GLEAMS UNRAVELLED

"For the first time in life" the phrase says it all ! :)

And for the first time in life,last Wednesday I was STUCK INSIDE A ELEVATOR !!
Stop laughing :D
I had gone to my friend's office.We took the lift coming down from the 4th floor.

A jerk , a halt and a half opened door !!!!!!!!!!

Alas, Where are we ?
We were stuck in lift between the 1st floor and the ground floor.

I got reminded of the scene from Kadhalan.
Pokiri lift scene also comes to mind.

For obvious reasons everything fades away from my mind. Reason being the person who was with me ! ;)

We started laughing thinking of our situation . We pressed the ALARM button that was there inside the lift . The sound that it made was not even audible to us and it rang in abrupt intervals. Stupid alarm . No signal in mobile.Screwed? Nah!

I received a mail from a "well wisher" a few days ago which read "Trapped in Lift - Worth to Read" .
Phew! After all the laughing and various movie scenes flashing across my mind , my memory power also proved its sharpness.

I quickly pressed all the keys inside the lift . 3,4,5,1 .
The lift's door closed and started moving up.
Up, uP UP . It went to the 8th floor and then started coming down again .
And stop , full door open , get out of the lift ! :D

It was funny though . And for the first time in life i got stuck in a lift knowing how to handle it :)

The mail i received :

" Please read and forward this to as many as possible.

We never know when and where accidents will happen to us OR people around us. Read on and hope this piece of information may help any of us when things do happen to us, our friends and our loved ones. One day, while in a lift, it suddenly broke down and it was falling from level 13 at a rapid pace. Fortunately, I remembered watching a TV program that taught you must quickly press all the buttons for all the levels. Finally, the lift stopped at the 5th level. When you are facing life and death situations, whatever decisions or actions you make decides your survival. If you are caught in a lift breakdown, first thought in mind may be 'waiting to die'.... But after reading below, things will definitely be different the next time you are caught in a lift.

First - Quickly press all the different levels of buttons in the lift. When the emergency electricity supply is being activated, it will stop the lift from falling further.

Second - Hold on tight to the handle (if there is any).. It is to support your position and prevent you from falling or getting hurt when you loose your balance.

Third - Lean your back and head against the wall forming a straight line. Leaning against the wall is to use it as a support for your back/spine as protection.

Fourth - Bend your knees; Ligament is a flexible, connective tissue. Thus, the impact of fractured bones will be minimized during fall.

For everyone, kindly do share this piece of information with your near and dear ones!!


Off late:
In love withVinnai Thaandi Varuvaya songs .
Reading "The God of small things "
Loving the Volvo travels . Different experience :)
A less of movie spree, should begin it again .
A great start to new year !

PS:
I got stuck in lift with Ramya . Her office elevator proved its power :P
And the well wisher who sent me this informative mail is my brother :)

Welcome Twenty Ten ....
A new year filled with new hopes
New dreams and new aspirations
New journey and new milestones

New year resolution is to get BACK ON blogging !!!

Happy new year readers :)

Blogger’s block hit me again.
I should definitely consider increasing my predilection for writing.
Long pending post. About kids.

I am amazed after seeing my neighbors’ children in the apartment.
Why did “Twinkle Twinkle little star” and “Johnny Johnny yes papa” disappear?
When did the rhyme “Out in the garden each fine day, each fine day I love to play” come in to picture?
If anyone knows this rhyme, please give me a break!!!!!

When did brick game go out of the league?
Where did Super Mario elude and when did Kratos (God of Wars game in PS2) became the hero?

Was I too behindhand to have an Orkut account during 2004?
And my 12 year old nephew has a Face book account now?
He even deletes what my “hi how are you “post on his wall and would send me a message on face book!!!

Where is coffee bite, Mango bite?
Frayons in the shape of wheel were my daily side dish once upon a time? Why do kids like only Lays and Kurkure these days?

Where did the jeep and the cars that go around till the key is on vanish?
And remote cars became the proclivity for kids.

My school drawing book contained pictures of house, mountains, trees, Mickey mouse and Barbie doll to be colored.
My 3 year old neighbor’s drawing book has Dora, Power puff girls to be colored.

Why doesn’t my cousin kiddos ask for cake and samosa rather ask me to take them to McD?

Where is Arun Ice cream ,Cone Ice , Milk Ice?
Why are there only softies and sundaes now?

Where is Milka bread ? Why does my nephew go to McRenett to buy bread!!!

The doll that keeps playing the Jallra is no longer needed??
My sil’s nephew gets a brand new piano from UK!!!!

How is that our primary school pics are so funny with each of us facing different direction?
And these day kids tilt their head to one direction and start smiling once I open my camera.

Where is wisdom and Gokulam ? - The books I read during annual holidays.

Mango frooti goes off and Appy is needed !
And Rasna is no longer loved !

The hero pen which you safely preserve to use it only during the final exams are no longer there.
Parker pens .. Mont blac pens.

Where is Nataraj pencil?
Why does Faber castle pencil pack cost so much ?

All the questions remain unanswered.
But the bottom line remains the same!

Prologue : To my friend who said in chat (4:27 PM on Aug 31) I would blog on “Why all ***** are *******?” . Its not about that ! ;)

Reading ‘The Hindu’ after waking up from Saturday morning nap at home recharges my happy stay !
As usual my saga of Saturday morning begun with a strong bed coffee and some music on tv and my hands trying to hold The Hindu and looking out for the news.Two things that caught my eye in the weekend’s edition:
* WiFi enabled palmtops for the waiters in eat outs
* Internet deaddiction centres in the US

I term Technically speaking is reaching all places in posts and publishings.I have seen waiters in Café coffee day keying in the orders which turns out to be bill too.

And now adding up to it , waiters have WI-FI enabled palmtops.Waiters or supervisors just whisk out their hand-held devices and take down orders that are sent through a Wi-Fi device to the chef in the kitchen, with specific instructions from each customer.

The Anjappar Group of restaurants and an outlet of Saravana Bhavan have such facilities.Adding up to my surprise , I kept reading wherein it said they also have blue tooth printers in their pockets that print out order slips to be given to the waiter.I should visit these hotels to dig into the technological advancement aforementioned.

Internet deaddiction centre – this is really pathetic . More and more youngsters are addicted to internet .so what ? crap !
With drug deaddiction tobacco deaddiction , now its point to be proved how technology has taken our lives.

I took this quiz in Facebook “internet addiction test” It said “ you are hopelessly addicted and someone should take away the system from you by brutal means”
Sadly I am internet addict too !

Browse , surf ,consistenly check updates on orkut, facebook and twitter (and my tweets are yet to reach great heights ),blog ,read news, play games, etc etc etc
Long devoted hours online and extensive social networking contributes to internet addiction.

Why don’t they have a online course for Internet deaddiction ! LOL :D


Offlate :
I am trying to complete ‘Doctors’ novel for a long time now . Hopefully I should complete before my next post .
My 'Green day' and 'The Fray' have vanished and I am listening to 'Yeno yeno panithuli' for n times through out the day.
And my usual laughing till stomach hurts at 11 pm with all stories and happenings still exists :D

I read this in a book "Peaks and valleys" by Spencer Johnson.
Penning it down in my own words !




A - how does the above picture look to you ?
B - Tracings of a Heart beat
A - Does that remind you of anything else ?
B - Hmmm..
A - The ups and downs of life , the peaks and valleys in one's life.

So only when the heart beat resembles like the one in the picture , it means heart is functioning well .

------------------------------

A - If your trace of heart beat is like the one above, what does it mean?
B - A Problem, I am dead .
A - Yea, true .

When you have no ups and downs in life , and when you are running in a smooth lane it means you are dead.

So ups and downs are essential part of a normal healthy life .

Very well said . I loved it.
Quite coincidentally, my today's fortune in Orkut read :" If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances"

I am having UPs and DOWNs.

I woke up at 10 today.I found my way from bed to the hall to get a glimpse of list of sales listed in Bangalore Times.Alternatively I started reading the main paper at the first hand and found myself laughing after a few minutes.Ppl around me started laughing too.

It’s all about the picture!!!!


Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad couldn’t do it better.His statement is ultimate.

But Times of India beats it! A picture is worth a thousand words.TOI proved it today. Look at the picture below :)




We are talking about population explosion here.India’s population only grows.

India’s population is 1,170,000,000. By the time you read this blog it would have increased by 100 now. By 2011 it would be 2 billion.

OMG. I am still laughing over our health minister’s statement.

“If people have power, they would watch TV till late night and fall asleep.
Then they won’t get a chance to produce children.”

And then goes the statement ‘Let there be light, let there be TV’. ROTFL!


So power cuts and lack of television are the reason for India’s population explosion!!


So is that why televisions are being supplied free of cost in rural areas and in villages? ?


Whatever ! Ultimately the frequency of power cuts would now be reduced to decrease the increase in population :D :D

And I am still laughing :)

Prologue: This is definitely not a blog a Vegetarian would prefer! And it’s NOT intended to hurt the Vegans.
~ Sincerely, A non-vegetarian.

