Dubai The city of Dreams

Going through my previous posts, one common thing i have noticed is that i have never given enough justice to Dubai the city where i reside. The Eldorado of South Indian Expatriates, where people come with a hope in their heart to make it big some day. The Dubai where Laborers working for frugal wages and white collar jobs offering exuberant salaries live along the same city.

The city has a charm of its own, the freedom and culture unfounded anywhere in the region. Ability to find affordable lifestyle to extreme Luxury and lavishness. As a member of the Malabari diaspora i feel home here more than anywhere else. If Kerala was allowed to offer a new number plate Dubai would be KL 99 followed by the car number. Its a fact that you can find more Indians in UAE than the National community of Arabs.

Dubai is unique in its own ways, as a transit point for all major destinations in the world, this is the place where you have to be if you want to globe trot occasionally. The cuisines on offer will make any foodie relish the prospect of visiting Dubai and cant ignore the monstrous malls and endless brands on offer.

This is the city that has taught me so many things in such a short span of time. The value of time, friends, relationships and above all the ability to dream big. All the luxuries on display will drive you to work harder and harder to get the irresistible comforts of life. Dubai makes you believe in the possibilities and look at things as what they ought to be not what as they are.

Over the years like every other burgeoning metropolis Dubai has been compating the evils of growth like traffic, inflation and continuous growth pressures. The city has been doing the best it can cope up with the the growing population and its perils, better roads, an ambitious Metro project, modern public transport and the most important one good policing.

This is one place where you can have faith in the justice system and be envious about the way the police treat civilians (our forces should learn something from them). It is a city where women can feel safe enough to roam the streets at midnight without company. The best thing you can learn from the people out here are their modesty and humility in treating people.

No iam not acting like a sycophant cozying up to his object of adoration. Like every other place it has its own short comings too, but when the pros outweighs the cons then a new hope arises there, a model to adopt and a plan to marvel.

I thought it will be good to look at the glass half full for a change, to hope, to nurture, to dream and above all to believe in a better tomorrow.

Salame

What happens if you Dump the Idiot Box ?

I often wonder when we call the TV an idiot box, is it because it makes an idiot out of us ? or Whether the Idiot in the Phrase is the box itself ? or let me guess is it all those soaps, serials, game shows and noisy news channels the Idiots. As a TV addict myself i know how influensive it can be in the daily routine, all the wasted time, the late night sleeping, the sleepy mornings and above all an information confusion build up over the time. I believe its the most deviating and procrastination inducing device invented by men ever.

So out of curiosity and experimentation one fine day i decided to shelve the TV for some time. YES to remove the TV and disconnect the cable for good for now. The idea has bought a lot of protests, criticism and sympathy (towards someone who is loosing his mind). But painstakingly i stood by my decision and its already two months without it now. I accept the fact that the emptiness was scary initially, all the hubbub, chatter and chaos was missing out of my life.

The ideas behind this action was to spend more time reading, hopefully write more and even to achieve a clear opinion on current affairs outside the normal perceptions. The experiment has been successful in a way, i have already completed a couple of books in the absence of our villain. But the writing part has been lagging behind. I guess God has been answering some of your prayers off late hehehe.

So what do i feel after two months of TVless living? mixed feelings of reclusiveness and boredom. I have started realising to the true extend how much time i have been wasting on TV and how it has become an intrinsic part of day to day living. Its true that absence makes the heart fonder, for a change i miss the confusion and chatter, the documentaries, the talent shows and even some of the tear jerky serials. The most i miss now is the election news, the infighting, the ever changing political scenery and new partnesrships formed by the hour.

Without TV i have discovered more web portals in the last two months than my entire internethood. I have started depending on written content, reading hidden meanings in still photographs and even patient enough to buffer videos one by one. Personal Advice: its worth trying, you might sound more informed than the others as you take the effort to gather news from all other sources and you wont be confused from all those endless perspective from umpteen news channels.

One thing is for sure, you can see that i am really confused and i cant even differentiate between my major arguments out here. Its been a week from my last post and the frequency of posting has come down from one every day to mentally exerting to write one in a week. So whats keeping me busy from writing; absolutely nothing, its pure lethargy and my all time ally procrastination that's slowing me down. I can also include lack of ideas, lack of thought worthy news or even recession to blame. Hope to improve on my writing and post more.
tc

Dream Readers Nightmare

Away for a week without any posts, don't blame me, iam out of ideas and there isn't any news inspiring enough to write about. So i have decided to go into more personal and ordinary aspects of life. To write about everyday happenings, that does not look interesting to any of us.
I happen to be a good dreamer, not the visionary kind, but a fortunate one with the ones in between long naps and short slumbers. I have had really strange dreams and happen to remember many of them. It is said that dreams are the results of failed hopes and aspirations, visualisations of what could have been or what things could end up to be.

I have had dreams involving famous personalities, businessmen, politicians, writers etc. I tend to discuss them with my unfortunate friends and hence i tend to retain some memory of what little i remember. Of having important one to one meeting with Industrial heavy weights, on giving sensitive political advices to upcoming political leaders. And then i wake up with the feeling of having conquered the world. I have had my share of strange meaningless dreams too, waking up shaken and bewildered out of a nightmare.

If any of you have read about dreams and dreaming you would have come across a phenomena called lucid dreaming, a dream where you can take control of your surroundings. I believe i have had one or two lucid dreams too, where i flew like superman and rescued damsels in distress. The only problem with this fascination with dreams is that you tend to sleep more. Because you can dream only when you sleep, and you try to perfect and improve the visions.

Another regular dream i have is of people running behind me hehehe, i don't know why, it always involves a chase scene with me escaping narrowly. I hope one day science grows up to the challenge and devices ways to record dreams and influence dreaming in a positive therapeutical way. And then there are these erotic dreams with beautiful damsels all over me and unfortunately they dont happen often and i remember very little of them too. hehehe

Eventually i will dream of blogging and writing interesting posts which are read by thousands of eager readers awaiting my every word. hehehhe this looks most likely to happen in my dream only so let it remain so. If anyone can suggest topics that will be really great.

tc

Of Elections, Coalitions, Alliances, and Breakups

The great Indian elections is around the corner again and the usual drama, mania's, campaign promises etc that follows with it too. Every time an election comes we anticipate, we hope, we pray and as usual most of us become indifferent to what happens and who gets selected to rule us for the next 5 years. Which next alliance under what new 3 letter phrase with which all new best friends will done the cap of the neta and govern our hopes and aspirations.

Something peculiar that i have been noticing off late is very disturbing to our democratic value. The youth of the nation or at least the presumed ones around me have become indifferent to whats happening in the political front. This might be an odd observation in a rather peculiar set of callous and dejected generation. The feeling that comes with the helplessness and disgust towards a badly managed phenomena. Most of them are unaware of the proceedings, the candidates, the partnerships and even the existence of one.

You cant blame them either, you will be too if friends turn foe's overnight, if 10 year old partners revel in verbal accusations and alien self styled rich industrialists turn leaders overnight. When the common man climbing up the political ladder step by step becomes irrelevant and unwelcome in decisive meetings. When promises are never kept and alliances are meant to be broken this is what will happen.

So what do we do? should we stand and watch, keep nagging about their ineptitude and inefficiencies and tilt our hands with helplessness. This reminds me of one of the most inspiring social initiative advertisement in the recent years, the Tata tea, jago India campaign promoting involvement and initiative. The advertisement was really awakening and portrayed the actual behaviour of the indifferent youth. One thing that can liven up your hope is to watch Mani Ratnam's Yuva and see how the new generation can do something about the political drama.

The only thing we can do to change the situation is to get involved with what you detest and do something about it. But again, who has the time, who is bothered or above all why should we shed out of our comfort zones. The future docent look all grim too, even if we have to blame the dynasty syndrome there is an injection of youth or relative young leaders springing up through out the country. Lets hope tomorrow will be good and many of us will get ourselves involved with chaos of politics.

P.S Running short of ideas, coming into the conclusion that boredom is apart of recession and beginning the path to indifference and helplessness. If anyone has any suggestions on topics for a new post do comment and rate my inconsistency.

adios

What's The Time ?

In ordinary situations this seems to be a very easy question to answer, all you have to do is glance at your wrist watch and proclaim the visible result. But what will you do if you have different time settings in different time display devices. I have at least 9 different places i can look to determine time, no iam not exaggerating the situation and all have entirely diiferent time displayed.

My wrist watch time is 10 minutes fast from the presumed actual time, then the laptop displays the time 45 minutes away from reality (yes 45 minutes, dont ask me why 45), the car LED watch is slow by 10 minutes, then there are clocks displaying 4 different time zones (India, Taiwan, China, USA) in the office. It doesn't stop there either there is another watch in my cabin showing time 15 minutes away and then finally there is the ubiquitous cell phone which has become self sufficient displaying any time that its artificial intelligence assumes suitable for the moment hehehe. Finally there is this watch in my room stuck at 10: 10, i removed the battery one fine day unable to suffer further irritation from the sound of seconds ticking away.

Now why do i have such different time settings living in one time zone all the time. The reasons where very convincing at that point of time, inspired by inspirational speakers on the benefit of setting time ahead of reality, i fell for their techniques. There are other reasons too, the time in the car is at that juncture because however i meddle with the controls he never surrenders to my whims.

This can be a very confusing situation, i have lost control of time now and to be frank am truly unaware of actual time any moment. It has mixed results too, i reach early where iam meant to be late and reach late where my punctuality would have been a merit. Some day very soon i will have to take the effort to bring the situation into order, otherwise i will be beaten up by people who value their time.

P.S I had a friend who told us this story where the villain of the plot the mosquito fly's into his kitchen and he the saviour chasing it out. As the story progresses he chases the mosquito from his four door CFC free refrigerator to the 6 pan cooker with grill cabin and goes on to his automatic dishwasher. He takes a plunge to catch the mosquito as it kisses the 42" LCD tv in the kitchen and finally the mosqito unconquerably fly's out. The story was meant to portray his affluence and financial superiority. Hehehe.
Likewise this post by no means was written to show that i have an intelligent mobile phone, my own Korean car, an ageing laptop, my own miniscule cabin and more hehehhe. If anyone felt so it was truly unintentional hehehe.

tc

On Scam's, Fraud's, Prankster's, Trickster's and more

Running out of ideas to write is not a very interesting, situation. I think it has got something to do with the latest news, surprisingly theres nothing interesting happening around. Most of us are depressed, tensed and recession stricken and it doesn't look like getting better any time soon. Some of you might have noticed the depression and pessimism in some of my posts lately, so i have finally decided to shed the gloomy feel and be a beacon of hope heheheh. A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.

Ok back to the theme of the post. This has high significance now as every other day a new scam comes to light, some small and some really huge. This post is not about corporate malpractices and billions siphoned off in secret Swiss accounts, it’s about my personal experiences with them. My earliest experience with a trickster can be dated back to 8th standard, when i was attracted to this glass juggler multiplying your investment with every right bet in a Mela. Yes the kind of juggler whom Abishek Bachan puts out of business in Guru, unfortunately the movie hadn't released then, and i didn't know the tricks of the trade (i don't know even now) and lost everything i had in hand lol.

The phrase that experience makes us more cautious is very true. I have fortunately stayed out of trouble from then and have developed a knack in spotting tricksters. I have come across my share of scams and online frauds in this short span of time. I have had African Generals asking assistance for transferring millions of dollars, widowers pleading aid for recovering her husband’s wealth deposited in some hidden bank accounts. I have had a mail written by the late Palestine leader’s wife asking assistance for recovering billions of dollars. People have contacted me for clearing billion dollar TT's hehehe and asked assistance for toppling military government’s hehehe.

