Welcome to Shabbu's Blog

പിറന്നാള്‍ പാര

2012-01-30T16:17:00.001-05:00

കൂട്ടുകാരന്റെ ഭാര്യയുടെ "surprise birthday" പാര്‍ട്ടിക്ക് വിളിച്ചപ്പോഴേ കഴുത്തിന്‌ ചുറ്റും ഒരു കൊലകയര്‍ വീണ പ്രതീതി. "ഈശ്വര ഇവനും തുടങ്ങിയോ?? ". ആത്മമിത്രം കരിങ്കാലി ആയി, ഇത് തന്നെ ആവും കലികാലം.കോളേജില്‍ കൂടെ നാരങ്ങ സോഡയും കുടിച്ചും, വായും നോക്കി തെണ്ടി തിരിഞ്ഞു നടന്ന 'സന്തപ്പന്‍' ഇവിടെ ഇപ്പൊ 'സാന്‍ഡി' ആയി. എന്തും ആയിക്കോട്ടെ ഇതും കണ്ട് കളയാം. കൃത്യം 12 മണിക്ക് 'as per his plan' ഞങ്ങള്‍ കുറച്ചു പേര്‍ 'grand entry ' നടത്തി. സാന്ടിയുടെ ഭാര്യ ആതിര സന്തോഷത്തില്‍ തുള്ളി ചാടുന്നു. പാവം കൊച്ചു പെണ്ണ് 'surprised' ആയി കാണും. അപ്പോള്‍ step 1 : success. പിന്നെ അങ്ങോട്ട്‌ സാന്‍ഡി-യുടെ പ്രകടനം ആയിരുന്നു. 5 - star ഹോട്ടെലുകള്‍ തോറ്റു പോവുന്ന അലങ്കാരങ്ങള്‍ . "ഈ ന്യൂ ജേഴ്സിയില്‍ ഒരു കൊച്ചു തൃശൂര്‍ പൂരത്തിനുള്ള അലങ്കാരം വേണമായിരുന്നോ?" ഞാന്‍ മനസ്സില്‍ ഓര്‍ത്തു പോയി. ഇതാ വരുന്നു ഒരു setup cake , വായില്‍ കപ്പല്‍ ഒട്ടികാനുള്ള വെള്ളം ഉള്ളത് കൊണ്ട് ഇവനെ തെറി പറയാനും പറ്റില്യ. മെഴുകുതിരികള്‍ ഒന്നൊന്നായി കെടുത്തി , cake മുറിച്ചു കണവനും പോണ്ടാട്ടിയും ഓരോ പീസ് അകത്താക്കി അങ്ങ് romantic ആയി ഒരല്‍പ നേരം കണ്ണോടു കണ്ണും നോക്കി ഇരുന്നു. "പരിസര ബോധം ഇല്ലാത്ത ജാഡ തെണ്ടികള്‍" ഞാന്‍ വീണ്ടും മനസ്സില്‍ പിരുപുരുത്തു.കാത്തു നിന്നില്ല ഒരു പീസ് കേക്ക് ഉടനെ ഞാന്‍ അകത്താക്കി, ബാക്കിയുള്ള food items ലക്‌ഷ്യം ഇട്ടു മുന്നോട്ടു നീങ്ങി. ഇടകിടക്കെ എന്റെ ഭാര്യയോടും ചില കുശലാന്യേഷണങ്ങളും നടത്തി like "നീ കഴിക്കുന്നില്ലേ ?" 'കേക്ക് കൊള്ളാം അല്ലെ?" അങ്ങനെ അങ്ങനെ.... അതില്‍ നിന്നില്ല ഉടനെ ഇതാ വരുന്നു സാന്‍ഡി-യുടെ വക ഒരു rose bouquet . 'ഇവന്‍ ആരെടാ ?? രോമിയോടെ മുത്തച്ചനോ ?' ഇനി ഇവന്‍ ഒരു റൊമാന്റിക്‌ പാട്ട് കൂടെ പാടിയാല്‍ അമ്മച്ചിയാണേ യെവനെ ഞാന്‍ തട്ടും എന്ന് ഞാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. ഭാഗ്യത്തിന് അതൊന്നും ഉണ്ടായില്ല . ആഹാരത്തില്‍ മുഴുകി ഇരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ ഒരു കൂട്ട അലര്‍ച്ച കേട്ട് ഞാന്‍ ഞെട്ടി 'WOW thats so sweet !!' അതായിരുന്നു generally ഒരു ടോണ്‍. അതാ അവിടെ എന്റെ കയെത്താ ദൂരത്ത് ഒരു 'diamond earring ' കിടന്നു മിന്നുന്നു. എടാ അലവലാതി സന്തപ്പ...പരമ ചെറ്റേ എന്നോട് വേണമായിരുന്നോ ഈ കൊടും വഞ്ചന?? വാങ്ങിയത് പോട്ടെ എന്ന് വെയ്ക്കാം പക്ഷെ ഈ പരസ്യ പ്രസ്താവന വേണമായിരുന്നോ?? ബാക്കിയുള്ള ഭര്‍ത്താക്കന്മാരും എന്റെ അതെ അവസ്ഥയില്‍ അമ്ബാസ്സടരിന്റെ headlamp പോലെ കണ്ണും തള്ളി നിന്നു. ആരോ തിരക്കിനിടയില്‍ 'ഇത് എത്ര കാരട്ടാ??' എന്ന് ചോദിക്കുന്നത് കേട്ടു. എനിക്ക് വായില്‍ 3 kilo carrot കിലോക്ക് 6 രൂപ എന്ന് പറയണം എന്ന് ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. പിന്നെ പറഞ്ഞിട്ട് എന്ത് കാര്യം സ്ത്രീ ജന്മം പുണ്യ ജന്മം എന്ന് മനസ്സില്‍ നമിച്ചു ഞാന്‍ മിണ്ടാതിരുന്നു. അവന്‍ ഓരോ gift കൊടുക്കുമ്പോഴും എന്റെ പൊണ്ടാട്ടി എന്നെ ഇട കണ്ണിട്ടു നോക്കുന്നുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ശരശയ്യയില്‍ കിടന്ന ഭീഷ്മപിതാമഹന്‍ പോലും ചൂളി പോവുന്ന ആ നോട്ടത്തിന്റെ പൊരുള്‍ അറിഞ്ഞെങ്കിലും അറിയാത്ത പോലെ ഞാന്‍ അഭിനയിച്ചു ജീവിച്ചു പോകുന്നു.
എന്നാലും സാന്‍ഡി പിറ്റേ ദിവസം ഒരു ലഞ്ച് അറേഞ്ച് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട് എന്ന് അറിഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ അവനോടുള്ള എല്ലാ ദേഷ്യവും മാറി. സ്നേഹം ഉള്ളവനാ സാന്‍ഡി ഇടക്കെ ഇച്ചിരി അഹങ്കാരം കാണിക്കും എന്നെ ഉള്ളു :)

NOTE : ആവശ്യത്തിനു മസാല ഉണ്ടെങ്കിലും ഈ കഥയും കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളും സാങ്കല്പികം അല്ല. എന്നെ കുറിച്ച് വിവരം ഒന്നും കേട്ടില്ലേല്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ക്കറിയാം ആരാണ് അതിനു പിന്നില്‍ എന്ന് സസ്നേഹത്തോടെ കാഥികന്‍ ശബരിഷ് പാലക്കാട്‌ :)

Mind of a married man...

2012-01-03T16:32:00.000-05:00

She asked "What happened dear?? Why do you look so gloomy?"
He replied "Hmm Nothing.."
With a pause and deep breath she continued "I am sorry, i didn't mean what I said. It something else I wanted to say..."
He interrupted "Err.. What?? What did you say?"
She continued " Lemme finish!! I am sure you were not happy the way my Christmas cake turned out to be. Its just that I am not used to this new oven and have been trying some thing new."
He consoled her "Its not that dear, just nothing forget it."
She was distraught and had a pale look on her face "You know sometimes I dont get you, i have no idea what you say and behave like. Am i missing something?"
He looked at her a while and replied "Its a guys thing dear, nothing of your fault. Its just those inexplicable things in a guys life."
She looked at him in a puzzled manner "C'mon you can tell me anything. I'll try to help you out. Thats what wives are meant for"
Before she could break into tears she managed a giggle and continued "you are not having an affair..are you??"
He replied back "C'mon honey now dont be silly"
"Then what is is it..tell me" She insisted.
"Ok..Ok..I'll tell you" He said.
Like an anxious 4 year old listening to her grandmothers stories she prepared herself looking straight at his face and said "Yea tell me I am all ears"
Fixing his throat he said "Liverpool 1 - Blackburn 1. Damn these guys cannot even win matches against team from bottom of the league. The 35 million pound beanpole Andy Carroll he doesnt even know where the goalpost is?? And what the F are downing and henderson doing dilly-dallying in the wings?? How many more matches do we have to wait to see us Liverpool clinically finishing off these small teams."
"And you what that means, this means we are still stuck in 6th spot in the league" He continues in the same breath "DAMN!! these guys have no feelings to the pressure I am going trough."
Amazed by her husband's foolishness she looked at his face and asked "Thats it??"
"Hmmm" he nodded.
Patting on his back she walks into the kitchen biting her teeth in frustration. Well what more can she do??

Nature Lovers

2011-12-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

On the highway exit there is a small bush where we have spotted a deer couple stranded in the nights. Standing tall with utmost elegance i slowed down my car to have a glimpse of it every other time. They freezed when bright car lights approached them at 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.On rainy days i slow down to make sure no harm is made for both of us. 2 weeks back i found one of them lying on the road side crushed by a heavy vehicle. It was a horrondous scene with all his inner organs turned inside out scattered on the road side bushes. After a few days I saw the other lonely deer stranded at the same spot. Unfazed by the car honks and bright light it stood its ground. Looked more like a stand of statement and intent to show her courage. Maybe she was searching her dear one, unaware that he has been crumbled in an accident. Maybe she knows about her dear one and wants us human beings to stay out of her territory. I stopped my car and waited till she crossed the road. As i went home the thought about that poor deer kept lingering my mind that night.But next day again i went through the same road, more due to my practised brain than a thoughtful action. And aghast i was to see another deer mashed up by some automobile. I personally do not know if it was the same deer, but almost very sure its the same heroic deer.

Every other day I see a lot of deers decapitated, mashed, crushed and crumbled by our vehicles on road sides. In our views its basically no body's fault. At 70mph its very little we can do maneuvering our vehicles. But thinking about these wild creatures and the bad deal they are getting from us human being. Its one kinda glorious cruelty we human beings indulge in for our survival. We enclosed the nature to our benefits and now we are marauding them at our will. May god show some mercy on our souls.

A 'wannabe' SILK

2011-12-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

If anybody thinks 'The Dirty Picture' is an adaptation of Silk Smitha's life, well you are one amongst many who have been intelligently fooled by Milan Luthria, Ekta Kapoor and the media. A few incidents from Silk's life have been hand picked and scattered in a rather sarcastic manner to glorify silk's life. And come on give me a break for casting Vidya Balan to enact Silk on screen. I agree they might share the same sized assets but silk was more about those lazy eyes, expressive lips and easeful dancing (...and many more but can't divulge those in a blog).

As young boys the very word 'Silk' would make us sweat and heart beats at a higher pitch, such was her effect on our puberty. And here comes Vidya Balan with all voluptiousness but with sincerely no after effects. Some say Vidya can express any kind of emotions on screen but now she proves definitely not a 'VAMP'. Its something in built to make men ogle with mouth wide open, a few have it and a few dont.To put it in the right sense had Vidya been Silk in the 80's south India would have had more 'preferably gay' guys. Silk is not only 'bust and bossom' she had an excellent screen presence too. Sad that her on screen adaptation was more of joke and less of silk.

The movie basically has no grip what so ever to keep the audience enthused with a very weak plot. But there is a silver lining and the highlight of the movie are those double edged dialogues. Vidya furnishes those dirt filled timely dialogues with utmost ease. Do you know that there is a 'shakeela' in the movie?? But not the Shakeela we south Indians know but someone more like the shakeela from primary school. Milan Luthria missed out to depict what Silk meant to people other than her steamy erotic scenes. She would pick up a few comic roles which would suit her sexy outlook and some challenging roles too.

Above all Silk was an excellent dancer too and would easily keep up with most of the top dancing stars of the 80's. Vidya is an average dancer and thankfully that portion of silk's life was not reimaged. And talking about the heroes in the movie. Well there aren't any heroes, though there are a few male-co-actors who just want to sleep with Vidya (in the movie). Names of these male co-actors have no imagination what so ever and depicts the typical North Indian attitude towards a fellow 'madrasi'. (Suryakant, Ramakant (obvisouly brothers), Abraham, SelvaGanesh are the few names of the characters)

Having said this, kudos to Vidya for trying out something entirely new which doesn't suit her in any manner and is out of her comfort zone. The movie is nothing but an Ad for push up bra and how men are forced to ogle at them for 2 hours with no shame. Yeah i was one amongst them, but had it been the real Silk 'tho mazaa aa jaatha'!! You could watch the movie for Vidya but please dont watch it if you think its 'Life History of Silk Smitha' its just a failed adaptation. Before i close off my personal pick would have been Bipasha as Silk for those 'wide eyes' and much more. I am sure Silk would have been proud of it.

An Abominable Water Divide

2011-11-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

Guys please refrain from sending hate messages about Thamizhan or Malayalee. There are 40 lakh people in Kerala afraid of a 100 odd year old dam thats causing tremors every other day. But at the same time there are 40 lakh people in Tamilnadu sustaining on every drop of water from this dam. If the dam breaks even Tamilnadu could face a famine. The solution will be to provide water as currently its happening. Today technologies have gone far ahead and there should be a solution to feed water from the proposed new and safer dam. Abstinence and some levels of mis-communication is causing a big divide and rift among two emotionally vibrant states. Government policy making and decisioning could take longer time but that doesnt give any 'Indian' to say names and spray anger at each other. For ages people of these 2 states have been walking hand in hand and it must continue to do so. People in Tamilnadu are unaware of the number of earthquakes that have happened in last few months. The blogs and videos from Tamilnadu doesnt mention about the consistent behaviour of these tremors which are directly linked to the rains in these areas and the level of water in the dam. Similarly no blogs and videos from Kerala shows the 5 year long strengthening efforts on the dam made of iron and concrete on top of the old structure. This shows the lack of right education and a void in sending the right message across. Even with a lower water level of 120ft can send ample amount of water to Tamilnadu. If that is insufficient water needs to be pumped or sent via channels till a formidable solution is made. Such simple solutions work in Siruvani dam and we could extend it here as well.

For every point each side puts forward there is an counter argument, but any of which doesn't help the cause for the lives of 80 lakh people spread across these 9 districts. People need to be evacuated to safer zones, New dam to be constructed with assurance of water serving capability as it is now. Spreading hatred is easy and fun up to an extent. But if it gets out of hand it could end up in a much deeper malice than we could ever expect. Lets be united and bringforth an amicable solution to this. There is no Malayalee or Thamizhan when it is the matter of life and death. Hopefully commonsense will prevail.

JaiHind!!!

Run Pandit Run

2011-11-10T20:08:00.001-05:00

I like Santhosh Pandit...I adore him as a person. Though my tiny intellect doesn't want me to watch his movie going by the promos & reviews. If its a big miss am ready to accept it. But as a person he is a gem, infact a very rare gem. There is a tinge of sarcasm and tongue in cheek smile on my face but still i place him there. I like many who are reading this blog would have seen the movie 'Forest Gump' where the protagonist Gump was as stupid as one could get. He was naive and abnormal in every sense. But a portion of our heart felt for this good chap when he keeps running all along because his girlfriends asks him to, or when he shows his butthole to the president himself (in the story though) or even when he goes out fishing with no knowledge about it. Call it sympathy, call it cruelty or call it 'goddamn luck' I think there is a place for people like them alongside us. If all were normal and intellectual where is the fun in life? There needs to be a place for such light weight personalities (literally) too. He has virtually kept the flood gates open for opportunities in this industry that is what I like about all this event that has unfolded.

There is a big social networking and media uproar amongst us 'bloody' mallus against him. They love to put those hate comments and make those hate calls to this poor dude.
Mr.A says 'Eda I am frsutrated at work and my boss is an asshole'
For that Mr.B replies 'OOhh Well then I suggest you watch the video from 'Krishnanum Radhayum' and have a laugh riot'

After watching the video Mr.B and his malayalam movie ideologue and love for the movie industry arises. He logs in to youtube and puts those hate comments (പൂരത്തെറി) and YES his mobile number is available on the internet. He calls him and unleashes his tirade yet again. And yes thats bloody hiding mallu for you. For the very fact that he (the same audience) sits and watches movies like Christian Brothers, Chinatown. Tejabhai, PappiAppacha (very recent ones.. dont make me say the history) and prefers to be silent. Because these so called superstars thrive on our internal division of movie fans and the well know silence. The point is not about good movies or bad movies and the cheap petty politics as there are crap movies coming up every weekend irrespective of language. But the point here is the story of a young man who sold his land and house.He who believes he can do something with his 'limited' skills at his disposal.

5 out of 10 people we meet in India has a secret dream of becoming a movie actor or some one in film field. But very few talented or filmy family ones make it to the big screen. The majority middle class is relying on the 9 to 5 job with a safe income, healthy famly and a social status. Now there is Santhosh Pandit who I personally think is a better lyricist, producer & distributor than the other 16 divisons of movie making he has handled. But still wanted to take that intentional risk to have a go at his dreams. There is a cliched statement in malayalam 'പറ്റാത്ത പണിക്കു പോകരുത്' (if you can't do it, don't try it) . Maybe Santhosh Pandit will
wave a flag to all those silent dreamers to have a go at your life and lady luck. Media is demonstrating him as a circus clown act and there are a few jealous film makers who are astounded by the 'luck' this guy has. His next 10 films could be a flop, he might return to his earlier job but he is still a winner at heart for me. Now dont frame me as a 'FAN' its just that I like him the way he is. I am not encouraging you to go and watch his movies you don't even need to watch his videos but don't just ridicule him. We have lot of actors in our film industry (not only malayalam) with limited abilities but lot of backing. At least for a change we have a new 'SuperStar' (as he calls himself) who has neither a godfather in this industry and nor a family to back him. He could be a rare instance in Indian film industry of a self made man.

NOTE: There were eggs thrown at Santhosh Pandit in one of the functions framing him as a 'loser'. So you 'winners' grow a ball and throw the same egg at the so called 'Superstars' for cheating you off a good 2 hours of entertainment minus Rs.50 off your pocket. 'may there be eggs raining in all flop movies. AMEN!!' (atleast the poultry industry needs a big break tsk tsk).

RIP Smokin Joe

2011-11-08T22:34:00.000-05:00

I was reading about Joe Frazier today..its more or less has a 'Rocky' story written all over it. Well done Sly!!! Irony of life is that there is a statue of Sly in Philadelphia, but nothing for the original 'Joe'. Joe Frazier was an amazing boxer, heavy weight champion and an Olympic gold medal winner. Maybe a statue is too little for his legacy. As Mike Tyson said today Joe Frazier along with Muhammad Ali were the yardstick of measurement for modern day boxing.

RIP Joe Frazier.

A plea to Tamil & Malayalee Makkal

2011-11-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

I am from a place called Palakkad in Kerala which has very close proximity to Tamilnadu and could be called as a border district. Most of us here speak both Tamil & Malayalam and are very much evident of the cultures and culture differences between us. I have noticed a particular trait from my fellow Tamil Makkal (people of TN) that one cannot force or threaten them to do anything. They can get as hot blooded and furious (evident from their movies) and sometimes vocal as well. But they understand the human way, a way of love and trust and will be there with you until death. My intention is here is to educate everyone (especially Tamilians) who visits this blog and exchange ideas from a larger audience on Mullaperiyar Dam. As responsible citizens if India and as fellow human being its your responsibility too to understand the plight of many.

Offlate I have been researching about the Mullaperiyar Dam issue. A conflict and difference in interests between Kerala and Tamilnadu governments. Rather than handling the issue amicably Kerala government is persisting on trying to force upon T.N government to abide the laws. A law in India is as good as its not there, given the 'n' number of loopholes and delays in judicial mechanisms. On the other hand the T.N government has taken it up as a 'matter of pride' though it portrays the issue as 'Agricultural'. The tussle between 2 states is an ongoing affair and has heated up for the last 4-5 years. Political pressure tactics, gheravoo and strikes are planned and executed by both sides and have been successful upto a limit.

But many are forgetting the plights of people who live by the shores of Mullaperiyar Dam. The whole community, clan, population, flora, fauna in this area is already under severe threat and if the dam BREAKS (touch wood it would not) all the above will be cleaned up by ravaging forces of water. It will be more like a man made TSUNAMI. Leaders like Vaiko are raking up the issue and creating unwanted political mileage to himself and his party, but the worst part in this exercise is that he is disillusioning the Tamil population.

A big group of Tamilians are misinformed and have misinterpreted that Kerala government is planning to create new dams to restrict water flow to T.N and in turn is trying to the slash down the agrarian growth of the state. Such is the level of ignorance that many ware unaware of the age of the dam, its location and the effects of it when it breaks down. The existing cordial relationships between the states is disrupted for the 'prime' motives of certain industrialists and central government in particular.

The main point of concern being the strength of Mullaperiyar Dam (constructed way back in 1895). And the easiest resolution is to reduce the water level and construct 2 another mini-Dam in the below areas of Mullaperiyar. What it does is that it helps to maintain the water level in Mullaperiyar at a safer level and also these check dams will be used for deviating water flow to Tamilnadu (as it is happening now). The 4 year construction time at a cost budget of 600 Crore is being rejected by TN govt stating the reason that it will cause a humongous Agriculture loss (there are no statistics to prove this). But for that sake the whole area and population under jeopardy should not be overlooked by the T.N government. Both Kerala & T.N government should shed their egos and work for a bigger cause. And as citizens we must educate the ignorant ones too. Maybe there will be a quicker resolution to this than the hide and seek game inside Supreme Courts and expert analysis.

And finally a plea to the Malayalees as well, Please do not ignore this as an issue of Idukki district alone. There are families who are in dire straits with no political backing on this issue. Irrespective of Right, Left, United, Religious front beliefs we must help out our fellow brothers. There is a huge amount of time we spend fighting over Mammotty\Mohanlal, SFI\KSU, Religious, Atheist or any other 'unwanted' topics. Spend half that time in educating yourselves and others around you on this very very serious issue. Its still not too late.

A beautiful article on this topic, in case you are still interested.
https://sites.google.com/site/sastudycentre/mullaperiyar

And a few more ;

http://jamewils.blogspot.com/2010/11/seismic-threat-to-mullaperiyar-dam.html

http://www.santhoshj.in/tag/mullaperiyar/

Lessons still UNlearnt

2011-10-21T14:35:00.000-04:00

Nirmal Madhav saga has been resolved. Here is a link that conveys this information. So it is understood that he is been moved to 'Thrissur Desamangalam Engineering College'. And so SFI has made its point to not let him study in 'Government Engineering College, WestHill Calicut'. SFI defended their action by holding on to their reins that he is ranked 'much lower' than deserving candidate. But they blatantly forget that just for this issue the college has been closed for 3 months. What about the 'deserving students' in the college who were sitting in the sidelines for all this time? And also the seat which Nirmal occupied is still empty and is of no use to anyone, its just simply LOST. Nirmal Madhav allegedly had paid 'bribes' to some senior SFI leaders to get it all resolved smoothly. What happened to those guys?? If its a lie SFI should show guts to bring the truth to the public.

All this bruhaha for just getting him transferred?? Any influential guys in Communist party could have done this with a wink of their eye. What about the classes lost for other students?? Will SFI take initiative to cover their lost classes? If i ask this; any damn SFI leader will come up with silly explanations of 'need of the society' or 'truth for a bigger cause'. But you know what? When my cousin was the bigshot SFI leader in early 90's SFI was still doing the same. Mass outbreak and noise basically for no reason or silly reasons. SFI is a group of rebellistic people with no sustained objectives. Its like a missile with no guidance, though targeted most of the time it falls on its own head (maybe thats why they are the student party with maximum number of rakthasakshi's). And these young rebels educate themselves to goons for DYFI and then a very few progress themselves to some senior posts in the party. That my friends is the organization chart of the Left Democratic Front. The more police cases accelerated is his growth. Top to Bottom an organization filled with so called 'democratic rebels'.

Younger generation in Kerala needs to think twice before they enter into dirt politics and manipulation. The only winners in this whole saga is the man of the moment Nirmal himself. He got the public attention to become 'probably' a KSU leader. He got himself a college seat with no torture or ragging from SFI counterparts. Rest everybody is a sore loser. And the worst losers are the 'boys' who represent this silly students party.

SFI : Flower that Blooms every 5 years in Kerala

2011-10-17T15:34:00.002-04:00

Borrowed from a news article from Deccan Chronicle
“There is no precedence where a student admitted to self financing college is transferred to government engineering college,” said the SFI state president, Mr K.V.Sumesh.Nirmal’s rank was as low as 22,787, while the last rank admitted to Government Engineering College, Kozhikode, was 1,316, he said.

This is the Nirmal Madhav Saga for which SFI has started a state wide agitation and vandalism on streets of Kerala. A rat like issue has been turned in to a hill by the comrades to garner attention and to notify their presence in the new regime under UDF. For 5 years SFI was in hibernate mode by choice or forcefully under their leadership goons. Does that make us believe that last 5 years kerala education system was under heaven's rule? Or they still are the same 'tiny little students' who are yet to grow balls to stand up and make their voices heard even in their own party circles.

When a student leader prolifically specifies the number game of rank, lemme ask him about the thousands of upper caste students who are from a very poor condition feel about their chances to get into a professional course. SC\ ST\ Ezhava\ SEBC\ Backward Christian\ Backward Muslim\ Regional and what not to add on top Management quota. When will a bright student under general category ever get into a college legally?? Does your party has the dick to stand up for them?? I can pinpoint atleast a few 100 souls who have lost their seat to a richer backward caste student. A poor Nair, Nambiar, Catholic or Varier boy\girl who can't make his ends meet is left astray in the mercy of those below him in ranking.

But no way SFI can own up that as an issue. Because the party heads will lose their sleep over their vote bank. The same party which gleefully distributed land to bring up a social equality in the state must think in same lines to bring a equal education opportunity based on the annual family income. Can they roll up their sleeves and own up that? Diplomatically the answer is a big NO, well then 'damn you' and your 'Nirmal Madhav Saga' as many of us really dont care for SFI as a student organization . A mere energizer bunny will do the same job and may be with a better precision.

SFI as a student organization is a sarcastic joke for many of us who studied in 'gods own country'. Guys who fear to donate blood in hospital are first in queue to get hit by lathi charge and proclaim themselves as 'martyrs'. Police force which is setup to defend the sovereignty of the state is brutally pelted with stones and petrol bombs. With no regard to fellow human life they throw wild agitation on to the poor policemen. When its time for the policeman to bounce back (in most cases for self defense), they take the role of a 'victim' and throw tantrums suiting a drama queen.

A few of my good friends and relatives were once part of this student organization and hearing from them what I understand is that 'most of them dont care about the real issue or the cause, all the care is a few slogans being yelled out and a bit of heroic adventure ( a tussle with opposite party member or a confrontation with the poorly equipped state police). Some think they are 'Che' themselves and some do it because they have been told from childhood that party has done a lot for them.'

A revolutionary or a radical is not a birth right its a choice one makes to stand up and unite against a suppression. Once Edmund Burke quoted about revolution 'The most important of all revolutions, a revolution in sentiments, manners and moral opinions.' I guess SFI are way behind in this game.

Pieces of Peace

2011-10-07T17:18:00.001-04:00

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkul Karman are the winners of 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work". The committees decision was intended to bring attention to the world about suppression towards women and to instil faith in the society for women. Applaudible isn't it?? Especially because of the challenges women face in middle east and Africa.

Well looks like until the next American President is elected rest of the peace makers in the world will be awarded in batches of 3. This year for women, next year for gay activists probably, the coming year for american army for restoring peace in middle east. By then the next American president will be ready to receive the 'default award' many presidents has been receiving. Sarah Palin last week announced she will not contest for American Presidency, that would have been a huge sigh of relief for the Nobel peace prize committee. What explanation could they give if they had to award a gun carrying wild mom from Alaska as peacemaker?? You will be amazed to see there are 4 American Presidents in the nobel peace maker's list. Obama in 2009 winning the nobel peace prize for ____. (this blank space is still being researched by universities across the world)

A few deserving candidates were rightly honoured like Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Henry Kissinger, Liu Xiaobo last year being my best pick of the list. Not only its a recognition of their struggle against either a populist \ democratic \ capitalist \ political agenda.

Its also for the next generation to look up to these people as a role model to tackle similar situations.

Even human beings make mistake and so do the committee sometimes (wink). Something like the case of our father of the nation 'Mahatma Gandhi' a mistake from which Nobel Peace Prize can never ever recover. Though later on Mother Theresa and Dalai Lama were notably and rightfully awarded (to satisfy the Indian Quota) elusion of Gandhiji still haunts many.

Link for nobel prize winner, if you are interested ;
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/index.html

Pelting Stones at Prithvi

2011-10-04T10:01:00.002-04:00

Prithviraj Sukumaran is one amongst my favourite actors in the current era. Movie after movie there is a small crowd (increasing) that nods in agreement about his bright future in Malayalam Film Industry. But off late a few social networking vandals have decided to eggface him. They edit his interviews, manipulate his movie clippings and make a meal out of it. The self joking sarcastic malayalee loves it. But this is going a bit par above the limits i guess. And i feel pity on this well off talented young guy(too young to become a star as some would say). He is well educated, well read and has a good notion about his responsibilities as an actor. For a young actor he invests his earnings back into the meagre earning malayalam film industry. And promotes malayalam industry wherever he speaks and solely believes in good movies to evolve from our industry.

So why does the fellow bloody-mallu dislike him??
(nothing that he cares)
As i said earlier many amongst us are far too jealous on his achievements at this young age and to add salt on wounds he has that charisma around him. To further add he has an 'arrogant attitude', which again is decided by a few in our society. They prefer a soft spoken scoundrel to a bold individual possessing 'SPINE'. And there is a big media to back the 'vandals' i spoke before of. Apparently media is angry at him because 'he had an affair which he didn't disclose until his marriage'. C'mon every media baron must rethink the money they invest on gossips and page3. Its a case of media failure, where they couldn't unearth his affairs (if they were so much interested to begin with). Then there is a section of media who kept speculating him having an affair with Samvrutha Sunil (an upcoming fine actress in malayalam). There have been a few movies of them together to add spice to their stories\gossips. After Dileep-Manju, Biju-Samyuktha i guess media had lot of bets on Prithvi-Samvrutha in which they evidently crashlanded. Some dislike him for the manner in which he speaks about Mammooty & Mohanlal. A few emotionally blind fans demand more respect for their superstar icons. In many interviews time and time again he has stated both of them to be old and unfit to do a youngsters role, which is entirely true. Well malayalee junta doesnt care about the fact\truth behind it. All they want prithvi is to dance to their tunes sing songs and praise about the 2 M's no matter what (c'mon somebody needs a lesson on freedom of speech).

A clap is heard when there are two hands, so to point out Prithvi's problem. He wears his heart on sleeve and acts as if he is an untethered soul. He publicly behaves as if nothing bothers him but contradictingly goes and defends his stance on every word he speaks or his every other action. The first step to a peaceful celebrity status is to show utter disregard to what others say or write about you. Prithvi fails big time here, he goes on and on defending his motives and inner voice but alas he knows that the very media is minting money out of him. The hero he is trying to portray is sold as a clown to the public by our own media.

Many in our age group have only heard about the 'golden period' in Malayalam movies even though we just had to watch those old classic movies later on tv. A new revolution is happening in our industry and Prithvi plays a big part there. By pelting stones we are curbing the enthusiasm and interest around him. All this is because i dont want to be in a generation where there is a big hiatus after the 2 big M's of our industry. There are others to challenge the top position but we all know in back of our minds that Prithvi is miles ahead when compared to them.

Quit belittling him fellow mallus...let the show continue. Picture Abhi bhi Baaki hai!!!!!!

Ucha Kirukku (ഉച്ച കിറുക്ക്‌)

2011-09-23T15:25:00.001-04:00

Madhavan Nair is relaxing in his 'chaarukasera' at his ancestral house in palakkad. The scorching heat outside is sending out a wave of hot breeze into the verandah. It doesnt seem to bother him much as he seems to enjoy the beetel nuts in his mouth and gazing at the towering mango tree in his frontyard. Back of his mind he was thinking about this tree that has witnessed all the events in his family. Starting from his father & mother's death, his marriage, little suman and arya playing in mud, onam vacations every year. He remembers it all like yesterday and cant believe its been 10 years since he is retired now. Weaker bones that make funny crackling noise every now and then. And he is no mood complaining about the past. God has blessed him with a wonderful and understanding wife Sunanda or Sunu as he calls her, his kids have grown up healthy and successful. For each instances he had thanked god for this wonderful gift called Life. Now things have changed a lot. Like his sisters are not a stones throw away these days. They decided to move in with their kids living in America or Australia. Some of his friends are far and some still try to keep in touch with him. Sadly Bharathan Maashu is at an old age home in Thrissur. On afternoon's like these he misses them , and those good old days when they play cards. Every other day he remembers losing the game and ending up hanging 'machinga' stuck with 'eerkillis' in his ears. A way to depict the loser as they always do.
Some times they had a joker card kept on his ears too. He is missing the call 'MadhuEtta' from his dear friends. And even sad that he is not in touch with Jayu, Wilson, Sasi or to say most of them will not be an understatement. Hope they are happy with whatever they are doing 'Guruvayoorappan Katholum' is all he can pray now. Sakhavu Divakaran's widow Ammu stays nearby and visits him and Sunu once a while. Most of the time she holds Sunu's hand and cries for a while and leaves. Party Martyr's wife and family have a 'RED' bus stand in their dear husband's name and thats the end of it. Saying about party he misses those evening discussions over beedi and chai from kuttan's shop. Divakaran's vociferous rival Councillor Raghu is an Alzheimers patient now and little by little is deteriorating him inside out. Meanwhile Kuttan's son Kanaran has returned from Dubai and constructed a mall where the old tea shop stood. Kanaran calls himself a 'real estate broker' these days. Some times its ironic how life has changed around the small village.

Meanwhile Sunu can see her husband sitting and smiling all alone lost in his thoughts. She prefers not to disturb him and prefers to continue with her daily afternoon knitting. In between she checks the calendar and calculates with her fingers. Another 38 days for Suman & his wife Sheetal to visit them. And another 16 more days for Arya, her husband Unni & little Anakha to come.The very thought about all of them coming has made her excited. As she starts thinking about all the dishes she has to prepare. 'Maanga Pachadi' is Arya's favourite and Suman like his father will eat anything. She needs to inform Ammu's Son Sunil early enough to get the mangoes plucked from the tree. Poor boy had to stop his studies after his fathers death and has been doing mediocre jobs in the locality to make ends meet. Thank god Sunil too is not foolishingly following his fathers steps. Sometimes she feels sad for Sunil and whether to call him for such silly jobs, and him being ammu's son never takes a paisa from herself or Madhuettan. But what to do there is no one else available near by to pluck a mango or coconut. Its late afternoon now and its 'madhuettans tea time' after a small nap. She peeps and takes a look at her husband still awake and stationary. For a moment her mind started to read the wrong lines and she hurries to her husband. Noises made by her footsteps seems not to bother him and this worries her more and more. She kept her cold palm on his forehead and suddenly he looks at her in slight anguish.

'aa sukham kalanjallo Sunu!!' obvisouly he was a bit offset with Sunu as she corrupted his reminiscent mood. With slight relief she took her hand and said
'chaaya veno madhuetta? Samayam 3:30 aayi'. In disbelief he checks the old pendulum clock in the wall and tells her all time he was thinking about this Mango Tree.
'Eee maavu nammude koode thanne aayittu ippo ethra aayi?' She amusingly looks at her husband and couldn't relate what he is upto Entha????. He continued
'Palarum nammude jeevithathil varunnu pokunnu, ivan ippolum eppolum nammude koode' 'Ivanu ente pengammare pole swatho swarnamo venda, ninte aangalaye pole idakke idakke kaashu venda. Ninakku thonnunnille?'

Years back the same simple and humble minded guy had won her heart. And for no reason she shook her head and said
'athum sheri aanu njan ithu vare angane orthittilla'
Encouraged by his wife's response he continues
'Suman, Arya avarude kudumbam kollathil orikkal ivide varumbo namukku enthoru santhosham aanu' 'Allenkil Nammalodu pinangi poyavaraum, nammale vittu doore poyavarum avare kurichu orthu vishamikkane namukku neramullu'
'Ivan ennum nammude koode irunnum, nammude aduthundaayittum nammal shradhikkaare illa'
Now she started to get little confused
'Athinu?? ithu oru maram alle?' Holding her hand he continued
'Nammude aduthum nammude koode ullavareyum nammal orrkkaare illa, manushyan ennum nashtapettathu orthu maathrame chinthikkarullu. Muttathe mullakku manamilla ennokke parayille?? Athu polokke thanne..ivide oru maavu aanenne ullu' Till now she couldn't make any meaning out of it, more than that she didnt want to decode her husbands mystifying psychologies. She nodded her head sarcastically and said
'Uvvu Uvvu!! Ithu Ucha Kirukku thanne, njan poi chaaya idaam. Ningalkku vere joli illa Madhuetta!!'.
As Sunu walked towards kitchen, Madhavan Nair stood up stretched his back and walked towards the tree. Some kinda strange feeling is going through his head right now a feeling he felt when he went for 'pennukaanal' of Sunu. Like he was tensed to say something or was too aware of the surroundings, ahh he doesnt know. More than anything he felt safe and loving after a very long time, he didnt feel lonely anymore and it was like Suman is standing next to him or as little Anakha gave him a big tight hug and says 'love you Achachaa'. He caressed the tree with his hand as if it is a little elephant and almost hugged the giant. Meanwhile he could hear Sunu saying aloud 'Madhuetta chaaya ready'. He turns back and slowly makes a walk inside his house and back to the sane synchronous world.
-------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE : Most of the speeches in this story is in Malayalam written in English, my bad malayalam literature couldnt keep up with the writing in English. And a mix of Malayalam and English hybrid version doesnt sound cool either. So i have kept it plain and simple in English. Anyone feels they can write this whole story in Malayalam 'Please be my Guest'.

La Tomatina, hypocrisy at its best

2011-09-18T23:30:00.001-04:00

A facebook status of my friend read something like this 'Ban La Tomatina'. And the reason to ban he backs is those millions of malnourished children in India who cant make their ends meet. Well thats a good dimension to look into world matters. In a country like ours its a crime to waste food, and to waste food in such magnitude. But then half the facebook crowd is from IT industry in India. They must have seen or very well aware of the humongous amount of food that is being wasted in our cafeterias. The bangalore office where I worked had a chart maintained by the respective department depicting the amount of food that is being wasted on a daily basis. Some numbers in it could break Sachin Tendulkar's batting records. If banning 'La Tomatina' is a starter, well we should get into the main course as well. Implement ideas or plans to cut down the wastage of food or to make use of this food in any better way.

Then if we are so concerned about the malnourished kids in the society, did the unused tomatoes from 'La Tomatino' ever reach those kids. 'Who the fuck cares??' isn't it? Once in a blue moon a person(me, you & many others) visits an Anathaashram or opens his wallet for a 'charity' sort of event. And thats it!!! Our inidividual need for social service and thirst for 'giving back to the society' ends there. If any one of these fb'ian thinks he\she has achieved a feat by banning such festivals. Well then 'I am stunned' to say the least. Thats the best example of our hypocrytic best, the moment a hazy picture of malnourishment, poverty and many such cliched statements occur in media or a social network. We pour our emotions and opinions but when action is called for its still firing blanks.

Food wastage of any magnitude is a crime and we can make a difference starting with us. From tomorrow you make a resolution to cook what is necessary, order what is necessary and eat whatever is on your plate. A big percentage of our problems like food shortage and inflating prices of food can be eradicated. Dont you think?? I am no saint or harbinger to lead you the right path but if there is ever a question of personal satisfaction then well my writeup can add some fuel to it. Each of you are brilliant enough to find a way out of this misery. So Go figure and kill the food wastage however you can!!

Springtime for Malayalam Industry

2011-09-13T01:31:00.001-04:00

My friend once told me you Mallu guys make movies which no one understands. One dark evening you place your camera in front of the sea and call it an Art movie. Yes thats what many in India think about our movies. All dark and stuck in a time machine sort of. These days I happen to see quite a change in malayalam movies. Youngsters have started to pitch in and pitch in for real. These are the days when our so called Superstars are lost and groping in darkness. Mammootty prefers to be a mimicry star trying his luck on all the local slangs spoken in kerala. Where as Mohanlal prefers to essay the role given to him without any thought or effort on script and his million fans. Then there are a few late bloomers and occassional hits from other noticeable actors but most of them based on some situational comedies or sarcastic and dry lookups. Audiences preferred Tamil or a dubbed telugu movie atleast for the sake of spending time in a theatre once a while.

But seems like things have changed and i hope I wont jinx it in any way. A few movies like 'Urumi,'Salt N Pepper', 'Chaappa Kurissu', 'City of God', 'Traffic', 'Cocktail' have been a revelation to say the least. Its not only the new themes that have started to appear, but the quality of picturization and narration have improved simultaneously. Gone are the days when an actor narrates a paragraphic dialogue to the villain or side-heroes just to dance in the movie (as the hero prefers to sit and watch them). Though there is a budgeting restraint to our movies, the multiplexes, channels and malls have opened a plethora of funding attraction to the producers. Its really a spring time and may this blossom to bring out more such movies to us fans. If you haven't watched the above movies i have mentioned, make sure you add them to your bucket list. :)

Celebrating already??

2011-08-27T20:56:00.001-04:00

I would not celebrate today. Its not Anna's personal victory and neither its yours. Its still not a common man's vicotry YET. Setting up Lokayuktas and passing a Lokpal bill are the steps taken and resolutions to follow. And as critics say its neither the dark day in Indian Democracy. We are at a brink now, this bill could be passed as all it promised and could serve the people. Or else with a simple 'loophole' could be made worse by allowing corrupt politicians to head the commitees.

But we cannot hasten the process, everyone knows a parliamentary proceeding could take its time. But it should not be delayed that we get used to it. Lets say the Lokpal bill is passed and all the corrupt politicians start getting exposed 'literally'. Then what?? I hope people dont think lokpal bill is about bringing those black money invested in tax haven nation back to our country, It is not about sending all the corrupt ministers and officials to jails. Lokpal bill is not only that. It should be also about what the common man does next?

Next time a government official asks for money under the desk, be brave and show him the middle finger. Next time please dont underquote your land and pay the money in Black money. For years we have been doing that and now its haunting us in a bad manner as the Ghosts of of Inflation. These are just examples, corruption is still amass amongst us. It starts from the mini to macro levels in our government machinery. Be brave to handle these scums and it would happen down the lane. Its not easy as it sounds but if we can come upto this we surely can beat the odds.

Jai Hind!!

'Anna'tural ways in Democracy

2011-08-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

Hunger strikes have been happening in our country for long long time. I have seen it in palakkad municipality office to begin with. So why is Anna hazare's fast become a picture of center storm altogether? Blame it on the media, they have hijacked the event for their TRP. If Lokpal passes or not. Anna is successful or not. Media got its big share with 24*7 Anna show. Forget the media lets come to the need of the society.

Right now the 1949 Ambedkar proposed constitution is simple. You elect a candidate, he goes to the assembly or parliament and works for the benefit of his people and country. He will be assisted by government bodies which will have the cream of indian populii constituting the IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS etc etc. Ambedkar was no Nostradamus to foresee that these elected ministers will taint their souls and get corrupted to the core. Constitution has no pages written for handling the hideous earnings of a public official. And worst case here being it gives no power to us (forgot the common man from where it all began). People opposing lokpal bill say ' you should not have voted for them if you think they are corrupt'. We bring down UPA, the NDA comes to power with a different flavor of corruption. So what do we do wait for another 5 years???

Democracy is more of a 'fashion statement' in my country than its used in real life. Why do we need a democracy, when elected representative change their stand on Nuclear bill for bundles of notes? Why does the tata's, ambani's, jindal's, reddy's and others always get the major share of business opportunities. Why is that Karunanidhi, Yedurappa, Kumarasaamy, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Amar singh and others keep getting richer and richer every year. Why does that a case put in judiciary take more than 4-5 years to see light and that too after several commissions and benches. By the way one point of action in Lokpal bill is its response time. Every grievance is mapped with a response time. PV Narasimhamurthy our multilingual PM was left unscathed after all the allegations and proofs against him. And there are many more against whom CBI has all the necessary proof but no course of action is possible with an age old constitution. Why??

Arudhati Roy comes up with an article to express her views in a bold manner. With tongue a cheek allegations on origin and timing of IAC. It is as equivalent to ME saying the maoist are nothing but a armed group of terrorists in India dictated by China. Anyone can allege, accuse and try ridcule the sanctity in other's cause. mz.Roy would have been happier to take the baton from a poor battered villager or tribesmen fighting for their lives than the metro 'well off' crowd in picture. Isn't that a shade of superficial inferiority complex? A hunger strike is a last resort and a peaceful way of turning in the attention. Unfortunately the media has misused the movement and has lavishly showered it with lot of unnecessary screen time.

If you envision current democracy as a cricket match. The common man is the tired bowler bowling on a flat deck against a batsman who are our leaders. And mind you they are the umpire too here mending the laws to be abided in the game. You gotta give something to the common man to clinch upon and fight against the demons in society. Until then all our ministers will continue to be sinisters.

Anna hazare is just a harbinger in this struggle. Dont get deviated by the noises that distract you. No one can shove a law , ideology or philosophy into your head. Think before you leap but make sure you educate yourself about the current spate of the society and act.

A Bajji to Burger Kahaani

2011-07-15T13:25:00.000-04:00

I had spent a small amount of my childhood in Avadi, Tambaram etc places near to erstwhile Madras now Chennai. When my company allocated me to Chennai after my initial training it was more like 'I expected this' in back of my mind. 18-20 months of my bachelorhood in Chennai was simply amazing. Vrooming in bike and exploring all the bylanes and road one could find out. Chennai is a beutiful city filled with everhelping magnificient people. No city else where in the world one could find a bunch of people so helping as Chennai-Makkal. You stop around asking way or you get lost somewhere people help you out proactively and even suggest you the cheaper modes of transports. And if you can speak a bit of Tamil you are their long lost son/brother.

Last 2 days me and my wife visited Chennai. A visit after a few years has been a revelation to say the least. The city has quietly transformed into a Monster. I loved the way roads, pavements, saalais have transformed into. Most of the small tea-kadai's have turned into restaurants. "Bajji eating Thamizhmakan has turned into a burger munching Tamil 'YO' Dude". Its literally like that with malls and Plaza's blooming in every nook and corner of the city. Traffic has increased and its filled with pricey imported cars and bikes. I couldn't find a TVS-50 or a luna as they call which once was a trademark of Chennai traffic. Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi on most of the walls bearing brunt of the recent elections otherwise city has uplifted into a new look altogether. The quarter cutting shop is still near Central Railway Station with plastic glasses stacked as always, thank god liquor is still available aplenty and cheap for common man. Otherwise price of everything has shot up. Anjappar, Adyar Ananda Bhavan and Saravana Bhavan have a global image altogether and prices are as good as they are quoted in dollars and pounds.

On one hand am delighted to see how the face of the city has changed. But then if a middle class aam aadmi will struggle to cope with this inflated style of living. Its a tale true to most of the cities in India where in big corporates have eaten up the soul of a city. Aah for one small moment i love the politicians in my state for not bringing those good roads, uncontrolled development and the so called 'multi nationals'.

Lokpal Bill and a nexus to demolish it :: A picture of Indian Democracy

2011-06-08T04:08:00.000-04:00

A beaming television in our office cafeteria is filled with Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. The so called peaceful gandhian way of agitation is broken up the government using brutal police force. TV Channels are making a merry out of it and are feeding news about Anna's life, Baba's beard and Yogasanas and the thousands gathered in the meeting. But rarely an explanation about what Lokpal Bill is all about. And why no one wants to give a clearer explanation of what Government's take on it is all about.

Kapil Sibbal the minister in charge here himself is a noted Supreme Court lawyer so why is it that Government is numb to react when a change is asked for? Public like me is dumb and astounded the way scams are being exposed as a daily routine. And if we have to believe the media a substantial amount (equalling our GDP) are stashed in Swiss accounts. One of the points under discussion is to bring that money to our country and invest it in our country' development. There is no question of hard earned money, because no fool will invest his hard earned money in a Swiss locker with no ROI. Its more like a lucid source and earning they are scared of.

Another roadblock to the Lokpal Bill is the members who need to be included in LokPal committee. Should the PM be in or should the Bhushan family be in?? Lot of debates and dialogues but not a single pawn has moved in this game of chess. I detest this democracy and judicial system which takes a lightyear to pass such a bill against the 'Rich and the Powerful' but act in nano seconds when it is to acquire poor man's land for fancier airports, wider roads and for toher x,y and z plans. Black money in Swiss Bank is not in their priority compared to the Black labouring citizen houseless and nomadic on road.

There are sections calling the movement by Anna Hazare and Co 'undemocratic'. But they are mum about disclosing black money of Sharad Pawar, Amar Singh, Karunanidhi families. A revolution is on the brink and I will be more than ready if i could be a part of it in any means. The motive of Anna Hazare and his men is novel, right and justified. We as citizens just have to follow his lead because success or failure it will take us somewhere above where we are now, that is for sure.

Bolo Anna Hazare ki Jaii...Vande Mataram!!!!

We are living in Amrikaaaa

2011-05-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

Rammstein quoted it right "We are living in Amerikaa" we truly are. After returning from US i feel we are getting more americanized here (and the real America to something else) and I am not here to judge if its for the good or for bad. McD, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway all have found their way till here in Bengaluru. Young boys dressed like they dress up in 'da hood' with inverted baseball caps and sick Tees. And girls with undies bared and sitting behind those vrooming motor bikes. The malls give us a feel as if the whole indian feel is YUCK and not ready for sale. All we get in shops are the 'YO!' factor with skyrocketed movie tickets and damn costly dresses and accessories. Well yesteryear bangalore was always punked up so no qualms about this renovation. Is that all it?? Well not at all people have started to live their life in full zest. 30 years back my parents and their peer would be crunching their calculators to save their earnings to a better life and an even better future for the next generation. But many in our lives are living it up to the max. Occasional drinking has taken over by boozing with Bacardi's, Jack daniel's and Glenfiddich's gracing the occasion. Smiling Madhuri's and Sreedevi's have been replaced with skinny and size zeroed women like things.

And the biggest americanization was to be in the housing industry. Earlier a home for an Indian family was their biggest dreams with all the saving accrued up they own a home of their dreams and live happily ever after (hmmm kinda). Well we indian are at present buying these houses (not homes) out of our pockets and out of our reach. The policy is simple take a big loan to buy that matchbox house where we suffocate all our happiness to struggle all our life to pay the loan. The only winner here is the big fatso builder zooming in those imported cars. And YES the bank too which lent you the money initially. We are living i feel in a big bubble which could explode any minute. Am no Statistician or a Stock analyst but i guess the bubble i mean here is the inconsistent growth accrued say in last 10 years or so. Everyone in my friend circle has a housing loan, a car loan , 2-3 credit cards and most of us are still haven't reached our 30's. An average american owns up a house around mid 40's given the fact they prefer to marry late. We the billion populated country marry early, reproduce early and hence gotta own a house early. Shouldn't we??

Am crestfallen the way my country is being gobled up by this giant thought called Amerikanism. They say Americans invaded iraq, fought war against germans, broke russia, interferred in vietnam but i would say they have successfully annexed India. It might be good for the people with all the glamour it brings but.........
..........well am confused its for you to decide..stay with your core or stay afloat in these bubbles.

Train Rides...

2011-04-26T06:32:00.000-04:00

Britishers marauded our India for long long time but one thing I personally am grateful for them is the Indian Railway . Am always child like and fully enthusiastic in a train trip. The best memories of a train trip is the early morning arrival at palakkad with slight rain in background and that seducing mystic smell of soil mixed with the 'tadak-tadak' noise of train track. It has been always in my nature to head up to a stranger and start up a friendly conversation . The sound of " chaai chaai kappi kaappi " ringing in my ears like a church bell. Little kids passing a cute smile for no such reason at all, Ohh sometimes they do give a loud cry to wake me up from my divine slumber. There is a specific joy in those second class compartments (must be the Britishers who coined this term) but second class is the one where you are far away from luxury like those in AC compartments. Travellers in second class I feel are more adjusting and friendly than those novel clad laptop laden honchos in AC. The hygiene part is still debatable when you travel via train given the conditions of toilets and the railway stations but conditions have far improved from per say 10 years ago. The other interesting facet in a train journey is to listen to the common man. The hardships, politics, sports, movies one can get to the core common mans understanding in a native literature. In my opinion every minister or social reformist must himself or via proxy persona should make a travel across india in trains and that too in second class. Easier said than done but the data one can collect from these uncles are enormous , They seem to know about everything.

Why Kerala should vote for BJP in 2011 polls?

2011-03-24T04:27:00.000-04:00

Before being a prejudistic prick and taking fascist potshots on BJP our voters need to take a step back and think on the possibilities.
I will start discussing on BJP's potential let me begin with some pointers on the LDF and UDF.

Each of us know the progress our state has made in the 50+ years of keralas formation and the impending power struggles. Anti Incumbency or not both LDF and UDF have screwed us royally. Look around our state and we still are like the stuck up ambassador on road where as TN is on an Audi and Karnataka on a Mercedes.
{FUCK YOU!! if you just thought am happy with ambassador. Because people like you amongst us we never dream of advancing. Others I AM SORRY!! on my behaviour and will assure you it MIGHT happen again}

Rubberised roads???
You must be kidding these roads are bumpy all the way from Kasargode to Trivandrum. The roads in our states are horrible with potholes, gutters etc are making way to canals.
Employment opportunities???
Well i work in Bangalore now, before that I was in Chennai. To tell you the best example the most avid Communist Supporting "Sakhavu'(s)* as we call him have made their base out of Kerala. We are a bunch of people who want to do something for our state. But on behest of what?? to get lesser pay and messing up our families? Nope! for a decent salary and opportunity our state is way behind. There could be a one in a million success story but its a known fact that our state is an investors nightmare. Whether its LDF or UDF both take turns in starting bandh or rallies and immediate shut down of companies basically for no reason at all.
Education???
Well there are the best brains in the industry from this state but for higher education we still go to neighbouring states, There is an IIM in kozhikkode i know but its rating is going down the year. There is no research based education to speak of. An IIT in kerala would be the best foot forward but will it happen? State blames on Centre and Centre blames on everyone else. Offlate Centre has started blaming the US (from wikileaks).
Peace??
You must be wondering how this topic is related to Kerala our state. Though we hear a few bandhs or harthaals or laathi charges. We think we are in a peaceful little world of ours with birds chirping and breeze through our coconut groves. CBI reports have earmarked our state as a possible terrorist cauldron. The recent bomb blast at Naddhapuram 'bomb factory' is a prime example. Our state is a terrorist heaven given the unsolicited freedom with which these law breakers wander under PDP, Muslim League & other parties. And these parties are protected by both the sides fearing the minority votes. Minority?? i dont understand that word. especially in kerala with the way there is a population explosion among muslims and the sheer number they have in Kerala. Well thats a whole new topic so lets not waste time on it. Having said this I dont wanna rub salt on those good samaritian Muslim brothers/sister who still are dear to me. Muslim terrorism along with black money is growing exponentially in Kerala and we need to put a check on to that irrespective of who comes to power. A'int it evident anymore??

Now to take a look at what LDF and UDF present to us this year.

LDF - Anti-Incumbency is a serpent on Achu-Maamans head to add that he has no support from his backstabbing comrades. Its more like his struggle against his party first and then the struggle to woo our state. Pinaraayi, Kodiyeri (his son & co) and a few others countinue to loot us and still able to keep the base communists closer to them. What do they speak of in an election campaign?? EMS Namboodirpad's struggle, Cheguera, little bit of Marxism and loads and loads of bullshit. Its simply EMS's legacy that they thrive on. There is no development promises still to make. There are a few young guns who are mystified under the Red Flag but they too get shell shocked after a few years and follow their predecessors path. The only thing systematic about LDF is how they channelise their energy to
grow their party fund. They move funds from State budget to party fund to start News Channels, Entertainment Channels, Water Theme Park(What the F***?). And all this is known to the whole public. DAMNN these guys are not gonna change until we wake them up from the slumbers of EMS!!!

UDF - 'United' in UDF is a sarcastic daily joke on Kerala voters. Whether in opposition or in power this party or group of parties are never united. They publicly mock each other, jump wagons at will, complain to high command (are you serious??) and silently fear muslim voters (even if kunjalikutty orders Icecream for dessert). Oommen Chandy's leadership skills are questionable as he still lacks the iron clad grip over a situation. The karunakaran fiasco has tired the UDF but their only hope being Anti Incumbency-jee and Soniya-jee and Rahul-jee. The other fact they are trying to sell is that Congress led UPA is at power in centre and this makes working with them easier. BOOOHOO!! that is a sure shot backfire methodology if UDF approaches it as we know the current UPA is more of a dealmaker,moneychurner or should i say Scamster than a government.

Underline : If LDF is anti development UDF sure is pro-development, but the catch being an UDF development means development of their ministers & cadres but not FOR the people or infrastructure.

So Why BJP??

My simple question to you is Why NOT BJP??
(please reply me in comments section)
Have we given them a chance ever??
O.Rajagopal though foolishly clings on to his TVM seat has brought many achievements during his short stint as a Deputy to Railway Minister. The kerala leaders in BJP are still young and will bring some fresh energy to the government. One cannot just ignore this party to be hinduistic or fascistic without understanding the facts. In such a case one should not encourage parties like Muslim League into picture. Why there are 2 different measures in the same deal? I for one am bored of UDF & LDF and their lies over lies to make MY state better or the best. We must give both of them a wakeup call as we now have the possibility of a thrid option.Am not sure of anything whether BJP can bring development or not, whether they will change the face of our state but one thing am dead sure is that they will keep the terrorsitic troubles in check. Who knows kerala might unearth a Narendra Modi* amongst ourselves.

If you have read until here, let me tell you one more point of wisdom.
Sitting in an office chair in a distant city you might wonder 'what do I care? anyway I cant vote from here' Well think about the ones in your family who are gonna make the same crime this year again of bringing either LDF/UDF to power and you walk in to Gods own country one day with nothing changed, nothing at all.

*'Sakhavu' is the pet name of any person who lives on principles & ideologies of Communism
I used (s) here coz there are many...very many infact they can start an LC here in Bengaluru. LOL!!
**Mr.Modi by far is the best chief minister we have in our country right now with the way he has handled State of Gujarat.

F1 anyone??

2011-03-08T02:45:00.000-05:00

Bernie Ecclestone is the grand daddy of F1 Motorsporting. F1 is a car racing championship that spans across the globe at various speed tracks and almost for an entire year. A game which made a shoe-maker (pardon my spelling) from Germany a world renowned driver cum icon. In a few recent years with some active publicity the sport has picked up its speed and a fan base still growing by the minute. Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW most of the major automobile companies play a major role by fielding their almost jet speed 'coveted' cars or should i say car species? There are a few racing companies too who join hands with these automobile honchos to make it much more technically advanced and more competitive. Enuf said agout F1, guess y'all got the idea now.

I have never really understood the logic behind this sport. Around 30+ cars go round and round (each called as a LAP). At the end of some 80 such LAPs there comes an eventual winner. Though the fun being of the 30 odd cars in the beginning hardly a few make it till the end. Some collide with the other one, Some park or crashland themselves in those big tyre stacks. And then some just explode for very strange pseudo-technical reason. Where as some tumble up and do a complete 180 flip in the air (god save the driver). The team managers are glued to their headset and tv set analysing the data to make crucial decisions like 'dont let him overtake', 'driver 2 block the opponent by reducing your speed and let driver 1 win', 'time for a refill', 'change tyres- NOW!!!'. C'mon in the end all the decisions are either crooked or based on common sense. But bohooo the hype and pressure is of such magnitude that the commentators make us believe its a life changing decision.

When the whole world is running around to find new fuel source. And there are countries invading others for this sacred & exhausting natural resource. But BAH!! there are a few automobile junkies who are hell bent on using it all up. If we start discussing on pollution aspect of this sport it might take us to a whole new perspective. Now Mr.Ecclestone needs artificial rain to be introduced, where in drivers will have no idea when its gonna rain. So apart from water pollution we are also talking about exhausting water which might be life saver in many parts of africa.
Sports is necessary to understand the real talent amongst us or for them to stand out in the crowd. Am all appreciative of that. But a sport like F1 doesnt make any sense to me and i find it a complete disrespect to our natural resources.

Having said all this there is one good thing i like in F1, its the way the winners celebrate by pouting champagne at each other.
WOWW now thats a sight!!!!

Need stories?? We have it :)

2011-02-28T04:47:00.000-05:00

They call my country a Land of snake charmers and vodoo magic. Many a adjectives and ideologies about this beautiful country. I have always loved my country for a multitude of reasons and still finding new reasons to stay in love with it. Offlate I have been intrigued by a new facet of my country. Infact its more to do with the people in my country. People here are big time story tellers and more over each one is interested in listening to your side of a tale. Yes!! haven't you noticed?? From the panwaalahs to traffic cop to your milkman to your cable guy everyone has an excuse and a story to wrap around it. A sweet truffle like excuse wrapped carefully inside a decorative story like cover. And mind you, make sure there is an emotional side to it. For this alone people here will love you. Certain stories people share with us or feel free to share for no reason at all. Last month i met an elderly uncle in a train travel. He started telling me about his life as a youngster and how he prefers the current crop of youth to be but the real actuality. He even invited me and my wife Deepthi for a cup of tea some time. And definitely this was no boasting he knew the best way to kill time in a boring train travel is to share his stories. Such true affection and closeness could be experienced in this beautiful country alone. And then there was an instance with our
apartment security who gave me a proud lesson about his young son back in his hometown. I have seen this person twice or thrice in my life.
Our basic interaction a day begins with "had food?" and sometimes a "salaam or namasthe". One day on his excuberant mood he walked upto me to share a lighter moment. But then he went on to speak about his family back home and his take on life as such. Beautiful aint it? People in every walks of life here have such beautiful moments to share. For instance if you talk to my dad for 5 minutes he will let you know he was in Indian Airforce for 27 years, i think he would have done the same thing if he was to be a Newspaper Boy or a Doctor for 27 years. We are a big story telling community. No wonder why our gods have an illustrous story behind them.
Joshua got crucified in 3 days but our 33 thousand gods have 300 different tales to speak of. Now go figure why we like to tell stories :)

Bhaaryaveedu

2011-02-18T10:15:00.000-05:00

New Year and i have not found time to blog. Though i prefer to stay busy, life after marriage has been seriously busy. Jan 9th, 2011 me and Deepthi have decided to live our rest of lives together. According to our rituals I bring my wife to my home and after a day or two take her back to her hometown. Though the whole event has been toned down a few notch. It was just me and Dhee (as i am trying to call her with love) to her home town Kannur. Geographically North to my home town Palakkad in Kerala. The train left from the station at around 4:30 AM and we reached around 9 AM. My Bro-in-Law Arun was there to receive us at the Railway station. Remarkably i noticed the shy wife of mine coming out of her skin and blabbering x and y to her brother. i am sure she was tensed so far at my house now she is more like a relaxed birdie at a formidable place.

Kannur for me is a big question mark? My prior knowledge about this place is the Red Flagged Communist dominant area and a big urban populated town with poor roads. So with these prejudices i browse the place as Arun was driving his car at full speed. Poor roads?? yes absolutely, roads could have been better and traffic well managed. Though its same everywhere across Kerala almost, Kannur falls way back in case of roads. And traffic discipline is worse as there are no Traffic lights anywhere. But the drive is very scenic. Beautiful with trees all around and its much cooler than compared to Palakkad.

Food?? Yummy for a non-veg foodie. I can't just sit and jot down the varieties of food i have gulped down. And all have won me over. There is also an extra leisure and informality in the way people interact here. A more chillaxed way with no strings attached. I guess thats what i liked here the most, people make you feel comfortable from the word go. Although there is lot more to explore but 3 days is all i got to send time here. Awaiting on another round to get into the skin of things..until then and always Palakkad Rocks (line intended to my wifey alone). :)

Bubye 2010, Bubye CMH!!!!

2010-12-31T21:06:00.001-05:00

Saying a Bubye or a farewell never felt so bad. Maybe it’s the long 4 years in Columbus or about this lovely people around me. I cannot be thankful enough to many of them who in turn are like my own brother and sister for me now. I have enjoyed working here I really have. Though it has been demanding at times and especially at off hours. In general my work life has been fruitful and eventful.To all the wonderful people that work around me I am truly obliged to each of them. Some sarcastically mock me as a load of sentimental bullshit but seriously I guess they are right.
People move on in their lives for better or for worse they gotta make a move sometime. But as a person I take everything in the most passionate way, when there is a farewell period you gotta mourn. eh? Obviously am way happy here to start a new life with love of my life, "Dhee". But also last 4 years of friendship with multitude of personality could be weighed equally. Maybe am not hard cored enough to trample past these beautiful relationships I have here. The lady at the coffee shop ‘Nancy’ told me “you are gonna be an old married man now” though with her eyes glistened. Her hug and hand-shake had shaken me completely and as it was a holiday season my office was empty to witness this (a sad me). People ask a lot of question to pry my motive of going back. Whether is that a career change, life change, visa expiry all sorts. Each time everyone cared what’s gonna happen to this chap with loads and loads of humor in him. That is the beauty of such unexplained relationships.

One can never take out the Indian out of me. For all the fun and laughter we had teasing each other, somewhere inside i was a bit emotional. Am a person who cries in movie theatres so for me to hold on to my reins was a tough job. Each of those friendly hugs mean a lot to me. Sometimes i feel why the heck am i talking like this, as is not like the end of the world. But there is this feeling of end of an era. 4 years of college life was all spent like a jester in the crowd but these 4 years have had mix of everything a jester/ a loving son/ a caring friend/a leading captain/a uncle (naah ETTAN is fine)/an adoring brother/a complete kick ass wierdo the list goes on. I bet if you take my 10 friends from columbus all will have different things to speak about me(apart from my big TEETH), what i'm trying to say is the bandwidth of my persona i have exposed here. maybe due to my age or coming of age to put it that way.

As my grandmother says the more you thank god, the more he provides. It will be too greedy of me to ask more but am Thankful to god for this beautiful 4 years of Columbus. Am gonna return home with more friends, more experience, more love and just less hair :P
Thank you one and all!! See you sometime somewhere...meanwhile plan for a visit to PALAKKAD DOWNTOWN.

Happy New Year 2011 ladies and Gents..dont think much, dont worry its all for the better..unleash the good spirits around you!!!

All for a moment....

2010-12-21T07:15:00.000-05:00

Vidya was amused that morning to see a flurry of emails in her inbox. With a warm cup of coffee she went through them one by one. Ashish her classmate and school jester of those days was cooking up an 'Alumnii meetup on Xmas Eve'. She hoped at least this one sees light in the end unlike prior plans. Though its practically impossible for her to attend being so far far in the US to be in Palakkad for Xmas. Moreover her husband Santhosh is planning a supposedly secret 'Hawaii' trip. Somewhere inside though she wanted to go to the school get together although she didn't want to disappoint herself later on. As always she closed her emails without replying and preferred to be the continued silent reader. Afternoon at work she got a call from Saritha. One of very few friends from school days with whom she is still in contact with. Infact it was at Saritha's marriage she saw Ranjith for the last time.

Ranjith?? He was her childhood crush. As they say first crush is the most remembered one so this one was that special for her. He was this cute brahmin boy with oil all over his head and a big tilak on his forehead. Brilliant at studies and he along with Amit used to be the live wire in her class. Mr.Prankster himself was a cult hero for the ladies in their class. Recently he sent Vidya a message in facebook asking 'Do you remember me?' and a friends request. Talk about Irony huh? Well Saritha's phone is still ringing. Vidya answered and the girl talk and gossips ran deep. Saritha and her husband Nithish were both Vidya's classmate and had decided to go to the get-together. Its their wedding anniversary as well, so how fun it would be to go. She pushes Vidya too to join them along with Santhosh. Vidya now is seduced to this idea of joining them and her immediate task is to brain wash her hubby. That night reluctantly she slipped in her idea to Santhosh and out of where no where he asked "When are we going?".
"What?? So what about Hawaaii?" Vidya asked.
"Hawaii is gonna be still there dearo!"
"Your classmate Ashish had called a while ago and he told me about your 'Alumnii meetup'. And moreover i have heard your school stories a million times from you let me find out the truths myself" Santhosh replied wittingly.
Vidya is virtually on cloud number 9. Wow!! least expected eh? As planned they were all to stay at Nithish's place and drive to the function that morning. Santhosh couldn't help watch these 3 grown ups behave like kids in front of him passing jokes and taunting each other. He preferred to lay back and let them immerse in their school stories and gossips.

Meanwhile Ashish somehow had convinced the lone bachelor in their class Ranjith to make it to the occasion. Life has changed heaps and bounds for him. He used to be in the Indian Army for sometime but after his fathers death he has owned up their small family business in their hometown. Saritha's wedding was the last function he ever made to. Things didnt just fall into place for stuffs after that. Ashish spoke about Amit flying all the way from Germany for the get together. But little did anyone knew Ranjith too came to meet his 'First love' Vidya. He has never told this to anyone and never gonna share as well. Behind those stonewalled army heart somewhere he cherishes his untold love like an ever blossomed rose.

And that day standing on the school corridoors he could see her walking across the gate towards the building. Same place though a less fashionable surrounding 12 years back went to his mind. Killer smile and those dreamy eyes, she has still got it to carry herself like an angel. Her omnipresent giggle with palms trying to cover them for no reason. Some things never change do they? Dodging bullets in kashmir valley was all making sense to him now. Lot of things running in his mind but he stood their like an ice sculpture. Vidya walked across him and glanced at him. She smiled and walked past him along with others. As they enter school, Lighting a cigarette Ranjith made his long walk out of school alone.

Bachelors Party!!!

2010-12-20T01:07:00.000-05:00

1 case Heineken Beer
1 case Budweiser Beer
1 grey goose vodka
1 bacardi white rum
1 jack daniels whiskey
1 red label whiskey
2 case pepsi
Pizza's, Chicken Wings
loud Music
Party Co-host : Shabbu & TSB
Location : TSB's room.
Participants : TCS Chennai + Pokri (my beloved Cricket team)
8 pm to 3 am : Whohooooo...video/pic evidence available on request
That surmises my Bachelors Party :)
Though i have been bachelor for all my life, things are gonna change post Jan 2011. But i would say life after my college since when i started making money for myself virtually looting my own bank account as "Bachelor Life". Of which 4 effin years in Columbus, Ohio. These guys who are very close to my heart turned up major absentees being Sriram, Sundar, Brenesh, Dev, Sreejithettan, Vikki, Puthran etc. I am not a big fan of drinking though would advice anyone to try it out once in their life. Especially you gotta drink your heart out on your Bachelors night. I was flying yesterday night jumping and dancing around for close to 6 hours. Lost my voice in the morning, was sleepwalking almost till today evening. But you know what? it was all worth it when love of my life Dheee understood its a guys honorary thing to do.

Its a treat to my dearest friends who have been in a way suffering my innumerable taunts and philosophies. Playing Cricket/soccer/tennis, Gymming, those Long drives, Trips to Florida/Canada/LA/LV, Camping in West Virginia and many more things us bachelors explored. It was total kick ass and it was sheer pleasure to know these fine gentlemen (lol). Amongst all the hugging and sentimental overload i hopoe i'll be in touch with these people all along.
Adios Columbus!! Adios Bachelorhood!!!!

BBye USA

2010-12-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

America!!! Well its a dream destination of a millions of people around the world. This country has an inbred charisma about it in whatever it does and that keeps everyone hooked up. 4 years back in a cubicle in Chennai, when my project lead Yogesh asked me to travel I had my prejudices about this country. Prejudism on thoughts that media and some fables shovelled into my throat. I was kinda skeptical about making the 26 hour flight to USA. Having said this, but like every other middle class indian the seduction of dollar to rupee conversion is way too big for a little soul like ours.

This December 31st it will be 4 years in this country and almost same amount of time in Columbus, Ohio. I have sincerely liked it. Like my friend Jojy puts it, its a paavam(kind) city. Starting from innumerable friends i have gathered here, indoor soccer, midwest cricket, pubs in polaris, daily long drives to easton office with Jimmy & Jimmy blurting their vocal chords on morning radio@97.9 the list goes on. May be its just the small town feel of Columbus that keeps me rooted here much like my home town palakkad. Everyone has time for you no one is gonna miss a train or a bus. All live life at their own pace. Its fuckin beautiful i say.

But sticking to my early plans about my life, i gotta make a move. And this is the right time. I am gonna be in my motherland and there is nothing like it. I might not return like an American soldier from Iraq all chest puffed up. But am gonna return as a good friend, a good son and soon t be a good husband making my family proud in my tiny-winy way. Bringin my parents here was my best accomplishment of all sort as they could see USA in their own eyes rather than me explaining them over phone. And to my team i worked here both TCS and Chase they have been brilliant. Each and everyone of them making me feel comfortable and happy at every juncture. I am gonna miss a lot of good friends here but i know you guys will be there at an email or phoning distance and try maintaining the touch.

This December 29th i am gonna fly out and will be in India to celebrate a new year and a new beginnig of all sorts. Am all emotional last few weeks, sometimes i do feel sad. But i have no regrets on my decision to go back. My family, My country , My people need me and i am gonna go back HOME!!!

Thanks everyone here....will meet some day some where..
Adios Amigos!!

Its been a decade...

2010-11-20T02:45:00.000-05:00

Atheist/Godloving/Godfearing amongst us we can question the next persons belief and wisdom. But i always feel these 3 kind nod their head similarly when it comes to destiny. There is no explanation what so ever for this tiny miniscule occurence that keeps us in awe. I am big believer of destiny and how each person is destined to do or achieve something in their life time. And it was this destiny that made me and my friends to step into corridors of NSS Engineering College on November 20,2000. 10 years went like a whisper in thin air and many of us are still spellbound by those 4 years at this insane institution. The next 6 years after that has been exciting but obviously with less fun.

For a starter me and few of my schoolmates had almost decided in our minds to study here as its the same bus route that takes to both places. Placement or a Career was our least priority to be frank. All we heard about this college was the politics, fight, regular strikes, back papers, police cases..Wow!! it looked like a lazy bones paradise. And once in blue moon we hear about some one who made to the IIT/IIM or joined a blue-chip/green-card company. But really we had almost planned a 4 years fool around.

Every person adores and admires their college life and can go gaga over it for ages. But seldom i do see a BIG bunch of friends still maintaining the same relationships and friendships in the longer run like an NSS'ian04 can pull it off (even before facebook). Thanks to the 15+ love marriages in our batch that there is no specific introduction needed to a new Mr./Mrs X amongst us. In last 10 years of my life i have met some great people. Friends at work/non-work/family/party's/matches/pubs/card games/travels etc. Still the pick of the lot have been those wonderful creatures from NSS-04. I keep them very close to my heart and share a very special bond with them. And I can vouch for any of these NSS'ians that is irrespective of their party allegiance ;-)

Nov 20, also is the day i met Vijesh for the first time 10 years ago. A chubby sweet talking guy who wanted to cut classes and go for a Mohanlal movie the very first day. Though he is not with us anymore and so are a few more who were chosen by god too soon. Each such incidents have shocked us but on hindsight has brought us together. Like a few other I cannot fathom to believe still it's been effin 10 years since that life defining day and half of my buddies are thousands of miles away. The silver line being we all somehow with gods grace made it in the final chase and still hanging on tight. As i write this am still reliving those 4 beautiful years of my gifted life. Bolo NSS ki jaiii!!!!

A Rocketing Diwali Experience..

2010-11-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Diwali to you all!!
Everytime i hear the word Diwali there is this big blast near my head. Though its a metaphor for most of you i had an out of life experience long back. Story goes like this.

As my Dad had some sorta training to attend he was not in town. Our family friend and my godsend that Diwali Nandan Uncle came home with a bag full of diwali crackers to celebrate with us. With strict supervision under my mom i carefully started celebration. One by one i was finishing up the crackers and kind heartedly sharing with other friends in 'mohalla'. Then i saw a rocket whuzzing up in the air and bursting aloud. Now thats what a diwali cracker i thought. In the bag there were 2 rockets or skuds as it was written on the label. Nandan uncle took the first rocket and showed me how to burst it..It went high into the atmosphere..KABOOOMM!! Wow!! It was like Bhagwaan Ram sent an Asthra similar to 'Ramayana' we see on television. I took the second one placed it upright in a 'Kissan Tomato Sauce' bottle. Nandan uncle used a ligter but i preferred the sparkler as he too felt that was safer. So like a gladiator into the arena i walk with nimble but bold steps towards the rocket. Bent down to set alight the trigger and as it gets fired up i unknowingly hit the bottle neck with the sparkler tip. Now the bottle is shaking sideways and the rocket is on fire. I ran yelling towards Amma but by then a burning Rocket is whurling and chasing me. In a matter of seconds its near my head and before any one could react its stuck on my head and my hair is on fire. I mean each and every word i say here...i was crying out loud and running havoc. Nandan uncle caught hold of me and Amma does some quick thinking to swat the rocket away from my head. WOAH!! just at 5 meter away the rocket bursts aloud. Yeah!! Yeah!! the same old KABOOOM!!!! But this time i could feel the heat and a deep shrilling noise in my ears and my eyes were open like those Ambassador Car headlights.

To tell you the truth i was shocked for next 2 weeks or so and would wake up in sleep with some kinda uneasiness. On the other hand Amma was scared like hell that night. She would scold me and then cry continously. Seeing her cry my almost 1 year old baby sister is inspired to cry as well. Nandan uncle was shocked, probably would have been cursing himself in mind. Though it was an accident this brought the celebration to a halt in the whole apartment. And in case you are wondering what happened to my hair, it was half burnt and had to be shave off completely the next day. A few neighbours had covered my head with a cloth to put of the small fire and then applied curd on it to cool it off. And yes the burnt mark is still on back of my head.

And there is not a year i dont think about it especially around every Diwali. Some people say Keralites dont celeberate Diwali. Probably some King long back had some similar bad experiences :) And even if i try to forget my Amma makes sure every Vishu, Diwali or a Temple celebration she narrates this story to a gazing crowd. Even after all this i have not stopped bursting crackers and especially Rockets are still my favourite as its very close to me (literally).

3 years of Blogging

2010-11-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

What started off as a childhood hobby has grown along me and is being continued till date. Though the format is different and so is the context offlate but still the saga continues. I like to write, write about anything that comes to my mind and the topics vary across horizons as one could evidently see. I feel free when i write and preferably write all alone and at nights. Still reminisce those days when its pouring heavily outside of my palakkad home, i sit beneath a thick blanket besides the glow and heat of a table lamp. The idea was to sit and study when the whole world is sleeping. But certain times my mind would just wander away from all those textbooks. Certain thoughts rubbish and excellent about anything under the sun which would have caught my eye I would jot a few lines on them. And everytime i took extreme care to purge or hide those papers as i felt i would be the laughing stock if some one reads them by chance. A few times Amma got a glimpse on them and would start elobarating in her unique manner"You were a dreamer since the day you were born". But still i preferred not to show it to anyone, insecurity or the fear of unknown whatever we coin it.

But blogging is a different entity as these days i prefer to share my thoughts openly with others. And also is the convenience of placing it in a blog site like this one. Sometimes i amuse myself of my writings, but majority of times i end up writing crap. Though writing crap is eco-friendly as i dont throw away any piece of paper its just the 'delete' button that is overworked. But i continued it anyway as i felt its more of a self exploration than a self portrayal. For a guy who reads limited number of books writing is a big task as limitations in vocabulary and restriction to preferred thoughts take over. But on a hindside the advantage is being not influenced by some one else's idea. I basically write what i mend in my thoughts. Books make me sleepy maybe its the aroma when we open it that i sleep like a baby if i start to read a book. Where as I prefer reading my daily set of articles, news, short stories and other blogs. It is amazing to know the depth of certain thinkers and writers in our generation. And a big thanks to all those wonderful blogs i have been through, all of it has been a learning experience if nothing else.

Nov 1, 2007 i started this sincere earnestful blog of mine. November 1st is also an auspicious day for us Malayalees, as it is the 'Kerala-Piravi' day; the day my State of Kerala was formed. I waited almost 2 weeks to get the blog published online. A killing thought about my life's biggest crush and how bad i miss her is where it all started. I had put it down earlier in a 'notepad' in my personal laptop and decided i must publish it (obviously without a name) on November 1st. Once published sent a few mails to certain friends of mine and they still constitute the major readers of my blog and big critics as well. Since then it has been an exciting ride which i hope to continue for a very long time.

I get complains from a few quarters that certain blogs of mine have been too frank and blatant for one's liking and always liner in darker emotions that a joyous one. But these very people know thats the soul of me as a person. I express my very emotions and wont protect it behind a smiling hideous face. And i am a person who nourishes the darker sides of my personality as that questions everything around me inturn making me think about it. Having said all this, if at all you have been hurt directly, indirectly and a few times intentionally i seek your forgiveness. Maybe i will try not to publish such blogs in future, but as they say the roar cannot be ignored too long. Well it will be in my 'TODO' list of self improvement (huh?). Also i extend my immense happiness and regards to all those patient comment writers on my log. You guys keep me ON to this sweet venture.
Thanks and Rock ON!!!!

Shaadi Kaa Website

2010-10-29T11:33:00.001-04:00

When my dad called up and asked me to create a 'wedding website' i couldn't help laughing. But immediately i did know about its advantages and in every sense beneficial for me as i am far away from home. My wedding is on Jan 9, 2011. But all the hard part of inviting,booking halls for reception, priniting invitation cards, informing our relatives/friends blah blah blah all completely taken up by my parents and my sister. So to invite my friends its impossible for me to walk into each and everyone's doorsteps provided they are scattered across the globe. So i decided to work on my wedding website. Looked up at a few readily available ones, where in we just have to manually enter our details and it would come up with a 'wedding invite suite'. But i felt its too cliched and over written. Every one of them had similar look and feel and their wasn't much i could do other than follow instructions. So i continued digging further.

Reshmi and Vinod, for their son Pranav's first birthday had created a cool website of their own. I had earlier checked out about it and found some cool GUI features in Adobe Flash setup. As i found out, it was quite easy to work on them but a tad time consuming with the look and feel. Also it is better to put some efffort on how the page would look across different web-browsers. Now that i have created the website i feel it was all worth the effort as its fully designed and developed by me. I mean no restrictions if i had to choose another client. So Thank You wix.com for providing this cool and free website creator. It some time hangs when i work on it, but i feel thats more of a Flash or Browser fallacy. Having said all these, i would love to see the website in places where Internet Speed is not so high and has connectivity limitations. Just because of all those animations and VideoFX that has been loaded in certain pages. So check out the website here it is, I am planning to use this to send it to Our (mine and Deepthi's) friends and a few net savvy relatives. And in case you are wondering which is the background score in the website. It is 'London' by James Newton Howard from the movie 'Blood Diamond'. It is my all time favourite music and it kinda rejuvenates me every time i hear it. So thought of sharing the music in the most unique way ( I hope Mr.Howard doesnt mind as i bought the iTunes of it and then converted it to an mp3).

Sabarish-Deepthi Wedding Planner Website

Endhiran's success and Thalaivars legacy

2010-10-20T09:46:00.000-04:00

There was never a movie in near future that was so much publicized and marketed. The last one which had this frenziness was the Aamir Khan dud of a movie 'Mangal Pandey'. So being a Rajinikanth liker (not a fan) i was scared about all the craziness around. For any South Indian, one cannot ignore the 'RajiniKanth Phenomenon'. People look up to him as one in their family even after his superstar status. And personally i believe there is only one SuperStar in Indian Cinema and its him. He might not be the essential character actor or the most talented on around but he is a complete directors actor and gives an honest performance every time.

Having said all these about RajiniKanth, i still am not a big fan of him and not of anyone for that fact. Fanship in our country is a blind mans affair. We are so emotionally attached to our so called superstars that sometimes we overlook their shortcomings and put ourselves in a state of fallacy. And i love tamil folks for this simple reason, they are ultimately generous to their Stars. And RajiniKanth i feel is a harbinger in that regard.

'Endhiran' the robot movie was good but nothing exceptional as everyone claims. A humanoid gone bad and all its good and bad demonstrated in a melodrama with few songs stitched in them. The music aint that raunchy either but the videos were fantabolous. Shankar is at his creative best on picturising music videos and spends lavishly on them too. The final stunt with all those animations was simply superb and technology was completely used to exhaust the audience in appreciation. But the Story line was crappy and a timid screenplay. Apart from Rajinikanth's perfect exhibition of robo aka chitti. There wasn't much to munch upon.

But story doesnt end there, last week at a party i let know my views on this movie to a few of my dear friends. The smarter ones nodded silently and the crazy one almost killed me in their verbal diatribe. And thankful to god am back here in one piece such was the mutiny. From statements to 'you must be a kamal fan', 'mammotty & mohanlal can never be a robot with their lungis', 'who cares about you, movie is a hit', 'checkout the rajini-shankar combo its so effin awesome'. Not a single guy could come up with the strength in the script & screenplay, evidently which was not present. Saran even said 'people in village who cuts sugarcane, who works in those paddy fields even they are able to understand what robot is' and their lies the success of the movie. Not sure about
those but loved his high emotional quotient with regard to a movie. In facebook for one of my comments on irregular ticket pricing for the movie my college buddy Vinod almost sent a tirade against everyone on the chat. His reaction were as if him & rajinikanth on one side and whole world against them. And am not going to other few 'Thalaivar lovers', who would be wholeheartedly ready to tear a limb or two for their idol and living legend. May be i am too practical at life and its so called fan worshipping madness. But i still have no qualms in yelling it out Endhiran was an average movie. Only Rajinikanth and his superstardom can carry this movie to whichever extent it has gone. Movie has already made millions and still continue its good run, but silently
everyone knows there is nothing in the movie apart from Rajini, 3 songs and animation gimmicks in the climax.

And I know I am at serious risk after posting this with all endhiran dummies ready to pounce upon me. My home town Palakkad has its own chapter of Rajini Fans Association and i hope they dont read this and start burning effigies as we always do back at home. :)

POKRI and My Self Actualisation..

2010-09-21T11:22:00.000-04:00

Cricket was always a fun sport to me as i had always my inclination towards football or as they call soccer in this part of the world. My favourite cricketers used to be guys who come in and start bang-bang from the word go. I never really admired a solid defense or a cover drive. Sixes and Fours and plenty of them that is all i needed. In my locality most of the people who played with me remember for those heroics with the bat especially in the last 5 over where i bat and obviously fight. The thespian shabbu who details them the story of 'Shabbu hitting Kishore for 21 runs in the last over' is a folklore and a rather tale of boasting by myself. Add to that the last bill SIX against GooglyCC this Spring.

Having said all these being part of POKRI CC (Polaris Cricket Club) has flipped me a 180. For a person who feared playing leather ball all his school and college life (because of a well directed bouncer by Bakkan to my mouth and a yorker on my toes with chappals on...gosh it was a bloody day) i have come a long way. The first fielding practice session last year TSB sent me back with a swollen palm and black fingers. But one thing that kept me going was my dire interest and my friends who play here. Then came the matches where i saw some of my teammates and opponents play cricket they way i never saw. How does one build an innings to a century or a fifty? All these years i prefered watching the highlights to that of the actual test cricket. In columbus we play a 35 overs league and its the best times i had with cricket.I realised certain shots like a sweep or a straight drive is that difficult to play and requires lot of practice.

So after one year of newly found cricketing skills my club wanted me to be the captain. Obviously not for my cricketing skills but could be my communication and man-management skills. Personally i always look upto a leadership opportunity and make myself more responsible. But its not an easy task to be a captain in cricket team, lot of stuff while a field setup or even after a silly toss. Sometimes you gotta speak to your bowler that he is absolutely wrong. But also mind that we are playing for fun and not be afraid to try new things. Maybe our team had too much fun in that regard but there were always those big match jitters. Like this last semi-finals we lost, our best fielders were dropping catches and best bowlers had no idea where they were bowling. And overall i rate my captaincy pretty average as i didnt do anything overboard and am still on a big learning curve. But every experience you get in life is a virtue once you learn from it. In that sense POKRI has taught me a lot of stuff, first is to admire this game more and second is to have a pragmatic approach towards people and issues.

I am damn sure my life is ahead is not the same any more after my rendezvous with POKRI. And am very grateful to god for that.

Rare Photos are so not Rare anymore....

2010-09-16T10:33:00.000-04:00

Those black and white dim coloured hard photographs on our albums and frames at home. All those pictures had a purpose like the annual class group photo, the fancy dress competition day, house warming, tour trip etc. Most of the tourist places we went in childhood we rarely had 10-12 pics of each place and most of them were group photos. That was the whole beauty about them when you look at them we cherish them even more. These days with the advent of digital cameras we take pictures for every minute and for a very minute reason. Though it has this slight advantage that we have a lot of memories to fall back to and we wont miss anything .But well in that case you just have to switch to a video, wouldn't you? Also watching your digital pics in your cam or laptop or a TV for that matter has its own picturesque advantage nothing beats a hard copy album.

This also makes me think the photographers in us have no discipline as to speak of. As we can easily click away and delete them later on if we dont like them. So basically we just keep clicking until our creative mind aligns with the preferred output. Had their been a limitation of some sort would we still have chosen to click away in a merry? For an India visit last year i had around 500 pics from 3 camera sources, would it be possible say 10 years back. I hope not...thats where rare photos arise to the occassion. I am not against digital photography, in a way i use them as well and use it a lot. But i dont buy those people who claim themselves to be photographers just because they have been to a Goa or a Niagara or a Taj Mahal or some other beautiful place. These days anyone could click a could picture just by putting the 'auto' mode and clicking it. And then we draw a border around it use some tools we get along these DSLR biggies and voila here we are.

Photography is a deeper hobby than we all presume, people work on light boxes, wait on facial expressions, go on an expedition and try different colour combinations and lenses. More than anything else he is never happy with what he has. It is like a burning desire. For me a good photographer is anyone who can make a simple picture as aesthetic it can be. The idea is it never goes out of your mind. I had a desktop wallpaper for a long long time, nothing but a simple tree on a cliff. Standing alone and tall and a small path leading to it. For some reason it was well composed and mixtured with natural lighting and the theme it never goes out of my head. Having said all these sometimes even i think am good at photography. I too have made some plans into venturing into it, but till then i wanna understand this big myth. I have my whole life ahead of me to kick in.

I like digging into any kinda pictures kids, personal, natural, wild life..anything you send me. I try to enjoy it, its something like a craze. But offlate i see a lot of redundancy in sunshines and plateaus that its hitting a saturation level. So people out there use your resources and bring out the Santhosh Sivan inside you..Cheers.

ButterFly Effect

2010-09-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

I was walking down the college verandah as usual bunking a class and on my way to the Mens Hostel. Thats where most of my lethargic friends would be lazying around and rediscovering themselves. On my way i stopped by the nearest waterhole or the so called 'water cooler' standing tall in light blue just below the staircases.The usual routine is to drink water from there, stop by the co-op store to buy a Munch (chocolate) and talk to another bunch of lost souls sitting in the college portico. A few hours at the portico is worth all the time because you get to see all the young ladies passing by and also the only spot not crowded by 'couples'. You know places where guys can be guys, yell around or whistle or holler and whatever no one asks. So pitstop watercooler and i see this beautiful girl drinking water. May be i saw her from behind that made her even more attractive (oops..i had to say it..). She turns at me and smiles, WOW where was she from??? I've never seen her before or may be i never noticed. She was not the super good looking types but the one you cannot ignore types (you know what i mean). And there i happen to catch our senior whom we all call him HOD ( i have no idea why we all him that?) and i enquire to him. "HOD, who is this girl?". HOD asks "which one??". I said " The one near the notice board". HOD replies "Oh she is Nisha your batch Civil Engineering". HOD kept pouring moe details about her but all i cared was to get a good look at her before she disappears. And then after some more time there we go back to our routine trip to hostel discussing politics and football.

Next few days of the week i make quite a few trips to the Civil Department. Wow some beautiful girls out there. How could i miss these unexplored and uncharted territories?? No wonder civil guys never cut classes. So basically my time table got fuller. I had to pay visit to my classes in the morning hours to visit ladies of my hood EEE. And then there is Electrical Seniors (some fine ladies including a movie stars daughter). Then there is library where all studious chicks arrive (you know what studious chicks have no idea how damn beautiful they can be if they could look above and smile) and then the big Banyan Tree where all couples roam around . So now Civil Dept too, Man i am busy!! But then visiting these places alone has its own disadvantage, one doesnt get enough time to hang around unless we have some one inside. The guys i know there were like stuck to these girls like magents. No way they are gonna let me in and let me SHINE an dbask in my glory. Hmmm i needed an accomplice and who else than my dear friends Raghu and Unnikuttan. Unnikuttan was more than willing but in between his afternoon sleeps, dubai stories and his own struggle to find love life he had no time for my silly mouth watching affair. And more over he never trusted me any moment i would use him as a joker and make 100 jokes outta him to be star (In Tamil they say 'oorugaay'). So its pakka and finalized "Raghu is the Man". He was my class mate, always big hearted to bunk classes, has membership in college canteen, likes to admire beauty (like me) and he believes love is a crap and its for losers. It was a match made in heaven, so from next day onwards we made regular morning/afternoon/evening visits to civil verandah. The shoes i were lost more of its sole in those places than any other places in our college.

So one day raghu came up with plan 'B', it is to make friends with one of Nisha's friend circle and thats the way to get introduced to her or may be more. Mouthwatering aint it??? Yeah!! you betcha!! Out of Chitra, Anjana, Shireen and Smisha we had to pick one. And some expert advices from Sajit (apna inside man in Civil) the pick came to Anjana. Beautiful but Big Mouthed (lol) and very very hyperactive girl. Another point being the rest of the girl pack looked at us like we were hannibal lecter. She was the only with some sense of humour to keep up with us. So that moment is where this BUTTERFLY EFFECT started and now after around 7 years. Anjana is married to my accomplice Raghu and she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy "Sidharth" last week. And in case any of you were wondering "what happened to Nisha?", well thats the same question am asking you (rofl...where the hell is she??). And me, well i added her into my big "Crush list-level 3" and moved on with other crushes. The latest one being an Hispanic (mind it)..but i lack an accomplice here though. Oh in case i missed am engaged as well so i am in the process of deleting and forgetting all those crushes mandatorily. This blog might be my last piece of evidence about all those crushes... :)

So cheers and keep rocking.

NOTE: And one day Sidharth reads this blog he will understand the importance of a silly Water Cooler and the phenomenon called Butterfly Effect

Varkee and Necab...a tale of two lost lovers.

2010-08-09T16:51:00.000-04:00

NSS Engineering College Alumni of Bangalore aka NECAB conducted this program called SAMAGAMAM (which means the mother of all get togethers). Well the only think that links me to this is my college NSS. And "Oh Yeah" a few close buddies of mine who are in Bangalore. But man i have been hearing "Samagamam" in and about it every 2 mins at my home. Its like a daily prayer of some sort. The refugee of my room aka room-mate cum ex-classmate and an idiotic friend of mine Jojy Varghese is a big time disciple of NECAB. Given a chance he would make it a religion with his favourite idols/gods Sudheeshettan, Prakash Bare (ettan), Balettan, Manojettan etc etc. He calls his wife Anu for 10 minutes a day and the rest of the people above + Nishant (NECAB conander for this year) like for 10 hours (wink). Now take up your imaginary powers and extrapolate to envision this : One Saturday night i was out as usual partying at my friends place came late to home. With lights switched off and darkness dooming i see a small light in the edge of the room. Thus the lights lead me there, I see Jojy sitting in the bed with his laptop and smiling. Now given the time and being his wife (Anu Sarah) back in India my Adoor Gopalakrishnan mind became an I.V.Sasi mind and felt pity for him. "Hell yeah, it must be porn". I went near him silently with a nimble toe and silence. And what do i see?? He was reading a mail from so called "Necab-Core" (some elite committee like the league of the nations). "Ahhh What a loser?" Hahaha i made the fun ass out of him for that...and he is been digging up revenge stories against me since then. Holy Moly...that was one good laugh. Next day, Sunday morning the selected day when i dont have any games to go then i sleep till 1 PM (yeah afternoon..any problem?), but unless our beloved friend decides to campaign/market for Samagamam to his friends in Bangalore. He was speaking so loud that, in my deep sleep i would have heard some "karma" we would achieve by attending the function. Many a times he wanders like a lost soul, tracking health of Venugopal the singer (who was performing at Samagamam), Bangalore weather on August 7th, My Sister Shyama and her friends travel routines (upcoming NECAB'ian as he believes), What coloured bindi his wifey Anu has to adorn for that particular day etc etc. On the big day had he been fukin rich he would have taken a flight just to attend that function. And had i been way more richer i would have stopped him anyhow(just kidding..think abt it which is way more fun??). That night he calls up another asshole of a friend Raghu(who i heard unskinned me at the function) and asks the where abouts of the 'boorshva'function. Next 30 mins people after people they kept yapping blah da blah da blah etc etc. Roberto Benigni in his oscar acceptance speech said "I want to jump naked into this crowd" out of sheer joy and ecstasy. Thank God, for not letting me and Ben (our other roomie) go through that. Because Boy wonder he was in that kinda joy. My sources back there say , Jojy has won MAYA(well not the girl but its Most Admirable Young Alumni" award). Now that Samagamam is over and a big success (as he says), he has started campaigning for Samagamam 2011. Oh boy!! miles to go before i sleep...I GUESS!!

NOTE : This is a totally fun intended backstabbing ball kicking act between me and my friend Jojy. He is doing his part verbally by tarnishing my image in Columbus. So this is my mean-lean way to get back at him. If i have hurt anyone's feeling here, please blame Jojy because he is an Ma..Ma..Ma..(athu venda) Mathanga Thalayan. Ciao..World Peace!!

Confessions of a Born Leg-Puller

2010-08-02T13:27:00.000-04:00

Many of you know already and many in the process of it. Folks i am getting engaged to Deepthi this September 5th and marriage some time in Jan 2011. As i share this good news the very first question that bounces to me is "Is it a love marriage?". The polite answer is 'No' and a funnier one is "Arranged CommBbbletely". I dont know if it's a trick question (to fool me somehow) or is it going by the trend these days. Anyhow i've met Deepthi only once (the official pennukaanal) and the next time i will meet her is for the engagement. Now try explaining this to my client Charles here, i did take the herculean effort and he kept coming back with more doubts. Its hillarious sometimes how our tradition works, we basically dont have a conceptual understanding all we do is follow the system of rules.
Last few years a few friends of mine got married and in their courting period were glued to their phones with their 'would-be' on the other end. I made a meal out of it, and would tirelessly make jokes on them. With a few nick names like 'wire-man', 'phone-mainac' attached to them. But now when it came to my turn i am in complete awe and respect to the above said people. I found out the hard earned truth that its easier to pull some one's leg rather than speak to a girl. Its more like where to start and what do i speak syndrome? After 5 mins i reach a topic on football or cricket and i can hear her yawning at the other end. Other truth being am a big bore over the phone than in real and i just cannot help picking on others, but here the theme being romance. Its more like a Charles Chaplin in a romantic movie i tend to be clumsy and sometimes hillarious. She surely is going to have some tough time ahead. :)

But to be frank our early apprhensions and prejudice about marriages are fading but they do reappear once a while. After a long bachelor life and a fullfilling one i think this is the right time and she is the right one. Luckily am surrounded by a like minded friend circle who have seen it all and sometimes talking to them is a big relief. I am eagerly looking forward for this and by gods grace hope it all goes well. Hope to see a few of you there at my marriage in Jan'011. I will post you the dates and venue once everything is finalized.

together for the best and the worst....

2010-07-28T12:37:00.000-04:00

There was a time when half the people i know in my nearest family and friends were in the armed forces. Starting from my dad, my grandfather etc. Those days unless one is a ranked officer its very difficult for him to take his family along with him. And some times the extreme conditions in which the military thrives, family is a luxury. But now the times have changed, world is getting into a peace zone and wars are limited to an extent. The new generation is usurped by the so called IT Boom. Youngsters like me are attached and addicted to this work culture. For all the onshore assignments and big clients in the service industry as such. Guys like me from small villages are travelling far away to make our livings.

But there is a hindside to it, which is very predominant these days. Its the way we are mis-aligned in society. A couple married nearly a year back now work at 2 different locations and 2 different time zones. They talk over the phone on a regular basis and basically looking for the 'the' day to meet in person. Then there are a few who take the alternative of resigning their job for the others sake (predominantly women who lose their job). After a few months of courting, we could generally feel the boredom getting the better of them. I repsect the very few souls who kick all this extravagant and quick money to dust and stay together at any cost. The service industry is so tightly bound with all those visa rules that one cannot the fathom the effort it takes to be together.

In my friend circle there are quite a few people who get mugged by their careers that its difficult to make a choice. For a country deeply rooted to its family values and cultures these changes in lifestyles are causing quite a havoc. Personally i would love to see these beautiful couples together and working (atleast busy). But for that companies and countries need to loosen their noose a bit. One must call for simpler visa rules and adaptable company policies. Till then i think its a long way to go for these and many more couples in line.

Joel Stein's "My Own Private India"

2010-07-09T14:33:00.000-04:00

Well Well Well!!! This aint a book publishers forum or some other gala opening. This article by Joel Stein in Time My Own Private India caught my eye and i want my friends to knwo about it through ME. Now this article is sarcastically at its best and might be a bit too detailingly poking at the Indian Population. Joe here takes a dig at the huge Indian Population in the city of Edison in NewJersey.Read it for yourself you will like/dislike it more and more you read it such is the literature and knowledge (sarcastically). Cherry on the cake is the apology by Joe himself, its like if you want it to be an apology so be it 'I dont care'. Joe the master here. But i think Joe is lost a bit in time here too, he misses the whole point of Immigration and the added value we the so called outsider or minority provide to you all. Hell, we gave you your 44th President (lol). Though he ain't giving nothing back to us, thats a whole different story.

But to tell you the truth, personally i went to Edison last year to visit my family friend (ya ya) over there. I was like "What the #^*%??" I can understand seeing a few Indians here and there but to see a flock of them chewing tobacco on the railway station. In the rainy spring's i saw an uncle with his 'lungi' and white shouldered banian (innerwear) under a banana leaf(now thats my masala) walking the length and breadth of the footpath. Its like your whole past shown in a quick flashback. Its not that i dont want her but i didnt miss her for so long to be reminded who we really are. And in a way it made me kinda ego-proud as well, atlast we Indians are making a mark in Land of Opportunities. But that ego crashed when i went into a Gujju Sweet Shop near Edison. They guy at the shop in his mid 40's spoke nothing but Gujarati. Language of signs and symbols helped us both me and him get out of this mess. Ohh so for the first time i realised, you really dont need know 'angrezi' to survive here. NewJersey is not far away from "Little Italy" or "ChinaTown" and it will take some time for Edison to become "IndiaLand" or "IndiaPradhesh" or some other crap name like who thought of "BollyWood". But i must tell you we are huge there.

Ain't that the beauty of this country. USA, first it belonged to a few forest thriving nomads of indigenious people. Europeans came here to swipe them off to start their own communities and flourish. Then gradually world participitated to fill in the gaps in population. Italians, Irish, Hispanics,Chineese all are here aplenty and more than us. Even the Russians (what the eff is Cold War?) and Japaneese too(Hiroshima/Nagasaki/Pearl Harbor..hello???). But the moment an Indian sets his foot here lots of questions arise. Will they outsource whatever is left? Will they do that, do this? Its not our fault we produce more Engineers(who work for other countries) when you produce Soldiers(who fight for other countries). Its not our fault Christopher Columbus set out to meet us, we are infact making his bucket list fullfilled by coming here. To tell you the truth, we are the actual Indians !!

I totally understand Joe's personal views, no man how large hearted he is can accept his backyard to be taken over by some one. Politicians in my country are making sure jobs are given to local people either by law or force or just killing the rest of them. America must be proud in itself when a South Indian like me feels more safer here than in streets of Mumbai. I have seen Non-Tamilians humiliated in Chennai and Tamilians kicked in Bangalore. When i have seen all this before, i dont really care about a sarcastical diatribe on my community by Joe, Jack or who ever. We dont jump fences and illegally immigrate ourselves, We dont explode ourselves with fertilizers, We dont start up Mafias. But...We do pay taxes, We do cheer US soccer team (which you dont), We do make sure your corporations get richer every year, We do make you lazier day by day. And these days We do create jobs for you here. What more do you want?? C'mon this is an offer you cant resist (Brando'ishh i must say)

Feeling the Pride in yourself....

2010-07-04T05:19:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt proud about yourself?? It could be for anything could be for helping a stranger or for being there for a friend when he urgently needs us. I am my biggest critic, that keeps my insecurities at a safer place because no one can ridicule or criticize me as well as i do. So there have been a very few moments in my life where i have felt pride in what i did. Last 2 months have been one of the best days of my life. There are things which you dream as a kid and there are things which you want to do because you feel some positive energy from it. yeah the same positive energy the multi-million dollar industry of 'personality development' thrives on.
Since childhood i cannot remember amma-acha ever been on vacation. vacation is too big an ask for a deep rooted middle class family. A working mom and a tireless dad are the only assets me and shyama had. When many of our school friends went to 'home town' during vacations we were living at our hometown. Anytime we planned for a vacation the discussion ended with the topic of 'money', 'studies', 'travel' etc. And then either of me or shyama would go to 'Delhi' to visit our favourite aunt and rest of the patrol living in neighbourhoods of Delhi. And that's it the whole idea of vacation for my parents is to visit a hell lot of relatives and their houses and some 'sniff around' visit to all those places around the city. There were no relaxing breaks or anything like that all was crammed up into a jam pack session.
Its been 3 years since i have been in USA, with the very first year i engineered this mega plan of bringing my parents here for a visit. And expectedly my dad's first question was 'How much is the Ticket?' And my Mom's answer was 'Ammamma (grand mother) can't be left alone so count me out'. My never say die attitude and lot of brain washing resulted in them agreeing for the trip. And Valiyammma being a sweetheart came down from Delhi to be with Ammamma. Valiyachan had retired last year and even he needed a much needed break from busy-busy Delhi life. But boy did i enjoy this 2 months?? Hell yeah!! Behind all those delicious food from mom, and daily fights with Dad over football and what not? there was a little 'ME' jumping with joy. For the first time i had the reins in my hand and they just let it go on cruise control to relax and take a long break. So here comes the proud moment i was talking about earlier, all the plans well executed dad and mom happy back to their busy lives in palakkad. They made a good rapport with my friends here in Columbus too and guess what they too love them. If you too are planning something like this, well dont wait that is what i would say first. For all the sacrifices they make for us a good break is all we can do for them, many want to do this but give up at the last moment coz of personal overrides in life. Money, well it matters in our fast paced life but sometimes its all paper or some punching numbers on a screen.

Raavanaayana

2010-06-22T13:16:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday i took my friends and family to the Tamil movie 'Ravanan'. One of my fav directors in Indian movies Mr.Manirathnam thought of remaking epic "Ramayana' in his own ideas. After he successfully remade 'Godfather' into 'Naayagan' this was a much more historical effort as we all knew the story of Ramayana sice childhood. Movie is a bore apart from the breathtaking visuals. And editing is a mess as the director tries to show Ramayana in a different flow with a bit of flashback. Castingis horrible as Aiswarya Rai was more of a liability to the movie trying very hard to keep up with some solid performance from Vikram (yet again). Prithviraj spoke about the movie in his interviews in the most confident manner but he could not reproduce the same in the screen. His pairing with Mz.Rai was awkward and looked 'cougar' to be true. But his general expressions were stale and cliched. If he wants to be the 'brand ambassador' of malayalam movies (which he claims to be), he is far far away from it. Mohanlal in the movie 'Company' enthralled the audiences with just a 'paper weight' revolving in his hand. As a fellow malayalee i sincerely hope Prithvi brings some substance apart from his handsome looks and those big biceps.

'Usire Poagathu' and 'Veera' these two songs are the highlight in the music dept, otherwise its a forgettable one from ARR. 'Kalvane' song picturization was a clear adaptaion from the 'Ay Hairathe' from Guru with Mz.Rai dragging her across the leading man. Support cast of Prabhu and Karthik were really above the mark and keeps the interest alive with some funny moments. Priyamani was good in her small role where her character is raped yet again. Last time her character was raped in 'ParuthiVeeran' landed her a National Award. Though here she has nothing substantial to do other than just let her 'shoorpanakha' role melt away into oblivion. Locations in this movie is its USP, its totally amazing and can't believe sometimes its near to our house. Gotta add it to our bucket list for sure.

Silver lining of the movie is Mr.ManiRathnam, who had a heart attack during the shoot. But he is back again healthy and fit hope he can forget this movie and try something new other than MeloDrama and IconoClasm. Personal Happiness is i have restrained myself from watching the hindi version. Cheers!!!

When a dream gets fulfilled..

2010-06-02T10:52:00.000-04:00

Chennai for all the things i love about this city there is one thing i hate about. SET TOP BOX. Without this bitch one cannot watch his favourite channels. For me it was ESPN/STAR SPORTS. Missing premier league matches were a big NO for me over the weekends, but my roomies didnt approve of this device. So what do i do? i would visit my buddy and big-bro like Pratheshettan's place near Pondy Bazaar. Much like me he was a big football/movie fanatic and we would spend the weekend nights watching games or movies. And with Ani Chechi (Pratheeshettans wife) in kitchen bringing on some delicious savouries, liverpool beating the hell out of their opponents all iz well. One day after a match Pratheeshettan showed me some of his video and pics collection from his UK onsite tenure. Here he had taken his Dad and Mom for a vacation and with an ever present smile he told me "Once in your life you must take your parents outside the country not for a visit but more for a stay you are gonna love it" (ok this was in malayalam and not the exact words). Before this he would have given me a 100 different lessons for a big bro he is :P , but this one was too good to resist. Out of my curiosity i asked him a few questions about the trip and i had embraced this idea then and there. And once Sreejithettan had brought his parents here and them being near me for about 6 months i had no looking back. The only thing in my mind was that and i had to start with my mom applying for a passport :)

Almost 3 years later now i am lucky enough to bring my parents here during my onsite at Columbus. I must tell you it feels like one of the better things i'll ever do in my life. Everyday is a celeberation with trips and travel. Its more like they are discovering my bachelor life in a whole new dimension (yeah with some loop holes though). I would always thank Pratheeshettan for the Spark and Sreejithettan to make it a dream of sort. Its an overwhelming experience and i encourage you all to do it once in your life.

Holy Shit...thats a SIX

2010-05-20T11:15:00.001-04:00

Cricket as we know runs through us Indian veins and hearts. And i must admit i have always given football a notch more importance in life than cricket. I've played a lot of sports and games in my life but this moment is gonna haunt me forever. Our cricket team POKRI (not the Mahesh Babu movie) alias "POLARIS CRICKET" are a bunch of enthusiastic cricketers to say the least. We cannot boast of an exciting talent apart from a hand few but we are a very cohesive unit. Last year i started playing for Pokri and i have made some superb friends in and out of our team.

Columbus, Ohio boasts a lot of cricket teams and the Indian community here plays 5-6 tournaments every year in Spring/Summer. This was a T20 cricket ball tournament conducted by UCC and our opponent that day were Googly As the captain of our team i won the toss for the first time, ominous signs huh? We decided to bowl first and with some merciless hitting by Googly batsman Abhish and Mithun in the end overs they reached 140/5 in 20 overs. We had chased down a 130 in 18 overs in the same ground so we felt a bit confident that we could do it. Googly kept us on our toes and how about it when they got our opener Saran out in the first ball of the chase. Entrada Karthik aka TSB, he is simply the most talented batsman i know of after Ramakrishnan (my school buddy). There are people who can make batting look so easy (yeah like VVS) and these 2 come into that elite group. Karthik scored a breezy 60 with some short arm jab sixes and glorious pulls. Kamesh getting out and me entering the frame looked as if planned coz we needed 68 more in 6 overs. One six each by me and TSB brought us at a striking distance with number of balls and runs required. Next over we lost TSB and Abheesh (our current man in form), I was at the other end skeptical about our fortunes. Chaitu came in next and then the left-right combination started to click. Also some pressure might have caused the Googly bowlers to ball a lot of wides. Next over we lost Chaitu and Abhinav both getting run out, onus to some bad judgement from my side. Yeah, pressure can do that mother. 3 overs 29 required and Googly brought in their experienced bowlers. Let me tell you some sledging from their side pumped me up and I felt we gotta clinch this one. It all came down to last over with 13 required and Satya on strike. first 3 balls we ran 3 doubles. 3 balls 7 required i felt one four from somewhere and we are through. 4th ball of the over Satya tried to clear the long on but instead found his chest and he somehow the fielder managed to hold on to the catch.

We crossed over and brought made me to strike and it was 2 balls 7, Saran was our leg umpire that point of time and i remember saying to him 'it looks tight and might be unachievable'. Though somewhere inside an optimist sleeps inside us and pushes us 'we can nail it'. My dad was watching this match and i could see him yelling out instructions like 'Javed Miandad'. Sachin the bowler under pressure bowled a wide and now the equation was 6 required of 2 balls. You know what? a 7 required sounds unachievable in our mind but a 6 sounds way easier. Mathematically thats just 1 run but on a Psycholigical point of view it was totally 'get-able'. Last few overs i was beaten by twice by bouncing delivery outside offstump am sure the bowler noticed that. And expected him to bowl the next 2 balls there. I took my leg stump guard and stayed way ahead of my crease. The moment he reached the crease for the delivery i faked a walk across and 'Thank God' he bowled a good length delivery on to me. All i remember is a mighty swing, its more like a hybrid flick and 'Holy Shit thats a SIX'. Tony Greg would have been the right person to comment about it and i would have watched it a zillion times on youtube. But still what a feeling it was.

Next moment i was running across the pitch like a mad man, and Vas ran into me and was all over me. The whole team ran in from the boundary and we were rejoicing. Hugging each other and jumping around it was B-E-A-utiful. Yes!! this is once in a life time moments and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Mallik, Woah one had to look at him he was the most pumped up amongst us. Revan/Satya/Chidam the supposedly silent fellas were acting like total jerks and couldn't hide their happiness...we live for these moments dont we? And my Dad, Wow he was super excited. Him being there made this SIX so so so special not only for me but for whole of POKRI. End of the day we must not forget Googly too played some brilliant cricket for an entertaining match and we thank them for that.

The CRITIC inside you..yeah YOU

2010-05-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

Criticism is a very common word these days and its in every ones dictionary or lingo. Critics are given godly status like Masand or Manjrekar for example. But i have seen quite often there is a critic inside everyone throwing tantrums on others actions. The job of a critic is quite easy if you just sit and give negative comments about anything under the sun, but it gets that more difficult if you think of a solution or atleast put a motivating placard for the poor souls. FIlm, Politics, Sports any field you take there will be critics to bring a 'fresh' (lol) air of thoughts. But on a personal front am a NO-NO against criticism. Many of my friends who know me well would have noticed am not a big fan of criticism at a personal level. Though i keep myself away from criticizing anyone i would also not welcome from them as well. I believe i would rather motivate this 1 guy rather than criticizing another 100. Though all this i farely get my daily dose of criticism in many forms either as a comment or as an appraisal remark or as a feedback at work or even could be a banter with evil buried deep inside. I have noticed a few people enjoy this job of criticizing anyone just for the 'heck' of it. And there are no remorse in their action, all they want is their opinion blattered out loud. But i must also admit i am blessed with a closed circle of friends who not only criticize but take time in understanding why or what was behind my action or simply the way I am. Its overwheliming to see when someone suggests you a different way to look at stuff rather than pointing fingers. I must admit there were occassions in my life when a less adamant me could have done a better job rather than sticking my tongue out in the end. But as they say 'I am what Iam' coz end of the day it all matters to what you listen to the critic inside you than the one standing outside. There are a lot of places in life where you have to answer this question 'Whats the best trait in you?'. Offlate i think its me being a Self-Critic, yeah thats the one i am speaking of. The only one soul who is never happy, with the talent of Bhutia pushing myself to Maradona (metaphorically). Its not easy to answer him coz thats the only critic who wont buy your excuses and thats his beauty.

Paanch Saal ke Baadh : Vishu@Home

2010-04-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Waking up with mom's moist hands on my eyes making sure i wont open them until i reach the 'kani' set before our gods in the pooja room. Thick aroma of incense stick and fresh fruits all over the room. Ammamma as usual at her cheerful self munching a few 'mantras' and praying in her affectative ways. Meanwhile amma whispering 'open your eyes with prayers' on my ears. With a childish eager as i open my eye i see the 'vishukkani' set and decorated in the most subtle manner. Miles of Travel, Jetlag, eta's at work all these worldly headaches disappear for a few moments. We live for these small happinesses in life it could be a hug, a smile or even a beautiful sight such as this. I could not believe i have been escaping from this for last 5 years with an excuse tag 'busy at work'. 'VishuKaiNeettam' from elders at home, the only time the youngest in the family works as a boon for you. And the same line from acha after so many years 'spend it wisely'...lmao. Missed my sister 'Shyama' the only person i can give 'VishuKaiNeettam' in my family. After lighting a few pollution friendly crackers and gazing at those colours in the sky it was time to visit temples. Kalpathy also known as 'South Kasi' has more number of temples in a square kilometre than any other place in the world. With gods from each and every sect represented in the most ubiquitious ways. In my childhood i used to cycle from one temple to other for collecting 'prasadam' for my ammamma or for fake blessings while examinations. The ground infront of the temple is empty i wonder what these kids are upto these days? Moving like a battalion of ants from one temple to another in an ominous and pious atmosphere. No loudspeakers yelling out 'bhajans' and neither i see a big crowd pushing each other to reach to god first like a school race competition. All i see is a bunch of people with sandalwood pastes on their forehead and necks cladden on their new bright dresses. They are happy for what god has provided them today and it smelt like a visit and less of a ritual. Once back from temples, preparing coffee for everyone at home as a sign of my offering to all in our family and friends (9 to be intact). Visited my old buddies Raman and Shankars houses. If some one asks me who has been with you in your thick and thin's i would have a whole list of friends, but raman and shankar will be very close to my family's name. Their family is my extended family and am always welcome their at any times. Speaking long hours about 'Amerika', 'Obama' , 'Columbus Cricket', 'Alliances' time just whizzed by. On my way back visited Vijesh's house, my friend who will miss all the coming Vishu's and Onam's on earth. Dude must be watching us over from heaven and having a good time out there. Day was enlightened by 'gazzetted officer' friend Sreejith. He is an inspiration to us all for whatever he has achieved and still going great guns with it. Never seen a more thankful person in life, when we all thank those who have helped us in life in any small ways here is a person who thanks the each and every incidents and stays optimistic through out. Acha was cracking jokes about KSEB and the way they function, Sreejith made sure he complimented each of them with some deft examples. Mails, Phone calls from friends and that culminated my Vishu@home after 5 effin long years. Now i am preparing myself for Onam@home after 5 years. Will upload the pics soon and link it here...with them the whole blog will have more meaning to it.

Its Raining Kids

2010-04-06T15:48:00.000-04:00

Hahaha the thought of it makes me laugh. Takes me through all those funny days we all spent together and how fast life is changing. A big percentage of my friend circle are either married or engaged. So there was a time along last year or two when i would see a new wedding invitation in my inbox every week or so. It could be my school friends, college mate or a colleague. As true Indians not a single one of them is wasting no time what so ever. I mean literally these days i get informed of happy news from every nook and corner. 'Da i am gonna be a father','Mother of an Angel', 'Sowmya is pregnant', 'By september i will be blessed by a kid', 'August 13 is her due date', 'May end to June early plan to make a visit Uncle' and the best of the lot 'Yes it happened'. Lot of good news all around and in a way it puts added pressure on my bachelorhood. There is a saying in hindi 'Bhagwaan jab bhi deta hein Chappar phaad ke Dethaa hein' it means whenever God gives you something he basically tears down the roof and let it rain on you. And it will be a tough ask to get these fine gentlemen and women of the next generation to call me 'ettan' (bigbrother) and not 'ammavan' (uncle). You all know am still a kid at heart :)

Three idiots or We idiots?

2010-04-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

Aamir Khan, RajKumar Hirani and VidhuVinod Chopra garnered all the praise and accolades for the hit movie of 2009 '3 Idiots'. A movie made with a lot of heart and as any other movie from Mr.Hirani a lot of melodrama and a genuine social message. Well the social message part is where i am getting into. Movie basically says one must follow his/her heart and set goals which would keep him happy forever rather than seeking goals set by your parents and the society in general. Also it takes a dig at our educational system where we create a lot of 'blind followers' where in we must create 'free thinkers'. Thats when i gave a hard thought on why the heck am I a Software Engineer. Where in i should have followed my heart to become a '????????' Well i have no idea what i could have become not that still i can't. Time for a flash back.

In my childhood i wanted to become a pilot as i used to look at my dad in Airforce uniform and felt very proud about it. Though i later realised he was a field officer and never flew a jet. Someday i heard my grandfather boasting about Rajiv Gandhi to his drinking mates. Being a pakka congresswaalah he spoke in great regards about our then Prime Minister. That year in my class i proclaimed 'I wanna be the PM of my country' in some 'What do you want to be ??(timepass session)' conducted by our Princepal. Years went by and my love to sports kept increasing by leaps and bounds which made me think 'i should be a football player like Baggio or a cricketer like Cairns'. I thought for a few months 'this is it' a few heroics at local matches made me think am the king at sports. But once i started playing at different places around school and district tournaments common sense prevailed. And a one on one discussion wit my good friend Ramakrishnan cleared my head. His analogy was that 'You need a lot of contacts and hold to excel in sports or you need genuine talent unluckily we dont have both and we cant risk our lives for a non-existing future'. We were just 16 or 17 but i was amazed by his incisive lecture. So then again here we go back to square one.

After being rejected by National Defense Academy i have no other options left other than becoming an Engineer. Luckily all my friends were good at Science and Maths so i kinda studied with them moreover i couldn't have asked for a better group of teachers who taught me in Class XI and XII. Somehow i scraped through engineering entrance and thought of engineering as a backup plan. After 1 more year i'll give another try to NDA or will prepare for IAS (lol). But the moment i set foot on NSS College of Engineering i was owned by it. There are some places you fall in love with the moment you set foot there, well my college was that for me. And then i had to do something with my life after engineering. I was good at computers (not very good) and a bit more at writing. I gave a few tries to write a book on something but lack of ideas and drive purged that vision as well. So computers it is and here i am with leading software company of India.

Moral of my idiotic story and many others who dont belong to the '3 idiots' category is that though we see a 1000 options at various moments of our life we cannot help ourselves by not taking the easy escape route and its funny many call it 'fate'. To become a 3 idiot one needs a lot of attitude, courage, foresight and a bit of luck. Not to forget the risk of ending up empty handed after all this. But the route which we take is a safe play, minimal-risk-maximum-fortune-wala one. And above all it fits like a 'T' into our Middle Class existence. So to all the 'We' idiots please do not have qualms on what ever you do and who ever you are today. Bolo 'All iz Well'.

'Give me some sunshine
Give me some rain,
Give me another chance,
I wanna grow up once again..(yea!! probably to take the same turns yet again in life)

The Perfect Gift

2010-03-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

Binu is lying prostrate on his sofa in his apartment in Dubai. As always fiddling with the mobile phone and clearly depicts something is running in his mind vigorously. Some times he just loses it all thinking all over the problem to miss the soul of it.

May 19, 2009 :
Two days to go for my mom’s 50th birthday and I can’t think of any good gifts for her. As always I tried using my triumph card which is my sister Sajju’s brain. But even she couldn’t think of anything good and refreshingly new. This year it’s very important for 2 reasons, one being it’s mama’s 50th birthday and two being the reason I forgot wish her last year the same day. Well being drunk and high fever aren’t the exact excuse for such an important day being missed. And that too for my Mama, as she is above average on a melodrama scale. But yes that’s the best part in her we all totally agree and nod in unison. So me over the phone with Sajju planning this big time with cake and party etc. But somewhere our minds knew, for all she has been for us it’s not good enough given we both are at distant places from our parents. Mama is our best friend, our teacher and the least demanding wife. Yeah then it strikes for us, Why don’t we check with Dad? Papa as every other father in the world was strict and sometimes a tad abrasive. And asking him about any gift is a lose-lose case as it always has been that way. Either he is gonna dismiss the whole idea of gift or else he will strike his best shot ‘ a Sari’. Yeah that’s absolutely true he either gifts a Sari which my mom would have wished to exchange but she won’t. Or else he will find a cheap excuse to forget it. Maybe that’s why I am always excuse driven as it runs in the blood. Anyway I assigned Sajju the task of talking to Papa as she has better patience to speak to him. I am going to bed now with only one thing in mind. Gift for Mama, Gift, Gift…..

May 20, 2009 :
The day before and early morning I get this SMS from Sajju. ‘Call me. Pronto’…I was like Duh?? Pronto?? Anyway I call her immediately to find that Papa has promised Sajju that Gift to Mama is all taken care of. What?? Of all people my dad has planned my mom’s birthday already?? The 28 years I know him of he was always been failing in that department. He was always there for us whenever we needed him though in a silent mode. But towards Mama I had this notion that he took her for granted. Well Well times do have to change I wondered. “Way to go Papa I love you” my mind said.

May 21, 2009 : ‘D’ day

Papa walks up to Mama and asks her “Ammu get ready , oh also pack up a few stuff for 2 days” . She asks “Where are we going, Nandetta?”. He replies “Chennai” . She queries back “Chennai?? You mean our Madras?”. With a smile he says “Yes Ammu!”. As always with too many questions in her mind but none to ask she gets herself busy packing her and Nandettan’s clothes. “Train is at 3 pm and we reach Chennai tomorrow morning 6 am there” he yells out from the verandah. Which in turn is a warning for her and which exactly means ‘we don’t have all day! speed up will you?’. Imitating him mockingly with a chuckle she continues her packing. At the Railway Platform waiting for the train she asks “Is Baby Ettan alrite? Was that the phone call in the morning?”. And he replies dismissively ‘No’ to continue reading his Newspaper. So sitting next to him she picks up her favorite magazine ‘Vanitha’ and glances for some article. But somewhere its bothering her big time ‘What the heck is going on?’. Poor thing has forgotten tomorrow is her birthday. She is now more worried about her apparent cousin brother ‘Baby Ettan’ who is in Chennai since ages and had a kidney failure last year. Morning 6 am train reached Chennai Station. As they get out to a huge crowd and finding a way through it Mama’s eyes were scourging for some familiar face to receive them. As they walked out of the station Papa called for a taxi. He asked the driver "Thambaram pokuma?". Mama was still in awe and had no clue what is in Thambaram? One good thing is, it has nothing to do with Baby Ettan as he is in Anna Nagar. Thank God he is healthy muttered Mama. As the Taxi sped past the city lanes Mama wondered how the city has changed. 30 years ago when she was here this city was entirely different. Madras those days was the dream city in all her college going days. After she got married to Nandettan it’s the first city they came to. This is much much before Binu and Sajju were born. My newly married city has changed drastically she continued wondering. As she continued reminiscing those days they reached the destination. Some 3 star lodging with smell of incense stick all over the reception lounge. Papa got the keys from the reception and they walked to their room. Papa said “C’mon get ready fast. We need to go somewhere from here”. Mama’s impatience grew over her “Can you tell me at least now what is going on?” . he smiled and replied “ You have waited for so long can’t you wait for some more time?” “Just trust me it’s going to be fine”. After some assuring words Papa gifted her yet another Sari and wished “Happy Birthday Ammu”. Mama meanwhile somehow maintains the same child like enthusiasm after all those Saris. She opened the cover and took the Sari out to checked herself out in front of the mirror. “Suits me” she said with a giggle. As soon as they got themselves ready they went to the restaurant located opposite to the lodge. Summoning for the waiter he ordered “2 Upma and 2 bru coffee’s please”. Mama was taken aback “Upma and you?” she laughed. He replied “You like Upma don’t you? And I thought I will give you a company” . “Ohh is that it??” Mama continued laughing. In her 30 years with this man of the many things he hates ‘Upma’ must come somewhere in Top 5. After breakfast they walked out and Papa fared another Taxi and this time he asked “Mahabalipuram pokuma?”. Mahabalipuram temple, first place they went out as couples together. That’s way back August of 1980. Wow!!! Then she got it, Mama just came to know the fact that all along her loving husband was planning the perfect gift on her Birthday. Yes, not those diamond earrings Binu sent late last year and not those paintings Sajju sent. But her husband nailed it this time with some quality time to spend with her. With the reminiscent thoughts and memories to flavor it this was the best birthday gift she could ever ask for. On the back seat of the taxi with moist eyes and a glistened tear drop she said “Thank you Nandetta”.

As this memorable journey continues in Chennai meanwhile Binu and Sajju are checking out all those gift to India websites for their dead brain cells to invoke some ideas for their loving Mama.

Sachin Tendulkar

2010-02-24T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well the name says it all...doesnt it? He is the god himself of Cricket. Anywhere in the world where they follow cricket must have gazed in awe at this brilliant creation. Today as i blog Tendulkar has surpassed another milestone - First ODI double hundred by a batsman. Many reached close to it but destiny was written it to be him. 20 years of international cricket and still nothing can stop his child like enthusiasm to the game. Sometimes my mind gets cluttered with too many words to write about something, today is one of those days. Every word i write i feel i wont be paying full justice to the sheer talent, hardwork,perseverance and hell other qualities embedded in this gods gift to us. Adjectives well they are hard to come by when we think about him. One thing am sure of, still many more kids will take their cricket bats with Sachin's sticker on it playing on the streets of chennai, melbourne,karachi or london. I salute you Sir...with all respects.

Biting the forbidden fruit

2010-02-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

The best thing about a bachelor life is the total freedom. I mean nothing can be compared to it. Its like those immeasurable stuffs we studied in 9th standard physics. Freedom here is not the one Gandhiji fought against the British Raj for but its more like the lazying and fooling around the marquee one. Basically you aren't answerable to anyone but to yourself which makes us this unknown mammothial entity. Last week a few friends and me went out for a movie, dinner at some indian restaurant and bowling after that. Well you could do all 3 of the above with a women in your arm, but i cant say that they would feel like same and latter would be better. Even with my friends who are girls (not the other way around) i personally aren't that comfortable and some words ought to be gobbled up, its like the name 'Voldemont'. You gotta act unnatural or else no one is comfortable. May be the difference in emotional quotients and understandings, there still lies a brief hiatus. And its not like we can negate a girl and completely ignore them, obviously we need them but for some reasons there lies an iota of seriousness and 'plastic face' that comes with it. My friends who are hooked up will definitely know better.

There was this cliched moment when we all were sitting in a row and in the row ahead of us were this couple. So one of us picks out this line "What the f* am i doing with you guys? See that guy is enjoying with her." We all had a good laugh about it, but inside us we all are scared about the 'x' number of packages that arrive with it. My friend says its the fear of commitment, whatever it is it sounded crazy. Most of the guys in our gang never had any girlfriends to speak of and the word 'date' still lies in those chick movies for us. But if we were playing 'Deal or No Deal' i personally wont exchange the time out with our gang for a date. Whether it was in college or at work or still now i have a personal liking for those times with guys. Whether its at the pub, watching cricket matches, playing football, late night ventures to restaurants, playing cards...each has its own flavour of time pass.

Reading a bud 'thro and thro'

2010-02-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

Varun sits all alone in a pompous starbucks coffee shop in busy streets of Chicago. Sipping hot mocha he remembers his days as a student with the sweetest ever cutting chai at the nair tea stall. Walking in the cold breeze with a slight snow and a smoke in his hand he disappears into the oblivion. Times have changed he muses and truly it has, way past the cliches. Philosopher in him sinking in front of his eyes turning out to be mere statements in ego. Its like the story of a kid hanuman who jumped to grab Sun thinking it as a fruit. Something similar in many ways, the fruit he went for was bigger than he expected for. Ideologies he picked up from various stratas of life. Ideologies he believed and virtually trusted to die for but now he feels like in front of a huge wall with darkness behind and steepness ahead. Sometimes its easier to speak than rather to do it in action. Why was being common so disliking, so cursed for him? Anything but generic was his code word but still unanswered as they lie in front of him. He needs the courage to pick up those shattered pieces and go ahead. Is that a lack of impetus or just loss of sheer determination, well only time can tell. He misses his love the very shoulder he could cry upon without any shame and admit his fallacies. Even she has moved on and thrives in those vague emails and emoticons in yahoo messenger. Friends missing brithdays, new years and gradually forgetting the very existence of him. Some think of him as a nerd playing six strings at middle of night and blurting out cobain. Pressures at work, politcs amongst colleagues, endless deadlines synch in harmony to squeeze every drop out of him. Folks now want him to get settled with a complete stranger and keep on amassing wealth for no reasons other than theirs. Agendas of life as he sees them, he continues walking the path everyone follows though deep inside he wants to answer the call of those wild dreams. Snickeringly he remembers his friend Mental's words "Path aint matter if you keep on Walking Tall".

Mein Priyanka Chopra Banna Chaahthi Hoon?

2010-01-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

Well dont get puzzled? I am more of embezzled after the news reached me. Priyanka Chopra plays a model (which she was earlier) and won a National Award for her services. A filmfare award would have been fair enough as she hardly finds a competition with a leggy-least-acting-oriented Deepika, or a gori memsaab Katrina, a lost Lara, Zero sized Kareena (aren't there any actresses am amused or maybe i cant think of any on top of my head). Kangana Ranaut is type cast and can deliver the 'bitch' role like no one else. Need to see what she can do in other roles, well cant blame her completely as these days scripts are written for the scantly dressed gals and lots of oomph factor. Kareena sometime shows a glitter of hope but well again she is nothing but an overhyped kapoor-khandaan-actress. Then there are a bunch of other actresses about whom we come to know only when a movie releases (basically their acting wont stay in our minds that long enough).

Who am i to say all this? Well a big movie fanatic like many amongst us lost in those Madhuri Dixit nakhre's or a Sreedevi screen presence or a Shobana's grace. These days Rajiv Masand decides who has screen presence and who hasn't :). Ram Gopal Varma made a movie 'Mein Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahthi Hoon' ; infact a true title depicting the pulse of those millions of girls who were charmed by 'Madhuri'. Though the movie was a dud with Antara Mali playing the dreamy girl but the title was good enough. Then there was a tomboyish karizma about Kajol and her sheer talent. Though she reappears now and then but its hard to see her outside Karan Johars Scripts or a Khan movie. Aiswarya Rai is in Mid-Air neither in Hollywood nor in Bollywood. More over the script must have Bachhan pariwaat involved in some way so thats an added hurdle. Vidya Balan is a good actress but haven't seen a movie where she can shake a leg or two.

Priyanka Chopra was good in fashion but awarding her country's top acting award in a way blemished the aura associated with National Awards. In one interview Mammootty had said about the globalising BOLLYWOOD which 'swallowed' the Cannes film festival. Bollywood actors romping and ravaging world film festivals just for the Red Carpets. Something similar to National Awards as well?? We see a lot of bollywood actors winning it. In Priyanka's defense she was way better than Saif Ali Khan in HumTum for which he won a National Award a few years back. A country which produced talented actresses like Madhuri, Shobhana, Nandita Das , Shabana Azmee or Smita Patil has thrusted the whole weight on poor Priyanka Chopras. She has the next door girl face and good looks to match that, but acting bole tho she has to go a long long way.

The genuine problem lies in the way stories are written. Directors bank on the 'Khans and a Kumar' that they just need a pretty face for their heroine. And if she is more than willing to jump into the sea in a bikini ..PERFECTO!!! Every director comes up with a cliched statement 'my heroine is a simple girl from a small town...' .When did simple girls started drinking, pole dancing, sleeping with strangers and bikini clad? As always common sense is out of the story line as far as a heroine is considered. Saddening part is the screen time for most heroines. Production houses market movie with a heroine in the cast, Director and Writer give big statement on these 'gifted actress who immerses herself in the role'. But truly they know movie will go forward even if she is not there. We have seen end credits in alphabetical order and in order of appearances but i guess now they should start in order of screen time. Well that will be an 'Eye Opener' eh?

In these observations there might be an Exception but it generally can be taken up as a Rule until something melodramatic happens to Hindi Movies.

Plugged in...

2010-01-21T16:34:00.000-05:00

Music, well i would say it keeps me fresh all day long. Whether am at work or at gym or drive back home am always plugged in to ipod/iphone whatever i get. Much more like the agents in Matrix movies. This time after vacation i have brought back some old collections i had since college days and the time in chennai. MP3 collected from all over and not to miss my sisters unique collection. And also a big big A R Rahman collection (how can i even think about music without Rahman). Though i dont have a special adherence to a particular type of music as i prefer not to be stuck on one floor. Basically i like the radio/fm culture its the best place where you can explore all the latest and greatest music. Then we have the abudance of youtube music, any song you name it some how you can grab hold of it from youtube. As every one of you i prefer songs that suit my mood or songs that could elevate me to a better mood. Like there is no point in listening to an Yesudas classic in gym basically when you are pumping your bice and trice. Then there is this beautiful aspect of certain songs that remind us of someone. Like one of my dearest friend liked the song "White Flag" by 'Dido'. Its been ages since i met her but for some reason this song just keeps those memory cells alive. And there is "Maaeri" by 'Euphoria' which is the bread and butter song of my guitarist bro. "Zara Zara" from RHTDM which shyama karaoked at Kumarakom Chennai. Then there are those handful of songs we mouth in the classroom desk with Sankar on beats which even Sivamani could be proud of. If i just start listing, well it could go on forever. But i guess thats how each song structures or weaves a person/face around it. I am not sure if you guys also feel the same, but well i have yelled my thoughts about it.

CIAO

iPhone Blues!!!

2010-01-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

Last time i was so effin happy was when my dad gifted me a bicycle in 8th standard. These days i sit, stand ,sleep and even shi* (sorry abt the language ladies) with the new iPhone in hand. Well i have been planning to buy it forever, its just that i had a contract with my previous carrier that stopped me from owning it. One must or will get floored away by this pretty device and its really kick ass in every way. Its the whole 'touch screen' imagery that is so enthralling. I am not here to give the tech spec about the device as you can find 'n' number of expert opinions on it. As an end user i will be a little biased not just because i own it also for the fact that i have been waiting eagerly to own one. 3G experience on a mobile is an entirely new experience as such. Given the fact that we are so adhered to the cyber world these days. Access of youtube, facebook, yahoo and orkut in your palm what more do you want to keep in touch with your loved ones. I take random pic of a snow, or some amazing christmas lights or a beautiful car or anything for that matter and send it to my sister in India. And not to forget those thousands of apps flooding in the market just to make the iPhone expereince an awesome one. Next time you think about a gift for your loved ones, well dont think twice, just go for an iPhone . That is if you are able to grab one hassle free(contract less). It comes to 650$ which is quite costly for an average 'go getter'. But for somethings in life Max. Retail Price doesnt matter. Does it????

http://www.att.com/wireless/iphone//?WT.srch=1

AVATAR : Incarnation of Movie via CGI

2009-12-22T23:50:00.000-05:00

Am a movie buff a complete one. But not willing to sit and watch a boring movie to prove a point. I do watch any kind of movie though whether its action, romance, comedy or drama it just has to entuce me and hold me on to my seat. And most of all am not a movie critic as well, as i think its easy to sit and criticize rather than go and get the job done. Last Saturday i saw this movie AVATAR (yes picked from hindu mythology for Incarnation) by James Cameron (man who yelled out "am the king of the world" when TITANIC won the Oscars). With lots of expectation i reached at the theater grabbed on to the 3D glasses and anxiously waited like a baby for the movie to get started.

This movie is an epic and for the movies sake there is so much in the plate for the viewer to watch, understand, learn and feel. It was like on a daily dose of Daal-Chaaval somebody pushed an epicure to a World Food Festival Buffet. Picturization at its helm thats what caught my eye. Its more like James Cameron had a dream and he somehow downloaded all those into a Cinema.And the added note of the movie is the casting, very carefully Cameron has rallied some old troops and some fresh faces as well. No big star so as to speak of , and the real star is CGI which catches every ones eye by its breathtaking aura.

Yes, the movie is a bit long (160 mins is not big for an average indian movie watcher) but i guess Cameron would have been in a confused state at the editing table on what to chop off? I couldnt think of a place which could be avoided as such all scenarios were carefully placed and etched together. There is a new dimension in movie making and movie watching experience. Dont miss it, it will blow you away by all means!!!!

Where are you Alisha?

2009-12-13T13:49:00.001-05:00

Guys! As many of you might know i had been on a vacation back home for a month. From there i digged up my old collection of short notes, stories and some poems. I had this habit of penning something at the back of my notebook in classroom or some old diaries. Basically went through a few of them and this one caught my eye, dated August 21, 2000. Its titled 'Where are you Alisha?' written around a story i heard from my friend. Somehow i had tried to make a poem out of it...still i feel a gem from my old collection.

Poem goes out like this,

Where are you Alisha?

Where did i see her?
was that in the train or at the theater..
Gosh! for gods sake, i cant remember
Silver bangles,shiny skin, strong perfume
a 5 sec pause.....

you were there right in front of me

nothing said nothing heard

though our eyes kinda glued

somebody yelled out aloud Alisha!

with a giggle she walked past me

and thats the last sight of her

as if i adorned a blinker

but still can't remember...

Where the heck i saw her?

a burqa clad girl she was
all i could see were those eyes
those perfectly kajal-ed deep black eyes..
everyday i wake up from my slumber

and hope to meet her somewhere

till then am standing astrayed

Alisha, when will i meet her?

- Shabbu

I hope you liked it!

Made for each other

2009-12-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

Story of two friends of mine. Hero is more like a big brother to me and heroin is this cute small girl. They both were the first few people i met at work and we were all part of this one big team. From the beginning ...... 'yes' there were sparks of something going on. But me just out of college every thing looked gold for me. He used to bring a packet of gems (chocolate) every day morning for her and she used to share them gleefully amongst us. As always there used to be office gossips around them but they had learnt to smile at them or the best ignore them. Anxious kid i was and amused in a way 'Whats going on?'. But neither of them said anything nor did they oppose. They just carried on with themselves. Fighting over mobile bills to auto rickshaw fares, throwing tantrums at each other for the most wierdest thing was in their daily routine. He was her constant source of support and wisdom, while she could bring the funniest person in him and made him a tad ambitous in life. Though they disagree on most of the things on opinion they do share a lot of things in common. She would make him crazy while driving, girl for sure had a heavy foot on gas. And he would spend loads of time debugging his code making her wait forever. The beauty of certain love stories is its simplicity. It need not be a heer-ranjha or a romeo-juliet with all those episodes of love oozing in every direction, love does exists in the most noble (doesnt mean all others are killers out there) and silent souls as well. Now that i have told you so much, well you would have guessed by now its their wedding on Jan 18th. Just couldn't stop myself writing a note on this wonderful pair, people whom i personally adore and respect a lot....Mad/Made for each other.

Thierry Henry : CHEAT

2009-11-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Extra time counting at World Cup Qualifier between Ireland and France. In front of the home nation France...a crunch game at paris. And the Irish players are breathing down their necks and causing trouble of all sorts.A Ball floated in and drops in the six yard box Thierry Henry plucks the ball with his left hand and passes it to William Gallas to score the equaliser and send france through to the world cup finals. What a disastrous way to get your qualification kapitaan? and heartbreak all over for Ireland. This is Irony at its best as the irish were the better team the whole game.

Now focus on Henry as he runs around celebrating with his team mates. I was furious to see it but was not surprised at all not even a tiny-winy bit as anybody who follows premiership would have seen similar stuff from Henry. Though my sympathies are with Robbie Keane and Co. King Henry as Arsenal fans hail him was a legend in premiership but many a times he has been that pricking rat who scores goals in the sinisterial manner. One such goal i personally remember when Thomas Sorensen GK from villa was working with his defenders on the wall..Henry cheekily places the ball in the net and scores a goal. And referee...well referee's all over the world have been always kind or afraid to the superstars. The game at 0-0 till then was won by arsenal in a cheap manner. The repurcussions...well very few remember they manner in which goal was scored all we could pick up is the scoreline and arsenal continued their unbeaten run. The 11 players in Villa + the manager would have felt godsmacked. Then there is the famous incident with Carols puyol in the 2006 world cup when henry grasps his face falls down and rolls over for a shoulder charge. Could some one nominate him for a Best Actor Award??? For all his tantrums and misdemeanor he was always forgiven and the worst part hailed as a great.

But this is an unforgivable offence and that too when clock runs down the extra time window and its a matter of two huge footballing nations. Alas!!! the sad part is here too the referee was made the scape goat by both the teams and the football associations. Its a players responsibilty as well to play the game with in the right spirit. I hope no young kid around the world learn this as a trick and starts following henry's actions. Football is never to be played with hands unless you are goalie (lesson one in football). Am delighted and a feeling of parity restored for the very reason that Henry though has won many accolades through out his career but is devoid of a world player.The sole reason is his plastic behaviour, outside he acts like an innocent goat though he is the very jackal hiding under goat skin. As they say'What goes around Comes around", henry will for sure be on receiving end not too far.

Thierry Henry you were a Cheat and You will be a Cheat in everyones yes ............................... Good Going King Henry{middle finger}!!!

These are the words of Eric Cantona (Ex French and Manchester United Captain and Player)
"What shocked me most wasn't the handball, honestly," said Cantona.
"What shocked me most was that at the end of the match, in front of the television cameras, this player (Henry) went and sat down next to an Irish player to console him, even though he'd screwed them three minutes earlier.
"If I'd been Irish, he wouldn't have lasted three seconds."

Tagged again

2009-11-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

I got Tagged by Sreejith...just way to let your thoughts known across the world by some simple questions and answers...

1) A – Available/Single?
Single (The unleashed Bull) ;)
2) B – Best friend?
My Sister Shyama..no doubt about it!!
3) C – Cake or Pie?
Apple Fudge Pie
4) D – Drink of choice?
B.E.E.R, Zingaro/KF/Budweiser would be preferred. I hate whiot drinks...beer is the best.
5) E – Essential item you use every day?
Lot of them cant list them here :) (very personal)
6) F – Favorite colour?
Blue, Black, Yellow
7) G – Gummy Bears Or Worms?
None of the Above
8) H – Hometown?
Palakkad, Kerala
9) I – Indulgence?
Music..any kind preferably Rahmanic.
10) J – January or February?
February for sure...lovers month.
11) K – Kids & their names?
Not married but open for helping any Kid lover ;)
12) L – Life is incomplete without?
Friends
13) M – Marriage date?
Want it to be Feb 29th (would come only every 4 years)
14) N – Name? Your real name!!
dude..you are reading my blog..remember??
15) O – Oranges or Apples?
Oranges...especially the raw ones....spunky...
16) P – Phobias/Fears?
Am not the bravest around, but would say not afraid of anything. May be fear of losing dear ones i cant stand that.
17) Q – Quote for today?
Jeeyo aur Jeene Do!!
18) R – Reason to smile?
I dont need a reason....smile at the smallest of things(courtesy: amma)
19) S – Season?
Rainy season in Kerala, Snowy season in Columbus
20) T – Tag 3 People?
Raghu, Athira and Sriram
21) U – Unknown fact about me?
I love baby sitting
22) V – Vegetable you don’t like?
BitterGourd..yuck!!
23) W – Worst habit?
Missing important dates
24) X – X-rays?
Once when injured my Knee while a Football Match.
25) Y – Your favorite food?
A lot of them to list..i eat anything to everything.
26) Z – Zodiac sign?
LEO, 100% shuddh LEO....

Why them?

2009-11-13T16:28:00.000-05:00

Early morning cuddling in my bed at home i was woke up by amma. I hate her for this aspect from my childhood days, half heartedly i looked at her and she looked a bit confused by all sorts.
She said "Vijeshinte achan vannittundu" (Vijesh's dad is here).
I got up from bed before i could walk up to him....he ran and came to me. A big Father's hug kept me weeping for the next few minutes or so. He kept repeating the words "Eee gathi aarkum varutharuthe ente eeshwara...ee oru praarthanaye enikku ullu" (My only prayer to god is that no body should go through the pain i am going through right now). It was the most unexpected starts to a morning where me, amma and uncle sitting on different couch's weeping at various decibel's. All for a guy who only provided fun and laughter, my dear friend Vijesh. Uncle then stood up
and walked off without saying anything....at the gate he said "Samayam kittumbol vijeshinte ammaye poi kaanu" (Whenever you find time go and meet vijesh's mom). As he walked away slowly i couldn't help noticing the big change he has been through. The long beard, his faded dhoti and dark spots all over his eyes. Rewind back 7 years one of our boorish college days he shouted at me, vijesh and sankar for being so irresponsible in our lives. Though on those days i hated that figure I wish i could get that uncle back, a strong face which wore a slight grimace, uncompromising and direct. My heart crumbles to see this person wither away in front of me little by little. As i see him off and remember that face on back of my mind he disappears into the lane.

That evening i went to meet Vijesh's Amma. A bit worried and tensed to face her Shyama voluntered to accompany me. As we rang the bell aunty came and opened the door. She was tired and all blacked out. Dark patches on her eye lashes and tears in her eyes. She looked weak with her hair all messy and in total she looked like a house being rampaged by a tornado.
She must have been crying from the day vijesh left us and infact made me wonder how sometimes we expect god to answer a silly question "Why her?". We made her sit on a chair and tried deviating the topic. But mother's you know them, how strong they act they cant digest losing their loved ones.His memories, his jokes, those mohanlal madness, his sarcastic tone to each and everything in life and time went discussing about him. And there was a slight relief as she laughed a bit here and there stopped crying.But inside me i could feel myself in a very odd position expecting all this to be a bad dream. I wanted to forget this face of aunty, i always want to see the cherubic, glowing face of hers with a default sandalwood paste on her forehead. But some strings are pulled from up above and it will be always like that.

As i reached my home i see Vijesh's brother Vineeth waiting for me. He didnt want to meet me in front of his mom and dad. The small playful boy i saw a few years back has vanished somewhere. He was acting strong though he badly needed a hug. I let him speak his mind out. He would blabber and go out of topic but he was strong willed on not to wilt. He knew his mom and dad looked upto him and he is their only hope and purpose in life. And i could just act like his big brother may be trying to provide that one drop of warmth and affection to him. But never can i step into vijesh's shoes. Or Can I? only time will tell.

Its a huge void and death tears our lives into shatters. People who are closely associated to you death becomes cruel to them. What fun does god get in crumbling a happy face? May be its all part of a big process, hundreds die daily for various reasons but when some one so near passes away we start thinking what to and what not to? May be its all a lesson for us to do something better outta our lives. Lot of unanswered questions looming in my mind and a barn full of memories on vijesh my friend, my brother. And hoping god would tell me "Of all the people Why Him?"

Story of a Tharoor Tweet...

2009-09-25T13:53:00.000-04:00

Everyone these days are having a dig at Mr.Sashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram. Tharoor as we all know is a magnificient personality someone any youth can look up to. He who contested for the U.N Secretary General Chair after many years of UN experience under his belt. By personal choice he find himself a place in Indian Politics as a Congress Candidate. A welcome sign for a developing India to have thinking people in politics rather than some film stars and bigwig industrialists cashing on their fame.

Tharoor on Twitter, well i knew he was in this space even before this saga happened and was quite diligently following his tweets. As a 'responsible indian youth' i felt him to be more approachable to aam aadmi this way. Moreover each of his tweets reflected his excuberance and enthusiasm towards his job and his son's work. And its new to citizens like us to learn the activities of a minister via tweets rather than some newspaper with more importance towards the dias than the speech. Infact quite a few times i have quizzed him on certain burning topics in indian politics (though he didnt answer me - understandably so). So one of his such tweets about 'cattle class' has unfuriated the trp oriented news channels, jealous ministers and few jobless top brasses (so called).

The repurcussions have been alarmingly severe. With all the youth congress initiatives, ticket to youth for elections and all the 'saviour of new india' congress still behaved like the old party that it has been. Still very conservative and split wide open when any concern arises. Though here its nothing of a concern or not even a scaer its a tiny weeny tweet, but still congress high command always had the final say on this matter. Tharoor was just made aware 'who's your daddy?' or should i say "mommy". Atleast our PM had the commonsense to brush off the tweet as a joke and had the apetitite to digest a sarcasm from a former UN representative.

FootNote: Tharoor must be wondering on what happened to 'Freedom of Speech' may be its time for you to add an amendment 'The Freedom of Tweet' sire or may be a crash course on 'Sarcasm and Diplomacy' to the HighCommand and all those 'Cattle Class Lovers'.

Vijesh memories...

2009-09-14T14:30:00.006-04:00

Vijesh my friend just a few hours ago left us to the heavenly abode. Lot of memories, a lot of them and they are killing me even more. Feels like deja vu after binu's death. I guess everyone resigned it to be fate but still cant digest this. Macha!! da myre remembering you and all those pranks . Those good and bad times we shared, i am helpless as i write now. I am going through this arrays of emotions and memories and hoping it to be a bad dream. We are not ready for this..no way. Nallavare nerathe vilikkum ennu amma parayum pole aanenkil ninnodu aaru paranjeda ithrakku nannavaan ?

First day in FYMB Nov 20th 2000, ragging petti lakshmi posing as seniors, introducing to kutty sankaran, playing cricket in the evenings, those prolonged mohanlal vs mammooty discussions, watching maria movies in New Kerala theater, first kallu kudi in paayattamkunnu, playing cards in sreelakshmi, teaching us engineering graphics, 'enne SI thalli..sankarane verum oru constable' , the royal pushers, blue colour hero honda passion, fighting off a drunk kc on union inauguration, college election campaigning, tcs treat, ottan thullal with sarun, ..the list will go on for all these memories (sometimes remembering everything is proving to be not good for one's health).

As everyone of us have been telling each other over phone 'Nothing in our Hands' but all i can say is 'You still rule our hearts da and dont worry about inni'.

The YSR Factor

2009-09-03T13:55:00.003-04:00

YS RajaSekhar Reddy CM of Andhrapradhesh passed away in a tragic helicopter accident. Many might have known this by now from the media or through friends. What is remarkable about this is i never knew people of AP liked him so much. I mean how could some one like a politician so much. After Rajiv Gandhi passed away and in some way after loss of Madhava Rao Scindia in an uncalled manner this must be the most mourned political death. I have had the luck of seeing him once entering a car near 'Andhra Bhavan' New Delhi. Me and Madan went for the Rs.50 unlimited lunch there in Andhra Bhavan and just saw a glimpse of a leader being escorted to his car on a cold afternoon. After that it some how interests me to read about him whenever i see his name in news.

But then working in an industry dominated by friends from andhra and especially lot of "reddy's" i get to hear a lot of good things about a legend he has been. From the knock out to Chandrababu naidu to the 1600 km walk across andhra (like a new age Gandhiji) and many more. Kishore my friend is devastated today and is finding himself short of words this morning. I found it strange and some what sweet. You know why? because i could not link myself to a politician from kerala for whom i would feel sad. Call it a stone heart smug or the lack of a heart touching politicians. AK Anthony in my books is good but never he was this lion hearted to address peoples issues, whenever there was a pressure he resigned gleefully. Nevermind!! not to deviate from the main topic here which is YSR.

In an era where there is a scarcity of dynamic and irresistible leaders this sure is a big loss to our country. A harbinger he was and destined for something real good and my only hope is his followers etch the same path and achieve it to celebrate a life called YSR.

T.E.A.M

2009-08-14T16:01:00.006-04:00

There are many earnest endevaours i have been part of in one way or the other but i feel offlate this is the best. One of my office mate Ms.K (no names, she is just 28) is suffering from cancer and her supervisor had this superb idea to organize a fundraiser for her. One was a small rose silk ribbon to all those who donate more than a dollar to the contibution (counters were in desk and cafeteria). Another was a pancake breakfast buffet, where we can eat as much as we want and donate a sizeable amount. Small happening like this encourages each and every one of us to come daily to the so called boring place 'office'. Not only i was touched by their emotional attachment and commitment to this young girl but they were extremely careful not a soul were showering her uncalled sympathies. All our prayers are with Ms.K for her battle against cancer, but more than that she has shown me to 'keep smiling what so ever'.

Many thanks to all who participated in our pancake breakfast fundraiser! Your thoughtful spirit and generous donations allowed us to raise $781 for our dear friend and colleague who is battling cancer. I wanted to let you know how very much I appreciate all of you! This morning was great fun for the our Team to sponsor. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. I must say that I am very happy to be working at this Building! I think it is filled with the best associates ever!
The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,437,180 new cases of cancer will be reported this year. They also report that through continued education about prevention and early detection that the survival rate is now 66% overall. For more information, please visit The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org

K fund co-ordinator
(She is a rock star in every way)
K's reply;
Thank you so much!!! This has been amazing! This will really help as I get further into treatment and I will not be able to work as much! It really takes a lot of stress away and lets me concentrate on the battle ahead! I cannot say thank you enough! =)

Ms.K

And for the silk ribbon i have earned its in my desk safe and sound reminding me life is short the more you give the more merrier it becomes even in a small way.

A New Season awaits

2009-08-11T13:45:00.009-04:00

August is a very special month for me personally for many reasons. One such reason is it marks the beginning of English Premier League. A football league which i have been rigorously following for last 9 years. Each player transfer, team formation all the silliest thing there excites me. As many of my friends know i support 'Liverpool' football club for obvious reasons. Last year we finished a mighty close second and were neck ahead in terms of entertainment and class compared to previous years. So as a fan it really excites me when a club improves step by step to become giant of a team in europe. I hope this year we become worthy winners and lets some loose tongues tied down.

Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres still going to be our axis but i think the wild card will be acquisition of Aquilani. He will playing in front of ever present Mascherano and is good with both foots. For sure we will miss the service of Alonso but in Johnson and Insua we have good wing backs to fly the crosses in. Gerards creativity and work ethic in the middle with torres's movement upfront is gonna make some defenders wear their dancing shoes.

This year will also be crucial for the dutch duo Babel-Kuyt, Kuyt must have been a TCS employee seeing the amount of work he does on the pitch and no body can question his commitment to the game. Babel once termed as the upcoming Star or the New Thierry henry has not stood up to his reputation yet. I hope this year he proves his critics wrong. Andriy Voronin is back from his successful loan period, guy wants to prove himself to the fine player he is. Its good to see players like him turning up and rise up to the occassion. In Pepe Reina we have one of the best goal keepers in the world and has a good ball distribution range. Carragher, Skrtel and Agger complete the best defence in premier league last year. All in all the signs are ominous and if away from injuries to prime players and the bench stands up to the occassion i have no worries over fellow premiership dreamers.

The most potent armoury in Liverpool's fire power is our manager Rafa. He might not be good at tirades (which he proved last year) like fergie. And he might not proclaim himself as the Special One. Every team in the world is afraid of the astute craftmanship this man possesses. His ethics of Football is very similar to Wenger's but a different philosphy though. Rafa can unlock any team in the world even and can vision a game much ahead of his compatriots. I personally dont care his media image because i know 'whole media is bought by Manchester United'. Rafa has a clear plan on what needs to be done and if as fans we can just rely on him he will deliver the premier league at the doors of Anfield where 'You will Never Walk Alone'.

Killing Thyself

2009-08-05T14:42:00.005-04:00

Am attributed to a lot of bad things in my life, a lot of bad actions and their repurcussions. Some of which have caused a wrong notion about me in general to many people i know. Though i dont care about their thoughts and mood swings, i want to correct those sinisters in me. Hell no i am not here to list those one by one and their corrective actions (sounds more like my status report at work). Naah in a plain way i want to be more firm and show backbone to certain places in life. Though i believe life is a stroll on the grass and we must not think it over and confuse ourselves, its always good to rewind and think of alternatives. Its like those balls outside offstump you miss it once or twice then you practise to crack it next time. I have actually begun with the corrective actions it might be from a simple phone call to seeking forgiveness on a previous crazy action. As my colleague Raj puts in his mail signatures "Our lives become beautiful not because we are perfect. Our lives become beautiful because we put our heart into what we are doing". Though late i am upto it.

Killing my odd habits and changing beliefs and opening up is one of 'THE' things i wanna do, kinda birthday resolution [:)].

Listen to My Advice....

2009-07-15T09:40:00.005-04:00

Advices!! Well thats a freebie anyone can give you on every walk of life. From the cricket fields to corridors in your office you are never short of getting an advice. I am not speaking this for me but for the entire group of people i know of...I am a bit strong headed for my own personal will, and its very difficult for anyone to change my views and ideologies. Some utterly foolish ideology but i live by rule that 'in MY life atleast I make the decisions' (though its not always possible and we must be open to better ideas....but bug off who cares). Apparently most of the advices i find in general not to me alone but to the whole world, it is total bullshit.

Moment you hear some one start saying "I would suggest or My opinion is " .... KLUSHSHHSHHHHH..somebody just flushed the toilet on you....i would say. Thats what i think, and because of this these days even i dont suggest anything to anyone....god has given brains for everyone to figure out themselves whats HOT and whats NOT.......
let them figure out themselves. But there is always a window of opportunity where one can go and ask "dude am in a fix what to do?". I believe am the blessed one here i have so many friends i could walk/call upto even in the middle of the night for any kind of queries/help. That wont associate to advice if u ask me....

Anyway of all the free advices in my life..there is one single advice i cherish and try to perfect it everyday. Its the "Art of saying NO", its the same advice from my previous manager, my colleague, my buddy (no names again) all sing in a single harmonic. The music hummed 'NO'. Jim Carey made a movie called YES man, i would prefer making an indian version of 'NO dude'. In a corporate jungle where we are, everyone is there to chew up each other and walk away with the final pot. In order to refrain from these evil's there is a simple word called "NO". Its how beautifully you put it that matters, "I dont have the bandwidth" , "I dont know" , "Can you check with Mr.xyz", "hmmm...", "I have too much on my plate already" , "Iraq is heavenly when compared to my work", and the best one is Silence or no response at all..either the other person will think you are dumb or else he will think 'may be i should ask someone else.

But having said that am not very good at this, i cannot say NO easily and when it comes to work am pretty transparent. My initial perception was whiners have no chance to grow at a workplace, but as i look around whiners and butt wipers achieve more at work than who do their chores properly. So as i have seen i have learnt everything the hard way and i must agree am getting good at this in last few weeks.
Say NO those headaches asap if you want a big YES to enjoy your life, thats a rephrased motto now.

Tattoo..to or not to??

2009-07-07T15:34:00.008-04:00

I've never been a ornament person and hated women with lot of jewellery. I feel every ornament brings a sense of tied down effect on one. For how many times i have seen women in my family checking their necklaces and rings out. First to confirm if its there and secondly its at the right place. Thats one of the reason i am uncomfortable wearing a ring(the one ammamma gave me) as well . But these days i am attracted to tattoo's. Yes i consider even them as an ornament. It can be to make a statement or just a crazy fashion but its now my burning desire to get a tattoo. I have been thinking about the various designs like an Ashoka Chakra or the sanskrit scripture 'OM' or may be my sister's name on my shoulders or biceps. I really am yet to decide but ashoka chakra tops the list and for obvious reasons. And yes we are speaking about a permanent tattoo. One for the life..like picking a wife so must be extra careful aint it??

A friend of mine has a chineese symbol of 'Strength' tattoed on his leg calf muscles. Now an 'OM' on my broad biceps would look bombastic and also will give me an urge to workout daily. So its like a Win-Win situation. The safety of a tattoo was the next point to investigate, but these days everyone is using sterilized needles and there are tattoo parlours who are masters at this craft. And they are not that costly for a simple design one just needs to make a booking in advance and maybe they will play around with the design here and there. But yes i need to hit the right frequency with the artist, i dont want him to fiddle around with my personal choices too much.

Still the questions in mind are like these ;
Should i get it or not to??
If yes, which one is better an OM or Ashoka Chakra or you have any better ideas??
Dont give me dumb ideas like hanu gave(danger sign tattoo up your Ass..... lol)plzzzz
Lemme know!!!
Adois till then.................

Breaking the shackles

2009-06-21T23:03:00.003-04:00

A few months back i read an article on cricinfo by younis khan (pakistan skipper). He like many other pakistani cricketers were shocked by the terrorists attack on Srilankan cricket team. Younis vouched for a point " if you let cricket die in pakistan it will end up in flourishing extremism (he was careful to avoid the term terrorism) " Never in criceketing history you would see a captain pleading to the whole world in such a benign manner. And yes he absolutely had a point, in a country robbed by muslim fundamentalists and high end extremism a young man (probably of our age) has nothing but cricket to chose to claw himself out of sheer poverty. Take for example yousuf youhana or abdur razzaq and many more, pakistan cricketers have been always from a very poor background but the most talented, less trained and sparkling characters. Its like you love them or hate them but you cannot ignore them.

Before the T20 world cup i personally felt srilankan's were the favourites with their all round ability, but as pakistan started nibbling victories as every other cricket fan it was clear they have arrived to the party. And younis khan had a big part in it, in the loss to india in the warm up matches he was to his best in addressing the issues and areas to be worked upon. We could see younis (he is no where near a t20 player) adapting to the game and rallying his troops. We have seen all kind of captaincies from pakistan the charismatic and lion hearted 'Imran Khan' to silent giant killer 'Inzamam' style. But younis is a new breed and full of jokes and energy on/off the field.

When the whole world speaks about dhoni and his street smart captaincy style. Somewhere we missed yet another wonderful captain in our brother nation. Hats off to younis and the whole team, the victory could mean a lot to pakistan public and a generic antidote to the blind fundamentalists grazing in pakistan.

PS: As for indian cricket fans, yeah we are a bit disappointed but i guess team india was mentally fatigued and could not spring up any ideas as such. Technology can keep one fit 365 days for continuous cricket but human beings need a break for their brains to recuperate the pressure and travel. With BCCI and a greedy indian cricket loving public its time to bring in Artificial Intelligence to Indian Cricket... coz we never cant get enough.

Tagged....

2009-06-15T22:24:00.003-04:00

1) When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Oooh i am losing a lot of hair. 'achante mon thanne' :)
2) How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
$17.62
3) What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
CORE, may be too much of time at gym in last 6 months ended in core.
4) Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Kishore Reddy, he is my friend/colleague for an issue but i was on another call.
He complains its difficult to get me over phone..i am sorry dude am working on it (maybe i can offshore that as well LOL).
5) What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Rang De Basanti/Vaseegara from Minnale
6) What are you wearing right now?
Formals, white shirt with black stripes (Dhanya's Gift) and dark blue trousers.
7) Do you label yourself?
Yes and always..
8) Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
Woodland, Red Tape, Skechers, North point, Nike, Adidas(Mullai's gift) (last 3 being my sports shoes). Not to mention am a shoe addict..i buy lots of them.
9) Bright or Dark Room?
I always prefer bright rooms..even dont mind lights while sleeping.
Wasting energy is a sin so thats the only reason for turning off the lights.
10) What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
One helluva person, great person to spend time with and the first person i met in college whom i didnt know in my school days (pehla outsider)
11) What does your watch look like?
A Seiko with a metal strap and grey dial. Its my dads watch i exchanged it for mine.
12) What were you doing at midnight last night?
Came back after the movie "The Hangover" and was preparing for my early morning call with offshore.
13) What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
The bill for last month has been debited from your account.
14) What’s a word that you say a lot?
AWESOME
15) Who told you he/she loved you last?
My Sister
16) Last furry thing you touched?
The Hairy Bastard (Teddy Bear) in my Car.
17) Favourite age you have been so far?
Every age had its own beauty and fun quotient...i love all ages, god must rethink of giving us a second chance as well ;)
18) What was the last thing you said to someone?
Good Night to my mom.
19) The last song you listened to?
Lathika's theme in Slumdog Millionaire
20) Where did you live in 1987?
Avadi, Chennai
21) Are you jealous of anyone?
Rahul Gandhi, he is gonna be a part of something big in coming years...
22) Is anyone jealous of you?
Naah..why should they be? I am as ordinary as you get.
23) Name three things that you have on you at all times?
'Charadu' or the sacred thread around my neck and wrists, LiveStrong Band, Most probably will get a tattoo in coming years
24) What’s your favourite town/city?
Los Angeles/Toronto comes a distant second but its always PALAKKAD forever.
25) When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Wrote a letter in malayalam to my grandmother in 2004, as i e-mail everyone else.
26) Can you change the oil on a car?
Yes
27) Your first love/big crush: What is the last thing you heard about him/her?
She is married, settled and 'so' happy with her husband.
28) Does anything hurt on your body right now?
No
29) What is your current desktop picture?
Wallpaper of Kaka (brazilian footballer)
30) Have you been burnt by love?
Ohh yes, but thats been a big blessing in disguise to move on in life.

That was quick, many of the questions might give you another set of answers if you ask me any other time. But the ones which i really mean them are never gonna change.

I tag Raghu, Sriram, Gireesh, Deepak and Swarna.
C'mon guys have fun!!!

Am i a leader?

2009-06-05T14:19:00.003-04:00

One can find a million book about personality development and leadership skills, the role it plays in modern corporate species to become CEO's at 19 [:)]. But i am a firm believer that leadership is more decided in your genes(born leader as they say) than training your brains (only upto an extent). I have experienced quite a few time in my life the moment one reads from a book or attends a personality development course he/she enthralls fully into leading others. This doesn't even stop them from commanding their stupid ideas across the board (assertively). One basic etho in leadership in my view is, you can only be a leader when you like to be lead as well.
Its a two way path and thats where the success lies. Most of us misunderstand leadership by the skills we drive a project or make somebody do he doesn't want to (either by force or compulsion) or to be successful with a team you play any sports.
To drive a project more than leadership its the organizing abilities that come into picture, how well you can accomodate the ego's in your team? thats the question to be answered. Some times we find people who enter "All In" to a scenario with high octane energy and has immense drive to take people to the next level. So is he a good leader? Yes, only if he can maintain the energy through out because most of the time he runs short of energy/enthusiasm to lead and is very skeptical about criticism and failure. There are times when someone who dislikes to play the second fiddle and he feels he has no obligation to anybody. These are all no one else but me at various stages of my life whether at work or sports or life in general. I find leadership very amusing and am always interested in running the show, but still i know am not a complete leader though i would love to be. I personally look up to a few people on various stratas of life and take a leaf out of their book on leading or captaining. On the contrary am not a fool either to jump first into the well to show that am a leader.. lol that will be crazy.
Why i felt writing about it now? Last week we had a soccer game, after a series of disappointing results i decided to take up the matter into my hands(which itself is a rarity). We did remarkably well and i had to yell around and stick to our guns (more of a commander than a leader). This was a drastic change as same scenario some 3 years back in chennai, every weekends we used to lose badly in cricket but i never had the drive to make it as a team. I used to believe less in my team and took the responsibility on my shoulders and a few other restricted souls. Same at work as well either its full adrenalin action or accept defeat in a meek and self effacing manner. May be with various experiences, good tips from friends i guess there is some improvement in that periphery. And at this stage of my life where there are leadership opportunities at every walk of my life i am looking forward to it....but still this question keeps pondering me "Am i a leader? and that too a good one?"

A Silent Wail

2009-06-01T10:27:00.002-04:00

Its a sad feeling when you lose someone forever and just his memories to cherish all along. An array of emotions uncontrollable and which eventually breaks you down. My roomie a colourful character and a bubbly person as ever, i saw him get shattered right in front of my eyes upon his dads demise. May his Soul rest in Peace!!!
Life is so fragile aint it? One moment you are jumping around teasing and fooling around with your friends with no idea what so ever whats in store for you? And the irony being how cruelly it subdues into this unknown zone where no person wants to be no matter how strong you are. This incident also showed me the importance of friends or relatives in our life. We associate friendship to the number of happier moments and the fun we have, but there is a beautiful side of friendship when it becomes a shoulder for your sorrows. Alleviates the pain and gives the atmost care and love we need to bite through the phase. All our friends were present there to console and help him ease through it. For a moment i felt very proud to have dear friends like them. As far as my roomie is concerned he is one son of a gun, he will bounce back from this setback and most importantly be the strong pillar his family needs right now. Having said this still an iota of gloominess lingers in our room, and time is the only medicine for it.

Shut the fuck up!!!

2009-05-22T11:15:00.004-04:00

One thing i have noticed in our generation as such is that we are confident speakers compared to our elders. We speak as if we conquered the world and napolean is just another king in our backyard. But having said that we hardly put our speech into action or to be more clear the verbal assaults are just for the sake of it. Offlate i have been experiencing quite a few of these amongst my friends and pointing finger at them would be brutal as i know 'am no saint either'. But an average mallu is always a revolutionary and he cannot shut the fuck up :). So i am venting my disappointment and anger down this drain called B.L.O.G. Its not that am frustrated at people as these are my loved ones whatever they do, but i detest the huge gap between their talk and the walk.

Recently there was an intiative at my workplace, it was a fund collection for the education of a less priveleged little girl. Her father is a security at our office in chennai and a help of any sort would be appreciable. Ammamma always says its the mentality that counts more than the amount. May be she is the catalyst in my mind for all these magnanimous(i truly believe it is) ventures. So there is Mr.X who collects the funds/co-ordinates and the amount is very meager compared to the one time overpriced indian buffet or the price of tennis balls we hit out in a cricket or tennis matches. But still, these days every one is a philanthropist but before that a true ideologist. Though this effort cannot be classified as a classical charity proposal i would say this was more of a help. But then my buddy Mr.Y says 'Helping one girl wouldn't change anything if you are really doing something you have to do to the core there are still millions like this girl, this is like a drop in the ocean'. Initially he made no sense to me, its either he didn't like the purpose or he thought am just another jackal in a goat skin. But however he added 'for that 20 buck i would buy a better cricket bat'. I feel for this person he is and nothing can be done to make him understand about the tiny step a person/society needs to take to change a whole world. His first statement is very true and embodies a person who think holistically but second statement depicted 'he didn't want' for some obvious reasons. The silver line in the second line will be his frankness and wholeheartedness hats off to than one sire.

Some associate helping to charity and that to a form of 'divine begging'. Personally begging is a No-No in any part of the world and worst one could ever go through. But if there is a god given opportunity to help someone (i personally feel) one must not overlook it. Whether its an idea carried forwarded by the very person you despise, if you see an element of 'good' in it one must go all guns helping it. This also reminds me of a girl Ms.Z who can leave her tongue wagging all around when it comes to global warming and our usage of tissue papers in the toilet/household resulting in cutting of trees in forests of amazon. But when it came down to the same venture by Mr.X she blankly shot a 'NO' to him (surprised or shocked you decide). When i heard it from Mr.X i felt i would have traded a slap from someone instead of a 'NO' from the so called Menaka Gandhi V2.0 herself. And then there is a big group of Mr.A to K who spent hours talking on indian politics and the outcome of it causing a change in rural and urban population, poverty line statistics, money made in alliances, status quo of our economy and the poverty stricken millions in our country. What Rahul and Sonia Gandhi must do in coming years? but as always turned a blind eye (must have been the work pressure and hitherto lack of time) on this venture.

I know 2 colleagues of mine sponsoring kids back in india and taking care of them of all their necessities. He might not be an eloquent speaker but i respect him for his actions than anything else. Elsy Aunty used to tell us every time she gave something back to the society she felt more richer and more divine. I adapted that leaf out of her book and it trulyis warming when god feels you are powerful enough to help someone in the slightest way possible.

Maybe am reading too much between the lines or getting too personal or high on emo, but you know what? thats me altogether. I cannot motivate a dead person to walk the talk with me. But its my privilege to show the right path to a lost traveller. No love lost here its just a mad moment..some where down the lane your rights and my wrongs will merge then may be we will be able to co-relate. But for that lemme know your views wholeheartedly.

PS: Mr.X you rock!! whatever they say kudos for your effort.

4* not out

2009-05-19T14:53:00.008-04:00

May 19 is one of those important days in my life when i finally took a plunge into the corporate jungle. All those vague ideas of working in my home town as a lecturer or in Electricity Board as an AE or to become a politician sounds so funny now. I think the lure of money and prospect of travelling the world seduced me to join TCS. I would say 4 years have been fantastic for me with lot of learning, unlearning and relearning. I have made a lot of friends in TCS and some good colleagues as well. But still my first two months of initial learning program or ILP as we call it was the best time in this whole episode.

The day i joined i came to know i had been put under the C-03 batch with 28 others. Some of them i knew from my college and some other i met them during the marathon interviews in shreds, aluva (TCS walk in). We were different from one another by all means but we hit the right note right away. Training in TeknoTurf Coimbatore is a 'P.A.I.N' but still we managed to find ounces of happiness in coffee breaks and sad claps. Cooking up stories and pulling each others leg was the order of the day.

The soft skills classes (yeah the one where they teach you etiquettes phone/dining and you name it what) was hillarious as every time we try think out of the box and end up doing something very clumsy. Nihongo(japaneese) lessons were funnier because Mridula San tried to teach us japaneese through the other fold of teaching its the 'fun filled' way. Dude it used to be so hillarious and kick ass and the best part is we were getting paid for all this. There was this drama or skit we had to perform and one of the villain(no names again) who is a Murderer in the story says "Sorry". And the first C programming class where i personally had a very tough time as i had no clue about programming apart from 'printf' statements. The night we all left to our base branches and home inturn we gathered in my room and spoke till the early morning hours. Still many many more to write of those hillarious moments in Ooty trip, Paheli movie etc etc. But might be a case of overcooking the dish. to round it off i would love to go back to those ILP days again where i met thos wonderful mates of mine.

Most of us are in different parts of the world now and we contact each other through mails or phone calls and yes mostly through orkut. As of today the plan is to make it BIG on our 5th anniversary (19/05/2010), if god helps that is gonna be one helluva get together.

Am i getting Matured?

2009-05-17T12:55:00.002-04:00

Maturity well thats a 'redundant' word i hear from my friends for all wrong and right things. I am a bit childish when it comes to pranks and also admit the point i get too messy with silly stuffs or should i put 'used to get too messy'. But time and tide has taken me to this zone where i dont get concerned about stuffs. I aint bothered about lot of the stuff and tend to just forget and look forward. One such big thing is 'failure'. It eats my mind and makes me all high on emotions, anger and awkwardness.

By failure please dont misunderstand to anything else, these are just the losses in sports. Yes just a cricket or soccer game. Some times a bad shot or a runout or a goal missed would haunt me for days altogether. The football final we lost in our college, i took it as a personal failure of my life that the next 2 weeks i felt ashamed to face anyone in college. So i would say either emotional or immature it was me. But i think its a part in everyones life as we move on to better ourselves day in and day out.

Yesterday we played a cricket tournament and we were really sailing off with wins in league matches performing in all departments pretty well. Then we lost thee QF's to another team obviously disappointed but wasn't carried away. I think the losses or my age (should i say experience) has made me to take the blow on my chin and just go forward. As they say it takes a fighter to comeback with vengeance after a mighty blow. Same way i am learning to look forward for some thing better in future. So what do you say are those signs of getting 'Matured'?

Shake the Fake

2009-05-12T22:36:00.003-04:00

Fake IPL Player - you may or may not heard of him. But i tell you this guy is groovy hillarious and out and out sarcastic with an apna desi twist. Long story made short Fake IPL Player aka FIP claims himself to be a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) playing in the IPL (indian Premier League). He blogs about intricate and sensitive matter inside the KKR camp to his blogpost (no points for guessing the blog link it : http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com). If he just blogs like a normal reporter or a commentator there is no brownie points or marketability, his attraction is the list of nick-names he has kept for the various players and celebrities in IPL. Some are real funny ones like 'Appam Chutiya' for 'SreeSanth' and 'Pedophile Priest' for 'Gilchrist'. He has not even spared the commentators and the team owners, for example Shilpa Shetty is 'Big Sister' and Vijay Mallya is 'Batliwaala' and above all 'Dildo King' is SRK himself (LOL).

FIP hits the right spot if you wanna hit your tickle cells and injure your laughter bones. I feel is its the Best Ab workout for this season.. You read this once and you can easily relate to the blunder called IndianPL in South AFRICA. Al the hype and halo just to fool the much fooled indian cricket loving public.

Now lots of theories are in air about who the fuck is FIP? Some say it thejeswar Pujara and some point fingers to Aakaash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar. Some times i think its Sourav Ganguly and his compatriots himself after his break out with the team management. Doesnt seem to be a single man deed for sure, lot of helpers and facilitators.

One thing is pretty clear he is breaking the KKR team into million pieces without any efforts, he plays the james bond with out any guns or cool gadgets (if we exclude mobile/laptop). And as always media frenzy indian public and millions of cricket and gossip lovers are enjoying this dirty lines washing in public (even me too). And as i write this some time next week FIP has promised to reveal himself in public but probably thats gonna be a false alarm i suppose. With all the media attention and thousands of crazy people behind his back he is gonna sure be careful about it.

Kudos to the Faker himself for stirring interest in the much boring IPL2.

Who is your Best GirlFriend?

2009-05-10T16:38:00.005-04:00

Humble, Down to earth, Simple, Talented of all the traits AR Rehman owns the most unique one will be his uncoditional love and respect to his Mother. In every interview or award function you can find him speak about his mothers role in him shaping to this great person he is. May be sounding quite obvious but there is an ocean of sweetness in it. As they say every successful man has a woman behind him, there too some possessive girlfriends and wife's have taken over the importance of mothers....hmm just kidding eh!!. I think no one can even dare to debate on the importance of mothers role in a person's upbringing. Some where i heard this line 'She knows there is a devil in her womb but still she is a loving mother'. How brat, cruel, unjust and all those bad adjectives you can add to a person still his mommy is gonna love him infinitely.

Apart from generalising all those views i am grateful to god every day that i am blessed with a super mom for me and shyama. Yeah she is our best friend since childhood. Our dad had a knife on the edge approach that made us always to stand on our toes and sometimes uncomfortable too. Amma was the more childish, funny and in general easier target for me and shyama. From our slightest wishes to the mightiest greed all happen only through amma. This must have been the case with anybody i suppose. Even at my friends place i am more comfortable speaking to my friends mother
or a frequent visit to her kitchen (to eat and joke around). What i mean to say is mothers are the informal way to feel easy at any house dont you feel?. Mothers day might be marketing gimmick by all senses but its one of those days you can whole heartedly give a hug or say 'i love you' to your amma. After all shy individuals like us either dont find it necessary or cannot find time for it. I already wished my best 'girlfriend' on mothers day. Did ya??

മലയാളത്തില്‍ഒരു ബ്ലൊഗ് കിടക്കട്ടെ..........

2009-05-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

ബ്ലൊഗ്ഗിങ് തുടങ്ങിയത് മുതല്‍ വിചാരിക്കുന്നു മലയാലളത്തില്‍ ഒരു ബ്ലൊഗ് ഇടണം എന്നു. കൂട്ടുകാരി ഹിതയുടെ ബ്ലൊഗ് വായിച്ചപ്പൊള്‍ ആണു ഇതും കൂടെ ഒന്നു പയറ്റി കളയാം എന്നു തീരുമാനിച്ചത്. കെ.വി. സ്റ്റുടന്‍റ്റ് ആയതിനാല്‍ മലയാളം ഒരു വിഷയമായി പടിച്ചിട്ടില്ല എന്നാലും അമ്മൂമ്മ ഒരു പത്രം വായിക്കാനുള്ള വക പടിപ്പിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. സ്വന്തം മാത്രുഭാഷ എവര്‍ക്കും പ്രിയമാണ്` എന്നാല്‍ നമ്മളില്‍ ഭൂരിഭാഗം പേര്‍ക്കും മലയാളം എഴുതുവാനും വായിക്കാനും അറിയില്ല എന്നതു ഒരു നഗ്നസത്യം.

പണ്‍ട് കത്തുകള്‍ അയച്ചിരുന്ന ചേച്ചിയും അനിയത്തിയും ഇന്നു ഈ-മെയില്‍ അയക്കുന്നു ( എന്റെ സ്വന്തം അമ്മയും വല്ല്യമ്മയും ) അമ്മൂമ്മക്കു ഇപ്പൊളും ശരണം മലയാളത്തില്‍ എഴുതിയ കത്തുകള്‍ തന്നെ. ഞ്ഞാനും എഴുതി ഒരിക്കല്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ ഒരു കത്തു ടീച്ചറായ അമ്മ കണ്ടു പിടിച്ചു ഒരായിരം തെറ്റുകള്‍ അതൊടെ ആ പൂതി മാറി കിട്ടി. ഒരിക്കല്‍ രാഗിങ് കാലത്തു സിനിയര്‍ ബെജിസ് ഒരു പ്രെമലെഖനം എഴുതിയിട്ട്` വരാന്‍ പറഞ്ഞു ദീപ്തീക്ക്` കൊടുക്കാന്‍ ആണെത്രെ.
"എടാ ലവ്-ലെറ്റര്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ മതി!!" ഇതാണ്` ഉത്തരവ്`.
"അതു വേണൊ ചെട്ടാ?" എന്നു ഞാന്‍.
"പഭ്!! *&*%$ എന്താ നിനക്കു പറ്റില്ലെ??... നിന്നെ കൊണ്ടു ഞാന്‍ എഴുതിപ്പിക്കും"
"അയ്യൊ! അതല്ലാ ഞാന്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ ഒരു പ്രെമലെഖനം എഴുതിയാല്‍ ചെട്ടന്ടെ ഉള്ള chance കൂടെ പൊകും ഇംഗ്ളിഷില്‍ പൊരെ? "

ഇതില്‍ നിന്നും നിങള്‍ക്കു മനസിലായി കാണും എന്‍റ്റെ മലയാളം എഴുത്ത് എത്ര കുറവാണെന്നു?.. പറയാന്‍ ലജ്ജ ഉണ്ടെലും മലയാളത്തില്‍ അധികമായി ഒന്നും എഴുതിയിട്ടില്ല ഈ ബ്ലൊഗ് ചിലപ്പൊള്‍ അതിനുള്ള ഒരു തുടക്കമാവും, ആര്‍ക്കറിയാം??

ജഡ്ഡ്‌സണ്‍ ബെന്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ ആണു ഇനിമേല്‍ എന്‍റ്റെ ബ്ലൊഗ്ഗെര്‍ ഗുരു.....

Twitter : tweet to tomorrow

2009-04-19T22:41:00.005-04:00

When this millenium started we were guaranteed of one thing 'stronger ties'. Here neither it means the tie (that usually hits our brains) among countries and their co-operation nor the tie which we wear to office. But the ties amongst your family and friends. Of all the pleasures in life the one i personally value the most is ineraction among our loved ones. Science and technology has matured itself for easy access to my dear ones. Phone, mail booms, chat engines, social networking sites like orkut/facebook are all doing their part beautifully.

I know a friend of mine married and happy but career and job profile wanted them to be away for a small period. For ragesh and minu skype is the best invention of this century, i have personally felt the amount of time they spent and found it quite fascinating. Reminded me of my mom's story when my father was posted to Assam , he was not in a position to take her along. So writing letters and that to in my dads case once in a bluemoon was like her biggest relief. She used to read the same letter 'n' number of times, very sweet huh? Think of it now, we are blessed with advancement in technology. My room mate brenesh speaks to his mom for hours daily, most of the time she knows whats cooking in our kitchen :)

Yesterday i digged into one other pettern of web-logging its called TWITTER. Basically we give short updates on ourselves into web. Something like a log in terms of a software engineer. For a person with a very mechanical life twitter makes you understand "what the fuck?? You need a change man!!" if i extrapolate my tweets it will look like this :"wakeup, breakfast, office, lunch, tea breaks, gym, dinner, sleep ". Its like you need to open your horizons, pickup a hobby or something learn new stuffs etc etc. You can integrate your mobile to your twitter and keep tweeting.
As they say in twitter.com life happens between mails and blog posts how about logging that too (sounds like a web-hijack).

So i found my answer the most redundant question of our times. If someone asks me "Hey waasup? Howz life?". I can either answer "Oh nothing much man, Life is going on pretty much the same. All's good by Gods Grace" (typical answer huh?) or else ican give a cool and YO answer like this: "Dig this my friend http://twitter.com/ShabbuChandran ". This will tell you what i am doing right now and what i was in times i was not in touch with you or what kept me busy" Happy Tweeting my Mates...Cheers!!!

Happy Vishu

2009-04-14T10:01:00.007-04:00

Happy Vishu to All...
This vishu completes a hatrick of vishu's away from home. Here are some memoirs of vishu day,A vishu day when i wake up with eyes 'still' closed and first thing i see would be the 'vishukkani' arranged by mother. Amma's moist hands on my eyes covering me not to see anything but the 'vishukkani' at first. Then the best part comes up blessings form the elders and money (vishukaineettam), heavy source of pocket money during my childhood. Bursting crackers during ealry hours on a vishu day, the crackers go on till sunrise. We malayalees do not celeberate diwali so all our cracker wishes are fulfilled on vishu day. This is also the time to 'show off' or demonstrate your bravado. Bursting malapadakkam in your hand, throwing the olapadakkam at the last moment, flying skuds or rockets to your neighbours window. We do everything possible that minor burns and holed up clothes are a part and participle of every vishu.

Then ammamma's turn comes to this parade of temple visits. Our house is nearby kalpathy (south kasi as they say) where we are never short of temples. So from morning 6 in our new clothes we walk and walk through these temples. Prayer time with ammammma munching some mantra's and instructing us what, how and when to pray. As morning unveils we make trips to our aunts and uncles nearby, call up relatives on phone etc etc. Every year we(small team from our locality) play a cricket match against 'thonipaalayam team', as we grew older the betting amount increased up. Once we lost almost our entire vishukaineettam in one match and one of our team member started crying. But on the whole it was a big bargain as most of the time we won and used the money to buy new bats or football or something else.

Afternoon vishusadhya is majestic, with lots of varieties and typical malayalee style on banana leaves with 2 types of payasam. A treat for an epicure to say the least. Sometimes my mom's colleagues and their family too chip in for sadhya so the occassion becomes grander. Having said all these its not that we did not celebrate vishu here away from home. We do our share as well whether its going to temple, new dress and making semiya payasam ( as per amma's mailing instruction). But still the sanctity and joy is missed. Maybe it took me a long time to understand vishu is not about crackers, new dress, kaineettam or the sadhya for that matter. Its blessings of your elders and celebration amongst your loved ones.
Once again, Evarkkum ente hridhayam niranja Vishu Aashamsakal!!!

Story of 1.5 GYM

2009-04-10T13:29:00.009-04:00

"yevanmaar enthinaa ee cheriya praayathil ithrayum cigarette valikkunne?"
Consider these words coming out from a naive, a bit headstrong and bold girl. I replied "enikkariyilla..athil ippo entha prashnam?". She reply's back "Avante okke kidney'um liver'um adichu pokum..athre ullu..aa vivek full time theevandi poleya eppolum aa mili storil ninnu ore valiya....koode raghu'vum undu" I could just stand there and smile and listen to her concern in the most brash way. So this was possibly a small gossip between two classmates about the ill- effects of cigarette smoking amongst their friends. The girl here is 'Sinu Padmanabhan' one of my dear friends and the guy in the discussion is Vivek Ravindran my classmate and a dear friend. So it could have easily ended there, but me being a big mouth and good for nothing turned this gossip into a wild wild story.

That evening i meet vivek and see him bragging amongst his hostelites on politics and cricket and many more, so to basically irritate him or in a way make fun of him i let him know sinu's personal views about him. And 'me being me' added some masala for the other ears listening to the whole cover story(and am pretty good at it).So after this i leave to home that evening but igniting one whole issue altogether unknowingly. Vivek and a big group (no names here) get drinking that night and feel their male ego's crushed and end up in a tirade (therivili) against sinu at her lady's hostel 'Gokulam'. The issue becomes so huge that vivek comes to me next day and says her hostel might issue a police case against him. Dude what are you saying?? i was so worried obviuosly my involvement was omnipresent but also being the first year we were a bit worried too given the history of our college.

Story didn't end there, luckily the exam season came up and there was a month break as well. Technically everything would have forgotten and forgiven after a brief hiatus, expecting this i went to college for our first exam Maths-1. I saw sinu on the hallway, she gave me one helluva look and didnt bother to smile as well. So chapter is not so closed uh? And its still burning and very much ALIVE!!! Exams are over and before classes could start there was this gimmick parent meeting by our tutors. Sounded like a formality with all students lining up with their parents like primary school days.

On the meeting day morning i come with amma to college and i introduce some of my friends and meet up with their parents its all good and friendly environment. Unnikuttan comes to me and says " nee sinuvinte chettane kanduo?" . I asked "enthu?". Unnikuttan in his prem naseer voice starts elobarating "eda oru 6-6.5 adi pokkam, urukku polathe shareeram, kai ennokke paranjaal nammude kaalinte thadi, mukathu kadannal kuthiya pole bhaavam. churukki paranjaal oru onnu onnara gym". Unnikuttan is a master in telling stories and like a thespian his expressions match his tone as well with ease no wonder he is called 'BBC'. He continues "nammude okke kaaryam pokka, especially ninteyum vivek'inteyum" .Sacchi i was a bit worried but knowing unnikuttan i ignored and said to him "poda nammude colleg'il vannu nammale aaru thallan? nee pedikkenda" somehow i knew i was giving him false hopes :) . As we finish saying this i see vivek coming to us and he asks "Sinuvinte Ettan'e kandaa?". Suddenly unnikuttan "aah kandu..nee kandaa?". Vivek said "Mone orumaathiri gym..ente kai odiyum ennu urappaayi". "lagaan'ile otta kayyan spin bowler'e pole aavum njan". Probably this worried me and made me a bit tensed as well, before coming to meeting my tension was when amma finds out i was under-sessional for 6 subjects but now all my worries were conglomerated to sinu and her 1.5 brother(cheeky). As i was guiding amma to the meeting room i see one big fella with blue jean and white t-shirt walking towards us with sinu. I am 6 foot and about 82 kg's in first year so when i call him big fella you can imagine 'he is REAL big'. And sinu she wore a proud grimace on her face totally understandable if you have a giant (metaphorically) on your arms.

Days went on me and sinu became good friends and still are (until she reads this blog), and sinu and vivek are engaged now (had to happen rite?) to be married soon, and her brother 'binu' he is in the indian army (right person for right job) and is no where near the person unnikuttan explained to us. From sinu and litty i have heard a lot of pushings about their brother binu's unconditional love and affection but still somehow that initial image of a 'giant' and an annexed fear lingers some where in our deepest thoughts.
"Vivek'e ninte kaaryam pokka ninte aliyan is an 'onnu-onnara gym' " was one of our punch dialogues to him earlier and still. Last week i was speaking to sinu, she was speaking about binu and he got engaged and all other stories....may be that evoked me to write all this.
Thought would be a wonderful story addition in my blog about a person whom i have never met in real life ;) . Call it FEAR FACTOR eh!!!

Its (S)Election Time!!!

2009-03-27T11:08:00.007-04:00

"Humble Simple Able Noble, That is what is ABVP!"
Election campaigns during college days invoke these slogans we yelled out in my memories. The vote canvasing, big speeches, ever smiling candidates, fights... a college election has all the flavours of a general election. Every one had their own agendas some work for the party, for some its a reason to cut classes, for a few it was time to pick a fight and take revenge but also there were a few like us who would only campaign where some attractive damsels are present. I have no shame in admitting i must be a harbinger in that group. Yes ofcourse i want the 'side' i support to win, my friends to taste success but this was a glorious opportunity to talk to all those girls who were in your so called 'crush-list'. And i had ideal accomplices in Vijesh and Kutty Shankaran from Mechanical. Its like once we go to a department we will cover all the top 'figures' and convince or try to convince them to vote for our friends. Height of Irony is that Shankaran is gonna marry the same girl whom he talked to the most (geetha was one of our juniors then) ;)

College union election also gives us a lot of funny moments of which many are truly incidental. Like the left supporting (communist) student wing were a funny lot because they were unwantedly serious or loyal to the red flag. I remember certain student leader speaking about 'globalization' in his 'Meet the Candidate' speech (copied from his party manifesto maybe). There were also some serious student leaders in our side who thought the whole political machinery runs because of their
thought process and ideologies. Also this awkward state where your school mate supporting the opposite side and you end up in a heated discussion with him/her. But thinking about it now it all looks funnier than ever. Also the big victory celeberation with all those slogans, songs etc. "Petti thurannappol SFI potti..pappadam pole potti poyii..". My top funniest moment will be my "Meet the Candidate" where i prepare this big speech (with help from vivek) on our plans, promises and ideals we believe...but few moments to the dias i thought 'fuck it' am not gonna be dragged into this storm. So i step in and speak in my normal tone and virtually plead for vote and make some sarcastic remarks at the way our college and our opposition is!! (no details pls)

On a personal front my interest to politics increased by a huge percentage in my college time. The group dynamics are far more than your final year projects. Creative ideas spur in your mind due to some long discussions and team work. For an outsider election and politics is just the fights and stupidness, but you need to feel the energy inside it to understand it. Some think politics as a curse to educational institutions, but are students only supposed to breathe, eat and study rather than explore new ideas and expose them to the real world. All everyone cares about is career and personality development these days (related to corporate placements) but there is a tiny space in your heart called 'freedom' and politics gives us that. It is easy to stand outside and give commentary on the pros and cons
but it takes a bigger heart to take a side and defend it. I am proud in that sense atleast though my involvement was negligible.

NOTE: Its General Elections in India around April, this time around i will be unable or unavailable to vote. I hope/pray my fellow citizens vote for a Secure, Stable and Development oriented Front...If america can vote for a HOPE and CHANGE so can we as well..

Sucker called Nostalgia...

2009-03-13T14:30:00.004-04:00

After Effect of a movie is significant in my life. Since childhood certain movies make me adhere to the characters and the story line that i hardly come out of it for a period. Recently i saw 'Rock On' again. A sweet story of gettogethers and an old music band. I was wondering what will be i doing in the same note. Gave a good and sincere thought about it for few weeks that i started reminiscing those beautiful days of my college life. Of all those bird watching(not the salim ali way), politics,laziness,homely and unhomely foods(unlimited food on raghu's account+ikka's quadruple omletes), k-thals in hostel rooms, i think the most happiest time i personally had were on the football grounds. The pride of playing for your college, the big win against sakhavu vijay's team by 'Men in Blue' (i scored the winning goal ahem!!!), morning tea at MH-1 underworld wing after football practise (mostly provided by unnibhai or kk), all those heated discussions before and after a game as if we were paid for it.

For almost 4 years since binu passed away we all are equally trying to make something happen for him. Like in Jeevan's case we organized a scholarship in EEE Dept. Something like that worthy enough for our dear binu. But as easily said or typed we all had a defeatist attittude from the beginning to lose it more than make it happen. Yeah i admit, its not that we did not make an attempt but there was not an iota of honesty in it. The orkut group or yahoo groups and those big-big mail discussions where we all pour in those 100+ ideas but in the end curse the very own time we lack and the miles between us that seperated one another. Having said that its not easy as most of us are just beggining to make a mark in our life the practical ambiguity leads us to nowhere.

This is where i think movies like 'rock on', 'classmates', 'ullam ketkume more' etc breath a new life. Its not about building a statue or library or charity organizations actually its not materialistic at all. Its about the remembrance in the little time a group of friends spending together thanking god for the spirit of jeevan and binu. That will be more than enough for our hearts as well as their souls wherever they are , yeah i do believe in reincarnation. If we all friends could meet up and may be we should play once in our hostel ground ,smoke in manjula and drink in govardhana. Many might think after this blog, i have lost it and recession has kicked me so hard that i lost my senses. But seriously cant you imagine?? I can still hear binu shouting and cursing them sfi's. I dont know when??, but its not impossible that one game at the hostel ground.
Man i am loving it....WooooooooaaaaaaaaaHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Lemme know what you think..are you in for that one game???

*sfi guys dont take it personally..the hatred against you guys was the binding thing that kept us together. I am sure now its all buried deep some where in those woods in our college.

Ammamma@80

2009-03-04T21:30:00.007-05:00

Nancy is the old lady at our cafeteria. A very sweet and caring old lady always busy cleaning, billing and buzzing around. Everyday morning at work the "Good Morning" from her really cheers me up. For many things she reminds me of my ammamma (as in granny)Though nancy isn't that old the very way she carries herself is typical ammamma style. Very restless and active, always reading something or the other, the beaming smile and not to forget the glasses.

Ammamma is 80 years old since yesterday. Her 77th birthday was like 2 days ago when we all went to guruvayoor. Dude time does flies like hell, aint it? With working parents it was most of the time me,shyama and ammamma at home. She would sit in the hall on her chair reading newspaper or some devotional books. Sometimes she even writes down some points from them to a diary for later reading. With hearing aid 'ON' she closely monitors what we do and sometimes gets real finicky asking lot of questions. The best part about her is she would start telling these stories from her past or her friends and gets immensely involved that she starts crying,laughing like the people in the story. I adore those moments because she has gone through so much in life that in the end i feel god has blessed me in every sense.

Since i got this job i have been away from home, its her i miss the most coz she never speaks on phone. I miss those daily morning prasadams she brings from the temple and the sandalwood paste on the forehead. Then i used to remove them on the way to college as i felt they make me 'un-kool'. I miss her big lectures when i return back home all drenched in rain. Am sure she misses my crazy ways as well. Celebrating another ammamma birthdays without ammamma but this time around Nancy. Happy Birthday Ammamma!!

"Ellam Pukazhum iraivan oruvanukke.."

2009-03-02T15:24:00.005-05:00

"Ellam Pukazhum iraivan oruvanukke.." these words are gonna ring in every indians ears for a long time.Rahman the genius, the mozart, the wizard..of all the adjectives i prefer the 'down to earth' rahman. A person is measured by his gratitude and love and rahman is immeasurable by any yardstick here. Resul's acceptance speech dignifying the very word "OM" that precedes with silence and ends with a deep silence are well quoted. We are one helluva secular nation aren't we? Resul is now a star and i hope this will encourage youngsters to foray into black and unknown side of movies. As any other indian even i was on cloud number 9 when rahman was on stage receiving his first oscar. I was dead sure about jai ho!!, but background score was the bonus completely (i personally feel defiance had a better bet for oscar, may be i have heard too much of indian films in my life).

Danny Boyle i love him every time i see him on screen, whether on acceptance speech or an interview. Bloody Brilliant person in all senses, he is friendly, big hearted and more over is funnier by all means. Tell me who else would be on an oscar stage and admit that he missed to add the choreographers name in the title credits. The entire crew of slumdog had a sense of unity, from the technicians to the actors you would see a flock of people enjoying themselves. Academy awards was a change for an indian viewer who are bored by indian film awards where every actor gets an award. for example i have even seen riteish deshmukh receiving a best actor award for bluffmaster, lo kar lo baath!! Danny Boyle has just shown the indian film fraternity on how to make a movie for global audiences. Good Story, Attention to details, a fresh cast and some brilliant music and cinematography.
And the best part of direction is his idea of depicting a work of fiction in the most unique way. The blend of hollywood and hindi film was adorable and refreshing.

My friend said Bombay by maniratnam was a better movie than SlumDog. Yes, if its shown in india. Our viewers need that dose of 1 item song, 2-3 fight sequence and a drag taking the movie close to 3 hours. Western audience prefer a crisper version and we prefer a long version to sit in that theatre and forget our sorrows for atleast those 3 hours. So do you think we are gonna get an oscar ever? Our best bet for oscar still will be from technical side of movie making. Unless our directors start making bold moves and cut down the flab of some same old ghisa-pita story line. Its a choice we need to make either apna-indian way of complete entertainment or aim higher in a world platform like the academy. We need to just enjoy the sweet success of slum dog millionaire, boyle, rahman and nammude swantham resul'ikka(mallu's u know) ;)

Moral Policing..Did we ask for it?

2009-02-18T11:08:00.003-05:00

"Babel' is a movie with 4 different scripts in it and at one point they converge in a superficial manner. The one tiny script i like in it is the Japaneese girls story, a dumb and deaf cute girl (rinko kikuchi) who somehow wants to lose her virginity. Various scenarios where movie is shot depicts the 'great' americanization or westernization of japan.
Japan we know from books is the 14 hour working class, fishing industry, bullet trains etc. But one thing you will notice in current japan is its 'lost' it self in a cultural upheaval. The kimono wearing young girls are flushed by britney spears or jessica simpson modelled japaneese blondes (Aww!! japaneese blondes can u believe it?). Asians rely a lot on their culture and beliefs, for us its the soul part of our making. Seeing japan slide down its culture is simply appaling.
Yes, one must be liberal and foreward thinking but westernization is not the answer for it. If we dont protect our culture and core values who else will.

So do you think what the Bajrang Dal or Sree Ram Sena did is correct?
hell no!, No one has any rights to take law in their own hands and muscle us into oblivion. Yes they pretend to be saviours of humanity, indian culture and moreover of hinduism. But it clearly depicts their political agenda than anything else.
Atal Vajpayee gave the historic speech before babari masjid demolition, after which our country is never the same. BJP came into national scenario, ISI brainwashed a few young muslims to avange it by further bloodshed. Hells broken all over, but no one understands the intricacies where followers of Ram had to flee because of an ever increasing muslim population. Its all filthy down there....politics in our country is mixed with religion and causes even more foul smell. I dont wanna get into that and deviate from the core issue...here. My personal opinion is a big No-No to the pub culture, yes who doesn't want to have a peg or two once a while. But that should not keep our cultural values on check, if you are so called independent and outward why do you have to drink or make out in the darkness of a pub. A pub is not what it looks from outside, the moral quotient inside a pub is all time low. Public display of Affection differs from a sexual outbreak. Drinking to get the feel is different and drinking just for the heck of it and dancing around is gross. And please dont give me an explaination.."i am cool" may be you need a 'coolant' on your head.
Discuss my friends Discuss...

Remember our culture was never against drinking or dancing , we must be against the inept western culture marauding ours (something we see in japan right now).
India shines the brightest when we are contempt with a happy family around us and not by the single moms and seperated parents. The pub culture eventually will lead us there where west is struggling now. But there needs to be a law and amendment for these, one Shree Ram Bhakt just cannot run into a pub and start beating and molesting around. No one is a bloody Sree Ram if he raises his hand against a women, how good or bad his intentions are. One of the core value of hinduism is to respect women whether dev-gan, asura-gan or manushya-gan. I think the mistake is on both sides, the right step will be to reduce the pub licenses or increase the taxes for them. Being an indian, its discomforting to see my culture going down the ditch for a few horny-tipsy young blood of my country. Stand against the pub culture but never ever in a Sree Ram sena method but on the basis of a Social Revolution.

Jai HInd

I met ME

2009-02-09T20:12:00.004-05:00

Nostalgia, its quite a heavy word synonomous to all those good, bad, evil, naughty, frenetic and of course romantic moment in life. Though quite easily we relate that to our college life. I guess nostalgia was invented in 2004 for me, just when i came out to the big world. Since then time has just flown across between those endless hours in front of computer and long never ending conference calls. "orkut.com" is the find of the decade if you ask me, as it helps me to keep myself afresh to those memories either through a friend's scrap or some old photos one uploads. Compared to our past generation the current crop is blessed with the power of internet and other communication facilities to keep in touch with our loved ones. Spreading love has never been so easy.

Recently i caught up into a new hobby, its like reading my old mails. You know that the likes of yahoo, rediff and gmail give you ample storage to save mails for generations to come. Its really fun if you try it, in my case its a bit contagious. Last weekend i spent like 6-8 hours on it, just reading my old mails. I infact did a comparison of 'me-then' and 'me-now', what would be my reply if it occurs now (call me crazy or what??). I dunno how many of you will find this interesting enough, but i would tell you beware of those sentimental mails. The one which you would like to read 4-5 times to conquest your inner self. Between all those leg-pulling, sarcastic remarks, poking fingers i guess there is something deeper in me. A deep self, it was great meeting that self again!!

The Original DON

2009-01-19T02:17:00.004-05:00

April 11th one sunny afternoon me and noufal were in the cafeteria for lunch.
I get a call from Jojy. As i pick up and before i say hello to him...
he says "Binu marichu poyi"("Binu passed away").
Some kinda slap or i dont know what it felt like it felt pretty bad. I erred and he repeated "Nammude Binu John..avan marichu"("Our Binu, he passed away"). "Enganeyada?? Accident aayirunno??"("was it an accident??, how can that happen?")
Jojy said nothing more..after a brief pause he continued.....
"Alleda..accident alla!! Entho nerve problem aanenna arinja..ithuvare details onnum ariyilla"("Not an accident, it is a kind of nerve problem")
clearly he didn't want to speak more about it. He cut the call and for no reason i kept saying "hello" back to him. Didn't feel like eating anymore, went back to my cubicle. Did not feel like working either, came out and told JD. he too was shell shocked..both stood there at the corridoors like a portrait. Got permission from yogesh and went home early..on the whole drive way back i was not at all concentrating on the drive. Many pictures went in front of my eyes felt like crying loud and hug somebody tightly.

First thing after reaching my room called my home..no one was there to pick up the call. Called amma's school and told her the news..all of a sudden amma could not recollect who binu was??
i said "guy who spoke hindi to you..from bhopal"
Amma recollected binu "ohh..binu john with glasses"
again the same pause and she asked me "where are you now?".
"in my room i replied...i dunno what to do" again a brief pause.
Amma was in her headmasters room so she had to put a brave and bold face..she told some consoling words and gods will in ones life etc. Cried the whole evening sitting in my room..frustrated, angry,emotional it was a bag full of bad moments. Then there was an array of phone calls..to gireesh,to vava, to unda,raghu,jojy....until the prepaid charge got used up. Virtually collapsed into the bed and laid down there eyes gazed on the roof. Sreekumar came to the room and he too was dumbstruck on the news. Didnt feel like talking to him either. Disintenrested a feeling of robbed or something lost. That single day went like an year..with waves of thoughts on my minds.

I regret still not getting down at bhopal on my travel from delhi to palakkad. He would have invited me umpteen times to come there. Even the day before i booked the tickets he called me for changing the plans. Laziness or a sense of taking-granted-on-him or whatever..i felt 'will do it later'. Until now that time never came..to be frank. Still when someone speaks about bhopal or france(he is an avid france supporter) his voice still rings in my ears. Our room was called "BASE" (binu,ashok,sabarish and ejaz) was the hot bed for all the football/political discussions. Sometimes i think our friendship with each one of us solidified or got a bit more strengthened after Binu left us(physically though). I dunno how to put it in writing but the feeling i pass through is 'never lose an opportunity to speak or to meet your friend'. Its not like a bad omen but its in the pleasant way of sharing love with each other. A statement of 'you never know', though puts me in defensive but atleast keeps the contacts live.

Binu was not exactly a charismatic guy, he was more like a soulful person (a very rare trait these days). Spoke to people with a lot of conviction and self belief. Everyone amongst us respected him like a big brother though he never craved for that ounce of respect. A very very passionate guy...sometimes leading him to some irrepairable mistakes, but would easily pump that explosion of passion in to you. A very creative person at heart and his poems had a slant for the lover inside him. Many did not know the person he was, for that fact i know him only in meagre amounts.
But as time passes by and everyone flourishing in their respective lives i feel i ought to pay some dividence to the person who made that tiny difference in my life. .The long walk one night with him in a way changed my outlook on some circumspect thought of mine. It wasn't a radical change but his words had a multitude of effect on them. Its easy, for an adamant person like me to re-think huh?? he must be a damn good speaker and i must have some place for him in my heart.

Since the day i started my blog i always wanted to write something on Binu here..infact some of these lines are stolen from my diary and the few pointers i made on those days. This may or may not pay justice to the person he is, you may or may not wanna read it again. But this is one of those things that fills your heart, so please bear with me friends. i personally feel no blogs would pay justice for the relationship we shared...always loviing him.
-Shabbu

Role Models..

2009-01-10T14:36:00.004-05:00

Anyone gone through interviews and its preparations might know the set of questions we study. Similarly i used to browse through the various interview questions and would ask myself what would be my answer to it. Such a question was "who is your role model in life?". This would have been a simple question to others, but i was and am a person with no base. You will find me doing anything and everything so basically i had no clue whom was i really 'iconizing' in my life.

Abdul Kalam our president then was a personality i liked a lot and still do. But those were a generic effect by media and the books i read about him. He is a good personality and a great indian but was never my role model. I wanted a better answer. Such was my conquest to find this teeny weeny worm in my head. Sachin, Maradona, Agassi, Stallone, Vajpayee, Mahatma Gandhi, Che, Spielberg i evaluated one by one. Though i can brag and brash to the interviewers and project it as one superb packaged answer.....it never would be really true to my heart.

I remember my friends take on this were different as well. For example Jim Joseph felt a different way, "we useless people have no role models. we hardly emulate anybody in life. if anyone asks me who is your role model? i'll reply sorry i dont have anyone" this was his take. For a minute i thought may be he is true, but then naah never. There are people i emulate and fancy as peoples, as good souls. Binu John for instance thought his role model was zinedine zidane, as he is a true ambassador of hardwork and talent to reach the top. Hmm valid point eh? Ramakrishnan said he had no clear idea either, he would say some name his mind clings on during the interview.

I started thinking whom is that i try to compare and keep as a benchmark, this helped me finding the answer. Infact i was lucky to find two, one was ranjietta my cousin and other was none other than my father. Ranjietta was my hero since childhood days, for his intelligence and confidence. His take on life's matters were pretty simple and he liked it that way. Maybe he was my influence to read a lot on politics, he though was a strong proponent of communistic ideologies. But best part was his humbleness to life, he was happy with whatever god provided him and he took everything along the strides. I was on cloud nine when he gave his cycle to me when i was in 9th standard. i would say even my career changed after speaking to him on his dinner table in his noida apartment. Such big was his image in my life.

Speaking on Acha, to be very frank we never spoke face to face till i grew old enough. I was so afraid of him..typical military dad. He would order more and speak less those days. Me and Shyama used to be scared when he is at home. But to all that there was a very jovial and funny person inside, he can change the whole mood immediately with one joke. I like the way he loves his family, he was a wonderful son and is still an even great brother to his sisters. He is no the perfect soul on earth but for us he was our kick-ass dad. One thing i have taken from his philosophy is never be submissive to anybody, always have your own take on matters. Still there are hardly anything in my life thats not proportional to his thoughts, for that i think my father is my ultimate role model.

I think as one grows older he understand the basic fact that the happiness you search all around the world was right in between your eyes, inside your family and with your parents. Truly parents are one's best asset, unshakeable even in credit crunch era!!!

Beginning of an Era??

2008-12-03T11:15:00.007-05:00

What a few weeks we had?
The highlight being the awesome response by the citizens of our country on mumbai issue and terrorism as such.It helped India Inc to stand up to it and unite us.
Politicians are atleast sounding reasonable and are awakened by the people response.

Sheila Dixit's victory in Delhi is a testament to the growing intellect among voters, which must be worrying the politicians. Of all the terror attacks and back stabbing politics (modi's speech in front of tajmahal which was still under attack) people voted sheila dixit on her mission to fill up the basic nessecities among voters in delhi, which still is 'roti,kapda aur makaan'. Whether the NDA,UPA,3rd Front let anybody come terrorism cant be stopped by a simple change in government.

But when his disciples are in astray god appears and spend some time to pacify the broken heart... these are not my line. But few verses from
BhagwadGita or the underlying fact about 'Avataars'. Such was the arrival of Diego Maradona in calcutta. He could not have timed it better and graced the occasion with such applomb. And Sachin's century and match winning innings in chennai, it soothed those millions of hearts. To add that he dedicated this victory to all those brave people in mumbai. Some people grow up and reach those unassailable heights but the ones who stand apart in everyones heart are the ones who are gracious to share it with others. Also a big thanks to Kevin Pietersen and the English team for letting world know India is still a safe place. It takes a bold step to come during this turmoil and even more bravery to bring your troops. KP reminds me of 'Maximus' in gladiator. A picture of resolute bravado..hats off to you sir.

Read another article on proposing Ratan Tata for presidency, remember he is stepping down from his position as CEO by next year. Me personally think he would make a good choice, and when was the last time we saw an enteprenuer a president of our country. I know they can get into rajyasabha (ask anil ambani how easy it is?) but people like Ratan tata, Narayanamurthy who face the roadblocks for growth in our country are the best to remove those roadblocks. Those thoughts are foregone when u think businessmen will use power for their growth. What are we seeing right now??, politicians come in as servants of citizen gradually turn into business men and final stage is the blood sucking mongrels we see daily. Come on india we need a change!! Talking about ratan tata, here is another factfile for you in case you missed it: after the relocation of Nano Plant from singur, the attack on tajmahal (insurance for it is covered by tata-aig) and to add salt in injury
the global economic meltdown he is the 'heaviest hit' enterpreneur of the year.

Then there was an insulting incident when a reporter threw a pair of shoes on American President George Bush.As a reporter it sounded gross but as an iraqi we can't more agree to him. My boss said "the guy had a good arm, 5 inches to the right he would have nailed him!!" After 15-20 years may be it will be asked in 'Kaun Banega CrorePati" "Name the only president in the world who was thrown a pair of shoes?"Coming days you can see reporters attending press meet without shoes :)

Our Country needs us..wakeup and take guard

2008-11-28T13:28:00.005-05:00

Shocked...was i? nope
Am i frightened?? hell no...
My mind is now saturated with a feeling of pitiness or should i say a sorry state of mind. I am aghast to know that how easy it is to attack my country, i am upset on the current cult of youth calling themselves mujahuddin's or warriors of the mighty allah..
i say.....no religion or god would agree this heinous deeds.
i dont wanna join the bandwagon...by calling them religious fundamentalists..these are core terrorsists and terrorism is never a religious or social act...they use religion to brain wash those corrupted youth.

So,Where are we heading towards??
Given the history of our country and the current high profile vulnerbailities the first thing we must avoid is pointing fingers at our government. No government in the world welcomes terrorist to dance on their chests, neither do they wish to point fingers on other countries its we who faltered to foresee these mis-deeds.
Our intelligence and 'porous' coastal lines need to be strengthened..more budgetary allowances on national security and many more steps to which we have been turning our faces.

As a country we must begin a process of social awakening sending sms and lighting candles all are good for the media space but do they really matter??? A handful of youngsters may be of my age in their mid twenties marauding streets in my country - this is not i want my country to be known for in other corners of earth. We have seen this in movies, heard of it happening in Africa but never in my home soil..naah could not imagine a brutal attack at country's financial capital.

You know what given a chance i would love to kill them, kill these terrorists.. yes shoot them at point blank face to face...like many of us here would have already imagined. But will it resolve..the ongoing crisis?? Hell No!!!
One 'Coward' of Terrorism spills bloods of hundreds of innocent people and
he gets what he expects 'DEATH'. Institution backing him would have provided a better environment for his family and may be promised 10 virgins in gods abode.
The social awakening part comes here , i mean a revolution of a sort,
My muslim brothers and sisters there is never a feeling of minority amongst us if you do not have one. Everyone loves their religion but killing peace and tranquility of our nation must not be the way to achieve glory for your religion.
There is an element of backing from some angles..from some where...some hideous resources are backing them. Much like the 93 Bombay Blasts..some high profile backing up...Its a prevalent sense of revenge that might be running the whole episode of attacks in various parts of our country...but aren't WE(me and you, ram and rahim) done yet? why do we need to pour more vitriol in fire and let others benefit from it? Because in the end we are the losers..i lose a brother so do you..Its a Lose-Lose scenario but our grudges are not willing..
These elements in our country need to be outcast first.

My intuition is on the various probes by CBI,ATS and police force on the bomb blast probes. Dont you think this looks like and eyewash to protect the meaner souls by sending out a few grenades and AK-47. Every 3 weeks one part or the other of MY country is blasted. Government should still keep the probe going on, and please hasten it. Its pitiful to see accused of 93 blasts getting punished in 2008 and some set free for no proper evidences.

