Prank

The room mate was away. She was out shopping.  He decided to surprise her when she returned back. A prank has been long due and he decided this was the perfect day to carry on with it. It was a cloudy evening, would probably start raining by the time she is home. He started making the arrangements. Turned off all the lights downstairs. Lit a few candles. He wanted to make things creepy but didn't know how. He had this long cloak which was a reminiscent of the graduation party.

She was at the supermarket walking through aisles of groceries and cereals. Being a chocolate lover, she filled her cart with more chocolates than daily food. The evening sun started setting. It was turning dark. A cool night after a long and dreary summer. She walked out to her car. Got in and turned on loud music and started towards home.


It started drizzling. The transition from the drizzle to a smashing rain happened like a crescendo. It was as if the clouds were wanting to rain. Like that of someone who wanted to cry for long but couldn't. It was creepy in a strange way. 


She parked the vehicle on the drive way. He saw her walking towards the door from the window upstairs. She found the door to be unlocked. She entered, still humming the song that she last played in the stereo of her car. He quietly tiptoed towards the door of his room. The silence was eerie.

She reached the bottom of the stairs. Took a detour to the fridge. She wanted some cold water. Having found a bottle she turned. Only to find a face, pale and blank. It looked almost dead. She heard herself scream loud inside her head. But no noise came out.

He remained locked in the room upstairs.

Why success stories are inspirational

The web is full of videos and articles that narrate the success stories of great men and women who have been through a lifetime of troubles to reach the place they are at. And we, the not-yet-successful lot watch those million videos and think "where am I going wrong?" 

The answer is, nowhere. Those people did not know where they were right on the journey. They simply met the right people and took the right turns after learning that the other road hits a dead end. Success stories are framed, written and narrated in such a way that they seem like the product of all the misfortunes that ever happened. Success stories are exaggerations.  They seldom contain truth. These people try to connect the dots backwards. Every single person who says he failed in history at school coating it with humour would've cried for hours thinking "What am I going to be?" But today, all we know is that they did not care about failure and they kept working.

They say when Edison's dog screwed his works which were a product of weeks of hard work he didn't mind. He didn't shoot the dog because he was either insane or did not have a gun. Simple. When a pack of cards drop one worries about the falling card but not the one that is at the end of the row standing tall waiting for its fall. 

Success stories never guide you, all that they do is make you feel guilty. 'Chasing your dream' s the term every narrator uses. If only it was as easy as that. Half the scientists wanted to be cobblers. Some of the best economists started off college wanting to be home makers. Life is clueless and you fail more than you succeed. Only thing that was common to all successful people is the fact that they did not give up. They had 24 hours just like you and me, they decided to sleep less.

Remember, today's successful people are the ones who failed yesterday. 

13-ஆம் நம்பர் வீடு

அது மார்கழி மாதம். காலை பனி கூட கலையவில்லை. தெருமுனையில் நின்று எதையோ தேடிகொண்டிருந்தான். குளிரில்  அவனுடைய கை காலெல்லாம் உதறிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. மெதுவாக தெருவுக்குள் நுழைந்தான். இதுவரை அவன் பார்த்த வீடுகளிலெல்லாம் மார்கழி மாதத்தில் கலர் கலராக கோலமிட்டிருக்கும். இந்த தெரு அவனுக்கு புதிர் போட்டது. எந்த வீட்டிலும் மனித சாயலே இல்லை. தெருவை அடைக்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்காகவே வீடு கட்டியிருக்கிறார்கள் போல என்று நினைத்துக்கொண்டான். அரை இருட்டில் அந்த தெருவுக்குள் அவன் நுழைய, அடி வயிற்றில் ஏதோ செய்தது அவனுக்கு. மெதுவாக நடந்தான். பனிக்காற்று எச்சரிக்கும் விதமாக எதிர் திசையில் அழுத்தியது. மூன்று வீடுகளை கடந்தோம் என்று விரல் விட்டு எண்ணினான். நான்காம் வீடு மூன்றிலிருந்து குறிப்பிடத்தக்க தூரத்தில் இருந்தது. நடுவே வெத்து நிலம். நேற்றிரவு மழை பெய்து ஓய்ந்ததை தேங்கிக்கடந்த தண்ணியை பார்த்து தெரிந்து கொண்டான். நாய் ஒன்று சத்தமில்லாமல் உறங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. எழுந்துவிடுமோ என்று பயந்து வேகமாக நடந்தான். சிறு வயதில் நாய் துரத்தியது ஞாபகம்  வந்தது அவனுக்கு. நடப்பதை தொடர்ந்தான். 7-ஆம் நம்பர் வீட்டு  வாசலில் ஊஞ்சல் ஒன்று ஆளில்லாமல் காற்றில் ஆடிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. பின்னாடி திரும்பி நாய் பின் தொடர்ந்து வருகிறதா என்று பார்த்துக்கொண்டான். தொடர்ந்து நடந்தான். பத்து, பதினொன்னு, பன்னெண்டு, வாய் விட்டு எண்ணிக்கொண்டே வந்தான். பதினாலு. பதின்மூன்ரைக் காணவில்லை. சுற்று முற்றும் பார்த்தான். என்ன செய்வதென்று தெரியவில்லை. காற்றில் ஏதோ அசையும் சத்தம் கேட்டது. எதிரே உள்ள காலி இடத்தில் இடி தாக்கிய மரமொன்று துணை தேடி நின்று கொண்டிருந்தது அவனைப்போலவே. திடீரென்று ஒரு கை அவன் பின்தோளில் கை வைத்தது. சடார் என்று திரும்பினான். 

