Photobucket had recently changed their policy and now all the images from my 650+ blog posts are disabled. I am slowly editing them by moving my images to my own server at AWS, but it will take time. In case there is a particular old post you want to see the images of, kindly drop me a mail at mizohican@gmail.com and I'll keep that at a high priority. Thank you.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Chp 260. And the witch-hunt continues…


So is Sunday morning a terrible day for my fellow Gooners?

I had a bunch of wankers texting me and calling me up all night long, just to annoy the hell out of me. And of course I had to pick up those calls even though I knew what was coming. After all, they’re my friends and I would have done the same thing to them too had it been a different score line.

But a couple of Manure fans said I write football topic posts on my blog only when Arsenal wins. Well, this is to prove you wrong, and mind you, I am not doing this just to prove you guys wrong. I haven’t updated my blog at all this month due to work, and I really meant to update my blog about the match, win or lose.

See, first of all, Arsenal fans aren’t like Manure fans.

If we lose, we suck it up and still hold our heads high. We have pride about the fact that we support the greatest football club in the Universe. And the fact that there are still a large number of Gooners even after a couple of years with no silverware clearly shows how loyal and devoted we are to this magnificent club. Manure is filled with wannabes and losers, who are ready to change their color the moment the losses start piling up.

Likewise, not one single Gooner defended Eduardo’s dive during the second leg CL qualifying against Celtic. We abhor such act and deem it disgraceful. Why? Because we are true football fans. We have integrity. What about all those dives Manure players are infamously known for? Well, Manure fans endorse that kinda behavior and even glorify them. You see where I’m getting at? The fine line that demarcates Gunners and Manure fans, the difference between real football fans and cunts.

Time and again, Evra makes scathing verbal attack on Arsenal. Recently he said in a press conference that a match between Arsenal and Manure is like a match between kids and men. Uncalled-for statement indeed, and if by “men” he meant the characteristic and mentality of Manure players and fans, then I do not EVER want our Gunners “kids” growing up to become men. Please don’t be like them. Remain kids for eternity. Hoooaaa.

Now on to the match.

Match screening Venue: Elphinstone, Lower Parel, organized by the OFFICIAL Mumbai Arsenal Supporters Club (AMSC), an officially recognized Arsenal Fan Club.

Reached Elphinstone station two hours early so I wasted a couple of minutes at a nice watering hole called Rajesh Bar.

Finally walked to the venue and the moderators were all there outside the grandiose Hotel, dressed in full Arsenal attire, standing like mean bouncers in a night club They all had that intense look in their eyes, as if they were ready to slaughter anybody wearing a Manure jersey. Lolz.

Met a lot of people and introductions followed, but as it is with these social gatherings, you really cannot remember all the names that are suddenly bombarded into your head in a span of few seconds, so I will just mention Sourabh, who is the moderator in charge of all the Gooners staying in Andheri locality. A big thanks to him and all our moderators for organizing the amazing screening. You guys rock!

Unfortunately, Saturday being the 7th day of Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesh nimajjan), many people couldn’t come for the screening. Otherwise the usual attendance for this kinda match screening is around 70-100 hardcore Gooners.

The screen was around 15 feet high, excellent sound system, and the ambience of the place was truly… classy. The food was only veg, but scrumptious nonetheless. No alcohol, but who needs them when you can get a high just talking nonstop about football with the others and cheering and jeering in unison. The experience was heavenly.

The Match.

Yeah I know. It was a big disappointment for all Gooners out there. Crazy.

I am surprised Manure still plays with 15 people even after all this time. It’s difficult to beat then when they always have the officials on their side. TV Pundits and other reporters even claim Saturday’s match as one of the worst refereeing displays they’ve seen. My Liverpool and Chelsea friends too conveyed their genuine sympathies because we definitely dominated the game. Any football fan would find the umpiring decisions harsh.

One wonders where a bulk of Manure’s money go to apart from transfer fees and salaries, and one look at the way the match was umpired and you’ll know where. Wankers.

Two clear penalties were not awarded to Arsenal in a span of 1 minute, and yet when Rooney went down EVEN before the contact and HAD NO POSSIBLE chance of controlling the ball had he not gone down, Manure immediately got what they wanted!

Videos via Arsenalist:



Ok fine, I’m not going to whine about it. Almunia did commit the mistake of making a contact with Rooney or making it look like he made a contact, so many refs fall for this trick. But how can you call that a penalty and not this????



