The day nostradamus nodded in approval

Hello Friends

I am back and this, i think is my 99th post.

When I was young, I went to a school. We all did, i suppose. Or is it that my parents tricked me to believe so.  The school i went to, or to be more specific the class which i studied in  were filled with wunderkids, i must say. The kinds who had the capability to disprove Newton’s apple-fell-on-my-head-hence-this-law. Yes, there was a lot of potential there in that batch of 60 geniuses. And the management of school thought that it would be great if they could provide the batch some assistance in deciding the professional life we wanted to thread. And  it was decided that  we will be provided  the excellent guidance of the consultant genius Patrick Pavanansam Franzey.

Patrick Pavanansam Franzey or in short PPF was a sharp man. He was one of those guys who always had no problem listening to people. He is credited to have duly helped three couples ,who went to him with small problems like who will be driving the car , agree on consensual divorce. On asked if it was the right advice to give PPF was found quoting his own modified version of  Shakespeare “Nothing is good or bad, than advice makes it so”.

Patrick Pavanasam was a busy man. So after a lot of persuasion, PPF agreed to take a two hour session for our batch on a Saturday of his choice. Patrick, a self proclaimed astrologer, announced that it will be fourth Saturday of January 2000. The management said “So be it”.

The management was excited at the announcement and they made a lot of attempts to publicize the news. The following day a newspaper read like this “Educational Institute ABCDE becomes the first institute to arrange for consultant to channel students to achieve what they should attain.” The reporter who also works as a plumber during free time goes on to lament the lack of such guidance during his graduation days which made it impossible for him to decide if he has to walk to his college or jog to his college.

Amidst such reports the day arrived, and the first 15 minutes the organizing staff had to spend arguing and convincing the parents that PPF would only consult for their kids and whoever who got their pets along for consulting should duly take them back without any objection. Amidst all this noise PPF did his appearance on a horse and proceeded to the class. It was rumored that PPF took the whole session seated on the horse back, but the management was quick to deny such rumors.

And the session that will shape the future of prospective doctors, scientists, engineers, lawyers, writers, bloggers began thus.

PPF : Hey all,  I have been assigned two hours to tell you guys what you all should pursue. But i have only three words for you. Go to Hell.

<Silence>

PPF: Hahahaha, I was just kidding. I dont want you guys to go to hell. Not before this session gets over. Not that i dont mean you should not go to hell, even if you guys wanted to. Its a free world and you can go anywhere as long as you adhere to the new trespassing laws, although i dont approve of them myself.

< Silence>

PPF: The purpose of me being here is to guide you to be decide what you want to be. But all i can promise you  that at the end of the session you will always be able to make a cup of coffee all by yourself.

<Giggles>

PPF: I want all of you guys to tell me where you see yourself in ten years from now. Any amount of detail would be helpful. But i would prefer you to be precise. I think you in the green shirt, start.

Student One: Hello Mr Patrick Pavanansam Franzey, I would …

PPF: Its not pronounced Franzey , It pronounced F- R-E-Y. Frey as like prey.

Student One: Sorry Mr. Frey. Ten years from now, I think i will be working as a chief architect and managing partner of a very successful builder. We will be handling a lot of projects for instance designing skyscrapers. I would also be submitting my thesis on the modern building technique which will win me credit and world wild fame.

PPF: If you have completed,I would suggest you to be a Doctor. You can sit now. Hey , the guy with specs. Please tell us what will u be doing ten years from now.

Student two : I think i will be getting married…

<Silence>

Miles away, in one silent cemetery in France, a skeleton started nodding its head in approval of whatever being said.

This my friends is the real story of a poor school going teenager whose life changed just because  the prophetical power of a dead seer refused to diminish.

so so long and why 10:26

It comes as a surprise that i am writing this post now. Because when i started out writing at this address i never thought i will progress past a few posts. I also did think that this will be a place of self criticism and self scrutiny aimed at tearing apart myself. Happyly for me none of that happened and here i am typing a thank you of sorts and also appreciating the longevity of this address, if two years is long enough to be considered long.

Last year has been a lot easier and myself and the blog has changed a lot. On second thoughts the blog has changed a lot more when compared to me. I am the same old guy. yea may be an year older. But then it doesnt matter. Even if it mattered, noone would care.

The blog keep changing a lot in appearance and became heavier to load thanks to a lot of javascripts. And finally it did find comfort in a black layout. I hope it did.

Many of them who come over here, after my continued referral to do so, even if I had to say some crazy stuff to get people come here at the first place and read it such as promoting it along with a set of amazing blog writers. I guess it worked. (By guess i mean hope.) A lot of them are stuck at the title which to them is a lot of ones over a time. I did explain them in person what i meant by putting it that way and then another question would come. Why 10:26 ? I had kept silence on that thing for a long time. And since speculating comes so natural to people, there were some stories floating around answering that. Some of them relate the time to the time on my watch when i had a major breakup. A break up sounds interesting. How i wish their story was true.

