One abhors the usage of numbers to depict standing and value. But they remain an important and irreplaceable element in our lives. An important element even in the lives of the Ef.

Often there is a fight for the position at the top ; to be the first on the Blog. It is a numbers game. Being at the top of a heap does not in any manner diminish your presence reflecting somewhere  at the middle or the bottom. All indeed shall be noticed and cared for and read and pondered over, even if it is a late night hour. The numbers attract me too, I must confess. On the right hand corner of this page comes the responses for the DAY. And I gauge through them whether the post was of any interest at all. It becomes my yardstick of competence. In the 200-250 range the conveyed message is average or perhaps routinely not interesting. 300 and above is uplifting, but the 1000 barrier compels me to come out and embrace you.

Values are depicted by the price tag that we see on the purchase or about to be purchased. It decides for us whether we wish to buy the merchandise or not. The ordeal or the hesitation when those numbers outlive your worth, become moments of some embarrassment. They used to when you are younger. As you age and come face to face with the realities of the world, the attitude becomes complacent, understanding and mature. There is no harm in admitting to the owner of the goods that certain objects can ill be afforded.

At times during the growing up ages, one shuddered to ask, for the fear of it being unaffordable. It made you shy and weak and quiet. You desire to run away from the spot, but much like those dreadful dreams where, despite the horror of an emergency you are unable to move your feet, you remain fixed and without comment, looking for a logical excuse to shift away with some degree of dignity.

Now with age and some experience you think aloud : ‘Err that would be too expensive for me ..’ or ‘that’s something beyond my budget .. ‘, which sounds pretty refined an answer to the store keeper or the attendant behind the counter. And then the flamboyance : you walk into a store and the looks and attire that adorns you does not seem to be of interest to the salesman, who in his arrogant immediacy, preempts you even before you have had a glance at the product you wish to purchase – ” Excuse me sir ! Could I be of any help … what your’e looking at is a $1000 dollars each !” Dismissive, rude and most unlike any sales manual.

These individuals get fixed by : ” Right ! Pack 50 of them would you ! And make sure you do not soil them as you wrap them up. I need them delivered to my Hotel in a hour please !” Drop the cash and depart with a ‘I’m at the shop down the street, get the change and meet me there would you please ?! Thank you !!’

Films and numbers and standings are a gauge too of the importance or value of the artist. In the 70′s and 80′s they would say ‘Its 1-10 for AB, all the rest come after’. This is ridiculous ! Ever seen an athletic victory stand with 10 number ‘I’ pedestals ?? I mean … what are they saying here ? Today on the Twitter House mode, ORMAX, a facility that dictates facts, asks who will be the number one in 2015 ? And off goes the machinery bringing in the votes from gullible innocent bystanders, who finally declare the results with great aplomb. Goodness ! Others work, and you merely do the counting, and worse, perhaps are better off than the one that slog their …. off !

Does giving a number, genuinely make the person worthy of the digit he or she carries. The lesser the number the larger the value in ratings ?? !!! Bit odd !

But it prevails with some impunity. And is enjoyed and loved and believed. Do you really think a host of South East Asian enthusiasts on the computer who voted for the ‘Star of the Millenium’, really knew what would go down in the books of posterity as one of the biggest aberrations ? No they did not. But now that it has been documented, it prevails much against the wishes of the person chosen !

Numbers then .. a game of undisputed interest and imagination … both vying with each other for attention, when what they value for, quietly goes about his or her work.

Good night … for ‘quiet flows the dawn’

Amitabh Bachchan