The Party - A Sriks' Short Fiction

As I was getting ready to log off, I saw a red dot on my blackberry screen that announced the arrival of a mail in my mailbox. The blinking red dot has an almost hypnotic effect. You just cannot ignore it, no matter how hard you try to. So I gave up and opened it.

 “Dear Friend,

It’s a pleasure to announce that one of my works has been acknowledged by the Creative Academy as the Best in its category. I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and encouragement directly or indirectly. These days “Sharing” & “Liking” on Facebook is quite a support that has given quite a few some commercial successes.

In addition to the Thanks, I would also like to throw a party on the forthcoming Saturday for all my well-wishers.

Venue: The Famous Town Park

Time: 05:00 am

Dress Code: Casuals with sports shoes.

Kindly RSVP

Yours truly

Humble achiever”

I checked the keyboard layout on my laptop and also on my blackberry to see if the alphabets “a” and “p” were close enough to miss. They were poles apart on both the devices.

I rubbed my eyes and checked the time again. It indeed read 05:00 am…. and not 05:00 pm.

I was curious to know what kind of a party is held in the morning. I called my friend to confirm. My various attempts to reach her failed. Her phone was either not reachable or was beyond coverage area.

On the said day and time, I hesitantly made it to the venue expecting to be mocked at. But there were signboards giving directions to the party place and a grand banner with something that looked like the Party Theme. 

As I crossed each signboard, I heard the heavy bass from the outdoor speakers. As I went close, the music was clearer. It was not the regular trance or dance numbers I’d heard in the evening parties. The music was foot tapping nevertheless.

So, there was a DJ.

Most of the guests were dressed in athletic attire. Some like me, who do not possess an athletic body, were in loose T-Shirts and track pants, promptly showing off the sports shoes.

I noticed a bar-counter at the other end of the earmarked area. Without my knowledge, my legs started to measure the ground towards the bar. Quite a few guests were queuing up for the drinks. I noticed, there were no refrigerators or coolers, only blenders and a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. This bar served fresh juices and mock-tails blended with a variety of herbs.

There were well-dressed waiters walking around serving “starters” to guests. As I picked up a plate, it was a well-decorated salad.

My eyes were looking for the host. She was happily talking to some of her other guests while her family was busy organizing activities. Like in any regular party, the crowd was split in smaller groups, but here they were either running or walking as they interacted instead of picking a corner for a formal discussion.

I saw a few of them sitting together and doing some basic yoga-äsanas. Some elderly people were engaged in laughter therapy, while the kids were busy running around getting their dose of morning exercise.

Then, as the music changed and as if that was a cue, all the guests gathered and broke into an aerobic jig that looked almost like a well-choreographed dance number.

I was absolutely stunned at what I was witnessing. What a healthy way to celebrate.

I had so many questions racing in my mind.

Why are all parties hosted in the evenings or nights? Why do all the parties serve drinks and foods that are actually detrimental to health? Why do we invite each other over a coffee OR lunch OR dinner and indulge in gluttony?

I was overwhelmed with what I was experiencing.

Will I see more of these in the future? Or even better, will I host my parties around similar themes? Is this a business opportunity in itself?

I finally managed to get hold of the host friend and inquired about her achievements.

She had written a book on “Alternate ways to celebrate a Healthy Life”. That book and the concepts had won her accolades in the literary as well as health conscious circles.

Before I could ask her, she mentioned that this theme party was one of her innovative concepts, coined as “Life of Healthy Interactions”.

That’s when I understood the inviting banner at the entrance that read:

Get high with the ‘Life of Hi’

Be Unique! Be Yourself

The nerves tight, thoughts racing through, my mind was running full throttle.
The pressure was more than what was intended in the launch pad.
All of a sudden, without the customary countdown, ignition and in the blink of an eye, I was weightless.

Then as the fog cleared, I was flying over the scenic countryside.
The few moments of solitude came to an abrupt end.
I was staring at a queue.

I could see the sun rise from between the two hills.
I could clearly hear the water flowing in the river nearby. I heard the cattle by the well.
But I could not see the "Dream" House by ther river. The house with a door, a window and a chimney. Although I could see the smoke emitting out of it.
I realized, this dream was too overcrowded.

