Twelve anxious rings passed before he took the phone.
“para Vishnu” said Hari’s voice.
“Da, you free right”, I said, hinting I’d something important (to me at least) to tell him
H: “ Yes, I’m free”
Me: “I was just going through a few blogs ,had read your latest ones earlier and today I was reading Abhilash sir’s and Abhi’s blogs.Nee Ablilash sirinde aa “single line “ kanda?
I asked him sounding heavily excited.
H:Which one? I didn’t read his latest one,but I think I’ve read all others.what is so interesting?
ME: “No. Its not his latest one. He had written it in March,just listen”.
“When Nature wanted a Canvas........
to draw the drooping pine-tree branches........I couldn't resist offering my body.......”
H: “Wowwww.. that sounds amazing”.
ME: “Da, dont know why but after reading this ,I am not sure how to express it, but I was just overflowing with emotions .I am going mad over here. It has struck me like a lightning”
H: “Hi hi”.
Me: “Da, I’m bloody damn serious. At first I didn’t understand the real meaning of it, but the line seemed to convey a thousand words. Then I took a look at the comments-there was just two, one by Abhi and the other- sir’s reply to it. You remember sir taking a couple of weeks off right?? He had a skin allergy- Pityriasis rosea,got the name from Abhi’s comment,It said
“Pityriasis rosea is a common skin condition in children and young adults
Then how'd u end up getting this? Being in the company of too many YOUNG ADULTS might be the effect[:)]”.
And sir’s reply was
“But it's not contagious, so the question of company I keep doesn't arise....But some people say that I remain young at heart (read mind)....and now, as I have always suspected, there's proof that my body remains young too...”
“That’s all unimportant. The thing is ,I just read the lines once more”
“When Nature wanted a Canvas........
to draw the drooping pine-tree branches........I couldn't resist offering my body.......”
and it had indeed expressed a thousand words.
“I lost control on myself for about a minute. And don’t know why ,I was on the verge of crying”.
It was indeed a long dialogue and I could feel his excitement from a whoosh sound which had to be his breath speeding up.
H: “Hmmm..I’ve had similar situations ..and…”he was interrupted.
Me: “And then I felt so much excited and inspired and don’t know what all to say, then I went to Abhi’s blog.He too had written a wonderful blog on his Kolkatta visit.It seemed to me that his style had changed to a more matured writing . Earlier I’ve felt that he had a rebel or aggressive writing which mostly included F*ck offs and @ss holes.. although I enjoyed most of it, I meant the posts . But reading through this one ,each line seemed to add up to my spirit. He had mentioned about his reading habit and stuff and after seeing all this, I again felt like falling into that uncontrollable state again”
H: “Wow.. all this sounds so exciting to me too. You must write about this Vishnu. These are the times when you must write blogs. So start right away.
Me: “Da.. I don’t know what to do and what to say. And I swear I’m not exaggerating on this.. I felt like I am nothing..I haven’t read much books ,maybe jus for name sake, I was never into reading and was into blogging just months back ..and now I feel like reading a thousand books,I feel guilty for not starting reading until now.. I feel like I am a grain of sand.I don’t know if I’ll write or not.. but you must help me out..I don’t know what to read.. I don’t know authors, I don’t know anything…”
H: “Hi hi.. I’ll help you out, no problem, I’ll arrange for books for you and will make sure you get good ones”
The rest of the conversation is not very important, so I think I'll stop about the call here.
But there are quite a few things that I’d like adding up to this, as the ones reading the blog might not have got the whole thing.
Let me start from Mr Abhilash Suryan or Abhilash sir as we call him. He is one of my best teachers at college, from the Mechanical Department. Apart from this he is a quizzer, a voracious Reader and an excellent blogger. Let me once again type that one line poem of his for repeating it will only inspire me more
“When Nature wanted a Canvas........
to draw the drooping pine-tree branches........I couldn't resist offering my body.......”
