Beautiful World

Homeless

2011-04-02T04:17:00.000+05:30

from my work site...

Blue Flower

2010-10-22T09:34:00.003+05:30

From a farm in Bangalore...

Dew

2010-10-15T09:20:00.001+05:30

One early morning, in god's own country...

2010-07-19T17:58:00.001+05:30

To you

2010-06-24T12:57:00.005+05:30

Small Things

A Drop of Life

2010-01-28T16:32:00.000+05:30

Smoke-scape

2009-12-22T10:01:00.002+05:30

In The Name of God

2009-11-25T23:02:00.004+05:30

Remembering 26/11 with a song I wrote.

SHOLAY – The Original Ending

2009-10-22T08:40:00.008+05:30

This was the original ending of Sholay which never made it to the movie, thanks to the censor board. To think of it, this should have been the logical conclusion of the story- everything that happened before had been planned and put in place precisely for this climatic encounter between Thakur and Gabbar Singh. Watch Thakur’s/Sanjeev Kumar’s breakdown after killing Gabbar- absolutely breathtaking! Sadly, we missed one of the finest scenes in the movie, and got a rather meek climax, making this ‘the greatest story never told’!

A Flower in Bloom

2009-10-09T08:18:00.001+05:30

For most of us it’s around the time we cross the age of 30 that the coin drops; and we realize that our lives are indeed finite. There’s neither the innocence of childhood nor the brashness of youth to shield us from the imminent truth, is there? What’s more, you also realize that the world will go on after our time here, without so much as batting an eye lid. Ah, there’s that hollow feeling within, like you are falling into a black hole or something. You look around and wonder why people run around frantically and do the things they do anyway? What’s the point?

Slowly the chaos subsides, the storm stalls and you see clearly- Life is not a dash to get somewhere. Life is a journey. And the journey is all. The things you see, the things you learn, the friends you make, the experience you gain is all. So, you learn to see with new eyes; you notice the little things, you catch the details. You find meanings in things you thought you had already seen and known. You feel the beauty around you – watch a flower bloom and then die away, say a little prayer if you feel like it – Feel love and compassion fill up that hollowness inside.

You still run around frantically and do the things you do- you have to pay your bills and make the ends meet after all. But every once in a while you stop, take a deep breath and remember not to take yourselves too seriously and to enjoy life right now – for you are a flower in bloom.

Men are from Mars, Woman are from Shopping Malls!

2009-09-19T08:50:00.002+05:30

Before I write anything else, let me write out three words - I Like Woman. I really do, they are such wonderful, caring, loving and gentle beings. Until they reach a shopping mall, that is! Where all hell break loose and perfectly sane and grown up of the said species transforms themselves into something else and ransacks the place, like a….like…,….well, like a woman at a shopping mall!

I had plonked myself onto one of the three chairs provided in over a thousand square feet of this shopping mall, baby in one hand, feeding bottle in the other, my tired and almost lifeless legs somewhere in front of me, my eyes spaced out and staring into eternity…To the outside world, I must’ve looked like a monk or something, because I was beyond reacting. Way beyond. Once in a while I catch men of the species walking about in similar state of trance, and sometimes we make eye contact, and exchange mutual respects with just that knowing look.

Why? Why can’t men and woman think alike when it comes to shopping? I have been trying to figure it out. Sample this: A man wants to buy black trousers. What does he do? He goes to the trouser shop, asks for black trousers, checks out the style and the price (not necessarily in that order) tries it out- and decides on one black trouser. Average time for the process is 10 minutes.

Now, sample this: A woman wants to buy a red skirt. What does she do? She goes to a shopping mall, checks out all the other shops before entering a dress store. Then she looks at all the dresses there and at the end of it she could be holding up 10 different colours and shades of cloths, which may or may not have the colour red or something resembling a skirt! The average time for this, if she is in a hurry, would be about an hour or so. On the other hand if she has time on her hand, then God help you!

You see a pattern here? Men go about their shopping by a process of elimination to reach to the one black trouser. Whereas, woman does it by a process of accumulation to arrive at …well, at least two pieces of attire in their hands.

At the end of it, they’d hold it up at you, and ask: ‘This one or That one?’

You jump out from your state of temporary coma, adjust your retina, point to one of the accused and declare confidently: ‘This one!’

