Walking with a zombie

(Dedicated to my perennial inspiration)

As I have mentioned earlier, I work at a place where chaos is ubiquitous. Spending nights at office in an attempt to come up with ideas and finish work on tight deadlines has now become a part of life. This happened on just one such night.

Six of us were stuck in office, working. Suddenly, hunger struck us as the clock struck two in the morning. For normal human beings, it is a time to sleep so most hotels are shut. But near our office, there is a hotel that’s open till 6 in the morning. I guess they are just trying to cash in on our erratic timings. I being the hungriest of all, considering my insatiable appetite, volunteered to get the food packed. So I made a list of all that the people wanted to eat and set off.

Between the restaurant and my office, there is a narrow lane with a lone street lamp. As expected, most part of the broken street is deserted. As I was half way through, I heard somebody shout over my shoulder “boo”! Startled for a second, I turned around to see if it was a colleague of mine or a friend who just wanted to derive some joy out of scaring me. It turned out to be neither. Instead, it was a lanky, short chap who looked at me with a disappointed gaze. He was pale white with disheveled hair. “Damn! You were supposed to be scared dude! Now how will I go back and face my father and my fiancé?”

I must admit that I found it funny that a guy half my size in both length and width, dressed in a yellow shirt and baby pink cargoes thought that he could scare me. “who are you and what on earth made you think that you could scare me, wearing those strange clothes? I mean, come on buddy, look at your size at least!”, I said. To that, his reply was, “first of all, let me introduce myself. I am Zazu, the zombie. I have two elder brothers. Zozo and Zimzo, who will now laugh at me, thanks to you. Second, nobody, I repeat, nobody dares to call my clothes strange. They have been specially crafted by Zersache and Zorgio Zarmani. You know, I don’t wear anything that’s not designer. And the only two other designers I like are Zohit Zal and Z. Z. Zalaya. So you better not say anything against this attire of mine, you no-sense-of-fashion human.”

Now I was beginning to enjoy this. Not only did this crazy, puny guy have the guts to try and scare me, but he also thought he was a zombie! Whoa!

“So, you’re trying to tell me that you’re a zombie who’s out to scare people in the middle of the night, are you?”

“Absolutely!”

“Great. Prove to me that you’re what you claim to be”. This must be fun, I thought.

“I warn you, it will be very scary. VERY scary.”

“So that’s ok. That was your objective anyway, wasn’t it?”

“Ok. If you insist. Now, come on, here is my arm. Pull it.”

So I tugged at his arm and it actually came off! Pretty much like it does when you try to pull it off the plastic toys. Needless to say, that was pretty freaky. I was holding his arm in my hand while he stared at me, smiling. Must admit was a little scared but tried my best not to show it. “So, did I prove my point? Now, give that arm back to me so that I can put it back on.”

So I handed his arm back to him with absolute silence. He took it and screwed it back onto his shoulders like it had some grooves around it. He moved it to check the movement and once he was satisfied, he looked at me and smiled again. “What did you think? I am some random, crazy chap who painted his face white in the middle of the night?”

I was speechless. “So…where were you off to?”

“I was going to buy something to eat at this restaurant here.”

“Naah. Don’t. you get much better food a couple of kilometers up ahead.”

“How do you know so much about human food? You’re a freaking zombie!”

“I am indeed and I am glad I made you believe it but the truth is, that we zombies share a lot in common with you humans. Like the Zombieland anthem, for ages, has been this song by Cranberries called Zombie. Have you heard it?”

What was this thing? A zombie and that too, darfed? Of course I had heard the song! “Yes. I have heard that song many times”, I said. “Good song, isn’t it? Anyway now, if you want to get some real nice grub, I can give you a lift up to that other restaurant.”

No way! I wasn’t going to hitch a ride with a zombie! I know I am crazy but not completely over-the-top insane yet. I hadn’t realized that it had been quite a while since I met this Godforsaken creature, literally, and that’s when my art partner called. Heaving a sigh of relief, I picked up the phone though I didn’t really know what to say. I have a habit of pacing up and down while speaking on my mobile phone. So I walked away from him without realizing it and when I turned around, he was gone. A part of me was jumping out of my skin out of fear and the other part was happy that the thing was gone. I finished my conversation and hung up. Suddenly, Zaku sprang up from behind me again. Yikes!

