Saturday, December 22, 2007

A Strike that never was!

It was the 21st of December. Just another day in the book of Life, except that it was my Dad's birthday. But with Dad in Bangalore, even that option went to the bottom of the list of things to cheer me up. Madras had transformed itself into a cousin of Cherrapunji for the past 3 days. The city was just recovering from the gloom left by the gash of rains, mentally. But by appearance, it looked all that Madras has ever looked like - "hot!hot!hot!'n' beautiful!" . So forgoing the need to carry an umbrella on my already ready-to-burst backpack, I left it lying on the table (A sheepish act to make Mom think that I really forgot in the last minute ;-) ) . I thought there was nothing to stop me from being "dry and clean", now that it had stopped raining. I left for college happily, listening to songs using the left ear, my right ear(phone) shared by an accomplice "Domi". We reached college just in time to discover the unthinkable. The place was flooded! Backwaters of Kerala, Venice and everything else came into my head along with the adjectives "Blech!yuck!gwarp! " Lifting my pajama bottom to a "permissible" level, lending a hand(this time) to Domi, I waddled through till the block where they served the (add all the above three adjectives) breakfast! That's when the transformation of a couple of College girls of some X dept into the flattering eye lashed heroines of the "black and white" age, with hands uptured, covering the shriek let out from the uncovered regions of the mouth, the eyes going up, literally falling out of the sockets ,with a cry in between which sounded like "Snake! eeeeeee!Snake!!" to us,took place. We immediately looked at the water, grinning from ear to ear, atlast the rumours had come true! There it was, a black serpent which had been dwarfed or maybe it was a pathetically small snake, with an inborn growth deficiency syndrome. Whatever it was, it was enough to make our day, to give us what we needed to retort - GUTS! The entire dept(excluding guys and 5 girls) stayed back in the block, protesting against the management, the administration, the Director, the year incharges, the block in charges, the HOD's,the cleaners, the workmen, the mess hall workers and everyone excluding us, in and around campus. It all lasted for about 30 minutes on the whole. The point was to protest against the unsanitary conditions prevailing on campus. Rain water is supposed to be "the purest" form of water-true, but not after it reaches the grounds! Rain water, mixed with the septic tank water, and everything stagnant on the same levels is a grotesque picture by itself. And having to literally waddle through it, at least thrice a day , legs being the only mode of transport possible, made the already grotesque picture look even more ugly! We complained, asked for a bus to take us to our own classroom block. Not that we were scared of the serpent in the depths of the stale water. It was more an excuse to find reason to make them repent.We acted like hurt lovers, trying to make the X feel guilty despite nil charges. HOD set out to call the Director. Ours is a college that follows the hierarchy to point perfection. Director->Director->Director->Block Incharges->Year Incharges->HOD's. And it ends there. HOD's given the last position as an act of sympathy. The teachers and "WE" , the students had no say!! The HOD came out and told us that the Director was happily out-of-station! He asked us to go to class, with a warning that we might lose the attendance. The entire point of coming to college despite a lot of things that drive you crazy at times, is the A word mentioned above. So attendance was what made us catch the bus on time, withstand the razor sharp "mokkais" from the lecturers too many, who were as irritated to come to college as us, and made it a point that their sacrifice doesnt go a waste.They take classes from 8 in the morning till 3.15, making us wonder if they have ever been so devoted in the past, during normal working days. Why is there always a clash between the moods and mindset when it comes to a Teacher-Student atmosphere. When we want to listen, they want us to sleep and vice versa (sleep going out of control at times, prolonging to 2 to 3 periods at a stretch)! Back to what the HOD said "Go to class and give attendance" ! Losing the only strong support we had (as per the hierarchy- the least important support), we set off to class. It was the same struggled wobbling against the dirty drains, the holding of hands, and to my surpise, not even an entire hour had passed, meaning, it wasn't even close to "bunking!" . We still had some 15 minutes left for the first hour to get over and for the fire alarm, accompanied by an incomprehensible verse in tanglish(tamil followed by english) reminding us that it was Christmas season after all ! We tried to prolong the walk as much as possible, bringing the 15 minutes to 10 minutes. Still, we were'nt spared by the snickering looks from the guys in class, swoooshing because our excuse for being late was "snakes!" . But it was all fun, in the end. The very fact that, we had the guts to go against the system (though we din't get to Beat the system) was enough for us. College wasn't heaven - well known. Director isn't God - Understood. It was a Bajaj Avenger Dtsi feeling .... "We forgave them all.We felt like God , indeed!!! " .



