Rise!

You were just a kid,
when they took them away.
Lost in the shades of vengeance,
you were driven by your anger.
It would have destroyed you,
but you chose justice over vengeance.
You chose to fight injustice,
You made your fear, a weapon,
a terrifying symbol, something indestructible.
You became more than just a man,
A legend. And it began!

You wanted a hero with a face,
but the clown had his way.
That even the best can fall.
But you took that fall, so that hope lives;
so that people believe in good.
like a Silent guardian, watchful protector,
you were truly incorruptible,
you were the dark knight!

Evil has resurfaced, with a different face,
faith is broken, hope lost.
To save Gotham, to keep that hope alive,
Batman has to come back,
Rise, O Dark Knight,
Rise!

Neal N Nikki II

[On a deserted beach somewhere in Mumbai]

What a beautiful place this is Nikki ! The sun, the sand and the exuberant sea. I can stay here forever.Wish I could. I feel so relaxed as if I don't want anything else from life.This is it.And I feel so calm here.No worries.No hurries.I can totally be myself.Whenever I come here, I just cannot stop myself from smiling.I love this place.[ Looking at the sea ]

Neal, you have the cutest smile, you should always smile.It may give others a reason to smile.[Looking at Neal]

[Neal turns to Nikki.She now looking at the sea]

You now Rahul right.The guy who lives next to me.Last night he came over for drinks.After everyone else left he stayed back.And then one thing led to another and we started..

What? So Gross Neal...I thought you were stra.....[stands up in shock]

Nooooo.......here me out silly ......we started talking about LDR's....[embarrassed]

Aahha....is it some jargon straight people can't figure out ? [teasing Neal]

Shut up Nikki.Go away.You killed the mood.[acts irritated]

Ok baba...I believe you are straight ...fine...now carry on..

Long Distance Relationships!

Oh that...I know that....I am just bad at getting acronyms.

So, he is in one.All the time we were drinking, he was telling me about her.How they rarely get to see each other.And all these years they have been so far and yet so close.How they spend time together over the phone.I don't get it Nikki.I mean how the hell can that work for someone.I was bombed hard.

Not surprised Neal!You never believed in love anyway.And this stuff is not for the faint-hearted like you.You got to have patience.You got to trust your partner when he/she says this will end someday and we will be together for ever.And you know what is the most beautiful thing about LDR, it's based on the most pure and powerful form of love i.e. care.As you can't be there all the time physically, you learn to care for that person.Though you can just give him some words, but they are so damn powerful.And Neal, it's a wonderful feeling that in spite of all the odds, you choose to be together.

Still Nikki, how can you live without seeing your beloveds face everyday when you wake up?
How can you live without giving that person a hug once in a while? Must be damn tough!

Tough Love! Well I am a fan of that.And to answer your questions, memories of time spent together helps to get through the longings.And the immense love makes it easy.It takes you to this wonderland. You can stay here forever. You feel so relaxed as if you don't want anything else from life.This is it.And you feel so calm here.No worries.No hurries.You can totally be yourself.Whenever you come there, you just cannot stop yourself from smiling.you love this place.[ Looking at the sea ]

[ Neal turns to Nikki in amazement]


P.S Neal N Nikki

That lady's house

It feels great to finally retire from your job.At first, the change seems to be overwhelmingly boring with nothing to do all day.But you get used to it.And then you start loving it because now you find time for yourself.You find time for your loved ones.You find time to see the lovely birds flying in that gorgeous blue sky.You find time to sit the sparkling green grass of your backyard.You finally get to live life.

I am really old now and so is my husband.The love of my life.I remember that magical time when we were young and fell in love.I thought that's all that love has in store.But in the last 40 years, i came to no that there is so much more to it.Its ever growing.There is no end to it.I love him.We have decided to sell this house and move to a smaller one as our children don't live with us anymore.I am expecting a client today.Oh, there he is !

Hello Mr.Roger! How are you doing? Hope it wasn't difficult to find the place.

Come, I will show you the house !

This is the hall with the couch,chairs,the idiot box[smiles] and a little bar table.The little bar table which my husband loves.He used to sit there after work having a little something on the rocks.It made him really happy.And this is the piano which my son used to play everyday.He was really good at it.I felt proud whenever he did a little musical magic with his small fingers.[Stares at the piano for long]Oh I am so sorry.Got carried away there.

