MY FIRST PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12th October 2010

Games24x7.com Launches Grand Diwali Rummy Tournament

India's Biggest Online Rummy Tournament Offers Players A Chance To Compete For Rs. 10 Lakhs* In Prize Money

A most spectacular Diwali awaits all rummy lovers of India following the launch of the nation's biggest online rummy tournament on October 2nd, 2010.

Games24x7.com, India's premier online games site, is celebrating the festive season with its Diwali Rummy Tournament, a month-long tournament for all rummy lovers. The competition, running between October 2nd and November 7th, 2010, is the biggest in the history of online rummy tournaments in India with a total cash prize of Rs. 10 Lakhs*.

The Diwali Rummy Qualifiers (DRQs) are expected to host the largest gathering of online rummy players for a single event, with approximately 13,000 seats open in the qualifying rounds. The criterion for participation is very simple: anyone above 18 who wishes to participate has to first open an account with Games24x7.com for free. He/she can then enter the qualifier rounds running throughout the month, multiple times a day. Participation in these qualifying tournaments is on a first-come-first-served basis only.

The finals of the Diwali Rummy Tournament will be held on November 7th, with Rs. 1,50,000* in total cash prizes waiting to be won.

Playing rummy with friends and family has been an integral part of our Diwali celebrations. It is the perfect opportunity for friends and families to enjoy some quality time together over a relaxing game of cards. This Diwali, Games24x7.com offers rummy players across India a unique opportunity to truly enjoy this auspicious occasion.

For more information visit www.games24x7.com/Diwali

Contact Name: Sachin Uppal

Email: press.relations@games24x7.com

Phone: 022-42323456

About Games24x7.com

Games24x7.com is India's largest portal offering 13-Card Rummy, the most popular card game in India. We provide friendly and light-hearted competitive entertainment to Internet users from across India. Rummy is a 'game of skill' that has been expressly approved by the Supreme Court of India. Coming soon to Games24x7.com are other very popular games of skill such as pool, carrom, and bridge.

* Terms and conditions apply.

GRANDDAD

Sitting in the rocking chair
-toothless mouth,
sucking away at the morsel.
Staring at the shadows
of calloused palms,
with those lines etched on them,
Remembering the stories
ingrained within them.
You look a thousand and five wrinkles old,
And are, five grandchildren young.

Responding to Mr Shakespeare

A rose by any other name will wither away

FLASHLIGHTS

Flashlights hit me from all sides
Cannot breath- try to reach out,
Nobody to hold on to.
A sea of photographs shallow me
Scream out to the wide expanse of moving bodies
Nobody, they on the shore, remain dry.
Suddenly a lasso of perfume
Reaches out and holding on to
my last breath, pulls me out.

And I
saved
shiver,
For the flashlights are waiting on the shore.

Bloodline

Humans have an inherent inclination towards segregation and classification. All of us do it, whether consciously or otherwise.
Ustad Zakir Husain had once said that though he didn't feel comfortable with his music being classified as 'fusion', it was the music companies and marketing honchos who had decided to do so. Allocating a designated spot on the shelf for the music lovers made everyone’s life (that is everyone other than the musicians) a lot easier.
The same holds true for other facets of our lives -- be it segregation by class, lineage, physical attributes or even intelligence.
Take for instance the so-called dog lovers out there. There are some who can spend hours raving about their pedigreed Great Dane and its great bloodline, and then in the same breath ranting about the menace of the street dogs in the locality.
This is what a child would say to all of them: “Street dogs are also dogs.” Not being clean and pedigreed doesn't stop them from belonging to the same species. Stop beating them and treating them as inferior. And by the way, it is only because of their pathetic living conditions and people’s constant apathetic attitude towards them that these emaciated dogs can get cranky.

INCOMPLETE HISTORY

The unquiet grows.

A neon sign
hides an antiquated long forgotten home.
But the residents of the home do not disappear
They exist
As an island
And can see the mainland, all the time

The bright lights from the mainland are blinding them
But slowly, their bespectacled eyes focus,
Awaken with new sight

They are starting to believe in the apparitions around them.
These phantoms are their new God
There to bring them out from behind the curtain.

And so,
they start out with knuckle-dusters
and mashaals ablaze,
to break down the sign.
This is their 'Rights of Passage'.

The flame reaches for the heaven,
Proudly proclaiming the start of a new war,
It will burn all believes
And die a clichéd death

The Invisibles

Look. See. Feel. Touch.

Most of us think of ourselves as survivors. Fighters who battle the odds to come up on top at the end of the day.

Well, some wage a daily battle against the Keres (the blood-craving sisters of Thanatos, the Greek god of non-violent death). They hope to emulate King Sisyphos, who outwitted Thanatos. Unlike the celebrities engaged in a hypocritical war against the paparazzi, these people are always in the public eye and would do almost anything to be noticed. But, hardly anyone even knows of their existence. We pass them every day, but fail to see them. Look through them. They are after all dirty embellishments on the beautiful edifice of our city and life.

Recently, while walking in the city late at night, I felt a strange presence. Like some unseen eyes staring at me. Glaring at me for committing some heinous crime. Looking around, I realize I am in a bedroom. And a family is staring at me. It’s those invisible masses who fight off death every day when they make the footpath their bedroom.

I am in their home. The space that converts into a drawing room, kitchen, and a little further away is their toilet too. I would be considered a trespasser and thief if I had entered any walled house, but here I can arrogantly claim that they are the trespassers. Strange.

These people are the true cogs of a city. They not only do those activities, which we are too ‘educated’ to do or too disgusted. Ultimately, the greatness of a city and civilization cannot be gauged by the GDP, satellites, factories, production, accomplishments, but by the way it treats it most disfranchised, the down-and-out and the ‘losers’. After all, we are defined by not only what we do and how we do what we do, but also who we do it to.