Category: Scribble

Delve into our vibrant canvas where personal narratives, discussions, and candid rants coalesce. Explore real-life encounters, reflections on love, growth, resilience, and conversations that challenge norms.

  • THE DAY WHEN SALMAN KHAN WAS FOUND GUILTY

    Let’s talk about some perspective.

    Firstly, a guy sleeping on a footpath, is not doing so by choice. Footpath, dividers, zebra crossings are there to increase the safety and convenience for both the pedestrians and the vehicles. It doesn’t mean a vehicle is free to be driven anywhere but on the road itself.

    Drunk driving is illegal.

    Though Salman Khan endorses Thumbs Up by saying “Aaj kuch toofani karte hain”, it doesn’t mean he rampaged the poor people sleeping on the footpath just because he felt like doing toofani. It was an accident. Just because he is an actor and loved by millions, doesn’t make him something better than a human. It was a mistake, a pretty heavy one at that with consequences and many lives destroyed. I don’t know much about law, so I won’t comment on the severity of the sentence. But he did deserve it.

    So do other people who do the same.

    Just because he is a high profile person, the attention given to this case is outrageous. A person usually opens news channel to see news, rather than knowing about the daily diary details of a person in a repetitive manner 24*7. I am not interested in knowing 1000 times how much this sentence is going to cost to the film producers because its not going from my pocket. He did something wrong, be it by mistake or under the influence of a substance, like 12 years ago. Our Indian Judiciary finally held him responsible for that.

    Some people found it very interesting. As if they didn’t expect it. The examples of sentencing Sanjay Dutt, Shiny Ahuja and banning of Shahrukh Khan are some instances which should by now had somewhat instilled this belief in common people, that these peolpe are not above law and law knows it. But no. They are happy with the fact that he got jail. As if they had this personal grudge.

    Some feel that it’s of no use at all as he will get bail. As if had they been in his place and had shitload money like he has, they wouldn’t have asked for bail at all or had not lined up an army of advocates for their defence. It’s as if people do like to see a downfall, as it makes them feel good that the other person is no better than themselves.

    People might be feeling happy as they are taking this decision to be the reinforcement of the ideal belief that everyone is equal in the eyes of law.

    But is it so?

    Popular and Powerful are two entirely different words. Actors are popular for sure. But powerful??

    I still doubt if this entire situation would have been the same, had it been a minister’s son instead of Salman Khan. So what is there to be happy about? What is there to celebrate?

    I do agree that justice is considered to be a rarity and could be celebrated. But does that mean celebrating the punishment?
    Feeling happy for a suffered and traumatized person finally getting justice is humane. But can the same be said for feeling happy about a criminal conviction? We are not talking about Azmal Kasab here, where the hatred was understandable. It’s about an actor most of you have loved or have laughed with on screen somewhere along in your life.

    His sentence is correct. He is reaping what he had sown, when we talk about the 5 year imprisonment. But your hatred, that is just an added bonus. I sincerely feel that forgetting the goods deeds of a person or labelling them as a PR activity is a bit on the stretch. If one is unsure if his generous nature and kind heartedness is genuine, how can one be sure that it’s not?

    And therefore I still somewhere feel that though the decision is right of him being sentenced, he caught the wrong end of this “popular” stick. Because of him being popular, out of all the cases, his case shone out in a light, like an odd one out and had to reach the end, which by the way many cases don’t. So he did pay the due price of being the popular guy.

    It’s just as said once- Hate the crime but not the criminal.

    And dear Mr. Abhijeet Bhattacharya,

    From today, I will sincerely pray, to bless a person together with talent and a sound mind. Because when a talented person is found out to be lacking a sound mind, the utter disappointment overshadows talent.

    *These views are personal and are subjected to change if a logical and valid point comes across later. It might be possible that later these views transform into something different from what they are now. I am more than welcome to listen to different views. So do keep in mind, these are just the thoughts of an individual, like the thoughts billions of individuals have.

  • SANGHAVI

    As I sit here, looking at the sleeping face of the latest entrant in our family; my brand new cousin, lots of images flash through my mind. These images are not some glimpses of the past, but a peek into what future could possibly hold. That’s the power a newborn holds. They make you aware that although we live in the present, there is a future out there, unknown, full of infinite possibilities. I’ll be witnessing growing up of another individual who will go through a unique life of her own. With her own happiness, her own sorrows, ambitions, moments of joy, and what not. It makes me feel so tiny in this large, on a universal level, scheme.

    We all try so hard to control things which are never actually in our control. We don’t even have a say in deciding our name, talk about people being control freak. We are always amazingly naive and innocent. We make ourselves aware of our own surroundings, but only to a level our evolved brain could possibly infer. Our consciousness on the other hand remains dormant. Asleep, like this infant in front of me. Completely unaware of the bigger, the actual picture. And as they say, ignorance is bliss.

    Maybe it’s all for good.

    Maybe opening up a gateway to the whole picture could baffle the level of understanding we possess. If this little girl wakes up now, she won’t be able to process what’s happening around her, won’t be able to express herself, and result in crying. So isn’t it good enough to keep your eyes closed and continue sleeping? Or would it be better to open your eyes and look around, though crying, to slowly start the journey in a new, uncharted territory.

    And lo, she is awake and smiling..

  • GOODBYES – Part 1

    —-x—-

    Under the moonlit sky he sat. Star gazing. Finding constellations.

    He knew only two.

    With each passing moment, the clouds went thinner. The moon shimmered gallantly across the sky in all its prime. “Jeez! So shameful of you. Showing off the borrowed aura.” He smirked under his breath.

    Everybody was asleep downstairs. Anshul, Hina and Shikha. The day has been such, long and tiring. They were lucky to get cozy enough hotel rooms. The trip was going on pretty smooth; keeping in mind the last minute planning which materialized it.

    His hands reached to the corner of his rolled sleeves and sneaked out a cigarette. Took him a while to realize that the matchbox was missing. He tried to remind himself why this trip was so important. Couldn’t come up with an answer though. He stared blankly over his shoulder. “You needed it, that’s why it was so important.” a voice replied from the other side. He smiled and turned towards it.

    “I didn’t know you were there.”

    “Really?”

    He sighed as he looked away.

    “I guess I knew, but didn’t want you to. I am in no mood of lectures.”

    “How could I give you one? You are an intelligent person.
    The night is beautiful ain’t it?”

    He looked back at the sky. The view was mesmerizing indeed. He couldn’t remember the last time when he saw a star studded sky.

    “When was the last time you saw a star studded sky?” the voice silently echoed in the shadows.

    He frowned.

    “Will you stop doing that?”

    “Doing what?”

    “Reading my mind!”

    It giggled. “Reading your mind? Your face is like an open book. I just saw the lost look on your face when you looked at the stars in the sky.”

    He felt irritated. “What do you want? Can’t you you just go away? Have some rest.”

    “I am going away. You know that.”

    He kept staring at the infinite sky.

    He took his time to absorb the last statement and slowly stood up. He felt goosebumps all over his body. Just couldn’t decide if it was because of the sudden cold breeze or what he just heard. The hotel terrace appeared too small. He found his heart pounding heavier.

    “Just take a deep breath. It’s going to be OK.” the voice whispered.

    “OK?” He felt amused and agitated simultaneously.
    “How could you decide to leave all of a sudden?”

    “It’s not my decision to make. You don’t need me any more.” It sounded mellow.

    “Did I say I don’t need you.” He felt that it came out a bit louder than normal.

    “You’ll never say it. But I am not blind. I am holding you back. Won’t bring any good to you.” the voice drowned.

    He realized that it doesn’t want to fade away. He calmly replied.

    “You are wrong. You aren’t holding me back.
    In fact, you have always been my strength.
    You should have realized it by now. Or I must have failed to convey it to you.”

    “Don’t smooth talk me. These are all last ditch efforts you are trying to make. They sound pathetic do you know that?”

    It came out in a chilling manner. He froze back at those words.

    “Why now?”

    “Why now?
    Because you took this trip due to it.
    You know the answer to the question which has been troubling you all along.
    You just don’t have the guts to accept that it’s the answer.”

    He didn’t know how to respond. He still wasn’t able to figure out why this trip was so important for him. Why did he need it? Where is he right now and why is he there of all places?

    With a silence capturing the atmosphere, his eyes wandered off amidst the stars again, as his mind tried to answer all the questions and his consciousness slowly drifted away a few years back in time.

    —-x—-

  • WHY ME?

    Late night movie on the laptop, with the companionship of a packet of salted peanuts and an almost empty cold drink bottle; that was what I was engrossed in, when I heard a frantic running in the corridor, with thumping footsteps growing louder each second. I lowered the volume only to find that the door to my room was now being beaten down frantically. I paused the movie and half halfheartedly moved towards the door for opening it. Around 2 A.M in the supposedly morning, he entered my room. That was Pranshul.

