My first attempt in poetry - Am I thinking to write something

Hi readers,

I donno whether to term this as a poem or not, but while writing this what i kept in mind is to link each line with the previous line..
It was just a way to kill my time now, but i guess this attempt did not end up that badly :) ..your feedback would help me to continue to post more such stuffs :) or may be its a one day wonder i donno :)


Am I thinking to write something?
Am I thinking to write something? Are you trying to read the same?
Hey!!Are you the same with whom I used to have a wonderful time?
Have those wonderful times gone by? If so why don’t we get back again?
Can you get back on this to me? If yes, can I plan something, so that you’ll be beside me?
If you were not beside me, I wonder where would I be?
Would I be then still thinking to write something?
If that something is all about you and me, then why don’t you help me?
If not, would you help me to realize that I have written what I wanted to write?
And what I wanted to write about is. ..Am I thinking to write something?

My Last Day At Techm - mail

This was my Good Bye mail in my previous firm i.e TechMahindra. It's been more than 5 months since i dropped this mail :)

Dear All,

Time has come for me to say good bye to TechM..to be frank I was eagerly waiting for this day from past so many days, but believe me guys when the time has now come, its really tough to say good bye.

So here goes my ‘My Last day at TechM’ waala mail. I’ am not going to copy paste today because I have got bored of doing that :). So let me bid Adieu to you all in my own style :). So please take some time (it means a lot of time :)) out of your busy schedule and read on with rapt attention :).

TechM has tolerated me for more than 50 months :) (i.e 4 years, 3 months to be precise) and since this being my first job, I have so many memories attached to it (haan pata hai..sabka first job memorable hi hota hai :)).

In this roller coaster ride of more than 4 years, I was fortunate enough to work with some really motivating leads like Sachin Mulay, Amir Usmani, Shilpa Ghotge, Paresh Hardas, Sanjay Nair, Sneha Goyani and many more in CSS SRD whom I had always looked up to and would always be thankful to them for all the help and support provided whenever needed. It was a privilege working with you all in CSS.

Thanks to all my managers till now – Rahul Ramdasi, Sunil Aklujkar, Sachin Mulay, Sneha Goyani, Swapnil Patil.

As an individual I am a far better person now. Each passing day I was able to learn something new (not only work relatedJ), learnt many important lessons for life. I’ am a more confident person now, ready to take up more challenges and more importantly I have evolved as a better human being (now please don’t apply Darwin’s theory of evolution to human beings hereJ..it has nothing to do with this ‘evolved’ term :)).

It’s not that easy to leave such a wonderful and caring colleagues (‘colleagues’ term would be very formal I believe. I have always considered them as friends working together :)). I’ am fortunate enough to have made so many friends throughout my journey in Techm which began with my ITPian batch (still going strong even though we are all scattered across different parts of this crazy world) and If I start naming all of my TechM friends here then I am sure you may need a days off to read all :).

But latest being in BSTO, thanks to Venkat, Hari, Gopi, Arthur, Somnath, Ankita, Animol, Kamlesh, Anup, Sajjin, Vijay, Satheesh, Preena, Pankesh, Sreeni, SK, Vamsi, Khasim, Santhosh and many more with whom I always enjoyed to be with and thanks for all the love and care showered on me :). And thanks to many other faces around as well some of the names I am not even aware of :) and made my stay in 8th floor, Sharda Annex a really wonderful one (I guess you are smart enough to understood this part :))

Guys, Ill miss those daily tea outings in the evenings. On any given day, I was never running short of company. And also I won’t forget to mention about those innumerable number of free Teas and bhajees that I have consumed :)…….God bless you all :)

Hey 5th floor guys, thanks to you all ..we managed to have a good time even though we were 3 floors apart. Special thanks to execution team, especially Kalyan and Ankita for taking up the much needed initiative to learn validation activities..I know Swapnil will now be having some sigh of relief :)

Thanks to Swapnil for being very approachable and guiding me at crucial times to take up the right decisions. I would like to mention my gratitude to Aravind and Sharad as well. Thanks to Pritam for being very helpful and supportive.

Now, if I start writing about my association with Techm in past 50 months then I think I can write a book with several chapters on it. I’ll do that on some other day may be :). Will let you go this time :)

Thanks again and wishing you all good luck.

