Money wisdom

Nowadays ATMs not only dispense cash but also words of wisdom.
check out what I found written on one of the notes





also the back of the note:

A LOT CAN HAPPEN OVER TEA

I walk into the room and greet him, this acquaintance of mine.

" hello uncle, kaise ho?"
" arre beta aao, kaise ho? bahut dino baad mile ho, sab theek hai na?"
" sab theek hai uncle, bas aapki dua hai"

then the dreaded question or statement , whichever way it is presented:

" beta chai piyo"
" uuuhh...uncle main chai nahi pita"

"coffee chalega? ya thanda mangwau? koi baat nahi beta, zara sa pi lo, aadhi cup"

" arre nahi uncle, ( i have to start explaining that i dont drink too much tea, just had a cup in the mornin, i rather prefer coffee and that too only once a day with lots of sugar, i dont even have cold drinks , ,blah blah, "

" arre nahi , aise kaise chalega, kuch to lena hi padega"
( what now? your peon will hold me down while you force it down my throat?)

The dumb peon/office boy walks in with a cup of hot piping tea despite my earnest requests.

" ab to chai aa hi gaya hai, pina to padega"
" lekin ... magar...par..."

and this guy proceeds to hand me the cup with his parkinson's hands, " titter , twatter ( cup sounds)"
" blik!!! , splash!!!, tatter , crash ( tea spills all over me, cup crashes to the floor)
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH...( me running out screaming, and people wondering why im holding my crotch area with steam all around it)

THE NEXT TIME:

" beta chai piyo"
no more hesitation:
" sllllllllurpppppppp!!!, wah uncle kya chai hai, maza aa gaya."

Kangal Irandal

Im writing in after a long time.

The writer's block borne out of despondence and self pity has finally died. And the one responsible for this is a song. "Kangal irandal" a tamil song from the movie 'subramaniapuram' is this wonderful song. I heard this song on a friend's mobile and downloaded it instantly. That night i heard this song a record 27 times straight, only stopping coz my batteries died. I never did that before except for "pehla nasha" which i consider to be the best love song ever. However this song takes over that mantle.

Those who understand tamil will surely agree that the lyrics are nothing but pure poetry. Whenever I'm down in the dumps, this song really peps me up, music therapy anyone? Numerous blogs have already been written about this movie and song. I recently saw the video on SUN TV .............and I fell in love with it all over again.

click here for the video

yeah im still alive

a long post after a long time....exams to blame , not me.
I recently won the 2nd runner up for my story Blood and rain on the writers lounge
I dont know whether to be happy with mediocrity or wallow in a delusion of grandiosity.
But the blog sure feels like a second home to me now.
Anyways do check out this site where i spend most of my time on the net
(click here)

SHED NO TEARS...THE AFTERMATH

Shed no tears for 26/11 for the resilient spirit of Mumbai will soon forget all the horrific incidents. The victims and martyrs will suffer no less. The news channels that now glaringly show the funerals of the brave heroes will soon switch over to Rahul Mahajan's latest love interest or to Abu Salem's love life or even some equally insignificant happening in some rotten saas bahu serial. Mumbaifolk will carry on with their daily chores and dreary lives maybe with a hint of fright stored at the back of their minds , ready to pounce at the earliest rumour. Our ministers (who never did anything rather than fight amongst themselves) will continue to do what they do best....all those things that i need not mention. Soon we will all go back to fight over casteism, regionalism and religion , thereby forgetting that the terrorists took advantage of this very situation. Bloggers will blog , newspapers will print, tv channels will broadcast and it will all be stored away in some archives either hard copy or in our memories deep down.

Unless...... unless.....we shed no tears....Coz this is not the time to shed tears, for they will take away the pain and anguish of the recent happenings and make you feel better. It is not the time to heal. It is not the time to recuperate. It is the time to fight back. It is time to fight the system which we ourselves are corrupting. It is time to hold back those tears and channel the anguish towards a better tomorrow. It is time to lead from the front and work our way out of this mess if we dont want our children to point out to us and ask why...why didnt we act?..why?


This is what you should do :

1. Dont accept OR GIVE any bribes. Corruption begins from the very grass root level and that is what is eating away into our moral and social fabric.
2. Dont spread rumours (however jocular) especially in times of crisis.
3. Be alert. Keep a watch for antisocial elements, any strange happenings or people in your neighbourhood.
4. DO NOT , I REPEAT DO NOT GIVE IN TO INFLAMMATORY SPEECHES GIVEN BY POWER HUNGRY POLITICIANS. HOW MANY MORE YEARS OF HISTORY LESSONS WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE TAKING YOU FOR A RIDE.
5. Develop a sense of intellect and participate more in discussions and debates. Read, listen, look, understand, research before you comment or act.
6. Respect the environment. Do what you can to save water electricity, paper and everything else that need not be wasted.
7. DONT REITERATE THE STATEMENT OF " WHAT CAN I DO AS A SINGLE PERSON?"
Believe in your individuality and develop a sense of confidence and pride in what you are. At the same time develop a feeling of love for the Nation that you belong.

And then....when we accomplish all this.....then cry your heart out. Then you can weep tears of remorse, for had we acted earlier , we would not have faced this tragedy

Whats new?

Whats new if you ask me....pretty much.
A new painting started.
A new split up routine in the gym , a nice pretty lady too, trying to know her.
A new diet regimen.
India winning matches in a row ( you dont get to see that often)
Sensex dropping further down the drain ( there goes my investments)
Speaking of cricket...here's a new funny blog on cricket...a bit of ol' English humour http://blogs.cricinfo.com/andy-zaltzman/?addata=blog_az_comms

Mushroom salad

I tried my hand at making a mushroom salad today ( yeah , I can cook a bit). Turned out quite nice. Thought I'd make mom a guinea pig first, turns out she hates mushrooms. I cant quite comprehend how someone can hate mushrooms. Its just one of those things that should be worshipped ( chili sauce and mozarella cheese being the others).

