Stories of No Guts & No glory: the only Diwali so far !

   Diwali is the festival of lights.  Celebrated by Hindus around the globe to commemorate the home coming of Rama after a successful campaign including an unbelievable   recce ops (by monkey god Hanuman), semi beaching ops possibly done without the expertise of a Hydrographer (i'm still searching) across the thin shallow patch between the peninsular India to Sri Lanka (without Immigration/work visa/NOC..etc.etc), followed by a War Game which was (possibly) under estimated by the demon king Ravana and eventually ended up losing his own face along with his 10 heads !!   So....all said and done, Rama send Lanka back to stone ages (like Bush did to Afghanistan) and came back , and the entire country welcomed the couple and the military team by a magnanimous display of wick lamps (diya) from then on.. the generation and the generations continued the legacy of the Lord King's victory over the evil! 

     This was the story I learned being a kid way back in time in the southern part of India.  To be frank, in my locality we knew the importance of Diwali but ended up celebrating in a scaled down format with just lighting the walls and terrace with the available diya which sometimes got replaced by candles , having diwali sweets from nearby bakery!  the catchword is that "I never done it, but my sister took interest and lit every time!"

     So like my fellow countrymen I kept alive the legacy with an adamant mind and continued with buying sweets and having sweets from others.  May be I never knew the importance of the celebration myself or never had the time to view the same from another person's point of view, till last year!!!

     There was this girl in my neighbourhood, who was born and brought up exclusively in the northern part of the country in the higher latitudes and definitely had that air in her, (bloody Northy :a Southy's unknown jealousy towards the massive crowd with fair skin! ).  So just days before Diwali in the year 2011, during a conversation she explained the full version of the diwali celebration at her home and (possibly) in the so called Northern higher latitudes.  How she and her siblings celebrated Diwali, and how her mother was sentimental in carrying out the necessary Hindu rituals (pooja/havan) and pulled her dad into ringing the sacred bells (which he defenitely hated!), and then make the diyas , light them, fire the crackers, followed by a sumptuous dinner with some exquisite dishes (whose names are not yet completely registered into my brain) etc.  

      Reading between the lines, she missed being with her family for the upcoming Diwali, because the leave was completely dependent on service exigencies.  So our little friend was gonna miss her Diwali! The D-day in 2011 happen to coincide with 'Saptah' , a festive gathering famous in Vasco-da-gama, Goa in that weekend,that too on a fag end of October (the time when all people are nearly bankrupt, including me !). 

      On Diwali day, afternoon I didn't see her and on enquiry came to know that she wasn't feeling well.   So I paid a visit, and yes she was looking weak and fragile.  Her room was  filled with the 'cloud' of Vicks Vaporub.  She somehow managed a smile and told the situation is under control and I never had anything other than a shake-hand as greetings for Diwali.  By evening I came to know this bugger had gone to the hospital and got admitted and the experts told her without any diagnosis as (suspected) Malaria.  The word malaria had a seismic effect overall me, that I almost visualized her in bed (hospital, i meant!) with saline tubes running Cris-cross.  

Most saturday evening twilight time do hold a whiff of melancholy  for me (i dont know whether its the same for others) and this news did add more a heavy feeling to the atmosphere around.  

      I sat in my cabin, reading and doing some study works, definitely out of focus till my other neighbour Mr. Z Singh turned up with a humble query about 'my' diwali celebrations including the plans on lighting diyas! Since my blankness spoke better, he rushed back to his cabin and brought two candles, coated in silver colour which had a label that read "love candle (with a deliberate stroke above the alphabet 'c' which could easily be mistaken for the alphabet 'h' and collectively would read 'handle'...hmmm...smart) strawberry fragrance!".  In a short while , as I was stuck with the label, he explained that he had kept it for his "creative" session with his wife!! How sweet...!! 

     I spent another hour wondering how to go about it.  As one great man had once coined "Nothing can stop an idea, whose time has come!" the real-idea-struck-me-at-that-moment!  A celebration of Diwali ..totally.!! Defenitely not the candle....but something brilliant (according to me)!!

