Back Benchers- Embracing the Dark side of Force

From ever since I can remember, I have been sitting on the very front benches of the class; right from kg, and through my college days.

Though I believe the practice must have started off as a consequence of my less than average height and poor eye-sight; the fact remains that the front benches have been the most prominent of the many constants of my student life.

Anyone who has had the fortune, or rather lack of it, of sitting on the front benches, might concur with me, that doing so requires the rare combination of concentration, stamina and patience.

Concentration and unwavering attention, for when you find the topic interesting enough; patience to still be attentive towards a topic, that in your personal opinion, the world could better do without. And above all, stamina, not to inadvertently tear away your mouth in a silent roar (yes, I mean yawn) when the speaker is standing right in front of you.

If not for these virtues, sitting on the front benches is pretty much a suicide mission, best left to trained professionals or adrenalin junkies.

So, having not had the experience of ever having sat on the back benches, I was in a bit of a fix when during one of the Soft-skills training sessions that I have at work, I found all the rows occupied, except for the very last one. For a few seconds, I just stood at the entrance, as if somehow people at the front would start vanishing into thin air to make place for me.

Now that I think about it, I must have looked awfully stupid doing that.

Well, so I reached at the back of the room and occupied a seat. And the class began.

The Three Monkeys

Once upon a time, in the ancient realm of East, there lived a great wizard called Gandhi. He was a very righteous person who dedicated his whole life towards eliminating evil and making the world a better place to live.

Reaching his end, and still watching the world fighting a losing battle against evil; Gandhi, with all of his powers accumulated over the years, summoned three immortal Monkeys to be a beacon of Hope and Inspiration to mankind in the face of mounting evil.

Gandhi always believed that the root of all evil in the world were essentially the human senses, that exposed one to evils like greed, jealousy and all other forms of corruption. So, he gave each of these Monkeys a task. One monkey was to never speak evil, the second one, never to hear evil, and the third one to never see evil. He asked the Monkeys to roam the world for eternity teaching the people of the world these three basic qualities that, if followed would surely root out all the evil from the world.

The wizard died within a few days.

The Three Monkeys, obeying their supreme master travelled through the world, reminding them of their great master and inspiring people to follow these good values in order to defeat evil. People flocked where ever they went, and looked on as the three strange monkeys went about imparting their teachings.

But as they went deeper and deeper into the treacherous corners of the realm, they witnessed some of the cruelest warlords, dark wizards, and their henchmen. But, however hard they tried the evil warlords could not harm the three monkeys, for they had the gift of immortality and the imparted quality of incorruptibility.

The three monkeys worked in tandem in the face of evil. The one monkey who could see and speak, but not hear evil, would inform the one who couldn't to guard himself from the evil, by closing his eyes in order to guard their senses from the tempt the evil brings with it. And, thus, they journeyed together for many years.

The only downside to immortality is the constant, unending, existence.

Overtime, the three monkeys got bored of this tedious task given to them. The monkey that was forbidden from seeing anything evil, was tired of seeing the same old people; he grew jealous of the other two monkeys who could see, all the world they wanted. The caverns that inhabited some of the vilest creatures the world ever knew, the very symbols of the Evil. So, was the case with the other two monkeys. They started questioning the very wisdom of their master. After all, something that is good enough to be heard by one, must also be good enough to be heard by others too!

Eventually, they stopped obeying the commands of their master. They stopped moving around the world with hands on their mouth, or ears or eyes. They became just a set of ordinary monkeys, as fallible to evil as any other ordinary creature, travelling across the world.

After a few years, they again reached the point from where they had started their journey; the town of their Master. The people flocked to see the three monkeys, expecting to hear from them, words of wisdom, and tales from the farthest of lands.

However, they were disappointed, when they found that the once serene and noble monkeys, had become just a bunch of regular, gullible creatures, talking and acting lewdly.

Just then, a child from the crowd cried out loud “Shame shame!!!”

The three monkeys were furious. They were enraged at this disrespect and apprehended the boy.

“We are the mascots of the great wizard, and you dare disrespect us?”

“You don’t even know the difference between what is right or wrong, how can you then, believe yourself to be the mascots of righteousness. You are just like other ordinary monkeys who copy what others do.”

The three monkeys were speechless. They realised their mistake. From that day on, they stopped spreading the message of shutting down one’s senses to keep evil at bay.

They had understood that Knowledge was the supreme virtue. Without the wisdom of differentiating between what is right or wrong, what is moral or immoral, there was no point in following good or evil. One had to open one's senses to all information, and then decide to follow the path of righteousness after understanding and contemplating why something is good and the other evil.

Thus, the Three Monkeys mended their ways and started another tour around the world, in order to gain knowledge and wisdom, which would help them become the true mascots of righteousness, as they were intended to be.

