Friday, August 31, 2007

We, the indisciplined

How long does it take to get past a criss-cross junction in Bangalore during no-so-peak traffic hours? The answer depends on...Does the junction have any traffic cop deployed?

Yes, without cop, there is usually a dead lock at junctions like these. Vehicles rushing in to the junction from all the four ways, with no one having the patience or common sense to let one set of travellers cross before another, its Chaos. There could be vehicles of length of about hundreds of meters stuck helpless. No one is able to move an inch!

Why is it so? Do we always need a cop to get us desciplined? This in a way highlights the lack of consideration among the public. We Indians are usually great family (wo)men, we care for our families, respect our collueges etc. But if only we could extend some of this consdiration towards the other fellow citizen, we will have a better place to live in. Be it by not honking the bikes unnessecerily or by making a way to the other vehicle at the crisscross like above.

Monday, August 27, 2007

A Recall

Its hard to term it "Diary" as I wrote occassionally. It started to motivate myself during my engineering days to do better at my exams. It didnt take long to spill over to my other interests, be it traveling or my love. I wrote a few poems as well.
Today, I got some time to go over my past. I went through my past writings. some of them brought a lost-smile-of-a-kind and some a wry, Some made me say, "Gosh, was that me! how uncool?!" and some made me pat on my back for the introspection skills I had.

a poem of mine from those pages....

Everytime I look into your eyes,
I feel that I'm precarious
coz those deep ocules make me
worried if I get lost?

Everytime I feel your breath,
there is a deep shiver down my spine
But the fragrance that you leave
may not vanish even after my demise

Everytime I hear you talk,
Its my heart that listens
And now I believe that you are the one,
who can turn my trudge joyous

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Older times better?

Why do we always refer to the older times as better? Does it only get worse by the day?
Or have we stopped relishing those small-little things that mattered so much to us not too long ago?

Then: There was this popular wednesday night TV show called chitrahaar, for which we would wait for the whole week. And the show was always houseful ;-)
Now: There are hundreds of music channels airing all genre of music videos 365/24/7. But does it match Chitrahaar? Naahh....

Then: Back in early 90's a phone call was a luxury. Every moment on-phone felt special and personal.
Now: Call me after half-an-hour, I'm in a meeting!! OR Sorry I'm not interested in your credit cards!!

Then: School friends write a shared letter. Every nook and corner of it had a message.
Now: We rarely get to meet :-(

Then: A new stamp on the mail received is missing from my collection, Hurrah! I've a new one.
Now: Mail = e-mail.

On a philosophical note

We as a nation have a hard-to-follow beliefs and customs embed into our lives reluctantly. This is not to look down hinduism as a religion, but to empathise on our inability to cope with the growing times.
Hinduism can be seen as a rich collection of vedas, yogic practices and the idealogy of its own. Never did it endorse Sati(the immolation of the widow on her husband's funeral pyre), dont-touch-them, sex descrimination etc. There is been a constant manipulation of hindu practices to suit one's wishes.
Being grown in an orthodox hindu family, I had many such strong beliefs cultivated since childhood. Thankfully they have just confined to my childhood. But there are vivid memories of these practices and the restrictions they enforced. To me, dharma is about living the right way, it's logical and evolving.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Jelly Beans...

India has beaten England in one of the enthralling cricket (verbal too) encounters of the recent past. Its a saddening fact though that, Jelly beans have hogged the lime light more so than the cricket.
Cricket hasn't been a gentlemen's game for a long enough time now. Its time now that, it is not referred to be so. The cricket at the highest level is always attached with intensity, toughness. Its no more a game between just the bat the ball. These days cricketers try hard to score over there opposition before even a ball is bowled, through the media. Various players feature their blogs on daily's, talk to the media persons etc. The OZ took these practices to the next level, called mental disintegration. And the rest of the pack were to follow what Steve Waugh's men did.
Now the sides from subcontinent are not lagging behind anymore. They give it back to their counterparts like never before. Be it Sreesanth, Malinga, Akthar, they have it in them. Particulary Sreesanth (Indian version of Andre Nel) is quite a bizarre character indian cricket has never seen before. He is very excitable, young, talented but lacks control and focus on the field. It's time now for Sree to have a long and hard look at his approach of cricket, assess himself, figure out is this what he aims to be. He has a bright future if only he learns to balance his on-field antiques and performances.
Last test, poms took a step ahead in mental disintegration by spreading jelly beans on the pitch as though to welcome the new batsman Zaheer Khan. A quick look back in to the English cricket history reveals that jelly beans were rubbed against the cricket ball to maintain the shine unfairly. Was that to tease the new man saying "Hey, a couple of jelly beans you used last day have fell down". That would have been a nice little banter. But joke too long spoils it. The jelly beans kept reappearing on the pitch, even after Zaheer cleared them off. And the rest turned out be tabloid-fodder for the days to come.
Poms lost the match and the criticism followed for their behaviour. Wonder, what if poms had managed to win the test. Wonder what if Zaheer had overlooked those tiny jelly beans on the pitch and a delivery bounced awkward landing on it? Isn't it outside the cricketing law to get a foreign object into the pitch? What if Dinesh Karthik welcomes Anderson with pan masala over the pitch at Chepauk, would he be let off the hook too? I wonder not!