3/30/2006

Spooky Night !!!


Last night was one of the most spookiest nights travelling in the suburbam Trains.I met a crazy fellow... More on it a little later.

3/29/2006

Solitude across the Bridge

There are times when one needs to take a break from the hectic life,in the midst of work pressures and deadlines.In IT Companies,with plush interiors and gardens(Read a Typical Infy Campus)...You have lots of places to roam around and let the mind wander...even though it's prone to interruption from people discussing tech jargon as you walk.But at my place of work,which is bang in the heart of the city,plush gardens may be a rarity..so i resort to the quiet rather lonely Egmore station.I go there at times when I just need a break...and need to relax as my mood gets doubly recharged when I see a train..as I simply love holidaying.When I see a train,my senses get activated to visualise a future journey and as a matter of fact, browsing the Railway Time Table being one my hardcore hobbies...only fuels my need to be at the station.


What do I Imagine every time in the middle of the day on the Bridge that connects platform 1 and 2? Well its more so an analysis of my life..am I going in the right direction..? Am i living the life that I promised myself? Just the ideal space where me, my ego and a critical side of me...join hands to feel all the pressure and worries being released from my body through my thighs.

There are times I enjoy walking across the platform aimlessly with my walkman on...where my mind just goes into an automatic state of peace and the relaxation I get by doing this assures me ...that my life is just as good as I want it to be.As I have told before..my biggest friend is my walkman..who has been through tough and happy times...and still continues to be my best friend..because it doesnt give me gnyaan on what I should be doing,what I should have done,doesnt back stab...or scoff at my ideas.All it does is just listen spellbound as if my ideas are on the same plane as a Top Honcho addressing his employees.I often waft away imagingining myself 5 years or even 10 years down the line doing something great...and add a nice inspiring track on the walkman...and lo I am already elavated to thinking big and seeing myself giving an interview to CNN...

Heights of Fancy dreams may be ...but just as a true Piscean, I dream...and these dreams are the sole drivers of my innovative thoughts.The factory of my thoughts are made here and only here does my mind working producing a brilliant idea every 100 bad ones... So the sole point that I wish to stress is that the relaxation and rejuvenation I gain by seeing a train or a quiet station is pretty much what keeps my inspiration levels up and running. Infact I remember on a rather satirical note, I more so draw inspiration from the fact that my engineering degree was a gross function of a 40 minute train journey to college, rather than the Classroom board.Read more about how I became an engineer in 40 minutes.

3/28/2006

IIM, IIT Losing Value ?

This Morning's rather unplesant news about the IIT's and IIM's planning to increase the reservation quota from 22.5% to 49% sent shivers down my spines.Why is the goverment looking to spoil the next set of entrepreneeurs by giving seats on a platter to people who hardly deserve a seat,whilst thousands of intelligent wannabe managers slug it out in the battle wheer eevn a .01%ile is going to make a guge difference.This reservation cap being 49% in Central goverment jobs is likely to seep into the educational institutes also.

This decesion may affect the branding of the IIM's hugely ...as top notch corporates would never want to recruit dumb asses who just made it because their district collector gave them a certificate that thet belong to a section of society that's the so called Minority.

These Minority based reservations seem ok in a goverment job,where not much of intelligence is used or in places where basic job and shelter is provided,not certainly in high profile business schools like the IIM's and the IIT's. So dont be shocked if some one by the name J.P.Murugan who gets a 75%ile in CAT ..goes on to ace that summer's job in J.P.MOrgan while a rather intelligent guy with a 98plus percentile has to take solace in a second rung B school.

The aim of these Reservations,when first introduced was to make sure that the bridge between the lower minority classes and the so called Upper caste does not become too high.Jobs and Reservations were given left right and centre and were even increased to 69% in Tamil Nadu when Jayalalitha's AIADMK was ruling in the early 90's.Now that sufficient amount of people have been helped and brought from the poverty level to a certain dignified level, the backward castes now solely bank on such ludicrous policies to bail them out of their problems.This has created an India where people's ambitions and dreams are linked to where they are born and under which caset they are born.

The Ministers in the government are too scared to bring any sort of amendment to this law as the so called minority castes are the major sources of the vote bank for them ...and in greed of power,the ministers in the name of social service are only screwing the Indian education system further by introducing such laws which are totally against the educated Vox Populi of India. I guess we can use this medium of the media to voice our protests against the goverment and letting the ministers know that they cannot take the people of India for a ride with skewed election policies which adversely affect the output of India's most revered institutions.

