car in town

On 30 November when I set out to go to Lamington road (in our Maruti Zen) to get a few computer parts that I needed little did I know that I would have the greatest pleasure of sitting in the hottest car in town. The car was so hot that even though I intended to reach Lamington by 11 I ended up sitting in the car till 1 pm, I just couldn't leave it.
     As we drove along Peddar road we realised how hot a car we were sitting in. The car was over heated and the coolant was spilling out from the engine. So then we turn into a side lane, park the car and call the garage. After an hour long wait the person whom we need comes up, tinkers around with the engine, pulls something here and there (none of which makes sense to me, u see I am an engineer in the making but not an automobile engineer!!??!!) adds water to the engine as coolant to replace the spilled chemical and tells us to drive to the garage. So thats my plan to reach Lamington by 11 scuppered. 11:30 am finds us at SBS Road - Fort. Now this SBS Road Fort is a curious little road (actually more like a street) It is that place in Mumbai where u can see men shaving on the road side in the middle of the afternoon checking their reflection in the sideview or rearview mirrors which have evidently been snapped off the car to which they may originally have belonged. The cars, some of which have donated their mirrors to the barbers' and shavers' causes, and some of which have donated their headlights or taillights or wheels, or a pleasant mix of all these to God alone knows what causes, litter both sides of the street. It can be quite interesting to watch the life and habits of people on SBS road but not if u are pre occupied about carrying a large amount of cash in your pockets and being late for a Pratibimb meeting.
              By the time the car was fixed it was 12:30 and I was now faced with a dilema - Lamington or Pratibimb? If I go to Lamington I miss the Pratibimb meeting and if I try to go to Pratibimb meeting, I won't be able to fix my computer for another 3 to 4 days. Finally selfish love for my computer wins over, but by the time I have got the monitor it is too late for the meeting. Since the car has to be somewhere else by this time, I dump the computer parts in the car and head back to the station. It is already well past 1 and I have missed the meeting, all thanks to the hottest car in town. I even end up landing onto the wrong platform at Grant road station. Oh boy! This is certainly not my day. As I head back
home I just hope that the computer co operates and works properly today, unlike everything else which has gone wrong. Luckily, oh ever so luckily the computer decides to be friendly and functions properly. The only bright spot on the dark horizon of that day was that I could drown my day's grief by watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on my new computer, which helped me forget the distressing day for some time.

MORAL of the story: Never ever sit in the hottest car in town, it may just turn out to be one of ur worse days.

The First T20 World Cup

The Final of the first T20 World Cup. Australia vs South Africa. Oh sorry, its Australia vs England. Bound to be an exciting game. That is what everyone expected, right from the Carribean, across Asia and till New Zealand. But in the end it was a match no one ever expected, yet having more excitement attached to it than any other final ever could have.

The Final Showdown, World War 3, Greatest battle in the history of cricket were terms used to describe the match before it was even played. INDIA vs PAKISTAN. Since almost half the world must have seen this match and the other half must have heard of it already, it would be useless to describe the match here. Needless to mention, the Indian team celebrated with an utter recklessness, running like madmen across the ground and crowds at home went crazy. Well a world cup victory against Pakistan is something to celebrate.

The Media ofcourse had a gala time, describing the team as "The Indian Idols" "Greatest cricket team" with catchy headlines like "India thrash Pakistan". However all the newspapers conspicuously failed to mention that India had nearly lost the match, that the result could have gone either ways even in the last over.I have no hesitation in saying that had India lost the match the media would still have had a gala time cursing the "pathetic team". In Pakistan people took to streets burning effigies of their star players, whom they had glorified only days ago. Had India lost the match perhaps the reaction may have been much the same in India.

In the end, even though the media turns out to be a winner both ways what has to be remembered about this match is that both teams were equally matched and India certainly never "thrashed" Pakistan. Finally in that last crucial over it was as much a matter of luck and fate as it was of skill

Harry Potter final Showdown

          "Once upon a time" - If a story starts in this fashion, it is considered as one of the worst type of beginning for a story. "And they lived happily ever after" I am not sure if this type of ending is considered good or bad, but I know that everyone loves to read an ending like this, atleast I do. With the last Harry Potter book due in 8 days time, speculation and spoilers have started flooding the market. Most common among those is the "end of Harry's story" as the author has put it. The general opinion, obtained from the many interviews given by the author, is that since she does not want any one else to write any further Harry Potter books, she has decided to finish off the boy hero. JK Rowling is the creator of Harry Potter and Harry Potter the creation so she has full right to finish off the wizard as and when she chooses.

