Kavin

UTI and Yoga

2011-11-21T19:46:00.008+05:30

I'd been wanting to write this post for some time now.. As always, I don't know where to start and where to end but I'll try.

I used to get frequent UTIs -I visited a lot of doctors and did an extensive research and took all sort of medications but it just kept coming back. Every time, I had to go meet a doctor and then take a urine test and it'll invariably say there's E.Colli and the doctors will prescribe antibiotics and it'll be ok for a while. Within a month or so, it'll reoccur with the same sharp pain and I had to go through the same routine again. Sometimes the infection was so severe that there was blood in the urine.

I had learnt yoga some years ago but I wasn't practicing it regularly. A doctor advised me to be as physically active as possible and try yoga. I started doing yoga regularly after that and guess what? No more UTI! Its been over two years now and I had it only twice and both times I had stopped doing yoga for some reason or the other for a long period of time (more than two weeks).

Later, when I was reading some yoga literature, imagine my surprise when I read that a particular asana "halasana" helps preventing UTI. Honestly, I don't know how it works, but it does. When I was sick, I searched the net in hopes of finding some cure and read a lot of messages from people with similar problems but none of them mentioned a cure. Now that I think I have found an easy cure, I thought I should share it. In case you're having similar problems and if you need more information, please leave a comment and I'll try and give you as much information as I can.

RIP Puppy :(

2011-04-02T01:12:00.001+05:30

Solitary lamp post

2011-03-05T14:33:00.001+05:30

Dry Fish!

2011-02-21T00:27:00.003+05:30

Pongal

2011-01-24T14:36:00.003+05:30

Pongal is a harvest festival in south india and it's celeberated for 3 to 4 days. In one of those days (3rd day I think), women grind turmeric, mix it with water and make "yellow water". And then they drench any man who comes their way with that water! ;) It's difficult to get the yellow stain off the clothes :) - that's why those two "models" were roaming around the village nude :D

Home

2011-01-19T23:49:00.006+05:30

I went home last week. And of course, took a lot of pictures - there are a couple of pictures I like :). And this is one of them.

(I didn't ask them to pose or anything - a friend of mine said they are posing like professional models :D)

Back!

2011-01-06T13:49:00.005+05:30

I had a great time and I'm back :). Here's a picture I took (and liked, for a change :)). I'll post more pictures..

Singapore

2010-11-14T13:11:00.001+05:30

I'm going to Singapore again! :) Can't wait till Dec 22nd!

Green

2010-09-22T15:15:00.002+05:30

Purple Sky!

2010-08-18T15:10:00.003+05:30

Coral Jasmine

2010-08-12T12:06:00.002+05:30

I love these flowers. I've been trying to grow a plant (it's actually a tree) at home but no success so far. My doggies love digging - I tried twice but the poor plants didn't survive for long.

Unlike the other jasmine flowers, these are not worn by women - meant only for the Gods.

Brother's Wedding

2010-06-28T12:27:00.005+05:30

Been busy with my brother's wedding. Just got back.

Will write more soon.

Peanuts

2010-05-06T15:27:00.004+05:30

I love this book! - "Peanuts - The art of Charles M. Shulz". It's a beautiful book and has many unpublished strips, unfinished strips, rough sketches, pictures of Charles M. Shulz, a hand-written note from his 'little red-haired girl' etc., I'm so glad I bought it :)

Mehandi

2010-03-22T22:36:00.002+05:30

I know its not a great piece of (Mehandi) art, but still, my first Mehandi :)

Had it done at work - we had some people come over to work for Women's Day. They did this and some fancy hair styling stuff - like tying shiny colouful strings to your hair.

Saree

2010-03-05T15:40:00.004+05:30

I find myself wearing sarees quite often these days. I looked it up on the net and this is what wiki says about sarees -

A sari or saree or shari is a female garment in India. A sari is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine meters in length that is draped over the body in various styles. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.

The history of Indian clothing trace the sari back to the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished during 2800-1800 BCE around the western part of the Indian Subcontinent.The earliest known depiction of the saree in the India is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape.

Pendulum Clock

2010-02-26T12:43:00.006+05:30

I bought this clock recently.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the exact same clock in "Before the devil knows you are dead"! :)

Its made in china by the way!

Trivia:

From its invention in 1656 by Christiaan Huygens until the 1930s, the pendulum clock was the world's most accurate timekeeper.

Evening Sky

2010-01-28T14:32:00.001+05:30

View from a room with a view

2010-01-18T20:25:00.001+05:30

I like this view and I love those pink flowers. Its prettier in real than in picture :)

Finished Painting

2010-01-03T12:42:00.005+05:30

Finally.

I don't know if the finished paiting looks any better than the 'work in progress' painting I posted a while ago, but I think its finished. And here it is.

And a couple more.
Most of these are paintings I saw and wanted to try on my own - I hope no one sues me. I'm just trying to learn :)

Painting Again!

2009-12-18T21:10:00.002+05:30

Painting dedicated to Mel - for never giving up on me :). Thank you!

Huddle!

2009-11-13T23:47:00.001+05:30

My new puppies! :)

Those were the days

2009-09-25T11:54:00.003+05:30

I was listening to this lovely old song last evening. I especially like these lines -

"Just tonight, I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be;
In the glass, I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely fella really me?"

I don't think I look like that 'loney fella' yet ;) - but I know it's only a matter of time..

Half done

2009-08-21T09:31:00.002+05:30

This is not done yet. I ran out of white paint. I have to paint two flowers..

Frog Pendant

2009-07-23T11:37:00.003+05:30

The frog in Star's blog reminded me of my frog pendant. Here it is.

From my Sketch Book

2009-05-15T14:43:00.004+05:30

I was going through my old sketch book. Here are a few snap shots.

I don't know why I can't be focussed

- can't remember the last time I drew or painted anything :(

Recession

2009-03-26T15:10:00.004+05:30

I'd been saying I wasn't affected by the recession so far. Guess I can't say that any longer. 5% pay cut for me. But under the current circumstances, I can't complain I think :)

To Kill a Mockingbird

2009-02-27T11:56:00.013+05:30

My favorite book. I bumped into this book when I was on an official gettogether and fell in love with it instantly. I borrowed the book and finished it in one go. I loved it so much that I bought a copy of my own.

I just adore Scout and of course, her Dad, Atticus. Atticus is not your regular hero - he is not an angry young man, he doesn't mouth off, he can't kill thugs with his bare hands or with a fashionable gun - but he's brave, he's got that quiet, dignified resolve. He never tries to get even with people and he's not afraid to be alone - he's my ideal man. And Gregory Peck playing Atticus only made me like Atticus even more :)

Some interesting stuff:

Its a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee. She never wrote another book.

Peck won an Oscar - best actor

Atticus Flinch was voted in 2003 by the American Film Institute to be the #1 Greatest Hero of American Film

Quotes:

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do "

"If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time. It's because he wants to stay inside."

Animals

2009-02-24T09:35:00.004+05:30

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated" - Mahatma Gandhi

If we go by this defenition, I think India will be the last in the list. Its ironic how Indians know all the right things to say but never do anything right. Animal suffering is one of the many reasons why I'm agnostic. I just don't undrestand it.

Anyway, that's me and my first dog :) I don't remember much of the dog - I hope I treated him well :)

Masinagudi

2009-01-27T11:55:00.003+05:30

I seem to be traveling a lot this year. Went on an off-site meeting with my colleagues to a place called Masinagudi. Its abt 7 km from Mudumalai. It was peaceful, quiet and freezing cold. The poor animals are not left alone even in the jungle. People using flashes, honking.. I wonder what the animals think of humans.

PS: Try and find the monkey in the picture :)

Singapore Trip

2009-01-08T15:30:00.002+05:30

I was in Singapore during the holidays. I went with a friend and stayed with another friend and we had a great time :)

Since this is my second foreign trip, I wasn't as amazed by Singapore as I was when I visited the US in 2007 but still it was very good. Anytime I visit a developed country, what strikes me most is the way they value life. And how organized things are and how easy life is. Here in India, simple things such as getting into a bus and going somewhere or going to a bank and trying to get a DD can be so tiresome..

Anyway, I think I roamed around everywhere in Singapore - the zoo, the bird park, the river cruise, the sea cruise, the science park, etc etc. We went to Malaysia too, by bus from Singapore. I bought a kg of Tiramisu and its heavenly. Yumm :)

I'm not happy with this post - it seems abrupt. But can't think of anything else to add. So, I'll let it be abrupt (Its better than boring ;))

PS: The picture was taken in the zoo in S'pore

It's been a year

2009-01-07T09:27:00.002+05:30

since I wrote in my blog ..

I don't know why but I could never bring myself to write all of last year. Anyway, this year started out well for me and I hope it stays that way :)

I'm hoping I can write more this year. Let's see..

Changes

2008-01-13T16:09:00.000+05:30

I'm going to be missing for a while (I know, you are not surprised :D). I'm changing my job and I'm going to be traveling for a while. My new office is quite some distance from home (unlike my present work location) - I'm used to not traveling much on a daily basis and I'm slighlty worried - don't know how I'll manage. Anyway, the decision has been made and I have to manage. Let's see how it goes. No pictures this time :)

The land of the free and the brave

2007-10-01T20:41:00.000+05:30

So, I finally visited the US last month. Soon after college, I was kind of deperate to go and work in the US (since most of my classmates went there and to work in the US was kind of a 'hot thing' back then) and though I got a couple of oppurtunities, nothing worked out and I ended up working here in India all my professional life (so far). As time passed by, I realized I didn't want to work in the US or live there (or marry an american ;-) ) any longer - I don't know why - may be I just got used to my life here.. Anyway, I still wanted to visit and could make it only last month. The best part is, it was an official trip so I didn't have to spend for my travel. And I loved the place - It was so clean and quiet and vast. And everyone seemed so friendly. It's clearly a better place to live but then it's not home. So, though Chennai is hot and dusty and dirty and stinking, and the people are so unfriendly and honk like their cars won't run if they took their hands off the honk, and though there's no water to drink or roads to drive and the govt sponsers strikes at the drop of a hat, I'm still planning to spend the rest of my life here - because it's home.

Plantain Chips

2007-08-26T21:39:00.000+05:30

I made plantain chips this weekend. They were quite yummy :D. The plantains were home grown - no fertilizers. My own organic plantains! :-)

Trivia:

1. Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than bananas

2. After removing skin unripe fruit can be sliced (1 or 2 mm thick) and fried in boiling oil, to produce chips. This preparation of plantain is also known as 'tostones' in some of Central America and South American countries.

3. Organic foods contain phenolic compounds that protect you from developing heart disease and cancer.

Glass Painting - The lady

2007-07-24T21:16:00.000+05:30

As some of you might already know - I do a little bit of glass painting .. Seen here is one of my personal favorites. The design is not mine - I got it from the net and modified a little, but I sort of like how it turned out.

Trivia:

1) Glass painting originated in India in the 2nd half of 18th century

2) There are many types of glass painting :- Stained glass painting, reverse glass painting, Air-dried and oven cured glass painting etc.,
3) Reverse painting on glass is an art form consisting of applying paint to a piece of glass and then viewing the image by turning the glass over and looking through the glass at the image (which is what I do)

Indrajal Comics

2007-07-15T19:20:00.000+05:30

Guess what I found in Bangalore? A shop selling old Indrajal comics! There's a shop by name 'Blossom' on Church Street and they have a decent collection of old comics. Its a second hand books shop. One Indrajal will cost you 30 rupees.

For anything to do with Indrajal comics, pls visit www.thecomicproject.blogspot.com

2007-06-26T21:33:00.000+05:30

Seen here is one of my favorite earrings. I like 'drops' :-)

I cdn't get much info on earrings. May be I shd leave the trivia section open to my readers.. Well.. Readers, what do you say?

Banana

2007-06-06T23:14:00.001+05:30

My banana tree is flowering! And you can see those tiny little bananas already! I can't wait till I can get my hands on the fruits :-)

Banana facts:

1.Banana tree isn't actually a tree. Its a plant - more precisely, a large herb (That was news to me)
2.India seems to be leading the world in banana production, most of which is for domestic consumption
3.The young banana plants that grow around the mother plant are called 'suckers'
4.A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose.
5.Bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make people relax, improve their mood and generally make them feel happier - no wonder monkeys always seem so happy! :-)

Norway

2007-05-27T22:29:00.000+05:30

I must have been 13 or 14 then. There was a story about a young rebellious girl in one of the Tamil Weeklies. She went to Norway for higher studies - that was the first time I heard about Norway. I was so fascinated by the country that I wanted to go there and settle down. It didn't work out that way but Norway somehow reamined my favorite country. I'm still hoping to at least visit it some time.

Trivia:

1. Northern Norway is known to tourists as the Land of the Midnight Sun - the sun does not set between the middle of May and end of July.

2. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Norwegians read more than any other population in the world, spending an average of 500 kroner a year per capita on books.

3. Norway has 100% literacy rate.

4. Scandinavians are supposedly the happiest people in the world :-)

8 random facts about me

2007-05-13T13:37:00.000+05:30

Tagged. By Revealed :-)

1. I wanted to work for the UN - like Diana (Phantom's Diana). Not any more, of course.
2. I can't tell one car from the other.

3. I have met with 3 road accidents so far.

4. There are only 4 streets in my village.

5. Sad movies can make me cry - even now.

6. If I like a book, I can't keep it down until I finish it. There are times I've stayed up all night reading.

7. I wish animals could talk. I can't stand they way people treat them.

8. I don't read news papers or watch TV. Basically I don't know what's happening in the world :-)

Blue

2007-05-02T13:48:00.000+05:30

The colour of the sky - the colour of the ocean and also my favorite colour. Though I like almost all colours blue is special - don't know why - I guess it just appeals to me :-)
Trivia:-
1. Blue is a natural colour.
2. It has a cool calming effect that makes time pass more quickly and it can help you sleep. However, too much blue could dampen spirits (Don't know if its scientifically proven though).
3.Long considered a corporate color, blue, especially darker blue, is associated with intelligence, stability, unity, and conservatism.
4.Many languages do not have separate terms for blue and or green, instead using a cover term for both
5.Speaking Blue

True blue - someone loyal and faithful
Out of the blue - unexpectedBlue ribbon - first rate, top prize
Blueblood - person of noble birth, royalty
Bluestocking - well-read or scholarly woman
Bluebook - register of socially prominent people
Baby blues - Blue eyes
Feeling blue - feeling sad or depressed
Blue devils - feelings of depression
The blues - depression, state of sadness
Monday Blues - feeling sad abt having to go to work on a Monday
Blue laws - laws originally intended to enforce certain moral standards
Into the blue - entering the unknown or escape to parts unknown

Wristwatch

2007-04-22T12:57:00.000+05:30

What you see in the picture is my favorite wristwatch. Not that I'm a collector of watches or something, but I like this one a lot - it's a gift from a friend and I was so surprised (of course, pleasantly) to see it because I had been wanting to buy one for quite sometime and it was exactly what I had in mind :-)

Trivia:

1. The wristwatch was invented by Patek Philippe in 1868.
2. The first successful “waterproof” casting for wristwatches was made by Rolex.
3. The wristwatch began to see a dramatic burst of production during wartimes. The military saw a use for a watch that could be easily read while performing duties.

Watermelon

2007-04-15T13:11:00.000+05:30

There's only one good thing about this hot, sticky and miserable Chennai summer - Watermelons!! :D Just looking at them makes me feel so cool and fresh! I can have watermelon for brfeakfast, lunch and dinner :D

Now for some trivia:

1. Watermelon's official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
2.David Livingstone, an explorer of Africa, described watermelon as abundant in the Kalahari Desert, where it is believed to have originated. There, the ancestral melon grows wild and is known as the Tsamma melon.

3.Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, with one serving containing 14.59 mg of vitamin C and 556.32 IU of vitamin A. Watermelon also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1, as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. (Wow!!)
4.The fruit was held is such regard that it was placed in the tombs of many Egyptian kings.

5.Watermelon has no fat or cholesterol!

6.Watermelon is 92 percent water by weight, the highest percentage of any fruit .

South Indian Food

2007-04-06T13:08:00.000+05:30

I've tasted so many cuisines but none tastes like the good old South indian food. I can eat everyday and can never get tired of it :D

Some Trivia:

\1) During a lifetime the average person eats about 35 tonnes of food!

2) When the famous explorer Marco Polo returned to his homeland of Italy, from China in 1295, he brought back a recipe (among other things). The recipe, was a Chinese recipe for a desert called "Milk Ice." However, Europeans substituted cream for the milk, and voila..."Ice Cream." Ice cream has been a hit ever since!

3) Asafoetida: the Germans call it Teufelsdreck - 'devil's dung'!

