Strangers in the Night

The midnight train is coming down the Strujen-Bajen mountains. Art Farnanski seems to be dozing off in his seat.
Someone knows that this is not true.
At the station, all the passengers get off the train, except one. The conductor comes and taps him on the shoulder to let him know they have arrived. Art Farnanski does not answer. He is dead.
"His heart?" asks commander Abrojos, looking at the dead body.
"Strychnine", answers the forensic doctor.
Hours later, the four people that had shared the train compartment with the dead man are at the police station.

The man in the dark suit:
"I am innocent. The blonde woman was talking to Farnanski."

The blonde woman:
"I am innocent. I did not speak to Farnanski".

The man in the light suit:
"I am innocent. The brunette woman killed him".

The brunette woman:
"I am innocent. One of the men killed him".

That same morning, while he is serving him coffee, the waiter at the Petit Piccolo asks commander Abrojos:
"This is an easy case for you, isn't it?"

"Yes", answers the commander. "Four true statements and four false ones. Easy as pie."

Who killed Farnanski? (only one person is guilty)

(Post your answers as comments. Have FUN!)

AALOO

Mamma, Papa are still in office

Dhiraj is out playing

It's six o'clock in the yellow clock

or so its bells are saying.

---

Rinki has gone to music class

although she hates singing

Chhutki is at the neighbor's place

and the phone has been ringing.

---

Since nobody is answering the phone

it follows the coast is clear

the refridgerator stands majestic

and inside, there is no fear.

---

Everybody can now chit 'n' chat

without having to worry

"Are you really very tasty?"

the eggs ask the curry.

---

Mr. curry shrugs with no modesty

"Everybody says so!

But why is Rinki so fond of you?

"Oh tell me, dear Potato!"

---

Potato's pockmarked face glowed

and he puffed up even more

"Coz when boiled am healthy and tasty

so of me, she daily eats four"

---

"Oh! perhaps that is the reason,

that she looks much like you"

so saying, cucumber roared with laughter

and all laughed barring a few

---

The tomato girls did not laugh

since they were not in the mood

just before potato's ill fate

lady finger had been rude.

---

Lady finger was mighty proud

of her amazing figure

and so she had an edge too

over the fatso cucumber

---

"You are right, my dear fatso"

To cucumber, the lady said

"If diabetic Papa eats this potato,

he would never get out of bed!"

---

Potato's heart broke at this

he wasnt poison for sure

but he couldn't argue with anyone

his heart was so damn pure

---

Recovering from all the laughter

the beans got up and shared

how he thought that about Potato

no one really cared.

---

Why else would Mamma enter the house

with all of then in a big sack

and wouldn't remember to put out the potato

before dumping it into the veggie rack...

---

When beans concluded his argument

poor cold potato let out a sneeze

All thought it would be great fun

to watch Potato freeze

---

Pretty Carrot brought it to notice

that it was only a matter of days

and Potato would freeze to death inside

this, Mamma herself says...

---

Just then they heard the door open

and everybody quietened down

through the keyhole they saw Papa

answering the phone with a frown

---

What happenend thereafter they wouldnt find out

but the family had to go

No one said anything about it

even the kids didnt know

---

The family packed very little
and quickly left the house

the full fridge was left behind
its wire being attacked by the mouse

---

Inside the refridgerator
the atmosphere was the of gloom
Everyone restrained their greif
till there was no sound in the room

---

None of us will be eaten now
cucumber kept on saying
the tomato girls were crying now
the little peas had stopped playing

---

At one fateful moment
the mouse finished its meal
It became pitch dark inside
and lady finger began to squeal

---

One by one they began to rot
the smell too much for the rest
Curry wailed he didnt deserve this
after all, he was the best!

---

When it had been cucumber's turn
he had cried his heart out
So was the fate of so many more
the beans, the carrot, the sprout

---

Everyone was watching everyone
in grief and in despair
All were shouting or wailing
only Potato was engrossed in prayer

---

All of then were shocked at this
and whispered in each others' ear
why was Potato praying so much
when of rotting, he had no fear??!!

---

So when Potato opened his eyes for a while
they all rushed to find out
All were asking at the same time
and everyone had to shout!

---

When all finally quietened down
the Potato began to speak
he wrinkled up his little nose
the place had begun to reek

---

He said in a scared little voice
that he couldn't just see them rot
and would keep praying for what was left
though there wasnt left a lot

---

The cucumber started crying again
and lady was reduced to tears
now that they weren't good anymore
the pain had begun to pierce...

---

The subject of their wicked jokes
the one they had thought would die
He was now praying for the rotting ones
when he could laugh and score a tie

---

Days passed before the family returned
Only Potato was left by then
Mamma had to prepare dinner
yellow clock had said ten

---

Mamma opened the reeking fridge
to see what she could take
then she saw the potatoes
and blessed her own mistake

---

All pride was dumped in the dustbin
and it was quite a sight
dinner was boiled potatoes and rice
and Rinki had four all right!!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, GET OUTTA MY WAY!!!

There used to be small cupboard in my bathroom. Made of wood, painted white, it is fixed with a mirror on its front..its about 1ft in width and depth...2 ft in height. Recently, it got replaced. Nowadays, it is lying around in the balcony facing all sorts of weather conditions...this sunday, I went out into the balcony, when my brother brought this 'funny' thing to my notice. There was a sparrow...which apparently thought that the small cupboard is a nice hollow cuboidal volume where it could set up a suitable nest. What the mirror presented to our little bird was another sparrow which was preventing it from building a nest. Bird with a birdbrain could not recognize herself in the mirror..she just thought its someone else who has conquered that wonderfully suitable volume in the mirror..so, started the great war...between little sparrow and her reflection.

She looked at the reflection, actually judged its position, then flew a few feet away from the mirror. Then, she flew a little further away, a little higher...finally, with all her might she flew at the bird inside the cupboard hitting beak to beak...then she let her body slip along the height of the mirror, all the while hitting the slipping bird on the other side with her beak! She did this repeatedly, trying different positions, different aims, and different beak strokes...I watched for a while, laughed and then left. At different times during the day, people of my family went out into the balcony and noticed this 'funny' thing. A whole day of fighting a sparrow made of glass, and this brave bird was still not disheartened.

Next morning, I went out into the balcony, and saw the same thing happening. I felt really sorry for the stupid little bird. I wanted to help her realize the futility of her day long efforts. I asked my father if we could put the cupboard with the mirror facing the wall so that birdbrain would stop being fooled endlessly, but my father seemed to enjoy the 'game' the bird was playing with itself and asked me not to. I, however, did turn the mirror around and felt relieved that the poor bird wasnt being fooled anymore..she must be so tired, using all her little strength all day against herself.

A little later, however, I wondered if I was really significantly more intelligent than the sparrow. In fact, is any of us any sharper? Aren't we all being fooled pretty much the same way, fighting with ourselves for that one fulfilling happiness which will last us our lives? Aren't we ourselves, with all our hollow desires for the temporary material things in life (which we just cant let go of) the only and most powerful obstruction to such peace and happiness?
Each of us is the sparrow, the ultimate bliss is the hollow inside the cupboard, and the assembly of all our wishes, dreams and aspirations, family etc is the mirror. The mirror which defines us, but we dont know that it does. We think it is someone else, who stands in our way...but think, if we let go..let go of everything we ever wanted in our lives, let go of everything we are striving for, everything we are angry at, everything we are proud and ashamed of, and fly away into the free sky, wouldnt we be so much more better off? Maybe God laughs at our stupid futile efforts pretty much the same way as I did at that sparrow.
To conclude...Congratulations friends!!! We are all birdbrains!!!

The most beautiful woman...

It was today. I was sitting in Pizza Hut, having the same old pizza plus lemonade, when I saw this woman. Obviously pregnant, she climbed up the stairs very gradually, and almost tip-toed to a table for two at the window side, and sat down. She must be in her early twenties. She was wearing a loose striped black and green dress which fell around her body, and white trousers. Moments later a young man of about the same age joined her. I was seated at a place so that I could see her face and his back. I don't know why, but somehow I couldnt stop looking at this young lady.

At the onset, everything about her was perfect. She had a perfect face, with perfect features. She had perfect height, and apparently had a perfect figure in a normal condition. Her hair was a beautiful mahogany, straightened and falling around her shoulders, her teeth white and even, her complexion was a beautiful peach and cream. Each of her 20 nails were painted a shocking red, and they weren't shocking at all. Her make up struck me most...her brown eyes were lined heavily by black kohl, and a very light but noticeable pink lipstick on her large mouth...I guess she had some kind of concealer on all over her face. She had a perfect husband, who drops all he has to do on a wednesday afternoon to take his wife for lunch at Pizza Hut. To conclude, this girl was so beautiful, so married, so pregnant and so obviously happy that it was difficult to stop myself from envying her at first.


