The Neem Tale

The following short story happened during our visit to the Garden of Groves @ Lucaya in Grand Bahamas Island.

We were a group of 25 from our cruise touring this island one early rainy morning with almost sleep studded on most of our eyes.We were the only 2 indians in the group.When we reached a botanical garden,a zestful afro american lady named jessica introduced herself as our tour guide.She was taking us around every grass,shrub & tree out there explaining their medicinal & horticultural importance like some botanical scientist.My husband was like 'not my kind of tour' from the beginning popping out his eyes for few of her serious descriptions on those insignificant grasses.Finally when we reached the one & only protected neem tree at almost end of our tour,she was in all praises for it and i believe during the course of our tour with her sharp acumen she realised that i am definitely from India.May be i had a strong indian stamp on my face.So when she pointed out the tree,she boldly declared to the group that i will be the one out there who should be well aware of all facts and truth about this tree.Everyone took a second look at me.And she began educating the group that in india - people brush their teeth with neem bark and their tooth stays strong until 85,they don't get any skin diseases since they boil these leaves and drink the filtered water every single day of their lives,they make soups with the bitter neem pulpy fruit,they dry them,powder them and consume it everyday to purify their blood blah blah blah and a confirmation from me for every statement that she made.Choice less was I.Had to loudly acknowledge every statement made by her.My husband was quaking with laughter peels standing right behind her.Suddenly there were too many clicks of that solitary neem tree than any others,i felt.The funniest part is she led these people to the rare garden shop saying a variety of neem products are available here and she requested them to feel free to buy those.

To our funniest surprise almost everyone in the group barring few very old souls who believed they might not really benefit out these neem products at the age of lying in the coffin, bought neem creams,neem tablets,neem sunscreens and neem powders along with books which exclusively talked about neem trees,all costing exorbitant prices.

Back home in india there are these neem trees standing tall,in groups,in solitude all over the cities,villages with leaves falling,drying and blooming where no one cares much to cut and discard a neem tree.Oh what a pity. Time to gift the americans some neem saplings,i thought to myself.

My husband said,'I expected them to click your pix since u 2 are a rare one.How come honey none did that' adding fuel to the fire.Later when i crossed a 60 + white lady with my ice coffee topped with ample cream to rejuvenate myself from that tiring garden tour,she was very curious to know what was that i was sipping.I took a moment to tell her ' thatz an Ice coffee'.Since i was in the lime light that hour my husband added saying 'No she z hiding - thatZ ice coffee topped with some neem oil'.Everyone in the group burst out laughing :)

Nature's Bounty

Born in Madras,now Chennai,year after year sizzling hot summers were an inevitable part of our lives.To top it Madras being a coastal city is still showered with ample humidity to itz occupants.Schools close by first week of April and itz supposed to be fun in the sun until June turns.Well from 5 till 15 there was a joyous place to go and affectionate people to meet.My grandparents had a farm house flanked by farm lands in a far away village to nurture their passionate cultivation hobby.I had a handful of cousins to enjoy with.

What else?.Right away we would pack our bags to head there by a town bus right after the final exams.After a 6hour tiring journey in the sizzling sun,the aromas of madras city would fade not just from the sight but gradually from the mind too. The rustic smell fills the breath at once stepping out of the bus.It was much hotter there & the frequent power cuts added salt to the sizzling hot injury.But as kids we never bothered so much about that.The village name in Tamil(my mother tongue) is best translated as 'North side'.I have seen my grandfather in a much relaxed state in the village home than elsewhere.

Though the house was completely built with concrete unlike the other thatched houses around,there were more than 50 trees around the house.I could definitely list a few starting fromcoconut,papaya,mango,teakwood,pineapple,guava,eucalyptus,hibiscus,pumpkin& plantain.Food for the whole bunch was never a problem since i have seen the practise of barter system being alive there.A lady from the third house would come home with a sack full of spinach & green chilies to take away few pints of groundnut for exchange.There were freebies as well.Red & white melons along with fresh green canes reached home in bullock carts more out of love from people all over the village.There must have been close to 150 people in that village mostly innocent,loving & deeply affectionate.Even a honey comb would reach our home after few risky stints with the honey bees.Special fishes from near by lakes & ponds,rare vegetables,nutritious food for free were few of the things that we enjoyed in the name of love.Brown eggs,unadulterated milk with full of cream & some exotic greens everyday were abundantly available to us.

The star studded skies,twinkling fire flies and the super clean well waters still stand sparkling in the mind.Honestly there were no complaints & no responsibilities.Life looked worth in the summers than during the rest of the year.Me and my cousins had soaked us in soils,played in waters,ran across fields,climbed trees,harvested grains,travelled by bullock carts,plucked figs,drank palm juice & planted crops as well.Years back when we toiled in those invaluable tasks,we didn't know the true value behind living in nature's lap.We have even witnessed the glowing orange sunset on one side while the silver moon rising on the other side of the globe from vast open fields on many days.

In the years rolled by after those treasured years, we only saw the mechanical side of life bound by responsibilities & ambitions to pull us through where we are today.In these intermediate years i unconsciously realised how much i paid for a papaya milkshake churned from the pesticide protected fruit,how much a single watermelon costed on the roadside,what quality of food,eggs & milk i ate & drank,how unadulterated really were the grains that i consumed,how often did i get to eat an exotic vegetable,fresh fish or a palm fruit ?.At the end the pillars of my family passed away leaving behind nothing but cherishable memories and a portion of good health in between the strands of our bones & mucles that we all nurtured in our childhood consuming those healthy food.

Today when i pick up a cart of eggs tagged 'Organic' from my super hyper market,I see millions of nutritive memories weaving across.

Pachai Perundhu

Chennai maanagarilay pirandhu valarndha yamaku perundhil payanam yenbadhu vazvin vor angamaai irundhadhu.Palli varaiyil palli perndhilum,kalluri varaiyil kalluri perundhilum,piragu aluvalaga perundhilum yaam payanithae yamdhu vaznaalil paadhi kum mel meedhi yaana nodigal oorundodina.Indha vazkai yendra oru needa payanathinul thaan yethanai yethanai siru payanangal.Adhil yethanai yethanai perundhu payanangal.Adilum yethanai yethanai pallavanil naan seydha payanangal.Aaam perudhu payanangal palavaai irundhaalum, pachai pallavan perundhil payanitha naatkalum ninaivugalum pachai pasumaiyaai indrum pulapaduginrana.Aahaa yenna pasumaiyaana ninaivu adhu.

Aayira kanakana panathai koti,aayiram mayil aagayathin mel amardhu sendralum,anandhamai,amaidhiyai appadaa yendru tharaiyil selum perundhu payanathin sirapae thani thaan.Adilum sillarai kasugalai yenni yenni koduthu vangum payana chittum,vangiyapin andha thundu kagidhathai muraiyaga madithu, erangum varaiyil adhai pokishamaai veyarvai thuligaludan serthu kaiyil pidithu pin yerangi yadhum adhai thundhu thundaga kizhithu kupaiyaai kuvipadhu yennaiyum ariyamalay naan kuppai vaariyathiruku naal thorum seydha oru thiru pani endru kooda kuralaam.

