A constant nagging feeling growing into the conscious.. striving for some space in the monotony of driving on the highway, pangs of hunger grumbling in the stomach and a dull pain brooding over the shoulders... The hunger and pain knocked only at intervals but the feeling remained.. unrelenting and steadily growing... we were on the way back home driving along State Highway No. 7 via Karimnagar... we decided to take a break for some tea.. something had to be done to suppress this feeling...

Every day has a unique beginning.. some way or the other.. it can be wonderful, dull, mundane.. early, late, too early.. but there are certain elements.. a few chores that has the capacity to decide the outcome of any day... February 6th 2011 began with a sudden drop into consciousness vehemently thrown out of my dream.. when reality settled I realized it was a Sunday and I was some 200 odd kilometers from Hyderabad in Nirmal all set for another expedition into the woods.. The day should be exciting and I was eagerly looking forward to it.. But waking up in the wee hours of the morning can disturb the smoothly conduct of certain chores which ought to be done in the morning.. The consequences of those were reserved for later.......

At 5 AM we (a group of five.. bird watchers and photography enthusiast) were back on the roads.. The route was surprisingly smooth and spooky... covered on either sides with tall dense teak trees spreading out its gigantic branches and clasping the road nice and tight holding it steady awaiting to consume all tiny particles that trod along its way unsuspecting.. A few that marginally escaped its grasp fled past us back into the safety.. None of them entered into the unknown darkness that was beyond the headlights... perhaps they were all consumed and became part of the growing and inviting darkness and ours was saved for last... the dessert in the full course meal.. we carefully trailed along the snake like path... carefully because we were running on the spare tyre owing to an incident on the National Highway No. 7 where our journey from Hyderabad began....

One can not expect a more satisfying drive than that on the Six lane magnanimous National Highway No. 7 starting from the southern most point Kanyakumari to Srinagar running along the length of India like the amateur arm scissoring awkwardly the subcontinent into two halves... we were gliding effortlessly at top speed discussing facts about birds, making plans for the Sunday and cracking up professional birding compliant jokes... The promising road gave us plenty of time to reach our destination and therefore we decided to take a break to stretch ourselves and sip some tea in the dhaba nearby...

The chillness of the night embraced us as we located a table out in the open to enjoy the little shivers under the folded arms only a perfect continuation after the drive on the heavenly expressway.. The view opened to a vast blue sky with a half-lit moon and endless bright spots that looked like the drawing assignment of a kindergarten-going kid... Eagerly colouring the circle on the assignment sheet with a bright ash coloured water paint occasionally sprinkling the paint on the sheet knowingly and/or unknowingly.. but then growing bored of the monotonous activity and leaving it incomplete for a good night's sleep... sweet dreams child for the nightmares are en route for the rest of us....

Promises are meant to be broken... especially those made by the government.. and the promise for a smooth and secure drive on the National Highway was about to meet its stark reality.. A reality where the roads are the way they are meant to be.. Two-way and narrow road with more of patch work than the actual road and deep trenches dug to keep up the warranted number of potholes that should be available to make the commuters life a living hell.... To put some cherry on the cake were the vehicles coming from the opposite direction shooting blinding high beams followed by an abrupt explosion of abysmal darkness.. The endless freak show of contrasting lights keeps you wondering if you are on the right path if there is actually a path to speak of.. And finally the icing on the cake is when the tubeless tyre butts butt-end into one of those trenches and is immediately rendered useless... A group of IT professionals, well aware of the gravity of the situation, throw some jokes around to defuse the tense situation. The task of replacing the tyre always looked simple when the tyre-puncture waala performed it deftly. But we realized the practiced efficiency hidden behind the task only when eight hands under conflicting supervision and varied opinions struggled to get it done.. Exhausted and excited, claiming to have added something new to the resume, we got back on to the dusty path treading carefully hereafter....

