A Writers Diary....

........back again... feels actually good... this place is quite a placation for the restless mind which has innumerable thoughts to put up with..... on friday said to the self.... blog a day will be the mantra for a sometime to come. A blog had usually come up in the past only when an itch had started to scribble down something for the self. More often it used be an impulsive blogging kind of an activity, which in the future tending to have an intention of being more of a compulsive blogging. I often wonder there is something that I have lost as a writer in the journey so far. I wish to contradict myself here again. I started off trying to wash away the itch of a restless mind a couple of years ago when I had the self up through the night. No I wasnt an insomniac. I sacrificed being in the arms of a beautiful angel while catering to customers of a certain company residing elsewhere where the sun rises as sun set in the part of the world where I prove my existence. I worked for an international customer service contact center to support my existence. It used to be a way to vent out the frustrations of life at the end of the day while for most of the normal homosapiens around me started the day. Well, ofcourse i dont deny a bit of it that I've graduated to quite a few levels in writing. I very well acknowledge with myself the fact that I do not ususally scribble for else to read and comment or come to a consensus regarding the views I have towards life or the way I visualises life. An unusal write up which doesnt seem inane to the world around would be shared with a few for whom being sensible is just a state of mind with impeccable relavance.
The initial ramblings of the self used to congregation of two languages though inane most of the times but still would be in congruence with the thoughts let to flow. A graduation I witness is by condescending to be more unilingual and developing a planned strategy and executing the same of honing the way the ramblings are to be scribbled on this personal space of mine. Should I actually call it an ascendance in an inane articulataion of thoughts? Well, I do admit that it makes self quite impressed looking at the levels of ascendence or condescence, just for it comes as a fact of life that there is a constant upgradation in one certain aspect of being and hanging around.
I aspire to get better and better with every write up going forward, No it is not to prove a point to any other fellow being, but its a genuine appreciation of the selfs improvisation in the diligence of achievement of a constant betterment.
A few fellow dwellers on the face of Terra Firma do interact with the self on the matter of write ups that the self does seldom than often. These dwellers are quite some bloggers themselves whom the self appreciates as writers. Often conceived by the compatriots of this sanct place or should I say perceieved? as a quite a serious blogger or a heavy writer. True, it is to quite an extent that most often I visit and scribble on this wall when the frustration of existence turns to an itch. Seldom, it is an itch of an idea or a thought flow that comes out as an incidence of a rambling while passing through a pleasant state of being. But I do beg to agree with the fact that writing or reading is a perfect food for thought, which not being present will make a human defintely anorexic in the context of intellect which will only lead to the peril of living and create room for mere existence of mediocricity. The self never than seldom has exploited the art of scribbling day to day mundane happenings of life. Ofcourse, I dont even in the remotest of dreams either deny that they are fun filled, thought provoking or even situations that cater to minute celebrations as compared to the magnitude of the highest order of life. The self on contemplation only converges to a point that it could be only due to the fact that the self is a visitor here seldom than often. I must admit that a few blog rolls that the self follows religiously is filled quite in excess of incidences of daliy sustenance which brings out a lot of excitement, sarcasm, cynicism, helplessness, mockery, appreciation, adulation, oppression, pride, amusement, threshold of enjoyment, threshhold of happiness, depth of frustration, abyss of anger, heights of disagreement and many more umpteen number of such daily expressions which actually makes up this wonderful phenomenon called life. It is not really a reason that such writing of the self causes any kind of a depression, it is just a feeling or a thought that can keep the self more cheerful by incorporating such incidences of life either intending a pun at the incidences or by encompassing them in a divine armour called humour. Should I call it an artistry a few compatriots possess that the self doesnt?
I often feel that I do write better, to an extent while I could pronounce to the world out there that I can write at least a 150% better than I do speak. It may be for the fact that I do get more time to think while I write and speech or a conversation is absolutely instantaneous instinct. I can sound contradictory at times saying and believing that I do not look up to many people around or who had been, while I aspire to speak some day this language that I write in impeccably like a few who live around in the same part of the world as I do. It is defeinitely not a point that I would deny that my writing qualifies to be creme de la creme, quite often it is subjected to being banal and cliched. An instance can be witnessed just by observing the title of this roll. I hope my mantra for the near future is going to be in function and doesnt go defunct "a blog a day... keeps idling away". On this note I sign off.

