Wednesday 2 June 2010

Man(iac) Kind

On fellow man
Had we trust
That too has gone
Up in dust

Look around you,
Lives are being taken
Time has come
For us to reawaken

Spared has violence
Not one!
People, oh People!
What have we done!

A father kills
His own daughter
Reduced has the world
To a house of slaughter

What can I do
I ask
Changing the world
Has become a Herculean task

I cannot help
But weep
I want to go into
Eternal sleep

I am not ashamed
To say
In this world,
I am afraid to stay

 - Shreerag

Saturday 15 May 2010

Arguments and comebacks that one would normally find being used by teenagers

1)      The comeback that makes no sense but insults the crap out of you: The guy with the comeback has nothing substantial to say that is related to the argument and instead insults the crap out of the other guy. This normally works as people are retarded enough to believe that an argument is won just by letting lose barrage of profanities.
EXAMPLE:  
Guy 1: dude, Manchester United played like shit yesterday. Their defense tactics were seriously messed up.
Guy 2 (die hard Manchester united fan whose world starts and ends with MAN U .) : U BLODDY PRICK , GOOD FOR NOTHING SHITBAG , I’M GONNA  SMASH YOUR FACE TO PULP SO BAD THAT EVEN YOUR MOMMA IS NOT GONNA RECOGNIZE YOU! MOFO !
Guy 3(random onlooker): guy1 got owned so bad!

2)      The comeback which is nothing but what you just said.:
EXAMPLE:
Guy 1: dude! You are such a bas***d
Guy2 : YEAH ! ,you know what. You..you…YOU are the bas***d. HA!
Guy1: WTF.

3)      The comeback that makes use of your past embarrassing moments:  Again, the guy has nothing to say and to divert attention brings back to light past moments that most people probably forgot.

EXAMPLE:
Guy1: dude! Do u have shit for brains? What kind of an ass are you to think that the earth is flat?
Guy 2: hey, remember in second grade when you crapped your pants in front of the whole class.
Surrounding people: HAHAHA!
This comeback effectively diverts people’s attention from the fact that Guy 1 is highly stupid.

4)      The Punch In The Face/Kick In The Balls: Consider yourself dumb if you need an explanation/example for this.

5)      The comeback that tries to use logic:
EXAMPLE:
Guy1: dude, Justin Bieber is gay and you’re gay for liking him.
Guy2: Shut Up!! Justin is awesome!
Guy1: you should probably marry him and live happily ever after then.
Guy2: wait , you first called me and Justin gay and now you are telling me to get married to him. Don’t you know that gay marriage is illegal! DUH! Ha! Get your facts right next time.
Guy1 uses comeback no.4
Note: comeback no.4 and no.5 go well together.

6)      The ‘YOUR MOM’ comeback: This comeback is supreme and rules over all other comebacks. The insult and shame that follows the person on whom this comeback is used is so great that he should probably never open his mouth again and just die in disgrace. Even if the guy appears to be losing an argument, by using this comeback he wins any argument however deeply buried in shit he might have been.
EXAMPLE:
Guy1:  dude, what are you doing tonight other than watching your stupid team MAN.U. lose?
Guy2 : I’m doing YOUR MOM

Guy1: You want to know who is more gay than you ?
Guy2: YOUR MOM!

Guy2: you’re such a nerd that no girl would ever sleep with you.
Guy1: last night, YOUR MOM thought so otherwise.


Adiya Rao

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Herada File Part 4

“You know who killed them?” There’s no way.
“Yes. I’m not sure but I think I have it all figured out.” said the Inspector. “Round up everybody tomorrow. But before that I need to talk to talk to some people…”

Of course he told me who the killer is but, there is a time and a place for everything. Without suspense, this story would be useless. At the end of this Part, all will be revealed.
The next day was very hectic. All the people involved in the case had to be rounded up. We made them assemble in the school assembly area.

“Good morning everybody.” said the CI in his most excited voice yet. “You may wonder why I have made you assemble here on such short notice. We have solved the case.” Gasps went around.

“Yes, after careful research and many problems along the way, we have found the killer.” I said.

“Our first clue came when the forensic report showed that the time of HANGING was around 9-10 pm.” said the CI. “The actual time of death was much earlier. By the looks of it, it was around 2 hours before that. That made me wonder, why would a person kill another of his kind and wait 2 hours to set up the crime scene? But we will get to that later.”

“Alibis for all the people involved here are pretty good. Some were so good, we got suspicious.” I said. “I looked into many of the alibis and had them confirmed myself. Interestingly, the weakest of all alibis fell through. Mr. Sen, if you noticed is not present with us. His excuse of being at the bar that day has been disproved by a friend who he had payed to keep quiet. He has given a confession that it was him who hanged the boy.”

“What? He is the killer?” asked Principal Verma.

“Gill said hanged ma’am. The person who hanged the boy and the killer are two different people. Mr. Sen was merely an accomplice to murder. We figured this out by the boy’s autopsy report, which had an interesting connection with Mr. Gupta’s autopsy report. Both indicated an MO(Method Of) that with a feminine touch. Yes, our killer was a woman.” Everybody jumped.

