I am raining words

I have heard of people who have a deficiency with their words. May be I am on the pole opposite to theirs. I always find it very hard to say things with fewer words.

Sometimes, I think of short stories to write. But when I actually do start to write, the words consume pages and I end up using at least three times the space I had planned to. The next time I start to write something, I will think of a word limit and then start to write it up.

Yes. This does remind me of my English Board Exams :)

What this means is that, I find it so very hard to tweet. What is it with the 140 characters limit?
OK. Time to practice and wrap this entry up.

BYE!!!

Up And Running

Hooray Hoo!!

I have resumed reading after quite a long time.

Ever since I bought myself a thirty-seven thousand-rupee luxury called a laptop, my reading days have been stalled. Quite a lot of my time went to AVIs and VOBs. The remainder of the time was loaned out to EA Sports Cricket. Any meager time that had escaped the above two went for google and cricinfo.

With so many of my friends competing for my time and attention, I guess I would have to be forgiven for reading and writing less. Once the reality of my dwindling reading hit me, I even fell back to such demeaning books like Prison Diary, for lack of any unread books in my possession. So when I finally latched on to Ponniyin Selvan, man what relief to read some good book again.

As I would like to believe, reading is not my hobby, it is an obsession.

And it feels great to be back.

Sach a power - Still...

What would life be if I could unwind myself and go back? Say, 13 years.

I would still be going to my school in my half-trousers.

My fingers would still be a computer virgin.

I would not have known base tracks about trigonometry.

Petrol would have been 23 rupees in India.

Sachin Tendulkar would have kept my bottoms on a chair for 50 overs.

13 years on, in the present, the last entry in this list still held good.

On the fifth of November 2009, in Hyderabad, history was being made, again, by the little monster Sachin.

The action pulsating and riveting, never once bordering on insanity, Sachin managed to soar above the other 21 mortals on the ground, onto a pedastal upon which only he could dream thriving. The poetry of the innings was so breath taking, for a moment I was reminded of the song 'Loose Yourself' by 'Eminem'.

So complete was this innings, that it reminded me of every phase of his career over the last two decades.

There was the grit of the 16 year old from Faisalabad(1989).

There was the urgency of the 19 year old from Perth(1992).

The defiance of the 24 year old in Cape Town(1997).

There was the hunger of the 25 year old from Sharjah(1998).

The 30 year old rampaging man from Centurion(2003).

The 35 year old cautious veteran from Chennai(2008).

But, as fate would have it, what finally stayed etched in our minds was none of these flashes from the past. As he scooped the ball into the waiting hands of fine leg, as Jadeja and Praveen Kumar enacted the unbelievable run outs, as India stood inches from the finishing line of a marathon, one particular moment silhouetted itself in front of my mind's eyes. The defeated man from Chennai 1999.

As he looked on, forlorn and choked for words at the presentation, there were only profanities on my lips for every single person who blamed him for not crossing the last three inches (read as runs).

Time stood still. No, that was when it moved back 13 years and took me back with it.

Not only was Sachin the only one left standing between Australia and a defeat, his other 10 teammates were egging Australia on, to victory.

With an ache in my heart, I realized that if somehow I could have bribed the scorer to add another 4 runs on the Indian side of the board, I would have.

P.S: This entry was written around ten days back. Bear my lethargy.

An earlier publishing of the entry would have made more relevance to the context than today.

Random Updates

After almost six months of high pressure slog out I am back to the normal way of living I like. From now on, it means nine hours of working per day and will get some 4 hours of free time at my disposal. Now that I have a laptop with me and also some free time, need to do something worthwhile to justify the free time.

Looks like the marriage season has officially begun. Quite a few of my friends are getting married in the next couple of months. It means a fair bit of traveling for me which I look forward to thoroughly. The very next trip due is to Trichy (Srirangam actually) for Krishna's marriage.

Twitter is taking over blogger slowly. But it cannot substitute the love for writing that a blog can provide. May be they both have their own places to stay. Twit when you have things to say. Blog when you have thoughts to put. Even in the Twenty20 days, Test matches hold their own purity and I guess I am not gonna reduce my blogging any time sooner.

Thought of uploading a few pics of the laptop as well. Don't have one right now. Will try to upload one soon. Currently on the lookout for names for my laptop. Suggestions? Welcome....

Out of Touch...

Hiya,
What an isolated year it has been till now. I haven't said a hai to many of my friends out there in a long long time. No mails, No calls, No messages, Nothing. Come to think of it, I have 251 unread messages in my inbox, the highest ever till now. And I am ashamed to admit that I haven't knocked the ball on the Table Tennis court for quite a while now(I just tried a one-off game which I miserably lost 21-10). My mobile bill this month came down to a petty 600 bucks(pretty small given my big mobile history). Very sparse visits to Chennai. To be true to myself, I haven't been myself.

