But somethings last for a lifetime...

The first being LIFE itself....which i, and am sure some close frends have come to value more than we did earlier.

With the real close shave we had with the Grim Reaper(death) yesterday, i know it for sure that somethings like frends....and the memories associated with them will, at the least, last for our lifetimes.

Here is to narrate the incedent, 'cos i dint find any as yet in my buddies' blogs -

With the exception of the eccentric and a trifle unfathomable J and the workaholic BK, it was the gang of Ranga, Giri, Chetana, Vidya, Andy, Suri, Viswa(last minute extra fittings) and u'r truly who took up the wierd idea of visiting the beach pre-dawn and walloping in the waters until the sun came up. Though intimidating, I succeeded in the task of pulling up everybody from thier stupor before 5am on the, now-in-history, 26th of December. Unusually, Ranga who said he wudn't make it, called back for a pick up.....so no plans changed but for a glitch between when he said he wont come n when I did pick him up from his place. The effect of a proper pasting from his mom din't even last for a few minutes before all of us set on the ride of lives to the Beseant Nagar shores.

With the cranky happenings of the wee hour, Suri n me dfntly agreed that no police wud have doubted our Giri wasn't inebriated....he was on a high singing 'antha naal muthal intha naal varai' among other olden goldies in his coarse morning vioce. Everyone not reaching there together created but a flutter of 5 mins. After which all were in the mood, Giri again providing the spice with his supposed 'mouna - viratham', reasons for why he embarked into it known only to the Almighty...not even himself! With no idea of frolic into water in mind, i was the first to pull up my pants knee-high venturing into the inviting, salty, not-yet-glittery sea water.

But again, with the gang assembled there...peace wudn't have had a chance for more than few second. Suri, as expected, started it all with a premeditated push of me from behind, propelling me face-first into the water! Jus needing a reason to venture into water, he timidly agreed to my threats of pulling him alongside me....and atleast I, was as far as into the sea as where I wudn't have even imagined, in my earlier visits to the great watermass! And again, it din't take much time or effort to pull in Ranga also...with only Giri being allowed to continue his strangest of strange viratham.

Thinking and writing about all these...jus gives me the creeps, 'cos when all this was happening, we clicking scores of snaps (the one's for posterity) was when there happened to be a globally serious, literally earth-shattering quake that went 10kms deep (one-fifth of the total 'core' that we read in geaography). We had a whale of a time - Ranga, Suri and me being inside the waters for almost an hour, when actually the gargantuan tremor was sending shock waves at us!!! We not having an iota of idea wat was happening elsewhere....jus dismissing Suri's comment on some message he got from a frend informing him of a earthquake somewhere, not even bothering to laugh at it!

All had not ended with all of us boarding our bikes....there was yet one of our, shud i say popular, classmates to meet on the road, jus outside the beach. Now, with everyone agreeing that it wasnt' the best of the possible reunions, we drove bak home without a clue that we had actually run away from Death....missing the 10mts Tsunami water-walls, that shattered a whole coastline, by jus 10 or 20mins !!! We wudn't have had a 'mayir-yezha' chance if we had been were we were, a mere quarter of an hour ago!

Even the mention of great tremor measuring to 8.5 on the scale, in the news dint hamper our spirits...! All of us were heading to the long awaited Satyam theatre show, movie being the irreplaceable Gowarikar's 'Swades'. Half way thru the movie atleast most of us wud have gotten a call on the mobile from various patrs of the country, inquring about our status in Chennai....not one of them having a clue how near we were to the waters that sprang as high as three-stories of a modern building!!!

The visit to the temple with Girish gave me immense inner peace and strength, and the final touch was produced by a bus' stereo system bellowing 'yaar yaar sivam; nee naan sivam' at the Koyambedu bus stop!

As i was telling J, all this is going to take atleast a coupla weeks to sink in, but all i can think of is... some frends and the memories associated with them are here to stay....to last atleast for a lifetime . . .

Dreams i like to dream............

