To fight or not to fight.

It had been a regular day so far with nothing to talk about except for a welcome change in the weather. It was sorta cool and breezy, seemed like winter was knocking on Mumbai's door. G was going to meet Y, a fella from his locality. Y had called G earlier today and requested for some DVDs. As G entered Y's apartment complex he noticed this li'l stray dog limping around. The dog seemed to be in a bad shape and G felt some pity for it. He made a mental note to feed some biscuits to the dog on his way out.

G tried ringing the door bell but it didn't seem to work so he knocked instead. The door opened, it was Y.

"What's up with the door bell dude?" G asked, greetings weren't required. G and Y are beyond that.

"Ohhh... band hai andar se. Cleaned the house today. You know, the Diwali thing."

"You too? Hah. I was assisting my Mom with the same. It's a pain man."

"Tell me about it... You want a coke or something?"

"Nah man, am heading out to meet some people. Just came to drop the DVDs you wanted."

"Sahi hai. You got all?"

"Haan, all that you wanted except for Snatch. It's lying with a friend."

"Ah cool. Hey do you have Revolver?"

"No man... could not find it anywhere. Will have to try and download it."

"I so want to watch that one."

"So do I mate. Guy Ritchie is brilliant at what he does. They don't fuckin release his movies here."

"I know man. It sucks. They should ban Karan Johar and his clan of glycerine abusers in the name of good cinema."

"Exactly my thoughts. So what's happening at the work front?"

"Lagi padi hai yaar. This colleague of mine is fuckin it up. He is a madarchodh number one."

"Kya huaa yaar?"

"Arre man.. he joined the organization a little over a year before I did. And I have accomplished more in six months than what he did in a year and half. The bosses are happy with me and I have been promoted to his level. Uski fat gayi hai. Now he has some friends in the organization, so he and his brood try to fuck me up all the time. They make it a point to act all obnoxious and shit when I bring a potential client to my office which sorta embarrasses both me and the prospect and I usually fail to cut the deal because of that."

"What the fuck... and...?"

"And what? Chutyapanti hai yaar. I cannot do anything man."

"Dude! Tell your immediate boss about it. He will sort it out for you."

"I cannot do that man. If he takes some action, no matter how subtle, they would know and then would fuck me up in worse ways. It would be like making the rat race public."

"But dude... there is a chance that it would work out in your favor and they would have it so bad that they would not dare do something of the sort in the future."

"Fat chance man."

"You cannot not do anything about it man. If you continue like this, you would be tumbling downhill soon. The prodigal recruit to a wet blanket. Just like that. Come on bro, you cannot let that happen."

"I do not have a choice...."

"Fuck man. Fight back. It's a jungle out there. Survival of the fittest. They've been hitting way below the belt Y, and for a while I believe. The new age golden rule says ' Do unto them before they do unto you.' There is only one person who can help you man, that's you."

"I don't know man," Y said, "by the way would you be going for Don?"

The conversational non sequitur kinda baffled and annoyed G, but it was clear that Y didn't wish to discuss his problems any further. Also it was clear that Y was not interested in doing anything about his situation. There is a limit to how much a man can help another and G had reached his. So he did not bother Y further and allowed him to shoehorn movies into the conversation. They chatted for a bit and then G left, still thinking about Y's situation. People like Y's colleagues make G sick. People like Y make G sick some more. G reserves a special dislike for people who refuse to do anything about the bad situation they are in and choose to crib instead. G's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of the same dog that G had seen earlier that day. It pleased G to see that somebody was thoughtful enough to set some food at a corner for the poor soul.

So our li'l McLimp was relishing his food when two bigger dogs appeared outta nowhere, growling in an attempt to scare him away. They flanked him from both the sides forcing him further into the corner and away from the food. G lifted a small rock and thought of scaring the bullies away for him. Before G could as much as step towards them, the li'l one started barking furiously and locked his jaws on one of the bullying canine's left ear. There was this small dog fight and ultimately the bullies bested the li'l one and forced him to flee from the scene and hide under a car. G let go of the rock and made his way to the general store. He got a packet of biscuits and went back to the brave li'l dog and fed em to him.

"You did well." G said to the dog before leaving, hoping he'd understand.

Some of us do not have the strength to fight, some do not have the will.

Return to innocence

Why can the world not go back to the good old days where humanoids were not civilised? Why the fuck do women have to get embarrassed about their menstrual cycles? G sincerely believes that things were simpler during the caveman days and most of the conflicts rose after the foundation had been set for the so called civilisation. Civilisation brought about rules of conduct that made man a 'social' animal. 'Social animals my ass!' says G. When the first human walked this planet he was expected to behave like all the other creatures. His sole purpose in his life was survival. Reproduction was his duty. But man has forgotten all that. The whole process of formation of society has made man; that what was supposed to be one of God's most beautiful creations; a slave to rules of social conduct set up by society.

