PING !!!!

I got a strange invite last night on my BBM. It was an invite from user name “00GOD000”. I did not know who it was, but added him however. Below is what transpired later

Me: Who is this ?
God: Hi
Me: Hi.. Who is this ?
God: My Username seems to suggest I'm God
Me: Yeah, right !! Tell me who is this & who gave you my BBM Pin
God: Umm..let me get back to you. I'll check with my secretary
Me: !!
After a while
God: Yes, confirmed, I am God
Me: And you had to check with your secretary to remind you who you are ?
God: Yes, there are so many things I have to remember, I forget some things.
Me: And when your secretary told you, you believed her ?
God: Him !
Me: Him ?
God: Yeah, is there a problem ?
Me: I thought your secretary would be a woman.
God: Should my secretary be a woman ?
Me: No..just… anyways, I’m digressing. So, if you are God, howcome we are chatting on BBM
God: Why can't we chat on BBM ?
Me: Well, I would expect God to communicate with a human being directly from the sky, heavens.. You know !
God: But, wouldn't that disturb everybody else. So much noise !
Me: I guess it would
God: Good
Me: So…are you sure you are God
God: I can't believe you are still asking me ! Din’t I tell you already
Murmurs in the background
God: Ok, Try deleting me from your BBM list !
Me: …. Shit !! I can't delete you !
God: There…
Me: But still, God wouldn't chat on BBM
God: Who says so
Me: I do
God: And who, if I may ask, are you ?
Me: Aha ! If you were God, you wouldn't need to ask !
God: Oh dear.. And why wouldn't I need to ask ?
Me: Bcoz..bcoz God is Omniscient !
God: So, if I don’t know who you are, I can't be God ?
Me: Correct !
God: (pause).. That is interesting ! (another pause) But then, who am I ?
Me: That's what I would like to know !
God: Wait, I'll ask my secretary..
Me: Wait….
(long pause)
God: I'm back
Me: ???
God: My secretary says I really am God
Me: Then tell me who I am. You would know
God: My secretary explained it to me. I do know everything, but just can't remember any of it. Like for example, the fact that I am God.
Me: That can’t be right. If God doesn’t remember stuff, we are all doomed !
God: No No..here in heaven, there is a concept of archived data, data warehousing, a search engine etc. My brain is not large enough to store everything, so only some data is readily available. I have to search for everything else.
Me: ok…
God: And my secretary pulled out your file. I can tell you some things about yourself. Name is Mihir, birthday is Dec 14..
Me: stop stop… these are info bits that anyone would know !
God: Ok, ask me something.. Something current, that only you would know and you haven’t even told your fiancee.. Whats her name… Nidhi
Me: Impressive… ok.. I told my fiancee that I was going to paint a certain wall in my room a particular shade of blue. But, last night, I thought of another colour ! Tell me that ! Ha !
God: wait.. Lemme press refresh on my search engine…yeah… it shows me.. Orange.
Me: (silence)
God: You there ? You believe me now ?
Me: This is eerie.. Im still in a daze.. Are you.. God ? The GOD ?
God: Yep, the secretary confirmed
Me: oh Shit !.. I mean, sorry.. Oh God.. what the hell…I mean..heaven.. sorry..
God: Calm down !
Me: ok..ok.. So, Where are you ? Are you One God or many ? Which is the truest religion ? What does my future hold ? Why are we chatting ? Why me ?
God: I have to go.. Maybe we'll chat later.. I'll happily answer all your questions..
Me: oh.. Ok :-(
God: Till next time.. "I" bless, take care
Me: Wait..
God: Yes, quick..have a meeting with my unit heads..
Me: Whaa? Unit heads ? Anyways, you said something about data storage and a search engine
God: Yeah..
Me: So, what's it called ?
God: Well, we here call it Godgle….

And then God’s status changes from “Available” to “Busy” and somehow, I can’t send him any PINGS. I guess I’ll have to wait… till next time…

...Coffee...

"Coffee?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied.

We'd never met. In person, that is. We'd met online two weeks ago. What had started out as a one line email, had turned into chatting on various instant messengers from both office and home, for hours everyday. And then on BBM, of course

"But where?" she asked, after a pause.

"Any place that's convenient for you, I guess."

"Hmmm," she replied, as if thinking aloud. "Ok. Seven thirty?"

"Done," I said. An hour. "Where'll you be?"

"Remember that place I told you about that's right next to the park?"

"Sounds good."

I logged off, and headed for the shower.

We'd both bought new BlackBerrys recently and that had been the thing we'd first started talking about. But we'd soon switched to everything else, like ourselves, our lives, our likes, our dislikes, movies, music, books and even the weather!

As I was getting ready, I thought about what I was going to do. I was a little nervous. After all, I had never done something like this before. It felt quite strange, really.

I chose a simple white-t-shirt and my light blue jeans. Hope it’s alright

Coffee dates are over a decade old concept now, but that didn't take my mind off the fact that I knew I was doing something that I considered just a little... weird. I mean I'd known her for barely two weeks. And, a coffee shop? It just felt a little... different.

I had to park a little way away from the coffee shop. Parking was always a problem there in the evening. I was glad I had decided to leave a few minutes early.

I chose my table, sat down, and waited. It was 7:29 when I got my *PING*. She would be reaching in a few minutes. A few seconds later, she pinged again. She had reached."Hi!" she said.

"Hi," I replied. "Just reached?"

"Yep," she said. "So what are you ordering?"

"A Swiss Hot Chocolate, I think. You?"

"Oh, Espresso with whipped cream. So how's the weather there in Mumbai?"

"It's beautiful. Not too sunny, not too cold. Just right. What about Delhi?"

"Oh, it's pretty good here too. It was a little hot in the morning, but then it rained in the afternoon, and so it's much more comfortable now."

":-)" I replied.

...Life ain't fair...

How many times have you found yourselves talking to a friend / colleague complaining & cribbing about life in general and mumbling the oft repeated line, “Life’s so NOT fair to me yaar ! !”.

Well, “Who said life was fair, or that it was ever meant to be fair?”

Think about it. This question is a good one. A very good one.

One of the mistakes many of us make is to feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be.

It’s not & it won’t.

When we make this mistake, we spend a lot of time wallowing about what’s wrong with life. We talk to others, discussing injustices of life. “It’s not fair”, we always complain, never realizing that, perhaps, it was never intended to be.

One of the nice things about surrendering to the fact that life’s not fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have. It’s not life’s job to make everything perfect, it’s our own personal challenge.

Everyone is dealt with a different hand. You have to play with the cards you’ve been dealt.

The fact that life isn’t fair does not mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives. Au contraire, it suggests that we SHOULD. When we don’t recognize or admit that life isn’t fair, we tend to feel pity for ourselves or others.

And pity is definitely a self defeating, useless emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make them feel worse than they already do.

Recognise that life’s not fair, and turn your self-pity into some helpful action.