Rambling thoughts of a second rate mind

the last now

2011-12-31T22:25:00.002+05:30

Hmm..

So, 2011 is coming to a close.. Oh well, It's been an eventful year.. Did lots of things I never thought I'd do.. Did lots of things I've never done before..

Some real good things,

some okay things,

some nonsensical things.

Saw friends rejoice, saw friends cry.

Saw them rise up and take charge.

It's been an agreeable year. :D

2012, let's see what you have in store.

Hmmm..

2011-11-06T21:20:00.002+05:30

A: Where?

B: Who?

A: When?

B: Why?

A: Which?

B: Witch?

A: Where?!

B: What?

A: Watt?

B: What watt?

A: Power?

B: No!

A: No power!

B: Why?

A: Wai?

B: Noodles?

A: Rice!

B: Dude?

A: Dude!

B: Duude!

A: Hmm.. Alright!

PonDays

2011-10-09T00:44:00.003+05:30

So, I’ve moved here, in search of a new phase in my life. And with so much hope I come here so that this new phase would start with energy and pace that things fall in to place as we go along.

Yet, all my studies in to conflict resolution and conflict management always told me, when you plan, plan to meet the worst case scenarios.

And so, Day 1, I end up living in a lodge, and reaching the uni paying close 250 rupees one way for travel.

I figure out that arranging my stay is easier said than done, and we realize that I’d be staying the lodge, which of course is ‘cheap’ too at 400 a day, for quite a few more days.

Oh, well, it can’t be that bad can it? Paid another 250 go back from the uni, and hoped that everything would be alright soon.

Ended up staying in the lodge for 5 days, and a friend said he was going home for the weekend, so I could stay in his room in the Hostel till he came back. Oh well, it ain’t bad. Just that there is no reception in this room!! I mean, it’s almost like they designed this building with the aim of keeping students away from everything. Not to mention that it’s only about 4kms from the main gate to where the hostel is. It’s a jungle out here!!

Oddly enough, should I step out of the room and go the entrance of the building, the signal is received and the Wi-Fi starts to work again. Apparently, 60% of signal strength isn’t good enough to be connected to the net. Sigh!

On the up side, I’ve been talking to a couple of friends a lot more than ever before. I don’t know if I’ve become a pain to them calling them so often. Oh well, time will tell.

In between all of this, in the frustration of not being able to get a place of my own till now, I was able to misplace my wallet. And for a couple of hours I had managed to lose my PAN card, my driving license the original and the photocopy, my college ID cards, all my banking cards including the credit card and some cash! I was broken, I even thought of just picking up my bags and going back to b'lore, deal with everything and then come here when everything was set up. Yes! I was thinking of quitting! Pondy had not been kind to me at all!

Luckily I was able to trace the wallet and that left me a whole lot more thankful for my situation than before. I knew then that things could go worsen even more!

On the plus side, I find that there those who are willing to help me find places, and also to teach me the ropes on how Pondi works. At least, I’ll have people to hang out with when I get bored. Yay!

I’m reassured, by them and tiny personal experiences (yes, already!) that here too, like everywhere else, bureaucracy plays that wonderful role of making you do their work, and slowing any progress at all imaginable levels.

I wonder, is there a class that all bureaucrats go to? Somewhere where they learn that you should not do your work and make other people’s lives miserable?

Oh well, such is our glorious education system, and Amartya Sen wonders why Indian varsities didn’t make it in the top 200 list of the World!!

Come talk to me Mr. Sen, I’ll show you ways on how to ensure Nalanda is different from others in India. It doesn’t help if you just ensure a good syllabus and a good academic output from the students, there’s more to it!! And what’s our HRD ministry doing? Oh, I forgot, Big B runs it! I’d advise everyone to watch Yes Minister, it truly portrays how government is run! If it’s wrong, let the government defend itself and show us how!

I can assure you it won’t be able to. Anyways, I’m off on a tangent on that.

Pondy looks to provide so many opportunities to me, and I hope to make full use of it. I just hope I don’t lose sight, nor get weighed down by unnecessary paper work.

I’m sure I’ll be inspired to write more here.

Oh, on the plus side, the crisis my friend was in is over. On the downside, it’s torn her up inside.

We’re here for you love; we’ve got all the tape in the world. ((H))

Leaving..

2011-10-01T15:52:00.002+05:30

Over the years, I have realised that I have grown apart from people.

Having had this knowledge, there was some effort made recently to try to get close to people and have people closer to me.

And while this is good, it is also sometimes a painful experience.

The pain comes when you need to leave all of what has been built because of circumstances you are in.

I now find myself moving from 'here' to my next destination.

I'm just hoping I don't grow distant, get away, or lose what has been briefly opened up in my short stay 'here'.

As excited as I am about moving to a new town, as excited as I am about all the new possibilities that await me, and places this would help me reach,

I feel sad about leaving. I'm afraid of leaving. I'm afraid of this feeling that everything is slowly slipping out of my grips.

Either this extremely sleepy state is making me think like this, or I'm no longer the cold blooded distant human being I thought I was. Oh well, time will tell, or these thoughts will influence how time will tell me the story.

Life as of now, or always?

2011-09-26T23:19:00.005+05:30

Good things seem to be around the corner.

There is hope it'll come to fruition.

A sight of God is blessed for the believer. The faith in God when he isn't seen, even greater rewarded.

And all in all, when all is done, peace resounds.

The hearts are content, but this they soon forget.

Sigh!

2011-09-21T00:14:00.002+05:30

After a long time, today, I feel like writing something here.

I don't know why, but I do.

It's been an interesting time. And a lot of things have happened.

But now, more importantly, I think this is just cause I feel like I need to get some things out.

A friend of mine is going through a lot now. And I know there is much I can do to help her. I would consider myself a good friend, and would love to help her as much as I can and even more. Unfortunately, time did take us apart, and I don't know whether she'd be open to opening up to me after so long.

There's so much I want to do for her. It breaks me to see her cry. To see her sad.

The situation is complicated further by my own inhibitions. I'm not what you call a good conversationalist. It's not my forte to talk about how I feel. Especially when it comes to other people.

I've been told that I'm a good listener. It's mostly because its hard for me to talk, and mostly cause I enjoy listening. It allows me to connect with the person.

I've been told that I'm a good mediator. I guess so, but, this I believe that is largely due to my listening. It's an essential when mediating. I believe that those who believe in mediation will allow for themselves to find a solution. I'm nothing but a tool.

But even here, its not my way to go poke my nose in to the lives of other people. I do what I can when asked to do something.

I'm caught between these two worlds. To help actively or to stand on the side, offer my support to her. To remain in my forte or change who I am to see my friend smile again. I'm open to change, but will this hurt some of the sentiments of my friend.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Why do tears hurt so much?

An open letter to all my school friends

2011-09-06T09:18:00.000+05:30

I know that I am not the one to preach about keeping in touch and hence I will not. I find myself and every endeavour of mine to keep in touch with my school friends a complete and utter failure.

Let me start off by saying, I'm truly sorry! From the bottom of my heart, I truly am.

To the friends I've made and haven't kept in touch, I don't know what to say, I haven't forgotten you, I never will. You have played a part in who I have become.

To the friends I've made and hardly kept in touch, I treasure every small conversation, every small meeting we've had.

To the friends I've made and kept in touch, I should do a better job, I'm sorry for leaving you out in the cold.

To those who made me their friend, I thank you. There's nothing in this world like a friend. I'm proud that you may call me one, and I you.

To everyone, I'm a jerk, and really bad at keeping in touch. I am lucky that I've had the pleasure to meet a couple of you during vacations, and spend time with you, as if, there was no gap between the last day of school and the day we met.

To all, I'm truly thankful for who you are, who you've made me, and who we all are together.

Thanks. (Some of you may say that there are no "thank you"s between friends, but I don't believe in that, to everybody their role needs to be acknowledged, or something on those lines)

For all those who thought I had moved on, and forgotten all of you, that is something I can never imagine myself doing.

From me to you, I say I'm sorry.

Yours,
Me

To all those I couldn't tag, I hope this message reaches you in good health

Christmas eve dinner

2010-12-31T18:58:00.002+05:30

Talking to a friend about what a friend of mine and I had for dinner on Christmas eve.

"we started with a chicken soup which was more than just good..
moved on to the main course of naans and murg (something)
can't remember the name..
oh wait.. murg kala mirch
from the name, u can guess of course the presence of black pepper and green peppers..
u could taste the spice, but it wasn't over bearing..
the semi gravy nature went well with the naans
we then moved on to the rice.. a rice with pieces of vegetables in it and with the cheese melting in it adding an extra zing to the rice..
we had this with butter chicken..
it had a nice thick gravy with soft pieces of chicken cut into medium strips..
both the gravy and the rice gelled together with the butter accentuating the taste of the rice and the chicken..
literally stuffing ourselfs in, we were able to wash this down with a couple of glasses of water which seemed as refreshing as ever.
and obliging the waiter, we'd pass the option for desert and we asked for the bill"

Something i should have entered a long time ago..

2010-11-22T23:20:00.002+05:30

So, I've started walking (literally, I was at my friend's place), it's the beginning to another chapter in my life.. Who knows what lies ahead.. some would call it the mathius chronicles.. heh!

Under the moonlight and of course the highly unavoidable street lights, i trudged along slowly, a more fitting confident walk evading my body, I was drawn to the bright lights of the portal, we refer to as the bus stand, like a moth to the moon.. :) and lo, I've reached :)

Or have I?

Management and Baba blacksheep.. :)

2010-11-11T20:39:00.001+05:30

Baba Blacksheep was one of the pioneers in management..

You could think of him as one of those early Pundits!

Don't believe me?

Why do you think he was called Baba then? :P

Bullshit and Mal!

2010-11-10T23:11:00.002+05:30

R: So.. One of my friends came and told me that he learnt a word of Malayalam.. And he said that he learnt what bullshit in Mal was..

G: (curious) Uh.. what did he say?

R: Kala theetum!

G: SEY WHAAATTT??!! heh!! no way!!

R: yea.. that's what he said.. and he said that the next he was in an argument and was pissed off, he'd say that and be happy.. Although I advised him against it.. I mean.. who uses bullshit in mal? we have a whole host of other words that we'd rather use...

G: hmm.. ur right..

R: I mean.. think about.. have u ever heard someone go.. "Enthuvado? Eethelam kala theetum aa-do!"

G: heh.. come to think of it.. wouldn't kala theetum be actually called chanagum?

R: hmmm.. fine.. even then.. who's heard of "Enthuvado? Eethelam chanagum aa!"

G: hehehe... true...

To a person I once knew

2010-09-22T23:10:00.001+05:30

Where are you?
A question that you have heard a lot of us ask
I am no different,
Where are you?

How are you?
A question that you have heard a lot of us ask,
I am no different
How are you?

I miss you,
Something that u must have heard a lot of us say,
I am no different,
I miss you too.

Yet, I pray that you are well,
That you have found yourself,
And above all,
That you are happy,

I miss you smile,
Your laughter,
Your constant chatter,
Which for some reason you always apologize for,
I miss your warmth,
I miss the person that you are

And in this I hope I'm like everyone else,
But if not, I'm glad for the way I am..

Huggs

Conversations with the other side

2010-08-11T02:23:00.001+05:30

S: Anyways..i'm workin on my seminar..gettin nowhere though...

M: Ushoo! Seminar and all! :) :) wat's it on? Pulling the plug on coma patients? Or why a coma is a coma?

S:Yeah the second one....its a real hott topic among the medical fraternity...

M: Wow! Right on the money! Either that or the whole medical fraternity is obsessed wit death! Such a dark and depressing profession! Sigh..

S: Yes...we are health suckin..money slurping zombees...YES WE ARE!!