However as a rule it is always the creation that becomes more popular than the creator. How often do we think of Thomas Edison when we switch on the light bulb? So also Harry Potter being the creation is more popular than the creator, and I have no hesitation in saying that more people will mourn the end of Harry Potter than cry for the author's funeral(may that be long postponed). I hope JK Rowling knows this and for her own selfish feelings that no one other than her should write the books any time in the future, does not send half a billion fans over the world into mourning, though most people have already got used to the thought that this is the end of the boy wizard. I however will still keep my fingers crossed, for that "Happily ever after" kind of ending. After all, book have got to have happy endings.

About an year ago JK Rowling announced that one of the characters got a reprive but two others die whom she never intended to. Remember we are dealing with pure evil here is what she said. First thing that jumped to my mind was that Harry Potter gets a reprive but his best friends, Ron and Hermoine whom the author never intended to die have to go. So the author cleverly saves Harry Potter the main character, but in my opinion if she does away with his best friends, that would be an equally bad and gory ending. In fact people like me who are rather a bit obsessed with Happy Endings may start turning to "The Seventh Horcrux" a fan fic as a better version of the seventh book. Then again, maybe JK Rowling may surprise all of us with a nice happy ending too. Who knows? Well come 21 July and all the speculation will end as JK Rowling reveals what she has intended as the best end for the Harry Potter series. Despite all the rumours and leaks about major deaths, I will still keep my fingers crossed for "and the lived happily ever after". No, scar is not the last word any more.

Harry Potter festival 1

               Look at the heading. It says Harry Potter festival, because this month is the Harry Potter festival. It says 1 because I am writing about the movie to be released soon. The last book follows just after. So for all those true Harry Potter fans who have like me read the books a million times, the movie holds no suspense, except for the acting, visual effects, and in some cases Harry's first kiss. To be released on 11/7/2007 world wide, I feel sorry that I will be able to see it only on the 13th of this month. Still no regrets, I have never missed the first day first show of any of the Harry Potter movies in India, so I guess I have proved my weight in gold as to being a rock solid fan.
              While I am just one person, there are a host of people, maybe just like me, whom I am afraid I can't challenge to being the biggest fan. Harry Potter is far too popular. I also read somewhere about this kid who had learnt the Harry Potter books by heart back to front and recited the whole of the first chapter in front of JK Rowling.
              Talking about the movie sensation, I guess every Potter fan knows that Doleres Umbridge is the character to look out for in the fifth movie, and the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione which gets an additional three members in the form of Luna, Ginny and Neville. Apparently Cho Chang will also have to appear on the screen for some time. It remains to be seen how much stuff from the book is cut off in the movie, especially since Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix is the largest of all the books and the movies have always had to cut off plenty of stuff before. There is a saying, "Never trust a book by its movie" and most Harry Potter fans will agree that the movies fall well below the expectations of the book, but that won't stop them from rushing for the first day tickets any time.
              Which brings us to the books, last of which Harry potter and the Deathly hallows is set to be released later this month, and in my opinion is the real Sensation, the real secret, the real suspense. So for all the Harry Potter fans out there, enjoy and lets hope that Harry Ron and Hermione make it safe and alive out of Deathly Hallows.

Meeting an old friend

So it was that I met an old friend for the first time this vacation, though I meet him regularly in every vacation. Well I said 'him' but I think 'it' would be more appropriate, especially since the friend whom I am referring to happens to be the Crossword book store at Shivaji Park which I love to visit during the vacations. Since the current vacation had kept me very busy till date I had no time to visit Crossword, but today evening since I had no other activity, I thought it only appropriate to call upon the Crossword corner. The Children of Hurin was the book I chose today for reading, though I have not yet finished it. Other books which caught my attention were "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai and "The Kite Runner" Shantaram is of course only half finished and I intend to finish that one too in this vacation at Crossword only.
The Non fiction section had a new arrival on the no. 1 position. The book's name, "The Secret" which could be an interesting read as well. And if these books are not enough to keep me busy over the vacation there is always Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, and John Grisham (Innocent man). So already the vacation seems packed even if I have no other activity, though I intend to socialise a bit with friends as well.
Can't help feeling that I may have missed a book. Waiting for some one to drop in a comment suggesting some other books as well.