Poem: Shade of Sleaze

The CEO and the Child

Once upon a time there lived a CEO. The CEO’s childhood wasn’t rosy. A ragged house made of hay, a sick mother, and a drunkard father. And soon a fairy tale came alive when the CEO was chosen by the school to be sent to a top university utilizing the school’s trust. But alas the choice was withdrawn when a rich father donated a huge sum for the school infrastructure manipulating the prestigious offer in favor of his Child. Well that’s how the game of corruption got played with some shiny notes.

But the story doesn’t end here. The Child joined the university on the so-called scholarship to study with other brilliant students, while the CEO took up a labor job in a garment factory.  The CEO worked hard to earn two-meal a day, while the Child partied his college days away with lavish food and drinks on the bay.

Two years went by, and it was time for the Child to say goodbye to the party scene. Graduation arrived and the child donned the graduate cap though the marks were nothing colorful. Unemployed with no real skills, the father comes to the play again. Through the father’s connection, the Child gets the role of an Assistant Garment Inspector of a top cloth line. And that's how the game of favoritism began.

On the other side of the social spectrum was the CEO. His hard work was never noticed, until after a year, when a huge fiasco made the top management of the garment company to visit the manufacturing site. It was a pure corduroy garment manufacturer; however at that point 68% of its produced goods were rejected in the market due to mix of different linen in the material. The management had come to the plant to check the origin of the problem and to find a fix to it.

Days went by but no solution and the company was on a losing proposition. Half of the workers left the premises witnessing the gory chances of being jobless while the CEO stayed. Then once, the CEO after a late shift was leaving for home but saw a little girl carrying a doll wrapped in a silk robe sneaking into the premises. Curiosity gripped the CEO enough to stay back to see what she does. The little girl stealthily moved to the factory garbage dump and left her doll on top of one of the machines. Her hands explored the contents of the dump and soon a smile hits her face. A big slice of bread in her hand, she happily danced toward the exit of the plant's premises while grabbing the doll on the way. Well that's how the CEO realized the true joy of living – being content with what one can get their hands on.

The doll's dress got caught in the iron splinters of the machine and a long silk thread treaded the machine. The little girl with one tug got rid of the silk thread that was slowly unweaving the robe and left the thread dangling on the machine. The CEO lightly caught hold of the girl, and the management was informed of the cause of the linen mixture. But the revelation was done after making a deal with the management securing the little girl's education and life overall. The CEO was rewarded and was promoted to be a part-time Strategic Invigilator of the manufacturing plant, and the part-time Garment Inspector of its cloth line. Stay with a company in its bad days and earn the glory in its good days.

Stepping into the office as a Garment Inspector, the CEO recognizes the Assistant GI — the Child, who bullied the CEO even prior to the university corruption episode. Nodding with a smile the CEO greets and continues with the job demands. And that's when the Child realizes the importance of acceptance. Never take an advantage of the position to bully someone, you never know what the future holds. On the other hand, the CEO understands that a work ambience is a team work. You need to forgive and forget to co-exist together.

Today, the CEO has taken up the role of the CEO of the clothline after completing the necessary educational requirements sponsored by the company, while the Child remains the Assistant Garment Inspector. The father bought the Child's education and a career start but failed to imbibe the importance of knowledge and skills. In short, money can buy a life but not the value of life. It's not money but one's own hands that builds destiny. And the key to be happy is to co-exist and help each other in the journey called life.

It’s been a while

Since we shared a smile,

It’s been a while

Since we walked a mile.

Estranged

Chronicle of a Knotty Life

Is your sleep dreamless?

After a tiring day, we slump on the bed and the eyelids close transporting us to our dreamland — Many of us will describe the slumber period in similar ways. But does everyone reaches their dream world?

A dream could be several events patched into one and it can also be a short lived phenomenon reacting to an outside stimuli like voices or the sound of the TV. For instance, if one is thirsty while asleep and a dream shapes up about drinking water but somehow the parched throat refuses to seek relief to an extent that once the person wakes up the thirst is immediately realized.

 If one takes a notice, dreams change during the different phases of one's life as experts say it helps relieve the conscious mind from dwelling in a disturbing thought through a diversion. Although many might disagree as sometimes dreams are scarier than the real circumstances forcing one to wake up with a troubled mind. Well it is the case when the desires and troubled thoughts in the unconscious mind find their way into awareness through dreams, thus reliving the darkest emotions and fantasies.

That little dream might mean a lot.

Some people may have witnessed that as they grew up there's a gradual decrease of dreams to an extent that their sleep turns dreamless.  Well the answer lies in Sigmund Freud's famous interpretation — "dreams are '...disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes'." While one's young the ambitions and aspirations, how much ever impractical, knows no bound. And since not every one of the wishes can be fulfilled, the ideas slowly shifts to the unconscious mind making each wish a reality in the dreams. As one grows up, with maturity the thought process goes through a change and the wishes turn as practical as possible. So while some act upon their wishes and instincts, some do not; and the frequency of the dreams depends on it.

