Musings '12

As the sound of blaring Bolly songs blast through my tightly shut windows and the joyous revelry of people enjoying the latest ‘DJ hits’ of the season mix with the happy shrieks of children who have been allowed to play on into the night, I sit at the cusp of another transition, ready to take my belongings and move into the embracing arms of 2013 leaving behind memories and much more with 2012. I am sure I can spy a hint of melancholy in the corner of her eyes as she gives me away ever so lightly, without the littlest of commotion and melts away into the background, forever.

‘Ring out the old, ring in the new’, someone had once said and these words reverberate in my mind as I see another year passing by, only to be succeeded by yet another year, the old and the new blending into an eternal march existing only in our collective conscious. The only truth seems to be the journey as we move on. We move on with our successes, our failures, our joys, our sorrows, our moments of exhilaration, our moments of despair, our hopes, our disappointments… the very fabric that constitutes our being. Moments that define us, make us who we are and what we exist for and yet are nothing but mere specks in the cosmic play being enacted in the universe. A million years hence, would my joys and sorrows, my hopes and my biggest fears bear any meaning? Did they mean anything a million years ago?

2012 was a good year. Ofcourse it started with a foreboding that it could be the last for humankind as doomsayers had a field day predicting the fall. And though the majority knew for sure that we were only deceiving ourselves, no one really did mind a little fun at the expense of the fear of annihilation. The Mayans may be turning in their graves at the number of attempts by the ‘specialists and experts’ to decipher and interpret their calendar. And with a sprinkling of good old Nostradamus thrown in, it was quite a spread. Did a Mayan elder ever imagine how his calendar would engage the attention of a modern civilization thousands of years later?      

2012 also saw the world trying to come to grips with the economic downturn. It seemed an apt example of the axiom that the more things change, the more they remain the same. I am sure that there would be a rebound soon enough and the recovery would take pace and ride on to the crest before yet another fall. In between, the markets would heave like the bosom of a Bolly starlet in a masala song of a Southie remake. And the common man would keep on losing money trying to make sense of the mumbo-jumbo that market specialists peddle as ‘expert advice’ while the super rich would make even more money hedging their risks with yet more… yes you got it…money. Meanwhile our politicians are on the job as three of the brightest were caught watching porn while the assembly session was on in a State legislature while on the other hand the Indian Parliament turned 60. Time to claim senior citizen benefits.

The year also saw the Olympics. And millions of Indians proved that we are ‘true’ sports lovers tuning in to matches of all and sundry while our athletes kept on getting chucked out in the preliminaries. Yet, there were bright spots and these can be nothing if not harbingers of greater things to come… err… that’s what our Sports minister wants us to believe… for the moment. Meanwhile Sachin, our undisputed claim to fame, finished one innings to start another. So no more Sachin Tendulkar in blue overalls, though for the time being he would still play the tests. Maybe we would now see a little more of Sachin, the parliamentarian, though the chances of which look as bleak as Suresh Kalmadi taking over from Anna Hazare. My heart goes out to the generations who would not be able to see the great man conjuring up his magic in the shorter format on the cricket field any more. Maybe they should consider suing their parents.

 

We lost quite a few stalwarts this year… Rajesh Khanna, Yash Chopra, Sunil Ganguly, Jaspal Bhatti, Dara Singh and the Pakistani stalwart janab Ajmal Kasab while Queen Elizabeth regally strode into her 60^th year of reign. The search for extra-terrestrial life goes on with the Mars Curiosity rover being the latest warrior on that front. Though someone quipped the other day that Nasa is wasting billions in searching for extra-terrestrial life in other planets while a bunch of aliens live in a round building in New Delhi shouting, jostling, shoving kicking and frequently charging to the well of the house.

RIP, young lady, who put to shame all the males of our country, that is, if we have any shame left.

May the journey go on ...


(The ideas expressed are purely personal and do not subscribe to/ espouse any ideology. If hurt/ affected please treat it as fiction or watch TV instead.)

...when thoughts evaporate and feelings burn

when eyes become bottomless hollows of eternal emptiness

when the heart sinks and memories hang like rotting carcasses

when nothing makes sense and sense itself dissipates...

dissolving into a numbing nothingness

I cling to you-

Like the last leaf on an autumn tree,

Waiting for a gentle breeze to set it free...

the count...

i am 365 days nearer... a lot of thoughts are stacking up like rain drops in a torrential downpour... but all that for later...

Peepli Alive...