Here's the recipe though:

Ingredients:
200 gm button mushrooms sliced and diced ( like the ones in the pic)
1/2 an onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 cucumber sliced/julienned ( if you can)
salad dressing /lime juice half a cup
salt to taste
2tbsp olive oil

Method:
1. Saute the onions and the mushroom in olive oil on low flame for 5 mins. Add salt ( as per your palate or your blood pressure)
2. Add this to the cucumber and tomato in a salad bowl
3. Add the salad dressing / lime juice . Toss as you would your boss's brains ( if he had any)
4. Experiment on someone.
5. If the person does not choke on it, its safe and you can enjoy it.

In case you plan to try it out, let me know how it was.

Meanwhile check out these cute mushroom lamps http://www.geekalerts.com/?s=mushroom

No travel blog this....

My trip to delhi was nothing short of an adventure. Going all the way to delhi for an entrance exam is itself an ordeal. But the Rajdhani experience and the company of friends somehow compensated for the trouble at least one way. The return was a disaster though.
The AIIMS entrance was a tough fight. I don’t really care about the results, all that mattered is giving the exam. The exam was an eye- opener, I could really gauge my level of knowledge. The trouble began after the exam.

4.15 pm : My waitlisted ticket for the Rajdhani had dropped from 218 to 1 AND STAYED AT THAT. It was highly irritating to see my number waitlisted at 1 and I was even more frustrated when the TC ( THE DUMB GUY) said that I couldnt even board the train. It was a frantic run to the ticket counter to cancel it.

4.29 pm : There I encountered shady touts who were scrambling around whispering “reservation, cancellation, kidhar jaana hai?, confirmed milega”. Not wanting to pay them 500 bucks extra for a ticket , I decided to cancel it myself and stand in queue for another round to book a ticket for my journey back home. That was when I was enlightened by the ticketing clerk that all trains were packed till the next day.

5 :30 pm : Im stranded at New Delhi railway station with my luggage. Ok plan B – Air travel. I started looking for a travel agency. New Delhi – the capital of India has no travel agencies close to its railway station. Only touts hanging around. I was in for a bigger surprise though. I walked for a good ten minutes and found all shops closed ( it was a Sunday) and people getting stranger by the second. The only shop open was a Beer bar. A few paces later a skinny guy approached me “ saab, time pass karma hai kya? Jo chahiye who milega, nepali, telegu tamil , malu, gujju, 15 se leke 26 saal ke umar tak milega, acchi ladkiya hai saab. Dekhne ka paisa nahi saab, bas ek baar dekh to lo” It took me only one second to realize where I was and only half a more to turn around and run. I had unknowingly ventured into a red light area.

6.00 pm : Finally found an agency and booked a ticket, but now he tells me that he wont accept a credit card. I run to locate the nearest SBI ATM and stand in queue (man I hate these queues). I rush back to him only to find the tickets ready but not the taxi to take me to the airport. A good fifteen minutes later , the travel guy arranges a vehicle for me and Im off.

6.40 pm. : I have to reach the airport by 7 pm and the driver is trying to do his best, but you cant really fly out of traffic can you? ( not yet). Just when I was thinking that nothing more could go wrong, the car came to a halt bang in the middle of the highway. A few jerks and pushes later it finally relented and the driver sped off

7.00 pm : I am at the airport on time , but my flight is delayed ( yes I took an AIR INDIA flight). So its another long wait.

9 15 pm : flight takes off.

11 .45 pm : Im out at Bombay airport, where I discover that Taxis and rickshaws charge you a bomb to take you anywhere. More money leaks from wallet.

1 .00 am : Im home and I crash.

Happy Diwali everyone

I awoke to an eerie silent morning. Eerie because its diwali and I have grown up with diwali crackers bursting from 4 am in the morning, much to the chagrin of our neighbours. Is it because of the recession or is it just the overall bad mood in the air? Or have people started waking up to realize the bad effects of noise and air pollution? I personally believe that crackers only stand for child labour and pollution. The deathly silence followed till afternoon where I only heard an agonizing cries of a dog ( I later learnt that a himesh reshammiya song was playing in the neighbourhood).
I was confused whether to rejoice about the prevailing better sense or to mull on the sadness of a dull festive season. Just then I heard a huge bang followed by squealing, screaming kids. This was followed by the extensive ‘laar’. More crackers filled the silence with a deafening roar.
Ahh… its diwali !!!

Golden years

"Yipeeee!!!", I heard my younger brother scream as he flung his school books at the far corner of the bedroom. It doesnt take a nuclear scientist to guess that his Diwali vacations have started. I am already envious coz its been a while since i ever experienced anything close to a vacation ( study leave doesnt count).
Nostalgia takes me to my younger days ( not that im too old now), where we kids used to frolic in the society garden the whole day. The same kids who had a hard time waking up for school, were up and about by 7 am to play cricket, much to the surprise of our mothers.
By afternoon ( if we ever came home for lunch) it would be time for 'FUN TIME' , the great show on DD2 ( yes ...there was a time before cable TV )
Evening were spent in all sorts of games like lagori, tag, hide and seek ( yes...there was a time before PLAYSTATION too). I remember the huge jamun trees in our garden, we would have a great time picking those and end up staining all our clothes and faces a deep stain of purple( there was a time before mall hopping too).
Badminton and volleyball was reserved for the nights with focus lights.
Not really keen on returning home at night, we would even have a small camp fire thingy with the usual dose of ghost stories. Diwali was a time for fire crackers, sweets, new clothes.
The entire holiday was spent in mirth, festivity laughter, games......happiness....limitless joy.
By the end we would realise that a school project was pending and would spend the last night breaking our heads on it.
It literally brings tears to my eyes when I reminisce those golden times.
I wish..........I wish I could turn back time....at put it on a still mode.
I wish.........

