True Love you want, blood you get!

The 'No Man's Land' stands there with a wide grin on its face. It sends an open enticement to both sets of armies standing on either side of it waiting to tear down each other. They are least bothered about ‘True Love’, ‘The Feeling of Separation’ and ‘Brotherhood’. They know how to battle! They know how to decimate each other from the face of this earth. The ‘No Man’s Land’ is an enigma in itself, filled with land-mines; it’s a mysterious and treacherous place for soldiers to fight. But fight they will! They don’t have a choice! They don’t want a choice! They have eliminated all possibilities of ‘choices’, of going back to their beloved, of going back to their beautiful life! No, they didn’t have a beautiful life, if they did, this war wouldn’t have taken place!

A 10 Million was killed in the First World War and we are not even talking civilians here. The battlefields of the Second World War laughed at the first, ‘Haha, We consumed 24 Million lives’. There was no stopping the Allied or the Axis. They were on a MISSION. Bodies covered with blood were thrown on every part of German battlefields carrying the message ‘Love’ is just another word in the English Dictionary, not to be taken seriously. A general cried out to another ‘The production of white flags should be stopped; we don’t want/need ‘em anymore’. And it continued. Humiliation in one face could only bring a satisfied smile on another. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany celebrated the first and second rank respectively for the maximum number of casualties in the most ghastly executed act of mankind, the Second World War!

Every new life that came to this planet feared of the Ultimatum, death on a battlefield, for their country, for their pride.

Present Day! Why is there silence? What is the serenity all about? Let there be another war. Let there be bloodshed, lives taken, honors restored and justice given! So what if there are casualties? We bring new life to Earth. They will live! They’ll learn! They’ll love. And then, one day, they’ll fight! They’ll fight for power. Some of them will perish, some will reign supreme. Ahh, the smile on their face, the feeling of overpowering your enemy (read fellow human being!), nothing beats that! That’s the Ultimatum. Every round from a .50 caliber Browning M2 machine-gun will overcome a prayer from a soldier’s mother. Every empty slot in a magazine will equate to an unanswered prayer. Still, people will laugh and exult, as they are blinded on the ‘other side’. True Love of ‘Blood’ they say! They want it! Their heads will be held high!

They’ll never hear the ‘Other Side’.

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

~Dire Straits

Untamed Reasoning

You want to learn your destiny. You wake up in the middle of The Atacama near an oasis surrounded by Spanish speaking tribes. You don’t know the language. You try to connect. You fail miserably. You try to reach out for a scrumptious Pfannkuchen (A German pancake). You realize that it is a mirage in stead. An image deliberately composed in your sub-conscious to take you out of this nonreversible misery! But, as always you are late! Too late, in fact!

But then, there is always an ‘Other Side’ to desolation. A few English-speaking ‘white’ men respond to your flash-gun. (No, I understand, you didn’t fire one for help) They take you with them; provide you incredible generosity in everything! You relax! Then again, comes the confounding thoughts, these always come, even if you just want them to stay away and get lost in the most distant planet of the Milky Way. You stand up, show your gratitude and gently leave for the unknown. Do they question you? Ask for reasons? No, they don’t. They are least bothered about your helplessness.

You are again left all by yourself to exchange blows with your own wretchedness. You let your mind drift again, only this time you are a little less vigilant. You can see faded images of the banks of the great Rhine amidst the grandeur of the Roman Empire, the castles and vineyards. What a spectacle! Now, you feel, you belong there! The improbable happens! The castle guards catch hold of you, beat you up, and throw you into the woods! Into the wilderness, you are again! You don’t belong there. You are not one of them. You leave the world; leave its ‘show’ of humanity! You reach heaven, believing that there is a GOD, someone who can show you the ‘right’ way. You explore relentlessly, leaving no stone unturned. You realize that you were cheated; at least you make yourself believe so!

You come back to The Atacama, catch hold of a very simple poor man near the oasis. You make signs to him. He understands. He responds. You learn the language. You learn their life. You learn your life. You learn your destiny.

A great day for freedom

“Get out of the house with your football and studs! Now!”

“Popsy, please! I want to study! I really want to!”

“No, Don’t you understand plain English! You go out there and practice and don’t come back before the sun sets!! Do you get me, son?!!”

“Yes, Popsy! And you are mean!” * all sad, sad!! *

// 20 years later! //

“Pop, do you think surviving in one company is possible for more than 2 months!?”

“What do ya mean?” * pretty shocked *

“I mean, it’s like I have changed 25 companies in four years. I don’t feel like working. Nothing motivates me any more! At least, my footballing career was never boring! Ahh...those days! Thanks for all that, Pop! Wouldn’t have done that without ya! Ya know!!”

“Yeah yeah I know! And ask your mom to get me the laptop! Need to write some stuffs”

“What ya Pops! You needn’t document every damn shit we speak!”

“Son, first, don’t you dare swear at me! And Second, this is no documentation! It’s called blogging!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever crap that is! Ok, am off! Divya wants to see the Moon, we’ll give a brief visit, there!”

“Ahh, ok! Be careful! There are a lot of craters there, I heard!”

“Chill Pill dad! It’s not ma first time!”

// 20 years later //

“GrandPa, wanna play NFS-Aliens Arena with me? What are you typing? Can you hear me? Hey Mr. Sounak! Heeheehee”

“Don’t you…. kaw me by my first name! And yes, I…i…can hear you…yeah..so what were you talking ab…about?”

“OldPa, oh gawddd!! Wanna kick some uhmm…wanna play ANN AFF ESS??”

“ok..ok…don..don’t shout..I can hear you! Why don’t you listen to some good music, read some good books? I still do!”

“Grandpa, gimme a break! And anyways…huh..I don’t like these X-transitic-hip-O-hop music anymore! Gimme something that’ll make me..you know…hallucinate or something! Something that’ll make me..ya know…that’ll make me fly…hee hee…something real…ya know..what I mean! Anyways, did ya ever listen to any shite? As in..some music shite? Hee hee”“Grandson! Come here! Have a seat! Wa…want some black coffee?”

“Naah, I don’t like that stuff! Ok, shoot! Am all ears!”

“Trust me, you’ll never forget this sitting! But, promise me, you’ll pass this gyan to the coming generation, Will ya?”

“Ok..ok..cut the promise shit…I can’t!...now tell me…please..fast!!!”

“ok…patient…Long long time ago, a guy, pretty cool guy you see…..“

"Like me? Hee hee”

“yeah, somewhat like ya…named Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett sat with a guitar in his hand and a friend by his side…one George Roger Waters in a studio named Abbey Roads in London…and…”