Caste Census: A Ticket to Dark Ages

Now that our country looks set to get a caste based census, all the hopes of revoking the caste based reservations, atleast for next 10-15 years have died, as I feel the sole purpose of it is to press for more reservations.

These reservations might have died a slow death by next generation but now it seems casteism is going to hit our country very badly which I fear may even lead to disintegration.

As of now, the present generation hardly cares about castes. That's how we have been brought up. My parents never told me about the castes or which caste we belonged to until I had to fill it in some applications while applying for some engineering colleges. Nor was I told to condescend on someone who belongs to other caste. Even in schools, we were taught that discrimination based on castes is something evil and it hampers development of society. Even as I grew up and went to college, I did not find anyone talking about castes nor did I find any groupism based on castes. There was no one who felt that he had divine rights because he was born in a higher caste nor was anyone humiliated because he was born in a lower caste. Actually no one cared about who belongs to which caste. The very notion of caste has died among many of us in the present generation. I may have met very few people in my life but I can say that 99% of my friends and batchmates from school or college hardly care about castes and they don't make friends after ascertaining the caste of someone.

But now with caste census and subsequent reservations, there will be a tendency to cling to one's caste so as to enjoy the benefits a caste might get. People will start identifying themselves more with their castes than with their country. This may soon take an ugly shape as we have already witness some of it in Meena-Gujjar violence in Rajasthan. Trouble mongers will have one more excuse to create trouble in name of castes, this time on a wider scale, in addition to the troubles our country is facing in form of separatist agitations, maoist violence and occasional outbreak of communal violence.

If our politicians are really concerned for the poor and downtrodden, they can implement reservations based on financial conditions or on regional basis as some regions are quite underdeveloped and people don't even have basic amenities. But reservations based on caste are divisive and it amounts to racism too. It is unconstitutional too as our constitution professes social equality.

3 IdiOts

A Wonderful movie, wasn't it? Before you make your conclusions that I am writing a review of '3 idiots' after 3 long months after it was off the screens, I would like to make it clear its not a review but its about the 3 idiots I encountered while watching that movie.

Its quite tough to get tickets for a new or a hit movie in a film crazy city like Chennai. But somehow I got to see it in the hall just before it was to be replaced by My Name is Khan.

The First Idiot
As soon as the movie started someone behind me started conversing in English and he soon was translating each and ever dialogue from Hindi to English much to our irritation.A North Indian guy had brought his South Indian girlfriend to the movie but his efforts in charming her were turning out to be an unpleasant experience for the fellow audiences. I turned around and politely signaled with my hands to lower his volume. He stopped for a while but again he started. Then a tamil guy(I can tell by has accent) who was sitting in the same row as that guy yelled at him, "Please buy a DVD and watch it with subtitles but please be quite now". That finally silenced that guy and he never spoke again.

The Second and Third Idiot
Nearly half an hour had passed when a guy came in looking for his seat. He came up to me and asked, "Is this your seat?". I replied in affirmative. He went outside the hall and brought in the third idiot, the ticket checker.
The third idiot came up to me and said, "Sir, ticket". Aamir Khan had written the words "Farhanitrate" and Prerajulisation" and I was quite engrossed in the movie. This interruption obviously irritated me but I rummaged my pocket and showed him my ticket. He verified my ticket and now asked the second idiot to show his. When he checked his ticket, it turned out that it was a matinee show ticket and this was the evening show. The third idiot apologised to me and asked the second idiot to move out. The second idiot groaned and uttered curses at someone who might have given him that ticket but moved out.

Though these three idiots made my initial movie watching experience an unpleasant one but the three idiots on screen ensured that I left the hall smiling. :)

Return of the Blogger

Hi everyone, with my first post of 2010, I announce my return to blogging.

I am sorry I could not amuse you all with my stories, controversies and wisecracks for nearly five months now. I had to lock up the writer in me so that I could get used to dancing on bed of hot coals. Thats how I would like to describe my past few months. Though personally I was in a cocoon fighting my own demons but was observing many interesting things happening in the world.

Last ten months have been quite eventful for our country though mostly in a negative manner thanks to separatist agitations, maoist violence and many scandals. I would like to reserve my comments on all these issues till I do some ground work myself as I feel forming opinions on the basis of news channel and news papers is no longer wise.

Only bright thing I can recall is Sachin Tendulkar's dazzling performances on field. His consistency in scoring runs and raising the benchmark for batsmen by reaching new milestones when critics had written him off has brought back people to watch cricket. His double century revived the interest of many people in ODIs again and I think most of you would agree if I say IPL3 was a hit because of Sachin alone. I even watched Test matches(because I had that kind of time to waste) only to see him score centuries after centuries. For a cricket lover like me Sachin's batting is a great stress buster and a source of happiness. Thank you Sachin.

I will soon be back with my next post, probably with some literary review or something funny or outrageous that I may recall.

RISK

I came across this poem and I would like to share it with all of you.

To laugh, is to Risk appearing the fool.
To weep, is to Risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another, is to Risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to Risk loss
To love, is to Risk not being loved in return
To live, is to Risk dying
To hope, is to Risk despair
To try at all, is to Risk failure
But RISK we MUST
Because the greatest hazard to life is to Risk nothing.
The man who Risks nothing....Has nothing.....Is nothing.
He may avoid sufferings....but he simply cannot Learn, Feel
Grow, Love or Live
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave
He has forfeited freedom.
Only the person who Risks can be called a Free Man.

Kiss and Run

Don't get me wrong, this isn't about anything related to flirting or some nasty prank. I am still the good old decent guy. I am writing about some real incident after quite a long time, even posting on my blog after a long time.

The other day, I was enjoying my drive on my bike as the sky had cleared up(Chennai has been experiencing incessant showers for nearly a week). So were many others and hence a huge traffic.

I was waiting behind a Maruti Swift at a traffic signal for it to go green. The signal to turn right turned green and the vehicles to my right moved ahead. As I tried to move into the free space, a Honda car brushed past me. I had to stop abruptly. It was a close shave!

