eNGAGING mY iNSOMNIA

Wedding Daze

2013-05-13T23:49:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to my four sweethearts.

The day had almost ended and I was soaked in nostalgia…all because of a wedding that my parents attended today morning.

For a few years my family had stayed in a government quarters at Kozhikode.

The bride of this wedding was a wonderful lady whom we used to call Chakki (that was her nickname. I don’t know her real name), whose family had stayed in the quarters during the same period as we did.

This wedding was like a reunion for all those who stayed in the quarters during that time and later moved to different places. Chakki chechi’s parents had asked my parents to bring me to the wedding, but I was too lazy to go. Well… not ‘lazy’ exactly. The real reason why I didn’t want to go will be discussed later. Anyway, I stayed home, of course, wasting my time facebooking and tweeting ;)

After returning home, my parents were talking all about the wedding and the old friends/neighbours they met there. That’s when they told about meeting two of my ex-boyfriends, Sreeram and Jeevan.

Both of them are happily married and have kids now!

Sreeram and his family, and Jeevan and his family, were also living in the same block of the quarters as we were. And there were 2 more people, the siblings Karthik and Ashok (who didn’t attend the wedding today and who also happen to be musician Dakshinaamoorthy’s grand kids)

My four boyfriends who have seen me naked…

I was very close to all of them. But then… circumstances changed…

All the four of them were very dear to me. They were very fond of me too :)

They used to carry me in their arms and shoulders, let me play with their hair (especially Ashok ettan, whose hairstyle was like that of SRK’s in early ‘90s, as I recall), listen patiently to all my made-up stories, fly kite for me, collect and count the manjaadikkuru that falls from the tree in our courtyard (yeah.. I know it is a very difficult task and requires lots of patience. If they did that for me then they must have loved me so much :’) )

But as I said before, circumstances changed. Some of the families built/bought new home. Some of them got transfer and left the place. And slowly we drifted apart.

I really don’t remember much about them. Not even their faces. All I remember was that I was like 2-4 years old and used to think of them as big people (maybe they were in their early teens during that time. But as a kid, I used to consider them as grown-ups).

I also remember some of the evergreen stories relating them and yours truly ;)

It’s hard to forget the stories. Every time I meet someone who had stayed in the quarters, they bring up some of my adventurous childhood stories.

One of them was, falling down and breaking my head and a tooth while playing with them and how one of my neighbours had to carry me and run all the way to the nearest hospital.

There is a story of how my neighbour (then my role model) Chandni chechi and I decided to make my pregnant goldfish fairer and put a can of talcum powder (Cuticura, to be precise) into the aquarium. May the goldfish’s soul rest in peace.

Another one is how I invaded and sat on the lap of Dakshinaamoorthy while he was singing, and tried singing along with him the song (still one of my favourite classical songs) Swami Natha Paripaalayaashumaam. Apparently he said that I have a great inborn talent in music ;) Poor old man.

But the most appreciated story is about me walking, or rather, running (naked in some versions of the story and wearing a chaddi in some other versions; still disputed) behind Sreeram ettan calling out loud “Sheeyaametta… Sheeyaametta…” :D

I’m not sure how much of these stories are true, especially the last one (Nooo, I would never do something like that).

So… today at the reunion, all these people, including my parents and 2 childhood sweethearts, dissected and laughed over these stories. If I had gone, then I should have stood there embarrassed in front of all those people! (Now you know why I didn’t want to go for the wedding.)

But, thinking of it now, I could have gone for the wedding, just to meet Jeevan chetan and Sreeram ettan, to meet them after 2 decades, meet their wives and kids… just to… you know… :) :) :)

I also wonder where Karthik ettan and Ashok ettan are… if they still remember me… what they are doing now… you know… :) :) :)

I also miss my other friends there. Chakki chechi, Neethu chechi, Ashif ikka, Chandni chechi, Aswathi chechi, Abitha……

Maybe I could search them on Facebook. But I don’t know their last names :( Maybe I’ll meet them during another wedding… Maybe……

With a bunch of sweet memories, ending the post with what I started

Dedicated to my four sweethearts.

When Music Was Made In India Part 2

2013-04-11T19:54:00.001+05:30

The continuation of When Music Was Made In India Part 1

ASHA BHOSLE – NAHI NAHI (DJ AQEEL REMIX) (2001)

Asha Bhosle became a widely accepted singer among the teens by releasing remix albums of her old super hit Hindi film songs. The new videos were entirely different from the originals. They carefully marketed old book in new attractive cover and it really worked!

The original song was sung by Asha and Kishore Kumar in the film Jawani Diwani, starring Randhir Kapoor and Jaya Bhaduri. This video stars Ayesha Takiya and Keith Sequeria. Ayesha Takiya, like Shahid Kapoor, got an introduction to Hindi film industry through Indipop. Her hip-shaking step in this song was superb and a total hit! The guy, Keith, is a wonderful anchor and model. He has done a beautiful advertisement for Raymond! And I had, and still has a biiig crush on him ;) Doesn’t Virat Kohli look somewhere like him? Awww… He’s such a caring boyfriend :* I specially love the parts where she draws a Laxman Rekha with her lipstick and lights match stick with a bottle of alcohol in her other hand :D

FALGUNI PATHAK

This eccentric lady, who looked very much like a bloke, had countless hits to her credit. (I just visited Wiki to make sure she is really a SHE). Falguni is the Indipop artist that perhaps has the largest fan base! There was a time when you couldn’t avoid her songs if you ON the TV! Not only did she sing well, but also these videos had some of the cutest, silliest but best love themes. A few of her hits include

AIYO RAMA (2001)PAL PAL TERI (2002)

YAAD PIYA KI AANE LAGI (2000) (Starring Riya Sen, Richa Pallod etc.)

MAINE PAYAL HAI CHANKAI (2007) (one of my friends at school once kicked and dragged
me into dancing to this song with her)

MERI CHUNAR UDD UDD JAAYE (2001) (Starring Ayesha Takiya and Tamil actress Trisha. There’s this famous step they play wearing shoes in their hand… This song portrays Falguni and Ayesha more like a lesbian couple) :P

INDHANA WINVA (2000) (love this song, but the casting is horrible)

O PIYA (2001) (Another one of my personal favourites. A lot of things happen during that song. We normally don’t notice them. And the Moon yawning, sneezing and singing along is awesome!)

SAAWAN MEIN (2001) (A sweet competition between the boys and girls)

KUMAR SANU - TERA MERA PYAR (2004)

Kumar Sanu had a great voice. But I wasn’t a fan of his videos due to various reasons. Either there is no good story or the music doesn’t suit the song or the cast is stupid.

During a discussion about the Indipop songs, one of my friends brought up the song Tera Mera Pyar. We didn’t know the name, lyrics or tune. All we could remember was the heroine’s friends throwing popcorn at them in a movie theatre. My friends and I had to search a lot to find the song we had in mind. That video is cool actually. All the giggling, teasing and poking stuff between the heroine and her friends happens even when we go out with our girl friends. After watching that song, every time at a movie theatre I check out if the stranger guy sitting next to me is hot and handsome ;)

Another hit of Kumar Sanu is Kehna To Hai, Kaise Kahoon (2000) starring Shahid Kapoor and Nauheed Cyrusi.

SHUBHA MUDGAL

Shubha Mudgal is extraordinary and one of my favourite singers ever. Her voice is different and I like that difference. But the best thing is that most of her songs are for some good causes.

AB KE SAWAN (1999)

Ab Ke Sawan is my favourite 'rain song'. We can feel the rhythm, shiver and excitement of the first rain in this song. Hundreds of things happen in between the song… most of them are subtle and often left unnoticed. And the ‘Chotti’ from “Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gully’” is also there in this song :)

MANN KE MANJEERE (2001)

Mann Ke Manjire has a great theme. It is inspired from the true life story of a lady named Shameem Pathan, who had to flee from her home to save herself and her daughter from the beatings of alcoholic husband. She then learned to drive truck and made a living out of it, setting a wonderful example to other suppressed women who longed for liberation. The heroine Mita Vashisht has done complete justice to that role, I’d say!

Other hit songs of Shubha Mudgal include

ALI MORE ANGANA (1996) (This was one of the first Indipop songs)

MAIN SUTTI RAHIYAN (2010)

MUJHE PANKH DE DO (2012) (female rights)

(with SWARATHMA) PYAASI (2010) (water scarcity)

MAATI (2006) (starring Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni, for the cause of AIDS awareness)

USTAD SULTAN KHAN

Three of the best female singers in India have sung with Ustad to create some super hits.

(with SUNIDHI CHAUHAN) More Piya (video unavailable)

(with K S CHITHRA) PIYA BASANTI RE (2000)

The first song, Piya Basanthi Re, used to be my favourite. K S Chithra is amazing! :* But if you want to get the whole story, you should see the second song too. So I'm sharing the video of the whole story. This music video was actress Nauheed Cyrusi's breakthrough in her career. So many people have told me then that I used to look like very much like her. And that was true! But I think the actor Donovan Wodehouse is pathetic. Didn't get a youtube video. Do here's a link to Metacafe video:

Piya Basanti - Ustad Sultan Khan and K S Chithra (Full Video)

(with SHREYA GHOSHAL) LEJA LEJA (2006)

The touching story of a bar dancer along with the melting voice of Shreya Ghoshal... Heaven!!! I love the concept of this video. It's different. Especially the part where they draw pictures on the billboard of the bus stop is awesome!!! <3 Cast: Nina Sarkar and Varun Toorkey. I love the way Nina dances :)

SUNEETA RAO - PAREE HOON MAIN (1991)
This must be the oldest Indipop hit. It's about a teenage girl who had a hue crush on her teacher. After the hit of the song, she was affectionately called as the "Paree of the Masses".

AASMA - CHANDU KE CHACHA (2004)
Used to love this song. But I guess this was their only hit.

SONU NIGAM - AB MUJHE RAAT DIN (1999)
Sonu nigam is one of the most successful singers in Indian film and pop industry. He has a great voice and is very talented too. One of his hits is given below.

SHAAN - TANHA DIL (2000)
Shaan is another singer who found huge success in both Bollywood and Indipop. Loveology isone of his hits. This one, Tanha Dil Kehte hai Kya, is also good.

COLONIAL COUSINS
Colonial Cousins was formed by the duo Hariharan (singer) and Leslie Lewis (singer, composer). Their first album hit platinum sales in India alone. They are the pioneers of fusion music in India. Two of their most famous songs are given below. Both are from their debut album COLONIAL COUSINS (1996)
KRISHNA NEE BEGANE (1996)
This particular song, Krishna, is a remix version of the popular Karnatic classical song of the Krishna Nee Begane Baaroe. This song gives me goosebumps! The theme is terrorism and how it affects families.

SA NI DHA PA (1996)
I've heard this song like thousand times on TV...

OMG OMG OMG I miss Indipop a lot...
The golden era of Indian music................

When Music Was Made in India Part 1

2013-03-14T19:52:00.000+05:30

If you are expecting a post on the good old days of pure classical music and how the western culture has badly influenced it, sorry, this is not such an article.

This post randomly discusses some of the artists and their songs of the Indipop genre, which once created a huge wave of change in our attitude about music and love, and rocked the young generation of India for almost a decade. I will be discussing some of the major names in the Indipop industry and some of their hits I like. These are my personal opinions. If you find I've missed any of the best songs please do comment below.

Dear kids of '80s and '90s, let's go down the memory lane, relive those wonderful moments and get nostalgic......

ALISHA CHINAI

Alisha Chinai is a cutie, knew how to present herself well and is a good singer. Though she had sung for Hindi film, her successful career, identity and fame was mainly because of the Indipop industry. Alisha was once a common household name.

MADE IN INDIA (1995)

Any Indian born in ‘80s and early ‘90s will definitely know the song 'Made In India'. It is probably the widely acclaimed, most remembered, highest rated and the most sold out hits of that time. It had an innovative and patriotic theme and we considered that song as the pride of every Indian. Thanks to Alisha, (DIL CHAHIYE, THAT’S) MADE IN INDIA was the catchphrase of the decade! (BTW, did you know that Alisha had a foreigner boyfriend for a brief period after this song’s mega success? Just forget I said that) :P
Anyway, the theme of this song is that the damn cute princess of a far away land called Qashab started searching for her suitor. Princes from many countries came but she wasn’t happy. Finally she realized that the Prince of India (portrayed by Milind Soman) is the one she wanted. He came, carried her away to his kingdom and they lived happily ever after. I don’t blame her for wanting him. Even though he doesn’t look his best in this video, Milind Soman is a sexy beast whom every girl of that time has fantasised!

