The Principle

It was 2 a.m. and she could still not sleep. She rolled in her bed, restless and perspiring. A fraction of her mind was worried about her three-year old child, another fraction irritated of her husband’s constant snoring. She had some water directly from the bottle beside her, each sip filling her with momentary bliss. In a few minutes, she was back into her bed of thoughts, less thirsty but equally restless.

She could not ignore this. She had known him for four years now. She was always affectionate towards him and had been there in his time of need. But yet, he was the one who had kept her awake for two nights now by doing something that she could not forgive, she could never forget.

In her eight years of teaching experience in St. Laurn’s School, she came across hundreds of new pretty, funny and handsome faces. Teacher-colleagues, office-staff, students and their parents; all had become an integral part of her life. A meticulous English teacher with a penchant for writing, she had always loved her job that gave her enough time to share her knowledge and simultaneously write for her heart’s content. Her life had seesawed between the professional setup and personal duty and she had balanced it well all along. Never had she imagined that something by someone could shatter that peaceful balance in an instant, and more, that ‘someone’ would be a student.

That spring, exams had just got over and school was off for students. Every day, she came to school; checked a pile of papers and returned. On some days, she even carried papers to her home and upon checking them, brought them back the next day. The excessive work coupled with monotony had started getting on her nerves and she yearned for a break.

Hardly did she know that a break had been waiting for her already!

It happened when she was going through the answer sheet of one of the students of ninth grade that her insomniac buds were triggered. The student had been a regular entry in her good books for his discipline. In a class of forty ardent students this boy had made a place for himself, just like he had made one in her mind. But she knew it would never be the same again. “Why did it have to be like this?” she wondered.

Did he do it willingly? How could a student as good as him resort to that level? Was he even aware how deep a shock it was for his teacher to see that? - The questions bothered her every moment. “What should I do?”she thought, striving every second to find an answer.

Enough! She could not let it haunt her anymore. She was after all a teacher who had always delivered professionally. What she expected from her students was respect, commitment and seriousness. Not this! She decided not to let it go easily this time. She would not let her affection for students cloud her judgment ever.

With a strong heart, she picked her red pen and drew a big circle around the first page of the answer sheet.

Somewhere inside the circle, there was a letter that started like this:

Dear Principle

St. Laurn's School

_________________

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An Epic Race: Race 2

I am surprised. I am awed. I am impressed. I consider myself blessed; blessed to be born in the era of mind blowing epic-writers time has ever seen. There was sage Valmiki in Treta Yug and sage Ved Vyas in Dwapar Yug. My yug i.e. Kali Yug has the sage duo – the men in white: Abbas-Mustan.

Every artist has this one work of art that he is always remembered for. Whatever maybe the extent of his competitors’ imagination and effort, his work stands class apart lighting the path of unlimited wisdom for the generations to follow. They have done it. Yes! The sage duo has done it. They have done it finally in their second attempt. They have done it through Race 2.

For those unlucky few who have never cared to bother about the sage-duo; Abbas-Mustan made the super-hit movie how-to-win-by-losing (Baazigar), how-to-woo-your-ex-bf-cum-present-employee for ladies a.k.a Aitraaz, how-to-fool-your-audience a.k.a. Naqaab and many more. Over the years they have made everything deemed impossible possible through their imagination. Flying cars and lying confidants, ravishing female CEOs and pre-imagination of lies by the supposed victims, nothing has escaped their imagination. In fact, they have even dared to show Saif Ali Khan as the protagonist of action-thrillers. Twice.

Race 2 is not like any ordinary action movie with a story that revolves around superb planners dying to mint money with cunning. Of course, it has all this but in a way never seen before which makes it nothing but a magnum opus. Have you ever spoken a lie to somebody keeping in mind what if he/she figures out the truth? Have you thought of possible excuses you will make to that ‘somebody’ if you get caught? Have you worked out strategies to back yourself up on every possible consequence of that somebody’s reaction? And if there are any people involved in this lie, have you made each one leak-proof (to the truth, of course)? Do you know each person’s weaknesses to their exact degrees to manipulate them later? And by the way, have you ever thought of lying to ‘somebody’ first and then yourself arranged for truth to be told to that ‘somebody’ which is nothing but a part of your grand ulterior strategy? If your answer to any of these is “No” then the duo - Abbas Mustan deserve your kowtow!

The movie talks about rapacious billionaires, babes, inspectors and blondes strategizing and exploiting secrets, desires and lusts of other billionaires, babes, inspectors and blondes in order to make more money, property, women and priceless possessions of religious significance. (You found the sentence complex? Well, watch the movie!!) Saif first cheats John’s business partner to help John win his casinos and thus earning John’s trust lays down a plan to destroy him. Anil Kapoor and his dumbly-desperate / desperately-dumb secretary Amisha Patel help Saif in this plan. John, who is a billionaire but idiot enough to miss watching Race (original), of course does not know that only Saif wins in all Race movies and that Anil sides with Nawaab in the end. He, with the backing of his step—sister, Deepika, his heartthrob, Jacqueline and his 'trusted' friend Anil, is confident to double-cross him. What he is unaware of is that Deepika has still not been able to overcome her Cocktail feelings for the Nawaab and will ultimately prove fatal in this plan, not unlike Anil. The movie is essentially about the events that follow in which GDPs of random countries within the European Union keep fluctuating.

This is what Aditya Pancholi looks like.

The movie has some surprising elements: twists, human-touch-sensor playing cards, parachute enabled cars and underworld dons who look like Aditya Pancholi. This man is the ultimate winner of Race 2. After risking some 15 billion Euros and a series of events he gets everything back with some interest. Huge interest, one should say. If you are a man and have watched the movie you will understand what it is. This climax is what makes Race 2 an epic. How?

Imagine, after the game of dice in the Mahabharata, Draupadi realizes that her husband is bankrupt and so leaves him to accompany Duryodhan; with a broad accomplished smile on her face. It doesn’t happen in the Mahabharata. It happens in Race 2.