Moments

Driving to work on a Saturday morning, Raghu was feeling frustrated. What the heck is going on in his company? Why am I supposed to work on weekends? He was annoyed by the callous attitude of his boss and the management. Nobody tells openly what we are working towards. It was not something new to Raghu, having spent 20 years of his career in a defense research organization. But today he was restless and disturbed. He knew he was a crucial piece of the big complicated jigsaw puzzle, that his current project was. Raghu was an expert in electronic circuit design. For the past few months, he had been working on some special kind of amplifiers - a device that could listen to the feeblest vibrations and remain unaffected by the typical sounds that can be heard by humans. What was the amplifier for? Nobody would tell him. "Was it some kind of communication device to outer space? Whose voices would the device hear?" Raghu wondered. He had the prototype device in his bag lying on the...

Beginning " Where do you want our honeymoon ", asked Rishi " Manali. It has been my destination ever since I dreamt about honeymoon. ", said Sheela. " Oh ya. I should have guessed. All young South Indians wish to go to Manali and all old go to Kashi ", he said with a bit of sarcasm. She wouldn't have seen his expression as they were talking over the phone. " And you north Indians wish to see Munnar. Right? ", she gave it back. " But I have already been to Manali. Let's go somewhere else where neither of us had been to. I will take you to Manali some other time ", he said. 5 months after they got married, Rishi set out the plan to go to Manali on a "second honeymoon". Rishi and Sheela were staying in Delhi at that time. So the idea was to utilize the Easter long weekend and extend it by a day or two. They chose one of the umpteen private tours and travels that ply between Delhi and Manali. The journey st...

Year 2050 Act 1 - The crowning The FIRST party of India is still controlled by a dynasty. They are true rulers. The family has been controlling the party very well. The Grandma has grown old but her son just couldnt grow up. He kept everybody guessing and never really took the challenge to be the No. 1. He is now nicknamed "Evergreen No. 2". Old age has started showing signs. She had been on too many sick leaves. But she was never ready to sideline her amul baby. The core committee meeting was going on. The next general elections have been declared. The main agenda for today's meeting was to decide who is going to lead the party into the elections. The Grandma was unusually silent today. She seemed to be listening to the arguments but her mind was wandering. Can she hold on for one more election? Will the No. 2 be ready to accept the top position, though he had rejected it this morning at the breakfast table. Suddenly, BANG!!!! It was a thud on the desk. Everybod...

Chair person: "प्यारे साथियों, welcome to the all party meeting on lokpal bill. सब आ गए की नहीं?  भूसा भाई नहीं दिख रहे? कोई बात नहीं उनकी राय हम जानते हैं|" Chair person: "आप सबको मालूम होगा की Shri Anna Hazare जी अनशन पर बैठे हुए हैं और कह रहे हैं की जब तक हम उनका बनाया हुआ लोकपाल बिल संसद में नहीं पारित नहीं करते वो नहीं मानेंगे| हम उनका  बिल नहीं लाना चाहते यह थो आप सबको अच्छी तरह समझ आ गया होगा. अब आप सबकी राय  जाननी है| " Govt asks all parties, "Do you think we should allow people on the streets to dictate us what laws we should make" Unanimous answer "NO. We are elected represenatives and we are supreme" Govt: "But a man is fasting and is creating lot of public support. And media is harping ANNA is INDIA" A safron party leader: "Of course this is all because you dint handle them correctly. You called them up, listened to them and then thrashed their ideas...

An old lady was sitting on the verandah of her house. She was in her 80's with gray hair and rumpled skin. Her voice quavered as she called her daughter in law for a glass of water. After waiting for a response, she muttered to herself, "Who cares for this old lady!" She was frail and spent most of her time on the verandah gazing at the street. Watching the busy market below was her hobby and favourite pastime. The sun was up near the zenith and the daily clamor of the people and vehicles was making the market look like a tableau of chaos. People were moving around with their bags full. Workers were unloading gunny bags and carton boxes of items from the pushing-carts and were taking them through the service doors of the shops. Amidst this commotion an old man was hobbling towards the traffic signal. His dress was shabby and was patched at lot of places. It could well have passed on as a designer stuff had he been walking on a ramp for a popular designer. But here the lad...