     I had two ash-trays made of steel, i removed the top lid, washed it properly with bathing soap, scrubbed with sand and what not, finally I got a spic 'n span tray, make it plural; two-trays.  Found a brand new white hand kerchief , tore it in two equal pieces and my logic of cotton being a good wick for a lamp fitted well.  With all reverence and good will I lit the first 'make-shift' diya in front of her cabin!! There was none to watch me (or my craziness) except our canine friend whom we had named as "Long H" looking at me puzzled !! And believe me nothing stuns a dog other than our sudden act of kindness (courtesy @calamur in twitter).  

     As I walked back to my cabin, my mentor and his better half reached there; Mrs and Mr Sagoch with Diwali sweets. Presented me big laddoos , exchanged greetings and left.  The other part of my craziness comes now, I scrambled my bike and went out to city and bought a little present, came back, packed some laddoos (pardon my miser attitude view bankruptcy) and walked towards the hospital.  I was expecting the patient to be in a semi-delirious state, and to my dismay I found her reading a magazine with the heading 'Good Housekeeping', cheerful and explained how two oversized syringes  (obviously, with huge needles) were applied on to her .  I could sense the same cloud of vicks vaporub in that room too.    Anyway I conveyed the Diwali greetings, presented her my small gift and fed her the laddoo (against the prescription of the doctor).  Spent some time and walked back to my room.  It might be too much of a cliche' to say that "I - dont - know - what - was - that ", to be frank , we knew what it was , but could'nt or got lost in translation somewhere.   

    I never told her that this was the first ever Diwali I celebrated within my expertise and satisfaction.  I knew that this was the craziest idea, at the same time one among the funniest moments of my life.  And a year forward as another Diwali is arriving, I'm finding myself in an entirely different platform and scenario where possibility of making a diya out of an ash-tray lies lightyears away! and an appearance of anyone with diwali sweets would be a chance accident! and above all meeting someone like that is as equal as searching for a Hadron's brother or sister in CERN!

     So.....that is all sirs, and I wish each and everyone (and myself) a very Happy Diwali ! may the legacy of lighting candles and distributing sweets and stealthily having more sweets be alive throughout the life...!!! What else to say other than "Let there be light......!". 

      

      

      

      

Wally n Fluffy : Fluffy's family Portrait !!

Stories of No guts & No glory : the last prisoner

     It is a common pattern to start a notation; where you plot a simple thread later you  add more and weave in a creation which befits your own thought patterns and imagination.  But, those are the set rules of great writers, here i'm just a blogger (blabber) :) 

   This time its about a place which has been the embodiment of suffering and melancholy which every countrymen remember as 'kalapani" (black waters).  Yes, i'm in Port blair.  The last three times i landed here was as on a  transit point, and now it had a purpose as it lead me to the inner secrets of these islands in the Andamans, India. Everyone in the mainland of the peninsular India can hardly imagine what is it like here.  I dont deny it, that even i had trouble in imagining what life is out there when in the mainland.  But Portblair is as equal as any other little city in India, except the trouble in the time zone, as it is Indian Standard time (-5 hrs 30 mins) followed here but in reality it is around 1 hour before mainland time.  To be simple, when you are having sunrise in your city as 6 o'clock the sun shines the same way it is around 7 o clock. 

     So after that little jet lag (which your hypothalamus adjusts itself) i took time in moving around Port Blair, not much but made it a point to keep a check on the infamous "cellular jail".  Every evening they have a light n sound show which says the story of the jail leaving a bit of depression in your innerself.  with great silence and goosebumps through out me along with my folks sat and watched the entire show and all we had was a lengthy silence.  It left an impression that still the soul of a prisoner lurks deep within ourselves.

