“This is it. Krish, you have to stop finding excuses and talk to her like this is the last day before your turn your homework in. It doesn’t matter if you have prepared the material or not, turn it in to have a chance of scoring.” He could not imagine the analogy of the second sentence he just said. “Okay”, he took a deep breath, “yes, i have to do it”, he muttered under his breath and entered his room taking a seat by the clock.

Krish was inside temple, hands folded, sincerely praying for the test of his life which was only a few minutes away. He was now a master of his girl’s route in and around the worship place. He could guess where she would turn and where she would skip a step with amazing precision. After calculating the time for her to get out, he waited outside the porch after he saw her entering the temple. This was the first time he met her in the eye and they exchanged super fast looks. It was like Michael Schumacher meeting eye-on-eye with a random onlooker, while racing. This glance of her’s inundated his already overflowing adrenalin. For the first time he observed time flying, waiting for her. She stepped outside, three and a half minutes early. “This margin of error is unusual. What have i done ?”, he thought.

Krish was sweating like a dog playing under the Chennai heat. Before he could open his mouth or he could wipe his sweat dripping from his forehead she spoke in a mild voice, “Can i speak with you for a moment ?”,while she was stepping down the flight of a 4-step stair case in to the exit. It was so quick and hardly without any lip movement, like the phrase “mutual funds are subject to market risks” at the end of a TV commercial. “For a moment ?, i am willing to listen to you for the rest of my life”, echoed Krish’s mind voice. “Thanks”, he replied. The next moment he hit his head with his right palm and pretended to wipe his sweat off. “Out of all the words, you chose ‘Thanks’. Such an idiot. What will she think of me ?” thought Krish. “uh hum(clearing his throat) Sure”, he corrected and after a few seconds pause he continued, “humm, i am Krish”. “What happened to hi, you idiot”, his mind criticized him again.

“Hi, i am Anunya. I know you have been following me for some time. It sounds crazy, but..”, she stopped and waited for a girl to pass by. “I am doomed. God, please let there be no elder brother waiting to kick my arse. I have just started taekwondo and i can barely lift my leg waist high”, was his first thought. Strangely, his wavering mind rejected the possibility of her telling him to stop following her because she had a boy friend. “I think i like you. Can we meet sometime and talk ?”, she completed. Krish could not believe what he just heard. For a moment time froze and the only thing he could see was his girl standing before him. He wanted to run wildly like Shoaib Akthar after claiming Sachin’s wicket.

It took a while for the message to sink in to him and his feet to feel the earth. “uh, hmm, of course, why not?”, came his stuttering reply. “Thanks Krish, say Thanks”, reverberated his mind. He wanted to talk right now and pour his feelings for her. But, bearing the fact that it was already quarter past eight and he hardly manages to get up around 02:00 PM for lunch on Saturdays he said, “Saturday afternoon, 2:30 ?…err sorry 3:30. i… ?” . He wanted to tell her that he had never been early to break fast on a Saturday, but swallowed his words thinking she might not like him. “Okay, where can we meet ?”, she retorted and checked for onlookers. Everything, but a good place to meet ran through his mind. “What would be a good location ?”, he asked himself. He started looking up the starts tapping his foot and scratching his ears hoping something would pop-up. But, these gestures never helped Krish, nor anyone. He looked at her sheepishly now and then hoping that she would fill in. “Okay, please don’t mistake me, but, i have to go now. Here is my number”, she said taking out her mobile phone and checking the time. “Text me the location. See you on Saturday”, she said and left the place swiftly after flashing him a good bye smile.

Krish was still dumbstruck with what just happened and was reliving the moment, until she came back and said cooly, “Krish, would you like some tea with biscuits ?”. “What…., wait Anun..?”, before he could take another look at her pretty face he was blinded by a flash of light. In the wink of an eye everything around him changed and seemed familiar, it was as if he was pulled out from the silvery white gaseous liquid of pensieve (from Harry Potter). He looked bewildered. The next thing he saw was his Mom in front of him with a plate of biscuits and a cup of tea. It was like an episode from Harry Potter, except that he was no Harry Potter and there was no Dumbledore around to seek wisdom. His mom repeated, “Krish, get up it is only quarter past seven. Bunking your temple visit, huh ?”. “No way” retorted Krish rushing out of his room hurriedly with a mixed feeling of happiness and longing. “Have some of these before you leave”, was only an indistinct voice to Krish who was already out on the streets.

