Tuesday 28 July 2009

Disobeyed command.


Sandeep had just been promoted. He was a major now. Several years at The NDA and then at IMA, he was finally a respected Army officer. Since he could remember, he dreamt of being in the army. He would do Work-outs, for the sole purpose of getting through Army. When his friends studies for Medical or engineering entrance exams, he would join them to the coaching classes, but would get up before the roaster alarm and jog several miles. He would look at himself in the mirror and extend his muscles and smile at his burgeoning shoulders.

His friends would stare at him as if they were looking at a crazy immature boy, about to devastate his own life. He was often asked what if he wasn’t selected for the NDA. He would smile at them nervously and say, “I would, no matter what.”

It was as if heavens were listening to him or some conspiracy by the gods, he was selected.

On the passing out day, he was advised by his superiors-, “As long as you are in the army, never fall in love. Have affairs no issues; even sleep with women, but never harbor sentiments for them. Women always brought pain and That could be the toughest and worst suffering. soldiers aren't meant to be such squishy creatures.” That was Colonel Venugopal who had advised him last.
“No Love shove, puttar”, he had said.
He was immediately posted to a remote border close to POK, infected with deadly Kashmiri militants.
That was more of the reason for the advice he received. It was almost a command, which he very well decided to abide; not that he had any more options.

*************************************************************************************
He met Anjali while on his vacation in Kerala. He had found her standing next to a car on a deserted highway and had stopped his car. He went to her and asked if she needed help. “Yes”, pat came the reply.
It took just ten minutes for him to change the punctured Tyre. As an appreciation she had agreed for a coffee with him. She even attempted to pay for the coffee, but refrained from insisting on seeing his changed facial expression. That was the beginning of a friendship.
Their lovely friendship was such that people all over talked about it. Everyone approved of their closeness; they looked like the most suitable couple if there ever was.

*************************************************************************************
She was the only daughter of a cardiac surgeon settled in America. She was born and brought up there and it was after the need came, when her parents thought of installing certain Indian Culture and values in her that she was asked to stay with her grandparents in India. That was when she had travelled to Kerala. Like every immigrant, her parents too had sought greener pastures but when the time came for their daughter, they insisted that she take lessons the Indian way. “These American youngsters, confused to the word T”, they often proclaimed.
She had overheard her father speak to grandfather, “Achan, we are sending her there so that she could pick some Indian Values. And not teach American customs to Indians”

She smiled when she heard her father say that. Parents can be so over protective, especially when it came to daughters. She had managed to live whole of one week as per the life and values prescribed by her parents. But after a week, she bunged on her own.

************************************************************************************
It took much less time for the cupid to strike; in the form of Sandeep. They met everywhere; Restaurants, coffee shops, Mall, parks.
However, their favorite place was the odyssey book store at the Forum Mall. They bought so many books that the sales assistant was instructed by the manager to order soft drinks when this crazy couple arrived.
They would sit in the food court and talk for hours; about everything under the sun and when the sun decided to set, they would part.
In between, he would suddenly look sad and she would inquire. He would tell her about his Army life; the toughness and the uncertainties that was part of his life.
“ Its difficult, but I know I would be able to face it now.” He had said once.
“And how would you know that you would be able to face it?” she had asked.
“Oh, someone special has entered my life.” She smiled gleefully each time she heard him say that.

*************************************************************************************
They would go to Music world, and he familiarized her with Hindi songs. She appreciated his knowledge of Hindi and his liking for Kishore kumar and Lata duets. They would listen to many of the songs and he would translate the lyrics for her in English. She would laugh at the English he used.
“Kali palak tere gori” became, “Oh beautiful one your beautiful eyes”.
It was during one such musical escapades that she kissed him on his lips.“I must take the reins in my hands now”, she had said laughingly, “else if left to you, you would take an eternity”
She had never thought that she would see him blush, but he blushed beetroot red that day.

*************************************************************************************
Finally, they made plans for their future. He informed her that it would take five years for him to resign his commission. She agreed on the time, she to needed to finish her studies. It would take another five years for that.
He informed his parents about Anjali. They were shocked but soon their shock turned into contentment, when they met her. Anjali captured their imagination of the future daughter-in-law. Her parents too liked him and his family. They decided to accomplish the engagement ceremony.

*************************************************************************************
Their engagement ceremony was held during the last week of his leave. Relatives and friends from all over the globe arrived to attend the function. However, her parents couldn’t make it, but they sent their blessings telephonically.
Colonel Venugopal too had called. “Bachchoo”. He had said. “So you are trapped, huh? Koi Nahi, she is a nice girl, she would bring you luck”.
Sandeep was in profound joy, hearing his mentor say those words. He had tears rolling down his eyes.

