I was watching the tennis match between the champion Nadal and the never-heard-of Petzschner. When I had switched on TV, the score had read one set all and two games apiece. Miraculously, Petzschner played well enough to snatch that third set from Nadal. Soon, the match went into the fourth set, which Nadal won. Next hour, even as the weather became dank, my eyes fell upon the giant scoreboard that read two sets all and three games apiece. “What a fascinating dead even”, I had conjectured.
It reminded me of the Olympics gymnastics event of year 2008. The degree of crossing and then uncrossing the bar by the champion Romanian team had created an effect of a dead even angle. It also reminded me of the philosophy of negative and positive lags used by their captain.
When I had switched on TV, USA was leading the pack in the Gymnastics event by overhauling the 9.7 score of Chinese by a mere 0.05. The blunt and sharp scissors of the scorers was in full action, as they were literally shearing the fate of the teams by a margin as little as 0.05 points. The combat between the bluntness and sharpness of their scissor-like action resembled was dead even. Tension was spilling everywhere as USA hoped no other team would better their score. However, they were skeptic of Romania, who was the last team to participate. USA was aware of the stunning performance produced by Romania in the previous Olympics. Before the entire nation of USA could complete praying to the God for the Romanians to default, the Romanian captain’s legs crossed and then uncrossed the bar with amazing symmetry to hand his team a score of 9.85 and with that the Gold medal. The position of both his legs while crossing and then uncrossing was dead even.
“What is the reason of your continued success at the Olympics?” he was asked after the felicitation. “I try to arrive at a dead even between positive and negative lags.” he said. Amused by this response, the reporter requested the captain to elaborate. “I use positive lag to delay the start of our practice sessions until my team composition is final. After that, however, we get a surprise in the form of negative lag. Even before our practice sessions are over, generally the news breaks out that there is a fair chance that USA will qualify. Recent history suggests that when they qualify, they pose the stiffest challenge to our medal aspirations. So, once our practice is over, this negative lag helps me in predicting at what stage we would need to face them in the main event. With this knowledge, I ask my team to focus on tackling USA six months in advance. So, we try to first scale up our own preparation, and then focus on winning over USA. When the contribution of positive lag matches that of negative lag, we arrive at a dead even scenario, which helps us in winning Gold!” he concluded.
Never in my wildest of thoughts had I fathomed the lively importance of such a term that contained the word ‘dead’!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Eyeball Not Football From Argentina
It was June 11 of 2010 in South Africa. The first meaningful game of World Cup featured a hot Nigerian team pitted against the pit bulls Argentines. Both teams play with a lot of flair. But who knew these South American superstars would start playing eyeball and not just football?! Four games had preceded this game. Ardent African spectators had drowned the atmosphere in those games by ‘vuvuzelas’, which soon took the name of “Roo-boo-zelas” when Rooney led Brits had been booed by their fans for failing to get past the most moribund Algerians in the first game.
Being rich in knowledge of history, I was smiling at the development of such events. This is because English had beaten Argentines in the Battle of Falkland. This war had resulted in their bullying the spirits of the Argentines. No wonder they had made a huge hue and cry over the famous “Hand of God” goal scored by Maradona against them in 1986 World Cup that Argentina had won.
But, the first eyeball had started much before the World Cup had begun. For the first time in their hundred year pedigree, Argentina had failed to qualify with aplomb. They were thrashed by Bolivians by a five goal margin. This disappointment definitely raised many eyeballs. The new captain’s name itself raised my eyebrows and that of the best footballer in world, Pele. With nothing going in this coach’s favor, he then annoyingly told, “Pele should be sent to museum”. He had earned so much disrepute that even the tabloids were running out of any more sensational story. Yes, the volatile Maradona had taken the mantle of coaching. This team was filled with superstars like Messi, Tevez and Rodriguez, the man who had scored the best ever goal. How can one forget Rodriguez’s goal in the game with Mexico in 2006 World Cup? He had received a pass from forty meters away. Then he chested the ball, and kicked it with ferocity to find the ball meet the goal from fifty five yards – all in a flash! Also, the goal involving nine men who doused the spirits of Serbia with crafty and crisp passes to score a goal with my eyeballs rolling all over. But, to mould them under Maradona was becoming increasingly tough. However, this team regrouped exactly when the World Cup event knocked at their door.
