A Response

Her response felt strange,

strange yet true,

true yet bitter,

bitter yet right.

"Its too late now" she declared unwilling to change our plight.

"Where were you when I needed someone more than a friend?" she asked

"I was there hidden under the shadows, knowing you will find someone better" I replied.

"Why did you fall for me so late"? 

Little did she know that I had fallen for her at a time,

when she was just a friend as we spoke over the phone late into the night,

as we shared our dreams, and of the things that gave us a fright.

I had fallen for her when she cried to me of the man who broke her heart,

who shattered her faith, and tore her innocence apart.

I had fallen for her when she radiated a warmth, that can leave scarred hearts amend

what a fool I had been to treat her just as a friend !

I bottled my emotions too scared to uncork,

as I rubbished every song I listened to that reminded me of her,

I looked the other way, as she conversed with her eyes that gave out a spark.

I was a shoulder to lean on, when I should have been the hand that held her tight.

I gave her words of comfort, when I could have been the lips that kissed  and told her "Everything will be all right".

When the boundary had been crossed, when the barrier had finally been broken,

I ran towards the shore only to find that she had sailed away.

Away into the sunset.

Play While You Play

I was tired of life lately. I hated everything that it had been reduced to by my peers and elders  - "a nine-to-five job, steady pay, work diligently, obey your senior colleagues, flash a smile at them even when you actually loathe them deep within, rush to catch that train back home, wrestle your way through hundred other sweaty, tired, foul-mouthed people for that single seat in a train while on your way home, find a nice girl who will take care of you, buy a home, procreate to extend your bloodline, change their diapers, break your head over which school should they get admitted for learning A B C's and 1 2 3's, and while you are at it stick to your job because that is what pays for that home loan which you borrowed from that bank." The people I grew up with are all married or are in the process of getting hitched, sooner or later they will be following that vicious circle that is defined above. 

The very thought of having my life built using the blueprint of probably every other person my parents and I know started irking me. Was that all that our lives were reduced to? Work, Marriage, Spouse and Kids, Mortgage, is that all our life revolves around? Where did Play go? Where was the pleasure of winning in a challenge or in a game? When was the last time I had ever given out a cry of exhilaration? There was a lot of rage built up within me. There was a  need to thrash the daylights out of those pricks who drive their vehicles jumping the lights while I try to cross the street, there was a need to tell the HR of how pathetic I find the grammar in their offer letters to be, and the need to tell them where exactly they can roll that piece of letter and shove it in, the need to speak my mind to those clowns who takes advantage of my benign self and deprive me of the privileges which they graciously bestow upon others with no questions asked, the need to keep believing that somewhere down the line the slogging is all worth it. Brick by brick the fury was built, and day by day the foundations became stronger.

Vengeance came at a heavy price and with a neat packaging, and when viewed in HDMI with a 5.1 surround sound I realized that every penny I had paid was worth it. Vengeance had a new name - Playstation 3. No more do I return home cringing and hating the very thought of going back to work the following day, no more do I curse everyone around me for the mistakes that *I* make, no more do I get angered by a seat missed in the train, or for that matter even missing the train that goes home. I have learnt to take criticisms with a smile on my face, I have learnt to face disappointments, and the best thing of all I no more depend on people to give me an emotional stability to calm me down. For I know that once I press the "start" button everything will happen the way I want to happen in this virtual world. Guns will start firing, cars will race at speeds unimaginable, heroes will start flying. Juvenile and ridiculous as I may sound right now but the very thought of going back home and playing a pre-programmed game where my character shoots down aliens, enemy soldiers, throttles the booster powered engines of vehicles, and blasts his way to jaw-dropping awesomeness leaves me on a high. This new piece of equipment has also made me take my job more seriously, it is after all the job that pays for my play.

Have you ever felt so enraged that you feel like putting those people who have rubbed your nose in the ground through a world of pain? Punching your pillow is one way of letting out your angst, but even better is when we gun down enemies in a PS3. There is a sense of power, an adrenaline rush that I get when I get the controller in my hands - the power to kill, the power to destroy, the power to be reborn in the battlefield when I bleed to death. And when I push the square, the circle, the cross and the triangle I know I am in control, the character does what I want to do. In his triumph I find my glory, in his kill I find an awesomeness that was missing. In the virtual world, there are no disappointments, there are no rejections, there are only escapes - an escape from the harsh realities of life, an escape from the endless loop that it is being played on, an escape from the organized chaos. And amidst the sights and sounds of buildings being demolished, villains getting killed, cars getting wrecked, and a mock vengeance getting claimed I could finally hear my own scream of exhilaration.

Coupon Chief.com

With E-retailing companies like Amazon and E-bay having taken the retail business by storm and providing a whole new shopping experience to consumers, it was only a matter of time before one of the most used tools of consumer purchase made its foray into the digital world - Coupons. Coupon Chief  is one of those premier sites that offers online shoppers a great way of saving their money through digital coupons. With more than 50,000 coupons for more than 15,000 retail stores Coupon Chief offers a wide variety of online retailers to choose from which are neatly listed from A to Z. Ranging from Amazon to Atari through EA Sports to Walmart, they offer coupons on products that range from apparels to entertainment. They have also segregated their coupons as per popular tags that makes easier for the users to choose their coupons from.

Using their coupon is simple, all you have to do is: 

a. Search for the retailer in their site.
b. Copy the coupon code given
c. Go directly to the retailer site and search for the item you want to buy
d. While checking out after having chosen your product, look for the box that says coupon or promotional code.
e. Submit the coupon code you have copied earlier
f. And see your savings been applied!

If the coupon does not work you can also notify them by clicking on the option "X" which is given next to the coupon. If it does, you can click on the check mark given next to it.

The Coupon Chief website has in detail explained of how to go about the process, they have also explained the simple steps in a video tutorial which makes understanding the process even easier.

They also allow users to share their coupons online with three simple steps. All you have to do is: 

a. Enter the store name where the coupon will be valid 
b. Explain the discounted percentage offered on the coupon
c. Fill in the coupon's expiration date and then enter the coupon code. 

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