Preface

This is the tale of a world where Gods and Men lived together. Men feared the Gods, for their wrath was terrible.
Gods, well they were oblivious to human existence as it had nothing significant to offer. Or so they thought.
Gods lived in the mountains, had abodes in the far sea. Men stayed away from these places, for they were divine. They inhabited the continent, instead.
And then, there was a boy. He lived on the continent, He and his friend, with the men. Nobody knew where they came from
The Boys were part of the society, They were outlaws, Urchin. Taking jobs, making little money for sustenance. Soon this was going to change
Their past was going to meddle with their present. They were going to venture into a place nobody dared tread. They were going to intrude Heaven.
A lot of things were going to become clear…
Were Gods truly immortal? Did the Gods even exist? Could the Boys become Gods? Was there more to it than met the eye?
Yes, there was more, a lot more. Much more than the boys could handle. They were now a part of saga that transcends human understanding.

This is a tail of
Friendship, Love, Courage, Wit, Destiny, Bonds.
Deceit, Betrayal, Illusions, Power,Lust and Ego.

Dream By A Window

It was mid afternoon but there was no sign of sun anywhere. The sky was covered in clouds some grey, some pitch black and some white. The city was small with narrow roads, roads were chaotic but there was a beauty to the chaos. People were running in all directions, some with an umbrella, some on their cycles, some of them on their scooters cursing the traffic and a few privileged ones in autos and cars. Everyone knew that it would rain any moment. Disha was sitting near her window, observing the city. She had returned home after finishing her post graduation, a few months from now she will be leaving for her Doctorate. She had always been different, when everyone around her was going for engineering or MBBS or B.Com., She decided to study literature. While those who studied literature with her dreamt of writing a novel, she just wanted to appreciate the art. She had never had a boyfriend. Though she was very beautiful, there was an air of aloofness to her that strongly hinted of a unique kind of happiness. The guys who approached her, never stayed longer than a few months, for they could not decipher her. As for her She never found any guy interesting enough. Relationships never seemed important to her. That is until these vacations.

Since past few days she had been having dreams of a stranger, A tall man in a dark black overcoat, a grey muffler wrapped around his neck, eyes as deep and as still as a lake, Walking through the city roads on a dark moonless night. She saw his face and specially his eyes. When he turned back and looked at her. His face was nothing extraordinary but his eyes were. They were the eyes of man who could see through everything, who knew answers to all questions. She felt a strong pull, but before she could understand anything her eyes opened and the dream shattered. She had had this dream everyday since she had returned; today she had it for the 9^th time. For the first time in her life she was in anxiety, it was a strange feeling for her. She wanted that guy, to meet him, to talk to him, to know him. She wanted him strongly, stronger than she had ever wanted anything. Today she would search for him at night.

She left home an hour after sun had set, she had plans, or not having a plan was her plan. She was going to wander tonight, wander through the city, its narrow roads, covered alleys, bakery shops, primary schools, government hospital and what not. She would wander through the entire city, its every corner. It was a small city.

And so she started, for the first few hours until moon had properly come up, she walked through the main markets of the city, some of the broader roads. No she didn’t expect to find him yet, this was just a beginning. She knew she wouldn’t find him like this. One more hour passed some of the shop owners started shutting their shops down. Her anxiety was now increasing; she knew the moment was drawing closer. She had, by now, covered half of the city. It was a small city. Walking past the government school, then the bakery, she knew where she had to go but she was not prepared. Something was telling her that it was a bit early and the moment had not yet come. She kept on walking, covering what was left of the city. The night was falling, most of the shops were now closed and the city was covered in an eerie silence. She didn’t had a lot of time left, soon it will be too late for her to go back home.  Her anxiety was increasing.

The moment had come, she knew it. She started pacing toward her home. But that was not her destination, what she was going for was the street on the left of her home. That is where she saw him, in her dream. She was getting closer, she could see the tall four story building in front of her home.  Her breathing was getting stronger, less because of the walk more because of the anticipation. She could now see her home, her window, a small onewith wooden doors, on a yellow wall. There was streetlight in front of her window that  was struggling to light up. Soon she was on the crossroads. Now she knew why crossroads always intrigued her. They always lead one to their destiny. Her's was towards left, The street where she saw him. She took left, the road was long and disappeared into a cloud of shops, homes, abandoned carts and darkness. He must be there, he should be, he had to be. But he was not. She walked a few steps looked farther, walked a few more steps looked even farther but still, he wasn't there. She knew he would not come. It was just a dream. Her heart was not ready to believe, but reason took over. She walked back to her home, it was painful but in a strange way. It was so because for the first time she was feeling disappointed. She knocked on the door, gave an explanation to her mother and went upstairs into her room. She was feeling a strange emotion, something which was a mix of disappointment, realization, and some previously un-felt feelings. She looked out of her window, the city that looked like a painting in the afternoon, now looked abandoned and empty, devoid of any form of life, any form of art. Soon she fell asleep, her hands folded, her closed eyes looking out of the window.

A light struck her face, perhaps it was morning. She twitched her eyes and then slowly opened them. The light was unusually bright, somehow the neon light on street had finally managed to light up. It was still night, perhaps 4 AM. She looked out of the window, the road was long and disappeared into a cloud of shops, homes, abandoned carts and darkness. But somewhere before the road could disappear into darkness was a figure. It was tall, wearing black overcoat, a muffler wrapped around his neck. Her Heart started racing. Before she could say anything , call for him, run for him, He turned his head in her direction and looked at her. He had Deep blue eyes, He could see her, see through her, read her every thought, answer her every question. He knew her. More than she knew herself. She could not say anything, words would not come to her. He had her. She could not escape his gaze. She didn't want to. Before she could understand anything, he turned back and disappeared into the darkness. It was the 10^th day.

  

May, I Find My Light

There is Glitz and glamour,

 there’s light, it’s bright

This is the coolest place, so they say

Where the bright minds unite

I am here, very much, an integral part

But I don’t belong here, I think

I get a good feeling at times,

But it never lasts

Everything is on surface, a Mirage, 

What seems is not

There is no water but sand

It is hollow and cold as ice

I, who has always dwelt among the dreamers,

Is facing brash reality of life

Where what’s close is important

What’s beyond is futile

Moulded as I am,

 I may not be able to change

To them they are right

To me I am completely sane

It’s the world that differ

And it always will

May, they find their path

May, I find my light.

Who is Monk? Part II

Link to First Part

3 hours passed, Madhav kept on shuffling files on his desk from one place to another, his mind was still occupied by the strange phone call. The Voice was so familiar still he couldn’t get who she was. The way she talked, he definitely knew her.

Tick! Tick! The wall clock was now showing 12:00, which meant it was lunch time.

“Madhav! Bro today is your treat” it was Shamit, one of those people in the office with whom Madhav could have some heavy philosophical conversations.

“Sure man lets go!” said Madhav, who was looking for an opportunity to get the thoughts of that phone call out of his mind.

They moved through a corridor surrounded by glass panes through which one could easily see a row of cubicles and here and there a group of 5-6 people having a laugh over a meal. Finally they reached a round table in the office canteen. Since the time Madhav and Shamit became friends they had been having their meals at that same table.

“Here have a look at it, I have got something for you, took me quite a while looking for it” said Shamit stretching his arm forward with a wrapped gift In it. Madhav took it and looked at it for a while trying to guess what was in it.

“Don’t hesitate open it, it’s all yours bro” chuckled Shamit.

Madhav gently tore the wrapping apart and saw some leather. “I remember you once told me that you have always wanted one of those diaries as in Harry potter: chamber of secrets, one with a leather cover and a thread around it to tie it up once you are done writing. Man it’s such a rarity I had to look into 3 different shops each of them miles away from the previous one. Finally got it, so how did you like it ?”

“It’s Awesome. I love it” Said Madhav and he really meant it, just that he couldn’t feel it, As always.

He Flipped through the pages, reached the last page and saw a sticker there “Monk Albert’.

“What is this Monk Albert sticker here? “ asked Madhav bewildered.

