Cast Away....

Cast Away.... The starting is pretty abrupt,for that matter the whole write up is going to be that, please do put up with it. Guess I just cant stop speaking things out or be very unscrupulous even for the sake of a public blog. But I sure will try my best to be as subtle as possible. For those of you who thought this might be along the lines of escaping from a ship or being stranded in an island, I am sorry but this is going to be a disappointment. I wanted the title to be "outcast" but then it was... it was not as subtle you see :) So it became this ethereal cast away. Now you must get some kind of idea of what this is going to be and for many of you who don't believe in the same things as I do, the demeanor might as well seem outrageous.So, I would suggest you rather stop here than continue and get to unsolicited opinions.

Thinking of the good old days, when i was in school, there was always this distinction between people. Distinction based on their distinction. Anyone who could muster up a 95+ in exam was very good. Anyone who tops the class is the best. He is the guy who is most sought after by everyone, be it the teachers or seniors or his fellow classmates. He would have this elite gang of friends. No one in the gang would score anything less than a 90. And, if by any chance they do, they are looked down upon and loose the status to be a part of the coterie. These guys would be the best in so many other things too be it books or sports or dramatics or oratory. Every other guy would be trying to get into that better part of the class. Of course, who did not want their names uttered by teachers every third minute of class or pampered by seniors or be the one looked up to by the peers. Many of us would have noticed that these guys would never want to be associated with this supposedly lower strata of the class. They don't have to even care to be nice to others, anyway people are all over them. You see, they are the cherished people.

You grow up, come out of school, get into some reputed college or start to work and go on. Actually, you grow up, become more matured, get to see a lot of life, gain worldly knowledge, get seasoned and then you realize.. realize all that you had been led to believe when you were a kid was actually kiddish if not beguile. Yes, it is exactly the antithetical that happens. You are so used to being the Prince, for you always deserved to be that. You want to continue with it and you just sweat and slog your guts out to be it. But the response that you receive, would be nothing near appreciation or support, and so many times not even acknowledgment. Yes, you got it right. It would be pretty sass. That would be the same from so many people, be it your peer or higher. You get treated the very way you just don't deserve to be.Hardly does anyone recognize the magnanimity of what you did. You wont be able to find a rhyme or reason to why. You struggle again but it just does not work out. Then, after lot a dejection you come to terms with reality. You realize.... You are an outcast.

So, why does it happen? Why should it be the exact opposite of how it happened to you when you were a kid? Not because thats not what is expected of you any longer, nor because you went wrong, not because you did not toil enough, not because you did not get it right, not because you were bad to people. You did it right. You have been good to everyone. You got an outcome better than expected. Conquered something that has been a chimera to everyone.You have proved your might. You were wonderful, scintillating and much more. You got what you deserved when you were a kid because people around you were pure(come on.. notice the subtlety). Now.. the hostility is not because you were wrong, people are surly not because you missed something genial out on your way to success, people are inimical not because you made a mistake. All of it is because..
You just made them realize....What they can not be.......

Birbal to the rescue

Akbar was one of the greatest Mughal emperors who ruled over India in the 16th century. In his court were the most intelligent council of nine members, amongst whom was Birbal. Though all these men were learned Birbal is the most famous of them. Stories of Akbar and Birbal are extremely popular in India. There are several instances when Birbal uses his wit and intelligence to calm the ire of Emperor Akbar and amuse him at the same time. I grew up reading these stories. Guess most of us would have.

This evening i was reading a book when i came across this word granary with some explanation. It brought back a lot of memories. Me and my brother started talking about it. This must have happened something like 7 or 8 years ago when my brother was hardly 4 years old. He had this habit of listening to stories before going to sleep. Most children of that age do. But my brother never gets enough of it. The duty of telling him some story and getting him to sleep was on me as i read too many stories. So, everyday i had come up with something new to amuse him. There were times when i run out of stories to tell him and start giving him all my History and Geography lessons, which sounded like stories anyway. It was at this time that i came across this Birbal story and after that.. I had nothing to worry about. Every second day i tell him this till he got bored of listening to stories and got out of the habit. The story goes something like this...

Akbar was one of the greatest Mughal Emperors India had. People were very happy in his reign. But he had this one bad habit. He would not sleep without listening to a story. It was very soon that the Queens ran out of stories to tell him and so it was decided that the ministers would take turns and tell him stories till he sleeps. If anyone fails to please Akbar he faces severe punishments. It was not very long before the ministers too faced dearth of stories to tell Akbar. So, Birbal had to come up with some idea which would save the ministers and also change Akbar without getting himself into trouble. And, yes.. Birbal does come up with the solution. He waits for his turn and goes to Akbar, makes him promise he would listen to the complete story before he sleeps. Akbar readily agrees. Birbal starts the story.

" It was one of the wealthy villages in the kingdom which flourishes in agriculture. The people of the village had the custom of saving up the excess from harvest in a large granary for future use. As the village became more prosperous the grains started accumulating. One day there was storm and rains in the village that leads to a hole on one of the walls of the granary. A bird notices it and goes inside. It is so excited to see so much grains and plans to carry it back to its abode. But it realizes it can carry only two grains in its beak at any time. Yet, it is determined and starts the process. It goes inside the granary through the hole, takes two grains in its beak, comes out and carries it to its home. After depositing it safely the bird comes back, goes inside the granary through the hole, takes two grains in its beak, comes out and carries it to its home. Again returns, goes inside the granary through the hole, takes two grains in its beak, comes out and carries it to its home. The bird returns, goes inside the granary through the hole, takes two grains in its beak, comes out and carries it to its home.And then again..................... " The story goes on like this. You see.. its a huge granary and the bird is carrying just two grains at a time!!!!

So, now you know how Akbar got out of his habit of listening to stories before going to sleep. And, of course my brother too. :)