EUPHORIA

The cool thing about this band is that they were formed in 1988 by singer Dr. Palash Sen, a then medical student. It is one of the best Indian bands ever and they have some of the biggest Indipop hits to their credit. DHOOM PICHAK DHOOM is another one of their super hit songs.

KABHI AANA TU MERI GALI (2003)

In this song they launched Vidya Balan, who later turned out to be a very successful actor in Indian film industry. The story goes like this: On the previous night of Vidya’s wedding, her sister finds out that she has an untold love, a Bengali singer living nearby. But her wedding is tomorrow, her family is very orthodox and most of all, she doesn’t know if he loves her. Actually he has a thing for Vidya, but he too was afraid to tell her. Anyway, just before the wedding, the groom’s family has some disagreement with the bride’s family and they’ll call off the wedding (probably because of some dowry issue). So, in order to protect Vidya’s family’s honour, our hero steps forward and tell her dad that he would like to marry Vidya. Vidya Balan looks very pretty (though a little over aged) in this video. I also like her little sister ‘Chotti’; she’s funny and very supportive. I also like Palash’s watch. Has anybody else noticed that the guy who does Suryanamaskar looks like Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty’s husband? :D

JYOTI – KALIYON KA CHAMAN (2000)

I’m including this song just because it is an important part of my nostalgia about Indipop. This was sung by a lesser known singer, Jyoti. This song was actress Meghna Naidu's transition from South Indian films to Bollywood. The nostalgia about this song is that, whenever it was played on TV, my elder cousin brothers/sisters changed the channel saying I wasn’t old enough to watch it! This, definitely, aroused my curiosity and I’ve watched it a couple of times when my cousins weren’t around ;)

SHEHZAD ROY

For a very long time I had thought this guy was Ali Zafar. There are some common things between Ali Zafar and Shehzad Roy. Both of them are Pakistanis who became famous by releasing Indipop songs.

SALI TU MANI NAHI (2005)

Munnu Bhai, his wife and her younger sister were living happily. But one day Shehzad came into picture. Munnu bhai doubted that this cool guy fell in love with his beautiful wife and he might steal her away. But Munnu later discovers that his wife is faithful and this guy is in love with Munnu’s sister-in-law Ramla. Everything ends almost well. The most hurting part is when Munnu destroys Shehzad’s guitar :(

K J YESUDAS

As you know, Yesudas is one of the best and most respected singers in India. He has infinite hits to his credit. I doubt if there's a single film in Malayalam that doesn't have at least one song by Dasettan, as we Mallus call him.

CHAMAK CHAM CHAM (2000)

This song is the pride of every Mallu. Except for Yesudas’ pathetic Hindi pronunciation, everything about this song, the music, singing, cast, theme…was great! I used to stare at the screen just to see the hero’s smile. It’s so cute :*

The story is about the romance between people from different worlds. A photographer from the city meets a village girl during one of his assignments. After completing the assignment he goes back but both of them couldn’t forget each other and realizes they’ve fallen in love with each other. She gets his wallet which he had dropped there by mistake. He comes back to the village only to know that she has eloped from the village to the city in search of him. As people say, it’s a small world. When she was standing puzzled in the city, they finally meet!

ARYANS, THE ROCK BAND

Aryans was a band that flourished during the golden era of Indipop. They had some cute feel-good love-themed songs (Actually most of the Indipop are love-themed). But now they are silent.

ANKHON MEIN (1999)

Ankhon Mein is my personal favourite. I guess it is the actor Shahid Kapoor’s first video song. After acting in a couple of such video songs he entered into Bollywood. Just compare this old Shahid in the video and the new Shahid given in PETA's banner in my blog's side bar... It's a huge difference! In this particular song, Shahid looks so sweet, cute and innocent. I love the heroine Hrishitaa Bhatt and that doggie too *_* Shahid’s notorious little dog destroys Hrishitaa’s expensive dress and she becomes very upset. He had saved some money to buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autographed cricket bat. But he used this money to buy her a new dress, partly because he was responsible for the doggy destroying Hrishitaa’s dress and partly because he always had a crush on her. But Shahid is shocked and devastated to see H’s boyfriend proposing her. There is still ambiguity about the ending of the song. Heart-broken S is walking away and his doggy is running behind him, dragging a white dress. Some say that it’s the dress of a new girl leading to a new relationship with S and the new girl. Some say it is H’s wedding gown and this will reinforce H’s and S’s relation, making his dreams come true. They’ve left it to our imagination. But I am a supporter of the latter idea as I want H and S to live happily ever after ;) What is your opinion?

DEKHA HAI TERI ANKHON KO (2001)

Dekha Hai Teri Ankhon Ko was a very popular song during that time. It was better known as “Coffee Bar” as the whole story happens in a coffee bar. The hero works there and heroine is his regular customer. Every time she finishes a cup of coffee and leaves, the hero keeps the cup (with the mark of her lipstick on it) as a souvenir. She finally finds out how much he loves her and gives a souvenir (yes, the lipstick mark) on his face :D The cast was horrible, the song was only average, but there was something about it that everyone loved. Another sweet memory relating to this video is that my over protective cousin sister used to cover my (then a kid) eyes when the heroine's dress goes up in a breeze. Poor thing my cousin... she doesn’t know I’ve seen worse :D

(To be continued...)

Working for a Good Change :)

2013-03-05T19:02:00.000+05:30

It all started with Greenpeace India's tweet asking ideas to tackle various non-ecofriendly issues.

As the regular readers of my blog know, I travel a lot by train and some of the posts in this blog are about my experiences during train journeys. There's something that used to worry me always. You would have noticed people throwing away wastes through the windows and doors of trains. Here “people” refer to you and me. Admit it, most of us love littering in rivers; even now some of us do that! Sitting inside the moving train, my sister and I used to wait for rivers to throw away the coffee cups, bottles and paper plates into it! Please note that I’m talking about what I used to do some 10 years back; now I don’t. But, thinking of that stupid idea makes me feel so ashamed and disgraced now.

We throw away plastic bottles, carry bags, wrappers, food remnants, disposable cups & plates and every other possible waste through the windows of the train coaches. It may seem to be very silly thing but it adversely affects the environment. Have you ever noticed how polluted the surroundings of railway lines are; especially the water bodies nearby? Even well-educated people litter without a second thought! I always ask my friends and relatives (and sometimes strangers too) to avoid this act and dispose waste only in dustbins. Well, some people listen to it, at least for the sake of formality. But mostly these talks lead to debate and I end up being labelled as “DUSTBIN” who collects waste and doesn’t throw them away until I find proper means for disposal! This is how even small acts to serve and save Mother Nature are discouraged knowingly or unknowingly. The blame doesn’t lie solely on the people.

The problems faced here can be listed as follows

Only AC coaches and a few sleeper coaches are provided with waste bins
Many of the available ones are found to be teemed with waste
Lack of enough staff for cleaning activities
Inadequate coordination and understanding between multiple departments of Indian Railways (IR) leading to ineffective cleanliness efforts
Absence of proper monitoring of cleaning activities
Deficient waste collection and disposal mechanisms
Ignorance and indifferent attitude of people towards keeping the environment clean
General apathy of the authorities when dealing with hygiene and sanitation

Solid waste (consisting mainly of paper and plastic) generated each day by train passengers across our country is a very huge. They can be divided into
biodegradable (leftover food), slowly degradable (disposable cups, plates,
newspapers) and non-biodegradable (mineral water bottles, carry bags) waste
materials, most of which can be recycled and reused. It is unfortunate that,
despite being the second largest railway network in Asia and the largest public
sector undertaking in our country, IR doesn’t have an environment-friendly
policy yet. Surprisingly, IR is also devoid of a department dedicated to take care
of cleanliness and sanitation activities.
During a Facebook discussion on this topic, someone shared his relative’s
experience on train. The trash in their compartment was teemed with waste.
When they brought this to the attention of TTE, he advised them to throw away
the waste through the window/door instead of complaining about the trash.
A friend of mine commented like this “If at all the IR sets up dustbins in every
coach, these will go missing very soon. Who knows a national mafia network
that stoles dustbins from trains may grow up gradually! This is Incredible
India!” He was just joking. But sadly, the probability of occurrence of
something like that is very high in our nation.
To bring a change to this pathetic situation the first thing to be changed is our
attitude. We constantly complain about the Indian system, but don’t realize that
this system is made of people like you and me! If each one of us pledges to keep
our surroundings clean, it would be a big leap towards cleaner India.
Other things that can be done are

Provide dustbins in every train coach.
Employ enough staff for cleaning activities
Ensure that these activities are properly coordinated and monitored
Develop an efficient system for proper waste management and treatment
Install boards everywhere possible indicating not to litter

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it all started with Greenpeace India's
(@greenpeaceindia) tweet asking ideas to tackle various non-ecofriendly issues.
I had replied with the suggestion to provide dustbins in every train coach. The
idea was welcomed by them and they provided with all help to start a
petition on that issue, titled PROVIDE DUSTBINS IN EVERY TRAIN COACH. But, when I completed this post, I felt the petition should be
modified and more things should be included in it.

Dear readers,
If you haven't signed the petition yet, please show your support by signing it:
PROVIDE DUSTBINS IN EVERY TRAIN COACH
And please share it with maximum people :)
Thank you for your constant support...
Let's work together for cleaner, greener Indian Railways :)

These are the links to Greenpeace India's
Website
Facebook page
Twitter Profile

Reference Links: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_railways-need-another-dept-to-tackle-solid-waste-management-iim-ahmedabad_1549207
http://www.cag.gov.in/html/reports/railways/2007_6_peraud/chap_2.pdf
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/12913

This post was submitted under ISB iDiya for IndiChange in Indiblogger.
http://www.isb.edu/idiya/

75 Reasons Why I Love Dana Delany :)

2013-01-28T01:54:00.000+05:30

Warning: This is a totally insane post. Read at your own risk. If you don't know who Dana Delany is (that's a shame), click here!

Seriously, she is one of the best and most talented actresses ever.
Gave voice and life to some wonderful female fictional characters.
Humanitarian.
Her tweets make us smile.
Very considerate.
As a kid she wanted to become an actress, never gave up on that dream and achieved it real big.
Reads almost all tweets mentioned to her.
Loves reading fan mails.
We needn’t search any fan-mail sites for her address. It’s given in her website.
Very dedicated and to the characters she play. From the caring nurse in China Beach (1989-1991) to the sexy Mistress in Exit To Eden (1994) to the creepy neighbor in Desperate Housewives (2008-2012) to the brilliant medical examiner in Body Of Proof (2011- ) she has always portrayed them fairly well.
The fan-mail address given in her site is real and she even replies to mails.
Has compassion for fellow beings.
Her voice is lovely and capturing.
Supports many medical causes.
Doesn’t smoke.
She’s the girlfriend of two superheroes. Lois Lane (Superman’s gf) and Andrea Beaumont (Batman’s ex-gf) in DC Animated Universe.
She is a great role model.
Has won critical acclaim for many of her roles.
She’s a tweetbox. Very active on twitter and tweets thousands of characters every day.
Her smile is very pretty.
Supports political causes too.
You can’t take your eyes off her.
I love the way she stresses or uses a tone for some words/phrases. E.g. “Yyyeeaaa…” or “I don’t knoowww…”
Very bold.
Classy.
Quick-witted.
Breathtakingly beautiful
(24-26 Courtesy: Desperate Housewives Season 6, Episode 15)
Fit as a fiddle.
Looks too young for her age.
Has certain unique expressions.
TV is much better when she’s in it.
Very interactive with her fans and co-workers.
If you send fan-mail, a reply with her autographed photo is guaranteed, provided you send her a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage.
If you send self-addressed envelope without stamp, she still replies (you can pay for the postage when you receive it).
For international fans who find it difficult to get US stamps, she has offered to pay for the postage.
Yogini for 30+ years.
Has inspired many people to stay fit and to love ourselves.
Restored the hope and faith in many desperate tweeters that celebrities can reply to their tweets.
Always in shape.
Respects her fans.
Has an excellent wardrobe.
Makes us wanna be better people.
She’s smoking hot.
Loves to read books.
Her career has been long, interesting and full of variety.
She’s one among the board of directors of Scleroderma Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding cure for Scleroderma and improving the life quality of patients.
Her hair is perfect.
Patience is one of her key features.
She won the prestigious Emmy award for best actress twice.
Holds the position of Co-President of The Creative Coalition, an organization that encourages people in entertainment industry to work for important social issues.
Works for the cause Stand Up To Cancer.
Got a breast examination done for the purpose of cancer awareness.
Has a positive vibe around her, an aura of good energy.
Loves her work and is very dedicated to it.
Has a charming personality.
Very down-to-earth.
Always looks for variety in roles.
Her life teaches us to pursue our dreams and passions.
Excellent voice actress.
Her legs are so sexy.
Her autographs are mostly personalized.
Often replies to tweets.
Has a bunch of awards and recognitions to her credit.
You can approach her for good advices.
Trust in an important factor to her.
Very scrupulous.
Doesn’t make any publicity stunts.