    “What are you doing?” he asked in a hurried tone while being all sweaty, from what looks like a non stop run to my room from his, which had many flights of stairs between them. “Just watching a movie. Why what happened?” He collapsed on the bed, started fidgeting with his phone for a few seconds before he broke the silence and said, “She got a job.” He was talking about her ex. Their relationship of almost 3 years was brought down by the long distance relationship syndrome for about 4 months ago. “Okk.. So should I say congratulations or you are not feeling happy?” I asked him trying to be as normal as I could while pushing the door to close. “Don’t know. It’s a mixed feeling. It’s good she got a job. But now that she has got a job, would that anyhow make any difference in her feelings towards me?” I saw him sharply to check if he was okay. The fidgeting had stopped, but he was looking somewhere on the wall, fixated at a point, which had nothing. It was like his eyes were staring at something which doesn’t exist there; where he was trying to find it, or hoped it would be.

    Pranshul has always been a hyper person. Brimming with raw energy, which at times overflowed and this energy was infectious. Maybe a little rough some times, but then he knows it himself. All he hates was someone pointing it out. Then he puts a barricade around him and fortifies his defense which nothing can bring down. Seeing him in a defenseless state made me realize how deep his feelings are for the girl he loved. The breakup had it’s toll on him. The messed up stages of “Was all that fake?”, “The blame game”, “It was my fault” and “I know her, it’s over”, he had been struck by each of them. Confused and torn between his lingering feelings for her and his ability to fall in love again, he paddled between the seething question “Is it right to be with someone else” punching a hole in his heart at times, and on the other hand, secretly downloading her whatsapp display pictures, just to admire her without thinking about anything else by confining himself in a silo of his own, even if for some moments.

    He caught me watching him silently. “Don’t you dare trying to judge me!” He raised his voice as if something was building up inside him. “I am trying to judge the situation and not you. Relax. I am not always in the sarcastic mode.” I tried to calm him down as it was clear as daylight that his mind was running at a frenzied pace. I sat down and waited for him to speak. He started.

    Any story which gives chance to two people to come together and share some time together in love, is qualified to be called as a love story, like a fairy-tale, no matter how it ends. This was a love story too. A boy had feelings for a girl. One lucky day the girl said yes to the boy and they went to be in a relationship. That’s where the love story ends and the other story starts. After all life is not supposed to be just a love story. It is just a continuation of one story after another. Their’s took a reality check. Time and distance tested their compatibility, their love, their faith, their resolution. And the fairy-tale ended. Practicality won.

    He poured it all out. The story, how they met. What he liked about her. What plans he used to make for her. How he taught her riding the bike. How he learned sharing food with her. How he proposed her. How he spent days with her. What was the reason she gave him when she left. And the surge of emotions played all over his face. “You know, I know I’ll never change and so won’t she. Maybe it was supposed to end like this. I mean this was coming.” He tried his hard to justify himself all the reasons he could muster, as to why things are how they are and why they were supposed to be so. All I could see, was how that girl changed little things in him which nobody could have. Teaching a guy who claims to have foodgasms how to share his food is an impossible task. Making a hothead self aware of his behavior and way of dealing in public, is something someone only with a powerful impact on you could accomplish. That girl did that. Pranshul himself might not have realized it, or didn’t want to now.

    After narrating the entire story, Pranshul looked at me, then at his mobile phone. “Where did I falter?” I didn’t know what to do. Sweet talk won’t do any good to him. He had made mistakes. But the girl did them too. Long distance relationship are too fragile. Then the temperament of the people involved in the relationship and the situations and phases they are going through add up impacting the whole equation. I wanted him to talk to her to at-least get some closure and if nothing else, then move on. “It doesn’t matter. All that you did or what she did has already been done. Try talking to her once to get that last shard out of your heart.” Pranshul looked at me and the face was of a person wincing in pain. “I know her too well. I know what she’ll say. I know the shard will be pulled out and I won’t survive the loss of blood. This is the only thing which even if is paining me has bound me together. If she removed it, I’ll fall apart.” Anything sounding positive would have been giving false hope or a hope without a basis. I was talking about giving her up but how can someone preach something which he didn’t even practice. I didn’t know the girl at all. She must have had a story too, and by her description, pretty logical one. She had her own circumstances. I could only hope that she regrets her decision and it was just in a fit of rage.

    I felt helpless. Knowing the feeling always helps. So I decided to break it to him. “Only one thing could be done. Go and meet her.” “Are you kidding me?” He stood up and sighed in disappointment. “Listen to me first. I am not asking you to go and talk to her or beg her. Go and meet her for the last time. And when you meet her, lean in and inject the syringe you bought on your way, filled up with air. She’ll die with air embolism.”

