The Puppet-Master
The first thing that I remember was confessing my love to one of my friends after I met her after a few years. She and I used to study together in the same school and knew each other very well. She also liked me but yeah, didn't love me! She just smiled after she heard what I said and said that she, kind of, had that feeling that I might be in love with her.
Next thing I saw myself walking with her in the corridor of some place which was either a school or some other place. Surprisingly enough she was holding my hand while walking. She entered some place which was in fact a dressing room. I said that I'd wait outside, but after sometime I went inside and saw her a bit undressed from the top, standing in one of the sections. I felt like hugging her and kissing her. Her face showed strange anxiety and fear, which I couldn't help notice.
We were standing together in some well lighted, well furnished railway station, which more looked liked an airport than a typical Indian railway station. She spotted her mother, and we went to her. I greeted her mother, and tried to show extra respect by bending a little. Her mother had a baby, which was supposedly hers. Only baby's nose was showing, rest was covered. I requested if I could see his face to see if he looks more like her mother or her father. Aunty obliged, and when I saw his face, it looked like both of his parent's face, a perfect blend. We then realized that the train in which we were to go, was leaving the platform. We quickly bid goodbye to her mother and started running. I asked her to hold my hand, which she did and then we finally caught up with the last bogie. We didn't have any heavy luggage, just a backpack each. I got onto the stairs of the entrance of the bogie, then got inside, then helped her inside. I saw that it was a luggage compartment without any direct path to other bogies. The train also had stopped temporarily for a few seconds, and had then again started moving. I asked her to get down, got down myself, then went into the compartment before the last one. I got into the compartment, then helped her in. She realized something as she got into the compartment, and exclaimed, "I dropped my Encarta DVD while getting inside!" in a tone of agony more than sadness or pain. I pressed her hand which I was holding, to assure her that everything is going to be all right, that we are safe now, although I had never seen her as perturbed as this before. Something was going on that I was unaware of.
There also I found no path connecting to the other bogies, but we had to stay put as the train had gained good speed now. So we sat there. Surprisingly there were a few beds, with mattresses and bedsheets on them. I found that strange, and thought that some persons had laid them for themselves. But there was no crease or wrinkle on those bedsheets, as if were meant for some visitors. I wanted to stretch myself on one of those and sleep for a long time, but then I saw a pot belly, dirty shirt guy who was standing outside, on the extension part of that bogie, moving inside the bogie. I hadn't noticed him earlier, and was both surprised and disturbed at his presence. He was puffing his cigarette and looked at both of us for more than a few seconds, as if expecting us, and he walked back into the extension part of the bogie and started doing something, calling someone perhaps!
I signaled her to stay with me, sit beside me, but I guess she wanted some time with herself. There was no time for that, so I got up and sat beside her. I had a feeling that this was some plan, that we were being set-up. My fears couldn't be more true when I saw the pot bellied guy again, this time with few of his friends walking into the compartment and standing in front of us. What surprised was that the train hadn't stopped, that it was still moving, then how did these guys get onto this bogie?
"Ah I see, your friends are better dressed than you are!" I commented at pot bellied guy. I felt as if I knew those people, dressed in strange costume kind of dresses. They were four of them, and the pot bellied guy. The guy who looked like the leader spoke, "I had been looking for you for such a long time. Finally I have found you!" but he wasn't speaking to me, he was speaking to her! At this, she caught my arm and pulled me closer to herself.
I got scared and angry at the same time. I looked at her and realized that she knew him as if I could read her mind by looking at her face. Those expressions were so clear and distinct.
"And as for you, my friend, I know you too. We had met lately. You're a nice guy, I like you. You possess great powers, but alas you're unaware of them!" and then he laughed wickedly, "Now if only you would move aside and let the girl walk to me."
When I refused to let go and held her close to myself, wrapping my arms around her, he said, "then I am left with only one thing to ..." before he could finish his sentence, I suddenly realized that 'he had the power of optical illusion, which felt real as he attacked the person's mind. And that he'd be using some kind of flying snakes as an attack on me and that I can and should resist the snakes, and keep them at a distance and not allow them to hurt me, as one hit would also weaken my mind power.' I heard all that as if someone was whispering in my ears.
The scene around us changed. I saw huge flames, and lava, and flying snakes coming out of them. I heard the sinister laugh of him and others. I resisted the snakes and didn't allow them to come near me. It took some time, but after that I realized that I was walking without my luggage, on some railway platform which looked similar like the previous one. I felt that I was still holding her and that she was walking beside me. I met a few of my friends who had come to receive me at the station. They grinned at me and asked me that why was I keeping my left hand, half stretched out, in a weird shape while walking, as if holding some invisible person?
I looked at my left and realized that I'd lost her. "O damn!" and started running in the opposite direction. I covered a few blocks of the platform running when I saw someone carrying her and walking towards me. He was one of our good old friend from high school. But what was he doing here? I hadn't met him in years! And how did he find her in such a condition and how did I lose her? All these thoughts made me think, "How did I suddenly end up walking at this platform, i.e., at the right destination?" "Where were the snakes and those men?" and a few more perplexing questions!
"Hey man! Thanks! Thanks for saving her. Is she alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, unconscious though."
I saw her, and it looked like the flames of that illusion had affected her a lot. Her dress, her hair, her face bore the signs. I felt miserable that I couldn't even take good care of her.
"So, we haven't met in years, how have you been?!" he asked me, as we walked together, with me
carrying her this time. We went back to my friends, and I introduced him to my friends and vice-versa. I explained my friends everything that had happened. We all hurried to our college campus, which was the best thing to do at that time, as suggested by my friends because they were suspecting some curfew or fight to break out somewhere in the city.
By the time we reached the campus, it was late evening. She was still unconscious, which disturbed me a lot. One of my friends looked at me, realized what I was thinking, and said, "I know what you're thinking, but we can't take her to the hospital."
As we got down from the cab, we heard disturbing voices and movements from inside the campus building. We ducked behind a cover in front of our campus. "I never expected our college campus to be the epicenter for this fight." One of my friends said.
"Listen, you must help me. We must find a safe place for her to rest. Is the whole campus filled with these fights? There has to be some place inside, which would be safe!"
"Are you kidding me?" he said, "No place is secure right now."
We heard a sudden blast from inside the campus, with flames and smoke flying upwards.
"See! The place where we are right now is most secure place, got it?" he said in an attempt to close the discussion.
A few more blasts and we saw about 15-20 people running out of the building. These blasts woke her up. She was surprised to see where she was and also among the people she was. I decided to go inside and help them. "I have some special powers, that I have recently realized", I said, "and I am going to use that." Before they could stop me, I left.
I cautiously entered the building, by walking behind the wall of the campus, to avoid being spotted. As I reached inside, a group of people caught me, then somehow recognized me and said, "Abhishek, please help us!" It was more of a plea than an order. Those were my batch mates.
We all assembled in one of the classrooms and everyone was told that I was also there to join the battle. I was called, Beachhead, I wondered why! We were all GI Joe fans, but this fight looked more than real! As we moved out of the room to face the enemies, I saw many people lying on the floor, some of whom I could recognize. I felt miserable again. I fought with my mind-power, and converted some people from the mobster's gang into our team. I controlled and ordered them and prevented few others from attacking anyone. Everything was going fine, when suddenly I felt that she might be in danger. I immediately left the building, freezing minds of my players.
