Courtesy, I thought was Contagious!

As the title says, I have always believed that “Courtesy is Contagious!” I sit back and think how well this adage applies to "courtesy". But I forgot to realize how well the same applies to the lack of it.


This morning, I left for office. Just like usual, I waited for the free shuttle from my apartment (This is my first week at this new location and its too nascent to think about buying a car yet!). I was there at the front desk at 8.20am, though the shuttle is at 8.30am. I was reading news and slowly, people started coming. The shuttle is a 15-seater and only desis take this shuttle, as most of the local people have their own vehicle. The shuttle came on time. In the last 3 years of my stay in US, I have observed people forming Queue, whenever there was a need to - while exiting the movie theatre, exiting the flight, waiting for the bus or even for ordering food in restaurants. But the sad part is there is a big threat to this “Queue”, when there is a desi in the crowd. The problem is desis don’t know that there is such a concept called “Queue”. Being a desi myself, I cant and don’t blame Indians, because India has been like that – Our land has been the perfect example of “Survival of the fittest!” You rush and go first or you won’t have anything left for you!

Coming back to the shuttle story, people were ready to board the shuttle, even before it came and stopped. I’m somehow not too good in stepping forward before others, when it comes to get into crowded buses or trains. That is something I’m not used to and not comfortable at. I always rest on the fact that everybody would get their seat, if things are in order. But today, it proved me wrong. As I courteously allowed a couple of ladies to get in, all the others stormed in too. In a jiffy, I realized I was the last. I got into the shuttle and looked to find that there was no room left for me. I waited for a couple of seconds, if somebody who’s going to the nearby office (which is 10 min’s walk, whereas my workplace is 3 miles) might probably volunteer and give me a seat. But nobody did. Feeling a little embarrassed, I got out of the shuttle. I looked a little stupid to myself. Being the first one to arrive and wait for the shuttle, I was standing there, seeing the shuttle speed past me.

I was a little lost for a moment and then I recuperated myself, called a couple of my other friends and fortunately one guy gave me a ride.

When I think about the whole happening, I realize the mistake was on my side too. I should have got into the shuttle first, even if it takes a little WWF fight there. From monday, I have decided that I’m gonna get into the shuttle and take a place, no matter what. After all, I realize “Lack of Courtesy is Contagious too!”

I’m just giving vent to my silly disappointment this morning. And from Monday, I’ll still wait and say “Courtesy starts from me!” :)

Letting go!!

That look was just enough. Thoughts raced deep within. At that very moment, if somebody heard my heart, this is what they would have said: "Oops…You are too young for such a thought! You silly brat!” Or something close to that. I wouldn't have cared anyways. I just kept looking at her. She looked at me. I can never forget that look. I played the prince. She played the princess. I couldn't turn away from her. My teacher hushed from the side of the stage and showed me signs to look at the audience. I kept looking at the princess. The lengthy dialog ends with me saying, "I'd fight anybody in this world. Would you marry me?" She blushed, smiled and ran away to the back stage. That instant act of hers was not because of shyness, but that’s what the script said. Our teacher had asked her to. She did as our teacher asked her. She was always so. She was the class-topper. I never spoke a word to her, other than this dialog from the English play. This play was a forced attempt of my English teacher, complaining that something has to be done from 5th standard class. I have always liked Sandhya and I very much wanted to be with her. But I neither had the courage nor the thought-process to materialize my precocious thoughts. We had our annual exams and next year, she shifted school. Her parents wanted her to study in a better school. I thought my first love (more of a crush, if u say so) ended right there.

Years passed by. There I was waiting at the transit airport for my next flight, which was delayed. I got a coffee, opened my laptop. Somebody asked "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" I looked up, to see a guy, neatly dressed, wearing specs and standing, with a bag in his hands. I moved my backpack from my next seat to the floor. He said "Thank you". I smiled back. He didn't notice my smile. Rather he was busy, looking around and then waved his hands towards somebody. A nice-looking lady, with a baby-stroller was walking towards him. After she came, he said to the lady "You sit here, let me go and check out the duty-free shop. Uncle loves perfumes!” She sat down. I sighed and continued with what I was trying to do. I didn't think about looking at the lady. 5 minutes went by. Then I slowly turned towards the baby and the lady looked at me. A familiar face. She recognized me and smiled very slowly. That look of her, the same look of the princess. I was shocked. I took my time and smiled.

