Category: Fiction

Annoying Neighbours

~ Pied Piper ~ 1 Comment

It was 2:30 in the morning.

The doorbell rang.

I opened the door, a bit annoyed. ‘Why the hell would people disturb anyone at this hour’, I thought.

It was my next door neighbour. He just wanted to borrow some salt.

I gave him a small portion of it, he said “Good night, have a good sleep now, it is late” and went away.

I thought, ‘ It is lucky I was awake, practising rock music on my electric guitar. Else the bugger would have remained salt-less till morning’

How can people be so inconsiderate.

Annoying neighbour

  • Photo picked directly from google and I claim no ownership of it.

Power outage testing

~ Pied Piper ~ Leave a comment

I was watching a TV series when a thought came into my mind.

Why do the characters go out and check their electric meters when the lights go out ? check if the entire area is out of electricity supply.It is not as if your previous 10 generations were electricians and your is the 11th generation.

Now, you may be wondering why this came up, so let me give you a sneak peek into my thought process.

In Pune (India), where I live, electricity cuts are very rare (contrary to popular belief). Which means, whenever there is a power outage, it is usually announced well in advanced. The possible causes are mostly maintenance, power cuts across the national grid or first drop of rain (don’t know why,but it always is the case).

Now, whenever I face such an outage, I first peep out of the window to check if the apartment next to mine has also gone dark. If it is day time, there is usually a house wife who is talking on a phone explaining to the other house wife that there is an outage at the other end.

Once confirmed that there is an outage, then I proceed to call the electricity board to lodge a complain and find out when the power will be restored.

If, however, the surrounding apartments show no such signs of outage, then I do not proceed to check my power meter.

Long exposures to such TV series / Films have taught me that there is always a killer in waiting. I proceed to call the electrician and have him look into the matter, albeit for a nominal fee.

So, Beware …

 

* This article was sponsored by “Flash Electricians”.

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Time…

~ ddgaikwad ~ Leave a comment

Recently I watched a movie named, Passengers. In the story there is a star ship which is traveling towards a new planet. This planet is going to be the new home for humanity. In this journey it is carrying varied humans with various skills and professions. This total journey would take about 150 years, one way that is!

In the film there is this one reporter who will reach the new planet, spend a year and then return back to Earth. It got me thinking and I did some calculations, One way journey will be 150 years and return will be another 150, and a year spent there. That sums up to 301 years in total.

Since that person is going to be cryo sleep, so he would be ageing by just another year before he makes back to Earth! But then when he is back on Earth, all the people, the friends, the relative, the family, no one would be there… they would have vanished and the person arriving at the destination Earth would find a completely new planet with new techs and new social structure!!

This is just so mind boggling!! For the person its just a year that has passed, since he began his journey, but for rest of the world, the Earth, its 301 years… This just does not feel right, it makes you drift and think again about time.. Question it, time does really flow differently for different people.. and when such a tech will be available what will it be like…

Even thinking about such a possibility gives me goose bumps at a cosmic level… Time for one is not what it looks like its really totally a different entity altogether..

Oh God why, Doc ?

~ Pied Piper ~ Leave a comment

There once was a place called Eden,

And in the placed lived the first two humans,

One was made of dust, Adam, he was called,

The other was made from part of God’s body,

She was a helpmate to Adam, Eve was her name.

Adam and Eve toiled the land and lived on heaven on earth,

till the time God placed a tree and and forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit,

But alas, the serpent tricked them and they ate the fruit and lo and behold, they were banished from heaven to suffer,

As they had caused an original sin. 

And yet when I say this to my doctor, He says, you should have an apple each day.

Stupid Bugger. That is why I may not be able to reach heaven.

 

 

Earth 21000AD…

~ ddgaikwad ~ Leave a comment

Planet Earth, Terra or Prithvi, a home for all of us. What a beautiful blue planet this is, so peaceful from up above… No borders, no conflict, no politics just pure serene beauty… A wonder in its own self, with those vast lying seas and high mountains… At the right distance basking in the Sun’s radiation! The cradle of Human civilisation…

Suddenly! The alarm starts ringing, there is an warning displayed and I exit out of my VR, wondering what’s the matter? I hear 3rd officer announcing, we have reached the war zone, the Solar System… we the Terrans (another branch which broke away from Humanity) who had left the its cradle long back, about 21000 years ago, to explore the newer worlds out there in the distance… Today we are back to fight against the other colonies, who are claiming our holy Earth, all for themselves…

One after one we take our positions, the engines go online, the main weapon systems online, warp drive to 80% and climbing, 85%… 90%…. As for me? I am wondering about the outcome of this war.. What will happen if we claim this world for ourselves? Would we even be able to salvage anything from its surface? Have we forgotten the only reason we left in search of new worlds? Were our ancestors not the ones who depleted it of all the resources? Snatched away all its beauty? Turned a thriving planet into a dead rock??!! And yet here we are again, in the same solar system, same humans, divided  by technology and beliefs, fighting for a ruined planet… proving once again, no matter where humans go, how many worlds they conquer, war will always remain a part of their DNA…. But as the first officer, I was the one to drive the fleet of 12000 carriers and about 50000 cruisers, and a total of 1000000 soldiers for this holy cause…

The formation is ready, we prepare for another jump… this time, right into the heart of the arena, near the 1st Lagrange point… my heart is racing, my palm sweating, I see the entire fleet right in front of my eyes… I look at the captain of the ship, he looks at me… We are ready to leave New Terra… I can see if beneath the deck…
With a heavy heart I have to command them, keeping my doubts aside…

Warp drives are charged 100%…. I initiate the countdown, 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…!!