The Timeless Invasion chapter- II

Note- In case you haven't, before you start with this part, why not read Chapter I. 

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The super 'Car'uba was a first time experience for Kokala. He had been in 'Car'uba since as long he could remember. But this was new, travelling back to the modern medieval age, where they still used Airplane and Cars, all the precursors to their modern invention. It has been sometime since they have been travelling in this and this has been the longest he has been in this metallic cockpit. Suddenly, he had to shut his eyes, it became very bright. He realised, he was seeing the Sun, for the first time from Earth's surface. It was beautiful, but he knew that this sight would last only a hundred years more.

"Sir, we are about to land in a minute, location coordinates 19°2'32"N   72°54'21"E, current name, RCF colony, chembur" Matsuba said in a Military command.

"Any nearby place, whose criticality will help us?" Kokala replied, returning from his train of thoughts

"Yes Sir, BARC, RCF itself and some old world oil refinery" 

"Let us plant our stuff then quickly"

They got landed exactly where they thought they would. Their landing could have caused a stir, had it not been for the disguise the 'car'uba was designed to take. It was now resembling a Daewoo Cielo, and no body bothered where it came from. They got down from the car, their attire still the new world, and they realised the mistake.

"Aey Kalu, Where did you get this car and fancy dress from?" A middleaged potbellied policeman stopped them while they were at it.

"From the year 2500, I suppose" replied Matsuba, smiling at Kokala, their job was done, they could now announce their arrival.

"You think I am a fool, come with me, I will lock you up and you will remember exactly where you got this stuff from" He replied, crashing his stick on Matsuba's leg

"I don't think I would like that" Firing his laser impulse on the constable.

"Let us do this quickly sir, we have covered all the cities we planned to, lets send the message back to start it. We should not delay this" Matusba said, looking at Kokala with a sense of urgency

"Don't you remember, the time conversion which was taught to us, we have been gone only for a second, but yes, every second counts, lets do this" Kokala replied with an easing smile.

He had to rush in, and rush in quick. He had no idea what was going on, and he wanted some ideas, even if it came from some old brains running this country. He barged in to the Home minister's room.

"Tiwari, do you realise, this is midnight, and I am in an important meeting" the HM said.

"Sir, I am the RAW chief, and if a RAW chief is barging into your room, he knows exactly what he is doing" He said in an authoritative tone. 

Calming down he added "Sir, some strange activities have been taking place, starting with Mumbai. A few explosions were reported near the RCF, BARC, Oil refinery, Borivili national park, Mulund Yogi hills. When the police and CISF reached the spots, expecting a lot of chaos, they were ambushed by strange men. Men who looked like men, but acted like robots. And they are many. They have destroyed half of the city and killed numerous people. The Army from Nasik cannt was called in, but they just walked into a death bed. These robots are so agile, that they cover distance of miles within seconds. Our soldiers, our artillery none of them survived. Currently, its only the airforce which is inflicting some damage on them. However, these robots simply evolve to avoid and defend an enemy attack.

"Before they move out of the city and spread, contact the PM and prepare for nuking the city. I don't think we have a choice left" HM said in a tone of despair.

"How many cities will you nuke sir? They have spread to New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. And they have got the PM and the president. Their offices and residences were blown to bits.

"What am I supposed to do now, the PM and the president are dead, and I am sitting far off in this African continent?" the HM replied " It surely must be a ploy by the joint Pakistani and Chinese defence to destroy us" he added in a jolt of anger.

"Sir, these robots, wherever they are from, they have got Lahore, Karachi, Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities in China too. I have got in touch with General Musharraf  and we are working on a strategy to thwart this, although we don't know where to start." Tiwari said in a helplessness tone.

General Musharraf was in his new acquired office when he got a call on hotline. He wondered why someone would call on the intelligence hotline directly to him and not the ISI chief. He was shaken to hear the RAW chief at the other end. However he had to pause the call, as his domestic hotline now started ringing. When he was done with the domestic line, he picked up the RAW hotline and blasted " You will pay for this, you have destroyed my cities, this is an act of war, and we know it is your new technology". He could be pacified only when he was told that 5 Indian cities had been nearly destroyed, and equal number of Chinese cities had suffered too. He knew he wasn't dealing with a regular enemy, but an enemy of the entire race. He used the best and the only possible choice, collaborate with the Indians. Though, he could only stand amused that he was collaborating with a nation with which it had gone to war 4 times and as recently as an year ago at Kargil 

John's curiosity had got better of him, he wanted to see the glorius lands of Americas and how superior his race was. He knew how his master had got into the Super 'Car'uba and he knew exactly where the other one was parked. He had to get some stuff though to prove his identity and to prove where he was from. He took a map, a book and some sketch his master forgot on the table and got in. He entered a date, exactly 500 years ago. 13-11-2000.

