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Dream on ! ! ! a short story

PART 1
Year: 2008 Time : 0740 hrs

I am always busy. I woke up at six this morning, packed my stuff and got in to the cab that Ravi had booked earlier. Ravi is so particular about this car.
“This is the latest model that anyone in this country can lay their hands on, boss” he says so proudly. I nod my head as I know what is coming next.
“Image boss image. You will look great when you get down at The Parks building boss.”
Yes, Image is something for which I am being paid by my company, Rockwell advertisers proclaimed to be the best in the industry. And I really don’t care as all the expenses are paid by the company. Its well over fifteen minutes in the car now and the busy traffic demands a few more minutes. Its 8.00 am as I reach the reception desk of the ‘The parks’. I slide a business card to the lady at the desk.
“I am hari sado. I work for the Rockwell’s”. She takes a quick glance
“Nice to meet you”, she says out of habit. “How can I help you?”
“I am here to meet Mr.Raj, the vice-president and I have an appointment too”.
Before even she responds, Mr.Raj is all over me with handshakes and how-are-you’s?
He guides me to his air-conditioned office room. Glass tables designed to suit the classic theme, paintings hanging over the walls. Wealth and prosperity is what I see everywhere. I sit before the panel and start discussing about my company. I finish my presentation and just before lunch they sign the deal worth 2.3 crores and it is all as smooth as a cake. They invite me to Lunch and we eat slowly discussing a variety of issues. The deal will open up new doorways for Rockwell and I will get a share as pay hikes and promotions.
I walk back smiling to the receptionist and give a hi-fi to Ravi on my way back in the car. The return journey is faster and over the phone I tell my CEO everything that happened in there. I take the day off; go to the nearby shopping mall to buy Sports shoes for pintu and a bright red sari for Rekha. The shop is small but very posh and stylish. I put the stuff in a basket and hand it over to the man at the counter.
“Eight triple nine rupees. Sir”, the man says after punching in some numbers at the machine.
He swipes my credit card and asks for a signature. I pick up pintu from school on my way back and surprise him with the gift. He is so happy that he hugs and kisses me. I return home expecting the same from Rekha. Dinner at the ‘meridian’ and I can call it a wonderful day.

PART 2
Year : 2008 Time : 2230 hrs

Night times at this part of the city aren’t safe these days. The streets are deserted and are lit only by the moon. I once again check my bag and make sure that the cash is safe. If everything goes well, I would be relieved of all my debts by tomorrow and still have around two thousand eight hundred rupees at my disposal. Rupa can have a thousand from it for her summer swimming classes that are about to begin in a week she would definitely be happy on hearing this. Poor kid, it’s about two years since I had taken her out.
Lights are still on at my apartment and I slowly climb the stairs and reach the fourth floor. The door swings open and I hand over my bag to kala. I have always wondered how she recognizes the footsteps and she is always ready, waiting for me.
“Kala today is a special day!” I wait for her to respond.
“What is it?” she lets forth a giggle.
“We got the payment that we were expecting a month back today. Those sleazy people at the city centre finally agreed to pay us the twelve thousand rupees.”
‘Kumar enterprises’ is a parcel services company with 2 trucks and a mini-van. It is jointly owned by me and ramesh, my friend from college. We named it with my name as ramesh felt that my name will bring luck to the company. So far it has not.
“You know what? This is not at all a big money for those and they made us wait for this in spite knowing well how important is this money to us. And we cashed the cheque in the afternoon”
“Oh. How nice!” and she really means it.
“And kala, we will pay back the bank loan and we are also planning to buy some furniture for our office.” I say drinking a glass of water.
“How about a visit to the family temple tomorrow. Rupa can also come as she is bored these days.” She plans in her own way.
“Ok, we’ll plan it for the weekend.” We talk for a while and I take a pillow and a bed sheet and leave to the terrace. Sleeping under the open sky is very relaxing and soothing to the mind.

Part 3
Year : 1995 Time : 0930 hrs

The assembly Hall of Sri Gurudev School is fully packed. The prayer gets over and the principal takes over the mike.
“Dear students, our school has yet again proved its mettle by performing extremely well in the board exams. This year the school administration will provide full scholarship to all the 3 toppers and will assist them in everyway in pursuing the courses of their choice.
I now individually call upon the toppers to come over the stage and receive the scholarships. With a total score of 95 percent we have Lalita .She has secured admission in the state college and the school will fund her fees for the next four years. The auditorium roars with applause as lalita gets on stage. Next we have hari sado and kumar with a score of 92 percent each.”
Both the boys jump on to the stage and receive the medals from the principal.
“Students, hari sado is joining the National engineering college and we wish him success in all his endeavors. Kumar here deserves a special mention. He has rejected the engineering and science degree offers from various institutes and has chosen to join a history course, the subject of his interest. I ask every one of you to derive inspiration from kumar and follow your own dreams.”
The principal hugs kumar and pats him on his back.
Kumar felt very proud, but for the last time for the decision.

This is the short story that SVENKY and I created with valuable suggestions from sana.

THE WALK

The chillness of the night did not wither the spirits of the inmates of the hostel. The long four year voyage is about to end in few months. Boisterous crowd thumping the poor volley ball, the animated discussions on university admits, poor junior getting taunted by some wretched souls, all these are typical of a final year hostel life. Oblivious to all these proceedings I am immersed in deep retrospection. With a confused feeling I instantly get up from my bed and start to walk towards the nearby coffee shop.

Though the general tendency of the human mind is to be social, a tinge of loneliness makes you feel good. I chose the longer route through the deserted woody road. The nagging sensation of under achievement creeps in to my present thoughts, giving a slight depressing feel. Chewing over the experiences I see that so much has changed in the college in these years, from new buildings to hi-tech computer centers, but the sad truth is that there is always a fraction of pupils who are bound to remain stagnant in every aspect. The feeling that I may as well belong to this group upsets me.

At this point in time, I see a silhouette of a stoopy figure holding a cigarette, ambling towards me. The brightly lit building behind, prevents me from immediately recognizing him. However his walking style reveals that he is my first year bench mate. Late night gaming and other notorious habits have literally taken over major part of his college life. On comparing myself with him I feel slightly relieved. As I approach him, all my thoughts of how pathetic he is, morphed into a mocking smile. I could only see a total degradation of all his basic abilities and changing him into a filthy creature. Seconds after I crossed him, the shocking image flashed in my mind. It was his reaction. He had given back the same sarcastic smile.

Every one of us have our own way of looking at life, be it our’s or other’s and rightly so.

Technorati Profile

The 'lakh'una !

Welcome the TATA nano, the car that has to fulfill ratan tata s vision rather promise of a car to every Indian. (If you are convinced that it has done it already, read on!)

The nano was unveiled at the ninth auto expo Delhi on the tenth of this January. No matter what pachauri or the competitors say, it simply does not matter. The point is it is definitely going to be a grand success. Technical details in here.

Kudos to the engineers at tata, the aesthetics are marvelous and with some more instrumentation on the dashboard, completeness could have been ensured. With this, I don’t mean to dishonor the efforts of frugal engineering or the other cost cutting strategies effectively employed but this average Indian mind is never content. High cc bike manufacturers and the prominent A-segment car manufacturers have nothing to worry, though maruti 800 would have to take the blow single-handedly. But the Indian market is in itself a mystery but this car, when considering the initial popularity will not at least be a victim of consumer ignorance.

The Tata has applied for 34 patents for the power train design which clearly shows a positive trend in the Indian R&D sector. Manufacturers have started to realise the potential of R&D and have started to invest money there instead of buying the designs from some Italian company. Tata s engineers would have had a very tough job these months to put in their best to redesign everything right from windshield wipers, rear engine layout, tubeless tires, spacious interiors and fuel system.

While musing over the nano, the aspect that bothered me the most is the safety. Why is it that, we Indians do not understand the importance of safety? At a stage when ABS and airbags are a standard feature in international cars, we still have it as an option. Leave out ABS, ESP, Traction control, fog lamps etc., the nano has rear view mirror only on the driver’s side. It is highly illogical to compromise on safety for cutting costs. Personal safety has to be given a serious thought. The government should pass laws to make safety norms mandatory as it was done years before to reduce emission.

But let’s not worry a lot. Considering the present pace of advancement, things are closer by.

Words Worth!

Everyone of us would have heard people say that one can move up the success ladder with just the ability to convince others by framing sentences appropriately. Read this story to know how this man can get the desired reply by just framing a question in a different way.
There was this drunkard who went to a swamiji and asked
" Swamiji, is it ok to be drunk while praying?
The reply was a straight no!.
after a brief pause, there came the second question.
"Swamiji,is it ok to pray to god while drinking?
There.. he got his favorable reply.

So,it is indeed true that you can make your words do the work for you.But,beware sometimes those same words can also chuck you out of a job interview or make you a the laughing stock or annoy others to their critical limits or sometimes reveal the real 'YOU' which is not preferred in most cases. :)

meet ya soon!!!.

2007 = movies + so many other things.

The last day of the year. This is the only time of the year when we recollect all achievements and analyze the misfortunes and mistakes of ours, obviously for betterment.

The sad feeling of the one-month holiday coming to an end creeps in, while I sit in the couch and swap channels in the TV, to gain information on tomorrow’s specials. I now think. :)

Is it not the best time for the television channels to telecast programs that inspires the common man and gives him a head start for the year?
On the contrary what I see is only these interviews with actors, titillating song sequences and dumb discussions which I feel have no educational value at all. Honestly, any average mind if given an option, will choose something like an interview with Abdul kalam or Narayana murthy over an frivolous chit-chat with Namitha or Simbu.(hey nothing against namitha! and simbu deserves this! :)

Definitely there were other exciting things too in 2007, than movies and serials.
Instead of every channel selecting the best song, stunt sequence, director, lights-man etc. doing something different like identifying best sports person from the state or choosing the best maintained constituency, most able IAS officer etc. will not in any day bring down the TRP ratings, rather it induces a positive attitude in the minds of the viewers.

With reality shows gaining popularity and people s attitude changing, hope next Jan 1 will be different with respect to these Sun, Raj, and Vijay etc.

Thala!!

Hey!! One has to really appreciate ultimate star ajith for him daring to come to an interview(actually 2) without dyeing his hair. Those white streaks depict the experience, confidence and guts to believe in what he is. Hats off thala!!!. Remember, only the superstar himself would dare to come out without the make-up. The path is set. right??

Say how is this?:

Whether hell or heaven,
It was 2007.
Now it is 2008.
Go, prove your might!!

Happy new year 2008 !!