Turn Man

All characters and incidents are real.

Finally the shit piece of code ran. Aah what a relief. All of us were so happy that we had not crossed our deadlines and now all we wanted is some relief. And no, we did not want to eat that pathetic food provided in the name of dinner in office. So pop came the idea from Yogesh, “Let’s go somewhere for dinner”. But every one of them had left, so I and Yogesh were left alone.
Me: “But there is one more problem, I don’t feel like driving my beast in this chilly Chandigarh Winter.”
Yogesh: “No problem buddy, we will go in my car, will drop you home and pick you up tomorrow morning as well. You know it is on my way.”
Me: “Hmmm, sounds a nice idea. OK come on lets go.”
Transformed into an Eskimo in the non-Arctic region stuffing myself under a pullover, a jacket on top of it, a muffler, hand gloves and went towards the parking area accompanied by Yogesh. Settled down in the car and we roared off and just then Yogesh told me something, hearing which I went numb to my nerves. He had a night vision problem and finds it difficult to maneuver turns at night. My jaws dropped wide open, eyes burst out in bewilderment.
Me: “It’s a good joke, man.” It was just to relax the situation (actually myself) with this light statement and somber reaction.
Yogesh: “Had it been a joke.:)”
Me: “What!!! you can’t be serious with this dude.”
Yogesh: “Come on Dude its very simple. I can drive straight with absolutely no problem but I find it difficult to locate the turns from a distance and hence can’t maneuver them. You can help me. You be alert, and tell me about the turns before hand. Tell me ‘TURN’ and I will turn. Direction is not a problem as I am well acquainted with the route.”
Me: “That is fine, but how the heck you manage to drive on other days. I am not there with you and you supposedly go alone.”
Yogesh: “I follow some car and manage it somehow. But today you can help me. Don’t worry buddy, it’s been over 6 months I have been managing.”
Me: “As if you will get an SMS Alert, Chances are high on your accident, be alert.”
Yogesh giggles, I manage to somehow gather myself and then start concentrating on the road. A turn was about to come. I had to alert him. ‘TURN’ I yelled.
Yogesh: “Take it easy dude; I am not sitting a mile away.”
Now how do I tell him how I was feeling? Anyways somehow he managed to take that turn. Then again the next turn was due. This time I was subtle and was surprised at my own normalcy. I have been accustomed to it. The driver is facing night vision problems, I am not confident on driving, he cannot easily spot turns and needs my help to maneuver them and I am accustomed to this!!!

But destiny rules otherwise and our team (I and Yogesh) managed to take three other turns to rove into the Chinese restaurant in the 3B-2 market of Mohali. We parked the car and had dinner, trying to drift myself out of the bizarre experience I just had, and then a thought stuck, I went dumb again. He’s going to drop me back home. More turns!!!, I thought. Just tried to brush off the thought and concentrated on the dinner.

Some Weeks later.

Aparna: “Virag, Yogi do you guys mind going on a dinner tonight. We can go in Yogesh’s car, all three of us.”
I and Yogesh stared at each other in bewilderment. Whether to tell her or not was the million dollar question. Yogesh looked at me as if telling me, What to do?
Aparna: “What happened guys, are we going or not.”
The idea was very fascinating, another chance to get relief from the bore food, and a chance to have some hot soup in this winter.
Me: “Let’s go, since we have Yogesh’s car, we can go.”
Yogesh nodded winking at me, I reciprocated the gesture.
And so the terrific trio froze inside the four wheeler and zoomed off into the heavy fog. When we had last ventured out, winter had just started to set in, hence there was little or no fog, but almost 3 weeks had passed since that last drive and this time the fog was heavy and visibility was low. Aparna was elated as Yogesh finally gave her a ride in the car, she had desired for so long. But this time the challenge was threefold. Firstly the night vision problem of Yogesh was there and its gravity had been magnified with the presence of the fog, but these were manageable issues. A serious contender to the above two problems was the menace of tackling the female traveling with us, when the bitter fact is going to unfold itself inside the car. I could very well recall how badly she had reacted when she had accompanied me on my beast, some months back. I had newly learnt bike-driving and just started to try myself in the mediocre traffic of Mohali-Chandigarh, but the situation being unavoidable, had to take her. And after the ride I had vowed I am never going to take her with me, come what may. The same thoughts were pestering both of us. For now we had just set off on the straight road outside office, where a turn was about to materialize in about 600-700 meters.
Yogesh: “Yaar viru, tell me when to take the turn, you can see the low level of visibility as well.”
Aparna was sitting in the rear seat of the Maruti 800 vehicle. She could not believe her ears, and lest she was aware of the stark realities that are going to stoop down upon her in the next couple of minutes. Somehow she spoke.
Aparna: “What did you just say Yogi, Virag is going to tell you when to take a turn!!!”
Me: “It is simple Aparna, I will tell him when the turn nears up and then he will just turn the wheel”
Trying to ease if of as much as possible with a stupid explanation.
Aparna: “I understand Virag, the visibility is below normal levels due to the fog, but still I do not see any reason of not being able to spot a turn”
Me: “Only if you do not have any night vision problems.”
Me: “’TURN’”
My tone was near loud, but Yogesh could understand that I was in conversation with Aparna and appreciated the tepidity with which I had reacted having spotted the turn, by his silent grin. Yogesh maneuvered the turn but the car went a little off the track. I warned.
Me: “Buddy we are going to bang in the footpath, stop now.”
Yogesh was quick, he slammed the brakes, pressed the clutch down deep into the car chamber, brought the gear to REAR position and slowly released the clutch, and the vehicle started moving back, when I yelled, “STOP, SOUND HORN, THERE’S A CAR.” Yogesh obliged with the perfectly timed reaction and we stepped out to see what had happened. Luckily we were still a good 6-7 inches away from the other car. The other driver started cursing us. We realized, it was our mistake and immediately apologized, pacified him and he went away. Back in the vehicle, Yogesh brought the car on track and we started again. Aparna had lost all her cool by now. She had somehow managed to be quiet all this while, although it had just been 5 minutes for everything to happen. Looked like an age had descended upon us. Now it was her turn to speak.
Aparna: “STOP THE CAR. What the hell is this going on? Do you guys realize a little mistake might have cost us our lives and limbs? You take everything so lightly, if any casualty happens, who do you expect to turn up for our help, at this hour in this deserted street and that too in such a cold and foggy weather. You two were well aware of the problems and yet you chose not to tell me, and what did you expect, I am going to pat your shoulders saying WELL DONE BOYS!!!”
By the time, the showdown reached its climax the next turn was on its way. I and Yogesh had been staring at each other, when I suddenly yelled, harder this time, than the first time I had done so traveling alone with Yogesh, TURNNNNNNNNNNNN.