I saw my friends and her hiding behind the rock, at a distance when suddenly I saw those 4 people in costumes and the pot belly guy walking towards them from behind. I ran as fast as I could towards them, and shouted, "NNNNNNOOOOOO". They looked at me, and the optical illusion guy gave a sinister smile, and while other four handled my friends, he went towards her, and as he was about to hold her, something inside me shouted, all my rage came out as I stretched my right arm, palm facing towards him. He got a shock inside, then he attacked me with his illusion thing, but I had tasted it before, so I simply got rid of it in no time. I froze their minds.
I didn't meet them, but went back inside the campus, to finish what I had left. I activated my players, who were attacking their team, and surprising them. I was rather having fun now, but also felt tired and relieved after what I had done. She was safe now, I thought. Suddenly something caught my ear.
I heard my group leader say, "Zander, come on man! You're injured doesn't mean you can't fight. GI Joe's always fight!" and then I saw this "Zander" guy, sitting with his girlfriends, moaning. "Alright!" he said, and got up. I asked my group leader, "How can you name him 'Zander'! 'Zander is a cobra's name, not a GIJoe's name!"
I might have said this a bit louder, but surprisingly after I had completed my sentence, I felt silence all around. I turned around and saw that everyone was staring at me! I couldn't get much time to wonder as to what had happened, because everyone suddenly started shouting and laughing... someone played music in the background and everyone around me started dancing!
I was REALLY perplexed this time! Now what happened? I thought. I saw the people lying on the floor rising and dancing! It scared me for a fraction of a second. If that was not all, I saw her and my friends who were hiding outside, rush inside, smiling and laughing! She didn't have any burn marks and looked as beautiful as ever. But what was happening?!
"It was a game" someone shouted from the basement floor, "in case you're wondering what's happening! " and started dancing again!
"You were at home when we had planned all this." my group leader told me, "But I didn't know you were so good. You played the role of 'Puppet Master' beautifully! You were great!"
"You mean, the people I controlled, converted, attacked were acting? They weren't even looking at me when I was doing my stuff!"
"O come on! I agree you were great, but don't take it too seriously, it was a game."
"What about the people we met in the train?" I asked her. To this, the group leader showed that he was surprised, and I could see that without looking at him!
"What about them? I didn't have knowledge of everything! I just knew my role, that's it! And I am sure he must have planned all the weird things that happened with us during the journey, with optical illusion or other hi-fi gadgets he uses.", she said looking at the group leader. I had no idea how the two knew each other! She was not a student of my college.
"What? NOOO. Wasn't the game supposed to be just within the campus premises, as the last celebration during the holidays before the new semester started?! Hey you know what, relax guys, its celebration time! Weird things happen. They are just coincidences." he said cheerfully!
I looked at her and she looked at me. We knew those were not coincidences. I finally figured out what the illusion guy meant by, "we have met lately" and the reason only the nose of the baby was showing when we had gone to meet her mother. He became the baby as a disguise, so that he could keep track of us. He knew I might recognize him and the perfect blend of mother and father's looks was what took my attention and he saved his cover.
She didn't get burned or bruised, or unconscious. Those flames were meant to attack me only and I could prevent those flames from hurting someone else, which I now realize. I was fighting that guy's illusion, in the process of which, I teleported directly to my destination, the reason I am still unaware of. She was left alone in the bogie, since those bad guys couldn't attack her because I had defeated them and so they left her alone, and decided to take her when I was not around. She found herself alone in the bogie and got down at the right station, coincidentally meeting our good old friend. She made a plan to trouble me and make me feel guilty that I had left her. She didn't see me teleporting because she had closed her eyes when I was holding her close, and when I teleported, that feeling of me being around remained for sometime, then vanished.
Everything around me felt uncertain now. She was afraid, in fact and that she wasn't telling me the whole truth. My friends might have told her that all the things happening along was a game, which did give her some relief, but in reality also, she was expecting something of this sort to happen.
I loved her, but she didn't trust me enough.
My thoughts were interrupted by her voice. She had turned a little away, and said, "I'd better get going to my aunt's house. She would be waiting for me and getting worried." She smiled, but not as cheerfully as she usually does.
"I'll accompany you!" I said.
"No need. You celebrate along with your friends. I can go myself!" she said, then walked up to me, held my hand, pressed it a little and whispered, "thank you for everything." and finally she smiled with that shine and beauty. I was assured that she would be fine.
The guys who were after her had been suitably rewarded. From now on, they can't use their brains, they live like zombies. They'd stay and decay where they are lying right now. I am sure there are other guys looking for her, for some reason wanting something from her. And I'll be there to ensure that they don't succeed.
Then it struck me as obviously and as strangely as ever... "the Encarta DVD".
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
8th March Early Morning
The first thing I remember was that I was in a big room on a ship or in some hotel room and there was this pretty young lady with me. It had been a rainy day and black clouds covered the sky. We had met somewhere in the city and somehow got this liking for each other. I saw her standing on a bridge and me standing in front of her and we were talking and laughing...
Next thing I remember is that we were having sex... I could feel the warmth and the touch, the smell, it was gentle and smooth... I was totally into it... looks like I am telling myself subconsciously that I want something (even though I don't really think about it while I'm awake) and also I am training myself for the same subconsciously using the information gained from external world and the coded information in my genes... oh it's too complicated, let's stop at that!
I hardly ever get angry enough to shout, but something happened that changed it all. I received the news of death of one of my best friends of high school and I think it was Himanshu. I had not met him since last 4 years and it was a straight shock. So, that evening itself, when someone was
cracking a joke on me (like sometimes people do and I play along) while we were standing on a
training ground (beside the rope climbing area) which looked like a military exercise ground, but
this time something inside me, which seemed wanting to come out, came out and with rage I abused him and abused all the others. They were shocked and realized something was wrong. I hadn't noticed that earlier but that pretty young lady was also standing there. I said, "Time changes a person. I was deeply upset after receiving the news of my friend's death and I guess that came out as rage from within me and you all had to see it. I'm sorry." I rather felt light hearted and better and from then spoke such words occasionally whenever I felt like.
This time my house (group) was supposed to play host. We had to prepare the meal, decorate the place and invite other houses (groups). I had expected this as the last thing on the earth to happen to me but it happened and I was made the head of all this, especially the food preparation part! I, as always, ended up delaying the things and on the last day had a lot of things to be prepared! I was really freaked out and was also frustrating the others in my group. The long list of unfinished items that I looked at made me realize that nothing can be done now... it's over. Still I tried and divided the work and as I was about to leave for my long list of work, when I thought, why not call someone from the other group to help me, some friend of mine and guess what, I called Rahul. Of all the people I called Rahul! Anyways, he came, and a few of his other friends. I asked him to do something and though initially he was hesitant, he agreed. Interestingly enough I had written To Do things on some eatables (as a reward for those who finish that To Do thing) and he picked the corresponding one, while I was about to write it down on some paper. He said, "Thanks, I'll do it and then have this", grinned and left. I felt a bit apprehensive but also better after realizing that I'd reduced some work for myself.
As I was about to leave to do the work I'd assigned myself, someone called me.
