A 4 year-old kid was wandering along the corridors of the temple. The temple was quite busy that day and people were pouring in, as it was a special day for the deity and special prayers are being offered. This kid was looking with amusement at one of the sculptures in the pillar. The mother of the kid had walked quite a distance. The kid realized it and ran to catch up with her. Her mother asked to hold her hand to avoid getting lost in the crowd. The kid asked her mother, “Mummy, what’s a special prayer?” The mother just said, “Come in, you’ll know.” They reached the main deity of the temple. The place was already crowded. The mother and the kid somehow squeezed in to find a place to get a good view of the deity.
The crowd was very boisterous. You would have noticed even the otherwise calm temple would turn very noisy and restless on a special day and would look as though it has lost its divinity. The priest had not started the special prayers for the evening. I always wondered why we needed these special prayers. Bribing even the almighty? Everyone in the crowd was eagerly waiting to witness the special prayers offered to God that day. As the clock was ticking, the crowd started enquiring the priest on when the prayers would start. His answer was simply, “It would start.”
The crowd was getting restless on this unusual delay in the prayers and started to murmur among themselves. The priest was also looking very restless, infact he was looking a bit tensed. He kept looking at the doorstep. It appeared as though he was waiting for someone. The temple was actually cramped with people. With even no place to move around, the people felt uneasy and started perspiring a lot. The little kid not used to all these started crying. Her mother had a tough time consoling her. With quite a few kids crying, the place became very noisy and a few started asking the priest to start the prayers. He just said, “Kindly hold on.”
Suddenly there was a little commotion outside too and a well-dressed couple entered the temple. The crowd gave way and the couple went closer to the deity. They came from one of the very well-known families of the city. There was a deafening silence in the crowd for a moment. The couple had sponsored the special prayers today and the priest had no option other than to wait for them to attend the prayers. The priest started acting fast and started the prayers. He started chanting mantras and made it explicitly clear that he was doing this for the well-being of the couple’s family. He kept smiling at the couple everyone now and then, in between his prayers. This pleased the couple too and that was reflected in their smiles.
The crowd now knew the real reason for the delay. They got pissed off and started staring at the couple. Quite a few were cursing them for the delay and debating to themselves on how they could make the God wait just because they were rich. They thought no one was above God. But know one spurt this out. Some kept cursing the priest for his biased behavior and some cursed the couple. Some even tried to get introduced to the couple. All these happened when the priest was offering prayers to the God. None in the crowd seemed to fulfill the purpose was visiting a temple. None prayed whole-heartedly. A few were admiring the couple for their power and a few were cursing them. Some even sympathized themselves that they did not have similar powers as that of the couple.
The couple also felt very happy and satisfied by the kind of attention they got. After the prayers, the priest handed over a special packet to the couple with a very pleasing smile. This pleased the couple all the more.
The couple were satisfied by the kind of treatment they were given. The priest patted himself for his good job. The crowd was agitated by the kind of treatment they were given. The kid wore a confused look, as it was still trying to decipher on what a special prayer is. None of them seemed to serve the purpose of why they were at the temple. None seemed to worship the Lord with peace of mind. They were all held up with materialistic and human thoughts. I used to wonder why the deities at the temples always smile. Is it just a smile or a teasing grin? Or is the deity also trying to please someone? Who knows???!!!! With none paying attention to God, the special prayer was grandeur!!!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Meaningless??!!!
The alarm atop the ambulance was in full swing. The sight of ambulance made everyone in the street feel uneasy. The lady’s face inside the ambulance was as reaction less as possible. She was taking her unconscious husband to the hospital. She was just hoping that some miracle would happen at the hospital, which would make her husband sit upright.
As they reached the hospital, the attenders rushed to the ambulance with stretchers and oxygen to get the patient into the ICU as promptly as possible. They knew that it was not only blood that was oozing out of the patient but also the time. The patient was admitted into the hospital after the normal formalities. He was taken to the ICU. He had met with a tragic accident in the morning and was rushed into the hospital. His wife was standing outside the ICU dumbstruck. She did not know what the outcome would look like and was just standing there prepared to accept anything.
The doctor who attended her husband came out of the ICU with a grave face asking if someone else had accompanied her. When he realized that she was alone, he said that the situation was very critical and anything could be anticipated. The lady was still figuring out on how to react. Was she feeling terrible or was she feeling the pain? Well, she was not able to figure it out herself! She sat down calmly in one of the corners of the waiting room and kept reading some magazines just to kill time. People even found her writing. She encountered quite a few faces frowning at her. Most of them found it strange to see a lady smiling and scribbling something, when her husband was battling for life. Well, that was she!
She made every sincere attempt to rescue her husband from this danger. She would run from pillars to poles for all those medicines. She took extra care to keep a check on the funds and ensured that they were just flowing. Days just passed by but there seemed to be no improvement of the situation. The lady just remained the same way as she was, when her husband was admitted. Neither did she feel the pain nor did she pray for his recovery. But she knew that she was making every sincere attempt to rescue him. She just pooled in money from all corners and ensured that he got the best treatment.
