The Trekker.

My first hill trek in life to Kodachadri peak in Shimoga,Karnataka inspired me to jot down these lines.

When woods behind were dense and green,

when tracks ahead still wanted wear

his breath was lost,but will was not

he trudged ahead,when his legs would not

at last he stopped and looked around.

And only look he could,but could not speak,

there were woods below but no tracks to take,

he had but reached the peak.

Story: Checkmate

EPISODE :1

Saturday, 23rd Feb,2008 2.30 pm

Room no.429, 9th block,MIT hostels,Manipal,Karnataka

"Checkmate" whispered Manav in his trademark style with a glint in his eyes as he looked at Sabby. It was the 18th move of the game,9th of Manav's. Manav stopped the stopwatch in his cell and declared, "My time...21 seconds". Sabby, (his real name was Sarbajit) gave a high five, "Way to go bro! Agnihotri's gonna get smashed this time."

"Smashed he will be,just like last time unless he pulls up an upset win,dunno", said Manav.

"Upset win,ha! He is upset himself about whether he would even meet you in the finals. There is apparently this new kid on the block, 1st yr civil."

The fan kept whirring above their heads on the hot humid feb noon in Manipal. They had stopped complaining about it, the daily weather that is.Apparently Manipal had simply 2 seasons, tearing rains and searing heat. ( You can get both on the same day too if you are unfortunate enough). Sabby wondered if his last piece of news had even fallen on Manav's ears.

"Plays well?" enquired Manav not raising his eyes from the board , while practicing a new defence formation he had just recently formulated. " See, this knight is the problem in this defence, it comes in the bishop's path", he said, more to himself than Sabby.

" Ya heard so" Sabby continued, least bothered about the bishop's problem," Is a state level winner."

"Even Agnihotri is something like that"

"Come on! Agnihotri? He is a state level PLAYER, his career high point is semifinals in UP state. He is no match for Bengal state champ,nationals finalist Manav Sarkar!. This chap is at least a state champ."

"State?" shot Manav.

"Kerala"

"Hmm... Kerala is not an easy state, will have to check out this guy."

"Check out ... ya you sure will 'check' him out from the chequered board,he he!", mused Sabby.

"Hey that's a good one,write a poem on me and my chess na..." said Manav in a complaining way."You can write so many for the college mag,not one for your roommate and best friend!"

"Best friend huh! The worst friend" taunted Sabby."A best friend copies assignments for you when you are in trouble", he sneered.

Manav slapped Sabby's head."Ya when he IS in trouble. This friend was going to Kapu beach with his very 'special' friend while I..."

Sabby didnt wait to hear the rest, he got up and grabbed his golf cap. He knew Manav wont stop for another 2 full minutes,till he repeated his monologue for the 10th time in the past week. He loved to prick Manav's sentiments like this. His roomy was very emotional. He knew Manav felt bad for not copying the thermodynamics assignment for him,while he was the one who had all the fun at the beach.He was making a strong effort to stop himself from laughing out and kept a straight face.

"What the.... where are you off to?" Manav cut short his 'monologue'.

"Got to go,have some work."

"Some work,yeah yeah", drawled Manav," That code i know, 'some work', in front of 4th block no doubt."

"Uff will you give me a break,am going to the post office!" said an irritated Sabby.

"Oh!" Manav fell on the bed,turned towards the wall,thrust out his posterior a bit so that about a quarter of its volume overhung from the bed limits, and tried to sleep with his usual 'pillow-over-the -head' style and mumbled with half closed eyes," work for 4th block then,hmmm... go go."

Sabby could hardly stop smiling at his roomy's wit,and shot his pillow at Manav's head with an accompanying profanity. Glancing at his new proud possession, a gleaming silver Swiss watch,(an expensive Swatch given by his uncle in Germany) he cursed himself for being late and slammed the door behind him. A shout followed him from inside," Can't you shut it softly?? you dog!!"

EPISODE :2

Same day, 7.30 pm, Room 429

Thud! Thud! Thud! " 3 solid kicks,that's him!" ,thought Manav,still under his pillow. "Keep kicking!", he shouted.