Adieos
Phaedrus

The Living

..... Off late the existence of human race on this part of Mother Earth has been and is being a witness to incidences that tend to cease the existence of the race itself. An evil thy name terror is playing the protagonist on the stage set for living. Massacre, blood shed, damages, artificial catastrophe, name thus what one wants as is claiming the lives of innocent humans. The land once known for peace and prosperity is now a victim of terror and anguish all along. Being witness to such occurrences causes an alarming disturbance of every commoner of the society who is already bearing their own turmoils of mundane life. Do we wonder actually what the reason is?
There can be umpteen number of excuses that can be put forth by the cult of terror as reasons. Do they stand a chance in placating the victim in the best sense of logic? While I wonder, the reason for such disturbances, it really is not only in this part of the world that human race is going through such inhumane sacrifices. Logically thinking, is it not just the intolerance of one human towards the other? Racism, fundamentalism, castism, what not.... but it connotes only intolerance.
It is but obvious to be an evidence of such inhuman acts. Retreading back on the path of human living it has been an evolution though but in a manner that has been quite offensive to the entire race. If one looks at the way things have evolved over aeons it has been one sect of humans intervening with another sect, which may have been a welcome act. After all the supreme being himself pronounces that world is one large family. But is this really true? Ofcourse not. There exists an element of being secular as a nation harbouring demographics of various sects. Alas ! it just fails to bring in the element called Harmony along. If a sect of people residing in a geographical location tend to be secular and offer space and living for another sect of humans, then doesnt it become the natural gesture of humans harboured to behave in a manner alike "being a roman in rome". Contradictorily, it so happens that such harbouring caters to give way for oppression. Result is a revolt. Destruction of human race.
Looking back at the past in the recent centuries to recent daces to recent years and a past few days, its only intolerance that has got into the mind of Terror sub counsciously or consciously that is playing a part in plying human souls to a world above and the carriers of such souls to a world beneath us. We name it aparthied, jihad, caste segregation and what not. Have we ever wondered what is the cause for such behaviour. Has tolerance led to intolerance? What ever happened to the ethos with which it was created and destined to live in peace and tranquility only to enrich Mother Earths presence in the universe which remains unmatched from a time unknown.
Every geographical demarcation as man evolved towards being civilised has welcomed beings from a seperate demarcation to only enrich the living, to grow together as humans to reach a state of being the epitome of knowledge in state synonym only for Harmony and Bliss though unintentionally. Alas! it has never been conceived to be so. What is such accomodation or universal brotherhood catering to? Conversions, Opression, Fundamentalism, Hatred , eternal dither. Should we advocate the fact that we shouldnt believe in being a global citizen and restrict ourselves to our community? Is that going to be a vital factor that is going to bring back the existence and stop the extinction of the species that we all belong to?
To be utmost honest, while I scribble I would not even in my dreams count on myself to be tolerant towards the homo sapiens out there who are not of my color, caste, creed, nationality et al even at the levels of mediocricity leave alone being the epitome of it. But I aspire to be more tolerant in the coming years of my living on Mother Earth. We need to remember one aspect, that no human is more powerful than the Mother Nature. One whip of anger by her knows no boundaries of demolition of being. Do we need to cause more harm to our fellow beings yet?
Lets obliterate the dogmas of the past and head towards a much more peaceful world with an open mind and a different view. Lets make this yet again "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" - One large Family

Phaedrus

Just another inane thought....

..... It is the day of the "God of the Elephants". Yes it is the fourth day of the brighter fortnight in the sixth month of the Hindu Lunar almanac. Bhaadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. This God of elephants is inarguably one of the most beautiful gods worshiped in Hindu. A huge body of a man with trademark pot belly which later goes on to become a simily for all the obese individuals. Another name so attached to this God of Elephants - Lambodara - which essentially means the one who has a possession of a big belly. Lamba means closely humongous while Udara means the belly essentially meaning the creature called Lambodara. Just a few days back I was contemplating on the way of Hindu emphasis on the mundane existences of life and mother earth.
There is a story attached to how this God of anti interruptions to any work assumed to be carried in the world was begun to be worshiped by lesser demigods and lesser mortals. Apparently this God whom I personally like to address as Ganapatus can also be called as Gowri Manasa Putra which essentially means that he is a mentally conceived offspring of higher goddess. This offspring was stationed at the door while the mother divine prepared for her ablutions. Enter, the Father divine Lord Shiva who is connoted as the lord of Laya, the God of destruction of the universe when the dooms day occurs as described by the Hindu. The father divine seeks the way in to the abode, upon refusals and denials by the son, the father known for his anger and destructive powers bestowed upon him as being one of the supreme gods called the the Trimurti beheads the son in the fit of rage to let live the son head less and life less. Upon the return of the mother divine to witness the fall of the son, wept in grief, unbearable to the god of end to see the beloved wife in grief and pain, sent his men who are called the Ganas in all directions to find if there was any being who posted the head towards the north and asleep in state. However, the Ganas did find and beheaded the being who dwelt in the state of sleep posting the head towards the north. Alas !!! it was the head of an elephant. Since the father divine had disrupted the aesthetic beauty of the son befitting the head of an elephant awarded the foremost worship to be offered to the son before any one. Thats the story so far. Thinking and linking back to the contemplation of the self I wondered why the Hindu portrays gods with the head of an animal or something else.
Here we can witness Ganapatus, Narasimha (Human Body with the head of a lion), Hayavadana(Human headed by a horse) and so on. Also we can find umpteen number of instances where the gods of Hindu have a lot of animals as their vehicles or should I just refer to it as medium of transit or commutation. There have been umpteen number species that Terra Firma sports that are associated with various gods of the Hindu. There have been lions, tigers, bulls, rodents, peacocks and so on and so forth that are associated with the gods as their medium of transit. India being a land with umpteen number beliefs by the lesser mortals who comprise can be said in other words that the nation has been made up of. There are beliefs attached with a whole lot species. For instance down south it is believe that when a lizard extends a sound of a mating call it is believed that the words spoken by human at that instance is the truth. Fair enough to be discarded as a superstition. Treading back in contemplation the self found quite a lot of reasoning can be found to such aspects of life, I wouldnt be able to term them as the facts of life though since a lot of herd in the world consider that bit to be mythologically fabricated fables. However there is a lot sense that Hindu can attach with such association of species with the Gods or the association of species with way of life kind of beliefs. The Hindu emphasizes the importance of every living species on the face of earth. This is what the logic I came up with when I questioned the self. There are innumerous such instances that one can stumble upon as he or she treads the path of Indian mysticism. The ancient generation of Hindu was probably was way forward than the current generation in relevance to the thoughts of bestowing the importance to every aspect of mundane life to make it more excited, in the sense that something to be cautious of, some things to be celebrated with gay abandon, some things to be neglected or abandoned, somethings to just celebrate life and triumph.
Superstitions as well as I think was just instituted into the normal lives just to bring about the existence of umpteen number of creatures that exist here on Mother Earth. Beliefs to be believed in order to impart prominence to other beings and not alone the homosapiens.
They probably believed in the phrase that was delivered by the omni potent super being "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" to an extent that they included all the species residing around them to be a part of one big family and believed in being so..... hopefully the current generation also would move forward in the direction that is similar to a path when treaded back to the history of man kind.

