Tuesday, July 26, 2005
SOLVE IT LIKE HOLMES
Note: This piece was written as my contribution for a magazine called Kshitij but some intellectuals, who call themselves the editors, had some other ideas. Since I had spent some time in composing this, so publishing it here. This is also dedicated to my IIT-M gang.
It was a dark, eerie night and the silence was broken down by screeching sound of a jeep. As detective Chubby walked into the hostel with his assistant Stony, he could feel the tension in the air. It was the first time such a crime was committed on the institute’s premises. He could see the next day’s newspaper headlines “Student found murdered in the hostel” in front of his eyes. This would lead to further repercussions in terms of the reputation of this institute. With all these thoughts running in the back of his mind, Chubby found himself standing in front of the ill-fated room no. 247, the door of which was wide open and on the floor was lying the body of Pinns. There were a few guys standing outside the room in a shocked state.
A man, who by no means looked like a student, walked up to Chubby and said in a breaking voice “Hello detective, I am the warden of this hostel. This student Pinns lived in this room and was found murdered 45 minutes ago, strangled to death”. Chubby looked at his watch; it was fifteen minutes past midnight. He looked at the deserted, dark corridor. “Are there no lights here in this part of the hostel”, he enquired.
“These tube-lights are not working for the last two days. Somebody took away their starters. We registered a complaint but no action was taken”, a heavy voice spoke from behind the detective. This was Viv, Pinns’ best friend of the past.
Till now Stony had taken a stroll in the hostel and he reached up to Chubby and said in his quirky style “There is no way an outsider could have come inside the hostel other than through the front door. I spoke to the watchman, who swears that no outsider entered the hostel after 10 PM. He has a list of all the visitors in the register. If it was done by an outsider, it was done before 10 PM”.
“But Pinns came with me from the library at 11 PM”, another voice made its way through the huddle. This was Buffy, Pinns’ neighbor.
“That means one of the students has committed this crime!!!”, exclaimed Stony with widened eyes.
“How many students live here?” asked Chubby, ruthlessly brushing aside his assistant’s excitement.
“Only ten”, said the warden, “Its summer break going on; so we don’t allow students to stay. Only final year students who are doing their projects are living here”.
“How many are living in this wing?”
“Six of us……oh I forgot now only five are living”, said Demi, the bulky guy of them all; and as always, not leaving any opportunity to pun on words.
“What about the guys in the other wings?”, said Chubby, closely examining Pinns’ body with a raised brow.
“They all went for a movie at 10 PM. They probably don’t know what has happened here. Oh God ………”, said Icy in a choked voice.
“Who found the body?”
Sandy, the guy who had not uttered a word till now, was the most stunned in the whole gang. He raised his hand as if he was sitting in a class. “I found him lying here. After he came from the library, he told me that he would bring some booze from his room and join me in 10 minutes but did not turn up for 30 minutes. I thought he passed out or something inside his room but this……..”, his voice broke and he started crying profusely.
After a brief silence, Chubby spoke, “Seems like all four of you were there inside the hostel when this happened”.
“No detective, I went to the other hostel; I had just entered the wing when Sandy shouted and collapsed on the floor after seeing the body”, Buffy was quick to interrupt. He was looking like an 80s rock star with long hairs, torn black jeans and a black tee shirt, with his muscles trying to rip the fabric apart.
“Okay then; I will take statement of each of you in the next room. Please come one by one”, asked Chubby in a stern voice of a cop.
Sandy, the frailest among the whole lot, came into the room, still fazed due to the horrific event. He spoke in a trembling voice, “When Pinns did not turn up till 11:30, I went to his room and found it bolted from inside. After knocking and shouting, I opened the door only to find pitch dark inside…………….”
“…… Opened the door!!! How can you open a door that is bolted from inside? Are you drunk?”
