It takes one...umm...I?

1 is an important number and so is 0. Some like Einstein would argue 0 is more important, but then he lived ages back. In this day and age, being number 1 is critical to survival. Organizations, sports persons, actors, you name it - every domain, every type of job the target is 1.

In the war of 0 vs 1, the latter is a clear winner. But, what about 1 vs Many, i.e. more than 1. The goal to 1 leaves Many behind. Once again we see 1 is the clear winner. Is it a coincidence that both 1 and I are similarly written? Maybe, this coincidence is there to remind you that you are always going to be number 1.

The journey may be have turbulence, but the destination is not an illusion you start believing in yourself.

One

On my Mumbai trip, I visited the Shirdi Sai Baba temple. It is as organized as any other Shirdi temple and quite large for a Hindu temple. I did my Darshan and came out. I then roamed about and noticed coffins with Muslims doing the thing that Sufi people do in their place of worship (Dargah). You know, they have this long feathered thing with which they bless you.

In a Hindu temple, a Muslim bloke? I was pleasantly shocked and yes, this temple is a contender for the TV Show - Ripley's Believe It or Not. Apparently, the people buried there were Baba's right hand men. Baba did not belong to any religion, he just healed and preached his message - we all pray to one.

I donated, took my blessings and walked out of the temple imagining an India that could develop from the unity brought by Baba's message.

So Logical

Every News channel had blamed the El-nino. The monsoons had deceived everyone. As usual, the weather-persons were the last to accept it, while the gullible farmers were the first. However, this time they had a plan.

The meeting was being chaired by the village head-man. At 90, he was the wisest. Listening to his words of wisdom were the younger..umm...elders. All of them were over 70. The villagers, huddled outside, smoked hookahs and eagerly expected a profound solution from the 500 years of experience in the room.

The youth, however, just stared at the clear blue sky challenging the rain God into blinking. As it got hotter, they undressed. It was like they were playing a game of strip poker with the rain God winning way too easily.

Meanwhile, the meeting had ended and the head-man was about to address the village.

"After much debate, we the elders have decided to embarrass the rain God into giving us rain."

"How do we do that?", one of the back benchers yelled.

"All unmarried daughters will plow the fields..."

"But, our daughters already help in the fields! And, anyways, how will that embarrass the rain God?"

"All unmarried daughters will plow the fields...NAKED! We've tried this solution before most of you were born, and it worked then and therefore it'll surely work now...it's logical."

A few moments of chatter based on sound logic passed and then almost in chorus the villagers accepted the brilliant solution.

Inspired by Naked Girls Plow Fields For Rain.

Forcefully Caged

She sat a few tables away reading. I couldn't tell what she was reading because I only had a side view. The curvature of her lips told me she was a smoker. Or, maybe it was just assumption based on the loaded ashtray on her table. She twisted her neck almost like an owl and I smiled. To my surprise, she actually smiled back.

Beauty like hers was not uncommon, but her lips were ever so inviting. As I considered approaching her, a slightly over weight gentleman came from behind me and sat next to her. They quickly engaged in discussion. I looked on imagining this girl contorting her body...

Moments later, they got up to leave. As the couple approached the table, the lady smiled. A few seconds later the lady gave me a shower with her drink. I looked up, smiled, caught a wry smile on her partner's face, and promptly asked for a bar of Dove.

They moved on towards the exit, where the bouncer stopped her. He thrusted a bar of Dove in the lady's hand, and said "The boss wants a bar of Dove!" Caged, the bird, chirps in my vicinity ever since.

Fresh

With age comes wrinkles, grey hair, and a host of other issues. Fortunately, for wrinkles we have make-up and Botox. For grey hair, we have hair dye. And, for the litany of other issues, I'm sure there are other fixes. However, aging is impossible to stop or preserve, so "Live with it!". By eating the right food, you can slow it down though.

Preservation is necessary in some cases, such as packaged food and beer. Given an option would you choose a fresh apple or a can of apples? My guess, you'd opt for the fresh apple. Similarly, why bother with bottled or canned beer? Wouldn't a freshly brewed mug of the golden spirit of beer be better?

Go try it out for yourself at the Rockman Beer Island, Ambience Mall, Gurgaon.

Yummy!

To Grab, Or To Notice

Driving in Delhi is quite a nightmare. Most people are impatient and those that aren't have crafty ways of getting to their destination. There are very few good samaritans around. Now and then, you just might stumble upon one and then how will you react?

I was leaving a friend back to his place. Along the way, there was a junction at which you could either turn left or carry on going straight. I reached the junction and noticed how the cars trying to turn into the junction were using world-class bullying techniques. We, the "straight people", were not giving them a chance. I reached the junction, decided to stop and let the cars turning into the junction go first. This I indicated by flashing my headlights.

Two seconds later, with horns blowing behind me, there was no movement by the cars turning into the junction...five seconds later, they finally caught on and proceeded to entering the junction. It actually took 5 whole seconds. Don't you think that's quite a bit considering that the opportunity came on a platter?

Stop Peeping

In the recent past, Indians have been rocked by the Mumbai bomb blasts. Safety is of grave concern to most citizens. And yes, it is a hot topic of debate on News channels. Typically debators conclude that citizens need to be more alert et al. Consequently, Mumbai has a number of LED boards that serve as a reminder to the public of their role.

To me, Mumbai is as safe as any other place in India. Well maybe not "any other place". Imagine a world, that has no police record of theft, burglarly, murder etc. This is amazing. It is even more amazing when you consider that there are no doors in shops and houses. The town of Shinganapur, located about 300 Kms from Mumbai, is as secure as places come.

How: People believe that the Shanni god will take care of them and their valuables; The wrong doer will be punished by God.

In terms of security, the citizens of this little town could teach a thing or two to the rest of India if not the world. It is quite a unique place inhabited by people who are secure. I did not check whether there were police records of Peeping Toms. However, I did notice that the people are still prone to some common evil, such as hoodwinking, found in other Indian cities.

Oh well! At least it is safe.

Vacancy: Maid Who Can Train

The doors would slam shut and then with a big bang they would open. Our deaf and dumb (DnD) maid had her way of cleaning the house and consequently waking me up in the crudest of manners. I would take one look at her, smile, and she'd carry on doing her magic.

Initially, as expected, I'd flip. Obviously, the patience she needed doesn't come naturally in the mornings. It was slowly inculcated into me and this annoying style of waking someone up was no longer a risk to spoiling my day. Maybe, it was her charm or was it that I was just cognizant of her handicap. After all, how could she tell how hard she'd banged the door.

Even our silly conversations did not irk me. They usually revolved around my sleeping habits and the importance of waking up nice and early. I would give up half-way through and smile. I would then fall back to bed...pondering...whether I deciphered her sign language accurately.

Anyways, why am I bothering to write about my maid; well she is no longer with us. I don't mean she's like left this planet or anything like that, she's just going to get married. Hence, she'll no longer be our maid. So nowadays, instead of a beautiful smile, and sometimes naughty smirk, waking me up, I am not awoken by a maid. The new maid is so very quiet that I do wonder if she's actually doing any cleaning.

My mornings are definitely not as good, or maybe this is just another training program.