3/24/2006

Day Off

I just decided to put the brakes on my rather fast life..with some domestic activities that have been long pending.My 2nd hand bike,which runs dangerously on the road without an RC book,is being laid to rest...as I am planning to sell it to a person who constructed our house.He has said that he doesnt mind the RC Book not being there..so I finally get to push my bike off and get myself a brand new one.I most probably will opt for a Hero Honda Passion Bike,which I hear from my friends is the best option for a "vale for Money" Bike with riding Comfort factor also thrown in.ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A NEW BIKE IS ALSO WELCOME.I GENERALLY RIDE AT AN AVG SPEED BETWEEN 45-55 Km/hr

The All famous "CHENNAI SUMMER" is coming.The HOT and HOTTER seasons have made way..for the HOTTEST season in Chennai especially April and May.So I have decided to have a second AC installed in the room where I have placed the Home Theatre system..and also clean up the room.So essentially 2 business deals in the pipe line and as I realise that the first quarter of the is nearing...a small financial Review has revelaed that I have blown up all my savings in electronic pleasures and Household spending.Recently I had to spend a fortune to Rebuild our compound wall which collapsed during the Chennai Rains.So am adding fuel to the fire by splurging another 50,000 today. So I start the next quarter Fully Bankrupt.It was Bankrupt when the new year started..so I am back to square one.

There seems to be some problem with Blogger,as I am unable to upload my Cochin Pictures.Will have to use the rather Laborious process of using Flick R.

There are some other household activities that are long pending for more tahn 4 months after the rains devastated our Lower Floor.So have to plan out activities at home with an eye on the developments at Office...so quite a busy day ahead, but its just that I dont have a computer to stare at !!

3/21/2006

When Hope was Nipped in the Bud !

Whenever I am faced with a difficult situation in life,the example I turn to for inspiration is the verycase of a precocious teenager who after playing one solitary match was almost banned from the Arena of India’s Gladiatorial sport called Cricket.

This guy kept logging on to the television more regularly than we people used to follow “Ramayan “ and “Mahabharath” .The Purpose,was of curse to see whether he had been selected to represent the National Colours.For the next 5 years all he managed to see, was that his name never figured in the Indian Selectors schemes for playing Cricket.However this did not make him crestfallen and it made him more determined to knock at the doors of the Indian Selectors after a rather dismal Debut at Brisbane in the Summer of 91 where he was out for a measly three runs.

This Undying hope had the seed of determination sowed in and this person was watering this seed into a strong plant, by making his bat do all the talking.Then after some stellar performances,in playing a part in Bengall qualifying for the 95 Ranji Final and good noticeable knocks in the inaugural editions of the Challenger series and the Intercontinental cup with a second string Indian team,This young talent was knocking the doors of the Indian Selectors,patiently waiting in the hope that the selectors would respond.

Finally After a rather mixed world cup performance in 1996,the Indian team was all set for some chopping and changing and all of a sudden this young guy, found a place in the Indian team. Patience and perseverance had won the battle and finally this kid saw light at the end of the tunnel. It was widely rumoured and written by former Indian Crciketers that this young talent was picked up by the quota system…and that was hardly a way to welcome a youngster’s who was to make his test debut at the Old Blighty.

June 20th..1996 and this young lad strode out on the Mecca of Cricket, at Lords and the next day he was unleashed against a rather vicious English attack. The Red Cherry which was hurled down with a ferocity of a “Goliath” by the Englishmen, was repeatedly disdainfully sent back with a finesse and grace that had a silkish feel to it.When he turned Dominic Cork for a single… to notch up his century on Debut..a star was born..and hope as a virtue had been rekindled and reborn promising a reneisannce of sorts to Indian Cricket.

The Promise held true..in the form of one of India’s best Captain’s and Batsmen,Saurav Chandidas Ganguly.Saurav’s Career graphs had many peaks that he conquered with consummate ease.I loved him for the innings he played at Dhaka and Kaarchi in 98 that laid the foundation for 2 historic victories against Pakistan when India Chased. Not to forget his 4 consecutive dream run Man of the Match awards that he blitzed on Canadian soil.Other than there have been many moments to savour where his bulldog spirit and tenacity saw him take the cudgels to some of the most successful opposition teams like Australia,Pakistan,England and in the ICC tournaments.

But somewhere down the line ,Saurav seems to have got trapped and caught in a rut.He semed like the proverbial spider who got caught in his own web,something akin to the hunter getting hunted.Saurav never realized that he was slowly sinking in a quagmire,but he still believed that he was like “Matt Biondi” in water ..while he actually was struggling to stay afloat in a cesspool of quicksand material.It took a Greg Chappel to make Saurav realize this and jolt him out of his rather dreamy world.I am glad that it happened to Saurav as it put themessage..clearly that No one is indispensable.It gave Ganguly an opportunity to recharge his batteries and rethink his career goals.

It should have ended then and there,instead the the BCCI gangs up with Chappel and humiliate him him by not selecting himand making fun of him by calling him and all rounder and dropping him the very next match. Neevr could have a back stab been so painful as it was to Ganguly,who had sen it all in the past year from being Prince Charming to Indian Cricket’s Czar and then being ignored like a urchin.

