Shadows of the Evil

Finally, it is happening all over again. Hell is breaking loose. Daemons and ghosts are emerging from everywhere. The calm after the destruction of the prime evil trio was just a short break.
It was not long ago that the battle between the forces of order and chaos got extended to the mortal realm, to the world called Sanctuary. Diablo, the lord of terror had poisoned the mind of the warrior who defeated Diablo before and confined the evil in his own mind. Then Diablo traveled east from Tristram to Lut Gholein, freed his brother Baal – the lord of destruction, continued to Kurast, freed his brother Mephisto - The Lord of Hatred and back to hell itself. There was only one mortal who stood in the way of the brotherhood, Mephisto, Diablo and Baal from destroying the mortal realm. The hero killed the three of them once and for all and Tyrael, the archangel destroyed the world stone in order to stop the evils from returning ever again.

Its been 2 decades since the destruction of the prime evils. Deckard Cain, the last of the Horadrim, senses new stirrings of evil and goes in search of its source. It’s documented as follows,
“When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram's Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells--and even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself.”
Once again the forces of hell will rise, the perseverance of the human kind will be put to test, new heroes will emerge, computers will once again become battle grounds between the forces of the light and the dark and in the end only one will stand. Yes, Diablo III has been announced.

I don’t think its sheer coincidence that when the sequel to one of the most successful RPG games franchise was being announced, in Paris, on June 28th, I was playing the same game, for the third time, with yet another character. I was on the pursuit of Baal, on the valleys of Mount Arreat, after killing Mephisto and Diablo. By the time I was finishing with Baal, and Tyrael destroyed the world stone, I was tired. Still, I wished for one more act. Diablo II is the only game I have played more than 2 times. I wondered whether Blizzard will ever announce Diablo III.
Today morning, I was stunned to see the news about Diablo III being released. It’s like, you wish for something without much hope and its there, right in front of you. Diablo II is the only game I have played more than 2 times. The game play video and screenshots are just amazing. The game is fully 3D and you will get the feeling of accidentally stumbling up on an old friend when you see the aged barbarian or your once trusty companion, Deckard Cain. Currently only 2 characters have been revealed, out of one is a new class – the witch doctor.
The release date has not been revealed yet, but I believe, they will release it by fall 2008. I can’t wait to get my hands on that game. Even though, Blizzard was never that known for their graphics, this one is an exception I think. They always emphasized on the game play, the story line and the way you traverse through the game without even a single bit of boredom, every moment waiting to see what will happen next.
I am eager to know how they are going to tell the story this time, Diablo being killed already. May be, it’s a quest to prevent the return of Diablo, or may be, it’s about the introduction of a Greater Evil, who gave birth to the evil trio, coming to resurrect his sons. I can think of a number of combinations. One thing I am sure, as always, Diablo III will be one or two or even more steps ahead of Diablo II in all aspects, whether its technology or graphics or game engine or story line or the character classes or anything that is associated with the game.
Finally, the countdown has started. Once again, the wait for the hero who will defeat the evil forces that threaten the very existence of the world as we know it has started.
For more info, http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

