The Cycle.

A doctor's night duty is usually 24-36 hrs or more. So, coffee is an essential part of my diet. I was having my regular coffee after my night duty at this small shop beside the Hospital, when I noticed a guy speeding past the shop on his bike.

The bike screeched to a halt a few feet from me. The Guy got down, bought cigarettes, lit one and vanished on his bike. The only thing I could notice was the ID tag of a software corporate he had around the neck of the blue tee shirt he was wearing. The corporate was housed in a huge SEZ a few km from my hospital.

It could've been the tee shirt or the stress from last night's duty at the hospital, I recalled my days after my tenth class.
"Don't be a Fool, Abho. You are talented, but engineering will propel you into a financially satisfying life. Medicine will stress you out. You will have to learn for thrice the number of years as that in engineering, and then work for much less salaries until you gain experience. Think properly before you decide." said my Grandpa, gifting me a blue tee shirt for topping my school in ICSE exams.

It was when i had spilled my coffee over my new white shirt and stethoscope, that I came back from my day-dreaming. (Apparently, hot coffee and introspection don't go really well together!)

How I wish I had listened to his words.

My life is full of stress. 
Stress about duties in the hospital, stress about the health of my patients, stress about the hundreds of obligatory calls to "come , see" a patient known to my relatives (though the guy is receiving proper treatment from elsewhere), stress from lack of time for personal interests, stress about my bulging tummy (read "Fat"!)...
The list never ends....

-----


I should've avoided that stop at the tea stall! Should've refrained from having one more cigarette. All I have been having since the last two days is tea and cigarettes!!!

I hate this job! The onsite co-ordinator is an idiot. He makes all these last minute changes in the requirements. I still have three store procedures that are not running and I have a critical deployment in six hours. The last thing I need right now is my team lead to tell me that I reek of tobacco.

I sometimes think of running away from this Life. It was the same in all the three software companies I've worked at. At first, we are told that the job profile is great, with a lot of opportunity to learn. 
In reality, we get to know later that that was an implication of things to come.(Imagine having to learn Visual Basic 6.0 in three days, when the major part of your work is based on C#.NET!)
And these software "Giants" are Masters of Disguise! All our stress is masked by a hoard of so-called recreational activities including Annual day, Family day, Ethnic wear day, Team Lunch, Potluck lunch, blah blah blah.
The gym may be useful, but I fail to understand the purpose of having a Fake tattoo artist or Tarot card reader in the office campus on Friday evenings!!!

I have to get down to the "Smoking Zone" and have a quick puff before my team lead logs in.

Was puffing off myself to death when I heard some one tap me on the shoulder and say "Excuse me boss! can I have a light?" in a heavy american accent. I looked at a guy in a tee and baggy jeans, and noticed his "pink" tag while I lent him my lighter.

"Pink" tags or "Pinkies" as we call them, refer to the Call center employees of our company , which is located in the east block of our premises. They have separate cafeterias, work space, and even parking space. The only thing we share in common is the time we spend here in these smoke zones. They earn almost as much as we do, and all they have to do is to speak to people on phone in those fake accents and tell the customer how to switch their laptops off!!

I would've happily switched places with one of those pinkies. All I ever wanted to be was a developer.... and now all I want to be is to be anything but a developer.

-----

That Software guy in the blue tee shirt was looking weirdly at me. Maybe, I should try harder to refrain myself from using my work-accent.
"Bhai, Whats the use of a cigarette, without Chai?" said my team mate Pramod. "Sure", I replied hopping on to my bike to drive to the nearest tea stall."
The Tea stall is a place that holds a lot of nostalgia for me. Not surprising though, having spent more than half of my life in one. My dad owned a tea stall right in the center of our village.
"Chotu! Do Allam Chai, ek mein sugar jyada!" I shouted to the tea stall owner, while I gave way to some guy who seemed to have spilled tea over his white Shirt.
I envied Chotu. He comes in the morning, sells chai for a few hours, has lunch, has a happy nap and comes back to open the shop again in the afternoon. No season affects his business, and he seems content with the work he does.
My dad was a happy soul. He always had a smile on his face, no matter how dull business was.