“Ahh it’s some tagging system they have in that shop. When anyone buys a diary he has to leave his pen name as a tag for someone else. But don’t worry I checked it it’s a removable sticker if you don’t like it. Any issue here?” Asked Shamit

“ No its absolutely fine” said Madhav who was not really there any more, the answer was just a reflex.

-------

“ Wow that’s an awesome story bro!” said Ravi after reading a post on Madhav’s blog.

“ Thanks bro, well you know writing is my only passion in life. So it comes naturally” said Madhav with a faint smile.

“ ohh this is interesting ‘ –Naina—writes.. As always it’s a delight reading your posts. You write beautifully and straight from the heart. The emotions come out really well in your stories. It’s as if you are strongly feeling them when you are writing. All the best keep writing’
Bravo! Who is sh,e ass? you never told me. She seems to be completely flat on you”

“ Ohh wait what is this here ‘ –Monk Albert—writes.. Ohh that’s too generous of you J its just I love writing and hope to take it up as a career. When I write I get lost in it, totally. So maybe you are right, I feel it. In fact it’s probably the only way I can feel things Hope to see you again thanks for the comment.’ Great going Player ask her id and number too” said Ravi winking.

“ Dude she is only a follower of my blog , nothing’s on between us. And I have her id” said Madhav with a hint of smile barely visible.

“ Absolutely Mr. writer who am I to say anything?” said ravi “ just inform me when we have to celebrate” he chuckled finally and ran off the hostel room before Madhav could catch him.

--------------

This was 6 years ago when Madhav was in final year of his engineering. Monk Albert used to be his pen name.

“ Hey Snap out!” said Shamit looking at Madhav who was lost in thought.

“Ohh yeah so where were we, Sorry I just got lost in thought”

“Yeah that’s a great way to treat a friend who got you a much yearned thing” said Shamit in good humor.

“I am really sorry about it “

“Ahh it’s fine bro. I was just kidding. So what was it that has been bothering you” asked Shamit cassualy.

“Naah Nothing!” Said Madhav baffled beyond imagination. ‘What the hell has been going on today?’

Hiatus

Mornin’ fellas

This blog is on hiatus till 2011 which by the way means that the author is on a long break. No, not relaxing. It’s just because FMS people are killing him with excessive workload and measly hours of sleep. If you know the author you would realize that he likes to sleep like a pig. Before I blabber on and he kicks me out of the admin-status I’ll sign out.

Do wait for the next post by him. It’s gonna blow you off your feet. That freakin’ good he is.

So long.

The Theory of Dipshits

The Theory of Dipshits

In recent years the world has a seen a resurgence in the way we view and value people. I clearly remember some five years ago if you would have called someone a ‘Dog’ he would have literally bitten your head off. But now calling someone a ‘Dog’ is akin to giving him tremendous respect. Is this what Lord Ram meant by Kalyug? May be or may be not. But one thing is for sure the idea of good and bad, cool and the not so cool have drastically changed. Off the variants of the newly phrased social classes The Dipshits are the most prominent. You can generally spot them in form of various wannabes.

To understand this theory we will have to begin from the basics. The origination of these classes can be traced back to the infamous and out casted Dumbasses. Now these were a really unfortunate bunch, they neither had brain to learn, the quotient for coolness and worst they didn’t have the zeal to attain any of these. They lived in the masses without any from of acknowledgement. This species is still prevalent but as always unacknowledged.

However there is one more and a severe form of Dumbasses and they are the ones called Dipshits. Dipshits are an extreme variant, they are the dumbasses with the delusion of being an asshole (An Asshole is an iconic class with very high aptitude for spontaneous coolness, they are a higher degree of jackass, but due to eccentric nature may go wild sometimes). The general quality of a Dipshit is they are annoying, irritating and sticking bunch of losers. Self praising and attention seeking is a very common trait. In short when you feel a certain person is a pain in the arse you can quite positively assume that he/she is a dipshit.

