A year that was!!

He looked at the mirror and saw a different person. A year had passed.

People say “The more the things changed, the more they remain the same”. He looked and acted the same but he knew a lot had changed. It was a year that was very different compared to its predecessors. For one he now had experienced something which led him to feel great compunction, which was the first in all the years that he had known. But he knew this was by far a very special year, memories of which won’t easily fade away…It made him wiser and more confident…A year where there was never dearth of activities, a year that was filled with highs and lows, a year where he had no time to look back and contemplate, a year that made him more nocturnal than ever before…A year had passed, and it passed which such a pace!!! A year that was and what a year it was!!!

Kiki

In Japanese there is a small word, Kiki, which means Crisis. The first Ki actually stands for “risk, danger; fear; uneasy”, but the second Ki stands for “opportunity”.

Right from pre-historic days, people recognized what crisis had to offer. No wonder the Japanese came up with that word. This reminds us that a crisis has not only a component of danger but also of opportunity. This word reminds us that crisis situations present us with both obstacles and also with an opportunity to accomplish something new.

The current financial crisis is once in a life time opportunity. It offers a wide range of avenues to a generation that had missed the previous revolution. As you can see every change results not only risks but also opportunities. It’s up to us how we want to look at a situation. Whether we want to be at the sidelines and watch the movie running or to be part of the movie and take the bull by its horns…Ancient oriental wisdom is applicable even more in today’s dynamic and constantly changing world. And we should not miss the boat again.

Emulate US???

After the recent terrorist attacks, people have finally woken up and are demanding action? But what is action?? What is the right path that one has to take during these trying times? Is there something called a right path?

It’s a topic where everyone has an opinion on. Most would want to emulate US of A in the way they handled the situation after 9/11. People say, “Look how well they have protected their citizens. Not one incident of terrorism in more than half a decade after 9/11…”!!!

Though what they say is true, do we really want to emulate the US? Do we really want to follow their footsteps as far a strategy against terrorism is concerned? Even though they did a credible job in protecting their shores against perpetrators of crime, in protecting their citizens against terrorists, not all that they did was right!!!

Around 3,000 people lost their lives in the dreadful attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 9 /11. America’s typical response was to go to war. It launched two wars. The first one was against a country that was already on its path to devastation. The Americans bombarded Afganistan day after day, month after month and as we now know year after year!! The only people who gained from the whole exercise (of course, other than America) is the Taliban. It got easier for them to recruit more people and raise millions in funds. This not only in places like Afganistan, Pakistan but also in places like United Kingdom!!!  Nearly 1,000 American solders lost their lives in Afghanistan. Countless Afghans die each month, as one of the world’s poorest states sinks deeper into devastation.

We all know how America gained from the other war, but was it worth it? It stimulates their economy but does it really help in the long run?

America fought the second war with a country that had not a single link to the events of 9/11. Close to a million human beings have lost their lives in that response. That includes 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That is apart from several hundred thousand Iraqis losing their lives. Millions have suffered dislocation and deprivation in the region. It was more than a $ 3 trillion-war. Just imagine that kind of money? I mean how well we could have used that money. Every month more than $ 10 billion is being spent in Iraq. Imagine what we could have done with that money. When the auto industry asks for a $ 30 billion package the senators take weeks to decide. (And when they do, they decide to provide $15 billion package. Anyway I Digress.. It’s a nice discussion to have whether the auto corporations deserved it in the first place. Will take up this bail-out story some other time!!). But the point is no one took enough time to see whether the war would be worth it…It’s pathetic!!!

In a little over three years after that “response” began, over 650,000 Iraqis were estimated to have lost their lives. Now the US has suddenly started focusing on Pakistan. Almost every week now, the U.S. bombs some part of Pakistan — its firm ally of decades. Being an Indian I can only admire their courage for doing something that we would never do unless Pakistan “officially” attacks us (But again Kargil happens only once a decade!!). So we will never respond the way US can…Does that mean I am ‘for’ a war against Pakistan? Definitely NOT!!! That’s one mistake that we should never commit unless the situation asks for it. War only feeds terror and there is no way we can completely wipe terror out with a war (that’s what the US is finding out the hard way!). There are other lessons in the U.S. debacle. Civilians are routinely killed by this, and if Mr. Obama’s campaign promises are to be kept, this will go up. So will the appeal of fundamentalism amongst the affected. It will become a vicious cycle which can only harm the mankind.

Also, the resultant undermining of Pakistan, can only be bad news for India. More fundamentalisms, more militancy, and worse, both sides of the border.

Having said all this, there are some things which are worth noting, which are worth learning from US…

US has done quite well in terms of preventing attacks within their shores…The intense security arrangements everywhere, the strengthening of their borders and investing heavily on internal security through federal agencies is something that we MUST DO…Nothing should be taken lightly even if it means regular harassment to people, it must be done! For example not one complained about the heightened security at the airports immediately after the Mumbai attacks…It requires the will of the people, the will of the politicians.

We should do whatever it takes to strengthen our security forces, our police, our intelligence network, set up federal agency meant to tackle only terror!! We should make people accountable for their responsibilities and appoint people who deliver.

Applying diplomatic pressures is one thing, taking actual actions on the ground is another thing altogether. Diplomacy doesn’t do much. Pakistan will “house arrest” some terrorists and the terrorists will continue their dirty work under different ‘e-toeba’s’. If it is Laksher this time, next time it will be something else. They will never run out of names. So all we will be doing is asking Pakistan to ban another organization…It’s such a farce!!!

We should take strong measures from within, only then we can try defeating terrorism. Its good to be on a high alert always. You are dealing with people who have nothing to lose. They don’t mind dying. If a person looses the fear of death, what will you threaten him with? Its time we guard our shores. Its time we invest on security!!!

Update: One of the co-blogger wrote - "Pakistan puts Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Masood Azar, under house arrest. Guess he'll be working from home now..." ;)

The Midnight Marathon!!!

 

 

      "We are different, in essence, from other men.

      If you want to win something, run 100 meter.

      If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

      -Emil Zatopek, 1952 Olympic Marathon gold medalist

 

This famous quote aptly describes the spirit of a marathon run. Most runners aspire to complete a full marathon someday; many end up doing it several times over the years. Some do it to prove it to themselves and others run for a cause. While the marathon is a grueling and competitive race, it has over the years become a popular sport among urban communities to promote a cause, spread awareness and raise funds for a variety of charitable activities. A marathon today is not so much about winning or losing but more about a socially conscious city and its concerned citizens coming together for a common cause.

Read the entire thing.. here…

 

This is scheduled to be held on 10^th of Jan…The half-marathon is going to start at 12.00 midnight and is 21.95Kms.

RUN and Experience something!!!

 

 

I did it..!!!

I believe many of us maintain this ‘wish’ list or ‘To-Do’ list. A list that will have items from the entire spectra of our lives…Whether we do anything about it or not, we keep this list updated…Anyway atleast I do have one and one of the items in it was to run a marathon and here I am at the brink of ticking one major item from that list..:)

Yes, today I was able to achieve what I missed the last time…I ran/jogged/walked/crawled more than 21 kms.

I followed the same route as last time but instead of turning back at Yeshwanthpur I continued towards IISC and then to Mekhri Circle. That’s about 11 kms from my place (Couple of days back my friend had come down from US and I had taken this route to go to the airport. So this time I was sure about the distance!!) The return journey was the same. So I covered more than 21 kms in 2 Hours and 25 minutes flat. I was a tad disappointed for the extra minutes taken since I wanted to achieve this feat within 2 hours.

