Abhishek's Musings

  NEIGHBOURHOOD SETTINGS   Imagine a circle one mile wide or 1.609 km wide in a busy, bustling neighbourhood. The setting is an evocative mosaic of routine life, filled with a multitude of details that capture the essence of local life.   RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Three storied apartment buildings dominate the skyline within the circle. These structures are worn with age and, in some cases, flouting safety laws regarding electrical meter boxes, wirings, and motor pumps used for extracting groundwater. Some of these apartments are being built anew by builders who have been thriving in this area lately. The apartments stand near each other, and their exteriors are adorned with laundry hanging from balconies. The flats are home to a diverse community, each a cultural ambassador of the region they hail from. Families with small children play in the narrow lanes while the elderly residents sit outside, or by their windows or balconies, watching the world below, and youngsters rush...

  UNLIKELY CONNECTIONS   (A COZY CAFÉ WITH DIM LIGHTING AND PLEASANT AMBIENCE.)   (LINCOLN AND EVELYN ARE SITTING AT THE CORNER TABLE.)   LINCOLN:  All right, Lincoln. It's time to put on your charming face and be interesting.  “Hi Evelyn, I’m Lincoln. Nice to meet you.”   EVELYN:  He looks nice and decent. Please, God, let him be nice and respectable.  “Hi, Lincoln. It’s great to meet you, too.”   LINCOLN: “So, have you been to this café before?”   EVELYN: “Actually, no. This is my first time. It’s got a great ambience, lighting and vibe, though.”   LINCOLN: “Yeah, it’s a cosy nest. I coach a kid’s football team nearby, and we sometimes come here for mocktails and ice cream after games.”   EVELYN:  A football coach? That’s cute and sexy.  “That sounds like a great deal of fun! I’m a school teacher, so we both work with kids.”   LINCOLN: “Oh! That’s great! What grade do you teach?”   EVELYN: “Fourth gra...

  THE STENCH OF REDEMPTION   The city streets had turned into a hideous landscape of garbage mounds, decaying under the sweltering summer sun. Under these dire straits, Lawrence, Maxwell, Stark, Mrs Corrie, and Arnold stood on the fringe of a particularly grimy alley, the air thick with the foul stench of decay and despair. Their eyes glowed with a shared determination: They would not let the city’s descent into filth tarnish Eric’s legacy. Most appropriately, they named their group Dire Straits.   Lawrence, a hardened driver, revved the truck's engine they had under their command. “Ready to roll when you are”, he called out, his voice barely audible through the cacophony of buzzing flies, mosquitoes, other insects, and the general chatter. Their plan was simple but ambitious: clean up the streets for good and implement some semblance of order by creating a sustainable garbage management system .   Maxwell, the PR and Communication Specialist, stood beside him, tappi...

  THE CHIMP’S EYE VIEW: EXPLOITING COSMOS’ KINDNESS   From the moment the old grizzly chimp set his eyes on Cosmos and his family, he saw easy prey. Cosmos, with a generous heart and inexhaustible patience, was the ripe character for exploitation. After doing a recce on Cosmos, his family and his house earlier, the grizzly chimp, the ring leader of the unruly five, moved to trap Cosmos, this time with his entire gang of chimp family. They pounced on the opportunity to abuse their way into the young boy’s life. Little did Cosmos know he was about to be a pawn in the deadly, deceitful game of chimps’ manipulation and fraud.   “This kid is our hen that gives the golden eggs”, the old grizzly chimp whispered to his cohorts, a wicked, sadistic gleam in his eyes. “We can help ourselves to whatever we want, and he’ll just keep giving.”   Cosmos’ house, once an abode of peace and tranquillity, became a madhouse of chaos. The chimps, led by their highly cunning leader, took a...

  COSMOS AND THE WILD CHIMPS: A TALE OF UNRELENTING SPIRIT   Cosmos never imagined that his life would turn so topsy-turvy so suddenly. One day, he was just a carefree young boy with typical dreams and ambitions, and the next, he was the guardian, caretaker, and guide of five unruly wild chimps. The decision was forced on him, leaving him with no room for refusal. Little did he know then that it would begin an unimaginable ordeal, testing him to the limits of his endurance and patience.   “Why me?” Cosmos wondered helplessly as he watched the five chimps destroy his once peaceful environment. The chimps turned his life into a whirlwind of chaos with their wild theatrics and insatiable demands. They fought, abused, screamed, and demolished anything within reach. They butted into his every conversation and affairs. Despite his initial misgivings, Cosmos knew he had to step up to survive this. There was no one else to help him out.   Every day felt like a tsunami crashi...

  THE ENDLESS ORDEAL: JAMES AND THE RUTHLESS JOB SELECTION PROCESS   Like any other youngster his age, James aspired to a secure, stable position as an analyst in a reputable firm. However, unlike any job selection process, this odyssey quickly became a hellish ordeal. What seemed routine suddenly morphed into a nightmarish experience fraught with arduous tests and never-ending trials.   James was asked to take a written exam. But to his dismay, it was no ordinary test. It was set at the level of a foreign secretary exam, requiring tremendous knowledge and analytical skills. This was just the beginning of his long ordeal.   After the written exam, he was subjected to severe mental and physical tests to judge his suitability. These tests were beyond what a mere analyst was expected to perform. He was pushed into situations designed to break him. A group of psychopaths was assigned the task of abusing and physically torturing him 24x7, nonstop. The torment was relentle...