It surely hasn't been the all-pain-no-gain sort of a time. I have indeed shown my total spectrum of talent in the office and have got enough recognition, for me to give myself a pat on my back. But is this adequate enough for all the life I have lost in a hundred days? All the sleepless nights and all the weekends spent pondering over random segments of code? Do they really tilt the needle on the balance to satisfy me? For some time I did reason to myself that they do. But now I guess I need to rethink my priorities.

I guess I would have been more satisfied had I made progress over the new book I bought(Vairamuthu Kavidhaigal). I should have blogged more often. I even started writing my own story which hasn't gone beyond the first 1000 words. My original plan was to have around 6000 words in that. There was that small thing called fitness which I vowed to increase at the beginning of this year - but haven't. There was that really ugly article which I read in a New Zealand daily. I even mentally wrote a big reply to that article. Never got around to posting it anywhere on the net.

All said, I still will have to stick to this unreal, suffocating schedule till the 20th of May. Once that is over, I seriously decide to take some quality time off and gain some peace into this life of mine. May be I need a vacation, like the one I took back in August 2008

P. S.: All I want is a chance to prove that slogging alone can't make me happy ;)

When is a right time to call

Am I apprehensive and afraid of my future? Is the insecurity and uncertainty of it eating me? Do I sometimes sit back and speculate my future with a cloud on the horizon? Of course I do, for I am as human as the person sleeping right now in the cot next to me.


But daring has always been my forte. Seven years back I would have laughed at anyone if they had predicted I would go on to become a successful software engineer. But the bigger question has always been this? Is this what I am destined to be? To write random pieces of code for lesser mortals? I am here to make my own day and I will. May be I can say I am pilfering my days searching for my future. But I choose say, I am preparing myself for the future I am going to shape for myself.


With every passing year I realize that I am discovering myself all the more. And with each passing year, I also realize that I am not the man I wanted to be a thousand days back. So where finally is my so called destiny taking me. I think I know. The only place I
want to be.

Be back with a bang and that is a promise

Kana Kannil

I have no idea why i haven't added this song to my blog. It is long overdue :)

Surpassing Myself

I have beaten my best now. Without any post in the past five months, I have overdone myself in my lethargy and laziness. The best I could do for now is to put together a list of ten important things I have done in this interim period - to fill the big void.

1. I have managed to complete one full year of corporate life without any major hiccups. I can't remember any other phase of my life spanning more than 400 days that sailed as smooth as now.

2. Got myself a four-wheeler driving license and a PAN card - but I am still not prepared to say I am safe when I sit in a car that I am driving.

3. Made a trip to Gokarna. It is a place one MUST add to your best-and-cheap-places-I-ought-to-go-to list. Seriously lost myself in its mystique and serenity for three full days. I have for long wanted a break from my normal routine life. No mobile phones. No Internet. No computers. No ATM machines. No Electricity. God, it was heaven on earth.

4. Managed to crash my computer - Shivaji - for the first time. The motherboard is now lying dormant in a service center at Chennai. I really miss my Shivaji and am dying to lay my hands on it. May be a resurrected Shivaji will mean more productivity from me.

5. Dutifully fulfilled my resolution to buy and read at least one book per month. But most of the ones I bought are ones I had already read, but wanted to add to my collection. With my own dough, I can afford some now.

6. Managed to do an off-the-record project driven purely by my dreams. See more at http://www/miles2cover.net

7. Played in the TT tournament being organized in my office - it was fun, though I ended up on one of the losing sides. For a brief period of time, it felt as though I was back in my UG again. Sports - that gorgeous commodity of life. Man, I loved the adrenaline. We are now in the process of setting up a TT team and rumor has it that I am to be invited there too.

8. Made myself more sociable. In today's corporate life, it looks like the more fun you are at parties, the more sociable you are. So, I officially announce that I am a social drinker now.

9. Triggered the formation of a group with a Social Cause that calls itself 'Utopia'. I am not sure of the success of the group. But as with all endeavors, good intentions mixed with spirited souls always get more than they are due. Utopia just needs more time to sprout up.

10. Fell in LOVE - Come on. Not many newbies to Apple can resist it for long. I am as mortal as every one else. It sometimes feels odd to look at a windows machine, which has two buttons on the mouse instead of one, which does not have a horizontal scroll. Up until recently, I was thinking that a white computer was archaic and black was the order of the day. That was until I met Mr. Mac

Hoping to be swifter at least with my next post. Bye for now.

New Year

Well. I know it is very late by now. Still "A very Happy New Year" to the very few who visit me here. Come every December 31st I have a very big dilemma. People call me and ask me what my new year resolution is. What do you tell them when you don't have any?

Actually this time around, at the strike of midnight, when the new year dawned, I was on phone as usual. And there was this guy who asked me about my new year celebrations and my new year resolution. And I gave him my usual. "Nothing" :( Now was the more interesting question. The most logical sequel to it. "Why?" Oh God what should I say for that. Curt though I wanted to be I just blurted out, "I don't think the first of January is something special because the Earth has completed a round around the Sun. That too imperfectly. We keep correcting that blemish once every four years". :P How very typical of me.

Now I realize that it is time I broke that self-made jinx of mine. Ain't any day a good day to take a resolution that will do you good? At least let me use this first of January to correct myself. This is my new year resolution. "This year on I am going to talk less". For people who know me better, it shouldn't be hard to realize that this is as difficult to me as is scoring a test century to RP Singh. But I have indeed tried hard in the few days that this year seen and I would declare myself successful thus far. Wish me luck guys.

Back Where I Began...

One friendly glance. An urgent blur. A momentous glimpse. That is all it took. I had been craning my neck on the windows of the train for this one look. And it was worth the wait.

I had seen the place where I had spent 14 years of my life. That place means more to me than any other one place. It looks much like the settee of any R K Narayan story. But only, water was so scarce in this Sarayu. In the hustle and bustle of the city, which changes by the hour, this place has stood the test of time and borne it well too. The temple remains as solid as ever. The scent from the nearby paddy fields still fill the air with fragrance. Here did I play my last cricket on the streets. There are kids now, doing what I had left behind. While I quench my thirst with mineral water bottles and instant coffee machines, people here are still enjoying clean drinking water. While I am applying for my credit card, this place still has a place for a 25 paise coin.

I always loved doing strange things. I had once saved seven rupees worth 5 paise coins (140 coins). Those were days I loved eating the 5 paise candies. I guess they dont sell them anymore. I had learnt cycling here and bruised my leg many a times. I had done 12 years of my schooling here in 2 different schools.

I have now learned through experience that the world stretches even beyond this village. That there are people beyond here who love me just as the people here used to. That there are so many other tinsel towns that match Malgudi even better. But back then I was just Susi. In the bigger world, I address myself Susindhar T Kandan. But I still miss my middle name. T for Tiruvalam.

Song : New York Nagaram Urnagumbodu...

Life

Meeting and parting are the ways of life.
If one phase is dark, the other will be bright.
In tears do we part,
With a heavy heart,
With the belief that sometime, someday
We will meet again.
The darkness of parting will then see light.


I believed it seven years back.
And I continue to believe it.

P. S. :
The 'Crossing the LoC' series will continue later.
Once I have a proper connection in my room.
For now, this ought to do.

Crossing the LoC - Part I

Realizing that I have less than a 100 hours left to start my new journey, into a new world makes me apprehensive. After some twenty plus years, I seem under-prepared for my new life. I know neither the 'tie to wear for a given shirt' or the 'place I want to work'. Come to think of it, I don't know any place I wouldn't want to work. I know that it is going to take me an eternity to cross this border and settle myself safely in the world that awaits me. Does it or do I? Looking back I have had a lot of memories to treasure. Sharing them all in words would consume a lot of time. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words". Ain't it? Bear with me if there are a lot of photos. But each of them are so special that a further editing was next to nil.


This is the first outing that I have a soft copy of. Among the so many incidents from my school life this trip to Ooty stands out as one of the best. I don't remember a lot of places that we visited. But I still have a lot of incidents locked up, many which I treasure. The fun I had with my English Mam and the room that I shared with
Hari and Kandu are fresh still.
(L to R) : Radha Sir, Kandu, Nagaraj Vinayagam, Sriram, Hari, Selva Kumar, myself, Junior, Sathyamoorthy Sir and Karthick.


The place I spent the least time in when I was at school. My twelfth standard classroom. I was everywhere but here. The playgrounds, the labs or the Principal's room. Everyone of these saw me more than this small classroom. Believe me when I say that the class was small. It had four benches and housed the eight of us. That was our strength then. But the small number is no indication of the fun that we had.








This room was our pavilion during the first semester at Anna University. Better known as No 7 Kottur, it was our restroom. If we got an hour break between classes, there would be a minimum of fifteen guys in this room. My calculation says that there are only three guys in my classroom who have not come to this room at some point of time or the other.
(L to R and T to B) : Jawahar, Murugappan, Mallu's friend, Mallu, Annbuvel and Antony.







Doesn't some bell ring somewhere? Three pranksters trying the famous Yuva pose.
(L to R) : Murugappan, Annbuvel and Jawahar.








The birthday bash that I missed out. This was Annbu's birthday and this was an event which wouldn't recur for the next four years. He was born on 29 Feb 1984 and this was 29 Feb 2004. I unfortunately missed out on this late night outing and collected these photos as souvenirs. Stats say that Annbu was just 5 old years now.
(L to R, T to B) : Karthic, Jegan, Mallu, Dharmesh, Annbu, Hariharan, Dayal and Ramesh Chander.


That was room 204 in the Science Block. My first semester classroom in Anna University. This was a very instrumental place of my life, where people around me recognized me for what I was. This was the first time I started to get into the limelight. Also not the best thing in another sense. Many got closer to me because I was intelligent. Something I wouldn't consider inviting. But then this portal called Anna University gave us another 5 semesters to get to know each other. Now I can safely say that these guys are my friends not because I outshone them then. But because we love each other.
(L to R, T to B) : Ilamaparithi, myself, Jawahar, Ramesh Chander and Murugappan.


Within a fifty feet from here is the crux of the University. The canteen in front of us, the gallery behind us, the ATM center to its left, the Bank to the further left. To the right come the Ramanujam Computing Center, The Central Library and the Sports Center. That succinctly gives a picture for any new-comer a picture of what the university is all about. This circle with a hundred meter radius always had some friend you could wave your hand to.
(T to B, L to R) : Amit, Saravanan, Ilamparithi, Murugappan and myself.


204 again. But in a more casual outlook. Just after a lecture.
Members : Viswanathan (Boss), Mallu, Ramesh Chander, Sudhakar, Kathir, Shanthi, Murugappan, Jawahar, Vikram, Amit and others.





The proper induction into the MCA curriculum. Freshers organized for us by our seniors. Indeed we were welcome here. Later on we were to organize many more functions like this one.
(L to R) : Saravana Raj Kumar, Pramod and myself.


After No. 7 Kottur this room was to become the hangout place for us. Though this room didn't remain so for long, it still was a place where I made many new friends and acquaintances that include Viswa, Vikram, Balu, Arun Prakash, Pappu,...
(L to R) : Vijay, Pappu and Krishna



Believe me when I say that we studied in our PG. This was what we did on the eve of our 'web graphics' end semester examination. Satisfied with the output we proceeded to give the exam our best shot.
(L to R) : Balasubramanian and Lara Dutta
Graphics Courtesy : Ramesh Chander



Taken on the eve of the "Anna University Silver Jubilee Valediction". Taken in front of the Vivekananda Auditorium.
(L to R, T to B) : Guruvasagam, Vijay, Sudhakar, Balu, Senthil, Viswa, Sebastin, Rangaraj, Shanmugam, Vivek and Krishna.



This room still in its most primitive stage, was to become one of my most frequently visited places over the next couple of years. The smallest room(size) in kottur was soon to house more than 14 occupants at times.
(L to R) : Sebastin, Krishna, Velmurugan, Sudhakar and Vijay.



If you are ready to make the attempt, you can catch up with time. Five years after we went our separate ways, four of us school guys managed to meet up in one place. Though we occasionally get to see each other, it is something quite different to have a planned reunion. This was an attempt. I still have a burning desire to somehow arrange another reunion where all eight of us can actually meet up.
(L to R) : Sriram, Hari, myself and Selva.



These three guys are one of a sort. They are a gang that ought to be so. More so because of the chemistry that they seem to share. They too were no exception to No. 7 Kottur. Resting after a tiring day.
(L to R) : Saamy, Jegan and Hariharan



Yet another Sunday at No. 7 Kottur. Me with HP6.
(T to B, L to R) : myself, vikram and mallu.











Time : 2130. This was soon to become a pattern. From now on night outings to theaters, beach, hotels and all other exotic places was to become routine. From now on we are to remain nocturnal more and more.
(L to R) : Shanu, myself and Karthic



A third of our life here was over. The farewell at Vijay Park Inn. During those days we were more interested in a get-together than in a farewell. Just outside the pathetic hotel.
(L to R) : Hariharan, Annbuvel, Jegan, myself, Mallu, Vikram and Viswa.



