The proportion of things

I feel like i am stuck in a quagmire. Time is churning ever so slowly around me. The amount of lethargy generated is unbelievable. It kills any residual spark of activity. The temptation to just lie there and do nothing is infinite. The infinitesimal pricking of the conscience, to get up, to do something worthwhile, goes unheeded. The voice of that self-same conscience flies out of the window like an unseen and unheard songbird, whose melody is something you become aware of only in its absence. The lassitude doesn’t extend to thoughts though. They swirl in and out of my mind, sometimes connected like a streak, sometimes disjoint like a dashed line. They flow along new planes, drawing various images, some seen and recognised; some utterly new. All the while redefining existing concepts, putting the ’same old same old’ in a new light. Making you open your mouth in wonder and think “why didn’t i see it like this before? This explains everything.”
Whilst your world is being revolutionized by this upheaval, the cosmos continues its existence around you. It is barely impeded, and not at all hindered, by your consciousness, your thoughts, the storm raging within you. The normal flow of life continues following its dizzy course, with nary a glance in your direction. After all, you are a speck in the universe.

Sad but true…

Looking out of my apartment window, i noticed a sight (sometimes) alien in India. The people staying below had stuck the ‘Stars and Stripes’ atop a fence some months ago, and thanks to the vagaries of the weather and other elements of nature, it was now on the ground. In a sorry state it was too. When i remarked on this this to a friend, saying “It seems these people don’t respect their flag enough”. The reply i got was “Unfortunately, we respect our flag, and not our country”.

Which, in my opinion, sums it up perfectly.

Utopia

Snow outside. Coming down thick. At this rate, i will have to get up an extra 15 minutes earlier tomorrow morning just to clean my car. Yeah, i know (Big grin).
One peek outside through the blinds, and all i want to do is snuggle up on my bean bag, with a warm comforter around me, with a good book in hand (and i just know which one) and a cup of steaming tea near(the way mom makes it).
Ummmmmm!

Anatomy of an execution

Saw this story being aired on a prominent news channel at the airport, while waiting for a flight. Needless to say, it was a ‘postmortem’ of the Saddam Hussein execution, which is all over the news waves these past couple of days. This was the first glimpse I had of this video. I happened to watch it at the moment when the ‘guards’ were wrapping a cloth around Saddam’s neck, while explaining to him what the procedure was for his execution. Kind of like handing a sugar-coated, very bitter pill to someone. Very very bitter, in this case. The prisoner, hair neatly combed, beard smartly trimmed, was suited and booted, as though dressed for a party thrown for him. The irony being that, you could actually call it a party thrown for him.

This video will undoubtedly be aired countless times. People will see it many many times over, until they remember to a fault each action, every gesture, every movement and every word in this gruesome video.

Why ‘gruesome’? Because I think it’s gruesome to blatantly put on show someone’s final moments in this way. Of course, there are those who will argue that he behaved far worse during his lifetime, and that he was only getting his just desserts. That I shouldn’t be saying this about someone who reduced the lives of an entire nation’s peoples to nothing more than a handful of misery.

I do not disallow these arguments, and I also know that this is probably not the first (and certainly not the last) time such is being shown. And yet, I can’t help but feel a pang of pity, you could say, on the ultimate denigration and mockery of a man’s life and eventually, his death.

And the story airing just after the above was ‘Developing story – Hunt for Bin Laden’. Any guesses what will happen next?

Boulevard of Broken dreams?

Maybe not. But there certainly are places called Chagrin Boulevard, Independence Boulevard, Progress Drive, Prospect Road, Excellence Drive, Fortune Street. And this one just takes the cake -’Just Imagine Drive’. I swear to you i jest not.
Maybe the people responsible for naming them had a touch of the quirky. Or perhaps there is a story behind each.
Who knows?

A bit late, but nevertheless..

A brand new year has dawned, bringing 365 days with it. That’s a whole lot of time to do all the stuff we should, or think we should, do. Consequently, all of us will have made many resolutions, and broken quite a lot of them by this time too.
Which makes this year nearly the same as the last. Or the one before that. Or like any other, for that matter. The only difference will be in what you bring to it.
I guess I am rambling on and meandering from what I want to say, which is –
Here’s wishing you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year. May you find those 365 days ample time to realize your dreams, and to do all (or many of), the things you ever wanted to.
Cheers!