A Journey to the Unknown Spaces!

24th December

2018-10-24T01:13:00.001+05:30

24^th December 2017 was a day that changed many a lives that I know of. I was in the middle of a nearly 3200 kilometre train journey from Assam to Kerala when I was informed that my uncle had met with a road accident. He was driving a car, returning from his new born grandson’s choroonu ceremony in Trichur, Kerala.

A retired space scientist from VSSC, he was my local guardian for seven years (2000-07) while I studied at Sainik School near the state capital, Trivandrum. He was amongst the fittest and intellectually sharpest septuagenarians that I know of. What was initially thought of as a minor accident turned fatal, as the extent of internal injuries, came to the fore in the days and months ahead. He succumbed to them after nearly seven months of intensive care in one of the most advanced hospitals in Kerala. By the time he had left the body, he was barely a shadow of the living great that he was.

His, wasn’t an isolated story.

As the quality of Indian roads improve and the capabilities of our vehicles rises, so does the rate of accidents and the number of avoidable and premature lives that are lost.

Recent death of renowned musician Balabhaskar and his two year old daughter had broken the hearts of lakhs in Kerala and beyond. This tragic accident was only one among three accidents reported in ‘The Hindu’ newspaper on that fateful day, just from the southern states. Sadly, there isn’t a day now, a road accident and associated deaths fail to find column space in our daily newspapers.

Today wasn’t any different either, as I shockingly read about an accident that happened in the outskirts of Bangalore. A speeding car had rammed into a two-wheeler on a flyover taking with it the lives of a 41 year old and his 12 year old son. The report went onto say that the father was taking his son who complained of headache to a nearby clinic. The crash was so impactful that the boy’s body got crushed and severed around the waist into two halves. He was a 6^th standard student who only wanted his headache treated. As per the report, both the riders were without helmet and the car driver fled away from the scene.

A few weeks ago, I was witness to another fatal accident, this time on the access controlled peripheral expressway, NICE Road, connecting two ends of Bangalore. After taking the toll from Electronic City, I was speeding my way to Tumkur Road exit to attend to my next client meeting of the day on the other end of the city. A few miles down the road, traffic began to slow down and eventually came to a crawling stop. There had been an accident in the opposite carriageway. A speeding car had hit a scooter and the rider had died on the spot. A middle-aged looking man, wearing light blue denims and a stripped t-shirt, he was lying in a pool of blood with severe damages to his upper body & head. He was without a helmet.

I’m overcome by numbness when I come to think of these victims and those moments that mattered. I am sure I’ll never forget the face of a van driver whose body was pulled out from under an overturned van climbing down the Valparai hills on 1^st January 2017. I will also never forget the man in denims & t-shirt who lay still on the NICE Road. And so many more.

Momentarily we bring down the speed of our vehicles and drive cautiously. Soon that moment passes and we all get back to the hurry-burry of our daily lives. Driving recklessly to that next stop. As if we are invincible. Thinking such an accident would never happen to us.

We need to change!!!

Bloomberg reported in January 2018 that there are nearly 150,000 yearly deaths related to road accidents in India, or 400 deaths every day.

Roads - The Beast Within

2014-12-12T23:16:00.000+05:30

For a normal guy, the “aam-aadmi”, I’m a very frequent traveller. I relish every opportunity to pack my bag and go on a trip, be it for work or personal purposes or on a holiday. The road excites me always. It inspires me, gives me joy & tells me stories. Irrespective of the destination, I look forward to each journey for the time I get to spend on roads.

The thrill of speeding away on a highway, negotiating tough twists, turns & hairpins are as important to me as the scenic/cultural experiences and adventures at the eventual destination. It’s no secret that any riding enthusiast would love to test the power of the vehicle when cruising on a long highway. I feel most powerful, alive and in control of life when I’m in control of a vehicle that is zooming past others and cruising at high speeds. So in these conditions, how do we ensure that safety is integrated into the whole equation? How do we make sure one reaches the desired destination in one piece?

To understand this, I believe it’s firstly important to list down the major concerns & dangers constantly faced by drivers/riders on Indian highways & city lanes.

Lack of lane discipline - One of the biggest challenges on Indian roads is the undisciplined jumping from one lane to the other, often without any indication. This holds true even in heavily congested city roads. This is not only dangerous to self & co-motorists, but also contributes heavily to traffic congestions in cities. This is especially dangerous when an overtaking manoeuvre is performed through the left side of a vehicle. This is the cause of numerous accidents, and sadly, the Indian driver never learns.
Driving on the wrong side of the road - This one is especially truer in Tier – II, III cities and smaller towns apart from highways. While on a highway, how many times have you noticed a two-wheeler/tractor/mini trucks/cars/rikshaw driving on the wrong side of the road to save a few minutes/meters instead of using the appropriate U-turns?
Unprotected highways – couple of years ago, one night while traveling by car in the Surat – Baroda stretch of NH 8, I saw a black cow lying dead in the middle of the road. It must’ve been crossing the road and must’ve been hit by a heavy truck, the driver of which may not have spotted the black animal crossing road in the dark night. Most sections of Indian highways pass through fields and a simple barbed wire fencing on both sides of the road is all it takes to prevent such avoidable incidents.
Relentless use of high beams - a good percentage of high impact accidents on road happens as a result of driver being temporarily blinded by extra bright headlights from the vehicles on opposite side. How much effort does it really take to dim your light while on road. I believe it is high time manufacturers included automated systems on all vehicles to dim the headlight upon sensing vehicles approaching at an appropriate distance from the opposite direction.

The list is non exhaustive and the idea behind this post is not to list out the existing challenges and problems, rather to share my suggestions to enhance safety on Indian roads. Many of these are well known to all, but out of stubbornness and “I-can-do-no-wrong” feeling, they are just plainly ignored. So this post is a way to reiterate these points again and again and again until they are registered as critically important in every driver’s minds.

Wear a seat belt/helmet, always! This is applicable not only to the driver, but all passengers.
Never ever drink & drive. You might feel invincible & awesome for a moment, but NO!!
Give proper indication prior to any manoeuvre, be it taking a turn, an exit or overtaking another vehicle. Use your lights & indicators intelligently to convey a message.
Maintain your vehicle in good condition. Go in for timely services. Ensure your brakes, lights, indicators, wipers, horn and everything else are in proper working condition.
And for god’s sake, please use the dimmer appropriately while driving in the night. This ignorance kills.
Calls, Whatsapp & Facebook can wait. Keep your phone away while driving.
“Taking a leap of faith” is a good topic if you are an inspirational speaker. But while on road, be 101% certain before attempting anything. Be careful, always!
Respect the pedestrian & respect the road.

As Gandhiji once very famously said, “be the change you wish to see in the world”; take pledge to never go on the wrong side of the road or make an improper exit or pass on through the left side. Follow the basic rules of road and be a good example for your kids & juniors to watch & learn.

