Nameless

Robin Hood is Evil!!??

2010-12-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

This excerpt is taken from "Atlas Shrugged" - Ayn Rand's radical novel.

Ragnar: ". . . [Robin Hood] is not remembered as a champion of property, but as a champion of need, not as a defender of the robbed, but as a provider of the poor. He is held to be the first man who assumed a halo of virtue by practicing charity with wealth which he did not own, by giving away goods which he had not produced, by making others pay for the luxury of his pity. He is the man who became a symbol of the idea that need, not achievement, is the source of rights, that we don’t have to produce, only to want, that the earned does not belong to us, but the unearned does. He became a justification for every mediocrity who, unable to make his own living, had demanded the power to dispose of the property of his betters, by proclaiming his willingness to devote his life to his inferiors at the price of robbing his superiors. It is this foulest of creatures – the double-parasite who lives on the sores of the poor and the blood of the rich – whom men have come to regard as the moral idea." ". . . Do you wonder why the world is collapsing around us? That is what I am fighting, Mr. Rearden. Until men learn that of all human symbols, Robin Hood is the most immoral and the most contemptible, there will be no justice on earth and no way for mankind to survive."

Criticism : I am unable to digest how Ragnar is different from Robin Hood in any sense. Ragnar maintains an account for all of "Rand's" heroes so that they he could give them their due - which was taken away by the "looters". Wasn't Robin Hood the same? He took away from rich nobles to give the peasants their due. The peasants had in fact, worked under a nobility which had taken away everything from them. According to Rand's Objectivist philosophy, it is the peasants who actually deserved all the material wealth as they were the ones who did the work. I see a contradiction here, in her criticism of Robin Hood. I may be wrong in my criticism and would like anyone who has read my blog as well as "Atlas Shrugged" to point out any flaw in my argument. I need this because I am trying to evaluate "Objectivism" to see if its a full-fledged philosophy. Any Objectivists reading this blog, please note that the above criticism is a subjective evaluation which may be wrong and any abusive or forceful, irrational language on my blog will not be paid attention to.

The Fountainhead (Review)

2010-09-18T01:59:00.000-07:00

Review of the Fountainhead

The Fountainhead is a must-read. This book was one of those which I had always postponed reading and now that I have read it, I feel that it is something that definitely deserves a review. I cannot say that the characters that Ayn Rand has invented in the book are not larger than life. It is definitely, according to me, a book not to be influenced by unless you have an extraordinary strength of character. I would like to structure the review of the book just as the book is structured - In 4 main parts.

Peter Keating - Through him, Ayn Rand has dissected the mindset of a man with mediocre talent in his field. Peter Keating gets what he thinks he wants just through his people skills. This is something that Ayn Rand has frowned upon throughout the book. Keating is the typical example of an average man living in this world who is driven by materialistic pleasures. He is depicted as unethical, weak, and cut-throat. He takes up architecture even though his calling lies in the art of painting. He is severely scared of Howard Roark - his perfect anti-thesis. There are a few minor offenses that Keating commits in the course of his career which come very close to something that can be punished under law. He is indirectly responsible for the death of Lucius Heyer - one of the major partners of the architectural firm - "Francon and Heyer". This results in Keating acquiring one half of the ownership of the firm. He then betrays Catherine Helsie - his long time love, to marry Dominique Francon. His motivations for this are two-fold. Firstly, Dominque is the daughter of his partner Francon. Secondly, he had always failed to understand Dominique completely and she had never ever been attracted to him during the period of their pre-marital acquaintance. Keating also betrays Roark during one of the trials. Keating seeks advise from Ellsworth Toohey in all aspects of his career and personal life. This further helps Toohey get a grip over Keating's life and turn him into his puppet. Towards, the end Peter Keating is unable to handle the four other big players in the story - Toohey, Wynand, Roark and Dominique. He breaks down and is reduced to nothing at the end. Of what we know of the end, his marriage to Dominique is broken, Catherine will not take him back and his firm - "Francon and Keating" is
crumbling. Of all the characters in the Fountainhead, Keating seems to be the character closest to reality.

Ellsworth Toohey - Toohey is the "man you should not be". In this, I am in complete agreement with Ayn Rand. Well, this is not explicitly mentioned in the book but somehow there is a feeling you get in the sub-conscious, when you read the book that Toohey is being described in a condescending manner. Toohey is manipulative with an unsurpassed lust for power and his tactics are underhand. Toohey works in the Wynand press, where he acquires many followers. His major goal is to rule the world and he sees the press as a means toward achieving his aim. Towards the end, he unsuccessfully attempts to take over the Wynand press. He is a more intelligent and more dstructive form of Peter Keating, who he calls an amateur. Among his flunkies, he has people with money and power. He believes that once every individual in society is kept in ignorance and made to work for things which are pointless, the society can be controlled. As a young man Toohey was mediocre, both in physical appeareance and in his prowess in any field. He passed out of scholl with no great achievement to his credit. He then became a writer for one of the lesser known magazines in the university. This is where he started gaining popularity through a convoluted philosophy that he preached. And then, we joined the Wynand Press through which he achieved fame. Toohey was once shot at, by Stephen Mallory, a staunch individualist who could see through Toohey's manipulation of society. In court, Toohey asked that Mallory be pardoned. Towards, then end Toohey is fired from Wynand Papers.

Gail Wynand - In many respects, Wynand is very similar to Roark. Roark was a self-made man who came straight out of the bowels of Hell's Kitchen, a dark neighhbourhood in the underbelly of New York City. He is described in the book as a "man who could have been". Wynand Papers, a strong enterprise almost dominating the United States and was created by Wynand from scratch. He owns a penthouse and an art gallery. In the art galley, he eps all the works of art that he admires. He never meets the people whose work he loved. He is also said to have destroyed the careers of many individualistic people that he met during the course of his life. These actions probably have a root in his desire for power. The character of Wynand, yet evokes a respect, mainly because he is highly principled and had built his profession without any help. Gail Wynand was in love with Dominique Francon for whom he hires Roark to build a monument. This is when he comes face to face with Roark, his Nemesis. During the building engagement, both Roark and Wynand develop an affection for each other. Wynand sees Roark as a reflection of his mind. There is some sense of rivalry between the two but Roark emerges as the ultimate winner of a noble rivalry between the two of them. Wynand is also credited with incredeible mental strength, stamina and resistance.

