And finally...

As the year end arrives, I am breaking my brief hiatus from blogging. A lots have happened in the period in between. 


Most important of all, i got hitched...finally...So it's official now(well Sats broke this already in his blog), I am married to Manisha this December and life has been treating us well so far. No..no i am not going to elaborately post about the road to our wedding (that deserves a big multi part posts ;-)) but rather i would keep it simple and request for lots of good wishes.

Now coming to the moment, "Wishing everyone a wonderful, happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year and years to come".

And, yes this wish comes from both of us :-)

Past Tense...

Vibha was wiping her tears before anyone could notice in the train.

(Photo courtesy google images)

It's been 4 years of married life with Vishal. All these days were awesome, she was having a time of her lifetime. Especially the last 2 years that they have been in the US. Vishal and Vibha met through few common friends and after a year of courtship they decided to get married. Vibha knew everything about Vishal in the one year of courtship including his earlier relationship that failed. But, he was over it and so was Vibha as Vishal was showering his love on her. So, now what happened?

The train halted in the next station and the door opened automatically. Vibha got down and kept walking towards the nearest escalator. It was around dusk and the skies were getting dark with a fair bit of crimson shade. The street lights were on and the traffic was average. She kept walking thinking about her life today. The more she thought the more her eyes swelled up. She was trying to wipe the tears with the soft tissue in her hands. The whole of the day she had switched off her mobile so that she won't have to hear anyone.

As she kept walking, she realized that she had reached the river front and the downtown skyline could be seen on the other end. It was a fabulous sight, but she wasn't in a mood to even acknowledge that. She walked across the road and sat in an empty bench facing the waterfront. Behind her the kids were playing, young couples were on a different world of theirs, elderly were having nostalgic conversation. Here she was, with her hands and lips trembling not by the cold wind but of the thoughts she was having in her mind.

An hour or so passed by and she was sitting motionless watching the reflections of the lights on the river. It was pretty cold and she had her hands tucked up in her pockets. She never knew what to do next. Should she leave the US or go back home. She was clueless. One thing was for sure, she was heart broken and trying to find a way out of this pain. She kept thinking, why me? what went wrong? haven't i been good all these years? Is this the way God has to punish me for not being good? She didn't knew what was happening around her and how to cope up to this situation.

Hours passed by and Vibha couldn't move from that place. She was imagining herself dead and this place was her grave. She never wanted to get up. She felt as if everything happening around her was different. In fact that's exactly the way it was with people walking around in oblivion. No one noticed her sitting quietly for hours now. Finally she managed to get up and walk towards the underground. Every step she took felt as if her weight was in tonnes. Her feet could feel the heaviness in taking every single step. Finally she reached home. Vishal opened the door and gave a hug "Tough day at work baby? mobile dried out?". He was visibly worried. Vibha just nodded and entered the bedroom and went straight to bed.

Next morning Vibha woke up to see little Vruksha awake. The moment she saw the baby she broke out loudly. She let out her emotions loudly and tears started flowing from her eyes like a cloudburst. Vishal came running inside and saw Vibha wailing like a kid.

"What's the matter Vibh..i am seeing for the past two days..you're totally not OK"...

".........." no response but the wailing continued...

"I am asking you honey, you have to tell me to make things fine...what is it" Vishal started getting restless and tensed...

"............" She never looked at him...

"Please Vibhu...i am here for you...please tell me...."

"Are you ?? Were you???"....Vibha questioned back ?

"What do you mean??" Vishal asked back

"Were you there for me all these days?"

"Wh...why?..yes always" Vishal was confused

"Always....Don't kill me Vishal" She started to sob again....

"Vibhu you need to let it out whatever is troubling..." He was getting worried...

"I read your dairy couple of days back..." She told staring deeply into his face...

She could see his face changing color.

"OK..but...so...what..." Vishal was trembling...

"Now tell me were you there for me always in the past 5 years?"

Vishal was silent...then mustered some courage and answered "Yes baby always..."

"No Vishal...how could you...all these years you have been thinking about Swati and were living with me."

"No..no..actually..." Vishal was searching was answers.

"I read all your scribblings about missing her...about your regrets of not getting her..your worries about how she was...you had been living with two people on your mind..How could you???" Vibha was pouring her heart out...

"..........." Now it's Vishal's turn to be silent with face down

"Did i not keeping you happy that you were still thinking about her? Look at Vruksh...what is she? Is she a by product of our physical needs?? And the most killing part is you've been acting as if you care for us the most and continuing to do so...How could you be so fake..." She was uncontrollable...

"Listen Vibhu, it was those thoughts that flashed when i got reminded of her....never met her after we broke up..Trust me please..Always been your husband and Vruksha's dad" Vishal was pleading...

"Things reminding of her....that's the problem...if you'd taken her off your mind how will it remind you of anything...What if tomorrow she comes in front of you...your soft corner would take over you?" Vibha was angry yet weak....

"I don't know what you talk about....Why..."

"Vishal...i can't share your thoughts also with anyone...When i loved you and got married i owned you completely...not shared....and i cannot live as a companion for pleasures and my baby was just a part of your life...The day i realised that i was not the only one in your mind that's when i became a past tense in your life"

"I am so sorry...Never realised how you;d feel....Sorry..Sorry...will take her out totally from this moment..."Vishal pleaded with tears all over his cheeks...

"No Vishal...i think i have made up my decision. I will not leave you now, Vruksha needs her dad whether you need or not. But i cant be your wife only in parts...So i would continue to stay with you for Vruksha but never can i be the same to you ever..." Vibha got up and went into kitchen...

Vishal was stunned realising the mistake he had done as he looked at her getting freshened up and got ready for a new day...with a new determination...

Super Special Sketch...

It's been quite a while since i blogged something and what better topic than an awesome sketch drawn by my darling niece. It's more special because this was exclusively drawn for her "mama" (well that's me!)

Thanks "S" darling  and i luv yu so much!!

Poovinai thirandhu kondu....

Recently i saw the movie Aanandha Thandavam - ofcourse for Tamannah (truth was tat i heard it was based on Sujatha's novel pirivom sandipom - i felt story was much better) . But, this one song never ceases from comin back to my mind...

Excellent rendition by Srinivas & Shreya with music composed GV Prakash.

Who else can write a lyrics for a situation where a couple who moved on in their relationship & life just to meet again and spend time together as friends. Hats off to vairamuthu...(non tamil readers pls. excuse i do not want to translate this and kill the life out of this song)

பூவினை திறந்துக்கொண்டு போய் ஒழிந்த வாசமே
பூவுடன் மறுபடியும் உனக்கென்ன  ஸ்நேஹமே

காற்றலை சுழற்சியிலே மீண்டும் இந்த வாசமே
வாசனை திரும்பியதில் உனக்கென்ன கோபமே

விதியென்ற ஆற்றிலே மிதக்கின்ற இலைகள் நாம்
நதி வழி போகின்றோம் எந்தக்கரை சேர்கின்றோம்

காற்றலை சுழற்சியிலே மீண்டும் இந்த வாசமே
வாசனை திரும்பியதில் உனக்கென்ன கோபமே

===
தண்டவாளம் பக்கம் பக்கம் தொட்டுக்கொள்ள நியாயம் இல்லை  
நீயும் நானும் பக்கம் பக்கம் கட்டிக் கொள்ள சொந்தம் இல்லை

வான் வெளி தீண்டிட நினைக்கிறாய் அது வசப்பட போவதில்லை
வானுக்கும்  பூமிக்கும் என்றுமே மழை உறவுகள் தீர்வதில்லை 

காற்றலை சுழற்சியிலே மீண்டும் இந்த வாசமே
வாசனை திரும்பியதில் உனக்கென்ன கோபமே
====
இதயக்கூட்டை பூட்டிக்கொண்டேன்  கதவை தட்டி கலகம் செய்தாய்
கதவைப் பூட்டி உள்ளே சென்றேன் கண்கள் வழியே மீண்டும் வந்தாய்

வருஷங்கள் மாறிய போதிலும் புது வசந்தங்கள் வருவதுண்டு
வாழ்க்கையில் தொலைகின்ற உறவுகள்  புது வடிவத்தில் மலர்வதுண்டு
===
பூவினை திறந்துகொண்டு போயோழிந்த வாசமே
பூவுடன் மறுபடியும் உனக்கென்ன ஸ்நேஹமே  

விதியென்ற ஆற்றிலே மிதக்கின்ற இலைகள் நாம்
நதி வழி போகின்றோம் எந்தக் கரை சேர்கின்றோம்

You can listen to this song from here

I RANT...

[Reader's discretion is advised...Folks who don't wanna spoil their morning refrain from reading below, this is just my rants and absolutely nothing useful]

I am angry....nopes furious, that would suit better, it's on myself, it's just me and my mood swings. I blame nobody, i complain about none...it's myself, it's just me and my mood swings...
My crazy mood swings has become a routine off late and i kinda accepted it and learnt to live with. But, sometime it's when this goes little beyond control and then the trouble i put others into (call it the Chaos theory or the butterfly effect) is what irks me high time. Today is exactly one such day.

It all started yesterday night, i went home late from work after hectic lobbying with the team and client teams to get things closed. As i had my dinner my mom had some petty complaints(that's what i thought) on my dad that he threw some chargers(wires) and other things to thrash in the pretext of cleaning the house. My dad is one person who doesn't like to be complained (who does) even if he is at fault started resenting. I had to calm both of them down and went to bed.

Morning before taking bath, i went and started checking in the thrash if something needs to be restored. This, for the reason that few years back we lost our mobike's RC book (most probably thrown in the thrash as a unwanted old book, while cleaning). We could not sell the bike and people scared with lotsa processes about getting the duplicate papers.

As i went to the side of my house where they'd kept those so called unwanted (to be thrashed) items in covers. To my shock there were 4 big thrash bags filled to the brim...

I first checked the first bag, guess what! my titan edge's warranty card along with bill, couple of expired ATM cards and a valid unexpired ATM card, and few other items(definitely not to be thrashed) is what i recovered. Being the impatient me, mood swings took over and from nowhere i got pissed off and started shouting at my dad. He being him started to resent and give back saying "yeah may be one or two items by mistake"...That's it, hell broke loose and i being the younger, more energetic and most unapologetic took control over the fight. At one stage my dad agreed his mistake and sat quietly.