Every one of us has bare minimum common sense and knows the basic rules & regulations to be followed, but many of us lazily ignores most of them. We follow rules only on strict police monitoring to avoid paying a penalty. Why don’t we realize that life is worst penalty we will have to pay for our ignorance? We have all witnessed a big accident on road at least once. We all read about them every day on papers. Yet while on road, many of us deem these regulations pointless and a few unlucky ones pay the price for this ignorance every day.

…be the change you wish to see in world…
…be compassionate to your fellow motorists & pedestrians, for its not always you who pay the price for your ignorance…

… follow the basic rules & enjoy the road …

A big shout out to the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF), organizing road safety campaigns nationwide. This year alone, their initiative have reached 2 lakh drivers across the country spreading the message of road safety. As a passionate rider, I recognize that Safety begins with ME and support Nissan wholly in their initiatives. Let us join hands with Nissan and spread the message that road safety is each and every driver’s responsibility and your one unfortunate ignorance/mistake could lead to loss of lives.

#SafetyBeginsWithMe

Happy & Safe driving

A Page from the Rajasthan Dairy!!

2014-12-04T16:44:00.000+05:30

A slow moving desert delight with a hump in its camel.

The rhythmic bumpy strides of a camel is one thing you should try at least once in a life. I took my chance during my visit to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. In the picture, two locals on their camels in the Great Indian Desert, the Thar!

I hope you like these pictures, give me your feedbacks. Link to my Facebook album -C.l.i.c.k.e.D

Abandoned!

2011-12-15T23:36:00.000+05:30

Abandoned! A bundle, a bag, an axe, two beedi’s and two human souls.

When I clicked the above picture, little did I know that I would speak to those two, a few seconds later. They conveyed the following story, in part hindi and part gujarati.

“They had cooked Roti for the man in the Rickshaw for years & now the man had abandoned these two in the highway claiming that they had stolen some money. They showed me a Rs.100 note, which he said the man in the rikshaw had given them for their survival. On my question of what the bundle in the lady’s shoulder contained, I was told, the bundle contained all that they possessed. The man turned philosophical when he said, “We come here empty handed, so do we leave”.”

Possessions of a lifetime in a bundle. Can you imagine yourself being in a similar state? Pray! You are Fortunate.

I hope you like these pictures, give me your feedbacks. Link to my Facebook album -C.l.i.c.k.e.D

Eclipse, A Spectacle!

2011-12-10T13:09:00.000+05:30

Lunar Eclipse, a Celestial Magic, a True Spectacle!

Sadly, I couldn’t capture better and more photos of the event.

I hope you like these pictures, give me your feedbacks. Link to my Facebook album - C.l.i.c.k.e.D

Finding the Feet

2011-08-04T16:06:00.003+05:30

If the ball pitches short of length, you will need to rock back onto the back-foot to adjust to the bounce. If it is pitched full, you move your feet to the pitch of the ball to place it in the gap precisely. If it’s on middle and off, you shuffle your front foot across to play the ball into the midwicket region in leg side. If it is a spinner tossing up the ball, you might judiciously jump out of the crease to the pitch of the ball and loft it over the infield. The longevity of a batsman’s career at helm depends on how well he moves his feet to counter the fearsome balls thrown at him, but it’s not just the life of a cricketer that depends on the rule of finding your feet.

The story is similar for every one of us who ventures into a new thing or another almost every next moment. It might be a gadget that you just brought, a course you just opted for, a new person you just met up with, a relationship that you’ve just entered into or a new job you just got appointed for.

Just like the T-20, ODI& Test variants of the game, the above mentioned moments also classifies itself into various kinds, based on the significance and influence those events are bound to make to your life and into your foreseeable future. Some of them are like the normal T-20’s were you don’t waste time trying to find your feet, rather just go after the bowlers from the word ‘Go!’. You just go by trusting your instinct or hunch were in you might succeed or may even lose, but who cares, it’s just a T-20 and not the end of times. Then there are others like the 50 overs a side ODI matches, were you can’t afford to throw it away right at the start. Again, you wouldn’t want to waste a hell lot of time finding your feet, because then you’ll be lagging behind your mates with the task at hand.

Then comes the very random, occasional opportunities or events like a test match, were you are completely new to the situation and have a lot of time to compromise and be content with. The successful ones here are those people who accumulate the crease the longest, survive the most, for which you have to find your feet and get it moving exactly at the right times. First days of a job is one of those big opportunities and I am now padding up for that big test of mine. The conditions are totally unlike anything that I’ve seen ever before. It’s a challenge, but also an opportunity.

Many of the so called big problems in life may seem gigantic to many of us, but in fact it’s just a matter of finding the feet, changing our attitudes or perspectives of how we look at it. Picture them as challenges like seeing off the new ball in a test match and it is surely going to be an interesting chapter of our lives, which we are bound to come over with valuable investments of our time and our efforts.

~CoLoUrS~ A Photo-Exhibition.

2011-04-29T00:36:00.000+05:30

… Colours when portrayed in the right proportions has a magical effect in soothing your eyes…

… here is an exhibition of random snaps clicked by a friend of mine, Shiva Krishnan. This is only a tip of the ice; catch the complete collection in his facebook album “CoLoUrS... My PhOtogRApHiCaL JoUrNeY”. Leave a comment to describe how you liked the pictures. Add on this guy in facebook for more of his photographs later on…

Reflections, of a life…

2011-04-17T13:54:00.000+05:30

How often has it occurred to you; while having a coffee, while walking beside a lake or through a paddy field, while enjoying a silent sunset; that you start wondering about your past, when you feel like your past reflecting upon you, right there!

I do. I often get this feeling. The past 21 years of my life, it always appear before me as two distinct halves. First, there is the first ten years of my life, when all I can remember about is that of a guy, a shy kid who for most of the times rebelled when it came to staying away from his mother, his parents. Somewhere around the age of 8, I must have started to change, or I wouldn’t have been so happy and jubilant when I came to know that I had gotten entrance to Sainik School at a tender age of 10, into class 6, more than 300 miles away from my hometown.

The turn of the millennium marks the beginning of the 2^nd part of my life, the more colorful one, the more happening & eventful one. As my past reflects itself, I may have been a crying-baby at times till say, age 6 or 8, but then there was this change and I haven’t cried since 10, never have I wetted my eyebrows. Well, for the same reason, my close friends at the end of 7 years of school life refers to me as an emotion-less guy; one who never got sentimental. They still do, and throwing out any emotions other than joy, I must admit is a bit of a foreign land for me.

