when will this pass away...?

scene1: the stage is set to resemble a park.the background shows a setting sun highlighting dusk.the stage is covered with plants and the sound of flowing water is heard.towards the corner a man is seen sitting on a park bench. a slow melancholy plays in the background. the man sits facing the backdrop looking at the skies with his arms stretched wide on the bench.

man: you must be wondering what i'm doing.It's almost night and here i am starring into the darkness. i know that i cant see anything and i must be mad to sit here amidst all these mosquitoes and insects..but i'm here for a purpose...i come here everyday, same time, same bench. all i do is sit here and stare into the darkness trying hard and hoping someday that this darkness would vanish and i can see rite through it..you must think i'm mad..but you all will realize that you're doing the same...(here the stage light dims and focuses center stage)(a group of friends are seen walking together and having fun)

It all started one fine day..i was lying down staring into the night sky.i love the starry sky..it often reminds me how small we were compared to outer space...

i lay down on the wet grass staring into wilderness thinking how bizarre the world is. how people fight for petty issues, how every country is in war, how global warming has reached a new level, and most importantly how implants seem to have become the latest trend..yes this is the world today..

while i gazed into the sky debating how pamela anderson had revolutionized the world with just a pair of breasts.. a thought came across me..what am i doing with my life?..what is my purpose here?..now this thought ladies and gentlemen lit a spark in me. a spark that didn't seem to pass..a spark that seemed eternal.

(the stage lights dim and focus center stage.)

(a boy is seen reading a text)

boy:(reading out loud and walking up and down) "even this shall pass away"..funny this text..it says everything in life will pass away..depression, sorrow, happiness, joy, anger, even my youth!Everything!..wonder how jobless this poet was.!retard! why cant he just get out and enjoy life?!..god! people and their joblessness! and here i am stuck with this text! it's because of people like him that we're forced to study and vomit in our exams..how on earth is this poem ever going to be of any use to me?!..i hope this text passes away!

(the lights dim and come back on stage.This time an older man is seen on one corner of the stage. And on the other end a group of friends)

(man is under dimmer lights)

man: these are my friends..i've known this guy i the blue shirt for 3 years now. he's just like me.easy going, fun loving and most importantly care free in life. come what may and we're the same..no hard feelings. we hang out 24-7. we drink together smoke together..to sum it all- we enjoyed life together....."Pleasure comes but not to stay;"

*dim lights*

(the stage is now set to resemble a road accident)

man:(screaming) DUDE! DUDE!! WAKE UP!..WHAT THE FUCK! WAKE UP MAN!..WAKE UP..

Man: i can't recall clearly what happened that day..it was all very vague..people pulling us off the road..the smell of blood everywhere..the nauseating hospital smell..and all our friends staring at me with agony and pain in their eyes..a wailing mother and a grief struck father standing in front of us..the most dreaded day of my life..i would never want that day to come..and never had i thought that things would end this way..i got up from my bed and limped towards the room crowded with people..lying there in the center was my friend..his head covered in blood with his eyes shut..lying there motionless..dead."Life is done, but what is death?" i could not bring myself to look at him..to look at my best friend who was always there for me and promised to face all of life along with me..i sat there in the corner cursing god..why god..why take away my friend and not me..every minute seemed like an hour..the worst and the longest day of my life.."Pain is hard to bear,"

..(music plays)(lights dim)

(the lights are focused on the center stage)

man:yes! finally! i'm one of the few people who made it! ecstatic over my accomplishment i was jumping in air and punching through the air! this is the most proudest moment of my life i thought! i was living a dream..the thing i wanted the most had finally happened! i made it to the top 7 out of 14500 students in my college..i was in heaven i thought..for the following three months i was one of the most important persons in college.. i could get anything in college..everyone looked up to us seven..we were the kings and any decision had to be taken by us..and finally it had to end..we had to give way to our future successors..dam does this have to end i thought..but what the hell all good this come to an end right..?..Fame is but a slow decay

(dim lights)

( the stage is set to resemble a park.the background shows a setting sun highlighting dusk.the stage is covered with plants and the sound of flowing water is heard.towards the corner a man is seen sitting on a park bench. a slow melancholy plays in the background. the man sits facing the backdrop looking at the skies with his arms stretched wide on the bench.)

man: i come here everyday, same time, same bench. all i do is sit here and stare into the darkness trying hard and hoping someday that this darkness would vanish and i can see rite through it.. i might not have witnessed much in life..but in a strange way i feel that this is only the beginning..so here i am staring into the night..hoping one day that i can see through the darkness and know what lies for me in the future..i've hit a new low in life..unclear of what life has in store for me..but i'm here to stay and face life..i recall to myself... one day even this shall pass away...

