My extramarital affair

I woke up all sweaty; with a parched throat & a splitting headache. I tried to gather my senses & recollect what all happened last night. I pushed the sheets aside and then I saw her lying besides me! At a step short of heart attack I could not help but admire her beauty, her beautiful curves & her pale flawless skin.

I went to the mantlepiece & poured myself a large one of scotch, pulled the bean bag towards myself & tried to remember what had happened last night. It's true I  had been eyeing her for quite a long time now; but never got the right time. My wife had taken an instant dislike towards her; however, that didn't deter my feelings towards her.

Piled up with work yesterday in office; I was planning to stay a little late. In evening some old friends came to my desk & confided their plan in me to visit a Pub. And they insisted that I join them. I left the pending work & went ahead to have a 'merry' time with some of the best techies I had ever worked with. It was always a pleasure to go out with these people. Very few people would ever guess or get to see the merry side of these ultra sombre & hyper-serious techies.

A little drunk, quite jovial but extremely worried about the pending work; I left the pub. I started walking towards my home & it was then I saw her. As usual she was in the store at her designated place. Lots of probing eyes glued to her body. I decided then & there that I wanted her. Of course the fact that my wife was off to see her parents for a week added firmness to my decision. The 'Dutch courage' added fuel to my stupid decision.

I quickly went to the store & the next thing I remember was jumping in bed with her! 

I was still pondering over the happenings of yesterday when my 17 year old daughter kitty entered the bedroom with my morning espresso. A habit garnered in the youth is a weakness when you are old; that for me is the nasty espresso. Fortunately my beautiful wife & my beloved daughter save me this torture every morning. 

"Hello Dad; Good morning"

"Good morning Sweetie"

"I Guess you were pretty late yesterday night" She beamed with an angelic smile.

"Yeah..." was all I replied trying to take my eyes off the bed.

Sensing my odd reaction she looked at the bed & gasped.

"Dad!"

"I know, I know"

"What? Why?" She said trying to absorb the situation.

"What's Mom gonna say when she sees her here?" she looked at me accusingly.

"I was counting on you in helping me to keep this away from your Mom" said my guilty self. 

Her accusing glare didn't soften at all. At that moment I felt it would be more comfortable to land in a frying-pan than to meet eyes with her. Her Mom is definitely going to be what you say 'Out of the frying fan, into fire'.

"I don't think I can help you with something this big."

"Hmm..."

"Why don't you take her back where you picked her from?"

"Now Sweetie, I know I have done wrong; but you should show some respect. She isn't just some piece of Trash!" 

"For me she's worse than that. & I bet Mom would feel the same. How could you even do this to her; after all she has done for you?"

If she was trying to make me feel guilty; I must admit that she came out with flying colors.

"You gotta help me with this Kitty; if not for me, then for your Mom." 

"I would suggest you to make a clean breast of it to Mom & may be... I say 'May be if your luck is any good' she might forgive you." 

I could see the sense in her words. Quite a few marriages have been ruined for more trivial matters than these.

"So should we leave her here; till your Mom is back?"

"That would be your safest bet, in my opinion."

Both of us waited for her Mom patiently. Me, quite nervous for self; she, pitiful for me. The time seemed to crawl slower than snail; the sweat on my neck & brows seemed to be flooding. Finally the doorbell chimed. Kitty went to open the door; seeing my obvious discomfort.

"Hello there, so how was the week without me? I bet your Dad had a great time & you missed me a lot."

"Or is it the other way around?" my wife continued, seeing me.

"I will get something for you to drink & leave you two  to talk" said Kitty, quietly slipping away.

"What has got into you guys; nobody seems happy to see me back" She teased me again.

"No Darling; it's not that! It's just that.... Oh God... How do I say it? I have done something terribly wrong."

"I guess you haven't committed a murder." She was still thinking that we were pulling a trick on her.

"Here... Come... It would be better to show you" I directed her to the bedroom holding her hand.

She was still lying in the bed. In the same position I had left her; her naked body half covered by the sheets. Her skin blemish-less; her unlit face emitting an aura. I am really ashamed that she was still attracting me towards her, like 'Sil' from Species; in front of my wife. 