Every one of the 7 years at Kazhakoottam was one of its own kind. Early morning wake up calls at 5.30 in the 6^th standard, at the age of 10, and all I used to think was I shouldn’t have chosen to come here, and I could’ve been sleeping to the comforts of my bed at home. The numerous rounds around the parade ground, the strict P.T and the hard punishments that followed so early in the dawn at times reminded me that I always had a choice, that I could quit Sainik and go back to Palakkad any time I wanted. It may have been the inspiration from quotes like “Winners never Quit, Quitters never win” on placards all around the campus, it may have been the fear of telling my father that I can’t adjust to the strictness and hardships anymore, but I guess it was the sheer ego of me being a cool guy who wouldn’t flutter under any hardships, that took me forward in those hard initial years. The other consolation was of course the faces of my classmates, who are all far away from their homes just like me. I shall never forget the fun & horrendous days I spent with them, the people whom I grew up with.

I used to initially consider Sainik School as a huge mountain, a Mount Everest perhaps. Thousands of people try their hands and luck climbing it, but only a few tough and courageous ones make it at the end. I always take pride from the fact that of those 1000’s who wrote the entrance exam from Palakkad District, I was the only guy who made it to Sainik School in my batch. The thought of me climbing the rest of the mountain, and passing out one day just like all those respected seniors before us, it actually never crossed my mind in initial years. But as truth shall have it, one fine day in 2000 I was buying my uniforms, my first hockey stick, my black and white shoes and my big black trunk box from Trivandrum with my parents. Few moments pass, come another evening and I was at Trivandrum bus station with a bunch of suitcases & airbags waiting for a bus back home late in the evening all alone, and I was leaving a city which had been my home for the past 7 years, as simple as that.

… ‘Farewell to Dons 2k7’. Our ceremonial Dining Out at school mess in march 2007…

One thing, one lesson I had learnt at kazhakoottam is that men, people unite the most and best in troubled times. True unity comes not in happier hay days, but in the times of horror and sereneness.

The six months out of Sainik School was the weirdest days of my life. I had gotten a decent rank in state engineering exam, I had almost gotten through an exam and interview for merchant navy. That was when as if joking, my father asked me if I wanted to go to china to do Mechatronics. In a few days, mechatronics changing to aeronautical engineering was one of the few changes that happened, but I had decided in my heart that Nanjing was going to my home for the next four years, a city I hadn’t even heard of ever before. Questions were asked, stiff opposition persisted from relations and many other known people, but none of that wavered my thoughts one single bit.

With a seat booked at my current college in Nanjing I was bored to hell in the months of July, August & September. If not for my admission to Nanjing, these months would’ve been the most tensed ones filled with counseling's and admission procedures to the college according to state ranking. But I had already booked my place and had nothing better to do, as I mentioned. I tried my hand at learning Chinese by bits, but failed terribly. Those were the days when I became addicted to computer, internet and the then new social networking craze, Orkut. I began my life in cyber space during those days and that addiction to internet and social networking sites continue to date, and have made some marks in my life, which may very well remain un-erasable.

Just like the Mount Everest at Sainik School, I am about to reach the summit of another peak in a couple of months. The journey from that peak will be a hell lot different one. For the first time in my life since a few months after my 3^rd b’day, I will not be a student going to learn anymore. The backpack which once was filled with books and tiffin boxes to school will now be replaced with great hopes about a life to follow and the pressures of finding a suitable job first hand. I’ve always thought till a few months ago that school and college days are going to be the days of pressure, which once completed opens out your flood gates to an eternity of life which is to be casually lived, enjoyed. But I now feel that my days of life & enjoyment may have already come to a halt, and in a few months from now, I will also be pushed deep into the real darkness of life; the pressure cooker situation of deadlines & compromises and what not?

Now I feel how true the term Reflection is, for life is always a reflection of your past and your future, with the you of present being the still water in the lakes or the shining mirror in the wall.

Beijing Unplugged Part II

2011-04-17T09:07:00.000+05:30

This is a continuation to my previous post, My Camera Speaks – Beijing Unplugged!! . In that post, I put up the snaps of those 7 places, that Beijing is known for in the tourist circuit; The Great Wall, The Olympic Stadium, Tiananmen, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City & The Monument of Heroes. This post covers some lesser known areas and some beautiful images that I loved personally.

… the beautifully lantern lit local Beijing Food Street. They serve all kinds of things in there, from the famous Beijing Roasted Duck to the starfish in the below picture to crazy snakes & scorpions…

… parts of the Summer Palace islanded by Kunming Lake. The beautiful bridge, known as Seven Arch Bridge is portrayed again in the below picture…

… the 798 Art District; a peaceful area immersed in art, colors & sculptures. The lady being sketched & the fully scaled stone model of BMW just gives you the taste of the place…

… Peking University. It is to China, what Harvard is to America. Due to lack of time, I couldn’t find the main buildings in a vast campus but this Pagoda and the snaps around the lake are all beautiful…

… like any other mega city, vehicles in Beijing highways flowed just as easily as the blood through our veins…

… the 2008 Olympic Torch which stood witness for those 16 days of the celebrations of world sports & games…

Share your thoughts if you liked the pictures. Check out my collection in Facebook, C.l.i.c.k.e.D .

My Camera Speaks – Beijing Unplugged!!

2011-04-16T01:06:00.000+05:30

Beijing; the capital of the 2^nd most powerful nation in the world, and the 6 amazing days I spent there will not be forgotten any time soon.

This is a blog which explains the story of my 7 day trip to Beijing in 7 simple photographs. Photographs of the seven epic monuments & structures that defines Beijing. The Great Wall of China; the National Stadium which hosted 2008 Olympic games, a.k.a the Bird’s Nest; Tiananmen Square; the Summer Palace; the Forbidden City; the Temple of Heaven & the Monument of People’s Heroes at Tiananmen.

… the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China…

… National Stadium Beijing, a.k.a the Birds Nest…

… Tiananmen…

… Summer Palace…

… Forbidden City…

… Temple of Heaven…

… Monument of the People’s Heroes at Tiananmen…

Share your thoughts if you liked the pictures. Check out my collection in Facebook, C.l.i.c.k.e.D .

Sunset & Lake… A perfect cocktail!

2011-04-05T21:43:00.000+05:30

There are not many things that soothes your mind as the sight of a setting sun. Nature had presented itself before me as a perfectly lit studio; all I had to do was capture them. The gentle breeze, the beautiful ‘n still lake, several smiling faces, I couldn’t have asked for a better treat!

…click here to check out my favorite clicks in an album named C.l.i.c.k.e.D in my facebook profile…

…leave a comment behind if you liked these…

A Photographic Journey!

2011-04-04T20:27:00.002+05:30

This one is a slideshow made out of some photographs I've clicked and the slideshow was made by Bindiya Mathew. Thanks a lot! :)

My Passion Photography Slideshow: Naveen’s trip from Kochi (Cochin), Kerala, India to 2 cities China and was created by TripAdvisor. See another China slideshow. Create your own stunning free slideshow from your travel photos.