*************************************************************************************
His leave finished before hers. The entire families were present at the railway station to send him off. Anjali was in tears. He tried his best to console her, but to no avail. He promised to write to her every day. When the train left the platform, she broke down and cried.
************************************************************************************

They say he died a brave man. He disobeyed his command and went to save his fellow men. The men were saved but he died.
*************************************************************************************
Years later Anjali’s husband could never understand why she broke down every time the Kishore-Lata duet “bohut door muje chale jaana hein” played.





P.S: This story is 75 % mine. I had read a somewhat similar(though,without all those romanticism and Kissing part) story many-many years ago, though the ending and the narrative was different. I have borrowed(Desi-fied) the plot from that unknown story by some Unknown writer( I Think it was an American story); with his permissions.

Click here if you wanna read a story with happy ending. I recommend you to read this.Personally its one of the favorite stories of mine.Sorry about that shameless self promotion....:D

Monday 27 July 2009

And zillionbig ponders over his life and the cosmos !


Caution: Long post ahead, and is high in Philosophy and Physics. All readers who think they are dumb and stoopid can skip this post.

Bloggers who fully read word-by-word of this extremely lengthy and tedious post would be given honorary doctorates, considering their contribution to the field of blogology.



A few days back I left a comment on RAMYA’s blog, which goes something like, ** when i was in high school(11th) we used to talk about astrophysics, and Einstein’s space-time theory and why mass turns to infinity when traveled at the speed of light. Seriously, we were very -very STOOPID**.Ever since I commented on her blog , I have been pondering over my years when I was that age.

In fact, it’s not a lie. When I was all of 15-16, I was part of a gang comprising of Jayesh, Arun and me, the gang of 3 also known as the gang of BUNKERS, since we were champs of class bunking. Our school ground was encircled by a semi-high compound wall and gradually after first few failed attempts to jump-over, became a subject of our effortless cross-overs. Cross-over’s they were since the moment we landed on the outside world, the air seemed to abruptly carry a strange fragrance of liberation. And the liberated moments were spent sneaking furtively into the Cinema theatre, which to our luck always showed an English movie for the noon-show.

And when we were not watching English Adult movies, we could be found chatting; about ASTO-PHYSICS in the most literal form.We had carved our very own existence through the realms of physics and many equations which provided rationale to our notions of existentialism. I remember we used to have heated discussions about how the Universe was created. We discussed about big-bang and what would have happened and how it would have felt if we were to become spectators to the greatest spectacle of natural magnificence.

To tell you the truth, we were totally awestruck by the sheer dimensions of the dimensionless universe. It was also the first instance when we voyaged on a journey far removed from the materialistic terrains of the world that surrounded us, until the very minutes of self-realization and into a world of Mysticism and spirituality. Humbling experience it was, least to say so.
We discussed about how the world wrestled over small territories and possessions over wealth and status, when the real world was before us, that we figured, when we lounged on the terrace of my house, facing the infinite but clear blue sky.

Coming back to Astro-physics, I remember an information which cropped up during our conversation that there were a billion-billion galaxies in the universe, which had over a billion-billion stars, which might have at least a dozen planets like earth, which would have life in it. I remember us discussing about how the distant life would be, and what Mother Nature would have created, in her canvas of artistic endeavor.We were of the opinion that if the distant planet was as old as our planet, the process of evolution might have created a species which might be as intelligent as we were, or even more.

We discussed about Einstein’s Theory of General relativity, and laws of quantum physics. I remember discussing about the strange phenomenon of THE BLACK HOLE, and how a black hole could suck everything that came near to it, not even sparing Light or space. We couldn’t even perceive how a black hole could suck space into it, and our until then notions of space-time was shattered by this Einstein fellow.

Can anyone imagine the Universe to have materialized out of a single point of concentration, which was as small as the word SMALL could get. What was of universe back then, when atoms were not created and how big an explosion it would have been, that it continues to explode at an ever increasing rate, starting from billions of years-The BIG BANG THEORY. How nano seconds after the big-bang the first protons and neutrons were created into a nucleus, and out of some strange mysterious process, electrons started revolving around it to form the first ATOMs. How from a simple Hydrogen atom, complex atoms of metals were created and how we came into being after several billions of years to evolve into a thinking mind and body.

We concluded that the first point-of-concentration of the universe was BRAHMAN( the god form in advaita philosophy), the supreme god almighty and we are all part of it and were atman, connected to the whole(Brahman).There was no other way, but to believe in God since rationale didn’t explain much competently to our inquisitiveness.

