Books I’ve read and stories/poems I’ve written.
Just a small random poem I scribbled during my last journey to home.
Out I went under the starry sky,
unaware of the full moon shining bright.So beautiful as was the view;
so much to see, so much to love.I had only drunk half a glass of its glory
when my eyes turned red and mind heavy.Lusty eyed I passed out staring at the sky;
what was left to be seen came in my dreams.Dreams of galaxies far away, but they bust
in the morning when I was woken by stardust.
I wrote this micro-story as my second entry for a short story writing contest at Accenture. My first story was Mihir Learns to Golf. In this second story, I made use of all the six pictures in the collage (above). And yes, this one has a moral as well — team spirit.
Once upon a time in a corporate board room, a meeting on how to impress the clients went on between a project’s leadership. On a wall was being projected a presentation that taught them several management tactics to maximize deliveries in least possible time, even if that were to happen on cost of team’s satisfaction levels. A certain Hitler stood there delivering his anecdotes as the others sat nodding.
Then suddenly the door opened and in came light. Few seconds later, there stood King Cutner, the project’s global lead. He had come without warning, for he had been hearing bad things about the local leadership. So he, in his usual charming self, delivered a speech expressing his concerns. He spoke and everyone listened, including Hitler the presenter.
King took a pause and motioned toward the nearest flower pot, from which he picked up a handful of sand. He then gradually loosened his grip and let the sand slip back.
“As long as we are together, in a fist, we are a team. If we take our team for granted and let go of it, each member will take their own route and the team will fall apart.”
Mr. Cutner called upon to see his entire team. During his week’s stay, he talked to each one of them, motivated them, and trained them to work as a team, like participants of a rowing team with King at the helm. When work became overwhelming, King took them out for sports, mostly golf.
There was happiness in the team, and everyone worked hard for the crucial next release. When needed, they passed the baton to the next member, giving them a chance to innovate. In the end, the team of 25 won the race. The clients were happy with the results, and proud of having given their assignment to Accenture as they walked out the hallway.
Update: I got the 1st prize in the writing contest for this story.
This micro-story was my first entry for a recent story writing contest at Accenture (results have yet to be declared). The contest was about writing a moral-supported tiny story based on a set of given pictures. I wrote mine around picture above, one of the six provided.
It’s a cheesy kids’ story with a happy ending. Oh yes, if you are wondering about golf in evening, well, it’s summers!
Prologue
A 12 year old Mihir had this bad habit of finishing his homework fast, never bothering about accuracy, to satisfy his mom, who wouldn’t allow him to go play with friends before homework was finished. Mihir followed a similar approach when preparing for tests.I
One afternoon, he came home weeping. As he entered, he saw not only his mom at the dining table, but also his dad, who had come home early. His weeping became hard.“Come here,” Dad called out from the table. Mihir slowly trotted to near his dad’s chair. Dad removed the sheet of paper from Mihir’s hand that he was hiding behind his back.
“Six out of twenty, in Maths,” Dad announced. He looked at Mom, who defensively added “I keep on telling him to study more carefully. This is what happens…” She was interrupted as Dad gestured to calm the angry Mom. Dad turned to Mihir.
“Do you want to come along for golf in the evening?”
Mihir shook his head.
“Don’t look at Mom. She’ll be fine. Be ready at 5.”
II
At the golf course, Mihir carried around his Dad’s kit to fulfill his caddie duties. Spotting a good location, his Dad halted. He grounded the tee, placed the ball, and swung his club. The ball landed near the 1st hole. Mihir followed his Dad to the hole and watched him carelessly putt the ball, which overshot the hole by a good margin.“Dad,” cried out Mihir, “you ought to hit it slowly.”
Dad went to the ball, took his time to aim carefully, and, this time, hit it gently along the green. Mihir watched it drop into the hole.
“Yay! You did it, Dad!” exclaimed a cheery Mihir.
“Do you know why the ball went right into the hole this time around?”
“Why, you played more carefully.”
“Exactly! And this is how you can improve your test results too…” Dad continued to explain to Mihir how he was not aiming right and driving his studies hastily. Mihir listened to his father inquisitively and promised to apply the lesson learned.
Epilogue
In his next Math test, Mihir got 15 out of 20, his all-time best.
These days I’m obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. He’s a genius, a detective, a scientist, a consultant, a violinist, a boxer, and yet he doesn’t know (or doesn’t care to know) that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Why? Because “that’s too useless an information to store in the limited-capacity brain.” But wait! He’s a drug addict too (cocaine & morphine), and is emotionally detached in every possible way from the rest of the world. In short, he’s a perfect anti-hero.
I know Sherlock Holmes since my childhood, like most children do, but my interest in the character rose substantially only after watching Robert Downey Jr.’s 2009 hit Sherlock Holmes. After a year or so, I bought my first Sherlock Holmes novel, which is basically a compilation of the most popular of his short stories. And boy, I was mighty impressed with the writing style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It furthered my interest in the character Holmes, and soon I found myself downloading The Return of Sherlock Holmes in iBooks on my iPod. I get time to read this book only during my hometown-to-worktown journey, and I now have only a couple of stories left to complete the novel.
Very recently I discovered the TV mini-series Sherlock, and was immediately hooked to it. The series mainly focuses on the sociopath nature of Holmes, who is portrayed more anti-heroic than in the movie series. Certainly a must watch for any Holmes fan (even non fans will absolutely love it). I came to love Dr. Watson (played wonderfully by Martin Freeman, who’s also playing Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming The Hobbit) as much as the protagonist himself. And if you do watch the series, don’t forget to check out its companion websites Dr. Waston’s blog and Sherlock Holmes’ website, especially the blog.
On another note, we’re already into the final stages of French Open, and I’m supporting Federer over Djoker in the semis. Also, Euro 2012 starts tomorrow, and I’m very excited. Germany for me all the way. All you Indian football fans, check out this marvelous Euro 2012 schedule (all times in IST).
I don’t write many Hindi poems, but this is one of those few.
मैं जवान हूँ,
मैं तूफ़ान हूँ.
छू नहीं सकते तुम मुझे,
मैं आसमान हूँ.दोस्तों का दोस्त हूँ,
दुश्मनों के लिए हैवान हूँ.
प्यार करते हैं लोग मुझे,
मैं हर लड़की की जान हूँ.जाता हूँ जहाँ,
मैं तो रंग जमा देता हूँ.
कहते हैं लोग मुझे,
मैं हर महफ़िल की शान हूँ.गुरूर है खुद पर मुझे,
और उससे ज़ियादा विश्वास है.
सचाई से करता हूँ सिर्फ जो ठीक लगे,
इसी लिए मैं खुद का अभिमान हूँ.सोच रहे होंगे हजूर यह अहंकारी कौन है,
हाँ हूँ अहंकारी मैं, मगर
चलता हूँ ईमान से.
मैं पुरखों का ज्ञान हूँ, पंडितों का ध्यान हूँ.दौलत नहीं है पास न ही शौहरत है साथ,
लेकिन जज़्बा है सब पाने का.
उस जज़्बे के इलावा,
मैं तो एक साधारण इंसान हूँ. [२]