Love and other...

Valentine’s day, hmm. A tough time for some, happy times for some more. Love it or hate it, there’s no escaping it. You just get drawn into the whole thing, and I cant think of any other “day’s” that generate so much Buzz.

From the last couple of years, in Karnataka atleast there was this Pramod dude who wrecked some people’s happiness by being a miserable girl-beating waste of blood and organs. Previous year, they threatened that any guy and girl roaming on the street would be immediately married off. Hell, I don’t know about the others but I ended up laughing my ass off. The things that people do for publicity, I tell you. Anyway, he got dealt with by flower power. No, not hippies but some crazy women decided to send him pink undies. You cant exactly call it Pwnage, it doesn’t match up somehow, but I would sure loved to have seen the man’s face when he started receiving them bloomers.

And so this year, none of the Tamasha. Or nothing that I have heard of as I write this. Who knows, he might have lulled the folks into a false sense of security before jumping out of the cabinet and screaming boo!

One thing is for sure though, if them goons turn up at a pub in Bangalore or some place, the bouncers and the MEN in the pub (yeah that’s right, not the ones in Mangalore) will knock their bloody blockers off.

It’s a crazy day, in a way. One to express our love and all. Also this expression comes at a price. Most mobile networks charge one rupee per sms on this day. So its sort of a chivalrous thing, you text people even if it isn’t free. Total brownie points material right there!

What is the point of it all, is something that somehow escapes me from all these years. What so it’s a day and so you suddenly show your love for someone or something? And tomorrow its NOT, and so you can dial it down a few notches?

And then these gift stores put up huge cards and those godawful bears. Ah, the bears. Grizzly bears are some of the most ruthless hunters, quickest, with an amazing sense of smell, are extremely territorial, can be thrice your height and WILL, I repeat WILL obliterate you in 2 seconds. Yet, a stuffed grizzly will get AWWWed and in most cases (including mine ;) )you will also get :-* ed. On the other hand, the common house lizard is harmless, eats flies and generally minds its own business. But oh boy, try giving someone a stuffed Lizard. I can sense a lot of o.O and 0_o looks.

But then I’m not saying Valentine’s day is bad in any way and I do not have anything against people wishing me happy valentine’s day. Infact its really nice, but its just that, like I was telling my friend in the morning I love everyone I love equally on all days, if not more. Just makes more sense that way.

So this one is for all those in my life who make it special, I love you J
So long, and keep the faith.
Love,
TomCat

Worth a thought...

http://freekmagin.wordpress.com/

A new morning.

Cult:

Noun:

1) Followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

Religion:

Noun:

1) A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny.

Interchangeable, aren't they.

Religion, by definition is, a strong belief in supernatural power that control human destiny. I think it should be modified to, a strong belief in a made up power that control humans. Just to clear the air, I admit that I am an atheist. I chose this. I wasn't influenced, converted, nor am I following a "cult" blindly. I am doing just the opposite, in fact. I am not against religion, just the way its being followed.

Its not logical to me, the way religion stands against humanity. Yes it does. Humanity teaches us to be together. Religion does the opposite. It creates sects and make them stand together against each other. Consider this for instance, every other religion states that if you don't follow 'so and so' religion, you'll go to the eternal pit of fire/hell or whatever that is called. What are they trying to do here, scare people into following one? Why is it never a time when we here a religion proclaim togetherness in spite of cultural/religious/regional differences. I have personally, never heard any  of the religious heads saying, "if you don't follow my religion, but some other, doesn't make a difference because its all same to God". It's always about their God and their religion.

What's worse is one religion banning every other, to even slightly be involved, and they are proud to be exclusive. Rubbish. Its more like the royal families of the English. They marry their own cousins just to keep their lineage pure. Really? Are you that stupid? Its like diving into the gene pool, with nothing new in it. Scraping the bottom in hope of survival. What results from it is genetic diseases, cancer and the IQ down the toilet. Spiral into itself and die. Don't believe me, research it. It's true.