4) Hunger: Hunger is a feeling experienced when the glycogen level of the liver falls below a threshold, usually followed by a desire to eat. The usually unpleasant feeling originates in the hypothalamus and is released through receptors in the liver. Although an average nourished human can survive about 50 days without food intake , the sensation of hunger typically begins after several hours without eating.

5) Vegetarianism may have been common in the Indian subcontinent as early as the 2nd millennium BC.Hinduism preaches that it is the ideal diet for spiritual progress.

P.s: I collected the contents of this post from many sites. I hope noone sues me! :D

Rose

2007-03-20T20:45:00.000+05:30

I'm experimenting with my blog - I'm going to try and write something(anything) abt some of my favorite things. Let's see how it comes out. I'm starting with roses first :-)

Here are some rose quotes:

'Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense' - Mark Overby Quotes

'But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose' - Anne Bronte

'The splendor of the rose and the whitness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it’s scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its lovliness' - Therese of Lisieux

And some rose Facts:

- roses are available in all colours except blue and true black
- roses are very effective anti-ageing ingredients
- 22 million Pounds spent on Valentine's day on flowers

And the rose in the picture bloomed in my garden :-)

Relationships

2007-03-14T20:42:00.000+05:30

Relationships baffle me. I don't know which is harder - staying in a relationship or staying without any relationship. Personally for me, I have always had problems with relationships - be it with my Mom, husband, relatives, friends - anybody. So, I'm wondering - because I seem to have problems with everyone ( Well, except with my dogs - never had any problems with them :-)) - Is the problem actually with me? - Can't be with everyone else, can it be? .. Or are relationships just a myth? I'm in one of my pensive moods tonight.. So, my wise readers, what do guys say? :D

Auto Guy

2007-03-09T21:42:00.000+05:30

I met this auto-guy in Pune. He picked me up from my hotel and dropped at work everyday for 3 days or so. I was very impressed with his punctuality and English. When I asked him to come at 9, I was thinking he'd be there by 9.15 but he was there 10 minutes before 9. And his language was pretty good - whenever I travel, I have a tough time because I can't speak Hindi and he was such a welcoming change. He gave me his number and asked me to call him whenever I went to Pune but unfortunately, I've misplaced his number somewhere. Let's see if I get second time lucky.

My Garden

2007-03-03T20:29:00.000+05:30

My garden is just beginning to look like a garden.

See the flowers and tomatoes! :-) I love gardening - 1) it helps me relax, 2) I won't get any exercise otherwise, 3) and it gives me pretty flowers and vegetables and fruits that are safe to eat :-)

Jude Law

2007-02-28T19:29:00.000+05:30

One of my favorite actors - for obvious reasons ;-)

I liked him in Cold Mountain and liked him even more in Enemy at the gates. He was chosen 'The sexiest man alive' by People Magazine in 2005. But I don't undretsand this sexiest man/woman of the year concept though - They keep changing almost every year - does that mean they become less sexy the very next year?!

1st Bloggie Birthday!

2007-02-22T09:49:00.000+05:30

Kavin's completing one year today. I never thought I cd write, let alone write for one year (although it was on and off) :-)

And, I need to thank a lot of people..

TCP: for giving me the push to start

Cloudy,Revealed,Obi,Moktu,Mel,Mani,Adi,LJ,Bharath (Where are you, BTW),Ramya,Star and Anonymous: for reading my blog :D and for your comments - Comments is the section I enjoy the most in my blog.

Thank you all and I'll make an effort to write as much as I can (If you all can still stand it :D).

Travel,Yoga and Accident

2007-02-05T13:46:00.000+05:30

I've been traveling a lot and that explains my absence from the blogosphere for quite some time. I made friends with an auto guy in Pune. I was very impressed with his English. He told me to take his mobile number down and call him whenver I go to Pune (His words, exactly :-))

On a totally different note, I've started doing yoga after a brief..well, actually a long gap. Let's hope I manage to make it a habit this time.

On another totally different note, I met with an accident on Saturday. A very minor one. Nothing happened to me, but I made a poor guy fall down from his bike :-(. It's not entirely my mistake (I know you all have heard this from people who've caused accidents :D) - I had to cross the road and go to the other side and there was this big lorry parked on the same side of the road, blocking my view - to make things worse, there was a bend on the road too, so I couldn't see either side of the road. I waited for a long time and then started moving slowly. I must have moved about half an inch and the next thing I saw was this guy falling down from his bike, pretty badly. I didn't even feel the impact - the vehicles must hv just touched but still, he had a bad fall and was very angry when he approached me (understandbly). Thankfully, he only had a few bruises and his bike was also ok and more importantly, no other vehicle was on the road at that time. I took him to a hospital and later gave some money for getting his bike fixed. I kept saying sorry, and he was kind of ok in the end (I think he forgave me :-)) but I still see him fall when I close my eyes.. And I'd been thinking after that (as usual :-)) - why do these things happen? I mean, there's not even a lesson to be learnt here - I was already moving very slow - can't move any slower in future - everyone's got something to lose and no one's got anything to gain.. Why shd it happen? :-(

Saddam Hussein

2007-01-22T18:18:00.000+05:30

I reached Bangalore last night and for once there was no traffic - it seems a curfew was imposed after the violence that broke out following some procession. I was told Muslims and Hindu's are killing each other over some differences of opinion on Saddam's execution. A 12 year old boy was killed and many were injured, some seriously. And I really don't know what to say :-(

Sea

2007-01-15T00:27:00.000+05:30

I went to the beach last evening. The sea is so beautiful.. If only people kept the beaches a little cleaner.. Sigh. . Anyway, here's a picture I took yesterday. I kind of like it :-)

Blackie

2007-01-04T20:59:00.000+05:30

This doggie just walked into my house one fine day and she's become our self-appointed guard dog over a very short period of time. When we saw her the fisrt time, she had a lot of wounds, many of them bleeding, and was starving (she ate two big bowls of rice in no time :-)) - I showed her to a vet who kept asking me if I was sure I wanted him to treat her because he was sure the owners would come back for her. But its been more than three weeks now and nobody's shown up yet. She looks really big and she scares the hell out of passers-by :D When she sees someone, she sprints to the gate and does a sort of high jump, almost touching the top of the gate, startling people - it won't be long before someone started complaining!! Didn't know what to call her.. kept breaking my head for sometime and then settled for Blackie - for obvious resons (I know I'm not that creative :D). Let's see how long she's going to be with us.

PS: Tommy is cross with me. I hope he'll soon become friendly with Blackie, and of course, with me too :-)

Apple

2006-12-28T23:11:00.000+05:30

I took off from work from 23rd till 1st Jan. Apart from lazing around, I'm trying to learn watercolour painting. Here's my first err...painting!

My Desk

2006-12-24T18:00:00.000+05:30

After about 4 years and 2 roles in a particular department in my company, I'm moving in to another department from 1st Jan. I have to leave my desk and next-seaters. New place, new people - its just like a new job.. I'm excited and slightly worried at the same time. My earlier role was not that demanding - I'm not exactly a carrer woman - I mean, I like working, but quite honestly it's more for the money than the love for my work; I hope my new job will give me time to live life too. So, wish me luck! :D

(Sorry, the picture is more like 'My laptop' than 'My Desk' - I had to crop it for privacy reasons because it had my name and there were many things that had my company logo - After cropping and checking and cropping, this is what was left of my 'desk' :D)

Feel good

2006-12-18T12:15:00.000+05:30

After the last two serious posts, I wanted to write something lighthearted. I'm not too sure about this post because I'd hate to appear to be boasting.. but let me try writing abt this anyway, since there are'nt too many good things that I'm doing :D

As part of an initiative from my company, we go to a school every alternate Saturday and teach 5th/6th standard children English. Although it's very tiring and some times frusturating, it helps me feel good about myself. It's tiring because, most students won't pay any attention - these children are from economically challenged families and no one at home is telling them the importance of education - no one cares if they did well at school or not. Most come to school because of the free food. Their fathers are mostly fishermen, construction workers or people who do things for daily wages. Although their standard is very poor compared to the other schools (that insist on educated parents and have very tight student selection processes), every once in a while I'm pleasantly surprised. There's this one guy who's really bright and there's this girl who's an excellent dancer and there's another guy who draws so well. (I have to yell at him to stop drawing and listen me many times, but his drawings are really good :-) ) Considering their background, and that there's no one to even spot their talents, let alone encourage them, it's so heartwarming to see them do well.