Will miss you all…Do keep in touch. My gmail id is praveenvs25@gmail.com

Mobile: 9665039050 (Ill update my new mobile number as soon as I get one)

I am very much alive and breathing in the virtual world of orkut, facebook and blogspot as well :)

Orkut:

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile?uid=9500695929559728913

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=721669383

Blog:

http://praveenvs25.blogspot.com/

Thanks & Regards,

Praveen VS | ATT08 - BSTO | Tech Mahindra
Sharda Center, Off Karve Road, Pune 411 004, INDIA

( Office: +91-20-6601 8100 | Ext. 8831

Email: praveens@techmahindra.com

www.techmahindra.com

Selfless prayer and my plans for this long weekend

Today, I had been to the temple after a long long time. And today being Friday, the temple was buzzing with ‘mata devi ka bhakt jan’…
As usual I prayed for the well being of all my near and dear ones..and of course I prayed for me as well :). I don’t remember when I learnt or was taught to pray to God in a specific format or manner. But, I would have followed what my parents have educated me in my childhood days.
Today while the priest was performing the pooja, I observed the kind of faith and hope in many faces including my mom. The intensity and belief with which many women were praying really made me to pray for them as well. Though am not aware what pains and troubles they are going through, I can say that there prayer and wishes would be selfless most of the times. They would be happy if people whom they love and care for are happy. So hats off to there selflessness.

With a long weekend ahead, I have planned to do many things. One such thing is already in process, i.e writing a blog which I’am doing right now :). The second is to practice playing Guitar. I have a two hours guitar class on saturday mornings. So will be learning something new tomorrow. Am looking forward to that. The third plan is to revise whatever is taught in Spanish classes till now. Since from Monday, the Spanish classes will be resuming in Infy after a two weeks gap. Hopefully would be able to attend the classes more regularly amidst the hectic work schedule. And the fourth plan is to resume the long pending storywriting of ‘my incomplete story’. I have completed writing almost 70% of the story. Would like to finish the last part in one sitting. So let’s see if all these plan works out or not. Wish me good luck :)

I' am O.K

I do sometimes follow the ‘Times Of India’ ‘The Speaking Tree’ article, though I won’t read it completely, because most of the times the spirituality mentioned here gets over my head. But sometimes the facts and thoughts mentioned are so true that you feel somehow related to what is said.
I liked this particular article about being ‘O.K’ so thought of adding few of my own thoughts on this topic.


Pasting an extract of the article here…

“

OK – the term that is sometimes written as okay – keeps creeping into people’s conversations ever so often. When did we first start using this term that looks more like an abbreviation?
The two letters were first used by the Democratic O K Club in the mid-19th century. Martin Van Buren, the then US president, was born in Kinderhook, a village in New York state. So people gave him the nickname, ‘Old Kinderhook’. The name became popular when he was seeking a second term. His friends thought he had done well as president and endorsed him for another four years in office. So the letters OK came to existence which means ‘all right’ or ‘correct’.
‘How are you?’ people ask and many do not even wait for a reply! Sometimes you, too, reply without applying your mind. You say “I’m OK!” What do you really mean when you say that? Perhaps this calls for a bit of self-examination. “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation,” observed Henry D Thoreau, and his observation continues to be relevant in the 21st century as well despite all the comfort-aids we have invented for ourselves with the help of technology.
Why is it so easy for us to say “OK?” Do we find it is a convenient term that means neither this nor that? “
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Now to add something here..I totally agree with the above thought. We have got used to say ‘I am o.k’ when we are asked this question ‘how r u?’.
I usually say ‘I am o.k’ when I want to mean neither this nor that. By this statement, I just leave it to the other person to just pick out of ‘am doing fine’ or ‘am not doing good’ or ‘am not doing that good’. So if he/she is really bothered about me, then the next question may pop up ‘why just o.k?’. So now I would be interested to tell why ‘I’am just o.k’ and not ‘fine’ otherwise the conversation would be just a formality. So such powerful this term ‘o.k’ is for me … that it can totally change the course of the conversation.
So guys n gals its upto you how exactly you want to interpret this term ‘o.k’.

Now pasting the last part of the article…
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“
It is being repeatedly proved that the things of this world and our own possessions will not be sufficient to keep us happy if there is no love felt within us. In the race for bigger and better worldly pursuits, we tend to neglect relationships – we forget to love one another; this is what causes us to feel a ‘quiet desperation’. Let’s not give up meeting one another and encouraging one another because we need one another. Love is the binding force that helps us feel connected and secure.
So when you put the question to some one: “How are you?” pay attention to the answer. For the answer will show whether he is keeping the flame of love burning or is letting it go cold. "
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So, how abt u? what exactly you mean when you say ‘I am o.k’ ?