Dreams

Everyone has dreams

Come true, just a few

Dreams of gold and riches

And houses and cars new

It hurts not, to dream

Yet hurts to see 'em shatter

But dream I did anyways

My spirits, it did not deter

Dreamt of kisses and cuddles

And pillow talks

Of beaches at sunset

And moonlight walks

Simple dreams they all

Yet hard to fulfill

It matters not to me

Dream on, I will

Everyone has dreams

Come true, just a few

But all of mine did

The day I found you

.................

that was one gr8 original piece by my latest buddy, Ms.V (though she gots loads o other names)!

have lots to talk abt dreams........but all that, i keep for the comments......!

pour 'em in ppl!

the "outlaw let it out" into a "square space" wondering "wat do i right" and got "caught at midwicket", he being a "last word freak" !!!

jus wanted to see how it looks to get all our blogs into a one-liner....

to give an elaborate listing -

J's blog - www.lastwordfreak.blogspot.com
Ranga's - www.caughtatmidwicket.blogspot.com
Giri's - www.girish.squarespace.com
Mine - www.watdoiright.blogspot.com


but y am i writing this down...i donno! n i hate it when am always being vague in my blog....not that i cud conjure up anything that might attract more than a 100 comments........but i aint lost faith. 'cos there is lots to talk n lotsa them to talk with.......only now am i wondering wat to talk abt this time!

when in Chennai this time around, did a very crazy thing, as ususal. went to the beach at 12pm noon.....wattosay?! had me thinkin all nonsense bordering on genius.......felt like the whole sea belonged to me! and if something can humble me anytime.....it wud be a visit to the sea!

Ranga when ur here....we'll have to chunk out atleast 5hrs startig from 5pm on one day to be in front of the splendourous Elliot's beach...k?!

waiting for this 1 week to end, though it might possibly be more than that before we meet!

Chennai.....here I come !!!

Cannot remmeber being under such tremendous pressure to post......! Pressure from everyone who knows i write a blog! someone else in the same position would have felt - 'i have been bad in not posting for so long' ....but ha! not me! jus like i was telling one of the pressurising souls - how cleverly i have named my blog! every writer has his block....and sometimes in these cases has some reason not to write a blog....but with me it happens like, most of the times i dont see a reason to write! also...not an excuse, but if i need to say something and i find it there already in one of the other 3 blogs i visit by default, i dont feel like putting it down in my own again! ......see a point there?!

Anyways this entry is not about y am not writing for long periods....it is about the present few weeks during which i have to stop n think to actually realise where i am....Bangalore or Chennai! It is not easy as u might think.....'cos the sensation of 'jet lag' is lots when one is jus in n out of working in night shifts and sleeping like a log.... flat on his face !!!

Jus a day to go when i am off to Chennai for the 3rd time in jus under 2 weeks.....the reasons being very wierdly wide ranged..... attempted burglary at home...!, meeting hell a lota people who actually r waiting to see u....., and the last n now reason being jus that i have a few days off on 6-7-8 Dec on which days i dont have a clue what i might do being in B'lore.......

so Chennai !.... here i come! Nowadays my Chennai sojourns go at frentic pace....breakneck speed....'cos before i realise am back in Bangalore....getting ready to go back to Chennai again! cranky right! but thats all i have been doing the past week.......and have come to expect lots out of each trip nowadays......mebbe 'cos dont want to miss the good things...pack 'em all when its possible...........!

Relish list:

1. Sooper cappuchino with doughnet - Giri on one side an Andy on the other on GN Chetty rd.....with strange behaving couples all around.......

2.High voltage narration and script editing session along the Burkit road with RR before reaching Saptagiri for a higher voltage dinner! THA!

3.Mindblowing composing sessions at Giri's place....though as jus a spectator! Exhilarating!

4.All those delicacies that come to ur lap....when ur jus whiling away time in front of the TV!

5.Jus the feeling of being home......!

Can i ask for more from a single visit? n now to think that i missed those Spencer plaza visits with my cousin in the morning, and plate of 14 idlis in Saravana Bavan with her brother....! Wow man!

Ranga.......nee vada! namma adikkarom koothu.........

Chennai-a oru kalakku kallakkarom!!!! THA......Shoore!!!!!!

'kalyaanam.....aayiram kaalathu payir....'

Felt recently......had to write some thing on this famous line!

Nowadays wherever i go n meet whoever i knew earlier always seem to discuss trivials n get back to this topic....the most essential truth of humanity.........'PAIRING UP' ;-))

This now, has somehow led me to strongly believe in that marriage in India is an 'institution'. So much goes into the event, being very unique in a person's life on this side of the Meridian that makes it very special.

Most of these self proclaimed 'level- headed' people have got that someone to settle down with.....or thats how their claims go! 'Aayiram kaalathu payir' ivlo seekrama aruvada aayiduchcha? Not very interesting.....