“No detective….. Luckily I didn’t have any money or booze today. Coming back to the door, everyone in the wing knew that Pinns’ door opened after you tap it 4-5 times at a particular spot. Nearly everyone had mastered this art. After opening the door, I tried to switch on the lights but in vain; so I went back to Demi’s room and got the emergency light. As I switched on the light, I could see him lying absolutely still. I shouted and …… and don’t know what happened after that”.
Viv: “I was working on my project the whole evening and did not come out of my room. I went to take bath at around 11:20 and saw Demi and Icy playing Age of Empires on the network in their respective rooms. In the middle of the bath, I heard a strange cry; thinking something is wrong, I ran out only to see Sandy lying on the ground outside Pinns’ room. As I tried to wake him up, I saw the body of Pinns in the dim emergency light. Suddenly I saw Buffy standing besides me …. He also came running, I think. Yeah…… I think this nerd Buffy is the main suspect. He had an aversion for Pinns from the very beginning because of grades. Last week, they had a major fight when Buffy came to know that Pinns had stolen some of the experimental results from his thesis and submitted them to the professor. This would have meant a straight A to Pinns and Buffy would have been left with a B, which in turn would have put the Gold medal in Pinns’ neck. Everyone knows that Buffy can do anything for grades”
Buffy: “I know what this cool dude Viv would have told you. He thinks I am the killer. Why will I do this? Just for the sake of some grades!!! No way. I mean….. we bickered over some issue but today Pinns apologized to me and I gave him lift on my bike from library. I forgave him and things were cool. In my opinion, Viv is the one. He had a grudge against Pinns coz his girlfriend had ditched him and went with Pinns. Viv is an emotional guy and was very upset about this and never spoke to Pinns. He even told me that he would kill Pinns whenever he got a chance. Yesterday, he saw both of them on the beach and this made him even more furious. I think he was planning this meticulously in his room all day today. He would have killed him and left the door like that. And this guy Sandy, he is always boozed…... you can’t trust whatever he says …….. sometimes he even forgets his own name.”
Demi: “I was playing AOE with Icy on the network the whole day today. I had my headphones on and same was the case with Icy, I suppose. Viv, who was acting very weirdly with his bathroom towel on, called us out. I have a strong hunch that Sandy is the killer. He has got some problem …….. I think he is mad and goes crazy when drunk. Also, he is always on the lookout for cash to buy some booze or grass. Today he must have demanded some money from Pinns, refusal of which would have led to all this. Then he must have feigned unconsciousness ….. everything is a natak.”
Icy: “This is the most unfortunate incident that has occurred in our institute. Please don’t tell this to anyone but Demi is the killer. Last week, he had a fistfight with Pinns at the swimming pool during a water-polo match. Actually it was Demi’s fault but he didn’t listen to anyone. Pinns complained to the authorities and Demi was barred from playing any game on the campus …. thankfully not computer games. From then, he swears revenge; even he keeps the names of all his enemies in Quake as ‘Pinns’ and kills them like insects. Also, around 11:15, I felt that he was not active in the game; so I went to his room only to find him walking in the corridor with a dry smile and telling “I just went to look if someone had some grub in the wing”. I suspect it is then that he must have committed this crime.”
Stony was sure that he would find some other clue in this case; so he ventured into the whole wing but everything was in vain. This was quite well-planned. He reached the main entrance to find his boss talking to the watchman. Chubby in his Sherlock Holmish style asked him, “So, what do you make of this case?”
“Very interesting case but there are lots of loose ends. Anyone of the five could have done this. The door and the windows were closed and found intact ……”
Interrupting Chubby remarked, “…… its rudimentary dear Stony. The killer is ……..”
Who do you think is the killer?? Just put on your thinking shoes Holmes-style and solve this case. Answers in the next posting.