Howard Roark - Ayn Rand might have crossed the line in portraying Howard Roark as "the man to be". Her depiction of Roark, seems to be that of a very strong-willed, uncompromising person blessed with an inhuman strength of character. Roark is an egotist. His motivation is his work. He quits his architecture school as he is not inclined to accept what is taught. He believes that one of man's biggest diseases is his reluctance to think independently. He does not believe in using pre-defined templates of the Renaissance for his buildings. Instead he believes that every small square inch of any building must serve a purpose and have a utility. His drawings have no room for aesthetics. He is a self-made man who many a times finds himself in a state of destitution. Even these hardships do not bring him to compromise on his principles. He is highly individualistic by nature, the extent of which can be deduced by the fact that he does not even hire lawyers to defend his work or his actions pertaining to his profession, even when threatened by a long term in prison. Rand's philosophy is that man is individualistic by nature and hence an ideal man must be not be dependent on anyone else for professional progress. Maybe in Rand's time, this could have been a possibility but in the present world with all its interconnections, the feasibility of this idea is wide open to debate. While interpreting the character of Roark, it is very important to note that his individuality spans only the field of his work. In other aspects of life, he is still dependent on society. He may appear to be a non-emotional person but his emotions are abstact and pure, according to Rand.It is also interesting that Roark is a difficult man to destroy as his motivations are not materialistic. He does not crave money, power or recognition. Gail Wynand and Ellsworth Toohey try to destroy him throughout the course of his life but none is successful. It would be very interesting to see, if possible, what would happen to a planet consisting of only Roarks, each one of them having similar character traits but differing only in their varying abilities in their profession. Would this be a Utopia or would the planet just implode?

On reading the book, many people make the mistake of interpreting Ayn Rand,s philosophy. One of the reasons for this could be that her philosophy is not clearly defined in the book. How feasible her philosophy is in today's world compared to her times is a matter of great debate. There is a lot of literature on the above available on the internet. There is no doubt to the fact that original thinkers are the prime movers of the world but to be stubborn to the extent that Roark is might infact destroy rather than create anything. Roark is also highly intelligent and is stubborn because he has the realization that his work is good. What of the people who do not know that their work is worthless. Interest in a particular subject does not neccessarily imply genius in the field. Infact, one can be average in a subject that one is intersted in. Imagine such a person trying to impose his own thinking. I do not see anything constructive coming out of that. It is a sad fact of life that it is always neccessary to be slightly diplomatic to get where one wants to be. Dont get me wrong here. I am not at all supporting the method of operation of the Keatings of the World. Well, he is the other extreme. Everyone in this world is a mixture of Roarks and Keatings. There are a very few Tooheys and Dominiques.

PS : This review is not stagnant and is subject to change as and when I deem necessary.

Demon

2010-06-29T09:29:00.001-07:00

O' Bloody Demon,
You are much the same.
Beneath that mask of terror,
There is terror in your own self.
You are much the same,
and will be rocked by the principles
on which your foundation lies,
O' Bloody Demon.

Confusion

2010-06-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

It starts with a storm cloud in the mind,
and goes beyond it; It funnels down and saps all energy.
It's so restless that it moves directionless,
though for brief moments it does acquire an aim,
but usually - its never in a place, now on the field
and then on the concrete.
It just blows and what is left is destruction.

Ire

2008-08-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Today is a perfect blog day. Got cheated thrice by auto-drivers since morning. I dint exactly enjoy a movie that I watched. You probably have heard of "You reap what you sow". I'm not exactly a fan of this statement in this frame of mind. I am not even brave enough to say that I'd punch the bastard who said this if he ever turns up. Well, I am brave enough to say it but not brave enough to do it. So why lie? When you get back shit from people for doing no shit yourself, you begin to realize that the world is not a fair place and that you don't deserve to be good anymore. Most of my anger today is aimed at Auto drivers because I got cheated of nearly 80 bucks and that's a large sum for 1 day. One of my friends also called me for a party to his house on account of his birthday and I would have had a lot of fun there. Many things are coming to my melancholic mind today and I feel at this point of time that many people have taken advantage of me and now I resolve to put an end to this. Henceforth, I shall use influence, money(lol!!), intelligence and all means possible to get even. I would very much like to make a list of all things that are gong wrong in my life. More than easing myself, I'd be putting myself at danger in putting it in so public a blog. I will put up a list when the time is more convenient which should surely come within the August of next year.

Strange people live on Earth

2008-03-14T01:15:00.001-07:00

It has been really difficult for me to make a decent conversation with people of late. When a person tells me something, there is a complex thought process in my mind about keeping myself interested in what he/she is saying. I try really hard but soon realize that I am not interested in it because it is basically very serious stuff that he/she is speaking about. Very relevant to the context, of course but rendered irrelevant by my presence as the listener. Sometimes people get together and discuss their work and how hectic it is and how they are fighting these challenges. I manage a smile, not as a sign of my understanding their situation but because, when the person was speaking, I thought about something really funny. But the other person thinks vice-versa which is good for both of us until I have to make a response, by which time I am lost for what I have to say next because I was really not listening all the while to what the person was saying. I end up saying "Hmmm.." or laughing again ( this is in case I get the feeling that the person was describing something sarcastic or funny).

"Hmmm..." is reserved for when I observe profundity in the speaker's expressions. Don't mistake me. I am a logical thinker and hence can deduce that I am a really strange person and a unique one at that and a happy one for which. Being such a person will make you bored because once people learn that there is very little use of speaking to you, statements like, "Hey, Did you see the new restaurant that opened on Cunningham Road?" or "Dude, my work's really boring" will no more be directed at you and nearly all the conversation that abounds in the sound waves today are about such things or the like. You might have observed a paradox in what I say when you point out to me that I have, in my previous statement mentioned that I feel bored when people stop directing their silly conversations at me.

Well, well, this is a complex thing to explain. I may not listen to what the speaker is saying, but it doesn't mean that I don’t like this act of them speaking to me. It is really strange (to you people) that I still want them to talk. There can only be a few possible explanations that people could make for this.

1. I feel human voice is music.
2. I like to ridicule people about their interest in trivial matters.
3. I like to make fun of facial expressions of the speaker.

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that it is not because of any of the reasons that I have listed out. It is because I enjoy attention and I guess no one has guessed that as the reason. It may actually happen that you have indeed guessed the right reason and not even thought of the three points that I have mentioned as what you people may think it is because of. This again shows that my thinking is not in the same "frequency" (If I can say so) as normal people.