Adieos
Phaedrus

Good Riddance

... Its been some time since I came back here. I wouldnt give myself an excuse that being busy in mundane activities kept me away from this most personal space of mine. It has been an itch over a last few days that I said something to this most personal friend of mine. Ultimately I am back here to scratch the itch off.
Good Riddance - thought not the right term that I could use, alas! I dont find a better one at the moment. Those couple of words mean something this - "An expression of pleasure on being rid of some annoyance - usually an individual." However I wouldnt claim that I've gotten over a period of annoyance because it was something that I always treasured to have against my name. Yes, this is my quite well earned post graduate degree. It brings out something that I've always recapitulated looking back in time, yet another display of defiance. I take quite a pride in achieving this feet in the journey of life. I treasure thee for the reason that I have just crossed all hurdles that came my way and clinging on to it tenaciously until I finished the race.
Yesterday was officially the last day when most of my compatriots and contenders in the race met for one last time. It was time for some nostalgia to spurt. I wonder yet if I would be still associated with the race that I have finished ever in a longer race called Life. Yesterday it was the day when most of my compatriots and contenders met for one final time at my alma mater. Nostalgia was the word of the moment. Emotions ran high. I have cherished every moment over the last couple of years. I wouldnt beat the point that I sailed all alone through the voyage. There were these men and women who were also very instrumental in rowing my boat to the shore.
The two years that just went past by have seen some vivid things in life, some horrible, some cherishable, some forgettable, some unforgettable. These two years have earned some friends for life. As they say "Till the Grave".
I see a life apart from this post grad degree. This was the question my that sprung up from no where in the grave of the night after yet another conversation over the phone. Is this what I always wanted to do? I see a life out there with umpteen number of interesting things and concepts that a man live a life time and not just exist.
I hope I can live that life and not just exist.

Good Riddance
Phaedrus

Age or Ageless

..... For quite a while off late I have been thinking about this concept called Age. For one I relate this concept to that same most trivial aspect of what is called as Life as brought about by far one of the most revered Philosophical entity who lived in this great country called Jiddu Krishnamurthy. That concept that I see a relevance with age is Time.
Can we call age to be subset of time? How is that we can define age as? what is age as a noun? Well here it becomes so very ambiguous and I find myself discombobulated with the whole thing. Is growing old is what you call Age? Or is that phenomenon of some accomplishment that has been carried out through one's life? Or is that duration of time that has been invested in this accomplishment? Yet again I find myself lost... it seems a whole lot of entanglement, overlap and chaos.
What is your age? The common notion or if I wish to call it as the response to stimuli in the society that I exist in would be " How old is this person?" who is in the context of being asked the question. The observation of the self is that not even in the sub conscious mind of the questioner there would be a thought "what is your achievement?"
An achievement or an accomplishment is actually irrelevant to the fact there is age is attached to it by commoners. So, ladies and gentlemen, this yet beautiful world of our's have seen flashes of lives as brilliant and as eye hurting as it happened during the "Fatboy" explosion at Hiroshima on the 6th of August, circa 1945 . Short lived flash....... eternal impact on the human race.
Here are men and women the world has witnessed who have lived for just a few years but they have impacted this very world to the eternity. "Che" lived only 39 years. What a life that was!!! Oh boy he till date is branded as the brightest spark of revolution that the world has seen and so shall he be till the world sees the doomsday. I wonder if ever anyone has questioned Che what's your age mate? But then I can vouch for the fact that nobody ever probably dared to put forth that question to the " Jim Morrison". He lived only as a stint.... 27 years. He was what one can call a Free Radical human star. What has he not done in life?? He got married too? He died when he was 27..... He lived there on eternally.... There are a whole lot of such people who lived for stint... killed themselves but lived on forever.....I could just rattle of few such names... Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix ...... These are men & women who were born as commodities but went on to become a brand that would never phase out as long as Terra Firma would cease to exist. The icons started a cult that would live on and on.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & Rajguru lived and died for their nation at an age much younger than the ones that have been mentioned afore. Ofcourse they lived on as well.
I felt that I was a part of the cult... thought that I may just end my life sometime soon... this very year was what i thought earlier... rather wouldnt have minded if I did so. Then I saw a few more people around who lived the life to the fullest even in terms of time... Those who wished they could live a little more longer so they could make this world that we live in a better place to live.
I think of that old woman who has a zeal to live who teaches her grandkids the value of livelife in values. Well this is just another woman who doesnt have a face but when questioned why she wanted to live for a few more years says "there is that world , that beautiful world I want my children and grand children and their children to see which I have seen. I need to live because I can give them what it takes them to retain the beautiful world that I have lived in". Here is this woman who no one knows who is unheard of, but she has left a cult back that may retain her beautiful world.
A few incidents in the recent past in the life of the self who had always been thinking that the end is the reality has changed the way how the self looks at things now. I have a motive to live. I have a life to live. I have to give my successors, my companion atleast this beautiful world that I live in.
I must admit that there are four kinds of people who live in this world. Ones who live for short and live on forever, ones who live for long and cease to exit there on, ones who live for short and forgotten an one who live long and live forever towards eternity. But the question comes back yet again what is your age?

or

Is it Age or Ageless ?