HINDUISM ???. NOT REALLY?

My dear Hindu fanatic friend,

It is nice to see that you care for our religion and would do anything to help preserve it...be it burning someone alive or rape a hapless woman...or displace some poor guy from his home and livelihood.
Its nice to see that you would go up in arms to prevent conversion but wouldnt really care a damn about farmers ( hindu or otherwise) comitting suicide .
It seems nice that you have discovered that Christian evangelists are luring poor people by offering them bread and shelter and making them convert.

But at the same time what are we hindus doing? Why cant we help out the needy. Where are all our great leaders when hundreds of kids die of malnutrition? Where is the help when people are trying to come to terms with great natural calamities?
What are we really achieving by thrashing some poor guy whose first thought in the morning is how he can feed his child today?

My idea of hinduism was a non violent, tolerant religion that taught us to live like brothers.

If someone builds a tall building and you want a bigger one........is it wiser to build a taller one or break down the floors of the other one?

At this time I am reminded of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi

" AN EYE FOR AN EYE ...MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND"

BLING BLING !!!

One look at my gold chain and my boss asks me “ are u malayalee?” Of course I am………. which other breed of bling obsessed individuals can you find on this earth?
Males and females alike are always adorned with 3 sizes of gold chains; thick, thicker or thickest.

Though my gold chain may only be a tad thicker than normal, its nothing compared to what south indian brides adorn themselves with.

The amount of jewelery a malayalee bride wears would probably put Snoop Dogg to shame.
Check out these jewellery ads. Sometimes I wonder whether a gram more would break her neck.

Given the current price of Gold, I pity the father of the bride, who will burn a hole not only in his pocket but maybe through his trousers and leg too right upto the bone.

Clean Your Crap

"Yuck , our roads are so dirty", my friend exclaimed. I looked at him extremely stupefied and with a tinge of disdain. Isnt this the guy who just chucked his chewing gum wrapper bang in the middle of the road? Of course the roads are dirty , and we are the ones making it so most of the time. How often do we care to keep that chocolate wrapper or that empty mineral water bottle till we reach a dustbin? When do we start cleaning our own mess?
I suggest we start now.
Start with ur own home. Dont leave your towel on the chair and your socks on the floor for your ever hardworking mom to pick up. She could do with a little rest and you could use the exercise. Clean up your study table. Learn to pick up your own dishes. At least try to wash them on your own. Incorporate a sense of cleanliness and responsibility into your genes.
Its not only about cleanliness, but also about tidiness. After you work out at the gym , do you leave the dumbells on the floor for someone else to trip and fall on his face ( or on the other dumbell). Wake up . Exercise ur brains along with those biceps.
I would really love to hang all those paan eaters who run around painting the roads , walls, cars, and what not A BRIGHT SHADE OF DIRTY RED. Please try spitting straight up above ur head into the air next time, thats probably the only place left (and you will get what you deserve too)

WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
CLEAN UP YOU OWN CRAP!!!!!

The saint and the sinner

We come across the vilest of beings in life , and at the same time we meet people who would rather breathe less so that the world gets more oxygen. We hate the former and maybe love the latter kinds. Often we harbour prejudice and hatred towards those who have hurt us by words or otherwise. But what comes of this pent up hate? Nothing fruitful of course. It always ends up in a vicious cycle. Hatred leads to frustration or anger and we end up doing things that we regret later in life.
Rarely do we think that everyone is a human after all. Nobody is really perfect and it takes all kinds to make a world. The positivity of a fellow human is always relative to the negativity of another. The saint and sinner are both important. Every person has a different trait, a different character a differently personality , a different background, different circumstances in life and when there exists such huge differences, there is bound to be friction.
Be it your colleague at work, your subordinate, your senior or just a total stranger, clashes are bound to occur in life. Its an unavoidable part of this intriguing network of life.

But we have to learn to live by one dictum alone: FORGIVE AND FORGET.
There is no better revenge than forgiveness. The world would have been a much better place to live in if everyone learnt to forgive.

Who am I to preach? I’m a person who has kept a lot of prejudice against my enemies, hated them for what they did to me, and even gave back something with disastrous results.
Trust me, ….its not worth it.
Its much more easier to forgive.

Lord of the garden

My Mom’s gardening skills have finally paid off. The Brahma kamals in bloom last night are a beautiful witness to the fact.
This pretty flower blooms only at night, lasts in full bloom for a few hours and withers by morning. It has a mild but very nice fragrance. Supposedly a harbinger of good luck, it is revered by some as Lord Brahma’s flower, hence the name.
Rumour has it that unmarried girls who look at it, get hitched very soon. So for all u spinsters out there, hunt for the nearest household with this plant and keep a watch on it.
As for my girlfriend, STAY HOME GIRL!!!

sometimes

sometimes....we must love someone
sometimes ....we must accept their hatred

sometimes ......it feels like heaven
...and at times .... a hell that couldnt be worse

sometimes ....we must give time a chance....
sometimes ...we must wait.....even if forever.

sometimes ...we must know that destiny plays games...
sometimes....we must give in .....

sometimes ...we must let go.
....and let the sand slip from our fingers

sometimes.....the world is so selfish.....
that you cant help but wonder.....
whether love has a meaning....

sometimes.....life feels like a noose around your neck
sometimes ................it is.