Sunlight dawned streaming through the dried spotted teak leaves showering hope that there is no vanishing into the murky darkness and the forest turned benign brown and green... We wandered into the forest, listening to the whistling of the birds and a deep throb of the axe digging its pointed teeth through the woods, along with a care taker who followed the birds whistle but turned a deaf ear to the wood chopping... He was no whistle-blower and perhaps was well-fed in the wood smuggling business... Corruption in our country had deeper roots than that of the strongest Teak tree in the 893 sq. km area... I had so many 'lifers'.. a term used in Birding when one sights a bird for the first time out in the open... We spotted Snake eagles, buzzards, wood shrikes, flycatchers, nuthatch to name a few.. and got some close and amazing pictures of the Indian roller - state bird of Andhra Pradesh..

After some wonderful sightings and photography we decided to pack our bags and head home... it was the same moment when the feeling registered its presence only to be rubbished aside.. we took a different route to reach Hyderabad via Karimnagar... We took a break for some tea.. I thought satisfying my hunger can bring some difference...

The tummy was happy and hunger faded from my conscious only to give more space to that feeling that grew like darkness that began to settle or the count of the fast approaching vehicles from the other end... there was no stopping of the endless row of vehicles or the feeling.. It was now pitch dark except for the high beams from the opposite end and the feeling filled up my conscious to take complete control and I was forced to make an abrupt stop near a dhaba and disclose its presence to the group... A desperate search to dispose off this feeling was made in the surrounding areas only in vain.. There was no alternative as hinted by my colleagues and I was completely subdued to find a deserted place out in the open strip down my civic sense and relieve myself of the hardships endured during the trip...

when in Rome do as the Romans do and when in the wild....... This was another lifer.. a first timer followed by sense of absolute relief and I felt feather-weight and free like a bird soaring in the sky.... This was a trip worth the salt...

A few pictures...

KawalWildlifeSanctuaryFeb0611

slums and the sumptuous
live under the sun
rags and ritz
share the moon
and the star lit glitz;
poor and power
breathe in air
bleed out blood red;
abandoned and abundant
all so similar
yet so different...

A bird builds its nest
it takes no loan..
seize no property
on this planet
which belongs to it
as much as
any living being;
why do humans
deny and divide
that worldly right??

Perhaps life is a vicious cycle, where death is only a transition from one form of life to the other.. Death upon our planet might lead to, on a religious note, heaven or hell of the newer form of life.. On that hypothesis, our life here might also have been the heaven or hell of a previous version of our life.. Taking cue from religions and confining only to our planet, heaven or hell would be judged based on the deeds in that particular form of life.. If you are bad or at least proved to be so, you are cursed to live your life in hell and dumped in the slums.. If you have done good all your life or claimed to be so, you are gifted a silver spoon and placed in a cradle...

The cursed ones are aware that their life is far more rotten than the slimy surroundings they come to terms with, as for the blessed ones they are loved, cared and live a healthy life...
A singing talent might bring out stage performances, Indian Idols accompanied by applause out of the blessed ones and the same talent can make the other kind blinded, (with chilly powder stuffed into their eyes or the whole eye ball taken out with a spoon like taking a cherry out of the cake) and sing to a larger audience on the roads in the company of horns, swears and loathsome faces...
Blessed ones are always adept with waging wars, racing bikes and cars, building empires and treasuring their toy guns.. The wretched ones struggle to cope with fighting for food, running for their lives, finding shelter and wielding a real gun..

Heaven and Hell is on the same planet, living and surviving in the same place... Born here, they equally have the right to the resources of this planet.. but one is denied of that right and the other enjoys the privilege..

The fortunate ones are few
wretched ones many
the gap is widening
and the difference growing..
I, by sheer luck, am
one among the few...

Inspired from the movie Slumdog Millionaire

In the dawn of 21st century
Fear has a new form
Fear is the name that
shook the world by storm

united by distrust
separated by prejudice
fear seeps in
filling life with malice

in fear we live
day after day
its fear that we brew
every passing day

mumbai witnessed terror
soar to another high
terror that spoke no marathi
and fear no aamchi mumbai...
where was Bal Thackerey??
and his MNS warriors
when their mumbai was torn
and seeds of fear sown!!!

In religions we are
Hindus, Muslims, Christians...
In caste we are
SCs, STs, BCs, OBCs...
In languages we are
marathis, gujarathis, tamilians...
In class we are
rich, middle class, poor..
Today in fear we are
all Indians..
In the fight against fear
let us be Global Citizens...