There are three basic laws for DIPSHITs in the contemporary world:

1.      1. A Person is either a Dipshit by birth or becomes one through his experiences

      2. The Number of Dipshits in this world are continuously increasing

     3. Third and perhaps a very crucial one is “ The Dipshitness of a person is directly proportional to the amount  of time he or she spends with a Dipshit and is indirectly proportional to the level of his Assholeness”

i)        CASE I ( When the time is a measurable entity): In case the time spend by a person with a DIPSHIT is measurable the following formula can be used to calculate the dipshitness)

P_D = t.C_D/P_A

P_D = The Dipshitness of the person to be calculated

T = Time spend by the person with a DIPSHIT

C_D =Dipshitness of the person in contact

P_A =Constant of Assholeness of the person under observation.

ii)      CASE II ( When the 2 person spend immeasurable amount of time together): in this we need to apply integration with time as limit varying between ‘0’ to ‘∞’

 P_{D = o}∫^∞ t.C_D/P_A

Here the constants reflect the same thing as in the above equation.

Using these laws of DIPSHITNESS you can easily measure the DIPSHITness of a person, an organization and by using genetic algorithms even entire countries can be measured for their DIPSHITNESS.

Coincidences In my life : Past three years

For long I have been planning to write something but it kept on getting delayed. Travels, extensive reading and over extensive thinking took up a lot of time in the past few days as I stand on the cusp of a very important phase in my life. However, in the past few days a lot of things happened which influenced or should I say refined my thinking to a great extent. I finished reading atlas shrugged( An Ayn Rands classic) picked up The Snowball ( Warren Buffet’s biography ) to put it down and than picked up The Celestine’s prophecy ( which completely blew my mind).

Of a lot of things the book talks about I would like to discuss the Part about co-incidences. Often it happens in life that we get a feeling about things whether we should do them or not.  A feeling like ‘I should visit Nilay today’ and we discard them citing Unimportant, vague or whim. But than sometime it happens that we do things without any logic or a foreseen cause but that thing turn out to be very influential later on. The book says that the coincidences are conjured by human mind through its desires, feelings, emotions and will.  Since Einstein proved E = mc² in his theory of relativity, there has been universal agreement that matter can also be converted into energy or it is in other words Energy. Which means this entire universe is a mesh of energy at varying degree of vibrations (Entropy). When we are focused and enthused by something we are at a higher energy level and the change in our energy level influence the energy in the world.

And when we effect the energy of the world with the variation in our own energy we seemingly start writing our own destiny. Coincidences are effect of these energy changes you concentrate your energy on a particular item knowingly or unknowingly and you attract things and people working on the same line of thoughts as their energy shares an affinity with yours. How often in your life have you met the right person just when you needed him? (And you knew you needed him though uncertain of form).  From here on I will give you examples from my life.

This is the account of past 3 years of my life…

I was in second year of college had finished more subjects of my branch than most other guys in my college perhaps city  and realized that I needed something new in life something more than the technological rants. I meet a guy(now a v good friend of mine), Aditya and he told me they were planning a newsletter project in college and were looking for like minded people he said that I was good and he could get me into team if I was interested. Well Of course I was interested I mean that is exactly what I was looking for a new avenue.  In a few days at my JAVA Classes(another form of technological rant) I got a call ‘   Hi Mayank this is Abhishek I think you had a chat with adi about newsletter and we are meeting this Sunday at CCD hope to see you there’ ( not the exact words).

This is how my journey with a newsletter began I started off as a columnist and wrote on Astrophysics ( yeah you heard it right, I mean what else do you expect of a famed nerd?). For the sake of team I was asked to get internet connection as we could not meet regularly but had to work regularly.( I wonder if it had not been for Ojas(Newsletter’s name)  I might not have got internet connection that early. I was working as a columnist when the team felt the need for web presence and I was given the responsibility, now I didn’t know much about web development, I still I don’t, but as always I knew the right people. And I got my best friend in team ( he is now getting paid for developing sites for others) who also didn’t have a clue about web development but is a god of computer science.  

