From the pages of an unopened book...

PS: This is a work of fiction culminated from the random ramblings of the author and hence (Obviously) doesn't resemble anyone living or dead. (Hee HEE!!!)
Amar opened his eyes drowsily and groped in the darkness for his alarm clock. The glowing arms of the clock indicated that the time was 5:55 am, which meant there was five minutes left for it to start buzzing. Turning it off, he pulled the curtains back. Sunlight streamed into the bedroom lighting it up instantly. He pulled out his journal from under his pillow and made a note of the time he woke up. As he caressed its thick blue cover, he idly contemplated on the monotony that had settled into his life. His journal which he never parted with, was a reflection of the same. His routine which never changed was well documented in his journal.
After a quick shower, he made his own breakfast which consisted of a glass of boiled milk and four slices of toasted bread groaning under the weight of excessive butter. Yesterday, his wife had stormed out of the house after they had had one of their innumerable arguments. He had diligently made note of it in his journal. Stuffing food into his mouth with one hand, he slowly opened his yesterday’s entry in the journal and glanced at it. Now, he could vividly recollect the whole episode. He finished his breakfast and rushed to catch a bus to his office which was located at the other end of the city.
As he travelled in the rickety bus, his mind went over the fight he had had with his wife yesterday evening. As soon as he had entered the house, his wife had rushed in from the kitchen to make him comfortable. He had wondered aloud, “Why this sudden concern? Do you want some money?” This, he realized, had been his biggest mistake. He himself had opened the controversial topic which had been the cause of several of their recent fights. What had followed was something he shuddered to think about. His wife had started wailing at the top of her voice telling him in so many words that he was jeopardizing the future of their son. She had further accused him of using the money he earned on drugs. His anger had risen at that instant and he had struck hard across her face. After she had stormed out of the house and he had calmed down, he had realized the truth in her words. Due to his inability to provide money, their son had had to discontinue his college studies and was presently at home with a bleak future ahead of him. However, he realized wearily, there was a limit to what one could earn through straight-forward means.
The bus screeched to a halt in front of his office which was essentially a small dingy room where he sat all day receiving and sanctioning cheques. His employer was one of the richest men in the city. He had left Amar in-charge of his transport agency consisting of over fifty vehicles. As he entered and sat in front of his old table, the driver of one of the trucks rushed in. He remembered that he had to give him money before he left for the long trip to Delhi. “How much?” he enquired rhetorically. He knew he had to give him Rs. 10000. He was shocked to hear him ask for double the amount. When he raised his eyebrows, the man smiled and said, “Sir, Life is all about making adjustments. Please do me a favour and give me the money. I’ll give you Rs. 5000 for your help”. Amar thought for a minute and then agreed, “This is the first and last time I’m doing something like this .I’ll somehow adjust this in the record. Now, take Rs. 15000 and leave before someone else comes in.” The driver smiled and made his way out. Amar opened his journal to make a note of this transaction. He always had a habit of recording every single transaction of his in journal . Suddenly, he could hear pattering of feet and he jerked his head up only to see his employer and a policeman rush into the office. He couldn’t understand anything and stared blankly at them as they came and stood in front of him.
His employer spoke to the man in uniform, “Now, that we have caught him red-handed, you can arrest him officer. I have always suspected that some sort of adjustments have been going on in the office records.” He turned to Amar and said reproachfully, “I have always treated you like my own son. I left you in-charge of the office because I had complete faith in you.” The officer said, “Mr. Amar, the whole episode that took place here was a pre-arranged one. I have sufficient proof to arrest you for being involved in bribery.” Amar retorted, “I agree with you. You have proof that I was taking bribe this time. But without proof you can’t accuse me of having been involved in it previously”. The policeman nodded and turned to the employer. “He’s right. How do we get proofs of his earlier dealings?” The employer’s eyes wandered and suddenly a flash of realization was seen on his face. With a smug look he said, “I think if we look through his journal, we’ll get sufficient proof.” For a moment, a look of terror clouded Amar’s face. Then, his face relaxed and he handed over the bulky journal to the officer in uniform. “Feel free to look through it”, he added, confidently.
The policeman who had noticed the change of expressions in his face knew for sure that the journal contained some important information. But, as he turned the pages of the journal, he saw that only Amar’s boring routine filled the pages. With a disappointed look he was about to hand the journal back, when the employer stopped him. “We saw him making an entry of today’s act. So you can use the diary as an additional proof for atleast that.” he said. The policeman turned the pages rapidly only to find it hadn’t been recorded. By now, his suspicions grew and he understood that something was amiss. He had watched Amar filling his journal with his own eyes but now, he was unable to find the entry. He flipped the pages of the journal until he reached the last page. He went over the whole situation in his mind while he unconsciously caressed the back cover.
As he continued doing so, he could see a small flap on the inside part of the back cover. As he moved the flap aside, he could see pages filled with details of bribes taken. On finding that his secret had been discovered, Amar hung his head in shame and confided, “I thought I was smart and had hidden these pages containing details of the bribes I had taken under a flap. Now that, it has been discovered there is nothing left for me to say”. He turned to his employer and said, “Sir, I’m sorry to have taken you for a ride. My wife found out about my addiction to drugs and refused to give me any money. I used all the money I had saved for my son’s college fees on drugs. When I was left with no money, I had no other go but to cheat”, he started sobbing.

'ad'in 'em

Most of the regular ‘TV-watchers’ get irked by the ads that are displayed when they are trying to give their undivided attention to their favourite TV serial. On the other hand, in my case its quite the reverse. I feel apart from cricket and other sports, ads are the only things worth watching on TV (not that I don’t watch anything else).Some of the ads are so creative that its gives me a special joy to watch and understand them.

Among the ads which I appreciate, Vodafone ads rank first. Vodafone alert ads are really special and keep you guessing till the end. Some of the unforgettable ones are the guy pacing in front of the maternity ward suddenly looking into his mobile which displays “India needs 6 runs from 2 balls”, a guy spending his entire day in the elevator to the annoyance of the lift-man only because of the alert which says “you’ll meet your soul-mate in the elevator”.

The MasterCard ads which come with the tagline” there are some things money can’t buy and for everything else there is MasterCard” are really cute and one never gets tired of watching them several times.

Meanwhile, there are some other ads which I remember because they are deliberately made sound dumb (I’m being nice when I say they are deliberately made dumb… God knows, probably it was an attempt at humour that miserably failed).The “bingo” ads deserve a special mention in this category. First, it was the “vango, pongo, bingo” one which was not only dumb but had this uncanny knack of getting on to my nerves. Though the next one which involved a guy tasting “bingo” before and after an accident is not as irritating , its much more dumb.

Though the primary aim of this post was to talk about television ads, I shall digress to mention a particular a bill board ad which impressed me a lot. It was near a bus-stop I used to frequent and it read “Even in Business dailies there is a business class and an economy class ”.The joy of reading and understanding it still lingers in my heart everytime I think about it. For those of you who didn’t get it, it is a dig at Economic times by the “hindu” group which runs Business Line.