Lets move over to the kitchen.Isn't it lovely.Here is where i cooked for everyone and there is the table where we used to sit together and eat.There were laughs.There was happiness around.I loved to cook for my family.I still do.Its just that, they had to move.[lost again] Alright, lets move to bedrooms.Aren't they spacious ? And the two windows on either side just lightens up the room like anything.This was my daughter's. She never let anyone in.She created her own little world inside.Look at all the posters and banners and drawing and what not.She also used to have lots and lots of flowers.Don't you worry, I will take care of all this before you move Mr.Roger![uses humour to cover nostalgia!Fails.]

And you see these marks on the door frame, here i used to make my kids stand everyday in the morning to see how tall they have grown.Now you will probably paint over them.[Tears]And there is the backyard with the lawn and a little garden which my husband maintains.My children took their first footsteps here.It was there wonderland.[very emotional now]

You know what, I am really sorry.I cannot. I cannot sell you this house.It is everything to me.It has all those memories.I need those memories.I cannot live without them.Sorry.I just cannot.[tears]

Neal N Nikki

Nikki, I don't get it.How can a guy spend all his life with a girl ? Hey !
why are you giggling ? Oh come on for god sake...I did not mean he should
go for a dude just beacause its legal now! I meant how can he handle the
constant blabering which yields nothing but compressive stress and that
too all his life ?

Shut up Neal ! You Dumbass :X Apparently you are not familiar with a crazy
thing called love.Its something out of the world.Marriages are made in
heaven.Its when two souls combine.Promise to love each other till
eternity.Its so romantic.Aahhhh.When am I going to meet my Mr.Perfect?
OMG, i am so ready for it !

You know what you need.A reality check.Life is not a romantic flick with a
hot chick.Get real princess.And the reality is that girls are super
annoying.They invented the word 'Nag'.They are never satisfied with their
guy.There is nothing like love.Rich guys get pretty girls.Thats whats
real.You get me ?

Where on earth you get all this shit from? I know you Neal ! You have
never been in a relationship.You never had a girlfriend.You never had a
friend who is girl except for me for crying out loud.You have been always
scared of girls.You assumed things.Alot of things to be precise and not a
thing which is right about girls.Have you not read "Pink" by "genie" ?And
no Neal, we are not annoying.We are normal human beings and prefer to do
things in a normal way.And thats what bothers guys who just want to chill
all the time.I wonder if the word human would become huwoman.We just like
everything organized and perfect.Thats nagging to them.And love is not physical attraction dude.You are so off the lane.It dosent matter how we look like.Its our actions that define us.Neal, when someday you will love a person more than yourself, when someday you will feel
complete with her, then she will be the beauty for you.You will never see
anything more beautiful than her.Believe you me.Its so damn true.

Hey, don't try to Emo-trap me girl.I am not so easy.

I get that you rat ! Just let the day come.You will understand this
someday or the other.And then you will come to me with your cute little
love story.And I will be all oh I don't have time for this shit.Don't Emo
-trap me Neal ! [devilish smile]

In your dreams ! Never gonna happen girl.But if I ever change my mind
about getting married, I will prolly marry you then.How is that ?
Ok Neal ! [Fake smile or maybe real]

What?[suprised and scared] I was just kiddin Nikki.You and me...Never.You
are so....

so what?

so[ blushes] ..... I don't want to say .

I can wait.[Smiles.For sure this time.Holds his hand in hers.]

Perhaps Love is Friendship!
Perhaps! Perhaps! Perhaps!

Voila .....God is here !

Here is a thought. If in the present times, the God himself comes to earth ! ...what would be the worlds reaction to it ? Interesting .....isn't it ?


Well, the first thing that strikes my mind is how will he look like ? Will he look like Morgan Freeman who played him in the movie? :P Or will it be a 'she' ?Let's not get involved in a gender bias ! Will it appear as Jesus or Buddha or Ram or Krishna or Bramha or like the numerous other forms which i didn't mention here ? And moreover, where exactly will it appear or will it be yet another reincarnation in a human form ? If that's the case, which religion will the god opt for for his reincarnation ? These questions will govern how the masses react to it.
When this question of God coming to earth struck me, i was all ....ummm...ammmm.... confused! Ergo i passed it on whenever i found my friends looking for a topic to gossip upon. But they took it rather uninterestingly. Maybe because its totally impractical and illogocal.But most of them had a common opinion assuming it happenes someday;WHO CARES ! Thats exactly what many of them said.