Nishkantos and the Merry Men Part-II: The battle of Thermaliya

In memory of the erstwhile PAT/VAWT Boys...:D

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to a real lively person/persons is purely intentional...:D

Having rid the forests of the Western Woods from the vicious packs of Werewolves, the warriors proceeded East looking for more adventures. Meanwhile, their fame spread throughout the nearby lands, fuelled by their recent conquests.

They traveled east for three days. On the fourth day, they reached the gates of Workshire city.

Some guards approached the warriors.

“Who are you”?

“We are warriors from the west. We are just passing by; We mean no harm to your people,” replied Sagaricus.

“Welcome, Warriors, we have heard of your adventures. But before resuming your journey, you need to get the permission to stay here from the Sherrif. That is the law” said the guard.

So, accompanied by three guards, the four warriors entered the town.

Workshire was unlike any other city they had ever seen. The city was littered with factories that housed gigantic machines on which the townsfolk worked tirelessly, manufacturing powerful weaponry that was exported to arm the armies of even the most distant lands of the realm.

The town’s sherrif, Sandikrates, already witness to the skill and courage of the warriors in the Western Woods, invited them to his offices in order to honour them on behalf of the city.

After a sumptuous feast, the warriors sat down with Sandikrates.

“So, warriors, where are you headed now? Off to another adventure perhaps?”

“We have travelled extensively throughout the Western realm. We gained knowledge and had many adventures; Now, we have decided to move East”, said Hershules.

“In that case, I would like to suggest an adventure right here, in these lands. Have you heard of a creature called Vawtymus?”

The four warriors looked at each other and shook their heads in the negative.

“I thought so. The Vawtymus is a Monstrous creature that troubles these lands. It is a tall, three- headed giant that wakes up every two years, and eats away hundreds of men besides destroying all our crops. It moves with the wind and is almost impossible to control. Many brave Knights came to slay it, but no man that ever encountered it, has lived to tell the tale.”

The four warriors listened with interest. Lured by the prospect of adventure, Pajax stood up and declared:

“We shall apprehend and get rid of this creature for your people!”

The other three nodded in agreement.

“Bravo, we finally have hope!” said Sandikrates, delighted at the prospect.

“So, where can we find this Vawtymus?”asked Nishkantos.

“The creature lives inside a cave in the mountains east of a village called Thermaliya. It is a six hour ride away from the city”, said Sandikrates.

The warriors rode towards Thermaliya. When they reached the village, they found it empty, except for warning signs scaring away any visitors.

The Incidental Criminal Part VI: The Common Enemy

General Iroh was not particularly fond of Mosquitoes. The only times when he did enjoy their company were those when they were being relished inside his mouth. He balked at the very thought of a summit with his counter-part from Mosquit. But then, that was what his Great King had thought fit. He would just have to control his appetite and try not to eat up the Mosquit General.

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Commander Lyca was not called the Ice Queen for no reason. She was known throughout the administration for her ruthless and cold attitude. The last time when the King Monty asked her to attend a summit with General Iroh, she could see even the King's legs shaking.

She shivered in rage at the very thought of the summit, begging around the Lizards for cooperation in the war. Not many knew but 4 members of her immediate family had been brutally murdered along with the rest of the colony under the command of this very general. She wanted revenge. But the interests of Mosquit far outweighed the horrors of her own past.

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The Summit

The two commanders along with their sub-ordinates looked on as the petite lizard addressed...

"Fellow Mosssquitosss and Lizzzzards; The purrrpose of this meeting is to enhance the Milllitary and Intelligenceee cooperation between our two empireees with regards to a common enemy, namely Payoj Gupta. Kiiindly be patient of the cultural and past differencees and focus on the agenda. The detaails shall be covered by Mr. Alex Longsting. The minutes of the meeting shall be recorded by the Mosquit Swepreme Court's Head Cleric Mr. Jim Biters."

Alex: (Clears his throat) ... "The agenda of this meeting is quite straight forward. Subdue and bring to justice, the notorious mass-murderer and our common enemy, Payoj Gupta."

"As is now widely known throughout the Ecosystem, the Mosquit nation has faced blow after blow in the past 1 week from this particular human, which includes killing of more than 50 mosquitoes within a short period of 40 minutes, as well as the deaths of some of our law enforcement mosquitoes, including the infamous Agent Red Alpha."

"It is in the backdrop of such grave incidents of provocation that endanger the very sovereignty of the Mosquit nation, that our King has approached our one time nemesis, the Lizards for assistance with handling this particular human and perhaps planning a Joint military Offensive for the same."

The Incidental Criminal Part V: King Monty the Sixth

“… a sad day indeed in the history of Mosquit. It remains to be seen how the Law Enforcement Department reacts to this sudden turn of events. Anonymous Sources from the Ministry tell us that even as we speak, a high-level meeting is underway in the Palace convened by the Prime Minister of Mosquit herself to decide on the future course of action.

