Resurgence

I assume most of you would be well aware of the ‘Mass Bunk Syndrome’ and many of you would have been at least a part of it or something similar at least once in your life. To the uninitiated ‘Mass Bunk’ is a term used for collective action on the decision of not attending a particular session or a class generally by a group of students (but can be done by any group of people) . I am not sure if you would find this definition anywhere else as it is a result of yours truly’s firsthand experience. Obviously the term has its origin in ‘Bunk’ but has evolved to embody the spirit of collectivism. Those who have had a tryst with the syndrome would agree that the act could be used to group’s advantage in a lot many situations: in an ‘all important’ India Pakistan cricket match to the legendary telecast of ‘Disco Dancer’ on national television to playing a game of soccer (football) instead to escape from the threat of a sudden class test and what not. Despite its usefulness, most of us under...

My eyes darted back to the pages which detailed an adventure of Feluda. Virat Kohli had just been removed out of the equation by a superb catch from Dilshan. I cursed myself – ‘Why did I have to watch the match so intently again?’.   I had switched my Totka (Believe me, I really do not know the English term for this word) after the fall of the master’s wicket – I would not concentrate on game but would read Feluda instead. In between my eyes darted to the screen every time a ball was bowled but would withdraw to the book otherwise. It was working fine until I decided to throw caution to the air and started watching the match with intense passion – it was only 5 minutes and Kohli was made to leave the field. Needless to say I sacrificed much of the excitement for the sake of India (I hope someone would document this sacrifice when the history books are written).Simultaneously, I was involved in another interesting Totka – My friend would me...

It was a dull day. I could not remember the last time I felt so spiritless. Nevertheless, one has to earn his livelihood and so I dragged myself slowly to the office. ‘It’s going to be a bad day’, I thought. I was walking drearily on the pavement of the big city when suddenly a commotion sought my attention. I identified the source – it was coming from an assembly of people at a distance. ‘What’s the matter?’ – I was tempted to join the group. I looked at my watch – still a few minutes left before I could be officially declared ‘late’ for the office. I consulted my guidebook for office principles and found rule 65 specifically stating – ‘Thou shall not attempt to arrive late at workplace – it ruins your appraisal but more importantly robs you of some of your hard earned money from your salary’. But who said that rules are always to be followed? So, I joined the continuously swelling crowd to take a firsthand account of whatever was happening.  Ours is a country of onlookers ...

Authrospeak: This article did not shape up in a way I wanted it to be. It may not leave the impact I thought it would have. Nevertheless, it is my tribute to the common man of India. Before writing this article, I asked an important question to myself – Am I qualified enough to represent ‘Common Man’? Representing ‘Common Man’ has never been easy, irrespective of what Mr. R K Laxman has made you think over the years. If you do not believe me then ask either Priyadarshan or Khiladi Kumar on what went wrong with their portrayal of the ‘Common Man’ in Khatta Meetha. ‘Common Man’ goes through such myriad emotions that it would be foolhardy to proclaim that one represents ‘Common Man’ (I think the present day government at the Centre made this small mistake). So, a common has to fight for his space daily in the shoddy public transport provided for his comfort to reach workplace (I am spared of this ordeal as I was smart enough to look for an accommodation very near to my office); has to b...