new beginnings!

let this be here as a reminder .

3 years is what you have in your hand.
your priorities are very clear
there is a vision and there is a dream
and if you could make it so far- then success is just 2 words away
vision- action - PERSISTENCE - DISCIPLINE


its taken some 28 odd years for those ethos to take shape
never let go off them!
for this is a land where money rules
and like you already realised, money, the bloody money(a little less nd a little more) can be really dangerous!

so 3 years from now, it should not be the perfumed overtly made up 'full of lies' face
but the same brown earthly one with the 'ever wondering eyes' that you are in possession!

,

The earth is there
But the rains have stopped midway

Let me be in love again
Let me 'see' the beauty around
Let me write again
Let me write again
Let me write again

Travel Bytes- Punjab

The geography lessons in school and the Bollywood flicks had helped me visualize Punjab in one frame – golden paddy fields, a turbaned Sikh walking on the kucha road and his two naughty kids scrambling towards the horizon.

After many years, when an academic project demanded that I travel to the land of 5 rivers, I was more than just excited. I had the best company at hand- Reenu and Ritu; the concerned parents had given an ALL CLEAR. Ernakulam- Delhi- Amritsar- Chandigarh- Ernakulam.

Wanderlust in Bengal!

evide manjaadi...?

A few days back (or has it been months??), I happened to go through a link that popped up on Anjali Menon’s wall - sharing one’s childhood memories.  I was surprised and amazed by the response, more importantly the memories each one associated with their own. Surely we are nothing but a bunch of memories!

Now how could I resist writing on this? Childhood is one phase that I have always loved reveling about! Though for today, I will limit myself to just the manjadikkuru episodes in my rather eventful childhood days!

Stalked!!

image courtesy: Hitha

I walk through…

When your butt is literally stuck to a swiveling chair for about 11 hours a day, walking happens to be the most happening of an activity in your otherwise mundane life! This small endeavor that takes me home is filled with interesting subjects worth being observed, worth being heard and worth being felt.

So the race begins from Sree Moolam club junction which is at its busiest, in the evenings. The city chef vehicle which appears only in the dusk is parked in line with all those expensive cars in front- with drivers, without drivers. The aroma of the exquisite cuisine confined to the lit interiors of the van, attract as many nocturnal beings as does the hungry food lovers. I pass the plates of parathas, chappathis, beef fries, chilly chickens stepping up the kerb, stepping down the kerb, to reach the Tagore Theater.  A dark background is symptomatic that the theater is free of any programs/shows. On nights such as these, when only the sodium lamps make visibility a novel idea, you can catch the trees cast shadows long and forlorn. The round and luminous moon peeping from behind the trees has this hypnotic zeal which literally pulls me to him. I love gazing at him, enjoying it as far as I could get with my unusually fast stride, straining against the canopies of trees, against the clouds that would appear all of a sudden!

behind a photograph....

Water water everywhere….

5.30pm. The last byte had been shot and it was time to head back. There was an 8 hour journey ahead of them and everyone was tired. Murugan suggested that they head to the river.  The waters would refresh them. Team yatra set out for Bhavanipuzha!

Anuroop the producer, Varun the cameraman, Kiran the assistant cameraman, Mahesh the driver, Praveen the anchor, all charged into the waters as if they were seeing a river for the first time in their lives. Poor Deepa was left all alone! L Murugan was there, not exactly giving her any company but watching over. Just in case the locals, in their trance like state [thanks to marijuana and spirit that was readily available] bumped into the short tempered Deepa!

The guys had disappeared to the other side of the tree enjoying their new found freedom.

Travel Bytes- Kolkata

‘mile sur mera thumhara….’

The visuals of the metro train, then of a beautiful Bengali woman clad in sari singing ‘amor shur tomar shur….’ developed within me an instant liking for Calcutta. [First thing I learnt from Gargee, my fellow Bengali traveler in train was this particular song].  At times when my belief in the paranormal was on the high, I have even come to think of my previous birth as that of a Bengali! So the Kolkata trip had been in the concept stage for over 15 years or so! I was waiting for the Durga pooja for that’s when Kolkata perks up! But coz shyam chettan , a dear friend was on his way to the north east in August and coz my boss would grant me leave only during the Onam holidays rather than in October, I decided to prepone the expedition!

So can I be called a feminist?

One among many…

I was at the reservation counter of Thampanoor railway station to have my ticket booked for yet another travelling experience. For me, railway stations, markets, malls all serve as venues for people watching. Smart women rarely make their presence felt, so I was kind of intrigued by the chic smart lady behind the counter. I had first noticed her a year back or so. This was the third time. And I waited to see if she behaved the same way as she did on all the previous occasions. No sooner had the counter opened, I heard her angry voice battering the poor guy in front of her. And for the third time, I wished my token number showed up in front of her screen. I wished I could pick up an argument with her. I wished I could use my authority to yell at her for being so rude.

For me, she was an absolute feminist. Women who abused men with their power status!

with love...raavan

And a Brahmin was born…

My interests were many and varied. So it was sheer will that helped me excel in all that I got involved. Whether it was astrology or arts or music, there was no one who paralleled me. I had it all. An intellect that was unmatched. An empire which flourished under my rule. A kingdom where even the poorest drank from golden goblets. A palace which was known far and wide for its immense architecture [thanks to Vishwakarma].