“The hanging was done as a way to create a solid alibi for the killer. This was why Mr. Sen was involved. This got us thinking. Why would someone help out another person to this extent? Using our, uh methods, we got the answer out of him.”

“He was having an affair with the killer. Love can make us do some crazy things. Now we knew the person, but we didn’t have a motive. The whole affair thing got us thinking again, what if this was person’s first affair.”

“Mr. Gupta was a wealthy man.” I said. “What was stopping him from getting some action on the side?”
“No way, my husband was perfectly clean. He didn’t have an affair with anyone.” said Mrs. Gupta.
“That was precisely what I went into the city to investigate. I discovered that a certain someone used to live in the city till about two years ago. And true enough, Mr. Gupta had a flat rented in her name, the money for which came from his personal bank accounts.”

“Our first suspect was Ms. Das. Her ‘personal problem’ haunted us a lot. But it turned out that the problem was financial. She had lost a lot of money to a gambling vice. Ms. Das and Principal Verma were discussing how to get her out of this habit that day. If you had told us this before, you wouldn’t have been our prime suspect.”
“Sorry about that, I didn’t want anybody finding out about that little incident.” said Ms Das.
“Well, we all have our own vices ma’am. But that shouldn’t stop you from withholding information from an ongoing murder investigation. This little piece of information was very significant as, if we hadn’t gone behind it, we wouldn’t have cracked the case.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ms. Das.

“Alibis in this case were pretty weak. Providing alibi for a murder is a hard thing to do. But your discussion served its purpose didn’t it, Ms. Verma?” Everybody’s eyes faced the Principal.

“What?” asked the Principal.
“Discussing personal problems gave you the perfect cover for the time of hanging didn’t it Ms. Verma? Yes, Principal Verma is our esteemed killer.”

“What proof do you have?”
“Ah!” I said. “So you’re not denying it then?”
“Uhm, no..no of course I didn’t do it.”

“No use denying it ma’am. We have proof. You have no alibi for the time of death and a motive for murder as well as a very reliable witness. Confess to your crime and maybe the punishment would be a little less.”

“Haha…” Ms. Verma started laughing. A cold and almost psycho laugh. Her eyes had a very cruel glint. “Yes, I did it. I killed the boy and his father. The stupid fool betrayed me. He said he’ll leave his wife for me, but he just left. I was crushed, my heart wanted revenge. I calmed myself by going to therapy but when I saw Jai Gupta’s picture on the school roster, revenge consumed me once again. Killing the boy dragged HIM here. And then that stupid Mr. Sen was easy to twist around. But killing Gupta has thoroughly enjoyable.”

“The crime wouldn't have been solved if you had chosen your alibi properly, Ms. Verma. The term personal problem was what made us investigate through those lines. Your alibi during Mr. Gupta’s murder was very week. Carelessness lost you a perfect crime. Take her away Gill.”

Ms. Verma was sent sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with no chance for parole. After that life became boring again.

Killer’s Mind:
My reasons may not have been the most justified, but I did what I had to do. There are no justifiable causes for murder – except to save the innocent. I hope my story taught you something. Killing never solves anything.
Yeah right, although murder never goes unpunished, it has its own rewards. I would have been driven insane(although I’m there already, I guess) if I hadn’t killed that man.
Who knows…maybe I can commit another one!


THE END

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Herada File - Part 3

Note to readers:
I’m very sorry about the delay but I got tied up in exams and stuff. Please forgive me and continue to read the blog. No more delays expected. This part of the story is dedicated to a few people: Aishwarya Parthasarathy, who claims to be my fan and was the first one to read my story and Shweta Daryani, who helped me in some other writing ventures and actually took the time out to read this story. I would also like to thank everyone who read the other two parts and hope you all enjoy this one. Now on to the story………………….

 SI Gill:

Today is shaping up to be exciting. A father and a son murdered. I wonder who it is? My superior most probably has no clue as to who it is, not that I do of course.

“What do you think, sir?” I said in the car on the way over to the crime scene. “Any suspects?”

“All are suspects, Gill. No one can be narrowed down. Although all have alibis, I’m still very suspicious.”
“Not all alibis check out….”
“Exactly.”
By the time we arrived the crime scene, everybody was there already. That too everyone was in the room where the crime took place! Word of advice from a trained professional : Crime scenes are to be dealt with by police, all non-police are burdens who destroy evidence.
“Whats everybody doing in this room?” I asked. “Doesn’t anybody know that crime scenes should be left to the professionals?”
“Sorry sir.” Said the Principal.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Verma.” Said the CI.
“Actually it’s Ms. Verma, I’m not married.”
“Really?” was that a smile on his face?
“Sir, a dead body.”
“Yes, yes. Looks all clear to me. Stab to the neck. Looks like our killer has a fondness to the neck.”
“What makes you think this is the same guy?” asked Mr. Sen.
“Just a guess. By the way, where were you when this happened Mrs. Gupta?” asked the CI.
“I was with Principal Verma looking at all the old photos of Jai.”
Great now we will have to make the whole alibi list again. Its going to fall on my head only I’m sure.
“Yes, thank you. Ms. Verma, where are the students that are supposed to be residing in this hostel?” asked the CI.
“I told them to stay in their rooms.”
“Good thinking. No reason in giving them nightmares about a crime scene.” Apparently this guy doesn’t know about this generation…. “Tomorrow we will have to take a whole new batch of interviews. This time it will be conducted by Gill alone.”
“What?” I asked. This guy is mad. “Why what are you doing?”
“I have to go to the city and conduct some research. Don’t worry you can handle it here.”
Sure leave me to do the boring interviews while you go frolicking in the city. What an exciting day tomorrow is going to be.