While for me, contentment has always been elusive. I was not suited to receive Formal education, nothing in it seemed to interest me at all. But I was quick to learn a lot of stuff that I thought was practically useful in life. I learnt driving, Swimming, and half a dozen languages including French and German. I had a good life, if you considered money as the only scale to rate life. I had my own bike, was saving enough to buy my own apartment soon. What else could a "tea stall" owners's son ask for?

A lot.

My work shift timings were in sync with the United States. So, as the whole city of Hyderabad starts to go home, at 4 p.m. I start my shift in office.
The only sunrise I ever get to see is if I have to work overtime. I sleep all day, because I work all night.

I can't comment on my social life because I don't have one. Can't remember the last time I had been to anyone's wedding. I see my brother once in a few months. The last time was when he was gifted with a baby girl... the girl is old enough now speak to me on the phone.
I wish I was like Chotu. I wish I could enjoy all the smaller joys in life that my father had. I wish I was.....

I don't think what I wish matters anymore.

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

"Here Doctor Saheb", I called out and returned change to this Doctor who spilled coffee on his Shirt at my Shop. I love the way doctors dress. Always in neat formals, and always well groomed.
I see a lot of people at my shop. A few even come in premium cars to have chai here. But I personally respect doctors a lot. They are the only people for whom "Saheb" comes from my heart.

I still remember the doctor who tried to help my dad breathe on his death bed. My dad passed away, but the doctor's effort to try to get him back even in those last few minutes was something I will never forget.

I repent every night on why I dropped out of school. I was in bad company and wasted a lot of years back then. My Dad wanted me to study and become a respectable man. But I ended up as a Chai hawker.

I wish I had studied well... Maybe I could've become a doctor too... I could've been a Nurse at least. They save people's lives and receive a lot of blessings from people. 

I have to start washing these cups, while I notice two white clothed traffic policemen come my way... 
Here go a couple of cups of chai, and a few cigarettes, down the drain of my free country.

Author's note: This short story of mine is an elaboration of a joke I used to crack, to address the stress that has become an essential part of our lives, during the smoking cessation / diabetes awareness seminars I take up as a part of my job. Hope it lets you introspect into the stress you are suffering from, and lead you to manage Stress in a healthy way.

Why Your Husband Can't Quit smoking.....

Why Your Husband Can't Quit smoking.....  and why YOU need to understand how to help him.

Are you wondering why repeated pestering, nagging or emotional blackmail is not successful in making your Husband/friend quit smoking?
Nicotine Addiction is rampant in our country. Tobacco is the most commonly abused substance in India. It is important to understand "why people smoke?" before you ask  "why can't they quit?".

The literature states that addiction to tobacco is easily treatable, as compared to other substances. So most of us presume that failure to quit is only because of lack of will power. This is not entirely true...

Let us have a small overview of tobacco addiction :

Tobacco's main stimulant is Nicotine. It acts on the brain, on the reward pathway of the brain, similar to a lot of other addicting substances. It causes the excitation of certain receptors and leads to the secretion of dopamine. Dopamine then acts to cause the "high" percieved by anyone who smokes.
Nicotine also acts to relax you, through it's effect on muscarinic receptors etc etc, but for now let us look at it's effect on the reward pathway, because this is what makes it addictive.

Remember the "Happy feeling" when you were praised by the teacher for topping your class in school? That was because, your reward pathway in the brain was stimulated.
 It is a god given gift, that makes success very essential for happiness. You CANNOT feel happy when you fail... It just doesn't work that way.
The Reward pathway is responsible for motivating us to earn that "happy feeling". So, you try to work hard to get good grades and feel that way again.
Now imagine that you could feel the same "happy" without having to study hard by just popping in a tablet or taking a shot..... Easy happiness. Isn't it? Nicotine works exactly in this way.

This is what happens to a college student who is introduced to smoking by his friends for the first time.
So, now comes the question "why does he have to increase his number of cigarettes?"

