Friday, March 23, 2012

WHAT WE ARE


ZEPHYR” is a name that needs no introduction and “CYBERNAG” is a blog that would fascinate and stimulate you beyond description. She is a brilliant writer who blogs on a variety of pressing yet common place issues that anyone can identify with. And she paints such a vivid picture that everything comes alive in front of your eyes. You will get to live and feel the issue and her thoughts breathe fresh air into our minds. I have not seen anyone write about social issues so comprehensively and insight-fully with a unique and strong perspective. On other occasions, she transcends down the memory lane rekindling nostalgic memories in a way we all relate to and feel related to as they are so relevant in every household. And all along the journey she makes you laugh, cry, smile, reminisce and celebrate along with her.

So I was really thrilled at the opportunity to write a blog post for her. It was indeed a privilege and honor. Thank you very much Zephyr. And what I chose to write about is the simple but magical reason of our existence: two souls who had no idea what they were getting into!

“Life is something that fascinates us in every dimension: physical, spiritual, philosophical and biological. Life may have been created by God or Science and evolved by chance or by design. But our life and the world as we know, is designed by two individuals who meet by chance. They introduce us to the world and they are our world until we develop wings and set out to shape our destinies. We do not see them become the man and woman they are, firsthand, but somewhere between our ears, heart and brain, we know it all. There is an invisible life thread inside us that is interwoven with their fabric that helps us document their lives into us and establishes a psychedelic connect beyond cognition. Their lives are biographies that portray how our lives would have been in a different era. We come to know us as them!”

Read the entire article at: http://cybernag.in/2012/03/what-we-are/


Sunday, March 11, 2012

WAVES OF PERIL


It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was rolling in the bed vetoing a 1 hour long debate about getting up or not. Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I ignored it to be a dream as no one ever knocks my door but the knocking was persistent. I sauntered towards the door and opened it with my eyes and brain refusing to embrace the sad truth that I had actually woken up. And then I saw a man who looked faintly familiar but scary enough to give me the impression that he just walked out of a grave. His hair was long and shabby, his beard must at least be 6 months old and his fashion quotient would evoke the envy of a beggar. Lo behold! It was Professor Eisenkleiftovich. I jumped in joy as I was seeing him after I don’t know how long: eternity probably.

Me: What on earth happened to you Professor? You look terrible. Where were you all this while?
Prof: I was in Taiji and I nearly got myself killed.
Me: Taiji. That’s in Japan right. What were you doing there?
Prof: Yes. I was watching dolphins there.
Me: Why would anyone kill you for watching dolphins?
Prof: I was watching them die.

A shock wave went through me as I floundered for words. His eyes were unperturbed.

Prof: Tell me this. When you sit in that Sea World gallery and see a dolphin splitting the waters and soaring into the sky as it throws in a couple of somersaults on its way back, what do you feel? What goes through your mind when it comes near you and looks in your eye, beams at you and rubs its nose against yours?

Me: I feel elated and out of the world. I can see its happiness and love for us and the deep connect it shares with humans. Most of all, I am awed by its intelligence.
 
Prof: Well, I would certainly agree to your last statement. But you know what; a dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception.

Me: Why do you say that? What is the problem with its smile?

Prof: That’s my point. When a dolphin is jumping and smiling, it is hard to see the problem. Dolphins are acoustic creatures and sound is their primary sense. The most advanced sonar ever build by humans is no match to the dolphin. It can scan and tell if one is pregnant in a minute. Such is its sensitivity to sound. Now you capture it and thrust it into a concrete tank and then you add a gallery full of screaming people to the agony. That dolphin that swims to you with a sweet smile and jumps to your whim and fancy is enduring extreme levels of stress at that very moment and eventually the stress kills it.

Me: I never knew that there is so much desperation behind that innocent smile. I hate you Professor. I will never be able to go to Sea World again. But you didn’t tell why you went to Taiji?

Prof: Taiji is a small town with a big secret. It is the largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks across the world. And do you know how they catch them?

Me: I guess I don’t want to know. But you will tell me anyways, right. So go ahead.

Prof: The fishermen wait in their boats along the migratory routes of dolphins, immerse long poles with a flange on the bottom and bang on the poles with hammers essentially creating a wall of sound to terrify the dolphins. They swim for their lives to the shores of Taiji and they reach the lagoons, shocked, stressed and freaked out, where they are sealed off into captivity. The next day dolphin trainers from around the world line up to select their Bottlenose Bobs. Each dolphin sells up to $150,000. Now that’s a lot of money!

Me: That is so atrocious. No wonder it is a multi billion dollar industry now. How heartless have we become?


