Finding Thyself

Fortress of Consciousness

2011-11-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

The fortress stood tall amidst the ruins of human flesh,
the heart which could not be reached was breached.
At the helm of it was the Mystic Lord,
majestic in His garb of naked wilderness,
wielding the axe of desirelessness with a voidless gaze.
Leading a pack of savage darkness filled with hunger,
to consume the fortress of consciousness
that stood tall all along, in an ocean of deceit.

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When

2011-09-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

when will this analysis stop,

when will this rationalizing cease,

when will this emotion vapourize,

when will this craving melt,

when will this senses dysfunction,

when will this pride fall,

when will this intoxication slip,

when will this desire extinguish,

when will this seeking disappear,

when will this pleasure sour,

when will this pain neutralize,

when will this lonliness jam,

when will this beginning end,

when will this end transform,

when will this energy die,

when will this reasoning lose,

when will this logic surrender,

when will this learning dip,

when will this knowledge empty,

when will this search set,

when will this love leave,

when will this good burn,

when will this bad negate,

when will this mind disolve,

when will this focus clear,

when will this body abort,

when will this luck disperse,

when will this abundance hinder,

when will this answer fail,

when will this solace wane,

when will this understanding dawn,

when will this sleeplessness awake,

when will this seperateness fill,

when will this puzzle complete,

when will this grace arrive,

when will this identity solve,

when will I will.

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Deja Vu

2010-11-06T00:20:00.000-07:00

The paths are short, but the journey long.

I have worn this garb of flesh and bones, many a time,

yet it feels different everytime.

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Foolin' around

2010-05-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

From the infinite
i emerge as a finite,
hidden in a human form
for my soul is naked.

Living in a transient reality,
a construct of my karmic past,
the future seeds are sown
on a soil I call home?

Caged by time,
bound by thought,
fueled by freewill,
the descended being, existed
in a plane of unconsciousness.
Like a streak of light that splits
into myriad rays passing through a prism,
so did the trapped soul
vibrated with life as it broke free.

Scarred by its destined glory,
the finite submerged back into the infinity.

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Electronic Fire

2010-02-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

The strings hum,

if not the same note,

atleast one among seven

we already know.

The wine tastes the same,

if not better with age,

yet in essence it is the same pulp.

The chef brews the tasty stew,

that lacks a personal touch,

for it is the electronic fire that cooks it.

All seem the same,

nothing changed,

nothing missing,

except you.

For it was not the music

neither the wine,

nor the warm fire,

or the tasty flesh,

that made the moment,

but you.

I sit all alone,

just as i came in,

waiting for the hour,

to return yet alone.

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Time for a "GREEN LEGACY"

2010-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

It's time to leave behind a "Green Legacy". We all always wanted to do something but never did anything except sign petitions and talk about it. Here is an opportunity to act on something. Something you could do as part of everyday task that could help put back some green in this planet.

Help recycle paper and plant a tree in your very own name in Dubai. Visit www.mytreeindubai.com

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Wake Up

2009-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a year,

since i lost her to time,
without saying a word,
she bid her goodbye,
into the fading twilight,
leaving behind a haunting silence,
that is infinite.

Yet again, I lose her to time,
the memory i hold so dear,
as I go about quenching
my karmic desires,
in a refugee's attire,
thinking time is a healer,
not knowing the silence
still awaits me,
when it is all but over.

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ABYSS PATH

2009-12-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

The path unwinds
into depths unknown.

A course never charted before,
a destination never heard before,
a land never seen before,
a doubt persists if it all exists,
for there are no witnesses to testify,
footprints to track, nor signposts to heed.

Darkness surrounds, gloom looms,
time churns a numerous luminous paths,
filled with good and bad,
blossomed with love and care,
name and fame,
glittered with duality of consciousness.

Yet, down this unknown hideous path
this birth or another,
a journey has to be made,
on a path paved with daggers,
into the dense cover,
a maddening wilderness,
solitude the only companion,
silence the only stir,
where it is not the test of stamina,
but the that of the will.
resolute and absolute.

i pace up and down,
not going beyond a mile,
frightened, am I, for not what lay ahead,
but what one has to leave behind.

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Mercenary of Wisdom

2009-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

Amidst the ruins of time
of wrecked civilizations & chaotic science,
stood the mercenary of wisdom,
clad in armor of theories,
guarded by a shield of inferences,
swirling a sharp sword
cast of knowledge
he's read & heard before.

Years of hoarding and pursuit
while the wisdom gathered cobwebs,
now he stood braving a foe,
never read before.

Unlike any rehearsed character,
or defined in aged texts,
the abridged yet unabridged,
a simile very much a metaphor,
a verb inherent in a noun
without adjectives to qualify
stood its ground, poised.
Whose moves the mercenary couldn't counter
with his reflexes of intellect.
or with the agility of mind.

the blade of knowledge blunted,
theories tested, findings shredded,
all exhausted, unlearning the learning
did the mercenary of knowledge,
gasp for more to grasp the elusive illusion
of control.

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MYRIAD SILENCE

2009-11-26T06:24:00.000-08:00

Can't be seen but heard.
Can't be touched but felt.
Can't be shed but said.
Can't be sensed but fed.
Can't be taught but known.
Can't be enslaved but mastered.
Can't be tied but freed.
Can't be emptied for there is nothing.

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EYES

2009-11-14T10:31:00.000-08:00

Her eyes never left me,
even for a while,
even though i had mine
on the worldly delights.

Her eyes followed me,
where ever i did go,
in form of a call or a prayer,
i never heeded.

Her eyes were awake,
day and night,
so i could rest mine
without fear.

Her eyes closed on me,
forever, one fine day,
while i had mine elsewhere.

Her eyes, i do miss them now.

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Space

2009-11-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

Stranded in an intergalactic causeway,
reclined on a signpost muddled by cosmic dust.

Amused by myriad stars that illuminate a perplexed gaze,
anchored to a organic dimension that propels inertia.

Gagged by the alien echoes that vibrate stillness,
limited by an expansive horizon that imparts ignorance.

Wrecked by hyperspeed that derails thoughts,
ostracized by a trajectory pattern that navigates adherence.

Fragmented by the destruction of mother ship,
the orphaned space wanderer, awaited.

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MINE

2009-10-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

i shared her breath as one,
till i could find mine.

i sucked her energy,
so i could nurture mine.

i was in her arms,
till i could flex mine.

I didn't listen when she uttered,
a name that was mine

i never heard her prayers,
as i made noise of mine.

I didn't feel her pain when i was
lost in a world of mine.

I didn't see her sacrifice,
as i was busy with a life of mine,

i couldn't repay her when
the time was mine.

i thought she would stay forever
only to realize later,
she was never mine
and nothing is mine.

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BEING

2009-10-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Naked in the hallway of thousand door frames
'the being' waited for the thought to enter.

Through the arch way the being traveled
into a cell which was a nucleus.
Weaving a membrane to conceal the core
the being formed a chromosome.

X and Y were plotted, to trace back
the origin in case the thought abandoned.

Building the blocks, the mutated being
took an alien form of pure fiber.

Crawling out of hibernation, the besieged being
progressed in a linear fashion.
On the threshold of a new doorway
transforming becoming the change.

In and out of every frame, until it became humane.
Having camouflaged its inherent gene,
the human being looks into the mirror
which does not reveal the real picture.

Accumulated layers of evolution,
aging and growing with every travel
the being bewildered, pondered.

Regressing the progress, the being
traveled in a cyclic fashion,
cracking the value of X&Y.

Without compasses or guiding force,
all alone, ceasing the duality,
singular in entity, creeping back,
in essence, progressing ahead
deciphering the tracks forgotten
navigating to a conclusion
stepping back and forth
through the unlocked doors
shedding, withering and shredding
every thought of awareness

deep into the abyss of statelessness
the stale being wandered, solving X&Y.
And much deeper to the lost base
before anything ever occurred.

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PATTERN PICKER

2009-10-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Grazing through the time ripple,
of events and incidents gone by.

Identifying a connection
for choices seem to be made in isolation
whose repercussions,
echoes in progression.

Occurrences like the tangram pieces,
random in nature,
piecing them together,
to structure a picture,
beyond human comprehension.

Decisions sewn, not taken
by thread of accumulation,
not woven in this piece of creation
but many before
whose patterns are forgotten.

The Pattern Picker gazes
into the clues of weaves
that has been churned
since measure immemorial.

Chalking out a direction,
mapping a course of action,
for he is lost in the pattern.

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CARNIVORE

2009-10-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

A carnivore dwells in me,
whose hide can't be seen,
with hungry talons,
patient for innocent flesh.

A connoisseur's ego
sniffing for a scent,
of a prey, ripe in every sense,
the perennial claws itch,
to quench an enigmatic desire.

Circling the perimeter,
viewing the dynamics,
plotting, surrounding,
holding, sustaining
the hunt,
setting the trap,

in an instant flash,
plunging forward to kill,
after a day long chase
and a night long wait,
of which i lost count,
i find myself in the trap
i didn't spring!

Ambushed.
i am the hunted,
i am the prey,
i am not the one
top in the hierarchy,
of the life chain!

(e-snap : outskirts of Madurai Meenakshi Temple, 12/2007)

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MENDICANT'S RANT

2009-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

I stood in the threshold of time, not this,
like a MENDICANT, seeing faces go by
a morphed reality, a diluted perspective
looking numb, not so dumb, yet clueless
as to where to set foot next.

William staged every known word,
Gautam besieged the world sans bloodshed,
Leo drew the code that shaped us,
Issac gave birth to the laws we go by,
Ludwig didn't need the senses to play his notes,
Albert took science beyond mortal inspiration,
Helen tore down the very thought of limitations,
Neil stamped the heavenly bodies with his print,
Mohan humbled the instinct of greed,
Agnes testified for love that was unconditional,
And many other who became history
for the future to be seen.

Here i stand, one among numerous,
not a star, not a sun,
nor a meteor or even an asteroid,
just a tiny speck of space dust,
not knowing my time in the universe,
or where my co-ordinates lay,
so i can label them mine,
exhausting my composition,
gaseous inheritance
yet i am weighed down,
in pursuit of a collider, to set a bang,
floating, drifting, the omnipresent darkness
consuming me.

Stranger in the oceans of galaxies,
like a thief looking for a role to steal.

Maybe a peddler to sell a ware,
maybe a gleeman to treat a trick or tale,
maybe a trader looking for a bargain,
maybe a warrior proud of his clan,
maybe a singer who could shy every bird,
maybe a medicine man who can't cure himself,
maybe a seer who carries the baggage of focus,
maybe a fortune-teller looking for that elusive treasure,
maybe a vagabond who is thirsty for new lands,
maybe a orator who opens hearts like a surgeon's hand,
maybe a poet who personifies illusive emotions,
maybe a story-teller lost in one of his characters,
maybe a artist with the devil's hand of creation,
maybe a farmer who plunders the virgin earth,
maybe a banker who juggles stones and metals,
maybe a writer who scripts his own end,
maybe a cleaner who ends up with all the dirt,
maybe a rider who knows when to take the turn,
maybe a philosopher who harbours thoughts of lust,
maybe a butcher who isn't interested in blood,
maybe a astronomer blinded by the shiny stars,
maybe a seeker who knows what he is looking for,
maybe a mechanic who tinkers the wheel of time,
maybe a soldier whose real foe is death,
maybe a king who rules what is not his,
maybe a alchemist who is lost in luster,
maybe a builder who can't find his own space,
maybe a lover who can't remember his virgin kiss,
maybe a nomad navigating to settle everywhere,
maybe a sailor who charts a course with no rudder,
maybe a gypsy who isn't fed up of tattered colours,
maybe a creator who can't stop becoming a voyeur,
maybe myself, a empty me,
a mendicant rattling a gimcrack rant

i stare as faces go by,
like pages that turn when time flies by,
into those raven black eyes,
lit by a golden ball of fire.

i the dot
that is clustered together
with many others
form the trail of a star
whose blaze tries to
offset the omnipresent darkness.