M: And rarely do anything musical like michael jackson!! Hmph!

S: Oh we're more into artists like marylyn manson n megadeath...

M: Megadeath i can so understand.. The name says it all! You evil evil person!

S: Oh Yeah....thats what we're all about....ha ha ha ha(heard echoing)

M: (Shudder! Shiver.. Hears a distant scream.. Raises one eyebrow..) uh.. Hmmm.. Ya.. Well..

some somethings

2010-07-01T04:03:00.002+05:30

"stop acting like one of those college educated hippies who think corps are a reason to rebel and rebel by smoking pot!"

"why are all traditional emiticons in yellow?? were all the designers inspired by the simpsons??"

"Get that whatchyumaycallit of my thingamajg!! And do it yesterday!!"

Peanut butter and Jam sandwich

2010-06-23T10:08:00.002+05:30

For some reason it all reminds me of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Actually a chunky peanut butter and jam sandwich.
It's like this, life has its sweet moments and its just normal uneventful moments. And once in a while, you'll have some hard moments. Moments that you just need bite your way through.
But all of these moments happen, sandwiched between the comforting hold of your parents, friends and other forms of support. And is ultimately put there by God, who knows what is good for you.

Hmm! okay, I'm hungry now. Maybe more after my next meal!! :D

"but honey! we dont talk.. lets talk!"

2010-05-04T00:25:00.002+05:30

women go up to the guy and say..
"u never talk to me.. come.. lets talk.. "

so the guy says.. "alright sweety.. lets talk.. wat do u wanna talk about?"

GIRL: "i dunno.. anything.. "

GUY: "really? u dont know? and wats anything? tell me.. really.. wat do u wanna talk about?"

GIRL: "yea.. anything.. for the sake of talking.. lets talk.."

GUY: "okay.. lets talk about something.. go ahead.. start off.. "

GIRL: "uh.. hmmm.. okay.. really?? but nothing is coming to my mind.. "

GUY: "hmm.. that is a problem.. now wat do to?"

GIRL (Thinks and then) : "i dunno.. maybe i should go out and come back.. i'll call the girls and see what they're doing.."

GUY: "okay honey... they must be at the mall or something.. u go have a good time and come back.. "

GIRL: "okie baby.. bye.. love u.. "

GUY: "love u too.. bye"

end of trying to talk about something/anything/nothing much..

P.S. Guy gets back what he was doing in the beginning, not bothering about what just happened. All's well for the guy, and lets hope for the guy's sake, for the girl as well.. :D

shoes..

2010-04-03T08:46:00.002+05:30

i dont know if i have written about this before.. but if i have.. i write this to re-emphasize my point..

shoes are meant to be comfortable..

women.. this is to u.. why would u like to torture yourself??

yes.. i know they look 'cute' aww... but they gonna kill ur feet!! and then we'd be saying.. aww.. there there.. to try to get ur feet to work..

stop killing ur feet!! get something comfortable to wear.. i'm pretty sure there are comfortable shoes that look cute.. and can be worn with that dress u want to wear/that u want to buy when u have the money or some such thing!!

or.. stop complaining.. and complete the whole walk!! :P

hehe..

alright.. enough of my ranting/rambling..

rummble rummble rummble.. (South Park!! heh!! )

uuhh..

2010-03-28T14:52:00.001+05:30

**DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN NOT STOMACH BAD JOKES!! ERGO THIS IS A BAD JOKE! **

Q: Why are some college students not their best in summer?

A: Cos their spring broke!

Told you so.. :D :P

The weather..

2010-03-27T11:13:00.001+05:30

Partly Lazy with a pinch of lazy to add that extra sass, with a slight shift to lazy by the afternoon and moderate to slight lazy by night..
sigh!! what weather??!

the something that moved me..

2010-03-01T18:46:00.001+05:30

Well.. all this while I didn't write about anything as frankly.. my mind wasn't rambling anything..

it was pretty much dormant and sleeping all this while.. quite a long hibernation if you ask me..

but I guess.. of late, its started rambling again.. a couple of things did come to mind.. even a nice story.. however, the story being told, its been heard as well.. so.. lets not go there..

And otherwise, I was waiting for something to move me, like it usually has before i jot it down here for all to see..

Mannie actually asked me whether i was going to put something up soon, to which i gave him the usual reply that "nothing has moved me yet", and he asked me of my recent past and wondered whether there was something there that i could write about..

well.. it just so happened that for the past couple of months, I've been in b'lore almost every other weekend, it almost became routine such that some people thought i had moved back to b'lore..

It was when i was reminded of that my mind murmured.. WHEELS!! now that is definitely something that has moved me.. Moved me and whole bunch of people in the world for ages..

ah! the humble wheel, so much history, and yet it remains undoubtedly one of the most important inventions of man.

I can see it function everyday, and if it wasn't for the wheel, I'd be having a really hard time.. not to mention everyone who's reading this as well..

In our pursuits for many of the unnecessary things in life, we always depend on this one invention, and most of us also dream about owning that special set of "wheels".. in our everyday pursuits, when stuck in the endless traffic of b'lore, we think nothing of the precious wheel.. unless that traffic jam is caused by a truck who's tyre was punctured in the middle of the road.. and even then, rarely do we think more than "oh.. a flat.. okay.." and we move along listening to the radio as the humble wheel turns and helps us move along..

Although, not always will the wheel of the bus go round and round.. if the jetsons are an indication of how the future will be, we'll see very few wheels unless Rosies are in every house..

and if Star Trek and Star Gate have any say, then teleporting will be the new way people would pursue those dreams they have.. (hmmm.. wonder what they'd call it if there were jams will u were teleporting somewhere.. it'd be quite a fruity affair don't u think??)

anyhow.. to all those who are trying to get teleporting functioning.. i wish u the best.. to the rest who are trying to change the energy we use to keep those wheels moving i wish u too the best.. and of course to the larger group of humanoids that use all the conventional means to have the wheels moving and dream of their own wheels.. i wish u the best as well.. :D

Well.. what can i say... this is something that definitely did move me.. i think it moved u too.. well.. if not.. it did keep u in place for some time.. :D

God and time??

2010-01-02T15:07:00.002+05:30

I just read a status message that read..
"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves"..
but u know.. its time.. that goes.. n comes.. sort of an omnipotent feel to it all.. so I was thinking that God also has that kind of a feel to it.. u know.. being Omnipotent and all..
So is God time?

"time heals all wounds"? God heals them? do me a favour and put some more such lines that we have all heard about time.. maybe we'd see a relation.. u think?

greasing the cogs

2009-12-31T14:11:00.002+05:30

Yea.. so.. it's been a long time since I have written anything.. no excuses there.. but to tell you the truth.. as I was mentioning this to a friend.. I didn't write cos I wasn't moved about anything to write..

So why this post now? on the eve of a new year.. is this some special argument.. some special understanding of what is happening around me? some special rendition of thoughts that have moved me after I have landed here?? No.. nothing of that sort..

Just that.. I was moved yesterday.. considerably.. After a long wait the paper that I had written was rejected for publishing.. so.. after hearing the wonderful news I am just hoping that this year filled with events that I would all too fondly forget, that I would be greeted with a more better year with events that are for the better than anything else..

Yet, in relation to this blog, I'm still looking for things that I would call worthy to be put up to be shared with everyone else..

Although, with the right lens, all of life is worthy to be shared, right now, I am not of the state of mind nor of the inclination to wear that lens, :P

so till then.. ciao

A Happy New year to all, and I pray for a better year for all of us than the one we just had..

YAWN!!!!

2009-08-06T22:38:00.000+05:30

YAWN!!!! zzzzzz!!!

the evil birds!!

2009-08-03T16:50:00.002+05:30

So i said something about crows.. and i know that they are intelligent.. but smart enough to read my blog?? i doubt it!!

I had a test today in the university, and i was writing it in the department's library. So while i was busy writing things about conflict resolution and what it was, an irate crow suddenly flies in to the department and perches itself on the wall right outside the department and the library's door, and starts peeping in. It hops twice to the left, twice to the right, looks about, as if it is taking measurements of the place.. clears its throat, looks at me, and starts croaking!! and after making a couple of other sounds as well, which i guess could be clubbed under the general sound of cawing!!

The bird seemed to be eloquent and giving a speech as moving as Obama's victory speech, a couple of minutes after all was said, or rather cawed, the bird turned around and flew off!!

In the mean time, I lost time on the test, and lost my thoughts on how to resolve a conflict. Stupid bird!! Like i said before, never there when u want one, always one when u dont!

the crow in the tree

2009-08-01T15:29:00.004+05:30

so apparently, the last post wasnt all that welcomed by some people.. Pah!! how picky ppl get?! And so, i asked one of those disgruntled readers wat i should write about so that it would make it their while.. and so i got a reply saying, "Anything!!, just go write about the crow in the tree!!"

And so, thats what i decided to do.

Looking out of the window, i looked on to the tree, trying to figure out whether there was crow somewhere in there, and to my dismay i couldnt find any.

So , not to let my reader down, i decided to take a little walk to try to find a crow in a tree. Sigh!! little did i know that crows share a characteristic with the Police, when u need them, they're never around!! and when not required, they make sure that u know they are there!!

I walked around the block trying to find that loud horrible black bird so famous for being generous in blessing motorists, that it almost became a wonder why i didnt find a single bird! maybe they were all taking a ciesta! but i didnt care, i needed something to write about..

so i thought, they bless clean vehicles, so i cleaned my bike, n waited in hiding, the crow as usual was a no show! i took my bike out and went for a drive, did i find any crows sitting in a tree?? NOPE!! they all just vanished..

so maybe there was some sort of natural calamity that was coming to chennai, u know how animals and birds are about these things? they go all weird and stuff.. so i came back up, and started looking up various weather networks on the possibility of another cyclone or tsunami hitting chennai.. and as soon as i zoomed in to satellite images of chennai and live weather conditions and temperatures, i got a jolt when i heard a sound right outside my window.. CAW!! CAW!! Stupid little crow!! didnt get volume control wen it was born!!

blasted thing, i shooed it away.. n now its gone back to join the cacophony of the birds outside, graced by the occasional honk of an irate taxi driver!

n with that the crow in the tree was nothing but a walk in the afternoon when i should have been sleeping..

so now i guess i should be catching up on that.. :D

2 or not 2

2009-08-01T13:46:00.002+05:30

well, its about time i wrote something here.. boy, has it been long!! i was supp to write something when i went i Kuwait.. because its one time that i get loads of time to write, to think, to analyze, to share with everyone how i truly see the world!

hehe.. hmmm.. so much for that happening.. I ended up writing something that isnt going to see the light of day for quite a very long time.. sigh.. and it isnt coming here till i think its right.. and it isnt the right time for that either!!

oh.. yes.. the title of this blog entry and the relation of that to wat i am about to write is absolutely nothing.. and if at all there is one.. it happened out of pure coincidence..

2 or not 2 does not relate to whether i was thinking whether i should have two phone or not.. i already do.. n sometimes i wonder i need them.. not that they are doing me any good nowadays...

it does not relate to whether i was going to have two apple martinis or not.. nor does it relate to whether i was thinking about downing two bottles of wine or not..

so wat was it that i was gonna say.. oh yea... that.. uh.. no no..

thats not wat i was gonna say.. damn it!! i forgot wat i was gonna say..

or did i??

ah.. well.. till i get some more thoughts that are slow enough to be typed or written down or something..

i guess i should stop now.. :D

Nostalgia!!

2009-06-02T01:20:00.002+05:30

It always a wonderful thing to think about old stuff.. remember the good ol' times.. talk with friends about events, places, people,.. "hey! you remember when.... it was so much fun..".

Isn't is just wonderful??