I guess it’s because we’re talking about Manure. Previous home of the infamous twinkle toes Ronaldo who learnt and mastered the art of diving there. They probably have it as a part of their training session, or selection criteria.

If Manure players dive, it’s called art. A part of football, they claim. It’s a trademark play of Manure, like how “one-touch play” is a trademark of Arsenal. Something that you can expect only from MANCHEATERS. But if Arsenal players dive? TWO MATCH BAN! Yeah yeah, that’s what happened to us. How about all the times Manure players and others shamelessly dive? Then it’s called football. Wow. See the witch-hunt I’m talking about? Only Gunners get singled out for everything because we’re the biggest threat to Manure.

But you know what’s great about such unfair biased treatments? It unites us Gooners further. I will not rest until every blood is drained from my body talking about how much I despise that detestable puss infested plague called Manure.

The humiliation of Arsene Wenger.

Forget the match. Fine, there were unfair decisions and we lost.

But do Manure fans stop at that? No. The whole stadium erupted in unison of chants and jeers “Sit down you paedophile, sit down you paedophile”!!!

Of course the media and TV coverage steered away from such horrendous acts. We in India never got to hear about it on our TV. But my friend M who’s a Liverpool fan and was watching the match LIVE at Old Trafford told me how disgusted he was with the way Manure fans behaved. It seemed the entire stadium shouted “Paedophile” at Wenger.

The tweets of Arseblog and Gunnerblog proved that my friend was right.

Here is Gunnerblog's tweet:

“If we're going to 'clean up football', can we start with the "Sit Down You Paedophile" chants? A disgrace.”

And here is Arseblog's tweet:

“Also, Dean a disgrace for sending Wenger off to stand in front of fans who were singing songs about him being a paedophile.”

Another Arseblog’s tweet:

“And the media silence over that song is fucking shameful. Every single time it's sung and nobody says a word. Fuck them.”

The referee Mike Dean, probably heard all those chants and further twisted the dagger that was stabbed to Wenger’s dignity - He sent him to the stands, to be with those people calling him a paedophile.

Alex Furgusson was grinning on the other side.

And so our most respected and esteemed manager had to face one of the most humiliating moments of his life. Money well spent eh?

And why do all Manure fans call Wenger a Paedophile? Because of the simple reason that he believes in young players. He trains them well from youth, helping them discover their potential, unlike Manure who buys expensive players and gloats on that. It all depends on how much money you have. Prostitution works the same way by the way.

The definition of paedophile is an adult who is attracted to children. By children I am talking about 6 yrs olds etc. The youth of Arsenal are well above the legal age of consent. Yet Manure fans call him that because their intellectual capability cannot grasp anything related to logic or reason. After all, they do support Manure, don’t they? Dumb fucks.

Here is what Arseblogger had to say about this:

Where the fuck is the media coverage of them singing that song?

Remember when Ferguson was accused of rape in South Africa some years ago. It was a false and horrible accusation against him. Yet if Arsenal fans, in one voice, sang about him being a rapist don't you think we'd hear something about it in the press, from the FA? Wouldn't we be condemned, and rightly so? So why the silence over United's fans?

That the media continuously overlooks and blatantly ignores is a shame on them and Mike Dean is a fucking cunt for subjecting Wenger to that treatment when it was clearly not necessary.


Here’s what Arsenaladdict said about the treatment on Wenger:

The League Managers Association has already come out apologising to Arsene Wenger about his red card yesterday, showing at least someone in a position of authority hasn't shown a complete anti-Arsenal bias lost all sense of sporting perspective.


Last but not the least, goonblog mentioned that Wenger won’t be punished for that unfair sending off and commented about the paedophile chants:

Now onto the abuse Wenger gets at Old Trafford every single year, surprisingly he doesn’t hear it at our biggest rivals, Spurs or Chelsea, its only ever heard at Old Trafford. It just sums up the disgraceful supporters they have, the chanting could so easily be punished but its always swept under the carpet. The United fans hit the roof whenever something slightly risqué is chanted about them but they have no qualms in calling a man a pedophile just because of his appearance. Its down right disgraceful. Its not on par with racist chanting but its not far away. We are lucky that he is such a graceful man in situations like that and doesn’t lose his cool.