“Here, these are the best dishes on the menu in the restaurant I mentioned. Since you were busy on the phone, I thought I would go and get some food. By the way, which service provider does your friend have?”

“He uses Airtel while I have Vodafone”, I said, staring at the food.

“Hmmm…Airtel…and Vodafone. Sound a lot like the services we have. Zairtel, Zodafone, Zidea and Zealiance!”

“Tell me something; all the names that you mentioned in all this while start with Z. What fetish to you zombies have with the letter Z?”

“Look, around 400 years ago, our council of elders, which is much like your Parliament, decreed that all names should start with Z and nothing else. We have followed the tradition all these years but now, we youngsters are trying to change the way zombies look at life.”

A zombie, talking about life? Paradoxical.

“Anyway, here is the food. Don’t worry, it’s on me. Just make sure that if you find my fiancé Zenne anywhere, tell her you were shit scared on seeing me. Can’t lose face in front of her, you know? She might just call the engagement off. I need to rush now. Have plenty of other humans to scare and make it home in the next couple of hours cause I have a date with Zenne at 7 in the morning. See you around”, and he disappeared.

I was sure I didn’t want to see him, his family or his fiancé…ever again. I stood there with the packet of food, wondering what to do. After pondering a little, I chucked the food into the trash can cause honestly, I didn’t have the courage to eat food sponsored by a zombie. I bought whatever I had to and walked back to the office. The journey back was thankfully eventless.

So, this was my little tête-à-tête with Zaku, the zombie. The thought still makes me wonder about all that happened.

Adios.

Grayscale's day out...

Two days after he turned a major, Grayscale, the crown prince of the chameleons decided go out into the world outside his royal abode and seek his destiny. Now, royal decisions can seldom be questioned. So against all his reservations, the minister of the chameleon kingdom, Dr. Spectrum, gave in. Princess Lizzy, Prince Grayscale’s beloved was worried and sad that in their already short lifespan, she would have to stay away from him for so long!

For Grayscale however, what was more important was that he came from one of the most reputed families of veiled chameleons and had to live up to his forefathers’ name. So the next day, he set out to explore the world. Princess Lizzy, with a heavy heart, had packed his favourite bugs in a little Tupperware box. She had hunted all day to find those bugs in the crevices and gaps. Now. Prince Grayscale’s palace was in a place that was self sufficient and hence he had never had much interaction with living beings and bugs outside that area.

Hopping from tree to tree and running across the ground, Grayscale reached the busiest part of the city. For a minute, he felt like he was dreaming. Strange monstrous creatures were walking only on their hind legs, there were strange shaped objects zooming by on the roads, there were no trees anywhere in the vicinity and all he could see were towering mountains that he heard the two legged creatures refer to as “buildings”. To begin with he was in awe of all that existed outside his palace, then that awe turned into fear and finally, panic that he was lost and wouldn’t be able to find his way home!
He was hungry and had already gobbled up all the bugs that he had brought along from home. He missed Lizzy and vowed never to leave her behind like that again. But that was for later. He had more important things that needed his attention like finding food and his way home. Food came first and hence he began his hunt. He scaled the buildings, checked every inch of the road and just when he was about to give in to the thought that he would die of starvation, he came across a few dead insects lying around a trash can. Little did he know that they had been killed by insect repellents and hence were not edible. Hunger had clouded his senses, he couldn’t even notice the difference in taste and just lapped them all up. As expected, shortly after that, his tummy started feeling weird. He could feel his stomach growl and realized that an upset digestive system was just around the corner. Just as he stopped for a second on the road to catch his breath, he was almost crushed by one those strange objects zooming past on circular limbs. He had heard the two legged monstrous creatures call them “cars”. The fumes that those objects emitted were toxic that it almost choked Grayscale, who had always been in the midst of nature. Wandering from place to place in an attempt to find his way home, he walked into an office. He could see just one thing all around. Madness. Then suddenly, one two legged creature said something to another two legged creature, within Grayscale’s earshot, about that office being an advertising agency. And then he figured the reason behind the chaos. Now, advertising is not an alien concept, even in the reptile kingdom. There too, they have print ads and television commercials about the companies selling the best packaged bugs, the best properties on tree tops (a human equivalent of a penthouse) and the best skin polishes to keep that scaly skin glistening!