The system of bulk mailing has become so effective and iam sure many of you would have come across lots of crap like this. I have had lottery results declaring me as the winner for million pound gambles which i have not even applied for. What do these people think, i might look dumb but iam not really that dumb hehehhe. They might be having some minuscule rate of success otherwise they would have stopped it long time back. Some debt driven, depressed or dumb browser might fall for that at some point of time, expecting a quick gain and overnight riches.

Now there is a new type of scam, the online representative for an African country's budgetary organisation identifies your area of business and sends enquiries for your products in huge quantities. Portraying their credentials, calling you up for follow up and explaining their contacts within the department to execute the order. When you give them an offer confused about the quantity, scared about the logistics of such a deal, they will keep you waiting for a week or two. Then one fine day you will get the purchase order, no negotiations, no haggling on prices, no references straight out confirmation.

When you are star struck and shocked on the outcome, usually orders amounting to millions of dollars. Then the next step of the deal, a very soft spoken middle man calls up and asks you to send samples of your product to a given address and $ 2,000 to 10,000 based on the product and scale. This amount will be for getting some expert certification from the country's quality boards. The psychology is that it’s ok to give a few thousand dollars for getting the multi million dollar order hehhehe. If you unluckily send the amount that’s the last you hear from them, all your million dollar dreams down the drain. It’s really amazing how people comes up with new ideas to dupe people and every time someone puts their head on the table.

The scams have gone to such an extend that even if some anonymous person genuinely sends us a good news we wont trust him. Blame it on the society, now we can’t even trust good news hehehe.

We Dont Negiotiate with Altruistic Cranks !!

If you have been observing the Gandhi artefact's auction developments, this is my personal comments on the already worsening state of affairs. For those of you who are not tuned to the issue, an independent collector Mr. James Otis has put up some personal belonging’s of Gandhi's for auction at the prestigious Antiquorum Auctioneers. A photograph reveals the articles as: a battered brown sandals, given to a British army officer in 1931; a simple metal bowl on a plate; a typical gandhi syle old glasses ; and a rather mundane pocket watch.

He has been juggling his decisions on continuing the sale with various bargains, opinions and inane ballyhoo’s.He is creating hype by negotiating with the Indian government and occasionally proposing to halt the auction. Our Recession stricken ministry, scared of any bad moves with an impending election has already given an offer to stall the sale. But unfortunately our man Mr. Otis has found the amount too less to even disclose it.

Then he has put up a suggestion where he is ready to give it for free if the Indian government assures to spend 5 % of our GDP on the poor (as per the latest figures around $ 55-60 Billion). Later he has come up with one more condition which entails our poor government to spend more money on health care than it spends on defense activities.

The recommendations are reasonable from the perspective of Mr. Otis. I think this has got something to do with the slum dog millionaire syndrome, where the whole country looks like a slum and everyone a daily struggler. But what is going through his mind while proposing such ridiculously unreasonable recommendations. Yes we accept the fact that we have 27% of the world, s hungry and 45 % below the poverty line. It’s true that 2/3 of our people don’t have proper sanitation and proper drinking water, but by any reasonable justifications this is not how things are done here.

Mr. Otis we are the one among the very few economies capable of expecting an 8 % growth rate and a comparatively stable and democratically successful country. What if luckily some Indian digging through his attic comes across some token of historical importance or patriotic compulsion for the Americans? And this man becomes eccentric enough to propose US withdrawal from Iraq or Unilateral support for Palestinian cause. How would you react?

Just because we don’t have an aggressively coercive foreign policy, it doesn't mean that you can ridicule our national icons and question our internal policies and beliefs. Let’s make one thing clear first we don’t need budgetary guidance from altruistic philanthropist's any more.

As per the latest developments our Man Friday in cases of protecting national pride from capitalist evil men, Mr. Vijay Mallya has won the items by making the highest bid of $ 1.8 Million. He had saved us earlier in the case of Tipu Sultans Sword too. We shall have our day very soon and we will put up the statue of liberty for auction and ask the US government to spend 10 % of their GDP on promoting bollywood in the Americas hehehe

A Short History on Bygone 50 Posts

Yes it is true that we have been able to complete 50 rather uneventful posts ranging from cooking instructions on mushroom omlette with cheese to boring posts on tyre changing ordeals. We have written on everyday events like marriage's and birthdays, advised on cost saving ideas for recession to suggestions on cheap weekends. Unfortunately you have been exposed to some of my radio active poetry and even a shot at a failed attempt on fiction. We have bored you with unintelligible things like economic theories and explaining financial practices and initially when we were really out of ideas justified with straight out plagiarism from works of literature and interesting chain mails.

We thank all the readers of (1+2 (yes that’s me checking the blog in the morning, afternoon and again in the evening heheheh)) our blog. Thank you for patiently going through our rather absurd thoughts and conclusions. We thank all the people who took effort in giving us a piece of their mind by commenting and reviewing the posts.

If it doesn't really bother you and if the time you spent browsing on the net is more than the time you spend working (characteristic's of a recession hit business), then comment on your favourite post if any and suggestions to improve our musings. To all my readers from Latin America and Australia (just kidding), you can comment in Latin i will take the effort to translate and comprehend your thoughts heheeh.

As a 50 post special, i have come up with a new scheme, no we don't offer discounts on properties and sell outdated electronic goods. WE WILL WRITE ON ANY 5 SELECTED TOPICS THAT YOU COME UP WITH, HOWEVER COMPLICATED, CONTROVERSIAL, OR TO AN EXTEND PERSONAL IT GETS. Please don't ask me about how i helped AR rahman to get the Oscars (heheheh) or don't even provoke me to write a travelogue on my adventurous Latin American road trips hehehe. Be descent and creative we will try our best too.

All those anonymous readers please, (yes some people are really reading this crap) take the effort and initiative to post comments. This is to check whether all those people concerned with my writing and earnestly promoting it are really reading it before their personal comments are thrown at me. If you have really noticed, i have included this follower application titled “Unfortunate Victims" in the blog, i know its asking too much, please, pretty pleaseeeee SOMEBODY PLEASE JOIN THE LIST heheheh.

