The world, as I(would like to) see it.

Thank you blogadda for giving us an apt platform to air our views on something which was always going on at the back of our mind. Its an enabler platform for us, bloggers to share and discuss views on this exciting topic.                      

Umpteen number of times, we have seen ourselves cribbing over so many issues in this world. In the heat of the moment, we often crib, 'gosh, what if the world was like this...  '. Yes, you might have guessed it already. I  are talking about utopian situations. Wow, just imagine what we subconsciously said would come true? Before I take this topic head on, why the title has brackets? I hope you'll be able to figure out by the end of this article all by yourself!
         Guys, before we try to make this world perfect, free of poverty, free of evil, free of all the situations which are unpleasant. Let me ask you one thing, if everything is perfectly fine? what will you do? if there is no poverty, no hunger, what are you driven by? Do you have any driving force? You have already created a situation which is the driving force for many to earn and achieve in life. No friends, if we ask for situations as this, world would be more misearble.
         Next, talking about diseases, my utopian world would just comprise of all the diseases with a little less pain. Even to an onlooker, the sight of the diseased crying for help is grandiosely painful.
Now some of you would ask me, why not eradicate diseases? Yes, I would love to but it should be by our efforts, reasearch. it should not come like any wish out of the blue. To sum up, my utopian world would be a world free of diseases but not any pain-free disease. "Pain" is something which makes ur realise the importance of what we just got cured of. What we, as a humankind have successfully managed to eradicate as a result of our efforts and not any magic.
         In the field of education, I would see a world which is free of gender bias/any other bias. By this I exactly mean, there should be no reservations for any gender/other criteria. I am tired of seeing quotas here and there. People with disabilities deserve it but those who are healthy must find themselves a place on virtue of their merit and not any particular quota. Everybody has a right to education and a right to be in a premier institute on the basis of their merit and not because of gender or any other criteria which gives them an advantage.
          My last wish is that everybody work to the highest of their potential. Today, I see that myriad number of people are busy in playing mindless games and climbing up the ladder. Of 100 people, hardly 25 people are working diligently and the world is running on such people. Just imagine that all 100 worked? The productivity would be stupendous. Overpopulated countries would no longer crib as each person would be productive and somehow needs could be met. There would hardly be any people who would like to sit and eat for free or undeserving credits. I believe that majority of the issues would be solved.
       Well guys,you might wonder? What is so utopian in what all I asked. They are nothing but an enhancement of the current situations in a minor way. So, the moral of the story is that the utopain situations are nothing but something very close by. We just overrate things and imagine a world which would be harmful for ourselves in some way or the other.
         According to the Hindu mythology, three yugas have passed and the we are living in the fourth one. World has already been remade three times and this cycle will go on. All we need to do is enhance our present to reach the 'utopian world'.
P.S: Hope you understood the purpose of brackets, its because the world as I would like to see and the one I am seeing are not that far apart..:)

GOOD DAY TO ALL OF YOU!

I am participating in the #TheWorldRemade activity at BlogAdda in association with India Today #Conclave15