It also feels good to know that there are people who'd want to do something for those that are less fortunate - I don't participate in many other things, but I know of a few people who spend their entire weekend on some or the other activity - apart from this particular one, they also go to blind schools and read to the students, write their exams, provide career guidance to corporation school students (most of them don't know the options) etc. These are the ones that make me realize that things aren't that bad after all.

Thinking

2006-12-09T19:08:00.000+05:30

(This post is an extension of my previous one

TCP's recent post got me thinking.. I don't understand how people get angry over trivial things and how they show no reaction (may be they don't feel either) when they have to get angry. For instance, people riot, kill and burn trains because some statue is desecrated. On the other hand, when the train they have paid for arrives late, with no reservation chart or coach numbers and when they are made to run here and there for even the most basic information and made to wait for more than half an hour in the middle of a cold night, they just feel nothing. I was the only one complaining to the ticket checker (and whoever cared to listen to me). The rest of the crowd (at least those that were in my coach) remained nonchalant. Can someone help me understand this please?

Kaveri Express

2006-11-27T16:56:00.000+05:30

If you are traveling from Bangalore to Madras by train, please make sure you don' end up taking Kavri Express aka Chennai express. Here are the reasons why.

1) In your ticket it says 'Chennai Express'. The announcer will call it 'Kaveri Express' and will make announcements in Kannada only. (Not even in Hindi/ Forget abt English)
2)If you manage to figure out that they are announcing the arrival of your train and if you are lucky enough to find out that it's at platform 5, you'll have a hard time figuring out which is platform No.5. There's big, green sign board that informs that platforms 1 to 5 are on the left and 5 to 10 are on the right. Huh? So, Where's 5?
3) And then you have to walk (actually run, because its already 11.42PM and the train is supposed to leave at 11.45PM) from one end of the train to the other with all your luggages only to find out that 2nd AC cars are not there at all and that they'd be attached 'soon'
4) You wait for about 40 minutes for your compartment (with a few others) to come get attached to the train. And now you have to somehow figure out which is your compartment. There are no labels anywhere. Don't even think about checking your name in the reservation chart. There's no such thing.

I have been traveling between Chennai and Bangalore very often and this never happens with any of the other trains. When I complained to the Ticket Examiner, he said this train is always like that - whatever it meant. So, stay away from this train and don't recommend it to anyone - unless you are sending a relative off and you don't want him/her to try to visit you ever again :-)

Forgetfulness - Part II and Sardhar jokes

2006-11-20T18:45:00.000+05:30

Sigh! This time I dropped a cheque at an ATM without the pay-in slip!! I had to make countless calls, vist a branch and send quite a few mails before they were convinved that the cheque was really meant for me... wonder where this forgetfulness is going to take me to.. :-(

On a totally different note, I always used to think people are very mean to have come up with these Santa, Banta jokes and used to feel very bad for Sardarjis. That said, sometime back, I met a Sardarji in Yahoo chat. Here's the conversation between me and him. Let's call him S (No, not for Santa, for Sardar.. He he ).

S: Hi
Me: Hi
S: I'm a Sardar. Can you chat with me?
Me: I can try
S: What's your name?
Me: No personal questions, pls.
S: So, what can I ask?
Me: Anything other than 'What's your name' 'Where you work' 'Which part of Chennai do you live in' 'How many children' 'How many husbands' etc
S: Ok. So, what's your name?
Me: Jeez..!
S: Nice name!
Me: (Speechless)

Believe me it really happened. I know it's just one incident but somehow, I'm not so sure if I shd feel that bad abt the jokes anymore..

Bruno and the Thief

2006-11-14T15:25:00.000+05:30

This hapened about 2 years back. We were staying in KK Nagar then. One night , (actually early morning) at around 3.00AM, I was awakened by a dim beam of light coming into our bedroom from the living room - the door was slightly open. And Bruno, our dog, was standing right there at the door. I thought he had accidently opened the bedroom door and tried going back to sleep. But I'm a very light sleeper and I can't sleep when there's light. So, I sat up on bed wanting to go and shut the door. That bedroom is sort of divided into two rooms with an opening for a door - there is no door, just an opening. So, when I'm lying on bed I can't see the other part of the room fully. As I sat up, I found myself staring straight into the cold eyes of a scary looking stranger! He had the wardrobe door open and he had a saree in his hand that was beginning to unfold; he almost fell caught in the folds of the saree. I wanted to shout and wake up V but I could only manage some strange noises (I didn't know I was capable of making those kind of noises until that day). V usually sleeps like a log - he just won't wake up no matter what. Thankfully on that particular night, he not only woke up, the moment he was up, he started running after the thief, who by then had started running out of the door. V followed him out of the door to the street, all the while shouting'Thief! Thief!' If it had been my hometown, people would have come out and caught the thief. But nothing like that ever happens in Chennai. No one came out until the thief was well out of sight. Anyway,while V was chasing the thief, I ran behind him (I still don't know what I was thinking) and guess who was running behind me? Bruno!! :-) The thief jumped over a compound wall and disappeared and we came back home. By then everyone had assembled in front of our house and we had to retell the tale many times. I can never forget how accusingly our neighbours were looking at Bruno and how happily innocent he was looking!

PS1: The thief had shaken my confidence so much that I had trouble sleeping for quite some time after that incident.
PS2: I got back the golden bangle that he took away after about 2 months. The police had tracked him down and receovered the jewellery.
PS3: To this day, I have no idea why Bruno was so quiet while the thief was inside the house or why he was barking like crazy at the poice guys when they came for investing the er.. crime scene.

Relatives

2006-11-08T15:45:00.000+05:30

The probability of them visiting unexpectedly is directly proportioned to how

much you feel like being alone

I prefer being alone to bad company. And somehow people don't seem to undertsand that someone can be alone and be happy. A few relatives of mine are constantly woried about me and it's really getting on my nerves. They are worried that I'm not in touch with any of my other relatives, that I don't go to church, that I don't celeberate festivals, that I don't have a kid yet..; they think I'm lonely and miserable. And nothing I can say would convince them otherwise. If you are happy, you should do certain thigs - like blabber endlessly about some dumb TV serial, have at least 2 children before you are 25, never miss a family function etc. I hate it when people assume I'm unhappy just because I don't seem to enjoy things that make them happy - and they love giving advices - "You should get out more", "You need the support of all your relatives", "You should wear more jewellery" Aaaargg.. Why can't they just leave me alone? I can of course ignore them, but it's sort of impossible to do that here in India. You are expected to respect people when they are old and no matter how foolish they are, you have to patiently keep listening to them, nodding your head periodically accompanied by polite 'hmm's. They make me wish I lived in the north pole.

Handsome Strangers

2006-11-06T15:38:00.000+05:30

Bharath was once saying he'd never been lucky while traveling; he never gets interesting next-seaters. I can't say I've been very lucky either (I wonder what people sat next to me have got to say..!!) but I was lucky twice. I met this really handome stranger on train once. He looked like George Cloony, no less!! That was his first trip to India and he said he liked Madras so much that he would like to live there. He also went on and on about how beautiful our temples are and how we can't do now what they had done 1000 years ago and how bright and colourful our clothes are!! I don't know if he was just being kind or really meant what he said but I enjoyed our conversation. The 2nd handsome stranger was someone I met on a flight. We kept yapping through out the journey but didn't exchange numbers or emails. And after about 9 months or so, I got a mail from him! He has joined my company and picked my mail id from the address book. Small world!!

Gloomy..

2006-11-03T10:13:00.000+05:30

I'm feeling exactly like Chennai weather.. gloomy. I don't know why, but suddenly nothing seems to be right. I feel like I have to get away.. go somewhere and be alone. I do get into this what I call 'General depression' once in a while. So, there's no need for alarm :-). I'll come of out it, but it isn't today. It may be because I haven't been sleeping all that well this week or because another little puppy met with an accident (I don't know why this keeps happening. Any puppy that I have has to meet with a car accident :-( Anyway, he is ok now and I managed to find a family for him)) or because I have a not-so-likable boss (Time to go job hunting).. or because Cloudy said she wasn't going to blog anymore .. :-(

(I'm in a good mind to delete this post.. Let me see if I keep it..)

Cats and Dogs

2006-10-30T10:58:00.000+05:30

I was looking out of my window last evening and it was raining cats and dogs. Which made me wonder- what is the connection between cats and dogs and heavy rain. I looked it up in the net and I what I really understood was that no one really knows the actual origin of this phrase - there are only speculations that

a) it could have come from mythology (Dogs are related to the rain and cats to the wind (Don't ask me how - its mythology) )
b) it could be because the dead animals were washed into the streets when it rained heavily (but then why should they say 'it's raining' cats and dogs? Surely, they don't live on roof tops and fall from there when it rains..not dogs anyway).

