MT-Radiance

Spirit of Mumbaikar

2011-07-16T12:37:00.001+04:00

The Spirit of Mumbai: The Behavioral Damage

Behavior is greatly influenced by stimuli from the environment. This influence results in a process of either strengthening or weakening the association between the behavior and stimuli from environment.

Tracking back into time, we have seen the biggest blast in Mumbai was in Year 1993 and then there was a siege of Mumbai in 2008 which to date is the greatest tragedy in Indian history. An armed siege of the civilians of India by another country which shares our borders.

However from year 1998 to 2011, there has been an average of at least 1 attack only on Mumbai. Attacks are mainly due to conflicts that are either intrinsic or extrinsic to the nation. Clearly we see that there is failure at various levels in the government in terms of having the right intelligence, right people at the right time to handle such situations and contingencies.

Watching innocent people die an unnatural death not even at the hands of nature but at the hands of people who are ruthless and are totally uncompassionate towards human life. I am specifically NOT using the word terrorist or terrorism for a reason. You will understand as you read.

From 1998 to date the technology has advanced to heights unimaginable. Message spreads fast. Communication is effective and clear. However over the past few years since the attacks are becoming like a yearly season, the messages from the politicians and the Indian media are being understood clearly for some people like me.

Every time if you notice the Indian media after any attack especially on Mumbai, the first thing would come up is the Spirit of Mumbaikar’s who put the attack to the past and get on with life. This is been telecasted almost and always when there are civilian deaths due to blasts or attacks. The media along with the forces of the government is conditioning the people in a manner that they would not care about the attacks or the aftermath of it.

This largely makes me question the spirit of Mumbaikar’s.

Is walking past the dead to work the spirit? Is being uncompassionate about the death of people in your town the spirit? Just lighting a candle for the dead which happens every year due to failure of our security forces the spirit? I really dont share that or even subscribe.

By repeatedly getting conditioned by the media on "spirit of Mumbaikars" and the politicians who ask only "for calm the people of Mumbai" has actually lost to understand the value of human life lost as a result of these attacks. As the days are passing the dead are forgotten, the families devastated, yet the spirit of Mumbaikar’s gets them to office next day!

It is really a sad situation. In plain terms, its damage of behavior suffered because of the media, politicians & people of India themselves.

Baadey...

2010-03-30T19:20:00.015+04:00

The flight touched down at the Anna International Airport, Chennai. Its 2 AM on 22-Feb-2015. The heavy touch down did not wake up my wife or my 2 kids. They were fully relaxed on the extra large seats in the Business Class of BA. I woke the kids up first. They are quick, and then woke my wife up. We picked our bags and proceeded to the exit.

Out of the airplane and in the airport. I haven’t been here for the past 5 years. Nothing changed in the airport, neither the system nor the people. But India is a much talked and admired country in Nederland (that's where I work).

My wife frequented India and my foreign raised kids are constantly reminded of being cautious about drivers, helpers or any strangers as a matter of fact every time they visit India.

I walked up to the prepaid taxi counter and took a token to my home which I haven’t seen or visited or thought about in 5 years. My youngest was so curious every time he lands here wondering about the nation he belonged. The elder is like her mother very quiet.

The porter led us to the Ambassador taxi and I saw on the rear wind screen written in Tamil "baadu".

The typical Tamilian taxi driver said "vaanga sir.. enga povanum" ('Hello.. Where to?').

My wife spoke. I kept thinking about the word on the rear wind screen of the taxi.

The driver realized that we are NRI's and greeted the kids by handing them two toffees. The kids took it. As we got into the taxi my wife took the toffees and threw them. She said not to accept things from strangers in English. I could see the taxi driver smiling. I thought he understood what my wife said.

As he kept driving in the night, he asked few questions to my daughter. My wife 'ssh'ed her. But my younger answered him. I could imagine my wife nudging him. This time yet I noticed the driver smiling.

I felt little bad. I picked a conversation with the driver. I could hear my wife sigh at the back while the kids where busy looking out of the window. The huge actor posters and ads filled almost both sides of the road.

I asked "Endha ooru?" ("Where are you from?")

He said "Sir, Salem sir."

I asked "Kalyanam?" ("Are you married?")

He said "aachu sir. aana pasanga illa." ("Married, but no kids")

I said "Oh! Ethana varushama taxi." ("How many years are you driving this taxi")

I am used to get into such conversations and end up giving my number. Then they eventually call for some help. Knowing my instinct to help anyone, my wife tried to pitch in with all intention prevent the conversation grow. She knew I wasn't listening to her.

He said "2 varusham sir. aana naa oru BA graduate. Presidency College Chennai, 1998 batch." ("2 Years Sir, but I am a BA graduate from the Presidency College Chennai, 1998 batch")

Surprised I asked him "approm yen taxi, nalla velai kidaikalaya?". ("Educated in Presidency! But, why taxi? Didn't find a job?")

India, its size and power, churns out millions of graduates every year from each state. It’s quite possible that unemployment might be high. But Presidency College is one among the Top 5 colleges in the country.

He said "Ila sir. Vidhi sir. Idhula dhan enaku nimmadi iruku." ("No sir, I find peace in this job and moreover it’s my fate")

I am still surprised. Now I notice that my wife is interested in the conversation too. She was listening. She values and respects educated people. The kids have fallen asleep. Another 30 minutes to home.

I asked "enna solreenga. kekava aarvama iruku." ("You got to be joking. It’s interesting to see a ex-Presidency student like you drive taxi and find pleasure in it")

He reached out to the glove compartment and took a wallet and showed me a photo of a boy inside it. About 4 years old I guessed.

He said "He is my son. His name is Sivakumar. He joined school and was learning new things. I was working in Virtusa as an administration clerk. I used to return home to play with him, help him with his home work and teach him good things vs. bad things. He plays cricket with the street kids. He picked up the local slang word ‘baadey’ which is a bad word from the street kids. That’s what I have put in the back of car. He shouts that word whenever he is upset.”

My wife looked back to see the word, she would have remembered the word to ask me the meaning later. I kept silent. I felt strange and I didn’t want to hear further.

He continued “One day while he was playing on the road a car lost control and hit him. We took him to the hospital but he did not survive.” He paused. He was choking from sadness. I looked out of the window to get fresh air.

He continued “Then my wife was so struck by the sadness and she too fell sick. She didn’t survive after 3 months. They both left me alone.”

“There was the court case against the driver. The judge asked me if I wish to punish or pardon the driver. I pardoned him. But took that car from him and it is this taxi now. I decided to be a driver of this car as long as I live. This is not a car, its my son’s soul.”

I didn’t speak after that. My wife was silent too. But this silence of hers is different from her usual taxi silence. I took the bags from the trunk of the car and paid him little extra. He gladly took it and thanked me as I walked towards my much ignored home. My family was awake to receive us.

To my surprise my wife was talking to the driver. I stopped to listen.
She said “Indhanga, idhu enga veetukar number. Edachum help venumna phone pannunga. Eppovena inga vaanga.” (“This is my husbands number. You will be welcome in our home anytime”)

She told the kids to take few more toffees from him and told the kids to thank him. My son shook hands with him. I could see his eyes flooded with tears. I continued to walk away.

Kaminey - Scoundrel, Bitch, Mean!

2009-09-05T13:48:00.007+04:00

After Lagaan, this is the hindi movie I watched on a cinema. Instantly I realize that the Hindi Film Industry has not grown much with respect to creativity and ideology. They have indeed improved on technical capabilities & increased on the financial expenditures.

The movies still revolve around gondaas, drugs, guns, couple kissing all over screen, pre-marital sex, girls pregnant before marriage, etc etc.
Through out the movie I wonder where went all the protestors of Slumdog Millionaire in which they claimed "it gave a bad image for India". Kaminey is no different. The film makers should improve their strategy and include some morality in the movie making process.

The only relief is that they stopped loving in many different ways invented by the Khans, Kapoors and Kumars.

The introduction shows Shahid Kapoor the protagonist on a railway track dreaming about becoming a famous Bookie in the Mumbai Race Course and subsquently involved in a chasing sequence.

Another introduction for the second protagonist, again played by Shahid Kapoor shows him dancing away on the streets of Mumbai singing about "AIDS Awareness".

Priyanka Chopra, lucky the Tamil Film Industry sent her back after giving her the first movie chance.

I wonder what made the producer finance such a movie. The following is the only explanation I could come up with.

Two story tellers approach the producer and give this one line story "a poor boy working for an NGO falls in love with a girl whose brother is a big politician. How the love succeeds is the rest of the story"

Two other story tellers approach the producer and give another online story "a orphaned boy brought up by big bookies dreams of becoming a bookie, but in a freak accident with police gets one of his best buddy bookie killed and he seeks revenge is the rest of the story".

The producer intelligently thought over and combined the story and made it into 1 by including a father and twin son’s concept. Thus, he saved on the hero salary and mainly on double production costs.

A flash back about a poor dad and two sons are included for sentiment to connect both the stories.

A father steals a watch and screws up his life and also his two son’s life. One son grows and feels his life is screwed up because he is not able to become a bookie. Another son grows up and screws a girl. Because he screws a girl he is trouble from the girl’s brother and the girl as such is screwed because she is now pregnant. The movie revolves around all these screwed people and here is the catch: The producer's name is Screwvala. A good kaminection

If you can take a hike along the creek to avoid watching the movie: I will recommend that.

Is there an insect box in the house?

2008-08-04T22:36:00.004+04:00

Almost all tamilians out there would have seen this wonderful movie "Jillendru Oru Kaadhal"

The story starts so well with Surya and Jyothika as wonderful family with their 6 yr old daughter Aishu.

The movie takes a dramatic turn when Jyothika learns about the past marriage which Surya had and how it broke. The story also narrates the nature of Surya when he was in college.

Being at-least 15% Surya during my college, I have personally lived a wonderful life during college no doubt. However, my wife has her own doubts about my college life...

When the movie "Jillendru Oru Kaadhal" was released in Dubai we watched in Galleria 2. The very day my wife confirmed (seeing me react during the movie and after the movie) that I would have had some kind of a similar incident in college.

In the movie, the whole plot changes when Jyothika finds the insect box (for Aishu's school project).

From then, every time we visit India, my wife doesn’t miss a chance to fiddle around all my college stuff searching for an insect box. I have all my college stuff including my notes packed in some 8 huge card board boxes (a box can hold a 29 inch regular TV). I think she has searched some 2 over the past 3 years.

Well, I just have 3 things to say...

1. The name Aishu of Surya's daugther in the movie refers to Surya's ex-love Bhumika. However, my daughter's name was my wife's choice.

2. The insect box was found in the movie when Surya & Jyothika's daughter was 6 years old. Our daughter is just 4 months old.

3. Jillendru Oru Kaadhal is the movie name. Oru Kaadhal means one(ly) love. Jillu actually refers to Jyothika's pet name in the movie. Yes... Surya calls Jyothika in the movie "Jillu". Hence Jillnu Oru Kaadhal!

Well... its you guys turn now... is there an insect box in your house?

BIAL - New Bangalore Airport - Atrocious

2008-07-12T10:57:00.005+04:00

I went on a 5 day trip to Chennai. Since the trip was adhoc, I did not have any booking done for the travel.

So, I decided to do the college way. When I was in college, if I decided to go home, I would go to the bus-stand and take a bus to the next nearest town. I used to travel from Ramanathapuram Trichy (my home until 2003, until we decided to move back to Chennai). From Ramathapuram, I would go to Paramakudi, then to Sivagangai, then to Thirupathur, then to Pudhukotai and then finally Trichy.

Likewise, I took a flight from Dubai to Bahrain. Bahrain to Mumbai. So, I got out of the International Terminal, went straight to Joe's house and freshed myself up. Then Joe dropped me off at the domestic terminal. Now, Mumbai airport is prettly confusingly designed. There were 3 domestic terminals. Each terminal had 3 or 4 airlines. I went to the first terminal and asked Kingfisher airlines.

"Do you have a ticket to Chennai?". "Sorry Sir, No." came the reply.

Now, Terminal 1 had Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet Airline & JetLite Air. Terminal 2 had Indian Airlines, Jet Air & Sahara Air. Terminal 3 had Air Deccan, Indigo Air, GoIn Air (!!).

Each Terminal were like 200m apart. I literally had to walk each counter and each terminal until I made it to Terminal 3 to Indigo Air when they said, that they had a flight at 1 PM and would reach Chennai by 4 PM and it was via Bangalore. I took it, since all the other airlines flew Chennai only after 7 PM. I wonder why they can’t have a counter like Railways. "Any Train, Any Class".

When I landed in Bangalore at around 3 PM, I had to change flight. I got out of the plane exploring the "ALL NEW AIRPORT - BIAL". I had some intermediate work in Bangalore at my development office. I was planning to go there some time after my work in Chennai was complete. Now that I was in Bangalore, I thought I might as well cancel the trip to Chennai and get into Bangalore and finish the work and go home.

I went to the Indigo Air counter and asked the lady how much the refund would be if I cancelled the trip to Chennai. It was 900 Rs.

However, I did not want to take a chance with the new airport. So, with out canceling the ticket, I went out of the airport and called a taxi.

I asked taxi driver "Koramangala, how much?"

Taxi driver "Please take pre-paid voucher".

I went to the pre-paid "Koramangala."

Counter Clerk "from here it is 1000 Rs (accent car). And sir, you have to wait. Traffic inside the city. The cars are yet to come. It might take an hour for us to get you a taxi."

"What....?"

I told the counter clerk "from here, Chennai is 900 Rs. and takes 40 minutes."

I took the flight to Chennai. Whatelse!

India - Go Nuclear

2008-07-10T04:48:00.004+04:00

With the pressure mounting on the Congress led UPA on the CIVIL Nuclear deal, from a lay man point of view why should India become a Nuclear Civil State.

Lets take the primary sources of power generation in the country

- Power generation by Coal (57%)
- Power generation by Hydro (27%)
- Power generation by Wind (5%)
- Power generation by Thermal (5%)
- Power generation by Gas (1%)
- Power generation by Nuclear (5%)

The today's installed capacity of power generation in India is around 83288 MW. Out of which the Nuclear capacity is 4100 MW (not even 10%).

As you see coal is the major source of power generation in India. Now, apart from this, our government policy is that "All Villages are to be electrified before 2010).

As of 1991, we had around 5 million villages which needed to be electrified. As on date, we have completed around 1 million only.

Census say that our power consumption would triple by 2015 and where is the country's capacity to generate power and complete the balance electrification of the villages.

The only solution available is to buy a technology which is proven for power generation and that is Nuclear. I am not sure if the deal would become another Enron, but I am sure that the leaders at this point in time are more worried about meeting the demand than pocketting few Rupees.

Mujra, Mirchi & Night Life....

2008-07-06T01:44:00.006+04:00

The fascination for woman goes way beyond ones imagination. Dubai has been a destination for Indian middle class workforce. These people mostly leave their families back in India and then come and live as bachelors in the labour camps. They get to go to India once in 2 years or so.

The market for such bachelor's interest on women is unimaginable huge and it operates with so much of ease and rule over the freedom of the said women.

One of our projects was for a Hotel Group Chain (like we have The Welcome Group). We happened to interact with the Chief Engineer a lot. During a weekend, I decided to go around with him to one of the 5 star hotels in Dubai which comes under their control. He often visits hotels belonging to their group to ensure safety standards and best practices. Right from the kitchen to the restroom.

In the hotel, he took me to 3 important cafe's. Cafe 1 was Mujra style. Cafe 2 was discotheque. Cafe 3 was an English cafe.

He then gave me the details of women "employed" about Cafe 1:

- Their work starts from 9 PM and ends about 5 AM
- They are supposed to dance with whatever dress provided to them in front of an audience.
- The audience if they like the dance, they throw money.
- The women are not allowed to leave the premises of the hotel at anytime
- They are taken out in a group once in a month for a change
- They get paid around 400$ a month.
- The extra money they make is purely the tips they earn.

Cafe 2: He took me to the pavilion just above cafe 2. We watched the Cafe 2 through security camera's and glass windows.

The DJ was playing music so loud and noisy and it was all Hindi music. All was able to see was boys and girls dancing to the noise. It was such a sad site to see kids who turned just legal or about to get legal dancing and shouting and engaging in public. Some of the older men take advantage of the disco. Sad sight!

Cafe 3: A English cafe for old men who want to watch food ball. There is a rock band who sing classic rock like Credence, Bruce Springsteen, etc. However the point to be noted is that the serving is done by all women again rules of Cafe 1 are applied.

Cafe 1 and Cafe 2 were completely Indian. However, the contrast was too much for me in a day. I was absolutely stunned.

Cafe 1 are women who are driven to this profession due to various situations back in India or some of them are even forced into this profession.

Cafe 2 are girls and boys who have no clue what is in store for them. But think that DJ Music and Discotheque is absolutely cool.

When I returned along with my friend, back to my apartment he told me "See how it is out in hotel industry. This is the worst industry ever to work. But if you are a guest, then the whole thing changes."

What could you say? I did not know.

Probably, God Bless!

Why oil prices can go up?

2008-07-05T23:19:00.004+04:00

When everything seems fine.. suddenly out of no where the oil prices shoot up to $145 a barrel.

Why would oil price go up?

The worlds largest crude producer is Saudi Arabia and then comes Canada, Russia etc. US enjoys a great relation with Saudia. World's knowledge goes that Saudia is the largest oil exporter and US is the largest importer of oil.

Saudia claims that the supply is far more than sufficient and while US claims that more oil be pumped to reduce oil price.

Looking from the Indian point of view:

The Asia's biggest country is China and the worlds largest workforce is India. Their economies are doing absolutely great.

IT industry growth is at 8%
Sensex above 20000 Points
Inflation is high. Government working on curbing inflation. Rate cuts.
FDI to India as of March 2008 is 4443 Million US$.
Dollar to Rupee rate fell sharply.

On the other hand China has recorded similar growth. We wonder if there anything which is not made in China.

So, two big countries, from Asia growing rapidly is a potential economic threat to the already falling dollar.

How to put a brake on the fast growing countries like India and China?
How to make sure that the dollar price continues to stay stable?

On the other hand the news from India

"A famous Indian Cricketer currently active is paid around 1 Crore for an endorsement for petrol"

Does Indian petrol companies ever need to have a marketing division and pour millions into advertising?

Click Here! Read More

Nim - Balinese Girl

2008-06-29T15:21:00.006+04:00

Doha,his second home after India. He came to Doha almost 7 years back. Even after marriage, he left his family back home and continued to live as a bachelor in Doha. For some reason, he decided to live alone in Doha.

Few months back his friend took him to Al Bustan Health Club. He got a good massage done, used the steam rooms and jaccuzi in the health club. The feeling after the massage was really good and exciting. After that he frequented the Health Club in Le Meridien.

Co-incidentally, his massage therapist had been the same person. The first time inside the massage room, he felt a lot shy to even talk to her or look at her. Next visits he was quite comfortable.

Nim, was her name. Born in Bali. 25 years. 11 Hours from Doha. Goes to Bali once in 18 months.

He kind of liked Nim and her massage.

He said, "Frankly Nim. I like to be with you." Nim was silent. Nim started the therapy and did not speak through out. But, he felt that it was the best he ever got from Nim. He took another appointment 3 days later for Nim. Nim too liked his company.

He called her one day morning and asked her to take off and come with him to a special place. He drove her up to the southern mountain range. They kept talking about various things about their life in Doha and at that time, Nim got a call from someone. He felt uncomfortable.

But the cloud cleared instantly, when started talking again. Nim was impressed by the desert mountains.

He stopped his car near a camping site and climbed few meters up the mountain and found a spot to sit with Nim. The sunset from that mountain was brilliant. He sat close to Nim. Tried to hold her hand. Nim was reluctant, but did not resist. He did not care.

He was driving back. Nim was silent. He said "Nim, we will live together here. I feel that I should stay close to you all the time."

Nim said, "I will think" when she was getting down at her apartment. Few days later, Nim shifted to his apartment.

He liked her company. He almost got a family here in Doha. He took care of Nim very well and let her save the money she earned. After some 6 months with all the Nim in his life, he decided to go to India to meet his family.

Nim at the same point thought she would also take a vacation. The booked same day flights.

Jakarta International Airport: The next day. Nim landed and her eyes searched the crowd for someone. Came running a boy. Probably aged 5. Behind the boy, was a guy waving his hand.

Nim said "hey... honey.. how are you?"

The boy replied "I am so happy to see you mummy".

The Yellow Salwar

2008-06-19T22:15:00.003+04:00

I did not feel like going home...

5 years after marriage and 2 kids.. now life is sore. I continued to chat on the messenger with the chat friend. Talking to this new friend who is a girl kept me happy. I haven't seen her, nor spoken to her. All we did is chat.

After 3 months of chatting with her, I expressed that I would like to be with her forever.

I typed "Can we get into a long term relation? May be marriage."
I expected a reply for her on the screen.

The screen was not doing anything. The cursor was blinking. Suddenly it said, she signed out...

I made a mistake, it was too early. I signed out and went home. She opened the door. I asked "have the kids slept?".

"Yes...". I asked "did you have dinner?" She said "Yes. Food for you is on the table." She went to sleep. For some reason the relationship between my wife and me is not going well.

I went to bed and thought about my chat friend. I was eager to go next day to office and go online to chat with her.

It is around 9 PM now, she hasn't come online yet. I decided to go home, suddenly she came online. I buzzed her on her ID (lonelyplanet).

I typed "Hi.". No Reply.

I typed "Hello. Are you there?". No Reply.

I typed "Sorry, I overstepped last night and asked you the question." No Reply.

I was impatient. Suddenly the screen lit up with my eyes

She replied "Hi.."

She continued "I am not sure if this would work."

I typed "We can make it work. Even I need to finish something before we start."

I typed "We need to see each other. I am eager to see you and meet you."

She replied "Ok. But one condition."

I typed "Ok. I agree before listening to it. But, we need to meet."

She replied "Tomorrow 4 PM. City Centre. I will be wearing a Yello Salwar and waiting at Gloria Jeans Coffee."

I typed "Great! I will see you at four."

I was happy today. Finally something interesting in my life. I went up the stairs and all 7 floors.

I rang the bell. The door opened. I looked at my wife. She was getting tired. She turned and went to the bedroom. While going I heard her "Food is on the table."

I just fell on the couch to sleep. No sleep. Clock was too slow. It had more than 12 hours to get to 4 PM.

Time was 1 PM. I went to my team members and announced that I had something important to do. I left to City Centre. I ran up to the Gloria Jeans Coffee.

Time now was 10 PM. The sea was getting rough. I decided to go home. I parked my car way far from house and walked.

I rang the bell. I saw my wife's face. It looked tired. She was walking to the bedroom when I heard her say "Food is on the table."

I ate the food. I went into the bed room. I went and sat near my son and looked up the wall. I saw his photo and the marriage photo. Next to it was hanging on the hangar was "The Yellow Salwar".

Fried... Fired....

2008-06-18T21:31:00.003+04:00

I was standing in the Consul General India, Dubai to apply for a passport for my daughter (Rithi). After 2 Horus in queue I reached the counter. The counter clerk checked all my papers and then took the application form. Then she suddenly realized that I did not have my wife's name in my passport endorsed under spouse name.

So, I filled in an affidavit and submitted and she said this procedure of amending the passport would take 2 days. Since I was kind of in a hurry to get my daugther's passport, I asked her if this is absolutely necessary to have my wife's name in the passport. She promptly replied "Sir, no problem, you can change this name anytime"

So, coming to the blog....

We are doing a dispatch system to track a taxi and also dispatch a taxi. Now, this project was given by our client to a company. That company approached another company for this project. That other company approached yet another company for the project. The "yet another" company happened to be our partner and we got the project. It did not end here, we out sourced it to another company. Phew!

After a year of development, we deployed the software in the end client's facility. Un-fortunately the software was not tested, eventually it did not withstand a production environment and we ran into some payment issues. We had not got the source code from our vendor. So, it took another year to get the source code. After we got the source code, as a project controller, I invited my colleague and friend who is a project manager for another project in Bangalore, India to wrap this project in 2 months and deliver. He arrived along with one of his team member. We will call him Nick (name changed).

Nick, was newly hired in our company and we believed he would rise to the occasion. So, he came to Dubai and we moved him to Abu Dhabi where the project was actually implemented.

My friend, the PM after a week of taking stock and listing action items left the responsibility with Nick and went back to Bangalore. Since, my work was in Dubai (180 Kms from Abu Dhabi) I went two times a week to take an update.

Three weeks went by and there was no progress. I was getting impatient and called my friend back to Abu Dhabi to take control of the situation. Since, I am not a developer, I was not able to answer Nick's development related queries. Nick was getting increasingly trouble some.

I used to sit next to Nick for almost 3 hours while he was listening to his iPod. I was expecting an update, he would suddenly wake up from sleep and say "Yes, you want something..."

When my friend and I thought it was too much, I got into the details of the project, its value, the wasted 2 years and so on....

Almost after hearing me for 1 hour, Nick said "I really don't care the project value... All I want is to go home and be with my wife. Can you confirm my tickets?".

My friend and I decided, its not worth keeping him any more in the project or in the company. This was at around 2 AM in the morning. By that time, the pressure was so much that we shifted our living to the project site from the hotel. We lived in one of the apartments 2 blocks down the road.

So, the next day I drove Nikhil from Abu Dhabi to his Aunt's house in Sharjah. The drive was for around 3 hours and I kept silent while he was listening to his iPod.

The very same day he left to Bangalore. We fired him the very day he came to office.
Unfortunately he did not send a resignation letter we had to serve a termination notice to him.

Poor Guy I pitied him.. but end of the day he bombed a big project and we are gettign fried. Now it is my friend and I who have pulled our sleeves to get it done...

Atlast! January 1, 2008

2008-04-20T23:51:00.008+04:00

The new year born! The way we wanted it!

We all woke up after the long late new year dinner!

We had achieved what we wanted to. We felt good about that. We 3 [Kanna, Thenapa, Myself] decided to get Kavya something. We got her this large teddy.

Later we went to InOrbit Mall and we played paddle ball game. We had a bet match. Knock out basis.

Kanna and Me. Kanna won 20-16
Joe and Thenapa. Joe won 20-8
Joe and Kanna. Joe won 20-19

Thenapa tricked and made me play opposite to Kanna. He thought Joe would be an easy target to win, but it proved to be wrong!

Now, what was more fun was the crowd around us actually cheered. They would have wondered why on this earth these 4 guys are playing a game that was for 13years and below.

So, Joe won the 400 Rs and we went straight to the restaurant. We had a small challenge to tackle. That was Kavya. We had taken her out without her mom and we were not having diapers. [Has anyone ever wondered why the male restroom does not have a baby care room?]

We somehow managed it and we left her in the kids play area and had our food.

Then we left the baby with the bear(s)

We were all silent through out the drive back home. But we were very happy. Thenappa usually takes my purse for his use since he feels it brings him luck. So, he got me a nice wallet and I gave him the one I was using. Thenappa even took my back pack.
Joe took my card folder. Kanna, I took his watch!

We returned home and started packing our bags.

We all signed on pieces of paper and put it inside our purses. That was the souvenir! For us it marked the accomplishment of what was a dream for so many years.

My return flight was the next day morning. So was Kanna and Thenapa's.

It was a very strong feeling inside me when I took my boarding pass.

The counter clerk said, "you have great new year and a nice flight sir".

I replied... "I did have a great new year..."

Day 3 - 31 December 2007 of Good Re-Union

2008-04-18T20:04:00.013+04:00

We all woke up early. Packed our bags and we were on the road by around 8:30 AM.

We were headed to Lonavala.

Early morning Thenapa and I had a good fight over a silly issue. So, our trip started a little sore. Kanna is the person who usually sets right all such issues right from school and now, to till date. The issue got solved, we checked our e-mails. I logged into orkut and sent New Year wishes to few people, since it is blocked in UAE.

On the way Joe had a detour in Powai and he took us through the streets of the Hiranandani Appartment and Commercial Complex's. It was a very large construction. Tall residential apartments and lots of retail outlets. However there was something which had completely spoiled the beauty of those buildings. The pollution had actually changed the colour of all the buildings. The tall buildings looked dirty with all the dirt and deposits of the smoke from the vehicles. There was another reason about me not entirely feeling good about Hiranandani Gardens. Its at the end of this post.

So we briefly spent some 15 to 20 minutes at Hiranandani Gardens and our guide Mr. Joe decided that we should hit the highway.

The drive on the highway was good. Joe and Kanna took turns in driving and they put the poor car to extreme tests. The expressway was well laid out and it just needed asphalting again.

We reached Lonavala and Joe took us to this restaurant "Homely Food". This is was the best place Joe ever took us during this trip. The food was absolutely delicious.

Lonavala!

I would recommend anyone going to Lonavala to try the food in Homely Food.

After a nice delicious meal, we took rest at the hotel and then we started off for sight seeing.

We first went to Mushi Dam. A small & nice dam. The lake behind Mushi Dam was very scenic.

After Mushi Dam, we went up hill and stopped at a valley view point. Lonavala is the best weekend getaway from Mumbai. We drove to the end of the road on the Lonavala Mountains and we stopped there briefly.

I was aware that the Lonavala Chikki ws one of the best in India. So, Joe took us to supposedly the best chikki store in Lonavala. We got some 2 KG's of chikki. Apparently it costed around 2000 Rs. WOW!! Prices in India!!

After buying the Chikki, we started back to Mumbai. We decided to go to Phoenix Mills Mall. If you are new to Mumbai and want to have a background on Phoenix Mills Mall, read the Shekar Krishnan's report on that mall [Link at the end of post].

A small history:

Phoenix Mills Mall was actually a mill and it was destroyed in a fire accident some 20 years back and 2000 people went jobless. The govt had a re-hab program for the employees. After some 10 years of the fire accident [around 1999] the mill was converted into a shopping and business complex. An 150 year old mill is now a mall.

It is really interesting when you get into the mall you can still see the tall chimneys but they are inside pubs and restaurants. The office buildings converted into bazaars and so on. The concept is really nice.

This is an another recommendation from me if you visit Mumbai, drop into the Phoenix Mills Mall in Lower Parel.

We spent lot of time inside the mall exploring and most of it was under renovation. Hope they are sure by now!

Time was around 10 PM and we wanted to get back to home before midnight so that we start the new year peacefully. We got a fine wine bottle. Kanna suddenly wanted to go Chinese. The dragon restaurant in Andheri was Joe's joint. We waited for some 40 minutes to get our take-away ready.

When we started driving back home, Kanna suddenly realized that there were no chop sticks. Kanna was adamant that he will not eat without chop sticks. We had to take an U-Turn and go back there. After a brief argument with the hotel manager we got 4 chop sticks. When we got the chop sticks time was 11:55 PM. We would not reach home by mid-night to cheer the New Year. So, at exactly 12 we stopped the car and we got out. Wished all of us good luck and happy life and took a photo.

It is the first photo on the first blog of Good Re-Union. So, that's how our new year started.

All our eyes were beaming with some sort of light. I thought that it would have been the realization of the fact of we 4 finally making it to the day. The happiness and joy of friendship!

What a wonderful life it would be with such friends!!

If you have 4 good friends, then you had the time of your life!

Click here for the Hiranandani Gardens News

Click here for Phoenix Mills - Brief

Shekar Krishnan Case Study on Phoenix Mill Mall

The next blog is the ending day of the trip.

Day 2 - 30 December 2007 of Good Re-Union

2008-04-07T15:16:00.007+04:00

We were clueless!

The previous night we had got some "dosa maavu" for breakfast.

Joe & I are woke up first and we decided to make "tomato chutney" and "coconut chutney" for the dosa. I made tomato chutney while Joe took up coconut chutney.

Below is the outcome:

The dosa did not come out well, it was like bits and pieces. Somehow we made some 10 to 15 dosa and we sat down for breakfast.

Today's culprit was the tomato chutney. Thenapa vomited 3 times. The chutney wasnt good at all. I was sure when I was making it, but something went wrong!

So we discarded the breakfast we made. We decided not to throw the food out considering environmental hazards. We went to "Sukh Sagar" in Andheri and continued our breakfast.

It was almost 11 when we were ready to step out of the house. We went to a market place, not sure where it was. The shops were named Alfa 1, Alfa 2, Alfa 3 and so on. We went to Alfa 3. Alfa is some sort of a factory outlet. We ended up buying clothes for some 5000 Rs.

While driving to Alfa, Joe did an important thing. He called his wife and asked her to arrange for the usual cook who has been asked not to come because of us.

After buying clothes, these guys wanted to have non-vegetarian food badly. And Joe was [again] recommending that we go to some restaurant where the "fish" was too good.
So, the lunch was at that restaurant where I had nothing to do but watch these guys eat!

After those guys finished eating, we left the place for home and we re-checked our purchases. The dinner was luckily secured and we were sure that the evening was ours.

We were lazy after the lunch and we took a short nap and we decided to explore Mumbai for the evening.

We drove up to the BSE. Joe wanted us to see the BSE. He considered all of us Pattikadu. Then he showed his office and other RBI offices in Mumbai. All this was around 7 PM. Then he drove us through the necklace road [Marine Drive]. Then we stopped shortly at a place and took two photographs. Here is one.

Our exploration was getting difficult with the traffic. Joe then decided to take us to the Kissy Beach.

I was wondering what this "kissy beach" would look like.

It was like this...

You can see Kana, Joe, Thenapa and the tea boy.

So.. why is this called Kissy Beach! I found that many young couples had parked their cars by the side of the road and kissing each other..

Apparently the Corporation of Mumbai had closed traffic in that road, not sure if it was to give privacy. Basically after going to India after sometime, I was amazed at the moral decay of the minds there at that beach.

Ok... I have to mention that there was actually no beach there... It was just a road adjacent to the sea and the Corporation of Mumbai had blocked access to go to the sea. And the name Kissy Beach was given by Joe...!

We spent time drinking tea chit chatting about various school memories for about 3 hours and then we left for home..

When we reached home it was around midnight and we all slept with one goal in mind. Wake up early and head to Pune..!

Day 1 - 29 December 2007 of Good Re-Union

2008-03-15T21:33:00.016+04:00

Pick-Up Kanna

Fixing Car Stero
Thenapa Rasam
In-Orbit Mall & Spencer Daily
Iravinil Aatam

Well, day 1 was was pretty enthusiastic. We dropped off Priya at her parents house and Kavya at her grand parents house. We went to the Mumbai Domestic Airport Terminal 1A to pick up Kanna

Kanna's flight was late by 30 minutes. This is the photograph when we left home to pick up Kanna and this was the photo when Kanna came out of the Terminal. Watch the Sangeetha Hotel Parcel in his hand.

Kanna had an interesting incident at the airport. The Jet Airways would at Chennai would not allow the food parcel as it contained liquid items. So, Kanna gave the baggage into check in and asked her to put a fragile sticker and gave her conditions that she has to give the baggage as he keeps it. Eventually his argument won and they let him in with the parcel. So, all the passengers in flight were flying with Samabar and Idly and Pongal Smell upto Mumbai.

We reached Joe's home by around 10 AM. We kept talking chatter boxes about all things which came to our mind. I had got Joe a car stereo [Eclipse by name!]. So, Joe, and I went out for getting it installed in his car. Joe was determined to have it installed before going out any where...

Thenapa and Kanna were at home and Thenapa took the responsibility of making "rasam" and rice for lunch.

It was almost mid day when Joe and I finished getting installed the Car Stereo.

When we returned Kanna was still watching TV and Thenapa was still cooking. We eventually took bath and we were ready for the lunch.

Joe had made lots of "appalam" for the rasam. I think he saw what was coming.

The "rasam" Thenapa had made did not have any taste in it. It was pure Tamarind Juice. It was too thick and we did not realize what would happen if we consume it.

But we proceeded and emptied the "rasam". After 15 minutes when were planning to go out, Thenapa got into the bathroom and said "machi, vayiru kalakuthu. 15 minutes". Then, Kanna followed the suit. Eventually Joe and I too had the same problem. Thenapa's "rasam" gave all of us loose motion!!!

So we four spent almost 3 hours going in and out of the bath room. Lucky Joe's house had 3 bathrooms. After a tiresome download operation for more than 3 hours and when we had nothing left we decided to leave home for some serious action.

Joe decided that In-Orbit Mall was the best bet as it had cleaner rest rooms. We all got into the car around 4 PM and started driving towards In-Orbit Mall. Joe had recorded a CD and called it "school collection". It contained all the songs which we cherished during our school days. Songs from Takkar, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Sabse Bada Khiladi, Karan Arjun etc.

So, we started to drive talking about various things. 4 old friends, with all their time... no one can imagine what all we were talking. Even we can not remember.

So, we kept driving and driving In-Orbit mall never came. The traffic in Mumbai was terrific. We spent 2 hours going to In-Orbit Mall. Later we went on a shopping spree. Buying all sorts of nonsense!

Thenapa suggested that we buy some groceries to compensate for the disastrous lunch. So, we spent some 3000 Rupees buying groceries for the night from Spencers Daily. So we ended up buying Real Orange Juice, Lays Chat Flavour, Haldirams Moong Dal, Dates and some fruits.

After the shopping spree, we started driving back home. Our night started! Not sure when it ended!

A Good Re-Union

2008-02-08T22:50:00.004+04:00

Friends are the best part of a human life. When you have 4 good friends, it actually means you had the time of your life. I always believed in that.

Kanna, Thenapa, Joe & Me.

We studied in RSK Higher Secondary School right from KG. We all knew each other from 4th grade and gradually we became close friends in our 10th grade to till date.

Kanna lives in our native town Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India taking care of his own business. He is into fabrication, erection and commisioning of boiler controls and parts.

Thennapa is working right now in Noida, India [next month he will move to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India]. Thennapa is into software development.

Joe is a manager in the rule making bank of India. Reserve Bank of India. He lives in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Manjunaath, me, well, right now in Dubai, UAE. Check out my profile in LinkedIn or Orkut or here in Blogger.

We all still cherish a good dream that we 4 should be living together in the same area like in school days at some point of time in life.

Distance always separates people physically. Me, being out of India, get a chance to talk to all of them once a month or so. After we 4 settled in a good job we hardly got a chance to get togehter and have a nice time. Well, in-fact after school we never got a chance. We finished our school in 1996.

We were actually sketching a plan for getting together. After approximately 10 years we started to slowly sketch a plan for a new year RE-UNION.

The plan was:
1. 26th, Dec'07 Joe would pick me up from Chatrapathi Shivaji International Airport at 3 PM.
2. 26th, Dec'07 Joe and I would pick up Thennapa from Mumbai Domestic Terminal at 8 PM
3. We will drop Priya [Joe's Wife] and Kavya [Joe's Daughter] at Joe's In-Law's house at 10 PM
4. 27th, Dec'07 morning Joe, Thennapa & I would pick up Kanna from Mumbai Domestic Terminal at 8 AM.

From 8AM 27th Dec 07 till 2nd Jan 08 "it was the time of life for us".

When Kanna was at Kamaraj Domestic Terminal in Chennai [Detroit of India] at around 5 AM we asked him to buy our break fast at Sangeetha Restaurant at the Airport. We asked him to buy 6-Pongal(s), 2 Plate Vada and few Idli's. Some may wonder, what breakfast is available in Chennai which is not availabe in Mumbai.

So, Kanna landed finally at 10 AM...

From here, I will keep posting each day as a blog! Come back!

Form of Energy

2007-09-26T21:29:00.001+04:00

There is a famous story told during my school days. The story is goes like this.

Approximately 150 years back, when electricity was a new concept, a school in the United States of America was conducting a scientific exhibition. A old man walking down the street is curious about the new festivity on the street. He walks up to one of the students near the school and inquires about the festivity. The student tells him that it is a scientific exhibition where students like me, exhibit their inventions to the people who visit the school during that time.

The old man walks into the exhibition hall and visits many of the stalls in the exhibition hall.

There he sees a group of students who are demonstrating a new type of car running on track.

He walks up to them, and asks them "what is this?". The student explains that it is an electric car, which runs on the track when the button is pressed and stops when the same button is pressed again.

The old man, apparently thrilled by the concept asks the students how it works and so on. When he hears about the electricity which is behind this, he asks the students to show the electricity. The students claim that they cant show it, however, their professor who is more educated than them, would be able to help.

When the professor got the same question, he also denies seeing electricity and explains that the principal of the college should be knowing and the principal is requested to explain about electricity to the old man.

The principal apparently having more knowledge, explains that electricity could not be seen and only could be used in such applications. He also explains that electricity is a form of energy and could not be seen. He also says, that probably the inventor of this Thomas Alva Edison might be the only person who would have seen it.

The old man, convinced, decides to leave and thanks all of them. Before walking off, he also says, "The inventor has also not seen electricity. I am Edison"

Well, as we all see and agree that energy can only be felt and not actually seen. I cannot walk into my house and ask my parents or spouse show me their love for me.

No one actually sees love, but all they see is the out come of that love. No one really loves love, but they love the outcome of love and cause behind it.

We have always admired electric trains, express elevators, bullet trains etc., which are actually the out come of energy and not the energy itself.

Energy is like the foundation of a building which is not visible but holding the big structure above it.

Love and affection are also energy. They are not seen, but felt.

Please proceed to Way of Life for the continuation

Various Girls!! Various Moods!!

2007-04-29T00:40:00.001+04:00

“Oru Tea.” I sat on the beach lighting my cigarette. I live in Ramanathapuram District. I am a two-wheeler mechanic. Sherif’s tea is very good. Sherif has been running this tea shop for years. I used to frequent his tea shop when I was in college. After my graduation, I started this shop near Sherif’s shop. I liked his tea, and more than that, my college classmates were staying in a house near this shop. I am not able to forget any of those moments with all my 6 friends. Guru, Nazar, Suresh, Sankar, Ravi, Thilak and me.

I wanted to join an automobile company in Chennai, the Detroit of India. But my marks, my language and various other things about me were not good enough. Hence, ended up as a mechanic in this tiny town…!

Well, I could have studied properly, scored good marks, could have been a better son, could have been a better person in life…! All could have, should have….! But never had!

Like any other youngster fresh in college life, I made all the usual mistakes. I started smoking, learnt to cheat, and learnt to do things which were unsocial… But according to me, all those were part of college life. That was the only possible justification I had. Let me tell you what has brought me to where I am now!

We were a gang of 10 guys, with lots of differences within ourselves, but still together at any cost. The meekest guy was Karthi. The noisiest guy was Pandi. The most practical guy was me. Rest all a character of them. During our 4th Semester exams, we had an exam. The paper was “Thermodynamics”. We drank vodka till 4 AM and we dozed off. When we woke up it was 5 PM. We thought “March pona, September” (If we fail in March, we will appear in September and pass). In the class, we were chatter boxes, talking non-stop nonsense. We had no attitude towards the college, professors and the education itself.

Among all of us, Karthi and I were looking good than any other guy in the gang. So, we were popular among ourselves since we were more looked at by few of the girls in the college. Karthi was seriously in love with Sumathi. Sumathi lives in her native town of Salem. 10hrs from Ramanathapuram. Karthi used to go during weekends without the knowledge of his parents who live Salem just to meet Sumathi. However, Karthi in college was seriously behind Lakshmi. Except Karthi, and Me, no one was interested in love. Suresh and Ravi had liking towards actress and their blow-ups. About me, I was behind 5 girls at the same time. Hema [4th Year Student], Indhumathi [2rd Year Student], Muthulakshmi [3rd Year, my batch], Shoba [1st Year], Malini [MBA Student]. I was particularly interested in Priya. She was a 1st year student. I liked her for simple reason, “she was very simple”. I used to go every place where she would go or could go. I would make eye contact. She was definitely interested in me, since she used to casually look at me and I could see her smile, in her eyes hiding it away from her face. “Wow!” I would feel born again every time I see that. All my friends know about all the girls I am behind, but Priya. So was Karthi’s story. Every weekend in Salem with Sumathi. Karthi would tell I met Lakshmi there, asked her to talk to me but she ran away.

We guys spent evenings in the bar drinking and then watching movies, late night dinner in night hotels. Wherever we went, we all went together. Every night, after I had drunk to my neck, I used to go to the terrace and think of Priya. “The smile in her eyes, the grace with which she walks… Wow!!!” But, during day time, I would be behind these 5 girls just for fun. Friends tell me “Macha, you are a lucky guy… whichever girl you look, they look back at you”.

Whenever I was happy, I used to talk about one of the 5 girls. I related each one of them to one of the aspects nature. Fire, Water, Earth, Air & Sky. Hema - Clouds, Indhu – Air, Muthulakshmi – Earth, Shoba – Water, Malini – Fire.

Hema had big eyes. Her hair was wavy, and she used to take light steps and walk slowly like the clouds in the sky. Indu – Air. Indu was little over average in her weight. So, I relate her to the balloon filled with Air. Muthulakshmi's native town is Ramanathapuram. Ramanathapuram has fertile land. I related this to Muthulakshimi and her skin colour was similar to the colour of this land’s soil. Shoba is a native of “Kerala”. Kerala is known for its waters. Malini, Fire – No Comments.

For my every mood, I was able to relate to one of these girls. When I am totally blown, I used to shout one of these girls names. But, I think of Priya only when I was unhappy or sad or dejected or depressed. Well, the reason being; only her thought gave me happiness. Only she could change my mood with just a flash.

I have never spoken a word to her so far. When the night falls, I would be alone on the terrace grazing the dark sky, with all my thoughts around Priya. My life was as black as the sky. My future was as dark as the sky. The moon lights it up. Priya!

Among all the guys, I am supposedly the most practical guy. But, I am also the most sensitive guy. If I don't see her smiling eyes I would be devastated. When I am drunk beyond my limits, I start singing. Melancholy. Guru plays guitar whenever I sing and we make everyone’s day. But with the words from the songs, I console myself. I give courage to myself. My whole world was around Priya.

One day, I was sitting in Sherif’s shop having my tea and cigarette, when a car stopped ahead of the shop. I saw Karthi’s dad get out of it. I immediately rushed into shop, put off my cigarette and hoped that he has not seen me. Karthi’s dad is a rich person with lot of political connections. He usually comes and meets Karthi once in two months.

I will be able to go to Priya’s class for lectures. Since we were in the 4th year, we were supposed to do presentations about certain topics from the text. During this year, I was trying to develop confidence to express myself to her. Once I got a chance and called her. First time, her name, from my mouth loud and clear. She turned back, “Yes, Sir”. Juniors were supposed to address final year’s as “Sir”. The very first words, I am hearing from her. Spoken just for me!!
You take so much of pain and trouble to reach a temple, and when the lord is right in front of you, you close your eyes, praying. Thats devotion. You close your eyes and realize that you have felt God. The words “Yes, Sir” stopped everything in me and around me. I just heard and kept hearing “Yes, Sir”. She walked away puzzled by my reaction without waiting for me to say anything.

The same day, I came to my room, picked up a paper size A3, wrote “YES, SIR” in big using a marker and stuck it to my wall. My friends went crazy, as I had ripped of two actress posters to stick this. To control the situation, we drank the whole night.

The only thing I was able to think these days were, good marks somehow, good job somehow, 2 years somehow then Priya’s college would be over, then I can marry her or ask her for her hand.

Days went, our finals were nearing. We had a good 3 week study holidays. Karthi was getting tensed. Usually he is not a person who gets tensed for exams. Something Fishy. We asked him, but he denied saying there was nothing to worry. One day, Karthi’s brother called up. Karthi was out to meet Lakshmi. Karthi’s brother asked us to convey to him exactly this “Everything Fine. All accepted. Marriage after exams!” Well we got it.

When he came back, we had already set up a bar in the home for the joy. His father accepted his proposal to marry “Sumathi”. To our surprise Karthi had got with himself two “Bonnie Scot” with him. We had a great party and we all were drunk. We even forgot that our final exams are beginning three days later.

When we were all drunk Karthi told us “Macha, you guys know Lakshmi, I am going to spend some time wither her tomorrow in our room. So, I want all of you guys to be in the terrace”.

I asked him, “What about Sumathi?”

He said “I am going to marry her for sure, but Lakshmi wanted to be with me for sometime, and I did not want to stop her”.

I asked “Does she know about Sumathi and your marriage?”

He said “No”. All of us in chorus “Macha!!!! ENJOYYYY!!!” Though I said that, but I was really worried. What if someone sees us? What if he gets caught?

The next day, Karthi was out by 4 PM to pick Lakshmi up. Rest of us kept the room clean for him to spend “time”. We chose to go to the terrace and prepare for our exams. I lit up my cigarette and started going through my books. At around 7 PM we could hear a taxi stopping near our house. A girl hurried walked inside. Karthi paid the taxi guy and walked up to the terrace.

He told us, “We are going to be talking and if you guys want to pick up anything feel free to come down and knock the door”.

Few hours later we stopped for dinner. We went to our usual dinner stall and had dinner and walked back.

While we were taking the stairs, Sankar said, “Manju come, I need take few books from our room. Karthi would have gone by now. Lets go and take it.”

When we neared the door, we started hearing an anklet noise. The noise was very rhythmic. Sankar immediately guess and told me “Karthi is having fun with Lakshmi”.

I was shocked and told Sankar, “What is he doing? He is supposed to get married next month”

“The girl came by herself, what you could say?” replied Sankar. So, we decided not to go in and we went up to the terrace.

The next day morning, I woke up little early. I went down stairs to pick up tooth paste. But still Lakshmi was inside. I went back to the terrace and brushed my teeth with my hand.

I came to Sherif’s shop. Lit my cigarette and sipped my tea. Karthi came to the stall and told me, “I am going to get an auto and come at the back of the home; you bring Lakshmi to the back. There are too may people on the main road.”

I said, “This is rubbish.”

Karthi pleaded and I had to agree.

I went to the room, opened the door. No one was there. I saw the floor, few flowers dried, few stains on the floor and the small cot completely out of order. Lakshmi was near the rear door of the house looking through the window.

I told “Karthi is bringing an auto. He will come at the back and give me a signal and upon his signal we will leave”. She simply nodded her head.

When Karthi gave me the signal, I opened the rear door and asked her to follow me. I ensured that no one was watching us and I took her to the auto.

Karthi said “Thanks a lot!”. And Lakshmi said “Thanks”.

The moment the auto left, I fainted. Priya, you!! With Karthi!! Were you with him the whole night!!!

Suddenly I felt something burning in my finger. The cigarette was over. Sherif was shouting “one more cigarette”.

I said “Yes”.

Priya. “So many things happened after that night. But I still remember your smiling eyes. All my thoughts are still a fresh. Remembering all those all I do now is send the smoke out of me”. I lit another cigarette. Just one mood.

"Every Inch of a Woman"

2006-09-16T23:51:00.000+04:00

“just a minute honey…..” Radhika rushed towards the door to find out why her husband was calling her. “Radhika! Where is my lunch pack?” asked Raghu. Raghu is too fast in words and actions. Raghu is the GM in an automobile company in the Indian Detroit – Chennai. Radhika rushed back to kitchen and brought it. “Sorry honey, I forgot.” “At least you remember me” Raghu quipped and drove away his Black Victa.

Radhika is orthodox woman brought up in a good religious way. She had never thought anything beyond her husband. She had high esteem for him and had all the respect for him. She to an extent feared him also. Raghu on the other hand is an efficient manager. He is a caring husband. He has taken care of Radhika well. Radhika’s father had never worried about Radhika’s future after she married Raghu some 5 years ago. Raghu has given a lot of trouble to Radhika. Radhika has always taken it with utmost magnanimity. Raghu has appreciated it less. However, Raghu is not as bad as it seems.

Radhika had never felt that Raghu is going beyond his limits. She had taken everything with a smile. She was not able to tolerate one thing which Raghu does. And that is “bragging about Divya”.

Divya was Raghu’s college mate. They were working together after which Raghu moved his present company. Divya was the personal assistant for Raghu’s manager. Divya and Raghu loved each other. Due to some unforeseen circumstances they had to break up and part with their 5 year love.

After a year of the 'break up' Raghu married Radhika. Raghu had told Radhika well before marriage about Divya. Raghu never lied to Radhika. He never cheated her for even the slightest thing.

Even with so much of Raghu’s qualities, Radhika would get irritated with Raghu whenever he speaks about Divya.

Raghu used to say “you should see Divya. She manages so well. You are not able to even decide anything for yourself.” Raghu and Radhika were on a vacation trip in Kodaikanal. Radhika forgot something which was very important. Raghu immediately mentioned “Divya had excellent planning skills. You can’t even remember what needs to be packed when you go on a trip.” Radhika would go wild, but she never expressed. She thought, it is better not to start an argument.

For everything Raghu would point out an example comparing Radhika with Divya. From the closet arrangement to event planning to shopping he would compare both of them and tell Radhika that Divya was better. Radhika would feel irritated and think to herself “then why did you marry me!!” But she never asked.

Once Radhika wanted to try out a modern dress, which she liked. She bought an expensive one and wore it. She showed it Raghu and asked his opinion. Raghu simply said “it fits you, but it does not suit you”. He did not stop with that, he went on to say “Divya’s dressing sense is excellent. She knows how to dress her hair along with her outfit. Be it modern dress or traditional dress, she arranges herself very well”

In the past 5 years, Raghu would have mentioned about Divya at least once in two days. Radhika hated Divya to all possible extents. However, she had a secret wish to meet her. Not to fight with her, but to find out is she really what Raghu thinks. She had all thoughts about Divya. She even imagined how she would look, from the way Raghu expressed about Divya to her.

Raghu got promoted from GM to Chief Executive of a new division. The good news came in to Radhika only after two days. Raghu never told her. They went to the luncheon hosted for his promotion at the Trident near the Chennai Airport . Radhika dressed well in a silk saree. She looked excellent. But, she found every woman at the hotel in western clothing. But she was very much appreciated.

On the way back, Raghu drove to Spencer Plaza. He wanted to buy something. They were walking towards the car park. Raghu for a moment forgot where is car was. Then he found it. He started to drive back towards the exit, when suddenly a car backed up from the parking. It was a near miss. Raghu got down checking the driver, and to his surprise it was Divya. Radhika had by that time come down near Raghu. She noticed that Raghu wasn’t talking.

Divya got down and asked “How are you Raghu? I returned from France only yesterday” Radhika immediately sensed, it was Divya.

Radhika started comparing Divya with her imaginary version. Divya was gorgeous than what she had imagined. She felt little in front of Divya. She is so beautiful and educated. I should not blame Raghu for cursing me.

Raghu just said “Fine.”

Divya turned towards Radhika. Radhika immediately started talking “Are you Divya? My husband has spoken about you many times. I never thought you will look so lovely. Nice to meet you”

Divya said “Yes. Thanks. Nice to meet you too. How are you? How is Raghu doing?”

Radhika told “Very fine. He is doing well.”

Radhika and Divya had so much to talk. Raghu was simply sitting in the coffee shop. Raghu was wondering “What is this? These two women are talking as if they are known for years”

After exactly 2 hours and after these two women exchanged all the major incidents in life decided to leave. Raghu was relieved.

Divya turned towards Raghu. She said “Raghu, life has treated me well after I left you. I hope you are also fine. My husband is working in Paris for a consulting firm. We both are here on vacation.”

Raghu said “Oh!” Radhika was wondering “Why is this man behaving like this?”

Then Divya said “It is so nice to see you after so many years Raghu. We should keep in touch. Why don’t you come over to my house sometime? My husband would also be there. He would also be pleased to meet you. Probably for an evening tea or dinner”

Radhika looked pleased. She realized that Divya is all what Raghu has spoke and told her.

Before Radhika could accept, Raghu said “No Divya. I can’t come.”

Radhika looked puzzled.

Raghu proceeded “See Divya, you left me years back. And we never met and you never got in touch. Now you are well settled in life and so am I. What is going to happen if we keep in touch now? Nothing. What is the point in having a friendship when we had expected more out it? Sorry Divya. You don’t know about Radhika. She is every inch of a woman. She has never stood against me in anger. She is my life now. She healed all my wounds with patience. I have spoken to her so much about you. But she never mistook me. She always stood by me. She never questioned me as to why I am talking so much about you? She never doubted me. I don’t want to continue a relation which broke. After 5 years, meeting you and continuing this friendship is not worth it Divya. We parted long back and let it be like that. Let us not try to fix the crack in the mirror.”

Radhika was speechless. The man, who had always praised another girl in front of her, has told in front of that girl and on her face that his wife is his life. Radhika could not control tears. She felt that her husband was such a great person at heart. She did not imagine that Raghu would speak like that.

Divya was stunned but she could not speak. She made the mistake of leaving him.

Raghu was silently driving the car and Radhika was quiet. It was raining outside. Radhika asked him to stop the car. Raghu was wondering why, but he stopped. Radhika got down and started getting drenched in the rain. Raghu came near her, “Radhika what are you doing?”

Radhika said “I want to get drenched in this rain.” She held Raghu’s hand and leaned on his shoulders. Radhika felt like she had never felt before. For Raghu, he was calming down. Raghu was feeling new. Raghu was wondering why, but started walking.

"From Joshua to Selva"

2006-08-30T23:27:00.000+04:00

My name is Joshua. I am 33 years old. I am a successful business executive in a small firm in Chennai. Orphaned at an early age, living alone with contention and few distant relatives is my personal profile.

I am a busy seller with tight schedules. Life has kept me busy, stumbling, getting up, dusting off and moving ahead. Loosing all my time in these, I did not find time and a good reason to get married.

I used to wonder as to why my stumbles are catastrophic. But, luckily I have the might to get up again and move on. I am still moving ahead in life and climbing the corporate growth ladder. Someone nicely put “if failure is the first step to victory, which step is actually victory”.

Amidst all the frustrations life gives and all the lessons it teaches the only peace of mind was Bhavana. Bhavana was my class mate during my part time post graduation. I was 23 then. I was staying in a shared accommodation in Triplicane. I had been working as a sales executive for a telephone marketing company. During day it would be long motor cycle rides from T – Nagar to every corner of the city selling telephones. In the evenings I would attend college. I was trying to improve my business skills through this part time business program. Casual acquaintances with Bhavana brought us close as good friends. Within few weeks we realized that we were a little more than good friends. The thin line between us vanished.

Bhavana’s dad was running a small firm and quite successful in his business. We went to Marina beach everyday after class. We spent 45 minutes talking about each other, the plans for future. The more we understood each other, the more we liked each other and the more we liked each other, the bond was growing stronger. When you marry someone, you should be able talk to your partner for long hours. That’s what you can do when you get old. I believed in that.

Often I had my own thoughts about how this marriage would go. Will it be acceptable? Bhavana had a big family with two brothers and their families. Bhavana used to console me whenever I had this question. She used to comfort me. She consoled me. She will put her arms around my shoulder and say “there are only 3 days in a month which will keep me away from you”. I smiled a little with wet eyes.

Being without mom and dad for around fourteen years had created a black hole in my life. Bhavana filled every inch of it with joy, love, happiness and kisses. Bhavana! Bhavana! How I admired you?

We finished our graduation. She had flunked in a paper. I had good results. After the results she approached her father for this marriage. After three months of her strong determination, she gave in.

The girl who said only three days could separate us now says that the religion is separating us. Time flies. After 6 years, I still see that no one has filled her place.

No one filled the black hole created by her. I felt cheated. For all that I had done for her she never turned back at me! She said “I came to say bye to go!”

Today, I was waiting in queue in the US Embassy for my visa. I remembered her instantly when I saw her at a distance. What is she doing here? She was the same. I hid myself. I tried to avoid her. I was confused. I wanted to leave as early as possible. But the visa interview was today.

After few hours I walked out and lighted my cigarette. Some one called me “hey Josh”. I knew it was her. I dropped the cigarette. I am hearing her calling me “Josh” after so many years. In fact, after so many years some is calling me Josh. I could not keep myself composed. But I did my best and stood calm. She came near me and a small boy was holding her hand.

“Hi Josh. How are you?”. “I am fine”, I said. I had to force a smile. Her last words years back were going through my senses. I looked at the boy.

“Josh, his name is Selva. He is my son”. “Say ‘Hi’ to uncle” she told her son. I smiled uncomfortably at her. “Hello Uncle” said the boy. “Hi Selva. How are you?” I pinched his cheek and said “Nice shirt”.

The kid who is supposed to call me dad is calling me uncle. Should I call this fate or luck? I feel they both are related. She spoke for the next fifteen minutes about her married life, her husband’s accomplishments. I listened.

Then she took a deep breath and said “I had a wish to marry you and it was never fulfilled. After Selva was born I wanted to name him ‘Joshua’. But my relatives did not accept it as it was a Christian name”.

I left. I thought to myself “is this some kind of joke. She loved me and did not marry me and now she says she wanted to name her son with my name. What would she do if she had a daughter?” Funny world. Funny people.

I came home and my home was suddenly empty. Living alone for so many years in this home, I never felt empty. I wanted to cry out loud. I wanted shout her name out.

The next day, my manager was shocked. He said, you can’t do this now. Your visa is under process. It could jeopardise the project. But I firmly shook my head and walked out of his room. I was able to hear him say “let’s work it out Joshua”. My colleague asked me “Macha are you sure?”

I called up the newspaper agency and the gazette officer for appointment.

The next day, I signed the declaratory affidavit and signed the other forms. The officer asked me “are you going to convert?” I said “no”.

Then they stuck the notice on the board. “Here by this gazette office declares that the son of ….. named Joshua has changed his name to “Selva” from today. This is also approved by the gazette office”

All my wishes never came true. At least she has one wish fulfilled. By me! The least I could do for her.