Interviews started and ended as usual. Many anomalies were detected as all the facts were not as given. The principal again refused to cooperate on the whole personal problem concerning Ms. Das. The final conclusions drawn were:
1.      1. People living at the hostel all had alibis for both murders. Some were very suspicious and others were too clean.
2.      2. Personal problem between Ms. Das and Mrs. Verma is still shrouded in mystery.
3.      3. After interview with Jai’s friends, it was found that he was not very liked. According to them, he was very pompous and rude. But this doesn’t qualify for a motive for murder.
4.      4. Relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Gupta was, as much as to her opinion, not that bad. He was a very hard worker and didn’t come home till late 10.
5.      5. Mr. Gupta owned a very successful business in the city by the name of Gupta Exporters Inc. The business could have resulted in many enemies, who could have easily snuck in and killed off the both of them.

By the time my interviews were done, the CI had returned. I asked what the hell he was doing leaving me to those boring interviews…..okay maybe not in those exact words…
“Hello sir. How was the city? Found anything interesting?” ok I’m a bit of a suck up.
“Yes, you can say that. I’m not that sure yet, but I think I know who the killer is……”


Killer’s Mind:
They say in death, all questions are answered. I hope those two got their questions answered. Many may think I had no valid reason for killing a child but then again, who needs a valid reason? The boy was a mere causality on my path to redemption. My only objective for killing the boy was to attract his father to this place. The blade I had reserved for him was thirsty. My inner thirst only grew when I saw the name of the father in the parent’s registry. Plan was set, time was now. No looking back.


Wednesday 3 February 2010

The Herada File - Part 2

SI Gill:
“What?! Why do you say that?” asked Principal Verma.
“Gill, why don’t you take this one.” said the CI.
“Okay. Have you ever seen a suicide victim? Have anyone seen for that matter”
“No.” they all said in chorus. I find this very weird. I mean a school staff and all……
“Anyway, when a person is hanged vertically, the mark on the neck will indicate it. The marks will go upwards in a V-shape. But here…..”
“The marks are horizontal!” said, surprisingly, Ms. Das.
“Yes.” said the CI. “It was almost as if someone came from behind, put a rope around his neck and strangled the life out of him.”
“Oh my God! This is great! Just great! Just what I need.” Said Verma looking sarcastic(I should know). “The school’s reputation, which I spent years making…..poof!”

I don’t understand how she is taking this so angrily for? I mean this could result in a lot of publicity. I would be overjoyed if anything like this happened in my school…ok now I’m just being insensitive.

“Calm down ma’am.” I said. “Sir, do we need to release this to the press yet?”
“Uh, what? No not yet. Declare a holiday in school….” He paused as though something had hit him hard. He finally looked sort of interested.”But wait today is a holiday, isn’t it? In fact the next few days are holidays. Dussehra, I believe. Why doesn’t that strike me as a coincidence?”
“You think this was deliberately committed on this day?” I asked.
“I do. Suspicious isn’t it? Three days of holiday for Dussehra and then the weekend totally 5 days and on the second of those holidays a murder. Why was the victim here in the first place?”
“He had a special class. Some of his friends and him are participating in the Robotics competition and they stayed back to build the robot.” said Mr. Sen. Finally one of those teachers talk. Mrs. Das still looked nauseous.
“Okay. Now Gill, call the forensics dept. and the coroners. Tell them it’s urgent.”
“Yes sir.” I said and took out my mobile.
“Sir” started Principal Verma “should I inform the parents?”
“You haven’t done that yet? Please go tell them to come immediately. Oh yeah, Mrs. Verma, I’ll need to conduct some interviews with you, your staff and some of the victim’s friends. Is that going to be a problem?” asked the CI.
“No problem. Do you want to start now or….?”
“No, not now. First the forensic department has to examine the crime scene. Did you call them Gill?”
“I think they’ll get here in about 5 minutes.”

The forensic department like all police departments in India arrived 20 minutes late. There search was pretty routine and didn’t find anything new. Preliminary reports of the coroner confirmed our theory about murder. The coroner also put the time of death to be approximately between 9 to 10 yesterday night. The body was sent to the morgue for autopsy right after the arrival of the parents.

Interviews began with a bang. The most boring part of my job is nothing but interviews. People say the most minor things in interviews (like what they had for lunch, I mean why would anyone want to know that?). A good officer can take out the unnecessary details and bring out the clean hard facts. Sometimes it’s the most minor of things that get a killer caught.