Abhinav Bindra fires his way to glory bringing India a glittering gold.. First of its kind for an individual...
AND..
Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar welled in tears of joy adding to the beaming pride of India with their bronzes...
This could be the dawn of Indian Olympic achievements.. India finally wakes up!!!

Kashmir burns under the flames of discontent.. torn, trifled and traumatized, the land of lakes and shikaras burns in the communal feuds of pandits and muslims compounded by the unresolved status of the LOC and an Utopian sense of identity termed 'azaadi'...
AND..
Bihar drowns in the floods of neglect.. Adequate measures and sufficient investment of technology could, not only have contained and averted the nature's fury, but sheer neglect and a lackadaisical attitude between the governments of India and Nepal, have also lead to worsening of the situation.

Down in the south film stars are making headway into the world of politics, giving fiery speeches..
AND..
drenched with emotional anecdotes like the professionals they are, all in the quest for power..
History has the habit of coming back to life wearing a new tie and hairdo.. And they call it change...

Across all the significant happenings in and of India unfolding at every corner and outside.. down in the newest metro city (and ironically near Metro cash N carry) one fine 'suprabatam' yours lovingly got himself into a tiff he desperately tried to avoid. The encounter turned nasty despite his reason and plea climaxing in violence when the whistle blew off the pressure cooker and a clenched fist, which always championed its cause for non-violence, thrust a fierce punch onto the condign cheekbones of the noisy unrestrained squabbler...
AND..
A sudden jolt of surprise and blood trickling down like water replaced the brawl and all ended deservingly well..

Fire AND Water, a combination that can bring glory, wake the nation to a new dawn, wreak havoc to staggering proportions, quench the undying thirst for power, and sometimes lend out a helping hand in ending petty quarrels..
Fire AND Water like cause and effect, like disease and symptom, like Yin and Yang... inseparable and dissimilar...

The great monsoon sale is on...
where is the monsoon???

There is no monsoon but there is a sale..
where is the sale???

There is no sale.. with inflation close to 12% prices are only soaring..
There is no sale.. But there is a sale..

There is a sale of MP's in the parliament..
A vote of confidence.. Number-crunching game..

A conglomeration of trust, mistrust, back-stabbing, bidding..
who decides the fate of the country??

Fate of the country is already in ruins..
Country and parliament are disconnected.

Parliament seeks power.. country seeks hope...
Ideologies, alliances are on sale..
UPAs, SPs, BSPs, BJPs, CPIs seek the common P.. Parliament, Power

who decides the fate of the P?
For tomorrow its the weather that takes the decision..

Rain can bring in floods and dissolve the government..
Warm and sunny day might make Mayawati the PM..

Its a Great Monsoon sale...
No Monsoons.. No sale..

Just when I am inconspicuously wafting through the cycle of time, quite contended with my life and things around, a bovine contentment; suppressing the curiosity that keeps me going, a cat's curiosity; disinclined and extremely indolent with activities in life, unlike a busy bee... Just when any of the living beings dont seem to startle or represent me, letting me idle around the unending swirling motions of time... Just when.. and a vague opportunity knocks on my door...

A chance comes knocking to make a contribution, a significant one, to the community... to make a difference.. to bring in a change.. a head start.. and everything else written on the election campaign brochure.. It was a chance to participate in the world's largest democracy, play a role.. a supreme one.. As Lincoln said.. Democracy is for the people, by the people and of the people and may be on the people.. We, my family, had to vote.. and this time they allowed the pets to cast their votes too.. pets with initials.. Deepu, Dee chauffeur, girl and now Deer, V.A. Deer.. pet with initials.. The polling officer was startled, deer-like, to read out my new pet name as he dint find any visible traits of a deer in me and wondered if I was named after a royal stag or something.. I was compared, related and linked with most of the domestic animals but this is the closest I get to the wild ones.. I casted my vote smearing a blot of ink on my accusing finger and so did my sister who suddenly in the morning turned into a BJP supporter and zealously voted for HER BJP.. The BJP that unknowingly had the symbol of HAND.. (What if Congress won the Elections by one vote... one crucial vote which always belonged to the BJP and fell in the HAND of Congress????)

