Read - Write - Be Open

Few days back, a good friend of mine told me about this blog. The blogger was her junior at school, she said. My friend was a good reader herself, and she suggesting a blog as very interesting to read made me curious about the blogger and the blog itself. It was true. She writes well. Her posts were really cool. I happen to stalk into few other blogs – this, this and this – from there. They all write well. “Oh my gosh! How could they all so write well?” I wondered. I kept reading their blog for hours.

I found, from reading through their blog, that they all are vivid readers. And that’s the reason they write well. I could see few posts about how much they read, and as in, how much they love reading. I just looked at me. I was no way near them. I have heard people say, “Read more to write at least a few. Read a lot more to write well.”

Given my poor reading legacy, how possibly could I get as good to write as them? Maybe, few people like what I write, or in other probable way, maybe they have to like it; No other way, as many of them who read mine aren’t reading many blogs, and that turns in to my favor. They read only me and like what I write. That’s the way it is; that’s the way it has been.

The bloggers who I had mentioned earlier also have more followers. That could possibly be their motivation as well. I don’t have many. In fact, I never really shared my blog to many. As it goes, not many of my friends know I write let alone the existence of my blog. Few of my friends, and my sister too, wanted me to share it with my other friends. I didn’t pay heed to it. Reason – I didn’t write for them; I just do for my own sake. I just write what I wanted to, what I feel like. I just write to vent out my whatever-you-may-call-it.

Now, as I read through the blogs, I feel really motivated. I want to explore my writing. Not that I want to be like them, but just in order to move a step ahead. And as think about it, I just wonder about two things.

#1. How do they get time to write frequently?

Time – That matters the most. I really find it difficult to get time to write. Okay, it’s not that I’m busy or something. I can’t fake myself or anyone else with that reason anymore for I do know I have time. It’s just that I can’t find it. Maybe, one can point it out as laziness. It could be apt, by close, I guess. I see these bloggers do at least 3 posts a week. Look at my history. It's damn poor compared to theirs. I often marvel, is it my job that makes me too lazy to write, too busy to get time to write? I don’t have a concrete answer for that. I only wish I could write more in future.

#2. How do they are so open to the world?

Openness – This haunts me often. There are many posts that lie in my drafts still. The reason, I could say, is as I started writing them, at certain point, I was forced to be truthful about certain things that I didn't want in that way. I don’t want people to know more about me and my inclination about certain things. I don't want want to be untruthful either. That's a good thing at least I don't write something untruthful.

Also, there are stuffs, I feel, I shouldn’t probably write about. I couldn’t help it. I’m just working on it. Maybe, in near future, I will bomb out the restrictions in me. Today, as I was stalking the above mentioned blogs, this post [titled: Let’s talk about sex] caught my eye. I was left in shell shock on seeing the frankness of the writer. Was it because her parents or brother weren't following her blog? Or was it just because she doesn't care about it?

Whatever, I always felt that a writer shouldn't really care about anyone but him/her. I never followed it myself. Maybe, that's why I don't recognize myself as a writer yet. So, one day, when I call myself as a writer I would have come out of my bounds. I'm sure one day I will.

Being a major

I became a major on 21^st June 2005 (Geez, I had to count twice with my fingers to make sure of the year. A complete idiot, I have become). Pity, I don't even remember whether or not I got any gifts that day let alone remembering what I got, if any. But one thing I do remember is I was more than excited for being officially, mathematically, legally (my birth certificate is the proof. Lucky, I have it safe still), and in every sense of 'being-eighteen' called as a Major.

As I was nearing the day, "What's special about being eighteen?" I thought. "Of course, everything would be special," I answered myself.

A day before, I started listing out, in my mind, the things that I would really look forward to. They are -

• The Driver's License: I had learnt to drive the motor bike when I was in my 7^th grade (some might consider it as way too late, but that's not the case for me). Going by the way I rode it, I was very well deserved to get my license irrespective of my age. But I didn’t find a way, back then, to break the system to get a license for me. Also, I wasn't a rule-breaker, you know. Never mind, I still rode. No one cared. NOTE: It was only on August 17, 2007, I got my license (for both MC and LMV-NT), and that day still pins to my list of days to remember.