The Honda moved too close to the Swift before me. The distance between them was hardly a foot. Soon it was just few inches. Anymore further, the left rear view mirror of Honda would crash into the right rear view mirror of Swift.

But the Honda moved forward smoothly like a hot knife cutting into cheese and then CRASH!

The distance between the two cars had come down from inches to centimeters to millimeters and finally their front portions were touching each other side by side as if in a liplock (actually a tire lock). Had there been some CAR SENA like Shiv Sena or MNS for the cars "community", they would have attacked them for public obscenity.

Before the driver of Swift could realize what had happened, the lady driving the Honda launched into a tirade of abuses as if it was the Swift driver's mistake for the crash. I was simply shell shocked. Even the poor driver took some time to react.

Irony was that, the Honda's left rear view mirror was still intact and the Swift's right rear view mirror had been knocked off. Even before the Swift driver could react and as I moved my bike towards Honda's right to confront the lady, the signal turned green and the lady sped her Honda away with amazing alacrity. Maybe she realized her mistake and wanted to escape.

Moral of the story-
1. When a woman is at the wheel, maintain atleast a 10 feet distance or be prepared for her scorn.
2. Honda cars are sturdier than Maruti ones.

The Magic Lamp

Once an young man wandering in a jungle found an old but shining lamp in the hollow of an ancient banyan tree. He was delighted to find some gold in the middle of a jungle and his greedy eyes searched for more treasure in the hollow but found none. A bit disappointed, he now looked carefully at the only treasure he found, a golden lamp. He wondered if it was a magic lamp(his favorite Disney character Aladin played on his mind). So he rubbed the lamp and waited for something to happen. Nothing happened. He rubbed the lamp more vigorously. Again nothing happened.

Disappointed, he kept the lamp aside and started planning to sell it the next morning. Then something hissed. He jumped fearing a snake, but to his surprise he found smoke billowing from the lamp. Out of the smoke popped a sleepy genie. The genie rubbing his groggy eyes demanded, "Why are you disturbing my sleep? What do you wish....?".

As soon as the genie spoke the word "wish", the young man started without even stopping once for a breath, "I WISH THAT YOU BUILD ME A GRAND PALACE WITH TEN ROOMS FULL OF GOLD AND A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS AWAITING ME IN IT IN THE MIDDLE OF A GREAT CITY ." And then he added, "I hope you count this as one single wish."

The genie stared at him silently for some time and then slapped him hard and quipped, "Got what you want ?".

The baffled young man complained, "Did you not just ask what my wish is ?".

The genie coolly said, "I never promised I will fulfill it", and now genie's expression was angrier, "If I had such a large palace and all that wealth, why would I be living in this stupid cramped lamp, moron ?". And then genie disappeared with his lamp.

The Literate Cannibals

Long time ago an young prince on a hunting expedition got lost in the forest. As darkness of the night loomed, he sought shelter hoping to find a settlement nearby. Soon he heard a melodious chanting of vedic hymns and felt very ecstatic as he felt sure of finding a hermitage nearby in the dead of the night. He rode on his horse in the direction of sound.

But soon misfortune struck him as he was surrounded by cannibals. They led him to the place where the sound originated. The prince got confused as he could not relate the cannibals with the chanting of hymns. The cannibals were dancing around a pile of bones and singing in joy.

The leader of the cannibals ordered in chaste Sanskrit to tie up the prince. Fearful though for his life, the prince could not suppress his curiousity and asked the cannibal chief how he could speak such good Sanskrit.

The chief replied that he had been educated in the great Nalanda University.

The prince was flabbergasted and asked(he rather pleaded for his life), "Didn't the study in Nalanda change you ?".

"Yes it did," replied the chief calmly. "Before going to Nalanda, we used to eat raw meat and go about naked, but now we cook the meat and use human skin as clothes."

This story tells us that being literate is one thing and being educated is another.

Modern youth akin to the cannibals is more literate for sure as compared to their ancestors but at the same time has lost the compassion for humanity and has forsaken the quest for wisdom. I make this statement in the light of increased crimes being committed by educated people, particularly by irresponsible, lust driven and pelf hungry youth.


Education is not just making one literate but it is to bring forth wisdom in oneself that leads to growth.

The Tiger and the piglets -Part II

Everytime the tiger crossed paths with the piglets, he ignored them and changed course. The piglets were amused by the tiger's behavior and soon lost their fear. Everyday they rolled themselves in muck and sought the tiger. They humored themselves seeing the tiger grimace and move away. They started bloating about making the tiger runaway with everyone they met in the forest. Soon all animals got tired of their bragging and wished someone silenced them.

This continued for a while and the piglets now dared to come near the tiger's den itself and started troubling the newly born cubs.

The tiger got enraged and roared at them to frighten them away. The piglets who had grown into young pigs were a bit shaken but did not back off as they were intoxicated with a false sense of boldness and arrogance. They dared the tiger to a duel. The tiger amused at their insolence reluctantly agreed to get rid of them once and for all.

He said to them, "Look I don't want to invite Mr.Vulture to my home after I am done with you, so lets match up somewhere else."

The pigs grunted derisively, " We will see about that but we do like to honour your dying wish, so lets fight at the place of your choice" and followed the tiger.

The tiger led them across a ford to the other bank of the river. The pigs haughtily followed the tiger least realising that the flowing water had cleansed them of all their filth they were covered in. When they reached the other bank of the river, they looked at each other and soon a realisation dawned on them but it was too late. They had one last fleeting look at the impending death and then it was all over. The grunts of the pigs were no longer heard in the forest and all the animals sighed a relief.

Like the tiger, one must be patient, ignore your adversaries as long as you can but when it becomes inevitable, one must be careful in planning when and where should one strike the enemy.
Once you hurt your enemy, your enemy should no longer be capable to attack you back both mentally and physically. But one should take on one's enemy only if it is inevitable and if you really mean to hurt. Half-hearted infliction will only fire back. By ignoring your enemies for a while, you let them pile their inflictions on you, so when you attack back you not only will have the support of your peers but also your moral conscience will not hurt you for hurting others. In this context, by enemy I just don't mean some person or human, the word subsumes all evils be it physical, mental or emotional.