The woman considers ‘This’ and then turns to ‘That’ and goes: ‘What’s wrong with That one?’

Man: ‘Nothing’ (Oh God!)

Wait a minute, I think I got it now! Yes, the process of accumulation! The woman did not come here to buy the one red skirt in the first place. That’s why they do not get cowed down by many choices or the confusion with it- they came precisely for that- many choices and more confusion! They just love it! A smile spread across my zen like face, I think. I have cracked it finally!

I jerked back to life on hearing my name being called out. There she is, my lovely wife walking towards me with two dresses in either hand. She halted in front of me, and asked:

‘This one or That one?’

I wish I vaporized into thin air.

I Go Round!!

2009-05-04T10:09:00.002+05:30

Beautiful World

2009-04-08T11:28:00.005+05:30

Idea of India and Theory of Chaos

2009-01-19T18:50:00.003+05:30

One anguished screenwriter wrote in one of his screenplays: ‘….go to America, you’ll see Americans, go to Africa, you’ll see Africans, go to China, you’ll see the Chinese, go to Pakistan, you’ll see Pakistanis. In India, show me one Indian…we have Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians…. And we have divisions based on states…where is the Indian?’

The hero of the movie mouthed this dialogue with vigor and passion and I sat back and said, ‘nice!’

That was long back.

Recently, I happened to see the same scene from the movie in one of its countless re runs on TV during my aimless channel surfing.

Bang!

It hit me.

Where are the Indians?

Do we, think of India in our conscious mind, ever? India as our mother land, India as our own? I guess not. Most of us don’t, I don’t. There is too much rot going around to think of it all as my own and internalize it. Why bother? I have enough troubles of my own to take care of already, thank you.

But something has happened to us after 26^th November 2008.

I can’t even begin to fathom how and why it affected us the way it did. But it has. The feeling of hurt and anger at the events that unfolded on that fateful night was real and it was coming from somewhere deep within. A feeling we did not know we were capable of. I guess the real Indian was right here all this while, asleep.

Now that we have awakened like a Rip Van Winkle, what greeted us was a rude shock of chaos around. After a lot of whys and wherefores, the realization dawns that the corrupt politicians, the inept police and the rotten system around us did not fall off from the sky into our world. Neither did it sprout out from the ground one fine day. It was always here, getting more corrupt, more inept and more rotten, while we were busy taking care of our troubles.

Take a closer look at the idea of India- 28 different states with different languages, cultures and agendas, many gods, religions and many many more sub castes and communities, the very rich and the very poor, the middle class and the backward class, North and South, left and right, center and states…all these contradictions come together to form India as we know it today. It becomes a little less bizarre to comprehend the chaos around us once we understand the fabric of society. This is a mad rush to claim ones identity, the identity of the nation is lost somewhere in this melee.

But, at least we have woken up. No, don’t expect anything to change overnight. Nothing might happen even for a long time. Change happens first in our heart, then our mind and then it will have its physical manifestation in the real world through our actions. The one that happens in the heart is probably the most difficult of all, for you can’t will it and make it happen, you can’t tell it and make it happen…it has to…well, happen. And it has. Maybe only for a few now. But it’s a start. It will catch on, like the embers that eventually lead to a wild fire.

Keep the embers burning.

Terror and Hope

2008-12-08T09:19:00.004+05:30

Hope is a beautiful thing. In times of strife, it maybe the only thing that can keep us going.

On the night of 26^th November, ten or possibly more young men rowed towards the shores of Mumbai. What they did later would stun the world and our collective conscience. The bullets from their AK-47s cut short innocent lives at a railway station, a hospital (sic!), two hotels and a residential area. The reverberations were felt in the heart of every Indian.

Can anything be more outrageous than this? Surprise, surprise! Yes. The way our politicians acted and reacted after the terror attack was truly mind numbing. Sample this-

Even as the commandos were engaged in a fierce gun battle, one politician descended on the scene to announce the amount of money he will give to the deceased officers’ family (Talk about swift action!) The opposition leader thus spoke on his arrival : ’Me and the prime minister were supposed to come here together, but since he couldn’t make it on time, I came here alone, first’ (Congrats sir on winning the race!) A senior minister of the state actually said the following: ‘In a city as big as Mumbai, such things do happen….They had planned to kill 5,000 but managed only 200’ (How comforting! thank you sir, for your kind, consoling words)

I mean, we all knew politicians were corrupt. But we thought they were intelligent, in a perverse way alright. But, they are just corrupt. And heavily drunk on power. Even in such a delicate hour, they can’t see beyond their noses. This one up manship, corruption and carelessness has been the bane of our country for ages now. And in more ways than one has led to this particular attack. Where are the real leaders?

‘A nation gets a leader it deserves’ How very true! And those words point directly at each one of us. We know our leaders are corrupt, but we let it be. We know our system is corrupt, we let it be. We have got so used to the maddening chaos around us in our everyday life. We just let it be.

How did we get here? A nation which had so many great leaders during its struggle for independence, can’t find a single man or woman to lead her now? Why?

Well for one, during the freedom struggle every single person in this country- young, old, man, woman, child….wanted just one thing- Freedom! Great leaders were borne from this need and they too wanted just one thing for the country- Freedom! I think that is what we lack the most today –A common goal. A common direction.

That will start when each one of us stops letting things be. When we stand up for what is right. When we demand more.

I believe that change is coming about. Here are a couple of incidents that has happened in the aftermath of the terror attack- The widow of the officer who fell to the terrorists’ bullets, declines the cash offered by a minister, The father of the major who laid his life down fighting the terrorists, actually tells the chief minister on his face; ‘Please get out of my house, I have no respect left for you’ These instances also sums up the feeling of resentment that is frothing up inside the common man today.

In rallies held in Mumbai, which no political party or religious groups have initiated, the number of people pouring out to the street is said to be staggering. People walked in silence with a symbolic candle in their hands, but the real fire has been lit in our hearts and souls. I think we as a nation is awakening. I do not know what this will lead to, but I hope it will lead to something bright and beautiful. For if one billion people wish for a cleaner, brighter future, there is no way anything can stop us. We will get the leaders we deserve and a nation we can truly be proud of.

Those ten or so young men who came to Mumbai on the night of 26^th November might have unwittingly done more for this nation than any politician ever has. Don’t ever let that anguished reverberations die down in your heart.

Hope is a beautiful thing.

Three more illustrations

2008-11-14T18:32:00.005+05:30

Three Illustrations

2008-10-29T07:41:00.007+05:30

Three illustrations I did for stories by Pingu

Duggar and Racecoo

2008-10-13T14:01:00.009+05:30

Meet Duggar and Racecoo.

I am illustrating a book, a collection of cute little stories written by 3 year old Pingu. These are two of the characters from the story.

ALONE - A Graphic Short Story by me

2008-09-18T16:02:00.006+05:30

Point of View

2008-08-13T16:03:00.003+05:30

This is an old story I just came across. If you haven’t read it, you should.

One day a very wealthy man took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spend a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son,

“How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad”

“Did you see how poor people live?"

“Oh, yeah”

“So, tell me, what did you learn from this trip?” the father asked.

The son answered,” I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our foods, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad, for showing me how poor we are”

Fear of the Dark

2008-07-22T14:06:00.007+05:30

‘Wait, finish this game and go, Sid…’

‘No, I am already late’, said the seven year old as he ran out of the football field.

Siddarth had to get home before sundown, that’s the promise he gave his mother while she let him go out to play with friends. He didn’t realize how fast time slipped by and now it was really late. His little legs were now paddling away furiously towards home.

Where the road curved, Siddarth slowed down - Through the main road, it will take ten more minutes to reach home. Or he could take the short cut on his left, which will get him there in half the time. But the narrow path led through an abandoned estate area and not many people frequent this way. An image of his angry father by the gate popped up in Siddarth’s head and he was already running through the estate road.

The dry leaves creaked under his feet with every step he ran through the deserted forest. It is really surprising how much sunlight trees can cut down. Siddarth realized it that evening as he got inside the estate; what was a late evening while he took the turn had suddenly transformed almost into night. He looked back, it was dark all the way back too. An owl crooned from above. A chill spread across his heart. His small feet slowed down, as he tried to make his way through the darkness. The tall tress and thick bushes around seem to suffocate him. Siddarth stopped dead on his tracks and listened. He heard heavy breathing.

‘mmmm......I smell human’, an eerie voice rang out.

‘Yes, so do I’, an equally eerie female voice announced.

Siddarth’s heart beat uncontrollably and his mouth went dry.

‘He’s mine’ Roared the male voice.

‘No, he’s mine’ the female voice echoed.

‘I saw him first, I will drink his blood first’

‘No, I will’

Fear paralyzed Siddarth. Though he wanted to run, he stood there frozen for a minute. Somehow, he managed to get behind the nearest tree and he slid down amidst the bushes, and lay there, hugging the root of the old tree ... waiting for the inevitable, not moving, not making a sound. All the while the voices kept circling around him like an invisible fog.

Then, the voices went quiet. Siddarth waited in the darkness. First, he thought he imagined it, but then he heard it - someone was calling out. He slowly peered from behind the old tree- he saw light. He waited. Now he heard his name being called out, loud and clear. It was Kunjan, their gardener. When Kunjan, with the lantern in his hand came close enough, Siddarth ran towards him, hugged him tight, and started sobbing.

‘What happened, Little Siddhartha?’ Kunjan asked kindly

When the sobbing subsided, Siddarth said, shaking:

‘There are two ghosts there, and they were going to drink my blood’

Siddarth told the whole story.

‘Come let’s have a look’ said Kunjan taking Siddarth’s hand in his and the lantern in the other.

‘No, don’t go there Kunjan’ Siddarth cried.

‘Its alright Little Siddartha, see I have my sickle right here,’ he said pointing to his back where his sickle was perched close to his body. Unsure, Siddarth followed Kunjan, holding his hand tight. Through the dim light of the lantern they saw a small worn out hut on the other side of the road. Just as Kunjan started opening the gate, a voice roared:

‘Now I will drink both your blood’

Terrified, Siddarth hugged Kunjan . They stood still.

‘Yes, now we will have a feast’ the female voice joined in.

Kunjan took out the sickle and walked forward, into the house, closer to the source of the voices. Siddarth followed him, shivering. They entered the verandah of the house and could sense the voices right next to them. Kunjan held up the lantern and let the light fall on an old ragged man, almost naked, lying on the floor. It was the madman who used to roam about the town.

‘I will kill you both’ he said in the same eerie voice

‘No, I will kill them’ he said now in the female voice.

‘See, little Siddhartha…’, Kunjan said

Siddarth slowly emerged from behind Kunjan and watched the man talk in both voices.

That night in his bed, Siddarth peered into the darkness and smiled. From that day on, Siddarth was never paralyzed by fear.

The young Siddarth was one of my fathers’ managers who told this incident to his team. My father told this to me when I was very young and somehow it has stayed with me. Even now, whenever an unusual sound is heard in the middle of the night, I don’t panic- I go after the source. Once you know the reason, there is no reason to fear. It is the unknown that fills us with fear, know it – and the fear vanishes!

It is a different story that known everyday fears are harder to master. Ghosts, I can handle. It is normal everyday people that still baffle me!

Us and Them

2008-07-04T19:37:00.003+05:30

I think I am on the monkeys' side now.

(I started my first blog by re counting an incident of two monkeys invading my home and the ensuing battle of species)

Why are we humans so cruel? We kill animals, take their tusks, skin and whatever else that can be sold for money. Sure, animals kill animals too, but only for survival. The money the tusks and skins too buy food, some may argue. Not true. This money buys big cars, big lands and more big money ...you see, its big business. No hungry man has ever gone and killed an elephant, pulled out its tusks, sold it and had bought his meal with the money and said: ‘ Ah, I have my stomach full now, am satisfied’. Far from it, it’s the opposite of satisfaction that’s at work here : Greed.

As the superior species it is our duty and right to save and protect other beings and nature. But what do we do? We go ahead and destroy them, little realizing that we are digging our own grave.

The following piece of dialogue from the movie ‘The Matrix’ rings so true in this context. In the scene the robotic villain has Morpheus, the human leader in captive and chained to a chair. He is sermoning about his dislike for human beings. Listen to the dialogue without prejudice:

“Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops an equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply…and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism in this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease. A cancer of this planet. A plague. “

You’d say, ‘I’m not like that, not all people are like that.’