Almost every religion, these days is attacking the other, hopelessly trying to prove and establish superiority. They are so blind in the quest that they fail to see the obvious, that they are not moving anywhere. They are exactly where they started from. Are they this dumb to actually believe that someone will admit the inferiority of his/her religion against theirs? Leave aside the inferiority-superiority issue. I grew up with the notion that God is the single point of pureness and religion is God's way of imparting that pureness to everyone. But soon I knew that this is how fairytale sounds.

When people kill each other just because they worship different Gods, I knew the whole idea was moot on the society. The very notion of a creator is disturbed when every other sect has one of their own which eventually sets out to be the most superior of them all, and if not followed, promises you of burning in hell. And then there are ones that forbid you to follow them because your are born into some other.

Would I be any different if I was born a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Parsi? Would I suddenly have extra human power or would I lose the use of a limb or two?

There's one other thing that really bothers me and its the position of women according to the religion. Always blamed, pushed around, burnt at stake and said to have caused adversities.

• Hindu: Ram questions Sita's morality and loyalty after fighting an entire epic war, killing Ravan. Sita finally submits herself to the fire.
• Christianity(Protestant): Virgin Mary was not a virgin after she gave birth to Christ and was just another woman and hence the cause of all the bad in the world.
• Both Islam and Christianity have condemned woman(Eve) of committing the Original Sin and God said "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you" and to the man he said "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life". So basically he gave PMS, childbirth and male dominance to women and the pain of earning to men. 

Really...???? 

Plus it really bugs me that when people talk about God, the creator of everything, somehow they always portray a male figure. Talk about equality.

Well I don't agree with any of them. What I'd want to do is, to have all the like-minded, right-minded people who rather than giving into the the shackles of the so established religions, would like to have a blend of all the good and practical approach towards being with each other and make a cult religion of my own. Call it Illuminati. In essence, it'd do the same thing the secret society tried to do. Free thinking. 

Be Illuminated....!

End to A random 2010...

Well, an end to a great and weird year…  2010 will certainly go down in my life as the most random. At the end of the year, I can only sit and think back, see what I did wrong, and what I could have done, and the people who made it matter.
Its no secret that I thrive on friends who are most of the time existing only on my facebook and my gmail, but you haven’t ever felt any less than the ones I see in real. And that’s very special, and I am thankful for that.

This year has seen me be more thankful for what I have than things that I’d rather have otherwise. Really, I’ve begun to appreciate it more and more. This year also, I discovered I cant write like I used to. I spoke to someone about it, and she said, as people change, their writing also changes. I used to write effortlessly, bearing my soul to anyone, but I don’t seem to be able to do that anymore. Either I start to write too late after the thought has come and then it seems stupid, or I plain forget! I had planned to write a series of travel journals of my epic trips that I took this year, but that’s yet to materialize.
Speaking of which, I’ve realized this year that I was meant to travel. Its one thing that I can see myself doing forever. In the last 4 years, I’ve seen 8 capital cities and I can feel genuine love for some of the places that I’ve seen. There was Calicut and cochin to start with. Absolute love. And then there was BBSR, which grows on you. That was partly due to the awesome company and new friends I got there, and then there was Shillong. I’m going to live there for a year sometime. All this traveling has made me fall in love with the incredible country that India is. That said, there are a few major regrets. I haven’t seen GOA till now. Yes, go ahead and laugh. Its just that its never caught my fancy all that seriously yet. And I haven’t seen Balmuri. All my mysore friends will know what I’m talking about. Its funny actually.