Mohd. Sheikh was getting ready to go to school. Even on a cold winter day, he had got up early. Spring. Summer. Rain. Autumn. Winter. Whatever the season be, he used to follow the same schedule. He gets up at 5 o'clock and jogs 5 kilometers. He goes to the railway station and meets the newspaper boy sorting the dailies to be circulated in the town. Sheikh likes to get the newspaper at the railway station, to be the first person in the town to get the morning news. On the way back, he stops at the milk depot to collect two packets of milk. Today was the coldest day of the season. He had not bothered it. As usual, he handed the packets of milk to his mother and started getting ready. Now he was fully dressed in the white school uniform and black shoes. He was sitting at the breakfast table. Outside the sun had risen. But the thick fog cover had kept it hidden. It did not snow in this part of the world, but the blanket of mist enveloping the town brought with it the same kind of chill...

12th Aug 2003: Today was the day for which I had waited for long. At last I got married . As my friends left me in the bed room along with her , nervousness crept in. I had never imagined about this night. I had no plans. I didnt know what to do. I mustered up my strength for the ordeal and went near her . She was in a bright mood. Her eyes were sparkling. She had the charm of an angel. I sat down beside her . I held her hand in mine. The touch was heavenly. As I tapped on her hand with my fingers, she chuckled . We kept on looking at each other hand in hand. Time went by. Through the windows I could see a faint light of dawn. That was when I realised, I had put my FIRST NIGHT OUT. Glossary: Got Married - Got the lab keys Bedroom - VDTT Lab Her/She - Computer Her eyes - Monitor Her hand - Keyboard Chuckled - Sound of typing on the keyboard My first night out was spent in VDTT lab during the first semester of MTech. I was alone in the lab and finished 2 of my Data Structures assi...

Vaidya went to school in the school bus. Almost all the students preferred the bus as it was a cheap medium of transport. He used to board the bus at 6.45 am from a bus stop near his house. Shekhar also went the same way. So he would give Vaidya a call from the gate. His call was sort of the last moment till which Vaidya could wait. As soon as Shekhar called, Vaidya would be ready with his bag. He was so prompt that he would even leave breakfast halfway. Bus stop was the place where the friends circle of Vaidya grew. The day after he struck friendship with Shekhar, Vaidya was introduced to another friend Raj. Raj was a good friend of Shekhar's and studied in the same class. He lived with his grand parents as he was very dear to them. His parents also lived in the same town but in a different locality. Bus stop was the place where they daily met. Their day started with the gossip of the previous day. While waiting for the bus, they discussed about what happened in school, what they ...

That day, Vaidya went to Shekhar's house in the evening. Shekhar greeted him with enthusiasm. He had already mentioned about their rendezvous to his mother. Shekhar's father also worked in the aluminium factory. He used to have duty at different shifts. Today, he was on duty when Vaidya visited their house. Shekhar had 4 sisters. Three of them were elder to him and one was younger. The oldest sister used to study in a college in the city. The other sisters went to a Hindi-medium school in Birlanagar. After getting aquainted with all the family members, Vaidya and Shekhar went out to play. Shekhar had a cricket bat. In those days, not every child had a cricket bat and owning a bat was a matter of prestige. So Shekhar chose to bat and Vaidya took the bowling end. Shekhar was a good batsman and hit a lot of runs and won in the end. (That is just an information) Cricket was the hobby for both of them. So a game of cricket became a daily routine. At 4.30 in the evening, Vaidya would...

One afternoon, Shekhar told Vaidya, "Come, let me show you my house". Vaidya attended 4th grade in the nearby school. Shekhar also studied in the same school. They used to return home in the same bus and got down at the same bus stop. Vaidya was the only son of his parents. His father used to work in the aluminium factory in Birlanagar for the past 20 years. Birlanagar is a small township located in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Vaidya and his mother used to live at his native place in South India. Last year, his father decided to bring them to Birlanagar. As Vaidya was brought up in the south, he didnt know how to speak Hindi, which was the local language in Birlanagar. This was the reason he never talked to Shekhar, though they walked back together daily from the bus stop. Vaidya was quick in learning hindi. Within a week, he could converse decently. So one day he started a dialogue with Shekhar. He learnt that Shekhar was also in 4th grade in the same school but in another sectio...