You would want to see this Mr. President, a video of a strange man, but his strangeness shockingly is authentic.

"Sir, let me ask you again, where are you from?" Asked the cop,

"I am John, I come from the North African union of the year 2500. Glad to see a white in command"

To be continued in the final chapter...

The Timeless Invasion- Chapter I

A few days ago, after a lot of pestering by my mother, I sat down to clear my old books rack. It has been a mess and I had avoided getting into that mess for years now. Grade after grade and year after year, the pile of books just went on increasing. The rack had books since Grade 8th till my Engineering final year.It was then that I came across an old note book. Its first page had a date from the year 2000 and written for some pages was a story. A story I had written in 8th grade, lost and forgotten!

It was around 13 years ago, when I, a brand new teen had started reading a lot of sci-fi fantasy books. H.G Wells, Issac Asimov were my inspiration and I started imagining that such a future would come, that such a thing as time machine is possible and that there are invisible men around us. I thought, that yes, I will write a novel and get it published. All at an age of 13! Obviously, I wasn't capable enough to write even a 150 page novel. I ended up with a short story. So here I am, publishing the short story. All I have done, after 13 more years of life and 9 years of more education, is to simply proof read the original text, divide it into 3 logical chapters and iron out some of the obvious grammar errors. If you find the story, a cheap science fiction, remember it was written by a 13 year old.

                                                                                                                                     13-11-2000

"Hey you" He shouted
"Yes master" John replied, the tray in his hands shaking
"You white dog, why is the drink so cold?" The glass in his hands shaking, but not out of fear
"Master, you mentioned 3 cubes of ice, I did exactly that"
"Look John, this is not southern Africa, where white slavery is being abolished" He took a sip and continued "So you better keep that tongue of yours in check"

He heard a voice from his tele screen mounted on the ceiling
"Sir, I wanted to have a word with you in private, may I come in? I am currently only a few 100 miles away" On seeing John, he added " No whites either, Sir, they are dumb, but I don't trust them"
"You may come in Matsuba, it will be an all black talk, don't worry" He replied.

Within a minute, the door bell rang. He said "Allow access" in a microphone and the door opened. In came a  7 feet tall lean guy of around 27 years of age. He was wearing a dark grey uniform with white skull cap. Scars on his face indicated that he is a man who has seen battles, and more than one battle.

"Sir, if this white can move out of the room, can we start the discussion?" He said, while giving a look of disgust to John.
"John, go to the kitchen, and put your hand in the cooling machine, till it becomes blue. You would then know what cold is" He instructed John, in as cold a voice, as his drink was

John left the room for kitchen, but not before seeing Matsuba opening his holographic projector and projecting a 3D image of a world map dated 28-05-2500. He enters the kitchen and sees the cooling devices, which he had used moments ago to create ice for his master. Since water was no longer available naturally, the machine chemically created water using hydrogen and oxygen and then freeze it instantly.  His hand will feel pierced, like needles piercing, but he had to do it, his master had ordered him. He put his hand in it and closed his eyes. He remembered his grand father telling him a story.

"Let me tell you a story, which my grand father told me, about the land we belonged to, America, a prosperous and a very rich land. 600-700 years back, our ancestors had enslaved the people who had enslaved us now, however we freed them soon after. However, some 400 years ago, the people from Africa conquered our land of America, which put up a brave fight, but were outdone. Many of us were brought over to the African continent as slaves Since then we have been working relentlessly for our masters. It is our destiny John.."

 He opened his eyes and saw his hand had swollen and turned blue. He took out his hand, he couldn't feel it. It was time to serve hot piping food to his master. The prospect of serving hot food enticed him, or rather his cold blue hand. He took the freshly fried latest synthetic food in his right hand, which was still blue, outside. He was about to enter the room when he heard his master talking to Matsuba and realised he shouldn't have been there, he was told to stay in. But his instincts told him to stay there..

"Sir, China has now joined hands with India and they have set up bases in Quetta" Matsuba was talking with a tone of concern. "It is even rumoured that China and India will soon become one nation. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka had already become a single unified nation 200 years ago." He added

"Hmmm, it is concerning, we need to do something about these Asian nations who have been a thorn for us." He said, while smoking a cigar made in African colony of Cuba. "It was so much easy for our ancestors to conquer Americas, they should have conquered these nations too, before they became powerful, we treated them as allies" He added while puffing out a plume of smoke.

"To be honest, not underestimating the might of our emperor, however, such a huge landmass with such diversity simply cannot be conquered" Matsuba said in a helpless tone.

