Road to Lahore

The truck trudged along a worn down path that led to Lahore. It carried seven men, three women and a child. The child was with his father - having lost everyone else that shared his blood. One of the old men, blind from one eye, was looking out of the truck's behind. He was one of those who had lived through all of it, and been there much before it started happening, to see how it had begun. He had lost all his children and grandchildren to them, his wife had died after giving birth to his youngest son. His mouth was moving but no sound was coming out of them.

The child was crying. His father had a stern look on his face. He had been in the midst of it all, working as a doctor for the old regime. The number of deaths he had seen in his lifetime were less than the number he had seen in the last three days. He wanted to escape it all, leave behind all the memories. They were too bitter to stay even in the recesses of his mind. But most of all, he wanted the dreams to stop. They visited him in his dreams, the faces of some of those had seen lose their lives on his beds. They never said anything, at least he didn't hear any words. They just stared. He could never stare back. Every morning, his own bed was wet with the fear and guilt of seeing those faces.

He noticed his child's crying was becoming more incessant; he wasn't just sobbing anymore. He put an arm around him, not knowing how to console him. He muttered a few words of consolation and put his stare back on the tarpaulin above the woman sitting opposite him. She had tears in her eyes too, but he didn't notice.

After a few more minutes, the child finally stopped crying. He was tugging at the shirt of his father. Three tugs and his father took notice.

"I want to go home, abba"
"That's where we're going, son. To our home in Lahore. Remember I took you there last year and you met your cousin, Rashid?"

"Not that home abba. I want to go to our old home. I don't want to go to our new home."

"I want to go to old home too child, but we can't. You must understand this. It's taken by bad men. If we go back, those men will harm us. That is why we're going to Lahore. Do you understand?"

The child started sobbing again. The woman sitting opposite his father smiled and motioned for the child to come to her. The child, still sobbing, went to her hoping she'd take her back to his old home, or at least make his father understand why they needed to go back.

"What is your name, son?" she asked.

"Mohammed"

"Hello Mohammed. My name is Sania. I don't know anybody in Lahore, but I'm going there because I'm sure I'll be safer there than I was in Amritsar. Didn't your father tell you that?"

"Yes khala, but.."

"Your father cares about you Mohammed. All he wants is for you to be safe."

The tears had stopped flowing.

"Since I don't know anybody there, you'll be the first person I know. Will you be my friend Mohammed?"

"Yes I will!"

He was beaming.

Ek Fariyaad

Tum bhula do jise, yaadein woh hai nahi
Tum poora karo jise, khwaish woh hai nahi
Tum haasil karo jise, manzil woh hai nahi
Tum samajh lo jise, hakeekat woh hai nahi

Tum dara do jise, nidar woh hai nahi
Tum awaaz do jise, akela woh hai nahi
Tum pyaar do jise, gareeb woh hai nahi
Tum nafrat do jise, dushman woh hai nahi

Tum paa lo jise, anmol woh hai nahi
Tum jaan lo jise, anjaan woh hai nahi
Tum dekh lo jise, bhagwaan woh hai nahi
Tum chhooh do jise, salamat woh hai nahi

Tum sawar lo jise, haseen woh hai nahi 
Tum maar do jise, kaatil woh hai nahi
Tum bana do jise, anokha woh hai nahi
Tum samjho na jise, paagal woh hai nahi

A Requiem for the Law

What is a crime ? A man murdering another for a third person's purposes ? Or a person robbing someone in bright daylight ? Or a man taking the very soul of a woman by scarring her body forever ? Yes, these are crimes. But I ask again, what is a 'crime' ? Surely the answer is as simple as something that breaks the law. And what law exactly are we talking about exactly ? The law set by men to govern the society ? The law of men in power, that changes with the man sitting on the throne ? The law which can be bent and broken, only to be mended or changed. Yes, that is the 'law'. But I ask again, what is the 'law'...

