A Short Story

[Disclaimer : This post contains strong suggestive content that is not appropriate for young audience. Readers' discretion is required.]

[I wrote this when I was engaged and scheduled it to be posted after marriage. Just to be safe :)]

It was only him and her in that entire village... There was not a sight a single human being for some kilometer radius... And the sunset was creating a beautiful romantic scenery which went very well with the location... And to add to that, they had been in love with each other, very much...

"So, you are going to be like this? You are not going to take advantage of this beautiful romantic location", she asked. He didn't reply anything. He was still grumpy and was thinking seriously. "I know that the things between us has changed, but hey, you are still not married", she said. He was still silent. "Come on... I know that you are engaged... you are not cheating me...", she volunteered.

"I know... but now I have a new girl in my life... despite my belief, my parents actually succeeded in finding me a girl to marry...", he said. Now, she was silent. "I know that things have gotten a little complicated... I can't let my passion on you to do any damage to that innocent girl...", he added. "You know that you will always be very special to me in my entire life... after all you are the first..", he was interrupted by her saying "Don't go there... Past is past... what do you want to do now?"

He started to say, "I can't..", but was interrupted again by her asking, "You can't... or you don't want to?". He replied, "I can't risk my marriage by doing something which I will regret". She became a little angry and asked, "What about the past? What about all the passionate time we spent together? Does that not mean anything to you? As long as we do it safely, you will not have anything to regret"

It seemed to him that making her sensible is not possible and he started to get pissed by her insistence. For the first time he said, "No.. I am sorry... I wont do it.. I wont indulge in it with you anymore...". He thought that she will understand and let it go. But, no... she started to tease him... she knew that a little will be enough to get past his threshold... "I never thought you would be such a baby... Now, I regret that I even had a relationship with someone who is such a coward.. I..", she was interrupted by his yelling, "Shut up you little F... otherwise, I will kick your A.."

She was a little happy that he has been teased enough and said, "We both know that that is all I want you to do". It was too much for him. He knew it is not appropriate to indulge. But, not able to resist the temptation, he kicked the Accelerator of his Figo and reached a 140+ kmph on the much deserted scenic highway in the beautiful sunset.

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Orignially, the post was over with the above paragraph, but since many of my friends didn't get the twist and judged me wrongly, I am going to copy paste the explanation I gave in the comments:

The idea behind the story is, the X is my/He's Car Figo.

Before being engaged, I used to drive very fast/rashly and after getting engaged, I was advised to drive carefully and slowly. When I was driving my car in a very deserted highway in the evening, I got the idea to write this blog. That, my car wants me to drive very fast and I am hesitating the drive fast. I just put a lot of dramatization.

"As long as we do it safely" is a reference for Seat Belt :)
"after all you are the first." is a reference for being the first car.
"Shut up you little F... otherwise, I will kick your A.." is a reference for my car Figo's Accelerator..

Util to rename files in bulk

I was kinda bored and have a full week vacation... so, wanted to organize the mp3 files I have... There are a lot of files and some of the names start with numbers and some files don't. I really hate this inconsistency. If only there is a util to rename all these files which has number in the beginning of their names... Instead of manually renaming hundred of files, I wrote a small program which will remove the numbers in front of the files.

I don't know if anyone else will ever need such a program, but I wanted to share it. You can get the program from here (https://www.box.com/s/0cq2o43tq5so97k4wcnr).

Requirements :

• You will need latest Java Runtime Environment 1.7

 Instructions:

• Download the file and double click on it. It should work.
• If it does not work (or the file gets opened by WinRar or WinZip), don't panic :)
• Open Command Prompt (Start -> Run) and type cmd 
• Navigate to the location where to downloaded the file (cd give-file-location-here)
• Type java -jar FileRenamer.jar and press enter
• A disclaimer will be shown. Press OK to continue. Pressing Cancel or Esc will exit the program.
• A File Chooser will be shown. Choose the folder in which you have the files which need to be renamed to no-number file names.
• Tadaa... A summary will be shown and all the files would have been renamed.