The Tiger and the piglets

A tiger prowled in the dense forests of Sunderbans looking for a game, hungry as he was for days. He came across a stream and decided to cool himself from the summer heat. As he was about to take a plunge, the tiger heard some squeals and grunts that seemed to be coming from some distance upstream. The tiger told his grumbling stomach, "We finally have some food here, be patient" and darted off in the direction of the sound.

Some distance upstream some piglets were playing, rolling themselves in a pile of muck and when they saw the tiger coming their way, they panicked and trembled with fear and stood rooted to the place. As the tiger neared his prey, all his insatiable hunger vanished in a puff. He grimaced at the very sight of piglets as it caused nausea, for the piglets were completely covered in muck. The tiger stopped in its tracks, took few steps back and sped in the direction of an antelope he had just spotted. The trembling piglets were taken by surprise by the tiger's sudden move but were very happy to be alive. The piglets went to their mother, Mrs.Swine and bragged that they frightened a tiger away. Their mother scorned at them and warned them to stay away from the tiger and added, "You fools it was not you the tiger was frightened of, the muck you are covered in saved your neck. Every time you go out into the jungle make sure you roll in the pile of muck." The piglets nodded in agreement.

Like Mrs.Swine one must always be on guard against possible adversaries and never mistake their passiveness for their weakness.

The tiger had hunted down the antelope and was ensconced under a huge tree. Soon he was joined by a vulture. The tiger looking at the forlorn face of the vulture asked him, "Whats the matter with you my friend ?". The vulture replied sorrowfully, "My mate died of swine flu, filthy swines killed her even being dead." The tiger chided the vulture, "Your species should learn to make some discretion while feeding off the carcass that are at your disposal. Even I had few piglets at my disposal this morning, it was disgusting to even look at them, forget about eating them. Luckily for today I found this antelope otherwise I would have preferred to go hungry rather than hunting those piglets down".

Like the tiger one should always be discrete in one's choices and not splurge on anything that is at one's disposal. Likewise one should also be discrete in engaging with an adversary or a bully. One need not pick fights with every other bully. Most of the time its not even worth it and it would most probably disturb your own mental peace. Had the tiger hunted down the piglets, he might have lost his peace of mind after hearing the news from the vulture. He was better off ignoring the piglets. So one should try to ignore bullies as long as possible for one's own sake and in case someone persists and gets to your nerves, read the story about the tiger and piglets that continues in my next post.

How to Build Natural Immunity against the Swine Flu

Here are some tips to develop immunity against the Swine Flu (courtesy: www.NaturalNews.com)

There are many natural remedies that will raise your immunity to the Swine Flu and other viral and bacterial diseases. Many people do not have immunity to the current strain of Swine Flu. This is not unusual because most viruses alter as the virus season goes along. Most people will not become sick because the issue is not the virus but SUSCEPTIBILITY.

Viruses will not multiply in a healthy body. We constantly have Streptococcus in our throats, yet we rarely experience Strep Throat. The same is true of this Swine Flu and other viral strains. Exposure will lead to disease only if the immune system is suppressed and if the vitality of the person is weakened. Do NOT suppress mucus. It is important to let the body discharge toxins.

Most viruses become less aggressive over time because they want to spread and not to kill their hosts. If they kill their hosts, they die as well. The viruses that do survive --the ones in humans with strong immune systems-- become less virulent so that their hosts, us humans, go to work, shake hands and sneeze on others to continue to spread the virus.

Using herbs, homeopathy, and vitamins will increase your health and reduce your susceptibility.

DIGESTION
Some say that the flu "begins in the gut and ends in the gut". This means that if you have good digestion, you will increase your resistance to this and other flu strains. Take a probiotic daily. Live probiotics are available in natural food stores, and probiotics are now more widely available in grocery stores, in yogurt culture and even in chocolate. Now we have got some excuse to relish lots of chocolate.

HOMEOPATHY
The homeopathic remedy Anas Barbariae is made from the liver of migrating geese. Because they travel the world, they build immunity to many viruses years before humans do. Be sure to get the 2009 version by checking the expiration date. It has been found that the remedy Ferrum phos is effective in treating the early stages of the flu, when used in the first 24 hours. Also the remedy Influenzinum can be taken as a prophylaxis. This remedy is made from the same disease strain as the CDC uses to make each season's flu vaccine.

LIFESTYLE ADVICE
1. Get Plenty of Sleep
To improve your resistance to any disease, the most important thing you can do is get enough rest. Your body knows how to heal, and it does this best when sleeping. Get adequate rest on a daily basis, and if you begin to feel fatigue during a time of increased stress to your immune system, take naps, get into bed earlier, relax and let your body do what it does best: restore and rebuild.

2. Hydrate
Our bodies are 80% water. Drink plenty of water each day to stay hydrated and to allow the body to flush toxins from the blood and the liver. Drink pure water, not soda or juice, for best results.

3. Exercise
Exercise increases your resistance to disease. It stimulates the cleansing blood flow and increases your natural stress reducing hormones. Exercise doesn't have to be strenuous to be beneficial. Science has shown that walking daily is good for your health and well being.

4. Spend time outdoors
The healing benefits of nature are yours and all you need to do is step outside. The fresh air cleanses your lungs and the vitamin D from sunshine is great for general health. Even on a rainy day or at night, the fresh air is beneficial.

5. Exposure
Exposure to nature and the great outdoors helps healthy emotions.

HERBS TO BUILD PROTECTION AND NATURAL IMMUNITY

1.Echinaea--Echinacea is best taken in advance of getting sick.
2.Olive Leaf
3.Elderberries
4 Adaptogens
Adaptogens are plants that have the ability to resist chemical and biological stressors and to pass that ability on to humans. Eleutherococcus research has shown a 30% to 50% decrease in influenza in Russian workers. Shisandra has long been used in Chinese medicine to improve immune function through its healing action on the liver. In recent research, Shisandra proved curative to the viral hepatitis. Codonopsis is another adaptogen used in Chinese herbal medicine. It increases the red and white blood cell counts and strengthens the immune system.

