Saturday, March 6, 2010

Time Travel


Blacki is the most enchanting person of our times. Don't get misguided by his name. Though he justifies his name, that's just too small a feat for him. He has an eye for the next big thing. And so, he opened a travel agency - with a difference. He conducted travels not only in space but also in time.

He charges hefty amount from his travelers.And the popularity of his travel has made him one of the richest men of our times. His USP is backward time travel. It's not theoretically impossible to travel backward in time. But traveling backward has its own challenges. What if the person traveling backward in time kills his grandfather before the birth of his father? Different theories are plugged in to explain such paradoxes. But Blacki is beyond theories. He actually makes time travel possible.

He, however, is racist. Despite being an Indian, he doesn't allow Indians into his time travel. His service is only for the 'Westerners'. So, all I know about the time travel is through the experiences of the few travelers. Description of one such traveler in his own words is given below:

I was taken into a jet airplane shaped time machine. The time machine was dark inside with just a spot light on Blacki. The time machine then started. Our first destination was year 2035. I landed on the terrace of a building. Blacki, then, escorted me to a place resembling army training center where there was a battalion of people all of whom looked exactly alike. They all did the exact same stunt and shot with the same precision. Blacki, then, informed me that this is an army of robots which can be used for detecting landmines, shooting, etc. I was stunned looking at the future in front of my eye. Army of robots!


Blacki now takes me to early 20th century. This time i am at a jungle. I see a burnt body of a girl tied to a tree. I was shocked looking at such primitive act. I asked Blacki about it. He informed me that the women was burnt alive and tied to the tree by her husband and her in-laws on the pretext of dowry. He added that it was in 1961 that dowry was made illegal.


Our next destination was early 16th century. Blacki took me to what appeared like a village. There I saw women doing manual scavenging. Blacki told me that John Harington invented the water closet in 1596. The villagers use dry toilets and do not use the kind of toilets we use in the 21st century. It was obvious that at a time when flush toilets were not invented, people had to manually 'clean' the toilets.


We then went to around 1200 AD. Coming out of the time machine a walking a few steps, we came across a funeral.A couple of people were setting up the pyre for the final right. The pyre was then set on fire. But, then, I couldn't believe what i saw. I saw a lady jumping into the blazing pyre. And in a matter of minutes both of them were ashes. Blacki told me that this is 'sati' system where the wife immolates herself on her husbands pyre.




I was, kind of, depressed by looking at the practices of the past. I asked Blacki to take me to a time where there is festivity and merriment. Blacki took me to a 9th century wedding. I was elated to attend the wedding and savoring the gourmet platter amidst mellifluous music. I asked Blacki if i could meet the bride and the groom. He gave a weird smile and said that as per the travel itinerary we cannot meet anyone in the time-travel. I obliged. After enjoying the wedding as spectators we walked towards the time-machine. On the way, i had a glimpse of the bride and the groom who were surrounded by their relatives. I am not sure what I saw. I saw that the couple looked very young - like children. But then, i couldn't see them properly and pushed the doubt in the darkest corner of my mind. I didn't want the taste of the food to go away.


Finally, the time machine brought me back to 2010. It was an amazing trip, as you can see. Seeing different centuries was an experience in itself. I would strongly recommend the time-travel!

PS: To travel in time, one doesn't need a time machine. One can travel in different parts of India and see different centuries co-exist. Nevertheless, people like Blacki makes money out of cleverly bluffing others.

PPS: Sources of embedded pictures in the order in which they appear are: this, this, this and this respectively.

43 comments:

Saurabh Panshikar March 6, 2010 at 12:41 AM  

At first I thought it would be like a documentary but the last para did it!
Nice post. All the best

Siddhesh Kabe March 6, 2010 at 12:44 AM  

Wow...that was really interesting journey you took...

Nice concept. All the best.

maliha March 6, 2010 at 12:45 AM  

interesting twist to the topic, best of luck

Krishna March 6, 2010 at 1:41 AM  

the last para sums it well..amongst the best blog of yours....

aativas March 6, 2010 at 10:45 AM  

PostScript adds flavor to the story, yes in India we can visit all that history which is present for few of us!