But, let me tell you again that I am not abnormal.
You show a child, the script of a strange language and he laughs at the curves.
You make random sounds with your mouth and people around you will laugh.

Well, I am the same. I laugh at life so much, because it doesn't make sense to me. Everything seems disorderly and strange. Therefore, I take solace in orderly things like Mathematics and Science. Philosophy, though a matter of total conjecture (and hence disorderliness) still interests me. I do not know why this is. I myself don’t understand me. One of the reasons for this is because I strangely find myself amused that I used nearly all the personal pronouns (I, me and myself) in the same sentence, in my previous sentence. This discourse has totally mind-fucked me and I would prefer to end here and go eat my lunch. If the reader is anything like me, he sure will read the whole thing but pay attention to nothing.

Friends vs Strangers

2008-03-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

Suppose now, that you need use your computer to do a certain job. At this time another person walks to you. He could be a friend or a stranger. If it is a stranger you may not move because you got the system first but if its a friend, he may make statements like - "Hey could you please let me use the comp for 5 mins. You continue after that." and you may as well oblige. To a stranger, you are not going to move even if he wants to take just a minute. What is the logic behind all this?

Take 2 cases

Case 1: Ok, now consider that you let your friend use the computer and assume here that you need an hour to finish your work. He will probably be done in 5 mins as he says.
So your friend now waits for only 5 mins to finish his work and you have to wait for 65mins(1hr of the time taken for you to finish the work + 5 mins of waiting time by which time your friend finishes).

The total time that is used by you and your friend together would be 65 + 5 = 70 mins.

Case 2: Now suppose that you insist that you finish before you let your friend use the computer. Then, you take your 60 mins to finish. Your friend waits all this while and then after you finish, he takes an additional 5 mins to get his work done, thus totally waiting 65 mins to complete his 5 min work.

Now total time used by both together would be 60 mins(for you) + 65 mins(for your friend) = 125 mins.

So, If you let him use the computer first, you end up saving (125-70) = 55 mins of time.

But if its a stranger, you may not give him the computer, thus you end up with the situation in case 2 where u don't care about how much time he has to wait. Your work is completed in 60 mins and thats ideal for you. If u opt for case 1, with the stranger, note that you would complete your work in 65 mins, which is 5 mins more. For case 2, though you finish the work by 60 mins, there's a lot of waste in time for the stranger and you probably don't care.

Next time, if someone requests you to just hold-on for a min, so that he could finish his work, just do it(even if its a stranger). You would be saving a lot of the nation's time.

The Human Brain

2008-02-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

I was wondering whether there's a disease that creates pain artificially. The Human mind is the most complex object and a slight malfunction can create diseases such as depression, split personality, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Malfunctions have even created psychos and supermen. The traits of each brain are so varied - Some are overenthusiastic, some are dull and bored, intelligence varies in a very big range among people. Some like Mahatma Gandhi have enough power to say "Hey Ram" even while experiencing the pain of death and some like Don Corleone say "Life is beautiful" at their deathbed. Some of them fight wars for nations, though they know they will die any moment and some never give up while some of them are real big losers. All this happens because of certain parameters that vary in the anatomy of each individual brain. Likewise, I was wondering if there's a part of the human brain thats responsible for processing and sending out signals that create the sensation of pain and if there's a malfunction in this region, will the affected feel pain for no reason at all? Maybe feel the same pain that one feels while getting beaten even though there is no external pain- inducing agent. Does such a disease already exist? If its possible to pin-point the brain tissue responsible for this, is it also possible to suppress it such that no pain is felt even when damage is inflicted. I guess analgesics do this job petty well. The brain is weird. Now, don’t say that I am weird.

ID Software

2008-02-19T02:33:00.000-08:00

The dark dungeons of Doom1 have come back to haunt you again in ID Software's new Doom3. The monsters are bigger, better, meaner and scarier and as has been the ID tradition, they have far surpassed all expectations. When you look back into the days of Castle Wolfenstein, you could say that 3D first person shooter games have indeed come a long way in the arena of computer gaming. Castle Wolfenstein was by itself a revolution in the computer gaming industry with its concept of the FPS. Then came the DOOM series, which caused a great stir among the gaming circles. The UAC chambers, the exploding barrels of gunpowder, intelligent aiming, the new monsters and the poison pools enhanced gameplay to an extent never before thought possible. This was later follwed by Doom 2, and for once it felt that the rate of development of computer games was going to exceed the rate of development of the microprocessor.

All school kids got hooked onto this new game that signified the demise of the older 2D games such as commander keen, Bio-menace, prince, GP-Bike and Bricks. The era of computer games with mind-blowing graphics had just began. There were various firms that tried to cash-in on this opportunity, but games like Duke Nukem, Half-life and Hexen have by no means been able to keep up with the creative minds at ID. Just when you though that there could be no further improvements, came the quake series. Better graphics, an increased number of monsters with different weaknesses and huge levels designed to engross a mind for months together and the introduction of a wide range of guns to fit different situations now demanded more skill and creativity from the player. Quake 3 was another revolution. This time ID made Quake open-source and thanks to this, passionate gamers the world-over have written their own extensions and mods to the game. Another development here was the rise to popularity of techniques such as rocket jumping, strafe jumping circle jumping, plasma crawling - all used very extensively by the online gaming community. Mods such as defrag have created another area of interest for those ardent gamers. These modifications required a high degree of skill involved in the co-ordination of mouse movements and keyboard strokes. This game also brought the rail gun to the zenith of its popularity, where running around the levels without a railgun in hand was a passport to a sure and explosive death for the gamer.

Quake 3 was a game where all its bugs were exploited to the utmost degree. Strafe jumping started out as a bug, but no one has cared to correct it because of the popularity it brought to ID software. Strafe Jumping is still considered to be cheating in Half-life and many patches have been developed in an attempt to ban it. For me, Quake 3 has been the game of the decade, especially because playing it on the LAN brought forth all its excellent features. It could easily count as one of the wonders of the modern world. Some of the very important traits for an online gamer - aim, co-ordination, intelligence, alertness, timing and creativity were now called into action to an extent unfathomable and a slight mistake could result in a disastrous defeat which neccessitated an additional trait - perfection.