In anticipation

Waiting for her was not a new thing for me. I was habituated to her “always 2 hours late” schedule. Not that I enjoyed waiting, but the mall provided a rich source of live entertainment while I hung around endlessly.
Pizza hut was brimming with people from all ages desperately trying to gain calories which they would later work hard to lose at the gym. The apparel stores had the usual crowd of females and their bored male counterparts. Boredom usually made their minds (and their eyes) wander towards those nearby ( usually another female), often earning a gentle ( or harsh) rebuke in the process.
Then there were kids, the spoilt brats. As if sex and violence on TV wasn’t enuf, mall culture had taken up their lives like a slow virus. Teeny boppers, tweeny boppers, pre teeny and all those short of a neonate; prancing about , window shopping, hanging around, giggling, texting, yakkin on the phone and the likes.
Wonder what my kids would grow up to be…though there was a long time to think about that.
She had not arrived yet, 2 hours were fine, but this was getting a bit more for my patience. Have to make a face when she comes. But what would be keeping her?. Had her parents found out and dissuaded her from coming? It was only a few months since we’d been seeing each other, and for obvious reasons; like any other couple; we had decided to keep the relationship a secret.
Maybe she was stuck in traffic? Or did one of those pesky aunties catch up with her on the way to enquire what and where she was going? No satisfactory answer could appease those gods of gossip, for they would spread an illicit rumour anyway.
Or maybe she was involved in a accident? I shuddered at the thought and tried to take my mind off it. My roving eyes finally rested upon a couple who were having an argument. Though the words weren’t quite audible, it wasn’t difficult to judge that they were very close to what people would call a “Break up”
Which took my restless mind back to thoughts about her. Was she angry with me? Had I done something unacceptable in the near future? Was I being a total jerk in some sort of a way that only women would understand? Had I put our love into jeopardy due to some thoughtless careless act?
Would she leave me? What would I do then? Where would I go? It was not only hard but impossible to imagine a life without her by my side. Without her, my life would be a deep void. An endless pit of despondence.
My maudlin contemplation was abruptly broken by a light tap on my shoulder…………I turned around ………….and her bright smile shone a new ray of sunbeam into my life.

The tulip & the stone

She tells me not to dream ,
...but my dreams are all I have

I watch her from the shadows
as she unbinds her silken tresses
...a sight to behold...taking my breath away

I see her amongst the roses and the lilies
as she daintily glides by
caressing each flower with delicate love

And when she spots the amorous letch ,
she frowns with disdain.
she is a pious dame
and Im a love besotten poet..

She tells me not to dream......
but my dreams are all I have

I hide my face in shame
for I'm the blacksmith's son
and she's the princess of the chateau
she sleeps in beds of satin
and I lay on a floor of stone

We are children of different Gods
...all the same
...and yet none at all


She knows my love for her..I think…
but she is held back by her own.
and my arms cannot reach the High towers of gold
that my angelic princess cruelly hold


She tells me not to dream...
...but my dreams are all I have

I shall have to wait
...for an eternity maybe...
...writing maudlin verses...
...till death do us part...

She tells me not to dream...
...but my dreams are all I have

First love

A gaze of few seconds...
..but eons pass in between.
Time freezes over .....
....like the sequence of dream
Eyes to eyes we touch...
..and the soul feels it too.
Like the dawn of a new morn...
...a spark ignites within

Then a veil falls in between....
...and the vision fades away
...thats how first love is maybe..
...like a light shower in May..

letter to a friend

Dear friend,
We meet all kinds of people in different phases of our life.some good , some bad ( or even grossly evil..), manipualtors, liars , backstabbers...some angels, helpers, selfless individuals, some who remain friends forever, some who remain in memories....
I have always enjoyed making friends all throughout my life.I have never learnt to hate, always gave love, with not much in return.
People have always taken me for granted, backstabbed, and even taken advantage of me.
But I have never stopped making friends......because ...for every ten stones that I have got , I have got a gem like you.
The purpose of this letter is not for gaining sympathy or to cry my heart out....
It is to tell you how much i appreciate Your friendship...........which I will always treasure....today , tomorrow and forever
THANKS FOR BEING A GREAT FRIEND

HAPPPY GOAT ( OR WHATEVER)

First of all.... a HUMONGOUSLY HUGE THANKS to all my friends for remembering my Bday.


I had a gala time receiving calls and sms till my mob battery got drained. I had to keep people on hold while i took other calls ( sorry R___ for keeping u n hold so long)

All the friends I have earned over all these 26 years ( oops I revealed my age) have been the best gift I could ever receive ( metaphorically speaking of course.......i would rather have a playstation 3 ) . All this love and affection has made me a happy goat ...or whatever that animal is in the above pic...


Today I would also like to list out all my achievements over the past 26 fruitful years.....

............................................................ummm............................................................
.............................................................................
..........................................................duh....................

....................................DAMN!!!!


TILL NEXT TIME.....

For all my dear stingy friends who cant avoid things that are free.. check out this site for sending free sms. By doin this , (I have upheld my status of being Kanjoos no 1 ...and I dont regret it at all)

http://www.160by2.com/

u can log in directly by using the widget on my page ( see side bar)

I keep getting tons of pics and other useless stuff via forwarded mails , though i trash them reading th first two lines ( most of them are the same mushy mushy crap ....or the "send it to 400 people or a donkey from swaziland will kick ur butt" kinds....

some of them are pretty neat though...check out the wild life pics.....Im not posting all of them ..only those that at least look genuine....( cant trust these mails...ever since they invented photoshop)

back to the gym

Finally I have some spare time to breath , which I can use for writing (I'll breathe later).
Just back from a gruelling workout at the gym, I can barely lift my hands to type.
But there's nothing to beat the serotonin induced euphoria after a heavy gym session. The workout session is itself quite enjoyable when u have good trance music playing to full volume. The beautiful ladies are a bit of a distraction though ( do we mind??).
Lets hope my hard work pays off some day, and I morph my flabby body into a well chiseled one some day. Maybe not Arnold ( may his tribe increase), but closer will do.