Suddenly, a female two legged creature saw him and shrieked. Grayscale was petrified. Partly by her size, partly by the shrill voice and partly by the decibel level of the scream. He spotted a plant in a transparent container, kept atop a flat structure made out of wood (there were plenty of money plants in the office) so he leapt towards it in the desperation to protect himself. He made it to the tree and started looking around at the surroundings. Slowly, one by one, all the two legged creatures gathered around him as if he was some display piece in a museum! Except for that two legged creature who had screamed on seeing him because that creature had climbed up another flat wooden structure. Then one of creatures who had gathered around him, moved forward and grabbed him before he could escape. But instead of killing him, the creature stroked him and put him in a drawer and shut the drawer. Sitting in the darkness, he thought about his palace, Lizzy, the warnings of Dr. Spectrum and wondered whether he will ever be able to make it back home.

After what seemed an eternity, his captor opened the drawer and put an assortment of dead insects before him. Some of them were his favourites, like the mosquitoes, the beetles and the spiders that had to be eaten extremely carefully because of the high level of toxins. But at that time, he was plain homesick and wanted nothing more than get back to Lizzy, hug her and tell her he was sorry and that he would never leave her like that again. So he moved away from the insect spread and sat down. The creature looked at him for a while and then picked him up. Then the creature started speaking in a strange language and took him out into the porch. That female who had screamed on seeing him the first time, screamed again. His captor took him out into the open air and placed him on the parapet. Grayscale looked around and viola! He saw his palace. He realized that he had taken a full circle. He sprinted to the nearest tree he could find and raced home. There was a renewed energy in him at the thought that he was headed home finally! It had been a day that turned out to be a little too eventful. Prince Grayscale felt he had lived an entire lifetime in just that one day. But he was happy that he had explored so much of the world! Nobody had done it before him. Not that he intended to do it ever again, either.

Finally, he reached home after dodging three huge birds of prey who wanted to eat him up and one dog that wanted to make a yo-yo out of him. The moment he spotted Princess Lizzy, he ran up to her and took her into his arms. Her joy knew no bounds because after this long, he had almost given up hope that she would ever see him again. The kissed, sitting on the highest branch of the tree, under the moonlight and slept under the stars. The very next day, they got married by the chameleon marital laws and lived happily, tail in tail, for the rest of their lives…

This was the story of Prince Grayscale and his day out.

STOP!

हिंदू हो तो हिंदू बने रहो
मुस्लिम हो तो मुस्लमान
पर मज़हब की दौड़ में यह न भूलना
वतन तुम्हारा है हिंदुस्तान

इस मुल्क में पले बढे हो
इसकी लाज नीलाम न करना
किसी मज़हब ने नही सिखाया
बेगुनाह की हत्या करना

जिहादी मुस्लमान बताओ
क्या कभी रहीम ने राम को मारा है?
और कट्टर हिंदू तुम कहो
क्या कभी भगवान् ने अल्लाह को धुत्कारा है?

जब ऊपर्वालों में बैर नही
तो क्यों उनके बन्दे लड़ते हैं?
कुछ लोगों के कहने पे
क्यों आपस में लड़के मरते हैं?

इस हिंसा की आग में कहीं
जल न जाए हिंदुस्तान
झुलस न जाए सारे गुल
बंजर न हो यह गुलिस्तान

सदियों से सब यहीं बसे हैं
बन गए हैं इस वतन की पहचान
बिन मुस्लिम है आधा हिंदू
बिन हिंदू, अधूरा है मुस्लमान

धर्म मज़हब से ऊपर तुम हो
आख़िर एक इंसान
और तुम्हारा वतन येही है
यह है तुम्हारा हिंदुस्तान

(This was written in memory of all those who lost their lives in the Mumbai riots in 1993 and the Godhra carnage in 2002. May their souls rest in peace.)

reasons to blog

A blog. What is it? Is it an online diary? Is it a medium to let out surplus creativity? Is it an attempt at promoting one’s writing skills?