He turned the vehicle and stopped it by the side. Despite near zero mercury levels outside, the temperature of the ambience inside the car was no less than that of the SAHARA in the month of May. Aparna was in a state of shock. Poor thing, she knew she had no choice other than praying and sit inside despite her unwillingness. We tried to pacify her.
Me: “Aparna I know I should have told this to you earlier, but I was just in no mood to distort the celebration mood you had injected in us suggesting the dinner. And I had been with Yogesh before as well and our chemistry was just perfect. I used to tell him about the turn and he would successfully manage it.”
Yogesh: “And you know this fog is more today, we were not aware of it inside the office and once we had started I was in no mood to retort and I also thought we will manage. But anyway see we all are safe now. Please do not spoil your mood. Cheer up, I promise I will drive safely and we can have a memorable dinner together.”
Me: “Hey we can go to her place and pick up her camera to make this evening more memorable. Anyways her place is on the way.”
Aparna: “That means more turns and more synchronization required. No please, I will try not to spoil my mood, we will go for the dinner, but this is the last time I am going with you guys on a dinner.”
Yogesh winked at me. The trick of suggesting the camera had worked. When you want someone to be with you despite willingness, the best way is to suggest the person two alternatives, the one with lesser stake will be the chosen one. Who said, psychology was an undefined science. So finally we all were sitting on the table, pondering over the menu. Yogesh had managed all the turns henceforth beautifully; of course, I also had to take the credit of warning him at the right time for the upcoming turn. And by the time the dinner ended, Aparna was back in her cheery element, thanks to the wonderful stupid jokes, I and Yogesh cracked throughout the dinner.

Bio Geek or a Moron?

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Jignesh always had a hard luck at girls. He had never been able to understand whether it had been his love for Biology or was he really a moron, girls love to hate. His observations so far had led him to believe that girls like intelligent men. Some told him they don’t exist, or used to exist and are now extinct. He somehow believed otherwise. He had this uncanny ability to be able to relate to every single action of his and his surroundings to physiology, anatomy and psychology. But poor thing was unaware that BIOLOGY is not the only science in this world and there was life outside SCIENCE as well.

He was in awe of Jahnavi, dumbfounded by her enigmatic charm and her charismatic ambience. But every time she materialized beside him he would find himself at a loss of words but also did not want to lose an opportunity to talk to her and to disprove his image of a geek and a moron. Jahnavi would get disillusioned every time she would talk to him as she would get the most unexpected answer and that answer had the least intimacy-quotient. But somehow she was attracted to him, because of his honesty, sincerity and dedication, so what it was towards one of those subjects she has always despised, and hoped one day he will not disappoint her. This hope kept her drawing to him in spite of the disheartenment enthralled on her meeting him every time. This time she saw him sitting in the library, as usual buried in some stupid BIOLOGY book. Jahnavi had never found biology worth fascinating enough to devote time, the way Jignesh used to do. Anyhow she went up to him and said, “Hi, what’s up?”

Jignesh was too engrossed to look up to see who was speaking and replied casually, “studying…” and finished the sentence with a big hippopotamus yawn and by the time his face and jaw muscles contracted to normalcy he realized the big blunder he had just committed. Being very used to this, Jahnavi somehow still tried to manage,
“You are yawning seeing me, do you find me so boring. L“
Jignesh knew this time something needs to be done or else he should consider his acquaintance with Jahnavi dead from now for all practical purposes. Poor thing tried with his best asset, biology!!!
Jignesh: “Hell no, who on earth told you that you are boring, no way buddy.”
Jahnavi: “Shut up. Do not lie. I saw opening your mouth wide open while reciprocating to my gestures.”
Jignesh: “Oh that stupid yawn, see we need to understand why do we actually yawn. It is a very popular perception about yawning, that we yawn whenever we are bored. But everything that is true is not popular and everything that is popular is not true. We yawn because the brain does some extra processing, and for that extra processing we need extra oxygen and so we yawn, inhaling a much larger quantity of Oxygen in one shot. See I will show this to you, they have explained this very well in the fourth chapter of this book. Just a minute…..”
He looked up, having located the article, just to learn that she had gone away from there. Once again the same debacle happened and Jignesh was again confused. Why did she go away?
Jahnavi was walking faster than she had come. She could no longer take it. brain does some extra processing, and for that extra processing we need extra oxygen and so we yawn, inhaling a much larger quantity of Oxygen in one shot. Bullshit. She thought. All she had expected was a cheery Hello in return and then maybe she could have asked him to accompany for a cup of coffee. She had not even expected a wish from him on her birthday today, as she was quite sure, Jignesh won’t have remembered. Even if they could have a cup of coffee, she could have felt the silent wishes from him. But not any longer.

Jignesh as usual, realized the debacle after a while. Shit. He thought, I was supposed to wish her today and probably she was expecting that, but Oh Lord, this chapter is so big. To Hell with it, will recover it in night studies, now I need to apologize and wish her as well. And so he set out on his Mission-de-James Bond to look for her.
He looked for her everywhere, inside the library, outside it, girls’ sports room, near drinking water, classrooms, boys’ common room, teacher’s gallery. She was to be found nowhere, when the worst thought hit him. Is she pissed off with me and left college for the day and that would mean calling her and this was a far more herculean task. His worst fears were about to become true when he located her standing near the notice board. A new spirit rejuvenated in him. Hurriedly he maneuvered his steps towards her and finally reached beside her. But now, what to say, Sorry? as usual, no not this time.
Jignesh: “Hey forget the oxygen and its quantity, I am feeling very exhausted, can you accompany me over a cup of coffee?”
Jahnavi knew ideally Jignesh should have apologized, but she could not expect a better response from him. History has been testimony to this. At least that stupid and boring BIO will be away for some time. And who knows he might not have forgotten her birthday. Shut up. A voice shouted from inside, don’t be so greedy; do not forget he is JIGNESH.
So they were walking together towards the canteen. Some eyes went wide open on seeing them enter the Royale-de-cuisine of the college. JIGNESH with a girl!! and that too with JAHNAVI!! The least the owners of those eyes could believe that they were not dreaming. But Jignesh was in a different world. Both of them settled down at a lonely table in the corner of the canteen. Thanks to Siddharth, his closest friend, he at least had some manners of behaving with a lady at the table.
Jignesh: “What do you want to have?”
Jahnavi was surprised. But she did not want to lose this opportunity by speaking her heart out. She felt like pulling Jignesh’s cheeks for the sweet gesture he had just performed and tell him, So sweet, my shonu. But all she could say is, “A cup of coffee”.
Jignesh: “OK, I will just get it.”
Jahnavi saw his silhouette go to the cash counter, purchase 2 coffee coupons and bringing two coffee cups towards their table. And Jahnavi was thinking all this while that may be she has just always misunderstood Jignesh. Probably he needs some time and some space that’s it. She was jolted out of the reverie with the pleasant smell of fresh espresso. Smilingly she took her cup. Jignesh thought, apologizing will not be a good option now. Just wish her, she will forget everything. He had just opened his mouth to wish her, when she caught his hand tightly. Jignesh froze there as if he had been unconscious for centuries and opened his eyes in the Arctic Circle. But the excitement was short lived when he saw the horrified face of Jahnavi. Then he realized, and looked back at the nearby table. A cockroach had distracted her. Jignesh put his hand on her hand and tried to pacify her.
Jignesh: “It is OK Jahnavi, it is only a cockroach. You see need not fear it, it is harmless. It belongs to the phylum Arthropod with enhanced exoskeleton and harmless tentacles. The reason why they are so small is explained by the effect of gravity on their exoskeletons….” He had been delivering this lecture looking at the creature. Suddenly he realized. He turned and saw. Jahnavi was gone. Both the cups of coffee were lying there. He gave a grin and walked away. Another debacle, he thought.

Bitterness - A form of Love?

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Tring Tring!!!!
Jignesh calling. Jahnavi’s heart always skipped a beat seeing Jignesh’s name on the calling screen of her mobile. And Jignesh would never miss any of her calls even if it meant to stop his bike while and attend to the call, or even an SMS. Were they laying more importance on each other than needed? No, absolutely not, both of them needed this importance, though they always maintained a stand contrary to this to each other. Do not give me so much of importance. Gathering herself, she picked up the call.
Jahnavi: “Hello!!!”
The words spelled magic and poured honey into Jignesh’s ears. It was like an oasis in a desert.
Jignesh: “Hi, what’s up?”
Jahnavi: “Nothing, I am in office.”
Jignesh: “Can we meet in the evening?”
Jahnavi: “Ummm, ok.”

Jignesh had been mustering courage for the meeting since the past few days. How on earth is he going to tell this to Jahnavi that they will not be meeting after today, probably not or at least they are not going to talk on phone. They will be buddies, but buddies that’s it, might be chatting, blogging and commenting on each other’s posts. It was not all happy in Jignesh’s family about his getting close to a non-Gujarati girl, so he had to take a decision. Either tell his family that he cannot give up on Jahnavi and lose all credibility or tell Jahnavi to sever ties with him forever so that there are no problems in his family. But Jignesh has been known to find alternative and un-thought of solutions to serious problems. He knew Jahnavi would understand him, and support him. He was waiting for her in the corridor, thinking about how to put his thoughts across, just when he saw the hurried steps of Jahnavi racing towards him.

