TOW .... Pandora's Box

I wake up .
I go out to the balcony , to inspect how the peaceful street of the suburban dwelling i live in , welcomes this pleasant february morning .
I take a deep breath , the coolish yet warm moisture filled air fills up my lungs , yet it feels like i'm fuelling my brain as i close my eyes and picturize the blood carrying the O2 flowing through the arteries and waking up neurons on the way , like a friendly female warden in some young boys dormitory .
I feel good .

Then I sit on the clubsofa , with hot tea in an earthen mug . I love that mug ; its curves , its color , the fact that its earthen .
The steam condenses on my glasses making everyting foggy . I clear that with the edge of my tee shirt .
The same steam makes its way through my partially open nostrils and deposits the miniscule amt of caffiene it carries , right on my medula oblongata .
I'vent even sipped the cuppa , yet it feels like i'm on speed !!
Then i taste the brownish hot sweet liquid , the sweetness - the caffiene - the heat , everyting working in combinatuion charge up my dead tongue . i can feel the caffiene being absorbed by the small pores of my tongue and entering the bloodstream .
aaaah ! heaven .
the hot liquid makes its way through the foodpipe , i can sense its movement as it settles in the stomach .
i feel good .

and then like a perfunctory ritual , i open the pandora's box !!
and things arent the same anymore .

TV . perhaps the cruelest invention , for any 20 smthn american sitcom watchin sane indivisual in chennai !

channel one : news
channel two : news
channel three : news
channel four : free porn !! oh no-no that was the sex racket uncoverd in some sting op by a private news channel . so , news yet again ! damn !
channel five : news
.
.
.
channel 92 : news

all is see in these bajillion news channels ....

muslim fanatics with the cartoon row ,
hindu extremists wit their fight for a fictious character ,
politicians playing their wicked games in the open ,
witless morons deciding the education system ,
meaningless rules set by ridiculous demented authoritarians .....

channel 93 :

finally , a non news channel !! phew !
the sets look bright and fresh and young .
looks like some talk show .
two females .
wow , one has amazing legs .
damn , its some astrology show .
click

channel 94 :

a bearded half naked guy talking about ....
click

( ... talking about something i dont wait to listen . i know its something about a book that was written a zillion yrs ago by an unknown author , interpreted in the wrong way and broadcasted to a huge audience , all dangling on the edge of their declining years , listening to the way life must be lived ! )

channel 95 :

some jerk performing miracles !!
why the hell is he shaking ?
okay and the limped guy ( paid actor , i suppose ) can now walk ! yay !! praise the lord !
how can so MANY ppl be so stupid ?!
ok , the cadence of his speech is making my ears bleed , so...
click


channel 96 :

domestic set .
rich family .
traditional daughter in law , with handmade saree , soft and sweet speech .
enter the vixen : green eyes , no blue . magenta ? yup . magenta eyes . thick black streaks around the eyes ( wats tat called ? eyeliner , maskara , watever !! ) . designer saree . silver bindi , statrs near the nose , goes all the way upto the middle of the head .
the evil bitch stares at the angel bitch . tada-tada-tada . angel bitch looks at evil bitch . tada tada tada . evil bitch stares at the angel bitch . tada-tada-tada-tada . angel bitch looks at evil bitch . tada tada tada . evil bitch stares at the angel bitch . cont ....
click

channnel 97 :

some telgu channel with tamil/bollywood cast.
a fat female , well covered , but with an abundance of "assets" , dancing erotically .
she's supposed to arouse a guy , but i feel like throwing up ..
show me one guy who can get an errection wit that stuff ??!!!
click

channel 98 :

this time i see some lady doin the same thing , the bearded dude was doin .
oh no , wait , they are hugging her !
why on earth are they hugging her ?
and now she's talking .
oh ya , its the same crap the bearded bugger was talking about .
what kind of people watch this stuff ?
click

channel 99 :

its that same soap .
oh no . no-no . its different .
ok , the sets look the same .
yes definitely the same .
even the clothes look the same .
the theme is the same : tada-tada-tada , every five seconds .
but different females !!
its a diff soap .

lets check . back to 96 .

channel 96 :
five mins and three commercial breaks later , the bitches are still staring at each other !!
and yup tat was a diff soap .
click
click click

and i'm back where i started .
not a single decent thing to watch !
thanks to our esteemed politicians and few businessmen , i cant watch normal TV .
my basic right to pursuit of happiness is being taken away from me !

i'm pissed , really really pissed .
partially for the kind of nonsense they show on tv . partly for not being able to watch what i want to .

i go back to my room .

<< background score : wonderful world theme , louis armstrong >>

my cosy room . with its sugarcane colored paint , and the window facing a tree , the soft morning sun entering through the grills making a pattern on the floor , with the dust particles flowing in randomness .

and then i sit on my easy chair .
the same chair where i sit , with the headphones on , listening to U2 / clapton / sinatra or watching FRIENDS / Seinfeld reruns , or reading Crichton / Wodehouse , or trying to perform a standup in my head , or even thinking about my non existent lovelife or career .... and i'm transformed into another world .
a peaceful world .
this place aint Utopia .
this place too has its set of sorrow : rejection from women , hot beer , software that doesnt work , chicken that aint tender enough ... and more serious evils like : male pattern baldness and natural disaters .

but atleast these evils are things we cant help abt , and they arent man's inventions .

the world outside . the one that i saw on TV , is so different from my personal world .
in my world , people aren't as STUPID !

they dont give away the responsibility of their own lives to a different person ... whether it is a suave page-3 celebrity , bearded sage , the hugging female , the miracle-creating messenger of the lord , relegion , corrupt politicians , or the chick who needs to take a break frm her k-serials .

it may be hard to change the older ones who have been hardwired with idocy .
but the youth and the yougerones need to make a diff .
they must understand that ....

life does not exist ...... in ancient scriptures , or outdated relegions , or numbers , or stars that are a trillion light years away , or meaningless rituals , or deranged blokes who fake to be gods , or non-sensical abstarct theories , or doing things like a machine without reasoning .

LIFE exists in the PRESNT .
LIFE exists in that puff of air that just touched your upper lip , grazed the hair inside your nose , entered your lungs ; life exists in the sense of feel as your posterior touches the surface of the chair you are sitting on right now ; life exists in your head as you process this article and make sense of it .... life exists in the rays of the soft morning sun , the smell of coffee , the shape of the earthen mug , the depthness of silence , the sound of rehman's music , the humour in seinfeld's jokes , the beauty of wodehouses words , the creativity of intel's and microsoft's engineers .
u just have to appreciate it . free ur mind from all the irrational concepts , believe in the power of your OWN cerebral power , respect it , reason and live life in the present .
bask in the glory of the moment .
and , puruse happiness .
the only apparent goal of our existence .