I changed the course and went in a different direction.
En-route, I saw a big crowd looking for something. Later, realized they were all searching for their "Dream-girl"
I thanked myself to be out of that phase of life.

As I wandered further in search of some peace and tranquillity, the crowd got thicker.

It started to sink in. My dreams are not unique anymore.
There are hordes of people dreaming the same thing.

Meanwhile, I could hear a cry from some corner. I changed the coordinates and set off in the direction of the noise.
As I got nearer, the noise got louder and I realized it's not singular.
I thought, maybe the world is in Danger. Aha, time to turn a hero.
Felt a wave of new energy within. I almost tore off my shirt expecting the cape to start flying (if not me).

But I felt a big punch on my face. I was standing in front of this crazy huge guy.
He asked, "Passport and visa please." Until then, I did not realize I was carrying it with me.
Then in a robotic tone, he asked, "What's the purpose of your visit Sir?"
I said, "Hey. You are mistaken. I'm not here to visit your country. I want to save the world"

He punched once again and said in a 'matter of fact' tone.
"You can only dream of coming here to the land of opportunities.
Only after you go through the grind and become a citizen, can you be authorized. It's the 'right to dream' of our citizens to save the world. Not yours"

In the background, the fuel indicator started to sound out the warning alarm. Maybe, it was time to return.

Then I woke up, dismissed the alarm. Got about my morning duties.
And within minutes, I was off to another grinding day at work.

Trying to save my job.

The Plight of Customer Delight!

The doorman opened the door with a smile doing the customary "namaste" albeit fake. As I stepped inside, a lady dressed in an elegant sari enquired about my well-being. After directing me towards the section where I would be "looked after", she went on to attend another customer. The minute I entered "the section", I was offered a drink. I felt like a prince alright.
Five minutes and three attendants later, I was seated in front of the executive who would attend to a "complaint" about my phone bill.
I'd stepped into a network provider's showroom and not a fancy Hotel.
Mind you, this is after obvious attempts at getting a resolution through their 1800 number call-centre.

We, the "customers" are to be blamed for this appalling situation.
Today, this provider is literally wasting money at creating services to supposedly delight us at activities that is not it's core.
Invariably, for these very delightful services, they will charge us in all direct/indirect ways.
The whole theory of "customer delight being the new customer expectation" is a marketing farce that should STOP and almost immediately.

I want a phone that functions well in all possible areas of the city.
I don't want a low/weak network patches during my commute where the call will most certainly drop.
In the mornings, when we go to a milk-booth or the street-side newspaper vendor, do we expect any sort of frills?
Then why do we fall prey for such gimmicks elsewhere?

What is the need for customer service? Why spend on infrastructure for a call centre?
Why can the companies not focus on giving us a product that does not ask for any customer service?
The same or less money can be "invested" in research and development instead of marketing and service.

I'm not against customer service centres or call centres. They are necessary in some sectors. But they should be limited to those sectors alone.

Remember the old bike ad from the 90s? Fill it; Shut it; Forget it!
I currently dream of a confident product where they say, "Come, Look, Buy and simply refer us to your friends". I'm sure, they don't want us to "Forget" them. :)

Illusion? Innovation?

Historically, we humans are fascinated when we are fooled, when someone sells us a dream.
We love illusions and love to hallucinate.

We can broadly segment homo-sapiens in two types.
1) Those that create the illusion
2) Those who believe the illusion

There are various ways in which these are sold; Mind you, "sold". We pay for it.
These days, the name of the game is innovation. In fact it's so in the face, yet we choose to look the other way.

There are training programs to teach such "packaging". We encourage our kith and kin to take up such lucrative career options.
Take a quick stock of 5 immediate things around you as you read this. Including the device on which you are reading this.
Please take ten minutes and list out the features they offer and how much do you really need & use?
Startled? Aren't you?

I met a couple with kids in a developed country. One of the spouses was apparently chasing a career to continue to stay in that country.
The other was working to make sure she can pay the baby-sitter to take care of her kids when she was away working. Duh?

