Looking back - I

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

--Steve Jobs

Sampy's joy knew no bounds. He had finally got a chance to prove himself worthy. Tomorrow was the D-day and he knew that if he could pull off the presentation well enough, he would not need to worry about his future. As he reached home, Gopal, his 6-year old kid came running and hugged him, "Daddy! I've been waiting for you since afternoon. When are we going shopping?" Sampy did not want to disappoint his son whose birthday fell sometime in the next week. But he had to work on his presentation which was more important. He replied, "Lets go tomorrow. Daddy is very tired right now. Plus I have to do my homework. Else they wont let me in the office tomorrow." Gopal seemed to understand and as Sampy prepared himself for another nightout, he patted his back and said,"Ok. Be a good boy and dont go to office without completing your homework." Malini could not help smiling when she heard this and put her son to bed.

As July 11, 2006 dawned, Sampy got ready to give the presentation of his life. Gopal came up to him and gave him a hug. "Daddy, promise me that tomorrow you're going to spend the whole day with me." He promised. He made it to the office before time so as to avoid the morning rush in the local trains. And as he prepared himself for the presentation, he seemed quite confident of pulling it off comfortably. And he did it in style! And by 5:00 PM, the deal had been finalized. He just had to do a couple of modifications and he'd have got his first success as the project manager. He called up home and informed her. She was very happy for him. She reminded him of his promise to their son for which he replied, "You know I keep my promises" She knew he did. All of them. But somehow she had a creepy feeling that something was going to go wrong this time. This was not the first time she felt so, but this time the feeling was much more stronger.

(To be continued..)

PS1: This is my first attempt at writing short stories. It's the first of the 2 installments of the story. Hope to write the second one soon. Will be damn busy in the coming week.
PS2: It has been a good week. I got appointed as the TA for cognitive science and stood 85th in CL mock test-I. Hope to keep my feet planted on ground.

Salaam Bombay

Most of my relatives live in Mumbai and so when I saw what had happened, my heart skipped a beat. I was reminded of the 1993 serial blasts. I was in Mumbai then and the next 2-3 days after the blasts were spent in fear. Every night a collective sigh of relief was heaved, as a silent prayer escaped our lips thanking God for no untowards incidents.

However Mumbai is the city that never sleeps. All wounds heal in no time. And most of the things are forgotten. Or atleast pushed to the back of one's mind. It was nice to know that the world's rudest city could recover from such an attack within hours. I salute the courage, and tolerance (towards frequent visits from unconcerned politicians) shown by the Mumbaities. You guys rock! :D

All my relatives and friends are safe and fine. I hope you are too.

Quote of the day:

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating - people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.

-- Oscar Wilde

PS1: Birthday came and went. The most uneventful one I've ever had. But the most satisfactory as well. For a second I thought I might have to deal with another news of death. Thankfully none came. This might have sounded selfish but I guess nothing wrong in it.
PS2: PC is screwed up BIG time. Am not able to install drivers in Windows. Yes, I've formatted my C drive. Will try WLAN in Linux and if it doesnt work then it will be quite some time before I could blog from my room.
PS3: If you thought Firefox sucked, this might be somewhat heartening. Flock sux as well!!
PS4: New sem has begun. My classes start from Tuesday. I am kinda apprehensive. Actually that is just an understatement. Anyways, too many courses to choose from and all this analysing becomes tiring after some time.
PS5: I have been happier inside since the blasts. More thankful to God.
PS6: Wrote CL and TIME mocks today. Did moderately well in the former and screwed up the latter.
PS7: I've 5 drafts right now which need to be posted. But I just am not able to blog from the labs. Too much of shouting and commotion. New 64 bit PCs have arrived and they rock :D
PS8: Are Barcamps really so interesting that 3 out of every 5 posts shown in the blogroll are being written on it?
PS9: Feels good to be blogging again. Thanks, Rakesh.