On the road (of life)

Nursery days - A basket with a book, pencil box & the snack box. Mom holding it in one hand and holding me in the other. Pulling me along. I was probably wondering "Why should amma pull me? why cant amma let me practice ABCD as I try to read the shop names". 15 mins walk.

School days - Carry heavy books in a bag. Hanging on 2 shoulders like rug sack bag. Walk till bus stop, while kicking the stones on the road. Sit in the bus(I was boarding at the starting point). The seat before the back door was preferred. 2 reasons for this. One, Learn the foot board lessons quickly. Two, help the footboarders by keeping their bags. 40 mins bus.

Pre-University days - Bag in the bicycle carrier. Style in heart. Bicycle with the friends group. Occasional impromtu races added to the thrill. 1hr of cycling with breaks at friends homes.

Graduate days - 2 to 4 books in one hand and a couple of slices of bread (breakfast) in the other. a pen in pocket. Run to the class in the morning. Walk back to hostel leisurely when the class is over. Rarely doubles in cycle. Then either you are holding 8 books or you are pedaling. 5 to 10 mins walk\run.

Early Working days - ID card in pocket. Helmet on head. Zoom. 15 mins drive to office.

Working days continued - 4+ kg bag - with laptop and some junk on the shoulders. A book in the arm. Early morning jog\walk to the bus-stop. Bak Bak when in mood. Or play cards. Or read books. 2 hours of travel.

Nostalgic Feelings -

• Nobody would ever hold my hand and pull me through.
• Miss the foot board adventures (as a friend puts it - There was a brotherhood among foot-board travelers).
• The most enjoyable travel was during PU days. Cycling in the roads of old Bangalore...How I miss it.
• Miss the gossip and breakfast on the run during graduate days.
• Miss the speed to reach office during my early working days.
• Now enjoy the chatting and playing during the travel.

When this stops...Something more interesting would come in the road of life...
     

I should not blog on Sachin

Still I blog on this person. An enigma. Called Sachin Tendulkar.

Back to the title - I should not blog on Sachin - Why?

Is there anything new that I can write about Sachin?
No.

There are tons and tons of articles floating in the net, print media, wired media, wireless. Probably someone in outer space would have also heard about yesterday's record of Sachin. There are articles of his wife, children, teacher, friends, neighbors, fans, enemies, critics, sponsors, statistics…oh spare somebody. Or spare something. There is also no secret of Sachin which is not published…Yes even his secrets are public, and we still call it secret.
I wonder what he would write in his autobiography (I think he will defineitely write it). Can Sachin score it big with his book? Yes. Without doubt. The fans and the critics would be hungry to read if he writes something new and fishy which they don't know.

But But But...I can still share a something about Sachin. This dialogue happened between me and my friend some months ago. And I doubt if he has shared this with others…So brand new news coming up in the lines below.
I once told my friend "Sachin is a great batsman". He said "No". "Sachin is the greatest batsman" he said. Ok. The conversation continued. Then I told "Sachin is the greatest batsman". He again said "No". "Sachin is the greatest cricketer". Ah!

This is a testimony to his great career. Great records. Great fan following.

Thanks Sachin for entertaining us so long!
(if I sound as if its an farewell speech…Sorry…Sachin is here to stay…Not go.)
    

Silver jubilee - Wishes

Silver jubilee is over. No wishes. No celebration. No party. No self congratulatory messages. I did not even notice it. Sad!

Its already 27th this year. Oh! How could I miss this? Sorry my dear.

The 25th was Business. The 26th was emotional. The 27th is the wishes. You know its better late than never.

Belated "Happy Silver jubilee". Congrats to "Lost in Thoughts" on the momentous feat of already having 27 blogs this year. Hope that we celebrate golden, platinum and whatever jubilees.
   

Dedication to the spirit

     
ಮರದ ಹಣ್ಣೊಂದು ಕೊಳೆತರೆ ಮರ ಸಾಯುವುದೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ |
ಮರದ ಬೇರ‍ೇಹೊದರೆ ಮರವಿನಿಲ್ಲ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ ||
ಮನುಜನ ಅಂಗವೊಂದು ಹೊದರೆ ಮನುಜ ಸಾಯುವನೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ |
ಮನುಜನ ಹ್ರುದಯ ಹೊದರೆ ಅವ ಹೆಣವಾದಂತೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ ||

Translation - 
(If a fruit of a tree rots, will the tree die Lord Manjunatha |
If the root of the tree goes, there is no more a tree Lord Manjunatha ||
If a organ of a human dies, will the human die Lord Manjunatha |
If the heart of a human goes, the human is a corpse Lord Manjunatha ||)

Background -
Over the weekend, I realized that a relative of mine lost a kidney. One of her kidneys had to be removed (for reasons best known to doctors). The family members are all very sad (rightly so). But she (the patient) was very courageous and showed great "HEART" in trying to calm down the emotions of her visitors. A kidney cannot kill the spirit. The spirit is in the HEART.

