The Hunt

Hunted (BF0019): Come in base...(radio static)..come in base, this is blind flight ZERO ZERO ONE NINER, we have a situation. I am lost an am not aware of the location. I seek assistance from any one out there...(static)...

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Hunter-1(ST): Come in Swift Wings, Looks like a clear sunny morning, how are you doing today?

Hunter-2(SW): Doing good Sharp Talons, Did you find any prey yet?

ST: None SW, it has been a pretty clumsy morning...

SW: You can say that again...

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BF0019: Come in anyone who can hear this broadcast, this is an emergency, I need to get into shade, I cannot bear this heat....static...

BF0019: I am changing this situation to a "Pan-Pan", "Pan-pan, Pan-pan, Pan-pan.", come in someone please...static...

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SW: Did you hear that ST on the Emergency broadcast, there is a flight in distress...

ST: Roger that SW, this is going to be the easiest catch ever. You take the lead SW and chase him down.

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Base: This is base Blind Fight Zero Zero One Niner, we got you "Pan-Pan", How may we assist you?

BF0019: Thank God!!!, I am all lost in this new terrain from base, I am low of fuel and need shade to recharge, can you assist me to find the nearest one?

Base: Zero Zero One Niner you were supposed to be at base at 0600 hrs, you are running late by 4 hrs. Anyway what does your Sonar Reading show, so that we can establish your current location.

BF0019: Sorry about that, my current sonar shows I am passing through a dense building area with walls on either side, my reading also shows open wide spaces about couple of blocks ahead.

Base: That is fine Zero Zero One Niner, keep in your current flight path until further instructions.

BF0019: Roger That, Awaiting further instructions.

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Swift Wings does a Suka Dive and hits BF0019 right on the left wing

SW: ST I have a confirmed Hit

ST: Tally ho, Tally on Scope.

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BF0019: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday", I have been pinged at 3'0 Clock and about to loose control over flight.

Base: SAY AGAIN, Did you say you were Pinged?!!!

BF0019: Roger that, I am switching over to Emergency evasion procedures. I have one bogie at 3'O Clock. I have been engaged in a dogfight.

ST: You are going down boy

Engages the Sharp Talons on the body of BF0019

BF0019: I have been hit on my upper body, I am going down. Wait I see an opening on the right.

BF0019 Takes a sharp 90 degree turn and falls down into the dirt.

Both SW and ST hover over the crash site.

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SW: ST Lets finish him off...

ST: Wait look...

BF0019: I am hit and down, I am going to try restart the flight using the emergency back up power.

Base: Roger that, we see via sonar you are boxed in. We do not see an escape route.

BF0019: I need back up.

Base: That is not possible Zero Zero One Niner, you are on your own here. Sorry.

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BF0019 attempts to start up once again. Meanwhile...

ST: SW I have a better idea, lets vulch...

SW: ROGER WILCO ST.

BF0019: My engines are back up and flapping...I cannot gain altitude, I am in direct collision course with a human being.

I see a bat coming towards me and had to turn to my left to avoid it...

BF0019: That was a close call base. I am regaining altitude.

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SW: Let us chase him down, bring out your talons.

ST: Roger, I am going in for the kill.

I see two crows pass over the metal sheeted roof.

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BF0019: I am in a furball here.

Gets struck by the sharp talons...

BF0019: We have a hull breach, I cannot maintain altitude.

SW: We got him dude. This is it.

BF0019: I am fubar base, this is my last transmission, It was good knowing you guys. Over and Out.

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SW comes in a nails him to the ground. SW and ST both rip apart BF0019 to have their well earned breakfast.

All I could do is watch this act of nature...One dies to so that another can live....

Death And Decay

The sky is blue, I can't realize the exact time of the day but I think it is somewhere around late morning. Around me is what I would call a typical scenery that you would witness around Kerala. But not the regular city scape but more of the village scenery.

For a moment I did not realize that I was not in a City. I stood in front of a tattered old gate build using parts of a coconut tree leaves. The boundary of this old hut was not very strong either, again made from the same raw materials. It seemed that the walls and the gate were about to fall off. A strong gust of wind was more than enough to blow them into pieces.

I had absolutely no idea I was doing in this small isolated far from the City and I had this strong urge to get inside the Hut. Something from inside was trying to summon me in. I carefully made my way through the small gap in between the gate not trying to knock down the delicately balanced boundary. The Yard around the hut was very small and seemed pretty much life less, I could sense the sand was moist and bit hard but nothing grew from it. It felt like the land was devoid of any life even with the high water content around the region which flushed in greenery.

All of this seem pretty strange to me, I made my way to the parched hut, the walls of the hut were pretty much made of mud and the roof made from the leaves of coconut trees. The force that summoned me was getting stronger as I entered this hut. The veranda of the hut was empty, I stepped into the veranda and saw a small room, it was small, damp and was lit by oil lit lamps.

I stepped into this room and found people inside, none of whom I recognized from my past. They were all young to middle aged women. Then in the middle there was this mat that had an old lady on it, she was blanketed and she seemed very sick.

The very room made me sick, it felt like ages since light from the outside actually came into this room. All the things in the room were pretty old including the furniture, the utensils etc. The windows and ventilators were pretty much shut tight, the only inlet and outlet of anything was through the door I came in.

Nobody did mind the fact that they had a stranger among them or were they expecting me? The old lady stayed pretty much motionless in her bed, it looked like she has been in this way for a pretty long time. Life has literally been sucked out of her. The only thing that moved was her eyes looking around in the room never fixing on one object. I did not know whether she saw me standing there.

Then from a darker room beside the mat another lady comes out and then takes this blanket off the old lady's body. I could not believe my eyes, she was so old that her body was no longer of any use, all her limbs were lay still as though it were dead in very awkward and twisted positions. She looked very old, I cannot say how old she was, it was like as if Death forgot to visit her.

She was living in a body that was decaying, a body that could not longer sustain itself, yet she couldn't die to relieve herself from this decaying body. She was calling out silently to someone who can relieve her from this situation. I could no longer hear the outside world, the silence was deafening. Then suddenly the ladies around me started to pray and after a short moment of praying the lady who removed the blanket took out a small heavy spherical glass like object that some what reminded me of a paper weight and then with all the might threw it down at the old lady's arm.

"Crack"....there was a noise as though a bone broke. I could see no expression of pain on the old lady's face. I was shocked by the actions, before I could do anything the lady took the spherical object and threw it at the right arm and yet again another "crack"... The next time it was on the knee and there was another "Crack", all this time the lady did not make a noise or change expression on her face. Her eyes still looked at the persons in the room.

I could no longer bear to watch this horrible act and in another jolt I woke from my sleep and got out of the couch, a couch so dear I had slept on it for over 6 years now.

The old lady had suffered more than one life time, I could not imagine how the person could not die and had to suffer to the extend of one's own body being decayed. What were the other people trying to do help her or make her suffer more?

An Advice?

Advice is a form of relating personal opinions, belief systems, personal values and recommendations about certain situations relayed in some context to another person, group or party often offered as a guide to action and/or conduct.

I was just wondering when is that a person was is actually eligible to give advice. Is it when the person has passed a point of experience on an event? I wonder whether some of the advice I gave was actually right for me to give or not.

Why such a question now?

Well I had an experience to put it blankly.

This happened back in Chennai when I was still holding a job and just had put down my paper. A friend of a friend contacted me via a mail, one fine day and was telling me of the consequences of not having a back up plan if you quit your job.

The person said that there was a similar experience with him / her on this issue where a situation like mine arose and the paper was put down on similar grounds without a back up plan.

So I replied with appropriate reasons as to why I am quitting the industry. This person did insist the fact that the period of jobless time made it look bad on that person's resume.

Now the funny thing is, this person is doing studies abroad on the subject of interest and I certainly hope that the times are pretty good too.

So how I am to know whether I can do better without actually taking the risk, the risk like this very person took to see what he / she can do.

OR

As per the advice should I waste myself in the IT industry, rotting away the remaining of my life?

What is exactly the advice that was given to me by the person compared to the action taken by that person?

I think I need to reconsider my advice strategy...