My 2010 in a nutshell

• Working like a donkey. 14 hours a day: its just normal .
• Bye bye Infy. Time to chase dreams.
• Bali, here I come.
• Oyee,I am a proud uncle and yes, yes I have a niece.
• Sleeping, eating, reading , watching movies, writing and thinking .Oh its heaven.
• Train to Pune. New destination, new chapter.
• TFI training . One month. Sleep deprived.
• Surprise number one.
• Mumbai ,be ready .I am on the way .
• My dream city. Even the rain greeting me is so enticing.
• House hunting. Need a house on rent ,not buying. What????Oh that’s the rent!!!!!!I thought…..
• Finally a house . Starting an austere life.
• Rain .I love it .Its so cool.
• Bad news from home.
• Sidharth Nagar Municipal school…55 brats ….:)
• Surprise number 2.
• Lost my mobile and my umbrella.
• Still raining!!!! Hate going to school all wet.
• Sidharth Nagar Municipal school .Now only 30 brats .:)
• Oh yeah you guessed it all right .It is still raining .God, how I hate rains…J
• Did I tell you ?? I lost my new mobile also.
• Mumbai darshan …
• Good brats ,bad brats ,but they are all my brats .Love them.
• Kids celebrating my birthday . Only 15 days in advance. Owe them a lot.
• It is time for wallet . I lost it .Lost everything ,all cards ,all ids and even the house key :)
• Diwali .20 days off.
• Police station ,emergency calls .
• Awesome day even though got locked out.
• God’s own country .I am back after six months .
• Eating, sleeping, reading ,watching tv ,travelling, government offices and lots of free advices from everyone.
• Off to Ahemedabad . Different.
• May my grandmother’s soul rest in peace . Bye bye grandmother .
• More bad news.
• Terrible last unit .
• These two days were simply great .Owe you ,I really owe you.
• Bad news just keeps coming.
• Christmas vacation .Quality time with myself .Enjoying it.
• Thank you.
• New year’s eve. Watching Mumbai usher in new year .
• A movie later it is indeed a new year .

Requiem for a dream : Mumbai diaries

Walked back to the abode after a long tiresome day . The white tiled rooms lacking anything on four legs never seemed so alluring. The rolled up mattress on the floor ,the week's news papers strewn all across and the stench of unwashed clothes did lend it an air of rawness and brutishness. With the creaking sound of the ceiling fan's motor ,the hair shed over the last 7 days acquire wings and float happily smacking everything on the way. Papers bearing marks in bright red ink and the ones wearing a blank and unadorned surface lazily stare at the playful hair strands from the corner . The constant honking and roaring of the monsters down below add a constant background music to the untrained ears. The strong smell of an impending birth linger through the walls plastered in white distemper ,the birth of a baby pigeon -a squab . 'The retarded dumb ass pigeon' as the mother is fondly called without fail lays her eggs in front of the residence housing three crack heads. After three unsuccessful attempts ,this time all four are going to make it happen and keenly awaiting the fifth member of the unkempt flat.

Welcome to flat no 703 ,my present abode . Staring through the numerous windows in this seventh floor apartment ,could see a distant mountain gradually being eaten by greed and need .The distant glowing lights elsewhere are shouting out loud that it is festive season in 'The Maximum City' . The city of rags and riches ,rain and more rain ,the battered and the battering, the abundance and the rarity ,the sensitive and the heartless ,dogs and pigeons,the enormous concrete structures and the plastic thatched roofs,the polluted rivers and the well kept swimming pools and finally the innumerable number of homosapiens who design the pavements with their crouched bodies resting on the hard solid ground . This is the city I wanted to be in for so long ,the city of my dreams ,the city that fueled so much desires and finally its the city that I love and hate at the same time ........ Requiem for a dream .:)

MERRIAM WEBSTER’S NINTH ….My Love

I loved her the moment I set eyes on her .Ow on second thought, I think I am not being entirely honest here. The truth is I started loving her only after I laid my hands upon her and that too after two or three times. But the fact is I felt an internal connection with her and that love or admiration or whatever one want to call it hasn’t waned one bit.

I still vividly remember the day she literally stormed into my life. It was not a pleasant or an adorable entry as one would imagine about a long standing relationship. It was on the contrary a tumultuous one, I got beaten up that day on account of her and had to spend that night on a hungry note.

I was about 11 or 12 at that time and was anxiously waiting for my dad to come back from office . You know when guys turn 12 and if they still wait ‘ANXIOUSLY’ for their father to return home, there could be only two possible reasons.

One – he would be bringing something yummy yummy to eat .

Two- A Cricket bat or maybe a whole cricket kit.