You can read the complete article below

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2010/07/12&PageLabel=10&EntityId=Ar01003&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Seven things you didn't know about me!

Shyam has tagged me into this..am happy to reveal the 7 unknown things about me. Thanks to Shyam that I am getting a chance to write something in my blogspot again.

Most of the points which I would be listing here may be seen in many of you. I’ am just carrying forward the chain of revealing the 7 things about ourselves and I would be happy if you also carry forward the chain and reveal your 7 points as well and we will get to know more about each other. Its fun actually.

1. It’s not easy for me to say ‘no, I can’t’. .. but I do say ‘no, I can’t’ with great difficulty. This does not mean that I want to get rid of this habit. This is just one among many of my traits which defines me…hehe
2. Talking about lies!!! Hmmm I’ll be lying if I say that I don’t lie..but good thing is I don’t remember when is the last time I lied. I can proudly say that lie is not in my blood hehe. I don’t prefer to lie because I believe truth can win more hearts and build more trust in any kind of relationship. I would be ashamed of myself if I have to lie even if the situation demands. But I don’t expect others to be the same so I just laugh off when I come to know that the person has just lied.
3. I’ am always ready to read any inspirational novel, watch motivating or influential movies and listen to songs which will uplift my mood. And you know what…I got this very inspiration of writing stories and blogging when I read the books named ‘anne frank diary’ and ‘kite runner’
4. It’s quite strange and depressing to reveal that I sometimes enjoy my loneliness. May be I have got used to this habit and it has become part of me as a dark spot. When the loneliness in you is within limits then it can do wonders but if you get addicted to it, then believe me it becomes really hard to come out of it.
5. Now this one is quite different. I am more of a listener than a talker. But the fun part is when I’ am in a conversation and if am not speaking for the sake of speaking then the conversation can go on and on provided the person on the other side of the conversation responds well, listens to and not just hear what am saying.
6. Two more to go…what to mention now?…I miss Mumbai. Could not have asked for a better place to spend the initial days of my first job. Almost two years of complete freedom and masti it was!!!
7. Finally the 7th point ..which was waiting to come out very patiently.. hehe. I don’t want to exaggerate this but over the years I have realised that it’s quite easy for me to understand others point of view quite comfortably. And this might be the reason that my temper is always under control and I don’t get into much fights or arguments.


Hurray!!! Mission accomplished…I was able to bring up whatever came to my mind and stick to just 7..hehe.
Your turn now.

The unexpected fall...wake up :)

This is a Sunday evening. I’ am typing this in my laptop placed on my table with ‘wake up sid’ movie vcd lying nearby which I finished watching just now. When I look at my ipod on my table I get a feeling that it’s trying to say to me ‘please remove all the old songs from me and update with some different set of songs’. My dear Ipod, I’ am thinking about it my friend, will wait for few more days for some good songs to be released and will add some English songs as well. Till then be happy with what you have :)
After my job change I had nothing much to write on till now. Everything is going on as expected and smoothly at work. But yesterday was different. Something unexpected happened which I’ am going to pen it down..I mean blog it down :).

I parked my two wheeler in the new Mantri mall at malleswaram yesterday morning, after enjoying a ride around. Met my friend Dinesh who was one among our ‘Mumbai ka dost’ gang. Had seen him last on nov 2008 when I left Mumbai. We roamed around the mall which it claims as one of the largest in Asia. We watched the movie ‘Shrek forever after’ in 3D. Movie was good enough to be rated atleast 4/5, a thumbs up from my side :)
While returning home in the evening, I dropped Dinesh at sampige road and I went ahead to do some shopping. At around 6 pm, I was done with my shopping and I was now racing towards home navigating the Bangalore traffic.
Just 10 minutes away from home it started raining heavily. I picked up some speed and all of a sudden came across a pathole dug but not closed properly. In a flash I applied brakes and tried to avoid this hole by turning the handle a bit. The result? No price for guessing..my gaadi skidded and fell on the road with a thud and the engine went silent. Immediately some people gathered around to help me and we all pulled the bike to the footpath though it was not that easy to move as its mudguard had got stuck and it was raining as well. Though I was saying to them that I was alright, I could see my hands and legs shivering and blood in my forearm and slipper.. but I did not get panicky, I was still calm and trying to think what has to be done next. While getting up from the road I shook my head with disappointment for what had just happened but soon realised that I was fortunate enough that I did not suffer any fractures and more importantly was not crushed or knocked down by the speeding vehicles coming behind. As the bike was not moving I had no other choice, I had to call my brother to pick me up..needless to say how much worried all at home were when they came to know about this.
I washed my wounds with tap water in a nearby apartment. I had few bruises in the right leg and hand with some soreness in my right shoulder, the side on which I fell. While I was waiting for my brother to come, a security person in that apartment gave me company till then. We were discussing about the accidents which usually happen at this spot and laughing about the incomplete work carried out by blore corporation which just digs up the roads at will and leave it as it is.
But it was a reminder for me that I should not take anything for granted, I'll continue to be content and satisfied with whatever I have with me, will try not to complain much in life..and I’ll be more careful in future with my driving :).

