The Reluctant Princess

She was born and raised in a wealthy family. She ever had to worry about anything in life, literally. Born with a silver spoon and platinum cradle, all she had to wait for time to turn towards her path of glory. She had it all, precariously.

She had a penchant for charity and philanthropy at a very young age. She was extremely fond of children, the ailing poor and the differently abled. She had this uncanny ability to connect with people and the masses. Amidst all her flirtations and the gorgeous life she was blessed with, the human candor of one of its kind.

During her college days, she became an avid follower and participant of the charity works the college indulged in. In fact, she made it her own and was integral part of the socio economic genre. Not to forget, she was a brilliant student of academics and life.

In the final year of college, she fell in love with one of her professors and a member of the elite in the state. It was a whirlwind romance, and they got married immediately after. The marriage produced 3 children, and they were the most talked about couple in the town. Well, as it seemed to the naked eye.

The romance and the much adulated marriage turned sour in 5 years. Differences started creeping in their relationship. The professor was accused of infidelity, and she was guilty of neglecting her family values in pursuit of her greater vision. Neither could accomplish the trust and understanding between each other despite multiple attempts of reconciliation from both sides. He was distraught and digressing, she was adamant and falling apart. The marriage was dying. The kids were torn between their parents, and too young to understand the gravity of their parent’s miseries.

She multiplies her philanthropic assignments and starts staying away from home. Under immense scrutiny from friends and relatives, she disjoints herself from all emotional attachments. She however, stays in touch with her children and visits them as and when time permits. After 8 years of marriage and 3 children, their divorce gets finalized by mutual consent.

She moves to a different city, continues with her assignments and projects, visits her children and takes them to vacations. Her assignments and philanthropic work attain immortality as she gains widespread acclaim and adulation in the public eye. But happiness still eludes. She seems to be progressing towards her vision but feels a void inside – mentally and spiritually. She smiles for the people but the sorrow is exquisitely visible.

She starts going around with one of her partners and financiers. Initially friends at work, the relationship grows wherein both start thinking about their future, seriously. She is still not ready, but advances nevertheless. Her former husband and his family feel demolished by her decision. But she doesn’t care. In fact, they both stopped caring for each other years ago. Nothing of substance was left in their relationship.

On a vacation in a cruise with her new found ‘love’, she is trying to bask in the torched sunlight. They look happy with each other.

The same night, a sea cyclone hits their cruise. Badly hit, the cruise sinks. Both of them die in the aftermath, their bodies are recovered the next morning.

Her former husband learns of this accident and exclaims in a typical way. “Death chose her”.

He continues to live with his parents and children in his hometown. He is still wealthy, and owns large businesses in the state. He remains unmarried.

*Inspired by true events

9/11. Change-versary.

Yes. We changed. World changed. Everything else around changed. In fact, I have bleak memories of how this world looked before the apocalypse.

Our outlook to America, our attitude towards terrorism (we now call it global post 9/11), our stand as global nations against one unified enemy. All this changed. And somewhere, it changed us and the way we live. I call it, the ways of our enigmatic life.

9/11 also opened up the floodgates for more violence, hatred and counter terrorism (perhaps, it ended up being counter hatred). Post 9/11 saw undisputed destruction of human lives. Some alive but still dead. It isn’t the number of years, it was those crucifying moments that nailed it. In real terms, that is.

We celebrated the fall of the Satan, but nothing stopped. In fact, it has multiplied. If the world has become a unified household, the anti has become 6-fold, perhaps 10-fold. Not that calamities and torture has stopped or minimalised since 9/11. We have grown monumentally, sadly.

We will continue to fight the demons, within and outside. For how long? May be the question isn’t – for how long. The question is, how far?

When fear is pain

When he went through the ordeal around the same time last year and came out with a courageous smile, I saluted his tenacity and positivity. I was reassured. He has a long life ahead.

One year down the line, and today, I have been thinking hard. After this phone call, I sat and was sitting for a while. Is that it? A man has all the steel to live, but fate is disposing it all.

I fear losing people who are close to me. In fact, I am shit scared. All my notions and spectacular energy falls flat on my face as this fear is taking me apart. It is pain for him, probably more pain than you and me can ever imagine. But, for me, I am scared.

I still have faith. In God, in whoever and whatsoever that is supreme and all powerful and beyond human. Could be science, could be anything else. I don’t know. But I still believe he will sit upright, stand up and talk to me like he did for the last 17 years.

I don’t want to win battles. I want him to live.

Has Apple Dis-Evolved?

I am not sure, but am quite certain. A company and the co founder who were once emphatically accused of ambushing other products are in a wave of jilted revolution. If I can say that.

