My wings come out and let me fly,
say my words, dance my steps;
Nothing to feign, no one to hide,
everything here is loud, clear and right.
Its my space, my bubble, my world.
Love fills in every little gap you find,
language spoken is sense and people here are my type
all to do all day is laugh, cry and rejoice.
Not everyone is welcome home;
cause its my shell and everything here is just plain mine.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Adding to the Morbid Confusion
The choking and suffocating roads are already cutting our throats enough, the BMTC drivers are only adding more and more to it.
Any regular commuter in the BMTC bus will be able to understand the situation. I am not a regular commuter, but i try my best to take a bus rather than an auto when i have to use public transport. While doing this can give a hand to the environment and traffic issues in the city, the lethargy and bad attitude these drivers makes me wonder if its really worth it.
It was around 9 30 am on a weekday morning. After a 5 minute wait, a bus dragged itself to the stop. It was comparatively empty, but pushed itself into the narrow road, which was already flooded with vehicles in a turning. Firstly, the bus does not have a conductor. Second, The driver conveniently halts the bus on a side, occupying 3/4th of the turning, giving out tickets to people who were boarding the bus. Two more buses reach the stop and start honking incessantly , which was quite obvious at that time. After 2 minutes of hearing the horn, the driver slowly moves ahead, still distributing tickets. He actually, steers with one hand and gives tickets with the other hand. A traffic cop at the spot came to the bus and started tapping the bus , signalling the driver to move. But, even that did not make a huge difference to him. Though this site kinda gave me shocks about the way he was driving, it was pretty normal to everyone in the bus as they keep seeing such instances every day. They were jus used to this behavior.
The amount they charge for the ticket purely depends on their mood and the person. I end up paying anywhere from 6-9 rs for the same distance, on different days in different buses. You really cant question if you aren't sure about it.
The Volvo buses are surely a relief. They are convenient, friendly and comfortable. A definite boon to people travelling to ITPL and EC. But what about other commuters who want to make use of public transport? Forget the convenience and comfort, the least they could get is cordial drivers. I dont blame all of them. I myself have met a couple of sweet people on bus. But i kinda feel the majority have a negligent attitude. Alright they have a boring job. Accepted that it is horrible to drive on those roads. But that doesn't mean they add to the pain where they spend most time of their lives. What did the poor commuters do?
Any regular commuter in the BMTC bus will be able to understand the situation. I am not a regular commuter, but i try my best to take a bus rather than an auto when i have to use public transport. While doing this can give a hand to the environment and traffic issues in the city, the lethargy and bad attitude these drivers makes me wonder if its really worth it.
It was around 9 30 am on a weekday morning. After a 5 minute wait, a bus dragged itself to the stop. It was comparatively empty, but pushed itself into the narrow road, which was already flooded with vehicles in a turning. Firstly, the bus does not have a conductor. Second, The driver conveniently halts the bus on a side, occupying 3/4th of the turning, giving out tickets to people who were boarding the bus. Two more buses reach the stop and start honking incessantly , which was quite obvious at that time. After 2 minutes of hearing the horn, the driver slowly moves ahead, still distributing tickets. He actually, steers with one hand and gives tickets with the other hand. A traffic cop at the spot came to the bus and started tapping the bus , signalling the driver to move. But, even that did not make a huge difference to him. Though this site kinda gave me shocks about the way he was driving, it was pretty normal to everyone in the bus as they keep seeing such instances every day. They were jus used to this behavior.
The amount they charge for the ticket purely depends on their mood and the person. I end up paying anywhere from 6-9 rs for the same distance, on different days in different buses. You really cant question if you aren't sure about it.
The Volvo buses are surely a relief. They are convenient, friendly and comfortable. A definite boon to people travelling to ITPL and EC. But what about other commuters who want to make use of public transport? Forget the convenience and comfort, the least they could get is cordial drivers. I dont blame all of them. I myself have met a couple of sweet people on bus. But i kinda feel the majority have a negligent attitude. Alright they have a boring job. Accepted that it is horrible to drive on those roads. But that doesn't mean they add to the pain where they spend most time of their lives. What did the poor commuters do?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
When Parents are that and more
Its a funny thought. But it keeps striking me more often now and more clearer than what i thought it was. The thought about how relationships over a period of time, camouflage into multiple shades that means different things at different phases in life, especially parents. This is one relationship that you grow up with and means a lot to most of us.
I still cant believe that i realised this fact so late and take every opportunity that i get now to enjoy this process.
I still share a very different relationship with each one of them, the one that i have been having since childhood. But slowly and very subtly an insignificant change grew with it. The mom things and dad things still remain, the lectures , the gossips, the difference of opinions and the fights of course.
I can laugh at them now for silly things, I make fun like never before and get back love enough and more, they have grown with me.. to understand my silly and weird ways.
My suggestions still go unheard though, it never made sense to them. But that doesn't seem to change anything and makes me feel like me in the end.
The gap still remains, much much narrower now... but what feels changed is that both of us have shifted to new levels, and keep growing to never really understand that we do. One day i think the gap will fade... and slowly close.
I sometimes feel its a myth that the generation gap widens with age and thoughts, i can see it fading and we growing to fill the gaps.
But i realized one thing can just never be changed and i am glad that it doesn't. However time passes, whatever you do in life and come back... you still get snubbed for being a kid! :)
I still cant believe that i realised this fact so late and take every opportunity that i get now to enjoy this process.
I still share a very different relationship with each one of them, the one that i have been having since childhood. But slowly and very subtly an insignificant change grew with it. The mom things and dad things still remain, the lectures , the gossips, the difference of opinions and the fights of course.
I can laugh at them now for silly things, I make fun like never before and get back love enough and more, they have grown with me.. to understand my silly and weird ways.
My suggestions still go unheard though, it never made sense to them. But that doesn't seem to change anything and makes me feel like me in the end.
The gap still remains, much much narrower now... but what feels changed is that both of us have shifted to new levels, and keep growing to never really understand that we do. One day i think the gap will fade... and slowly close.
I sometimes feel its a myth that the generation gap widens with age and thoughts, i can see it fading and we growing to fill the gaps.
But i realized one thing can just never be changed and i am glad that it doesn't. However time passes, whatever you do in life and come back... you still get snubbed for being a kid! :)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
I call it the Job saving act.
Is it a natural process to get serious at your work?
I mean serious, responsible , you fell you need to do it cause its important to you and it matters to you; rather than a feeling of doing it cause you don't want to be questioned or because you don't want to be troubled by it again or even because you just want to get done with it.
Do people get passionate about work genuinely, with no strings attached? No matter how much they get paid. No matter what it does to them. Simply plain passion as a liking, as a way of you doing things and believing in it.
I am kinda specific here about the monotonous genre of work. Typically software, but also any other similar field of work.
There have been occasions when i just wanted to get up and walk out of meetings, i just did not want to respond cause i couldn't relate. I know that's ok with me cause i am not passionate enough, but i kinda feel that with lot of people around who slog their ass out, they work like crazy but is it their passion?
Are we saving jobs because its a way of survival and we need to take home bread and better or because it gets imbibed in us after a point of time that it doesn't matter what you do , you just do things!
I am saving my job right now. I want to change before it gets worse. Before it stops mattering to me anymore, before i get embedded into it and frozen to things around.
I hope it happens , a good break to make a difference is all i want.
I mean serious, responsible , you fell you need to do it cause its important to you and it matters to you; rather than a feeling of doing it cause you don't want to be questioned or because you don't want to be troubled by it again or even because you just want to get done with it.
Do people get passionate about work genuinely, with no strings attached? No matter how much they get paid. No matter what it does to them. Simply plain passion as a liking, as a way of you doing things and believing in it.
I am kinda specific here about the monotonous genre of work. Typically software, but also any other similar field of work.
There have been occasions when i just wanted to get up and walk out of meetings, i just did not want to respond cause i couldn't relate. I know that's ok with me cause i am not passionate enough, but i kinda feel that with lot of people around who slog their ass out, they work like crazy but is it their passion?
Are we saving jobs because its a way of survival and we need to take home bread and better or because it gets imbibed in us after a point of time that it doesn't matter what you do , you just do things!
I am saving my job right now. I want to change before it gets worse. Before it stops mattering to me anymore, before i get embedded into it and frozen to things around.
I hope it happens , a good break to make a difference is all i want.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
A toast to the congenital quality – Womanhood
The world is defined as a stage and people as actors. We all play roles, take charge, change to situations, act to advantage and so on and so forth. It’s a talent today, they commonly call it ‘multi tasking’.
I got reminded of one of those typical, laid back and no purpose conversations at home. These happen in holidays when most of us are at home and we talk about old stories. This is a time when everybody talks a lot especially my grandmom. There is something extremely divine about the way ‘grand moms’ look. They have a glow in their faces exuberant of holiness and this terrific immature smile of childishness, as if old age is childhood regained. She was easily in that category. A quick conversation with her, and she drives us down her memory lane, remembering her childhood and life after that. She starts off about her pre independence life and the big job her dad had those days in madras. It was a big deal to own a car and a phone and they were one of the few families who did back then. ‘I Was 14 when I got married’ she recalls with a chuckle and a vague remembrance of the day. While speaking of a typical day during peak life, she said ‘I had 8 kids at home. All in the age difference of one or two years. We normally have at least 20 people to eat. I had to bathe all my kids, cook food for them, pack food for my husband and manage the house work’. She also added in a due pride ‘We had a cook then, we were a little rich.’ I just breathed a sigh. I took a few minutes aside and just recounted what I heard. Having said all this, these are the genre of people who have no regrets in the way they spent their lives whatsoever.
Of course, we now belong to a new age, a different era. We work on modes of redefined aspirations and compete for privileges, rights, act and what not. We are the new age women sans discrepancies and gender bias. We don’t understand the ‘Only men can’ way of things and we thrive in the same space where Anuradha Vaidhyanathan qualifies for Half-Iron man. I wonder if this is what Bharathiyar meant when he called us ‘Pudhumai Penn’. We definitely have come a long way. We have sailed through the beaten torn tracks and swam our way into the safer zones.
But, amidst all this is there something that we still carry from the yester years? Is there something common in you and your grand mom? A vibe that connects both of you? I guess there is. It’s the congenital womanhood, the quality that defines and identifies every woman. It’s that wave that connects us and gets us going in 2 minutes of an ice breaker, the same vibe that lets us be the achievers we are today. I strongly feel that women those days were no less a multi-taskers than any CEO today. Only the way we define success has been changed and we are catering to the new definition. We define the woman of today as someone who plays multiple roles mom, girlfriend, wife, professional. It really isn’t a big deal because it’s just innate in her to do it. That is the way she is made and she loves to live with it. Look around you and there are millions of women catering to every aspect of her multiplicity every day in life. Right from your mom at home to the girl in your adjacent cubicle!
Happy woman’s day!!
I got reminded of one of those typical, laid back and no purpose conversations at home. These happen in holidays when most of us are at home and we talk about old stories. This is a time when everybody talks a lot especially my grandmom. There is something extremely divine about the way ‘grand moms’ look. They have a glow in their faces exuberant of holiness and this terrific immature smile of childishness, as if old age is childhood regained. She was easily in that category. A quick conversation with her, and she drives us down her memory lane, remembering her childhood and life after that. She starts off about her pre independence life and the big job her dad had those days in madras. It was a big deal to own a car and a phone and they were one of the few families who did back then. ‘I Was 14 when I got married’ she recalls with a chuckle and a vague remembrance of the day. While speaking of a typical day during peak life, she said ‘I had 8 kids at home. All in the age difference of one or two years. We normally have at least 20 people to eat. I had to bathe all my kids, cook food for them, pack food for my husband and manage the house work’. She also added in a due pride ‘We had a cook then, we were a little rich.’ I just breathed a sigh. I took a few minutes aside and just recounted what I heard. Having said all this, these are the genre of people who have no regrets in the way they spent their lives whatsoever.
Of course, we now belong to a new age, a different era. We work on modes of redefined aspirations and compete for privileges, rights, act and what not. We are the new age women sans discrepancies and gender bias. We don’t understand the ‘Only men can’ way of things and we thrive in the same space where Anuradha Vaidhyanathan qualifies for Half-Iron man. I wonder if this is what Bharathiyar meant when he called us ‘Pudhumai Penn’. We definitely have come a long way. We have sailed through the beaten torn tracks and swam our way into the safer zones.
But, amidst all this is there something that we still carry from the yester years? Is there something common in you and your grand mom? A vibe that connects both of you? I guess there is. It’s the congenital womanhood, the quality that defines and identifies every woman. It’s that wave that connects us and gets us going in 2 minutes of an ice breaker, the same vibe that lets us be the achievers we are today. I strongly feel that women those days were no less a multi-taskers than any CEO today. Only the way we define success has been changed and we are catering to the new definition. We define the woman of today as someone who plays multiple roles mom, girlfriend, wife, professional. It really isn’t a big deal because it’s just innate in her to do it. That is the way she is made and she loves to live with it. Look around you and there are millions of women catering to every aspect of her multiplicity every day in life. Right from your mom at home to the girl in your adjacent cubicle!
Happy woman’s day!!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sattva - Eco Preservation
The quaint old house and the artistic ambience at the Iengar's residence was just perfect to reflect their persona. There was love all over the place. Love for animals, respect for humanity and a responsibility towards the surroundings. It was an experience for two of us who went there with least of expectations and got enough and more in return.
Do read the story about this and lot more about environment awareness.
Also about people and organisations who take their environment responsibility seriously and of little things can contribute to a eco-conscious surroundings and and better world for our future generations.
http://www.itihas.org.in/SattvaFebruary2008.pdf
Do read the story about this and lot more about environment awareness.
Also about people and organisations who take their environment responsibility seriously and of little things can contribute to a eco-conscious surroundings and and better world for our future generations.
http://www.itihas.org.in/SattvaFebruary2008.pdf
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The voice of Maharjapuram Santhanam and Bharathiyar's songs.
I have always been fascinated by his 'kavidaigal'.
I think it all started with 'Manathil Urudhi Vendum....'
Its a pleasure to listen to this one...There are millions of feelings that you go through you when you observe these lines.I simply admire the vision this man would have had when he wrote these lines decades back,
It goes like 'Pen Vidudhalai Vendum..Periya Kadavul Kaka vendum '.
Translation can do no justice to these.
No wonder Illayaraja used it to give life and soul for his music.
Speaking of this album, Its sung by 'Maharajapuram Santhanam' it has all those lovely tunes to Bharathiyar's famous verses.
'Chinnan chiru Kiliye' , 'Vellai Thamarai' , 'Suttum Vizhi Chudar' , 'mogathai kondre vide' and more...
These lines have been sung many a times by lots of people. The best part about his album is the carnatic touch here.
I love the way he says 'Chellama...' , 'Cholu', extremely soothing.
Im sure most of us must have heard 'Chinnan chiru Kiliye'.
Its the cutest song on planet earth. There is a line which goes like
'kannattil muttamiTTAl uLLam tAn kaL veri koLLudaDi'
You could easily picture a small cute kid giving you a peck on your cheek! :) . Too cool!!
There is a majesty in the voice which does absolute justice to the lyrics and the way it needs to be sung well in tune with the raagas.
My all time favourite of Bharathiyar's songs.....Its a mesmerising one! If you are a Barathi fan, you just should listen to this one!
'Ninnaiye Rathiyendru Ninaikirenadi Kannamma....'
You could easily find it on you tube.
Its been a effort for a quasi-tamil like me, to read and understand the true meaning of his lyrics. Having said all this, its an effort that i thoroughly enjoy !
I think it all started with 'Manathil Urudhi Vendum....'
Its a pleasure to listen to this one...There are millions of feelings that you go through you when you observe these lines.I simply admire the vision this man would have had when he wrote these lines decades back,
It goes like 'Pen Vidudhalai Vendum..Periya Kadavul Kaka vendum '.
Translation can do no justice to these.
No wonder Illayaraja used it to give life and soul for his music.
Speaking of this album, Its sung by 'Maharajapuram Santhanam' it has all those lovely tunes to Bharathiyar's famous verses.
'Chinnan chiru Kiliye' , 'Vellai Thamarai' , 'Suttum Vizhi Chudar' , 'mogathai kondre vide' and more...
These lines have been sung many a times by lots of people. The best part about his album is the carnatic touch here.
I love the way he says 'Chellama...' , 'Cholu', extremely soothing.
Im sure most of us must have heard 'Chinnan chiru Kiliye'.
Its the cutest song on planet earth. There is a line which goes like
'kannattil muttamiTTAl uLLam tAn kaL veri koLLudaDi'
You could easily picture a small cute kid giving you a peck on your cheek! :) . Too cool!!
There is a majesty in the voice which does absolute justice to the lyrics and the way it needs to be sung well in tune with the raagas.
My all time favourite of Bharathiyar's songs.....Its a mesmerising one! If you are a Barathi fan, you just should listen to this one!
'Ninnaiye Rathiyendru Ninaikirenadi Kannamma....'
You could easily find it on you tube.
Its been a effort for a quasi-tamil like me, to read and understand the true meaning of his lyrics. Having said all this, its an effort that i thoroughly enjoy !
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