Yet another nostalgic leaf added to my eventful tree

Being at home in Bangalore, today I was watching ‘Travel India with Harsha Bhogle’ where he was interviewing a Buddhist monk in Bodhgaya, Bihar and what the monk has to say is our mind is just like a monkey..always wandering around..so if I just close my eyes and let my monkey mind wander around then so many faces and places of pune is flashing across my mind. Before I can concentrate on one face or place, one more pops up and I can hear few familiar but still vague voices.

I came out of pune on a maharashtra day i.e on may 1st. Travelling to airport in an rickshaw with all my luggage stuffed inside, the clouds which was planning to let out some rains out of its bucket anytime, I was missing some of my new friends who dared to spend some last moments with me in pune.
For a moment I was so amazed at my own mindset, this mindset of mine which wanted to spend few more time in pune now, was not the same 2 months back.

So here goes the flashback...
Date : 2nd feb 2010.
Place : Electronic city, Infosys campus. Bangalore
Travelling back to my home in a Volvo bus from Infosys campus on this sunny afternoon, I can easily visualise this moment even now. I was happy, excited and a relieved person. I bet, if I was alone there, then I would have danced around as well, but I’ am a person with some dignity you know hehe…so was able to control my emotions and behaved normal. Reason being, after a long patient wait for a job change and frustrations galore of many issues (which i'll discuss some other day may be :)), I had just got through Infosys. Now I knew, I can come back to Bangalore after 2 months and get to see some badly needed changes in my boring life.

A couple of days later, I came back to pune and resigned my job at Techm. Some of the events (both good and disturbing ones) which followed were something which I’ll always remember for a long time to come…

Though I don’t want to write up everything here..would like to share few good ones with you. One such event which I enjoyed the most was box cricket which was organised within our project and I realised that I am not a bad player at all or may be I was able to give my best shot on that day and my team won eventually :) ( please note: I can write a separate blog on box cricket as well :) ).
I met some of my good old friends and relatives in Mumbai and bid adieu to all.
I enjoyed an outing to Mumbai to watch an IPL match (you must have already read this blog :)).
Some of my friends and colleagues left the company and new friends came in to my life as well and some friendship bonded even better.
And guess what, I had become a sort of a broker showing around my flat for rent for some of the techm guys and gals (I had posted an ad in techm website) and yes I managed to get one (no brokerage for me though :))
I also realised that I love writing and was able to post so many writings thru blogs very frequently.
I attended one of my friends sister’s wedding. For me it was rare sight, a maharashtrian mulgi(girl) getting married to a tamilian payyan(boy)
And finally an unforgettable emotional farewells by my colleagues and friends wound up to a perfect ending.
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So here I was, still in the autorickshaw travelling with a kind of hangover in my head. At this moment, the rain gods started sprinkling water from there bucket and before I could realize, it was raining heavily. I reached the airport and I could not escape from getting drenched while getting out my luggage and shifting it to a nearby trolley. Once I reached the shelter near the entrance, I just stood there for a couple of minutes looking at the rain and thinking that I have to move on to embrace yet another change in life when I was just beginning to like this place. This was not the same kind of feeling when I moved out of Mumbai..or when I moved out of UK..or when I moved out of Bangalore..yes I was missing all those places whenever I had to move out…but this time it was completely a different kind of feeling.

But I moved on pushing the trolley towards the security guy with a smile on my face to begin yet another journey......