VITAMINS
1. Vitamin A is one of the main components of the skin. To strengthen the skin's protective ability, take vitamin A daily. Vitamin A also increases the white blood cells that fight disease.
2. Vitamin C --Research has shown that vitamin C improves resistance to disease and prevents flu symptoms when 1,000 mg doses are taken every six hours.
3. NAC is an amino acid that has been shown to raise immunity to the flu in clinical trials.
4.Probiotics. Healthy flora in the gut supports immune function.

By improving your lifestyle, your diet, and supplementing with natural herbs, homeopathy, and vitamins, you can improve your immune system and your overall vitality.

Healthy habits to avoid catching an infectious disease

To prevent illness, we need to keep our immune systems healthy as well as foil the illness's sneaky methods of transmission. The strategies for preventing most illnesses are chiefly common sense, yet many of us neglect to take the simple precautions that could reduce the number of infectious diseases that we get every year.

Wash your hands. All of us carry germs from surfaces we touch to our faces or our chidren's faces, where they can find easy entry into our bodies. At work, wash your hands several times a day, particularly before you eat, even if you're just snacking while at the computer. Wash them when you get home, after grocery shopping, and before you prepare a meal. And don't forget to wash them after changing the baby's diaper or wiping a toddler's runny nose.

Teach your children to wash their hands. For even the tiniest toddler, washing hands before a meal should be automatic. And it should be a thorough wash, with scrubbing and lots of suds spread all over the hands and wrists, not just a quick spritz of water.

Act as if you have stock in Kleenex.Get everyone in your household into the tissue habit. And teach them to cover their mouths and noses when they cough and sneeze. Even little children can learn automatically to cover up with a tissue to prevent germs from flying.

Use your dishwasher as your secret weapon. Anything that goes in a child's mouth--pacifiers, toys, teething rings, nipples, bottles--should be washed often. Put plastic toys in the dishwasher and soft toys in the laundry, especially when colds and flu are making the rounds. If you don't have a dishwasher, use a dishpan of hot, soapy water, and rinse with the hottest water that the plastic (and your hands) can stand.

Give your toothbrush some breathing room. Don't store your family's toothbrushes together in a glass. Put them in the sort of holder that doesn't let them touch each other. Shake them after using so that they dry fast--germs don't thrive well on dry surfaces. Of course, don't share toothbrushes--it's a very direct way to share germs.

Know when to say goodbye. Because they tend to harbor infectious organisms, if you've had a cold or strep throat, throw out your toothbrush and use a new one. (For hygiene and tooth health change to a new toothbrush every 3 months.)

When you're on the mend, think hot water. After you or your family member has recovered from a bout of sickness, wash the bedding and nightclothes in hot water. Wash down the crib or bed and all bedroom surfaces, and then open windows--even in the winter--to help fresh air circulate into the room.

Change the towels. Facecloths and towels should be changed every day. This is doubly important when someone in the house has a cold or the flu.

Observe kitchen etiquette. Change dish towels every day. Don't dry dishes with the same towel that you use for your hands. Even better, let your dishes air dry. Clean your sponges in the dishwasher and change them often.

Keep dry. Most infectious organisms don't thrive on dry surfaces. After you use soap and water on the sink and countertops in your kitchen, dry them with paper towels. This is a good practice for the bathroom, too.

Quarantine raw meat. To prevent food poisoning from salmonella and other organisms, keep your meat and salad preparations apart. Use different areas of the kitchen if you can and different cutting boards and knives. Wash up spilled meat juices with soapy paper towels, not sponges. Store meat where its juices can't leak onto other foods. Wash your hands after handling raw meat.

Think of the these tips as a gentle reminder of some pretty basic household strategies for preventing infectious illnesses in general.

Swine Flu Safety Dos and Don'ts

Swine flu is quickly spreading its tentacles all over the world and it makes us feel a bit panicky. Here are few dos and don'ts....

DO:

Germ-proof your skin: Wash your hands well and often. Not every 10 minutes, but when it makes sense, like after using the bathroom, touching common objects at work—like the microwave or printer—or returning home from the grocery store. Use warm water and soap, and rub your hands together for about 20 seconds.

Pack Purell in your kid's backpack: The classic germ-killer can be 99% effective in 20 seconds, says Cohen. Slathering it on throughout the day can minimize the chance that your child will transmit potential germs on his hands to his mouth and nose, where the virus enters the body. Keep a bottle in your purse too.

Keep your distance. Critical closeness—less than 6 to 10 feet—is required to catch airborne viruses.That means avoiding close contact with people who are coughing or sneezing, but it doesn't mean you should hole up at home and never go out in public until the swine flu passes.

Call the doctor if you think it's flu. Some people think everything that's an infection is the flu, but there's actually a very specific cluster of symptoms to worry about. These include:

• Almost always: Fever, cough, muscle aches, and headaches
• Sometimes: Runny nose, red eyes, nausea and vomiting

Take the right meds: Antivirals like Tamiflu will only help if you actually have the flu. They're most effective in the first 2 days of illness onset, so if you have suspicious symptoms, call your doctor right away. Your doctor may also recommend a fever-reducer like Tylenol or an NSAID like ibuprofen for muscle pain relief.

Remember, never give aspirin to children or teens with the flu (or any virus); this can cause a rare but serious condition called Reye's Syndrome.

DON'T:

Skip public transportation or cancel air travel.

Keep your kid out of school. Schools with individual cases are being closed. If you live in a community or state with no instances of swine flu, there's no need to keep your child home.

Stock up on face masks. The CDC has said they're not necessary for people who don't work in healthcare jobs.

Start an emergency food and water stash.

Banish School Bus.

Once Upon A Time....

Once upon a time there was a prosperous and peaceful kingdom ruled by a just king. The king was an able administrator and was prompt in attending to grievances of his subjects. He took care of them like his own children and he too was loved and admired by his subjects. He never went for a war and instead directed all the resources in making his kingdom prosperous.

