The Mistake

    Covered up in heavy white she walked up to the railing and removed her gloves just for the fun of it. Suddenly the propelled vessel jerked violently and she held on to the railing tightly with her bare hands. The biting cold registered , and she corrected her posture quickly. Ana walked to the captains cabin. "Dad are we there yet?" The captain pointed her towards the telescope mounted near the window. The telescope was pointed towards the north sky.She curiously made her way towards the round window. She had only seen the pictures in her text books, now she was watching the spectacle in person and realized she was getting goosebumps on the back of her neck.She quickly went out into the corridor,back into the chilling black. A fire ball soon appeared in the atmosphere. Gilligan walked over to his daughter and wondered if she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.
His calculations were near perfect. The sky lit up brilliantly in a hue of orange and  back on the vessel,aptly called The Lantern, Ana with her palm still on the railing,slightly raised her fingers to feel the warmth.

A mile away the fire ball punched into a massive ice berg obliterating it the next second with a sonic boom. Soon it was dark again. Just as they removed their hands covering their ears, the anchored ship rocked and almost tumbled on an incoming ripple that followed. Gilligan quickly held onto his 11 year old and Ana wrapped herself to his arm. As the silent night returned nothing seemed to have changed except for the dull greenish ionized sky. Ana remembered a song her mother used to sing to her.

The Lantern powered its high intensity light beams. Gilligan swept the light on surrounding ice bergs and floaters looking for what he and his family had traveled 300 nautical miles from the east coast of Canada. Ana watched intently with a monocular. Her job was to follow after the light beam had passed over a region.She traversed her vision slowly, then back tracked to see the twinkling she had just thought she had seen.Ana screamed "I see it , I see it!! " . Gilligan smiled and handed her the laser pointer in her outstretched palm. She held the red dot in place. Gilligan moved the light past the mark again and this time saw for himself the alien greenish glow, " Splendid job Ana". His calculations had just been proven right and was staring right back at him. Triceruim absorbs small quantities of light energy and radiates it back as green pulses.The Captain pressed a button and the anchor was reeled in and they set off for the ice sheet ahead.They reached the spot.
Captain Gilligan secured anchor and set off to retrieve the object and wished he had brought along a third hand. He climbed overboard and jumped onto the ice. Ana lit the path ahead of her father using the ships search light. The ice was slippery even with his spiked footwear.He had secured his safe line to the vessel and moved on.He slipped but held onto the rope and Ana gripped onto the railing tight and screamed "No!"
He struggled and stood up again using the spike rod and waved towards her. He moved ahead and finally reached the spot.He bend down looking at the ash object and touched it to check if its still warm.Took out his bag and placed baseball sized rock in his bag. Gilligan started to retrace his steps back,one step at a time,slowly.Reached back and climbed on board and Ana brought out the cake and confetti. Gilligan said" I am so happy today, so happy..I'v got everything I have ever wanted ".Ana smiled and put down the knife . The vessel was moving at 20 knots now cutting through ice sheets.Ana asked if she could see the rock and stretched her hands forward. Gilligan stopped his hand holding a cake midway to his mouth ,grinned and gave her the bag. She hurried with the button and inverted the bag with her left hand to let the rock drop into her right. The rock dropped onto her palm and simply bounced away. Gilligan's heart seemed to have stopped and he watched with excited eyebrows. The rock swayed to the end of the room, out of the door and stopped near the railing and the vessel swayed the rock went over board. Ana looked worried and ran towards the railing looking down into the dark waters and Gilligan followed. Ana looked back scared and fist clenched and said "I'm so sorry..". Gilligan looked calm now, smiled and said, "Its all right , now finish your cake dear".