All about IPL night and losing the bet

This was the second time I was losing a bet with my friend Shweta.. The first time we betted on one of the RCB vs MI league match and I supported RCB to loose the bet and she went away with my 10 rupees ka note :) I did not mind losing that bet to her..was happy that she kept it safely as a mark of her victory by making a note on that note :)
Since we are talking about the IPL match…how can I forget to mention the semi final match b/w MI and RCB which I was able to watch at the D Y Patil stadium, navi Mumbai.on 21st april.
My teammate Anup came over to me the previous day of the match and posed this question ‘coming for the match tomorrow?’ I did not have a second opinion. How often I do get a chance to watch a match in Mumbai?...that too a semifinal b/w RCB and MI and more importantly watch Sachin play. So we 6 guys had a memorable time traveling to and fro in qualis, listening to some melodious songs all the way….
The stadium was mind blowing..with a capacity of close to 60,000 people..and the atmosphere was awesome..with lots of DJ music and the crowd yelling at the top of the voice all the time. Yes, we also yelled whenever we saw Sachin, whenever a MI wicket fell, whenever a RCB’ian hit a boundary. And believe me guys..its not easy to be among the minority of supporters..we 6 guys were cheering for RCB and getting sandwiched b/w all blue MI supporters, comments and sometimes some ugly ones coming from all directions...it was like testing our patience to stay calm by not getting into any sort of arguments..but at the end of the day it was fun..we all took it in a good sporting spirit ..and we enjoyed the limelight, being one among few of the RCB supporters..with 4 among us wearing RCB jersey alongwith a couple of RCB flags..and making jugalbandi of whistles and all sorts of innovative sounds attracting even more crowds towards us :)
We were disappointed to see RCB loose without much fight and even sachin did not bat well..But the highlight of the day was Deepika Padukone. Just a couple of days before this day I had seen this movie ‘Love Aaj Kal’ after my friend recommended to watch it and was actually impressed by Deepika’s character in that….Before the match, when we went through the entrance gate of the stadium, we saw a small crowd gathering around an adjacent practice ground. A helipad was about to land in that ground and we were sure that some celebrity would be coming out from it. And guess what.. Siddharth mallya followed by deepika stepped down and they were walking towards us. The spot where we were standing was not crowded and few security guys were just trying their best to watch out the crowd but even they are humans rite..hehe..so few of them were busy clicking pics..and we poor guys had left our cameras and phones in the car itself since it was not allowed inside the stadium. When deepika walked past me I went speechless to say the least ..she was looking stunning :) …the next few days I kept on telling people whom I met about this incident and you should have seen some of those ‘really?? waala’ reaction :)
After the match we still being in the limelight were booed and cheered by people while walking out of the stadium and while travelling back in the car as well..once a car full of young girls zoomed past us and they made all sorts of strange noises waving frantically at us..making it look like we were those RCB guys who played and lost the game :)
We reached pune safely at 4 in the morning….
Yesterday after the finals I was not happy that I’ am at the loosing end again for the second time in the bet .. MI lost..the same team which had won against RCB the other day and I had lost the bet then...so here I’ am waiting when I have to hand over another 10 rupee note to my friend :)

The Quarter-life Crisis

I got to read this article in one forum and i liked it..felt very true and many things relevant to myself..so posting it

Being in Twenties

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. You want to settle down for good because now all of a sudden that becomes top priority. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.You begin to think a companion for life is better than a hundred in the shack and for once you would not mind standing tall for that special someone which otherwise you had never thought of until now. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis".

Being in Love..a call for trouble?

‘pehla nasha pehla khumaar..naya pyaar hai nayaa intezaar’
What a cool romantic song this is from the movie Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander which is one among my favourite movies as well. Anyone who listens to this song would definitely want to fall in love once in a lifetime atleast.
But hey, wait! Even though I have never been in love I still can understand the feelings of each and every word in this song or any other classic romantic songs. It’s quite strange but true and you would also agree with me that to be romantic or to get the feeling of being in love to some extent, it’s not a necessity that we have to be in love. And songs like these are very tempting and I bet on you that if you get carried away by these filmy love songs and begin experimenting on yourself.. then god must help you.

Now why all of a sudden I’ am talking about this topic?
Most of the blogs on the topic of love is always an instant hit. You would see that the count of hits on this topic is ever increasing. This is a topic which is least discussed in full flow because many are uncomfortable to discuss what they feel about love in public forums and get embarrassed, but still it’s a favourite topic among all young brigades. This is just the topic which always interests all of us and so I decided to be bold and write something on it..hehe

Is falling in love a call for trouble? I feel yes and no need to explain it why and how..we all know its pros and cons.
But I have never understood the mindset of those people who go out of their way to protect there love interests. If I get a hold of a person scratching his head over such things I would say…’Boss, be practical, your life is not a 3 hour bollywood love flick. The ground reality is you turn every other potential relationship into a tidsy bitsy affair of confusions in your mad run and end up being nowhere. This life is not just about two persons in love, open your eyes and see that you still have to live up to the expectations of the society and family around you’.

