Savage Slitherers

I look around in the corner.

They are there, lying around, the slender and long black shapes, curled, twisted and entangled. Some are thin whereas some are thicker. It looks as if they are moving but close observation indicates they are lying still. Waiting to make a move!  What are these objects thinking? What are they waiting for? How long have been lying there?

Let me count how many are there. One, two...Oh! It’s difficult to count exactly, since I am not able to figure out the starting and the ending. Their ends seemed to be lost in the criss-cross. Their bodies are intertwined and it is impossible to separate one entity. What if they all wake up from their dream and start slithering all over here?

Long back, in my childhood I used to be scared of these creatures. In my town and villages, near the creek, I often used to spot them. Some of them even came close to my house during the rainy season.  This is the one creature that creates the maximum terror amongst us till date. Also, our movies and the stories have over hyped the terror. We are known for the land of the snakes. Perhaps that’s why I still accept snake sightings in streets as normal and just pass it off during conversation. But I must bet, I am still as much afraid of them as an American or a European.

Living now in a popular metro and in a posh area, the snakes are no more seen and I can safely walk the corners of my house, even without bothering to switch on the lights. I am not scared to look at any remote corner of my house or beneath the door. But still, the fear has not subsided.

They still haunt my dreams. They chase me there, almost catching me helpless. Often, I wake up in shock thanking God that it was only a dream. Every rope, pipe or wire that I observe in my room closely starts moving and approaching towards me. Which is why when today, I started observing the scattered network of wires from my laptop, charger, headphones, LAN wires, I was reminded of them.

They were all huddles together in the corner. The more I looked at them, the closer they resembled the creatures. Centuries ago, God created the snakes to scare its enemies. Today, we have these man-made snakes which do not hiss or slither, but can do the damages to the same extent, if not more. Perhaps, these are the real snakes and are more lethal. We must be cautious.

The last arrow

The last arrow in the quiver goes away. This arrow was hidden.  Even though I knew, it was safely tucked somewhere. However hard I tried to look for it, it couldn’t be found.  Somehow, the arrow eluded me. But I was certain, the day would come and when this arrow would be discovered. And I kept waiting for it.  Even though the quiver was empty, I didn’t throw it away in anticipation of the last one. The quiver was constantly on my back all the while. It had become a baggage, rather. I had often dreamt of it only to wake up finding it empty. I needed the last arrow badly to try one last shot. All the previous arrows had missed the bull’s eye. My hope solely rested on the last one. As time passed, I became more and more convinced that this one would be the saviour. This one would finish up the pending work.

And the time came, the arrow suddenly appeared. It looked silent and innocuous as if it was in the quiver all the time. But I can swear, I hadn’t seen or felt it before. It was mocking at me. But, this was not a time to blame. I had to take my last try. With trembling hands, I straightened the bow, put on the arrow and tightened the string. 

Looking at the arrow, I asked myself. What if, this also misses the point? The arrow, which was missing all this time would again vanish in a moment. Why not just keep the arrow and avoid facing the truth? Atleast, the last hope wouldn’t die. Why did the arrow make me wait just to disappear again and this time never to return? 

I closed my eyes. Perhaps, it wasn’t meant to be.  Every arrow is different and every arrow has its own course. Every arrow has its own target and is different from the target we choose for them. The path laid for them has to be traversed by the arrow alone. Perhaps, it was time to let the arrow go and dump the quiver. I would feel lighter. The quiver started feeling heavier. I couldn’t bear it. 

I opened my eyes. The world looked different. It was all new. Encouraged, I took the aim and shot the arrow.

The war inside

 Once, a person gave me Rs. 100 and asked me to keep it safe as he was going on a long journey.  I deposited the money in a piggy bank, but in that act of doing so, my pet cat, “Madver” saw it. Later, I read in the newspaper that the person died due to an accident. Wondering what to do with the money, I still kept the money safe. Madver demanded that the piggy bank be broken and the money be used for the household purposes. I didn’t feel it was right as the money was not mine and someone could come any day in the future and demand the money on my friend’s behalf.  However, Madver couldn’t understand it and demanded it repeatedly that the money be brought back. I kept the piggybank at the top of my cupboard so that Madver couldn’t jump and reach it.

When all efforts failed, Madver thought of a master plan. It contacted its popular neighbourhood friend, a dog, “Zahe Anran” who always had been successful in his demands from his master. Adopting his style, Madver announced to me, one fine morning that she was going to sit outside the house and would not eat anything, unless the piggy bank was broken.

I never considered it seriously, but to my surprise, next morning, I saw all the nieghbouring cats assembled outside. Shocked by the reaction, I called up the animal catcher and asked them to take away the animals. The animal catcher van arrived soon and started taking away the animals. There was a loud shrill, meows,claw fights,  fur and blood scattered on the streets. Finally, they managed to control the situation and  most of the animals were taken away. Madver was caught at last as she managed to disguise in lamb’s skin and keep the catchers at a bay for a while.

 I was relieved but I didn’t  realize, it was temporary. Next day, I received a summons from the “Against Cruelty to Animals and Pets Department” of the city and was asked to explain my undemocratic and cruel behaviour. It warned me that any such future actions would lead to severe penalty.

On the other hand, similar stunts were seen in several parts of neighbourhood. The war had begun!

Oh my Madver, did I not feed you well enough? Didn’t I take you out for a walk twice a day? Did I not stay quiet when you dirtied my room? Why do you have to be so greedy? And such a coward to take those steps? You have lost all your dignity and all the respect that I had for you till now.

IPL new Avatar

IPL4 has come up with a new avatar and this time it has come without any controversies as compared to earlier seasons of IPL.

There has been no buzz this time. It has come down smoothly and has been going on in the same manner. Even though, the face of IPL has very much changed from its first version, it no longer enjoys the trademark controversies like Test vs Twenty 20 or ODI vs Twenty20, youngsters vs the legends like Dravid/Kumble, or cheerleaders' culture. No more FakeIPLPlayer, no more Preity Zinta hugging Kings of Punjab. And no more Lalit Modi's press interviews. We also miss Vijaya Malya dancing after a boundary. Where are the MRF blimps?

The players have been reshuffled and two new teams have come. We also do not have our Dada in KKR and no one is cribbing any more, their attention now focused more on Sachin and Dhoni, thanks to the latest World Cup victory. All the illogical things like the Pune team, not having a home ground, playing in Mumbai and Indore stadiums, are hardly cared by anyone.The captains of half of the teams are now foreigners, a "taboo" in the first IPL but now been happily accepted by our cricket crazy IPL loyal nation.

The live telecast of the auctions was the only one that generated some noise and since then, no one seems to care about who are losing and winning.

Have the audience had enough of cricket or Has the IPL become so ingrained part of cricket that it cannot be questioned any more or No one now gives a damn about the direction IPL is taking since we have now won the CUP and we need to take a short break from cricket?

The loyal fans have been decreasing and many now don't keep a count of how many matches a team has one. What we now remember is that when we go back home and turn on the TV, there's going to two teams and we just don't care who wins, yet we do watch the entire match.

Perhaps after May, when the TVs would go blank in the evenings, we would fill an emptiness in the house as if some guest has just left the house. Till then, we will keep saying 70 matches are too many.