Indeed, our man is graceful, the way he took all those abuses going on right behind him. The more reasons why I admire him. There are still many Manure blogs out there talking about that incident and still mentioning what a big paedophile he is. Lolz. The level these people stoop to is sometimes quite entertaining. After all, that’s all they can do.

Will the FA penalize Manure? No bloody way, the same way Rooney’s dive will not lead to any investigations. Yet in times of such harsh treatments, our players still manage to live up to most of our expectations. A blood stained trophy or a flawless integrity? Although the former sounds enticing, it is the latter that makes us what we are – real men.

Arsenal for life. Hail the mighty Gunners!



Monday, August 24, 2009

Chp 259. MM: Liv Kristine - Venus & Elegy.


Happy Music Monday everyone. Hope you had an amazing weekend and spent the entire Saturday or Sunday nursing a hangover. Lolz. And if the DJ climbs over the console and grabs a bottle of tequila screaming “Free drinks on the houuuuuuse” and pours it into whoever opens their mouth, I am
never going to fall for that one again!

For this week’s Monday Music, I would like to honor my first crush in symphonic gothic metal, and the lady who got me interested in this genre in the first place.

Ladies and gentlemen – Liv Kristine!



Around the summer of ’98 – ’99, I was still listening to mainly glam rock and speed metal. And then my friend OPie came along and introduced me to Theatre of Tragedy. There was no looking back since then. Liv Kristine was the vocalist of Theatre of Tragedy, and it was more of a doom/death metal band with symphonic element – A definite “love at first sound” for me.

Many people still think Nightwish are the pioneer of symphonic goth metal with a female soprano voice (aka Tarja Turunen’s legacy). Nopsie. Nightwish was formed in ’96. ToT was formed way back in ’93.

Theatre of Tragedy, along with Atrocity, is the first gothic metal band to play at the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, Germany. With their appearance they open the doors to dozens of other gothic acts to the most important festival of the scene.

But their first album (ToT – 1995) fails in the view of most press issues: Although German Break Out-Magazine calls them “Newcomer of the Month”, most of the other media do not exactly know how to “handle” this new combination of female vocals and harsh metal riffs. But it turns out to be exactly what the audience had been waiting for: within a short time the album sells the sensational number of 25.000 copies, which has tripled its numbers until today.


My favorite song by Theatre of Tragedy - “Venus”. I loveeee this song.



The lyrics are a mixture of Latin and Old English. Romantic tragedy at its darkest and most passionate, especially with the “beauty and the beast” kinda epilogue exchange between the two vocalists.

Circa mea pectora multa sunt suspiria
De tua pulchritudine, que me ledunt misere.

Venus! - I trow'd thou wast my friend -
Professed to Heaven thou wouldst send;
As a disciple of a villain
Didst thou act the tragedienne.

Translation:

Down inside this soul of mine a heavy sigh consumes me.
The yearning for your beauty strikes me wretchedly.

Venus! - I trusted you were my friend -
Swore upon the Heavens you wouldn't come
as a disciple of a villain
Why did you act the role of a tragedienne?

Check the rest of the translations here: songmeanings.net



After 10 years with Theatre of Tragedy, Liv was fired from the band in 2003, due to “musical differences which could not be bridged” but she had already formed her new band called “Leaves’ Eyes” by then. (Why is it so difficult to admit that she was fired because she formed another band? )

My favorite from Leaves’ Eyes is Elegy.

Ps. For the uninitiated, elegy means: “A mournful poem; a lament for the dead.”

The style is more atmospheric in nature, as compared to her previous musical style in ToT. This song is also my “most listened track” in my last.fm profile. You HAVE to listen to this song, my dear friends. It is PURE HEAVEN!!!



Teardrop on a fragile eyelash
She's looking like a dream
Hoping for some understanding
An answer or at least
A calming word a single sentence
To restore her heart
Aching since the day I left her
Crossing lonely seas

Silent tears of a woman
Make a warrior cry
Heaven, I beg you
Please release hopes from fears

This is my elegy
Do you know what I feel?
This is my elegy
Do you believe it's real?
Will I hold you in my arms again?

Well that’s it for me. Happy Music Monday everyone, and hope you enjoy these two songs by Liv Kristine.

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PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!





Monday, August 17, 2009

Chp 258. New EPL season, fantastic start!


10 matches played in the first round of English Premier League 2009/2010 and last night’s thriller of Liverpool going down to Tottenham was considered as the biggest upset of opening week.


What crap.

