Kari invites...

Bro! When are you going to do it?

It was Tamil, who sounded excited, eager and anxious. I heard her heart through her voice. One should be a very holy person in his/her previous life to see the behavior of excited Tamil ;-). Well, it is always good to see a kid wobbling around all the way when she learns to talk and walk, isn't it?.

The days are racing with each other, when are you going to do it? you are pushing things to the last minute and going to lose the race with the time.

It was Tamil again, who got fed up of asking the same question again and again (not even .1% of the times she spoke to her new friend over the phone ;-)). I had to appreciate NOKIA's QA team for making such a withstanding product. There were also rumours that due to the high revenue the Indian government got through the calls made by lovers, they are planning to launch a sub-ministry called "Love all" ministry ;-).

Dey, have you got the content ready? are you going to print it or not? Do whatever you want, I do not know what you are thinking. I am not going to say it again, then it is your wish.

She was furiously serious and seriously furious this time.

Well, all the emotions were pitched on me for one thing... wedding invitation. Recently we have fixed a boy for Tamil to be her life partner (whether the boy is in a fix or not, only the Oracle can answer ;-)). My Great Great Grandfather dictated that, only the bride's parents should print the wedding invitation. Now a days, people do not even remember their grand father's name, ha, their words? yeah, it is in the bin. Well, I am printing one to invite my friends for my sister's wedding, ahrrr.. my first kid's wedding. So, G.G.Grand pa, I am not breaking the custom ha? so bless us from heaven.

Why should I delay it? if I can get a nice concept to pour in the card. It takes time, a long time. Should I be usual or casual, sentimental or emotional, responsible or irresponsible; I told you right, it takes time. But, at last, One fine night, I got it.

The clock in my house was close to finish it's day's task; The sofa yielded it's physic to hold me; after lots of sentimentally usual drafts torn and binned, I started to tear my hair (believe me, I do not have much left;-)); closed my eyes to search for some light; tic tic tic, the clock kept me awake; it was at that right moment, I heard someone humming a hit song; very mild; very casual; not organized; like a freak trying to spoil the music; loud laughter; heard some footsteps; I tried to focus, my eyes were still closed; thig thig thig thig; I heard someone running; suddenly I felt the sofa was bulging next to me to hold someone; who was it; I opened my eyes slowly; Shreeeekkkkk!! my heart jumped out of the vessel; my eyes were opened to the boundaries; my blood was pumping hard; and it was hot; shivering and speechless I was; I do not remember us having a mirror next to me.

Yeah, I saw myself sitting next to me; crazy eh?; but, my clone was different (was wondering if he was a clone or a clown ;-)); relaxed; agile; enthusiastic; humming; in a jolly mood; just an opposite of me; the outlook and the behavior says it all; I was staring at him for a long time and he did not seem to care; wanted to scream, could not; did not know what to do; it took time for me to recognize that he is a jolly side of me; Yo, dude whatz the time? he asked; I looked at the clock, it was 12:40 am; when I turned to answer him, he was already using my laptop; I was still shivering and nervous; My eye lids became heavy; I glanced at the time again, it was 1:30 am; by the time I turned, my clone was not there; I looked for him everywhere; he was gone; I looked at the laptop, the cursor was blinking at the end of the following content in the Textpad,

2008 B.M.V.

Mom: Tamil, who do you like in our family? Dad, Me or Kari?
Tamil: Dad and Mom are my eyes, my brother is my heart.
Dad: How can you be without us after marriage?
Tamil: I hate to think about that, I will never get married, I will never leave you, mom or Kari.
Mom and Dad: (concerned).

2008 A.M.V.

Mom: Tamil, who do you like in our family? Dad, Me or Kari?
Tamil: (Singing duet with Vasanth... in her dreams).
Dad: Tamil, answer mom, she is waiting for your answer.
Tamil: ufff! I heard this 1000 times, ask something else Mom.
Dad: How can you be without us after marriage?
Tamil: Vasanth will take care of me, God! why the days are not moving faster?
Mom and Dad: (still concerned, now about Vasanth).

Well, I too am concerned about Vasanth, after all he is a huMAN race. When Vasanth visited the worry factor and asked me what to do? what to do?, I boosted his confidence by making him aware that my dear ones are around to save him. Only then he agreed for the life time deal on Dec. 5th 2008 at 6 am in Ponmani Marriage Hall, Coimbatore. So, friends, I know your wishes are always with us, but ensure your presence to at least introduce yourself to Vasanth so he feels comfortable to call you when he is in Tamil trouble.

Vasanth's well wisher,
Kari...

B.M.V. = Before Meeting Vasanth.
A.M.V. = After Meeting Vasanth.

Confused; angry; furious; happy; teased; let down; funny; why did I push Kari to get the invitation ready; It was Tamil who was having mixed feelings.



Bro, are you really going to print this in the invitation? She asked. Without a doubt I said (I just said it but...).

...but I cannot let my kid down at any cost, can I?, a week later, Tamil had a look at the invitation shown in the image, the first printed copy. When she finished reading it, her eyes were filled with tears of sentiments and joy.

So friends, please be there to make Vasanth comfortable by being on his side.

Money - Can you make it work hard ?

What the hell are you talking about?
Making money work hard.. are you mad?
for who? for what?
!*&?#?$....Blink! Blink! Lost!?
I have just projected myself as a crazy freak eh? ;-).

I bet, these questions raced your mind track, which made you to do this lap. I am happy to stay beside you in the same race...;-).

Well, Can You? Can you make your hard earned money to be your earning partner? A partner who never asks for a share and owes it all to you ;-). Can you?

Alright.. alright... coming to the point.

My story Before 2005...

Ignorant about investments... was it a bliss? no way...
People around me, had money as their partners... damn, I am a liar ;-)...
Earn money, keep it safe, keep it in safe... poor me ;-(
Shares ? Funds ?... what is that?
Like family, like generation... yeah, conservative.
Retirement? Investment?... closed my eyes... like an Ostrich ha ha.
Thought I was not affected by inflation, since I had nothing to inflate ;-).
Going through the same symptoms?... hmmm, congratulations! "Investment phobia" disease diagnosed... do not worry, it is a common disease and curable. Me and you are not the only infected middle class Indians...

Yeah, it is not news... usually the causes of this disease are...

Lost in the society crowd... who won't be part of your struggle, but joy...
Failure in the art of finding a right cultivator/land to plant your money...
Ignoring the ticket to the past where the suspense of hunger kills you...
Panicking over the future... and started working early...
Victim of the fellow socialist campaigns on "How good we can be without money ;-)"...
Believing that money is only for worship, since it is God...
Keeping your parents out of the "risk money" game...
Chanting mantras about earning hard, not smart...
Afraid of committing sin, by waking up your sleeping money...

Lesson After 2005...

Drenched in mentors rain of advise, on investments...
Responsibilities, ambitions... yeah, Money does matter...
Investment fear was banned by the cops from Personalfn appointed by Rama...
Realised.. Inflation is taxation without legislation ;-)...
My sleeping rupees ran away from me, without even telling me...
Still conservative, but not so stupid as before...
I now regret, why did I delay investing... longer I delay... the chase is difficult. Well, past is past, it is never too late... I am now committing the sin of waking up my money which was sleeping and keeping it awake when it is about to sleep...

Even after the lessons... I am still conservative, since I have a comparatively good memory than our politicians ;-). However, I am now comfortable investing and confident that I can make a good run over it.. thank you to my mentors for educating me.

Finally...
I know we all work hard, and we want to keep our hard earned money idle and safe, but.. remember the scary fact that you are actually losing it by doing it. The smarter way of growing money is to make your money work hard... it will multiply your asset and confidence which helps you to score your goals earlier...

It hit me very late in my career, coz I was playing defender, thought I could share it with you so that you can strike it earlier. An investment always pays the best interest, you can even start the chase with Rs. 500... so,

"Open the innings, Be aggressive, Play smart, Score more..."

...and do not forget to tell me about it ;-). Happy investing !!!

NOTE : Free consulting contacts are available on the need basis, write to me if you are in need of one.

It's not just about me

"Kari sir,

Hope you are doing well. As you will go through this mail you will find some questions regarding IT field. So no matter you have 10 years of experience, you can reply to this as I feel your actual work experience is more than 10 years.

We are publishing a magazine for youth on Diwali, we are interested in knowing your views to compose the article for the same.

So I am eagerly waiting for your reply, please do find some time for this.

Regards,
Vijay Nikam."
The above words in my inbox ran into my surprised brain through my wide open eyes track. Yes, Vijay sir, never was in touch with me since I left Pune. I know Vijay for around 3 years. We shared our profession in the same office for sometime. It was good to have a friend like Vijay. Talented, Sincere and an Emotional individual.

Now, I am not sure whether Vijay is really onto a mission to make it a big scene on his 50th movie soon or just do a yet another super hero role and disappoint the audience.

Oops, sorry friends, being a semi fan of an actor called Vijay in TamilNadu, I just went off track when I came across the name Vijay... mmhhummm.. Excuse me.

Right, now I am not sure whether Vijay Nikam is really contributing to the magazine or he is just trying to pulse me ;-). I tried to be smart but, might have made myself look a bit silly ;-), and how did I do it?

Here it runs, for your eyes only.

Q1. What do you feel about your journey (Education, Work and How did it all start)?

I feel that I have travelled fast, faster than I expected. Mileage : 1 year per 6 months, sometimes I struggled to cope up with the speed of my travel, sometimes I felt that I am not travelling.. really?, yeah, that is when I was asked to work alone.

Well, the education did not help me much in this journey, I studied something which was an alien to me, and that was computers ;-). I was good academically, but realised that academic medals cannot be sold in this industry. This industry is all about skill and experience. I am afraid, Academic qualification is used as an elimination criteria in this industry, not otherwise.

One fine day, I fell for my father's script and met with an accident and was treated in a software institute by the coding doctors and I am not regretting that day. Thanks a lot Daddy.

Q2. What are my gains and what I think I missed by working in this field ?

People.

Q3. Henceforth how many years you would like to work in this industry ?

For around 2000 years, and it goes on... ;-).

Well, I do not mind working in any industry since my vision is people oriented. I am just using this industry as a medium to reach my vision and it is endless. I am healing up well from the injuries of an accident I met around 12 years ago and I think I can script an accident for others as my Dad did to me, hence I cannot really complain.

So, I will be around as long as there are people who love to be here.

Q4. What are the attractions of this field?

- 30 hours of work per day.
- Pressure which you cannot handle.
- Poor infrastructure.
- Lots of physical work.
- Less ratio of Female workers.
- Travel abroad, only in a dream.
- No politics.
- No challenges.
- Not even a smell of technology.
- Less pay.

What, are you kidding? ;-)

Q5. Has your lifestyle changed?

I have been asking this to myself for a while, it depends on how you see Life style. For me, it is all about people, attitude and experience NOT money, car and dress.

I am definitely not the same as I was 12 years ago. I became more civilised, since I have come across many personalities with different qualities, attitude and experience, which helped me to mould myself as a person.

YES, my lifestyle has changed.. just mentally. By the way, scientists say that the evolution cannot be seen, so do not ask this question to me again ;-).

Q6. If the time machine goes 10 years back, and if you have to choose the field of your choice what would it be ?
Dr. Radhakrishnan Zindabad.

I am sure there are many in this world who would spell the same words mentioned above. So, it is not just about me.

Let us teach you guts

Do you have guts? I was not asking this very often for quite sometime, I think most of the people I have come across for past 6 years did not let me ask this. Congratulation mates, most of you have guts ;-).

Not long ago,
My Friend : Kari, can I talk to you personally?
(His tone was a bit concerned)
Me : Why not, I need to finish off something, 10 minutes?.
(10 minutes? was it enough for me to prepare for what is coming on my way?)
My (worried) Friend : OK.

My mind : What is coming on my way?
is it about career?
is it something personal?
is it about girls? (yeah it is about time for him to get married ;-), ha ha).

My friend was getting a bit restless, is he really? ;-). But the environment was... I vaguely completed my work and glanced at him to judge my guessing ability.

We were walking on the road which runs through a nice residential area...

The sun touched us and said good bye on his way out of the work; team of next generation Dhonis and Sachins were playing cricket with their own ground made rules (birth place of creativity ha?); the breeze was carrying some kids voices who were trying to escape from their daily home works; few stares at us from the couples who were chewing their whole day brain food at their lobby; "Brinjal-o-Brinjal", "Brinjal-o-Brinjal", screaming vendors to make their day; a rare sound of the bi-cycle bell saying that move out of my way; a taste of Doordarshan theme music flew from far away; a mild bark from a pet dog from some house, it sounded the same as Whisky (our pet dog) ;-).

All reminded us of our childhood days. Yes, we are childhood friends. We tasted the tip of these nature and walked slowly towards nowhere, yes, we did not know where we are heading, but we were enjoying this deliberate attempt.

My friend might take some time to start, but he will start. I trust him.

My (nervous) Friend: Kari, I have something to say.
(Did I not tell you that I trusted him?)

We continued walking, and ofcourse talking as well; I sensed a mixed feeling in him; he struggled to get the flow; he was in dilemma, should I say or should I not; atlast he decided to talk about it; he was concerned and nervous all along the talk.

Me: (Just 'hmmm' ing all along the talk).
We just passed a milestone which said 2 km to our house.
My (relieved) Friend: Kari, I finished, this is all I wanted to tell you.

Now my friend had thrown his mixed feelings in the air and he relaxed. I thought I am a good cricketer and tried to catch it, but damn, I was wrong, could not hold the catch for a long time, dropped it. hey! hey! I did not regret the drop since it was deliberate, because, I think what my friend told was not worth even a calorie of my energy.