It was definitely not the first one because my class test marks were in my bag and no amount of yummy yummy was going to make me wait for him ‘ANXIOUSLY’ with that ticking time bomb in my bag.

The package in his hand was in no way long enough to be a cricket bat and definitely not round enough to be a tennis ball or football. My mom was to blame for she was the one who was giving me high hopes saying that dad would be bringing you something today you would really like. Aaah moms!!!!!!!!!!!

The bright colorful wrapper was peeled off and there she was ..Dressed in a bright red coat…the fat, sturdy and monstrous BOOK. I guess there is no need to explain my rage and the reason for my blue buttocks afterwards. It was indeed a stormy start.

Technically speaking it was not a book but a dictionary ‘MERRIAM WEBSTER’S NINTH COLLEGATE DICTIONARY’. A big fat one with 1564 pages, so heavy that I could have killed my brother with that. Sorry if I sound a little blunt but I was really short of weapons back then.

That’s how she walked into my life, the little red rays of fun . We had a pretty good run over the years; I remember carrying her in my bag to school with the intention of throwing some real tough words at my English teacher. I stood outside the class for 2 hours after that futile attempt for I didn’t consider the fact that the dictionary was pretty big not to be noticed by the teacher.

I remember running to my home with the sole aim of knowing the meaning of the word ‘puberty’ hoping that it would mean ‘handsome’ as that was what I told my friend when he asked me for its meaning. Those days I never said ‘I don’t know’. Too arrogant even then.:D

The sweet days we had, the best book to play book cricket and I once even scored a 200 with my Mariam.

She was my first dumb bell, she was my stool to reach up on the Milkmaid shelf in the kitchen, she was the one who held my hand through many discoveries mostly teenage ones.:D

It was a safe haven for so many personal things of mine. It was the home of my feather collection. The secret abode of the news paper clipping and pictures I used to secretly cut from Malayala Manorama. The place I hid the PTA letter to my parents, the money I got from my grandfather, my favorite Kapil Dev card and so many things.

There are still a few left over feathers from my old collection even now and take my word she still smells young and fresh.

It was such a great pleasure being with her because every time I opened her there was something in it for me to learn. The joy of finding a new word , unearthing its meaning ,trying out its pronunciations brought about such happiness in me that made me closer to her and that’s why the dictionary is not just an ‘IT’ for me ,but a ‘SHE’.

Women’s Reservation bill -My take

I was really in for it when the stalwarts of our democracy decided to flaunt the much hyped and the little bit controversial women’s reservation bill in both houses of the parliament earlier this month. Soon after this decision was made, there were hues and cries from all over the country, most staunchly defending and wooing for the bill while some openly crying against it.

In all my heart I hope that the bill would come into effect and that there would be the prescribed 1/3 reservation for women in parliament and all democratically elected bodies, but that’s what my heart wants and not what my demented little brain agrees to.

So here I am just trying to put together the loads of crap that are running in my head regarding this issue. I might be called a MCP after this attempt of mine, but the truth being I really believe the women in our country deserves much more than a mere 33 % reservation.

1. My first issue is whether we want the participation of the women in the policy making of the parliament to be always restricted to 33%?
What I cannot make out is why just 33% and how did they come at this math?
Let’s say we have a women population of 47% and if the intention is to get a fair representation for women, then shouldn’t the reservation be 47%?

2. Equality is one of the corner stone of our constitution though in reality it doesn’t exist in the least. The good intention of the bill is to bring about equality of sexes perceiving that a mere 33% women in the all the legislative assemblies would bring about a vast change in the gross inequality and injustice that our women are facing? For politically empowering women, the change has to start from the grass root level itself.

3. If we have a reservation for women in the assemblies and not enough women in the grass root level of the political parties,a situation would arise where the women who would contest elections in those reserved seat be a mere puppet in the hands of the male leaders .It would lead to more RABRI DEVIs in the Indian political scenario than more MAYAWATIs or GAURI AMMAs.

We should initially make sure that there are women involved in the day to day activities of political parties or maybe a reservation system there where in number of women should be so and so percentage within the party itself. This would bring more capable ,socially motivated women into the mainstream and they would be able to bring about a change and empower politically, socially and economically deprived women than a hot shot, daughter/wife of a pot bellied political leader .

4. One of the staunchest arguments in support of this bill I have heard is that women could not do any worse off than the present horde of men making the policies. What kind of an argument even for the argument sake is that?
During my stint at working in a corporate environment and working alongside many women, I have seen that they are much better than their male counterparts in whatever they do even after taking care of hordes of personal things that we(men) cannot even imagine doing. If that’s the case, then y have a bill because women can’t do any worse and not because they can do wonders?