Sadism

       *********************************************************************      
               These words "sad","sadism" has so much of negativity in it. Even when I hear them, it makes me emotionally nauseatic. The worst part is that such people cannot be avoided(difficult to detect). These people are so damaging that they try their best to rip you apart emotionally. My observation has been that sadistic people can never think good about the people who matter the most in their life as well. They find pleasure in their partner craving for support from them, in portraying their partner as the accused in all the bad things done to them, roaming about freely garnering sympathy and love from all other people but his/her partner. Let me narrate a short fictional story supporting all the above claims.
      **************************************************************************
                 Jack and Tim were two good friends. They became very close to each other in their engineering college days. Similar conditions, similar upbringing were the two factors which united them. Their taste for music was another uniting point. In the second quarter of the first year, their bond was as strong as it could get. Tim was in a relationship since a year or so and jack would be very happy at this and always ask him about his experiences.Tim would talk more about  the negative aspects and would complain about issues which gravely concerned him. It so happened that 'Jina', Tim's girlfriend landed up in the same class as Jack and Tim.
                 The very first impressions of Jina was very encouraging to Jack. He thought her to be a great person with good values inculcated. In real senses she was the greatest sadist person he could ever meet. Often she would complain about Tim and his compulsive behaviour which would make Jack wonder about his good friend's character. She tried her best to get close with Jack owing to his nature portraying Tim as the villan of the whole episode and experience of him in her life. The worst part would be that Tim would scold her in front Jack and that would warrant Jina's claims even more. The reality was that not all the claims which Jina had made were true. She was just a sadist trying to seek the attention and sympathy of others around so that Tim could be cornered at the right time by everyone.
                 One fine day, Jack, being misled by Jina's accusations on his good friend, confronted him and had a heated conversation. Seldom did they know that Jina was a sadist was silently enjoying seeing this. Actually Jack and Tim were two fools who were fighting for a person who never thought out of her confines; who would side with a person she found 'profitable' and would like to keep all her options open. Do sadists have true feelings? I dont think so, their feelings are also driven by motives and attention-seeking behaviour.  Tim and Jack separated out and were no longer in talking conditions. Tim, was however drenched in feelings for Jina so he couldn't leave her. In the whole scenario, Tim was either blind because of his feelings or was selfish himself to separate out with Jack and siding with a sadist.
                    Jina meanwhile was enjoying the romance with Tim and a the sametime she could see that Jack was truly in a sorrowful state on the incidents which had happened. She was "happy" that there were two guys fighting for her.Once when she met Jack outside college she had even said, "Why are you leaving, by doing so you are giving the other one an opportuity to get close." Can you imagine this?Her plight was such that she couldnt se two friends split because of her insanity but she wanted to enjoy the play of seperation more by such inciting dialogues.
         Once Jack and Tim decided to meet and sort issues. Finally, they both realised that they fought over a devil, a sadist. They even agreed that they endured turmoil for the most worthless a human being. The worst part is that, the damage was such that both lost trust over each other. It was too late, because of mistrust each one would doubt his equation with Jina.
    Jack found Jina to be characterless by her actions, being with someone else, she would silently try to forge very strong ties with someone outside, she never cared about anyone else except herself.
It is better to be beware of sadists than getting trapped by their sweet talks and misleading accusations to garner sympathy.Jack and Tim have been separated, but the sadist roams about freely having destroyed everything in her path!

GOOD DAY TO ALL OF YOU.
       
             
                  

What is inside you?

              

         Hello everyone, how are you all doing?Hope things are green on your side.

         So the next question I came across is what is inside me? Is it anger, love, hatred,enmity?People might say its a mixture of all and depends on the circumstances. When the circumstances are bad, some negative feelings preside over the positive ones and when the surroundings are encouraging and uplifting, we are at our positive best and may speak bombastically of various concepts like "optimism in life"etc.

             Having said this, now I wonder on whether the negative situations can be handled in a positive manner? Whether there can be enhancements in the way we tackle darker things of life? To Throw more light on this I will share with you all a small paragraph and then elucidate on it later:

'If I were to squeeze this orange as hard as I could, what would come out?' I asked him.

He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, 'Juice, of course.'

'Do you think apple juice could come out of it?'

'No!' he laughed.
'What about grapefruit juice?'
'No!'
'What would come out of it?'
'Orange juice, of course.'
'Why? Why when you squeeze an orange does orange juice come out?'
He may have been getting a little exasperated with me at this point. 'Well, it's an orange and that's what's inside."
I nodded. 'Let's assume that this orange isn't an orange, but it's you. And someone squeezes you, puts pressure on you, says something you don't like, offends you. And out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, fear. Why? The answer, as our young friend has told us, is because that's what's inside.'

It's one of the great lessons of life. What comes out when life squeezes you? When someone hurts or offends you? If an ger, pain and fear come out of you, it's because that's what's inside. It doesn't matter who does the squeezing: your mother, your brother, your children, your boss, the government. If someone says something about you that you don't like, what comes out of you is what's inside. And what's inside is up to you, it's your choice.

When someone puts the pressure on you and out of you comes anything othe than love, it's because that's what you've allowed to be inside. Once you take away all those negative things you don't want in your life and replace them with love, you'll find yourself living a highly functioning life."

-- Wayne Dyer --

Resist!

It's a thought provoking article isn't it?When we squeeze an orange what do we get out of it? It can be nothing but orange juice. The orange might be under tumultous pressure when it is carried from the orchards to the point of sale, later humans squeeze it, rip its skin apart and then eat it. In this whole process, does the orange change its flavour? Does it's juice become sour?Inspite of all this, its as it is in its purest form. We can say we may have altered its normal growth by using chemicals etc. Come what may, in whatever situation, even during its death(analogy between human death and an orange being consumed).