She: "Hey, You are.......sorry, i don’t remember your name".
I: "I'm Ramji".
She: "Oh yaa yaa, I remember now. How have you been?".
I: "I’m doing well. I didn't expect to see you, leave alone remembering!".
She: "That is true. At times, I sit back and wonder how small is this world "
*I have thought about Sandhya many a time, but I never dreamed that I would meet her, yet another time in my life!*
I: "The baby is so cute."
She: "Thanks. His name is Shanswik. So, what do you do Ramji? Back in school, I remember you used to rank second in the class, next to me".
*She winked*
I: "I am into software"
She: "Oh good, So is Prakash"
*she looked towards the duty-free shop. Prakash must be her husband. Damn that lucky guy!*
I: "Oh, good to know that. So, where are you headed towards?"
She: "To my uncle's place, he lives in Chicago. How about you"
I: "New York. I'm on a business trip"

*I made conscious effort, not to show any of my emotions*
She: "Oh good, so u married?"
I: "Yaa, last year"
*I was instantaneous. She lost the brightness in her face, all of a sudden*
She: "Oh ok. Congrats by the way"
*Just then, the guy with the specs came*
She: "Hey Ramji, meet Prakash - my elder brother. He did his schooling in Delhi. So, you wouldn't have seen him before"
*Shucks! How can I think assume things like that. How silly of myself? I hated myself for a second. *
I: "And Shanswik??"
She: "He is my brother's son. My sister-in-law is coming by tomorrow's flight"
I: "So, you are not married yet?"
*I was as blunt as any idiot can ever be*
She: "No Ramji. Only if you are not married....”
*I was completely taken back. She looked at me. The same look of the princess.*

I: "what?"
She: "I was just kidding, maybe this year I'll get married"

*I was about to say something and the flight announcement took over, without mercy.*

She: "Ok Ramji, it's time for my flight. Nice talking to you"
I: "Ok, you take care"

*She did not ask my contact details. She somehow did not want to keep in touch*

I watched her going. She faded slowly. And then she disappeared. It appeared to me on the second thought, as if she was still following the script of the same play, as we did in school. I simply cursed myself and my assumption about her wedding. And one assumption led me to a spur of thoughts. And some lack of it too! I wondered how the spur of thoughts made me lie to her that I got married. I lost her, yet another time in my life.

I heard the announcement for my flight. Time to keep moving...I moved on, for my flight and in my life.

To be continued....here!

I wonder...

Is Reverence, a Derivative of Predicament or Integral of Rapture, I wonder...

College Reminiscences - Part II

The After Effects - Notorious Tour:



Read this to know from where the following continues:
The following Monday was more exciting for us, than the ''Tour-day' Saturday. Very first hour, our HOD (Head of Department, Computer Science) came to our class. I have always felt she is fond of advising people than doing her duty, I mean teaching. And since I love advices, I like her classes too. After all, advices are much interesting, when you know you don’t have to follow them ;) She started, “Where did you all go on Saturday?” What a question to start the day, I thought to myself. Nobody replied. Then she remained silent for a few moments. She knew our class was one of the hard nut-classes to crack (Not because our class was filled with Nuts!). Then she said that our college management is fully aware of our trip and that we have committed the biggest sin of our lifetime, by arranging for such a trip. She then asked, “Who arranged for this tour?”. The whole class was silent again. There started her advice waterfall. We all were bathing in it, not concerned about the attempt she made to make it serious. Half hour of vain advice. she knew she had to follow a different strategy.

She pointed out people and asked the same question. Still the same response. At least, I was happy with the “Upfront” togetherness of our class (Though “behind the screen” story was a little different). The same afternoon, she brought our VP to our class and we all had our afternoon bath in the same advice waterfall. This time, the advices were flowing with added-force of a waterfall, but nobody seemed to be bothered. After all, the very thought that “This is college and tour is not a crime!” was our strong and silent argument! Then our HOD followed her third strategy. She started with face-face interrogations of a selected few of our classmates. And somehow, she got the required names of those “suspects” or in our words “organizers”.

