One sport, one race, ONE CHAMPION!

The car zoomed, it was a dangerous turn but he had to overtake in order to win the race, this being the very last lap…the two had been within a time gap of 0.8 to 0.6 seconds throughout the race. The constructors had a lot in stake on the two drivers. They were literally battling for their championship points and then it happened. Ray’s car rammed into the side wall, toppled, somersaulted and burst into flames. The crowd was shocked into a minute’s silence. F1 had lost its pride. Racing world had lost its idol…Ray Chiefield was dead!

After the initial shock, the question how it happened seemed to air on every news channel. Theories propounded were innumerous and some highly ridiculous. On one channel the newsreader was saying it was due to a leak in the fuel tank and another was saying that there was some problem with the steering assembly which the constructors were denying vehemently as they obviously wanted to safeguard their position. Another reporter stated that it might have been due to Ray’s reckless overtaking maneuver which had brought about his own doom.

Somehow no answer seemed conclusive enough to wrap up the case as an accident. Marc Wimbledon a well known detective in Canada was an onlooker in the racing stadium at Monaco and his thoughts were attuned towards the reason behind this terrible tragedy. Why the final lap? Was the question currently preying his mind as he felt if there was a problem with the car it should have become evident at the start of the race and not at the end. As far as he knew his friend, Ray Chiefield loved life too much to make a daredevil or reckless driving maneuver.

He wondered if anyone could have rigged the car during the last phase of this race. The car had raced on a 3 stop strategy for those 78 laps where the last stop had lasted for 8 seconds since they had to add enough fuel to last for the last 15 laps and were trying their best to keep the vehicle light. Marc made several rounds of interviews with the pit crew to check if they had noted anything out of ordinary but somehow no one seemed to have observed anything.

Ray’s will had left everything in his possession to his newly wedded wife Cherry Chiefield which amounted to nearly 50 million dollars in cash and various other properties in US. So technically she had the motive but where was the opportunity? A question Marc couldn’t answer. Ray’s death prompted the test driver of his team to take up the part of a main driver in the coming races…but could this be motive enough to plan a cold blooded murder? The rival team also benefited a great deal by way of sponsorship and surety of winning the championship…yet he had to assemble his thoughts and search for clues.

A week later a pit crew member, belonging to the Team Ray had raced for, disappeared without a trace. His friends thought he had some shady deal going on as had just bought a brand new car and deposited 10,000 dollars to his account in the bank. Marc thought to himself “Yes, blackmailing is a dangerous game!” But they could not furnish him with anymore information… His body was later found chloroformed and strangled on a deserted pathway near the Local church with no eyewitnesses, fingerprints or evidence whatsoever.

On questioning the late race car driver’s model-turned-actress wife Cherry Chiefield he could feel the personal magnetism that was portrayed exceptionally well on the screen; the charm in her manner was unmistakable. Somehow he couldn’t suspect those innocent eyes. She did mention he had been nervous and high strung lately but she had just attributed it to the fact that there was a championship to win and this could have been his last as he was planning to retire from racing the next year. “But he was only 28 years old”, said Marc “Yes, I assume he was not getting along with the new crew lead for his team and was interested in another line of business” replied Cherry, as a mater of fact.

Marc now had three motives his wife Cherry, his crew lead, his rival team and a second murder but didn’t possess a shred of evidence. The next race was to be held in Montreal, Canada which Marc didn’t want to miss it as it was being held in his home country and he was a huge F1 fan. The commentator was yelling at the top his voice during the second pit stop of one of the drivers saying “changing one’s gloves has become quite a fashion statement nowadays though I have no idea why they do that…May be some sentimental value as I have seen the late Ray Cheifield do that often”…As if a brainwave had hit him Marc went to the police and inquired about Ray’s belongings…Whatever he had worn on that terrible D-day. He examined one of the gloves and found a minute thorn which on further examination proved to be an extremely poisonous species. The inspector, astounded as he was, asked Marc “how on earth could you find that”. Marc answered quite unwaveringly “because I was looking for it!”

By mere chance he found Cherry walking along the pathway beside the Church where the body from the second murder had been found. Marc went up to her and asked, “did any of the pit crew personnel try to get further information from you regarding Ray?”, Cherry was quite fascinated by his question and replied “Why yes a man suddenly stole up behind me and asked me regarding Ray’s driving costume, it gave me such a shock!!! But I told him it must be with the police”. Marc had found out what he had started out for….he left towards the famous automobile company that literally dominated the racing track and requested an appointment with their crew lead.

