Sunny mornings, rainy evenings and cool nights

Moved

2012-01-28T23:05:00.001-08:00

I have moved my writings and commentary over to a dedicated site - http://www.diamondthread.com

Please visit and comment about the theme. Thanks for the support. Going forward I will continue to pursue my passion for writing in that site while this blog will have new posts on book reviews.

Plus - checkout the new short story - One night in toilet

Short story: Blackness

2012-01-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

This is a horror story, not safe for soft souls. Please read with discretion.

It was gory. That was all I could feel when I reached there. The whole place stunk of blood and decay. Decapitated limbs, headless bodies, empty eye sockets, separate digits, I can't even muster to describe the whole scene. This was the beginning. There was a small shelter to my right resembling a hut. Smoke bellowed through its windows. I could see the front door was closed. I ran towards it while I noticed wild and domestic animals decorating the path in the same tragical nature as the humans. Vultures were feeding on some of the decaying flesh. It took me less than a minute to reach the door and before I could hold the handle, I bent down and puked, only blessed with bile as I had not eaten my breakfast for the day yet. I did not hope I would eat for some quantifiable amount of time after the gruesome sights. I opened the handle and was greeted with more black smoke. A large room came to life when the it cleared. It was a small warehouse with metal pulleys and elevated platforms that could hold cars. The room was patinated with soot everywhere. The soot did not miss covering even the tiny holes in the water drains under the pipes to my right. There were bodies of people sitting on the chairs. They were charred beyond recognition. The smell was so repulsive that i ran out immediately. I looked at the large land mass that lay beyond the warehouse. It was perfectly clean and empty. The trees and the shrubs were green and fresh. I could see some rabbits jumping over lush green grass unaware of the horrific area that neighbored it.

I walked down the slope behind the warehouse. The land was soft and wet. A small pool that was left over from a drying lake reflected a bright morning sun that shone over me. I called the control room and relayed what I saw. Tina wanted more detailed information and so I continued my walk. The wet land that was a pond ended in a drier and stronger floor that was the start of a forest, or so I thought. Tina wanted me to recon the area to see if there were any active threats still lurking. Her assertiveness made me uneasy. 'Does she know what happened here?' I thought to myself, but I knew better than to ask the question only to be greeted with a lie. Ok. Tina should not hijack my thoughts.

'Recon. Complete the report and get the heck out of this place,' I said to myself. Still, it was tough. Moving forward I came under the shades of wide and old trees. I am no botanist or a tree enthusiast and they did not resemble the ones that grew in my city, so I obviously could not name it then. Tina later conveyed in my walkie that they were neem and that they had huge medicinal value. I started walking toward the trunk of a tree to hide myself from a wider angle in front of me and the first thing that struck me was a shiny protrusion. It was a cylindrical structure made of some metal that was driven into the trunk. I looked around to see whether the other trees got the same treatment. They were drilled into each one of them, that I assumed. I touched it with my fingers and had to remove them at once as the metal was very cold. I took my insulating glove out of my pack and wore it over my right hand. It neatly aligned over my large fingers and the empty chamber that should have housed the pinky finger was neatly covered. I turned it on and brought it to life. Holding on the pile I tried to pull it with all my strength and knew I had to use the strength in both my hands. I curled my left hand over my right and began pulling with all my might. I should have known better and just carried out my assignment. Poking around was not a good idea. Once I was able to give all my strength, the pile gave in a bit and began to move. Still, it would come out a bit. There was a thin engraving near the edge of the pile, it ran around the whole surface. I thought it should've been a thread, holding something inside, like a pen held under it's cap. I tried to rotate it anti-clockwise as it was the direction we used to open stuff in my place.

It was right then the pile became longer. Extra metal protruded from the engraving and pushed outward automatically, like a hydraulic system. I was not wrong in that it fell down and green liquid began to pour out wildly. The sound would be revealing. My immediate reaction was to bend down and pick up the part of the metallic cylinder that fell and stop the flow. It was then my walkie sounded. It was already ten minutes after the last call and Tina was restless. She needed answers. I explained what I was trying to do, and the sound of the pouring liquid was so deafening that I couldn't hear that crying woman over the other end.

All I heard was 'run.....go....clear the fo....st'.

Panic stuck me. I deduced that she wanted me to flee the scene. Should I try to close the flow or not, I didn't care about it and started to run toward my ship. I did not bother to go around the puddle of water that was left off in the drying pool. It was considerably lesser than when I had gone the other way and considering the small interval between them, I felt there were larger forces at work.I would not be bluffed.

It was when I almost climbed up the valley to reach the warehouse that I heard them. Turning around, I viewed the scariest of sights I've ever been cursed to. There were thousands of small insect like shiny creatures that started climbing down from the top of trunk of the trees. I should use the word flowing as the movements did not resemble of having caused by shifting limbs. They covered the entire floor of the forest and the green grass quickly turned black. I tilted my vision toward the angle where I saw some rabbits running around. The insects just flowed over them and I could see the lump it formed diminishing. After a second it was flat as if the insects just swallowed the entire living creature. I turned around toward my ship and began to run amok. The dead and decaying parts of the animals crowded my path and my boots and pants were covered with flesh and blood. I could not give my thoughts to the gruesomeness of this as my enemy was still on it's path.

About to reach the hanging ladder beneath the floor of my ship I tried to turn around to get a sight of my enemy's distance when I ran straight into my ship's leg. One hit and the next thing I saw was staring straight at those million insects that instrumentally made way toward me. The land was painted black and all the torso and decaying flesh simply vanished into thin air, or into the insects anyway, as they were still passing over the places the rotting waste lain before. I could not muster enough energy to get up and flee the place and the blackening continued right before my eyes. A black carpet simply covering everything my eyes could see. The walkie sounded and my thumb pressed the transponder.

"Where the hell are you? I am trying to give your co-ordnates to the evac team but can't get a sight of you from the SAT images," it was Tina.

"Uh..huh?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Tina was crying so loud the speaker jarred.

"I am right below my ship"

"What in the world are you doing under it? Having a beer in the shade? Climb up and flee the scene. Those creatures will convert you into a set of bones before you know it," she responded as the black carpet moved closer to me.

"I..I can't move. I hit the leg. I can't move Tina. Please get me out."

"Ok," and she dropped off.

My predators covered more ground towards me. It was another five meters that lay between my living body and death when I heard evac ship lowering in low altitude right in front of me. I tried to gather all my strength to get up but I could not do it. The crash had impacted some really important nerves inside my head as my legs and anything below my hip stopped working. The insects continued their march.

The evac ship lowered enough to view me and the front gullwing opened. I saw Richie trying to lean out and throw his arms towards me. His legs were tied to a rope and he fell a meter short in front of me. It should've been just inches between his legs and the insects. I was not going to be saved. My life flashed in front of me, the joyous moments I spent in the park with my dad, my first hero. The mighty thud I got on my crotch when I tried the seesaw for the first time. The training with the cadet corps academy. The first love. Martha, the blond angel. Her first kiss.

I felt a sudden shake and saw Ritchie's hands on my shoulders. His legs were tied to a beam in the evac ship. He slapped me hard after recognizing I had zoned out. I myself could not believe I could zone out at that situation, but our minds are such complex objects. They would be strong and methodical one moment and shut down the next.

Richie pulled me above and I started to stand on my lifeless legs. The insects reached the first aid kit that got knocked off from me when I had hit the leg. The huge bag deflated to nothingness within seconds. They were only about ten inches from me that I finally left the surface and began getting lifted.
The skin on my shoulders pained very much of the friction with Richie's holding gloves. He had no time to tie me to the beam just like he was. Slight pain grew into intense anguish in a few moments.

I could feel the heat on my shoulders and within seconds I began to sweat. I did not know why they were not lifting us up higher but then remembered the training sessions. No firm attachments, no lift. I did not know their plans or the length of agony I had to endure before this would stop, before I could be transported back to base. It was then I felt the slip. My shoulders were so wet from my sweat that even mighty holding glove's grips could not do it's job. Right shoulder was dropping faster than the left. Richie tried to get a second grip and the moment he left my shoulder I dropped.

The landing was not painful as it was just a meter above the surface but the feeling I got immediately after was weird. It was as though a highly viscous liquid was poured on me, from my leg toward my face. Horror engulfed my body slowly as I felt weight over me increasing, the highly viscous liquid was devouring me. It completed my legs and rose over my stomach then my chest. My hands began to lose life. I tilted my head towards my right hand and saw a part of my body going invisible, into blackness. I could not stop screaming and twitched with wild spasms. They reached my throat. The crawling tickled my neck and my nape as it finally reached my face. I was still screaming looking straight at Richie who was watching the whole scene like being in a cinema. The insects reached my open mouth and started pouring inside it. My throat got blocked not being able to accomodate so many. Finally my eyes got covered with blackness.

The blackness was all around me when I woke up screaming at the middle of the night.

Review : Catching fire

2012-01-24T03:45:00.000-08:00

I was confused about my feelings for this book during my reading hours with it. Now that I've completed it my confusions have been abated. More so, I've become altruistic with the series. Such was the power of the story, both during the days leading to the games and the final seventy pages. The ending just took it to another level. BEWARE : SPOILERS AHEAD

The story begins with Katniss Everdeen, having won the hunger games visits each district for the Victory Tour. Things have changed a lot. She no longer knows the meanings of the words poverty and hunger. Peeta has turned his back on Katniss with her revelation that she acted to love him during the games. Gale, having seen Katniss-Peeta relationship and the romance throughout the games, has become distant with her.

President Snow visits her on the day she's to start the tour. He threatens to hurt her family if she cannot prove to the districts beyond doubt that it was her love and devotion for Peeta which made her attempt to poison herself at the end of the games. She gets scared but has to go on the tour. The turning point of the story comes when she visits district 11, the home of her friend Rue. She delivers a moving speech at the end of which she hears an old man whistle Rue's song and the audience unite in silence to salute her the same way she did on Rue's death. She and Peeta witness the whistler being taken away by the Peacekeepers and the gunshot that ends his life. The tour ends in Capitol where Peeta continues his starling ways by proposing to her during the interview. She has no choice but to accept, and in her head she is doing everything to keep her family safe.

After returning to District 12, one fine day when she goes to the lake that showers her with fond memories of her father, she meets two runaways from District 8 from whom she learns that they were attacked by the Capitol, and the theory that District 13 might not have been wiped out at all. The runaways back their theory up with the footage in the news showing District 13 is stock and that no new news came out of it.

Quarter Quell, the games that occur every 25 years throws up a surprise in that the competitors from each district will be chosen from the previous winners. Katniss being the only girl from District 12 to win the games decides her fate has been written to completion by the Capitol. During the raffle, Haymich gets selected in the men category to which Peeta volunteers as planned. It was during a dinner at the capitol leading to the games that Katniss notes the watch worn by the head game maker Plutarch Heavensbee emanates a Mockingjay symbol and becomes intrigued but fails to follow up. She also is communicated a way to identify the force field by her friends Beetee and Wiress from District 3 .

Katniss follows what Haymitch advised her, forms alliances and gives everything to see Peeta gets out alive, even if it means her end. What happens in the games, the allegiances and the final blow that comes from destroying the main force field, the feeling she gets every time Peeta kisses her and the final revelations from Gale forms a solid ending to the middle book in the series.

High points : The positives go with improved characterization of Katniss and Peeta and introducing Finnick Odair who shows heroic aura in both physically and mentally helping Katniss throughout the games.

Low points : Again the world. Although the book and the trilogy has been classified as science fiction, the world Suzanne Collins creates doesn't have enough depth. I could see many stories written for The Hyperion world, the Niven's or even star-wars' for that matter, but not here.

Rating : 8.0/10

In the end : I feel the author made the world to adore a story that is symbolic of an authoritative forces working to remove freedom of mankind while building a hero who rises to save them all. If this is what the author had thought, then I know I am in for another awesome book in Mockingjay. Go for it.

Appreciation : Liebester Blog Award

2012-01-21T23:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Sahil Khanna for nominating my blog for the Liebester Blog award. Its an award for the bloggers, by the bloggers and of the bloggers. Sahil made sure he nominated for my short-stories and not the long and boring commentaries, thanks mate :) .

Now for the rules to get nominated.

1. Thank the fellow blogger who nominated you.
2. List five blogs that has impacted your writing in a positive manner, by virtue of comments, posts, inspirations etc.
3. Leave comments on those blogs letting them know of the nominations
4. Post the award in your blog.
5. Bask in the love of fellow bloggers and spread joy and inculcate good karma.

Here are my nominations.

1. Rambling ego
2. Aisha's scrapyard
3. The quirk in the head
4. Cheese charmer
5. Mindblur - by Amira

Thanks for the inspiration, motivations and great posts. I hope you continue posting great pearls for our enjoyment.

Short-story: Rebirth in a train

2012-01-19T07:28:00.001-08:00

“Coffeeee!! Teaa!!”
“Coffeeee!! Teaa!!”
The vendor called out as he passed the coupe.
“Thuddd!”
The baby fell on its knee trying to walk to his mother.
The mother ran picked him up and was busy placating. Ravishing young lady sat across him checking her flock of hair in the mirror of her mini clutch bag. The chatter from the group of young boys engrossed in a card game relayed from above. The train had halted at Varnasi for 15 mins. He hadn't moved or uttered a word from the time he got on. The newspaper covered Sanjay"s face; his eyes peered through his bi-focal spectacle and his hair rested neatly combed sideways. A pencil in his hand was losing his grip.

The two young boys continued running along the aisle of the coach playing hide and seek. The younger and fair skinned boy ran into Sanjay's compartment and looked around for a place to hide.

He couldn't be at a more wrong place, even the smallest of spaces were covered with food containers for the yatra. It was the final leg of Shiv yatra for the devotees and Sanjay had no chance but to travel with the crowd. He needed to reach Chennai as quickly as he can. The fair skinned boy who needed to hide peeped under the passengers' legs to find a suitable hideout but he was unlucky. Just then Sanjay nodded his head. The boy questioned with his right hand. Sanjay pointed at the wide cardboard box in the upper berth. He stood up, removed the only container that was inside the box and asked the boy to enter. He smiled and quickly climbed the ladder noiselessly.

A darker skinned boy with an alarmed face entered the room after five minutes, Sanjay assumed he should've been the other pole in the game. He needed to catch the hidden thief. Sanjay pointed him to the other side, he smiled and ran to find his foe. A couple of eyes starred down at this and the face smiled from inside the box. Sanjay returned it. He noticed Divya was a spectator of the scene and looked at her. She smiled back. After ten minutes the darker skinned boy visited his room again with the same expression he wore before. Sanjay lifted his two hands with a look that conveyed he could not help anymore. The boy's face saddened as he left to continue his search. The eyes were wide open from above, watching this.

He peeped above the box and asked "is he gone?" . Sanjay nodded.

"I think your friend has left the coach. You can come down".

"No, you know, Alok is not an easy opponent. He smells even the most little foulplay. Now that you confused him, he won't leave for a while. Let me stay here". Sanjay nodded.

"I am Dhivya, how do you do?" said the ravishing young lady lending her hands.

"I am doing good" replied Sanjay with a warm smile. The eyes looked down.

"So you like children huh? I've seen these wallahs driving away the kids this morning. You were the first one to interact with them".

"I love kids. I can't live without them".

"Oh! So you have experience in raising kids?" Divya continued when the middle aged woman next to her, draped with traditional hindu nine-yard saree placed her left palm over her thigh and squeezed a little. Sanjay knew Divya felt the pressure from the vanished smile. Her angelic face now became tired, and after some seconds sad. Sanjay sat there puzzled. The eyes still looked down while the face lost its joy.

"I am sorry, did I say something wrong?" Sanjay asked to the woman.

"No sir, but please do not bother us. Leave my daughter alone". Divya quickly turned toward her and gave a surprised look.

"Shut up Divya. Have you forgotten what the head seer said? He told that you should refrain talking to any man for the next twenty eight days. If you don't, you would continue living this miserable life forever".

Sanjay interrupted, "Sorry madam, if I may ask why she should not talk to anyone?". The rationalist in him could not be caged.

"I would not normally pour honey to every traveller sir". Sanjay did not understand at first, a few moments later realized it was an analogy.

"But you are going to sit in front of us for the next thirty six hours, so let me tell you right now. Divya was born with Kuja dosha. No one will marry her atleast without a huge dowry that we cannot afford. Then came this bloody American boy. You know what my husband did when he came to our house asking for her hand? He took the trident from durga and was about to kill himself. he put it down only when Divya promised she would not oppose our family tradition".

Now Sanjay became restless and looked at Divya with a sorry on his face.

"No no, please don't bother her. You know what happened? Shama saastri died the next morning in an accident. It was the curse, all because of her. She won't get any goodness in this life. She had killed my husband. You know what I did when that American boy came to the cremation? I slapped him with my slipper and drove him away". Sanjay was now totally in uncomfortable country.

"So we came here to meet his holiness seer Lord Shivaram. He blessed Divya and told her to stop working and not talk to any man for twenty eight days. Please leave her alone until we reach home, then I can make sure she stays put in her room for the entire month". Divya started to cry as all the boys from the card game stopped playing and looked down. The mother closed her child's ears so no bad news will enter the pure growing soul.

"I am sorry madam, but you should not accept this. The astrology and religion are to help us, not to make our life miserable. The teachings should elate us, not drown us in misery. Don't you ask why to anything the seer says? Don't you think for a second what your daughter would've felt? Losing her lover, her father permanently and now this cruel punishment".

Divya stopped crying and got goosebumps on her hands. She had never seen anyone so rational and brave to talk back to her mother. If this had been her house, Sanjay's head would've been now filled with hot sambar, it was his lucky day. Imagining this she even let out a small laugh. Her mother became mad with anger.

"I don't need to explain you. You do have children and a wife. Do you need another woman on the side? Do you think our family is that filthy? Stop the nonsense and mind your own work. My family needs to do everything we can to get her a match. You know what the seer said?"

"About what?" Sanjay"s voice became louder.

"About the requirements for her groom. He should've already married but lost his wife. He should have atleast one child and should also have Kuja Dosha. It is going to be impossible to find her a match. Please leave us alone".

She started to sob placing her palm over her face. Sanjay was about to get up to console when Divya raised her left palm stopping him. She started to console her even when her tears flowed unchecked. Sanjay was touched. A beautiful girl with her life in front of her being wasted by this old fashioned traditional cling-on. She still takes care of her mother because of her family values.

The boy climbed down with tears all over his eyes. He sat next to Sanjay and hugged him tight.

Divya was totally confused about this when Sanjay said "This is my son Mithun, he is six years old. I am Sanjay, from Chennai. I belong to brahmin caste while I am a forward thinker and not very orthodox. We came to do the first year thidhi for my wife who died in an accident in Ganga three years ago. This is the first time I did it, because my father in law asked me desperately. We are now returning to Chennai. Right now my family is Mithun and my father in law."

"I am really sorr...." started Dhivya when Sanjay continued "Madam" calling Divya's mother. She looked up with eyes red with tears. Mithun continued crying, holding his father tight.

"I have Kuja dosha too. You can inquire my friends and neighbors about me and can come to visit my family. I am sorry to ask you so bluntly, but I don't know how else to do this. If you don't mind I would like to ask your daughter's hand in marriage, and promise she stays happy throughout her life, only one condition though". They both looked surprised.

"Your daughter should like me and be ok to have Mithun as her son". The smile that grew in a face covered with tear was like a heavy rain to a draught stricken desert. She nodded yes with the same angelic look. Sanjay started to smile back. Mithun stopped crying, stood up and went to Divya, hugged her tight and laughed with his tears still flooding down.

This is an entry for the 'Tell a tale contest'.

Waking up in dark - current state of aam aadmi

2012-01-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

This post has been selected as top post in 'Spicy Saturday's picks' by BlogAdda.

Imagine waking up inside a closed room,small, dark and slimy. You hear drops of water falling from an acute point to the floor. The first emotion you'd probably feel is claustrophobia. You feel lost, you feel afraid and you need to feel normal. So you start punching at a wall you think is the front, which you think is your best bet at being heard by someone. Seconds becomes minutes, minutes become hours and hours become a day. Your hands are broken, fingers fractured, skin torn, dermis bleeding wildly, your hair wet with sweat, your joints aching and your corners itching. You sit down with your back against the wall with your head resting on your palm. The noise of the water drops seem to never stop. It makes you go mad. It distracts you. You make an effort to collect your thoughts at the hand you've been dealt with, how badly you are betting against the odds and how stupid you were to go 'all in'. You don't even have a high card for christ's sake, your highest is 6 of hearts. You then turn your head to notice a small rubble falling off from the wall, it is a rift. It's possible that the wall is not indestructable. It is not all strong. It can break, it can give way, it can be fell. You again start punching and kicking, now at the exact portion where the rift is, and this time the hope inside your head is high, this time your heart works faster, for the first time experiencing the term 'optimism'.

After the current day's work that involved punching, hitting, kicking and knocking you rest. With more hope that the wall is now breaking. The noise of water drops hitting the ground has grown into a nightmare inside your head. It pulls you down from thinking straight but you try not to heed to that. The enemy is getting torn apart, it is losing and thats all you need to hear. There have been times when you had asked yourself how in the world can you be alone in a place where all the hours of noise your kicking and punching created was not heard by another single soul who could help you. You don't heed more to that thought. You recollect that it is the will to never back down, to not stop going in the direction that gave you hope, and optimism that had pushed you this far. By comparison, the first hour inside the room had been a horror story. You recognize that you are growing, learning and changing from every experience. You make up your mind that you are never going to travel near this place again so there wouldn't be a chance you'd be trapped again.

Finally, finally, sixteen days of starving and punching had done the deed. The wall breaks down. You throw your hands up in the air and cry 'I'm the King of the World. Hoooo hooooo'. Just like Jack cries in the movie 'The Titanic'. But then you realize you are still trapped inside a room, a little larger compared to the first. But the similarities are total. No doors, no windows and slimy polished walls.

This is what I see the people in India going through everyday. The person I addressed 'You' are the people. The 'learned brain' and 'heart' that motivated you to keep punching are few optimistic leaders, who are basically common man. Draped in cotton, like you and I, but can generate hope and a whole lot of it they do. The room you are entrapped inside is your life in India. It feels locked, makes you powerless with no doors and windows in sight. You can say from the invasion of 'modern' brands like Gucci and Armani into our markets, the glamorous parties during New Year celebrations and an optimistic third party rating system naming Bangalore as the 9th most livable city in the World that we are going in the right direction. But they are all distractions. They are the noise created by the drops of water hitting the ground. The Audis, the hundred floor towers with robotized parking, beautiful pubs serving high priced single-malts, Italian cuisine that brings Florence to our kitchen, the smart phones getting introduced in India the same day as in the West, the wider and smoother highways to travel between cities, McDonalds and the globalization. They are the stream of the drops. Divisive politicians, harassing goondas, ever drowsy government workers(1), looters in power constitute another stream of drops that alternate with the former.

It had been long and hard battle, but the first victory has been tasted. What happened in 2011 was a rude awakening to the forces keeping us trapped. The defeat the people tasted from getting a weak Lok-pal, any lack of voting in the parliament which turned out to be more interesting movie than Ra One or Don 2 terms the scene when you realized that there's more to be done. Another bigger wall to be fell. And now we feel our spine has been broken. We feel we as people are powerless and that another victory of the masses will be dealt with a stronger retaliation from the wall. Yet we should recall the story of a spider which would never give up(Sparky or 'Vikram and the spider' story, choose one yourself) from climbing to the ceiling inside a cave. There is still hope, there are crores of fathers and mothers grueling under the sun everyday so their children can have a decent education. There are many who 'Like' the articles shared in social networking sites that lists how many Indian borns were heading various fortune 500 companies around the world. There is a lot of hope.

Then I sat down to think what is missing? Why can't we take our case to the streets just like middle East and demand a better government? Why is it too hard to get good roads, basic necessities like public toilets or even cleaner hospitals. Why? Why can't we shy the non-violent movement and take the highroad? Because we don't have to. Because we have electricity flowing almost eighty percent of the day. Because we can still fill our cars and bikes with petrol and drive. Because even if by buying fresh water in container lorries, we have the money to spend and have a good bottle of it. Because our intelligence and hard work is praised by the West who'd rather source jobs to us. Because Dolce and Gabanna wants to open shops in our cities. Because Olive oil manufacturers from Italy want to export to India. Because we are not 'that poor Nation' anymore. We have the power to understand what we have, what's at stake and how much we would lose if we took our cause to the streets. Perseverance is the key word here.

While writing this, my hopes went up with the knowledge that the general elections are within 800 days from now. We have the power to choose, or the power to say 'fuck you' to the cards we are dealt with using the 49-O to 'vote for nobody'. We have the strength and should be careful to not waste it.

Anything useful is useless until it is used.

Here are some of the important agenda that a party needs to fulfill if it needs my vote. That's right, you heard me. Nobody can rob it and caste a false vote. I'll go to any govt. office and demand my right to vote this time(2).

1. Roads : The reason this holds the number 1 in the list is because of it's importance in our everyday life. We spend minutes(hours in some cities, like mine) negotiating over the potholes, carefully missing the swarms of speeding cars, black polluting lorries and carbon monoxide poison weapon of mass destruction that are our auto-rickshaws. If you belong to someone gifted with an Audi or BMW, an ever nodding driver and gadgets to take the boredom away then this is not for you. Please hop onto the next in the list. I am talking about the ninty nine percent who make up the rest. My legs hurt, joints pain and the mood becomes so fowl I'd kill anyone who annoys me after commuting back from work. If there is even a slightest agreement in your head to this, you'd know we care less about what happened today in India. How many accidents, who said what, this party blamed that party, the saffron blamed the palm etc. and think 'fuck with it' and start to watch 'The Friends season 1000' or 'The big bang theory', laugh a little and hit the bed. Other requirements in our smooth life like time for relationships don't stand a chance.

I want the party to make roads, and in general the infrastructure with movement, a very big deal. They should have atleast a pseudo-code if not a detailed plan on how they are going to solve the problems of over-crowdedness and endless traffic grid locks, the lime vendor encroaching the pavements might not be the first attack, but laying roads on air like 'namma' Metro should be.

2. Sanitation : While our govt. goes all hodge-podge with press releases and accusations against the ill humor shown by Jeremy Clarkson when he made fun of India, by sticking a toilet over his Jaguar, we should take a pause and ask ourselves. Isn't what he said very true? Maybe the way he said was humorless and racist like half the World is, but the point is true. We see people urinating at the sides of streets and human faces next to the holy places of worship. This is not an exaggeration but the truth at least in it's generic sense. We need a government which would take cleaning up our Country physically with utmost importance. One which would set up dedicated and independent branches in corporations and towns to wipe our country off from dirt. We Indians after getting our H1-Bs and Schengen visas don't lose a minute to become half-firangis. We go to their countries and become Babas patronizing the system in those countries, preaching cleanliness to not throw waste on the roads. We come back to India and throw our hands up in the air feeling so free and the first thing we do is to color the streets with blood red paan from our mouth. Yes, India is a free country. The responsibility to keep it clean should start from people themselves. But how'd we know the beauty of the land unless we are shown. The govt. should show us how clean we can be and make us follow.

3. Hospitals and vaccines : If you are reading this on one beautiful cool morning having just woke up, do not forget what happened in Calcutta like you forgot the dreams you had last night. Tens of helpless children dying for a mistake they never had a hand in. Rage resulted, angry parents took the case to the streets. What is the situation now? They have placed it in a corner of their head and continue leading the same life, earning to feed the family, while the authorities from Dr. B. C. Roy's and the state government still eat rich food three times a day. This is a mess. The whole system governing government hospitals and supplying vaccines to the country needs to be cleansed with dedicated persons who understand the responsibility of social work they are doing. I don't need to spend thousands in private hospitals so my kid can be cured of a normal flu without contracting worser diseases like pneumonia, encephalitis or meningitis.

4. Essential commodities : Food and oil and other essential commodities are rising faster that the mercury due to global warming. Rice I bought for 16 Rupees a kilo in 2003 is 32 Rupees now. Auto drivers blame rising petrol prices and food commodities to the question of their huge rents.. While they can increase to their wish, unregulated, the public will still use them to commute for various personal reasons. But what can the normal babu and behan working in mediocre jobs paying around fifteen thousand rupees a month do? Can they knock the H.R's door and demand more salary? No, because the next email or memo they'd be getting will be communicating the news of them getting fired. I have wondered how in the world can anyone live in Bangalore with salary less than say ten thousand? With huge rents and sky high prices, they'd be strangled to death. No wonder they don't talk about BJP or Congress at night when their heads are thinking ways to save another thousand for son/daughters education or marriage. Add social pressures like dowry's or your son wanting an iPhone to be considered cool in his group, you need to earn more.

Please take some time after reading this post to read this. The party that woos my vote should have an aggressive plan to regulate prices and lower them.

5. Independent executioners : Sorry, I don't mean to scare you with thoughts about French revolution and guillotine. All I am talking about is one of the bravest and dedicated men in the country - our police force. Any one who works in or near the department knows how awesome they are, but do the uninformed normal person feel that way? Bribery, harassment, rape and murder charges. They are all he feels. Do we stop and think if every policeman is corrupt and if not why is this general false opinion? It is the tight hold of the bad bad people with power. Leave them alone, and we will understand no one can do a Houdini looting twenty thousand crore rupees in 'whatever' G scams and face a day with freedom.

6. Schools and colleges : The children and young adults are the prince and princesses who would rule India in future. If they don't know to fight, don't know to swing swords or ride the horses, how could they win the war over future Voldermorts and Sarumons? I don't even need to begin talking how broken our education system is. Right from the bribes and 'donations' in the primary school over to 1:infinity ratio in colleges:students this has a lot of problems to play with. Add to it the pathetic memorization and impractical education. From wasting time debating on history lessons being re-written or which version of Ramayan would do good getting published in school education, we need to understand ways to provide the best system to the children. The system of practicalness and 'choose to learn what you like' should be pushed in lieu of the 'memorize and vomit'. I still think what does the construction of septic tanks help me do in doing performance tuning of the Oracle/DB2 databases I work with now.

7. Agriculture : Where is the 'aam aadmi'? We take a step back at 90's where India was still an agricultural country with huge rice/wheat and pulses exports. Tech. and other industries spring up and we quickly forget our past with the lure of iPhones and broadbands that enable us to broadcast our thoughts. Agriculture is disrespected. No good policies are being introduced and the unchanged current ones succeed in ending their lives. We cry out of our veins hearing about 50% FDI and other issues concerning industries that impact cities, but what about these mute people who stomp on mud and glide the glazing Sun everyday to give us food? I would want a very clear and to the point policies that are not overly optimistic but proving legible enough to pave a better future for our agriculturists. Better pricing, lesser middle-men intervention and shinier export policy would make it a career path to the lost souls today are pretty sure of being matched up with a job they don't like. Better power facilities, water facilities and credit structure are the need of the hour and if we do not concentrate we will end up importing rice and wheat.

8. Infrastructure : The party should have an outlook on better daily governance of the country. Infrastructure on the activity path concerning government should be atleast thought out. No one can form a well based plan in a day, but the party that woos me should hint at being thoughtful of this. Online or offline, starting from the passport offices, transport offices and sewage and other public service departments should have a better data flow strategy. It's high time we take a look at the pathetic state of our passport offices and I donot want to go inside the checklist a citizen needs to fulfill to get his passport renewed leave alone getting a new one. Train tickets(is even a single soul happy with irctc website?), busses and other transportation needs to be comfortable to be used by the traveller. You could increase taxation on cars and bikes(roads etc.) if thats what is needed to influence the public to use public transport. But better clean up the messy busses first. I wouldn't want to travel a whole night in a dirty bus that has forgotten what shock absorbers are.

This is one large encompassing area and I know pretty sure that it cannot be changed in a day. But like I said, I need a hint on it being considered.

9. Public places : Forget the thousand elephant statues and the debacle over Kannagi statue, the project in making Indians proud (Project Proud Indians? PPI?) should start from within. I've travelled to Europe, studied and worked in the States and visited exotic east. I've never been very enthusiastic on travelling to remote forest resorts or lakes in North India. Yes you might counter attack with examples from clean and well organized areas, but I would've already travelled there (Corbett park has been my favorite). I see the dirt and forsaken bacterial infested food and containers along the shores of the Naini, a neat layer of green crap over the water and I don't even want to start about the brown waters of the Ganges. It was the first and last time I visited the holy river. I am sure each and every foreign tourist visiting India have a heart of a Lion to go through with it. The lovely white marbles of Agra are getting blackened, nearly twenty percent of the beautiful carvings in Thanjavur's Bragadeeshwarar temple have been recoated. Its a sad state that the only issue I could agree from the Oscar award winning 'ditch-India' movie was about the treatment of tourists when they visit beautiful attractions like Agra. Self pity and 'blame the authorities' board games are what we play when we talk about this situation. Unless they clean up, forget PPI.

10. Sports: Familiar with new-age gen-Y complaining our 'classical' parents with regards to career motivation? Doctor, engineer, studied from the States, these are what they wanted us to be. Does that in anyway portray them being narrow(money!) minded? Never. It is because of lack of other attractive avenues. Sports. How many news reports we hear parents being unhappy to push their children to sports? The extent also includes some stopping to pay for schools. Take Spain or any European nation for that matter, take USA, and the importance of sports they give from the young formative ages. I went to an American Football game between two high schools that were watched by thousands. I thought how awesome it would be if it was between say Don Bosco institutions and Vidya Mandir associations India, and I hit my head for being over optimistic. Millions of parents in thousands of families around the world respect sports for having a viable future. What about India? Cricket, yes. And the buck stops there. Eleven hard working players get to represent the national team to earn good money. Every heard how much the state players get paid? A tech industry junior project manager gets higher. I have to defend myself here saying I am a project manager in tech Industry too. But I love sports. I take a look at organizations for young adults and children and find the ratio to be worse than 1:1000 (one institute per thousand kids). We hear about Leander Paes and Abhinav Bindra for winning titles in the highest level but the sad fact is that we can count them all with our ten fingers.

The party that needs my vote should clearly show it takes sports seriously, starting with changing the 12 hour a day education system with impractical lessons to more and better governed departments concerning the grass root development in Sports. We will then notice an India with multi faces and at the same time lesser obesity problems in young children.

Enough said. I should not be over-optimistic to think one single party would satisfy more than half of the above requirements. We start slow, but the most important thing is that we start. The steps might be small but it should oppose to being stale. I hope I don't present as being over optimistic, and on a wrong account of it being the case I'd ask the reader to study about the resurgence of Chinese and Japanese societies and how the Japs became a world super power within fifty years from being nearly bombed off the map.

We are intelligent, we have it in our DNAs. A thousand references to scientific and social achievements in prehistoric and medieval ages should prove as an inspiration to change for the good, appreciate pluralism in society and become proud of our country. It's high time our government workers(3) and head of it's departments start laying the path to that.

1 - This is a generalistic opinion, I do respect every hard working public servicemen in India

2 - I had two chances to vote, first time my name wasn't in the list, 2nd time someone else already voted. I couldn't do anything about it due to lack of time

3 - I won't use the term leaders, because I don't find any

Post read - Our Scissorland

Review : The Darkest Hour

2012-01-16T03:45:00.000-08:00

The movie was not worth the money we spent on the tickets, add to it the cost popcorn and sweetened water called coke I felt very sad losing double of it. Alien invasion, widespread panic and an ending in dystopia, the movie promised a pulp fun and the action junkie in me needed some food for thought. Here is what I felt post the trauma.

Sean and Ben visit Moscow to pitch for their 'original' idea of a social mobile app that would connect travelers sharing their review of places they visit. They end up defrauded by an opportunist liaison who had lured them with dreams of big money and early retirement. Sean is an eternal optimist while Max tends to be a semi-realist. Reality strikes when they enter the meeting room only to be confronted by an already started one lead by Skyler. They find themselves duped for being naive to have not worked with an NDA(non-disclosure apathy?). Having met with the incident that saw their hopes and dreams raise up in thin air they both try to find solace with alcohol, and enter a fancy bar.

Here is where they meet Natalie and Anne, young ladies travelling from America who also happen to use their app in beta stage who also happen to be gorgeous who also happen to be haggled by monstrous Russians in need of plan B*. They meet up and start getting to know each other when all of a sudden the power shuts down. Everyone comes out to the streets where they are presented with a beautiful art in the sky resembling the northern lights(Aurora Borealis). Little do they know that the lights disintegrate and reach the ground only to vaporize anything it touches(even the speeding bullet from the policeman). Panic strikes in and everyone flees to safety. Skyler shuts the door down leaving his date to be killed by the forces to which he explains as the act of survival of the fittest. The director did try to push some sanity into the story. But little did WE know that it was all the sanity the story had.

The five survivors (Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne and Skylar) gets holed up in the kitchen of the bar they were partying, feeding on whatever they could. They come out after three days only to find the incident had been widespread and everyone around had been killed. They also face the reality that the entire world had been invaded and whether their wish to go back home is still possible as they ponder what Home meant anyway. The group meet Russian police and learn the invasion was to rob the world off it's minerals(V-the visitors anyone?). Slowly they begin to learn about the invasion, the aliens who insulate themselves inside a force field, narrowly escaping from one's sight in the smallest interval possible even without looking at it. As the film watcher is put to these misery, we are shown how easily the group finds the way to track them using light bulbs and another lucky event by which they learn the invader's sight is obstructed by glass.

After getting impatient of being holed up and wanting to find fellow survivors, the group loses Skylar during the roam while they find Vika and the 'home electrician or a plumber' Sergei who has enough knowledge to construct a Faraday Cage that insulates them from the aliens. He also shows his invention, an untested high energy microwave beaming gun positioning them to be the first 'Alien Invaders'. Things begin to get cocky and boring after which the director in dire need of drama kills the beautiful Natalie(how she get their hairdo and mascara even after holed up by a widespread panic is only be conceived by the director - image to your left) and Sergei and his overweight cat which he sings to. The surviving three meet another group of fighters and the movie ends with a high note of the group reaching a submarine leaving for the States and finding that a group in Paris had managed to destroy one of the alien mining towers.

Some have called the film to be `lacking in imagination` and not having a strong story line. I liked the director for being true to us viewers to present a tag like 'Survive the holidays'. It appealed to me that he was betting on the sanity of the viewer's life after watching a crap as this. I will not end the review with just bashing. There is one positive note I took back, that the aliens can be intelligent(power insulation), fast and not be egg heads. The director has searched the other end of galaxy that Stephen Speilberg, Ronald Emmerich and James Cameron for the inspiration which also proves the negative effect he had on me as opposed to the geniuses above.

One of the main reasons I wanted to watch the movie was the cast. Apart from the mental drool I had over Rachel Taylor, I've watched the amazing performance by Olivia Thirlby on The secret and more recently in the massive hit - Juno. Emile Hirsch has proved again that he has little intelligence in selecting movies after his run with The speed racer. Max Minghella acts averagely as he had done on 'The social network' and theres nothing new here. All in all a movie to be missed.

Genre : Fiction/alien-invasion
Positives : Graphics, the aliens themselves
Negatives : Everything but the two positives
Rating : 3/10

Please 'Survive the holidays' by not wasting your money and time on this movie. How bad I felt to have made the decision after finding no shows for the highly rated Tinker taylor soldier spy.

Short story : Have I lost him?

2012-01-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

Story below is an entry for the 'Picture Worth Your Words Contest' picture prompt #1

Johan bid goodbye to his team and sat in the taxi. He was to catch the eight thirty train to Frankfurt. An hour still remained before the departure and the train station was twelve miles from the camp. He was in time. All his stomach tasted after the victory over Heerenveen was alcohol. The normal club hopping grew into an after party as uninvited guests stormed through the wee hours with disparate liquids to share. His head was so heavy when he tried to wake up that he slept the whole of the next day. It was time to leave, to meet his parents for the New Year. Johan had broken two promises before and was not prepared to hear Martha's lecture once again.

The taxi started and Johan looked at the passing city. Amsterdam was beautiful in the morning and the Sun started to warm his nape from left. The rear windshield was without any light control film and that helped him warm up for the long travel ahead. He took out the chicken salad sandwich from the backpack and had just started eating while the car came to a screeching halt. Johan almost threw the sandwich on the driver's head.

"Sorry sir, I did not watch the changing lights" said the man in the white.

"Its ok. Were you too back from a great party?" Johan asked with an expression that wondered what in the world was the driver doing.

"Yes sir I just turned 50 and my buddies took me to the Pink table last night. I am sure it will not happen again"

"What will not happen? You partying or missing the lights and scaring the bejesus out of me?" Johan was laughing.

"Missing the light I mean. I am a single guy, no family, so freedom to party is a part of my life. With the variety of girls you get to be with in Holland, I can't imaging not doing it", said the cabbie. He was smiling too but the change in the bulge in his cheeks is all Johan could see.

"Aight buddy, please get me to Zuid with my soul intact, that's all I ask of you"

"You are not from here are you? American?" asked the driver turning to Johan.

"Yes I live in America but sir you need to look to the front, the light is already green" Johan said pointing at the signal.

"You got me. Haha" laughed the driver.

"You are not from here either, are you?"

"No I am from Denver. Name's Kristen but changed to Klaas to fit in" and we went forward.

"Ok I'm Johan and from Dallas"

"Nice to meet you Johan. So you came all the way to play in Eredivisie?"

"Yes, who won't if you are given thousands of dollars a week." saying that he bit his lips. He remembered what happened when he dwelved his salary last time, even his socks were robbed.

"Don't worry son. I don't have a gun". He had apparantly seen Johan's expression from the rear view mirror. They both laughed.

After talking about how the new administration in the States was changing the world and how America needs a leader who could do stuff instead of just talk about it, Johan reached Zuid. He thanked Kristen for helping with the baggage by tipping ten Euros for which the older bachelor wished him the year's Eredivisie title. 'If only we could get that ' Johan thought and went inside.

After the passport and security checks during which he was so happy to not be touched in the wrong places, Johan reached the third platform even before the train had left the hangar. The magazine shop was his savior.

"Do you have the latest issue of Top Gear magazine?" Johan asked to the beautiful young girl who was having a tough time handling the overwhelming customers. He did not get a reply.

"First day is it?" He asked with a louder tone.

"Yeah? Sorry, what do you want?" she asked.

"Top Gear, the yearly special edition please". She went to the back door, yelled something in German and came back with the book.

"Here it is, 7 Euros 99 cents please". Handing her a ten Euro bill he said "Johan, may I know your name?". She stopped serving the next customer, stared at him and continued her work pretending to have not heard him. The little girl next to her got his money and handed him the change.

"Johan it is, if you did not get it earlier" he clarified and started to walk.

"Michelle". He turned back. "Sorry, I don't give my name to strangers, but, Michelle it is". She smiled at last.

"Thanks Michelle, you work here full time?"

"Until I complete my degree in the Technische" Michelle replied.

"Oh ok, meet you in, two weeks time" Johan left waving his right hand with the magazine slowly enough to not spill the coffee he held in his left.

He gazed at the cover of the magazine without losing the grin on his face.

"You play for Ajax don't you?". Michelle was loud. He turned and nodded sipping his coffee.

"All the best for the season, come back soon. You need to beat Utretcht next." she said. One of the customer started to curse her for not serving them. She did not care but stayed looking at Johan.

"Thanks my lady, your wish will be fulfilled" saying that Johan took a bow. She fell in laughter. Johan's eyes met her golden blonde long hair that brushed her blouse. Michelle could not say anything but show her thumb in appreciation. Johan had a thing for girls who followed Soccer, he waved and walked to his platform. But this was different. Johan got a crush on Michelle.

He could not wait patiently in the car 6 room and constantly walked over to the main aisle to get a peek of Michelle. It had been nearly six months Rita had broken up, he needed female companionship, and of course the warmth of skin at night. Johan never spent for sex and was happy to not give in to Alexis's request to bring in strippers for the party. 'You don't have balls, or if you do they don't work' he had yelled. Alexis was drunk.
Michelle noticed what Johan was doing and with a little smile she continued serving her customers. After a while the train left. She felt sad.

Johan sat at the window and experienced the beauty of Holland, he loved Europe. The beautiful women, the churches, the history, it was special. Green fields changed into huge car factories as they reached Utrecht. Johan prayed he should not get another three hundred pound monster this time as his neighbor. It would take six hours to reach Frankfurt and he was not prepared to smell a sweaty fat man again, his last travel in the reverse direction had been the worst he could remember. He became happy when a middle aged lady wearing a beautiful violet coat sat. After the initial wishes, Johan again lost himself at the beauty of the highlands enveloping the train route to Germany, he continued thinking of Michelle.

