whats your last name?

Sitting here ,on a very lazy morning at my grandmother's house,i realized how unfortunately racist Indians are.
Sunday afternoons at granny's place is like the family scenes of the movies.A vast backyard, a garden coffee table with men of the family talking.Kids running about yelling,the women of the family cooking delicious food.Just perfect:).My general routine was to help with the paysam(the only thing i was good at making) and annoy a few of my younger cousins.Today,i decided to listen to my uncles talk about stocks,employers,business et all (it was the only way to escape my aunts conspiring to get me married!) .Sitting there on the grass silently listening to them talk,I couldn't help thinking,how racist all of us are( sadly,so am i).

Uncle1: "That gowda's son got an MS seat in this US university,I tell you its all about the money"
Uncle2:"But didn't he get an average score in that GRE entrance?Sonu(my pet name at home :P),how much did you get?"
ME: squirming as i wasn't too enthusiastic about telling my scores> "Ummmm,1270 i think".
Uncle1:"Kanna,that's good no..see that gowda's son got only 900"
Uncle2:"It's all the money from his land i tell you ,His grandfather owns a quarter of the Kushalnagar".

I was making a mental note to ask my dad about my grandad property in chennai :P.

Uncle1:"My employers are asking for so much money these days! "
Uncle2:"Murugan right?These tamilnadu people are so clever.They work less and ask for more holidays,"enn machan oda anna kh kaliyanum"

Everyone laughs in unison.Are we from tamilnadu?Don't we have bro-in-laws whose brothers get married?

Uncle3:"Yes,it always better to take these biharis and assamese people..They diligently work,and are satisfied with whatever they get".
Uncle1:"These reddys are looking for an alliance for their son,MS in finance i think...expecting a Volkswagen and apartment in dowry,you know him no sonu?venkatesh"
Me:Why o why ! My feet felt like making a run for it...
....and i did:)
Well,it just so happens,that we youngsters still continue to call names gowds,iyers,iyengars.

That's unfortunate.
This blog wasn't meant to degrade my uncles or hurt any feelings.Just an honest observation.:)

What do you want to be when you grow up?

All of us,unfortunately,are still plagued by this question.We think that we know where we see ourselves in 5 yrs,but..we really don't.I speak for the people i have come across in my life,with a few exception,of course.With at least 70% of the teenagers in India taking engineering..its ironic that 70 out of every 100 young people use their brains in technical aspects.Forget the swarms of aspiring engineers we have. I hear a few of my friends complain how taxing medical studies are that it can begin to disinterest you at times.I hear few of my friends who have taken the arts(painting,writing,journalism,architecture) shudder under the pressure of been "REALLY " talented to stand out from the crowd.I know,now you are perplexed and shaking your head philosophically,life is hard,whatever it may be.But,my question is,do you feel the burden sometimes?All of us sometimes feel,maybe i would have made a better singer than an doctor,or a better journalist than a engineer.I could have made a better rallyist,a better tennis player,a better photographer..Every single person has,had these stray thoughts.What do YOU do about it?

There was a mad phase in my life.I used to play basketball endlessly,thinking i could really get far.There was another phase in my life,i was engrossed in creativity,writing,poetry,crafts,so many ideas i used to come up with,I used to stare at the TV and think of better Advertisement ideas(and i must honestly say,they were good),I thought i would come up with an excellent idea.Then the more mature ages came along,i loved MATHS,still love it actually.You would find me solving math problems even in the train to Chennai,to meet my grandparents.Time had come to CHOOSE,after 12th.I yelled my lungs out,journalism journalism journalism.Wished my parents heard it clearer. But i don't blame anyone or anything.I'm happy,to an extent,doing engineering.I don't think i would have wanted to do anything else.I'll tell you why,I have so many interests!!just too many.But life is not constant.I know for sure that i won't remain a hardware engineer for the rest of my life. I would want to write,be a freelance journalist someday.Try my hand at business sometime.Or go on a year long break and take millions of photographs of the world.

Like Issac Asimov said,Change is the only constant.You'll want to be a chef someday,you'll want to be an interior designer.You'll want to be a rallyist another day.Or a photographer.:) There's only one life,Its normal to want to be so many people at one time.So the next time you are cramming for an exam and thoroughly hate the subject and think why did i take this field!!....you think you hate the subject,but its the time frame you hate.Cherish all the dreams you have,and don't stop to defend yourself when someone says "you are so fickle minded and aimless",reply back with a contagious grin.."you have one life,make the most of it.":)

Love

Yellow skies,

Love is the resounding laughter of your friends.