Not that I am a fan of either Spurs or the Reds, but Spurs are a good team too, so Liverpool’s defeat cannot be an upset. I think Bolton losing to Sunderland or Villa losing to Wigan are far bigger upsets than Liverpool losing to Spurs. No offense to Sunderland or Wigan fans.

Manchester City, much hyped during the pre-season… turned out to over-hyped, if they are going to play the rest of their games like the way they played against Blackburn on Saturday. 95 million pounds (110 million euros, 157 million dollars) they spent on new players. Enough to feed a couple of third world countries.

With new ammunitions like former gunners Ade and Toure, Manure Tevez, Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz and Villa’s Gareth Barry, not to forget Robinho and the others, it finally took Stephen Ireland, an “original” City player, to score one of the best goals of his career, deep into injury time, to give City a 2-0 win. For the other 90 minutes before that, City were barely hanging on to the 1-0 lead Ade presented them in the 3rd minute.

Chelsea too barely managed to come out victorious against Hull, thanks to Drogba’s twin strikes after going down first. 2-1 was the final scoreline.

Manure, still the number one team I detest the most even with Mister “fall guy” twinkle toes now gone for a ridiculous 80 mil pounds, ended with a 1-0 after 90+ minutes. Lucky wankers. Blistering Barnacles.

But with Ronaldo no longer playing for Manure, many of my Manure friends are happy. “Now all these people who have no passion for football will stop supporting Manure and move on to Real Madrid. Manure will now be once again be supported by true football fans,” they said. I must say I agree with them. And this is the first time I am agreeing with my Manure pals. But still, screw you guys

Meanwhile, Arsenal has been dubbed as “most likely to end up fourth” this season by the so called Football pundits due to the departure of Ade and Toure, and how the English Premier League no longer has “The Big Four” but now has “The Big Five” or even “The Big Six”. Well, remember some of the pundits said Arsenal may not even make it to the top 10 last season or the one before that, and we were leading the table most of the time, until we faltered towards the end?

I guess the pundits will soon be eating their words again. Arsenal was the only team who came out with a result of more than 2 goal difference victory in the first two days of the new EPL season. 6 freaking 1 was the final score. Arsenal completely disseminated Everton. It was a joke, the way The Toffees played.

Vermaelen, you rock! Wenger, great choice (as usual). The former Ajax player not only made his presence felt in the defense line, but scored an astonishing unmarked header. And I know old man Gallas screws up sometimes, but now that there is an additional fire power in the defense line, he sizzled. Everybody rocked. Wenger rocked. The 6 goals rocked. 4-3-2-1 formation rocked! Well done my gunners!

Here are the final scores of the first round of EPL 2009/2010 season. Arsenal is of course leading the pack with the way way superior goal difference, and believe me, this is how the table is going to look like for the rest of the season. Glory days are back, my fellow gunners.

Arsenal 6 – Everton 1

Man City 2 - Blackburn 0
Wigan 2 – Aston Villa 0
Stoke 2 – Burnley 0
West Ham 2 – Wolves 0

Chelsea 2 – Hull 1
Spurs 2 – Liverpool 1

Sunderland 1 – Bolton 0
Fulham 1 – Portsmouth 0
Manure 1 – Birmingham 0


Meanwhile, in local football news, I bought new studs on Friday and played my first football match in more than 8 years. Mizo youth settling in Mumbai versus Mizos settling in Navi Mumbai. It was a matter of prestige for us Mizos in Mumbai to win it for Mumbai. Mumbai meri jaan. Screw the Navi Mumbaiites.

But unfortunately… we lost. The final score was 3-2.

Blogger VaiVa was our goalkeeper initially, but when the ball bounced merely 1 feet high and ended up bouncing over him, we started having our doubts – is he the right person for the job? And then came the second goal. A ball that was rolling slowly towards him, went past him! Later he claimed that the ball changed directions 4 times before it went inside the goal.

Yes I know what you’re thinking. The guy who kicked that ball should definitely enter the Guinness Book of World Records for defying every postulate and theory on Physics ever written. It could be called a banana kick if the banana looked something like this!



Later, VaiVa said that in addition to the ball changing directions four times, the sun got in his eyes. Wow. The ball was rolling. And the sun got in his eyes. How short do you have to be, for the sun to get in your eyes when the ball is rolling? Errrr… no comments

3-0 down in the first half, I was ordered to be the goal keeper in the second half. Managed to save a couple of goals and our strikers scored 2 in the second half, but that wasn’t enough. Final score 3-2. Damn.

