If.............

Yesterday I had participated in a quiz at work..partly to break away from the monotony of life and partly to know if my IQ level has already hit a century or not!

But there was this one question which particularly caught my attention.It goes thus....Francis Crick remarked "I've got the secret of life" after discovering what? ...I did answer this(For those who came in late...Its the DNA structure that builds us all up!)...But it got me thinking...

What , after all , is the secret of life...?????I am still thinking...

Perhaps the only answer that's felt nice so far is this song I heard as a child:
"If I were a butterfly, I'd thank you Lord for giving me wings,
If I were a robin in the tree,I'd thank you Lord for I could sing.....

...
But I thank you Lord for making me ...me!"

This I feel is the secret of life....

Trains , travel and terror!

Train journeys always fascinate me....the motion,the food,the view,the smell - almost everything about Samuel Homfray's invention attracts me...

I am back after a short holiday and travelled by train after almost an aeon!But I absolutely love the feeling - especially the middle berth, the "jhal muri"(for those whose taste buds have been deprived of this ethereal pleasure, this is THE snack for you),the moving scenery(alright I know my science right,but then this is poetic license),the curves it takes so that you can see the engine ---- its all in good taste!

There was experience of all kinds this time round....there was this one vendor who, perhaps is the biggest miser I've ever seen....fighting for every bit of peanut(literally!)...and there was this one railway guy who got us good food on request, simply because he agreed with our complaint on the food being tasteless...Yeah!this trip was a fulfilling one...the Big fat Indian wedding celebrations smeared with yours' truly turning a year older...a nice week I'd say!

But I'm upset today...after the attacks that rocked Mumbai, India's business capital - I fail to understand how anyone could derive pleasure out of killing innocent people who've neither caused them any harm nor done any wrong to deserve a death as painful as this...There have been attacks all over the country in the recent past - Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Bangalore....the list is frightening.........

I fear this is the beginning of dark times -- the dark times J K Rowling so vividly painted with Potter is finally haunting the Muggle world...But whatever it may be, it shakes my trust in mankind! I like to believe I'm a philanthropist....but incidents like these perturbs my morale, my very being...

We really need to do something...what?I'd perhaps never know...I do not know why, how and when innocent minds think the way it is...for that matter I never understand why we have wars....I've said that umpteen times in my blog and otherwise....But this kind of killing needs to be stopped!!

May God bless those who've lost anything or anyone over these absolutely baseless issue...May God rest the souls of all deceased for no fault of theirs...May good sense prevail among all who believe killing and terror can solve any issue! Amen!

Dreams and Ruminations Inc.

When you don’t blog regularly for a long time, you often tend to run short of topics to blog on when you resume. Perhaps that’s what happened to me these days….But today I decided, I shall blog on whatever my mind’s occupied with this very moment.

I got up this morning with a headache (caused by a disgusting nightmare)! May be I should blog about nightmares….or better still about dreams…I fail to understand why we dream…Researches say its our chain of thoughts in the subconscious minds which erupt as dreams…Parapsychologists claim its our future/past that manifests into reality in the dreams….I frankly have never analyzed them….but just that these thoughts usually stay with me the entire day and keep haunting me(Oh yes the good ones too!)…
So may be my blog friends could elaborate on these bizarre things….that they call DREAMs!

Another thing that caught my mind this morning was a picture on the front page of the newspaper…It bore profile pictures of the two most talked about men of the moment – Mr McCain and Mr Obama….But what I was most intrigued by was a teardrop rolling down Obama’s cheek…..for his personal loss!

This I thought was unfair – bringing someone’s personal moments before public eye! Whatever a person’s celebrity status is, he deserves some amount of privacy .The man has lost someone dear….why should that be brought to public notice? For publicity? For sympathy or for defamation? Definitely not fair….But that’s not how everyone thinks I guess….perhaps that’s why the media’s shrieking about every possible pro and con – private or public to get to where it matters!

I am going to sign off for the time being and get back to work! But you readers…give this a thought! Adios!