To be continued…

It was time for Krish’s turn to experience the same frustration his mom had experienced in persuading him to reveal where he has hidden his shoes, when he was stopped by his mom to defer his visit to the temple that day owing to meet his dad’s relatives who were expected that evening at seven. “Mom, but i can’t miss the schedule”. “Krish, you missed to pay your mobile bill for the fifth time in a row ?”, his mom retorted sarcastically, adding “Moreover, your dad would not be pleased if you skip to meet them. He wanted me to make sure you stay”. “Mom, you don’t get it, I would miss to see…’, words slipped from his mouth in trying to persuade his mom. “See who, Krish ?”. Krish paused for a moment and managed saying, “I meant, seek His blessings, seek His blessings…”, running to face his mom in the kitchen so that she heard his corrected version clearly. His mom was busy preparing snack items for their guests that she didn’t take his strange activity and slippery words seriously.

“Are you planning to redo the flooring to our hall ?”, questioned his sister who returned from work. “No, why would i?”, Krish retorted angrily. “Then why are you walking the length and breadth of the hall ?”, his sister replied with a smirk. “Very funny, Preetha”, came Krish’s angry reply. “Mom, why is Krish in a bad mood ?”, whispered Preetha making her way into the Kitchen. “You know, Dad’s nephew Raghavan has moved into town and he is paying his long due visit today. Krish wants to ‘Seek Blessings’ by skipping to meet them”, replied Krish’s mom loud enough for Krish to hear. “Mom, what’s wrong with that ?”, Krish joined his mom and sister in the kitchen and tried to reply softly still grinding his teeth and trying to control his anger thinking that this might ruin his chances of getting out of the house, if there was any. “Krish, Athiti Devo Bava (meaning: Guests are Gods in human form). So you can seek their blessing”, Preetha replied, this time with huge grin. His mercurial blood surged to exceed the all time highest temperature of Chennai, his hometown.

Kirsh’s patience limit is like a wet clay when he is being ridiculed or being sworn, you can punch, crunch and roll it over a bulldozer, it won’t break. But it is like the same clay made into a pot, which breaks on a single fall in certain issues. And denying a visit to see his girl tops the list. Krish glared form his mom to his sister. His face turned scarlet and ears even more. “This is is the right opportunity Kirsh, leave now, leave now” echoed his mind voice . As the mind voice died, his outside voice echoed the kitchen,”I have had enough, i am leaving now and i will handle dad”, and he started waking out the kitchen towards the door, only to stop at the door where his dad was unlacing his shoes. “Where are you off to, Krish ?. “I heard you say about handling something. What was it about ?”. Krish struggled for words. He didn’t want to upset his dad. Actually, he was not used to confronting his dad angrily. “Yes dad, i was telling mom that i will be here to handle our relatives”. “Handle ?”, his dad replied, confused. ” I meant, to treat them in a good way”, Krish replied clearing his throat trying to suppress his anger.

“Great, all this happens on a day when i plan to talk to her”, Krish headed back to his room mumbling. Though, he had no plans to talk to her until then, he was frustrated by the fact that he was denied of an opportunity to see her.

To be continued…

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 4 times

In 2010, there were 3 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 10 posts.

The busiest day of the year was June 6th with 50 views. The most popular post that day was Two to three !.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, lmodules.com, sanjeevvr.wordpress.com, linkedin.com, and logiconline.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for swades, shahrukh khan in swades, jeeka, swades movie, and srikanth kannan.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Two to three ! June 2010
6 comments