The first glimpse of their peaking at the right time came in their game against Nigeria. Nigerians knew they had their task cut out after Argentines had scampered to Olympic Gold Medal at their expense a couple of years ago. Their supporters had brought ear-deafening vuvuzelas. But, they were soon shocked to see the Argentine supporters stifling the sound of vuvuzelas with drums even before the game had kicked off. Soon after, Messi, Tevez and Higuain stamped their authority with Heinze scoring with his head. “They play with foot, hand, head, and also with my eyes. They are mesmerizing!” I summoned.
Their second game in World Cup 2010 showed what eyeballing really means. Messi had got a pass from Veron. Soon, Messi, the little lion, literally raced away towards the Korean goal. But he found six larger-sized defenders surround him. In a flash, he created space for himself and struck from thirty yards. The goalkeeper’s eyeballs got transfixed at the ball which had found the net. He had just now seen something illogical. Soon, Argentina would reach the final game against Germans.
Before the final beckoned, Maradona told the media that he had an announcement to make. “This team becomes unruly when they are defeated”, he said. “So, from now, we will respect our opposition. World Cup should be remembered as a giant ball with many different colored candies around it. Without the wisdom candy, it would be incomplete”, he concluded. They went down to the tireless Germans, but they had already established themselves as the real champions even before this game.
Being rich in knowledge of history, I was smiling at the development of such events. This is because English had beaten Argentines in the Battle of Falkland. This war had resulted in their bullying the spirits of the Argentines. No wonder they had made a huge hue and cry over the famous “Hand of God” goal scored by Maradona against them in 1986 World Cup that Argentina had won.
But, the first eyeball had started much before the World Cup had begun. For the first time in their hundred year pedigree, Argentina had failed to qualify with aplomb. They were thrashed by Bolivians by a five goal margin. This disappointment definitely raised many eyeballs. The new captain’s name itself raised my eyebrows and that of the best footballer in world, Pele. With nothing going in this coach’s favor, he then annoyingly told, “Pele should be sent to museum”. He had earned so much disrepute that even the tabloids were running out of any more sensational story. Yes, the volatile Maradona had taken the mantle of coaching. This team was filled with superstars like Messi, Tevez and Rodriguez, the man who had scored the best ever goal. How can one forget Rodriguez’s goal in the game with Mexico in 2006 World Cup? He had received a pass from forty meters away. Then he chested the ball, and kicked it with ferocity to find the ball meet the goal from fifty five yards – all in a flash! Also, the goal involving nine men who doused the spirits of Serbia with crafty and crisp passes to score a goal with my eyeballs rolling all over. But, to mould them under Maradona was becoming increasingly tough. However, this team regrouped exactly when the World Cup event knocked at their door.
The first glimpse of their peaking at the right time came in their game against Nigeria. Nigerians knew they had their task cut out after Argentines had scampered to Olympic Gold Medal at their expense a couple of years ago. Their supporters had brought ear-deafening vuvuzelas. But, they were soon shocked to see the Argentine supporters stifling the sound of vuvuzelas with drums even before the game had kicked off. Soon after, Messi, Tevez and Higuain stamped their authority with Heinze scoring with his head. “They play with foot, hand, head, and also with my eyes. They are mesmerizing!” I summoned.
Their second game in World Cup 2010 showed what eyeballing really means. Messi had got a pass from Veron. Soon, Messi, the little lion, literally raced away towards the Korean goal. But he found six larger-sized defenders surround him. In a flash, he created space for himself and struck from thirty yards. The goalkeeper’s eyeballs got transfixed at the ball which had found the net. He had just now seen something illogical. Soon, Argentina would reach the final game against Germans.
Before the final beckoned, Maradona told the media that he had an announcement to make. “This team becomes unruly when they are defeated”, he said. “So, from now, we will respect our opposition. World Cup should be remembered as a giant ball with many different colored candies around it. Without the wisdom candy, it would be incomplete”, he concluded. They went down to the tireless Germans, but they had already established themselves as the real champions even before this game.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Photography unseen
Those were the days when I was dating girls. Surely, I had done a lot of research and introspection about my ideal life partner. Keeping these things in mind, I started searching for a beautiful damsel. I logged onto all kinds of dating websites to sell myself and to make myself comfortable with girls out there. I put my photograph that a friend of mine had taken when I was very young and handsome in USA. Days went by, and soon weeks eloped. But there was no girl in sight for me. The search started becoming unyielding and mirroring an epic struggle. Now, I was in India. And my looks had changed somewhat, not to say that I was still young. But, I had grown grey gloomy beard. My hair had whitened slightly. My mood had become heavier and the anticipation for the lucky lady had snatched my pulse of living in the moment. I had also become more philosophical. Next, months passed by, but at a much slower pace than the initial weeks. Once, with a heavy heart, I sat down to count the number of such days that I had spent looking haplessly for my partner. It had been a huge hundred months. By now, my friends also know this statistic by their heart! My friends insisted me to post my latest photograph on those same dating websites. Being a redoubtable character, I obeyed their request, fully aware that the girls out there would start losing interest in me.