Let us assume that a normal person has 5 receptors which are stimulated by nicotine, which in turn stimulate the release of dopamine. When a person smokes, initially, there are more than five nicotine molecules available, let us say 7 molecules are available.
Eventually, the body realises this and increases the number of nicotine receptors, a phenomenon called as "Up-regulation" of receptors. so, the number of receptors increases to say 10. Now, the same guy who was "high" and relaxed on one cigarette, needs more than one cigarette... or one cigarette more often.

So, the guy increases his consumption to 2 cigarettes... This leads to further up-regulation of receptors, so on and so forth. Usually the receptors increase in number to up to hundreds of times.

So, "Why can't he quit?"
These new receptors (which are in great numbers) , keep pestering the mind to suggest a fresh supply of nicotine periodically, which translates into the smoker's craving for a cigarette. Some smokers who work in "smoke-free" environments like public offices, etc are compelled by the constant push from these receptors , to go out of those places, and smoke.
People do misinterpret these as "lack of will power", and hence he cannot stay away from smoking. What people do not realise is that this person is being driven to smoking by a physiological process which is not under his control. Just like a diabetic, whose sugars are not under his control.
If he cannot have a cigarette at that point of time, then he starts having various withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, hypersomnia (increased sleep), tremors etc.

These receptor don't vanish overnight. Down-regulation of these receptors takes a lot more time. Hence, quitting too can't be done in a day.

The environment matters. Difference between quitting other drugs/alcohol Vs Smoking.
In India, (like many other parts of the world) a lot of environmental conditions are not really conducive for people who wish to quit smoking.
I mean, a heroin addict needs at least a thousand rupees to buy heroin. He also needs a supplier and needs to stay away from the Police.  
An alcohol addict needs at least a hundred rupees and has to go to the liqour store in the area. But for a person who want's to quit smoking, One ALWAYS has five rupees in his pocket, and there is a cigarette outlet/shop every fifty feet or so.
The Government has NO REGULATIONS on the sale of cigarettes, at least none that are properly in effect.
"How to help him quit?"
Statistics show that 90% of all smokers wish to quit every year. But only 15% actually try to quit. Only 3% successfully quit smoking.
It is important to realise that your friend, or your husband, or You need help to quit. Quitting has a higher success rate if a smoker has help.
And you have to bear in mind that quitting smoking is like building Rome. It cannot be done in a day. Quitting cigarettes is a long process.
You must've seen people quit successfully for a few days and then got back to smoking again. You should accept this as a fact that THIS PERSON can quit. He just needs more help.

Will power too is important, not to quit, but to keep trying to quit.

Beginner guitar tabs for Khushi theme music.

This is my first guitar tab post in my blog, in response to a specific request from a cousin who is learning to play the guitar.

There are a few basic rules we must follow to be able to learn playing the guitar properly....

- Practice playing scales until you can effortlessly play them at a good speed.

- Whenever possible, learn from a guitar teacher. You can maybe learn a lot later on by yourselves, but the basics are best learnt when someone else guides you in person.

- Write down the tabs or notes you practice. Maintain a book separately for this reason. Though you look up tabs online, make it a point to write them down on paper.

- Play using as many strings as possible. DO NOT make it a habit to play only on a single string.

- It is OK if the tabs do not sound like they do in the song when you play them for the first time. It takes a lot of practice to achieve accurate timing and pause.

- Keep practicing. Play almost all of the tabs you've learnt at least once a week.

Here are guitar tabs for Khushi theme music for beginners.

Riff #1>
E>-10-11-10-----------------10-11-10---------------
B>---------------11--------------------------11----------
G>-------------------12-11----------------------11-12-
D>---------------------------------------------------------
A>---------------------------------------------------------
e>----------------------------------------------------------

Riff #2>
E>---------------10---------------------------------10-------
B>-12-10-12------13-12-10------12-10-12------13--
G>---------------------------------------------------------------
D>---------------------------------------------------------------
A>---------------------------------------------------------------
e>----------------------------------------------------------------

Riff #3>
E>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B>----------11-----------11-----------------------11---------11------
G>-10-12------10-12------12-10-----10-12------10-12----12--
D>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
e>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any doubts regarding playing the guitar, please comment and i will respond.