I got a really good deal on a damn good digital camera, ofcourse all of you know that already, and I haven’t been doing it justice. I should make it a point to spend more time with it occasionally.
2010 has been quite hard on me. I’ve had to say goodbye to a lot of special people this year. Some, I had it coming, and some I have a few unsaid things left. There are some others who have drifted farther, with their careers, and life as a whole and yet a lot more have made their way in. it’s a beautiful balance at the end of the year. This year I’ve had some of my best dreams coming true: like experiencing Cherrapunji and some of them shattered to bits. This year I’ve seen the happiest of moments, be it surprise hugging a sister at an airport at 1 AM or getting a sudden call from someone special just when I was thinking of her though she is 4 hours in the past. I’ve seen my share of terrible luck and pure hatred too.

I’ve had things said to me that felt like white hot Arabian schimitars tear through my guts and pull it out. I also had kittens fall asleep on me, and it’s the most blissful thing ever. I fell in love this year, and fell out equally hard ;)
There’s a few other things I’d want to remember, riding in the coldest night in Mysore for 117 years, making new random friends, google maps helping lost friends in Bangalore, 3 days at Igoor, and my new phone!
I will also remember 2010 for being the most painful for a lot of people that I know, and will cherish it for bringing the people so close to me.

Anyway, that seems to be a long enough Rant. Have a great year ahead and don’t forget to keep the faith :) Its not that bad afterall, y’know.

Cheers,
TomCat

Karnataka History Part -1: Revenge of The Brahmin

The southern state, that looks like a bean is Karnataka. Where I come from. Usually, to the folks up north, every south Indian is Madrasi, or Mallu. That sucks. Thus, I'd like to present here some stories of the past from this region:

The political history of Karnataka starts with the rise of the first indigenous dynasty: The Kadambas. Untill then, this land was under the control of The Pallavas, who used to rule from Kanchi, in Tamil Nadu. They were already doing some pretty awesome things, like the shore temple, and the Mahabalipuram cave temples and all that Jazz. We had nothing yet.

Enter: Mr Mayurasharma. From a small town called Banavasi. He was just another Brahmin boy playing around, reciting what he was taught and so on. Now you see, brahmins are stereotypically weak and vegetarian. Not the sorts that would go picking a fight. Like so:

Wouldn't harm a fly...

After obtaining excellent GRE scores, he went off Kanchi for higher studies.

And then, the inevitable happened. The city folks couldn't resist picking on the small-town brahmin.

Ofcourse, this was about two thousand years before we learnt that ragging seniors could be dealt with by electrocuting their cojones. Therefore, what happened next was Old school.

Retribution Time!!

Mayursaharma swore vengeance on not only the idiots who Punked him, but against the whole frikkin empire. Eye-witnesses say he said something like: "The hand that clutches the sacred grass can wield the sword too" before storming back to his town.

He bandied together a few of his friends, and in a slow flashback scene, with soulful music, mastered the martial arts. Guerrilla to be precise. The rampage started in the forest areas of modern day Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. He grew stronger and stronger and when the dust finally settled, his army had inflicted some severe ass kicking on Traikutas, Abhiras, Sendrakas, Pallavas, Pariyathrakas, Shakasthana, the Maukharis and Punnatas: all kingdoms in the south and became Emperor

They even made a movie...

 One of the first things he did after he became king (apart from the diamonds and the red tights) is that bounced out Prakrit and made Kannada the official language. From then on, Karnataka became an independent geo-political entity and a centre of power.

They even named India's most advanced and only military naval base INS Kadamba. 'Nuff said.

iPod chronicles.......!!

%$*&$*%$*.......

APPLE SUCKS...........

IF YOU'RE THINKING OF BUYING YOURSELF AN IPOD, THROW THAT IDEA AND YOURSELF OUT OF THE WINDOW.......

My iPod is not a gadget. Its not a gizmo either. I'll tell you what it is?

A friggin SADISTIC B@$%$%^$.