Yeah... you can see my name on it!!!
She is someone who abides by the rules.
Likes to take up challenging roles.
There is always a spark in her eyes. They burn with passion.
Has vowed to never undergo plastic surgery again.
Really gets better with age.
She stands up for what she thinks is right.
Everything about her is beautiful and admirable.
Dana Delany is the best!

A Guide To Twitter

2013-01-12T00:21:00.001+05:30

Two friends recently asked me about twitter. They wanted to know how it works and what's so much interesting in it, as they thought Twitter is damn boring. There are loads of people who created an account and later abandoned it forever because they didn't understand how stuff works on Twitter.
Of course, I too am one such person who abandoned Twitter account after some failed attempts to figure it out. I created an account about 5 years ago. Some 5 friends in my email contacts had accounts then, but none of them were active and I followed some other celebrities who were not very active on twitter. So it was very boring, and I left. Actually I forgot about twitter.
If there was someone who had explained how Twitter works, maybe... who knows... I could have been a Twitter celebrity by now :D ;)
Two weeks back, a friend asked to explain twitter in rather simple words. And I sent him the description below in Facebook chat. It's according to his suggestion that I'm posting it on the blog.

Twitter is many things. It is a medium to get direct updates from celebrities/organizations/companies, marketing, publicity, live news etc. But believe me, Boring is not one of them.

For commoners, twitter is mainly about getting updates from important people (celebrities) or organizations that interest us.
For example, Amitabh Bachchan, Greenpeace, Lady Gaga, Nokia, Obama, Sachin Tendulkar, Shashi Tharoor etc.
And for these people, twitter is a media for sharing their latest news, products etc.

Dana Delany's
verified account

Most of the celebs either have personal account or official account. Some of these are Verified accounts, i.e., their authenticity is verified by Twitter (they'll have blue badge with white tick in their profile). The verified account of Dana Delany, my favorite actress, is given here.

HOME

Twitter Homepage

A comparison of Twitter to Facebook is used wherever possible, to make things easier.

Feed: What you’ll find in the main box under "Tweets". Here you'll get the tweets posted/retweeted by people you follow. It’s similar to Facebook Home where the status/photo updates of friends or pages you liked appear in timeline.

The topmost box on your left sidebar gives your profile summary.

Tweets: It’s like the status/photo update on Facebook. Click on the space written “Compose new tweet” and type your update in 140 characters or less. You can also upload photo and add location to the tweets. Click on “Tweet” button below it and it’s posted in your timeline/profile.
Note- A full stop or comma or space counts as one character.

Following: No. of people you have subscribed for updates. Clicking on that button takes you to the list of people you follow.

Followers: No. Of people who are following your tweets. By clicking on it you’ll find the people who are following you.

The second box on sidebar is Twitter's suggestions of people you might like to follow, people of similar interests etc.

The third box shows the current trends.

Trends: Something is "Trending" means that topic is most tweeted about at that moment. Trends can be set according to your interests. You can change your trends to either International (most tweeted internationally) or a specific country. Twitter also provides an option of "Tailored trends" where they create a personalized trend for us based on our interests, the people we follow etc.
licking on a trend takes you to a page showing tweets containing that trend.

Hashtag: It's tagging of words or phrases and makes searching easier. You just have to add a hash symbol before the word/phrase. When you click on the hashtag, twitter presents a list of tweets that have the same hashtag. E.g. #Twitter, #ThatAwkwardMoment, #IndVsPak.

CONNECT

Connect page

This page shows all your connections. Under "Interactions" you'll find

Tweets of other people that are mentioned to you.
Replies to your tweets.
New followers.
Your tweets that were retweeted by other people.
Your tweets that were favorited by other people.

Under "Mentions" you'll find only the first two.

Handle/Username: You cannot have a Twitter account without first creating a handle. Each one should have a unique handle. You can use english alphabets, numbers and underscores for your handle. Every handle starts with '@' symbol. My handle is aNUbOMB. If you type @anubomb in any tweet, it
gets mentioned to me and appears in my Connect page. It is similar to taggging people on Facebook.You can mention more than one people in a tweet.
E.g. If you type

@shreyaghoshal @DanaDelany @RieSinclair @thesushmitasen @arrahman @wwfindia Hello

all these people will see that tweet in their connections. They can reply, retweet, favorite and view the whole conversation using the option under each tweet.

Conversations

View /Hide Conversation: Clicking on this shows/hides the entire conversation related to this particular tweets. The original tweet, the replies to this tweet by other people etc., as given in the example.

Retweet (RT): Retweeting a tweet means that you are including it in your timeline so the people who follow you can see that tweet. It's like Share in Facebook and giving publicity.

Favorite: This is somewhat similar to Like in Facebook. People can view your favorite tweets from your profile.

DISCOVER

Here you can find trending tweets, activities of people you follow, suggestions for who to follow, option to import contacts and to browse different categories of interest.

ME

This is where you can view your profile.

Profile

Direct Message (DM): This service is used to send private messages to the people who follow. They can reply to it only if you are following them back. These don't appear in your timeline either, just like Facebook messages.

In another person's profile, instead of the DM button you'll find FOLLOW button. If you click on it, it will turn to "FOLLOWING" and you'll get their tweets in your feeds. Click on it again to unfollow people.
The blue icon with a quill, on the top right of the window, is used to compose a tweet.
To the right of it (not shown in the photo above) there's another button that collapses/hides all the conversations viewed.

Follow Friday (#FF): It's a common practice in Twitter to suggest other users worth following, on fridays.

Now Playing (#NP or #nowplaying): It is a very common trend on twitter to tweet the song that you are playing at the moment.

#NP Where You Are by @RieSinclair

Hope that covers more than the basics of twitter. Do share your queries and suggestions on this post, in the comment section below.

If you are interested, you can read more such posts in "My Experiments With Twitter" series.

1^st part of this post was about the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter. Those who would like to go through it, please follow this link:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 1

2^nd part describes my reasons for joining twitter and how one can identify Twitter addiction. It can be viewed at:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 2

3^rdpart of it covers some of the celebrity replies/retweets/favorites I've received on twitter. In order to compile this particular post, I have put up a lot of effort. Hope you'll find it interesting:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 3

And have a great time in Twitter.
SOLDIER OOOONNN!!!!!! :)

Cake, Santa And Animal Rights

2012-12-24T21:24:00.001+05:30

Merry Christmas, folks!

Here's a little treat for you:

A Christmas Cake!

Thanks to my sister's photography, it hardly looks like a cake. She took the photo from the displayed cakes of a bakery at our place. Yes, that's right. We didn't buy that cake and we never do.
Every year for Christmas, mom's best friend Rose auntie buys us a cake :)
But now she retired from work, has terrible leg pain and she hardly goes out for shopping. So I get the honour of choosing her cake for our family (and she later pays for it)
Today, after class I went to my fav bakery and ordered a cake. They packed it before I could see the icing. But that wasn't an issue. I could go home, look at the cake as long as I wish to, and even upload a photo of it in the blog.
I reached home, took a bath and with much expectations came to the dining room to admire the beauty of the cake I bought today. What I found was just one slice of cake they left for me :(
I fumed with rage and shouted at everyone at home. Protested to have the piece of cake they left for me.
Yes... I know it was a foolish thing to do, and realized the mistake within seconds... But expectations can be devastating and they can make us do the most stupid thing! :/

One moment I was thinking about the cake I'll never eat because of my unwanted pride. The next moment I found myself trying hard to remember some Xmas carols I learned at school. Then again, the thought was about Santa's reindeers.
Did you know that Santa's reindeers had names? Of course I did and know it by heart too ;)

The association of Santa Claus and reindeers were popularised with 2 songs.
The first one is the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" where Santa is said to have 8 reindeers. Their names are given below. There may be slight variations in spelling, but this is what I learned at school:

The other is a carol "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" where Santa is said to have a single reindeer. The legend goes like this: Rudolph, was different from all others in that he had a red nose. All the others made fun of him and isolated him (Great people are different from others; applicable to reindeers too).One Xmas eve Santa came and asked him if he could ride Santa's sleigh. From that day on everyone started respecting Rudolph!
I'm glad that he finally got accepted! :)

Santa may be a great man. He comes every Christmas and spreading love and joy, rewarding good kids with gifts. But looking from another perspective he can be a very bad man himself. Santa rides around the world in a sleigh PULLED BY REINDEERS! Isn't that something cruel, considering his reputation? It's obvious from the available photographs on Google, that he is an obese person. Just imagine, 8 reindeers (or even worse, just one poor little reindeer Rudolph) carrying his 150+ Kg body and the infinite number of gifts he carries around! Man, that's pathetic :(
Where's maneka Gandhi? Where's PETA? Where are the other Animal-Welfare organizations? :P

Let's hope that these poor creatures get justice by next Christmas. :P

Okay.

So how was 21-12-12? Yes, I know... I'm alive too! :/
That day, a friend's tweet read:

Look at the sky for God's LAST MESSAGE.

and a photo attached to it. Loved that photo; it brought back so many sweet memories of childhood.I'm ending this post with the same photo............

The Post From A Pedagophobic

2012-11-08T20:31:00.002+05:30

Google says I'm suffering from PEDAGOPHOBIA, which is the fear of teachers. That's the only fear I've ever had.
But that wouldn't stop me from publishing this post :P

Here is a collection of some funny dialogues by teachers. They are not just made-up jokes. They actually happened!

Tomorrow will submit your assignments.
Another dialogue by the same teacher
Tomorrow will complete your notebooks.
Whoever this guy/gal Tomorrow is, (s)he sure is a hard-working, selfless person and obviously the teacher's pet!
Whenever she don't know the answer to the doubt we ask, this teacher says
You needn't think so much!

Teacher was drawing a diagram on the board.Our class topper interrupted
Student: Ma'am, this figure is different from that given in our prescribed textbooks...
Teacher: Don't look at that figure. Look at my figure.
Did I mention she had a perfect figure?...like a beer barrel
Tomorrow I will be conducting a surprise test for you on the topic Photosynthesis.
Whoa! It sure did surprise us and we loved it! Expecting more 'surprises'...
One of my project-group mate was running errands and bringing us connection wires, IC etc. for the purpose of project
Teacher to her: So, you're carrying, aren't you?
This girl stood there dumbstruck for a moment.
Student: Ma'am... But......
Teacher: I see you're carrying every components and supplying it to your group.
So that's what you meant by "you're carrying". Gross! And FYI... This girl is not pregnant!
I've received this dialogue in a funny sms some time back, but never believed any teacher would say like that. One teacher actually did!
Teacher shouts to the student who littered through the class window:
Put is put. No more put.
Hard to explain... no words...
Instead of asking "Did you understand?" or "Have you understood?" this teacher always asks
Are you understood?
No sir, I'm Anagha :P
The same teacher has another problem.
He explained the topic. But a girl student named Anna looked confused.
Hello Mr Anna, are you understood?
At first I thought he was kidding, but no, he was damn serious!
There was this Mathematics teacher who covered up almost entire part of the blackboard while writing on it. Her writings and drawings were hardly recognizable and while explaining, she mostly used "this" or "that" instead of unknown variables (e.g. a, x), names of line segments or polynomials (e.g. AB, PQRS). So we hardly understood what she was talking about.
One day, she was explaining some theorem that she scribbled on the board. As usual, we couldn't understand or at least see what's she's talking about.
Teacher was pointing to something she scribbled on the board trying to explain how the theorem was proved by her.
Teacher: THIS plus THIS is equal to THIS. Also, THIS plus THIS is equal to THIS. So... obviously, THIS plus THIS is equal to......?
and she turned to us to get an answer. Everyone were minding their own business. I had a sudden whim to reply to this
Me (pointing vaguely in the direction of the blackboard): ...THIS
Teacher: Yes, THAT'S IT Anagha!!!
Oh... THIS is sooo stupid... God bless her soul.