It was a dark, eerie night and the silence was broken down by screeching sound of a jeep. As detective Chubby walked into the hostel with his assistant Stony, he could feel the tension in the air. It was the first time such a crime was committed on the institute’s premises. He could see the next day’s newspaper headlines “Student found murdered in the hostel” in front of his eyes. This would lead to further repercussions in terms of the reputation of this institute. With all these thoughts running in the back of his mind, Chubby found himself standing in front of the ill-fated room no. 247, the door of which was wide open and on the floor was lying the body of Pinns. There were a few guys standing outside the room in a shocked state.
A man, who by no means looked like a student, walked up to Chubby and said in a breaking voice “Hello detective, I am the warden of this hostel. This student Pinns lived in this room and was found murdered 45 minutes ago, strangled to death”. Chubby looked at his watch; it was fifteen minutes past midnight. He looked at the deserted, dark corridor. “Are there no lights here in this part of the hostel”, he enquired.
“These tube-lights are not working for the last two days. Somebody took away their starters. We registered a complaint but no action was taken”, a heavy voice spoke from behind the detective. This was Viv, Pinns’ best friend of the past.
Till now Stony had taken a stroll in the hostel and he reached up to Chubby and said in his quirky style “There is no way an outsider could have come inside the hostel other than through the front door. I spoke to the watchman, who swears that no outsider entered the hostel after 10 PM. He has a list of all the visitors in the register. If it was done by an outsider, it was done before 10 PM”.
“But Pinns came with me from the library at 11 PM”, another voice made its way through the huddle. This was Buffy, Pinns’ neighbor.
“That means one of the students has committed this crime!!!”, exclaimed Stony with widened eyes.
“How many students live here?” asked Chubby, ruthlessly brushing aside his assistant’s excitement.
“Only ten”, said the warden, “Its summer break going on; so we don’t allow students to stay. Only final year students who are doing their projects are living here”.
“How many are living in this wing?”
“Six of us……oh I forgot now only five are living”, said Demi, the bulky guy of them all; and as always, not leaving any opportunity to pun on words.
“What about the guys in the other wings?”, said Chubby, closely examining Pinns’ body with a raised brow.
“They all went for a movie at 10 PM. They probably don’t know what has happened here. Oh God ………”, said Icy in a choked voice.
“Who found the body?”
Sandy, the guy who had not uttered a word till now, was the most stunned in the whole gang. He raised his hand as if he was sitting in a class. “I found him lying here. After he came from the library, he told me that he would bring some booze from his room and join me in 10 minutes but did not turn up for 30 minutes. I thought he passed out or something inside his room but this……..”, his voice broke and he started crying profusely.
After a brief silence, Chubby spoke, “Seems like all four of you were there inside the hostel when this happened”.
“No detective, I went to the other hostel; I had just entered the wing when Sandy shouted and collapsed on the floor after seeing the body”, Buffy was quick to interrupt. He was looking like an 80s rock star with long hairs, torn black jeans and a black tee shirt, with his muscles trying to rip the fabric apart.
“Okay then; I will take statement of each of you in the next room. Please come one by one”, asked Chubby in a stern voice of a cop.
Sandy, the frailest among the whole lot, came into the room, still fazed due to the horrific event. He spoke in a trembling voice, “When Pinns did not turn up till 11:30, I went to his room and found it bolted from inside. After knocking and shouting, I opened the door only to find pitch dark inside…………….”
“…… Opened the door!!! How can you open a door that is bolted from inside? Are you drunk?”
“No detective….. Luckily I didn’t have any money or booze today. Coming back to the door, everyone in the wing knew that Pinns’ door opened after you tap it 4-5 times at a particular spot. Nearly everyone had mastered this art. After opening the door, I tried to switch on the lights but in vain; so I went back to Demi’s room and got the emergency light. As I switched on the light, I could see him lying absolutely still. I shouted and …… and don’t know what happened after that”.