Nalini Hebbar March 6, 2010 at 11:09 AM  

the topic TIME TRAVEL has been well tackled...you turned it into infotainment!

deicider March 6, 2010 at 11:09 AM  

Interesting!I like the hidden diversity factor.Indeed India coexists with centuries in its midst.

Chandni (Chanz) March 6, 2010 at 1:05 PM  

amazing.. truly amazing.. all the best for BATON-8

Anonymous March 6, 2010 at 1:38 PM  

Hehe that was interesting and the last line won my heart! :) So true it is. Btw can you increase the font of the narration. It was little difficult to read. All the best for BATOM8!!
Read my take on this :)

Sureindran March 6, 2010 at 3:00 PM  

A good read indeed. All the best for the batom!

Tavish Chadha(sensible-bakwas.com) March 6, 2010 at 4:50 PM  

That was a reaally interesting take on the topic... loved the last part where u say we dont need a time machine to travel back in time and different centuries co-exist with each other.... we are a complex society with too many dark shades to our past... really enjoyed the post...

Cheers!
Tavish
Blog: Sensible Bakwas

Saro March 6, 2010 at 8:59 PM  

Very nice spin at the end! Blacki is a peddler indeed :) Was interesting and yes it is true. All time zones do live together in this beautiful country of ours.

I for one, enjoy this, because it always reminds me that we're all from the 'hood'!

All the luck for batom!

Latha March 6, 2010 at 10:22 PM  

Hey Prashant...

I enjoyed reading it...:)

Vinay Leo R. March 6, 2010 at 10:56 PM  

a journey through the country taking us traveling in time! nicely done!

all the best! :)

Er. March 7, 2010 at 12:50 AM  

Nicely done. An interesting twist. :D
All the best for BATOM!

PS: http://bit.ly/aliensandme

swayambhu March 7, 2010 at 10:11 AM  

hey, great wrk!!!!

Prashant Mehta March 7, 2010 at 10:37 AM  

Saurabh Panshikar ji
Thanks!

Siddhesh 'Ravan Kabe ji
Thanks! But i didn't take any journey, unless you meant in the metaphorical sense :)

maliha ji
Thanks!

Krishna ji
Thanks!

aativas ji
Yep. Indeed, unfortunately.

Mural! March 7, 2010 at 6:22 PM  

Totally agree!! india is still stuck in time.......different parts are progressing at starkly different rates of growth..........highly applaudable attempt!!

All the best for BATOM!

Nethra March 7, 2010 at 6:29 PM  

When i read Indians aren't allowed to time travel, i supposed it could be because blacki was fooling the foreigners. You know, the pictures gave away the suspense.
Nevertheless, it was a nice story. :)
All the best for Blog-a-ton 8. :)

pawan March 7, 2010 at 7:19 PM  

Interesting :)

But I guess I didn't understand one part, if one can't travel forward in time how can Blacki take a person into the year 2035?

But a good attempt though!

Cheers :)

Harsha Chittar March 7, 2010 at 7:36 PM  

interesting and a good twist, loved the post

Shruti March 7, 2010 at 10:34 PM  

Loved the way you interpreted and laced the facts!! ATB for BATOM!

Prashant Mehta March 7, 2010 at 10:53 PM  

Nalini Hebbar ji
Thanks!

deicider ji
Thanks! Yep. It does. Fortunately or unfortunately.

Chanz ji
Thanks!

evanescentthoughts ji
My posts generally tend to be of editorial lengths. Increasing the font size, i thought, would scare the readers off. But i didn't want them to have any discomforts. Thanks for the feedback! I'll take it into consideration.

Sureindran ji
Thanks!


Tavish Chadha ji
Thanks!!

Saro ji
Agreed!!

Latha ji
Thanks!!


Leo ji
Thanks! However, there was no (real) time travel :)

- The Virgin Author ji
Thanks!

swayambhu ji
Thanks!

Prashant Mehta March 7, 2010 at 11:01 PM  

Murali ji
Thanks!

Nethra ji
Yeah. It gave away the suspense. I didn't want to add the post script even. I thought the hyperlinks would convey the thoughts. But i thought to make it on-the-face. And i guess it was right. Subtlety is not well understood by a lot of people - yours truly included.


pawan ji
Good catch. I meant that it is difficult to travel backward (corrected it after reading your comment). And to substantiate that i mentioned the grandfather's paradox. Thanks for pointing it out!