Signing off
Phaedrus

and the

Actor.... Theater... Life

..... In 1993 a few months after people were awarded the best in their categories for their exemplary work in the year 1992 at the "Oscar Academy Awards" a strange incident took place. As heard, A man met his co actor in a gathering and found that the co actor, although not awarded but was still appreciated for his characterized performance and said something to him. Here it is what he said "I heard that you were fantastic son, I am sorry I couldnt congratulate you since I never saw your performance, remember I played a Blind Man". The man who said this was Al Pacino and who heard was Chris O'Donell . The movie in context was "Scent of a Woman". Now that is what I call performance. Al Pacino played Col. Frank Slade in the movie who is a blind man and Chris O'Donell plays Charlie Simms. That is the commitment of an actor as i perceive. Apparently Al Pacino used prosthetic contact lenses so that he could fake his performance.
Well I knew who Al Pacino was from quite sometime, but little did i know about him. Hence I went ahead googling on Al after I heard this anecdote. Lo Behold! what I found was the dearest to my heart. I gathered that Al used to perform in the theater before he moved to the big screen.
Theater is something I believe can produce the finest actors on Terra Firma. I can stand up and vouch for my statement "Actors are from the Theater, Others are mere stars". I regret that I am not a part of that world now. I was though belonging to it in my past. I have been a witness to umpteen number of plays. I cherish every moment of the time that i have been associated with the theater directly or indirectly.
Those movements, the stage occupation, the histrionics, the music, the presence of mind exhibited by the performers, in short every aspect of the theater holds me captive till date. When I started off being close to the theater I had converged my thoughts only towards the point of enacting the roles that were designated to the actors. Little did I know that theater was much beyond the acting as well. Theater has probably been an integral part of every society from aeons probably much before than man could even count leave alone scripting. The local moral stories may have been performed as plays. This kind of an art form is practised in the Management Institutes to an extent till today. Then the theater refined itself to be an incomparable art form. As my quest for knowledge as aligned to theater grew, i can relate that state of mind more to an earthworm. The more you chop the more it grows. Hence I started to be a little more educated on this front. Along with the acting comes a lot more other things. The costume designs, the stage settings , the music that goes with the play, the art direction, lastly the most important aspect of a play, the concept or the plot of the play. Art direction was something that inherited as a learning from a dear friend of mine who had worked for umpteen number of years for "Rangayana" in Mysore. The concept of a play is what keeps the audience ticking.
Has anybody in India ever thought that Seeta may have been thinking about one of the most handsome man she has encountered in her life, Ravana, although she had just caught a glimpse of Ravana in the disguise as an ascetic. Infact, her thoughts about Ravana are instigated by Shoorpanaki in disguise well after the Kind and the Queen started living happily ever after. I just fell off my chair at the end of this play when Seeta actually draws the painting of Ravana impeccably accurate and the painting comes alive. That was the play "Chitrapata" directed by the one of the most brilliant actresses that India has seen "B.Jayashree". I admit that this concept is very radical when the target audience are Indians. So be it. "The Blue Coffee Mug". How does that sound? inane, abstruse, abstract, irrelevant....?? I would advocate it to be a revelation. It was the actors of new genre who came up to put up a play with a phenomenal message that can keep the audience awestruck with their fingers on the nose point. What started of as a comical histrionics by a man who suffered from amnesia, a man who is not grown up to his age and a man who seemed to sensible sent a message to the audience that the riots in 1992 was unwanted, the child abuse around the world and in India is uncalled for. A few of them around me were moved to tears. I have a lot more to say though about the concepts but will stop right here
I very well know that every one in this world knows that there is a difference between the big screen and the world of theater. Ofcourse this includes the fact the there are no retakes in the theater and other mundane stuff. There is more to it. An actor on the stage is actually interacting with the audience unlike the the tinsel town figure. A play like "Maya Seeta Prasanga" which was directed by the most revered entity of the Indian Theater M.S.Sathyu for Rangayana which is corroborated by bringing in the element of "Kathakali" into the play which is a little obscure although not obsolete. The postures in the play enforce that the actors are meant to be statues for the entire duration of the play. Having an audience right in front of you who may not like this kind of adaptation who may even consider it to be some kind of adulteration can always be a taunting one. An actor on the stage has to bear all the tantrums that the audience exhibit and yet come out as a winner.
Oh! I can just keep scribling around her about what i love for ever. So shall abruptly end here. Work is an excuse that I have to get back to....some other time