"Ok, now open up! Here's your knock in British style." 'Knock,knock,tock...'

Manav slid the latch and without even looking at Sabby jumped back under his pillow,as if even a photon from the tube light into his eyes,which Sabby would just turn on would destroy his sleep.(While Sabby was from the school of thought that believed that neither the Sun from the window nor the tube light can ever create an iota of disturbance in anyone's sleep)

"Oye some news, prize money doubled. You are getting 20 grands this time", Sabby said nonchalantly as if stating a matter of fact. He dropped onto his bed,lighting up a gold flake white cigarette and puffed out a ring and waited for the reaction from the opposite bed.

The pillow curtain was pulled down slowly,Manav said without turning,"Ok, if this is your idea of a joke then ..."

Sabby without saying a word threw his nokia N-73 at Manav, just missing his ears. " See the last pic you sleepy sloth, i knew you wont believe me, I clicked the poster itself on the notice board!"

Manav shot up like an alarmed dog on his bed,eyes red from his unfinished siesta and now bulging out over the pic. "My God! 20,000 rupees! Have they gone crazy? For winning 7 games of Chess... hell!

"Its the golden jubilee year mate and its raining gold for MIT from all over. NIIT is the sponsor.They might even get your God Vishy Anand to inaugurate,who knows.Anyway whose complaining?" Sabby smiled slyly.

"Whose complaining? Well I am! Just look at the 1st runner up prize money,a paltry 5000!The 2nd runner up nothing but a certificate!MIT just cant give up on its 'winner takes all' policy...Hutt!"

" I ask again", Sabby said softly,"So who is complaining? Its yours dear."

"As if it were a cake walk eh? A couple of false moves and I could end up with 5000 or a piece of paper, and i ll tell you what,this brings in a lot of pressure.The defending champion is the worst sufferer." Manav said the last sentence pointing to the cell phone screen with such a serious tone as if it were a classified CIA file.

"Yeah,yeah you cried the same way last year. Anyway there was a footnote in the poster which i missed in the pic. One thing is that the tournament this time is open to all students of Manipal University, which hence explains the big bucks, and second is that previous year's finalists need not play the qualifiers.

"Small recompense..." mumbled Manav and prepared to lie down again.

Sabby quipped," Arre think bike, a new cell phone,party!"

Manav shot out a finger backward towards him while his head remained buried under the pillow,"Don't you count chickens...you buffoon, and please turn off the tube light.Use your nice Japanese gift lamp"

"Aye Aye captain",Sabby saluted and the tube light went off.

EPISODE: 3

Tuesday,26 Feb,2008. 1.58 pm,

Kamath Circle (KC),MIT.

" I am buying a bike next week!",cursed Sabby."This dreaded 1 mile afternoon walk to class uff!"

Mech-C 2nd yr was apparently making their daily '1 mile pilgrimage' as Manav used to call it

alongwith other MIT masses who happened to have afternoon classes that day and had missed the last jam packed college ferry buses which seemed slightly larger than Kolkata Mini buses. (Sabby would have preferred to say slightly larger than matchboxes.)

"You've been saying that since last sem", chipped in Kabir,already sweating and heaving as the uphill slope started at KC. Kabir a lanky tall fellow standing 6'2'', with long wavy hair, was Sabby and Manav's next door neighbour in hostel and their classmate in mechanical 2nd year C section. Kabir was Sabby's closest freind after Manav. They both shared many passions. Bikes,Cars,rock music and 'bird watching' to name a few,passions with with which Manav could not exactly connect much.

"Yeah,so you show me the money na! You think dad will give me a single penny given the kind of gpa i am exhibiting?"

"Oh you know what?",chipped in a heaving Manav, trying to change the topic. "That freshie drubbed Agnihotri fair and square in an informal room challenge."

"Oh that first year civil?" asked Kabir.

"yup."

"Looks like its between you and him then this time," Sabby judged.