We tried hard to envision a world beyond the boundaries of the Universe, which is not yet a part of the universe, Owing to our universe being expanding since the BIG BANG. There was nothing, not even space. Can anyone image a space which was not yet a space. Certainly not our juvenile 15 year old mind.

My 11th standard was also a time when suddenly on a blue moon day, I developed an obsessive desire to know about Ancient Egypt. We three would spend time, searching the thick encyclopedias of our well stocked library and writing notes about mummies and pyramids, and their belief in after life. It was a time when Pharaoh’s captured our imagination and we did a research on King Tutankhamen. We would live and dream about his palace and his court, and the luxuries surrounding the places.

I really don’t know if we were absurd or normal (or paranormal), but this is what we grew up on. Though i haven’t heard from them, my school buddies are all at good places. Arun did his MTech from IIT- Bombay and went on for higher studies and did his research at MIT ( yea, the Massachusetts one). Jayesh is a banker and is with Morgan Stanley, Hongkong. And me, The Zillionbig is blogging before your very eyes.

To quote myself(AHEM, AHEM), ***Life becomes sensible, when figured out through the views of the great men who donned it and To quote Tagore; All men have poetry in their hearts, and it is necessary for them, as much as possible, to express their feelings. For this they must have a medium, moving and pliant, which can refreshingly become their own, age after age. All great languages undergo change. Those languages which resist the spirit of change are doomed and will never produce great harvests of thought and literature. When forms become fixed, the spirit either weakly accepts its imprisonment or rebels. All revolutions consist of the "within" fighting against invasion from "without"... All great human movements are related to some great idea.***

As I sit to write this, I can almost feel the purring sensation of the passage of thoughts in my head. I wonder how good it would be, if I were to make a note of each and every thought that passed my mind. In other words, not a single thought crosses me unregistered and I scrutinize the worth of every single one of them. An impracticable notion, isn’t it? As they say, it’s the thoughts that maketh the Man, I wonder if it’s that small number of thoughts that I discerned, that made ME.

Sunday 26 July 2009

Neha’s Tag- Creativity test tag !!!!



I was tagged by Neha the other day and its a really nice tag. For once i was all happy-happy doing this.

Though I am Zillionbig(sounds odd to me but Unique and hatke it is), my name starts with 'M'. In fact I am called by several names, especially by my wife. When she wants something out of me, I am a convoluted utterance of a name: manukutta, Unni, Unnikutta,Manu(All are affectionate terms, generally used by mothers to calls their sons) …. etc….but otherwise I am Koranga(Mallu for Monkey though it sounds more like Orangutan), badukoos( Less intelligent person, a dimwit), Kazhuthe( Donkey, ASS, Mule or Hinny...wide choices to chose from)…etc…what ironies of life!!

I loved this tag and was smiling all along. I didn’t use a cell of my grey matter, therefore I was truely happy. I love doing things where I don’t have to really use my brain. I hate using my brain. I am scared that I might one day lose all my hairs and go completely BALD by using my brain.I value aesthetics over brainpowr. I like all activates like, eating, watching HINDI movies, Writing blogs etc, which makes zilch use of my brain….Thats ALSO why i hate going to office. My horny Boss treats it as if its a whore.and how i hate it.......lets cut the crap,here goes my answers..

THANKS NEHA FOR THIS.THIS IS AN EXTREMELY EFFICIENT STRESS BUSTER.I FEEL ALL ZEN-ZEN.......I AM FLOATING IN THIN AIR......AAAAAAAHHHHHAAAA


1. What is your name: Man
2. A four Letter Word: Monk
3. A boy's Name: Manish
4. A girl's Name: Mahima
5. An occupation:Mason
6. A colour: Maroon
7. Something you wear: Mask
8. A food: marmalade
9. Something found in the bathroom: mat
10. A place: Malaysia
11. A reason for being late: Migraine headache.
12. Something you shout: MAD @$$hole.
13. A movie title: Manichitratazhu ( mallu movie, one of my all time fav)
14. Something you drink: Martini Dry –James bond ishtyle
15. A musical group: Metallica
16. An animal: Mongoose
17. A street name: M.G Road
18. A type of car: Maserati
19. Something scary: Mosquitoes
20. Ice cream flavour: Mango


And people I tag are……………………………………………………All new friends whom i haven't tagged before and are great lovers of Tags.

Gymnast
Extremity
Nikki
IVY
KADDU
Wandering thoughts

P.S: And Aparna, Jyothi, Sujata, Priya, P, Numero, Rahul, LEB, Abstract, Gay3, Saroj's Panorama......I thought you guys have done millions of tags so far, and would be tired of it...But i would like you guys to try this.:)