break_the_shackles

villagers view point... (KANNADA)

2011-06-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

Some villagers talking:
haida 1: “ley maadesa.. nenne aa yaminappa (Eminem)n du ‘entne myli’ (8th mile) haad keltidde kanla.. boo snadagittu”

haida 2: “oho hangenu.. naanu aateya.. aa’ kyathi pirriyamma’ndu (Katy Perry) ‘pataki’ (fireworks) matte aa ‘riyaanavva’ndu (Rihanna) ‘chatri’ (umbrella) kyoltidde.. en tamte baddhave maga.. tale gimmm antu ”

haida 3: “adirli.. aa riyanamma ‘nan hesrenu?’ (whats my name?) anta kyoltalalla avl talegenu mank baDdaitaa antini”

haida 4: “naanu nenne 6 kita kelde.. enanna anta kyolu.. ade aa ‘laidi gagga no guggu’ no (lady gaga) avlalla .. avlu ‘naan uttid ingeya’ (born this way) anta yolavle.. ond kita kelu neenuve”

A haida comes running… “yo yo yo.. il kelrala.. nimdella angirli.. naanu aa yakkaan (akon) haad kyolde.. tale chitranna aagoytu.. avnu “naan ***de (sandakkittu)” (I had sex (felt so good)) anta hadavne.. thu jana aalaagogavrappa.. sivane kapaDbeku…. ”

mind RAP...

2011-06-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

My head hurts
My eyes burn
My heart cries
But my mind lies
That everythin’s alright
Yes, I can see
What he’s tryna warn me
That when we start seein’ the dark side
We start sinkin’ with the returnin’ tide

My daily cosmetic roundup...

2011-06-25T00:54:00.001-07:00

Firstly, a foundation coating of fresh morning dirt… then a coating of extra fine diesel soot (Courtesy: old dirty trucks).. then, a rejuvenating coating of petrol-kerosene smoke (courtesy: old noisy autos) to revitalize the skin cells.. an occasional mud spray to beat the heat (courtesy: BBMP watering vehicles).. just when u start thinking life is so good.. comes a final mind boggling coating of dust-petrol-diesel soot mixed elegantly with a right amount of tantalizing scents and aromas from the drains and stagnant lakes (near flyover construction areas)… all leaving u so fresh and alive… ahhhhhh!!! Taazgi ka ehsaas… :{

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

2011-02-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Greenday's "boulevard of broken dreams " while coming home, when the line, "My shadow's the only one that walks beside me" struck me. What he said really made sense. May be one day it is the only thing which will be beside us no matter who is there with us or not. All the support and help we seek from the outer connections are ephemeral incentives that life is bestowing upon us. But all of this can be gone in a flash before you even know. You will be left all by yourself with no one to look up to or give you a helping hand. That is the when knowing oneself comes in handy. Invest some time in getting comfortable with yourself. In the humdrum of our daily routine this is perhaps the last thing we even think of. But as we all know, we live as if we never die, as if everything will be fine forever and ever after. We often base our happiness or sadness on the actions or words other people did or said which directly or indirectly affected us. But this is probably not the issue we need to base our emotions on. We need to learn to be happy and comfortable just by ourselves and slowly reduce our emotional dependencies on external factors. This is the way one can be composed under any circumstance. We must try and communicate with our "self" for that is the true companion for all times. And also the secret to living happily.

Let me know what you guys feel about it.

1st day in melbourne

2009-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hi people,
Its been a year since I have posted anything in my blog. Thought its time to revive my blog. So here is a post which speaks of my first day in a foreign country (Australia). It was a totally unusual and weird, but a pleasant experience and wanted to share with you guys. This might remind you about something similar you experienced, like any new place you had been to, or the first day in the hostel or so. I had it in my mind to record the experience of my first day in Australia and I laud myself for making the effort for writing this ;) And anyone who are anticipating such a thing happening in future, please dont forget to do this. Because you will realize its worth after a few months or years.

My First Day in Melbourne

Date: February 14, 2009
Place: 40A, Center Dandenong Street, Victoria
Time : 11.30 pm

Got up at 1 O'clock. First time in my life woke up so late. Thanks to the time zone :). First thing I did was a reality check. It was a strange feeling getting up in a different bedroom, where Shveta (my sis) is not sleeping in front of me (which is the place which she usual sleeps) wrapped up in a rug, with no inspirational, loud patriotic songs byBaba Ramdev with which my dad and mom used to wake us all up.

It was different. I brushed and headed to drink water which is my usual practice. I searched for a water purifier, couldn't find one. Then aunty told me to drink water directly from the tap. I was like- what the hell??? I have to say the water tasted really good, like bottled water. Later I just used the PC to send some status mails and check for anything important. It was 4 o'clock, and I was in the feeling that its 10 in the morning. Then thought of taking bath. There was a transparent shower room in the bathroom. I made a lot of sound as I bumped my hand with the shower room several times. I had to change my usual bathing style as it was very small. Then washed my clothes in the washbasin and hanged it outside.

