Of Booze, Books and Brains

"You know what..." my friend shouted at the zeroth hour of the night, when the calender was unsure what day it was...midnight, "... this is insane," he exclaimed.
"No it is not," I replied, "This is assignment and we have to submit the journals tomorrow."
"Yes, but we are engineers..." he complained, "...Not clerks who will write these vast pounds and pounds of pages and for nothing..."
"We do get term works marks for that," quipped Anshul who was busy writing another sheet on the table.
"Yes, but look at us, we are writing around 5000 pages for just 50 marks," he shouted out loud.
"Dude, its just 70 pages and you have not even started..." I replied, simply, busy trying to trace the diagram from the journal.
"Will you stop cribbing and get back to writing?" Anshul commanded, "Scholar doesn't know we have stolen his journals, we should keep them back lest he will find out about the duplicate key we have to his room."

The next fifteen minutes went in peace. I figured I could not trace the diagram so was trying a very dirty copy of a shaft.

"...but isn't this torture?" he spoke loudly, "This shouldn't be true, we are computer engineers, what are we going to do understanding shafts?"
"Recession is coming soon," Anshul replied, "If we don't get job, this can be helpful, now shut up and write."

The next four minute was quiet.

"Want some milk?" he quietly whispered in my ears, the milk here was the milk power that we kept in the cupboard.
"If you raise your head from your journal right now," Anshul finally spoke, "I am going to punch you in your face..."

Fifteen minutes went in silence.

"This is bull****," a screamed echoed in the room and knocked the clips out of the drawing board, Anshul got up from his writing, "This all does not even make sense. I am going to punch the scholar for writing 6 pages of a write up, this does not end, does it?"
"6 pages?" I exclaimed, "What do you mean... I have written only 2 pages of writeup..." me fumbling in my file, "Oh crap, I got 1st page and the 4th page, did not see the middle two..."
"You know what we should do..." he said, without raising his head, "Chuck the files and drink beer."
"That sounds a better plan, Yogi must be open now," Anshul suggested, "Beer will also help us think clearly about the assignment and motivate us to stay awake."

Fifteen minutes later all three were dozing off on the same write-ups they had written since evening. The next morning, he had drooled and spoiled two of his writeups and one of scholars writeup. I managed to write 2 pages each assignment, I am not sure in which order I wrote. Anshul managed to complete 16 assignments out of 18, he attached scholars 2 assignment instead without the first page.

The journals were submitted as it is. No one is the wiser. To this day scholar doesn't know why his 3 assignment went missing.

All three of us working in a good position in IT industry. All working in the same position as that of scholar.

P.s. Names are changed because Anshul threatened me to punch me in my face if I ever disclose his name on my blog.

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Sid
P.s. I don't need weapon, I have a sharp tongue.

Short Story: Terrorist

Republishing this story to pay Homage to 26/11. This was written on the day of trial of Kasab. If you have not read it before, hope you enjoy it, if you have read it before, hope you understand it.

Foreword: I am writing a Short Story after a long time, it is based on the backdrop of 26/11 and the events that follow. Hope you like it.

His forehead was completely covered in sweat as he sat in the court clutching the collar of his cape. The cold metal of the gun touched his chest inside the cape, sending a spine chilling shiver in his body. The last three weeks where the most difficult in his life. No, getting the gun was not hard, he got one local, hand made gun illegally and cheap too. But the real task started after getting the gun. Learning to use it was harder than he had thought, his thumb pained of the mark the recoil of the gun had caused.

But the pain was nothing. God knows he had to do it, there was no other way. He could see it clearly now.

He was following up the trial for the last 369 days watching the 296 witnesses retell the horror in front of the blind lady of justice. He studied the layout of the criminal court very well, so that he could execute the plan perfectly.

Today was the last day of the trial, last day for him to complete the task of God. He closed his eyes and prayed one final time, after today he won't be able to pray again. This was Jihad, his final act.

The authorities would arrest him, he knew, he had no escape, he did not wish to escape. Why would he escape? for whom? Everything he owned, everyone he loved had left him, left him to feel the guilt everyday.

The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qaeda

The judge ordered the court to silence and spoke to the open court about the 'act of war' and that the infiltrator cannot be 'spared.' Then the judge proceeded to read out the crimes under which the man was convicted on five counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, waging war against the country, abetting murder and committing terrorist activities under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. 166 people were killed in the carnage. The man was also awarded life imprisonment on five other counts including attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and under the Explosive Substances Act.

Slowly he closed the eyes in the court room. The judge had spoke, after a year of silence the dead could now rest in peace.

He walked out of the courtroom in silence, the moment he was waiting for was very near. The cold touch of the barrel on his chest demanded blood.

'Son, is the judgement done?' an old lady was sitting outside the court.

'Yes, he is to be hanged.'

'Lord be praised,' the old lady spoke with tears in her eyes, 'He finally gets punished for his deeds.'

'Yes,' he replied silently, 'He deserves to die.'

'Who are we to say what he deserves or not,' the old lady said, 'All we can do is judge his deeds according to the laws of the society.'

'He didn't obey any law or any rule before killing the 166 innocent people, why should we do so? This compassion of ours is the result our weak system is failing,' he said.

The old lady simply smiled, 'The fact, that, despite him killing 166 innocent people, we give him a fair trial shows that our system still is in place and we do not follow the jungle law.'

'He killed my wife and my kid,' he said with bitter mouth.

'And so he did to my own son,' she said, 'But I do not want him dead as a revenge. I want him punished because it is the right thing to do. What he has done to your family is wrong, but that doesn't justify you doing the same to him. He killed them and he gave the reason of his own, you will kill him with the reason of your own, what is the difference between both of you?'

He simply stared at her, unable to speak.

'Son, you have a lot of time to live, don't live mourning over the dead, instead use your life building good stuff so people will remember them as they were. What is death but a mere moment, your wife is still with you in your memories, in your thought. Don't tarnish them with the deed you will repent forever. The man who did this deed should be punished by law.'

'But... look at this, it took one year for them to pronounce the law. Then he will appeal in the Supreme Court, according to our law, anyone can appeal for his pardon to the president. This process may take years, he will rot in prison till then.'

'Son, our system is made of people, not machines. I agree there are flaws and delays in the system, but eventually, the good thing gets done. The system does not forget nor forgives. People do escape the clutches of law many times, but trust me, eventually everyone pays his price in the system.'

'Why are you still here then? Did you come here for a year just to watch the trial?' he asked with bitter mouth.

'No, I came to tell the young boy, who is now guilty, that I forgive him. My son was the same age as he was, I just hope, he can forgive himself for what he has done. I have no regrets now, my son was the only means of support for me in my old-age but I am not going to mourn over his death and ruin my life. No. My son died a hero's death and for that I won't let anyone tarnish his memory. I will live for my boy and hope that he has attained heaven and is waiting for me soon,' she smiled.

She asked him to support her as she got up and she whispered close to him,

'Don't go down the path the boy has gone, there is no return from there. Don't spoil your families memory by marking your soul with his blood. What is done is done, you won't find peace this way. Let go of all prejudice holding you together and start afresh in the loving memory of your wife. I hope you do not lose your way in between,' she smiled and limping walked away.

Epilogue: In a shocking twist of the convicted terrorist trial, the police found a local made revolver thrown in the trash just few meters away.

He now leads a happy life and he did opened a old-age home for the elderly in the name of his wife. The house supports the old whose sons are far off in the army or lost in the natural disaster.

Across the road from his old age home, the old woman smiled and walked away in a limp. A few distance apart she vanished into thin air.

Authors Note: The above story reflects the sentiment of the victims family, the unnamed 'He' is the one man who vowed to end the terrorist with his own hand. If we look into history, new terrorist are born this way. Terrorist is a person who causes the act of terror, the reason behind the act is immaterial, the act matters. We all hold grudges against something and at some part of the time, over a period of time, this anger consumes us causing another terrorist. If you like this story, vow to kill the terrorist in you and tell others to follow, the soon we let go the prejudice, the sooner the world will be a better place.

Fact: The trial mentioned in the above story is exact as the trial of lone gunman of 26/11, Kasab, even the judgement given by the Special court judge M L Tahaliyani is exact with some parts modified, but not tampered, for the fiction story.

The characters are entirely fictional.

20 comments over this:

Pinch Boxing

"Whatcha doing?" I asked her as she stood in a questionable position in the joggers park, early morning.

How early? even the slum dwellers had not come out on the streets for their morning potty.

'I am practicing a new form of defense,' she replied peacefully.

'Defense, that is interesting. Some trouble?' I quizzed.

