LIES!!!

Why do people lie? Is it a disease or is it an addiction? For some it is an addiction. They love the way people react to it. For some it is the urge to impress others that makes them lie. For this pirate, it was an urge to belong to a group that made him lie.

I was very new to college and all the stories I was told of college life was about belonging to a group. When I joined college, the in-thing to do was to smoke and dope. If you did it, you belonged to an elite group in college made up of studs. If you failed, you joined the ranks of the weirdos and geeks and remained out of the happening circle. I loved the limelight and the activities. I wanted to belong. Everyone came to know me as the guy who used to be a chain smoker in class 10 and 11 but had given it up in class 12. I took a drag now and then to prove that I still knew how to smoke. I tried joints too.

The fact of the matter is that the urge to belong made me lie. I had smoked only twice in school and I hated the smell. Also, my father had made an offer I could not resist. He had promised to buy me chocolates. When you have chocolates who needs to smoke!!?! But to belong to the group in college I had to smoke so I fabricated the story of me being an ex-chain-smoker. They did not force me to smoke after that, but they did offer me a smoke now and then which I had to refuse on some pretext. The lies regarding smoking became my second nature, I began to live it. I tried joint twice – did not like it either. It tastes and smells like burnt leaves, the smoke of which I hate.

My illusions lasted a year. I found that many of my friends had become addicted to smoke and dope trying to fit in. I had taken a different route but for the same purpose – I had tried to fit in. I gave up trying to conform when I was not meant to. But man is weak and I am weak too. I did not make any attempt to enlighten others as to the truth, and neither did I completely deny the fact when juniors asked me, but I did not speak of it anymore. Even pirates are sometimes scared of the dark when they have seen the limelight.

The worst part of this lying business is the fact that one starts believing in it. They start living the lie, as I did. But that is the worst thing possible. One deludes oneself. It is madness; and the madness soon turns into a disease, which is very difficult to cure. To make matters worse, if one is discovered, his character is sullied for a long time to come. Society and its people are very apt at spreading and magnifying the dark side of one’s charecter, regardless of how good the person is otherwise.

Have I changed, I ask myself sometimes. The fact is I do not know. I still sometimes hide the truth to impress others; I do not lie but neither do I tell the truth. What is this? Is this still the urge to belong? Or is it an addiction?

FAN - TASTIC WORLD CUP 2010

The Mistake

The road was packed with cars. Everyone was trying to go back home from work. Alan sat behind the wheel of his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He did not notice the honking of cars and was not bothered by the slow speed of the traffic. He was lost in his own world. He was thinking about what had happened a few hours back at work.

Alan was in his mid-thirties working in a legal consulting firm in Philadelphia. He had a decent house near the outskirts of the city. He had been married for 7 years now. His wife, Matilda, was a pretty lady. They did not have any children. They had met in college, fallen in love and had married. Matilda worked from home as a freelance contributor to magazines. She performed her duties as a wife perfectly. Their home was neat and tidy, spick and span. There was always dinner waiting for Alan when he reached home from work. She always waited for him. He loved her very much. But Matilda kept Alan on a tight leash. She was always screaming for all the tiny things that went wrong – “Why is your trouser on the bed?” “Why haven’t you washed your hands?” “Get the plumbing fixed right now!” “Why didn’t you get this and this from the market?” Sometimes this got to Alan’s nerves and they would have a fight only to make up very quickly. Even though Matilda got furious at all the little things, she could not stay angry with Alan for a long time. Alan, on the other hand, could not see her unhappy and did everything under his power to keep her happy. They were a nice couple.

And then it had happened. The most common thing in the office, about which he had seen so many movies and read so many books that he should have been aware of what he was doing. He had fallen for the charms of his new secretary, Vanessa. Tall and blonde, with a model-like figure, Vanessa had been irresistible. He initially thought of it as innocent flirting. He had taken her out on mini dates during the office breaks. His colleague, Herbert, had warned him but he had shrugged it off saying “It is nothing. It is just some flirting. Won’t harm anybody.” The whole hide-n-seek feel about it had lured him deeper. He had courted a woman only once and that was Matilda, in college. He felt the urge too strong to resist. It felt like he was young again.

Everything had gone on smoothly for a month. They had kissed a few times but nothing more. Alan used this to console himself that he was not cheating on Matilda. And everthing at home was fine, Matilda had not noticed anything. So it was a win-win for Alan, and he was quite happy after quite a long time.

But the best luck also runs out.