P.S. Iam optimistic for a change, don't depress me this time, please take the effort, in the name of all the suicidal minutes you took reading this blag, express yourselves.

Who will remember you ?

To answer this, let’s first check whom all do we remember. No, this is no test of memory to ridicule your inefficiency. Take it easy just give it a shot, just try to remember who all you recall from this short life.

Do you remember your sweet class teacher from kindergarten, the kindest ayah who did so much for you when you were a child, the long lost best friends you had in school, your first crush, the day you got beaten for not bringing the signed marks card, the tensed day before your 10th standard exam, how you felt doomsday was approaching when the calendars tore away to the result announcement day. Try to remember the first day you realised science was not your piece of cake in 11th or the day you finally studied without sleepless nights for your 12th board exams. How you proclaimed yourself freedom walking out of the school gates on your last day of exam. The first day in college, the oddity of finding yourself in a strange crowd without friends and acquaintances, the day you were made part of a bigger group, which made your existence and college life relevant. The first true love, the first argument, the first breakup, the list can go on and on.

This was the easy part you might be able to score 60-80 % in the above questionnaire and it gets more difficult now. What do you remember abut each of these life changing occasions? How vague our memories are, how we promised ourselves not to forget about any of these perfect moments. So basically like our choices, preferences and conclusions our memory is short lived too. It’s like these breads which come with the expiry dates; each of our memory and memories of us in other people comes with expiry dates.

On any given day i don't remember even who iam (hehehhe) remembering others are way out of my league. How we forget the name of a friend when he is out of sight for a year or two. It’s astounding when you could recall his birthday and the days to it in the past. You forget the moments you shared, the hilarious thinks you did together, how you missed his/her presence when the absence was short.

So basically, we are nothing but a small term memory, the people who are influenced by you are very few, maybe your parents, your spouse or the current close friends. If you give it a head count you will be lucky if you can complete your index finger on one hand to the other. We are so conceited by our prominence, our arrogance and even our existence. When we forget to remember our irrelevance, our plausibility and above all our fragility. The mighty arrogant self proclaimed VIP becomes a nose watering, wheezing disturbance with a minor cold or flu.

How we think we are everything, the self reassurance of our own temporary importance. How many people do you remember from the past, leave the great political leaders, the romantic poets or some of the greatest stalwarts of the industry? We don't even remember many of them, me the self confessed Forbes and fortunes list freak don't know the richest person even in the sixties; forget a time span before that.

So many irrelevant people like us die every day, a silent uneventful life concluded without any prominence and here we are running behind all that doesn't matter, the temporary pleasures of life. Try looking at the crowd with an aerial view, so many people running to so many irrelevant things, things which might look important at that point of time. It looks so funny if you think about all the running around we do, the deadly deadlines, the unattainable targets and in the end of the day all you need is some peace of mind and happiness. One day not so late we all will be replaced; a newspaper column might announce our demise. Like we always do, someone else might give it a glance and forget our names before he turns to the next page, the irrelevant fool who though he had it all.

So wake up to the fact that we are nothing but a small speck of grain in the desert ready to blow away and replaceable by yet another irrelevant minuscule presence. Remember that no body will remember you more than you remember any body you have forgotten, don't run behind the rat, it will never stop its chase and you are the only one who will retire from it.

Have the guts to walk out of this race and start fresh, influence peoples life in a good way, help the downtrodden, relieve poverty, educate the poor, i know it sounds very unrealistic. But it is these people who have lived longer than their average memory in the lives of people he/she influenced, the change they brought forward, and the lives they improved.

Remember
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." — Arundhati Roy

We Are Not Humans Any More !!

How can we be humans with all this cruelty, prejudice, hatred and above all the indifference, the feeling that as long as we are not affected it’s OK? It really amazes me to see all the inhuman brutality by humans on other humans; it makes me wonder whether this is the same kid with the sparkling eye's and the innocent smile.

How can he grow up to be so indifferent, to inflict so much pain, to kill without a blink of an eye, where did we go wrong. Is it the careless upbringing, the biased society or the huge difference in financial wealth. We can blame the criminal politics, the systematic religious vote banking, and the conceited caste system.

It really baffles me how men can kill a fellow human being for such simple things like a traffic brawl to a property border dispute. How religion which is supposed to bring discipline, unity, promote kindness is misinterpreted to take lives. We have to surrender to the universal conclusion that all religions are good by principle but it is the follower who takes advantage, who misinterprets and comes into his own selfish conclusions. Have you heard of any religion preaching ethnic cleansing or any society impartially subjugating a sect, caste or creed.

Humans have killed more humans than tobacco, reckless driving, coronary diseases, malignant cancers and hungry stomachs combined. And we sit in front of our LCD screens, flickering picture tube screens, tilting computer screens and criticize and advocate breast cancer campaigns, anti tobacco advertisements and promote safe driving. Before all this we have to educate humans, nurture kindness not policing, not screening and not even useless debating. We have to promote compassion, explain empathy and bring up universal love.

We don't want radical preachers telling us whom to hate, whom to subjugate, whom to rent our properties, where to teach our children and even what to think. Let us wake up to the realities of life, the stark naked authenticity's of everyday living. Let us not be stopped by the sanctimonious grin of the better followers, and the derogating comments of the true believers. Wake up people, let us live us humans for a change.

Will We be Ever Happy?

What is happiness, this like the question who am I is very flexible and vague. What makes you happy one day doesn't even bother you another day. Have you ever thought about it, being happy is something everyone aims at and never achieves. Some chart happiness through money, others through love, some through loneliness and even some through pain.

We have always been unhappy from the time you remember as far as you can. No iam not being pessimistic, at every point of time we have felt unhappy and believed a moment before that was bliss. When we were in school unhappiness came in the form of class tests, rude teachers, brawling bullies and continuous classes. The when the schools were over you look back and say “wow it was so great, the classes were so fun, no tension at alll bindaaaz."