• The Passport: Well, the other important one any major who hadn't have it yet (I belong to this category, and hence it found its way to my list) should hold with them because they can't figure when they’ll fly abroad. Things might happen all of a sudden, and one shouldn’t regret missing a golden opportunity,as people used to call, just because of the lack of the passport. It was, in fact, too early to think at that time. Nevertheless, it was only a thought anyway. NOTE: I got my passport on December 4, 2007. But it’s of no use till date, apart from being used as my address proof a couple of times. And I guess, it won’t serve its primary purpose in near future as well :-(

• Right to Vote: This was one thing I grew up fantasizing about. When I was young, my parents, on the Election Day, would leave early to cast their vote. And once they get back home, I used to glare at their forefinger over the election ink mark. I was hoping that one day I would have the same in my forefinger too. Hence, it was when I got my voter ID in hand; I felt I'm a major, for real.But unfortunately, to this day, I haven't cast my vote despite the fact that there were two State Assembly Elections and one Lok Sabha election that passed by after I was eligible. Worse, I haven't even cast my vote in any local body elections either. Yeah, I can sense how fuming it would be. Only I was to blame; I had the laziness of travelling back home [for a day] to cast my vote. To play it safe from not being called as unpatriotic [by myself], I cursed the government for not declaring the day before and after the Election Day as a HOLIDAY. Certainly, not a better excuse, though. (The only place I did cast my vote till date was during my first year 'Mess Rep' elections.)

• Qualification for watching Adult only movies: Now don't get me wrong. Forget about the real 'A' class movies.  I'm not a guy who used to go to theatres for watching such films. Just stick to the normal Kollywood, Bollywood, and Tollywood movies that come with 'A' brand. It's just that this thing can't be ignored when talking about eighteen-years-of-age. That's it. Funny, as it may sound, but I still remember my mom not allowing me to go to the movie "Boys" just because it was 'A' certified. Now don't ask me, "Have you ever watched that film?" Of course, I did; but after 2 years of its release. Sadly, only then I had a chance!!!

From the notes that I had mentioned above, one could get how much I cared about being a major. It was just another year for me. Eighteen was just another age for me. It was just that I got a year older. I never really cared of the above mentioned ones seriously. That was the reason I had to get them only when I was twenty years old.

P.S: I only hope that I would cast my vote in the forth coming Lok Sabha elections. After all, I want to prove my care for my country to none other than myself. And Yeah, lastly, I'm almost a perfect major now.

Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur.

It wasn't the first time I went a Zoological Park. I had been to quite a few zoological parks in the past years. I always loved to see the zoological-beings whenever I get a chance. I didn't fail to visit Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, Orissa during my training there in Oct 2008 or Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens during my trip to Mysore last December. But a visit to Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur had only been a dream all these days.

I have been in Chennai for the past 7 years, and had innumerable nothing-to-do days. But a visit to Vandalur Zoo remained a dream to me. No matter, how hard I wanted to visit the place. Not that I was too busy to go. If I say so, that would be a refutable excuse I have to make. In fact, all these years in Chennai, I have planned several times only to end up procrastinating it. Sometimes, when the plan with my friends gets bumbled, I planned alone for the next time. How funny is it? Plan with my friends failed, still I planned to execute it alone. Funny, really, it is.

Whatsoever, today I was determined to go to the Zoo at any cost. Lucky, I got my friend Gowrish to accompany me. So, all in all, my wait all these years ended today on a happy note. Here are the few pics that I clicked....

The king taking rest

The Queen 'sighting' the king

The busy beer, busy digging.

The big Hippo ji

Giraffe

Something special

There is always something special for us in different categories or classifications. If you ask anyone to choose something over several other things in a category, the result will be the one that he/she likes very much. That's obvious. In other words, the person would choose his/her special one. It will nothing but be his/her favorite. Unarguably, some people, in some cases, might have many favorites in a single category.