The above stated scenario is something ideal but there are a lot of things to take from it. Firstly, resistance; inspite of the kind of adversities it faces, it is still the same. We, obviously cannot be like that, for reasons more than one. If we learn to endure more, we can survive and be successful in our endeavours.  For an example, consider yourself relocated to another place far away from your house. Our home is the most cosy place on earth(though we realise it after our exodus). All the basic necessities are actually 'basic' and when we venture out, in the initial days atleast these things are a challenge. Edible substances may be a kilometer or two away and daily what was served to us in hand now lies at a distance of a kilometer. People are new, we feel as if we have landed at the wrong place. We feel totally bad about the whole activity of relocation which we just accepted for a better prospect. We are pulled back strongly by memories to go where we came from. At such times, if we loose our cool, we loose that opportunity. In this case there  is a lot to learn from the "orange". We just need to keep our calm and keep going, decrease our resistance towards new things and increase our acceptance.

    I got a very interesting point which counters this concept in a way. I'd take the pleasure to put it forward here

"An orange cannot feel pain, anger, depression etc when it is being squeezed. An orange cannot set its mind to resist the squeeze at all costs. It does not have a survival instinct kicking in when it is being reduced to a pulp. A human can do all that. The reaction to life's pinch is a factor of a person's background, history and state of mind. When an act of God razes one's entire familial footprint to the ground, you think love is what will come out? and compassion? and fortitude? Some times, its a question of your composure. But most times, its a question of your surroundings."

A very apt point made there.  Well, the conditions  mentioned above are responsible for all the negative feelings to creep in. But, when we go with this mindset, we increase our elasticity and resist more. To add to this point,  an orange does not experience a feeling of"positivity" or "negativity". Its only for Humans to experience and with a positive mindset we can just try to avoid all negative emotions like anger,following pain etc...sometimes even better than what an orange does.

So, what do you think? Should we be like the orange?

2014:a Year that was and 2015:a year I expect to be.

   WISHING ALL MY READERS A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015..MAY GOD GIVE YOU  THE REQUIRED STRENGTH TO OVERCOME ALL ADVERSITIES

      Now that new year has begin, before setting up this year's  resolutions,
I wanted to retrospect on all that happened. I wish this year be better than the preceding year.We must grow each year personally and professionally. It makes me immensely nostalgic to recollect all that happened and the worst part is that the best and the worst moments both bring tears to my eyes.
      This year I completed engineering with distinction. Considering all that I had been through for the 4 years spent in college, I could not have asked for a better closure of this chapter. In the four years spent here, I always felt the urge for this journey to get over as so as to strike a truce to all happening around. It taught me a lot about people  being a mixture of good and bad, some were really good while others were equally bad acting for their own benefits. This was the first gist of the unforgiving world around.
     In terms of blogging I started writing short stories. Writing short stories was an effortless task since I observed stories are nothing but 'disguised reality'. I was approached by many to pen down their stories on my blog. Each had unique experiences and there was something or the other to learn from whatever they had narrated. Two of my posts got selected within top 10 in India in a week. It was a good boost for me to keep writing.
   Then came corporate life, a life I always wanted to experience. In a very short time I experienced a lot of perplexities involved, but I could also tackle them. I understood the true importance of "work satisfaction" and also got a gist of the pleasure it gives. I love interacting with people and corporate life opened up avenues for interaction with new people, it led to formation of cemented relationships which I expect to last a lifetime.
   In terms of relationships I have always observed that I have a 'quality few' than a 'quantity many'. I feel a sense of contentment for this virtue of mine. In today's times 'people networking' is more important than any 'computer network'. It is one thing which provides ultimate satisfaction even more than solving a computing network error.
     2015, as a year must be an improvisation over the mistakes I made in 2014. I want this year to be even more exciting interms of work, people. I wish to go out of my comfort zone and explore new places, new things and thereby increase my spectrum of vision. I wish to value each and every relationship in my life, to love each person in my life assuming I will never be hurt by them. It is this love which has prevented many people from leaving my life forever and I do not wish to loose this virtue.I want to value my treasure, the virtue of 'trust' and only shower it on the people who deserve it.
    Lastly, I don't ask God to lessen my existing problems and all those which might come by but I expect him  to bestow me with strength and intelligence to tackle all the problems and with each problem I tackle, I evolve in the journey of life, on a broader note. I think I have already written a lot about myself...what are your new year resolutions??
Feel free to drop in your views!
GOOD DAY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR ONCE AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU.

