The analogy of life and a 2 wheeler vehicle

Life is like riding a 2 wheeler vehicle. You have to be in motion to keep balance.

The rear view mirror gives a view of the past; a past which is much closer than it appears; the spot we are at is the present, the road we see ahead is the future we can see at most while the part we can't is the future.

You go on the road you think is right battling dead-end's, detours and potholes..not forgetting speed breakers. All towards a destination.

Along the road you cross other riders, some riding in groups, some riding pillion, some riding by themselves, some to themselves and some for a reason.

Some ride with you, some choose to ride along side you, some race ahead and some lag behind.

You go too fast and you miss the view, too slow and impatience takes the better of you.

On the journey you come across days filled with sunshine, rain and the cold. And on some days you experience a mix.  

Writing - the way it should be

Writing need not be long essays or short phrases. Just a few lines straight from the heart that can make the reader feel like he has read something beautiful and the writer like he has expressed the inexpressible.

Life's A Stage

Every person who comes into your life has a part to play - either to teach you or to test you. So when they leave you its not they have done so intentionally or have forgotten you. Its just that they're part in your life is over. 

Book Review: The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

I’m not much into novels that have a religious setting but I did pick this one as I decided to read it no matter what.

This is Ashwin Sanghi’s third novel, the previous being The Rozabal Line and Chanakya's Chant. Unfortunately I have only heard about them; The Krishna Key would probably make me read them.

Sticking to his genre Ashwin has once again proved that he has immense appetite for thrillers. I like the plot, the story, the narration and the script but one thing I don’t like (and that’s across all such reality based fictional thriller’s) is how incidents and facts and figures are stitched together to prove one’s point. For instance across the book you’ll realize how important the number 108 is and the book will not leave you till you’re convinced.

The book starts with a researcher friend Anil Varshney of the protagonist (Ravi Mohan Saini) who has found 4 seals during his exploration which tell you more about the Krishna you already know. It also gives the address of the Brahmastra (the most destructible weapon ever). Varshney sensing of a threat to his life distributes 3 of these seals amongst his close buddies while keeping 1 with himself. One evening while in his study Varshney is killed. The police have no clue of the killer other than a shlok in Sanskrit. The trace leads to Ravi (a professor by profession) who is accused of the crime. Trying to prove his innocence Ravi runs from the police to gather some evidence. Unfortunately the killer is a step ahead and kills all his friends who have the seal. Slowly Ravi beginning to make sense of the things whisking past him solves the mystery, thanks to his in-depth knowledge of Krishna and Sanskrit and love for crypts.

I would say the story is good, the writing brilliant. It keeps you on your toes and has enough of twists and turns to keep the interest going. But that’s only for someone who’s well versed in the Mahabharata and digs religious thrillers. For someone who’s not the book seems like a never ending curse. Since I fall in the latter I shall rate it 2/5. A good pass time but a bit only if you have immense of it.        

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A Disciplined India

For a country like India discipline is a dire need, thanks to its burgeoning population, terrible infrastructure and law enforcement agencies.

Physics teaches us 2 quantities - vector and scalar. While both of them have magnitude there exists a major difference between them, that of direction. A vector has direction while a scalar doesn't  To me a perfect example of a scalar quantity is India. Yes, India.

I can’t help it. I am an Indian and my heart beats for India. It’s every success is mine, its every loss is heart wrenching. India may have been the cradle of civilization and the finest example of town and civic planning in early days but unfortunately today none of that is visible. Why is that a country known throughout the lands for its good suddenly finds itself wanting in all spheres of life? The answer is simple. The answer lies before our very own eyes and is not as complex as rocket science. A simple thing that we have forgotten the meaning of and probably even the spelling. And that’s discipline.

It’s this same discipline that allowed a puny country like Great Britain to conquer India. The same discipline that let them conquer almost all the countries of the world and build an empire so huge that the sun wouldn’t set there. The same discipline that let them hold the world captive for centuries. Leaving aside Britain, it’s the same discipline that differentiates us from any other developed country of this world. The same that differentiates an Indian and the rest of the people. The same that makes our head fall in shame when we are compared to the world.

