american "dollar"

for once in my more than half a century of existence, last month i received a "gift"! it was a brand new experience and i was caught napping. so rather than rashly reject the "gift" i took delivery of this first one.

incidentally the cake is still inside my small fridge playing the part of a space occupying lesion. to be frank, i cannot bring myself to eat it. and i do not believe in wasting food while so many go to bed almost every night on an empty stomach - poor "injans" you know. i will have to find some hungry living being to donate it to. the roses from a local florist on the contrary, were real beautiful and i could not resist the temptation.

i wish i had refused the first "gift" itself for within no time another "gift" arrived. this person must be a trained crook - there was no sender's name outside tthe parcel. unfortunately by the time i noticed the fact the courier had left and i had to send the "gift" back to the sender flosho.com of agra paying rs.45/- from my poor pocket as courier charges!

the packet was sent back unopened and i had strapped a covering letter on to the parcel which told flosho.com amongst other things that the matter is to be treated as closed. inspite of this there was another letter from them, again by courier. i had learnt the lesson and so this time without any hesitation, i refused to accept it.

i had mentioned about repeated pestering phone calls most likely from outside india some time back. could be the origin of the "gift" is from the same source!

why are people so adamant? if i dont want to talk to you on the phone why do you want to force yourself on me? and did it work out ? no.

i am not one of those who are impressed by the american "dollar"; in fact i have always been a staunch saddam supporter ( i said so to my commander in the mess during that first gulf war in the ninetees - sardarji appreciated it). by the way what was he saying in that last court room footage? "hana hakki". what does it mean in iraqui? any way, that is the spirit!

i remember reading about illegal immigrants who live in the shanty towns of newyork in an article in the time magazine about five six year back. what these illegal immigrants were earning doing menial jobs was more than six times my income then. do you think i should have taken up one such job? for here was a job that would have eminently suited an imbecile like me! oh, i see; i dont have the potential for even that!

well, whatever that may be this fellow is a rich man by indian standards and that is what matters. if his value is one rupee mine is two paise - that is just two percent of his!

the problem is that in the states this character is a nobody. how does he boost his morale? very simple! throw about a few dollars here and there into your native place or even buy a degree from one of the indian universities where it is sold at reduced rates if you can pay in dollars!

now if you are in trivandrum there is an easier way out. try to be funny with me, if possible even barge into my house and cock a snook at me! that is what every nincompoop in trivanrum, who is aware of the fact that he is a nincompoop, does to shows off their one up man ship - you dont have to be an NRI for that. and it is eminently safe for there is no one who will raise a finger against you except perhaps me. i dont matter for if you dont like what i say or do you can always ignore it as a mad man's gibberings.

coming back to the american "dollars" - i dont have much of a personal knowledge about this particular group of american "dollars"; but i do know the company they keep. the colour and character of their company is very well known to me. i have also heard of the adage about birds of the same feather flocking together. so my presumption is that the american dollars are of the same feather as that of the company they keep. i,(and not we - i am on my own and all my openions are also my own ) call it high living and low thinking. the happenings in the early ninetees proved me right.

i never got involved in any way in the mess and always studiously steered away without ever touching the subject. i know my position; i am an outsider and i have no business meddling in other people's affairs. unfortunately the feeling is not being reciprocated. and i am being forced to speak out. as i said earlier the "dollars" want to keep the cake and eat it too!

i am afraid the american "dollar" has althrough been a corrupting influence over here - the purchasing power is real high. but i for one, do not want to have any thing to do with the whole bloody lot. leave me alone.

tell you something; even when my prospects looked real bright i never had any american dreams - NEVER EVER. in retrospect i myself wonder, why not? could be that i was, and still am, a real fool.

but i did have dreams; humble, simple ones. i dont want to elaborate on that, for the picture of those dreams cannot be complete without bringing in other people and it is not proper i talk about them.

" - - so limited is his intelligence and his imagination that he is never puzzled for a moment.
one of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision."