Who is She?
A cook at home
Chef at work place
Caring mother and a wife
Why did you like her?
Her look was that of a mother
To a son , coming back from the border
After all, I was a stranger
How do you Know?
I can read eyes , the halo 'kohl' on eyelids, 'tilak' on forehead
Keeping her calm, one black, other red
But ready to fight injustice
Why did you meet?
To know whether i am destined to be Great?
Whether my Dreams will come true?
Because I was feeling blue
I was looking again and again at the blue-skies
It seemed 'The Great One' wasn't accepting apologies
Where did you write this?
Thought of it at a terminal and wrote it in a charabanc
What was her name?All I know it was perfume
-------shahzad
Monday, July 23, 2007
JESUS IS COMING SOON!
"Another lonely night in New York The city of dreams just keeps on getting me down" ....( lonely Night in NewYork-- Bee Gees)
Path in the forest...
It was very windy in the Bangalore City ,some times it drizzled also. All night the open windows would clatter and toss , the wind was making "Woo Woo" sound as if kids had come to play on a Halloween day dressed in costumes. Like the windows were clattering from one side to another, 'Sifar' was also moving from one side to another side in his sleep. In the morning, at the break fast table besides the window, the sun light glowed the the break fast scene.'Sifar's eyes were sleepy, as he was painting the bread with butter the sunlight made the breakfast corner to radiate glow but the morning darkness was still in other corners. He sipped his tea in the orange cups designed with yellow sunflowers, then he left. While walking through the Cubbon Park on the track usually found in the Forests , he thought about the events that take place in the city everyday which he came to know while working on bundles of Press Releases in the Newspaper office . But still in the noise of the day you cannot make out what is happening and where ? and similarly in the nights silence you think whole city is sleeping But events keep happening. InThe
Press Club and P.C Dog...
Sifar reached to press club early in the morning.old men and women in sports shoes were jogging. An old women clad in 'sari' and sports shoes was also trying to keep up the pace with her husband. Some old men in their funky shorts and sweat shirts were having some discussion. Sifar could only see them moving their hands which we normally do, when we have to discuss something."maybe they are discussing politics, oldies always do that", Sifar thought. Sifar entered the Press Club and the' Press-Club Dog' welcomed him and escorted him till Sifar settled down.Maybe the 'press-club dog' thought that sifar is some great journalist. The P.C Dog was white in colour with black ears and few black spots on the body. He had blue and green leash around its neck. P.C Dog came again and sat beside the chair of Sifar, while Sifar was listening to the chirping of the birds. When a crow tried to invade the area occupied by Sifar's presence, the P.C Dog stood up and gave a good gruesome stare to the crow. Poor crow must have died of a heart attack. The crow flew away.
"Why do they want to snatch away farmer's land"?
Sifar boarded the vehicle belonging to Communist Party Of India (Marxist) going to 'Nandagdi'-a Village 53 kilometers from the Bangalore City. It had a red flag painted with fusion of Sickle, hammer and a star all in white.It flew through out the journey. Reaching to the village CPIM had arranged a meeting with farmers against the governments proposal to engulf the Village land into 'Special Economic Zone'. Where industries can be built. The village was just 20 kilometers from International Airport going under construction in Devanahalli and the land price of the village was expected to shoot up the skies ,once the Airport construction was complete. Some politicians supporting this 'SEZ ' proposal wanted to have some tie-up with the capitalists. At the same time Sifar realized ;"More you come to know about this city,more you realize that you know nothing"
Yellow Caravan Of School Children...
