This is my World

It was 25 meters in length and 3 meters across. It should have served as a drainage pipe instead was serving as a house for a four member family. Changing governments, deferring politicians, and altering policies have all abandoned the pipe, but, well, Moorthi found use for it. Orphaned at the age of 6, he has been living in this cylindrical house for 34 years now. Of course, he did not know that. He never knew his age as well. Men who fear death count their age, not he. Moorthi has been married to Selvi for 12 years now and had two kids, Muthu , 11 and Meena , 10. For both Muthu and Meena , the abandoned drainage pipe has been their only house. Right from birth, they both have crawled, learnt to walk, and run within the blackened concrete walls. They played around it, sat on its roof to watch the vehicles speeding on the National Highway, slept within it an lived in it. And they were in love with it. It provided them protection from the scorching sun, chilly winds and heavy rains....

A weekend in Bangalore without a visit to a mall, almost seems impossible these days. If I don't bother anything, I still find it a good place to roam around, or grab a quick bite, or if I find time(which I most often do) watch a nice movie in a comfortable multiplex. For the past few months(well, really close to an year), I have had a companion who accompanies me in this adventure(if I may call it so). She is only of my very few close friends(you can count the number in a single hand), who shares a nice rapport with me. I will tell you, she is one girl with a lotta questions and I am a guy with too little answers to them. One of her questions made me write this article. As usual, this last Saturday, We were out, in front of a mall, when we saw this guy. He might have been in his late twenties or early thirties. With a dhoti, white shirt and no slippers, the man with pale skin and blond hair would have passed for both an Indian and an English. Though I am not sure about his natio...

The number that is going to do the rounds in the next couple of years is 2012. A movie with this number as its title is hitting the screens soon. Rumors, gossips, and prophecies linking 2012 are already floating the air. Many renowned scientists, archaeologists and a hell lot of experts in various fields are pursuing dozens of researches on 2012. "The World is coming to an end !". You heard me right. That is the what. The World is the where and we are the why. How is still being debated and who is really not a who. And now, we will discuss the when. We will start from where the others started. MAYANS, a South American civilization(dated 2000 B.C. to 250 A.D.) that devised a calender, which has led many scientists to the conclusion that the World is at the verge of destruction. The calendar, a cycle repeating itself over 5016 years and this cycle, scientists believe, ends on December 21, 2012. The end of things. And our archaeologists have discovered a code with blackened and ...