I must be the world's laziest blogger. Its almost been a year and the only thing I could come up with is story that I was asked to come up with in an hour and a half for my college's committee interview. This was the product of that drowsy early morning:
Here is a story to be told,
One that I cannot withhold,
Although not much I may be,
Am just a mess bhaina you see,
It was that time of the year,
When fresh ones walk in like lost deer,
With a strange look in their eyes,
After they bid Mom & Dad goodbyes,
They turn around and see,
Two years ahead at XIMBee,
I don’t know why they come here,
What this MBA is, is not so clear,
The mess is where I spend my day,
Working hard like animals that bray,
It is only when they come to eat,
The fresh ones do I get to meet,
Although they may not talk to me,
Their lives unfolding I can see,
This story is about one such fellow,
Who seemed to be rather mellow,
Alone he always came to feed,
Eating with not much greed,
After the passing of a few weeks,
Love blossoms & romance reeks,
The fresh ones pair up you see,
And the mess is full of a he and she,
But not so with our fellow,
Who seemed to be rather mellow,
Alone he still came to feed,
Eating with not much greed,
But a change in him I did spy,
A he and she had caught his eye,
A woeful glance he cast on the two,
Realizing it was too late now to woo,
Every meal it was the same story,
A forlorn look at his amoré,
But one day our poor fellow,
Who seemed to be rather mellow,
Walked up to the he and she,
And tried being as friendly as he could be,
But it didn’t go our fellow’s way,
He and she ignored him the next day,
Our fellow’s woe was clear to see,
But the mess is a lonely place as can be,
The lady had shattered his heart,
And the only one who knew handled a mess cart,
Then one day I saw him take out his phone,
And take a photo of the two on his own,
I think that was his way of being with she,
At least that was what was thought by me,
Then one day his phone he left behind,
But I picked it up, being of sound mind,
Just a mess bhaina I might be,
But curiosity got the better of me,
It may not be something that I own,
But I do know how to operate a phone,
I opened the pictures just to see,
How besotted he was with She,
But not a single image was of her,
Images of He were all that there were,
I realised where his heart now lay,
Our fellow was what they call “gay”,
I know I am not very smart,
I just handle a mess cart,
But such a shock it was to me,
To see a He in love with another he,
And that is why I say to thee,
This is a twisted love story.
The other day I was watching a documentary, Inside North Korea, about life inside that country. It was truly fascinating and disturbing. One aspect that truly shocked me was the cult of personality created around the founder of the country and the father of Kim Jong-Il, Kim Il-Sung. Here was a country that is a virtual prison for everyone of its citizens and where basic liberties ,which we in the free world take for granted, are virtually unheard of. But instead of lambasting the man responsible for their miseries and those of some 24 million of their compatriots, the citizens of North Korea revere and worship him. I was disturbed to see hundreds of clearly impoverished and malnourshed people praying and worshipping the man they "fondly" call the "Great Leader". So, a man who leads millions into famines and condemns millions of others to prison camps leaves behind a legacy of the "Great Leader"!!! Made me wonder what would my legacy be?
Of all the things that I am good at and that I have accomplished in my life, I think I could leave behind a legacy of the "Great Procrastinator". Now, I know it does not have the same ring as the "Great Leader" but I have not led anyone to a prison camp. Neither have I ever even dreamt of attacking my neighbour let alone a neighbouring country. What I will leave behind, is a things-to-do list longer than than Rajpath, and a bed which will have my ass print left on it forever from all that lying around I'm so expertly good at. The "Great Procrastinor". Yes, that sounds about right.
So, why is it that I procrastinate? What compels me to let things be? What makes me resist getting off my arse and actually doing something? Is it in in my genes. Well my mom just walked past rushing to get to the kitchen to do get some cooking done before she gives the dog a bath on her day off!! My dad is out getting the carpenter to fix the door before he leaves for a lunch meeting on a Sunday, while I lie here on my bed, in roughly the same position as I was in when I was sleeping a couple of hours ago. So no, its not in my genes. Is that I can't mulitask? Is that I find just breathing in and out tasking enough so as to not have the will do anything else. That can't be it. I flip channels on the remote while eating a bag of chips just fine. So what is it then? To be frank, I couldn't be bothered to delve anymore.
But is it just me? Am I really all that great at the procrastinating I'm bragging about. Sure I pay last month's phone bill by next month's bill's due date. And sure I have taken my dog for a morning walk after my rather stale lunch at 9pm. But am I truly great? The babu in the government office processes my file only after I've forgotten that I had given such a file in the first place. Some of my colleagues have been working on assignments meant to be finished yesterday only since today. And my admit card for CAT 2007 only came along with my results for CAT 2008 for which I had started studying in 2009. So I thinks its fair to conclude, that I am merely average.
I feel that this "quality" which is inherent in some and imbibed by others is the reason that the human race is so "backward". Don't get me wrong, we have progressed a lot but just imagine what could be if instead of a few, everyone got off their lazy arses and did what could be done later today. The news of Christ being born would have been Twittered. The iPod woul have been invented in 1001 and not 2001. WWI and WWII could have been Star Wars I and Star Wars II and George Lucas would be out of ideas for a movie. I would have to merely think to get this blog published instead of having to physically move my lazy fingers. Just think about what could be if everyone could be very unlike me. I could ramble on but I realised something, I have something to do... nothing.
Well, the big day is here. No, I'm not talking about the election results... well in a way I am ..... but rather my first political post. God knows I thought that would be improbable but here I am. Happy that the for the first time, the party that I voted, in my first ever election has returned to power. So congratulations Dr. Singh and Mrs. Gandhi. You have our faith for the next five years.
But more than a victory for the UPA, today is marked by the fact that common sense prevailed over senseless rhetoric and that results of the past are held higher than promises for the future. Everyone would have a reason for why he/she voted for the UPA. The poor farmers would probably have been grateful for the loan waivers. The rural poor would have been impressed by the NREGA. But for me personally it was the nuclear deal. It clearly showed that the UPA government had the foresight to work towards India's energy security rather than beef up our nuclear security deterrent and that it was willing to sacrifice itself for the country's future. And in India where an average politician would sell his soul to the devil to stay in power, a government willing to risk its survival just to see an international agreement go through is enough to warrant it sainthood.
The BJP must be banging its head on the wall trying to fathom the reason for their dismal performance. But is it really that hard to understand? Who wants a party which has a multiple prime minister theory, similar to Boka-naan's multiple captain theory. The KKR is ample proof that such theories don't work! Plus a campaign that only focusses on the negatives of the previous goverment rather than highlight a manifesto with a roadmap for the future is hardly a good way to garner votes. I used to be a BJP supporter. I used to admire Atal Behari Vajpayee and was massively dissappointed when the NDA lost in 2004. Today is a different story for the BJP. AB Vajpayee is gone and what he has left behind are a bunch of infighting, angry "young" (read old, very very old!) men who are not even sure of their Hindutva identity any more.
As for the Left, I must say I have a soft corner for Prakash Karat and his comrades. I don't agree with their idealogy and hated it when they threatened to topple to goverment over the nuclear deal. I think its really sad what they allowed to happen in Nandigram and Singur and perhaps thats why they are paying for their mistakes.
Well, those were my two bits on the topsy turvy results of the Lok Sabha Elections 09. So here's hoping Dr.Singh carries India further forward in the next five years than he did in the last five.
To: The Director & Scriptwriter for Chandni Chowk to China
This is probably the oldest cliche in the book. The celebration of the earth completing a complete revolution around the sun as a monumental point in our lives. Nevertheless, a Happy New Year (albeit belated) to those who read my blog (probably numbering no more than 2).
