UPs & DOWNsa bi-lingual book comprising many observations_ g.venkateshAbout the Author: Born and brought up in Matunga, Bombay. Studied in2 Ups and Downsa missionary school; studied Mech. Engineering {B. E] from V.J T InstituteBombay; Have worked in several Engg. organisations in Bombay. Now, Retiredand settled in Mylapore, Chennai."I would like to leave my footprints in this world; some sweet, others bitter sothat those that follow are better prepared and equipped to handle. Hence thisbook comprising select articles from my blog ()" says author G.Venkatesh.He can be contacted atv_enkat8@yahoo.co.inFrom the book23.THE HELPFUL GHOSTThe S267 flight from Singapore to Chennai took off as per schedule from Singapore at 9 30 PM Singapore time to Chennai.It was a happy lot of inter national passengers who boarded the flight;The flight was due to land at Chennai at 10 pm, IST after allowing for the time lag between India and Singapore.Unfortunately, tragedy overtook the flight, as at about half an hour after take off, the plane was reported missing.The news was reported all around, but there was no news on the whereabouts of the missing plane.Search operations in the seas could only begin from the next morning;Meanwhile the media floated all sorts of possibilities on the fate of the plane such as 1. Hijack, 2. Pilot lost control and the plane sank somewhere in the ocean,3.Some super power has forced the plane to its military base;even there was an articulation that an extra- terrestrial power has taken the plane away from the planet itself.The search for the plane continued meticulously and was in the media attention for days to come, but to no avail.By now the relatives of the passengers had given up all hopes on their near and dear ones;It was abundantly clear that even if the wreckage was found, there would be no survivorsand even the bodies would be decomposed beyond recognition.One of the passengers on the ill fated plane was Rajiv Natarajan .By nature, he was a restless person always on the move;A promising career lay ahead of him;he was just 21 when the mishap took place.A brilliant graduate engineer, he had come up in life through hard work, he had planned to study and work abroad;for his near relatives, it was a bitter disappointment.The soul of Rajiv, reached the entry gates to Heaven/ Hell when it was stopped by the watchman."Sorry, you have no permission to enter, because you have not been cremated; you have to go back to Earth and wander as a ghost;" the latter said." What, for no fault of mine shot back?", Rajiv."but there is a clause here; said the watchman, your performance will be judged over a period of time, and depending on whether its good or bad, you will be welcomed in Heaven or Hell. if its neither, you will continue to float in the nether world", said the watch man.Rajiv, always a go-getter took this up as a challenge;he was at a loss to decide how to go about his job; if he started with his family, he would be deemed selfish.So he decided to act as he saw things;He started, by helping a beggar with 2 free bananas to eat, by robbing the fruit vendor of it;remember, he was invisible to the outside world.Suddenly, he heard a woman scream from a house nearby.