I should have understood that he is old, an age prone to make such mistakes, i should have been patient enough to handle him and explain him. Instead i vented out on all of my anger(accumulated for so many things) on him non stop. Poor him listened to everything and kept quiet. Somehow i could not be normal at all the whole of the morning, anger kept coming on everything, a sunken feeling along with it, a feeling of guilt took over. I left for work but still something heavy inside as if I've added a big load of sins inside me along with the ones already loaded.

Even as i pen down this rant of mine, i feel so critical about myself as to why am i like this, not able to control myself. This makes me feel even more angry on my own self. I know everyone is not white or black, but a hue of grey..I don't wanna say that as an excuse for my shortcomings...

I just called home to say sorry, my mom took the phone and poor her didn't hear what i said, i immediately raised my voice to her and said 'Can't u hear me or what ?'. Oh God! I don't know how to control my anger, feeling really really low this morning...Not good enough to even apologise to them...

I am angry....nopes furious, that would suit better, it's on myself, it's just me and my mood swings. I blame nobody, i complain about none...it's myself, it's just me and my mood swings...

Tweet up @ Chennai

Satish had planned for a tweet up (first for me) in Bessy beach yesterday. The invitees were

NilaRaseegan, Naveen, Aparna, Sriram, Lavanya & Sriram, Amrita aka Cherrie, Shylaja aka Shylu, Ratzz, Prithi, Chennaigirl, Manisha aka manspat and of course your's truely.

It'd been quite some time since i met Satish, a very good friend of mine, so grabbed this opportunity to catch up with him and also thought would be good to put faces to the folks whom we read through their blogs n twits.
As i went to Bessy beach, there was a mad crowd (being a sunday evening). Then zeroed in to the location where the folks were standing. Sats, Amrita, Shylu and Nilaraseegan were talking. Initial intros were followed by general discussion on general topics.

Satish informed that few of them couldn't make it (Manspat, Chennai Girl, Ratzz, Lavanya & sriram, Priti due to their non availability). Then we were joined by Naveen n Aprarna.
When you know someone you put a face to each of them and when you meet most of the times the faces never even comes close to the ones you put. This time it was no different.
Sat on the beach sands and started discussing on variety of topics. Soon, the topic of marriage seemed to hijack the meeting. Manspat had twitted her apologies for not making up to Sats.

Satish was his usual non stop laughter self....doing the talking in a free flowing way...especially when the topics were his favourite marriage and Bangalore. Don't lose your sense of humor mate...

Nilaraseegan was his reserved self. I was thinking probably he was thinking of some new story or kavidhai ;-). I am a big fan of your tamil writing and keep writing more mate.

Amrita - Poor her, she was a victim of language barrier for most of the part. But, when she got invovled she was just as wonderful as her writing. Definitely this challenging phase of urs will pass in a jiffy....

Shylu - Successfully managed to balance her time between getting involved in the discussions as well as doubling up as official intepretor for Amrita.

Naveen n Aparna - were quite a combo...While Naveen seemed to be the quieter persona, Aparna was more expressive about her thoughts. Enjoyed their conversation, especially the "public..public" bit of it. Wishing you both in advance for a blessed married life.

In the middle of the discussion, there was a few guys campaigning for "Go Green" came and explained about how we're "abusing" our planet and how we can show that "we care" by voluntarily switching off all the lights between 8:30pm -9:30pm.

After an hour we all called it a day and returned back not before Sats was made to pay for the mangoes on the beach stall. All in all it was a pleasure meeting these great folks(friends) and special thanks to Sats for arranging this. For the people who missed out this time, there's always a next time :-)

Short yet sweet...

I recently read a post on one of my blog mate nilaraseegan about a short movie. He had written a short synopsis of the movie and given the link. I was so jobless at work then so decided to wire my ear plugs and watch it as it was mentioned that it lasts for all but 12 minutes. I thought to myself short movie for 12 minutes should be a good time pass.

When i clicked the link and saw the hero, i was totally taken by his cute innocent looks. As the real plot started unwinding, it struck to me that this was easily one of the best movies one can see. Just for the fact that you don't need huge environment, great actors, great storyline, expensive technology and most important of all touching dialogues or lenghty reels for making a movie.

The protagonists have done a superb job and overall the movie was uber creative and "HATS OFF" to the director and his entire crew.

Watch the movie here SIGNS

Special thanks to dear friend Nilaraseegan for giving the link and info about such a wonderful movie.

Tagged by Shylu...

A good blogger friend Shylu has tagged me and i should say this is definitely a different kinda tag. And here it goes...

1.A writeup on a kind gesture that someone had done for you which left you speechless
My sister who was awesome in her academics, chose to do science over engineering so that my parents can spend the money on my studies.

2.Indebted to someone lifelong..who??
My Parents, Sister n my granny(she deserves a special mention, she was very special to me and vice versa).

3.Want to say "sorry" to someone..who???
Most importantly my parents, for the sole reason that I am not being able to "son" they would ideally want me to be.

4.Want to say "thank you" to someone ..who??
God...for giving me everything i have, blessed me and keeping me going no matter what troubles comes my way..

5.And whats your most cherished possession till date??
My family....

6.A special moment in life which brings along a smile every time you think of it?
The things that unfolded in the days following a colleague's wedding...can never forget it in my life.

Though little late, would like to thank Shylu for giving an opportunity to post straight from my heart.

Headlines sans sense...

Starting with a disclaimer-1, No! this is not a review of the movie.

With all the new channels discussing the war between Sena v/s MNIK over almost 2 weeks now, it's kind of getting stale and evident that it's purely vote politics of those spineless politicians trying to score a point. SRK on his part, gleefully accepting the media's request to provide his side of the story and comes in every channel giving interviews which indirectly acts as a promotion event for his recent movie.

"Every citizen of this democracy has the right to say what he feels is right". While saying that, "Any individual or a group has the right to say against something or agitate against something within the legitimate limits of the constitution". So going by this SRK was right in saying what he said and someone writing a 'strong' article is equally fine. But, this kind of ruffianism and intimidation aided by violence is totally sans any sense.

In an ideal scenario, the state government who are responsible to act should have done something more meaningful, or the central government or the election commission should have served a strong legal notice to such groups. But, being in India where opportunism prevails, nothing happened and we're ending up watching and hearing such things every fortnight and thanks to the TRP driven Media channels.

The ruling party (state n centre) being the same could have definitely nipped this issue on its bud but preferred to wait and watch as it helps their vote bank politics as well in a way. Even our projected future leader made a big gimmick to show his heroism, under the maximum security provided by the state government. It's a shame that ordinary citizens have no such security, well to be more precise not even bare minimum security. But, that's the way of life accepted by India.

Another issue covered yesterday was the blackening of the face of a leader of another sena group. For most of the people around the country it was really funny and even poetic justice for the violence he and his group meted out on young girls and guys last year. Honestly, it was the same feeling for me too. But, I had a chance to discuss this with a colleague of mine from Mangalore region. His views were totally unexpected. Neither of us support any group, we are definitely average Indian citizens. What he had to say was, the media had covered the whole event in a totally different angle. While condemning the violence that happened in the incident, he also said there were quite a few bad elements happening as well and it wasn't just another simple place where youth just comes spends time decently with drinks and dance...there was more than it meets the eye. He went to the extent of saying in fact it was good it happened. I didn't know how to react to that.

All this makes me feel that the whole country is purely driven by the media and we all being emotional and passionate people just blindly see one side instead of looking at a holistic view of anything. We people are like herd of sheep, just blindly follow what the majority think is right. Media and Politics take the best advantage of it.

It's a shame that instead of concentrating of developmental issues, the whole of the country ends up discussing issues like these. It's high time some kind of social, moral and ethical responsibility prevails among the Politicians, Media and general citizens.

Now comes the important disclaimer-2 ....

Disclaimer: If this post had hurt anyone's sentiments by this post, I tender a sincere apology straight away and wanted to tell it's just my rant about my country and nothing against anyone. I request them not to stop any movie shows, trains or ambulances or waste their precious time by protesting peacefully against me or my blog :-P

Roadside axiom

(Image courtesy google images)

Listed below, some of the interesting facts that each one of us would have come across or observed so many times in Chennai roads and accepted without any proofs…

• Always pedestrians cross the road by using their hands as the “RED” signals, as if the car or bike on the roads is controlled by their hands.

• If the driver of the vehicle honks, the pedestrians crossing would always give a nasty look or few ‘nice’ words for the drivers to hear.

• Almost every time when the vehicle honks at the bystanders or two wheelers busy talking or arguing on the side of the road but well inside, will turn behind and give a look like “so much space still to squeeze through” before they move and give way.

• If there is a traffic jam, the patience of smaller vehicle drivers runs out very quickly and they start driving their vehicles on the opposite side, which invariably causes more traffic jam and everyone ends up waiting for more time.

• When the traffic signal is red, invariably 20% of vehicles would have definitely crossed the “STOP” line.

• After 20th of every month the rate of finding traffic sergeant on the signals would grow exponentially.

• Most of the traffic constables would have in their hands a standard old notebook in same color, size and state which would be invariably used as the fine receipt booklet for getting the 25Rs. (God knows where do all constable get this standard notebook).

• In almost all signals the traffic sergeant would be busy negotiating with a traffic violator (bakra) and the constable would be busy finding the next ones (bakras). Finally all bakras can escape by paying a minimum sum of 25Rs.

• Probability of finding a meter on any of the autos is always 0

• Most of the auto stands operate from Pedestrian walkway.

• Almost all auto stands exist under the umbrella of some actor’s or politician’s fan club.

• Whenever an auto comes to a slow halt on the left corner of the road when no one (savari) is around, it‘s almost sure that it’s going to make a big “U” turn (without indicator of course).

• Probability of finding the helmets on the petrol tank is often greater than the probability of the helmet worn on head.

• Most young male bikers cannot digest a female bike driver overtaking him; they invariably try getting in front of them making sure they do not go way ahead of them too.

• Most female bikers riding the gear less vehicle zoom past the male bikers on the geared bikes.

• The number of eyes staring at a boy and girl - walking together is 2*(N+M), is 2*(N*M) if the boy and girl goes in a bike with girl sitting one side, is 2*(N power M) if the girl sitting in the bike two sides.

• Almost 90% LMV & HMV drivers drive in night with HIGH BEAM on, and in most cases it would be unnecessary.