If you ask a guy, "Hey, What's your favorite football team?” it would be rare to hear him say one team's name. He, if an ardent fan of football, would end up listing at least a few. Worse, if you ask for his favorite food. But whatever be the case, he will have one thing as his special amongst his favorites list. Thereby, if asked precisely, he would not hesitate to point out that special one. That's the fact.

Likewise, take the special days into account. We people have one special day as our favorite. Of course, at any given instant, we must have quite a few days to remember and cherish - ones birthday, ones wedding day, ones lover's birthday, the day when you won something unimaginable, the day you first met the girl of your life, etc., are the few to name. But if we are asked to pick out one single date, it would, in most cases, be our birthday. That's, by far, something special to everyone. No wonder some think their date of birth as their lucky number. There can't be any other special day that we eagerly wait for, every year. And, unsurprisingly, we want that day to be special over any other, and people - our loved ones - make it special either with some gifts or simply with their whole-hearted wishes. Sometimes, their presence alone would do.

Having said that, how many of us care to wish our loved ones on their special day? Well, the immediate answer would be everyone. Or, in some worst cases, the answer would be almost everyone. Why do we do that? It can be put as simple as this - just because we want to be a part of their special day to make it extra-special. Okay, what do you expect from them in return? Is it nothing? If you say so, then you are unmistakably wrong. Just think again. What do you expect from them in return? Sweets, Treat, etc. Nah, come on, don't be childish. What anyone would expect is, a THANK YOU. Yes, a simple thanks. That recognition is what makes you gratified. That recognition is what makes your day [with the fact that you actually made someone's day in the first place].

Some might argue, “I don't expect such thing from anyone. I feel it's just my duty, or my way of showing my love to him/her. No matter whether that person replies to me or acknowledges my wish in any form.” Is that real? If you think deeply, then that's a certain NO.

In the present scenario, the following are the means of conveying ones wishes [to his/her friend] -

• Meet him/her in person.
• Give him/her a call.
• Send him/her a SMS.
• Send your wishes through the social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
• Drop him/her a mail.
• Send him/her a card/a gift.

For argument sake, ignore meeting the person directly and just imagine the other cases. For instance, suppose you are sending your birthday wishes through a SMS to your friend. Will you just like that get away after seeing the notification ‘Message Sent' in your mobile? Or will you keep staring or checking (once in every 2 minutes) your mobile for it to beep to deliver a reply message? I guess everyone would fall in the second category. It's not the THANK YOU that gets counted here, but the indication that the person had actually got your wishes. That's the point, and that matters, apparently.

But there are people who just ignore the message without even sending a reply as an acknowledgement. What the hell are they thinking? Are they really worth receiving the wishes? Unfortunately, yes, of course. That’s where the real love is. We wipe the disappointment only to send the wishes to the person the following year as well, and every other years to follow. We hardly care being let down as long as the person remains special to us. We just excuse ourselves, on that person’s behalf, thinking he/she might not have got the message, or he/she was too busy to reply then, and later, forgot it.

Consider you’re getting a birthday [wishes] message from a person who once was your good friend, and later, due to fate’s call, ended up on a wrong side. To make things worse, you haven’t seen or heard from that person for quite sometime now, say nine months. How do you react on seeing the message? Will you delete the message off without even responding? I never will. One has to respect the other person, his/her caring in sending you the message. Maybe, it’s since you’re not in talking terms with him/her, he would have send a message rather than giving you a call. Sometimes, people think why the hell should I reply to someone whom I hate, or whom I consider as a stranger anymore, or whom I don’t even consider as a good-old friend? It’s not the right attitude. Just remember he/she loved you once, and maybe he/she loves you still. And for that matter of fact, he cared to send you his/her wishes. What the hell will you lose if you reply to him/her? Obviously, it’s nothing that you lose. Just don’t push yourself up to a wrong note on his/her side. People – especially who cares for you - are priceless.

