Words... My Wealth...

This is a poem that I wrote around 3-4 years ago, as an amateur wizard of words (which I still think I am :) )... Hope it's as enjoyable to read as it was to write for me...

Learned I yesterday,
That words were the only treasure I did own,
Culled in after years of rigors,
Long ago were its seeds sown,

Alone when I was, they did come to me,
Singing songs never heard so far,
Listening to their voices which none could hear,
I wondered to myself that, blessed was I or just a soul bizarre.

Least expecting them, they did come silently,
Stabbing me hard,they hurt a lot,
I bypassed and surpassed the pain they gave,
As spoken they were by the ones I had long forgot...

Bursting with emotions when I went seeking for them,
Laughing with me...with me they did even cry..
Fear they showed when I was frightened...exclaimed they when I was on a high,
Beyond my brains they appear to me as can't understand them even when harder I try,

Carrying us by means of our thoughts,
Work they do is a grandiose affair,
Stumbling nd fumbling I play with them,
Feeling like a new born in a cradle of (their) care,

Words we use with less lot a care,
forgetting that "HEARTS BROKEN WHEN WORDS ARE SPOKEN...ARE DIFFICULT TO REPAIR..."

The Gladiator and the Princess...

"Let the fight begin" roared the voice of Emperor Commodus through the Colosseum. He waved his hand through the toga and sank back on his throne. Hearing this, a loud wave of excitement ran through the crowd. For them this was any other match except for the fact that the consequences wouldn't be limited to just one man walking out; this was a war of pride. A war which Marcus Antonius had brought upon himself as well the emperor.

Not long ago, the rudiarius Didius Julianus from a remote north province had proclaimed his love for princess Leora Augusta in front of the whole Colosseum. This had angered Marcus so much that without even consulting Commodus he invited Didius to a duel with an unknown gladiator. "All gathered here have seen what a ruthless fighter you are, and also your courage since you have dared to propose the princess in full presence of the public. Just a wave of my hand and my men will make you disappear from the face of Rome, but this is not how I want it to end. 7 moons from now, you will fight again, for your life, your honor, for the very last breath which you will take right here, for everything that you hold dear in your life. If you fail, I need not remind you of your fate, if not it will be the princess who will decide your fate".

The noise in the colloseum was increasing by the second, even as he stepped into the center of the arena he was not sure if he winning the fight would make him win over the princess as well. They had never talked, the only times he saw her when she came out for public visits or for her personal work to the city centre. But there was something in her which made him long for her, something which had made him restless since the day he had seen her. And it was this something which had driven him into the madness he was now in. Her long hair, flawless skin, petite black eyes ,long slender fingers with gloves on them, made him want to see more of her. Though he hardly got time from his training at the ledi, he somehow sneaked out at least once in a week during evenings and most of the times the effort was rewarded by the sight of the princess with her girl friends engrossed in some or the other thing. Every single time he saw her, he felt like going up to her and talking; but he knew that it was not only outrageous but would put the princess in a great deal of danger as it was considered inappropriate for strangers to interact so openly and then she was the princess so this all became even more stringent.

He shifted his sword from his right hand to the left waiting for his nemesis to arrive. He felt the rush of blood against his temple and his muscles which had contracted completely in a state of alertness, ready to attack at that very moment. He saw his opponent arrive. It's going to be a tough day and a tougher call, he though as he looked at the size of he gladiator against him which was almost twice his size.

The Emperor marked the beginning, and the two men rushed towards each other. One hungry for glory, the other for love. Armors clinked, swords flew at each other with full force, blood flowed, and with each blow in the arena the temper of the crowd rose and fell as if the fighters were the conductors of this huge orchestra.

At the end of a complete 90 bloody minutes, there was only one man standing. The crowd was ecstatic as this fight had been the most fiercely fought and entertaining than all. Initially the people had their prejudices on who should win, but towards the end nobody cared. All they did was scream, as loudly as they could.

Didius stood with a great deal of effort as one particular blow from his opponent had pierced through his calf muscle tearing it apart. But today was no day for pain. He had done it at last. If Marcus was a man of his word he would let the princess decide his fate. At least he would stand a fair chance that ways.

And Marcus did honor his word, he turned to the princess to ask her to decideDidius's fate. He was sure that she would always prefer him over any other man, and once she made that clear he would ask the princess to let the gladiator walk away free. As he turned to speak to the princess, he was stunned.

You didn't need weapons, armor, an army to win or lose a fight. He had already lost, he looked into Leora's eyes and could see them full of admiration and love not for him, but for the gladiator. He stormed out of the gallery clutching his toga in embarrassment.

"I will go down as the mightiest fool in all of Rome's history", he thought as he ran down the stairs towards the royal entrance.

Still standing inside the arena, Didius looked at Leora with longing eyes, how beautifully they had thought this over. Luck was indeed on their side as there could not have been a better execution of the script that they had written. The secret meetings, fear of the vigilant eyes, their undying love, the lion-hearted gamble had crafted a beautiful chapter in Roman history, in which he and Leora would go down as the prime characters.

They had fallen for each other the first time he had come to fight here, right in this arena where Leora had come to accompany her father. Their eyes had met and the conversation that ensued between the pair albeit a silent one had been enough to conceive this madness in each of them. What both of them didn't know was that someone else had made himself privy to whatever was going on between them.

"Was I good?", asked Didius as he moved closer to Leora.

"To the last moment, my love", she replied now holding his hand with a firm re-asserting grip.