Disclaimer:

• This program is given for free without any warranties. (I tested it in Windows 7 with Java 1.7)
• If it does  not work, I am sorry for your time.
• Just to be safe, take a back up of the files and then run the program. Once you verify that everything is all right, you can remove the backup.

 In case you used it and found it useful, you can leave a comment with your experience. Enjoy!

What the hell should we do now?

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 I was terribly upset when I heard about the petrol price hike yesterday... a funny, difficult to believe, are-you-kidding-us kind of a hike in the petrol prices. Rs. 7.5 or so in a single shot. But to see the initial (and perhaps the only) reaction of the public is to swarm the petrol bunks and creating traffic jam, is saddening. I don't know what was their thought. Supposing they fill 5 liters or 6 liters that day, they are going to save some 40 rupees. But is that all the reaction? Seriously something is completely wrong with us, people.

As soon as you filled the petrol, you went home, saw the IPL, cheered up, littered facebook, and probably will go about and do whatever you were doing the day before. You are going to buy the same Pepsi/Coke, go to movies in theater, watch your favorite serials or matches. All the government will need is some type of entertainment whenever they want to screw us. If Aishwarya Rai gives birth to a baby, that will be the most important news, even more than Indian rupee value falling like Mission Impossible Tom Cruise.

All, the people think would be 'the opposition party will take care'... or,  the media will take care... or, there will be some protest...  and they simply do hallway chat with the colleagues and go on about their life. Let me tell you something. Government will not give a **** about what you talk to your colleagues. After all, the media will discuss this topic and will switch to 'some bollywood or hollywood actress marrying/breaking up with someone' news if that happens.

We are living in a world which is probably controlled by a few hundred people who have money. The government listens to them and is run by them. If suddenly, a foreign company decides to dump all the chemical waste in India, they can do it. People will shout for a few days, media will cover it for a few hours... that is the max that can happen. Government and Law cares more about corporates and companies with money more than civilians. For example, I have read somewhere, that, a girl got raped in a foreign country and the punishment for the bastard was a few years imprisonment and at the same time, for a guy who uploaded a Hollywood movie in the internet got several years imprisonment and very heavy punishment... It is the kind of the world we are living now.

But ironically, the corporates and companies need civilians. If you want the government to listen to you, you have to get the attention of the people (corporates and companies) with money who use you to earn money. This is what we, as civilians, can do. We, as the civilians/public, should completely stop spending on anything that is not essential. Why should we spend our money and energy on things when the basic essential things are  denied to us?

If we completely stop consuming/buying unnecessary and non-essential things (like bottled drinks, biscuits/chocolates, cosmetics, cricket matches, movies, serials, etc.), it will get the attention of the government. Of course, since we deny to give money to the companies and people with influence, they will tame the government not to touch on essential things. And we are also not losing anything, and saving the money. In a dream/ideal world, when government does something that is anti-social, the society will stop to give money to the companies/people-with-influence completely. It should stun the government. Of course, that is an ideal/dream world.

[PS: You may think, at the most some 10 people are going to read this blog and only 1 or 2 read till the end... how will 3 or 4 people stop consuming things will attract the attention of the government :). That is exactly my thought. But you can help to spread this kind of protest to your friends/family. Not necessarily sharing this online, but just discuss this with your friends]

Discouraging...

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


A few months back I took a piano certification exam from an international music school. I was very very nervous about the exam as they are very strict in evaluation and months of your hard work and practice is evaluated in how you play in the 12 to 13 minutes during the exams. Also, it is not like a written exam where you can be at peace and take it cool. Any single slip of your fingers will make you lose marks and will add more pressure.

Even when I play the piano in front of my teacher, I use to get very nervous and play it all very wrongly. If I play alone I can do it well, but in front of anyone, the self consciousness or pressure would make my fingers fuzzy. When such is the case, and when the exam was around the corner, I nervously asked my teacher, "Is it possible that anyone fails in this exam?" She positively and assertively answered, "Yes! A lot of people fail."