"Then I think, it is time we pushed our latest invention to its first use, let us get them, when they least expect us" He said thoughtfully. "Let us contact his highness right away and seek his blessing"

He opened the door and looked at the beauty that was waiting for him outside. One of the latest inventions by his team of scientists, he got into and keyed in the location coordinates of the emperors palace in former kingdom of Congo, he did not notice John watching him and Matsuba depart. As soon as he pressed enter, he was whizzing past the space time continuum, covering the distance of thousands of miles in matter of minutes. He could have had a holographic call with the emperor, but with the Asian intelligence on toes, he couldn't have risked it. As he came back from his thoughts, he saw his 'Car'uba in his highness's garage. He intimated his highness on the personal messaging device of his impending arrival and entered the guest room.
He saw the Emperor waiting for him there already.

"Your highness" He said with a bow of head, " I come to you with a matter of great concern"
"I know, India and China will soon be one nation" The Emperor said with in a low tone
"So may I use the.."
"Yes you may use 'the' machine" The Emperor cut in," but remember it is still under development, be very careful"  he added
"Thank you, your highness" He said in a low bow "The Emperor already knows too much, does he keep a watch on me too?"
"General Kokala and Major Matsuba, I hope when you return, we would have conquered India and China in under a minute" The Emperor added and departed to his palace.

Kokala turned to Matsuba, " Get ready to go back 500 years in time Matsuba. Prepare our army, this new machine has given us an edge, they couldn't think off. We can now teleport an entire army through time."

"Yes Sir, I will get the super 'Car'uba ready to land in Mumbai, date, 13-11-2000" Matsuba said with a salute.

"I wonder if there were any whites in India in year 2000"  He thought to himself, a thought which brought smile on his lips.



To be continued...

The Story of Offence

People think about me day in day out, they feel me every day, but are afraid to talk about me, if they do, they are made a pariah, but today I will talk about myself, I deserve a hearing. I am probably the most misunderstood feeling, I am felt by everybody, but everyone is scared to talk about me. People talk at length about love and the emotions which come with it, why? Because its the in thing? I say, even in love, I am the most common emotion. I have the ability to break every other feeling. And when I strike important people, I have the ability to break nations, bring about wars. I am the only one who can trigger myself everywhere, even love cannot do that, then why me, a powerful feeling is looked down upon?

In the past, people who instilled me in others, suffered. Some 2000 years ago, a guy named Jesus of the Nazerath instilled me in the people of Jerusalem, and look what happened to him. He really should have stayed shut than face the wrath of an incited mob. Further down the time, a few people who claimed themselves to be intellectuals, played their hands a bit too much and got duly punished by the Roman church. My presence in some Southerners in the USA in 19th Century, had almost led to breakup of what you call today, the superpower. It was my presence in a young Serbian student in 1914, that led to the first great war, and it was my presence in a slight, but extremely strong willed man in 1939 that led to the second great war. In the recent times, I have caused civil wars in Ireland, Yugoslavia to name a few.

However, the biggest boost in my CV comes from the Indian subcontinent. I really come out easily in people of such varied demography herded into small landmass. Even the religious texts, where even the Gods acted on my trigger, are replete with my presence. Shiva's father-in-law, on feeling me, decided not to call him for an event, and this triggered me in Shiva's wife, who felt me at such an act by her father and jumped into a pyre, and this triggered me in Shiva, who almost destroyed the world. Duryodhana on being insulted by Draupadi, and under my influence started the greatest war ever and required an immortal God to bring it to a logical end. Coming to the real world from the realm of epics, it was under my influence that some of the powerful Muslim rulers invaded and probably plundered India. It was my presence in the people at helm of affairs, that they decided to divide the country of India on religious lines. And since then, my presence and power has only increased, and documented, and sometimes even made a law.

When MF Hussain tried to make some paintings out of his artistic expression, he was reminded, by words and by actions, that I won't allow him to do this, because I was present in the people who mattered, their representation not withstanding. When Shekar Kapur made "The Bandit Queen" and Deepa Mehta made "Fire", it was I who reminded them, that I am above the law of land. If I am present in people, the law cannot protect you. Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan also realized this, when they did/said something to instill me in people. My presence became a law, and Aamir Khan's film faced a ban in Gujrat, while Shahrukh Khan lost  money, the law bowed to me. I also led the lesser mortals like Mumbai University VC to withdraw a book from curriculum hurting some party's sentiment. And recently, it was me who reminded two girls from Palghar, that you may not see me coming, but I am always lurking there. I achieved all this roughly through the same set of people of course. Salman Rushdie came to know of my fear, when his book "Satanic Verses" was banned without being read, first in India, and then the rest of the world, only because the leaders feared my presence in people. Already facing my wrath in Bangladesh, writer Taslima Nasrin really should have known, I traverse boundaries, for they don't stop me. She has never rested in Peace while here. Currently, I am trying to ensure that Kamal Hassan is unable to release his movie in India. The people who are doing this for me, I am sure will not be influenced by feelings like reason and freedom, my foes. Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar would know by now, that Sikhs do not trim their beard or sport tattoos, not even in Movies.