As they walked out of the arena, both turned back and saw the Emperor standing in the gallery looking at them. Turning towards the Emperor, Didius gestured as if bowing down after a performance. Seeing this, the face of the Emperor broke into a slight smile. A slight nod from the Emperor reassured Didius that he had indeed done well.

"The boy has justified my faith, may be it is time for the next move", he thought and turned to walk away.

Marcus was standing at a distance bewildered at what he had just seen. Not everyone could have understood what had transpired but he was no fool. "My dear friend Commodus doesn't know that this is going to cost him dear", vowed Marcus and stormed towards his chariot.

to be continued....

A man down...

Yeah you read it right, we are a man down. Saket, my room-mate has shifted back to Mumbai. After an amazing 9 months and 9 days , we today dropped him at the Airport. It was five of us who had come down here. At the end of the day we had the same address to go to. But not after today.

I don't feel nostalgic or emotional much to the dismay of others but what matters is that we had legendary fun in the last two months and I appreciate his contribution to it.

Milk Cravings, Hope Farm uncle, the irrepressible urge to wear those sport shoes and zooooom off on Saturdays, First CP points and even then coming last in the total tally, talking to people with cute faces and cute eyes (Hope you get the pun)...Having McDonald's burgers for dinner, outright denial for a movie plan but then retracting just after the tickets were booked, Going on drives to Corner House :), Watching movies during office hours, Pretending to sleep throughout the night, Playing cards and losing out big time, Endorsing Ponds Talc by applying almost half a bottle at one go, Kakka, polka dotted shirt, being called a Casanova for his far-reaching contacts in the fairer sex.

Though the above tags don't completely define saket's stay in Bangalore they sure outline what he was like...

I know that you have had as much fun with us as we have had with you...
Earn all the sobriquets in Mumbai that you earned here by the sheer power of your deeds... :) (and you know what I mean when I say this...)

Cheers...and enjoy Mumbai...!!!

A story on three wheels...

Place: District Court Room

Case of Muniappa vs Pratik; Charges levelled against Muniappa- Attempt to murder, Willful causing of physical Injury, Dacoity, Mastermind of the Gang which conspires and attacks citizens.

S.Ganesan the prosecutor spoke "Your honour, I don't think there is any further need of investigation or cross-examination as all the charges against the accused have been proved beyond a reason of doubt".
"Is there anything the defence counsel would like to say in response to this?" boomed the voice of the Lokayukta S.Hegde. Such cases were routine for him, but then his willingness to do justice in simplest of the matters was what had catapulted him to such heights. Honest, cunning,shrewd(in the classical sense) and brave were some of his well-known attributes. The ones that made criminals fear him, and which is why they exercised caution.
"No My-Lord, the defence rests its case; and expects justice to be done".

"Very well then, It has been proved beyond a reason of doubt that the accused masterminded the attack on Mr. Pratik on 26/03/2007. With help from his accomplices, the identities of which are yet to be found out, he looted Mr.Pratik forcefully taking possession of all his belongings and also attempting to gravely injure him using a chopper,which is now in the court's custody, thus putting his life in fatal danger."
"The Court finds Mr.Muniappa guilty of all the charges levelled against him and sentences him to 3 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 10,000 to be deposited with the court on/before 28/06/2007."
"The court is adjourned", and the Lokayukta walked away.


3 Years Later...

"Heyy Guru, you are back, and what an occasion to come back, we have been alloted new chawls near Basavanagudi", said Ramanna to Muniappa as he made his way out of the central jail. It had been three years since he had seen the outer world. He felt good and relieved that finally he was out. All his pleas for parole were rejected on grounds he couldn't understand.
"And Guru you know what, while you were inside the Government has launched a new scheme"
"What is it?" asked Muniappa dryly, as he was in the least bit interested in Ramanna enthusiasm. All he wanted to do was go home and see his wife and son Karthik.
"It is a brilliant scheme, all the prisoners who come out of jail after serving a sentence of more than one year will be given auto-rickshaws as a part of a rehabilitation scheme".
This caught Muniappa's attention and in the next 30 minutes he garnered all the information that he could from from Ramanna.

In the next 20 days Muniappa had become a licensed driver. He had a clean Job and a clean image. The khakhi dress helped him camouflage his past physically in the least.

As I listened to this story it occurred to my mind that what if, the khakis camouflaged only the outer criminal but not the inner one. There are thousands of Auto-Rickshaw drivers which share pasts as murky as Muniappa .Bangalore is host to thousands of I.T professionals from around India. A majority of which travel by a rickshaw on a daily basis. "Saaaar, Tonty rupees meter ka upar de do, kaaali aana padta"; "Saaaar, one and half hota, kam mein nai parvadta" such statements are the flavor of the day in bangalore. As much of a nuisance it is, it can't be ignored for the dependence is too great in absence of any other convenient mode of transport.

While the pockets of the helpless I.T professionals get pinched everyday, there is no immediate relief in sight . For people who have earned easy money all their life, how will the idea of hard-earned money ever fit-in ? Does the government have complete assurance that these offenders will never be found on the wrong side of the law ever again ?If not, then isn't life of so many civilians in a grave danger? Why are people being made to forcefully face such situations on a daily basis? The drivers and their families make up a substantial number when vote-bank politics is considered. Given the inclination of political parties to enjoy themselves in such muck, it is not surprising that a wilful blind eye has been turned towards the problems of the migrants. Because pleasing the I.T population (mostly migrants) isn't going to vote them to power but ignoring the driver's surely will.When all this happening the only thing one can wonder is "Where does the buck stop"?

A story on three wheels is just a small attempt to highlight and understand this phenomenon prevalent in bangalore from a wholesome perspective.