I could easily cut down the time by 10 minutes because today I had to wade through a lot of traffic and also there was this problem of a flyover under construction between Yeshwanthpur and IISC. Having said that cutting down on the entire 25 minutes to make it under 2 hours is a different matter altogether…Anyway I am still extremely happy with my timing, considering that I am not a regular marathon runner..:) Further having done this, I have realized that this was quite a ask as the ‘task’ involved enduring both physical and mental pain/pressures…Sustaining the ambition of completing this for the entire 21kms was definitely the most difficult part!!!

Especially the last 40 minutes was extremely hard. My legs started to disobey my mind and it was as if I was carrying a huge boulder on each of my leg. There was several occasions when I wanted to sit and take rest, but I knew better…There was no way I would have got up again if I had taken rest…So the last couple of kilometers took almost half an hour!!!

But the fact of the matter is I made it through and the feeling was equivalent to crossing the finish line…It gave immense pleasure that I could do this. Now I want to take part in the Times Of India Midnight Marathon and successfully end this crazy idea of running marathons..:) This event was scheduled to be held on 13^th Dec at Bangalore, but due to security reasons it got postponed by a few days. I want to take part in the half-marathon which is 21.1 kms and it’s at midnight!!! Can you imagine the atmosphere there and that too at the middle of the night!!! I am sure I will thoroughly enjoy the experience…Though, equally important is the fact that I will have this item ticked off from my “list”..:)

SoulMates!!!

What is it about soulmates that make writers go gaga over it..?? Why is that people always want to talk about soulmates, be it fiction or non-fiction, the story generally revolves around a “couple” that the author somehow wants to bring out - with a made-for-each-other tag or a soulmates tag…

SoulMate? What is it? Is it true love or just a buzz word being tossed around by New agers and publishers in order to increase sales? There is plethora of books on this subject – books written by Richard Bach, Edgar Cayce, Paul Coelho and the list goes on and on…

Anyway this subject cropped up after I read one of the books gifted by my friends on my b’day - “Brida” (Deals with the story of Brida, her pursuit of wisdom, and her quest for knowledge - written by Paul Coelho). I not trying to write a book review here nor the intention was to write my take on the subject…It’s just that it stirred a hornet’s nest… So here I am trying to do what I said I wouldn’t be doing..:)

Well, a belief in reincarnation is not necessary for a belief in soul mates although a great deal of literature on soulmates does presume this. Perhaps I'm just a reincarnation skeptic, but I just cannot believe something like that.

Anyway the real question is do you think you have/had met your soul mate? Have you given this a thought? I am sure all of us would have given this a thought sometime or the other…So how do you make a decision whether he/she is your soulmate? On what parameters does one take this call?

There have been times when we've been convinced that, "This is the one. This is my One True Love, my Soulmate." However, often in many cases, for one reason or another, the relationship hasn't worked out. Were we mistaken? Was that person not our soulmate? Or, was the person our soulmate, and, for one reason or another, we just weren't able to make things work?

By the way another interesting thought is how many times have you met your soulmates in your lifetime? I mean how many times have you thought about a person, that “He/She is the one!!”? A lot of literature on this subject actually makes you happy by saying that one can meet innumerable number of soulmates during one’s lifetime…Maybe if they hadn’t said that, the books wouldn’t sell…:)

Ok, so what is this concept of a soulmate? A soulmate is the ‘one’ whom you can be with by being yourself...A simple definition from yours truly…:) You don’t have to pretend, don’t have to lie and more importantly you don’t have to be someone you are not!!!

Anyway having given some free gyann from my side, if you want to explore more on such topics just read the books written by authors that I quoted above. Not everything will be about this, but mostly will revolve around it… But beware, there will be repetition about mysticism and other aspects of the ’unknown’ in all the books…Having read some, the concepts - though are not new - do make me stop and think. 

For those who haven’t read such books but are still interested, as Paulo Coelho says “Whenever you have to find about something, Plunge right in! The moment we stop doubting is the moment we stop moving forward..” When you eventually read them, read them with an open mind coz “Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong, even a stopped clock is right twice a day..”

Warning: If you are not keen on the subject or it brings pain rather than joy, just skip reading the post…;-) ;-) ;-)

Disclaimer: The post is just my flow of thoughts…Doesn’t imply anything. So don’t read in between lines. Here goes my disclaimer.....;-)

Here I am, Ready!!!

Today I committed two crimes, crimes never to be committed by a “techie”!!. The first, I got up at 5.30AM on a Sunday, and the other, I went for a marathon run early in the morning.

I had always dreamed of running full marathons, but was never sure I could do it…I used to jog for a few kilometers every morning, but that stopped more than a year back. Now I mostly jog on a treadmill at the gym. Everyday I constantly try to increase the distance covered, for the same time spent. Now I run more than 4 kilometers in less than 23 minutes (that’s almost 11Kmph!!).

But still running a marathon is completely different or should I say more difficult than running on a treadmill, or so I thought!!! Because when I actually ran this mini-marathon of mine I realized that it’s much simpler and more interesting, as compared to running on your treadmill (which I promise, is the most boring thing that one can do)…

The thoughts of running got germinated yesterday. It was Saturday night and I went out to have my dinner. The weather was beautiful and I suddenly felt this urge for jogging. I had just finished my dinner and it was close to 10.30PM, but I wanted to run. I went for a long walk and reached home late. But the drive to run hadn’t subsided. I slept pretty late at around 2.00AM but kept an alarm at 6.00, so that I could go for a long run the next morning…

I guess I was pretty excited at the thought of running, coz the next day I was up by 5.30. I changed to my track suit. Made sure to carry my mobile and wallet (coz, I was not too sure I could come back walking. In the worst case I thought I should carry enough money for the auto fare!!). I wore my shoe and there I was ready to go. My mobile displayed the time as 5.45…

I started from my home. There was no specific plan with respect to the route or the distance to be covered. The plan was to cover as much distance as possible in the least time…

My onward route was something like this..

My home à Basaweshwanagar Circle à Shankar Matt à Navarang à (Was running towards Malleshwaram. Suddenly thought of going towards Iskon, so took a U turn and came back to Chord road) à Iskon Temple à Yeshwanthpur Circle…

A distance of approximately 9 Kilometers and I had covered this in 46 minutes!!!!

The return Journey was..

Yeshwanthpur Circle à Iskon Temple à Chord road till NPS à Basaweshwanagar Circle à Home sweet home..

A distance of approximately 8 Kilometers and I had covered this in 40 minutes!!!!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the time!!! When I stepped into my home the time read 7.11…I had covered a total distance of 17 kilometers in 1 Hr 26 minutes flat!!!!!

It was not a walk in the park. It was not simple and was not easy…More than a few occasions I had stopped and almost gone back. But this was something that I really wanted to do, wanted to prove myself. There were numerous voices in my head telling me to quit and return. Telling me I was not up to the mark...Telling me that I was not fit enough...But there were few which edged me on…Making me imagine my destination and making me imagine how happy I would feel at the end of it and so I listened to it…

Its more than 16 hours since I returned home and I do not feel any pain nor do I have any cramps. I feel I could have gone on and on...It feels really good and I am proud of it..

Here I am, Ready!!!

Ready for the next Bangalore Marathon and my target would be to complete the half marathon (generally 21 Kilometers) within 2 hours…And I know I can do it…

:( (Updated)

I am feeling soooo helpless and restless..:(

And for the first time i am at a loss for words..:(

http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/a-night-out-in-mumbai/

Update:

Some more articles which i thought were worth reading..

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/379988.html

How the media helped the terrorists..

http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php?/site/end_game/

The humor behind all of it..

http://www.rameshsrivats.net/2008/11/it-would-be-funny-if-it-werent-scary.html

To continue…?

I knew the road as soon as I saw it,

It was a perfect fit to what I was,

To what I could be,

It looked so familiar, as if it was built for me,

It had lots of twists and turns,

With pitfalls and exit points all over,

But I wanted to continue…

 

I still remember the first few steps,

Familiar faces filled the road,

As days became years, people disappeared,

Some found what they wanted

While most settled for what they didn’t get

Some others continued,

The road ahead became longer and tougher,

But I wanted to continue…

 

One fine day as I looked around,

Everyone had been replaced,

The familiar faces were gone,

But I was still there representing the old,

Trying to hold onto the lost legacy,

Never had I imagined the road to be this long,

Gained a few things but lost more,

But I wanted to continue…

 

Sometimes I wonder,

Whether the universe was trying to conspire against me,

Or it had better plans than what I could imagine,

Whether this is madness personified,

Or a show of perseverance and relentlessness,

Whether I am losing out,

Or gaining in the long run,

Thoughts that never came before,

Is this what ‘time’ does to you?

Do I want to continue…?

 

OhMama!!!

Did you listen to the speech that President-Elect Barack Obama gave yesterday??

 http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU

WoW…Now that’s called oratory skills…!!! I was totally hooked to the TV until the commercials started boring me…I don’t remember when was the last time I had listened to a complete speech from a politician..To be honest I don’t think I have ever done it before…

But this guy is different…He has changed the way the world perceives democracy…His skills are so good that even Non-Americans around the world have rooted for him!!!

Like he said, he has a long road ahead and the climb would be steep…But even if can deliver half his promised “changes”, then the world would be a better place to live…

Let’s just hope "he can"!!! Amen!!!

Thank You!!! Thank You!!!

Thanks for all your wishes and congratulations...

It was because of me that Aravind "Adiga" won the booker!!!

The Big Bang…

Very rarely do I leave office late in the night…But sometimes you just have to give in…It was one of those days and had to stay back pretty late! I left office at 1.30 AM and was actually looking forward to a long drive home, in spite of knowing that I would have to come back in another 5 hours. Driving at night is absolute mirth, the lack of traffic, the loud music and the cold wind hitting your face makes it all memorable.

Within 10 min I was on Mysore Road flyover driving at 90kmph. It’s an understatement to say that driving at that speed on Bangalore roads was reckless to say the least. But today I didn’t care…All I wished was to have a roofless sports car driving like I know best…Maybe if I continue to drive like this I might end up with a roofless car..:) lol

The flyover provided the perfect gateway for all this. With the speakers blaring at full volume, I floored the accelerator. Within few seconds I was driving at 100kmph then 120kmph and the speedometer kept pushing. It was as if the speedometer was running a race of its own, trying to check its own resilience. When I try speeding in my car, there is always moments when I feel I could soon lose control of it. At this precise moment I have always slowed down to gain back control. Never have I liked to lose control. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I don’t get drunk…:) But obviously today was different and I didn’t want to stop myself. I wanted to indulge myself. So instead of letting go I continued to floor the accelerator.

There I was traveling at more than 140Kmph, not caring about what might happen. I was taking the entire stretch of the double lane road to take turns and at one of those turns I suddenly saw a truck laden with sharp iron railings moving with such a speed that I could have overtaken it while sleepwalking!!! There was no way I could have stopped and I knew the next 2 seconds would be my last…Now when you are alive you never think of such moments and you never ever imagine that these things will even happen to you.

I mean how many of you have wondered how you would die? And if you had few moments before you die how would you spend it? What would be your last thoughts seconds before you die?

In retrospect I see that I didn’t have the time to even ask myself all these unnecessary questions!!…There was absolutely no time to do all that…So I realized that when one is alive its better to live a life to its fullest rather than ask oneself such questions and waste ones time…

Anyway before I diverge and go off in another tangent, let me tell you what thoughts I had those few seconds before the impact. At that precise movement when I knew I was going to die, all I wanted was a roofless Ferrari and dark goggles so that I could really die with a bang!!

I mean if given a choice I would have asked for a lot more. Who wouldn’t? But again like I said you don’t think about all that when you are about to die…Its not as if a genie has given you three wishes and you have all the time in the world to come up with fool proof wishes which will keep you happy ever after..

Anyway if I had hoped for some divine intervention I saw no signs of it…I was about to hit the truck in front and there was no stopping that…The speedometer was now reading 160Kmph and I made no attempt at neither reducing nor increasing my speed. But surprisingly the distance between the truck and the car remained. The speedometer touched its maximum limit and I could feel the speed. Everything around me was also moving at great speed and no wonder I was not dead yet.

I could hardly explain what was happening…Even in my wildest dreams I hadn’t imagined anything like this…I wondered whether this was a perpetual state of death, whether I was being made to experience the greatest drive of my life. But still was unable to explain what was happening around me…Everything was moving at great speeds towards a focal point…Everything was converging and I knew I if I don’t hit the railing soon I would anyway be compressed by other things around me…It was complete dark now…It was more than darkness and I felt along with the lights, life was getting sucked out…It was a unique experience and no words would explain it..I thought maybe this was the pathway to heaven or hell..

Suddenly as fast as the entire thing started, it all slowed down…In an instant I could see all the lights back, I could see things around me coming back to normal..The truck in front of me slowing down and me in turn slowing down…The speedometer had come back to 90Kmph and I barely missed hitting the truck…I wondered whether the entire thing really happened…

I go home in another 10 minutes or so I thought!!! Because as soon as I landed at my house and switched on the TV, I realized I had lost more than a month with no accountability!!!

Now how could that have happened? How could only I have gone through this experience? How could only I have lost a months time in 2 seconds? I opened my blog and I see it has not been updated for more than a month and I realize that I did really lose out on a month with no way to account for it…All the news channels tells me that the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) experiment “successfully” took off at the same time as I went through this experience…There was always rumors that it might result in the creation of the black hole destroying everything around it…Maybe I was at the epicenter of the blackhole and fortunately for me the experiment faced glitches and was stopped immediately…Now its been decided that there will be no more experiments until it gets repaired…This accident though made me lose about a month of my life in 2 second…

I don’t know how many of you believe this, but I truly do…The last month (oops rather the last few seconds) has been truly an enriching experience and I continue to live to tell you the tale…I went through a plethora of emotions and experiences that many wont even go through their entire lifetime…Maybe life is trying to tell me something and all along I wasn’t listening…Now it has truly made me listen…

The Big Bang saved my life and maybe an experience like that happens once in a lifetime…Maybe that was indeed the divine intervention that I was looking for…

The fall and The Rise…

I jumped, intending to fly,
But God had different ideas, which were sly,
Plunging to the bottom in full speed,
Using my strength to remain afloat was the need.

The fall helped me gain a tremendous force,
That became my strength in due course,
In a mighty swing, moved from the abyss to the skies above,
Making it all worth it, the view below.

A Gold at last!

After more than 100 years we have won our first Olympic Gold in an individual event. Abhinav Bindra has indeed made us proud!!!

“It has been a tale of sweat, extremely hard work and keeping himself going in pressure conditions that has made Abhinav a real champion today” was what his father said…

All I can say is for someone who missed out on two previous Olympics and each time had to wait for 4 years to get another shot at glory is something that very few people can go through without losing heart…Going to the finals of previous edition of Olympics and finishing seventh must have been truly heartbreaking. Imagine the kind of determination, grit, hard work and sacrifices that he had to make to achieve this feat. A truly laudable effort!!!

Live!!!

There is no point in asking how it feels,
One does what one wants, as the world reels,
Fun, friends, food, misplaced fears & tears,
All part of the world, our own dear.

Days seem dark, brightness only in corners,
Until one realizes that one is wearing goggles,
Whether one is happy or sad, on goes life,
But remember, others around you get influenced by how one lives.

Fire!

All hell broke loose. There was fire everywhere. He knew how to dowse them but he wasn’t even trying. It was engulfing him through and through…There was smoke coming from every miniscule opening that one could find. The fire raged on, ubiquitously bringing in peace…

A joke called “security”…

“The truth is security in India is a joke. Unfortunately, it is on you.”

Today a bomb was diffused opposite to a building where I had worked for 3 years and a few meters away from where I currently work!!!
What a joke, security has turned out to be…A joke being felt by the people in Bangalore and Ahmedabad…Where next??

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/25kp.htm

http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jul/19spec1.htm

The state of affairs...

I have good news and bad news....
Which one do you want to hear first???


The good news is that I have no bad news, and bad the news is that I have no good news!!!

Wowwaaa!!!

What a beauty!!!…I stand outside in the balcony of my house admiring the beauty of it all…I have no words to express, but still I try…The sheer pleasure of watching it among the canopy of trees in the background, is something beyond imagination…The cold wind blowing against your face, the sight of it all makes me feel I am in the middle of some forest with nothing but trees and fresh water around…I watch to my hearts content…



PS: Its raining heavily in Bangalore after a looong time..:) A heavenly sight!!!

A call spree…

Yesterday, 14 of my good friends called! Some of them I hadn’t spoken to for years!!! Now how often do 14 of your friends, remember you on the same day and actually take the trouble of calling you?

And...

And…Only during adversity does one find out how good one really is…And the situation made him realize how good he was…He rose from the ashes like a phoenix and the ‘strike’ was nullified in a jiffy…He had passed the test and now had the confidence that he could handle anything and everything…The ego was not misplaced. It was an invaluable lesson and he never regretted it…

‘It’ strikes…

There was a bolt of lightening in the middle of the night…It doddered him so hard that he was taken aback…He thought he had taken all precautions…He thought he had placed innumerable layers of protection around him…He thought he was invincible…He thought he could handle anything…He thought his ego was justified. But then ‘reality’ struck…And…

He Lived On...!

He stands there as the lonely rock,
Knowing everything he can block,
But he soon got a shock,
That it held him in a lock,
It was no longer a walk in his dream park...


He felt being corroded,
Vanishing, never to be traced,
He resisted by having himself fenced,
Little did he realize he was being cleansed.


He prayed to live,
Eyes closed within a seal,
Failing to njoy the beauty and the sight,
Thinking it was only plight...


Very few actually reach the shore,
Rest whither away in deserts, a chore,
Reaching there he failed to realize, what was actually going on,
Everyday tiny new grains were born,
He was getting smaller, but he lived on.


PS: I wrote this as a comment to a post in one of my good friends blog…Couldn’t resist the temptation of posting it a bogie in Dilip’s train..;)

A toast!!!

How I wish i was on a beach,
The world looking like a peach,
Me holding its hands,
Talking as if we were eachother fans....

Life!!!

As I walk the memory lane,
I see more joys, than pain,
Thankful for all the fame,
But still striving for more gain.

Lucky that some long term dreams have come true,
While others still on their way to prove,
None of them giving me blues,
Making me stick to them like a glue.

Been bestowed most things by the divine,
Some really fast, others painfully slow, almost a crime,
See a very bright light at the end of the tunnel,
And Its definitely not that of a train..:)

HERO

There he was standing in the middle of the stadium harking to the cheers! Basking on the new conferred glory!! People were chanting his name… He had dreamed of this so much…And at last it had come true!!! It was as if the entire world had united, come together to applaud his efforts, but for him the “world” meant something else and he continued to search…...

Did you see it coming?

Assume you have come up with an excellent search algorithm which does better searches than Google, how do you compete with it? How do you acquire the market that has already been taken? How do you maintain the loyalty of your acquired customers so that you don’t loose out on the lucrative “internet advertising” space?

- Faced by Microsoft…

If you are a leader in a printing business and you slowly start realizing that people rarely print their digital photographs unlike earlier days, what would you do? People are happier uploading, sharing the snaps and using networking sites…
How do you continue to sell your product? What’s your plan for the future?

- Faced by HP printing business…

You ignore that gas prices will never touch $200 per barrel. You continue to manufacture guzzlers and expect people to continue to buy them. Suddenly you realize you are losing market share. You realize that people are going for fuel efficient and economy cars. You start losing profits, forcing you to sell brands, forcing you concede the top spots to Japanese manufacturers, coz they foresaw it coming!!!. What do you do next? How do you do damage control?

- Faced by US Auto manufacturers…

So what about YOU?? Are YOU doing things that will make sure that you are not caught napping? Are YOU willing to go that extra mile so that you are ahead of the competition? Do YOU fear change or do YOU relish change? Do YOU want to react or act? Are YOU doing the right things? Are YOU?

- Faced by Tom, Dick & Harry, Rita, Sita & Geeta…:)

U wanna be a writer?

I recently read Shashi Tharoor's “The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone” thanks to my jeeju (read BIL- Brother In Law)…This is definitely not a book review nor am i trying to advocate the book…On the contrary, more than his style of writing and the book itself, I was amazed by the range of articles that someone could write…Yes, its an unusual kind of book which has a collection of columns that he had written on diverse topics based on India. Of-course when you write anything about India it naturally becomes diverse…One of his famous line "anything you can say about India, the opposite is also true"…

Writing books may require talent, loads of research and maybe sometimes wild imagination, and churning out columns may seem a minor or I should say easier cousin in comparison but it is nevertheless a demanding art form. It’s not easy to write in limited words on a subject and yet delight and provoke readers not only with the command over the subject but also with the flair for the lucidity of the language.

So what does it take to be a good writer…You should either have very good imagination (like J.K Rowling and some of the bloggers who write very imaginative and hilarious articles..:)) or you should have done some good amount of traveling, gain experience, and should have done some thorough research to write stuff, and be proud of it too… A combination of both the above characteristics would be deadly..:)

Now I was wondering if I have to write stuff that people would pay for reading than the only way I could achieve it is through travel, travel and more travel, soak in the experience to get enough material and then may be use my literary skills to write stuff that jantha would enjoy reading…:) This given the fact that my imagination is never my strong point…

So the question is firstly, do you wanna be a writer? And secondly, if you wanna write how would you go about achieving it??

Tagged!!!

I was forced into writing this, and then I thought why not?? All because of this guy who expected me to write..:)

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?

Theater?? What’s that?? :P I am still thinking…

2. What book are you reading

Games Indians play - Raghunathan, Losing my Virginity – Richard Brason.

3. Favorite board game?

“Chaukabara”..hehe Scrabble, Chess, Carrom etc.

4. Favorite magazine?

Blogs man…no other substitute for free entertainment and “knowledge”..:D

5. Favorite smells?
Ha….that smell which I cant disclose..:)

6. Favorite sounds?

The list is long, but I would love to hear myself playing the guitar again..:(

7. Worst feeling in the world?

Not getting what you want inspite of ALL YOUR efforts!! Who cares a Damm, I don’t give up that easily..Lets see who wins in the end...

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

Let me sleep for 5 more min..!!!

9. Favorite fast food place?

My home…:)

10. Future child’s name?
Hmmmmm…Hmmmmm…No its not “Hmmmmm” :P

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?”
I would buy a Ferrari. Start my own company. Gobble up companies. Buy an island. Go around the world. Do philanthropy and do more than talk about how the world has to be improved to make it a better place to live..:)

12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

I sleep alone!!

13. Storms - cool or scary?

Cool..

14. Favorite drink?

Alcoholic or Non-Alcoholic?? :)

15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?

Go hitchhiking around the world…

16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?

Again, what’s broccoli? ;).

17. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?

Blond..:)

18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?

Wonderland, Dreamland, Garland...I think I should stop here..

19. Favorite sports to watch?

Football, F1, Badminton etc…

20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?

Karthik – Hmmmmmm It will take me years to answer this.. :).

21. What’s under your bed?

It’s a mini library out there…Sometimes some monsters also hide there whom I have to duel with..

22. Would you like to be born as yourself again?

Definitely, all over again with some changes in the script though..:)

23. Morning person, or night owl?

Depending on the “motivation”, I can be what I want..

24. Over easy, or sunny side up?

Is there a choice as none of the above?

25. Favorite place to relax?

Anywhere with friend around..:).

26. Favorite pie?

yuppie..:)

27. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Scotch-ButterScotch…:)

28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?

I don’t want to trouble anyone like someone did to me..hehe..Unless of course this too comes with those threats which are part and parcel of those dreaded FWDs, in which we are forced to FWD it to 10 others within the next 10 min…otherwise we will burn in hell until eternity…:)
Anyway let me take the risk...
People who read this can Tag themselves if interested..:))

A Day that was - A roller coaster ride…

What a day it has been…:(
Had to work from home for reasons not in my control…
More work came in as e-mails, first thing in the morning…
More crashes reported…
Enough time spent pondering…
Slept for sometime in the afternoon…
Felt really really down in the evening…
Depths I had never explored before…
I see what I have to do staring on my desk…
For the first time ever, there is no motivation to go near it…
Went for my usual 4 km jog…
Other than the calories burnt nothing much was achieved…
Came back, My desk and everything around it was mocking at me…
Even after all this time the task was unfinished…
It was something that I always WANTED to do…
But……..hmmm…Why is the But then???
Silently started conquering…
Surprisingly sleep eluded me…
Watched the last half an hr of ManU vs Barcelona at 2.30 AM…
Win dodges either of them…
Wrote this post at 3.30 AM, still not satisfied…
Long way to go…
AND GO I WILL…

Revived passion!!!

I was in my fourth year of engineering when my cousin decided to bestow his bike to me for “safekeeping”… He was traveling for a year and wanted someone to ‘take care’ of his bike…It was a Bullet and how could I have refused? :)

What a bike!!! If you want the real experience of riding a bike, then this ONE you should never miss!!!

It was an experience that I would never forget. I still remember how many of my friends used to come to the college parking-lot to watch me ride this 350cc behemoth. You just have to ride this once and you will see why people go gaga over it. People spend a fortune to have one of these machines and it’s worth every penny.

Thanks to my friends who arranged for a bike ride to Nandi hills, I got an opportunity to ride this bike again. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity even though, it’s been more than 3 years since I had driven a two wheeler. My cousin readily agreed to give the bike again.

I have no words to describe the experience that you would go through…Especially when you are riding long distances, there can be no better bike…It was one hell of a great ride all the way, reigniting the lost love…The company of my friends made it even more memorable…

What’s Cooking??

Tell me what do you want to do in life?? I meant professionally…:) Are you happy with what you are doing? If you are not then it’s never too late to change…Is it a case of simply getting bored with what you are currently doing or is there really something that you want to do in life?? If it’s the former then you will pretty soon get bored with the next one too…So know what you want from life and work towards it…

Being in a product company in India and that too in the networking field its very difficult for someone to get to see the combination of development of a product and actually selling it to a customer from the same location in your lifetime of the project..:)

If being part of the development of a new product gives you a kick, just imagine how it might be actually selling these products…I am lucky to be part of a company which does a lot of sales and marketing…When I interact with a group of sales and marketing folks I see a different kind of energy level…It’s a great feeling just to be amidst these guys with all the tensions, temptations and killing competition from within and from the competitors. The stakes involved are very high, everyone trying to exceed their targets, please their managers and inturn keep the shareholders happy every quarter with outstanding performances quarter on quarter beating your own previous record…Wooowaahh!!! Imagine the adrenaline flow…

Every time I walk past my floor, I see these guys always running around the floor talking through their handsfree. Half the people don’t use their seats and the other half will be preparing some kind of presentation…I have hardly seen anyone without an handsfree and believe me they use it to the maximum. I mean they don’t even spare the loo…Its an absolute contrast when I compare this team with the rest of the folks on the floor.

Do you think you have it in you to be part of such a team? Do you dream of being part ofsomething that is unique, dynamic and constantly on the move? Do you have it in you to be innovative almost as a norm rather than as an exception? Do you want to be “There”???
Imagine the expectations, the returns, the achievements, the tension… If your answer is Wooowaahh!!!
Then you know your next move…..

My Love

There I was in the middle of the night,
Holding her hand, lost in her alluring sight.
The stars above, rain below, the amazing spectacle fades,
When her beauty strikes like spades.

The purity of her voice gives her the fame,
Her agility and grace puts any model to shame.
I had dreamed of her, fantasized her,
The time I set sight on her, loved her.

She stands tall amidst most,
Going on long drives titillate me utmost.
One day I will say she is mine,
And the world will witness how we get along, very fine…




PS: Dedicated to my would-be Red “Ferrari” car..;)

A special message

A special message....Very aptly sent on the given day...
Thanks to you...

Misc...

1) Do you always have a plan B?? If you do then don’t you think you will never give your 100% to plan A??
2) Have you wondered ever, “What’s next??”
3) Where do you see yourself five years from now??
Oops, now where did that come from!!!
4) When you close your eyes and try to sleep, what do you think??
(we all know what happens after we sleep…Absolute bliss!!..:))
5) When was the last time you played your favorite sport - badminton, TT…hmmm…what’s that? :)
6) When was the last time you had a vacation or traveled with your friends??
Is reciprocation the necessary and sufficient bond in a relationship??
7) Soooo…Did you become the “cat” that you wanted to be in the “rat race”?
8) Now that I am writing this post at this hour…when was the last time you slept early??
9) Hmmm…how can this be possible?? Am I already running out of questions..:)


PS: This was just a way to get back to prose..Though I had to prove a point to myself regarding my poetry(My previous take on prose & poetry!!) ..;-)

Chase Your Dreams

Sometimes our dreams brew our world
Othertimes the world spawn our dreams
Its the former that we always crave for
Making both match is what one strives for

Conviction and Courage, Passion and perseverance
You are born with some, others you hone,
The will to win is all that it takes,
Separating us from the rest of the souls

Lets take action, Lets take measures
Every small step leading us to our treasures
Lets chase our dreams, living life to its fullest
Coz its this lifetime and this one alone is all we will get…

Testing times...

There I was eagerly waiting,
My hands tied, not allowed to do anything
There I was eagerly waiting,
Only to receive spam calls and messages

Thoughts about this and thoughts about that
Not allowing me to do anything but sweat
Counting the days and counting the seconds
Becoming more difficult with every passing second

Anticipation with every message and every call,
Each one more disappointing than the previous one…
Hundred & one things to do, each one more important than the other
But nothing seems to get done, thoughts always lingering back...

Apprehension with every passing second
Confidence rekindling hopes
Have always been proud of my patience
But this is one test I don’t want to endure again…

It’s a binary world!!!

People say “participation is the most important thing” but YOU know what? Winning is the only thing that matters and at the end of the day, participation really doesn’t count…Its either a WIN or its NOTHING…

Today I saw an episode of Indian Idol on Sony, and it made me cry…It was an episode where one of the five contestants had to be “eliminated” from the competition and it was the turn of a guy called Chang…He couldn’t control his tears…I could feel the disappointment in his face…If I felt so much for him I, then I could imagine what he was going through…
There were words of consolation from all around…People saying that he “was the best”…That according to them he “is” the “Indian Idol”…That someone had to be sent out and its sad that it was him…

But how do all these words matter? The fact is that he has lost and there is no second chance…

Its not just about a competition, its about everything that you aspire for in life…Because if you want something real bad then you always go for it at full blast…There is no point in waiting for things to happen...Its your responsibilty to take charge and make it happen...