Well, like I said no one seems to know. I'm hoping my intelligent readers can shed some more light on this :-)

BTW, Madras doesn't seem like Madras at all. There's water everywhere and it's been raining non-stop for the last 10 days. I had to park my car outside because my house is on a raised level and the slope (does it have a name?) that we have, I mean had, from the ground level has been almost completely eroded and it's impossible to take the car inside. I had to walk in calf-deep water to reach my car. Under normal cicumstances I'm so fussy about cleanliness and will throw a fit even if my shoes lightly touch a little filthy water. I'm surprised at my ability to overlook things that are otherwise too imporatant, when it's convenient to do so :-)

Skydiving

2006-10-26T10:16:00.000+05:30

Well here's a new fad that has started amongst our Desi community in US (after Niagara and NYC ofcourse ..no one can beat 'em). Anyone who is anyone is going skydiving nowadays. Here's how it works....you go up in a plane to around 10,000 feet or so, then a stranger wraps himself/herself around you (basically you are tied to the person with a rope) and then you jump - from the plane. The stranger opens a parachute after a 4,000 feet free fall and then you land with the guy, on your butt. And then you pay them 300 USD. And oh, did I mention, if you pay around 200 USD more, another stranger jumps seconds before your stranger, with a video camera and shoots you while you are "skydiving" - And then presents it to you in a CD with your favorite music/song in the background. Slick, ain't it ?
I have never gotten around to doing it. Call me a sissy, but I just can't convince myself to do it. I will never get the concept of bombing 500 bucks (22,000 Rupees) to plummet from 10,000 feet up in the sky, wrapped around a stranger, dangling by a piece of plastic tied up with strings and cloth which is probably Made in China by grossly underpaid 14 year old malnourished kids.
Now, you may say that the grapes are really sour for me....maybe thats true.

(Guest Blog by Motku)

Calcutta

2006-10-22T19:36:00.000+05:30

I'd been traveling a lot last week and I went to calcutta for the first time. I'm not sure if I really want to write this.. but still. Here's my honest opinion. The city looks dull and lifeless. I traveled around in a city bus - the bus service (including the quality of tickets) is definitely the worst I've seen so far (I have traveled by bus in at least 6 states).

And I was wondering all the while - Its evident that the government has done very little for its people and why do they keep electing the communists? I don't know much about communism, I don't know its philosophy but I can say this for sure. It hasn't taken Calcutta anywhere in the last 6 decades. While all the other cities have been growing, albeit slowly, Calcutta seems to be stuck. It seemed liked a city from the past to me. Unless Calcuttans wake up and realize how much they are losing, it could get worse.

The only consolation was Salt Lake City - thanks to the IT companies this part of the city looks much better than the rest. There was this hoarding at the airport (see pic) - the ad looks promising. I really hope things work out better for 'the city of joy'.

(Of course, I haven't seen the whole city. May be there are other better parts. It's just what I saw and what I thought - no hate comments please :-))

Bangalore Traffic

2006-10-17T17:28:00.000+05:30

It's something that's been written and talked about over and over again. So I tried not to write about it but can't help it. In spite of all the warnings, I was still not prepared for the infamous Bangalore traffic. I keep visiting Bangalore quite frequently and the traffic is getting worse every time. There are no rush hours now - all hours are rush hours. No matter what time you travel, if you are traveling from or to EC, you have to spend more time being stationary than moving. And cars, cars, cars everywhere - downside of people being economically viable I think... I really hope they do something quickly before it goes completely out of hand.

Glass Painting

2006-10-13T12:30:00.000+05:30

It's my newest obsession. I wanted some paintings for my house and thought why not make them myself. Glass paintings are very easy to make and look pretty good too. I kept painting till 2.00AM a few days back. When I learn something new,I always overdo it - for sometime. :-) If any of you want glass paintings, you know who to contact :D

Touch..

2006-10-04T20:02:00.000+05:30

Tommy met with an accident last week and he was quite badly hurt. There were no extrenal wounds but one of his rib bones got dislocated and he was in a lot of pain. Anyway, I took him to a Vet and he's fine now. But this post isn't about his accident..When he was still unwell, he couldn't eat on his own and I had to feed him from my hand. I burst into tears when his tongue touched my hand. I didn't cry when he was vomiting and hardly moving or when I took him to the hospital but I did when he was better and begining to eat. There's got to be something about touch, physical contact. I think something gets transferred when contact is made. It doesn't happen when you just speak or see - only when you are touched.

Tagged

2006-09-29T19:29:00.000+05:30

I've been tagged.

There are three parts to this:
1. Name the person who tagged you.
2. Eight things about you.
3. Tag six people.

First one is easy, Adi tagged me.

Second, 8 things about me:

1. I've Always been the tallest girl in the class (I look taller than I actually am :-))
2. I learnt a little German (Remember even less now)
3. I sew - I make my own clothes (except for the western wear)
4. I'm sort of ashamed of still being a Non-vegetarian (Fellow Non-vegetarians: Please don't start complaining now. I'm NOT ashamed of you, I'm only ashamed of myself)
5. I was lost when I was 6 or 7 in a place we went on a picnic with a lot of relatives. I still remember a lot of things about that day - like the dress I was wearing, the trees,the people I met, the bridge that was there etc
6. I still accuse my mother of loving my brother more than me (Is that grammatically correct, Mr.P.. err Obi or shd I say something like 'more than she loves me'? ;-))
7. If I'd had my way, I'd have remained single forever..... I think.
8. I have Pinguecula - Its a light yellowish layer that grows on the eye (See pic). Usually benign. It's been there from the time I was 4 or something. It was growing for abt 2 years and then stopped growing. I hope it remains so.

Third, umm.. I don't think I'll tag anyone but if any one of you is interested, I'd encourage you to write 8 things about you. Try it, it's fun!! :D

Muddy Road

2006-09-28T14:58:00.000+05:30

Every time it rains the dirt road that connects my house to a small tar road gets all muddy and slushy. Last time I took my car out, the wheels were spinning but the car didn't move an inch..Sigh. I know it'll be ages before the authorities even noticed there's a house in that area. I'm wondering what to do. Today I had to ask a coworker to give me a lift. If there are no rains, there's no water and if it rains, water water everywhere :-(
(Written on 26th Sep)

Holier Than Thou Judging Folks

2006-09-25T13:45:00.000+05:30

This is a guest post from Motku. Thank you Motku :-)

Here's what Motku says about the judging folks -

Whats up with people judging people? There's this guy, he thinks he is "never wrong about people" and he pretty much makes up his mind about a person in a couple of encounters and to make matters worse, sticks to his judgement like super-glue on a leather patch of a torn jeans. Heck, as far as I know of the guy (and I am not judging him :)) sometimes he has difficulty in telling the difference between a man and a woman from behind. God, somebody knock some sense in such HTTJF. People make bad first impressions (well, in some cases - yours truly - bad first 10 impressions). People change. People mature. People are reserved and rarely express their true self to people who are not close to them. People are people - let them be. The worst problem with HTTJF is that they end up spreading the wrong word about their "victims" and WHAM! the poor victim is now infamous - life screwed. Stop it !!!

Forgetful

2006-09-18T15:00:00.000+05:30

Aarrghh.. I'm so forgetful.

Two things happened this morning. 1) I drove my car with the parking brake on - all the way to work 2) and left the car key inside my car and dutifully locked all doors.. sigh..

I was very worried about my forgetfulness (naturally) after these incidents and googled for 'forgetfulness'. Some results are scary - "You may be losing more than just your meomory" "You might be losing brain density"! - God!

And there was this test to see how forgetful you are. I scored 25% and the result says my meomery is ok. :-) I'm not too sure though.. :-( Any remedies?

Renaming my blog (again..)

2006-09-13T16:08:00.000+05:30

I'm renaming my blog because many didn't like 'Reflections'. Kavin is a tamil word and it means 'beautiful'. I hope it's better liked than 'Reflections'.

Thank you Revealed for your name sugeestions, Cloudy for helping me pick a title, TCP for telling me to consider using this name for my blog and Obi and Brat for complaning abt the old name. :D

(The picture doesn't have much relevane to the post except that the flowers are beautiful :-))

Civility Crime

2006-09-11T15:26:00.000+05:30

What's with men and urinating in public places? Do they want to be close to nature when they answer nature's call or are they claustrophobic and feel threatened by the close confines of a bathroom? I never cease to wonder about the way they just happily go about their business without giving a damn to passers-by.