Meanwhile on internet I made a lot of friends special saki dee ( my first ever online-friend but she taught me a lot of things and guess what she too was a software engineer, I got to know the positive side of the life of a s/w engineer through her)  Sunaina ( so far the most influential person in my life, more on her later), Prachi ( my friend who is a girl but not girlfriend or mentor or something that classify beyond friendship , my first close friend who is a girl) it was interacting with her that I actually opened up to girls( without making them sisters).  And a lot of other people Rohit( another techi with the spirit of an entrepreneur) , Adarsh, Shriram ( his brother was my batch mate for IIT Delhi interview), Nikhil ( a potential bestselling author of the future) and many other each of them influential in their own way. I also made some very unique real life friends Nilay( who hooked me into reading mangas and watching animes as I was done with playing Games and didn’t have much else to do, Met Goldie with whom along with Nilay I tired my hands at stock trading( it was a good learning experience)  other than that I met Divyadeep a sheer genius, Anmol an investment banker in the disguise of a software engineer, DJ born with a silver-spoon but showed us what are the troubles of being born with a silver spoon.  All in all I had a rich diversity of friends.

It was one issue into the magazine and I was still doing what can be said technical jobs writing technical articles and other form of procedural jobs. This seemingly get me frustrated because practically my life was perfect I was the part of the 2 most exclusive club in the college IT Club and Ojas. Was among the most popular figures in my batch, almost all the teachers knew me. But here I was empty wondering what was wrong with my life and for the first time I discussed my life with someone( read Sunaina) and this was a turning point. She asked me my date of birth (Silly eh!) I said 10^th feb, Oh! So you are an Aquarious! No wonder you feel that way. I was like Ahh? And she shared a Linda Goodman Aquarious personality profile with me. Now it doesn’t matter how authentic the personality profiles are and how credible sun signs are. What I know is that reading that personality profile sorted out a lot of inner struggles for me. I got to know why I was emotional detached, why I always craved for mental freedom, why my interests kept on changing and many things. On top of this she suggested I should write!

Since than I have been writing in fact writing is the only medium that sets me free in the newsletter team as well I shifted from technical writing to creative writing and got my zeal back and as a result unleashed my creative spirit. Soon I became a key player in the team. And I began dreaming of becoming a writer. I went on to become the content manager and than editor in chief of college newsletter(probably my biggest intended achievement). Than I met some new people Sampad a writer from Bhubaneswar ( a guy with dreams) , got to know about Nikhil’s writing skills,  Hiral My dear sister and phenomenal writer, a group of guys from Bhubaneswar all excellent photographer, an artist from Mumbai, Srishti a fashion designer( another software engineer) from Delhi, Mohit (IITian to say but a writer at heart). And I realized there are much bigger  things that can be done for this country is full of amazing people who if can be taken together under one room might create an organization well beyond the expectations of anyone in the world. And that’s when I decided I want to start my own publishing house. And with the help of handpicked awesome people  I will publish such quality stuff that people treasure it for their life. I will introduce mangas to Indian society for they are such powerful medium of entertainment that they can positively influence the life of millions of Indian kids.

While preparing for MBA I met another interesting bunch of people Aakash ( a guy from Hindi medium background and has a better English grammar than anyone I know), Vikram a rebel in true sorts one who walks his own path without any regards to the world, Gautam a guy with a big heart and even bigger vision. I joined PagalGuy.com and made a friend Satwinder another great writer fellow manga afisionado and a FMS call getter;) these people influenced my life in ways I cannot explain as yet.

Now from here on its about past 2 months, I was wondering whether to take up job after MBA or directly start my Entrepreneurial venture and got to know FMS has announced Placement holiday. I had applied for an international writers action team but didn’t remember that I had and got a mail that I was selected just when I was looking for some good CV points on top that the guy who is leading our team is a Graphic artist and another Manga fan. Moreover the head of the Indian chapter of the challenge future the international competition we are talking about is an MBA who plans to turn entrepreneur soon and start his own e-Magazine! Recently the placement got over at FMS and for the first time TIMEs group india’s biggest media conglomerate offered a general management profile. Moreover Abhishek my friend from the newsletter team has got Call from MDI and who knows we may work together on a bigger thing now ;) And yeah I finished reading The Celestine’s Prophecy!

I am leaving tomorrow for my interview lets see what coincidences awaits me!

Mayank Rajput

13 March 2011