How many of us remember all our friends’ birthday? It’s hard. Isn’t it? But do we, to the least, remember our close friends’ birthday? Some might even find it to be hard as well. We can’t criticize them. Some are really poor in remembering the dates. Lucky them, they have several means to get a reminder these days. They are just a mail – which is promptly sent – away. But I bet people do remember the dates if they consider someone to be special to them. They hardly need any reminder mail (excluding certain unavoidable cases!!!).

Last month, I called my friend to wish her on her birthday. During the call, she asked, “Why didn’t you post your birthday wishes on my wall [in Facebook]?” It was jovial, I know. She knows the reason. In fact, she told that to me in the call. But as soon as the call was ended, I sent a birthday message to her in Facebook. She replied to that with a smiley. I’m sure that my message would have made her smile. And her reply made me smile. That’s what matters, after all. Hadn’t she replied to my message thinking we had talked over phone already; I wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Or hadn’t I messaged her that day, she wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Of course, that’s not the only smile she might have had that day, but it’s just an added joy.

The bottom line – Never fail to be a part of your special ones special day(s). And invariably, acknowledge anyone’s (be it a friend or an enemy of yours) wishes and make them feel countable. If you fail to do so, just remember that you're happy on your special day, but someone somewhere would be in pain just because he/she wanted your day to be special.

The lawyer in me

Last night, I saw the film, The Lincoln Lawyer. The movie was simply awesome. The story was sleek and intact. The screenplay was tight, engrossing and riveting. After watching the film, I couldn't sleep for almost an hour. The film didn't affect me, but it had its effect on me. I just laid on the bed mulling over the reason why hadn't I used all my brains to be a lawyer. It's one of the few jobs that really make you realize that you actually own a brain, and pushes you to use it in an effective way.

I never had a thought of becoming a lawyer, to be honest. As a matter of fact, I had no thoughts of becoming anyone. That was me until few years ago. The only point I had in my sleek mind, during my higher secondary classes, was that I shouldn't be a doctor. And if you ask me a reason, well, I can't give you a solid one. It's just I never had any interest in that profession. Insanely, I was more adamant myself with that point. That's it.

I didn't have any idea of what I would be. Worse, I didn't even have any idea of what I should or shouldn't be, in the first place. At times, I laugh at myself when I picture those days back - the days when I was the way I was - no concrete plan about my future, no specific passion, desire, and the like. I never thought I would be what I'm now, not even in my dreams. Even now if you ask me, I would say I'm not sure what I would be in ten years from now. I just live the present. I'm more than content with that.

After my tenth class, my sister asked me, am I okay with being a CA in future. I wasn't sure what it's like to be a CA or what it takes to be a CA. All I knew, at that moment, was its highly mathematical. And for the reason of my love on mathematics, I nodded immediately. My sister had to spend few minutes to explicate me further details. I was more than convinced. I thought it would suit me. Who wouldn't want to do something he/she loves? But unlike my sister, my mom wasn't interested in it. She always wanted me to be a doctor. So I eventually ended up joining the Bio-group. (Trust me, I was a good and obedient son to my parents.) However, that couldn't help me change my mind about 'being-a-doctor'. Fortunately, I didn't end up in some medical college.

Bluntly, neither then nor later, I regretted it. It's just when I walk past a house with a name board indicating someone as a CA, this thought "Maybe, I would have been one, if things were a bit different" strikes my mind. That's it, nothing more. In fact, with the current stand of mine, I thank for not being a CA.

Now, back to the point of being a lawyer; it wasn't in my list at all (Ah, I never had a list in the first place). The only time I remember being-a-lawyer is when I think of my friend who was very adamant and passionate about becoming a lawyer. He used to ask me few tips whenever we tangle with that topic. I used to give him few inputs by then. I always marveled about his passion and interest. That was the best I could do about being-a-lawyer. But last night, after watching the film, and getting impressed with Matthew McConaughey's performance, I just got into the thought of being a lawyer. Now that I know, even with the significant chance I have, I could not be a lawyer. All I could do is to wipe out the thought and move on.