Jannal oram oru irukai mattum kidaithuvittal podhum,payana chittu vangiya kasuku mel naan andru payanam seydhu viduven.Vasagargal yemmai thavaraga yenna vendaam.Naan koora vandhadhu jannal orathil amardhu vizhiyaal naan kaanum katchigalum,manadhaal naan selum yedangalum palakodi payanangalukum melanadhu.Oray oru payana chittuku thaan yethanai yethanai payanangal prayanithen yendru naan yennai palamurai ketadhundu. Yaam vazhakamaga dhinaseri kaanum katchigal yendralum yedho andru thaan pudhidhai pirandhadhu pola anaithumay enaku vovuru muraiyum eerpaiyum viyapaiyum mattumay alithana.Adhil yemmakum palamurai aachariyam thaan.

Chennai maanagarai ipadi pala aandugal pala murayil vidha vidhamaai vanna vannamaai yemmaku kaatchi alitha andha pachai perundhu indro than pasumai nirathai izandhu,than mel pusiya ichaiyana andha pachaiyaiyum tholaithu,pallavan pokuvaram yendra than peyaraiyum marandhu neelam,sivapu,manjal yendru saalaigalil indrum vodikondu thaan irukinradhu - maanagara pokku varathu kazagam yendra peyaril.

Rituals of Love

The concept of 'Hugs & Kisses' were viewed indifferently for years many especially in & around the place where i hail from.This includes the whole of south india & am referring to the class of people who existed in the band of middle class, perhaps 2 decades back.When i was a child & if i cribbed or cried by throwing tantrums,either i was pampered by words or i was given some object to be pacified.In the intermediate years that rolled by, a depressing moment was soothed by a caring word by some best buddy or was explained logically as how to handle it by some family member.As i grew up,when a long seen uncle drops by,the excitement is shown only by words & smiling gestures.

Suddenly,in the past few years not too sure if itz jst bcos of TV or our gradual exposure to western culture or bcos of both.We began to express our love & affection by hugs & kisses.By 'we' i meant me & my sibling,friends,colleagues & cousins.And 'we' also gradually began to extend our spontaneous love & affection towards the elders at home, the same way.For example,one fine morning when i just dropped home after a gap of 2 full months,for the first time i hugged mommy to express my deep affection.She was equally or perhaps much more affectionate than me but my hug was not reciprocated with the same passion since her mind instantaneously rejected an alien way of expressing affection.And a kiss on her cheek during my departure was also not received well for the same reason.

But 'we' just like that are able to glue and unglue ourselves be it a hug or a kiss sometimes irrespective of our gender difference(not in all case, i must mention).The only true thing that exist in the mind during those few seconds of gluing are that virgin love& affection and probably what's the best way to express it.Am glad that elders are growing up with us,by gradually appreciating positive rituals of love like a hug or a kiss.Now mommy responds better to our hugs and kisses.And you know there is so much happening physically,chemically and psychologically too.You just got to do it to know what am i emphasising on.But again my dad is still out of this ritualistic circuit.I haven't had anything more than a hand shake with him as a mark of expressing my affection.There is something that blocks me from explaining these wonderful concepts of love rituals to him.But with people of our age,itz almost instantaneous.Just wondering why am i brewing so much about the rituals of love these days.Allow me to share with you the following extracts which possibly should have triggered me,i guess.

' There are different kinds of kisses,as many as the relationships in which they take place and the people who give them:kissing with a look or kissing at a distance or awakening kisses or magical kisses or spontaneous kisses or virtual kisses or passionate kisses or commitment kisses or faked kisses or ardent kisses ... and so on.The most common hugs are good-bye hugs,arrival hugs,re encounter hugs,affectionate hugs,endless hugs,and friendly hugs.Which hugs and kisses would you like to give or receive?who is the person whom you want to hug and kiss right now ?Do you think you could have ever prevented a separation with a timely hug or a kiss?

The purpose of hugs and kisses is to show deep affection or passion or fellowship or friendship or sexual needs or protection or mercy or consolation or wisdom or power or love.What do we feel when we kiss or hug.Excitement or appreciation or selfesteem or safety or approval or contentment or strength or devotion or spirituality or protection or enthusiasm or happiness.Kissing is psychologically related to the most primitive contact in human beings and reminds us subconsciously of all our oral needs such as the need for food,its enjoyment,flavor,what has been wishes for,and what has been rejected-everything to survival.

Practise the art of kissing everyday.Prepare a list of all the people whom you would like to hug or kiss,and the reason for it.Then try to understand why you don't do it on a daily basis in each case.Try to do the same thing every day with all the people on your list.Choose the most appropriate kiss or hug depending on the relationship and degree of closeness.And if you do the above everyday,you will be able to see how the energy of your love can do miracles in your relationships.Now you only have to wait, because hugs and kisses will come to you.'

If you have read till here,this is what i have to say.Mmm ... what an interesting exercise?If you succeed in doing it everyday as suggested above,and if hugs and kisses come your way ,you can bother to tell me also.Am jst waiting to know how foolproof is the exercise.

Manjal Maalai

Andru vor pragaasamaana manjal maalai pozhudhu.Aluvalaga valaagathil irundhu veetuku vara aluvalaga perundhai thedi kondu irundhen.Perundhugalin varisaiyai andru mudhal matri vitanar.Sat endru vaanai nimirundhu naan parka suriyanin voli megavum pragasamaaga yen kangaluku then patadhu.Kan kolla katchi yendre sollalam.Manathil vor urchagam pirandhadhu.Andru en pirandha naalum kooda.'Andhi vaanam araikum manjal,aggini kozhundhil pootha manjal,Thanga thodo janitha manjal, Kondrai poovil koolitha manjal,manjal manjaal,Maalai nilavin maragadha manjal,ellam thangum endhan nenjil' endrellam paadi konday perundhil yeri nane.Irendoru nimidathil vaanilai muzhudhu maaga maari lesaga thuralitu kondrindhadhu.

Thural podhadhenru vaan megangal therandu aadai mazhai yaagavae maariyadhu.Veedu poi sera andha adai mazhaiyil kuraidhadhu erandu mani neramaagum endru perundhil irukum anaivarukumae theridhadhu than.Ivvaru irukaiyil,satendru yamadhu kaipaesiyil kurunseydhi ondru vandhadhu.'Iniya pirandha naal vazthukal' endru vor palli thozhi anupi irundhal.Andru mattum nutrukum melana vargal yemai vazthinar.

Vazhga thozhil nutpam endru vazhthinane namadhu makkalin nutpa theranai.Neenaivugal par pala aandugaluku mun oorundu sendradhu.Appo dho naan oru siru kuzhandhai.Yamadhu pirandha naalo vaigasi madhathin kadai c vaaram oochi veyil mandaiyai pilakum samayathil varum.Palligalil vidumurai neram.Appavai yum ammavai yum thavira pakkathu veetil erendu moondru pair irupargal yamaku vazthu koora.Naan aniyum pudhu vasthirathai kaata kooda oruvarum sikka matargal.Adhu vondrum sirapaana nalagavae irudhadhilai.Appa vaangi varum inipaiyum amma veetil seyum inipaiyum moondru natkalukul nan mattum theerpadhe oru periya elakaagavum sandhoshamagavum irundhadhu annaalil.Matra kuzhadhaigal palli natkalandru kondadum thaangal pirandha naal pola kolakalamaga irundhadhay illai endru solla varugiren.

Palli mudindhu kalluriku sendra yenaku angaeyum yematram thaan.Aaru madhathirku oru murai endru naangu aandugalukul palamurai vandhu engalai ellam aza vaitha andha paruva thervu apodhu thaan nadanthu kondu irukum illai yendral adharku padithu kondirukum vidu muraiyaaga irukum.Appodhum yamai peridhaga vazthinor illai.

Yaam kalluri padipai moodithu aluvalaga paniyil serndha pinnarum,yamadhu pirandha naal vidumurai natkalilae yae vandhadhu.Yedho kadandha moondru naangu aandu galaaga thaan adhu vaara natkalaga ulladhu.Aagaiyal yammai vazthum makkalin yenikaiyum adhigamayitru.Idhu podhadhu endru anaivaridamum kai pesi,enaya thalam,min seydhi mugavari endru vulagamae mari irukiradhu indru.Melum 'muga puthagam' vazhiyaga yeralamana nanbargalaal vaztha mudindhadhu.

Aadai mazhai thirumbavum thuralaaga maari yemadhu perundhum veetin arugae vandhu kondu irundhadhu.Irul soozhdhadhu.Iruvu neram annadhu.Perundhai vitu erangiyadhumae yaam vasithu varum veetil minsaram thundithu irupadhai kandu kondom.Maniyo onbhadhu adika pathu nimidamay irundhadhu.Muzhu naalum mudindhadhu.Iravin niramae iravin niramae kaarkalanthin motha niramae,veyil kalathilum edhay niramae,vovoru naalum edhay nirame,bengalooru muzuthum endha voru niramae endru paadi konday uranga thayaar aanane andru.Aanaal indha aandirkaana yamadhu sirandha pirandha naal parisaaga iraivan katchi aruliya andha sila manjal maalai nodigalai nenaithu konday uranginane.

Salem Kitchen

Transit - the food court in forum mall,Bangalore is a costly saviour to our poor hunger pangs. Forum is reasonably a good place to hangout,treat our eyes,dream colorfully & burn calories too, after rounds of mindless roaming & insensible shopping there.But Transit houses a variety of food stalls with a crooked intention to dump all the bad calories on us while we dump all our money on them.All in the game of addressing the Cosmo culture's taste buds.Displayed are almost all varieties of food available under the sun tempting the eyes & watering the mouth.

When i had been there for the first time,something that caught my eye was a stall named Salem Kitchen.The name was so authentic to me amidst the other colourful stalls though i never wanted to eat anything from there at that point in time.I settled down with a subway sandwich somewhere near our Salem Kitchen due to space constraint over the weekend.Happened to browse through the menu there and was super shell shocked to read the very second item in the menu.It read

Idlly ---------------------- 20Rs

Idlly with Mutton Gravy ---80Rs

Just looked around in that heavy crowd if someone was actually eating the above menu and yes there were many.There were just 2 idllys in a plate with possibly the smallest scoop of sambar & another same scoop full of chutney beside.And someone actually was crossing me with the second menu as well.The same two idllys with just a bony piece of meat floating like an iceberg from the sea of mutton gravy.Looked as if the gravy might not be sufficient for the entire second idlly.

People from south who live in Bangalore basically being away from home find these authentic menus simply as substitutes for mom's cooking.Money isn't really a big deal for them since the time they get to spend this money is very less compared to the time they spend on earning all their money in the same city.And creative kitchens like these capitalize on these facts & the figures that these kind of people earn.Mmm .... great idea from a business point of view.Simplest shortcut for a creative idea generator.Foolish from the perception of an avaricious consumer.Let everybody live thought from a happy consumer's perception.Where do i dig down further ?

For a minute thoughts went down the memory lane.Scenes of mommy grinding idlly batter at home with just a pint of rice & a less than a pint of uradh dhal for less than 1 hour yielding around 3 dozen idllys.And a kg of mutton made as gravy serving a family of four for 3 days,flashed in front of me.With some simple math all i understood was the cost to make these 3 dozen idllys at home rounded off to less than Rs 45 including the units of power thatz consumed by the grinder.A kg of mutton consisting 25 big chunks of meat pieces costs at the max 350 Rs.And the money to prepare a gravy out of it would be another 50 bucks.In all a capital of 450 Rs could be multiplied in to 18*80 =1440 Rs.

18 = #of plates that could be churned out each consisting 2 Idllys

80 = An easily affordable price by a person visiting Transit inside Forum in Bangalore

Ada cha what am i doing in an IT company spending all my precious time & energy building business at a grass root level for some establishing empire in the US or UK ? was this fresh engineering grad's initial thought after a simple calculation.I hated to be a helpless consumer on that day.After few months i felt whatz wrong ? Every business is an idea built in to a reality.After all i am a consumer of so many things under the sun.Just that i couldn't comprehend how the others work and i just could with this one.Itz not fair i told myself.I knew these were the realisations of a tyro's business inclined mentality. Few months later,i realised behind every glossy name,a colourful banner,a smiling sales girl stands a sure business tactic,a strong business strategy and the whole world works with just these principles.And as a working population we all assume some invisible roles in these huge games plot by very few creative heads who too are mostly invisible.Wished to be one,that moment !

Salem Kitchen was just my eye opener.Thatz the day i began to see money in a different light.A penny no doubt multiplies in to a pound.Just a simple but a strong idea has itz own power .Mmm ... eating a subway sandwich right in front of Salem kitchen was definitely worth a lesson.In fact my first striking business lesson.Same must be the strategy of subway as well where i paid a whopping 100 bucks for a single sandwich sold wrapping the 'Health' word to me.

City of Dawn

'There should be somewhere upon earth a place that no nation could claim as its sole property, a place where all human beings of goodwill, sincere in their aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world, obeying one single authority, that of the supreme Truth; a place of peace, concord, harmony, where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his suffering and misery, to surmount his weakness and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the care for progress would get precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the seeking for pleasures and material enjoyments.

In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their soul. Education would be given, not with a view to passing examinations and getting certificates and posts, but for enriching the existing faculties and bringing forth new ones. In this place titles and positions would be supplanted by opportunities to serve and organize. The needs of the body will be provided for equally in the case of each and everyone. In the general organisation intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority will find expression not in the enhancement of the pleasures and powers of life but in the increase of duties and responsibilities.

Artistic beauty in all forms, painting, sculpture, music, literature, will be available equally to all, the opportunity to share in the joys they bring being limited solely by each one's capacities and not by social or financial position.For in this ideal place money would be no more the sovereign lord. Individual merit will have a greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position. Work would not be there as the means of gaining one's livelihood, it would be the means whereby to express oneself, develop one's capacities and possibilities, while doing at the same time service to the whole group, which on its side would provide for each one's subsistence and for the field of his work.

In brief, it would be a place where the relations among human beings, usually based almost exclusively upon competition and strife, would be replaced by relations of emulation for doing better, for collaboration, relations of real brotherhood.'

What u just read were Mother Mirra's dream about a place on earth.If this was really inspiring,then you should know that such a place exists on earth.Not very far.If u are placed around chennai itz just 12 kms north of Pondicherry via the ECR road.At this location exists this city of dawn - Auroville, it is called.And now the long story short.Auroville is an experimental township meant to be an universal town where people from all countries could live in peace & progressive harmony baring all creeds,politics & their nationalities.The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.

I visited this peace palace during my post teen years.Stepping in to auroville,something that has to be noticed in the middle of the town is a really huge golden globe which is called the Matrimandir.It was told that it was conceived by The Mother as 'a symbol of the Divine's answer to man's inspiration for perfection'. Silence is maintained inside Matrimandir to ensure tranquility of space and entire area surrounding the Matrimandir is called Peace area. The Peace area in which the structure is situated is characterized by three main features.Matrimandir itself with its twelve gardens,twelve petals and future lakes, Amphitheater and Banyan Tree.