I’m not going to bore you with the whole interviews that took place but I will give the details in a very organized form as I had to write in my report. The first to be interviewed was the janitor Mr. Qureshi, then the Principal, the two teachers, the parents and finally the three students who stayed back to build their robot.

Name: Jalaludin Qureshi
Occupation: Janitor
Relation to victim: None
Age: 52
Alibi: Left school at 5 after Ms. Das asked him to leave the robotics team alone. During the time of murder, suspect was at home with wife and children. Goes to bed around 9:30 and wife can confirm.
Notes: Could have snuck out at 9:30 and come in again.

Name: Girija Verma
Occupation: Principal
Relation to victim: None
Age: 45
Alibi: Was in the school till 4. Goes to bed at 10:30 sharp due to military habits taught by father. Was with Ms. Das discussing some personal issues till 10. Alibi confirmed.
Notes: Very reluctant about ‘personal issues’ talk with Ms. Das.

Name: Achintakumar Sen
Occupation: Mathematics Teacher
Relation to victim: Class Teacher
Age: 38
Alibi: Left school at 4 and went home. Was in Herdy’s Bar from 7 till 11. Witnesses found for presence. Alibi confirmed.
Notes: Very easy to escape from a bar, with all the drunks around.

Name: Kritika Das
Occupation: Physics Teacher
Relation to victim: Robotics Advisor
Age: 32
Alibi: Left school at 6. Presumably one of the last to see the victim alive. From 9 to 10 was with Mrs. Verma discussing ‘personal problems’. Alibi confirmed.
Notes: Even after persuasion did not say what ‘personal issues’ were.

By the time we finished those interviews, it was already 4 in the evening. CI was getting bored and nothing new had come out of the suspects except the whole ‘personal issue’ thing. I wonder what it was? All of them had acceptable alibis. Mr. Sen’s was the only one that worried me. We still had the parents and the friends left.

“Sir don’t you think it’s time we wrapped things up here?” I suggested when I caught him looking at the clock.
“You read my mind. I guess we should say goodbye to the Principal then.” Said the CI. Was it just me or was the CI taking a special interest to the Principal? Mrs. Verma was waiting outside the classroom we were using for interviews.
“Inspector! I’ll send the next person….” started Verma.
“That will be all for today Mrs Verma. We will continue tomorrow. Have sleeping arrangements been made for the parents?” asked the CI.
“Yes. They are staying at the hostel.”
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye!”
“I’ll see you to the door.”
“Thank you. Come along Gill we have a lot of work to do. Filling and all.”
“Yes sir.” I said. I don’t think you should know what I thought!

Killer’s Mind:
The detectives are good. They found out it was not a suicide so fast. Well, everything can’t go as and how you plan can it? But at least the parents came. That part played out exactly as planned. I’ve waited for so long now I can have revenge.

Thankfully the better half of the couple was with the teachers admiring photos of the dead boy. I am ready. Poised to strike. Knife in my hand. I had thought to myself that there was no point in making it look like a suicide since…well…the boy’s murder was caught so easily. How could I be so careless. Hours of planning all gone to waste! But what is done is done. Time to find my peace.

Look at that! Son has just been killed and my victim is playing on a laptop. Typical. Good for me, back is turned. I entered the room carefully lifted the knife and thrust it to the victim’s throat. Only one word escaped…. “You?!” Yes, me.

SI Gill:
Paperwork is such a drag. I can’t believe that CI left me to do this all alone. Huh? Who phones at this late hour…oh its only 8 o’clock.

“Hello?” I said in a very unprofessional sleepy voice. What do you expect from a guy who has been filling for three hours…
“This is Principal Verma. There’s been an incident….again!” I’m trying to remember a time when I picked up a phone and it wasn’t her!
 “Again? What happened?”
“Mr. Gupta was, uh murdered!”
To be continued…………………………………………………..

Wednesday 27 January 2010

The Herada File - Part 1

Sub-Inspector Gill:
A call this early in the morning?! It’s barely seven! I guess crime really dosen’t sleep. I wish could say the same for crime-fighters!
“Hello?!” I asked in a sleepy voice.
“Is this the Circle Inspector’s office?”said a female voice. She sounded very disturbed. Or 
was it hunger??!! No definitely disturbed…
“Yes. I’m sorry he hasn’t gotten here yet. Is it anything important?”
“ I’m Principal Verma from the Herada Private School. There’s been an incident. This boy had gone missing since yesterday.”
“Okay did you search the school?”
“Yes. We….we found him…he was dead!”
“What??!!”  I jumped out of my chair. The phone almost fell “He was dead? Okay. Don’t let anyone touch anything. It’s a crime scene you understand….”
“Okay. Should I inform the parents yet?”
“That is really not my. It would be best if you asked the CI himself. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
Wow! Seven and already a dead body. It’s going to be an interesting day.
“Ah!” I said as CI Fernandez entered the station. ”You’re here, sir! There’s a dead body at HPS.”
“Really? Wow!” he said in a thoroughly bored expression. I guess that’s what experience in this field brings….boredom at the sound of death.
“Shouldn’t we go there?”
“Wait. I haven’t even had my morning tea yet. The guys dead, right? He’s not going anywhere.”
“But…what about….”
“Shut up and get me some tea.”


