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.