It is the law of nature, the very law that put man on this planet in the first place. Yet, so often we break this law, that its existence does not even matter any more. What is a crime, I ask again. A crime is when a father beats his own child for failures that he does not understand. A crime is when a son deserts his own parent, the very parent that brought him into the world, when he becomes a liability to his wallet or his watch. A crime is when a man beats his wife, when he is too drunk to realize what he's doing. A crime is when a kid's dreams are crushed by those whom he looks up to for the spark to ignite his aspirations. A crime is when a man is left hungry, without any means to live. A crime is when a baby is left at another man's doorstep, tearless because it can't shed one yet.

A crime is when we live for us, and not for others..

A crime is when we stop believing in ourselves..


A crime is when we stop aspiring..


A crime is when we stop caring..

 

But then I ask again, what is a crime ?

It's Never About A Girl

For the purpose of simplicity, let's call them One and Two. To begin with, they were inseparable. They never let their egos come in the way of their friendship. If it could be called friendship. It was stronger, more lasting, more deeper. It was like they were brothers out of the same womb. But they were not.

They had attended the same school. Throughout their school life, they had never gotten into a tussle which laste for more than a day or so. A fresh day refreshed their friendship too, erasing all memories of whatever grudge or ill-feelings they had held in their hearts. It had always been like this. Nobody had to do anything to patch things up between those two. If one didn't apologize, the other always did, even if it wasn't his fault. Towards the end of their schooling, they had begun to realize that soon they would be parting ways. One had studied science and wanted to enter the field of research, while Two had studied economics and didn't really know what he wanted to do. However, it was up to a girl to make them realize that they would never be parting ways. Ever. It's always a about a girl.

Two had a girlfriend. Let's name her nine, again for the same purpose of simplicity. Nine studied in the same school as One and Two, but they only met towards the latter stages of their school life. They had fallen in love within weeks of meeting each other. They knew in their hearts that what they had between them would last, and last long. They didn't have any inhibitions about anything, always shared everything with each other. They didn't have a reason not to. Two hadn't looked at another girl since he fell in love with Nine, and the same went for her. It was as perfect as it could be, and it stayed this way for more than a year.

In the final year of school, however, Two got to know of a secret that Nine had hidden from him for a while now. A secret that would shake the very foundations of two relationships that Two shared. One with Nine, and the other with One. Yes, Nine had secretly been seeing One for a few months without Two's knowledge. One had not confided anything in him either, afraid he might lose his best friend. But secrets can only be kept for so long. It came out through a common friend that the two of them were romantically involved while Two was clueless of these happenings. Not a very pleasant surprise for any of them.

He was not angry. He was not frustrated. He was not revengeful. Two was sad. But he moved on.

Three years later, One and Two met at a college festival. Both were on opposite sides of the same table, debating a topic which went this way, "Are relationships a thing of the past ?"

Two had not been anticipating such a showdown, and neither did he want it. He had forgotten what had happened in his past, and all he thought about now was his future. But he was ready for this.

The discussion went from bad to ugly. One was reputed to be one of the best debators in the country. In this discussion, however, he had run out of words to say. All he could think about was what he had done to his best friend three years ago. His regret preventing anything in his defense, even if his trained mind was conjuring rebuttles by the second. Two based his entire attack on personal experience, without letting anybody getting an inkling of the fact that he had actually been through all that he was talking about. He wasn't surprised at being adjudged the winner of the debate. He'd held the upper hand all the while. He had found his closure, while One had lost all self-esteem.

Later that day, Two saw One sitting alone in an empty room in the college. He thought he should walk away at first, but then decided to confront him. Maybe he didn't get all the closure he was looking for. As he walked toward him, he saw something glistening on his cheek. He was taken by surprise. At once he transformed into the Two from years ago, the Two who had been more than a brother to One.

"What's wrong?", Two said.

One was surprised himself. He didn't expect anybody to be there or anywhere nearby at that late an hour. He stammered something of a reply, while wiping his tears with the ends of his sleeves.

"Tell me, what is it?", Two persisted.

After a few moments, he said, "My father always said that friends never try to lead you, never leave you behind, but always walk alongside you" He put a hand on Two's shoulder and said, "I had forgotten you always walked beside me, but I, like the devil, left you behind. I'm sorry. I've always been."