It was my first time travelling to Navi Mumbai and even though we lost, the bridge and other scenic beauty in Navi Mumbai definitely made it worthwhile travelling there.

[Pictures will be uploaded later today]

Looking forward to a volleyball or basketball match against them Navi Mumbaiites. We have to return the ass kicking session we faced, all thanks to our VaiVa, not that I am blaming you, or am I?




I’ll end this post with a few golden quotes by arseblog regarding the match between Arsenal and Everton:


  • A truly fantastic performance against a very good team. Don't let anyone tell you it just was down to Everton being bad. Everton were bad because we made them look bad.

  • And there was still time for more. Andrei Arshavin's toe-poke hit the post but master poacher Eduardo scored on his first Premier League appearance since having his leg shattered by that almighty cunt Martin Taylor.

  • And because we felt a little bit sorry for Everton and the 12 fans that remained in Goodison Park we let them score one. A clean sheet would have been nice but I'll concede every single week if we get 6 up the other end.

  • Scoring 6 at Goodison Park is no mean feat, it's a statement of intent for the season ahead and I'm absolutely delighted. It's brilliant preparation for the big game on Tuesday too.

  • I could go around the other news this morning but what's the point? Is anybody interested in anything Cashmaneul Moneybayor says about Cesc? No they are not because he is a big stupid cunt who is about as interesting as watching toe-nails grow.



Cheers!


Thursday, August 06, 2009

Chp 257. The stranger in the plane.


The icy wind blew across John’s hair sharply as he stepped out of the taxi. He sighed heavily, knowing it would be a long time before he gets to feel such a sensation again.


He paid the taxi driver 500 bucks, grabbed his tiny luggage and then walked inside the airport terminal.

There were already quite a number of people inside the monolithic Lengpui Airport, situated on the outskirts of Aizawl. People were sitting in groups, discussing about politics, policies and anything they fancied, while chewing paan and laughing out loudly every two minutes.

John found himself a seat and waited.

30 minutes later, four airport staffs lethargically walked to their posts behind the X-Ray machine and the burly CISF guard with an MP-3 sten gun hanging loosely behind signaled to the people that they can now proceed inside to get their boarding passes.

John stood in line along with the others and noticed that the person in front of him was traveling lightly too.

When he was next in line to reach the ticket counter, he overheard the person in front of him telling the staff, “Direct flight to Delhi, please make it a direct booking.”

John exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, even I’m flying directly to Delhi!”

The other person smiled, “I’m Hminga.”

“John. Call me John.”

“Cool. So, John, do you want to get your boarding passes along with me?”

“Sure, I don’t mind! Would be nice to have a Mizo companion all the way to Delhi.”

Hminga smiled, “I know. Same here.”

“Hey, do you know you can get your Kolkata-Delhi boarding ticket from here too?”

“Really?”

“Yup. That way, once we reach Cal, we can move directly to the security check-in without necessarily standing in line there for a new boarding pass again.”

“Wow. That’s really neat. And I thought the only thing we can directly book from Mizoram to Delhi was our luggage. This is so cool.”

And so saying, John and Hminga took four boarding passes from the counter, making sure they were seated together in both the flights from Aizawl to Kolkata and Kolkata to Delhi.

They exchanged formalities once they were inside the security check-in area. Turned out, they had a few common friends, which was not so surprising when any two Mizos meet.

Their flight landed a few minutes later and they walked from the security check-in room towards the plane, talking about their professions and where they stayed in Delhi.

As they sat inside the plane, they went through the usual formality of following the safety procedure enacted by the obviously unenthusiastic airhostess who moved her hands inanimately and halfheartedly.

“Ever noticed how cold and unreceptive these airhostesses become when they’re in the North Eastern sector, but suddenly full of brim and cheerfulness when they’re in other sectors?” John casually remarked.

Hminga wanted to tell him it wasn't like that, but decided it’s better to keep quiet, especially since they had just met.

As the plane drew momentum and eventually lifted off above the sprawling Mizoram hills, John looked at the place he loved for one last time. The moment the plane reached the required altitude and the seat-belt sign turned green, he joked, “Weeeee… that was fun. It felt like I was cruising through MG Road at 3 in the morning after a couple of drinks!”