Such questions kept popping up in my mind due to the excessive time I had at hand to kill. For me, it is a little of all of the above but mostly it is a platform to write. Just that. If I have something that comes to my mind and I want to let it out through poetry or prose, I know what to do. People read it. Some may like it and some others may not but when I am putting up a post, that’s not the first thing on my mind. Being a copywriter by profession, I am judged the whole time on the basis of what I write and it is the source of my bread and butter. But when I write my blog, it is for myself. To let out everything that clogs my mind from time to time.

I have come across people who write it for a specific purpose and seek to accomplish something through it. And I have also come across people who’re like me. Little T is one of those. Then there are those who use their blog as a medium to earn a little extra cash. And those who make their blog a personal diary.

Honestly, I know this isn’t one of my best posts and I don’t even know why I am writing this. Maybe because I just felt like it. Anyway, I will not drag it too long. Whatever be the reason, writing serves as an excellent medium to let out everything that’s pent up inside.

So to all those who put up their posts without any particular purpose and without the fear of being judged, welcome to the club. Keep the good work flowing in. that, by the way, reminds me that of all the writers I have come across, little T stand head and shoulders above the rest. Abstract as it may sound sometimes, her posts have a much deeper meaning and she’s an excellent writer. Besides being my constant inspiration, she herself has an amazing ability to put things across rather simply. What can I say, it just one of the many things that make me love her so much. I look forward to reading her posts everyday…

You’re the best, princess. May everything nice happen to you.

Adios.

confessions and memoirs

Before you start reading this, must tell you that this is an autobiographical account and so it might not make an “interesting read”.

The first crush I had was over a decade ago when I was 13. I don’t even remember her name now. It just faded away in the tides of time. People now tell me that I have a way with women but it is a result of conscious cultivation.

I was never the popular or happening kid in school. Always on the sidelines with very little interaction with girls. It was more cause the girls probably never found me interesting enough. Needless to say, I was always treated as a loser. So I set out to prove a point. When I was 14, I had my first taste of sex. Rather early, I agree but as I said, I had a point to prove. Over the years, things just went haywire…

Women stepped in and out of my life. In college, it was a status symbol. And I must confess that it felt good cause after all, I had worked a lot to reach that stage. All I had done was set out to tell people that I wasn’t a loser and stop. But that stop never happened. It was like the dam had crumbled before gushing waters and there was nothing that could stop it.

But deep inside, I was jealous of those who had true relationships because it only made me aware of how hollow I was. Then I had my first relationship. It was with a childhood friend. It was long distance and she could never manage to have that faith I guess because of the way she had seen talk to women. I tried making things work for a year and it just split. But I was 17 back then I got over it.

Then when I went to Symbiosis, my first intense relationship happened. We had our differences but most times I guess it was buried due to the physical intimacy. When I walked out of Symbiosis and into MICA, it so happened that a senior of that girl, who had asked her out earlier, asked her once again to be with him. She agreed. Simple reason. He had a great job and I didn’t. I felt cheated. I felt like I wasn’t cut out for serious relationships. So I went back to being what I was. For a very simple reason that I thought that was what I was the best at.

Then little T happened to me. I had known her for two years back then and had always related to her completely. We thought alike, we liked the same things, neither of us were over possessive and we had similar values. I mustered all my courage and asked her out, keeping nothing about me hidden from her. She agreed. Things were going great. But then suddenly she decided she didn’t want it. It came as a shock and I was clueless. I will not get into the details because it is only for me and her to know. I was heart broken. Lost faith in things. But somehow, this girl is so special that I haven’t been able to imagine life without her. I haven’t been able to move on and take an interest in other women. I can’t still call her my EX cause from my heart, I still love her beyond everything else. I always. I understand the reason behind her decision and though I think it was a little too early, but I had made a promise to her that I would stand by her through everything, no matter what. And I intend to live upto that promise. In that little time that we were together, she showed me a side of life that I was never aware of! She was...and still is...my strength and an unfaltering support.

I respect her decision but if I really have a way with women, I just hope it works on her. Even if it doesn’t work on other women, I really don’t care. It’s just a hope that she changes her decision and the magic works, just for one last time…on my little princess...

Adios.

The epitaph writer

(Once again…thank you little T for your inspiration)

There was once an epitaph writer. All he did in his torn down shack was carving epitaphs on tombstones. With his earnings, he barely managed two square meals a day but never did he complain. People barely saw much of him since he kept to himself at most times except for when the family of the dead sought his services. He lives in a corner of the cemetery, excommunicated from the world…almost.