Phaedrus

Game ... Set ...... Match

.... On a balmy summer afternoon, a thought just struck my top floor. I all of a sudden remembered one of those anonymous Mills & Boon books i had read as a kid (ofcourse i read quite a few of Mills & Boon as well). Well what seemed to be a bunch of crap all the while after i deserted the M&Bs to grow to read some thing more real and hard hitting, came back just as a point blank thought. I remember in one of those inane conversations that a woman has with her friend in one of those M&Bs with her friends that she wants a man who would be Tall, Dark and Handsome as her life partner. The man should possess thighs and legs as that of a Tennis Player. There it was!!! Tennis is one such game which enforces any human playing the game to possess the best of the Physic and the human must be an epitome of stamina. I cant remember since when i've been following tennis from, although I never ventured into the sport personally. As far as my reminiscence is accurate the first ever time I watched a tennis match was the French Open finals in 1987 on Door Darshan when i was all of six and a few months, while my brother who coaxed into watching was around 11ish then. I knew nothing about tennis, I knew nothing about who played the game, I knew nothing about where in the world it was being played. I was what some one can call as "Innocent". The reigning queen of the world of tennis then Martina Novratilova had lost to a 16 years something kid called Stephanie Graf. I knew neither, but the flouroscent colored ball traveling from one court to another hooked me on. Then it had been tennis all the way. No, I am absolutely no historian of the game. I watch the game out of sheer passion. I dont feel deprivation of not being part of it. I feel this is one game that can bring out the character of sportsman.
Tennis has always had repetitive fights for the titles by the same players. One could witness the same players facing each other in the finals of every Grand Slam. If some one is an aficionado of the game, then he or she may have witnessed the clash of titans, Federer and Nadal battling it out for the title umpteen number of times. One can hear words like "The King of Grass" taking on the "King of Clay" or "The Artist" fighting "The Warrior". This is not just the case post 2005 till date. Every era of tennis has seen these kind of battles. I can name a few though. Jimmy Connors v/s John McEnroe, Boris Becker v/s Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras v/s Jim Courier, Pete Sampras v/s Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras v/s Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf v/s Martina Novratilova, Steffi Graf v/s Gabriela Sabatini, Steffi Graf v/s Monica Seles, Jana Novotna v/s Conchita Martinez ....and so on
Tennis is not just about stamina, power and physic. It is a beautiful sport. The elegance with which it is played is as important as the sustenance. Frankly, I dont like watching Nadal play. He is raw power and nothing more. So are the William sisters. I was having a chat about them with my brother the other day and I felt they have to be included in Men's Tennis instead of Women's. Trust me tennis cannot be elegance and style when played with both the hands being used for a back hand return. Tennis can never be of style if there are no chops and slices while being played. Tennis can never be beautiful if a game is not won just by playing on the base line.
The epitome of beauty in the game of the tennis since I ever started watching tennis inclusive of men and women is any day the erstwhile numero uno Stefan Edberg. He is called the "Swan in Motion". I advocate that it is most deserved by him. I've never ever seen him use a double handed back hand return for a winner. Never. His serves although not very powerful but still were the culmination of style. So were Edberg's shots and returns. For me, the world of tennis brings a sportsman whose work was exemplary and probably one of the best sportsman ever born inclusive of all the sports in the world from aeons. "Agility thy name Boris Becker". His ubiquitous presence on the court was truly mesmerizing. I would not be prudent enough not to mention the belief that "Nordic Race is the best ever created" as quoted by Adolf Hitler" if its Boris Becker, Steffi Graf, Michael Schumacher, Franz Beckenbaur etc are the kind of people who represent it. As far as i can go down the memory lane, It is Boris Becker who still holds the record for being the youngest champion at the most elite grandslam of the world of tennis, "The Wimbledon". As an aficionado of the sport myself I would like to recollect the great "Sir Arthur Ashe", the first coloured player to win the title at the Wimbledon. Those were still the days of racism and apartheid. Determination and guts took Sir Ashe a long way. The world of tennis and the world in itself has commomerated the respect he deserves by naming the stadium "Sir Arthur Ashe Stadium" at "Flushing Meadows", New York.
Tennis can also be a little funny. A couple of anecdotes bring a smile on even today. Steffi Graf at Wimbledon was asked by a stranger " Steffi, Will you marry me?" while she was all ready to serve. Steffi Graf stops in between and responds "How much money do you have?".
John McEnroe was playing Pete McEnroe in the semi finals of the U.S Open. Two sets down to nil in the favour of Pete. John shouts "Cmon, Pete Mom asked you to lose". We all know that probably Calvin grew up to be John McEnroe. He was probably the best left handed tennis player the world has seen, ofcourse not to mention Novratilova who was equally awesome. He infact won the U.S Open that year not just beating Pete but also Connors, i guess.
With the advent of probably what can be called as the new era in tennis, the style and elegance seemed to take a back seat. This era was called Power Tennis, i guess its called the same now as well. When for the first time we saw women like Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and so on started with the double handed returns more often than seldom. It turned even worse when men like Jim Courier, Andre Agassi started that too. But still tennis was Tennis. I wonder if any one remembers women like Billie-Jean King or Chris Evert from probably the forgotten time frame.
How many of us would remember one of the greatest ever tennis players who took incarnation in the world by the name Bjorn Borg? He was probably the Jim Morrison of tennis, who rose to fame quickly and faded off even quicker. He had won every single grandslam played during his time and faded off when was all of 26..... an appalling situation for the world of tennis. Oh ! i think tennis can keep me talking and keep me writing the entire day. There are so many players so many stars, so many performers, so many tabloid materials, so many style icons, so many bad boys, what not ..... doesnt the world of tennis have?

Did i ever mention that one of the most beautiful women in the late 80's and early 90's came from the world of tennis. Not that she was enormously talented but she was extra ordinarily beautiful . She is beautiful till date. She is Gabriela Sabatini

Tennis would definitely be one of those sports that would rule the world of sports till eternity

Game ..... Set.......n ......Match

Phaedrus

Thoughts.....................

................... Federer was down 3 sets to zero against Nadal at Roland Garros, the YogaNarasimha Swamy idol looked kind of different yesterday at the divine sanctum sanctorum, the water at Narsimha teertha was not as clean as usual, Croatia was one up against Austria at the Euro 2008,
how would it actually be if MLV sang Jagadodhdarana instead of MS? R is joining a new firm in the next week, the flowers looked wonderful in the reception that was hosted by N for his brothers wedding, Raikonen and Hamilton crashed in the pitlane after Hamilton drove into Raikonens car although there was a red light burning at the end of the pitlane. The Giles Villenvue Circuit at the Canadian granprix was almost an anticlimax, the reminiscence of the joy experienced by the self on thrusday while getting drenched in an abrupt rainfall during the journey back to the college...what a feeling that was, the lady who is in her late 40s or early50s who lives across the street where my office is situated who religiously sticks to her regime of playing shuttle badminton everyday, the freak accident that N met with just prior to his brother D's wedding, I did the right thing by keeping the menu simple and tasty for the reception in my brother V's wedding as compared to N's brother's, so much of wastage though, the ecstatic feeling of being elated upon being introduced to "The Kapil Dev" by boss on tuesday, just felt as if i met one of the gods, suddenly i move from being stationary and look at the signature of the God that I had procured on V's card, how foolish was I looking taking the God's autograph on a visiting card, The future of the self unknown, scary, the cashflow, the resposibilities, the wedding of N's brother took place in the same place as that of my cousin P's just a couple of weeks back, the mother divine of the self explaining how scanty the population at the marriage hall was since it was an intercaste marriage, the complications involved not just in life but also the rites and rituals that are to be followed, my future soul mate??or is it going to be soul less mate?, Adrian Sutil of Force India team's freak mechanical failure at the Giles Villenvue circuit, how unfortunate he was at Monaco when Raikonen crashed into him from rear, neither of them completing the race, How would it be to have a fusion of Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull with Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, the character of Madakari Nayaka from Durgasthamana who has lived and relived the history, Conversation with R & A about the artist called Gundappa Vishwanath over a soft drink on saturday night, the examination that followed the day after, Ana Ivanovic the beautiful won the French womens final, the tabloids said Dinara Safina was noway match to Ivanovic, I felt Dinara gave Ana a run for her money, Petrol prices hit a high of $139, when would the hybrid cars and the fuel cell cars hit the market with copious extents of commercialisation, the thoughts of cycling to work as soon as the education is done with although sweating and stinking, the attempt to be a moral citizen to an extent of as much as possible by reducing the traffic and pollution, dilemma of picking up a four wheeler in 2009, the printer ink has to be got for home, J at the college reminding me of getting the cartridge refilled at a meager price, the same remainder by A at the office, N's suit at the wedding was damn good, may be the self should have worn a tie as well at V's wedding. Bjorn Borg, the erstwhile swan in motion in the world of Tennis was present at the finals of French open between Fedrer and Nadal, Nadal beat Fedrer hands down, The mysterious exit of Bjorn Borg at the age of 25 from the World of Tennis while he was at the hilt, the Father Divine's of the self's tantrums are back in action after a cess for a period of month and half after V's wedding, met M an old dear friend at the D's wedding on sunday with a woman???? astonished!!!! never thought of him to be that way, self's imagination of future and consequences seems crazy, Boss's advice before getting the appointment letter that the future soulmate or the soul less mate would look for big money and luxury in abundance, what happens to my passion and ambition, would they be compromised on, thoughts of how S and U two of whose blog the self follows religiously think? the conversation with Mr. TVS over the phone on saturday night, a very revered man himself appreciating the self's style of writing...............................