• All HMV enter the road which is most likely not enough for them to drive and create traffic jams.

• Most of the young female pillion riders wear helmet, more to hide their identity than for safety.

Well the possibilities are endless; welcome anyone to add few more interesting axioms on the roads….

A Mistake...

(Pix courtesy google images)

Deepika and Advaith were sitting on the couch with Deepika watching the TV soap and Advaith reading some book. The soap was as usual, the girl shedding buckets of tears. The story was about her losing her parents and left all alone in the world. Deepika also had tears overwhelming in her moist eyes. She was looking at Advaith from the corner of her eyes to see if he was looking her with tears ready to drop anytime. He was not watching her...and the drop fell and flowed over her rosy cheeks.

She walked away into kitchen opened the fridge and had some water. Now the tears were in spate. She could not control, she walked straight into her room and closed the door, not before she had another look at Advaith who seemed totally in oblivion.

The next day both were in the office and Advaith got a call from Deepika,

"Advi baby, heard appa is not well. Can we go and see him and come?”

"Oh Deepu! U go da...I have some urgent con call and can't skip it" Advaith said in a flash.

Deepika kind of expected this answer from him and said with a wry smile "its fine da...will go n come".

"Call me once you're starting back I can come and pick you up somewhere on the way" Advaith told in a concerned tone.

"No honey, that's fine, will come by an auto. Alright talk to you later. Have lunch properly." Deepika caringly told him and snapped the line.

This time the tear drop didn't wait in the eyes rather dropped and made her extra soft cheeks moist. She wiped it with a tissue before someone can see. She walked straight to her seat and continued with her work, but somehow her mind was lingering with thoughts.

It was a year back, Deepika and Advaith got married after a gruesome resistance from Deepika's parents. Advaith's parents were ok but then they did not approve of the wedding without Deepika's family approving the same. They were stuck for almost 2 years before they decided to get married on their own.

Deepika was determined that she needed Advaith only and thought she can always convince her parents later on or worst case live accepting her fate. She wanted only Advaith. He too decided that when she decided he should also support her and informed his decision to his parents and hell broke loose at his home too. He simply told them we're getting married if you have a little bit of heart come and bless us else it's fine too.

Finally they both got married in a simple function amidst few close friends and Advaith's parents who came, saw and went. The marriage was finally over, new life started in a cute little apartment. A year ran by and here they were. They got what they wanted, she had him and he had her yet something was missing.

Deepika's mind was replaying all the words her dad n mom shouted before she walked off,

"He would throw you out in few months" - this was dad

"You cannot live happily after getting our curses, you'll cry all your life" - mom was not far behind

"You threw your parents for someone you knew for 2-3 yrs, you'll suffer" dad threw something on the floor....

Just then she felt her colleague’s hands shaking her and she came back to reality. The wet salty stream was running from her eyes to her neck through her extra rosy cheeks.

"Everything fine" asked the colleague

"Yup! Sorry..." She replied with a vague smile that came from nowhere...wiping her tears.

In the past one year, Advaith use to go to his home once a while and would tell how amma n appa enquired abt them though not fully convinced. Deepika went couple of times to her home but no one spoke to her properly, it was an uneasy feeling in her own house. She was not able to bear it; she wasn't sure where all her strength went. She would silently come back. She used to cry thinking abt her parents almost every day and this became a routine.

Advaith would just console her or say don’t worry we wanted it and we would face it. Deepika couldn't take it and slowly she used to think Advaith is not supporting her in her hour of need. Probably, he doesn't understand how much she in pain is losing her parents, her home, and everything. This would make her angry sometimes. Other times she would feel, what can he do it was a decision they took together and even he came out. But, at least his parents talk to him nicely, welcomes him home...what abt me...her mind used to play games with her.

By 5:30pm she started from work and headed straight towards her parents place for the third time. Her mind was full of tension and confusion; she was not prepared to see her dad ill and her presence would make him angrier which she didn't want to. Most important of all, she expected Advaith to say "yes sure we both would go and apologize and meet them" but that never happened too. She asked the autowala to go straight to her apartment instead. Again her tear glands were working overtime. Upon reaching home, she went straight to the bed and slept.

Deepika woke up suddenly with a shudder. She was looking at the watch for the time. It was 10:30pm, "Oh my god I slept off too long" She said to herself and she tied her flowing hair into a knot and got up. She got tense as she did not cook anything for dinner and by now all eat outs would be closed too. She went hurriedly around the home to see for any signs of Advaith. No trace of him. Her tension changed to anger.

"He doesn’t care about anything, for him his work, his parents, his life that's all he worries about. What bothers him if I am troubled....?” She was talking to herself as she started to wash her face and got ready to cook something. She was weeping and even thought "It's all fantasy...Life is not simple...I wish I had not done this...." That's when she heard the door bell. She walked up to the door, saw through the fish eye. It was Advaith standing outside looking tired and weary.

"Hi honey...I am really tired" he entered and sat in the couch. Deepika never responded trying to control her anger and tears. He said "I don’t think I need dinner today, you have properly and sleep da" he said and hit the bed straight. She was convinced that, what a mistake she had committed. "He could have just enquired about dad's health" She was fuming, Went straight to kitchen, switched off the burner and went to another room and slept off angrily.