To all those interested in building a good body...a few tips...from one who has experimented and researched a lot:
1. Join a good gym
2. have a good diet
3. take enuf rest
4. work hard...be regular...stay focused.

Pearls before swine

My newspaper reading is limited to the comic section. There is nothing else worth reading anyway ( and my intelligence is somewhat limited too..) Stephen pastis’s PEARLS BEFORE SWINE tops my favourite list . The arrogant, selfish RAT, the tame mild mannered PIG, the smart GOAT , the predator CROCs and LIONS and other characters of the comic bear an uncanny resemblance to people I meet daily ( I really do!!!! ) ..... try reading a few strips I'm sure u too would have a sense of 'deja vu' (not the rite word maybe , but i just wanted to use that word)
To know more about the characters and other stuff , chk out this link
http://www.comics.com/comics/pearls/html/cast_PearlSwine.html

This one really hits the nail on the head… A BIG SORRY TO ALL BLOG WRITERS ( ...I know i'll have a price on my head after this ..)

Back from kerala...

Just back from a trip to kerala…what a great time we had. I got to see three great temples of lord Vishnu. The Sri Vallabha temple at Tiruvalla, The Guruvayur temple and the Dhanvantari temple at coimbatore (which is tamil nadu actually).

We started our trip with a visit to the Sri Dhanvantari temple at Coimbatore. Located in the heart of the city amidst a beautiful and scenic ayurvedic hospital , this temple is supposed to be the only one in the world dedicated to lord Dhanvantari. Lord Dhanwantari is the Upasanamoorthy (Presiding Deity) of Vaidyas of Ayurveda and this temple gives a spiritual background to the Ayurvedic Tradition of Treatment in the Arya Vaidya Chikitsalayam located in the campus.

The Sri Vallabha temple at Tiruvalla enshrines a beautiful Idol of Lord Vishnu. Legend has it that this temple was not built by human hand but by spirits overnight. Whoever did it has done a great job. The name Tiruvalla originates from the presiding deity Vallabha.

Situated in Trichur district, The Guruvayur temple has a cute little Sri Krishna with a mischievous glint in his eyes. The Guruvayur temple has hordes of devotees flocking for a mere glimpse of the lord.

Scavenged from the internet:
GURUVAYUR’ -Dwaraka of south - is one of the most famous Sree Krishna temples in India. The divine idol installed here represents the world–enchanting form of Sree Krishna endowed with the four lustrous arms carrying the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus. Adorned with the divine `Thulasi’ garland and pearls necklaces, the idol represents the majestic form of Maha Vishnu as revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki at the time of 'Krishnavathara'.

Thousands of devotees from all over the world visit this temple daily for darsan (worship). It is believed that the Lord revels here in the same majestic form as he would at 'Vaikunda' - his celestial abode. Thus Guruvayur is known as `Bhooloka Vaikunda'.

After the departure of Lord Sree Krishna to 'Vaikunda', Dwaraka was submerged in the sea but the image of 'Narayana' at Dwaraka was saved by Udhava the foremost disciple of Sree Krishna. Accordingly, Brihaspathi (preceptor of Gods) accompanied by his disciple, Vayu (the God of winds), arrived at Dwaraka. Sree Krishna had already departed to Vaikunda and Varuna,(the Sea-God), was in occupation of Dwaraka. The image of Narayana itself was being tossed in the sea by the surging waves . At the suggestion of Guru and Vayu, Varuna withdrew. The Wind God carried the image on his head and both began to search for a sacred place for its installation.

They wandered through lands in North and South and finally as they entered Kerala they met Parasurama, who had created Kerala. Parasurama led the way for Guru and Vayu and they all came near a beautiful lake full of lotuses. On one side of the lake were Siva and Parvathi to welcome them. They advised to install the image at this place and they themselves shifted to the opposite bank of the lake known as Mammiyoor temple.(It is belived that those devotees who come for Sree Krishna Temple must visit the Siva temple at Mammiyur). Since the installation was done by GURU and VAYU the place was named as GURVAYUPURA and later on as GURUVAYUR. The deity of Guruvayur is thus called Guruvayurappan, the Lord (APPAN) of Guruvayur.


One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to my dad’s birthplace where we had a great time meeting up with my cousins, uncles and aunts. I got to see the house where he was born, his school and stuff like that. It goes without saying that our trip was a fruitful one. But in dad’s eyes I could see something more than enjoyment. A feeling of joy , a sense of belonging and a certain serenity which could only stem from a deeper satisfaction.

SLEEPY EYES...

  The biggest enemy of my education ( after my fate and ‘open’ category status) has been my sleep. Just touching my books can lull me off to the deepest slumber. The tactile stimulation of those thin white pages coupled with the smell of printing ink does wonders to my nervous system. Instantly I feel as if someone has hit the 'switch off' button and i'm dozing even before I know it. Strangely enough, the effects do not seem to occur when I read novels and comics.
    
 This disease has tormented me to a great extent. I have tried so many methods that I could write an encyclopedia on that topic. “Thousand unsuccessful ways to avoid sleep.” To think that there are people who suffer from insomnia. I would die to suffer from that for a change.

Coffee???? I have already been so overdosed on coffee during my medical college days that nowadays even a intravenous infusion of the best Italian black coffee could do no more than incite a twitch…..a feeble one that too.

Sticking my eyelids with cellotape - That worked for a while until I realised that I could fall asleep with my eyes open too. I tried studying upside down so that the eyelids would droop the other way. Nature showed me that my lower eyelids could just as well droop down. (now I know how bats sleep). Yeah standing helps for sometime, but only till I fall flat on my face and end up with a broken nose.

