The Day when i almost Died - July 17th 2009

Lalith Krishna Prasad Chintamaneni 1982- 2009 (almost).

There is a history for July 17th 2009 to be my most unforgettable day. I was about 8 yrs old when I first stepped into a swimming pool with an inflated "ceat" tube around my waist. I seemed to have taken to waters pretty easily; i loved the idea of floating in water and moving from point A to point B. All was well until the day I started doing back strokes and my guide was impressed and he said "Back strokes eh??? you seem to have learnt how to swim pretty fast. Surely then you are ready to swim without your tube from tomorrow". Not realising how difficult it could get i reached the pool next day all set to dive in. Well it was on that day I was introduced to panic in water. I gulped and gasped but never swam. I could not get myself back to my swimming classes after that day. I Chickened out!!!

I believe me chickening out on my biggest challenge till that day did have a significant impact in my life. Since then I always had this desire to prove that I am not scared of water and that I am brave enough to tackle water. At every opportunity available I was keen to get into water and fight my fear. I wanted to be one up. I wanted to Win!

There were instances where every visit to chennai always had a ceremonial visit to marina beach with my frens (shakti, vini, tuhin, arjun, priyanka). I used to stand on the beach far enough to allow sea water to reach my ankles. The sight of waves coming in touching your feet and the distant horizon always made me feel that the sea is inviting me to its home on the horizon. Even today i am at peace when on a beach staring at the horizon. All I wanted is to be able to swim in ocean as far as i can. It was just a thought and I used to feel guilty of it at times as it sounds bloody suicidal. It’s since then my random adventures with sea have begun to prove a point that i am no chicken!

Random Adventure 1 (Bay of Bengal): Me, shakti, tuhin, vini, priyanka, arjun have gone to a resort to Mahabs. True to our adventure spirit when we heard that we can go into deep waters in fishing boat we jumped into one. 4 kms away from the mainland they asked if we would like to get into water. We were strapped in life jackets and they have long rope to which we were supposed to hold on to. My rational brain said nothing could go wrong so I jumped into the sea. There was a heavy current on that day and we were drifting away at a mad pace. Besides being pushed by the current, the abyss below and the uncertainty was unnerving. Thanks to education on TV I was always at a lookout for a "large fin" sticking out of the water. Nothing indeed went wrong on the day but the experience itself was quite frightening.

Random Adventure 2 (Indian Ocean): Well my laziness had eclipsed my desire to learn swimming but thanks to Adarsh who used to drag me to Jumeirah beach in Dubai for swimming on every weekend I learnt a bit, which can get me 10mts at best from any point. My swimming guide was boney who himself can only manage 20 mts at best. I used to try real hard to learn how to swim and it was extremely exhausting. One such weekend I was trying out my new lesson “to float in water.” All i had to do was to hold my breath and ease my body pressure so that the water pushes you up. I managed to float eventually but failed to notice i was drifting away from shallow waters. I couldn stand with my head above water, i had a minor panic attack but managed to swim to safety. Since then I was not as keen to hit the beach again as I was before.

Random Adventure 3 (My Swimming Pool): I have used our common swimming pool in our apt only twice before July 17th in last 4 mths. Since i am underutlising the facilities i decided to hit the pool every day. It was a lazy summer afternoon at 5 pm i was alone on the terrace in the pool. I was practicing my usual half baked swimming lessons for about 20 min and then thought of trying something new, something i have seen lil kids do. They float upright in water by constantly moving their hands and legs. Since I can’t achieve that at shallow end of the pool i inched to the deeper end. The moment i didnt feel the bottom of pool i started panicking and instead of trying to swim to safety i was struggling in water franctically moving my hands and legs. The first thought which came to my mind "Fuck i am drowning!!!"; Panic panic and more panic! In next 3 seconds i struggled enough to resurface for a brief moment above water and then "glug glug glug" water forced its way into my throat and the next second i was under water again. I could feel the pressure building around my nostrils and on my chest almost coercing me to open my mouth. I struggled even harder but was not able to resurface. Luckily i had my swimming gogs on and i opened my eyes to see the nearest border. It was to my left, i tried swimming under water towards it. I kept saying to myself "You are not going to die. You can reach it. You can reach it!". I thought i almost reached and with one last stroke i will be safe but it was not the case. Crazy it might sound at that time "refraction Theory" came to my mind. Immediately followed another thought "Oh Fuck this is not as close as it seems, i am going to die!!!" I almost gave up but I tried one last time. Three more panic strokes and I lunged putting all my weight in my fourth one when i reached the border and pulled myself out that very instant. Coughing, panting and shaking i put my head down lying on the floor and cursed myself "Foolish bastard!!!”