Recently, a friend told me that reading a blog reminded her of the past, about the various conversations she's had, and about how things sometimes dont seem to change.

Yet somehow, I see change, it might not be very evident, but things change, even though its those same people that u were once with, the same people that shared those moments with you, its amazing to see how they have changed into what they are now.

Shaped and moulded by those events that you shared with them, and with others that they have since then met, they have changed. But when they come back, when u meet again, you get to see a glimpse of that old friend you had, the welcome is pleasant, the journey re-discovering them is wonderful, because u now have to build on what once was to what now is.

However, what somehow I find interesting is not the sharing of events and things that we talk about, atleast in my case, or so i feel,that its those things that we do not share that makes our bonds grow closer.

What do i mean? well, its not those good times that brought friends together and cemented your relationship with them, its those relationships that stood the test of time, with whom you spent your darkest moments, who supported you thru what was 'hell', thru all those times you thought that it couldnt get any worse, when you thought all was lost.. (well you get the picture.. )

They stood by you, so that you could move on to have those happy moments, to have those good ol' times, to ensure that you changed, to help you be moulded by all that you would take in, and become refined, and grow into who you are now.

This is a thank you to all those who stood by me, to all those who helped me, to all those who are with me now, and to all those who i will meet.

Thank you!!

long time

2009-05-26T02:02:00.001+05:30

its been a long long time since i posted anything.. and so now i am here.. just to take a peak in to things.. to see whether anything has changed or not.. same old same old i see..

hehe.. although i have a good feeling that i will start writing about various things pretty soon..

lets just say i have good hunch about it this time.. :D

Unfair??

2009-02-20T20:58:00.001+05:30

The world is not fair, nor is life. Good things come to those who are not so good, in fact quite a few are evil.

Let’s all be evil, or make the whole world evil, maybe then, the chances will be shifted.

hmmm…

2009-02-03T20:04:00.001+05:30

Over time, you tend to become someone, sometimes you are happy with being that person, sometimes, you’re not so happy. And most of the time, you just sit there and not really bother about who you have become, as a person. You just are…

I really have no idea what this thought is.. I guess, it is like many others. Another rambling thought..

Let’s get traditional!

2009-01-31T19:45:00.001+05:30

I have always believed that our tradition should have a major role in what we do today, and going by all the hue and cry that our tradition, and our traditional ways are going to the dogs, I strongly believe that the only way to preserve our centuries old traditional ways is to enforce our tradition.

So let’s start by starting with our children. Our tradition has it that we send our boys to a guru, somewhere far from home. So let’s stop giving girls any education, put them all at home, and send our boys to boarding?? Oh and because we used to send them to gurus, let’s remove all those women teachers from those boarding schools, unless they are the gurus’ wives??

Then, when they grow up, we can divide our children according to their caste, and tell them that no matter how bright they are, if their caste cant do it, they cant either! (That does it with all the aspiring doctors, engineers and pilots!!) Look on the bright side, it might bring in respect for just being employed?

And how we can forget our administration and law? No one could then get into politics except for those who were born into it, but then I guess we have at least held tradition in that respect. India was a land of princely states, ruled by the different royal families, and they were either independent or were suzerain to someone else. Today we have two, and maybe in the near future three royal families, the Congress, the BJP, and maybe the BSP, with other parties who are suzerain to them forming the reigns of the UPA, the NDA, or the Third front.

Oh, let’s not forget to keep our women indoors, and not let them have a say in anything, (bye bye Mrs. Gandhi, oh shucks, bye bye Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Sheila Dixit, and Vasundhara Raje Scindia!!)

How could I forget our sense of style too? Women, clothe thyself in nothing but one garment, go Ramayana style!! Men, the same go with you too!! If tradition is modest, I guess that’s modest and decent too.

Men, let’s be chauvinistic, kill our girl babies, and burn the wives of widows. Let’s just go all out traditional. And death to all those who oppose the ruling ‘king’. (There goes equality, and everything else this nation has in it’s fundamental rights, and the worth of being Indian, free from oppression and built on the ideals of freedom)

Am I being irrational? I don’t think so, look at Mangalore, I think the different Senas believe in me, and so the government of Karnataka too. How else can they take no action against an open and shut case?

Its all in the heart??

2009-01-26T19:12:00.002+05:30

I was at K’s house, we were all there. Her mother welcomed us with open arms, and she took care of us. K was her usual self, happy, energetic, dramatic, and yes, the doll that she was, she was looking great and was everywhere chatting with everyone.

The others were to stay over for the night, but I couldn’t, my new life had forced me to give up their company regretfully. I had to be in Chennai the next day, for some meeting. I was about to leave, I had packed my bags, and almost said my goodbyes. K left to get the bike ready, while i said my goodbyes.

I was talking to S and then I hugged her to say “farewell sweetie, till the next time we meet”, and then all the little things I have done for her, just to see her smile, just to see her happy (no she's not my lover, we could ever see each other as lovers either, we were and will be friends), came as a quick memory to her mind. And she held me in that hug a little more tightly. And I with my usual wit asked, “well, aren’t you feeling loved??”

-“I don’t feel love anymore, but thank you for all that you have done”, and she started to cry. I could never see her cry, can’t stand it even now. She is a lovely girl, with a heart of gold, an angel in disguise. And to see her big heart filled with love and warmth be shattered was too much to bear. I hugged her too and told her it was alright, to keep in touch and that I’d help her work things out. I hated the fact that I had to leave, but alas, it was to be so.

K said she’d drop me at the station, it was a kind gesture by her, but the goodbyes and the things we still had to finish didn’t let us leave till it was just about late.

We tried, but failed, and finally had to come back home. She dropped me off at my parents place, where after long i saw them. I woke my dad in the middle of the night and he came and we talked.

K stayed a while and talked with him too. Finally she had to go too. I said my goodbyes to her, and she went on home. The next day I took the morning flight out. I was in Chennai, work on my mind, my friends in my heart.

Them?

2009-01-09T23:11:00.000+05:30

There they sat.. that's all they do.. and they talk.. protected by the finest, and we are nothing but pawns that play according to the larger picture.

I sat there, looking at them. I looked at what they saw, and how they reacted to it. It was all, all so superficial, I think.

And then.. and then I got up, went to them, told them that I was bored, and I walked out.

I walked out, and went to what they were watching, not to be part of it, but to run the show from behind. For a moment maybe I was in control, for a moment, maybe I was leading the show.

I then look at myself in the mirror. I am getting ready to show myself to them!!

the chordial situation.

2008-10-19T19:39:00.002+05:30

P: Hey, hold on.. let me just go get the chord??

M: Okay, I'm sure it will be A..

P: No no, just the phone's cable.

M: Okay, at least we didn't get off on the wrong chord.

P: Okay, stop that.

M:Fine, stop my string of creative thought.

P:Hey!

M: That was a sharp comment!!

namma bengaluru a thought or two

2008-10-09T15:10:00.001+05:30

I'd say the biggest issue that Bangalore is having now is one on the cultural side. People in India think that B'lore has become this city that just grows without an identity of its own.
It's a PR thing, others from the country need to know that the flavour of B'lore is not just one thing, like in the case of Chennai being stuck to tradition like a rat in a rat-trap.
B'lore allows for everyone to come to her and for them to grow as people who explore new grounds and meet new people and for new forms of thought and art to come out..
Unfortunately all this is clouded by the traffic jams and silenced by the horns at every signal and just sometimes the need for B'lore to assert her cultural side runs away like the meters in almost every rickshaw in her city.

Moving Art Galleries

2008-10-01T15:41:00.002+05:30

I wonder if there are stuff called moving art galleries, or mobile art galleries. Wouldn't it be nice?? You could have your favorite piece come right to your doorstep one day, like it, and buy it.

Yea yea, it's a stupid idea, the cost would be tremendous and the market isn't that big or cheap that you could sell paintings like that.

So from where in the world did i get the inspiration for an idea like that?? Why, from the humble (it's up to you to decide whether that title should stay) auto-rickshaws of Chennai and Bangalore!!

In Bangalore, autos come with the latest in lighting technology, with lights everywhere on the inside to disorient the passenger from understanding the meters are rigged and would just love to reach the destination, get out, pay what ever it is that the meter is showing, and run as far away as possible from the rickshaw to get away from its lights. They also come with best in sound technology too, they would make the best sound system guys twinge (with something not quite like jealousy, but not very much unlike disgust) at the mere knowledge that such a rickshaw is close to them (which anyone in a 50-70m radius would easily know). The purpose of this is the same as the use of the lighting system, but is cleverly disguised by the auto-driver to be a "means to fight the tension caused by driving in Bangalore's traffic".

So that was the technical side of the show, (I'm beginning to think that we should have fashion shows, but where would the audience sit??hmmm.. mobile seats that drive parallel to the ramp?? I don't think so.. back to the topic) now we need to see the articles on display.

In Chennai, the 'humble' auto-rickshaw comes with two, YES! TWO!!(Okay, that was just for theatrical effect) side view mirrors, that are ingeniously placed on the sides in the auto-rickshaw (like usual.. but here comes the crux) on the INSIDE!! Yes, they do use it to view the sides and rear of the rick, to see the passengers and the sides of their heads.

The next article on display is the meter. The ingeniously crafted mater, to be present in all ricks by a High court order is kept for the display of all authorities who wish to check its presence. It's use however, is limited to lone rickshaw driver who wants to calculate how many kilometers he's traveled in a day.

The third thing on display and used with a little more frequency is the break, used only when a sudden break is required or to stop at a signal manned by a policeman, or to pick up or drop a paying passenger.

And of course, that brings us to the end of this post on random thoughts that pass through my mind.

Driving-the Indian way

2008-10-01T15:07:00.003+05:30

I grew up in a country where it was easier and much more cheaper for a person to own a car than a bike, and in a place where driving was a responsible act, at least by most people in the country. If the speed limit was 100Kmph, people used to travel somewhere between 80-100Kmph. And it was a pleasure to see the cars zip by and see everything work as it was planned. Driving was sane.

Then I moved to India, a new life, where i would have to stay on my own and drive (for the first time). To a city called Bangalore I went, and it was there that I got my license, although i did learn to drive in Kerala (a bit confusing maybe, but thats what happened for some logistical and personal reasons which i do not wish to divulge here at the moment).

Anyways, i finally did get my license and started to drive. I thought of myself as the responsible driver, following all the rules that I had learnt, and all the rules i saw people follow back in the country where i grew up.

All this is good, IF everyone else believes in the same values that you do. Because as i learnt, nobody really cares whether the signal is red or green, nobody really cares whether you have to drive on the left side, and nobody really cares about the footpath being for the feet. Or even speed limits being limits on how fast you can drive.

I know that we live in a country where there are illiterate people, but are the people who drive cars and bikes who form part of this illiterate group too??

I was told in Bangalore that I should be vary of 'yellow boards' (taxis and public transport vehicles), as they tended to drive more rashly than the usual rashness on the road. And so I did, it helped me quite a few times too.

When i moved to Chennai however, it was a completely different story. Away the choking roads of Bangalore, here I saw the freedom available to motorists, their ability to actually move on the road with a little more ease than in Bangalore. But over here, no one really told me to be vary of the 'yellow boards'. (Yes, it's an unsaid rule in the country, BE CAREFUL OF YELLOW BOARDS!!!)

So, here I used to keep my distance from them, although I didn't drive here (I will soon), I did make a few notable observations about the driving scene here. In Bangalore, if one needs to be a little cautious about the yellow boards, in Chennai, one needs to be cautious, PERIOD.

It really doesn't matter whether it's a yellow board, a white board, a no-board (which includes pedestrians, cyclists, push carts, pull carts, and anything that has the remote ability to be on a road when it shouldn't be there).