Jahnavi: “Hi, how are you? How was the day?”
Jignesh: “I am fine. The day was fine. How was yours?”
Jahnavi: “Hmm it was OK types. So tell me, what is it? your breath sounded a bit tensed.”
Jignesh: “Yeah…. actually, just wanted to ask you….”
Words were playing games with Jignesh, or was he trying to play some games. Jahnavi was petrified knowing that still Jignesh needed to think before speaking to her. Though she fought off her irritation, and put it straight across to him, as she knew it had to be only one matter.
Jahnavi: “Everything’s fine at home I guess?”
Jignesh was almost taken aback, Can she read my thoughts, telepathy!!!. The thought was both a boon and a bane for him. Boon as half of the work was done, she knew the matter at least, it will be easy to carry over from here, but the bane part of it was more perilous as it highlighted how close they were emotionally, mentally, spiritually and it will be all the more difficult for them to increase distances. But who said Life is easy. He had to carry on and so was the case with Jahnavi as well. She had a tougher life he thought. He had always thought this.

Jignesh: “No, not everything is fine. Actually that’s why I called you to say, we might not be able to continue the way we have been going. We need to increase distances, if you want me to put it straight.”
Jahnavi: “Hmm I can understand Jignesh. I had been fearing this day will come soon. Good that it came while I was unprepared, otherwise you know the fears of a lurking danger are more fatal. It is OK….”
She almost fought her tears, damn it. Do not pour out now, I will grant you a more private moment, she seemed to be telling to her tears. This time they obeyed.
Even Jignesh was no less aware of the mental condition of Jahnavi. He also thanked her tears, otherwise it would have been more difficult. He took control of the situation, using Jahnavi’s words to console her.
Jignesh: “I will not call this just love as it limits our relationship and this is what we don’t want to do. You only told me that ours is a complete relation which covers all aspects of a relation between not just a male and a female but between two individuals. And is it some kind of a rule or what, that whenever there’s Love between an unrelated male / female it has to have a romantic angle. I do not have any qualms saying that Love exists although there exists no logical explanation to justify its existence. And in the absence of such an explanation, society just picks up the easiest one, ROMANCE, huh?”
Both of them were surprised at the flow of words coming from Jignesh. Jahnavi had at least not expected this. But Jignesh had more to say. He continued. Jahnavi listened, awestruck.
Jignesh: “The easiest way for this is Bitterness, Jahnavi. If I start getting bitter with you, things can be easier, right? But the saddest part is that even our bitterness for each other is nothing but another manifestation of our love for each other. Life has been such that we are better off handling bitterness, so by being bitter to each other we are just helping the other person cope with the situation. Making life easy for the other person. Paving a way to generate strength for the other person. Is it not our love for each other? To me it is, and staying away is also a form of LOVE. We are burning ourselves as fuels to lighten each others lives. What purer form of LOVE other than this can exist Jahnavi tell me?”

Jahnavi had drifted to a different world. She was in total awe of this person standing in front of her and was rendered speechless by his views. She started respecting him all the more, not only because he used her views to explain himself, but also because Jignesh had acknowledged this relation with the emotion of LOVE. He could use this name, as normally men have a problem with this word. But Jignesh was unique and Jahnavi was proud of him. But she was not able to express her pride for him as it will make him weak and she did not want this to happen. Here again she was applying Jignesh’s principle only, Paving a way to generate strength for the other person.
Jahnavi: “Are you done with your lecture. Actually there’s no need for all this. You could have simply told me, ‘GO AWAY’ I would have happily deserted you. I am getting late. Thanks for everything so far.”
Jahnavi left from there. She wanted to compete with her tears. They should not step out before she steps in her room. Jignesh kept watching her till he could. All he could do is pass a smile, thinking at the tepidity with which Jahnavi had applied his thoughts to practicality. Indeed bitterness is the best and hitherto unexplored form of LOVE. Make the life of your beloved a little bit easier without you, when you know, the current logistics do not allow you to be together.

Today’s Woman

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Jahnavi gets up at 5 in the morning. She has got two hours with herself before her office cab will be arriving to pick her up. Before that she has to prepare the breakfast and make preliminary lunch preparations in addition to the daily chores. Some days will be more hectic when she might have to cater to a couple of e-mails as well from office. It will take an hour’s ride to the office and it is no less hectic after reaching there. Working with one of the top-notch software companies in the world, workload is never less. Being in the troubleshooting department, issues can come up any moment. Meetings need to be organized, juniors have to assigned work, boss wants the updates on critical issues and so many other issues needs to be handled. Jahnavi does all this with a firm resolve. The day’s work is wound up by evening and she has to take the evening 6:30 cab to reach home. In the evening’s traffic she will reach home by 8 or 8:30, and after reaching there she has to again cook. Her dad is waiting for her to return. She is fully exhausted and stressed out with the hectic day in office and also has a long list of chores pending before she can blink an eye. After cooking and finishing off in the kitchen she has to prepare for her GMAT and also finish some pending office e-mails. By the time everything finishes, it is almost 12 midnight. Tired she goes to bed. But sleep eludes her as she has got one more thing to worry about. She has got to think of something about Siddharth, her estranged husband, who is trying his level best to bring her back but she cannot stand him a moment in her life. Her parents, her cousins, some of her close friends, all have been trying to convince her to give Siddharth one more chance. But Jahnavi, who is completely shattered and disillusioned with Siddharth’s indifference, insensitivities and a one-sided relationship, is fighting her fight alone. So it seems it is like an agony being a woman, a working woman. We will come back to Jahnavi, but before that let us have a look at Kamini.