Alright, alright, I know you would like to know what it is, let me digest this in my mind for you to read.

Few days ago, one of our relative who went to his home was telling some unpleasant things about me to his parents.

Few weeks ago, one another relative indirectly questioned him, why he is still associated with me(Whether he perceived in that way or they really meant that, only a time travel can answer).

Obviously, his parents were worried and concerned about these as my friend.

These are not strangers to me, my ears met these hundred times. Most of the times my babelfish never translates these zero sense talks to my brain, but, my babelfish is less experienced to understand that these zero sense talks will only make me stronger, so sometimes it reaches my brain ;-).

Me: My dear friend, there is nothing to be worried, it is time to feel proud about ourselves, since our friendship is enviable to someone; someone is jealous about our growth.
Me: Do you know what we should do to them?
Me: Just thank them ;-).

I heard someone saying that Kari might have got married already.
This came to me through a friend few days ago, funny isn't it? (maybe a joke) yeah, I laughed, laughed at the poor soul who was spreading these rumours, whoever made this up, I thanked him for making me laugh.

Well, none of the abuses or rumours made on me were pitched directly to me, it was all pitched on my near and dear ones thinking that it will definitely bounce on me and affects me personally or professionally.

Hola! My dear (gutless) souls! Let me say this loud and clear, all these abuses and rumours you are seeding only makes me and my true relationships stronger. Moreover it makes us feel proud of what we have achieved as family and friends and it helps me to identify the right people. I would like to meet you all gutless souls to Thank You and would like to request an appointment to introduce you to my trust planet citizens who can teach you guts. So, stop hiding behind the sarees and make an effort to talk to my face directly about me.

Do not be afraid!! If you say I am wrong or made a mistake,

If I have, I will accept it and learn from my mistake.
If not, be prepared to receive a smile, hug (and a kiss*) as a gift.

* - Only on the cheek ;-).

Taken for Granted

Not many people in this world know the meaning of Taken for Granted, well, I think this is one of the qualification to pass the exam called innocence. I appeared sometime back and failed miserably with negative marks, this exam was conducted by a famous internet service provider called Sify. I am partly happy that I won't have to count myself in the innocent crowd. I am partly sad since I lost my innocence ;-).

Alright, here is a study material for those who want to lose their innocence by knowing what Taken for Granted means.

My name must be notorious in Sify's customer service wing, then how the hell they can tell my history just by my name, (thinking)... maybe the recorded conversation between me and the many of the CS team members would have been used by Sify's (in)efficient management team to fire some of their employees to cover their arse. Well, did I say that I lost my innocence? ;-). Damn! Let me replay that conversation in my mind, hmm, a bit loudly so that you can also hear.

Kari, the internet is not working da, this fell on me twice. First one in my ear, the next one in my head. It was Chakku who calmly chanted this to me, I know he was screaming inside, because this is the 100th time we are having this issue in 1 year (well Sachin should learn from Sify on how to hit a century without struggling ;-)). I did not think twice, sprung up from my seat and dialled 02026051002, (Pune Sify CS number). This number wins the award for the most dialled number in my mobile. The call failed thrice, uhhh! it rung atlast, I was curious, and to keep me excited, the ring was alive for 6 times and died. Chakku glazed at me and asked what happened without saying a word, I shook my head and tried again... this time, got through the interactive mode, hoo haa!.