I have realised that the thin line of bravery and foolishness was crossed. I was surprised by the number of thoughts which came to my mind in those 20 secs. I was intimidated by my pool exposing my weakness to an extent i hardly wish to encounter again. I came very close to accept that i am going to die that instant. I came very close to give up HOPE! But i didnt. So i have also realised that i can fight my way through difficult situations and i will not sit and die with out one final battle.

Well I am a sore loser and i swore to myself that i will hit the pool everyday (Shallow end) and learn to swim better. Since yesterday i buried myself in my bath tub 3 times to able to hold my breath longer.

July 17th 2009 - A day when my random foolishness nearly killed me.

Vamsee Pelli Sandhadi - Part 4

Part 4 : THE BACHELORS PARTY

I had to be in Cochin for couple of days on Business; I flew back on 16th night. The bachelor's party was due at 1900 hrs on the 17th. Well i had little less than 12 hrs to get the party going. Cometh 17th morning i rushed with Nani anna and Teju to book the hall, menu for food & booze and bought "stuff" for the party. I tasked Vijay (cuz,who will later be the DJ for the nite) to get as many songs as possible together for the party. We blinked and it was 5:00 in the afternoon and we have no script in hand yet. Nani anna helped me in creating a very quick script in 30 mins, short but looked effective. I was supposed to do solo for which i had done no practice. God bless internet and god bless youtube. I took a quick look on youtube the songs i was due to perform and it was 6pm. Put my best shirt on with hair all moosed up i was all set to head out to party when amused by my hair style, dad almost combed it to a perfect shape but i managed to fight him off and yelled "Chalo Supraja Hotel"

The venue was a pleasant surprise to everyone as it mimed a discotheque. The concept of the hall was to portray a dark rocky enclosure with single disco light flashing. Vamsee looked impressed when he stepped in so i was pretty happy on Kaushik's choice. Vamsee's frens slowly trickled in and about 8:30 we started the proceedings.

"Bachelor's party" by definition must have an item girl performing. I had very little time to hire an item girl for lap dancing vamsee but even if i had time my family would have disowned me for such an act ;). In order to steer clear of the risk of being disowned I had to fill in for the item girl for an item dance on "Kajra Re Kajra Re" (How much ever special i wanted this party to be for my brother, i could not convince myself to lap dance him;)). Youtube Helped! I got the right matkas and jhatkas for the crowd to go hai hai ;). My matkas earned me 200 bucks by the time i was done dancing on the song.

What was evident in the performance was Chemistry between Ash (lalit) and Abhi (Siddu anna). Ooohhh Yess.... popat raja rocked the stage. This was the first time anyone present there had seen Siddu anna shake a leg and boy was he shaking it well. Apparently Kajra Re is siddu anna's song. The moment you hear abhi's line "Kajra reeee" you will find siddu anna running from some corner of the room to the center stage with open arms. We sprinkled few activities in between { 1. Blow me up 2. One minute Groom 3. My Fantasy) and had opened the dance floor.

You should never ever fail to notice two individuals on any dance floor. Both come from extremely unique schools of dance thoughts:

1) Sreenu Bava: He was in his own world the whole night. The amount of comical relief you extract just by watching him dance is insurmountable.
2) Vamsee: First peg - I will shake my leg; Second peg - I will shake my hip; Third peg - I will shake youuuu!!! He dances only when he is drunk and when he does dance it is an absolute delight to watch. He moves and we are forced to assume it to be a dance. Since this doesn happen too often next time i will make ppl pay up to watch this amazing once in a life time event.

Mandu padithe samanyudu chandra babu naidu avuthadu annattu porapatuna mike chethiki isthe, ichina prathi okkaru oka 10 mins sodhi kottesaru. The dance floor was as chaotic as it was for our college parties with cake fight and near sexual assault by rami reddy. At 1 am i pulled the plug and we headed home after an eventful bachelors party.

The night was an absolute delight and a great success. Vamsee had an ear to ear smile all through the night meeting 20 of his frens together at one place after really long long time. He was pleasantly surprised by a reclusive Rami Reddy dancing and Pratap Reddy being a genuine sport. He was sooo happy that he thanked me for the whole event two days later ;). I was happy that i did manage to make it special for him.

And Yess i will dance on all bachelors parties and my going rate is 200 bucks ;)
(Conditions Apply like no lap dancing)

Vamsee Pelli Sandhadi - Part 3

Part 3: "TOUCH DOWN"

Scene A -- Lalit a.k.a "Devdas"!

I took two weeks off and landed on Apr 10th - couple of days b4 vamsee was due
to arrive. I planned it such that i was hoping to take vadinamma for a date as i
was promised of her gracious presence. Well i did call her majesty couple of
times on both days and the reply was "errr... i am now going for shopping, i
will call you when i am back"... that call never came, her majesty stood me up
and my despondent soul looked forward for another hopeful day.

Scene B -- Here comes the Groom...

Vamsee arrived at early hrs and he appeared to be a man on mission with set of
objectives:
1) I shall not sleep until night fall
2) I shall finish my shopping in a day
3) I shall chew gum all the time i am in India
4) I shall be in air conditioned enclosure for rest of my life
5) I shall watch all the movies stored in my laptop again and AGAIN
6) I shall get wasted before the wedding
7) I shall listen to Swetha at all TIMES.

And boy did he achieve all these. You will note these achievements in following
posts.

Scene C -- Prakash Pednanna's presence dearly Missed!!!

The day he arrived, Vamsee was asked to come for shopping. Pelli kuthuru vallu
bangaram, battalu lantivi koni pettataniki. I haven met vadina till date so i
was all set to make a good first impression - extremely low waist jeans, Aviator
shades, hair moosed up, white shoes with tiny gold buttons is how i defined good
impression. Me, Vamsee and kaushik were greeted by Vadina, Attaya garu, Vadina
valla mama and Attaya gari mama (a.k.a Bulli Thatha)

Memu velle sariki already vadina, bulli thatha kottesukuntunnaru bracelet
selection meeda. General ga naa selection bavuntundi ani naa abhiprayam so i
jumped into the discussion:

Vadina: "lalli ee bracelet bavundi kadu"
Lalli : "mmmm... konchem feminine, madhyalo flowery ga undi design"
Vadina: "huh? Em parledu idi chala bavundi. Vamsee nuvu idi theesuko"
Vamsee: "Nuvu em chepthe adi swetha. Nee ishtam"
Lalli : "Vamsee neee @%$#*$%... (manasulo)"

Vadina: "lalli ee chain bavundi kadu"
Lalli : :konchem lavuga undemo vadina"
Vadina: "huh? Em parledu idi chala bavundi. Vamsee nuvu idi theesuko"
Vamsee: "Nuvu em chepthe adi swetha. Nee ishtam"
Lalli : "Vamsee neee @%$#*$%... (manasulo)"

Vadina: "lalli ee ring chaaala bavundi kadu"
Lalli : Already in resgnation thala oopadu, (manasulo "konchem peddadiga undi"
anukunna)
Vamsee: "Nuvu em chepthe adi swetha. Nee ishtam"
Lalli : "Vamsee neee @%$#*$%... (manasulo)" ; Asala nannu adagatam enduko, elago
decide aipoyaru kada??? ;)

Besides every suggestion of mine being vetoed, all the while Bulli thatha was on
a role bull dozin his opinions onto us including the menu in a restaurant ;) ;).
Edo chinna pillalam, memu edaina oka mata ante "chudu videsalalo thirigi
peddavariki gauravam ivvatledu" antaremo ani thala ooo thega oooooputhu
kurchunnamu.

Lunch tharvatha vamseeki kurta theesukotaniki vellam.

Lalli : "vamsee idi bavundi, 'V-Neck' is in fashion and it looks grand
Vadina: "abbo baaledu lalli..."
Vamsee: "Nuvu em chepthe adi swetha. Nee ishtam"

Vadina wanted vamsee's dress to complement her saree color. So adedoooo vintha
combination cheppindi greenish red, brownish yellow lanti combination "Pinkish
Wine" color anta. Eka shop lo unna anni battalu theesi chupinchadu papam vadu
aina kanikarinchaledu ma vadina. At last we decided on some maroon color kurta. 
{Which was then exchanged the next day to the one i selected "V-neck model"
Satyameva Jayathe ;) ;))

Hehe One thing i realised on that day. Edo nenu new age generation lo puttanu so
panthalu pattimpulu lanti alochanale ravu anukunna. Kani aa roju vamsee annitiki
thalu oopatam, ma suggestions over rule avvatam chusi "Chinna vallam ane kada ma
mata pattinchukovatledu. Maa tho patu kani oka pedda manshi vachi unte oka ata
adinche vadini vellani. Prakash Pednannnaaaaaaaaaaaa We missed youuuuuuuuuu" ani
anukunna. Edo mana piladu mana mata vinatledu ani andharu ginjukuntarentaaa
anukunevadini... i guess its only human ;). How much ever i tried I could not
render being an exception to it... I was later pretty amused that the thought
even came to my mind and i shall sans preach on that subject ever. :)

------------- End of Part 3 --------------

Part 4 : "Bachelors Party" to follow in my next post

Ta
Lalith

PS: All stated above is grossly exaggerated. Though there is little truth within
it should be read with a sense of humor. Vadinamma, it is very usual that
Chintamaneni ppl exaggerate, i am sure you will get used to it... Please do not
blow hot, all i can say in my defense is "Welcome to family" ;)

Vamsee Pelli Sandhadi - Part 2

Part 2: Reality Check...