A day in the city of Sambar...

Seat kosam.... Rank kosam...

సీట్ కోసం , రంక్ కోసం, కేరళ లో చదువు దామని ,

ఫ్రెండ్స్ మాటలు చెవిని పెట్టక , బయలుదేరిన pg వీరుడికి ఎంత కష్టం.... ఎంత కష్టం....

ఆరు నెలలుగా చదువుతున్నా, syllabus కు అంతు తెలియక,

సబ్జెక్టు లో దిక్కు తెలియక, ప్రేపరషన్ పీక మీదకు కత్తి లాగా తన్నుకొస్తే,

వెధవ climate ముంచుకొస్తే, జ్వరం కాస్తే, భయం వేస్తే ...

parboiled రైస్ వల్ల తిన్నదరగక ఎడుపోస్తే....

దారి తెలియని pg వీరుడి కెంత కష్టం.... ఎంత కష్టమం....

ప్రివాటుగా సీట్ కొనడం తన మర్యాద కు తగదు అనుకోని,

ఉద్యోగం చాడువుకేప్పుడు ఆటంకం కాలేదని,

వెర్రి వాగుడు వాగే బంధువులంతా  చావగొట్టగ ,

నచ్చని బ్రాంచ్ లో compromise కు తలను వంచని pg  వీరుదికెంత కష్టం... ఎంత కష్టం...

సూచిక :- నా మిత్రుదోక్కడు pg కోచింగ్ కోసం కేరళ వెళ్ళిన సందర్భముగా సరదాగా, మహాకవి శ్రీ శ్రీ కవిత "బాటసారి" స్పూర్తిగా నేను చేసిన ఈ చిన్న ప్రయత్నం , ఎవ్వరి మనసులు నొప్పించిన, క్షమించా ప్రార్థన.

who will protest that we are not protesting the right way???

I logged onto Facebook today, after quite some time, and was really disappointed looking at my news feed. Almost all the posts were filled with hatred!
They included posts by collegues offended by Aamir Khan's generalisations trying to defame the medical profession, posts by Jagan supporters, who cried foul on his arrest, posts by CSK fans who felt let down, posts by people trying to raise their voice against the recent petrol price hike, a few even by people who hate God because they think they are ATHEISTS.

People who know me know that I have always encouraged people to protest anything they feel is not going in the right direction... but WHO WILL PROTEST THAT THESE PROTESTS ARE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION???

I don't care how carelessly Aamir slings mud on doctors.... "Uska peshaa hain bhai!!! He has to work in a way to raise the TRP ratings, and make things a little interesting... and He is only doing his Job!!!" But why should WE resort to cheap acts like calling Aamir names, in the veil of a protest?

You say that "A thorn should be dealt with a thorn". But if we, the self proclaimed patriotic future citizens of India, (Read Facebook addicts - Indian chapter), cannot find a way to protest without undue hatred, I think Kapil Sibal may be right in banning us!!!

(I seriously never thought i'd ever say that even in my wildest dreams)

What relation has Aamir's previous marital life got to do with you protesting against his comments on a TV show? And if you think Aamir has no right to defame your profession, what gives you the right to defame his show, just because you have a difference of opinion?

I will not ask people to look at the good points he raised in the show (like Indian govt not spending a good part of the GDP on healthcare) but I sincerely plead with you to KNOW WHY YOU ARE PROTESTING, TO BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU ARE PROTESTING FOR, and try to TELL PEOPLE THE REASONS FOR YOUR PROTEST.

If you hate Aamir, watch his next movie with a black badge on your arm... don't pelt stones on his posters. If people ask you, have the courage and patience to tell them WHY AAMIR IS WRONG in generalising the lives of a few greedy doctors onto the profession.

The fault lies with US. We were never taught to protest properly in school, and we can't make sense of the sudden freedom social networking sites give us.

Hurling abuses, calling names and pointing out someone's defects doesn't qualify as protest. 
A protest should come from the bottom of one's heart. 
It should be a strong voice that shouts that you stand for the truth and against all that is wrong. 
It should be strong as a lion's roar when it says that you believe in what you say.....