Half an hour later while he was dancing with Michelle who was covered in a beautiful white dress under a yellow grand chandelier, Johan was woken up by repeated loud noises. The train began to slow down rapidly and the car started to wobble to the right. Before he could comprehend what was happening he was thrown to his left. The whole car turned and fell on its side and Johan flew falling over a pile of travelers. He could hear explosions and feel the heat of fire. Before Johan could stand up, the whole slew of baggage from the side where he was sitting hit him. He fell into darkness.

---------------------------------------

It was an hour past midnight when George was about to end his day. The rerun episode of Doctor Who in BBC America came to an end. He needed to get up early to renew his driving licence when the flash news appeared.

ICE train derails in the outskirts of Utrecht. Hundreds injured. Twenty two confirmed deaths. Two cars totally burned to ashes. It was traveling to Frankfurt.

The news kept looping and George did not know why it concerned him but he kept reading it. It then it him. Utrecht. He walked up the stairs holding his right knee as he failed to collect his cane.

"Martha! Wake up. Wake up Martha" his hands were trembling when he tried to shake her to life. She woke with a jerk and lifted her upper body to fetch the glasses.

"Didn't you say Johan was traveling to Frankfurt before taking the American Airlines?" he asked sitting on the bed.

"Yes he is. What in the world is happening? Why did you wake me up?" she asked with a trembling voice, not knowing what would come next.

"Was he travelling in the snow train?"

"Snow train?". She could not understand what Georgie was blabbering.

"Snow, aah God! Ice , ice train?" he shook her with his right hand hoping it would bring a quicker answer.

"Yes, I.C.E - Inter city express. What is happening George?" she put her hand over his.

"It, it met with an accident. Hundreds injured, many died. Some cars were entirely burned down." he put his head over her left arm and started to cry.

"Stop it George, nothing would happen to Jo. He will be alright. Just wait for a few hours, he will call your mobile himself, if you have enough charge on that damn thing" saying Martha pulled George off of her.

He sat staring at her not sayign a word for more than ten minutes even after she requested repeatedly. Martha got up, picked up her glasses and walked down to the living room. BBC America was still on, and a female reporter was talking.

It is very sad news. An eighteen wheeler got stuck in the crossing and could not start before the train came. The gatekeeper had tried to pass the news to Utrecht Ost but the line was jammed. His mobile phone did not work too. What we are seeing are the live shots from the scene of the accident. Hundreds are injured and with twenty six confirmed deaths, we fear there might be more. As you see the local farmers are helping clear out the rubble and locate people stuck below the mess.

The pictures were gory and awful. Martha started to tear unconsiously. Men were lifted off in streachers, by local people holding their hands and legs, in small cars and trucks. It was blood everywhere. As they were telecasting the camera shook. Yellow flames engulfed the background of the scene. A fresh explosion in the fuel car. Martha cried 'God!' and held both hands at her mouth.
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Mark dropped his son off in school and was driving to the grain reservoir. It was the last day of the quarter and he had to ship nearly half a ton of rice today if he needed to dodge the failure. Buyten shipping has missed the quarterly targets and it had always been because of rice. It was either the truckers missing deadlines or the worms infecting the whole containment. He was determined to reach the target this time. Mark had been working sixteen hours straight the whole week only to return home this morning as Lydia was traveling. Mario needs to go to school, it was his exams.

Mark tuned the radio to 102.1 FM that played the Smithsonian folk music. He was tapping the wheel and singing the songs aloud, he knew each one of them. Road narrowed and lush green fields started to envelop the path. He saw an eighteen wheeler car hauler a few hundred yards in front. It seemed to be stopped. Mark knows well that it should've been an axle failure, had had worked with cars half of his life. It took him another ten seconds to see it stood stationary right in the middle of the train tracks. There were few guys running around the driver area and the gate controller room. It took him another ten seconds to understand the gravity of the situation. Mark heard the long horn of a train approaching from the left and turned to see it was a high speed one.

It was as though he was watching Die Hard movie right in front of his eyes. The train collided head on with the mid section of the car hauler. Three of the cars on the upper level were thrown off wild and they flew some hundred yards and rolled over the fields. The cars in the lower level weren't so lucky, they were crushed by the weight of the overrunning engine and the passenger cars. He turned left to take a look at the train. One after the other every car began to topple to the right like row of leaning cards toppling in succession. But this was in a larger scale. Mark stopped his truck along the side and jumped out. His eyes were stuck on the magnanimity of the situation that he did not recognize other cars stopping behind him. It was another minute before a wild explosion blew the entire gate keeper's room away. He thought that should've been triggered by the fuel burning in the engine. Mark still couldn't believe what he was seeing. The older couple behind him started to cry and a man was trying to classify his wife. Mark ran to his seat, starting his truck he drove toward the crossing.

The engine was split at the center with electrical charges vibrating the metals under it. Mark knew too well to not reach anywhere near it. He ran to the first passenger car. All he heard was cries for help, moans and people desperately trying to open the door that appeared stuck. Mark ran over the door and kicked the handle hard down. It swung downward open. Before he could peek inside people started climbing out. An Asian with a round glasses came out first. His right hand bled but apart from that he looked fine. He and Mark started pulling up one passenger after another. Those who had come out were injured lightly. They ran toward the other passenger cars to help. After some five passengers were lifted he started to feel the gore of the accident. Small girl with turned back hands, a middle aged man with amputated leg, a teenage boy with an object stuck into his right eye. Mark almost puked seeing that but he knew he should not waste any second. Closing his mouth with his left hand, Mark continued lifting up passengers. After two others came to help in action Mark ran and jumped off the car and puked. He the wiped his mouth and looked to his left. An army of injured men, that was the best way he could put it. Tens of them not able to walk. People from the cars further back were trying to run away into the fields.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to an hour. Mark was sweating. He helped stop a girl from bleeding, carried a middle aged man on his hands and placed him on the field. The work was far from complete. T.V crews arrived on copters when Mark was helping the final passenger car. He stood by the door in the front and was pulling an adult female when he heard a cry.

"EVERYBODY RUN AWAY. THE FUEL TANK IS GOING TO BLOW" cried a man and ran into the field. There was an adult man wearing a blue shirt shouting for help from inside. Everyone around him ran into the fields and in other directions, away from them. Mark almost started when he heard the man cry and looked inside. His head was covered with blood and his left fingers were all fractured. He could use just his right hand that made Mark lift him tougher.

"Hold on buddy, don't let go. It will be over within a minute. Come on keep holding my palm" Mark said to the man wearing blue.

"OK this is all I can do, please be faster. I don't want to die in explosion, I have just survived the accident" he said.

As Mark was about to pull him out, his left leg got stuck. He cried in pain when Mark tried to pull with a force. Mark apologized and asked the man to free his leg.

"I cant move my legs, I cant move my legs, I cant move my legs" the man continued in terror. His eyes showed what he felt. Mark was out of luck, he had only one way. Without another thought Mark let go of the man's hand and jumped into the car. The man fell down unable to use his leg.

"I am going to lift you on my shoulders, I need you to go further up as you can. Use your right hand to catch the bottom of the car and try to lift your body. I'll push you up from here." Mark yelled.

"How would you then climb " before he could finish Mark bent and caught his hips with his hands. The man was heavy, he would be atleast a hundred and ninety pounds. Mark lifted his shoulders with a cry of rage and a want to save this man's life. His life is in danger too, now that he is stuck inside the passenger car.

After the man replied affermative on getting a hold Mark pushed his hips high as he could. The man was going up and his legs were in front of Mark's face. After a minute he was able to get out completely. Mark was still inside.

He tried to jump to get a hold of the guy's hand but it kept slipping. After eight tries Mark understood he needed a different plan. He looked around trying to see if he can climb onto something while he heard footsteps above. Another two hands joined the guy's and Mark caught them on the first try. He was raised above by a middle aged guy who looked like a truck driver. He smiled on exiting and atonce turned his attention toward the injured passenger. He lay on his chest. Mark caught both of his hands and his savior caught his legs.

"On count of three, one..two..three" and they both jumped off the car holding the guy. All three of them fell on soft paddy plants that gave them sufficient cushion. The two men stood up and started pulling the passenger away from the car as fast as they can. Before Mark could turn to see in front a huge shockwave carried him twenty feel and he fell rolling over the plants. The explosion sent rubble that hit his head. The passenger landed next to him and although he cried in more pain Mark was happy he was alive. He lifted his body up and saw the horror. The trucker who had helped him get out lay a few feet toward the train. His face was smashed to an extent that the features were all wiped off. It was pure gore as Mark could spot the eye chamber empty. The shock was unbearable. Next thing Mark could see was total darkness.

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The coverage on the accident continued on television. George had joined Martha on the couch and they were looking at new video addition to every half an hour news report. It was almost dawn and the sky turned grey. Just then the t.v anchor appeared again.

We've heard stories of bravery, stories of courage to put the injured passengers ahead of them. Common men rising above the ranks to give another chance in life for the injured. Just like this gentleman.
Turning toward the interviewee she continued the coverate.
May we know your name sir?

I am Mark.

Mark, we just heard from the members of this soccer team Ajax, that it was you who was responsible for their prolific striker and greatest friend to be still alive. What did you think when you were helping him knowing the fuel tank could explode any minute?

I can't stand there staring at a living guy who's unable to help himself and just run for my life, can I? I won't be able to live another day if I did.

You are an individual extraordinaire Mr. Mark. The player owes his life to you.

They turned towards a bunch of guys wearing football jerseys. The group yelled in joy when the camera focused in on them. Just then George's mobile rang. Martha immediately jumped out of the couch and took the call.

"Mum this is Johan. I am alive Mum. You don't know what happened and how I was saved". Johan started to cry. Martha controlled her emotions.

"We know son, you owe your life to Mr. Mark."

~~ The end ~~

Copyright 2012 Arun Srinivasan

This entry is a part of BlogAdda contests in association with Zapstore.com

Review : The hunger games

2012-01-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

Genre : Fiction/Dystopian

Set in the dystopian world of future America, the ruling city of Capitol selects two tributes(individuals) from each district (12 of them) and pits them against one another in a giant arena to be watched and entertained by the living world. The Hunger games gets its name as the district from which the winner is, gets better food supply for one year till the next games begin. World has fallen and it is Panem that governs what is left. It rules with iron fist that results in discrimination and anarchic freedom less lives in the districts. They in turn go on the offensive to down The Capitol. Set in force to take revenge on the districts who had warred against the Capitol for freedom and to show the districts that the Capitol is still the ruler, reminding them of what would result if they repeat the offensive again The Capitol conduct the hunger games.

District 12 is the outermost one in the living world that borders the totaled and completely wiped off district 13. They always remember what the power of Capitol is and the result if they are provoked. Here is where Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne spend their days sneaking into the sealed forests. They enjoy the freedom hunting and fishing and make sure their sneakiness goes unpunished by including members of high society in their clientele. The Mayor, the baker and the butcher are included. Katniss is a self made individual losing her father to a mine accident when she was young, where all that remained of him were bits and pieces. Her mother loses interest in life and shun from daily activities of raising their children. Katniss's sister Primrose turned twelve, the age when kids become eligible for The Hunger Games.

Come d-day, lots take place that are televised to the entire world for selecting the tributes. By fate or ill-luck(probability) Primrose gets chosen for which Katniss volunteers to replace. This act has been unseen before and evokes surprise from the viewers. Her chosen mate is Peeta Mellark, the son of the baker. Peeta had lived a well fed life by the way of wasted loaves daily and unfamiliar to the fresh food hunted down everyday, a life led by Katniss. She gets confused on the relationships she has to build going forward. Should she befriend Peeta? What if it turns out to her disadvantage and he kills her. How about the only previous winner from her district Haymitch. Living few minutes sober everyday should his words be treated seriously?

Katniss's objective is helped by every character she comes across. Her stylist Cinna, the representative from Capitol Effie all seem to help her. Cinna's makeover and dress selection is spot on that captures the attention of the 'sponsors', people wealthy enough and interested enough to help the players by supplying them objects in need through the games. The rating she gets during practice even after she 'offends' the judges' lack of attention towards her by shooting an arrow at their food somehow shows she is 'special'. This is further helped by the open revelation from Peeta's love for Katniss during their public appearance that makes them look like star-crossed lovers.

The games start and Katniss experiences the real threat, the darkness and the fear of it all. Her hunting days comes in very helpful as she is able to hide on the fork of high trees during the cold nights. She gets confused on what she should feel for Peeta, after having seen him with the special tributes from districts 1-3, befriends the young, petite and good hearted Rue only to see her die in her arms. Katniss shows grit to overcome thirst, menacing predators, special incursions like the mutts introduced only to increase the 'drama' of the games, gets help from sponsors and experiences a 'for the television' love from Peeta. She comes out winning and the plot during the games is described very well.

The final chapters showed how Katniss, to save Peeta at the end of the games opposes the Capitol and in turn becomes a 'political' enemy of the system. It also shows what happens to the tributes after they are lifted off by a hovercraft on their death, when Katniss recognizes one of her mate's eyes in a muttant or mutt as they call them. It further ends with a revelation from Peeta, setting the plane for the next book.

I am waiting for Book 2 - 'Catching fire' that is still in transit. If the pace and the beautiful characters continue as words and chapters in book 2, I will be experiencing a wonderful trilogy.

High points : Characterization, pace

Low points : Not enough physical description about the world, more social information(reason it was that fast?)

Rating : 8.2/10

In the end : If you love fast paced story with great characters, this is it. No wonder it is made into a film. Go for it.

Short story: Somethings should never be lost forever.

2012-01-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

"What's in a name?" asked Emile with a smile. She was still holding Reny's hands under the bright white bulb.

"What's in a name? Everythings in a name. It forms the identity of the baby" replied Reny squeezing her hands to denote the importance of the point he just made.

"The identity, her spot in the class queue, everything", he continued explaining his point more than what the situation required, as always.

"Ok but you have to agree my mother's name will be her middle" Emile spoke pulling her eyebrows up.

"Agreed"

"When are we going to tell our parents?"

"This afternoon we go to my dad's home and to yours this evening"

"Wow, this is early? I..I didn't plan for it"

"What should you plan for breaking a lovely news? This ain't giving a speech or something"

"No. I need to make my mind up" said Emile and pulled her hands out from his, displaying her disagreement.

"I don't get girls, not even you. What are you people made of? What is the worst that could happen? Think about it. Are our parents going to kill us? " Reny raised his voice in anxiety.

"That could happen with mine, you know!"

"Yes, it could. Didn't they go through raising you up? They'd be mentally unstable after years of toil that would've given them" he shook his head up and down with a scorn.

"You are hurting me Ren. Its ok if you had made fun of me in school, but now I am carrying a baby in me. You are going to be a father, please understand where we are going toward. Please stop hurting me, you know..."

"Ya. I am sorry I understand". Reny's apology was with no emotions, as always.