" Who knows, its big this time.We don't know how many big shots are there in KMC,MIC and all the dozen colleges around upon the hilltop," Kabir prophesized and winked at Manav. Manav smiled. They both knew Sabby will have something to defend Manav's supremacy.

" I enquired about that," said Sabby in an annoyed tone. They both let off giggles and then looked serious.

" There may be 1 or 2 good players but among the enrolled participants none is a Nationals level player like Mr. Sarkar of MIT!" a beaming Sabby proclaimed.

to be continued....

I rest my case.

Hi there to all. Coming after a long time. Got placed in TCS on christmas day... was a nice gift from Santa i must say. Anyway there were 300 others who also got the gift so there was nothing great about it. It was more of a feeling of relief than joy that swept across me when my name was called.Hoping something even better comes along,for as we all know, man's greed is never satisfied, when he gets what he wants badly, he doesn't want it anymore.He just wants more. For the time being i can only say- I rest my case. But then it's just resting.

The Road More Taken.

The Road More Taken.

This time i have made a twister of Robert Frost's 'The road not taken'.... but on a bit serious note this time...this one i feel depicts the state of mind that many of us might have gone through . ( Twister is a trademark name of supro... given to this form of poetry where he twists the original poem of a deserving poet... with due respect to them!). The moral from this poem is the same as that of Frost's original- 'drop out of the rat race, follow your heart,your mind.'

Two roads diverged after class tenth ,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one topper, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where engineering went into the MBA froth.


Then looked at the other, of social and arts affairs,
And having it seemed much lesser fame,
Because it was rocky and took no care;
Though as for that who had passed from there
were heard to be happy about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
Indeed no one had ever trodden back.
Oh, I left the second for more money and fame!
Yet knowing I would thrive in the second way,
I repented I would never come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in my mind, and I—
I took the one more traveled by,
And that has made NO difference in life.

-Supro Antifreeze

Again for the reader's to compare here is the original:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost.

If by Supro-yard Ship-in

This time i thought i'd have some fun with Sir Rudyard! I suggest u first read the original poem below this one.... u'll enjoy more then i think... :D
If

If you can keep to your bed at 8 when all about you
Are leaving their’s and plead the same to you;
If you cannot trust your books and all the profs doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can doze and not be tired by dozing ,
Or, can lie about and don't deal in cries,
Or, being loved, don't give way to her spending,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;


If you do not dream and can grab reality faster;
If you do not think – and fully cram your brain ;
If you can meet with lectures and labs
And treat those two dementors just the same;
If you can bear to see the marks you've grown
squeezed dry further by the prof to make you look like a helpless fool,
Or watch the grades you never gave a damn to worsen,
And rise above and push'em down further with nonchalant cool;


If you can make one small pouch of all your failures
And fling it away on any given day like a garbage toss,
And choose, to make a new such pouch again… grinning
And brag to one n all about your flaws;
If you can force your friend or girl and the waiter
To serve your drink long after your senses are gone,
And so not control even when you feel nothing in your head,
Except the Bill which says to it: "Hold on!!";


If you can talk to girls without wearing a mask of virtue,
Or walk with them and still not lose your common sense;
If neither a book nor the mess cook can hurt you;
If all men count for you, but none as much as that present crush;
If you can fill the unforgiving lecture
With sixty minutes' worth of blissful nap -
Yours is the pleasure that no one else can measure,
And - which is more - you'll be an engineering grad. my son!

---SUPRO-YARD SHIP-IN

Again for readers to compare and enjoy... i'll post the original poem. ( it has d trademark chauvinist touch of kipling which we all love to hate... isnt it? )

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

It's reported that...

this story got the 1st position in my college's story writing contests. the story was designed as a newspaper columns. couldn't do it here...

“It’s reported that…”

The Hartford Courant
Sunday, Jan 1, 2000


Murder in Hartford.