Ennamo! Am always ok to play the waiting game....! [if it is going to be my decision! ;-)]


already see ppl reading here smiling to themselves.....

kidnap a street-orphan....donate to orphanage!

This was an absolutely natural/dumb theme, some askew mebbe tired minds, conjured up last week! And then, it was decided that this wud be my next blog....not that it has to do anything with wat this log is abt!

I found out that when anyone is searching for a house...in this land of the ever greedy Scrooge's, it sure happens that the person faints before all is over, and that too, if he gets a place to live that he is looking for. Anyaayam! I sound this harsh 'cos i was shown some s**thole, where even a pigeon wudnt care to do it, n 4k bucks was the amount quoted as rent! It took REAL patience and some nomadic, unrewarding efforts and all the will power i cud muster to come to a reasonable decision.

Finally we(here me n bull) did decide on a place to live....though this 1BHK not being worth the amount we going to pay as rent!

As someone commented - 'So! Balaji? back to college life?huh?'....n i replied sayin-'college vera, vaazhkai vera...college romba secure environment! inimey thaan theriyum!'

So a whole new phase of life lies ahead....not much different from that lead by close-estranged frends in foriegn lands......feels lonely in the real sense for the first time!!

Of Zoos, Eating and Speed-riding!

The long awaited arrival of Saravanan did finally come on the cold morning of 2nd October.

When returning back from picking him from the statition, just around the ususal corner near my place i saw 'that' couple as i have been doing now for almost an year and a half....jus confirming from Saro that it was 7:30 sharp indeed! talk about commitment! thats wat actually drew me to 'em, atleast take a peek every morning dot at 7:30am and feel assured 'they' met today!
Ha...! LOVE!!!!

anyways...this trip was long awaited 'cos it was to be made duing Bull's(Karthik-Wipro) bithday weekend, but that dint happen. So the whole itenarary was left to be planned by Bull and as expected...nothing was for sure on 2nd morning. But some loon had suggested to Bull that we go to Bannerghatta Zoo rather than on a long drive to Nandini Hills 'where there isn't even a tea stall' - as Bull put it.

Even the ride along the potholes with some roads in between to Bannerghatta was fun because of the distance and those cuddly couples on Pulsars, who we kept givin a gud race with our Splendor n Libero's! And u reach there after a wretched ride is when u find out...most people around here take it to be a serious place to be visited in the weekends! Only going around the place n coming back outside do u realise, u had been amidst a couple of bushes with fences around them called 'Zoo'....damn! it is a small roadside garden compared to Vandalur or even the Mysore zoo i had visited few years back! It was so uninteresting there that we only took a total of six-seven snaps going around the whole place! Which zoo do u reach-go around the place-and pack up in just about 2 hours, which exactly what we did!! And sure we were hungry like hell... No specific place in mind led us to the convivial 'Krishna Kafe' in Koramangala...where this definitely sooper 'kalyana saapaadu' after long time, had us all lumbering along to the bikes, each of us passing around the bike keys and with it the burden of riding in Bangalore traffic after such heavy lunch! What else to do next?...heading straight to Bull's place - the nearest one to where we ate - and falling asleep like a polar bear on its belly was logical! But again Bull had different plans for us...and got all the cursing for it later. We watched 'Kudaikkul Mazhai' - the new Paarthiban film - and were drained beyond our sane abilities to do anything after the pathetic ordeal!

All that was Saturday and returning back home was a big relief. So Saro n me thought unwinding by watching 'The Village' would be best! Ten minutes into the movie both of us found out we were famished and had to sleep! Not to mention that the movie was of no help to revive us from that state! And the movie still remains to be seen! It has to be mentioned here that when retuning the cd back first thing on Sunday morning, there was this guy outside the shop asking how the movie was. I said- 'i am yet to watch n so dont know!', to which he gave a bewildered n sad look saying - 'I've watched it 4 times n still dont know what it is about, atleast thought u cud tell me!!!". Have to verify that one!

Sunday dint present any surprises as i like 'em, and so we had to head back to the always crowded MG/Brigade corners. Food at RR was tedious with some old friends-new faces n some nonsense talk going around. All plans of returnin back home to finish watchin the movie also went for a toss as new plans came up from the new faces! atleast the ones spared from the plans cud catch up with unadultrated 3 hours of sleep! We got up watching 'Shrek' on movies and then it was farewell time....! Had a good weekend though, after a long time....!