10th Wedding anniversary

I was floating through the skies when I saw it. A rainbow. There was nothing else in sight. A bright rainbow in the whole sky. I looked down. I could only see the clouds. It slowly changed in to something more beautiful. A pair of eyes. They looked very familiar. I’ve seen them else where. I began drifting in the wind. But I wanted to stay with those eyes. I felt like they are telling me something. Suddenly the wind turned in to a storm. I could no longer fly. I was falling.
I opened my eyes. Yes! I figured it out correctly. Those eyes were that of my lover. She was sleeping peacefully right by my side. I tried to remember the dream. That beautiful rainbow and the clouds that turned in to her eyes. Nice way to start off a day. I simply lied there for some more time looking in to her face. Everyday I want to wake up seeing those eyes.
Slowly I got up. I went to kitchen, made 2 cups of coffee and came back to our room. She was not in the bed. I saw the doors to the balcony open. I went there. Sun was just rising. There she was, standing and enjoying the breeze. The view was gorgeous. I could hear the river flowing. And far away, there are the mountains.
I went there, kissed her on her neck.
“I love you”, she said.
I didn’t hear the words. Instead, I felt it. I was not sure whether she said it or I felt it from her face. I gave her the coffee. We simply stood there.
We didn’t talk for a long time. It was the silence that spoke for us. When she leaned to my chest, I could hear her breathing. I always loved the sound of her breathing. When she fall asleep in my lap hearing the stories I say for her, when I wake up in the middle of the night right beside her, and in the morning, when I wake up early, all these times, I enjoy that sound. Sometimes I felt that it’s my life force that is flowing through her body.
Ten years, its been ten years since the day we met. Now, I couldn’t even imagine surviving without her. It’s the small things, her sound, her smell, her presence, everything had become mine, my life. Without them, there is no me.
We spent the whole morning, sitting in the balcony, watching the river, the sky, the sun and everything else.
Every year, 4 days we will spend just for us – we had promised each others, when we got married. Some place where no one can reach us, no one will identify us, just like in dreams, living the dream.
After lunch, we again went to the balcony with the books we were reading. Soon, the sky began to get darker. Rain – it was about it rain. We closed our books. We could hear thunder. We could see the rain coming from the mountains. We heard it coming nearer and nearer. It sounded like wind chimes. We both wanted to dance in the rain. For the next 1-2hours, we went back to our school days. We made small streams of water and build a small dam across it. We made paper boats. They floated in to the river and slowly disappeared.
By the evening, there were only drizzles. We bathed, had a cup of coffee and went out to walk in the near by plantation. We could hear the sound of the frogs. Even for a moment, we didn’t part from each others. We held our hands tightly. Crazy it may sounds, but we were enjoying solitude in each others presence. We wanted that moment to last forever.
We came back, and I presented her with the red rose I secretly kept in my bag for her. “I love you”, I said. I could see her chins turning red. She hugged me tightly. I wanted to stay like that forever.
We went back to the balcony with a bottle of wine. She lighted a candle and we sat there enjoying the wine. After dinner, she came to me, lied down in my laps. I told her the story of the princess who got imprisoned by a witch and the prince who rescued her. She fell asleep soon. I enjoyed her breathing sound for some time. I put off the candle and accompanied her to bed.

Our 10th Wedding anniversary
31 June, 2020

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Day I [Before he came]

It was with a bit of amazement that I took his call. He is one of my best friends. We stayed together for around 7yrs, throughout college days and even after getting a job until he left to US. It’s very unusual for him to call me at this time of the day. Anyway, I had a hint that he might be coming home for vacation.

“Yeah, tell me da”, I said.

“I’m coming next month”, came the answer.

My assumption was correct. He actually is coming.

“How long?”

“4 weeks”

Wow, great, I thought. My mind started planning. I highlighted 4 weeks in my calendar.

“I marked the dates, so what plans?”

“Its my marriage”

“What?, you are kidding right?”

“Nope”

“Holy mother of f***ing ****, congrats man!”, I had a hunch that it might happen within 1-2 yrs. But never did I thought this fast. I was surprised.

I have to apply for leave, have to book the tickets to my native. My mind was racing about the ‘TODO’s.

“Ok man, see ya soon. Mail me the details later”, I cut the call.

Then again, I thought about our times together. He is a friend with whom I didn’t have to talk much. Just silence is enough. When I had difficult times, I used to start my days by crying on his shoulders. I suddenly missed him and those days. Even I felt jealously towards his girlfriend. She is also a good friend of mine. I wrote a mail congratulating them.

I couldn’t get exactly what my feeling was. Happiness? Jealousy? Missing Him?

Day II [Before his marriage]

“Hey da, tell me. How are the preps for your marriage? Only 3 more days na? I can’t wait to get there. What are our plans for the bachelor’s party? What do I need to bring from here?” I couldn’t stop asking questions. There were many more. I wanted to be with him as soon as possible.

Tomorrow, I can go tomorrow, I thought.