Viv: “I was working on my project the whole evening and did not come out of my room. I went to take bath at around 11:20 and saw Demi and Icy playing Age of Empires on the network in their respective rooms. In the middle of the bath, I heard a strange cry; thinking something is wrong, I ran out only to see Sandy lying on the ground outside Pinns’ room. As I tried to wake him up, I saw the body of Pinns in the dim emergency light. Suddenly I saw Buffy standing besides me …. He also came running, I think. Yeah…… I think this nerd Buffy is the main suspect. He had an aversion for Pinns from the very beginning because of grades. Last week, they had a major fight when Buffy came to know that Pinns had stolen some of the experimental results from his thesis and submitted them to the professor. This would have meant a straight A to Pinns and Buffy would have been left with a B, which in turn would have put the Gold medal in Pinns’ neck. Everyone knows that Buffy can do anything for grades”
Buffy: “I know what this cool dude Viv would have told you. He thinks I am the killer. Why will I do this? Just for the sake of some grades!!! No way. I mean….. we bickered over some issue but today Pinns apologized to me and I gave him lift on my bike from library. I forgave him and things were cool. In my opinion, Viv is the one. He had a grudge against Pinns coz his girlfriend had ditched him and went with Pinns. Viv is an emotional guy and was very upset about this and never spoke to Pinns. He even told me that he would kill Pinns whenever he got a chance. Yesterday, he saw both of them on the beach and this made him even more furious. I think he was planning this meticulously in his room all day today. He would have killed him and left the door like that. And this guy Sandy, he is always boozed…... you can’t trust whatever he says …….. sometimes he even forgets his own name.”
Demi: “I was playing AOE with Icy on the network the whole day today. I had my headphones on and same was the case with Icy, I suppose. Viv, who was acting very weirdly with his bathroom towel on, called us out. I have a strong hunch that Sandy is the killer. He has got some problem …….. I think he is mad and goes crazy when drunk. Also, he is always on the lookout for cash to buy some booze or grass. Today he must have demanded some money from Pinns, refusal of which would have led to all this. Then he must have feigned unconsciousness ….. everything is a natak.”
Icy: “This is the most unfortunate incident that has occurred in our institute. Please don’t tell this to anyone but Demi is the killer. Last week, he had a fistfight with Pinns at the swimming pool during a water-polo match. Actually it was Demi’s fault but he didn’t listen to anyone. Pinns complained to the authorities and Demi was barred from playing any game on the campus …. thankfully not computer games. From then, he swears revenge; even he keeps the names of all his enemies in Quake as ‘Pinns’ and kills them like insects. Also, around 11:15, I felt that he was not active in the game; so I went to his room only to find him walking in the corridor with a dry smile and telling “I just went to look if someone had some grub in the wing”. I suspect it is then that he must have committed this crime.”
Stony was sure that he would find some other clue in this case; so he ventured into the whole wing but everything was in vain. This was quite well-planned. He reached the main entrance to find his boss talking to the watchman. Chubby in his Sherlock Holmish style asked him, “So, what do you make of this case?”
“Very interesting case but there are lots of loose ends. Anyone of the five could have done this. The door and the windows were closed and found intact ……”
Interrupting Chubby remarked, “…… its rudimentary dear Stony. The killer is ……..”
Who do you think is the killer?? Just put on your thinking shoes Holmes-style and solve this case. Answers in the next posting.
Monday, July 18, 2005
The Great Gambler
This is an inspiring story of an absolutely normal guy (lets call him TL) who, through his gambling-acumen, became a thorn in the flesh of many big-time seasoned gamblers. The story starts with TL standing in front of the entrance of Casino Genting at Genting Highlands (which, incidently, is in Malaysia, 1.5 hrs drive from KL). TL was no gambler; infact he had never been to a casino before. "I don't even know how to gamble", he thought. He was afraid of loosing the money he had. But, after a lot of deliberations, he decided to atleast have a look inside and come back without playing.