The clock started ticking and my vision for the next big wedding was shouting
out loud for actions. I had just three months to orchestrate an unforgettable
wedding and my scripts were not complete, choreography lacked consistency,
costumes were not finalized, not enough ppl were brought on board, Logistics
were not finalized... tension tension tension.

Added to this on a professional front i was promoted, we lost 3 big projects
worth USD 120Mn, we downsized to 50%, I was in thick of all financial activities
rendering little or no time for me to execute my "to do list" for the wedding.

I was then informed that "Reception" was dropped from the agenda. Half my
activities were flushed along with it. Slowly new information trickled with
every phone call to mum where i started to realise i had very little left to do
as everything is been taken care off by someone. Though i was tad disappointed
initially, on hindsight it proved to be all for good as i hardly managed to give
10% of what time I had wished to give otherwise for wedding preparations.

A quick reality check --> Vision in the bin and Time to reinvent new strategies
to still make it a special one for my brother... A BACHELOR's Party it is
then!!! (will be described in later parts)

END of Part 2

Part 3: "TOUCH DOWN" will follow in my next post.

Ta,
Lalith

Vamsee Pelli Sandhadi - Part 1

s been almost a month since the wedding and i had been planning to get this
post much earlier but managed get started now. Besides the post i was also
supposed to introduce Shwetha Vadina, as the newest addition to the list of
members for the group, to all of you. Welcome Vadinamma!

This post is dedicated to manjucha akka who seems to enjoy reading my big mails
more than anyone else ;)... I didnt want to post painfully long mail so i have
divided this Sadhadi into various parts this being the first. Hope you guys have
good read and watch this space for all parts which will come by shortly (this
wil not be discontinued like Bahrain Express ;))

Part 1: Vision...

It started soon after Sony anna's wedding. A wedding filled with memories of
live orchestra, Sony anna dancing on "Ranu Ranu.." (leaving vadina behind),
First ever Chintamaneni's family photo with three generations together (kudos to
Sai babai), Vinod anna's strip tease, my solo performance, three generations
dancing together (whole tenali gaped in awe), Usual murali pednanna's tantrums,
Shanti vadina's first attempt at "ball room" dance (courtesy me) & a very cute
and adorable couple.

Sony Anna pelli andharu chala baga jarigindi ani cheppukunnaru, it was more of a
celebration than an event. I had then decided that the next wedding in the
family should be even more exciting more drama more fun. For the last 2 yrs i
used to plan, write and rewrite scripts, select songs, choreograph steps, look
up for costumes, plan out the decoration etc (well u dont get to do anything
exciting in a desert). Vamsee was most generous in lending me more time whilst
he was bride hunting at leisure. One fine day when our main man decides to sing
"Nonthin's gonna change my love for you... " (Thankfully they shot a video els i
am sure even vamsee would wonder if he had achieved such a feat ever). In no
time the dates for the wedding were fixed and i gleefully imagined an
accelerated action plan.

END of Part 1.

A Date with Tess !!!

Nov 29th, 2008 - Why could this be a special Day???

It is a story of three musketeers - Boney, Adarsh & Lalith. What seemed to be an inseparable friendship, long carrying the motto of "One for all and All for one" had encountered a rude awakening. Now there is treachery, jealousy and spite !!!

Tired of the brotherhood and worried about his marketability if delayed any longer, one dreadful day Boney realised that he needs to be more than just a musketeer, he decided to marry a princess! The decision though seemed to have dawned upon him but it had hit the other two musketeers hard in the stomach. Instead of being very happy for him, one thought of the encroaching vacuum of free ride to work and the other was growing green in jealous of Boney's ease in finding a princess.

Boney found the princess and he found her with an envious ease. He was content, happy and from the day he met her, Boney seem to have found the secret door to Neverland. The rooms now are locked for the rest (other two musketeers), as Boney started to love his privacy.

Just as "Misery loves company" is true, "Misery hates being left out" should also be true. One musketeer is not able to get into neverland as the price he needs to pay is very expensive (ISD calls) and the other musketeer lives in a paradoxical world where he encounters too many princesses and his best friend "confusion" keeps him single and away from his Neverland.