“Hey man, listen. There has been a problem.”

“Problem? What problem?”

“The function has been postponed”

“What? What happened?” I didn’t know what to tell him or ask him. We both were not that good with words.

“One of my relatives passed away. So we thought we will do it some other time.”

“Oh! Ok. So, what are you going to do this weekend?, I’ll be coming anyway. We can have some fun.” I proposed.

“Nothing specific”, he said.

“Wait, I’ll cancel my tickets, you come here. Just like the old times. There won’t be any of our friends here in Bangalore, ‘cos everyone is going to Kerala to attend your marriage. So, its just you and me.”

“Done”

“See ya on Sunday”, I said.

Day III [Marriage Day]

“Hey man, here I am”, he said.

“Congrats, today is your marriage day right?”

“Yeah! Ha ha”

We had breakfast, went to some shopping malls. We walked and talked like there is no tomorrow. We had his ‘marriage’ lunch from a Italian restaurant. I pretended to be his bride. ;) There was slight drizzling by that time. We enjoyed it. By evening, we bought some wine and a variety of non-veg dishes and went home. Just sat there, had some wine, beer & vodka and watched TV. And he celebrated his ‘supposed to be’ first night in my apartment alone ;).

The next day I took off from my office and we roamed around, bought whatever we felt like buying, did whatever we felt like doing and by evening, we were so tired that, I couldn’t even climb 2 steps to a restaurant . He extended his stay for one more day. Next day evening, by the time he had to board the bus, we both became silent again. I saw him off, walked slowly back to my apartment.

If his marriage had not been postponed, we could never have those moments. “Marriage can happen anytime, but times like this come once in your life”. For the next one week, I was completely in the old times. Those 2-3 days were one of the best in my life.

Movie Review: The Man from Earth

Usually I don’t write movie reviews. I write only if they influence me somehow. And that is precisely one of the reason I want to write about this movie. I am almost sure that most of you haven’t heard even the name of this movie. Even I didn’t. I don’t know why I wanted to watch the movie, may be the imdb rating, its 8.2. And recently I got lucky to get a copy of this movie from one of my friends. Yesterday I thought about watching the movie.

Its not a flashy movie, I mean with all the new photographic equipments and all. It looks just like a documentary, so at first I was confused whether I want to continue with it. Then again, it’s had a duration of only 1hr 30mins (approx:). So I decided to go on with it. Also, its not an action or romance or horror or anything like that. But it’s a drama/thriller I would say.

The whole movie is just some people talking about an idea (if I may call it so). I am not sure how to explain it fully. You have to watch the movie. Let me give you an example, just think about the movie matrix (one of my all time favorites), without all the fancy stuff, just the part where Morpheus explaining to Neo what the matrix is, that it is just a computer generated world to keep the humans as slaves. And think about the whole movie as a discussion about that concept. And basically that’s it. A concept which you are not familiar, or another angle or a completely original idea (original to me) with which you are viewing the things as you know it. It will be amazing how everything you know, or you think you knew will change when we apply a completely new theory to it. When you come to know things which you thought are basis of the existence of something, turn out to be something else, what would you feel?

I believe I have said enough to ignite the curiosity in you. Now you just watch it.

[Spoilers Ahead]

Are you very sure that you want to read what the movie is about? I think you should watch it. Taking a decision on whether to write about the movie here was difficult for me and later I decided to give a warning and write about it.

Alright, here it is, just think, that if there was a man, a Cro-Magnon (pre-historic human being) who had the gift of not aging, who is living at the present. Not a re-incarnation. Just he was born in the prehistoric ages, he aged till may be some 30 years, and then never aged and he lived through all the history, watching all the milestones in the history. Some one who actually lived at the times of Egyptian Pharaohs, the time of Moses, who happened to meet Buddha, and who is actually a very prominent figure in the history (that is suspense, you have to watch the movie to know who it is), who holds some 15-20 graduate degrees in almost all the sciences and arts, who had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted to do. Imagine how much knowledge he had over all these ages. Imagine all the dangers he had to survive to be in the present. Amazing concept isn’t it?