Now, before someone starts judging me, I grew up in a village that had no toilets until very recently and I'm not trying to be a self-important feminist here, but urinating on the ground is one thing and doing it in a public place is another. Most men who empty their bladders in public don't seem to be doing it because they can't hold it any longer; they do it so leisurely, no cares in the world -they don't even try to look for a tree or something. And this seems to be one of the factors that unite men across the country - one common national er..habit regardless of all the differences..

(Guys: No offense meant :-)/ Girls: Have you ever wondered about this too, or am I the only one? )

Unknown Hero

2006-09-06T09:39:00.000+05:30

Bharath's comment on one of my earlier posts about 'swinging in' got me thinking about this incident. Although I never tried this with buses, I once made an attempt while on a train - I wasn't swinging in though, I tried swinging out.

(Like in some of the phantom comics - this happened before Sunshine was married to..umm..let's call him V) . I and V were returning by train after visiting one of my aunts in Tambaram. We had to get down at Nungambakkam but the train was overcrowded and people started getting in before I had a chance to get out. By the time I managed to go to the door, the train had already started moving and without thinking (It happens all the time, I just go blank when it's really crucial to think) I just got down from the moving train and of course fell down, thankfully, on the platform. I didn't understand what had just happened and all I could see were feet all around me and then I felt being picked up by somebody. I don't remember seeing a face but I held on to him like I was never going to let him go. Within seconds V was there and dragged me away from him (V teases me all the time - says I would have held on to him for ever if he had not intervened and pulled me apart - he he). Anyway, I then sat on a bench, drank some water and calmed down. And when I searched for the guy who picked me up, he was nowhere to be seen. I didn't even thank him. Whoever he is, I hope he is well and knows I'm thankful.

Nagarhole

2006-09-04T20:25:00.000+05:30

I enjoyed this trip! The place is called Nagarhole (pronounced Naagar-ho-lay) and its beautiful. The resort we stayed at is called King's Sanctuary.

We went on a safari. It was cool. There were plenty of deer, bisons, peacocks and a few elephants, wild boars and giant squirrels. We couldn't see any tigers though. It was so peaceful and refreshing. If you are planning on a 'close to nature' trip, I'd highly recommend Nagarhole. (It might cost you though :-) )

(It looks all trees, but I assure you there's an elephant hidden there! )

47D

2006-08-30T09:47:00.000+05:30

Talking of buses - when I first visited Chennai in 1991, I and my father were waiting at Valluvarkottam Bus stop for 47D, that goes to Tiruvanmiyur. Not surprisingly (as per the first law of buses), a 47D was just leaving when we reached the bustop. And I was thinking 'Oh God, now we have to wait for the bus to go to Tiruvanmiyur and come all the way back!' I was thinking like that because, only one bus used to come to my village those days. If you miss the bus, you have to wait for the same bus to return. Every time I see a 47D I can't help but think of this incident.. How naive I was..!! (The picture shows the Valluvar Kottam junction)

Sunshine's Laws of Buses

2006-08-28T10:30:00.000+05:30

I don't know how, but it happens everytime. Whenever I wait for a bus,

a) As I'm about a few yards from the bus stop, the bus I should take leaves (needless to say wihtout me)
b) Every other bus that goes via that bus stop (however infrequent it is) can be seen while I wait for my bus
c) The frequency of my route buses in the opposite direction increases at least by five folds (and the size gets doubled too, as you can see in the picture)
d) The frequency of my bus, in the direction I want to go, gets reduced at least by 1/27th.

I seriously wonder if there's some yet to be discovered law connecting me and buses..

Rains

2006-08-28T10:03:00.000+05:30

It rained literally cats and dogs last Saturday. There was so much of wind, lightning and thunder, I thought there was some kind of a thunder storm. I was alone at home with my little Tommy (who was too scared to even open his eyes and look up) - with no electricity and the rain and the storm it was a perfect setting for a horror movie. The wind was so powerful that one of my windows broke :-( The funny part is, I hear there wasn't even a drizzle in the rest of the city.. And there was no mention of it in the news.. Strange..

An odd thing

2006-08-23T17:22:00.000+05:30

I was watching 'The Hours' recently and while watching the movie, I was wondering where I had seen that dress before - the one that Nicole Kidman wears for almost half of the film! It took me some time to realize that I had seen something very similar to that in my very own wardrobe :-) (I just have the cloth - it's not stitched yet).

See the pictures! Don't you think they are very similar? I thought it was very odd.. Don't know if its worth posting here, but like the description of my blog says, 'whatever comes to my mind' ;D
I know the colours are of different shades, but still..

I'm back..

2006-08-23T17:06:00.000+05:30

Well, I'm back..for better or for worse.. :-)

I've decided to write whatever comes to my mind.. God save you all ;D

I'm renaming my blog from 'My Heroes' to 'Reflections' - If you don't like the new name, let me know and I'll see if I can come up with something more likeable..

Hmm..

2006-08-08T20:58:00.000+05:30

Folks,

I just realized I've run out of heroes. I have three options now.

1) Stop writing.
2) Start writing abt something else. (I don't think this is a good idea)
3) Ask for Readers' contribution - Send in your Heroes and I'll post them here.

Any suggestions?

Tommy

2006-07-24T12:02:00.000+05:30

I don't remember Tommy well - I was still too young when he died. But I've heard about him from my parents. Especially the story of him saving my life had been told many times. He was our dog, BTW.

This happened when I was a toddler. It seems oneday, I was playing inside the house and slowly moved towards the back entrance. My house was quite high from the ground level and there were about 5,6 big steps to climb up. When I reached the first step on top and was about to fall down, Tommy came running and lay between me and the steps below - breaking my fall and sort of acting as a soft barrier. My Mom was there in a few seconds and picked me up - she still tells me how amazed she was by Tommy's action - He was so smart!

From the pictures you can see that he had a lot of patience :-). Sadly, we lost Tommy while I was 3 or 4 - I vaguely remember his death. Wherever he is now, I hope he knows I'd be forever thankful to him and remember him lovingly.

(I now have a little puppy named after him :-) Don't know if he'll grow up to be that smart. For now, all that he does is eat, play and sleep ... and of course mark his territory all over the house :D)

Manimegala Devi

2006-07-06T12:23:00.000+05:30

She was my science teacher for two years (9th and 10th class) and has actually taught me more than just Physics, Chemistry and Biology. She was very strong, smart and a terrific teacher.. and she had a mind of her own (it was such a rarity among women back in the 80's).

She didn't just stick to the text books. She tried to give us real education - the kind that'll help you lead a better life. She discussed politics and books in class, she never frowned at girls and boys talking to each other (although mine was a co-ed school, it was sort of forbidden for boys and girls to even talk to each other), she explained, sceitifically, why girls shdn't marry their mothers' brothers (which was (still is) very common in many villages in TN), she made us realize if we worked hard we can reach great heights.

I still remember her teaching us the word neutral - she gave us many examples, she said 'Neutramul' gets its name from this word - if you drink it, you get balanced nutrition blah blah. The next day she was asking us to tell the meaning of the word, and no one knew, except, ahem.. yours truely - I remember feeling sooo proud because I remembered (Don't laugh, I was very young then :) )

(Its not her picture. Some other teacher.. I think I have to take many pictures when I go home this time)

Karna

2006-07-06T09:35:00.001+05:30

(Warning: What I've written here is purely based on my opinion; not facts. If you are very religious and offended by any view that's different from yours, I request you to not read this blog)

The only indian mythological character that has earned my respect and adoration is Karna. In my humble opinion, the supposedly 'Good guys' in Mahabharat were worse than the 'Bad Guys'.

Right from his birth until his last breath, Karna was abandoned and decieved and exploited by almost everyone - even by his own mother and (the deceitful) Lord Krishna. The only person that really saw him, loved him truely and respected him was Duryodhana and Karna remained faithful to his friend until his death. The friendship of Duryodhana and Karna is one of the most (if not the only) honourable realationships I've ever read.