Alas! One fine morning, she had to meet the truth. He was no more. All those days of happiness were gone into thin air. The doctors felt a bit uneasy to explain things to her fearing that she might breakdown. But to their surprise, she did not show any signs of breaking down nor agony. She was just there getting ready to arrange for the funeral. She spent lavishly on the funeral. She spent and spent still she was bankrupt. It was very weird to see a lady not to cry even on her husband’s funeral. Everyone tried hard to make her cry but in vein. When someone warned her on the expenditure, she replied, “For what else do you want me to spend?”. She ensured that her husband had the best last journey.
Now it is one year since her husband passed away. Someone asked her to invite all the associates for the first death anniversary ceremony. She promptly replied, “Don’t feel like wasting money on this. Let’s have only our family for the occasion. Why waste money on this?” Well, is this the same lady who did not care about the hospital or funeral expenditure a year ago? Is this the same lady who thought her husband should get the best, even though she was not sure if the funeral rituals really carried any meaning? Now inviting a few more people for the anniversary seemed waste of money for her. The rituals seemed to be so meaningless for her. Did time change her? Well, no one knows including her own soul!!!
As they reached the hospital, the attenders rushed to the ambulance with stretchers and oxygen to get the patient into the ICU as promptly as possible. They knew that it was not only blood that was oozing out of the patient but also the time. The patient was admitted into the hospital after the normal formalities. He was taken to the ICU. He had met with a tragic accident in the morning and was rushed into the hospital. His wife was standing outside the ICU dumbstruck. She did not know what the outcome would look like and was just standing there prepared to accept anything.
The doctor who attended her husband came out of the ICU with a grave face asking if someone else had accompanied her. When he realized that she was alone, he said that the situation was very critical and anything could be anticipated. The lady was still figuring out on how to react. Was she feeling terrible or was she feeling the pain? Well, she was not able to figure it out herself! She sat down calmly in one of the corners of the waiting room and kept reading some magazines just to kill time. People even found her writing. She encountered quite a few faces frowning at her. Most of them found it strange to see a lady smiling and scribbling something, when her husband was battling for life. Well, that was she!
She made every sincere attempt to rescue her husband from this danger. She would run from pillars to poles for all those medicines. She took extra care to keep a check on the funds and ensured that they were just flowing. Days just passed by but there seemed to be no improvement of the situation. The lady just remained the same way as she was, when her husband was admitted. Neither did she feel the pain nor did she pray for his recovery. But she knew that she was making every sincere attempt to rescue him. She just pooled in money from all corners and ensured that he got the best treatment.
Alas! One fine morning, she had to meet the truth. He was no more. All those days of happiness were gone into thin air. The doctors felt a bit uneasy to explain things to her fearing that she might breakdown. But to their surprise, she did not show any signs of breaking down nor agony. She was just there getting ready to arrange for the funeral. She spent lavishly on the funeral. She spent and spent still she was bankrupt. It was very weird to see a lady not to cry even on her husband’s funeral. Everyone tried hard to make her cry but in vein. When someone warned her on the expenditure, she replied, “For what else do you want me to spend?”. She ensured that her husband had the best last journey.
Now it is one year since her husband passed away. Someone asked her to invite all the associates for the first death anniversary ceremony. She promptly replied, “Don’t feel like wasting money on this. Let’s have only our family for the occasion. Why waste money on this?” Well, is this the same lady who did not care about the hospital or funeral expenditure a year ago? Is this the same lady who thought her husband should get the best, even though she was not sure if the funeral rituals really carried any meaning? Now inviting a few more people for the anniversary seemed waste of money for her. The rituals seemed to be so meaningless for her. Did time change her? Well, no one knows including her own soul!!!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Dinner
It was one of those dinners that everyone was waiting for. Guru was known among his friends to host lavish dinners. It is so funny to believe that the best way to please a person is to satiate his hunger. A good food to counter one’s appetite would appease even the mightiest man’s ego. The best way to get a work done from a person is to offer him a sumptuous food and you can be assured of the rest. Good food still seems to be the most effective bribe.
Every dinner or lunch that is hosted will have a meaning associated with it. So did Guru’s. He was trying to please his client, Ric in the pretext of introducing him to the Indian culture. Guru had also called his close associates to dine along. The phrase “close associates” has a lot of inferences attached to it. If anyone can lift your face value, then he becomes your close associate. There were quite a few close associates in the dinner.
Guru was busy explaining Ric on how to eat a pani puri and advantages of using hands to dine. A sudden gush of patriotism spread all over him, when he explained these things to Ric. You must have noticed that most of us would revive our lost patriotism only when we talk to a foreigner and explain him things as though we represent the whole India.