Today in the office, after the office break, during which Alan and Vanessa had gone on one of their innumerable mini dates, their passions had been ignited. He had called her into her office and they were passionately kissing. The door had opened and Matilda walked in carrying two shopping bags. She had stopped at the door, stared at the two for a moment, and then said a sorry and walked out of the office, calmly closing the door behind her. Alan had been transfixed to the ground. He could not think anymore. He did not even follow Matilda to sort things out. He had finished his work at the office in a trance and was now returning home, 3 hours after the incident.

Alan had expected Matilda to lash out when she saw the two at the office. This was expected of her. But she had calmly walked out as if she had stumbled on two strangers kissing. This was unlike Matilda. Alan did not know what to think. He cursed himself and Vanessa and the time when all this had happened. He should have stopped himself, he should have listened to Herbert. But now it was too late. He had to save his marriage. He could not live without Matilda. He tried to think of all sorts of excuses and stories to explain the situation to Matilda. He even thought of laying the whole blame on Vanessa. But somehow he was very scared and afraid. Matilda will let hell loose. But Matilda’s odd behaviour at the office gave him some hope. Maybe she will understand, maybe she thought him to be someone else and he would be safe. There were so many maybes.

He reached his home and stopped the engine. Alan gingerly got off his car and surveyed the house for any indication of what awaited him. The house was well lighted as usual and was silent. No crying, no shouting came from within. He stepped on to the front porch and waited for sometime with his hand on the door knob before he entered. The living room was neat and tidy as usual but there was a heavy silence in the air like the lull before the storm. He wanted to call out to her as usual but regarded it as a bad idea today. He kept his stuff on the side table and walked into the bedroom. It was empty. The closets were empty. She had left. Not even a letter awaited him.

The Story of an Employed Ant

This story was sent to me by a friend.

Berlin Blockade (24th June, 1948 – 12th May, 1949)

It was the year 1948. The Second World War had ended a few years back and the world now had two superpowers – The USSR and the USA. The Cold War had also just begun. In Europe, after the war, Germany was divided into four zones administered by the USA, Britain, France and the USSR. The city of Berlin, even though it was located inside the Soviet half of Germany, was divided among the four powers.

Towards the end of 1947, the USA, Britain and France decided to join their zones so that the German economy could be developed more efficiently. The USSR decided to keep out of this plan as they wanted to bleed Germany for her invasion of Russia during the war. Germany was, thus, divided into East Germany, controlled by the Soviets, and West Germany controlled by the three powers. But a western controlled zone inside the heart of the Soviet zone was a pain to the Soviet leader Stalin. Also, as conditiond in West Berlin was far better than the rest of East Germany, it was a cause of embarrassment to the Soviets.

On the 24th of June, 1948, the Soviets blocked all road, rail and canal communications between West Berlin and West Germany. The supply of food, water and electricity was also blocked. The Soviets felt that by pressurising the West in this manner the West will realise the futility of maintaining their zone in Berlin and would retreat, giving the Soviets a great propaganda victory and a victory in the Cold War. The Western Powers, led by the USA, realised the symbolic importance of retaining West Berlin. It represented all that they stood for and the USA, and also the other powers, were not ready to lose West Berlin. Britain and the USA decided to use their air space to fly supplies into West Berlin. Any attempt by the Soviets to stop supply planes would lead to their loss of prestige in the world and a major war, which the USSR was not ready for. Hundreds of aeroplanes were used to airlift food, coal, and other necessities into West Berlin at a rate of about 5000 tons per day!!

Initially, the Soviets were sure of their victory, and even celebrated it, dubbing such a project a sure failure. But as supplies kept flowing into West Berlin, they realised that they had underestimated the resolve of the Western Powers. The Soviets had no way to save their face now. The blockades on Western Berlin was removed and free passage was restored on the 12th of May, 1949.

Operation Little Vittles

During the Berlin Airlift, which lasted a year, Gail Halvorsen, one of the airlift pilots flying into Berlin, made friends witha group of German children who came to watch the unloading of planes. He promised to bring candies and chocolates for them and to let them know that it was him, would wiggle the wings of his plane. Over the next few weeks he dropped a large number of chocolates and candies and a large number of German children gathered. He also began to receive mails addressed to "Uncle Wiggly Wings", "The Chocolate Uncle" and "The Chocolate Flier". This got to the news and the commander in charge of the airlift was delighted. He expanded it into “Operation Little Vittles” and a number of pilots volunteered to help. When the news of this operation reached the USA, children all over the country began to send in candies and chocolates and even candy manufacturing companies joined in. In the end, over three tons of candy were dropped on Berlin, and the "operation" became a major propaganda success. The candy-dropping aircraft were christened “raisin bombers” by the German children.