“You had to win because your company is quite on the rocks and knew you couldn’t as long as Ray existed. You tried creating minor friction between Ray and his team hoping that he would join yours but when that did not work you planned a murder like no other. You kept the thorn in his gloves and made sure the car burst into flames by tampering with the fuel cap…and for all this you bribed one of the team members and murdered him later on when your purpose was achieved!!!” said Marc. “Yes I did!!! But I dare you to find any evidence incriminating me”.

“You know it’s a great invention these tape recorders!” said Marc and gave a huge smile as the inspector came in and handcuffed Mr.Gary Stevens. There was just one question Marc wanted to ask him “Why the final pit stop?” Gary said “Well I wouldn’t have killed him if he had not been so close to victory!!!”

Disclaimer: The story and the characters used in this blog are completely fictitious

P.S: This blog is dedicated to my all time favorite F1 champion Michael Schumacher!!

Come, Fly with me into the future!

The year on the calendar was 2150; he was staring through the glass pane on the day of his grand-father’s funeral, or rather the day of mourning for the one man who had achieved his dream of unifying the world under one government, as one world nation. He had not witnessed the plights of millions of fighters from the world over who fought for justice against economic oppression and politilical supremacy. He had been born 20 years after the unification process and even now found it difficult to grasp the concepts of boundaries and bondage. Though these words were quite alien to the world that surrounded him at present, he understood the difficulties his own grandparents had faced through the numerous bed side stories he had heard.

A lot had changed in the past 50 years since the world government for which his grandfather Mr.Swaminathan, whose ancestors and cultural values were deep rooted in the heart of TamilNadu, became one among the board of world presidents. Over the past 200 years humanity had witnessed thousands of incidents which can only be classified as nature’s wrath against humanity. The Economic conquerors were not able to mitigate the sufferings faced by their countrymen. The greater the number of disasters, humanity started to raise its head. It was as if God had taught them a lesson and made them realize that a human being was more valuable than a robot.

That very night he was going to travel to a place called “Madurai”, to study ancient Tamil literature and culture. Studying history and archeology were like going to a theatre after the invention of time machines…of course you will not able to change anything as it was just a screen image and you could only act as an observer. Research laboratories on the moon were still working on finding the ultimate means of breaking the time space continuum proposed by the genius of the first millennium, Albert Einstein.

He was on his way to the jewellery shop, the one thing he felt would never change as long as women inhabited earth. Tonight he was going to propose to the girl he had first fallen in love with. He felt as nervous as Oliver felt while proposing to Jennifer in “love story” by Erich Segal, a renowned classic by now! He had butterflies in his stomach and was even rehearsing his lines and posture. Adit or “Kennedy”,as his grandpa fondly called him realized that the only thing that will remain unchanged forever, transcending time and surmounting the plights of reality is the feeling called love.

A million dollar answer!!(contd from my prev blog)

Marc made enquiries about the lady who had claimed to be Mr.Martini’s wife but was not able to find her anywhere in Canada. A week later one of the news articles which the editor had deemed to be not very prominent in content read something like this “Ms.Lucille Royale, murdered in a train!” and the article further went on to say that Ms.Lucille was a small time stage actress and was going on the train enroute to Europe to join her stage troupe for their latest play. Her friends came forward to recognize her but could not throw any light on why she had been stabbed and murdered. One of her friends also stated that she had been to Canada on a Vacation.

Marc immediately left to the place where the murder had taken place. The French police were amiable enough to brief him about the murder and further pointed out that the lady had a piece of paper clutched in the palm of her hand. Marc at once recognized the lady as the one who had claimed to be Mr.Martini’s wife and clutched in her hand was a piece of the fake marriage certificate.



In his mind, he knew what had happened but there was no shred of evidence. He will have to force out a confession.

The room consisted of three people, the inspector, Marc and the doctor who had given Mr.Martini the eye drops. Marc said “I have a confession statement here signed by Ms.Lucille stating that you have killed Mr.Martini and further gave her instructions to act the part of the dead man’s wife”. “This is blasphemous!!” cried out the doctor “I am a doctor of very good reputation and you are trying to tarnish it by making such uncalled for ridiculous statements. I do not know anyone named Ms.Lucille”. Marc further showed him the confession statement and said “This evidence is enough for a jury to convict you!”

“How is this possible”, the doctor protested “I did not tell her-” his face became contorted. He realized his game was up and confessed to the crime. The man named Mr.Martini had somehow come into the knowledge of one his previous crimes and was blackmailing the doctor for money. The doctor assented once or twice and then decided to put an end to it. He made a call to the hotel reception stating he was Mr.Martini and that he required a doctor’s attention immediately. He went into his blackmailer’s room in the pretext of talking things out and stealthily put 2 drops of eye drops in a glass of water available by his bedside without catching his notice. While leaving, he also left the eye drops on the table beside his bed.

