Sonny: Factual Reasoning

Read More

Woken Up

If only I knew

You are in a place

Where I can never hold you

I never would have woken up.

If only I knew

You’re the most beautiful girl

I can ever hope to see

I never would have woken up.

If only I knew

That when I saw you

Would be the last time…

I never would have woken up.

If only I knew

That what was

Was never meant to be

I never would have woken up.

If only I knew

What I dreamt

Would be just a dream

I never would have woken up.

If only I knew

That this was the dream

That I was to dream

I never would have gone to sleep.

Based on a wonderful dream I had last night and I cannot seem to get out of it.

Thanks to Navneet for the title.

Read More

Marriage Miscommunication

The other day my mom and I went around inviting people for a marriage that’s coming up in my family. This conversation happened when I met an uncle that I haven’t seen for years together.

Uncle: Hello! Vango vango! (Welcome Welcome!)

Me: Hello Uncle! Epdi Irukkel? (How are you?)

Uncle: I’m Fine pa! How are you? How’s appa? And hows your sister? It’s been quite a long time!

I didn’t know how to prioritize my answers. So I generalized it.

Me: All is well…

Then he turned to my mom who was chatting with maami..

Uncle: Paayan nanna valandhutaan! (Your boy has become a grown up. I hope that’s what he meant.) I used to see him wearing only his underwear as a smaal kid and roaming about with eyes just barely open.

Grrrrr… If you miss it so much, I can do that again but now, the other people have to walk with their eyes just barely open.

Then all of them exchanged pleasantries and some catching up.

Me: Uncle… There’s a marriage coming up in our family.

Uncle: I guessed! Right when I spotted you, the grown up! So, who’s the girl?

Me: The girl is my sister.

Uncle: Eh!?!?

I could see his literal shock. Believe me, it was a prank unexpected and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Thankfully my mom swooped in…

Mom: Its my daughter thats getting married :) He still has a long way to go.

Apparently after this incident, I think I do.

And then mom told what needed to be told while I kept my mouth shut. With a wry smile of course.

And then we had the customary juice and when I left, I could still see mama sensing my grin.

Anyway, for all you folks here, my sister, Ms. Janani, a journalist, is getting married to Mr. Sikkil Gurucharan who is a carnatic vocalist on the 23rd of May, 2010!

So a big family function coming up my way!

Read More

Sonny: Resource Substitution

Read More

A Different Gift

Afterlife- On this realm.

After one’s death, various rituals are performed on the basis of symbolism. Like in the Hindu mythology, the ash which is the residue and the only remains of the person in this material world besides memories after the funeral pyre dies, is collected. The pot is kept near a drawing representing the person in the guise of a stick figure. Food, an umbrella, a fan and a pair of slippers are given to aid the soul for its final journey where it is judged and tested. The ash is then taken and dissolved in a holy river. Then we believe that the soul reaches a higher place to watch over us or sometimes is reborn. Symbolism. Though this knowledge has been passed on to us through the ancient ways, no one really knows what happens.

Afterlife- A Perception.

What is afterlife?

Do you take up another body and wander the ethereal world?

Does that body have the same organs that you once processed?

Do you feel pain when it is inflicted in the ethereal world?

If you do, do you feel it through your senses?

If you do, aren’t your senses dependent on your organs?

If you don’t, then what good is your body after you die when it is independent of your afterlife?

My answer is, frankly, I don’t know. Irrespective of what the various mythologies quote.

All I’m saying is no one knows what happens in the afterlife. We might not need what we have now then. If we can donate money and the sorts when we are alive and a piece of paper called the 'will' that can transfer everything you own to your loved ones, why hesitate to donate your organs to the needy? Once the inevitable happens, some organs are still functional and can be transplanted to be used on someone else who might require it. This is your chance.

If only I had a chance

To set things right

If only I had a second chance.

To bring darkness to light.

To live my life once again.

To do things that I haven't.

Only, I don’t know if I do.

Not everyone is bestowed with a second chance. But we have the power to bestow a second chance, the gift of life, to someone in need. That power… is within us. The power to become an organ donor. I do not know how useful I am when I’m alive. But I know how useful I can make myself when I’m gone.

I decided to become an organ donor today. And you?

For information on being an organ donor, visit http://www.kghospital.com/pdf/organ_donation.pdf

Read More

Whatever They Say...

Its more than just about time I got this out of me. It’s been in me long enough that now it has to come out. Beliefs. What about them? Recently, I’ve been exposed to a lot of these “beliefs” that lacks any proper explanation but for the orthodox sake of it, a deed remains to be undone.

In some cases, Jatakas, by which some people swear by. Some astrologers read the prediction of one’s life from the alignment of the stars at the moment you were born. A rare talent, one must agree. But like any other skill, a lot of its techniques have been tampered with. And I can swear that I saw a book titled, “learn astrology in 30 days”… why? So the astrologer can write a beautiful script of a story and use his clients as characters in them? Every prediction is math. Based on current events and given inputs, there should be a definitive output. And if a result of math fails, it is bad math. Some results of math are based on approximation. And one can frankly say that not all marriages that have been performed after a proper jataka match have been a success and not all marriages that have defied its jataka predictions have been a failure. If this is the result, then the math here is an approximation. Things MIGHT happen, things MIGHT not. And conveniently, most of the cases say, Jatakas don’t apply to love marriages. What the hell is this statement? Did God create a being and place a condition before his future that solely depended on an “if”? If its math, and if it’s a result, it should be universal. If jatakas are truly right, then even for love marriages, the two people meeting and liking each other should have been a “meant to be” and their jatakas matching should have been the result. That when we can say the math has truly worked out.

Karma. Well well. I’m a firm believer of karma. Only sometimes, I got questions. The more good one does, the more good one receives in return. But then, anyone can deduce from what’s happening these days, classic example being our politicians, that the rule of karma is either failing or not immediate. The politicians, they rape anything that comes by, from their motherland to natural fuel to women and still, are men held of high status. And our people promptly say that “he will be punished…. One day… his deeds don’t go unnoticed”. I totally agree. His deeds don’t go unnoticed. They just go unaccounted. I don’t see the great flood coming either. All the while, the honest man’s day goes like he’s being trampled and squished by parade of elephants.

The time of Saturn or Sani. The lamest excuse one can give when things are not going right. Sometimes, people fear to do things when they are under the power of Saturn. According to the ancient beliefs, a particular time of Saturn upon someone is said to cause death. Hence people refrain from driving, flying, anger (sometimes can indirectly contribute to death) etc. What they have forgotten is that they can fall to their death by some water spilt on the bathroom floor or while descending a flight of stairs. But no, Saturn has a particular way of performing his duties. He indulges in skilled performances like traffic accidents and the likes. I got just one thing to say, Live free for a day instead of living a lifetime in fear.

The final call being, all three types mentioned above are interrelated. Out of the tree, anything can be used when there’s an opportunity to blame or use as an excuse.

With all due respect to a lot of beliefs that are genuine, a lot of them aren’t as they have just evolved from various other beliefs and convention systems. Beliefs can be used as a guide but not to steer people’s lives. Assume nothing. Question everything. Hope is what we strive with. Hope is what we have when we do something. Hope is what we have when we want something to happen. Carpe Diem is the formula of the day or die a sorry loser.

This post is a result of my exposure to things and my beliefs alone. The perspective may be different on the other shore.

Read More

Kadaa

Kadaa – Scapegoat.

You know you’re suffering from the Kadaa syndrome when…

1. When your dad asks you to shop for his clothes, alone, by giving you his shirt size but asks you to accompany him to the saloon even when you don’t need a haircut, you know you are a Kadaa.

2. When ONLY mom and dad are involved in a tiff, mom says something about dad to which dad retaliates asking 'WHAT DID YOU SAY?' to which mom coolly saves herself by replying 'I was talking about him' and points to you, you know you are a Typical Kadaa.

3. When your sister asks you to check on the firecracker she lit, that’s still smoking but not yet gone kaboom, you know you are a Classic Kadaa.

4. When your dad accuses you of being sloppy when you dropped the remote but later drops it himself and blames his old age, you know you are an Aattu Kadaa.

5. When your mom accuses you of just putting on unhealthy weight and that her requests are falling on deaf ears like a buffalo in the rain, you know you are a Yeruma Kadaa.

6. When your parents shout at you for sleeping all day like a log after filling your stomach with home food and spending your energy by playing your PlayStation, you know you are a Dhanda Kadaa.

Glossary:

Kadaa – Scapegoat

Aattu Kadaa – Scapegoat (younger version)

Yeruma – Buffalo

Dhanda/ Dhandam- Jobless &/or Good for nothing

Lessons learnt: None. Whatsoever.

image courtesy : Google images - http://anxietypanichealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/scapegoat-cartoon-sm.jpg

Read More