He had written this post on March, but I hadn’t read it. I had read the one he wrote in April but somehow missed this one out. As Sreenivasan says throughout the film Nadodikaatu “Ellatinum athindethaya samayamundu Daasa…” which means things will happen at the right time. Maybe this was the right time, so I came across it. And now I am so very happy that I did. I wouldn’t dare to explain the meaning of this line to my dear readers.Instead I would advice you to look to the left side of my blog where you’ll find the link to his blog. Thank you sir for those lines just inspired me a lot,I cant say how or why or anything. And I don’t even know what touched me so much but I just felt like falling at his feet for I could see a thousand words expressed.just like Arjuna’s arrow.. “Edukumbol onnu thodukkumbol pathu pathikumbol aayiram” . I am not over expressing here, but this is exactly what I felt..the power of words.. Its amazing how words can encourage, inspire change your life . I am sure this will be a new beginning in my life.
And now about the “aggressive blogger”-He is Abhijith aka Abhi, was my senior at college, now working as a mechanical engineer in Pune. He is also a quizzer, one of Abhilash sir’s favorites and one of the best in the history of our college ,an excellent critic and a blogger who has a style of his own which I have termed “aggressive”. Now he has started to adopt some changes it seems, to a more matured writing, maybe because he has turned 22 and employed but I’m sure his basic style will remain unchanged. His blog link is also available in the left side of your screen, which I am sure you’ll enjoy going through. That will give you a better picture about him. My entry to blogging was by reading his blog .I was quite inspired by it and decided to start one of my own. He has encouraged me a lot by his comments and I was very happy to receive a call from him shortly after reading his blog and getting overwhelmed with emotions. He too is a well read man and that is obvious from his favorite books list. I was always inspired by it ,but today I felt a ton more. Going deeper, into “the” posts, titled “Birthday blues” and “Longest weekend of my life” . In the first one ,he made a mention on Hritik’s film Lakshya which showcases the transformation of a young man from a lazy carefree guy to a disciplined military man facing a war .I was quite inspired by the film and had always felt that I was like his character in the first part of the film, and was eagerly waiting for the “transformation” part. Since I was in a different state of mind after the “single line”, this served as my first add on.
And then I read the 2nd post, which was about his weekend trip to Kolkatta. This time he gave a longer intro in which he gives a brief mention about the company he works for ,and his duties there. Being a mechanical engineering student and a one not very interested getting into the software world, I was excited reading through and could visualize the situation to some extent. This was the second add on.
Next was his mention about a book store there. In a single line, he described the entire book store(maybe not completely, but I could see it) .This coupled with a not very nice photo of his with the books he bought made me wonder about my relation with books. I felt guilty to be frank as I was not at all a reader, my knowledge about books was very limited, but at the same time felt encouraged to start reading. I felt like reading a thousand books.
To finish with, he had written an end note which will arouse spirits of any mechanical engineer and that was the fourth add on…This was it. I had it all.
I took the phone and dialed Harisankar-the 3rd character of this post. He is my batch mate at college doing his Btech in IT. He is a master blogger ,one of my favorites, along with the two others in this post, an excellent reader crazy about his favorite authors ,a very good singer and an able anchor. He is one of my inspirations in this not so familiar blogging world and has helped me a lot in this. I owe him a lot. And that is exactly the reason why I chose to call him. I was sure he was the right person who could listen to me at that moment. My heart was beating fast as his phone started to ring, and that’s how I reached line one of this post..
PS: This is an unedited version.Please go through and comment if you find any mistakes..
Jun 11, 2008
Jun 5, 2008
“The day, WATER, sun, moon, night -- I do not have to purchase these things with money.”…these words by the Roman comic poet Platus would have only been a “read and laugh” line when he had written it. But its high time that we start to think about these words twice?? All of Nature’s resources were like taken for granted from time known. Man has been using it… or rather misusing it to some extent, without knowing how priceless these are.. its only when he faces a shortage that he realizes how important these resources are..
Our city faced an acute water shortage like never before, last week .The reason for it is what surprised me.. there was a leakage in the main pipeline from Aruvikara which provides water to the whole city.. well.. most of it. It had been weeks since it started, and the authorities were ignorant as usual.. At last it was brought to their notice.. and the hunt for the leak spot started.. it continued for almost 3 days. .but they failed to detect it.. the reason being that this was one of the oldest pipelines in the city and with time, tons and tons of soil had deposited over it.. over two storeys of hard soil.. Unearthing it was no simple task.. the leak didn’t show up for 3 days.. The wastage of water seemed to dawn upon the “authorities” all of a sudden.. and they STOPPED PUMPING ..Which meant simply NO WATER FOR THE CITY.. it happened so suddenly that night.. without any prior notice.. that no buckets in the city would have been kept filled.. The next day morning of not many would have been “good” ..you wouldn’t want pipes to growl and blow air at you when you are looking for water for something “urgent”.. would you??The next 3 days saw the “city”zens going crazy for water..
