ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Have you heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.?? If not, google it. More importantly google about ALS and the charity. And also it is very much fun.

Now, it's a very good thing. But what's more fascinating is the proportions it has reached. I mean, 20yrs ago who would've thought that billionaires, executives of MNCs, sport stars, politicians, movie stars, talk show hosts and other social media celebrities would dump a bucket of ice cold water on their head and tag other famous people to do the same, even if it was for a good cause. The speed at which this has reached everyone, simply amazing. And all of this happened through social media.

Humans are social beings and we love to communicate, unless you are a sociopath. But the speeds at which this information revolution is happening is staggering. Compare the way we communicated and exchanged information 10 or 15yrs ago and now(20yrs in the first world countries :P). Love it or hate it the social media has penetrated into people's lives more than we've imagined and also wished for. As much as this is exhilarating, it is also terrifying.

PS: With all that said, I still wonder if the US President Barack Obama would do it. And if at all he does it, I wish he tags our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That would be real fun. :D

Bloody Dogs

Nithya was trying hard to fall asleep, but her insomnia and the incessant barking of the street dogs didn't help her. Her apartment was closer to the road and her bedroom window faced the road directly. She kept rolling on her bed as the barking kept getting louder and louder.

"Bloody dogs", she said as she got out of her bed. She went to the kitchen, filled the jug with water, went to the balcony and threw the water on the dogs. The dogs whined and ran away. "Run you monsters and let me sleep in peace", she said and went back to her bed.

Finally Nithya started to drift slowly into her sleep when she suddenly heard the barking again. Only this time, it was fiercer and louder.

"I swear I'm going to kill these dogs", she muttered under her breath as she got out of her bed and walked towards the bedroom door. And when she opened the door she just stood there, shell-shocked, looking at the snarling dogs with their bloody mouths and canines out.

Love gifts.

"I have a surprise for you today" read the text from Vidya.

Anand texted back, "What surprise?"

"You will find out when you reach home today", she replied back.

When Anand reached his apartment in the evening the watchman called him. "You have got a courier, sir", he said. Anand signed the registry and received the package. It read "From, Vidya" on it.

"So this is the surprise", Anand thought.

He went to his flat and opened the package with excitement. There was a white shirt in it. Anand looked at it, puzzled. "Just a plain white shirt? This is her surprise for me?" Anand wondered.

He took out the shirt and opened it. A white cover fell from inside the shirt. He picked it up.

"Just for your eyes. ;-)", read on the cover.

He opened the cover. It had a picture inside it. A picture of Vidya wearing nothing but the plain white shirt. Her curvy figure quiet visible through the translucent cloth. She looked sensuous. She looked ravishing. It was a sight for Anand's sore eyes.

A week later...

The door bell rang. Vidya opened the door.

"Madam, courier." said the courier guy.

Vidya signed the acknowledgement form and received the package.

"From, Anand", it read on the package. Vidya's face lit up. She crashed into the bean bag and started tearing the cloth lined cover from one end. It had a neatly gift wrapped box inside it. She unwrapped it with glee. She opened the box. It had a beautiful black 2 piece laced lingerie. Her cheeks now turned a little pink. She was blushing. She stood up and decided to try them on. She took them out of the box. And below them she found a white cover.

"Just for your eyes. ;-)", it read on the cover.

She opened it slowly, praying that it not be what she thinks it to be. And then she slumped into the bean bag, looking at the picture of a hairy Anand wearing nothing but the black 2 piece laced lingerie.

Music for life.

Vishal saw Kiran at a distance. Kiran was Vishal's colleague. They both lived in the same locality, so Vishal thought they could go together in the bus and catch up about their work and stuff.

Vishal called out Kiran's name. But Kiran didn't turn back. He called him again couple of times. Everyone else except Kiran turned back to see who was hawking Kiran.

"Is he deaf?" Vishal thought, exasperated.

He quickly ran towards him as shouting his name didn't help.

As Kiran was to step down from the sidewalk onto the road, Vishal caught up to him and put his hand on Kiran's shoulder. Kiran turned around to see Vishal catching his breath and Vishal understood why Kiran couldn't hear him. Kiran took off his earphones.

"What happened?", Kiran asked.

"I have been calling out your name and everyone was looking at me like I was a crazy person. That's what happened", Vishal said.

"Oh, I was listening to music. That is why I couldn't hear you", said Kiran.

"Well, should you be listening to music even while walking and crossing roads?", Vishal asked.

"Sorry man, I can't live without my music", Kiran said, put on his earphones back and stepped onto the road without heeding to the horn of the oncoming minibus.

True to his words, Kiran didn't live without his music.

PS: Writing is such a great thing. You know, sometimes you're irritated by some people and then you want to punch them in the face or kick them in the ass or strangle them with your bare hands or do all of the above. But you can't. Not because you don't want to hurt them but because if you do so you will be put in jail. And that kinda sucks. So what you can do is, you write a story, you make them a part of the story as a really annoying, irritating character whom people will hate. And then you kill that character in the end. Sadistic pleasure. *Evil grin* :-]

Strangers

Naresh was returning home from office. It was late.

"There won't be much traffic. If I hit the gas a little hard on that long stretch of road, I can reach home in 30", he thought.

As soon as he entered that long stretch he hit the pedal hard. The car was going at around 120. The road was almost deserted. It was easier to maintain the speed for him. 5 minutes into that long stretch he saw a person standing on the side of the road at a distance. As he got closer he noticed that it was a woman. He let the gas off a little. The car slowed down to 80.

"A woman stranded on this road at this time of the night? Should I ask her if she needs a drop? What if I scare her away or she raises an alarm?", Naresh's mind kept popping these questions as he drove past her.

"What the hell..", he thought and hit the brakes. The car came to a screeching halt. He reversed the car towards her and lowered the windows.

"Need some help? A drop may be?", he asked her.

She looked hesitatingly at him and her watch and then said, "If it isn't any trouble for you."

"Don't worry about that. C'mon, hop in", Naresh said.

She got into the car and Naresh started driving.

She looked gorgeous. Naresh felt lucky.

"So where should I drop you?", Naresh asked and gave her a gentle smile.

"Just a little further on this road. I will let you know when we reach there", she said.

"Okay", Naresh replied.

They both sat silently. Naresh kept looking at her now and then. She looked nervous. And once when Naresh was looking at her she turned towards him. Their eyes met. They exchanged an awkward smile. And Naresh continued driving.

"Hold on", she said.

Naresh slowed down and brought the car to a halt on the side of the road.

"Is this where you need to get off?", Naresh asked, looking rather disappointed.

"Yes. Thank you very much", she said and turned towards the door.

Naresh was searching for words in his head and then said, "Oh yes! I'm Naresh by the way", and extended his hand.

"Nisha", she said and shook his hand.

"You know Nisha, you shouldn't trust people you just met so easily. Didn't your parents warn you about getting into car with strangers?", he said, smiled slyly and locked the door.

"Well, didn't your parents warn you about picking up strangers from the road?", she said and pulled a pistol out of her clutch and put a bullet through his head.

Batman Vs Superman: Who's your Hero?

The title was one of the topics of discussion on our office forum. I wrote an answer there, but the character limit got exceeded. :D Not wanting to trim down the answer, I decided to write a post out of it and leave the link in the comment section. Here's my answer to this seemingly difficult question.

In short, as much as I like the Caped Crusader, I have to go with the Man of Steel.