It was that pretty young lady again and this time she was calling me "sir". Perhaps she must be my junior or maybe since I'm in charge, she was using that word! I followed her into an adjacent room and what I saw both embarrassed me and also made me respect her. She said, "Sir, I've prepared, or rather got these thing prepared as I saw them in your list of To Do things." She sounded hesitant as she might be thinking that she looked into the To Do list and it was wrong. Well of course it is wrong to look at other's things without permission but I guess it was the right thing to do. I mean I looked at the prepared dishes, and a few which she had served on a plate and it looked perfect. I felt like hugging her and saying "Thank You". I just said, "That's good." and before I was over with saying that, a few people got a few things by carrying them on their back. She directed them to keep it at some destined places. Those things were packed so I couldn't see what it was.
I then realized that she saw me with those guys and she also knew that they were from some other house (group). I felt guilty of not being able to do things after I was made in-charge of the whole event. I then saw that those packed in the room were meant for decoration. She was bending towards one of them to open it and then she turned and looked at me, and smiled. I felt she was smiling sarcastically and wanted to say, "I knew you wouldn't be able to do it and this time also I had to take care of everything."
Finally everyone came and we had a good time. I also eventually prepared a few dishes and did a bit of decoration work. The last thing I remember was talking to Asrar, Gaurav and others about the awards kind of things that India wins. Someone said, "India ko US mein koi award nahi milte hai but UK mein mil jaate hain har baar." Others agreed and I saw Asrar grinning broadly at that fact, but I couldn't understand what it was, even though I agreed fully to the fact.
Next thing I remember is that we were having sex... I could feel the warmth and the touch, the smell, it was gentle and smooth... I was totally into it... looks like I am telling myself subconsciously that I want something (even though I don't really think about it while I'm awake) and also I am training myself for the same subconsciously using the information gained from external world and the coded information in my genes... oh it's too complicated, let's stop at that!
I hardly ever get angry enough to shout, but something happened that changed it all. I received the news of death of one of my best friends of high school and I think it was Himanshu. I had not met him since last 4 years and it was a straight shock. So, that evening itself, when someone was
cracking a joke on me (like sometimes people do and I play along) while we were standing on a
training ground (beside the rope climbing area) which looked like a military exercise ground, but
this time something inside me, which seemed wanting to come out, came out and with rage I abused him and abused all the others. They were shocked and realized something was wrong. I hadn't noticed that earlier but that pretty young lady was also standing there. I said, "Time changes a person. I was deeply upset after receiving the news of my friend's death and I guess that came out as rage from within me and you all had to see it. I'm sorry." I rather felt light hearted and better and from then spoke such words occasionally whenever I felt like.
This time my house (group) was supposed to play host. We had to prepare the meal, decorate the place and invite other houses (groups). I had expected this as the last thing on the earth to happen to me but it happened and I was made the head of all this, especially the food preparation part! I, as always, ended up delaying the things and on the last day had a lot of things to be prepared! I was really freaked out and was also frustrating the others in my group. The long list of unfinished items that I looked at made me realize that nothing can be done now... it's over. Still I tried and divided the work and as I was about to leave for my long list of work, when I thought, why not call someone from the other group to help me, some friend of mine and guess what, I called Rahul. Of all the people I called Rahul! Anyways, he came, and a few of his other friends. I asked him to do something and though initially he was hesitant, he agreed. Interestingly enough I had written To Do things on some eatables (as a reward for those who finish that To Do thing) and he picked the corresponding one, while I was about to write it down on some paper. He said, "Thanks, I'll do it and then have this", grinned and left. I felt a bit apprehensive but also better after realizing that I'd reduced some work for myself.
As I was about to leave to do the work I'd assigned myself, someone called me.
It was that pretty young lady again and this time she was calling me "sir". Perhaps she must be my junior or maybe since I'm in charge, she was using that word! I followed her into an adjacent room and what I saw both embarrassed me and also made me respect her. She said, "Sir, I've prepared, or rather got these thing prepared as I saw them in your list of To Do things." She sounded hesitant as she might be thinking that she looked into the To Do list and it was wrong. Well of course it is wrong to look at other's things without permission but I guess it was the right thing to do. I mean I looked at the prepared dishes, and a few which she had served on a plate and it looked perfect. I felt like hugging her and saying "Thank You". I just said, "That's good." and before I was over with saying that, a few people got a few things by carrying them on their back. She directed them to keep it at some destined places. Those things were packed so I couldn't see what it was.
I then realized that she saw me with those guys and she also knew that they were from some other house (group). I felt guilty of not being able to do things after I was made in-charge of the whole event. I then saw that those packed in the room were meant for decoration. She was bending towards one of them to open it and then she turned and looked at me, and smiled. I felt she was smiling sarcastically and wanted to say, "I knew you wouldn't be able to do it and this time also I had to take care of everything."
Finally everyone came and we had a good time. I also eventually prepared a few dishes and did a bit of decoration work. The last thing I remember was talking to Asrar, Gaurav and others about the awards kind of things that India wins. Someone said, "India ko US mein koi award nahi milte hai but UK mein mil jaate hain har baar." Others agreed and I saw Asrar grinning broadly at that fact, but I couldn't understand what it was, even though I agreed fully to the fact.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
23rdFeb'08LateMorning
Examination
I saw myself with my parents and sister in a new city where we were tourists. We were roaming about, trying to kill time and at the same time, trying to reach the railway station lest we should not miss the train. We reached the station and I saw myself holding on to something with my arms and hanging in the air while my mother and sister were pulling my legs, one each, and I was shouting and asking them not to do so while they were laughing. I had a few bags hanging on my shoulders and it seemed that I was hanging there in air to get those baggages across to a large store room. I saw a coolie (porter) come to me, and I left one hand free, to give him the air-bag that was hanging on my shoulder. He took the bag, dumped it in the store room and took the other one from me which was hanging on my other shoulder. When I came back down, I asked my mother and sister not to pull my legs again when I'm hanging in the air !
My parents, sister and I caught a bus and we came to the place where I was supposed to give my exams. The place looked familiar. It looked quite like some part of NDA Khadakwasla, Pune or IMA Dehradun. Many of my batchmates were there and we were supposed to give two exams, C/C++ and Algorithms. I was highly unprepared for both, but was more afraid of Algorithms. My parents left me at the entrance, all three of them wished me luck and I walked inside, through the open gate into the campus. I saw the soft sun-rays of early evening fall on the campus. I walked through the long corridors until I reached a long hall. I walked inside, only to find my batchmates and a few other students who had come to give that exam. I knew that I had very little time and that after giving both the exams, I have to rush back to the railway station.Interestingly enough I had my laptop with me and the hall where I was sitting had Wifi facility. I thought I still had some time before my exam starts, so I opened my orkut account and was surprised to find a scrap from someone who'd hardly come online. She had replied to my scrap and for the first time, her scrap was three lines long. She had written something philosophical, but I was excited enough to have received a scrap from her after a very long time that I was pleased to read whatever she'd written. She had also kept a few pics of her on orkut which were very attractive and sexy. I had never seen her like that and I was totally taken aback by whatever I saw and was perturbed and a bit disturbed. My thoughts and mixture of extreme emotions suddenly vanished when I realized Rahul Jain walking towards me from behind. I quickly changed the tabs on firefox (but my fingers were still numb after whatever I'd seen) and asked him, "Hey what's up? Ready for the exam?" I asked him as I kept my laptop on a seat and got up.
Rahul was surprised at my statement and said, "I never saw you in the exam hall. Were you sitting in some other room?"
"What do you mean you never saw me? Did I miss my slot of exam?" I exclaimed as nervousness started making space for itself in my mind, displacing all the other emotions.
"I guess so. We are both dual-degree student and so we might have been given same slot. But you can still talk to our server admin, Mr. Ganesh. He is one of the persons in-charge for the exams conducted today and he's sitting right over there." He indicated where he was sitting by pointing at him.
"Yeah, right. Ok I'll go and ask him. And what time is Algorithm's exam."
"After one hour."
"How was C/C++ exam?"
"I'd rather advice you to go and talk to him and clarify things. You'd not want to miss your exam. You can give me this laptop for now. I'd also like to check my mails." He sat where I was sitting and took my laptop in his lap.
"Oh no... uhm... wait. Okay, I'll give it to you." I almost snatched my laptop from him and closed firefox. I gave it to him and went to talk to the server admin.
"Sir, I missed my exam. I was sleeping." I said and tried to pursuade him a lot. Finally he agreed and gave me the immediate time slot and asked me to join it. I took my documents, writing pad etc. and rushed to the exam room, and gave a glance towards Rahul and my laptop from the corner of my eye while leaving.
I saw myself sitting with my juniors and other strangers and giving exam. The exam was not a simple one. When I returned to the long hall after the exam (it was getting dark and the long hall looked quite different and beautifully illuminated with yellow light bulbs and candles etc.), I saw that the feast had started and that many people were enjoying themselves. I also felt like eating something but I had to meet Mr. Ganesh to get the slot for Algorithms exam. I met Vivek Prakash as I entered the long hall. He asked me how were my exams and I said that I still have to give Algorithms exam. He adviced me that I better do so at the earliest because all the slots would be over otherwise. I met Mr. Ganesh, quickly took the immediate available time slot and went for my exam.
I saw myself with my parents and sister in a new city where we were tourists. We were roaming about, trying to kill time and at the same time, trying to reach the railway station lest we should not miss the train. We reached the station and I saw myself holding on to something with my arms and hanging in the air while my mother and sister were pulling my legs, one each, and I was shouting and asking them not to do so while they were laughing. I had a few bags hanging on my shoulders and it seemed that I was hanging there in air to get those baggages across to a large store room. I saw a coolie (porter) come to me, and I left one hand free, to give him the air-bag that was hanging on my shoulder. He took the bag, dumped it in the store room and took the other one from me which was hanging on my other shoulder. When I came back down, I asked my mother and sister not to pull my legs again when I'm hanging in the air !
My parents, sister and I caught a bus and we came to the place where I was supposed to give my exams. The place looked familiar. It looked quite like some part of NDA Khadakwasla, Pune or IMA Dehradun. Many of my batchmates were there and we were supposed to give two exams, C/C++ and Algorithms. I was highly unprepared for both, but was more afraid of Algorithms. My parents left me at the entrance, all three of them wished me luck and I walked inside, through the open gate into the campus. I saw the soft sun-rays of early evening fall on the campus. I walked through the long corridors until I reached a long hall. I walked inside, only to find my batchmates and a few other students who had come to give that exam. I knew that I had very little time and that after giving both the exams, I have to rush back to the railway station.Interestingly enough I had my laptop with me and the hall where I was sitting had Wifi facility. I thought I still had some time before my exam starts, so I opened my orkut account and was surprised to find a scrap from someone who'd hardly come online. She had replied to my scrap and for the first time, her scrap was three lines long. She had written something philosophical, but I was excited enough to have received a scrap from her after a very long time that I was pleased to read whatever she'd written. She had also kept a few pics of her on orkut which were very attractive and sexy. I had never seen her like that and I was totally taken aback by whatever I saw and was perturbed and a bit disturbed. My thoughts and mixture of extreme emotions suddenly vanished when I realized Rahul Jain walking towards me from behind. I quickly changed the tabs on firefox (but my fingers were still numb after whatever I'd seen) and asked him, "Hey what's up? Ready for the exam?" I asked him as I kept my laptop on a seat and got up.
Rahul was surprised at my statement and said, "I never saw you in the exam hall. Were you sitting in some other room?"
"What do you mean you never saw me? Did I miss my slot of exam?" I exclaimed as nervousness started making space for itself in my mind, displacing all the other emotions.
"I guess so. We are both dual-degree student and so we might have been given same slot. But you can still talk to our server admin, Mr. Ganesh. He is one of the persons in-charge for the exams conducted today and he's sitting right over there." He indicated where he was sitting by pointing at him.
"Yeah, right. Ok I'll go and ask him. And what time is Algorithm's exam."
"After one hour."
"How was C/C++ exam?"
"I'd rather advice you to go and talk to him and clarify things. You'd not want to miss your exam. You can give me this laptop for now. I'd also like to check my mails." He sat where I was sitting and took my laptop in his lap.
"Oh no... uhm... wait. Okay, I'll give it to you." I almost snatched my laptop from him and closed firefox. I gave it to him and went to talk to the server admin.
"Sir, I missed my exam. I was sleeping." I said and tried to pursuade him a lot. Finally he agreed and gave me the immediate time slot and asked me to join it. I took my documents, writing pad etc. and rushed to the exam room, and gave a glance towards Rahul and my laptop from the corner of my eye while leaving.
I saw myself sitting with my juniors and other strangers and giving exam. The exam was not a simple one. When I returned to the long hall after the exam (it was getting dark and the long hall looked quite different and beautifully illuminated with yellow light bulbs and candles etc.), I saw that the feast had started and that many people were enjoying themselves. I also felt like eating something but I had to meet Mr. Ganesh to get the slot for Algorithms exam. I met Vivek Prakash as I entered the long hall. He asked me how were my exams and I said that I still have to give Algorithms exam. He adviced me that I better do so at the earliest because all the slots would be over otherwise. I met Mr. Ganesh, quickly took the immediate available time slot and went for my exam.
Friday, February 22, 2008
22nd Feb '08 Late Morning
I was sitting in my room, when I heard a knock followed by lots of footsteps. I was startled, and perturbed. I opened the door, only to find a person with a gas-mask pointing a maverick at me. He took a step back and said, "Start moving", pointing the gun in the intended direction.
I saw many of my friends, moving out in a queue, climbing down the stairs. I could not understand.
I was afraid now and my mind was filled with the incidents of last night, watching "Wedding Crashers", chatting in the corridor. The sun was just rising in the east and in the midst of the soft sun rays, I saw the cold, unfriendly masked men with snipers and mavericks.
Next thing I remember was that we all were divided in groups for doing a series of assignments. We all sat in some classroom, with benches, desks, a green-board, a cup-board. As I sat on my seat, and looked around, I found many of my batch-mates and college-mates but I also saw some unfamiliar faces. I saw a few of the same gun-men whom I had encountered in the morning. The assignment looked tough and I wished that I was in some other particular group because I was unfamiliar with my group-mates and they didn't show the willingness to work and finish the work. I was eager to be the person to finish his work so that he could be allowed to go home.
At night, we were directed towards a line of barracks having long rows of bunker beds, like a long dormitory. The atmosphere looked war-like and we lived as if living in concentration camps. The work done by us was all academic kind of stuff. We were given an assignment each morning and we had to submit it before sunset. The assignment had a few questions and each group was given an assignment sheet with questions printed on it. I felt that courses at IIIT were much better than these assignments.
Surprisingly, after a few weeks, our results were declared. That day also, gun-men were standing near the entrance of the classroom. I was nervous, like I am whenever results are declared. I knew these results didn't matter anymore to me, as I couldn't anticipate in what way getting good result would help me.
