Scar

Cover-page of my newly bought magazine,

Left folded overnight-

Developed a scar on its face,

Right through the centre, diagonally.

In the morning, as I tried to unfold,

And remove the mark,

It vehemently refused –

Flung back to its folded state.

A lesson for me-

Not on elastic properties of matter;

But on scars on character

Of those who’ve long been ignored.

Speckle

Shaving before the mirror,

With the stroke of the razor,

I discovered that the mirror

From age, had developed spots;

Which I tried to remove-

Scratched them hard with my index

Until, tired, I let go.

Tried a different reflector,

The patches were still there-

And I instantly knew

Where they actually belonged.

Current Affairs

The recent wake of events following the protests from the likes of Anna Hazare has at least given this country some food for thought. We were so used to the "yeh India hai...yahan kaam aise hi hota hai" attitude before an old man decided to unleash the sword against a mighty Government of the mighty Democracy called India.

As I say all these, I am not fully convinced as to whether such protests will rock the men in power, whether ‘hunger strike’ is a warranted means of protest and if it will serve its purpose whatsoever. We might, as has always been the case, find another 16 or 20 days of fast followed by severe degradation in Anna’s health. This fast will eventually, most likely, end with promises on part of the Government to "consider" his proposal and persuasions from the influential lot. While the men in power would dismiss his actions as a septuagenarian’s whims, oppositions, taking this as an opportunity as good as a wild card entry to power, would fuel the protest by all possible means.

People are taking to the streets in support of the old man who reaffirmed my faith in Gandhi, to say the least. I always had the idea that it was because of Gandhi that our independence got delayed- that his ‘cowardly’ stance gave the English an edge over the violent protesters like Netaji and Bhagat Singh. Of course, I haven’t seen Gandhi and all my negative notions about the revered man in khadi developed from the movies I watched and the stories I heard from people who hadn’t seen Gandhi either.

As I sit in my room writing “just for time-pass" and you reading this for no better reason, there are men and women of all ages shouting for their favorite Anna to emerge victorious. Of course, as an Indian, I am fully dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in the country and want a break from having to feed them under the table.

Recently, I got my driving license done without taking the driving test- no wonder the count of road accidents in India is soaring like mercury in Delhi in the month of May! As an "educated" individual of a developing country, how do you feel I should have acted?-

I should have gone on leave from my office to see the long queue at the RTO office, then gotten shoved by ten more powerful men out of the queue, begged for a place in the same line behind 20 'intruders' to find that it was time for 'lunch' when my turn came- although the watch showed 3 PM because the ‘breakfast’ break was taken at 12 noon, again because the lackadaisical officials came in at 11 in the morning- and all this pain just to submit the form. Similar stories follow for-no-reason rounds for which I fight with my manager to earn few more leaves and his wrath!

Instead, I chose the easier way- pay a handsome amount to an "insider" who in turn got my license done without me taking the test, simply in exchange of a few phone calls for which the company I work for pays.

Exaggerated, isn’t it? But you know for sure, to what extent.

Still, I am happy that things are changing- I had to pay more because the "agent" said it was now extremely difficult to get the driving license done in the wrong way! (They’ve started following road rules)

After saying all this, all I will do is peek out of my balcony to see people chanting in support of Anna and return to Facebooking, read the "ten facts you didn’t know about Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpal Bill" without "like"-ing it, post status messages on my wall that would attract a few likes and least possibly arouse patriotic sentiments for a few seconds.

As we have been enjoying the fruit of independence since 1947 without caring to step up to do anything at all for the country except for blaming the same people we elect, I once again hope to enjoy the fruit of the rebellion that is taking shape, if it at all succeeds. This country might change, thanks to Anna et al- but how will people like me ever change?

Monsoon Ruminations…

Pensive, I stand by the glass window

Catching the afternoon shower

The same way I used to, before;

Except, now, I cannot-

In fear of being tagged insane,

Open the window,

Let the water soak my face,

Let rain smash hard upon my shut eyes. 