Prof: Wait a minute. You haven’t even heard what happens to the dolphins that are not selected by the trainers?

I was almost about to shut my ears off as I could sense what was coming.

Prof: They are slaughtered; not killed; slaughtered and sold for their meat. They are taken around to a remote glistening cove where no one has access to and the fishermen kill them with their spears mercilessly. Well, you may ask me, what’s the big deal? We kill all sorts of animals for food. So why this hoopla about the dolphin? I am not saying man should not be carnivorous. Many animals are, and it is their choice. But show me people in this world who want to eat dolphin meat, can you?

Me: They don’t? Then why this heinous killing? I don’t understand.

Prof: Well, there are very few people in the world who eat dolphin meat by choice. The fishermen though, label it is as expensive whale meat or in some other form of disguise. If they label it as dolphin meat, they won’t find any takers. And the reason for that is dolphin meat is heavily laced with mercury which is highly toxic and lethal to our health.

Me: So just for a few extra bucks, these fishermen are not just killing the poor animal but also endangering a human’s life. Why can’t they just leave them alone!

Prof: You see man is the weirdest paradox that has ever walked the earth. We all have this desire to watch them, swim with them, hug them, kiss them, hold them and love them to death. And this endless desire is the ticket to their death and misery. Some people love and kill them while others love to kill them. You told me that you are awed by its intelligence. But don’t we always associate intelligence with humans and some aliens living in some far off wonderland we will never get to. Now, when you understand this non human intelligence of the dolphins, you will realize that they don’t really belong in captivity.

God had created a perfect universe: until he made man. And from that day on, God has never looked into the mirror.


P.S: About 23,000 dolphins are being killed in Japan every year. To learn more visit http://www.takepart.com/cove. And to witness the poor plight of the dolphins and the nefarious crime that goes on unnoticed, watch this documentary: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/


Monday, March 5, 2012

TRANSCENDING LOVE


Bob first saw Nicole in Gold Coast, Queensland. She was there shooting for the new Foster’s beer commercial. It was her first time in Australia and she was lost in its vastness and splendor. Sea World is a fun place to be even if you are working. Big Bob was quite famous at the waterfront there and he earned his living by entertaining passers-by with his antics, fun tricks and occasionally his songs. Songs were not really his forte and neither he nor his fans understood what he sang but they loved him nevertheless.

But for the first time, his song not only made no sense, it was out of rhythm too. It was because his heart was beating in frantic resonance at every glimpse of Nicole who just wasn’t taking her eyes off of the evening sun that seemed to be busy in a round table conference at horizon with the sky and the ocean. Bob sulked at the sudden appearance of an adversary and ended his performance abruptly much to the chagrin of his devout audience. Some understanding folks wished him luck while others cracked a silly joke at this odd love story that was unfolding.

She was a star who would soon be seen on television all over the world. He was just an amateur artist who probably wouldn’t even make it to the local newspaper. But all that didn’t matter one little bit. To Bob, it was love at first sight. For the next 10 days, he watched her with pining eyes and with every passing day fell more and more in love with her. His performances grew more erratic and less frequent. Even his most ardent visitors were getting frustrated and he would appease them once in a while with an inspired but rapid fire  performance. He then went back to watching her.

She noticed him too. She watched him charm his audience. She watched him watch her. Somewhere in between, even though just for a split second, their eyes did meet. But then day 11 came and it was time for Nicole to leave! Her cruise was ready but she wasn’t. Bob had grown so used to her eyes that he decided that he would follow her to any corner of the world, not to win her heart, not to propose his love for her, not to live happily ever after with her, but to just keep looking at those mesmerizing eyes forever. And God granted his wish: literally!

Life provides many excruciating moments but there cannot be a moment more death-like than to helplessly watch your love die in front of your eyes.  Nicole’s agony was more painful than Bob’s death. That was the moment when their eyes met again! But this time forever! It was the memory Bob died with and Nicole had to live for!

On one mid-summer morning, Tursiops Truncatus also known as Bottlenose dolphin and fondly known as Bottlenose Bob fell in love with Pygoscelis Adeliae also known as brush-tailed penguin and never after known as Nicole, in a glistening water front in Australia in the presence of the sun, sea and sky. And 24 days later and 4357 miles away, in a deserted coast of Antarctica, Bob’s love for Nicole was immortalized as Bob transcended into a new world. Bob swam ferociously all the way to Antarctica following the expedition cruise that took Nicole back home. The journey didn’t kill him but the cold did! And death fulfilled his last wish. He died looking into those mesmerizing eyes of Nicole!  


                                                                                                                     - A SHORT STORY BY RAJ



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