Friday, April 23, 2010

Jobs, I am envious of and would gladly perform....


That of a flower seller . Ah ,to breathe in the fragrance of flowers day in and day out, is what life is all about.

That of a gardener in parks.To sow seeds and see them grow and bloom . To water and tend them and spend each day in the careless laughter of bobbing flowers and twirling butter flies and whirl away all my cares.

That of a person working in coffee grinding shop .To chase away the lows by breathing in the constant high of the aroma of ground coffee.

That of a bird sanctuary keeper .To fill my days drinking in the exotic colours and still the constant chatter in me by drowning in the chatter of birds.

That of a light house keeper . To absorb the endless expanse of the ocean and broaden my view.

That of a boat house keeper. To drown my rancour and sweeten my sorrow by watching the river flow gently by.

That of a person manning telescopes in high altitudes .To twinkle away my nights in the company of millions of stars ,reminding me of the transiency of my problems and the spectacular insignificance of my existence.

That of the keeper of hill top telescopes .To spend my entire day gazing at greenery the requisite finery to drive away the chicanery of peoples and events.

That of a usherer in theatres and concerts.To have the very best of human creativity to entertain ,enthral and divert me .

That of a Kinder garden teacher.To spend each day in the presence of innocence and freshness of creation and shed the life time of accumulated experiences weighing my shoulders down.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

To stand on one's own legs.

Whilst walking back home I saw a lean bearded young man nodding his head to the music he was hearing through his ear plugs . He was whistling to himself and at the same time grinding the hand pedal of his cycle, specially fashioned for people with orthopedic disabilities[ probably gifted by the govt or an actor ] steering it towards the waste paper shop situated at the corner of my street. He had attached a cart to this cycle and it was filled with plastic covers and all such rags and rubbish that could be sold.

His hair was neatly combed and his clothes were clean .He overtook me and greeted the shopkeeper cheerfully ,before commencing on the transactions.

I wondered at at his ability to pick all those rubbish and cart them.His legs were withered and were as thin as match sticks . What makes him tick? What is the source of his strength and resilience? The very fact that he is striving to stand on his own legs though in reality he has none, is inspiring as well as touching.

I often see a stout man with trunk like limbs ,with dirtily bandaged ankles , begging and badgering devotees for money in a nearby temple,pointing to his bandaged legs .I have also seen him lunge and chase a devotee who ignored his heckling and questioned the rationale behind his begging , when he looked as fit as fiddle.

He also acquired this contraption recently and it is business as usual the only difference is that he is now begging , seated on this cycle as regally as one seated on a throne!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

News items year after year .

1. Commencement of +2 and CAT exams.

2.Interviews of toppers in + 2 , IIT entrance and IAS exams.

3. The fat salary of IIM graduates ,bagged in campus interviews.

4. Ups and downs in cricket.

5.Election rallies to various Assemblies ,Local admns, and Parliament , sprinkled with accusations and counter accusations.

6.Accidents, murders, riots ,curfew, bomb blasts and insurgencies.

7.Institution of infinite numbers of commissions of inquiries.

8.Rise and rise of gold prices .

9.Rise and fall of sensex.

10.Escapades of amorous God men and politicians.

11.The President forever distributing ,national and international prizes in lack lustre functions.

12.Perfidy of Pakistan

13. Jallikattu in T.N ,boat racing in Kerala and the cattle market

14. Bursting of crackers , smearing of colours , breaking the fast and revelry at News years eve .

15. Scams always in numbers beyond human comprehension . Reported with a bang and buried quietly without a whimper.

16.Frenzied processions in Kashmir.

17. Smirking politicians attending party meetings.

18. Republic day parade of India and Pakistan.

19. Tying into knots at the rare visits of U.S presidents.

20.Solar eclipses and scaring the entire nation to hide themselves .

21. The dip in the Ganges by ash smeared sadhus.

22. The congregation of singers in Thiruvaiyar.and dancers at Chidambaram and Konark.

23.Puri rath yathra , Amarnath yatra and Haj pilgrimage. 24.The elephant parade in Kerala. .

25 The Dalailamas tours and speeches and the caustic reactions of China.

26.Off beat decisions of the Supreme court.

27. Nobel peace prize . the other categories only if an Indian wins. Oscars.

28. The conquests of commerce ministers in Davos.

29. Grand slams of tennis.

20. Beauty pageants ofMiss India andMiss world . [ not a single mention of MR India or MR universe .]

31. Talks and talks with Pakistan and NSCN .[nagas]

32. Testing of missiles and missiles.

33. Hundi collection at Tirumala.

34. Ganesha and Durga puja , Ramlila , midnight mass and Muharrum.

35. Magarajothi at Sabari mala and Bramhotsvam at Tirumala.


Toss in all the above items in a mixing bowl and top it with a sting action or two and you have a tepid concoction called 'media'

Rocket scientists.

The scientists at ISRO must be having a coughing fit since the successful launch of Chandrayan to the moon . Ever since , the media is enviously dismissing every issue --from mundane to the sublime it happens to chance upon as ----'' You don't need to be ' rocket scientist' to know this ''.Thus ricocheting those publicity shy .sincere , brilliant men and women going about their work silently and conscientiously under constant public gaze , and scanner!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Cookies.

Then cookies generally crumbled .Now cookies not only crumble but can also be restored at will!

Monday, April 5, 2010

A Breather for Bala.

The day dawned hot and humid.The temperature has `steadily hopped ,skipped and jumped from 34 c to 38 c in a short span of a week! I was debating whether or not to leave the cool confines of my house and trek down to the blind association in the heat that doesn't seem to abate even at 4 pm ,to return the MA English guidebooks to Rajendran ,that have been lying around in my house for the past 3 months ,when my cell sang.

It was Rajendran on the other side ,with his characteristic slow ,measured speech ,inquiring whether he could come over to my house in a hours time . He was assuming work in the coming week as English teacher in a govt school in a village in Villupuram district . He wanted to take leave.A reprieve from a walk in the blazing sun ,delivered from the very person I had intended to return the books.!

As usual he was punctual and sauntered in smiling accompanied by one of his flame's ,leading him by hand.He gave me a box of sweets and thanked me for reading ,explaining lessons, etc.

We started talking and somehow or topic veered to Chandrashekar and his caustic views on Bala and other film directors ,depicting the VI,s as beggars and making them a butt of jokes.

Rajendran alias Nagraj in his usual slow drawl labelled Chandrashekars views as a over reaction to normal course of things.His view is diametrically opposite to Chandra.

He asks ''What is wrong in singing and earning money In what way is is showcasing one's talents demeaning?Whether one sings or sells things,what one is aiming is for money . Those who give or pay are either giving it out of honest appreciation or out of sympathy .both ways''.
He continued''I studied in a convent and felt shy at the beginning to sell snacks etc on trains since I feared that I may come across my friends which could embarrass both of us . But our family is poor and if I didn't raise my voice ,how was I to fill my stomach?He added further ''It is all commerce . Bala and others are also driven by commerce . They have to make money by selling what sells. There is nothing wrong in it !''

He in fact hailed Bala for showing the blind heroine in a pitiable manner as he felt this would make viewers more sympathetic towards the blind.

Regarding the comedians he has a refreshing view. ''Their job is to make people laugh and that is what they are doing . They have no personal ill will towards us.''Then he quoted an incident from his life . One day whilst he was napping in the noon in his hut his sister [normal] who had gone out on a errand had left the door open and a cow had ambled in . He woke up thinking it was his sister and asked it to serve him food ''.He paused here and said ''if Goundamani and Senthil enacted this piece wont you laugh''?His sister came back and chased the cow away and that he scolded her for leaving the door ajar and she chided him for being so thick skinned as to be unaware of a bovine standing next to him .

I asked'' I heard blind people have sixth sense . Didn't that help you''?He replied ''I have no sixth sense . Had I concentrated on my surroundings and had that cow snorted aloud I would have become aware of its presence and not otherwise''.

He has a question for Chandra '' would you take up cudgels if other handicapped people like ortho's are made fun off ? And answered it himself ''You wouldn't''.

According to him films are commercial ventures . They are helping themselves just as he was helping himself.He made another interesting point , that illiterate people that India abounds in are also handicapped and compared to them he was better off as he is educated and is going to earn Rs 20,000 per month here after,.The only grouse to this positive and rosy outlook to life was the difficulties in securing a good scribe and that this dependency was galling .

He concluded that one shouldn't be too sensitive at one's handicaps and life should be taken in its stride .

Two opposite views !

We had long discussions on various topics for 3 hours .He was reluctant to leave , enjoying our talks ,and finally left only after extracting a promise from me that I would read out lessons from MA English guide and have similar discussions,when he takes time off from his work in the following months!