I have also learnt that in Chennai, nobody really knows any other method to drive than 'rashly'. From the rickshaws to best cars, everybody knows the perfect method of driving namely how-not-to-drive-responsibly.

In the University, people really do not know how to drive slowly or without being a pain to everyone else, and outside, when the rickshaws or cars need to take a u-turn, they turn first and look later (anybody notice how all their rear-view mirrors are inside the rick and not outside?? IT'S NOT FOR YOU TO ADMIRE YOURSELF IN!!!)

In opposition to this, there will be those people who would tell me that there are better roads in Chennai, I wont disagree. Then there will be those who tell me that, I was hit out of nowhere by this rick on this road in Bangalore or someplace else, I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM YELLOW BOARDS!! And then there will be those who just say Chennai is better at everything than anywhere else, fine, to those people I will say thank you, you just made my point.

Applying the maximal notion of peace to Iraq

2008-09-24T20:25:00.000+05:30

To try to apply any theory to any situation, we should first try to get a general idea of what the ground reality is. The situation is quite varied and complex (the irony of all situations), but could be largely focused on the internal and external factors affecting the country.

Internally there are three main factions in the country, the minority of Sunni Muslims of whom Saddam Hussein was, the majority of Shi’as of which group Muqtada Al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army are famous for and the Kurds of northern Iraq, there are other Iraqi Christians in the regions as well but they are not looking for any political state as of now.

Externally, the country is surrounded by hostile neighbours, Iran, a powerful voice in the region to the East, the powerful ideological head in the region and Sunni dominated Saudi Arabia to the South, EU aspirant Turkey to the North, and Syria and Jordon to the West.

The internal and external factors allow for this Iraq to continue in the unstable condition that it is in. Within the country the Sunni’s fear that they are not going to get a say in the political process and will get pushed around, which was another reason why they supported Saddam’s reign. The Shi’as on the other hand, fear a return of Sunni’s to power and their oppression again. And both of them fear that the newly empowered role of the Kurds could lead them to aspire for an independent region again.

These same fears resound in Iraq’s neighbours. Saudi Arabia fears that the Sunnis being removed from power will increase the belt of Shi’a Muslim countries from Pakistan to Lebanon. It is an ideological struggle and Saudi Arabia is not interested in the Shi’as coming to power.

Iran and Iraq have been at logger heads with each other, and now with Shi’a clerics in Iraq being freed from the clutches, they are now more open and articulate. Iran fears a paradigm shift in the power of the clerics shifting from Iran to Iraq with the clerics gaining more power and popularity as the days go by.

Turkey, Syria and Jordan fear a resurgence of the Kurdish troops to demand a separate state of Kurds. This would be political as well as national threat to all three countries and they would not want such an attitude to gain any ground.

Hence, Iraq’s neighbours are quite apprehensive about assisting her, or letting any one group or the group come to power so calm the whole situation down. Moreover, they are also afraid of Iraq regaining it’s military prowess and regional status that it once did.

It is in this light that I feel that if the parties get together, to have talks to focus on other things than power sharing, a lasting peace could be achieved within the country and all parties around Iraq could rest assured that they would not be hurt in any manner.

To see this in effect, we’d have to encourage the following things.

The different factions inside could ensure that with the increased trade with the US, that they would ensure the resources being distributed evenly throughout the entire country, hence giving each side an equal opportunity to excel. This can be backed by the support of Iraq’s neighbours as this would allow the country to get some stability. A country with a stable neighbor can focus on its current issues a little more easily.

Moreover, if the people inside the country are happy, then why would they want to break free or become a threat to any other?

The issue between the Shi’as and the Sunnis is something that cannot be solved overnight, or something that could be solved very easily. Its root is a belief that separated the two. And so, there is no other way but to allow these people to have cultural relationship, setting aside their ideological differences to have contempt of each other, to having a better understanding of both parties. Something on the lines of pluralism and secularism, but not entirely.

Between Iraq and Iran, a greater co-operation would only lead to the ability of clerics to exchange ideas and to help each other grow. They should be able to look at sustaining what they already have, and to use the existing resources available to enhance their position. The Iraqi clerics have a strong support group in Iraq, and the clerics are very aware of this. In Iran the situation is very similar, with the supreme authority of the state in both religious and political realms in Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khomeini. Essentially a cleric, the clerics in Iraq could build their relations with Iran to stabilize the situation in their country as well as have greater powers for themselves with this growing partnership.
What this provides Iran are friends in the neighbouring country who they can depend on not to repeat the 1980-88 war of an empowered Iraq. This relationship could also act fruitful for the Iranians as presently the Shi’as are in power, Shi’a insurgency into \Iraq was one of the reasons for the Imposed War.

In short, Iran would gain an ally in regional affairs, a sure way to ensure that no war would be waged, and allow Iran to gain a more predominant status and a power to reckon with in the region. Iraq on the other hand would benefit through the availability of further resources in terms of technology, arms, man power etc that it crucially needs, as well as any other help that Iran would be ready to extend.

Here it is not a transactional notion of peace, it is the understanding and renewed efforts to maintain the understanding between the countries that ensures the peace. And hence a maximal one.

Increasing ties inside the country would let the Kurds to develop as well, and an understanding that their advancement lies solely due to the trade links with the center that rules Iraq, of which it too is a major part. Breaking away from this would not be in the interest of the Kurds or its people to ensure that their growth is not hindered.

Such links between the factions should be encouraged by those countries that fear an apprising of the Kurds in their own countries, namely, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, while at the same time ensuring such moves are present in their own countries as well. What this move would help achieve, is greater understanding between the countries and the central governing body of Iraq, and the knowledge that a Kurdish uprising is unlikely to happen.

Even though this too looks like a transactional notion of achieving peace, we have to understand that resource allocation needs to be done on the situation of those people and their particular unique requirements. This can only be achieved if there is a real step taken by these countries to understand the complexities of Iraq and the different dynamics that exists within the country, if not for Iraq’s benefit then at least for these individual countries’ sake.

In conclusion, if these countries were to take an active role to develop a maximal notion of peace in the region, we can see a long lasting peace in this very volatile region which can be achieved in a couple of years time than waiting for some semblance of stability to develop and then deal with these issues, or remain closed to developments with Iraq or develop any relations with the country.

A notion of Peace- the maximal kind

2008-09-24T20:24:00.000+05:30

Peace has many meanings; it is after all, a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional idea. It has been discussed for long and many methods brought forth to achieve the notions of peace people have. Predominantly there are three notions of peace. And although the maximalist notion of peace seems to be the best one, the other two, namely, minimalist or deterrent or hegemonic peace and transactional peace are the only means in some cases depending on the ground realities of each crisis.

However, peace brokered using the other two methods are not always stable, are almost always quite shaky and under close guard by all parties as easily seen between India and Pakistan. Both nations are quite ready to take on each other in conventional war if the need be, or if they assume a threat from the other party, this is a draw back from the peace achieved through a deterrent peace process.

Transactional peace, being a little more stable, maybe a better solution, however, this is also not always seen to be the best method to peace, or even a peace that will last long. This happens because of the idea that one nation is getting more out the deal/transaction than the other. And if this continues, that is, the feeling of one nation getting a raw deal, this transactional peace slowly deteriorates into something that it initially was trying to change. Even though India and the US were not at war with each other, or had very cold relations with each other, they never really had that great a relationship either. Yet they were not at some uneasy peace with each other, they were open to trade, and now, with the new US-India nuclear deal, some parts of India feel that they are not getting everything at a level playing field with the deal going further. If this feeling continues to grow, the deal could fall in the growing months as the Indian government would be forced to back out and continue with other alternatives, leaving relations with the US quite shaky, if not unpleasant. Currently, leaving the Manmohan Singh government, trying hard to show the people and its opposition that this, is not the case.

Hence the maximalist notion of peace would be the best way out for any country to see a long standing peace with other countries, be it their immediate neighbours or other strategic partners around the globe.

So what does this notion of peace call for? Well the Kantian notion of peace refers primarily to two or more countries understanding that a long standing peace cannot be achieved without nation-states trying to understand the other and eventually leading to an assimilation of thoughts, ideas, and generally a way of life. The humanitarian aspect is considered where people and states function on the basis that a greater understanding of each other is possible and necessary for peace to hold up.

Yet, conflicts are not absent in such a situation. It is just that, when conflicts arise, there is a mutual consensus between the participants to resolve the situation short of a war. This is done by talking things out, and ensuring that the ground situation is changed so that they can continue with life as normal.

However, this system cannot be just implemented out-of-the-blue. It has to have a certain amount of “system requirements” to work. It requires for one thing, that governments have common ideals at least in terms of interacting with each other, which leads to a common understanding that war is not the solution under any circumstance. And this notion is reinforced by an understanding of each others position on how they are going to deal with a certain situation.

But this system is not seen around the world. It is clearly seen in the EU and between the BANA countries. Yet in other countries or parts of the world it is not so easily seen, however, an almost similar stance is beginning to be seen between the countries in the GCC. For instance, the EU members have taken a resolve to communicate with each other when they have a problem with an other country, however, this does not end her, through various measures adopted by the EU, like allowing free passage through the EU member states for EU citizens, it allows for a greater understanding by people about other cultures and helps them integrate better with each other. This is one of the important parts about the maximalist notion of peace, that such an understanding is sought, encouraged and exists between the countries. The BANA(Britain, Australia and North America, mainly the US and Canada) nations on the other hand, have come to a mutual agreement about not going to war against each other, the results of which are seen clearly in their International relations with each other. And even though the Gulf Cooperation Council members do have their minor differences with each other, they have more or less a resolve of not going into war against each for practical reasons as well as the implications that a war in this sensitive region could have for the international market on the whole.
And through this they have started to have better trade links with each and agree on many trade and other issues, although they are mainly economic in nature. Their primary aim is to prevent outside interference in the region. But these ties weren’t just made overnight, they were thought about, decided, implemented and the ideas were seen growing into what they are now. How easy it is to get this peace is still debatable.

Even though, this system has come after several countries went through the other two systems of minimalist and transactional peace, I believe that countries could actually go directly into this realm if they wanted to. However, in most cases, the inside situation with most governments prevent them from taking any positive steps to go into trade or build positive relations with someone they have a deterrent peace with.

What should be kept in mind is that, the improvement of the way of life for one’s own citizens is the main focus of such peace. A peace, that focuses on advancement of the standard of living and also on the development of a state, to able to guarantee its citizens a better life. A country’s sovereign nature is not affected with a little give and take and this is understood by the state. Its larger foreign policies are not affected either through the various confidence and peace building measures, talks, treaties, and other such agreements made between two states.

In short, this notion of peace is the culmination of a complex series of dialogues, peace treaties, a better understanding of each other and constant work in the same direction; it is a peace that is maintained by both countries; a notion of peace in which if the states want peace, they ensure it through their various actions.

Finally, this system, I feel, if implemented correctly and in the right spirit, can be used in all regions of the world if all the parties involved truly want to see a development in their region without any personal gains.

On Pluralism, Secularism, Democracy, and Federalism

2008-09-23T23:20:00.001+05:30

All these –isms have been regarded to be some of the basic and most important values that India stands for. Their existence to the fabric of Indian life is considered to be a corner stone to the term of “Indian-ness”. So let’s look at some aspects of why this is considered so.

India is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-religious nation. Due to this reason India has to inculcate the value of a ‘pluralistic’ society. This phenomena of India being a pluralistic society is nothing new, it has been so for centuries, and Indians have, or is believed to have lived in harmony for all these ages before. Every nation needs a certain sense of social harmony for it to even think about advancement, progress, socio-economic empowerment and a lot of other things like that. It’s integrity should not be harmed, or be brought under threat. And most of all, it’s citizens should not be tempted to openly look for a reason to join any other side in opposition to it. A sentiment such as being a pluralistic society helps one country in this respect, it allows for people, or rather enforces onto the mindset of the people the need for inculcating this ideology into their everyday functioning, and this has been brought about through various methods like rationalization, and awareness campaigns and most of all to ensure it in the constitution.

So in short, an ideology like pluralism is required for most states to ensure its own functioning and allow it to address its function of governance without needing to bother about a constant social unrest within its boundaries. However, as seen now in India and many other previous examples in India, it is not easy for one country to sustain such a thought in the minds of the people.

Each culture, each ethnic group and each religion exists only because they have survived in the past the threat of extinction through various means, including the propagation of their core thoughts to others and embracing those people who accept their ideas into their fold. This holds true for culture and religion, while ethnic groups strived to dominate others and overcome any outside threat to their existence. To sum it up, they survived on the Darwinian principle of “survival of the fittest”. Moreover, man is still man, the ‘civilised’ animal that he is, he has figured out ways of dominating others over territorial rights (referring to their ideas, language, etc) in other manner other than just through the fist. My point here is, it is not easy to tame man, and so when such forms of brutal aggression (at least in the ideological plane) was once the basis for survival, suddenly imposing a rule that one could/should live in harmony with other races and cultures, it was not so easy for the societal mind to accept. Hence a sort of repression could be felt of the freedoms that one could otherwise have. And a sort of need to adapt to someone else arose.

Here is where having such a need for a Pluralistic society puts a strain on the social harmony of a nation. It has effectively put a chain restricting some people. Yes, it is a good chain, it is required, but without proper maintenance, even the best of chains are affected by the unpredictable forces of nature and rust with time, causing it to fall and crumble away with the slightest of forces.
Secularism is another such –ism, a required –ism, and nonetheless an important one. It tells us that we need to live in harmony with each other, irrespective of our belief system and irrespective of what the belief tells to do. For instance, Christianity tells its believers that they should preach the gospel to one and all and to accept into their fold whom so ever believes upon hearing the Word. Islam has more or less the same view, and each religion has its own view. Primarily they all involve in increasing the number of believers as theirs it the true and only belief that should exist. Hinduism is a different story altogether, as it allows the existence of other gods, being a polytheistic religion. Again, you have the differences between the polytheistic religions and the monotheistic religions and so on.

The point here is that, secularism is again not something that is in-built in to any of the religions, asking its believers to follow it again goes against the all those religion’s core values (this is a very generalized statement). This does not mean that they are against peace; they are definitely for peace, however, at the same time, highly displeased by the fact ‘the others’ are not followers of the same religion.

One might even go to say that everybody believes that both secularism and pluralism are ‘necessary evils’. Who wouldn’t want a place where everybody believed in the same ‘true’ religion? Or the belonged to the same ethnic group and had the same culture? But here, and now, we are forced to accept the existence and ensure the survival of the ‘other’ only because that’s the easiest way to ensure that ‘our’ way of life exists.

The next ideology is that of being a democracy. The method of government that is being described the only true way to govern one’s people is an integral part of India, the world’s biggest democracy. If one were to look at it, this form of government is the best way in which the people of a country will have a say in their country’s future, it’s functioning and the decisions that the country will take to ensure that people are benefited by the rule of which ever government is in power. In other words, the government is of the people, by the people, and most importantly for the people.

I will agree that this rosy idea of the government striving to achieve the best for its people and aspiring to raise the country it governs to new heights is all well, IF it is implemented as such.

Sadly the famous saying of “by the people, of the people, for the people” have been changed and subverted so many times in many countries, not only India, that democracy is equally tuned to be understood as, “buy the people, for the politicians, of the powerful”.

Democracy is an advantage, it does let the people choose what should happen and all the rest that is usually associated with it. It does allow the people to have power, and of late we do see a bit of this trickling down to meet the masses.

Yet, the present democracy that exists in India, that let’s politicians dupe the people in to bringing criminals and bandits and people who have no regard for the development of the country, has disadvantages who’s consequences are far greater than a fatter bank balance for the politicians and those close to them. A clear example is the present situation in the North East of India, and the hue-and-cry that the intelligence agencies have been making about the political interference when it came to trying to hinder terrorist persons or plans.

An unhappy group of citizens leads to a country having a lot of internal problems; they could be in the form of protests, riots, communal violence etc. Such cannot be contained if the people have lost faith in their political system, and in the government that leads them. And it is not in the interest of any government that such a state of turmoil and unrest arise in its territory. If the present situation in India does continue, one maybe able to visualize the revolution that the leaders of the Naxalbari movement had envisioned happening sooner than later, or at least something on a similar scale.

Federalism is another important aspect of Indian existence. It allows for decentralization of power from the center to the states, helping the country to function better and more efficiently. It is the simplest way to ensure that the functions and decisions of the government are implemented on time and with full effect across the country without having to worry about the finer details of localized difference, as this would be taken care of by the state governments. It also allows the central government to take it easy on some topics and bother about issues that are of greater importance to the country as a whole, and let individual states take decisions on which ever issue based on the local differences and interest of the state, an umbrella understanding that the states would know best how to deal with a situation in their own area.

However, this has also led to a lot of problems; federalism allows the states to have power on certain issues but not all issues affecting them. Yet, other than this, the states having been given so much of power have misused it by turning the local politicians into more or less untouchable people, who have the last say in any matter, they ensure that nothing goes to the court where it actually should. It has also however, let the state governments take some bad decisions in issues relating to itself, a current example was the form in which the Singur SEZ area was acquired; another is the Narmadha Dam issue.

Again like the rest, the federal system too seems to be a good system, which happens to have inherent flaws when it is not used properly.

In conclusion, we can see that, even though these systems and ideas are good, and promote the human ethos by a great extent, common neglect, misuse, vested interests, and bad management have all resulted in many disadvantages either coming to light or gaining more popularity than its advantages. All these ensure that there exists social harmony, tranquility, peace, integrity etc within the social fabric of what forms India, and when it is misused and not upheld, we see that India’s social fabric will slowly break down and wither away into maybe even a state of anarchy and easy unrest.

for pleasure or for worse

2008-09-19T19:49:00.002+05:30

Interesting title isn't it?? wat are all the things that could come into one's mind after reading a topic like that??.. hehe.. well enough of that.. i just put it up cos i liked it.. and if u dont.. well i dont care.. i do if it has hurt ur moral or religious sentiment.. (if it has i never intended it to).. so go annoy someone else..

Anyways.. today i had to go for a conference/seminar kinda thing.. and i was told to come in formals.. i have no problems with formals or anything formal of any kind.. given the right climate or job profile, i wouldnt mind going about in a suit all day.. anyway, coming back to what i was saying, so today, i thought i'd be a nice boy and wear a pair of formal shoes as opposed to my usual semi-formal shoes that i use in such occasions..

So i wear them, looks nice, suits the whole ensemble that i'm wearing and all that stuff that you make sure before you step out of the house.. but i forgot a big snag in this particular shoe, does it feel nice?? yes, for the first fifteen minutes of wearing them,and then ur feet ask for redemption and rapture or maybe even a stint in hell for all they care..

i am very picky about my shoes, and i dont pick up any shoe just cos they look nice.. there are a couple of things shoes need to get cleared up with me before i buy them.. they include comfort, types of use, longevity, and well a lot of other things including looks.

however, when i bought this pair of shoes, it somehow skipped the inspection round, or rather passed it and got into my bag.. it manged atleast.. at that time to pass through the test.. and join me.. only later did i realise how much of a non satisfactory product it was..

anyhow.. the point i was making is this.. on my way back from the conference i had a small walk.. and my feet were begging me to reach home quickly so that i could throw the shoes away..
so if i had the opportunity to whine to someone.. i would have very gladly whined.."MY FEET ARE KILLING ME!!!"

any men out there who have heard this line before?? (this is where my point comes in)

Most women say this!!! atleast most women wearing stilettos and heels say it.. MEN DONT SAY IT!! THEY AVOID IT BY BUYING SHOES THAT ARE COMFORTABLE!! (except this one, i didn't buy it purposely)

Women on the other hand.. go out of their way to buy a high heeled shoe, for wat?? it looks nice..

dont these women get it? i mean how pairs of heels do they need before they get it that they arent comfortable.. or for that matter, that they are bad for u.

wearing heels is known to make women have weaker knees or something to that extend.. or something bad happens to their legs anyways.. i seem to forget the details and am in no mood to go google it either..

will women never learn?? i mean i pity women who have to wear the thing because not even half way thru the day their feet hurt.. and not too uncommon is the site of women getting frustrated with the footwear that they hold the straps of their shoes in their hands and walk around bare feet for a few minutes before they realize that it doesnt look good so they need to now look good, or think that they are going to look good because they would then dorn themselves with those pieces of plastic they call shoes..

please dont tell me that it was we men who made the stilettos and forced women into them.. okay.. so we forced a couple of models to prance around in them.. so?? are all women out there on a cat walk?? who are u trying to impress?? why are u trying to impress through torturing yourselves??

some of the most beautiful women i know dont wear them.. they do (and complain when they do), but they are beautiful for other reasons, not the shoes!! they have beautiful personalities, beautiful souls, beautiful thoughts, and convictions.. and some are just too innocent to notice.. but they are all beautiful.. and yes!! they look good too!! but thats not important now..

Women! Wake up.. it's not the shoes.. it's wat's inside you.. and if not for the men who dont give a damn about the shoes..

atleast chuck the stilettos for the sake of ur feet.. listen to them and not some guy who had a bad day with his shoes..

(the conference was very good btw..)

conventional?? or not so conventional??

2008-09-14T19:09:00.000+05:30

well off late.. my friends have been asking what i've been doin with my life.. well thats a good question.. i wish i had a good answer for them.. the things is that i've doing things that no one else in my whole batch would have thought of doing.. and i'm quite proud of saying that i really dont think in the same ways as most people do..

i wont deny the fact that i'm a bit eccentric.. and i have always followed what i have thought to be what i liked, or enjoyed doing.

Yet, you know when u have those weird talks with your parents who really want to know where in the world you are going with all this, i sometimes stop to think if i should have just stuck to something like everyone else..

(No offence to any of my pals) but, sometimes, i get the thought i should have just done some mundane(here's where the apology lies) courese like engineering or sometihng on those lines. atleast i would have been employed at the end of four years of study. And i could have like the other hundreds of thousands of people looked at developing a hobby that would take away the frustration of having a highly repetitive job that you would otherwise throw out of the window from the 100th floor, burn, bury, excavate, burn again and then bury other than the fact that it is the same job that got you to the 100th floor, let you buy enough gas to burn the thing, give it a funeral and the do the whole thing twice over.

Doing what i do now, and the experiences that i have gained doin what i did before, has opened a lot of doors in my head, given opportunity to explore, to unravel mysteries that i would have otherwise ignored.

And most of all its given the pleasure and humbling experience to meet the most amazing people who are extraordinary in their own right who i can proudly now call my friends.

And the end of the day, i like what i have done, quite satisfied with it too, did i take the conventional way of doing things? no.. i havent.. but i wouldnt say i'm disappointed in doing so.
Would i given the chance to do all this again go for the conventional way of doing things? Yes, provided i meet those same people and i get to do everything i have done here.. maybe i'd do the conventional thing on the side..

well thats that.. some more rambling.. some more thoughts..

i guess thats it for now..

was this conventional?? or was it unconventional?? i'll let the committee decide..

no life still happy!!

