King of Spades

Change is good.   The moment we hear this we feel it’s a management jargon. Well it’s time you looked at it closer. Change is nothing but evolution. But then I never thought so when I heard it the first time. Rewind to school days. ‘Evolution of Man’,’ Stone age’,’ Survival of Human species’ and what not!   For me all these stand for just one word- History! Think it’s a subject forced upon us to become ratta popats   (talking parrots) of the highest order in school. You are supposed to be aware of your past but why memorise it.   Never understood the need for it like many students, but ya anyway mugged up before the exams . The only time I found these words interesting was on Flintstones. Stone Age suddenly appeared cool. Living in caves, pet dinosaurs and yes-Yabaaa Dabaa Doooo! The moment I saw the poster of Croods it seemed to be of a similar setting.   Wanted to see the movie despite my busy office schedule and finally got a chance this weekend. And...

The 30th of April in the summer of 2009. Possibly the most talked about, hyped and eagerly awaited date in the recent history of Mumbai. Most talked about by the NGOs who wanted people to come out and exercise their right to vote. Hyped by the media who needed fodder to run their 24x7 news channels and ... Eagerly awaited by the politicians so that they can remove their goody-goody masks after the day. Among all of these was the common man, yours truly included who were waiting to vote for a change. After all,things were different this time.Mumbai was held hostage for 3 days and the Mumbaikars for many more. Some survivors still recounting the horror that they had to face and the ones who lost their dear ones,for them god knows how many days will it take to overcome the fear and shock of the terror attack. It was the 26th of November. Actually the drama began at midnight, when terrorists from across the border entered Mumbai and created havoc on the streets, platforms and tou...

The face was calm and composed. There was a positive aura surrounding her,the way it had always been. 'Amma' was what she was known as in our locality. Her real name was Dhairyalaksmi, Dhairya meaning courage, something which she had always represented throughout her life.As Kartik stood there watching her, memories flashed through his mind. Amma had moved into the colony with her husband and son around 30 years back. Her son Vinod was of Kartik’s age and in no time they became the best of friends. Being neighbours he often used to spend time in their household. She always used to treat him equally as her son which was a quality, Kartik thought was rare to find. The morning hours in their household used to be bathed in loud carnatic music. She had immense faith in god and which reflected in whatever she did.Everyday as he and Vinod left for school she used to say, “Bye, Kartik. Take good care of Vinod”!. Life has its own strange ways of unfolding events and that was precis...