Elections and democracy was not a new experience for me sparing the novelty in nomenclature. We had them in our schools. Elections were conducted for school group leaders and class leaders.. I was an active part of both sides of the democracy, casting my vote for the group leader and nominating myself for the class leader. A class of 60, enfranchised pupils yet to be citizens penning the name of their able leader from the nominees standing on the dais. The counting is quick and easy(atleast mine which in my three continuous years of filing nominations never required the service of all the ten fingers!!) and a new leader is elected. A leader who would mind the class writing down the names of anyone who couldnt keep their mouth shut in the absence of a teacher; who distributed our unit and assignment test papers and read out circulars.. We practically learnt how democracy works and I clearly knew that Democracy was not a place to try your luck. Fortune in democracy always favoured the articulate and influential minds..

If I ever chanced upon a whimsical notion to file nominations again and perhaps start a new independent party to errr bring about a drastic change in the errr political happenings of this country..!! Royal Stag (animal not the whiskey!!) would be my party symbol.. I have decided on that... For the moment democracy is doing fine for India and I am happy being part of the electorate...

We reach Trishur railway station at half past 2 (one and half hour late) and start for my maternal home in an ambassador. This time we go through a new route, where a new bridge is built over one of the zillion backwaters in the green country... The ferry service is discontinued and preserved as a heritage in the name of Urbanisation. Ferries were always fun to commute moving at a steady pace giving an awe filled view around the lake within it and a growing urge to dive into it and feel the sharp chillness of the water slapping the senses clogging the nasal passages and ears; floating over the water weightless separated from the thoughts, emotions and the tangible life, floating around aimlessly and ultimately sinking into the blue. But I am in complete peace with the ambassador jolting ahead through the newly built bridge after an arduous 24 (plus 1 and half) hour journey in Sabari Express, which is by no means an Express halting at every other station, making way for every other train... and it so happened that three fourths of the adjacent compartment was reserved by a women's college excursion party.. compartments and grass is always greener and lusher on the other side... no use abusing my luck there...

After having spent majority of the sabari express journey time in a wistful slumber the transformations I witnessed out through the window of the ambassador were sudden and aching; tall buildings turned taller slanting coconut trees pregnant with coconuts tender ones full of refreshing and popular coconut water ready to hit the ground any moment and everything blue black red white yellow turned plain green... coconut green banana leaves green ripened jack fruit green backwater green.. greenery lead us, accompanied us to our destination...

Last time I went to Kerala was when my cousin got married (Trip to God's own country (Part I))
This time another cousin another marriage; same bland style, the proceedings set on a dais clouded by photographers and cameramen quickly filming whatever little is happening up there ( (no posing for the cameras and surprising sense of urgency in everything!!) and at the blink of an eye you are munching on the delicious sadya sitting opposite to the newly wed who are supposedly enjoying theirs under the limelight(spotlight?).
In the midst of all this my mom would call me to meet her cousins, friends, aunts, uncles...
'Deepu come here... This is my son.. No no not my daughter.. my son....'
'You have grown.....' gleefully staring at the apparition surrounding my head..
'Yeah.. Its.. Something different.. Wanted to...' a wide grin...
And off we go home...

This is the story of marriages at my place.. Sooner or later sometime in the distant future (when? perhaps when I show prominent signs of balding... for now I only have the looks of a bride!!) it would be my turn to tie the knot but I wouldnt possibly do it this way...
My marriage would be a grand spectacle.. The groom adorned in sherwani and a turban would come galloping on a black horse (not white.. I always had a crush on black horses.. fascination may be a better word for the dirty minds...) to the marriage hall and the bride on a palanquin (if she wishes to). There would be Punjabi style bangras and Andhra style jovial post-marriage games followed by a grand feast.. And finally...
'you may now kiss the bride' Richard Gere style after which we, groom and bride(if she still wishes to) would ride back on the black horse... Thats when I get married... Things often have never quite been the way I wanted it to...