Now, my hunch is that, most of you, if not all of you, might think that she is a bad teacher and does not know how to handle students. The perfect textbook guru, whether it is your teacher or your parents is one who encourages at all the times, who, no matter what happens keep telling that 'You can win', who will never say 'You can fail', who will always keep reminding you that they believe in you.

Well, strangely, my father, who is my guru in most of the things in my life, is also the exact opposite of the perfect textbook guru. He would always say that I will never pass (funny, my father told me that I would fail in my tenth exam even when I was not a very bad student.). When I filled my B.E. application, I made a mistake in filling it and he said, 'you can never come up well from college'.

When my piano guru said that 'failing in the exam is very common', it actually eased my nervousness. My main worry was that I shouldn't be the only one who would fail in the exam :) and when I came to know that many can also fail, I got relieved and it helped me to play better. I don't know whether my guru knew this psychology and told me that or she simply said that and it worked for me.

But what I want to convey is, if your parents or teachers or guru seemed different than others' gurus, it may be because they know what works the best for you. They being a little hard on you or indifferent to you may be part of their plan. If you are in a good position in your life [or in your exams :)], you should stop whining about your gurus' attitude and thank them for their valuable teachings.

Imaginary Short Story

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"Loving you was the greatest mistake I have ever done in my life", He was politely telling Her. Normally with this kind of statement the reaction would result in a quarrel for most other people, but, She smilingly replied back, "Thanks for honoring me, honey". She knew the moment she saw him that something is troubling him that day and she even knows what that something is. He didn't expect this answer though, and he was mildly surprised. Trying so hard to hide the smile and even more harder to keep a serious face, he asked, "How in the world is that honoring you?"

"I thought you were smart enough to solve this", She told playfully.
"I am angry here, right? Do you mean that repenting for loving you honors you?"
"Hmm... God... you are really out of form today", She giggled and continued, "Since you told loving me was the greatest mistake in your life, I was honored that marrying me was not"

Realizing that He has been outsmarted again, he smilingly shook his face and slowly walked near her. Since blushing is something which you can't control, she almost became red, blushing, and he stood near her. Right at that moment, they heard a very enthusiastic announcement, 'I am ready!!', the two years old Arvind entered the room happily.

Thinking 'How adorable... going to the pre-school for the first time and he is not crying and is much more happy about it... Good that I have talked great things about the nursery yesterday', and with tons of love, she lifted Arvind kissed him and left the room and switched on the TV and asked him to watch Cartoon Network till the pre-school van comes and picks him up. Within seconds, Arvind got engrossed in the TV and she was a bit concerned about the other child in the other room being a little angsty today.

 She entered the room and asked Him with a smiling tone, "So... where were we?". He tried to answer with a toneless voice "We were fighting...". Unable to control the laughter, she laughed aloud and told him, "Honey... I know you are upset that Arvind is going to the nursery school. I am also going to miss him. But -loving me was a great mistake- is too much to get my attention". There was a momentary silence. His eyes showing a little shame and his lips showing a little smile, he started to say something, but stopped.

Just to break the ice and bring him out of the awkward pause, she said "I can't believe it is actually happening... Arvind is actually grown enough to go to school". He replied with a sense of victory, "It is not school... it is nursery... and I can't believe that, even after all these years, you still use the phrase 'I can't believe it is actually happening...' for all the things-that-happen-first-time.

It took her couple of seconds to control the blush and shy and when she was about to pat him on his head playfully, they were interrupted by their son Saravanan, "Mom... Dad... since today is the first day, I and Laksmi are going to take Arvind to the nursery just in case if there are any formalities and to  make sure that Arvind is comfortable. Lakshi will be back in another 30 minutes by auto."

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Well... this is my 100th post and probably, my last story. All my creativity, if I had any, has depleted, and this post could be a proof for that, and I have no more stories in my draft. Of course, if I get any new idea which I can concoct and convert in to a story, I will write. I can't believe that almost one fifth of my posts are stories. I thank everyone who had read this story and any of my other stories. Your comments had made a lot my days and kept me writing. I wish you all a Happy Valentines Day. 