Inside Matrimandir, a spiraling ramp leads upwards to an air-conditioned chamber polished with white marble - 'A place to find one's consciousness' the well informed say. At its centre, a spherical crystal ball almost the size of a swiss ball is placed in a golden mount.A single ray of sunlight is directed on the globe from the top of structure. According to The Mother, this represents 'a symbol of future realisation'.When there is no sun or after the sunset, the sun ray on the globe is replaced by beam from a solar powered light. The whole chamber receives light just from the reflection of a single ray of sun falling on this huge crystal ball.

Honestly in whatever frame of mind we enter in,there is a sure moment of clarity paving way to realisations on a higher plane followed by some angelic thoughts.If we are deeply engrossed right here during the meditation session at the dusk hour,our mind should open many doors to itself.From the moment we step on the soils of Matrimandir,no one is allowed to talk which we might initially assume to be a disciplinary rule.Breaking this rule will cease us from entering Matrimandir.The guards & volunteers will be watching every person in the queue.In fact this rule makes the whole experience holistic since we tend to talk to ourselves and in course of time to the higher self with in.The crystal ball concept will be truly awe-inspiring for the first timers.

There is much more on auroville, all of which should be explored & enjoyed while at the city of dawn.But as of now here are my final words of wisdom-when the mind floats in silence after the holistic experience inside Matrimandir,there is a general tendency to feel Shall i quit my life to become a part of this sensible world which in turn leads to a common quest in the minds of all the truly absorbed.what it takes to be a true aurovilian?.If this thought dwells in you as well,this is what The Mother has to say

-The first necessity is the inner discovery by which one learns who one really is behind the social, moral, cultural, racial and hereditary appearances. At our inmost centre there is a free being, wide and knowing, who awaits our discovery and who ought to become the acting centre of our being and our life in Auroville.

- One lives in Auroville in order to be free of moral and social conventions; but this liberty must not be a new slavery to the ego, its desires and its ambitions. The fulfilment of desires bars the route to the inner discovery which can only be attained in peace and the transparency of a perfect disinterestedness.

-The Aurovilian must lose the proprietary sense of possession. For our passage in the material world, that which is indispensable to our life and to our action is put at our disposal according to the place we should occupy there. The more conscious our contact is with our inner being, the more exact are the means given.

-Work, even manual work, is an indispensable thing for the inner discovery. If one does not work, if one does not inject his consciousness into matter, the latter will never develop. To let one’s consciousness organise a bit of matter by way of one’s body is very good. To establish order around oneself, helps to bring order within oneself. One should organise life not according to outer, artificial rules, but according to an organised, inner consciousness, because if one allows life to drift without imposing the control of a higher consciousness, life becomes inexpressive and irresolute. It is to waste one’s time in the sense that matter persists without a conscious utilisation.

-The whole earth must prepare itself for the advent of the new species, and Auroville wants to consciously work towards hastening that advent.

-Little by little it will be revealed to us what this new species should be, and meanwhile the best measure to take is to consecrate oneself entirely to the Divine.

Rocket Science isn't Kooking

Rocket Science as a matter of blind assumption must be the study of rockets.As a matter of specifics, it must be a serious study in the discipline of aerospace.But in dictionary of janta like me itz a complex or difficult mental exercise used frequently in an ironic sense to suggest that a task should be easy or simple because it is not 'rocket science'.Thatz where i would like to pitch in from.

Itz been three weeks now since my hand in the kitchen got in to action though not full fledgedly.During one of those veg chopping moment,a phrase flashed across my sharp knife Cooking isn't Rocket Science.Who the hell said this,i was wondering. Neither do i know but definitely a much more difficult mental exercise than studying or designing rockets.

To my understanding the study or the design of a rocket(s) is majorly done as a team work and the mission accomplished perhaps just few times in one's life.But a solo kooking is neither a team work nor a mission accomplished just few times.U c, the most complex part here is to devise different menus for all 3 times a day considering the availability,perishability & sustainability of vegetables along with the comfortability of peeling,chopping & cooking them all keeping in mind the frequency of a menu's repeatability.And to preserve the leftovers carefully for the next day or may be for the day next or to do some mix & match with a new dish that gets churned out a week later.And all of this to be done without an iota of doubt by the actual victim(s).

To add more,keeping a perfect stock of the inventory,handling excess food materials,maintaining cleanliness in the kitchen,doing the dishes repeatedly,adding the perfect ingredients at the right time in right measures,serving food with love & care and finally looking forward for some rewarding comments on the food served after every single meal.

Uffff ... don't u think now that rocket science isn't kooking actually.

Perhaps the only way i can think of respecting rocket science more than kooking is from the impact point of view especially in terms of the cost involved.If a meal turns awful say with more salt or less spice or perhaps not kooked properly i know itz really awful to feed in but then honestly there isn't any irreparable damage to any life on earth unlike the significant tragedy of either a rocket missing itz trajectory leading to loss of life or a serious take off failure.

Sleepless Night

Itz was one of my initial night journeys.The train just left chennai central.All i knew was i didn't have a confirmed ticket to peacefully rest my torso on any of those berth's in that 20 + coaches chugging uselessly all the way to a neighbouring state.My ticket clearly read 'WL 43'.And the train charts reread the same to me :(.Pochu da sami itz gonna be another siva rathiri tonight i whined to dad.Being a helpless man all that he could do was put me in some coach where he anticipated me to meet some ticket examiner asap to get a birth under bribe,before he headed home.

I ended up encroaching a butterball's side berth.He wasn't impressing me from any angle to approach or request him to let me intrude his rightfully purchased side berth.He must have been in his late forties.Myself being a 20 something, i agree that i had attitude above the roof to talk to certain people at that age. I realised, at the cost of my sleep god kept my eyes opened that whole night.So in a way it was an eye opening night.The TT refused to even look at the shade of currency in my hand.I believe he was irked by others like me willingly wanting to bribe him for some help that he could render to no one.Ideally the only place where a WL passenger wouldn't be questioned by anyone in the whole train was near the restroom.Honestly i wasn't mentally prepared for that.

Though inflated,being a considerate man, our side berth uncle offered me half his berth.One can definitely not catch any decent sleep sitting in that half of side berth but can spend the whole night thinking and thanking a stranger who doesn't know anything about me to offer half his seat and accompany me to stay sleepless in the other half.I put myself in his shoes for a minute to ask if i would ever do this reward less help ?.He must be another man like one of my uncle travelling across cities leaving his family behind to get back to work next day morning.Everyone needs those few hours of sleep to even reach our workplace briskly the next morning.

I learnt a small but a worthy lesson that night in spite of my awful back pain & truly insomniac state.I scanned my time machine at least 50 times to chase the clock hands a few hours faster.It just didn't happen.We had ample hours left before the train could reach Bangalore.I couldn't see him yawning indefinitely above his sacrifice for me.If a 20 something back pains awfully,how awful it must have been for a 45+ tired looking man on just the other half of the same berth that Indian Railways had so uselessly designed for itz passengers ?.That night,that sleepless night i practically knew that side berths are just useless in any railway coach that the Railway Department manufactures.I couldn't find myself some other safe place either.