Paris Hilton was always the perfect choice for bashers ;)

Here are some evergreen dialogues by teachers......

Silence!!! Is this a class or a fish market?
Why are you laughing?
Come here and tell us. We will also laugh...
If you want to talk you can go outside and talk.
Tell me when all of you have finished talking. Only after that I'm continuing with the class.
Finished???
If you are not interested to listen, you can get out.
I won't force you to sit here.
If you don't like to study, then why do you come to school?
Is this what your parents send you to school for?
Are you here to waste your parents' money?
Do you think teachers are fools?
Don't try to act over smart.
You, yes, you! I'm talking to you only. Don't look back.
Do I have squint-eyes?
Why didn't you do the homework?
What did you do the whole day?
I can't hear you.
Didn't you have breakfast today?
(When the teacher makes a mistake and the students identify it)
I was just testing whether you guys are actually listening to the class. Good!
When you're talking in class, you talk very loudly.
When I ask a question, where does all this volume go?
You always forget to take books to class.
Why don't you ever forget to eat or sleep?
This is the worst batch I've seen in my teaching career.
Your juniors/seniors are much better than you.

Serendipity: A vid that was once my fav

2012-08-27T23:27:00.000+05:30

YouTube is a wonder, I’d say! Many a times, simple browsing through the videos has led me to some wonderful discoveries. May be an amazing unbelievable video, or may be a beautiful song/dance, or maybe some new interesting bits of information.

Once I’ve seen a video in which our newly-wed class tutor and her hubby enacted a famous Malayalam film song! It was really weird and embarrassing! :o

Good for her that she resigned from the college before we discovered this video.

(Well... the video is no longer available. Probably they both took it down after reading all our comments. But I should agree that her acting skills are excellent, unlike her teaching skills)

One of my all time favourite songs, WHERE YOU ARE by RIE SINCLAIR, from one of my favourite TV series, GENERAL HOSPITAL, was also serendipity. Watched a video, then watched another video in the suggestions by YouTube, then it connected to another video and so on and finally happened to watch this particular episode, got so addicted to the song played in the background and that’s how I collected all the words I could pick up from it and googled them. Since then, not a day in my life has passed without listening to WHERE YOU ARE. Currently I’ve got all episodes of GENERAL HOSPITAL. And I’ve become a die-hard fan of Rie Sinclair!

Something happened last day in YouTube. I was wasting my time idly browsing through YouTube videos when I finally reached a mind-blowing Tango performance by Rachel Stevens and Vincent Argentine. The lady looked very familiar. I visited her YouTube channel and watched one of her videos. Instantly a smile blossomed on my face and I drifted back to the good old times...

She was a member of the former British teen-pop band S Club 7 whose TV series was broadcast in Nickelodeon India more than a decade back. Yes, it was one of my favourite shows and the ones that introduced me to the world of Music Bands and TV Series :) :) :)

Tina, Jon, Paul, Hannah, Bradley, Rachel and Jo - Oh! How I loved watching those seven youngsters dance and sing and have all the fun together... I used to try dancing along with them (Once, while dancing to S Club Party, I even accidentally hit the glass on the table, cracking it into pieces! From that day onwards dancing was almost banned at home :P)

This TV series featured the band as an aspiring group living in Florida. During every episode they’d play one song of the band. It was a fun series... :)

Often I’d fancy having a boyfriend who looks like Jon 3:)

Jo was the best singer, Tina’s dance was great and Hannah was very cute.

But my personal favourite was Rachel as she seemed extremely cute and pretty, there was something special and unique in her dance moves and I loved the way she shakes her hips and "do her thing" ;)

Though I don’t remember much about the story and other characters, a professor who showers saliva fountain while speaking is still vivid in my memory :D

Guess it was one of the best kids’ programs in Nickelodeon at that time.

You know, I felt so lucky and really very happy to be the kid of '90s who grew up watching and enjoying S Club 7; something that the new generation kids cannot claim!

Missing those times when I used to rush home after school, not wanting to miss even the title song of S Club 7! Wish I could relive those moments......sigh!

Thank you guys - Tina, Jon, Paul, Hannah, Bradley, Rachel and Jo - for making my childhood very special... and thank you YouTube, for helping me rediscover my childhood! <3 <3 <3

The gorgeous lady at the bottom right corner is my fav Rachel <3

“There ain’t no party like an S Club party” B)

Well, do you have any such special songs/series/films that take you back to some treasured moments? What are they? Care to share...... :)

കോഴിക്കോടന്‍ ഭാഷ...... :D

2012-08-08T02:21:00.000+05:30

ഇതൊന്നും പഠിക്കാതെ ഒരൊറ്റൊരെണ്ണം കോഴിക്കോടു കാലുകുത്തിപ്പോകരുത്!

Show Some Love

2012-07-27T23:37:00.001+05:30

Think about the last time you read about something good. It will be difficult, as the world is going through some dark times and rarely do we hear hopeful news.

Yesterday I happened to go through a short but sweet article. Haven't read anything like this in years!

The writing given below is about something that has actually happened.

They say humans are growing selfish, narrow-minded, moral values are degrading and the world is becoming a horrible place. Believe me, this article is going to restore your faith in humanity:

My little sister came home from school one day and demanded I take her to the library so she could get books on sign language.

I asked her why? She told me there was a new kid at school who was deaf and she wanted to befriend him.

Today I stood beside her at their wedding, watching her sign "I do".

If one of us dare to go out of our way to show compassion to our fellow living beings, that could trigger many other people; similar to a chain reaction. Let us perform some random acts of kindness every day. Make the world a better place to live in.

That best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

-William Wordsworth

The Versatile Blogger

2012-07-08T00:04:00.000+05:30

Hello......!!!

I was out of touch of blogging for a while. Final year of college was totally different from the previous 3 years. So fast, so busy, so hectic. Also, many good things happened and now I have a handful of good memories about college life. All thanks to my 4 friends. College life was a book of regrets, if you had asked me last year. But now, my regrets are down to one... not being close to them earlier. That would have solved most of my problems.

Well... It's no use crying over spilled milk.

About 4 months back, I had received a so-called blog award. It is more like an honour. Thank you Devan, for choosing this blog for the honour of The Versatile Blogger Award. His blog can be accessed here: eurEKA, devan expresses...!

It seems there are a few rules and conditions for the acceptance of this award, which are:

1.Paste this award on your blog.

2. Thank the person who gave you this award.

3. Pass this award to 15 fellow bloggers.

4. Share 7 random facts about yourself.

Choosing 15 fellow bloggers was a tough task. Actually, I don't know much blogs. Here's a random list of blogs I selected for passing on this award:

1. an accidental Engineer..

2. മായാലോകം

3. The PsyKiK Writer

4. ബഷീറിയന്‍ നുറുങ്ങുകള്‍

5. ജീവിതത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്

6. വളപ്പൊട്ടുകള്‍

These are the seven Random Facts about me:

1. Can't stand spelling, pronunciation and grammar mistakes.

2. Hate it when people throw away wastes (even chocolate wrappers) carelessly or spit on the road.

3. Use a lot of punctuations and smiley while typing.

4. Can sleep early, but can't get up early :P

5. Extreme fan of Julia Roberts, Sushmita Sen, Nana Patekar (I was never able to see or contact them), Padma Subramaniam, Divya Dutta, Nandita Das, Rie Sinclair, Madhuri Dixit, Surya Dinkar and so on (forgetting the fact that the latter had to block me in Facebook, I've contacted or at least seen once all these 6 people)

6. Love TV series like FRIENDS, House MD, Avatar-The Last Air Bender, Vampire Diaries, I Dream Of Jeannie, General Hospital etc.

7. Really really hate this name of my blog, cRAZY THOUGHTS oF aNU. Will change it soon :)

Congratulations to you guys... Pass it on...... :)

A Tribute To Shreya Ghoshal

2012-02-11T02:37:00.000+05:30

Translation:

This Bengali lass, who came into our lives yesterday,

is the new Voice and Face of Kerala!

Hats off to you, sister!!!

Oh! BTW, I had tweeted Shreya Ghoshal this photo. She replied with a thanks and I got more than 50 retweets for that :)

The Oprah Mahal

2012-01-22T01:54:00.000+05:30

MY LIFE HAS BEEN A TAJ MAHAL.

-OPRAH WINFREY

What does that even mean??? Well… Here are some possible guesses of what’s in her mind…

Would you dare to spot out the differences???

She was born in 1631 (Ooh! She must be older than the oldest living turtle!)
After Oprah’s birth, the fingers of the doctors and nurses were chopped so that they would not deliver another master piece like her.
Her dad created her in loving memory of his 3^rd wife.
Around 20,000 people worked on her.
1000s of elephants were employed to transport materials required to construct her (Well... at least she doesn't look so heavy)
She appears in different colours during different times of the day (Hmm... That explains 'the changing moods of women' stuff)
She is a mausoleum.
Some important studies reveal that she is sinking.
She attracts about 2-4 million visitors annually with over 200,000 from overseas.
She costs around 100 million American dollars (That may be true)
She is one of the wonders of the world (I should agree to that!)
The pollution is turning her skin yellow, which was originally white.
Acid rain deteriorates her.
The legendary musician A R Rahman has composed an Oprah Anthem, supposedly to make people aware of the importance of saving the great OW.

There are so much more possibilities to think of, as long as she doesn't cares to explain what she actually had in her mind!

Anyway, I'm happy that Oprah Winfrey at least cared to visit India. (And this, most probably, is going to be her last visit too!)

My Experiments With Twitter Part 3

2011-12-12T03:36:00.000+05:30

1^st part of this post was about the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter.

Those who would like to go through it, please follow this link:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 1

2^nd part describes my reasons for joining twitter and how one can identify Twitter addiction. It can be viewed at:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 2

To know what twitter is or for a basic guide to twitter, you can refer to one of my later posts in this blog:
A Guide To Twitter

This post is going to be the last post in "My Experiments With Twitter" series. It covers some of the Celebrity replies, retweets and favorited tweets in my credit. They are not the direct screenshots. I've linked together the conversations simply using MS Paint. This post is a bible/guiding light/source of inspiration to all those who are dying to get a reply/retweet from your favorite celebrity.I'll be the happiest person if this post helps at least one guy to succeed in this sacred mission! (Please let me know if you find it helpful)

The 1^st surprise given to me in Twitter was by South Indian film star Rima Kallingal. She favorited my first ever tweet to her!:

Music director Narayananunni is also there on twitter in this handle: @vettila. I was so excited that I instantly sent him a screenshot of it! This was a good start. That day I got the first impulse to try for more and compile it in a blog post.

After that, I tried a dozen times to get a reply or retweet from Rima. But only recently I got a chance to strike her, when she became active in Mullaperiyar issue. She retweets all mentions to her on that topic. I got not only a retweet, but also a reply:

Yes! Creativity plays an important role for surviving in Twitter... :D ;) 3:)

There's this wonderful lady, who is a gifted actor, talented anchor, and, unlike certain other celebrities, cares to reply to her fans. She has replied to more than 10 tweets of mine... and she is one of my favorite personalities, DIVYA DUTTA!
Her first tweet to me :))

I guess DD & Shreya Ghoshal suffer from insomnia; they are active in twitter usually during the hours of darkness:

DD also has a refined collection of such cool pics:

But it's so sad that her true potential is never esteemed:

Padmashri Dr Resul Pookutty is not a stranger to this blog. We've known him before. Ref: Resul Pookutty reloaded......!!! (Malayalam article on an interview with him for college magazine)

When the 1^st picture with him was clicked, I was standing at the right end of that pic. Thank God, the pic wasn't clear. Before his bodyguard clicked the next pic, I directly requested Mr Pookutty, "Sir, can I please stand near you for this pic?" He replied, "Ladies always have first preference... Come, stand here, close to me :)"

This historical photo is there in our college magazine.
I'm the one holding a paper:

My next prey was Raima Sen. I had seen her Bengali film "The Japanese Wife" some months back and loved it a lot, but, only recently did I know that she was Raima Sen, the daughter of actor Moon Moon Sen, sister of actor Riya Sen, and a noted actor herself! (Sorry, my knowledge about Hindi films is limited)
Raima Sen has also starred opposite Narain in the Malayalam film Veeraputhran.