Ganguly still did not hang his booys,but decided to push himself a little harder against the tempest causing tide of Chappel and the BCCI.Saurav went back to doing what he did well for 5 long painfull years between 91 and 96…and that was switching the telly to see if his name featured on the subsequent cricket series.This was all too familiar as again he had to put up with the disappointment of not figuring even in the squad of 16.

Just as I think,whether Saurav will still have the same fire burning inside him..Kiran More comes and rubs salt on Ganguly’s wounds stating that “Ganguly will never play for India again”.Such an Immature statement from the head of the selection committee.
That statement at this juncture would have been like a knife cutting through hopes as fragile as butter.

I see no point in the theory that somebody who is above a certain age cannot play,atleast not in the case of a senior stalwart like Ganguly.I see that the Indian selectors are hell bent on taking a leaf out of the Australian School of thought,but belive me , the Australain way of Chopping senior players is fine as they have a lovely system in place that readily brings replacements for great reputed players,far more clinically than raindrops on Cherrapunji soil.

We , in India do not have a system where we can immediately replace a Sachin or a Dravid and this Australian way of thinking can only increase insecurity into the Indian camp whereplayers constantly feel that the Damocles sword is perennially hanging over their heads.This can be gauged by the fact that players like Laxman and Kaif are on the benches while Sachin and Sehwag who’ve hardly played a decent innings in the last 10 innings get their slots.So its essentially favouritism for one set of players and for the others”it’s the” being shown the door” option.

This is no way one can treat a former India selfless captain.6 Months back I was convinced that Saurav did look like a Blind man trying to search for a black Cat in a darkroom,but after watching him bat in the recents outings against Pakistan,Sri Lanka and the domestic matches I feel convinced that he has done enough to warrant a place back into the squad. My Talisman of hope tells me that “DADA” still has enough josh in him to deliver the goods (even if it means Freddie Flintoff style Topless Dance).I just hope Saurav,due to the wicked ways of the Selectors doesn’t fall like Learnado Di Caprio in the Titanic…being left out in the cold but gets enough motivation to latch on to trying even harder to thunder the doors of the Selection Committee.

If Saurav is looking for Support, he doesn’t have to look far.A billion people are there to resuscitate the the vitality and shoulders he is looking to hang on support. Saurav has the nation’s support and God willing the bickering selection committee and the board officials should select him again to give this famous son of India a natural fading into his twilight,just as the Sun gets a glorious reception during the sunset.

Kiran More’s Irresponsible statement 2 weeks back may have nipped the virtue called hope in the bud and may have played truant with the dreams of thousands of wannabe cricketers but still Ganguly can still treat the scar,though not remove it… by clawing his way back into the team. But ..hey ..Hope is the only thread that Mankind hangs on to carve greater heights and talking of threads I expect Saurav to weave one silken thread before the light in him fades away..like the dusk of the day. Saurav’s return to the Indian team can trigger a bigger revolution in Indian Cricket in terms of true grit and Positive attitude than Stephen.R.Covey or Peter Drucker did to Management.

So waiting for Dada to rock on …

3/20/2006

Tagged !!

Ponnarasi has tagged me, so I finally say yes to her requests.I thought of writing a piece for women's day but lack of a proper network by bsnl and some important work at office had kept me busy.

So here goes

Movies I would watch over and over again:

1.Alaiyapayudhe
2.Nayagan
3.Roja
4.Kabhi Khushi kabhi Gham
5 Black
6 Hyderabad Blues(1 and 2 ).
7 Iqbal
8 Hum Hain Rahi Pyar ke.
9 Kal Ho Na Ho.
10 Titanic

TV shows I love to watch:

1 Cricket Controversies-Sidhu on NDTV
2 F.R.I.E.ND.S
3 We the People- NDTV.
4 Malgudi Days

I dont get enough time to watch any more programmes and I follow a strict no any programme thats remotely spews of Feminine issues and sob fests like Chithi,ahalya..blah blah blah...and of course dreaded serials that starts with K.



My favourite foods :

My Mother's Roti's with Thakkali Chutney.
The DOSA at teh HOT DOSA outlet near Besant nagar Beach.
The Bhelpuri at Adayar Ananda Bhavan.
The Cheese Pizzas' of Pizza hut and the Double Cheese Crunch of Dominoes.
Curd Rice,poori,Chapathy with Bananas




My Greatest victories :

Have come in bits and pieces...but still waiting for something substantial.These are things that are extremely personal and only my walkman knows more about it.




Things that I hate

1)People who talk big but do nothing.
2)Back biters
3) People who fart big time ...giving cock and Bull stories..pretending tehmselves to be somebody they are not.
4)People who play the Blame game and pass it on.


Great Personalities I would like to dine with

1. R.K.Narayan
2. Jennifer Aniston
3. To all the lovely ladies who reside on my hard-disk
4. and finally all the ladies who have missed dining out with me.




Things I dream often

That I am confused.
That I am on the verge of achieve something Big.
That I flirt around with the girl I least hope to have a crush on !!
That I am being punished in my dreams for all my frivolus mistakes...and thankfully this rehersal reminds me of what needs to be done..the next day when I wake up.
That I often dont get injured when I fall from a cliff that's 10000 meters high.

Best Place for a lovely-Chit Chat

Chintadripet Railway station(MRTS in Chennai)
Guindy/Central Railway station.
Ettimedai Railway station...enroute to palakkad vioa coimbatore(Near Amrita Institutions).
Forum Mall Banaglore-
Spencers Plaza- Chennai.
British Council Library Chennai.
DakshinaChitra- Muttukadu-Outskirts of Chennai

Most Inspiring personality in Life

My Roomie in Infy- Sheshadri Sampath.

Most Crazy thing that I have done

All documented in my Blogs... so persuse through that ..atleast I will see an increase in traffic that way.




So That's about it .

3/17/2006

What do my dreams mean ?

Today for about 15 minutes My eyes were straining to open itself after a rather tight day at work.This was at 6 30 in the evening.I just moved from my table and moved to an empty cabin and just reclined in my chair to briefly take some rest.In those 15 minutes post snacks siesta I had this rather strange dream.
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My mother on the occaisson of Holi (which we southies hardly celebrate) gave a thali full of sweets and a can of beer.I was shocked ...I ask my mother.."whats happened to you...when did the hindu custom start serving beer" .My Mother then says ..Beer is good for health, it is our custom to consume it like Kashayam(a medicinal drink in South India).I was shocked to say the least...and I wanted to ask more but just kept pondering....
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I keep thinking ...wow..Looks my mother's ideals have changed and so has the Tam Bram society.. but soon the mobile rang..and it was my mother who woke me up out of this strange dream" When are You starting " ...and I still had the beer-prasadam hangover ..but still managed to talk properly... and was laughing at myself after this happened.

Looks like the agenda for the week is to figure out sigmund Freuds theory of dreams.I recently purchased this book on the Cochin Beach...where I was roaming around hunting for scenic shots.




3/16/2006

I CAN - (IMPOSSIBLE IS I M POSSIBLE )

The happenings in news of the following events have made me feel the sky is not the limit.First in the southern part of Africa , the Proteas beat the kangaroos chasing 438 and that initially made me feel sick seeing the ferocity with which the Proetas went about chasing that improbable 434.I still cant get over the fact that the guys had the stomach for the battle.

So the next time I play Cricket 2002 on my computer, I must look at 500 plus scores .... wow what a way to set goals and plan for the future !!

The next is the announcemnt that Jayalalitha has been nominated for the Nobel peace Prize.

News Excerpts from Indiatimes

CHENNAI: World Federation of Tamil Youth (WFTY) on Tuesday said it has nominated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the Nobel Peace Prize, 2006.

The federation has nominated Jayalalithaa's name from India, Sharjah and the US, for her "dedicated efforts in ushering Peace, Performance, Progressiveness, Productivity, Partnership and Prosperity for the people of the state during the last five years," its president Dr Vijay G Prabhakar said.

"We would also be celebrating April 14, the Tamil New Year as 'Selvi J Jayalalithaa day' in 15 countries, highlighting the progress of Tamil Nadu under her leadership," he said.

The federation's India chapter president Dr R Mylvaganan presented a DVD titled "J Governance" produced by the organisation
.

Now what the heck was that for. How has Amma Brought more peace...?? The only instance I see her "producing peace " was when Karan Thapar was brought to his knees by her in that awesome BBC world interview ,where AMMA literally made Karan Thapar symbolically wave the white flag of truce.

I think this wave of optimism was missed out by some people who got slain for their rather gentle methods of dealing with the public namely Veerappan,Phoolan Devi and their likes. Gosh !! If they were alive they would have provided some kick ass competition to Jayalalitha...in terms of Nominations for the Nobel peace Prize.

Now what does that mean ???

Next year ... God willing Even we can compete with Lashkar-E-Toiba ..and other hooligans to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

PS: HEARING THIS ...MAY THE SOUL OF SIR ALFRED NOBEL REST IN "PEACE" .

3/13/2006

AMBIGUITY



Ambiguity is best defined by the poster that this lady is holding.Does she mean KFC is torturing her or the animals...
Ernakulam Trip-Diary – Part 1

Egmore

7: 30 Pm March 10th


I finally manage to do the three finger job (CTRL-ALT-DEL) to my PC and gave myself to the count of 10 to dart across to the lift and blaze across the Egmore railway station to catch the bus to Central Station,as I had a train to catch at 8 pm. My focus of reaching egmore station by 7 35 met an untimely accident when my olfactory modalities detected the smell of masala groundnuts that were being sold. This distraction and transaction burnt a hole of 5 rs in my pocket and 5 minutes of my time.

Now the time was 7: 41 and by no means could I walk it, I was no “4 minute mile” Roger Bannister ..so I decided to do the unthinkable, that any sane Chennai’te would think twice before entering. Yes I decided to take the services of the rather notorious Chennai Auto.

The Chennai auto drivers, if they had the luxury of being born during the Industrial revolution,would have certainly drawn flak from the “ Burgeiose “ class for over exploitation of travelers and would also bag the award for the “emerging entrepreneurs” of the year who charge an autofare of 500% more than the normal prevailing fare in other parts of the country.

The auto drivers in Chennai are a talkative lot,giving you loads of gnyaan and opinion and bymistake also include that in thebilling apart from the rather trite joke that the auto fare meter is indirectly linked to the speedometer. Anyways let’s leave the economics of the autofare pricing to the B school grads who may find this topic, an interesting case-study.

After the autoride, I entered platform 5 …and walked over to my coach AS 3 and glanced to have a look at the “status”. Status from my college days in our lingo was means exactly this SQL Query executed on the reservation list.

Select GIRLS From RESRVATION LIST in COACH where SEX =’F’ and age >18 and age<25.

And this query returned me this.Here’s a snapshot of how it looked like.

61 Bobby Jose F 19
62 Kartik Kannan M 23
63 Baby Jose F 21
64 RosaKutty Jose F 23
65 Mr. Jose M 54

I did a quick glance from 61 to 64 and the selective amnesia that I have totally missed out 65.Did expectations soar ? I strode like Julius Ceaser victoriously inside the coach and just stayed there for a few seconds mentally forming a picture what the booty was to look like inside. This was with 30 seconds to go for the train. All of a sudden, a man rushed from the nearby snack shop, disturbing my thoughts and murmured something in Malayalam, which I could not figure out…but I could briefly assume that his stare said the following “What the heck were you blocking the way for, were you assuming tat your kind help would be solicited by a girl in a hurry to board the train in true DDLJ style(Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge).

As said before , I had noticed a number 65…and little did I realize that this was going to cost me my peace for the rest of the journey. As soon as I neared my seat, I saw a bearish creature giving robotic instructions to his daughters. Yup the dad of the three girls was with them and all my grandiose plans of eye exercise had just been quashed like a lemon when a vehicle goes over it. My adam’s apple moved a notch lower and kept vacillating up and down.Rubbing further salt into the injury was the fact that the girls who I had imagined to be Aishwarya Rai, Dia Mirza and Mallika Sherawat (in no particular order) turned out quite on the contrary.

I felt like a hot air balloon brought to the ground and swore never to look again in that direction. I took up a novel and pretended I was engrossed in it, while my mind was heavily reflecting on this bad stroke of luck. All of a sudden I heard giggles and from what the corner of my eye told me, they were looking at me and giggling. I consoled myself saying “all girls giggle for some strange reason and such events should not be entertained by any thoughts of the attraction quotient, unless and until the girl’s eyes are powerful enough to attract me, than a magnet would do to iron filings.

5 minutes into the journey, the girl was still giggling and staring at me. I just wanted to take a peek at the girl, more so my conscience assuring me that the nubile 23 year old was not all that ugly as my Cornea had perceived her to be. It was more out of the fear of her bearish, boorish dad that my eyes were thinking twice to change the angle of inclination from the book to the girl. But Alas nor would chemistry work neither would trigonometry work…as the angle of depression stayed with gazing lifelessly at the book, while the mind was harboring a 100 hopeless thoughts.

It’s in such a situation when a girl is with her father that you realize that a girl can actually stare at you endlessly, but when a guy wants to return the compliments, he expects the line of sight to be a highway where only colors red and pink exist. The serene peace of the highway vision is all of a sudden eroded by a much stronger deadly vision from the father…who seems to honk loudly …reminding the boy that this highway is not so nice after all... and the guy in such situations practices the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi by practicing non violence in the most peaceful way by pretending he is sleeping to avoid any more battles of eye contact.

But none of the above happened, as I was just imagining all that.. and when the TTR came to check my tickets, I furtively glanced at the small family and much to my consternation, these girls were still laughing with her dad often giving me looks of derision.
I also figured out that these girls were looking at the region between my stomach and thighs… GOD !!! Have girls become so open in their behavior and so vulgar that they do this openly with their dad …seeming to support them in this lascivious adventure. Well, I just wondered did the girls take the human rights/Liberation/equality topics a little too seriously..Wanting to match guys eye to eye for all the staring at body parts that we pruriently pass of as “ F U N “ …. So was I being Adam Teased????

Since I have this recently acquire habit of seeing things in a positive sense, I started to look at this as a situation which could make me famous. If Elton John had the first gay marriage …then perhaps I could make history.. by being the first guy to be Adam Teased.

Shhhhhhhhhh…… was what I said to myself …as I decided to focus some attention back on the book that still was crying for my attention..even as I was diverted by some low percentage thoughts. I open and my book look for a line to start and all of a sudden this..script seems different to read…and slowly my brains gain traction and I realize that ALL THIS WHILE I HAD THE BOOK UPSIDE DOWN…and while I sheepishly turned the book to its rightful position…the silence was broken by another group giggling session.

That was it … if ever embarrassment had an Everest.. I was proudly standing atop that …and wanting to put an immediate end to my misery, I climb to the upper berth and lay myself flat and switch on the earphones….only to enter another dream world where actually Dia Mirza,Ash and Mallika are all in the train. Now to narrate that , I would have to make a movie of the 12B types and note bore you further.

So here ends day 1 of the trip. Will post day 2 shots sometime tomorrow which would not have so much happening as as I was quite occupied shooting pictures.
Cochin !!

I am back after my brief trip. will include some images and of course a hilarius incident on the train.The trip at the most,was rejuvenating...to recharge my energy levels.

3/10/2006

In Search Of Darkness



I have observed over a period of time, that my mind and body tends to feel more at ease and at home,whenever I face the dark skies on a star sprangled night.There are times I have prayed that the night should remain...and the sunlight should not come,while I was a kid.As I look back on this feeling of mine...I guess I have found some strange skeletons in the cupboard.

It all started with playing hide and seek with the neighberhood children,and only at night could I relatively assure myself, that I would not be blatantly caught.The fact that the evening skyline would not throw light and reveal that I was hiding behind so and so place would make me feel extra strong and would revel in the self pride as I Was Captain Prabhakaran or a Veerapan.

Then as years went by evening/night was the time I usuall spent at my Adayar house Corridor whiling away my time in the chill breeze that used to blow in the evenings.It was usually around this time that I used to do my reading and since there was peace all around (in terms of mother not bugging me to get up,check the water heater,do rounds of testing on my handwriting,homework...etc etc .

Even as I came back from school and games in the evening,all i did was just to relax myself by breathing in and out and feeling a surge going out of my thighs... in the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of the night.As the feeling heightened...something close to what people call nirvana or a relaxed state of the mind would make me go into a world....and give me an all powerful feeling of "I can do anything and everything at night".

Slowly I graduated to higher responsibilities and higher classes and it reached a nadir when I was in Class 9. I couldn't fathom why people made axioms and theorems proving why the odd line if meets a circle would have a 90 degree angle...It any way made no sense to me..and Night times were the times when I would have a respite from Geometry Logarithms and other mundane mathematcial enemies.This period of the night was when I felt I had been freed from maths for the day ...and the night helped me in framing what i would Unofficially call the 101 reasons why badluck would go hand in hand with me when it came to proving theorems.It's another story that Murphy went ahead publised those laws..and since I Was busy trying to make the arranged marriage between Class 9 CBSE Math and me...I could'nt become famous...and those 101 reasons were ultimately called as "Murphy's Laws".

Thank goodness I was releived to an extent class 9 and 10 ..as I was able to figure out the geography of geometry and now that problem of numbers was history..kinda rooted out.But along came a new Problem like a killer virus ..that had signs of geometry with 6 sided figures also affectionately known as Organic chemistry..which gave me further sleepless nights and made my bond with the darkness of the night even stronger as there was some place I could hide and forget my worries about Chemistry.This obsession with Darkness made me an escapist who sought refuge in the arms of the beauty of teh night.Though the night never gave me a permanent solution it was a good friend ..who listened to me and spoilt me..by giving allegiance to many a "one night stand".

Then College happened and amidst lot of problems ...I again turned to night as a session where I did a CTRL -ALT -DEL ... on the mundane life during the day and used the night as a place to blurt out my opinions and feelings and the night was seemingly better than other friends ..as it never butted in through my thoughts,never stopped me in my tracks and never spoke against me.It listened patiently like a dear friend would...and suprisingly this quiet listening that the nght did also made me devise m own solution to the problem.

It made me feel asthough I had stolen a march over others as I Was working when the whole town was asleep...and generally in the movie's ..they'd show this to indicate how hardwork is percieevd and how a person came to the top...and I would envisage this feeling in the mind...and felt an awesome sense of pride whenever I sat and spoke to the dark midnight sky feeling that I was planning ahead of time.

What I actually didnt analyse was While I worked while the world slept, I also slept doubly long ,while the world was busy working (College particulary)...so the mastermind night talk with the Dark skies...was actually annulled by my acts of bravery while sleeping in the second row.