Then the adventurous, loafing around college era started, when the HOD was a terror, attendance was always in short, you never got enough sleep, always short of money and missed school life like never before. You just want to be from all these and start earning on your own. Once its over you look back and cherish bunking classes, snacks at the canteen, the happening birthday parties, the occasionally adventurous night life and even you feel bad about missing your enigmatic teachers. Hehehhe Even today i delivered this line " oh college life what a life it was macha"

Then finally after getting a job and receiving the first salary, you feel independent but never content. This is something we should be taught from an early life, to be content with what we have, never compare and conclude on silly materialistic possessions. Then the job becomes monotonous, it becomes boring, you feel burdened and what not, the vanishing elixir called happiness is not even there. Then your next aim is for a better job, a higher position a bigger designation the list is unending and the money never becomes sufficient. Then when you get a better job then you want to settle down, marry start a family the next hunt for happiness begins there.

This never ends then your aim is for a child, then more, better job, Child's education, children's marriage bigger house, wealth and the list keeps going. You always feel that you were happy on an earlier day (like i always feel i was thinner hehehhe) it’s a vicious circle. The one fine day you are diagnosed with surpluses and deficiencies in your blood, your pump house is blocked and need repairs, your legs are weaker and can’t walk like before, the list can be as creative as it can get.

This is the synopsis of most of our lives, in search of happiness and contentment we keep dragging ourselves in the rat race. No this is not meant to be the half empty glass post. What iam trying to say here is that happiness is not in achieving landmark goals and ticking away the to do lists. It is in the small small moments in life, the ones which might not even last a minute but leaves you happy for a long while. The feel of gushing wind in you hair when driving along lonely road (not possible in Dubai) with you favourite music playing along. The funny smile of a child gazing through window of a car struck in traffic. The bakraas and prangs that you play on your friends, the delicious snacks that you savor with a blink of an eye. The list can get more and more cheesy and ridiculous.

Find happiness in the least expected places, look optimistic even when the whole world is crumbling, stay positive when the biggest companies are dying and be happy every moment. Do what your heart says, you might not have this moment tomorrow, you might not be this fortunate next week. Take the long walks you always wanted to, call up those long lost friends, shuffle through the old album and laugh at your self (my favorite).

P.S I know this post sounds very weird, just wait and see what i have to write next, its a complete paradigm shift.

What is NEWS ?

What is news, when there are 215 news channels and 97 more news channels in various levels of approval, this becomes a very interesting question. All these many TV journos, reporters and camera men vying for anything that's sounds spooky, interesting, disastrous, scandalous or even mundane. They are just looking for anything that can make the TRP graph climb upwards.

In this hunt for news ethics, empathy and compassion becomes irrelevant. The rat race becomes so stressful that some of them create their own news to keep up the pace. They create their own masala and mix it on anything they think can make some heads turn.

Like one of my good friend said if you switch to Aaj Tak it will look like the world is going to end and there is so much crime and corruption all around. And then you come outside life was as it was slow, steady and uneventful as usual. They are responsible for lot of panic and hysteria on many normal circumstances. i think someone should reeducate them on what is news and whats not. Like today there was too much buzz on this situation where the SDM (for the uninitiated the Oscar winning Slum Dog Millionaire) child stars father slapped him for not giving an interview. And all of a sudden you see people discussing it with panels and calling in experts ranging from child psychologists to forensic doctors to human rights activists to get expert reviews. Last heard someone approached Sreeshanth for a comparative analysis with the slap he got and how he would react in such a situation lol.

I know how difficult it can be to find news when me the obsessive blogger with 2+1 readers are finding it difficult to find topics to write on. But there should be some self respect on giving publicity for the unnecessary. It wont be late before these people start placing control centers in each localities for identifying ordinary things that can be made into an issue any time.

I don't deny the fact that they have been doing an excellent job off late reporting on issues of national and international significance. i really appreciate on the minute to minute update on the Mumbai attack and the way they have handled the Oscarmania.

Iam pretty sure many of you would have felt the irrelevance of some flash news or some major cover story that was broadcasted recently. I dont expect any of you to comment but if you do it could be interesting lol.

P.S The word news was derived by joining the first letter of north,east,west and south.

Generation Gap a New Perspective

This thought has been lingering in my mind for quite some time, especially when you hear things like "When i was of your age i used to study under the street lights" "I had only two pairs of clothes when i was in school" "i used to walk 5 Kms to school everyday". It’s true some of them might sound really exaggerated and impossible for us to practise today.

The main emphases of these conversations are to let you know that you are so lucky to have all these materialistic possessions and to avoid day to day struggles. These are generally followed by statements like “These youth of today have no manners, respect, and value for money or any inappropriate character suitable to the situation"

I know iam at the other end of being youth and my appearance may not look youthful lol at most but even then iam lectured regularly by strangers and family alike like mentioned earlier. Being on the other side of youth I and my friends have these regular discussions like "My brother, Cousine etc. Don't have any value for money, they don't have any responsibility, he doesn't spend any time studying" (look who's talking). This is a vicious circle and at some point of time every generation has felt superior to the later ones in terms of character, discipline and fashion (yes i don't find the new generation dressing cool and classy)

There was a funny incident when my cousine in blore got a surprise visit from my self righteous uncles and had been fortunate to get a class on why he should not ride a rickshaw to college which is 2 Km away citing their struggle in youth. But this young man was smart enough to ask them why they are not walking to places like their fathers and uncles used to. (It might not sound funny unless you know of this legendary walk made by my great grandfathers for distances ranging from 50-100 km taking weeks and months together) .

So practices, discipline and characters tend to adopt as and when necessary. I had planned to write about what i or my generation preachers would be telling my children and grand children in these situations. It might sound something like " you know when i was of your age i did not have Wimax connection for browsing" or "you are lucky enough to have an iphone in 2 std when i got my first mobile after degree" or " i didn't even have an original branded watch and i used to wear fake Montblanc's heheheh (yes its fake) " or some o us might be preposterous enough to lie that " when i was of your age i used to walk to school 5 kms everyday" heheheh.

