Can't hold me

This is no great attempt at poetry or verse... Just thoughts,, emotions, sights, sounds, smells flowing unabashed onto a piece of paper....

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I woke up this morning. I opened my eyes.

And shut them tight in horror almost immediately.

Another day in lockdown. Oh bother!

But just then,

tweets and chirrups, caws and clucks wafted in.

I closed my eyes, taking in the avian symphony.

I might have as well been in a garden,

Or underneath a tree.

And I thought to myself, “These walls can not hold me”

I pulled apart the curtains

And let the windows free.

The cool morning air danced in,

I greeted them with arms open.

I might as well have been on the hills, or by the sea

And I thought to myself, “These walls can not hold me”

I looked out, and I saw things, I had had no time to see;

Hey, is that a mango tree?

It had been there all this while, it was I who had been absent.

As I saw the fruits sway and move,

I might as well have been in a beautiful grove

And I thought to myself, “These walls can not hold me”

These walls, enveloping me, keeping me safe;

I mistook them for an enemy,

But porous as a sponge they are to all that is good,

And they don't want to hold me.

- Ajay Ravindran

Family affair, or My Wild Theory after Sherlock Season 3

ATTN: Spoilers ahead.

I thought the last episode of Season 3 of Sherlock was epic. I was extremely disappointed with episode 1, season 3, because it gave no answers about The Reichenbach Fall. Now it is clear it was never meant to. Moriarty is alive, and the drama still continues.

But that need not stop us from forming theories. Here is mine, which connects many of the facts. Not all, but many. But if I let it out straight away, you will think it is pretty wild. So, long-suffering reader, request your patience as I try to build the logic. 

The 10 Connections:

1.  In season 1 episode 3, it is clear that Holmes and Moriarty’s paths crossed when they were young. The murder of Carl Powers (the boy who’s sneakers were poisoned) was Moriarty’s first crime, and Holmes’s first case. From there Moriarty becomes the consulting criminal, Holmes the consulting detective.

2. The name of Moriarty comes many times before they meet by the pool. Sherlock already knows he is going to meet Moriarty. Yet, he asks, “Who are you?” He is not asking Jim his name. He probably knows Moriarty is a created name, a nom-de-plume. He is asking Moriarty who he REALLY is

3. At the end of season 1, Moriarty tells Holmes he played the whole game, “just to get him to come out and play.”

4. Moriarty desperately wants to get both Mycroft and Sherlock’s attention, in a way that is almost too child-like.

5. Irene Adler tells Mycroft the nickname Moriarty has given him: The Ice Man. Seems like someone who is cold, heartless, ruthless.

6. In Season 2, episode 3, Moriarty seems to know a great deal about Sherlock’s childhood, which he uses to spread lies about him. Watson accuses Mycroft of telling Moriarty about Sherlock’s childhood in return for the code, but Mycroft never confirms this. He simply says, “Sorry John.” Perhaps Mycroft did not tell Moriarty. Perhaps Moriarty knew it himself, which is possible because their paths crossed as kids.

7. The all of the last episode of season 2 was about figuring the Final Problem. We never come to know what it was. Even more mysterious is the following exchange between them, before Jim shoots himself.

Sherlock: I am not my brother. I am you.
Moriarty: Ah yes, you are me. Thank you!
 

8. Both Moriarty and Sherlock are uncharacteristically emotional before they commit their ‘suicides’. Moriarty almost wants to give Sherlock a hug. Sherlock actually cries after Jim shoots himself and continues crying till he jumps off.  They do feel for each other. (No, its not what you are thinking.)

9. The series is full of references to Conan Doyle’s canon. Knowledge of the original is usually helpful. (AS A DIGRESSION, for instance, one would know that Major Sholto was killed in the original, “Sign of Four”, and he is the one meant to be killed at the wedding; and that the killer’s name would be Jonathan Small.)

Here is a great anamoly. In the original, Moriarty is a mathematics professor. There is no reference to his profession here, but there IS a mathematics professor – Sherlock and Mycroft’s mother. In the original, Holmes’s parents NEVER feature. So there seems to be a deliberate attempt to bring a family angle in this series.

10. Speaking of family, did you notice something interesting that Mycroft said at the end of last episode?

“I am not given to ourbursts of brotherly love. Remember what I did to the other one?”

He also makes it clear that he considers murder an extremely heinous crime, one he will punish severely, cold heartedly. Like the Ice Man that he is. 

Lady Smallwood: Mr. Holmes, this is hardly merciful.
Mycroft: But my brother committed a murder.

Who was the other brother? Why are they not together?

Well, because Mycroft did something bad to him. Possibly, because he murdered someone?

Possibly, because he murdered Carl Powers?

See where we are going with this?

 Moriarty is the other brother. Possibly, a half brother, through their mother; which is how he can match wits with the Holmes brothers.

Early on in his life, he murders Carl Powers and Mycroft punishes him. He has been plotting revenge ever since. Sherlock may or may not have known this.

Which is why his child-like eagerness to get the Holmes brothers, “To come out and play.”

Which is how he knows details about Sherlock’s childhood.

That is the final problem. That they are brothers. That is why Sherlock says, “I am not my elder brother. I am you.”

Which is why both of them get so uncharacteristically emotional – why Moriarty fights back his tears before shooting himself, and why Sherlock weeps - In front of him is his brother in a pool of blood.

Of course, I realize this is a partial theory. It does not explain why Sherlock “Has a way as long as Moriarty is alive.” It does not explain why Moriarty shot himself, or how he faked it.

But honestly, that in my opinion is just a smoke-screen to distract us from the real plot.

Leave a comment on what you think.

Be a Sport

Move over Swine Flu, the next big epidemic has struck India. And this time Tamiflu can't help you, nor can that hand sanitizer. You are destined to contract the FFF virus.