Next morning, she woke up to a severe headache and she had decided not to go to work. She walked to the kitchen and started her chores.

"Coffee..." she kept the cup in table

"Hmm..." he was busy getting ready

"Do you need anything to be packed for lunch??" She asked him

"Not needed da, will take care..." he responded...

Silence followed before he left to the office kissing her on her forehead. Deepika felt uncomfortable. She went inside and was still fuming from inside. Something suffocated her. She immediately called her parent's home; the ring was going on n on. Then she tried her dad's mobile, all she heard was "This number is currently switched off". She grew more worried. She wanted to call Advaith, but something stopped her, she wanted to run to her parent’s home and cry her heart out...but wasn't sure if she can do it today. She spent the next couple of hours sitting and thinking just to be disturbed by the door bell. She went to the door and removed the latch without bothering to look through the fish eye...

As she opened she was stunned beyond imagination.

"Appa.....Amma........."

Next 15 minutes she neither heard what her parents were speaking nor could utter a word. She was not seeing their face but holding their hands tight as if they would run away if she leaves them...She Was sobbing as if she was determined to drain all tears in few minutes...

"Deepu....it's ok...fine...." her mom was consoling.

She composed herself and said will call Advaith to tell him to come home.....

"He only drove us here...He has gone to nearby medical shop to get some medicines for me" Dad's voice after sometime sounded like an oracle from the sky....

"What?? Adv...appa..." Again she started crying.....

"Yeah! He came home last evening and convinced so much to appa and me. In fact he was coming to our home for the past 3-4 months again and again like a ball hit on the wall. Trust me he was literally pleading to me and I was literally treating him like a criminal...Yet he was stuck to his job managed to calm me down and explained what you're going through...He was begging to a father to come and save his wife from the mental turmoil and I was standing there as a father not bothered about his own daughters state. That's when I realized he is the best choice for you and decided to meet you all. He suggested that he would come and pick us up in the morning as it was late and he had asked us not to call you” Deepika’s dad completed the story in one stretch....

Deepika wanted to see Advaith immediately and looked towards the door, that's when someone came running saying "Amma....sir has been hit by a tanker lorry outside the gate"

To you...with love!

(Photo courtesy google images)

It's been a long journey...definitely not the destination. 37 years of togetherness, smiles, pains, happiness, sorrows, frustrations, disappointments, misunderstandings what not.

Thinking of you both as couples brings back to my memory, all those days of leaving together to work by 7 where you both go doubles in the Raleigh bicycle and later in explorer and bajaj cub. The days when you both used to fight n struggle together during those time of financial crunches to make a decent life for the kids and yourself. The days when there was sheer unselfish happiness you had in your face when you saw your kids succeeded. Today, i look back at you both with sheer sense of pride. No matter the toll these years would have taken on you both as a couple yet you stand there together as the symbol of family values.

I may not be the perfect son, the way you both would have wanted me to be, but still i have immense respect, love, affection and care for you both.

Wishing you both a wonderful wonderful anniversary wishes and many many more to come!! Luv ya both!!

"Definitely" Ayirathil Oruvan.

Ayirathil Oruvan....A must see movie....

(Image courtesy Google images)

Reason #1: The plot....Clever mixture of Kalki's novels Ponniyin Selvan(ponni's son), Mohini theevu(Mohini's Island) and few english adventure flicks.

Reason #2: The screenplay...Except for the last 30 odd minutes, the movie was never sluggish. Completely keeps the viewers engrossed in it.

Reason #3: Fantasy/Adventure....This must be the mother of all Indian fantasy and adventure movies. Can proudly call Indian(even tamilian) answer to hollywood's Indiana Jones or Meckanna's Gold or Last of the Mohicans or the likes.

Reason #4: Reema Sen...Easily pick of the lot. Essayed her character(personification of arrogance) awesomely. She definitely deserves mention.

Reason #5: The massive scale...No wonder the movie took almost 2 years to complete. I have never seen any indian movie with so much characters sharing single screen. This movie musut be easily the most in terms of the number of characters on screen over the full movie. Not just in one, two scenes but almost full of second half.

Reason #6: Technology...The use of graphics is so excellent that it syncs so well with the plot and movie and blends so naturally unlike the other so called indian graphics movies.

Reason #7: Efforts and hardwork...It goes without saying that this is a result of sheer hard work and lots of efforts put on this project. For an indian movie of this scale, this storyline, fantasy and adventure backdrop is stunningly surprising.

Reason #8: The Director...Selvaraghavan, whatever people say about his genre of films but this one easily his best till date and has done complete justice to the script and the characters. No one ever can even dare to think of a movie this big, this fantasized yet so tamilian movie so far till date. Kudos to him...

Reason #9: The Crew...No director can bring about such a big movie without the complete cooperation and support of his crew. Selvaraghavan has been lucky i would say to get such a crew.

Though there were quite a few cliches and holes i do not wanna see any of those for one reason that this flick proves we are good enough to take such fantasy and adventurous movies. Once the movie ended when i started walkin my mind was thinking it's time for Ponniyin Selvan movie to be taken like The Lord of the Ring in sequels.

Three Cheers to the Ayirathil Oruvan Crew!