And it is not only religion which triggers me these days. Some people cannot see their favorite sports person being called anything but God. While others are using me in their campaign against the condom and AIDS awareness advertisements, calling them vulgar. And then there are some, in whom I show up when public transport is not on time!

Although I am basking in glory right now, with all the achievements behind me, I wish I could have been present at many more places. I really wonder why no body feels me when they see a thin man being bullied by a group on streets. No body feels me, when they see a lady being sexually harassed. And very recently, I could have had an awesome head count, had people felt me when a girl and guy lay naked on the busy streets of New Delhi, but strangely, nobody felt me! Alright, I know, I am being very demanding. I have had a successful run in the last few decades, and I should not be complaining.

A big thank you , to the people of this nation for keeping me alive.

The fickle existence

It was a hot and humid afternoon. Having had a sumptuous meal of Cannon Pav Bhaaji, the best Pav Bhaaji in Mumbai, situated at VT, I boarded the suburban train to get back home. Just as the the train was about to leave the station, a lanky lad, carrying, what looked like a huge cane bucket, huffed and puffed his way inside my compartment. I was enjoying my stay near the door, feeling in all the breeze, and trying to dry my sweat soaked shirt. This guy came and stood next to me while keeping his bucket down. The bucket contained the famous Mumbai snack, Vada pao. It smelled great, but he reeked of stink. I looked at him, he was looking at my hand, curiously, I asked him.

"What is it, that you are looking at, friend?"

"I was wondering what brand of water you hold in your hand", he said referring to the mineral water bottle in my hand

"Ohh, well this is one of the local brand, not very popular" I replied, to quench his curiosity(for the time being)

"I wonder how it tastes like" He said, still looking intently at the bottle

"You are thirsty and you need water to drink, just say it" I said, trying to talk straight.

"Well... Yes.." He said, suddenly taking his eyes of my bottle

"Here you go, take it, drink as much as you want" I offered him the bottle, along with a smile.
"Thank you sir", and he gulped down the entire content of the bottle, "Thank you again" he said wiping the water off his mouth," And sorry", looking at the empty bottle.

"No Problems" I said, not bothering to take the bottle back. Then I looked back at the delicious looking Vadas and wondered about his business model. "How much money do you make out of it, and where do you sell it?" I asked him inquisitively.

"I sell these Vadas to a Sweet shop in Kurla, he pays me around Rs 3/Vada"
"Which shop?"

"The shop near Tilak nagar station, he is a nice man, treats me well, pays me on time" He smiled, this man had some honesty in his smile, I wondered.

"Well, the same guy charges me Rs 9 for the same thing you sell him for Rs 3, do you know this?" I said, trying to incite him, to break his smile, and see the other side of him.
"I very well know how popular my vadas are, but I am content with what I get, it gets me a profit enough"
He said, seeing my perplexed reaction, he added,
"I earn around Rs 600 a day for the vadas I make for this shop, which is a profit of Rs 400 to me. Besides this, I work as a house keeping staff in a MNC which gets me Rs 10000 a month. So all in all, I earn around 20000-25000 a month. And, I have a wife, she loves me a lot, I love her a lot, and make love to her a lot..." He paused for a laugh, and I joined in his laughter. He continued " I have a kid, a nice 1BHK in Mumbai(inherited though!) . I have everything I want in life. I don't aspire for bungalow  I don't aspire for an international school for my child. I just aspire to have enough to feed my family, and be happy. I do drink with friends, I have also visited dance bars. I have done everything that makes me happy." he finally finished with a sigh.

"That was nice...hmmmm" I said, while wondering in my mind, that this guy is not ostentatious, he is working only for his family, to keep them happy, for the love of them. "Come on, lets get down, its our station" I said and got down.

I got down and started moving out of the station, without looking back, lost in thoughts, of this man who gave me a view of life I never had, always whining about what I earned, or what I did. Suddenly, I heard a big commotion behind me. I turned around and saw people crowded near the place I got down from the train. I hurried down to the place to check out what is wrong. Pushing people out of the way, I reached the spot and saw a bucket and some Vadas spilled at one corner, I glanced around, and to my fear, found the same man lying in a pool of blood from an injury to his head. "He fell off the train in the melee to get down" I heard a murmur behind me.I quickly called the Ambulance helpline and checked his pulse, it wasn't there. He was dead.

My idea of seeking solace was to relinquish every thing you have, love, family, your prized possessions and lead a life of a saint. It is there everywhere, we are mortal beings, everything we own ,everything we love, is going to part with us one day, when we die. All those who claim to have seen life, say this and even go so far as to implement it. For they claim, any mortal affection only leads to desire, and desires lead to unrest within. If we give up any desire, we end up with inner peace. This is what I believed in, until I met this man.