The recent Doom3 has again created the stir that is characteristic of any ID release. Here is the concept of a story-line which unfolds as the game progresses. You are called in as a marine on a facility in Mars and then things suddenly start going wrong. People begin vanishing and monsters appear as the gates of hell are opened. This time, the creators decided to add an element of fear and this they have been successful in doing. The strange voices caught on the marine's radio, the eerie laughter, sudden appearance of new monsters, noises of faraway growls of monsters and the dark rooms could any day give the opportunity for a person with a weak-heart to rest it forever. This would not be an easy death with fears of a similar hell awaiting them. The "Hell" level is the best level in the game. The discovery of the 2 PDAs with descriptions of the monsters and the fate of the people to whom these PDAs belonged sets the stage for a really scary time of gameplay. The pounding stone in this level, the cries of tortured souls, cages with deadbodies of the monsters and flowing pipes of flesh add a bizzare atmosphere to this level. The soul-cube at the end of this level is another unique addition to the previous versions. All this has ensured that Doom3 is another masterpiece from ID Software and I shall play this game for a few more years though I have already finished it about a year ago.

Now waiting for Quake 4 and Doom 4.

Journey

2008-02-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

My home lay at the foothills of a beautiful mountain. When I was a kid and people used to point to the top of the mountain and say, "Look there!!, the summit lies above those clouds and there you will find heaven", I did not care or actually even understand what the fuss was all about. For me, heaven was where I lived. So many things to discover everyday.

When I grew up, I sat by the river and looked up to the top. I wondered what those clouds
concealed and what it is that attracts all people to the summit. I could not see the summit
and hence used my imagination. I painted pictures of glory and recognition. As I sat there
everyday and wondered, I also noticed that everyday many people would make a journey to the river-bank, just to gaze at the elusive mountain-top. I soon realized that all that lived in the village would come to the river and look for atleast an hour or two a day. This
strengthened my resolve to find out. So, with all the curious people, I set out to on a
trek. "Winter approaches in 5 months", they said. We need to reach there before the snow
falls.

..and thus my journey started. We were a party of 438 people and all started climbing. When we reached the first fork in the path, our party split. Some of them took the swampy path to the right because they had heard of the trees and fruits that grew there. I, along with a few of my friends went to the left because I liked waterfall and wildlife and ancient ruins.

Soon there were many more splits and finally I ended up with 91 of them who made the same decisions as me. The journey was painful because many a time we found ourselves in front of huge vertical rocks and had to retrace long kilometres. So many people I knew since childhood died of snake-bites or fell prey to wild animals. We had already made a lot of ground and no one desired to look back. 3 months had passed since I started my journey and it was already getting cold. The mountain was already covered with snow at the higher altitudes. All this did not bother me.

Sometimes, when there were lesser barricades to vision, I would look down at the river at the foothill and see burning fires and people celebrating. I could turn back any moment but did not want to because I felt the mountain-top enticing me towards it. Still, If I found a waterfall, I would bathe in it or pluck strange fruits from trees just to see how they
tasted. Though I wanted to reach the top, I was in no great hurry in-spite of the telltale
signs of harsh winter looming large. People around me would hurry but I took my time. I was not that slow because I knew quite a lot of people whom I had left behind. Some of us seemed to be in great hurry and would not stop, come what may. They left us behind. Seeing this, some of them hurried but not me, because I wanted to taste water from every cascade and eat every fruit and see every wild animal. Sometime, I would be tensed and move faster ignoring some personal favourites. But then, when the tension settled, I would be slow again.

After 4 months, me and 3 of my friends reached a tunnel and here I was slow again. As I went deeper, it became darker. I thought that this was because sunlight couldn't reach here but some of them knew that it was because of the fast-approaching winter and they kept this to themselves. I knew something was wrong, so I quickened up a bit. Then, finally I caught sight of the end of the tunnel - a bright white dot of light. Knowing that the end was near I slowed down again but my friends were quicker having learnt from previous mistakes. They left me behind.

As I walked alone, I realized that the bright light which was the exit got duller than
brighter as I walked towards it. I quickened up but it grew smaller and smaller now and when I reached it, the light was the same size as it was when I saw it....( I dont remember how many days ago it was that I saw it). The falling snow and the avalanches must have shut the exit. Right now, I am writing from inside this tunnel. Its pitch dark here and I cannot make out anything. I don't even know where the tunnel walls are because when I spread my arms, I can't touch it. It maybe just 5 feet to my left or a kilometre away.

I can see spots of light for 10 hrs everyday. Are they just small holes in a wall close by or are they large exits far away? I walk towards many of them today, but all were small, holes in the tunnel wall, through which the sun infiltrated into the darkness of the tunnel. I saw another light yesterday. This one was slightly brighter than the rest. So, as I am walking towards it, and my hopes are slightly high.

Will this be the end of the journey?
..Or is this another trick of the darkness in the cave where depth perception is almost negligible?
How far is this point?
Will I get out alive?
If I do get out, will I survive the winter cold?
Will I reach the summit and experience heaven for myself?
Is it really true that there is heaven at the summit or was it just some kind of an
unverified rumour?

It is really lonely in here. :(

She and He

2008-01-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

She told him that day that she was tired of going to the movies and wanted to go to some other place. She said that from the top of the hill, overlooking the city, the view was breathtaking and the vehicles on the road looked like ants carrying torches from above. So he went to the stall and packed some snacks. They had enough to last a day on the hill.

While on the way to the summit, she switched on the DVD player in the car which played heavy metal music of the new band in town. He particularly disliked this genre of music and thus reached his finger to the player and switched it off. "Please, please" she pleaded. She was the definition of beauty and when she pleaded, he couldn't refuse. "OK", he said and switched it back on.

"Tell me", she said, "The gambling house you've started. Does it really give you happiness? Its not ethical you know."

"Why do you think that its unethical? It’s perfectly legal. If it wasn't I would be in prison
right now", he said as he lit a cigarette.

The car engines purred on as they traversed the desolate ghat section in the night. The night was so dark that it looked like a void ahead. When the car headlights fell on the road, it seemed as if the road was automatically forming itself in the car's path.

"Yeah?", she said sarcastically "Don’t you know that there have been so many cases filed
against you. You've just exploited a particular loophole in the law to get away from all
this."

"I'm not a criminal unless proved", he said as he took another deep puff of smoke.

