A dog named Rocky

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who have had a pet dog and those who haven't had one. If you don't have one, go ahead and bring one home. That is one decision you will not regret. Dogs are amazing creatures, with high intelligence and emotional quotients. I would go on to say that they are humans in a merely different form. Recently, I came across a dog, which greatly resembled my dog, Rocky. Not just that, this one was so friendly with me that I felt it was Rocky in a new life. Reincarnation? Maybe, dogs remember their past lives.

Rocky was a dobermann pinscher. He came to my house because my sister used to pester my dad to have a dog. I was dead against having pets at home. Which meant that my dad would eventually get a dog. Rocky came from our carpenter's work yard. The first time I saw him, I thought "this dog is going to kill me one day". But I survived. Not that he tried. Anyway. Long story short, it turned out to be a life-enriching experience.

Dogs have a religion. That religion says, There is One and only One true master. Most dogs are believers. My dog was one as well. So, he listened to my Dad. The rest (which included my mom, sis, and our driver) were largely taken for a ride. With me, it was a case of sibling rivalry! I could not help it. He saw me as competition, a brother to wrestle with. He had quite a few friends in the kids from the school nearby. And he had one enemy. Tiger.

Tiger was the name given to the stray street dog. Now dogs are very particular about their territory and any intrusion by other dogs is seen as a sign of aggression. Rocky and Tiger had an uneasy LoC, i.e. our gate and the adjoining wall. It kept them from tearing each other apart. They did manage to get into a biting argument a couple of times resulting in a few rounds of injections and blood wounds. Thankfully it did not result in any complications.

Rocky was a very intelligent and comforting creature. In the initial days of his stay at home, we would barricade the kitchen and the puja room. He realised that those spaces were out of bounds for him and would not enter even after we had stopped barricading it. He would know exactly when to take the liberties and when to be the obedient hand/face licking dog. He could precisely gauge my family's mood and would act accordingly. There is so much more that could be said about his behavior. I could write on and on about it.

Everytime I think of Rocky I am reminded of happy times. His company was a pleasure. He was a sight to watch. A bundle of hyper energy. Jumping. Pouncing. Running around with a ball or his feeding vessel. Hanging his nose out of the car window. Profusely licking my palms. Ah, I miss him a lot. Cheers to my brother, friend and pet!

New Year Resolutions - What's your five?

Things to look forward to:

• Watching movies on DVD player :)
• Traveling and visiting new places
• Meeting people and making new friends
• Playing Badminton and TT
• Jogging early in the morning

Things to do:

• Get license for car and bike (atleast for the bike)
• Restart violin classes
• Read up classics and contemporary best seller’s
• Read up atleast Samkhya and Yoga philosophies
• Do a bit to improve environment and make home Earth greener

Things to not do:

• Laze around – the lying around and do nothing thing
• Delay filing of taxes and other torture procedures
• Junk and impulsive purchases
• Jumping signal on bike/ overspeeding on the road
• Delay payment of card/ phone bills

Things to improve upon:

• Implementation of Plans (atleast the short term ones) :)
• Paying attention to detail
• Increasing attention span and focusing on one thing at a time
• Prioritizing reason over emotion
  
• Financial planning and management

Equivalent Exchange - Law of Alchemy

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain,
something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent
Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth

But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn't
encompass everything that goes on here. But I still choose to believe in its principle: that
all things do come at a price. That there's an ebb, and a flow, a cycle. That the pain we
went through did have a reward and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will
get something of value in return, even if it's not what they expected
~ Alphonse Eric, Full Metal Alchemist

November Musings

at the birth of dawn, emerges the lazy november sun,
ah, sleeping until late in the morning is so much fun
and then there is bouts of that special afternoon shower,
silver beads of water glistening on a bright red flower

there is somethin' special 'bout the november sky,
gazing at it, you never know how time passes by,
the smooth touch of the gentle evening breeze,
makes you go silent and pass into a motionless freeze

shadows of outstretched branches, on a november night,
dance to the sweet tunes of the filtered moonlight,
the moon plays hide and seek with the passing clouds,
making you wonder what mystery the nightfall shrouds

Memories Of Hyderabad

The place where I hail from has this laid back culture which affords a distinct quality of laziness, unseen or unheard of elsewhere. Yahan pe sab kuch chalta hai. Sab kuch dhere chalta hai. Sab ke paas chai peene ke liye samai hai. Tension kyon lete ho yaaron, main hoon naa. This is the quintessential nature of a Hyderabadi. Good natured, lazy, Tom Sawyer like attitude to life. No qualms about wasting hours over a cup of tea, in the company of friends :).

Well I may be a wee-bit idealizing here. I have some really great memories of this place. Of the times I have bunked classes in school, only to climb a hillock, lie down and watch the airplane's land and take off from the adjoining Begumpet airport. Jobless. Yes, that is Tom Sawyer for you. I remember the zillion occasions I have had pani-puri in the worst possible places knowing all too well the impending bout of fever and cold it was going to cause. I reminisce of those summer mornings when before the scorching Sun rose up high in the sky, a lineup of gully cricketers displayed their wares to the rest of the street. I think of those clashes with grouchy neighbours, ever complaining about our favorite pastimes being a nuisance to their serene existence.

I remember pedaling up and down the Begumpet flyover for years, on my cycle. I remember going late to school each day, and being made to stand in the line for laggards. I remember imagining my hardy competitors in school to be aliens bent upon not allowing me to do better than them in exams. Weird, yeah i know.

Whenever I think of the land South of the Vindhya's, I am reminded of the plateau of the Deccan.