Got hold of a copy of 'Are u afraid of the dark'...so possibly something to post a comment on J's blog in a few days time??

why a victory means so much...!

to even those who are least related to the actual victory!

that was a reference to the splendid victory of the Windies over the Pommies in the ICC champs trophy! I said least related 'cos i dint want to mean those uninterested but it wasnt even the Indians playin the finals, but still me n mother had a bet on the cup-winner.... n WI did really well to get where they got to!

Jus few months ago - Ganguly, as he often seems to be doing nowadays, stupidly said - we are the 2nd best team , those really capable of posing serious threat to Aussies'.....n in real no time of a month look at the possibilities this Champions trophhy has revealed....! England, i thought, cakewalked to the final beating the Green-baggies without any serious threat and when everyone almost knew it was a forgone conclusion that WI would only be the second best in this Trophy...they come up trumps with true grit...n excellent cricket!
So now that England beat Aussies n got beaten by WI, does it mean that here we have the new best team in the world! Cant be.... but the difference between the top six ODI teams (as per ICC)- Aus,Eng,NewZ,Srilnk,SouthAfr,Pak followed by Ind and WI is getting closer n closer!

So atleast we know this win will be a real boost to the next World Cup scheduled in WI, n the way players are shaping up in each n every team...cricket in the coming days promises to be real exciting!

And vaangada Aussies- veetla vechukkarom ungala! Already Gilly seems to have started the usual pre-match banter aussie eshtyle.....

eager for the thumpin to start!

Robbed!

Have been robbed offlate of a favourite pastime......!!!

Those who know me will have for sure guessed by now what am talkin abt...! What does a man yearn for? Good food - or mebbe some food to eat and a good rest after that.....so if u r not still able to make out what am talkin abt......the night shifts that i have been doing now for almost 3 weeks have taken a big toll on my SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bliss is another word i choose to describe what i think i have lost offlate....not that i dont get to practise this fav pastime of mine....but the effect and fulfillment of a night's sleep is surely n sorely missing..! it jus has become on of my routines rather than something i used to enjoy earlier.....

n to think that in few days time this damned shift goes around n will have to be in office at 6:30am in the morning is intimidating enuf! yuk! Even losing some sleep i can stand! but to get up THAT EARLY in the morning is one thing i wud give anything... not to do!

onnum illa....all i think of sayin is .....wanna get mad?? try not sleeping for coupla days....atleast i have been driven so for a few weeks now! :-(

Harsha....brilliant!....as always....

Back to the blog-tested Ctrl+C...Ctrl+V.....(Courtesy espnstar.com)

but something i dfntly enjoyed... and was touched by!

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Pride is a peculiar thing though; those that have it can't imagine life without it and those that don't wonder what the fuss is all about. You are either born with pride or it infects you with the first glow of success. And so, those that don't have it need to win.

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And for heavens sake, don't ask why a land of a billion people cannot produce more medals. You can ask stupid questions all your life and yet you will be wise if you do not ask this one. We are a country where children are still being taken off from schools to work the paddy fields and roll tobacco into bidis; where children are driven away from sport towards that one extra mark that might make the difference between a good education and a poor one; where politicians are assigning land meant for playgrounds to builders. We are not a country of a billion people when it comes to the Olympics, not ten percent of that, not one percent of that. When it comes to sport, we are a cruel, heartless, uncaring country and those that ask the question in parliament need only to look around for an answer. If we win a medal, it is a miracle because we choose it to be that way; because athletes are meant to compete with athletes not with their own system.
There is much joy in the Olympics, there is much heartbreak too. That is the way of the world, that is why the cheetah kills the deer.


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Touché ...!

palindrome procession....!!!!

got freaked out reading some of these on this site - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/palindromes.htm



A Santa at NASA

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!

A tin mug for a jar of gum, Nita.

A Toyota...race fast...safe car...a Toyota!

Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.(the best 1 to me!)

Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did!

Doc, note, I dissent, a fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.

Egad! A base tone denotes a bad age.

I, madam, I made radio. So I dared...am I mad, am I?

Lee has a race car as a heel.

Marge lets Norah see Sharon's telegram

Panic in a Titanic, I nap!

Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.(good one!)

Devil lived

Was it a bar or a bat I saw?

Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned. (like hell!!!)

musings......

i fancy my new Nokia set(6820) for various reasons and one being a facility that says "Notes" in the menu......u jus can type in anything anytime n save it as a note.