After about a month when the police were still not convinced, he paid an actress to come to Canada with a fake marriage certificate and act the part of a grieving wife, further affirming his weak heart. He had not told her about the crime committed but paid her well for the part and for keeping her silence. However the thought that she might resort to blackmailing kept haunting him, driven by two successful murders he committed the third one.

The inspector was literally beaming at Marc since he had got all the laurels and appreciation for this case and told Marc “It is a good thing you got that girl to confess!”

Marc smiled and said “It was a fake document…just like the marriage certificate”.


P.S: imagine this story to have taken place in Canada in 1960's...
Disclaimer:This story is not based on any person alive or dead or any true incident...

A million dollar question...!!

The man clutched his heart, swayed side forth and fell down after knocking the door of the well known detective Mr.Marc Wimbledon.

As Marc opened the door, all he could fathom was that a man was dead outside his room and had tried to seek his help at the very last minute. He called for the hotel manager who sent a word to the police and then examined the unknown man’s belongings to find his identity. The man had possessed no more than a few visiting cards, a key and some unsettled old bills. On further interrogation with the hotel staff, he found that the man’s name was Mr.Martini Gonzalez. He was staying in the very same hotel and had asked for a doctor to be sent to him some hours back. The doctor who had attended to him amiably answered all the questions put forth by the inspector. Apparently the patient had complained of some eye irritation for which the doctor had prescribed eye-drops after which they had had a chat about the local weather, news etc. The doctor could not understand what might have been the cause for this sudden death. He could only put it down to a sudden massive Heart attack....

Marc was not convinced. Why? Simply because the man’s eye seemed perfectly alright but the eye-drops prescribed by the doctor was opened, there was only half a glass of water by his bedside, the window sill was perfectly locked on the inside and his shoes were unsightly to look at (not to mention his clothes). The opportunities were numerous considering he had not locked his door; it could have been any one of the hotel staff or even a total outsider. But the motive and the method were not to be found. There was absolutely no evidence to be gained from the room. At the ungodly hour that this death had taken place, there was no eyewitness either.

Marc tried his best to elicit information from various sources but could not trace the man’s roots. At last after about a month, a lady with droopy eyes, draped in black came forward and told the police that the man, Mr.Martini Gonzalez, was her husband and that they had been married for the past 20 years. She produced a marriage certificate to prove her claim and also accepted that Mr.Martini had been suffering with a heart ailment for the past 10 years and had come to Canada for a business transaction.

The police had not yet found any evidence to point towards murder or in refutation to the lady’s statements. The lady, with innocent wonder her eyes, meekly said her husband did not have any enemies in the world and apologized for not having been informed about this sad news earlier. So the death was attributed to heart attack due to normal causes and the case was considered closed by the police.

Marc was still unconvinced.

The question I put forth to you is that…can you guess what actually caused the death of this unknown man?? Was it due to natural causes or was it a premeditated murder? If so how was it carried out?

P.S: the ending of the story will be out soon….

Whoa!!! Finally I reached office...

"Whoa!!! Finally I reached office..."

Let me start at the beginning. The day began with a power cut and I had arouse myself from what seemed to me like midnight (it was 6 in the morn!) from a dream where I was rescuing someone from the last piece of Antarctica which was drowning due to global warming. If you r are saying "Yeah right!", well I cant help it, my dreams are a teeny-weeny bit more fantastic than reality....

For all those people as lazy as I am, for those people who think spending time and money on gym is atrocious and for those people who love being glued to the system 16hrs a day here is my "Idea for the day".... Kick start your vehicle 30 times every single morning, then swear at it and drag it all the way to a vehicle battery repair shop which you discover to your consternation opens only about half an hour after you get there. Of course your Blood pressure will rise to staggering heights and you will feel grumpy the whole day but all that will vanish into thin air when you find out that you have lost 5 kgs that month.

At last your vehicle makes some spurting sounds and springs back to life...but by then its already half an hr late to office(disclaimer: this does not cater to those who go to office everyday at 12). Driving on Chennai or rather Indian roads (with no offence to anyone...) has become an everyday battle of life and death in which life surprisingly ends up winning. It’s no more "survival of the fittest!"...it is merely survival of the luckiest or the biggest on the road....That’s where I lose out. Every time I place my faith in luck....it so totally runs out on me after making faces and laughing its heart out.