We always see solace and inner peace as something which cannot be achieved without a sacrifice. A sacrifice too big to be made by a normal human being. This man taught me, that solace is nothing but being content and happy in your life. Even while making ends meet, a man can be happy and content. And this will be his solace, he was happy when he died. God made humans intelligent, an intelligent being only evolves when he desires for something better, to make him happy and that is how we have had inventions and discovery, the desire and the necessity  When people talk of seeking solace through relinquishment of desires, it only implies being indifferent to happiness, and life itself. If the existence is as fickle as we know, why remain indifferent to the gift of God? Accept your fate, seek happiness within you, define what is it that will make you content, and solace will follow.

I would rather die as someone, who was loved, who loved a lot, made a lot of love and had everything which made him happy, than as a saint, who remained indifferent to the feelings, and indifferent to life.

Nascent fragility

I am born- 
Yes, I am finally born, after being inside for almost 9 months, I am finally out. This is the first time I see light, it is so bright outside. I am telling the person holding me, to cover my eyes, IT IS SO BRIGHT, I am shouting, But, why is this person smiling? 'Ouch' ,Suddenly, this person hits me hard on my bum, WHY, I shout again, And now, someone else is holding me, Oh, wait, it must be Mother, I can sense her. Now, she is crying and smiling. I keep telling her, cover my eyes, but she isn't listening to me. Wait, I can sense my own tears, is it that they don't understand my language, or is my language crying, I reckon its the latter. I sense a few more people coming in, It is my dad, I have heard his voice from inside, but he is not smiling, he is making strange faces. He puts his hand behind my back to lift me, Holds me mid-air and drops me in an instant. It hurt, and I shout at him too, DON'T LIFT ME IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE ME, but, he ignores me and goes away. I have shouted too much , I am tired now, and I doze off. I dream about a lot of brightness and light, after all, this was the first time I saw what light is!

I start crawling on my knees-
Yippee, I can move around the house by myself. My mom drops me on the floor after I wake up, and I realise that I can keep my body stable on my knees.I try moving forward, and that is it, this is the moment I had been waiting for. It was so nagging, to shout, correction, crying(yes I realised that I actually cry when I am trying to shout) , every time I wanted to move around from my place. Not anymore. The first thing I do after starting move around is reach out to my father, I haven't seen him in a long time. I see him standing in the aisle, I go up to him and tuck at his trousers. He looks down at me and makes a strange face. He moves aside, I again go up to him and tuck at his trousers. And, suddenly I am flying, My chest hurts, Did he hit me? Before I can fathom that, I hit the floor, my head is spinning, Everything I see is blurred. My whole body is in a state of pain. And this time, I actually cry. My mother lifts me, I shout at her to put me down, I want to move around, but I can't shout, my body hurts when I try to shout. Crying and shouting takes a toll on me, and I doze off. I wake up, only to look at the first face I saw when I came outside. I cry and tell her, that I still haven't forgotten the hit on my bum. But she is gentle this time, She takes me in her arms and rubs my body. I feel better now, the pain is disappearing slowly. I smile, and tell her, Apologies accepted.

I start walking around-
I know, you will call me a cry baby(talk of ironies!) if I tell you that it is boring to be crawling around, so one fine day, with tired and scrapped knees, I catch hold of the chair and try lifting myself. No, I am not always successful in my endeavors, and, I fall down. But I don't give up, Next day, I try the same stunt, and this time, I am lucky. I stand tall, everything seems so small to me. I see my milk bottle, wow, it looks so small now, I look at my mother, she is smiling, I smile back to her and tell her, very soon, I will be as tall as you. I try moving forward, but I fall, it hurt, but I am too excited to cry. I get up again and try moving forward, this time, I don't fall. I slowly start moving around the home. It is so much faster to move around like this.With each passing day, my speed of moving around increases. Each day, I make sure that I don't end up disturbing my father. One day, while my usual moving around the house, I felt a wet sensation in my bottoms, oops, I did it again, I realised later, that the timing is so terrible. I see my father standing, right across the room. He glares at me and comes to me with a great speed, wow, I want to move that fast one day. He picks me up, finally,I thought my father has picked me, finally, I will sleep in his lap, but, again go flying across, and it hurts again. He comes up to me again and raises his hand to my cheek, my cheeks are warm, and I sense something gushing out of my lips. My mom snatches me from father just before I dozed off again. When I wake up, I see the bum hitter lady again. I like her now, though. She rubs my body again, I feel warm, but all my pain doesn't go away now. She flashes a pointy thing to me, and pinches it on my arm and I doze off again.