'I met my old friends today over lunch then we went shopping and in the evening we took coffee at CCD,' she started.

I don't said, how thats bad.

'So we were discussing about relationships, she was telling how she has screwed her life and how practical she has become after her first breakup I havent told anyone about my boyfriend but it made me think of how foolish and stupid I am...'

About time, don't you think.

'..and how i am not doing anything about it, also they told me that I have lost a lot of weight, which is sad because people keep asking if I am sick or something...'

Uh oh, is there an emergency exit around? The monster is out of control.

'...my hair and skin is a mess... '

She took a deep breath, '...and on top of that, the evil exam planners are showing results next week.'

'Oh dear, thats quite a lot of drama for a Rakhi Sawant too...' I exclaimed.

'...and i couldn't sleep for days, plus i feel depressed at home, i might as well end my life if it wasn't for my parents.' she concluded.

'You know your life is not exactly in a mess. You do know what you have to do.'

'I have thought a lot and I know what the right thing to do is but the problem is do I have the guts to do that? do I have the guts to confront my boyfriend straight in his face? can I think of losing him? after so many years.

I am hopeless and will be'

'Good, do you know, how many years it takes for a average human being to accept that he is hopeless?' I started, it was my turn to start, 'There are people at age 80, who find it hard to accept. You at age 21 have accepted it, I think its a good start.'

'Instead of worrying so much about your life, live it and let the universe take care of your problems.' I suggested, Universe works for me.

'Yeah, I am avoiding him since two weeks and I am keeping self control over me, so I don't think he will be such a problem. And my dad has been asking me to join him in yoga since many days for my health problem.'

'In just 15 secs of accepting you are hopeless, you have solved two major problems in your life.' I exclaimed.

'Naah, it is just that my leg hurts and I crib a lot na.' she smiled.

'Obviously you too...' I replied.

'How many other crybabies you know?' she.

'Well, only 400 million other people, at the last count.' me.

'Ha ha, glad I am normal.' she.

'Aren't we all?' I quipped.

'I thought I was in the sadist period,' she beamed.

'Planet earth is in sadist period since the ice age,' I replied.

'So this new form of defense... what is it?' I asked not sure what she was doing so far.

'It is called pinch boxing,' she replied, 'An ancient elite form of marshal arts practiced by woman all over the world since the Egyptians.'

'You mean punch boxing?' I confirmed.

'No I mean, pinch boxing... now go or I will give you demo...' she threatened.

'Hold on, you said its a new art form, but now you saying its old?' I asked, 'What are you doing....'

Ow. Ow. Ow.

10 comments over this:

The Belly Landing

Or the great test of high impact on hard surface by a heavy object, in this case... me. So as it turns out I was as usual traffucked (n. A condition where the entire universe is conspiring against you reaching your destination. Source: Dictionary of Ossumness) on my way to home. The universe had already washed the streets with clean water and for the first time in last three months I found the road empty, so happy I was with the profound happiness that I decided to increase my speed to 41 from 40.

As I drove on the wet surface, multiple things happened at the same time. The person in my front decided that it was time for him to suddenly change lanes, my thoughts suddenly turned from Mallika Sherawat and her slimy avatar to Ohmigod, my legs decided it was the day of revolution against my brain and pressed the brake of my bike and I knew it was time to test the oiliness of my newly serviced bike and the wheels knew they could not stop on the wet roads. In Summary: Screeech, dhadam and dhoom. I was on the road in 10 secs and in next 5 sec the person who switched lanes rain off and a unexplainable pain, worst than watching Phoonk 2 back to back after Phoonk 1 in a theater alone, emerged from my legs.

A few days ago on the same path a mob had gathered because a girl had crash landed from her scooty. It took me 3 mins to realize bloody hell only 4 people stopped to pick me one. One picked my helmet and my bike and parked at the side of the road, which I realized was because it was obstructing the traffic. By the time my brain adjusted to the fact that I had crashed, a new problem was registered. The front foot rest was bend and was obstructing my bike gear, I could not drive my bike.

So here was in the middle of the road with a broken knee and half broken bike. I could call home and ask my dad to give me a ride, but my ego won't allow me to do so. With one leg still standing I kicked the foot rest so my gear could move a bit and then started my bike and drove home, this time only in second gear and somehow reached home.