Raima Sen's birthday was on November 7^thand I had sent a tweet wish. She tweeted "Thank you twitterverse". That was a general thanks but I wanted something more, something special:

Without knowing that he is the famous Malayalam director, I once had a tweet chat with Lijo Jose Pellissery. Finally, when I realized it was him:

A RT from PETA India when #5words was a trend:

The following tweet was something I had sincerely longed for. The gorgeous lady, the sensation and youth icon of India, SHREYA GHOSHAL! She has a lot of followers and gets thousands of tweets every day. So it was a difficult task for me to get her attention. Many a times I tried, but in vain.
Finally with the help of another Twitter friend @vin2ktalks, I achieved it!
Here's how we won her attention:

yippee!!!!!!

Hard work, sincerity, consistency, determination and optimism pays 0:)
This amazing lady recently surprised me with a reply. It was totally unexpected and, literally, I was jumping with joy!

For this tweet, I also got some 15 retweets!

There are some fake accounts too in Twitter. One of them was that of South Indian film star Ananya. It was clear from his/her tweets that (s)he is fake. The logic is simple: 9 out of his/her 10 tweets say she's original. From the psychological point of view we can confirm that's duplicate Ananya.

In that direct message (DM) she sent me, she said that she put up the pic so everyone will understand that the account belongs to original Ananya. But that pic was available to anyone who knew to use Google Image search :P
I still remember the envy of some tweeple when duplicate Ananya followed me! Ha!
Rima Kallingal verified that Ananya was not on twitter and within a short time this dupe account got deleted!

End of the original post.

After publishing this post, I sent a personal tweet to everyone who was a part of it. Raima Sen replied again:

Sanjeev Thomas is AR Rahman's lead guitarist and a singer/composer himself. He sang "Nenjinullil" from the Malayalam film "Diamond necklace" and also did the theme song of CCL Kerala Tuskers. I knew him before. Long story......
Anyway,

Madhuri Dixit started her twitter account only recently. She never used to reply to any tweets and I don't expect replies when tweeting her. But one very fine day,

That was a good start for her. Now she often replies to fans!

Twitter is not only a medium for fun and connecting with friends, but also a great platform for interaction with different organizations.
I connected with Greenpeace via Twitter.

Managed to get some RTs from Shashi Tharoor, Resul Pookkutty and Raima Sen and hence my petition to Railway Minister got promoted.
(Ref: Working For A Good Change )

RT from Shashi Tharoor

Slowly I broadened my reach to international level too ;) ;) ;)

Rie Sinclair is an artist whom I discovered only recently. She is not only one of the best singers ever, but also a song writer, music composer, guitarist, model and many more...and she has made her mark in all these fields! Her songs were Emmy nominated twice, in 2006 and in 2012.
Tweets from my favourite songstress

You should check out her song Where You Are. It's awesome!!!

PS:Don't believe her. The lyrics I assumed was utter rubbish!

This lady is amazingly talented. I'm a total fan of hers, perhaps her biggest fan ever! No other tweet has ever made me as happy as this one did!

Thank you Rie, for your love, for inspiring me, and for your eternal music :)

Dana Delany... the 2-times Emmy award winning actress...
Though she's not so famous, I seriously think she's one of the best! Her role as Katherine Mayfair in the super hit TV series Desperate Housewives mesmerized me! She is also the lead in the ongoing TV series Body Of Proof. Dana gives voice to Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane and Batman's ex-fiancée Andrea Beaumont in the animated series.

Later I discovered that India Post has withdrawn IR coupon service and I contacted Dana again. In a day she tweeted:

I bet there's no other actor who does so much for fans!
Dana has restored many people's faith that celebrities will reply to their tweets! I love asking her silly questions. And the best part is that she mostly answers! :D

Isn't she awesome...???
Quoting a friend, "I could turn lesbian for her!"
This is the least I could do: 75 Reasons Why I Love Dana Delany

S Club 7 ( Miami 7) is one of the bands that introduced me to western music, bands and big labels. (Ref: Serendipity: A Vid That Was Once My Fav). Rachel Stevens was always my favourite among the 7 members of the band. She was also the runner-up of the 6th season of BBC's reality show Strictly Come Dancing. She usually don't reply to fans; she just RTs it. I've been begging for her reply at an average rate of 20 tweets per week :P
And unlike other fans, I got a "hi" and a kiss too ;)

Well... On a december midnight I was having an sms chat with my friend. Along with texting, she was also watching the film "Samay", starring Sushmita Sen. I told her that I love Sushmita Sen a lot, but she never replies to my tweets :( :( :( and my friend teased me saying that the reason she love Sushmita is that Sush doesn't reply to insane tweeters like me :/
I took it as a challange and instantly tweeted Sushmita (even though I wasn't sure of getting a reply). Today morning, I was thrilled to see that Sushmita has replied to that tweet!!!
From her previous tweets it was clear that she plays a major role in grooming the Miss Universe contestant from India, the adorable lady, Shilpa Singh. Sushmitaji had also shared a link to Vote for Shilpa.

Moral: Strike while the iron is hot!

If you've watched at least one episode of the TV show Gossip Girl you would have definitely noticed the character Lily van der Woodsen, played by Kelly Rutherford. I love Kelly, but not in a 'I love Dana Delany' or 'I love Meryl Streep' way. She is so sweet, cute, funny and I love her smile, look, fashion and some of her trademark expresions. Still trying to figure out why she replied to this tweet!!!

That's all folks :) :) :)
Other than celebrity tweets, I also got many friends on twitter. If I mention all their names, that would be content for another post titled "All those who made 'My Experiments With Twitter' series Possible!" Once again thank you every one who made this post. Sorry for some of the bitter fights I had on twitter.

This series, My Experiments With Twitter, is in particular, dedicated to two of my special friends/brothers @vaisakhvsk and @vin2ktalks.

A word of gratitude to my real-life friend, @nikh_nk who helped me abandon my old handle @aNU_rELOADED and choose the new one, @aNUbOMB :)

I also thank all others whose names are not mentioned here.
And don't be reluctant to contact me if you need any assistance for getting replies. I'll do my best! ;) Thanks again :)

My Experiments With Twitter Part 2

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000+05:30

1^st part of this post was about the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter.

Those who would like to go through it, please follow this link:

My Experiments With Twitter Part 1

It was some 3 years back I started using Twitter. But it seemed an unknown world to me. Not a single friend of mine was using Twitter at that time. Now I would like to share with you some of the reasons why I started tweeting even though none of my friends were in Twitter.

The ban on Facebook and Orkut in the computer labs of our college.
Inbuilt mobile app for using Twitter.
Long and boring study leaves, when I had nothing else to do except exploring new websites, cool apps & software, top rated videos on Youtube, and downloading films.
Some of the celebrated or talked-over or controversial tweets and media obsession on it.
In a hope that, one day, I too might become a celebrated tweeter. ;)
Ease for my fans to follow me! Ha! :P

Somebody once told me that those things which you don’t understand mostly seem boring (I guess that ‘somebody’ is me…). Also, the first person I followed on Twitter was Malaika Arora, who was active only in Facebook, and just had a namesake account in Twitter. Within weeks I abandoned Twitter.

Even though I never entered it, that account was linked to my blog and so blog updates were published automatically.

It was during my previous study leave that I re-entered Twitter. Not remembering the old password, I had to reset the password and finally opened.

Practice makes one perfect. So I practiced daily and hence became active in Twitter.

Now, how can you check whether you are addicted to twitter universe?

You open the web browser and automatically hit ‘T’ on keyboard, followed by the ‘Enter’ key; obviously, www.twitter.com will be the 1^st option in the auto suggestions of the search engine.
You want to create a new mail id and you check the availability of your twitter handle as your new username.
When you reply to comments in Facebook you add ‘@’ before the person’s name.
You have a tendency to use ‘#’ tags for important or special words/phrases/names even in other social networking sites. E.g. #SaveMullaPeriyar or #Kolaveri.
Nowadays you don’t use ‘@’ to mention places. E.g.: before you used to type ‘@College’ or ‘@Kerala’, but now you type ‘at College’ or ‘@ Kerala’. In twitter they may refer to other users even though you were talking about a place.
You desperately want to get a Bharti Airtel/Reliance/Tata Docomo/Videocon SIM as these alone provide text message notification services in Twitter India.
Just after getting up or just before going to bed you check notifications.
When you have many tabs opened in the browser window, one of them will definitely be Twitter.
Something important/unusual/good happens and you say “let me tweet about it”.
(Now this one is my favourite and refers to students like me) You are answering a 15-marks question, which you are supposed to write in more than two answer sheets, but you end up writing less than 140 characters!!!

If any of these applies to you, then you are an addict!

Next post will be a list of Celebrity replies, retweets and favourites to my tweets. I'm sure that will be useful to at least some twitter freaks :)

My Experiments With Twitter Part 1

2011-12-01T02:30:00.000+05:30

This post is the first part of my take on Twitter.

Even though I started a twitter account some 4 years back, I became active and got addicted to it in the past few months. Getting introduced to Twitter without any previous knowledge about it, is like a 2 year old baby being gifted with a playstation.

During a study leave, I created an account. I wasn't left with a choice of username/handle I had in mind, so was forced to take a weird handle. Then I tried my best to understand it. But by that time, study leave got over. So I abandoned Twitter. Actually, I had totally forgotten about it till the recent study leave! I’m sure that many of you had the same experience. But this time I got a study leave of around 2 months, including 10 days of Onam vacation (Advantage of belonging to Kerala), original study leave of about 2 weeks and postponing of exams (thanks to CALICUT UNIVERSITY!). So I decided to explore twitter and understand it better. That’s how I officially entered the wonderful world of tweets!

This post covers some of the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter.

Advantages

Simple layout
Less complicated design
Easy procedures
Simple to use
Privacy of personal information (if you prefer that)
Most of the present-day cellular phones have inbuilt apps for twitter
You can capitalize any letters of username/handle unlike Facebook. No issues such as 1^st letter not capitalized, too many capitals etc.
Capitalization doesn’t affect the destination of reply. Eg: instead of @ aNU_9_10_90 you typed @Anu_9_10_90, it still reaches @aNU_9_10_90
Ability to follow celebrity updates
Let them know what you have to say. Even if they don’t reply, they will read it, provided they know twitter well
Rarely, get surprised and delighted to see them reply to your tweets to them (depends on the person you tweet. Detailed descriptions in later sections)
Can verify accounts of important people (though presently Twitter has stopped the verification facility)
Any idiot can have followers provided you follow and follow back everyone (will come to the details in later sections)
Improve leadership quality (Having followers implies that you are the leader!)
Communication with different kinds of people from across the world without revealing your (and of course, their ) identity
Simplicity of sharing information (following, followers, tweets, retweets and favourites)
Ideas can be expressed in just 140 characters. No need of bloody explanations as in exams
Help us to be very efficient with words
Teach us to become point-specific
Make us capable of using given resources efficiently (and thereby)
Train us to manage crises

Disadvantages

Only 140 characters allowed in each tweet
Chatterboxes cannot survive here
Username is restricted to alphabets, numbers and underscores”_”. Spaces and characters like .#$*>” etc. not allowed
Most of the usernames you have in mind would already be in use, finally being forced to end up with some stupid, long names with underscores “_” and numerical characters, like aNU_9_10_90 (that’s my DOB)
When replying to or mentioning someone, their username consumes a part of the allowed 140 characters. Eg: if you re replying to aNU_9_10_90, then you type “@aNU_9_10_90 blah blah blah” 13 characters are consumed by the handle
This problem occurs mainly with accounts of important people. You cannot be sure whether the account originally belongs to that particular celebrity unless it is a verified account or any of the tweeple (twitter+people) confirms it with the original person.
Twitter for mobile phones is not available for all models unless there is an inbuilt app
This disadvantage is mainly targeted to the male audience. Gals are less in Twitter (maybe ‘coz we gals find the restriction of 140 characters extremely difficult and bullshit!)

Ha! If I had taken this trouble to write my exams, I would not have had so many arrears to my credits!!!

More details of Twitter to be covered in the coming post……………………

A LOT CAN HAPPEN OVER COFFEE ;)

2011-11-22T03:30:00.000+05:30

My article in our college magazine this year, fx991ES
A Lot Can Happen Over Coffee *wink*
(An "A" is printed extra. Don't know what actually happened or who added that)

Please give your frank opinion on this story.
To be very frank, I hadn't liked the story very much. Many of you might not like Aparna asking Richard to keep in touch; they've known hardly for a few hours! This creates an impression (well... to be precise, only in Kerala) that she's not a good girl. When I was about to modify the situations, all my friends who read the rough copy suggested that I needn't make further modifications and that it is better than Silpachechiyude Ormaykku. Hence, that rough copy became my article for the magazine!
Now an explanation to the given problem:
Maybe Aparna too felt that same "UNDEFINED SOMETHING" for Richard...
Maybe because she's more like cool a Chennai girl than a Keralite...
After all, it's just a Fiction, like Silpachechiyude Ormaykku. Come on... cool down... and enjoy the journey with them... B-)
And don't forget... SHARE SOME LOVE... LEAVE A COMMENT.........! :))

8-LEGGED FREAKS!!!