The Vigilante's Revenge

The case containing the ArmaLite-AR15 semi-automatic weapon hung on his shoulders as he slowly made his way up, to the top of the terrace. It was a breezy October night. The moon was completely hidden, covered behind the dark, rain bearing clouds. The menacing clouds that enveloped the entire sky spread a blanket of darkness over the city. Streaks of lightning kindled the sky with momentary flashes. It would soon start to rain. These conditions were ideal for the mercenary to execute his plans.

He had traveled a long way to reach the spot from where he was going to assassinate his target. As he made his way up to the terrace of the abandoned building, he started to mentally rehearse the entire plot. The timing had to be perfect, for the man he was going to gun down was no ordinary person. He was the final one in the list of four the assassin had vowed to eliminate. His quarry's death would initiate a sequence of events which would have serious ramifications for many powerful men around the globe. The plan to kill was immaculate and made to the last detail. There would be no leeway or Plan B, and above all there wouldn't be a second chance.

The assassin reached the roof top and laid down his assemblage in a dark corner. He slowly stretched himself to relax the tension that was building up in his muscles. His hand made its way to the breast pocket to retrieve the cigarette and match. As he struck the match, the flare of light revealed his scarred face for an instant. The scar on his left cheek was an old one, made by the slash of a sharp edged blade. Its manner of healing suggested that it had been there for a long time. The man who gave him that scar was going to die that very day. It was a vendetta to be redeemed long past its due date, with plenty of interest to compensate for the delay.

The man sat down and opened the case which contained the ArmaLite semi automatic rifle and its accessories. He took out the entire set and arranged the pieces of the potent weapon in order and started to re-assemble it. The weapon had not been used in a long time. And tonight would be the last time it would be used. He mounted the telescopic sight and the laser focus on top of the rifle and loaded it with a 30-round Stanag magazine. He then set the tripod on the parapet wall of the terrace and mounted the rifle on the tripod to get his elevation and bearings right. There would only be one shot to take and that would be directed to rip through the target's heart.

The rifle was aimed at a precise point on the marked door. The target would stand at the doorway for less than five seconds before entering a heavily shielded limousine, which would transport him to another secret location. Two guards would lead the way out of the house and protect him from the front, one guard each would stand by his two sides and two security personnel would complete the rear. However, the view from the top was not hindered by the presence of those security guards. This loophole was to cost the target dearly. The deep cloud cover provided by the soot colored sky ensured that the assassin's position was not given away. The man and weapon were camouflaged in black to keep them concealed from the roving eyes of the guards

The target was a man of sixty one. He had been a dictator of a gold-rich impoverished country. Under his aegis, his three military generals had engaged in full scale genocide. He had powerful friends, backers and supporters, whose names were secretly stashed away in the locker of an obscure bank. If he were to die prematurely, those details were to be released to the world by his trusted aide, causing heavy damage to all those implicated. A pact was made between him and the powers that be to shield him from the prosecution of law and protect him from his enemies. In return, those names were to be kept a closely guarded secret. It was through this arrangement he eventually gained asylum to a country which could not be reached by the justice of international courts.

It was half past nine and another fifteen minutes remained for the dictator to emerge through the doorway. The assassin sat by the side of the parapet wall. His palms and forehead were drenched in nervous sweat and his heart was beating at an incredibly high rate. He wiped off the sweat and took a few deep breaths to bring his thumping heart back to normal. The moment was upon him. He raised himself to a crouching posture such that his head was level with the telescopic sight. His fingers were around the trigger and his eyes were focused on one spot on the door marked by the red-dot of the laser beam. The hunter patiently waited for his prey to emerge from its lair.

At 9:45 p.m. the door opened and two guards stepped out to secure the front and then another two came through to secure the sides. The dictator came into view and stood right at the doorway, waiting for the approaching limousine to halt. At the same moment, the assassin, high on the terrace of the building, quickly re-adjusted the rifle to locate his target and squeezed the rifle’s trigger. The multiple bullets found their mark in the dictator’s heart. Not knowing what hit him, the dictator quietly slumped to the ground, motionless and dead. Pandemonium broke loose instantaneously. Shots were randomly fired in the dark by the guards and the call that the dictator was dead went out.

The sniper discreetly escaped in a four wheel drive while commotion reigned in the parallel alley. He reached the point on the river front where he was to rendezvous with his transporter. From there he was to be transported to the neighboring country, where he would hide for a while and then make his escape to obscurity, once the dust over the killing settled down. The boat he got into was a small motor boat with no room for extravagance. He settled down in one corner of the boat and watched as the distance between land and the boat began to grow. His mission was accomplished.

He remembered that infernal night when a group of militia had razed his village to the ground twenty years ago. On that day, he had been unable to put off the fire that had consumed his family and the village, while he stood humiliated in front of the dictator. For over a decade, he had fought for justice against a system built on corruption, power and wealth. When all efforts to punish the perpetrators failed, he had resolved to deliver justice all by himself. That task was now complete and the fire in his heart was finally doused.

Universe and consciousness

Did the Universe exist before I was born?
Will it exist after I die?
Did I create the Universe by becoming conscious or did the universe create me?
What is beyond this Universe?
What is time?
Is the Universe governed by order or by chaos?
What is the meaning of purpose?
Is reason, reasonable?
Are emotions only chemical concentrations in the brain?
Is there anything absolute?
What exists beyond duality?
Are there things we will never be able to find out?
What is the origin of man and when is his end?
What happens when man evolves, does he remain or does he become another species?
Are there higher levels of reality?
Is it possible to transcend time, space and duality?
Is immortality a reality of this world or any other worlds?
Is the Self, a real entity, or a hypothesis?