The scene changed and I found myself sitting at home, with my parents and sister. My mother was furious after I told her what happened to me and my friends. She wanted to take some action against this but my father and I tried to calm her down. My father was also upset. Actually the main reason for their being upset was that my right leg had a muscle pull while I was in that "concentration camp" and so I limped for rest of the time there. I suggested that my leg be shown to a doctor and proper medication be taken by me.
The last thing I saw was that I was sitting in Military Hospital and my father brings a walking stick for me and handed it to me with a grin while my mother and sister stood behind and smiled. I saw myself walking out of the hospital like the way Dr. House walks in the t.v. series House M.D., with the only difference that my damaged leg was different one from that of House.
I saw many of my friends, moving out in a queue, climbing down the stairs. I could not understand.
I was afraid now and my mind was filled with the incidents of last night, watching "Wedding Crashers", chatting in the corridor. The sun was just rising in the east and in the midst of the soft sun rays, I saw the cold, unfriendly masked men with snipers and mavericks.
Next thing I remember was that we all were divided in groups for doing a series of assignments. We all sat in some classroom, with benches, desks, a green-board, a cup-board. As I sat on my seat, and looked around, I found many of my batch-mates and college-mates but I also saw some unfamiliar faces. I saw a few of the same gun-men whom I had encountered in the morning. The assignment looked tough and I wished that I was in some other particular group because I was unfamiliar with my group-mates and they didn't show the willingness to work and finish the work. I was eager to be the person to finish his work so that he could be allowed to go home.
At night, we were directed towards a line of barracks having long rows of bunker beds, like a long dormitory. The atmosphere looked war-like and we lived as if living in concentration camps. The work done by us was all academic kind of stuff. We were given an assignment each morning and we had to submit it before sunset. The assignment had a few questions and each group was given an assignment sheet with questions printed on it. I felt that courses at IIIT were much better than these assignments.
Surprisingly, after a few weeks, our results were declared. That day also, gun-men were standing near the entrance of the classroom. I was nervous, like I am whenever results are declared. I knew these results didn't matter anymore to me, as I couldn't anticipate in what way getting good result would help me.
The scene changed and I found myself sitting at home, with my parents and sister. My mother was furious after I told her what happened to me and my friends. She wanted to take some action against this but my father and I tried to calm her down. My father was also upset. Actually the main reason for their being upset was that my right leg had a muscle pull while I was in that "concentration camp" and so I limped for rest of the time there. I suggested that my leg be shown to a doctor and proper medication be taken by me.
The last thing I saw was that I was sitting in Military Hospital and my father brings a walking stick for me and handed it to me with a grin while my mother and sister stood behind and smiled. I saw myself walking out of the hospital like the way Dr. House walks in the t.v. series House M.D., with the only difference that my damaged leg was different one from that of House.
Friday, February 1, 2008
2nd Feb 2008 Early Morning.
Haunted Tourism
I found myself standing in a corridor brightly lit by bulbs on the decorated walls and had a layer of carpet below my feet. I saw in front of me, small cabinets for dining, and saw a child eating his meal at a round table, laughing perhaps with others of his age whom I couldn't see. A few couples and a group of ladies passed by me as I stood at the corridor, looking at things around.
I heard my father calling me and I walked away in that direction. After dinner, my mother insisted that I wear a sweater/cardigan as it'd get colder late in the night. It was when I looked out of the window that I realized that we were in a ship.
I saw dark blue world outside, foggy weather, moonlight giving some visibility, and when I looked down at the sea, it looked calm with gentle waves. I saw a few tree stems in the middle of sea, a little distance away from the ship. It looked both spooky and adventurous and reminded me of Pirates of Carribean series.
Next day we reached the shore, but our destination was still a little distance away. We hired a gypsy car and were accompanied by a few foreigners (UK natives). That evening, after reaching our rest house, my parents fell asleep as they were very tired. My sister watched TV as I came out of the room to stroll outside for a while. While coming to that resthouse, in the way I'd seen a small lake. I walked till that lake. It was still foggy outside with the bluish greyish mix backdrop, giving it a perfect spooky look. I saw the lake in front of me, it's water still as ever, and enclosed on all sides by land with fog floating on it's water surface. I started walking along the lake, on the banks of lake. Something happened that was far more spooky and made me chill down my spine, much more than the whole winter season had done so far.
For the distance along the bank that I walked, water in that corresponding part of the lake started freezing and froze along as I walked. I felt like stopping but my feet continued to walk as my mind stopped working at that time, so I walked a little more and then a little. I had walked along half the distance of the bank at one side... and that much lake froze. Then I stopped and saw the rest of the lake freeze in front of me.
I felt colder inside and sneezed. Perhaps it was time I get indoors, so I jogged back, giving one last glance at the mysterious lake, which still looked frozen. When I reached the resthouse, I saw that we had some guests. They were foreigners (from UK) and were also tourists like us. I shook hands with them and introduced myself. I had to pronounce my name three times for them to be able to pronounce it correctly ! And their name I could never understand so I politely smiled. But one thing I've observed everytime I meet a foreigner who visits India is that, they like to know the names of other people and mix with them for better experience and guidance.
I told them (my parents, sister, and the foreigner family) what I had just experienced. The person in charge of the rest house said that it's a natural weather phenomenon and that local people here see the lake freeze in front of them many times, at a specific time, not a minute before or after that. But I couldn't agree because I felt something within me that was not just cold or chill due to weather or fear. I felt many people looking at me and one of them following me which perhaps made the lake froze, but of course I couldn't see anyone and the reason was not the fog.
The next day was brighter but still without sun. We had plans for sightseeing and the foreigner family (sorry don't remember their name) decided to join us. We hired a big boat, and stood between the indoor cabin and cabin of the person driving the big boat. We looked outside at the sea and sea waves and the land masses at a distance. I heard the foreigner lady start a conversation with the cleaner of the boat. I turned to look at them and heard her asking, "So have you lately witnessed freezing of lakes, as the weather is getting colder every next day."
The cleaner lady turned pale and continued to clean the floor. The foreigner lady threw a coin at her, but she continued to clean the floor. She threw another one. This time the cleaner looked up, then reached her hand at the coin to pick it up when the foreigner son, who was now standing beside his mother, displaced the coin a little away from the cleaner lady with some stick he had in his hand, perhaps a walking stick. The lady looked up again and continued cleaning the floor. When the foreigner lady threw the third coin at her, the cleaner lady looked up again and said something that would have scared the hell out of anyone !
But the foreigner lady, as cool and calm as ever, replied, "So you agree that the place is haunted."
Cleaner lady replied, "And the place you all are now going is far more haunting."
The foreigner son pushed all the coins towards her and we all looked at each other.
I found myself standing in a corridor brightly lit by bulbs on the decorated walls and had a layer of carpet below my feet. I saw in front of me, small cabinets for dining, and saw a child eating his meal at a round table, laughing perhaps with others of his age whom I couldn't see. A few couples and a group of ladies passed by me as I stood at the corridor, looking at things around.
I heard my father calling me and I walked away in that direction. After dinner, my mother insisted that I wear a sweater/cardigan as it'd get colder late in the night. It was when I looked out of the window that I realized that we were in a ship.
I saw dark blue world outside, foggy weather, moonlight giving some visibility, and when I looked down at the sea, it looked calm with gentle waves. I saw a few tree stems in the middle of sea, a little distance away from the ship. It looked both spooky and adventurous and reminded me of Pirates of Carribean series.