I logged out, and followed my dad's advice to lighten my mood when I was unhappy.  "when you feel distressed about something, read.... read whatever you feel is close to your heart and all stress will vanish"

It really works though. I will end this with a few lines of what I read. Co-incidentally, MahaKavi SriSri hinted through these lines as to "What" is needed by revolutionary poetry.

sindooram, raktachandanam,

bandhookam, Sandhyaaraagam,

puli champina lady neththuru,

yegaresina yerrani jenda,

rudraalika nayanajwaalika,

kalakaththa kaalika naalika,

               ..........kaavaaloyi nava kavanaaniki.

Raabandula rekkala chappudu,

poga gottapu Ghoonkaradhwani,

aranyamuna hareendra garjana,

payoDhara prachanda ghosha,

Khadgamrugodagra viraavam,

Jhunjhuneela shadjadhwaanam,

                ...........kaavaloyi nava kavanaaniki.

The next time you click to share a protest, please take a moment to review whether you really believe in the protest. If you do, would you protest in such cheap words? , If not please take the time to post a proper protest, explaining why you hold your view. Spread awareness - NOT hatred.

Maybe.....

"There is no hope for OC guys rey... it is a joke that you want to apply."
"Yep, our condition is truly pathetic... The competition is tremendous, and seats are scarce."

"Reservation too doesn't help as much as you think... competition is gobbling up everything."
"But it is better than being in General Quota right? I mean, you still have an unfair advantage"

These were a few points of discussion outside the NIMS library the other day, where I was taking a break from my books with my colleagues Rajesh, Sridhar and Ram Murthy. In fact, I think this discussion is universal among students, whether they are preparing for UG or PG entrance, or applying for govt. jobs.

"కానీ మీ పరిస్థితి చాలా మెరుగు సుమా !" said an old man, sitting next to the Badam tree, shocking us out of the discussion.

"It is easy to comment from the outside Sir, not so easy when you are actually in the line of fire" Sridhar retorted back.
All of us seemed to subconsciously support Sridhar.

"Sorry that I was interrupting, but I still do stand by what is said. I am Ramana. I  underwent a 2-D Echo and am waiting for my son, when I overheard your conversation. I hope you don't mind" said the old man in flawless english. 

The old man looked very organised, educated and had an aura that charmed me in a way I cannot explain.

We had formal introductions, and told him we were medicos preparing for PG entrances. Rajesh tried to explain to Ramana garu, the various difficulties students face, due to reservations, lack of seats, and the privatisation of medical education.

"I do understand the gravity of the situation you people are in... but have you thought of a solution?" Ramana garu asked. What he didn't know was he had opened a can of worms in our heads.

"There is no solution! The only plausible solution is to quash caste based reservations, and bring in reservations based on the economic strata of students. This will give a fair advantage to people who are truly backward." said Ram murthy. "This will see to it that a Minister's son, who hails from a scheduled caste, is not given an unfair advantage over the son of a poor pujari, who is a brahmin by birth. " 

"Yep, but is it possible practically murthy? The BJP govt tried something similar a few years back, to introduce a concept of economically backward classes, but BJP was kicked out of power." said Sridhar.

"I don't agree. BJP lost power because of it's inefficiency to control corruption in it's own ministers." I said, opening my lips for the first time.

"Let us not really drag politics into this, because you cannot hope that political decisions, which are very improbable to change, might give you a solution. What are your alternative solutions?" asked Ramana garu. His question drew an obvious blank on all our faces.

"Your situation is a lot better than what we faced. The chance of quality education was rare in the past, when we were students. But do you know what was the advantage we had?"
"We were more ambitious and confident of our lives than today's youth. God has been replaced by dissatisfaction as the only Omnipotent and Omnipresent entity that today's youth knows.... It is indeed a unfortunate fact."

"You cannot change politics, you can only hope to by doing your duty of casting your vote to an eligible candidate, without being influenced by his caste, or his political party.
You cannot change the system, you can only hope to change it by becoming a part of it, by joining the civil services.

