A Father's Tale....

Prologue: Describe a building from the point of view of a man who just lost his only son in war. Do it without mentioning death, war, his son, or himself. Describe that same building at the same time of day and weather conditions, from the point of view of a man who has just discovered he's going to be a father. The same rules apply however; don't mention birth, or babies.

It’s another lazy Sunday afternoon; I am sitting on the balcony of my 13^th storied flat. No one is at home right now. Marriage ceremony is what they are attending! Don’t people have anything better to do than waste time like this? Well whatever. I look out of the balcony. This shabby looking building right in front of our multi storied apartment absolutely puts me off. It absolutely looks out of place. Look at the color, so dull, missing at places. This building is a like a pauper amongst the princes. Looks like the family on the 7^th floor is celebrating something. Ahh I hear the Happy Birthday song.When will these people realize? One more year gone from their lives.One further step towards death. And they are celebrating that. Funny indeed. A woman came out on the balcony to collect the clothes she left for drying. In today’s modern world where you have the washing machine to do the work for you why would you even bother to use balcony? Stupid people…Look at those birds nesting on the top of the 6^th floor window making such a mess…. how the hell can these people withstand them? Don’t these people have any sense of hygiene? Talking about 6^th floor…the flat on the western side is empty now. Ramesh used to live there, Ramesh Sharma became my closest buddy after retirement…we used to go for morning walks together….he left the apartment last week to join his daughter in US. Ramesh told me that this building was built by one of the most eminent personalities of old times. Wonder how he will feel now looking at the state of his beloved home. “Welcome to the Hotel California” fills up my ears…someone it seems have switched on the radio…..This song is mesmerizing…..aptly describing the helpless state of the person caught up in the wheels of fortune…no escaping from the eventuality…..still he is hoping..hoping that maybe..just maybe he can somehow defeat fate….somehow he may be able to leave that building and reach his family…his beloved ones…….The sun is setting on this Sunday afternoon…and the sun rays are slowly leaving the building in front…plunging it into darkness gradually….another day ends in its miserable life…Trinnggg!!! Looks like someone is at the door…Adieu boring building...

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon; I am sitting on the balcony of my 14^th storied flat. No one is at home right now. They have all gone to attend a marriage ceremony. Too bad I couldn’t make it. Marriages are such wonderful occasions. A coming together of two families. I look out of the balcony. This heritage building right in front of our apartment is so beautiful. It reminds me of the good old times. The color which is missing at places tells many tales. This building is likea wise old man amongst immature youngsters. Looks like the family on the 7^th floor is celebrating something. Hey!! It looks like it’s someone’s birthday. One more year gone. One more year which carried so many happy memories and promised many more lovely things for the year ahead. A lady came out on the balcony to collect the clothes she left for drying. Reminds me of my childhood days when I used to play hide and seek with my mother behind hanging clothes on our rooftop. A bird has created a nest on the top of the 6^th floor window. I am sure the people on the 6^th floor are having a nice time watching the baby birds taking their first steps towards flying. Reminds me of Bryan Adam’s “Here I am”…..Talking about 6^th floor, the flat on the western side became empty last week..Ramesh uncle left it to join his daughter at USA. We were all so happy for him. And I am double happy…because my distant cousin Ashok who was looking for a flat from a long time is moving in tomorrow…Ramesh uncle used to tell everyone that this building was built by one of the most eminent personalities of yesteryears…he must be really glad now…his good deed is helping so many people in need…“Welcome to the Hotel California” fills up my ears…someone it seems have switched on the radio…..This song is mesmerizing…..aptly describing the excitement of a person as he steps into the unknown..he doesn’t know if there is light at the end of the tunnel but that doesn’t deter his indomitable spirit..one of the most inspiring songs ever which teaches you no matter what happens life moves on..the flame is never diminished.. The sun is setting on this Sunday afternoon…and the sun rays are slowly leaving the building..it seems as if the sun rays are waving goodbye tenderly to their beloved friend with the promise of meeting again tomorrow. Trinnggg!!! Looks like someone is at the door…Adieu beautiful building.

Epilogue:Dedicated to all the fathers in this world, without whom our lives will be so incomplete..

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What's In A Name

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This is what Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet. I couldn’t help but wonder is the name such a miniscule thing? I decided to dig deep into this matter and what I discovered is interesting to say the least.

When a baby is born the first thing which his/her parents fight upon is the choice of his/her name. Nowadays people will spend hours and days and consult tarot card readers, feng-shui experts, the position of Jupiter and Saturn and God knows what all other things before deciding on a simple thing : the name.

Yes Mr. Shakespeare may have been partially correct in saying that a Rose would smell as sweet even if we call it by some other name, but you got to admit that when we hear about the word Rose, we can’t help but be prejudiced and actually relate it to something sweet. In the movie Titanic, would the story change if instead of Jack and Rose the characters were named Jack and Caterpillar? No. But the writer wanted to portray a girl who is beautiful and sweet and hence the name Rose was chosen. Let’s face it - names do matter. If names don’t matter, then why did a certain Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia rechristened himself to Akshay Kumar? He felt that his name wasn’t catchy enough for the glitz and glamour of the film industry. How many of you all can identify Samuel Langhorne Clemens? Very few or maybe none. But all of you can identify the same person if I call him by the name Mark Twain.

Think of all the bad guys, the villains – a common feature about of all of them is they all have a name which stands them out in the crowd. Tom Marvolo Riddle became Lord Voldemort and proudly stated “I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak “.Gotham City does not fear the person named Jack Napier but they do fear The Joker.

Names can sometime be a dampener too. Anyone named Pappu maybe looked down upon. Think about that poor commentator commentating in a match where Sri Lanka needs 1 run to win of 1 ball and he has to say “Last man in is WarnakuliyaSuriyaPatabadigeUshanthaJosephChaminda Vaas”. The match is over even before he can finish uttering the name.

A name often decides the fate of a person. In the book Freakonomics by two world famous economists Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner there is a chapter which is dedicated on names and how it influences the fate of people. They cite an example from the USA. In USA the most common name for a white girl is Molly while that of a black girl is Imani. Now when these kids were applying for primary school, a black girl named Imani in most of the cases wasn’t selected on some grounds whereas a black girl named Molly got selected. Racism? Maybe but the point which I am trying to put forward is it is the name which eventually made the difference. They also cite a couple of other interesting examples like when a New York based livery-cab driver named Michael Goldberg was shot dead in 2004, it was later discovered that Mr. Goldberg was in fact an Indian born Sikh who thought it advantageous to adopt a Jewish name upon immigrating to New York. They also point out from statistics that sometimes a person tries to live out his/her name. They gave an example of a girl named Temptress who had multiple affairs. She was just trying to do justice to her name.

Now lets talk about inanimate objects and their names. Would Rabindrasangeet change if we call it by some other name? No. But certainly there would be some difference, however minute it may be. There is a saying TATA means trust. Now if suddenly we refer to TATA by some other name, the organization doesn’t change, the protocols don’t change but the familiarity changes. If tomorrow TCS changes its name, can people recognize the company so easily? Well no.

The greatest success for any brand is when its name becomes a verb. We don’t say we are searching for something using Google any more. We say we are Googling or I am Orkutting. Think about the all time classic movies or songs. If we call them by some other name they will remain the same but we will never be able to identify them.

What’s In a Name? Everything’s in a name only. We human beings are mortals but our names are immortal. History doesn’t remember how a person looked like, how he spoke like but it remembers the name as illustrated by the band Fort Minor in their famous song where they speak about life and it states:

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will

Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain and a hundred percent reason to Remember the Name.

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