solid prooof::::: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp-fDaS1u3I ENJOY!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Jeregandy^2 !!!!

It was one of those once-in-a-blue moon -expeditions to The Seven Hills - the abode of Lord Venkateshwara(a.k.a "Venky" ),Tirupathi. We reached the Ashrama close to half past ten in the night. With quivering lips and typewriting teeth, we went in search of a good restaurant. But as fate had it, or can I say, as "Venky" had it, we ended up in a restaurant that was close to driving away all my love for the two words in my dictionary of "food" -"Dosa" and "Sambhar".Taking pity on the fact that the restaurant was at least open at the dead of the night, still filling in with people, we forgave the slight lack of sodium chloride, and put up with the excess H2O in the sambhar, our minds silently chanting "Govinda Govinda!".The allotted time for Dharshan was 2.30 a.m., which is a time that I know exists on a clock, but never experienced for real..!So that meant, going to bed around midnight, and be up in a matter of 60 mins to get ready for the Dharshan. Making up my mind to sleep as much as possible, within the stipulated time, I closed my eyes and even before I realised, it was already 1.30 a.m. We were all ready and reached the temple on time. Since we had already taken special tickets, we reached the main Sannidhanam sooner than expected, which was as usual crowded. I could hear the priest chanting mantras in a speed faster than the speed of light (3×108 m/s). I could hear the bells and everything. But I couldn't see the Lord as the curtains were closed. We patiently waited for the curtains to open, silently watching the "gold-gold-gold" everywhere, decorating the already beautiful "alayam".And suddenly, there was a shout from the audience on the men's side. I guess it was what they would call "the chorus". That's the cue that the time had come to see the Lord at last! The curtains parted, we barged into the interior to discover the beauty of what was to come. That's when my ears were greeted by those "golden " words - "jeregandy jeregandy"!! Well, the entire phenomenal wait for the opening of the curtains, and the process of getting something lesser than a decent glimpse at the Lord, made the entire journey a bit questionable.There were people who had travelled from far off places, just for those 30-40 seconds glimpse of the Lord. Every person is pushed around accompanied by the "justification limit"- Jeregandy! I don't know whether it means "quick! fast!soon!etc..etc..", but it sure meant one thing to me.. "get lost!"... The problem isn't with "Venky". Its with the people around "Venky".Commercialisation - even on divine grounds? There's one fine example. Its not just Tirupathi that suffers from the realms of commercialisation. All the major temples, make it a point to plunder as much as possible from the public, on divine grounds ,of course(Other examples- Palani,Guruvayur)!! After coming out ,near the Laddu stall, I saw a depressing board. "Laddu Cover -Rs.2 " . Even more shocking was what was written below - "In the service of the Lord Venkateshwara". I was speechless for a minute. I guess that's how it is. It will still take ages for things to change.. for the end of corruption, for the end of religious fanaticism, for the end of internal conflicts,for the end of tall promises, for the end of religious politics,for the end of the "divine abuse". I end with conveniently modified lines of Frost,its essence still fresh and alive in memory......
"We still have promises to keep,
And miles to go before we sleep
And miles to go before we sleep..!"
-Somsie+Frost.(;-)


Note :
The above is a narrative of a personal experience. What I observed, as an individual,with all senses still in place. If at all, this narrative stirs certain emotional conflicts of interests, I apologise for the same.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Theory-Thesis-Whatever!!!!