"That’s one of the remarkable things about life, it’s never so bad that it can’t get worse" -that line from Calvin totally mirrors life as we know it. Just when all these thoughts are whirling in your head compounded with the misery of seeing the contorted face of your manager, wham!!! you have hit an auto after having scraped though alive by missing a bus that was charging towards you like a mad-bull.

By now you don care who is right coz u jus wanna get on your bike, crank up your accelerator and drive like the wind( or Valentino Rossi, whichever one u prefer) and then

"Whoa!!! Finally I reached office..."

if you thought this was the end....well you r wrong. I had forgotten my purse, cell and ID card which meant effectively going back home, calling in sick, watching TV and a ordering a pizza!!! Peace at last :-)

A ray of hope!

She took a deep breath and said "this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!!!" and cried like she had never cried before. The tiny little thing wrapped in a shawl gave out a deep resounding cry....Her world felt almost complete. She named her "Tamana", which means a ray of hope! She wished that the only man she had loved… who had vowed to be by her side through sickness and in health had not been snatched away from her by death

Working as a consultant for a small time company she never really earned a lot. As she was looking across the balcony of her house, watching her little daughter play, she thought to herself that the money coming in was just enough to sustain her and her daughter. She wanted to do something more, she wanted to give tamana all that she had never had in her life. She spent almost all her spare time coaching the students in her locality for their exams so as to earn some extra money.

10 years later

This was the day she had been waiting for, since the day her life was illuminated by this small bundle of joy that was placed in her hands 21 years ago. Her daughter was graduating as a gold medalist from IIT and had a job offer from one of the top 10 IT companies in the world. As Tamana walked up on the stage and and received that medal she felt that her sole purpose in life had been achieved....she as a mother felt successful.

On coming back home that day she discovered that her vision was blurred and she saw tiny dots dancing in front of her eyes. On a consultation with her doctor she was diagnosed with glaucoma and had to undergo an operation right away or else she could lose sight completely. She was nearly terrorized with fear....All through her life, the concept of self had been alien to her. But now she was worried for herself because of the fact that her daughter was leaving India to take up a job offer and she had to face life all alone in her old age.

Her being a diabetic patient made this operation all the more complicated and required much care. Lying down in her ward, just when she was contemplating what the future might have in store for her. She heard a soft tap on the door... Tamana came in quietly, held her mothers hand in hers and as if she had heard her mother's thoughts by telepathy, told her "Mom! How can I leave you alone....I just booked a flight ticket for you too.... "

P.S: this blog is dedicated to mothers day which falls on May 13th

A small figment of my creativity!!!

Life! is like a play
that ends at the ending of a day...

Rainbows come and fade away
Though beautiful, never last a day...

To love or not to Love!

"I hate her" he said and flung his school bag across the floor. His mom said "you shouldn’t say that sid, after all they r our neighbours now". "I don't care! That girl has made my life miserable....she tags along wherever I go, wants to sit right next to me....I have other friends too!!! Can u please change my school??" protested Sid. "No sid, they have just come from Delhi to Chennai. That girl does not even know the language. You should be helping her out", said mom with such finality that he couldn't muster up the courage to refute her.

In course of time she became his best friend, a guide, a teacher (For all of his subjects) and the only person who believed in his creative potential. She went on to study for law and he enrolled as a student in the National institute for Art and design. His parents’ dream was for him to become an engineer but she fought for him and convinced them.

His art work became the rage of the day and he went on to become a page-3 socialite, a household name, a man who made India proud in the field of Art. People came from all over the world waited in queues to own a piece of his art.

It was release of his 100th art exhibition, the world media was contemplating about the guest list as famous personalities from all over the world were rumored to attend it, The president of India was supposed to inaugurate the function. Amidst all this, he received this news from his mom "Neeta passed away due to heart attack!"

He rushed all the way to Chennai to see her face for one last time. As he knelt down beside her, the nurse gave him a small note which she said had been neeta's last wish.....The note read

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, age after age forever!

For the first time in his life he realized he was looking at the face of an angel. He remembered the way her eyes sparkled and lips parted so as to say "WOW", every time he showed her a piece of his art work. It had been his motivation to create something that would make her say that. He remembered that her favorite song was "Everything I do I do it for u", that she never wore high heels, that she was scared of a caterpillar, that she liked pizza more than noodles and that she had been his sole driving force...

All these trivial thoughts were whirling around his head and as he walked out of that ward his shoulders were drooping, his steps were slow, his face was sagged, he felt as though he had aged about 50 years. All at once he understood that he was all alone…he had lost his soul mate!!!

p.s: The quote "I seem to have..." is by Rabindranath Tagore

Conversations with God!

A man on the verge of death had this vision of a guy conversing with him…

God: Hey dude! How u doing?

Man (Utterly shocked)…who the hell r u…. I’m suffering from pain n misery. How heartless can u be to show such impertinence to a man on his death bed.

God: Birth and Death is just a cycle of life as simple as changing clothes…so jus cool it n by the way I’m god!!!

Man (in utter dismay thinks): oh my god I have gone mad…. I have got schizophrenia!!!

God: (Well being the omniscient one that he is) of course u don’t have schizophrenia…I am god n I have come to give u a choice between heaven n hell.

Man: (Now in quite a harsh manner) well I don know who u r and what u want from me but I will not reveal where all the cash lies…that information dies with me. I know who has sent you and why…

God: Cash!!!…even at the deathbed that is all that u can think of…well I think man was my worst creation ever. Ok what do you want me to do for u to believe I’m god?

Man: create something on the fly… I need to witness a miracle to certify u as god otherwise I shall press this button right now and u will be whisked away at once by the doctors n nurses in this hospital….I have paid an enormous amount for these people to take care of me.

God: (Shakes his head, looks at this guy with pity in his eyes) God has to prove himself when he is standing right before u while you r willing to believe in the existence of god in a stone. Fine, as you wish …with a swish of his hand he creates a visiting card that says

God
Every atom in this universe
Beyond time and space

Man: (almost believing and a little scared! N also thinking of a thousand things to ask for) ss…sooo what do u want from me?

God: just the simple choice that I give every man “hell or heaven”?

Man: I thought God decides that…

God: Me???????? Oh that’s too much of an effort. There are 6,605,008,933 people currently on the planet and billions elsewhere in the universe. Do you think I can decide for all these people??? I’m not Santa Claus… and plus why do you think I gave u brains …decide it, you moron with a capital M!

Man: What’s the difference between heaven and hell?

God: Heaven is a place filled with bliss where joy lasts for eternity and you live in a state beyond time and space at complete peace while hell means “Back to earth!!!”

Man: so wouldn’t every human being decide on heaven????

God: Finally a relevant question! Then why do you think the population has multiplied exponentially on earth???? I m giving you 2 more minutes to choose coz I have to go n give the exact same speech to 1000 other people.

Man (In anger coz he has never been treated with such impudence!!): what the hell!!

God: So be it! Cya take care

Happiness - What’s that like????

Happiness - state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy (As defined in oxford dictionary)

What do I think is happiness??? Is the question I have asked myself a zillion times (I hope that’s a valid word!!). We all have a self assumed goal or a dream and we work zealously towards its achievement. We work like dogs, sweat it out, slave it out, plan every single day to the tiniest detail to get the best out of it and at the end tell ourselves “yes I have succeeded!” .but what is truly the end of the road??? What do we expect from success? Hopefully you must have answered “happiness” (coz that’s the title!)

At times I find it very amusing that people who live on streets, who never know what tomorrow is going to bring them, who do not even have a shelter to protect themselves from the ravages of nature, seem so blissfully content with their lives while a man with all the luxury in the world takes a 100 pills a day for high blood pressure and insomnia…the sad irony of life I think is that the more you have the more you worry about how to protect all that you have earned. A person’s lifetime is valued based on the materialistic gain rather than intellectual gain or work done for the cause of social well being.

Success of course in the most generic term refers to monetary, emotional and intellectual fulfillment but I don think I have ever come across a person however successful they are to accept that they have attained such a fulfillment. It is always the question of I wish I had some more (someone asks u for 3 wishes n u ask for a thousand more).When did man become like this??? Or has he always been like this…
May be an imaginary conversation between 2 cavemen would have gone like this

Caveman 1: I killed 2 mammoths today…it will suffice for the whole year
Caveman 2: hmmm I don know…what if the ice melts and all our storage goes waste??? We should not stop hunting!

We always plan for every contingency…We do amazing risk analysis and come up with the most startling results… “Oh in about 40 years from now we may never be able to get a seat for our grand children in any educational institution so let us book a seat now!!” yes life has become THAT ridiculous!! We panic about something that’s going to happen after 200 years…

We have forgotten to live in the present, to savor the relationships we have NOW…We have forgotten to say “I’m happy!”. We have forgotten to relish the small things in life like getting drenched in the rain, going for a ride on a giant wheel, eating mom’s home made samosas on a rainy day…. Coz “we jus don have the time for such triviality”!!(Yeah right!)It is sad that humankind is chasing the rainbow of the future yet never realizing that reality is pretty gr8 too!!

“Happiness is not enough for me…I demand euphoria!”
-May be this quote from Calvin defines the whole of humanity