About the Film “Swades”, We the people October 2006
13 comments

A sweet stint – Quarter to seven ! October 2010
6 comments

A sweet stint September 2010
4 comments

My classmate’s chemical reply… July 2007
13 comments

“Time vs complexity of thoughts must be directly proportional”, Krish said to himself. It was more than twenty minutes and there was no sign of her. Every other person who came in was at least twice her age. Krish behaved like a kid of the kinder-garden who would have a peek every other minute at the door awaiting his mom, after the final bell. “Twenty five minutes and 55 seconds since i came here and there is no sign of her”. A more sensible but sad thought pricked him, “What if she originally belongs to another city and yesterday was her last day in this place”. ” Please God, let this not be true, please” was something he wished from the bottom of his heart as he walked out into the street. “Good things does not last long”. No, this was not Krish’s mind voice. These were the words of a stout middle-aged woman to bunch of women of her same age as they were taking a leisurely evening stroll past him. “Thanks for the words of wisdom” Krish enunciated aloud sarcastically which made the stout woman giggle in elation much to the displeasure of Krish. He increased his pace to avoid overhearing another bunch of even older women. In doing so he tripped failing to notice the platform for walking and was about to hit the ground face down, but managed to land on his palms.

The next thing he noticed getting up was his girl on the other end of the road on her way to the temple with her friend. “Wow, she has an amazing sense of dress” Kirsh said balancing himself. A peach colored top with a golden embroidery where it ends at her wrists and a matching cream colored frock. Her medium sized ears were studded with simple circular silver ear-rings, which according to Krish would not have looked good on any other girl. Single non-metal bracelet on each of her wrists seemed that she was not an ornament-obsessed girl. Little did he notice that he had scratched his palms badly and was bleeding. “I think she stays nearby”, Krish mumbled to himself rubbing his blood stained palms. It was worth the fall for Krish, but a single thought ran into him with a surging pain every few minutes on that night, “Aah, I could have fallen gracefully…”

To be continued…

He could not take his eyes of her, as a child that would fantasize a new toy. This was not a frequent moment for Krish. In fact, this was his special first one. Though this was a cliche movie scene, for which he would curse the director. He never though that he would re-enact the same without cameras and would enjoy it. “So, this stuff really happens”, Krish said to himself and realized that he was lucky enough not to be noticed by anyone as he was the only one staring in a different direction than the others who were praying. The next few minutes he tried hard not to look in her direction, but could not resist. “Lord, please forgive me for not being myself today. I can’t help seeing her. It is your fault bringing her to my notice” was his unusual prayer before he left.

“She would not have noticed. Krish, you have a good knack of looking. Keep it up” he convinced himself on his walk back home. But, she was better at pretending that she was not noticing her onlooker. It would have been a sleepless night with a duet for the male lead in some movies. But, Krish was different. He was planning to watch a thriller movie the same night. All said, he would regurgitate and replay his fresh memories of his gawking at this girl oftentimes for two reasons. One, he wanted to relive the moment, and the other was that the thriller movie had more neck-hair raising clips than he had expected.

To be continued…

got a glimpse of full moon

leaning on my elbow,

thought of nothing, than to be home soon.

Never was i so alone,

never was apart

living on a bank loan

leaving all behind, including my heart.

Am i the only person

with this sight ?

there must be some reason

for not all to write.

i will not complain unnecessarily

as what i do really matters,

not only for me, but also for my family

So, here i am doing Masters.

It was one of those Chemistry classes of 12th.The class was hypnotized by swirling equations of organic and inorganic Chemistry that my friends would doze off with just another word from our Chemistry sir. Shinto, my school friend was no exception to the rest of my classmates. He found his place in a wooden desk which was a few desks in front from the very last row of my class. He was popular among us for his unique way of answering questions for which he had the least of knowledge.

Most of my class friends were in a posture which meant would-you-please-stop-to-teach-some-in-the-next-class. They had their heads rested in their forearm and their drowsy eyes occasionally following the footsteps of our chemistry sir, in case he noticed them. Our Sir had the habit of hovering between the aisles to keep our sleepy eyes focused on him.

On one such monotonous chemistry class, i think we tested his patience. He just drew some equations on the board and started explaining them in his usual slow and sleep-inviting tone. Sure was a lullaby to many of my friends, though i didn’t sleep on that particular day. The equation on the board involved the evolution of Hydrogen gas. Our Chemistry sir, just like any other professor in this world would do, will name the ones whom he knew wouldn’t answer his question and make them stand. For a moment he would be pleased to see his pupil open their mouth, but that feeling wouldn’t last longer for him coz many a time they just open their mouth to yarn.

It was Shinto’s turn this time. “Shinto…” he snapped at my friend, which also made others alarm and we were woken by his usual soft tone (he doesn’t raise his voice much). Shinto stood up giving a smile to our sir. One of the most appreciable traits of Shinto is that he gives you a good greeting smile even if you are gonna to slap him on his face( Of course he doesn’t smile after being hit ).