I felt even more great..when I sat through the night working and when I saw the dawn of the day..the sun rise from changing the skyline from a blackish red..to a greyish yellow to an orangish yellow...across the white blue sky.Add to it a couple of inspiring MP3 Tunes,while you observe this...and boy ! your day is made. Its not just that, its the only part of the day when I am at absolute peace with myself and tend to understand myself better,by spending time on analysing my day...and sharpening my virtual axe before I go off to chop trees the next day.The Night is when I also spend time with my first Love..my walkman ...who listens and inspires me to greater things at life.

Even though people may say. my love of the night may be a jump seeking respite and a CTRL-ALT-DEL from life...I only say..what's wrong in living in a make beleieve world of dreams that can keep your mood up though the day,as long as the annulling effect doesnt butt in.

So here I am in search of darkness or precisely more darkness to have more time with me ...envisioning my nightly activities with my mind to be like lighting a candle at night...which glows uniterrupted,fearless of the of the light of the day...which is more bright.It is this small candle light that enables me to quench my thirst of conquering the day.

Your's Inspiringly

Kartik Kannan

3/07/2006

I was watching the movie on DVD last night after I got back from work...and that one line said by Aamir Khan(a.k.a DJ ) to Sue Mitchelly " made me sit up and listen and wonder...how true it was


Remembering lines from Rang de Basanti

Aamir says" Jab ham padthe hain to hum duniya ko nachathe hain, jab ham padke kaam karte hain toh duniya hame nachati hain" .I must agree that the college days are the halcyon days in one's life after which one doesnt get to enjoy the simple pleasures of life,as one is thrown in to a den where the rat race starts...and you are so busy working and progressing in your career,one hardly notices the world around you and all you see is the 15 inch monitor..day in and day out.

Well not that I am complaining, but I do see a huge perceptible change in the way my friends and I have started to look at life.Nobody seems to have time for subtle emotions or even sharing the lovely times,back in college ...as most of us seem to be gung ho about picking up the phone and talking to an American client living 10000 miles away...in the name of customer service and harbour the yuppy dreams of making it to the US and drowning in dollar notes.Ya even I have become like that in the past month or so,as every one today is stretched to perform to our best, given the fact that most of our gang is paid well by the IT Industry.

In the Information age and this very Industry its pretty rare for some one to leave seeing the sunset or even have time for seeing the Sun rise.Given the fact that most offices are located so far from the city.(In my case its coming from outside into the heart of the city).It is this feeling that makes me a little sad, more than the fact that I may tend to show signs of a workaholic.I guess I need to really look into this aspect and improve the quality of life...and not spend more than half the day at office.It's totally in my hands..and I need to see what I can do complete the work quicker :-) ...

Even when my friends sit down to plan for a holiday , they get extremely paranoid about taking a day off... as they dont want to be absent from work...or more so live in the self imposed veil that asking for a leave,may not go down well with their bosses or Project Managers.I remember calling up friends yesterday ...and after some persuausion some of them agreed to thing about taking a day off.

Holidays and leisure breaks are most essential in this fast paced world to catch up on life that was left behind in this race..as we sped to focus attention on our career and work. How often one wants to go is a personal call...based on time and money.

I have decided to take another small break,by going to Kerala over the weekend.No major touring plans...it's just that my dad who was on transfer in Cochin, is now leaving Cochin in a month or so...to serve another transfer..so I thought it would be better to make the most of my dad's prescence there..by going on a long drive near the beaches and take a trip in the backwaters...

So God's own country...here I come.


PS A new Role that I am playing in office, is also Recruitment.We require some graduates with some decent english reading skills and email/MS Office skills for our Blogs team.I have been interviewing a few candidates and I must tell you, I ave had immense fun in sometimes looking at people with a serious face and asking them some questions.Some get intimidated and start to lie and others tend to remain unfluttered and give out more honest answers even though it may not be the most diplomatic answer. All I look for in candidates is their attitude which can be easily gauged in their answers.Initially I do make each one feel at home,make them comfortable with the cliched "tell me something about yourself" question and then...get on to business. It's been a good experience being on the other side of the interview table after playing frivolusly as a candidate not so long ago while applying for IT Companies when I passed out of engineering.

3/04/2006

INDIA SHINING ?


The Indian team's below par performance in the first test against England has been shocking given their recent good run of form.I think the selectors have just opened up a can of worms by not selecting Ganguly for the test Series.I agree Ganguly misused his powers when he was at the helm, to meander around and take pride as a captain who has played in the most number of ODI cup finals and ending up on the losing side,but the fact remains that he has not been given enough chances after his comeback and is being dumped unceremoniously due to some bitter Board politics and unwanted Chappellspeak.

I guess its high time we stopped this internal bickering that exists and put an end to the bad vibes around Ganguly and Chappell and select the best possible team.I believe Ganguly certainly deserves a place in the squad and such a senior player cannot be treated with such disdain.