Sifar reached back to the city and the vehicle got stuck in the traffic- an indication that he reached to the city. From outside some noise was coming. Sifar looked out and found out a yellow First generation Nissan caravan, filled with school children. A small girl with thick glasses was having some argument with her peers and then she lazily started fiddling the hair-plait of other girl who was peeking out of the window,but seemed bored. One boy was also looking out and he made an eye contact with Sifar and said " I am John Cena", (the great wrestler-WWE). Sifar smiled at him as if to acknowledge his power. The boy got surprised and said "Aiyoo". He was excited and was laughing ,showing his half-frontal teeth which still hadn't grown fully. Sifar was lost into past again-how many moons ago, he also had enjoyed the same fun in the School Van-Like Sprinkling water through the window or to each other, throwing out paper tit-bits to see them fly while the vehicle was moving, every one Shouting at the driver to drive fast- if any vehicle dared to overtake, making faces at the pedestrians. Sifar was missing his Grand father.He couldn't believe that his grand father was no more, because he kept on coming in his dreams as young, healthy and talkative.
The traffic stop clock displayed zero, with this Sifar's vehicle also moved, the self acclaimed John Cena-wrestler shouted at Sifar and said ;" Good-bye Uncle". Sifar smiled back and waved his hand towards him.
Another Lonely Night In New York...
It was a beautiful afternoon at St. John's Amphi Theatre. The artistes were performing, some singing 'a Capella' (music without instrumental accompaniment), solo songs and some playing guitars and synthesizers. The trees around the open theatre were swaying with the tunes of the breeze.Sifar was lost in the melody and again in a reverie. Some couples were enjoying pink Cotton Candy and popcorn. A small girl with a jean bandanna and curly hair was hopping as she was throwing a small blue pipe in the air.Another girl had wrapped one end of the 'Sari' of her mother while her mother placed her hands on her head. Sifar was listening to the songs that were sung like 'Friends forever', .. he listened " Blackbird singing in the dead of night -Take these broken wings and learn to fly" by Beatles and then tears started to come into Sifar's eyes when someone did the rendition of ' Another Lonely Night In New York' by Bee Gees
Game of Statue's... He reached to Vidhan Soudha and Jawahar Lal Nehru's black Statue was showing a five to the Invisible 'Janta' in the park. Moving few steps ahead was blue Statue of B.R Ambedkhar with the book of Indian Constitution in his hand directing his Index finger towards something( maybe towards Nehru) but 'Sifar' was going in the opposite direction. Some Photographers had gathered with their Very old Nikon Cameras and old leather bags , luring the people ,mainly villagers to take snaps in front of Vidhan Soudha, which looked like a huge Palace and High Court was looking like the 'Sweet Home', found in nursery Rhyme Books ,in red-brick colour constructed in British architecture. It was an amazement for 'Sifar' why some people were even selling Rat Poison at this place, displaying monstrous drawings of rats on their posters. Moving ahead he came across one more blue Statue, it was of Subhash Chandra Bose, showing his fist towards the sky and index finger towards the ground. He crossed the road and reached High Court, he was thinking about the 30 healthy trees that were chopped at the race course road last night to widen the road. The High court atmosphere was all Black and white, but the red-brick colour of the building gave some different look. It was crowded with lawyers and common people. These lawyers were in their long Black Garbs, and they looked like Bat-men without masks when they rode the Motor-Bikes.
Yellow Glow of death...
Walking further he came across Protesters who were asking for signatures to file petition aginst the use of Bulbs. The volunteer told him that Every day India uses 18,000 MW of electricity against for lighting, most of it is wasted by the inefficient ordinary Light bulbs. Sifar also put his signature for their "ban the Bulb" Campaign. But inside he was thinking that back in Kashmir people waste energy resources but at least they are not taking part in this wastage, as electricity back in Valley is like the holy water from Mecca that is given in diluted form (in small bottles) to Hajj's , for home. And still Sifar didn't like these Bulbs, he remebers how difficult it was to concentrate during exam days under the yellow glow of these bulbs and in the winter, the electricity poles used to give that 'yellow glow of death' in the mist and you could see the icicles hanging like daggers ,shining under the roof tops of the houses in Kashmir . Sifar was listening to this energetic volunteer, and in the form given to him for signature he reached to the spot where he had to mention his profession. For him it had become a kind of embarrassment to mention himself as Student every time. So for a change He wrote " Pedestrian". the volunteer gave him a smile trying to convey that he was silly but that was what Sifar's profession was during that time, 'walking' . And what was his friend doing living far across the oceans? well that friend was living in a tent besides a beautiful lily pond, spending off time hiking and rafting the rivers.