  DIFFERING VIEWS ON JOHN KEATING   SEAN: You remember “Dead Poet’s Society” Maurice? That movie has always stayed with me. John Keating is the embodiment of inspiration. I’m incredibly inspired every day by his words, “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”   MAURICE: I remember the movie, but don’t share your enthusiasm. John Keating was controversial at best and a paradox at worst. The line from the film, “Sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean choking on the bone.”   SEAN: Come on, Maurice, don’t be so cynical. John breathed fresh, refreshing air in that rather stiff school. He reminded me of Br. Eric from my school days. He had similar creative methods of teaching. He brought dreary Shakespeare plays and uninteresting poems to life.   MAURICE: I don’t know your Br. Eric, as you know, I went to a different school. But John Keating? He was a walking calamity. Are we encouraging the young boys to question their parents and the sc...

  THE NASHVILLE MURDER   The town of Nashville was used to the chatter and the noise,  but Melville's voice always seemed to cut through it like a hot knife on butter. He always called a spade a spade, and because of this, he occasionally found himself in hot waters. He sometimes wished he could do something about his foot-in-the-mouth disease. His speeches at the local city council were a cascade of pointed complaints, each a stinging criticism than the last, putting the city’s powers that be in some array of discomfort. The young student had a knack for rubbing some people incorrectly, so it was no surprise when he suddenly disappeared. The air buzzed with speculation and whispers, with the needle of suspicion pointing heavily at two people: Kaamal, the student union leader, and Nashville’s infamous socialite, the Catwoman.   A few days earlier, in a dimly lit council chamber, Melville’s voice rang out, shrill and defiant: " Another thing, the budget allocation on ...

  CLOSING SCENE OF THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER   The closing scene of “Thor: Love and Thunder” is somewhat serious but promises a bright future. In the battle's climax, Gorr loses his life and dies, his dark vendetta dying with him. Jane Foster, who had the superpowers of the mighty Thor, gradually weakens and loses her strength. With a rather touching goodbye, she exits the scene by transforming into stardust, her sacrifice moving our hero Thor to tears and affecting him deeply.   As the scene changes, “Sweet Child O Mine” by Guns N Roses begins to play, its familiar lyrics drumming up lost memories and buried emotions. The opening line of this song, "She's got a smile that it seems to me reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky", signifies the innocence of children and their freshness and vitality. The camera now closes in on Thor, who is now in the company of a young girl—Gorr’s daughter, Love. Despite the tremendous losses ...

  THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER TRAILER   For the uninitiated, Thor is the God of thunder, who possesses enormous strength. He has a magic hammer called Mjolnir, which, when he throws it, returns to him like a boomerang. He uses it in many battles to protect mankind. Thor is synonymous with strength, fertility, lightning, storms, thunder, and holy groves and trees. He is a superhero and the founding member of the superhero team “The Avengers.”Chris Hemsworth plays this legendary role.   In “Thor: Love and Thunder”, director Taika Waititi has another enthralling instalment to the Thor franchise. The haunting iconic riff of Guns N’ Roses’  “Sweet Child O Mine” is a key element in the trailer, setting a vibrant and nostalgic tone reminiscent of the late 80’s and early 90’s era.This song is the most apt, an iconic hit by GnR, and superbly sets the tone for what to expect in this Thor movie. The song plays extensively throughout the entire duration of the trailer. As the music ...

  STRANGERS COME TOGETHER   Amid the blazing rain, hail and snowstorm, rare for this part of the country and with visibility reducing to almost zero, a series of headlights and taillights extended endlessly over a bleak expanse on (NH24) highway. Caught in the fray for hours, cars were buried under mounting snow, the situation threatening to go out of hand with each passing moment as the temperature plummeted.   Baffled by this strange weather, the stranded passengers huddled in their vehicles, not knowing what to do. In one Suzuki S-Presso car, a young mother was desperately trying to breastfeed her young girl child; her foggy breath laboured under the exertion. She tried to distract herself by fidgeting with her phone, but her face turned to dismay as she realised that her cell battery had run out. Nearby, in a Hyundai Creta, an older man struggled with his inhaler to beat his chronic asthma, which was getting worse. He was running short of the metaproterenol medication...

  THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT EMPIRE BEAUTY SCHOOL   Empire Beauty School has always been a place where dreams are realised, where fairies spin magic with their eyelashes, hairstyles, and makeup palettes, promising amazing transformations. But dark shadows can creep in unexpectedly, even in a wondrous and glamorous place.   Kaida, the school’s first dragon student, brought excitement and novelty to the halls. Her initial days were a blur of excitement, awe and amazement as she found her way alongside her fairy classmates; however, soon, beneath that calm exterior, simmered emotions that she could not put a lid on.   One afternoon, during a particularly taxing and stressful session, Kaida’s frustration boiled over into rage and jealousy. She let loose a torrent of blazing flames all around her. The classroom erupted into chaos as everyone tried to run for safety. In the ensuing melee, Raymond, the only male model in the school, was caught in the inferno.   “Raymond, t...