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Even This Shall Pass Away

Once in Persia reigned a King
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before the eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance.
Solemn words, and these are they:
"Even this shall pass away."

Trains of camels through the sand
Brought his gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these.
But he counted not his gain
Treasures of the mine or main;
"What is wealth?" the king would say;
"Even this shall pass away."

In the revels of his court
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests;
He amid his figs and wine,
Cried: "Oh loving friends of mine!"
"Pleasure comes but not to stay;"
"Even this shall pass away."

lady fairest ever seen,
was the woman he crowned his queen,
pillowed on his marriage bed,
softly to his soul he said,
though no bridegroom ever pressed,
fairer bosom to his breast,
mortal flesh must come to clay,
even this shall pass away!

Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent;
Groaning from his tortured side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried,
"But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away."

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue, carved in stone,
Then, the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name
Musing meekly, "What is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay
Even this shall pass away."

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath;
"Life is done, but what is death?"
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray,
"Even this shall pass away."

--- Theodore Tilton

THE CRIMINAL WITHIN YOU~!

Hmmm just when you realize that there is nothing so far in life that you have done that's worth remembering...well think again..everyone has instances that they'll like to recollect and narrate them and have a good laugh..well i have one such incident that i promised Suresh uncle that I'll post on my blog! well he said he does not want to be a part of the- not the blog (duh!) but the incident!..so Suresh uncle comes home on a dull Sunday and tells sharan and me to come with him to chennai citi center since he wanted to pick up some sing along songs!(at least thats what i call it!)..well i was jobless and since he said he'll let me drive his car i agreed..so sharan tags along and we're hitting the road.. when we were at the road leading to citi center (radakrishnan salai) the road is pretty empty..but here rite in the middle of the road we find this "traffic police cap" lying crisp and neat hust like the one in the picture... so here is suresh uncle (sitting near the drivers seat)says-"hey shashank tsk tsk look at that cap..be careful poor cop's cap fell off on the middle of the road.. don't run over it!"..now "i hate the cops" frankly speaking they never do their duties and all they can be proud of are their pot bellies!..they are swindlers of money!..rather legal pirates! they don't give a dam about anything regarding the traffic..urgh! I HATE THEM! PERIOD. so with this mentality do you think i wont run over the cap???...so i hit the gas and at 50 kmph all i can see on the road is the "CAP" so with a proud thud i run over it while all other cars in front of me are avoiding it! suresh uncle-"shashank??!! why did you do that???, sharan- "oh my god we're gonna get in trouble!..the cop might be somewhere close by!" and i said-"hahaha thats for booking me so many times! and hey suresh uncle cool eh?? I'll let you bask in this glory with me! aren't you proud your car helped me??!" just as i finished saying this.. all three of us are looking at the right hand side of the road and there he is staring at us!THE COP sitting on his bike glaring rite at us!! "shit"!! I'm stepping on it...i said.. suresh uncle-"shashank your mad! now i am surely gonna be booked and they're gonna send me a notice at home! i think he's gonna chase us!what the hell did you do??..."suresh uncle i lost my license"! came my reply! "oh my god thats it! he's gonna take around 2000 Rs from us! what is this shashank!" and look at our bad luck! the signal turned red!! "quickly you come over to this seat I'll drive!" ...we are so dead i was thinking and just about time we took the right and entered citi center.. "yes! oh yea! we made it suresh uncle we are so cool! we are gangstas!oh my god this is so cool! this is going ON MY BLOG(well at least now you know why i had to write this)!!" SURESH UNCLE-"I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS!...but well what do you know- He is ;)!!!------lets rip homies!;)

