Ajaya- Book Review

Everything is based on perspective. I might see the good in him, while you might see the bad in him. 

In fact, the whole world saw him in that angle. 

Ajaya- The Roll of the dice breathes fresh air into the great Indian epic, Mahabharata. The author, Anand Neelakantan has created a wisp of new aura around the first born Kaurava prince, Suyodhana who is renowed to the whole world by his evil name, Duryodhana.  

With every passing line and every page turned, Anand creates a halo of goodness around Suyodhana and portrays the ever-loved comely Pandavas as tracherous or evil. 

In the turn of events, the vicious cycle of life takes turn to pit against Kauravas and Pandavas which led to the hostility between the cousins. 

It was indeed the hatred of Shakuni towards Bhisma and the arch nemeses sisters-in-law Gandhari and Kunti made the plot of Mahabharata more sinistrous.

The fresh perspective is enticing and Anand had made a wonderful effort to make Ajaya a cheerful read. 

Kudos to Anand and his upcoming endeavours. 

The Evolution of Life (Mobile Phones, Ahem! & .....)

Our great grandparents would have never thought that at the push of a protuberance on the wall, a storage area would be filled with water. And the very thought of spinning a round (sometimes other shapes too) something, the water would come out of a hollow something-else would have been amusing. The flow being controlled at will and put to stop when wanted would have made them stand in bewilderment. 

Life is being made easy day by day. The small plastic-metal combination that are held in our hands was once upon a time giant massive blocks that could be used only for calls and texting. Dropping it from a height would create a hole on the ground, the height of the fall causing an isomorphic depth. The massiveness reduced with time and the packaging became more and more complex. Calls gave way to video calls, SMS became via the web. Integrating into them, were cameras, music players and video players making a person carrying 3 different gadgets for serving these purposes look like a Stone Age time traveller. 

As complexity gave its best to us, the directions to any place, understanding our voice, reading our biometrics etc became the need of the hour and found its place on the phone. 

We are being that dependent on technology where meeting friends is a time where we are 50% involved with them and remaining with our phone. Texts, Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter are indispensable. Like toilet paper (sorry for the sophistication, mug, bucket and water), iPad is the most essential tool to aid potty. 

We are slaves to technology. Loving and living the slavery shall be cursed and put on blamed one day.  

The future: A phone that would tap into the minds and be a companion. Who would want a wife or a girlfriend when there is a pal who has no mood swings irrespective of which part of the month it is?

But beware, it shall tap in so much that we shall be nothing more than zombies approaching an apocalypse.  

As I was thinking of this, another crept in to push this to the back of the mind. More room to proliferate.

The thought of how we came about the evolution of vehicles.

Remember we used to roll down the windows to come in contact with fresh air. Remember the struggle to turn the steering when the car was stay put. Remember how we prayed when we had to push a sudden brake. 

I am sure it is always there as a fresh memory in the minds of our parents who now drive in the lap of luxury. Not meaning that everyone drives a Merc or Beemer. Even a normal Maruti Swift now has all the necessary gadgetry as a part of its standard equipment. A push and the window goes down. 2 fingers is all what is needed to turn the steering. ABS, hopefully would take care of the braking. 

The yesteryear's driving had a wisp of fun involved- a feeling that you drive the car by yourself. Fidgeting with the bunch of keys to find the right one, to open the car, when rolling down the windows was quite an exercise, driving with all your might on the steering, gear, accelerator, clutch and brake and then reversing the same initial exercise to close and get out of the car. 

The life has changed when machines have taken over. Key in your pocket. The smart switch on the door knob senses it and you open the door and enter. Inside the car, is a myriad of buttons and screens making you confounded. Push of a button and the vehicle starts. Key still in the pocket. The rolling down of windows gave way to power windows which then came with an auto touch up/down feature. Drive the route, the GPS in the centre console will alert if any wrong route is taken. The AC adjusts to our wish of temperature. The seats are auto reclining, massaging and stores who likes what angle of recline in its memory. The car gives its share of entertainment, movies, music and radio and sets the theme with a mood lighting. Get down the car and your ride has its own way of saying goodbye with its follow me home headlamps.

Drat, you forgot to roll up the windows. The car can take care of her, it automatically rolls it up and hey presto, and the car is locked and safe.

The future is going to go somewhere beyond imagination. 

But aren't we being shackled to this dominion of technology? Getting lazy in the course of action. 

As I put you to thought, let me sign off.

Mother, I bow to thee!

Pampered we live, life giving us the best. 
But what we take from thy, puts her to rest
Shall we thrive to ignite a mind
Of a passion, thou shall see kind
Off I go, to sleep
Hoping never to weep
For the path we tread
Is I doubt the path we need 

Milady- The Mind's Malady

I couldn't help it to not

But to think about those sweet memories

That lay afresh in the mind

Kindling the pyre of the forsaken destiny

Watching with awe as you stepped in front

The way the braided plaits swayed

As you took those gorgeous footsteps

In a world appeasing demeanour

As the name of the damsel was called

She approached the stage for a moment

A moment that shook my world

And swept me across my feet

Like the circuitry wired to synchronize an output

My heart had infused the thoughts of you in me

The output was perfect with the cupid bow

Ready to strike out a chord in harmony

 Seeing you in the bus every evening,

Letting myself to stay rooted

In close vicinity to see the swaying of the hair

When the breeze kisses it in all its glory

The eyes that behold the charm

Casting a spell so enchanting

Wooing off anyone, god or mortal

Wonderstruck with thy beauty,

Being a mortal, insanely human,

Became I, a slave to the most divine proposition

Of the 3 worlds

You, milady, the lady of the dreams

Living in someone else’s heart!

The Roadside Melodrama

Engaged in a race that often leaves your life dangling by the edge of a thread is what the roads of Chennai have to offer. 

The roads winds and unwinds into a peculiar myriad of tarred blackness, so intangibly intertwined into the facets of hope and despair in all its plight. The routine of driving by the roads in moments of incessant crowding is sure to have you crave for the orgasmic pleasure of adrenaline rushing.

Motorists emerging out of nowhere, from pocket roads, from the blind spot of your ORVM or from God knows where, with just one motto in their mind, body and soul- show the utmost despise to make your day pathetically remorseful for having had the thought of taking your car out of the garage. 

Well, Chennai roads have a lot of lessons to offer. The patience that is upheld when the bikers ram into the teeny weeny gaps between the cars, the self control while ramming the brakes while someone pops into the road from somewhere and the nonchalant face while autowallahs jeer on the face.

Priceless indeed! 

The raging mobbing of the traffic comes to a halt at the red signal where hawkers and beggars throng onto the windshield of the car to get their business done. 

Beggars with sunken paleness and grief stricken eyes knock on the window glass for some change. As you spare a thought to spare some change, you would see contempt on their faces as the expectation from you rises as you graduate from a bike to a car to a bigger car. If the size of the coin is too small, the curses muttered under the breath would bestow upon you and your 9 generations, sinister afterlives in hell. 

Hawkers and peddlers of wares set in their sales pitch. An acceptance means you are poorer by 50 rupees and you now own a thing that is only priced at 20rs even at the biggie store. A denial from your side is surely to set you back atleast by a grand- the hawker's frustration is often blurted out as scratching with something on the metallic surface of the vehicle's body.   

Surviving all these would tire you more than your day at office! 

#roadfilledwithidiots

And a month later!

What to say? Where to start?

I have been quite out of touch since my fingers were smothering the touch of the keyboard for other purposes. (FYI, no puns intended!)

It has been busy for most of us. Marriages, jobs, travel etc etc has been on the cards. 

As we crossed the gates of the college, we were pretty happy on the thought that we are now going to a world of independence, a world that was not going to hold us back because we did not have gate passes.

Well, we were given our ticket to independence, with a little or no premonition that we had just entered the world of voluntary slavery. 

Just look back at what we had and what we did. 

Life by the lakes was a breeze, that sometimes had a frost bite, but easily manageable. 

Assignment submissions could have been at will. You could just copy some crap off the internet and submit it. What could happen at the maximum? The plus sign in the letter grade could be taken off or maybe take the vertical bar off it to make it a minus. Barely mattered. Plus, you had a week to submit the paper. 

The boss at office would come and ask you to do that same amount of work and submit it before you leave that same day. 

It is usually one or two assignments per subject. The office usually has the next work ready in line to start off with, as you just finish off with the one. One after the other, you would be doing whatever assigned to you, just as the genie who was uncorked.

You were happily on proxy in class. Clock that bloody, boring and tiringly long 8 and a half hours in office or else the lost hours would reflect as lost hundreds on your salary. No fool’s play. No goofing around. Business is business, pal.

We thought that money was going to come in big numbers. No more asking parents for money. Not answerable to anyone.

We are paying through our noses.

The internet in campus. High speed and unlimited. Now as we want to download that awesome IMDB 8.0 rated movie, we just go to the internet account page, check the balance, plot a mental graph that if the movie download would make you off the wire during the last 2 days of the month. 

ACs were on round the clock in the hostel rooms. Just try that at your new place. Better do it after giving the bank, instructions to credit the whole month's salary in the EB's account. 

Life, huh? 

Did you just realize that in a couple of years, almost all of us would heard the chime of the wedding bells? Did you just realize that getting married means hell lot of responsibility? Check it out with the friend who just got married last week. Future reference can be taken from the guy who is getting engaged this week. 

We are getting responsible. For our own actions.

So, 

Brace yourself, LIFE is approaching in full force.

Attye peace!

The Farewell Trance

I was overwhelmed. I was on the verge of being in tears. 

And the same is applicable to the remaining 120 people too. 

And you, Pallavas, you did a great job. Joining up as a team, putting in your hard work and dedication to bid adieu. Amidst the work pressure put forth by the professors, you rescheduled your days and nights to give us the space. 

As we exit, we are sure, the 2 year course that started off with us as exemplars, will be taken to greater heights. 

The retreat at Ideal Beach Resort was worth its weight in gold. The ambience, the programs planned, the menus set, everything deserves an applause. 

A dinner would have sufficed, and maybe top it up with some impromptu act that any one could have pulled up- that would have made a decent farewell. But you stepped it up by a giant leap, burning midnight oil and sipping cups of coffees to devise plans, to give us a farewell, befitting the most luckiest seniors. 

I have to thank you all, on behalf of the batch for the pomp and splendor you infused in the act of camaraderie. 

Ambi and Sudarshan, you guys were awesome as the hosts on stage. 

The girl who sang the Rock On song, 
I shall call you thee
For I do know thy name is Ridhima
You swept a wave of bliss across the hearts

Kaushal and Siddharth, you two, too put up a great show!!! Timings, man!! Respect!!

The Video team, the coordination team, the 'this' team, the 'that' team, the whole team... 
The Farewell video left us spellbound. The hard work behind this deserves mention. 
Who else, other than you could think of giving us a souvenir of the most cherished picture of the 2 years, framed and wrapped to cherish the memories!!!
  
I have no words to say,
You have won a place in the heart to stay
Loved your efforts
Love you all

Enough of being nice, 
I shall cast off the garb 
And pull a leg of the Mamalla
Or maybe two!!

We taught them to be awesome. They taught us what awesomeness was.

Anyways, Mamallas, here you go!

The winners of the Wall of Fame- the acts that you did on stage were awesome. But what took you there were the acts in the 2 years. Those were more awesome, I should say. 

Mr Vikas 'Pole Dance' Sharma, you taught the world what seduction meant. Did you know that you gave the strippers a run for their money??

Srini Mama, you were awesome as always. Do you have pins and needles under your toe? Drenched that little Ambi and danced when not needed. 

The roommates actually forgot the whole thing called pole dance. I know you people are rigid as the pole should be, and hence swayed the sh!t out of it (him)

Varun and Nambi, you did set the floor on fire!! 

The food needs mention. It was amazing. I remember seeing people seen as excited as a 5 year old in a candy shop, on seeing the well laid-out sumptuous spread.   

We had fun. Loads and loads. 

Dear Pallavas, 
You etched memories of a lifetime. 
You carved out  a slice of our world as we part
You did everything you could 
And gratitude with which we say,
We love you all!!!