Things were smooth for the next three days. Everything got back to normalcy and we told to ourselves that this whole tour incident was just another “Scary-movie” attempt by our college! We would have even thought about our next trip, if the Friday evening was normal. We had a seminar at the conference room that evening. Hari and myself took a break from the seminar and strolled around in the campus. As we walked along the corridor and crossed Principal’s office, I saw one of my other classmates “JP”. And he was there with his parents waiting to meet our principal. As we were wondering what brings “reported-sick-on-that-day” JP to college, JP came towards us and told “Its all gone! Our college management has sent a registered post to my home, asking my parents to come and collect the TC (Transfer Certificate). The reason being, me involved in anti-curricular activities!” Oh my, I thought. Hyper-enthu Hari started “Machaa, that’s it da, we are screwed! If it happens to the “nice-guy” JP, imagine our plight! Am sure we’ll have to say good bye to our college. Oh my God, what do we do now?”. As we were discussing, Hari’s parents arrived, with a letter in their hands. Hari looked at me. I looked at him. We knew what was there in the letter. And I looked up and imagined my plight at home. Not only mine, Vijai’s, Bharath’s and Sree’s. And who else?

I rushed home and everything was normal at home, much to my surprise. I was expecting a little tsunami though. That evening, as I sat with my family for dinner, my dad started slowly, “Arun, how are things at college?”. I knew where he is headed towards. Just like a river out of the dam, I told my parents, the entire story (They knew that I had gone on a tour though!). My dad immediately said, “It is Saturday and you guys did not use college name anywhere in the tour. Why is the college bothering you then? You are not kids!” I felt relieved. He also added, “Don’t worry; I’ll come to your college tomorrow. I’ll talk to them. You’ll not have any trouble whatsoever!”

The next day, when I went to college, I came to know that only our “Famous-Five” guys plus “Innocent JP” received this kind of a letter (It must be the last name of JP, which is Prakash that got him to trouble, as Bharath and Sree share the same last name!). The day was pretty dull. Everybody’s parents had to come to college and the difference for our parents is they had a finer letter, with word "TC" mentioned. Finally, our college did not make it bigger than that and our parents had to give an apology letter and an assurance letter, saying that their kids would not involve in any such activity hereon.

Wow!! How much of pleasure do I get to think of it now? All these Nataks, just for a simple one-day tour. I wonder, till date if such an incident would have happened in any other college, around the world! I have always wanted to crib-aloud about this happening, but for some reason, I only end up laughing to myself, when I think of those “Crazy-headed” VP, “left-brain-absented” HOD and the way the whole management handled this tour issue. Such silly folks!! Thanks to them, to have made such a big fuss out of a simple incident, thereby making it a good incident to recollect and a subject to post in my blog!

College Reminiscences - Part I

I have a lot of sweet memories of my college life and I'm just making an effort here to recollect the events, I think were important(to me atleast!).

The Notorious trip!:

This happened during my second year of college. Just like normal group of students, most of my classmates were very much for tours/trips. And whatever happened in our class, it happened by/because of a clique of 5 guys (Myself, Vijai, Bharath, Hari and Sree). We were the ones, who stepped forward (irrespective of the invite!) for anything and everything in our class. We were the ones, who never missed an opportunity to participate in inter-college fests and bag prizes like no others did(I'll reserve a separate post for that!). We were the ones, who brought many ideas to our college, most of which were completely new, back then. A simple one day trip was one such idea. And this trip was planned to a place called Mahabalipuram. We planned it on a saturday and we booked a bus to be on our own for a day.

On the d-day, I woke up at 6am and was getting myself ready for the trip. Just then, my phone rang. I picked up “Yeah”, the voice in the other end said, “Hey Arun, its me Geetha. Are we still on with the Mahabs plan?”. I was a little bemused. Such a right question, but at the wrong time! I asked “Why, what’s the matter? We are very much ON”. Then she said, “Our College Principal called our parents and enquired about the tour it seems”. That’s when I realized that our college officials were not aware of our trip. Of course, at that point, it didn’t really matter to me. I said “Its ok yaar, don’t worry about that. It’s too late to call off the trip now and that too, for such a phone call, which we aren’t even sure if it’s not a hoax. Now, get ready and let’s meet at the agreed place at 9am”.