After the whole ordeal of the Inspector’s morning routine we set out to the school. Thankfully the school was only a few kilometers away and we got there in 10 minutes time. Principal Verma was waiting for us at the front of the school. There were three others with her - Teachers, most probably, and what looked like a janitor.


“Principal Verma? Hi, I’m CI Jacob Fernandez. This is SI Bholanath Gill. I believe you talked on the phone with him? Now, what is this I hear about a dead body and who are these people?” asked the CI in one stretch.
“Yes I’m Principal Verma. This is Mr. Sen and Ms. Das, teachers and Mr. Qureshi the janitor.” she said. “The dead boy was a student here- Jai Gupta. We found him in a top floor classroom.”


We went up the stairs to the top floor. In classroom 10-N was the lifeless body of Jai Gupta. He was lying in what looked like school clothes. Shock spread through his face. A rope was around his neck.  A fan was lying tied to the rope – suicide(I think I mean how ca I be sure....).


“Clear suicide.” said Fernandez, again bored. “Most probably couldn’t handle the pressure of upcoming boards or something. His weight must have made the fan to fall.”
Something doesn’t seem right here…..maybe I’ve been watching too many detective movies….


“Who found the body?” I asked.
“The janitor, Qureshi.”
“Mr. Qureshi, when did you find the body?” asked Fernandez.
“At about 7 sir.”
“And who did you tell this to when you found out?”
“Mr. Sen and Ms. Das were in the staff room. So I went and told them.”
“We alerted the principal when we found out.” said Mr. Sen. Ms. Das looked like she was going to throw up.
“Okay lets take a closer look at the body.” said the CI.


We started examining the body closely. Everything seemed okay. But is that…….?


“Wait a minute! Sir! Look at the neck!”I said pointing at the neck of the victim.
“Uh?!”he said looking at the neck of the body very closely. “Yes this sure makes things difficult. Good eye, Gill. Mrs. Verma? I have some bad news….this was not a suicide. It was cold blooded murder……….”

Killer’s Mind:


A killer was the last thing I thought I would be. I don’t know what it was but a sudden urge came over me…. I had to kidnap that boy…..and now I have to kill him to survive……..


To be continued…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sunday 24 January 2010

The Cab Driver



He kept steering his cab through the huge rush. He was very much accustomed to this kind of situation. Five years into the job, the city’s roads were familiar to him. He no longer gave a damn for those drivers swearing from inside the car, expecting him to hear it. He did not care for those drivers who were lazy to turn their indicators while making a turn or changing lanes. And most importantly, he didn’t give a damn for his customers. They come and they go. And his life goes on. He knew his job was a tricky one. More than once he had been tricked into giving free rides to passengers. They would plainly make him commit something and then leave him with nothing but few despicable curses. But time has changed him to more than just being vulnerable. He argued with his customers and would eventually make them pay. At times he would indulge in chats with those whom he was pretty sure to pay him a good tip. He could actually spot them out from a given crowd. He came into this city with little cash and few clothes. But now, even though not a millionaire, had a reasonable job and a quite a happy life.
As of now he was on his way to the airport. He is supposed to pick up a certain David Rosario. He parked his car in the parking lot and walked towards the Arrival section. He was walking towards the area, when he bumped into a rather plump man. He gave his apologies to the fellow and was about to move ahead when he noticed the name tag on the fellow’s luggage. It said ‘David R.’. He rushed towards him and,
‘Are you David Rosario?’ he asked
‘Yes. Do I know you? ‘ the fellow replied
‘No, Sir. I am from the taxi company. You had called in to puck you up at the airport’
‘Okay I get it. So do you have the cab parked somewhere near by?’
‘Yes, it is just around the corner. A few minutes walk from here’
He motioned to pick his luggage, but the fellow resisted.
‘I’ll handle it, Thank You’
Not much of surprise there. Many a times, customers liked to keep their stuffs to themselves. He thought of that day when the lady whom he was supposed to pick up screamed just because he tried yo help her handle her luggage. He almost got fired that day.
He finally reached the car. He opened the boot of the car so that the fellow could keep his stuff in there. He entered the car and started the engine and the passenger entered the car. Now that he was inside, he had to ask that question,
 ‘Sir, where do you want to go?’
Now a third person might find the question too obvious, but he has seen way too many people to call that question obvious. He has come across people with looks on their faces which said,
‘Get me to the nearest hotel, like duh!!’
‘Well to say the truth, I don’t know. All I have is the name of the place. If you can get me there it would be helpful.’ the fellow replied, handing him a business card with the name of the place written on its back. The handwriting was almost illegible but still he could make out.
The place was in the outskirts of the city and not many people venture out there. Not because it is dangerous or something. The area was populated by casual labourers who worked in nearby construction sites. He hit the pedal and the car roared into the road.
The journey wasn’t supposed to be long but the traffic situation was kind of odd. The roads were overflowing with vehicles. The fellow was patient. Patient enough not to bug him with useless questions like` Is there any other way out?’ or `Can you drive it a bit faster?’. The fellow sat there doing nothing but staring through the glass with wry smile. He turned the radio on and tuned into the news channel. The woman on the news bulletin went on.
` On the regional news, we have the inauguration of the D’Leh metro- a pet project of the government. The metro possess what may be said as one of the few automatically operated locomotive systems in the world. The capitol city has planned a grand scale ceremony for this glorious project. Works for the metro began around two years back and the completed last month- three months prior to its planned date. The metro system would connect the various parts of the city giving its citizens complete mobility. The gates of the station would open for the public in another few hours and all roads to the station are jam packed. We would be returning back with a live update from the venue in another half an hour…..’
Now that would explain the huge traffic. He indicated to the right and turned but the driver in the opposite car wasn’t happy. The driver slid his window down to swear at him, and he slid his window up to avoid it. Avoiding such people was better than arguing with them. He took the next exit and drove off at high speed.
He reached the area but being almost deserted it made him feel uneasy. He had been to places far worse than this but not so lonely. The whole place looked as though a shootout had taken place. But the fellow insisted on going further inward. The cab reached a secluded building. It can’t be exactly described as a building. It was more like a single room house. The fellow told to stop there. He did so, even though feeling immensely insecure within. He got off the car to pick up the luggage from the boot. As he bend down to pick up his luggage from the boot he heard a swift move of hand and the next thing he knew was that he was bleeding through his chest. Without turning back, he knocked the fellow off with his elbow. But he did no fall back. He barely moved a few steps backward. That fellow was immensely strong for his bulging body. Punching him back, the fellow took out a knife. He didn’t know why the fellow was attacking him but now he had to fight him back. It was a `live or die’ situation and he was grossly unprepared for this. He felt the pain in his chest becoming increasingly strong. The fellow ran towards him but he moved towards the side. The fellow banged his head against the top of the boot and fell down unconscious. He looked into his chest-it was still bleeding.  He had the sudden thought that there must have been something of immense importance that provoked the fellow to do such a thing. He went forward to examine the bag and luckily it wasn’t locked. All that was inside it were a few laptops and hard drives. He threw the bag out of his boot and entered the car. He stopped the meter and hit his head against the steering wheel. He felt relieved but the pain was still hunting him down. He placed one arm on his chest and drove off………..

