Pants down, please!

Ref: www.worldofstock.com

I was expectantly elated when Miss Mona Lisa ordered me to drop my pants, and immediately did the needful. Within a short span of less than three seconds my excessively lustful and pervert mind imagined a set of potentially wonderful possibilities. However, what happened was far from wonderful and I was subjected to the keen eyes of a worried nurse, while my requests for the far more interesting activities consistently fell on deaf ears!

Now, of late the requests to drop my pants (often shorts) has gone up at an alarming rate. Often these people are complete strangers, though not necessarily always. In fact my friends and office colleagues insisted that I do it for them as well and in the office itself, with much cunning persuasion I convinced them that doing at home would be a better idea, and somehow managed to save the modesty of our shared sacred works space.

However, in most cases I am not so lucky and as and when I am ordered to shed my pants, I oblige. Even as I escaped Ahmedabad last week and landed in Chennai, the strange request from strangers did not cease. They still smiled at me and politely request me to drop it all for them. And to top it all, told me the exact time after three days when I should come and drop my pants again for them. As always, grudgingly I smiled and agreed. Such is life!

The White Paper

It's a crowded airport, with only limited space for seating and even little open space. Chennai is warm but the airport is sufficiently cold, I have a coat on the chair next to mine, certainly not something I would need again in this trip.

So here it is – my promised post on ‘The White Paper’. It’s a blank paper, with nothing on it. And it’s white, like snow, something, that when held in hands can just melt away. On the face of it, it’s absurd to make any meaning out of a white paper, but look deeply and an array of meanings and possibilities open up. It could be a message, the meaning of which is known only to the one who receives it. As I write this, the Kingfisher is announcing the departure of it flight to Port Blair. I wonder if I could just forget Kolkata and leave for Port Blair, it’s certainly a tempting thought.

Back to the white paper, it’s something which can be both mundane and surprisingly seductive, with many promises that are left open to the imagination of the receiver. But there could also be a white paper for oneself, something that you would like to fill up on your own and only for yourself. Like life - sadly that is rarely so white, blank and pure. The paper of life is generally scribbled with excessive notes and thoughts at almost all points of time, and we still try and add more and more layers of words, one over the other, over and over again. Some are lost, and some live, but all are there.

Ma called up to say that Delhi is extremely foggy, they are still out and on their way to Gurgaon to Guddu’s place. I had another meeting planned for today morning, but its postponed for later. Fog is also white. But it can be easily blown away and disappear, like snow which is also temporary.

p.s. this was written months ago, on a cold winter morning while my flight to Kolkata was diverted through Chennai, instead of Delhi, where I ended up missing an important rendezvous.

naam, name...

Odissa is now Odisha and Oriya is Odia (cabinet approved, pending Parliament approval).

Last 10 years have been eventful with politicians insisting that its important to go back to the roots and change names to original ones. Maybe this all was spurred by Bombay being renamed to Mumbai, followed to Madras (to Chennai) and Calcutta (to Kolkota). Bangalore also joined these big cities and rechristened itself Bengaluru.

One of the cities which can soon join the above could be Ahmedabad. It could very well be called Karnavati in future.

Renaming doesn't just end at cities, but extends to crosses, roads, buildings. Hence VT (Victoria Terminus) becomes CST (Chhtrapati Shivaji Terminus), Connaught Place turns to Rajiv Chowk and so on. The fact there was no Railways when Shivaji ruled and no Rajiv when Lutyens designed the Connaught Place is, of course, immaterial.

I do give the impression that I am against renaming these relics of the past. But that's not the concern, the concern is who decides whats right in these cases. Somehow I feel, despite the fact that politicians are elected democratically, they are not exactly the best people to decide on name changes. And what if some people want the name to be changed, while some are against it. The obvious answer would be to let the elected representatives decide...