Disclaimer: This blog and any information enclosed within the blog, contains restricted and/or privileged information and is intended only for authorized screening and/or confidential presentation at the said author's discretion. If you are not the intended observer of this blog, you cannot disseminate, modify, plagiarize or take action in reliance upon it without written permission from the said author of this blog!!

Thanks to Anbumani Ramadoss, october2 would be remembered for a reason more than just the birthdate of Mahatma Gandhi. This day witnessed the smoking ban being carried out with aplomb in almost every part of the state. But somehow, this ban has exposed the creepy truth about the indispensable contribution of the smoking community to the Indian economy.Had that not been the case, why dont we see a complete smoking ban. What has come out from the stables of Ramadoss and his supporters are a half-baked set of rules, that can be moulded and mildewed. The intention of writing this blog is not to figure out the apparently glaring loopholes of the ban, or vent out the frustation of all the smokers who are still trying to come out of the stupor created by the ban.
There is certainly some amount of magic captured in the stick, and the poignant puff. For, it has equal number of takers as it has haters. The non-smokers term it as addiction, and we donot have any problem with the tag as far as it serves its purpose. Be it joy, grief, frustation, nervousness or just idleness it acts as a virtual spectator to life's every emotion. For all those individuals who are at sea, deciding over whether to take up smoking or not, let me tell you that it is less vicious than all the typical addictions a common man can get a hand to, the other two being drugs and love. Why is that the best and most private disussions take place more in the smoking zones, than on the floors. Why is that you share a certain degree of trust and loyalty with whom you are sharing your stick. Why the word "Adda" seems so hollow without the cig and a cup of tea. A glass of beer or a delectable meal seems so tasteless without a couple of fags. There is more than just a puff of smoke going into your lungs and coming out. A simple act of sharing a cigarette( or "counter" as we say) has so many unsaid bonds woven in it. When a Kingsize or Classic gets lit up, the college life flashes past our eyes, where a small goldflake was always shared by 2-3 people. How can such an insignificant and a poignant stick be a testimony to such a beautiful phase of our life!
The smoking community harbours a variety of followers. Donning the moguls' cap are the 'Chain-smokers', who breathe more smoke in a day than air. Then comes the regular smokers who appreciate smoking, but not to a level of labelling it as the greatest necessity of life. Finally, we have the reprehensible batch of "Occassional smokers", who bring nothing but shame to the community. With their fluctuating scruples deciding their inclinitaion or apathy for the smoke, their fidelity is always put under the scanner.
My sincere condolences for all the passive smokers of the world. The ugliest but truest analogy of such a situation would be of a person conracting an STD without ever getting an opportunity to consummate. But with terrorism and economic slowdown stealing the limelight, they can divert their concern, rather than being dysphoric over a feeble puff of smoke from a passer-by.

The topic of smoking health hazards and the reasons for implementing the ban is redundant. Somehow, the secret unexplained joys derived from a fag seem to outweigh the fact that it takes away 3 seconds of your life.
So, as Sanjay Dutt puts it in 'Kaante' : "Collar ko thoda sa upar chadhakey, Cigarette ke dhuey ka chhalla udhakey"; lets not think too much about the side effects of the ban, for the smoke will find its own way into the lungs of its followers.

We try our best to make things as perfect as they were before...but can ever re-construction be complete...What was, can never be what is...Somewhere in the middle of all this fun and frolick, an emptiness exists.. a hollowness reminding of ur failure in not living upto the past.In this madness and confusion, we surely console our brooding conscience by labelling us as 'happy'. After all, we all have this innate talent of good dramatics and false potrayal.But that is what human nature is all about. Desperate attempts to find out comfort in the most turbulent periods, and complaining about anything and everything , in the happiest of times.
Weclome to our make-believe world!

P.S -This is not a blog nor it is intended to tickle the intellectual senses of the readers.It is just a mad flow of emotions that needed to be flushed out.

A crush at the age of 22?? Not again...The candyfloss fanatasies of a girl , and proudly labelling it as a 'crush',surely looks cheeky for a school going tom.But here, i realise, that the very vulnerable little kid in me , simply refuses to grow up.I thought , with the farewell to the college days,i had bid goodbye to all the poignant emotions that attracts a guy to a girl. And with the professional life,keeping me engaged,a frivolous feeling named 'crush' shouldnt have existed in my dictionary.


For all those who have commenced with the guessing game, sorry to disappoint you, but i cant mention the name of the girl i have fallen for.The reason being,there may be a remote probability of her visiting my blog, and that would definitely tarnish the 'good boy' image , i have painted in front of her.I had seen her a couple of times in our office, but got to know her better during the new hire seminars we had in the Marriott hotel this week. As typically with all my previous crushes, this lady has inadvertently usurped my mind in just a couple of days. And like all those silly kidos, who derive inexplicable pleasure by just being able to catch a glimse of their 'loved-ones', or secretly cherishing the chanced encounters, before their crushes are crushed, i shamelessly follow suit.

But going by my past track-records, which reflect short innings with promising starts and soft dismissals, i can presume that this one's going to be no different. The life-cycle of most of my crushes dont extend beyond a couple of weeks.With this optimistic mindset, i can foresee that i will surely be cured soon , before , the little kid in me gets naughty again!!

God knows whats the magic captured in a pic.Quite true that a pic emotes thousand words.Perhaps its leads to a psychological transpose into a world different from the one in which we harbour.Makes us nostalgic..Is that it?May be, for me a pic holds an extended significance.It acts nothing short of oxygen for me, given the reason , that i am a man who lives more in the past than in the present .Whenever i flip throught the old pics of school, there is a sense of victory when i see myself flanked with friends ,whose importance in my life has still not withered a bit.They are still as much close as they were before, and i thank God for that.
But at the same time, i find myslef barely managing to remember names of few ones with whom, my acquaintance is limited to just a orkut scrap here and there.A lot of promises had been made of staying connected in the parting days and what is left now, are the vague images of them and nothing else.A sense of guilt occupies me,overwhelming enough to put me in the escapist mode.Hence, what i do, is console myself by assuming this is the part of the entire list of compromises one makes throughout one's life.
Why is that the face in the pic, unfailingly looks happier , than the one in mirror.Is it just a misinterpretation or an edification of the fact the past is always rosier than the present. A constant reminder that worse is yet to come!Such thought-process may be a natural result of a myopic and pessimistic mindset. And yes, i admit from the core of my heart , that i am one....
I am sure most of us may not be so introspective while observing the pics.This is quite natural as there are better ways to consume time than examining a pic. But for the rest, a pic holds a special meaning. It acts as a bookmark of life.
we do not 'see' pics...we 'visit' them!