I speak my first word-
Ok, I exaggerated this, I cant speak words, but then I can make some sounds similar to what my mom does. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but, the first word I speak, is 'Paa'. I don't know what it means, But sometime back, I heard a person, little taller than me, calling someone 'Paa' and I picked it up. I think, now, I won't have to cry when I feel like shouting. These people should now understand what I am saying. So, whenever I am angry, I say 'Paa'. Whenever I am happy, I say 'Paa'. My mother smiles every time I say 'Paa', even if I am shouting, she smiles. I think, crying was better, they don't understand their own language anymore. So, I decide to revert to my old language, but occasionally, I use their language as well. One day, I woke up when it wasn't bright yet. I sense that I wet my bottom again, and I still remember what happened, when I wet my bottoms while my father was around. I see two people around me. One of it is mother and other is my father, I can sense both of them, but which one is mother, I don't know. My bottoms feel itchy now, I want to call out my Mother, so I reach out to her and shout 'PAA'. She gets up and I hear a click and its suddenly bright again. Wait, it is not mother, it is father, whom I shouted to. He picks me up again, but I don't go flying across. But the way he has picked me, it hurts my arm. I am in his arms, till I suddenly feel breeze on my face. It is so pleasant. And again, after spending considerable(and probably the most) time in my father's arms, I go flying across. I wait for the pain to come, But I am still flying. I am enjoying this Wow, is this a dream. I feel so light, I am moving so fast. It feels great. How am I still flying? And then comes the pain, but the pain is momentary, I cannot feel my body, my vision is fading, but I see my mother rushing to me, but before she reaches me, I doze off again.

The brightness again!
I wake up, and never since my birth, has the brightness hurt me. "IT IS TOO BRIGHT", I shout out.

"You will get used to it child" a pleasant voice replies
"Ohh, so you understand my language, Who are you, and how do you speak my language, are you the person who hit my bum when I was born, but you had a different voice!" I ask, refraining from asking too many questions.
"I am your culprit, my child, I am the one who created you" the voice replies
"Where is my mother, and where is my father?" I ask inquisitively
"I am sorry, but, I won't be sending you back to them. You stay with me for sometime" He replies in the same pleasant monotone
"Promise me, that you won't send me flying across if I wet my bottoms, or shout 'PAA' from time to time" I say, trying to strike a deal
"I promise you, that, next time, I would not make you a Human"

Baby Falak in ICU

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This blog post  is dedicated to the victims of baby assaults, in particular, baby Falak and baby Tanaaz, who died from continuous and calculated brutal physical assaults on them. While you are reading this, there are babies being assaulted all over the world, for crying too much, or for being a financial burden, or due to a drunken rage and worse, for being being a GIRL.

What can be the justification for an act of assaulting someone who is so helpless that he can't even stand on his feet. What can justify the act of assaulting someone, who doesn't even know what assault is, who he is being assaulted by or why he is being assaulted. Such a crime, should not be treated as homicide due to negligence, rather, it should be treated as a murder in cold blood. I truly believe in the saying, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind" , but , if criminals convicted for such acts are let away with only long prison sentences and not capital punishment , then, I would rather stay in a blind world than live in world with such living demons.

Read Baby Falak news item
Read Baby Tanaaz news item

The Indian life- Evaluated

An average Indian perceives life as a gift of God. The references from Geeta, Quran and Bible on life, act as supporting documentation. And, considering their rise in numbers, atheists considers life as a product of fornication between a male and female member of any eukaryot and the resultant meiotic cell division, or, result of an asexual mitotic cell division in lower species, which is "the wow thing" for them(I guess, being a believer is easy and short to explain!). Any which way, life , and the existence thereof is a source of amazement and awe for us. Because we know that life is important, we spend half our fortunes on quacks who enlighten us with the knowledge of life, salvation and even afterlife.  And for the same reason, used by the crime syndicate and terror organizations to hold us at ransom, to give us grief and sorrow ,and, at times, make us vengeful. But, has life's importance been put at stake only by criminals(of all kinds of course) ? Think again.

The United Kingdom, prides itself on being home to multi-cultural and multiethinic communities, and on the social securities it provides to its citizens. It also understands its responsibility as a global power and being one of the five permanent members of the UN security council, it has sent its troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. It has also been providing aid to rebels in Syria to fight against the atrocious president Bashar-al-Assad. However, 93 years ago, in a small town of Punjab province, Amritsar, near Lahore, a group of Sikhs and Hindus had gathered to peacefully protest the British rule in India. But some Mr. Dyer viewed this gathering as a gathering of extremists, aged 1 to 90. He ordered his troop to shoot down all the terrorists irrespective of the age. Following the orders of their master, the troops shot down all the 'terrorist'. Even by official statistics, at least 500 people died in that incident. The General showed no remorse for his actions and was duly 'punished' by the British government. He was transferred back to Great Britain to continue his remaining service from there. He really got a severe punishment, didn't he?