Walking few steps ahead, a couple was fighting, the girl had taken the command and she was cross-questioning the guy and the guy was listening like a male-student to a female-teacher. Sifar couldn't see the expression on the guys face as he was wearing a helmet maybe to save his head from the woman he was listening so attentively.
MarlBoro and Steel....
Sitting in a park, he was reflecting upon 'what had happened in past couple of days'.: He had reached back to home in the city, he opened the door which had been recently painted in green. you could see a blurred face in it when you looked into it but it told you that you are visible.He entered the room and the cigarette smoke in the room smelled differently. Was Something wrong with his sense of smell? The answer came out quickly as he saw a "Marlboro pack of Cigarettes lying in disorder and unattended on the chair. "So ' Commando Steel' has changed his brand of smoke", he thought. What was going on? .
Couple of days back, once Mr.Steel entered the room without looking at the other person who opened the door. He went straight and lied in the bed but in an odd and strange way as if the universal age old technique of 'How to sleep or lie down in the bed had changed', after some time 'Commando' broke the silence when he told that he fell down from the stairs. No one could see or hear him falling down he proudly declared. Maybe because he always said " you should walk like a Spy" and that is why no one could hear his SPY-Fall. Then Steel had fallen terribly sick. So sick that in such situations a person always calls his mother in low murmur for help, like a baby when in discomfort. During these days he once said " I am feeling so weak that if I have to fight I will only be able to bite the opponent" And when he was advised to quit smoking, a smart answer was shot back like a bullet " You should have at least one passion in life" meaning it is none of your business. So again what made him to change his brand which he was loyally smoking for years?. Who provides him these white-blunt-headed-rockets, one part of which goes into his blood , into Ashtray and other part contributing to Global Warming?. But will the effect on his health change even though Marlboro is made in Switzerland and each pack of 20 cigarettes cost Rupees 80. He felt some interest when he read stories in the newspaper like "Smoking prevents Parkinson's disease"He didn't express this hidden interest as if it didn't matter much. But the pack was beautiful in red and white colour, reminding you of the billboards where the smoker is skiing in his blue ski-gear or the cowboy whose one hand is preening the horse , and giving you the manly look
After that Steel had grown his beard. Had he attained Salvation or Nirvana or was he trying to be the Majnoon of Laila? But before assumptions could take further flight . He shaved off the moustache making him look like the Gujjar of kashmir valley living in the mountains, then one more part was gone making him look like the Ape Man, you find in the history book of the primary schools in the first chapter titled as 'The Early man' . Then some more fiddling, as the beard on the sides went off and he became 'Ming the Merciless' of Flash Gordon. Finally whole beard was gone and our Mr. Steel emerged back.
Library Ghosts..
Sifar also thought of the of Library in the college. Though the college was over, the gates were still open, but again he couldn't go because of the invisible barrier. whom will he see or meet there? He could remember (at least) he had been honest with his studies while sitting in the library. On the front wall were the portraits of Mother Mary and Jesus again in their aura of angelic light. Then on his left wall were the portraits of Gandhi smiling as usual, Nehru smiling again, with that flower dangling in the pocket of his sherwani and then his daughter Indira gandhi, but she was not smiling. Sifar always thought that there was some conspiracy going on when the librarians used to talk with each other in whispers, giving those fake smiles at each other.Then some one used to switch on the fans. But one was not able to discover the switches of these fans it used to happen again and again, it was known who was the culprit, but it was against one's pride to ask him about the place of these switches, because every one has got common sense.. Then once a poor , tired guy fell asleep while reading the 'Time Magazine' and he drooled while asleep and the saliva got pasted on the open mouth of George white Bush maybe giving his presidential speech on 'War on terror'. The librarian woke the guy up and asked in numerable questions whether he had eaten his break fast?, whether he is feeling tensed?,Is everything alright? the guy was looking at the librarian blankly, speechless. He obediently took the magazine back to its place.