2008-07-30T23:30:00.000+05:30

Wat makes us happy?? the fact that we know wat lies ahead? the fact the we know where we are going? something that someone said?
or is it maybe the fact that there is someone out there who cares for you? or maybe is it the fact theres nothing worry about?

hmm.. maybe that.. i like that answer.. nothing to worry about.. and so like most theories that are made upon a simple love with how the whole thing looks.. i think that i'm going to create something around the whole philosophy that happiness is achieved through not having anything to worry about..

so i was thinking about this whole phenomenon.. yes.. i'm jobless enough now.. to have the time to think about things like this.. and no.. i'm not jobless all the time.. i actually do have a life..

but then again.. with the life that i have, i also get a lot of things to worry about too.. but then i guess that all just a part of living.. u know.. u will always have people who care about you, u will always have people to bother you, u will always have things to make up for, have things to do.. etc etc etc...

And so once when i was having a very thoughtless conversation with a friend of mine.. she gave me a piece of advice i think would be quite interesting..
she said.. why in the world are u worrying about, why do have tension?? look at me.. no life still happy..

that was sweet.. especially because it comes from someone who's had so much, gone through so much, endured long, and had the weirdest roller coaster rides with her life.. and wat she has is so special, that sometimes i wonder if its actually real, and then i see that it is..

She doesnt have a life.. she defines one, and redefines it again and again.. she's got more things to worry about than the average person of my age.. although my age is of consequential number either, but she enjoys her life, so do i, so has worries, so do i...

she enjoys her life [or the lack of it], so do i..
she's happy, so am i[more or less],..

at peace she is.. in search am i..

a red mail van

2008-06-24T01:33:00.000+05:30

so much depends on the red mail van,
with black tires upon a black road.

the Blessing called life?? Part 2

2008-06-20T02:23:00.000+05:30

so why is life a gift?
Firstly all of us who live, need a life, its important, we exist, yes, we think, we breathe, we eat, we sleep, we just live, but its important to haev a life..
and God has given us a life, each one of us, a purpose, a role a mission to fulfill.

but i guess, life is a gift mostly because...

because we make a difference, each of us makes a difference in someone else's life whether we know it or not, whether they know it or not, all of us affect each other, its as simple as physics, nothing remains at rest without a force,
nothing stops moving without a force,

and yes, we just can't keep to ourselves and content with our small little lives, we happen to be a force where ever we go, whether we like it or not..

and lastly, (not that this entry is of any great importance or one that is made with scientific/theological or a researched basis or understanding)

now that we are here, lets just not be satisfied about that fact that we exist, lets move on with life, lets have a life, get on with it.. enjoy it.. and make something out of it.. if need be.. lets even swim against the current and do something different, just so that we can have a life.. so that at the end of it, you know that you have done something useful with your life and have become something because of what you have done and from what you have been given.

the Blessing called life?

2008-06-20T02:04:00.000+05:30

today i went to church for the VBS.. was quite nice.. felt nice just going there for no absolute purpose other than to muster up some feelings of nostalgia and a general good feeling..
the highlight of the day was the witnessing session for the kids.. and i was touched by the innocence in the juniors that i saw.. was really cute.. i was moved ( a point to all those people who say that when it comes to emotions i'm a block of ice!!)

But while i sat there and saw this wonderful thing happen, there was one tiny little tot who went up on stage, and said, " I thank the Lord for blessing me with the gift of Life!!".

Its quite interesting, i mean yea, the gift of life, its cool and all. and all those who have it, from the time they have senses try and not to lose it, whether they believe in God or not. Its something they cling on to very dearly. There's even a multi-billion dollar sector in the market which every parent wants their child to be a part of specializing in this one field, its called medicine!

SO what is it that makes me say that this one line is interesting?
Well think about it.. Why is it a gift? i mean you have life, therefore you are now able to think/ function (i'm writing this in regard to the majority population of the world who are able to do so). So is that why it is a gift? Or is it a gift because now you are able to see creation and thank God? Or is it a gift because now you can see the filth in the world and how man has wonderfully destroyed the world from what it should be? Or maybe it is a gift because we know what it should be like, we see it how it is, and pray and hope to do something to make it right?

I dont know, so why is it a gift? i dont get it. Let's look at the other side,
Let's say you dont have the gift of life, you wouldn't exist, you wouldn't have to deal with life, you wouldn't ave to feel anything, hear anything, suffer anything, learn nothing, go through anything, and basically nothing happens anywhere, and there could be perfect peace and harmony.

just that there wouldn't be a reality then, or anything.

So why is it a Gift?

(to be continued.)

The Milestone called Graduation

2008-05-24T22:47:00.000+05:30

Ah.. Graduation.. what a glorious moment that all of us look forward to?? Its the moment that we feel that we have completed something.. That we have after so long, after a struggle of fighting day in and day out with books and friends and lecturers and everyone, that finally we'll have time to move on to greater things, and greater goals, and finally 'enjoy' life.

And we look forward to getting jobs and excelling and going beyond what others have gone, and making a name for ourselves. Again we work and we toil and slog till we have enough money, and a family, and everything, and finally think its time to relax and enjoy. Alas, by this time its time to take care of the children, make sure they are making the right choices, to see that they too can get somewhere in 'life'.

A pity though, at the end when we finally feel that we have achieved something, we now have to divert our attentions to staying alive, fighting diseases that the body can no longer resist on its own, and making sure that old age can be redefined and made a long time to experience.

So then, why is graduation such a big deal?? I don't feel any different, i don't think i'm different in any manner now that graduation is over too.

Yet people make such a big hue and cry over it, that one thinks that such a milestone is one that defines a person's life.

It might be, but when will people start realizing that life more than just numbers and the amount of paper one can collect and look at, in your bank account.

And then we are forced to take the next big step.. the "career shaping" one. Why can't we just learn and explore for the sake of going into something because its interesting.

We have to earn and build a life that we have enjoy, or so they tell us. When will people realize that the joy in life comes from the everything that one goes through, that the change is invigorates us, its the change that demolishes us, and its uncertainty that makes the whole thing have a thrill to it.

Like somebody once said, horror lies in the anticipation of it, not in itself. And so, the joy of life lies in its anticipation that it will come and could go, and not in itself.

just

2008-05-16T12:02:00.000+05:30

it's always amazing how people can be changed.. Or for the fact how change itself will change people..
A simple change in the environment could make people come out of their nutshells or put them in it and force them to look at life in new ways..
A wondrous transformation that could be wonderful to see or even quite heart wrenching..
Have you just felt wonderful about going for a vacation? It's that change that we enjoy.. And the change that makes a vacation an experience to cherish.. But ever wondered how muah you'd hate it if that was your life day in and day out?
A change in one's situation could change one's attitude.. Change one's understanding of life.. Change one's feeling to others.. Make one feel as though they're in love or feel as if suddenly they're enlightened..
But how stupid is one if one doesn't act after such enlightenment.. If one knows the truth and refuses to make amends for part mistakes.. To distance one self from those who threw the shroud over your eyes..
Yet how sorry i feel for those who have been enlightened and yet choose to remain under the shroud for fear of nothing other than the light that they'd see when the shroud is removed.
A pity though for those who think that falling in love and being in love on earth is the ultimate ithaca, the ultimate goal for all mankind. Yes to be in love is great, and forever from birth we are born into such abundant love that we cannot comprehend.
Why then should we run after every boy or every girl that we set our eyes on and "fall deeply in "love""?
That's change too.. To fall in love.. And maybe our craving for change is what makes some people.. And it's definitely only some people who run behind a "love" that they can physically comprehend.. A change from being without "love" to "being" in "love"..
How cultured and advanced have we become?

The Play that never ends

2008-01-10T23:04:00.000+05:30

The director's role in any play is very important... however.. ever thought of a play when u had too many directors.. or people who think they "know" what they are doing is right??
That just ruins the whole play.. it reduces even the greatest work to pile of dirt not worth to be on the sole of any man's shoe..
Some times places that call itself the best place to be seems to have too much running in its head and asks one to do this and that and this and that.. and before you're done "being" and "doing" what the "best" do.. you have more to do...
An actor is not the play thing of a director for the director to change his mind about what the actor does two minutes before a show.. the whims and fancies of those who run a show should not interfere with the true face of the show.. the actors and the talent that they present..
the greatest director in the world would be brought down to his knees if his actors were to refuse to act properly..
but then.. the greatest director works alone and knows what he can and cannot do.. while constantly trying to take acting and plays to greater heights..
the actors do need a break, they should be respected, and most of all they should be understood..

Yikes

2008-01-10T21:50:00.000+05:30

finally i have the oppurtunity to come back and write.. hehe... however.. all this time i dare say my mind was not idle.. thoughts came randomly.. and some even astounded me...

one thing that really caught my mind were cotton shirts and how much we take them for granted...
u know.. they dont iron easily.. and thats a real pain.. most proabaly they'll be lying down on that ironing board looking up at ya and going "Why you little freak you... you want me to get proper so that u can wear me to work in all that grime and smoke and pollution.. look all perfect and fine for you to look good and get all the credit?? And what do i get?? Nothing.. nada.. zilch... well not this time... this time i'm giving you some competition.. you wanna look good.. you need to sweat it out."

And thats what they want you to do.. work really hard at trying to get them to look ironed... it aint fun..

Quite some sadists shirts we have... sheesh...

on and on and on

2007-09-12T21:52:00.000+05:30

it never seems to stop.. just wen u think at the end of it all u'll get some time to yourself it just shows up again in some other form to torment you and caress you beat u and thrill u.. for wat?? i dont know.. neither does it.. but it glorifies itself to be ignorant to its flaws and shortcomings.. and keeps aloof yet pushes itself down upon that you choke and gasp for air.. and maybe one day when it ends, you could ask yourself why? and was it really worth it??

2007-08-11T22:49:00.000+05:30

ah life.. its goes on.. and the actors "seem" never to tire.. haha..

more memories

2007-08-11T22:47:00.002+05:30

Hello all.. yes this year too our beloved school held its carnival.. in the same UIS compound.. the one which our batch(predominantly the science boys) successfully boycotted..

NOTE:- all instances in todays round-up have been substantiated with photgraphic evidence.. please check the photo section!!

anyways.. here starts today insight into our life in Kuwait...

Today was a grand day in the jungles of Abbassiya.. there was a great ceremony being held in the landmark location of UIS.. also known as a Temple of Learning to the locals( or as they call it.. THE DIMPLE OF LEARRRRNNING..the pronunciation is what I emphasize)

anyways.. as all the inhabitants of this jungle went to the main arena.. we explorers also decided to study this wonderful phenomenon.. and like all great studies on social behavior we decided to do this from a non-biased/objective view.. studying the whole event from an outside situation.. and so we decided that we should go to Farwaniya..

And so we went to our site of study with the help of our travel sponsors, KPTC for the humble fee of 150 fils per person..
on the arrival of our the bus sent for our pick-up KPTC bus no. 21, the four explorers, namely, Abhilash, Jeff, Sarun and I, boarded the bus and left in haste to our destination.. however, we were also accompanied by some of the tribals who were supposed to attend the function at UIS..

This minor set-back did not, however deter us from our main mission.. and we continued our journey.. upon reaching our destination of Farwaniya, we disembarked our mode of transport (the bus) thanking our sponsors for their co-operation and hospitality..

Here we had to find a place to set-up camp as the base of our study.. and so.. hungry for knowledge.. we entered an establishment long revered among us.. Pizza Hut!!!... it was also at this time that we realized that the natives we encountered boarding our bus also came to pay homage to this great institution..

We were, however, determined that this was the perfect opportunity to conduct our study and pay our respects to the establishment..
entering the shrine we asked one of the priest for three main helpings of the blessings of the shrine and one minor one as Sarun wasn't in a 'mood' to be blessed so abundantly..