We all met at a place called Guindy as agreed. There’ll always be delays when just 2 or 3 people meet up. But this was a crowd of 35+. As expected, we had delays. (That I asked a couple of my classmates to wait at a place to meet up and go together and I missed them there and came to Guindy is altogether a different story. I had to cut a sorry face to both the girls, for many more days for that!) After we all met up and got into the bus, we slowly got to know that our principal had not only called Geetha, but a lot other girls. That kinda puzzled me. C’mon, would anybody believe that the principal of a college would call second year students, that too about a one-day trip? I couldn’t simply believe that. “Give me a break guys!”, came the words from many of our mouths, especially from the organizers(Yaa, the same 5 guys!). So, we set off, without looking back.

We had an excellent time. Music, Dance, Fun and what not? We went to a beach. Played like kids, ate like pigs! It was one day we all got to know each other better, outside our regular classroom faces. After all, that’s what tours are meant for. After a terrific three hours at the beach, we travelled to Mahabalipuram and that’s where disaster, in the form of a red van, struck. No, No, it’s not an accident! Vice principal of our college comes in a red van and we saw the same one there at Mahabalipuram, as if waiting for us. One of my classmates(I don’t exactly remember who it was), who alighted first off the bus, at the parking lot, came rushing back to the bus screaming “VP! VP!!”. Somebody sneaked out of one of the bus windows, saw the VP and shut the screens immediately, with the same reaction as the first guy. Our VP was watching all these patiently. With all these chaos, we decided not to get off at Mahabalipuram and rather move to our next destination, a boat club. We had a filmy road-chase (of course, without actions) by the red van. Once our bus stopped at the boat club, the red van was ready, even before us. There’s no point in hiding away. He anyways has seen us. Thinking so, we all got off the bus and walked towards the boats, as the red van sped behind us. We resumed our enjoyment, forgetting all about the red van and our VP. We all had a fantastic day overall. We thought the fun ended right there, but we dint know the real fun is when we get back to college, on Monday.

[For the Real fun Contd, click here]

Ou Langua....

"Thee tit ee perplexi? Yeah, fa me too. An my bla ee goo"...Or in our language, " This title is perplexing? Yeah, for me too. And my blog is good". Still perplexed? This modified english is what myself and Amar(my friend) have been talking, for almost an year. Just like how u'r eye-brows went up and wrinkled on reading the title and the first few lines, so will everybody's, when they heard(or perhaps over-heard) us talking. That was kinda funny and it gave us an inexplicable "feel-good" factor and we continued. Now that, we have been talking in that language for quite some time and reached a comfortable level, I thot i'll write a blog on it as well. After all, every language evolves this way over time and I reckon ours will too ;) Anyways, this language is pretty easy. The name "The Langua", as I call it, is nothing but word "The Language", with the last part removed. In fact, that's how we started this whole language. When u speak English words after you divide it into multiple pronunciable parts and remove the last part, you are actually talking Langua. So, wha do yo thi? Coo? :)


I can see you saying, "What??!!Stop being a jerk". Yaaa, I hear you saying that. But you gotta agree that nobody in this world would get such a crazy idea of inventing (kind of) a new language and that too continue it for more than an year. Just that, am trying to expand it now! So, Now u know what the title reads, don't u?

Change - That's the only thing that doesnt Change!

I just took this photograph(in my mobile) outside my apartment on Friday, 23rd Nov'07 :




And the very next day(Saturday 24th Nov'07), I took this photograph under similar conditions :



Just the number of leaves that had fallen off in a day made me think. I know its just the seasonal change, but somehow it appeared to me that there is a much-stronger inference than that! Can you identify with me here??

I still love you..Dont I??

It was 11pm. He would have slept by now, otherwise. But this was a different day. Not an ordinary one, nor the kind, he is used to. He missed her. Missed her terribly. As a matter of fact, "missing", he felt was an understatement. He could not eat dinner properly. He could not watch the daily news in TV with attention that day, as he normally does. And now, even after rolling in the bed from side to side for more than an hour, he couldn't sleep. All for one reason. He missed her.