Cautiously, he stepped inside the casino, fearing that the vultures inside would mercilessly squeeze all his money out of him. The casino was huge; he had never seen something like that before; he was blinded by the glittering interiors. There were thousands of people inside and amazingly there was no noise. Everyone was engrossed in the games. No-one (except the many CCTV cameras) even noticed TL entering. "Oh God!! How would Vegas be like!!" was his first reaction. He saw endless rows of people sitting with cards and plastic coins in front of them. He recalled the many scenes of casinos in the Hollywood movies he had seen. Like in the movies, girls were sitting on the laps of smart suit-clad gamblers. "What ... is there a shortage of chairs in this place?" he said jealously to himself.
The card-games were hard to learn simply because nobody showed their cards and everything happened very quickly without a word being spoken. So, he moved forward to the game of roulette. This seemed to be an interesting one. He remembered of a Dev Anand starrer movie where the protagonist starts with a 50 Paise coin and wins many lakhs of Rupees. Inspired by Dev sahab, he made up his mind to play roulette. "Let me learn this first by seeing a few bets" he told himself. On the table, there were around 8 people sitting, most of them were women in their late 60s (they all were writing the results on a piece of paper just to know the trend of the machine). The Casino-guy used to slide the marble in the roulette machine with great adroitness and used to make some strange gestures with his hands, which at first seemed funny to TL. The game was simple->because of gravity the marble would fall into one slot with a number written inside and if you had placed a bet on that number you will get some more money.
The moment of truth came when TL took out a 50 Ringgits (currency of Malaysia: 1 RM equal to 12 INR) note out of his pocket and showed it to the Casino-guy. Casino-guy did some gestures with eyes. "Coins for 50 Ringgits please", TL demanded. But the Casino-guy was trying to tell him something. An uneasiness descended on the table (like somebody had thrown a stone in the calm waters of a pond) and an old lady gambler broke the silence "He wants you to put the bill on the table". KL understood the Rule 1: "Thou shalt put all the currency on the table". The Casino-guy gave him 10 coins of 5 RM each. Thinking it to be lucky, TL thought of bidding on his birth-date first; so he placed a 5RM coin on the number. The Casino-guy gave him a dirty glance and TL realized that he had broken another protocol as everyone on the table was looking at him. As the Casino-guy threw the coin back to him, he heard a feeble female voice telling him that the minimum bidding amount was 10RM. Rule 2:"Thou shalt not bid less than 10RM". Without looking at anyone of them, he placed two coins this time on his lucky number. His heart began to thump as the marble circled around the machine.
Some would say that it was "beginner's luck" and others "just plain luck", TL saw the marble falling into the slot of his bith-date. He had won!! He could not believe it!! The Casino-guy passed on 20 more coins to him. No-body on the table cared for this feat of TL. Now, TL placed the bet on few more numbers to increase the probability. He won again. After a few bets more, the coins were not fitting TL's pockets and hands. So, finally he sat down on the table (yes, he was standing like a novice all this time) like a veteran arranging all the coins neatly in front of him like the manhattans. All the gamblers were amazed to see this tyro's booty; some even gave him loathing glances. The wheel started again and TL won more and more, much to the discomfort of his co-gamblers (some of them started leaving the table).
TL was basking in the winning glory when he suddenly realized that the last bus to KL was just 10 mins away. Sadly, he decided to leave the place. But where to exchage the plastic coins for cash? He went here and there with the coins in his hands and pockets but didn't get a clue. Upon asking an Indian Casino-guy, he found that the coins were exchanged at the table itself. He went to his hallowed table and asked the Casino-guy for money. Everyone was shocked. He didn't realize that there was an unwritten Rule 3:"Thou shalt not leave the casino until and unless thou loose everything". Relunctantly, the Casino-guy gave him 500RM and asked him to depart. So TL had won 10 times the amount he betted in less than 20 mins. "Thats cool", he thought.
On the way back TL was thinking of buying something special from that money. He was very happy; not on his triumph but on having broken the Rule 3 of that casino.