Batman is one of the most epic characters created in the comics. The reason why we all love him is because he is one of us. A normal human with no superpowers. Yet he commands the respect of the entire Justice League. Hell, they even fear him sometimes. He showed us what any human can achieve with proper training and willpower. He is not an epitome of goodness. He has shades of grey. And we love shades of grey, 50 or otherwise. ;-) Although not monetary, he too faced hardships as a child. He has flaws and at times he fails. Making him much more human. And like they say, Batman is a symbol, anybody can be Batman. He fights his own inner battles along with the external ones. It is easier for us to connect with Batman.

But having said all this, my heart goes to Superman. Batman lost his parents? Sorry, but Superman lost his entire planet along with his parents. Yeah, he was too young to even realize that, but that doesn’t make it any less tragic. Batman was raised by a butler? Superman was raised by alien parents in an alien world. Batman became Batman primarily because he wanted to avenge his parents’ death. Superman was always Superman, and he decided to show the world how good one can be. Imagine being the most powerful person in the world, capable of superspeed, supersonic flight, superhuman agility, X-ray vision, heat vision, super breath, super hearing and the ability to absorb Sun’s energy. Now imagine being humble, not wanting to hurt or kill anyone, not going around boasting about your powers, not wanting to rule the entire world, not wanting to make a shitload of money and just going around helping people and saving the planet, daily and coming back to work at ‘Daily Planet’(couldn’t help with that wordplay :P). Hard to imagine, isn’t it? And he does all this to an alien species who call him alien even after all that he does. Because he empathizes with the human race. He knows what can be achieved with peace and unity. While Batman is trying hard to save Gotham from going to ruins, Superman is trying to take Metropolis into the bright and prosperous future. He is the quintessential good guy and better than all of us in every aspect. And we don't like it when others are better than us.

And all the people who say Supes is dumb, you don’t understand his powers well. He is fast not just physically. He is pretty fast mentally too. He has an eidetic memory. He can read an entire book in a matter of seconds. But his physical strengths are so overwhelming that his mental abilities are hardly highlighted. Batman knows how to diffuse a bomb? Well, Superman would just hold it between his palms and let it explode or throw it into the space. Also, in the Justice League, Bats is the brains and Supes is the strength. So there is hardly any chance or need to show his mental prowess.

Now coming to who would win in a fight, it would most probably be Batman. If at all they decide to fight that is. Not because Batman is better than Superman. But Superman would let the Dark Knight win. Because Superman knows he can take it all. Blow after blow after blow. Even if weakened by Kryptonite, he knows he can gain back his strength with a short trip to the space. He was able to live inside the Sun for God’s sake. He is literally God-like. Also Superman is always holding back. Never letting himself fully go. That is one of the reasons why no one knows the limit of Superman’s power. He knows no one can take it when that fist comes down with all its might. Above all, he will let Batman win because he is a good person deep down and a true incorruptible being.

Adding a dialog from the movie Kill Bill 2 where Bill explains why Superman is special and what makes him, him. This is one of my favourite dialogs from any movie and gives one of the best perspectives about Superman.

“Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself, he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.”

So who's you hero.??

Cellmate chronicles

Chronicle 1

Two guys in a jail cell.
Guy1: Who are you?
Guy2: I'm an environmentalist.
Guy1: Environmentalist? What did you do? Protest against cutting tress.?
Guy2: Nope. I grew plants.
Guy1: That's insane.
Guy2: I know, right?
Guy1: What plants did you grow.?
Guy2: Marijuana.
..
.
Guy2: Why are you in.?
Guy1: I bought plants.
Guy2: Marijuana.??
Guy1: Yep.!!

They both Hi5 and live happily in their jail cell.

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Chronicle 2
 
So a guy was put in jail. His cellmate asked him, "Who are you?"
He said, "I'm a scientist."
"A scientist.? What did you do to be put in here?", his cellmate asked.
"I invented a new drug. It makes people behave like dogs.", the scientist replied.
"So the drug didn't work as expected and killed people?", questioned the cellmate, now curious.
For that the scientist replied, "No the drug worked alright. The guy injected with the drug pissed on a electric transformer with his one leg up. And he got electrocuted."