ALWAYS, NEVER, AND FOREVER

I am increasingly becoming aware of the silliness of the words, 'always', 'never', and 'forever' - especially when it comes to relationships. Embarrassed at my steadfast conviction in these convenient byproducts of overwhelming moments. And angered by people who have dampened the intoxication of these once-wonderful words for me.

What people say and what they really are capable of:
I will always love you = I love you now
I will never stop needing you = I need you now
We will be together forever = We are together now

Leave the flowery language to the poets, ye mere mortals. And ye enlightened ones, slap the blind believers for their own good.

FRAUDIAN PRINCIPLES

July 6, 2008 - Extracts from the Satyam.com website one day before Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju confessed to a $823-million fraud.
Link: http://www.satyam.com/about/board_of_directors.asp

Ramalinga Raju, also known as Raju, is Satyam’s founder and chairman. Raju is a world-renowned visionary, global business leader, and thinker. He uses a simple, yet extensive management model to create value, which promotes entrepreneurship, a focus on the customer, and the constant pursuit of excellence...

Raju has an MBA from Ohio University, and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. He has won numerous awards not only for building a best-in-class business but also taking innovative steps to positively impact the society...

A voracious reader, Raju is deeply influenced by science. He has adopted several scientific principles in running business operations.

Scientific principles indeed.

GOOGLE HOSPITAL

I was shocked, last month, to find out I had reached premature menopause.
1. Since I am not female; 2. I am pretty sure I am not cycling.

Read this article today about a research conducted to determine how accurately one can diagnose symptoms of illnesses using Google. While the team reported that "Google could be a 'useful aid' in diagnosing conditions with unique symptoms...", they also stated that "...a successful search needed a 'human expert' user, and therefore, patients would have less success trying to diagnose themselves on the internet".

I can vouch for the second statement. Turns out I had typhoid! :-)

STREAM OF THOUGHT

(Saw this heart-wetting sight this morning as I was walking to office)

A sturdy man wearing a thick turban - standing next to
A thin man wearing a sricharanam - standing next to
A white-clad man who just took off his prayer cap
Joyously urinating against the wall of my street
In unison.

It is the same blood that flows in all of us; it is the same ____ that flows out of all of us. Communal harmony is not a distant dream. Jai Hind.

SUDDENLY ALONE

The thought of listening to the sound of only my footsteps frightens me; no more you to walk with!
Grow up, stupid kid - you're 26 now!

DRENCHED IN MY RAINCOAT

Some movies are properly over when the credits read The End. While some others end leaving me wondering what the hell happened. A few movies end where I fully understand why they ended where they did, yet I'm left with a persistent longing to know more than what was just shown on screen.

Since Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat is a movie that I'm pretty sure won't have a sequel, the longing will always be in my heart, to know what happened in Manu's (Ajay Devgan) and Neeru's (Aishwarya Rai) life, after The End. But I know why the movie ended where it did.

An active hater of screen (and real-life) characters who are in love with one person but marry another (whatever be the reason), I hated Neeru in the film when she decided to end her eight-year relationship with Manu to marry an affluent man chosen by her parents.

Though the years that had passed since Neeru's wedding had taken a brutal toll on both the lovers' lives - the lengthy rainy afternoon conversation they share, when they meet six years later, is most heart-wrenching. Heart-wrenching despite having no melodramatic moments; it is revealed that through all these years, both Manu and Neeru had safely kept their love wrapped in their hearts. This unravelling is the most beautiful aspect of this film.

I have never liked Aishwarya Rai, until I watched this film. Her forlorn eyes soaked in weariness, in stark contrast to her lips that spoke grandly of the comforts of her marital life, continue to haunt me hours after watching the film.

At a personal level, a few scenes in this movie struck a couple of painful chords. The ones where Manu finds himself hopelessly controlled by the love he still has for Neeru, despite her betrayal of their love. And the ones where Neeru realises she is still possessive about Manu, despite having chosen to lead a life with another man.

Incurable love... Misplaced possessiveness... Damn movie, I can't sleep tonight!

SHE WAITED...

From everyday kisses
To once a week hugs - to monthly phone calls - to occasional SMSes,
He procedurally moved away from her.

Yet, when he continued to tell her that his feelings for her would never change
And that she was the one he loved most,

She believed him.

Even when he did not return her calls to congratulate him
On his wedding
Or on the birth of his first child.
Both of which she found out when she read his blog.

She desperately waited for his next blogpost
To see if his daughter was named after her.