After putting ice on the injury, my brain realized the real reason why I was unhurt and my bike was bend so badly. When I crashed I had landed on by belly which acted as a pivot and my whole body floated over it. My shirt was spoilt thought and it was my favorite shirt. I did have an interesting wheel-chair adventure in the office but as the grand plan of the universe and the natural law of all the awesome things in the world.... wait for it.

3 comments over this:

Celebrations

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 16; the sixteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

'Have a drink my boy,' he offered him a drink.
'No, please I don't want,' Raghvan refused.
'Oh don't be such a spoil sport, its celebrations time,' he opened another box of champagne. 'This is rich fine wine from the french wineyard. Have some.'
Raghvan glanced at him and was scared. What happened, he did not know, how did he get here he had no idea.
'You know I always liked you taste since beginning,' he was mocking Raghvan, 'Wish you would open up a bit for this celebration.'
It was only one whiskey, or was it two? No it was one only. How could he not remember.
'It was definitely more than two, mister,' he said, as if reading the mind, 'Lets see, you started with 2 large pegs for your celebrations. Then you took 6 large pegs before flirting with that chick in the corner. Then you had 2 pegs before you entered into the brawl with her boyfriend. You took one more peg before smashing the entire bar,' he started thinking, 'I think you took one too many drink. One drink.'
The whole night was crystal clear for him. The drunken brawl as the bartender refused to serve him the drink, the spat that he needed the drink in any case. He getting kicked out of the bar and finally fumbling into the gutter before finally reaching his car.
'You did ask for one drink thought,' he said, 'And one drink you shall have.'
What was the last thing Raghvan saw? The lights, yes the lights and the noise, loud noise, ear deafening loud noise before crashing into that incoming truck.
'One drink too many, mister,' he smiled in the wicked grin, 'You know it takes only one drink to lose control, the problem is, you cannot control which one is it.'

'Cheers,' he finally sipped the french wine, '...and Welcome to Hell'

Image courtesy: Don't drink and Drive campaign by http://www.surecw.com

P.s. There is a fine line between celebrations and death. Don't cross it.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

21 comments over this:

Spilled Crumbs

On Public demand collating all the quirky and witty status from my facebook and twitter. These are witty lines from the year 2009, exactly one year earlier. You will be surprised to know I was surprisingly witty back then too

We fall, sooner or later. Nobody lives forever. Nobody gets a free pass. What matters is, you go down fighting and you go down clean!!! (Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:18:39 GMT)

My luck just gave me a free upgrade....double jackpot!!! (Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:29:43 GMT)

It is bad luck to be superstitious.... (Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:30:02 GMT)

My boss says... I should spend more time on project, my gf says I should spend more time with her, my parents says I should give more time to the house, my friends says I should give more time to them.... I often wonder, if I am not giving more time to them, where am I spending it? (Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:01:51 GMT)

Just few minutes far from beating kumbhakaran in laziness...:D (Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:42:52 GMT)

I have no morals, no ethics, no values except courage!!! (Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:04:33 GMT)

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives. (Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:39:00 GMT)

Remember no sex with your friends ex!!! (Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:23:41 GMT)

Recession, unemployment, Hopeless romantics, mid-life crisis, unhappy sex life, 12 hours work... maybe instead of teaching us, grownups should go to sleep!!!! (Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:03:47 GMT)

This diwali, lets vow to save planet earth... or hunt for a new planet with coffee!!! (Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:06:54 GMT)

An executive is a person who always decides; sometimes he decides correctly, but he always decides. (Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:29:06 GMT)

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. (Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:29:25 GMT)

When in doubt, go back to sleep!!! (Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:33:54 GMT)

Buy some seeds, plant them and waiting for them to grow? Head for Cafe buy Stuff cook food, waiting for it to get ready? head for fishville, nuture fish? Waiting for fish to get hungry? Head to kill your friend in Mafia...man... Do we really have a life??? (Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:31:31 GMT)

People are hatching hen eggs in search of 'stuff' and get disappointed to find a chicken. (Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:32:40 GMT)

Friday the 13th today.... do all stupidities and blame it on the day!!! (Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:03:54 GMT)

I stopped believing what they taught me in school, when they stated teaching me algebra!!! (Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:57:01 GMT)

Trying to reach Mumbai in 24 hrs flat from Delhi by road, either I am really crazy or I am totally crazy, will confirm if I do make it and try to get some videos too. Ossum!!! (Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:34:19 GMT)