The only way you can compete well, or work to the best of your potential is by aiming for that elusive first place…Its elusive because there can only be “one first place” and there will be thousands of people competing for it…If you are not aiming for it then you have lost it even before trying…If you are, then how can you be happy with the second place????

Firstly you should realize that without this kind of motivation it’s impossible to achieve whatever you want to achieve, because unless you are aiming to be the best, you will neither have the stamina nor the determination to attain it. You wont care enough to plug all the holes…It will just be one mechanical attempt towards achieving it and only you will know that you haven’t given it your best shot…
Never settle for the second best…if you are "OK" with it, then don’t even bother trying…its just a waste of time…

Remember that its better to fail while trying rather than failing to try…and when you try, make sure its going to be your best shot…but be honest with yourself because as someone said “there is no point in cheating the man in the glass”!!!

It’s a binary world out there. The “ones” are all that matter and for every “zero” you should be in a position to proudly say that there was absolutely nothing more that you could have done to convert it into a “one”…I know that the pain of a failure will be unbearable, but it will be definitely better than carrying the feeling of not giving it a good try for the rest of your life…

Contemplating…

It was dark and it was noisy, but it was not that kind of noise that I am usually accustomed to…Instead of the usual honks I could hear hundreds of different animal sounds…It was half past midnight and all my friends were asleep…I too hit the bed but sleep seems to elude me…

There was no electricity and the only source of light was a lantern placed outside the “tented cottage”!! It was more like an indicator to animals rather than anything else…I decided to go for a stroll…It took me just a few steps to realize how risky this might get…I could hardly see my own outstretched hands and I decided to head back.

Maybe the cushioned chair placed outside the cottage was meant for nocturnal animals like me…It was definitely not sumptuous but had to compete with a couple of centipedes to sit on it…It was cold, pitch dark with the lantern trying its best to provide me the required heat & light…

I close my eyes and try to sleep. Instead of staring at complete darkness, I see a chain of mountains. I turn around wondering where I am and I see peaks everywhere. But the difference was that I could recognize all the peaks behind me but not those ahead of me. These were the ones that I had already trekked and conquered. Each had a different story behind it and each one of them was a source of delectation.

Most of them were not the final destination but only a path to one, but the experience made it more eventful than maybe reaching the final destination. The path showed that it was obviously not well planned nor straight forward but somehow each of them ended with a very good story behind them…Most of them were intentionally conquered while others were purely co-incidental & those were the ones which was most fruitful because you least expected them…

I could see a number of paths which were sketched but not taken. Some of them taken but given up midway. I could see that at every valley I have made decisions sometimes rational while others irrational (as I now see it!!!) but all of them leading to my destination. I could see that as time progressed, the problems and the corresponding solutions were tougher but I was making better decisions based on the extra information available and my past experiences. I have made my choices and I have landed where I am today. I have no way of knowing what might have happened if I had taken other paths, but one thing I am sure of is that it has turned out to be an excellent experience and there are no regrets. To add to it, sometimes I wonder whether the things I was pursuing did actually matter that much? Maybe it mattered then when I was busy sketching the paths to scale those peaks, but now when I think about them I just want to laugh…I have realized that some of those things were actually not what I wanted…

I redo my sketching and choose new paths which I know will make me deviate from where I was heading. But I am happy about it…The change in the roadmap may undo a lot of things that I had done but now it no longer matters because I have a new path, a new mountain to climb and a new destination…

There is excitement and I am looking forward to the new challenge. I am sure I have the ability to shine and conquer this peak which I think will lead me where I rightfully have to be…Maybe this is the final big peak, maybe this is not the final peak but just a prelude to the actual peak, maybe the peak is not what I had thought it might be, but I am sure it will be something that I would love and will lead me to such a place that would be much more than I had imagined or perceived, which makes me think of how close I was in not coming to this place. It was an experience to relish and to relish it, you have to experience it… Like most things, it happened and it happened for good...

When I see the mountain range ahead of me, I have chosen a path which I think will lead me the place that I rightfully belong. The past successes and the debacles have given me the doughty attitude that is needed to take the right step forward and actually look forward in conquering them…

Some of the paths that I had traveled no longer seem relevant and some of them were just a waste of time. But by tackling those paths I have gained immense knowledge which will definitely hold me in good stead…I have immense confidence in my destiny which has until now never let me down. The fact that I have no major regrets surprises me and what surprises me even more is that, this was not only because of the well planned decisions that I had taken but also because of the course that was forced upon me by a number of factors…

I would have continued to contemplate, but for my mobile which beeped twice to indicate that someone was messaging me. Trust Airtel to provide you coverage even in these remote areas!!! It was well past 1.00 AM and the message made me grin because it was a message from a friend who was doing exactly what I was doing, contemplating into the night!!!

Paralanguage...

Couple of days back, my friend was shifting his house and I went there to help him out…At least for moral support if not anything else…;)
As I stood there I could descry a girl in the neighborhood, almost the same age as mine. Somehow I felt I had seen her somewhere…The face cut was not too clear and I did not give it a second thought and carried on with my work…

Later in the afternoon, the girl and her mother came over with some juice for us. Apparently my friend knew them. As soon as I saw her I realized why she looked familiar…She had been a friend during my school days…She was staying very close to my place and we used to play together…I had been to their house couple of times…The last time I had talked to her was nearly eight years back…We started chatting, catching up on all those years…It was kind of weird talking to her, she made it a point never to see my face directly. While I was talking to her looking at her face, she was talking to my foot..:) She successfully, completely avoided eye contact. Talking to her mother was easier…

I don’t understand what gets to people. Why can’t they make eye contact? They sometimes do everything but stop short of looking at your eyes…
Maybe they are afraid that the eye may convey their true feelings, maybe because the eye could reveal much more than what they desire. Maybe its some kind of guilt feeling…Maybe the past experiences has led them to be uncomfortable with the other person…Whatever the reason, it’s really awkward to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t look into your eyes…

It’s not just the eye contact, but also the body language that tells whether the other person is comfortable having a conversation with you. Sometimes it might so happen that he/she might not want to come near you at all. In a group the person might avoid you by making sure that he/she is never beside you or always occupying the seat which is never next to you or always making sure that there is someone in between.
You should take it as a sign when the person walks ahead or behind, but never with you.

Recently I had read an article which suggested that only
7% of info you transmit is in the language you use.
38% How you speak - quality of voice, accent, voice projection, emphasis, expression, pace, volume, pitch etc. and
55% Body language - posture, position, eye contact, facial expression, head and body movements, gestures, touch etc.

That clearly shows where your priority should lie while speaking to someone, because your body can impart eight times as much information…A picture can speak a thousand words, but your eyes can convey everything without even attempting to speak.

Right body language can help you achieve a lot. I use it at office too…It really helps if you walk upright, talk confidently, be jaunty and gregarious while in the company of others and converse as if you know what you are doing. Your image adds a lot of value to what you say. People always respect those who carry themselves as if they know what they are doing because they like to be with confident people even though they might envy them for it. It always helps if you have an affable smile, look confident and seem approachable. The relationships will be better if we show some interest in the other person. Always have genuine interest while listening to the other person, if you are not interested then don’t even talk. If interest shown is genuine, then half the problems get solved.