This blog is a dedication to her "Never say die" attitude. She may never read it.
 

Astrology Business - Part 1

Do you know whats the value of the "Astrology" business in India? Don’t expect an answer. I don’t know. I think, its not even considered for accounting. Or cant be accounted. Or the best question - Why should it be accounted? (This gives me a special kick…Asking questions which do not have quick answers.)

Knowing the people around me & watching some of the TV shows (especially the early morning ones), I feel there is a big market for astrology. Astrology, according to me can be as powerful as the media business. And if the 2 combine well, it’s a killer.

I am looking for partners to invest in this business.

Astrology Business Ethics -
First have belief in Astrology. You know Astrology is a business of "Trust" (not that other businesses are distrustful…you know what I mean, Right?).

Business strategy -
Hire some "so called" astrolgers and some "so called" good software techies (I need a few software apps). Actually no need of testers. The astrolgers are grouped into categories - General, Sports, Politics, weather and economy. Oh! And Terrorism. Sub categories could be state politics, cricket, earthquake, Iraq, Usa, Pakistan……Those are implementation specifics..Lets first strategise.

The group of astrolgers associated with a category will predict the future of the anything in that category. Some CLEAR examples -

1. Sports - Tiger WILL reveal his secret affair with a famous Bollywood actress if he comes to India without black eyes.
2. Politics - Abhishek Bachchan's 1st child WILL join SP when Amar Singh becomes PM.
3. Weather - The next big earthquake of the world WILL kill 100+ people.
4. Economy - Reliance WILL buy Tata group if Tata sells everything (to others) but Tea business.
5. Terrorism - Indian Mujahiddin leader, Mehsud Khurram Khan WILL stay in a hut in the Afghan border of Pak till daybreak tomorrow.

Look at the conviction. WILL in bold. That WILL build Trust.

Publicity -
Yes. Yes. Yes. Its automatic.
These are breaking news in every Indian channel. Don’t you think so?

And there would be TV debates over this. And there would be blogs. And the housewives will converse with the neighboring housewives. And cab discussions will ridicule this. And people will tweet this. And And And…Oh so many things can happen. Already counting rupees in crores. Just the sports prediction can fetch millions of speculations and rupees.

Now that you need time to count the dollars in your account & my wife is laughing and calling me to watch the latest Breaking news - "Replica of Micheal Jackson's stolen underwear WILL be sold in Bangalore's city market". I leave you.

Become a partner!
Bye partners! Sleep well & Dream well!

More in part 2.

When the pores open up

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
16.02.2010.
Night - sometime after I sleep. I did not check the time on my mobile.

I wake up suddenly (which doesn't happen often). Felt my forehead. Its wet. Same feeling as I caressed by neck. Bloody Sweaty. Am I sick? Confirmed No. Walked to the window to check if there is something called "WIND" to cool me. Leaves of the plants were sleeping without swaying. Wonder why they call window WINDow! Grrr!!!  Drank some water. Back to bed. Sleep.

The act repeats some hrs (lets put it some time) later. Perhaps it was already 17.02.2010. I did not bother to go to the window. This time more pores of the body had vomited out the salty fluid. Sweat. Arms, stomach all wet. More water went in to feed the hungry body pores. Glass empty. Body lazy to walk to kitchen to fetch more H2O. Sleep.

It happened again. The pores of my skin had done it again. Woke me in sweat. Frustratingly checked the time. 2:53am. Cant the clock run faster? Grrr!!! again. Went to the kitchen. Noisily drank and fetched water(for the next refilling). Realized that the artificial source of WIND was off. Fan. How couldn't I think of it earlier? Switched it on. Sleep.

Trinn...Trinn...(whatever sound). Its 5:20am. 10 more mins(grace period) of sleep warned the mobile. Grrr!!! yet again.

And ended a bad night...began an interesting day.

This winter was short and not cold.
Wonder what would it be at peak summer months! Power cuts. Mosquitoes. Heat. The pores. Grrr!! Where is my sleep?

Welcome Indian summer!