Post Marriage we had nothing much to do and so.. we, my cousins and I the boys gang, decided to play cricket... I was extremely jubilant to step into the playground, for the last time I rubbed the ball on my trousers in the course of the run-up was in may 2005. A long time for the cricket loving mind to get excited and certainly longer for the cricket suppressed and forgotten body to return to action... Despite the worries of possible injuries I set forth, Akthar like, long hair, long run-up putting the maximum in every delivery... I was their strike bowler (they striked me all over the ground) and a classy batsman playing textbook shots, Dravid like, very well received and applauded by the opposition... My cricket was like that of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.. Great expectations and dismal performance... Why is Deccan Chargers way down in the points table?? Lack of players?? Gily, Gibsy, Afridy (Afridi) are not called players then who are???
What DC lacks is good looking cheer leaders and a brand ambassador.. Every team has got one.. What is Mega Star and Balayya doing?? Star players dont get you victories and points... Collected team and an aggressive captain does.. like the Rajastan Royals.. Thats about cricket.. IPL has commercialized cricket... we have big stars and celebrities involved and even 'Santoor Mummy' has started smacking the cricket ball onto the windows... We played till we could play no more and then rode back home on an antique piece..
A motorbike supposed to be donated to Salar Jung Museum, on which both rider and pillion rider had important roles to play. Rider would drive this thing through a narrow bumpy lane laid elevated between the water clogged fields and the one behind would lighten the path with a torch and also ensure all the musical spare parts would run along with the 10 year old bike (the foot rest unfortunately gave away to rest in peace on the ground and couldn't complete its journey with the others)

The next day we were admiring a herd of elephants after paying visits to Lord Krishna, standing in a queue for hours at the Guruvayoor Temple, bare footed, bare chested, cladding a silky smooth Lungi strapped tightly to the waist with a belt to prevent further embarrassment. The Lungi languorously lingered on to my modest self until I was among the elephants picturing them in my trousers and at my heels at their slightest movements... There were so many of them... Komban (the male one with tusks), Piddi Aana (the female counterpart), Kutti Aana (the calf) and they had big personalities and even bigger and full names... Keshavan, Shankaran, Padmanaban, Narayanan... (not Deepu, Dee...)
Elephants got a personality and as Samuel L Jackson says in Pulp Fiction...
'Personality goes a long way...' and it certainly does...
Cant help quoting one of the interesting conversations between Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel Jackson)

Vincent: Want some bacon?
Jules: No man, I don't eat pork.
Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish, I just don't dig on swine, that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy ********er. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eat nothin' that ain't got enough sense enough to disregard its own faeces.
Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
Jules: I don't eat dog either.
Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.
Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
Jules: Well we'd have to be talkin' about one charmin' *******kin' pig. I mean he'd have to be ten times more charmin' than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I'm sayin'?


Too much of elephants, greenery, cricket, pulp fiction and digression in this post... But they were all part of my trip...

Tuesday 9:40 AM: we were at Utkal university, 5km away from airport where our flight is scheduled to depart at 10:15 AM. Our plan initially was to leave on Wednesday morning but the conditions here forced us to advance our plans... The scorching heat already turned me into a scare-crow and the humidity drenched me in sweat. Another day in this furnace would char the scare-crow figures to ashes. Finally we made a start in an unlikely, unhyderabadi auto passing through The Secretariat, 199 snaps already taken in the course of the trip one more to make it a round figure but wisely avoiding it to hopefully(our hope bit by bit wiped out of ourselves like sweat at every signal) reach Biju Patnaik Airport on time. The place where our journey began...

Biju Patnaik Airport looked like an unused playground compared to the new Shamshabad Airport. The latter gives you a foreign look and feel, one for the grandiose infrastructure and the other for the distance from the city. I felt I was transported from one part of the world (where the cab to the airport cost me 750 bucks) to another different world (here the auto charged me 60 bucks). The place outside was green, full of trees and free space and cows... There were cows everywhere, you think of a cow and you are bound to find one in the vicinity. The autos here are very much unhyderabadi as they are slow, like bullock-cart, strictly adhering to traffic rules even in the absence of a policeman, (I have only seen policewoman managing the traffic). Bhuvaneswar is naive to development as it seriously lacks sufficient traffic congestions, the trees are not chopped off and replaced with tall staggering malls and buildings and the contribution towards the latest trend global warming is pathetically inadequate. While the bulls of greater cities charge ahead when shown a red signal, Bhuvaneswar cows remain calm, grazing and waiting for the green.