But there is always one thing you can do.
Strive to work harder without complaining of the 'unfair' advantage somebody else has. Swami Vivekananda said that 'all that is impossible is just an illusion'. So, if you think you have missed your PG seat because of unfair reservations, push yourself to the limit by working hard to cover the gap created by those reservations. Remember, the strongest steel is forged in the hottest furnace."

"ఎందుకీ నిస్పృహ ? కదిలే భూమి ని ఆపే శక్తీ నీ లోపలే వుండగా ?"

Ramana garu then took our leave as his son had come to take him home. But he did leave us thinking for a long while...

Are we letting disappointment and despair take over our mindset? 

Are we , as the youth of this nation, not supposed to take up more responsibility about our lives? 

Maybe whining about how unfair the country has been to you is just an excuse we use to hide our inability to deal with our lives....

Maybe....

Directionless! - దిక్కుమాలిన...

దిక్కులన్నీ పెక్కటిల్లే అగ్నినై వెలగాలనీ....
కలలు కన్నాను ప్రగతికై, నా కలలు పండాలనీ....

కళ కైనా , ప్రతిభ కైనా  అదృష్టమే మూలం ...
కానిదేవ్వారు మార్చగలరోయ్ , కాని కల విలువ శూన్యం ...

దిక్కులన్నీ పెక్కటిల్లే అగ్నినై వెలగాలనీ...
కలలు కన్నాను ప్రగతికై, నా కలలు పండాలనీ....
దిక్కుమాలిన లోకం లో దిక్కు లేదోయ్ ప్రతిభ కి ....
కలలను నేను తుడిచివేసా , కడుపు నిండాలని....

దిక్కు మాలిన - Telugu - adj. for something that lacks a proper direction.
Slang- used as an abuse for purposelessness. 

A Dreamer's letter to his Dream.

Hi Sweetheart,
I am missing you a lot.... You would've guessed it coz it is not entirely normal for anyone to be awake at 4:45 a.m., leave alone start writing a letter.

But I have no other way to express myself to you... We don't meet up as much as we used to in the "good old days". Besides, a letter helps me write all that I'd normally be unable to say to you. A lot of things that take a "U" turn as soon as they reach my tongue. Most of the times to avoid saying things that are true, but might hurt you.

We've known each other from a really really long time, and a major chunk of my best moments in life was with you. I know you are married to Sleep, but I don't really get along so well with him... I am more of the "insomia-liking" types myself. I am jealous of sleep for the exact same reason. And I know you are busy with all the travelling these days, but I really wish you could squeeze me into your schedule.

Well, don't bother about me, take proper care of yourself out there.
Ever yours,
Abhishek.

P.S: I know I should've called, but I didn't want to disturb you so late in the night :P

अहो गुणवती भार्या , भांडा वित्तम न याचते !

The Saint and his pupil.

Once upon a time, not very long ago, lived a Saint named Alpaanada at the foot hills of the Himalayas.

He used to train disciples in history and philosophy and was pretty well known in the Yogi academic circles. He had a wife called Sundari, who was famous for her big mouth.

Sundari used to keep nagging her husband about the poor quality of life in the Himalayas, but Alpaananda, true to his name, was quite happy with his life.

One day, one of his students, Pungavaabhirama, invited him over to his house for lunch. Pungavaabhirama wanted to make fun of Swami Alpaananda for his inability to deal with his wife's nagging.

So, Pungavaabhirama made his wife, Komaalangi a deal."Tomorrow, when the Guruji arrives for lunch, I will pretend to be abusing you. I want you to ignore my abuses, and pretend as if I am incharge of the house. If you do this, I shall give you money enough to buy the Kantthabharana (Necklace) you've been asking since long."

Komalaangi took a few minutes to think about the offer and Said, "Ok, I shall pretend as you say, and I will also prepare the Best meal for your Guruji. But Remember, I will only put up with this until 100 abuses!"

The next day, Alpaananda took his wife's permission and reached Pungavaabhirama's house just before lunch time.