P.S: The past few days were wonderful for me in the best possible way with the four movies - Limitless, Source Code, The Adjustment Bureau and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Limitless

Yesterday, I watched the movie, Limitless. I was almost left with the same impression I had after watching 'Inception' last year. I, time and again, felt that there is nothing in the world that would be looked upon as outstanding as ones creativity. Creativity has no bounds; it's limitless, after all.

I would say the concept of the movie is merely as small as the pill - 'NZT-48' (shown in the movie... :-)), but the impact of the movie is as large as the effect of taking that pill. Though I'm certain that the existence of a pill of that sort, in real, is as good as impossible, it only made me think what I would be, and what I would do if I'm left with one such pill. Certainly, one won't be enough. That's a different point.

Maybe I would do what Eddie does in the film. Or probably, I would act differently in my own way. When I flirt with the things I would do, I couldn't list it out precisely, but all I would do is 'act differently'. Isn't that what the pill does? Maybe, I would want to leave an impact on people by making a film in the lines of 'Limitless' in a better way. Or maybe, I would, plausibly, become an entrepreneur, and would just draw out the ideas in me, and have people work on it. Who knows? But one thing is certain. I will learn a lot. Who won't when they get a chance to do, that too, in a matter of minutes.

Well, by all means, I know there is not even a 0.00000000000000000001% chance for that to happen, and hence, I need to taper off this post before it's too late!!!

Oru Naalil...

I simply can't believe it (well, that's an out of line exaggeration). Yesterday, I got a mail from my friend. It was about the song - Oru Naalil from the film 'Pudhupettai'. All through the mail, she praised Yuvan Shankar Raja for his music. She said that she had always loved the song that she had heard it umpteen times. After a long while, she listened to it yesterday, and mailed me as she was still listening to it. Apparently, she appreciated his music, and the justice he did to the lyrics with his voice. The song is my all-time favorite. The lyric, penned by Na. Muthukumar, is another plus for the song. Coincidently, I was happen to listen to it yesterday after a long time.

She is a big fan of A.R.Rahman; Yuvan tops my list. We had several arguments on this topic - Who is better? She was always against my point(s) in supporting Yuvan. I had always stated that Yuvan should have got the filmfare award for 'Pudhupettai', and not Rahman in 2006. She used to pass up that. I used to respond her accusing that she is merely one among the blind supporters of Rahman. well, Rahman is a legend in the world of music, and that's irrefutable. Still, I was very much disappointed for Yuvan missing out to him in 2006 for Pudhupettai had, as people used to say, out of the world Music.

In fact, at times, I had such arguments with few of my friends - Gautham, in particular. I never gave up; so did he. That was a sheer fun during our college days, especially, whenever an audio of their film comes out. (Jeez, He hasn't mailed me in ages, but he sent out an email last week. Guess what it would be about? It's about the AR Rahman's song performed by American Choir. It made me smile for a while.) I have never played any instrument (apart from my music classes during my lower grades at school) by myself. Unlike me, he plays Guitar (he kills us with it, that's a different story). But I'm a music lover. And I love Yuvan's songs from his early days in cinema. That's the way it is. After my college, it was only her with whom I had such arguments.

I still remember the days I used to eagerly wait for the release of this movie. It was the longest wait I ever had for a movie by then (It took another Selvaraghavan film - Aayirathil Oruvan - to break that record). Pudhupettai wasn't a blockbuster. Nevertheless, it was critically acclaimed. I have read many critics rating it as one of the best gangster movies ever made in Tamil Cinema. I would rate it as the best. It was one film that I watched thrice in a theatre.

Her mail yesterday only made me remember those days.Though I loved the movie for it's make and presentment, I was equally disappointed for my favorite song - Oru Naalil, missing in the film. I used to wonder the boldness of the director to miss out the song that had reached out to masses. As soon as I checked her mail, I was tempted to listen to the song. It played for quite a few times in my music player.