The Last Supper

Somewhat it was reaching his head. The pain was unbearable. It’s delirious.

In some corner of Somalia, the sun was at its peak. Sucking the juice out of his body and life.

He saw a small kid far away leaning on to something. He felt his legs were running. What is it?

Ahhh!!! Water!!!

Hunger and Thirst gets over him. He hits the kid with one blow. The twelve year old hits back. But the kid can hardly stand. His limbs were thinner than a twig.

Rage strikes him and he picks up a stone and hits the kid on his head. The kid stumbles to the ground motionless. Dark colored something smears the parched earth.

He gorges onto the small puddle of muddy water, and he drinks like a king.

Buule felt a strange sort of calmness engulfing him. How he longed for a sip of water.

He looked at the man for one last time. He seems to be familiar.

Buule couldn’t even say proper good bye to his father.

I AM

I am a raging river. I am flowing through treacherous mountainous ways of life. The penchant and relentless rains of fate is only a feed to my strength.

 I run. I fall. I get knocked down. I get up. I cry. I smile. I laugh. I make mistakes. I fail. I triumph. I sulk. I feel happy. I care. I feel sad. I win. I lose. But I start again. I don't want to stop. Never! I want to go on and on. No matter what. 

I am selfish. I don't need the sun. Neither do I need the shade. I don't want to stay anywhere. And I am nowhere. I am my master. I ride my will horse. I have seen and crossed the seven seas. I have seen plenty and have learned a lot. And yet, there is still dryness in my throat and a drought in my heart.

 I am a rebel. I expect nothing. I assume nothing. I make no exceptions. I do not sympathize because it makes you weak. No one waits upon me. No one is behind me. No one is in front of me. No one is by my side. No one looks up to me; neither do I want them to. Neither do I look up to anyone, nor do I look down upon anyone. I am ruthless. I am relentless. I break all that pulls me down or slows me. I respect what you are. And you respect what I am. I may give you give you second chance, and might be even a third. But never a fourth. I don't forget. I don't forgive. If you put a gun on my head, you better pull the trigger.

 I know what needs to be done. I know my duties. And I will continue to do my duties. I will continue to flow. I am a free spirit. I am a dreamer. I am an idealist. I am a perfectionist. I am a teacher. I can only show you the door. It is you who has to go through it. When everything fails and there is nowhere to go, you understand that I will be the last person on earth who will hate and rebuke you. I don't.

 But I am. It is not a subject of compromise. A faint heart will not be able to ride the river. You need guts to tame the storm and live it. And that is yet to happen. But when you can, you will reach the ocean. And then its bounty is for you to receive. I am me chauvinistic. Because at the end of it all, I am, what I am. I Am.

The Constant Gardener

Okay! Here I go again. Now the topic is an age old topic, but a statement was made to me about a month back. The statement goes like this “Love is the 7^th sense which destroys all the six senses and make you a complete nonsense”. The reason stated was that love is blind. In return I asked  “So does that mean if it’s not blind then it is not love?” 

Very recently I went on a trekking expedition to Chandrashila, the summit at Tunganath at Chopta, Uttarkhand.  After a hefty two day trek we reached Chopta. The Chopta valley is surrounded by gigantic snowcapped mountains and its scenic beauty is paramount and beyond explanation in this blog. During this whole trip we were guided by a stray (or maybe wild too) dog. Yes. He accompanied us the whole trip. Guarding and guiding us through treacherous ways. Now after the hefty trek, when I was sitting on a rock and smoking, this dog, whom we fondly named “bhuto” (in English, loosely it means ghostly), sat close beside me and seemed to enjoy the view too. It was then it struck me about its self-less endearing love for me and other members of the group. It was obvious to him that we were going to abandon him two days later and come back to the plains. He wanted nothing in return except our leftovers and maybe a pat now and then. People can argue that he came along with us for food. Seeing his size and health and the forest it dwelled, I disagree with the conclusion. We started our trek from a village called Sari Gaon and he followed us from there. I am sure he could have found plenty of food there. Instead he chose to be our companion.

To answer the question we have to first define love.  I think Paulo Coelho sort of defined it in his book “The Alchemist” well: “Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.” But this does not clarify whether love is actually blind. Neither does it clarify my question to my friend.

Love is blind. This was penned by Shakespeare and was quite a favorite line of his. For example, this piece from The Merchant Of Venice, 1596:

JESSICA: Here, catch this casket; it is worth the pains.
I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much ashamed of my exchange:
But love is blind and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit;
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy. 

If you ask me, I think yes love is blind, most of the times but not always. Yes you do insane things for that person and you happen to ignore and overlook certain things about that person. Well if you don’t do that then this whole world would seem to be filled with persons with follies. That is the reason we have love at first sight. You like a person even before you know the person. But we have the wise ones who consciously look for the person of their dreams. They are rare in comparison to the above category, but they do exist. They meet, discover all the pros and cons of each other, and still fall for themselves. Because time makes them grow fonder for each other. Love is not blind here but like a constant gardener who nourishes the flower beds and rids it off its weeds. So that, when the eternal spring comes, flowers will bloom. And the birds and the bees will roost forever.

God must be a Woman

Just a few days back we celebrated the International Women's Day. So when do we men ‘celebrate' something like this? I know we have a couple of them like Father's day, or more Indian, Bhai Duuj, Bhai Fota or Brother's Day (I prefer it to be called Borthers in Spot day). After doing some research, basically googling, I find that November 19th is one such day. But do we need such a day? Do we even deserve something like this? 

A close friend of mine, messages me today in the morning saying that her father has cracked a joke. She seemed to be very excited. Naturally, I was curious too thinking of the kind of joke a father is passing to her daughter. So she forwards that ‘joke' to me and here it is: 

“ Jaane kab aayega……….. Happy men's day  

For the 1st time SOMETHING on a MAN. Do read it.

