Counting my blessings!

It is a working Sunday for my team. Some of us are in the office and working in absolute quiet. I step out for lunch. As I leave the ‘air-conditioned’ confines of my office, bright, thick sunshine greets me.

Winter in Mumbai is mostly uneventful. Till a couple of years back, it was non-existent except in early mornings. However, since last year, there is a wonderful chill in the air and the average Mumbaikar who knew only two seasons so far, finally gets to experience a ‘trailer’ of winter, if not the full-length movie!

I come out of office and walk straight into this brew of thick sunshine and mild wintery air. As I walk towards the lunch-house, the sunshine warms my body. From the scorching Sun that I have known, this is a pleasant change. I can feel the pointed rays but they just about press my skin, they don’t pierce. I feel warmth flowing through me. It is as if my skin has become a long artery and is carrying the sunrays across my body. I begin to like the sun and the small walk towards the lunch-house becomes a pleasure. I feel warm, bright, fresh, vibrant and young! Is it that the Sun shines more brilliantly on Sundays, I ask myself!

Too bad, for all the warmth it transpires, I can’t even look at the Sun in the eyes and say ‘Thank You’!

Thoda sa Roomani ho jaayein!

Today is the last working day of this calendar year, at least officially. Everyone at the office is in the mood to party. There is a party going on in the premises. It is little after 8 PM on 29th evening and the party that started at 4 PM is still going on. For most young people, party means loud, fast music and something to eat. This party is no exception….

Even though it is getting late, there is a sizable amount of people on the dance floor. People from different departments, people from different grades, people I know, People I
don’t know, people I like, People I don’t, all grooving in the manner they think is cool.

The manner in which they think is cool.....strange, why people get so aggressive while dancing to a fast song. Another strange thing, the people I like look better while dancing, despite the aggression and People I don’t like look worse because of the aggression.

Nonetheless, I feel good just watching the crowd gyrate in a certain rhythm. If you can imagine watching a mammoth sea wave captured in a bottle, you would understand what I mean!

I like the energy. I like the fact that they are being themselves, that they are doing what they enjoy without caring how they look. I would have joined them but I have to get back to my desk and work and I just don’t want be tired. [Ok, Dancing doesn’t come naturally to me!!]

And then it strikes me that it is not only about dancing. It is about listening to chartbusters with people you like, it is about following the same rhythm as your friends, it is about matching energy levels with your pals, it is about experimenting new(and mostly weird!) movements with someone as crazy as you! It is about being together!

Suddenly, while looking at them, I so much wish to be a part of them. Suddenly, I miss my wife…badly!

Murdered each day!

What is more ironic?

That a young woman is killed for no reason?

OR

That a family has to fight a long battle to bring about what should be a natural consequence to a murder?

Paradise regained!

For a long time, I left the office at 6 PM. Now, for some time, I won’t.
For a long time, working on Saturdays was more rare than the Indian cricket team lasting full 50 overs while batting in South Africa. Now, it won’t be so.
For a long time, filling the hours at office was a task. Now, clearing my To-Do list is.
For a long time, I re-read emails at office to kill time. Now, I always have a few unread ones.
For a long time, I had to read novels while returning home from office to keep company.
Now, my mind is in the office till I reach home!
For a long time, I hardly worked. Now, I am working hard!

For a long time, I wondered if I still had the fire in me. Now, I don’t.
For a long time, I was getting rusted. Now,thankfully, is the time to get a little worn out!

What a book!

What differentiates a great book from a good one? I think it’s the degree to which the reader is engaged. While a good book is read, a great one is experienced.

Just finished reading ‘The Day Trader’ by Stephen Frey. My first of him and loved it immensely! It is a fictional account of an individual who takes to day trading on the stock market after his wife is murdered.

I am not the kind of reader who reads every word of what’s written [That privilege is reserved only for boss’ and wife’s emails!] so it is very difficult to keep a reader like me engaged. That’s why I am surprised a book could engage me so deeply. May be because it’s written simply, may be because it is written in first person, may be because some of the concepts of stock-market trading are explained lucidly, may be because I found the main protagonist thinking exactly the same as I would have at certain places –whatever the reason, this book seized me like anything! I could feel,see,think the book!

Of course, it has its flaws. Biggest being that some of the incidents are far-fetched and don’t seem realistic. But then, I would choose to overlook them! Also, the book isn’t a page-turner. Sometimes, it was disturbing to the point of being repulsive, but it made me think and I realized that this also can be one of the ways of engaging a reader. A book can linger onto the reader’s mind without being a page-turner!

Of course, one book is no way to judge an author but if his other books are equally good, this fellow will easily become my favourite author! A certain Mr Archer has tough competition!