Harsha Chittar ji
Thanks!

Shruti ji
Thanks!!

Anonymous March 8, 2010 at 12:08 AM  

Nice!

1. The(They) all did the exact...

2. This *.*ji thing is getting monotonous and irritating. What do you think ?

Mahesh Aadhya Kalal March 8, 2010 at 1:26 AM  

Good story ....could have been better i feel(though my post is odd )....i mean some editing...liked the way u have ended

Biswajit Biswas March 8, 2010 at 2:28 PM  

Indeed a good post, very true, India is very diverse and different centuries co-exists, I do not know if it is good or bad.

Lavanya March 8, 2010 at 2:55 PM  

nice post :) I really liked this style of writing.

Prashant Mehta March 8, 2010 at 5:45 PM  

Anonymous ji
1. Thanks for pointing the typo. Corrected it.

2. I thought that gives it a unique feel - an Indian touch. Also, i had mentioned why i started using *ji in one of the comments in the "50 posts" (50 not out) post


Mahesh Kalaal ji
Thanks! I agree. There is always a scope for improvement :)

Biswajit Biswas ji
Thanks! Sometimes differentiating good and bad may not be easy. Things are as they are. However, IMHO, social evils are not good for the society (as the term suggests :))

Lavanya ji
Thanks!

Megha Mandavia March 8, 2010 at 9:10 PM  

Superb! very intriguing and interesting... loved it...

Unknown March 8, 2010 at 10:52 PM  

Hmmm, nice imaginative post. However, this a past that has been always shown to us - bride burning and sati - a convenient past to justify existing atrocities on men.

A point to think about.

Shilpa Garg March 8, 2010 at 11:04 PM  

Interesting and imaginative!!
Good one!
Cheers :)

Anonymous March 9, 2010 at 8:51 AM  

The PS is so true. We probably know more about those people, than what they knew about themselves.

Good one..

T F Carthick March 9, 2010 at 1:07 PM  

Lot of people use the cliqued phrase that India is caught in a time warp. You have nicely brought out what that really means. I liked the way you have used pictures next to each ideal. Overall very creative.

Makk March 9, 2010 at 1:49 PM  

Interesting read. :)

Someone is Special March 9, 2010 at 5:48 PM  

Good one :-)

Yours Frendly,
Saravana Kumar M

Karthik March 9, 2010 at 6:33 PM  

A totally different take on the topic. Your P.S. was like an icing on the cake. It made perfect sense to me. Very well written. A very nice idea indeed.
All the best for BATOM!
Cheerios!

Rocksa March 9, 2010 at 11:26 PM  

Now this is an entirely different perspective altogether and a good one at that :) I liked the way you have concluded it :)

One suggestion though..Can you please try and increase the text font? Its a strain to the eyes :(

ATB with BATOM :)

Prashant Mehta March 10, 2010 at 2:34 AM  

Megha Mandavia ji
Thanks!

Crusader ji
hmmm. Perhaps. A point indeed to think about.

Shilpa Garg ji
Thanks!

dilontherocks ji
That's called the power of media!

The Fool ji
Thanks!

Sorry for referring to you that way - i didn't have any option :)

Makk ji
Thanks!

Saravana ji
Thanks!


Karthik ji
Thanks!

Raksha Raman ji
Thanks!

Yep.Even evanescentthoughts had the same comment. I'll definitely work on the font.

Unknown March 10, 2010 at 12:36 PM  

the concept...a brilliant idea!!

really good...

Blogger March 10, 2010 at 3:40 PM  

True ! I loved the way you have put your idea so beautifully ! India is a place where we can cultures of different centuries exist ! and Blackie is really very smart I must say :) Veyr well written , with touch of Inidan cultures ..All the best ! :)

Megha March 10, 2010 at 8:36 PM  

A very different take on the topic. Nice :)

Prashant Mehta March 11, 2010 at 3:04 AM  

rahulamigo ji
Thanks!

Blogger ji
Thanks! The name of the 'smart guy' is Blacki and not Blackie. The 'e' is omitted for a reason.

Megha ji
Thanks!

  © Blogger template 'A Click Apart' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP