Sunday, August 23, 2009

a short trip to Chennai - reminisence

amidst the so called busy schelude( read as - inertia due to laziness), i had not been travelling to Chennai, or for that matter anywhere out of Bangalore for a long time now.

This was a sudden trip - quite unplanned - and me and leka left Bangalore by bike - his 'tuned up' yamaha Rx 135. He wanted to do pilot trip to check the readiness of his bike .. as a preperation to the dream trip to Leh!

The trip was quite tiring, unlike our earlier experiences riding bike on the smooth highway. DOnt know really why?

Arriving at chennai gives me a very 'good' feel always! The 'energetic' early morning have been the special feature of chennai... Bnaglore somehow misses that flavour.

The key differntiator of course is the traffic management in Chennai - I am not sure if it was a weekend and so the traffic was less or in general it is well managed. But somehow there are better broader main roads and pretty consistent pace of traffic movement.

The weather is the first 'noticable' disturbing factor for a person whise jus come from Bangalore. Although I flt slight discomfort initially, I think , my liking to the city dictated the 'body and mind' that I think i got adapted to this sooner!

I had a chance to meet few of my college friends after a few years. Someof them married and few still looking out to get married. Typical conversations of the life has been progressing and if sopmeone has bought a new house or car or accumulated some 'assets' (for the married men.. in the form of a visble paunch!)

I would have loved to go to WCB building and meet the chai shop friend, T nagar T shop maybe a movie in Satyam cinemas and a strol no beasnt nagar or Marina beach would have set the nostalgia feel rolling in me more.... Owing to my other personal work I had come here for, I did not have time to go to these places... still I feel good. There is an inherent feel good I get when I visit chennai.

I think I simply have to come to Chennai for a vacation ~ spend some good week or so redoing all things I used to do then!

A strong desire to get back here only getting stronger - I will get back here soon mate!


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Trip to KP- Part II

The bus seemed comfortable. ample leg space. the rajahamsa executive seems reasonabale for the price.

I felt quite good to feel intrigued by the sheer fact that the journey had commenced without hassles. The road wasnt great... there were intermittent bumps and potholes... Still i wastired and was in deep sleep in no time.

at about 2 a.m in the morning... there suddenly was a restless feel and i realised the bus had stopped. reason : PUncture. Woof. had to happen. i told myself. It took about an hour for the driver-Conducctor Duo to replace the puntured tyre with the stepney (http://www.hindu.com/edu/2004/01/12/stories/2004011200121500.htm). It did not help us for long. We stopped and C.R.PATNA and were shifted to a differnt bus. This had no leg room. But I still continued to sleep :)

We reached Somwarpet at 7 a.m. 1 Hour delayed. SO that emant, we had very short time to refres ourselves and get food packed. We got to know that the mini bus to PUSHPAGIRI was leaving in another 4 minsutes. yeah. thats right. 4 minutes. We pleaded to the conductor to hold the bus for a little longer by when we got some hot puttus and sambar packed. got some boomers and water bottles. I had very less clue that these were to be the 'saviours' during our climb uphill today.

We boarded the 'slow moving' mini bus 5 mins past it scheduled time. There were some verbal accuses on us for delayin the bus by the fellow passengers and the women, being the kinder, by nature, jus managed to frown hard at us.

I was thoroughly impressed by this place somvarpet. A quiet small town. THe climate resmebled that of a propoer hill station... i remember Ooty.... but with just no commersialisation and crowd.

The weather, people somehow was very inviting and had an absolutely soothing effect. The winding roads, cleanly washed by the overnight rains were thick dark tar colour. I liked this. we crossed some smaller villages, hamlets and were heading to pushpagiri. The driver negotiated the curves with a great precision and a knack that only expereince teaches! This driver will make Button run for his money. Awesome driving. I was observign the driver quite closely. He used to honk at some specific spots along the way, stop for a split second at some stops and exchange some goodies...which i realised were milk packets, newspaper, magazines, flowers and some medicine boxes too! There were a lot of children taking to this bus to reach thier schools.

This bus service seems to be very crucial to the people in these villages!

Just as I was getting lost on such (un)important thoughts, Suzay, the gang leader, infrmed us to be prepared to get down the next stop.

And yes we reached the base of the trek route. I had little idea that for the next 36 hours I am going to be traveling only by my foot! I waved a bye to the driver. Jus as we started to walk, there were a few elders who welcomed us with a broad smile. Anyone could easily guess, by the size of our backpacks that we had come there to trek and so did they too guess that right. They spoke in the reginal langaugae to Suzay, which I could hardly follow. But the gist was - > lot of rains, lots of leeches! We jus looked around and smiled at each other jus reaffirming the belief the decidion to trek durin this time :)

We slowly started walking. It was proper tar road. and I there was one steep climb of about 100 mts.. which I found hard.

was quite a bit strenous trip.... we walked 18 kms the first day (climb up 7 and climb down 10 or so)
stayed at a priests place.. he offered excellant food!
then started on sunday morning and climbed down another 5 kms to kukke subramanya..(near sakleshpur)
it was raining very very heavily... once on saturday afternoon at the top.. v thot it was not such a good idea to have come now!
but then it worked out great!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Trip to KP! -part 1

Udapa called on thursday.. there was an unreasonable hurry in his voice... "dai, u coming to KP tis weekend?", i thought for a while. I had heard from these folks, KP is a fantastic (tough) trek and have been wanting to do it for long. Infact, I had told Udapa to call me any time he plans one... and also told him june is better time.. my significant other would be in Delhi and so I can come alone...

Usually wat makes me immobile over the weekend is the IIMK class. I was pondering.... hesitantly, I said" Yes da... thanks for rememebring to call me. COunt me in". My mind was thinking about making alternate arrangements for the class...
Thrusday : mobile beeps... Flash news:IIMK class on saturday cancelled.

Woof watta relief. I called Sujay and said.. go for it.. we will do it this week. no other week luks possible.

And our "Tea kudikka polam" Leka, calls up and says hes doubtful. I try hard and persuade him. (the reason for his ambivalence about participating in the trip will be discussed in the next blog ;)

So after the cricket practice on firday, i head back home. Sujay confirms the bus booking as 11 pm from majestic. I swiftly prepare for the trek. Honestly, this was the first 'real' trek of my life. I had waited for this for a long long time. It was getting exciting.

After packing my back pack (which i found insufficient, later!), checked the house, left to lekas house. And we both then reached Majestic about 10 ish. Luckily a 'nice' auto driver (oxymoron! huh!) charged 1.5 on meter. and the meter too seem to be accurate enuf! I was happy.

We had some curd rice in an andhra restaurant in Majestic and thats when Sujay called up. We met in front of the tea stall. Until then I had thought it was jus the three of us. There were four guys waiting for us! Of course, Sujay, i could recognise and none other. Sujay dutifully introduced us to his cousin, Pavan, a thin framed lanky guy. Then Pradhan, the body builder, and Ajoy , sujays frens frend!oh watta link. Somehow Ajoy reminded me and leka of Vijay(L~ CIT). After a quick chat we rushed to the bus.

The trip commences!

So here we are, I tell to myself, on the trip to KP. One of my wishes being fulfilled! Glad I was.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009


i had though about having a blog for myself.,. for more than few years now.and now that i have managed to have one.. i ponder on things that i wish to write about.

I as a person, have also found it intersting and happiness inducing (at least to me;) when I express myself.
I can only recall my soulmate mentioning once to me that I am an 'entertainer' and love to have the crowd around me.. glued to my acts, pranks, talks and any apprecaition to me is a bonus.
she was not wrong indeed. I am an attention seeker... needlesstosay,huh!
OK.. i would be wrinting things that i wish to opinionate about.,. could be all thats just me... or could be anything else...

on serious notes, i have been tryin to compare and study the two great literary icons of twentieth century - Subramanya Bharathiyar, fondly known as Bharathi and the EVM man - Sujatha!

To do justice to my writing I need to do a lot of studies. Of course, I am now willing to spend my time to acquiant myself with facts and life history of such greats, instead of my sobre-in-the-office-schedule-debuggin!

I give a gestation time of a week - By next wednesday jun 5th, this blog will be filled with information you can not ignore! (oru build up thaan).. Should any of you come across good links to their writings or any thing relevant please do not hesitate to ping me..   

Thursday, May 7, 2009

traffic signal

மதியம் அன்னமிட்டதர்காக, ஒரு ரோஜாப்பூ அதிகமாய், ரூபாய்க்கு நாலு - மாலா கொடுத்துவிட்டு சென்றாள்.  'இதெல்லாம் எதுக்கு' என்று கூறி புன்னகையுடன் அதை அம்மா எடுத்து வைத்தாள்.

'உலகத்தை மாற்ற வாரீர்' என்று நான் எழுதிய கவிதை என் முன் வந்த சென்றது. ஒரு கணம் சிந்தித்தேன். நான் செய்வது போராட்டமும் அல்ல, மாற்றமும் அல்ல.

மதிய உணவுத்தட்டில் மிச்சம் இருக்கும் அந்த இரண்டு பருக்கை சோற்றையும் நினைவாக எடுத்து சாளரத்தின் விளிம்பில் நித்தம் வரும் அணிர்பில்லைக்கு உணவாக்கினில் என் அன்னை. சக உயிர்கள் மீது பரிவு காட்ட நானும் முனைந்தேன். 

சொந்தமாக நான் வாங்கிய காரில், சொகுசாக குளிர் கற்று வாங்கிக்கொண்டு, அந்த டிராபிக் சிக்னலில் நின்றேன்.
சுடேரிக்கும் சூரியனின் கதிர்கள் அவளை மேலும் கருமையாக்கும் முயற்சியில் ஈடுபட்டிருந்தது. Sattendru என் கவனம் அந்த சிறு கிள்ளை மீது திரும்பியது. ஒட்டி போன வயிறு.கையில் ஒரு கிழிந்த பை. 
அதே சிக்னலில் ஒரு BMW தென் பட்டது. என் பார்வையை திசை திருப்பி அந்த மனிதனின் மேன்மையான திறனின் வெளிபாட்டை கண்டு  வியந்தேன்.

ஒரே இடத்தில் எத்தனை ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகள்.

உலகத்தை மற்றும் என்னத்தை விடுத்தேன். என்னை மற்ற முனைந்தேன். சிறிய வித்யாசம் தின வாழ்வில் செய்ய முற்பட்டேன். என் வெட்டு வேலைக்காரியின் மகன்கள் படிக்க உதவினேன். என் தாயின் நினைவு வந்தது. சிறிய மற்றம், சீரான மாற்றம். ஆனால் தினமும் செய்ய வேண்டும். முனைப்படுங்கள். 

Friday, May 1, 2009

விடிவு காலம்

ஒதிக்கி வைக்கப்பட்டேன்
தீண்ட தகாதவள் என்று.
குழந்தைகள் ஏன் அருகில் வர பயந்தனர்
பயம் மீறி வருவோரும் கண்டிக்கபட்டனர்

ஆசை இருக்காத எனக்கும், அந்தகுழந்தையின் பிஞ்சு விரல்கள் என்னை தொட்டு விளையாட?

அந்த மூதாட்டியோ ஏன் பக்கம் பார்ப்பது கூட இல்லை மூலையில் என்ன முடக்கினர்
வார விடுமுறைகள் ஏன் மரண தருணங்கள்வேருசொடியிருக்கும் வீட்டில், வெட்டியாக நான்.

மக்கள் என்னை விடுத்தது மறைந்தனர். எனக்கும்
மணமுண்டு மூனாறு செல்ல,
கோவளம் கடற்கரையில் சூரிய
அஸ்தமனம் கண்டு அனுபவிக்க,
அந்த உப்புக்காற்று என் தேகம் தொட்டு செல்ல.

என் தனிமைக்கு ஒரு விடுவு காலம் இல்லையா?
தீண்டதகவலா நான்?
தேவைக்கு அனுபவித்து தள்ளி வக்கவா நான் பிறந்தேன்?
என்ன கேவலம்?
சூரிய அஸ்தமனம் காண்பது கணவகேவா கரையுமா?
சிந்தித்தேன். முடிவெடுத்தேன்.
போராட்டம் தொடுத்தேன்.
ஒத்துழைக்க மறுத்தேன்.
முடிவில்,
செயல் இழந்தேன்.

தூக்கி எறிந்தனர் என்னை.
நான் இல்லையென்றால், இன்னொருத்தி.
ஆனால் இம்முறை அந்த இன்னொருத்தி, எண்ணின் வேறு வடிவம்.

நானே மறுயிர் பெற்றேன்.
என்னுள் இருக்கும் திறனை பலமடங்கு பெருக்கினேன்.

புது வடிவம், உருவம், வண்ணம்.
புத்துயிர் பெற்று வந்தேன்.
வீட்டிற்குள் வந்த எனக்கு, ஆச்சர்யம் காத்திருந்தது.
புது குழந்தை வரவேற்பு.
அனைத்து அறைக்கும் எனக்கு அத்துமீறி அனுமதி.
சமயலறயில் அவளுக்கு சாப்பாடு செய்முறை விளக்கம்.
ஆவலுடன் அலுவலகம் சுற்றுலா.
மடியிலேயே வைத்திருந்தனர். தாலாட்டினர்.
நானும் இந்த குடும்பத்தில் ஒரு பங்கு.

இம்முறை மாமல்லை சுற்றுலா.
மனர்கடலிருந்து சூர்யோதம் ரசித்தேன்.
என்னை மணலில் விட்டு, மக்கள் கடல் நீரில் ஆட்டம் போட்டனர்.
என் மணம் குதித்து குதுகலித்தது.
எங்கும் நான். எதிலும் நான்.
நான் இல்லாமல் ஒரு இம்மியும்
அசைவதில்லை இந்த குடும்பத்தில்.
சந்தோசத்தின் உச்சியில், இன்று அந்த
தொடை கணினி.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

first blog

First Blog!

What else can I chose to write but IPL. The recent rain hindered IPL match for 12 overs( yeah.. correct 12 hours) reminded me of the school days matches. 12 overs is really limited boy.

pora ppokka partha, 8 overs standard agidumnu nianiakiren... appuram chucking match than official. Namma Murali sema happy ayiduvan ;)

Intha "namma" parthu sema kadi ayitten. INga bangalorelu ethukeduthalam oru 'namma'. Very irritating. Namma bangalore, namma ramya, namma uppi dada, namma metro... mudiyalapa.. 

short blog! but my first try!