In our career span of thirty-five odd years, instead of learning, enjoying and giving our best, we end up chasing a mirage called milestones.
Let's say our goal is to walk 10 miles. Instead of seeing two milestones at 5 miles each, we prefer seeing it every mile 10 times.
So, we feel like we've achieved 10 milestones whereas we've really walked the same 10 miles; Thereby creating an illusion of success.
But along with the illusion of success, we also create a false sense of urgency.

We must remember it's water that quenches thirst and not the glass.
The secret is to see through feeble illusion and focus on the true goal.
Instead of getting lost in glam and glitter along the path.

The antonym of Secret is Knowledge.
But the antonym of Knowledge is not secret, it's ignorance.

Questions?

Where did “questions” originate from? Who discovered or invented “questions”?
What would happen if we did not have “questions”?

For a question is the birth of curiosity. And before we get the answers, what happens in our minds is the birth of imagination.

The effects of questions are valuable and is called knowledge
One of the side effects of questions is imagination.

Somewhere between the ‘question’ and the ‘answer’ lies ‘imagination’.
Either imagination meets reality OR it feeds fiction.

Why? Where? When? What? How?
If one were to categorize or rank the questions, “Why” would be the mother of all questions.
Every other question has a definite answer. But “Why” never has a definite answer.
Go ahead, I encourage you to do this mental exercise before you read on.

My daughter asks this mother of all questions at least 100 times a day.
It sometimes teases our knowledge, invokes imagination and most of the times irritates us.
However, we still encourage her to keep asking this question. Every time we see her take the “Why” route, we can see all the dimensions being covered. Her eyes lights up if she finds an answer. If not, some days down, we realize that unanswered question is now a figment of her imagination.

Do we ask so many questions? Do we fear being judged based on the questions we ask?
The opposite or the other end of the spectrum of not asking questions is called presumption or assumption. Commonly known as making an “ass” out of “u” and “me”.
Now, think about it. Assumption is born out of imagination. It takes the reverse route. If it is not fed well by knowledge, it grows into incorrect answers being passed on. This is neither fiction nor reality. This is probably what is known as the “grey” area.

I'd like to let my life be colourful. I will continue to ask questions.
Will you?

PS: My last question has a definite answer.

What if?

A certain act when forced without consent is called RAPE
Not just that but any such forced act is ideally a RAPE
The aftereffects are not just physical or emotional
It’s a behavioral flaw that’s infecting generations and is promotional

 

Who decided that one gender is superior to another?

How can you rank the contribution of a father or a mother?
Why beg for mercy from one sect of the society
That is irrational and acts out of anxiety

Think about corruption or the existing system

Isn’t that a violation or a rape of our belief system?
A brutal and blatant display of power
A false sense of being the control tower

What if we prevent them from their illusion?

What if we join them in creating a bigger delusion?
What if we give them the canvas but create our motif?
Think about it. What if?

The root cause is helplessness and resistance

The same act is not a rape if done in acceptance
Maybe an answer lurks behind the dark corners
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time we stop being lame mourners

Believe in Thyself

O creature of blood and flesh

With a heart to purify and keep it fresh

Stacked up with a pack of bones

Strong enough to lift and sculpt stones

O holder of an effective yet simple digestive system

Why do thou fall prey and love being called a victim?

Thou art the creator of life and thou art the destroyer too

Is it then a convenient blame game on you know “who”?

What role does a religion have in today’s world?

Where bombs and bullets are being hurled

Every holy book interestingly preaches peace

Is that but a fleece?

O Possessor of an extraordinary intellectual mesh

Creator and re-creator of situations afresh

How can thou claim victory in any war?

By drawing lines and amidst cries of abhor

When thou can’t control a slimy tongue or your own emotions

How can thou claim control on nations and such deceived notions?

Thou can digest junk, thou can digest deceit

Thou can digest the entire generation being uncouth

Thou can control and achieve every feat

Only when thou shalt digest the simple yet long prevailing truth

O creature of blood and flesh

When there’s still some time, please refresh!