Happy Birthday!!!

Zinedine Yazid Zidane was born on this day in 1972, at Marseille, France. He is regarded as one of the best footballers of France and the world. He helped France win the World Cup in 1998 and the Euro 2000. He retired from professional football after the 2006 World Cup. He is associated with the Real Madrid football club. He is one of my favourites.

Also born on this day in 1976, Patrick Vieira is another famous French footballer and former captain of the team. Born in Dakar, he is a Senegalese-born Frenchman of Cape Verdean ancestry. He was a part of the World Cup and Euro Cup winning French football team. I really miss his game in this year’s World Cup. It is a sad story that the French have to relinquish their World Cup journey this year due to the failure to win a single game. Hope they can come back with a bang. Viva La France!

253 Years Ago!!!

253 years ago, on this day, in the morning 3000 troops belonging to the East India Company, led by Robert Clive, faced the numerically far superior army of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daula, at Plassey. What ensued became historically known as the Battle of Plassey. The nawab was defeated by the conspiracy of his own ministers with the British. This was a major turning point in Indian History as it marked the beginning of British hegemony over India

Many scholars see Siraj as the benevolent ruler, who was dethroned by the imperialist British by underhand means. I contest this argument. Siraj-ud-daula was by no means a benevolent ruler. His father was, but he was not. He was a despot to the core. He was a staunch fanatic and his accession to the throne marked the beginning of torture on the Hindus. Many of the rich merchants in the region were Hindus, called Seths. Siraj used all means under his power to wrench them to lend money to him. Many of the merchants were terrified of him and the British who offered a safe haven for life and property seemed a welcome option. This group formed the bulk of the conspirators and were the designers of the outcome of the battle. If Siraj had been a benevolent ruler like other rulers during the time and later, like Tipu Sultan or Hyder Ali, why would anybody want to conspire and get so much support? Hyder and Tipu fought the British and had the love and support of the people. Conspiracies did not succeed to bring them down. But they succeeded in bringing Siraj down, Does this not say a lot about the kind of ruler he was? If this is so clear, there is no point in sympathising with his defeat. I don’t.

Merchant of Death

For some time now people have been asking me: what next? I have told various people various things, that I shall go on to do my PhD or that I shall sit for the IAS examinations – but is that really what I want to do? I have been turning this question and others in my mind for the past few days and it seems that I may have found what I want to do. My ambition might seem ridiculous to some people and even blasphemous, but it is my ambition for the time being nonetheless.

I want to do something illegal, something really illegal. You may ask me why? Most of you are morally upright and law-abiding citizens of this world, but ask yourself, have you never done something illegal in your life? You may argue that it was so small and inconsequential that the moral code does not apply to it. I think a little differently. If I am already doing something at least let me do it well – let me do something really illegal. Doing something like that is very exciting, it gives you a reason to live, a reason to fight, a reason to enjoy life. Before you all come to a judgement will you not ask me what is so illegal that I have set my mind on? Well, it is a little unconventionally illegal – I want to be an arms dealer, a war-lord.

Shocked? Well, do not be. So what if I am a Stephanian? Can there not be a Stephanian war-lord or arms dealer. Stephanians are supposed to rule wherever they go and so I want to rule the world of arms dealing. I want to be the most powerful and the most influential arms dealer in the world, even the number one on the list of Interpol. It is crazy? Not at all. I have given it quite a thought and even though everyone who has heard me thinks it is a mad idea, I think it is quite reasonable. You know what? These people who think that my idea is mad are actually cowards who do not have the will-power and stamina to be the best. They are afraid of failing and embarrassing themselves. I have no such inhibitions. I have failed so miserably so many times in life that I know it is worth a try. Look at all the mafia kingpins and drug-lords; how many of them are caught? When I become the best, no one will even dare to question me as most of the politicians of the world will be indebted to or dependant on me, and they cannot possibly let go of me. Initially you need to be careful I accept, but in which profession do you not need to be careful? It’s the jungle law that prevails in the world now; survival of the fittest. Its better to rule than be ruled.