Most of us gave silent giggles, when he stood up lethargically, when his name was called. We were expecting some answer from him.” Er yes Sir…” he said in his usual shaky voice after a pause. “Enna Shinto…thookamaa?” he said smirking. Shinto can hardly control his laughter when he is being questioned and instantly covers his clipped teeth with his left hand, pretending to be serious. “Sir … er… Sir” said his shaky voice with a controlled smile. These words were always expected of him when confronted by a staff.

Our sir, looking at the board read out one of the chemical equation aloud before questioning him. In the mean time he turned back and gave silent laugh at almost everyone he could see before our sir completed reading the equation which had Hydrogen gas with an arrow pointed upwards, indicating it was being liberated in the equation. (Usually hydrogen was represented with H2, which is familiar with everyone of you). sir turned back at him, this time with a serious look and asked him in a cold voice “Shinto where is hydrogen “. (He apparently meant the Hydrogen gas with an upward pointed arrow on the right side of the chemical equation which he had just finished reading). This was a pretty easy question, atleast to those who are familiar with the symbols of chemical substances.

His fingers ran over his chin giving an impression that he was thinking hard for the pretty obvious answer. Then after a minute or so of waiting sir advanced from the last row towards him, probably expecting an answer. A shaky dull voice was heard, it was Shinto coming up with an answer. ”Sir… Hydrogen is in the periodic table Sir”. He was expected to say that hydrogen was on the right hand side of the equation which was read by our sir. (The periodic table is an arrangement of the chemical elements ordered by atomic number in columns and rows presented so as to emphasize their periodic properties.) Hydrogen in periodic table was an obvious fact to everyone who studied chemistry. I don’t know what made him to give such a reply. May be, being disturbed from a shallow sleep would have puzzled his mind to give such a funny answer (thought it was a fact). The class erupted with laughter the moment he completed his answer. Even our sir couldn’t help laughing. He gave a bewildered look at him and continued laughing.

That was one awesome day that everyone of my class friends would never ever forget. When ever my school friends get together, we recollect this incident and everytime we find it hard to control our laughter.

Thanks for patiently reading my post

left in college life

i look upon the ways,

to bend back the knife.

Back bench chatting

during the class

and talked about dating

when we were in the mass.

To see the class filled

was a rarer sight,

but chatting together found us thrilled,

never sounded odd and always pretty light.

Last minute study

was always on the cards

and when we were ready

we took out our swords.

It was hard listening lectures

with some taking notes

and some clicking pictures,

but all won their votes.

We may not be together

for the rest of our lives,

running hither and thither

to pacify our wives.

Fewer are the days,

hard to fetch

but there are numerous ways

to keep in touch !!!

Ashutosh Gowariker is an Indian actor, writer, producer and director.Ashutosh started his career as an actor in Ketan Mehta’s Holi in 1984.He has also acted in several films.No Indian can forget his film Lagaan(2001) which was nominated for an Academy award for the best foreign Language film.Being an Indian i have become a die hard fan of his direction and screenplays.

courtesy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashutosh_Gowarikar

This film, Swadesh starts with the introduction of Mohan Bhargav (played by Shahrukh khan) Project manager in NASA for building an important satellite to monitor our planet’s weather.Then the film slowly moves into the path of what it was supposed to be. Mohan as a child was very much attached to his nanny, Kaveri amma(Kishori Ballal). In the midst of his materialistic life in US he feels a sudden urge to visit the only person he could relate to, his nanny. hence, he starts off to India.

After reaching Delhi he finds that his nanny was residing in an old-age home and later taken back by Geetha (Gayatri joshi) to her village,Charanpur. Having learnt this, he heads off to that village. “yuhi chala..” song during his journey to the village best describes the traditional values of our country.(great score!!!)

He is dumb struck to see a Village without proper electricity and basic amenities. He persuades his nanny to come with him .But, Geetha who had brought her to the village is reluctant to leave such a wonderful person who had supported her and her younger brother after they lost their parents. She also happens to be Mohan’s childhood friend. Puzzled Mohan decides to spend some more days in the village hoping to win his nanny back. In the meantime, he finds that Geetha is helping educate the kids in the village. He is moved by her unselfish act and decides to help her in getting all working kids to school and also prevents the school being taken over by the village panchayat.