But i guess as we say necessity is the mother of all inventions we might come up with some really compassionate and empathetic examples to guarantee discipline when the need arises.

P.S This dosen't give any of my mischievous and adventurous cousins, brothers and younger friends reason to ridicule my lectures and shrug it of as advices of a self styled hypocrite. :)

Now What !!

Now that Slum dog has maxed the Oscars and we have got out share of the pie, what next. We also saw our national prodigy performing live for the crème de la crème of Hollywood and being acknowledged for that.

I know it will be followed by all the domestic recognitions and praises “we always knew you would make it “, “Resul is such a talented and handsome guy” “India has truly gone international now”. We will have the ardent AR Rahman fans chanting “AR Rahman Ki JAI” and saying things like if Ar Rahman didn’t get it this time I would have taken my life lol. Like all proud Indians iam happy for our achievements and recognition.

But did we need an English Director and an English Adaptation of an Indian story to recognize our talents. Iam pretty sure many of you were unaware of Mr. Pookutty a day before and would have gone hysteric if any one would criticize you on your ignorance with this regard. We are a set of people waiting for someone to tell us whom we should respect, whom to ignore and even whom to follow. Iam pretty sure there wil be an exodus of youth to study Musical Mixing and other similar courses from now. Mr. Resuls Alumni will have an increase in applications, recommendations and recognition after this.

But we have to remember one thing Slum Dog is only as Indian as a McDonald's veggie burger or as English as Chicken Butter masala (food always can make good examples). Like the potato, masala and workers, the cast, crew and score is Indian. But the recognition, revenue and acceptance is foreign. Yes the revenue is important as it has already crossed the $ 100 million mark and the adopted casts from the slums have got pittance compared to that.

I know it celebrates the optimistic nature of Indian slum dwellers and the slum dog name is meant to be a synonym for underdog but it really hurts to know that what we couldn't’t do in many years has been achieved by the director in a year. It is not that the story of the movie will bring any reprieve to the slum dwellers and make the producers philanthropic enough to donate a part of the money to rebuild torn lives.

I won’t be surprised if this movie will revive an affinity towards Indian culture and we will have to look foreward to Hollywood heavy weights starring in Indian remakes and originals. What if Sholay is remade with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise with Angelina Jolie playing the female cast and the movie is renamed to Shaolin (can attract Chinese viewers too) lol.

I would love to see Will Smith playing SRK in a DDLJ remake with Salma Hayek (the rain dance will be something I look forward to heheheh). Even we can see mythological and historical Indian characters coming to life in Hollywood studios, what about one more remake on Asoka's life or maybe even a new Bhagath Singh (Not meant to hurt antibody's patriotic feelings).

One thing iam sure is that the flash back wont have Brad Pitts younger version jumping into shit holes lol and hopefully we wont have to see them experimenting with Anu malik for a change in perspective lol.

P.S I hope Resul wont come down to Gods own country and start appearing in Mattress and Sandal advertisements hehehe

Our Man @ Oscar Mr. Pookutty ! !

I have always advocated the superiority of Malayalees (aka malabaris) in many creative fields including, art, literature and movie direction. My theory is looking more promising than ever as Mr. Resul Pookutty is being nominated for the much awaited Oscars. Hopefully by the time you read this post we will know whether he has made it or not.

I know many of you cant digest a malabari winning an Oscar and that too the first among any Indian to win it. Mr. pookutty a Bsc graduate hailing from Vilakupara, about 50 km from the Kerala capital did his specialisation in sync sound recording or on-location recording from the prestigious FTII, Pune. Mr. Resul has had a very unceremonious career for the last 13 years doing many films which didn't even see commercial success.

Resul, 36, the youngest of eight children has been nominated for the best sound design for the highly debated Slum Dog Millionnaire at the 81st Academy Awards Ceremony. He has already proven his mettle for the same score at BAFTA the Britsh Oscars.

When the whole country is fascinated by the Nomination for AR Rahman we have forgotten this underdog. It is not that i have anything against the Musical genius from the south, it has been quashed by the aggressive sycophancy exhibited by other Better Fans. The extend of admiration goes from detailed analysis of background music to making a mockery of it by singing along with it lol. I believe Mr. Resul Pookutty and i have this in common,about changing his name but ignored due to the effort involved lol.

So lets whole heartily wish that Resul is lucky enough to hoist the black,ugly, naked statue. And this prayer goes to our own genius Mr. Rahman.

Adios

Tyre Changing: An Ordeal

The day I always dreaded came today without any notice and warning. If the fear of tyre changing had a name it will be called tyrophobia (can’t come up with anything else). As usual my loathing towards anything involving manual labour and physical effort is legendary. It can go into the extend of not taking the initiative in regular exercise to not cutting toe nails because it involves bending, crouching and picking up the after effects.

My worst nightmare came true when we earnestly went out after a long sweet slumber for driving to the nearest restaurant (main hobby) for lunch. I have to make a confession at this point, I have been relatively late in honing my driving skills and getting a certified licence to drive. As far as I remember I was illiterate in this basic skill as late as my degree final year (yes I went to college tooo…). I was the pillion rider and front seat critic for many of my unfortunate friends. There are some really hilarious stories involving knocking down water pumbs to endangering human lives in the pursuit of this skill.
Sorry for drifting from the content, ok I cam out to see that the tyres were as flat as my abs (lol) and there was no chance of moving the vehicle. We compromised our eatery joint and had something meagre taking into consideration the impending exercise. I opened sections of my car boot which I never knew existed and was happy to find that all the weapons involved like jacky (I don’t know the spelling and spell check was of no help), spanner, screw drivers and above all a spare tyre.

We got into action as soon as possible, set the jacky and started turning the lever to start the levitation process. It felt good initially but the cranky lever has this unusual way of falling of the jacky after every few rotations. I had to slouch on the road and continue my effort despite of the interruptions, the car started lifting of the floor and our first step felt successful. We looked at each other like the battle was half won unknown to the later ordeal.