"All good looking guys want only good looking girls"
"All good looking girls want either bad or good looking guys"
"All bad looking guys ALSO want only good looking girls"

Conclusion : Bad looking girls are left alone.

Friday, November 9, 2007

ISHMILEEEE

I am a member of Orkut. I own a community called "Dark Is Beautiful". Its just a community I started , without any idea. I was in love with the word "dark" for no reason, and I was just testing how many more loved it like me... It is surprising that there are now 60 members in it, but not much activity as of now. So, to just go for a change, I decided to change the display pic. Google came to my rescue and I went in search of pictures to go with the title. What is Dark without Africa? Since the curiosity spared the cat, and killed me this time, I searched under the name "African" and Bingo!- I found this... It was love at first sight with this painting, which spoke a language more powerful than words, it was the smile that took my heart away...


Smile - Michael Jackson


Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...

If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just...

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just...

Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...

If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile...

That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

This post is the 25th post of creativeexplosives.blogspot.com.Frankly speaking, I never knew I would come this far . I love writing, and I guess this blog has seen more than just writing. I have used it like a diary in a lot of posts. ;-) . And for all those who read my blog, Thank you!

I decided to post about the painting and the lyrics of the song - Smile, because many of us forget to appreciate things that we have, that others don't . Smile through your fear and sorrow, as the song says, "Smile, what's the use of crying. ?".

Post dedicated to : Ambi Maama - I will always love him and miss him..





Thursday, November 8, 2007

The last two minutes....

Its been a long time since I wrote a poem. The concept of this poem, is based on a chinese movie I saw a few years back(Courtesy : Non jacky chan movies on Adhiradi Thiruvizha on Star Vijay ;-) ). The scene goes like this....
The Hero is a cop, married recently. His wife is about to give birth to their child, and in this particular scene, she's struggling for "lives" at a local hospital.Hero Cop goes undercover, to keep watch on a gang of villains. He is in their territory, with no contact with his wife. He finds a PCO and enters it, to call his wife. As he is dialling, a group of villains arrive at the scene, with guns and lips smirking, ready to shoot him down, the minute he steps out. The call is answered by his wife, his child's faint cry in the background... He listens to the cry of his kid, and he takes a glance on the death fast approaching. He has two minutes left, till the moment the bullet pierces through his chest, taking him away... Two minutes is all that he has, to tell his wife how much he loves her. To tell his child not to worry... To think of each and every wonderful memories he will carry to his grave.... This poem, is a glimpse into what runs through his head, in those last two minutes of his life.....


The Last Two minutes...


My mind is a whirlpool
Swarming with thoughts,
Meandering around, in a pool
A pool of blood and treachery.
I stand alone, holding a phone,
I hear the sound of a new -born.
I’m filled with joy and pride,
Wishing I could be by their side,
I lift my head after a short prayer,
My eyes meet those of my destined slayer.
Death looks at me with a smirk,
The guns are loaded, ready to go berserk.
I know then, that I have only two minutes,
Two minutes, to challenge death.
For I know, the minute I step out,
I was going to be knocked out.
I hang on to the receiver,
With my mind filled with fear.
I shout “I love you!” struggling to bear,
With my thoughts flooded with memories.
Reminiscences speeding away in the head,
The joy at the unity of our heart and soul in bed,
The wonderful walk down the lane,
All making me go insane…
I still haven’t discovered that one secret,
The secret behind my wife’s smile,
And I wonder for a while, if my child would have the same smile,
I close my eyes, cherishing their smile, making a promise,
A promise to see to it that they always hold that smile.
The smile that made me ache for her love,
The smile that fails to leave my head,
The smile that will accompany me
To my grave, when I’m dead.

Mustering up the courage, I step out of the booth,
I’m greeted by something, searing through my chest,
The pain reaches my head, and I find a hole abreast,
I surrender to death, closing my eyes to its wiles,
Transporting myself across miles,
Into another world that lies, just above
Beautiful earth, with no need of a hearth,
A place filled with people, showcasing miracles,
Exhibiting a well known expression on their faces,
When I glance at their faces for a while,my eyes glisten,

For they are all filled with my wife’s smile… !