Ain't it nice. Posing with the vice chancellor of the university. On the eve of the "Anna University Silver Jubilee Valediction", we met up with the then VC Mr. Balaguruswamy. God how I wish for those days when we could wear anything that we liked to college.
(L to R) : Karthic, Balaguruswamy, myself, Vikram and Mallu.



This is a very pranky group. Be sure you are not near when these guys are on a high. Trying to imitate the then famous album "Vaalameenukkum Velangumeenukkum" from "Chittiram Pesudhadi".
(L to R) : Pappu, Ilamparithi, Prasanna and Balasubramnian.

Pen is mightier than a (Movie)

Seeing Da Vinci Code recently reaffirmed my belief that when you make a movie out of a novel, it decreases the beauty of the novel. Movies don't let your imagination fly as wild as a book. The poetic license that is accredited to writers are not available to a script maker. None of the books I have read have made a better movie. Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Harry Potter, Lord Of the Rings, Time To Kill, David Copperfield... The list goes on. But the fact remains. Even the Star Wars series where the book came after the movie is no exception to it.

Think of the Harry Potter for instance. When I read about dementors, I had my own scary creatures, to imagine about. Seeing them in the movie was like showing me a calculator and forcing me to believe that it is a super computer. Another would be the Star Wars, The Phantom Menace. The book says that Anakin Skywalker could feel every part of the pod he was driving as if it were part of his body. He could sense an engine failing even before it actually did and switch to alternate power. How could they ever picture it in a movie without a narrative.

I am by no means demeaning the work of the film makers. They have their own restrictions to fight. I appreciate the hollywood style of preparing a manuscript and then going on to shoot, unlike their tamil counterparts who deviate from their plan after the shooting. You can identify parts of the film where the lip movement does not match the voice. Bad planning. All I ask of the book writers is that they have some foresight. If they know that their book is going to be made a movie let them make it known. I will avoid such movies. But still I see those movies when I sit at home with nothing else to do. Can't avoid it though. May be in such cases, I will avoid reading those books. :)

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

I haven't posted anything in the last couple of months owing to my busy project schedule. Despite all this I recently came across someone claiming to have read the Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows. Searching the net I downloaded a pirated copy of it myself. The first ten pages confirmed my worst doubts. This was no JK Rowling stuff. Some fanatic geek has invested his time into this venture. It was too good to be her work. What I mean by this is the fact that this book contained everything that a fan would ask of the author and I know Rowling well enough to have other claims. She writes for kids and teens and not for grown-ups. If after july 21st it gets confirmed that this whole thing happens to be the true book - well I be damned. I am willing to pit my twenty year reading habit against it.

But the most important thing I am pointing out here is that, amidst my busy schedule I have been able to afford myself a day and a half of time to read 659 pages. Goes to prove again the time-proven fact. You never have time for anything in this world. you got to make time for them yourself.

P. S. : I know it was plain stupid of me to have read another 649 pages after knowing it was spoof. But that just shows how addicted I am to books. I miss them these days. Hopefully I get back to my old habit after leaving the university in a month's time.

Cricket Is Indeed Cathcing Up

Mozhi Review

I have learned from my recent projects the meaning of "you learn more from failing than from winning". But the primary ingredient essential in both winning and losing is the heart to transform your ideas into theories and then experimenting with them. Of what use is it if you have a load of ideas that you are never going to implement? To conduct these experiments more than anything else you need to have the courage to lose. For a long time Tamil directors(sans Mani Sir) always lacked this courage to experiment.

That was up until recently. After seeing 'Veyyil' and 'Mozhi' I realize that times are indeed changing. These two movies have shunned any traces of commercialism and have gone on prove that you can make your movie a big hit even with quality. A hero no longer needs to fight 20 people or even better there need be no villain at all. A musician falls in love with a girl who is both deaf and dumb who had never wanted to feel the impairment of her muteness to come in the way of her life.

What follows from there is very soothing melody. Very well told. This subject was one that could very easily have been spoilt. I would give equal credit to the direction and the screenplay. More important than that I think the producers who were ready to finance such new experiments. It takes immense courage from them to field in a pool of talents whom they believe in. New actors, music directors, directors and add to that an unproven domain. Welcome to the elite group gentlemen.

P.S. : Sorry for not revealing more of the movie or the story. I strongly feel that anything more than this would be to spoil the good works of the gentlemen involved in that. See the movie ASAP.

A very good performance by Jothika. Worthy of a best actress award.

