"Oh! you were there too. Then you know all about it. But there's still something that you don't know."
"The day had an unusual feel about it. The outdoors felt strange. Usually as you moved about early in the city you are greeted by foul, disgusting smells originating from man’s natural and industrial waste. Add to them the fragrance of artificial scents and you are bound to start your day with a headache. But today these seemed to be absent. There was absolutely no smell in the immediate world around. I could have smelt a rose at 100 meters but sadly there wasn’t any."
Alif: I think I am going to win today.
Jim: What makes you say that? As far as I remember you have never won. You are the most unsuccessful gambler I have known. In fact I think you are jinxed. If you bet on ‘Life Line’ then I would know the winner would be ‘Death Sentence’. It’s always like that. In a way what you bet on has always helped me win, coz you never win and I always do.
Zal: You also share your spoils with him, that’s an amazing thing you do. Never understood why you do that?
Jim: If I don’t then he won’t come to the next race and I won’t win. I don’t share the money with him due to sympathy; it’s a business association. He doesn’t put too much money on his horse anyway. It’s a known thing. Whatever he bets on gets jinxed. It has always worked.
Alif: But today is going to be different.
Jim: Hey dude! You need to stop that nonsense. You are beginning to freak me out.
Jim: Hey Zal you aren’t much of a gambler, are you?
Zal: I just don’t gamble on horses. I think I am more of a gambler than you are.
Jim: Really??
Zal: Look at you, you just bet on winning horses. Come here with this friend of yours who spells jinx on some poor horse and bet on a horse. You then put your money on a horse that makes you feel that you will win and you do. It seems more like an investment to me. And you have been winning haven’t you?
Jim: Yes I have, but I still need to bet one of the other horses. It’s not a two horse race you know. How are you more of a gambler than I am?
Zal: I am a struggling painter, my paintings have so far never fetched me any money. I do odd jobs to earn bits of money and survive. I don’t have money to bet on horses. But I like to watch the race.
Jim: So whom are you betting on today Alif?
Alif: I am betting on that Dark Horse.
Jim: You leave me no choice; I have to bet on ‘Total Despair’
Alif: Don’t, I am going to win today.
Jim: You are acting funny today.
Zal: Looks like today is the first time you are going to gamble. Hahaha.
Jim: Nevertheless it’s ‘Total Despair’ for me. I will go with what has always worked for me.
"The next day's newspaper had the following headline: ‘Hope’ wins the race. "
"And now this painiting of mine is the talk of the town. Who would have thought that a freak accident would see horses fall like nine pins and the slowest of them all slowly trots across the finish line?"
"This black horse looks silly, trotting along around the fallen horses, doesn't it? I will sell this painting to the highest bidder."
That day two people gambled on Hope and won.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The Dark Horse
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12 comments:
The tale is poignant, yet very positive and optimistic in its outlook.
Hi Sheece,
I have not read your story and so this is not really to comment on that. I read your "I am the prisoner in time..." section and enjoyed it. However, I read something, that i think is, relevant to that and so here is the link to it.. http://www.timelessindia.us/41-karma.htm
do tell me if you have come across this before.
cheers
gudakesha
Hi Gudakesha,
I didn't find your blog, where I could leave a comment (answer). I read the link that you sent me and although I hadn't read what you sent, I somehow felt I knew the conversation. I am reading the Gita... and similar concepts also exist in the Koran too, maybe that's why I felt so. I call myself a prisoner of time, as I feel the concepts of time and body are related. If you want to continue the conversation you can send me a mail on sheece@gmail.com
Hi Sheece,
Have you read the Koran? I came across this article at a little while ago - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/3425/page254.htm
it has been written by a muslim, but i never been able to varify it for my self, and I have never dared ask a muslim whom I have known personally.
Can you tell me if it is factually correct.
I truely hope I have not caused too much agitation thru my request.
P.S. On the next page is the interview of swami chinmayanda with pritish nandi (Alt link - http://www.chinmaya-chicago.org/chinmaya_pritish.htm). I loved it, but I enjoy reading swami chinmayananda and swami vivekananda. are you reading the geeta by itself or along with someone's interpretation and explanation of it as well?
PPS: it is difficult (if not impossible)to think outside the box, that is why we decide what is good for others and push it down their throat. how we do it, depends on whether one is writting comments on a blog (like me) or some guy killing others because they dont look/think/feel like him/her.
cheers,
gudakesha
ppps: i dont use my blog anymore. i had one in which i rambled so much that it stopped making sense to anybody icluding me. so i am more likely to come back here and check your answer, hope you dont mind!
Dear Gudakesha,
Here I am... answering ur questions.
G - Have you read the Koran?
Me - Yes
G - Can you tell me if it is factually correct.
Me - Fortunately for you and me "No". Actually it is downright silly. Please don't believe in these things. I compared the Koranic verses mentioned in it with four translations and not even a single preposition matched. I thought reading any further would be wasting my time in reading something that doesn't deserve attention. Islam means total submission to God. Yes it does tell us to seek the truth. If you look at it from a bird's eye view there is no difference between the Koran and Gita.
Jehad means the biggest war. And Koran in many ways tells us that the biggest war is conquering our ego. The war of Mahabharat is in nothing but Jehad. Its the victory of the five good qualities over a 100 evils guide by God.
Actually the problem with human beings is that they depend on other humans to guide them and unfortunately most of the times they are guided by misled. What people fail to understand that religion is just being used as a game to manipulate them.
thanks :)
and the geeta, which geeta are you reading? pardon the blatant curiousity :D
i don't know... never really marked which Gita it was. at times read it from a site... i hv the link at work will check it there and let u know. if its of any meaning i don't really read the explanations tht the verses in a Gita offer. i read the sanskrit (in english script), and i hv a hindi and marathi background and can understand sanskrit a bit... then i read the literal english translation. the explanations i find poetic and can't relate to som of them so avoid reading them.
Tagore's poetry-
The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee; and entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd, unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon many a fleeting moment of my life.
And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature, I find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of joys and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.
Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust, and the steps that I heard in my playroom are the same that are echoing from star to star.
(let me know if you want me to stop posting here)
no why would i want u to stop posting?
hey sheece,
yeah it was me who posted as gudakesha - love that name. it means the one with knotted hair, implies one who is alert... maybe i dont know.
anyway, started putting stuff on my blog, stuff that i have enjoyed reading...
take care
why i asked all those questions -
oh human need to talk, i guess.. and i wanted to ask about the kuran issue as well, just didnt want to offend anybody!
and anonymously becoz ppl generally respond to personalities not to what someone says. so, i find it comfortable posting anonymously.
after i realised you dont explode :D i did dare go a little beyond...
knowing ur fascination for Gudakesha... have u read my other blog on blogspot?
i also blog on www.xanga.com/rrryb
when i was a kid... i used to think anonymous was a writer and a brilliant one. And when someone asked me who is your fav writer, I would say Anonymous. Now when I look back at it, it seemed quite a profound statement for the kid tht i was.
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