A walk by the beach- Part 1 of the short story

It had been a stressful day. The work assignments never seemed to end with deadlines looming over. The boss was as cranky as ever and life couldn't have been duller for the recently employed Shantanu. He had just about started adjusting to the life in Mumbai. The rush in the local trains, the rush at dalal street, the seemingly not-giving-a-damn Mumbai population...last month had been quite tedious. Mumbai had been quite what he had expected, but the Delhi boy was having more trouble than he had expected settling down in the metro.The company which he represented, had offered to let him stay at the company guest house at the Juhu area of the city, overlooking the beach. Even with all the city's perks, Shantanu did not feel at ease in the city. People somehow lacked the warmth. Not very approachable. Still, Shantanu endured.He was getting a good salary with free accommodation, something which was too sweet to miss. Even if it meant that he had to stay in this place, away from home and family.

Today had been particularly stressful. He had to stay late at the office and then due to a taxi strike had to catch a train at seven in the evening. Not a pleasant experience for a first timer. On the train he could not get off at his stop on time due to the rush and had to ride all the way to one station further to Andheri from where he had to take an auto-rickshaw to his guest house. "It's about time i bought a car", he thought. Shantanu returned to his guest house room all tired and bushed. He had lost his cellphone to pickpockets in the Mumbai local and was in a sour mood, though he was thankful that his wallet was safe. He needed respite from all these sad events of the day. He bought a Budweiser pint which he took with him to the beach, to have a quiet drink,

Life was difficult. The beach was dark and quiet.He sat down, looking at the dark waves lapping the beach shore. He wondered if it was safe to be sitting here at this time of the night. He had stories of nasty stuff happening at the beach. Some rumors stated a prostution racket running at certain areas of the beach and he had no intention of being caught up with any unexpected frenzy with the cops just in case they come asking. Taking the last sip of his beer, he picked up his bottle and started making his way towards his company guest house, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman standing by the shoreline with her feet in the water.

"Strange", he thought, "Who would want to feel the water at this time of the night?"

He studied the woman from a distance. She wasn't a person you would call outright beautiful, but she did have a gentle face. She wore a white Punjabi suit and seemed to be alone. She held her high heel sandals in her hands as she enjoyed the calm sea. At first Shantanu was a little cautious. Though she didn't look like a woman you should generally avoid, he was careful around this time of the night. But then he got a look at the girl's face. She appeared sad, Very sad. Maybe even suicidal. What would a girl like her (she looked like she was from a well to do family) be doing at the beach alone at this unearthly hour? He thought about it for a moment, then decided to ask her if she was in need for anything. You know, be a good citizen.

As he walked towards the woman, he tried to get a glimpse of the woman's feet. Now, he wasn't superstitious, but he did feel that the "Ghost's Have Turned Feet" theory deserved some credibility. After all, so many people can't be wrong about something like this. Satisfied with a quick glace that the woman indeed had normal feet, he asked her, "A little cold for a swim isn't it?". Cheesy line, yeah. He was sad that way. Couldn't offer a decent conversation starter to save his life. His statement apparently startled the woman, who looked at his with eyes full of fear.

"Whoa! Sorry if i startled you there" apologized Shantanu as he saw the look in her eyes. "Was just curious and concerned about a woman at the beach at this time of the night. You OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, i'm fine. Thank's for asking." she replied with a small smile, though she still looked wearily at him. "i'll be on my way then.."she trailed off and started walking towards the parking area.

"You have a car?" asked Shantanu regretting immediately. If she didn't THEN what was he gonna do? He didn't have one either. He could ask her to stay at the guest house, but that would sound fishy and just in case this depressed female did try to hang herself or something he would be the one in hot soup. He should have best stayed away. He finally understood the Mumbai way of avoiding people. Why take on trouble when it doesn't concern you?

Thankfully the woman did seem to have a car. If you could call that thing a car. It seemed like a car straight from the eighty's Bollywood movie. He couldn't place the car. A Contessa maybe? That was jurassic. Without even a glace back, the lady got into her car and drove out noisily leaving the poor man wondering what had happened. He walked back slowly to his guest  house promising himself not to go anywhere near weird people again. Especially near a weird woman like that, and he decided to stop his midnight strolls on the beach. Scary place it was at night.