Chappells comments on Ganguly playing for his finances was most depressing to hear.Chappell should have double checked before making such horrible comments even in the case his foul mouth wanted to go on blabbering.Ganguly comes from a regal and Riyal family that has 22 cars and a huge posh residence in the suburban part of Calcutta in a place called Behala and Mr Chappel...FYI ....Saurav can employ 5 such chappels paying 78 lacs a month in his house.I know my statement may seem offensive ..but its just that such immature statements from Chappell were unwarranted.

3/01/2006

A world that existed Before work and home

Yesterday I was having some problems with breathing and also with my eye,with a slight headache that cut short my working day.I returned home as early as 5 30 pm and was resting for a while before approaching a doctor.It was then that I chanced upon a 20-20 match between two Local Pakistan Sides(Sialkot Stallions and Karachi Zebras).I was reminded of the days in School when I used to watch anything that was dished out on TV, to the effect that I knew the starting 11 of almost all the county teams in the English League in 1996.Those days watching the game itself, was fun considering the fact that I was so idle to have time to watch any match on earth,may it even be a 30 overs MRF vs Chemplast game at the Chepauk stadium having 30 souls watching including teh 2 teams.

Now coming back to yesterday,I was so deeply engrossed in the match, for a second I realised how formula minded I had become,since studies and work gained so much priority over the years,making me watch only those 30 minute highlight packages.Where were the days I used to have my ideal holiday in the summer of 95 as getting up at 3 am to watch a match being playd in New zealand,after which matches in Sharjah would start at 11 and ending at 7, after which the matches played in West Indies at 7 30 in the evening would take over.In between I used to take breaks to go out in the evening,taking a stroll to the nearby Ellits beach,where I used to play Cricket on the road adjunct to the Pathway... or play those intense "B Block vs C block" 6 over matches with a pride.

Over the years,I feel bad that such a natural interest had naturally degraded without even me knowing that my fundamental interests are getting eroded all in the name of studies and Work.All said and done...nothing like the innocent schooldays till 8th standard where pressure means a word used in the kitchen by the Mother of a child to describe her cooking apparatus. After 8th,every year we are goaded by our parents saying that If we work hard this year,it would keep us happy the rest of our lives,and we overworked animals keep listening to that in the hope that we would then get the job a "mattress consultant" where our job is only to sleep and test the softness of a matress and eat,sleep and drink cricket.

Then we slowly realize that Saturday Sunday stop to being 'weekends' and they are just 2 extra days we get to sharpen our saw when it comes to getting more marks and while at work,we are optimistacally told to view Saturday sunday as Manna from Heaven to finish the remaining work on the 5 day week.

How long is it since I lifted a bat and played serious cricket ? I guess 8 years ..and I dont do it now because I cant play in the "HOT SUN" and tire myself,while 10 years ago...all I did in the summer hols under 40 plus temperatures was to roam around with friends in the gully trying to ape Sachin and other cricketers.

Gone are the simple days of enjoyment..I may seem like moaning ,but the competitive world of today is seeing rest as a luxury which may or may not be utilised and I am also party to it.But after typing this , I know ...I will go back home and mentally prepare myself for another day at work...with the single minded objective of goals,page views and Targets .... Oh ! me ...am I now growing to be a Hypocrite
Tribute to a Unsung Hero




Late Mr. Surjan Singh Bhandari
N.S.G. Commando


During The Attack on Akshardham temple on 24th September 2002 this Brave Man fought the greatest battle of his life. Yes he was the N.S.G. Commando Late Mr. Surjan Singh , who sacrificed his life for the Nation. Sadly On 19th May 2004 he lost the Toughest an d Longest battle against life exactly after 600 Days being in Coma, he lost this life.

The Bullet which hit him in the head made him Unconscious for almost 600 days. His family members were hoping that one day their Hero will open his eyes but he didn't.

It was the Longest Wait for the family members of this Brave Man. When the whole India was busy in Guessing Who will be the Next PM of the country - Will it be Sonia or will it be Manmohan Singh, This man was fighting his Last battle. But it's so sad that in the hype of all the Political Drama, the News about his Death was Lost like a needle in a hay stack! Even the leading News Papers & So Called Best News Channels of India which Works on 24 X 7 basis, failed to highlight this story of the Brave Man. Unfortunately it was mentioned somewhere on the middle page of some newspaper.....This was the Reward for the Brave task for which he lost his life.

Besides his Family members, only one thing was there with him during those toughest 600 days. It was there near his bed till the last Moment. Can you guess what it was?............... It was the "Tiranga", yes! Our National Flag, which was saluting him for his Great cause. Absolutely No words can suffice our Gratitude towards him...
http://in.news.yahoo.com/040521/43/2d848.html

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040520/nation.htm#9

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/24aksh2.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/20/stories/2004052007480105.htm





If news papers refuse to cover, TV channels refuse to cover, let us do our bit.
Please forward this mail to as many people as you can.
This is the only way we can salute his Bravery...

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