Who is a MAN?

>A man is the most beautiful part of God's creation who starts     compromising at a very tender age.

>He sacrifices his chocolates for his sister.

>He sacrifices his dreams for just a  smile on his parents face.

>He spends his entire pocket money on buying gifts for the girl he loves just to see her smiling

>He sacrifices his full youth for his wife & children by working late   at night without any complain.

>He builds their future by taking loans from banks & repaying them   for lifetime.

>He struggles a lot & still has to bear scolding from his mother, wife   & boss.

>His mother, wife & boss all try to control him.

>His life finally ends up only by compromising for others'   happiness.

BECHARA MARD...!?

Agar aurat par hath uthaye to BESHARAM,

Aurat se maar khae to BUZDIL,

Aurat ko kisi ke saat dekh ker ladai kare to JEALOUS,

Chup rahe to DARPOK,

Ghar se bahar rahe to AAWARA,

Ghar me rahe to NAAKARA,

Bachhon ko dante to ZALIM,

Na dante to LAPARWAH,

Aurat ko naukari karane se roke to SHAK KARNE WALA,

Aurat ko naukari karane se na rokey to BIWI KI KAMAI KHANE WALA,

Maa ki mane to CHAMCHA,

Biwi ki sune to JORU KA GULAM...

Na Jane Kab Aayega,

"HAPPY MEN'S DAY"

Respect every male in your life.

U will never know what he has sacrificed 4U.

Worth sending to every man to make him smile and every woman to make her realize his worth!!”

Okay! We have a problem here. She finds this to be a joke! I thought to myself “Are you kidding me!” Well, actually I don’t blame her. The world is as such that she has no choice. 

Coincidentally, today is Shiv Ratri as per Hinduism. A day on which every married and unmarried female prays to Lord Shiva for husbands like Him. Well why not! He keeps to himself. Does not complain and is bother less. Hardly speaks, if not at all (I guess only when allowed to). Has all the power in the world. Have hardly any needs (just few sheets of tiger skin). Loses temper only when needed, which is very rare. On top of this, does not complain no matter how much Parvati does shopping. If you don’t believe me just look at all the stuff Parvati wears during photo shoots with husband for calendar pictures. So why on earth will a female look for something else.

I wonder why God made two genders. Why did God think of making the male gender at all? God is supposed to be a well natured and kind-hearted person. God is Good. So God creates female, the most beautiful thing in this world. Gives her power that no one can match. Gives her multitasking abilities. Fills her with talents. Makes her technology savvy. Okay, may be not that one! Makes her the most caring, loving and patient creature in the world. Basically gives her all the best things in the world so that no one can match her. God fills up the world with females. The concept of men is yet to strike God. 

Then God finds that females were getting bored. She needs entertainment. She needs someone to walk out with. She needs someone to protect her from all the wild things in the world. She needs someone to pat and cuddle up. She needs someone strong to lift her bags (may be shopping bags too) and help her with daily chores. She needs someone who will do as ordered. She needs someone to fix something when needed. She wants someone to pay her bills. She wants someone who can earn for her. She wants someone to talk to and someone who will just listen. She wants something like robot and yet should have a brain of its own and human like. She will control and yet it must not know that it is being controlled. She wants someone who can be used as a verbal punching bag as and when needed. She needs someone who won’t complain. She needs someone to help all the gizmos and tech stuffs. So God creates men.

I think God must be a woman. I know, my female friends will revolt against this blog. Well don’t worry; men will not be able to do anything anyway. It has already been decided. This is just for show. And don’t tell me it’s not true and there is no proof or example of this. Take the example of Dr. Manmohan Singh. He is not even married to Sonia Gandhi! So there is no point in celebrating Men’s Day, that also happy.

DISCLAIMER: Any men mentioned in the above blog, whether living or dead, officially do not exist. If you happen to find such men in the real world then it’s highly coincidental. I am not a male chauvinist but may be a female one. I have always regarded myself to be a feminist.

P.S.: I know God you are reading this. I shouldn’t even know all this. Looks like there is a glitch in me in my brain. So you are not that perfect either huh!

I am not a Superstar

I am not a superstar. I am not the brightest, biggest or loudest of the stars in this universe. Nobody wishes upon me. Neither I am visible in the night sky, nor am I a part of any constellation or galaxy. No one looks for me through a telescope. But I have been here since the big bang. I have been here since time was a toddler. Supernova has not been able to push me away. Black hole has not been able to steal my glow. I have been right there at the corner of the universe, glowing steadily with my wisdom and experience, throwing some light, like a lighthouse, over the sea of darkness. I have been watching it for estranged stars. Drawing them towards me and guiding them through their way. I can only show them the way. It is they, who have to go through it. It is their journey. No, I cannot accompany them, for I need to continue with my duty. Time has grown up now and someday it will get better of me. One day I will fade and loose my glow into darkness. Until then, till the last glint, I will continue to watch this sea for other stars.

The Protagonist

She lay listless in his arms. She knew only few pages of her life is left with him. After few moments he will be gone and she will strive in loneliness. Looking for answers she looked deep into his eyes. They were lucid and as if reading her. Trying to understand her and look deep into her. She could feel his breath on her face. She wanted to reach out and caress the broad forehead where locks gathered together. But it seemed more and more distant now. It was so near and yet so far! His tender fingers were flowing over her face. She wished for the moment to last forever. Her heart ached with love for him. With that feeling she closed her eyes and could feel the world closing in on her. And she slowly passed away into oblivion as if dying in his arms.

He sat and pondered for a moment. He was completely in love with her, the protagonist. With that feeling he slowly kept the novel back in the shelf.