As he was explaining this to Ric, he could sense that Ric was slowing losing concentration and was gazing at an awesomely beautiful lady. She was Sahana, Guru’s wife. She joined them to enquire if Ric liked the food. Wherever she went, she is known to leave a few curved lips behind. She was known for her elegance. There were a very few, who would find a reason not to like her. Theirs was a love marriage. A perfect couple who were admired cutting across prejudices.
Sahana married a middles-class cable operator, Gurumoorthy Subramanian. Then Gurumoorthy rose to become the CEO of a satellite TV and now Guru owns the most popular channel of India. It is worth observing that as a man’s popularity increases, his name shortens! Or is it the other way round?!
Though Guru hosted such lavish parties, he was an extreme introvert and so was Sahana. The changing trends and business demanded them to be social. Sahana was feeling totally out of place and was just gazing around to find anyone worthwhile to talk with. She could see gentlemen involved in what you would call male-talks and pretending to be intelligent. She could find a lot a ladies discussing on issues ranging from fashions, trends to stock markets. Lots of them were boozing too. She knew that not many in the crowd would be happy with people boozing around but still pretended to be comfortable. After all they have to reinstate that they are a social animal, you see! She knew that many were totally ignorant on many of the topics that were discussed but still made it a point to voice their views. They are here to display their intelligence and smartness, you know! She herself was not happy hosting parties of these kinds. She would prefer a quiet candle-lit dinner with her family to this one. So would her husband. But she needed to do this. Socializing was the ask of the day. She knew not a single person in the room were their own self. Everyone pretended to be someone else, someone smarter, someone cleverer. Everyone were wearing a mask, beneath which lay the real self. No one had the courage to throw away the mask and be their own self. The craving to be someone else had hit the peak now.
At the balcony, Vishal, her 8-year-old son, was too busy boasting to a kid how this toy gun was superior to the kid’s. She just grinned to herself on how much this attempt to socialize had impacted an 8-year-old. She suddenly noticed that she was not the only person observing Vishal. Guru was also observing him from another corner of the room. They smiled at each other realizing that the business empire they had built would grow leaps and bounds in the future in the safe hands of Vishal! With no one being their own self, the proceedings turned out to be grandeur!
Every dinner or lunch that is hosted will have a meaning associated with it. So did Guru’s. He was trying to please his client, Ric in the pretext of introducing him to the Indian culture. Guru had also called his close associates to dine along. The phrase “close associates” has a lot of inferences attached to it. If anyone can lift your face value, then he becomes your close associate. There were quite a few close associates in the dinner.
Guru was busy explaining Ric on how to eat a pani puri and advantages of using hands to dine. A sudden gush of patriotism spread all over him, when he explained these things to Ric. You must have noticed that most of us would revive our lost patriotism only when we talk to a foreigner and explain him things as though we represent the whole India.
As he was explaining this to Ric, he could sense that Ric was slowing losing concentration and was gazing at an awesomely beautiful lady. She was Sahana, Guru’s wife. She joined them to enquire if Ric liked the food. Wherever she went, she is known to leave a few curved lips behind. She was known for her elegance. There were a very few, who would find a reason not to like her. Theirs was a love marriage. A perfect couple who were admired cutting across prejudices.
Sahana married a middles-class cable operator, Gurumoorthy Subramanian. Then Gurumoorthy rose to become the CEO of a satellite TV and now Guru owns the most popular channel of India. It is worth observing that as a man’s popularity increases, his name shortens! Or is it the other way round?!
Though Guru hosted such lavish parties, he was an extreme introvert and so was Sahana. The changing trends and business demanded them to be social. Sahana was feeling totally out of place and was just gazing around to find anyone worthwhile to talk with. She could see gentlemen involved in what you would call male-talks and pretending to be intelligent. She could find a lot a ladies discussing on issues ranging from fashions, trends to stock markets. Lots of them were boozing too. She knew that not many in the crowd would be happy with people boozing around but still pretended to be comfortable. After all they have to reinstate that they are a social animal, you see! She knew that many were totally ignorant on many of the topics that were discussed but still made it a point to voice their views. They are here to display their intelligence and smartness, you know! She herself was not happy hosting parties of these kinds. She would prefer a quiet candle-lit dinner with her family to this one. So would her husband. But she needed to do this. Socializing was the ask of the day. She knew not a single person in the room were their own self. Everyone pretended to be someone else, someone smarter, someone cleverer. Everyone were wearing a mask, beneath which lay the real self. No one had the courage to throw away the mask and be their own self. The craving to be someone else had hit the peak now.
At the balcony, Vishal, her 8-year-old son, was too busy boasting to a kid how this toy gun was superior to the kid’s. She just grinned to herself on how much this attempt to socialize had impacted an 8-year-old. She suddenly noticed that she was not the only person observing Vishal. Guru was also observing him from another corner of the room. They smiled at each other realizing that the business empire they had built would grow leaps and bounds in the future in the safe hands of Vishal! With no one being their own self, the proceedings turned out to be grandeur!
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