For some, it was a “climb up look down process”.. the overhead storage tanks now constantly got some attention.. and for some others it was a “look down pull up process”.. the pulleys at wells were now working overtime.. this continued for 2 days.. water level was going down. .and people were getting anxious.. they were unsure what to do next.. many even predicted the seemingly impossible, yet inevitable ..”Purchasing water for money”.. Nowadays this phrase is not something strange.. all of us are used to the packaged drinking water culture.. but for an average urban family, that too in Gods own country where water scarcity is scarce ,buying water for daily use was something which could never be foreseen. .
The situation would have slowly gone out of hand and most of the 4 member families would have started turning into a KRA CC 4.. thanks to the effort of the government to provide free drinking water to its people.. the water tankers were going in all directions looking for colorful buckets and eager faces.. I was one of those.. waiting by the side of the road .. standing anxiously in the queue.. and getting “social”. … it was worth an experience..I realized that water could raise the question of survival..and in the process I saw that Darwin’s “Survival of the fittest “ was no joke.. except some who were helping out everyone so that all get an equal share of what was left in those tankers, most of them were trying to fill as many buckets as possible..But no one can blame them..it was a question of survival..Once their quota was received ,they too joined the “help” group..Its true that Tough times bring people together...To be frank, I saw and met many of my neighbors for the first time that day.. Man is a social animal.. thats true.. but his social circle of interest is becoming smaller day by day.. unless of course at these tough times ..
All the colorful buckets were filled and all dull faces lightened up.. at least most of them..and the huge tanker “angels” returned to heaven..and to the relief of all,the leak had been detected by the authorities …it all happened in a day..
The first news that came from the radios which sprang into life the next day early morning was that pumping will restart by that day afternoon...It seemed that sun made a projectile from east to west slower that day.. and it sure saw the whole city celebrating from over the top ..rejoiced seeing water making a rush from their taps..ok ok..”coming like a thread”…whatever..Reports say, that the leakage was due to cracks in the pipeline which was in turn due to weight of the soil crushing it from above..whatever be the reason..it made the people aware of how important water was..that is, I think more important..they had their lesson..atleast hope so..but time will make man forget things..and next time it will be nature itself who will take the toll….so better BEWARE…..
I had been of blog for quite a few days now...its not the lack of topics nor is it the lack of interest..but simply that I was not using net..was fed up by the broadband messages that something is wrong with the server..and also i was busy..and my computer was out of place for some days and..and....to be simple enough "I WAS A BIT LAZY".....a big bit..k..thats all...Thanks to my dear friend and master blogger Hari..its due to his efforts that i am back on track..temporarily atleast...
Mar 13, 2008
I was so happy today........cos i ve been peeing for 20 years......my reflection told me this night…as I looked at my closest teenage companion….(of course its the 5 feet high mirror attached to the shelf).....hi hi....tats right......I turned 20…..bye bye teenage……were the words echoing in my mind at the last minutes of my teenage…..its now history…….static past….
”It is now that I realize the essential social nature of man”…..these r not my words….its from a lesson on Andamans which I remember learnin in 11th or 12th…..the speaker is a man who is put to solitary confinement in the Kalapani jail in Andaman during the pre independence period…….the reason for quoting it here is a little complex….man needs a reason for everything….he needs a reason to laugh….to cry….to be in touch…to love…...to care for… to express out his feelings….and these special days…..bdays are yet another reason for the same….and that is when u feel…or rather one of the very few times u feel that so many care for u….can man be blamed???....the only creature whose life is getting busier day by day….can he be blamed for not expressing out his feelings when he has more important work to do???.........so intellectual yet so foolish……raising himself higher than he can imagine….he is craving to get some love and care….but forgets to express it out himself….so strange…….
Mans mind is a miracle….all these thoughts came through my mind in a second and I was still looking at my companion…..
Lookin back…..I see that this was the longest day I had in my life……it started off the last day ….March12 10:30 to be precise….when I got the first phone call wishing me........A chain of calls followed till midnight and tat is when I decided to take a break….and went to sleep….early morning….and the chain continued….very few times have I seen the sun just rising and this was one of those days…did some ground exercises jus to receive the birthday bumps I was supposed to receive….and it turned out to be economical….my back took many fingerprints….