"The Moral Gamer", which was so deceptively named was the only casino in the strict coastal city. All the previous ones were either shut down or had their managers arrested by the new dictatorial regime which labeled gambling as an illegal activity. This casino was an exception and it worked thus -

There were 10 "games" that you can play and each "game" required two people. To play a particular game, you had to pay an entrance fee, the amount varying for each of the different games in the casino. If you win the game, "The Moral Gamer" gave u a cash prize of double the amount you had paid and the loser got no refund. Basically the loser's money was transferred to the winner, which is exactly what happens in gambling but this transaction was done in a very different way, which made it really difficult for the city authorities to sue the casino in a court of law. The money given to the winner was given as a cash prize for winning the game and the loser's money was the fee for playing the game. If anyone wanted to play another game, he had to leave through the exit and come back through the entrance by paying an entrance fee again. Being the sole casino in the city, it was an instant success. The casino made all its money through the concerts that it arranged and the advertisement banners that it displayed.

"But you're not happy doing this, are you? Then why do it anyway? You know what the Gita says? The path to happiness and complete harmony lies in spirituality, not indulgence."

"I don’t give a rats ass about spirituality", he said. "The main point here is that I'm not
hurting anyone. Don’t you also know what the Gita says about this? When Arjuna refused to fight his kin in the battlefield, Lord Krishna Says that an action is always judged by its merit. Its always acceptable to kill, if its for the greater good."

The night was getting cold now and there was a steady breeze blowing. A little ahead in the distance, there was a line of cars parked and bright light shone. It was a park, that was
cradled in the scenic beauty of the ghats. It was like a gap carved into the mountain
wall. Imagine a birthday cake with a piece on its outer periphery cut away with a knife. This formation looked just like that except that this was natural. On one side of this formation there was a natural waterfall formed by a small stream trickling down from the top of the hill. Artificial lighting of various colours gave it a romantic feel.

"Want to stop here honey?", he asked, throwing out the cigarette stub and slowing down the car.

"No, I don’t think so. This place is so crowded today. Must be because of the holiday
tomorrow", she said casting a sideways glance at the place and added naughtily "Many people will stay here the entire night today, I guess."

He smiled as he shifted to a late 3rd gear.

"Yes..", she said again. "I don’t think you are causing any greater happiness. All the losers will be really sad, you know"

"But for every person who walks out sad, there is going to be a happy person who won. So doesn't that cancel out ?", he blurted a well-practiced reply.

"Yeah.. So where is the greater good coming into the picture honey, if there's no residual
happiness"

"What I meant to say was that I am not causing any great happiness or sadness. Just leaving the world as it is. So, actually I'm not doing any harm." He lit another cigarette.

"Ok..ok..", she carried on, "Lets look at it this way. Say A and B play and A won. Now A
uses this extra money he wins and plays against C and this time C wins. Don't you think that there are going to be two unhappy people now - A and B and just one happy person - C"

"Not exactly", he said. "Suppose that both A and B, play a game with a fee of 5 rupees each. If A wins he walks with 10 rupees and suppose now that he then plays a game with a fee of 10 rupees with C and loses. Now C has his 10 rupees. So B has lost 5 rupees and A also has effectively lost 5 rupees because out of the 10 rupees he loses to C, 5 was won from B.

Now A has lost 5
B has lost 5
C has gained 10.

So, A and B are half as unhappy each as C is happy. So when you add up their happiness and sadness, they cancel out." He concluded with the air of a lawyer.

She didn't look very impressed. "Darling, how could u quantify happiness with money units. That's exactly what is wrong with you. But still I love you and that is what is wrong with me", She joked.

She wrested the half-smoked cigarette out of his mouth with the excuse - "This is your 23rd for the day" and kissed him. She then threw the cigarette into the darkness of the forest where it fell among the bushes and looked like an orange star in the sky.

"Enough about me", he said recovering from the kiss. "Tell me. You've been to the summit before. Why were you here? With a guy?", he joked this time. He always wanted to have the last say in anything.

"That is why I tell you, you don’t pay attention when I'm talking about my job. You know the animal rights group I'm involved with ?"

"Yes". He accelerated the car to a 80kmph speed.

"Yeah...we were protesting against a new Ayurveda medicine. It’s supposed to cure headache and eye-sight problems which is ok but the catch was that an important ingredient of the medicine is deer fat. So we came to the summit and threw the medicine container down the hill to signify the beginning of our resistance. Today we have convinced so many people and they are all burning down the containers…. and do u know where?"

"Where ?"

"When I threw it from the top, it landed in a hay pit at the foot of the hill. That is where
all the people are now throwing their medicine.. and at 10 pm today, we set fire to the hay
and dispose the medicines permanently"

"Oh!" He said looking at his watch. "Its already 9:40. You will miss the last rites", he
said.

"You are too funny, you know.", she said laughing. "I can see it from the top of the hill."

"….. and, now I see it", he said keeping up the sarcastic tone. "That is the reason you wanted to come here today. Not to spend some happy time with me."

"No baby, there's a reason other than that. Have you forgotten that today is the day you
proposed to me in high school ? I want to celebrate this anniversary in a special way
today.", she said playfully raising her eyebrows and also added "We'll be alone there".

"hmmm..", he smiled. "Anyway, we'll reach in another half an hour. We just have a few more curves to take."

"Look..honey", she screamed as she pointed to the drop at the right. "They've already
started the fire. Everything's going according to plan. Yay!!"

He glanced outside the window. Down below, he saw a big fire emanating from the location she had pointed to. "I am happy for you", and he seemed to be too.

After about 20 minutes, they reached the summit and he stopped the car beside the viewpoint.

Both of them got out of the car and walked out hand-in-hand to the edge and both of them
peered down at the burning spectacle. It was a big fire that burned in about a 200m radius
and all the cars were moving away from it. The fire must have burnt for a while now as
everyone had decided to return back to their homes.

The night was quiet now except for the sound of the wind ruffling the leaves when she grabbed hold of him and they kissed for about 10 minutes.

There seemed to be tears in his eyes.
"Honey, I'll be going to Beunos Aires the day after tomorrow for negotiating a contract
to open another casino there and I'll miss u dearly during that time. Is there any chance you could come too?"

"No", she looked dejected. "My organization needs me. These are turbulent times with many people threatening my workers. I need to be here."

She then walked back to the edge to take a final look at the medicinal bonfire and spread
her arms wide feeling the strong wind. "I feel like jumping off", she said all of a sudden
and put one leg into the air and looked down. He ran to the edge standing next to her and said, "Don’t do that. You are scaring me." and held her arms. She looked at him and he saw tears in her eyes.

"Its all right. I'll be back in a week", he said.

"Good bye honey!! I'll wait for you", she said and reached into his pocket for the packet
of cigarettes.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to smoke"

"No way, It’s injurious to your health"

"Come on you keep doing it all the time. Lemme try just this once. Please! Please!"

