Jack and Me.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
True isn't it. Anyway just wanted to start off with something that made sense. So where are we now....Week 7 / 14 and time is just whizzzin by ...
imagine getting half way thru agonizin pain and knowing that relief will soon be here,
imagine gettin half way thru a Mithun pot boiler and knowin that relief will soon be here, imagine gettin half way thru hell and knowin that heaven will soon be here.
( the argument considers only heaven and hell to exist)
The last weekend was spent in some nice but unfamiliar territory when i joined a friend at a carnatic concert. and the remaining part of this blog is dedicated to what happened there.
The Bharati Kalai Mandram ( the tam infested cultural crowd ) had its 30th anniversary celebs (Thx Mr Prez for remindin me that since he happened to mention it at least 8 times in his speech) last week and the concludin part of these celebs was this concert...
I loved the music just as any of the other 25 guys who were shakin their heads and the 30 guys who were gesturin the concurrent thalam, and i also loved the music as much as the bunch of kids who also loved their music, only that they were prob listenin to Spears Mami or Clapton Thatha on their discmans ( imagine a crime more horrendous, when u pay 20 bucks to sit in a music concert and listen to ure cd collection) Took me back to the days of Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar ke when Aamir Khan took the kids to that dance program....werent those magical days!
Anyway back to the concert, and i was caught in a crossfire. Two brothers arguing, is a sight for anyone to see, but two brothers arguin about a Thalam?...hmm now thats a Kodak moment for me. My friend and his bro had just finished arguing about how many beats the Thalam had and I was as lost as the MLAsque Chief Guest sittin in the second row on how inconvenient the seats were. True...the seats were quite inconvenient. The Thalam, dunno.
"Don't worry ", said my friend ( my puzzled look must have caught his eye) The only reason we both are arguing is because we have learnt Carnatic Music when we were kids and wanted to debate this issue. I nodded, while I launched myself into orbit flyin to a far away land.
The Land of Jacks.
The Signboard read, " This is the land of the jack, anyone else here will be prosecuted under Law 3.2 of the Consititution of Jack-o-land" Dont worry, this isnt Neverland (Peter Pan and Jackson fans stay calm) This is the land of the " Never was a master, but a jack" sort of ppl...Remember the Jacks, screamed the radio at the arrival terminal. This was goin to be a nice journey.
For the uninitiated, this was about being a-jack-of-all-trades-and-a-master-of-none. I belonged to this group, I know that, but prided the fact that I was a jack of more trades than most others. I tried my hand at so many things, that I have practically lost count now. Meanwhile I met my tourguide for Jack-o-land, Mr. Jack Junior.
" How does a normal Jack feel? Must be really disappointed", I asked him. The reply he gave me sounded quite familiar," Jacks love being Jacks, ek to there is peer pressure to remain one, the moment u become a master, ure outta this group. Plus imagine the benefits, the more trades u remain jack of, the more u get to earn outta the jack security benefits."
I thought, " This is my lucky break. I can easily become a millionaire here. Finally it makes sense to be me!" as I smiled towards the heavens (I think it was heaven )
" So you must also have some rules about who stays here right?" I asked him, waitin for him to say that its open for all! He looked at me as if a thousand ppl already asked him that and then he said, " There is a testing committee..you have to prove ure jackery to them in the trade. You have to be above novice and below master for that, and the testing chance comes once in 6 months where the committee evaluates the citizens based on their jack-o-meter rating. More ppl lose their status every year, than they wish to, but thats what happens to all living beings right? Adaptation, Evolution, remember Charles Darwin?"
I nodded.
" It easy to say you're a jack of the trade, but its difficult to remain there, unless ure a moron, or u really tried hard not to learn anythin. I will be leavin next year, since I was instituted under 2 trades and proved master in one. Waitin for the other and im outta here. I cant wait to get back to earth and prove my worth!"
" Everyone is waitin for somethin or the other " I thought as I nodded.
" How's the life here? Must be really interesting. Imagine getting a house here, ure JA-1 Visa and gettin ure family here on JA-4. I heard you even get paid like 40k Jackers per annum, isnt it worth all that?" I asked.
" No , not really, it just like life everywhere else, except you get paid in Jackers and drive a Jackmobile every once in a while. Soon the fact that you're just an average jack, not even a joe does hurt, that is if ure a normal human being. I stayed here for 5 years now, failin every year cos life here was nice. But now I wish to go back to earth and show who the master is.", he said with a dreamy look in his eyes, then he turned to me and said," Anyway, what do u think ure a jack of...i mean which trades?"
" Wow...now ure in my zone bro!..." I smiled as I thought
" And remember , i didnt tell u this, the reason for u being a jack has to be u. No teacher gimmicks or relocation, this is very important when u meet the Visa Officer"
" Huh??....hmm....Well...I started learning the flute ( as I watched the flute performance on stage), but my guru was deported from the country....I started learning the keyboard, and i relocated to a new place, I started learning carnatic music (sans thalam, which never did go into my head), but my guru was deported from the world ( he passed away in layman english), i started learning the Mridangam, but I relocated to a different city. I'm still a novice with the guitar so that doesnt qualify, hmm....thats bad, i thought I was a master jack...now im not even a jack.....this sux"
Jack looked at me and smiled, " Well its gud that u knew that, or else the committee would have throw ure application never to look at it again! Though there would be a mailbox option" he said with a twinkle in his eye.
I laughed as we just passed a tea-stall which read,
"Tea and Coffee ready....Jack Beans.. new stock only 2 Jackers!!"
"This isnt for me", I thought as I returned back to the concert.
"...... And so we present the award for the most hard working committee member...Mr....."
Somethings dont change.
********************************************************************************
will seeya later.....
-shiva
1 Comments:
jack land is where im too methinks...
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