2011-09-27T22:16:00.000+05:30

Lying flat on my bed yesterday night, and staring at the ceiling, my thoughts wandered madly. Suddenly it hooked up at something...

All children suffer from different types of fears. Most of them disappear with time. As a child, I had two fears: Spiders & Teachers (The latter one, unfortunately, still exist. Ref: An Idea Can Change Your Life) Spiders are a species that most kids fear. They are omnipresent too (i.e., present everywhere). If there were houses without spiders, I would have done anything to escape into one. :D Sometimes, I've blamed God, for producing such spooky creatures on earth, good for nothing but to scare the hell out of us. (That was before our science teacher taught us the biological impacts and the need of spiders in nature)

My house is an abode of spiders. Especially the bathrooms were their breeding grounds. A variety of spiders, small, medium, big, male, female, mutilated, mommies carrying eggs; all these are present here. Out of this vast variety, the scary ones carrying big white egg sacs on their abdomen are the most fearsome. I've also witnessed tiny baby spiders slowly getting out of these sacs and gradually spreading on the wall! Even now, thinking of that scene makes my hair stand attention and body go weak!

Every time I go to the bathroom, I used to check whether the spiders can be seen in their usual places. If yes, I used to be relieved. Else, I go inside expecting the worst to happen. Who can guarantee that they are not resting on the soap dish or won’t pop out from the toilet seat? :P

But for the past few months, I haven't come across even a single spider. It made me worry about spider communities. Being a nature lover, I was worried whether they are in a threat to extinction. In fact, am I missing those awful creatures??? Nee… no chance…

But something was wrong then. I rubbed my eyes and looked again at the spot where I was staring before. Lo! This whole time I was staring at an 8-legged freak! 7-legged freak, to be specific. This guy was handicapped. I thanked God for saving a very important link in ecosystem, from the threat to extinction. I also thanked Him for not giving wings for spiders. Else, they would have been ten times more spooky and scary…

Wait!!! Did I hear my sister screaming from the bathroom “Amma, here there are three spiders……!” ???

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake Up

2011-09-06T23:20:00.000+05:30

That was a wonderful day. Anu was returning home after participating in a Tech fest. Sitting in the train, she took out her wallet, made of pure leather, bought from an expensive branded shop in Kolkata. Only very rarely did that wallet carry money greater than its MRP!

Rs 5000/- for a team of five. So each person gets Rs 1000/-. That was a handsome reward for bagging first place in a Treasure Hunt. She counted the money once again and safely stuffed it into her original Wrangler jean. Anu looked at her Fastrack watch. The time was 4:10 pm. The train would start in 5 minutes. If it started on time there's no other delay, she would reach home at around 7 pm. Plugging the headphone into her ears, Anu slowly lay back. She felt very relaxed on listening to her favorite track "Where You Are"...

Anu always fancied being known as the ‘Branded Girl’ of the school & college. How her heart beat when she held Ray-Ban glasses or Lee T-shirt… and the happiness of owning one… She felt like a Princess…… Now this money she earned will be going for a Reebok shoe :)

The train grudged and growled and finally started off its journey. There were more vendors inside the train than the passengers. Anu got so irritated. She increased the volume or her I pod and closed her eyes. Now she felt much better.

Anu opened her eyes again. A voice was piercing her ears. She looked up and found a teenage girl, along with a small child, probably her sibling, selling pens. Though she had no intention of buying that pen, Anu inquired its price, just to start a conversation with her. One pen cost Rs 20/-. Anu carefully examined the pen. It was "4-coloured" as the lad demands; black, blue, red and green. It was made of low quality plastic and two out of four colors of the pen that Anu tried, were unemployed (i.e., they were not in working condition). On one end, there was a funny face wearing a cap, with long thread attached to it, to wear around the neck.

"Twenty rupees is excess. Can you give two pens for twenty five?" Anu was in for a bargain. But she never expected this girl to settle for it. Anu had no other option but buy two pens for Rs 25/-

From the short conversation, Anu came to know that the girl's name was Lachmi.

"Lachmi, why do you waste your time and energy selling things in train?" Anu asked her.

"Doing a job and making money is better than just begging around"

"I mean why don't you go to study?"

"I come from a very poor family. Our parents are doing the same job. They can't afford to send us to school. If I do a job, that will be a suport for my family" she blushed.

She also said that her dream is to send her little brother to school!

Anu wanted to tell her about the free schooling programs and bans on child labour. But she wondered whether this girl would understand such things. Moreover, the girl chose it herself. She was very determined and had a big dream (even though the fulfillment of that dream was a big question mark in front of her).

There weren't any more questions. Anu took out her leather wallet. She counted all her cousins and second cousins, all of them studying in Lower Primary or less. There were twenty five of them. Anu took out a fresh 500 rupee note from her branded wallet......

While stuffing twenty five pens into her Diesel bag, she managed to take a look at Lachmi's face. Her eyes were wide with surprise. She thanked Anu and walked away...

The Anu of this story can be you or me. Anu could have stopped her from doing this job. She could have called to the helpline number 1098. She could have saved Lachmi from these sufferings. But she didn't do that. Why? Ask yourself. May be because we all suffer from the TBTC (Too Busy To Care) Syndrome. Let this not happen to another Lachmi. Let us fight against child-labour.Let us provide children with their basic rights of food, shelter, clothing and education. Let us wake up............

blah blah blah

2011-08-30T03:49:00.000+05:30

It has been more than one month since i last blogged! One important news is that I lost my cellphone :( That friday i bunked the last hour and left for home. I very well remember stuffing the phone into the pant's pocket before getting into the bus. But on reaching the railway station, the phone was missing. May be I hadn't put it carefully into the pocket. May be it fell down when i sat on/ got up from the bus seat. Now, in order to search for the missing phone inside the bus, the next friday also I got out of the college early ;) I told the conductor that my phone was missing and whether they had found it. His reply was a big "NO". Even if they get it, will they give it back? Atleast, all are not be Mahatma Gandhi-s and Mother Theresa-s.

Well... I was kinda busy with seminars, mini project report, main project topic...all those stuffs an Engineering student has to face at some point of life. Usually, while taking lots for, say, presenting a seminar,my name comes first (this doesn't apply for a lottery ticket or lucky dip though!) This time also, my number was 3 and i had to finish off the seminar on the first day itself. The topic, abstracts, presentation slides, reports... everything was prepared in a hurry. So obviously there were many faults. It always happens to the 1st numbers;the Guinea pigs. But in one way, I'm happy. I never have to ask "Mera Number Kab Aayega?" I always say "Ab Mera Number Hai!" or "Hello,Hi ,Bye Bye!" Also it is said that the first students always get a consideration; even if they don't get, in reality.

Well... It's the month of Ramadaan and all of us, irrespective of religion, are eagerly awaiting for the moon/chandran to appear(Religion is not a barrier to enjoy public holidays, especially for us, the Keralites). I was gazing at the sky in search of a trace of chandran. But today i saw only 'Chandran'uncle and he is our neighbour..

Wonder why none of my Muslim friends invited me to their homes :(

Dear friends, though i appear to eat a lot, I don't have the capacity to eat much now a days; just 2 plates of biriyani,four rotis, one plate gobi dry fry, one plate mushroom masala...etc... for one time meal... isn't it very simple meal??? So please invite me :D

Am getting bored of sitting idle at home. Sometimes I drive my Black Beauty, Honda Activa...mostly for dropping my sister and picking her from music class. During the initial stages of my driving, once I happened to lose control over the scooter and both of us fell on the ground (but that was not a problem with the driving; there is a sharp and steep curve near the music class. When i gave side to a car, my leg slipped from the sloping road and that's how we fell down). Yesterday we were takling about that fall when we reached that same place. So I said "...but now a days I drive very smoothly..."

BANG!!!

The three of us (Akku, scooter and I) were lying down. We somehow got up before everyone there gathered around. After that, I never said a word about my driving :D

When we were waiting for bus near Shoranur railway station, the bus in which my cellphone got lost, was passing in the opposite direction. On seeing that bus, i chuckled. My friend asked "What happened?" I said that i lost the phone in this particular bus. "Then why don't you ask them?" "I've already done that honey...but they said they didn't find it :(" "They may be lying. You can't believe these people""may be they didn't get it for real..." "May be they got it and still keeping quiet..." "Hmmm... may be......"
As said before... All are not Mahatma G-s and Mother T-s............!

തിരൂര്‍ സ്റ്റേഷനിലെ ചായക്കട - രണ്ടാം ഖണ്ഡം

2011-07-11T03:00:00.000+05:30

ഈ പോസ്റ്റിന്റെ ഒന്നാം ഭാഗം വായിച്ചവര്‍ക്ക് മാത്രമേ ഈ രണ്ടാം ഭാഗം പൂര്‍ണ്ണമായും മനസ്സിലാകൂ...

ഭാഗം: ഒന്ന്

ദിവസം: ഫെബ്രുവരി 11, 2011, വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച വൈകുന്നേരം

വേദി: തിരൂര്‍ സ്റ്റേഷനിലെ കാന്റീന്‍

http://crazyanu90.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post_14.html

തുടര്‍ന്ന് വായിക്കുക...

ഭാഗം: രണ്ട്

ദിവസം: ഫെബ്രുവരി 25, 2011, തിങ്കളാഴ്ച വൈകുന്നേരം

വേദി: തിരൂര്‍ സ്റ്റേഷനിലെ ആ കാന്റീന്‍

അന്നത്തെ സംഭവം നടന്നിട്ട് ഇന്നേക്ക് കൃത്യം മൂന്നാഴ്ച കഴിഞ്ഞു. ശനിയാഴ്ച ക്ലാസ്സ്‌ ഉള്ളപ്പോള്‍, സാധാരണ കോഴിക്കോട് ഭാഗത്തേക്ക് പോകാറുള്ളവര്‍ ആരും വരാറില്ല. ശനിയാഴ്ച ലീവ് എടുക്കാന്‍ എനിക്ക് ആകെ കൂട്ടുണ്ടാകാറുള്ള രണ്ട് കോഴിക്കോടുകാര്‍ (ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ശനിയാഴ്ച ക്ലാസ്സൊന്നും ബാധകമല്ല), അന്നേ ശനിയാഴ്ച നല്ല കുട്ടികളായി ക്ലാസ്സില്‍ ഇരിക്കാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. അന്ന് വൈകുന്നേരം, സ്ഥിരം പോകാറുള്ള പാസ്സഞ്ചര്‍ ട്രെയിനില്‍ ഞാന്‍ ഒറ്റയ്ക്കായിരുന്നു. കുറച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍, മറ്റൊരു എഞ്ചിനീയറിംഗ് കോളേജിലെ രണ്ടാം വര്‍ഷ വിദ്യാര്‍ത്ഥിയെ പരിചയപ്പെട്ടു കത്തിയടിയും ആരംഭിച്ചു. പിന്നെ കുറെ നേരം സ്ഥലകാലബോധമില്ലാതെ ഗംഭീര വാചകമടിയായിരുന്നു (ദൈവം സഹായിച്ച് അതിന് ഒരിക്കലും ഒരു ക്ഷാമവും ഉണ്ടായിട്ടില്ല). അങ്ങെനെ വണ്ടി തിരൂരെത്തി. ജനലിലൂടെ പുറത്തു നോക്കിയപ്പോഴേക്ക് അതാ... നമ്മുടെ ചായക്കട! അവര്‍ അന്നത്തെ ഒരു 20 രൂപ തിരിച്ചു തരാനുണ്ട്‌.

ചോദിക്കണോ?

വേണ്ട...

ചോദിച്ചാലോ?

വേണ്ട... 3 ആഴ്ച മുന്നേയുള്ള സംഭവമല്ലേ. അയാള്‍ മറന്നുപോയിക്കാണും. മാത്രമല്ല, അന്ന് അവിടെ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന അയാള്‍ തന്നെ ഇന്നും അവിടെ ഉണ്ടാകണമെന്നില്ലല്ലോ... വേണ്ട...

എന്നാലും... ചോദിച്ചേക്കാം...

വേണ്ട...

