Seen through the Window

It was just another day. Life was the same for me. Nothing had changed. The same room, the same table, same old books and the same old window. But this window has a special part in my life for variety of reasons. This window overlooks almost the entire stretch of Bazar marg. A ice cream parlor, ek chai ki dhukan, a small time kiosk and a bustling street is all that I see. As I was seeing through this window, quiet and somber, a truck pulled up in front of my building with the loud screech of brakes. As it stopped I heard the clink of bottles. ”Oh, its for the nechewala daru shop” I thought to myself. And this is for the brethren of “ high spirits” my building houses a “ Wine and a Beer shop” and so reads the signboard. (In chennai signboards read just “ wines”. Strange are the ways of life)

Now all the cartons are to be unloaded- Director’s Special, Royal Challenge, Royal Stag, Bagpiper and Smirn off. The boxes looked colorful. There were three men to shoulder this task. The work began. One man stayed inside the truck to take it out and pass it on to the rest of the two, as they walked to and fro carrying the cartons. I was still seeing thru the window counting the cartons- may be its an hangover that still remains after having served as “ Articled Clerk”(a term I disliked) for the audit firm during my CA course. The truck has been almost emptied. There were only three cartons left. The man inside the truck surreptitiously opened the carton and pulled out one bottle and put an empty bottle of the same kind in its place. The other men guarded what he was doing. oops! looks like a collusion!. Finally the three cartons, minus one “full” bottle in each one of them, were also taken inside. At the back of my mind I thought about the “Replacement mechanism” which companies had. Pity them!!
This exudes that our values have become so debased that people resort to fraud and malpractices as if it is a national game. This is just a tip of the iceberg!!!

Terry saves...

NUREMBERG, Germany, June 15 the match played between England and Trinidad & Tobago is something which i still can't get out of my mind inspite of many games played after that.If you had seen the 53rd minute of the game you would agree with me.That was when Trinidad almost stole a goal.The goalie was nowhere around.The ball was heading towards the goal.England defender Rio Ferdinand and Trinidad and Tobago forward Stern John watching the ball in action.Trinidad's coach standing at the threshold of exhilaration ready to shout " you've all done it guys".But there goes England defender John terry flying in the air kicking the ball away and falling inside goal area!!It was just amazing man!!!i'm sorry if you had missed it!!

But here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATj7IA6pBT8

Beware of dogs!!!

It is the early hours of the morning;with its usual scenic beauties. Dewdrops are fresh on the tender leaves of saplings and grass. Sun is still sprucing up for his day out. There is a mild chillness, birds chirp and hens cackles. The air is free from the cacophony of toyotos and fords: bajajs and Hondas. Most of the people must still be on the bed half asleep with the new day to deliver on many of its promises.

At this time of the morning I see this boy walking along the roadside with a megasized polythene bag on his shoulder. Emaciated looks, sunken face, the kind of hair we see in the shampoo ads which says “before use”. Meet the ragpicker boy of rajinder nagar-my locality. I see him every morning when I go out for my morning jog. Now what about him? I always go thru a sense of admiration. You know what ,he has taught me a lesson.He picks the rags sprewn all over the streets. I always wondered where he would take it to and used to think about the penury state of his living. He must be just 12 years old but he shows no fear for those bunch of dogs that bark at him incessantly. Has he closed his ears to those deafening sound?? No. he believes in what he does. Its his duty to do what he is doing. That earns him his bread, afterall. May dogs bark at him:heavens will not fall.

Now whats the moral??many of us fear critcism but ensconce in inhibitions and bask in false praises. It is this criticism that hold us back from what we conscientiously like to do. Are we afraid of the barking sound of the dogs?? This is the lesson I learnt from him. All that one need to do is remain impervious to crticism and listen to the conscience so much so that the barkings of the dogs be overpowered.

Is World really that small??

The incident I’m just going to tell u about made me wonder is world really that small. It was two months back when I was traveling from chennai to Delhi by train. When it comes to traveling alone I always look forward to meeting someone I know, after all a journey of 33 hours without a company is like taking boredom to its peak. And this time it was full of strangers, as it always used to be, when I entered the train. There was an old man and his wife with their niece who had finished her tenth standard and was going to visit her mother and there was another army man. As the train moved we got introduced to each other. We shared food. Discussed movies. Discussed politics. The train moved on and so did the time. The next day there was another lady, in her mid twenties, from next bogie sat with us and struck up conversation with that school girl. I started speaking to her as well. She said her name is Archana* and she lives in Bangalore and would be moving to London with her husband next month. As many of my friends work in Bangalore I asked her where she and her husband worked. Then I got to know that her husband worked for a company where my friend Sabitha's* husband happened to have worked. “Who knows they might know each other. It’s a small world” I quipped to her. And my friend Sabitha now lives in Paris with her husband. I wanted to write to her about the person I met on the train. But to my surprise I got a mail from Sabitha last week. She said she had visited London and met one of their friend’s friend in a restaurant. And that person seemed to have asked about me. And she was none other than Archana- the person I met on the train. Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Paris, London. Now tell me is world really that small?? May be this something like what Thomas Friedman, an Amercian columnist, talks about it in his book " The world is flat".




(* Names changed just for the heck of it!!)