Humanoid

" Kadavul paathi, Mirigam paathi;
Kalanthu seytha, Kalavai naan,"
- Excerpt from Aalavandhan (Abhay in Hindi)

"Squelch". The sickening sound of bone being crunched, and red elixir being spewed; echoed across the street that was fast asleep past midnight. The white rhino traveling along the road at a three digit speed crushed the white feline unable to change its trajectory. The last impression on the brain powering the gallop was that of the fear stricken eyes of its latest victim; the clear look of unavoidable death. The brain digested the exit of another 10 kilograms of matter vaporised from the earth with a wave of regret, and pushed the accelerator to the floor. There is no lactic acid which can accumulate in this rhino, it just runs.

The brain argues that it is the same as crushing a mosquito, a life is a life you see. But there is a tinge of guilt that just refuses to wash away. Mr. Johnnie Walker might be in demand if rest eludes it any longer. The brain really has a copious stock of pleasure hormones. A heightened sense of identity, pleasures both materialistic and base are not foreign entities any longer. The brain at times wonders if it is close to that hypothetically impossible state of satisfaction, but then the category of satisfaction widens and we're back to square one.

This would be the last post on an odyssey that culminated in a manner I did not dream off. I never dreamed driving into those gates that an ever elusive Rank 1 was possible. Neither did I dream that the cost would be the severance of a multitude of nerve endings from the large cardiac muscle. I don't really have the guts to say," Back to square one, I am a nice guy".

Praveen Dwarakanath
PGPABM - Topper of the Batch
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow