Unconditional love

    Your silent prayers
    and your love
    always reflects in me
    the joy of being alive.

    You loved and you lost
    but you never fell back
    still revives the warmth and
    the delight of being in love.

    Even in a puddle of grief
    you smile so heartily
    reminds me evermore
    the might of being angelic.

    Never to rue and regret
    you taught me so well
    and I cohere by your insights
    to learn the art of being you!!!!!

A Strange Message

I was woken up by the techno beats of my new ring tone. With out opening my eyes I explored for the phone on my bed… got hold of it and attended the call.

“Hello”, I said somnolently.

“Hello” said a hushed voice on the other end.

“Can you be a bit more louder???” I asked.

But he kept his flaccid tone and I felt more irritated.
“You have just 60 minutes left to get up from your bed, dress up and be present at the meeting place” he articulated.

“What meeting place?” I shouted. “I don’t know you and I am not going to come anywhere!!!”

He laughed and said “You will come”

“I wont!!!” I exclaimed. “I have nothing to do with you. You can try this trick on somebody else.”

He kept his prevalent tone and said “It’s better for you that you believe me. I am not going to do you any harm. I want to help you”

“I don’t need anybody’s help and I am happy the way I am. I have a job, I have a happy family and many friends for company” “What else do I need. I am happy!!” I shouted.

He let out a mild sarcastic laugh and said “Are you??”

I was losing my patience.
“Yes I am” I iterated.

“You say that you have everything and you claim to be happy with the things you have… right?” he asked.

“I am not claiming. I am happy”, I said.

He sighed and said “So you are not unhappy about your boss… you are not unhappy about your job…. you are not unhappy about lack of money….. you are not unhappy about not giving your parents a better standard of living…. you are not unhappy about your health… you are not unhappy about love….. you are not unhappy about your inability to buy a new house or a car….”

“Stop it!!!”, I shouted.

“Why?? Am I wrong anywhere??” He laughed.

“You are……. not wrong!!! But you are not right either” I tried to hide the vexation in my voice.

“So you say that I am right in my discernment” He asked.

I didn’t answer. This guy was making me think. His assessment was more or less correct. No….. He was 100% correct. I just surfed through my memory lane to find that such infelicitous material things haunted me always. But I never wanted to admit.

“Why?? Am I right my boy???” He asked again.

“Yes, you are!!” I said with much hesitance.

“Good. Since you agree, just get up from your bed and start moving. Remember you have just 57 minutes left” He said in an affectionate tone and disconnected the call.

I woke up holding the phone in my hand and I realized that it was the snooze function of the alarm that woke me up. The alarm had sounded 3 minutes before and that was what I misunderstood as the incoming phone call. But the voice and the conversation were still dogging in my mind and I couldn’t believe that there was no such call.

I searched my call list and found that there were no incoming calls in the morning. But there was a memo on the phone’s desktop.

Memo:
Interview @ 9:00 am
Wake up… You lazy boy!
Love. :-)

Infact, I had planned to skip this interview merely out of laziness. I checked the time and was shocked to find that the time was 8:03 am…. exactly 57 minutes to the scheduled interview. And believe me……. I never kept such a memo!!!!!!

Look before you tweet

I have started “tweeting” these days but I am not an ardent follower of this micro blogging engine- twitter. Might be because I find it very unwieldy to express myself in 140 characters. But I follow close to 300 people in this social networking champ. Some of them are my friends, some business related and some are eminent personalities and celebrities. One among them is Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Honourable Minister of State for External Affairs. I used to follow his tweets very closely and soon became a big fan of his short, sweet, meaningful and mirthful tweets. I was hopeful that at least through him the Indian politicians will learn to become more liberal and modern in their approach. But it was not so……

As expected in Indian politics, he soon ran in to troubled waters for his tweets. His tweet that he would travel “cattle class in solidarity with all our holy cows” which came in the backdrop of an austerity drive in the Government was hugely rebuked by the Congress party. The power greedy party leaders were trying all the tricks in the trade to throw Dr. Tharoor out of the Ministry. But some how he had a narrow escape this time….. might be because the Party President and the PM could understand the “wit in the tweet”. I think the tweet was just a humorous expression which meant no disrespect to anybody.