The night dawned on me eternally imbibing a harsh reality in life other than the fact that side berths are useless especially to passengers of height above 5 feet 4 inches.Back to my eternal night story ... I never met him again.Neither do i remember his face now.But that night stood eternal not just along that journey but for the rest of my life.All i knew was i wasn't the same person who boarded the train previous night when i got down in City station.Long live that Man & short live all the side berths especially the side upper(s).

Chikku Bukku Series

Having travelled by Southern Railway trains for 6 years now,which catered all economical travel visions of a middle class Indian tech savy like me over multiple journeys back and forth from my home town to my job city,I believe i qualify to kick start this series in my blog today where i would like to share my rich insights,fond experiences & thought provoking ideas that i imbibed, all of which happened mostly during my night journeys from SBC to MAS or during it's round trip.Though my journey on the wheels of Southern Railways came to an end unavoidably, i would like to live those moments again through this series.

A man amidst men

This morning in my local daily I was perusing an article which revealed a specific man's greatness about whom i have read multiple times over years now.He imbibed in me the visual of how ideal can a man actually be.This specific write-up throws light on some extreme loyalty & might sound ridiculously inapplicable in the century that we live.Humourous but mildly thought provoking was this amplified extract on a man amidst men.

' After killing Ravana, Lord Rama is resting on a rock. He notices a shadow approaching him. He realises that the shadow is that of a woman. He does not lift His eyes to see who it is, for, Lord Rama never looks at any woman other than Sita. As the shadow nears Him, Lord Rama pulls His feet up, and sits with His legs folded. This is to avoid even the shadow of the unknown woman touching His feet. So careful is He that none other than His wife should touch Him.

The shadow is then seen to recede. Lord Rama wonders who it is, who had come so close to Him and had yet retreated. So He enquires who the person is.

The shadow is that of Mandodari, and she discloses who she is. Lord Rama asks her why she is there. She says she heard that Ravana was killed in battle. Ravana had been a king who had struck fear in the hearts of his enemies. Everyone believed him to be invincible. And yet, he had been killed by someone. She had come to the battlefield to look at the man who killed her husband. She wanted to know what quality He had that her husband did not have. Lord Rama then asks her whether she found what that quality was. Mandodari says she has found that quality. Lord Rama is particular that even the shadow of a woman other than his wife should not touch Him. Ravana, on the other hand, was willing to sacrifice so many lives in his attempt at making another man's wife his. Therein lies the difference. That one quality of Lord Rama has led to His victory, says Mandodari.

Ravana's sin had been so heinous that he had been slain. There was right on the side of Lord Rama. And He was an exception among men. There may be men outwardly loyal to their wives, but their thoughts may go astray.

Lord Rama was the one whose thoughts and words never went astray. When Sita is lost, and Lord Rama sees Her jewels strewn about, He mentions each piece of jewellery and laments the loss of His wife. To Lord Rama, Sita is irreplaceable.'

A puzzling correlation

Am not sure if sri Kempe Gowda & sir Thomas Stamford Raffles would ever agree with all the puzzling correlation am trying to make here between the cities they were associated with,if they both were alive today : ).Kempe Gowda whom i believe to be the modern architect of the city where I live currently lacked a greater visualization in terms of even laying the building blocks of this surprise city's infrastructure.Yes,itz Bangalore that am referring to.On the other hand sir Thomas Stamford Raffles spotted lion city's potential as a strategic trading post for Southeast Asia way back in 1819.May be at this point you might just be thinking, I shouldn't have visited city 2 from city1 in the first place.But that wasn't in my hands.

After i visited Lion City way back in 2006,being popularly referred as a city-state, my mind drew this analogy from no where.Both Bangalore & Singapore flaunts almost the same geographically inhabitant area of 709.5 square kms & 710.2 square kms respectively & a population of approximately 50,000,00 people each.Both are equally growing & inviting cities to people across the world on many fronts.

With the above 3 strikingly similar facts between these two cities,after my first return trip i asked some responsible fellow folks around me why was Lion City such a heaven & Bangalore such a broken city ?.Lion city is a beautiful example of an organised city in the world.Where as Bangalore can be listed right against it for such an in disciplined Infrastructure Management stuff.When i say Bangalore, i inturn refer to any other similar Indian city.Step in to both once & you wouldn't disagree with me in any regard.After all what do i mean by referring a place outside my country as heaven ?

#1 -The city's Airport was stunning in terms of how it functioned,how it was built & especially the way it was maintained.Above all the time they took to add a new terminal & make it full functional without any hassel to the public.
#2 - You look for a mode of transport to reach ur destination in the city.The way in which all the public mode of transport functions,the way the people operate them & how affordable is it to people matters a lot.Above all the wholesome experience of commuting by a public mode of trasport.
#3-The roads,not one but everyroad was well laid without any pothole,all spick & span,well organised routing from one point to another with sufficient number of transport services.Though there are many to list,let me stop with these here.

Initially it was very easy to prompt this question.In someway till today it is to me.In course of time i realised this is no objective question which can be replied in one word or a statement.I do understand today that an enormous amount of reasons go in to making all the indifferences that exists.Ok but can i ask Having identified the problem or rather the reason behind the strikingly dissimilar situation with some strikingly similar fundamental factors,why can't we do an error correction or whatz stopping us from doing this error correction at this point ? .This time my folks were allowed to answer short & to the point.

My Dad -My child,Rome was not built in a day.Similarly itz not an easy task to rearrange the already existing infrastructure of a fully functional city like Bangalore.
My Mentor - We don't have a very civilized population who can co-operate effectively even if such a plan is chalked out to implement.
My Friend -Until we uproot corruption in a country like India,we shouldn't be dreaming about things u said.
My Manager - All that you are expecting to happen are happening here as well but on a micro level that you don't feel the change.
My Cousin -If we have powerful leaders consistently,such planning & execution is highly possible even with less time.
My Landlord-Execution of an effective micro administrative design should help ma.
My TeamMate -Y don't you relocate to ur heaven to do much better things in life.
My Neighbour -'A place for everything,everything in itz place'.In the case of our country,since there was no place for everthing then, now we don't have place for anything new.

This time too,all suggestions & solutions seemed to be right but when are we going to jumpstart to change things around ? Or rather should i be asking Don't we really intend to change things at all? At the end i realised that i was trying to correlate a puzzle here. While all i could do was just a simple correlation rather than itz complex cracking : (

The Divine Biryani

When in Bangalore,perpetually all sunday mornings are the same.A streak of sunlight concentratedly need a focus on my face, penetrating the window panes.Like a focussed laser beam from it's source to accomplish it's mission of moving me out of bed.After which I step out in snail's pace,reach down to sip my tea & enjoy SundayTimes along with it's supplements as one big feasty bunch to the brain.Mostly it's me & trav(the heavy petted dog i ever know) in the drawing room till noon.

By this time Uncle & Aunty would arrive from church to briskly begin a cerimonious preparation of a lovely recipe -the divine biryani,our usual menu on sunday afternoons.I would get back to my room to enjoy another short nap until a millon $ worth fiest gets ready.I always use to think during this hour that if i were to consume the same menu outside somewhere i would have to burn atleast a small hole in my pocket on my targeted 'No cash days'.A good biryani in a good place to eat costs alteast 150 - 200 rs.But i don't pay anything extra to consume this week after week.And the acoustics of the whole house where i stay was accidentally well designed that no conversation at any corner of the house is left unheard at every other potential corner inside the house.So i don't discuss these strategic reasons behind staying at home on a sunday afternoon with anyone over the phone.

On a serious note,not every hand in the kitchen can churn out that perfect biryani.Only very few has the talent & here i certify her as one.According to me she is one of the best biryani makers in the world.She creates magic with her prefected culinary skills blending only the essential ingredients one by one with atmost love n care.The end product is an aromatic,attractive & a ready to feast 10/10 biriyani by when my hunger pangs effectively get to work.Uncle contributes his share by preparing a flawless raita with selective vegetables sliced in specific manner,salts & spices in specific quantity & liquids in specific measures.I consume atleast 500 kilo calories more than allowed on sundays.After this scrumptious meal, i take another nap relishing this flawless food served to me. No doubt this is one my guilty pleasure in life but i know some day i need to fight out with all these excess calories.

Not all secrets in this world are shared with us but yes they have been generous enough to share this out of earth recipe with me: ) along with some hands-on as well.I feel so blessed to be consuming this divine preparation for more than half a decade now.If u are feeling so J of me lemme tell u that soon am going to miss all of it : ((

..... over a cup of coffee

Nalluswamy was mildly thrilled to find himself dig out a fact sitting in CM's office that Monday morning.He realised that it would be more than a fact even to his immediate boss.Thankfully it was not CM to the city where he belonged.He carefully analysed all the supporting evidence of his discovery to confirm his finding.Yes,he was just right.His finding was a fact that money collected from a certain insignificant source which was supposed to be deposited in the CM's Relief Fund promptly wasn't reaching the fund from the time CM took position in his territory.The sum was 77,000,00 INR.It wasn't a small money atleast to common man like Nallu.

Nallu was a man in mid fifties who worked for the governmentof india.It was a matter of great pride to him.More so was his nature of work.He was in a decent designation few steps below the top notches in his office, who enjoyed the power & responsibility to identify & unearth the invisible revenue to be falling in to the Indian Govt's pocket from every potentially possible source in his country.Just that it happened to be a CM's office this week.

By the time Nallu decided to take this to his Boss's notice it was noon hours after a scrumptious lunch arranged by the CM's folks.He thought to himself that his drive to the union territory from his Chennai home that early morning was fruitful in someway.So he didn't mind his insomniacs & extra body pain at that age.He rang his boss who was positioned in their head quarters office in Chennai keeping in mind the political battle they might have to face later.

Boss-Tell me Nallu,howz it going there.Did U & ur team have lunch ?
Nallu-Yes sir,things have been fine.There is a finding here on Day1 itself.
Boss- Mmm...looks like you made a big catch there which might invite us some trouble.
Nallu- In a way ur guess is right sir.
Boss- Nallu let ur effort not go waste.Make an entry in our record,inform them as well.Dig for more & get back to office this friday with all ur findings.Let me pull in our Big boss by then.
Nallu- Alright sir.

Nallu disconnected the phone & got back to more action along with his team mates.Folks at CM's office are no less in sniffing things out.By end of day 3,CM's folks had devised their mitigation plan.So they seemed to be super cool.In spite of their loyalty & proving their worth to their parent org time & again,Nallu & team weren't so cheerful this time.But they did their job as ever.

By Thursday,all entries were recorded,report sent to head quarters.A copy of it left with the concerned officials at CM's office as well.Nallu & team wound up their work & headed back home the same evening after a pleading session by the officials at CM's office to drop their findings reach the head quarters.This wasn't new neither to Nallu nor to his team mates.They undergo this pleading session at almost every empire where they dig out some unpleasant facts worth huge sums.But this really wasn't,Nallu said to himself.

Nallu wasn't enjoying a great health at his age.So was more than pleased to spend first half of the next day at his home sipping his self made health drink watching his favourite NDTV Profit channel.At around 12 noon,his boss rang him up to inform about his inevitable presence at a confidential meeting at 3.30 pm at the head quarter office.He obliged to his Boss's words and decide to make his presence felt at the meeting.

Nallu reached office sharp by 3.30 pm & realised that the so called confidential meeting was already in progress without his inevitable presence.So he decided to wait until he was called.Finally at around 4.30pm his immediate Boss slipped out of the enclosure to look for his presence if any.When he spotted Nallu,he invited him in.

All that Nallu could make out was, literally over a single cup of coffee with his Boss & Big Boss hardly for an hour,2 high ranked officials who had flown from CM's office at the union territory to chennai,helped drop the findings of Mr Nallu & his team.In reality Nallu's presence did not matter to anyone there.Neither did his finding.Nallu was a pragmatic man after all.So it wasn't any shock or something to him.Infact he takes ample learning from situations like these.To update him on the case,he enquired his boss later that night as what was their point across table to drop this finding since a sum of 77,000,00 shouldn't have been a big amount to be paid back by the CM's office, in Nallu's point of view.

Oh yes,his boss cheered him up saying 'Nallu it wasn't the money which was the cause of concern here.But the CM's image.A case like this might show him on the bad light & he cannot afford to tamper with his image at this point when he is already in position in his office.So me & our Big Boss were requested by them on be-half of the CM itself.So Nallu we couldn't do much on this.I was just reading that lands around CM's office are available at rates much affordable by me.In case tomorrow either me or you happen to buy some plots there, registration and other formalities can be done without much hassel Nallu.Lemme know if u have any such plans'.

Nallu now dropped the call muttering 'A lot can happen over a cup of coffee'.

The Intoxicating Proposals

To me a proposal was meant to be made by a man to a women and i have been just tired of seeing it all my life until one romantic saturday evening i stepped out to watch this movie 'New York' starring John Abi & Ms Kaif.In one of the scenes unexpectedly,kaif kneels down with a bunch of red carnations and tries to surprise Jhon but as per the screenplay Jhon was supposed to ignore that with some sad expression & some other heavy feelings in the heart.So did he.But it hurt a little when kaif was not taken seriously at that point on screen.But was refreshing from the usual stuff.I went home little intoxicated replaying that scene on my mind screen than the other stunning visuals in the movie.

Months passed by & there i was again on some saturday evening with part III of Poniyin Selvan, a historic novel written by a fantabulous tamil author Kalki.With my hands gripping the book tightly & eyes racing past every line on the storybook,a beautiful turning point in the story left me intoxicated the second time.Kundavai,the king's daughter, damsel with an IQ much above her age who is projected as a responsible female from the royal family suddenly stretches her hand to the smart & handsome vandhiyadevan, a dude who is just a messenger from her elder brother stranded in the basement prison inside their palace.She gives her hand to vandhiyadevan who holds it and says 'Man this hand which you are holding now will never ever be given to another in my lifetime and if i reach such a circumstance, i would rather die than live'.Page #842 which contains this proposal stuff left me sweetly intoxicated for a minute.I thought ... Man this story expected to have happened in deep south india nearly 1600 years back educates me that a damsel though from a royal family was capable of proposing out to a man of her choice at just the perfectly apt time in the story.

I agree i was influenced by the above two incidents but never did i imagine in the wildest of my dreams that shortly the following thing would ever happen in my life.

It was a bright sunday morning.And a bunch of 25 odd people where advancing downhill from the mountainous slopes of chickmagalur.Inside the bus were me and most of my teammates on our way back to Bangalore after a day's outing.We knew itz going to be a full day drive on that sunday morning before hitting Bangalore.Folks suggested that we continue to play our 'Truth or Dare' game which we discontinued the previous night.The baton passed was a 1.5 litre pepsi bottle with about 2 ounce of pepsi left inside.The first bakra that morning was me ... and i had to face the whole team to choose between either 'Truth' or 'Dare'.

After hearing all the awful truths the previous night, i opted to dare by uttering the D word.So did i.Vijay z electrifying brain shot me a daring scenario.He wanted me to propose someone in that bus to prove that.What a sad situation i thought to myself.Most of the guys in my lovely team are this bacchaa log visibly younger to me.Proposing someone from that gang would hurt me on some grounds later.The only other category consisted of guys either already engaged or to be married anytime or already married.There wasn't much of choice barring the driver & the chotu with him.But the whole idea was to prove myself daring.Just thought for a minute,what can be more daring than proposing our Big Boss?.It had two purposes in fact.One - I would straight away prove myself daring without an iota of doubt.Second was that if I propose our Big B,nobody in the team would be daring enough any time later to pull my leg on this.Had it been somebody else it would have been like me digging my own grave along with whomever i had picked to propose, that morning.With the intention to save two lives from being bullied in the office for the rest of the days, i had to shortlist our Big B.

Needless to say,it was Praveen.My all time favourite in the team.But Praveen was married for good & was 'The Big B' for us though he never flaunted his powerful designation anywhere,anytime.I didn't want to drag this D situation for long.He was just diagonally opposite to me,sat hugged with his bag examining his leg space seriously.Honestly i had no clue whom everyone around where guessing.But to me at that minute it couldn't have been anyone else other than him.So before i was just ready for it, Sindhu handed me a bunch of hand picked mini wild pink carnations,for an effective proposal.

With all eyes set on me,my heart racing speedier than normal,there i was hearing the most sweetly intoxicating words from my own self.I heard myself utter 'I love you Praveen' while handing over the mini bunch to him.People just around were hugely thrilled.Unfortunately due to ineffective acoustics inside the bus downhill,people behind couldn't hear me.On hearing the disappointed souls demand 'once more',the proposed man clarified saying 'She made a statement'.In a defensive tone I followed him with 'I said I love u Praveen'.This episode ended with a huge sweet uproar from behind.Finally after all the fun & frolic we reached Bangalore that night.

Next morning i bunked office to catch some great sleep.But those 4 words spilled from my mouth the previous day kept resonating almost the whole day with a huge disbelief.By evening I found myself back to normal .The very next day,while i splashed some water on my face to ward off sleepiness at work,Preethi recollected the sunday morning incident to me and i found her to be equally intoxicated even after 2 days.And i remember Ani pulled my leg on that insignificant incident at least for the next few weeks.A month after this incident i happened to be in conversation with Vijay on some other stuff.Out of our context he recalled to me the same incident.Thatz when it hit me.Mmm .... what an intoxicating proposal it was !

Cross Country Race

Neither am i new to bangalore nor is it my mistake to go on a cross country race from one end of this broken city to another during peak traffic hours.I should have really checked on the following to know if this city was really for me.After being employed in the same city at a walkable distance from home,destiny deviced my destination to be the Global Village campus on Mysore road.If you are just asking me where do i live,oh ya itz almost the other corner of the same city.I just live a stone's throws away from the HAL airport.Mmm.. the distance pretty much would be around 28KMS one way.To the outside world I live in the silicion city of India.But only would i know how poor is this city where i dwell on many fronts.And now letz hold a magnifying glass on the city's Transport Network & Facility if am generous enough to use these words for the kind of transport ways the city flaunts.

Letz assume my watch reads 6.45PM which is when I choicelessly step out of the GV campus on Mysore road to reach the old Airport.What happens next should be falling in any of the following possibilities.

P1:Office Shuttle-If I prefer to generously pay a whopping 1400 bucks to my parent company towards transportation,the headache is all theirs to make me reach home.But a huge idle time will have to be shelled out from my pocket.The driver will try his best to drive the bus as his F1 vehicle only until Gopalan Mall on Mysore Road.I should be patient enough to see my watch tick,minute by minute until 7.30 PM at this junction.By 7.45 PM the bus could manage to inch towards corporation circle.From here,the driver has the flexibility to actually take 2 different routes.

1-Drive in straight adjacent to dense cubbon park hitting MG rd at the end.

2-Drive across Vittal Mallya Road & get clogged in Richmond Circle.

However I could land in a hickup if I take route1 due to the chaos on MG Road due to the much anticipated Metro construction.So unless I happen to be a perfect personification of patience,am sure I wouldn't want to do that.Route2 is a little long route compared to the former.But then there isn't much choice if I atleast want to see myself moving block by block towards home.But like a famous saying All roads leads to Rome- whichever way I go I have to hit ASC centre which is where officially the HAL Airport Road begins.From there a little more minutes of patience will actually help me seeing the HAL Aiport on your right.I even bet a blank cheque with you that it can't be earlier than 8.20 PM during a peak traffic hour.

If you are asking me what will i do if my bus breaks down half way through.I promise I wouldn't get stranded by any means.I can fall as a prey to the autowallas anytime to reach my destination but can't expect to save my back for all the stunts they try on the speedbreakers & potholes on the pathetic city roads.Or all the missed gyming hours could be made use in pushing the bus for a restart along with my other commuters.Itz fun at times.Personally lemme tell you this isn't a bad mode of transport at all.

P2:Own Transport - CAR,Two wheeler - If I prefer to see my money vaporise than shelling out a huge sum on the company's shuttle,am sure i will fall in to this category.I wouldn't be having any fun on riding my vehicle atleast this far amidst the other chocking chariots on the arterial roads of bangalore.But lemme tell you,few more routes unfold once i hit corporation circle.I could actually deviate via SP Road & some how save few micro minutes before hitting UB city.And hence forth also I could drive straight till old madras road & cut across the new indranagar flyover to reach my old airport.If my personal vehicle,be it car or a 2 wheeler fails in the middle of the road,mypiece of advice would be to leave it there once for all and keep marching towards the nearest public transport stop.By godz grace if all goes well,I could prove myself as a green driver by allowing a pillion rider to hitch hike on me.Be it a car,handful of vehicle less souls travelling via my neighbourhood can be helped.But i should be prepared to reach home not earlier than 8.30PM.Again depending on my driving skills it might be another plus or minus 20 minutes.

Since no one have any opportunity to drive @ a speed more than 25-30 km/h the possibility of rash driving accidents are almost nil during these peak hours in a city like these.The irony of all i feel is that to reach mysore which is 3 hrs from Bangalore a friend of mine takes around 2.5 hrs which is sometimes the same time i take to reach my home in the same city.Howz that ?

P3:Public Transport- I must really be a least lucky soul if my mode of transport is going to be this.Apart from the fact that I cannot afford to travel by any other costlier mode of transport for a stretch of 28 kms,I have other resons to see myself at this least lucky position.If I or anyone above 5feet 5 inch happen to get a seat,the leg room will leave you feeling cursed.If you don't get a seat to sit,the travel experience will be even more worse.The conductors in this city are publicly given license to squeeze themselves amidst all possible female passengers of their choice as a means of pleasure and as a means of serving their duty.If there are any decent male passegers near me then I can expect to travel with some peace of mind until my destination.If you stars aren't aligned in a good positions for the day on the sky above,then I might actually end up having a really exhausting and a bad day cursing myself for reasons more than one.But there is a choice that I can make here.If there is a volvo service running across atleast half my destination,i can relax.Since only decent people board volvo in bangalore and that i haven't seen any volvo breaking down until now.Leg space is really ample even for the XL souls.The possibility of depending on BMTC or volvo arises out of another reason which i fell prey twice in these 2.5 years.Missing my office shuttle or cancellation of office shuttle or if my shuttle refuses to take the route that i travel, on any particular day.