"You did something today, which you won't forget for your whole life"? ----Steel....
He could recall what Mr. Steel had asked him: " You did something/anything today which you won't forget for your whole life?"- On a day when every one doing something for a cause. Like some worked for peace, protested against Global warming, poverty and some banged their 'Jeep Cherokee' into the Airport 'Sifar' also wanted to tell him that he did something on that day, but failed to recollect. He wanted to tell that that he felt the presence of God when he saw thousands of school children cheering at a function in Ambedkhar Bhavan, at that moment he wanted to repent for all the misdeeds and he felt happy. He wanted to tell that In the morning he had learned three verses from the 'Quran' which tell that God has knowledge of everything, He is merciful and He has power over everything. He wanted to tell , on that day, he removed a 'Yellow Banana peel' from the road side , where pedestrians walk..being pessimistic as always. Jesus is coming soon !! He was now moving in his blue bus still reflecting on the events that took place. He saw three beautiful women on a huge billboard staring at him curiously with little bit of fear , It was a BBC advertisement and the slogan was " Entertain Your Brains" but the vehicle moved on " Why don't you have traffic jams near such beautiful bill boards so that you could stare at them for a long time" he thought. Some kids were glued to a Television put up by an electronic equipment shop for display on the window shelf. Though some six T.V's were showing different channnels simultaneously. These kids were watching the 'Animal Planet 'channel with amazement, mouth half open and eye balls expanded.
He said a small prayer towards Almighty, how long Will he roam aimlessly and this and that, blah blah blah. He was trying to concentrate in prayer till his forehead became red ( no one saw it but he felt that it turned red)The answer came quickly like a bolt from the grey sky ( the sky was grey on that day and the bolt was in the form of an Auto-rickshaw). Through the window of the vehicle He saw the rear part of the Auto-rickshaw, painted in Yellow and the answer was written in Black which was : JESUS IS COMING SOON.
A faint smile came on his face,. A sarcastic answer that is given to all the challenges and problems in this world. Few drops of drizzle came inside the vehicle and moistened his dry lips. He moved on.
Heavy Rains And Photo Journalist.
It was now evening and it started raining. Sifar hopped on the Photo Journalist'd bike and they zipped through the city, some shops had been destroyed by the heavy rains and also some homes had been flooded. The rain was hitting sifar's body like a sand storm, but he was enjoying it. when it really started to rain 'dogs and cats' the Photo Journalist handed over an umbrella to Sifar- "he could had given it earlier" Sifar thought. "Thanks" said Sifar. After roaming for a long time the P.J said " basically we are looking for sites affected by rain, which can make news". Sifar said "i realized it long back ago" The P.J and Sifar reached on the top of a fly over and took a Snap of the traffic sparkling out in red colour- "Bangalore is looking beautiful" Sifar thought.
P.J then immersed himself in knee-deep water and took picture of the traffic , while protecting his camera with an umbrella. Some other Photo Journalists also arrived, but in a car and started to shoot what ever came in their way. P.J, Sifar, and these photo journalists reached to a colony in Domlur, where the houses in the whole lane were flooded with water. Sifar reached there and talked to the people . He could see they were helpless young as well as old. They were giving description , what had happened to their homes. Some were blaming the authorities, who were not doing any thing to this menance, some blamed the construction authority, and some put the blame on some miltary compound, which according to them was the source of the water. " whole night these people won't be able to sleep ,till water is fully drained out" Sifar thought. 'One old fellow with an umbrella went towards Sifar and said "please highlight this issue, see everything is flooded". Sifar could see helplessness in his eyes.
It was a tiring day, but full of adventure ,he reached home, it was still raining- the rain reminded him the few couplets from Agha Shahid's poem " Even The Rain":After we died--That was it!--God left us in the dark.And as we forgot the dark, we forgot even the rain.Drought was over. Where was I? Drinks were on the house.For mixers, my love, you'd poured--what?--even the rain.This is God's site for a new house of executions?You swear by the Bible, Despot, even the rain?"
Path in the forest...
It was very windy in the Bangalore City ,some times it drizzled also. All night the open windows would clatter and toss , the wind was making "Woo Woo" sound as if kids had come to play on a Halloween day dressed in costumes. Like the windows were clattering from one side to another, 'Sifar' was also moving from one side to another side in his sleep. In the morning, at the break fast table besides the window, the sun light glowed the the break fast scene.'Sifar's eyes were sleepy, as he was painting the bread with butter the sunlight made the breakfast corner to radiate glow but the morning darkness was still in other corners. He sipped his tea in the orange cups designed with yellow sunflowers, then he left. While walking through the Cubbon Park on the track usually found in the Forests , he thought about the events that take place in the city everyday which he came to know while working on bundles of Press Releases in the Newspaper office . But still in the noise of the day you cannot make out what is happening and where ? and similarly in the nights silence you think whole city is sleeping But events keep happening. InThe
Press Club and P.C Dog...
Sifar reached to press club early in the morning.old men and women in sports shoes were jogging. An old women clad in 'sari' and sports shoes was also trying to keep up the pace with her husband. Some old men in their funky shorts and sweat shirts were having some discussion. Sifar could only see them moving their hands which we normally do, when we have to discuss something."maybe they are discussing politics, oldies always do that", Sifar thought. Sifar entered the Press Club and the' Press-Club Dog' welcomed him and escorted him till Sifar settled down.Maybe the 'press-club dog' thought that sifar is some great journalist. The P.C Dog was white in colour with black ears and few black spots on the body. He had blue and green leash around its neck. P.C Dog came again and sat beside the chair of Sifar, while Sifar was listening to the chirping of the birds. When a crow tried to invade the area occupied by Sifar's presence, the P.C Dog stood up and gave a good gruesome stare to the crow. Poor crow must have died of a heart attack. The crow flew away.
"Why do they want to snatch away farmer's land"?
Sifar boarded the vehicle belonging to Communist Party Of India (Marxist) going to 'Nandagdi'-a Village 53 kilometers from the Bangalore City. It had a red flag painted with fusion of Sickle, hammer and a star all in white.It flew through out the journey. Reaching to the village CPIM had arranged a meeting with farmers against the governments proposal to engulf the Village land into 'Special Economic Zone'. Where industries can be built. The village was just 20 kilometers from International Airport going under construction in Devanahalli and the land price of the village was expected to shoot up the skies ,once the Airport construction was complete. Some politicians supporting this 'SEZ ' proposal wanted to have some tie-up with the capitalists. At the same time Sifar realized ;"More you come to know about this city,more you realize that you know nothing"
Yellow Caravan Of School Children...
Sifar reached back to the city and the vehicle got stuck in the traffic- an indication that he reached to the city. From outside some noise was coming. Sifar looked out and found out a yellow First generation Nissan caravan, filled with school children. A small girl with thick glasses was having some argument with her peers and then she lazily started fiddling the hair-plait of other girl who was peeking out of the window,but seemed bored. One boy was also looking out and he made an eye contact with Sifar and said " I am John Cena", (the great wrestler-WWE). Sifar smiled at him as if to acknowledge his power. The boy got surprised and said "Aiyoo". He was excited and was laughing ,showing his half-frontal teeth which still hadn't grown fully. Sifar was lost into past again-how many moons ago, he also had enjoyed the same fun in the School Van-Like Sprinkling water through the window or to each other, throwing out paper tit-bits to see them fly while the vehicle was moving, every one Shouting at the driver to drive fast- if any vehicle dared to overtake, making faces at the pedestrians. Sifar was missing his Grand father.He couldn't believe that his grand father was no more, because he kept on coming in his dreams as young, healthy and talkative.