Emile and Reny had been a great pair at school. He had met her during the orientation day for the mid-term transfers, she stood opposite to him. She wore a red skirt and a red coat over a white blouse. Her hair was short and dyed red. This opposing to her white flawless skin made Reny have a crush on her at that moment. He shook her hands during introduction hour and did not pull back for a full five minutes that everyone noticed it. He considered himself poet, always loved to write short poems although most of them were just prose with scrambled length. Emile became the subject of his poems then on.

"No you don't Ren, yet another soulless apology. I am afraid of what I have done, oh God.. What have I done". She closed her eyes with her palms and started to weep with no sound.

Reny tried to hold her shoulders but she moved away. Emile removed her palms and looking at Reny continued to weep.

"Oh, come on Em what did I do? Was my sorry so worthless to you now? Did you think you have a moral highground just because you are pregnant? Come on already!" Reny's pulse increased.

"You don't know what my tears mean, especially now. Your support is the first thing I need. You have never respected me Ren. I had always thought you were doing it to show your male chauvinism in front of the school, never thought it was real."

"Stop it now Em, seriously, I am sorry, yes you need all my support, my priority is you, only you", saying that he hugged Emile but she moved away again.

"What the fuck went into you today" shouted Reny and thumped the wall. The whole partition shook and drops of rain water fell over his head.

It had been raining heavily for the last two hours. The streets were flooded so much that Reny decided they couldn't cross the fields. They took shade in a small bus stop, it helped them little.

"I asked what the fuck went into you, damn you girls. You worthless bitches, can't do shit of your own. Need a good pizza? 'Please Ren' it is, need a ride to the store 'oh Ren how I love riding with you', need a book 'please Ren won't you do this little thing for your love', that too with a fake smile. You unworthy girls" he lost his temper and started to scare her.

"I am sorry Reny, if that is what you thought of me, I won't bother you anymore. It had all been one big lie, one big show for you. How unlucky I am to get someone like you to share my heart out to". She had used his full first name this time. Saying that she wiped her eyes off of tears and started towards her parents' home in the rain.

"Em, come on, sorry again baby. I am hung over from last night's party and you know I got wrongly accused of copying the essay when that bastard Arthur should've been sent out, I got an F. Me going to be a father scares the shit out of me. Sorry Em, stop walking and come back" he tried to obstruct her walk.

"It is done Reny, here is your ring" she removed it and with no anger pulled his right palm and placed on it. She continued her walk. It was another ten minutes before which he could convince her that even if she didn't take him back she could at least stand under the bus stop and not catch a cold, "not when you are in this delicate situation" he said.

They stood there for another fifteen minutes without sharing a single word. No car or bus came by for her to leave the scene. Emile sobbed in mute and she did not stop. Reny tried to hold her left arm twice and failed, the second time with a scornful look from her.

"Remember the day when we kissed for the first time? At the mall? You wore a beautiful blue velveteen dress and your hair was long. You dyed it beige. I still remember every detail." She continued looking away and Zeus did not stop his work with the water from heavens.

"It was the day when I forgot what was happening around me. After we kissed I kept looking at your face for ten minutes and I held your hands the entire time. I was flying above the land. You know, even when I reached home I couldn't sleep. I listened to that Saigon Kick song 'I love you' and had it on repeat. I looked at the photos I took of you on the tour the whole freaking night. You gave me hope Em, after my parents separated I felt I wanted to die, just leave everything and go away. My mum rambled shit about my dad and how he flirted with other women, my dad told me false stories about how bad my mother was drunk, and how she nearly killed him with a bottle one night." She slowly turned and looked straight and then down.

"The next morning, although with just four hours of sleep I was beaming with energy. I couldn't wait to phone you. I went to the gift shop and bought those stationary and made that card, I hope you still have it. It took me seven full hours to tie those papers up." She slowly started to move her cheeks upward and widen her jaw.

"You know, I scored A in all the subjects that year. You were my future, I had to come out well. I wanted to join a big bank, earn loads of money and buy you beautiful dresses. You remember the first dress I gifted you? That night, ah the best night of my life".
----------------------------------

It was the first of a row of parties Pete hosted. His parents had gone on a vacation to Jamaica leaving the huge mansion to himself. Reny wanted to show off by making Em wear a dress he bought.

Luss accompanied Reny to the first four dress stores he visited. He was the only guy who did not care if the world thought two men visiting girls dress stores were gay. Reny rejected every dress the salesmen presented. It was always big or small or it showed too much of her breasts or her posterior side.

"She doesn't have an ass for Christ's sake" Luss commented and was replied with a strong slap that sent him flying toward the mirror. He cussed Reny and walked off.

The dress had to be perfect and the town did not have one to match Em's beauty. He took every dress in front and imagined her wearing it, with her beautiful smile, the smile that had been patinated with words from his heart a thousand times before. Not one matched his want. It was in Samanthas that he was able to smile for the first time that day. After losing almost all of his yearly savings he gift wrapped it with a label of one of his poems.

He met Emile at her dorm's lobby and gifted her. Every girl around them sighed in disbelief when she opened it. Em hugged him tight with a drop of tear jumping out of her left eye to show the world of the emotion. She realized what it is to be made a queen by a lover. Reny penned four poems that day of the event.

It was four when Reny met Emile in front of her dorm. He sat in the waiting room going through the pages of meaningless coffee table books when Luss's hands squeezed his shoulder. Reny looked at her and stood up with his mouth open. She noticed it and giggled walking down the stairs. Emile kept her left hand over Reny's thigh the entire trip in his GTO. He was the king of the world and she was his beautiful queen.

Everyone praised Emile's dress to which she directed all the comments toward Reny. He was still the king of the world. After four hours of slow dancing and drinking wine, everyone changed to a casual attire. The sound system started to play rock music and the volume corresponded to the alcohol level in Pete's blood. Trip hop was followed by what they called the new genre, disco followed.

After another couple of hours Reny pulled Emile from the crowd and brought her to his green mean cat. Entering through the rear doors he pulled her in and kissed her tight. They made passionate love then and slept hugging each other. Luss came after the party and saw them together. He woke Reny up with a slap and pulled him out and asked "Did you wear a rubber?"

"No man, I did not have it. I did not want to miss the moment by searching for it"

"Shit, God help she doesn't get pregnant. What have you two done? You had the best of days wasted your life now." Luss did not stop.

"Its ok Luss, I will buy birth control pills and take care this time" Emile tried to save Reny.

"Yeah right, you go to the pharmacist and ask for birth control pillls. Next moment your dad is going to find it and kill you or atleast move away from this place". He had been right. She couldn't get the birth control pills.

It had been ten weeks since then. The rain continued to pour heavily.

"We were the best of couples then Em, it had just been ten months." continued Reny. Her cheeks bloomed to show a full smile.

"Do you really think I am a worthless girl? I can get the books myself you know? I really feel together holding you tight. I really love you Reny, when will you learn?"

"I know your love for me Em. I am really sorry. Give me one chance, one last time. If I hurt you like this ever again, you can walk away, abort the baby if you need to ..." Reny never knew what to say when to say them.

"Abort the baby? What are you talking eggplant face? Never will I lose something of you" replied Emile with an assertive tone. He looked at her, caught her hands and started to cry.

"I am sorry, I love you very very much Em. You know I do. I just blabber shit sometimes. I will never do that to you anymore". She laughed when he said 'shit', a laughter with joy, with finding something she thought she lost, with a new hope.

He sat on his bike and looked at her with a longing smile. She joined him in the back, tightly hugging him. Reny rode with his left hand holding her right. Somethings should never be lost forever.

This story has been selected for Love2012 competition over at http://yourstoryclub.com

is entry is a part of BlogAdda contests in association with Zapstore.com

Short story: Finally!

2012-01-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

A detour from my normal writing schedule to dwelve into a feeling every guy experiences once in his life.

Short story in figment http://t.co/zvA3oRVk Please comment on the plus and the minuses.

Short story: The toughest minute

2012-01-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

I wrote a short story in figment fiction toward the dailyTheme short writing drive for today the fourth of January. It can be read here. The theme was

Describe in detail the few moments before a character is about to do something he or she is mortally afraid of. How does the anticipation affect her physically and emotionally? How does he gear himself up? And what happens next?

Please do have a read and comment here, after all the author's biggest applause is the comments from his reader.

Amateur writers from India

2012-01-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

I love writing, its just that partly because of my procrastinating personality and distractions I don't get to write often. Another flaw I have understood is that I don't edit or even re-read what I write. The latter is being worked upon to be reversed so the posts could have some fluidity in writing, and the first attempt was the last post - the war under a hot sun.

Here is 2012 and the status updates flooding the social web is making fun of resolutions by pointing out our screen resolution. Jokes aside, I have resolved to write more, for my own fun because I like it, and to take an honest shot at what my ability is worth.

To enable others like me who are interested in writing a novella or short story(not a personal blog post), I have created a sub reddit - 'Amateur writers from India'. If you like writing a story or even like to know what the level of amateur writing is in India please subscribe to it.
I started working on a fantasy story a year ago and shelved it half way(like I do most of the activities in my life), and am planning to publish one chapter a week this year, mainly on that subreddit.

I am going to keep tabs on my life this year inspired by this article and hope to get more ticks.

Again, happy new year and hoping 2012 will pave the way for better society where self passions are grown and negative energies get quelled.

Short story: The war under a hot sun

2011-12-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

The rubble from La Combre's horses continued to rain on my helmet and the broken pieces feathered the eyes continually. It had been four hours since we started for the day.

The river was still flowing around huge boulders and its blue surf from the coast was following us eternally. The reflection of the noon sun emanating from the balding head of Naryiana showered my mood with anger by blocking my vision. I had continually ordered him not to take his helmet off for which his latest quirky reply was 'no dragon's breadth can break my skull my friend Nura'. Ansirk, Aramuk and Lipak's presence had always brought the worst replies from Nariyana who considered them comical. He was always gifted with their boisterous laugh as an adoration and that instant was no different.

Increased presence of pines and eucalyptus tipped me that we reached the boundaries of the forest and were entering the great desert of Kunn. It would take us another three days to reach the castle and provided the guards at the gate were alive to bring down the bridge over the moat we could meet the King in another 76 hours. 'How the fuck can he joke at these times of hardship and loss?' I thought again of the supposed joke Nariyana made the morning before.

The war had taken it's toll on the army and out of ten thousand hordes only twenty three remained. Five knights, ten horsemen and eight war planners had fled the zone the day before after all the Plans had gone awry and the Nats' army had defeated us on all fronts. Free fighters had drowned the land with blood using the mighty pikes and longbows. Even our recon missions had failed. Every fighter alive at that time had sat down with their palms on heads sighing 'why this rage, this rage of death?'. The scene had been gruesome.

As they strode on, a small green spec to the right began to grow wider and taller. There was a small blue dot at it's center which also grew with the reduction of distance. La Combre signalled them to ride towards what he thought to be a small oasis. The winds were strong and my eyes watered due to sand dust. After an hour of riding we reached the oasis. It was beautiful, a serene place in the middle of an unforgiving desert, reminding of the soft touch from my lady every time post lovemaking before I drown into a satisfying sleep, a deep sense of correctness in a world stained with wrong.

'Get all the rest you can, warriors, we need to start as soon as possible' informed La Combre and went about his process of resting his body.
'Marchis, an hour is too little time, fornicate his mother La Combre is a dick.' Naryiana was clearly pissed.
'Yes he is a dick but what do we do, we need to let the head know the news' Lamak said and ran toward the pond to load up his goat skin water holders.
I was about to bend towards the water when I heard more horses arriving at the oasis. This should be wrong I thought, and turned back immediately to see all of the head's army horses being slain. The black trotters have followed us.

'Get the axe' I yelled at Ansirk who was next to me, and after he came to senses at to the attack, we ran toward the pile of our belongings. Longbows flew, axes tasted blood and our war-plotters were disappearing one after the other every second, it was a total disaster.
'Cover my flank' I asked to Ansirk who relayed the same to Naryiana and we ran toward a couple of the enemy horses, double-flanked. I threw my pike at the archer above the horse on the left and Naryiana attacked the right. Ansirk took the life of the archer I downed as I ran toward the horse behind. It was a tall stallion and I knew I won't be able to reach the warrior's chest with my midsword even though I was taller than all my fellow men of the head. It was then I realized he had spotted me and was about to attack and froze there.

My life was gifted back to me by a sharp axe beheading him that was projected by Naryiana. I smiled denoting my gratitude and took over the stallion that reared out of control once it felt a new owner. I switched my midsword for a pike and a longsword from Naryiana and roared towards the horsepack attacking the war-plotters of the head.

The swordsman who wore a black war robe and a silver helmet turned around and rode towards me while I continued my gallop with the pike tilted straight at him. It was at the last moment that I bent to the front and moved my right arm away from my body making the pike parallel and rode through piercing him and finding myself at the center of the pack. The arm caught the heavy longsword's grip and realizing that I was the lonely warrior against the pack I pulled the gullet up and pushed the left stirrup down making the stallion revolve around itself attacking every rider against me. It was another forty grueling seconds before La Combre and Yaja arrived to help me out that I was able to get out of the trap.

After an hour of fighting, we drove off the trotters and our attention fell on La Combre's slain horse and its package under the saddle. It was intact. I removed the package and wiped the dead animal thanking for not losing the object of our travel. I brought my right hand up and yelled 'off we march towards our head' that I felt water all over me.

Looking up to check whether it was raining, I found the sun shone brightly behind my window. The curtains were light in color and did not give me peaceful sleep after seven in the morning. The package of Nokia Lumia 800 I bought from zapstore lay safe under my dead blue pillow.

'Ezhunthiri da magane, deepavaliyum athuvumaa enna kanavu vendi kedakkuthu' said my mother with a scorn and a nine-yard sari around her with me rubbing my hair and scratching my left posterior. Dad was furious and my brother was cheekily laughing as I was caught of yelling 'wotha'. He came to me, patting my shoulder and said 'nee ivvalavu periya thala fanaa??? aana angeyum why this kolaveri-nne paaru, hahaha' and it all came back to me.

Damn I should'nt have read the Game Of Thrones late the night before.

Translation for the non-tamizh readers

'Ezhunthiri da magane, deepavaliyum athuvumaa enna kanavu vendi kedakkuthu' - what on Earth is this, to sleep with dreams on the morning of Diwali

nee ivvalavu periya thala fanaa - are you this big an Ajith-thala fan?[thala-head]

Reverse translation

why this rage, this rage of death - why this kolaveri?

Copyright © 2011 Arun Srinivasan. All rights reserved.

This entry is a part of BlogAdda contests in association with Zapstore.com

What sort of a fan is a FAN?

2011-10-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I tend to think about more often these days is what does the fan in me feel with the passing of time? There are many types of fans out there, fans who can spot the statistical changes in every attribute of every show and fans who feel for what happens in front of them. Who is the bigger fan and who is a show off and how much can we be in the middle of both?

For me being a fan is to like the person/team for what he does during the sport show. I don't care if he dated the Miss Universe and broke up with her the next day because her sister was better in bed, but I do care if he acts hurt to death when a defender caresses his shoulder(in soccer). I am not learning to shape up my individuality but loving what I see in the show. I don't give a shit if the driver who won a world championship shows his back to Formula 1 for WRC and do not smile inside with schadenfreude when he fucks his career up there too, but do so when the pilot of an F1 team whines like a cry baby race in and race out on why he can't finish strong. I don't exactly know how many titles Ferrari F1 team has won, or more than ten drivers who have raced in their cars. I also don't know who won champions league title every year for last ten years or the high points of Liverpool's club history. But what makes me happy and smile is when something like Gerrard coming in as a sub in the Carling cup match having missed for more than six months due to injury. He is not the most gifted midfielder in the world but he has a charisma of passion in him that makes supporting him worthwhile. Same holds for Novak too.

For me, supporting Novak has been exact mini series of my life, happy go jolly young ears as with the mockery shows in Australian open '08(by the way, I seriously thought he would get Maria's attention and would fuck up his tennis career dating high profile star but was happy to be proved wrong), to brilliant forehands but tired fifth sets in Wimbledon and French open in 2010 wondering what would happen the next minute, the thrill of winning and losing, to taking on huge responsibility of being the world number one and getting severely hurt by the time it happened. It was painful to be his supporter, he would win Federer in an insanely awesome way like the US open 2010(I still can feel the awe I felt that day watching some one can come to a match point deficit against Roger and win that match) and be a very boring finalist versus Nadal to lose ordinarily. I was waiting every point during the semi-finals and finals of US open 2011 thinking it would be the last and being very afraid when he lost the third set versus Nadal, but could go the rest of the day with a smile and joy when he thrashed the match on the fourth. I consider myself a big fan.

People have told me that if I am a passionate fan I should be very good with the statistics but I beg to differ with an argument of being half bridge decent is enough. What you feel and what you enjoy watching the favorites do is what matters. Yes I know about the Manchester United-Liverpool rivalry, but only very recently knew Kenny Dalglish's golden years. When I learnt Rafa was the one who made Gerrard play behind the striker in the famous AC Milan Champions league finals that changed the style of the game and was a significant point in bringing the match to a draw at the end of extra time, I couldn't believe they would send him before his contract expired as the team became lousy for a season. It had been a steady decline but that is not the point of argument, it was that I didn't know all the statistics but still felt for the team.

Michael Schumacher has been entirely different ball game. My support for him was like support for my family, he could do wrong, park in middle of the circuit during qualifying, hold number one spot in the team but I would still support him for who he was for me. He was my first hero, the one who could steer a car in speeds greater than 300 kph and still come out overtaking the rest. He was like my own family as my interaction with his driving dates back to my early youth. The first time I watched him drive was during the qualification for Monaco grand prix 1995. The beauty of the place, the sound of the engines and the noise of the cars speeding by got me glued to the screen. He took the pole and was acknowledging the crowd and a new fan was born. I clipped the next morning daily for his picture and was going to support him during the race when he crashed out during the first lap and I was sad. I have supported him ever since and come rain or shine I would never oppose him altogether.

So yes as much as I would like to collect statistics to the point of winning every quiz on the team I don't have enough time or memory to do that. I am very passionate when I support any team and would never do when I don't feel enough. So whoever memorizes every single information from wikipedia on their favorites and pretend that they are a bigger fan than I am, please stop. I know how much my day gets shaped due to a win or loss and I don't give a damn on what they think of my faith on the people who I love watching play.

The above post is concentrated more on my sports interests, but in my other interest - sci-fi/fantasy novels, I loved Ender's game by Orson Scott Card. I even thought Songmaster was good (which were reviewed average in Shelfari), with a homoerotic relationship as center of the story. I then read about the homophobic quotes from the author by chance and that disgusted me as an individual. Anyone who has a non-open thoughts cannot be accepted in the new society, but that doesn't deter me from re-reading his novels and enjoying his writing.

Footnote : Really hope Liverpool to finish top four this year, and Ferrari second in constructors championships.

Protect your eyes

2011-10-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

If you are in the majority that stares at a screen(Television, monitors or laptop screens) for more than 20 hours a week please read the below sentence out loud.

PROTECT YOUR EYES.

Viewing the screen places a lot of stress on the muscles of the eyes which are important in maintaining the focal distance between the retina and the lens of an eye and it's focal length. As with every organic entity it has a threshold in dealing with stress. Once it snaps we are presented with gifts like excruciating headaches, blurred vision that needs correction and even surgery in some cases and you don't need to experience them. I had glasses during my adolescence for far sight correction due to muscular weakness and I hated using them every minute. I felt like being inside a hole and losing half my viewing angle that reduced my mental concentration on issues at hand. Once the far sight correction went away after I crossed twenty I felt as if given a gift to not use glasses. That was when I began to follow these as I need to look at bright screens a majority of my work life.

1 Change the viewpoint at least once every quarter of an hour - it relieves the stress due to brightness and allows refocusing on what the eyes see best - natural world objects

2 Close both the eyes with palms and open the eyelids - just look at the darkness, it brings back the Iris to it's original size and relaxes the muscles. Repeat this with doing so on one eye at a time

3 Perform eye exercises - google this and you can read about tons of them. I do the side to side, up and down and upper oval and lower oval movement exercises. I then do the focus exercise in that I focus on objects in different distances one after next on around ten of them.

Please look after your eyes as they are the window to the world and a major contributor to ones cognitive capacity.

How twitter powers this nerd

2011-10-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Twitter started its life as an online short messaging service wherein people can broadcast anything they want to say in 140 characters or less and can subscribe (‘follow’) to messages from people of their interest. There was confusion initially on where exactly the service would fit having Facebook/Orkut like social applications doing them already. The Iranian revolution happened and the architecture of the application funneled sharing of news, information and media from the revolution, exposing the dark side of autocratic governance. Even the biggest of cable and satellite media in the United States featured news sections concentrating on tweets from the epicenter and used them on public debates.This was a major marketing boom that spiraled the service so much that the downs due to system overload were frequent then.

I gave twitter a try out of curiosity and started following interesting individuals on areas that I love the most, like fictional writing and sports. Everything changed when I got to know the twitter handles of many well known database book authors as following them made me get to know small snippets of their life, the little problems they faced and they way they tackled it. The PR people for companies whose tools I use frequently helped me in staying abreast releases of both technical and documentation content from their corps (@susvis from IBM).

I then discovered all my favorite Formula 1 commentators’ handles. There were tons of links to their columns and other ones of related interest. Rails geeks followed and then the official tweeters of grand slam tennis and the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar’s(@sachin_rt). I started making new friends and having live chats during sports events like the Cricket World cup and the Football Champions league finals. I follow what Ferrari guys think of during an event in a race by refreshing their tweets.

After twitter introduced the lists I have moved almost all of the handles under their correct lists but tend to keep my friends and few very important people under my main page. I have more than 8 lists spanning from database development to Formula 1 to Soccer to Science to Startups to Celebrities from India .
So I thought of writing about how different ways is twitter important in my everyday life. It can be described in two pillars,

Seeking knowledge/staying abreast

News – I follow Dallas Morning news (@dallas_news) , The Hindu (@thehindu), Times Of India(@timesofIndia), The news hour from Times now(@thenewshour)
Sports – around 30 the major ones being – Jerrad Peters for soccer (@peterssoccer), The Wimbledon (@wimbledon), Roland Garros – French open tennis championship (@rolandgarros), Steve Slater (@steveslatorf1) and tons more
Links – I use twitter to follow serial entrepreneurs and popular hackers in Software industry (David Heinemeier Hansson). They post the best discussions and links to tons of knowledge and information ranging to newest puzzles and sorting algorithms to inspirational stuff. Reading first hand information on success of a business gives me a high. This is a major area twitter helps me with, I favorite these links and it naturally becomes another del.ici.ous integrated inside twitter. I usually favorite between 20-40 links a week and spend my Saturday mornings going through them.
I also dig into interesting people’s favorites and have found amazing articles in them. I got to know about the sci-fi author Dan Simmons through one of the fellow fan’s favorite list and I am addicted to his books since then.
Friends – don’t want to spend time to load the email app on your smartphone or send texts that are costly? Tweet a friend and it becomes an asynchronous chat server. I have got amazing new friends from this service, ones ranging from cool soft-designers(@sparklinguy) to great bloggers on social media(@shonali).

There are also shopping sites that publish latest inclusions based on categories in twitter every day which can be of more help for the Womenfolk than men but yes, it is out there J So in this interesting time wherein we read news of hookups and breakups published online or discussions about popularity based on the number of ‘Likes’ a person’s pictures gets on a certain site we can be responsible and use these great tools in the betterment of everything we do.

Vs Facebook ?

A main factor that was responsible for the explosive growth of twitter(1 million apps have been implemented for the web application by July 7 2011) is its architecture itself. Sharing lines of data one after the other reduces noise which are mainly the comments from the people connected in your network graph, which is the main reason for the clunky nature of it’s rival, the Facebook. This in turn aided to twitter’s growth while hindering the spread of Facebook in mobile devices. It takes a lot of time and network to bring up some 10 updates from your ‘friends’ in your stream than ten tweets from your fellow twitheads. Rendering embedded photos and videos add to the injury for uneasy experience using Facebook in mobile devices. Why would you need to see every photo or video shared by every friend of yours when all you want to know is what they are about. This is where twitter’s link sharing mechanism is advantageous. It allows to custom load of objects on demand. I never liked to scroll down 20 times to see around 10 updates in Facebook with many of them being irrelevant pictures and the comments from people you would not be too interested to care about. It is ‘to the point’ in case of twitter, people can comment on your friends’ tweets but it doesn't get listed in your stream. Also the bloated and slow mobile app from Facebook does not help the cause either. Twitter stands far better chance in higher adoption in Mobile market than Facebook or even the new Google+ which is like a mash between Twitter Groups and Facebook.

Connecting

The great area where twitter helps with businesses is the ability to connect with the customers. The #hashtag method it uses has introduced a way to follow what the users tell about a product. This has led to many Public Relations executives to invest heavily on twitter. PR marathon chats wherein they chat with users and discuss about their products are frequent now. This is a win-win situation wherein users and companies hear each others’ thoughts. Business development, marketing and social engineering has gotten a fresh arsenal from this simple application.But #Ireallygetmad from the #insignificantrantsjusttoaddahashtag and am getting madder by the day as this culture is gaining fellowships.

Cons

As with anything in this world there are also grey areas where twitter is trying to clean up. We don’t have any parental controls yet to stop young kids from following handles that dwell on content that are unsafe for them. There are tons of pornographic handles that distributes links to videos, images and there are handles that promise specific content but pass on viruses or Trojans, much in the anonymizer space. It would definitely help if they can come up with a ‘18+ years or older’ policy like the one in YouTube and Google+.

Another problem is the ‘Online dis-inhibition effect’ wherein folks feel that they have the right to treat people in a way that they would never do in real life. People say and do things online that they wouldn't normally say or do in the real world. Researchers call this the "dis-inhibition effect." It's a double-edged sword. Sometimes people share very personal things about themselves. They reveal secret emotions, fears, wishes. Or they show unusual acts of kindness and generosity. We may call this benign dis-inhibition. Sometimes there are toxic dis-inhibition where in people use rude language and harsh criticisms, anger, hatred, even threats. What is the reason for this? Is it because we are more anonymous online than in real world? Or is it because it is our real self that is tied up from spilling out acid in real world suddenly feels relaxed and powerful due to the nature of the web? Twitter is filled in with tweets resulting from toxic dis-inhibition, I myself got a tweet saying asking me to “Shut up’ from a follower who I have never met, just because I was live tweeting about an event. This is not something that the makers of twitter can handle, it is just the way we are. Not all hope is lost as crowd sourcing is heavily employed to upend anonymity online. It took just 24 hours to find the person who looted shops and set cars on fire during the Vancouver Stanley cup playoff riot, identified in YouTube after a person from general public shot the video and posted online, and two days to identify the ‘kissing couple’ during the riots. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/vancouver-riots-2011_n_878128.html). The pervasive social media sites and cheap photo/video hardware have led to this change, but debate rages on the line to be drawn to stop violation of one’s privacy.

The third and an annoying one are the bots – autonomous programs that are meant to mimic a user to spread content. They ‘follow’ you automatically and message you links that may or may not be toxic, but as a push marketing campaign. You can send away door to door marketers but what about these? I use a service called truetwit (www.truetwit.com) wherein any user who follows you will be taken to a website where they would be checked for ‘real’ person by image/speech recognition test.

So here lie the cards, twitter is a very powerful medium to connect with people and is a vast knowledge plane but filled with problems rising from anonymity and unfenced adult subjects. I am a huge propagandist of twitter and hope you will give it a try and in the process get benefited out of it.

Where do you like to go swimming?

2011-07-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Whether it is swimming in the pool the Ocean, thoughts ,ideas, physical or intellectual, it is a fun activity to do. I learnt to swim in the water when I was in my 3rd grade and have loved it ever since.

Photo courtesy Michael Phelps biography

Where would I love to go swimming?

Fresh water. Although I don't oppose intellectual swim, its just that I do the latter in fast paced and short dashes a few times everyday. Fresh water swimming creates a sensation of being free, unconstrained as opposed to the two dimensional planar movement we do bin moving on the Earth's surface.
It is one of the best exercises, it tones more muscles than localized exercises at the gym. The change at the core of the body is in alignment with the other parts that it prevents any long term injuries like the lumbar and back pains that are experienced frequently by localized exercisers.

The stance gets improved, the gluts get toned. We start to stand and move in an open chested fashion that creates an aura of confidence in us. That is a very important attribute that could aid in our social life, be it at work place or at parties.

Where do you like to go swimming?

#Wishlist - Logitech Wireless G390

2011-04-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

A good review from Game Informer and an apt pricing makes me wish this was mine.

Won the Ruby on Rails tutorial book

2011-02-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Partook in the online competition that Obie Fernandez, the author of the 'Rails Way' conducted. It was about our goals and how we approach our careers, and how we are trying to learn the Ruby language, what we feel about the ecosystem etc.
As a eresult I was awarded the 'Ruby On Rails' tutorial by Michael Hartl. The book is an excellent and one of the best I've followed, the author seems to read the minds of the new learners.
Each subject is dealt with correct pace and depth and no lazy examples and cramming chapters. Just reading about Hartl makes us understand how the author was able to do this wonderful job.

Here is the link to Amazon's page.

Nokia 5800 Express Music

2009-03-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Shelling out nearly 400$ for a phone is not very high in my list of things to shop. It would've been seen as madness if i had done it in USA, when I was working, one eighth of the monthly salary to get a phone. But in India, the gadgets tell more about your individuality than what they do in big brother's place. So I started short-listing all the possible phones I could get with this money. Following were my points to ponder when I was doing that,
1. the cost should be very near +- 50$ to my target
2. should have great media capabilities
3. should be smart, (more in internet and connectivity)
4. ok, not a big deal nowadays with mm2 cards, but anyways, good memory,
5. mostly the top of others' list, the style of the gadget itself.

It came down to iPhone, Nokia S60 series, N series, 5800 , Sony Erricson P910i, some motorola and LG/Samsung and other lower end players. I loved Sony's 910, had great connectivity, can run Lotus Notes (my work mail), good media (although it doesn't get all attention when going through these kind of phones.

One that caught my eye was Nokia 5800, ok it may not be as great as iPhone w.r.t media, but as ever, I wouldn't prefer to get the most famous one. I got the Yamaha R 15 bike just to get the best, may not be the perfect commuter for this country, but for sheer joy of biking. It has been commented so much, albeit not asked for in the first place, that it could affect my back (if it was true, Rossi should've been dead of backache now), low miles per gallon (Kms per liter in this part of the world)..(as if I don't know when I started shopping) etc. Basically, I like new styles, bold ones to be particular, and ease of use has been out of reach ever since I got Sony's 850 couple of years ago.

So it was decided, Nokia 5800 Express Music and I should say it has been the best phone I've ever got, 3 MP camera (Carl Zeiss lens), great music (why wouldn't they tag it with a statement like 'Express Music' anyway?), superb styling with 3.2 inch display/touchscreen that helps me put awesome photos as wallpaper, fast and fat wLan connectivity, very fast file indexing, 8 GB card, and great software. I've been using it so much I feel I'm back to my teens, always doing something with my mobile, texting, music etc etc. I've captured many photos, loaded my entire music collection (well, almost), pictures, and even an xvid version of my favourite action movie. I've loaded all my web feeds, bookmarks from laptop's chrome, podcasts, and I should say, I'm havin a whale of a time. Even now, am listening to http://www.sidepodcast.com 's first podcast about this year season. Go multi-tasking, go connectivity.

You and I

2009-02-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

I lose myself, when you look at me like this,
I lose myself, when I look into your eyes,
something in me, changes, changes and I become this man,
lose sense of place and time, and wanna love you as much as i can,

you and I, are slated to be one, always,
you and I, will share each others dreams
we'll make love till sun shines bright, and the moon,
hides her light...

i cannot sit still, i cannot wait this time,
for the day to come, when we two become one,
i cant hold my love, i cannot live,
without your touch, i am devoid.. devoid of soul

When will I see you?

2009-02-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

early evening sun shining bright
dark clouds marched with all might
sitting under a tree so green
hearing water dance in a stream
kissing rocks brown and black
holding close she danced with slack
fluttering beauties were butterflies
carrasing my skin thou' too danced
reminding joy still had a life
in this world breadthless with strife

sound of drums played them clouds
hiding the sun turned into it's shroud
winds kissed each other so did
leaves and earth and droplets unhid
smiles and laughter and joy abound
questioned me if I had found

'all ye friends with cheers abound
how can I contract life you've found
for ye all have counterparts in crime
to hold and kiss and multiply in time
how can I lose loneliness so huge
for she is breathing, me in lieu
kissing her eyes only in my dreams
heart so heavy wanting to scream
face so beautiful seemingly unhuman
loving me dear changing me into a man
the day she smiles using her magic wand
alas between us is miles, ten and three grand

Empty poetry

2009-02-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Shouted at the moon 'write me a poem,
so my beauty would have reason to smile'
'I got my hands full' said and she shone
so to the sun, I started my mile

'Burning is my life' he turned away
'come after million years, then I would think
when my life is dark and soul would sway'
time was lost and I wouldn’t wait a blink

so to the stars always full of joy
'find me words so beauteous
so my queen does read and coy'
waited and waited elevating pious

'no child of English would help my work
so were Spanish’s Latin’s and French'
I give up trying emptying my luck
as no creation equated her binge'

so I set to the great Shakespeare
sitting by the Thames was the master of quotes
facing him was my heart breathing fire
requested a charming love anecdote

'O young man, your bespeak is fearful
To fulfill it should I return to my innocence
Olivia Ophelia Tamora Titania
One'd together would be a decadence'

ask the creator to start his day
for he has the mantle for your satisfaction'
said he and cried that rained on hay
making my mind this would be last declination

'Alone he stood, shining with all his might
smiling as I pour'd the juice of my want
touching my skin filling my sight
made me this to steal your heart..

Silence is the loudest noise

2009-02-10T02:30:00.000-08:00

drops and drops falling low
onto a bucket filling up quickly
breaking the audio marred by silence
doth maketh me smile and not so alone

eyes of truth, the truth of emotions
emotions so wild of meaningful love
only to disappear into wilderness
raising questions of it's presence

falling and falling all but muddy
heavier and heavier becomes my heart
breaking silence the air out of thou
feeling pain and pleasure bid adieu

wanting and waiting, patience befriending
watching the twinkle of ye star so far
little boy with heart so empty
lying on grass, so warm so green

time and place losing their value
life and death losing their power
surrounding you all pitch black
saying silence is the loudest noise I hear.

Untitled

2008-11-26T04:41:00.000-08:00

He screamed in joy as India scored the final required runs against England. It was the second game in the series and India inched closer to winning it. Santosh has always been a fanatic of the game, be it to play or to watch, and Ganguly and Tendulkar are Gods he worshiped, and he felt they delivered more frequently than the unknown almighty. It was close to midnight, and Nura had slept, curling inside a heavy woolen sheet. He was furious. His definition of marriage was the union of two souls in perfect tandem.

It was 5 AM and the whole group had been walking for two hours in rough terrain. It was still an hour away from the temple and Nura looked pale and tired. His agnostic upbringing made him wear shoes and thus the whole trip seemed like a long walk, while Nura's feet ached, her hands trembled and her body cried due to lack of energy. He had tried many a times to change her, not to accept anything without questioning, be it religion, science or anything in the world. 'Do this and your marriage will be happy and your husband would do great' a famous astrologer had said, and anything that would make him better would be her commandment. He saw her look, her longing for his support, and immediately removed his shoes, threw down the valley, and walked with her. She started to tear.

It was 4 PM and the sun was tasting her skin. They were moving from Dallas to Atlanta for he had gotten a great promotion and she was happy to follow him. The battery was bad, the music player and the air conditioner lay worthless. She was sweating. He didn't want to stop as he had to meet his friend for dinner. Atlanta was two hours away. His obsession to keep up his word was taking a toll on her, and she did not complain. No words were exchanged for five minutes, and he began singing 'I got my first real six string', then came the Meatloaf's 'I'd do anything for love' and she joined him. It was long time after they sang together, a year since they played the game of 'anthakshari' in which people sing songs that begun with the letter that the earlier one completed with. He always joined her and she returned the favor. When he sang the sixth song, she stopped him, and sang 'yenna thavam seithanai', the one she sang during their engagement, the one which gave him a joy he hadn't experienced before, the one when he met her eyes, he knew for sure he had made the best decision of his life. He stopped singing, held her hand, knew not even a drop has been lost in their ocean of love.

Tendulkar was given the 'Man of the match' while Dhoni received the winning trophy. He listened to each word that was spoken during the presentation ceremony. He knew every word that would be spoken by the winning players, yet hearing it again made him feel patriotic, an extreme one he was. When he opened the bedroom door, it was cold, the way he liked it. The air conditioner was working well, correct humidity and 18 degrees to give him the right sleep. He saw Nura, sleeping happily, not caring to join his joy. 'She is growing selfish of late' he thought. He switched on the lights and saw her leg move. He wanted to disturb her sleep, she had not talked much since the evening, and not sharing his love for cricket was one sin she had committed. He moved the books loudly, closed the restroom doors loudly and made moves to disturb her sleep. She moved to the right corner, with her face still buried under the wool. He became angrier and decided she was not going to get the goodnight kiss tonight. It was only twice before that he had slept without kissing her, and both were unavoidable due to the travels his job required. He lay and when he was about to unwrap his woolen sheet, he felt the bed was hot. He at once remembered her look, the most beautiful eyes in the world was shine less that evening. He remembered she sending him around ten messages in the afternoon, took his cellphone and checked them all. His hands started to tremble, he uncovered her, and saw a face drenched by tears, a chin that had tasted sadness, upper arm still fresh from the bleeding due to medicine injections, and her two hands tightly holding a frame of their first photo together, in which she kissed him. He turned, switched off the air conditioner, cleared her face, hugged her tightly, kissed her repeatedly, and whispered apologies feebly in her ears. She smiled, turned off the lights and slept happily, knowing no drop was lost in their ocean of love.

Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvazhthukkal

2008-04-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Just wishing all tamilians around the world a very happy tamil new year. Let's all hope the new year brings joy in each of us and destroy bad factions like the 'sunrise' party and others whose main aim is to bring division and rule us all with autocracy.
Please celebrate the new year in a grand manner atleast to show that we wont be controlled by mind less pseudo tamizh movements.
What next? No holiday on Diwali?

Beemers ahoy

2008-04-08T08:21:00.001-07:00

None of my close friends need to be told about my love for the beemers. According to me, they are an embodiment of power, with right amount of styling and muscle (there's difference between power and muscle, torque and HP!). There are the AMGs with overkill looks and straight line drag power, and 'I am upscale' screaming Audis. There are other wannabes like the new G8, and the axed Crossfires, but they can't hold their swords against the new M3, redlining at 8400 RPM.

Do watch the below videos to get an idea of what I am bragging about.
Top gear's comparison between BMW's new M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG and Audi RS4.
Part 1
Part 2

Now when I saw the below video, I simply can't resist from doing my part in spreading the word.

The edifice for the spot began with a tour of BMW's M facility in Munich, where the IdeaCity crew studied the inner workings of the M3's 4.0-liter V8. They had three complete engines shipped out to Belgium, where manifolds were cut, cylinders were shaved and lighting holes were drilled to mount special cameras, lenses and lights. After two weeks of intensive study and preparation, the team took another four, 20-hour days to film what happens inside the 420 hp mill during a single revolution. The completed spot was filmed at 10,000 frames-per-second and doesn't utilize any form of computer-generated effects. We've already watched it a half a dozen times and we think you'll do the same. Courtesy : Autoblog

Reign over me

2007-10-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

Only sentimental and non action movie that I really loved this year.. I always feel uneasy watching Adam Sandler's movies, since many of them turn out to be sentimental overkills. I saw the trailer of this movie when in Transformers. The soundtrack was good, classic rock, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker, et al. So thought would watch the movie, hey, what better can you do in a sunday afternoon with nothing to do and streamable movies online?
'Click' was the last one I watched, it was really an overkill, trying to say goodness to the people, I sometimes found it to be a preaching cut. So when I started watching, I had no expectations. Man I should say, Sandler is great actor. The way he potrays post dramatic stressed patient, and simplicity in life that he practices, friendship, taking no crap from others, freedom of life, it was really a mango milk shake in the midst of very hot andhra biriyani.
Watch it friends, you wont be disappointed.

JUMPER - next movie I am waiting for

2007-10-10T14:19:00.001-07:00

How cool if I only had this power?

Villeneuve in Nascar! Alas, not what you think.

2007-08-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Jacques villeneuve (ah, I've got the spelling right) made an unsuccessful attempt in 2007 to enter Nascar while he tried to follow the footsteps of Montoya. He found driving for no one at the end. Now, this year he is again trying to enter Nascar, but not in Nextel or Busch series as you'd think, but the 'CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES'. He's gonna test for Toyota next Monday. I found the following pic in one of the F1 blogs I read, funniest pic from this year's motorsport world...

Greatest F1 video

2007-08-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Ever thought F1 is not that interesting since very few or no overtaking happens in the front liners?? Watch this.. unbelievable video. This wasn’t a battle for a championship; this wasn’t even a battle for the race win. This was a no-holds-barred duel for pride.Arnoux’s Renault was packing a 1.5-litre turbo and was kinder to its Michelin tyres. So when he passed Villeneuve with a handful of laps to go that should have been that. But when Villeneuve dived past again into the first corner, tyres locked solid and billowing smoke, the two began slugging it out until the chequred flag fell.

Le plus grand duel de tout les temps

Best battles in Formula - 1

2007-08-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Great compilation

Bourne, Heidfeld,Rosberg,friendship day........

2007-08-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

As a hardcore action movie fan, I couldnt be happier than when I was watching
the ultimate movie last night, Bourne Ultimatum. One of my favourite series,
actor, and action baby, full fledged action.
One scene even kept me at the edge of the seat, and held my breadth for atleast
20 seconds, the police car, VW Toureg crash, and one scene I clapped with full
force was when Bourne helped the British journalist dodge the assasins through
the streets of London, and waterloo station. Plot mixed up with action and
acting at one of it's highest points.. I would put this movie at no.1, just
before Live free or die hard, in the charts of this summer's movies. I am thinking
of writing a full blown review for this movie. 3 years was worth the wait.

Woke up this morning after just a 4 hour sleep, to watch a very interesting
qualifying session of Formula 1. Fisichella holding up Yamamoto, and Nico
Rosberg finding his pace. One of my favourite drivers of the year Nick Hiedfeld
got the ever eluding 3rd in qualifying, and another good driver Nico Rosberg
getting higher with not so frontline car. His 'midfield' status can be
questioned if he can finish in the same place as qualifying. Only sadness was
Raikkonen not finiding his pace, and Massa,... Talking about Massa, he was all
over the place in the final section of Qualifying 2(Q2), and the team's confusion
leading to no fuelling during a pit stop. I felt sorry for him. I think Raikkonen
will pass Hiedfeld during the race, and there would be sure competetion between the
2 Mclarans, and would expect some confusion during the show. Hey, Mclarans arent
the best when it comes to pit stop strategy.

And to all my friends, school, college, Masters, workplace, have a very happy
friendship day. This is one feeling to be cherished for life.

MoveD!!

2007-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Not the blog, but my home.. Ihave moved back to the UTD apartment complex(waterview appts) and in with 3 other friends of mine. The place is smaller than my present home, which according to me is one of the most beautiful houses anyone can live in.. :( SOb.. anyways, change is good. Part of the reason to move is leasing issues, and financial(some friends moved out)

Moved most of the contents yesterday over a period of 6 hours. It was tough.. Not only the taking down of current house, but carrying tables and other big stuff 2 floors up. Was soaked in sweat when it was all over. Today and tomorrow will be cleaning day(not by us, appada!!!).

Waiting for Bourne Ultimatum this Friday. Should be awesome, one of my favourite actors and I love the series as a whole.. Will miss Chris Cooper, but David Strathairn should do a good job along his lines.

I have been collecting Google earth collections(Zipped Keyhole Markup Language KMZ). I then found Google earth community, I downed F1 circuits, Cricket grounds, Brands Hatch circuit, Tourism places in Europe[:)] Do take a look, it is amazing.. In case anyone wants to make sightseeing points for people using Google Earth like Google has here:
http://earth.google.com/sites/

Godfather's Lawyer

2007-07-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Just a ltl joke to let you know am still alive in this blogworld..

A Mafia Godfather, accompanied by his attorney, walks into a
room to meet with his former accountant.

The Godfather asks the accountant, "Where is the 3 million bucks
you embezzled from me?" The accountant does not answer.

The Godfather asks again, "Where is the 3 million bucks you
embezzled from me?"