Pungavaabhirama greeted him and shouted "Komalaangi, you lazy donkey, come here and offer the guest some water to wash his feet!", and proudly grinned at his Guru.
Alpaananda smiled nonchalantly.

All through the Lunch session, Pungavaabhirama kept abusing his wife, and tried to show his Guru that He was the man of the house. He then shouted again, "Where is the Dal (a main course dish in India) , you lazy monkey?!"

Komalaangi, who was really angry by now, was keeping calm because of her greed for the money to buy herself a Kantthabharana, was silently counting her Husband's abuses.
She realised that Pungavaabhirama had exhausted his 100 abuses, and was about to warn him after serving him Dal from the earthen pot she was carrying.

Pungavaabhirama, who had noticed the Guruji's indifference to his actions, saw his wife returning from the kitchen and said "Make it fast you sloth faced woman!"
Komalaangi lost her temper, and crashed the earthen pot into her husband's head, and said, "Now, Give me my money, you useless man"

Alpaananda, who was none the wiser about his pupil's deal with Komalaangi, smiled and said " अहो गुणवती भार्या , भांडा वित्तम न याचते !"
"I am so fortunate to have a wife, who is truly a treasure of values, since she has broken many pots on my head, but never asked me to pay for those pots!"

We Could Fall....

What is worse than a forest guide mauled by a tiger?

I always was morbidly afraid of snakes. And never thought I would realise that a far more deadly predator existed... This predator was more close to us than any of the so called wild beasts... He existed within us.

The video of LTTE Prabhakaran's son's killing by the SriLankan Troops is another example of how low humans could fall!

I can never understand why the incident ever happened. Was the 12 year kid a threat to national security? Was he a terrorist? was he a part of whatever his father had done???
And I don't want to understand either.
We do hear people saying "You can't fall any further!".
But incidents like this one show us the truth... That WE COULD FALL...
We could keep falling as long as we wanted to..

The worst part is that this event will fade away into oblivion... :(

I am editing this post  after almost one year of first publishing it to thank the journalists whose work has now brought international focus to this issue again.

I was right when I said that the event will fade away into oblivion... I truly hope that this time it won't...

I can't even say "Rest in peace" Balachandran... I can just hope for it... :(

మతం.

Accidentally stumbled upon a website that promoted conversion to a particular religion... Was shocked to see many websites of almost all religions like that on google.
Felt very bad and had a sudden sense of aversion to "religion" and wrote this...

మతం మతం మతం....
పిచ్చి పట్టిన కుక్క నోట పలికిన తప్పుడు పాఠం .
స్వార్ధ కలుషిత మనసులు కప్పుకున్న ఓ పటం .

హిందువుని కాను, మహామ్మదీయుడిని కాను , కాను క్రైస్థవుడను నేను.
మతొన్మాదం అంటే మంది పడే మామూలు మనిషిని నేను.

నా లాంటి నవ యువతను , నీ తరమా ఆపడం?
నువ్వు చేసిందల్లా చరిత్రలను చెరపడం.
మతం మతం మతం.....

God is an Underdog.

"God is an Underdog". This is exactly why I love Him so much!

Born and brought up in an orthodox Hindu family, I was always the insubordinate kid. My Father, with whom I share a beautiful friendship, let me have my way.
All along my college days, I was known for my almost- atheistic principles and harsh criticism on fanatic religiousness. So much so, that my friends used to joke that if I ever went to a temple, God would die of a heart attack!
But there has been a change lately in my attitude towards Him. Maybe part of it is because of the amount of books I've been reading these days.
I still denounce the so-called GOD-men or "Babas" but am attracted to the spiritual happiness religion offers.
The beauty with which Ramadasu describes Lord Rama as Karunaapayonidhi (ocean of kindness) or the sensitiveness shown by Karunasree in Pushpavilaapakaavyam, I am sure, were works written with utmost spiritual peace and passion.