Epilogue: Taking inspiration from this story of the great TL, I decided to try my luck. I followed the footsteps of TL and started by betting on my birth-date (i.e. number 13!!!). But alas, after a few rounds, I lost all my 100 RMs and I am still skipping my meals to make up for the loss !!!
Cautiously, he stepped inside the casino, fearing that the vultures inside would mercilessly squeeze all his money out of him. The casino was huge; he had never seen something like that before; he was blinded by the glittering interiors. There were thousands of people inside and amazingly there was no noise. Everyone was engrossed in the games. No-one (except the many CCTV cameras) even noticed TL entering. "Oh God!! How would Vegas be like!!" was his first reaction. He saw endless rows of people sitting with cards and plastic coins in front of them. He recalled the many scenes of casinos in the Hollywood movies he had seen. Like in the movies, girls were sitting on the laps of smart suit-clad gamblers. "What ... is there a shortage of chairs in this place?" he said jealously to himself.
The card-games were hard to learn simply because nobody showed their cards and everything happened very quickly without a word being spoken. So, he moved forward to the game of roulette. This seemed to be an interesting one. He remembered of a Dev Anand starrer movie where the protagonist starts with a 50 Paise coin and wins many lakhs of Rupees. Inspired by Dev sahab, he made up his mind to play roulette. "Let me learn this first by seeing a few bets" he told himself. On the table, there were around 8 people sitting, most of them were women in their late 60s (they all were writing the results on a piece of paper just to know the trend of the machine). The Casino-guy used to slide the marble in the roulette machine with great adroitness and used to make some strange gestures with his hands, which at first seemed funny to TL. The game was simple->because of gravity the marble would fall into one slot with a number written inside and if you had placed a bet on that number you will get some more money.
The moment of truth came when TL took out a 50 Ringgits (currency of Malaysia: 1 RM equal to 12 INR) note out of his pocket and showed it to the Casino-guy. Casino-guy did some gestures with eyes. "Coins for 50 Ringgits please", TL demanded. But the Casino-guy was trying to tell him something. An uneasiness descended on the table (like somebody had thrown a stone in the calm waters of a pond) and an old lady gambler broke the silence "He wants you to put the bill on the table". KL understood the Rule 1: "Thou shalt put all the currency on the table". The Casino-guy gave him 10 coins of 5 RM each. Thinking it to be lucky, TL thought of bidding on his birth-date first; so he placed a 5RM coin on the number. The Casino-guy gave him a dirty glance and TL realized that he had broken another protocol as everyone on the table was looking at him. As the Casino-guy threw the coin back to him, he heard a feeble female voice telling him that the minimum bidding amount was 10RM. Rule 2:"Thou shalt not bid less than 10RM". Without looking at anyone of them, he placed two coins this time on his lucky number. His heart began to thump as the marble circled around the machine.
Some would say that it was "beginner's luck" and others "just plain luck", TL saw the marble falling into the slot of his bith-date. He had won!! He could not believe it!! The Casino-guy passed on 20 more coins to him. No-body on the table cared for this feat of TL. Now, TL placed the bet on few more numbers to increase the probability. He won again. After a few bets more, the coins were not fitting TL's pockets and hands. So, finally he sat down on the table (yes, he was standing like a novice all this time) like a veteran arranging all the coins neatly in front of him like the manhattans. All the gamblers were amazed to see this tyro's booty; some even gave him loathing glances. The wheel started again and TL won more and more, much to the discomfort of his co-gamblers (some of them started leaving the table).
TL was basking in the winning glory when he suddenly realized that the last bus to KL was just 10 mins away. Sadly, he decided to leave the place. But where to exchage the plastic coins for cash? He went here and there with the coins in his hands and pockets but didn't get a clue. Upon asking an Indian Casino-guy, he found that the coins were exchanged at the table itself. He went to his hallowed table and asked the Casino-guy for money. Everyone was shocked. He didn't realize that there was an unwritten Rule 3:"Thou shalt not leave the casino until and unless thou loose everything". Relunctantly, the Casino-guy gave him 500RM and asked him to depart. So TL had won 10 times the amount he betted in less than 20 mins. "Thats cool", he thought.
