Ode to a ‘haven’t met’

Like dewdrop that disappeared before the morning sun

Like fragrance from an unknown flower

Like streak of silver light in the night sky from a shooting star

Like distant cloud on the mountain top

Like sweet dream that vanished when I woke up
Like whisper of child murmuring its happiness in sleep

Like song from an unseen bird

Like music rustling leaves made
Like mountain streams I met and parted
Like mist in the valley, that went away with the wind

Packrat no more!!

"Gain of entropy eventually is nothing more nor less than loss of information". From a
layman's point of view entropy is nothing but the degree of randomness in a closed
system.But this particular definition is more of a tongue -in-cheek statement if
deciphered carefully.Translated--The more opinions you get,the more confused you
get!!!:)

While from a thermodynamic point of view,information is considered to be heat and is

further simplified as energy,in a social setting such as ours,it leads to chaos,which
eventually is entropy!!

Indians have this innate herd mentality.They don't experiment much.They stick to the
tried and tested methods.Is it because of following traditions diligently,or pure
laziness,one could never tell for sure.Indians lack neither intelligence,nor
imagination.What they do lack,is the independence to make their own choices.They are
afraid of failing more than in any other part of the world,simply because they are
brought up in the belief that to fail is shameful.It is almost a crime here.

While westerners profess that -Failures are the stepping stone to success",back
home,one failure draws a billion comparisons to the one who succeeded and criticisms
for the one who didn't.Sadly,sometimes,it also decides the fate of an individual's life.

Every exam result announcement is followed by a spate of suicides.Every defeat in a

sport is followed by an analysis,re-analysis and ultimate post-mortem of the defeat, by a
panel of "experts".Mind you,these "experts" also consist of people who have absolutely
no clue about either the game in question,or any other question for that matter!!The
underlying idea here is that these experts,represent the common man,the questions the
masses are seeking answers to.In other words,it represents the crowd.

But what is a crowd?It is the most random collection of people.It is the most perfect
representation of the second law of thermodynamics.Watch them,observe them - in the
market,theatre or bus station.Individually people may have minds of their own.But does
the crowd have a mind?They come,they go,they cross each other,with no definite
purpose in mind.Ever wondered why crowd control is a difficult job?

Discouraging sports in lieu of academics?Taking up engineering while your heart is in

literature?Or working in the fields while you yearn to make music?Going to a job you
hate everyday just coz it pays?Coz that's what is the right thing and that's what
everyone else does.Really?

It's not about idealism."Be practical!What else will you do?"Being practical is what is
tried and tested.But how would you know what else can be achieved unless you
try?"What would the neighbours think?".Honestly,the neighbours have issues of their
own to deal with.And your neighbours are not in-charge of your happiness.You are!
So what will it be then - follow the crowd or follow your dreams??
‘Life at a Traffic Signal’ :-)

That evening I was driving back from office and waiting at the signal.

There were office buses carrying the stressed out people back home. There were overloaded
trucks and city busses.

Left to me was a young chap in a swanky BMW with a sexy babe.

Lucky bastard!
Right to me was an old man on a bullock cart carrying Iron rods, with a little boy sitting on it.

Also there was Ratan Tata's inspiration for Nano, a family on two wheelers, husband, wife,
luggage & 2 children.

Then I noticed the Auto, first, the smoke coming out like a chimney, and then, the young
couple in it getting cozy unaware of the surroundings, in their own world. Hello!

The line of vehicles behind was growing as far as I could see.

There were beggars, transgenders and people selling some stuff, knocking hard on the car
window.

There was a sense the frustration in the air.

Out of the crowd around, ironically, the old man, with sweat & dust, looked more at peace,
with a look of detachment on his face.
Everybody seemed to be in a hurry, trying to squeeze ahead in whatever the little space
available.

Two wheelers were moving ahead in footpath harassing the pedestrians and the few stuck up
were taking rest removing their helmet (the ones who were wearing).

The uncle on scooter was busy talking or rather screaming trying to beat the noise!

I tried to move ahead a bit to get a better view of a pretty girl in the two wheeler ahead. :-)

But no, there was no sign of moving ahead, looks like there's some minor accident &
showdown on the road.
Btw you can hardly spot spotless vehicles in Bangalore.

There were hoardings of products and banners of politicians.

People were crossing the road, getting into/down from vehicles.
Aunty was fighting the auto driver on fair/change.
RJ on the FM was giving traffic update in between blabbering about her show.
I could as well turn off and listen to the music from punk fellow's loud music from the car
ahead!
And then there's this new car, complete, with plastic covers on the seat, L board and at least
a week old garlands!

Finally the vehicles seemed to start moving & there was collective sigh of relief.
The cab behind me started honking even though I was nearly 20th in the line!
By now uncle had done with the phone call & struggling to kick start the scooter.
Right in this chaos someone had coolly parked the vehicle and nowhere to be seen, invoking
different kinds of honking.
As I started to move, the chap on the left most with his right indicator on and loud musical
horn, frantic waving of hands, wanted to take a right turn & proceeded halting everybody.
Thanks to the experience of driving in Bangalore traffic for years, from being frustrated I
have developed a Zen like calm :-)
As I almost made to the signal, the vehicle in front of stopped suddenly.
I just stopped too, ensuring I didn't hit him and no one banged me from back!
With a sense of irritation as I was figuring out the cause of this sudden stop, I couldn’t help a
smile
It was a bunch of cows crossing the road, obviously not reading the signal lights and not
caring about the poor traffic police's attempts to stop them. Holy :-)
Pizza man in front of me somehow made space between the cows & rocketed ahead!

Then I moved....well, to the next signal...