Home coming

I tried for long, but in vain, to ignore this simple native land of mine. What overwhelmed my deliberate negligence was that everything around me - living and non-living - performed their daily chores in a way that was the least affected by my presence. The creepers on the ground did not make way for me, mirthful butterflies did not cease to dance when I passed by, and the boulders on either side of the footpath paid no respect to me and continued their hermitage not bothering my swelled up egoism. Not that I expected these things to budge, in some far away place where at some stupid moments, I felt home and comfortable. However, here, I expected myself to be acknowledged as a native who toiled in a far-away land. But the indifferent reply to my apprehension shook my conscience violently.

In a way I am happy now to see my conceit crumbled. I owe you a lot, my dear native land, and I belong to you, I belong here.

A note on: "The Post Office", by Rabindranath Tagore

  Image Courtesy: www.indiastamp.blogspot.com

 In his play, "The Post Office" [translated by Devabrata Mukherjee from Rabindranath Tagore's original in Bengali, "Dak Ghara"], Tagore shows the joy spread by the innocence in a child. The biggest treasure that a person unknowingly loses in his journey of life is the innocence of his childhood. It is the only thing everyone is equally gifted with. The longer one keeps it, the longer he is in peace. This temporal joy withers down as consciousness and conceit overwhelms innocence, making it lost in a deluge of deception. The tender minds of children are blessed with assorted blends of curiosity, optimism and boundless imagination. Children are unparalleled in their musings, and their perceptions are slick with deep reflections of optimism. Amal's portrayal of a hill as a beckoning figure, rather than as an obstruction that prevents his dreams from reaching the other side of the hill, is the best evident example from the play. Indeed the abrupt and sad ending of the play shoulders the weight of the terrible experience of Tagore in losing his kindred to fate. The sudden ending, though surprising, is similar to the unwarranted arrival of death. Apart from this melancholia that lingers throughout, the play is rich in the beauty of rural life and subtle undertones that criticize cultural and societal blandishments. 

The play, simple in script and language, although, has deep roots in tenacious ideology. Some ideas are similar to the ones Tagore has presented in Gitanjali. He writes in Gitanjali:

"We have no time to lose, and having no time, we must scramble for our chances. We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by, while I give it to every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut; but I find that yet there is time."                                                                                                              -Gitanjali, 82.

Image Courtesy: www.en.wikipedia.org

The herald of good future, though, in the play, arrives late. Even for a soul as innocent as Amal, fate does not show mercy. The village doctor and the Headman, donning the relatively villainous roles are metaphored to elicit deeper meanings outside the script of the play. The unfortunate repercussions of enacting this play, in politically volatile times and places, support this fact.

Personally, the play reminded me of my childhood days, most of which, ironically, I don't remember now because I was completely lost then - lost in a good sense - lost in the moments. The simple delight of being able to reach the lowest branch of a tree in the backyard was cherished often as the realization of a long-persisting dream. The disorderly but sweet percussion, which the raindrops created when they hit the foliage of trees around me, blended nicely with the shushed hymns that the leaves sang in unison as they swayed in the wind, and unfolded before me an orchestra that swept me off my feet. I used to float in the air with my face up, hands spread out and legs loose, and watch the trees and the sky revolve around me, the initial clarity gradually swirling around to an indistinct whirlpool of light engulfing me. 

The play gave me a beautiful replay of my childhood days, when hours and days were spent in such mirthful outings with nature. It also highlights the contrast between innocent optimism and prejudiced pessimism. This work of Tagore's is a wonderful one, which leaves the reader thoughtful and pondering over his childhood days.

'Happyness' - a way of life

Chris Gardner's choice of his biographical film's title was beyond a mere reminiscent recollection of a mis-spelt word that he came across on almost all his days in peril, it was a remarkable neologism which marked the inevitable separation of feigned happiness from true happyness. Although the film advertises the well sold cliche that destiny favours only those out of the poor who toil hard to make more than a living, it etches a memorable picture of the pursuit of a widely sought state - real happiness,which is called happyness.

Happiness as a state is difficult to realize when achieved, because when you have it, you dont realize that you have it. In the sense, when you have it and by the time you realize your possession, you become conscious and try to restrict the flow of happiness, and thereby restrict happiness itself. When conscious, you are distracted by your existence from your being, no matter how much you try to vex your brain to stay calm. So, in pursuit of happiness, you actually lose it on the way. That is why happiness should never be pusued, it is to be attained. It comes as a reward to truth and passion. It is better to keep lesser reasons to safeguard your happiness, for the more you have, the lesser you will gain

This occured to me as I watched two people laughing - the air was of pure mirth. But it did not take much time to read who among them was actually happy. The smiles of  the happier person reached his eyes and emanated a radiant glow of ambience. The other person struggled to mask his artifice - though he did a pretty good job in sporting a camouflage of expressions, the elegance retreated as soon as awareness took over. The happier one continued to amaze the beholder by presenting a sense of ease, from a face comprehended to be unpromising moments before.

So come out of the hangover of the past, submit yourself to the joy of the present, and free yourself from the fear about the future. Truth and passion are, and riches and luxury not, the two ingredients to real happiness also known as happyness - the true way of life.

Hats off to Amish and his Shiva Trilogy

The world, as described in The Shiva Trilogy

Image courtesy:  http://shivatrilogy.com

I picked up 'The Immortals of Meluha' from a shelf marked 'New Arrivals' at the Landmark, Nungambakam. I have a craze of buying books, especially bestsellers and good old classics. But I read only half of those I bought so far. This book named 'The Immortals of Meluha' by Amish hooked right on my inclination for history-religion blends. Time was not right then for I kept it back in its place.

But recently I found this book again at my friend's place, and decided to borrow it from him. It will give a good break amongst the hectic work schedule, I hoped. And surprisingly, my friend had the sequel to it also. That was 'The Secret of the Nagas'. Appealing title again, and I borrowed that book too. 

Flawlessly flowing script of both these books helped me finish reading them in less than a week's time. [It took two years and a half for me to finish 'The Fountainhead'! Ofcourse it had to be helped out of a grave shelf, that was seldom used, to dust it off and be read]. And the best feature of the Shiva Trilogy is that the characters from the puraanas have been used efficiently, although Amish bails himself out smartly using a fictional probability on the personalities and time frames of existence of the iconic characters, to embellish in the mind of the reader a strong message on the good and the bad.

Shiva clearly exemplifies how to be human and impeccable at the same time and how battles are won with the way of the heart. As the second book concludes, it becomes clear how the good and the bad are the two sides of the same coin, how the evil can be found when the good is found, and how the very perception that forbodes evil at first notice might be deceptive and be the evil itself. The different interpretation of the meaning of 'Har Har Mahadev' is an inspirational one, to one and all of us. Ambiguity lies in whether it is 'Hara Hara Mahadev' or 'Har Har Mahadev'. In either case, the divinity exists, but the latter emanates immense energy and confidence. For it means each and every one of us is a Mahadev, the destroyer of the evil. Through Shiva and his devoted followers, the blind superstitions and unnecessary bloodshed are questioned, a matter of utmost importance in the present day turmoil. 

Instead of leading to blind beliefs, the Shiva Trilogy kindles intrigue in the readers. It will generate interest in the history and mythology of India in the minds of the youth. It definitely is a must read for everyone. The third and the last part of the series, 'The Oath of the Vayuputras' will be out by the end of this year. I am sure I would have read much more about Shiva and ancient India by then.

                                                              Har Har Mahadev !!!

Time has come for Chelsea FC

 Image Courtesy: www.skysports.com

The crowning of Chelsea FC as the European Football champions is the biggest milestone in my career as a football fanatic. From written-off underdogs to the cup glory, Chelsea has transformed the history of football. The days of infalliable supremacies are over. With perseverance and might, any team can challenge the favourites - this would be the lines to be highlighted in the newest chapter in the theory of football.

Roman Abramovich had lost count of the number of coaches he had changed at Chelsea by the time he appointed Andres Villas Boas. And there were very few left to get as a replacement. The Europa League triumph of Porto was very well noticed and Abramovich hoped the man he was looking for had to hail from Porto. And so he roped in the youngest coach he had in his options, and presented the team and the field to him with paramount expectation. Villas Boas came to know that Chelsea under Abramovich was one of the toughest teams to coach. A player goes out of form and the next thing the blue world saw was a new expensive player signed in. The out-of-form player slowly disappears from the first eleven to the subs, then to the reserves, and then nobody hears about him for a season or more except when another club decides to help him out – this was and is the state of affairs in the Cobham camp.

Villas Boas tried to change the Chelsea style. The fresh blood injected was put to use very well, but over a period of time, the strategies wore out. Old guards were under-utilized, Drogba got more time to attend to his hair and style than on practice. Even Lampard sometimes found hard to make it to the first eleven. Fernando Torres never stood up to the err.. ahem.. 50 million pounds deal he came in on. Victories became scarce and lackluster, and Chelsea and Liverpool promisingly competed to become the best ‘big four’ drop-out. By the time winter rolled out off the scene, Chelsea was written off the league contenders list. The familiar sack was ready for use anytime, and was used as a late answer to the only question – when?. Boas left in silence, bewildering a climactic finish his fans foresaw. 

 Image Courtesy: www.telegraph.co.uk

Now comes the ghost. Roberto Di Matteo, a former Chelsea man, the then assistant to Andres Villas Boas, was made the caretaker manager of Chelsea FC. He has an angelic appearance, which well suits his role of a saviour, though it contradicts the rough image of the Blues. But he has made miracles come true so effortlessly that sometimes it feels his exaltation at the time of goals scored or matches won is the only thing that proves he is human. Otherwise, he is in his usual calm with a subtle smile. I say only ghosts can be like this.  

He was handed over the keys to the Stamford Bridge  when a maximum of 20-odd games were left in the season. He would have a lesser number if he left the team to go it's way - the 1-3 away loss at Napoli indicated Chelsea's exit from the CL in the round of 16. But Di Matteo was not ready to go the easy way. A former Chelsea player, who used to be in furious form on the pitch before he had to retire due to serious injury problems, he took Chelsea for a frollicking ride - one that saw them beating all their odds. Di Matteo brought back the old gang of Drogba and Lampard back to form, and Torres showed promising signs towards the end of the season. 

Beating Napoli, Benfica, BARCELONA and BAYERN MUNICH was a result of the master plans laid by the manager of the season, Roberto Di Matteo. Benfica was a strong team, but they had to give up to the mighty Blues. Even Barcelona could not help seeing themselves out of the CL. Though criticized for the defensive tactics used against the Catalans, Chelsea could not have produced an attacking side overnight that would match Barca in all aspects. Instead, Chelsea made use of what they have - endurance. And there were master finishers we saw in Drogba, Ramires and Lampard, who did the best of the chances they got. Petr Cech was brilliant - he is back to his best again. 

Chelsea won against Barcelona, but their victory never elevated them from the underdog status - for they had to play the final against Bayern Munich withput four of their best players. Chelsea held high its fighting commitment to the game, especially big games, and they won the trophy, startling all their critics. Di Matteo touch was very evident throughout the game. Picking Ryan Bertrand was a gamble which gave good returns - Philip Lahm was kept at bay very well, and at times Ashley Cole got good support from Bertrand as a seondary left-back. Gary Cahill and David Luiz defended splendidly in their comeback match, and Ashley Cole once again proved he is the best left-back that the game could offer. Drogba was a beast in the game, hope he stays on in the club. Cech showed astonishing nerves when all thought Neuer was the better of these two goalkeeping legends. 

 Image Courtesy: www.championsleague.ca

Chelsea has signed out of the season in style, back-heeling Spurs out of next CL, and it's now all upto Abramovich to decide whether to take back the keys from di Matteo or not. Looking forward for the next Blue season.

Image Courtesy: www.chelseafc.com

"Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
Cos Chelsea, Chelsea is our name."

What's in a New Year !!!

For numerous reasons, the concept of a New Year is not that great. Moreover, I don’t like the way it is perceived. Conceptually it is the birth of a new unit of time, but it just adds up to the list of festivals, thereby becoming another occasion for treats, celebration and other extravaganza. Liquor literally flows on new year nights. Purely for entertainment, millions of gallons of liquor and unimaginable amounts of money are thrown away, on just one day. I can’t help but sound like an anti-liquor campaigner, in this regard. Because India simply does not require any other reason to boast that 75 percent of its people are poor. For the past couple of months, Wikipedia is running a fundraiser for itself, and it says something like this: “If all those who read this donate Rs. 100 today, our fundraiser would be closed by today”. It is exactly a similar situation what I am referring to: if all those who spend extravagantly in the name of new year or any other occasion are thoughtful enough to cut short their luxury from extravagant to adequate (God knows if there is anything as adequate luxury!!), then it will be a big leap for mankind. I have seen people sympathizing over their brethren struck by poverty and calamities. But there ends all. Who does anything at all? Surely not those who prefer setting up golf clubs to charity fundraisers.

Everybody nowadays seems to be ardently trying to find some reason or the other to party. Partying and merry-making has become the purpose of life, above everything else. To an extent it is true that get-togethers make life happening. But we forget that such small happenings overshadow other big happenings in life!! Moving ahead like aimless nomads, ticking back every day from life, does this life really make sense? Isn’t it like an inflated balloon that is attractive outside but hollow inside?

Now I have done the easy job of penning down this thought. But how to materialize this? Here is a rough plan. It might be simple at first sight, but becomes more and more difficult the more you actually try to do it. Out of say 100 rupees earned per month, 25 rupees are spent for regular monthly expenses. In the remaining 75, 15 are spent on luxury. It might be more or less, varying from person to person, and thereby leaving 60 rupees as monthly savings. What if in the 15 rupees, 5 be allotted for the sacred cause I am pointing to? Or if not in terms of money, why not in terms of resources? If not now, why not later, but with good planning which starts right from this moment?

There are infinite possibilities, infinite ways to pursue ultimate happiness. Why be a party animal when there are much better ways to be social… At least let this new year make a difference in everybody who believes in it. Give a 10 rupee note to a hungry kid begging before you with his hands on his sunken belly. You may have to skip going in an autorickshaw and walk the way to your home. Or don’t give the kid anything at all, but please don’t give that yucky scornful look that I have seen on hundreds of faces, I hate it! Be human.

Welcome 2012.

Life in a Metro

What would you call an Indian Metro? What kind of people live there? Well, there are some minimum mandatory requirements that a city should have so as to achieve the status of an Indian Metro. Chennai will help me best to explain. It is a city where people from all walks of life commute in front of me. Round the clock. I often wonder where all these people keep going. I do so especially when I am in a sea of vehicles and stuck in traffic. From millionaires through corporate communists through the clichéd middle-class through homeless beggars to streaking mad men, all these people pass in front of my eyes or I travel across them, every now and then. Given below are some trademarks of the different classes of society I listed in the former sentence.

1.    The millionaires are not a majority lot. I don’t see many of them out in the open except in air-conditioned imported cars that never sound to vroom by or in expensive attires in shopping malls and multi-plex cinemas. Wherever they are, they make sure they are in an air-conditioned, aromatic and imaginarily red-carpeted spaces surrounded by big glass walls. They breathe air-conditioned air. KFCs and Baskin and Robbins are for them what road-side chat shops are for me.

2.     The business dons and political magnates – they decide what others can do. In sun-filmed and UV-protected SUVs assisted with security convoys they roam the city and the blocked traffic trails to where they have gone. I don’t know much about what these people do, but at the end of the day, they run the show and the law.

3.    Corporate chaps are easy to spot – they set, follow and do (and rightfully they  have the right to do so) the trend. Work, eat, sleep and party. Now sorry if I omitted family people – they too do a lot of partying sometimes with family or sometimes when they have time after work and attending to family matters.

4.    Corporate communists seem pretty good in camouflaging and others think they change their colour. They might not have been fortunate to be born with silver spoons in their mouths, but they will make sure their kids have spoons of atleast silver. But these people really have an inclination to the society, and most of them really do some good stuff to the society. The rest are turncoats who stand not for the cause, but by the side where victory and justice are apparent. I have felt at times whether I am a corporate communist myself.

5.   Now the most talked about and the most hyped and the always baited bunch – the middle class. They consider them the wealthiest and the most happening in this world, until they see some wealthier people pass by. Even though, they are what we call the man power. People who move the world. Thus constituting the best portion of the working population, they deserve better respect than what I have given in my words. They are into everything man has known, and become real social animals. I claim that I belong here.

6.     The homeless are a big lot, now they keep wandering from road to road, slum to slum, and live at the mercy of the political heavy-weights and hence end up as a loyal resource to the election and other political propaganda.

7.     After the nomad come the mad. These people happen out of weaklings when the world turns too cruel for them to handle, and then their clocks stop ticking.

This financially divided demography will continue to exist and the divide will increase even more, as more and more metros come up, more and more development happens. A metro has to have all seven of the above members intact to sustain it as a metro.  A holistic approach like this will make life in a metro a little less metrosexual. Give it a try!