The PET

Some wise guy gave us the Theory of Relativity and divided opinions between us. The proverbial half full glass of water for many suddenly started looking half empty. Somebody’s success had to be somebody else’s failure. If you stood first in class then there had to be somebody else who had stood second and these mind games and the different ways of looking at the same thing made our lives a tad more complicated. But the human race survived. Well it had too, cos some other wise guy who talked about the survival of the fittest didn’t leave us a choice. Even if many within us were lazy, there were some who adapted and surged ahead. They do it even now and will continue to do so for millennia together. They are that distinct breed which I call the PET.

The PETs are human beings like us, but the similarities end there. They are far more alert, far more opportunist than us mortals. They are focused and decisive knowing completely well want their goal is and above all like those lowly canines they salivate (symbolically ofcourse).

In school they are ones who cough up the maximum collections through imaginary names for the HELPAGE INDIA cause. They are the ones who bring in the maximum kilos of newspapers for the NEWSPAPER DRIVES to support the poor and the needy. All these are noble causes and I stand by them, but it is the intention that is the problem here. While the common janta does it with a spirit of charity, for these PETs it takes the form of a donation often a means to a higher grade in the subject whose teacher is handling the drive.

In graduation institutes, they are the ones who make it a point to attend lectures when the class decides to bunk it. They are the ones who complete the submissions first up not to share them with their peers but with the intention of earning those valuable brownie points from the faculty.

In the corporate world, they are the ones who sometimes reschedule the date with their girlfriend only cos they had to take a detour to drop the manager’s check in the bank atm. They are the ones who in project parties make it a point to sit right next to the boss and indulge in small talk. They are the ones who scan through the festive sms’s and choose the most appropriate to be forwarded to the manager. They are the ones who know fully well that everything in the corporate world must work as per a policy but even then salivate just so that they feel that they gave it their best shot!!!

On the whole, it is them who are unpopular. It is them who are hated by their peers but when the dice rolls it is them who end up at the right side of success.

Normal human beings term it as FATE but deep inside even they know that it is just a flimsy excuse and nothing else. The very next day they decide that they will change, even they will laugh out loud on the next ‘funny’ joke which the manager cracks, but when the moment comes to give that fake laugh they end up looking heavenwards with the words “WHY ME, LORD?”!!!!