In related news, King Monty the Sixth has expressed regret over the death of Agent Red Alpha; Terming his life as the epitome of courage and loyalty to the Mosquit nation, he has announced a National Mourning for 2 minutes in the Veteran agent’s honor …”

He pulled down his antennae and sighed. These had to be the darkest seconds of his 2 hour long rule. He stood up from his desk and flew around his magnificent office. This was perhaps the only place in the entire kingdom where he could move around of his own free will. Constantly surrounded by a web of special forces for his security, advisers, ministers, he had virtually forgotten the last time he had spent alone outside of this office.

There was a knock on the door. An orderly came inside. “Sir, the Head Cleric has prepared the final draft for your message to the nation regarding further course of action. I need you to sign and authorize the message”

“Very well”.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

He looked at the portrait of his father, King Monty the Fifth.

He had never wanted to be a King. He still remembered the time he had tried explaining to his father, his passion for Zoology, expressly Lizard Sciences. Even as a larva, he had always been fascinated with the reptiles. His father and his advisers were aghast at the very thought of the crown prince studying the creatures who had constantly been at war with the Mosquit nation from the very beginnings of the Ecosystem.

His father had one day called him to this very room. He had said “It is the Destiny of the Dynasty, my boy. You cannot change what you were always meant to be. Tis already written. What is in your hand however, is what you make of this destiny, what fate you leave behind for your nation and your children.” His father had died the very next hour, and he had been crowned the King.

But things now were very different from his father’s times. The king’s stature had been reduced to a ceremonial position, where he only signed his messages to the nation, prepared by others, and passed orders, most of which he didn’t even understand, in the name of the King.

He was not allowed to go out into the public except for once a quarter hour for apparent security reasons.

The Kingdom was effectively being run by Ministers, Advisors, Generals, and other “well-wishers”, all of course in the name of the king. Their inflated egos and constant squabbles had made a mockery out of the largest Mosquito nation of the whole Ecosystem.

The Monarchy in Mosquit was dieing a slow death.

The common mosquitoes and the media had started terming him as the weakest King in Mosquit history, through no fault of his own. Or perhaps the fault had indeed been his. By not acting at the right time, by allowing “the professionals to handle the matters”, perhaps he had indeed made himself weak.

“What is in your hand however, is what you make of this destiny, what fate you leave behind for your nation and your children.”

His father’s words rang through his mind again. He must do something by himself. He could no longer let down his people through his inaction. But what should he do?

He remembered another of his father's teachings.

“The Enemy of your enemy, is your friend”.

Of course. How could all his strategists and ministers not think of this sooner. How could, He, not think of this sooner !

He called the Head Cleric. “I want an audience with the Head Council of Mosquit. Tell them that the King has decided to ask the lizard Nation for cooperation against Payoj Gupta.”

The Incidental Criminal part IV - Agent Red Alpha

“Now, back to the main story that we have been covering for the past 30 minutes; Agent Red Alpha, the most celebrated spy in the history of Mosquit has been assigned the case of the infamous serial killer and mass murderer Payoj Gupta. For those, unaware of him, here is a brief description of how this agent rose to fame by our special correspondent Berky Dita.”

“He is the most celebrated spy in the Mosquit empire. Though the Agent Alpha program was derived from a popular movie series in the human world, almost all experts unanimously agree that if there ever were an actual 007 among the humans, the Agent Red Alpha could give him a run for his money.”

“The veteran agent first came into limelight when during the course of his very first mission; he infiltrated the Lizard kingdom and gained intelligence about a secret Lizard hideout where elaborate plans were being made by the Lizard General Iroh, of an impending attack on Mosquit city. He successfully escaped from the Lizard Fortress and reported this information to his superiors just in time to allow the citizens to vacate the city and for the Mosquit military and Special Forces to plan and organise a daring and incredible ambush that resulted in deaths of 9 king size lizards, and a safe city.”

“Thanks, Berky. Now we have with us in our studio a long time close associate of the agent, Retired Ex-Sergeant Tim Bitsworth. So,Tim, what do you have to say about Red Alpha?”

“Well, I have only one thing to say; He is cold and ruthless, almost mechanical while eliminating targets at the behest of King Monty himself. Be it humans, lizards or even those unfortunate Kings of the Jungle, the poison dart that this agent carries is lethal next only to the mosquito carrying it.”

“Thanks Tim. The veteran spy has been entrusted with eliminating the human, one Payoj Gupta with whatever means necessary. Payoj Gupta, who first hit headlines on his mysterious escape from the Mosquit High Court, where he was to be punished for the murder of 54 mosquitoes. During the course of his escape, he also killed three senior law enforcement mosquitoes. It was later found that his body has somehow become resistant to regular shrinking devices that are used to apprehend most other large-sized felons, a fact that has many scientists worried as this could be the next stage in the evolution of the humans. As one of our sources told us, this makes it all the more necessary to eliminate the human.”