Youth of my nation need to arise in this regard, its time to screw them back.

I plead you not to read this just as any other blog and erase it from your memory.
I suggest we make this an open forum to discuss matters...bring out more ideas...excercise your grey areas.

Me and my friend Ben discussed this matter in a high octane discussion with no ego, no blind patriotism, no general talk but a serious discussion on something good for our country.

Some points i adapt from our discussions are :

Beefen up our security in our country, we have no dearth of human resources. More trained force and avoid dependency on an ultra thin polic force with no siege training. A vast and spread up national guard system for better co-ordination of police force. Moreover a secure nation itself is the best asset for us to attract investors across the globe.

Engage Uniform Civil Code - no religion, no caste, no tribe, no region supercedes the citizen.Every true indian must be ready to accept this as it paves way for a uniform india in coming generations. Atleast no speak of minority or relegated thoughts.

Ban the use of term 'minority' in media for muslims. In a country with 13.6 crore muslims no body should dare to call them a 'minority'. They are a part of this country as well as everyone. Something like the ban of 'nigger' or 'blacks' in public.

Issuing state identification cards for every citizen. Make it mandatory and maintain a track record of each and every government and non-government transactions.
For eg: To buy a sim card you provide a state id, but do we do the same to book a ticket in train or hotel or plane. I know my friends who for fun book train tickets as 'Gonzalves' sounds funny but serious implication comes when a terrorist has the same capability. For this to happen voters id needs to be issued to every single citizen, quite a magnanimous step but inturn provides a more coherent system.

And...
Yes we need more ideas and thoughts from intelligent people like you...
Our country needs you..
I hope we can usher a much awaited change...

One night @ the Lincoln Tunnel

2008-11-23T22:41:00.004-05:00

Chetan Bhagat will forgive me, as i am daring to steal this cheeky 'unpatented' name for this blog(in the lines of one night @ the call center). It was one helluva night.. with sinu blabbering, sandeep shivering and dhanya as always praying and me? i have no idea i was being stupid or idiotic but i was damn lucky to say the least. November 13th is devutty's birthday and we were all there in NJ to celebrate at a party organised by her dad & mom ( my classmates anuroop and lakshmi). So i get to know that Sinu is in NewYork some 30-40 minutes drive from anuroop's house. Me and Sandeep go to pick her up at the Newark Pennstation. It was raining heavily all the way and it was difficult to drive not to mention the heavy traffic in NewJersey. So we somehow reach there pick sinu up and drive back to anuroop-lakshmi's house. After an illustrous play time with devutty and a sumptous dinner (b'day cake,onion bajji, payasam, cutlet, mango juice, hot idly with no salt, and chutney) its time to drop off sinu at the hotel she is staying. So anuroop knows the routes of NY in and out and as an honourable guest he comes forward to drop her. But we were 5 if we include him so i convinced him to be at home with lakshmi and me,sandeep(as driver), dhanya and sinu will go in sandeep's car though with anuroop's GPS(global postioning system). So we start at around 12:30 am ( the ideal midnight hours for any adventure) with sandeep on wheel, me as navigator, sinu and dhanya as kids in wonderland(as they were looking out of the glass window with much amusement).

Intro on persons in the car : Sinu, she sounds tomboyish and can beat the crap outta you on any discussion. Has amazing skill on speaking on anything with 0 knowledge. Afterall she sells icecubes to eskimo's ( i mean she is an MBA). Dhanya aka gunds, was the holy power in our car as she will pray for anything. Once gireesh told me about her prayer skill-set i never believed that..man i believe it 200% now. Yep, she is that kind a very ignorant,naive person with 100% brain cells unused. Sandeep aka Sandy is a bit short of confidence in driving as he generally is a bit 'tension party'. In college days he used to sweat like a wet turkey on a grill if he fails to keep a record or assignment on time. And finally me, as this being my blog lets keep me as the hero [:)].

Now we are in route I-95 and traversing as per our GPS-bhai tells us to go. Sandy's eyeballs are rolling around every where was a funny scene. And in between dhanya ask's some question on traffic and route in NJ and compared to her adopted home town Columbus.Offlate she has acquired a US driving license, so to show off basically she was trying to guide an already tensed Sandy. Sinu was 'pushing' about her life at WallStreet last 2 weeks, all traders/equities/hedgefunds/creditcrunch etc etc ( Pushing is a our college term for boasting). And i was on phone talking to another friend minu and making her jealous about the superb birthday party and food. Now we are about to enter the Lincoln Bridge which leads us from NJ to NY and from there it should be simple to sinu's destination hotel.

Lincoln bridge itself is an architectural marvel, its basically a pipe kinda tunnel underneath the hudson river. Instead of a high flyover or bridge americanos preferred the direct way..yes a 'pipe'. Suddenly it happened, our gps stopped working and we had no idea where to go once the tunnel ends. We reach the end of tunnel and still no movement in GPS. But being confident souls we set straight forward..immediately GPS says "Turn Left" but 2 trucks were blocking our way in traffic. So we had to go straight and find another exit. But we learn that GPS is taking us on a long road trip. It gets turned off in between and comes up again, the huge buildings were obtructing the signal strength. The traffic was a bit less so we had time to turn at somepoint. Gradually we came to know, GPS is taking us back to the old route..i mean a huge U turn. We were infact heading towards NJ. So there we were infront of yet another tunnel and GPS-bhai said Go straight some 1 mile and take a U turn. Sandy asked " U turn again??" I gave hime the logical (stupid) explaination on the road systems in US and my prior navigation experience. The moment we crossed the tunnel GPS said 'Take a U turn'. Sounds so simple right?? Infact the barricades were open at that point and there was not a single soul around. Without any hesitation we all chorussed into Sandy's ears "thirikkeda vandii" Sandy obliged he took a u turn schumacher would have been proud about, it was a neat U and we were on other side. With a smile Sinu said "Ini prashnam onnum illa nere vitto".
The moment she finished her sentence ('dhaande kidakkunu' i said in my mind) here come a few cops inside the check post on the tunnel. A few means 3-4, coz of my tension i did not count them. They were on our car like you see in hollywood movies. One on the passenger side, one on driver, one checking the boot, two on other window, another one standing infront of the car. Sandy slided down his window glass with shivering hands. The cop was furious and his eyes face was red.
He said "Did you take a U turn now? I mean how can you take a U turn on a 60 miles/hour freeway and that too on a rainy night"
"are you insane, eh?"
Sandy said " Sir, we were on our way to battery park..err..to drop my friend..and we lost our way..and..."
Cop says "Do you have a license?" and as he speaks he checks with his fellow cops if everything is fine and gives a quite obnoxious looks at people in the car.
Meanwhile i was still of the notion that we have not done any thing wrong so i was looking what the fellowcops were upto? And Sandy takes his license and gives to the cop..he checks it and he goes again ranting
"You have a NewJersey License and i dont understand how you could foolishly take a U turn on a freeway?? Are you Stupid??"
Sinu interrupts infact her voice was loud a mild yelling "As we told you we lost our way and we have been trying to find our way back to battery park near wallstreet".
Here we go cop again says " But that doesn't explain it, there is no way you can do this. Its dangerous. Do you want to be a part of an accident or some. you cannot take a U turn on interstate.."
Enough is enough i felt i thought its high time i say something or we'll end up in jail or a ticket with some 200$ fine. I said "Sir we are sorry, but the gps told us to take a U turn" and pointed my finger at the GPS.
This made the cop furious as hell, until now he thought this was an honest mistake now he learns that we are fools as well. He looks at me and says
" you dont have a brain?? you believe on a damn computer??" Then i said "Sir, look it says U turn here"
And he replies "You belive in a computer? What if it said take a right into the river?? Will you dare to do it??"
Uh Oh!! then it rang a bell..luckily by gods grace he did not book us or punish us..he let us go and asks us to be careful in future. Had he gone for 5 more..? Man i cant think.

So this time we are on another tunnel called the Holland Tunnel. We cross this one and yes 'GPS Bhai' does not work. We parked the car in a cut-road alley looked spooky at night. Walked down to a cop car standing there and asked him the route. He said "Battery park is 5 minutes walk from here, you can park your car here and go". In a world of all high technologies with GPS and HiTech Cars, we had to depend on a our able "Ask Anybody System" (much more efficient than GPS in NY). We walked and dropped off sinu atlast. It was an unforgettable trip in all senses, meeting sinu after a long time, conversaitons with a cop and last for the worst 'U' turn of our lives. Bolo NYPD ki jaiii...

Obamarama a new "Barack America"

2008-11-17T14:05:00.010-05:00

"If there is anyone out there...
who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible;
who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time;
who still questions the power of our democracy,
tonight is your answer."
These are the words by Mr.Obama when he was elected as the president of USA.
I remember it was one of those late night browsing hours i came across an article about a senator from chicago winning grammy award. Next day evening in Barnes & Nobles saw this book by him. Already sold millions of editions. Barack Obama did not ring a bell in my mind to be candid about it.I knew former US President Bill Clinton had won a grammy earlier. But never in my wildest imagination or logical permutations i would have believed obama to be an american president soon. One day via TV i came to know about Barack Hussein Obama vying to stand for democratic nomination. Since then there has not been a day obama has not been on media. Either for the long feud with Hillary Rodham Clinton for Democratic nomination or for the presidential election campaign against John McCain.

But all the way Obama had a charisma around him that made me read more and more about him ''on what he is? what he does? is he for real or how genuine is he?'' so many questions about an american president nominee was the first time in my mind. Maybe its more due to my awareness on world politics these days also the first US election am witnessing live. Obama is a seperate class altogether and some kinda persona alive in him makes millions of people believe him. A person with middle class background and only a good education to boast about has achieved what was impossible some years back. Though we dont say out aloud (like Lord VoldeMont in Harry Potter) 'black' was always a factor against obama. Full remarks to the republican counterparts even they ceased to mention the ill-word. But neither did he use it for his vote banks. May be this is what the other african-american community in the world need to learn from obama. You need to be 'unblack' yourself your mind and thoughts first.Andrew Symonds i hope u earn this trait soon. Another trait that i find refreshing is his approach to his personal life and the transparency in it. Doesn't mean he invites to the dinner table right away or takes you for a drink but many recognize him as a good father, a loveable grandson, a chap who likes to play basketball every week with his friends (His friends call him 'O'bomber for the shooting abilities check out the youtube video on his basketball skills). Also not to forget, he is unbelievably articulte not an ideal thespian for a politician but he talks in an attractive manner you would love to listen him whole day.

Obama is no fluke or mug that just happened after bush's tyranny for 8 years. He was calculative, pin point decisive and he had strong policies to back his abilities. Though a first time senator but he made his debut counted by the reforms he brought about and the positive outlook on politics. A politician breed of different kind world has seen so far , he paves for a new generation of politicians with an 'audacity of hope' in them. Although his inexperience will be clearly exploited in coming days but given his amicable resume he is the one not to get bogged down.

At this moment, How i wish politicians of my country campaigning for a 'change' rather than their 'caste'? But every country has its own way of functioning, but so did america. Until now the biggest day of democracy was when an old man with a stick walked 400kms also known as the salt satyagraha. LandSlide Victory of Obama stands somewhere close to it 'for me atleast'. In a democratic country this leaves you with nothing else but hope for a better dawn to descend upon us. Barack Obama you make 'common man' like us to think that extra boundaries we need to extend ourselves.
Nothing is Impossible...Yes We Can! Yes We Can!!!!

Seat Number ' 7B '

2008-11-03T16:40:00.012-05:00

"Continental Flight number CA7640, NewJersey to Columbus passengers are requested to board their flight from gate C54".Ohh atlast the time for the flight to arrive on a snowy day, have been stuck in the airport for last few hours. My laptop out of charge so could not play FIFA anymore, so sat there and dozed off in the airport lounge. Walked to the gate C54 as they had announced. There was already a big crowd and a long queue. Monitored the queue thoroughly as i was looking for a hot chick preferably brunette amongst them. If in india i would have checked the reservation chart stuck outside the train compartment to see if any girls with the age 19 to 26 near my seat. May be i have a record of not travelling a single time with a pretty woman.I always end up with old woman, snoring bullies, crying babies, prankster kids etc etc.

Ahha!! there she is, a tall brunette with a tattoo on her arms. She is deeply involved in her ipod music and forget me she is not bothered abt all those stares at her.I must admit she is a 'hot chick' looked like catherina zweta jones ( a little exaggeration is of no harm). As i stood there with mouth wide open the queue grew longer and longer, suddenly regaining senses i went there and stood far behind her in the queue. As i approached the gate the stewardess said 'Seat number 7A sire'. May be its the climate or just was my lucky day even she looked adorable and cute. Giving a wink i replied 'Gracias' as she looked puerto-rican to me. She gave me this 100 million$ smile 'Have a safe trip Senor' came the reply. As i entered the flight and as if i cant find '7A' which is right in front of my eyes i was infact searching for the brunette. Ohh not again..i just missed her she was in '8A'. And the fat old man sitting next to her had the sparkle of 'Colin Farell as The Alexander King' in his eyes. I felt a bit dejected but its been a habit now so i parked my luggage and retired to my seat half-heartedly. Passengers kept coming in, i wonder where they are going to?? The flight was not so big..atleast not a Boeing 787 for a small 2 hour journey.

'7B' is still empty, i dont know which moth**f***er is gonna take this seat. Why do i care? Its time for a small nap try to forget the 'hot brunette'. May be atleast in sleep i will get a good seat or why a seat? May be she will not get a seat and she travels on my lap. God!! thats too much to ask. With a smirk on my face i adjusted my body to get a good sleep. There was a pillow on my seat, when did this all come in short flights for a damn cheap rate i wondered. Again 'what the hell, why do i care its cheap and its free just go on with your sleep'. I took my mp3 player out of the bag plugged it in my ear and clicked 'Shuffle All'.Lathaji started singing 'Mera jeewan Kora Kaagaz'..please no not this one. Clicked 'Next', 'Zindagi jab bhi teri..' another sad song. Man!! my mp3 player started playing for my mood or what?. Screw it even am not gonna give up, Selected Music->AR Rehman->'Play all'. what next?? you wont believe it was 'Ae ajnabi thu bhi kahin'.Are yaar..!!please dont make me feel even worse. Swithched off my mp3 player and tried getting some good sleep. Could hear passengers getting in (where the hell are they all going? looks like an UN conference happening inside the plane).I could hear the brunette giggling on my back, the old pig might be raking a few scores there. I wished his wife called him now and reminded him his age.

So trying to erase the brunette out of my memory and to get a good sleep. My eyes close put tightly, some thing different happened. A sweet aroma encapsulated me, my olfactory sense were in mayhem. I could not resist the smell and my anxiousness to find the source system.It felt like the smell of a fresh 'sharbath' on a hot summer with lemonade essence on top. Reluctantly i opened my eyes i could see her coming.
She was dressed to kill nimble hearts like mine. And as always she carried her 'close up' smile in a superior way.I wished there was a tsunami behind her and she will fall right on me. I would say "Bhagwaan jab bhi detha hei, Chappar Phaad ke Detha hei". Anyway she was dressed in jeans and a blue top. The stitching of her clothes fit her as a 'T' and she had a big bag on her shoulders. Big enought to pack the old man from back seat.She also had a ticket in her hand and she was looking for a seat. In my mind a 'mantra' echoed 7B,7B,7B,7B..an infinite for{} loop of '7B'.
She stopped at the 5th row and talked to the stranger over there..Yes yet another old man who looked like 'Sean Connery' was sitting there. God have all these old men formed a 'League of Extra Ordinary Gentlemen' against me the 'paavam'. I could not bare this, i closed my eyes said to my self "aaj mere paas ghaadi hein, paisa hein, property hein, bank balance hein..magar thoda sa bhi luck nahin hein'.Out of nowhere i hear this sweet voice of 'Excuse Me'. I opened my eyes to see 'Asin' standing next my seat.For the ignorant souls out there, Asin is a tamil actress with quite a good movies and roles in her resume. But main point she is a malayalee like me.
i could not believe it was she standing there, but hiding my anxiety i replied back in the best baritone my soundbox could provide.'Yes, can i help you?'. She said "my seat is '7B'....."aww atlast its monsoon in my orchard as well. I felt a long beep in my head whatever she said afterwards didnt matter to me. Even if she said 'I am wired with a time bomb across my belt'. Regaining my senses i tried to focus on what she is speaking..(ohh her lips are awesome by the way). "....so i think its your luggage can you please help me adjusting my bag near there.Pleaseee..". "Ohh sure why not?" I replied. Opened the overhead deck and shuffled all other luggages here and there to make space for a Honda CRV to park. Yeah her bag was that big..I wonder how they allowed it to carry inside the flight. Maybe she gave that killer smile to the flight attendant.

After the herculean task of arranging the luggage we both sat next to each other. I was pinching myself to believe its all true.Her phone rang then for the first time, but she is not picking it up. Jaane Kyun?? Anyway i was preparing here for a long conversation with none other than 'Asin' herself. Clearing my throat and a wicked American Desi accent i queried "You travelling to Columbus?". She turned at me sending her hair astray in all angles possible..throwing me off the hook."No, infact to Chicago. My flight to chicago got cancelled this flight will take me to cleveland. From there i have a connection flight to Chicago." was her prompt reply."Ohh Chicago nice..windy city it is..must be real cold these days. Its Barack Obama's state Illnois you know." i started giving her my wikipedia answers to her. Some people never change, u have a beautiful lass sitting next to you and you tell her the traffic and climate of chicago??. From first look i knew it was asin ( as u all know) but did not want to bring her heroine image here and my inferiority complex to multiply. I started again with a cheesy campus pick up line "You know what, you look very familiar? Are you from Palakkad?" again for the ignorant soles palakkad is my 'home town' a prosperous land in kerala. With a smile she replied " Ohh Ok, not from palakkad. But am too from Kerala. Cochin to be infact." Hmmmm she is intelligent more than i guessed. She hides the fact that she is into movies and maybe i have seen her there."..you know even you look pretty familiar. You look like my cousin brother." 'Cousin Brother??' i said in my mind..no not brother please. Of those forgetful incidents in college days the worst one is when a girl i have crush on says 'You are like my brother' nothing can be worse than this for a man to digest. With a smile i said "Ohh ok thats nice!" Her phone was still ringing but she has no idea to pick that up in near future..'Girls!! you know they make you go around their ankles a million times to atleast get a whiff' i murmurred in my mind.

From no where a cute girl appeared right next to us. In the most cute voice i ever heard in my life she said "Asin Chechi, oru autograph tharuo??".Asin replied "Yeah sure baby!! Entha molude peru?". "Anjaly" the girl replied. Asin duly autographed and gave a kiss on each of anjaly's rose cheeks. I wish i could cry there, i should have asked for the autograph in first place after carrying her 1 quintal bag.And for sizz the kiss was mine written all over. Anjaly's mom and dad came just then. Oh my god is she gonna kiss them too?? Man i felt like jumping out of the plane.I heard anjaly's mom saying "We all are a big fan of yours, your acting in Ghajini was superb." Now this dialogue took me to heights of redundancy, the same ghisa-peeta dialogue.Of all the other flops every one recognizes the one single role to get a quick autograph.I kept on staring at the family who all were discussing movies, kerala, ghajini and god-knows-what with asin, looting my special time with her.Anjaly's mom now upped the tempo a bit high, looking at me "Is he your boyfriend?" she asked asin. With a volatile giggle asin looked at me and said "No chechi, he is a friend". My Armageddon moment, atlast 'friend' from 'cousin brother' status. I was happy, it was as if i won an oscar.

After they went i polished my acting skills, with an ignorant face i asked her
"You into movies? thats why you are so familiar.." Asin said "Yeah, I have acted very less into malayalam movies. More into tamil and telugu. Thats why you must not have seen my movies" I knew everything about her movies to her first movies to her car she owns and what not? But acting as an ignorant/innocent mallu, i said "Yeah may be!! And i prefer watching more hollywood movies. You know like Robert De Niro's, AlPacino's, Spielbergs, Martin Scorcese etc". ( yes no doubt i was bragging).
Still her phone was ringing and she does not want to pick it up. Its better if she does not pick it up, i didnt want another hindrance between us. I must tell you she was quite down to earth and seemed nice, as she was deeply involved in our conversation. I felt a radiance of magnetic flux pulling towards her, i did not want the flight journey to end.Just then i overheard pilot announcing flight is about to land. I wanted to get her email id, phone number or something to remember this 'date with asin' and obviously boast to my friends. But i decided to go for the jackpot. I asked "Can i get your Autograph please?". She giggled and replied "Ohh sure why not Shabbu". I knew kiss on my 'cheeks' was around the corner. But then as i searched for pen lying near me, a noise deafened me. It was a deep shrilling noise something unpleasant to say the least. It was my mobile alarm had been ringing for quite sometime now. Asin was lying next to me smiling on my laptop wallpaper. Aww my gawd!!sleeping in the comfy bed at home with a pillow by my side this was one helluva DREAM. I guess too many 'heinekens' the night before had its own side effects Ehh??.

Connected via Web

2008-10-13T14:43:00.006-04:00

Sitting in a comfy couch at an apartment in columbus infront of my laptop. My eyes eagerly monitoring all the messenger windows.Vendor aint matter here, i had all the versions 'Active' gtalk,skype and yahoo. As discussed earlier i was waiting for my friends and family to come onlineand spend one helluva time cracking jokes and teasing each other. With webcam my mom feels the presence of me at home, everytime she starts with one line - "you look weak, are you ok?".My dad on other hand is really excited and the same time feeling sleepy coz of the odd hour. Shyama, my sister she shows off her typing skills also she is the co-ordinator for all these chats.But am not alone in this flux of virtual gettogethers. A big % of software engineers here in US, my roomies, my friends, their friends altogether its one big big group. Everybody is logged in on a saturday morning or evening probably adorned with a headset.Recently i saw the movie 'Border' and the song 'Sandese aathe hein..now this sounded so meaningful to me.Think of a hiatus without letters and phone calls and what-not? There will be no point in all this.
Now the worrying part is when your favourite cousins getting married one after the other, you want to go and attend this marriage alone and be back.But then starts the 'logical engine of brain' calculating the leaves, task of fighting for leaves, expenses and the list goes on and on.And at an age when your friends start getting married you dont wanna miss the marriage either for them or for the big band of friends you might miss.So we end up missing that too. This cycle starts and starts eating up your mind on "am i doing the right thing?".But in a dooming economy and the impending personal agendas in life we are bound for sacrifices. The consoling part will be that 'soon i'll be back inthick of things'. Until then life is like a rolling stone......

Pasame Amigo............

2008-10-01T16:16:00.004-04:00

Football!!!

Anybody who knows me must be aware how big a football fan i am.Every ounce of clairvoyance in me for the game of football, thats me in short.I dream about football matches, consistently trying to analyse this game.Getting involved in an adrenaline pumped discussions on football with all and sundry is one of my favourite timepass.Most of my dear friends in my college days were a large group of football maniacs or ultra modern hooligans.After coming to US i am playing a lot of football(or soccer as they call it here), atleast in the summers. After college days, work had taken up most of the time in my schedules but still did not allow game to take a back seat. In chennai the weekend beach football and thiruvanmayur cricket matches are some of my cherished moments.Playing soccer in beach has its own advantages coz its purely skill and stamina game and cool breeze over the indian ocean keeps you refreshed.But here in US am playing every week, once in a while with my colleagues.League matches every wednesday with a group resembling world conference.And not to forget playing with a group of mexican guys(i still dont know their names) in my neighbourhood.

In our college, football was always a hot topic. Playing or watching this beautiful game is considered divine by a few of us.One of my bright spots in my college life is playing for my college football team. The number '13' on my back at center of defence made me feel i am the local version of 'alessandro nesta'. Football discussion were always hot and lively, the number of hours that i spent discussing football in andimadam room with gireesh, sudeep and ashok is somewhere close to infinity.The MIB(Men in Blue) team formed by us which reached semifinals of the hostel football tournament is still lingering in my thoughts.

In one of my beautiful memories i remember Jim Joseph handling a bunch of freshers and nomads in electrical department to the finals of inter-branch football competition. If i would have to vote for brilliance outside pitch, it will go to him. And the best orator to Anish aka HOD.The MIB captained by Binu John was also one among the best days in my college life.The team meeting in his room and those inspirational speech or punch dialogues he delivers.I remember binu and pradeep climbing on top of me when i scored against 'Sakhavu Viay's team'. Jayju and Kanjan running all around causing any team to unsettle and cant forget vava's outside foot corners. I spoke to Binu's father on his First death anniversary. Uncle asked me 'Are you binu's classmate?'.'No uncle we play football together. We are friends' that was my reply. For many that sounds like the most absurd thing to say but it felt great to say that.

The most inspirational person from college football would be jineesh, though junior to us he had lot of potential and believed in the passing and movement game.Hell!! i improved a lot playing with him and i learnt a lot from his humilty and kiddish smile. Also cant forget the 'big' lecture he and jamal gave me when i almost hit Kiran for his tackle on me from behind.Football is an absolute team game with everybody pulling the strings behind the scenes, but there are a few folks who had the charisma to stand apart.Arun aka Madan had this in him in huge amounts. As a person he is pretty much silent and into himself but with a ball in his legs he is volatile and vivacious.And great part is he can play in any positions and keeps nagging the opposition all around. I love my buddy goalkeeper dinesh whose eyes gets wet every time we win a match, though he says its coz of the dust.

In football language is not at all a barrier. Why to restrict it with language, it doesnt look for cast creed or religion. In the pitch nothing else matters, its the most democratic game.No wonder its a hit even in the impoverished countries. I would say if you play together for a while an eye contact will get you going.It was like this for Kora, he is from arunachal pradesh and even his hindi sucked big time.But was one of the best footballers around had a sound left foot and probably the best stamina around. But could get along with every one in the team, also improving your game too.Same was with personal differences as well, me and a bunch of my friends were avid opponents of communistic ideologies. Honey used to play in defense with me and was a fanatic SFI(communists students wing)supporter. Outside the ground we were fierce rivals whether its election time or not. But inside the ground we were to believe each other and play together as a team. I have enjoyed every tackle and headers with him playing along me.

This aint a testimony by diego maradona or johan cruyff but by me. I aint no legend but football is such a big part in my life.I prefer watching football to kill my sombre mood. Like many amongst us i attach my personal life with the ups and downs of the club or country i support. I remember liverpool winning champions league in 2005 and somehow i associated that with a personal victory of mine. Me being placed in TCS and getting a move on and all, after a torrid year with unemployment,jaundice, breakup etc. Still to keep my spirits up football is the best medicine for me,as i write this today evening again i am off to play with my homies from the hood. And hear them yell out 'pasame amigo' (pass me the ball my friend)!!!

Salman Ka Dum

2008-09-25T23:11:00.004-04:00

"Shahrukh ya Aamir? " asked my friend angesh. This was way back when i was in 9th standard. Another friend of mine Ashish was looking at me with curious eyes. I knew this could be another chapter of groupism in the class like "Sachin or Azhar", "Mohanlal or Mammootty", "Aishwarya ya Sushmitha". This time i did not wanted to be pulled into another verbal-assault and point proving. I thought for a while and answered "Salman Khan". Both of them gave me a puzzled look, I continued "I like Shahrukh for his energy and he is from delhi, aamir is like everybody's heartthrob and extremely chullan (mallu lingo for handsome)". My diplomatic answer would have pleased them, ashish said to me "Correct, salman is good too. He is like gym of the world". I think he meant salmans extreme good physique.

After that though not with a big backing up i silently followed salman. Those endless hours in the gym and dum-bells at home hoping to be like salman. But salman is salman, from one controversy to other he maintained his cult through out. But every once in a while, there was this one movie of his which kept him close to me. I virtually cried when he bid farewell to Ash in HDDCS. The other khan's meanwhile had become giants of indian movies though by different means. Salman kept going on relentlessly the way he had started.

Recently i saw Salman's "Dus Ka Dum" episode video in internet. My general perception was this would be like any other show trying to copy KBC-Bachan version. And in the end he would join the almost band of SRK,Govinda,Manoj Bajpai, Madhavan, SarathKumar(tamil),Mukesh(malayalam). But here he proved me wrong, he was stylish, he was himself and ravishingly different. When other stars are posing a media friendly always smiling faces with a grin inside, salman was refreshingly frank. One episode where he frankly tells about hus life in jail, his fight with SRK etc. Above all the dancing rikshawala's. The show is an absolute cracker and the creators have used salman's image in a well polished manner. KBC rejuvenated Amitabh Bachan's dented personal and film life. May be 'DKD' turns out to be the lucky mascot for Sallu Bhai.

Now he has been issued a 'fatwa' for performing ganesh pooja. To hell with them, salman you are our modern day icon "Karo jo Dil Kahe". Crazy hair style or Six pack abs or Singh-Is-King keep coming but dudes like you rock in our hearts.

Mr.Sambhar

2008-09-22T16:34:00.003-04:00

If you ask me what is my favourite dish?. Well its a tough question to ask an epicure, but after analysing hundreds of dishes my answer would be 'Sambhar'. Though chicken curry is a happy runner-up. Sambhar wins it coz of the aroma and the 'X' factor which am yet to understand.I always liked sambhar from childhood days especially the one amma makes. She used to say proudly that'Sabari just needs Ulli-Sambhar(onemade with small onions) to keep him happy".I still remember my grandmother, grandfather all cook sambhar when we come from delhi on vacations. In palakkad where i grew up our food constituted Idlis, Rice or Chappathi's and all 3 and many others went well with Sambhar....Bingo!!There are times when i go to my aunts house to escape from my mom made idli's.Such was the frequency that i was a bit fed up of idlis. But any number of times i could take sambhar, some times i drink it in a glass.Now you would have understood, sambhar is my close ally in food department.

When i was posted in chennai, for a few days we tried out all the near by hotels. Ofcourse 'Sambhar Saadham' was the primary in my hitlist.Gradulally we decided to cook ourselves.Which i would say is a big challenge, as all of us were damn lazy and with '0' experience in cooking. My roomies Jabri, Sree and Nallapa had a faint idea of cooking though atleast to turn on the gas stove. And we always had 'phone a friend' option, usually my mom or sree's mom/sister. First time i tried cooking Sambhar it turned out to be rasam. I still remember nallapa laughing his gut out and asking me in a telugu-dipped accent."Arre what man, how can you call this Sambhar?"But i was not the one to give up, next time i went back home for vacation. I took short notes from amma and she also gave me some powders she used for cooking. Hmmm may be that was missing all this time..Next 3-4 times the story was same, it turned out to be a disaster and we used to order food from the nearest hotel everytime.Then my roomie termed my sambhar as Sa-Rasam. As it was now an eclectic mix of Sambhar and Rasam. But still more of Rasam though.

The week i started for US, every hotel we go acha will say 'Order sambhar you wont get it there'. For first time in my life, my mind agreed to him.Once i came to columbus, it was like i almost bid adieu to sambhar in my mind.From whatever i heard and read about US. Sambhar and US ...no way, its like Mohanlal dating Angelina Jolie.But irony being that my first day in columbus, Deepa gave me Sambhar for lunch. Wow did i enjoy that!! Then most of the days deepa made sambhar and i used to stand next to her and try to learn it.My first attempt in columbus is a very famous one as its called the one and only 'Carrot-Rasam'. Maman and SreejithEttan still make fun of me with that. After so many trial and error, now a days i can make an 'OK' Sambhar. For a bachelor may be its a good sambhar, but if you compare it to stalwarts of sambhar i know in my life..its a good head start.Guess what tonight again it was sambhar for dinner....My roomies brene and dev are gonna have tough times ahead for sure..its gonna overflow Sambhar in 8249, Gradington Drive.