Blog and Brood part-1

Something struck! I realized, there are numerous life changing incidents that I encounter every once in a while. However, I never seem to understand the lesson each of them tries to teach. Until one day, it occurred to me that I should 'Blog and then brood' so that others can associate to what I feel, thus facilitating chained pondering.

I start this series with a jhataak doctrine driven by an example from the famous epic Mahabharata and delivered by a person who was happily tipsy after 4 glasses of wine. After much contemplation, we decide to visit a colleague's place for their house warming party. The initial meet and greet happens and everyone randomly agrees on playing the infamous Teen Patti. The host along with his dad and a couple of other friends explains the do's and don'ts of the game and the decks got shuffled.

Presuming it to be similar to the happy Poker days with R.K and group, I step in with an initial pitch of 20$. Like any other gambling bound card game, there was double-crossing, deception and tag teaming. Playing it by the rules, I emptied my wallet, borrowed money and lost all of it. I was very glad that I had friends by my side who got my back, lending me blind money and trusting my gut.

Finally I walked out with an empty wallet, frustrated bheja, growling stomach and a staggering yet mildly active companion. The drive back home was mellow, trying to put the tipsy girl to sleep; yet another failed attempt. Sensing the resentment, she asks "What went wrong". Having seen her drink 4 glasses of Zinfandel, I turned a deaf ear to what she said and she reprises "How much did you lose?" I illustrated all the incidents and what dragged me into bankruptcy (per say). I justified my act of borrowing money and losing all of it saying that I was playing by the rules and never did I indulge in dishonesty. I was repeatedly signalling at all the crafty acts of the swindlers signifying my helpless situation.

As swiftly as a confident person in senses, she said: "You believe in Hindu Mythology to a certain extent, don't you? Lets take an example from Mahabharata!  Everyone blames Sakuni for compromising the dice and breaking the first and foremost rule but no one ever realizes that Yudhistira had enough chances to put his foot down and say NO to increase the stakes." Those two lines were enough to zip my lips and wake me up from the notion of 'no fault of mine'. The usual irrational conversationalist who hates to accept defeats went into hiding realizing that it was not his night to claim.

Moral of the story: Good will is morally correct but politically incorrect.