Sify CS member: Good morning, this is Pramod here, how can I help you?
Me: My id is karikalan01, k for.. a for...
Pramod: Thank you for the details, what is the issue?
Me: The internet connection is not working for past 3 days, and I have logged a complain plenty of times in 3 days, I was told that it will be resolved within 24 hours, now it is more than 3 days.
Pramod: What can I do for you today?
Me: Don't you see that in the history?
Pramod: Can you tell me, what error you are getting?
Me: BB101-Gateway not found.
Pramod: Have you tried unplugging the cable / restarting the PC ?
Me: I have even tried throwing my PC from the 2nd floor.
Pramod: Can you ping the gateway?
Me: It is not pinging, Request Timed out.
Pramod: I think we are having an outage in our server for past 1 week, I will raise a ticket and our back-end team will attend this within 24 hours.
Me: That is of no use for me, you said the same 3 days ago and nothing happened.
Pramod: It is a usual practice for us.
Me: What? committing to 24 hours and not turning up for 3 days?
Pramod: Yes, no Karikalan, within 24 hours our engineer will attend your case.
Me: My dear Pramod, don't you understand? you said the same 3 days ago, what is the assurance that you will not throw this as well in the bin ?
Pramod:....
Me: Who is your supervisor?
Pramod: Sorry?
Me: Who is your boss? Transfer the call to him.
Pramod: Sir, the issue will be resolved within 12 hours.
Me: I just want to talk to your supervisor, and see what he has to say, and do not tell me that he is busy in an another call.
(2 mins later)
Pramod: He is busy in an another call.
Me: What is the solution now? I do not have the net connection and I cannot do my work and this is the case for 3 days.
Pramod: Karikalan, you can go to the nearest sify iWay and do the browsing.
Me: Would my broadband account work from there?
Pramod: No, you will have to pay for that like any other net cafe.
Me: (now you can imagine the heat in me). So you are telling me to go to the net cafe and do my work because you cannot provide me the service?
Pramod: Yes sir.
Me: hmmmm, excellent, is this call being recorded?
Pramod: Yes sir.
Me: Would you ever play this to do quality assurance? Well, I bet not, if it was, we would not be talking now.
Pramod: This is an issue with our cable provider ICC, we cannot do much about it.
Me: I do not want to hear about your problems, I just need the solution and I pay you for the service. Who is going to pay my 3 days business loss, phone calls made to CS, Internet cafe charges we...
Pramod: What can we do if ICC is not providing any good service sir?
Me: Ahhrr! Let me tell you loud and clear, play this to your entire CS team and ofcourse to your management team. "Even a shit smells better than your service. It is shit, let me repeat it, it is shit".
Pramod: Yes, no sir, I have passed the urgent request to the back-end team.
Me: Don't you feel ashamed of yourself for providing a crap service like this?
Pramod: No sir, I have marked this as a high priority. This will be resolved in 24 hours.
Me: It's better be.

Being taken for granted can be a compliment sometimes (since it means that you have become comfortable or a trusted person in another person's life), but what to say when the consumers are taken for granted like above even after paying more than it's worth.

Sorry Pramod, I know you cannot do much sitting in CS desk and logging calls, but you are working for an organization who pretend that they treat the customers as kings before subscribtion and as beggers after subscription. I am afraid, your service sucks.

Here you go, I am beginning to realise how big is Sify as a parent, since I am meeting more successors of Sify everyday ;-). Do not be surprised, their names are Tata Indicom and Airtel. This time, my strategy is different, the complain numbers are being noted ;-).

I had an another interesting conversation with Sify where I tried to explain that the switch was stolen and we need a replacement to get our internet connection working, it took a week for them to understand what I was trying to say and note that I was talking to their technical team ;-(.

Voluntary Madness

Here goes a successor of Alien vs Me.

...yeah the truth tastes like a beer, yuk, not tasty ha ;-). So, here is how the war was fought between me and Mr. Alcohol.

Drunkard sitter appointed, name is Jose, Don Jose. He was very generous to do this job without any compensation, no compensation? you may shout, yeah Jose is new to this job ;-).

I am onto a mission, lead me to do something strange, something dangerous, something which changed my life entirely... alright, alright, I am partly lying ;-).

Jose is one of the few from my trust planet, but he lived in (earth) Stratford. Did he promise that he will look after me if I go crazy? do not ask me ;-). I thought Jose never knew who fear was, until he invited Cristina (our friend) to this adventure.

The year was 2003; The day was fixed, friday; dinner was ready, curry; beverages were rolled, now I realised that Jose invited some more to the party - beer, whisky, wine and champagne.

Heard "Ding... Dong..." 8 times, yeah, it was 8 pm; evening swallowed half of it's life; central line threw me and Jose in Stratford; prawn puris, some rotis, butter chicken and jalfrezi, costed 30 pounds; Stratford bus station, shopping mall, McDonalds, KFC, curry house, college, kebab shop, a big Sainsbury... hmmm yeah Jose's flat is bit of a walk. We marched, Jose was like a jet, I was like a duck.

"Hey Kari! let us not do this today", a voice boat cruised through me. It was familiar, yeah, it was mine. "aahh, come on, do not look back, be a real man", yeah, you are right, me again ;-).

When I gathered myself up, it was warm, heard the door closing behind me, we were inside Jose's flat. Jose visited his kitchen to make it up (he loves his kitchen ;-)), the sofa was soft, I innaugrated Channel 4.

