randomized

It has been a good year, 2014. Not great, not average, just good. And I grew a lot as a person. I did better than last year on most fronts, but some were still left screaming for mercy and progress. I learned a lot at work, I read many good books, I met people and interacted and laughed with them and became more confident. At the same time, I became fat and failed miserably in keeping up with online courses and writing. I made a post in January about Resolutions and Wishes for 2014, and let us just say, the plane didn't stay up long ... and crashed, voilently, into a Saharan desert type of a jungle and the pilot was eaten by a crocodile when he found water after wandering for three days in scorching jungle heat and being bitten twice by a non-poisonous and once by a poisonous snake on the butt.

Once upon a time, there lived a girl in a small fishermen village in a beautiful land. The village, like the whole kingdom was picturesque in whatever corner one were to happen to be in. There were many small villages and odd towns where people engaged in various trades and works. There were forests and large swathes of fields which separated them. The farmers usually lived near the forests and the rivers and the shepherds and cattle farmers on the fields. As for this particular village, it was one of the numerous which lay near the big river that was the lifeline of this wonderful land.

I stand in this chilly night outside one of the busiest, hippest club in West End. The fog shifts in shifts. A wave after a wave, mixed with aromas of spices and smell of charred meat from the numerous kitchens nearby. Often, it gets mixed with a familiar smoke of tobacco from someone's cigarette. Someone who is out to light in the fresh air, like me. A red haired girl, with clothes far from suitable for this kind of a weather, steps out from the heavy double doors of the bar. She takes a deep breath and looks around for something. 'Oh, this can't be possible', I mumble, as soon as I see her. Surely co-incidences don't happen to such a degree. But she spots me and before I can turn around or attempt to walk away, she is already at my side. "Hey, you got a fag?" "Umm, yeah sure!" I take out one from my pack and hand it to her. Then I light it up. "Thanks," she says smiling.

People often say that you gotta be a hellish perfect guy in the field of your work (or study, or play. It is all the same) if you want to be someone . Someone here indicates one who has earned respect, wealth and in some cases fame. A well worn cliché dialogue succeeds, or precedes, this kind of a conversation and which goes like(surprise surprise),  "Jack of all trades, master of nun none" Well, good for you, sensible serious people. Not for me but, no thanks. You see, I've been always reminded by a lot many people with not much lesser of a zeal than of those credit card sales people about how sticking to just one speciality and focusing on that full time without indulging in other distraction would be the way to go career wise. And how if I travelled on two boats alongside, I am going to have a torn set of pants and a sore crotch. To this I ask, rather want to ask, what if I want to travel in three boats simultaneously? What if I want to be a book critic, a h

The fat family sat at the table having their burgers and drinks and donuts.  The incongruous boy of ten sat separately. His table lay sparkling empty, obviously.  He looked not at his masters (stuffing themselves), but he was ready, should they call. He was hopeful. But they ate and left, leaving him to scamper behind. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P.S: This is not really a fiction. It is based entirely on my own witness. So much for child labour laws.

“Are you sure you did not come into my shed last night?” I asked my sister Dana again on the third morning it had happened. Somebody moved my lantern in the night, again. Which meant that someone had been using my lantern, again. Which meant that someone entered my shed during the night, again. “Why would I? No!” “Someone moved my lantern again last night.” I said fixing her with a gaze. Her expression changed from an incredulous one to a straight face. “I have no interest in your lantern, or getting into that fowl shed of yours, even during the day, let alone at night.” She added that I ask someone who I should be asking. That she had more important things to do at night than moving lanterns, like sleeping.

There was a front page advertisement in the newspaper yesterday. It had 'Let's fight corruption' written in big bold letters alongside a picture of Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate of BJP for the General Elections 2014. It also had three other sentences which went like this, Let's minimise government and maximise governance. Let's use technology for greater public scrutiny. Let's be transparent and accountable. Modi's election campaign started last year with this headline phrase that was in the paper yesterday. Fighting corruption, boosting progress and reducing inflation were some of the apparent primary goals of BJP. The situation though, I must say, is a bit different now. We'll get to it (and the three points up there) in a bit.

Hello people. Happy New Year. Let's begin. Yeah, just like that. I am not going to think of a perfect start to the first post of 2014 here. I am not going to give any background or a reason about why or why-don't I believe in resolutions. I guess it doesn't make much of a difference when you are eating butter day and night and thinking back to your keeping a healthy mind  resolution, which rooted on your 'healthy mind leads to a healthy body' belief. So yeah, let's move ahead. Yeah ;)