So next time make sure that your body language is right and always talk what you believe, otherwise your body or your eyes will be giving totally different vibes/views and people know which to believe…

Pursuit of HappYness

It was a blatant, screeching unrelenting noise and I had to stop it immediately. It was ruining the incessant peace…
Then I realized it was just my mobile alarm reminding me that it’s 4.55 AM and its time to get up. I curse my mobile, press the snooze button hard and go back to sleep. The extra 5 min is something that I relish a lot…
In those 5 min, I wonder who in their sane mind would get up this early in the morning for a jog when the alternative is to sleep on your cozy bed with the fan running at full blast…its always the same thoughts, being one of those loony types I normally pick the former choice…

But my mobile never gives up and exactly after 5 min, it starts screaming again…I know I can switch it off and go back to sleep, but that action even though seems the most logical thing to do at that point of time would make me regret, for the rest of the day. So I get up from my bed against all my wishes and say a tearful goodbye to my ever inviting bed…
I wear my running shorts and shoes and head towards the regular park where all the insane people get up this early in the morning to come for a “walk in the park”..:)

But somehow things were different today…It was dark and there were no streetlights…Normally there will be a few vehicles moving around but today there were none…I enter the park and to my surprise there was not a single soul around…I check my watch to reconfirm whether it was really morning…it was inscrutable.

Though nonplussed, I start jogging as if nothing is amiss…After a couple of rounds, things get scarier…There is pin drop silence and my watch is showing 5.30 AM…Usually by now there would have been so much of a crowd that it would have been like driving on congested Bangalore roads…

It was bizarre and things were getting crazier every minute and I was contemplating on returning home…But then at the corner of my eye I could descry a human profile walking a few meters behind me…it was very relieving to see some human at last. From the looks of it I could see that it was a female, whom I was seeing for the first time…I continued jogging, with a sign of relief that I wasn’t alone…Even though she was walking and I was jogging, she was gaining ground and in a matter of few seconds she was right beside me…She looked jaunty, had an extremely beautiful face and her smile was electrifying…She looked right through my eyes and cold shivers ran through my body…The radiant smile forced me to smile back…She looked extremely fit and there was some kind of calmness around her…

I was taken by surprise when she said “HI, good morning”…it is not everyday that strangers wish you…She introduced herself as a goddess…I couldn’t control my laughter, here is a beautiful lady who has gone fully nuts and totally insane…I just wished her back…If she can claim to be a goddess then I am “Jesus”!!! I start running, to escape from her but she leisurely took few steps to come right behind me…Somehow it wasn’t my day and things were getting weirder…

I knew it would be a futile effort to run away…So I asked her what she wanted…She smiled back saying “its not a question of what she needed but what I wanted”…She said she would grant me any wish and that I just had to ask for it…Even though it was really hard to believe what I heard, she had that sweet genuine smile on her face that made it difficult for me to ignore her…Again how does it matter I can just ask and by merely asking I am not going to loose anything…

The next 10 min was spent in explaining all the things that I wanted from life…I went to such an extent that, the order in which they should happen was also specified…she seemed surprised after listening to my monologue…“Is that all?” was all she asked and then I said “No…there is one more thing. I want to be always HAPPY”…She smiled and said…“Now, That’s a tall order. I would have fulfilled all the other wishes in a zippy, but what you asked in the end supersedes everything else. It is a herculean task even for me to make anyone happy…a person can have everything but still may not be happy and so being happy is solely upon you and I can’t do anything about it…”

Now that made sense, roseate that I was I knew I can be happy either way…But I would prefer being happy with all my wishes fulfilled rather than being happy without them…:) I didn’t have to tell anything, she realized what was running in my mind…That smile said it all…

She started saying something, when I heard a huge screeching sound behind me ruining the crucial moment…I just didn’t want this moment to go away, but I knew what was happening and I just signed…“Oh, No…Not again”!!!

On a high!!!

I am in a state of bliss, wonder why?
I am mirthful, wonder why?
I really love my work, wonder why?
I have stopped grumbling, wonder why?
I enjoy every moment, wonder why?
I always have a smile, wonder why?
I have become disciplined, wonder why?
I have this feeling that nothing can go wrong, wonder why?
I feel blessed, wonder why?
I am on a high and I wonder why!!!

I write this and I wonder why? :)

Prose Or Poetry???

Given a choice what do you want to write, prose or poetry?
I have always wanted to write poetry but never have I exceeded more than two lines…Whenever I try to make the lines rhythmic, the essence seems to get lost and if I concentrate on the message/content then it will start to sound more prose than poetry. But I have realized that poetry is not the right way to go for someone who wants to express his/her thoughts without hiding them. (Or is it a case of grapes being sour? ;))

As the saying goes “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, the extent to which a poem can be appreciated depends on the people who can read, understand and relate to them. The impact, significance or its meaning are all dependent on the reader rather than the poet. Even though the poet has his/her own reasons for writing a poem, the interpretation is totally left to the reader. Thus if the same poem is read by 10 people then we will have 11 different interpretations!!! :)

A poem is never straight forward and there is no single meaning to it. Obviously the poet would have written it with particular thoughts in mind, but for a reader it may or may not be the same as the reason for which it’s written. This is the beauty of poems. The poet can hide away his/her thoughts within the lines.
But prose can never be written like that. The thoughts are written in sentences arranged in paragraphs and there is no two meaning to it. The information presented is more pragmatic when compared to poetry. Sentences in paragraphs of prose follow each other, one after the other. The language of prose is straight forward, with less figurative language than poetry.

I have a couple of my friends who write poetry and whenever I read those poems I invariably try to figure out, what made them write such a poem. So, the interpretation is totally influenced by the character of the person. My understanding may never be inline with the poet but still I would be very convinced about my line of thoughts given that the background of the poet and their current state of mind is known beforehand.
When you read a poem written by someone whom you have never met before, then you try to relate to it based on your experience rather then what the poet would have meant!!!

There is a chasm separating prose and poetry.
Poetry is both sensual and cerebral. Poetry can be a great art; prose can express art but is itself merely craft. Thus, in terms of what is being expressed, and in terms of art, poetry can have more value than prose.

He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life. ~George Sand, 1851
;-)

KP Conquered on debut!!!

Certain things can’t be appreciated until its experienced. I found this to be very true this weekend when I trekked to KumaraParvatha (Western Ghats) more famously known as KP…Standing at 1714m (abt 5700 feet) it’s not only the second tallest peak (the first being Mullyangiri) in Karnataka, but also supposed to be one of the toughest to trek!!! What a debut!!!

For a first timer you couldn’t have asked for more…Not only you are trekking one of the toughest peaks but you really don’t know what to expect!!! But being in the age of “web 2.0” there is nothing you can’t know beforehand…I read a few blogs trying to understand what to expect from a trek like this…But everything that I read came short of the actual experience…It just cannot be put in words even though I am trying to do the same impossible thing here!! ;)
For a guy who usually said no to such things it was a real revelation!!! Thanks to my friend Sunil who arranged everything and providing us with a list of things we would need, we didn’t face any major problem other than of-course climbing the peak..:)
We were 8 of us…An amazing group to hang out with…There was always laughter with jokes/PJs being cracked with amazing frequency…Sometimes it would be so hilarious that u will cry laughing (oxymoron!!!?).

We left on Friday night to Somvarpet on a Rajahamsa and reached there by 6.00 in the morning…After having a hot cup of coffee, we left to our staring point which is about 45 min bus drive from Somvarpet. The forest check post is about couple of km from this point. We had to pass “Hegde mane” and “Mallikarjuna Devasthana” before reaching the check post…We tried getting breakfast at both the places but to no avail…So we decided to have two and a half chapattis per head…We had to ration everything from food to water because there would be no food available anywhere and the pizza delivery guys wouldn’t come!!! Since the luggage was unevenly distributed we had to redistribute everything. Further as there were two tents we took turns carrying them every half an hour…

At around 10.30 we reached the forest check post. The forest officials there were not ready to give us permission as there was some herd of elephants which were apparently going on a rampage in the area and they didn’t want to take any risks. Half an hour of reasoning and convincing them that we were “grown-ups” and “responsible”, we got the required receipts. We had to pay 75 bucks per head and had to declare that we were responsible for our safety!!!