Ed Wood Review

I saw this movie recently and was really awe-struck at how beautiful a script can be made when enough homework and hard work are behind it. I always had an aversion towards black and white movies. Only after recently seeing "Sin City" did I realize that you need to make them even in the twenty first century. This movie reveals the untold story of a film director Edward D Wood Jr. Released in 1994, this movie stands up in my mind as one of the best plays I have seen. Johnny Depp plays the part of the director Ed Wood. This movie travails through the ups and downs of the man who never lost his self belief through all the turmoils he had to face.

The movie starts out with a small narration that promises to tell us the truth behind Ed Wood and to judge the character based on those facts alone.The movie introduces Ed Wood acting in a small play in a theater. When the review in the papers next day call it a total fall-off, Ed is prompt in pointing out, that the same review claims the costumes of the soldiers close-to-perfection. That is Ed Wood for you.

When a production company puts out a story about a person, who is a man but who wants to turn a woman, Ed calls them and fixes an appointment. Seeing the producer, Ed explains that he is the best director in town for that sort of a story. Going on to explain that he indeed had been such a person, he says that he had always fancied wearing women's clothes and that he had been wearing his girl friend's dress unknown to her for long. This fact clinches the role for him. His girl friend on hearing this truth is aghast. Just before he begins to shoot, he meets an actor Bela Lugosi, well past his prime and believed dead in the current film industry. He befriends the man and makes him play a part for him in the movie. After the shooting the movie fails to hit the premier show in his city.

Unperturbed by this he embarks on another attempt and embarks on a science fiction this time. The movie travels through all the troubles he has to endure financially to get this film made. He even is foxed into giving the lead role to a girl who fools him that she will finance the movie. Axing his girl friend from the lead role increases the rift between them. This movie is an even bigger flop and his girl friend leaves him. But these failures just get him more closer to the aging legend Bela.

Bela now under drugs is slowly falling apart and dies soon after. A small footage that Ed had made of him becomes the inspiration of his next movie. He sells it off as Bella's last movie and gets a look alike of Bela to play the role(face covered). In the mean while he meets a new girl and gets married at the end of it.

The story ends here by pointing out that Ed Wood had been voted the worst director of all times. The story of a failure cannot be told more successfully than this one. Through his travails he gets to meet the great Orsen Welles himself(director of Citizen Kane). When Ed meets him he is all but given up having to make the movies as the producers want it rather than how he would like it. The great director says "Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?" That sums up the movie. As the movie ends we realize that failures are not failures at all if you are ready to look at them in the face. Hats off Johnny Depp. A must watch.

May the soul rest in peace...

Just moments ago I learnt that an old friend of mine (Sundararaghavan) had passed away. He had been my close accomplise in a lot of mischiefs from day one in my school. For six years we were as close as two friends could ever be. Whenever we stood in the ground, (be it prayers or playtimes) he would always be behind me. His roll number was the one before mine. Damn we copied every exam. Come class eleven we lost touch completely. I can remember having stood outside the classroom with him for not having finished homeworks. We have played together, lunched together and failed together.

Even after such a long gap I feel very bad hearing that news. Lord, May his soul rest in PEACE.

The Black Mind

This was an incident that happened a month or so ago. First forgive me. This post is sure to grow quite big. So if you don't have the time at your disposal you have the option of either going on to the next post or worse still you can click the next blog link at the top of this page.

I am not sure of the date. It was just after the release of a new Tamil film¹. My memory says that it must have been a Monday. I was particularly bored to hell. We had an unusually long holiday and many of my friends were away at their native places. With my zeroth review over just a week back, I had no mood to sit at my project so soon. I was raring to have an outing with my friends. When you want something to happen, it is the last thing that does. (Ref: Susi's corollary to Moore's law). Proving this the days seemed to drag along at an insanely slow crawling pace. Like every good thing has an end, the bad things have an end too. So the day at last came when enough of my friends returned from their natives. But there was this inevitable pleasure that was compelling me to stay home that day. A regional television channel² was telecasting one of the movies³ that I was so in liking with. So I had my plan chalked out. I was to see the much awaited movie that evening at home and start out on my adventures from the next day. The fact that I was more planned now and that I had a fun filled schedule ahead of me enthused me.

