Checkmated

It began there.
It ended there.
The Up and the Down; a full circle.
I saw the complete cycle.

A perfectly staged show; like a beautiful animation.
The perfect retribution.
Him the audience; we the puppet.
Me the goat.

The gentle touch with full of hope.
Helps thee prosper and successfully cope.
But high and dehydrated.
Is how I lay withered.

It is all false.
Medals nary say the truth.
Been a hypocrite for long enough.
Who am I kidding?

Neither here nor there.
Neither good nor bad.
Neither rich nor poor.
I am neither for the rich nor for the poor.

Strip me naked.
Scorch me with blazing Sun.
Take me unto you.
I lay checkmated.

Man and Woman...

There are some things which you read and it keeps haunting you for a long time. Truth is bitter. This is something which I read a long long time ago and yet I could never forget the words used. I agree with every word of what my good friend Mani has written.

Man and Woman are equal. Period.

The Elements of Universe

The Sun is just rising to a cloudless azure sky.
The climate is just about perfect.
The birds chirp happily.
The river flows steadily.

A few steps ventured into the river and the small pail is filled with water.
In one quick heave, the pail is above the head and the body is completely splashed.
Successively, the pail is filled and splashed from head downwards.
The repetitiveness is so spontaneous that there is no time to inhale.

Gasping for breath and splashed with water, over and over and over.
Like a vehicle being washed, thoroughly getting rid of dirt.
The cleansing feeling of sins of the body and mind and soul getting washed away.
The sense of Ultimate Purification.

Dried and fresh, a few soulful minutes in front of the morning Sun.
The quick walk to the nearby shrine.
Gratitude in eyes, knees genuflected and palms for alms.
The Healing Touch.

At the end of the day;
There are no parents, no siblings, no spouse;
No cousins, no relatives, no friends, no colleagues;
It is just the Elements of Universe.

Cell Phones

I reached the theatre well before the planned rendezvous time. I parked the vehicle and positioned myself under the shade of a tree and gazed at fellow “wait”-ers. There was the usual hustle bustle of the crowd with an excited air that is always present in any Indian theatre prior to the show start of a comparatively good movie. The ticket collector at the door was waiting for the right moment to let the crowd in.

Call it curiosity or call it impatience, for I knew he would be here any minute, I picked up my cell and called my friend to know the ETA. 5 minutes he told. The call was just an assurance, a sedative to the impatient mind. Like Crocin for Fever.

I continued my gaze of the crowd. It occurred to me that everyone I saw had a cell in their hands. I recalled that about 10 years ago, I was in the same theatre in pretty much the same scenario: waiting for friends. And in that era, cell phones were either non existent, or if it were, were pretty much unknown to me. And hither or thither, there was a lone telephone booth. And yet, while we used to just wait, life went on in its own normal pace.

But life now without a cell phone is unthinkable. After coming back from US, I delayed getting a cell by a fortnight and people who asked me my cell number gaped open-mouthed when I used to reply I didn’t have one. Cell phones have become such a part and parcel of life that it is almost akin to having an SSN in US. Imagine that! Moment a baby is born, a cell phone number is assigned to it!!

However, it is due to the remarkable advancement in technology that the comfort of calling whomsoever at whatsoever occasion whenever possible has been achieved. The telephone booths being queued up with hundreds of people is an unfathomable thought. One needs the comfort of ‘Simply talk maadi’! Who knows, ten years later I might blog about the then latest technology and ‘how once upon a time we lived in the era of good-for-nothing cell phones and blackberries!’

There does seem, though, another tricky point of consideration. The other day I was waiting for the company bus when I saw two girls, apparently friends of one another, walk by. From the place where I stood, I could see them walk almost a full 10 minutes from one end of the road to the other. The thing that caught my attention was that both were chatting on their cell phones all through the walk. Now how ironic is that! Since when has the cell phones invaded the pure joy of “walking the walk and talking the talk” with a friend?

Are we ruling the cell phone or is the cell phone ruling us?

A month in India…

Its been a month since I came to India. Time to jot down the things which I hadn’t done for a long long time…!

Attended a traditional South Indian wedding along with its customary feast.

Achieved the life-long ambition of attending at least once the Tyagaraja Aradhana festival.

Finished one round of sore throat, cold, fever and cough – necessarily in the same order!

New activities in Office!

Gradually learnt to drive…..again!

Nostalgic, cleaned out the shelves from the Class X and PU books.

Blood donation count reached double-digits.

Went to a refreshing classical music concert in city.

Saw the movie Guru with capacity-crowd at Urvashi Theatre.

Went biking as a pillion-rider at over 100 kmph without a helmet with oncoming traffic on the same road!

Smelt the nice country air and felt the joy of freedom from the weather!

Visited the Divine at Udupi, Sringeri and Horanadu after over 3 years. As before, was once again stunned at the Annadhaana Scheme [Free Food] prevalent in such places. Felt what one of my friend had said so true : “Jeevanadalli Artha Kalpiskobeku.” [Add meaning to Life] Furthered my resolution.

Was stupefied at seeing the institute at Manipal with its Café Coffee Days and fountains and jazzy buildings, and its Anglicized hep-crowd.

And then I saw Basrikatte. A small poor village, on the way from Sringeri to Horanadu, placed on top of a mountain, with a back drop of another towering mountain gave the whole setting a resemblance akin to the Swiss Alps minus the snow. Lush greenery all around. Felt the richness! Added to this was the genial attitude of people all around. Everyone most helpful in their native way with open, fresh and welcoming smile!

The distinction of the “High Society” and the “Low Society” and being rightly told to which society I belonged!

Somehow felt Basrikatte could not have been better if a chain of MacDonalds, Burger Kings, Subways had positioned themselves at this quaint little country village which truly resembles India in its purest and soulful form.

That’s the verdict on India after a month : Soulful.