The Next Episode

Think about the photo on the left...Think! let your mind loose and gather all the evasive thoughts spinning thru your head..

Done?

Lets begin..This is collaborative story making, bit like web2.0 .Im starting the fire but have no idea what final shape it will take & neither does anyone else..
Everyone's welcome to post the next episode,but please read all the previous comments to get the drift.

Time tah post!!

pls note : I will take the liberty of deleting irrelevant posts.

Aaja meri gaadi mein baith ja..

Breaking News..really breaking it>>

Back in days of the raaj, okay not that long back but it seems so, I used to read 2 news papers every morning, cover to cover.
Here, I havent read a paper in 2 months. When the world media's falling over itself to cover the Karachi blasts, my dear editor here publishes some obscure politician's pukaar to create a ramrajya in the Ayodhya. When the sensex is bungee jumping and investors of the nation are bleeding their money,Ed tells us that Shyam Sunder Yadav, fell into a ditch and suffered a fracture last night, and why the municipality doesnt do anything about it. Mr SS yadav's claim to fame in life being, well, falling into the ditch.
And this is the paper which is crowning glory in these parts, something the hotel staff gets specially for the sahib from bada shehar.
Ill rather stay outdated and preserve my sanity than vice versa. Thanks, but no thanks , Ed Bastard!

Symbiosis

Symbiosis, def : various degrees of close relationship between organisms of different species, in which at least one organism benefits.

Some time earlier this year, I had gone with a friend to one of mumbai's nondescript restaurants for a quick lunch. We ordered and sat down to wait when I noticed a mouse climbing one of the tables. A huge fuss was made.Words like 'Hygiene' , 'cleanliness' , 'food inspector' , 'legal action', 'shame on you' , 'sorry' , 'reimbursement' were exchanged loudly.

Cut to Chhattisgarh , lunch with a colleague in one of the fanciest restaurants of the place..a mouse casually climbed onto the empty table next to ours and sat there majestically, flashing his moustache at us. I half willingly looked around for the waiter, who smiled sleepily back. I just broke a small piece of food from my plate and gave it to the mouse, no quetions asked.

In this place where a lunch..any lunch at all, is sometimes doubtful, one just learns to exist in harmony with brothers of other species.

Life Tax

In a coal-mine town today..The population consists of mine workers, engineers, officers and a small service sector to cater to the above. The scene looped my mind right to Kala Patther, the 70's movie. Red-Black dust subdued the sun and the people themselves were right out of a anti-racist philosopher's dream ; neither black, nor white, but exact gray, coated with coal dust! wonder what Mike Jackson has to sing about ladies from this part of the world.

We were driving back from a sales trip into the (further) interiors in the stockist's car when a bunch of gray boys, in their mid teens, formed a human chain across the road to block us...It did seem a primitive toll tax booth but when we stopped, the stockist actually started negotiating the toll amount with them..they came down from 100 bucks to 70, but started getting agitated when pressed further.Suddenly the leader of the gray pack shouted angrily "Pay up 100 now nahi to bhaiya will visit you personally tomorrow."

This bhaiya ,I found later, is the local self styled naxalite who does the 'collection' to keep the wheels of agitation well oiled.

Hey! Johnny Beggar

Location : Retail hut in a village called ItReallyDoesntMatterDoesItPur
Time : 11 AM
Scene: me making a pitch at the shop while this limping beggar swaggeres by, asks the shopkeeper for some money..the rascal's stinky as a pig, more alcohol than lack of hygiene.

Beggar: allah ke naam pe de de kuch paise garib ko, seth!
Shpkpr: paise nahi hai, boney ka time hai
(11 AM-boney?? just a day oin the life of rural india-shankar)
Beggar: Kuch khila hi do seth, raat ka khana bacha hoga
Shpkpr: Khana nahi, peena bacha hai..peeyega?
Beggar : angrezi hai to chalegi, desi suit nahi karti apne ko!!!

Shine on,India!