(e-snap : Meenakshi Bhavan, Thiruthangal Highway, 12/2007)

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WARMONGER

2009-10-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

The sheen of his armour was blemished
with blots of crimson, magenta and ruby red.
He rode with the void to cross
the warm steel with a frozen resolve.

He was
one with the battle cry that shivered a thousand nerves
one with the foe's eye, tracing every bodily stir
one with the swift steps like the formless wind
one with the aroma of chopped beasts that became a scavenger's feast
one with the rhythm of the blade, that swayed to an unheard melody
one with the whirlpool of time, sucked by its force full spell
one with the warmth not from the sun blaze but from the gushed blood
one with the silence unseen that overshadowed the chaos that reigned
one with the icy chill emotion that held no remorse
one with the fraction second, to escape for a life, gone by a split second
one with the hunger for flesh like the unappeased bodily lust
one with the thought of survival that blinded the cause of sides taken
one with the aching flame that charred his hide from a duel long forgotten
one with the iron grip on the tender scalped leather that surrounded the aged hilt
one with the sense of despair as sweat drenched him everywhere
one with the drunken intellect with no reason to kill
one with the butcher's heart that mechanically ripped anyone apart
one with the baggage that he bore from many a heartless acts
one with the memory of faceless beings whose spirit he set free
one with the million curses that were spitted by those he rendered homeless
one with the warlord who whipped the herd
one with the battle angel that shielded every blow
one with the sharpness of steel that imposed pain and more
one with the fly infested earth that saw the gore
one with the dance of death
one with the battle of no return
one with the one he was
a WARMONGER

(e-snap : Garuda, Malaiarasan Temple, Arrupukottai, 11/2008)

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The Gardener's Acres

2009-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

The umber virgin terrain,
that spread across acres,
cut open by a plough,
oozed to birth numerous saplings
that sprouted from seeds,
planted unseen.

The young ones spiral higher
into the uncharted skies,
propelled by the forces of nature
that acts all in vice,
making them mature with every
shine, gush and pour.

The roots dig deeper
parting the soft wet soil,
withering away the innocence
to come into existence.
Having shed the inhibition
and growing stronger
with the changing seasons,
the once tender sapling blossoms,
emitting fragrance that arouses lust
even among the blind's bosom.

Gently swaying to the unheard rhythm
the hue that adorn the acres
paint a ode to a vibrant creation.

Lost among this cacophony of
orchestrated perfection
are a few called 'imperfections'.

Stripped naked
of a fertile creation,
these 'imperfections' stagger
along trying to dance
with a all too flattered perfection.

In a random cycle, does the Gardener
grace upon His manifestation.
The acres busy in an enigmatic trance,
fail to acknowledge the Gardener
who nurtured them into existence.

Shunned away from the dance,
are the 'imperfections' who seek
the Gardener who sees through
their imperfections.

A new lease of existence springs
upon these 'imperfections'
whose constant lease of drought
find the Gardener's touch
a resurrection.

The Gardener walks silently past
His infinite acres of creation
to tend another set of 'imperfections'.
Not all of the acres witness this
moment of revelation,
except for the 'imperfections'.

The cycle turns, the shadows enlarge,
the acres age to become trees,
cracked and hard upon whose
outstretched arms rest other creations.

And they erode
with every ring being added
to sow back into the barren land
the seeds of future acres.

(e-snap : Outside Viscomm Department, Loyola College, 1998)

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Philosophy 2.0

2009-10-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

UI
(U & I)

U don't hear what I feel

U don't see what I do
U don't answer when I seek
U don't listen when I pen
U don't comprehend when I simplify
U don't respond when I wait
U don't speak when I question
U don't please when I fume
U don't ask when I quit

What a lousy User Interface are U to me?

Then came along GUI.

(e-snap : ruins outside Madurai Meenakshi Temple, 12/2007)

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BLUE KARMA

2009-10-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Isolated from the madding crowd,
on the heights of topless towers,
flexing tissues and bones,
to shape a dream of iron and steel,
not sprouted from his head,
toiled the worker, for a meager feed.

The fireball in relentless pursuit
to scorch his back and tan his skin,
as he sweats for folks in a distant land
he recalls as home.
The faces he recognizes here
trickles memories of people he left
behind in a journey of selfless sacrifice.

End of the day he is banished
to his distant camp
as the beings who make
the limelight and dwell
in towers of great height,
easily forget who took them there first.

The hot spiceless food,
cooked by an unknown hand,
is without any warmth.
`As he bites into the last morsel
and gulps down the alien water',
a laughter from the table corner
echoes memories of time parallel
from a land where his heart is.

Yet he finds himself here
in the land of black gold
to send a penny back home
to put a smile he never sees
till a year or two passes by.

Entrapped in the snare
laid by karma leased to time,
he cries in pain
which gets muted
by the time it reaches
the dwellers of high towers.

(e-snap : ruins outside Madurai Meenakshi Temple, 12/2007)

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Heart of Plastic - Gold, Silver, Platinum, Titanium

2009-10-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

21:30
pointlessly strolling in one
of the numerous malls:

fresh arrivals titled design 2.0
ambushes my imagination,
works up my chemicals
to create a compelling desire,
"I want it now."

To make up the numbers
in my wardrobe and to wear it
to gatherings, so that there is
something "new" to talk about.

I walk up to the counter,
flash my plastic and walk out
with my desire packed in plastic
with a smile that is as much as that,

I step out with a heart
that is shaped by plastic.
Life goes on.

21:30 hours
Walking down in an unknown street
filled with hawkers buzz and pot holes:

The little one spots a toy that captures her
imagination and fancies her heart

but the pocket is not deep enough
nor is there any plastic to swipe
to wipe out that desire.

tears are what is left in her heart
not shed in her cheeks,
as she walks out of that street.
Life moves on.

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LOVEFIELD

2009-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Scars earned from the 'battlefield'
are sewn with vengeance.
For the ones sustained on 'lovefield'
is there any retribution?

The visible one,
spurs a gab.
For the concealed,
can solace be ever found?

Memory remains, of the one
given by steel.
Pain lasts, for the one
when you took
your touch away.

Signs of been healed
are the scars,
Mine are in depths
where no cure can reach.

(e-collage : paper & glue, 1998)

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Reconnaissance

2009-09-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Perched on a higher altitude
beyond mortal grasp
awaits the marksman.

Crouching, camouflaged,
breathing dead still
with hawk-eye precision
and a voyeuristic vision,
he watches without a blink.

i bare myself,
materially naked,
spiritually depleted
and intellectually ignorant,
raise my head
and throw up my hand,
to yell out from the labyrinth
of my heart to free myself
so that He can take me down,
with his rustic silver bullet.

Deliverance doesn't come,
for the moment is not mine,
as i am yet to come into the
range of his viewfinder
for him to pull the trigger
which is not in his hands either.

i utter a different curse unlike
the million others who do when
his silver bullet finds the mark.

He is despised because
he wears an attire of sorrow
and veils himself in misery
and brings about pain.
Nothing is grey about him
nor black and white
for no one knows
when he would take aim
for if he does it would never fail.

They call him Death and many other
names, but for the moment i call him
the Sniper.

(e-collage : paper & glue, 1998)

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...........................

2009-09-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Constant trembled in the
array of infinite emptiness.

And disguised itself in a variable
to limit it.

Racing to fill the ceaseless void
with variants of extreme degrees
such as work, emotion, life and thought...
did the variable try to nullify an equation.

For a fraction of a second that ranged from
zero to limited count did the void seemed filled
and the variable appeared solved.

Yet the unsolved solved expressed
to zero-in on a solution
for a problem that sought none

For emptiness was constant
And what was constant was empty.

(e-collage : paper & glue, 1997)

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the grammar uncorrect

2009-05-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

the never-lasting beauty
the skeptical truth
the deciphering lie
the painful healing

the ceaseless time
the non-existent chaos
the unspoken images
the diverse monotony
the undying change

the constrained infinity
the unconditional space
the muted love
the endless start
the blessed misery
the flawless entity
the unorganized symmetry

the lifeless death
the deathless birth
the polished blemish
the untainted stain
the shiny darkness
the black-hole light
the dated update
the still ripple

the mirage reality
the blurred clarity
the silent echo
the whispering yell
the colorful odour
the senseless meaning

(e-collage : paper & glue, 1998)

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Prologue

2009-04-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

It's nearing 6pm.
My mobile is still silent.
It has been so, ever since
the start of this new year.
And will remain so.

It's christmas eve - December 24th, 2008,
everyone is looking forward to the night
and drawing plans for the long weekend.
And so am I.

It's nearing 6pm.
My mobile rings.
Instead of the accustomed voice, i hear my brother's.
He speaks fast, gasping for breath.
"Mom's fainted, near Jumbo electronics.
Emergency is here. Come fast."

It's nearing 2pm.
My mobile is still.
I just remember that i haven't spoken
to my mom for the last 48 hours.
Nor has she called me at 6pm or at 2pm after lunch.

Engrossed in work which never ceases.
I decide to speak to her.
I call home. She refuses to speak at first.
Something makes me persist. She then
does - her last words to me.

It's past 12pm.
My mobile lies silent.
It's been months since I heard her.

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Pondy Bazaar & other Bazaars

2008-12-16T04:51:00.000-08:00

1. When it comes to arguing with the street side hawkers for a price cut we go all out for a tooth and nail battle. It's as if losing 10 rupees to him would shatter your dreams of building a TAJ. Whereas when it comes to paying a bill in a 5 star restaurant or while purchasing a branded wear we never question the exorbitant prices charged. We just keep our mouth shut and buy it.

Most of the time we proudly brag about how we saved 20 rupees on a product by fighting with the hawker! They become tea time discussions for most.

2. The funny thing about auto drivers is that they ask you quote an amount for the journey and then start arguing with you for quoting so low. Rather they need to be the guys quoting the price first!!

3. The moment you get off from a 4-wheeler on any busy vegetable market in India, the prices of the stuff on display becomes "double"!

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Talk about cutting jobs, i suggest cutting costs first!

2008-12-12T11:56:00.001-08:00

Are we in a recession? I don't think so for the following reasons:

1. The CEOs of the 3 giant automobile companies in US, flew by their private jets to ask for a bail out package!

2. Recently, a company had a crisis meeting to tackle the oncoming recession - to discuss about efficiency and cost saving. Guess where they discussed this. In comfort of a beach resort conference hall!!! They would have done justice if this discussion was held in the office conference room with some lunch ordered in.

3. Why don't companies cut their dividends to share holders instead of cutting jobs?
Talk about cutting jobs, i suggest cutting costs first.

Moreover, the current financial meltdown is like the football game. Where 22 people battle it out for one football. Why not give them 22 footballs so all are happy. Similarly, why not print extra currency notes. If you think for a moment the currency itself does not any value unless it is equated with something. You need currency to afford a house, eat food, watch a movie. So the end thing what you do with the currency is more important than the currency itself. So there is no harm in printing those extra notes for all ;)
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Sky is the limit !!!

2008-12-09T02:51:00.000-08:00

Having been lucky to travel sky high in some of the finest and economical airlines, no matter the duration of the flight - domestic or international, there was humour to be found always:

EK: Emirates Airlines flight bound to Chennai(MAA) from Dubai(DXB)

Pretty chicks but of no help!
1. Had some of the prettiest looking air hostess who could never help the passengers load the hand lagguages into the cabin lagguage space. Everything had to be done by the passengers including the locking of the lagguage door!

Choose a language!
2. The captain of the flight boasted of having people of different natiaonality serving you, air hostesses who could speak Farsi, spanish, german, polish, arabic, chinese and english. It was a chennai bound flight, expecting an air hostess to speak tamil would be too much of an ask but atleast Hindi would have helped :)

IC905: Indian Airlines flight bound to DXB from MAA
No matter how early you arrive at the Chennai airport with a confirmed ticket, the chances of missing a IC flight bound to DXB is plenty!