The very next day I set sail for Middle Strait where i had some serious job of reconnaissance.  As a part of the recce i had a wonderful opportunity to fly around the islands and assess the scope of work.  The view was breathtaking; it made those malaysian and Indonesian tourism advertisements look strangled! I make no mistake, it is an absolutely enchanting view of the islands.  Later when my work started we learned that the area is somewhat unexplorable as there existed a serious threat of crocodiles in the area, and yes i had the privilege to  spot a couple of them 'sun bathing' in between the mangroves.  They were massive and had all the elegance of a monster. 

     The surprise package in my trip came around 5 days later in the form of Havelock Island. Someone told me that a particular beach in that island has been voted as the best natural beach!! Well.....and then i was flown to the island of Havelock along with one of my crew.  Early morning landed there and the next pickup would be in the evening.  Our recce for a particular point in the island started immediately and got over in next hour and half. 

    Havelock:  I honestly dont know how those explorers found this island and who named it, but whoever did it, i'd say, they must have had an unimaginable pleasure in doing so! Roamed around the island and for the first time i saw a jungle ending with  a beach!  Tall trees of 200 ft high right next to the beach....now thats a brand new scene in my life.  Let me put it up in this way; imagine you are walking through a pathway through a forest, with thick tall trees on sides  and the only voice you can hear is the clatter of the leaves in the wind and then you reach the end of the road , right in front of a beach! 

     Spent hours there till evening, just watching and dreaming and thinking about the things that passed by.  Wished to be there with ......(ok leave it, that would be too much of a sentimental stuff).  "Dream a place and place a dream" as said by someone close to me really applies here.....and before bidding farewell to Havelock and its unfathomable silence, and clear-clear-clear skies and starry night i placed a dream ...a wish,,,that i will be back here sometime later. I made a powerpoint of those selected photos and streaming here:   

     many days later it was time to wind up my recce job and head back to mainland and while on my voyage that everything around us is not as you have dreamed.  Our own perceptions and reality can be different in a biblical way, what you know about a person or a place can be entirely different from what you had actually thought.  The moment you curb your imagination you are creating a prisoner in you, so was the fate of Port Blair.  The world knew her as doomed but still life is there, fresh oxygen, unseen forests, unexplored locations, unknown moods, unheard happiness, unreachable loneliness.....but thats what life is all about, right?

    So I tell myself, that she is not as you have known or she is different from my perception and my dreams.  And every moment I think of her i slam open those iron doors and set the prisoner in me free!!  See you again Port blair!!

Stories of No guts & No glory: My friend Govind

Stories of No guts & No glory:  My friend Govind.

          I believe that every single autobiography ever written in this world is a type of self appreciation.  But there could be some exceptions, especially when you add some other’s story in your auto biography; a kind of ‘returning the favour’.  You scratch your head and take a look at them and tell yourself that “yes, this bugger deserves a mention”.     So likewise I’m talking about one of mine, who has been with me in the thick n thin and a “partner in crime” of my journey so far.  Since I don’t want to reveal his true identity so I’m naming him as  Govind.

                Govind has been my best friend since my childhood, who, in other’s point of view is a kind-a different, because he likes to argue a lot, and sometimes his arguments have even brought me to flash points, that I wished I could land a punch on his face!  But he’s cool, like the Raymond in ‘Everybody loves Raymond’ and people loved to hate him and hated to love him….in my opinion a classic example of yin-yan !!

                Both of us have chosen different career streams so we hardly meet each other, but we kept our camaraderie through phone calls which never extended more than 5 mins and through short -messages which usually had a prefix and suffix of bi**h or f***er .  Whenever I got long leave I used to head home, but its not necessary that Govind has to be there.  On such a rare occasion we met each other, somewhere in the middle of May in a particular year. 

We greeted each other in a very formal way, with shake hands, and immediately understood that suits only for “formal’ folks and not for us.  And within 20 seconds we exchanged those “short- message-prefix/suffix- words” in the best possible permutations and combinations.   And for a moment I could see he was troubled, he didn’t prove me wrong either.  Without saying a word Govind started to walk leaving a silent message saying “please walk with me” and follows an in depth conversation where I am bound to be the listener.  