    Pranshul stood aghast with no clue how to respond. “Excuse Me??” I couldn’t control my laughter and let out a smile. “Only that could solve your problem. Love, my friend has, doomed you forever. It’s either this or nothing.” Pranshul realized what happened and smiled properly for the first time since he entered the room, apart from the narration of the moments he cherished with her. “Kill her haan.. Could that be done?” “O yes! Detailed information has been gathered on this topic. Pretty neat way of killing.” “Whom do you plan to kill by this method?” he asked cheekily. “Well, we all have our list, right?”

    This lead to a proper discussion. We talked and talked and maybe that helped him to know his feelings better than telling about it to me. “So how does one decide if things ended right or not?” “Things never end right, if they ended they were not right, but that doesn’t mean mistakes can’t happen.” I went to my philosophical zone and pulled this one out. “Do you feel that if things were to be started from the scratch again and you were given the chance to remake decisions, knowing her and yourself thoroughly now, would you make the same choices again and try to avoid the crap you pulled, or you think whatever happened was for a reason and would take a different route?”

    I thought he would actually take some time on it but he instantly shot back “Same decisions again.” And it was clear to me and him that the ball was not in his court. We went ahead and had maggie, looked at some shoes online, he told me some of his favorite college stories and it was 5 A.M in the morning. “It’s morning! Let us take a nap of 3-4 hours and you should do the same.” I pleaded him while pushing him out of the door. “OK. See you at class.” and he walked down the corridor. “Suddenly I remembered something and shouted, “Do congratulate her on my behalf!”

    He turned back, smiled and replied “Sure I will.”

  • TWEETY EARRINGS

    With the aid of the liquid courage (2 gulps of Coca Cola), my mind has wandered off to a story happened quite some years ago.

    It was the time when I was in 6th standard. Fresh out of Class 5 State Board exams. Now those who don’t know about State Board Exams, Class 5 Board Exams for students younger than 10 years of age, were what IIT-JEE exams are for students interested in engineering. They were used to be one of the most rigorous and toughest exams, second only to Class 8 Board, Class 10 Board, Class 12 Board and innumerable exams, GDs, Interviews to follow rest of our lives.

    We always used to have our class divided in 4 sections. A, B, C, D (obviously). Till Class 6, the sections were the same. We had been studying with same people, seeing the same faces in the class, having the same friends, crushes and bullies. But due to a power shift in the ranking of students after the new criteria at hand (or maybe random shuffling), we all were allotted new sections that year. Hence, a new class, some familiar faces and friends, many unknown people and acquaintances.

    Anyways, the results of the exams were out and suddenly the students who were invisible before, were more shinier than ever, with a tag of “90% in Boards” stuck at their forehead. I have been among the horses who were bet hugely on and misfired. So well, for a person like me in that situation it was pretty hard to actually try to have a conversation with other kids, when the initiating line was “How was your result?”. Funny thing, they all knew it. But still I had a chance at redeeming myself. Something I was having as my birthright passed on to me from one class to another, the position of prefect. The first day is when the class representative is chosen by the teacher. Haah! Routine..

    To my utter shock, I was not even in the elected participants. There was this guy, who I kind of befriended, before him being chosen. And a girl, who I knew was with me in the last class too. How can I go against the guy I just befriended? So I channelled all the energy I was going to put in being a sore loser, to support my new almost friend. And he lost!

    “This girl I knew was with me in the last class” was just selected as the class representative! How could you expect a boy of nearly 10 year of age to cope, going through emotional distress due to reflection of his own below par performance in the mighty State Board exams, getting robbed of his birthright and loosing to “This girl he knew was with him in the last class”? Now he was furious.

    I looked closely at this single tailed (hair), dressed in white shirt and maroon skirt girl. That was the description of maybe 75% girls in the school. I tried for looking something peculiar about her. Something with which I could paint a red “X” on her as target. I scanned her again and again without blinking while everyone was standing and applauding for her appointment. That’s when I noticed something. Something yellow flashed on her ear lobe. I tried to zoom in on it (actually wished I could), but could not get a clear image. The girl was returning back to her seat when she crossed me. “Congratulations” I faked a smile and said. She stopped midway and turned to me. “Thanks!” and grinned hard. One could easily tell she was elated, but who cares! Focus on the ear lobe. She wore earrings which were shaped and designed as Tweety face. “Tweety” as in “Tweety bird”, the yellow canary on cartoon network!

    I smirked as she passed by and pledged an oath that this girl will face the most horrifying experience a prefect could ever have, even if I have to be the one who has to prepare the master-plan for it. That was the birth of a rivalry that kept on for 3 long years.

    I would love to think I made the most out of it, was successful in ruining it for her to the best of my capabilities, straight for three years. And I would also like to believe I have kind of lasting impression. That she won’t be able to forget me for the rest of her life.