RMS Taconic

The year is 2010. A US ship named RMS Taconic departs from the Swedish port of Donso to its final destination of United States of America. 19 year old Rose boards the ship with her Mom “Ruth” and her fiancé Carl. Following the debacle of the recession and the ruination of the “Lehman Brothers”, Rose’s family has no other option but to give the hand of Rose to the American billionaire Carl for pulling themselves out of the quicksand. Rose’s family go through a terrible economic turmoil, making her mom obsessed about the marriage of Rose with Carl. Carl restricts Rose at every point of time; he restricts her from talking to other men in the ship, wearing skimpy clothes which Rose loves. The economic and emotional agony tempts Rose to commit suicide. She attempts to jump off the ship, when Jack intervenes. Jack, a software architect sways Rose to reconsider her “stupid decision” and is successful in it. However when Jack helps her getting back, Carl sees them and mistakes Rose to be in an intimate state with Jack.

Carl accuses Jack of Rape; however Rose comes to the rescue of Jack claiming that Jack saved her life. Carl’s Business Partners and good friends Dave and Brian are suspicious of Jack, and Carl asks them to keep an eye on Jack. Rose develops a good friendship with Jack, she escape from a formal dinner involving the business tycoons of USA, and joins Jack in a software company bash. Rose has a great time boozing, and for the first time in her life, she is independent. She also gets to wear the dresses she always loved. Eventually, her affinity for Jack increases with time. Rose’s mom Ruth learns about Rose’s deepening friendship with jack, and threatens Jack to sack him by making use of Carl’s immaculate influence. Ruth yells at Rose, ordering her not to meet Jack again. But Rose disobeys them and secretly meets Jack. She tells Jack that she has never been happier, and they kiss at the bow of the ship. Rose and Jack move to the ship’s cargo hold. They enter a BMW and make love in the backseat, unaware of the ghastly consequences and the events to occur.

Miles away, the Iceland volcano erupts spewing tons of volcanic ash, engulfing almost entire Europe with the Ash cloud. A flight gets caught in the dense cloud making it blindfold. The flight sucks in the ash leading to disaster. The pilots lose control resulting in the flight plummeting into the ocean. To the shock of the passengers in Taconic, the flight’s wings collide into the body of the ship causing collateral damage to the structure of the ship.

Meanwhile back in the Taconic, Brian snaps Jack, handcuffs him and locks him into the room packed with sophisticated alarms and sensor systems. On the other side, Rose receives a shock from Carl. Carl blackmails Rose that in the case of Rose leaving him, he would release the video of Rose and Jack’s lovemaking which he had captured by making his business partners plant a hidden camera into the BMW. Stunned, Rose has no other option but to seek Jack’s help. She escapes from the eyes of her mom and Carl, and finds jack in the room which is impossible to crack.


However, Jack’s software pedigree comes handy. He instructs Rose to crack the code of the systems and free him. With no time and increasing panic, rose bungles with the job on hand. But fortune favors the couple. With the water seeping into the room, the sensors fail and Jack reunites with rose.

Meanwhile the Taconic is sinking. SOS is sent to the US government, however with the volcanic ash eclipsing any chances of a rescue mission from the USA army. Wireless communication comes to a standstill as volcanic ash disrupts radio communication. Back in the Taconic, Rose and jack are on the mission of escaping the disaster.

They also know that the video has to be retrieved, which is in the hands of Carl, safe in his Flash drive. Carl finds ways to escape in the lifeboat. He finds Rose and forces her to board the boat, however Rose refuses. Carl then claims to help Jack in escaping as well, a half convinced Rose boards the boat. However she jumps off the boat and runs back to Jack. A fuming Carl chases jack & Rose and attempts to shoot them. But he runs short of ammunition and he flees to the rescue boat. He finds the flash drive in his overcoat, and is hell bent on revenge. He takes an oath to release the video into the media and spoilt Rose’s life.

With the ship now vertical, and people dying gruesome deaths, Rose & Jack stay put on the stern of the ship. After a long struggle, the ship finally plummets into the ocean, flushing Jack and Rose into the chilly water.

Rose climbs onto a door, keeping her warm enough to survive. Jack persuades rose to be strong and nothing would happen to him. However, Jack suffers from hypothermia and nearly dies as the rescue workers arrive at the right time. The lifeguards grab jack from the jaws of death, by utilizing a heart lung machine. Rose and Jack are brought back to shore. However, they still are unaware if the whereabouts of Carl who has the flash drive.

They learn later that a lifeboat had sunk following a collision with an iceberg, and Carl was present in the boat. The story ends with Rose finding a note left by Jack for her. He tells her that it was a great experience with her, however a relationship built on two days would not sustain for long, and hence he is going far away. Rose holds the note close to her heart and cries as the screens come down.

THE END

Trivia:

The titanic sunk on April 15 1912. The Iceland volcano erupted on April 15 2010.