My corollary proved true again. I got a call from one of my friend asking me to join a group of other guys⁴ to go to another guys⁵ home. I was just a bit flustered. I had never gone to this guys place and knew not why at all I had to alter my well planned itinerary. But I learnt from them that this guy had had an operation to his nose (???) and that they were going there to enquire after his wellbeing. The reason seemed good enough to alter my plan a bit. So I gave in and joined them. Got a bus to my college and from there I tagged along with them. Also even if we went there I would still have enough time to come back in time for my movie³. So off we set, not knowing in advance what adventures lay in store for us. I had always believed that all my classmates stayed in Chennai. But then here we were traveling for almost an hour. What all we had to cross? Believe me when I say that the sight included flyovers, mud roads, patch roads, potholes, rivers, hills, cattle, green fields... I had almost seen the spot for the next Barathiraja film. Once we did reach there I reached for my cell phone to know that time. It was more than an hour since I had left home. More importantly, though there were so many things to look around, there was a more important thing that was lacking - my cell phone had no coverage. Happy to see that the guy was in fine shape, we decided to take leave after about twenty minutes. But now his hospitable mother had set about preparing something for us to eat⁶. Since she had already started we had to wait for some more time. But now my time schedule was looking more and more disrupt. When a snicker of a tower did appear, my sister called me to mock and inform that my much awaited film had started. Determined not to miss my film I started watching the film there itself. Once the food came we devoured it at our fastest pace and took leave.

Now things started getting more complex for me to handle. Here I was starting on my way back, sure to miss a large part of the film I had waited three days for. Convincing myself that life had taught me another lesson - Don't over expect anything - I started my journey back. But the fact of disrupting my schedule played heavily on my mind. Thinking of an alternate plan, I came up with the idea of going to the movie that was released just a day back with a few more of my pals. Now there are a few more facts that I have to ascertain. This movie was a Vijay movie. Consider the audience I had to share the day with. Murugappan is a die hard Vijay fan ready to take part in all the roars of the theatre. Then there was Jawahar who was a total Ajith fan and a no-Vijay man. But the Ajith movie released the day before was considered to be his worst of recent times. So he now wanted to see for himself what the other guy had to offer from a critical point of view. Then there Vijay (my friend, not the hero of the film) who like me had a select taste for movies. But both of us were now in a mood to watch a pure-blood commercial and were warming up to the theatre aura. There was Arun Prakash who had his own genre to watch. This was just the second film he was watching with me. I did not even know if he preferred this genre. There was boss⁷ who thought that a movie was good if it was fun. There was Vikram who had already seen the movie in Telugu and was there to weigh how this movie stood up when compared to the Telugu version. (The facts have been presented at last to my satisfaction). With such a wide mixed array of characters began our next phase. As each scene emerged Murugappan was at his roaring best with all the Vijay-fans in the theatre. Vikram was commenting on what a rip-off it was of the Telugu version. Jawahar was prompt in expressing his displeasure of the movie. Boss was having an enjoyable time with the movie. I was exchanging meaningful glances with Vijay to signify that this movie was just the thing we were in the mood to watch. Arun Prakash was most silent giving out no remarks. No appreciative smile. No frown. He was just taking in the things - as I was. When the movie got over it was around one in the night.

Irrespective of what others felt I think my feeling for not having stuck to my original plan was now lightened after the movie. Provided, what more could you do now? Now the next adventure began. There were eight of us on four bikes and I was with Jawahar on his bike. Vijay came out saying that how nice it would be if all four of us drove along at the same pace adjacent to each other. We all thought that it would be a good idea. The plan was executed properly for all of about ten seconds. That was all there was ever to it. After a couple of minutes and five kilometers ahead, ours was the last bike that was going and there was no sight of the others ahead. Also taking into account the fact that ours was the one bike that had the fastest pickup my chauffer thought this to be a great insult both to him and his bike. So he raised the throttle and the machine readily responded. From an average 30kph we rose to around 90kph. Within seconds we were cruising and had reached the third position. It took us may be another minute to catch with the next bike. Then there was a long pause. There was no first bike ahead of us. Feeling offended he raised the throttle in his urge to catch up. Another two minutes and we were there. Now that the three others were behind us and watching us he was ready to show that he was the leader of the band. We were now tearing the air at 120kph. Now for a fleeting second my mind pictured a scene. What would it look like if we were to lose our lead now due to some unforeseen factor? And the inevitable happened.

