A 'lil' story

I have had this occasional urge to put my thoughts on paper in the form of a story. Here is a chance to make a beginning :)

Madan was pacing restlessly in his room. One could see the agitation in his face. "Do I tell her or not? Would it not ruin our friendship if I were to reveal my feelings to her?" The reason for his agitation was Pallavi. Of late he had realized he had fallen madly in love with her. But he knew she thought of him no more than as a friend. "Damn all girls, why do they draw a line at friendship?", Madan cursed internally. "Well", he decided, "I can no longer live with this suspense. It's better if she rejected me than to live knowing that I never expressed myself."

He remembered that they had planned to meet that evening. He decided to tell her then. When they met, Pallavi could immediately sense that something was not right. "Oii, what is the matter with you, are you feeling all right?", she asked him. Madan could only mumble a reply, "Ya, everything is ok."

"Well, thank God, I was worried something was wrong. Now wait till you listen to what happened today at work!!...." Madan could only watch with adoration as she continued narrating her day's experiences.

"Pallavi, I love you."

"....., so I was telling him he had written his code wrong, huh, what did you say?", said Pallavi, unsure whether or not she had heard him correctly.

Madan gulped. He realized that he had just spoken out loud what was in his mind. "I have wanted to say this to you all this time. We never knew each other in college and I have known you only for the last one year. Initially I felt you were one of the hottest females I knew". He went red when he said this. "Later on, I realized that I care for you too. Please believe me, what I am saying is the truth." Pallavi was pleased with his words, but she could not come to terms with the fact that he loved her.

"Madan", she began, "I am flattered to hear you say that.."

"Please don't say but...", Madan begged her.

"But, please realize that you are no more than a friend to me. I value your friendship, but beyond that I am sorry." Each word of hers was hurting Madan like a needle directly to his heart. He abruptly turned and walked away from her, unwilling to show her his tears.

Over the next few days, Pallavi received no communication from Madan. She thought, "He will soon recover. He is anyway taking a transfer out of town. That should help." She went to sleep still thinking about Madan and wondering why he had to fall in love with her.

It was six in the morning. Pallavi was an early riser. She was preparing for her GMAT and liked to study early in the morning. One of the first things she liked to do in the morning was to surf the web. She opened her email website when suddenly the door to her house burst open. It had rained heavily the previous night and it was still very windy. She was startled by the sudden noise. She closed the door and looked at her laptop monitor. She had received a mail from Madan. "Ah well, he has finally recovered I hope", she thought. She opened the mail, started reading and froze.

It had only two sentences. "I do not want to live this life without you. I still love you and will always love you, good bye." Her phone suddenly rang. It was Paritosh, Madan's flatmate. He sounded hysterical. "Pallavi, Madan committed suicide yesterday night! I saw an empty bottle of sleeping pills beside him and saw a mail that he had written to you!"

Pallavi woke up suddenly, sweating. "What a frightening dream!" She quickly had a glass of water to calm her nerves and then saw that it was time for her to wake up anyway. She opened her email account, when suddenly the door burst open.....




No brickbats please :)

Food for thought

There is a food crisis facing the world today and the world bank has warned that 100 million(more than 4 Australias) people can be forced into extreme poverty. There have already been food riots in Egypt and the Philippines and a viewer poll on NDTV's 60 Minutes said that these are possible in India also. West Bengal has already seen PDS shop owners being attacked after being accused of hoarding.

What has the government done? It has banned the export of certain items like rice and pulses. The PM has sent out a request to states to check hoarding. What is the agricultural minister doing? He is probably trying to ensure that the upcoming IPL series will receive sufficient media coverage (the media has been threatening to boycott the event due to some restrictive clauses put forward by the BCCI)!! Before the economic reforms of the early 90s India had what is referred to as the 'Hindu growth rate'. Fortunately the same cannot be said to be the case today. But agriculture still is languishing. Farmers are committing suicide on one hand and on the other hand, consumers are complaining of increasing prices. Today agriculture employs more than half of India's workforce while producing less than 20% of the GDP. Steps need to be taken to ensure that the productivity is commensurate with the employment figures. This does not mean indiscriminate use of fertilizers and the likes, which bring their own set of problems. Instead there should be better irrigation facilities, consolidation of small holdings, very importantly, better farmer education etc. When will these materialize?

Some might suggest that privatization is the key. But we have to remember one thing. The main objective of a business organization is profit. As Milton Friedman said, "The business of business is business". Hence it is only normal to assume that private businesses will have an eye on more 'valuable' crops. Whatever they do in their five (or fewer) years in power, governments lose no opportunity to tomtom their 'achievements'. It would be a welcome change if a government actually did something and left the judgment to the masses. This is the land of Annapurna. I wonder how she would feel if the nation which was once the world's most prosperous were to descend into rioting for food!