The traffic stop clock displayed zero, with this Sifar's vehicle also moved, the self acclaimed John Cena-wrestler shouted at Sifar and said ;" Good-bye Uncle". Sifar smiled back and waved his hand towards him.
Another Lonely Night In New York...
It was a beautiful afternoon at St. John's Amphi Theatre. The artistes were performing, some singing 'a Capella' (music without instrumental accompaniment), solo songs and some playing guitars and synthesizers. The trees around the open theatre were swaying with the tunes of the breeze.Sifar was lost in the melody and again in a reverie. Some couples were enjoying pink Cotton Candy and popcorn. A small girl with a jean bandanna and curly hair was hopping as she was throwing a small blue pipe in the air.Another girl had wrapped one end of the 'Sari' of her mother while her mother placed her hands on her head. Sifar was listening to the songs that were sung like 'Friends forever', .. he listened " Blackbird singing in the dead of night -Take these broken wings and learn to fly" by Beatles and then tears started to come into Sifar's eyes when someone did the rendition of ' Another Lonely Night In New York' by Bee Gees
Game of Statue's... He reached to Vidhan Soudha and Jawahar Lal Nehru's black Statue was showing a five to the Invisible 'Janta' in the park. Moving few steps ahead was blue Statue of B.R Ambedkhar with the book of Indian Constitution in his hand directing his Index finger towards something( maybe towards Nehru) but 'Sifar' was going in the opposite direction. Some Photographers had gathered with their Very old Nikon Cameras and old leather bags , luring the people ,mainly villagers to take snaps in front of Vidhan Soudha, which looked like a huge Palace and High Court was looking like the 'Sweet Home', found in nursery Rhyme Books ,in red-brick colour constructed in British architecture. It was an amazement for 'Sifar' why some people were even selling Rat Poison at this place, displaying monstrous drawings of rats on their posters. Moving ahead he came across one more blue Statue, it was of Subhash Chandra Bose, showing his fist towards the sky and index finger towards the ground. He crossed the road and reached High Court, he was thinking about the 30 healthy trees that were chopped at the race course road last night to widen the road. The High court atmosphere was all Black and white, but the red-brick colour of the building gave some different look. It was crowded with lawyers and common people. These lawyers were in their long Black Garbs, and they looked like Bat-men without masks when they rode the Motor-Bikes.
Yellow Glow of death...
Walking further he came across Protesters who were asking for signatures to file petition aginst the use of Bulbs. The volunteer told him that Every day India uses 18,000 MW of electricity against for lighting, most of it is wasted by the inefficient ordinary Light bulbs. Sifar also put his signature for their "ban the Bulb" Campaign. But inside he was thinking that back in Kashmir people waste energy resources but at least they are not taking part in this wastage, as electricity back in Valley is like the holy water from Mecca that is given in diluted form (in small bottles) to Hajj's , for home. And still Sifar didn't like these Bulbs, he remebers how difficult it was to concentrate during exam days under the yellow glow of these bulbs and in the winter, the electricity poles used to give that 'yellow glow of death' in the mist and you could see the icicles hanging like daggers ,shining under the roof tops of the houses in Kashmir . Sifar was listening to this energetic volunteer, and in the form given to him for signature he reached to the spot where he had to mention his profession. For him it had become a kind of embarrassment to mention himself as Student every time. So for a change He wrote " Pedestrian". the volunteer gave him a smile trying to convey that he was silly but that was what Sifar's profession was during that time, 'walking' . And what was his friend doing living far across the oceans? well that friend was living in a tent besides a beautiful lily pond, spending off time hiking and rafting the rivers.
Walking few steps ahead, a couple was fighting, the girl had taken the command and she was cross-questioning the guy and the guy was listening like a male-student to a female-teacher. Sifar couldn't see the expression on the guys face as he was wearing a helmet maybe to save his head from the woman he was listening so attentively.
MarlBoro and Steel....
Sitting in a park, he was reflecting upon 'what had happened in past couple of days'.: He had reached back to home in the city, he opened the door which had been recently painted in green. you could see a blurred face in it when you looked into it but it told you that you are visible.He entered the room and the cigarette smoke in the room smelled differently. Was Something wrong with his sense of smell? The answer came out quickly as he saw a "Marlboro pack of Cigarettes lying in disorder and unattended on the chair. "So ' Commando Steel' has changed his brand of smoke", he thought. What was going on? .
Couple of days back, once Mr.Steel entered the room without looking at the other person who opened the door. He went straight and lied in the bed but in an odd and strange way as if the universal age old technique of 'How to sleep or lie down in the bed had changed', after some time 'Commando' broke the silence when he told that he fell down from the stairs. No one could see or hear him falling down he proudly declared. Maybe because he always said " you should walk like a Spy" and that is why no one could hear his SPY-Fall. Then Steel had fallen terribly sick. So sick that in such situations a person always calls his mother in low murmur for help, like a baby when in discomfort. During these days he once said " I am feeling so weak that if I have to fight I will only be able to bite the opponent" And when he was advised to quit smoking, a smart answer was shot back like a bullet " You should have at least one passion in life" meaning it is none of your business. So again what made him to change his brand which he was loyally smoking for years?. Who provides him these white-blunt-headed-rockets, one part of which goes into his blood , into Ashtray and other part contributing to Global Warming?. But will the effect on his health change even though Marlboro is made in Switzerland and each pack of 20 cigarettes cost Rupees 80. He felt some interest when he read stories in the newspaper like "Smoking prevents Parkinson's disease"He didn't express this hidden interest as if it didn't matter much. But the pack was beautiful in red and white colour, reminding you of the billboards where the smoker is skiing in his blue ski-gear or the cowboy whose one hand is preening the horse , and giving you the manly look
After that Steel had grown his beard. Had he attained Salvation or Nirvana or was he trying to be the Majnoon of Laila? But before assumptions could take further flight . He shaved off the moustache making him look like the Gujjar of kashmir valley living in the mountains, then one more part was gone making him look like the Ape Man, you find in the history book of the primary schools in the first chapter titled as 'The Early man' . Then some more fiddling, as the beard on the sides went off and he became 'Ming the Merciless' of Flash Gordon. Finally whole beard was gone and our Mr. Steel emerged back.
Library Ghosts..
Sifar also thought of the of Library in the college. Though the college was over, the gates were still open, but again he couldn't go because of the invisible barrier. whom will he see or meet there? He could remember (at least) he had been honest with his studies while sitting in the library. On the front wall were the portraits of Mother Mary and Jesus again in their aura of angelic light. Then on his left wall were the portraits of Gandhi smiling as usual, Nehru smiling again, with that flower dangling in the pocket of his sherwani and then his daughter Indira gandhi, but she was not smiling. Sifar always thought that there was some conspiracy going on when the librarians used to talk with each other in whispers, giving those fake smiles at each other.Then some one used to switch on the fans. But one was not able to discover the switches of these fans it used to happen again and again, it was known who was the culprit, but it was against one's pride to ask him about the place of these switches, because every one has got common sense.. Then once a poor , tired guy fell asleep while reading the 'Time Magazine' and he drooled while asleep and the saliva got pasted on the open mouth of George white Bush maybe giving his presidential speech on 'War on terror'. The librarian woke the guy up and asked in numerable questions whether he had eaten his break fast?, whether he is feeling tensed?,Is everything alright? the guy was looking at the librarian blankly, speechless. He obediently took the magazine back to its place.
"You did something today, which you won't forget for your whole life"? ----Steel....