There are some problems though. I have been thinking over them lately. Though they are imposing problems, they are not impossible. There are not enough conflicts raging in the world and even then there seems to be, on the surface at least, very few sources of arms. Its not the end of the Cold War era that there are abandoned Russian arsenal to buy up. It all has to be semi-illegal. Let me explain what I mean by this. The LTTE army in Sri Lanka has been cornered. They need arms and supplies to fight on. Now, the Tamil Nadu government is strongly for the LTTE rebels and is strongly advocating the interference of India and the international community to intervene in favour of the ethnic Tamils and the LTTE. This is a very opportune moment for someone with my ambitions. I could supply the LTTE army with arms and supplies through the Tamil Nadu government; I know I will have to bribe my way through, but the rewards of success are immense. What if the international community imposes an embargo on Sri Lanka (which I think is beyond the question but a hypothesis will help me put my arguments across)? What then? I will change sides. I will flout the embargo and supply arms to the Sri Lankan army. Now do not ask me how I will flout the embargo and customs and so on and so forth for I am not going to disclose it to you all. Come on now, if I tell you my trade secrets some of you might want to follow the path and make it more difficult for me to succeed as I shall have to displace extra people and that means extra time. Now, time is a very important consideration in this profession. A few hours can ruin your plans and operations as some ceasefire may have been called or peace treaty signed. So I cannot waste any more time than what is essential. I hope you all grasp my point.

Morals, humanity, principles? What of them? Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that a coin always has two sides to it. You can always look at an event in at least two perspectives. You have always looked upon this profession from a single point of view; let me show you the other side of the coin. What is one of the major concerns of the world today? Poverty. And what is its main cause? Rising population. Exactly what you are thinking – I am reducing the population pressure. Inhuman? Yes, but what is the point of talking about humanity when the people involved have never tasted humanity in their lifetime, people who do not know the meaning of peace, people who will keep on fighting no matter what. As Musolini once said “Peace is absurd.” I am just helping them get over their fight as quickly as possible. Newer arms are more deadly than the previous ones as they kill instantly and the victims do not have to suffer agonising pain. The faster people die, the slower they will be able to reproduce and thus lesser people to fight and matters will come to such a pass that fighting will have to end for there will be too few to fight and fight against.

Look at it from another point of view. As population goes down, so will be the pressure on natural resources. Arms production will use up resources but even the production of arms will fall as the people fighting will keep on decreasing. A lot of other supplies like food grains and milk that would have otherwise been sent to them as aid could be then redistributed in markets of the originating country, in turn decreasing the prices of goods. As areas of conflict keep on decreasing due to decreasing population, more land would be available for use; more mineral rich areas will be available for use. I agree that once a point of low population is reached, thus fewer and smaller conflicts, in the world, population will rise again and so will conflict. But that will take many years and I believe that at least two generations will be able to live on this planet in peace and plenty. Global warming will be on the rise, I agree. I think it is worth a try. Why are we penny wise and pound foolish? Why can we not plan for the future? Why do we lack foresight? What stops us from presenting our children with a better world where there will be lesser pressure on the natural resources and lesser conflict? My ambition is not narrow minded or immoral. It is for the betterment of all of us; it is for the betterment of the generations to come. I should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the reduction of conflict and protection of the environment if I am successful in this profession and am able to fulfil what I envisage for the future. Ladies and gentlemen, I need your support for I will need you all when I fight for your future and the future of this world.

GAY !?

I saw the movie Dostana today. It was about two guys acting like gays to get residence in USA. My friend commented that being gay was bad – it is unethical. He says that no other animals exhibit this characteristics and so it is an aberration from Nature’s chosen path. Personally speaking I have no problems with gays until some gay tries to hit on me.

But why are we so against it? I know it looks a little odd but it is not like the sun has turned green? We have become so engrossed with the concept that when we see two friends putting their arms around their shoulders and walking we think that they are gay, if they hug each other for some reason we think that they are gay, and leave alone what we say when they hold hands! Grow up people! Get matured! Can two boys not love each other and not be gay? I love my friends and my brothers. I would love to hug them and put my arms around them while I walk. Does that make me gay? You will say they are your friends and brothers. Do we ever stop to think that the two people in the street whom we are calling gays may be friends or brothers? Why are we so bent on tagging everything we see with raunchy connotations? Why does a girl and a boy walking together in the streets have to be lovers even if they seem to be enjoying each others company? I think most of us have become literally and mentally jobless!

Coming back to gays, I have a few “Totsy” arguments against what my friend has to say. I think being gay is not ethically incorrect and it falls in the pattern of Nature’s will. Humans are very different from animals even in our animal instincts – our women do not eat up the male partner after mating like the Black Widow spider. There are many such examples to be fond in Nature if we just decide to open our eyes to her. Instead of making it a taboo and shying away from it I think we should look at the bright side of it and even encourage it. Dumbstruck? Do not be. Let me be more lucid. You see, Nature adapts to pressure. We all know this. We also know that Nature tries to maintain a balance on this earth. Being gay or lesbian is just another design of Nature to balance out the population pressure. Being gay or lesbian generally entails a stoppage of child births. More the number of same sex couples, the less the number of the next generation, thus less pressure on earth.