The Nut for removing the tyres is concealed with some cover which is clipped into the wheels like they were never apart. This cover was so difficult to remove and we had to involve additional services of a coin, ball point pen, screw driver and lot of patience. This took us agood 10 minuted and we where already loosing patience. The exposed nut bolt gave us so much relief and we waited no longer to start the next process.
The Nut bolt were so tight that despite of my weight on the spanner (which is literally heavy enough to stumble any body) I literally jumped on it and to comfort me my friend who is a serious competitor to my physical excess also tried his best. I think the tyre took sympathy on us and strted undoing with cacking noises. By the time we removed all the four nuts we had digested what we had for lunch. Removing was the major part and replacing the tyre was not so laborious.
One lesson learned from this is that iam really bad with basic things like this and needs lot of improvement, Machines are invented for a reason and that is called laziness cultivation. As a precautionary measure I have checked all the other tyres for fault and fixed the faulty one with immediate effect.

P.S The credit for a successful tyre change goes to my friend who is also a popular tyre reseller and a serial entrepreneur with lot of grandiose dreams. Tyrophobia is fear of cheese, unlike my assumptions. If I was the only one left in the world and a tyre punchered, I would rather walk than take all the effort lol.

Memories Of What I Remember & Why ?

I have forgotten twice on what I had planned to write on and hence opted Memory, Memories and the tricks it play on us. It is very strange if you think of what u remember and what u tend to forget. Whose name we successfully relate with faces and whose we fail to recollect.
I have always been fascinated by the way our brain works in storing these data. We remember something that happened 10 years ago yet don’t know about what dress we wore last week. It is like a selective amnesia, but the only difference is that we don’t have control on what to keep and what not to.
What is the oldest memory you have, do you remember the class teacher you had in kindergarten or the annoying boy/girl who sat next to you in 2nd Std. I don’t, remember anything so old, is it just me or a common phenomena.
We all have this Ghajini syndrome but the only difference is that the time may wary (5 Minutes) shorter or longer and we also don’t have private jets and Kalpana on our side lol. Have you had this feeling when you hear the occasional humming of an old song or an odd smell reminding of you some past events? In our school (aka pvs) in 8th /9th and 10th standard we had this warden who played this same cassette in luud speakers every day at 5:00 Am to wake us up (yes i was spoiled by comfort and useless rituals). It was from an AR Rahman block buster called Sapnay (Minsarakanavu) and even now when I hear that song on radio I get this yawning and sleepy sleepy feeling out of the blue.
But a fading memory is a boon in disguise, what if you remembered everything that has happened to you both good and bad. What if you can’t get over a brawl, argument at home, guilt etc? We are made like this for a reason may be the art of forgetting meant us some relief on forgetting what we had to forget. I couldn’t dare think of a situation where you can forget the loss of a dear one, a true friend, a spouse. We have solutions for forgetting day to day events like reminders, to do lists, wake up calls etc. Some of us got so dependant on these that you might not be surprised to find people putting reminders for natures call hehehe.
So if this post turns out to be really boring, I wish the systematic amnesia works out faster in making you remember that I had written crap like this ever.

Namashkar

Marriageable Age, a Necessary Argument !!!

The biggest advantage of a blog is that it gives you the freedom to opt the topic you consider important and socially enlightening.

There are several reasons why i have chosen this topic for discussion and these arguments are something many of my peers under pressure can accept to. The topic has its on benefits and short falls like the fact that iam/ iam not married from the reader’s perspective, reassuring some on their early decision, ridiculing others and yet coming into a consensus on what can be the ideal solution.

Like always before starting this topic i googled to find out the statutory age for marriage world over. You will be surprised to find that India along with China and Singapore have the minimum age set at 21 and 18 (21 & 20 for China) for Male and Female, which is considered to be relatively late compared to European, American and MENA region. Check out this link and you will be surprised to find that the minimum age for marriage in much pro development demography's criticizing our occasionally illegal child marriages are far below us. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age But there is a relief news to all those youngsters who cant wait to get married and start over, the Indian law commission has presented a recommendation for bringing down marriageable age for both male and female to 18.

Now personal insight into this highly debatable topic will look very emotional and empathetic to many of you. It gets really irritating when everyone you have grown up with guys and gals are rushing to get married like dooms day is approaching in the horizon (some people call this peer pressure). And when your decision to delay the nuptial ceremony makes you look like a looser and some consider it as a curtain to shield my ability to find an appropriate match.

What does marriage mean to me? I won’t dramatize the concept with statements like meeting of hearts, actualising what was decided in heavens or plagiarize any famous dialogue from bollywood tear jerkers. Neither can it be as defined by dictionaries as the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce). It is a mutual agreement to tolerate each others tantrums and fallacies until a period it becomes too unbearable to continue. I know it sounds too scientific and intelligenzia type, but that is what i have brought it down to.

So what is my recommendation? Since i have crossed the mandatory marriageable age by a considerable time (no i won’t give figures to work out an age) i have to make a suggestion that will make me in a safe position for some more years. I would consider 28 as a reasonable age at which an individual can be worldly wise (hopefully) to accept the responsibilities involved in an espousal contract. Now you can at least understand that iam couple of years short of the deadline. And for females i would recommend 24 to be an ideal age taking into consideration various maternal, materialistic and spiritual reasons into consideration.

Everyone has personal landmarks to achieve before committing like financial independence, identifying an appropriate life partner, waiting for the mesmerising love at first sight and yet some grandiose ones like visiting five continents. The one who commented on such an exhaustive plan called up the next day to inform about his impending wedding next week. He consoled himself by running across the atlas looking at each continent with utmost dedication. I wont expose my to do list this time because one of you may question me on it later.

I have personal reasons like an anxious cousine threatening to overtake me in the vicious circle if i dont comply sooner or later, this put together with central department argument on delaying my chance till the waiting list gets cleared up. Iam not surrendering my ego and beleifs in front of any impending threats.