A night I’ll always cherish. World Champions!!

2011-04-03T14:53:00.001+05:30

My mother used to talk often, and even did a few days ago about how she watched India winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup. I wondered what is it that’s so special about this victory; that made this memory so fresh in the hearts of someone who is not even the biggest fan of cricket. I found my answer several hours ago, when I watched the same scenes she had watched 28 years ago, the same passion and the same emotions, and I can surely say that those moments of glory shall remain afresh in me for the years to come, probably the length of my life.

It took 28 years and 7 editions of the tournament for India to clinch back the World Champion title, but this time around, they’ve done it in some style. They had the expectations of a billion home fans and had to cross all of the toughest challenges to reach the Zenith: Bangladesh – their nemesis 4 years ago, England, South Africa, West Indies, Australia & Pakistan before the dream final against Srilanka. They fumbled in a few, but there was always ominous signs of improvement and the way they peaked their game to the top gear was splendid, ensuring there was enough fuel left in the belly to last the length of 6 testing weeks.

The Srilankan journey to Mumbai was much more easier, much lesser hyped and much lower pressurized and it was evident in their showing in the finals as they were never really able to push India up to the extremes of pressures normally associated with high scoring World Cup final chases. In fact, knock out matches against Australia & Pakistan had a lot more excitement and anticipation surrounding them for the kind of cricketing and political rivalry that existed, while an India-Srilanka fixture seemed to happen almost every second day in a week.

The Moment of Glory!

Dhoni paused for several seconds after hitting that monstrous six and I am sure that would be the most peaceful couple of seconds of complete blankness, he might ever get to experience in his life. What that pause also did was it separated the night into two completely contrasting halves. The most complete batsmen of modern day cricket have just been assured a winners medallion; after 21 years, 453 matches and over 18000 runs! A man who was almost dropped from the team for poor form and fitness an year ago has just played the tournament of his life, with the Player of Tournament trophy sure to be in his kitty. A man who leaked 15 runs, 8 years ago, in a similar final in the very first over, has just lead what was described 6 weeks ago as a bunch of totally clueless bowlers to the helm of the world.

Dhoni soon returned back to his senses and he was no longer the witty captain cool of team India, tears came rolling down and there was no stopping emotions. Yuvraj Singh had promised to gift the world cup to Sachin Tendulkar and he rightly did so. This was a gift to Sachin Tendulkar from the players unlike all the previous years when Sachin gifted glory and happiness to his team mates and the billion followers.

Those victory laps that followed, those tears of glory running down the cheeks, those short hand interviews and that amazing presentation ceremony will all remain in the hearts of all our lifetimes; and from today I can share the experience & happiness of watching your nation win the world cup to the generations ahead just like my mother did.

Missed Ganguly in the field though. Wished to see him in the ground in the moments of glory!! He would've loved to hold that cup as much as anyone else! He must be mighty proud of Yuvi, Zak & Bhaji, 3 youngsters who got his backing in 2001 to beat the world in 2011!

Battle of the Rivals – India v Australia

2011-03-23T05:40:00.002+05:30

I'd wanted to write an article about Sachin Tendulkar when the master blaster scored the first ever ODI 200 in history, last year; but then, an exam kept me from doing that. I'd also wanted to write an article on the eve 1st match of this World Cup; but then a bad fever and infected throat had me rest in the hospital instead. Now on the day of the what is called the business end of the tournament, the first quarter finals, nothing will and nothing can stop me from coming up with this piece of writing on a sport that i love, that flows through my veins, that flows through the veins of over a billion people, Cricket!

Ever since that historical test match at Kolkata against Australia in 2001, the outlook of Indian cricket team had taken a U-turn around the world. Under the inspired captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and magical performances by Laxman, Dravid & Harbhajan India thrashed the then "Invincible" Australian side from almost impossible scenarios and even went on to win the series. The 2003 Indian tour to Down Under saw India winning a test match in Australia after ages, once again choreographed by Dravid & Laxman. A final resistance from Steve Waugh in his final international innings saved the test for Aussies and the series was drawn at 1-1. Since then, huge waves of anticipation followed every single India-Australia fixture and also produced some of the most finest & exciting performances of the last decade.

Today we are one day to go for yet another India-Australia contest and probably the most important one since the 2003 finals at Johannesburg. The core of Indian team remains the same even today, but Australia is no longer the might they used to be.

Zaheer Khan will be daring to go against the Australian openers again, wanting to make up for his ill-fated opening over 8 years ago.
Sachin Tendulkar will want to make his 100th international ton against his favorite opposition in a match that will take him closer to his only remaining dream, the World Cup.
Sehwag will be looking forward to relish the big stage yet again, wanting to bat for the length of the innings and thus single-handedly take the match away with his blade.
Yuvraj will want to continue his excellent showings with both bat & ball in his rebirth, a couple more of good performances and the Player of Series trophy could be in his showcase!
Harbhajan will want to lead the spin trio from front, hunting the kangaroos down just like the way they did over a month ago at the warm-ups!

The above five couldn't stop an Australian team when it mattered 8 years ago, and they wouldn't want to repeat those mistakes again.

Enough said, Australia have always been my favorite team outside India and Ponting the captain is placed shoulder-to-shoulder with my icon Ganguly. I know its funny, but I often compared his autocracy in the field to the then President of USA, George W Bush. Its a shame that this game ain't happening at Mumbai with the World Cup all but up for the grabs. On any other day, against any other opposition Ponting, Lee & Clarke would've been the players I would've loved to see smiling, but not tomorrow. Come tomorrow evening, the Kangaroos will enter into the bulls ring surrounded by over 50,000 cheering fans, taking on the mighty tigers of India. Over a billion viewers will want to see the raised willow of a smiling Sachin & joyous celebration of Zaheer & Co in the field. Go India, Go!!!

~A Spring Evening~

2011-02-02T05:50:00.000+05:30

An evening with cloudless skies, a setting sun and a pretty breeze oozing around; the place looked at its amazing best! These are some of the photos I captured in a warm spring evening at XuanWu Lake Park, Nanjing after some months of ruthless winter.

…this is the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, tallest building in city & 7th tallest in the world…

… The Nanjing Skyline…

I hope you have enjoyed these photographs of mine, and leave comments to let me know how you felt.

My Story of a Cinema Going.

2010-12-12T02:01:00.000+05:30

How many times have you gone to a theatre to watch a movie? I've gone plenty of times, and probably the list may well have been destroyed beyond recollection. But every now and then one of those movie-going-experience becomes different, memorable. Don't ask how they become memorable, it could be the rush-hush and adventures of getting the ticket, it could be the face of one beautiful girl you came across and it could also be for some disgusting incidents that took place. Here's my little story of going to a cinema some days back.

In this land where names sound more like that of a breaking of plates, getting to talk in English is rare. Even rarer is to watch an English movie in theatres and the rarest of incidents took place this December 1st. The movie My Name is Khan released in China.

Traditionally only 20 foreign language movies are permitted a release in China and this year My Name is Khan was one of those top 20 movies which makes it to the cinema halls in China, and stunningly, 10 months after its real release. The news of the release came out in the first week of November and we happened to know that Shahrukh Khan & Karan Johar would be there in Beijing for the premier of the movie in China. So our initial plans were to fly to Beijing to meet them. Fly to a city 1200 KM away, to meet an actor, and almost during our exam time. Plan dropped!

Then we came to know that the movie is releasing in two malls in Nanjing and we were again excited. Days passed by as exams came and swept us away. Someone had kept a remainder for the 30th of November, reminding the release of My Name is Khan and things were back in minds and plans were to be made again. Anxiousness was the ask of the day even though the movie had been watched a few days after its release in some cheap camera prints and later in crystal clear DVD's.

We will whistle when the titles roll. We will throw paper pieces when SRK makes the intro. We will shout; we will clap; we will create havocs.

Every Indian had a reason to be proud of because no movie of any other friends of ours had come here; none of those Pakistani/Nepali/Srilankan/Indonesian/African movies. God knows if all of them have even a film industry. So this positive energy continued from the classroom to the lunch hall and several friends from other campuses joined us too. The energy followed us through the metro trip to the place, and racing against time, we reached the hall at 2.45 PM and the show was supposed to start at 2.40.

Having reached the ticket counter, there was not many people enquiring or picking up tickets even though the mall had 9 theatres or so. We asked tickets for "My Name is Khan" which they didn't understand in the first go. So the geek among us who ate-drank-and-slept on Chinese language asked the lady in that language and she replied with a mouth full of flourish. "Wo de ming jiao ke an?" and the smile continued. That was incidentally the name of the movie in Chinese which translates to My Name is Khan literaly. So we shouted back "Yeah!!".

Suddenly her smile kind of disappeared and she asked the lady in the next counter, who seemed to know better English and the lady informed us. " Wo de ming jiao ke an mei you yinwen, shi zhong wen"

All our plans were broken down to pieces!! The damn movie was in Chinese and not Hindi/English. All the excitement and preparations only to see a Chinese poster of My Name is Khan.

~A Random Thought about Life~

2010-12-11T02:26:00.000+05:30

I seriously used to think, wonder how my life would have been, if i was born to a different family? belonged to a different religion? raised in a different native place, a different state and a different country? belonging to a different age/time, the 60’s or the 70’s or even before?

How magical is life, for each of this simple and silly things have made you the person you are now, completely!

A random thought which could open out to a vast ocean of questions, answers and even more thoughts.

His Excellency, The President of India.

2010-12-01T11:03:00.001+05:30

…memories are vague, no beginning and no definite end. The finer the knots are tied, the clearer the image becomes, and the better…

...thunderous applauds break the silence in a huge hall in London…

The man clears his throat,

“That was a very inspiring piece of oratory from the Chief of World Bank. Now i take this occasion to welcome the Man of the evening, His Excellency, The President of India…”

…another round of thunderous applause. The man stood up waving his hands and moved to the podium…

“Those were very kind words. Good Evening respected guests, dear brothers & sisters of London and the rest of the world. It is indeed a very privileged feeling to be speaking in front of this grand audience on such a grand occasion.

I am honored to be the chief guest of this session of the world economic forum, which is celebrating the platinum jubilee anniversary, completing 75 victorious years. I am also very glad at the fact that my nation has given me reasons to be immensely proud standing in front of all of you. This march, Indian economy, along with Chinese has become the biggest economies in the world, and if the predictions are anything to go by, we will become the biggest economy in another 12 years.”

…the audience interrupts to present another round of applause…

It indeed is a very proud feeling to be the head of state, which has returned to the very zenith of it all. I am sure if the founding fathers of our nation lived now, they would’ve proudly felt jealous, for we live in an India, which they couldn’t have even seen in their dreams. India now has completed a full circle. For years, for centuries and millennia, we used to be the land of gold; the land of power; the land of prosperity; the land of cultures; the land of wealth and the land of ultimate intelligence. But then as a cycle don’t speed forward if the tires stay fixed and hence the darker periods of our history began. The might, wealth & intelligence attracted ambitious foreigners who along with time changed roles from anxious visitors to obnoxious rulers. Great selfless people fought them, not with guns and fire, but with words and principles and brought the light of freedom once again to our great nation. Those 90 years of selfless revolutionaries followed by a century of rebuilding takes us to where we are now, once again the biggest economy in the world.

Decades ago in a visit to India, an American President had pronounced that India had emerged, and was no longer an emerging nation. Back then, I had felt good, and proud. But everyone knew then that those words were just meant to sooth your emotions and that it was far from the truth. Then, it was far from the destiny of us being an emerged nation, which indeed was in all kinds of mess, the corruption, poverty and terrorism issues. But now, right now in 2045, a couple of years from hundredth year of our Independence, I can repeat those words and say, we have really evolved, emerged as a supreme power in the planet.

……”

The thing about dreams is that, we have no sense of belonging, no beginning and no end. The same dream might recur over a course of time, night after night, may be. Being in and under the spot-light in a dream every night is fun, but the real challenge begins when we try to find a way, our way to the beginning of the dream. That’s the challenge ahead for me, to find a way to the beginning of my dream, to find a way to that very podium.

(Recollections from a dream that’s been soothing me during my sleep, of me standing in front of the world as the President of India. Certain facts from Wikipedia added in the speech, & a thought from the movie Inception.)

Google Vs Facebook. Strength’s Vs Weaknesses.

2010-11-27T18:42:00.000+05:30

To start of with, this one ain’t a technical post. This is a post explaining the thoughts that crossed my mind during my first 5 minutes in Facebook Mail. The bolded text is the happening in the I-World (Internet-World) and the text below are my thoughts.

So there was this big buzz in the I-World when Mark Zuckerberg announced a thing or two about Facebook Mail, a couple of weeks back I guess.

Another newbie in the I-World and lots of waves created. The success of Facebook means high expectations on the yet to materialize Facebook Mail. So I send in a request to get an invitation for the new Facebook Mail.

I got the Facebook Mail today. I was asked to upgrade the normal messages to the new Facebook Mail & I was given my new Facebook E-mail ID.

My first expressions were in a “Glad” note. Glad, as in I got hold of the Facebook mail before many of my friends. On the first look, it looked plainly similar to the old Facebook Messages, except that may be it covers the width of the page now.