5. One of the biggest flaws inherent in the bill is the rotation of seats reserved .Let us consider a constituency reserved for women in the first tenure and the woman who gets elected does a great job for the people in that constituency .When the next election comes ,that particular constituency would not be a reserved one and hence the woman who has put so much of effort for the well being of constituency would very well be replaced by a male candidate because most political parties would not want to give seat for women other than the reserved ones. So that means the work the elected woman candidate does in her constituency wouldn’t do her any good as she would be forced to contest in another place the next time around.

6. Legislators would not be elected based on merit if there is reservation ---This is one of the biggest criticism about the bill … I don’t think that is a big issue as 80% of the present lot in the parliament also don’t merit to be there in the first place but I sincerely hope the women who make it to the parliament would not be mere pushovers.

Even with all these issues, I hope the bill will go through .It may not bring about a whole lot of change that the women in our country deserve but it is something worth a try. Who knows, maybe it really can make a difference.

This article is in no way an opposition to the proposed bill, instead its just a mere reminder that women empowerment should not just stop with a bill assuring reservation in the legislative assemblies but should be the first step for a broader ,visionary policy.

Funny World

And pin drop silence ensued.
I could see my brother giggling trying his level best from bursting out .
Father rushed out as if he left the button to destroy the world unguarded.
Mother was building up a small rage which clearly read ‘Don’t you have anything to study?? ’

And off I was, banished to my room thereby scything off the regular 9-10 television time .

So what did I do wrong ?? With the Social studies book wide open , I retraced the events that occurred in the last 3minutes .

9:12 : Advertisement in tv: A guy walks to a medical shop ,seemed confused and reticent and finally blurts out stammering “Couldd I haave a packkkk of mmm aaaa mmmmm…….”

9:13: A young 11 year old lad watching the tv got more confused with the shy ways of the grown up man and blurts out “Ayye,Why is he asking for a pack of cards in a medical shop ? Ask my dad ,he has got many……. .”

9:14: Silence ensues and proclamation of banishment.

‘So what did this 11 year old lad do wrong to deserve the curtailment of the much anticipated entertainment time’ the lad goes on thinking with Social studies book open.

O ye Luckyyyyyyyy

I am the luckiest person in the world............

The toughest part in one’s life is taking the life altering decision of treading an unconventional path .It is the worst nightmare .You will draw the ire of your fellows, will have to yield to the endless flow of advices, will have to fight the demons of doubts inside you, will have to be brain dead with regard to your future and turn a stone before the predictors of your destiny.

Am I this tough??
Do I have it in me ??
Should I dare???

When you look skywards during night, the stars smilingly urge you to fly towards your dreams. The light breeze fondling those happy stars seems to whisper in your ears to find your footing. Even the rustling leaves tell you to be happy and follow your heart.It seems like everything inside you yearns for a change.

Even though torn in between the craving of my heart and the strings pulled by society I live ,I still consider myself as the luckiest person in the world.

Who else in this world could boast the fortune of having ……

A Father who listens to the weird things his son say and reply
“I am not concerned about your future because I am confident in you .You will be good in whatever you do. Though I am not fully convinced with the path you are taking, but if this is what you want I will never say No.”

A poor mother who tries to conceal her grief but fails miserably and mumbles..
“If you would be happy there, go for it .I just want you to be happy.”

An enigmatic elder Brother who ensures that his younger sibling wont have to take any of the household responsibilities and reminds that the family would love to see him settled.

Or your close buddy ,who just gives you a hand and say ,go live the life the way you want to . As long as I have a job, you don’t have to worry about finances.

Or your jovial pal who calls you up from across the seas the moment he hears the news and goes on swearing at you for taking such a foolish decision and finally ends up imploring you to come over to his place.

Or your sweet lovely cousin sisters who pacifies “We are stuck up doing things we don’t like and we don’t want you to be like that .You go for it and we would be by your side”

With such great people around you and the confidence their words oozes in you ,you are never LONELY ,you are never DEPRESSED and you will always have the WINGS to fly.

Thankssssssssss a lot for not clipping my wings............................

Mr K

A beautiful day it is . Mr K puts on his hat and readies himself for his routine evening stroll.. It was past 4 ,but the heat was still unbearable ..He adjusts the brim of his hat ,turns around ,assesses the surrounding and takes long strides .
His leisurely saunter is occasionally interrupted by the unruly honking of the busy folks . He stops at the stone laid pathway leading to church for his customary bow to the angel of compassion.
He throws a casual glance sideways and finds the usual mother –baby duo there.
‘Worse off than yesterday’ ,Mr K recollects the faces from the previous day .
“I should do something, otherwise ….. ” .. Mr K thinks hard and harder …..
And Mr K walks away .......