55 word story

"An arrow hit him on the back. He spun around. She smiled. He smiled. They approached closer; he felt warmth seeping into his body from where the arrow entered. As they kissed, he saw an arrow sticking out of her back. All eyes turned towards them. Nobody noticed a nude child scurrying down the stairs."

"She was slightly tired, but looked happy. He kept looking at his watch. “Unusual date. Well-dressed, well-mannered, smiles a lot though. A bit too eager, perhaps” she smiled. “And guys really don’t know to make coffee, yuck."

The time for the ritual was drawing closer. He wondered how long more before the poison takes effect."

I seem to be getting good at this. :D

Six Word Stories

Guy: Vidi, Vici, Veni
Girl: Asshole!

Accident! Signpost: The road less travelled

Two Thoughts on Music

Was feeling particularly vella yesterday, and when we (me and another colleague) met a colleague on her way to Barista we decided to accompany her even though we had been there just a minute back. The conversation somehow veered to music (from my singing, I think :D) and two interesting thoughts came up:

1. Intangibility: Music is still a wonder to so many of us and liked so much because in this world where more and more things become analytically divisible and logically represented, we are still not able to figure out analytically why we like some sounds and not others. This sheer intangibility of music makes it so beautiful. With music, you can get away from the world and enjoy it, and have no logical reason for it.

2. Transcedental: Some tunes, snatches of music stay with you for a long time, and have the power of bringing back some scenes and memories of the first time you'd heard this music and then your soul fills with the same feeling as you were back then. For example: the song "Bhumro Bhumro" from Mission Kashmir reminds me of my home during the early winters, cool evenings, onset of diwali, the first feel of a sweater on your body, and sometimes makes me move to tears. I had heard this song for the first time in the last Diwali I had spent at home in six years until this year. It also reminds me of a simpler time, the age of innocence, because from that point on (and that period was the onset of those changes), my character has undergone a lot of changes and though the man writing this is a more competent and successful individual, I liked being that boy. Sorry, for straying from the point :).

Well, as they say, "Music is the opium of the masses", with due respect to Karl Marx. For all the weirdity and sadness in this world, music is one of last few bastions of pure joy left.

Arghhh!!

Perhaps an individual is best characterized by what irritates him the most. All of us would want everybody else to be perfect but since we are not (and as a corollary), nobody else is too, we frequently get irritated by what we deem as foibles in other people. Coming to the point, a good way of characterizing people could be what qualities they deem most reprehensible in others; which make someone's blood boil which in others wouldn't merit other than a raised eyebrow.

There are two things that irritate me the most:

1. When people/newspapers talk of statistics and anecdotal evidence to draw out trends: This post is in a lot of ways inspired by this week's issue of Business World (a magazine which I otherwise read/respect), which talks of the Indian youth. Now, they talk about the entire Indian youth with their sample population restricted to the mega-urban youth only, those which can talk about cellphones, gadgets, the likes, a section which is not more than 1/8th of the total "Indian youth". However, it is not only Business World I find guilty in such cases, almost all newspapers, carry opinions/surveys/statistics based on an elite section of the society but tout it as the voice of the nation. I can go on and on, and some day I will, but will restrict myself to this much today.

2. When people are tardy and remain nonchalant: All my life, my goal has been to meet targets and timelines. I realise people have different competency levels and can't meet targets sometimes but I can't forgive two things:
a. When people realise that a particular deadline is unviable and stuff IS gonna get delayed, why do they accept such deadline. Most probably, if the person in front of you is sane enough, he'll realise the same and address it.
b. When stuff is in the process of getting delayed, why can't the knowledge be flagged early enough. It affects other arrangements of the person and an early warning can go a long way in keeping the situation from getting out of hand.

Was just in the mood to crib a bit :). It's a beautiful morning.