So just to check the working of it, I sent a mail from my Gmail to the new Facebook ID. Back in Facebook when I tried to access the mail I had sent in from Gmail, they said there was a temporary glitch. A problem which did disappear by a refresh, but that was enough for me to come out with a Moral message. The following was my next post in FB.

Facebook Mail Sucks!! Zuckerberg can't beat Larry Page in the mailing front! (FB vs. Google: P)

What’s the Message from all this?

Google has the most successful search engine in the world, and one of the better mail services in Gmail, and another super success in Blogger. But none of those helped a bit when they ventured into Google Buzz, an application similar to Twitter. Google Wave is another, yet similar story of tragedy.

Facebook has the most successful social networking site in the world, but their next big thing; the Facebook Mail looks all set to be a crash & burn.

Everyone has got their own domains, Facebook the Social Networking & Google their own ones. Then why do they have to cross borders into another one’s territories ambitiously? Just as a nation enters into another one’s territory eyeing to reap benefits, but ends up in wars, destruction & famine. If those efforts were spent in their own territory, surely they would’ve been a brighter nation. Alike, instead of transcending into others domain, I wish Facebook expand and improve the glitches in their own services and the same goes on with Google.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and all similar applications were all results of some brilliant ideas and dreams. Why are they now diluting their dreams by carving out pieces from others dreams?

Work on your Weaknesses rather than another one’s Strengths! ~ Naveen.

Ashok Chakra. A Tribute to Mumbai 26/11.

2010-11-27T02:35:00.000+05:30

Today, 26/11/2010 marks the 2^nd anniversary of one of the most horrifying incidents of Post-Independence India. Let us salute the brave souls who lost their lives fighting selflessly on the 3 black letter days in Mumbai and also pray for all of the deceased souls.

Click here for the full list of the deceased during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Everyone will have a story to tell about this day, the date. My story of the Mumbai attacks goes on like this. On the night of 26^th Nov, 2008, I was chatting with a friend of mine from Mumbai. So while we were chatting, the news of a terrorist strike broke out and this friend was the one who told me about it. She rushed on to make a couple of phone calls to ensure the safety of her friends. I glanced across several websites to get to know the details and was incidentally relieved to find out it was not a bomb blast, which could really take away lots of lives instantly. Only after a while did I notice that the attack was even more dangerous and serious than a bomb blast. Live terrorists were shooting down innocent lives with machine guns in many crowded and landmark places of one of the most populous cities in the world. While this friend was chatting with me late in the night, she got a call and a moment or two later, returned to say her friend was also shot at the Taj Mahal Palace and went offline before I could offer a word of console.

I’ve always had this belief that the best of anyone comes out when in troubled times. I have fond memories how people unite in face of troubled times. Back in Sainik School while in the 9^th class, we used to be the junior-most in the house, inferior to the 10^th, 11^th & the 12^th guys. So facing the rigorous punishments on a day to day basis, what really happens is that it unites each one of the sufferers into one, one big nutshell. Mumbaikars found the same strength in the troubled times and they showed their courage and determination by going to their respective works from the very next day. By doing so, they had given out a clear message to the perpetuators of the attack that nothing can hinder the spirits of the people of Mumbai and the citizens of India.

Two years have gone and the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab is still alive. Several leads have been found, but no real action has been taken against the real organizers of the crime. Heaven knows what, ‘Dossiers’ have been exchanged between the Indian & Pakistani governments and even the Media doesn’t have a count of it. The country has been spending crores of money to keep Ajmal Kasab alive, on his safety and security, but honestly, does that man deserve all these?

I can’t help myself not to criticize the judicial system of our nation. A person who killed 166 innocent people with machine guns; who as per the court waged war against the country, why in the hell is he alive still? I don’t know if many are aware of this, but SI Tukaram Omble sacrificed his own life while trying to arrest Kasab alive. This is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

Baudankar says that Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble was hit by the bullets as he was the first to charge towards Kasab and his associate armed with just a stick. "All those who were with Omble survived as he stood like a shield," adds Kadam. "When we saw that Omble was not letting go of the terrorist's gun, we knew we could not let his sacrifice go in vain. He held on and we completed his unfinished task," his colleague Sanjay Govilkar said.

It’s nothing like the news of a death sentence for Kasab makes any change in my life or gives me a high, but it’s that the life and sacrifice of brave men like SI Omble goes down the lane worthless in the present situation. The loop-holes in our Judiciary that keeps him alive even today are almost making fun of the sacrifices of those valiant officers. Lets hope the perpetuators of the attack gets caught, and soon the whole of terrorism gets wiped away from the face of our planet.

26/11 is now a part of history and bullet holes on the walls and the scars in the hearts of Mumbaikars shall remain forever. The least we can do is to be better citizens of this vibrant nation. For a nation which has had to face many unfortunate challenges like the terrorist attacks, cross-border insurgency and interior Naxalism, it’s a shame that our politicians are adding on to the woes by stupid scams and scandals, which becomes bigger & filthier every next time.

The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield, during peace time. 15 Police men and 2 NSG commandos lost their lives encountering terrorists. Officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and Tukaram Ombale and 2 NSG commando’s Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Havildar Gajendar Singh were awarded Ashok Chakra for their sacrifices. We salute one and all of them.

Image Courtesy - Flickr

What Men Want? Check Out!!

2010-11-21T03:20:00.000+05:30

“What Men Wants” is a blogging contest conducted in & by Blogadda.com. What attracted me to this topic was that a search on this topic in Google returned 34 million less results compared to “What Women Wants” and so I am here trying to eliminate the deficit (Ha-ha!), and on course trying to find out a diplomatic solution to “What MEN want”!

Similar posts on the wants of Men & Women are of abundance in the blogosphere and one obvious thing are the lists, specifying points as in men liked to do this and not this, men wanted this and not this, men meant this and not this. C’mon, how it is that one can describe the nature of more than 3 billion people through a list of likes & dislikes.

Then the genuine question is what is it that I can present, which differs from others, and still gives at least a hazy idea of what men really wanted. I can only write on what I want, and that may or may not be a real reflection or the real answer to the question. Suddenly the filaments of the so called bulb in my brain sparked and resulted in it shining at over a 1000 Watts!

ASK QUESTIONS!!!

Wow! That ain’t a bad idea. I mean, I can go on and ask this question as in a survey to people around me, Men of course, and see what they have to say. It also makes better sense considering it will be Men’s choices and not ‘a’ Man’s.

So this is what I heard from my friends.

The first one says. “Women...Money…Enjoyment!! …a big life…with lots of dreams…money…more money…lots of people…partying…want to share moments with family…and yeah, of course…you know it!! (The S-word)” So, I asked him, on the kind of girl he dreamt… “A pretty one, traditional, loyal, friendly, patient…and with a long hair…” And he had a giggle saying the long hair.
The second one went on like this… “I want to hit to gym for ever, a fit body always! Then, a beautiful girl, with a pretty pair of legs” On things other than girls, he said “I want to be able to sleep as much, have a nice job, high salary, less working hours, enjoyable life, a Lamborghini, enough n more time to enjoy, and a beautiful wife”. He adds he wants to have multiple dates with hot ladies in town, the dream girl of everyone. Well, I can say he might travel to the moon, but not his last wish.
Another guy was a bit different. He said he wanted to travel a lot, before adding onto the lady-part. He said “I want to travel around a lot…” and later added… “I want 2 kids, the elder one girl and the younger one a boy. A home beside the sea, a small one though. A wife who’s elder, say 5-15 years older than him.” He got some conditions too “She shouldn’t smoke and drink. Well…drink, occasionally okay, but not at home.” According to him an elder girl takes better care of you, much like a baby. Not a bad one.

So what is to be understood from what we’ve heard now? From the opinions and voices of Men from different nations, who have different sets of minds? Everyone wants a girl, a lovely relationship. They dream high and aspire for a grand house and fat-fat pay cheques. They want fun in their lives and wish to share them with families. They want racy cars and want to see the world.

So the question that crosses my mind now is, are all these the wants of just men? If a lovely relationship is the want of men, what is it that women want? If money and grand houses are what men’s wishes, do women dream of being broke & homeless? Ain’t having a family and living the life out with them as much a women’s wish as it is for men? So what is the big fuss of what women want and what men want? As I believe it, it’s not the gender that defines wishes, but personality and character. A person with a very serious outlook about life may have a set of things that he wanted in life, irrespective of him being an M/F. Another set of people who always sees the funny side in a life might want different things in their life; and here too, I don’t see the gender/sex defining a line that differentiates the wants or the aspirations of both.

Personally I feel the question very stupid and the truth is that many of the blogs which points out things that men like, women like and what we don’t like are only good to have laugh about. They are only good to you if you are a film director and you want an easy method to describe your characters, the female lead in a ‘Girly way’ and the hero as a ‘Macho Man’, for in real life, follow your instincts or you are paving your own path to troubled days.

The funniest thing about the question is, when I asked my friends “What do you want, as a Man”, they all jumped back on to me, shouting “Women & *** !!!”, as if answering a Rapid-Fire round for a gift hamper.

Go to www.myntra.com and check out t shirts for men! Also visit the largest community of Indian Bloggers at BlogAdda.com

Another Lecture…at 8!

2010-11-05T08:46:00.000+05:30

*Ddinq…Ddinqq…ding din…Ddinqqqq!!!*

Now those were the sound of bullets and it’s the message alert of one of my friends mobile. This guy never puts his mobile on silent mode, and I am quite sure he’s one of those guys who have broken the heavenly silence and peace in the classrooms courtesy all his masala ring tones and crazy message tones. This is an 8’o Clock lecture as the topic name suggests and the teacher being the friendly one who introduced herself on the first day as Lisa, unlike the usual Zhao’s, Lin’s & Liu’s, never takes attendance at all. So what I mean to say is that not many cared to even take off their quilts from their faces, spare for attended this class on a 10 degrees Celsius morning and as of now, at 8.43 AM, there are… *Counting*…there are 16 guys in the class, out of a total of 60 odd Aeronautical major’s.

So, our Laoshi, which means teacher in Chinese was fighting out with some viruses in the computer as I was entering the class some time back, and after a couple of restarts and even getting professional help from our fellow students, has finally started her lecture on Composite Materials. This one’s got more to do with chemistry of the materials, and I hate chemistry, but I think I’ll have to say, the subject is interesting.

So I and this guy whose message tone just now made me take up the pen and scribble all these a few minutes earlier, we were coming from hostel to classroom together. Our walk from the apartment to the classroom felt to take all the time in the world today. I was at instants discussing in my mind the Bigg Boss show and how sadly Samir failed to be the captain yet again. (I watched all the episodes, from Oct 3^rd to yesterdays in a matter of two days, continuously, and now I am too anxiously waiting for each days show.) Bigg Boss addiction even abrupted my biological clock and resulted in me skipping 3 classes on a trot. So as our walk seemed to take all the time in the world, we discussed about how the fishes in the canal, and how they could be feeling cold. I mean, we wear thin shirts on summer and big furred weather jackets on winter, and aren’t they just surviving/living stark naked through all the seasons? So what happens to them when the top layer of the canal freezes and it becomes freaking cold?

So amid these multiple thoughts and discussions I asked him that, haven’t we been walking for a long time, and why aren’t we reaching the classes yet? I had questioned myself in my mind, if the distance had increased courtesy some expansion to the surface of the earth or increase in curvature or is it another symbol of the beginning of the end of the world?? (Stupid Me!!)

*Thud*

The sound of the closing door brought me back to senses as another guy just joined us on the lecture and it’s… 22 now (Oh, BTW – Ain’t that my number?) I didn’t even know when the rest of them entered the class. So didn’t I mention it was an interesting lecture, lemme go back to it now. Good bye guys, and have a nice day, whoever happens to read this.

P.S:- This was an accidental writing and I’ve published this the way it is, without Editing!

India : The Soft Power (Video)

2010-10-25T23:34:00.000+05:30

TED – Ideas worth spreading is a website which i had noticed something like an year ago for some of its innovative ideas. A boring evening took me back to the website and here I am sharing a video I watched over there. Shashi Tharoor speaks of India. I was impressed beyond words and I was not or surprised to see the kind of applause he got at the end of his 17 minute talk. This is a video you wouldn’t want to miss out.

The Man, his Diary and a Story!

2010-10-15T11:58:00.001+05:30

The alarm tore apart the silence in the room; starting off smoothly, slowly and steadily gaining pace and sound. The shade of a hand, rose in the darkness and started crawling in the surface; searching for something and in a few seconds it got hold of the alarm clock and killed the already loud tone. Hesitantly a figure rose on its knees, it was that of a nicely built man; he looked all around in the dim light, as if searching for something and switched on the lights by the bed side. The room was not as messed up as a young man’s, a bachelor’s room. There were quite a lot of books in the table and some clothes hung on his chair, the shelf was closed down and the room was pretty empty but for the table, the mattress, the study table and chair.

He opened the laptop lid and starred to the background wallpaper for a few seconds and opened the VOIP calling software in his laptop, and dialed a number from the contacts.

Tringg….Tringgg…Tringg…..Tringg…..

Hello Mamma…

Albertttt!!!..... You are so on time again, right at two! (Looking at the clock rear side) Where are you now baby?

I am way far off, Mamma… (Far away from you he whispered)…

Far?? So what time is it over there?

Time..? I just woke up now Mamma…

Why do you sound different? Have you caught cold or cough Alby?

No Mamma…I am fine…

You said far, are you in the Siberians? Should be pretty cold out there…

No Mamma…it’s not the cold! I said… I am fine…

Alby, it’s been three years now, when are you visiting me?

Soon Mamma, I gotta go now, next week…Mamma…

Oh… So soon again!! Love you Alby…

You to Mamma…take care!

He pressed the end call button and kept his eyes on the phone number and the magical letters beside it, ‘Mamma’. Several expressionless moments passed by and he got down from his bed and went to the far end of the room and opened the door by it, the bath room. He spent several moments in front of the mirror, running his hands through the scars and marks and acne’s in his face, again the silence prevailed. Closing the bathroom door behind him, he took a sip of water from the flask and sat beside the study table. He searched for something among the ocean of books, and soon had that thick covered elegant looking book in his hand and the hard cover read “Diary – 2008”.

Under the elegantly written “Diary – 2008” was a hand written phrase in a nasty way which read “ Call Registry – only for saturdays”.

He smiled and opened it and kissed his mothers photo which was right at the first page. He moved on to the bookmarked page and read it and the page before it and the one before it, the dates kept on changing, but not the writing. The same text kept on repeating as in one of those impositions you were made to write in your yester-year classes, only the handwriting changed, which kept swinging from impressive to un-readable, probably explaining the regular mood swings.

He took the pen and started scribbling.

Called Mamma today. Another week has gone by and another week is to come. Another 6 days and 23 hours and 50 minutes to go; the wait for the last week now goes down the lane, the lane of history and its almost 3 years now. I still find it d…

“Albert…Alberttt!!...”

There was a knock on the door and someone was calling out his name, he dropped the pen by and rushed to the door dragging the chair while he was getting off it and making the irritating high frequency sound of metals.

The elderly sounding voice from outside, that of a woman, continued,

“...oh…how many times have I told not to drag the chair Alby? And how many times, not to lock down the door always?? You never listen to me…”

A rare smile crossed Albert’s face and replied, opening the door…

“You know I love irritating you, Mrs. Haven…”

“You & your love!! It won’t be long before I take away that chair from your room. Alby… have Suzanne come with the medicine yet??” enquired the elderly lady.

“No Mrs. Haven…its just 3.20 now and today is Saturday; your memory is rusting Mrs. Haven”

“Oh…well,come and have your lunch now…right now!!” added the lady in a stern voice.

“Sure Mrs. Haven…I’ll be there in 10 minutes…”

She let a sigh and said “Okie!!”

Closing the door behind him, he went back to his diary. He ignored the bookmark and raced to the back cover of the diary and took the cross-folded sheet of paper, nicely written on the flip sides and appeared to have been folded over and again in the same manner. He opened and glanced through, wondering if his hand writing was the only thing that had improved over the 2 years since writing it. It read,

Dear Mamma…
I want to apologize to you Mamma and this surely is not the letter you would have wanted to read, after not hearing from me for so long. I am sure you will have the patience to read through these lines and … and I love you Mamma.
I have been lying to you for all these years Mamma, of being busy across borders and oceans, with some work. I have been in an asylum in Philadelphia all these years I was infected by a disease and I was no longer wanted by my company. I was coming down to meet you on your b’day several years back and I lost consciousness while in the subway. The people took me to hospital and they found out my disease and with no personal information and contact details, they were forced to send me to the asylum where I had been for all these days.
I was told by the doctors on how serious my situation was and having faced troubles from my work place and among my old friends, I decided to stay full time at the asylum under the supervision of Dr. Stevens and Mrs. Haven & our lovely care taker and nurse, Suzanne. The time here was peaceful, with every one of us, the inmates being in more or less the same situation. I never returned to you fearing how your friends might respond to my sickness. I never even had the heart and guts to visit you. I called up only once in a week, because i wanted you to get used to, living without me, and i called you every week because i owed you every second of my life, for the breath that i took in was all a mercy of yours.
Mamma, I had AIDS and I am to be blamed for it. My actions are to be blamed and my care-less nature is to be blamed. I apologize to you for the discomfort this letter is causing you and I pray to god that you have the strength to overcome this. I’ve been regretting all my actions for the last years, knowing millions of hours of regret won’t let me rectify my moments in the past! I cry for another chance, for a wiser yesterday and a better tomorrow. I am sorry for leaving you all alone and by the time you read this, I would have closed my eyes for one last time.
Today is your birthday Mamma, a few years prior to when you will read this though. Happy Birthday Mom!!
Loving
Alby.
Oct 15, 2006

He was brought back to senses by Mrs. Haven’s loud thud on the door asking him to come over for lunch. He wiped the tears trickling down and moved on for lunch. At the dining hall he tiredly dragged the chair making the loud irritating metallic sound again.

“Alby, again how many times have I told you, not to drag the chair?”

He smiled and replied,

“You know I love irritating you, Mrs. Haven…”

AIDS not only kills you gradually but also kills your status in the society. People have their fear of being infected by working with or touching an infected person. Infected ones are hurt more by the way others behave to them rather than their bodies. This one’s a short story which was inspired by the Tom Hanks starrer Philadelphia in which he’s an infected men, who was thrown out of job on discovery of his disease. Various other films these days speak of the terrible diseases like AIDS and Cancer and the best thing one can do is to curtail one’s actions for a better tomorrow.

The Ultimate Truth!! ( Guest Poem)

2010-10-08T23:56:00.000+05:30

This is a guest post or a guest poem by Ardra, a friend of mine. She has some awesome thoughts and an awesome way of penning them down, and its a privilege to have her let me post this poem in my blog. I thank her for always honestly commenting on my earlier posts and now, for letting me publish this in my blog.

Oh, Oh, Ohhh…..
How I love looking in your eyes
That’s where Innocence sleeps!
The same innocence of a new born baby…
Soo fresh…so dreamy…so nascent!
I have found myself lost in those…
Not once , not twice but everytime I’ve looked at it!

Oh, Oh, Ohhh…..
How I love to see your smile…
That’s where my Happiness lies!
The same smile of my Guardian Angel’s…..
Soo alluring…so mesmerizing….so beauteous!
I have forgotten all my sorrows…
Always when U smile at me!

Oh, Oh, Ohhh…..
How I love to stay in your arms…..
That’s where I belong!
The same protective feeling it gives….just like when I was in mother’s womb…
Soo careing….so indulgent….so benevolent!
I have felt the protective warmth…
Takeaway all the dead cold memories!

Oh, Oh, Ohhh…..
How I thrive on U
Stumbling over words to express how I feel
Because, U have always boldly seized my voice!
How you are the first one
I've found myself willing to learn and grow with
Because, U r my past, the present and the future!
U have invaded my heart
Broke all the walls that have taken me so long to build!
Now, all it conveys to you is my fears of getting hurt
As well as the fact that I don't care anymore
Because my heart has been taken over by U
And now, there is no turning back!.