I had breakfast. Idli sambar.I was lucky I can say. Dint get started with cornflakes or something. Moreover it helped me to make a smooth transition in my lifestyle. Then I called my classmate's (Santosh Shetty) sister and my friend, Pratiksha. (Thanks to him, he gave me her number in the nth moment). Thought of meeting her. The time was 5.30 pm, and it was too late to meet anyone and it was canceled accordingly and rescheduled the next day.

Then I went for a walk to the nearby Cheltenham Train Station, with aunty. The roads were as shown in the movies (clean, without any potholes or mud), which I always thought that they exaggerated. It was so hard to believe. All luxury premium cars were zipping by unlike the stereotype marutis and santros. And then, I approached a traffic signal. And to cross the road we need to press a button, so that the 'walk' light glows for a longer time. And the best part is that, there is an audio alert for the blind people to indicate them when to cross the road. We walked past banks, grocery stores and many other shops to reach the destination. The Cheltenham Station. It was very clean and well orgaized. There were very few people in the station, unlike the usual crowded bus stops in India. Here I had my first encounter with the local Aussies. They were looking at the foreigner who had entered their territory, silently. The people were friendly. I dint feel anything awkward to interact with them.

Here comes my first purchase in Australia. I went to the ticket counter to buy a ticket. It was called the Sunday Saver. And trust me it really saves you traveling on weekends. The ticket price is half that of a weekday. I promptly gave a $50 note for a $3 ticket and got the change with no grumbles :). Leaving the station we went to an Indian grocery store. The first thing I heard is the hit Big B song- "Jaanu Meri Jaan.... Main tera kurbaan...." . Thought that I entered the right place. The store was filled with the pungent spicy aroma which is common in Indian kirani stores. Just checked out some prices and was shocked. One that caught my eyes was curry leaves, which was $2 for what looked like 5 twigs in a cover. I thought," Oh damn, Rs.80 for 5 twigs of curry leaves. I used to just pluck some from my backyard in my house,"Then, I silently decided that I am not eating curry leaves :) (But eventually I bought some but only after a good 3 months, wanted to have that flavor ). Then returned home.

Reaching home, I put on the TV. There are 5 or 6 free to air channels. Got bored of it. There was a DVD collection there. Bachna Ae Haseeno caught my eye. Watched that for a while, got bored. Actually, anyone would have got bored, the movie is like that. At that time I was alone in the house. Got some time to think about what was happening till now. I had a feeling that I was still dreaming. Thought about my life and how it had shaped up, and was lost in it for a while. Then, aunty came and prepared tea. I took out the map which I got in the airport and began to plan for the next day. Time was running. Just then I remembered the farewell gifts that my friends gave me. I opened the greetings and the Album that they gave. It was so refreshing. I had a short flashback of my engineering days, happy days :).

It's 11.30 in the night and my eyes were pulling. Was struggling to keep it open.

Then this thought just came to my mind. The most useful thing I have with me right now is my dads 8 pocket waist coat. It is so handy and saved me carrying so many things which would otherwise be confusing. Thanks for that dad. Its helped me a lot.

Now I'm ready to sleep. Hope I get adjusted to this cycle soon and hope that I meet Pratiksha tomorrow and have an orientation of the city.

Good night Dairy....

This is what I wrote and when I see it now it brings me back heaps of memory, which I experienced for the first time. And for that , I give a lot of value. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it.

That silent night......

2008-07-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

I wrote this one in those many sleepless nights during 8th sem BE. Sitting in my study table looking at the dark silent night, some people in deep sleep.... some awake and shouting unheard, in their sleep... its all so silent and yet so mysterious. Here comes a twist, people doing BE(sometimes me too) worry about the next days exam... what a thing to do at that time... silly huh... but its true.
So here it goes...

In the middle of the silent night, I woke up on my bed,
with a thousand thoughts racing thru my head,
from cricket to kirks equation all were there,
with a phantom of chaos giving me a stare.

lazily decided to take a stroll on my roof,
dragged my feet like a drunken goof,
the harmony and silence of the night made me smile,
the moon above beckoned me to sit for a while.

I sat there gazing at the resplendent moon,
Thinking, what should I ask if he grants me boon?
just then my thought process was interrupted by the cacophony of barking dogs,
I tried to isolate my mind from the clutches of the horrid lot.

Suddenly I had a strange tingling sensation in my body,
something in my mind started getting clear,
the excitement and tension I could not bear,
then it occurred to me like a ringing bell in my ear,
"today Iv got Signal n Systems..... oh dear!!"

INERTIA....

2008-07-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Out of frustration came these words
of shame and pain,
like a spear of fire it stung me,
again and again.
for when I saw the things I had done
I was left with none.

Had a 1000 things to do in my list,
ended up doing only so much,
which could be counted or held in my fist.
for all the things lined up in my list,
vanished like mist.

I wondered - why am I stopping myself from DOING things?
or am I afraid of doing them a little too well.
for all I could see is empty spaces of time,
which I had strenuously filled with nothing.

I could feel the inertia within me
of not doing things all this while,
which was devouring away from me,
all those precious moments of time.

Finally I decided with all my heart,
TO DO THE THINGS, THAT HAD TO BE DONE,
because only after DOING them, they are DONE,
Took it slow, made it a habit,
Inertia decreased, sooner I realised, I have changed a bit.