That’s when realization dawns on me and I find the ultimate solution to my narcolepsy. I throw away my books and grab the pillow and snore away to glory.

……..but wait ….why don’t I fall asleep now? ..here we go again…..

21 Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

This post has been shamelessly plagiarised from the net....i take no credit whatsoever for compiling or posting it....it has been posted by my alter ego ( the pirate)



1.  Choose the highest ideal and live your life upto that. Look at the "ocean" and not at the wave.
2.  That which tends to increase the divinity in you is virtue, and that which tends to increase brutality in you is vice.
3.  He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva.
4.  Purity in thought, speech, and act is absolutely necessary for anyone to be religious. Purity is strength. Spiritual truth is purity.
5.  The ideal of the man is to see God in everything. The real evil is idleness which is the principal cause of our poverty.
6.  Everyone should know that there is no salvation except through the conquering of desires.
7.  Death being so certain, it is better to die for a good cause.
8.  Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.
9.  Your country reqires heroes, be heroes!
10.  To me the very essence of education is concentration of the mind, not the collecting of facts.
11.  Each soul is potentially divine.
12.  Religion is the idea which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God.
13.  All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that .
14.  Work, work, work - let this be your motto.
15.  Now the only way out is to listen to the words of the Lord in the Gita.
16.  Be a hero. Always say, "I have no fear".
17.  Struggle hard to get money, but don't get attached to it.
18.  Feel that you are great and you become great.
19.  To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion.
20.  At my will mountains will crumble up. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.
21.  It is those foolish people who identify themselves with their bodies that piteously cry, 'Weak, weak, we are weak'.

Another world title for India

for all those who dont catch up on the news very often , heres another good news . Viswanathan Anand crowned himself as the new World chess champion with a short 20-move draw against Peter Leko of Hungary in the 14th and final round of the Championships in Mexico City on Saturday night.
             Vishy is definitely a great star as far as indian sports are concerned. Sadly though , we all know he is likely to get a small mention in the news columns and nothing more...

Anyway lets leave politics to the politicians.

meanwhile i would like to share a small pic. This , ladies and gentlemen , are the very best pair of eyes i have ever seen....hope u agree...its of a very good friend, hope she forgives me for using the pic without her permission.

       After torrential rains for what seemed like an eternity, the skies have finally cleared up.
Im taking a much needed break from my drab study routine, and it has paid off well. I bet the moon has never looked so good on a spotless sky. Or maybe I haven’t seen anything beyond my textbooks for a while so maybe even a wada sambar would look cool.



The euphoria of the 20 20 win has not yet settled down. Maybe it will take another drubbing by Australia to get us back down to earth.

Meanwhile shoaib malik has officially proclaimed that all muslims are only fans of Pakistan and vice versa (or whatever he meant in his rotten screwed up English) during the presentation ceremony. So all non muslims who are fans of Pakistani cricketers, sorry to let u know that u are not really worthy of being a fan. ( maybe a fanatic …but not a fan). So maybe you guys can go yousuf youhana’s way …oops I mean mohammed yousuf.

meanwhile...a very good pic to savour for a while....

SAY NO TO COLAS

How many times have we reached out for that can of pepsi to beat the sweltering heat. But all we got was a bottle full of cancer causing pesticides, empty calories and brittle bones. Not to mention being ripped off ( it costs only around ten paise per bottle for the manufacturer).

I am no saint and I admit I was a fizz addict ( at least 2 cans per day), but I have successfully weaned myself of those bubblys ( its been 2 years now) and have resorted to natural stuff instead.

There is nothing like a cool fresh coconut water right out of its natural vessel. Can we even think of something as fresh as a glass of limbu paani ( masala marke). For those who crave even sweeter pleasures, we have our sucrose laced sugarcane juice. How can you resist a cold chiku milkshake in any season ?

Let us not fall into the trap of these cola giants. Its time to usher in a healthy new age.

So the next time you think of having that PESTI or CHOKE A COLA, think for a second….drop the idea …and go natural.

The Night

The night so dark and vicious
deep into it I stare
They pull me with a force so great,
Im too weak to bear

Its beckons me and I know,
I shall find peace at its bosom
A fresh breath of life,
A fragrance of eternity

I try to hold out my hand
to touch the deep darkness
but it shrugs away shyly

im blinded even more
and i wait ....
and i wait .....

My Mystery pal

Some incidents in life are bound to stick to your memory forever. One of the craziest thingsI did was "bench chatting" with a mysterious female from my college. Now dont go look up google on 'bench chatting'.
The story goes thus.....

It was one of the boring chemistry lectures ( one of the very few that I graced with my honourable presence),
I was somewhere between a oxidation reaction and my dreamy state, when my eyes fell
 upon a small comment on the bench.

I dont really remember what was written , but I replied to it with a pathetic comment of my own. 

Next day , Funnily enough, someone as crazy as me took pains to write a reply to it on the same bench again.
This really started me up and then onwards it became a routine, we ended up spoiling all the benches in our class ( we wrote with a permanent marker).
I never knew her real identity, nor did  she know mine. But all good things have to end, and one day we just stopped....just like that......

maybe I should dedicate a song to her.....
still better, I rather sing it ....