We talk of the abolition of slavery as the poor slave is treated so badly and made to bear our burden which exceeds his capacity. But has anyone thought about Nature and how much brunt she has to bear because of us? Like the slave she resists our pressures through disease and sometimes like the slave revolts violently through natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. She sends us all these signs to show her helplessness to sustain us any further. Do we have no mercy on her? Do the most intelligent beings on earth choose to be blind to her pleas of mercy?

Now do not get me wrong. I do not want to get married. My mother anyways says that I will ruin the girl’s life and I completely believe her as I have ruined the life of the girl I loved the most, anyway that is another story. Now what I want to do is life the rest of my life having fun and doing my bit in this life. I plan to spend my life with my parents, my brother and his family. I will spend all that I earn on his kids and maybe if I have enough money I will make my parents travel the world over. I so love them and that idiot of a brother. I am NOT gay, OK! Now chill. I also would love to have a child of my own but I cannot afford to ruin someone’s life for my joy. Now that is unethical!

A Spectacle Out of Spectacles

I came back to my room after a visit to the kitchen and sat down to study. As I was about to put on my spectacles, I realised they were not there on the table where I distinctly remember having kept them before leaving the room. Where had I kept my pair of spectacles? This is so careless of me. I always seem to misplace them. They are not on my study table. They are not on my shelf. They are not on the refrigerator. And certainly they are not inside it. Now this is ridiculous. I have to search the whole house to find them. I need help. I think I shall call mother or brother to help me search. It is definitely not here in this room.

The number of times I have misplaced my spectacles is not even funny. The best part is I have always hunted them down. My record is pretty good. I guess I should have been a detective. A Sherlock Holmes, a Hercule Poirot, or a Feluda. I have always loved these characters and I was literally brought up on detective stories. I think I have learnt a lot from them, otherwise how can you explain my repeated success in tracking down my spectacles. But where are they now?

“Ma! Can you search for my spectacles, please? I do not seem to find them in my room. And oh, can you also ask brother to look for them? He sometimes notices things.”
“Ok, I shall do that. Tityl, have you seen your brother’s spectacles?”
“No mother!”
“Then can you please look for them. He has misplaced it again. How irresponsible can you be (this to me)?”

They knew that I could not study without my spectacles. Without them I could just make my way around. Now the whole house was up in arms searching for my pair of spectacles. Two pairs of extra hands should make the search easier.

Half an hour passed in a massive search of the house but my spectacles were nowhere to be found. There was no plausible explanation for this. This is weird. My mother and brother, exhausted from the search and to console me, entered my room and froze. My mother’s jaw dropped open and stayed that way. My brother’s face flushed and then turned red before he exploded on me, “You think this is a joke! I wasted half an hour for this! You are pathetic!” And he marched out. I was flabbergasted. Slowly closing her mouth my mother turned and as she left the room, she said, “You have really lost your mind. You are wearing your spectacles.”
Oh no! I had made a spectacle out of my spectacles!

Communist Parties and Indian Democracy

India is truely a wondorous country. It has so many surprises and contradictions to offer. Today I want to discuss one such contradiction. Having stayed in Bengal all my life, I have been in close contact with the working of the CPI-M party which has been in power for a long 33 year stretch. This is a strange party that has made its mark in the strange democratic conditions of India.

In the Indian democratic political structure, the people are to elect their government. Various political parties vie for votes during the elections and the party with the largest number of elected representatives form the government. This government that is formed is run by the party which has formed it and the policies of the party is reflected in the policies of the government. This structre is similar for both the central and state governments.

All the political parties in India are run by politicians who have been elected to the assemblies at one point of time or the other. They form a small core committee that decides the policies of their parties. The Communist parties in India are unique in this respect. They have a core committee of leaders called the Politburo, which decides the policies of the parties. The unique part is that most of the leaders in the Politburo are not and never have been elected representatives of the people. They decide policies issues and influence the working of the parties. The elected members of the Communist parties are, thus under the command of people who do not represent the people. These non-elected people more or less run the governments that are formed by the elected members of the party. Does this not destroy the spirit of democracy that India proclaims to stand for? I have thought it over and tried to reason but have not been able to fit this kind of political formation into a democratic structure. Why has such an anomaly been allowed to exist in the Indian democracy? Can somebody please help me understand it?