Pensive, I stand by the glass window

Musing over the fate of the greenery

That lay before tall brick walls;

Cows and buffalos- not rain-intolerant

But over the years, learnt from men

That they had to run for shade in rain.

Pensive, I stand by the glass window

Watching a man and a woman

Run for cover,

Sharing an umbrella-

Which I bet they would have let go

Had I not been watching.

Masked eyes…

As I walked down the crowded street

Intoxicated in drunken revelry;

As I brushed past men and women

All in masks that hid their eyes,

‘Cause that was part of the ritual-

They all gave me a smile

And I, invariably, reciprocating

Underneath my mask;

But smiles gave me a shudder

As I never knew what their eyes spoke.

Suddenly something overcame me

Powering me with courage

That surprised me;

Made me unmask myself

And then pull the mask off one of them.

He stopped smiling-

So did all others as I engaged in the rampage;

The wrath in their beautiful eyes

So long hidden, was exposed.

They tried to cover up in shame

As if they swarmed in the nude,

But I was relieved and they, astonished-

When I smiled back!

Decision Pending….

I won’t preach you on how important ‘right decisions’ are, at the right time. Right decisions, I know (and so do you), can change the entire course of a person’s life, someone else’s life or even an organization.  Forget right, I have rarely managed to just decide on anything.

My parents were always worried when I was a child. When they took me out to buy clothes, I could not decide on the color- I always let them decide. I couldn’t decide on a gift for a friend’s birthday. I couldn’t even decide on the flavor of ice-cream they wanted to buy me. As I grew up, there were more decisions to be made- mostly concerning studies and career. Whether they were right decisions or not remains to be seen…..but usually, it takes me so long to settle on that I am left with only one option, which is not always the best for me.

In college, while I hung out in some restaurant with friends, I never decided what I should eat- I always relied on someone else to order and then repeating it- “Make that two” or “I’ll have the same”. Of course, there were exceptions. When it was my turn to treat them, life was simpler- there usually were limited choices with the budget I decided! And then, I always had “benevolent” friends who knew how to optimally use my money on that day.

Four years in college studying almost nothing and understanding even less didn’t leave me with much choice as to what to do next. But every time parents, relatives and teachers complain that I should be pursuing higher studies, I am usually left perplexed, caught between two choices- two roads- between which I need to decide before it’s too late.

After writing all this, I was actually contemplating whether to post it! Now, you say, was it a right decision or did it turn out to be an object of derision? This time you’ve gotta decide!

What’s in a name?

I guess I have them trapped… I mean, all who have been desperately seeking some information about a process in telecommunication with the same name as my blog- all who typed “Idle mode connectivity” on Google and were led to this page.

Blogger stats tell me that the list of countries from where my blog has been visited is as follows:

India, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sweden, Poland, Albania, Latvia, Germany, Israel (in no particular order)

Of course some page-views make sense including the ones from Sweden which physically is my office in India! There are others that amuse me and make me believe that there were people who might have overlooked the URL. I’m particularly amused by the name of Poland as I am under the impression that one of my trainers in telecom who hailed from Poland might as well have landed onto this page (If he really did, there couldn’t have been a better coincidence). As part of the consequence of your natural inclination to trust in Google and go for the first result, you might have hit this page. You might have made a fool of yourself- stop cursing me! Lesson learnt: Check the URL before you click; names are misleading (though I never meant to have increased hits in this way).

But who cares? I am happy to have such a wide spectrum of visitors.

It’s high time you expand your knowledge in telecommunication….so, keep visiting!

The Race

Brushing past me, like a thunder,

Went someone familiar;

I thought- Was it a blunder

To let him overtake me?

Damn, I had to be on last gear!

As he overtook me, he gave me a nudge,

But woke me up;

And developed in me a grudge,

That stirred me up!

I tried hard to catch up,

But the faster I ran, the more he paced up.

I kept running , sweating

Until the Sun shone before my eyes

When I realized what I was chasing!