Nostalgia

               My Gosh...nostalgia is something which is sweet but induces grief. Nostalgia accompanied with solitude is even more painful. When you leave your home for the first time with all the excitement for new ventures, nostalgia is unprepared for. We do not expect to get nostalgic before the onset of the new journey(this being the worst part). We paint a picture of everything,including our to-be-surroundings, how we will be placed in a cosy environment; but hold on, did you see you were alone in that scenario?NO.. I term this is as selective imagination.
          All those things, practically everything, even the unfavorable moments which one had experienced in the past comes like a flash. They seem to be sweet and one feels like experiencing them once again. What is it that makes it this way? Can anybody answer?

     When we roam around in the new place, we recollect our older environment, older places where we had been to,  the people whom we had met. Today, I sat and pondered on this and I think there is a reason behind all this. Friends, we get attached emotionally to the inanimate objects around us as well. Did you ponder on this ever? yes..the recollection of places corroborates this fact. The places where we have been to and remember have a positive vibe.This makes us unconsciously bound to it. Each time we visit, the bond gets stronger without our knowledge. Nostalgia makes us realise this.
    When people are concerned, it is obvious, we get attached even more to the people because we have lived with them, had some good memories with them and also certain out-of-the-way moments. In the initial days, life sometimes becomes miserable and friends, this is what makes us realise how beautiful our past was. It is but one thing which validates the orchestration of events of the past. Sometimes, this retrospection makes us second the adage,'Everything happens for a reason'.It is like a reminder by the Almighty to realise the results by retrospection.
       If a person is habituated to being emotional, he/she will always look out for bonds as strong as the previous ones. This adds to the nostalgia and makes it even more painful. The gap between the relationships forged in the new place(which are often nascent and weak) and the ones which are forged in our previous place(which are strong) is filled by memories. But, let me tell you one thing, the magnitude of nostalgia gradually reduces as we start having even stronger relationships in the new place. Memories never fade away(always in our Hard disk drive) but yes our RAM is filled with fresh moments and this is what is required.
    To sum up, nostalgia should be welcomed and it is very natural. However, nostalgia becomes a devil when it forces one to go back to the previous cosy environment which is an impediment to our growth in life.
One must feel nostalgia and let it pass through as a phase of life.
GOOD DAY TO ALL OF YOU!

When do you truly experience bliss?

              Bliss, a concept, a state where everyone wants to be. Why does the feeling of being happy actually make us feel good?Why does it imbibe positivity?Why are negative feelings bad?Why does it happen that we always want 'good' feelings to reside in our hearts.the last question I would like to ask is can we experience this so called "happiness' without knowing its flipside i.e "negativity".
          One very recent observation I made is that humans are risk averse. They fear taking risks only because it may lead to sadness. They fear taking risks because it may hurt their ego, which is a tamed lion in their hearts which is constantly being nurtured by restricting oneself in a cocoon. A cocoon which helps a person justify each action taken by a him/her to avert taking risks. It's strange that people admire a person who fears making mistakes, whose life is flavourless and feels that his/her life will run according to a script coded by some supernatural force residing within him/her. I absolutely detest such attitudes. Even if these people reach heights, its because the conditions(of they hanging around for such a  long time in a safe zone) have pitied them and given away 'success'. Are they really happy or just that their outer self wants to indulge in happiness for the sake of it?
         One must take risks; it's not that every risk will bear fruits. Out of 100's of risks a person might have taken, 10 might bear fruits and rest 90 might be a bad experience. The taste of these 10 fruits is far better than 100's of fruits earned living in a cocoon.There is one thing I must surely point out that risk brings with it a lot of pain and failures.These pain and failures are a grave threat to happiness.
The failures of risk are so damaging that one might feel totally down, immersed in the sea of sorrow. This sorrow is so deep that it makes a person believe sunlight to induce darkness on earth. One might feel that his/her world has totally come to a halt and that his/her future is dark.
      This is where the best part of life begins, for the one's who realize it. This is where the strength of one's mind is measured. The battle during such times is much strenuous than any war fought physically. The harder thing lies in one's mind which is invisible. It may take months,years to win this battle. Finally what is the use of winning this battle, it is that one experiences true bliss. One can only understand the true value of happiness when one knows the value of sadness/sorrow.
    Many of us fail to accept the fact that life is not that easy. Hence, we do not also want to accept the sadness which life throws upon us, we do not want to experience this. It is this attitude which curtails us from experiencing true bliss. Accept the things which you cannot do, take risks, fall,rise up,face the consequences and finally EXPERIENCE BLISS in whatever the result might be.