One fine summer morning, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and the king felt a bit uneasy by their untimely presence. He took it as a bad omen. Soon his fears came true as a messenger entered his court panting and informed him that barbarian hordes had attacked the countryside and soon will launch their assault on the capital itself. Its been centuries this kingdom had seen a war. The king summoned his ministers and asked them to get the army ready for the battle. Though the soldiers haven't had any first hand battle experience, they were very much eager to fight for their king. They fought bravely but were routed by much experienced and fiercer army. The barbarian army broke through the capital gates and ravaged the whole kingdom, slaughtering men, women and children whoever came in its way.

Finding themselves defeated, the ministers advised the king to leave the  kingdom and seek refuge in nearby forest. The king was reluctant and wanted to fight till the last drop of his blood. But, the ministers talked some sense into him and persuaded him to escape to the forest. As he left the kingdom, he was pained to see his kingdom ravaged and his people butchered. Tired and wounded, the king and his remaining ministers made it to the forest out of harm's way.

The king was inconsolable. He never anticipated such a thing would happen to him and his people. He cursed his fate and looked upwards towards the sky and ranted, "What sins have I committed that I and my people are being punished so mercilessly?". He cried even harder when visions of his ravaged kingdom flashed before his eyes. He could not adjust himself to the sudden change of fortunes. His ministers were no better and could not comfort him. The king felt so painful at heart for failing his people that he was on the verge of losing his sanity. He even contemplated running a sword through himself to put an end to this life and pain once and for all. But his alert ministers held him back. As the king ranted about his loss, a hermit who was passing by spoke to the king and said, "O King, cry and shout as hard as you can tonight, release all your sorrows but tomorrow morning when you wake up, you will have two choices, one you continue to be as miserable and slip into oblivion and spend rest of your life like a beggar and other take your loss in your own stride, brace yourself up and fight back to regain your glory". If you choose the latter, come to me, my hermitage is nearby and pointed in the direction of some trees.

Life isn't smooth always, some unexpected turn of events could put one in disarray. But you always have the choice of either being miserable or happy as both take similar efforts, only the end results differ.

The king stopped being miserable and chose to fight back. The hermit had poured some sanity into his senses. Next morning, he went to meet the hermit. The hermit led him to his pupils who were training martial arts and told the king pointing towards them, "This is the army you have to lead in the battle but first you must prove your efficiency as a warrior and leader. The hermit handed the king a bow and arrow and asked him to shoot at a target. The king shot the arrow but missed the target widely. The hermit asked the king to observe him and practice till he hits the bull's eye. The king started practising vigourously day and night as he wanted to lead a fightback and regain his kingdom as soon as possible. Soon the king's arrow started finding the bull's eye every time he shot. He confidently went up to the master and claimed he could shoot the bull's eye. He shot 3 consecutive arrows into the bull's eye but the master wasn't impressed. He asked the king to practise more and observe him while he shot. The king could not understand what the hermit meant as even after shooting 3 arrows into the bull's eye the hermit asked him to practise more. He got frustrated and lost all hope of getting any help from the hermit and started to leave to find his own band of soldiers.

As he packed, a voice in his head said, "hey, your master is not insane, maybe he is trying to convey a message". He stayed back to learn more. Next morning, as he saw his master pick up the bow and arrow, a sudden enlightenment dawned on him. He rushed to his master and once again claimed he could shoot perfectly now. This time as he picked up the bow and took aim, the master said, "Yes, you have perfected the art". The king released the arrow and hit the bull's eye.

What the king realised here was that hitting the target was not all that is important, but the way you hit the target, how relaxed you are, how calm you are and how focussed you are without worrying about the result was important. A good leader needs to be relaxed and should keep aside his worries as he plans his next moves as worries and anger cloud ones thinking and play with their emotions. The king learnt to relax both his body and mind and with a sound mind and a handful of soldiers he led a fightback and soon reclaimed his kingdom driving out all of the barbarians.

Like the king, many of us might have enjoyed the comforts of life but some unexpected events might have turned the world upside down for us. Such drastic changes can unsettle anyone. Like the king everyone has a choice and to pursue our goals inspite of difficulties, we need to learn to endure the pain, stop being miserable and relax and plan our next course of action. The result is always fruitful when you plan your actions with a relaxed mind.

Lingo Bingo

Its been sometime now I have been in Chennai and I have picked up few Tamil words but I still struggle to convey myself to local people here. However the English, Hindi languages I know come in handy as most people understand them but when I need to communicate to a person who knows no other language than Tamil, I find myself helpless.

The situation was far more funnier last year.

Last year during summer vacations I joined driving classes and it was agreed that the instructor would instruct me in English as I did not understand Tamil. But who cares about the agreement?? I was assigned an instructor who barely knew any English. Most of my queries were in dumb and deaf language and his answers would be in either Tamil and sometimes seeing my desperate face he would use sign language I would understand. Soon I understood that his panicky voice meant I need to stop and something that sounded like encouragement meant I need to press the accelerator. Somehow struggling to understand his language and nearly mowing down early morning walkers sometimes, I learnt to drive. Well this struggle with languages wasn't new for me and over the years I have learnt some effective sign language and the language of eyes. 

Of all languages I understand(4 in number- English, Hindi,Telugu, Tamil), I think I have spoken Hindi the most. I started speaking Hindi since I was eight though I started understanding it much before thanks to my dad's north Indian colleagues and their kids. I got familiar with hindi when we got transferred to Assam as I got in touch with more and more hindi speaking populace. Here my language was influenced by various dialects of 
Hindi as people from all over India resided in the same colony as I was. These different dialects like mumbaiyya tapori hindi, bihari hindi,pure hindi etc confused me and I developed my language mixing all these dialects and some English for overcoming the lack of hindi vocabulary. 

I remember a conversation with my dad's colleague when I was at a nascent stage of learning hindi. The ULFA(a militant separatist group in Assam) had declared a strike and forbid civilians to drive their vehicles for a day. My dad had some urgent work that day, so he walked to his office(it was a half an hour walk). So his colleagues who stayed back came calling him on what was to be done about going to office. As my dad had already gone to the office, I attended to them. They were surprised and asked how did he go to the office. I told them "chal ke gaye". I think they did not hear me as they asked me again "paidal gaye kya ?". The word "paidal" wasn't in my vocabulary then, so I mistook it for a pedal. I thought they must be referring to a bicycle or a bike. I told them "nahi nahi not pedal, walking karte hue gaye". They smiled among themselves, I did not understand then why. One of them came to my rescue and told them that I was new to the place and did not understand much hindi.

Eleven years for which I stayed at Uttarakhand refined my hindi a lot mostly with the help of my friends who never shied from criticizing me for my use of hindi. Now I can speak hindi relatively better than my mother tongue Telugu.

My knowledge of four languages gives me a little bit of edge and confidence over others. Many times I have played the role of a mediator and a translator which gives me the satisfaction of helping others. Sometimes I feel lucky that I know these languages as I can understand all kinds of diatribes being hurled at me at my back (as people think so even though they speak right before me).

Few days back I witnessed an interesting conversation. I had gone to a shop to buy some provisions. A woman and her daughter-in-law also came to the shop. The shopkeeper was attending to other customers so he could not hear that woman. She told her daughter-in-law to observe her and learn how to draw attention. She started calling him "arrey bhaiyya" and as he could not pay attention, she soon started shooting invectives in Hindi 
at him and some words were really indecent which I abstain myself from using them and at the same time she was pleading him in Tamil to give her provisions. Poor chap, as he did not understand what she was saying attended to her with a broad smile. She said to her daughter-in-law, "Dekha kaisa sun liya gaali dete hi". I was speechless and just stood there watching them.

Express Fracas!!!

Train journeys are quite interesting and always have an exciting story to tell.

After bidding adieu to Pantnagar, I took my train to Chennai from New Delhi on 10th June. It was a hot day and I was drained off my energy as I was carrying a heavy luggage(I must thank my friend, Arun Bhakuni who helped me board UKD Sampark Kranti with my heavy luggage at Lalkuan). It rained slightly in the evening and the cool wind lifted my spirits and I was back to my normal self. 

Due to heavy summer rush, railways introduced the side middle berth which led to shift in berth numbers. I checked out the reservation chart before boarding the GT Express and I found my berth number was shifted from 17 to 19. I felt that I have been shifted to upper berth and I was wondering if Railways could do this even after alloting a lower berth on ticket. But my doubts were cleared as I entered my compartment and found I had retained my lower berth. The shift in numbers was due to the extra side middle berths added to compensate the summer rush. This shift in numbers had caused quite a confusion for many and I politely explained and guided my neighbouring co-passengers to their berths. Except for the change in numbers everyone got their respective berths they were alloted in their tickets.

It had been a tiring day and I dozed off by 10pm. The train stopped around midnight at some station (I think it was Bhopal). I woke up everytime the train stopped and checked on my luggage (I was carrying a heavy luggage, a computer included!!!).

At this station, an extremely large man entered the coach shouting and ranting at someone. He was well above 6 feet and so wide(more than double the size I was and I am not at all exaggerating) that he couldn't walk straight in the coach. He turned his frame a bit and dragged himself to his berth number. His family members were normally sized though. As this man was unaware of the shift in berth numbers, he looked for the number printed on his ticket. But this number was occupied by someone else, an old couple, must be in their late 50s. This large man demanded them to get off his berth and he was extremely rude to them. The old couple tried to explain and reason with him but to no avail. He pointed at the number on his ticket and started to rough them up. The old couple insisted that the berth was theirs and the TTE had allotted that berth to them. The large man started shouting that he would kick the TTE and both of them if they did not get off his berth. The old man said that he did not want a fight but only wanted to travel peacefully. The large man did not relent and he asked them to vacate the berth. The old man and his wife after failing to convince that unreasonable man, vacated the berth and sat on the nearby berth waiting for the TTE. 

As soon as TTE came the old man took up his case with him. The large man again started shouting that the berth was his. The TTE looked at the tickets and asked the large man to move to his allotted berths as he explained about the shift in berth numbers. Even now this man failed to see reason and shouted at the TTE asking him why was he being allotted a different berth number. The TTE was patient in the beginning and explained him that he was allotted the same berths as in the ticket but he soon got frustrated with the man and threatened to call the police. Finally this large man relented and shifted to his allotted berths. As this large man was shifting his luggage, the women with him were still seated on the old couple's berth. Now as the TTE had proved his point, the old man puffed up his chest and started shouting at those women to vacate his berth. It was his turn to take revenge. The large man growled but the old man did not back off and asked them to clear his berth with a stern voice. The TTE oversaw the shift and left smiling. All the passengers around were smiling at the old man's antics and the large man's growls.

Normally trains bring people from different parts of the country together but certainly not this way.  

Match of a Lifetime.....!!!

I don't think I will witness such a great match again ever in my lifetime- the wimbeldon final 2009 between my favourite players Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. What a match!!! Simply incredible.
I don't follow Tennis as earnestly as Cricket but sometimes I love to watch matches between good players. When I switched on the TV, the match had already started and Federer and Roddick had won 5 games each in the first set. Roddick won the next two games to win the first set. Federer played some wide shots and lost few points.
Roddick started the second set with his fierce services which Federer failed to return many times and seldom broke them. Federer never won a point on Roddick's serves. But he too did not give a chance to Roddick as he served many awesome aces. It was a closely contested battle as neither of them allowed the other to win. Even though the second set was tied 6-6 it seemed Roddick had an upper hand. He looked dominating in the tie-breaker leading 5-1 before Federer made an inspiring return to win the second set. A sigh of relief escaped my breath as Federer and Roddick had won one set each and the match became more interesting. The third set too headed for a tie-breaker as neither of them were able to break other's services. Federer won this tie-breaker easily as compared to the last one. Federer was one up but that did not deter Roddick as he came back in style in the fourth set by winning it 6-3. The match became more interesting as both had won two sets each and Federer started looking vulnerable again. But he was back in the game again serving his best(He served some50+ aces).Roddick too was serving with such ferocity that Federer had little chance of breaking his serve. Even when Federer had his chance he played some loose shots and could not capitalise on the opportunities he got. Though Roddick was winning on his serves but could not find a way to stop Federer's aces. The final set went on and on and it seemed it would never end as neither of them were able to win a game on others' serve. The match became more of a battle of patience and nerves. The final set stretched to 14 each. Federer won the 29th game of final set to set the score 15-14. It seemed Roddick would again equalise it to 15-15 but Roddick committed a costly error when he tried to chip the ball but it could not cross the net. The move was a desperate attempt but unneccessary.He was down 0-30 but he made a comeback to 40-30. The willy Federer equalised it too 40-40 leading to a deuce. Nerves got better of Roddick now in the final moments of the match as he lost the advantage first and then the game with a wide shot. The four hourlong game was worth seeing and the excitement can hardly be described in words. Federer won his 15th grand slam and he earned his 6th Wimbledon title after a hard and long battle with equally magnificient Roddick. I felt extremely sorry for Roddick as he played really awesome game but someone had to lose. I hope he wins upcoming tournaments as he is in great form and his serves are really magnificient.

The Wish I Wish I Never Wished

As I promised in my last post I would love to tell you about a miracle that happened to me.
Many miracles have happened in my life, some happened for good and some happened for bad(probably to teach me a lesson). I see miracles as something that don't have any logical explanation. I would like to keep the good miracles that have relevance today in my life and the bad miracles in the closet. I would tell you about some good miracles when my wishes get fulfilled (I had a deal with God, He is granting me wishes on installment basis).

The miracle I would like to share with you has no relevance as of now in my life. Before I tell my story I would wish that my dad never reads my blog. So my friends who know my dad, I request you not to mention about my blog to my dad. Here goes my story.....

My half yearly exams had ended a day or two before Diwali. I had screwed my papers, well screwed in the sense I knew I would score below par the standards set by my dad and I had earlier promised dad that I would top the class this time(I was a good student at that time). I was worried about the parent teacher meeting that was scheduled on next Saturday. My class teacher who was also my chemistry teacher and the person I ever hated most in my life would surely feast on my low performance and spin his tales about me that would make my dad very angry and my dad had promised he would kick me out of the house if I did not perform. I was thinking of all possible escape routes and ways to appease my dad. It seemed as if all doors were closed and I had to face my dad's anger(I was worried about his blood pressure too).

On Diwali night, I was studying and it was past midnight. All the sounds of crackers died down and cool wind was blowing outside. I went outside to inhale some cool air and give my worries some rest but deep down I was wishing Oh!God save me, do something, inflict me with some fever or disease, atleast that would appease my dad, do something that would turn his anger into sympathy. The leaves rustled with the wind and it very much sounded like "Aaasss Youuuuu Wishshshhhh".

Wishing thus, I went inside and closed my books as I prepared to sleep. I tried to switch off the light with my left arm, but my hand would not rise. I switched off the light with my right hand and went to sleep, thinking my left hand had gone numb due to cold.

Next morning, I woke up but my left hand was still numb. I thought it needed some sunshine to get back to life. I got ready for school and rode on my bicycle. Early morning school rush required that I put a brake on my cycle every now and then and to my own disappointment I could not apply the regular left brake and every time I had to apply the right brake which stopped with a jerk. Somehow I reached my school safe and sound and returned back home. But my left hand was like dead rubber, no pain, no movement, no stimulus. I laughingly showed my hand to my mom, yes I was laughing as I could not understand what happened to my hand and strangely I did not feel any pain or anything. I could not lift a glass of water. My mom told me not to play stupid jokes and asked me to behave normally. I just could not stop laughing. My brother was saying "you are a very good actor , you may give some tough competition to bollywood biggies".

Till evening before dad came back home, I tried all sort of treatments. I gave shock, poured boiling water and did all sort of cannibal things. Even if I had cut my fingers, I wouldn't have felt an ounce of pain.

When dad came back home, he was quick to notice my condition and asked me to do some exercises. When nothing worked we decided to go to the doctor next day.

Doctor examined me and said he could not understand how I got this condition. He suggested this happens with heavy drinkers or who are on drugs. Alcohol that too at school time, even now I don't go to places even if I get a whiff of alcohol.It has got nothing to do with my religious beliefs, I just loathe that smell.

Doctor warned me not to put any stress on the hand and I could not control my smile when I remembered what I had done the other day.He added that any stress could lead to paralysis of my entire left side.He prescribed me some medicines, an x-ray scan and then a MRI scan. Neither X-ray nor MRI scan showed any abnormality. They suggested everything to be normal.Finally doctor said "I don't know what's wrong but I would give you some medicines, lets see if they work."

I did not go to school till parent teacher meeting and sent a leave letter through my friend. After winning all the sympathy of my dad now, I confidently went to parent teacher meeting. My class teacher showed us the report card and first thing that caught my dad's eye was the remark "Very Very Irregular". My dad asked the teacher "Doesn't he come to school, where does he go after leaving from home? He asked for the attendance register. Except for these few days before PTA meeting I hadn't missed even a single class. My dad got furious and scolded the teacher for torturing students with his antics. I was enjoying the scene when my dad and all other parents started scolding the teacher left and right. I was simply delighted to see the person I hated most under attack. On the inside I was like "yeyeyeye". I was also delighted my dad took my side.

Few days after the PTA meeting, my dad said your condition saved your skin this time, better perform next time. I had thought he had forgotten all about the marks.

I must mention here that I was perfectly hale and hearty before the Diwali night. Just that the wish got deadlier and hit me back hard.

Except for this bright period, I had suffered like a limbless person for nearly six months. I looked so helpless without my left hand, I prayed to God every day to make my hand alright. Slowly, my hand started functioning again, thanks to the medicines doctor prescribed. I also thanked God that He did not work my wish on the right hand and had affected only my left hand that too below the wrist. I just see it as miracle by God to teach me a lesson. Now my hand is perfectly alright and I am very much thankful to God that I have perfectly working hands, legs, eyes, ears, nose and I am free of any physical defects.

I have been careful since then not to wish any stupid wish no matter come what may.

God has to be Human.....at some point!!!

Hey, just don't start drawing conclusions. I am not suggesting that God is human and I am very much a believer as you are. I don't know how God looks like, maybe He emits rays of light that couldn't be seen by human eyes or human made devices. God is the creator of all universe and it is He who runs the show.


I was thinking about God when a doubt passed my mind.


Doesn't God ever get bored when everything runs according to His laws and His predefined path? Well, He knows where to find His objects and what will be the next course of action of His object(By object here, I mean His creations). That is how we humans perceive Him to be all powerful and all knowing.


Why this (blasphemous to some of you) thought crossed my mind? I don't want to speak very high philosophy here. I just want to put my views here as guy who loves to play computer games.


Computer games are designed by humans and played by humans. When you start playing single player computer games and move towards the finish, you come to identify all the loopholes, exit paths and shortest paths in the game. When you play the game again you know what to anticipate next. As you play the game again and again you master the game. When you master the game and when there are no challenges left, you eventually get bored and stop playing that game.


Even when you play multiplayer games, its all about reading the minds of other human players. After playing with a set of humans for sometime, you can always predict their moves if you are a good observer.


So I see that all our lives and the forces of nature are just part of God's big game. Since He is the One who created this game, he too must be bored. And when you get bored with all that you have or you can have, you cease to exist.


But again I am not ready to accept that God has ceased to exist as I have witnessed some amazing miracles in my own life(I will tell you about one in my next post).


So, what keeps us from boredom and keeps us engaged is the unpredictability and uncertainity in life. Some keen observers may predict about the environment and people around them but they can never predict what the nature has in store for them.


Try putting yourself in God's place. Assume you have all His powers, you could read the minds of fellow humans and manipulate them as you wish. You can make people work for you with your powers and and make people like you and love you but not because of their natural instinct to love you but because you are manipulating them to love you. It is as good as making a robot work for you or assume a doll that is sitting next to you is loving you. Would you love such life, such mechanical life? When everything gets so predictable, life becomes monotonous and its difficult to find purpose in that life.


So it is the unpredictability that makes human life spicier.


I believe even God has an element(It can be very minute) of unpredictability affecting Him. He too has to be uncertain at some level that drives Him to evolve and continue to exist. Maybe for the uncertainity factor He plays dice(a multifaced dice ---> I know how to cheat with a 6 faced dice) or does some random function. This randomness makes God human at some point, at some level(at a very minute level).

I am an ENGINEER!!!

A pastor, a doctor and an engineer wait for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumes, "What's with these guys? We've been waiting for 15 minutes!"
The pastor says, "Hey, here comes the groundskeeper. Let's have a word with him."
"Say, George, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?" the doctor asks.
The groundskeeper tells them that the other golfers are a group of blind firefighters who lost their sight saving the clubhouse from a fire and that they come and play for free whenever they want.
The group is silent for a moment.
The pastor says, "That's so sad. I will say a special prayer for them tonight."
The doctor says, "Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them."
The engineer says, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

The Two Warriors

The two warriors faced each other in the battlefield.

Few years backs it was hard to imagine that these two warriors who were once inseperable could be facing each other in a battlefield. They had grown up together and were taught by the same master.

Each one was equally skillful and adept in using all the weapons known to mankind.They had learnt every art form of war and battle strategy. These two being exceptionally gifted were unrivalled in all known methods of fighting and warfare. But what endeared them to all was their humility and compassion for their fellow humans.

The two were quite close to each other and as a team had won many tournaments in their school. The beautiful thing in their friendship was that both respected each other for one's skills like true masters. As they completed their education, their master sent them in different directions to try their luck in the world as soldiers ,that is what he trained them for. The two bade their master and each other a tearful farewell and went on their way.

They enrolled themselves in city tournaments and won tournaments after tournaments as they move fron city to city. Both had taken the same path only that their directions were different. Soon they caught attention of their respective kings and were inducted into kings' army. They fought and won many battles for their kings and soon became generals. Overawed by their prowess, many enemies submitted themselves to them, some safely befriended them. Their own kings treated them like kings. Soon the known Earth was divided into two big empires.

History would have been beautiful had the two empires ignored each other, if could not shake hands. But damn the human nature, each empire wanted to prove its superiority. Both the emperors called upon their vassal kings and ministers and decided to go to war. Now our poor warriors bound by their loyalty to their kings readied themselves for the battle.

As the two armies stood face to face, it was a magnificient sight to see such a large crowd dressed in shining armours and carrying their shining lances and waiting to slaughter each other. The two warriors had seen enough bloodshed in their life as they conquered kingdoms after kingdoms. So they spoke to their kings and it was agreed to fight each one's best soldier and the losing side would submit itself to the other. As a result, the two friends faced each other,with tears in their eyes and a great urge to embrace each other.

With heavy hearts they picked their swords and shields. Once they started fighting there was no place for human emotions, they had completely transformed into warrior modes. Both armies stood watching them fight and could not stop praising them for their moves, the attacks and the defenses were worth an ode. The fight went on and on and none of them showed a sign of fatigue. It seemed their fight would never end and no result was in sight. Then suddenly a sword struck one of the warrior's head and he fell down dead. A moment's hesitation did him in.

This was the moment everyone waited for and the winning warrior's army broke the agreement and attacked the opposing army viciously. Demoralised by their hero's fall, they could not offer any resistance and simply fell like pack of cards.

Now the Earth was ruled by a single empire. Historians deified the winner, attributed him with superhuman and godly virtues that were not his. They simply made him look like God for the generations to come. But a hero has no value if he doesn't have a formidable foe. The warrior who died defending his country was villified, and basest of vices were painted on his character convincingly. He was made to look like a monster for the future generations to loathe him. The bloody power struggle was described as triumph of good over evil.

That's how victors and winners doctor and manipulate history.