He was wrong on all accounts.

The Riches

Money doesn't buy happiness. That's one saying I've heard since as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I have heard all sorts of stories regarding people who had spent all of their lives earning money and not devoting time to family or friends, living life alone as a result. A sad way to go. But maybe those guys had done it all wrong. I mean, I can't think of how money making can get you to be a loner. Maybe those sad people missed something out.

What I'm trying to say is, would you give away all the wealth you posses if an occasional genie comes and promises you eternal love? Would you give away a dream job just so you can get an extra day off to spend time with friends, even if it means getting a much smaller pay in return? I don't want to sound negative or such, but all I'm saying is that a balance is important.

Life is given to us to live. What's the point of all the money if not used to spend them in the way they were used to. But then again, even if I were to find love, I wouldn't want that person to stay with me in a miserable condition. If I truly loved that person, I would spend time away( not all of my time, a fraction) and see to it that I can earn sufficiently to provide her with a life. People may argue that love solves all problems, but lets be practical, love doesn't feed the stomach. And besides, I think a swanky roadster will make me happy. Very happy.

And even if you do not manage to get the money, there is no guarantee that you will be happy. So money isn't necessarily the root of all evil. It's most important to maintain the balance. Just saying that I'd rather cry in a limo than sitting on a bicycle :p

The Amateur Blogger

I remember the first time I laid my hands on a computer. It was school. Class 2. We had the "Logo" language and we would be assigned to move a triangle called the "Turtle" and make simple geometric shapes on the black screen. Yeah. Not very pleasant. Didn't like the computer very much then. Two years later, we get one at home. The 9 year old was introduced to the early games like "The lion king" and "Dangerous Dave". Got a few game CDs then, "The Amazing Spiderman" and "Prince of Persia 3D". Going to Planet M and checking out new CDs and holding a CD case close and making those pleading eyes at dad.

I was hooked to gaming. I still am. I find that there is always SOME thing I am hooked on to. The first year into college, there was Facebook, the second year, Twitter and now in my third, it's my most favourite yet, Blogging and writing. In the last few months I decided that engineering wasn't what I had imagined it to be. There was no "inventing stuff" and every effort to think of something different was shot down with only one word : "Scores".

There was no creativity here. With difficulty, a few classmates and I managed to get enrolled in an ATV making competition and actually coming out with a good result. Was enough to shut most of the people up, but there was no satisfaction. I wasn't doing anything creative with . Then a friend of mine came up with an idea last year. "Lets write a book" he had said. And with new gusto we got down to a crime/mystery novel. But ultimately the education caught up and I haven't quite gotten down to write it beyond 10 chapters. I intend to finish. I've always had a good story in mind. Was just short of time.

It was then that I took up blogging. Though I have had this account since ages it's only recently that i've started using it. I started blogging with one purpose in mind. To improve my skill with words. I'm still an amateur, but I'm trying hard. It's difficult to blog with exams, assignments and other, but I guess I must be genuinely interested to follow it up. It has become sort of a compulsion. But I'm not complaining. All I hope is that I'm getting better with every blog post.

The best part of blogging is reading what other blogger's works. The best feeling for an amateur blogger? See his number of hits jump from 500 to 900 in just 3 days. It may be slow, but it gives me a good feeling to see that people are landing on my blog. Another thing I really dig about blogging is the "freedom of speech" part. It's one place where I can be me.Not many places left like that.I'm working on my short story collection too. Maybe I'll upload it for people to read. 

I'm still learning tons about blogging. Blogging from my phone for the most part. The interface, I owe it to a very dear friend. Signing off as an aspiring engineer, a wannabe author and an amateur blogger...

The Sibling Experience

I was only 3. When I was told I have a baby sister to out for. I'm sure the thought must have enthralled me. But as far as my folks tell me (thank the gods I don't remember) I wasn't the best of the brothers they had thought I would be. Now what I recount here are things I don't remember, but close relatives can be accurate sources. And then there is some stuff which I DO remember. So let me walk you through a time-line.

This incident was told to me my granny. It was the time I guess when my sis would have been around a few months old. The little me apparently could not stand getting all the attention diverted towards the little one. Now the sad part. Turns out I was a nasty kid at the start, so the nasty kid chucked a small steel utensil at my then baby sister. Gran had awesome reflexes ( still does) and she caught it before any damage could be done. That was incident number one. There were no other such incidences of course. Mom made sure of that.