Amidst this web of insecurity and hopelessness, the God finally looked at me and rewarded me with a surprise gift. Out of the blue, a girl opted to befriend me. She soon fell in love with me. No wonder she wanted to see the photo of the man she wanted to spend her life with. No wonder that I wanted to avoid showing her my latest photograph to her. But she kept asking me at an alarming frequency to show her my recent picture. I was soon getting bereft of ideas. Suddenly, I thought of using the technology to my advantage. I asked her to sign up on Gtalk, where I had kept my younger picture. The only problem was that I was wearing a heavy jacket and was standing next to my sports car in USA. After five weeks, she questioned me whether my photo was recent or not. But these five weeks had energized my mood to an altogether different level. I had grown younger in these thirty five days. My wrinkles and rumples from face had disappeared. I immediately updated Gtalk with my most recent photograph. And it served the purpose! After my marriage with her, I thanked her for changing the look of my face in those five weeks.
Amidst this web of insecurity and hopelessness, the God finally looked at me and rewarded me with a surprise gift. Out of the blue, a girl opted to befriend me. She soon fell in love with me. No wonder she wanted to see the photo of the man she wanted to spend her life with. No wonder that I wanted to avoid showing her my latest photograph to her. But she kept asking me at an alarming frequency to show her my recent picture. I was soon getting bereft of ideas. Suddenly, I thought of using the technology to my advantage. I asked her to sign up on Gtalk, where I had kept my younger picture. The only problem was that I was wearing a heavy jacket and was standing next to my sports car in USA. After five weeks, she questioned me whether my photo was recent or not. But these five weeks had energized my mood to an altogether different level. I had grown younger in these thirty five days. My wrinkles and rumples from face had disappeared. I immediately updated Gtalk with my most recent photograph. And it served the purpose! After my marriage with her, I thanked her for changing the look of my face in those five weeks.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Short Story #6: From The Chef's Own Store
Is this the face of a chef? Stephen wondered when he was placing his breakfast order. The store was running a promotion, because of which it was open till late night. It opened at 7 in the morning under open sky, and it would continue operating till 3 AM. At first, we thought that the chef would not be able to work so long to prepare good quality meal for his hungry customers. I could never perfect the art of blending the right kind of spices with the main curry. Nor could I ever enjoy flipping burgers tirelessly over the gas stove. I always used to burn both the ends of the burger! Up until now, his store had three chefs who followed a standardized recipe to cook burger, pizza, fish, chicken wings, nuggets, etc. But that day was different. As soon as he started taking the order of his first customer at 7:19 AM under the cool breeze, he announced that he will prepare food customized as per the demands of the customer – and all by himself. So, he decided to throw the ‘cheat-sheet’ recipe to cook food that was used to prepare food in a calibrated manner.
“Can I take your order, Sir?” asked the chef to Stephen, his first customer, at 7:19 AM. “One double cheeseburger and one orange juice”, replied Stephen. “Sure, just 25 minutes, Sir”. Hearing this, Stephen got amused. “I order breakfast everyday here. It’s only supposed to take 15 minutes, so why the 10 additional minutes today?” he asked. The chef replied that he needs to add special flavors to the cheeseburger and offer freshly prepared orange juice instead of a packaged juice. “Wow, that would be an ideal breakfast!” imagined Stephen.
The chef started flipping the cheeseburger in a skillet, and the rustling noise was for all to hear. “Sir, while I prepare your morning munches, would you like to solve today’s Crossword puzzle?” Stephen was delighted with this kind service. The chef sprinkled mustard and then added mayonnaise over the bun. He then added sautéed mushroom, onions and tomatoes. Amidst all this action, Stephen was busy solving the Crossword. Soon, the smell of burger disseminated into the open air, which riveted his appetite. After just a few minutes, Stephen saw a bunch of oranges in front of him. He couldn’t resist seeing the chef tightly squeeze the oranges with his palms, then cut it in pieces, remove the seeds, use the juicer to get the juice out, and finally add the pulp in the juice. The chef put down his tacky gown and approached Stephen. “Eat your meal while it is still hot. And orange juice should energize your day.” Stephen thoroughly enjoyed the food. He would soon spread the word to the other customers. And the chef continued to work tirelessly and please them until 3 AM.