The Fake Football Fandom virus...

See, just a few months back, you would have heard conversations like this:

A: Dude, did you watch Drogba go yesterday?

B: No, dude. What Rap song has he sung?

or this:

A: Ribery is so cool!!

B: Do you get that flavour at Naturals?

or worse:

A: Ronaldo has an amazing physique

B: That Brazillian guy? Wouldn't he be... like.... REALLY old now?

Most then got a crash course in football after that re-eee-eallllly long Nike Write Your Future Ad.

And now all of us have a favourite player. A favourite team. A Waka Waka ringtone. A tweet. A fight everyday with the guy who supports some other team. I hear some are also writing blog posts about it ;)

But what does all this really mean? Are we all fakes? wannabes? cheats? liars?

Why are we suddenly having arguments, snides and bets with our best friends? Repressed anger, anyone? Attention seeking, maybe?

I guess it is something else altogether. All these fights, arguments, snides just give us a reason to connect.

Connect with an achiever, a great player, a guy just like you who has excelled

Connect with your own dreams... The pure dreams all of us dreamed as kids- achieving big time, with thousands in attendance and millions on TV cheering us, even as our proud parents wiped their proud tears.

And Above all, connect with each other... What is happening underneath all those snides and arguments is genuine human connection- an exchange of thoughts, emotions, energy, drama; otherwise so utterly lacking in our daily, mundane life!

That is the mysterious function of sports- Sometimes they bring us together by dividing us!

And hence, more adversarial the better. Think about it, what generates more excitement- IPL or the India-Zimbabawe-Srilanka triangular? In the IPL, you support a team, while everyone around you vouches by some other.... So there is so much more to share the next day-

"Hahah! your team's players suck!!"

"Woohooo, we kicked you all around the ground!!"

"Do you want us to humiliate you today... or will you just give us a walk-over"

[Virgin Mobile came up with a viral campaign with this insight.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHopkzltHRw. Notice the 2.4 lakh views!!]

You may fight all through the month, but at the end of the tournament what you get is a progress in relationships- That guy who was a distant acquaintance becomes your favoured partner to discuss the game. Or girls.

Its not the same when all people support India. Its not so much fun agreeing ;)

So when you go back tomorrow to work, or meet a group of friends, it may not be a bad idea to pass sarci comments, fight and give some cheap-shot arguments. You are just connecting with them!

Remember,Sports sometimes bring us together by dividing us!

I want to go back to a time....

I want to go back to a time when it mattered HOW the runs came.

I want to go back to a time when a ball almost kissing the batsman's pad on the leg side was applauded. Not signalled wide.

I want to go back to a time when Dravid used to let a ball go with a flourish, and people would clap and say, "Well Left, great judgement"; rather than saying RUN MAAR NA $*%*#!

I want to go back a time when one could see the captain or the bowler setting the field without having to see a very stupid commercial for the 100th time.

I want to go back to a time when a catch was "Great catch" and not a "Citi Moment of success"; when a Six was a much awaited shot "Out of the Park!!!!!" and not the 600th "DLF Maximum"

I want to go back to a time when a maiden over could be a Bowler's achievement without simultaneously being the Batsman's failure.

I want to go back to a time when there was enough time for the drinks trolley to make its way gracefully into the ground.

I want to go back to a time when giving an extra ball after a No Ball was punishment enough, without having to suffer a Free Hit (Cant think of another game where one error is punished twice)

I want to go back to a time when the scoreboard showed just the score.

I want to go back to a time...

The Phantom Pocket

I have been having a disturbing history with mobiles lately. It was not always so.

In 2003, around 5 years back, when I bought my first mobile (It was a Nokia-3315. I thought it was beau-u-ti-ful!!) my father predicted a swift demise- At worst 1 week, at best 1 month- For that was how long any valuable lasted in my hands. Actually, that was how long ANYTHING lasted in my hands. Pens, watches, table tennis racquets... Even Cricket Bats and Mopeds!! How its end would come about- Whether I would forget it somewhere, drop it from the 3rd floor, fall out of a moving bus or via theft- was to him merely a matter of detail.

It came as a suprprise to him (and i won't lie, to me as well) that it lived to a ripe age. I graduated to a MotoRazr, and then a Moto Ming. Not a scratch came upon any of my mobiles for over 4 years.

This fine and squaky clean record, the only redemption to an unparalleled (and slightly disgraceful) reputation of carelessness, came one fine day when my Ming disappeared into a toilet (I prefer not getting into details). I bought an N-70 which inexplicably got stolen (outside Siddhivinayak Temple.. I think even God willed it to be so!). Now, my latest jet black 6300 has developed a snag that puts it out of action for 2 days.

But wait! This post is not about my struggles with mobiles. Its deals with the broader topic of what HAPPENS TO PEOPLE when they lose mobiles. Its about the psychological, and physiological, phenomena allied to such profound loss. Given that for many people, their mobiles has become an extension to their physiology (Some people have that thing in their ear for so long that I fancy they will need surgery to get it off), lets look at what happens to people when they lose a part of their body...

Around 60-80% of people who have their limbs amputated, undergo a phenomena called THE PHANTOM LIMB. Their nerves continue to transmit signals to the brain which tells it that the the limb is still there. They can FEEL a limb that is not there anymore, sometimes years after the amputation.

An allied phenomenon with people who lose mobiles is (depending on which pocket you keep your mobile) the phantom thigh, or the phantom butt! The patient feels vibrations of 'incoming calls' on his thigh/her butt pocket, and he/she reaches out to take a call from a phone that does not exist. The sensations may continue to occur for days, even weeks and can be unpleasent and, if repeated frequently among friends, socially embarassing.

Thou have been forewarned!