He could recall what Mr. Steel had asked him: " You did something/anything today which you won't forget for your whole life?"- On a day when every one doing something for a cause. Like some worked for peace, protested against Global warming, poverty and some banged their 'Jeep Cherokee' into the Airport 'Sifar' also wanted to tell him that he did something on that day, but failed to recollect. He wanted to tell that that he felt the presence of God when he saw thousands of school children cheering at a function in Ambedkhar Bhavan, at that moment he wanted to repent for all the misdeeds and he felt happy. He wanted to tell that In the morning he had learned three verses from the 'Quran' which tell that God has knowledge of everything, He is merciful and He has power over everything. He wanted to tell , on that day, he removed a 'Yellow Banana peel' from the road side , where pedestrians walk..being pessimistic as always. Jesus is coming soon !! He was now moving in his blue bus still reflecting on the events that took place. He saw three beautiful women on a huge billboard staring at him curiously with little bit of fear , It was a BBC advertisement and the slogan was " Entertain Your Brains" but the vehicle moved on " Why don't you have traffic jams near such beautiful bill boards so that you could stare at them for a long time" he thought. Some kids were glued to a Television put up by an electronic equipment shop for display on the window shelf. Though some six T.V's were showing different channnels simultaneously. These kids were watching the 'Animal Planet 'channel with amazement, mouth half open and eye balls expanded.
He said a small prayer towards Almighty, how long Will he roam aimlessly and this and that, blah blah blah. He was trying to concentrate in prayer till his forehead became red ( no one saw it but he felt that it turned red)The answer came quickly like a bolt from the grey sky ( the sky was grey on that day and the bolt was in the form of an Auto-rickshaw). Through the window of the vehicle He saw the rear part of the Auto-rickshaw, painted in Yellow and the answer was written in Black which was : JESUS IS COMING SOON.
A faint smile came on his face,. A sarcastic answer that is given to all the challenges and problems in this world. Few drops of drizzle came inside the vehicle and moistened his dry lips. He moved on.
Heavy Rains And Photo Journalist.
It was now evening and it started raining. Sifar hopped on the Photo Journalist'd bike and they zipped through the city, some shops had been destroyed by the heavy rains and also some homes had been flooded. The rain was hitting sifar's body like a sand storm, but he was enjoying it. when it really started to rain 'dogs and cats' the Photo Journalist handed over an umbrella to Sifar- "he could had given it earlier" Sifar thought. "Thanks" said Sifar. After roaming for a long time the P.J said " basically we are looking for sites affected by rain, which can make news". Sifar said "i realized it long back ago" The P.J and Sifar reached on the top of a fly over and took a Snap of the traffic sparkling out in red colour- "Bangalore is looking beautiful" Sifar thought.
P.J then immersed himself in knee-deep water and took picture of the traffic , while protecting his camera with an umbrella. Some other Photo Journalists also arrived, but in a car and started to shoot what ever came in their way. P.J, Sifar, and these photo journalists reached to a colony in Domlur, where the houses in the whole lane were flooded with water. Sifar reached there and talked to the people . He could see they were helpless young as well as old. They were giving description , what had happened to their homes. Some were blaming the authorities, who were not doing any thing to this menance, some blamed the construction authority, and some put the blame on some miltary compound, which according to them was the source of the water. " whole night these people won't be able to sleep ,till water is fully drained out" Sifar thought. 'One old fellow with an umbrella went towards Sifar and said "please highlight this issue, see everything is flooded". Sifar could see helplessness in his eyes.
It was a tiring day, but full of adventure ,he reached home, it was still raining- the rain reminded him the few couplets from Agha Shahid's poem " Even The Rain":After we died--That was it!--God left us in the dark.And as we forgot the dark, we forgot even the rain.Drought was over. Where was I? Drinks were on the house.For mixers, my love, you'd poured--what?--even the rain.This is God's site for a new house of executions?You swear by the Bible, Despot, even the rain?"
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