Tuesday, October 25, 2011

10 Second Reading - Words

We have a tremendous facination for the "Spoken Word" despite the fact that it is not the most natural means of expression that humans possess... Silence speaks louder, Eyes express better, Touch conveys faster, still we want the words to confirm what we already feel...And inevitably they never do...

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Poor God...

The hands in the clock were getting ever so close on this lovely Friday night and today they seemed like two blessed lovers who were about to enter a minute of eternal embrace. Although, only a minute is what they will get since the horses of time will pull them away for another hour of wait while the cycle of life keeps repeating itself...

But they seem happy to have this eternal minute to look forward to, where as I have been hopelessly plodding away on my laptop for what seems like an eternity.

I think Albert must have got the idea of relativity while working on a Friday night...The time does slow down and if the work involves making compelling power point presentations while your friends are out at a pub; Mr. Time just comes to a grinding halt.

It is the season of hectic activity...A season that is not ear-marked by the movement of mercury encased in a glass shell but by the quickly receding ink in the stamping pads at the emigration counters. Loads of business visitors from across the world besides visiting Taj Mahal and shopping for antiques, visit our offices and listen to the great stories emanating from the impressive power point presentations that we serve believing that the crucial decision of whether they will do or increase business with us will depend on how impressive the presentation is...Interestingly this season typically coincides with the end of the financial year when the expenses need to be increased to exhaust the budgets...

Now, whether the travel is necessitated by the need to transact business or to exhaust budgets....my guess is as good as anyone else’s...

Anyway, whatever is the reason and whatever be the outcome, I need to make sure that my presentation leaves a positive impression in my bosses’ mind because that is all that will matter when the decision on my future well being and prosperity will be taken.

“Version 13.4”...Little exhausted, I save the file to grab a cup of coffee oops cappuccino...(Coffee sounds so primitive) feeling ridiculous at the number of revisions that this epic had gone through and also trying to recollect all the feedback that poor old version 13.3 had received...

“The data needs to be massaged a little more, we need to represent it in better light and yes we need to be little more economical with the truth”...my superiors voices were reverberating in my head and I wondered how many lies do I need to manufacture to make this darn presentation compelling.

“This is irritating...why can’t we just represent Truth, the Plain Truth and nothing but Just the Truth”...I think in the mind but out of frustration murmur the last words little loudly and suddenly something eerie starts to happen...The floor under me starts to shake, the energy efficient fluorescent lights begin to flicker, the room fills with smoke and strange sounds fill the air...The deserted office suddenly takes the look and feel of a sci-fi movie set.

I am dumbstruck to believe my eyes...My rational mind is confused and too numb to accept what it is seeing...This can’t be real...I am overworked and hallucinating for sure...I rub my eyes, pinch my arms but before I could think another thought, a human figure starts to materialize on the leather sofa placed in the lounge for visitors, not necessarily for the visitors that materialize out of thin air though...and then everything turns pitch dark.

Some water droplets hit against my eyes helping me regain my conscience and an outline of a serene face begins to form in front of them...I Contract the pupils to refocus my vision and see a wrinkled but calm and smiling face looking ever so gently at me...

“Get up Son”...”I am extremely happy with your Penance and Tapasya that you undertook in search of truth and enlightenment and therefore I thought it appropriate to provide you with my divine audience”
The words do not really register as I am busy checking him out...
Tall, fair, long hair, salt and pepper beard, bright eyes though a little sad, ornate, dull golden robes... the bloke looks like a character from one of these mythological sitcoms that run on all TV channels...Although the appearance is not as dazzling...The face is bereft of makeup, The robes look a little worn out and the gold plated ornaments are losing colour...

“Son...I am the God of Truth, You were seeking me and I am here to grace your life” the baritone breaks my thought process...

I am still very confused, He definitely doesn’t look like GOD, “Gods don’t wear dusted robes or worn out ornaments, at least, not in the sitcoms on the telly...And yes they definitely don’t wear rugged sports shoes but he did appear out of nowhere”...My rational and now awake mind is prancing like a horse on steroids... “He for sure must be an impressionist and an intruder”...I try to recollect all Privacy and Physical Security policies that we are always forced to read to find a solution to this potential Security issue that has manifested in front of me.... “Call Security...yes I should call security”

“Son, don’t be confused and you can call security...but they won’t be able to see me, as my audience is restricted to my most ardent devotees only”...

“He is reading my mind and, yes, the security guard that just passed by didn’t notice him...He sure seems to have some super natural power...Is he really God? The Truth God?”

“OH My God!!! He can help me, He can do anything, Get me promoted, Increase my salary, make me successful and yes he can make that compelling presentation for me” My thoughts are again racing, but this time with lot more euphoria...