However, the comments in various online news sites were far beyond humour. Some comments from the readers of these news portals were urging and advocating to crucify Dr. Tharoor for his wit. Terrible I would say…. because I could not find another word to express my dissent against such ignorant people who tries to find fault with every other guy they meet.

Here I am biased in my thoughts… I like Dr. Tharoor, not as a congress leader but as a prolific author, a columnist and journalist, a humanitarian and human-rights advocate. I have read many of his books and I am a fan of his writing.

Now with this incident, Dr. Tharoor would have got a taste of Indian politics and hope that this won’t lock his key board and his activities. Expecting more of his services to our country and to its people…. and also more tweets as well!!!!!

The lesson learned here is “Look before you tweet!!!!!” for I fear that you will become a scape goat of power politics!!!!

ASEAN Treaty, Rum & The hanging

On my way to office yesterday evening, I witnessed a freakish and bizarre incident. The effigy of our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was being hanged by the left comrades in protest against the ASEAN Treaty (better known as “aasiyaan karaar” here). This was followed by a 2 wheeler procession with comrades carrying red flags and shouting slogans against the Government and ASEAN Treaty. Such processions and protests are a common sight in Kerala and I was least amused. But hanging the PM’s effigy is far beyond logic and is quite unpardonable. Dr. Singh is one of the widely accepted and popular leaders of all times. Moreover, he is a great academician and economist, a zealous leader, a thorough gentleman and the architect of reforms in India. He should at least be respected for all his virtues and merits rather than hanging him for a collective decision made by the Government.

I am not biased in my political stands but I could not help but show my dissent, at least through this forum, against such flagitious acts. It reminds me that anything is possible in a democracy. And mind you….. in God’s own country you can gather 50 people to protest or for support at any time, provided you offer them a bottle of “Javan” rum, a plate of chicken biriyani and Rs 100 in cash. The rum component of the wage not only justifies the ear shattering slogans but also all the heinous “hanging” acts!!!

Potency test

Last week, I read an interesting article in an online news site about making potency test mandatory for couples. The news site was quoting Veteran Tamil actress Manorama's statement in this regard. She cited that potency test should be made mandatory for all couples before getting married and that medical certificates should be produced to prove it. This is applicable to both the sexes.

Such a rule will have pros and cons for sure. The potency test or fertility test done on women may lead to dire aftermaths like testing a woman's virginity and also testing her maturity to get married. But an HIV test prior to marriage should be welcomed with warm applause. I dont know whether such a rule is realizable at the present time or in the near future and also I am skeptical about the extend to which such a rule will prove to be useful. Moreover, like in every other practice in this country, this may also end up in issuance of bogus certificates by corrupt medical practitioners.

Anyway.... I wont be surprised to see some new key words adorning the matrimony columns in the near future......

Love is a mirror

"When you fall in love, you fall for a mirror of your own most present needs" – Deepak Chopra

Onam Shopping

Onam- the harvest festival of Kerala is now in its full swing. Malayalees who take pride in their rich cultural heritage celebrate this festival with pomp and in full spirits. Its a vibrant festival of colours, joy and prosperity. Every malayalee makes grand arrangements to welcome the virtuous and legendary King Mahabali aka Maveli under whose reign Kerala witnessed its golden era.

Onam season is the peak time of consumer goods business in Kerala. Every manufacturer and retailer comes up with a variety of offers during this season. Right from vegetables to home appliances..... from cars and bikes to flats and apartments, every business tries all the tricks in the trade to woo the customer. In cochin, this onam season was marked by the offers made by two of the most popular retail brand shops for home appliances. The super star of this seson was LCD televisions. Both the shops advertised the price of 32" LCD TV to be starting from Rs 21K. This rekindled my desire (which I had rested long ago due to exorbitant prices) to buy an LCD television and surprise my parents when I get back home during Onam holidays. So I decided to visit both the shops to compare and buy the super star of this season.