Im no peter andre but ill try

"Mysterious Girl"

I stop and stare at you,Walking on the shore
I try to concentrate, My mind wants to explore
The tropical scent of you
(...did i just hear the sound of breaking glass???)
Takes me up above
And girl when i look at you, Oh i fall in love
No doubt you look so fine
Girl i wanna make you mine
 (..... my neighbour is threatening to call the police ...)
I want to be with a woman just like you
No doubt i'm the only man
Who can love you like i can 
   ( .. my pet dog just jumped off the roof....)
So just let me be with the woman that i love
Baby girl... Shine like a looking glass
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
(....theres a awful lot of banging on my bedroom door...)
Mysterious girl
I wanna get close to you
Oh, oh, oh, oh ,oh, oh.
..( people are so jealous of my talent...)
Mysterious girl
Move your body close to mine
oh, oh oh,
mysterious gi...(thwack  ,thwack)...........
......... ... ........ ............ ..........   ..........

( Owing to his  incessant screeching , the author of this blog had to be restrained and sedated, he now sleeps peacefully and will continue to sleep for a few days .. we gave him enough sedative to kill a horse. . . . . we can now rest in peace)

HOW TO TORTURE A BARBER

My hair stylist probably winces upon my arrival at his salon. Most often than not, I have to drag him out of the table he is hiding under and issue a few verbal threats . That is generally followed by a couple of whacks on his pathetic
 face to force him to give me a haircut.
 Before you start wondering about the endearing relationship 
between me and my hair stylist , let me tell you a story.....

It was one of those winters when u like to grow your hair long and thick
 to provide a much needed insulation (for my head of course)
 from the december chill . 
No, nothing happened during that winter.....It all started after that . 
My parents disapproved of my long locks as boys are not allowed to grow their hair this long.

Things became worse when the neighbourhood stray cat disappeared and was found dead days later in my hair ( Due to asphyxia). Dad virtually points a flamethrower at my head  
and I am forced to submit. ( better cut it than get it burnt)

I entered into the salon dragging my hair along . The barber gave me one of his usual cordial smiles and beckoned me on to his chair.
"and how would you like it sir?" the gentleman asked. 
With a evil grin I said "cut it short maestro". 
He picked up his tools like a tenor would pick up his baton and with a  customary 'snip snip ' in the air, he began. A clank was the next sound
 ...if it was the right way to describe it. The barber looked at me with 
dismay and probably shock as he held his now broken  scissors in his nimble fingers. What an inauspicious start. 
He composed himself soon enough and picked up his next pair and restarted.... albeit cautiously. The new pair of scissors met with a similar fate...and the barber wrung his hair with anger. Slowly he wheeled my chair closer to the sink and began a series of washing and scrubbing and shampooing and scrubbing again.  Finally after what seemed to be an eternity , i was back facing my own reflection along with that of an exasperated man. Slowly and carefully he began snipping away at my wonderful locks till they lay all around me 
like the dead soldiers protecting their king. He was like a crazy despot who sought to lay bare all the fields he set his foot upon
Halfway through the ordeal, my perfectionist alter ego woke up and halted his progress with
 a raised hand. 
His inertia nearly cut off my ear.
I now started instructing him ..." cut it this way ...and that way, a little here and a little there, not too short , a little long here, leave this part intact,... take care of my side locks......, no no no .. wait ill show you" .. and I grab his scissors and chase him all around town till he is subdued. I then demonstrate a bit of my finesse on his hair. (It ends up looking somewhat like a cross between a
 sheared sheep and a wet dog.) 
I am finally chained to my chair and blinfolded too. Then for a time (which seems like ages) I am oblivious to my surroundings ( I may have been drugged too, I dont blame the barber though).
Finally and finally I see a strange looking man in the mirror and after a while recognise myself. "Hmmm not bad at all" I remark. But the barber is no longer to be seen . I later learnt that he was rushed to the nearest hospital for stress related fatigue syndrome.

I  dust away the leftover hair on my face and shoulders and walk home to my happy parents.

I eagerly await the end of the next winter........while my barber plans a vacation at that time .....probably to a far off place where my dreadlocks dont reach.......

An ode to Minal Panchal

We lost...
an angel....
among the very few that exist on this wretched earth

We lost...
a smile....
that could never be erased from our memories

we lost...
a friend ....
whom we can never see again.


lost  forever in a foreign land...
 loved by all and she will be forever....
even when she has gone..
to a place where there would be no guns...
no stray bullet from a stranger 
to whom she meant no harm...
to a place of love, peace and bliss..

Rest my dear,
rest in peace...
No tears will be enough shed....
not more can one's heart have bled....

rest my dear ,
rest in peace.

BYE BYE JUMBO

Full Name : Anil Radhakrishna Kumble
Birthday : Oct 17, 1970
Birth Place : Bangalore
Country : India
Batting : Right hand batsman
Bowling : Right arm leg-break googly bowler
ODI Debut : India vs Sri Lanka, at Sharjah, on 25/4/90
Test Debut : India v England at Manchester, 2nd Test, 1990



An unorthodox, right arm leg spin bowler, not a great turner of the ball but exceptional with his line and length.
One of the most Unforgettable scenes from his great career is when he bowled 14 overs with a broken jaw against the West Indies. India of course did not win the test match, but Kumble's committment will always be reminisced for the years to come.
And who can ever forget the Magnificient Ten wickets against pakistan.

The relentess fighter, humble to the core, was however dropped from the finals of the last World cup and India paid a heavy price for it. 

His ever so famous  googly and flipper, along with his faster balls won many a matches for India besides reviving the art of leg spin.

Adios JUMBO ,..YOU WILL BE MISSED 

The unheard melody

Oh howI long to hear the nightingale sing...
how I long to hear the sweet chime...
How I yearn for that eternal music...
that which echoes through my heart...
embedding itself in my existence.....

Oh how I long to hear that celestial laughter ,
that divine assonance....
the chants of joy...
 
ah but it eludes me .....
...it eludes me...

Coffee

It was one of those great winters in nasik. By a quirk of fate, I got to have coffee with Anupama* ,one of the smartest girls alive. The college canteen wasn't really a romantic spot , but coffee is a strange brew.....The right dose of sugar and milk and it turns out to be a bittersweet experience....just like love......it can turn the most boring situations to wonderful joyous episode worth remembering throughout life.