The trek from Somvarpet side to KP is as arduous as it can get…The distance is about 8-10 km but its very steep. The only advantage being there was forest cover throughout. Actually the entire trail is trough forests. The experience was just amazing and we met a couple of streams in between which helped us to replenish our bottles. The first stream had a lot of water and we had to remove our shoes to cross it. The water was freezing cold and it took a lot of time for the numbness to go…There is only one trail, so there is no question of getting lost unless you want to..;) and there are some helpful signboards too…We had to cross a few steep rocky hills to reach the top. We had the same chapattis for lunch but this time we had three of them…The chapattis were too good and we ate it with pickle which tasted like heaven. After a gruelling uphill climb like that, maybe everything would taste good…

We reached the peak at 4.30 P.M and the view from there was worth all the effort…There is a Shiva temple made of rocks at the top of KP which marks the distinction between KP and other peaks around…A lot of people find it very difficult in recognizing the peak and this is the only landmark available to distinguish between the numerous peaks around…

We were one of the first groups to reach the top. After some photo session, we pitched the tent. The experience of pitching the tent and living in it was just amazing…Three of us went down again, along the Subramanya route to get some water while the rest of them collected firewood for the campfire. We were all ready by 5.30 and had a cup of tea!!! One of my friends had bought mobile stove with camphor which could be used to heat the container…Neat, compact and the tea tasted awesome…

The sunset was really beautiful, but the night was even better. We had a very good time with the campfire which was used to cook our dinner too. We had MTR ready to eat and chapattis again…The night was really cold and the wind had started to pick up speed. We spent an hour gazing at the zillion stars above, the milky way and wishing for shooting stars, so that we can wish after watching one!! We could see them at amazing frequency almost one every 15 min…I am sure all of us would have run out of our wishes…

By 11.00 P.M we were too tired to even gaze at the stars and we bundled ourselves inside the sleeping bags and slept in the tent. It was getting very windy and the tent was making a lot of noise. It gave me the feeling as if it was trying to break free…Even though we had firmly tied the tents, the wind speed was too much…I don’t remember whose brain wave was it to tie both the tents together because it was the only saving grace when the first tent blew away at 2.00 A.M in the night…After this I couldn’t sleep for another hour worried that our tent would also get blown away and that we might have to pay Rs14,000 for it!!! As luck would have it I could suddenly see the stars above and I immediately knew that the tent had broken free…It was too cold outside to search alone and hence had to wake up my friend in the other tent to search for it (People in my tent were in deep sleep and the lazy guys wouldn’t get up in spite of my efforts in waking them!!) …Thankfully since the other tent was firmly tied the last time, our tent which was attached to it was lying nearby…We maid it a point to tie extra stones to the tent for safety!!! God only knows what would have happened if both the tents had blown away simultaneously!!!

The sunrise again was amazing!! I got up at 5.30 and started waking others…The view was breathtaking!!! As the sun rose amidst the mountain peaks the mist started to dissipate… It was as if the mountain peaks were being reborn…An awesome view which made the entire trek worth the effort…We packed our bags and tent by 8.00 A.M and started downhill…We had breakfast at the stream where we collected water the previous night…Had cup noodles and it tasted like heaven!! After this we continued towards Kukke Subhramanya!!! The trek down is about 14 Km in this direction and doesn’t have much of forest cover but has amazing viewing points…There is this one place where the wind gets redirected towards you because of a mountain blocking its path…The wind speed here is so much that you feel like you are getting blown away!! It’s very difficult to maintain balance and get rooted to the ground!!!

By 12.30 P.M we reached “Bhattara Mane”…It’s the only house that you will see throughout the entire trek…Its exactly midway between KP and Subramanya…We had lunch there and he has a unique system of charging people. He charges 30 bucks per head and that excludes the packet of rice that we give him…Apparently its very difficult for him to get rice so people who want to have lunch at his place needs to carry sufficient rice with them…We had carried 2 Kgs of rice for this purpose…The food was awesome and all of us ate like gluttons…We were all so tired and hungry that anything would have tasted good then…:)

After some well deserved rest we continued towards Subramanya at around 2.00 P.M…On our way back we took frequent breaks to reach our “Final Destination” at 5.00 P.M. On reaching kukke we hogged ice creams and milkshakes. The thought of having ice creams on reaching Kukke was what was motivating us to carry on…

We took a room in a nearby hotel, had a cold water bath and visited the Subhramanya temple there…After having a heavy dinner we left in our very own KSRTC Rajahamsa bus to reach for Bangalore @ 6.00 A.M the next day…

The entire trip was well planned and executed with absolutely no problems faced. Had a great time and looking forward to more…But, right now trying the enjoy the pain prevailing all over the body…:)

Thoughts in a real train :)

Despite the sempiternal traffic jams, I was at the railway station much before the scheduled departure. Even though there was excessive demand for tickets, there were not many people in the train and there were none in my coupe…I had to use a lot of influence to get this ticket. One of my uncles had secured it as part of some emergency quota… Everything can be put as emergency…He not only confirmed my ticket but also made sure I get free dinner, pillows and bedsheets!!! I was treated like a king… That’s the advantage of knowing someone in railways!!!

As I sat alone in my coupe, one thing that I could recollect was the introductory chapter in Chetan Bhagat’s latest fiction, One Night @ call centre…I was wondering whether something like that might happen tonight…:) And maybe I could write a story on it someday…But alas nothing of that sort happened…
It was an extra coach and the list of names was not yet published and there was no way I could have known my companions. Traveling alone in a train for 12 hours was not something I was looking forward to considering the fact that I had brought nothing to read…

My curiosity was killing me until a group of army men came along with their arms and ammunition!! I am not kidding, they actually had rifles and machine guns with them…I was wondering what they were upto…After some initial introductions I managed to start a conversation with them…Since they spoke only hindi I was finding it extremely difficult to talk but I felt they were finding it even more difficult to comprehend..:)
They were apparently going for some training camp and as a result they had to carry all the accessories with them…While I was thoroughly excited holding the machine guns and examining them, they were even more excited about holding my laptop…They were very keen to know what I did with a laptop & to my surprise I found it very difficult to explain why I needed one..:) Anyway after some initial exploration they wanted to know what a software engineer actually does? They were interested about my company, work, salary etc… It was fun explaining them why we get paid so much for the kind of work that we do…

Since we were already 8 of us in the coupe I wasn’t expecting any more people. But to my horror 5 more guys boarded in the last minute. All of them were college students going to Delhi for vacation. Most of them I believe had completed their 7^th sem exams and had been placed through campus. After these people arrived I settled in my upper berth because I no longer could converse with them at their pace. Just imagine about 12 people talking continuously in hindi and you sitting on top trying to make some sense of the conversation below…That’s exactly what I was going through!!!

The first group was busy cribbing about the generals treating them like “kutthes” (dogs) for peanuts, while the second group cribbing about the HODs, lecturers and how they were bent upon sucking their blood…Since I could relate to the latter I focused my attention to their puerile episodes. Each one of them had their own set of stories to narrate and all of them were just hilarious. From how they got bashed by the HOD to how they managed to finish the exams…
There were these usual stories of copying, getting caught, hostel masala which I think has to be censored from here..:) Some of them were so farfetched it was really difficult to believe something like that could have happened...There was this guy who actually boasted about bribing his lecturer for passing him in practicals…He was apparently thrown out of the room…All these reminded me as to how much “seeda sada” I was…If you ask me to talk about my college life, I wouldn’t have much to narrate except for how regularly I used to attend college…:) (6^th sem being an exception!!!)

The noisy banter continued through the night, but I had dozed off without me realizing it…The next morning I was surprised to see 2 people sleeping in each berth with even the passage way not being spared!!! The remarkably capacious coupe had become totally cramped. I bet these things happen only in the Indian Railways!!!