To be continued……….

Friday 22 January 2010

Epicmakers' First Epic - Aditya Rao's story

Purple’s story :
"Give me your metro card" he said.
"What?"I replied. " Why should I? "
 " Ok..now you pissed me off, show me your wallet now...or else... " 
 Or else What??!! i said in a  very menacing voice.
  " Don’t you know who i am....if I call my gang you would probably be meat in two minutes."
"You really don't know who I am do you " I said and started laughing. " Wait till you meet my   'friends ' ."  And suddenly my two personal buffed up 7 foot Somali bodyguards appeared beside me. The so called gangster took one look at my friends and ran away . I bet he had already crapped his pants by then.
YEA  !..And this really happened in a screwed up imagination of mine where I'm a real stud.
This is what really happened. :
I was hanging out at the mall waiting for my best friend Red to join me when the girl of my dreams walked in with her group of friends . Violet was the most stunning girl I had ever seen . I had never really spoken to her , maybe i should go and say Hi. but ..does she know me??..we might be in the same school..but. Anyway, I decided to be a man and go say Hi when suddenly Brown the biggest douchebag ever and his friends appeared out of nowhere and this was how our conversation actually happened:
Brown : Give me your metro card.
Me : Uhh ? I..don't have it .
Brown : Stop lying...show me your wallet .
me : Why should I? ...oops..big mistake!
Brown ( now sounding very pissed ) : Dont you know who I am ??I can get you beaten up right now if I want to .
me : uhh .. umm..here..take it.
Brown ( takes all my cash out ) : haha...see you later loser!
You see, thing is I'm not very strong and am absolutely terrified of fighting , neither can I talk my way out of any situation. I'm approaching the land of geekism or nerdism...or whatever you want to call it.
 Where was my best friend Red when I needed him ?? ..He would have probably talked my way out of this shit. Ahh! finally...here he is.
( Red is what one would normally call cool. He is one of the most popular guys in school and still doesn't act like a total jerk..and that really speaks volumes ..trust me. And plus he’s a smooth talker ..he can talk his way in and out of any situation. How we both became best friends is still a mystery to me )
Red : Heyy..I just saw Brown and his group of douchebags walk past.Did they give you any trouble?
Me : Yeah..they took all my cash. Do you think Violet saw any of this?? Where is she anyway?
Red : Yeah..sure she didn't see you. She was only standing 10 metres away from you.
( ughh! Red and his stupid sarcasm )
Red : Oh..and I saw Brown walking away with Violet... I think he bought her an ice cream ..with your cash I guess....sad. ! And for the hundredth time...stop thinking about her..The chances of a Twilight movie being good are greater than you becoming her boyfirend.
Me : I know...but we are in the same school...and ..she might just know me.
Red : Dude!..I don't even know half the guys in my class...do you really think someone like Violet would even know that you exist?
Me : But......
Red : Sigh!..okay..if you want..I can introduce you to her ..
Me : YOU would .....that would be awesome!
Red : Oh look !..there she is...and she’s alone ...quick let’s go talk to her!...and remember ..act cool...and DON'T be your normal self !
We both walk towards Violet and thankfully Brown is not with her .
Red : Heyy Violet !
Violet : Heyy Red !..Whats up?
Red : Nothing much ..just hanging aorund ..Oh btw..meet my friend Purple
Violet ( looking at me ) : Hi!
Oh wow !.I've never seen her eyes up close before..She looks so beautiful .Okay now im taking way too much time to answer ..think of something .quickly...oh wait..she’s still eating her ice cream ..
Me : Heyy ..nice cone you’ve got there .
Violet ..uhhuhh..yea....thanks....I guess.
Oh cmon !..seriously..nice cone ?? ..im not that much of a loser am I? ..and meanwhile Red makes this weird noise...something between  a  groan and a laugh I think . Anyway ..my phone starts to ring...I walk away from Red and Violet to get it. Just my Mom on the line...wondering where I was. Anyway ...I see those two chatting for about a minute more and Violet walks away.Red comes smiling towards me.
Red : nice cones ..you swept her off her feet with that line .
Me : ughh!...
Red : anyway ..guess what ..I asked her if she wanted to see a movie with us next week ..and she said yes , and she would also bring a friend along.
Me : Huh ..she said yes..just like that ?
Red : yea. I know..weird.
Or maybe Red just let his talking do all the work!
Me : what was she doing with Brown anyway ?
Red : Don't know..forgot to ask her .
Me : you think I made a lasting impression on her ?
Red : Yeah..you DEFINATELY made an impression on her with your 'nice cones'. But look at the bright side..I have a whole week to prepare you for the movie night!
Anyway it was getting late and we both had to leave. That night in bed ..all I could think about was how beautiful Violet was ..and what an ass I made of myself. But there still was a slight chance that she might be thinking about me.