The lesson is that if you love your trade, then you can be confident that you can please the people around you.
“Can I take your order, Sir?” asked the chef to Stephen, his first customer, at 7:19 AM. “One double cheeseburger and one orange juice”, replied Stephen. “Sure, just 25 minutes, Sir”. Hearing this, Stephen got amused. “I order breakfast everyday here. It’s only supposed to take 15 minutes, so why the 10 additional minutes today?” he asked. The chef replied that he needs to add special flavors to the cheeseburger and offer freshly prepared orange juice instead of a packaged juice. “Wow, that would be an ideal breakfast!” imagined Stephen.
The chef started flipping the cheeseburger in a skillet, and the rustling noise was for all to hear. “Sir, while I prepare your morning munches, would you like to solve today’s Crossword puzzle?” Stephen was delighted with this kind service. The chef sprinkled mustard and then added mayonnaise over the bun. He then added sautéed mushroom, onions and tomatoes. Amidst all this action, Stephen was busy solving the Crossword. Soon, the smell of burger disseminated into the open air, which riveted his appetite. After just a few minutes, Stephen saw a bunch of oranges in front of him. He couldn’t resist seeing the chef tightly squeeze the oranges with his palms, then cut it in pieces, remove the seeds, use the juicer to get the juice out, and finally add the pulp in the juice. The chef put down his tacky gown and approached Stephen. “Eat your meal while it is still hot. And orange juice should energize your day.” Stephen thoroughly enjoyed the food. He would soon spread the word to the other customers. And the chef continued to work tirelessly and please them until 3 AM.
The lesson is that if you love your trade, then you can be confident that you can please the people around you.
Short Story #5: Laughter The Best Medicine
The professor had made some mistakes in grammar and logic while explaining a subject yesterday. So, he wanted to make amends for that today. He started the day by greeting to all of us – Very good morning folks! He radiated a huge smile on his face, and three of us immediately wished him good morning. Seeing a weak response to his manufactured smile, the professor tried to induce a sense of humor. He replied, “Please copy to all.” Everyone went into peels of laughter. His first attempt at covering up for yesterday’s mistakes had worked well. But then, he tried to overdo this and wrote on the board: “Sopry sudents for teh tyipos and misstakes.” Seeing this message on the board, all of us laughed out of our guts! Shockingly for the professor, even he had never fathomed that his mistakes will continue the next day. But he was not complaining. His impromptu mistakes had at least created a light-hearted environment in the class.
Today, the professor no longer teaches grammar or logic. Instead, he has joined Laughter Special show, and he enthralls the audience by doing stand-up comedy. He soon realized that if he tries to bring some laughter to people, then he would be very happy. Today, when we ask him to attend some social gathering on Friday, then he refuses. There is no longer a day called “Friday” in his dictionary. Instead, he has replaced it with a “Try-day”. He tries to create happiness in others in his own way. This trait of his has won many hearts and given him good responses. Today, he has his own list of friends, and his own social circle.
If the laughter is original, then give it a rip. It will infect the others too.
Today, the professor no longer teaches grammar or logic. Instead, he has joined Laughter Special show, and he enthralls the audience by doing stand-up comedy. He soon realized that if he tries to bring some laughter to people, then he would be very happy. Today, when we ask him to attend some social gathering on Friday, then he refuses. There is no longer a day called “Friday” in his dictionary. Instead, he has replaced it with a “Try-day”. He tries to create happiness in others in his own way. This trait of his has won many hearts and given him good responses. Today, he has his own list of friends, and his own social circle.
If the laughter is original, then give it a rip. It will infect the others too.
Short Story #4: The Cab Experience
We were six people in company cab, three gentlemen and three ladies – all of us in mid-twenties. But I was the elder-most and the senior-most. Ninety minutes we were waiting to reach our office by sitting in the cab. So, it was three hours both ways that the destiny has asked us to stare at each other every single day. Being good gentlemen, we all knew we needed to respect the ladies.
Coincidentally, all other five members in the cab were Christians. Ever hungry for more knowledge, I sought posing a question to them about this religion. Surprisingly, one of the ladies was not quite familiar with her religion. And she was quite introvert too. Soon, one of us started making fun of her. She didn’t feel nice about this. Seeing her negative body language, one of us started advising her to know more about her religion. But we never knew she was simmering from within. She was getting hurt by our loose comments. We began wondering whether her mood would spill to her work too.
We decided to dab her and explain her that we are her well-wishers. We apologized for any action that might have hurt her. She got further pissed at this. I instantly realized that she was too disturbed by what had happened yesterday. This sense of knowledge gave me the direction to help her. I went to her and asked her to travel back in time. I simply told her that our objective in the first place was to merely share our knowledge so that we can have a fruitful time in the cab. The motive was just to give value to the social element of life. I had told her that we are very fortunate to have someone like her in the cab. Listening to my response, she immediately beamed a huge infectious smile.
If we are clear of our objective, and if we decide to work spiritedly towards attaining, then the short-term impact of the daily details should be ignored.
Coincidentally, all other five members in the cab were Christians. Ever hungry for more knowledge, I sought posing a question to them about this religion. Surprisingly, one of the ladies was not quite familiar with her religion. And she was quite introvert too. Soon, one of us started making fun of her. She didn’t feel nice about this. Seeing her negative body language, one of us started advising her to know more about her religion. But we never knew she was simmering from within. She was getting hurt by our loose comments. We began wondering whether her mood would spill to her work too.
We decided to dab her and explain her that we are her well-wishers. We apologized for any action that might have hurt her. She got further pissed at this. I instantly realized that she was too disturbed by what had happened yesterday. This sense of knowledge gave me the direction to help her. I went to her and asked her to travel back in time. I simply told her that our objective in the first place was to merely share our knowledge so that we can have a fruitful time in the cab. The motive was just to give value to the social element of life. I had told her that we are very fortunate to have someone like her in the cab. Listening to my response, she immediately beamed a huge infectious smile.
If we are clear of our objective, and if we decide to work spiritedly towards attaining, then the short-term impact of the daily details should be ignored.
Short Story #3: Just Born
Just born was a baby leopard from her mother in the hot open jungle of Savannah. He slowly lifted his head to see a mirror image in his mother. But he soon saw that she was several times larger and stronger. Also, he realized that he was the only one crying.
Immediately in the wild jungle he was left alone by mother. He had to obey her decision and create a living for self. But being just born, he was not yet empowered with the power of making a decision by self. All he could do was sprint a sublime race with the agility that God had not given to any other creature.
After a year, he realized the vast hunger in his stomach. He needed someone to feed him. But she was not there with him at the need of the hour. Luckily, he soon spotted a fleshy deer strolling lazily just a mile away. Suddenly, he had a desire to run racily towards it and pounce it to make it his first meal. He quickly took charge of his current position and pivoted his eyesight in the direction of that deer. The deer had now got alert and had started running at just a notch lower slower than the leopard. Seeing the deer take top flight, the leopard got a burning desire to go for the kill. Just ask yourself, if you get a desire to accomplish something, will you bother about explaining to others? So, he no longer cared about his mother about this desire, nor did he have enough time to go to find her mother. Instead, he channelized his thoughts on how to make that deer his meat.
After an epic struggle that lasted twenty minutes, he tore apart the flesh of the deer. After having satiated his hunger, he now realized the importance of his desire that was just born. He thanked the God for granting this desire to live.
Immediately in the wild jungle he was left alone by mother. He had to obey her decision and create a living for self. But being just born, he was not yet empowered with the power of making a decision by self. All he could do was sprint a sublime race with the agility that God had not given to any other creature.
After a year, he realized the vast hunger in his stomach. He needed someone to feed him. But she was not there with him at the need of the hour. Luckily, he soon spotted a fleshy deer strolling lazily just a mile away. Suddenly, he had a desire to run racily towards it and pounce it to make it his first meal. He quickly took charge of his current position and pivoted his eyesight in the direction of that deer. The deer had now got alert and had started running at just a notch lower slower than the leopard. Seeing the deer take top flight, the leopard got a burning desire to go for the kill. Just ask yourself, if you get a desire to accomplish something, will you bother about explaining to others? So, he no longer cared about his mother about this desire, nor did he have enough time to go to find her mother. Instead, he channelized his thoughts on how to make that deer his meat.
After an epic struggle that lasted twenty minutes, he tore apart the flesh of the deer. After having satiated his hunger, he now realized the importance of his desire that was just born. He thanked the God for granting this desire to live.
Short Story #3: Just Born
Just born was a baby leopard from her mother in the hot open jungle of Savannah. He slowly lifted his head to see a mirror image in his mother. But he soon saw that she was several times larger and stronger. Also, he realized that he was the only one crying.