Along Came Another Friend

[It is my custom to dedicate the first few lines of my post to simply blabber about something which is completely irrelevant to the topic, especially, if I have given some gap between the posts, which will repulse the few people who start to read my blog. I had written 98 posts (excluding this one) and in the hurry to reach 100 posts, I wrote some very junk posts which I resented and disliked, which eventually made me to stop writing. I am sorry about that.]

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Image: bulldogza / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"Which group of friends you relish more in your life?" is a cliche topic everyone would have discussed/listened. Are the friends you got during your school life? College life? During your professional life? (and now there is a new group called internet/online friends) whom do you think is the closest and best?  If someone says 'the friends you get during your school life is the best. bla bla bla. bla.' or if they say about college friends or whatever, I usually say Yes. Though, I don't agree in my mind.

The reason I don't agree is, it does not matter when and how you formed a friendship with someone. All that matters is, what is the current behavior/character/lifestyle of both of the people involved (for example, if either yours or your friend's character has changed, the friendship will obviously deteriorate) and how much time you are able to spend with/for your friendship.

Now, coming to a completely different topic: As far as I know, anyone who resigns from their job will feel very sad and upset towards the end of last working date, even though they would have tried very hard to leave the company. Towards the end, no matter how much anyone detested their company (when I say company, it is 99% of the time, their manager), they will feel sad mostly because of leaving their friends and a little bit because of loyalty towards the company.

Recently, one of my close friends, left his company and was terribly upset the day before the LWD (last working day). When I was chatting with him and consoling him, I got the feeling that he is going to miss all the good friends in the company. I said to him, 'don't worry... you will get good friends and you will have good time in your new company'. He replied, 'no... I am not going to get close to anyone'. It is a typical feeling when you are losing/leaving/missing something close, right?

Most of the times, it is inevitable to lose some close friendship (I mean friendship, not the friend...). In your life, no matter how hard you try, how many compromises you make, how many risks you take, it is inevitable to lose some close friendship, friendship which would have meant almost the world to you, be it the school friends or college friends or professional friends (professional friends... funny phrase... I mean the friends you got in your professional life).

C'est la vie... But, as long as you are of your natural self, you will always get new friendships. You can't resist it. You can't stop it. It is the innate nature of the humans to want to be friends with people. Along will come another friend. Will the friendship get stronger and survive for a long time? Now, that is in your hand.

 

Image: creativedoxfoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

First Offcial Letter - A Flashback

Image Copyright

[This could be 'yet another' very boring post from me. Be aware.]

I distinctly remember the first ever official (professional) mail I had sent. In May 2005, when the HR of the company had sent a mail asking me to confirm that I would join the company, I had to send my first ever official mail. Not having any exposure and not knowing anything about the "so called software culture", I was wondering why would anyone turn down an offer?

The later had come from someone called Kanchan. With a lot of eager and enthusiasm, I clicked the 'Reply' button and for a long time, I couldn't type even a single word. How to address the person? Respected? or Dear? I was in a great dilemma, and even the bigger doubt is, is that a He or She? I asked my father and he was not sure.

So, I called my sister and asked 'Is Kanchan a female name?' and she was not sure. She said it is a female's name, but not confidently. I reasoned 'Kanchana is a female name... Kanchan should be a male name only... but is very odd...' After agreeing to join the company on the given date, I had the next big hesitation.

How to end the letter? All the training I had ever had was to finish the letter with 'Thanking You, Yours Obediently' or 'Yours Faithfully' or 'Yours Truly'. Nothing seemed right. So, I called my other friend who got placed in another company and asked him how to finish the letter. He said, "Start with Hi and end with Thanks..."

Not convinced with his answer, I started the letter with 'Respected Sir,' and ended the letter with 'Yours Sincerely'. The fact is, Kanchan was a female HR ;)