The Breed Apart

They come in all shapes and sizes as most of the living species do. But there are some peculiar characteristics of this specie which distinguish them from their counterparts. To name a few: they are usually seen in a group of 6-8 adults, and can be seldom spotted alone or in a small group of 2-3, they share startling physical similarity with other inhabiting species, but psychologically they are as distinct, they exhibit a very weird behavior towards other inhabiting species, they also show analytical differences vis-à-vis others. But what sets this breed or specie completely apart is the classification of sub-species.

Globally this is the most sought after specie and hence it commands a fair amount premium on attention they get, number of mentions (as the one now and otherwise as well) and mainly on their price which consequentially leads to formation of sub-species. As of now, discoverers like me have broadly identified these into three categories based purely on the price and in no way does it deal with their intellectual capabilities mainly; A, B and C

A, is the king of the specie. Not the creator or the originator, in fact it is the most refined version of this specie, evolved over the years. This type primarily forms the top of the pyramid. These can be spotted in huge numbers in the blue chip corridors of forests in the southern and northern regions of our country. It is being observed now, that they have identified some parts of the western region as well, which is witnessing an unprecedented growth in their numbers.
They represent the new face of their specie, which is rich in power, money and apparently in knowledge as well. They inspire the other two sub species.
However, in recent times, these are being the first rate targets of the unrest in their minting areas, caused by the economic slowdown and many of their friends are now hunting instead of being hunted. We wish them a speedy recovery.

B, forms the middle of the pyramid and hence the main drivers of this specie as a whole. They are spotted in dense patches in southern, northern and western forests of the country and boast the highest percentage of growth in population in the specie. This is the lot who aspires and inspire at the sametime. They aspire to graduate to A and inspire C.

When most of their peers in A faced the heat and were left hunting, B laughed all the way to their homes and banks as they became the second best choice, because of affordability and being efficient, if not more, than A (wahi jhaak, wahi safedi agar kam daamo mein mile toh koi “A” kyun le?... remember Vinitaji??)
My prediction, B will be the biggest beneficiary and will change the rule of the jungle.

C, is right at the bottom of the pyramid, but do not let this misguide you. Do not underestimate their power. They are the underdogs and they love it that way. Majority of them are not there because they cannot graduate to B or A, but by choice. These are found in abundance across the breadth and height of the forests of our country. They have also managed to go unnoticed to a large extent in the recent economic crisis, in areas where they shared the same space with A and B. However, in their own hunting grounds, they were severely affected.

Now then, one may ask why the need of this classification of specie we already know of, have heard a lot of and still do. Well, there is no reason in specific. I have always had many friends, cousins who belong to this specie (mostly A) and I have always been astonished by the fact, that they still exhibit a sense of pride; a) after they cross the road before others, b) when they cut the lane of an auto-rickshaw, c) when they are the first ones who drive-off the traffic signal, d) when someone praises them for wearing a seat belt, e) when they go out with girls (which are by the way their married colleagues) and order for a beer, that’s not because they want to, that’s because they don’t understand the head or tails of cocktails or any other drinks, f) when they make fun of a poor waiter who cannot pronounce name of some Italian dish correctly, which later, these people would refer to by number on the menu-card, because they cannot pronounce the name themselves for nuts, which in turn would be justified to their ‘girls’ and group as a smart way of ordering… well, the list is almost endless. And with me staying in Pune, which has been identified by NASSCOM in top 5 cities of India for IT and ITeS growth, there is no dearth of such experiences.

Signing out.

A Lot Happens Over Coffee

It was a routine after-work-coffee-hour for Aakash and his group, discussing their screwed up lives – mostly, coz of work and partly coz of the girl(s) / guy(s) in their lives.

Settling down on a corner table, usual mocha’s and frappes were ordered with sandwiches and chocolate doughnuts as well and then began the anticipated wait for caffeine and marathon of (kilo)calories. This gave everyone a chance to sneak peek at their digital best buddies – cell phones. Busy replying messages and giving call backs, everyone was distracted with an aroma of Arabica and hot chocolate. Slowly, but surely life started creeping onto them, leading to an obvious appearance of Classic Milds and Wills.

Changing seats according to smoking preferences, Aakash (a non-smoker) now found himself staring at the person, of whom he could only hear the laugh till now. That laugh kind of soothed him and now realized its not just the laugh which was soothing. A tall, fair figure sat in front of him, face camouflaged with dense black carpet of straightened hair. Just about perfect. Occasionally with one of those laughs, he could see what lied beneath that camouflage; she had a pronounced dimple on the right complemented by warm white glowing soft tender skin. Awestruck Aakash went into a trance, which was wildly disturbed by her cell-phone’s ring. His eyes following her.

On her way back to seat, there was an iota of exchange between the two. Wishing that moment to freeze in time, he continued to be bewildered with the beauty. The more he saw her, the more she got onto him. Black almond eyes, pink soft lips, which created an aura of themselves whenever they gave way to that million dollar smile, giving birth to dimple which crowned this beauty, dense deep black hair flocking their way onto that baby skin every single moment she moved, it was just perfect and he wouldn’t have complained if the time stopped there and his friends not notice him and break this moment.

Something drew her sudden attention to him and for the first time there was this deliberate eye contact among the two. It was one of the most wonderful pair of eyes he had ever seen and he wouldn’t have mind getting drowned in them. A slight smile made its way on those lips consequently displaying the most pronounced dimple he had ever seen. This 2 minute old eye-lock was suddenly and sadly broken, again by her cell-phone. This time disappointment was mutual. She was gone for 10 long minutes and had not come back. In the meantime, Aakash and his group were through eating and had asked for the bill, ready to move on. This threatened a rather abrupt end to this beautifully evolving silent conversation. Few anxious moments went by, bill paid, things wrapped, last smoke done, but still no signs of her.


To Aakash’s disappointment he saw her at the gate with another guy. It re-affirmed his belief that good-looking girls are never single and if you come across any, beware! Bidding byes and hugs with his friends, Aakash made his way towards his bike, which was parked right behind her. Waiting for her to move aside, he put on his bag and waited for few seconds. Eventually in a very somber voice he said, “Excuse me”, to which she moved aside involuntarily, without even looking at him, this questioned their ‘silent conversation’ inside the café. Sighing, as he got onto his bike, he heard her saying, “you know I come here everyday around same time.” This sparked off an excitement in Aakash, for one sure reason that, this info was not meant for the guy she was talking to. He could say that, coz’ whatever little eavesdropping he did, this was surely out of context of their conversation. Nodding to himself, he set the sparks in his bike’s sparks-plug. Back home that night he scored 28 in his dart game. His highest till date.