அவன் இடுப்பு உசரத்தில் ஒரு கிழவர். 

திக்கி திக்கி, "பதிமூனா நம்பர் வீடு..." என்றான். "நீ தான் அந்த புது பயலா? கொண்டா" என்று கையில் இருந்த செய்தித்தாளை வாங்கிக்கொண்டு மறு வார்த்தை பேசாமல் சென்றார்,எதிரே இருந்த வெத்து நிலத்தில் ஓரமாக ஒரு ஓலை குடிசைக்குள்.

மனதில் அடையாளம் குறித்துக்கொண்டான்,  பதின்மூன்றாம் நம்பர் வீடு.    

When in India, be a cricket fan

Its been an hour and half and I'm still not sure how to celebrate the greatest Indian accomplishment I ever witnessed.

Curses, praises, screams of joy and swear words were all that I came across when the Indian team was up on the field battling for the holy grail of international cricket. I remember 2003 world cup, probably the first world cup from which i have memories. 2007 was a disaster and I couldn't catch every single match due to the time zone difference and all that. Coming back to 2003, the tourney saw the complete wrath of the man I worship, Sourav Ganguly. He was remarkable and I was believing he could bring us what Dev and his men did years ago. Sadly, it never happened.

This year, at home, almost everyone of us believed we could do it and we did. For Sachin, for Yuvraj and most importantly for 1.2 billion people. Imagine, its the world cup! I remember almost ever single ball, savouring  the match with my dad. Complaining, scolding and losing hopes more than once when Sehwag walked to the pavilion without as much as a single boundary. Sachin disappointing yet again and when Gambhir seemed like he was struggling. After the 30th over every fog of doubt got cleared and there was this comfortable red carpet that led us to the cup of glory.

That catch Sehwag took off Tharanga's bat, the dive that I saw of Yuvi at backward point after a millennium, the way Harbhajan and Yuvi hugged each other and cried, the saint like expression on MS's face after he scored the winning runs. Every single moment shall remain deep in our hearts. Every single player upon whom doubts were cast played today. I bet even though Sachin has a million other innings to remember and cherish, this would top his list. That medallion which reads "winners-world cup 2011", will be wet with tears of the great man himself.

I have been giving my opinions on how Sachin is overrated and all this god worship. But today, I tell you, one needs a quality to be overrated and he has it. Cricket truly being the religion that we proclaim it to be has united Indians across the stands of the Wankhade, across towns and cities, across the country and across the globe. I'm pretty sure the celebrations have not ended yet.

Every year it needs 190 plus countries to discuss world peace and unity and today we showed the world that a sport can unite a nation.

Eleven men to rule them all, eleven men to find them, eleven men to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.


I'm proud to say I lived when India won the world cup. I'm proud to say as a result of today's match, I lived.