I agree.. I too had few infatuations in the past like any other guys... but may be I was just lucky enough that my way of looking at things, the way I was brought up, my inhibitions due to few health issues and my friends circle made sure that I did not fall into any unwanted love traps. Infatuation is human but turning your back on your family for this infatuation is inhuman.
Having said that I was witness to few friends who have fallen in the so called love pits, some being successful with a happy ending or a rather happy beginning of marriage life and I do have some friends on the other hand who got dumped very unfortunately and few remained unlucky and could not reach till marriage and still carry that sweet pain of love failure for their entire life.

But who knows what will happen tomorrow… as they say ‘love happens’ and cannot be forced or controlled …because I also get carried away very easily if not in control. I may not have met that person till now for whom I would go all the way, lose my mind and take some harsh foolish decisions as many in love would do..I believe I won’t get this chance ever in my life and even if I fall for someone I would just pray it would be with a person whom would be accepted by everyone in my family.

Ok, let me stop here..before I get carried away and talk more about this uncomfortable topic.

Ilayaraja songs - brings back old memories

Some of the melodious songs of Ilayaraja have become part of my life. These are some of the songs which always remind me of my childhood days since I grow up listening to these songs. I know I have company here because each and every one of us would definitely have some wonderful childhood memories and songs like these would definitely play an important role in bringing back those old memories.

I’ am putting across few such nostalgic songs of mine. When I listen to these songs, my heart beats faster and my mind races back to those vaguely glorious childhood days.
I have uploaded the full song here, so that you listen to it as well.

Rasaave unai nimbi.

RASAAVE UNNE | Upload Music
This is a very beautifully composed song by Ilayaraja, who has made sure that each and every tune and beats of this song touches your heart. It would be even more effective and romantic if you can understand the lyrics of this song. Though I cannot understand each and every part of the lyrics, when I listen to this, I get a feeling that a girl is waiting for her sweetheart to come back to her and she is very tenderly expressing her feelings towards him. This is one song which I used to listen a lot in one of our old recorded audio cassette. My dad had some wonderful audio collections of old tamil songs those days.

Vaan megham

vaan megham - original track | Music Upload
Another classic from Ilayaraja. Beautifully sung by K.S Chitra. Very very nostalgic song.

Nilaave vaa

Nilaave vaa | Upload Music
I remember this tamil movie ‘mouna ragam‘ where in a very joyful and full of life character played by actor Karthik, very much in love with the charming and beautiful Revathi, meets a tragic death in the first part of the movie. This song comes in the second part of the movie sung fabulously by SPB and no better song can suit the gloomy situation in the movie.

Antha nilaava than

Antha nilaavathan | Upload Music
This song is from the classic tamil movie ‘modal mariyaaday’. This movie is about a old man, the character played by the versatile actor late Sivaji Ganesan, one of the finest actors I have ever seen, falling in love with a girl of much younger age. Ilayaraja has composed this song and sung himself which again suits aptly to the situation in the movie.

Aalipazham

aalipaz - malayalam classic | Music Upload
This one is a typical Ilayaraja song. This Malayalam song from the 3D movie ‘my dear kuttichaatan’ is full of melodious background chorus and nicely supported by instruments commonly heard in many of his songs. Especially sounds good in the antra part and well sung by Sujata as well. You can immediately catch the innocence of the kids singing in the movie through this song.

As usual, the list is not over. I have many more such songs which are close to my heart but let me stop here and get on with my present. And I leave it to you to tell me which nostalgic songs comes to your mind.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS AND THESE ARE THE DAYS

Those were the days when summer season meant vacation = fun, play and more fun, travelling in train to visit our native place.
There are the days when summer season means just another season =just grumble about the sweating when you step outside your office.

Those were the days when prime time television at 9.00 pm = classic programs like surabhi, tehkikaat, superhit muqaabala, etc etc on doordarshan
These are the days when prime time television = reality shows, saas bahu ka serials, mythological blunders and many more confusions.

Those were the days when games we played = a healthy combination of indoor and outdoor games.
These are the days when games = indoor games only if you have company, otherwise play computer games alone.

Those were the days when we played outdoor games= laggori, chur chand, hide n seek, cricket and many more.
These are the days where we play outdoor games = none. (Only watch cricket :))

Those were the days when travelling in bus or any vehicle= enjoyable, not frequent and used only when visiting distant relatives and to reach potential far places.
These are the days when travelling itself = frustration.