It is a pleasant Monday evening and I am inside my office shuttle. I open my eyes wide to find KFC and McD boards outside Total Mall in Airport road, Bangalore.

McD – Chicken Nuggets, Chicken burger, Chicken burger, Happy lunch meals for Children...

Wait, I am feeling Déjà Vu. I have seen Ronald Mc Donald happily holding a knife in the cover wrapping the sandwich. where was it?
It was in PETA’s webpage!!
McD I am loving it  PETA says ‘Mc Cruelty I am hating it’.


PETA – People for ethnic treatment of Animals having a huge (Really huge) number of volunteers and supporters all over the world including many actors and famous personalities campaigning for the ethnic treatment of Animals. Not to mention my favourite actor (Guess who?:)) also is an ambassador for PETA .

PETA ,an animal rights organisation originally formed in the year 1980 in Virginia and focuses on the following four issues - farming, fur, animal testing, and animals in entertainment, and also campaigns against fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, and bullfighting. Later this animal right organization spread so widely that it went against Eating Animals.

The slogan of PETA being “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment”.


My points here:

Animal testing – I strongly agree . Animals are so cute , they are yet another living organism be it reptile, amphibian, mammal or whatever ! Testing should not be carried out on animals. So what’s the alternative that PETA suggests.E.g.: It says test an eye solution on a dead man’s cornea instead of a Rabbit’s eye.Hmm , Interesting !

Animals in entertainment - horse race, bull fight, cock fight. PETA says NO to all this. And also “Zoo” is a strict NO-NO. Zoos do not allow animals to exhibit their natural behaviour it seems. Come on shut the zoo ! ! Let go all the animals . Let tiger wander around the streets of the city.

Animals in clothing – Animals’ skin should not be used in Clothing. No leather, no fur says PETA.Visit http://cowsarecool.com to know more. So what to wear or carry as an accessory .Shop for products looking for buzz words like "manmade leather,” “all-manmade materials,” “pleather,” and “synthetic” ,“synthetic down,” “down alternative,” “polyester fill,” or a high-tech fabric like Primaloft .
Quite difficult ,I only look for the Price tag while shopping ;) But May be followed.

Now coming to the main point that I want to focus, ” Do not eat animals.”

Let’s say I stop eating chicken ,and KFC,McD is shut down . No one eats animals. All the humans turn Vegetarians. So the animal population keeps on growing. The plants are destroyed because all the vegetarians keep on eating them .


Remember what we studied in school science. The food chain and the ecosystem . The energy flow in the ecosystem .

The transfer of energy happens from one to another and that is how the balance is maintained in the ecosystem. series of steps of consuming and being consumed, energy flows from one trophic level to another.

The plants consume sun, animals consume plants,and human beings consume animals.. and it goes on .When I don’t consume animals what will happen to the ecological balance ?

In a world where everyone is worried about global warming, saving the planet etc why should Non-Vegetarians be the reason for creating an imbalance in the ecosystem ?

So I am not against PETA , but I am sincerely putting in all efforts to maintain ecological balance .

So is McD, KFC and all others who kill animals for enabling the ecological balance !

Point to be reinsisted. I support PETA ! Let’s stop using products that uses animals, that does testing on animals ,etc and support PETA .


PS : My favourite actor is Maddy !!! :)

I have created a poll !
It appears at the bottom of this page.
Vote ! :)

Reality shows are the "in thing" now or call it FAD of the century.They really captured the attention of people in the entire universe .

One such 'in thing' in the Britain is the "Britain's Got talent" which is the talent hunt across Britain.This program is aired in ITV and the judges being Simon Cowell(The famous American Idol's judge) ,Amanda Holden(British actor) and Piers Morgan(Newspaper editor).

I was inspired to write this blog after I hit upon this video on Youtube where talent really matters.
41 year old Susan Boyle sang in this reality show and obtained a standing ovation for her performance. The video of Susan Boyle singing was viewed million times in 72 minutes.There is already a fan club for Susan Boyle in Facebook and Wikipedia has obtained contributions too.

When Susan Boyle walked to the stage, she was mocked by everyone including the judges.When she said her dream was to become a professional singer, audience smiled (wicked smile of course)Asked where she hailed from, Simon referred her place as "Pig City".

After 2 mts, she started singin "I dreamed a dream" of Les Miserables and the judges were amazed. The entire crowd gave her a standing ovation.With her outstading performance Susan Boyle got a big YES from all three judges .

I listened to even the original Les Miserables song and I could make out no difference between the voices.

So a program where Talent really matters ,why did appearance matter? The appearence mattered not only to the audience but also to the judges. And to everyone who had the misconception,Susan Boyle proved it wrong with her outstanding talent.She was referred to "The woman who shut Simon's mouth" .

Susan boyle said to the Washington Post -
“Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example.”

“I know what they were thinking, but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest. ” said she to another magazine.


"All that glitters is not gold" ,
"Appearances are deceptive",
"Dont go by looks "
and more and more adages could now be proved true in this era too :-)

PS: Watch the talent in youtube in the following link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

The Godfather of all reality shows of the age is the "American Idol".
The season 8 of American Idol started fresh with this new year.
The judges for the show include Simon, Paula, Kara and Randy.
With overwhelming responses from all over The United States of America, there landed top 12 which after 5 weeks is now "Top 5" .
The point that instigated me to write this blog here is to mention about the Indian who was present in the show till last week.

Anoop Desai, 22 year old chap from Chaplin was one of the top performers in the show till last week and was shown his way out.
During the auditions for American Idol , Randy referred him as "Anoop Dog" .
Hold on ! He dint call Anoop a Dog because he was an Indian , he actually praised Anoop and compared him with "Snoop Dog" and hence "Anoop Dog" became famous.
Anoop doesn't have an Indian accent nor was he born in India,but he sings really well.
So here you go ! All Indian news channels and newspapers pour praise on how an Indian in shining in the American Idol.
Anoop's performance has really been improving through all the weeks. When Simon mentioned Anoop turned from "Zero" into a "Hero" , Paula and Kara always praised his voice.
Unfortunately after country wide record making vote count for this season, Anoop was shown the way out.

Lets take an example of a software engineer Mr.X . Mr.X finishes his study,obtains distinction, goes for his masters abroad and now is trying to settle down there.The entire nation (Humara Hindustan) abuses Mr.X. The voices from the people of India instigate a guilty feeling inside Mr.X .
The voices being
"Why can't young brains like Mr.X serve the nation?"
"Why can't Mr.X settle in India and bring fame to the nation? "
"Why can't Mr.X start his own software concern in India and help the younger generation?"
"Why isn't Mr.X patriotic?"
"If all youth like Mr.X leave India , where is our country heading? "

More than enough are these questions to Mr.X
So Mr.X finally settles abroad bearing all the abuses of the nation or gives up his dream and settles in India ! This is the life of Mr.X !!

Now Anoop Dog , who is an Indian , is trying to become "American Idol".
So what does the voices tell him??
"Go Anoop go" ,
" Proud to have an Indian in American Idol" (hmm,pretty interesting ain't it? ).
CNN IBN reads "Anoop shines in American Idol" .

A reality show where Indians doesn't even get to vote and where an Indian is trying to showcase his talent is to be praised here !
Where are we heading?

The American Idol gets telecasted on two days in Star World. It telecasts all the performances on Thursday and the results/eliminations is announced on Friday.
This time I heard the result on Wednesday. And it was on CNN-IBN news channel.
"Anoop Dog shown the doors out"

When there are thousands of people being killed in Sri Lanka, when the entire nation is choosing their Neta, when a school girl dies of Asthma, there is a news about the "Indian" who is trying to shine in "America".

I totally disagree to the voices of the nation that support such activities !

So here we go. Now its just AMERICANS in the American Idol.
Danny, Kris, Matt, Adam and Allison .
Who do you like? Well, Adam sings really well , but my vote goes to Kris ! :)

Happy Watching :)

These are the two articles I wrote for my office magazine and they got published !! :-)
The magazine is named "Kshitij" .
The theme for this edition was "Celebration of Women" .
So the poem is based on "Mother" and the short story is Brother and sister relationship. Hope you enjoy reading !

Post -1
Mother



I kicked her
She kissed me

I tortured her
She nurtured me

I irritated her
She educated me

I fell down
Her tears rolled down

I broke my neighbor’s flower pot
She broke her friendship with them on that spot

In her I find peace
She makes me feel at ease

The crap I talk when I am mad
She will listen even if she is sad

For me to be outstanding
It was because of her understanding

For all that she has done bearing the pain
I will make sure nothing goes in vain

To her, I have a lot of things to say
About her, springs up new thoughts everyday

Through my thick and thin
She stood by my side
To show me the way and to guide

Her unconditional love knows no end
For me, she will always be best friend

She is an angel
We bonded without any gel

It all started when I was a baby
Now that I have turned into a young lady
I will love her as always
Forever and ever.
I love you mom !