But life had not always been like this. He had been a jolly young man. He had dreams, ambitions, and a beautiful woman who made life seem brighter every following day. That woman meant more to him than the breath in his body and for her, if humanly possible; he was ready to challenge even the divine. Their love was stronger than the mountains that encircled their little village and deeper than the fathomless sea that lay beyond those mountains. She was a beautiful damsel with auburn locks running down her shoulders and the eyes that would make the Sun seem like a bleak spot in the sky. Her laughter was like the gurgling brook that ran by his house and he looked forward to meeting her by the banks. She arrived every afternoon and stayed till the Sun sank below the horizon. They laughed together, sitting on the rocks nearby. They held hands and made love under the shade of the apple tree.

Life, though, had different plans. One day, she was diagnosed with an incurable disease. No doctor had ever witnessed such a case before. The epitaph writer was a rich young man. The sole heir to a grand fortune. He left no stone unturned to get her the best treatment. He spared nothing to bring her back from the clutches of death. As every moment passed, his love for her grew stronger, knowing that those were probably their last moments together. And the day she breathed her last, ailing, in his arms, she asked him for just one thing. She asked him to write the epitaph that would be inscribed on her tombstone because she wanted to feel close to him even after she had departed from the world of the mortals. It was her last wish and he, who hadnever denied the smallest of her demands, couldn’t bring himself to dishonour her last wish. So the day they buried her forever, the tombstone on her grave carried an epitaph written by him. In the beginning, he was angry with life. He despised the divine powers for having done this to him but as time wore on, he accepted the occurrence as a decision of destiny. His love for her, he knew, would never wane so he left his mansion and took up residence in the torn down shack in one corner of the cemetery. That way, he thought, he could stay close to her vicariously and through every epitaph he carved, he thought he was sending her the message that though life put them poles apart, in death they would be reunited.

It had been decades since she was dead but his love remained just as strong and when one day, they found him dead in his shack, he had his own epitaph carved on a block of stone. It said, “Here lies the epitaph writer who has finally been united with his princess. Though in death, but united nevertheless.”

reminiscing those days...

Gone are the days when I could stand and stare

The times when I could live without a care

It seems like that blissful era

Has disappeared in the sands of time

The meaning of life has changed over the years

All the seasons filled with joys and tears

Only I have remained in this evolving world

Everything around me, it seems, has vanished

The years of school and college

Those classes teeming with mischievous pupils

Nights of wandering aimlessly

Defying every convention put forth

But now, the tables have turned

Life has become a whirlwind which may carry me

I do not know to which unknown land

Today, life dictates the terms

I stand akin to a mute spectator

Waiting for the reins to be returned to me

So that I can gallop away

To the destination I desire

But such is the irony of destiny

That the more I thrash to rid myself of this quicksand

The more I sink in…

I am still sinking…

Sans you

(To my ubiquitous inspiration)

Answers I seek
To fathomless questions
Lost in the labyrinth of life
I scout for the way out

My curiosity resonates in my mind
Sparing not a second to breathe.
Claustrophobic I feel
Like locked in an attic without a key

My dreams are nothing but
Mere hazy pictures
My reality is nothing save
A surreal experience of existence

I ask God repeatedly
But the divine retort is complete silence
And in that deathly calm
I try hard to hear your voice

You have always held the solutions
To all those queries I have had
In your eyes I see
The infinite ocean come alive

In my darkest hour
Your presence lends light
You’re the silver lining
Around the opaque clouds

In the mirage of life
Only you’re the truth
A truth I want to embrace
And lose myself in

Pictures

They envelop the barren walls
Looking at me in absolute silence
Reminding me of those moments
That lie etched in my mind

Those are moments they hold
Instants immortalized in time
Bringing alive the days of togetherness
Giving me the hope to live for

They say so much without a word
I can see them speak through your eyes
I can breathe your scent
Through your cascading hair

These little pictures
Form the collage of my life
A life that without you
Seems colourless and dull

So I clean these pictures daily
Don’t want them to get dusty
Cause when you do come back princess
I want to feel like the separation never happened!