Chennai - as it is...

SO, it's been more than 2 years in the land of good old Madras. Here are few of my ':)' and ':(' about the Chennai city.

:)
FILTER COFFEE - Undoubtedly, the best thing about Chennai for me. Though it is getting a bit costly these days (good ones starting from Rs.10), it is worth to have a go for it.
MOVIE TICKET RATES - If you are a movie fan, this is a paradise for you. The ticket rates never cross Rs.120, as per the regulation by the Govt. of Tamilnadu, even in the best screens of Sathyam and PVR
BEACHES - The most economical hangout you can have on weekends, to have a good time to enjoy with your friends.
MRTS - The local railway network which runs across the city is a real boon for the southerners to mobilize during rush hours.
GOOD,WIDE ROADS - Mount Road,OMR,GST - you name it, one of the best in the country.

:(
HEAT - There won't be a single person who has lived in Chennai for at least an year who doesn't hate the soaring temperature here. It's generally hot out there with the mercury levels reaching the forties.
LACK OF HYGIENE - Though it is getting better these days, the waste disposal systems and drainage systems are still a big concern for the corporation.
WATER - In those places where there is no Corporation water supply, water is a major problem.
AUTO RICKSHAW - If you want to get into an auto here, better prepared to be axed on your throat. It is so damn unfairly expensive in autorickshaw (share auto excluded) that I have hardly used it in the past 2 years.

P.S : This is just my personal perception, and it may vary from person to person.

From 'The Hurt Locker',a narration that makes you think

Staff Sergeant William James: [Speaking to his son] You love playing with that. You love playing with all your stuffed animals. You love your Mommy, your Daddy. You love your pajamas. You love everything, don't ya? Yea. But you know what, buddy? As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore. Like your Jack-in-a-Box. Maybe you'll realize it's just a piece of tin and a stuffed animal. And the older you get, the fewer things you really love. And by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things.

Time-illusion hopscotch

I blinked, and it was gone! Just like that.

I think it was last monsoon when I was taken to the Kindergarten school, and as they say, cried like hell for missing my Amma and was made to skip a year. The next March 19 saw my kiddo bro coming in-I remember that day when there was this elephant attack on the way back from hospital, and we had to divert the way. It has to be somewhere in last monsoon only, because I remember it so clearly.

I think it was last month when I got an admission for 5^th std in my new school immediately after the 1996 Will World cup in which Sachin scored 523 runs and India lost to Srilanka at the Eden gardens in which Sachin made 65. Wasn’t it on that day my admission got confirmed?

I think it was on the very next day we went for the family trip to Mumbai in ’99-Amma hurt her finger on the day of travel, but it was OK as it is very usual for her. And from there, I got my brand new white Action shoes.

I think it was last week when that jeep hit me and broke my collar bone into two pieces, and I fell unconscious for the first time in my life. Then it was in the same week I finished my secondary schooling and PC Thomas classes took me into NSS College of Engg., right?

I think it was yesterday when I saw that one shiny tear, which didn’t flow out-it just stayed there, in my amma’s eyes when she waved me good bye in Amrita Express to Trivandrum and then she had told me the same tear was in my appa’s eye, which I missed to see.

Is it that I am miscalculating the ineffable pace of time or is time an absolute entity as against to that proposed by Mr. Einstein? I am afraid it is too fast for me to cope up with.

a forgettable Onam...

U never know what you are gonna miss until you really misses it... and I got the experience today...away from home,away from kerala... here in chennai...

on a tiruvonam day,i never used to get excited while at home-just because i dont know why to.I just get up,have a late breakfast,a late bath,and a lunch with payasam(which is always my mom's speciality,so it was never a a big surprise for me).. only 'different' thing i had felt about onam was the new movies i could watch in Asianet and Surya TV ;). So that's how my usual Onam goes...

Today,here in Chennai,I got up with jerk realising that I am late for Office,had a quick breakfast and was on my way to the office in the drizzle.. and thanks for the lorry and bus drivers for making my washed(yeah,i do it regularly!) white shirt sprayed with dirt on the road...

in office,i just got bored of explaining to people why i just couldnt go home for onam... but yeah,thanks to all of then for enquiring :) and the a;; newspapers carry onam news in front..! i never knew onam had this much popularity across india...!!

had the Onam 'feast' - curd rice -dreaming about the home lunch with payasam and pappadam,alone in the office canteen - thanks to the andhra business consultant who talked to me during my lunch- even though it was for his business...Thanks you Bhakta-something.Of course i have your Business card with me. I am definitely gonna call you back :P

To do at least one thing differently for the Onam,I got off the office at 5'o clock :)

and,last but not least,tons of thanks the couple of frinds in office who cared to listen to my Onam emotions....

So thus ends my tiruvonam,a rather forgettable one....

Aren't we lucky?

There is not a single person in this world without problems,and of course,there is no problem without a solution.We always tend to feel that we are the biggest loser in the world and ours is the biggest problem in the world;same is the case with me as well.In such situations,I try to remember the saddest scene I have have ever encountered in my life.And I don't have to think too much to get that picture....

It was a few years ago when I was on a trip to Mumbai by train.It was already dark at night,may be around 8pm-9pm.The train had stopped in some lonely dark station,and everyone had just finished having dinner.I don't know if it was in Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra,but I was sure it was a station in some remote village where you will think twice to even get down at that point of time.I was staring blankly at the darkness when something moving got my eye.I tried to focus on the moving thing on the railway track next to ours,and I saw it,or rather,him.It was a physically handicapped person moving along the track,collecting wasted food items thrown out by the passengers,and eating the same there itself.(After a couple of years,I saw a similar scene in the movie Swades : a boy selling water in the pot in a railway station).I really cannot describe the terrible feeling I had then...even now when I think of it,I feel like I am extremely fortunate and blessed for what I have and what I am...

I know all of us would have at least one such experience,if not more, in our lives...

Try to see the world around you,and you will find that you are not the last person in the world...




Your life is what your thoughts make it.

There's always something waiting for u!

Toughest of the times will pass once...and here a is a perfect example from my real-life experience :

Today i was returning home from coimbatore by bus(more than an hr jrny).i got a drunkard near me frm CBE.i was irritated and felt like getting up from there and standing,but i just didnt.half way down,he disembarked near a college,and i got a nice girl for my company(she was luking pretty good! )...n we chatted til end of trip....

So always be confident something will come by your side,someday.....

legal social discrimination!!!

"India is the only country in the world where people fight to be called backward".These were the words of Mr.Narayanamurthy(Infosys),which is one of the best phrases to describe the 'legal' social discrimination existing in our so-called democratic state.You are 'titled' as backward,and you are getting the best of the opportunities available in the society,irrespective of your merits(or demerits).Incrdible India!

Let me show you some of the regulations I saw when I was going through the annexure of a BSNL recruitment :

c) Age: - Management Trainee(External) – 30 years, as on 1.8.2009
However, this age is relaxable as per standing instructions on this subject for:-
For Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes upto 5 years;
For OBC Candidates upto 3 years;
[WHY,ARE THESE GUYS 3 OR 5 YEARS OLD WHEN THEY ARE BORN?]

10. No Fee payable by SC/ST/PH
Applicants belonging to SC/ST/PH categories only are exempted from the examination fee.
[PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT ALL OF SC/ST ARE STILL BPL WHEN ALL OF OTHERS ABOVE]


11. Traveling Allowance
11.1. The applicants belonging to SC/ST categories will be entitled to T.A. as per provisions of Ministry of Finance(Deptt. of Expenditure) O.M. No.19014/3/77-E.IV (B) dated 17.02.1978.
[OH,ONLY THEY MUST BE TRAVELLING,OTHERS ARE TAKING EXAMINATION AT HOME]


I am not intending to mitigate that there is no need of financial assistance or reservation for the needed,but just trying to point out if those who are receiving these benefits today are The needed.Simply because one does not belong to a list of castes does not mean that he is devoid of any chances(It does sound exactly the reverse of what we studied in history books right?).It is so sad to see that a person ranked 30,000 is getting a merit seat for a professional degree while another with 10,000 is not,isn't it?