This brings in the question "Is your sleep dreamless?" If yes, you have understood the priority of your wishes and no more feel the need to dwell in any unfulfilled thoughts as you are content with the ways things have shaped in your life. If no, then you are dreamer even with open eyes. Act upon your wishes and instincts and by the time they turn real, you are creating space for more desires to set in. A life without aspirations might turn dull but don't turn to be a dreamer without any real efforts. After all, a real party can be enjoyed better than a party in your slumber.

Rolling Dice

Few dots on the cube,

Make our steps crude;

The winner takes it all,

Is what our minds recall.

Keep throwing the dice,

And run like mice;

Everyone knows it's a rat race,

So just have to keep the pace.

Sometimes it rolls wrong,

And we blame it on the fate;

But sometimes it rolls right

Then it is a trick of the hand?

The road has snakes,

The road has ladders too;

The snakes will bite,

And the ladder will take us to heights.

Be afraid of the snakes,

And the ladders will never come;

So roll the dice away,

And embrace the risk per se.

Chasing Happiness

Many had questioned about a recent survey in India, which found Indians to be the happiest and at the same time stressed in their lives. It is said that "happiness" and "stress" are two contradictory emotions that can't come together. But it can.

The happiness felt in a happy moment is directly proportionate to the effort put in pursuing it. As the physical and mental labor increases, an invisible chasm builds in to distance one from accepting happiness easily. Hence there remains no room for taking that moment, when all the labor has borne fruit, for granted as you have earned it. That blissful moment brings a sense of freedom and achievement that makes one pat one's own back saying "Yes I can." And the taste of that hard-earned bliss compels one to take another stressful road for another accomplishment as no easy route can bring in that sense of exhilaration. While they are happy in their lives for all the accomplishments they have had through continuous perseverance, they are stressed being on the road to accomplish further.

Marketing execs who are expected to connect on a deeper level are found using this concept to their products too. For instance, chocolate was always portrayed as an object to pleasure the sweet tongue, but today it is depicted as a valuable bliss which must be pursued and earned and not merely bought. Thomas Jefferson had rightly said "… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is always the 'pursuit' of happiness that comes as a right, as there can never be true happiness without the 'pursuit.'

Embracing Sanguinity

Solitary road,

Dusty coat

All that was left

Was a heart full of hope.

The uncertain abyss

That no one cherish,

Was all we found

In search of something profound.

But it's never the end

As the ray of light,

Wait for us to

Show our might.

The might to resist

The urge to stop,

Or to desert the road,

Before reaching the spot.

So beam away and go on

Moving ahead for that ray of light,

That still hides behind the dark alley

Waiting for us to break in with a fight.

The Hope-Filled Road from 2012 to 2013

2012 — Well the world didn't end! In India, the year did have its share of late awakenings and many moments with an element of surprise.

Natural calamities like tsunami, cyclone, and hurricane took a further toll on the already wavering economy and the confidence on the developed regions continually diminished. And in all that the conviction toward the Asia Pacific and the middle east market for investment purpose saw a boost, a phenomenon aptly utilized by the government of India to steer in internal confidence toward its, by then, lackluster governance — sometimes it's surprising that the savior of India's worst economic turbulence in 1991, Dr. Manmohan Singh (though many argues that it was PV Narashimha Rao, who framed the policies that Manmohan Singh merely read out), took the country's economy back to the ultimate low, with internal and external deficit, during his own leadership.

However late, yet finally the government donned its reform hat to enact several reform Acts with the most debated and criticized reform being the 51% FDI in retail — the reform UPA avoided for eight years. The late awakening of the government is still in speculation as the continuance of progressive reforms in 2013 is still in question since it could also be a near-election stunt to gain the favor of the voters.

The discussions on the political stance on reforms reminds of the Anna Hazare–led movement toward anti-corruption. The Lokpal movement that saw all Indians throng the streets of the country gradually lost its fire and the feud between Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal only dimmed it more. But the RTI activist, Kejriwal, soon stood up in a new light sending threat vibes to the powerful lot.

And because of these strong vibes, the commoners or the public in general always wait for some political person or some activist like Hazare and Kejriwal to hold the beacon and lead a movement. But by surprise, the test of tolerance took its toll and everyone set their inhibitions to rest when the fatal assault on the girl in Delhi led everyone from a teenager to a 91 year old to street demanding capital punishment of the offenders. The results of the mass confrontation is yet to be seen, with several cases of harassment still coming to light.

It may be yet another year but unlike other years a new hope seems to be emerging. The notion of the powerful being untouched is once and again disproved with several charges of corruption against the political and industrial bigwigs being put forth. But that doesn't mean everyone took a back step and financial scandals were nowhere to be found. To everyone's dismay the year turned in more cases of scandals to an extent that it stopped being a prime focus. One may still remember the days when Satyam scandal, or the 2G auction scandal, was analyzed and discussed to the core for months; but today not many would remember the coal blocks allocation scandal, the Robert Vadra land-grab, the Sonia-Rahul takeover of Associated Journals, the Nitin Gadkari Purti scandal, and many more. But it only means that more watchful eyes are prying the industrial and political realms to disclose every instance of misfit deals.

In all in 2013, the hopeful eyes will await for new reforms and a new view that would somewhat free the country further from scandals and social stigmas.