"All right", he said reluctantly and with his back to the breeze, "I'll light it for you".

..and while he was lighting the cigarete, she violently threw herself on him, kissing him
and so hard did she that he lost balance and slipped off the edge of the cliff. In the last
moment, he grasped a protrusion with both his hands and lay there hanging from the cliff. He looked down and saw the fire still burning.

She calmly picked up the cigarette and lighter from the ground and lit the cigarette.

"What the hell are you doing? Give me your hand", he screamed in fright.

She smiled as she walked back from the edge and found a rock to sit on.

He struggled to climb back up again but he slipped. There were now deep cuts in his palm, which was bleeding.

"Ha Ha. You know? Sooner or later, you are going to fall into the fire and no one will even find your burnt body. That pit will be closed tomorrow.", she was now enjoying the act of smoking.

"Don’t do this, please. People are soon going to find out and you'll end up in jail. Don’t do this."

"Darling, did u forget that I have your e-mail password. I spent the whole of yesterday
writing your suicide note from your account. I have mailed it to myself."

"What!!!!????????", No please. Give me your hand"

"I want your casino."

There was disbelief in his eyes. "You were just arguing about my casino not conforming to the law of greater good."

"I did agree with your argument"

"So, why do you want the casino, then ?". There was now both disbelief and pain as he lost more blood from his bleeding palm.

"Yes, I agree with you to that that for every man who walks away sad there is another person who is happy. But you have forgotten one thing. ME!! If I own "The Moral Gamer" now, I'll be happy and so what do you have now. An extra happy person. and what was it that the Gita said honey? It’s ok to kill for the greater good. You told me so yourself."

"But what about me? I am not going to be happy about this. Doesn't that cancel out your
happiness!!"

"That is why my dear, I am making you a non-entity in the Universe by eliminating you
completely"

He could say no more. He was still hanging on. She decided that she had talked enough and went over to the edge, "Goodbye", she said and gave him a hard kick on his face. He was already at the limit of his stamina trying to hold on for dear life. This impact was too much for him and he lost his grip and fell right down into the blazing fire at the foothill.

She threw her cigarette stub, walked back to the car, revved up the engine and drove calmly back in the night.

As she drove past the electronic advertisement banner of "The Moral Gamer" that day, the display appropriately changed to a perfume advertisement with the punch line - "Beware the female of the species".

Minesweeper!!

2008-01-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

Got into the twenties after a long time!

The Universe, God, Us and the Big Scheme of Things.

2008-01-15T20:33:00.001-08:00

As I see it, the Universe today is a result of two opposing processes. One process forms the basis for the 2nd law of thermodynamics - A process i spontaneous only if the Entropy (randomness) of the system increases as it progresses. Since the birth of the Universe (the big bang), it has been expanding. The solar systems, stars and galaxies are all effectively moving away from each other in the space-time fabric. The other opposing process is the beautiful phenomenon of evolution. In this process order comes from disorder. Atoms and molecules come together to form "meaningful" combinations. Useless permutations die out.
The Universe is nothing but a set of rules. These are the rules, that we discover as scientific laws. One simple example is the law of gravity, which says that two bodies of mass attract each other. Now, imagine a Universe without gravity. The randomness of the Universe would have been even more as there would not be any means of keeping two masses together. So, gravity is here for a reason. The Universe desperately wants to keep matter together even as it expands. Thus, to sum it up - the Universe has created rules for itself. Whatever we see and don't see around us is a result of these rules. Our scientists are constantly discovering these scientific laws and this is a positive step. Even life and its struggle for survival is not because life wants to live but it is because the Universe wants life to live. Don’t get me wrong here. No doubt we want to live but this want has risen from within our mind and our mind was made by the Universe through the process of evolution. This is the reason we live today and think. The laws of the Universe have interacted with each other and created everything that is there today.
Now, I’d like to take the next step and say that our thought process is nothing but the
Universe's desire to understand itself. Yes- we voluntarily think but as I've mentioned
before, the Universe and its laws have evolved us to such a state where we could think. As we evolve, we become more complex beings, with an advanced capacity for understanding. We would continuously discover more scientific laws until we know the entire Universe. This is the ultimate stage of our evolution and the goal of the Universe - complete understanding. At this stage, we become GOD. We cease to exist as single entities and we form a unit. This is very similar to the concept of the human body, where individual cells (living being by themselves), make up the entire unit.
I do not know for sure when this stage would be reached or if the Universe is even capable of it, given its desire to "move away" (Is spirituality the counter??) but according to me, if this stage is reached, it would be the ideal state where the meaning of the Universe would be clear. I would like to restate it as -

"A time in the distant future when each particle in the Universe is part of a meaningful, conscious whole that has completely understood itself."

This is when we become the Universe, we become the GOD.

Something to trip on!!

2007-12-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Is life asking too much of you??
Perpetually bored??

Here's a video made by a complete retard!!
Just listen to the lyrics.

Shall post it as soon as I figure it out.

Unclear Thinking

2007-12-11T23:06:00.001-08:00

I think that I think too much about what other people think of me.
This thought occured to me when i was sitting in that Tata Sumo on my way home from work.
I was reading Rana Dasgupta's "Tokyo cancelled" and some random fellow was in the back seat continouously staring and this was a little uncomfortable for me.
It is for anyone.
Who can do things with people constantly staring at you?
So I set out to prove that "My uncomfortable feeling was not because of this constant staring but it was because of some other factors" though i sub-consciously knew otherwise.
This I could do, when he got down from the car, when his stop arrived.
I tried to feel the same discomfort that I was feeling even after he got down so that this could prove that the feeling was not caused due to him.
But i needed to give a reason to myself to artificially induce that feeling of discomfort.
The reason I gave was - "I can continue to feel uncomfortable because the guy sitting next to me also looks towards the book sometimes"
It is clear here that i had lost sight of the big picture.
Now, I just ended up proving that my feeling of discomfort was not because of the fellow sitting in the back seat.
Whereas my actual intention of proving this was that i thought that I think too much about what people think of me and this should not be.
But by proving it this way, (i.e It was because of the guy sitting next to me) I still couldn't disprove the reason for my uncomfortable feeling which was the main intention of my proof.
This proof clearly showed that I still thought about people too much.
I had totally lost the big picture which forms the first line of this blog entry.
This should not happen in clear thinking.

PS : Dont think that i'm a psycho after reading this.
I have just put into words, the complex thought process that took place that moment.
Everyone's mind goes through such things and what they say and are is a result of such things that the mind dwells over.