Utopia

A colleague of mine introduced me to these lines…thought I’d share it with my blog:

“Imagine there’s no country, it isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one”
Imagine - JOHN LENNON

I felt these lines were lovely- utopian but beautiful! Only a dreamer could say this – someone who loves life and the world!

Wouldn’t this be great? – to be in a world that has no barriers – no military, no war , no politics and no killing…….Wouldn’t it be lovely to believe in one force that protects us and not in numerous religions?

Thankfully, I have been born in a family where I was taught to believe in goodness of a religion rather than the orthodoxy of it…but how do you blame those who weren’t? How do you blame people who think wars are a way of protesting for all the bad that ever happened to anyone? They were brought up that way….not their fault…but the world suffers for them….

We, humans, can’t fight destiny – we can’t resist natural disasters or poverty or death …..But there are some things we can …..we can dissolve class barriers , we can forgive people who mistakenly caused harm to us , we can trust people who live around us, , we can smile at the hungry child who lives by the road , we can spread love to people who need it the most….these are things in our hand…..things that will make this world a better place to live in…..a world which will be “One”……..someday………

Memoirs of days gone by........

This morning one of closest friends just mailed in…unexpectedly, I’d say (knowing her). Her mail kind of re-ignited memoirs of those days gone by in good ol’ Bangalore.

Weird-we can’t recreate those days of travelling miles to have breakfast at Koshy’s, of chain mailing over 4 days to plan a weekend of doing nothing, of booking first day first shows at Rex and forgetting tickets at home!

I miss Bangalore today- I miss those people who made it beautiful…I miss those moments of anxious longing for weekends to come. I miss those initial days of earning and those flaunting moments at Fiorano .I miss gaming around at Brew haha and gorging at Mast Kalandar. I miss it all!

So today when I read A’s mail, I could contain myself….memories are sweet but more so haunting. Manipal was like experiencing the world…but Bangalore taught me how to enjoy it! Life’s been good so far….and its going to change forever sometime soon….But I’m always going to have a very special place for Bangalore deep down !

This goes as a thank you note to all you people who made Bangalroe so special….Thanks guys for those late night sandwiches, for those petty squabbles over TV, for those walks along avenues unknown, for chats longer than Hutch could hope, for exploring Forum more than its architects did and for Brigade road window shopping more than I’d ever imagine…Thank you all!

The bus I missed

This post goes for all those times that someone has missed the bus...like I just did... its a miserable feeling...especially when you're running after it half out of breath half red with embarrassment of onlookers....and it runs past your nose...

Life's like that!!!We miss oppurtunities so many times....time and again.....
The boss comes up with a rocking project ahead of you and you have your granny wanting to spend time with you....The paper you wrote is to be read at a renowned convention and you're all set for a vacation with family....The photoshoot you've been longing for is finally here and you wake up that morning with a swollen cheek.....happened to us all sometime or the other...rite??

I believe its about prioritising one's life...you just have to know what comes first for you...very individualistic though it is....but its as important to know that as it is to know oneself...

I know I'm jabberring gibberish but trust me ,my friend, that is precisely what you do when you miss your bus and are standing on the streets stranded and utterly irritated with yourself!!!

Back with a Bong!!!

I still remember the enthusiasm with which I had begun blogging......writing down almost everything that was happening to me..every feeling that would strike a chord....incoherent and yet meaningful chain of thoughts all penned down under my blog....

And then,I guess, I grew up....and voila....I was suddenly so busy..there was work everywhere..life just got to going to work and back...exhausted and dying for sleep..

Not true!! One can never be so busy as not to find time for oneself...never so engaged so as to not notice how one's moving on in life....never so occupied to not know how we gradually grace ourselves towards senility...

I believe its just a pretence we all like to put on...a facade of the "busy" me to perhaps make oneself believe that our life's in a standstill puddle of "busy" engagements....But that's NOT true,for Christ's sake!

So may be this is my moment of realisation...a moment when I realise college memories look really distant...school memories almost minuscule..when I realise that life's soon progressing towards a phase when I might not be the same again...when I realise how I have to cling onto things that make me happy,things that excite me,things that remind me of the small joys of life.........and so I'm back to blogging....

I know this post is no where close to "Back with a bang" feel...but at least its a decent start....its a nice moonlit night in a completely mesmerising California lagoonside..and here I am blogging away to glory!!!

Its time to awaken my Sentience all over again...

The Great Indian Cricketing Circus!

Once upon a time….long long ago… I used to be a frequent blogger...the frequency being a respectable 3-4 posts a week…..

And today when I “dropped by” my own blog after aeons, it actually took me a couple of minutes to recall what my last post was all about!!! Deterioration of blogger spirit is probably the only cause of it all… ’Cos being “busy” would probably be a very very common excuse.

A lot of things have changed since I last posted in my blog…. One thing in particular that I’d like to mention: The Indian Premiere League.

IPL has become the “IT” thing now… well… here’s yours truly opining on it all (the world’s been waiting for it after all)...Some stinking rich businessmen / so called “stars” buying a whole bunch of men claiming to be the torchbearers of a Gentlemen’s game…that’s what IPL is all about. I wouldn’t really mind if they called it just another bout of entertainment mania…But no!!! Our nouveau riche insists on calling it “Cricket” – for God’s sake! This isn’t what 22 extremely talented men need for sheer publicity….

I am definitely not the most deserving person to comment on cricket – especially when I cannot not even tell an LBW in a shot ….but I surely love to watch the game …and that gives me a license to comment!

I have nothing against entertainment and sports being mingled….but then that shouldn’t be at the cost of the game…Its okay when sportsmen walk the ramp or even endorse products ….. Understandable thirst for money and fame….

All I am asking is to keep entertainment out of the field….not at least when the matches are on… with the immense number of film stars to focus on , our lens men often miss out on action replays of important shots!!! With the cheerleaders stealing the remaining bit of attention, the other day a journalist interviewed common men who didn’t even know which player belonged to which team!Please keep the game sane, so what if the videos put major film promotions to shame….

Certain things are best when kept at their sophisticated self… Perhaps cricket is just one of them….

Memoirs of an MITan

I have been a tremendously irregular blogger over the past few months….and this time there is no one else to blame….

But a thought crossed my mind the other day…..and voila!! I found myself craving to blog again….

Its been almost three years since we passed out of college….(Oh yes!! I feel old all over again….) The use of plural here is deliberate. I’m talking about my gang of friends….. Life moves on…..and “we” have moved on too….

Deeps is happily married ….. Whosoever knew she’s go in for arranged marriage. Well, she now has an investment banker to boast of and an incredibly bright academic career ahead. She’s probably long past our college days……But I’d like to thank her for waiting relentlessly with a car when we bored her with our make up comments – for making noodles for me when I needed it the most – for running up and down the corridor to watch a particular song on TV on my request ( I understand the readers wouldn’t make anything out of this jabber … but this was a so to say “tribute” to Deeps alone)

SRC is studying / working (well I have frankly never understood what this woman is ever upto) ….. She’s a Boston girl now. I’d however like to remember her as a curly haired teddy ( I know you’re on the verge of killing me now SRC!!! Achtung!!) (in)famous for her gurgling walk down the hostel corridor… I would probably never understand a lot of things that she did….and perhaps that’s what makes her so special…You could talk to her after a decade and still never feel the gap…… A woman of substance---almost literally!

Manavi , too is a working lady now….pretty and lovable as ever….someone who was a delight to meet from day one….and who always shall be…. I’ll treasure her forever…

Aishu’s someone I’d always thank Manipal for….I’m glad I found a friend in her… She’s moved on in life in all possible perspectives….but I know she’s always going to be within my reach….whenever I need a friend….She’s like a recurring thing that keeps reminding you of its presence at almost every moment of your life…She’s impacted me in ways she or I would probably never know…..and for all that…Thanks would never be enough….. Love you Aishu!!

There’s a string of people I’d like to mention as I reminisce my hostel days….days of hanging out at those small eateries around college….days of burning the midnight oil (awrite...Electricity) for those EM assignments….days of chatting all night long on an issue so trivial that even short term memory refuses to store them….. But time’s the culprit…I got to stop….and as I stop I can’t help smiling to myself…. Boy!!! What fun days those were…..