Besides being the only musketeer who inhabited neverland, everytime he goes to meet The Princess he comes back with bag full of gifts. As a cascading effect there is more jealously, more spite more bad blood. While one musketeer publishes blogs in protest the other (adarsh) kicks, punches and squeezes the daylight out of Boney for no reason (Ooops, he indeed gave one reson "I am just flexing and you came in between");

If this was not enough Boney has disowned his brotherhood completely. The other two musketeers have not met his princess for a loooong loooong time whilst every other accomplice of Boney had met her.

All this and much more made The Princess the most awaited and anticipated guest in town; Boney finally fights his demons within and invites the other two musketeers to meet her on 29th Nov 2008 at Diera City Center, Food Court!!!

Because of the high anticipation on the D Day, both Adarsh and Lalith though feeling little out of comfort hopped in our partner in crime Honda Civic. The way towards City Center seemed more treacherous than usual aided by Adarsh's sense of direction. With fewer ghastly mistakes Adarsh seemed to pull off an unthinkable he found the perfect place for parking the car.

Magnum Opus!
Food Court in Diera City Center was its usual busy self with over 1000 ppl making it difficult for us to spot the couple. Just when we seemed to have lost in crowd "Lo Behold!!! The Princess a.ka. TESS arrives amidst the crowd gracefully walking alongside Boney (who was having an expression filled with pride on his face which can be interpretted by the desolate souls as "I have THE princess") "; Finally we get to see her and we get a chance to judge her (He Ha Ha --- Evil Laugh).

With a brief introduction we moved to TGIF for lunch; The lunch went well with a menu of Lamb Shank, Grilled Chicken with Cheese, Margarita, Summer Salad, UAE Economy, Office Gossip. It ended with Lalith playing a fool when he recollected his first flight experience and the horrible coffee he managed to make. We let the couple do some more shopping and we were on our way back.

Overawed by Tess' Date, all we could muster out after the lunch was "Boney is a Lucky Basket!!!"

Now you know why 29th November 2008, featured in my blog !!!

Mumbai!

Described as a land of dreams Mumbai has by far lured people all over the country to realize their dreams. With over 19 million people living in mumbai they proclaim to be of being proud "Mumbaikars". With all past and glory mumbai has been an irony of fate in many ways.

Yes it is a land of dreams, it is the commerce capital of India. it is one of the costliest metropolitans in the world, it has been tagged as the "rudest city", it is among the top 25 most dirtiest places in the world and yes, it is the city which has been attacked by both extremists (within) and terrorists alike a countless number of times. Yet the spirit of the common mumbaikar is not broken and he seems to live the next day as any other day.

48 hrs and still counting: India's 9/11, Attack on Mumbai, Warzone Mumbai the highlights in every news channel flashed continuously with an ongoing live coverage giving us update of the situation every minute. Unidentified number of terrorists swarmed three hotels and took the guests hostage and engaged in firing Ak-47 at will. What word can describe an attack where terrorists aim and fire at innocent people just to prove a point and what point ??!! Carnage!!! Barbarian culture with a motive to spread fear in a nation because that nation "INDIA" had been stubborn in keeping what rightfully belonged to it.

Why?? Why?? Why?? the questions we face everytime we see, hear, experience such horrific acts. We question faith we question existence and we question reason, with growing insecurity on safety there is no easy answer to console and even confront.

Over 150 people killed in what I describe as an attack when we were sleeping! I am still not convinced and I might voice out the concerns of millions in India if we are doing enough to fight terror. The frequency at which these attacks have been happening only justifies my statement "being attacked while sleeping".

Having said that after, 48 hrs of intense battle India's elite Task force "the Black Cat commandos" are now close to end this horrific attack. Their act of bravery has ensured safety of hundreds of hostages and capture/execution of the terrorists. In carrying out this exercise they had lost some of their men and I am sure everyone will pay homage to their sacrifice. They remain as heroes in millions of hearts.

Mumbai - A Land of dreams, will continue to nurture everyone's dreams like no other city does. With mumbai we stand together and along with us a spirited mumbaikar will stand to prove to the world that it is hard to defeat his spirit.

Jai Hind!

SOLD for a Beer!!!

Panchtantra as a course was devised and implemented in the curriculum by Acharya Vishnu Sharma to drive common sense with morals into thick skulled royal princes. The gripping stories with nail biting twists and turns has survived the test of time and are still regarded as a great way of developing those brain cells.