Moral of movie avtar: If you have no g-friend, try your luck as a alien. (Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:50:41 GMT)

One more time, someone calls me wake up Sid, i am going to feed you complete bottle of sleeping pills....damm... I am not sleeping in office...err...really...:P (Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:29:16 GMT)

So like if I behave nice today do I get a consideration for presents, I think kidnapping Santa and his presents is a good options to get more presents!!! (Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:28:05 GMT)

It takes a 40 year Aaamir khan to lecture his professor... when I lectured my professor on teaching methods, my term work marks dropped, True Story (Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:52:04 GMT)

India is becoming a land of geeks, unlike our cool ancestors, the guys who build khajurao loved the work they did. (Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:26:27 GMT)

Leaned a hard lesson in life... foolishly keeping rice burning on the gas for longer time does not qualify as a fried rice!!! (Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:17:22 GMT)

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. (Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:56:50 GMT)

Tonight at 12.00 the decade end and begins a new era, I resolve not to think about the past, but only worry about the future and make fresh new silly mistakes. Happy new Year idiots. (Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:26:23 GMT)

I will not make sarcastic comments on anybody...I will try to... I will not make silly jokes about anything...I will really try to.. I will give up coffee....I will try to forget I said that sentence...how will I wake up to new year if I don't get coffee? (Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:28:47 GMT)

3 comments over this:

The Origin of Marriage

Long long time ago, when the frozen planet earth was removed out of the giant fridge and kept to bring it to normal temperature, it was a better place to live. God was happy that he created such a wonderful planet, he thought, 'What could I do to make this even more perfect?'

The next best idea hit him and he created the Male and female, the first man and woman walked down on Earth and felt the wind, the breeze, the water and the fire and God said, 'Aww look at him, they do look happy.'

The male and female walked the earth and were enjoying its natural beauty, but then there was a eminent problem, the first animal the species saw was rabbits... And thus began the unending race between humans and rabbits of producing species faster than the planet could cope with. Planet earth was not capable of handling the load and hence requested God to solve the problem.

Now, God was smart, of course he was smart, he was God, for Godsake, you don't get brownie points for being smart if you are God. He invented the diseases, to solve the problem of overcrowding earth. You see, people would already die, but now he could kill them sooner. Here God underestimated those people who were called the prickers on earth..Prickers used to play with human bodies and loved to show people magic tricks by drying out blood and replacing body parts with others. They outwitted God in his grand gesture of disease, they immediately announced that they have the cure for the disease. Because Prickers was a bad word, they changed the professional name doctors and gave complex name to simple problems so that people would take them seriously.

God got nervous and didn't know what to do. He discussed the issue with Mrs. God about the eminent problem and she said, 'Why don't you teach them ma...'

'I got it,' God smiled,'I will teach the doctors to play golf.'

He was too busy pleased with himself, to look at the contempt on the face of Mrs. God.

And thus, golf was a medical profession game, slowly most of the mankind learned the heavenly game.

But then this caused more trouble, you see with no one to stop the man, the golf became a big menace for the other wild-life. Many times the golf balls would enter the nest of crows and they used to take their care of it as their eggs, only to learn the hard truth later. There was a ongoing battle between the rhinos and the elephants about who hit them with the balls. The normal blame would go to the monkeys who perched high up on the trees. Finally irritated monkeys escalated to God that please boss, solve this problem.

Again God was worried, he had no idea what to do. Mrs. God tried to give him a sign, but he did not listen to her. That night when he was sitting down drinking, he got a brilliant idea.

He clapped his hand and said, 'Let there be light beer.'

And so came down beer, gift wrapped in nice wrapping paper with the mans name written on it. The man gulped down the beer and started floating in the air. The golf stopped immediately as more and more men started drinking.

The drinking did solve the golf problem but created a big one and that was anger. Now people starting fighting over woman, beer and land. The trouble did finish off most of the human race, but it also started destroying the beautiful planet he created with so much care.

Finally distressed, God sat down one day, not knowing what to do and told Mrs. God, 'I am God, I can engineer the process of creating a storm from the single flap of the butterfly, I can create a never ending fire and store it in the sun which will give energy for endless years. I can build mountains and canyons that will remain a tourist attraction for ages. but you know what, I build the perfect species and they are better than me. They work together, united to overcome my basic rule of the planet, survival of the fittest, I have no idea what to do with them. I have programmed them in such a way, that they are destroying my own planet.'