The Letter

Respected PM Saab,

Hope you are fine. You are the one who has to act. You are the one who can save our kin. I have heard a lot about you; people say you have done some big studies in the field of numbers and money. People say you are very wise. I have full faith in you, hence I am writing this letter to you. I am sure you would pass on your condolences to my family after reading this letter, but that is not what we want. I have not done any studies Saab; I don’t know how to count. But I have started learning what numbers are. You know Saab, there have been more than 250 suicides in our state of Maharashtra in the last four months, and 2 die every day. I have learnt counting Saab, I should be happy for it, but it hurts me when I see my fellow farmers dying.

I heard some 150 people died in Mumbai last year because of some people who wage war in the name of freedom, I am sorry for those people who lost their dear ones. I also heard the man who caused all the trouble is enjoying in jail. I beg you Saab, please hang him! I heard lot of money is spent on him. Why Saab? Please give us some money instead of spending on animals. Or at least ask the banks to give us some respite. There has been no crop production for 2 years Saab, but these bank “Babus” come knocking at our doors for loans. There is no difference whether we have irrigated lands or not.There is no proper system for dealing with famine. How can I give 1.5 Lakh? Saab, I didn’t have money for buying this non-judicial stamp paper which your government sells for 100 rupees. Even after I die, my family has nothing left for my funeral. I am at least proud that vultures would get a great meal in my district, because we are not getting even one per day.

I have not had a proper meal for months now Saab, my kids cry of hunger. I heard some people play some game in big grounds, and are earning lots of money and are having great food and fun. Please help my children to have at least one meal a day.
Saab, please look into our matter as well. I am too small to be giving you advice, but the tears of the farmers are too precious. More than 200 have gone Saab, and today I would be joining them. Please ask the police not to disturb my family when I am gone. They are not responsible for this. All the big educated people in your side would talk a lot about this; you will also appoint some people for finding out the reason of the suicides. But I am making it easy for you Saab; I have given the reasons on behalf of my fellow farmers. I hope I am the last to be doing this.

I am happy in one way Saab; I am having something for lunch today after a long while. The only thing is they are sleeping pills.
Please take care of your health by eating good food,and also take care of the men who provide that good food.

Yours,
“Kisan”


This piece is inspired from an article in Hindu written by Sainath. The statistics in the article were more disturbing than anything. Let us appreciate each meal that we get from today, because somewhere a child is crying for a single morsel.

Dictionary
Saab - Sir
Babu - Way of Addressing educated people in some parts of India.
Kisan - Farmer

Dull & Duckworth

In the year 2007, the Caribbean hosted a world cup, dull and drab for most parts of it. The only news catching events were the murky death of Bob Woolmer and the events surrounding the disaster.
The ICC event for the ultra short format of the game hasn’t attracted too many to be frank, the inaugural edition being an aberration. The world cup last year in England wasn’t too exciting, especially after the overdose of T20 thanks to the IPL. The Caribbean edition wasn’t going to be great either, as it was launched days after the hectic IPL. The weather would make it even tougher for the tournament to become a success.
This is where the ICC missed the trick. The world cup could have been hosted in Australia or New Zealand, which is a better place for tournaments in this genre. It would have also meant that the tournament would have been spaced out well out of reach of the IPL; however the thought of Ashes must have loomed large in the minds of the organisers. On any day, a test match between England and Australia would catch more eyes than an Afghanistan- Ireland game.
Another area where the ICC needs to put their hands down is the induction of Duckworth Lewis Method in T20 Matches. It is farcical to decide the outcome of matches in three overs. The ICC ought to come up with the better plan to mend things in the shortest format of the game. You wouldn’t want to reach the stage where matches are decided by the flip of the coin.
Barring a few exciting moments, the tournament so far has been a dull and drab event. The super eights might have a different story to tell. Let us look at my pick of the best teams and players of the tournament so far.

India:
They might have lost the title, but India looks all set to clinch the crown yet again. Suresh Raina has been breathtaking and the team bolstered with the maverick “Dhoni” and a bowling line up consisting of Yusuf and Yuvraj best suited for the low and slow tracks of West Indies; the “Men in dark Blue” can walk away with the trophy which they lost in the United Kingdom.

England:
This team has never won any ICC trophy. But England is definitely the dark horse of the tournament. The batting line up looks fresh and players like Kiewswetter, Lumb and Wright form a great balanced team in them. Morgan has been my player of the tournament, his shots are at their innovative best and he has been the only player along with Mahela Jayewardene to mix caution with aggression.

Australia:
The Aussies might have gone empty handed every time the shortest version’s world cup has ended, but never count the Aussies out. They have a great unit this time around; led by the dynamic Clarke Aussies can demolish any team on their day. Watson has been brilliant and their bowling is probably the strongest seam attack with the likes of Johnson, Siddle.


New Zealand:
They have consistently performed well in this format, and the only team which has never lost to the “Mighty India” in the T20 version. Vettori is a master when it comes to containing the batsman, and New Zealand has the right bowlers to suffocate the batsman in the sluggish wickets. Expect another “Nairobi 2000” if the kiwis get going.
The super eight promises to be more exciting for the jaded spectators. Let us hope the rain and Mr Duckworth & Lewis stay away for rest of the tournament.