Two smiled - he had got all the closure he needed. He put his hands on One's shoulders and hugged him like he had never done before.

They walked out of the room together, brothers reunited. Two was feeling hesitant, but he felt that nothing could come in the way of their friendship now. It had become stronger than it ever was. So he went ahead and asked One about the girl, was he still in love with her?

One laughed aloud, "It ended a long time ago. I guess it was never meant to be."

Two mirrored one's thoughts - maybe it was just never meant to be.

He was content. He was proud. He was happy.

Plus One for Google !

The new kid on the social networking block, Google+, has made an impressive start to its story. Larry Page announced last week that Google+ has amassed more than 10 million users, when Google declared its Q2 results for this year. Now all this in 3 weeks, with the additional roadblock of being invite-only in the current phase, is a noteworthy achievement, even for Google.

With innovations like Circles, Hangouts and Sparks, Google+ is really taking up a challenge against the social networking monster that lies in front of it, Facebook. Strong signals of Facebook's fright from the new Google product can be felt when a lot of Facebook executives themselves are joining Google+ (Mark Zuckerberg has a profile on it too) just to see what these guys are up to. Even the man who was at the core of creating the Circles concept, and is now working for Facebook, is feeling a little weary of his own baby.

Circles, as the name suggests, lets the user create different circles of people in his account. How this helps is in privacy. One circle can be clearly demarcated from another and it lets you choose what information to share with which circle, and what to hide. You can make different circles for buddies who you'd want to grow old with, and those which are just mere acquaintances, or for close relatives and others who you've just vaguely heard of (or not even that in some cases). So it's a neat way at segmentalizing your contacts, something that takes a lot of work and patience on Facebook and comes naturally on Plus.

Hangouts, as the name suggests again, lets you create a 'hangout' or a place where people meet up. People can be your friends, relatives, other circles or just strangers. It has the provision of providing 10 video feeds from different people and as a neat little quirk, it puts the person with the loudest voice on the fore of the page. A great way to have a conference with a bunch of friends, or a meeting of the board of directors of your company !

Sparks aims at changing the way the world shares news. What it does is that it will provide you with news and feeds from around the world on a topic of your interest, thus giving you ways to spark conversations (yes, that is how it gets the name). Might look harmless now, but Plus is taking a up a lot of people's Twitter time by these simple features. With a more efficient way to upload straight from your phones and linking your Picasa web albums with your profile, apart from the ones already mentioned, Facebook does have a lot of to worry about in the coming months. Once Google+ is out of its invite-only phase and becomes free to public use, its mettle will be put to the real test. Can it survive a market that is almost completely monopolized by the Palo Alto giants, and not just stop there; can it become the much fantasized about Facebook killer?

Heebee-Jeebees

Today I felt something that I haven't felt in a long time and frankly, I'd forgotten what it felt like up until today. It's a void, an emptiness which starts in the pit of my stomach and crawls its way up into my heart. I felt 'weird', so to speak, at seeing a friend for one last time,knowing that I might not be able to meet him for a very long time. I've done this before, parted ways only to find that both ways lead to the same crossroads, and then parted ways again. However, this time it was not that simple. At least it didn't feel like it. I know we'll become busy next year after college ends for the summers, making it really difficult to make any sort of plan together. He might not even come to the city the next year, and who knows, I might not either. The last time I felt something like this was when I was leaving home for my college, almost 2500 kms away. It was justified then.

I just can't justify it this time.

Pop Culture Is Getting A Facelift, And How !

"Daddy mujhse bola, Tu galati hai meri
Tujhpe Zindagani guilty hai meri
Saabun ki Shaqal mein, beta tu toh nikla keval jhaag
Jhaag jhaag..."

How many of you have enjoyed this song ever since it hit the music scene? A lot, I'd be guessing, me being one of them. Lyrics like these, real world and earthy, have been as rare as diamonds in Bollywood. The scenario, however, is gradually changing - the music tastes of the masses and thus, the music created for them shifting bit by bit. Audiences around the country have become sick of the age old romantic songs with music that sounds the same all the time. It's looking for something new, somthing now. And with the Delhi Belly soundtrack, Ram Sampath has given it to them.