As she grew up, we developed a mutual understanding. Now this stuff I do remember. The awesome parts. Well sort of. Now from this time, the few reasons I remember this is cause my folks kept on reminding me about all this stuff. You know, just for nostalgia's sake. She had her own space, I had my own. We each had our own things we used to play with. My toy cars, action figures, cricket bat while she had her dolls (now all condemned to a life at the dump). Ah yes. The red chair. There was this red chair. I remember this part. Little kids have affinity to coloured things. Their own coloured furniture? Ultimate feeling. But you see, this kid was told to share. Not nice. I was here first. The fights we had were epic. Never a physical quarrel as far as I remember, but a lot of screaming and wailing, enough to make a mother weep. Sorry about that maa.

Then there was a time when we were both alone. Mom and dad were out for work, and brother and sister spent some quality time. Television had it's limits and we decided to play those roll playing games. Sis here said she wanted a hair cut and I be happy to oblige. One lock of hair. It was ONE lock of hair. The pasting from mom was BAD!! The worst part, the little sneak got away with it!!

We grew up. Both teenagers. Still fighting over little things. Mom was starting to figure we'd never get along. Ever. We would often fight when we were out. Dad was normally cool about it. Not saying much. Observing. Mom snapped. We had an ultimatum. That was a bad day. Lots of bitterness. I was always told things would pan out. And they did. I dunno when, or how, but they did. I DID love my sister. She was just impossible at most times. As she grows up, gives her boards, I can only watch in awe as the bulldozers the competition.

My sister. My baby sister. It's amazing to see how we both have grown. Well technically she's still a kid, but she's way smarter than I was in her age. I haven't been the best of brothers, but sissy,  (:P), if you're reading this, I'm sorry about those long quarrels. Kids are awesome to their siblings and I wish I was a better one. If not then, I will be now. I hope I'm doing a good job. Dedicated to you. Cheers :)

My take on the Friendships/Love problem

Normally this is not the sort of post you would catch me putting up. Far from it. Matters of "affection" and "love" confuse me more than ever. Again I think I'm under qualified to write this sort of post since I've never been in a situation when I start developing a crush on any of my friends (impossible that is). But since I do happen to have jumped on the Blog-wagon, a friend of mine requested my views on this topic, and I got to work, trying to remember various incidences about those close to me. Friends, family,acquaintances. Even random people you hear about from guys who like to talk about such stuff.

And here comes my inference. Not good. Bad. Very bad. Don't go there. Ever. Of all the examples I thought of, none turned out well. Most ended up messing their friendship, a few still get along, barely, and a very selective number actually had the brains to let their close friend crushes remain crushes and got away with it all unscathed after the "I-have-a-crush-on-her" phase passed. Still, it left it's mark. The thought of possibility still lingers at some distance. Still in sight.

Don't EVER think of considering it. I've seen bros going "I love her dude" and then going full on with their charms and gifts which could have been used for stuff like purchasing a new PlayStation or maybe some other awesome gizmos. I remember this guy from a few years back. Had a HUGE crush on a girl in his class. Kept sending her anonymous gifts every other week with letters. She accepted those gifts and the "anonymous romantic" was the talk. The git then decided to disclose his identity to the girl who replied with a curt ,"I only like you as my friend. Lets stay that way."
Only one time I've seen a guy cry like that. It's not polite, but believe me, the situation was funny. Darn funny. Then later, this same git gets roughed up by a few other guys who had a crush on the same girl. More tears. A sad day for boys all over. We were around 15 then. Yeah. Lesson learnt.

See? Best stay away from such mess. I don't think he spoke to her much after that. The girl didn't seem care much either. Another example is in order. This one of a close friend. Brother like. This time at around 19 years of age. But this guy had brains. He gets invited to a college fest concert by a friend of his. Goes there. Enjoys.

Next day he sends me a text "Dude that girl was looking SO hot!". I was totally confused. She was supposed to be a person who he had recently befriended and ALREADY?! But since he did not want to loose her as a friend, he kept his distance. Smart move. Last I heard he was good friends with her. See? A little thought saved the day. But it was the SAME guy who went onto going steady with another friend he knew. Went on a few dates before she said she didn't want to meet him again. Guy was puzzled. Girl was a sort of a hag. Guy was sad. He was broken. Maybe even now after 6 months still is. Moral of the story : don't mix friendship and affection.