And then it made me ponder on what I think about God. When I was a kid, yeah I used to pray everyday with my mother before going to school. At that time, I just believed what my mom did.I have faith in her. And she had in God! But when I was all grown up and didn't find any answers to my questions about the almighty, I lost it there. And since thenI have seen so much of unfairness and dirt that I don't want to believe that there exists a power so superior and capable of changing the way things are and yet not doing anything. I don't pray anymore. If there exists such a power, it never asked us to pray, it never asked us to follow. Its probably the belief of people or rather the fear of it. Some people do it because they say it makes them happy and fearless. I just don't understand the need for a religion. It does unite a group of people but it also seperates them from thousands of other groups. Why don't we realize that we are all humans and all religions lead to the same. How is it any good if it makes poeple hate each other;kill each other.Why do we need a religion?

Getting back to the homecoming of God. I just can't stop imagining how the papparazi would react to it! God will be the new celebrity ! Newchannels, Interviews, Talkshows and of course Reality TV ! Every Brand would want God to be its ambassdor! Every religion will claim a connection! Lots to choose for the Lord. But unfortunately, only a few will give it a thought. Most of them would dismiss the idea by calling it a fake. People don't have time to discuss something unusual like this. People are so much involved with themselves now, they don't care how this world was created. They don't care if the lord himself shows up. They are just so used to what this world is like. They don't expect a change in the way things have been around.

If God does show up, maybe we will have answers to some questions which are still unanswered by science. Evolution! Heaven and Hell! Souls! Angels! So much still unconquered!
And boy I would love to know about all this before actually experiencing it !

scrubs

After eight years of torture ( read med school ), i was finally going to work in a hospital. Not as a doctor though, as an intern, then a resident and blah blah. The career path you see, the only way up is the stairway,step-by-step.No lifts.Wish there were Fast Forwards in real life too.I was really very excited though.The feeling that i was going to help people, touch their lives and finally do something useful for the human race was overwhelming.And also i get to work alongside beautiful nurses.That's not the point though.Or maybe it was. AnyHu !

Like everyone else i also went through the phase when you don't know if you are going the right way.But unlike everyone else i found that fairly quickly.That was my first day at the hospital.And I somehow knew that this is the place where I want spend rest of my life.And it was not impulsive.The seed was sown long back.I just didn't know that this was the tree under which i wanted my home.I was happy and determined to give my best.Unfortunately life is not what you dream.I had no clue what it had in store for me.The first patient i dealt with was terminally ill. He was young. He was just 19.Although he had a late diagnosis, Dr.Jerry had high hopes.

I too had hopes.Miracles do happen once in a while.He will be alright I told myself.I did everything i could have.I read everything i should have.I could not sleep anymore.After conducting all the tests, we came to know that he had very less time left and the medicine weren't working. He was going to die. My first patient.You know what is the worst part of medicine, telling your patient that you studied 8 years in some med school, worked in some hospital for few years as a intern, for few years as a resident, for few years as an attending, to sum up a decade of work experience, that he was going to die and that you can not do a thing about it. Frick....Frick ..Frick ! Oh, FYI that's just the F-word. As our attending, Dr.Jerry was gonna do that part for me.I went with him. I thought i would not be able to hold back my tears but instead i was amazed.Amazed at the straight face of Dr.Jerry. He gave the bad news w'out a single muscle of his face coming into action. Except those involved when we speak. The point is he did it w'out showing even a hint of sadness on his face.Maybe he's just used to it. Maybe he has been like that forever.

I asked him how did he do that. And then he said something that i will remember all my life. He said, " We are Doctors son, we deal with many patients everyday.We give our best. Our patients look into our eyes to see hope.Hope that they will get better soon. Hope that its all in control.I don't want to ruin all this for them by carrying grief on my face for those who sadly have departed or those who are terminally ill and where science fails and makes us look like handicaps.I would rather keep it to my heart.Because there are others in need of that hope on our faces.I don't want to loose them too.Its not like that i am some emotionless freak.But a doc got a do what a doc got to do !"

Sin City.

Sin City, India

The Court bans three-wheelers with two-stroke engines to reduce the pollution levels and other medical concerns. The decision was not a random move by the authorities. It was needed. People like to believe what they can see for real. They are not willing to buy this slow-poison crap. And those who might loose their only life-line when this law comes to effect, will particularly not agree. Angry reactions are expected on the streets today and hence the city police is on a red alert.

XYZ News, Studio.

An old man is sitting in his god-knows-how-expensive chair facing the glass made walls of his cubical on the 13th floor from where you can see the whole city.The phone on his table finally breaks the long silence. The person on the other side of the line tells him that he should send his team to Harbor Road before 6 pm that day. There will be blood. He was an old friend. He would get his share. The old man finally gets off the chair and calls a reporting team inside. ' I want exclusive shots of the mob, the fire, the blood .... anything you can capture in that hell-hole. Remember you are not going there for social work. You are going there to get me TRP's. Anyone got a problem with that? ' No sir. ' Then go idiots, make me rich.'