"Seventh heaven" - A December road trip III

Coming from Balaji temple, our next stop was the Nirar dams enroute the Vellamalai tunnel. The route was mostly through tea estates and then in between a stretch of dense forests.

Our guide was explaining how the tea estate people lived and stayed here in this terrain. The various estates provide accomodation to them by building quarters in the estates intersparsed amongst the tea plantations or the massive woods. He also explained that each house in these quarters would have very minimal space consisting of a living room and a kitchen both together should be 10X10 space. Then there are the bathrooms mostly common for a settlement or in some cases they are left to open space. All I could do at that moment was to pity at their plight. But, the promising part was that most of these worker's kids study down in the plains in some college and come up during the festive seasons. These workers have only two major expenses from their monthly salaries it seems, one their kid's studies and two paying off the debts they get to survive the month.

Looking at the dense forests and being a snake lover couldn't stop myself from asking the question "There must be a huge number of snakes both venomous and non venomous, How do these people work in these tea estates without precaution?" The answer was more fascinating-"They spray chemicals on the estates to avoid the reptilian fellas from entering". I was wondering how come the chemicals can make these crawling serpents not venture into the estates, but then had to accept as he knew more than me. He then explained about few king cobras venturing into the tea estates and if even one worker spots a serpent, everyone would come out and wait till it's captured and left out safely at some other location. I was wondering about how unsafe can a life be immaterial where they're and what time of the day it is. But they have all adapted and accepted the way of life in the forest. On the way we went through the Vellamalai tunnel, which is a tunnel for over 12kms dug under the mountains to take the water from the dams across the other areas in western ghats. It's really a man made marvel. Definitely the engineers at that time have thought lots about good water management and exploited the resources effectively and optimally.

As these thoughts went on, we reached the next spot, the upper Nirar dam or the Chinakallar dam. This is one of the dams in the string of dams between Tamilnadu and Kerala sharing waters and generating power. The water originates from within kerala runs in tamilnadu gets stored in this dam and the water stored is used for power generation and supply to the people nearby, while the excess is let out and gets stored in the subsequent dams and finally let out into kerala as well for their use. On the way there are so many other smaller and bigger dams to store. The upper Nirar dam wasn't huge but quite big. There was not much of water stored at this point but the guide informed that's so because it was let out to the lower nirar dam recently. He also pointed out some area where the water level stood during monsoons. We saw the levels on the mountains from the colors of grass, oh man this must be easily 120-150ft from the floor of the forests. That means the roads would have got submerged. This was scary. It might look little exaggerating but then for the records Chinakallar is the second wettest after Cherrapunji in India.

As we discussed further i took quite a few snaps around the dam which i was not supposed to as these dams are not for public entry. But, i couldn't control myself with camera in hands and a stunning scenery right in front of you. Then we roamed around the dam area and saw some of the massive time tested trees standing tall easily upto 80ft from the ground. Finally took some more snaps and moved to our next location which was Lawson's falls and the rope bridge. As we went to the spot we had to walk down a few steps and then there was a small wooden bridge under which a stream was running. It was really a nice place to be at peace. We crossed it with a thought that no trace of a falls nearby as it only had a small settlement with a post office. Our guide silently informed we need to walk almost 2 kms and we need forest gaurd's permission to go in. As we spoke to the forest ranger, he declined nonchalantly without even looking at us and then our guide tried his luck with some of his influence which probably should have irritated the forest ranger. He started to say that he is doing his duty, and as a uniformed staff if he tells we should understand and move on etc. I didn't want a scene there and hence suggested to move on to the next place. I could see that there were couple of vehicles standing and the ranger himself said about a group gone in with minister's seceratary's recoomendation for doing some survey?!?!? but still pushed on to the next location. Our guide was little upset that he could not show his influence and also informed me that they charge 15rs entry ticket and let people in, but we cheered him up by saying that's ok and went ahead to the Lower Nirar dam.

As we went to the lower Nirar dam, it was huge and mammoth. Tucked between 2 heavily forested mountains this was standing majestically with white water gushing out of two of the sluices. As we walked past the dam gates, along the walkway the sight was stunning. We could see the path of the water flow into the dam, with the background of the grass hills. Spent some time on the dam watching these awesome sights and took a few snaps around here with the family. Then walked down the steps along the front side of the dam and went near the tunnel under the dam. Took a close up shot of the gushing water and could not enter into the tunnel as it was locked. As we were coming up we saw a guy in uniform talking to my mom n sister. I was little worried that i had my cameras in the hands and had no chance of hiding it. My sister was waving at me behind that guy, and i assumed she was asking me to hide the camera. I was little worried as i came up, saw he was indeed one of the PWD staff who is posted at the dam. I could hear him mentioning to my mom that he went for lunch and people started getting in the dam area etc etc. I tried to hide my camera in vain and as i neared them thankfully some other guy had went down the steps and entered into forest and this fellow was shouting at that other guy to come back. He was saying the water is 90ft deep even now dont take it lightly and he started explaining the facts about the dam. I was happy and carefully listened to him as it was indeed interesting. He said 'as agreed' they released waters to Kerala 35 cusecs and as it reaches the Sholayar dam in Kerala side. As it reaches it would be 100 cusecs as other streams and tributaries bring in the remaining waters. Finally, he never asked about my camera and i happily waved him goodbye n thanking him for the facts about the dam we left to the next spot.