I don't think such things should be pushed. Things happen when they should. Friendship is bigger than anything. Why risk destroying something firm for something that might not exist? I can understand that thoughts can come into the head. We all feel after all. But maybe along friendship with girls is mistaken by most guys? Only experienced can tell and if you ask them, a "buzz off" is the general reply. No. I'm not stupid enough to ask something like that.

Lets all be smart about it. Friendship is the greatest bond. Unless you're sure of the other person's feelings, don't make a move. Drop hints at max. Subtly. Sounds like a bad advice, but then again, that's only my take on things. I've seen too many people get wasted to try anything of the sort. Gotta be cautious. Don't want to loose a friend do you?

Don't forget the Joker!!

The joker is the most underrated card in the entire deck of 52 cards. For starters, I guess it is the only card with an entire body. It may mean nothing, but the way I see it, it is sending a clear message. The joker, based on a court jester, beat the other possibilities in the King's court. Just goes to show, sometimes even a little craziness is required. After all, what is food without spic and herbs?

I like seeing people laugh. And I enjoy the company of those who share their good natured laughter. They show you that it is simple things which make you appreciate life more than anything. These wonderful people will crack jokes, act goofy and even do wacko stuff to see a smile on your face. We called them the class clown in school. I too try to act goofy whenever I can. Life would be too boring otherwise. Goofy and "Pagalpanti" loaded moments are what make life's moments worth remembering.

The psychopath criminal from "The Dark Knight" wasn't so crazy after all. You know how we used to read a poetry in school and then try to figure out what the poet might be trying to convey in his poem? If I were to analyse the "joker" character, I would say he is the parody of what the world truly is. A sad sadistic place. In this sad world, he took it as is, took in the sad people going about their business and asked the most intriguing question "Why so serious?"

That was just a movie. But it made me wonder how we need to so ourselves the same question "Why so serious?". This doesn't mean you go around asking this question to every person on the street. It was funny and cool a couple of times, but now if anyone ever asks me that question again, I'll tell them why alright. But coming back to the point, I think we don't give our pranksters their due credit. I'm not advising any sadistic pranks, maybe a few harmless ones. Or maybe do something crazy once in a while.

I remember this time when me and MM( my room-mate) did this crazy video where we first tried to make parodies of famous music numbers we found funny, for our own amusement, that rolled on to a crying competition where we would cry and wail in the most weirdest fashion and record it. TOTALLY WACKO IDEA!! But we had fun. Still get a kick out of it when ever we take a look at it.

Then there was the time from my hostel days when we used to just rough each other for fun and make it look like a serious fight just to see the look on other's faces. A friend of mine was a real crazy one. I remember this time when we along with other friends, saw two girls walking in our direction holding hands.
"I bet I can make them live the hands" he had said.
We were curious and edged him on.
All he did was started doing was speaking loudly to me saying "I KNOW THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING GAY, BUT DON'T YOU THINK PUBLIC DISPLAY IS WRONG?"
Truthfully speaking, I was terrified. That was gutsy, but I wasn't sure it would work.
We walked 5 steps and stole a glance back to see those girls leave hands, and walking independently. We almost fell over laughing, with people looking at us like we were crazy.

Don't know if that's crazy enough. Not even by far the craziest, but even these little moments make life worth living. So you see, "Pagalpanti bhi zaroori hoti hai". Never forget the joker. It's the awesomest card ever.

A bet on my social life. Yep, it's that bad...

If you have read my earlier blog post titled "Dude you gotta start speaking to girls", you can call this a follow up post. If you haven't, let me fill you up real quick. I'm an introvert person who has a few friends. These are really cool friends of mine. Recently, I don't know why, they seem to have developed an interest in my social life, particularly a lack of female company. Before u start judging, hear me out. Like I explained before, the only reason I don't have much of female interaction is because I haven't found any need to. And I'm not into starting random conversations with people I don't know. Call me weird.