It was something just like that , when i had my first coffee with Anupama*. The fact that she was only bitching about the place didnt matter at all, because I was just besotted ( if thats the right word) by her talk. She seemed to have an amazing enthusiasm ( which I later learnt that it was due to coffee addiction) , and her intelligence superadded to her awe inspiring persona. Oh and did I mention that she was cute too? Many such  coffee sessions followed where we discussed things , bitch about people, made fun of each other...and things like that...
Alas but all good things have to end and so did my aquaintance with Anupama* ( dont ask me how)....hope we meet up some day....somewhere on a cool winter evening ...for a cup of coffee.....

(*name changed to protect indentity...not that my friends dont know about it)

WHY I STILL WATCH CARTOONS

....also titled " ALL THAT I HATE ABOUT TV"

"You still watch cartoons???????" , my friend screamed at me. "You need to grow up man ,be more mature".I do not reply. I calmly switch the channel to Cartoon Network , which is currently showing Tom & Jerry. Before you can say "catch me if you can" , the cat and mouse antics have my 'mature' friend in splits and he is hooked onto it.

Why do i watch cartoons?....well what else is worth watching?

Looking at the current state of entertainment, I think cartoons are the only unadulterated form of Tv viewing.

What does the Idiot box offer today?

FAMILY CHANNELS: relentless saas bahu crap, filled with fake emotions and as much as fake jewelry coupled with so much make up it would put a dressed turkey to shame. ( do women really wear those earrings?) . More women oriented sagas spanning 3000 episodes and still newer ones coming up. Im not a misogynist but i really do think that the indian woman is much different than what is shown by ekta kapoor and her lot.

The rest of the showtime is filled with not so real 'reality ' shows....oh thats where they play with our emotions and the telecom operators are laughing all the way to the bank.

SPORTS CHANNELS: A welcome break.....but put in a few doping scandals, match fixing, indian cricket matches, blame games, the poor state of indian hockey , and mandira bedi ( what does she know about cricket????).....ho hum....i get bored even writing about it

FORIEGN MUSIC CHANNELS: cant see those in front of the family....

INDIAN MUSIC CHANNELS
: Who wants to hear ( or see) a bearded , unwashed guy with a old jacket and even older cap singing with a nasal twang. ( the correct word should have been TWANGING not SINGING)

NEWS CHANNELS: The most irritating thing in a news channel is the recurring loop that they keep showing....of course no news is really enjoyable

DOORDARSHAN: Nothing on earth can force me to watch this.......

so the boob tube leaves me with only cartoons .....bye for now , i got to catch up on THE SIMPSONS

How opal mehta got kissed, got wild and got a life

Oh yes , I am a bookworm ,and a happy one too......

My library happened to provide me a copy of this controversial book by Kaavya Vishawanathan . I dont know whether it has been plagiarised , but here's the review

Its all about Opal , an american desi and her Harvard obsessed parents, who have been training Opal right from her daiper days to get into Harvard. However a pre admission interview leaves opal shaken and she finds out that only high grades and an excellent resume is not going to get her into Harvard.
What follows is an hilarious attempt by her parents to give her a social life , friends and whatever it takes to achieve her ultimate aim....Harvard.

Its a good book, a kinda girlie movie sort of a story, but nonetheless... humorous. There are points in the book where u will really feel like having a good chuckle.

Definitely not something that an indian reader would identify with, but it does have a tinge of familiarity to the GREAT INDIAN RAT RACE( read bad education standards and high aims, coupled with parental pressure).

Plagiarised or not, I say go for it....
after we live with Anu malik, Pritam and "inspired" (read badly ripped off from english) hindi movies dont we? But thats another issue for another day......

hi everyone

Well,  a new blogspot for me( im sick of using msn spaces ....too cumbersome)...hope to keep this  interesting

                 Yesterday's Hindustan Times had a front page story on M.F Hussain cribbing about not being able to return to India....it seems there are about 900 cases pending against him.....

Wel Mr. Hussain, You should have thought about that when you came out with your paintings depicting hindu goddesses naked. I know you are a great artist and all that , but hey when you are such an accomplished artist, you think you can get away with anything?  For all art afficianado who support the great MF, let me get this straight ....art is a form of expression agreed, ....but when you create a piece of art ...u ought to keep the sensitivity of the audience in mind....it is of course the audience that decides.  

           I was taking a break from my drab study routine, and of the rare chances i get i happened to catch a good movie on Tv ---" Agneepath" ....an unbeatable performance by Amitabh.......which set me thinking....there are some roles which can never be remade or reenacted..

Amitabh Bacchan              AGNEEPATH, DON ,ZANJEER
Amrish Puri                       MR. INDIA ( who can forget mogambo?)
Shahrukh Khan                 DARR
Amjad Khan                       SHOLAY
Sanjay Dutt                        VAASTAV
Aamir Khan                        GHULAM, ANDAZ APNA APNA ( contrasting roles... i know)
Paresh Rawal                     HERA PHERI
Rekha                                  UMRAO JAAN
Nargis                                  MOTHER INDIA
Raj Kapoor                          MERA NAAM JOKER
Dilip Kumar                        KARMA


PRAYER FOR THE DAY: Dear God  please forgive all movie makers trying to remake ( read rehash , recrap, ...whatever) the good old classics and cult favourites. Please knock some sense into them for they do not know what they do. Please Forgive Farhan Akhtar for making DON...Please forgive Shahrukh Khan trying to step into the mantle of the great B himself...and last but not the least , please forgive song remixers for they are very poor people ( the dancers have very less clothes to wear)
 
till next time..............