Our next final stop before breaking for lunch was called "koozangal river"(Pebble river). The reason for the name being the river had brought down along with its water so many pebbles of different sizes and shapes lying all over the river bed. We spent some time there and that's when my camera also lost its batteries. My niece had a good time in the water for some time and then we rushed back to our cottage for lunch. Our cook had made nice chappathis and rice with rasam which we all ate heartily as we were all hungry to the core. Post lunch we started again towards the "Nallamudi Pooncholai viewpoint". I loaded my cameras with next set of batteries.

This is a viewpoint that's in a estate called Nallamudi pooncholai and hence the name. We traveled through awesome tea country for 10-12kms before we reached a check post entry where we had to take ticket for entering into the estate. The ticket was charged at 15 per head. The ranger seemed to be a good friend of the guide and hence he was mentioning about the Elephant herd which had stay put for almost a week few days before. Also, he suggested us to come early. We were little excited as well as little scared. As we walked through the tea shrubs, we were told that these tea plants were over 75years old. With every 100yr cycle these plantations would be replanted with new tea plants. Looking around the view was completely out of the world and serene. One side all you see is green plantations with the backdrop of high misty mountains. On other side a huge valley whose other side there were huge peaks faintly visible as if the whole setting was painted. I took so many pictures of this area. As we went to the viewpoint we could see lotsa traces for Elephant visit. The electric fence was taken out completely by these pachyderms and could see so many fresh elephant wastes. Was little scared if they would be around hiding somewhere. The view from the viewpoint was spectacular. We were overlooking Kerala side of the western ghats(backside of Munnar to be specific) and the famous Anaimudi peak (highest in south india) was standing tall on the other side of the valley. We could clearly see a falls down the valley and we were told if need be we can camp and cook on the rocks right under the falls and stay there for couple of nights. But we need to trek for hours to get there it seems. There were some tribal settlements deep inside the forest in the valley. These people still prefer to stay in the middle of the forests in the valley in their own world. It takes two hours for them to come to the valparai town without any proper roads through the dense forests.

All during these sight seeing our hopes of finding any wild animals were never satisfied. Me having created huge hype that its easy to spot wildlife in valprai had made my family specifically my niece expect more. They were kinda let down and were ready to accept the fact that they would not be able to see any wild animals. So, when my guide who spoke about panthers all through the day, and mention about a place where generally heard of bison visits, i thought its another way of cheering us up. He agreed to take us to that place. The best thing about these guides who come for wildlife trips are that they always throw the disclaimer that it's based on your luck to spot animals. Our guide was no different, he said "we being residents see them all the time but when people come to see them they never show up". Anyways we decided to try our luck in the spot where herd of bison were supposed to visit. It was already getting dark and hence i thought it's going to be another flop show with no animals showing up.

As we serpented down the estate routes at one specific spot, our guide mentioned that he saw a panther cub the previous day as he came from plains up the hill. I was thinking why specifically this spot, he could have said this at any place during the whole day. After few minutes, he said this the spot and keep looking. It was a regular road with forest on one side and tea estates on the other. I was highly skeptical, but suddenly i found dark black objects down the green plantations and i was really excited and shouted "Bisons...bisons....there...there". The driver immediately stoped and i got down in a flash with my cameras totally ignoring the fact that i was wearing a bright red t-shirt. There was a herd of Gaurs with their typical crown like horns and white sock layer on their legs. There was a cute calf in the safety of the bigger ones. As i was taking pictures, another passerby stopped his moped and started clicking too. I wanted to prove that i would have the better photos and started crouching and entered the tea estates without catching the attention of the Gaurs. My guide suggested to crouch otherwise they're sure to chase us since the calf was around too. As i did so, i went little closer and didn't have the guts to go any further, clicked couple of snaps more. Suddenly i realized the passer by was standing next to me. This bugger never crouched and the biggest Gaur turned and looked at us in an offensive pose. It was the nastiest look i have ever got. Trust me that look said it all, it was like 'don't mess around with my herd'. Our guide was hushing at us 'come up come up'.

That cold stare added with our guide's frantic call made us crouch once again and rush to the road back. Upon seeing us backing off, the Gaur changed it's offensive pose and turned and started grazing again. We gave a huge sigh of relief not before my mom and dad gave their piece of mind to me.

My niece was thrilled and excited but much lesser than she was when she watched the ducks swimming in the stream. I was like 'oh my God'! Watching the wild gaurs in close quarters, increased our curiosity levels further and we told our guide that we wanted to see the panther at least from distance somehow. He as usual told its pure luck, as panthers are very elusive animals but with the recent spurt of their population they are roaming freely aroudn Valparai. He said lets go through the route where there is a possibility but we weren't the lucky ones this time. It had become totally dar and we had to come back to our cottage and retire for the day. We finished our dinner and started talking about the things we saw and plans for the next day...

After dinner my sister went out and entered the next door which had the kitchen and dining room where the cook stayed for getting milk for my niece. The Cook was reacting with so much of tension asking her not to get out and especially with kids in the night. She was pushed back to our room and then he brought milk and said never should ladies and kids venture out after dark as they form the easy prey for panthers. My sister was visibly shaken and we all set out to hit the sack for the night.

--To be continued--

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