My deprived childhood might not have given as much access to panchatantra as I would like. I am therefore not totally aware if the narrative below has already been fabled with animals as metaphors. Hence the disclaimer "The characters and stories are imaginary and any semblance of resemblance should be ignored. If anyone takes this personally then it will tantamount to personal vendetta against the author and thou shall be whipped with 50 lashes"

Title: The Sensitive Elephants and the gutsy Donkey

Not so loong ago in a distant corporate jungle there lived all kinds of animals the specific ones to note are A cross breed of a fox and a lion, A snake, A clever monkey, Two mighty elephants (A and B), A gutsy Donkey (the flibbertigibbet). Ever since The Lion had allowed elephant B to step into the forest there has been restlessness. Each of the king’s mantris did not appreciate Elephant B who is adamant and ego centric in nature. B had been imposing his authority where ever he can and by pushing through his smelly trunk into every corner made him extremely nefarious amidst all the animals.

It was another usual day when Elephant B summoned for his most trusted accomplice, the donkey. He was fuming over some issue and needed pair of ears to vent out his frustration. The Donkey was forced to volunteer his two big ears as usual for it presumed his existence is relative to his cooperation to B. B then started narrating the day's events which had made him so mad at the monkey. He had reasons to believe that the clever monkey is conspiring against him by playing foul with the snake and the lion about him. Snorting like a wild hog he was getting fidgety, unaware of what is to be done to silence the monkey; He knows deep down his hard skin that he is not as clever as the monkey and that he can only snort and thump his feet to make the earth shake with his weight.

He then started personal accusations at everyone and the poor donkey had very little choice but to listen and to testify his false allegiance to B. The Donkey was threatened by B that their conversation should not go beyond the den and if it reaches another set of ears it can come only through one source and it is the donkey. B threatened to banish the Donkey and the monkey from the woods with a cause and reason only B could justify.

The Donkey who is indeed a loyalist of A ran to him the very next day to warn him of a brewing storm coming towards the forest which might devour all good. An infuriated Elephant A immediately advised donkey to speak to the lion. Timid creature as he was, the donkey requested A to rest the case and left to attend to his daily chores unaware what is to come in the very near future.

Within an hour A came to donkey with a satisfactory smile on his face. Bewildered, on enquiring about the reason for his smug expression, the donkey lost his expression. A had sent a circular to the lion intimating highlights of the conversation of B and the Donkey. For Donkey that meant the 6th day prophecy!!!

Donkey was a nerve wreck for the next half hour when A walked up to him and said "I owe you a beer" with the same smug expression. Almost feeling reassured from A's smug expression that the Lion had made amends of all the bad blood, Donkey jumped to feet and very expectantly asked A "Why the beer? Did Lion get back to you with good reason?"

The usual highly composed and polished A replied "No, I realized that I might have put you in a difficult position. So, the beer!"

Donkey thus was SOLD for a beer!!!

Moral of the Story: Elephants are sensitive, donkeys are stupid, and monkeys are clever. Deduce your own conclusion.

Chech!

Her juvenile smile has had me floored from the day I first met her. "Awwwww how cuuuute!!!!" is a cliché exclamation which is forced out of me every time she is just being herself.

A state level Badminton player no less, she is amusingly sloppy at times, Extremely witty, has Emotional quotient touching hyperventilation levels, very genuine, has a "deer caught in floodlight" expression every time you call out for her, unsure of herself and constantly pondering on a thought of her existence in the current role, She manages to surprise you at all times with her candid remarks which include shallow remarks about herself (low self esteem issues). She has been pampered by her family all her life and now by her husband and worse, even by her son. I believe it is hard not to pamper her and without any doubts she is my most adorable acquaintances of recent times. She is Teena Cherian!

I have no clue since when and how we started being really good friends. She calls me her lil brother and a very typical of me being sucker for the term "brother", i call her "chech" (slightly modulated version for Chechi);

Distress!

Usual conundrum of life laughs at me almost everyday. The professional and personal life might at times seem to weigh you down. Your daylight seems to be stolen and you look for sunshine in almost everything.

One such day when the work has asked more questions than I can answer, I was trudging along the food court. Repressed by life I was carefully choosing dishes which will bring sunshine into my sticky afternoon. The meal was indeed a happy meal and it was time to go. I was rushing past the crown in the food court shouldering my way out. That's when I happened to see an old lady sitting alone on a chair facing the passing crowd. She had immense emotional energy and i could barely ignore the expression looming over her face.

The lady looked in early 50's; She had thick wrinkles and a constant frowned expression with no hint of a smile. She appears to have frozen her lips downwards and that she had made no efforts to extend a smile in ages. Quivering with her hands between her legs She did not want to look at the crowd with a fear that someone might just look into her eys and recognise her. She was looking at the floor when surrounded by 100's of people. It has to be something which was bothering her at that moment. She does not feel one in that environment she appeared to break free at any given opportunity.