Vilolet’s story :
Wow ..today I met the two most diverse guys ever. Red and Brown. Oh and there was another guy with Red ..forgot his name already!


Aditya Rao

The True Picture

This is in reference to the KHDA inspection that has been going on in many schools.
I was very disturbed and troubled by the fake show put up by most of the schools to get a good report.
I would like to bring to the notice of the parents of this nation who get deceived by this report of the KHDA inspection which is not even a part of the reality.
We as students have seen transformation of our school to enormous HEIGHTS. Teachers have become more polite in front of the inspectors. The school canteen menu has changed drastically to organic food only for the week the inspectors are here.
Schools have been renting LCD screens/ top brand computers just to impress the KHDA. Students are suddenly taught everything in a more practical method which has NEVER been adapted before. Subject teachers have planned out the whole week as to which particular chapter to do, when to do,who to ask questions to, seating arrangements etc.
There have been orderly and disciplined dispersals/assemblies which have never been there before. Teachers have made us learn particular questions which they would ask if they inspectors show up in a particular class.
We would love for our schools to be rated as 'excellent' or 'outstanding', but NOT by this fake act put by the school. Because it is on the basis of this result that the parents send their wards to schools.
As a distressed student, I would like to request the team of KHDA to host surprise checks in schools to obtain the real picture of it.
Thank you.

- a concerned student

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Iliad and Ramayana

Iliad is the epic story of the Trojan War. Ramayana is the epic story of the plight of King Rama. So you may ask me what connection does the two have? Lets look at the similarities:-


1. Root Cause - Women
One of the main themes discussed in the Ramayana is the abduction of Seetha, the wife of Rama by the king of Lanka, Ravana. Its a very popular thought that Ravana was a villain but truth is that he was just acting as a dutiful brother - his sister Surpanaka was humiliated by Rama and she wanted revenge. If Ravana was a true villain he would have done something worse to Seetha than just lock her up in a garden. A women was the root cause of the war in Ramayana, the women being Surpanaka, not Seetha. And if we look further back what caused Rama to leave home but the fatal advice given by the humpback Mantara to Kaikeyi, Rama's step-mother.
In the Iliad, Helen the beautiful newly wed queen of Sparta falls in love with Paris, the prince of Troy. A story behind this is that he actually made Aphrodite, the goddess of love, put a spell on her in return for helping her(Aphrodite) win a bet against Hera and Athena. Helen 'runs away' with Paris to Troy. And what does Helen's husband, Menelaus do? He gathers the forces of Greece and attacks Troy, causing the Trojan War. Here too a women, rather a goddess is responsible for outbreak of war - not Helen, but Aphrodite.
In both cases, women are the root cause of the war.


