Thursday, July 31, 2008

I do?

“I am getting married”, she said. He wasn’t ready for dealing with this, their relationship wasn’t that defined yet. ”If that’s what you want.”, he managed. “..to you” she continued, “if that’s okay with you”. He wasn’t ready for dealing with this, their relationship wasn’t that defined yet. ”If that’s what you want.”, he managed.
until next time, decision makers
PS. Inspired by this

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Bang Allure

She was tired of this place. Yesterday, an announcement about more power cuts. Great, no lights. And what was with the city today? Why was there such an eerie silence around? Great, no sound too. God, was some light and sound too much to ask for in a metro?  That was when the bomb exploded.
until next time, careful what you wish for

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The powers that be

Decision making is something we try to be good at, maybe it has something to do with the little bit of a control freak we have in all of us. And we judge some as good decision makers, and some as bad, not pausing to think that the seemingly good or bad decisions can be reversed so quickly by a twist of fate. Of course, there are some who would refuse to attribute even a small iota of it to fate, but then that’s an age old argument, so I'd not want to get in there now.

Meanwhile, though decisions affect any number of people from an individual to nations, depending on who takes them, I tend to believe that the control that we have been given seems to be reducing with each passing period. No, not as individuals, but as humanity in general.

Reading mythology, Indian and otherwise is taking its toll on me :) , so humour me. Every civilisation speaks of gifted individuals, and several of them who could cause epidemics, control the elements of nature, and change things in a way that would be inconceivable to us (that a human could do such things) Our mythology (which I believe to be history as opposed to myth) has a liberal splattering of sages who could give curses, heroes who could change the course of battles with a single weapon and so on.

Stories, you say, but do you think that at some point of time, a higher power trusted humans enough to give them the liberty and the ability to do such things, and because of what we have done to ourselves, it has been taken away from us?

until next time, fall from grace

Monday, July 21, 2008

Burning Issues

While checking out the classifieds, he wondered why anyone would apply for a job selling ‘Cease Fire’ to homes. Offices were fine, but would people buy fire extinguishers for home? He was startled out of his reverie by the loud sound of the transformer exploding outside, and the thick smoke coming from his burning adaptor.

until next time, quickfire answers

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Increased Mobility

He was surprised to be told that he was showing off. Wasn’t it a regular custom to send an sms to announce a mobile number change? Of course, this time there was a twist to it. The message said, “My mobile number has changed from W910i to E71. No, you don’t need to save it”

until next time, numeric only? ;)

Monday, July 14, 2008

You have a message

... and the song that was playing on TV when i switched on the comp to check the feeds happened to be Joan Osborne's 'One of Us', a personal favourite, mostly because of the lyrics. And one of the feeds that popped up first linked to this, a mail from God.
Now its very rarely that I have posts that links to things that make a good forward but there are times when that cool line from The Matrix Reloaded, which i keep mouthing regularly, is made believable - "We have not come here by chance. I do not believe in chance. ........ I do not see coincidence, I see providence. I see purpose. I believe it our fate to be here. It is our destiny." And so, I thought i should do my bit by spreading the message.
The reason I like that mail is because it keeps things simple, and brings up a point that I've increasingly come to believe in - the overbearing influence of money, on society.
Before you write it off as a pro-socialism tirade, I do believe that as a tool, money has immense amount of benefits, but when the accumulation of money becomes a purpose in itself, we become the tool, and that's what's increasingly happening.
Meanwhile, on a sidenote, the message also perhaps answers austere's recent question. Death is quite possibly God's way of saying 'long time, no see'

until next time, counting my blessings

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Horrorscope

He wasn’t superstitious, but the day’s Career horoscope spooked him. With the elections approaching, his role as PM meant holding the fort till then, and building a positive image in the public’s eyes. He was betting heavily on the nuclear deal, so it really wasn’t a good time to be told “You’ll feel Left out”

until next time, leftovers

Monday, July 07, 2008

Timebound

He’d always been fascinated by time travel. So it wasn’t surprising that he decided to see a sci-fi flick even if there was some apprehension on how Bollywood would handle it. The movie was very inspirational. Halfway through the movie, he wished he could time travel, back to the time he bought the damn tickets.

until next time, not even timepass

Thursday, July 03, 2008

So, what happened in the end?

Happened to see 'Via Darjeeling' last weekend. It left me with a very poignant thought. About storytelling. Lets take a murder mystery/ thriller.
When a writer develops a story, it exists only in his head, its origin, its twists and turns, and its conclusion. What happens when the author leaves the story open? Gives the audience all the twists and turns and refuses to give the ending? Worse, what if the story is such that it has many plausible endings?
Now different members of the audience could propose several endings, based on their sensibilities, but they will never know what 'actually' happened. These days, we are so obsessed with knowing ALL the facts, that it would be an absolute blow. And its not like the real life happenings on which we are okay with some ambiguity. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get out of our conditioning that forces us to accept nothing less than conclusive endings in works of fiction, especially in cinema.

until next time, unending