For all those who thought MTV was cool:

Well for all you know, I have become sincere. I always arrive before my project guide and usually leave after him. This is also due to the fact that most of the days he isn’t here (he’s been in office only 2 days). On the days that the sun rises from the other side and he decides to come he doesn’t arrive before 11 flashing his red bandana that perfectly matches his ear ring. He considers himself the dude of the place but has competition from others just as annoying as him.
The only saving grace is the coffee and the glimpses (shameless stares) of the good looking VJs that sometimes turn up. Have been trying to get an appointment with the CEO secy for two days and she always sweetly turns me down everytime.

Sharing my train compartment with freshly caught fish and drunken men adds to the stimulating atmosphere that I have been exposed to here. My beer consumption is now down to 2 bottles a week. This has many reasons. One of them is that it costs as much as gold, and the measly stipend does not permit me to have it. Beer is now luxury.I have to travel by bus to the nearest theka. My long journey back from work ends in my room where I meet my marvelously awesome rommie, who is super obsessed with sex and London. So you see my circumstances have completely changed me.

On the weekends that I do plan to travel and see this financial capital of India, that has left me bankrupt, I realize that there are billions like me who wanna do just the same. The trains are a
warehouse of people whose only purpose in life is travelling in trains. The trains come equipped with an automatic push and abuse machine. All you have to do is stand at the entrance and wait for the train to stop so that you can get out. The friendly gestures of men and women behind you make you wanna jump of it even before your platform has arrived.

To add to my fears, there is Jo. I really feel that I will lose my friend, or atleast he will be completely changed. His soul has been deprived on the very basic things in life. He hasn’t had a bite of paranthas for more than 20 days. The kids at Shivaji stadium shoo him away when he goes to play football. His evenings are spent standing in the stadium waiting for a ball to come his way. He tells me that he now manages 5 kicks a day. He getting weaker by the day and there is nothing that I can do, but pray.

When I think about it, my life here has just begun. Or it has just started ending.

The Journey of Life

In a not so distant past, there was no life. It is not that it never existed. It had just disappeared on a sunny afternoon on the streets of everyday existence. Like a small child who gets lost in a busy Khumb ka mela, hoping to be reunited with its long lost brother on a divine date which has been set by destiny. No one knew how it happened. Researchers and scientist from over the world gave their own theories and recommendations and some even gave solutions only to be proven wrong instantly. Life as one wanted had seized to exist.
One unidentified physicist gave his theory on how it all happened. He said that life as we know it was sailing peacefully inside a boy in his third year of college on a small blue planet in the corner of a universe. It had been doing so for 19 years and there was no reason why it couldn’t continue. One day something awkwardly strange happened. The boy felt that he could rule the world and hence get a better life. He felt that there was no power in the world that could stop it from achieving whatever he wanted.
He started his quest by joining an organization that was known all over the universe for developing thought leaders. Here he designed a spacecraft and after 57 exhaustive tests it was ready to make its maiden flight. This spacecraft would help him get a holistic picture of the world he was going to rule. It is believed that this is when life starting decaying. Day by day life was decaying; it was losing the battle against the Spartans of better life. However its condition remained unnoticed to the outside world. Life was depressed and felt unwanted and useless. Life had no life; it had no energy to live. But it continued to survive. It wanted to survive through these tough times and so it drifted along.
All day life would just sit in one corner, feeling dejected and unwanted. The only desire left in the boy was achieving a newer version known as Life 1.01. Hailed by many as a revolutionary idea that would completely change how we live and bring peace and harmony in the universe but considered impossible to attain. it is believed that once this state is achieved the whole universe would topple over and return to its primary state and the quest for a better life will resume without any disruption. And so life will continue to die without ever reaching its death. The boy being very inquisitive wanted to disprove this theory.

( to be continued… )