All the above were the thoughts that ran through the Central Processing Unit that the first floor entity has assembled in the self. It is absolutely not necessary that these thoughts are in order. The Self lay with eyed wide shut in an attempt to catch some sleep on Sunday night, alas ! never came the sleep, but the thoughts just flowed, it was more than three god damn hours and the self still laid with eyes wide shut but not a moment of sleep or some kind of drowsiness either. The self amidst of so many thoughts was perturbed with the disturbance over the last two days. The entity on the first floor has not gifted the self with the power of venting out frustrations. The self cant throw anger on co existing homo sapiens like how the self's Father Divine does or like how probably V does. This frustrates the self much more. Comes Dee's message on the cellphone while the self is neck deep in thoughts, we share the states that we were currently in then, a row of such messages go on, Dee says that i have to pen down these inane thoughts of mine. I refuse saying that it was not worth a pence. But here I am scripting the same thought. The dots in the paragraph above denote that there ware many turbulent thoughts that ran and kept running till i finally dozed off into the arms of a beautiful angel called the sleep. I write thee due to the idea that was brought up by Dee. Well seem a little hypocratic though after refusing to do what Dee asked me to and now doing the same. I wish to have a meaningful conversation with Dee sometime, which may sound inane to the world around.

Phaedrus

Mind and Brain??? and Time

...Last night I was reading this book called the Last Talks by the most revered Jiddu Krishnamurthy...... I've been trying to gather as much information as possible about this man... Let me tell you all... this man is just phenomenal... the amount of thinking that this man has done is probably enough for ten life times when it comes to a simpleton like me of course.... what actually triggers off such thinking is what i always wonder?? Finally i decided it may help my thought process by reading about what HE preached all through his life.... I talked to a few so called "intellectual" people about Jiddu's works and life.... I did recognise the latent misconception in all these so called intellectual people... The misconception was that they covertly indicated that Jiddu was more of a religious thinker. I did understand that he was a thinker religiously but never a religious thinker. No, here was a man who existed on the face of terra firma who was extremely spiritual as a thinker.... when i utter extremely it means that the "limits tending toward infinity". This was the fact that impressed me the most and consciously forced me read more and more of Jiddu. This write up is pretty much relevant to the "JIDDU" and his thoughts. During his Last talks at the Rishi Valley with the Buddhists and Hindus he answers the questions of various such monks and pundits he raised a few questions that dazzled off the learned men.... leave alone a simpleton. A couple of them which rested as malignant tumors right in my head would be something that will remain malignant till I find an answer for which. The first one " What is the BRAIN? & What is the Mind?"

I tried to reason it myself .....I said to myself .... look here is something what you call an organ "brain" and here is something what you call the process "mind" . But actually this reasoning failed myself, the origin of the reasoning ... would i be able to actually convince some one else with this...... I read on and there bang on what exactly I was thinking.... If i called the mind the process then what do you call the rememberence, thought process etc.... they are the processes... but still what is the difference between the brain and the mind? It still fumbles my thought process as to what it could be .... i'vent yet read the answers by Jiddu yet.... but i fear if I would be able to capitulate or understand what the renowned one has to say. I guess its still a point to ponder ....."What is brain and What is mind?" Follower came on soon. This was at "Adayar" in then Madras where Jiddu held his last breath and remained immortal though in what you may want to call the brain or the mind. The question was "What is TIME?" Freak show.... that's what i said to my self.... These are those random things and concepts of the life which probably give a thought all through right from the age from when we can think to the age when we forget to think I again started to reason the stuff..... the question..... I went back to those physics and mechanics classes that I had been a part of physically though. I said to myself " that the period taken for the pendulum to come back to its original position of rest after one single oscillation can be termed as time" No. BANG!!! Thud!!! on my head ( i prefer to call it as the "Head" rather than the brain or mind at this point of time) My alter ego rose and said " Come off it mate, that's called a period, its just a measure of time" So what is time? What is it? The damn question is still haunting my halo... I dont know if i may be able to ever find the answer to these simple concepts of life that we live through..... post reading Jiddu as well??? Well I will read Jiddu more and more to probably gain the knowledge of these trivial concepts of life......
Leaving with points to ponder....... Think eh?