It was also at this time that we noticed that most of the natives from UIS were also here to pay their respects to the shrine.. and so we came to the conclusion that the ceremony had lost its fervor in UIS and it's natives started to move elsewhere for religious relief( a phenomenon seen almost all around the world nowadays)...

our conclusions became more evident as we were able to meet up with the daughter of the Chief Priest [or rather, the Deity, as most would call him] of UIS, Tessy Chandy( Chandy's daughter- Titu Bhai's cousin sis) and titu's sisters also present in the shrine paying their respects..

defintely the lusture of the event that once brought the natives together from different parts around the jungle of Abbassiya, had been lost!!!

yet however the day was not lost in hard study or complicated discussions of life and social affairs..

for instance.. at the shrine.. we were graced also by the presence of Waleed, Rosten and Nancy.. all of whom i'm sure every member of this esteemed group will remember..

and our discoveries today were in no way lesser than those astounding ones made yesterday..
Let's go alphabetically..
Abhilash.. our leader and inspiration behind the study (he decided Farwaniya and the shrine as the venue for our enlightenment).. discovered today that he was tanning and that he had lost his appetite somewhere in the heartlands of the India.. he also demonstrated his skills with the fork and knife (very skillful indeed).. and that he didn't like Lasagna.. ( if there are any more please forgive me.. my memory fools me this very moment)

Jeff.. the mentor and guide.. discovered that our sponsors have bought new buses (mercs) and alllow us simpletons to travel on them.. also that his appetite too wasn't tickled by the blessings of the shrine.. and also that people can get very angry if they don't get Pizzas (a man was shouting at the top of his voice as every time he went to the table there wasnt any pizzas left).. and that some people are just plain stupid.. (certain names have been left out for the good of the public well-being)

Sarun (we shall get back to me later).. our base and area (occupied) specialist.. discovered that even the salads were too much for him.. that if someone said that they would kick him.. he would get kicked.. (hey u asked for it there.. hope everything's in working condition).. that raisins are called raisins in English and grape in French ( I think Vipin Sir drilled it so well into his head that he called it raisins grapes in English!!!!).. and the difference between the both.. and that he still wasn't fat..

Finally I discovered that.. i needed to learn how to walk again!!.. that i couldn't walk much.. that my appetite went a hunting expedition and still hasn't returned.. that Sarun was very kick-able.. and that unlike India.. Kuwait's theatres DON'T have a morning show!!!

It was during our well founded discoveries that Tessy enlightens us on a few other things that until that moment was absolutely unknown to all of us..

For instance.. it would be a 'nnanakedu'(shame) for them to have us join them or vice-versa at the table and have lunch together (please note that they asked us!!) and something about people thinking something...

(Above views are those of Titu's sisters.. no harm done dude.. you know i hate name calling.. but????)

and so we returned peacefully to our humble abodes to meet again for the showdown in the afternoon... on very happy notes that we had thoroughly studied the UIS carnival..

In the evening we had our humble session of the Showdown with the best stadium lights any player in the world can ask for.. (the hot three o'clock sun) it was perfect.. for match conditions.. and after a short game.. and the loss of equipment (the ball went about hot breads) twice!!.. we decided to call it a day... and so abhilash had to run back after a short after-match refreshments session and experts-speak session.. while Jeff, Sarun and I went to the residence of Sarun.. it is here that a few other great discoveries were made not to mention the photo-session of the legends..

the photo session only resulted in a few already known facts.. trying to get good lighting for a shot is hard!!.. trying to fit Sarun into a shot is equally hard.. the task is not so in Jeff's case.. Sarun should never pose for a shot.. bloopers of him are the best!!.. for Jeff it is the exact opposite..

Sarun also allowed us to reveal something that most of you might not be knowing about Sarun.. He has started boxing... and has been at it for the past couple of weeks.. he also gave us permission to show photographic evidence of it to the world.. please check the photographs...

This was the catch of the day i suppose.. however Sarun disagrees and votes for another one he made earlier in the day (again photographic content)..

i hope all of u enjoyed today's edition of 'Abbassiya round-up'..

P.S.: all observations have been made with a light heart.. if anything has been mentioned that might offend anybody.. it's only co-incidental and i dont give a damn!!!

some of the memories

2007-08-11T22:47:00.001+05:30

hey guys.. today was an interesting day.. many many things were revealed to us poor folk here in the rich land of black gold.. for instance sarun discovered that he wasn't fat and saw in use a device so futuristic you won't even find it in America or Japan, i discovered that i had a congenital problem, jeff left on a mission to find the airport, and abhi found out that his future is quite short.. and most of all we found out that the streets of Abbasiya are, for sure, not safe anymore.. especially from our parents!!..and today sarun discovered why titu crowned me the head of the Kjs.. (hey i got live up to the name)..

you guys must be wondering what in the world it is that I'm jabbering about..
well here goes.. i wish Jeff was there as well.. but he was on the wonderful adventure of figuring out where the airport was while trying to get his uncle(i think.. as far as i know it was some relative of his.. let's assume his uncle) to the airport..

we have so far no news from jeff and i am at this point not able to confirm the staus of the expedition undertaken by Jeff.. please do inform us Jeff..

I discovered (Thanx to an orthopedic Doctor at PMR(the physical rehab hospital in q8)) that my platella( knee cap for all the non-medico students) is higher than usual and that my shin and knees aren't aligned.. anyways.. enough of me.. goin to the more interesting part...

in the evening i put on my new knee-supports and called up sarun to do something..as sitting at home aint a good productive way of spending time.. so we decided to go for a walk.. good way to test the supporters..

in the mean time.. or rather way before the evening walk was planned.. Abhilash also had a few discoveries made.. he for one thing discovered that he was quite a busy man.. with dance and peer pressure on two side.. not to mention his family as well on an other.. he also discovered that he wasn't sure where he was goin to dance at for a show he has been practicing for.. and the other discovery was that his time was short as he has brought to boil the temper of Jeff by not ever being at home and missing a number of the Legends Showdown (the title of the cricket matches we play at Sarun's building) and so he could be expecting a CTB any time..

coming back to the main story.. Sarun and I embarked on the tedious and dangerous walk through the wild streets of Abbassiya.. and in about two minutes into our walk we encountered our first task.. an encounter with our juniors.. till now i have no idea who they were.. but we spoke with great enthusiasm to both of them.. i'm sarun should have known who they were.. after he knows everyone here in Abbassiya..

after that close encounter which lasted for a good five minutes.. we continued our journey heading in the general direction of a great monument in the heart of the wild land.. UIS... where we met a smaller encounter of two more juniors.. the encounter lasted only a minute... and so we kept on walking without any more further stops and took a complete u-turn at school and headed towards Roshen's building following the route behind the school..

and moments later after our march through that harsh place of cars and fast moving traffic, we finally reached Roshen's building.. and here we decided to cross the road towards Mani's building (we were at this time closer to Jesley's building than the other side)

and here is where we made an important finding..

as soon as we took our first step we almost got run over by a bus.. and so we quickly took a few steps back.. thinking all was clear.. and after looking towards both side for on comng traffic, we again proceeded to cross the road when suddenly out of no-where we almost get run over again.. and by whom??

SARUN'S DAD!!!!

after having a narrow escape both of us decide to risk being hit and run across to the other side.. and so we did and safely made it..

having none other than our main objective back in mind we decide to walk some more.. and so we reach Vishak's building.. at this moment through the various topics discussed between the two explorers( Sarun and I) we come to the topic of his new flat and so we change direction and walk toward it.. this walk i will remember like Roshen's recollection of his walk with Allen in search of the ATM.. the building was "just around the corner!!!!"

anyways.. after finally reaching his building and the exploration of his flat.. the details of which i shall kindly leave to the expert(Sarun) we shall get back to the story..

at the flat we met up with Sarun's dad who said he DID SEE us when he drove (almost) over us, gave us a ride back to Sarun's building.. you can then imagine how far "close" the building is...

anyways.. now that we reached our origin.. we had to decide quick on what to do.. and so.. after much brain storming.. we decided to walk again..

and so we walked.. this time towards the Sha residency.. and was about to enter Abbassiya Supermarket.. when.. Sarun saw somebody.. rather something in the bakery opposite the place.. and then he proclaimed," I AM DEFINITELY NOT FAT!!!!!" and walked into Abbassiya Supermarket with this new found message of peace(piece) and walked screaming this loud all the way to the remote corners of the great establishment... and said..
"If People saw that.. then definitely I AM NOT FAT!!" and as said this.. behind him there stood a pregnant lady with husband.. boy was it a sight to see her face... however.. i did not point his out to Sarun as i had decided to reveal this little piece of info through this great forum..

following on..( gosh i'm tired typing so much.. Allen how do u do it man??!!!)

we got and started walking (towards Meenu Ma'am's building) and as the road ran out we had to decide which way to turn- left or right... and so after much debate.. i took out of my pocket a device so futuristic.. so brilliant.. so helpful... that you would like to kill me for even mentioning the great thing.. and as said before u wont find it in common use in America or Japan..

I'm sure u want to know wat it is..

It was the humble fifty fils coin.. (Why would people use 50fils in America or Japan?? eh??)

and through this in-genius machine we decided that if it was heads we would left and tails right and the coin was tossed.. it landed tails.. and so we turned left at Meenu Ma'am's building.. and at which time.. a Prado decided to flirt with Sarun.. seriously. i'm not jokin

Sarun took a step to the left.. the Prado rolled a little to our left.. Sarun took a step to the right and the prado followed.. and after a calculated dodge.. we escaped the haunted prado to discover that some guy was trying to park his vehicle..

and so we continued our long walk towards sooraj's building and walked along and on and on and on.. and we reached Sarun's building after following a car(occupants related to Sarun) at walking speed.. you see sometimes in this jungle.. the animals all like to go very slow.. socializing with everyone else around.. and so the people also can go with the animals without a problem...

by this time.. the purpose of our great expedition had to come to pass.. we wasted time constructively.. and more over.. my knees started to hurt.. so i headed home.. and thus ended our long and tedious expedition in and around the heart lands of abbassiya..

P.S. hey allen.. hope this one is enough for a day da.. two and all at this length is a little problem..

Take Care People.. and remember..
Always take the proper tools wen goin on such an expediton..
your mobile.. just in case u get lost or something happens to you..

Winds of change

2007-07-04T20:20:00.000+05:30

Its interesting how the winds of change influence the life of a person.. it's interesting how death seems to have left me to bother someone else.. but change doesn't happen overnight.. the dark clouds still are in the sky.. they have not moved very far away.. i don't think they will very soon either..
the wind doesn't not seem to influence these clouds.. they seem determined to stay there..

Happy faces i could see today.. the days are sunny and bright again.. the rain drizzles yet on the heads.. the sun shines through to take them away..
rapture it felt maybe in this way too.. or have i just lost it too??

What a day??

2007-06-30T20:35:00.000+05:30

Its been a day of discovery.. a day of travel.. a day i shall wish i never have to go go through again.. but fate has put me at an unlucky point.. i need to repeat today another day..
yet today death seemed to have left me alone. has he become bored of me??
today he cared not for me.. did not even bother me.. and more revealed.. the plot thickens??
thats it for now.. i live another day... i go on.. so does my story..

it continues

2007-06-28T22:33:00.000+05:30

today twice did u show me ur face... death why do u play this game with me??
in the morning and in the night, twice did u play with my life..
take it death.. toy around??
why why at all???

Reverie??

2007-06-27T22:58:00.000+05:30

So the reverie has disappeared.. and now i stare, amazed, frightened, in awe and complete numbness at reality, the binding force that reaches deep into my consciousness and pulls me from hope, from joy, from peace, from tranquility.
Dazed and in shock i stand here, and am pushed, pulled used as a puppet.. flying with the wind like a plastic bag on a journey it knows not how will end or where it goes next.
Bleeding, in pain, limping slowly like a soldier wounded in battle,
Yet there is no remorse ( i wish)
That i have woken up, lost a dream a fantasy, or hurt or killed someone,
Or now i'm bleeding, or even that i'm the puppet, the puppet who once ruled other puppets,
For i know, this will do good,
A sacrifice to the gods for redemption, a road to salvation.