He got up from his bed. He looked at the telephone. "Is it not too late to call her", a sudden thought from inside ran across his mind. And a faint imagination of her reply "Whats wrong with you?? Is everything ok there?? why are you calling me at this unearthly hour" came to his mind. Thats what she would say if he calls her now. He knew her better than anybody else did. But nevertheless, she would be happy to talk to him. He missed her regular "Good Night, Sweet Dreams honey". He cant goto sleep without hearing that. He decided and strongly felt, it's ok, if he disturbs her. After all, she is his wife. He walked slowly towards the telephone. He carefully dialed her number. The phone rang. He waited patiently and hoped that she should pick up the phone. She did.

She : "Hello?"
He : "It's me!"
She : "Whats wrong with you?? Is everything ok there?? why are you calling me at this unearthly hour"
He : " I was just thinking about you. I missed you today. Thought I'd call"
She : "You missed me?? C'mon - you are not a kid. You turned 70 last week. And we have been married for 52 years now! We are not any sort of young-romantic couples anymore"
He : "Yeah, I know all that. But I still love you. And Love doesnt stop with age nor time, does it??"
She : "Ok ok c'mon. I have come here, just to be with our grand-kids for 2 days. I'd be back by saturday. Did you take those tablets??
He : "Yeah, I did." *She was thinking about him. It made him happy*
She : "Now, its getting late. Why dont you go and sleep now?"
He : "Hmmm...I will.."
She : "Good night, Sweet Dreams!"
He : "Good night"

She hung up. He talked with her. It was enough for him. He went and slept in minutes!

[This "little-modified story"is dedicated to my grandfather and grandmother, who have been married for over 50 years and they stayed together as happy couples, till they lived. I just wish I be so too!].

Consolidating my thoughts...My Stories..

I mentioned in my first post that I have been writing posts and stories in other sites' too. One such site is hosted by Amar(http://raavionline.com), who has been mine close buddy, for more than 3 years now. A thought just occurred to me, that I should consolidate all the posts/stories I have written so far, into one place or at least give a quick link for readers. So, here we go : For all the stories, click here. For all my posts, click here.

Loneliness..

I have been trying my hands at poetry for a few months now, but this was my first , wrote a few months ago...




I'm not too good at literary translations, but the the below is how I could translate the same in English:

Wringing-wet in New York rain
Trying to see me dry
Realized in pain
How lonely am I...!

I'm Free....hurrah!!

I jumped out of joy! Nobody could stop me now. I feel complete. I feel triumphant. I don’t have anymore commitments for some more days. I’m not bound by anybody. I can do what I want to do, anytime of the day, hereon. I feel the real meaning of freedom and independence. I pity those animals in the zoos, those birds in the cages, those criminals in the jails, for I was feeling like one among them till date. It’s very difficult to live, devoid of freedom/own will. But not anymore. I’m free. I’m the King. I’m the subject. I plan my day. I dictate my doings. I rule myself. I feel good. The coming days are exactly what I have been looking forward for long. I’ll redefine the word “Fun”. I’ll play till my body wears out and aches for rest. I’ll read till my eyes plead for sleep. I’ll sleep till my organs pant for food. I’ll eat till my stomach appeals for rest. I’ll rest till I feel the urge to play. I’ll play my body wears out and aches for rest. These were the thoughts that stormed my mind, in those few moments till I reached home. Every single thought was like happy birds, flying out over Sun rise, in search of food.


I’m just trying to recollect my feelings, as I came out of the Exam hall after my 6th standard Annual Exams and as the summer holidays were beckoning - almost 14 years ago.

O-R-K-U-T....A blessing??....Else??