Kamini on the other hand, has just finished her college in Arts and is nowadays at home. She is the only daughter of her parents and has been pampered a lot since childhood and all her wishes have been fulfilled even before she sneezes. She has a younger brother as well. She is very arrogant, stubborn and ill-disciplined. Just after she finishes her studies, her parents find a match for her. A software engineer, working in an MNC in Bangalore and he is the only son of his parents. Jignesh is a dream son-in-law for anyone as he is a very family oriented person and wants to give his family nothing but the best. But Kamini has her own dreams, getting married to a software engineer working in am MNC, having a decent salary, owning a flat in his own name in Bangalore, all she could think of is a life full of luxury with no restrictions. She also had this confidence in herself and in her so called “Love Gestures”, that she would be able to convince Jignesh to live separately from his parents. Her parents also coaxed Jignesh beyond limits to achieve this goal. But Jignesh was a hard client. He would never do something that his conscience does not allow him to and strongly objects to Kamini’s and her parents’ unjust demands. They subject him and his innocent parents to mayhem of mental cruelty by not only maligning them socially but also going to the extent of filing false criminal cases against Jignesh and his parents and force them to come to a compromise. But Jignesh is a fighter and vows to fight back but does not give in. And so it may seem like it is an ecstasy being a woman as the law allows her to get as vicious as she wants and can have the confidence of making her unjust demands conceded to by shedding crocodile tears and unleashing a string of fabricated lies. But little does Kamini know that she herself is her biggest enemy. Time will teach this lesson to her.

So here we have two different women. Jahnavi who has given everything she could do to not only make her relation work, but also to prove that a girl can handle office and home simultaneously. And we have Kamini who has only known to lie and shed crocodile tears to gather false sympathy and trap Jignesh. Jahnavi knows very well that in the current legal system she can easily force Siddharth for a divorce, but she is a woman of substance and principles, who will not want her husband to go through legal hassles, and neither will she ever separate a son from his mother, “because a mother is a mother”. These are two examples of “Today’s Woman”, or is this title itself a misnomer. They are just examples of the different facets of the “The Fairer Sex”, and since it relates to the timeline of “Today”, may be it is convenient to refer to them as “Today’s Woman”. But it is not the woman alone. Kamini could not have done all this without her parents’ illegal support and faulty upbringing. Jahnavi’s parents also realize that their daughter is not happy with Siddharth, still they are advising her to re-consider him, for they know it takes a moment to break and years to make. And is it not the fact their upbringing is also reflected in the fact that Jahnavi, though disillusioned by Siddharth, still wants the divorce to go through peacefully. She is fighting with her parents for Siddharth’s sake. Hats off to Jahnavi and her parents. In spite of these agonies Jahnavi should take pride in her strength wherein she has put herself at stake for the betterment of people she loves. To me it is an Ecstasy being Jahnavi and an Agony being Kamini.

The Sensation of Touch

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Prologue: A small kid, Jignesh is sitting in his class. He is in the sixth standard and the Life Science is going on. The teacher is taking lessons on the “Sense Organs”

Teacher: “Students we have 5 sense organs.
1. Eyes (The sensation of Vision)
2. Ears (The sensation of Hearing)
3. Nose (The sensation of Smell)
4. Tongue (The sensation of Taste) and last but not the least
5. Skin (The sensation of Touch)”

As the final words echoed around the acoustic peripheries of the room, there was one student amongst the rest who was getting emphatic about the whole thing and could not stop himself, and started chatting with his neighbor.
Jignesh: “Hey Andy, you are quite comfortable with girls tell me, how it feels when a girl touches?”
Andy: “This is not the right time, will talk to you over this later.”
Jignesh: “Hey tell no buddy, anyway this class is boring.”
Andy: “OK, it feels nice; you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’, its totally different.”

The words reverberated in Jignesh’s mind for long but nothing happened. Years followed and Jignesh took up Science as his subject of interest and got interested in studying about the most interesting organ of human anatomy: THE HUMAN BRAIN. Axons, neurons, cerebral hemispheres: The Frontal Lobe, the Parietal Lobe, the Occipital Lobe, the Temporal Lobe. Of these the Parietal Lobe (perception of stimuli) was of primary importance to him as those words were still making rounds in the Temporal Lobe (memory) of his brain: it feels nice, you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’, its totally different.

He was still thinking, “What is that is so enjoyable in a woman’s touch?” And started a chain of thoughts. Nostalgia was gripping the center stage in his Temporal Lobe. He started drifting down the memory lane.

He was able to see the serendipity of the Jahnavi’s soothing silhouette from the corridors of the college, standing there as an epitome of Indian beauty. And the burning desire of talking to Jahnavi getting the better of him he maneuvered his steps towards her. Aah who said there are no vibes? Jahnavi could very well feel them in the air that someone has just stopped staring at her and now that silhouette was moving close to her. But did anyone say that vibes transmit as well? Otherwise how in the midst of so much noise, could Kamini get a feel of what was going on. Jignesh goes up to Jahnavi. Aah what an encounter. The charisma of Jahnavi’s beauty melting in the eyes of Jignesh, but alas he’s a miser at words to express himself or his desire to befriend Jahnavi. But secretly, he wishes to shake hands with her saying a cheerful “Hello”, to experience that ‘TOUCH’ which Andy described to him 6-7 years ago, and essence of which has so far eluded him, thanks to his uncanny inability to open up with girls and thanks to his ‘BOOKWORM’ image. But today Jignesh had to muster that much needed dose of courage to speak up. He tried his level best to walk up to her, brushed aside by her shoulders, her arms exposed by the sleeveless cute pink kameez and slightly curtained by the soft silky orangish-yellow chunni spurned around her adding glistening charms to her majestic beauty like bioluminescent plankton giving attractive chimes in a fresh water pond. The effect of the brush was phenomenal. Andy was right. it feels nice; you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’.

