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Monday, February 27, 2012
What would you do...?I thought it might be an idea whose time had come. After all, in a few weeks’ time it
would be a year that I wrote something here. Last time I lamented the then much-delayed upload with a ‘patchwork quilt
of reasons…’ but this time I cannot fathom what to come up with so will let it be. And brazen in out, what do
you say? The idea, you say? Well, just put something here, that’s it really.
It is always a struggle to decide what to write about in this occasional blog. Politics? There’s already
too much of it available everywhere. Sports? What did you say? Eh? Ah, which sport is it? Quite. I get you. Cricket…
seems we need to get back to kindergarten for the basics. Hockey? Well… let’s see. We might be able to cook something
up at the Olympics. Football? Next. Tennis? As long as it is doubles we might have something to say and there are already
far more qualified writers around for that. Badminton then? You get the drift? Then? Travels? Hmm… a likely candidate
and one that I will salt away for another piece (as we writers refer to it, you know, casually, with a flick of the hand).
Movies? As above, there are many reviewers dissecting them in all kinds of media. And so on and so forth… So, for this
time, I thought of presenting a list of situations/ things/ happenings/ (type of) people for you to consider how you would
react to them were they to happen to/ around you. So, what would you do when you find…
· …people speaking from both sides of the mouth? (Naturally, politicians are excluded  for their mouths come stitched in the middle.) They are the sort who run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. They will play both sides, sympathise with you—falsely,
of course—and happily stab you in the back at first opportunity and the completely amoral ones will do it without compunction
right from the front. They’re the sort who have drawn out your innermost anxieties, worries, desires and thoughts and
then used the precious information to slaughter you, preferably—theirs—in front of others. My take: when you find
them out for what they are, run like hell. Away.
· …that close cousin of the above, the one who is connected to you in some form or  shape but doesn’t give a damn? At all. Nothing could be farther from his (or her) mind. The harm that this tribe
can cause you is probably beneath his contempt to contemplate. His focus is elsewhere completely and if you happen to get
under his wheel, crushed to dust, why, he doesn’t even know. Or would care were he to come to know. Avoid. Like the
plague. You?
·
…a strident mobile ringing while watching a movie in a theatre? I’d
say that that important man—or woman—has no business indulging in such guilty—but commonplace, I hasten to add!—pleasures
like watching a movie with such important cannot-wait-a-minute type of business on hand. Perhaps the poor soul keeps forgetting
to put the blessed phone on buzzer considering such weighty matters befog his ‘mind’. Even worse are of course
those gentle souls that pick said ringing phone and proceed to have a loud conversation for endless minutes, the inanity of
which drives you cross-eyed but nevertheless manages to confound you from following the keen exchanges on the screen. Do you
feel forgiving?
·  …you’re sincerely following the lane at the traffic light and another
car goes past you sneakily, driving right in the incoming lane? And ends up blocking the turning altogether? Actually, there’re
so many doing this that it is quite expected. But never, NEVER something you wouldn’t mind, EVER. Personally, I rejoice
if  there’re some police chappies beyond the crossing and these unmentionables are nabbed. Hold on, they are nabbed.
Like you say, they probably get away by shoving some money down the stoppers’ throats but at least they are. Not always
or often or harshly enough to make this an unprofitable risk, true. And my secret desire? They crash badly upon turning and
ruin their vehicles. A broken leg or two wouldn’t be bad either. What do you say?
· …vehicles jumping lights with impunity—and getting away with it— talking about  traffic rules? And why on earth do cyclists believe traffic rules are not meant for them? Or that two wheelers—the
motorized variety I mean—are especially exempt? Watch them whizz past at turnings blithely riding in the incoming—the
wrong—lane. And yes, you’re right, even the cars do it. Watch the fellow alongside living dangerously.
How do you feel?
·
 …you yourself have broken the law and now need to face up
to the awful majesty of it? What’s the first thought that flashes through your mind? Bluster? Bribe? Whine? Own up and
take consequences? In my case, I broke traffic rules twice and being unable to bluster or whine and shying from bribing, I
found owning up and offering to take it on the chin worked like a charm. I was let go both times.
·
…you are being patronized by someone? You know, being
talked down to, being  condescended to… and such like? It’s suffocating to be sure. But what would you do, really? Stand on a
stair and talk down too? Or…? I’m currently practicing a little-known meditation technique from the Sukhbaatar
province of Mongolia… which enables me to sit back and enjoy the event.
And
that’s it, ladies and gentlemen. Honour me by putting down your reactions, thoughts and comments. See you in…
the distant future? Or maybe not… Sbohem!
Mon, February 27, 2012 | link
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About IndranilIndranil Mukherjee is an aspiring author of fiction but a long-time amateur writer, who has taken a break
from his software career to give expression to his main passion: Writing. And if provided with timely sustenance to keep body
and soul together, he loves to read. Besides these, he digs driving, travelling to all corners of the world, sampling all
variety of food, meeting people, learning new stuff, listening to music, and about a couple of hundred other things. Curious
about life, and armed with 25 years’ worth of experience observing people from all over the world while working with
them, he fancies he has stories to tell. Rather nifty ones.
Besides completing this collection of short stories
based on an Indian Railways officer’s real-life experiences--he already has a novelette eBook selling on Amazon titled
"Re-Kill: when an assassin's professional pride is hurt..."--he has several works underway that comprise sci-fi,
fantasy-humour-adventure, thriller, and has a maelstrom of other plots whirling in his head that occasionally meld nicely
to create interesting dreams. And yes, a spot of scripting too.
Indranil is married to Sanghamitra, and they live
in Delhi, along with their mother. Their son, Ayoush, lives in the US, big into data.
He can be found right here
where his blog lives, awaiting updates on life, the universe, and everything.
You can contact him directly on this mail ID: indranilmukherjeeauthor@outlook.com
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