Love beyond life

From Urban Legends Reference Pages: Jack Benny Sends Roses After Death:

Each year he sent her roses,
and the note would always say,
“I love you even more this year,
than last year on this day.

She knew this was the last time
that the roses would appear.
As they were delivered
every year.

She thought, he ordered roses
in advance before this day.
Her loving husband did not know,
that he would pass away.

He always liked to do things early,
way before the time.
Then, if he got too busy,
everything would work out fine.

She trimmed the stems,
and placed them in a very special vase.
Then, sat the vase beside the portrait
of his smiling face.

She would sit for hours,
in her husband’s favorite chair.
While staring at his picture,
and the roses sitting there.

A year went by,
and it was hard to live without her mate.
With loneliness and solitude,
that had become her fate.

Then, the very hour,
as on Valentines before,
The doorbell rang,
and there were roses,
sitting by her door.

She brought the roses in,
and then just looked at them in shock.
Then, went to get the telephone,
to call the florist shop.

The owner answered, and she asked him,
if he would explain,
Why would someone do this to her,
causing her such pain?

“I know your husband passed away,
more than a year ago,”
The owner said, “I knew you’d call,
and you would want to know”.

“The flowers you received today,
were paid for in advance.
Your husband always planned ahead,
he left nothing to chance”.

“There is a standing order,
that I have on file down here,
And he has paid, well in advance,
you’ll get them every year”.

“There also is another thing,
that I think you should know,
He wrote a special little card…
he did this years ago”.

“Then should ever I find out
that he’s no longer here,
That’s the card…that should be sent,
to you the following year”.

She thanked him and hung up the phone,
her tears now flowing hard.
Her fingers shaking,
as she slowly reached to get the card.

Inside the card, she saw that he had
written her a note.
Then, as she stared in total silence,
this is what he wrote…

“Hello my love,
I know it’s been a year since
I’ve been gone,
I hope it hasn’t been too hard
for you to overcome”.

“I know it must be lonely,
and the pain is very real.
For if it was the other way,
I know how I would feel”.

“The love we shared made everything
so beautiful in life.
I loved you more than words can say,
you were the perfect wife”.

“You were my friend and lover,
you fulfilled my every need.
I know it’s only been a year,
but please try not to grieve”.

“I want you to be happy,
even when you shed your tears.
That is why the roses
will be sent to you for years”.

“I have always loved you
and I know I always will.
But, my love, you must go on,
you have some living still”.

“The roses will come every year,
and they will only stop,
When your door’s not answered,
when the florist stops to knock”.

“He will come five times that day,
in case you have gone out.
But after his last visit,
he will know without a doubt,

To take the roses to the place,
where I’ve instructed him,
And place the roses where we are,
together once again”.

Return of the King

Yesterday was a day which we will not forget all our lives. Returning back from the new home (site) while I was driving at a breakneck speed of 75-80, Tarique told me stop the car immediately. “STOP STOP VULTURE!!!” Tarique almost shouted.

I shushed him “ stop day dreaming! vulture, here? you are crazy!!, must be Osprey or something”. But, by then I had already slowed down a bit and I stopped a little ahead. I spotted something too. Sitting on an almost bare tree, along with black kites, was a form that looked much bigger than the black kite and the form did look like a … (gulp) Vulture.

So, while Tarique stood guard, I rushed back home to get the camera (our current home is just 1.5 kms away from the sighting place) I made a few phone calls to city birders thinking if it really is a vulture, more pair of eyes should see it, I reached back 15 mins later, to see the bird still sitting there, Tarique took over the camera, while I parked the car and followed him. The clicking begins, and we see the results, IT IS A VULTURE!! WOW!!! more frantic phone calls and I found out that people have already left their respective work places and residences to reach the spot. We prayed, this bird should wait here for some more time atleast till some of the birders arrive.

We also discovered a carcass down below , black kites were troubling the vulture and we were perhaps approaching nearer to its comfort zone, the vulture flew, right over my head, but the sun shone in my eyes so could I not identify which vulture. We left the identification to later and kept clicking. The bird then flew away far after being with us for a good 35-40 minutes.

Jaimesh, Mr. Gopal Thosar (Hon.Wild life Warden ) and Dr. Pimplapure arrive and see the photos, discuss the carcass (it was a calf freshly killed by someone and thrown) and while we all were gloating over the find when all of us shout again almost in unison IT’S BACK! the majestic bird, as if to prove a point, came back and circled for about 10 minutes and then vanished.

So which vulture was it? Long billed ? White back? No! it was the Red necked Vulture AKA the King Vulture

Question my 10 year old asked!

Yesterday night.
“Mumma, can i ask you a question? it is very personal and silly for a man to ask but… ”
“How does it feel to have breasts?” “I mean, do they feel heavy or something”
“it does not feel strange, they are a part of a woman’s body. Do you feel strange to have hands? or heavy”
“no”
“its the same with breasts”

39

What a whirlwind of a day. Was loaded with work today, the site meeting took much more than expected one hour and I came back and cooked Chicken Muglai. Office staff surprised me by wishing early morning and we had a lunch party. Quiet enjoyable -its been ages since I cut a cake.

Going out for dinner with Jaimesh and Family -the kids (his two and our one and only ) are excited and we are hoping to have a great time.

Budget 2007 some thoughts

“What a damp squib!” is the most heard line since yesterday’s announcement of the Union Budget.

Personally I feel, the budget was as apolitical as it can get and that is commendable considering this being the election year. What FM did was more or less expected. It did not give anything to the stock market, neither did it take anything away from it – the indices have been rising for a while and the sudden fall can be attributed to technical corrections which would have happened with or without a reason. In-fact, one can already see an upswing happening today.

The budget was agriculture and tourism friendly, but hard on IT industry with implication of MAT of 11.33%. However the MAT affects only those companies who have been enjoying a tax holiday so far and were hoping to enjoy it for one more year. For a company like SANIsoft which got minimmal sops of being an IT company (for various reasons), getting all IT companies to pay tax makes it a level playing field. However, a small hike in outsourcing costs can not be ruled out.

On the employee front, things could have been worse, and FBT on ESOPs was coming anyways. Companies and Coporates never suffer, so the burden of FBT is going to be passed on to the employees, affecting their net income.

On the negative side, a Rs 1000 relief to is in fact going to cost more to the assesses considering the 1% hike in education cess. Real Estate is going to be hit with hike in cement prices as even they are going to pass their burden of excess excise duty to the consumers. However, these are some things that a growing economy has to bear as cost of growth. Indian Economy has never been better and the country can take some mature financial planning in its stride.