No one can deny the talent we possess. Give us any situation and we shall be victorious. We have the magnitude but the discipline is missing. We care two hoots of road discipline and other rules. We drive like as if we own the roads, cutting lanes and honking to our own free will. We even don’t mind entering areas clearly marked as ‘No Entry’ or even drive in the opposite lane. We stop at traffic signals only when we are on the zebra crossing and slowly proceed and reach the middle of the forbidden area in the anticipation of the signal turning to green. We would overtake from any side just given a chance and even use the footpaths to reach earlier. Are we always like this? No. Place a cop and we undergo a surprise transformation. We suddenly become law abiding citizens and upgrade our driving skills to a level comparable to the best in the world. If you thought we are like this only in driving then think again. We treat our country like it’s a vast public latrine - spitting, throwing up paan, peeing and littering wherever we feel like. Do we do this everywhere; no, it’s a special treatment only for our country. If we go aboard we leave all these qualities behind. I wonder where our high level of education goes. Where does our civic sense and theories of Bharat Mata and Dharti Mata go is a big mystery. You tell us to stand in a line at a counter and all we understand is crowd up. Our lines move in all directions all approaching one single window. Simply said in India we follow only 1 thumb rule – find a place and fill it.

If you ask me how I would love to design the future then my answer is simple. Inculcate a sense of discipline in each of us. If that may involve a year or two of military training so be it. I’m ready to sign up for it right away. Make sure it’s taught and enforced in our schools and institutes of learning right at the grassroots level. Discipline does not mean punishment, after all punishment is useless unless lessons are learnt. Discipline is all about love, encouraging self-control, trust, self-control and obedience. Lastly Discipline is a journey. To inculcate good discipline we need to be good role models, after all what’s the use of only preaching and not practicing.  Though the changes will not be visible soon but in the long run it will surely show.

Through discipline we would learn to live as better individuals supervising ourselves. Our conduct wouldn’t be determined on whether we’re being watched or not. Our approach towards life would be better. For a country like India discipline is a dire need, thanks to its burgeoning population and terrible infrastructure and law enforcement agencies. It would also help in policy making where our MLA’s and MP’s would have a debate in the truest sense and not turn the Legislative Assembly or Parliament into a fish market. In fact we would need far lesser administrators – like during the times of the British and Portuguese one officer was in charge of an entire state.

So let us work towards achieving the most important thing for any profession or in any walk of life. Talent alone cannot guarantee success, mix it with discipline and you have a recipe for success. This country needs a sense of direction to move forward and discipline to propel us. After all you can’t be a superpower by being a scalar. It’s only a vector who becomes a victor!   

Nelton Dollars (ND) – The future of money

Many people dream of money but I go a step further. I dream of the future of money – the same money that was stones at one point of time, assumed the avatar of coins in iron, copper and steel and appear nowadays as paper notes. Yes we have plastic money in the form of debit and credit cards but I believe they merely facilitate easier transactions and can’t stand on their own.

To avoid any sort of confusion I would like to call this (you may call me partial, but that’s ok) Nelton Dollars (ND). Nelton – giving due credit to its conceptualizer and Dollars because it’s the most widely renowned type of currency and everyone would love to have it. Put the initials of both of them together and you get ND, the same as Nelton D’Souza. (What a coincidenceJ. I say it’s well thought out)

Below would be the salient features of ND.

1. Ease of use.

In our current scheme of things we often run hard of tendering the exact/closest change. We often buy a product worth Rs.20/- but give the seller Rs.100/- leading to a small argument. With ND you wouldn't have this problem.

If you have a note of 100/- and want to purchase an item costing 50/- then merely tear the note in half. Automatically the denomination of the 2 halves would change to ND 50/-. Needless to say if you tear the note into 10 equal parts you would have 10 notes of value ND 10/- each. To facilitate the tearing every note would have perforated markings. In this way you wouldn't have to run helter-skelter to get change.

If you’re worried about having change in coins simply crumble the note in your hands and the note would turn to coins of exactly the same value.

If you have too much cash and wish to carry lesser notes then put 2 notes together and walk away with a single note having the combined value of both. In this way you can have a single note of the denomination you desire. The same will be applicable on coins as well.

2. Total security.

Often many of us loose cash. It’s worse when we are robbed of it. With ND you will never have that problem. With every transaction you do you will be authorizing the receiver to use the money. In short you would be giving the ownership of the money. This would be done just by a touch and using the fingerprints of both the parties. There wouldn't be problem of duplicate fingerprints as fingerprints are like the DNA – unique to every human being. He can then use it the way he wants. If you haven’t given him/her the ownership a chip in the notes shall forbid him/her from using it. Hence your money is safe. Even if it’s left behind it would be unusable. Since you’re details are stored on it you can be easily traced and the money returned. This would prevent corruption and not lead to a black money problem. Thus ensuring complete transparency.

3. Value

Today the value of currency is determined on a demand and supply system. If a currency has more demand its value increases, if not it decreases. With so many features to boast of, the demand of ND shall always be high leading to a high value. And since all the exchanges can be easily tracked it wouldn't be dependent only on FII’s and FDI’s. All the people using ND’s shall play a pivotal role in maintaining its value. A huge base and constant circulation of money would lead to a much stable system and better value. Thus leading to a democratic system where the people that use it determine its value.

Perfervid Love...!!!

Have you ever delved deep into the fact that everybody whom you know today,At first you met them as strangers* ? Do you realize it's these strangers who once become acquainted form part and parcel of life?

Strangers meet to become Acquaintances... and these acquaintance is the origin of all relations that flourish and prosper. Talking about Acquaintances...

(Strangers*:-Excluding those who are related by blood)

There’s a vast variance among the acquaintances we meet, typically they can be classified into four different sects

               1)     Neutral observers: Whatever happens to you good or bad they are disinterested in your state.

\                2)    Well wishers: they are the ones who are your true friends they will always wish good for you

                3)   Antagonist/Ad hominem: They are the ones who finds pleasure in your plight…you won’t find them around you when you are having a good time but will always be there when you face criticism.

You may feel unviable but the truth is 90% of the people you are acquainted are neutral observers. They have nothing to do with your well being or distress…near-about  equal percent of people belong to both Well wishers and antagonists…which wraps off about 99.9% of the people you know.

Today my story revolves around the 4^th kind of person whom I call perfervid personnel; 

You might think what's the point in discussing such rare fraction of people in our lives...believe me by the time i end up with my discussion about Perfervid personnel...you would surely change the perception of how you look about in your life regarding these rare people in your life.

Perfervid person are the ones who have intense feelings for your being…in simple words they are the ones similar to whom you call soul mates but there’s a acute distinction between the two…A soul mate is someone whom one acknowledge to be one’s other half but a perfervid is someone who may or may not be recognized by the person concerned nevertheless day in and day out they will seek for your well being. you may come up with...so well wishers and perfervid are the same...but There’s still disparity between the two; well wisher are someone who is recognized as a true friends but a perfervid person need not be considered a friend also…!!!

In order to get a crystal clear picture of  Perfervid personnel i would like to adduce with the story of

Perfervid Love...!!!

Anthony and Adrienne

12th August,2006

Anthony’s friend (Anna) to Anthony:-How’s life

Anthony:- I don’t know how she is, but I wish she is fine and doing well.

Anna:- I am talking about you and not the person you dream.

Anthony:- Its one and the same thing…if she’s fine I am good and if she isn’t I m not…!!!

Anna:- Move on Anthony…you are spoiling your life, we all know she is gone away your life and she isn’t coming back either.

Anthony:- why? What difference does it make? I had the same feeling when she was with me and today also I have the same feeling…I cannot change the way I feel just because she has changed.

Anna: change is the law of nature…everything changes and those who don’t wither with time.

Anthony:- I would rather accept it as my fate then trying to change what I am.

Few months passed by…

24th march 2007 :

One day Adrienne accidentally met Anthony

Anthony:- is it a dream? You don’t know how I longed to see a glimpse of you.

Adrienne:- why don’t you forget me?  And let me live?

Anthony:-  I never interfere in your personal life…neither do I make any attempt to trace your sustenance… how could I make any difference to your living?

Adrienne:- my problem is you…why don’t you get any other girl in your life? I would be the happiest person in this world if you could have someone in your life other than thinking about me.

Anthony:- I never stopped you from doing anything you want or like…but as far as my feelings are concerned it’s unchangeable…No one can replace you from my heart.

Adrienne:- please stop your blabber…I have heard this umpteen times, I love Victor… and I want to marry him…but I can’t do so as invariably your thoughts makes me feel awkward…I don’t know how but it seems you are somehow controlling my mind…I want to forget you forever.

