I remember reading Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Bet‘ in school. The story brilliantly emphasizes the idea that human life is far more valuable than money. It begins with an argument at a party over which is more moral – capital punishment or life imprisonment? A rich banker believes that capital punishment is more moral. A young lawyer at the party argues any life is better than no life at all. The banker, feeling insulted, bets the lawyer two million rubles, that he cannot last fifteen years in solitary confinement. As the years pass, the lawyer discovers the significance of human life. Continue reading
Many of my readers have raised eyebrows after I have liked the Pakistani Cricket team on Facebook. I do not feel the need to justify myself, since it is but obvious that cricket is a display of skills and temperament and has nothing to do with one’s political preferences. I have ceased to remain a cricket fan, after they started covering half of the TV screen with ads, and cheerleaders took over dada’s enthusiasm. However, I do find it an interesting idea for an article; why someone – who has the least interest in cricket, would go all the way and like the cricket team of a ‘rival’ country? 
Let me think
just for a while…
In that withered garden,
more bare than even a desert now,
which branch first burst into blossom?
And which was the first to lose its colors
before everything succumbed to regret?
At what exact moment
were the trees drained of blood
so when the veins snapped,
nothing could be saved?
Oh, let me think… 
Ever been irritated by clocks that tick too loudly, or by soap dishes that collect water and ruin the soap? Ever tried to plug USB drives the wrong way? Ever struggled with scissors with small holes where your fingers just wont fit in? Ever struggled with a remote control in a neighbour’s place? Ever bumped your leg into furnitures with sharp corners at knee height? Ever wondered why umbrellas have sharp metal points right at eye-level? Ever been interviewed by an ATM machine? Ever lifted a metallic trash can’s lid with hand, whose cheap plastic pedals are broken? 
On a winter morning, during the office hours, about a hundred vehicles stood, honking discreetly at the traffic signal to go green. Soon afterwards, when the signal went green, like shepherds daunting their herds of sheep, the vehicles behind started to honk continuously at the ones in-front. Every vehicle honked indifferently. These were machines and not humans honking at each other. The honking continued while the pedestrians silently suffered. An everyday story of every traffic jam, in every city of India. -
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