It was a humid day. You knew it from the way your glasses would fog up immediately as you stepped out of the cool conditioned environs of your car. The short walk from the car to the cold comfort of the shopping mall looked a terrible task. And then a foul stench wafted in smelling of something rotting. No wonder with so many of our people making themselves comfortable by the side of the road, you thought to yourself. But once inside the conditioned climate once again made you forget the heat and the humidity outside. Nice and comfortable... You ambled up to the small counter where a pretty face greeted you. The air in here was much better especially with the nice inviting smell of Grilled Chicken Sandwiches floating in from the adjacent shop. But there was no time right now. Paying a couple of crisp hundred rupee notes you bought a ticket to this much talked about movie... 'Peepli Live'. Grabbing a glass of Coke and a big jar of pop-corns you entered the audi just in time. The movie was good. Had a lot of humour to it and also a message. The government sure needs to do something about these farmers you thought.

Late that night as you drove back it started drizzling. You switched off the ac and rolled down the windows. It was funny...the way your vision was clouded by the raindrops and the very next moment it again cleared up as the wiper did its job. And then by the corner of your eyes you could see someone standing with one arm outstretched. A small thin boy with plastic wrapped in his head mumbling something which mixed with the sound of the rain and dissolved. You rolled up the windows. The government should do something about the beggars you thought and moved on. The radio played a nice song from the movie you just watched. The windscreen clouded up and cleared...

Confessions of a Tortured B'crat...

Dozing off and waking up in fits of boredom induced stupor, it was difficult to ascertain what was real and what was imaginary. The ambiance had played a perfect foil to eliminate whatever little chances there were of keeping awake and alert. The centrally air-conditioned conference hall lit comfortably and in a sleepy tenor by chic fashionable lamps coupled with a comfortable chair far away from the main speaker who had an extraordinary capacity to maintain a singular drone gave a perfect setting to doze off and fly away from what i was 'officially' supposed to do - attend a presentation by the Chief General Manager of MEBI as part of an JRS delegation on a study tour of Capital Markets.

It is incredible how bureaucracy has increased my patience and my capability to tolerate and survive hours and hours of conferences, seminars, presentations and other such members of that horrible array of nouns used to describe a group of people often sitting and wasting a lot of productive time , the net result of which is a big CIPHER.

Initially as I sat through one of the many seminars and meetings that we were regularly supposed to attend I would feel suffocated and after a point of time I would feel a total loss of control over my motor abilities and find myself on the verge of a violent and uncontrollable outburst. I would feel an irresistible urge to pounce on the main speaker and beat him to pulp or strangle him.

Needless to say it often led me to wonder whether I was suffering from some mental malady, especially since a couple of times after an interminable monologue by an 'expert' on some esoteric topic of finance , I had felt the urge to bite him and claw him.

But gradually over a period of time I was conquered by that iconic dulling process which is such a voracious predator that hardly any member of the bureaucracy survives unscathed.

Thus, I developed an ability to sit through absolutely motionless broken only by regular intervals of knowing nods and informed glances through hours and hours of acoustic torture. I also developed quite a few more enviable skills, the best among which was undoubtedly the ability to sleep with my eyes absolutely open.

Needles to say, it has stood me in very good stead ever since.


Disclaimer : The work is to be treated purely and completely as (il)legal fiction and the author suitably distances himself from any opinion or the lack of it evident from the piece.

They say I cannot tan. But I believe that there are different shades of black too. And I did move from one shade to another thanks to the relentless efforts of the down-south-sun. The problem though is the fact that now I seem to be stuck in the shade I moved into.

Oh life's so unfair...

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If laziness were to be a continuum I would surely be placed somewhere in the far far east. Often in one of my severe bouts of extreme laziness I am forced to wonder why we could not outsource breathing also. After all it sure looks an arduous task requiring our attention and effort day in and day out...

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Well why bother... even that requires thinking...

Thoughts on the Republic...

Years ago a lot of young men and women had a dream. And they also had the will and the courage to follow their dream. It took them through a treacherous path... a path full of seemingly insurmountable challenges. And yet the dream lived on and finally culminated in a dawn when a country was born. A country of their dreams... imperfect and yet beautiful in its various flaws. India was born.

Years later a lot of water has passed beneath the bridge and today’s youth cherishes a dream to conquer the moon. India has moved on.

Have the gaps widened between the haves and the have-nots or have we bridged the divide substantially...

Have we achieved the manifestation of the idea that our founding fathers nurtured in their defiant dreams...

It’s easy to jump to conclusions and lose oneself either in jingoistic affirmation or negate everything and wallow in self-pity. But the answer, if any, to the above questions is as mysterious as the idea of India itself.

Only time will tell.