Quick it was, first sip of the whisky passed through my throat and then spine; thirsty I was for ages, that is how I felt; beer, wine, whisky and champaign; it continued to flow; I continued to drown; 3 pegs bottoms up; zhhoom... 30 minutes passed; heavy was my head; crossed were my eyes; there were Jose triplets, Cristina clones; I was floating & blabbering; Jose tried to control me; both Cristinas were not in the room; think I was swearing, Jose was red, furious; did I care? ha ha, did not want to; let me stand up, no let me walk; my steps were going deep down in the valley; am I under the water?; did someone click slow motion?; let me get on the table, success.. wahey; tune.. do you hear that, la la la.. let me dance; danda nakka.. danda nakka... very traditional; kicked the bottles, what? yes it broke; Whoops! do you know what I did? smile, laugh, giggle.. that is all I could do; the liquor and food spilled on the mattress; one Cris shouted at me; I laughed; 2 Joses scolded me; I laughed; 3rd Jose said, get out of my flat, he was holding my shirt and dragged me out of his flat, I accidentally banged into the TV, the TV went off....

Jose threw the remote on the sofa and said "Hey Kari, come on let us start the party!".

I forgot to blink, blrblrblrblr!?!? shook my head, uhhhh What!? ufff, it took sometime to sense the truth, yeah I was dreaming and I was paranoid.

A cute spanish accented voice, "Hey Kari, are you alright?", it was Cristina.

I am ok, let us start, I said. Naah! Let us drink first, Jose said.

this time, it was real. Becks, Screw Driver, Red wine and a home made whisky were wramp walking on the table. "get.. set.." GOOOOOOO!!! the alien entered my blood territory.

Slowly, burnt my taste buds, throat, lungs. I felt warm somewhere deep down in my stomache
2 rounds of becks, tried touching my nose... perfect.
a line of screw driver, tried touching my fingers, pefect than ever.
2 squares of wine, looked around... could not see Jose's twin, you can guess ;-).
a glowblet of glaalss of whhikksy... staaedy I ma, you think I am drunk ?

no way... let me prove it.
Straight line drawn in the hall; hand in the air positioned to my shoulder, like a flight; Forward March.. left & right.. left & right.. no flaws, a trained soldier.
Nose game again... both of my big fingers were bang on the nose target. Ouch!

Really, I was alright, my head was a bit heavy. Well, I spoke less fluently, yes it was late. Wish me, Jose and Cris shared the same mother toungue.

Surprise, Surprise for Jose, his eyes were wide open, yeah, he forgot to blink, ha.
"You are a strong man Kari", spilled Jose.
Laugh... it was Cris.

yeah, I didn't get drunk, hmmm, maybe the consciousness killed the flavour, maybe it is meant to be ;-). Who knows.. my dream might have come true, thank God for keeping Jose still in my planet ;-).

Lights off, I fell on the sofa, what an attempt, not the one to be proud about, ahhh!?!? especially after seeing what alcohol can do, I dared to give a try, faaah... yeah, not the one to be proud about, but my stand never changed, yeah unbeaten in the war with this alien ;-). I closed my eyes, did I snore ;-).

The next morning, Thirsty, first thing I felt; Water, first thing I wanted. Head was heavy and the pain was mild; I was stinking bitter; yes I was going through a famous feeling called "Hang over".

I switched on the TV and it said...
Drunkenness is nothing but a voluntary madness.
..
..
Sorry? Did you ask whether I kissed a... cigarette? ;-).

A salute to you all...

8th March, 9 am, midnight... ;-)
tring, tring... tring, tring... screamed my mobile...
I pressed "Yes" to shut it up...

Hello Kari... it was Sachu, my mom, a happy voice. After a usual start she proudly revealed the secret of her happiness, women's day...

My Bharathi would have cherished every milli second of this day if he was alive.

By searching wealth for survival every day...
By babbling around to kill time...
...and just concerned about the suffering...

a majestic voice spelled this from nowhere... searched for it...

By betraying others...
By frustrating yourself for your sins...
In selfish desire... grow old in agony...
Eaten slowly by this society, then die in vain...

where is it coming from?

Like all those poor ignorant souls...
Did you think I will also die? Did you?

It was from my bookshelf... ahh... and the source of the voice said "Poetries of Bharathi"... who said he is dead?

straight talk; firm walk; rebel mind; brave heart; Indian blood; bold words; visionary; threatening mustache; suited and booted; simple living; high thinking...
Yes, it was Bharathi... looked into my eyes and smiled...

Bharathi, it's a pleasure to meet you today. 100 years ago, you seeded this day... what?... what are you staring at me for?... Let me sit closer to you and explain... listen...

It was you who...
made the fools realise that women are not slaves, they are masters.
made a revolution in recognizing the power of women and threatened men.
made the crowd realise that the women are the architects of the society.
made people realise that women are not a separate chapter, they are half of the book.
dreamt about this day...
It was you...

aha hang on, where is he?

Bharathi?... where are you?... Bharathi?...
oh ho... hmmm, he took his pen gun again... uff...
(alright... let me wait until he is done... just sat next to him...)