GOOD DAY TO ALL OF YOU.

Write one, Feed One.

                    Before I begin elaborating on the issue, I would really thank Blogadda for such an magnanimous initiative. For years, observing my contemporaries, youngies recklessly sitting on the streets and scourging for food;begging for money instead of progressing in academics and career,  I always wanted to help these people. But the number of people with this kind of affliction were grandiose. Through this blog post I not only wish to do my part but also appeal to all the readers to do their bit.
___________________________________________________________________________
   
         Many a times, I was struck by "what-if" situations. What if India(world on a larger scale) was void of hunger, what if in India, every child was educated. As of now these conditions seem to be utopian, but the optirealist(optimist with a fair amount of realism) prefers to think otherwise.  It is NGO's like Akshaya Patra which will help scores of people like me realise this dream.
         The underprivileged children primarily need food. In absence of it, they become oblivious to the importance of education in their life. A perfect remedy would be mid-day meals where children are fed and made to study under the same roof. There are two advantages to this scheme,
1)Children are fed, which is their current demand
2)Children are educated which helps them in their future aspirations.
      If such schemes are implemented diligently and earnestly, I can one day see the number of children falling under the ambit of such schemes increasing greatly. It will not be a distant dream for me to find the roads deserted of children sitting on the footpath for money and food.  If the current generation is taught to stand on their feet, they will positively influence their children to stand on their feet and gradually the concept of poverty will cease to exist.

                                                    ctsy: akshaya patra

   
     Talking about education, there are millions of people who are sitting there out on the roads, who are sometimes very talented and capable but are pulled down by lack of food. The worst part is they themselves are unaware of their talents and someone else notices it. I have observed quite a few people who are extremely sharp in grasping things but they lacked proper guidance. Taking this a bit further, if children are educated, activities such as theft will go down. People will learn to earn by working hard with the skills acquired by education as compared to earning money by stealing someone else's fruits of hardwork. Children must be educated to make them realise that the "Pen is mightier than the sword".They will gradually come to terms with the fact that there are peaceful and dignified ways to earn your bread rather than indulging oneself in various nefarious activities.
     As discussed, the advantages of such schemes are galore.Eliminate malnutrition and encourage children to take up education. It's impact on the present and the future is really mammoth-like and it is better sincere efforts are taken in this aspect in the present.

I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda

For every blog post we write,  BlogAdda will sponsor meals for an Akshaya Patra beneficiary for an entire year, as a part of our Bloggers Social Responsibility.

Tags:Akshaya Patra,Bloggers Social Responsibility,Poor Children,Food,Education.


           

Book Review:GOD IS A GAMER

Details:

Name: GOD IS A GAMER

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Thriller

Background: 

Just before picking up this book for reviewing, I read "Devil in Pinstripes". It dealt with mind games and relentless politics played in banks. I was intrigued by Ravi Subrmanian's lucid writing and wanted to read more of his books. Through a book review programme by blogadda, I was opportuned to get hold of this book.

Plot: 

  When you grab this book, the very first thing you notice is this catchy word, "Bitcoin".Bitcoins, a relatively new concept is promoted by the author. The prologue aptly explains how the concept of "Bitcoins" was invented.

     Gillian Tan is a top notch member of the US senate committee advising on South Asian affairs. Aditya Rao(after reading devil in pinstripes, I could understand who this Aditya could be!), a person who was in the higher echelons of NYIB(New York International Bank). Sundeep is a very close aide of Aditya. Swami is a person in the race to become the CEO after Malvika and a very good friend of Aditya. Tanya, Malvika's daughter is an attractive woman. A few FBI officers and CBI officer.

Now let us connect the dots. In India, in NYIB a phishing scam breaks out and Swami becomes the scapegoat when Malvika is the CEO. Swami has a personal dislike for Malvika since he is made the scapegoat and his promotions and the promise of charing the bank has met a dead end. The management in Singapore realises who the real culprit is and promotes her to an inactive but a catchy position of chairman who is just a pseudo lead.