The people here are round faced tiny eyes with gentle bovine-like disposition. They dont demand money or loot you. The loot, here in this temple city is proprietary of the temples. In Jagannath temple located at Puri, the home for three wide-eyed statues with a mocking smile (of Krishna, Shubadra and Arjuna) extending their arms out, a board outside read 'Beware of Pickpockets'. People who have been here before reach out to the embracing arms of the smiling Gods from a distance and say their prayers. The unfortunate ones however, who have read the board but havent understood it, trudge along carefully on the slippery surface full of ghee close to the Gods, only to be forced to bow down in front of the statues and then demanded huge sums for blessings and long life. You also get beaten all over the body with two sticks by the poojaris standing at every entrance and you pay for it. (I was whacked on my bottom for 20 bucks)

The Chilika Lake was vast and huge with dolphins peeping out a couple of times in the three hour boat ride, the first half of which was spent anxiously looking around for dolphins and the arrival of the sea-mouth and the second half, labouriously waiting for the shore.


Konark Temple, the last segment of the arduous sight-seeing under the searing sun sapping away the excitement and energy, jumped out of the history books infront of our tiring eyes was ancient, magnificent and slowly crumbling.

The next day our job (the purpose of our trip) was done by evening much earlier than expected, and we decided, hogging icecreams and cold fluids listening to 'Aa ante aahapuram' in Oriya, to advance our departure plans.
On Tuesday morning we started from our hotel at 9:05AM thinking to drop by at Utkal University for a couple of minutes and reach Airport by 9:40AM, take a final the 200th snap at the Airport and head home. But the unhyderabadi auto and couple of minutes turning 10 minutes upset our plan and we were still in the auto waiting for the signal, wondering what would another day in this place do to us?? We reached airport at 10:05AM anxiously hoping to board the plane. As luck goes, the flight was delayed (as it was going to HYDERABAD) and.....

Bhuvaneswar is a nice place to visit in the months of December and January but an absolute no-no at this time of the year..
8 people die out of sun stroke in Orissa. We were lucky, blessed (puri-Jagannath perhaps!!) not to make it a round figure...

'An Indian firm has launched a paan-flavoured condom designed to evoke the pungent taste of the betel nut and tobacco concoction chewed and then spat out by millions of South Asians' -- heights of innovation.

An out of this world innovation attempted to increase the use of condoms amongst sex workers and others in the pleasure seeking and giving business. The bonding of human sexes in search of an unparalleled divine pleasure an act of intense fulfillment celebrated to elevate from the mundane activities of human life, what can a meek flavour designed to stimulate the taste buds mark its influence? Innovations should be aimed at spreading the awareness, just like the remarkable concept 'puli raaja ki aids vastunda!' which has done its significant bit in educating people...

In this growing and bulging sub-continent of ours, where we are the most competent in various fields.. economy growing at a rapid rate, poverty not left behind in the race, corruption is way ahead, cinemas, cricket, population, global warming.. you name it we have it..!! But unfortunately India is seriously outnumbered in the divorce rates compared to the rest of the world. A nation which has the history of promoting child marriages and brutal post-marital practices can never be lagging in that area. This should be seriously considered by our elected representatives in the forthcoming five year plan or the next bill that is passed.. but just before the politicians fuel their uncanny creativity at the expense of the tax payer's money, the supreme court had its say on this. To increase the possibility of divorces let's plan more marriages, and henceforth decided to bring down the marriageable age for men. 18 years for all. once you legally turn 18 you have the choice to get married, you are encouraged to marry..

Marriage at the tender age of 16 is not legal (its not illegal either!!) but sex certainly is. All the young testosterones left wild and free on a humping spree, humping all around and you have the government sponsored flavoured condoms to play with.. and its all legal.. the moment you turn 18 get married despite all the odds you may face in the form of parents, caste, class whatsoever for love, for true infatuated intense love and they lived happily ever after.. movies end here.. what next?? You dont have a career but you have a woman.. you dont know how to go about your life but you know true love.. 'Mummy Im home.. I dont want all this.. Please forgive me!!'

This valentine's day all the young budding lovers out there, this is no time for flowers and cards... get married you have the supreme court to back you up till divorce..!!

Greetings!

Independent India has turned 60... an age generally considered for retirement, independent India is still young and growing... barely out of the womb in the early 90s India has stepped into adolescence juvenile, vulnerable and flexible capable of being moulded into any form. The Independence day celebrations were rampant with the most spoken about friend's community 'Orkut' taking it to the fore. All the profiles were seemingly decorated with the Indian tricolor.. Decorations remind me of school where every section would compete to decorate their class rooms and the one with the most beautiful (flamboyant rather.!) decoration was adjudged the winner. Flag hoisting, march-past, drills, speeches about India and its great leaders, freedom struggle and all the social studies text book stuff, national anthem, Lata Mangeshkar's song with the discussion that this song brought Nehru to tears(we used to discuss this every august 15th)... and of course the two asha chocolates along with paper cut Indian flag and a pin to hold it onto a swelling chest gleaming with pride.. That was independence day..!! Forwarding Independence day messages (garbage in- garbage out), displaying an August born patriotism in the form of orkut profiles, cell phones, emails, blogs(this one included!!) and other stuffs... watching the repeat telecast of flag hoisting, march-past (who will want to wake up in the morning to watch that live)... This is independence day..!! Its just a holiday (which most of us prefer on friday or monday.. long weekend!!)

Independent India, my emphasis on the word Independent is only to showcase India post independence though there wasnt any significant impact on India post and pre independence barring the fact that British Raj suddenly decided to leave its hold on this then chaotic nation to rule on its own and the partition as an aftermath.. It took 60 years for this nation to reach where it is now. A union of chaos (like the unity in diversity my social teacher use to say!!), this nation is an example of the true definition of diversity. Diversity in religion, region, language, cast, class, creed amassed and engulfed, this nation had survived its way along here.. I can assert that any other nation with the diversity and population density such as this would have crumbled into smaller unions. India survived as a single nation. India has maintained its integrity where religious strife is prevalent now and then, here and there so as to maintain the status quo, where sex is still a taboo and any kind of sexual liaison is deemed to be an act of treason, where horrendous acts like sati and child marriages are still practised in the remotest villages, where the metros are booming and the villages pushed into the oblivion, where corruption co-exists with cricket and bureaucracy befriends bollywood, where the billion people are always ready to cheer the Indian Cricket Team and have no regard for the national sport or any other game for that matter (chak de effect!!)... with all this traits and frails India has survived.. Now India is hoping at a sprinter's pace.. It has to learn to live not just survive..!!
Happy Independence day..!!

Greetings

I somehow have a strange feeling that my blog is being closely monitored by my manager, because a couple of days after my previous post where I mentioned about my productivity (confused?? go read my previous post, even I had to do it before starting this!!) I see myself slogging for long hours... My nose was to the grindstone last week with work and long time pending java certification exam (this is something which every other software developer, programmer, tester or whatever with little exposure to java takes. I dint want to be an outcast in that respect so decided to join the herd..) I got through the exam and also managed to put my work aside (you dont finish your work, the moment you finish it you find more of it rushing towards you!!)

Competition is omnipresent.. We see it everywhere, in our work, play and of late I see that in myself. A cutthroat competition between my 'chest' and 'belly', the chest slowly losing the battle to my protruding belly as its stanch supporter my 'back' has started a non-cooperation movement owing to a lot of pressure.. Dreaming about 6 pack like that of Brad Pitt and calling them abs than tummy sounds good but reality is so cruel that able to call it a tummy than paunch finds so much satisfaction!!

Choice a gift to the humankind is a very interesting thing. Sometimes its good, sometimes I tell you its really bad.. when you have too many choices you never come up with a clear mandate. For instance consider our political scenario, if coalition government wasnt enough we cant take a decision on who should be our next president?? The polls and vote war for the next president is all over the internet... while this debate is on, elsewhere there is another vote war on a grand scale happening, a different kind of war; the war for 'new' wonders of the world!! Some cranky billionaire wanted to have new wonders for the new world and started an online poll, the biggest of its kind (though half of the world is not voting) to decide on this. India's entry to this list is still its only wonder The Taj Mahal - a tomb built by a long dead king for his dead queen near a dying river and left to crumble. I feel India's entry to the wondrous list must be the world's most preferred Bollywood personality - Shilpa Shetty ( I heard even Mike Tyson is interested in meeting her when he comes down to India!! ) But that is too much of skin show, very unindian (kissing and all) and dearth of talent. when it comes to real talent there is no better entry than the hyper-talented singer and now superstar - Himmesh-'OO'-Reshammiya. The cap wearing star caps them all, the wondrous wonders!! We also have The Boss, the south Indian superstar who is not only famous in India but places to east of India, who at this age is breaking box office records. A baron of the box-office, he can be India's entry or his movies can surely make it to the top 7. Then there is Amitabh Bachchan ancient enough to be called a wonder and ubiquitous to win all the online and sms polls, he can be a worthy contender too.. Finally its a matter of choice.

The results will be announced on 07.07.07... On the same day we also have "Live Earth" a 24 hour 7 continent concert series bringing together musicians all across the globe to bring awareness and to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis. This is a noble cause to make us realize the seriousness of global warming and climatic changes. There are several practical and day-to-day tips on climate crisis solutions like switching off our computer monitors (or shutting them down) when we leave the office as it can eliminate upto 45,000 tons of CO2 per year (if 1 million people do that). The world is in danger and this is the least we can do to protect our planet and save our selves(SOS) ... Good Day!!

Welcome to India!
A multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-multi country with 28 states and counting, the Indian subcontinent is a nation which is as diverse as anything can get. Yes, we have a national language, a national animal, a national bird, a national sport, a national this, that and everything like every other nation but these are not very national or common. If there is anything that binds this disparate nation, then that is cinema and cricket. Cinema is not merely Indian but a global phenomenon. Motion pictures are globally made as a source of entertainment, education and is also a powerful mode of communication. Acknowledging and appreciating cinema is a ceremony that has been existing for a long time and one of the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony is the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars.

The Oscars, the American Academy Awards ceremony which recognizes excellence in film making in the whole wide world!! (Whole wide?? ). This reminds me of the Baseball World Series, a championship series played between the American League of one part of the world and National League of probably the same part of the world. (World Series??, whole wide world??) The Oscars belong to the whole wide world of America where the small, insignificant rest of the world is invited to bask in the american glory. Indian cinema at the Oscars can be compared to a child, awestruck and mouth agape peeping through a window the ostentatious display of whole wide american excellence in cinema, when its talent is being admired and acclaimed globally. But the child only wants a small piece of the american pie, like aamir khan who only goes to Oscars and is never seen at a Filmfare event, like the disappointment we see whenever an Indian Film does not make it to the Oscars even if it does, it does not win the coveted award. Let us hope the child get its share of glory in the coming years.

That being said, cricket is one uniting religion in this country which has sachin, dravid, ganguly, dhoni treated as Gods and demigods.. Though the number of cricket playing nations are less, cricket is loved as a universal sport. Unlike the Baseball world series, cricket is soon to witness its once in four years carnival, the ICC World Cup. World cup has always been a spectacular event since its inception in 1975. But lately this event is losing its charm with the increasing number of teams. This year world cup is hosting an unbearable 16 teams and the period is being inflated to 47 days, three weeks more than the soccer world cup. Though the event begins on march 13th, there isn't a single match of real excitement until the super-8 series which starts on march 27th. Unlike soccer, cricket is not a game where we can expect major upsets, a kenya surprising the westindies or a bangladesh numbing pakistan is a rarity in cricket. Cricket is a long game and the gap is too wide for an upset. I feel a India versus Bermuda match is like a boxer warming up by practising his punches on a meat bag before the main event. Its all in the game and like every Indian even I am eagerly waiting for the world cup and hope that Team India wins the world cup!! Good luck India.. Good luck for Cricket, Cinema, world cup, Oscars and everything that unites us!!