As a kid, I always liked listening to and reading stories about Karna and the arrogant and jealous Arjuna. (I've never seen anyone more jealous than Arjuna. He can't stand anyone more talented than he is, and if he can't win them fairly, he never hesitated to resort to any method to ensure they are 'defeated'. Remember Ekalvya?) Coming back to the story, it was said, Karna's hands were sore and red because he kept giving to people - he never denied anyone anything - no matter what it was, no matter what it costed him. So naturally, Arjuna was jealous and wanted to prove he can give better. When he had to give away two big mountains of gold and silver in a day, Arjuna kept giving and giving to many but the mountains remained big as ever. When Karna's turn came, he simply called two guys and asked them to take a mountain each.

Karna, the son of Lord Surya, knowing he'll face death and defeat, stuck to his friend and died. And as long as he lived, he lived a life that was far better and more honourable than the lives of all the 'good guys' put together. "Karna remains a brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his whole life, and died with terrifying courage, valor and honor, to rise to immortality in fame." - says Wikipedia.

Dr. Philip

2006-06-23T17:40:00.000+05:30

Dr.Philip was the only doctor in the only hospital that was available to some 20 odd neighbouring villages including mine. It was a hospital run by a Christian church. Although it was pretty small, I remember it being very clean and organised. The hospital is the result of one man's efforts, one man's desire to serve the needy - all alone with no one's support he built the hospital and kept it running as long as he lived.

He had no family - never married. All his life, he served people and expected nothing in return. He sacrified his whole life but never boasted or complained about it - he was always happy, cheerful and wanting to do more. He was kind, but he never had any false pity - He used to be stern and put people where they belonged. If someone didn't have any money, he used to ask them to leave whatever they had - my Dad told me that he even used to accept eggs for consultation fee :-)

The sad thing is, no other doctor was willing to work from that hospital after his death. No point in blaming them, they had their families to feed and they won't be able to make any money there.. Last time I went home, I heard that the hopital was closed.. I'm still hoping someone might come along and re-open it - if not someone like Dr.Philip at least someone half as good..

(I don't have Dr.Philip's picture :-( Personally, I don't read any blog that's longer than 2 pages and without any picture :-) .. hence the cartoon doctor picture..)

Dr.Wangari Muta Maathai

2006-06-15T10:28:00.000+05:30

I first saw Dr.Maathai in an interview on BBC about two years back. I sat glued to the TV, captivated by her conviction and enthusiasm. Her full name is Wangari Muta Maathai. She was Kenya's assistant environment minister when I saw her on TV and she is the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel prize for her work.

For those of us who like numbers, over the past three decades, Maathai's Green Belt Movement has provided work for over 80,000 women in Kenya alone by supporting the planting of 30 million indigenous trees. She says "We have about 30 million people in Kenya, so we've planted one tree for each person. But we need an average of 10 trees to absorb the amount of carbon dioxide each of us breathes out in our lifetime. I'd like to appeal to each person in the world to plant 10 trees"

Maathai's tree-planting crusade began in the mid-1970s . She found the rivers were polluted and trees had been felled in the name of commercial-agriculture. She started by planting a handful of seedlings in her back yard, then giving them out to local women to plant on public land. In return, the women were paid a small amount of money. Over the following years, with the help of environmental sponsors, the Green Belt Movement was launched.

She became the assistant environment minister in Kenya in 2002. And later recieved a Nobel prize - Some questioned her nomination for the Nobel peace prize because her work revolves around environmental preservation rather than conflict resolution. But to Maathai the two are inextricably linked. "Wars result from the mismanagement of resources, selfish attitudes towards resources and an unwillingness to share resources with neighbours. If we did a better job of managing our resources, conflicts over them would be reduced. What we need in Africa is for the men who are in charge to make decisions that support women, support the better management of resources. Africa is not poor. It is an extremely rich continent. Yet the people are poor, and the responsibility for this lies with the African leadership'. I agree with her and I think its the same case in India too.

Netaji

2006-06-02T15:30:00.000+05:30

Although there have been a lot of controversies surrounding the life and death of Netaji, I still admire him for his courage. In the histroy of India's struggle for freedom, while everyone was so much into 'non-violence', even when innocent people were murdered in cold blood, one person stood out and fought back. I'm not the one to support violence, but in my opinion, when we have to fight, we have to fight.

If only his countrymen had even 1/10th of his courage, determination and willingness to sacrifice, we would have got our freedom much earlier. His famous lines are "Give me blood and I will give you freedom" - No wonder he didn't get any support in India!

Even after we got our freedom, the Indian government has done very little to clear the controversies about the mysterious plane crash that (supossedly) killed him. Nevertheless, I'm sure Netaji is a legend to many and he will always be remembered with much respect and love by the ordinary indian people that make India what it is.

Vasanthi

2006-05-26T15:25:00.000+05:30

The first woman hero to feature in my blog :-) - Vasanthi. She's very brave, determined and tough. She's the one who stood by me all the time (which must have been quite difficult for her, especially with me being a very rebellious kid) and the only one truly responsible for what I am today (not that I'm anybody great, just saying :-) ).

On the other hand, she constantly worries (God knows how she manages to find things to worry about all the time, even when things are fine) and until I was 21 or so, I can't remember a single day we didn't have an argument over something or the other, whenever we were together. Yeah, you guessed right, she's my Mother :-)

It's quite difficult to sing praises of her without putting my Dad down :-) (Who's also one of my heroes), so, let me just say, but for her, the maximum I would have become is a typist. With all the limitations she had, she still fought many of my battles and won them for me.

The sweetest thing I remember about her (with all our 'arguments' it's quite difficult to think of something really pleasant), is the time I broke a neighbour's son's plastic ruler into two (it was an accident) and they demanded four rupees for the broken scale. We were going through a very rough patch then, and I remember myself going to her, walking very slowly, tears streaming down my face.. When I told her what happened (I was sure she was going to be mad at me), she simply said ' Why do you cry for this? It's just four rupees. We'll give it to them' - that was the first time I started thinking, she might like me after all.. :-)

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi

2006-05-12T09:50:00.000+05:30

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi is actually so much more than my hero.. One of the very few Tamilians that I'm immensely proud of. . He was a poet, philosopher, writer, freedom-fighter and feminist (Ok, now you know why I like him like I do ;-)).

At the age of 11, scholars recognised his prowess as a poet and he was accorded the title of 'Bharathi'. He knew many languages (Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindi, Kuch, and English and may be some more), he promoted widow remarriage, he told women to be brave, to come out of their chains, insisted on education, he spoke about connecting rivers and building factories - He had a much larger perspective than was possible at that time... he was far far ahead of his times. Actually, I think he is much ahead our times too..

He was beyond the pettiness of 'my religion', 'my lanuage','my caste' and so many other 'my things' - He was free spirited and was not bound by any limitation. He was so brave, so courageous - always spoke his heart. He didn't just say how great Tamil was, instead, he showed us how beautiful the language could be. He died very young, at 33, but he has left his mark in many hearts. So many have been inspired and influenced by this words - I'm so proud that I'm one of them.

(Portrait by Raja Ravi Verma)

To know more visit:
http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/bharathy
http://forumhub.com/tlit/11015.204.01.48.20.html

Rajini Kanth

2006-05-05T16:20:00.000+05:30

Here comes my favorite movie hero. Me being a Tamilian, it's easy to guess who my favorite hero would be :-) - the one and only Super Star, Rajini Kanth. (Well, there are actually many superstars but as far as the Tamil cinema industry is concerned, 'Super Star' and 'Rajini' are synonymous.)

The sophisticated think you are unsophisticated if you like Rajini, but who cares? I like him.. and how? :-) Granted, he doesn't look the same anymore and I can't say I liked his recent movies all that much but he still remains my favorite movie hero. In my opinion he can act very well - his superstardom has sort of deprived him of the oppurtunity of becoming a good actor though. (His fans say "Nadikka vendam thalaiva, Nadandu vaa Podhum. Translation: (Look who's doing the translation ;-) ) You don't have to act, my Leader, just walk and that's enough)

But he's done a lot of good movies - at least in the beginning of his career. And there really is something about him - something that's mischievious, stylish and orginal. He has this ability to make people believe almost everything he says in his movies. And then, there's of course this "Rajini style" - which has been imitated by many on-screen and off-screen (almost always unsuccessfully :-) )

I'm not one of the typical "Rajini fans" though - I have never bathed his cut-outs in milk or fired crakers or tore screens in theatres because some charector in the movie insulted him. I don't have his posters at home and I have never watched any of his movies on the first day. But unlike some of the so called 'fans', I don't expect him to enter into politics just because I feel it is the right thing for him to do.. I respect his decisions when it comes to what he wants to do with his life. And I wish others will leave him alone too.