Post-2
“He and She”


Today tears came running down her cheeks.
He stood there watching her cry.
“Happy tears “he said to himself.
It was not always the same feeling he had for her.
Jealousy, care, love, hatred. He has felt all this with her.
A mixed contradiction of all feelings. Women are complex!

He recollected the first time when they fought.
It was for a very asinine reason. He hated her with all his heart.
“How adamant!” he thought.
Women are supposed to give up and be compromising.
“That is how I read in school. But she is mad “he said.
To him, she was stubborn and arrogant.

Then came a time when he grew up. She grew up with him.
She and her best friend were walking in the mall, one day.
“Your friend is cute” he said.
He could see the anger in her face.
Jealousy! Women are known for it.
“Why can’t she accept the truth?” he thought.

She had gone for a trip to Delhi.
She returned back with a gift for him.
It was a shirt. He liked it. He liked her.
He loved her. But he dint tell it out.
“Love “was one of her qualities, he realized.

He remembered the day he needed her the most. He needed her to cry and vent out his feelings. A simple “I understand “would be her reply. But still he missed her. He kept calling her. But her line was busy; At last he managed to talk to her.

It did matter to him to whom she was talking to.
“Whom were you talking to?” he asked
“Ashwin” she said.
A sense of bitter feeling ran inside him. Fighting it, he continued talking to her.
A sense of possession he had felt for her and he realized it now.
“Is he a good guy? Why should she talk to him so long?” and many more questions ran inside his mind.
But he dint tell her anything.

And today she was crying. He was amazed by the way she reacted today.
When he cried she said “Boys don’t cry”.
Her care was one he would miss in her.
She was looking very pretty in her marriage saree.
And now she was someone else’s wife.
She was going to her new home. She cried for missing mom and dad.
The bonding was tightening inside him.
But she was going away from him.

Then she came to him and patted him.
She managed to smile at him amidst her tears.
He let her go.
“Love you sister” he said to himself.
Tears rushed out from his eyes too.
For in all sisters and in all mothers, there is a beautiful woman.
Woman who is an epitome of love, care, understanding, sacrifice, patience, virtues, jealousy, arrogance, attitude and of all.
Woman is a miracle of divine contradictions !!

It was during the last week I got to know that there is no word such as “Prepone”.
The opposite of postpone is “Advance”.
I didn’t accept this fact initially, but then I googled and hit upon someone else’s blog where the person had explained about this. From there I browsed through a couple of links and landed upon this wiki page on “Indian English”.

Quite funny are the things that are mentioned. Lets have a look.
Grammar tweaks:
Anglicisation of Indian words especially in Chennai by adding "ify" to a local Tamil word.
Eg: Did u oothify ink to your pen ?
I will pazhivaangify him !
My god, I have used these words so often in school days . lol.

Tag questions: The use of "isn't it?" "no?" “na” “uh” as general question tags,
You are going isn’t it ?
Hey coming no ?
Too cold na ?? - Use this and you will considered a person who knows good English :)
Ready uh?

People from South Indian state mainly Karnataka have the habbit of adding "U" to all english words when speaking Kannada.
Eg.LeftU for left , BusU for Bus.
I thought people from Andhra use it !!

Use of yaar, machaa, abey, arey in an English conversation between Indians.

Use of the plural ladies for a single lady or a woman of respect,
In Saroja movie, when Premji comes with the heroine , Shiva asks
“hey yaaruda intha ladies” :P
I thought it was for us to laugh, but now I got to know it is for respect :P

Use of "current went" and "current came" (also, "light went" and "light came") for "The power went out" and "The power came back"
“Current went” is more preferable and easy to use . isn’t it ? ahh.. Typical Indian I am.

Use of "y'all" for "you all" or "all of you", as used in Southern American English, especially by Anglo-Indians.
I thought this was a style statement when you write mails J

Overuse of the words "Generally"/"Actually"/"Obviously"/"Basically" in the beginning of a sentence.
Actually what I am trying to tell you is that generally Indians use these words.
Basically it is not their problem. Obviously everyone knows that.

Use of the word "gift" as a verb : You are gifting me a new cell phone?
So how do I say when someone gifts me something ;-)

In South India, phrases such as "that and all", or "this and all" are used roughly to convey the meaning "all of that (stuff)" or "regarding that".
A: "Are they really going around?"
B: "That and all I don't know. I just got the news."