ഇങ്ങനെ ധര്‍മ്മസങ്കടത്തില്‍ അകപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നതു കണ്ട എന്റെ പുതിയ സുഹൃത്ത്‌ കാര്യം തിരക്കി. വള്ളി-പുള്ളി വിടാതെ അവനു കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ വിശദമാക്കി കൊടുത്തു.

"ബെറ്ദേ ഒന്ന് ചോദിച്ച് നോക്കിക്കോളീ... കിട്ടിയാ കിട്ടി. അല്ലെങ്കി ചട്ടി!"

അവന്റെ വാക്കുകള്‍ എനിക്കൊരു പ്രചോദനമായി.

ട്രെയിന്‍ എടുക്കാറായിട്ടു കൂടി, പുറത്തിറങ്ങി, അവിടെയുള്ള ഔട്ട്‌ലെറ്റില്‍ നില്‍ക്കുന്ന ആളോട് ചോദിച്ചു,

"ഏട്ടാ, ഏകദേശം മൂന്നാഴ്ച മുന്നേ......"

പറഞ്ഞു തുടങ്ങിയപ്പോഴേക്കും ആ ഏട്ടന്‍ തിരിച്ചിങ്ങോട്ട് ചോദിച്ചു,

"ഓ... അന്ന് ഇതേ ട്രെയിനില്‍ വന്നു ചായക്ക്‌ കാശു തന്ന്, ട്രെയിന്‍ വിട്ടപ്പോള്‍ ചായ വാങ്ങിക്കാതെ തിരിച്ചു കയറിയ കുട്ടിയല്ലേ... ഓര്‍മ്മയുണ്ട്, ഓര്‍മ്മയുണ്ട്..." എല്ലാം ഒറ്റ ശ്വാസത്തില്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞു!

"അതെ ഏട്ടാ"

"20 രൂപയല്ലേ. ഇതാ. (BG മ്യൂസിക്‌ ആയി ട്രെയിനിന്റെ ചൂളം വിളി). അയ്യോ, ട്രെയിന്‍ അതാ നീങ്ങിത്തുടങ്ങി! ഇന്നാ പിടിച്ചോ 20 രൂപ. വേഗം ഓടിക്കോ; ട്രെയിന്‍ മിസ്സ്‌ ചെയ്യേണ്ട"

ഒളിമ്പിക്സ് ദീപശിഖയേന്തി പി. റ്റി. ഉഷ ഓടുന്നതുപോലെ കടക്കാരന്റെ കയ്യില്‍ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന 20 രൂപയും പിടിച്ചു ഞാന്‍ ട്രെയിന്‍ ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കി ഓടി.

അങ്ങനെ ട്രെയിനും കിട്ടി, 20 രൂപയും കിട്ടി :))

ഭാഗം: മൂന്ന്

ദിവസം: ജൂലൈ 4, 2011, തിങ്കളാഴ്ച വൈകുന്നേരം

വേദി: തിരൂര്‍ സ്റ്റേഷനിലെ നമ്മുടെ ആ പഴയ കാന്റീന്‍ തന്നെ

ഇന്ന് രാവിലത്തെ പാസ്സഞ്ചറില്‍ കോളെജിലേക്ക് പോയതെ ഉള്ളു; എന്നാല്‍ ആന്‍ ജെസ്സിയും ഞാനും പനി പ്രമാണിച്ച് വൈകുന്നേരത്തെ പാസ്സഞ്ചറില്‍ തിരിച്ചു കോഴിക്കോട്ടേക്ക്... ;) കൂടെ തിരൂര്‍ക്കാരനായ ഒരു സീനിയര്‍ ഏട്ടനും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.

തിരൂര്‍ സ്റ്റേഷനില്‍ അവസാനമായി കാലു കുത്തിയിട്ട് കൃത്യം നാലു മാസമായി. ഏട്ടന്‍ ഇറങ്ങി. അന്നും വണ്ടി നിര്‍ത്തിയപ്പോള്‍ ഞങ്ങള്‍ ആ ചായക്കടയുടെ നേരെ മുന്നിലായിരുന്നു! ഞങ്ങള്‍ അന്യോന്യം നോക്കി.

"മോനേ... മനസ്സില്‍ ലഡ്ഡു പൊട്ടി!!!"

വീണ്ടും ട്രെയിനിന്റെ പുറത്തിറങ്ങി. കയ്യില്‍ 50 രൂപയുടെ നോട്ട്. ഔട്ട്‌ലെറ്റില്‍ പോയി രണ്ടു കാപ്പി ഓര്‍ഡര്‍ ചെയ്തു (ഇത്തവണ ഒരു ചെയിഞ്ചിന് കാപ്പിയാക്കി). കാപ്പി കൂട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അയാള്‍ എന്നോട് ചോദിച്ചു,

"ഇതിനു മുന്നേ ഇവിടെ വന്നിട്ടുണ്ടോ?"

"ഉണ്ട്"

"അന്നൊരിക്കല്‍ ചായ ഓര്‍ഡര്‍ ചെയ്ത്, വാങ്ങിക്കാതെ പോയ..."

"(ഒരു ചമ്മിയ ചിരിയോടെ ഞാന്‍) അതെ, ആ 20 രൂപ പിന്നെ വന്നു വാങ്ങിച്ചു"

"ഓര്‍മ്മയുണ്ട് :) "

ഇയാള്‍ തന്നെയാണോ കഴിഞ്ഞ മൂന്നു പ്രാവശ്യവും ഇവിടെയുണ്ടായിരുന്നത്?

പിന്നെയും എന്തൊക്കെയോ പറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ട് അയാള്‍ കാപ്പി ആദ്യത്തെ ഗ്ലാസ്സിലേക്ക്‌ ഒഴിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ വണ്ടിയുടെ ചൂളം വിളി.

"ദാ, വണ്ടി എടുക്കുന്നു. വേഗം കയറിക്കോളൂ"

അതും പറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ട് അയാള്‍ രണ്ടാമത്തെ കപ്പിലേക്ക് കാപ്പി ഒഴിച്ചു.

ഓരോ കയ്യിലും ഓരോ കപ്പുമേന്തി വീണ്ടും ട്രെയിന്‍ ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കി ഞാന്‍ ഓടി. പരാക്രമത്തിനൊടുവില്‍ ട്രെയിനില്‍ കയറിപ്പറ്റിയെങ്കിലും കപ്പില്‍ പകുതി കാപ്പി മാത്രമേ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നുള്ളൂ. എങ്കിലും പറയാതെ വയ്യ, നല്ല അസ്സല്‍ കാപ്പി!

പക്ഷെ പിന്നീടാണ് കയ്യില്‍ ചുരുട്ടിപ്പിടിച്ച 50 രൂപയുടെ കാര്യം ഓര്‍മ്മ വന്നത്......!!!

ഇനി അടുത്ത തവണ ആ കാന്റീനിനു മുന്നില്‍ വണ്ടി നിര്‍ത്തുമ്പോള്‍ കൊടുക്കാം. ഏതായാലും ആ ചായക്കടക്കാരന്റെയും ഞങ്ങളുടെയും ഇടയില്‍ ശക്തമായ ഒരു ആത്മബന്ധം ഉടലെടുത്തല്ലോ.

ഞങ്ങള്‍ വാങ്ങിയ കാപ്പിയുടെ കാശ് എന്നെങ്കിലും തിരിച്ചു കൊടുക്കുമെന്ന് അയാള്‍ക്കറിയാം :)

വിശ്വാസം... അതല്ലേ എല്ലാം......!!!

WHO SAID WE ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO CONSERVE NATURE???

2011-06-25T15:30:00.000+05:30

It is very rare to witness extinction. We've only heard of the extinction of Dinosaurs, Dodos and so on. But soon that may happen in the same magnitude of the extinction of Dinosaurs! According to conservation scientists, the class Amphibia of Animal kingdom, especially the Frogs,are on their way out of the Earth, unless the conservation community takes rapid action. Pollution, Global Warming, Habitat Destruction and Human Appetite for them are the main causes that led these classes to the brim of extinction.

Praise the Lord! I'm lucky enough to study in a college which plays its role very well in conserving Mother Nature. Though most of the students here go to the so-called Paradise near our canteen, I doubt how many of us have noticed the supposed-to-be lotus pond recently... This pond, that was once owned by some garbage and a few snakes, is now housing some endangered species! We can see hundreds of tadpoles dancing around or resting on sides of that pond! This scene made me feel proud to study in such a wonderful college. My eyes were filled with tears... :P

I've tried to capture it in mobile camera, the snap is given below; please excuse the reduced clarity [or donate me a good cam ;) ].

Thus, the vision of our college

To develop eminent and ethical leaders in society by imparting quality professional education with emphasis on human values and holistic excellence

is a success in the true sense :P

I suggest the Natura Environmental Club of our college to take over this Mission Amphibia and build a healthy, high-quality, innovative, skilled, ethical, passionate, holistic, developed army/chorus of frogs and knot of toads with global standards...... lol

LONG LIVE FROGS & TOADS!!!!!!

Hip Hip Hurray! Hip Hip Hurray! Hip Hip hurray!!!

Tadpole Incubator @Paradise, JECC

കുളിക്കാത്തവരുടെ ശ്രദ്ധയ്ക്ക്......

2011-05-11T11:29:00.000+05:30

ഇനിയിപ്പോ കുളിക്കാതെ ഒരു രക്ഷയുമില്ല......!!!!!! :D

വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമ: മിഥ്യയും സത്യവും

2011-05-09T03:04:00.000+05:30

ഉറുമി എന്ന പടം കണ്ട് ടാക്കീസിനു പുറത്തിറങ്ങിയ മിക്കവാറും പേരുടെയും മനസ്സില്‍ പല സംശയങ്ങളും നുര പൊങ്ങിയിട്ടുണ്ടാകണം. ഈ സിനിമയില്‍ പറഞ്ഞിട്ടുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങളൊക്കെ സത്യമാണോ? വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമ ദുഷ്ട്ടനായിരുന്നോ? അയാള്‍ കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടതാണോ?