The BEST Commute

30-9-2009
Best buses are so crowdd these days...
Its 29 sep n im returnn home frm ofice.i cud hv said returnn frm wrk.but it wudnt actuly sound right.nyway,its 1830 n d crowd is showin its directly proportionality.I stil remembr d ol days..where crowdd buses cud simply be left for anothr 1.But nw 1 wud b smart enuf 2 do oderwise.
I get no.40 goin 2 borivali..d bus wsnt packed..yet.1st thn u do is use ur instincts.ur mumbai jungle intusions.u unvoluntarily map d bus of where 2 stand.dis is crucial in order 2 avoid bone crushn pushes n flexes for d nxt hour or two evn.
D aim is 2 get 2 d prsn who is most likly of getn off.
Based on crtain charecteristics which i hv put down based on site scrutinization;
hands on handle
desprtly lukn out
odr hnd n foot movemnt.
4 advncd lvl
eye movemnt
face xpresions
clothing
if elder
student
bisnes guy
but 4 these clues 1 needs 2 hv a good knowldge regardn strategic locations about vry stop.
But 1 general fact is NO 1 ever asks where d odr is goin 2 get down..

So al dis is analyzd in split secs n u make a decision. Rest is if d big guy liles u

I ws gtn 2 options. So d only thng lft 2 do was ini mini minie moe.i chose 1 to d right. I parkd my bag on d rest hndle.nw ny 1 f dose 2 gets up, its by birthrite 2 sit there cz f d 20rs tickt i posesed.
15 mins passed i strikd a home run. I desrvd my seat.my skills paid off...i got d outer seat.d bus stil 2 get packed.
Unconventionaly best buses with 2 standee lines arnt termd packed.cz ders stil enuf space 2 move ur head n arms n d middle line cud b usd 2 move 2wrds d xit.So wat hapns in a packd bus der are three lines!outer most lines kickn in2 d leg room of d outr most seaters.But human flexibility stil permits extra room 4 dose who push ahead thru d 3 standee lines 2 get out of d presure cooker.
Wel my story wsnt all pleasnt,n it didmt take long..my gr8st fear are women.evn if im standing or siting.1 mst nvr be in 2-human beings radius frm dem!
Cz in a crowdd bus u get pushes n pass it on.its defnitly sm law of physics.but xpct nw u 2 hv super human powers n form a human shield againts such atacks.if u touch em..not d sick way but evn in a "damn it!" Way..dey luk at u like ur in prison servn time on counts f rape n homicide.If she wanted 2 get ahead she cud mow u down, like a bull dozer thru a cattle herd.Js throw u aside, stamp u wid their pointy footwear.. n without ny guilt or remorse.Plus if d seat ur guardn opens up,she may hv a good chnce f gtn it evn if shes 3 to 4 human body away. So must be away frm such vigilanties who put d law f equality amoung fellow citizns 2 d test..if ur sitn best thng 2 do is pretnd u ran in d marathon n desprtly tryn 2 get sum rest n shut eye.
If al goes well,d storm wil pass n ur shelter wil prevail.
Js mntionn, if u evr feel ny pity or compasion 2 d eldrly or mothrs wid babies -betr giv ur seat.y u shud?it wil make u luk gud.dats all.but dont thnk u wil hv a gud probability of getn 2 remain seatded. Ders a whooping 85% chance dat those standn wil direct these damsels 2 ur seat.so humanity wins.most of d time.
I was a victim of such a move.i was cornered!
2 women armed wid babies climd on.d bus ws stil hvn 2 standee lines.else dey wud hv prefrd wlkn home than riskn 2 get in d red transport. 1 went 4wd,d odr a seat ahead f mine.I fought my good will.
But just in betwn al dis gud n evil..d guy nxt 2 me ofrd 1 f dem a seat.i ws reliefd thnkn if i get go inside i may hv imunity frm d near dangers f loosn d seat.
But then i rembrd d 3 lime standees. They wud snap d babies spine.i let her go in.but wat nxt??d odr followd suit..d baby wid rich hopes of comfort n serenity.he wud hv been heart brokn if i didnt budge.
Humanity won.
I switchd sides.nw stndn xctly left.i didnt wana be nxt 2 them.for my safty.i didnt wana b d 3rd line standee who broke d babys arm.jst prhaps..by ny odds of dat happn..
I wrote most of this while standing.
But around 15 mins bck frm nw,1940 i got a seat.
Humanity lost.i won.
So finaly my second option workd out 4 me.though it wsnt d eagrly luking studnt who got up.
Nyway it adds up 2 anothr days lesson..
Its 1950 n im almost reachn my stop at thakur village.d bus has more breathing space nw.only d limited 19 standees all 2gthr.d so cald studnt got down at malad.he saw me typn since d past hour so js had 2 ask if i was msgn some one....