Those were the days when shopping = an unforgettable outing with family, roaming around many shops in many reliable shopping areas.
These are the days when shopping = malls. Full stop.

Those were the days when we were with friends in real world = talking, laughing, hanging around places.
These are the days when we are with those friends in virtual world = orkut, sometimes chatting and not even a phone call.


List would continue……

THE DAY I MET A CELEBRITY AND AN HONEST AUTOWAALA

The day was 2nd November 2009. It was just like any other normal day. The only difference from the other normal days was this day I met a celebrity. It did not change my life in any manner, but felt good that I got a chance to meet the acclaimed violinist, Dr. L Subramanium all because of an honest autowaala.

I had to visit my neurologist, Dr. Sreenivasa at Ramaiah hospital in Bangalore this day. I had taken couple of weeks off for my brothers wedding in October ending on 1st week of november. Initially I thought of taking an appointment in mid October before I go to kerala for the wedding. But since I was occupied with the wedding and reception preparations, decided to postpone the appointment to 2nd November.
So all went well and my brother and bhabhi went for their honeymoon trip. So here I was with just few more days left in Bangalore as I had to travel back to pune to report to work. As I said earlier, I had an appointment on 2nd November to visit my neurologist. My mother accompanied me to the hospital that day and we decided to travel by auto rickshaw. Now, anyone who has travelled in a rickshaw in Bangalore will be very much aware about the rudeness and the unreasonable charge demanded by most of the autowaalas. Each time I’ am in need to catch an auto I get irritated just thinking about their attitude. And they charge such an exorbitant sum of money; you will be made to think that they just gave you a ride in a Ferrari in a race circuit. The ride in an auto is not less adventurous though, as they take all kinds of twists and turns whenever they get a chance. I would just wonder what would be the plight of the poor pedestrians if he was riding a bike or a car instead.

Coming back to the topic, on a good day I think everything goes well. I saw an auto on the other side of the road, so immediately I crossed the road and asked him if can take us to ramaiah hospital. Very humbly, he agreed at once. My mother had to still cross the road and since she had to cross a divider in between, the autowaala waited for her very patiently to get in. I also noted that he kept an eye on the moving vehicles to see that my mom crossed the road safely. The journey to the hospital hardly took 15 minutes. Somewhere near sanjaynagar, we saw an old lady trying to jump a big hole dug in front of her house. It was a very funny sight to look at the trap laid by our bengaluru corporation, the hole was dug up and left as it is, may be they wanted to experiment to see if a car can be parked in that hole :). So our autowaala gave a piece of advice for our trapped lady and asked her to be very careful, if at all she wanted to do any stunts to cross that hole :). I was impressed by his caring nature for the general public as he waited for sometime in case she needed any help and then he proceeded with the journey.

So after a smooth ride we reached the hospital and as I got down from the auto, the first thing the autowaala asked was not for money, but he pointed to a swamiji standing nearby the entrance of the hospital and said ‘that swamiji is a well known and powerful man’. I was not sure who that swamiji was, but I saw another short and familiar person standing next to him. I then asked the autowaala for the autocharge and he being very sincere charged according to the meter. Usually meters in autos are just a showpiece which comes as a fitting to complete the definition of an auto. Autowaalas generally do no want to disturb the meter so that they can demand any sum of money which they like, so the meter remains useless most of the times. So I was happy that this guy was really sincere to his profession. We then wished thank you to each other and he left in search of his next customer. My mom immediately said to me that very strangely we get to see such a nice and honest autowaala and I also agreed.

As I was about to enter the hospital, I again stared at that familiar short person and he too stared back at me. Usually if you come across a familiar person, but if you can’t remember exactly who he/she is, you put a question mark on your face and stare at that person and wait for the other person to recognize and respond to your awkward look on your face. But he did not give any such kind of known response to me, so I dismissed the thought that he also knew me and I moved on.
Later when I was sitting at the hall waiting for my call to see the doctor, I saw the same familiar person sitting alongside the swamiji and another boy on the other side of the hall. It then clicked to my lethargic mind that he was none other than the renowned violinist, Dr. L. Subramanium. I immediately asked my mom as well about this person and she also recognized him. The boy who was sitting beside him was his son. I was so thrilled that I immediately called up my brother, me totally forgetting that he was at lakshwadeep at this time celebrating his honeymoon and I gave him this news. He asked to do something which never occurred in my mind i.e to get an autograph of the legend. I was in two minds whether to disturb him or not as he was sitting as any other concerned patient as others in the room. But I took courage and decided to go ahead and speak with him anyway. Even my mom encouraged me to do so.

