Yesterday, Today, Tomorow

yesterday is a dream we survived.

tomorow is a dream we anticipate.

today is a struggle to forget how we survived

or to anticipate the best.

where exactly does 'enjoy your presence' fit in?

I wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year. Enjoy your days, dream, and walk towards your dream. Have loads and loads of fun. Keep your family and friends together. Smile. Love.

hope

A Poetess has moved from here to here

darkness surround me.
the chillness in wind freeze my blood.
stars appear as tiny dots. far away. faded.
i search for the moon, the frame of the building blocks my view. no hope.
i stand with my eyes open. i dont see light.
i shiver, not sure if its the cold or the fear.

i closed my eyes and listen.
fluttering of leaves - there is air to breathe.
a faint voice of laughter - far away i hear life.
the calmness was broken by the screeching of wheels -
few metres away, a train crossed the bridge.
i could hear it gaining momentum, carying hundreds towards their destiny.
hundreds who chose to fight their fear for their goals. hope.
i stand with my eyes closed. i see light.
i shiver, now sure that its the cold.

i opened my eyes. nothing has changed except that now I smile.

domain name dilemma

[ Happy Birthday Freya]

guys, i bought a new domain name. yes, i plan to host a site!! i understand that laughing is good for health, but not this much alright? so hold ur laugh and listen. i wanted to change the domain name of my blog and make it a lil more personal. i bought a domain name "anilsawan.in". Then i created a sub domain "blog.anilsawan.in" [inspired by Freya] and then i face reality :) its not easy. problems i faced:

[1] Google needs one host name to be pointed to 4 IP addresses [it uses round robin method for data read/write]. My domain solution is offered by Rediff which allowed me to give 2 IPs for the same host name - not more than that. How ever, my blog worked with 2 IPs, so i guess the other two are for redundancy purpose.

[2] The old feed doesnt work any more. So you have to create a new feed and update the link where ever needed.

[3] Your subscription count gets reset to zero [it takes data from the feed]

[4] You may lose any of your loyal visitors who frequently visit your blog, if they are not informed about this change. Reason? The blog doesnt get updated in any of the place were it should cos book marking is done through feeds!

[5] You will lose your Google Page ranking, which solely depends on your blog's url.

[6] The new url would take hell lot of time to get to google search pages. [Currently, a google search of "Anil Sawan" gives my blog url as one of the top three results]

[7] If you have any pages bookmarked in social bookmarking websites, then those links will now be considered as invalid links.

[8] If you have been linked by any other blogs with your present blog's address, those links would also be considered invalid!

Bad aint it? So what do I do? I roll back to by blogger address :)

But the plan to host a sit remain. So do the domain name :)

Alrite now, laugh.

know how u deal with stress

If you could save a relationship by knowing each other better, accepting the differences, giving it some more time, then do it. This post share some ideas about the thought processe of men and women, which I agree upon. I might write more about relationships in future depending upon the response to this post. Most of the relationships break when the partners are under stress. Have you ever wondered how differently men and women approach stress?

Under stress, to maintain his control, a man needs to analyze objectively how his actions are responsible for what happened and realize what he can do to change things. To understand how he is responsible, he first needs to review the situation.He becomes very alert and attendive on what happened around him and thus he would determine what he did that led to the problem.His objectivity can then be put to determining what he can do to solve the problem. In this way he can begin to understand and accept responsibility for his part in creating what happened.

Unlike a man, a woman under stress needs to center herself through exploring her feelings. She can then figure out what happened, why it happened and what should be done about it. If a woman feels and understand her emotions, then her thinking would be open, flexible and clear.

Men face stress objectively, Women faces it subjectively. When a man reacts to stress from his feminine emotional side, he tends to loose his positive attitudes. His negative emotions may make him destructive, moody and self-centered. Negative emotions are not bad. They are part of healing or de-stressing. But when a man experiences his negative emotions and has lost his objectivity, his emotions become mean, threatening and unloving. This is his dark side.This is not to say that men should not be emotional. It is saying that when a man under stress gets into his feelings before he has established an objective perspective, then his emotions will tend to be unloving or destructive. He looses control because by indulging in his emotions he has disconnected himself from his primary source of power - his ability to be objective.

A woman, on the other hand, doesnt necessarily loose her positive feelings when she becomes angry. She can be angry and still have the ability to hear and understand another person's point of view. Being more subjective, women frist need to react emotionally and then they are able to view a situation more objectively. If she becomes too analytical or objective without considering her subjective feelings, she may become opinionated, confused, demanding, negative and frustrated. This is the dark side of a woman.

When a woman is emotionally upset but denies or suppresses her feelings in an attempt to be logical or rational, she is bound to experience many arguments with men. At such times, her statements will be rigid and opinionated. This is not only offensive to men, but also threatening. It tells him there is no room for his ideas to be true and that his differing point of view is not being appreciated. While she thinks she is making sense to him, he becomes angry and "dumps out" his negative emotions.

Because men derive their power from their objective analysis of a situation, they are naturally unaware of how delicate and vulnerable a woman's feelings are. It is equally true that women can hurt men with their rigid opinions. The big diference between men being hurt and women being hurt is that men are much less aware that they are being hurt.

Changing one's behaviour is the masculine way to reduce stress, ie, improving the situation by doing something differently. Feminine side reduces stress by changing attitudes - to improve the situation through forgiveness, love, gratitude and tolerence.What typically happens in a relationship is that a woman will tend to repeatedly compromise and adjust herself to preserve harmony and avoid confrontation. On a conscious level, she will try to change herself. After she has sacrificed or surrendered her position repeatedly, she will begin to feel resentful that he is not doing the same. Now, on a less conscious level, she will begin to try to change her partner. All communication at this point becomes somewhat manipulative and very distasteful to him. He will inevitably reject her or rebel.

Love is NOT the only ingredient for a healthy relationship. Know each other better. Avoid a break-up.Once broken, it would always reflect the scar.

Ideas shared here reflects the thoughts given by Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus series.

toad's world

in a marshy deserted land

in an old well, broken and dry.

there lived a toad, an ugly one

who croak n croak n croak!

he dances to the tunes of wind

and croak n croak n croak.

he thought he is the best of all

and croak n croak n croak

he smiles a lot, he worries not,

he thinks he is old and wise!

he talks a lot, a lot on life,

he thinks he knows it all!

One night he saw the moon and sang

croak n croak n croak

and as he sang, he saw her come

an angel dressed in white.

her smile so bright, he lost his sight

they glided through the clouds

he saw the flowers -red, pink and white

he saw the beauty unveil.

the songs were new, and splendid too

the angel sang it for him.

her hands were soft and made of love

with every touch he felt.

her eyes were deep, he couldnt read

and he thought he was old and wise!

she held his hand, his ugly hand

asked him to look into her eyes,

her deep blue eyes, in shades of love

he saw his ugly self!

a flash went by, he closed his eyes

too firgtened to face her eyes.

the wind was cold, the tune same old

he saw no angel near by!

in a marshy desserted land

in an old well, broken and dry.

there lived a toad, an ugly one

who knew how ugly he was,

he smiled again, at the beautiful moon

and croaked and croaked to death.

Words - Curse or Boon?

words, souvenirs of an angel

expression of love unbound.

smile,wink,hum a tune

it makes us pink and blush!

the more you say, the more you mess

irrevocable damage it does.

Jack pours his sense on Jill

All Jill knows is, she's wet!

the more you share, the more you smile

words are indeed the best!

of touch, of tear, succor and fear

it makes us feel subsit!

words; the devil screams -

my way of torture and pain

words - the sharpest thorn in our life

it bruises our ego and smirk!

--------------

Qns] When words uttered to us are highly contextual, why do we always take it in a way which does not mean happiness for us? Why do we always find it as a personal attack and become defensive by throwing it back? Why do we make our life a warfield? Why do we spent our entire life defending our ego? Why is it so important for us that every one around share our thought? Why do we smile relief when we WIN an argument? If you think you are wiser than the rest, wait till your grandchild prove you worng. or maybe just grow old and die so that the rest could moan and move on.

--------------

Blog Awards '09

Last year the same time I gave away my first blog awards “blog award ‘08”. This occasion is special to me since these awards are designed and customized for COLORS. Before we go on with the name of the winners, let me give you all a quick introduction – We have 5 awards here. Since its not a token of love or friendship, I would not be giving these awards to each and every one I know. Each award would be won only by 2 bloggers which makes the total number of winners 10. Ten out of two hundred plus bloggers whom I read, tough choice! Its been tough indeed. I've been reviewing blogs for more than a month now. Blogs Ville expands exponentially and we meet new people every single minute. However, for this award, I have not considered any one whom I met after September. So with that, let’s start.

Kajal , Meera

Kajal : Kajal is one person I adore the most in this not-so-conscious world where joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced and shared. Its a world of fascination for sure, a place where you captivate others with the charm of your words. That's exactly what she did to me. Her blog - The Mush Factor is one which tops my list of blogs any day. Unfortunately it doesn't exist anymore. However I have the honor of reading the posts in her old blogs - "The Mush Factor" and "The Pink Orchid", all thanks to Google Reader. So allow me to start this award session by giving my most fav award to my most favorite blogger. Kajal, you deserve much more. Congratz for this :)
Meera : Meera, the one blogger who definitely deserve this award! Almost all of you who reads me know that Meera, of all, deserve the "stay away or get addicted" award from me! :) I did not stay away from her blog and I got addicted. So much of addiction that I had to talk to my parents about her. Now all I want is some addiction from her parents towards me : Pray for us.

Illeen , Lena

Illeen : Illeen is a blogger who I believe is a business student [don't file a case against me if she is not]. Her posts on love, the stories she wrote and the ones tagged under "just like that" sure makes this space interesting enough to grab this award! Read her and you would know why she became my first pick for this award. One of my favs : Ruthless and Cynical . Illeen, I really love to be on your page. Kindly accept this token of love and honor.
Lena : The Colors Magazine, the most colorful blog/site I have come across. Vivid layout, strikingly beautiful content, diverse topics, Lena - you sure have a treasure out there. The Love ramblings and the fun weekends make this page irresistible. Lena, I am sure you realize how much I love your space. Congratz sweets.

Vinay , Netika

Vinay : My Award list would go incomplete without mentioning about "Figments of Imagination". This blog, maintained by the one who call himself Leo, has always impressed me. The way he chooses his words and the way he uses it is commendable. The blog design, layout and presentation looks professional. If this guy writes a book, I sure would have a copy of it. Congrats for this token of honor Vinay.
Netika : Netika is a sweet 20 year old girl whose words on life/philosophy might suggest you that she is much older! I couldn't have selected another name for this award and you would realize that once you read her posts tagged "observations" and "realizations". I am happy I met you here sweets, Congrats for earning this token of honor.

Maheep , Dhanya

Maheep : Any one who thinks they are in deep shit and the most messed up state one can ever be in, please make a visit to "Wobble Bubble". You would see how life acts cruel to a manager and how he tackles it all :) Maheep, you write the most purest phases of life with such an ease that I fell in love with your blog! Where ever I am, what ever state of mind shadows me, one visit to your space and I would be all smiles! You really have made my day on many occasions. Congrats bro.
Dhanya : Dhanya, I guess her blog "My Own Little World" deserves almost all awards here! She is one person I always look forward to talk to. Though we haven't talked much, her name has an effect on me. Maybe there is something in the way she write, but the very mention of her name brightens me. One day I would have the honor of meeting her in person, even if that day never comes - dhannu, know that you are special and i really don't know why.

Pooja , Juhi

Pooja : "A Poetess' Paradise" is the most beautiful blog i have ever seen, all credits to its content. Pooja write poems, and beautiful ones. I don't see any other candidate deserving this award which i present with utmost respect. Pooja, you deserve this and much more. Congratz.
Juhi : "Life through my eyes" is another blog which impressed me a lot. Juhi is only 14! can you believe this? @ 14 she writes such amazing poetry! During my school days I din even knew that there existed something called blog. Juhi, I respect your talent, I respect your enthusiasm and I am happy to have met you over here. Congratz sweets.

Congrats to all the winners.

Note: Kindly refrain from re-using these awards/pictures. These awards are only for the people mentioned here.

update - location : bangalore

party time after so looong a time. so guys, i reached Bangalore today morning. the journey was ummmppppp baaaad! i booked for a train ticket two months back and guess what - i missed the train! reason? the MMTS - the intra city electric train service was late by 50 minutes!! i reached Kachiguda station [starting point of bangalore express] 10 minutes after the train's departure!! good start right?? so what did i do? i came by bus! thanks to KSRTC, i got a seat. it was hard to hold the urge of veins to stretch for almost 11 hours, but i did it!! wow!!

spent the day with my sis and her family. my stomach is acting weird, it looks like a blown McDonald's balloon - its the food i had last night, i know it :( i went to TGIF [Thank God It's Friday - for first timers] in the evening. it was good. loud music, cocktails, good looking girls [ i know i am gonna get bashed up for writing this, but i guess M would forgive :) ]. Beer, Margarita and Beef streaks - it was a good evening. the place was crowdy - pleasant faces with a polished attitude. i like guys and girls who has an attitude but the ones who fake it - jeez, god save them.

i have nothing against freedom of girls or the way they express their fashion desires. in fact there were a lot of girls who were quite good looking and were fashion statements. But many of the eyes were fixed at this one girl who came draped in a conservative white salwar. why? not for the dress of course.she came with six guys, was completely drunk. not a reason for seeking attention i know. ok, now how would it look if the guys start clicking pictures of this girl kissing each of this six guys in different angles. how would it be? girls, eitr go out with guys who shows some respect to you or don't drink till you loose your senses. i really don't write such sensitive issues out here in my blog, but this time - i felt sad. this girl, how ever she is - had a very innocent smile. i would be here for three more days. lets see how Bangalore treat me in these days :) Good day to all you guys.

Spending time with Dan Brown

To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books - The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

This is how the latest book by Dan Brown starts. YESSSS!!! I got a copy of THE LOST SYMBOL! yeyyy.. God knows when I would get time to read it, but I am all excited!!! :) Would try to read it as soon as posible and tell you all how good it is!! :) Jealous?? :P go get a copy for yourself :)

birthday wishes

I am one day late! I wanted to write this post yesterday at this time but unfortunately I was not very sure about the date! :( by the time our girl of the day confirmed the date I had logged out from work. Since Andhra Pradesh CM died in a chopper crash yesterday, things were not very fine here in Hyderabad and hence I had to stay in company guest house. So here I am back at work on a day which is supposed to be a public holiday wishing my sweetest and cutest friend a wonderful life ahead.

Kajal, you have always won my heart with your words and attitude. I am more than happy to have met you here in this beautiful world of frenz who genuinely care for each other. So swty, here I wish you a very happy [belated] birthday. May your life be filled with happiness and joy. May He gift you all the joy you ever desired of. may all your dreams come true.

Kajal, Happy Birthday to you. We, M & I wish you all happiness in the world.


*btw, when and where am I getting a party? :P

Happy Onam

May the festival of ONAM fill your life with Happiness and Joy!

*pics taken from google photos

love, tears & smile

he knew his words would scar her trust. he knew he was the reason for her tears. the world would throw stones on him. the world - silent spectators of a story unknown to them. he would smile through his wounds. tomorrow the world would smile with him and she would smile with the world. these tears would make her bold. these wounds would make her stronger than a man, these wounds would make her a woman. he never believed in destiny till he came face to face with the society. he had no faith in miracles and now he prays for one! he knows his intentions and he follows his heart. he might be wrong but this is a risk he has to take for tomorrow remains a mystery to them. he would smile through his wounds. tomorrow the world would smile with him and she would smile with the world.

*he is not a person who is difficult to change, he is just scared of the change.

BSNL - Connecting India?

loooong post ahead. but guess it wont be that boring either :)

Falling in love is always expensive. Especially when it comes to a long distance relationship. Well, I am not here to complain. I am really enjoying every bits and pieces of this love. Today lets talk about how we actually connect ourself. err.. phone conversations alright??

Long distance relationships would mean more phone calls, extended hours on call, more rail/flight/bus tickets and added electricity bills cos of internet usage and late hour sleep :P Yeah yeah i know that all these shouldn't be kept on a count when you are in love. but sweet heart, we are living in a world hit by recession, ain't we?



My phone bills were no exception. i wished Airtel was kind enough to stop sending me bills, but they weren't! I got the bills on time and that was not all, they send me reminder messages and gives me at least two reminder calls before payment due date.
Initially I used to get warning messages right when i enter the last week of every month. The messages declared that I have crossed my credit limit. When I mentioned it to their CS Agent I was assured that it would be rectified. And I see the next month bill - my credit limit has rose from 3.5k to 8.5k! wow, customer service i say!



okies. this post was supposed to be about BSNL! So as you could imagine Airtel was already burning a hole in my pocket. I started the hunt for a mobile service which could give me a cheaper call rate across state borders. I wandered across the terrains of GSM and CDMA. Atlast i reached the valley of BSNL. The roads which lead to the door was less used, at least by the crowd i knew. I gave a blind eye to the warning signboards as my eyes were fixed on their rate card.

Okies, so we do have a lot of positive things to be told here. The plan which I took is called the 725 plan. Its a postpaid plan and it gives me the option of selecting one BSNL STD landline number [you know whose number i chose] and all calls made to that number would be free. Further, all local calls made to BSNL landline/WLL/Mobile would be free of cost. The highlight - all STD calls made to BSNL landline/WLL/Mobile phones would be charged ONLY 40 paise per minute. These calls could be made free of cost after 11 pm and before 6 am! wow - wut a plan! How many of you knew such a plan existed? Okies all you souls who are living away from your family/love/friends and who make extensive number of STD calls [to BSNL numbers] could thank me - I have a paypal account :)

alright, now come back to earth. you wana know about the sign boards i ignored initially, don't ya? i checked the tariff online here. When I reached the BSNL customer care centre [yes you have to find out a CC centre and fill a form and give them your beautiful fotograph pinned with your address proof to get hold of that tiny little sim card] they had a tariff card which reflected different set of data. That card was a year old and the person in the counter refused to accept that there was a free call number allowed for this plan.

the person in counter[CR]: "saab aise free calls diye tho sab log yeh plan nahi lethe kya? aaj thak koi nahi aaya aisa bolke"
me: "arrey par aap ka site mein tho likha hein ki ek free call hein aur baaki ke numbers ko 40 paisa hein. "
CR: "aap kuch bhi bol lo saab, aisa kuch plan nahi hein. yeha pe bas yeh plan hein. aapko lena hein tho le lo."

by this time the floor manager came to my rescue. he checked the data i had with me and went to his desk. after a while he was back with a smile.

FM: "sir, this information you got here is right. the tarif we have at the counter is a year old. this data is new. however i see that there is NO free calls on offer. you could make calls to one number at 20 ps per minute compared to others which cost you 40 ps"

I was too tired to argue. I thanked him and took the sim. I had this thought that the people at the help desk would resolve all my issues. They would have access to the latest info, wouldn't they? So I got my sim card and they give you only the card - no pocket book, no cover, no leaflets, nothing. just a card. I was wondering what the Customer care number would be!

The connection took 2 days to get activated [compared to Airtel which takes an hour!] I tried the usual CC numbers - 111, 121, 123 no help! There is always internet for help. So I found out the number from BSNL site and called them from my landline. Note that the new connection is not activated yet and I did not get the number yet. [Airtel gives you a number on spot!]

I selected the language option as ENGLISH and waited for a CSR.

CSR: "cheppandi sir, em kavali" [telugu][tell me sir, what can i do for you]
me: "err, i need some information about plan 725."
CSR: " prepaid sir?"
me: (i never knew prepaid had plan 725!) "no. postpaid"
CSR: "number cheppandi sir" [telugu][tell me the number sir]
me: [still wondering why is he talking in telugu] "i dont have a number. its a new connection."
CRS: "okka nimisham sir" [telugu][one minute sir]
me: "ok" waits for 6 minutes and the call gets disconnected!

Welcome to the superior service of B S N L.

Call # 2:

CSR: "cheppandi sir, em kavali"
me: [not again!!] "i need some information about plan 725."
beep beep beep beep. The call got disconnected. He did not like my tone or my language!

Call # 3:

CSR: "cheppandi sir, em kavali"
me: "can you talk english or hindi please" [i really doubt their IVR system now. its must be getting routed to the wrong place!]
CSR: "okka nisham sir"
CSR 2: "boliye sir"
me: [thank God. National language is any day better] "muje 725 plan ke baare mein jan na hein"
CSR 2: "number boliye sir"
me: "number nahi mila. naya connection hein"
CSR 2: "call rates jan na hein sir?"
me: "ji"
CSR 2: [explains everything] "sir par hum yeh confirm nahi kar sakthe ke aapka f&f (friends and family) number activated hein ya nahi. uske liye aapko pehle bill cycle complete karna padega." [wow, i like gambling!]
me: "okies. thanks"

so here I completes one bill cycle. the happy news is that my f&f number is activated. the bill is quite transparent. no extra charges. they gave me a detailed bill free of cost. i can pay the bill online. the coverage is the best and the clarity is good. Over all BSNL is indeed a good experience BUT you have to forget the fact that there is a service desk!

Happy 62nd anniversary of India's independence!!

[1] When mutinies against British rule broke out in northern India in 1857, the Bengal Army, composed of Indian soldiers under British command, had 139,000 soldiers. How many sided with Britain, and how many with the mutineers?
(a) 78,000 for Britain; 61,000 for the mutineers
(b) 7,800 for Britain; 131,200 for the mutineers
(c) 110,000 for Britain; 29,000 for the mutineers
(d) 23 for Britain; 138,977 for the mutineers

[2] In 1901 India's population was 300m. How many Britons lived in India and ruled over them?
(a) 1.2m
(b) 239,000
(c) 154,000
(d) 28,900

[3] Mohandas Gandhi is more commonly known by the honorific "Mahatma", which means what?
(a) "National father"
(b) "Spiritual leader"
(c) "Great soul"
(d) "Child of God"

[4] What was Gandhi holding on March 12th 1930 when he announced to a crowd, "With this _____ I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire"?
(a) A policeman's collar
(b) A document pronouncing India's independence
(c) A handful of salt
(d) A length of spun cotton

[5] What did Gandhi say "accentuate[s] the evil nature of man" and lets "bad men fulfil their designs with greater rapidity"?
(a) Trains
(b) Wristwatches
(c) Assembly lines
(d) Shoes

[6] Which of these most accurately describes Mahatma Gandhi's murderer?
(a) He was a Muslim who believed he was waging a "holy war" against Hindu occupation
(b) He was a spurned political rival
(c) He was a Hindu enraged by the creation of Pakistan
(d) He was a Sikh enraged that the partition of India created separate Hindu and Muslim countries, but denied self-rule to the Sikhs

[7] About how many people were uprooted during the sectarian violence that broke out during the partition of British India into independent India and Pakistan in 1947?
(a) 500,000
(b) 2m
(c) 5m
(d) 12m

[8] How did Kashmir, with its predominantly Muslim population, come to have a Hindu ruler at the time of partition?
(a) The British hastily installed a puppet maharajah as they were leaving
(b) The same family ruled Kashmir for a millennium; they resisted the spread of Islam and remained Hindu
(c) The British had awarded the state to a Hindu soldier 50 years earlier
(d) The British had sold the state to a Hindu maharajah 100 years earlier

[9] Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, wrote that religion:
(a) "Is, as a Russian said, the opiate of the masses"
(b) "Waters the rich and loamy soil of our Mother India"
(c) "Has not only broken our backs but stifled and almost killed all originality of thought or mind"

(d) "Thrives in our beloved India as nowhere else on Earth, and without it we would be immeasurably poorer"

[10] In a letter to his wife from a colonial jail, Nehru wrote that he saw himself as:
(a) "A traveller, limping along in the dark night"
(b) "A warrior of the spirit, bound to call our nation to greatness"
(c) "An attendant lord, one that will do to swell a progress, start a scene or two"
(d) "One fated to make a lasting mark"

[11] What happened on April 7th 2005 for the first time since the partition of India and Pakistan?
(a) Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire across the Siachen glacier in Kashmir
(b) A passenger bus drove between the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir and the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir
(c) A gate at the Kashmiri border was left open all night
(d) England won a test match against India

[12] Rahul Gandhi, a young MP, is sometimes rumoured to be a possible candidate for prime minister. Which of his blood relations did not hold that office?
(a) His great-grandfather
(b) His grandfather
(c) His father
(d) His grandmother

Source: Economist

I scored 8/12 and they say I have not missed your tryst with destiny! Wut's your score?

Find the answers in the comment section.

kidzo zone!!

i was browsing through songs for my sweet chweetu niece and then i came across this song. I so loved the song and the video that i watched it at least 10 times now :P i sure am a kid, aint i?? :P so people who haven't seen it, watch it and get on to ur kidzee shoes :D njaaaai!!

Kajal, I miss you

The Pink Orchid - I met her during her early days in blogs ville. Her words were deep and every time I read her I was touched. It did not take long for us to become friends. Time took us for a ride and we ended up being best friends. It's so long now that I talked to her. Her blog remains hidden/deleted. Her mailbox seems to be removed. No other contact information shared! What do I do when I miss her?