Even though Apple is a super power and Steve Jobs’s DNA is the foundation of this company. But it is clearly visible that the ecosystem of the company has changed. Well, we call it adaptability in modern, naive terms. But I wonder, how Apple would have shaped up if Steve was still alive. Not the other Steve (chuckles).

Jobs once said, the most beautiful instruments ever produced in this world are our ‘fingers’. But Apple does promote a stylus these days – not saying they vigorously propagate it, but just saying. He was against big screen iPhones – makers like Nokia and Samsung were torched in his keynotes. I hold a Plus in my hand as I pen down these words. iPad was never going to

Make it beyond 9.7”. We now have an almost 13” Pro looming over us. The once spectacularly announced Shuffle and Nano have been relegated to in- shelf status, I am being nice by saying they are not obsolete. I have a gut feeling, the touch will soon be a product of the past though we might still have consumers who like to substitute the iPhone for a cheaper alternative. I would say, it is a poor man’s iPhone.

Mac Mini exists but then, they are like the crocodiles in the zoo. They are visible when everything around is dead and silent. Apple TV is trying to unleash rejuvenation but they are doing it in a painful pace. 2017 is late.

Next week, we might see 3 iPhones. The third one – not sure what it is touted to be but it marks the 10th year anniversary of the iconic phone. More surprises, design changes and iOS 11. But, revolutionary. I don’t think so. In fact, this was Steve Jobs’ favourite word that made the WWDC’s a rage in those days.

Different Pods are making their debut. Air Pods, Home Pods, and of course, the Watch. Never been a big admirer of the watch though.

I won’t give the WWDC a miss next week, but my memories of an Apple Keynote will never be the same again.

Immersed in Self

It is not a lonely place. It’s just that you wanted to be left alone.

You and water, remain separated till you want to. Get together when you want to. The important thing is, you wanted to.

State of mind is an art, you would rather give it a miss.

Taramani – Redemption

A ‘run of the mill’ Tamil film is the usual order of the day, but for films like ‘Taramani’ who try to lend a magic hand beyond furnished boundaries.

Don’t literally sit on the title and wane about the correlation. I think correlation lies in the subject, not in the title. In fact, Harry Potter did not make any sense to me till my little sister and the more intelligent sibling taught me the ropes to understand the finer nuances of a novel and it’s biological adaptation.

Coming back to Taramani. Yes, the title has few connected dots to the name of the suburban railway station it is named after, but that’s it. It rather throws light on the vanity of our relationships we practice in our urban lives. Director Ram juggles, protrudes, yells and mingles the eccentricities of human nature. Needless to quip, our lives are a bi product of our desires and foolish needs. And our growing attitudes towards leading life and judging people around by dress rehearsals is another precarious feather in our pervert hat.

Losing love, procuring another one before losing it for sheer stupid reasons of male ego, treating a lady like a substance. ‘Taramani’ deals with sensitive ethos, few of them very real and very inconvenient to have a conversation on. For instance, seldom does a girl talk about her gay husband to an absolute stranger, even if the stranger happens to be overtly receptive. You can, but generally you won’t.

With a screechy script, relevant narration to some irrelevant depictions, some fresh cinematography and stellar performances from the lead actors, ‘Taramani’ is a watchable film.

But ‘Taramani’ tells me an important story – the railway station will live on forever, like our dreams, filth and caricatures.

Sun Days

Day or night, the sun never goes down.

It wallops, it gallops, it eats your head, it vibrates. But never goes down.

Glittering waters or the artistry of the clouds. Deep meanders or open flings. It ain’t going down.

Sun never goes down. Hope never goes down. We are hope.

Narcos: S1 & S2

“I am ashamed. You are a murderer”.

Nothing defined the paramedics of ‘Narcos’ more than these epochal words from Pablo Escobar’s father.

All this blood and vengeance for a drug trafficker and a narco terrorist? Well, every story has dual lens and this one is no different. Just that, it was one hell of a man hunt.

‘Narcos’ is stupendously shot in a vibrant and voracious chase of a man who threatened the very existence of the government and its administration. In fact, Pablo Escobar made a mockery of the entire system by throwing stuffed cash on your face. It was all bloody dirty cash, but who cares?

There are many individuals and celebrities – good, bad and ugly, who have inspired and shaped me in the formative years that has invoked a sense of perpetual discipline in my personality. I look forward to such inspirations who can tow me down to the pinnacle of eternity and provide a glimpse of what matters in the end. Vision, Purpose and Redemption are the key.

‘Narcos’ is a breathtaking tale of the emergence of the drug cartels in South America and how Colombia truly became the mixed capital of the world. And one man, rose and rule as the King. We also see various shades of the Pablo Escobar – his violence, his patriotism, his love for the people of Colombia, his acts of defiance and terror, his side of the devil and its evil tentacles. For more than 2 decades, the Colombian forces along with DEA (US counter intelligence) fought hardcore battles with the drug cartels. In their peak, the drug cartels were an absolute menace (not the human kind) and it is difficult to believe that we had such lethal dominance by a man of mere flesh and blood who had no fear. Colombia was reeling under the drug kingdom, everything and anything else was not important except one. Pablo Escobar.