I just pray the gods hear me, the sacrifice given life,
or even eternal bliss. And then...

Wrecked, has it all become??
To ashes from ashes it has gone,
By nature to die, to die we must,
So my day cometh,
I feel Him close by,
If not, Why doth he pinch me and tickle me each day??
Why doth he pull my leg and show luxury at my face??
Close enough to smother me, or rather run over me??

huh??

2007-06-21T23:16:00.000+05:30

i have come again to a time where sleep knocks at my door.. rather demandingly tp open up.. hmm... i wonder why whenever i have something to do, sleep comes running to me.. the most demanding of keepin him from taking over is sheer will power during class-hours.. its is such pity..

its as if he waits all day long to see whether i have something to do.. and then when he sees me trying to do something.. he has to come running like a man clad in a white robe of to conquer the the surroundings that he thinks sacred..

okay.. i think i should answer the door now.. i cannot stand this noise anymore...

The illusion

2007-06-12T22:00:00.000+05:30

The happy faces seemed to remain happy.. looking forward to all that was to come.. but as the pace set in.. they realised everything was passing by too fast.. they didn't have control over anything anymore..
All the time in the world seemed to no longer be in the grasp of their hands.. it was slipping through their fingers and this sent shivers down their spine..
what was it that they were going to face very soon??
where was it that they were going so fast??
they knew not the answers.. they knew not the future..
the ship continued to sail on.. the wind blew on.. it never ended.. the ship never did either..

the new chapter begins

2007-06-08T23:25:00.000+05:30

the curtains drew up.. the choir began to sing.. the speakers spoke.. and the people slept or got bored to death with the nonsense that was served to them on the hot platter heated with the flames of the lamp that was lighted to invoke the Blessings of God.. i wonder if any of them have ever felt it..
But as this new chapter began.. the characters in this long story were happy that their lives did not end with all the happenings of all the chapters that had past..
Let's hope the Author is as generous with his characters as they hope him to be..

The end.. near???

2007-06-03T03:08:00.000+05:30

And so the curtains close, the music dies down, the lights begin to fade,
The show is coming to an end...
And so what thrilled the people for so long sees its end.. and no option but to embrace it, to hold it near, and accept it's fate..

But yonder lies not dismay nor sorrow..
in the horizon a light shines,
yonder lies a new chapter, a new beginning.

And so, here ends another chapter,
The pages turn on still,
The Reader and Writer both haven't reached the cover of the book..

Or have they?

2007-06-02T02:17:00.000+05:30

instructions instructions instructions!!!!
Dont people know how to do anything on their own anymore????

???

2007-06-01T02:02:00.000+05:30

Would laughter be called laughter if was sad?
Is happiness that underlying force that drives all of us?
Would periods be called periods if it wasn't regular??
Is there really no cure for baldness??

Would death be salvation for those who are tortured?
Is gossip all that we want to talk about?
Would the world be a better place if no one had a care on their mind?

Bells

2007-05-30T02:31:00.001+05:30

The Bells are ringing!! the Bells are ringing!!
They ring again after so long.. people thought they had rusted and broken down..
But no.. they ring again...
It's time now.. time once again..
to have fun, to go out in the sun,
to be cheerful and never ending laughter..
the bells are ringing!!!
The Bells Are Ringing!!!

My business view

2007-05-29T02:03:00.001+05:30

This market just aint fair... no i aint being racist.. nor an admirer of white skin.. its just that when it comes to the sexes issue.. i fell that this market just aint fair to both the sexes...

Maybe my view is very subjective.. i dont care... I went out shopping today.. yes.. me a guy went out shopping.. so wat?? Can't i??

anyways... so i go shopping.. i had to go to a dozen or so shops before i found anything remotely close to what i was searching for..

Every other place had things only for women!!!

What crap?? All those places are (technically) supposed to be selling goods for both the sexes..

With everyone wanting to sell stuff to women.. do people actually sell that much stuff?? or are there that many women who buy that many things??

wat do the poor guys do eh?? any ideas??

( I ain't gay by the way.. just a concerned guy!!)

Disgusted

2007-05-26T02:10:00.000+05:30

I have no idea why.. but i just feel disgusted..

It must be because of the all the incidents that might have taken place today... hmm most probably it is..

the day began with the disturbing call to get out of my warm bed.. i was cosy and snug and had no plans wat so ever of getting up today..

it followed by mindless rambling by agents of prometric thompson telling me wat not to do.. WHAT A PAIN!!!! can't just answer my bloody question and just tell me exactly wat to do instead of waste my time, energy and money to hear their stupidity???

and then it moved to the disgusting revelation of how low clergy can get.. i dont even want to reveal even a fraction of the details i got see as it may remove any bit of reverence the poor lot recieves here anyway..

and then finally i get home to be told about the expenses of my existence.. and accounts start to flow..
i dont need to hear about all that.. why the hell should i?? i'm not bothered about it..
tell the moment i want something.. everything seems so bloody close.. till i need it.. then its miles away frm me..
i have to go thru agencies, thru people, thru paper work.. till i need it.. if not.. all i need to do is stretch my hand and grab it..

wat rubbish??!!!

SLEEP!!!

2007-05-23T17:42:00.001+05:30

The wonderful nature of sleep has never been doubted.. and many scholars have written pages on the all inclusive nature of sleep....

Its so wonderful that is brings down anyone it wants to.. at some point or another.. either through its playful form when almost everyone retires for the night..
or its more evil/sacred (i leave it for you to decide) counterpart.. death.. it always shows up. at some place or another..

but then unfortunately for some.. sleep doesn't walk anywhere near them.. it always seems to run away and hide when they come close to it.. they search and search.. looking for the minutest trail of sleep's existence somewhere close to them.. but they do not find it.. Insomniacs are an unlucky bunch,...

i pity them.. even more so who have to fight sleep away from them.. to stay awake in the dead of the night.. to work or to finish some project, assignment or something..

its sad to see their plight.. i know how it feels to be deprived of this precious commodity..

any day for precious than gold or silver..

lost is the man who searches for riches when forgets he the sleeper and his aids!!

Yawn.. he calls me now.. i must go.. i come my lord... take me away..

The Boy Child!!!!

2007-05-22T12:30:00.000+05:30

Ever heard of the constant beatings, the fights, the feuds, the endless tortures of the wives, just because the wife doesn't bear forth a 'boy' child??!!!
Well I'm sick and tired of listening to it... somebody should go up to all these "men" and implant it in through their thick skulls that the only reason their wives don't give them a son is because of the 'man' itself!!!

It's simple biology, and anyone with a brain the size of a pea can understand that..

Now I'm no feminist, I'm not any male chauvinist either who wants the man to dominate over the woman.. i believe in equality.. if only the women believed in it too.. but this kind of utter stupidity can't be justified..

Girls do everything as good a boy could do.. they just ain't given the opportunity.. feminists in a small way believe the same thing.. but no.. do they want equality (they say yes.. but hah!!)

How many times have you heard a guy get in trouble just cause he wasn't chivalrous?? What about Ladies first??? If they want to be equal.. who cares who goes first!!!!

It doesn't help that all of this is wanted by the women.. on top of the equal status with men.. also the men are more than ready to offer them any service they require.. the idea of 'ladies first and so on' even more so propagated by men and their male chauvinist counterparts..

So who really cares then for all those male chauvinists?? They are I'd say just created by the feminists to make it easier to for them to get services for themselves.. Kudos to you women!!
After all, men would just come on over to open your door, let you in first, put their coats down so that you could step over dirty mud, and the works..

I pity now, the place of the 'man'.. Masculinism anyone??

rol(l)e models

2007-05-22T01:46:00.000+05:30

i got an interesting message today that i was the role model of somebody.. now thats an interesting thought right there..
BUT WHAT IN THE WORLD DO ROLE MODELS DO???? AND WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THERE FOR???

I for one never had a role model.. never bothered to search for one.. and never bothered to look up to anyone either..
and if u ask me.. I guess I'm doing pretty fine.. no problems what so ever..

okay.. so who would register as common role models?? Mahatma Gandhi? Mother Teresa??
Fine.. But I don't see anything great in any of these people.. now the local post-man would be a role model..

think it over..

but what are they there for in the first place?? for us to look up to?? For us to follow in their ways?? What for?? What we should try is set up our own paths...

I'm not advocating that we forget important personalities who have shaped our pasts (Mother Teresa ain't one of them!!) what i'm saying is that we shouldn't raise them to a pedestal and try to be like them in every walk of our lives..

It's really not worth all that...

I do however see the need for roll models.. i mean cars.. they look awesome in ads.. but how good are they in real life?? and to know all that we to have models..
at least the car you would chose to buy would affect you in a lot more ways than your "role" model!!

Ah.. my mind gives me an idea now.. let's have rol(l)e models.. models that roll and have character and something that we can always look up to.. a hydrogen fuel cell car..
now thats a rol(l)e model!!

A car that runs on garbage.. a bike that never falls.. hmm.. a plane that doesn't pollute.. now thats taking rol(l)e models to new heights!!

The fulness of nothing

2007-05-20T16:05:00.000+05:30

today as filled with nothing.. quite boring?? i think not.. hehe..
i was able figure out that there was a lot of in the emptiness that surrounded a person.. it should how deep the person was..
its an interesting thought.. how nothing shows the depth of a person.. yet this is not always true..
a person experiencing emptiness does so because they think a lot, feel a lot, empathize a lot..
its quite exceptional the being that emerges from the empty to become filled with an idea or rather an ideology that changes all around him..
Buddha went into thought, he called it meditation, when there was nothing around him, nothing in him, other than doubts, he emerged out of it a changed man.. the results seen clearly around the world..
i'm no changed man, nor have gone on to the quest to conquer the emptiness that surrounds me..
i ramble on.. day and day after.. to an end i know not whence it comes.. but it surely will
and when it does.. i just hope i'm prepared..

The dust in our lives..

2007-05-19T17:32:00.000+05:30

For the past couple of days the weather here has been horrible.. nothing but dusty.. its a glorious sight to see, the power of nature.. yet the dust and me aren't the best of friends.. i get terrible headaches when it gets too much..

It is as i have come to understand.. another hindrance in my life.. and so today.. i go on wondering what all is there that stops me from going ahead happily.. that dust is nothing but tiny particles that seem to hurt those who try to defy it and yet something that is also needed in this huge world of ours..

there are friends too.. some of whom you care about.. and then there are those who you hope wouldn't care so much about you.. they all seem to me to be like dust.. they come and go.. and leave a mark..

their purpose there is unknown.. but they give you solace, give you company, give you splitting headaches, they give you.....

and so today when i say goodbye to a good friend of mine, i know not why you came into my life, i know not why you have gone, but i do know this, that u have left a mark, a big one (not considering the fact that you weigh a ton)

goodbye dear friend.. i hope to meet you again...

And so it began

2007-05-19T12:56:00.000+05:30

And so it began that one day the mind was overburdened and heavy.. and so it looked violently through all the channels it knew for an escape.. for a way when all that it was bothered about could be heard.. or even a meaningful or meaningless chat would be enlightenment.. yet it's many attempts fell on deaf ears, on eyes that were blind, and on people who's will was no longer theirs..

and so it searched.. and finally stumbled upon an open door.. and then it flowed.. hoping that it would never cease.. cease like the others.. who fell to the ground.. dead.. never to say a word again...

a result of time.. a result of growing up.. a result of maturation??