Our Funarena!

The instinct of greed is perhaps as ancient as the Homo sapiens. In fact, greed characterizes this species exclusively in terms of recognizing it as it is, because the animals act or react instinctively to hunger or lust or anything without having the power to decipher this as ‘greed’, and if it were possible we’d have seen numerous rivalries, bursts of envy, uprisings and power struggles in the animal world too. Greed is a simple five-letter word, even shorter in some regional languages; but it encompasses countless fields of activity, not just limited to the food varieties and culinary delights. Greed  for money has been historically significant, demonstrated in all ages down to specifically the modern civilization.   It influences human beings in their relationships both in families and workplaces leading to a sense of competitiveness and envy; it influences human being in the basic man-woman relationships leading to subtle or obtuse expressions of lust which actually emanates f

(Continued from the last story on a fish called Sol in Assam!)   Decades back I was working in my hometown on my first job assignment. My office happened to be very near to the riverside and therefore, the local fish market at the jetty that thrived in selling fresh and live fish directly caught from the river was within walking distance. My mother’s constant errand had been to buy some fresh and ‘jumping’ local fish on my way back home from office. I wanted to on many occasions, but every time felt too bored to stroll down to the market and initiate a buying that invariably involved touching and ‘feeling’ the fishes on show.   One day I made a resolve to fulfill her long-standing wish. So, after office hours I went to that local fish market and indulged myself fully in the pre-buying spree of seeing around. Really! The fishes there were very fresh with some of them alive and jumping, literally. There were many choices before me and I had to make up my mind. Unfortunately, I

Just when, 7 o’clock in the morning, I was about to get up the rain started. I always loved the sounds made by the raindrops on the tin-sheeted roof of out village home, and was always lulled into sleep, the audio suddenly making the hot summers feel pleasantly cooler. That morning was no exception, and as the audio reached a crescendo I, just a ten-year-old embodiment at that time, rolled over on my side tucking in my knees close to my chest and prepared for some more windfall slumber. But the reality shook me up: that was a school day and the morning occurrence was no justification for skipping the classes.   My cousin, a year older to me, sounded the wake-up call. An errand normally my grandfather used to undertake almost every working morning with painful consistency, that is say, his wake-up calls used to get louder and louder till the target had to succumb to it, with a sullen face or not he never cared about. That morning my grandfather left home very early on business to th

Well, are you intrigued seeing the fish? Fish is almost a staple diet in Assam, but don't worry, I am not going to promote eating fish! This comes in a hilarious context only. And the context is anyway Assam! We finally arrived in Guwahati on 6th May afternoon thanks to Air India! For my ten days the trip had been really hectic. Just everything was done and accomplished. Attended from funerals to weddings involving travel, Ragini had two one-hour interview programs on different news channels-the second one being on the day I left, Ragini also had hugely appreciated concert of devotional music at the beautiful premises of Balaji Mandir (Temple) and I managed to meet my best friends and also spent valuable time with an eminent poet-writer of Assam. So, then, I thought of celebrating Assam with a good joke about 'fish'! In certain areas of Assam fishermen are very smart and sharp. They believe that they are giving a most wanted service and they want to be respected and tru