See... I am the kind of girl who has an extremely diversified taste in music... Meaning i can listen to a love aaj kal song, mosh to a linkin park number, or groove to a hip hop beat. It doesn't matter to me. However, it does seem to matter to my dear little friend over here. For he enjoys playing only BOLLYWOOD tracks and NOTHING BUT. If my iPod was had a voice(which is just about the only thing it lacks), a typical conversation between us would go like this

Me-(cautiously)Good day.....

iPod-Whaddya want

Me-I was just wondering if i could add some more songs to my existing library

iPod-More? What 28 songs ain't enough for ya? You might go deaf if you listen to too much music

Me-Your concern towards me is touching

iPod-Yeah whatever. besides i'm not in the mood to today

Me-Are you EVER in the mood to do ANYTHING that i might perhaps NEED?

iPod-Hmm. Let me think. No

Me-I thought as much

iPod-hey be nice to me. Else...

Me-Sorry.

iPod-Anyway, what songs?

Me-I was thinking maybe some evanesence, linkin park, skillet or maybe some metallica

iPod-Whoa there girl. That stuff's WAAY too heavy for you

Me-Then what would be appropriately suited for my listening requirements?

iPod- Maybe some song from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani or Om Shanti Om

Me-@#$@%@%#%@#$@#@$%@$@#@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iPod-Dont' take that tone with me. Just try adding another song.

Me-Well lets see then b!@tCH!

2 hours later...

Me-Look....wat did i ever do to you in my past life?? Huh?? Why do you hate me so much??

iPod-Moron. I'm an iPod, i have no idea what you did to me in your past life.

Me-So why the torture then

iPod-I don't know

Me-What the F*$k do u mean YOU DONT KNOW?!!?!?

iPod- I mean i don't know. Just like watching you suffer

Me- Okay so what'll you do when i go out and buy a Sony Transcend MP3 player huh? Then you won't have Aishwarya Ramesh to kick around when your sorry little @$$ is in the trash can and you're wishing you showed a little more respect

(Erm....mind you this is a hypothetical conversation)

IPOD FOR SALE...........

CHEAP...........

THIS IS AS CHEAP AS IT CAN GET.................... X-( X-(

WATCH OUT!

Here are the top few irritants that we tend to come across on most Indian roads.

#10 - The Dog.

These so called lovable strays tend to cross your path and stay there, AT WILL. You move left, it moves left. You move right, it moves right. You're screwed.

#9 - The School kids on the cycles.

Three or sometimes upto four kids. With fancy backpacks. Riding like they own the road.
You're stuck behind them. You honk. They dont give a rats whatever.

#8 - The college girl Triad.

Same pattern, but these are college girls. Fancy bandana under the helmet. usually on Activas, and chatting with each other. You honk. They continue chatting.

#7 - The cow.

It will amble off in random directions. Or will sit down.Right in the middle of the road. You honk .HA HA.

#6 - The yamaha RX punk.

Will overtake you. From nowhere. Will fly away to fast to hear you curse too.

#5 - The lorry on the fast lane.

Will go slower than normal lorries. You dont even honk.

#4 - The tail-gate killer.

You're trying to pass a truck. You inch towards the right to see if there's any oncoming
traffic. woops, Omni headed your way. You Try to get back behind the truck. Viola! Look
who occupied your place while you were aaway! Why, its the Lady in the Maruti! **R.I.P**

**edit**

If this is at night, The OMNI fellow is driving with the high beam on. You're blinded.


#3 - The Villager at the Median.

Not Racist. but he's just crossed the median. You're hurtling towards him. He freezes. You
honk. He goes Huh?. usually holds his Lungi. You're screwed.

#2 - The PushCart guy.

He doesnt have brakes. No steering either. Your call.

#1 - The Signal Honker.

You're at the front of the pack waiting at a red light. Count down. 8 - 7 - 6- 5 - and the guy
behind you- he goes- **HOONKKKK**-4 - 3 - 2.... DUDE! I'M A GUY. I *WILL* EXPLODE
OFF THE LINE AS SOON AS IT TURNS GREEN, SO HOLD ON TO YOUR BLADDER FOR
JUST TWO MORE SECONDS! YOU JERK!