In the first shop, I was welcomed by an corpulent guy dressed as the great Mahabali. His costumes and body shape were such that even the greatest enemy of Mahabali will drop his head in shame. As I was scorning at the looks of the caricature, the so called "traffic controller" of the shop gave me a cold look and he asked me to park my vehicle properly to avoid further hoo-hahs. Thats when I realized that I had blocked the way to the parking lot. It took me close to 20 minutes and 100% effort to find a place to park my vehicle.

I entered the huge showroom and was balled over by the size of the crowd which occupied every nook and corner of the huge floor. Before I could recover from my shock, I was brisked away by a sales person and he took me to the section where LCD TVs were displayed. He started giving me a lecture on the brands that were displayed on the stands. I asked him specifically for the brand that was available for 21K. But he continued with his script. Every 5 minutes I reminded him about the 21K product and he conveniently ignored my question by demoing the best TVs available. Soon I lost my temper and demanded him to show me the TV that was advertised. He tried to convince me that the particular TV does not have long life and that the sound quality is poor. I again demanded to see the model and when my pestering went beyond the limits he told me that the TV was out of stock. I asked him why it was advertised in that day's newspaper if there was no stock. He admitted that it was a trick to pull the crowd in. And at last I questioned him whether such a TV is available in the market at all. He smiled. That was it!!! I walked out of the showroom cursing myself for falling in for such advertisements!!!!

I never bothered to visit the other showroom at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And guess what..... I decided to watch all the Onam programmes on my old 21" CTV....!!!!!

Pic courtesy: Internet

Nin mukham..... oru orma kurippu

A very old poem..... just a fond remembrance!!!!

Ennum ennum ente kinaavil
odi ethunnu nin mukham

thazhuki ozhuki aa thaazhvarayil
ninte maathram pon mukham

unarenda aa kinaavil ninnum enne
unarthalle madhura swapnathil ninnum

sundaramaam aa thaazhvarayil
ente nizhalaayi nee ninnu

sundariyaam nee enne
karavalayathil pothinju

ente praananaayi nee
aathmaavil kudiyirunnu

ennum ennum ente kinaavil
odi ethunnu nin mukham

thazhuki ozhuki aa thaazhvarayil
ninte maathram pon mukham...!

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The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence

I work in a conventional Indian IT firm where strategies- sans logic- are born every other minute and real work flashes in a New York minute..... that too just occasionally!! Everyday I learn to leverage the available resources and strategize ways to generate the- so called- sustainable business.

My boss emphasizes the need to orient and align with the goals of the Organization and that each customer should be a qualified lead. Closings are always important but one should also keep in mind all those aspects and work towards building potential clients and relationships which can be leveraged to generate revenue opportunities and to meet our business objectives.

I wonder how many jargons and key words do I come across everyday. Some are repetitions, some are new and most modern, some are archaic and primitive. I wonder how I cope up with delivering all those elevated sales pitches that my boss insists. Sometimes hearing these jargons make me feel sick. Sometimes it makes me think. And sometimes I share it with my friends and laugh my lungs out or do it in the urban dictionary way..... "ROFLMAOSHISMP"*!!!!!!

I wonder why I am made to attend meetings with people who are paid twice and thrice my salary. In those sessions, I am impelled to answer all those questions, give explanations and feel the same pressure those guys go through. I am supposed to behave in a matured manner and am paid peanuts for going through all those blackjacks. For peanuts you will only get monkeys to work for you..... am I am one of those.....!!!! But I hate peanuts.... for sure!!!!

I think its time to "leverage" my "cutting edge" "core competencies" for "sustainable" and "exponential" gains to raise the crowd eye brows!!!!! :-)

The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence!!!!!!

*ROFLMAOSHISMP- Rolling on floor laughing my ass off so hard I shit my pants!!!!