(I don't even remember where all I took the pics from - I'm hoping no one will sue me for copyright violations:-))

John Havoc - The Full Story

2006-05-03T13:33:00.000+05:30

For those who had asked for Havoc's full story, here it is - Hunt the Devil. Like I had mentioned before, this is my most favorite John Havoc story.

This story is unique in many ways..1) Usually John is forced into working for the Q branch but in this story, he gets involved on his own 2) and John has the last laugh - in all the other stories he walks back home dejected and feeling exploited. 3) and of course, there's the thoughtful glass angel :-)

Click this link to download the entire comics... http://www.fasterupload.com/3044812c

( When you download, you may have to wait for a few seconds while your ticket is processed. It took about 4 minutes to download when I tried. If it takes any longer, cancel the request and try again later.)

Thank you Sherlock Holmes for informing people about 'Faster Upload' site in TCP.

Bill Watterson

2006-04-18T11:43:00.000+05:30

I was in two minds over writing about Bill Watterson because unlike the other three heroes featured in my blog, Bill Watterson and his comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes" are immensely popular. But then, my blog is not titled 'The forgotton Heroes' or 'The unsung Heroes', it's just 'My Heroes' - so, I'm going ahead with Bill Watterson.

If you search the net, you can get loads and loads of information on the comic strip and on the author, in spite of Watterson being very private and media shy. And he has practically vanished from the face of earth for about a decade now. He's been a source of inspiration to many. He's known for his artistic integrity and saying no to commercialization of Calvin and Hobbes. He quit when he was on top, on Dec 31st 1995 (In his last comic strip Calvin says 'Let's go and explore') and has not appeared in public ever since.

An extract from Bill Watterson's speech at Festival of Cartoon Art, Ohio State University, October 27, 1989 on Cheapening of Comics:

"Some very good strips have been cheapened by licensing. Licensed products, of course, are incapable of capturing the subtleties of the original strip, and the merchandise can alter the public perception of the strip, especially when the merchandise is aimed at a younger audience than the strip is. The deeper concerns of some strips are ignored or condensed to fit the simple gag requirements of mugs and T-shirts. "

"Strips that once had integrity and heart become simply cute as the business moguls cash in. Once a lot of money and jobs are riding on the status quo, it gets harder to push the experiments and new directions that keep a strip vital. Characters lose their believability as they start endorsing major companies and lend their faces to bedsheets and boxer shorts. The appealing innocence and sincerity of cartoon characters is corrupted when they use those qualities to peddle products. One starts to question whether characters say things because they mean it or because their sentiments sell T-shirts and greeting cards. Licensing has made some cartoonists extremely wealthy, but at a considerable loss to the precious little world they created. "

Here's what Ryan McGranahan says about Watterson in yourtrueheroes.org. "I consider him to be my personal hero because of the artistic integrity he posseses. When Calvin and Hobbes was in its prime Bill Waterson was inundated with requests from companies to market the popular characters. Calvin and Hobbes dolls, posters, coffe mugs, t-shirts, and stickers, all of them could have been easily produced. If he had accepted these offers Watterson would have made a tremendous amount of money, possibly millions. However he felt that using his creations to sell merchandise would damage the integrity of the strip and dilute its message. As a result of the value he placed on his work he gave up more money than some people see in their entire lifetimes. I can not think of a better role model. At a time when a lot of people will do anything to make a buck it is refreshing to see someone pass on the chance to sell out. I hope that I would be able to make a similar decision in my life and not allow the lure of money to corrupt anything I had worked hard to produce."

I couldn't have said it better.

And before I close (I'm afraid it's already too long..) here is one of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes comic strips:

And a few Quotes:

1) Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

2) Leave it to a girl to take the fun out of sex discrimination.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson
http://yourtruehero.org/content/hero/view_hero.asp?990
http://bob.bigw.org/ch/calvin.html

Robertson

2006-04-05T11:36:00.000+05:30

Robertson is one of my most favorite childhood heroes. He is a very important person - my Dad, the first man in my life :-).

Dad and his little girl

There's this one particular incident that firmly established my Dad's status as my first real life hero (apart from the other trivial, insignificant facts like he got me pretty much everything I wanted, always took my side every time I fought with my mother or brother etc).

I grew up in a very remote village that still has only about a 100 families. They are all agriculture people and everyone in the village will be in some way or the other related to each other. In times of need, they never hesitate to risk their lives for others (which I've never seen among city people - I'm not blaming them, they have their reasons; it's just something I miss in my city life).

Well, one night as we were sleeping on the porch (there used to be large open space just in front of our house - you can get a lot of fresh natural air and you can fall asleep looking at the stars.) One night, around 2.00AM or so, I woke up to a loud noise of people screaming and foot steps running here and there. When I opened my eyes all I saw was fire - the house that was in front of ours was on fire - as I was seeing, my Dad without thinking, got up, threw this watch over the mat (I don't know why but I clearly remember, like it happened only yesterday, him throwing his watch although it doesn't have much significance) and started running towards the burning house and into it. I think I must have been just lying down, eyes and mouth wide open - not moving. Anyway, the fire was soon put out and no life was lost and thankfully my Dad was safe too. The house had been damaged but they could fix it soon - It had mud walls and bamboo and coconut leaves roof (The coconut leaves are sort of interlaced to form a thin, rectangular sheet like thing - I don't know if it has a name in English. In Tamil it is 'Keetru') .

If people had not cared and if they had been just waiting for someone else to step in and do all the hard work, I don't know how many lives would have been lost that night. I'm so glad there were so many brave people who didn't even think before reaching out and help - helping came to them naturally (as running away to some, in times of trouble ;o) ) . The day (actually the night) was saved because of their 'courage under fire' :-). I often wonder if I will be able to do what my Dad and the other men in the village did if I come across a situation like that.. I hope I will.

John Havoc

2006-03-28T10:22:00.000+05:30

Since quite a few of my friends have been asking me to write (they don't know what they are in for ;-)), I have decided to give writing a shot...

John Havoc is one of my most favorite comic book heroes second only to 'The ghost who walks' :-) .I don't think Havoc is that famous - he's quite unkown even among comic book readers (who are already a depressing minority). John is young, idealistic, smart, tough and vulnerable at the same time ,persistent and has an unpleasant past (which makes him all the more likeable - Oh, you poor thing!! :-))

Most of his stories start while he's being practically dragged into (and sometimes lured into) a situation (mostly dangerous) by the British Intellence Agency, 'The Q Branch'. The Q Branch can, if they want, help him get back his pilot license (which he lost because of an accident that was misunderstood for his incompetency) because they have the evidence to prove the accident was..well, an accident and that it was not because of John's lack of piloting skills - but if they do that, John will not work for them anymore (and we won't get the stories of his adventures).

In my favorite Havoc story, a very dangerous form of bacteria is hidden in a glass devil (see Picture).

John is somehow dragged into the battle in which many nations/ groups are fighting to get their hands on the bacteria (biological warfare and stuff). This glass devil is inadvertently stolen by an old petty thief and he gives it to his grandson as a gift. The little grandson soon loses his gift and his grandpa as well (The old man is killed by the baddies). Eventually John recovers the glass devil and destroys it. The world is saved!! End of story, right? No.

John goes back and finds the thief's little grandson and gives him a present... another glass devil?

No, a glass angel..!! This is what, in my opinion makes John so very special - he thinks about even the smallest thing and always takes that extra step that's necessary to make this world a better place for those around him.

Lee Falk

2006-02-22T15:07:00.000+05:30

Lee Falk is the creator of 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician' who were the comic book heroes many of us grew up with. Lee Falks charectors were human, idealistic and brave and I adore Lee Falk for his creativity and orginality.

There's a site that's trying to get signatures from Lee Falk's fans all over the world in order to get Lee Falk a star on "St. Louis Walk of Fame". If you are a fan and if you want to sign, please go the URL pasted below and sign the petition.

Here's what the site says:

"To: St. Louis Walk of Fame Committee
On the ballot for a Star but not having recieved enough votes yet is Pop Culture great LEE FALK, creator of two of comicdoms most enduring heroes: The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. Mr. Falk deserves some kind of lasting recognition in his hometown of St. Louis. These signatures from fans around the world agree with that sentiment. His characters, especially the Phantom, endure to this day with a global following and he is recognized by the comic industry as one of the icons of comic book pop culture. So let the voice of the fans be heard! Mr. Falk should get his Star on his hometown Walk of Fame. "

http://www.petitiononline.com/falkstar/