FreeWrite #117 - Purpose

Last night an angel came in my dreams and told me "Son, Tomorrow is your last day ... Prepare for the eternal silence"

My past flashed in front of me and suddenly life seemed to have a purpose. And I said "All these years I have lived my life .. But I havently done anything worthy . I havent achieved anything yet ... Can you grant me another hundred days more ?"

And the angel said "What will you do in hundred days that you did not do in sixty years ?"

What do you say before you start drinking ?

or ... Infamous first words ( before you are drunk )

These are the lines I usually use/have heard people using when you want to drink.

1) Hey you wanna check out the new dance pub ? They have good music ...
( And you end up with a little dance and lots of drinking )

2) Oh .. I so want to unwind today. Lets go for a drink. ( I had a boring day at office .... at least now ??? )

3) Just one . Absolutely. Just one ( two ..three .. four ... eight .. until you loose count)

4) Long time since I met you, Lets catch up over a drink.
( Was drinking the excuse for catching up .. or was catching up the excuse for drinking ? )

5) My social life is dull . Can you brighten it up by coming with me for a drink ? ( Geez ... nooooo ! You really should have a stupid social life. )

more to be added next time I drink ....

How do we begin to covet ?

Dr.Lecter : What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing?
Clarice : Anger, social resentment, sexual frus-
Dr.Lecter : No, he covets. That's his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer.
Clarice : No. We just -
Dr.Lecter :No. Precisely. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? I hardly see how you couldn't. And don't your eyes move over the things you want?

Silence of the Lambs ( 1991 ) - Thomas Harris

Two sides of the story #1 - The Haneef Detention

Fact -
Dr. Md.Haneef was charged two weeks after his arrest with giving support to a terrorist group because of his links to two brothers suspected in the failed British plot - distant cousins of Haneef's. He left a mobile phone SIM card with one of the brothers when he moved to Australia.
A magistrate on Monday granted Haneef bail, ruling the evidence did not justify holding him in custody. Hours later, the government canceled his visa and said he would be detained on immigration violations if he posted bail.

Side A-
Leaving back a SIM card, your car keys, etc are normal among NRIs who go back to India. The officials should not detain him just on this small connection, even after the court had granted him bail. The evidence is not stark enough .

Side B- Its perfectly okay for a nation to detain people to who have even the remotest link to terrorism, to uphold the safety of itself and its citizens. Didn't India have a dangerous period when innocent people were arrested on charges of terrorism under POTA and TADA ?

The Fox

A fox looked at his shadow at sunrise and said, "I will have a camel for lunch today."
And all morning he went about looking for camels.
But at noon he saw his shadow again -- and he said, "A mouse will do."

- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), The Madman

Strange Names

No denial ... names do provide an edge ... If you have a fashionable name ... you are sure to get noticed ...

Do it yourself Excercise #1 - Pick the most noticeable name

-Mahesh
-Dinesh
-Sumesh
-Rajesh
-Paresh
-Rumpelstiltskin

I always have been 'subjected' to questions like "Why do you have a strange name ?" And I have been forced to come up with ever more creative answers ... like my roots are from Portugal ... or my forefathers we were slaves from Madagascar ... etc.

I find these (and many other) names strange... ( And I should give virtual points for those who come up with creative names like these !! )

• Zig-Zag Driving school
• Pin-point Marriage Bureau ( really exists !!! )
  
• Elizabeth Tailors
• Pimp-ils Beauty Parlour cum massage parlour
  
• Guillotine Barbar shop ( i recommend only steel hearted people for a haircut here )
  
• Winfrey Opera Company and ...
  
• Yogi Beer !!!!
  

Neverthless ... it works ! Everything works .... Anything works ... Ask a philosopher ... a name is just a label ... not the thing ... just a name ....

Whats in a name anyway !!!

P.S: For the do-it yourself Test.... Even I picked Paresh, you unholy dim-witted attention monger ... trying to be different !

FreeWrite #83 - When Goa was heaven ( circa 1978)

We roamed around holding high the spirit of the 70s when the poppy was beginning to wilt in the Mid-West. The ashes flew down half the globe to the coastal state of Goa, once dominated by a freewheeling Portuguese crowd. The US had eschewed us .. and India was inviting - the mystic land of snake charmers and false Goddesses.

Anjuna, Day 5- It was heaven. We rested at the fisherman's poor hut staring at the big ball of fire sinking down the horizon like a giant vessel slowly sinking down the Atlantic. Our days began when the sun went down. It was usually cold ... but the fire kept our bones warm. The smoke of delirious pleasure leading to the imaginary stairways of unreasoned calm appeared in front of us. Those had not beginning ... no end and no limits. I reached the dizzying heights of that dreamy land that we had left behind in Jefferson land. Desire took over our bodies . Lust was everywhere; it was love that was difficult to find. Little silhouettes of naked human bodies twirling in random unison dotted the unending dark beach. The only other sound was that of the waves lashing against the old high black rocks staring at the bodies.

Calangute - Day 37 . Life was an aimless journey .. Its almost over a month we are here. Everyday seem to pass like the last days of our lives. No worries, no ambitions, no false-promises. Iam having all that i can take. The mass of the freewheels have left, but we decided to stay back and make this our homes. Theres nowhere else to go. End my life, happily I will. Life has taken all its twists, turns and curves. Theres nothing more to see. Our bodies were addicted to smoke and passionate love .. nights were rough and days slipped by unnoticed. Washed down the shore, sometimes we looked like bodies abandoned by soul. Woke up when the sun was shining directly above us and it was no longer pleasurable to lie on the sand naked. Skin was red and soft with burns and there seemed to be no end to intoxication.

Baga - Day 44 . We met new friends at Baga. Hitchhikers trapped in the eternal journey to find meaning out of this disaster called life. I met her across the bonfire. Eyes glowing like that of a she-wolf and her golden hair flowing like the waves itself. Desire simmered in me. We passed the pipes of joy across in circles and every time I smoked out of it, I saw her staring deep into my eyes with an intensity of a predator. Flesh was calling. We danced around the fire like an ancient ritual, picked our mates from the lot and caroused the moment and held onto what ever we were loosing. We knew .. we were to be separated for ever - Unabashedly, carnal desires turned into wild bouts of uncontrolled orgy until numbness overcame us. I could barely keep my eyes open for long. Sometimes it is impossible to stare at darkness. There were sounds of moans all around me ... deafening me nauseating me ... I felt like drowning down a whirlpool slowly into the depths of the unknown and uncaring.
Silently i uttered "Jesus keep our souls from eternal decay. Amen. "