amalgam

I was a tad nervous before meeting her for the first time. As I had feared, it didn’t go as well as I had planned. Just as the guard at the apartment had informed me, she knocked my door that afternoon. I hate bargaining. But I still do it because I hate more when I feel cheated. So once I mentioned what I expect from her, the bargaining ordeal began. She quoted four hundred. For a single man, who leaves in a one room flat, I thought that amount was astronomical. We had a few exchanges. It so happens that I either turn rude or I turn meek when any bargain process turns lengthy. To her dismay I turned rude. But to my satisfaction I sealed the deal for rupees two hundred and fifty.

It amazing how a healthy body takes a lot of things for granted. The golgappas from the road side vendor, along with the mouth watering ‘pani’ is taken for granted that they are germs free. Unfortunately, the one that I had during the weekend prior to Diwali wasn’t. The virus took a week to announce it’s presence in my body. Jayant and his wife Vandana had invited me for dinner on the occasion of Diwali. I was served mutton. To my surprise, I didn’t get excited at the salivating prospect of having a non-vegetarian meal. On the contrary I felt nauseated. My reaction should not reflect Vandana’s cooking abilities. In fact, after having lot of meals prepared by Vandana my verdict is that she a fantastic cook. That made me realize that there was nothing wrong with the meal itself but with me. I ate very little and preferred the vegetarian items on the menu. I got up the next day with constipation and fatigue. Alarmingly, my urine had a dark yellow color to it. I still wonder why I ignore...

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

"All resources, like land, minerals, trees, are all needed by human beings. As it is limited, we compete for them. So those who have power can access them and decide who can and can’t use them. Those who feel they are not given the opportunity, they react and seek justice. They are being denied human rights, and this is how conflicts, and eventually, wars start. So I’m trying to tell the world that if you want to live peacefully, we must manage these limited resources. We must share them and not too many should feel they are being excluded. We need a governance that respects the rule of law and human rights and that of minorities, who don’t have the political power to defend themselves." Wangari Maathai, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2004, also the first African woman to do so, spoke these words during an Interview by Shekhar Gupta on the program 'Walk the Talk' on NDTV.

'Impossible Is Nothing...' reads the billboard of a product, at the south extension shopping area. Sachin Tendulkar endorses that brand. Bleary eyed, I pick up the newspaper at my doorstep to learn that Tendulkar has been dropped from the one day squad. That billboard cruelly sneaks into my mind as I go through the concerned article. My thought starts to take a journey backwards in time. Some of the most thrilling moments I have experienced as a cricket follower can be credited to the little master. Starting from the first one. Incidentally, my first memory of watching a cricket match on television is that of a festival match during the Indian tour to Pakistan in 1989.

Today, OIL is the biggest killer in Iraq. Gold was the killer in India some centuries ago. The actual impact of those invasions on India, culturally and economically, is for the scholars to decipher. I am certain, though, that a lot of innocent and disadvantaged people suffered then. Many are today suffering in Iraq in the same way, if not worse. So, the fight for resourses rages on between nations. Yesterday, it was gold in India. Today, it is oil in Iraq. Tomorrow, as many experts suspect, it could be water.

To create something is not easy. I say that after a month of trying. My mind and heart was working full time to post another item on this page. But I have been unsuccessful in writing anything remotely readable. I am completely disappointed with myself. I was of the opinion that I was good with words; good in analyzing situations and that I had loads of opinion on a lot of matters. Last month happened to erase all misconceptions I had about myself. Like always, after I am bitten by truth, I am in the mood to rationalize.