My mind master transported me 11 years back...

Women are weaker sex... spitted out Idhris, my colleague...
are they?... are they really?... immune people did not react...

No... they are stronger than men...
Strong enough to carry a life for 10 months... and create one...
They can do small things with great love...
no one, loudly again... no one can deny that...

It was Madhan, my friend, who kicked the spark... I joined him...
Idhris caught fire... and he was burning... poor fellow needed a water hug.

...words below sat on the paper which flew on my face and pulled me to the present...

Women are...
to read the universe and write the wonders...
to wear the beauty and walk the fashion...
to profession all over the nation...
to display bravery against slavery...
to demolish disbeliefs...
to cook the civilization...
to serve us the culture...
to fly moon to earth...
to create mankind...

Died are the race, Who locked women in the house...
Hanged are the immorals, Who treated women like animals...
Screwed are the hypocrites, Who thought virginity is only for women...
Gone are the days, Where women were forced to get married...

...the signature was familiar... yes, it was Bharathi's...
I looked for him... could not find him... where is he?

my vibrating mobile greeted me again...Happy Women's Day.
When I finished reading... Bharathi was smiling at me from my mobile's wall...

Here are few women among many, who I admire in my life...

Mom - for her blind love.
Grand mothers - for their loyalty and patience.
Thilaga aunty & Rathna aunty - for their fighting spirit.
Lakshmi aunty - for her shrewdness.
Easwari aunty - for her sentiments.
Tamil - for her maturity (and ofcourse for being my sister ;-)).
Lakshmi Bharathi - for her will power.
Ilakiya - for her confidence.
Ilavarasi - for her softness.
Priya & Malar - for their genuinity.
Sarah - for her leadership.
Twiggy - for her focus and courage.
Rest of the womenkind - for tolerating men ;-).

A salute to you all...

Alien vs Me

Alcohol...
Boss for many, Friends for few, Foe for the most, ... What for Me?
...hmmm, it is an alien... even though I was surrounded by invaded, yeah alcohol invaded friends and family, somehow, I have always kept away from this alien. Maybe I value humans a lot.. ha ha ;-).

This alien never invaded my planet until now, Well... I won't say that it did not try, it did... but the war was fought well without a strategy (no need of one) and the result was always the same... yeah it was not in favor of my enemy ;-).

What?... sorry?... say again?...
yes, I have.... I have let it enter my blood territory manier times, but his invasion attempt was always a failure.

People say, know your friends well, know your enemies better... Yes, I know him better...

Whisky, Brandy, Rummy, Winey... whatever you call...
KingFisher, Johnny Walker, Bacardi... whatever you name...
Kiss, Soothe, Cool, Hug... whatever you do...

"He will still make you stink bitter...
...and dictate your personality better..."

Personality eh?
...for many, what they are...
...for (very) few, how they are...
...when accompanied by this stranger, "how" is tossed up.

Friday, wahey! party time! after my friends helped Airtel to survive, we all met in a bar...

Crowded the place is, lonely my friends are...
Darker the bar is, lightened my friends are...
Smoky the environment is, on fire my friends are...
Noisy the sound is, calm my friends are...

Is this a calm before the storm?... aha, what do you expect?... you better not expect anything... let Mr. Alcohol predict it...

60 minutes passed like a government project...;-).

Our dear old outsider is seated well inside my friends’ heads... hence it all started...

Deputy Gods came into action...
Waiters, were insulted...
Tables, were banged...
Vulgarity vomited...
Hard feelings shared...
Glasses broken, so the hearts...
Insanity danced...
Simply... out of control...

quite experienced I am... not in drinking... but in handling the drunkards... ;-). It is equally funny and embarrassing... I won't be angry, but I sympathize. I have an alternative job of "drunkard sitter" ;-), after all they are my friends, who are innocent the next day... who are forced to think that God has forgiven them and the hangover is an evidence...
Now, tell me, are they not innocent ? ;-).

How can I bang the door on Mr. Alchohol's face (so called stress reliever)?

Complicated it was for my friends... Simple it was for me...
Be in control, Have Fun, Cherish it later. Yes, I do not like the idea of seeing things or having fun without being in my control.

Let me give Mr.Alcohol some tips to win this war with me...

Change your attitude, yeah, do not dominate...
Change the perception, yeah, you are not a problem solver...
Change your taste, uwaayyy... damn, you have a bad taste...
Shower everyday, of course, you stink....
Do you like liver? You better find a right answer...

Simple isn't it? Good luck. Meet you in the battle field.

shhhhhh... calm down my dear friends, I know you want to interrogate my taste buds to trace out alcohol... but the truth is bitter ;-). I will talk about it later.