In 1944, 320 African-American sailors(While reading, remember that Afro-Americans still did not have equal rights) were killed in port chicago,California in an accident, when the munitions, which were being loaded in the cargo, exploded. Such was a hue and cry raised about the accident, that the Navy insisted on giving each sailor a compensation of $ 5000. But since it was pre-Martin Luther era, the senate settled on an amount of $3000 for every dead sailor. The eighteen non-defense seamen who died in the accident, got a total compensation of $390,000, which comes roughly to around $21,666 per person. Some 42 years later, a bigger tragedy awaited the world. The biggest nuclear accident which the world witnessed occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine(erstwhile USSR). It was a clear 'hollywoodish' case of science experiments going terribly wrong(only that no mutants were produced as a result). The load testing of the reactor, with lack of preparation, resulted in (even by the lowest counts) 4000 deaths and 100 thousands more being affected by cancer or other severe disabilities. A fully functional city(Pripyat, city housing workers and other people near Chernobyl) had to be completely evacuated and deserted. The economic impact on the already messed up Soviet Union was huge, However, even after the disintegration of the union, a compensation of around $10,500 was paid to every single person who was evacuated, along with consistent medical amenities being provided to them all their lives.

While all this was happening in the world, 2 years before the Chernobyl accident, the biggest industrial accident which the world ever saw occurred in India. On the cold winter night of 2nd December, 1984, while the residents of the lake city were in a cozy slumber,  a human error lead to the leakage of Methyl isocyante gas from the Union carbide fertilizer plant. This accident resulted in immediate death of at least 4000 people and injured around 550,000 more. The first thing which happened after the accident was not the relief effort for the affected, but the doubtful escape of the CEO of the company Warren Anderson, right under the eyes of chief minister Arjun Singh(Former HRD minister, who introduced Quotas in IITs and IIMs) and the MP police. What followed for the survivors and the relatives, was an ordeal for justice. 56% of the people got lucky, after struggling for the appropriate compensation, the relatives of the dead got a 'justified' compensation of $1211, while those who were disabled got a compensation of $ 454 in 1992. The rest 44% were yet to be even examined for an eligible payout. The US federal court went on to comfortably quash Indian appeal for a compensation of $3.3 billion, citing archaic laws. DOW chemicals which purchased UCC in 2001, was a proud sponsor of the London Olympics, which India only threatened to boycott, but did not have the will to.

Its not just the dead(Indians) who are given a short stick. You, who is reading this, and anyone around you who uses a foreign product, had his/her life devalued by this world. Some years ago(and some years before that as well), BIS raised the issue of the quality of water being used in manufacturing of soft drinks in India. It found pesticides in the water, which was way above the permissible limit. Amir Khan, of Satyamev Jayate fame, promptly came to the rescue of the said manufacturer by appearing in a TVC, proclaiming the safety of the product he endorses. Some people claim, that the water used in colas is the same water we drink daily, hence we should not have a problem, point duly conceded. However, ask any Indian who is returning from the west, about the difference in taste of the colas there and here, the prompt reply for the Indian version would be that it is way below the western standards. Ask any west returned Indian about the pizzas and burger retail outlet there and here, the answer would be no different than the one given for colas.

Many of you who have read my post this far may come to think that an Indian life is really taken for granted, but really, is that so? Nobody takes us for granted until we allow them to. An Indian life is taken for granted because we move on, we are considered to be the people with great spirit, because no matter what happens, we move on, however, moving on is not a choice, its a compulsion . Try suing a company for faulty product and you will realize that the cost of transportation incurred for travelling to the consumer's court is more than the compensation which you actually get. We forget and forgive too easily for our own good. If we have to make ourselves counted, then stand up, wait, and do not move on until you get what you deserve to. Because, life, as taught to us, was always 'Amulya' (Priceless).

The big fat Indian wedding of convenience

"Please keep quiet!!" My friend said to me, with a very constipated look
"You know, it is a very difficult thing for me to do, still I would want to know, About what?" I replied with a chuckle.
"That you have known Kavita before our marriage was fixed" He said, enhancing his already constipated look.
"Of course, I did not know her before your marriage was fixed. You both fixed your your marriage the day you proposed her" I said, laughing at my joking abilities
"Whatever, also, do not disclose my age to anyone, I am a month younger than Kavita"
"Dude, what the heck? You are marrying your love, and the whole world knows that, why you making me look like a guy from CIA, hiding all the information?" I said, clearly irritated by him
"Apparently, the whole world doesn't know its a love marriage, only our immediate family knows that its a love marriage, for the rest of them, its a marriage fixed by our parents" He said, relieved at his revelations.
"I am planning to lock myself in the room, because among the 500 people who have poured in for your wedding, I do not have a way to know your "Immediate family" I replied with a shrug.