So this is how i used the facility when i had gone to some godforsaken ashram(but scenic tho) of Sri Sri Ravishankar...off Bangalore limits with my mother who hapens to attend 'Atma Gnyana yoga' classes to shoot stress.........

the things i wrote....donno y i wrote 'em .....wa so bugged there n jus wanted to put down thoughts. Have been put in order i wrote 'em....not that its important.

To build up the scenario.....

here am, leaning on a tree in an ashram with keen listeners a few feet away from me... listening to eulogies by a genial elderly person on how to live life. A roll of thunder makes me turn my head heavenwards....


1.
Clouds close in on each other... but decide not to cry anyway....'cos they see no point in weeping! But far far below ....two hearts close in on each other....decide to be happy about it....but they only get to cry over it!

2.
When it is right to take right and u'r left with no left take, right then let the left be left to be not right and the right which is only left to be right is the right right! TAKE IT!!!!
(whew! to imagine i wrote this feels cuckoo!)

3.
Greenous blackery is yellowful reddery with blue maroonness and browny pinkious silver?!!!!
(CRAP!!!)

4.
Now here: dark n imposing

Then: just a few seconds....split by rays

N after: shining pure white with a silver streak too!

5.
One step closer...to the zenith! A blitz thru the spine, pure adrenalin rush...yes! i see it....one push n am there ...n now jus now do i remember am not in a race, dont have to prove anyone anything....yet, the moment dust on the peak is disturbed, the whole self goes limp with exhuberence, with success and a light feel in the head!
And then, an old loon lying down there says, sleepily -"u r on the wrong mountain". I tell him - "u r on the wrong planet"
(n i really dont know y i wrote this 1)


the following pieces were written at various other times.....like on train headed towards Chennai or when in a pensive mood at home.........


--
is there destiny...? if u can manipulate ur destiny....wat destiny is then? No one manipulates destiny....it happens the other way round.... And yes!!! thats ur destiny....so jus live! Also...shut up!


--
When u say NO to the question of existence of GOD, ur jus again creating a possibility that there might be one and ur saying no to it. Meaning to say, when there is an yes or no to a question there always exists a possibility of both being true! So either yes/no....the abstract truth is God....it is an idea..... example: when u act eccentric n some1 asks u if ur mad and u scream NO!.... there existed a possibility that u were possibly mad....for that moment though!
And the previous line of thougt is so old that the Absolute truth was is n will be the most definite possibility! :-)





lots to tinker on my writing ....thats wat i feel....u tell me guys!

that adrenaline rush.....

the other day.....was watchin the Olympics with my father; both of us being sports enthusiasts....especially both of us been sprinters at school n college level, were riveted to the world level spectacle that was going on, on TV

what we were watching was a mixture of 100m hurdles heats, 1500 steeplechase finals n the decathlon - that one competition which decleares 'the world's greatest athelete'!

and then i felt.... that only when u have been one the track, running ur heart out to outdo peers to the line or when putting all u have into the sport ur involed like long jump/shotput throw....will u realise the heck of what THE OLYMPICS is all about!

it essentially is that adrenaline rush.....the pure moment when everything else fades into oblivion and u see only ur goal!WOW!

and when all is done, u rule the track.....then the sensation of victory sinks in...and all the rush glows in ur face! a feel of elation mixed with satisfaction grips u.....n that is when so many gr8s cant hold on to thier overwhelming tears....!

was actually asking my pop - 'what have we done in life! look at that guy doing a 3000m steeplechase race in under 9mins!' A quik calculation said 3kms wud be oneway from my place to Blr railway station.....and to think of running all the way in under 9 mins was mindblowing!

mebbe shud say that was a vry humbling experience...

clog....on the blog

hey! jus wonderin.....who cameup with the idea of bloggin?

to say so....am jus cloggin to blog... mebbe 'cos am new? earlier believed that one got to have belligerent or atleast catchy ideas to go on with your blog?

or mebbe some are so boring that it jus goes on n on without any meaning....(as mine is heading now....?) and end of day! anything is a blog!



J/Giri u tell me! serious issues to write about?

thats wat i have yet got frm J's blog; though learnt from giri's - making one's daily life a story is a gr8 idea o blogging..... read between life-lines! come up with cocky ideas n wat not!


hey! actually feelin wierd taht me too is blogging!................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


GIMME A CLUE guys!!!!!!!!!!!!

ya so....?

hey ppl!

first of all wanted to say 'Y Live...? When Nothing Lasts forever?'........

but, do we have a better,bolder choice.....than to LIVE?!

feels gr8!

makki


ps: J u made me start this! dont know y though!