A composer, musician and producer by profession, Sampath has turned into something new with his latest album. Apart from singing the anchor track, Bhaag D.K. Bose (snippet above), he has played around with words in ways people couldn't even imagine (and the censor board almost couldn't certify). Using puns that would put Shakespeare to shame, he has carved out a niche with his lyrics.

And let's not forget the music here, which is equally stunning. Songs like 'Saigal Blues' and 'Nakkadwaley Disco' don't just have the lyrics, but the score high  in their tunes as well ! Combining urban beats with desi rhythms has been mastered by Sampath in his tracks and is sure to leave a legacy, just as Bhaag D.K. Bose is attaining something of a cult status.

It's not that the movie has come as a sudden explosion of new music. As I've mentioned already, the change has been gradual. With movies like Ready, Yeh Saali Zindagi, Dum Maaro Dum etc. we are beginning to see a new genre of music emerging out of the ashes of the stale, monotonous garb that we're just not ready to accept anymore. New age music directors have been shifting the emphasis from sur and leh  to innovation and attractiveness as the major elements in their music. I keep saying this - change is inevitable, and as long as it's not bad it will be accepted as good eventually. All I ask of them is to fill my ears with more music like this, and more !

On a Collision Course - Apple v/s Google

It is probably one of the most hard fought and persistent battle of the last decade, and it has inevitably spilled on to this one as well. I'm talking about the battle of the computer giants, Apple Inc. and Google. With the latter having released it's Q2 results on the 17th of this month and the former just yesterday, the battle is poised to turn more interesting as the year unfolds.

Google recorded a quarterly revenue of $9 billion, a 32% jump from the previous year with its profits climbing to $2.51 billion due to the high revenue. Larry Page also stated that its share prices increased by 12% in the quarter, which is a minor achievement in itself. Now you might start to think that how could Apple beat all these numbers, even with its brand having become almost as big as Google's. You're right, it hasn't. However, it's come dangerously close to doing so, as Steve Jobs is celebrating his company's best quarter ever.
 

Apple's quarterly profit rose from $3.25 billion to $7.31 billion YoY, which is a more than 100% jump. Revenue soared 82% to $28.57 billion. Gross margins rose to 41.7% from 39.1% a year ago.The sales, as analysts say, are a result of an unanticipated rise in demand for the iPhone 4, while the 5th generation of the iPhone is much anticipated, slated for release later this year. Apple sold 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter, compared with Wall Street's expectations for 17 million to 18 million, as it added 42 new carriers and 15 new countries during the quarter. A year ago, Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones.

These are stunning numbers, to say the least and this is where the threat to Google is clearly visible. Google has not been growing at the frantic pace that is still visible in the Apple quarters, and as a result of this it surely stands a chance of being overtaken by the behemoth in the not-so-distant future. Google announcing the shutting down of its Google Labs project and launching Google+, their bet at killing Facebook, are indicators of where the company is headed in the near future. Undermining Google would be like striking yourself with an axe.

Apple has recently filed a number of lawsuits against the Google-run Android, with an aim to kill off competition in the smartphone market. Being the biggest competitor to the hugely successful iPhone, Apple is trying to finish Android through these lawsuits and thus, hurting Google's ambitions of expansion into the market. This is the latest indicator from the Apple camp, with numerous attempts already to strike at Google.

Clearly both companies are still on the right track; it's just a question of will Apple maintain its position behind Google, or are they headed for a collision further down the tracks.

Facebook v/s Facebook

Facebook - a common name used in every other household, is the largest social networking website on the planet. And it doesn't get bigger than Facebook. As of July 2011, it has more than 750 million active users and a valuation of more than $75 billion. I could bore you with more numbers but I won't, since they all say the same thing. Facebook is the best of it's kind now, and the best there has ever been or will be in the forseeable future.

However, even the product created out of Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room has limitations. And we're just starting to see them now. Take the chat feature on the website which enables the users to chat with their friends online. The developers keep reinventing it, and their ultimate rendition has been stamped by its millions of users as trashy and unnecessary again. In order to try and improve it, they have made it worse - thus dealing themselves a minor blow. People are now turning to other chat agents such as Adium or Pidgin, for Mac and Windows users respectively. That's gotta pinch, at least, right?