2. Specialty of cities
This is a very interesting look at the two epics. The common point between Lanka and and Troy is that both were unreachable. The city of Lanka was and still is an island, miles away from any other piece of land. The sea between Lanka and Rameswaram(in India) was then infested with dangerous creatures and crossing that by boat would have been no picnic and not many boats could have taken a whole army across in such a short time. For this specific reason, a bridge that could enable a whole army to march on it was built with rocks.
Troy on the other hand had unbreakable walls. These walls were made by Gods - the wall was by legend built by immortals Poseidon and Apollo. Legend had it that you could only get in to Troy through invitation, which is what the Greeks so cunningly obtained through the Trojan Horse.
In both cases the cities were unreachable and it can also be noted that the bridge and the Trojan horse served the same purpose - breaching the unbreachable.


3. Wandering
Ever read the Odyssey? The wanderings of Odysseus, the legendary king of Ithaca and mastermind behind the plan of the Horse, is very similar to the wanderings of Rama in his early years of exile.
These are just a few points, reading the Ramayana and the Iliad, we can find even more.


Now I am no conspiracy theorist and I'm just telling you the few similarities I noticed, thats all. Many conclusions can be drawn from the above - Homer copied Valmiki or the other way around, both were the same story but told in different versions, etc. I'll leave it to you to decide


Shreerag Plakazhi

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Online Identities

In today’s world, the Internet holds vital importance and one of the many facilities provided by it would be social networking. This is rapidly gaining popularity in our era due to the fact that it is an inexpensive and fast mode of staying in touch with family and friends despite the distance. Individuals who have an account in major social networking sites such as Orkut, Twitter or Facebook are now using more of their time to socialize with other people amidst the distance and lack of time. Networking sites serve several advantages as well as disadvantages.

Users of networking websites may interact in several ways and can share their thoughts, views, opinions and expressions online. This has hence brought the world closer and did not require any large expenses. Social networking websites enables users to socially interact with one another. Additionally, people  who share similar interests, beliefs or other common concerns may befriend each other. Some companies are known to even browse through their employee’s online profiles to learn more about them and their personality traits. 

However, every coin has two sides and there are disadvantages to these sites as well. In spite of age limits and barriers set on many sites, people still take advantage by entering an incorrect age or age group and creating accounts on these websites. Many people are addicted to these websites and spend valuable time updating their social network. Cyber bullying and stalking of profiles are rising issues that affect many users and threaten their privacy and security. Very often we hear of reported cases of hacked accounts and disapproving changes made to profiles. The consequence of these actions are severe and may damage one's social reputation among their peers. It also causes a great amount of grief and humiliation to the victims of this form of bullying.

Social networking websites therefore play a very important role in enhancing one’s social identity or image and may influence, to an extent, their reputation socially. Hence it is important for one to create an account in a social networking site keeping in mind the cause, use and effects of creating an online identity. Kindly publish articles raising awareness of the uses of social networking sites and the possible effects of doing so as those readers who are active online may gain benefit from them.
 

Monday 18 January 2010

Piracy

Note: This is my second post for the blog. For the last two weeks I had lost my internet connection and as such could not post anything. But those two weeks made me think whether I was misusing the internet. That is how I came up with idea for this article. Thanks for reading!

Piracy is a worldwide phenomenon. Thousands of megabytes of data are being uploaded by the hour. And double of that amount is being downloaded. It is an undeniable fact that we ourselves have been encouraging such activities. But have we ever felt guilty? Chances are very low because we ourselves know how serious this is but we still continue this practice. But have considered the amount of money that the original creators of such content incur. By money I mean not just a few dollars, but millions!
Let us consider the case study of the movie industry. Every year around 250 movies are released by the Hollywood industry. Being a studio based industry; the major players are Warner Bros., Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Universal and Disney. As of recent, these studios have been releasing their movies on home video format after a short stint at the theatres. Now why would studios do that when they cold make more profits through a wide theatrical release? The answer lies in the fact that piracy has grown into such a major force that they are forced to resort such vain attempts. By doing so they plan to bring movies directly to the audiences and discourage piracy. But this would have multitude of effects:
·         Theatre owners would restrict such a motion because it would reduce the income that they would earn
·         But this would not necessarily mean any decrease in piracy, considering the high price of such format. People would still continue to download movies from torrent sites.
 In the latest of such series of such motions, the latest one involves Columbia Pictures ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’. The studio green lit the idea of releasing the movie on DVD and Blu Ray just 3 months prior to its release. But theatre owners disagreed with this and many of them protested against this by removing the movie from its show slots.
Secondly, only ardent moviegoers would take the effort to go and watch movies at theatres.  They’d rather sit back at home and enjoy in their own privacy at the cost of millions for the studios.  So such early releasing of movies on home video would also not be a suitable step. After all when you get it for free, who’d pay for it!!
But as of recent there has been an increased interest for movies being released in 3D format. Last year, around 12 movies were released on 3D format. This has re-ignited an interest among the audience to ‘experience’ a movie than plainly watching it. With James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ raking in big bucks at the box office and speculations that it might be one of the biggest movie of all time, audiences are returning back to theatres. Hopefully, with an increasing number of movies being lined up for a 3D release, thid trend would continue and as such piracy would be curbed.

Arun Pramajan Achu