But then, she sipped at her pepsi while I did at my lemonade. As I looked up, I saw her looking up as well...and I saw the pain, the deep, piercing pain in her beautiful brown eyes. She looked at me for a second and then looked away, out of the window. For that fleeting moment, I saw something which I really wanted to confirm. A woman who is married, and apparently happy had such pain stacked up in her eyes that it was difficult not to notice it...it was then that I noticed, my happy lady didnt smile too often, in fact she hadnt really looked happy since she had walked in. Her cheeks seemed to have been nailed at a particular position, like she couldnt smile wider even if she did feel happier, all the things said by her husband were met by a cool response and that same smile. A smile which makes you want to ask her what's wrong. While she ate her pizza etc, every one of her movements screamed compromise. I couldnt look away, and kept looking at her. Everytime she sipped at her pepsi, and everytime she looked up, I saw those brown painful eyes...devoid of any dream, any light..just breathtakingly beautiful in its color and makeup. And then, it struck me...what exactly made her so attractive to me...that pain, and the sheer paradox in it, riddled me so much, that the whole thing appealed to me.

My eyes remained glued to her as I long as I remained there. She also looked at me often, maybe she was feeling awkward about me looking at her, maybe she thought I liked her Pizza (which I did). I came home, did many other things, but couldnt get that face off my mind. So I thought, why not tell all about the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life.

SILKY

This pattern, black spots on white reminds me of someone very special...her name was silky. She was my pet, a very, very cute cocker spaniel. She is no more, but I cant love her any less, any day...my post this time is dedicated to my cute little pet, my darling.

It was 11 August, 1996. On that day, I had recieved the biggest surprise of my life. When I was back from school, I saw this lump of fur sitting at my grandfather's foot. My first reaction was that of shock, but when I realized who had come, my world whirled with happiness! When Silky was young, she used to be a naughty little pup. Always wanting to be chased around the roads of our colony, she sure was giving us a hard but blissful time. Every time you would want go out of our house, you could open the gate just enough for yourself to come through it. An inch more, and there was silky, tale wagging, a wicked smile almost on her face, running like the wind out of the house. And the game of chase would begin again.

She hated to be patted on the nose. Her tiny nose would curl up in irritation if your hand wandered just around it. There was no one else in the world who could make me happier by just getting angry with me! Then there were times when she would be lying around with her eyes closed. I would go near her, wanting to play with her. And she would keep pretending to be asleep. Eyes tightly closed, tail wagging furiously, she would wait for me to cajole her to no end to wake up. Of course, I knew by that rocket speed small tail that she wasnt really sound asleep, yet I loved to entertain her! A very bad habit of her childhood, which we got rid of pretty hastily, was the habit of chewing off people's shoes. She would snuggle up to one of our chappals, and a few hours later, the chappal was no more. She then discovered the joy of chewing a tennis ball to shreds. And so, the tennis ball came to be her favourite toy. A very frustating time while playing with Silky was when we used to throw her a ball or a stick. If it had gone too far tumbling into the air, she would trot half-heartedly part of the way, then judge the distance it had travelled, decide against the hard work, and return. And if it hadnt, and landed at a reasonable distance, she would run, take it in her mouth and just sit there. Like it was her posession, she would settle right there and then with that ball/stick in between her paws and dig her tiny sharp teeth into it and carefully separate it from itself.

She was fussy about lunch. I had to be home from school, seat her on the stairs, seat myself and her bowl provided I was always one step lower than her highness and her food, and had to feed her with my hand part by part. I knew I was spoiling her, and I loved it! Silky looked cutest when she was looking down at you. Her eyes used to droop, her heavy ears used to drop, her wrinkly neck went even more wrinkly and her whole body used to take on an expression which made me squeal in joy.

Like every other dog, Silky did not like being alone. She would find ways to sneak into the room to come play with us. Although very small even as a grown up, she could jump up and open the door to the front room and push her way in... She used to go round and round the furniture sniffing the ground endlessly for titbits she could find. And then come to either me or my brother, give a light jump and stand with her forepaws on our lap, waiting to be petted! She also snored really loudly, some first time guests in the house always used to be alarmed by the snoring sound from under the sofa when everybody in front of them was apparently awake.