Tues, Hartford: 22 Yr old David Klux was found murdered in his dormitory room last night. David was shot in his stomach while he was strolling alone in the university gardens of Connecticut University. He was pursuing his bachelor’s degree in law here. Police as of now seem to have no clue about the murderer. The place where David was shot is just a stone’s throw away from his ground floor room. A proven athlete, he tried to save himself and staggered towards his room. He kept losing blood all the time as the blood trails show. His personal belongings like his watch, an open Swiss knife, his necklace were strewn across his study table. The police detective in charge of the case, Mr. Harris O’Neal is of the view that the victim sensing his death was near, proceeded to write a note as he may not have been In a position to scream for help. The note although was written in some code and doesn’t help. Hence it’s construed that David was trying to pass the message exclusively to someone. Police are reluctant to divulge the code but our special correspondent Jim Baker (of the Maryland murder case fame) has come up with yet another of his exclusive reports. He reports David supposedly wrote 999SSIW on his note. After much persuasion, detective O’Neal has confirmed that the code or rather Mr. Klux’s last letters were indeed that extraordinary.



























The Hartford Courant
Wednesday, Jan 5, 2000

Hartford: Following up on the Connecticut University murder case, the police have issued a statement that they do have one or two suspects in connection with the murder of student David Klux on New Year’s Eve. It’s reported that Mr. Klux was a complete loner and was found either strolling alone after dark in the university gardens or in his room and seldom opened his room after sunset even when knocked and never let anyone enter his room. Although it’s reported that he did have a girl friend called Alicia Rubens whom he occasionally used to meet alone in and around Hartford. Alicia is a history graduate pursuing her masters in UConn. Sources inside point out that during intense questioning Alicia broke down and told them that her relationship with David had always been joyful but lately he had become insecure about her after he came to know that Felix Shepherd, his rival in athletics had made a pass on her and was actually pursuing her. It’s rumored that the police have Mr. Shepherd as one of the prime suspects. But his business school principal says, in his own words, “Felix would be the last man on earth to do such a thing. He has an impeccable career record in both sports and academics and Klux maybe was just one envious rival of his among many others. Moreover Shepherd has an even better character and discipline record. Shepherd always participated in charity and help camps for the old and unprivileged.” Mr. Shepherd has made himself completely available to police investigation. The police report that he is cooperating to his best. Police have also reported that Klux’s only close friend in college Ariel Judas is absconding. The police have mounted a nation wide search for him.
Note: An input from the scene of crime came in yesterday that a half empty can of insect repellant was also found under the table in the room of the victim.

After 8 years…

Jan 2008.


And as many a times it happens in this big bad world, David Klux met with his death on 31st Dec, 1999 just before midnight, but the murderer was never found.


Mr. Felix Shepherd got his business school degree with distinction. He joined state politics, is presently Hartford’s youngest senator and is rumored to become one of the youngest governors Connecticut has ever had in the coming elections. Miss Alicia Rubens too got over her misfortune and is today happily married to a doctor and a proud mother of two baby boys.

The world was looking as blissful as ever in Hartford to say in short… until a sealed envelope dropped into the Hartford constabulary on a chilly January morning. It contained a letter and some photographs. The letter read as follows…

The Chief of Police,
Hartford Constabulary.
Jan 6, 2008.

Sir,

I am the son of Officer Peter Blake who passed away about two months ago due to cancer if you remember. Despite my father’s wish that his personal brief case of case memoirs be buried along with him, I decided against it and you will agree it has not been a disheartening decision, as I will show you. I am myself planning to join the force and am currently training in the police academy. Sir, almost all the cases that my dad wrote about bear resemblance with what happened in public and who were convicted. There are some inside stories in some of the cases, but they do not affect the larger outcome of the case. Except in one case in which I feel there is some discrepancy.

This is in connection with the murder of Mr. David Klux at around midnight of 31 Dec 1999. My dad was a crime scene photographer. The photograph I have enclosed shows something that did not reach the case files in the constabulary. It shows that Klux had drawn three intertwined 6’s with his blood on the table. It’s pretty well known that 666 is regarded as the devil’s sign in pagan circles. I carried out some investigations and met Mr. Klux’s only friend in college and one who knew him best, Mr. Ariel Meyer Judas who was also a suspect in the case but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Mr. Judas in a slightly inebriated but conscious state, revealed that he, David and Alicia were practitioners of paganism and worshipped pagan gods. Alicia, he added as an afterthought practiced dark Paganism and worshipped the Devil himself. Mr. Judas also said in a light mood that hence they used to taunt Alicia by calling her miss666.