HouseFull
1. They are usually overbooked for reasons known to them. I was able to figure it out this time. They had issued two boarding passes with the same seat number "12A". Luckily before i could get into an argument with the other gentleman who had the same seat number, an airhostess stepped in to take both our boarding passes with out even an explanation, vanished into thin air - filmi style!!! After a 5 minute wait, she gets back to escort the other gentleman to seat 17A which was luckily empty! Now that is one reason why the flight seems to get over booked.

Statutory warning
2. The free flow of liquor in the air does not complement the efforts taken by the government at the ground level, urging people to quit drinking! Moreover the wait for the food (which came later around one hour into the journey after 2 rounds of alcohol was served) is frustrating especially if the flight was delayed by two hours and top of it you are a teetotaller!

Gate number, please!
3. There was never a gate number for the IC flight bound to Dubai (a flight leaving the next day had one!!) and it never took off on time (ETD was 20:00hrs but it could take upto 22:30 to leave chennai).

Sweets anyone
4. Utter disregard for the passenger's health could be seen on the menu of the food tray that was been served. We all know that the diabetics is silently taking the world over and India being among the forefront of most reported cases. In all the IC flights there is usually a bowl of sweet, not one burfi/mysore pak but two measuring upto a size of a brick! At this rate we will sure be no.1 for the wrong thing!

Name change
5. Indian Airlines became Indian about a year back and now again it has become Air India! A guy who flew in that one year period is sure to be lost!

Rotation/Replacement policy
6. Would like to applaud the strategy adopted by the IC management. Instead of asking the old air hostesses to retire they just get shifted to the domestic circuit where as the young ones go international! With private airlines giving tough competition maybe the IC management would like to rethink or devise a new strategy!

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Close Encounter of the "Auto" Kind (a.k.a. Auto, Arrow and Armani - Part 2)

2008-12-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

(On Muthu's Auto)

Nov.5th, 2008, 19:45 hrs

I land at Chennai airport after a 12 day ordeal with my travel documents status quo. That left me poorer by 12 days out of 25 day vacation plan. Was heading to my friends place for the night and the best mode of transport for a guy traveling single with bare minimal lagguage was auto.

Promptly looked for a guy who didn't seem too marketing savvy (the kind who come upto you asking whether you needed a auto and giving you the liberty intially to quote a price for the destination and then fight with you for it!!) Luckly found a guy who seemed to be a misfit in the trade of auto driving. The price he bargained for dropping me in my destination was reasonable. I was in no mood to argue with fifty percent of my vacation having been blown up for paper work.

Out of habit i engaged in a conversation to find out what was happening in Chennai. A ritual i am accustomed to when ever i come down on a vacation. It seemed a harmless conversation when he suddenly made an appeal to me. He asked me from where i was and if i could or find someone help fund his son's education. He had already jumped two term fees for his son and was on the verge of being served an eviction notice. I initially stayed out of it, just listening to his story as a passive person would do. A few things i came to realise in that 45 minute conversation centric auto journey:

1. Cost of living had gone up. Just bcos the IT faternity are earning a fancy 6 digit figure (rather close to it) didn't mean that the rest of the population was doing so!

2. Education scenario has changed a lot. To afford a decent education for a 5th grade in an averge school you needed to be prepared to shell out close to INR 6000 - 8000 per annum. Per term it was Rs. 1500 (a term was made of 3 months in this case) and to top it up there was a capitation fee of Rs. 2000 that needed to be shelled out intially!! Just dawned on me that it would be difficult for people to afford education at this rate and educate themselves for 12 years was a tough task. I was lucky to have my parents help me out when it came to doubts on any subjects. But imagine the plight of first generation literates, to whom would they turn for help. Hats off to those who have educated themselves.

3. It was tough being a auto driver with no fixed income, security or insurance, or credit cards to fall back upon, with greedy traffic police on your back to fleece money out of you at any given opportunity and the commuter who could never really identify with them. And along with this all included no PF or pension on retirement.

Well, i was a bit hesistant to help him on the first instance. As an educated sophisticated guy, i demanded that he took me to the school, produced bills and the notices he had received from the school. The poor guy brought in all the concerned papers (he had intially proposed to take me to the school and meet the principal to convince me). Having gone through all the papers and finding it satisfactory, i decided to help him. I managed to clear one term fee out of the two outstanding. Will try to work out something for his son.

On deeper involvement, i got to know he was new to the auto trade. Earlier he was working in the hospitality industry as F&B service boy. He made good money at the star hotel and was able to afford education for his first child till college. About 2 years back the hotel shut down to be converted into a hospital as a result of which he lost his job. He migrated into the auto line and is yet to smarten his earning skills. It wont be long before he joins the "typical Auto" tag.

So what do I get to say at the end of this all: Not all Auto guys are what they are known to be?

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Ex IT / EXIT

2008-12-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Came across this sign on the Indian Airlines flight called "back to work" :)

It seemed apt for the economic recession we are living in. It read EXIT (a call for the IT professionals to exit) or Ex IT (one that read I had been there and done that in IT). What was more apt was finding this sign on the flight. The mode of transport most IT pros are used to!!!

Or was this all a bad connect ; l
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The Yardstick for a Good Movie

2008-12-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

My dad once told me, the yardstick for a good movie is that you would be discussing/debating about it, even after it is long over. Not the kind of discussion about how the actor or actress looked but rather about the story and the connection it has to our lives and surroundings.

Some of the movies that measure up to the yard stick:

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No listening...

2008-09-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

Every year millions are spent on making people quit the habit of smoking and stop new aspirants from joining their ranks through advertising. And recent studies shows that all these years of advertising has paid as it has reduced young aspirants from joining the ranks of smokers.

But, the most sensible thing to do would be to close down the cigarette factories!
This would ensure that by next 3-4 generations the habit of smoking would be forgotten for sure and would save lives, money and a lot more.

Is anyone listening?
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WASTE-YARD

2008-07-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hiding behind the rocks, the spaceman surveyed the strange crooked beings that walked in front of him. Some seemed two legged while majority had some crude limb formation that aided their movement. Their biological formation seemed to possess no symmetry or design for easiness. Whatever mind produced them must have had an evil intent.

The terrain seemed unfamiliar and it was nothing like any of their planets that was in their galaxy. Indeed this was a new planet they had discovered along with this weird species after years of trying to desperately find some form of life in the Milkyway Galaxy.

It seemed their mission was not in vain except for the fact that their communication was jammed after they had been through the sudden cloud of dust which disrupted their flight pattern briefly. The engineer was working on it, some time soon they would be able to establish contact with earth and beam this discovery.

There seemed to be no sign of flora and fauna. The soil seemed devoid of any life form barring the ones who walked on it. And nothing flew above. The monotonous dead horizon was occasionally interrupted by cylindrical incomplete shapes. They were round and rose high up the ground. They had seen this shape cover most of the planet's surface when they were descending.

The incomplete structure struck a chord of familiarity in the spaceman's mind. He dismissed the thought without any further pondering as he made his way back to where his ship had landed.
The communication system must be up and running now. A sly smile appeared on his face as he could not wait any longer to communicate this discovery.

A piece of metal which jutted out from the terrain, foiled the spaceman's hastened steps as he tripped and fell. The spaceman pulled out the plate which was the cause of his fall and cleaned the surface to view the inscriptions on it. The colour of the inscription had faded with time but the circular sign which was broken into 3 pieces with a smaller circle in the center, bore a similarity to one of the signs he had constantly witnessed on his planet. This made the spaceman's face turn pale and he fell on his knees when he completed reading the message. The shadow of one of the incomplete tower grew longer and fell on him with the fading light. It made perfect sense now.

The message on the sign read: " CAUTION: RADIOACTIVE AREA", Tarapur, India

( Post inspired by the Nuclear Pact that is going to be signed by India)

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Exhibit A

2008-07-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

The curator stepped out to answer a ringing phone in his office. This left Little N alone with the metal thing that was being exhibited, as other visitors drifted away into the shadows of the fading light, to look for pieces of work that caught their interest. He had heard stories and seen pin-up posters of this machine and was lucky enough to see some video clips of it in action. Here it was, in front of him, all the raw power waiting to be unleashed. It was a pulsating experience to stand and watch the rustic sheen of the metal as the sunlight bounced off from it and he inhaled the surrounding atmosphere as if to smell the residues of the slumbering being.

The controls seemed juvenile from where he stood. It was just a push of a button and pull of a rod and you could get this beast started and running in no time. Provided you had the golden black liquid they called as fuel.

He sighed as the racy seat called him to take control of the beast and drive around the metro in all those magnificent roads and bridges that were built for it. It all now lay unused except for the occasional food trucks that were necessary for the survival of the human race pulled by horses.

( Post inspired by the Energy crisis that the world is facing)

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LEAD INDIA leads in CANNES but did it answer Satyendra Dubey?

2008-07-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

It is a proud moment to know that a campaign from India has won the much sought Cannes Lions Advertising Grand Prix for Direct amidst tough competition and jury members from all across the globe. It was a engaging initiative by TOI and the idea was well translated into a persuasive advertising campaign.

There are a few observations that is inferred from this campaign:

1. Lead India was spearheaded by Amitabh and Shahrukh, igniting and sustaining the campaign and left out scores of real leaders who have spearheaded changes in India at grass root levels. The follow up TV commercials part of the campaign showed pretty clichie situations of a boy moving a felled tree which was causing traffic disruption all by himself, eventually everyone helping him out. Sounds nice and visually well done but it lacked depth. There are real life people at grass root level creating change. People who have sacrificed lucrative overseas offer and opted to stay back to 'Lead India' in the true sense. You can find them in www.goodnewsindia.com

2. The leaders who were chosen mostly represented the metros and second tier cities like Pune etc. And we all know that India lives in the village. It did so about a few years back. And the real change is happening there. And this was not documented in the campaign. And it ran in English when the majority is regional. Did it connect with the masses or just a elite few who would talk about it in college corridors, tea parties, blogs like this and do nothing about it!

3. The campaign though started off with a good idea, did not have the depth and sincerity in it. The advertising agency made a slick looking film that would move your heart but not from your seat. This is what happens when policy makers/decision makers sit in their AC cabins and comforted cushions and talk about grass root level when there is no representation from that side!!!

4. Did Lead India answer Satyendra Dubey? and countless many who really done something about India? The media and the nation salutes the sheen of NRI money but not the actual sons of the soil who toil to make a difference!!

Anyway you are not interested in knowing them, because Shahrukh, Amitabh and pretty faced models and sleek looking commercials are better for your mind than the reality. Will we ever wake up?

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Is TV the IDIOT box or the audience who watch it?

2008-07-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

1. Regional TV programs lacks originality

A mass media and one that is highly influential needs to have some responsibility towards society in a third world/developing country. Be it May Day or Gandhi Jayanthi it usually starts of with an interview of an actor/actress and is followed by senseless commercial movie. Very rarely there has been a program that provokes intellectual debate and thought stimulation of where our country is headed(with the exception of interview of Abdul Kalam on Sun TV during the beginning of the year). It is so disheartening to see how the viewers are been made into passive consumers and drugged by filmi and dance stuff, as if there is no other talent worth pursuing. Is this not a wrong message being communicated and a wrong mindset that is being groomed among the future India? Why not have a program of real life achievers who have made it something worthwhile of their life, why does it have to be always film stars?

2. Honoring 75 Years of Tamil Cinema.

A good effort by SunTV and the film association to screen old movies. It has got a instant and good viewership - everyone is talking about it. They could have packaged this program better. They have showed movies randomly jumping from Satya Raj to old classics with no chronological order in mind.

First the film association should have also got actively involved rather than just dancing in Singapore and getting their coffins filled. They should have screened the movies in chronological order and should have taken 10 minutes before the movie started to talk of the technological break through or directive styles that were introduced along with other details. This could have been done by a presenter like K Balachander who was a pioneer in the classic days. This would have made the masses appreciate the craft of movie making rather than just be couch potatoes.

3. Content of Teleserials

Pathetic, someone should bomb the entire small Tv industry :) Kidding. but somebody needs to do something about these contents. Imagination in the story is in all the wrong directions!

If this is going to be the trend of the TV industry in India it is very scary.

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Auto, Arrow & Armani

2008-06-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

After reading a series of posts on the attitudes and beahviour of different autowallas in different metros this post sprang up:

Autowallas are known to fleece money, being in Chennai i have witnessed various shades of these guys. Some are hardworking, genuine and sincere while a majority are forced by escalating oil prices, instable cost of living index to plunder from the unsuspecting traveler. I wouldn't blame them for their insensitive attitude. We are the ones to be blamed, the lot who complains.

We rarely bargain for a piece of fashion wear in a mall. We read the tag, pay the price quietly and leave! Or for that matter dinning in a fancy rest. When it comes to people who are trying to meet their daily ends, we get into an aggressive arguments for charging us a penny extra! How sarcastic and insensitive we are, blinded by our consumeristic power.

Try listening to their struggle in life, some of them are really genuine and moving. At the end of the day, if it is not their own auto they have to end up paying the owner Rs.150 as rent and they need to fill petrol for the entire day which would cost them another Rs. 250 with the going rate of petrol from OPEC countries, and then there is the house rent, family feed, school fees, unexpected functions and occasions etc. He doesn't have a blue collar job where he receives a fat pay pack at end of the month. Everyday is a struggle, just try being in his shoes, and u will understand why he fights with everyone : ) Does he have an insurance policy or is there any bank ready to lend him money in case of emergency? Does he have the luxury of owning a Credit Card?

Instead of blowing the money on mindless weekend parties boozing you can try helping a deserving soul now and then.

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God's Gravity

2008-06-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

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Atheist, curious infant spiritual mind pose this question: Does God exist? Can u show Him? Is he flesh and blood? Can someone show Him?

Could you tell me:
1. Does gravity exist? They say it is important for gravity to exist otherwise we all be floating in space.

2. Can you show us gravity in a tangible form? For example can you dress it up in Flesh and Blood?

3. How do you know gravity is necessary? Because the scientist say so. Do we ever question them? Then why do we question the genuine spiritual Gurus who can show the path?

Inference: If Gravity can only be experienced and not seen , so is God.

Why History never talks about the ordinary....

2008-04-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

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PROLOGUE: SILENCE SHATTERED

Nara had one last look over his fields from the high raised ground. Close towards the horizon he could spot tiny specks of houses. In one of them his family awaited his safe return, his 3-year-old son who gave him company when he ploughed the fields and his wife who was carrying. He inhaled deeply as if to immortalize the landscape into his memory. He knew beyond this hill, lay a destiny unknown. An army marching from the west shattered his simple life of joy and happiness. Every able man who could stand was called to join the forces as his country tried to make a last stand. He along with his village folks marched into the twilight sky to meet the onslaught of the marching army by daylight.

The blow of the conch woke Nara from his short disturbed sleep. He lay amidst a thousand men who had come from the south where he belonged from all villages and towns with whatever piece of steel they could lay their hand over. Days of walk showed through their tiredness in their face. Like him they were simple folks and were not built to fight. But today their destiny had something else in store for them.

THY TIME HAS COME...

Lines started to form as Nara was pushed into the foremost to meet the first stroke of the enemy. Words started to spread through the ranks about the enemy who was marching towards them. He was a young king, must have been the age of Nara. The armies he commanded came from a tiny island far in the west and his soldiers were merciless just like their King, plundering and killing everything on their way. Nara wondered why the enemy king ever wanted to leave his home and attack his? What sort of a person he must be to shatter other people’s lives? Doesn’t he have a son or a sweetheart like him to go back to and live in peace? If it was food he wanted Nara was more than happy to employ him in his farm and feed him three times a day.

A sudden blow of conch severed his inquisition into the enemy’s motive. The enemy was approaching and Nara’s time had come to face them. He heard the command to march and he stepped forward with the rest in to the death field.

It was not bad as he thought it would be as he lay bleeding on the soft grass. The spear wielded by the soldier hadn’t missed the mark – his rib cage. Pain gripped him as he could feel his crumpled bones and torn flesh. There was noise all around him as steel cracked bones and slit through flesh. He lay there panting for breath as thoughts of his home filled his mind. His father who had taught him all he had know, his mother who used to be there for him with food when he came back from a long day in the field, his childhood sweetheart and his son. It seemed as if he had lived a lifetime in those flashes of memory but only a few seconds had passed. His end still hadn’t come.

EPILOGUE: Why we never know of the ordinary.....

Up ahead in the fading horizon he could see the victor’s party marching into his fields. The enemy sat on a jet-black stallion. Nara’s vision started fading but one last chant he could distinctly register before he passed into oblivion.

“Victory to Alexander!”

Valentine 2027

2008-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

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The silence was becoming heavy as she waited for the person on the other side of the counter to get her what she wanted. At first she was averse to this kind of occassions and celebrations but then now she felt it was time to express her emotion. It arrived finally, a gloss laminated A4 plus card that had the Valentine message splashed across it's cover. She felt a sudden burst of content as she felt its embossed letters.

The slight drizzle of rain was nearing its end as she walked towards the one who mattered most to her. The one who was always there for her and used to address her proper name. What made him special was that he listened to all her grunts and rumblings without ever saying a word back. She punched the numbers and waited.

" Good Evening, Ms. Nithya! It's nice to see you again."
As the words drowned into her ears she felt her heart vibrate faster and her body feeling a sensation she had never felt before.

She was introduced to him when she was old enough to walk alone on the road with the new guiding device. In the city where people had no time to spare for a word or a helping hand and technology ruled minds, here was one who was going out of his way to make her feel wanted.

She waited for his intoxicating voice. His deep warm voice responded to her thought " How can I be of assistance today? Would your transaction be withdrawal, deposit or balance inquiry?"

The Prince In Us………

2008-02-02T03:24:00.001-08:00

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I was inspired by the tale "The Happy Prince". Though nowhere near the real masterpiece in terms of thought and essence.....

Once there lived a prince of magnanimous
Who fancied and cherished the simple joys of life
And was lost in a world of bliss
That cost him dearly in terms of his crown,
Snatched by his greedy cousin who banishes him
From the settlements of humans
Into dark forests and hostile terrain inhabited
By ferocious beasts and poisonous flora.
Sans water and appetite starved of human company
Except for a voice from within
That kindles him with laughter and provides solace
For his wearied mind and tired body
And propels him further to explore the jungle ocean.
Endless dawns and ceaseless nights and in quiet dreams
The voice remains awake while the prince sleeps
Encouraging him to test his limits
And broaden his horizons for simple joys in life.
Thus the prince in the company of his voice
After roaming hither and thither
Settles in the shades of a overgrown tree.

Resting his ached body and volatile mind
As he becomes one with the voice
That accompanied him throughout
To find what life was worth living for.
Born to be a king and disillusioned
in a pleasure world and losing his kingdom
Living as a pauper and illuminated
in a joy world and gaining his freedom
As the shade of the tree became one with the settling darkness
So did the grey haired prince still magnanimous
in character but with a fragile stature
Faded into the realms of his own inner voice to become one
With the joy he was really seeking for.

Even now as one wanders alone deeper
He can hear the prince whisper
In the silent forests of one's own heart
To make us light in a journey
That is worth all the try
To seek what we are really worth after all.

PRINCESS LIVING IN HER TINSEL WORLD

2008-02-02T03:08:00.000-08:00

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She is a princess of great beauty,
And I am Jack ordinary,
Who cannot take her hand,
Because I don’t have a job
To feed her or make her smile
With things I can’t buy……………..
…………..for she is a Princess living in her tinsel world.

I can’t promise her the moon nor the stars,
I can’t take her to parties by the beachside,
Filled with champagne and caviar.
Only words do I have – to offer
But will she listen………………………...
………….for she is a Princess living in her tinsel world.

My words true by nature,
Will fail on her silent ears
And her closed lips will be the only answer
For my heart’s silent prayers.
And all words I speak will be only air………….
…………..for she is a princess living in her tinsel world.

She’s got people to carry her around,
In cars of her choice
And fancy her with dresses of her wishes.
But all I have for her ,
Is a space in my heart,
To take her through life’s long path,
Only if she could take my hand………………..
……………for she is a princess living in her tinsel world.

She will have many hearts for her disposal
But only one do I have for the proposal,
For her to make or break,
But the truth shall remain the same…………..
……………for she is a princess living in her tinsel world.

Years of Exile

2008-02-02T03:05:00.000-08:00

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After flooding my mind with words of Robert Jordan, JRR Tolkein, Sri Aurbindo's Savitri was this born:

The horizon presented a picture of ceaseless discomfort and a nagging pain. The vast rolling plains played a vicious role of never ending misery. The mysterious abodes of the divine echoed an untold pain. The greenery had lost its charm and the voices of nature became drudgery for one to hear. The charming wind was without its soothing grace. And Nara was solitude in exile with time creeping at a snail’s pace. With a storm raging inside his heart which needed to break.

Just as bliss dawns on one when he realizes the fruits of exile so did Nara’s face bloom when Narayana – The Lord Divine walked upon this soil that was created from Him. The land was thus baptised to a new lease of existence and every atom bore in its core the presence of Lord Divine. And from that moment of truth the Land was christened as “puniyabhoomi” – The Land Sacred. The nature got back to its originality thus ending a drought of nagging pain, ceaselessness and drudgery. The greenery pleased one’s sight and inspired one into divine realms. Winds brought the soothing fragrance of a celestial presence. And the voices of the nature brought joyous comfort to one’s weakened heart. And the holy soil cleansed one of dirt unseen.

Thus one is blessed to be born in this Land Sacred for it bears the very presence of Lord Divine and stands testimony to His unfailing grace. Nara was rejuvenated into a new state of consciousness, as the storm was broken. But this brief trance of exhilaration was to became only a cherished memory as Maya made her presence felt with Yali tainting the mind of Nara.

Maya with curves chiseled to perfection and an aura of intoxicating favour surrounding her, could bind anyone to her captivating look. With her raven black hair flowing, created waves of desire that was infinite. Her finely parted crimson lips poisoned one’s senses when tasted. Maya could rekindle anyone’s spring of desire even the best of seers, to prison them in her womb of creation known as the cycle of birth and death. Even Nara the best of human being couldn’t escape from Maya who presented herself in a female body. Thus captured into the womb of creation the first race of mankind dawned on this “puniyabhoomi”.

Thus as many suns dawned and moons shone did Nara and Maya, a perfect match lived on to progeny the first human race. The barren earth succumbs to the temptation of human kind. The unsplit soil like that of a virgin is forced open to sow the seeds of future offsprings.

Nara now a disillusioned man having lost his youth and wisdom to the charms of Maya, till his race covered the very face of the earth. Having observed that he had wasted his time he made a decision that it was time for him to move on. Pain stabbed through his heart as he bid farewell to his dear wife and their offsprings but at the bottom of his heart he knew all this were just an imagery of illusion even though his eyes were clouded with soft tears.

Nara made his way through the jungle’s deep and into dark cleavages of the mountains in search of one thing he most cherised and needed – Narayana. Having traveled deep and afar, losing the count of days Nara finally decided to take shelter on the snowy caps of the mighty white mountain that tore open the clouds. Amidst temperatures that would make a man’s bone crack and freeze one to death did he perform his penance sans a cloth over him. The pouring snow nor did the icy northern wind take pity on him. They blew to their fullest zeal to crack his heart but he urged along and alone into infinite nights since the snow white clouds, who also wanted to play their prank by blinding the sun from reaching him. This nature’s test and his endurance continued for days until the forces of nature that rocked him withdrew in dismay. All of a sudden a dead silence prevailed only interrupted now and then by the silent breathing of Nara.

From the thicket that surrounded Nara, emerged a fierce looking creature bearing a body of a mountain oxen with limbs that of a tiger with claws so sharp, it could raze a man to oblivion before he could know. It bore a face of man with teeth growing out on either side of his lip and with such curly black hair that no distinction could be made between the darkest night and it’s hair.

A growl was heard that shook the earth but not Nara who was deep rooted in his penance. Not even a shiver nor a shudder ran through his body as he witnessed the meanest and gruesome creation of nature approach him in an attacking stance. He stared straight into it’s eyes which was green in hue and was burning with malice inside. A battle waged, not in the physical plane, between the ordinary mortal and the extraordinary creation of nature. For, to defeat an enemy no matter his stature one has to defeat him from within which is what Nara did precisely.

An enemy that seemed formidable and terrifying to an ordinary mortal’s eye, lay buried in a heap of ashes with this Nara came to know that the most demanding part of his penance has come to an end.

A celestial wind blew to soothe Nara after his hard labour and was accompanied by an intoxicating fragrance. The celestial wind made him to seek the comfort offered by the hardened earth. As he lay there contemplating the successful completion of his penance and having not succumbed to any of the temptation, an egoistic smile was witnessed on his glowing face. And there came she more majestic than Maya in every aspect and once again the timeless creature Yali tainted the mind of Nara. Yali the greatest of all test any man could master to pass. Thus once again began Nara’s prolonged stay in the womb of creation. Little did he know that he had come back to square one.

Yali was one who was rejoicing at the sight of this as Narayana – The Lord Divine bore a silent witness to the microcosmism happening.

Another birth awaited Nara as he spent his rest of his years with the illusionary beauty.

Angeleyes (1 & 2)

2008-02-02T02:12:00.000-08:00

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created: Sunday, May 27, 2001 8:09:38 PM

The dying embers of a sacred fire
Has quenched a ritualistic desire
Of an existence that’s been of a purpose
In this mortal lease of life I suppose.

Into next birth do I travel
For a mystery to be unraveled
Of a creation that is ceaseless
In a womb of a damsel
I tear open the membrane
As I wake up to cries
I have heard once before –
The wailing that accompanies
When I am born
And when I close my eyes forever
After my mortal self ceases.

The world bears a smile
As this new burden of hope arrives
In a web of deceit and conceit
Do I wither my existence
In pursuit of long last desires
That has caught up with me
To elude me from unraveling the mystery
For which I have traveled so long.

On a flashy night
When the thunder rules the skies
And the lighting added to imagery of life
Do I witness a being of celestialness
whom I baptise as ANGELEYES.

Once lost passion of a forgotten seed
Comes to the fore
As she is dripping naked
Wet by the rains of desire.
So on that eventful night
When the lakes run deep
And the rivers flow on all fours
The seed is sown
On a fertile ground
That would bear me fruits
Of joy and wonder
As I witness myself reborn
Into this mortal existence.

The web of time spins new weaves
As angel eyes withers with time
Once the binding beauty is gone
So is the passion for life vanishes along
Alone in this world without Angel eyes
I carry on to unravel the mystery I came for
But then the spine has cracked
The muscles have weakened
bearing saplings of our creations.
In life’s end do I set out for it’s purpose
As the ritualistic fire are lighted
To mark my departure
But my desire for ANGELEYES hasn’t tarnished a bit
For it is my dying desire to be reborn
To embrace her in a physical form
When the truth is that the flesh shall wither away
What shall remain will be intangible to the human eye
Just as the fragrant breeze
that bears the aroma of the lilies by the mountainside.
Only the spirit shall remain
When we unite as one maybe a thousand births henceforth
But till then she will always remain my angel eyes.

The Beauty and the Beast and the beauty in the Beast.

2008-01-27T02:46:00.000-08:00

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Human birth is odd. It is a mixture of a bit of beast and the eternal divine beauty within. And it is a thin dividing line which we fail to see at times. The beast defines the logical and physical limitations of our birth. Whereas the beauty gives us a glimpse of what we are meant to be. Some say it is a blessing, some are over joyed while others repent for the trap they have fallen into.

The beast prowls most of the time untamed, indulging in harmless vices and limiting itself to be just another mundane creation of nature.

And it is tough for the beast to see the divine beauty within. But even when the beast does see the truth and purpose behind the creation, it is not easy to put down the beast that has grown fond of it's existence.

Its a constant struggle : putting down the beast to bask in the ther eternal sunshine of beauty.

The scars of the beast are deep and sore. It would take time to heal them if the beast allows it. It is a test that one has to master to dwell in the eternal divine beauty.

Traps are plenty and hunters are widespread in the jungle called life. The beast drowned in its limitations is comfortable calling it home. The knot tightens and time is not by the beast side. Will the beauty survive the beast or will the beast find the beauty within?

SHRINKING TIME........

2007-12-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

"With the demise of time everything else becomes irrelevant."
With technology having shrunk almost everything, is it possible to shrink the time taken by a human being to develop his faculties? Can a engineer be produced in micro-oven style? Or better still can we alter the growth and learning pattern?

"A baby doesn't need a textbook for learning to crawl ."
There is something beautiful when a person takes time to learn, that too, on his own. It sort of sticks to him for a longer time and opens up innovation. In today's rapid world we are not given that luxury of time.

It is usually "we are learning for the exam"
The teacher needs to finish the set portion in a years' time. If you have been able to understand or not is the need of the hour but rather are you ready to take the exam. No effort is put into making a student understand a concept rather it is oriented towards answering the question in the paper.

The natural beauty of the brain's functioning is prematurely killed. Time dictates our lives.

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UPCLOSE WITH A HUMAN BEING........

2007-12-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Of recent, I had been harbouring ethnocentric views and had a communal colouring to my perspective of the world. All this were about to change when i encountered this incident......

(Waiting to 'leave on a jet plane')

No Signal:

On a recent vacation to India, we had hired a prepaid taxi from Madurai airport to drop us at Sivakasi. We all were exhausted after a long flight and didn't notice the missing mobile after we had got down from the taxi. We were relieved when we contacted the taxi company at Madurai airport and they said they had the mobile with them.

On the retrieval quest:

I was entrusted with the task of getting back the mobile from Madurai airport. This required me to travel 80kms by bus which would drop me off on the crossroads to the airport. From there on I needed to cover another 6 kms either by taxi or auto to reach the airport. I reached the crossroads by the first morning bus and decided to walk the 6km stretch by foot, enjoying the early morning scenery of the coconut groves that filled either side of the road.

(Madurai airport when it is busy)

On reaching the Madurai airport, I got my mobile back from the prepaid taxi company without any hassle. Now I was faced with the daunting task of walking back to the crossroad which takes nearly 45 minutes (the 6km stretch).
I was offered a ride by taxi for Rs.100/- and then by an auto-fella for Rs. 50/-. I ignored their pleas and decided to walk the stretch.

Close encounter with a human being:
Just then came along a guy in a motorcycle who offered me a lift up till a mid point. I was overwhelmed by this kind gesture and took his offer. I opened a conversation with him and told him i had to catch a bus from the cross road. After reaching the mid-point he offered me a further lift till the bus stop on the pretext of having to fill petrol in a nearby petrol station(which he never did). I was dumb folded by this kind act. It was surprising to find a helpful person in today's fast paced world where people had time only for themselves.

The Message:
I was curious to know more about this good Samaritan. I asked him his name and he said he was Mohammed. And he said " I help you today so that when i am in need of help tomorrow some one will help me".

A simple fact of life. He never saw me as Hindu (he never asked me who I was) rather a fellow human being who needed help. He offered his without any expectations. And he went to the full extent to help me out. I had to travel a total of 160kms to get this message which made me take more of a balanced view of the world. India is not a country of religion rather it is of human beings. I found a genuine one.

On a later date I was able to catch up with Mohammed and say "Thank you" to him. His help had meant a lot.

(Mohammed towards my right, works in the Four wheeler parking section of Madurai Airport)

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Time is of essence. Time is of presence.

2007-12-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Time is of essence.

Time is of presence.

The world unfolded in front of HIS eyes as HE watched

the atom split and the creation came to birth.

Life sprang up systematically, breathing

and coherently walking a set path.
All was well and HE was at peace.

Millions of years have come to pass

and existence became unquestioned.

Seeds that have been sown must sprout,

fruit that has grown must ripen,

so did the mind that started the inquisition.

Delving deep into its state of survival did it

seek out answers that unbalanced HIM

Much was done to tamper the wheel of evolution

to deter the thought from seeking it’s true nature.

The battle was set for time to outrun those

who questioned their existence.

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sxbjd jfgke oiue physjk sjf!!!!

2007-11-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Lost in transaltion: The demise of a polish man in the airport

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THE WHEEL OF TIME SERIES COMES TO A HALT........

2007-11-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

I just came to know that Robert Jordan passed away.
With him the Wheel of Time series is also gone.

My brother had introduced me to Robert Jordan when he picked up the paperback edition of "THE EYE OF THE WORLD" (Book 1) from a book fair at Pondy Bazaar in Chennai for a throwaway price of Rs. 50/-. The book was was 600 plus pages. I had never attempted reading such a huge book. The only other book i had attempted of that size was Aldus Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD. I seriously wanted to prove myself that i could read books of menancing sizes and that too unabridged. So that set me off initially. And of course the cover art was amazing.

I do clearly remember the first day when i started reading the book. My quarterly exams were going on and my school was half day. We had the first half for the exam and the other half for preparing for exam. So i used to return home early and read a chapter of the book. Right from day one I was hooked to the book. I didn't want to put it down. I just wanted my exams to get over fast. And it did happen and i had my weekend to go all out for the book!!! Which i did. Over the next few days i finished the book. It was definitely a change from HARDY BOYS and Dr. NO!!!

And from there on i became an avid reader of all his books. Till BOOK THREE it was splendid. AND THEN THE DOWNFALL BEGAN FROM BOOK 5!!! It became a soap opera on book!!! I streched myself to read all his books till Volume 11. And now he is no more. THE WHEEL OF TIME HE SPUN HAS BEEN BROKEN. His eagerly awaited twelfth book "Memory of light" will be Memory of Robert Jordan.

Strikingly Simplistic Narrative style

What was interesting in his first 3 volumes were his plot, characters, the simplicity of narrative style and language, imagination, visual imagery and most of all the pace of events. It was action from the word "GO". It was lacking in the books to follow where the plot became a virtual standstill.

The Wheel of Time series....... A WASTE OF TIME????
Looking back with the current scenario I feel i was robbed of my time and money as the series is not complete by the author. Whatever comes out as his twelfth edition, will it be as good as Robert Jordan's intial vision? Only the book can answer that.

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Panchajanya: Can u hear it?

2007-10-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

A HINDU MUST RISE..............

(PANCHAJANYA - When the great battle Mahabharata was about to be waged in Kurukshetra, a conch was blown to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy)

Brand me as you please...... Hindu facist, Hindu terrorist or RSS. This time I am not going to lay low and take what is thrown at me. And this is just the beginning in trying to defend my way of life.

The RAM SETHU issue is the spark that is going to burn lot of people who are playing with it wrongly.

You can't fool all the people, all the time :

The first time i heard about RAM SETHU was a year ago when the government announced this ambitious project. It was called in Tamil as "SETHUSAMUDARAM thittam"(Note how RAM was dropped off from the project name by the DMK led Tamil Nadu government).

The way it was shown on SUN Tv made it seem like a desirable project for the betterment of the masses on the coastal area and for the country as a whole. Like millions I too was brainwashed and applauded the novel effort of the government with no prior knowledge on the history of the project. I got to know the actual facts from my niece when I had been to Tuticorin which is the centre point of the entire fiasco. The truth started to dawn on me slowly.

They need our votes not our thoughts

The pace at which the events have unfolded in the recent month has ascertained this fact. We are just needed to make up the numbers during the election after which our elected leaders will have a party at our expenses and we can't do a thing about it for 5 years!!!! It was happening in front of us:

1. The sudden love affair between the centre and the state government to see to that the project starts full swing.

2. Our honourable CM of TN's propoganda on Sun TV news on how important the project is and it has been endrosed by the leaders of yesteryear.

3. The ruling party called a one day bandh to gratify their motives.

And all the time we just watched. And the icing on the cake was:

The statements issued by the central ministers. What would you expect from a government that is partly manipulated by foreign hand. How would someone of foreign origin would be able to understand a culture and a way of life that they were not born into?

Now it is upto the common man to defend his way of belief and thinking. It is upto us.

Dharmo rakshati rakshitah (dharma protects the protectors)

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman's is trying to bring the true story into light. To know the whole story
of RAM SETHU and to dispell the ignorance caused by our leaders please visit
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman's blog and the subsequent links posted in his blog. He is spearheading
in giving the exact facts of the project. It is worth your time.

See the presentation made by Dr. S.Kalyanaraman.
http://poduniversal.blogspot.com/2007/05/adams-bridge-also-known-as-ramar-bridge.html

His blog is:http://setubandha.blogspot.com/

The very words that inspired Dr. S. Kalyanaraman "Dharmo rakshati rakshitah (dharma protects the protectors)" has inspired me to join his efforts. It has got no religion, race, caste or nationality bearing to it.

On a parting note, just reminded by a fable with which we all are grown up with: Once a saint adviced a snake which was a tyrant to mend its way. It took up the sage's advice and become a silent one. The people weren't afraid of it anymore and started to pick on it. Bruising and beating it up badly. Later the saint spotted the saint and was shocked to see it's poor state of affairs. He came to know the snake had become a docile and tolerant one. He said i asked you not to trouble others but I didn't tell you not to defend yourself. Go ahead defend yourself.

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THE PRICE OF EDUCATION?

2007-10-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

"An engineering seat is Rs. 5 lacs, a doctor seat can go upto Rs. 40 lakhs" that was the common phrases one used to hear when going in for an admission. But does it gaurantee a brilliant engineer or a good doctor? is the million dollar question only time will tell.

This brought into my mind an image my dad had asked me to observe on the streets of T. Nagar in Chennai, one day.....

My dad asked to look at a primary school kid who was all smiles as she was being escorted by her mother to the school. The young girl dressed in her school uniform with shoes was holding hand of her mother who didn't even have a slipper to wear and was wearing patched up saree yet saw to that her child was dressed properly for the education. She had provided her with a neat bag, good uniform and the best shoes her money can afford.... BSC. A water bag and a lunch carrier like everyother school kid you would find in the affulent neighbourhood and as advertsed on TV. Education for her child came with a price.... which is sacrificing her comfort. She was willing to get her feet burnt so that her child could go to school with her head held high.

Now equate this parent's sacrifice to that of a seat of engineering or doctor priced at a few lakhs.
Education is something to be free for all mankind who wants to learn. Rather it has become a commercial commodity which we have been made to believe can be got off from the shelf instantly if you have the purse for it.

The current scenario seems like the the scene from the famous 'Thiruvillayadal" play. Where Narada poses the question to the consorts of the trinity : Kalvia, Selvama, Veerama?
Right now it seems "Selvam" is ruling. Have money you can get what you want. Because education alone is not the key to success. It depends on what type of education you have had. A professional education fetched more than an ordinary degree. Why this disparity?

We have been fortunate to study and come up in life. Have we done anything in return? Our education system has taught us to be the fittest, individualistic and self-centric because all this would help you to survive. Finish school, get into a good college, get settled in a good career, get settled in life after your career has been set, have a family, children and there goes your life feeding for yourself alone. Never have we been taught to spare a moment for the world around us.

Making vision 2020 possible.

2007-10-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

It is really heart warming to see how indians rally to vote for an idol. The number of sms pouring in the media coverage and mileage for a show that makes mockery of originality. With all due respects to the participants and judges i dont mean to crticize them. Only if we could show the same enthusiasm for the social issues surrounding us I am sure we can achieve the vision India 2020.

Why not make the Indian election similar to Indian Idol?

People have time to sms their vote yet they fail to turn up in the electoral booths to cast the vote inspite of election day being declared a public holiday. Why can't our Election commission of India learn from the nation's favourite pass time show Indian idol and use a novel approach such as smsing your vote or better email your vote. I am sure the percentage of people who vote will surely increase. This would also give opportunity for people who are away to cast their vote from the convinence of the workplace or from their home away from home.

And with India boasting of being the software and IT hub, the IT companies can take up a challenge to create a NATIONAL ELECTION software. This would allow any Indian citizen with a valid bank account in his name to cast a vote from anywhere in the world. This way more educated people will start to vote and I am sure the vision 2020 will no longer be a mirage.

And why not make our parliment like the Indian idol playground. Where people can also take part in the decision making process by smsing in their views. This is true democracy and I am sure it will be for the good.

Chennai 600 017 - Enga area Ulla Vanga!!!!

2007-09-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

Watching chennai 600 028 brought good old memories of gully cricket we used to play during high school days in chennai. Its been close to ten years since we last played as a team in T Nagar Somasundaram ground (chennai 17). Miss the tennis ball, bat, stumps, panner soda, 50 paisa lemonade and gr8 friends - Kutty, Ashma, Eswar, Sowmi, Arvind Raj, Arun, Rajkumar, Sudharsan, Chanderpaul!!!, Deviprasad, Dinakar, vikram, and lot more...........

The movie inspired by gully cricket played in almost every street of India and played by all, I was no exception to this form of addictive game. I wasn't keen in cricket though i played it for the fun of being with friends. I started playing cricket after coming to chennai during my 8th standard summer holidays. It happened to be the only form of game played by all in the whole country and i had to join the bandwagon. Football was my all time favourite - never found the place and people to play with in India.

My good friend arvind introduced me to this form of the game playing in the Somasundaram ground in T nagar, Chennai - 17. It inspired me to join the summer coaching camp at school!!! That was the first and last of any summer sports camp i ever attended!!

For the next 5 years of my life till i joined college i was addicted to gully cricket.We played like madmen in all of the summer holidays from 6am to 12 in the afternoon. We used to return home drenched with sweat and darkened by the harsh sun. We cursed the rain if it spoilt the ground and played no matter how hot the sun shone on us. We used to arrive early to catch a pitch to play!!! We would never have woken so early for our exams but when it came to pitch capturing we were there as first!!!We had bet matches, fixed matches and most of all it was fun matches... no seriousness to it. End of the day it was good fun and great friends!!!

And i was a lousy fielder and used to drop all the easy catched and the ones i used to cling on to were either no balls or hit on the wrong side of the field!!!

A journey of thousand miles begins with a small step. This is mine.....

2007-09-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Way back in 2001, when we were working on a live brief for a blood bank in Ahmedabad, these ideas struck after days of desperate hard luck. The joy of having cracked the brief at that point of time is still fresh in the mind.

Thanks to Mr. Simon Fernandez and Mr. Subash Tendle for showing me and making me take the first small step into the world of advertising. A person might be immensely talented but if he is not able to share his knowledge, the talent is of no use. Both these professors were amazingly talented and at the same time were able to share their knowledge also. They might not be world renowned but they have made a world of difference to those who have been fortunate to be groomed by them.

Freedom is a mirage

2007-09-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

We are ignorant of the chains that make us prisoners in the so called free world..

We have our cells to live yet we call it a home.
We are limited and bound by time just as a prisoner's movement is limited.

Yet we turn a blind eye and call ourselves free. Are we really free?

Just b'cos u are fine doesn't mean everyone is fine.....

2007-08-10T13:00:00.001-07:00

As I lay in my bed trying to sleep I used to pose this question to my parents "Has everyone slept in the world?". I had this annoying habit of making sure everyone had hit the bed just like me when it was sleeping time. After getting a reassurance from my parents that everyone is about to sleep like me then only would I close my eyes. A habit I grew out of after 4th grade.

As I grew up my childhood image of everyone sleeping at the same time as I would changed. For half of the world it is day time when it is night for me and even in that night time there are a few of us who are doing night shift, completing assignments/ studying, staying up for no reason etc.
The world is not the same for everyone.

How foolish of me to think that the entire world would go to sleep with me. Just as I sometimes assume the world is a gr8 place to live in when I have my purse loaded and things are favouring me. Just because I have 100 bucks in my purse doesnt mean that the guy next to me or everyone in the world has the same denomination.

The world is one huge classroom. We restrict our learning curve to school and college and fail to see the real classroom in front of our eyes which is the world we live in. The world has many things for us to learn, experience, understand and put into practice eventually. I am trying to learn and it is not easy. But will succeed eventually one day.

One last note:

I was waiting for the local train at Park Station in Chennai. It was a hot day and i helped myself to a bottle of fizz drink. At that time to the platform arrived a family of four. There were 2 small children who must have been not more than 6 years old. They were accompanied by their parents who were both blind.

The kid boy cing the fizz wanted one also. He asked his father to get one. His dad told him it was a useless drink and there was no point in wasting money on it. Kid being a kid was adamant on what he wanted, the blind dad eventually got him one.

And I was just staring as the scene unfolded in front of me forgetting that i was holding onto a drink. In life we take so many things for granted. We have become immune to our surroundings. Just because I have my AC on while I sleep it does not mean everyone has the same luxury.

I will never be able to get over this scene. It might temporarily take a back seat but it will always be there to serve me as a reminder, to take a good look around me and think about it.

Amazing piece of work

2007-08-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

My brother brought home this cassette nearly a decade ago. Eversince I have fallen in love with the cover design. I am not a gr8 fan of Kula Shaker but what captivated me was the cover design for their debut album titled "K". A gr8 piece of work. I havent seen any better mix of two ideologies. It vibrates harmony and perfect synchronization.

Btw, Hey Dude and Tattva were personal favourites of mine from their album.

Taking pride in what we wear

2007-07-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

As i walk out into the blazing sun of Dubai's summer or the cool breeze of it's winter there has always being one thing that has remained constant in this fastly developing country.

You can spot its local people proudly sporting their local costume(national dress as they are refered to) be it high level corporate meetings or a social gathering in one of the world's cutting edge malls. They proudly display their national identity and cultural heritage.

Back at home if you are in "white vaistie and shirt" you are not welcomed in some places. Western way of dressing is appreciated and welcomed everywhere. Arabs are usually mocked at for not having brains and being barbaric but as i come to see they are more sensible than most developing countries. Even though they develop in the shadows of western power they have seen to that they dont lose their cultural identity. I am not sure about India.

In india we have kept aside a day to wear what is natural to us. But in Middle East they wear that all throughout the year. Its a pity India being democratic we are not allowed to wear our vaisties and shirts with pride.

A request to international theatres that screen Superstar movies

2007-07-21T01:49:00.000-07:00

The lastweekend was very exciting. We were finally going to get to watch the rajini's famous movie Sivaji which has caused so much news hype all across the world.

The Ticket:

It was playing in only one theatre in the entire of Dubai. It was at grand cineplex at the grand hyatt in deira. It was housefull being a weekend and most of them who turned up for that show were tamilians with exceptions of a few families.

Odd Welcome:

We were greeted at the entrance of the theatre by a A4 print out notice that read: Beyond this point people in lungis & mundis(must be refering to kerala word for lungi) are not allowed. Well that used to be the style back at home where you could sport your traditional dress and literally go anywhere.

The Show:

The theatre was a miniature version of the popular sathyam theatre in Chennai. One could compare this theatre to Santham. It was not as huge as Santham with the other difference being it had a balcony also. Spoke to one of the theatre attendants who said House Full would account for 300 people.

The screen was impressive. We had the curtains parting and revealing the screen. Similar style was followed for the break. No complains on the movie though.

Sankar formula + Rajini Style + ARR songs + Crazy Fans - Logics = One hella of a movie!!!

The rush hour:

One odd thing that I experienced watching a Tamil movie in a Dubai cinema hall is the rush to the restroom at the interval. The restroom was poorly equipped for a rajini film. Imagine a male population of over 200 having to adjust in a restroom whose maximum capacity is to handle only 8!!! There were 4 toilets and 4 urinals and literally there was a line to use the urinals. There were atleast 15 people standing in a line to use the urinals!!! For myself i had to bear the nature's call lit more longer till the movie got over.

But still then there was a queue. There must have been many like me who had postponed the nature's call till the movie got over. Had to hang on to my life till i could free myself after 15 minutes!!!

A REQUEST:

International theatres that are equipped to show a Rajini starrer coupled with Sankar, please upgrade your amenities to meet the rush of the crowd.

Why Tamilians like Superstar?

2007-07-19T20:34:00.001-07:00

There are many reasons to why an outsider is welcomed in so many homes in Tamil Nadu. Some say he has an original style, good actor etc. All these hold true and there is no dispute to it.

But one reason why he is so popular is for his hair style. His hair style was something every tamilian identified with. Me being a tamilian, as a kid I have been subjected to have my hair well oiled and combed down neatly. If that was not followed i was seen as an outcast! I am sure there are many like me who have experienced and have lived through a phase of life which was dictated by oil and combed down hair. And moreover having a long hair was a taboo!

Then came a hero who was complete opposite of the popular culture of having oiled hair, combed down and having it short. Maybe that was one of the reasons why people propelled him to stardom?

15 Laws of Life : Swami Vivekananda

2007-07-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

15 Laws of Life :: a good one when u can devote some time.

What You Need to Keep in Mind

1. Love Is The Law Of Life:
All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.

2. It's Your Outlook That Matters:
It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.

3. Life is Beautiful:
First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!

4. It's The Way You Feel:
Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.

5. Set Yourself Free:
The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

6. Don't Play The Blame Game:
Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands,
bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.

7. Help Others:
If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass
of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.

8. Uphold Your Ideals:
Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and
strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.

9. Listen To Your Soul: You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you,
none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

10. Be Yourself:
The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!

11. Nothing Is Impossible:
Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so.
If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

12. You Have The Power:
All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before
our eyes and cry that it is dark.

13. Learn Everyday:
The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.

14. Be Truthful:
Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.

15. Think Different:
All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret
of everything.

What are we here for?

2007-06-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Seeking pleasure is worldly ignorance..........

Seeking happiness is sign of knowledge........

but seeking enlightment is birth of wisdom

Aftermath....

2007-06-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

The only president I have ever been proud since i came to know about politics has stepped down refusing to continue for a next term. Will we ever find such an inspirational personality ever again? He was a gr8 source of encouragement and symbol of selfless dedication to task at hand. I am sure if we had a people's election, he would be a clear shot winner. But destiny seems to have other plans as we are depending on the 500 odd selfish ones to decide. Shouldnt we support someone who is doing a good job of what he is assigned? Has no one has a vision for this country to prosper? Arent the elected representatives keen on seeing our country develop or they are happy if they only prosper. A sad end to India.

Be humble, part 1 - By Swami Paramatmananda

2007-06-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

In the book "For My Children," there is a verse in which Mother says:
"We need to have an attitude of total surrender to the Guru in order to advance spiritually. When a child learns the alphabet, the teacher holds his fingers and makes him scrawl the letters. The teacher controls the movement of the child's finger. But if the child proudly thinks, 'I know everything,' and doesn't obey the teacher, how can he learn?"

This is one of the reasons why we are unable to attune ourselves to the Guru's presence: because in all of us, whoever we may be, there is pride, to a greater or lesser degree. It just comes with the package, so to say. When you are born you feel that you are the body, and then dehabhimanam comes to you, which is the pride of thinking that you are the body; it is your identification with the body. It is unavoidable. In ancient days that wrong notion was, to a large extent, controlled by traditional values. The children went to a gurukulam and lived with a Guru. They learnt how to lead their lives and acquired both spiritual and worldly knowledge. Now that system has almost vanished. Everybody goes to school, and facts are fed into the brain. But the students no longer feel any reverence towards their teachers or the subjects they are studying. The more people learn, the more they think they know. Instead of developing the great quality of humility, they are filled with pride about the book knowledge they've acquired. Mother says: "Water doesn't collect on top of the mountain when it rains; it runs down into the valley."
Humility is a sign of wisdom, not pride. If a person is proud, you can be sure they have no real wisdom. They may have a lot of knowledge, but not wisdom. All that knowledge has to go before any real wisdom can be absorbed.
Once, a philosophy professor went to a mahatma. He said, "Swami, I want to learn all about God. Please tell me something about God." The swami replied, "Would you like a cup of tea first?" The professor said, "Sure." So the swami fetched a teapot and a cup, and handed the cup to the professor. He started pouring the tea, and the cup that the professor was holding was soon full. But the swami kept pouring. He poured and he poured and he poured, and the tea was running all over the man's hand and down onto the floor and out through the door. The professor said, "Swami, what are you doing! Can't you see? Are you crazy?" The swami said, "I am not crazy. I can see perfectly well. The cup is full and the tea that is being poured is not staying in the cup. It is the same with you. You are full. You're full of book knowledge. So whatever I say to you won't get in; it will just roll out onto the floor. You have to empty your cup. Only then can any real wisdom enter into you."
Wisdom and intellectual knowledge are two different things. Many of us read countless spiritual books, and we may think that is good. In a way, it is good to read spiritual books rather than worldly books, magazines, novels or newspapers. Because when you read a spiritual book, you're thinking of the spirit, you're thinking of God or the Self. But the problem is that we come to a person like Mother, and we look at Mother in terms of the book we have read. We judge Mother's words and actions -- we judge everything and everybody, not just Mother -- in the light of what we've read in some books. And then we miss the point, because our preconceptions prevent us from seeing anything as it really is. It is good to read to a limited extent; but beyond that, there's a tremendous presence radiating from Mother that cannot be described in any book. You will never find it in a book.
In fact, the only way you can feel that divine presence is through humility. And that is what we are talking about here: humility and pride. The pride of knowledge, the pride of learning, is one of the things that closes us off from feeling that divine presence. It's just like the sun. The sun is so big and powerful. But if you just put your thumb up in front of it, you can hardly see it. You can see other things around you, but not the sun. So when the pride of knowledge is predominant in us, then the sun of wisdom, the presence of God, doesn't shine. Our mind is full of preconceived notions. We have to make a crack or a hole in it so that the bliss can leak in and we can feel it.
Once we get over our pride of knowledge, we begin to have some faith in the Guru and we begin to see who the Guru is. As we develop, we start to understand the Guru more. The Guru is always the same. We are the ones who are changing.
A farmer once found a large diamond lying in a field. He took it to the nearest town to have it evaluated. He went to the vegetable dealer and asked, "How much is this worth?" The vegetable dealer said, "I'll give you two heads of cabbage and a pound of beans for it." But the farmer said, "That doesn't sound reasonable at all." So he went to a material shop. The cloth merchant said, "Oh, this is very valuable! I'll give you 100 yards of silk for it." "No, that doesn't seem right either," said the farmer. He then went to a shop where they sold cheap jewellery. The jewellery dealer said, "Oh, this is extremely valuable! I'll give you a thousand dollars for it." But the farmer decided to try one more place. He went to the best jewellery shop in town, the shop with the greatest reputation. They looked at the diamond and said, "This diamond is invaluable. Don't sell it whatever you do." So people valued the diamond differently -- but the diamond was always the same. Similiarly, Mother is always the same. She is Devi. She is Brahman. Once we come to Mother, we begin to change. But Mother never changes.
Then another problem arises. Many sadhaks (spiritual aspirants), especially those who previously had a lot of book knowledge, do their sadhana according to Mother's teachings. And then some of them start saying, "O Mother, I've had such and such an experience!" They try to impress Mother about what they believe to be their spiritual achievements.
Once a Guru was in a similar situation. He initiated a disciple and then sent him away. He said to him, "Write me a letter about your progress every month." So the disciple went away and wrote a letter to the Guru every month. First he wrote: "O Guru, my head went through the roof and I expanded and became the whole universe, and then I came down and I could understand what the dogs were saying." (Not what humans were saying, only what the dogs were saying!) The next month he wrote: "God is shining fully within me. My mind is going up and down in the seven chakras." Then the month after that: "The whole universe is full of light and I'm flying around like a hummingbird." And then he wrote: "O Guru, I'm so grateful for Your grace," and that sort of thing. And finally, one month, no letter came. The Guru waited another month, but nothing came. Six months went by and there were still no letters. Then the Guru wrote a letter to the disciple, saying, "What is the matter? Why don't you write to me anymore?" The disciple wrote back and said, "There's nothing to say. My mind has become silent." This is what has to happen. We should never feel proud about our sadhana. We can write to the Guru to get some doubt cleared, or to receive some advice; but we have to be careful to erase the pride of sadhana, the pride of knowledge, and the pride of devotion. Some say, "I was in tears the other night when I was listening to bhajans. I had so much devotion!" All this is the ego -- it's all pride. And it obstructs the shining of grace. Our mind has to become quiet and calm. Then we can feel the grace.
There is also the pride of youth. All of us were young once. In fact, many of us are still young. And for some reason, a lot of pride comes with being young. I remember when I started my spiritual life, I must have been sixteen or seventeen years old. I learned how to do yoga asanas, the yoga postures; I learned a little meditation; I was eating vegetarian food -- and that was it. I thought I was a saint! In those days I had very long hair, and if somebody said, "O, you look like Jesus Christ," I would think, "Yes, I'm just like Jesus Christ!" but all I needed was a pinprick and I was finished! Jesus Christ, on the other hand, had the nails driven through his hands and feet, and it was no problem for him. I read a few books. I read the Bhagavad Gita, and I considered myself an authority on Hinduism! At the age of eighteen, when I had read both the Gita and the Upanishads, I was ready to teach the whole world! I used to argue and talk with anybody who would listen. This is what happens when you are young. All these things are obstructions. Then when you get a bit older or when you live in the company of a real mahatma, you start to realize, "I don't know anything! I'm really a fool! I thought I knew so much, but I know nothing at all, only what I've read in books." When you begin to realize that you don't know anything; that is the beginning of true knowledge. Then there is a chance of learning something, of knowing something.
There is another type of pride which some of us have: the pride of wealth. At some point we may be very prosperous. Then, unknowingly and unintentionally, we feel proud of our wealth and that we are such and such a person. We think, "Don't they know who I am?" We may even project it onto Mother: "Mother should give me special attention. Doesn't She know who I am?" Or we may feel that we are helping instead of serving. We have to be very careful of this.
(to be continued in February 1999)

Inner consciousness

2007-05-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

The inner consciousness represented by the thin lines that seems to be eaten by the evergrowing darkness surrounding it. It seems a losing battle, will these thin lines survive the worldly test represented by the darkness. Only time will tell. But if u build on one line at a time they can overpower the engulfing darkness as represented in this sketch.

Awaken the inner consciousness and build it one at a time.

The best mode of transport in Middle East......

2007-03-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Came across this signboard which read Speed Limit for Camel 20. Of course no camels are to be found on the streets of Dubai but why put this sign in a posh shopping mall called Burjuman? Found out later it was parking lot signage, for each parking space they had used an animal to denote it.

A new marketing concept.....

2007-03-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

When i was walking down i came across this van parked in front of a super market.
As you can see they were catering to a very particular niche - "Supper Market"!!!. I haven't heard that before but it seems to be a good marketing preposition. Imagine having a super market i mean supper market that caters only dinner! It's open in the evenings only. It will do well in a market where people dont have time to cook and is mostly expat population.

Obiviously it was a typo error on the van but as i said it seems a good marketing idea.

How i feel today....

2007-03-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

Looking for change....

2007-03-14T02:09:00.000-07:00

Change is inevitable. It transforms from one state to another. Just as energy.
It is/was and always will be there. For good or worse it is upto each individuality to decide.

memories remain....

2007-02-07T04:28:00.000-08:00

when darkness creeps in,
the memory of light remains
when failure dawns,
the sweet memory of success remains
when u are in the brink of oblivion,
the memory of having lived remains.

2007-01-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Spontaneous snap by Kapil - i think it conveys a lot

Homecoming

2007-01-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

It’s been close to 30 months since I stepped out of India. I was looking forward for my first corporate vacation back to my roots, a break from endless malls, glittering skyscrapers, spotlessly clean roads, unoccupied pavements and seemingly perfect systems and clean people.
.
After surviving a sudden outbreak of Murphy’s law at the office I was on my way to a place I can call home. It is truly an amazing experience to be back amidst the dust and rubble, noise of all sorts, roads with potholes, atmosphere with strong stench of human and animal odour, occupied pavements, crowded roads where literally everyone is fighting for space to drive, walk, park and sleep on them! Where every soul on the street is fighting out for an existence, living in intolerable inhumane conditions according to western economic standards which we have come to believe and follow blindly. Life in its full meaning can be witnessed on these streets - families struggling to find their next meal, families having plenty of them to waste about, expensive food joints, inexpensive modes of transport (bullock carts) etc. The streets of India are truly a kaleidoscope.

But things have changed over the years. Lifestyle, habits and culture all of which are the negative by products of globalistaion. Good or bad only time will tell.

How true?

2006-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

"There is enough for a man's need but not for his greed."
I think we are beginning to realise the truth of this statment made by a half naked fakir more than 5 decades ago. The polar ice caps melting, the divide between have and have nots widening..... the signs are there.

2006-12-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

The CITY

A city all too perfect

“Rome was not built in a day”

The tall skyscrapers of the city rose well up into the horizon embracing the first rays of the dawn. The city slowly rose upto life, to the tunes of daily chores that awaited it’s inhabitants. The metro trains speeding in tunnels down under, the city traffic at a crawling pace that occupied the super highways above, all seemed to co-exist in perfect orchestral balance. Its dwellers dressed in finely cut costumes of different hues and style went about their daily activities with extraordinary precision. It was the set pattern of human precision, which was in work. The perfect place any person would aspire to be part of in the 22nd century. Such perfectly engineered cities had mushroomed all across the Indian sub-continent. From the yesteryear Mumbai to the Manipur in the far east and Kanyakumari to the south. These cities were built on years of human perfection endured in all aspects of life. The very best of every field went into constructing them. In fact these cities were carbon copies of numerous such ones that existed all across the globe. A technology perfection that was passed down from the West. Just like the city, its dwellers were constructed to perfection to create an eternal harmony in existence which had ceased to exist in the world by the end of 21st century.

The Blueprint

“No blueprint is complete until what it is intended for is complete”

After the ‘great calamity’ of the 21st century the human mind had attained near perfection of all the technological inventions. These set the blueprint to build these cities. But the technological and architectural brilliance achieved by the mind was found missing in the natural creation of human beings. An imbalance existed in the natural blueprint of the human species. Hence in the quest to create a perfect balance for life and change the natural blue print of human species was embarked. From then on human beings were constructed. An ulterior motive existed behind all the quest.

The Architects

“God created man in his own image or did He create what he lacked?”

The architects of this perfect world were none other than capitalist gurus called ‘The Suits’ who needed to feed the mammoth system they had created and perfected through the centuries. In order for their rare breed of species to survive they needed perfect functioning of their market. Technological and industrial excellence was achieved a long time ago but still the human being was the one that needed perfection and conditioning for this system of theirs to survive. Hence human beings were no longer a part of a natural fabric of life but they were engineered and constructed just like the city they existed in. Like the perfect curved arches, finely decorated interiors, near perfect finishes so were the humans fabricated to live in this perfect world. But every city has its own backyard to hide.

The Backyard

‘Every perfection has a certain margin of error without which it cannot be achieved.’

The backyard known as the dumping ground consisted of “the misfits”, those errors that occurred in engineering and construction of the human species. The blueprints that went wrong and was no longer needed. The misfits were the slow learners, handicaps, physically challenged, blind, deaf, dumb, retarded, disfigured, odd size ones etc. They were seen as a burden and a drawback to the system. They dwelled outside the city walls away from the people from the metro. They lived in places called slums. The nature’s defects were only physically inadequate but had beautiful minds of their own. The capitalist system failed to understand and see this. For years they dwelt in the shadows of the city and lived in what it cast off. But they were now a threat to the city and the city had no requirement of them. It was decided by the Suits to wipe them off from the slums and build the city bigger and in larger scale. Thus began the struggle.

Any Takers?

2006-10-08T01:39:00.000-07:00

During the weekend I was watching Sun Tv covering the programme where the entire film industry was felicitating the current CM of the state. With all due respects to him it was a bit over done. This made me analysis the programme content of the channel which my family members like millions across the world are glued to it. 99 percent of the content are film based. Either it is never-ending soap serials, movie countdown, movie quiz or anything that has a movie taint in it. It is quite entertaining but after a point of time they make you believe as if there is nothing else apart from the film personalities and movies. This sort of content feeding would make a wrong impression on a growing youth. I woulk like to see more of development programmes happening. To start with :

Why can't we have an awards in collobration with the tinsel world which awards eminent personalities from different walks of life. There are so many inspiring and deserving personalities who have done lot of self-sacrifice beyond their capacity. They needed to be brought out into limelight and packaged in an entertaining way. Like Film fare awards we need to have Acheiver's award. Any takers ?

We are the fodder.......

2006-10-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Wake up ... go to work... come back... hit the bed. 5 days in a row. And maybe sixth also. Till you get the week end off for sure. Watch TV, listen to radio, see things that initiate the consumerisitc instint in you and always fall in line even though we want to change things around us. The system controls us.

We are like fodder day in and day out. Bound by some invisible sense of duty, passion and sincerity instilled in us by the very system we created. We have created such a world where it has now become either be with us or you are against us. The system we have created needs us. We are the fodder without which it cannot function and yet we still happily feed it.

Every day is just another day.

Just a thought... about the future - 1

2006-09-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

One of the main pillar's of Indian society is arranged marriage. Usually it is the parent's call and the boy or girl ( most of the times it is the girl) who has got no choice. One question that has been troubling me nowadays, is in the distant near future, one generation from now, will this institution survive? If so what form will it end up in? One of them might be in the boy's or girl's resume you would need to have a coloumn that says 'AIDS TEST - POSITIVE or NEGATIVE ( RECENT DOCTOR"S REPORT ATTACHED). India is going through a rapid social change culturally and I am sure it is affecting the lifestyle of every individual in the country. I am sure this question might become a reality in distant future.

World HONESTY DAY

2006-09-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Is Honesty becoming irrelevant in today's modern capitalist society ? Do we have any role models whom we can look upto to draw inspiration ranging from simple down to earth individuals to celeberties ? Well I guess it is a BIG NO. I think we need to start from somewhere. Where people can post episodes from their life where they have witnessed a honest act. I think we need to reward these unsung heroes who ensure the dignity of the word honesty. May be a blog or a website which will be s sort of insporation to the generation to come and for us. Any idea where we can start the WORLD HONESTY DAY from?

Ideas for better living

2006-09-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Whenever you open the newspaper in Dubai chances are you will always find an accident report for sure. There are reasons why this bound to happen : (1) Let's admit the truth - Dubai is growing rapidly. Moreover it is a city under constant construction. For a city buzzling with rapid life these things are bound to occur. It happens in India with a huge population.

(2) Why don't car manufacturers produce slow going cars for the city. With maximum speed reaching to only 100Kmph. max which is good for riding in he city. If people want to speed they can go to go-karting and other stimulated driving arenas. Let them not turn their cars into ferrari on the roads.

(3) When a person is drunk there should be a sensor in the car door handle which will stop him from driving. Let me elaborate, there is a sensor attached in the car door handle which will sense the alcohol content in his blood. And if it exceeds permitable level it wont allow the person to drive. Similar thing can be done to the steering wheel.

(4) If the traffic police stop placing hidden cameras which catch the driver by suprise, which in turn makes him reduce speed drastically and all of a sudden to the driver behind, which will ultimately lead to some sort of collision and finally the blame will be laid on over speeding!!! End of the day the traffic department pockects the fine at the risk of driver's life.

(5) And finally some one needs to enforce the law that dont speak on the mobile while you drive. Like wearing seat belt this needs to be made mandatory.

ECLIPSE

2006-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Heard a lot about blogging, I am new to this though. My first attempt at a blog. I am starting with a strings of jottings and writings. Hope u enjoy them..........

The morning dove signaled the coming of a spirited soul.

The land that lay still for the night, woke to hymns of blissful delight

rendered by the sparrows, who occupied trees of great height.

The ever abundant river picked up his pace

as he brought fresh waters to wash away the weariness of the past day.

The saintly travelers of distant land

clad in saffron with matted brown hair

settled on the bank’s soothing grass

carrying bags of precious merchandise

meant for the one who comes with the breaking dawn

after the earth had been eclipsed by the gloomy sun’s shadow.

On a day when the living species

of the greenish-blue planet

witnessed two dawns - a phenomenon

was about to occur

as foreseen by the seers of yesteryears

who calculated the arrival of a Messiah

with the vanishing daylight.

Thus the seers clad in saffron awaited in a corner

When a crusader of holy origin armed with a sniper’s arrow

Took aim from the tree above

To drive home his poisoned silver into a heart of love.

The mist cleared for the messiah to set his foot on the land sacred

Wearing a robe of celestial colouring with a shepherd’s staff by his side.

His face shone with an unseen light and his eyes radiated a warmness

that melted the aim of the steadfast crusader perched on the tree.

But it was a divine providence for the crusader

to loosen the string on his bow that sped the arrow into the heart of gold

A cry of pain was heard as the crusader broke his neck

from the fall due to a lost grip on the tree.

The sniper’s target was not missed

as the messiah from the west of Eden

lay in a bed of flowers breathing his last

to be reborn from the ashes

into the land of snake-charmers and great wisdom.

His rejuvenated life was spent wisely

Among teachers of great knowledge

And in caves of darkness and silence

In icy snow peaks where penance became a way of life.

For a decade or so his already free spirit liberated

But the spirited messiah proceeded back

to the town of his origin to finish a work undone.

And from across the ocean did he rise

No longer an ordinary mortal by any means

Did he preach his first sermon on the mount

That bound the rest of the humanity into a religion of love.

The AWAKENING

2006-09-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

A forgotten memory strikes just like a dream that comes in the sleep ……..

The quietness that existed when the darkness hung in the skies above the ocean of life was like energy in a slumber. Not an atom or molecule stirred, only the silence prevailed in an eternity that seemed to be frozen where time failed to tick. Then somewhere down this calmness came the winds of turmoil which changed the state of existence forever. On the helm of these winds rode the timeless creature to whom time was bound. It came out of existence to stir existence. It was just a touch on the ocean surface which sent quite ripples down to the floor. It shook into existence a million souls who were in slumber. And for the first time in a timeless time the ocean of life woke to memories once forgotten. The blackness that hung in the sky grew darker in nature as it was waiting for life for a long time, to enter it once again and reshape it as it desired. Just as the winds started to blow so were they gone.

The ocean of life was beginning to be consumed by darkness as it grew slowly and steadily. Darkness was free everywhere.

All the souls were lost to darkness but for a few. They were the center of existence that held them all for so long. It was time for them to enter the blinding darkness to liberate themselves once again.

The one entity split into two- THE EXISTENCE ( NARAYANA )and THE SEEKER ( NARA ).

Preparing for existence both the souls which were one plunged into darkness …..

Thus entering the Cycle of Time which was bound to the TIMELESS CREATURE began the journey of liberation.

Down ages and centuries did these two souls which were one, traveled working out each one’s salvation.