Next day we reached the shore, but our destination was still a little distance away. We hired a gypsy car and were accompanied by a few foreigners (UK natives). That evening, after reaching our rest house, my parents fell asleep as they were very tired. My sister watched TV as I came out of the room to stroll outside for a while. While coming to that resthouse, in the way I'd seen a small lake. I walked till that lake. It was still foggy outside with the bluish greyish mix backdrop, giving it a perfect spooky look. I saw the lake in front of me, it's water still as ever, and enclosed on all sides by land with fog floating on it's water surface. I started walking along the lake, on the banks of lake. Something happened that was far more spooky and made me chill down my spine, much more than the whole winter season had done so far.
For the distance along the bank that I walked, water in that corresponding part of the lake started freezing and froze along as I walked. I felt like stopping but my feet continued to walk as my mind stopped working at that time, so I walked a little more and then a little. I had walked along half the distance of the bank at one side... and that much lake froze. Then I stopped and saw the rest of the lake freeze in front of me.
I felt colder inside and sneezed. Perhaps it was time I get indoors, so I jogged back, giving one last glance at the mysterious lake, which still looked frozen. When I reached the resthouse, I saw that we had some guests. They were foreigners (from UK) and were also tourists like us. I shook hands with them and introduced myself. I had to pronounce my name three times for them to be able to pronounce it correctly ! And their name I could never understand so I politely smiled. But one thing I've observed everytime I meet a foreigner who visits India is that, they like to know the names of other people and mix with them for better experience and guidance.
I told them (my parents, sister, and the foreigner family) what I had just experienced. The person in charge of the rest house said that it's a natural weather phenomenon and that local people here see the lake freeze in front of them many times, at a specific time, not a minute before or after that. But I couldn't agree because I felt something within me that was not just cold or chill due to weather or fear. I felt many people looking at me and one of them following me which perhaps made the lake froze, but of course I couldn't see anyone and the reason was not the fog.
The next day was brighter but still without sun. We had plans for sightseeing and the foreigner family (sorry don't remember their name) decided to join us. We hired a big boat, and stood between the indoor cabin and cabin of the person driving the big boat. We looked outside at the sea and sea waves and the land masses at a distance. I heard the foreigner lady start a conversation with the cleaner of the boat. I turned to look at them and heard her asking, "So have you lately witnessed freezing of lakes, as the weather is getting colder every next day."
The cleaner lady turned pale and continued to clean the floor. The foreigner lady threw a coin at her, but she continued to clean the floor. She threw another one. This time the cleaner looked up, then reached her hand at the coin to pick it up when the foreigner son, who was now standing beside his mother, displaced the coin a little away from the cleaner lady with some stick he had in his hand, perhaps a walking stick. The lady looked up again and continued cleaning the floor. When the foreigner lady threw the third coin at her, the cleaner lady looked up again and said something that would have scared the hell out of anyone !
But the foreigner lady, as cool and calm as ever, replied, "So you agree that the place is haunted."
Cleaner lady replied, "And the place you all are now going is far more haunting."
The foreigner son pushed all the coins towards her and we all looked at each other.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
27th Jan '08 Early Morning
The first thing I remember is that I am sitting in some classroom and struggling to learn something. Bhanukiran walks upto me and says, "Dude, it's quite late, it's night time. And you're sitting in the dark staring at something I can't clearly make out what! Is something troubling you?
I stared at that thing again and then replied, "Nothing".
The truth was that I was nervous. And something was troubling me. I was in a situation that I wanted to do something but didn't have the courage to withstand the wrong consequences.
Our college was one of the colleges selected for some martial arts fighting competition and it was to be a 'team fight'. As far as I can recall six members were there. One of them was Gaurav, not sure if Atul was also a part of the team. We had a teacher who was an expert and we had evening sessions for a couple of months.
Evening sessions were cool. I learned some nice stunts/tactics about self defence but the idea of taking a punch or kick in the face is what was making me nervous. Luckily during evening sessions, nothing of that sort happened!
After the two months of training, we were trained in weapon fight. We started with a Bo. It reminded me of Donaltello of TMNT cartoon series. I eagerly learned each and every move with that Bo, but getting a stick in my face added to the list of my fears! :(
Our first match was against some local college which we won convincingly. We traveled in a bus to that college and returned late at night. The task was simple, make all the opponents fall on the ground. I tried to use the Bo as Master Splinter of TMNT and it worked in a few cases because the other team was also smart. I was the first one to fall to the ground from my team but I made 2 people fall before falling. I was happy and thrilled never the less because it was my first experience in a combat and my face was not hurt!
There was a machine which had crawled the whole web, indexed every information available on the web and had made a graph of the hyperlinked structure of web. Our college had built that machine and had given it to students to test run it and tell the bugs and limitations. Me and my team were the only ones left to test it.
The machine had a large bluish screen with a complex graph structure on it. The machine could sense if a person nearby is there to use that machine or to do something else. As we went close to it, a digitalized female voice started speaking and giving instructions. It was simple to use and felt like a person was standing on the other side of the machine and teaching us how to use it. My friends gave a lot of queries and were impressed by it's accuracy in fetching just the relevant documents. It seemed like high level of AI and sensors were used. I gave the name of my old friend as a query since I wanted to find out where she was or what she was doing and I had googled her earlier but it couldn't find any result.
I was again disappointed when this machine displayed at the screen that no result could be found and apologized (which was amusing because the female voice also announced it as "No results found, sorry")
Next week we had a match against a local college in Madras (now called Chennai). Looking at our good performance in the last match, our teacher decided to teach us the use of Katana Blades (or sword). He gave each one of us a sword and asked us to become comfortable with it. I felt it heavier than the Bo and also didn't have much degree of freedom in holding the sword. I lifted it and brought it closer to my face, it's pointed blade pointing to the roof of our practice room ( a wooden room with thatched roof). I looked at the shine of the blade and saw my face in it. My fears were confirmed now... I now feared a long scar on my delicate face! :(
As I got into the bus for leaving to Madras, all I knew was that I was nervous and also had to be very careful... I recalled the conversation I had with Bhanukiran last night and now all I wanted was my face to be safe.
I stared at that thing again and then replied, "Nothing".
The truth was that I was nervous. And something was troubling me. I was in a situation that I wanted to do something but didn't have the courage to withstand the wrong consequences.
Our college was one of the colleges selected for some martial arts fighting competition and it was to be a 'team fight'. As far as I can recall six members were there. One of them was Gaurav, not sure if Atul was also a part of the team. We had a teacher who was an expert and we had evening sessions for a couple of months.
Evening sessions were cool. I learned some nice stunts/tactics about self defence but the idea of taking a punch or kick in the face is what was making me nervous. Luckily during evening sessions, nothing of that sort happened!
After the two months of training, we were trained in weapon fight. We started with a Bo. It reminded me of Donaltello of TMNT cartoon series. I eagerly learned each and every move with that Bo, but getting a stick in my face added to the list of my fears! :(
Our first match was against some local college which we won convincingly. We traveled in a bus to that college and returned late at night. The task was simple, make all the opponents fall on the ground. I tried to use the Bo as Master Splinter of TMNT and it worked in a few cases because the other team was also smart. I was the first one to fall to the ground from my team but I made 2 people fall before falling. I was happy and thrilled never the less because it was my first experience in a combat and my face was not hurt!
There was a machine which had crawled the whole web, indexed every information available on the web and had made a graph of the hyperlinked structure of web. Our college had built that machine and had given it to students to test run it and tell the bugs and limitations. Me and my team were the only ones left to test it.