On the way back TL was thinking of buying something special from that money. He was very happy; not on his triumph but on having broken the Rule 3 of that casino.
Epilogue: Taking inspiration from this story of the great TL, I decided to try my luck. I followed the footsteps of TL and started by betting on my birth-date (i.e. number 13!!!). But alas, after a few rounds, I lost all my 100 RMs and I am still skipping my meals to make up for the loss !!!
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
KL
For those who don't know this, I work for a team that handles business for the SEA region; more precisely for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Phillipines. Before embarking for Singapore, we had decided that we would see as much of these five countries as we could. But after landing here in Singapore, we felt that that was a little too ambitious for five weeks as there was so much to see. So we zeroed in on Malaysia and Thailand, largely due to the accessibility of these countries.
First on our list was Malaysia, truly asia. So, on the night of 8th July, we took a train to KL from Singapore. Unlike the return journey, the onward journey was quite uneventful. I was sleeping all the time and woke up just 5 mins. before our train hurried into "Kuala Lumpur Sentral Stesen". The Stesen looked more like a shopping mall than a place where people came to board trains. Skyscrapers and Shopping-malls apart, KL is just like any other big Indian city. Following are the similarities that I found:
- The incorrigible taxi-drivers. They never knew that there was something called 'meter' in their machinery. Like Indian autowallahs, they would ask for an insane amount in their typical way, "20 Ringets-lah". After our initial experience with one of them, we devised a strategy of telling them half of the amount they quoted. That evened out a bit I suppose.
- The disorderly streets. Here people were moving around in Brownian motion on the streets and were crossing the road at their own will. This was a visible and a welcome change from Singapore, where people even walked in an orderly fashion and crossed roads from only the selected points.
- Uncaring Junta. Like in India, here people were not used to using the dustbin. We were shocked to see people throwing all the trash on the sidewalk after munching. Again, nobody would have dared to do this in SG as everywhere the boards read "No Littering, Minimum Fine $1000". $1000 !!! Wow .... that kind of amount would make even the blindest and lamest of a person to search for a bin.
- Chewing Gum is allowed. This might seem a bit ridiculous but nobody in SG chews gum. Why? Its illegal here. I have heard that if you are caught in customs with chewing gum in your baggage, you will be questioned by the anti-chewing-gum-squad. So you will never find anyone masticating in SG. Can you believe it? So KL was different and chewing gums were being chewed freely here.
- Nothing works on time here. This is based on my experience but it might not be true for everything (as it is in India). We were supposed to board a bus from KL to SG at 10PM. As good tourists in a foreign land, avoiding any mis-happenings, we reached the bus station at 9:45 PM sharp. On reaching the platform, from where our bus was supposed to leave, we started to wait. We waited and waited and buses came and went but there was no sign of our bus. At 11 PM, I thought that the travel agent had fooled us. So I went to this guy who looked like a bus-conductor and asked him if a bus to SG was expected. He answered in a laid-back eshtyle that is typical of Indian bus-conductors,"Wait-lah, it'll com-lah, shtuck in traffic jam-lah". I was glad that I understood what he said .... to wait more ...... in that tired state of mine. I spent another 45 hard minutes seeing the people around me before magically the bus arrived on another platform !!! .... and we had to walk in a jiffy to catch it.
P.S.: "-lah" is what people in these parts attach at the end of every sentence they speak. I think its a sign of coolness here. Some Ys (see one of my earlier postings for details) have also perfected this art !!!
Monday, July 11, 2005
My new digital camera
Its a SONY DSC-T3 with 2.5" display, 3x optical zoom and 5.1 MPix images.
Blogging will never be the same again from now on!!!
Ciao ....