She was terrified of cats. To protect her natural ego of a being a canine, she used to chase a cat once in a while, but if the cat was witty enough to reciprocate, Silky was gone in a second. Rats were a no different story. Our sophisticated black and white cocker spaniel couldnt chase rats for us, surely!

I remember one morning, when I was leaving for school. I was in a hurry, my father got into the car and started reversing itWhile inching backwards, a small squeak started coming from under the tyre. He stopped the car, and thereafter tried to back again, but again felt some obstruction under the tyre. He asked me to take a look under the car. What I saw made my stomach turn on itself. Silky was stuck under the tyre, and was only able to manage a squeak from under it. Her stomach was squeezed under the tyre. Panicking and shrieking, I desperately tried to force my hand between the tyre and her body. My father reacted quickly, didnt have to be told what had happened. He released her, and she sprang up from there, right into my arms. My sweet little pet was so afraid. I didnt care about getting late for school anymore, I just wanted to stop her shivering. She wasn't hurt, just very scared. My parents asked me to stop worrying and start for school. I had to. When I came back from school, there she was, sniffing the house down for her food, already forgotten the incident in the morning. I was so relieved. Silky's emotions were so real, she was almost like a human being to me.

At three or four years of age, she developed a problem in her eyes. We tried all kinds of treatment. But then it turned out that it was all wrong treatment suggested by a stupid, stupid vet. When she was about eight or nine, we gave her something to eat two feet away from her, and she had to sniff it out. We knew then that she had gone blind. Silky's body started giving way day after day, her condition began to get worse. She developed a skin infection, endless itches and a smell only I and my brother could tolerate, and a dropping appetite. All our efforts proved to bring only temporary relief. Then, the magician returned. A vet who was an old friend of my grandfather had not been practicing for some years due to a personal reason. On 24th of September 2005, a few months after my grandfather died, he returned, asking about him. He started treating Silky, and Silky in turn started showing dramatic improvement. She wasnt a playful pup again, I accept, but there were a lot of positive changes. She could see reasonably, her eye infection was better, the smell reappeared less frequently and her appetite was revived. I remember there used to be times, when suddenly, the thought of having to lose Silky one day would cross my mind. It used to make me shudder, and i eliminated all such thoughts from my mind. But such a day had to come.

Two years passed this way, improvement over old diseases and new diseases surfacing. But Silky always maintained that beautiful joyous welcome she used to put up every time I or my brother stepped into the house. In august 2007, when I was struggling to juggle my time between work for final year of college, coaching institute, my research project and being the president of the society at my college department, Silky fell alarmingly ill. She had been ill practically all her life, but this time it was different. And each of us could sense it. I couldnt give her enough time. My brother handled her illnesses all along with wonderful efficiency, and that made me feel a little less guilty. I tried to help my brother as much as I could, but something or the other always came up. I was so frustrated. All her life, I had given more time than she needed, and now, when she really needed me, I couldnt give her more than this. Her suffering was increasing by the day. She could not be cured anymore. One day, she stopped getting up at all. She just lay there, obviously in pain. I started waiting for something which used to scare me all these years. I started waiting for her to die. On 25th August, 2007, she had started to shriek in pain right from the morning. I went for my coaching class. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I went and sat in a way that i could see her and her breath slowly moving up her body. I was filling my senses with my favourite sight for the last time. Evening came along, and I didnt stop looking at her. At around 7 (I had lost track of time), my uncle and my cousin came to see her. For a few seconds I had to go in to get some water for them. When I came back, Silky was no more. I dont know if she chose to leave everybody in everyone's presence but mine. But I felt it was very unfair. Nobody had loved her the way I had. My mind went numb. After a few minutes, tears rolled down my cheeks. My mother immediately asked me not to cry because Silky had been ill very long. I dint say it then, but I wanted to ask her how it would feel, if I, her little girl were dead after a long illness, and somebody had asked not to cry because of this reason. I know there is no comparison, I am just drawing an analogy. I carried her for the last time wrapped in a chaddar to the place where my father had got the mali to dig a hole. When I reached there, with dead Silky in my arms, I thought the hole was a little too large for my sweet, but she fitted in perfectly. We sprinkled salt on her, the hole was refilled, and we returned home. I did not cry anymore that day.

Many things are empty without her, but my mind is always filled with the memories she has given me. I knew each of her moods, her expressions and her attitude. There are too many memories to be recorded in a single place. Silky was no less than a human being. She is still as close to me as she always was.