The bday special at college in our class was a seminar on “Marvelous Materials”….which brought out the connection between chemistry and Mechanical engg….very informative it was ….no doubt….but not impressive enough…..
Advancing towards our favorite hang out in college…..college canteen,I saw “GANG” waiting there….the next few minutes saw me nearing tears as I got the first gift of the day …….from “GANG”……twas least expected……twas a beautiful metal strap wrist watch…..I was wonderstruck…..actually the story ends here……the question remains……
“how did this become my longest day……???”what happened after that….??”and the shortest answer is here……a treat…wishes….home….dinner….a very grand one….more wishes….and the last wish……at 11:54…..the focus shifts back to my companion….and I see myself slanting against the wall….eyes red.....and now I know the reason for the abrupt ending…..I AM DEAD TIRED AFTER THE LONG DAY……but but…one more thing…..why was I happy today??......maybe I made myself believe that I am so happy today…..THATS IT……I SAID I AM TIRED…..U HEARD THAT……..JUS SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP…………so it ends here.......
Feb 28, 2008
"V TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF THIS INSTITUTION HAVE NOTHING TO LOOSE.....BUT V WILL FACE EACH HURDLE WITH A WILL TO WIN...." were the words which unleashed the fire and set stage for a three day mega event Aagneya 08 .....the words were given by none other than our beloved principal at the inaugural ceremony ....which set our minds ignited....and the fire blazing high for the days which followed....the spirited words were in reply to the pains and challenges faced by GECIANS for the past 2 months during the making of the technocultural extravaganza.....a race which we can now be proud of winning in style....the challenges were like sand dunes ...the wind of fate putting new ones in place and they seemed waiting for us each time in the path ahead... or like jigsaw puzzles with just a couple of pieces which never fitted in place......it is ironical that one of the main events had the name Ultimate challenge.....and wasnt even near to a challenge when compared to the ones faced by our army...... one of the smallest yet the strongest in town....just handful yet capable of moving mountains.....and thats what v showed v can....a herculian task it was...no doubt...especially, when u r starting from scratch .....,when there is neither reputation nor money power to set u sailing in the long journey to success....but just a piece of log and a pair of broken oars..... and an added bonus that v had never "seen the sea"....yet v could arrive at the right land...and our target was accomplished....2 months of sweat and tears paid off as a grand climax.....much more grand than v ever dreamt of....The venue, nishagandhi was in full bloom for 3 days…or nights rather…..and all eyes were on the ever glowing stage…
The events kicked off with a brief inaugural ceremony followed by a family night …..an inhouse entertainment program aimed at entertaining families and faculties of our students respecting the importance of family and teachers to any man….The RAAGASHILA(rockshow) followed which erupted the adrenaline within and there were screams of excitement all around…..
The second night began with ALANKARA(glitz fashion) which showcased the new trends in dressing, bringing out ones creativity and dress sense….tradition was given equal importance ….and the crowd was thrilled by this tradition trend fusion……an equally thrilling yet much more dynamic event…..NAATYA(choreo video) followed which set the crowds tapping their feet and clapping their hands with the beats none left blank….all neatly choreographed….With a slight drizzle just before the end of show, the clouds let us know that even they were present for our show….
The final night saw singers performing their best…..in AALAAP(voice hunt)…challenging even the best singers in town…..all their talents were put to test in a 3 round challenge and the audience cheered putting their hands together and appreciating the “sangathis”…..
Every event needs a colorful and exciting climax and this time it was “THANDAVAS “-the fire dancers who made it thrilling during NISAGANDHI(star nite)…these professionals made the crowd gasp with their amazing performance with fire and further with high level acrobatics……..
If all the 3 nights were lit up with cultural events……it was something else that set the days and roads burning…..CHAKRA(auto show)….and those looking for raw excitement got it to the fullest…..dangerous stunts by professionals ruled the show….with bikes rarely touching the ground and cars taking 360 degree turns as though driving in ice………the crowd hardly blinked their eyes…cos they dared not to miss any stunt……
The 3 day festival of fire came to an end igniting a count down in the minds of every soul towards the same fest next year and spreading the fire of hope………