Well, these are it.I THINK its in order too. :)


Good luck, ride safe, and ALWAYS wear a helmet.

The Kadambas...

The Kadamba king was a satisfied man... He had all the reasons in the world to be as satisfied as he was feeling now. He was, in fact, the first king from THAT land to rule THAT hand... Till then, THAT land was ruled by dynasties and pompous asses from other lands. He singlehandedly raised an army, challenged the might of the ageing king, and defeated him too. It had taken almost 700 years since ruling began, for someone FROM that land to rule that land.

At that particular moment, he was waiting outside his castle's draw-doors with his entourage. Blasting horns and shells announced his arrival back into the castle. He rode in to the palace with the gait and majesty that defied his humble beginnings. He looked over at the line of guards now bowed deeply in respect, his warriors. That small band of warriors, were so ferocious that the news of their valor spread far and wide. He made a mental note to himself to order the building of the luxury quarters that he had promised them.

His own private quarters weren’t all that luxurious. It was for the simple reason that it wasn’t built for him. The king that he overthrew was a simple man, but chose the location of the room very carefully within the castle. It was located in a place, from whose windows one could see far and beyond the land's Great Plains.

There were also seven such identical rooms that were spread out randomly around the castle. The King still secretly admired the simplicity and brilliance of the architect. He also remembered the arcitect's cold, menacing eyes, that showed no sign of fear or pain, but lot of contempt as the sword split his heart into two.

The king had wondered why.

He dint wonder anymore. The castle that was deceptively simple looking held secrets so terrible that the king flinched every time he thought of it. He also got the strange feelings of sudden sadness and paranoia when he was around the rooms. He certainly felt like he had got much more than what he bargained for. Knowing full well for what he was now responsible, he secretly wondered sometimes if he could somehow turn the hourglass around and go back to ignorant bliss.

That’s when he decided to do something about it. And so he strode over to the fireplace and pushed a particular tile near the mantelpiece. A recessed platform then came up with his Dell XPS workstation.

That’s also when it all started going horribly wrong.

He just finished coding the secrets and burnt it onto a DVD, when he heard faint noises outside the doors. He had no time to fathom what those noises were, as seconds later, the two foot thick mahogany doors burst open and about 20 men in black fatigues stormed in, clutching sub machine guns.

"FREEZE!" Said a tall man in front, pointing his laser-target marker squarely on the King's forehead. It was easy to do as the King had doubled over in shock and tripped on his lace and fallen spread eagle on the hard floor. His mind went blank and focused entirely on one single thought.

The DVD.. He HAD to protect it, it was his un-sworn duty... He reached slowly for the small blade enclosed in his bracelet, dangerously close to his wrist. And in one quick moment that stunned everyone in the room, he...

"ARJUN!"

"present sir!" i mumble, in shock, as my history professor winds down his class. I look sideways and see my classmates all seeming to be stirring after a long siesta.

" nice chaps, yes, These

kadambas?' I ask y friend.

" dude, who cares man? I dont frikkin know what he was talking about except for the first rulers from THAT land bit...''

'"Oh..." i mumble and shuffle slowly out of the classroom.

Insomnia...

its nearing midnight.... i'm not snuggled up in bed with my favourite pillow.... i'm not fast asleep, dreaming of infinity..... hell sleep seems to be the last thing i can achieve right now.. damn....

I never really knew that stress could cause insomnia... Is it cause i'm loaded with homework? or maybe busy preparing for a test the next day? or practicing playing on my guitar in my free time(or whats left of it...) i don't really know...

Gets you thinking though... i knw i know.... i'm not going to start ranting or complaining...my thoughts just seem to lead me to this emptiness. All i can think of is how insane this weekend is all set to be. Tell u guys about it if it goes successful

-_-"

So long and good night!!

say pleease... :)

I was recently at a handbag store and I picked up a brochure for students who are going to travel abroad. It didn’t surprise me to see instructions and general tips like “Count your baggage every time it passes the conveyor belt” and “Make sure your passport and other important documents are safe” but it surprised me to see instructions like “Say Please when asking for help” and “Say thank you loud and clear when somebody helps you”

Didn’t these kids ever have parents who taught them to say please and thank you every time they needed help and/or received it?