Another two minutes of pace and soon the Pulsar started first sputtering then shuddering and then abruptly came to a screeching halt. More concerned now we came to the side of the road, stopped the bike and unmounted. The bike was now behaving more like a non-pollution free motor vehicle. Streams of gas were emanating from the silencer and there was a pungent smell of some organic substance burning in the inside. Add to the salt some Potassium Permanganate (KMnO₄), concentrated Sulphuric Acid (H₂SO₄) and on heating releases a pungent smelling gas providing the confirmation test for Lead (Pb) ⁸. So that had to be it. The bike had taken in more than its share of lead from the petrol that it drunk everyday. As these thoughts were just running in my mind, I looked in the face of my rider and realized that he was even more worried now, than he was after the poor movie. He sensed that there had to be something seriously wrong with his machine. As I voiced my thoughts he face got even sterner. He was now beginning to get genuinely worried. By this time the other three pairs had caught up with us and were slowly beginning to take interest in the developments. But Boss who was more experienced with these sorts of troubles soon found out that the problem was quite simple. There was simply no fuel in the petrol tank to push the vehicle onward. The consternation on Jawahar's face lifted at this more simpler and plausible explanation. He promptly shook the vehicle and heard a faint rumble from the machine suggesting that the fuel was indeed there. Now things were getting more interesting. For the seven of us it was more than fun to watch the cruiser desperately scratching his head over his 150kg metal pile. Now was our turn to torment him. Perplexed though he was, his mind was now reeling in all directions looking for some feasible solutions. Each of his suggestions were looking more and more weirder to our more calm and sane minds. It was two in the morning. We were stranded - eight of us - five kilometers from the Chennai Airport and one kilometer from the main Kathipara junction. There was no soul we could ask help to. Forget about a mechanic. The following were a few of the feasible - though impractical - solutions that were suggested.

"There were a number of buses plying to Koyambedu. Can't we just put our bike in one of them?" - Good one. But Koyambedu was far from our destination than where we were. Besides who is going to lift a 150kg machine atop the bus?

"Why can't we just put the bike in an auto and take it home?" - Better. But where can we search for an auto, at this time, on a national highway?

"Why can’t we just leave the bike here and come back with a mechanic tomorrow?" - Even better. But who is to assure us that it would remain there through the night?

"What about pushing the whole thing for the next six kilometers until we reached home?" - More Practical. But who amongst the eight of us was going to push it? Not Me.

Then came the idea of towing the vehicle. - At last practical. But none of us had towed a vehicle before and besides we absolutely HAD to toe it with two guys on it. Not possible.

While all these theories were being discussed and as each one of these solutions were discarded, we realized that we had been stranded to the spot for more than half an hour and reached no solution. Just when we were getting more desperate things got worse. In the distance we spotted a white car with red lights atop it. This was the last thing that we wanted. There was a cop vehicle coming along at a steady pace. Seven of us wanted to be in some other place, at least ten kilometers from there. Along came the car and stopped beside us. We told the cop the truth and surprisingly he accepted it without receiving a penny from us. Just to confirm things he asked if all was well and if there was any petrol problem. After checking once again we told him that such was not the case and he proceeded with a frown [No penny :( ]. Now that the worst was past, we settled to do the one thing that we had done till now, but more decidedly. We decided to wait until the silencer cooled down completely. With a frown and seven other knowing smiles, we settled for a long wait. As time passed to another fifteen minutes, we thought that it has cooled as cool it is going to get. Now he tried to gun the machine again. There were sputters. Nothing more. Not a hint of life in the machine. It was now irrevocably dead. Only after all this time did it strike us that a bike would behave in this exact way in case of an engine cease too. The moment this word was uttered, Jawahar came to his wits end. His face was now shifting rapidly to an unscrutinizable blankness. What was going behind that head of his now? Fear? He was more concerned now than ever before. If it was indeed an engine cease there was nothing that we could do. Almost every one of us tried kicking the poor kicker in a faint hope that someone among us possessed that coveted golden boot among footballers. None of us seemed to have anything beyond a slipper and a fiercely aggravating groin.

Boss said now that there was only one last choice that he had to offer from his experience. There is a very unlikely chance that something may have stuck up the petrol tube. He suggested plugging out the petrol tube and allowing the petrol to flow for quite some time and then trying to inject life into the now zombie machine. As he plugged the petrol tube out and opened the valve we knew what exactly was wrong.

The valve was giving out what exactly comes out of a metro-water tap. Pure gas. I don't mean gasoline. Clean pure air. There was not a drop of petrol. Was the block that bad? Opening the petrol tank for the first time confirmed it. There absolutely was no petrol in it to spur it onward. Smiles everywhere. Picking up an empty water bottle (which is in plenty on Chennai roadsides) we transferred some petrol from another bike and she came to life like an angel. The trouble was now over. We resumed the journey now at last after an hour and a half but now more sedately at a 30kph and believe me we were the last to reach back.

PS:

Karunakku – Black Tongue
Karumoolai – Black Mind

1 : Pokkiri
2 : Sun TV
3 : Pattiyal
4 : Murugappan, Jawahar and Vikram
5 : Saravanan S(200434133)
6 : Upma
7 : A classmate of mine – Visawnathan actually
8 : Purely a figment of my imagination. I pray that my past Chemistry staffs would bear with me.

Heights Of Animation