Immediately in the wild jungle he was left alone by mother. He had to obey her decision and create a living for self. But being just born, he was not yet empowered with the power of making a decision by self. All he could do was sprint a sublime race with the agility that God had not given to any other creature.
After a year, he realized the vast hunger in his stomach. He needed someone to feed him. But she was not there with him at the need of the hour. Luckily, he soon spotted a fleshy deer strolling lazily just a mile away. Suddenly, he had a desire to run racily towards it and pounce it to make it his first meal. He quickly took charge of his current position and pivoted his eyesight in the direction of that deer. The deer had now got alert and had started running at just a notch lower slower than the leopard. Seeing the deer take top flight, the leopard got a burning desire to go for the kill. Just ask yourself, if you get a desire to accomplish something, will you bother about explaining to others? So, he no longer cared about his mother about this desire, nor did he have enough time to go to find her mother. Instead, he channelized his thoughts on how to make that deer his meat.
After an epic struggle that lasted twenty minutes, he tore apart the flesh of the deer. After having satiated his hunger, he now realized the importance of his desire that was just born. He thanked the God for granting this desire to live.
Immediately in the wild jungle he was left alone by mother. He had to obey her decision and create a living for self. But being just born, he was not yet empowered with the power of making a decision by self. All he could do was sprint a sublime race with the agility that God had not given to any other creature.
After a year, he realized the vast hunger in his stomach. He needed someone to feed him. But she was not there with him at the need of the hour. Luckily, he soon spotted a fleshy deer strolling lazily just a mile away. Suddenly, he had a desire to run racily towards it and pounce it to make it his first meal. He quickly took charge of his current position and pivoted his eyesight in the direction of that deer. The deer had now got alert and had started running at just a notch lower slower than the leopard. Seeing the deer take top flight, the leopard got a burning desire to go for the kill. Just ask yourself, if you get a desire to accomplish something, will you bother about explaining to others? So, he no longer cared about his mother about this desire, nor did he have enough time to go to find her mother. Instead, he channelized his thoughts on how to make that deer his meat.
After an epic struggle that lasted twenty minutes, he tore apart the flesh of the deer. After having satiated his hunger, he now realized the importance of his desire that was just born. He thanked the God for granting this desire to live.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Short Story #2: Hilarious Laziness
Lying cozily cuddled in mother’s womb was me. However, it was not acceptable to the nurse who pushed me out. Now out of the womb, I felt like scolding the nurse. “Why did you disturb me? I was having such a nice time inside the womb?” I asked her in an admonishing manner.
I don’t remember an iota of information from before my first anniversary. The only thing I remember was when I was wearing a white kurta pyjamah and my friends has greeted me gleefully on my first birthday.
Soon came the second year. “Babu, your food is getting cold”, my mom uttered these words to alert me. I used to reluctantly drag myself to the dining table. When I got successful in grabbing my favorite chair at the dining table, I always thanked my mom and the farmers for having given me the good food. When the prayer got over, I frequently used to drown myself into a sumptuous song. Soon, I would start to sing it too. My mother would then shake me so that I could get out of my conch. Generally, she increased the volume of TV. But, shockingly for her, I would then immerse myself into TV and start watching anything but sensible. The food would then get hopelessly unpalatable!
Now three years old, I remember some standpoints. It was the don of the microwave era. I would buy bread, butter and a basket of bananas, and then keep those in the fridge. But, my laziness was one step ahead of the lazy folks for whom microwave was invented. I would wish the bread and butter in the fridge to get automatically toasted for sixty seconds so that I could take that out and melt it in my mouth! Well, that would never happen!
Age four it was now. Now, my mom had started putting all delicious delicacies in the fridge for me. I so much yearned for the butter in fridge to melt by itself and find its smooth way beneath the paneer vegetable, then meander towards the fenugreek and ask it to get prepared to be sprinkled over the butter-paneer combo. Seeing all this, I wished the pita bread to get excited and uncork a plate and land itself in it. “Can you please come and get seated next to me?”, the bread would then ask the paneer-butter combo vegetable. The meal would thus be ready! My task would just be to sprinkle some salt and eat it. Well, if wishes were to come true, then the salt should also have somehow found a way to cryogenate itself and find a place in that fridge. My task would have become so easy!
Age of five frightened me the most. Ship was swaying in all weird directions. I am taking you to a vacation in Madras. What was meant to be a breather soon became a blistering experience. We were sitting in a ship and sauntering in the sea. Suddenly, the ship sent a SOS signal. People who knew swimming were readying themselves to plunge in water. Others rushed for life jackets. But, I neither knew swimming nor wanted to shed my laziness to don a life jacket. No wonder I don’t even remember who rescued me!