Adieos
Phaedrus

Communication.....Blogs... Literature.... Music

....Well ....yet again it's again a mundane Sunday night at the office....Lonesome to be true.... a few with whom I generally interact wouldnt be working on a sunday normally.......ofcourse they are much higher in the hierarchy levels than the self, well ofcourse it aint a flat organization and no onw at this place believes in it being so.....as they say "idle mind is devil's work shop" i personally dont believe in my work shop being the hub of destructive intellect. So here I am, keying down the same ol' crap that i always enjoyed doing... no thoughts ... not a goal either... yet again some musings... generic...
I just remembered the conversation we men had over a drink sometime, rather a long time back... one of my friend said "you bloggers... man you guys write some bull on the net which is freely available to scribble". He continues " I think these are somethings that are written by people who dont have friends or they are what you call the hardore introverts". I am seriously confused here ...cos this could be true... but I dont complete comply with his version of thoughts.... but yes it could definitely be a place which one fills with his frustrations and what not.... but i believe that literature is a very powerful medium of communication.... i consider myself to voracious reader..... and the full fledged of Indians to the world wide web has provided an opportunity to a lot many readers like me to read a whole lot of stuff off the web. It could be very informative and ofcourse it could be time pass as well. But in general literature is indeed a very powerful medium of communication.
I have recently cultivated a habit of reading blogs off the net... ofcourse there are a lot of blogs that i come across written by a few friends and a lot of acquaintances. A whole lot of people among these just write to show off the profess that they hold on the language of english. They tend to use a innumerable jargons that they can fill up their blog with which probably is a load too much for a person who has put loads of hardwork for his/her preparation of CAT XAT GMAT GRE TOEFL and yet another umpteen number of competitive examinations. What's the purpose??? are these useless bunch of people writing blogs to gain a superiority complex from with in?? It's great to keep upgrading their personal lexicography as long as they may want to keep it to their utter nonsense restricted to their personal lives.... NO.... but not when they are trying to share some knowledge to the world.. what ever happens to the communication part when they ever try to share something.... trust me the communication is ZILCH!!!
Probably for me a blog or any form of literature should be very simple and clean while it needs to be power packed as well. It needs to communicate what the writer intends to. Filling up with a whole lot of Jargons and Vocab aint doin nothin good mate!!!
Another powerful medium of communication I rate above anything in the world is "MUSIC" . It has been, is and will be the most powerful medium of communication untill Terra Firma exists. We've been a witness to this in the past and sometimes relentlessly try to incorporate them into our lives. There have been the folk songs that have been sung through the centuries and centuries from the so called illiterate educated homosapiens who've sung through their lives to communicate the art of good being and living. I can just rattle off a few such mixes of literature and then translated to music and then into communication just like that. They could be the "Kabir ke Dohe" or down south the " Vachana Saahitya", "Daasa Saahitya", "Dharma Pada", "Gnaana Pada" or the "Jaanapada". The then learned men who tried to communicate in the form of literature later may have translated the same to the unlearned men and which inturn took the form of music and trust me people lived much happier then as compared to what lives we are leading today.
There have been cults that have been formed following the kind of music people listen to. These cults have done dope, drugs and what not kinda shit . These cults have idolised the music people, they have committed suicides when their idols kicked the bucket doing some unknown weed on the face of the earth. When this crap can be communicated and then have a cult actually follow all this, then why not the truth, why not a healthy matter to the world. Why cant we make this place a better living space? why!!!!!!

beats me

Phaedrus

Taare.....Zameen......Par

…..Taare Zameen Par …..when buddies mentioned this to me… I passed it off to be yet another mundane flick of the bollywood and said….” Cant you all see people…..Taara Zameen Par….me?” and laughed it off. No, it did not stop there a few more of my pals came along and rattled off praises for the flick. I decided to watch the movie that weekend, yup a couple of weekends back and did hire the DVD from the vendor. It was a balmy late winter evening when I decided to go for it. I intently watched the intense story told by Aamir Khan. Indeed, a stupendous work. Great deal has gone into the movie I presume. One of those movies which has a Hollywood touch that makes the movie even better. I was amazed about the concept that was brought out. I just said to myself what a star cast of the movie could do to a movie actually. If one revisited the past, not aeons ago but recent past like the 80’s or the late 70’s, movies that were made by Shyam Benegal or Sai Paranjpe or Gulzar, Govind Nihlani type of directors which casted amazing actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Farooq Sheikh, Dipti Naval or Shabana Azmi were written off to be art movies. Trust me, I love watching movies with power packed performances rather than watching movies with status stacked stars. I’ve watched quite a few movies of these sorts and they all have a decent concept that fill the movie in making of one. However these movies were on a normal basis awarded with one Swarna Kamal kind of award and written off. But the TZP worked wonders. It did get enormous mass appeal for the movie. No, am not shying at Aamir Khan to be an over rated performer. The Khan and the kid have delivered extraordinary goods. It actually set my thinking clock about this beautiful concept that was brought out in the movie. The parents force the kids to be the numero unos in what ever field they step into no matter if the kids are dyslexic or not. This could go to the extent of parents forcing their kids to take up things in their walk of life that they do not wish to. Seems like the parents are either apprehensive of their kids taking the unknown path or they feel more comfortable when their kids take the beaten path to the success. There could be another factor of the parents aspiring their kids to be rich and famous.