-Somsie

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Names I won't name my kids!

I have a list of names that I have decided NOT to name my kid(s). Just a few things I think about, whenever my mind allows me to get into a little go-lucky day dreaming,especially after witnessing some extremely nice and happy ending romantic movies.
If it's a girl... I don't want her to be called
1.Lavanya
2.Brindha
3.Ranjani
4.Sudha
5.Vidhya
6.Smirthi
7.Rekha
8.Nisha
9.Shilpa
10.Mythili
11.Mala
12.Sheela
13.Suneetha
14.All flower names.. Roja , Malli
15.Kruthika
16.Sowmya
17.Krupa
18.Sneha
19.Kavitha
20.Shakila ( :O)
(To be contd... )

If it's a boy, I would hate calling him
1.Gokul
2.Hari
3.Giri
4.Sooraj
5.Naresh
6.Rishi
7.Vikram
8.Arun
9.Sridhar
10.Srinivas
11.Bhaskar
12.Gopal
13.Mani
14.Ram
15.Naveen
16.Ajith
17.Ashwin
18.Bharat
19.Sathya
20.Karthik
(To be contd.. )

Note :
The above names are in the list, because of no specific reason.A few names are those of a few people in my life. They have no direct connection to the person. They are here purely due to my phonetic dislike of them. I just don't know why, but I don't like the sound of a few names. Most of them are very regular names. Nothing unusual... So, if I were to name my kids, I would choose something that is very different, and it definitely will not be a tongue- brain twister!! ;-)...

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Out-In-Stay !

I have always wondered what people meant when they said "Falling out of love". They always say that "Falling out of love is as easy as falling in love". That is what happens in most of the break-ups when it comes to relationships. Its true...Staying in love is more harder than falling in and out of love. So what is this "L-O-V-E"...? A feeling, an emotion resulting in a commotion? God? Knowledge? Power? Faith? Goodwill?Lunacy? Pessimism?Optimism?Objectivism? and the list goes on...A thousand and one defintions, given with the spinning wheels of time... The reality is that "Love simply is...",as said by Paulo Coelho in The Witch of Portobello , a book that reached deep into the chambers of my heart, with a music I've never experienced before. A book that baffled me, till the last page, not letting me understand, what it really spoke of. And in the end, in the last line of the book, I understood. All this was about love, and the ultimate definition "Love simply is..." had me speechless for seconds! If you ask if there can be a strong display of emotions with words, that's one example I got for you! I have been taught a lot about the "misinterpreted" love. Love is Friendship, Friendship is love, and according to me, both statements are lame. The next definition, Love is Sacrifice... I seriously can't get that . How can you link sacrifice and love...Its either sacrifice for love, or Love as a sacrifice. How can you actually equate those two, interdependent emotions ?Love is God. This is partly acceptible. As legend has it, God comes in various forms and one of them is love... But this wasn't too big a definition to me. Practically speaking, Love is God is not enough to deal with relationships ruled by ego, jealousy,spite,possessiveness,obsession,pessimism,brawls,suspicion,....So where are we headed, in the disguise of the four letter word L-O-V-E..? ? "Sometimes, it feels like the world's on my shoulder, everyone's leaning on me. " Sometimes, things happen with no reason , no justification, sometimes the world may look like its broken into pieces, sometimes we may never get to say how important some people are, until its too late. Sometimes the world may look lopsided and we end up cursing every living soul. Sometimes we never realize that we have fallen until the pit is too deep to come out. Sometimes you just can't help falling in love.... Such is the power of Love. You dont know when it happens, how it happens and why it happens .But the fact is, It Happens....! No matter how much you try to run away from it.. Love has no possible explanation...Love cannot be defined. Love cannot be conquered. Love cannot be analysed... Because.. Love simply is... ... .... .... !

Stumped!

This happens whenever I take a train from Chennai to Bangalore (Ahem..read as whenever I travel alone!). After taking consecutive modes of ...