Today we live in a world where the battle between God and Science is rising again (and I thought that had ended after the mediaeval ages lol). The extent of the involvement of the Internet and social networking in our lives have taken this to a altogether new level of bitterness.
Being a medical man myself, I completely disagree with the Church of Scientology's principles. But I do realise the limitations of science itself. I do realise, if Science could explain everything, "Why do I have to still write that the major reason of many disorders as idiopathic? "

The level of bitterness against God, just because some religion somewhere has opposed progressive ideas, is astonishing. If it weren't "Fear of God", the world would've been a much worse place to live today!
"God" is the subconscious custodian of mankind. He has always been an excellent support to the man in despair, comfort to those in pain, and a reason for millions to believe in themselves.
Though I've never been the religious kind, I cannot even imagine my plight before my exams or when my near ones were ill - if there was no concept of God.

God bless late Prof Patel, my physics lecturer, who told me that God and Science were one and the same, citing a few parallels to envision his ideas. A few of them were :

• Science for a long time said Matter and Energy are distinct. Religion said Man and God were Distinct. (- The Dwaita Philosophy)
• Einstein proved e=mc^2 , that Energy and Matter were interconvertible . AadiShankaracharya laid down the doctrine of Advaitha, that Man and God are different forms of one another.
• Science is now trying to prove that all Matter originated from a single burst of Energy called the Big Bang, through experiments of the Large Hadron Collider. Modern Spiritual Gurus like RamaKrishna Paramahamsa, and Swami Vivekananda have advocated that God created us in his own self and we all possess the spark of the divine within us.

Why did I take sides with God in this battle? most likely to be the same reason why I wanted Rocky to win over Apollo Creed, or why I wanted Leonidus to win over Xerxes, or why I wanted Refael Nadal to win over Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon.

Because I love Underdogs.

Set fire to the rain

Liked Adele's song - Set fire to the rain. Wrote this in response to the video posted by a friend on Face book.

भूला नहीं हूँ मैं वह भीगी सि रातें !
तेरी यादों की नगरी है, मेरी नम्म सि ये पल्खें !!
वह सावन का महिना था जब तुमने हमसे आँख मिलाई !
आज फिर सावन आया,
तो तेरी जुदाई ने बारिश को आग लगायी !!

RVG Hospitalised in Mumbai: Fakeindiannews.com

The Famous RVG had to hospitalized late last night, here in Mumbai, according to fake sources. The director's condition is reported to be stable, and he was discharged after sedation and 6hrs of observation.

RVG, after watching a telugu movie on Mumbai underworld, reportedly had an episode of uncontrollable laughter. The director known for his hard hitting and realistic movies had been to a new telugu movie in the evening. Reportedly, He enjoyed the movie and was about to tweet about it when post he saw on twitter comparing this new telugu movie to one of his previous bollywood mafia-based flick, triggered the episode.

Dr Prakkash, of "Descent" hospitals pvt. limited, clarified on the issue, "RVG was laughing hysterically! It could have led to major problems in his health if he wouldn't have stopped. There are previous cases of inguinal hernias and rectal prolapses being precipitated in such cases. Where do you think the phrase 'Laugh my Ass off' originated from?"

The Doctor has been bombarded with calls from RVG fans all over the world since the episode, while the celebrity himself was unavailable. "He is very stable. We had to give him high dose sedatives to stop his laughter, but he responded well, and was discharged"

Kya hai "Sab se Jyaada?"

Thanks to the ever inspiring poet and study-mate at NIMS Library, Dr Arun Rathi (alias Kaviraaj) for poking me to write something... Wrote this in the library yesterday :)

हमने तुम्हे चाहा रब से ज्यादा !
तुम्हारी कदर की सबसे ज्यादा !!
तुम लाख कहलो झूट के हमने तुम्हारा दिल तोडा !
तुम्हारा झूट न होगा भारी हमारे सच से ज्यादा !!
हाए, ज़माने से डरती हो खुद से ज्यादा !
तुम्हारा राज़ जानता है कौन मुझसे ज्यादा?
हमारी वफ़ा तुम्हारी बेवफाई को हरा चुकी है !
तेरा दिया दर्द कभी न होगा मेरी इबादत से ज्यादा !!

Please do pardon any incorrect spellings. I am an average student who just managed to pass Hindi in school :)