The machine had a large bluish screen with a complex graph structure on it. The machine could sense if a person nearby is there to use that machine or to do something else. As we went close to it, a digitalized female voice started speaking and giving instructions. It was simple to use and felt like a person was standing on the other side of the machine and teaching us how to use it. My friends gave a lot of queries and were impressed by it's accuracy in fetching just the relevant documents. It seemed like high level of AI and sensors were used. I gave the name of my old friend as a query since I wanted to find out where she was or what she was doing and I had googled her earlier but it couldn't find any result.
I was again disappointed when this machine displayed at the screen that no result could be found and apologized (which was amusing because the female voice also announced it as "No results found, sorry")
Next week we had a match against a local college in Madras (now called Chennai). Looking at our good performance in the last match, our teacher decided to teach us the use of Katana Blades (or sword). He gave each one of us a sword and asked us to become comfortable with it. I felt it heavier than the Bo and also didn't have much degree of freedom in holding the sword. I lifted it and brought it closer to my face, it's pointed blade pointing to the roof of our practice room ( a wooden room with thatched roof). I looked at the shine of the blade and saw my face in it. My fears were confirmed now... I now feared a long scar on my delicate face! :(
As I got into the bus for leaving to Madras, all I knew was that I was nervous and also had to be very careful... I recalled the conversation I had with Bhanukiran last night and now all I wanted was my face to be safe.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
14th Jan 2008, Early Morning.
I slept early yesterday, at 11 pm. Does this affect the kind of dreams I get? I guess not!
The first thing I remember is that I and my girlfriend are alone in my house (I don't have a girlfriend, though!) and we are together in the attic. The attic has wooden floor and is quite spacious and also big enough for a person to walk erect. I saw all this from a third person view. Even though I couldn't see either of the person's face clearly, I know the guy was me. There was only a bulb throwing yellow light to light the attic and it was hanging in the center of the roof of the attic.
We did some things (I don't remember much. We ate fruits and other things, we read something... can't recall what we did.) and frequently kissed each other then I saw us naked and having sex and then suddenly I saw us dressed again and with her lying on me and smiling at me while we looked into each other's eyes. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. As a third person view from the attic I saw my parents enter the house and I and my girlfriend greeted them.
My father told me that there's going to be a festival in some place in India (I guess it was Kerala, because what I saw later, most of it looked like the temples and palaces of Kerala since I have lately visited Kerala). This festival is quite famous and also has an event of boxing in it. I thought in my mind, "so what?" but then my father interrupted my future thoughts by telling me that I was good at boxing and so I should participate in it. Now that is news, I thought, but never mind, I'll see a few games then try to do what other participants would be doing. Then I imagined myself standing fully dressed for boxing, with gloves on my hands and wearing a red hood on my head and looking at an ongoing match, trying to learn their moves.
I saw myself in Kerala (my imagination tells me that it was Kerala and this time, I have first person view.) with my parents. We went to a temple to seek blessings for me, I really needed blessings! When inside the temple, I looked around. It was dawn and sun was yet to show it's presence and come up in sky, and people were out of their homes and visiting temples and doing other activities. It surprised me but I was impressed. Hardly a few people, and I think they were the ones responsible for maintaining and looking after this temple, were inside the temple. When I saw the idols of the deities right in front of me, I didn't remove my shoes (I was well aware of the fact that I should be removing my shoes, but didn't worry much about it) and just went in. I didn't go too close to the idols (they were small idols, 5-6 of them and were kept on the two adjacent walls) and joined hands from a distance and prayed to them. As I walked back towards the exit of the temple, I felt that wearing shoes and praying wasn't the right thing to do. So I again went back, this time after removing my shoes and again prayed to them, this time went a little closer, and asked for forgiveness.
My parents and I then went to some place, where a lot of people had gathered, either it was a palace or a place of similar historic importance. I was impressed by the architecture and the design of the place. Suddenly I saw a snake outside, at the entrance of that place. It was big, orange in color and it was FLOATING IN THE AIR. It saw me and I shrieked. Everyone turned and stared at me. They turned and saw in the direction I was looking at and started laughing. They said these snakes often come to this place during this festival season. Snakes are sacred animals to people of that place. In a few minutes, I saw a few more outside the place but none were as big as the first snake (the orange one) I saw. One of them suddenly flew past us, at amazingly high speed and I again shrieked. Everyone laughed again, including my parents.
My parents asked me not to worry. The snakes are good. You are a good boy, you do nothing wrong so you have nothing to fear. In fact, we should join hands and greet them and pray to them. They started to leave and I thought that they might be right. So, I turned to the other side and saw that orange snake suddenly moving inside the palace and came quite close to me by slowly floating in air. It's vision was completely fixed at me, and it moved it's forked tongue inside and outside. I never saw a snake so close before in my life ! The orange snake then slowly went back to the entrance.
I was not convinced. They looked ferocious and scared the hell out of me. "you do nothing wrong so you have nothing to fear", this statement of my father popped into my mind and I remembered wearing shoes inside the temple. I did something wrong and so these snakes were here to punish me. They are sacred snakes and it's confirmed. Now I had a reason to fear. I asked my parents that we should quickly leave this place and go somewhere else but didn't tell them why.
I wanted to go back to the rest house but my father had other plans. He wanted us to see yet another place (a museum or a palace I can't recall) and so we went there. I saw the same kind of architecture there and instead of feeling happy and impressed, I started feeling scared again. There were a few people there. I looked at the entrance and yet again saw the same orange snake. My fears were confirmed that I had made God angry and he has sent these serpents to punish me. These serpents are looking for a moment when I'd be alone and then they would punish me. I decide to stay with other people.
We reached the common room in that palace, which was the place where women prepared food, spices, butter etc. It was like a big courtyard. It had roof but sun rays were also allowed in. I saw a streak of sun rays coming into the courtyard. I looked at the time, 10 o'clock. I looked below at the floor and saw the sun rays striking the stone floor and illuminating it. Suddenly I saw a couple of snakes moving across my feet. I wanted to jump and run from there, but out of extreme fear and also fear of hurting those 'sacred' snakes, I didn't move, but I was shaking within, while standing there. I wouldn't have shouted, but for a snake who came and sat on my neck. It was heavy...
I felt numb and I stopped shaking so that the snake on my neck is not troubled. I didn't want to make any mistake now, after what I'd done in that temple. I wanted to oblige these snakes so that my punishment be lessened. Something happened to me and I tried to rub the snake off my neck and back. The snake was heavy and also stuck to me as if it was a lizard. I had never touched a snake and when I tried to gently rub it off me, I touched it. It had both sticky and slimy kind of skin, and moist as well. The snake slowly moved a little and towards my face, and I could feel it's movement on me. I could see it's forked tongue moving out and vibrating, its' eyes waiting to look at my face and ... I lifted the snake off my back and left it in the air. The snake, not expecting that I'd do so, fell on the ground, rather than floating, as I expected it to do.
The snake immediately rose into the air, in fury and I realized that I was a dead man. I started begging for mercy and said, "please, please forgive me. Please don't punish me. I won't wear shoes into any temple again. It was a mistake, please!"