Work life seems too monotonous to enjoy. Personal life looks faded with the shadows of thoughts about career and what lies ahead. I miss my family, my love, my friends - though everyone is near, reachable! I feel lonely today or maybe that's how i want it to be.

My heart tells me that it wouldn't share its emotions with me. My pulse tells me that it would rather fake the beats even if it feels weak. My breathe would not let me know about it even if it faces any difficulty on its way. They all want me to be happy. They would fake it all, take all the pain and smile just to see me happy. Would that help? I feel lost!

What would you do when all that you say makes the distance between you and your loved ones grow? How helpless does you feel when it comes to relationships? How do you make sure that the smile you see on your loved one's face is genuine?

The world around is so unpredictable. People walk off from your life and you could just see them leave. Others stay near you and act distant. At times it all seems insane. People struggle to break free when they are tied and then long to get tied when they are free. Today, there is nothing that make me feel content. Everything I do, every word I say makes me feel frustrated. Maybe its a phase and if it is, its definitely not a lovely experience!

Kajal, I wrote this post for you. But I could not stop myself from writing about all these. So don't get carried away with what I have written. I miss you friend, and way too much. Where ever you are, have that smile on your face. May God shower all the happiness and care on you. Peace.

To the rest of the world: I am not sad. I am confused about a lot of things. I wanted to write another post. A post which tells about my love. I wanted to introduce her to you. But that would wait for now. Words look distant! I might take time but I would read all your blogs. You guys take care. I am fine and I would be back soon.

Politics: Kerala Chief Minister Comrade V S Achuthananthan dropped from Politburo after four hours lengthy Central Committee meeting. The infighting within CPI[M] has definitely made people insane or else Mr.Karat would not have taken such a decision against the most senior leader of the party. For people who don't know about VS, among the people who created the party - CPI[M], VS is the only person from kerala who is alive today. There is only one message I have for VS : Money and Parliamentary dreams have made the party leaders insane. Walk out safe before they crush you with their stupid remarks. There are millions like me who support CPI[M] for its policies and its history. Walk out to us and we shall give you the respect you deserve. You are our hero. Inquilab Zindabad.

Shades of life

“Mom , I’ve told you not to put strawberry on my bread!” Grenda yelled as he threw the half bitten sandwich on the floor and walked away.

...................

“Ontario, Alonzo come here, its feast today” yelled Lontae. Her face was lit with happiness as she scanned the garbage can for more crumbles of bread. 

=> This is my first attempt on 55 word fiction. Your comments shall be an encouragement :)

Election 2009 - The Verdict

This is going to be an extremely big post. I don’t expect anyone to read it from top to bottom. You are welcome to read the section which you feel would be interesting and leave a comment. I have tried my best to break down the post into appropriate sections. First timers here who are not interested in Politics are requested to ignore this post and scroll below. I am not an advocate of politics; you might find other interesting topics below  :)

Before we go into the details of election, let me share some data with for people who are not very familiar with India. With more than 1 billion inhabitants, India ranks second only to China among the world's most populous countries. Its people are culturally diverse, and religion plays an important role in the life of the country. About 80.5% of the Indians practice Hinduism, a religion that originated in India. Another 13.4% of the population is Muslims. This makes India home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. India also contains the majority of the world's Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (2%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%) and Jews. Eighteen major languages and more than 1,000 minor languages and dialects are spoken in India. Religious majorities vary greatly in different states. Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep are Muslim majority states; Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram are Christian majority; Punjab is mostly dominated by Sikhs; Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim states mainly have Buddhists.

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 31.5% 

15-64 years: 63.3% 

65 years and over: 5.2% 

Sex Ratio:

At birth: 1.12 male(s)/female (2008)

Under 15: 1.10 male(s)/female (2008)

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female (2008)

Presently there are 8,28,804 polling stations in the country. The campaign for clean politics seems to have paid off. Voters have given a thumbs down to MPs having serious criminal records cutting across party lines. In many constituencies where one or two candidates had criminal charges, most voters rejected them. But in some seats voters didn't have a choice, as most candidates had criminal backgrounds. That's one reason why the 15th Lok Sabha will still have MPs who have criminal cases to their names. The BJP tops the list - 43 of its MPs have criminal cases. The Congress comes a close second with 41 of its MPs facing criminal charges.

A record 59 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, with a majority - 23 - belonging to the Congress party alone. In all, 556 women had contested the 2009 general elections. While the Congress topped the list, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came second with 13 women being elected.