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
The Puppet
Michael’s eyes suddenly opened to find the bright sunlight trying to penetrate them. He was lying on the floor of this room and he could not think how he came to that place. He could not think who he was and how he happened to be in that place. Strangely, he remembered that his name was Michael. He got up slowly only to realize that he was in army fatigues and his gun was lying on the ground. Was he an army man? Was he on some mission? Which place was that? All those questions made him giddy but he tried to walk out of there.
He came out of the room into the lobby of the building. "Déjà vu", he told himself as he felt that he had come to that place before. “Is there anyone out here?”, he shouted but the only thing he heard was his own echo. There was no one around and it was as if everyone had evacuated the building. He ran down to the road. There was no sign of humanity in the city. All the shops were mockingly wide open but there was no human soul inside them. “What spooky shit is this?”, he thought trying to read the signboards.
While walking on the deserted road, he felt that somebody was watching him; as if somebody was smiling at his helplessness; as if somebody was doing some kind of sick experiment on him. After a while, he was inside the railway station and the sight of public telephones made him to think of calling for help. “But to whom? I don’t even know anyone”, he cursed himself. Unexpectedly, he heard the sound of an incoming train and he ran madly towards the platform. The train stopped and to Michael’s horror, it had no passengers in it. “There should be a driver”, he thought and ran towards the engine. The train had started moving and Michael sprinted faster than it to find that the engine was also vacant.
There was again a ghostly silence at the station. Panting, Michael asked himself “What the hell is going on?”. Suddenly, he saw a white thing coming towards him. It looked like an arrow and it stopped near him. Utterly shocked, he did not move an inch. It touched him and there were sounds of two clicks. Darkness fell in front of his eyes. It seemed that the world had ended for him.
On the other side of the world, there was a shout “Max, come here fast, look it worked”.
“You must be kidding me Bill?”
“No man, Michael walked around in our city but I feel that he is feeling real alone”.
“Maybe we will create some more people in the city and maybe a girlfriend for Michael. What do yaa say?”.
“Yo maan !!! then this will sell like hot cakes. We can even give fight to Nintendo. But hey …. What are we going to call this?”
“I know of a name …… The Puppet”.
He came out of the room into the lobby of the building. "Déjà vu", he told himself as he felt that he had come to that place before. “Is there anyone out here?”, he shouted but the only thing he heard was his own echo. There was no one around and it was as if everyone had evacuated the building. He ran down to the road. There was no sign of humanity in the city. All the shops were mockingly wide open but there was no human soul inside them. “What spooky shit is this?”, he thought trying to read the signboards.
While walking on the deserted road, he felt that somebody was watching him; as if somebody was smiling at his helplessness; as if somebody was doing some kind of sick experiment on him. After a while, he was inside the railway station and the sight of public telephones made him to think of calling for help. “But to whom? I don’t even know anyone”, he cursed himself. Unexpectedly, he heard the sound of an incoming train and he ran madly towards the platform. The train stopped and to Michael’s horror, it had no passengers in it. “There should be a driver”, he thought and ran towards the engine. The train had started moving and Michael sprinted faster than it to find that the engine was also vacant.
There was again a ghostly silence at the station. Panting, Michael asked himself “What the hell is going on?”. Suddenly, he saw a white thing coming towards him. It looked like an arrow and it stopped near him. Utterly shocked, he did not move an inch. It touched him and there were sounds of two clicks. Darkness fell in front of his eyes. It seemed that the world had ended for him.
On the other side of the world, there was a shout “Max, come here fast, look it worked”.
“You must be kidding me Bill?”
“No man, Michael walked around in our city but I feel that he is feeling real alone”.
“Maybe we will create some more people in the city and maybe a girlfriend for Michael. What do yaa say?”.
“Yo maan !!! then this will sell like hot cakes. We can even give fight to Nintendo. But hey …. What are we going to call this?”
“I know of a name …… The Puppet”.