My dad’s memoirs also point out to another fact that Mr. Judas did not reveal, that detective O’Neal was the fourth member of this small and exclusive pagan group in Hartford. He persuaded my father to let this one photograph not be shown to the investigating team, as he would not like the paganism involved to trivialize the matter. My dad got the hint that this was not the actual reason, he had protested but then dad and O’Neal had been best friends since they were kids. Although he could not stop himself from writing the truth in his memoirs.

Finally I would like to point out to you just two facts that stand out even today after 8 years.
One, the code that David Klux had scribbled last – 999SSIW would look MISS666 when turned upside down. All the photographs taken by my dad too surprisingly show it only from one side! No doubt a small manipulation on Mr. O’Neal’s part.
Secondly, point to note is that Mrs. Alicia Rubens Shelburne is an asthma patient. Her medical record in Saint Francis hospital shows she has damaged lungs due to accidental chemical abuse. Further probe tells that its allethrin abuse. Allethrin is the predominant chemical used in insect repellants. She first reported an attack on 6 Jan, 2000. Just 6 days after Klux’s murder.

The case files tell that a new but used insect repellant bottle with David’s fingerprints was found in evidence if you recall from the crime scene. Only conclusion can be that he had bought it that day, and used it as his last defense.

Yours sincerely,
James Blake
Undergraduate student,
Hartford Police Academy.
(East Hartford Division)


The Hartford Courant
Wednesday, Jan 9, 2008


Hartford: Mrs. Alicia Rubens Shelburne, a resident of Burnside Avenue was arrested yesterday and charged with the murder of Mr. David Klux on 31st Dec, 1999. It’s reported that police have found conclusive evidence against Mrs. Shelburne. Our special correspondent Jim Baker has come up with the first hand exclusive report that when Mrs. Shelburne was handcuffed and was being taken out of her home, she appeared pale and hysteric. She was apparently screaming these lines, “ David had to die! You morons! I had to kill him! I had to kill him on the last night of 99 you fools! You don’t get me! My Lord had ordered me to do it! David was His son. He wanted David back or else he wouldn’t have let the New Millennium to begin! You all owe me your lives, you morons! He will make all of you pay… mark my words!

It’s reported that Mrs. Shelburne passed out after this and is still in a state of coma. She has been admitted in Hartford’s Saint Francis hospital.
The Hartford Courant
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Hartford: Alicia Rubens Shelburne, the alleged murderer of David Klux in 1999, passed away here in St. Francis Hospital on Friday, 6th June, 2008 being in a state of coma till her death. It’s reported that she passed away at 6 pm in the evening.

- Suproteek Chowdhury.
II yr, Mech. MIT

Cost of Victory

Don’t know why all today
Just so much do expect,
For all that I now know
There is this congenital flaw,
That success, is to reach
The top however steep,
At the cost of love and peace,
This victory is defeat.

Making money all the way
You think that makes you best?
For all that you do care,
Is how to never have to share,
You grind your worker in the mill,
Flog the farmer while he tills,
Am the lord think you will,
And still hone your skill to kill.

When the Fuehrer made foray,
Put his guns and men to test,
Tore all that he could see,
Crushing who dared to cry and plea.
With only London left to fall,
He sought to rule the world,
He had to lose it all
And history will repeat.


When ends the long day,
The victor’s left with no respect
For all that he now has
Like a hollow empty vase
With no flowers in within,
Is a soul so shallow thin,
He can grin and say,” I win!”
But this victory is a sin.

This is all that I can say,
One day as you try to rest,
You’ll hear a voice inside,
Which in every heart resides.
Will ask you only this,
What you won and what you lost?
Did you make of life the most?
Was it worth to pay the cost?