P.S. The conclusions i have arrived at have not been influenced by any past experiences like the greeting card fiasco or my escapade involving a helmet chase scene. It is true that i have had limited success with romance and running aound trees and i blame it on lack of availability of resources (both physical and materialistic) and opportunities to meet ideal candidaites.

Adios

Me, My Friends, Google and Our Stories

I know the title is kinda odd, like we started the site with Larry and Brin. It is meant to look cool, so if u dont find it that way read it back wards, just kiddin.

No i am not going to write about how google has changed my life and the impact of googling on generation next. iam actually tembted to write some economics, figures and percentages trying to let you now that i have read the book " The Google Story". I will spare you all this time, iam trying to downsize my intellectual image (if any existed) to a more candid one.

I will confess myself, like many of you i belong to the PGG (profusive googler club) googling for anything that i see, read, doubt etc. including myself when i come across in the mirror. I know many of you would have done this and unfortnately i come across all these pakistani cricket players, personalities, page 3 heroes etc. when i type in my name expecting to find something good written about me by some secret admirer. Luckily like some of my friends i dont see hen breeds and genus of ducks, when prompted. A small note in between, i have always wanted to change my name, everytime i convice myself i find some good reason to keep it, like not having to get new passports, liscence, credit cards (not like they have anything left in it) etc.

If google comes up with a list of all its funny, whacky and strange search terms, it will surely be a best seller ( atleast ill buy to check whether i have made it). Try searching anything you like, anything you want to ask or any doubt that lingers in your mind, google never lets you down, they always come up with some answer, like "why am i hugry after eating two burgers and 2 large fries ?" lol . Check it out to find what comes out. I have developed this new search hobby wherin i image search for names, feelings, places, terms etc. you will be surprised to find very funny images for some words. Search your name and you will be happy to know that there are other more unfortunate, ugly and hopeless people other than you alive. I know you have searched images for attractive body parts and famous hour glassers, this will just be a different experience. Dont switch off the moderate safe seacrh than you may be surprised to find celebrities (yes exactly what you are thinking) you share names with.

If you pattern a persons google search, you can know what he is thinking, what he is planning and above all what he is ignorant about. I have had this friend who very innocently searched for (keralarailway.com) when asked to book a railway ticket back home and came up with a conclusion that railway dosent have a site. Google is also promoting ignorance in this way.

There will be some real whacky searches done out there, if you have any persona stories, do write in. Iam feeling sleepy and i didnt find any suitable results when i lookd for " How not to sleep when you are writing something boring?"

Salame

Why Valentines Day Should be Banned ?

Before you come into any conclusion please read the whole post and try to understand my justifications and reasons. No i don't belong to any sword flashing Sena inclined on moral cleansing and my half grown beard does not indicate my membership to any Taliban style organisations. Before understanding the argument do not subjugate freedom of opinion even if it is against the common notion held by a generation fascinated by live in relationships and one night flicks.

There are various premises to my argument on prohibiting the v day ranging from logical, argumentative and some suggestive. I don’t know when this valentines day which is a commemoration of St. Valentines love notes he wrote to the jailors daughter started to be interpreted as an occasion to present your new proposal to a damsel or bachelor, renew the missing content of love in the marital contract or restart your search for an unfounded love. There are various explanations to the celebration of V day on Feb 14th every year; i will give you a brief insight on some of them. Some sources say it was a pagan (a group of people believing in religions before Islam, Christianity and Judaism) celebration where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility.

According to another popular story, in the third century A.D. Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking to bolster his army, forbade young men to marry. Valentine, it is said, flouted the ban, performing marriages in secret, for his defiance, valentine was executed in a.d. 270—on February 14. And yet another story goes like this, when st. Valentine was arrested for defying the brutal emperors orders he had many visitors and admirers supporting his act and cause including the jailors daughter, with whom he spoke a lot and passed letters with the sign “from your valentine”. This tradition has promoted it as a day to exchange notes of love and affection to your dear and near ones.

Now what reasons do I have to suggest its abolishment, as an intellectual friend puts it this is a tradition revived by global greeting card manufacturers like Hallmark and Archies to boost their sales and make some windfall gains? This looks like a logical explanation when you look at the benefits, even as the economy is going on a break less roller coaster valentines day sales are expected to generate retail sales of 14.7 $ billion in US alone. So it looks like a large scale propaganda to make money and sell some old unsold cards.

We are from a nation who has so much of love stories in history to adopt as a day and yet we are again trying to ape western culture, which you should understand is inferior to us in this context. We have had a science dedicated to the art of love making thousands of years before the first greeting card or inflated red colour balloon's were invented. We should get inspired from the characters and chapters in our history like Shajahan and Mumtaz, where the grief struck emperor on his loving wives death erected a mausoleum of immense beauty and unheard scale to proclaim his unending love for her. This is a story which has its signature still visible in the form of one of the seven wonders in the world. We could adopt the mythological love story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta for our inspiration to commemorate the day of love. We have an option to opt for the love of mythological love story of Shri Krishna and Radha. If you want a fresh perspective let us choose the love story of prince Salim and Anarkali, the options are unlimited more apt and realistic. All these options have been selected in a positive perspective to celebrate the history of true love.

On a more serious note special days to celebrate love is a cliché evolved in the lines of other celebratory days like anniversary, memorial etc. Any body who has a true love for someone do not need the justification and support of a day to express it, he/she has a whole life time of opportunity left to them for this. These special days are for loveless lovers, husbands, and wives etc to renew their contract of love and to be reminded about their affection and express some truth into it.

If I had an option I could celebrate love on any given day or time, I wouldn’t need or for a matter of fact any true romantic wont need a balloon or a card to express their gratitude and affection. So don’t go by this grandiose marketing plan and express true love any time anywhere, nothing can stop you.

P.S my suggestion to ban V day has got nothing to do with my failure to get a date nor does it have anything to do with my previous mishaps and failed proposals hehehehe. This is purely a suggestive post and any greeting card seller or chocolate shop owner is unhappy about my views, it is purely unintentional. :) :) lol

-Au Revoir