Holy God! Is this how much I love my wife; after all these happily spent 19 years together?Consumed by my own guilt I completely forgot about my wife standing besides me. When I turned towards her, she was gasping for breath, out of rage or helplessness is something what I couldn't figure out.

She tried hard & finally managed to get some words out, before sitting down,  all spent up & red in face.

"How could you buy another Macbook?"

P.S - For the benefit of all the suspicious people, I don't have an extramarital affair. I am just in love with my Macbook. Heck, I am not even married!

Mistakes or Flukes...

'Serendipity' is just another way of acknowledging a masterpiece fluke. 

Things happen the same way in Photography world; the only thing is photographers aren't as honest as scientists! What I mean to say is many a times, what you would be thinking as a pretty normal shot turns into an awesome shot. Taking it even a step further some mistakes rather than ruining the photograph gives a dramatic effect. And hence the apt saying 'Learn from your mistakes'.

I bought a tripod almost a year back, and I use it extensively for landscape shots. However accounting to my laziness, I still don't use it for photographing people. This is a shot I took sometime back, just for the sake of fun. I knew it I had ruined it when I didn't hear the shutter close even after 3 seconds.

A 5 second exposure, with a rear sync flash did the trick here. The flames are the shake effects of the indicator lights of the motorbike behind. The model is my friend 'Puppy' aka Yogesh.

The catch is not in avoiding mistakes, nor is it in living by flukes. It is in analyzing the masterpiece flukes! 

"I am learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life.... Procrastinating & rationalizing" 

- Calvin

Long Distance Relation...

I was watching "We are Marshall" the other day. 

The story rotates around Marshall University who loose the whole of their football team in a tragic Plane accident. Jack Lengyel the new team coach & a couple of formers who were fortunate not to be in the accident try to keep the 'Football Program' alive.

Its a nice movie, Mathew Mc Conaughey as Jack Lengyel, the new team coach is really worth watching. Following is one of the best dialogues between Jack & Don, The University President, where Jack tries to persuade Don to go & see the Sports association members in person, rather than sending petitions to them:-

Jack : Don, are you married? 

Don  : Yes sir, 25 years this year. 

Jack : Now, I am going to bet... that you didn't propose over the phone. 

Don  : Ummm, no. 

Jack : And I'm pretty sure, that she didn't accept with a letter. 

Don  : Uhhhh. 

Jack : Don? 

Don  : Jack? 

Jack : Don? 

Don  : Jack? 

Jack : Don... you can do this! 

Overall worth watching, though not as good as 'The Invincible', 'Remember the Titans' or 'Coach Carter'.

P.S - Was Just wondering what would Jack say if she had done that? :))

When I am gone...

"That be not told of my death,

Or made to grieve in account of me,

& that I be not buried in consecrated ground,

& that no sexton be asked to toll the bell,

& that nobody is wished to see my dead body,

& that no mourners follow my funeral,

& that no flowers be painted on my grave,

& that no man remembers my name,

To this I put my name, for I have lived my life to full."

- Thomas Hardy

Height at Night

Finally after quite a long time, I went for a hike. 'Skandagiri' is a hill some 70 kms from Bangalore on NH-7 Highway. It's famous for night climbing in moonlight. 

We of course, depended more on torches than crescent moon. This place is also known for colorful sunrises. As per Murphy's law, all that could go wrong, went wrong. One of our bikes got punctured, we did loose the way in night, climbed back & then had to climb again. Well, to put in a nutshell, of the 14 people in my group who climbed; each one of them was a zombie, by the time we climbed down. 

However, it was worth the effort. Here are some pictures I managed to take:-

Bangalore Skyline before sunrise, as seen from the top of Skandagiri. The shot is a long exposure of 20 seconds on my tripod(struggled quite a lot to carry that to top).

The hill in front atop the clouds is Nandi Hills. The shot has been taken just after sunrise. Because of the speeding clouds here, Nandi Hills is visible like the pupil of a blinking eye.

Took this shot at the top. The boulder lies at the edge. Gives a good reference scale of the sizes. 'Kudos' to the morons who were standing near the edge to get themselves photographed.