And here comes the little romantic story of Govind.  He had a peculiar way of talking, especially to the ones he found interesting, for me it looked like an ever enchanting act of a Snake Charmer!! And Girls never stood a chance! But this time the Hunter became the hunted (as told by him), and he fell for a girl, who happened to be the talk of the town, infamous for her stinking-guts and an obnoxious aura, and through his words I could understand that this girl definitely had a board hung around her neck which read “Don’t try the F**k with me !!” !!  So, the boy liked her, the girl liked him and both of them liked each other and entire world (seemed to) like it  and a general happiness floated everywhere.  And by doing some arithmetic I could confirm why this bugger went off the grid from Mobile range for that specific period, like someone landing in Antarctica and not even a fart was to be heard in the tropical region. Yes, our boy fell in love, somewhere cool and my usage of Antarctica befits absolutely.  

One specific interest which connected me and Govind were “Painting”.  Sometimes I borrowed his ideas and he did the same from mine, when he does it I would call it ‘Plagiarism’ and a quid pro quo prevailed! And our guy made a painting for his paramour.  He even showed me the picture in his mobile, which  took my breath away pronto, with an in depth arrangement of contrast colours, a theme of a mythical creature, in simple frame embedded with the sole purpose of a person’s life in the past and future; a type of message or philosophy which one could behold forever.  For that time I envied him, where it never appeared to me as a reckless stunt of a lover who could do anything for his lover but chose to project it in an entirely different way.  

As the narration advanced, it reached a painful chapter where both of them had to part ways, like every good things which (naturally) finds its own death !!   And as a nail on its coffin the things which he’d presented her landed back in his hands , like wrist watch, pendants, some papers of caricatures, dress, ring (are you kidding???),artefacts….but not the painting!! Also a footnote which (must have) broke his already broken heart into several pieces (like diced mint leaves)!! Well, the narration ended there followed by some Mojito and beef dry-fry and some consoling words from me to him.  While I walked him to his home I could sense that our good old Govind had the greatest pain of his time. 

 For the next 2 months Govind was untraceable, but then came a call in the middle of the night.  It was Govind , all excited to tell me about something which he was about to do!! His excitement brought the entire supply of adrenalin in my body to an immediate deployment, that I could feel the hair at the back of my neck in a sturdy attention position.  He promised me that he will tell me the entire story once he’s done with his so called “execution”!!! 

That same night his tweet appeared in my timeline which read : “Track “the a’ la Menthe” in my ears….and the last card to pull….showdown!! B^) “.    Which did not make any sense to me, and I went to sleep wishing that our chap is all right in whatever shit he’s in.  In the morning just by curiosity I searched in Google for the track named “the a la menthe” and it turned out to be one of the soundtrack from a movie which , by seeing, one can assume what he was upon to that very night!! Watching the result on my desktop all I could do was a smile accompanied with a soliloquy “crazy bugger!!”.   And the end of August Govind appears once again in front of me, with a naughty smile which developed into a full blown laugh, even I couldn’t understand what it was but I knew, it possessed a plethora of thrill in it.  We quickly found a chair in our favourite hangout and then came the revelation of the century!! 

“I stole it!!” Govind said it with a thrill, rubbing his palms.  And the next part of my story goes like this…..

His girl presented that painting into a club (where me and Govind used to visit once in a ‘bluemoon’) as she was leaving the locality with her family and as the actions speak louder than words it was clearly a message for him that “I-am-doing-this-to-forget-you-and-this-f**king-painting-doesn’t-mean-anything-to-me-anymore” !!   Govind was all determined, even though it was rough patch to cover for both of them,  to recover the “masterpiece” (as I named it) he made from any hell-hole under any prevailing condition.  I was so thrilled to hear his version that it almost sounded and heated me in a similar way I watched the series of “Prison Break”. 

 

He planned his heist well before he landed in the locality.  He made a photo-print of the painting in the exact size and collected some vital information like the time of functioning, security in the area, the exact location where it was stowed.  It eventually appeared like the so called ‘curators’ kept it in a store room along with the linen and other furniture.  Govind landed on a specific weekend where a famous celebration of a temple and a mega gathering of people took place.  Luckily to him the lock seemed like a Chinese made (all respect for China!) which opened without even chanting “open-sesame”.  He waited till the night and made a call to me about the act and tweeted the same!! 

 As the last peg oozed in through the wind pipe he spoke once again  “I loved her, that thing which I made was our baby, it was her vision and the strokes which made a painting is my gift to her…. I cannot abandon my child, it’s with me and I’m taking it to my home!!”. 

************

As a footnote, he left a message behind that fake painting which found its way to one of the walls in the club; it read “it’s a fake honey!....love, yours ----!!!”

  

Wally & Fluffy : Dramatics !!!

  Alrytee folkzz our two little sweethearts are back!! 

And this time its another mega-boasting from our little fur ball Fluffy !! 

Stories of No gutts and No glory: Scenes from a Verandah !

    Scenes from a Verandah

            We all know, that one fine day we will die....not withstanding what you were and are, how you looked, how healthy you were and whatever hell you've been through!  But that itself doesn't make it a generalized statement,right? I am sure everyone will agree with me that every life on this earth is precious and everyone has got their own story (or history) to narrate, and it could be an exponential of the number of people to itself! to be frank....there's still beauty and order in this vast disorder!

          Such thoughts occur in my mind especially at a very "tightly guarded occasion" in my life which has been going through for almost 4 years since 2008, while standing at a very unlikely place...the verandah of a court room!  Where i am one among the "accused" (in technical term) and a "criminal" (in general term).  The hours i spent there has made me to switch my thoughts based on observations and eventually to control my inner emotions and redefine the level of patience in me.  

         "Every tragedy is a pure comedy" said my Physics teacher Mr.Robin, and i was witnessing such where the protege was me and myself only.  By virtue of spending a very long and brief moments in such a place i have witnessed so much of negativity and some positive things, pertinent to say that all those remanded guys from the prison knows me and i know them, ranging from local thugs, drug peddlers, murderers .etc.  Yes sir, i am a regular stanchion in that place.....the Verandah of Court room no.2!

     "there are only two persons who run the show being on an elevated platform:         (1). a DJ (2). a Judge. LOL #comedyunderFire" - as tweeted by me on one occassion recently. 

         It is really an exquisite and an extremely painful phase to witness the apathy and despair of human life standing on that Verandah.  Because the person on that elevated platform 'decides' your life.  So everyone who comes there is at the pinnacle of their hopes and prayers, since after God Almighty its that person who writes your fate.  This event might be exposing me but the story of Salim has to be told and his family deserves a mention in this.   Salim was brought to the court in handcuffs, escorted by two constables (its a S.O.P) back in the spring of 2010.  On first day Salim introduced himself to me and requested whether he could use my cellphone to ring up somebody.  Well, by then i am a regular guy in that place i knew even if somebody want to make a call its gonna be important and the charges are bad debt, and on extremely compassionate grounds.  I gave him my phone and he made a call and returned it in a very short while.  All I could see was that his eyes, filled up with tears and a weary smile and he turned his head away from me.  

          After almost a month and half i had to attend again (as usual) and Salim also appeared, once again he walked towards me, with a begging face, which i could'nt deny and i extended my phone, the same thing repeated.  But this time i asked him what was he here for?  i learned that he was caught for keeping Grass/ganja! and that he was a Cab driver who was specialized in long distance drives and eventually a sneaky plan to make some quick bucks landed him here in this stage.  "what's your case sir?" he enquired , i smiled and replied " * * * * * **  ** * * * " .  "i dont believe it!" he replied.  Well many says so and me too, but still people 'said' so!! We parted once again after the day; him to prison and me to my imaginary prison!