Unforgettable Watterson

2007-12-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

For all u Calvin & Hobbes fans -
Here are some great strips. Chances are that u would have seen them be4 cos these are considered few of the best strips. Click on the strips to see the enlarged images.

Review of "Om Shanti Om"

2007-11-16T08:17:00.001-08:00

Was reading some reviews of the movie "om Shanthi Om" and thought that I
would post my own.

First of all, reviews are written by people who actually enjoy movies and
can more or less figure out what is happening in the movie to a very great
degree of accuracy. The unique thing about this review would be that the
author neither enjoys movies - unless they are really good- nor is very
talented in understanding even very simple situations in motion pictures.
The review would be my very own observation of trivialities and wise cracks
at certain situations which deserve them.

The most discernable thing about the movie would be Deepika Padukone and
for me it ends at that. See, the one reason because of which i can actually
get myself to sit down and watch movies is the girls - not the acting or
the special-effects or the direction because if these things are really
good there would be nothing left to make fun of and it would be a boring movie. Anyway the story-line in the movie didn't deserve acting.

I think the story is about an actress who has a falling out with her
boyfriend or a fiancee or whatever he is(who cares ?). He is a very famous
director in Bollywood (in the movie). Supposedly, she is an obstacle to his
career for the reason that she is pregnant with his kid.
He perceives it as a bad thing if this info leaks out??? Yeah, you read it
right - 3 question marks becos i didn't understand why. Anyway, he takes
her to a place which was to be the set for his new movie. He burns her off
there - the usual cigarette and fuel trick(nothing original). And then
there was this other guy (SRK) who was in love with this aforementioned
actress and in the process of saving her from the fire gets burnt to death
too. All scientifically inclined people would have considered this the end
of the story and would have gone back home, crying as this obviously would
be a tragedy. But I did not leave my site because i had additional
information up my sleeve - This is a Hindi movie for my money's sake!!! It
cant end in 1 hour. ..and so it didn't.
Then a load of crap happens. and then SRK is reborn as a guy who looks
exactly like his previous incarnation. There is one more Deepika Padukone but this one is dumb. Now SRK's idea is to teach that evil director guy(EDG) a lesson using this new Deepika Padukone look-alike and he plans it all at
all the same place where the murder took place. (He remembers it from his
previous life). And so they plan to scare the EDG by trying to make him
believe that the ghost of Deepika Padukone is in that place but things
start going terribly wrong - actually terribly right. The real ghost of
Deepika Padukone surfaces and kills the EDG. The ghost has apparently
discounted the fact that the EDG can be born again too. Just like SRK.
Well, back in the burnt sets, where srk planned his revenge the director
has tried to create a very eerie atmosphere by using the usual cliches-the
huge spiderwebs which could trap elephants (I, in my personal experience
have known no such spiders with these skills), the portraits of long reborn
ancestors, etc.

At this point let me make a mention that it is not that the director of the
movie, Farah Khan does not know that the story is entirely stupid. She
makes fun of a movie with a similar story in the movie itself. This is
actually to show wise people like me that she knows that the movie is
stupid and her only purpose of making it is entertainment.

So, finally the rating -

If u're a person like me then - 7 out of 10 because there are a lot of situations you can make fun of.

If u're a hindi movie watcher then - 7 out of 10 again.

If u're brain is swiched off, u could add another 1 to the rating. If u have had copious quantities of beer before the movie, add another 2 points.

Summary :

Overall Rating:7 out of 10 (a one time watch) for people of all tastes.

Try this

2007-05-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Pockethole

2007-04-17T08:18:00.001-07:00

Flashing electric lights - they dont sting
moving colours - they run into each other
random flashes of thought- they skip one after another
heartbeat sounds
..and a smirk

cos i'm not wat i wanna be
cos i'm not really happy
am i now??

slightly sure but not fully
oh! tHose colours flash again in the dark
snap back to reality
snap back to madness
snap back to sadness
snap back to happiness
snap again...where am i??

back in the multi-coloured wilderness
with that secret still in mind
clinging like a leech
is life really worth its pain?
obviously yes...snap...not

so i was sitting - an audience
"wats ur problem?", he asked.
people cried and replied.
the ocean swelled
waves got larger
people were crazy now
i was in the middle....thinking

The water was cold...and it was utter chaos
people died around - they sank but they cried wen they were alive - like me.

The ocean unleashed its fury all around.
he had a smile.
i faced him and begged.
"I can't help u"
I spat.
"Not in my control"
"Who is to blame, then??"
"No one"

The ocean retreated. People were groping - still alive.
You've gotta be happy.
Love a walkman, a bike, a car ? - buy it
gotta hold on till the end cos no one is happy
..but no one is sad now..they shall soon be.

the image faded..back into the colours.

It said

"open your eyes, its best i cant accept u or reject u. that is how it is. live it and colour it better than this can, for man has always. Be made of diamond cos others are brittle"

My take on Humour

2007-02-10T01:57:00.000-08:00

Well, to begin with - There are various kinds of humour, the silly kind, the outright funny kind, the patterened kind, the goofy kind... and ya, the list goes on..

Like every individual is unique, every person has his own unique sense of humour and unique tastes in humour. His sense and his ability to make humour may well depend on his tastes.

His ability also depends on the time of the day and his state of mind.
I suggest you guys watch Borat. Kind of perverted humour though. But now, come on. No joke is superior to the other. Humour is not differentiated on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or nationality except American humour which is inferior. You must listen to some of thier "knock-knock" jokes. You'll definitely laugh but that is at the teller's stupidity. You might even get yourself to wonder at what point of time the evolution of thier brain stopped. But who am I to talk.I also highly recommend Southpark. I do have some respect for the creators.

Well, talking about not differentiating one kind of humour from the other, I was wondering if there were militants in this field also. "Hey, do you remember the Semptember 11 incident, the Al- Qaeda took over the American world Trade Centre building and cracked aweful jokes and had the whole of the American citizens in the building dying of laughter.
and then Bush declared war on Afghanistan, landed their troops there and told the people American jokes and made the whole of their country laugh at American jokes...muahahaha. Those bastards." Just thinking...thats all.. the world would have been so much more of a happier place to live in. What i am indulging in right now is silly humour and i specialise in it. So here's a caution - If by any chance your IQ falls in the above 90 range, you may please stop reading and may go about doing your work. Shit!! now i'll have only American readers.