“I am the Truth God, son; The God of enlightenment; the God of Salvation; The God of Nirvana and cosmic truth: I don’t make presentations, or provide earthly gains, I can help you move out of the cycle of Maya and achieve super consciousness” The Baritone not only breaks my thought process but also my budding dreams of prosperity...My facial expressions change from euphoria to despair, I feel like a child who was promised a toy that was never manufactured.

“I have the worst luck in the whole universe...Out of the 330 Million Gods who roam around the universe, only this dishevelled, gibberish speaking, artificial jewellery clad bloke decided to pay me a visit and, that too, on a Friday midnight when I am working on this damn presentation”...

Suppressing my anger and disappointment I blurt out “Thanks God for your kindness and visit, it was really a pleasure meeting you but I need to get back to work now”

“I can’t leave right now...My minimum appointment is 4 hrs”...”But God, I need to finish my work and moreover I don’t need any of those things that you have...Please let me go now”...I start moving away...
The expressions on his face changes from calmness to sadness and helplessness... “I have come from a long way to meet you, at least show some courtesy and offer me a coffee before I leave”

His almost pleading voice meltes my heart and I anyways want some break from version 13.4...

Sitting in the office compound, we sip on our coffee in absolute silence...His eyes seem to be distant as if wandering in a different world... “Son; things were not like this”...finally his voice fills the ether around us.

By now even I was eager to know what exactly the story was...Why would a God be in such poor condition and most importantly why would HE visit someone like me who never really beckoned him...

Having gulped down the last sip of the coffee, He lights a non-filtered cigarette and begins:

“Long time ago, when the Supreme God conceived the universe, he made a beautiful and rich abode for Gods called Heaven”...His eyes light up... “Those were great days when everything was in abundance and we lived a life of riches and pleasures...

But as you would know son, abundance always brings in callousness, we also, like humans were oblivious to the fact that there is a limited amount of natural resources in the universe...Our population growth rate was very high and in-fact till about 50 years back we even out-numbered our worshippers...Thankfully, the rate has lowered now and we are more or less stable at 330 Million...

But, like humans, the good sense didn’t prevail on us till it was way too late...The greed made sure that the natural resources kept dwindling to a point where the Supreme God had to intervene and make all of us accountable...

A clear economic system was laid out in which all of us got paid in accordance with the set rules and regulations: Our income was directly linked to performance on various parameters like, number of worshippers, our recall value, number of consulting and servicing hours etc

“Consulting?”...I responded a little baffled...

“Yes son, consulting!!!”... “As you would know, humans worship us for gains and ultimately, once we feel that you guys have done enough penance, we pay you a visit and provide consultation on how to achieve what you want...

“Interesting” I thought...

“Initially this arrangement worked well...There was enough work for all of us as earth was inhabited mostly by God fearing humans and in fact I was one of the richest Gods”

Taking another deep puff, his eyes develop a twinkle as he continues, “The demand for me was so high that the waiting time to get my audience used to be as high as three continues lifetimes of penance, and I would never provide more than a few minutes of appointments...Besides, having the highest fan base and recall value, my endorsement earnings also were sky high....I still remember, even your Bollywood used to make movies relating to me...

I had the best robes and ornaments to wear, the best palace to live in, we used to go on vacations to exotic places and my kids studied in the most expensive schools... “What days!!!”

But then, as they say...all good things in life come to an end...the priorities of the earth’s inhabitants changed, you guys became more materialistic, greedy and selfish and my demand started to dwindle...

My fan base started to shrink, endorsements disappeared and the consultation requests became few and far in-between....Such was the impact that I had to sell off my palace, antique ornaments and even my golden robes to feed my family...

I tried everything possible to stay in business, even relaxed the penance requirements to what you did today...just three consecutive utterances of the word “Truth”...but nothing worked and the worst thing is that my poor twin “The Untruth God” who used to feed off my pittance started to get richer and powerful...
Today, he is the most powerful God with huge fan following and consultation demand...Infact to cater to the increasing demand he had to establish 24*7 call centres that are flooded with calls from across the globe.”

His voice started to grow louder “Infact lying and deceit has become such a universal language that his call centre agents don’t undergo any communication, language or accent neutralization training...The callers from across the world just understand what they say...”

Taking the last puff from his fifth nicotine stick, he looks at his watch and suddenly gets up...

“Oh!!! It is almost morning...” he says rather nervously...

“Son...thanks for your hospitality but I need to leave now...and you know what to do in case you want to meet me again”

“Yes...but what is the hurry”

“I am late for my shift son”

“Shift?”

“Yes, I work as a part time trainer in my twin’s call-centre...Ironically he is the only one who still needs me...He and his team need to know the “Truth” before they can “Lie”...and I in return make some extra money to support my family in this inflationary economy” he said running away in those rugged Sport shoes...

Standing there, I see him disappear into the morning, wondering what we humans should do to re-instate the status of our God...The Poor God...

“I sure will become more truthful in future” I promise myself, while switching on the laptop...

First I need to complete “Version 13.4” though....