G believes that the problem actually began when Prometheus stole fire from the heavens and gifted it to mankind. Knowledge is a weapon, one that the humanoids have been shamelessly using for their own destruction since forever. Prometheus meant good of course but it was a hasty step, terribly miscalculated. No wonder he faced the wrath of the Gods.

Talkin about God, the book Shantaram has a very thought provoking discussion about God between the protagonist 'Lin'(Author Gregory David Roberts) and another character, Khaderbhai. If Khaderbai is indeed a depiction of a real life entity, like Gregory David Roberts writes in his book, G is willing to give anything to meet him. Balls! G doesn't give a damn. Intellectuals bore G. All they do is talk and talk some more, as they yap away to glory in an attempt to discover the meaning of life. G has but one suggestion for them, try discovering the joy of living first. Before you pack your bags and hit the road on your great quest for meaning of life, try and discover what it means to live. And stop making those rules of social conduct for heaven's sake. You are murdering your race.

For his part, G is happy being a caveman, where not many things embarrass him. Yeah, G aint immune to the social bug. There are some things that embarrass him too. But deep in his heart, G knows that one day he would rid himself of this infest. And G is sure that somewhere, there lives a man, many men all over the world, who do not get embarrased at all. And somewhen, G would be one of their kind.

That woman...

September 10, 2006

"I love it here." she said. Still rolling the coffee bean in her mouth.
"Did I not tell you? You cannot not love Mumbai after spending so much time in the city." G replied.
"No silly, I meant I love it here, the sea-side." she said teasingly, tilting her head, "How can I like the pollution, traffic jams, the overcrowded buses and trains and the pavements are 'unwalkable', what with all the illegal vendors and squatters.. it's terrible."
"Embrace the beauty and refuse to accept the thorns that come with the rose... you small-town types I tell you" G retorted, shaking his head in an exaggerated manner.
She slapped him on his arm. "Aye!!! You better watch it."
"You do not have to get all violent about that.. I know it is not easy to accept, but yeah you have to live with it."
"I know baba, I was just kidding. It is the people that make Bombay that what it is."
"Err... I was talking about the bitter fact about the 'selective acceptance mentality' of you small-town types. You have to live with it." G said busting on her once again.
"G, I am going to murder you!!" she said.
"It's gonna be not so difficult, I am kinda suffocating because of your terrible perfume, it will kill me for sure the next time. Just apply a bit more of it when you see me next."
"You want to apologise, that is Carolina Herrera you are talking about Mister." she said pretending to be pissed.
"What an irony! You were complaining about pollution a while back." G retorted, disregarding what she said.
"Ugh I hate you!! Aye I want seeng chanaa." saying that she went to the seeng chanaa wala and got a coneful of roasted peanuts and chickpeas.
"So when are you goin to Jamshedpur next?" G asked her as he helped himself to some nuts.
"You seem to be in a hurry of sending me back, tough luck though turnip, I aint goin for the next 2 or three months."
"I have to go to Bangalore, I was just hoping that my trip coincides with your Jamshedpur trip."
"Ehh... why so? It's not like we are going to the same place anyway."
"Ugh.. whatever."
"No tell me! Why were you hoping that happens?"
"Nah forget it!" G said as he helped himself to some more nuts.
"Why are you not takin any chanaaa?" she asked G.
"Because I like peanuts!" G said
"Ohh... so that's why you get selected wherever you go for an interview!"
They both burst out laughing at that. And they walked away, hand in hand into the sunset.

She was a good woman. An active member of a prominent organisation striving for the betterment of stray animals. That is what had brought her to the city of Mumbai from the charming town of Jamshedpur. She had weaved dreams with G of going to Jamshedpur together, before heading to Shillong, the first stop of their plan to hitchhike their way through the northeast. G totally adored her smile and she was absolutely charmed by G's ways. G called her 'Moonkin', she called him 'Turnip'. They were happy together, but some things are never meant to last. They had to part their ways. This was about a year ago. The last that G spoke to her was in December of 2005, on his birthday. It's her birthday today, 10th of september. G tried to call on her cell, but seems the number has been disabled. G called her room-mates cell, praying that this number is still functional. The room-mate answered. They talked for a few minutes before G hung up, devastated.

The room-mate informed G that Moonkin was one one of the victims of the 11th July train blasts in Mumbai.
Some people are just too nice, they have perfected the art of enjoying the small things in life. These are the kinds that follow their heart and do that what they desire. There is an aura about them that you just cannot miss. And tragedy has its way of finding them.

I love you Moonkin.
May your smile, shine on.