If you are asking me the reason behind possibility of cancellation or shuttle refusing to take my route,there are valid reason for these i tell u.If a popular demigod celebrity is kiddnapped,or may be dies, this can truely happen to anyone.Also if the private cab associations decide to go in for a strike,as a helpless middleclass citizen,I or anyone can expect the same.For a small sum of money that I shell out for my commutation via the public transport,city's transport body gives me oppurtunity to practise patience under few nonsense situations as well.Possibility of stranding half way through a public transport cannot be totally ignored.But the good thing is i can manage to travel in another bus which comes the same way with just an autograph of the conductor.When i will reach home can never be guaranteed.Since there are few factors influencing it like the arrival of the bus.And again arrival of bus depends on whether or not is the driver in mood to drive the bus.Even if he does,the bus must be a good working condition for a good start.Even if the bus starts & arrivesmy pickup point there is no guarantee that it would have ample space for me to step in.Am not kidding.It really happens here.Last thing i would like to highlight abt the public transport in this city would be the fact that if someone wants to travel from point A ->B,one might actually have to reach point C which most of the time isn't on the way from A ->B.You will really be taken for a ride.This will speak for all the transport network planning done here in all the past years.

P4:Private cabs/3 wheeler - If money isn't a big deal for me,I will be a privileged customer to all these folks.False meter,demanding a whopping sum in addition to the actual price & a concept called 1 1/2 are things one needs to learn.Quite expensive but hassle free travel.But it terms of time this mode of transport is a no exception like the above.If you are a female traveller,better to be careful with the private cab drivers since the city is quite famous for crimes wrt this gender.Good thing however here is that if this transport fails on the road due to a puncture or a bad working condition of the vehicle,one might have to worry very less since the driver will make alternate arrangements or least expected to.I need not ideally worry about the route since the private vehicle drivers know each & every gully in the city of bang if there is a major hurdle on the way.Relatively I can save time if all goes well. If you think all this is enough for you to faint right away ,hold on i have some pleasant things in store.

P5:Copter Service - I always wish i belonged to the elite group of citizens who can afford more than what is essential for anything and everything in life.Not in all aspects though but the passion to own a copter is still alive in me.At least every alternate fortnight, if i get a free pickup or drop by a copter from HAL hanger to GV & back home,i will still be grateful to god.Hmm .. though itz one big never to come true dream,just visualize me boarding a beautiful black bird waiting for me near coffeeday junction in GV campus.Say I board it at the same assumed time 6.45 pm every evening.With the blades chopping heavily for few minutes i am sure I would reach HAL Hanger by 7PM.From there itz a matter of 6 minutes by walk to my home.How wonderful would that be.

P6:Awaiting Metro - For the hoping against hope souls,in a matter of few years this could just be their life line as well apart from the city's.But then itz just an anticipation.I am really skeptical about boarding the metro peacefully after seeing a video showing how easy it is to board a metro train in a country like china.Time will be a saving factor though.But from where to where is a big Q.To reach home from the metro station might really need to be worked out.Money spent in metro commutation should be worth it.Connectivity across all the places with in the city will be an ongoing project for another 2-3 decades i presume.

P7:Ferry Service - I am one soul who tend to visualize the impossible.Here is the impossible for your visual.If there comes a govt in Karnataka who sincerely takes an initiative in cleaning up the polluted rivers running across bang within a fixed deadline & if it is successful then from global village campus right next to ccd all I need to do is get down to the cleansed river and just reach nayandhahalli circle probably on the aromatic waters of bangalore.That will no doubt be a pollution free & one of the most pleasant mode of transport.Cost though am not sure at this point.Safety might also be of concern if itz going to be an open ferry.

If I find myself not wanting to opt any of the above options,I still have a single way left.Like working from home,I can actually choose to live from office.That will save a lot of money,free net/phone connection,video conferencing,AC,hot water,food at any time & will save a lot of rent money and opens a huge possibility to be productive at work .May be I should think again before making a new choice of work place.

Tiny Tykes

I wept that day miserably exhausting myself.It was my day 1 @ kindergarden.There was this huge & heavy feeling in my tiny self.As if people around have done injustice by walking me to an unfamiliar place called school.May be my tiny instincts knew they were snapping me from holidaying in life for many years to follow.I just didn't spoil my own day but mom's,dad's my kg tutor's & that poor school aayya's.Puddle of tears,red eyes,running nose & that wet handki are still fresh in my memory chip.It probably took a month or more to get acquainted to all those new unplesant faces around.That was me 24 years back.A month ago,my neighbour's 3 year old neice came upstairs to visit my mom to fetch her blessings the day before she was starting her KG classes.To that tiny tot my mom shot a Q.

Mom How did you know that you should do this?

Kiddo I have seen people doing it before starting something new.

Mom Oh aren't you scared to go to school?You cannot eat and play all the time there.Miss will be very strict and watching you all the time.Are you ok with it ?

Kiddo Am bored seeing my mom & dad all the time now.I am waiting to see some new faces & a place to go everyday.

A week later, just to check if all went well with the kid,mom dropped by.

Mom Hi honey,have you started going to school?.How are u liking it.I mean ur school,ur miss & your friends ?

Kiddo I like everything abt this school except one thing with an inverted smiley gesture facing the floor.

Mom Whtz that child.Can i know ?

Kiddo My new friend.He weeps all the time and it spoils my mood as well u know.

I have spent time with this kid during many of my trips.She must be just 3 now.She likes to do only things of her choice like selectively watching cartoon network,eating chicken kababs every night,wearing only soft fabric clothes.She is just cool about letting you know if you look good to her eyes.Once she came to me and said in a loving gesture'You look very pretty.I like you very much.Will you come to my house and stay with me?'.What a sweet offer & a priceless compliment from a kid of that age.Did i really know how to compliment someone at that very age ?.I did like all the pleasant looking faces at that age.But the element of complimenting others wasn't existing in my tiny self.Did i really bother or knew to tell my mom that some frilled frocks were actually pricking me inside though they made me look bright n bubbly.What ever was dressed on me was me.Whatever was given to eat was eaten by me.I never knew when to watch TV and when not to.Ofcourse am not trying to compare my dull head with some smart whizkid.

This kid really prompted me to observe kids of the same age.The next kid in the list was my collegue's.She leaves the kid in the day care centre inside my work campus.This kid loves to sing and one fine morning a beautiful sight struck me.My friend was holding her kidz hand and looking around wondering what to do.This kid was holding a bright coloured flower along it's long stem,half squatted,smiling brightly and happily singing to that flower.On revealing that beautiful sight that i witnessed tht morning to her,she told me that her son is interested in singing and that he frames his own lyrics sometimes and fits them in to an existing tune.How intelligent ? She also revealed to me that there are kids @ the day care who speak different languages to different people & responds in the correct language to people around.If only the mapping for all this is done in the brain correctly,i believe this is possible.Kids at day care are all less than 3.

Direct from the womb they all evolve really smart,knowing what they want and what they don't want,happy and bold unlike a kid like me of my generation :(