I took a piece of paper out of my purse but I did not have a pen. So I requested for a pen from a nearby guy and took slow steps towards Dr.Subramanium and stood right in front of him. He just looked at me without any change in his expression, waiting for me to say something. I then asked him with a smile on my face ‘I guess you are Dr. Subramanium ?’. for which he responded very politely ‘yes, I’ am Subramanium’
I was not prepared to ask or say anything, so without any further thoughts I handed over the piece of paper alongwith my purse to keep it as base for him to write and asked him for an autograph. He agreed by nodding his head and said ‘yes’ and took my pen to write something. He then asked my name and made me to spell it as well, so he ensured that he wrote down my name correctly. While he was writing I noted that he was such a calm and composed person that I did not feel as if I’ am standing in front of a genius musician. Such was his simplicity. I was also surprised that none of other public sitting in that room recognised him. Then he handed over the autographed paper alongwith my purse and the pen and wished me good luck. The swamiji who was also sitting next to him gave me the impression as if he was ready to assume meditation at any moment :). But he also gave a warmth look at me and we exchanged smiles.

I thanked Dr.Subramanium and I left towards the place where my mom, who was watching all this happen, was waiting for me with a smile in her face.
Later I saw Dr. L. Subramanium, his son and smamiji being led to a private room for consultation with another neurologist. Now I thought about the honest autowaala because of whom I was able to identify this great violinist. I then waited for my name to be called to meet my neurologist, with the autographed piece of paper in my hand which now had some significance to its existence. It read like this.

Dear Praveen V S,

I wish you all the best,

Subramanium’s signature

In my mind

After a long gap today i' am posting some of my thoughts on not so serious topic but a kind of topic which we are always thinking about. We all go through the roughs and toughs of the ever complicated events in our life. Our mind or the so called brain goes through a variety of unimaginable emotions; some of them are so complicated that we strive to express them through words, such that we still have to create new words for them. Though I' am not a expert on this topic but I will try to analyse some of these situations which our mind tackles through, an attempt to walk through the world of mind.

Is it our heart or mind which gets affected when we are in any kind of emotional situations? According to me both our mind and heart gets some tasks to do. I don’t know what exactly will be found in medical terms for this scenario. But what I’ am trying to say is all of us go through this roller coaster ride of emotions now and then, a peculiar kind of feelings varying in many form.

Whenever we get to go through any bad or tragic or extreme happy events as well, we feel a pinch in our heart and our mind gets to the task of imagining the scenario concurrently.
When we just sit for a while and try to recollect any happy and bad events which we underwent recently, the mind does not take much time to switch between these happy and sad events. It’s built so marvellously that such kind of concurrent thinking can help us to overcome the difficult and complicated situations in the most effective manner. Each and every one of us goes through tremendous pressure and tense situations which is not the first or the last time encountered, we can expect many more. At these times, disaster will be approaching us fast if we do not use our thinking skills appropriately. All these which I’ am mentioning are known basic facts, but humans being human always tend to give in to pressure, forgetting the basic thinking process and fall prey to the disaster very easily. So it’s important to maintain our cool and never succumb to pressure. It may vary from person to person how he or she thinks and takes any decision to move forward in a tight situation. But we are provided with this ability to talk to ourselves leading to internal discussions, the same discussions must be streamlined effectively to lead to a positive conclusion. The decision took due to any conclusion of this internal discussion may not be rewarding all the time. But you can definitely back yourself on why this decision was taken as long as you can justify yourself. I will be repeatedly stressing on the word yourself because all these actions leads to a sense of internal satisfaction and we are not bound to explain to others on what we do and how we do and no need to break our head if it was a bad decision or if the outcome of the desion was not good as we all know that any kind of learning will always be useful in future. Is it not?

It is very important that we have good control on ourselves, in any kind of extreme good/bad situations. The way you control yourself through your mind is very tricky. It’s always nice to take some time to analyse yourself regularly, may not be a conscience one, and know what exactly a kind of person you are. There are certain weak and strong qualities within you which sums up to your individuality. Once you are quite aware of your individualism it will be easy to judge your abilities and mould to the nearest possible actions as per the situation which in turn will lead to some positive outcomes. And believe me once you get through such situations will result in a sense of satisfaction which is the kind of reward you always strived for unknowingly.

There are certain aspects which I’ am trying to highlight here but may be I’ am not very clear to you. Will definitely look for feedbacks and continue on this subject in my further blogs if possible. Till then bye and please do mind your mind.