Soon came college days. My aim was to be cross 40%. But, I was struggling to even achieve that aim. Soon came the final semester. Panic had to outsmart my laziness, and somehow I eked out 40.002% aggregate! My clearing the 40% dreaded benchmark coincided with being offered a job in a ridiculously high-paying oil-drilling company. I knew that even if I work only for 4 years there, then no need to work for the remainder of life. And then I can laze off for the rest of my life, I thought! They asked my marksheets. I could sense trouble because flunking was my trait. I xeroxed all my marksheets where I had successfully got beyond 40%, and removed the faulty ones. I stitched a successful tale of my successful courses and hid my failures. I’m still breathing safely at my oil-drilling company.
However, I still wear non-matching socks and tie only the middle lace of my shoes for this job. Who would find time for me to arrange my socks? Who will un-tie my laces when I need to put off my shoes, and then tie those back again when rushing to work?
I have grown in stature. News correspondents flock at me to give weather update for news channels. So, I tried my hand at one of them. When it came to giving weather update for the five metropolitan cities of India, I advised them to avoid me the hassle of announcing the weather update and instead read it in the next day’s newspaper!
Ala, Purel hand-wash was designed specifically for me to avoid the mess of cleaning the hands before having a meal.
I don’t remember an iota of information from before my first anniversary. The only thing I remember was when I was wearing a white kurta pyjamah and my friends has greeted me gleefully on my first birthday.
Soon came the second year. “Babu, your food is getting cold”, my mom uttered these words to alert me. I used to reluctantly drag myself to the dining table. When I got successful in grabbing my favorite chair at the dining table, I always thanked my mom and the farmers for having given me the good food. When the prayer got over, I frequently used to drown myself into a sumptuous song. Soon, I would start to sing it too. My mother would then shake me so that I could get out of my conch. Generally, she increased the volume of TV. But, shockingly for her, I would then immerse myself into TV and start watching anything but sensible. The food would then get hopelessly unpalatable!
Now three years old, I remember some standpoints. It was the don of the microwave era. I would buy bread, butter and a basket of bananas, and then keep those in the fridge. But, my laziness was one step ahead of the lazy folks for whom microwave was invented. I would wish the bread and butter in the fridge to get automatically toasted for sixty seconds so that I could take that out and melt it in my mouth! Well, that would never happen!
Age four it was now. Now, my mom had started putting all delicious delicacies in the fridge for me. I so much yearned for the butter in fridge to melt by itself and find its smooth way beneath the paneer vegetable, then meander towards the fenugreek and ask it to get prepared to be sprinkled over the butter-paneer combo. Seeing all this, I wished the pita bread to get excited and uncork a plate and land itself in it. “Can you please come and get seated next to me?”, the bread would then ask the paneer-butter combo vegetable. The meal would thus be ready! My task would just be to sprinkle some salt and eat it. Well, if wishes were to come true, then the salt should also have somehow found a way to cryogenate itself and find a place in that fridge. My task would have become so easy!
Age of five frightened me the most. Ship was swaying in all weird directions. I am taking you to a vacation in Madras. What was meant to be a breather soon became a blistering experience. We were sitting in a ship and sauntering in the sea. Suddenly, the ship sent a SOS signal. People who knew swimming were readying themselves to plunge in water. Others rushed for life jackets. But, I neither knew swimming nor wanted to shed my laziness to don a life jacket. No wonder I don’t even remember who rescued me!
Soon came college days. My aim was to be cross 40%. But, I was struggling to even achieve that aim. Soon came the final semester. Panic had to outsmart my laziness, and somehow I eked out 40.002% aggregate! My clearing the 40% dreaded benchmark coincided with being offered a job in a ridiculously high-paying oil-drilling company. I knew that even if I work only for 4 years there, then no need to work for the remainder of life. And then I can laze off for the rest of my life, I thought! They asked my marksheets. I could sense trouble because flunking was my trait. I xeroxed all my marksheets where I had successfully got beyond 40%, and removed the faulty ones. I stitched a successful tale of my successful courses and hid my failures. I’m still breathing safely at my oil-drilling company.
However, I still wear non-matching socks and tie only the middle lace of my shoes for this job. Who would find time for me to arrange my socks? Who will un-tie my laces when I need to put off my shoes, and then tie those back again when rushing to work?