I felt that the snake was rather amused at what I said. He asked me to look into his face and into his eyes. HE WAS TALKING TO ME, IN HINDI. I could have collapsed but my fear prevented me to do so. I closed my eyes and again started begging for mercy and started chanting prayers and hymns randomly and quickly. He said, "be quiet and look into my eyes and into my face, we are here for something important. The idea of sacred snakes is a myth. If you don't want to be a tagged person, look at me and into my eyes. I'd free you if that is what you want."
I opened my eyes, saw that green snake floating in front of me and a little further away, I saw the same orange snake I'd seen earlier, the same morning. He left me what no other option. I looked at him, and into his eyes. This time, he didn't move his tongue, so that I could concentrate better. He floated in air, his body moving but his head fixed, and we stared at each other for a few seconds. He moved a little back (all this time it was floating in the air and floated a little back) and said, "Sorry sir, I didn't know it was you." and suddenly I saw what he was thinking. I saw a man wearing horn-rimmed glasses and working in his laboratory which was floating in outer space.
The first thing I remember is that I and my girlfriend are alone in my house (I don't have a girlfriend, though!) and we are together in the attic. The attic has wooden floor and is quite spacious and also big enough for a person to walk erect. I saw all this from a third person view. Even though I couldn't see either of the person's face clearly, I know the guy was me. There was only a bulb throwing yellow light to light the attic and it was hanging in the center of the roof of the attic.
We did some things (I don't remember much. We ate fruits and other things, we read something... can't recall what we did.) and frequently kissed each other then I saw us naked and having sex and then suddenly I saw us dressed again and with her lying on me and smiling at me while we looked into each other's eyes. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. As a third person view from the attic I saw my parents enter the house and I and my girlfriend greeted them.
My father told me that there's going to be a festival in some place in India (I guess it was Kerala, because what I saw later, most of it looked like the temples and palaces of Kerala since I have lately visited Kerala). This festival is quite famous and also has an event of boxing in it. I thought in my mind, "so what?" but then my father interrupted my future thoughts by telling me that I was good at boxing and so I should participate in it. Now that is news, I thought, but never mind, I'll see a few games then try to do what other participants would be doing. Then I imagined myself standing fully dressed for boxing, with gloves on my hands and wearing a red hood on my head and looking at an ongoing match, trying to learn their moves.
I saw myself in Kerala (my imagination tells me that it was Kerala and this time, I have first person view.) with my parents. We went to a temple to seek blessings for me, I really needed blessings! When inside the temple, I looked around. It was dawn and sun was yet to show it's presence and come up in sky, and people were out of their homes and visiting temples and doing other activities. It surprised me but I was impressed. Hardly a few people, and I think they were the ones responsible for maintaining and looking after this temple, were inside the temple. When I saw the idols of the deities right in front of me, I didn't remove my shoes (I was well aware of the fact that I should be removing my shoes, but didn't worry much about it) and just went in. I didn't go too close to the idols (they were small idols, 5-6 of them and were kept on the two adjacent walls) and joined hands from a distance and prayed to them. As I walked back towards the exit of the temple, I felt that wearing shoes and praying wasn't the right thing to do. So I again went back, this time after removing my shoes and again prayed to them, this time went a little closer, and asked for forgiveness.
My parents and I then went to some place, where a lot of people had gathered, either it was a palace or a place of similar historic importance. I was impressed by the architecture and the design of the place. Suddenly I saw a snake outside, at the entrance of that place. It was big, orange in color and it was FLOATING IN THE AIR. It saw me and I shrieked. Everyone turned and stared at me. They turned and saw in the direction I was looking at and started laughing. They said these snakes often come to this place during this festival season. Snakes are sacred animals to people of that place. In a few minutes, I saw a few more outside the place but none were as big as the first snake (the orange one) I saw. One of them suddenly flew past us, at amazingly high speed and I again shrieked. Everyone laughed again, including my parents.
My parents asked me not to worry. The snakes are good. You are a good boy, you do nothing wrong so you have nothing to fear. In fact, we should join hands and greet them and pray to them. They started to leave and I thought that they might be right. So, I turned to the other side and saw that orange snake suddenly moving inside the palace and came quite close to me by slowly floating in air. It's vision was completely fixed at me, and it moved it's forked tongue inside and outside. I never saw a snake so close before in my life ! The orange snake then slowly went back to the entrance.
I was not convinced. They looked ferocious and scared the hell out of me. "you do nothing wrong so you have nothing to fear", this statement of my father popped into my mind and I remembered wearing shoes inside the temple. I did something wrong and so these snakes were here to punish me. They are sacred snakes and it's confirmed. Now I had a reason to fear. I asked my parents that we should quickly leave this place and go somewhere else but didn't tell them why.
I wanted to go back to the rest house but my father had other plans. He wanted us to see yet another place (a museum or a palace I can't recall) and so we went there. I saw the same kind of architecture there and instead of feeling happy and impressed, I started feeling scared again. There were a few people there. I looked at the entrance and yet again saw the same orange snake. My fears were confirmed that I had made God angry and he has sent these serpents to punish me. These serpents are looking for a moment when I'd be alone and then they would punish me. I decide to stay with other people.
We reached the common room in that palace, which was the place where women prepared food, spices, butter etc. It was like a big courtyard. It had roof but sun rays were also allowed in. I saw a streak of sun rays coming into the courtyard. I looked at the time, 10 o'clock. I looked below at the floor and saw the sun rays striking the stone floor and illuminating it. Suddenly I saw a couple of snakes moving across my feet. I wanted to jump and run from there, but out of extreme fear and also fear of hurting those 'sacred' snakes, I didn't move, but I was shaking within, while standing there. I wouldn't have shouted, but for a snake who came and sat on my neck. It was heavy...
I felt numb and I stopped shaking so that the snake on my neck is not troubled. I didn't want to make any mistake now, after what I'd done in that temple. I wanted to oblige these snakes so that my punishment be lessened. Something happened to me and I tried to rub the snake off my neck and back. The snake was heavy and also stuck to me as if it was a lizard. I had never touched a snake and when I tried to gently rub it off me, I touched it. It had both sticky and slimy kind of skin, and moist as well. The snake slowly moved a little and towards my face, and I could feel it's movement on me. I could see it's forked tongue moving out and vibrating, its' eyes waiting to look at my face and ... I lifted the snake off my back and left it in the air. The snake, not expecting that I'd do so, fell on the ground, rather than floating, as I expected it to do.
The snake immediately rose into the air, in fury and I realized that I was a dead man. I started begging for mercy and said, "please, please forgive me. Please don't punish me. I won't wear shoes into any temple again. It was a mistake, please!"
I felt that the snake was rather amused at what I said. He asked me to look into his face and into his eyes. HE WAS TALKING TO ME, IN HINDI. I could have collapsed but my fear prevented me to do so. I closed my eyes and again started begging for mercy and started chanting prayers and hymns randomly and quickly. He said, "be quiet and look into my eyes and into my face, we are here for something important. The idea of sacred snakes is a myth. If you don't want to be a tagged person, look at me and into my eyes. I'd free you if that is what you want."
I opened my eyes, saw that green snake floating in front of me and a little further away, I saw the same orange snake I'd seen earlier, the same morning. He left me what no other option. I looked at him, and into his eyes. This time, he didn't move his tongue, so that I could concentrate better. He floated in air, his body moving but his head fixed, and we stared at each other for a few seconds. He moved a little back (all this time it was floating in the air and floated a little back) and said, "Sorry sir, I didn't know it was you." and suddenly I saw what he was thinking. I saw a man wearing horn-rimmed glasses and working in his laboratory which was floating in outer space.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)