John laughed. Hminga looked at him in shock.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing…” Hminga replied, “It’s just that… I don’t think people should drink and drive. Haven’t you seen all the deaths caused by drunken driving? You should be more responsible.”

John was completely taken aback. He knew drinking and driving is a wrong concoction, but he had never been in a state where he was too sloshed to drive. He was as alert as ever even after a couple of drinks. And the fact that somebody he had just met and who didn’t know how responsible he was while driving under the influence, lectured him like this… he felt a little blood rise deep within.

But he changed the topic, not wanting to get into a long debate regarding this, especially with a stranger.

“I know…” he merely uttered.

After a few minutes of silence, Hminga spoke, “I’m sorry about earlier… I feel that if people treat drinking and driving lightly, then it will soon be accepted by society. Pretty much like these homosexuals. Now that the High Court has…”

“Huh???” Now it was John’s turn to sit up and face Hminga.

“Yeah… with their section 477 High Court ruling and all the love fest going on in public…”

“It's 377, and what is wrong with that?”

“What do you mean what is wrong with that? The Bible clearly said…”

“Do you even know what this Act signifies???”

Heads were beginning to turn towards them, so they lowered their voices for a while, but only for a while. Soon, their argument was back in full swing, and an airhostess had to come over and warn them both to keep it down.

As the airhostess walked away, Hminga muttered, “I’m sure you’re one of those people who think its ok to have a tattoo and pre-marital sex too.”

“I don’t think its okhayyyyy,” John retorted, the anger obvious in his tone. “But if a man or woman wants to do it, who are we to judge them?”

“Leviticus chapter 19:28 clearly said you cannot tattoo yourself!”

“Oh yeah? Leviticus chapter 19:27 clearly said you cannot cut your beard or sideburns. Why are you clean shaven?”

Within minutes, two airhostesses approached them again, requesting them to be quiet. A tall Sardaji sitting in front of them suddenly got up, turned around, and sternly reprimanded them. “I don’t care what you two are arguing about, but for God’s sake, please DO NOT DISTURB us!”

One person applauded from behind, but quickly stopped when he realized nobody joined him.

Awkward silence filled the plane amidst the throttling sound of turbine engine as the angry Sardaji got back to his seat and the two airhostesses prepared themselves for the landing.

It was a few more minutes before John muttered under his breath, “At least my sister didn’t marry a Bengali.”

In Hminga’s mind, he could picture himself landing one hard upper-cut on John’s face. His hands trembled and he clenched his fist. He tried his best to suppress his anger. He should have never told him that his sister was married to a non-Mizo. In his head, he was trying to pacify himself… “Comon… breathe Hminga… breathe… don’t let this asshole spoil your mood… Remember if you punch him and a fight ensues, Mizos are going to get a very bad publicity.”

Finally, Hminga found his composure and replied as calm as possible, “So you are open to homosexuality and tattoos, but support DUI and against inter-racial relationships? If I had known you’re such a racist bigot, I would have never sat with you in the first place.”

“Neither would I,” John gnarled back.

That was the last time they spoke to each other, as the plane landed in Kolkata and came to a squeaking halt.

They both stood in the queue and walked out of the plane, still completely raging deep inside. Neither looked at each other, nor stood next to each other on the bus that transported them from the plane to the airport terminal.

The moment they reached the terminal, Hminga walked into the rest room, hoping a splash of water on his face might cool him down, while John made straight for the ticket counter.

“Good afternoon sir,” the cute Indian Airlines staff sitting in the counter wished him.

“Good afternoon,” John replied, “Ma’am, I’ve just arrived from Aizawl, and I have a connecting flight to Delhi from here. I already have my boarding pass issued in Aizawl itself, but can you please change the seat number? I want a place somewhere at the back instead. Please?”

“Oh.. ok… any reason why?”

“No such reason. I just want to sit at a new location, if there is vacancy…”

The lady looked at her screen for a few seconds and then finally looked up.

“Sir, shall I shift you to 29-A? That’s quite far from the current seat.”

“That would be great!” John smiled for the first time.

He took the ticket and looked at it again. No way in bloody hell was he going to sit with that jerk again. NEVER.

Meanwhile, at another place far away, Hminga stood there waiting and thinking about how much he detested John.

A voice interrupted him.

“Sir, here you go.”

Hminga smiled and genuinely said thank you. He grabbed the ticket and looked at his new seat number.

29-B.