കുറച്ചു റിസര്‍ച്ചിനു ശേഷം അനുമാനിച്ച കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഇവിടെ കൊടുക്കാം എന്നു കരുതി. ഈ പോസ്റ്റില്‍ വാസ്കോയും ഭാരതവും തമ്മിലുള്ള ബന്ധങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ചു മാത്രമേയുള്ളൂ (അതുതന്നെയുണ്ട് അത്യാവശ്യത്തിന്). ഭാരതം കണ്ടതില്‍ വച്ച് ഏറ്റവും ക്രൂരന്മാരില്‍ ഒരാളായിരുന്നു ഗാമ. 1497ല്‍ പോര്‍ച്ചുഗലിലെ ലിസ്ബനില്‍ നിന്ന്, വിശുദ്ധ ഗബ്രിയേല്‍, വിശുദ്ധ റാഫേല്‍, ബെരിയോ (പിന്നീട് വിശുദ്ധ മിഗുവേല്‍) എന്നീ പേരുകളുള്ള മൂന്നു കപ്പലുകള്‍ പിന്നെ പേര് അറിയപ്പെടാത്ത, ആഫ്രിക്കന്‍ തീരപ്രദേശങ്ങളില്‍ വച്ച് കാണാതായ, മറ്റൊരു ചരക്കു കപ്പല്‍ എന്നീ നാലു കപ്പലുകളില്‍ ഏകദേശം 170 സഹായികളുടെ അകമ്പടിയോടെ യാത്ര പുറപ്പെട്ടു. പോര്‍ച്ചുഗല്‍ രാജാവ് ജോണ്‍ രണ്ടാമന്റെ നിര്‍ദേശപ്രകാരം തെക്കന്‍ ഏഷ്യയിലേക്കുള്ള പുതിയ കടല്‍മാര്‍ഗ്ഗം കണ്ടുപിടിക്കാനായിരുന്നു ഈ യാത്ര. യാത്രക്കിടെ അറുപതോളം പേരെയും ഒരു ചരക്കു കപ്പലും നഷ്ട്ടപ്പെട്ടു. ഇടയ്ക്ക് അറബികളുടെ ആക്രമണവും നേരിടേണ്ടി വന്നു. എങ്കിലും അവരുടെ ലക്ഷ്യം പൂര്‍ത്തിയായി. കൊല്ലത്ത് പന്തലായനി എന്ന സ്ഥലത്താണ് ഗാമയും സംഘവും ആദ്യം എത്തിയത്. കോഴിക്കോട്ടു കച്ചവട ആവശ്യങ്ങള്‍ക്കായി എത്തിയ പോര്‍ച്ചുഗീസ് വ്യാപാരികള്‍ സാമൂതിരി രാജാവിനെ ആദ്യമേ അറിയിച്ചിരുന്നു ജോണ്‍ രണ്ടാമന്റെ പ്രതിനിധിയായി പുതിയ കച്ചവട ബന്ധങ്ങള്‍ സ്ഥാപിക്കാന്‍ ഒരാള്‍ വരുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന്. ഗാമ എത്തിയ വിവരം അറിഞ്ഞ സാമൂതിരി ദൂതനെ വിട്ട് ഗാമയെ കോഴിക്കോട്ടേക്ക് കടല്‍ മാര്‍ഗ്ഗം എത്തിച്ചു. അങ്ങനെയാണ് വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമ കപ്പല്‍പ്പാടം (ഇപ്പോള്‍ കാപ്പാട്) എന്ന ഗ്രാമത്തില്‍ കാലു കുത്തുന്നത്. സാമൂതിരിയുടെ സഭയിലേക്ക് കര മാര്‍ഗ്ഗം പോകുന്ന വഴിയില്‍ പുത്തൂര്‍ ദേവി ക്ഷേത്രം കണ്ട് ഗാമ അമ്പരന്നു. എന്താണ് അതെന്നു പറഞ്ഞു മനസ്സിലാക്കി കൊടുക്കാന്‍ ദൂതന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചെങ്കിലും വിശുദ്ധ കന്യാമറിയത്തിന്റെ പ്രതിഷ്ഠയാണെന്ന് തെറ്റിദ്ധരിച്ച്‌ ഗാമ അകത്തു കയറി വണങ്ങി. പിന്നീട് അമളി മനസ്സിലാക്കിയ ഗാമ ക്ഷേത്രം തകര്‍ക്കാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചു. അമ്പലത്തിലെ സാലഭഞ്ചികകളുടെ കൈ വെട്ടിമാറ്റിയപ്പോഴേക്കും നാട്ടുകാര്‍ കൂടി ലഹളയാക്കി (ആ വികലാംഗരായ സാലഭഞ്ചികരക്തസാക്ഷികളെ ഇപ്പോഴും പുത്തൂര്‍ ക്ഷേത്രത്തില്‍ കാണാം). അവിടുന്നു ഭാഗ്യത്തിന് രക്ഷപ്പെട്ട ഇയാള്‍ സാമൂതിരിയുടെ സഭയില്‍ എത്തി. വല്ലാതെ അധികാരത്തോടെയും അഹങ്കാരത്തോടെയും ഭീഷണി കലര്‍ന്ന സ്വരത്തിലുമുള്ള അയാളുടെ സംസാരം സാമൂതിരി തമ്പുരാന് തീരെ പിടിച്ചില്ല. കോഴിക്കോട്ടു കച്ചവടം ചെയ്യാന്‍ പോർച്ചുഗീസുകാര്‍ക്കു മാത്രമേ അധികാരം പാടുള്ളൂ എന്നും, വര്‍ഷങ്ങളായി കോഴിക്കോടുമായി നല്ല കച്ചവട ബന്ധം പുലര്‍ത്തുന്ന അറബി വ്യാപാരികളെ ഇനി മുതല്‍ സമ്മതിക്കാന്‍ പാടില്ല എന്നും പറഞ്ഞ് അയാള്‍ മുന്നോട്ടു വച്ച കരാര്‍ ഒപ്പിടാന്‍ രാജാവ് തയ്യാറില്ല. രാജാവിനെ യുദ്ധത്തിനു വെല്ലു വിളിച്ച് ഗാമ തിരിച്ചു പുറപ്പെട്ടു. എങ്കില്‍ കൂടി സല്ക്കാരപ്രിയരായ കോഴിക്കോട്ടുകാര്‍ അയാളെ നല്ലപോലെ സ്വീകരിക്കുകയും സാമൂതിരി രാജാവ് നേരിട്ട് വന്നു യാത്രയാക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. സാമൂതിരിയുടെ പട ഇവരെ കപ്പലില്‍ യാത്രയാക്കി പിന്‍വാങ്ങിയ ഉടനടി വാസ്കോയും സംഘവും തിരിച്ചു വന്ന് തീരപ്രദേശത്തുള്ള മുക്കുവരെ പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് മുസ്ലീങ്ങളെ (ചരിത്രം പരിശോധിച്ചാല്‍ അറിയാം അന്നൊക്കെ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളും മുസ്ലീങ്ങളും തമ്മില്‍ അത്ര രസത്തിലല്ലായിരുന്നു......ഇപ്പോഴോ???) ആക്രമിച്ചു കൊല്ലാന്‍ ആരംഭിച്ചു. ഇതറിഞ്ഞ രാജാവിന്റെ കപ്പല്‍പ്പട ഗാമയെയും സംഘത്തെയും തുരത്തിയോടിച്ചു. ഇതറിഞ്ഞ കോലത്തിരി രാജാവ് തന്റെ ജന്മ ശത്രുവായ സാമൂതിരിയെ ഒതുക്കാനായി ഗാമയെ ഉപയോഗിക്കാമെന്ന് കരുതി. ലക്ഷദ്വീപിനടുത്ത് എത്തിയ ആ സംഘത്തെ കണ്ണൂരേക്ക്‌ ക്ഷണിച്ചു. ഇതറിഞ്ഞ കൊച്ചി രാജാവ് കൂടുതല്‍ നല്ല വാഗ്ദാനങ്ങള്‍ നല്‍കി ഗാമയെ കൊച്ചിയില്‍ എത്തിച്ചു. കൊച്ചിയില്‍ നിന്ന് നാട്ടിലേക്ക് പോയ വാസ്കോയെ ധീര യോദ്ധാവിനെ പോലെയാണ് വരവേറ്റത്. കൊച്ചിയില്‍ നിന്ന് വാങ്ങിയ സാധനങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ഏകദേശം 67 ഇരട്ടി ലാഭമാണ് ഗാമയ്ക്ക് സ്വന്തം നാട്ടില്‍ ലഭിച്ചത്. പോര്‍ച്ചുഗീസ് രാജാവ് ഇന്ത്യയെ കീഴടക്കാന്‍ നീക്കങ്ങളും അതോടെ തുടങ്ങി.

രണ്ടാമത് വാസ്കോ വന്നത് മാനുവല്‍ രണ്ടാമന്‍ രാജാവിന്റെ കല്പന പ്രകാരമാണ്. രണ്ടാമത്തെ വരവിലും ഗാമ കുറെ ലാഭം കൊയ്തു കൊണ്ട് പോയി. മൂന്നാമത്തെ തവണ ഇങ്ങോട്ട് പുറപ്പെട്ടപ്പോള്‍ തന്നെ ഗാമയുടെ ആരോഗ്യ സ്ഥിതി അത്ര നല്ല നിലയിലായിരുന്നില്ല. കൊച്ചിയില്‍ എത്തിയിട്ട് ഏതാനും ആഴ്ചകള്‍ക്കകം എന്തോ പനി (മലേറിയ ആയിരുന്നു എന്ന് സംശയിക്കുന്നു) പിടിപെട്ടു മരണമടഞ്ഞു. രണ്ടാമത്തെ തവണ വന്നപ്പോള്‍ തന്നെ കൊച്ചിയില്‍ പോര്‍ച്ചുഗലിന്റെ വിശുദ്ധന്‍ ഫ്രാന്‍സിസ് പുണ്യവാളന്റെ നാമത്തില്‍ ഒരു പള്ളി പണി കഴിപ്പിക്കണം എന്ന് കൊച്ചി രാജാവിനോട് വാസ്കോ പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു. അതേ പള്ളിയിലാണ് വസ്കോയുടെ ഭൌതിക ശരീരം അടക്കം ചെയ്തത്. പിന്നീട്, വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമ എന്ന മഹാനെ വേണ്ട വിധം ആദരിച്ചില്ല എന്ന പോര്‍ച്ചുഗല്‍ രാജാവിന്റെ പരാതി മാനിച്ച് അത് കൊച്ചിയില്‍ നിന്ന് പോര്‍ച്ചുഗലിലെ ലിസ്ബനിലേക്ക് തിരികെ കൊണ്ടുപോയി സ്വര്‍ണവും രത്നങ്ങളും കൊണ്ട് അലങ്കരിച്ച പെട്ടിയില്‍ മറവു ചെയ്തു...

വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമയെ കുറിച്ച് ഏറ്റവും അധികം വിമര്‍ശനം ഉണ്ടായത് ഒരു തീര്‍ഥാടക യാത്രക്കപ്പല്‍ കൊള്ളയടിച്ച സംഭവത്തിനാണ്. ഗാമയുടെ രണ്ടാം വരവിലാണ് ഈ സംഭവം. കണ്ണൂരിലെ മാടായി എന്ന സ്ഥലത്തു നിന്നു പുറപ്പെട്ട് മക്കയിലേക്ക് പോകുകയായിരുന്ന നാന്നൂറോളംപേരടങ്ങുന്ന യാത്രാക്കപ്പല്‍ പിടിച്ചടക്കി കൊള്ളയടിച്ച് കപ്പലിനു തീയിട്ടു! തങ്ങളുടെ എല്ലാ സ്വത്തും തരാമെന്നു പറഞ്ഞിട്ട് പോലും ഒരു ദയാ ദക്ഷീണ്യവുമില്ലാതെ കൊന്നൊടുക്കി. കപ്പലില്‍ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന അമ്പതോളം സ്ത്രീകളെ പോലും വെറുതെ വിട്ടില്ല. സാമൂതിരി തമ്പുരാന്റെ ദൂതുമായി പോയ തലപ്പന നമ്പൂതിരിയെ ചാരനെന്ന് മുദ്ര കുത്തി മൂക്കും ചെവിയും അറുത്തു മാറ്റി ചെവിയുടെ സ്ഥാനത്ത് ഒരു നായയുടെ ചെവി തുന്നിച്ചേര്‍ത്തു തിരിച്ചയച്ചു. ഭാരതീയരെ മതം മാറ്റാനുള്ള അനുമതി പോപ്പിന്റെ സമക്ഷത്തു നിന്നു വാങ്ങി പലരെയും നിര്‍ബന്ധപൂര്‍വ്വം മതം മാറ്റി. മാറാന്‍ വിസമ്മതിച്ചവരുടെ മൂക്കും ചെവിയും അറുത്തു വികൃതരാക്കി. പല ക്ഷേത്രങ്ങളും പള്ളികളും കൊള്ളയടിച്ചു തകര്‍ത്തു. പല സ്ത്രീകളെയും കോട്ടയ്ക്കുള്ളില്‍ ബന്ധനസ്തരാക്കി അവരില്‍ ഉണ്ടാകുന്ന സന്താനങ്ങളെ പോര്‍ച്ചുഗീസ് സംസ്കാരമനുസരിച്ചു വളര്‍ത്തി പടയാളികാളാക്കി (ഇതെല്ലാം വാസ്കോ ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് ചെയ്തു എന്നല്ല, പക്ഷെ അങ്ങേരാണ്‌ Trend Setter).

ഉറുമിയില്‍ കാണിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള എല്ലാം അതേപടി സത്യമല്ലെങ്കിലും കുറേയൊക്കെ സത്യം തന്നെ. വസ്കോയുടെ നേരെ പല ആക്രമണങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ചിലതൊക്കെ തലനാരിഴയ്ക്കാണ് രക്ഷപ്പെട്ടതും.

ഇതു വായിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ ചിലര്‍ക്കെങ്കിലും തോന്നുന്നുണ്ടാവും "ഇത്ര വലിയ ദുഷ്ടനെയാണോ ഈശ്വരാ... ഇത്രയും നാള്‍ കേമനെന്ന് വാഴ്ത്തിയത്?"

കാലം അങ്ങനെയാണ്. ചിലപ്പോള്‍ ദുഷ്ടന്മാര്‍ മഹാന്മാരായി അറിയപ്പെട്ടേക്കാം (ഉദാഹരണം വാസ്കോ ഡ ഗാമ). അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ചിലപ്പോള്‍ നല്ലവരായ മനുഷ്യര്‍ ചരിത്രത്തിന്റെ താളുകളില്‍ ആരും ശ്രദ്ധിക്കാതെ മാഞ്ഞു പോകും. ഒരു പക്ഷെ കേളു നായനാരും ചങ്ങാതിയും അതുപോലെ മങ്ങിയ പേരുകളായിരിക്കാം.............

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