'Dude,' said Mrs God, 'Your major problem is, you have given this species everything. You have given them the thumbs (I had warned you don't), you removed the irritating tail, you gave them advance senses and a brain. This is by fair the best species you have ever created, since dinosaurs (Mrs. God had a pet dinosaur which was killed in the barbecue accident, so she was angry on God) but one thing you missed out in these species was, you gave them a lot of time to waste. They are destroying the planet because they have time, remove their time and they will end up in a circle. You have to keep them busy in some other thing,' she beamed.

'Other thing?'

'Love, you big old almighty fool, Love. Show them the path of Love and they will get busy forever. Now, they are ruled by their brain, give equal power to their heart. They will get so confused about their emotions that they will never be able to destroy your creation. Go old man, show them the path of Love, and for your own sake, give me that robe for laundry, you are wearing since dark ages.'

God thought, yes that's it, 'And also I will introduce them to the sacred ritual of marriage. A legal and socio-economical bond that will make them inseparable and even if they do separate, the emotional imbalance will render them incapable of conquering the planet like they plan to do. Yes, that's brilliant.'

' I think you are over doing it, dude, this marriage thing might make their lives hell,' Mrs. God observed but looking at him she was convinced that he would not listen she added, 'If you are teaching them marriage, I give them a boon, that the truth shall set them free. Now will you give me that robe'

And hence first marriage happened. But Gods plan failed miserably and Mrs. God was right, he did overdue the thing about marriage. It created multiple problems faced by humanity, like the grown in consumption of bitter gourd, or the fight for the laundry clothes and many prominent problems never solved by mankind.

Still He realized it late that his plan failed, and hence went into hiding and no one has seen him since.

True story.

18 comments over this:

What are we chasing?

My friend decided to switch jobs, his simple motive was to earn money. He received a big package in lieu of job change and was happy to get great money. Few days into the job and he started getting nervous, he could not adjust with the surroundings. Slowly he started getting upset and one day he decided to switch again, yet again, a company offered him a good package.

This new company was small comparatively and he started craving for a big break, he had already tasted the switch and decided to switch again. This vicious continued until one day he realized he had reached his saturation and industry did not need him again. He was angry and upset and his wife did not know what to do. Slowly his family was falling apart and he was unhappy. What did he do wrong?

In Bengal and Orissa, they say, there is a invisible Goddess sitting next to Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of money, in shape of owl. They say, the only way to see her is by having Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and sense, by your side. But Lakshmi is a moody Goddess who does not stay at one place for long, she ensures that Saraswati does not enter the place where she is residing, thus making way for her twin sister or her owl, for some, Alakshmi to enter. Alakshmi then ensures that there is distress, fights and gloominess in the house and thus Lakshmi exits from the place.

In Ramayana, Ravan was a known scholar. Master of all Vedas and Upanishads, he was the most powerful warrior in the world and even a better and just king than Ram. However all this vanished, the day he inherited Lanka from Kubera, the God of wealth. By stealing the wealth, Ravan ensured his own path of destruction. What he thought was Lakshmi was actually, Alakshmi who had entered the house. Hence, he, the king of the earth, most powerful man on the planet, did not think of his kingdom, his family, his subjects before trying to fulfill his selfish lusts. He had kicked out his knowledge from his kingdom and hence no sense could let him stop the war.

In ancient Greek, Eris, the Goddess of strife and discord, also known as Discordia in Roman. She was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. In rage she threw the Golden apple in the middle of the wedding, labeled, 'To the fairest.' Three Goddess made the claim for it, and in the rivalry, brought the trojan war, which lasted ten years destroying troy.

What my friend did wrong was, he choose Lakshmi instead of Saraswati to make wise decision. Hence he left sense and thus paved the way for his own destruction. We as a individual should remember, Lakshmi drives away Saraswati but the later, invites Lakshmi wherever she is. Keeping Alakshmi away is not hard, as written in Vishu Puran.

Vishnu keeps Saraswati hidden under his tongue which is why Alakshmi is kept at bay and he always has Lakshmi by his side. Focus on making wise decisions not involving money, but sense and you will keep quarrel, fight and malice away.

A special post before Lakshmi Pujan. Have a blast this Diwali.

P.s. Did you like the special Diwali design?