Although, Chetan Bhagat, is a pulp fiction writer, and thrives on spice and not literature, he made a good point in one of his books, that in India, you marry a family, and not the person alone. And when, we have so many people involved, so many people to be convinced, so many egos to be massaged, love and compatibility take a back seat, while convenience becomes the order of the day. Now, convenience for one, can be an inconvenience to other. So eventually, the type marriage is decided by the winner of the bout between clash of conveniences. Let me come up with the possible results in this clash of conveniences.

1) Arrange marriage- For starters, Arrange marriage means, the convenience of parents have won the bout hands down. To explain this concept, it is quite similar to buying a house. When you have the resources(read, a job which pays you well), you show interest in buying a house(read: getting married). For this, you approach a broker(read :Parents). This broker shows you the pictures of various potential investment options. Out of these pictures, you choose one, with strong recommendations by the broker of course. Once you do that, its time for site visit. You visit the site, and if you think, that what was shown to you in photograph, is close enough to reality, you give your nod. This is when, the brokers from both side start their negotiations and arrive at a middle path. And in a few months, ceremoniously(quite literally) you own the house.

2) Love marriage- It stands for everything Arrange marriage doesn't. If you happen to go in for a love marriage, it means, that you have defeated the convenience of your parents hands down. This kind of marriage is not for people with weak hearts. For you need to be brave, to overcome the threats of disowning you from your parents, and you need to have a sustainable source of income, if they indeed disown you. During all this, you may also come across over-zealous neighbours and long distance relatives(the close ones are not talking to you, remember?). They will try to tell you that, Man, is a social animal and it cannot ignore the norms of society. For them, you marrying someone of your choice, will be nuisance to the whole society. You also will have to let go of your ambitions of a big fat wedding and along with that sometimes, the comfort of your parent's home.

3) Arrange Marriage with elements of love- This is the new entrant on the Indian wedding scene. The convenience of parents has won the bout, but to show some respect to the losing team, the pride is restored in some way. Taking off from the broker-marriage analogy, this kind of marriage is akin to saying, the broker showed you a house and you fell in love with and bought it, and not because it carried strong broker recommendation. This kind of marriage has become a source of redemption for many young guys and girls in latest century. They want to prove to the world, that they are independent and that their opinion does matter. But the fact is, they are not independent. So, their parents choose life partner for them, and, almost instantly, they fall in love with each other. They proclaim their love for each other, with the blessings(read: permission) of their parents at every possible place. They fill each other's timeline(for the ignorant, the Facebook wall is now called timeline) with romantic messages and pictures. They would go on dates, but their won't be any good night kisses while dropping the girl back, and neither would the girl invite the guy in, for a cup of something. They would go shopping, but purchase only the stuff their parents think would be required for wedding. And one fine day, they get married, proclaiming to the world and generations to come, that they had a love marriage.

4) Love marriage with elements of Parent's approval- This kind of marriage is an exact opposite of what marriage no. 3. The parents have lost the bout of conveniences badly, and the children, out of respect and love, let the parents call it an arrange marriage. Carrying forward the broker-Marriage analogy, its like the broker claiming that the owner purchased the house on his recommendation and he got his brokerage too, when the fact is that the broker wasn't involved at all. Like marriage no. 3, this too is the latest entrant on the Indian wedding scene. The kids make their decisions clear, and parents decide not to be sore losers(like in marriage no. 2 ) and play along. They strike a deal with their children, to let them have elements of arrange marriage in the wedding. The kids don't mind, as long as they get to marry each other and not get disowned by their parents. The parents, who a few years ago would have been staunchly against love marriage, now start proclaiming to the world, that they are happy with the choices their children made, that they always gave the liberty to their children to decide their life. And one fine day, the children get married, and the parents proclaim, to anyone who cares to listen, that the wedding happened with their approval.

There are many more scenarios and sub-scenarios on the Indian wedding scene, but why so many scenarios? Wasn't wedding meant to be, "Boy likes girl and girl likes boy and they lived happily ever after" affair? Why are there so many egos involved in the coming together of two people? Why, suddenly the opinions and reactions of the till-now-non-existent relatives suddenly start to matter?

Now, people may accuse me of plagiarising Amir Khan from Satyamev Jayate, but I, along with you and many others have held strong opinions on this subject for long. Falling in love, is still a quasi-blasphemous thing for majority of Indians. We have been those hypocrites who cheer for our Actors and actresses since almost a century, when they win their love in movies. But, in real life, we quash the very same thing, right beneath the foot of our ego. It is time, we realised, that wedding is between two people and two people alone. They will be leading a life of at least 30-40 years together. And most of the guests at their wedding, would not either live long enough to see them in good and bad times, or, would not care enough to see them in good and bad times. Wedding should be a bond of love between two people and not a deal of convenience between two parties.

Sooner or later everyone has to decide, So, What is your convenience?

PS- Come to think of it, I guess my friend(The one I had a conversation with at the start of this blog) falls in category three of the marriages.