          After around 2 months i had one more appearance (should i say "as usual"?) and i reached the place early.  I saw a lady and two kids, a girl around 12 and a boy around 8.  Both the kids were in a vacant mood, shallow and seemed weary and so is their mother.  After a short while Salim appeared in cuffs and cops.  the next moment the few people who were there witnessed a heart wrenching scene.  Yes, they were Salim's family, the kids ran to him and hugged followed by his wife, tears and happiness and sadness...??? I still dont know, but its an unnamed emotion.  Out of that huge crowd, Salim pointed his finger towards me and said something to his wife! and his wife and kids smiled at me, i returned it just a smile.  

         The same scenes continued till March of this year, and it was time for his judgement! While his case was called up I saw his wife and kids praying hard ....so much of hope on their faces.  'Satyameva jayate" is the motto of Indian Judiciary system, does'nt disappoint many; no matter how much time it takes....and the Judgement turned otherwise.  Jail for Salim !! but there was a twist.....since Salim had already completed more than two years and some months, he only had to undergo another 3 more months and he was a free man.  I could see Salim with his folded hands standing in the accused-Box was all in tears and told something to court with utmost courtesy and the judge seemed to be impressed.  "I assume it was a heartfelt apology to the law and mankind for his silly mistake".  In a short while Salim came out of the room....all smiles!! Soon he broke down....like a cloud who was waiting for its moment to rain.  Hugged his family like no storm is gonna take them away, no flood is gonna wash them away and full of promises.  He was mumbling to them while he was fighting tears that he will be back and will never ever do such foolish things.  He spent some more moments with them and then was taken by the cops....this time cuffs were there in his hands but the good cops allowed his children to hold his right and left hands and walk down to the vehicle outside.  

           Salim reached down, and looked once again to the balcony where i was watching all these with a half smile and full of happiness (at least somebody's free feeling!!) and waved at me.....!! My eyes welled up; it was tears?? or a mere feeling??or a helplessness of somebody who had to see everything from the Ringside?? I still dont know.....all I could whisper at that moment was "thank you Salim, God bless, Insha Allah!!"

     "as transient as a fog and cloud.....as unstable as a leaf in the wind....

like an illusion...is life!!" 

        Today when i quarrel and fight with my near and dear ones, somewhere in the corner of my mind i like to remind myself Salim's story and his family.  We still underestimate our own freedom and actions, words and deeds, we try to cause pain to someone knowingly or unknowingly, do a charity for the sake of it or with complete conviction....but remember, Life is precious...you can make it beautiful or you can destroy it!!

* * * * * *  * * * * * * *

The journey of a Salmon !

The Salmon prepares to Swim upstream,

To leave his soul and give birth to a new self,

Where end is the new beginning! The Cosmic law!

upstream thy know, there exists Grizzlies and Hawks, to tear you apart

Alas they can't, as my home, my love is imprinted in my heart

Even I loose; I win, as your part to play is over,

Leaving a blizzard of knowledge for you and me

So collect your gifts, and head north

For that pilgrimage, where the road ends 

And leave it to the elements, for your precious

gifts becomes your sacrifice!

Seek forgiveness, even if you don't deserve

The 'boatman' might take you into the realm

of Unicorns and Phoenixes.  Thank him, 

for letting you know her, her warmth,her love

And tell him those where true and real

Thou shalt shed tears deep inside

Worry not, shes seen it all, the great mother nature

Know that your time is near to rekindle a life.

And then go back to the Oceans

 as a new soul, a new self.....

know this ....smile a lot, cherish your memories,

That life is a journey not a destination!

Chinese Whisper & Genius fluffy !!

...And one fine day our Gorgeous Latin singer Shakira was attacked by an unknown Walrus...!!! And our fluffy thought......

Wally n Fluffy - Super Fluffy !!!!

...How ya doin folks!! Our little poochie-pack Fluffy was buzy with her new creation and as usual she never forgets to boasts......lets see what's her new kick is!!   Happy New Year to all !!