The price the king of the jungle has to pay

God’s ways are mysterious. A statement many will not refute. We have often read various stories depicting the Tiger as the king of the jungle with all its powers and robustness. A lot of stories also portray the Tiger as a tormenting animal who is hated by the jungle. An animal that is the symbol of bloodshed and death. All the animals in the jungle view the Tiger as a tormentor who needs to be taken to task. Even as adults, though we understand the food chain and know well that a Tiger’s only food is meat, we somehow wish the deer or the antelope flees before the Tiger pounces on it. Often, I watch my cousins and uncles watching National Geographic or Animal planet in bated breath hoping that the Deer outruns the Tiger.

A Tiger has a life span for about 10-15 years in the wilderness and 20 in captivity. In the initial few years it is common knowledge that a cub receives its food from its mom. So, its safe to assume that a tiger starts its hunting expedition once its 3 or 4 years old. It reaches its prime once the tiger is 9-11 and slowly begins to lose its speed. For a carnivorous animal, speed and its piercing claws are of substantial importance. Once it loses these two, it is a mere vegetable in the animal kingdom. A tiger loses its claws and speed once it reaches its dying years; 12-15.

During these dying years, tigers are lone animals wandering in the forests for that easy meal, in the hope that food may not be that hard to come by. As age sinks into this ferocious beast, its appetite decreases and soon a cruel process of starvation starts igniting with rapid pace. In this period I would like the reader to know that a tiger; king of the jungle; most powerful of all animals; the graceful beast, is reduced to mere pulp. You can call it a lesson in humility from God, but, a tiger dies of starvation. Slowly and steadily the vultures peck a tiger and a tiger’s once close allies; the hyenas surround the gigantic animal and mock it. A bite here and a poke there.

The beast of all beasts is down on its knees and falls with the same pride it once stood for. Pain, is not just for the prey but the predator too… God’s ways are??? MYSTERIOUS J

Dhilli he mere bhai...

To start with, Dhilli the Hindi/Urudu pronunciation of the capital is way cooler than the British way of saying Delhi. One always has great expectations when he visits the capital of India. The epicenter of capitalism.  The supposed place where your dreams take shape and so on and so forth.

Its almost like there are two Dhillis. One, where the roads are well laid with tress sprouting around every corner. This is where the state embassies, India gate, north block, south block, foreign delegates etc… reside. The traffic is quick and the area is bristling with activity with an aura of professionalism. The pace of this Dhilli is almost tangible.

There is another Dhilli which is rude reminder to the muck that lies beneath the surface of wonders. This Dhilli is filled with mendicants and street urchins speaking an intoxicating Urudu like Hindi. The outer Dhilli is almost like ghettos where the servants of erstwhile masters are dumped. The pandemonium of Dhilli is very evident in these areas. It is almost like to keep the main Dhilli spick and span the outer ‘mango’ man Dhilli has to suffer. Dhilli’s sustenance and vitality lies in the hands of these ghettoed poor and the beauty of it is; they are not aware of it!

The capital is reminiscent to India itself. The inequalities of wealth are stark and Dhilli exemplifies this truth. Its colonial buildings bear testimony to the rapacious rise of a few men and the distant dream of the larger populace.

Few things I learnt about Dhilli during my short stay;

1. 1  Going in an auto is probably the second most riskiest thing doing than shark swimming.
2. The only noise you will hear in Delhi is that of hornes; shrieking for that iota of space and that laborious inch forward.
3. It might take an hour for a kilometer and that’s not an exaggeration.
4. When people talk about the red light; they mean the signals.
5. Temples and mosques are ubiquitous and pop up every meter like nobody’s business.
6. Inner Dhilli’s glory; Red Fort, India gate, parliament, Qutub Minar etc…
7. Outer Dhilli’s glory; sewage water, dust, papers, filth, more dust, people, vendors middle of the road, illegal parking, crazy bikers, people popping out of the buses, autos, kids on the road, more dust, more people.
8. People can’t walk on the pavements because it is filled with garbage and dust of course!
9. Dhilli’s autowallahs sure know their politics. I got lectured on the CM’s failures. I told the dude I am from Bangalore to which he replies, “Are you from foreign?”
10. Make sure you have the marble soda outside Qutub Minar. Keep an eye on the amount of sugar syrup he mixes as well ;-)
11. Auto meters function ONLY in Bangalore.
12. It is amazing to note how much security politicians get, to rob us!
13. Dhilli and dust were born together and when someone talks about Dhilli, the dust accompanies it.  Like a twin brother that refuses to be separated.
14. Shouldn’t the PM reside in the Rashtrapati Bhavan? Because he’s the one doing all the hard work.

Baby steps to Awesomeness

Man’s life is met with certain coincidences

When he is ambushed with these coincidences

Life gives you an opportunity to choose;

You can choose your destiny or succumb to the twists of fate.

Time and again we are gifted with these coincidences,

These clarion calls will be met with deaf ears.

For we are oblivious or indifferent in equal doses,

When we feel the awakening we are prodded by a deep slumber,

The renditions of the weak heart despite the strongest of minds,

Oh, and the reasons are plenty and amass for the weak hearted.

But men of the truest mettle will rise above the wayward

A steady and paced rise begging to see the man inside

When you break free from these weak chains of stupidity,

You are at the pinnacle, aspiring for loftier heights.

Ask not the wicked questions of how and when?

Seize the moment and critique your best,

Multiply the best, the same way 20 does to the 10

2010, the sole searching is over!