Trying my luck in Shvoong

Family... Do you have one as I do?

Mine is a very small family, just over a billion ;-).... Wouldn't it be nice if we all in India think the same?

BILLION? screams my mom...issssttttt, she just bowled my head wicket with a tomato bouncer...... ok..ok.. calm down Sachu, I will stop the philosophy here... else I might not bat again ;-).

Yes, billion... if you think that I am joking, you are wrong. We are just 29, but I see a billion kilos of love, billion characters, billion expressions, billion behaviours, billion cherishing moments...
....and ofcourse billion problems (aha, surprise me by saying it is news ;-)).

Traditional and bald Grand parents...
Loving and Cribbing parents...
Witty and Serious uncles...
Traditional and Modern aunts...
BIG & small brother...
Innocent and smart sisters...
Calm and Wild cousins...
not the least... Tons of Bags of Love... ;-)

Yeah... that is what our family is all about...

We are an amazing little mob of characters roped with each other in...
Sharing toothpaste, soap, shirt and blanket...
Craving for one another's chocos...
Fighting for next plate's chicken...
Stealing eggs when the next seater is looking away...
Hiding towels and clothes and teasing the half naked...
Watering the face when in deep sleep...
Making a lap seat when there is no place to sit...
Putting our arms around and being there for each other...
Sharing a great laugh... Singing and dancing...
Borrowing money... Locking each other in the toilets...
Causing pain and calming down instantly...
Undressing boys while swimming...
Playing funny card games...
Whiskying our dads and uncles when Grandpa is away...
Screaming out loud to say Pongal-o-Pongal...
loving, laughing, defending and... sad when we all shoot out in our own ways.

Everyone is unique, Everyone is caring, Everyone is loveable... hence Everyone is not together ;-). Yeah, we are not a joint family anymore...

"I know many of us want to press the "Joint Family" button if the access is given...;-). Keep the desire burning guys, that is an one another nerve ties us all together".

in my life...most of my greatest and the happiest moments were...

not when I topped the college...
not when I got my first job...
not when I flew abroad...
not when I earned more money...

it was... when I was with my family. I cherish every milli second of those moments. I must thank God, for not trusting my choice and gifting me a great family like a diamond ;-).

"Maybe the flesh and blood makes us relatives, but only our heart makes us a family".

Corners of the Diamond :

Senniappan, Masiniammal, Rangasamy, Rajamani, Kumaresan, Natrajan, Thilagam, Panneer, Nagaraj, Thangaraj, Thangavelu, Saraswathi, Rathna, Laxmi, Easwari, Padmavathi, Karikalan, Chakravarthi, Laxmi Bharathi, Ilavarasi, Tamilarasi, Stalin, Ilakiya, Malar, Priya, Nagendran, Vignesh.

I counted 29 at the beginning... did I get it wrong?... naah!... Tamil and Stalin scored 2 each.. ha ha ;-).

Do you have a family as I do? if so, write here about it and never forget to share your interesting moments ;-).

WATCH OUT FOR THE POSTS ON EACH CORNER OF OUR DIAMOND FAMILY.

It's just the beginning...

...a usual New Year started some days ago...well, it was not as usual as I thought... it brought lots of changes to my near and dear ones...

Yet another Republic year, for my country...
New life, for my friends...
Next generation thoughts, for my parents...
New plans and partnerships, for my collegues...
New bondings, in my family...

Along with that...
A beginning of the long awaited Blogging initiative now, for me...

Yeah, it is time to blog. A long awaited one... do not ask me how long... you would be surprised to hear my answer ;-). Thought I would never start blogging in this life... thanks for my disbelief in next life ;-).

...not the new year, every day is special to start anything good...
...not the money, I had been without it...
...not the loneliness, I am not alone... and I am not lonely ;-)...
triggered me to begin now...

Then what? hmmmm, I really do not know... just thought I must not push it further.

Maybe it is just the thought that the secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings, so kicked this off now to keep my savings and ofcourse to earn more.... (hey hey, hang on... not money... people ofcourse ;-)).

or Maybe this Pongal trip to my farm with my entire family...
or Maybe it is due to what happened recently in my previous organization...
or Maybe my friends who are blog freaks...
or Maybe I have time now to breathe for myself ;-).

or Maybe... ufff... is it so important to know what triggered me? well no... if I find it, I will go nowhere else than this place ;-).

Now my friends.. let us move on...

I know initiating is just one third of the work. In my experience, none of the initiatives are successful if it is not owned. The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. I am glad that I am making that first step now, hoping that my friends and family will join me in this journey...

Feel free to walk with me... It's just the beginning...