But then you could argue against this point, since small changes like these have made Facebook what it is now. It has come a long way from the chunky website it was back in 2004, to the sleek and sober website it has become today. The 'like' button for instance, was a small change made a while ago - just a single word added to the other option of 'commenting' on something. However, it changed the way people communicated their feelings online, which is all that social networking is about. In a way it also inspired the +1 project by Google, I'm sure, but they probably won't admit it.

The new photo viewer doesn't seem that new anymore now, does it? When it appeared on the website, the majority of users were up in arms against it, maintaining that adding something to the website which isn't necessary just adds to the clutter. Those same users now find the convenience of browsing photo albums on the photo viewer a god-send, rather a Mark-send. Change is inevitable. So what if the change doesn't seem to be good at the first look, as long as it's not bad it will work eventually.

With Facebook killing competition in every form, from Orkut to MySpace and Hi5 to Google Wave (Google Plus is still a newbie, and we must give it time to make a comparison) there might come a time in the future where it kills itself since it'll only be competing with itself. We netizens don't want that now, do we?

That Thing Inside My Cerebellum

There's a man on the door,
who says he's no more
and I just look
at the man and no more.

He wants to come in
while I take it all in;
I ask myself,
"What, is he a djinn?"

Stepping in quietly through
the open door into view
of the others, but
they feel nothing new.

He sits on the first stair
with a void for a stare
and they seem
unperturbed, not a dare.

He walks up to me and
puts something in my hand;
it glistens lying
in the palm of my hand.

I try to ask him why,
but I do cease to try
and he leaves;
I say a silent goodbye

I take the object in my
hand, and say goodbye;
the others vanish
and I don't know when
but I die.

"I Want To Tell You A Story About Dreams.."

"The boy's name was Santiago..", is how the book started and ended with him saying "I'm coming Fatima". In between, it taught me a lot, more than what I had expected to gather from this harmless little book that I picked up from my dusty bookshelf yesterday night. Even if I didn't have an epiphany, atleast it made me realize a few things, gave me a few valuable lessons and raised a few important questions in my mind.

It discusses something called the Soul of the World, something that connects each and every being, living or non-living, in existence. A small grain of sand is at one with every single drop of the oceans through the Soul of the World, this great fabric that weaves its way through our universe. The author of the book says our hearts our part of this fabric, and if our heart truly wants something, every single thread on this fabric will conspire to bring our desire to us. It's not that outlandish an idea, is it now? There have always been times when each and every one of us have wanted something so much, it somehow finds its way into our lives when we least expect it. Strikes a chord, doesn't it? If your thoughts, your emotions, your desires are strong enough, nothing can stop you from reaching what is meant to be yours. After all, everything is written or maktub.

I found this idea very interesting, apart from many others that the book presents. It's forced me to believe that I have a treasure out there, waiting to be discovered by me. Oh, and for those of you who're wondering which book i've been ranting about - it's The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

The End

Let the door be locked;
nobody's coming anyway.
Let the lights be out;
who needs to see me ?
Let the curtains be drawn
and Sun turn into Moon.
Let not the wind blow
and bring freshness.
Let the phone ring;
it's just one of them.
Let the birds chirp;
some day they will perish.
Let the water flow
and take me with it.
Let the water flow
and take me with it.
Let the water flow
and take me...

Somnum

Your eyes are heavy,
eyelids almost feeling like drapes
ready to fall
and shun the world
from your eyes.

Sleep is coming in steps
However, all you can do
is wait, while you can't
make out one
from another - they feel
like a stream.

You don't know it yet
but you're already
far off into
a world so distant,
yet so close,
it's as if inside
your slumbering head.

Sights come and go,
lucid and vibrant,
vivid and colourful,
dull and hazy,
and the occasional blur
to make you cry,
to make you smile
or wet maybe.