Orkut - I'm sure it has become a routine(more of a mandatory) activity for many people on a day-to-day basis. I'm an ardent fan of Orkut myself. It makes me pass a great deal of time, whenever I'm completely bored/out of mood to read blogs. I have been thinking to write about Orkut for quite sometime and now that I have a blogspot for myself, I thought I would as well write about it. Maybe a quick analysis. As I think patiently analysing Orkut, the following occured to me:



1. Orkut got me in touch with most of my lost-friends(Most of them, I thought I lost years ago!).

2. Orkut keeps me in touch with almost all the people, whom i consider as either Friends or acquaintances. It keeps me updated about the happenings in their life!(For best of buddies, You always have better ways than orkut)

3. Whenever I get to meet with a "stranger-might-become-a-friend" sort of people, the first thing I'm asked for is my Orkut ID and no problems from then-on, keeping in touch with them.

4. I dont have to remember any of my friend's phone number or their e-mail ID. To touch base with them, all I gotta do is scribble(huh?) on their scrapbook!

5. I have read at many places that it has helped people in their studies, their business networking and even love affairs. So, it does help people!!

6. The testimonials you receive makes you feel better, when you feel low on self!

On the contrary,

7. There's no limit to the extent that orkut can be misused(Evident from the results that turned out, when i googled "Orkut Misuse")

8. Orkut is surprisingly candid for an application. Its wholly up to the user to discriminate what to communicate thru orkut or what not to!(Hey, people are always watching u'r scrapbook!)

9. And you gotta bear with people, who just bragg about themselves thru such a community. Most of them are just there for that!!

10. U gotta deal with annoying Friend Request from anonymous anomalies!

Most of you readers would have thought about all these, one way or the other. Any application or a tool is such - it will have good stuffs to be happy about and irritating features to get rid of, at the same time. And orkut no exception!

- Sincerely,
Just another guy, caught with Orkut Fever !

Florida....Thats wat my mind thinks of now!

This is holiday season. Thanks giving is approaching. That means I hafta plan something. And thanks to my new clients, I have 4 days of leave this upcoming weekend. My mind automatically starts to think of the only state in East coast of US thats been inviting me for long - FLORIDA!! There are quite enough reasons for me to have chosen Florida :

1. If I visit Florida, I would cover full of East coast, as a tourist.
2. This is one of the few holidays, where I get 4 days, which would be sufficient to visit FL by drive from Pennsylvania.
3. This is the right season to visit (would neither be too hot nor too cold).
4. This trip would increase the number of US states I have visited to 25.

Whatever reasons I think, I just wanna visit the southern-most tip of US in the east coast. And this is how I have planned : Four days - 43 hours of driving - 19 hours of sightseeing- 40 hours of rest - infinite fun and memories. I shall write a travelogue, once I'm back. Keep watching this space :)

And by the way, this is the first post from my mobile phone!

Just a Test Drive...My hands on Honda Civic!

Yesterday evening, I went to a Honda showroom nearby to inquire the features/price of 2008 Honda Fit and 2008 Honda Civic. And i test drove both the cars. I have nothing much to write about the Fit, as it was more like a Santro/Getz in India. Very less legroom, minimal engine pickup and a poor visibility from the driver's view point. I tried my hands in the Civic next. Wow!! was my first expression. I felt more like sitting in the cockpit of an airplane. The console of the car is the first thing to catch the eye. To my knowledge, it is the only car featuring a digital speed display in its segment. And the fuel and engine temperature displays are also digital, the brightness of all these things being adjustable. It had a pretty decent legroom. I tried the version with automatic transmission and other basic features like ABS, side airbags, AC, etc., It did not have a moon-roof, which would have made the interiors perfect! Overall, I felt quite amused, at the interior design aspect of this car.

I then started the engine and slowly accelerated the vehicle. It moved as a charm, with minimal noise and pleased me with a very smooth ride. Civic has a 4 cylinder 1.8L engine and 140 hp@ 6300 rpm. I drove over 5 miles and had a 'feel-good' factor falling in my mind slowly. The first 2 miles were as smooth as a butter, as I steered the Civic that way. The next 2 miles, I tried all that I wanted to try. I pressed the metal to the pedal and checked on the engine power. Quite good for a mid-segment car. Not terrific though. I knew Civic is not the car for fast pickups. The steering wheel, seat adjustments, hand rest, power windows and everything around the driver is neatly made, ensuring maximum comfort to the driver. The rear of the car had quite enough legroom as well. As expected, the boot space was quite ample.