I have grown in stature. News correspondents flock at me to give weather update for news channels. So, I tried my hand at one of them. When it came to giving weather update for the five metropolitan cities of India, I advised them to avoid me the hassle of announcing the weather update and instead read it in the next day’s newspaper!
Ala, Purel hand-wash was designed specifically for me to avoid the mess of cleaning the hands before having a meal.
Short Story #1: The First Seal
There are a lot of seals that need to cross the ocean filled with sharks. They want to cross their shore. But, unless one of those takes the first foot forward by diving, no other seal would muster the strength to cross. Clearly, the first seal is at a disadvantage because it knows it will be consumed by the hungry sharks circling around. That seal knows this move will cost its life. But, still that failure is required to inspire the others. This seal will later instill team spirit and self-belief in others. No wonder some of those others will later gather great courage and thus cross the shore. Instead of being called a failure, the first seal would be labeled as a successful someone who tried to create a positive environment.
Once, I needed to lead a disengaged employee in job. Myself being new to this job, I was unaware of the working style of my junior. So, I was unsure of chalking out his career plan. “How will you work for my future, Sir?” asked my junior. “I am new to the city. I also don’t know driving. Without a car, I would be wasting a lot of time in travelling”, he said. He continued, “I am unaware of the tools to be used too. I know you too have a learning curve”. I conjectured at my grim situation. Luckily, my plight was matched by that of other leaders around me. It reminded me of the volunteer seal who must plunge the shark-infested waters to show others the right path. I retorted: “I want to help chalk out your career path. But, I will adopt a novel approach. Can I begin by asking you what do you respect about me?” He replied, “I respect your passion to lead and fearlessness”. This spurred me. I decided to go out of my way to help him. I began teaching him driving and allowed him to settle down in the new environment. Good quality work soon followed. We became a strong unit and people got envious of our accomplishments. I involved him in all critical team meetings as well.
Our chemistry culminated in us winning the best team award. But, I always thought someone might blow the whistle on me. This feeling singed me. My worst fears surfaced, and I was questioned with an intensity of a court martial. They questioned me on my leadership style. In my defense, I said, “There exist many divides across the world, such as socio-economic, geographic, caste and attitudinal factors. These layers of divide have been creating friction between us. Soon, it would become difficult just to put forward a novel idea to your neighbor. One fine day, we would wake up to see all of us so spent that we would be robbed of any creative ideas. It would engulf our self-confidence. So, sometimes we need to become the first seal, throw the fear factor out of the window, and adopt our own ways of showing light to rest of the pack.” At this reply, I was immediately promoted.
We may have started our journey with a timid seal, but its fearlessness in its ability to write its own future is no less than the ferocity of a raw tiger. We would do well to choose the tiger inside us.
Once, I needed to lead a disengaged employee in job. Myself being new to this job, I was unaware of the working style of my junior. So, I was unsure of chalking out his career plan. “How will you work for my future, Sir?” asked my junior. “I am new to the city. I also don’t know driving. Without a car, I would be wasting a lot of time in travelling”, he said. He continued, “I am unaware of the tools to be used too. I know you too have a learning curve”. I conjectured at my grim situation. Luckily, my plight was matched by that of other leaders around me. It reminded me of the volunteer seal who must plunge the shark-infested waters to show others the right path. I retorted: “I want to help chalk out your career path. But, I will adopt a novel approach. Can I begin by asking you what do you respect about me?” He replied, “I respect your passion to lead and fearlessness”. This spurred me. I decided to go out of my way to help him. I began teaching him driving and allowed him to settle down in the new environment. Good quality work soon followed. We became a strong unit and people got envious of our accomplishments. I involved him in all critical team meetings as well.
Our chemistry culminated in us winning the best team award. But, I always thought someone might blow the whistle on me. This feeling singed me. My worst fears surfaced, and I was questioned with an intensity of a court martial. They questioned me on my leadership style. In my defense, I said, “There exist many divides across the world, such as socio-economic, geographic, caste and attitudinal factors. These layers of divide have been creating friction between us. Soon, it would become difficult just to put forward a novel idea to your neighbor. One fine day, we would wake up to see all of us so spent that we would be robbed of any creative ideas. It would engulf our self-confidence. So, sometimes we need to become the first seal, throw the fear factor out of the window, and adopt our own ways of showing light to rest of the pack.” At this reply, I was immediately promoted.
We may have started our journey with a timid seal, but its fearlessness in its ability to write its own future is no less than the ferocity of a raw tiger. We would do well to choose the tiger inside us.
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