Police Headquarters, Sin City.

The police commissioner hears from a sub-Inspector. He has information that the Auto-wallahs union might do some damage today. They are angry and unemployed for life. He asks for increasing the security at sensitive places. The fat bastard has other plans. He orders to withdraw police force from sensitive places.'That union is a big fish Shinde, you don't know about this game yet. It has support from the ruling party. Now don't give me that i-am-a-honest-cop look and do as told.And yeah, put the force to control the opposing party members. They will look to take political advantage out of this.'

Harbor Road, Sin City.

The protest has become wild. The wind has turned electric. The Auto-wallahs union is on the streets blocking other modes of transport to make a point that the city needs them.The city has no existence without them, they are her spirit.But that's not the truth. They are afraid of a different tomorrow.They want it to be what it has always been. They are angry. Very angry.
They are burning buses and taxis. Their voices sound alike and devilish. As if Satan himself has taken the command to execute this shameful disaster.One of the Auto wallahs breaks free from his vengeance. He is staring at a body of an old man who was rescued from one of the burning buses.They could not do anything. He died on the spot. The old man was his father.His only kin.
He could not believe what he saw. He fell down crying near his father and watched the city burn.There was no remorse for this.It was sinful.Though you cannot blame someone for what happened.Everyone played their parts.

But the city lives. Nobody gives a tiny rat's ass .Its amazing how these events stand nowhere in peoples lives.They are just happy because their loved ones were not hurt.The day is not far when it will be your turn to feel the heat.There will be a tomorrow.There will be new people.There will be sins. The show will go on. And the Sin City will rejoice.

Children of a lesser god

It was a small room in the midst of an inner-city slum. Raju lived with his parents and four sisters.He was the youngest.His father had no source of income.He had lost all his jobs because of his severe drinking problem.Every night he transforms into this drunken monster.His mother, Shanti, works as a house-maid and earns just enough to give them food .She prays every morning. All she asks for is a day without any beating from her callous husband,some food for her children and nothing else.But apparently even this is not acceptable to the God.He shows no mercy.As always.As with every other mother in that slum.But still they all have faith in that absentee landlord.

Raju again had the same dream last night.He was in school learning science. At least it will keep him happy for the day. He works at a small food place near the school. At times when there are no customers, he goes to one of the windows of the school and observes curiously.This has become his routine.He has even made some seating arrangement for himself beside the window with whatever he could find in the trash.He has a strong desire to learn. Whatever he learns during the day, he shares it with his sisters and his mother.He praises the teacher and the fact that he knows so much about everything They all stare at him with bewilderment. He tells them he will become a teacher someday.They all laugh.But some where deep down their hearts they have a strong feeling that he will.His eyes say it all.It is his destiny.

It has been a year now.He still visits that window which opens into a world of facts and knowledge that totally mesmerize him at times. His ever increasing zest for learning is unprecedented.It does not bother him that he has to sit outside the class.But when he looks at those who have the privilege to sit inside, he is confused.They seem to be bored by the words of the teacher.They do every other thing than listening to the teacher. He tells himself maybe they already know it all.He later realizes the truth.The unfair bias.

It was one of those days.Raju got off from work early and rushed to his window.The topic today was 'God' and how he created this wonderful Earth.The teacher told the children that God is fair and treats everyone in the same way and that we all should worship him.He came up with numerous stories to support his statement.It was the first time Raju didn't agree with what he had heard.It just didn't feel right.At the end of the class, students were asked to write a few lines on something which would highlight their perspective of God and present it in the next class.After that, the class was dispersed and all went home.Raju was still there.He went inside the classroom and sat on one of the benches and stared at the word 'God' written on the board.

The next day, when the students entered the classroom they were spell bound.They called their teacher.He stood there in amazement.His eyes partially wet.The board read...

"We are born in the slum. Helpless,weak and dependent.We are forced to be like this till eternity.The attempt to break-free makes it even worse.He wants us to suffer.I can't think of a reason.But we accept it anyway.

You are the fortunate ones.He has given you the power to fulfill your dreams.We can hardly dream.But we accept it anyway.But why are you so heartless? You know you can help.You know you can share. But you don't.Still we accept it anyway.The worse part is that you see us as dirt.Nothing more than that.That is not acceptable to us.

You are God's Children and We, the children of a lesser God."