The attorney interrupts, "Sir, the man is a deaf mute and cannot
understand you, but I can interpret for you."

The Godfather says, "Well ask him where my damn money is!" The
attorney, using sign language, asks the accountant where the 3
million dollars is.

The accountant signs back, "I don't know what you are talking about."
The attorney interprets to the Godfather, "He doesn't know what
you are talking about."

The Godfather pulls out a 9 millimeter pistol, puts it to the
temple of the accountant, cocks the trigger and says, "Ask him
again where my damn money is!"

The attorney signs to the accountant, "He wants to know where
it is!"

The accountant signs back, "OK! OK! OK! The money is hidden in
a brown suitcase behind the shed in my backyard!"

The Godfather says, "Well....what did he say?"

The attorney interprets to the Godfather, "He says...go to hell...
..that you don't have the guts to pull the trigger."

Enna satham intha neram

2007-07-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

She was holding my hand, sad since she's going to leave me. It was a bright afternoon and I was in Chennai domestic airport. I bought an entry ticket for Rs.20 and went in, rolling her big suitcase. She had Da Vinci's code novel in her right hand,tucked in firmly. Her dress was a beautiful red salwar kameez with a free flowing hair. Her eyes were dry and red. She asked if she can get a bottle of water since her throat too was dry and I ran and got her one.
She then went into the ticketing zone to check in her bags, I waited at the entrance. My friend Shiva was with me. He asked something about my car, to which I didnt listen. I was looking at her.
She checked in, came back and told her flight was leaving in another 40 minutes. I gave her the greeting I had bought for her. She smiled looking at it. I hugged her good bye and was talking about something, my back started to hurt very much. Felt rough under me, some repeating sound coming from not so distant place from me. I had been sleeping and someone was walking in the mezzanine floor.Enna satham intha neram.
The time was 12:31 PM, and it was a bright afternoon. I hoped to not have woken up at all. Damn,it has been a very long time since I had a heartful dream.

ALPINE to the rescue

2007-07-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks with no customizable music and lousy radio which talks about mascaras and girlfriends cheating their partners because they got bored of the relationships, et al. Phew.. Good that it came to an end. I installed a music system in my car.
The original set had 6 cd changer manufacturer’s Infinity system. The speakers were good. Just the cd changer was struck. I can say with full knowledge that I have changed radio channels more than 50 times a day (I drive around 2:10 hrs a day to/from work, mostly rush hour traffic). I began to hate it.
Last Saturday I decided I had to get this thing done even though I wasn’t fully energetic(?). Got an alpine CDA 9883 system, A for aux input enabled. The whole electronics was changed and it was costlier than my original budget, but hey, why complain when you are happy with the result?

They gave me an output-input aux cable for free (24$ free for 330$ business!) I got the car back last night and the audio was simply amazing. The 45 W internal amp was good for the kinds of music I hear (mostly tamil and English hard rock, no need for subs). This morning I connected my Sony Network walkman with all my favourites in it, simply great time driving to work..
Note about Saturday was the movie 1408 and some stuff to celebrate Saturday night!! The movie was ok, watchable, but I liked John Cusack’s acting. He was really good once when he stubbornly refuces to believe in ghosts (he has written two books contradicting whoever believed in ghosts, visits every place that were reported haunted to only sleep a boring night) and the scene when his dead daughter walks up and hugs him.
I am also waiting for Bourne Ultimatum, the last in the Bourne series by Robert Ludlum. He is one of my favourite actors, and the series is just too good..

Movies ,movies and more movies. I missed ratatouille last night when I had to stay back to report on my office work. Damn!! Wrong timing. Transporters releases tomorrow..

Konigf1.com is a small group of F1 fans in India. There is a fantasy game where you can select 2 teams and 4 drivers that you hope to win the following GP. I put my faith on my favorite 2 teams and 4 drivers (er Alonso aint my fav, but I thought he’d be aggressive since he was made to play 2nd role in McLaran, in the recent past He was aggressive, but a little too much. That is the difference between winners and Legends, you know who I am referring to). I had come 6th last time for the Indy race, now 2nd. Feels good, but if I had selected Kubica, the 2nd BMW driver, I’d have been at the top of the list. arun_schumi_rocks is my id.

F1 Vs IRL

2007-05-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Me and my roomie were debating about F1 and IRL, which is what. F1 is according to me, one of the greatest sports ever. I love cars, the tech that goes into them, and the speed, beauty of handling and much more. So am into the intricacies of driving. Thus am a fan of F1. It all started back in my 10th grade when I was changing channels and there was a race going on. It showed the drivers were at 310 Km/hr, man street hawk being real? I watched it. A guy won the race, but it was so awesome watching how the drivers turned, handled corners, breaked.
I bagan watching regularly. Me being a fan the RED team's street cars, it was smooth that I became their F1 team's fan. As I watched more, I felt the beauty of team strategy, pit stop strategy, tire compounds, aerodynamics, the setups required in different 'kinds' of tracks.
I can call myself as formula 1 freak even though my favourite driver retiered last season (2006).
IRL on the other hand concentrates on raw speed. They reach upto 240 miles/hr, unbelieveable one. The tracks are just oval with long straights. People who come to watch this more often come for the fun of competetion and how drivers overtake each other, lots of action..
But this is not always the case of F1 fans. The way the team handles the race is also one of the most important factor a F1 fan looks up during a race.
Anyways, much said, I read interesting debates between the two.
Thought I could share.

What did you watch? Monaco 2k7 or Indy 500?
I did both!!

Dr.Vee's comments about the debate...

Last week

2007-05-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last week was a terrific one. Maybe one of the best weeks in my life.
It all started on monday morning, when I went to office after my
'isolation' vacation for a week and a half. I was cured completely
and the fact that I can take bath how many ever times a day I want
and eat my favourite foods (veggie for the 1st month) was good.
The moment I entered, no one wished me, and I couldnt see my friends
in their cube as I walked towards mine, only to find they all were
gathered in mine, gave a big 'welcome back' scream, and a cake cutting
ceremony.. I felt awesome.
Then came the wacky wednesday, stressfull day since one of the servers
was experiencing network problems, wrongly diagnosed as a database one
and put on my head, only to get proved by me that it wasnt in my domain.

TOOL concert : one of the best I've been to (ok, I've been to only 4 major
concerts in my life, In flames, Vegas, Blur, and an idiotic band). It
started with some Kingkin guys playing tool like psychedelic guitar
instrumental music for an hour. From dallas, and rocking like this was
awesome, cos rap,hip/hop rules the scene now. Then after a 40 minute
setup wait came the monstors of so called "wise-man's metal".
They started out with my present favourite 'Jambi', riffs that pierced
the hardest of the hearts, and drums that were one of the best.
After some old material from their aenema days, and prison days, came
the awesome schiesm, and lateralus, parabola, wings for mary,
Rosetta stone, and finished with vicarious.
Full 2 hours of continuous music and I did not sit for a second then. It
was one of the best, but the only con was that there were no live cameras
for the band, I couldnt see clearly the faces of Keenan and danny.

Florida : After the concert, and 2 working days came the trip to floridaaaa,Miamiiiii.. Went to west palm beach to meet up 2 friends, one recent and one from my undergrad days, Deva. Total city rounds, and Miami rocked. The place, weather, beaches, water, people, all out of the world. The trip was shortened because of the freaking bad weather we were gifted with.
I read half of the book ' Special topics in calamity physics' by some Marisha Pissl. Her 1st book, landing in top 10 books of 2006 by NY times. The story,as far as I read, was very straightforward and simple, but the way of telling it and the visuals were the ones that made this stand out of the rest. Try it guys, if you are a serious reader, and you'll love it, I promise..

Some things we just can’t change

2007-03-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed things we just can’t change? Be it within ourselves or our personal space, like our room, house or something.
I have 2-3 things that I want to change but it’s just like in the movies, wherein fat-free freaks puke when they are fooled in to eat a cheese burger.

One is reaching the office in time in morning. I am asked to be in my office, complete my first report before 8:30, so I have to be in my desk around about quarter past 8. I leave home between 7:35- 7:45, and it takes me 35-45 mins to reach my office. Every time I cross 8:15 and am still driving, the uneasiness that creeps into me is hard to beat.

Another habit is waking up early in weekends, many of my friends make fun of it saying I tend to follow my weekday routine through weekend, no; I probably would wake up even earlier than during weekday. It’s just the feeling of not wasting precious weekend hours to sleep. Almost everyone enjoys sleep to other things, but I prefer to read novels, or just browse, and read blogs online, e-papers, or learn about my favorites like F1 cars, or airplanes or simply, travel destinations. These are habits that I cant change.
What do you have that you cant change?

Back to the pavilion

2007-02-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

This was what happened to me last week when I set foot on Dallas last Tuesday. After ‘aatam pottufying ‘(playing) in my hometown for 15 days, was back to America, to continue pursuing my dream, whatever it is!! The whole trip was, simply put, awesome.
1st week, spent entirely doing what I used to during my undergrad days, monthly holidays. Morning walks, market trips, interior changes, carom games, movies, talking about politics, general work or anything with parents. One additional thing this time around was playing with my nephew. What a boy he is? Just 18 months old, recognizes each person(thatha- grand dad, my father, mama- uncle , me, paati-grand mother). When he sees me, he will call mama continuously until I go and lift him. He sat on my lap when I drove my car around the city and will not get out from the car unless I pull him. I will post some of his pics later, but the cutest guy was also my greatest fun during the trip. Even today, he shouts my name in cell phone when I call my sister.
The 1st Saturday of my Indian trip was an awesome day, went to Chennai, met some of my old buddies after years together, and had a helluva party at GRT grandays, the only word coming out of my group towards the food servers was ‘Repeat!!!’. (my friends know what I am talking about ;-) )
The 2nd week was one of the most stressful and most enjoying weeks ever in my life, the sashtyathaboorthy function (60th b-day celebration) of my father. It was on 26th, jan. 3 days with 4 hr sleep, else spent on organizing and inviting ppl. The function itself was a great one, I partook in all activities, from arranging stuff, to saapadu parimaaral(serving food to guests). I was in a state of breaking down, when another set of friends came from coimbatore to attend this, and we all went out, lunch, and guru film, then showing them my father’s farmhouse, dinner at my home and they left.
With one day left between that and me leaving India, I decided not to sleep, watching tamil programs in TV. Then came the d-day and I left India. I couldn’t feel correctly according to the situation in hand, since everything was happening faster than speed of light, India trip, function, back. Only when I went to my transit hotel room in Muscat and started to think about the whole trip, did I become SAD!!

Interesting people

2006-11-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

Its not everyday that you meet someone, strike a firm conversation and wished it haven’t had to end that soon. That was this morning for me. When I was being dropped to an auto shop back from returning the rental car, I was tensed to miss my weekly official meeting. The guy who dropped me introduced himself as Mark, a republican American. On the first look, I prejudiced him to be an introvert, extra pounder with thick glasses, about 55 years of age. Things started rolling by when he started to ask me about Indian restraints, about garlic nans, chicken biriyanis, worse sambar(which is called as lentil rice here). I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He said he had been a aircraft wing consultant, worked with boeing, Singapore airlines, Air Nippon, and a bunch of others.

It was his job that bought him to India, made him stay 6 months in Chennai and 2 years in Pune during which he developed a love for Indian cuisine. I was just laughing when he was advising me about the combination of spices that were the best. I asked about Santhome church in Chennai, some army place in Pune. I was telling him about the extent of damage that the tsumami caused in south India, esp Nagapatnam and Nellai districts. He was fluent with anything Indian. Man, he started to explain about the aircrafts, Boeing’s plans, and how Airbus is trying to cop up with loss of customer base and many others that provoked good interest in me in the field of consumer and corporate airliners.
My destination arrived, and when I got down he got my number, gave his card, and said he’d call me next time he is hosting an Indian food party to his friends(hosting Indian dinner party?? Man, I give up to him!!)

The best me..

2006-10-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

This is inspired by a post in 'Kodumai da saami' blog by Usha..

1.The best thing to do – sing my favourite song!

2.The best gift -

Every single greeting is a great gift to me.. but there is never a best gift,except my mother that God gave me..

3.The best thing I've ever heard – being called by my name by the CEO of my company!

4.The best thing I've said - Sooperappu..

5.The best thing that happened to me – my life..

6.The best person I've met – CFO of my company, Joe Joy.. simple man even though he runns a multi million dollar company.

7.The best friend- my mum, and countless college group members..

8.The best moment – I am not a budha to tell every moment is the best, but the one that stands out is when I hugged my parents last visit to India after missing them for a year.

9.The best book – Every book I finish, but one that stood out was ‘The monster lives’, Metallica’s bio.. I worship that band..

10.The best blog – Suguna’s, Satheesh’s , Vidhya’s , Bodai’s(Desparados, it is not our buddy,bodai).

11.The best place – The highway to Nainital.

12.The best food – Aapam and paya(Naan iyer paiyan nu evanume namba maatan).

13.The best song – Run to you(Bryan adams), Panivizhum malarvanam, but anyday ‘kadhal rojave’.

14.The best hangout – Club 9 in coimbatore.

15.The best eatout – Saravana bhavan, komalaa’s in chennai!

16.The best hobby - poetry

17.The best TV show ever – that 70’s show?

18.The best manager - amma

19.The best musician – mine’s ARR in tamil, James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine in english.

20.The best gang – the current one and the college one, cant rate one better..

21.The best drink – hot filter coffee?

22.The best quote – What goes around comes around

23.The best woman - My amma

24.The best kid - Meeeeee……..

25.The best poem – anything by Thabu Shankar!

26.The best dancer – Prabu Deva

27.The best movie – The wedding crashers

28.The best actor - anytime Kamal.

29.The best vehicle – One of my dream cars, Porshe careera GT or any Ferrari

30.The best scene in a movie – any good comedy scene

Small Moments Bring Big Joy

2006-10-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

They are the smallest of moments that brings in big pleasures in everybody’s life. Even Bill Gates said that he felt complete only when his new born daughter Jennifer smiled at him. Being a rover myself, my mum always used to tell me to buy some small thing to people that I love, since it would mean that I thought of them at that moment. I did listen to her only when I was finishing my college.

The topic of this post was a similar thing that happened to me, in the receiving end. Last week my DBA colleagues attended the IBM Information On Demand conference in Anaheim California. Each one bought either a db2 magazine or some book from the conference for me. Now I have 5 new books. I should start to look into them. People, if you want to express your love or like to someone, do buy them a small gift or help them in a small way, but with all your heart.

Strength blossoms after every failure!

2006-10-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Thats what I’ve found out of late.. strength blossoms after every failures, but hey, it doesnt do itself.. There are two choices after each failure.. you throw your ideologies on the failure and use it as a reason to lose, or you learn what lead to the failure and correct it, know more about life, and grow positive..
I always thought God let me down, but looking back, I’ve learnt from the mistakes and become a better person. Love, friendships, work, study, there were difficulties in everything, but a little faith and true prayer did save me from failing!

When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.

- Mahathma Gandhi