Encounter with a Coin

The following conversation happened between me and a coin.

"But dude you must look at the other side also." The coin said.
"Why should I?" I asked.
"Because until you've seen the other side how can you make a decision."
"Look you are just a coin so stop preaching."
"You always do this." The coin was hurt.
"I am just saying I am pretty cool with this." I was trying to make it up to it.
"Why do you always feel 'cool' about the one thing that is shown to you? Why cant you just go around and have a look at the other side." The coin continued.
"Because I've been told by my forefathers to look at the glossy side only. Why take unnecessary chances?" I said in my defense.
"You are pathetic!" It blurted out.
"Thanks for saying that." I was a bit agitated.
"Look don't feel miserable. I'll give you an example." The coin tried to console me.
"Yeah! Here we go." I wasn't much interested in his chronicle.
The coin ignored the comment and continued.
"Do you know RAVANA?" The coin asked.
"Yes, I am pretty much aware of him." I said.
"What do you know about him?"
"Well! He was the enemy of our beloved god RAMA." I answered.
"But what did he do? Why he was an enemy of god RAMA?"
"He was a fiend and did something bad."
"What exactly do you know about his character and his actions?"
"He was a cock-a-hoop and he did something terrible for his own sake."
"What did he do exactly? Tell me."
"He abducted god RAMA's wife?"
"That's it."
"That's it. That's it. How would you feel if someone kidnap your wife?" I was furious.
"No, I mean that's all you know about him."
"Err..." I was about to say something but the coin continued.
"That sounds like a version of RAVANA you've been told since your childhood. Anyways so what's your verdict on RAVANA's character?"
"Well in the end he got what he deserved." I said.
"Now as you are pretty much obsessed with this version of the story, I'll tell you mine." The coin said.
"Oh! So you have a different 'version' of the mythological character which had been portrayed centuries ago." I was a bit annoyed as someone in my whole life has never even attempted to draw a different character sketch of RAVANA.
"Listen to me first." The coin tried to put its point.
"What version?" I asked.
"I think RAVANA was a caring and loving brother who forfeited his army, his sons, his kingdom, even his life trying to punish those who insulted his sister."
I was stunned to hear that elucidation. I was sitting numb staring at the coin in my hands.
"What are you saying?" I blurted out.
"Other side of the story!!"
The coin continued. "Look here's the thing. You can see things the way you want but try to see both the sides. Don't get obsessed with one side only."
"Yeah! Yeah! I get it. Now stop preaching and let me get back to my work."

without wax
I.I

Untitled!

Whenever I am sad,
When I feel I am going mad,
I just close my eyes and see,
What things future will be,
You would be my arms,
There would be no more storm,
Just you and me under the sky,
Our spirits will fly high,
This is the dream that keep me alive,
This is the dream that help me survive,
Dream so pure dream so divine,
When my angel will finally be mine,
But when I open my eyes,
I hear a thousand cries,
I am far away from the paradise,
Between us lie a million miles......

P.S. Please suggest a title for the poem!!
without wax
I.I

Loosing Weight!!

“Start dieting! You plump, avoirdupois moron.” My mom shouted. Now lemme tell u something, I get that a lot. From friends, non-friends (relatives) and my ‘well wishers’.

I give all of them a simple explanation. I say, “I am as fit as a Stradivarius and have just three quadrilateral meals a day punctuated by sumptuous snacks.” Well obviously, they don’t buy my classy elucidation on my health and suggest me to join a gym. And my father insists me to go for a jog at 5’o clock (in the morning, of course!!).

Now as I am much of an ascetic person so I give them my theory. I say these fitness centres a.k.a fat burning walls are just wallet reducing, penny sucking monsters. No matter how hard you try you can’t reduce weight. I’ve seen people outside the gymnasiums scrounging for food and eat whatever their hands lay on. It may be pohaas, samosaas, kachoris etc. Oh sorry! I forgot jalebis. So, I was saying, these health conscious people loose their ‘consciouses’ outside the gyms. And these gym owners get an extra share of money from the food vendors.

I don’t care whether zero-calorie gateaux sprinkled with truffles will taste as good as the well-caloried ones. I just eat them and enjoy. Many people (the three kinds explained in the first para!) say to me (well! Actually they admonish me) that because of my weight I will be humiliated in front of everyone. Well I say to them that I’d love to be the centre of attraction. Why does a person have to be judged by his physical appearance? Why can’t we (the healthier ones!) do a bit of that ‘austere living’ made fashionable by the Mahatma and the Gandhis of our own? Do we really need to jog everyday to make others happy? I know its good for us but lemme ask you one more question “Can you jog reversely and gain weight?”

The answer is a blatant “no”. Then why to take such pain and do the stuff which you don’t want to. So, I make an appeal to all those guys (and gals!) who are a bit healthier than these normal or let’s say skinny people to not take seriously the so called proffers about our health and enjoy life to its fullest.


without wax
I.I

Pilot Episode

This is my first post so I would like to devote it to a person whom I met only once in my life and got such an impact that it is like forever. This person really changed my perception about life. This post covers my first and only encounter with him.



So the story goes on like this. I was in the 5th semester of my Engineering and its like a tradition here that we have to join some campus oriented classes for the forthcoming placements. Now as I am not much of a heterodox person so I too followed the tradition and joined the class. We used to attend classes regularly(Don't ask about learning!) and finally the aptitude part was over. Now we had to go for the next course called the GD/PI course.



This course was really fun and infotentious. During this course we LEARNED! a lot. So the other day we had a lecture focussing on our strengths and weaknesses and as usual we were late for it. The lecture was already started and we knocked on the door. The mentor opened the door and we stupidly asked him "GD/PI ki class yahi hai kya Sir." On this he ushered us into the room and asked from the back "roj kahi aur jaate ho kya?" We felt quite embarrased and struggled hard to find our seats as everybody was laughing . Finally the session started and the mentor started to fill us in about how to represent our strengths and weaknesses in an interview. I was completely awed by his teaching skills and was sitting mum (I don't usually do that) and listening to him.


I would like to share an incident which he shared with us. It goes like this:


He went to a Gurudwara once. Now as we are well aware of the fact that in Mandirs we focus on our chappals more than the divine power. When I go to Mandir with my family my parents periodically go one by one and check whether our chappals are safe or not. This process of checking started when my dad lost his chappal at a Mandir and had to come barefooted all the way back home. So, he(the mentor) was skeptical about it too. When he came back after offering his prayers inside he saw that his sandals were kept there cleaned and polished. He was surprised to see that(Naturally!). When he was standing there surprised, a smart and well dressed guy appeared to his side (his shoes were also kept polished) and said, "Boss agli baar agar apne shoes polish karwane ho to yahi aa jana". He (the mentor) somehow controlled his wrath and managed a smile. After sharing this incident, he told us his thought which immediately came to his mind at that time. He said, "Agar mujhe ek khoon maaf hota to main uska karta."


I don't rememeber the other incidents which he shared with us quite well but this one really had a great impact on me. Our class timing was upto 8.30 PM and I usually become restless and feel very annoyed after the scheduled time is over and someone is still delivering the lecture. But that lecture was different, that day was different. The wall clock struck 9 PM but not a single nerve of my body wanted to move, wanted to go out. I was in a complete state of awe by just listening to that person. That day I really discovered my strengths and weaknesses. Although it was the only lecture he delivered to the class but I consider him the best teacher, the best mentor of my life till date.


Thanks a lot Sir for letting me know myself better.








without wax
Immaculate Illusionist