Use of "chumma chumma" (Tamil:it means simply) at the beginning of a sentence.
Chumma don’t give me a reason .

Unnecessary repetition of a word to stress on the general idea. Used mostly with words like Yes No Right Ok etc.,
She has attitude. Yes No. Right . OK. Fine . See you.

Casual references:
"Hill Station" means mountain resort.
"Hotel" means "restaurant
My goodness ! they are casual references ??!!

Some words I leant after coming to Bangalore:
Use of the word "chal" to mean the interjection "Ok",
Eg: "Chal, I gotta go now" at the end of a phone call
“Chalo .See you tomorrow. Bye”

Use of T-K in place of O.K. when answering a question
Eg: "Would you like to come to the movie?" – "T-K, I'll meet you there


Words unique to or originating in Indian English (in formal usage)
to prepone (to advance, literally the opposite of 'postpone') – And I came to the point now :)
mugging or mugging up (studying hard or memorising, - This is one good term I learnt in School though I never practised.
pass-out to graduate from college – I am a 2007 passout.
would-be (fiancé/fiancée)
co-brother indicates relationship between two men who married sisters.
'bla bla bla' to denote etc. or meaningless trivial conversation -

Colloquial and slang words used in Indian English
buck (Rupee.) - I thought this was American :)
Fundashort for fundamental
fundu or fundoo - great. Someone who has good fundas is fundu.
enthu, a short form for 'enthusiasm' or 'enthusiastic'.
despo, a short form for 'desperate'.
senti, a short form for 'sentimental'.
"Deadly", "hi-fi", "sexy"
"Gone for a toss", to mean something got ruined.
freaking out - used (loosely) in place of "..having a good time

All these college slangs are unique Indian English.
So no harm in using them :)
TK . Chal. Meet you in next blog. Chumma don’t read and go off.
Leave comment ok .
Actually, I type adichified with great difficulty. :)

Its Diwali and I hear distant sounds of crackers.

Time for a little retrospection – I remember the time when I  was in school, Diwali was the most memorable festival for me. The bursting of crackers starts a few days before the festival. In the night, when all our neighbors start first with their flowerpots, followed by rockets the happiest times begin with a great pleasure. My mom used to wake us(me and my bro) up early in the morning( Early is not less than 6 or 7 o clock for us ;-) ) And apply oil in the head and we fight who has to go and take bath first. My mom prepares lots of festival sweets like muruku,adhirasam etc and it is not to be touched before prayer. We would be waiting for the prayer to get over so that we can take and start munching them ;-) I am not an eatomania either.  But still diwali muruku was not to be missed !

The strong competition starts between all our neighbors on the day of Diwali. Who bursts the highest number of crackers, who bursts all the high-end cracker (for e.g. atom bomb) and who bursts without any fear. I was one person who had always feared for bursting crackers. My dad used to shout from the balcony “Come on go and keep the fire”. But then when I near the cracker, the same time someone in the next house would come for doing the same. And then the fear starts gripping me and I take my step back. For to stand behind the gate and look at the cracker being burst by someone else. Always it used to be so much fun watching different people bursting crackers all over the street. At around 11 o clock the street calms down, we used to hear sounds only from a distance.

Then we start watching programs in Television where you hear the same sound from all houses. Everyone trying to have his or her TV’s volume the maximum.

I remember the first time when I burst an atom bomb. I kept fire and ran off at least a 100 meters fearing what would happen to me – The first and the last time it happened was in 1998. Now 10 years later I am sitting inside my house watching television and listening to the distant sounds of crackers. No entertainment. Just hearing sounds and a few sights of some children in the apartment who are holding sparkles and bursting a little lightweight crackers.

And in the night colorful rockets adorn the sky and it is just an awesome sight to watch.

Yea ! I only watch.

Diwali dress was also very special those days. I would be waiting for the D-day to wear my new dress and roam around the area for one whole day. Now I get a dress whenever I feel like buying it, and no occasion needed to wear it. And today’s diwali dress is happily sitting inside my cupboard.

Times haven’t changed Only we have changed.

Still the children near my old area would burst crackers the same way as I did , there would be someone who is very strong , someone who is fearless and someone who is not, someone who bursts the highest number and someone who merely watches.

Anyways, it’s diwali and a little nostalgia in me does no harm.

I read somewhere that Diwali is a time when the darkness inside your soul should be lightened by the light of the crackers and sparkles. The best time to get out of depression by watching all the light around us.  So a great festival indeed !

Happy Diwali :)

Provoked to write this blog after watching the movie “Jodha Akbar “. (Similarities to Sharma and Symonds regretted :) )

The history of Mughal Emperors is quite astounding.
I learnt history in school, but none seemed to teach me all these.
The list of emperors goes like below.

BABUR -- HUMAYUN -- AKBAR -- JAHANGIR – SHAHJAHAN – AURANGAZEB—BAHADUR SHAH --- …

None of these emperors lived with single wife. I guess it is a shame for them if they had only one wife earlier. Starting from the story of Akbar.

Akbar was the greatest emperor among the Mughal emperors.
He has done a lot of good to people and so is highly honored.
Akbar married three Mughal princesses and one Rajput princess. Total Count =4 :)
Her name was Mariam-uz-Zamani née Hira Kunwari and was also known as Jodha Bai, not in her lifetime but later.
According to the film “Jodha Akbar” their love is great,pure, gentle and Akbar not only won people’s heart being a good king but also his wife’s heart. Wow...

Next comes his son Jahangir. He is also known as Salim.
Now everyone knows Salim –Anarkali story.
Anarkali was a normal courtress. But still Salim liked her because she was very beautiful.Akbar was against their love and some sad incidents happened and it ended Salim Anarkali story.
Jahangir had three wives then. History quotes one of his favorite wives is Princess Manmathi who is Shahjahan’s mother. But even after this Jahangir was attracted towards Nur Jahan because of her appealing beauty.
Salim – anarkali Salim –manmathi Salim –Nur Jahan .
All three are pure love ;)

Succeeding him comes the hero of the Mughal kingdom Shahjahan .He is very famous for he built a mahal in memory of his love Mumtaz. But he had 2 wives before marrying Mumtaz and 6 wives after Mumtaz. 2+1+6. Yea you got it right. Its 9.
But Shahjahan – Mumtaz love is said to one of the greatest love in the history
And Taj Mahal is a symbol of love built by a person who had 9 wives.

Shahjahan was succeeded by his son Aurangzeb who had only four wives. The count has considerably reduced in his period. No offence meant.

And controversy about Jodha being Akbar’s daughter –in –law rather his wife. History says Jodha was never known as Jodha Bai in her lifetime. One of Jahangir’s wives was also known as Jodh Bai. (shahjahan's mother )
And only because of this confusion, this controversy has spread.

Now which is pure love, which is true love and which is the greatest love ???
History rocks!

It was during the Team Introduction that such a question was put in front of me.
“What would have you been if you were not a software engineer? “
I wonder. I wonder. I keep wondering.
And startlingly some ten thoughts came to my mind.

TEACHER
Yes. A school teacher .Playing with the little kids, teaching them, grooming and bringing them up. Sigh... give up...

LECTURER
Teach budding youngsters. Have fun with them and. enjoy
And always remain nostalgic about my good old college days.

RADIO JOCKEY
Yup. This is still an ongoing ambition for me.
I wanted to yell out ‘Good morning people of Chennai’. Radio mirchi or Radio city who minds. Someone please gimme a chance :)

JOURNALIST
Don’t you make out from my blog that I quite fit that job??

REPORTER
This is Jayachithra reporting from Chennai for CNN-IBN‘s cover story
Shessh…

SINGER
At least one song. AR Rahman... Read my blogggggggg: D
I know you will want to kick me now. Can’t help it. :)

And the most main thing.
DOCTOR
Yea yea… I had such high scores and everyone expected me to become a doctor.
Thank god. World is saved. Hehe...

Now I am a Software Engineer. Hitting my keyboard and glued to my monitor.
And there is nothing more to add to this.
I know it is the same case with you too.
Different ambitions, different desires, but different destinations.
But all is well... :)

Dedicated to SAP Labs India.


She was mighty.
She stood in front of me.
I was looking at her with wide eyes.
She had a welcoming face.
She was majestic .
I wasn't sure if she was going to welcome me again.
I plainly left her and walked away.
I missed her.
I Wanted to adorn her again.
I wanted her to call me.she did.yes she did !
It was a place where thousands of people walked in with ambitions
To make their life successful.
Where great minds met each other
And innovations blossomed.
People exchanged thoughts and built carreer.
I was a kid in this world.
Corporate world was new.
Bangalore was new .
I sensed no familiarity with anyone around
But she welcomed me.
I was sure to smile back at her
for she defined my destiny.
My stepping stone of success.
It was in one of those hottest days of summer
when i had come for my interview.
she seemed great.
And now i see raindrops fighting to adorn her.
she is still appealing.
With trainings ,knowlegde transfers ,meetings and discussions,
here goes a long way for me with my sculptor !