You kick like a child
inside your mother
and tremble like a pup
kept out on
a cold, dark night
and you scream,
yes you do,
as if there was no
tomorrow, or today.

Sometimes I wonder
if we ever sleep
at all, if we ever
dream those things
or are we sleeping
as our eyes
lay open and
we truly live
our lives when we
go to sleep.

3 Songs That Affect Me

Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying the stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying the stairway to heaven

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd


Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph,
sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser,
come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine 

Nothing Else Matters - Metallica

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
'Cause nothing else matters

I never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we do it our way
All these words I just don't say
'Cause nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
'Cause nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do, no
Never cared for what they know, no
Never cared for what they do, no
But I know

Trust I seek but I find in you
Every day for us, something new
Open mind for a different view
'Cause nothing else matters

Never cared for what they say
Never cared for games they play
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
And I know

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
'Cause nothing else matters 

All That Jazz...

Recently, after a very blown-out-of-proportions fight with friends, I felt immense regret at almost all of my actions. However, the one piece of good that came out of the fight was a lesson, one to remember. It taught me that sometimes in life, you should stop for a moment and feel. Try to understand what's going on without caring about it. Listen to what is being said and see what is being done. Not reacting immediately is part of the lesson. Wait for the right moment, if the moment should present itself at all. Learn to face the consequences of whatever's done without having any any anger or regrets. Learn to believe in not just yourself, but others as well. If you dismiss them now and they turn out to be right later, that's a decision you will not be able to live with. Consider, every now and then, that you are the fool and not them. That you could be wrong and not them. That you can make mistakes, even if they don't look mistakes. Learn to argue not with others, but yourself. Learn to accept - and finally learn to move on. That fight taught me all this - all in one lesson. Worth it, then, wasn't it ?

The Pause

The 'pause' is what I refer to as the worst part of a writer's life. A state of mind where he can't think of any single topic to write about, or even if he comes up with an interesting topic to write about he gets stuck at the first step itself. Blank. Everything. That's the 'pause' for you. If you're a reading this and are a writer, I'm SURE that you have either already gone through this phase at least once in your writing life or will go through it in the future. You can't prevent it, can't prepare for it, can't cure it - it just comes and goes and all you are is a silent spectator.

People say we don't experience such breakdowns of streams of thought in your mind if we have a steady focus at the task at hand. And yet, somehow, from the time I started writing this note, I went through the 'pause' thrice and am still going to finish it by asking posing to you this - does this note count as a 'pause' itself ?

The Mess(i) I Want To Avoid

Lionel Messi is the best player in the world right now. I'm not making a statement. I'm stating a fact. It's accepted so widely that it can most definitely be considered as fact, although I differ in my own personal views (being a United supporter and everything). Makes him a modern day god, if such a thing could ever exist. Have you thought about how boring this makes the situation for football enthusiasts, then?

Having an accepted ace of a footballer, apparently faultless in his ability and insurmountable in his skill. They say he has the capacity to make every other player out there like a footballing dwarf (yes, only in that particular respect for obvious reasons). Maybe he does, but why the need to label that? Makes for a dull outing for sports journalists around the world, doesn't it? A lack of competition paves way for dullness and a forced acceptance of supremacy. Nobody wants that in a world that is overflowing with cut-throat competition in just about every other sphere. Release him of the tag and believe you me, soon someone will come along that vie for the tag too - that'll compete on the level of His Highness. Now THAT should be interesting, shouldn't it?

Mumbai : A Timeline

March 12, 1993
August 28, 1997
January 24, 1998
February 27, 1998
December 2, 2002
December 6, 2002
January 27, 2003
March 13, 2003
April 14, 2003
June 29, 2003
August 25, 2003
July 11, 2006
February 19, 2007
May 18, 2007
August 25, 2007
May 13, 2008
July 25, 2008
July 26, 2008
September 13, 2008
October 30, 2008
November 26-29, 2008
February 10, 2010
April 17, 2010
September 19, 2010
December 7, 2010
July 13, 2011
Exhaustive list...

of what ? Terror attacks on Mumbai ? Naah, more like a timeline of failures of homo sapiens as human beings.

Dilbert Archives !