A Bummer Story

I met a bum. I didn't exactly meet him ofcourse. The bummer was bumming around when he bumped against me. Right, so he asked me for alms. I showed him pity eyes and gave him a rs 10/- for a change, assuming that it would make me feel good. What happened next? The bum went to a tea shop, had a bun and a cup of lemon tea. Yeah, that's right. I couldn't resist helping myself to a conversation.

Me- 'Hello'
Bummer - (nods his head in appreciation) ji, shukriya.
Me- 'Is there any chance you speak in English?'
Bummer- Yes, thank you (winking at me).
(this bummer is quite a character, i thought)
Me- How are you?
Bummer- I am good. Thanks for that rs 10/-, it's not often we hit a jackpot.
Me- It's just rs 10/-. I would have smoked up a cigarette if i hadn't given it to you.
Bummer - (leaning against a spit stained wall) you wanna try something?
Me- (why would i ever try something from you) yeah, what is it?
Bummer - I got this from the valleys of kashmir.
(he digged deep into his pocket, and up with a stack of beedis)
Me- What is so special about them? Will you let me smoke one?

(We each light one, and smoke up)
Bummer- So what is keeping you here? Go on, enjoy the beedi and get along with all the other babus.
Me- I am waiting for a friend (lying, because i was there, just to talk to him, and prophesising how and what life meant).
Bummer- 'What do you see?'
Me-'Where? what exactly?'
Bummer- These people. Flashy suits, leather shoes, everything.
Me-'They had their chance, they made the most of it. You missed yours i suppose'
Bummer- (laughing loud) Yeah right.

Me-'Are you laughing at your miseries?'
Bummer-'Miseries? I can guarantee you that i had more vacations than you have ever worked.'
Me-'If you call not working a vacation, then good luck. Atleast we are doing something, contributing. I am amused, you are berating us like that.
Bummer- Okay, how much does this bun cost?
Me- rs 5/-, why?
Bummer- My body is so adapted to walk 10 kms with having just a bun in an entire day. I travel without ticket next to the toilet in trains. I sleep on the streets next to dogs. Is this why you think we are no good?

Me- A frank bum. Yep may be.
Bummer- what if i tell you that i have a degree in advanced cryogeny? And that i have traveled across Europe and Asia giving lectures on how particles close to absolute Zero.
Me- What?(bursting into laughter and astonished)
Bummer- I gave up everything. It was peaceful this way rather than trying to change the world.
Me- Wait, who taught you the word Cryogeny? Or can you even define Cryogeny?
Bummer- Yes, the phenomena that occur in atoms at around zero Kelvin.
Me- Whatever, come to the point!
(i was getting annoyed, annoyed because i couldn't accept it)

Bummer- Your cellphone, let me hold it and you will cringe thinking i might spoil it. Your cords, crisp and cosy, which you try to save from the faintest of stains. Your account, must be in 6-7 digits, which you worry about saving taxes, worry about investment; cars, beautiful and sleek, but you pay emis, and rents. A slave of money, to make your ends meet and then die.
Me- That doesn't mean anything, i was just being sympathetic towards a bum like you.

Bum- Come down, here, sit next to me, look at the people and the madness. Notice their frowns and fake laughs. Look at those numb expressionless faces. At my level, down here, you notice how people are ricocheting off each other, just the way it is, at zero kelvin. I love science, and i live science. The more energy we have the more we spend to jump to higher levels, only to escape as fragments of nothing. But down here, at zero, you understand annihilation, creation and collision. That is why i chose to become a bum.

(I got up, walked away, perplexed, as immersed and consumed)
10 years later ...
Me: Please spare some alms in the name of God.

Wandered-Lost-Crazy

A Fancy Anecdote : From Indian epics to the science of Teleportation

India is a beautiful country. It has been a beautiful country. It has a civilisation that has outlasted many others. It has the two greatest epics ever written. The beauty of these epics? Apart from being the source of unforgettable and unmatched stories, the stories are very different from regular religious texts. The stories of Mahabharata and Ramayan show a subtle human nature ranging from the annexation of power to the renunciation of it after achieving enlightenment.

Why is India a unique country?
Not the Europe doesn't have fabled histories. Not that Chinese and Middle East have any less inspiring stories. But where other cultures have showed annexations and propagation of culture, Indians have helped themselves to conserving their culture, by looking inwards. The culture of India is so unique and so broad that it gives enough space for anyone, from any religion, culture to pursue his life in peace.

How is it different?
The differences lies in the roots of our culture. We have been told of stories of great sacrifices, stories of renunciation of kinship, family legacies, kingdom and all material pleasures. Such stories go a long way in forming the character of an average Indian and thereby explains why India has never taken the role of an aggressor as a country. Yes, Unification of regions has been attempted, but of parts which are a part of the same culture but different fragments, viz. the Mauryas. We have always practised such stringent activities like charity, self penance, that search of glory doesn't always form a part of culture. But glory through virtuous actions have.