In the recent past I have been witness of the parents forcing their kids to pursue their Post Graduation in abroad countries and preferring them to get settled there. Is that because every one around here wants to lead a rich life possessing the affluence of increasing the purchasing power parity??? No clue. The parents around here admit their so called academically challenged kids to the most prestigious alma maters. Is that they have to prove to the society that they live in that their kids go the most esteemed institutions or is that to satisfy their own ego? Frankly speaking a learning environment does help any individual gain a lot of wisdom though it is not mandatory that it has to be one specific institution. So why don’t these parents look into the factor of supporting their kids in what they are good at? I was shell shocked when I recently met a distant relative of mine at one of those social gatherings and the kind of conversation I had with her. I looked at her sweet little daughter and said “hey your daughter looks like an angel” and there started the story “ you know what she is the topper of her class. She constantly stands first in the class or else she gets a nice beating from her dad” wowwwwwwwww ….. stupendous I thought. I remember my dad chiding me as well when I failed to perform but it wasn’t to this extent. She rattled off again “ I am sending her to music classes as well …. You know she goes to the music classes conducted by so and so”. The person who conducts happens to be one of those light singers who is famous and charges some 3k every month. I thought to myself what’s the world coming to. “I am planning to enroll her for the singing competition that is aired on the television”. Phenomenal …Phew!!! I asked the kid what she wants to grow up to be she answered promptly writer, but amma doesn’t allow me to write. I thought ofcourse kiddo not every writer makes a fortune like any mundane professional.

But there is a point to debate here. For every right that you possess you need to pay in a country like ours. There aint anything that gets worked upon without money…. There aint right that you can access without the dough. Alas! I personally feel of being abused of my right many times. I have felt helpless being an Indian citizen when I couldn’t do much about retaining a man like Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the second term of President., instead there is this woman who looks more like a spastic than a puppet. Pensioners are supposed to duly pay bribe to get their pensions and their pension appraisals sanctioned which they are entitled to as their hard earned money for which they have slogged their butts out for years together. The roads aren’t great here. The living isn’t great here. So is there something defies the logic of the parents wanting to have their kids a better life may be with loads of money so that they can sustain and survive in our great nation or may be settle abroad and accustom themselves to the life style of the other nation. TZP truly put me into a state of chaos. Confused!!! Poof!!!

Obrigado

Phaedrus

DIGRESSION...... CAN I CALL IT???

....hmmmm been thinking of writing about a lot of things these days..unfortunately yet again was not able since the lack of time. Firstly what a boom on the share market index a probably 20 year high, a roaring 20k points....woah booming economy!!!... they, the gurus still predict it to go much higher and would be persistent. The then crème de la crème seem to have stabilised and the so called blue chips are roaring. Somebody said "it's the right time to invest mate".eh? Did I hear that right? May be you've got loads of money is what i thought. Well actually, me aint a guru nor can i make awesome predictions, but my gut feeling says that if tom, dick or harry thinks its the time to invest it better be in the retail industry, it's coming over the time to get into the roaring future ahead. That's not because its just my gut feeling but if one has to look at the way that retail is going in India, it definitely has a good turn out and looking ahead that the western world also is trying to invest into the Indian market there would be a definite growth for the retail. If we have organizations coming out with low prices IPO’s I guess it is that very stock one needs to purchase. Well, being diplomatic that's purely my stance. Same are my views on the food industry.
Food industry reminds me of something, it's great being a foodie I guess, especially if you're a Bangalorean. This city in itself is a diverse city. If one had to visit the Gandhi Bazaar in the Basavanagudi area, one gets to have the best veg food probably in the entire Bangalore. Well, I have to talk about the "Vidhyarthi Bhavan" . This place came into existence sometime in the pre independence era, when the revered H.Narasimhaiah talked to the owners of this age old restaurant which in itself stands as a legend right in the busy area of Gandhi Bazaar into opening this place so that it would be helpful for all those students who studied in the then National College. Time went by and this place was converted into a pure business center. Trust me, one can find a mob yet in the evening times… absolutely no need to say my father is still a devoted visitor to the dosa abode of Bangalore. Well I should confess although the taste doesn’t remain persistent as it were years ago it still does a great deal of difference when compared to a lot of other dosa places in and around Bangalore. If you are a veggie, you can have a dosa or two as a heavy breakfast and then have a sumptuous meal in the afternoon and you can still smell the dosa on your fingertips. Awesome!!!!!!!!

This crap actually started off just recapitulating a lecture that I was attending to in the same old boring PG classes of mine…… err not actually boring…… services marketing… cool prof ….nice way of handling a mundane topic…. Here was himself talking about the services offered by various multi starred hotels…. Oops me aint worthy yet. That actually triggered the worm within to think about the revenues generated across and how it actually contributed to the index high and all stuff and then followed my favorite topic of being a foodie.. …

Guess am digressing a little too much. There are innumerable joints here in namma bengaluru at which one can really enjoy his/her day out at a very minimal cost. The next ofcourse I would be bound to mention is none other than the “Mavalli Tiffin Room” or famously known by its alias MTR ….. slurp!!!! The thali served in a sliver plate and all the fluids served in the silver tumblers….. mind boggling….

Alright done with MTR…. One needs to amble down the alleys of visheshpuram, probably on a balmy evening….be cautious its most definitely not for the hygiene and the health freaks around.

I remember of one of foodventures on this street called the “Eatery Street” for probably the firangs or “ Shettar beedi” for the old forgone bangaloreans . Yes this is very much ofcourse the visheshpuram. Me and a couple of chaddi buddies strolled down the street. Woah what recepies….. it started off with the boiled sweet corn then down to the roadside dosas, name the kind of dosas….. masala, set, plain, onion, rava, rice dosa…. You read it right… rice dosa…. Dosa and a layer of rice on it roasted. Then probably you have by far the most famous bonda shops on the street followed by dry chats, sweet meat stalls, ofcourse a masla softdrink shop as well….. awesome!!!!

The street ends yet again in a food place…..V.B.Bakery probably the best bakery in Bangalore.

The entire crap seems to me just like the epitome of digression…. I don’t know… am lost yet again in transition

Will be back with more some more ameegos

Hastala Victoria Siempre

Your’s Truly

Phaedrus