True. But what is also true unfortunately is that, as a community, the above observation is not too far from the truth.

Beautiful World - Lyrics

2008-06-30T16:38:00.004+05:30

'Beautiful World' is a song I had composed sometime back. Its a sarcastic look at the way we humans live in this world - without a care for other beings, concerned only with 'my beautiful world' Here is the lyric; someday I hope to present this song and the video!

It’s a beautiful world,

Dark clouds above.

I’ve got blood on the ground,

In my beautiful world.

So much to win,

I’ve got nothing to lose.

While you’re running away,

From my beautiful world.

Look in my eyes,

Do you see what I want.

Now you give it to me,

‘cause its my beautiful world.

What do I care,

What do you want.

I just want it my way,

In my beautiful world.

Global Cooling!

2008-06-30T16:16:00.006+05:30

Global Warming is a hoax!

That’s the other side of the story. Interesting.

This is a good thing while you do an online search, we get to hear both sides of the story.

The story goes something like this:

The warming is not caused by humans, it was caused by sun spots and solar flares in the 80’s and the 90’s and it stopped by 1998. And in any case, earth will take its course of warming and cooling. In fact, these people claim that earth has been cooling for the past Ten years straight. Global Cooling, anyone?

If that may be the case, then why would anyone cook up Global Warming theories?

The answer according to the Global Cooling theorists is that, global warming is a devious wealth-redistribution plan by the UN and the rest of the world against the US! Basically how it works is like this: The taxation on carbon emission will be higher for developed nations (read US) than others. The tax amount collected thus will be utilized for the betterment of developing nations. This, they say is what Karl Marx would have approved of happily, in other words this is the modern day version of Socialism and Communism according to these group. No wonder then that US and Australia are the only two nations which has not signed on the Kyoto Treaty (It’s a treaty which commits industrialised nations to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, principally Carbon Dioxide, by around 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the next decade.)

As it is we are overwhelmed by the concept of Global Warming, now we have to deal with the politics of it all too? Well, this is my line of thinking. True, earth will take its own course, a law of the jungle if you please. But, the fact also is that, we humans are blessed (or is it cursed) with brains! Our intelligence has developed so much that the law of the jungle does not apply to us anymore. Just as we marvel the progress of man kind, we also need to look back and see the trail of destruction we leave behind in the form of extinct species of animal and plant kingdom, thanks to our greed and ignorance. Our greatest ignorance could be what we do to the earth itself.

Leave the politics aside. Think for yourself. Be kind to mother earth.

An Inconvenient Truth

2008-05-31T07:17:00.009+05:30

Have you seen ‘An Inconvenient Truth’? I just did. If you haven’t yet, please do watch it. It is a movie- a docu feature rather, on global warming presented by former US vice president, Al Gore. The content is so engrossing that soon you don’t care if it’s a ‘movie’ or a ‘documentary’ It is presented simply and clearly- with visuals and graphs that would jolt your consciousness. Are we all really sitting on such an important issue and not realizing it?

This is the crux of the matter: The Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere forms a shield on top of the atmosphere, trapping the reflected sun rays off the earth to stay around us. This in itself is not a bad thing. In fact it helps to maintain the warm living condition that we all need to survive. The problem is, off late there’s been so much carbon dioxide up there, that it is blocking too much of the heat from escaping out of the atmosphere. This obviously means earth has been getting hotter, ice has been melting, sea levels have been rising, animals trying to get away from the heat have started moving towards the poles, many plants have already died…all this and more, while you and I were sleeping. Of course when we wake up, we do read about the hurricanes, floods, heat waves, the droughts. And we go, ‘Isn’t it all happening more and more frequently? Or is it that I started noticing all this only now?’ You somehow think it’s the latter and move on. But as per the facts and figures Mr. Al Gore presents, the truth is not that. The truth is rather inconvenient.

This is only the beginning. What really is scary is what would happen if this goes on. We see graphs with projected rates zooming off the charts, which when translated into words would mean that within next Fifty years a million species will be extinct, There wont be much ice left at the poles, Many of the major cities of today would be gobbled up by the rising seas (told you, its scary!) Life on planet earth would cease to exist as we know it.

About this movie, Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times wrote “In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are, You owe it to yourself to see this film”

He is right. Go see it.