The lights of the postmaster Nivaran (Rajesh Vivek) and the cook “Mela naam”(Dayashankar Pandey) characters is a pleasure to watch. They bring in some light moments into the film. In due course they take up important roles in bringing people together.

The film gets a move here. Mohan helps in removing the social evils like untouchabilty and racialism that has long been prevailing in that village. “yeh tara oh tara….” mzke one think and also to tap his feet. One of my all time favourites .

The director had very carefully chosen his crew. Every single character in the film justified their roles aptly. All are worth a mention.

While visiting a nearby village, Mohan witnesses the poverty of the families and his thought to improve their economic condition strengthens. He empathizes their helplessness which makes him prolong his stay and strengthens his determination to help them. He plans to improve the condition of his village. He starts with a plan to generate electricity from a stream of water from the near by hills and succeeds in it with the help of the villagers. He gains the respect all, including geetha.

The stage play score “Pal Pal hai bhaari…” is a top notch instrumental one.
Shahrukh recieves a call from his friend in NASA that the project is in its final stage and his presence is a must. Having no other option he half-halfheartedly leaves to America leaving with memories of the village where he found true and unconditional love and learnt the social and traditional values of his country.

yet another song which arouses the patriotism in us..”yeh jo desh hai mera…” sung by A.R.Rahman is really touching. The music and the way the instrument,”shehnai” is used in this song is brilliant.

There are no words to praise the director for making such a great movie. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. A film which made my eyes watery and also to think about my country. Many of my friends felt the same. I don’t know whether i have justified the movie to what it deserves.

A.R.Rahman’s music is heart filling and makes us empathize the situation. No words to praise the background score. It is one of those must-have-seen movies. This is one of my all time favourite and i deeply feel that it deserves full credit.

Hope this blog will make u watch the movie !

Lookin back at my kinder garden days ,i had a friend for whom i was ready to do anything plausible. i can recollect an incident where i tore the shirt of my class mate who quarreled with him. There are many such incidents , not all of those involve tearing and fighting stuffs.He bcame one of my close friends( there are few more of them).

As i climbed the ladder of time my definitions gradually changed , obviously better than my first. For people who believe in Sunsigns , the Geminis are very caring people who respect and value their friends a lot. No wonder iam an gemini and i do possess the qualities of a typical Gemini, infact more than the one i mentioned when it comes to friends. But i never took these things serious until i finished my schooling.Now i just have a simple question for u guys, how will u identify a true friend ? . sorry i too dont have an answer for that, but some how i think , at least my heart says that i have a friend who will be with me for the rest of my life. The best answer for that question would be to choose ur own ideas , may be u can test them with a few intuitive questions, please dont ask for the Questions,but i can suggest one thing be natural & don’t be on the asking side alone.

i heard people say that distance is not a big deal for friendship, but my opinion is that it really helps to strengthen the bond, but i didnt have that opportunity of having a friend close to my residence .People who are not in possession of a thing they need are the best ones to ask how they miss it. It was during the 2nd year i realised this and started to think who is my true friend, doesn’t mean that others are not. I am really gifted with friends, especially my college friends. i should thank God for blessing with such wonderful set of friends.

There are moments when i had felt that i had no one to share my feelings and just to be with and hang around.But now i hope that iam not into such feelings anymore, thanks to my college .Though college life is shorter than the school , this is the place where u find ur true com best friends , if lucky your lifepartner too.
If iam not wrong many would have not thought about about this question of identifying their true friend . For people who have not stepped into college life i sincerely advice them to catch hold of atleast one such friend early in their college life, to be more open u must have a friend who just follows you and it should also be the other way.No need to give up your personal policies , a good friend never asks you to do things which u are not comfortable with i.e against ur policies.

once u identify him its a crime not to share everything with him, they help you get rid of any problem, no matter how big they are and u never feel alone.This is what my personal experience says. so go find ur true friends because there is no life without friends.Though i havn’t mentioned his name in this blog and anything related to him he is out there in my heart.i could share a whole lot about him in my future blog.

i dedicate this to my dear friends.Thanks for patiently reading my blog.