A Night of Horror

When did it begin, this nightmare?
Was it her destiny to witness this? Looking around, her eyes flitted over the shards of glass, the upturned coffee table, her books strewn all over the room. Looking down at herself, she saw blood. The tube-light hid nothing.
And there he was, the drunken pig! Snoring, snoring after having wrecked her house, her home, her life. Stealing her joy, her laughter, her soul.

Nothing was left. Really, there was nothing left here.

Her body ached everywhere. Even where he had not physically beaten her. Her entire being hurt. She was past bothering with tears. Tears were for those lucky who had people to wipe them away. She wearily picked herself and stood in front of the cracked mirror. She could see her bruises and bite marks. Her scalp smarted. He must have torn away a hundred...no thousand strands of my hair, she thought stupidly, desperately trying to quantify her pain.

She feebly remembered a time when she had called herself "happily married". Gradually, her joy at having a protective husband turned into despair as he showed his possessive streak. Then followed the quarrels , the slaps and kicks, the bottles of whiskey, the shouts and abuses.
There used to be apologies but even they stopped.
"Did I get habituated to this? I used to be so beautiful, so charming, so..so generous. Now, I have no money to be kind and charitable, no hope in my heart. My mother is dead, all my friends have slipped away. What DO I DO?"

"I'll go mad. I have to escape this insanity". Thoughts rushed into her throbbing head.
"The car keys, yes the car! I'll go away. I'll build on this rubble". She thought wildly.

She stormed outside, started the car and accelerated away into the night.

"Catch a falling star,
Put it in your pocket,
Keep it for a rainy day"
She hummed, her childhood rhyme bringing small comfort. She breathed, "I must breathe", she thought valiantly, "that's what the TV ladies say".
Breath in, breath out.

She knew she'll come back, back to this hell. But not tonight. Tonight she had to flee with the fragments of her sanity left.
"He's not a bad guy, maybe I was the difficult one today. I'll go back tomorrow, when the fuel gets over in this car. I'll hitchhike my way back. Then go to the doctor and say I fell down from stairs. I'll do all that, not now. When I have some more strength, I'll go. Till then just breath, just keep breathing".

A Night of Beauty

Power Off!
But tonight it didnt annoy her. It was a beautiful night. The moon hung lazily n the sky. The blackout allowed her to see the stars pinned up. A slight breeze blew so lightly, playing with her eyelashes. The scent of mogra and tuberose cast a velvet sheen.
Lying in his arms she felt slightly intoxicated with love. He was humming something. A lilting, jaunty tune which she couldnt recognize.
She pointed at some random star. "Do you know what's the name of that star?". Mischief glinted in her eyes.
"That one? That's called Champak Lal. You didnt know?"
"And that one?"
" That's Hanfasretufreg"
"Wha....."
" Ya that's what it's called...by the Pygmies."
"When did you learn their language?"
"While doing my engineering and flunking in Heat and Mass Transfer."
"I didnt know you flunked in Heat and Mass Transfer!!"
"Neither did I"
She giggled at this juvenile banter. "I am 29 and I find these silly things funny", she thought to herself. That made her giggle more.
"I am sure his clients can never imagine that this impossibly proffessional gentleman can ever crack such inane jokes."
"Hey listen, what are u giving me for my birthday?" She asked playfully.
He kissed her lightly. "Anything you want".
"I want Champak Lal, that star over there."
"That's not that difficult"
"It's not?"
"Here, I'll give you right now"
He stretched his arms. He pretented to pluck something out.
He extended his palm toward her. "There you are"
She giggled with delight at this play acting. Then she peered into the upturned palm.
There was something shining brilliantly. Puzzled, she looked closely.
And there it was. A beautiful ring. She picked it up as if it was a dream which will shatter at the merest touch. Sparkle of a star, caught in a diamond.
Slipping it into her finger, she looked at him and said "Yes".

To A, With Love

What was about you, which made me notice you for the first time? A completely ordinary guy with his ordinary ideas. It was when you spoke, stringing words effortlessly, into a beaded delight. You made me laugh loud. That's when I asked your name.

It was what romance books write about. Friendship maturing into love. A nurturing, fulfilling love.

At first, I didnt believe your eyes. Your eyes betrayed you. They told me things which you yourself never uttered. Even to yourself maybe. They brushed my cheeks. They lingered on me, long after you had turned away. They followed me everywhere. They watched me. Your smile remained the same. A twisted expression of amusement, enjoyment and sometimes outright sarcasm.

It happened suddenly when I least expected. A mad torrent of love's declaration which made me halt, made me giddy. Love. The solvent of ego and pain.

I couldn't believe you. I hopped around searching for the non-existing lies in your sincerity. I, so used to the fake and the vulgar. I never found the crack. Perhaps I never will.

And then, one day, you boldly held my hand. Fingers interwoven, filling gaps. At last, I forgave. Forgave the world and it's cruelty. Forgave the mirror for showing me that which make-up didnt hide. Forgave the goverment, the education system, the SC/ST quota, the hitler boss, the foolish computer which took half an hour to boot. I forgave them all. I found my peace.

Science and Morals

Two very disparate incidents made me think along the same lines. One was watching Jurassic Park and other was reading Surely You Are Joking Mr Feynman. Very specifically, listening to that little argument in Jurassic Park, where these guys voiced that they did not support a park of this sort. Playing with nature was a bad idea. One specific place the chaos theory expert says that you all were so obsesses with whether you could do this that you didn't ask whether you should. In the book, there is this chapter where Mr Feynman says that when they finally were able to come up with the workable design of the atomic bomb, all the physicists were euphoric except one who said that this is not good. The same bomb was dropped on Hiroshima which resulted in such catastrophic destruction.

All around us, we are obsessed with faster, bigger( or smaller), better. New inventions, cutting edge technology guarantee better lives. But at what costs? I certainly think that though our modern lives are so much more comfortable with the new gadgets and trim-trams thanks to science and its applications, our inventors should ask the pertinent question whether they should unleash new technologies, whether the current society deserves them. These comfort providers turn into mini-demons in no time what with the fertile yet immature mind of humans.

I am aware that every advancement adversely affects the nature some way or the other. Be it cheaper cars or mass produced PC and its peripherals leading to large tracts of e-waste dumps or mobile technology bringing a sharp decline in sparrows and other birds population. Dams which reduce soil fertility downstream. Deep tube-wells which make areas more prone to earthquake. Plastics, aerosols, air conditioners, dyes you name it.

It is not just science but almost every aspect of what we call knowledge, which has caused havoc. History, when twisted caused Babri Masjid demolition. Experimenting with society and economics caused so many lives ruined in USSR and other communist countries. Experiments with the market caused sub prime crisis which resulted in a dominoe-like global recession.

It's not that advancements and experiments are bad. No! not at all. All that is required is that people take responsibility and that they do not forget morals and ethics.

Horn OK Please

This is dedicated to all those people who cant keep their fingers off their vehicles horns.

One output of this horn will be traditional....paaaiiinnnn...paaaiiiiin, which we normally hear. The other should go to a pair of earplugs, which will produce deathly sounds, whenever the horn is blared. This earplug will be plugged to the drivers ear. So they are just as uncomfortable as the rest of the janta.
Better still, there should be some artificial palm on the steering wheel. When the driver presses the horn, he/she gets one tight slap. The more they press the horn, tighter will be the slap.

This should keep them from disturbing all our peace, needlessly. Cheers!!!