Then
It was then when a friend was much ‘in need’ to listen to my most interesting (also boring) story. The wait starts from the time I reach college, awaiting my friend, only to bunk the class and talk in the canteen.Catching up no time to complete it, we chat online after returning home and sending sms and still passing bit papers during class hours and completing the story the next day!

Now
With a high speed LAN or wireless connection in office, I login to find my friend online.
And even before opening to tell her a hi, her status changes from “Available” to “Idle”.
The wait continues for the status change and once attained, the reply I get on buzzing is “BRB- Be Right Back “and the status cycle repeats.

Friend: i am back.
Me: wait for 5 minutes.


PS: Written after my friend logged out, when the 5 minutes wait time ended 45 minutes ago!!

PG - The thought that strikes on hearing this is not Post Graduation but Paying Guest.The no of Paying Guest accommodation can be found more than the number of houses in Bangalore.

“Guest” – a term highly valued right from the age of Thiruvalluvar who quotes “Virunthombal” meaning “Hospitality” -Taking care of guest at one’s place.The kind of privilege treatment given to a guest at one’s place is known to all.What if the same guest comes, enjoys all the honors and also pays ? Royal Treatment !!

If you have such a mindset about PG .Come on ! Wake up. Eat Britannia and Think better !! :)

In spite of paying, the guest doesn’t get proper treatment. More than the owner, the maids in these places show their dominance over the PGs. They neither give a proper response when you ask to switch on the motor nor even lend an ear when you ask for something.My friend has shifted to the 3^rd PG in 3 months. And the food’s taste has gone only from bad to worse. You are lucky if you get good roomies [So what’s in my case ? lol]

I stay in a pg. I share my room with three girls and a few cockroaches and ants too :)

There are a few pg accommodations where an apartment is shared between 6 or 8 and home made food is provided with all facilities. And also goes the other extreme where even a kitchen is made into a room and shared between two people. Business tactics :P

But pgs are much safer and secure for girls compared to rented apartments.A pg where you are provided with food (intolerable at a very few times though) , maid to clean the rooms, good roomies to adjust, and in a good area nearer to your office , then believe me you are in the right place.

If some of you think of shifting to a house because of the some of the below reasons, then here are a few things you can re-consider .

BAD FOOD

The food will be far better than putting all our pain(after returning from tiring office work) in cooking and getting something worse than the present one prepared by maid.

COCKROACHES

Cockroaches doesn’t know if it’s a PG accommodation or its an apartment. Even my friend who stays in a posh apartment has this problem. This is nothing to do with pg owner or your room.

SPACE INSUFFICIENT

If you need space, go to terrace.

Note: Warren Buffet stays at a 2 bedroom apartment which he says is enough for his family.

NO SIGNAL

The problem is with the service provider and not with the room.

Switch to Vodafone ;)

POWER CUTS

This happens not only with your pg accommodation but anywhere and everywhere in any city. Check out ‘The Hindu’ page 2 for more news on power cut regrets everyday.

COMPLAINTS

If your PG owner took two days to change your bad tube light to a good one. Stop thinking. We would have taken a week to first track down the electrical shop ourselves.

Enjoy maadi !!

Moving to a new place never meant SO MUCH to Me. Yeah it’s all-new.With lots of advices and wishes I am set for moving on! :)

SET?? Ahem. This cannot be from tip to toe true .I have no mood to move on! I am just lazing around in my home, and now its all very tough!

Packing to an out-station for tours and trips just stopped with taking up all necessary stuffs like dress, paste-brush-soap, comb, etc. But now the list seems to be completely long including vim, surf, hanger, clips, clock, etc., etc. Why not it includes my passions –Books and Music.

I make sure my mp3 player is loaded with all my favorite collections, my pen drive, digital camera and its battery charger is in. Call Me a Technical Savvy! I wanted to have a video I-pod (will get in august probably).

Name it Technological Development!

I read an article in today’s paper classifying youth into two categories - those who are equipped with all tech gadgets & gizmos and the second “the wannabe’s”. Yeah! Technical gadgets seem to have taken over our life and define self and no exceptions are made for me.

Moving to one of the advanced cities (read: Bangalore) in India, I don’t know how it’s all going to be for me. Catching trains or buses to come home during the long awaited weekends has already become my nightmares! The climate in Chennai is cool (!!) and I assure everyone that this is how Bangalore is going to be. Assurances apart but I WILL miss home like hell (understatement!!) and why not my good ol’ Chennai!

So keeping this post short and will get back to you with my musings at the new city sooner!