Today’s world’s moving at a supersonic speed… I think all of us are moving too fast to enjoy the littler things and stop and be grateful for what we have… I know very well how to grumble at the fact that I don’t own an Xbox360 or how to throw a tantrum to get something I want but I’m just learning how to appreciate the smaller things and the nearly invisible people.

You probably don’t get what I’m saying right now so I think it would be easier to illustrate with an example. I’m not too shy… I can talk to just about anybody and everybody so here goes my first example.

Metro had a 50% sale and I went there with my mom cause I was bored of preparing for my board exams and my shoes were horrid looking (although in MY defence, they’re extremely comfortable) and my mom was obviously not happy with me wearing such ratty shoes but trust me.. I despise shoe shopping.

I found a pair of shoes I liked and I knew they’d fit me out of an impulse but my mom’s all but impulsive so she insisted on me trying them out first. They’re huge platform shoes with a lot of heel… I’m used to wearing mostly flats or sneakers so this was a whole new dimension.

There was a salesman who was helping me put it on and I said “Thank you so much for helping me out, I’m totally new to this stuff” He just smiled. I could tell he thought I was just being nice so I added that I really appreciated it. He simply smiled again. I tried the shoes on and effortlessly managed to walk the ramp around the store and convince my mom that I wouldn’t break both ankles in these shoes. She made me try them on one more time before finalising our purchase.

She made me try them out for the third and (thankfully) the last time but this time I wasn’t sitting so I stumbled while trying them on and my mom threw me a dirty look but nevertheless, she began to rummage through her purse for her credit card but as luck would have it, she had forgotten them at home and I needed to give the shoes up. Now I’d kind of grown to love those shoes so it was a disappointment. My mom promised me to buy them in the evening but I decided to have no expectations as I felt kind of nervous in those shoes anyway. So as I sat alone at home solving every possible sum in my pillow… sorry my R.D.Sharma guide, I got the surprise of my life… My mom came home WITH the shoes.

I was too surprised to speak. I thought she’d keep them away from me for safety reasons. She simply smiled and told me that the salesman told her to go ahead and take a chance and make the purchase.

Another incident actually took place today evening at dinner time. I’d dragged my parents to Ascendas for dinner in McDonalds and Ascendas being a hip and happening place for youngsters and adults and families (obviously) alike and being a Sunday… we had no place to sit and I absolutely despise sharing my table with total strangers for god knows what reason.

When my mom waved me over to a seemingly empty table but I walked over to her carefully balancing my McDonalds tray and my Coke in my hand and I could feel my face drop when I saw that we had to share our table with a girl and a guy that we didn’t know. So I put my tray down, smile politely at the girl and guy and unwrap my burger and start eating it. Lets call the girl Didi. I sit down opposite to her and Didi suddenly gets up when my mom comes and offers my mom her seat.

I just looked at her surprised. That’s the first time in a very long time I’ve seen someone do something like that in a very long time. It’s just something about that gesture that made me respect her so much to the extent that I actually began addressing her as Didi! (I have an older sister who’s related to me by blood and I never called her akka or Didi even once). I later ate my food in silence and thanked her and left but something about that action made me able to build a bond with a complete stranger. The only thing I had in common with her was the table.

Its little things like this, small polite gestures, seemingly insignificant acts of kindness that are capable of making people’s days but as I already mentioned, our world’s moving super fast. We should take a little more time to slow down. A lot of people are seemingly invisible and we have to take more time to acknowledge them. When was the last time you thanked a waiter or the guy who stands by the door from morning to evening without even complaining once when people don’t thank him….