  Tanya, is a very attractive girl who enters into a relationship with Varun. Varun is a person who is unaware about his relatonship with Aditya Rao , the owner of two startups eTIOS(handling transactional operations of NYIB) and Indiscape(gaming company). After Varun meets Aditya and fathoms his relationship with Aditya, he is made in charge of Indiscape. 

   Meanwhile, in US, Gillian Tan is murdered and an ATM heist breaks out. The ATM heist is well planned and follows a pattern. Some part of this money is then converted to bitcoins and then transferred. eTIOS(managing card transactions of NYIB, owned by Aditya Rao) is accused of allowing this withdrawal amounting to millions of dollars overseas. Why is Gillian Tan murdered?Does Gillian Tan hold some other identity which led to his murder?

  In India, during her birthday party, Malvika is said to commit suicide by apparently "jumping off" from her house which had a low parapet.  her daughter(Tanya) makes an appeal to find the real culprit and she pins the blame on the finance minister who hadnt kept up his "promise". Was he responsible for her murder?

  In India, Indiscape, a venture of Aditya Rao(operations managed by Varun) in online gaming is suddenly accused of mingling with bitcoins. Aditya Rao is a Samaritan citizen and totally oblivious to this bitcoin transaction going on through his venture is clawed by FBI  for this underground activity. 

Hold on, before moving further? What is going on? How are all these incidents connected?..is something one must read this book to find out.

My Verdict:

Well, the plot has a lot of twists and turns, the prologue of this book describes it the best. Here it goes:

            "God is a Gamer is a world where money means nothing, martyrs are villians, predators are prey,assasination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems."

It is very rightly said, "nothing is as it seems" and things are grandly deceptive. People who seem to be so innocent aren't innocent.The author has put in a lot of time in research. He has explained the concept of Bitcoins in depth using various technical terms. The author has however, made sincere efforts to explain the functionality of each of the terms used. While reading, at each juncture I tried to connect the dots between the incident happening in the US and India. It is like the story begins from the north pole extremes but ends converging at the south pole. The read never got boring though there were two parallel incidents being narrated, they both managed to keep me gripped till the end.

Best Part:

1)The lucid writing of the author which keeps one gripped to the book notwithstanding the tortuous plot.

2)The author keeps the plot exciting on all three fronts-the start, the mid and the end.

   However, I felt that the character of Sundeep(close confidante of Aditya) could have made more space in this book. He always acted as a support system to Aditya. If not anything else, he could have occupied a greater role in this book.

Secondly, author could have made the slightly simpler for readers to grasp. One has to keep in mind the preceeding events to understand the logic behind the events to-come. This may cause problems for readers who read this book for a long span of time with huge gaps. One might forget who's who or the events which lead to a particular conclusion.

    The chapter-wise format was a wise move by the author but at areas I felt that created discontinuity but thats how it goes!

The only flipside of this book is that the plot is very complicated but the author's simple and lucid narration nullifies this and makes it easier to understand than expected.

Final word:

Highly recommended for people who wish to read something actually exciting and thrilling. Will make up a very good weekend read.I completed this book in two sittings. Highly increased my confidence in Indian authors.

Keep up the good work Mr Ravi Subramanian, waiting for your next book.

My Rating: 4/5.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Ravaging Love-THE END

                                                                                                                         Read Part 02

                                                                   