CPI [M]:

The CPM virtually wrote the obituary of the Third Front saying the defeat of the Left in its strongholds and the failure of the alliance in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu undermined any effective presence of the grouping at the national level. A short note taken from Politburo Communique on Lok Sabha Polls : The serious reverses suffered by the CPI (M) and the Left parties in West Bengal and Kerala are of deep concern. The CPI (M) has lost 25 sitting seats from these two states. The CPI (M) has won 16 seats with a vote share of 5.33 per cent, which is marginally less than the 5.66 per cent it got in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. There should be a serious examination of the reasons for these reverses. Both national and state specific factors are responsible for the poor performance. A self-critical review will be conducted by the concerned state committees and the Central Committee, which should form the basis for corrective steps. The Party will make all out efforts to regain the support and confidence of those sections of the people who have been alienated. The full report could be read here. The CPI-M had fielded candidates in 81 seats, but could win only in 16 showing a success rate of 19.75 per cent. CPI, on the two-day meeting of the party National Executive, spoke of the need for "humility and total absence of arrogance" in the behavior and attitude of all Left leaders, remarks seen as a veiled attack on CPI(M) leaders, especially its General Secretary Prakash Karat. "The central committee, in its meeting held in Kochi in January 2009, had worked out the electoral-tactical line and given the direction that the Left parties along with the secular parties should work together to make a non-Congress, non-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) alternative realisable," Karat said in the latest edition of the party mouthpiece, People's Democracy.

Personally I feel that this result is people’s verdict against the party governance under Pinarayi Vijayan [ Kerala] and Prakash karat [Centre]. The longer the party takes to realize its mistake, the weaker it would become. As a strong supporter of left, I would only wish that the leaders realize that they work for a party which is supposed to be with the working class. I wonder how the comrades who gave their life long earnings and their life for the growth of this party would react if they know about the assets of the party today. The Rs.250-million park named Vismaya Infotainment Centre, set up over 30 acres at Parassinikkadavu in Kannur district, Kerala is run by the Malabar Pleasures India Limited under the party-led Malabar Tourism Development Cooperative Society. Times Now names CPI[M] as India’s third richest party in terms of assets. In Kerala, the CPI-M has buildings, runs hospitals and holds substantial stakes in a television company Kairali TV. The Kerala unit of the CPI-M is the best example of neo-liberalism. CPI(M) sitting MP from Kasaragod P Karunakaran, who won his second term from this northern Kerala Lok Sabha constituency, has assets worth over Rs 25 lakh while his wife over Rs 1.53 crore by way of immovable and movable property. This comes from a member of a party which claims to be socialistic in nature!

BJP: 

The BJP has been rejected by the people as it could not offer anything beyond its communal agenda combined with rightwing economic policies which the people had already spurned in 2004.The rabid communal rhetoric of the likes of Varun Gandhi and Narendra Modi dominated its election campaign. The magic of the saffron brigade’s aggressive brand of Hindu nationalism, which saw BJP’s meteoric growth from a mere two seats in 1984 to 184 in 1999 General Elections, could not make a dent this time. It is evident that Varun Gandhi’s hate speech this time around seemed to have gone down badly with the people despite him winning his own constituency handsomely. BJP was completely routed in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, with Congress bagging all the seven seats, that too with huge margins of over one lakh votes in all constituencies. BJP has admitted that it had lost influence in its stronghold of urban, middle and upper class voters along with Sikhs, causing the party dearly at the hustings.

Congress:

Though the media sings out loud that Election 2009 marks the victory of Manmohan Sing, I see it as a victory of the youth icon of the Congress – Rahul Gandhi. This time, there are some young faces in the 15th Lok Sabha - over 70 MPs, below the age of 40, some of them first-timers, yet brimming with confidence. Sycophancy has always been part of the Congress culture, but this time the focus has shifted from the mother to Gandhi junior. The Victory of Congress could not be sung to completion without talking about the most promising MP – Shashi Tharoor. He is elected MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala with a stunning margin of close to 100,000 votes. 

For people who don’t know about him : Dr.Shashi Tharoor is an Indian diplomat, politician, and author who served as the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information between June 2002 and February 2007. In 2006, he was the official candidate of India for the office of United Nations Secretary-General, and came second out of seven official candidates in the race. He is an author, journalist, human-rights advocate, humanitarian and adviser or fellow of various institutions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Aspen Institute, and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Shashi Tharoor was born in London. His roots are in Palakkad, Kerala, India. He completed a Ph.D. at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, where he also earned two Master’s degrees. His Ph.D. was awarded when he was 22, a Fletcher record. Details on books he wrote could be found here.  

 “The governing coalition led by the Indian National Congress sailed to a surprisingly decisive victory in India’s grueling parliamentary elections, vaulting Manmohan Singh, a soft-spoken economic reformer, to a second term as Prime Minister, and sweeping away the prospect of political instability in the world’s most populous democracy,” said the New York Times on May 16.

The Times, London, said the election results would help in consensus and unity. “That means the ruling coalition should face fewer internal divisions over reforms desperately needed to stimulate growth and spread its benefits to the 880 million Indians who live on less than 2 dollars a day," it said.

“Congress wins election, Singh to remain PM: India votes for hope; rejects religion, caste”, said the headline of Daily Times, the Pakistani newspaper, on May 17.

Performance scored over identity politics, inclusive agenda scored over communal agenda and regional parties demonstrated they can have their space along with national parties if they deliver. This was the message of Election 2009 in India. In India, the first coalition government came to power at the centre in 1989 when V.P. Singh became prime minister with support both from the Right and the Left. Since then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have also given in to the compulsions of coalition politics, forming the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) respectively with the help of various regional parties. In the results of the 15th Lok Sabha polls declared Saturday, the UPA emerged as the largest coalition with 270 seats in a house of 543 and the Congress as the single largest party with 206 seats. The last time the Congress won more than 200 seats was in 1991, when its tally was 232. The UPA also has the support of four independent MPs, taking it beyond the halfway mark of 272. With BSP, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal offering support from outside, the strength of the treasury benches has gone up to a comfortable 322. 