Red skies,

Love is the foxy grin and sensuous perfume.

Blue skies,

Love is the serendipitous pictures you click, that bring you joy when you later see it.

Brown skies,

Love is the egoistic compelling football match you just played with your rival.

Pink skies,

Love is the super expensive shoes you and your girlfriend giggled over.

Purple skies,

Love is the family time you had and having been missing for so long.

Green skies,

Love is the last time you smelt the soil and the watched the sun set.

Beige skies,

Love is the soft fluffy coat of your dog.

Black skies,

Love is gradually replacing hate.

White skies,

Love is time you smiled back at the mirror.

Traffic

Traffic is barbaric in Bangalore.I didn't really experience Bangalore traffic until recently.Riding to and fro 15km to ISRO and back tires me mentally and physically.The kings of the road (take 3 guesses)..got it at the first guess?Autos! Stubborn monstrous yellow creatures.They occupy the centre of the road and won't budge till you give him a headache by honking.

My rules for happy riding in Bangalore:)

1. It's all about respect.If you're riding an activa,let the enfield behind you pass:).Don't be too over ambitious.

2.You have all rights to annoy autos! It's pay back time baby!

3.Plug those headphones into your ears.The best way to phase out the chaotic honking and engine noise.

4.I'm not preaching,but stop at RED!.Don't risk it even if it's 5 s.The other person might just intentionally drive into you if his signal is green.

5.Cover yourself completely!Wear your prettiest scarf/helmet/jacket .If not, you'll surely be coated with a layer of pollution and dust.

Happy riding!

Breathe . .

Tattered dog bitten clothes,

A distorted tattoo on his arm.

Smoking a low-quality beedi,

and a well-knit quit to keep him warm.

At a pathetic age of forty,

He was nothing but a shrunk nicotine and tobacco poisoned dying man..

..sitting by the tea stall,flanked by two diseased stray dogs.

how everything had changed in this short time span!

Racing back 20 years,the same tea stall,

a hot blooded educated man of twenty,

Smart,athletic,hyper-active and popular.

A graduate certificate in hand,patiently sipping tea.

He smoked occasionally with the excuse of "celebration",

he didn't realize that his celebrations lasted more than a pack.

Life was generous then,a decent job and a hefty bank balance.

With the superfluous money,his tobacco and nicotine addiction was back.

The urge to smoke,the pleasure of floating in nothingness..

..compelled him to resist his sane mind.

He became an independent man ,intransigent to what others said.

In his own egoistic lonely bubble ,he remained confined.

The heaviness of his lungs didn't bother him,

The coughing and blood didn't bother him,

His presumptuous arrogance exacerbated his failing lungs.

Chances of survival was slim.

Knowing well that his death is imminent,

He sits numb with the beedi in his hand.

He chose to spend the last few days with his greatest foe and best friend...

.................the cigarette.

Bubbles

She was tired.Tired from not doing anything.Tired staring fixedly at her cellphone,waiting for a message.Why aren't any of my friends free today!! It frustrated her. It was partly her mistake .she made excuses of having to study,or of her bad moods,of her painful stomach.She realized it was herself,she was frustrated with.

Her digital watch beeped.It was 6 'o clock .Her boredom reached the 5 hour mark.She pulled on a jacket and grabbed some money.She knew just what she wanted to do,she had been wanting to do it since a week.Bubbles!:)She shook her boredom off and began to walk to food street.It's always a carnival here, balloons sellers,delicious food,and finally the person selling the soap mixture that produces bubbles:)

Happy with her little purchase,she set off to the huge water tank.she hurriedly climbed the winding staircase.She loved the peace and the view of the city from up here.Blowing bubbles into the vast skies,she felt her little frustrations depart slowly.The lines on her forehead reduced.She was beginning to feel happy.FINALLY!

What's your greatest fear?

She walked through the darkness,

The mushy soil,the syrupy atmosphere,

Pitch dark and perfectly silent..nonetheless,

she wore a smile and ambled on,with no fear.

She wasn't bothered by the journey,

After all,she had spent most of her life in the wilderness.

It was the door at the end she hated to see,

What lay behind it,tormented her mentally.

Whenever she reaches to open the door,

she turns back and runs as fast as her 7-year old feet can take her.

She had enough,she couldn't take anymore.

Every night she would walk till there,

Never opens the door,not even dare.

......frantically twisting in bed,

she woke up and screamed to herself"What is it that I really dread??!!"