                      He lay bare, his wounds were ostentatiously painful. People around him could sense the kind of indifference he had towards himself. What had he done.?He tried to enter into a hole, a black hole which was a trap.What was she doing(nobody including herself were not sure of this)?
  In this whole confusion, Jack was the sufferer, partly he was to be blamed for trusting her in a short span of time. He craved for answers and the answer was quite simple, that she was a perplexed human being. A damsel in distress manipulated by the right person for his own ulterior motives. Somebody said, feelings induce weakness and here was an apt example of it, letting oneself bare and open for someone to manoeuvre her life.Yes, you guessed it right, someone else was driving Lucy's car.Jack wasnt bothered who it was but the motives were very clear that somebody wanted to create disturbances in the lake Jack and Lucy were comfortable floating in. For all Jack knew, he did not expect such a rough and unforgiving behaviour from her.
       For Jack, at this juncture, time had passed and it was too late to accept Lucy as a friend. His mind and his heart were at loggerheads. He never wanted enmity with anyone. What should he have done? Should he forgive her and accept her as a friend? She managed to remove the element of trust from their friendship. For him it was done and dusted but some part in him said "let go" events of the past. given a chance people do improve.
      "Improvement" was the last thing he should have expected in this case. Making best of the confusion was what Lucy knew very well.  Some wounds are better untouched but Lucy, never left a stone unturned to weaken him each time with a flashback of all that had happened and by dragging her past into the scene more and more. While Jack let go her for her mistakes, she was busy deciding the best choice for her life. She was so whimsical that someday Jack would bring about green lights while some other day, it would be her past. She was trying to act as a puppeteer and Jack and the other guy were supposed to be her marionettes.
   Jack was getting bruised each time he saw such unjust things happening in front of him. He chose to opt out of this tirelessly painful friendship and once and for all finished it with her.
. He underwent a lot of turmoil in all this, his rational self was proved wrong when she did not mend her ways. It was painful but he still had expected things with her to improve for the better. Isn't it painful to have expectation inspite of truth pointing in the other direction? In this whole process a lot of bitter words were exchanged and there prevailed a lot of ill-will.
      Jack's life was never the same after this. He never had the time to experience what he had been through. Things were fast-paced and damaging. A man must be judged when the grass is green in his pasture and Lucy "outperformed" by damaging everybody in the process. What she got out of it?Nothing. What had this whole incident done?
It had ravaged Jack and ripped him apart with wounds which only time could fill...or could it?
What is love if it is so ravaging and wild? 

Ravaging Love-The Damage.

   Read part 01       

              ...she was his destiny...Jack had a narrow vision..all he could see is her attention..which was slowly fading away...Jack was a passionate man. He had great conviction to keep her happy. Lucy was rethinking her decision...what held her back?What made her so attached to her ravaging past? Did she not want him?What did she want?
     Lucy had put herself and Jack in a labyrinth. She wanted Jack to shower full attention on her..treat her like a princess and at the same time she did not want anything formal. What was she upto?She wanted Jack and she did not want him at the same time. Days went by and the fading away of the attention was so gradual that Jack couldnt question her. Jack was gradually becoming a victim of his own feelings towards her. Even before he could experience the joy of love, he was being subjected to a tortuous path laden with thorns. Each thorn pricked him so badly that they punctured his heart. Jack was a determined man, he had ambitions and to his hard luck, Lucy, the friend who often featured in his good books, a friend whom he shared everything with, was turning the tables against him. He was totally dismayed. This is the last thing he could have expected of Lucy in his life after having supported her in her bad times.
     On one hand his personal life was taking a toll on his mind and on the other hand he had to battle the looming examinations which was just a week  away."Time" and "girl" make or break a man's life and future and as of now, both had given up on him. Gloomy thoughts made Jack evaluate mistakes which he hadn't even done. What did Lucy do? She had left him completely deserted amidst a sandstorm which she herself had blown for Jack. What was the purpose of all this?Was Lucy sadistic?
     One fine day, Lucy had pinged Jack to say that everything was "over" between them. There was nothing formal between them, so Lucy could make use of this confusion by not mentioning whether she was talking about friendship or something else. Jack was totally down. He was suffering for no reason. For the first time in life he had felt for someone, and this is what he got.
     He somehow wanted to get out of this quagmire and the more he thought of escaping, the more he was drawn into the labyrinth. The last words heard from Lucy were, "You mean nothing to me..I have got him back..I was totally blindfolded in thinking of being with a person like you"..He was ripped apart...his heart shatrtered to pieces.. He could not make any sense of it..He diverted himself with great difficulty by studying for the upcoming exams. As things were not making sense, he atleast thought of making sense by faring well in the upcoming exams.
     After about 2 months, he saw a message flashing on his mobile. It was an unknown number, all he could read is a big 'sorry' and a feeling of regret for all that had happened.  He need not lookup in any directory or for that matter even ask the person his/her identity. She wanted to apologise..but for what?for all the mess she created?
   She wanted to resume 'friendship' with Jack. Friendship in this context is so flexible that it was used by her to indicate a pseudo-relationship i.e a relationship where Jack is something more than a friend but less than a boyfriend.
   Jack was stumped. He was left astonished at she coming back to him after such a bitter exchange of words.  Things were only getting too complicated..but there was a solution which Jack was blinded from...he still had some affinity for her..she too had it..but she had options..she was spoilt by options while he never did so..
Jack waited for answers..WHY ALL THIS? was something he wanted to know..
                                                                                                                               PART3