Anthony:- That’s it Adrienne? I will go so far from you that neither my presence nor my memories will ever haunt you …He murmured last words to complete his sentence…(but wherever I will be I can never stop loving you) but not loud enough as such Adrienne couldn’t hear it.

Adrienne:- what were the last words you spoke?

Anthony:- Be happy Adrienne…!!!

After that day…No one knew any whereabouts of Anthony…Anthony left the city and went miles away from Adrienne where no one knew him…

When you love someone so dearly, you cannot even think of any other person in your life and when the same person wants to forget you forever you have a feeling similar to consuming Monosodium Glutamate (Slow poison). You know you won’t die but every other day you live becomes more dismal then the previous one.

After Anthony left…Adrienne tried to forget Anthony…but she couldn’t forget her.

(A person who has left imprints on your heart can never be wiped off…only way to wipe it off is to wipe off yourself)

17th May 2010

After much speculation for the last 3 years Adrienne finally decided to marry Victor....she was going to marry in a week's time…but there was something unusual about her…As the D day was fast approaching Adrienne was growing more and more restless as if something was not right. Few of her friends even inquired her- was she really ready for the marriage…she ignored their acquisitions…

(The reason of Adrienne’s discomfort: she was missing Anthony and in spite of all her efforts to contact Anthony…only thing she could know about him is- ‘No person in this world knows anything about Anthony...since the day he last met Adrienne’...)

26th May 2010 : The day after Adrienne's wedding day

The day of the marriage went in on with full of effects and after effects…

but it was the next day’s newspaper headline quoted “Was it really a Natural Death?”  Spread viral amongst the mass…

to give a brief of what happened the previous day… i.e. the day of Adrienne’s marriage.

Adrienne who was much obsessed of loosing Anthony blamed herself for everything…finally she succumbed and committed suicide…leaving a letter after her.

Anthony,

Please forgive me…I know you can’t and I am responsible for everything…

I cannot handle this guilt anymore… I really love you…but you are no more in my life…

so I am left with only one option in my life…that is to quit life.

(now you know the impacts of a perfervid love …A person who has left imprints on your heart can never be wiped off…if you stress much to wipe it off you would end up Wiping yourself)

Had it been any of the love stories we witness in romantic movies…Adrienne would have fled from the wedding ceremony and would have gone back to Anthony and both would have lived happily there after…but there’s the catch between real and reel life...in movies no situations are out of hand…and everything that happens is scripted…but in real life when things go out of hand…peculiarly in relations related to love they do seldom recover specially when you deliberately flush someone out of your life…disregarding all the efforts of a perfervid lover.

I would like to add a small inference over here…People having such intense feelings should never be left apart. This story revolves around two person who were both perfervid but there are people whose intense feelings are only one sided…and we ought to ignore them from our life…because we have no feelings for them…We might have a thinking we are leaving them for good but you know in reality we are slow poisoning them to death…!!!

Going back to the story at hand…

You might be wondering what about the newspaper headline? was they referring Adrienne's suicide to a natural death?
let me clear the confusion...At the same time when Adrienne committed suicide…Anthony who was thousands of miles away and was ignorant about this incident was sitting in his chair…suddenly his eyes gushed with water, he closed his eyes…but did never open his eyes again…

 if you believe by what doctors say you would say he died from an heart attack…but people at large…who came to know about the coincidence of both the incidents where forced to question  “Was it really a Natural Death?”

If you are one amongst the Antagonists you would say…such coincidence can happen…but as we know there are few questions which are beyond the scope of science…and as theists would say where science ends spirituality begins…and therefore I proclaim…

“There was certainly a connection of Adrienne’s life with that of Anthony”… (Rephrasing the lines which Anthony had spoken to Anna)

Anna: How’s life?

Anthony: I don’t know how she is, but I wish she is fine and doing well.

Anna: I am talking about you and not the person you dream.

Anthony: Its one and the same thing…if she’s fine I am good and if she isn’t I m not…!!!

I know many people would rate this story as hypothetical…but if they really understand about the extreme feelings of a perfervid love or Perfervid personnel in short…they wouldn't  call it a fiction as they would realize these things do happen in real life…!!!