Jignesh: “Hi… I am…. I am so sorry, actually I didn’t mean to….. I was just going through my books…..
Barely could he speak, poor thing. He was not even aware how Jahnavi is going to react to this careful mistake of his.
Jahnavi: “It’s OKJ, no problem.”
Laughing at it, less at the careful mistake by Jignesh and his subsequent stammering apology, and more at the realization that secretly how much she had enjoyed that TOUCH. But alas, if expressiveness was Jignesh’s problem, inhibitions were hers. All she could do is pass away giving a smile to him. He stood there speechless, thinking whether he will ever be again able to talk to her.

“So how good are we?”
Siddharth’s words jolted Jignesh out of the reverie. Siddharth Oberoi, the mastermind on the research, “The Sensation of Touch” and also the financial backbone of the study was more than just a co-worker and financer of the project. He was Siddharth’s closest friend.

Jignesh: “Well pretty good, I think we should be in form in a couple of weeks, and then we can go public about it. I’ll show you a small sample. The Sensation of Touch is simply a chemical reaction. It’s more like a mental phenomenon. Of course there’s biochemistry behind it, the Na/K (Sodium / Potassium) cells have their pH altered and this triggers a chemical imbalance in the Central Nervous System with impulses traveling from the point of touch to the Parietal Lobe. All this happens in a fraction of nanoseconds. The touch sensation is analyzed there and the response for the stimuli is generated”

Siddharth: “Sorry to disturb you, Jignesh, but I feel this is going too technical, we need to stress more on psychological aspect of touch. Touch is one such sense which has so many beautiful meanings attached to it. Ever imagined what happens when you do not fair well in your exams, feel stressed out and your mother puts her hands on your head and all worries are driven away in a flash of a second as if someone’s magically let loose a fatal dose on your tensions. Its assurance from your mother, “Do not worry son, there’s always a next time.” We need to explore more on the relation that exists between those unspoken words that come associated with a touch. Have you ever wondered how elated one can feel when that romantic touch enthralls on him / her from the beloved, especially the effect is more pronounced when you think about the person and that person jolts you out of the reverie with that ‘TOUCH’. So how do you think this extra zing to the touch comes into play keeping in mind the sensitivities of the above mentioned scenarios. Its feelings, expectations, and attachments, Jignesh, that also play a very vital role in deciding the effect of the “The Sensation of Touch.” It is not merely those Na/k cells triggering the reactions in the Parietal Lobe, but it has also got a meta-physical and Para psychological aspect to it as well. Also when there’s an element of surprise associated with it all the more fun. Its like you want something, inhibiting to exhibit the desire, you get it and you rejoice.”

The words knocked hard at the Temporal Lobe (associated with memory) of Jignesh like a thunderbolt. Thoughts traveling down his memory lane, with the tepidity of hammerhead sharks traveling in a megaplume, at the sense of blood a mile away with their enhanced telencephalon olfactory lobes, and he was still standing there trying to gather him after that “brush” with Jahnavi.

Kamini had been watching the whole scenario dispassionately. She could sense the inability of Jignesh in expressing his desire and then the debacle, the careful mistake, the stammering apology and the enigmatic, revealing yet concealing smile of Jahnavi.

“Boys will always be boys”, she said, swirling down her sensuous fingers down Jignesh’s face line. The ‘TOUCH’ almost threw the ground off Jignesh’s feet. Little did he expect that the ‘TOUCH’ which has so far eluded will be showered upon him extravagantly the manner it was being showered.

Siddharth: “I hope you are getting my point Jignesh।”, placing a hand on Jignesh’s shoulders and Jignesh, dragged back to the present agreed that Siddharth was right। Definitely the Na/K cells played the technical role in the sensation of touch, but its effects were surely affected by the psychological state of the individual and other dynamics associated with the touch। More research needs to be done on this. Having said that he was again back to his college days. Jahnavi was simply too hard to ignore. Her flawless beauty compounded by her simplicity and her charismatic charm supplemented by her 1000 watts smile was a treat to an eye. Jignesh thought Jahnavi was just his dream and he could never strike a relationship with her. Moreover his hectic schedule in Science did not allow him to take out time for Jahnavi. But her thoughts always took him back to those lovely college days where he could at least see her. That sensation of her ‘TOUCH’ always remained afresh in his mind this research of his on ‘The Sensation of Touch’ had reminisced him of that essence innumerable times.

Understanding - A vice or a virtue?

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Scenario 1:
Viru : “Mummy why can’t I get that toy!!!”
Mummy : “Let your little sis play with beta, UNDERSTAND na she is fond of it!!!!”
Viru : “OK”.

Scenario 2:
Some years later……
Viru : “Darling get ready fast we’re getting late”
Darling : “Uff ho jaan just 5 minutes. I am going out with my hubby, UNDERSTAND na”.
Viru : “OK”.

Scenario 3:
Some more years later…..
Viru : “Darling aaj khaane mein suji ka halwa banana.”
Darling : “Uff ho jaan kitna kaam hain, abhi munni ke liye milk-cake bhi banana hain, Kal bana doongi. Please bura mat maano. UNDERSTAND na baba”
Viru : “OK”.

Scenario 4:
Viru with his friends, on a Friday evening.
Viru : “Let’s go for a movie, folks.”
Ishu : “No yaar I feel more like going for a beer, you know I just love it :)”
Viru : “OK let’s go for a beer, I UNDERSTAND”

And so on the list was endless for occasions when Viru went on UNDERSTANDING. Understanding that the toy he was longing for was probably more needed by his little sis whom he loved so much and wanted her to be happy at any cost. So he stopped longing for that toy. Understanding that his wife needed time to do proper justice to her make-up kit and her appearance, so what he wanted to spend those extra 10 minutes with her before going for the boring party, but he understood his wife’s concern and let his wish forego. Understanding that her wife had to look after so many people, he set aside his wish to cherish his favorite delicacy Suji ka Halwa, so what it had been years since he had it, and had thought about it a million times before asking his wife to prepare it for him. Again here understanding the situation he added one more unsung sacrifice to his disregarded and grossly unnoticed credit. Although he too likes sipping beer in a while, but on that Friday a thriller had released, he’d been following the trailers of which closely and had waited with abetted breadth for its release, so he wanted to watch that movie. But of course he also understood (once again!!!) that Ishu was finding the idea of a beer more entertaining so Viru was left with no choice but to UNDERSTAND and he did that only.

Its not the story of Viru only but of numerous people like him, whom I would prefer to call UNSUNG HEROES. So does it appear that Viru’s sense of UNDERSTANDING was proving more like a vice to him and other people’s immaturity had proved a virtue? Apparently YES.

But let’s just see what happens if Viru was not so UNDERSTANDING.

Scenario 1:
Viru : “Mummy why can’t I get that toy!!!”
Mummy : “Let your little sis play with beta, UNDERSTAND na she is fond of it!!!!”
Viru : “No I don’t know anything, I just want it, and I’ll take it from her or else I am not going to school anymore. I will also watch that channel on TV you always forbid me from watching. I will also tell Dad that you visited Monica aunt’s place despite his despises for that female.”
Mummy : “OK OK baba don’t eat my ears sitting on my shoulders, have this toy. Come baby you play with it later, ok??”
Baby, obviously oblivious to the gravity of the situation, cries hysterically, but Viru GOT what he wanted.

Scenario 2:
Viru : “Darling get ready fast we’re getting late”
Darling : “Uff ho jaan just 5 minutes. I am going out with my hubby, UNDERSTAND na”.
Viru : “Why on earth you need to spend so much time on your make up, rather than that we can spend that time together? What the hell we are going to do in that goddamn party for which you are spending so much time”
Darling : “Ok fine, fine stop bragging, we are leaving.”
She stopped her make-up in between albeit upset with Viru’s constant nagging, but Viru GOT what he wanted.

Scenario 3:
Viru : “Darling aaj khaane mein suji ka halwa banana.”
Darling : “Uff ho jaan kitna kaam hain, abhi munni ke liye milk-cake bhi banana hain, Kal bana doongi. Please bura mat maano. UNDERSTAND na baba”
Viru : “Yaar itne dinon baad to halwa khaane ka mann hua hain munni ka doodh garam kar ke halwa bana dena. Kaam to hum bhi dher saara karte hain office mein, aaj tak to shikayat nahi kari. Humein bhi manager kai baar kehta hain yaar zara lage haath yeh bhi kar dena. Kya kahoo usse, ‘Kitna kaam hai Sir jee?’ Bahaane banane main sab expert hain. Kal to hum waise hi baahar ja rahe hain”
Darling : “Theek hain baba bana doongi, dheeraj dharo zara, uff ho saara doodh ubal gaya :(”
Munni had to wait for some more time for her milk cake, and her mother also had a tough time trying to handle the extra load, but Viru GOT what he wanted, his Suji ka Halwa.

Scenario 4:
Viru : “Let’s go for a movie, folks.”
Ishu : “No yaar I feel more like going for a beer, you know I just love it :)”
Viru : “Yaar its almost every Friday we go for beer, but I have been waiting for this movie for quite some time and nothing like going for this movie on the first Friday evening. Weekend will be busy and by next week we will already have the reviews and story out.”
Ishu : “Tickets will be a difficulty today.”
Viru : “We’ll get it in black”
And so here they bought the movie tickets at double the price for the same movie that could have been watched at normal price with some patience. But Viru was insistent, non UNDERSTANDING and he GOT what he wanted.

So it all depends on the importance you lay to your own wishes and aspirations over your loved ones’ and you can develop your own sense of UNDERSTANDING. Keep UNDERSTANDING and keep paying prices. Or else stop being UNDERSTANDING and others will pay those. The choice is yours!!!

Its tea time

Aah so relaxing it is today. Looks like a day I’d been waiting for and it has come. Due to some “technical snag” my work cannot proceed and so I am on an “Official Time Pass” routine. So, here we go, chatting with old pals, browsing and reading e-mails and of course listening to songs and I am lost as if I am very busy. Suddenly a small jerk on the shoulder revives me from the musical reverie, I look up to see who is it. Oh man its our favorite teammate, Gurubhai, as we fondly call him. But Ratnakar is far more better than the Gurukant Desai we had seen in this year’s blockbuster “GURU”.

Ratnakar : “Busy ho kya , chalo chai peene jaayenge”
Virag : “One hell of a busy I am, chalo let’s go”.
Ratnakar : “Paaji ko bhi leke chalte hain, arre paaji hain kahaan”

Aah how could I possibly not mention paaji aka Bharat, the cornerstone and the standing pillar of our arguments and “healthy discussions”. Although it is quite rare that he is in the office and “not to be found at his seat”, but sometimes rare things do happen or else the news channels will have to go on a hunger strike. Today was such a day, our fondly reverred paaji was not on his seat, so we went out looking for the aceman of the time pass mandli, but alas its just 11 am, how can one possibly assume that Ravi will be in so early. Oh my Gosh, his laptop is also not there, probably he won’t come today.
Gurubhai : “Arre paaji bhi nahi hain, ravi bhi nahi hain”
Virag : “Arre woh aa rahe paaji” (Giving him the indication that we are going for tea on Gurubhai’s insistence and he nods in the affirmative on joining)

So the wholesome threesome reach the “Cuisine de’ Internationale” in the ground floor with an air as if they have just finished implementing successfully the counter OS to beat Windows Vista running on an AMD Dual Core and are about to step inside “The Taj” to celebrate the accomplishment, for now its the same old cafeteria which has the ability to serve tea with a taste complying with the day of the week.
Gurubhai : “Hey I’ll be back in two minutes” (Heading towards the exit of the cafeteria).
Virag : “Hey what do you want me to order for you?”
Gurubhai : “Nothing!!!”
Nothing, I think it was Gurubhai’s idea to come to cafeteria!!!
Virag : “Paaji, tussi ki louge?”
Paaji smiles in his own enigmatic style and as if saying “I think you wanted to have something“.
Oh my God, what the heck of this is going on. Both of us (me and paaji), burst out laughing.
Virag : “Hum aaye kyun hain yahaan?”
Paaji : “Gurubhai leke aaye hain lekin Gurubhai gaye kahaan?”
“Waise accha hain, main abhi apne issue ki list khatam karke aa raha hoon”
“Lekin kahin gurubhai apne maze lene ke liye seat par to nahi chale gaye”
Virag : “Chal yaar baahar jaakar dekhte hain”
Out we go, looking for Ratnakar, but he is nowhere to be found. Just when our worst fears of a trick being played upon us was going to be a hard reality, the smiling silhouette of Gurubhai materializes from behind the ATM gate visible at a stone’s throw from where we were standing. And out comes one basic question from Gurubhai. (His basic questions really drives the nuts out of us. I think if Einstein had been alive he would have chosen to solve the “Strings’ Theory” to its fullest rather than attempting to answer the basic questions of Gurubhai. But as of now we were at loggerheads trying to solve the basic question and that being,
Ratnakar : “Arre tum log kuch order nahi kiya?”

Me and paaji were laughing as if we had just come out watching the laughter-riot “Dhol”.

Expectancy vs. Acceptance

Dissatisfaction, disillusionment and fractured promises have become the buzzwords these days to reflect the state of most urban Indian nuclear families. Fingers are pointed out at the slightest provocation to highlight the differences between Expectancy and Acceptance. Two words which form the tirade of motion of nearly all troubles and stresses of modern urban uber fast life.

What we often fail to realize is the delicate balance between these two words is what determines the happiness quotient in not only our daily personal lives but also in the society at large. Gradually as we are progressing on the material front, making waves in the technological scenario, the Expectancy level is depicting an uphill trend, while the Acceptance potential has been giving in itself to gravity and taking a plunge at an alarming rate. We expect more and more and it does not stop at that, we also expect our expectations to be realized and materialized, even at the cost of others’ lives and happiness and emotions. And most of us, who, simply do not want to accept the reality, continue to live in the dreams and all our efforts are streamlined to make this dream a reality rather than letting a dream remain a dream.

The most visible relationship where this ever widening split in the “Expectancy level and Acceptance potential” has been manifesting itself and contributing drastically to the rising stress level is the matrimonial relationship. It is this relationship wherein often two individuals coming from totally different upbringings, decide to spend their lives together pledging to contribute towards each other’s emotional and material needs. It is this relationship wherein there is an urgent requirement to bridge the pre-existing gap between the “Expectancy level and Acceptance potential” with a very patient and tolerating sense of maturity and understanding. It is this relationship where there is a very large scope for the existence of Expectations from the spouse and it is this relationship where there is a very high demand for the existence of the sense and sensibilities to accept the limitations of the spouse. And it is the presence of this tension amidst the scope and demand that defines the driving force of the most interesting relationship in material world. The driving force, referred to, can either make or mar the decorum of the relationship. Where the said scope and demand dynamics work hand in hand a positive energy, a synergy, is generated which contributes in pumping lifeblood into the relationship. On the contrary, where the said scope and demand dynamics work out of sync, the relationship suffers, is either deteriorated jeopardizing the “Happiness Quotient” of family life or breaks down to a premature and unnatural death.

The only way to utilize this synergy is to maintain a healthy balance between the Expectancy and Acceptance. One needs to learn to accept before expecting. Seeing the increasing number of divorces / unhappy marriages and also respecting the fact that a great number of these are attributed to the presence of a one-sided legal laws related to marriage, open to widespread manipulation by the “protected” party, it has become an established fact that the “Expectancy level” of the modern “wife” has risen, and “Acceptance potential” has dropped to alarmingly dangerous levels. Coming future is definitely going to witness a sharp increase in such cases if nothing is going to be done to curb this menace called “Legal Terrorism” by the Honorable Supreme Court. The society needs to be educated about the “Expectancy level and Acceptance potential” syndrome. Let us spread this message to corners far and wide of the humanity ocean and be a radical catalyst responsible for bringing a change responsible for the betterment of the society.