“So, it was under such grim circumstances, when the Directorate of Human intelligence recalled the 32 hour old agent out of retirement for eliminating this threat to Mosquit.”

“Over the period of half an hour, Agent Red Alpha shall inject the human with controlled quantities of a special chemical mixture prepared by scientists, designed to fight the victim’s anti-bodies for days at end. Though he may not live long enough to see this enemy of the state fall dead, he will have secured the lives of countless mosquitoes from the megalomaniac human.”

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He flew inside the room as a whole contingent of law enforcement officers from Mosquit stood by and looked on in amazement.

The human seemed busy writing something. He lunged forward in a flawless dive, accelerating so as to ensure that the dart found its target, and break through the dense skin.

He had already injected him thrice; each time accompanied by loud cheers from the junior staff of the law enforcement and media correspondents behind the fence.

Suddenly, the human stood up. He looked around closely and spotted the agent. He clapped his hands in order to smash the mosquito to death. The veteran agent dodged easily. He looked into the human’s eyes. He saw an evil glint and a horrific smile just as the human pulled back and clapped his hands multiple times successively. The agent expertly dived around and dodged the onslaught, but the resultant shock waves were tremendous, which accompanied by strong air currents, struck the agent hard and the spy lost his balance for a split second.

He crashed onto a nearby bottle.

He spread his wings again, ready to fly. He fell down on the table. His wings were wet from the condensate on the bottle's surface. He struggled to hide, but it was futile.

Payoj smiled. He looked sinister, a monster.

THUMP !!!!

There was a deathly silence.

The law enforcement officers looked on, too shocked to react as they lost their Hero to the Terror wielding Human.

The Incidental Criminal Part III: Mosqatma Ganphi

Contrary to popular perception among humans, not all mosquitoes bite just in order to procure blood to sustain themselves. In an average lifetime of about 3 days, a mosquito hardly needs 7-8 drops of blood to keep itself alive. Ten tops.

Not unlike humans, a mosquito is a very moody and emotional creature. Apart from the obvious need for nutrition and feeding the young ones, it may even bite you simply out of boredom. Then, there are special mosquito units in each major mosquito empire that are involved in continuously replenishing a stockpile of human blood as well as blood from some other organisms to be used in times of crisis.

Interestingly, mosquitoes prefer human blood to that of other organisms, owing to the relative hygiene and superior living conditions of humans. One may find sufficient amounts of a variety of flavors of human blood in all upper class mosquito households.

Then, there are the law enforcement mosquitoes that carry out sentences against humans involved in large-scale massacres of mosquitoes.

There are what you may call “adrenaline junkies” that mess with humans just to derive a sense of adventure in their lives.

There are petty criminal warlords who carry a vicious vendetta against humans for one reason or the other; and bite them with lethal bio-weaponry, thus inflicting their own massacres on the humans, which obviously led to further retaliation by humans.

It was not always like this though. For a brief period of history there was a grand revolution in the whole mosquito world. The mosquito that led the movement came into the picture when the mosquito governments and non-state actors both organized and encouraged mindless attacks on humans and other organisms. In such times of great turmoil, came from the huge city-state of Mosquit, Ganphi, a mosquito that challenged the very core of the mosquito society.

He lived a very simple life. He disapproved of all kinds of violence, even if they meant biting someone to satisfy hunger. He spent his entire life of 54 hours on nothing but fruit juices and mould; inspiring a whole generation of non-biters among mosquitoes.

A lawyer by profession, he gave up a glittering career in order to fight for the rights of the lowest strata in the mosquito society-the aphids, that after being stolen from the ant farms were used as labor for various chores and forced to live a moribund life. The government under the King Pintoinitially resisted and tried to shut off any dissent, but by then, Ganphi had caught the imagination of the nation’s youth and the huge aphid populations who rallied behind him and forced the government to bend to their will in a non-violent movement.

Having gained the support and trust of an entire generation of mosquitoes, Ganphi started taking up other causes as well. He implored upon the mosquito society to understand and value the life of others, that they should bite only as much as they need, that they should recognize the right to life with dignity for all organisms. He severely criticized the preferential biting of humans just because of their hygiene.

He fought for equal rights for the male mosquitoes who had been reduced to ceremonial show-pieces.

His radical ideas and their support also led to the creation of extremist factions within the mosquito society. These were the ones who believed mosquitoes to be the most superior race off all and disapproved of Ganphi’s thinking.And it was one such disillusioned extremist that killed the Mosqatma. The mosquito who abhorred violence all his life, who didn’t bite a single living soul, was brutally killed in a mindless act of rage.

Today, when the mosquito world is yet again embroiled in turmoil, it awaits the arrival of another Ganphi.