‘Narcos’ is well written, in fact, beautifully scripted and spectacularly moving. It has some of the best written lines for a television series – please note I am not a big TV series aficionado, so I mean every word of what I am penning down here.

Wagner Maura as Pablo Escobar is brilliant and astounding. His posture, the intensity, the madness and the man himself – he encapsulates them in to his own like never before. I am not in to Brazilian Cinema, but I think I now have enough incentives to get in to it.

Few of them stood out for sheer audacity of events and the fearlessness that surrounds the horror of the human mind.

“We are Bandits, my brother. We will always be one”. Gustavo’s words to Pablo when he intends to enter politics.

“He owns lot of houses but he has no home”. Aptly stated and conveyed through the narrative by-lanes.

“Look at me”. Pablo’s words as he shoots down Carrillo, Head of Search Bloc.

“Let them see me, they are my people”. Pablo to Limon as he gets out of the tarmac of the car, meets people in the streets of Medellin and distributes cash.

“After all these years, I am in front of Pablo fucking Escobar. But when we finally get to him, the devil is a disappointment. His beard grows if he doesn’t shave. Fat and shoeless”. In narration, as spoken by Steve Murphy, DEA agent.

Season 3, I am coming.

Flying Over Eternal Blues

A tired evening. Lousy attitude. Relaxed and bent over for some real hot and good tea. Behind the nets, it was me at my terrible best.

Wait, I am coming.

Adrenaline

I got my sparks all over the place, and I can see people going gaga over it. What about you?

The Other Side of Unknown

I have not been to this place. But I quite evidently and desperately agree. The other side is always greener.

The Lonely Sabotage – Continues to Conclude

The cops got in to an investigation after taking the bodies in to custody. The post mortem reports were no surprises but for the girl’s. The couple were identified as the girl’s parents, who were brutally murdered along with the girl, their throats slit with a kitchen knife. There were blood stains all over there bodies and presumably assaulted before being killed.

But as it appears, the girl was murdered days before she was actually killed.

The girl’s parent’s maternal home is a small town, around 200 miles away from their place. Both families are quite close to each other. In fact, the maternal house has no girl child and the girl was the apple of their eyes. They often visited each other during festivals and shared their happiness of being together.

Who would have guessed that a family so affectionate to each other would have hidden desires of dark ferments?

As the cops dug deeper, and a more provocative questioning, the girl’s aunt confessed the diabolic intentions. Her husband, and the girl’s uncle has been absconding since 2 weeks. He used to call her but since last 2 weeks, she lost touch with him. They both have a teenage son who is a college drop out and owns a small cyber cafe along with a xerox machine in their town, few meters away from where they live. Her husband owns a small retail shop of groceries and fruits in the main market of the town.

But since last 6 months, his husband has turned in to an upsurge monster. Or, may be something even more uglier and tormenting. His unusual late working hours and sudden inflow of perpetual cash made his wife blink an eye, more than once. After few days of relentless questioning and trash talk, he reveals his involvement in drug trafficking business through the local goons of the town. Worse, some part of it also involves human trafficking. Needless to say, his wife was throttled to death with this news but stood helpless as the maniac threatened to kill her and their son if she had other ideas.

Since both families were close to each and the equation of her uncle being an enigma, spelt doom on the girl and her family. And the girl’s uncle had a devious mind. The girl became a bait for his unscrupulous deeds.

He began to sexually abuse the girl when he visited them, and at times when the girl’s parents were out since they were oblivious of this devil at home. He even took the girl to his place on the pretext of getting her a bicycle to commute, drugged and raped her. This continued for a while and on one such occasion, the aunt was a direct witness to his lust and crime. Yet, she was too meek to speak out. He even used this girl to carry few packets of substance to the neighbourhood in the pretext of getting her a job in a top company.

Few weeks back, a deal of his went berserk and the local cops were out for the hunt. He went out without notice, called her wife to ask if the cops came home. But his lust for the girl was beyond his desire to escape the inevitable.

The day before all 3 were killed, he went to the girl’s house. Drunk beyond measures, he captures her before intoxicating her parents and tying them up in a corner. He drugs her to keep her calm and rapes her. He leaves, dazed and dashed once his filthy desires vanquished his lust. He kills her parents, while on his way out.

Post mortem reports revealed that the girl died from drug overdose.

DNA test from semen traces proved that it was him.

The Uncle. The Husband. The Man. The Animal.

He is still absconding. The hunt is on and the case remains open.