My friend once asked me,"Su, man i see you doing nothing. whats your aim in life??" I remember being quite puzzled. My aim isn't that good. I average a score of 70 in bowling. but then i got thinking about that question. So I hereby declare my aim - To make the largest collection of really funny jokes in my blog. So people please contribute funny stuff. I'll make sure that your name is listed below the joke.Videos of stupid ads, one liners - anything.

What kind are you??? I am...

2006-10-12T01:29:00.000-07:00

Today, in value education class, the guy told us that there are 5 kinds of people.

1) People who do good to society and sometimes even at their own personal cost.
2)People who first think of themselves, then about others.
3)People who put their selfish needs above everything and achieve them even at the cost of the nation and society.
4)People who enjoy doing harm to others though they can avail no benefits for themselves,
5) Lastly, there are people who do harm to themselves in order to do cause a greater harm to society.

I believe that all these 5 kind of people exist in me. Very little of the 1st and last 2 kinds, a considerable amount of the 3rd kind but the most of the 2nd kind.

Sometimes it really becomes necessary to judge yourself and know what you actually are...and now am i happy with kind of person i am??

To tell you the truth, I am and i dont believe you can be the first person. You need to be a saint or something. The last two persons are whom i'm trying to get rid of and i am the 3rd person to some resrved people because i've realized that you will only lose by being good to these people. I might be wrong.

I am a normal person and crave for recognition, sex and money as the case is and that is the justification for my selfishness but i am happy about the fact that iI can say confidently that I am a better person than a lot many people i know. I dont want to be a judge but the mind does compare.

.....and finally, will i change?? Yes, I am open to change but only if I am sure to get the 3 needs I mentioned before and obviously this means change for the good....but it depends on the scale of what i do get. I might become bad if I do get really large chunks of the above-mentioned needs as a result. After all everyone has a Satan in him.

Wow, it was real fun writing about this and i hope to continue this writing spree. I guess next will be a story.

Nameless

2006-10-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

This is a story i wrote long ago when my senses weren't working.....just take a look....i'd appreciate ur comments

One must have seen the way, she was looking at him, some may even say it was cute, though, Her brown eyes were bobbing up and down naughtily, her tongue was out and she was drooling onto him. Her head was on his lap. She got up on both her legs to lick his face but she flopped and fell head first on his lap. You couldn't expect this disgusting behaviour from a female, unless, of course, she was a bitch who had just no clue as to what had swept her off her feet.

TRAGEDY ON THE HIGHWAY

Disaster had struck 3 years ago. Jodie was on one of her routine evening walks when she had chosen the wrong time to dive accross the road for a careless rabbit.
The bus was running at top speed. Avoiding the dog, even with the brakes totally engaged was impossible.
Until now, Jodie had been a well fed golden retriever but now, she could no longer "retrieve".

.......and thus it came to be that she lost both her forelegs.

SOMETHING ABOUT HIM

He had been very sad. He broke his television set, the furniture and the mirror, and he broke a photo frame too, as though that was not enough damage compared to his broken heart.
He had no family members to vent his spleen on- they had all died (except the dog) and his nature prevented him from having any friends.

THE SECOND BOLT OF LIGHTNING

"Dont joke, doctor". i have never liked jokes", he said. He was holding the doctor by the collar, his face being very close to the doctor's and he was speaking with gritted teeth.
The doctor was now annoyed but his face showed fear. "Guards", he screamed, "Guards". 5 men walked into the room and pushed the joke-hater around. He fell onto a shelf which dropped a box on the ground, spilling its mysterious contents, all on the floor.
When the joke-hater was finally flung out of the clinic, all he had was a black eye, an empty pocket (the doctor and the thugs being able to extract their fees), and a tumor in his brain!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE

(Jodie, Golden retriever, 8 years old,.......two drops of tears......., no forelegs,....a shaky 'lovable'....., in search of a new.....and an almost illegible......master)........all this on a white paper and a cheque for 50 Marks were sealed into an envelope addressed to the Editor, The Tribune. The doctor had told him that he would survive for a maximum period of 6 months and as a consequence, the otherwise aimless life had a new direction - a new master forJodie and obviously the grave.
Two weeks passed and his accomplishment was not a least bit noteworthy, except for a few consolation letters and a couple of phone calls.
Who would want an 8 year old dog without forelegs ??!!
He then offered his house free, along with dog but the state of it was such that, "it is more of a burden than a reward, a price to pay to own a crippled dog...no way", as one of them put it.

A FAINT GLIMMER OF HOPE

He heard a knock on the door, on a snowy day in winter. a middle-aged man with an eccentric glimmer in his eye walked right in. "Show me the dog", he announced enthusiastically.
Jodie was lying in her kennel, on both her hindlegs, happy as usual. The man took a quick look at the dog and suddenly all his air of enthusiasm dropped. He turned his back on the dog, the door and finally the gate.
A golden retriever by itself is a rare breed, a golden retriever with two legs missing is rarer still but a man who doesn't mind broken limbs of the dog but cares that the dog's ear is slightly....possibly a centimetre longer than usual is the rarest of all.
"Let him go, I dont care, I couldn't give definitely give Jodie to this mental hospital escapee".

FLASHBACK

All his family had died yesterday-all in the concentration camp- and all in front of his eyes. Today, he was lined in front of 12 children....all ready to be shoved into the camp. Hatred now ran through his blood, his veins, his bones and his skin. Not when he had bored the soldier standing guard near the camp and let all the 12 children escape, did he feel happiness. It was when he ran all the bullets from the rifle into the guard did he savagely feel happy...feel that he had avenged his family. He also felt that he had signed a contract between himself and the guardian of those 12 children. "I will use this contract when i need it", he thought. He fled the place.

.......AND OF COURSE THE END

Since none of his schemes had worked as no one had taken his dog, he thought of the contract he had signed ages ago. He ran to the drawer and pulled it out to search for "a something related to the contract" that would today put the pact into force. It wasn't there. He found it carelessly lying on the table.
He slowly walked towards the kennel for Jodie who instantly stared up at him. "I found you a new owner", he said, "my best friend, he will never refuse you if i say so. He owes me a favour." Jodie was happier than usual. She was now licking the black object in his hand and seemed to be very jubiliated by it. "See", he said, "even you like it. You will like my friend better still. This is the key to his house." - A moment of silence- a muffled "REST IN PEACE" - a loud explosion - and a dead dog. The only bullet in the gun which was reserved for Adolf Hitler was in the dead dog's brain.
BLOOD AND TEARS MIXED.