Why can Mahabharat and Ramayana be actually true?
The stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana are filled with magic, superhumans, and devils alike. While an arrow shot through the sky replicating into thousands, is believed to be physically impossible. So has been apparition or teleportation. But i would like to state an important point here. The stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata, have shown people with amazing capacities, where they have used their spiritual and mental strength capacities, to bend matters. But as the time progressed the knowledge of how to use higher dimensions might have been lost and histories, became legends and legends turned into myths. A simple analogy to explain this.


Considere an ancient world. The boundaries of a caln are very much the physical boundaries. The society is united because of interdependence, a farmer, a hunter, a hermit and a healing-wizard, all focused on their powers,  honing their skills. There were no clans to fight, hence no army was ever needed to guard their natural boundaries. When there is no one to fight, no distant future to worry (insurance, tax, savings), basic necessities of food, clothing and housing available for nothing, a human mind has a lot of space to expand its boundaries, indulging in the forms that are paranormal.

Now the culture prospered, and the need for resources, and just endeavours, made the clan aware of the clan that were outside the natural boundaries. Interests clashed, giving rise to need of protection, fortification and thus armies. Now, various sections of society had to provide a son to help protect them. Raids, Seige etc followed, and the glories of the present were more appreciated and the past slowly considered less important. The humans were more organised and sure of their existence than the previous generations, hence the need arose to secure their future as life expectancy was increasing. The present became more important, more armies, more fortification, more battle glories, and thus furthering the deterioration of the pool of knowledge, and the boundaries of unusual mental capacity kept on shrinking. With these, we just remembered the facts and forgot the procedures. Hence, now we know that 'Naarad-muni' used to teleport, but not how. While scientifically saying, finding higher dimensions will only make it look like a cake walk.

But 10000 years on, and we have made our history based on physical sensations of touch, vision, noise that anything beyond these mere experiences seems outrageous. As 'Morpheus' said, what we see, hear, touch and smell, are nothing but synaptic electrical signals interpreted by our brain. Hence a right signal, right amplitude, frequency and modulation can be artificially used to mimic and fool our brain in distinguishing reality from wilderness.

The taste of chilly is taken differently by different individuals. There is no way you can feel how a chilly tastes to your best friend, but we all agree on a common concensus that a chilly is hot, with everyone having their perception of what hot might be like. There is actually no reference to anything ( except numbers, hence, Mathematics is called the exact science). I hope you get my point.

There are unexplained mysteries of science and science as it is isn't fully developed. The ability of the brain, the explanation of the paranormal, intuition, deja vu, memories of past life, sixth sense, dreams and nightmares, phobia, instincts, the subconscious and the unconscious etc., are not known, but doesn't mean they can't be known. Humans being in 3-Dimensional world can't imagine what higher dimensional forms can be, just like a dog who has never seen colour can ever imagine a rainbow. In the dog world, there is nothing called a rainbow, but it will be ridiculous if you tell a human that there is nothing called humans. Being in a 3-D world, is being in a boat. Your movement is restricted until you know how to swim. Deluded as this article may seem, think of opening up to unnatural abilities of our brain. Imagine.

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'Munireddy Gardens'

A pizza is on its way. A session is just halfway. A lazy sunday afternoon. Brushed. Bathed. And serene. I just remembered, Hotel California. I put on my earphones. Browsed through the playlists, and with a careful tap I played. So bad with names, there began a solo, a solo that just touches everyone, and just for a moment time pauses, and you get flashbacks of all the good times you had, with 'Hotel California' being the background score. I wanted to put down my top 5 Hotel california moments.

But then, I was compromising my present, unknowingly. Why not make this my top Hotel California moment!

First, it was the setup to enjoy the song. But with newspapers and bags around, a laptop beaming at me, I knew this wasn't my setup to enjoy the song. Shut down, lit up, and I heard a grumbling cloud calling me outside. I didn't have to turn much to catch moments of life breathing around. A squirrel squirreled across the ground onto the next tree. A kite flying low, on the lookout for those very squirrels. A second grumbling from clouds far above, trying to catch my attention. And the sun fighting it out to peek. Finally, I saw leaves swaying to its tune. It was my Hotel California moment at Muni Reddy.

Sorry for killing such an aesthetic image with a name like Muni Reddy. This wasn't the Muni Reddy Layout, or the Munni Reddy Apartments, but the Muni Reddy Gardens. A cosy hotel, with service exquisite and rare. Inside, you see two ogre bean bags, waiting to catch you affectionately when your feet gave away and you surrendered to gravity. And you drop, soft and lazy and blissful. Outside, you see big banana leaves swinging with the breeze in the balcony. You lean against the barricade carefully, adjusting your posture to get the best view. Mine was overlooking the coconut grove and a tiny little forest in the background. A lovely breeze, and you let go. Such a lovely place. Any time of the year, you can find it here.

Plenty of room at Hotel Muni Reddy, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Wandered-Lost-Crazy
@Munikireddy