Congratulations to Congress led UPA. The markets reacted positively with a 20% hike on the first day trade after the results were announced. Lets hope that this positive vibe would remain through out.

words - the unconventional way

the silence around deprives me of my sleep

I smile when I read "1 new msg received"!

the moon up above has a sarcastic smile

the bats and those owls think I am insane

for why have I chosen to be here in the balcony

when I should have been in my bed, having blissful dreams!

I tell them "I miss her" and they give me this look - 

"addiction ain't easy - grass, pills or love"

I miss her like crazy, wish she was here!

let the wind hear me and echo my prayer.

PS: I thought of writing about politics today. But then I thought I would wait till the CPI[M] Polit Bureau meeting scheduled to happen this 18th and 19th. I would have more to write then! :)

in dreams, in love

you make me dream and live those dreams

holding hands, whispered endearments

shades of life is evidently new

your smile makes it rainbow hue.

the festival of festivals start today!!!

This is gona be a loooong post. Those who does not have the patience to read the post may watch the three videos published towards the end of the post. The videos are narrative. Start with the first cos the videos are in order.

Pooram is an annual temple festival held in central Kerala (Thrissur, parts of Palakkad and Malappuram) after the summer harvest. Most pooram festivals have at least one ornately decorated elephant being paraded in the procession taken out of the temple precincts. Thrissur Pooram is the annual temple festival of the town of Thrissur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most colourful temple festival of Kerala which attracts large masses of devotees and spectators from all parts of the State and even outside.

Thrissur Pooram is celebrated at the premises of the Vadakkunnathan Temple, situated on a hillock (Thekkinkadu maidan) right in the centre of the city, on the Pooram day in the month of Medom (April-May). Processions of richly caparisoned elephants accompanied by percussion ensembles from various neighbouring temples culminate at the Vadakumnathan temple. The most impressive processions are those Thriuvambadi Bhagavathy from the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple and the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi from Paramekkavu temple. The celebrations which last for over 36 hours includes parasol displays and firework shows.

Thrissur is best known for its mammoth Pooram Festival, which is the most colourful and spectacular temple festival of Kerala. Thrissur Pooram, attracts large masses of devotees and spectators form all parts of the State and even outside.The legends and myths behind each festival of Kerala are many, varied and equally interesting. Since the word pooram literally means a group or a meeting, it was believed that every year the dynastic gods and goddesses of neighbouring province met together for a day of celebration. This usually happened on the pooram asterism of one of the spring months.

The gods and their entourage arrived for the meeting on colourfully decorated tuskers. Even today, the converging of these divine processions at the festival venue is an awe inspiring sight. The pooram draws to a close with mind-blowing fireworks displays in the evening and in the wee hours of the next morning.

Celebrated Malayalam month of Medom (April-May) in every year.it consists of processions of richly caparisoned elephants from various neighbouring temples to the Vadakunnatha temple, Thrissur. The most impressions are those from the Krishna temple at Thiruvambadi and the Devi temple at Paramekkavu. Pooram is an assemblage of suburban deities before the presiding deity at the Siva temple in down town Thrissur. The Pooram celebration is held at the Thekkinkadu grounds.

Thrissurpooram was introduced by Sakthan Thampuran (1775- 1790), , the Maharaja of erstwhile Kochi state. The Pooram festival is also well-known for the magnificent display of fireworks. It is celebrated by two rival groups representing the two divisions of Thrissur Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi vying with each other in making the display of fireworks grander and more colourful. Each group is allowed to display a maximum of fifteen elephants and all efforts are made by each party to secure the best elephants in South India and the most artistic parasols, several kind which are raised on the elephants during the display. The commissioning of elephants and parasols is done in the utmost secrecy by each party to excel the other. Commencing in the early hours of the morning, the celebrations last till the break of dawn, the next day.

There is a little history to the festival which says that before Thrissur Pooram, a one-day temple festival was held at Aarattupuzha, 12 km south of the Thrissur. Temples located in and around Thrissur used to regularly participate in the ceremonies. All was going well until one day, chief of the Peruvanam area of Cherpu denied access to other temples to uphold the supremacy of Namboodiri. Namboodiris is the dominant brahmin caste in Kerala. Prince Raja Varma, the architect of Thrissur, decided to put an end to Namboodiri supremacy and assuage the wounded confidence of his subjects. Rama Varma undertook the task of renovating Vadakunnathan temple, which was earlier bounded by high walls and was controlled by Namboodiris. He took on himself to look after the temple and made it open to all. He invited other temples with their deities to Thrissur to pay obeisance to Lord (Sri) Vakunnathan, the deity of the Vadakunnathan temple. The Prince also directed the main temples of Thrissur, Thiruvampadi and Pamamekkavu, which had never been under the control of Namboodiris to help other participating temples. It is said that the Prince also chalked the schedule of the 36 hours festival. The Pooram was thus made open to one and all. This also explains the secular nature of the festival.