Once again, whatever I have written here is my own opinion. You can agree or disagree with it.

The Story of a Young Man

I am going to write a story I know for some time. Remember the rules of a story “No Questions!”. Once up on a time, there lived a boy. He loved his parents very much and they were his world. They were friends. He respected his teachers and loved his friends and no one had a bad comment about him. He excelled in his studies too. Everyone treated him with respect.

He grew up and became a handsome young man. After his studies he got a well paid job in a far away city. He was lucky that he got a job he always wanted. He loved his job. He dedicated his life for the job except for the time he spent for his parents. He always tried to keep in touch with his parents, visit them at least once in 2 months or so. He was happy, doing what he likes to do. He believed there is nothing more to this world that makes his life more perfect.

On one such day, after work, while he was walking to his apartment that he saw her. The first thing that he noticed was her smile. Something specific about it, it struck him. The next day, he left office at the same time and saw her again. That day, he told his friends about her. One of his friends knew her. He filled him up with the details. She was from the neighboring country working in a flower shop next to the young man’s office.

The next day, he went there, bought some flowers and put them at his desk. It was then that she noticed him. She noticed a glare in his eyes. A special ‘something’ that she had never seen in any where else. Slowly it began. He became a regular customer of that shop. They became friends and gradually they fell in love. Day by day, it became sure to him that she is the one person to be in his life, the one who will make his life complete.

No one knew about their relationship. He wanted his parents to be the first to know about her. He wanted to surprise them. He flew home. He was very excited about telling this to his parents. He came home, told everything. He expected them to be happy for him. Instead he saw them crying for the first time in his life. They couldn’t accept it. He never thought that petty things like, language, color or religion to be a reason.

Soon the sadness turned in to anger. His parents began trying their best to make him decide against her. He was broke. He flew back to his work. She was waiting for him in the airport. Seeing her smile, he felt relaxed. He couldn’t tell her what happened. He had promised her that he will come back to take her back to his home place.

He lied to her. He told that his parents agreed. He lost focus in everything, even his work. The only place he found solace was with her. There he was just that energetic young man. She didn’t suspect anything. Soon she moved in with him.

In the mean time, his parents were busy looking for a match for him. They somehow wanted him to forget that girl. They called him more often, he didn’t talk much, but he was cautious not to hurt them. His parents didn’t tell him about their plans for him. For them, he will agree anything they say and they believed its their duty to take a decision for his good future.

Months passed by, she had a baby girl, he was happy, now he thought he has enough courage to tell his parents about everything and he was sure that they will agree to this relation and will accept her as their daughter. He flew home again.

He reached home to see all the decorations in front of his house. His parents were surprised and at the same time, happy to see him. They were about to call him to come home for his marriage.

Everything was set in place. Everyone was invited. There were only 2 more days left for the marriage. He tried to tell his parents what he came for. No one listened to him. He begged his parents for a private talk. They agreed, he told this marriage will never happen no matter what, he still love the other girl. His parents showed him a bottle of poison and told him, he can choose between them and the girl.

He didn’t know what to do. The whole night he stayed awake. His tension soon turned in to revenge. He agreed for the marriage. He acted cool and happy. He had a plan in his mind. The marriage happened. The couple flew back the day of the marriage itself. He rented a new house.

The next day he went for work. He came back home late. Everyday this happened. The bride became extremely sad. But nothing changed. The girl whom he loved didn’t know about this either. He managed to convince everyone that he is busy with his work.

The bride soon became suspicious. She found out about the girl soon. She was broke. She called her folks. They became angry. They came to the city where he worked, brought them both back his house. They talked, the bride wanted divorce, he was only happy to agree to that. His parents became angry, they contacted the girl, told her about his marriage and cursed her. She was broke. She refused to see him afterwards.

He lost everything. He lost his love, his child, his parents. He hated his home place, the city he worked and even his work. Everyone hated him, his friends, colleagues, even strangers who heard this story. One day he fled. No one knows where he is now.