Coming to the exterior, almost anybody would not have missed the Civic on the roads. It for sure grabs the attention of an on-looker for a second look. And i found the sleek lines and futuristic style of the exterior fantastic. Overall, its quite an appealing car for around 18K to 20K(USD) range. I'm tempted for sure ;)

One Farmer's suicide every half n hour in India???

I was shocked to see a news with the same headline as the topic of this blog. I read it this morning in Hindu online and it took me a few minutes to digest the fact that its happening in India. One farmer committing suicide every half n hour is not a nice statistical fact like one Apple iphone sold every 6 minutes in the US. This is such a threating figure for a country like India, where agriculture is still one of the prime survival businesses. Suicide is the last thing any human being would want to do and if it happens at this rate, it is indeed mind-swirling. For more info and detailed analysis, click here.

Yesteryears...

That was an early day for the Arjun. Somebody woke him up. But what that somebody did was so smooth and soft that he did not even realize that his sleep was cut half way thru. As he pondered about that, he strolled towards the dining room to see a steaming cup of coffee, ready for him. Thoughtfully, he took a slow, but a relishing sip. Wow! The sugar quantity was perfect. A dark coffee, the way he always loved it. He blissfully took another sip. Another sip. Another one. He moved with the coffee cup towards the living room. His LCD TV switched ON, sensing him. It had a razor sharp display and it was hung to the wall, in such a way that if switched off, the wall behind it would show up, as if there wasn’t any TV in front of it. Neither it had any projector. They called it some “TransLCD” technology. He felt happy to see the TV. The latest news was scrolling down on it. He wished he saw the result of the last night match between India and Pakistan. Alas! The result scrolled up slowly. India lost. He was jubilant though, not for the match result. His new TV worked, as told. He wished he saw the mid-term elections news and there it scrolled. Cool! He said to himself. Smiling, he took the remote and pressed on a button. The floor carpet besides him unfolded and refolded to a neat recliner and puffed up in front of him. He sat on it and looked around.

Now Arjun realized who woke him up and who made the coffee for him, his way. He called out “MyBo….” And a voice came in return “Yes sir, I’m coming and my ETA is 5.45 seconds”. 4 seconds later, he saw MyBo coming in neat uniform steps, as if he is rehearsing for an army parade. Arjun wanted to ask “Can’t you walk better”, but he refrained, because he knew that’s the way MyBo walks. Coming close to him, MyBo said in his crystal-clear voice “Good morning sir. How can I be of help to you?” Arjun replied, “Hey MyBo, whats up for breakfast?”. As MyBo was about to reply, he thought “Why is he so formal today, he can better talk casually, maybe in tamil”. MyBo said “Enna Venum’nu solllunga sir. Edhu venum’naalum pannalaam” (Tell me what do you want sir, I can make any breakfast for you). Arjun took a second to realize that MyBo is talking this good a tamil. He felt so happy for paying so heftily for him. He suggested a breakfast and turned his head towards the TV.

One of his favorite movies occurred to him and there it already started playing in the TV. As he was engrossed in the movie of human characters (which he thought is very rare nowadays), he heard a quick-buzz and MyBo moved a table with breakfast towards Arjun. MyBo neither touched the table, nor the table the ground. MyBo called it as some magnetic-motion based technology. Once the table was right in front of him, Arjun leaned forward towards the table to make him self comfortable. And before he could do so, the table moved towards him making him all the more comfortable and prepared for a sumptuous breakfast. He smiled and consumed his breakfast. Once he was done, MyBo announced, “Sir, your breakfast had 8 mg Protein, 75 Calories, 0 Carbohydrates and 0 Fat”. Thanking MyBo, Arjun got up towards the balcony. He looked up to see the bevy of Airplanes waiting at one of the traffic lights. The traffic was smooth in the other direction though. Arjun thought he can get to office on time today, if he takes the Express flight. That makes only 2 stops. Government had last week imposed a law that people should not fly in their own flights to work. And the government also informed that if somebody takes the public flights to work continuously for a period of 1 year, they get a vacationing package in Mars.

He then looked down to see a train, where passengers alighted at the train station. Both the train as well as the station was hanging on the air. Once all the passengers alighted and walked away, the train shrunk to the size of a miniscule worm and crawled down into the yard. The station quickly disappeared. Arjun wanted to take the train once, but he knew there was a question of affordability. Arjun is decently rich, but trains are not for rich people, he thought. They are for Royal people. Once again, the station formed like an appearing image and a train approached. He saw an old man alight the train. The old man walked slowly, yet confidently. He instantly reminded Arjun of his grandfather.

He slowly thought of the lifestyle, his grand father Arun used to tell him. Those days there never used to be such train stations. All train stations used to fixed in a place. People used to go to a place called ‘Airport’ to take flights. And people drove to work in cars. And they had to be dependent upon centralized satellite agencies to telecast TV programs and they are scheduled too. No Artificial Intelligence in those days. They did not have any MyBo’s back then. Arjun can’t imagine what would happen, if MyBo isn’t with him, even for a single day. But his grandfather has always told him that there were people living together, back then and that’s what makes all the difference. Arjun could only imagine about living with the love and affection of people. All he knew was MyBo and his predecessors. At the back of his mind, though he realized that he is leading nothing more than an automated life, he has got used to his lifestyle too much to just turn back. And he did not want to turn back. His mind slightly got heavy.

As he kept thinking his grandfather’s words, MyBo called for him and said that it is getting late for work. Arjun realized he had his public flight in the next half an hour and in the following hour his house will have to shrink, to make way for peak hour traffic. After all, Arjun knew for today’s population, people can live only with this “SmartShrink” technology. He smiled to himself and walked inside calling “MyBo, what will be my costume for the day?!!”

Blogspire...!!!

For quite sometime now, my favorite activity has been browsing thru blogs. I’m pretty sure a lot of us do so. After burning all my leisure time for online news, mails, messengers, my books and orkut, I still feel my day wouldn’t be complete without blogsing (blogs + browsing). I fumble for words, when I think about how much does the blogs inspire me or rather blogspire (blogs + inspire) me! There are a few blogs that I visit regularly (most of these bloggers are out into the caves sleeping somewhere, but I can mention a couple of my favorite blogspots – http://rja.blogspot.com/ & http://nous-reigns.blogspot.com). As I read thru blogs like this, there is only an unstoppable desire to read thru more blogs. And that desire soon turns out into an unstoppable itch. That kind of itch, which gives me more pleasure, the more I scratch.

And when I reach a pointless point(?), where I can no-longer scratch, this itch turns out into a whole-new inspiration. Yes, an inspiration to write. The same inspiration felt by movie directors or music directors or even authors of books inspired by the ideas of other authors. IMHO, the very word ‘inspiration’ itself is closely similar to ‘Innovation’, but in a slightly different form. No human innovation can happen without being inspired. Hence I’m announcing here that I’m a BIG inspirer of blogs and books. Also, I’m inventing (re-inventing?) the word ‘Blogspiring’, the meaning of which can be thought of as ‘being inspired from other blogs and still coming out with ideas of our own’. And you may not be surprised, if I write stories/posts/articles, after being inspired the books I may read or even from other blogs that I may come across. After all, humans never learn many things by themselves. Just a thought, before I start blobering (blog+blabber?) in my own style.

Finally....my own blog!

After so much of thoughts and fear of hibernation, I'm prepared to give it a shot here in this blorld!( I mean Blog World). I was just pondering, why I should create a blog after all? Just to have a web page for myself (and hoping silently that if somebody googles out my name, this might turn out?) Or maybe, just to tell people that I have a blog spot for myself too? Or maybe to keep myself engaged in writing, as thoughts drip into my mind? Or maybe to write more short- stories?? Or maybe to look back and see how I used to think, after a decade or two? Or maybe not....Whatever is the reason, I have my own blogspot now. All of the above questions maybe the reason for my own blogspot or not even one! Many a time, I have played trivial roles as author of other blogspots, but this is my first baby step in my whole blog world. I just want to keep writing things, that comes to my mind and this is my whole new own world. And yaa before i stop, there is a final disclaimer(for myself though!) - Spur of interests in me has always been short-lived and so shall not be this blogspot!