One of my rather enthusiastic friend decided to play a prank on me a few days back. Thing is, I turn red at the first sign of embarrassment, shyness or any emotion I'm not used to on a daily basis. He told me he would invite his friend (a girl) to our place. I was cool about it. Sadly my face was a slight shade of pink. Shouldn't have been. He would pull off the same thing every other day and watch my face (traitor) change color. Eventually I figured his prank and got over it. No more mister red face. :) Well almost. My roommate still jokes around saying that what an awesome magic tricks it would be to tell a girl to touch my nose and watch as my face instantly goes red.

Now yesterday he shows up and starts making plans about the new year. Says the gang would go out to party. You know, hit a club, drink and do all the stuff people call fun. Now I'd love to tell you that I'm an awesome dancer but the sad truth being that I can't dance to save my life. Unless...nah. Too disturbing. So I'm sceptical about the dancing part, and he decides to show me a few of his moves. Asks me to emulate his moves. Bad idea. Very bad idea. We all cracked up and laughed our guts out. Even I have to admit, that moment was epic!

He ultimately comes to a conclusion that my heart's not into it (Wonder when he got a hint). I was too much of an introvert. That I would never, ever land up with a date. Or meet up with anybody. I didn't care. Still don't. I was laughing hard. Then my roomy decided to take my stand ( nice guy). He said that I would DEFINITELY do awesome( nice guy. Told ya). Anyways a wager was in order and as I sat there trying to comprehend the situation, they bet on my social life. Sad. Makes me wonder where I'm going from here. Wobble will have a girlfriend with him by the time he graduates,    i.e, by one and a half year's time. Awkward moment. Really awkward.

Maybe I'll update on the development. Lets see who wins :P
This is post for all those fellow shy people who have awesome friends.

The early morning bird

I don't know if I would qualify as the early morning person. Sure I get up normally by 6 or so, but I'm pretty sure the original early bird had more "early" in mind when that phrase was coined. But I bet the early birds didn't have a house full of sleepy heads when they intended to get up early enough. Seeing people around you sleep peacefully sort of takes out the will to get up. By the time I wake up, the sun is normally already high enough in the sky . It's still the time of dawn, but the birds are already chirping and flying around by this time(I'm speaking about the actual winged birds, not the early rising people). 

So it's December now, the days are shorter and the nights get longer. Effectively the 6 in the morning wake up time is the new early bird time. But do I get up at 6 now? No I don't. My college exams due in a few days make sure I have to squeeze out time to complete all those chapters in the book. So I start getting up at the regular early bird time, 4:30 in the morning. I'm pretty sure that's the ultimate early bird timing. Nobody can possibly get up earlier. Even the pigeons outside sleep then.  Especially in winters. Oh yeah. When the metaphor beats the inspiration, feels good.
Eh. Maybe not. Nothing good about getting up in a zombie state only to crash into stuff in the dark. And when you do sit to study, chances are your brain will be fuzzy. So you splash some water on your face and maybe get a bite to eat all in the effort to staying away. Maybe instead of being the early morning bird, you have become the late rising night owl :P

But early rising does have it's perks. You get to cram in a little more stuff in the head. You get to witness the beautiful sunrise, feel the chilly morning air and feel emotions which make you go all happy and makes you think all inspirational stuff. Just wish it was easier. I haven't caught my worm yet, but I'll keep trying.  I think the early morning breeze and the sight of the morning Sun does make it worthwhile.

Patched Blankets And Broken Guitar Strings

Every person has something or the other with him that he values above all his possessions. I'm not talking about the expensive stuff people buy and go crazy on loosing it soon afterwards. What I'm referring to is something personal. Like when I was a kid I remember having this thin blanket I used to use to sleep. This must be around when I was around 7. Thing was I used to take a bite out of it every night. Why did I have this weird habit? No idea. I try not to think about now. Anyways, in a few months, it had more holes than a French cheese. My mother, exasperated at this habit, used to tell me off adding that she would do away the blanket if I don't stop my habit. The 7 year old payed no heed. One day, when his blanket was too full of holes, his mother put it for it's timely washing. Little that the little me knew, he would never see it again. At night when I asked for it, my mom told me to use a comfier replacement. I did. It was nice. But I missed my patched blanket, holes and all.
Time flew by. And around 10 years later I got my most precious thing so far. My first guitar. Acoustic. And it set me back by 4 grand. But it was totally worth it. I would try different songs on it, attempt to make my own tunes, even braved singing a few of my compositions when I was alone. We were inseparable. I got it to Pune when I joined college here. We started jamming with it here. It was fun. An instant hit. It lasted about a year before all the use here took it's toll. The strings got so worn out that 2 of them have broken and though they can be easily replaced, even my guitar is showing signs of fatigue. Like it's gonna snap. Soon.
It HAS been 5 years of serious rough use. My parents recon that I should get an electric now and do away with this one. I don't want to. This is my first guitar. I agree I have been negligent with it, but it was the best thing I've ever had. And that includes my long lost blankey. I'll try and get it fixed. Even if it's just for keepsake. I'll treasure it. Always. Or until nature allows me to...