TRIP-PING at karaikkudi & kodikannal-1

its been a whole month since i left college,due to my end semester exams...i usually leave for home every weekend.So here i was waiting at my friends place (nagu) after a huge saga that left me without a wallet( liscense gone and atm card gone!) so from nagu's place bk nagu and myself left for the station to board the train to karaikkudi..we were all thrilled with the fact that we're going away to a hill station and with all arrangements made( thanks to nagu).All we had to do was make it to the train station and get our clothes(and some money of course).so we all get a couple of fried rice and vegetable manchurian for the travel and next thing we're on the train.This is the first time we're travellin by a/c tickets.( always travel by the general coach!) ..i buy a bottle of water and board the train and i see nagu and bk both looking at me and laughing.Then i see another female(about 35-40) lady rather! she is talking in hindi regarding some change in seating.So i try to ask her something in the little hindi i know..and nagu shouts "DO ADMI AYENGEY". As a result bk and me start laughing again( i guess bk was laughing because it was hindi!) we then realize that they are talking in sindi and not hindi!.. so anyways after a lot of "trying to understand" and "hindi" we managed something.. now this blog is completely dedicated to our co passenger mister SHANTHAKUMAR.. Now where does he come in picture??.. among our wierd sindi travellers was this man wearing a black tee, a dominoes chain unperturbed by the sorrounding happily laughing  at us!..so bk nagu and me decide to shoot these people on camera so that we can watch them later after the trip and laugh.. so during this video we rope in Mr shanthakumar and ask him as a co-passenger where he's heading and what he's eating. "chicken biryani" he replies and i ask him "sir can u tell us a few words?? how to make this biryani or at least show us a piece!" he cooly removes a piece and shows it to the camera and says "thats enough now..take yourselves!"...so later he asks us where we're from and what we do.. and tells us "this is the age to try everything so enjoy your trip"! after leaving us dumb struck he says "good night" and lays down on his berth..so just before we all snooze i ask him "sir what do you do?? all this while you never told us".."what do you think i do?" he asked.."uh...."we dont know sir" i said.."well i'm a prof at anna university guindy" ...what??! bk nagu and me look at each other petrified and speechless! (in a softer tone)"sir why dint you tell us before?" was our reply.. and then he says "dont worry just enjoy your trip and have fun! and dont disturb me while getting down i'm taking the upper berth..good night guys and enjoy"!...

yet another saturday?..what was i thinking???

13/12/08 Saturday

Wait! its just another Saturday...that's the morning spirit  i get up with realising that the day is going to be filled with laziness boredom and long hours in front of the tv eating junk and calling friends over to do the same.(company matters :) ).. so i get up all lethargic and walk straight towards the tv and sit there flipping through channels yawning away to glory,while the rest of my family has had their breakfast and are doing their daily chores...so here i was watching the trailer of sharukh khan's new movie(rab ne banadi jodi) while half the day was already over! so i had my bath and sat down to check my profile status on all the social networking sites and my mail.. i eat my lunch with my family and then decide to watch pirates of the Caribbean at worlds end.. so at 345 or so my dad comes in from work and tells me -"listen buddy we're heading for a concert now! and YOU are coming with us"!...What??! was my expression initially and then i realize i don't have anything else to do,and a concert is not gonna hurt.. so here i am guessing that this is yet another concert by some random person throwing comical expressions synchronised with melody..since this concert is organised by my aunt and her partner(charsur digital workstation) she greets all the listeners with a brief welcome note and introduces the artists.. while all this is going on i take a quick glance at the audience.There were people of very high celebrity status,relatives,rasikas or fans of carnatic music and me.. now i am going to be honest in saying that i like carnatic music but i cannot listen to it always.! though my family is highly educated in the field of music and are die hard fans.. i am not.. well anyways.. here is this artist playing the piano and giving a lecture demonstration and i simply couldn't believe what i was hearing tho i did not bother on what he was saying the music he played was simply superb.. i was in a complete pleasant state of mind and the music was transporting me to a world of bliss.. now i felt like i was this huge ferocious giant that can be put to sleep only if a magic harp is played..this music was my harp..now i don't know about black magic or voodoo but i do believe in this music.. the  guy was just too good! he was playing on the instrument like it was water, moving his fingers effortlessly as if his hand was made of butter..so after the concert as usual our family heads to eat at a nice hotel and with our tummies full and our eyelids half open we retire for the day hoping that tomorrow will be a better day..while i lie down staring at the ceiling dozing off..somewhere in the back of my head i can hear my magic harp putting me to sleep.........