So without further blah blah this is what happened.

All of you would be familiar that i went to so and so institute of technology. But before that i had to go to a school and before that i had to go to another school. The stuff i am about to narrate or try to narrate happened in the first school i went to. offlate my memory has been failing me so pardon me if the narration sounds lacking in conviction. I can bet the rest of my failing memory that the events did happen. But the events that happened on that day did shape my life.

The school was pretty small and there were this set of few students who were known for the pranks they play. They would sabotage instruments used to sing prayer songs. they would unscrew the chairs meant to be used by teachers. They would convince smaller kids that the Principal had this hobby of catching small kids and making them stand on ice or fire. This would scare the hell out of the small kids. They would create havoc in assembly by spoiling the prayer songs. And for kids supposed to be in the fourth grade, they were very impressive with their modus operandi. It was like the little rascals meets the fight club.

It was a monday and the pranksters were onto something. They somehow bunked their classes and decided to carry on their plan. They slowly headed towards the Principal’s room and after making sure that the Principal wasnt around rang the bell and disappeared as they always do.

My involvment in the whole story might sound trivial to all of you, but not to me. I just got my first wrist watch that day. It was the result of the constant pestering that my parents were subjected to. One day, appa had to get a digital watch. I was proudly sporting the watch that day. Thats when the school bell rang. It took me 15 minutes to figure out that the bell was one of those pranks that keeps happening. And all that while the clock was showing 10:26 as the time. For some two days i believed that the random bell had affected the normal functioning of my watch. But later when i realised that the watch was just a imitation i felt relieved.

So thats the story of how 10:26 affected my life. You might not believe me. And i am helpess. I cannot produce the old watch as an evidence. You have to trust me on this. It did happen.

The answer

[Camera Tech] Who the fuck are you?

[Dignam] I’m the guy who does his job.You must be the other guy. –The Departed

Certain questions always zaps the hell out of ones brains. The blood flow to the brain will attain the crescendo. A bit more of blood would have blow off one’s brain. Bad no ? Since majority of us are peace loving people and are aversive to the blowing off brains, the brains of many of us are still intact. But at times, we happen to find one of those types, those who are more than capable into getting one to go that extra mile and emerging victorious. The law of human nature states that such people are more prone to torture people with their queries. One such person is, my best friend and occasional partner in crimes, Silla.

It was a cold morning. The chilled breeze was flowing in. The fan’s motor was assuming the role of a musical instrument and was coming up with periodic, crazy tunes which resembles what comes out of a almost screwed up electric guitar. The perfect setup for a weekend morning, you might suggest. Not if you had seen Silla around in his shorts try his best to disturb me. And i had to succumb to the pressure.

I wake up and find Silla in mood for a conversation, which is dangerous. So i tried maintaining silence for the rest of the time until some one rescues me from the Ameoba like calamity that was waiting to engulf me. Noone turned up and Silla finally spake.

S: Its such a lovely day and i am in a mood of listening. So i will ask you a question and you have to speak on it until something important comes up.

Me: Hmmn O.K. (translates to Oh! God, Why me? )

S: The question in my view is very simple. Which implies that the answer to it has to be complex. So you can keep answering until the moment comes when i am satisfied.

Me : Hmmn sure ( I am doomed.)

S: Who are you ?

Me : What !!!

S : That was the question.

I hate him when he speaks in short sentences. It means a lot of things. It means he has made up his mind about levying the answer. It also says that he is no mood for jokes. And he is thinking at the speed of sound. And in short, I am more like a game set match victim, who realizes that the damn match is over by the time he had warmed up. But i amass all the courage i have and start of with a monologue. I sort of start walking around a bit to add a tinge of panache.

Me : Hmmn… Its tough you know to answer such a question. But let me try. I am the guy who is needs two additional lens to aid in sight. I am the one who assumes a lot of alter egos. I am the guy who gets fascinated by looking at the moon. I am the guy who visualizes that he is walking by the edge of the cliff just by walking along the edge of the footpath. I am the guy who assumes he has a lot of balance and what not. I am the guy who is tired of riding the seesaw. I am the guy who hates flying. I am the guy who is apprehensive about heights. I am the guy who likes being lonely when he is in a group and likes being in a group when he is lonely. I am also the guy who got scant respect for the thing they call symmetry. I am the guy who walks in to work at 11 and leave at 9. Not exactly 9 but at times 8 or 7. I am the guy who wears formals on Fridays and casuals on Mondays. I am the same guy who thinks that one plus one is not always two. Finally, I am the guy who doesn’t like to be asked questions. I prefer to be on the other side of answers.

On this note, I turn around hoping to see the affect that the talk had on Silla. I see him fully asleep,I mean snoring asleep.