Love, betrayal and friendship...my views here.

Earlier this week, a friend of mine updated his blog with a post on long distance relationships. He spoke of how people keep in touch and overcome distance through love, determination and the most awesome thing ever - The Internet. He had a point you know, and I'm not talking about the internet factor here (though it is still awesome). What I speak of here is his focus on "love". He had a valid point in saying that without love, the relationship will not last simply for the fact that there will be no serious relationship stuff to start with. I'm all for that. The definition of love isn't set in stone. For me, love is an unconditional attachment to something or someone. But what I feel is the bitter truth, how does love come to be? Would you love a person who wishes to kill you? Who abuses you? Yeah, some people will say yes, but that is AFTER they have fallen in love with the sadistic partner of theirs. What I speak of is BEFORE. How does it all start? You like something cause of it's use, or it has something that attracts you. Isn't it same with people. You don't FALL into love. You sink into it. Slowly. A time then comes, when your respect for the person exceeds your own. That is what I call love. A point when people are ready to do something for the other person without asking for a return. Mind you, even that has it's limits, so don't become a selfish prick. So until there comes a time when you truly cannot think of hurting the person you like, ever, you can't call it love. At least as I see it.

Another thing I try to cope up with daily is the expression of betrayal. Someone or the other around keeps on ranting about being "betrayed" by a some bloke or other. Especially in cases of (here it comes again) "Love". Cheating boyfriends/girlfriends are something of a common thing now-a-days. I know it must suck big time when a person you care about so deeply goes after someone else and gives them your "love" badge. But people have to realise that it is for the better. If the person didn't care for you enough to be loyal to you, the person here probably doesn't deserve your care. So it's about time you took your care and moved on to greener pastures. It takes getting over, but I feel people make a too bigger deal out of it. If you remember your "mistake" (I'm not calling that person "love", it was an error in judgement of character, get over it) with hearts around, try recalling what you have been through. Surely the cons are greater than the pros. If you can't get over it and call it "unconditional love", then well, you probably like something ALLOT in the person. Try someone else with the same feature. Maybe you'll overcome your episode. See? Simple. Just gotta think straight.

The most precious social emotion is the family feeling , which I will not cover, since I can't imagine explaining it. It's too pure to me. THAT is love in true form. But just in case your family does try to pull something on ya - arranged marriage or something for "your own good"- try telling them what you feel. If in some cases there is a question of family pride, a.k.a ego, involved, well then...best of luck. I'm not into advising anything wrong. But one's life is his own, no one else's. Do what you feel is best.
The last and one emotion I can say I know most about is friendship. Mutual relationships among people which ( I feel) are stronger than any emotion ever. Friendship like love starts mutual, grows onto you, and develops if you nurture it. A true friend will never ask you to do the choosing. He will understand your situation. He will sacrifice. If you want a true friend, you gotta be a true friend. It's not one way ( like a few times in the "love" issue. I call it madness). No betrayal of trust from either side, no lies, jokes...it's a wonderful thing. Something to be felt. If you have a lover who asks you leave a friend, DON'T! To make a person loose a friend is not love. Not by my books. Same goes for a friend who puts his friendship on the line cause you like a person he doesn't. I true friend is rare. Recognise and treasure that person forever.

True love, true friendship are hard to find. Don't let either go cause of selfish people. This is how I see daily emotions. Not complicated. Just sort of over hyped. Thanks for bearing with me. I have the most awesome friends in the world. That I can claim. Hope you do too... :)