I seldom feel so sympathatic towards people but this lady has moved my heart. It was a brief encounter and if measured it might have been less than 5 seconds. However, her face is now embossed in my memory. The happy meal however didnt last beyond 2 minutes as the lady's grief proved contageous. Watever might be the reason i pray to God for her to be free from that distress!

A superhero is born - "SharkMan"

Last week it was another usual lazy saturday when me and my fren Adarsh have been to Jumeirah beach. Not aware of how eventful this regular beach trip would turn out to be, Boney (other partner in crime) had sucked in to his hangover theory. But, I should declare that i am most privileged to witness and unravel the seemingly normal day into an day when a Sperhero was born.

It was that part of time when my antics in the water was more an act of amusement to people around. I was bereaved of reaching the sea bed which was 4 ft below my waist. With a never give up attitude I was trying harder by plunging into the water giving an impression that I am walking on my hands with my legs sprouting above water.

Unlike me, Adarsh was peacefuly floating like a tube filled with air in water sans any motion. That very moment his powerful ears have picked up a distress signal from almost the other end of the beach. The alarm was raised by women who were playing water volleyball had just lost their Ball (no pun intended).

The growing spite in his eyes over last many visits to beach whenever he saw a couple on the beach was only due to the company he had to be with on every beach visit "two male frens". Now, the opportunity was there to impress the damsels in distress and he immediately transcends normalcy ---- behold the "SharkMan" rises. Not aware of his new super powers he asks his much trusted accomplice, me, for a suggestion. I questioned logic the answer was Save Ball = Get Women!!! My myopic vision was inclonclusive as to the quality of outcome but i thought it was worth a try and nodded in agreement.

Almost immediately The Sharkman swung into action "swim swim awayyyy!!!" he yelled and motored against the dead sea to reach the ball. The villian in the gripping drama was the wind, it was pushing the ball further away. He fought the wind shoulder and arm together. The women saw a ray of hope when they saw sharkman trying to save their ball (again, no pun). They started squealing on top thier lungs "My Hero! My Hero!". Inspired by the new found admiration club the sharkman challenged the wind and altered his course to the direction the ball was lured. His powerful arms were fighting with the sea pushing him forward ever closer to the ball. The wind however proved a tough competitor for our great sharkman who had to eventually resign. He could not save the ball from drifting out of reach. With little disappointment he came back ashore.

The Sharkman differs in only two things when compared to other superheroes:

1) Costume - Half Naked v/s Fully clad + cape as bonus

2) Mission - Faiiled to Rescue v/s Always rescue

But there one common thing "ACT OF BRAVERY". Swim Swim Awayyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

Unassuming surrender!!!

All my life my acquaintances with the opposite sex have been vivid when it comes to emotional entourage. Incredulous enough that every new relationship has helped me discover a new face of a "WOMAN". Women as a package to me has helped me grow wiser.

The journey lasted years, months, days and still the magnanimity of the enigma that surrounds them is beyond my comprehension. The wisdom i have amassed over the years has indulged me to be more pragmatic when i approach the attractive species. Pragmatism by definition to me is "Nah! in the end they will eventually walk away". I know i sound very stereotypical and all the above is a cliche but having known all this i still have discovered a new face recently and i am amused!!!Why are they such a complex equation???

I started to dislike them 3 yrs back and I restrained myself to platonic relationships lest i turn into a hermit. Unfortunately, one such relationship did stop being passive. I committed the crime again!!!! I am fatally attracted to one of them and now i am emotionally attached. My EQ levels put the desolate bahus of early bollywood to shame and thus even an iota of emotional commitment would be suicidal for me.

There is no happily ever after yet in my life and the new twist in the tale is a loooong (undefined) wait!!! How much i would like to say "I love you Akku"!!! (Sigh) I surrender !!!

Constant Delirium!!!

He looked around for an answer and was strangled by absolute void!!!
He needs more clarity; denied he starts running. He runs from the past the present and future. He is running only to make his EXHAUSTION to be his present, past and future. Worked up with lack of clarity Sick of promises and false hope he nose dived into wilderness. The new challenges have him occupied; Chasing 24 hrs gave him a sense of happening and he developed a personality which has veiled his plight;

"Ignore" a mantra he learnt over many experiences has served him better yet again. "Ignore" is cowardice? He sits wondering? If it is cowardice then he disgusts his existence. "An act of bravery is required" he thought long and hard and face the truth and in return he fell back in the vicious cycle of nonchalant delirium

Racist!!!

How many times have we heard this dreadful word? The media awareness has harnessed much more than mere attention and we get to hear about racist remarks passed on the celebrities. Most of us squirm and support the so called oppressed shilpa shettys, bipasa basus etc and make a political scene out of the whole thing where a country's prime minister goes on air seeking apology.

Racism i define is a PILLAGE of human dignity. It is highly amusing how well we voice out in unity if a fellow Indian has been treated differently due to the place from which he hails from. Now when we go "Hai Hai" about the whole dementia we hardly measure our proximity of being more "non racist". In many ways each and everyone of us ARE Racists. Yes, I accuse everyone!!! So why do we need to be so disgruntled about shilpa's, bipasa's and the likes. The people who had passed a racist remark are just being loyal to the paradigm created by the very people who are now hoodwinked by various strata of global population. We all are loyal to many paradigms sanely or insanely, consiously or unconsiously, menacingly or non-menacingly. They start from something as discernable as:

• Afro americans are violent
• Asians are Yellow
• Indians are lazy
• Muslim guys are stubborn
• Marwaries are extremely stingy
• Lower Caste people can not conduct well infront of others
• "Chennai Autowalas" are rude
• Governement employees can never work etc.,

No body does anything about this. We are either too stupid to try and understand and conduct ourselves against such racist behaviour or we are plain loyal to the existing paradigms and we believe in it and stand by it all the time.

I was proud until recently that i was a non conformist when it comes to rasicm. This is because I was indifferent to caste creed, regionality etc, even when as children we were taught to be loyal to the existing prototypes. But i realized that my pride was beguiling and i am no less than a racist. I was entrusted to appoint a travel consultant for our company and when the vendor came alongwith a dedicated consultant to our office to introduce him to me I showed my displeasure almost instantly when i met him for the first time because he is a "srilankan". I was questioning his accent and was wondering if our admin ppl can follow and understand his accent as he is a srilankan.

I confirm today that I am a Racist and am disgusted about that fact !!!!

Conversations with God

The usual routine on the weekends lead me to the video library. Trying to find either something new or something interesting I was rummaging through the collection set up in front of me. The usual suspense, drama, romance have been flashing in front of me and none caught my attention. And then I came across this movie titled "Conversations with God", the little brief at the back was intriguing enough for me to rent it.

I watched the dvd and now i wanna own it. Am an ardent fan of good film making and besides being highly inspiring movie it was well directed and Henry Czerny playing the lead protagonist has played it to the hilt.

Now coming to the message that is so inspiring yet am pretty sure people who are not depressed or facing low ebb in their life will not favor the message. Skepticism with a raised eyebrow will be often met when the topic is spirituality. Neale Welsch who authored the book "Conversations with God" had helped many hurting souls to heal with the oft relied spiritual sermons. When people see very little hope then they always remain more hopeful on the divine intervention. In a world where majority is represented by such people the book had to flourish.

The movie had peaked many a times when the extracts of the book were used with considerable generosity. I, for a while started wondering if I would have conversations with God. The best part of the movie according to me is at the beginning when the protagonist is addressing an audience and one lady asks him "If your God had one most important message for all of us to know, can you please put it in a paragraph and tell us". With a minor deliberation Neale replies "I have Five words actually -- You've got me all Wrong " and he walks off the stage. I believe that’s the single most powerful point in the movie which elucidates that conversation is not a dialogue with a third party, rather it’s within. "GOD IS IN EVERY ONE OF US and LOVE is the way to establish a dialogue with him", that’s the message so fetch it.

An attempt to love everyone and everything is worth if you ld get to inquest GOD and your purpose.

Speak No Good Speak Your Heart!!!

Not until recently i have realised that i am a loner. i had nothing much to do but work work work all week and the lone weekend will be spent sleeping, washing and daydreaming. Bahrain when beckoned me as an opportunity i took it up for the newer experience and more importantly the promising profile. I moved out and came to this alien land leaving all my friends back home - INDIA. Now 6 mths into this new assignment i wonder staring in the mirror if this is really worth.

I used to find so much of time to myself after work sometimes and then with nothing else to do i used to think. Thinking has turned out to be a dangeraous habit which lead me to very treacherous and yet unassuming land the "Q-Land", a land inhabited / infested by questions. these lil aborigine primates multiply at an alarming rate.

Now being in Q-Land is a nothing less than a survivor contest. I need Answers to fight the primates. Was desparate for my survival and here i am to seek answers! I speak my heart and i dont care if it is good or bad. and now you know what has prompted the title for my blog space.
As many, i will exploit this newage arena of expression for expressing what goes on in my mind.