ஒரு பயனற்ற பொருள்

Before I begin this post, let me say two things.

1) I'm not a male chauvinist. In fact, I dont know even how to spell it! :-D

2) As you can see, this post is gonna be in Tamizh.
 
காலை 9 மணி . ரயில் நிலையத்தில் சில பேர் ட்ரெயின்க்காக ஆவலாய் காத்திருப்பார்கள் . அவர்களுக்கு அலுவலுக்கு நேரம்  ஆயிருக்குமோ என்னவோ ! சற்று தூரத்தில் சிறியதாய் தெரியும் , ட்ரெயின் வருவது . "ஹப்பாடி !" என்று  நினைப்பார்கள் . ஆனால் கிட்டே வந்தவுடனோ , "செ , இதுக்கு ட்ரெயின் வராமலே இருந்திருக்கலாம்!" என்று நினைப்பார்கள் . அவர்கள் நினைப்பது முற்றிலும் சரியானதே ! நானும் அவ்வாறு நினைப்பவன் தான் .

ஏனென்றால் , அது ஒரு பயனற்ற பொருள் . வெட்டி பெருமை பீத்திகொள்வதற்கு விடப்பட்ட ஒன்று . லேடீஸ் SPECIAL  ட்ரெயின் . எப்பொழுதுமே காலியாக செல்லும் . அதில் இருக்கும் பெண்கள் எல்லோரும் கூடி உட்கார்ந்தால் 4 பெட்டிகள் கூட முழுவதும் நிரம்பாது ; கடுப்பாக இருக்கும் . அதுத்த ட்ரெயின் கூட்டமாக வரும் . மேலும் தாமதம்  ஆகும்.

சரி , லேடீஸ் SPECIAL தான் விட்டீர்கள் , அதை நன்றாக கொட்டை எழுத்தில் போட வேண்டியது தானே ? ஏன்  இந்த கஞ்சத்தனம்? சிறியதாய் ஒரு பெண்ணின் முகம் கொண்ட ஒரு வரைபடம் MSB  என்பதற்கு அருகில் வைக்கிறார்கள் . ஏன்? இன்னும் சிக்கனமாய் ஒரு பாஸ்போர்ட் சைஸ் போட்டோ வைக்க வேண்டியது தானே?

இதை காணாமல் , தெரியாமல் ஏற வருபவர்களுக்கு ஒரு போலீஸ் அம்மா அங்கே வாசலில் ஒரு குச்சியை வைத்துக்கொண்டு , "தோப்பு, தோப்பு" என்று தட்டும். ஏதோ மந்தை ஆதுகளை விரட்டுவது போல ! மிகவும் கேவலமாக இருக்கும் !

"ஏன் டா? ட்ரெயின் SCHEDULE  பாக்க வேண்டியது தானே?", என்று நீங்கள் என்னை கேக்கலாம்.. பார்த்து என்ன பயன்? தாமதம் தாமதம் தானே? தலை தெறிக்க ஓடி வருபவனுக்கு SCHEDULE  நின்று பார்க்க நேரம் உள்ளதா  என்ன?

அப்படி பெண்கள் சிரமம் இன்றி பயணம் செய்ய வேண்டுமென்றால் , 9இல் 6 பேட்டிகள் பெண்களுக்கு ஒதுக்க வேண்டியது தானே ?


எதையும் சிறிதும் யோசனை செய்யாமல் வேலை செய்யும் மக்கள் ! சிரமம் என்னவோ , 'சிறிது' அதிகமாய் தூங்கிவிட்ட என் போல் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு தான் ! இவ்வாறு சில யோசனைகளும் , இந்த ட்ரெயினை விட்டவர்களை திட்டி சில கொச்சையான சொற்களும் வந்து செல்லும் நேரத்தில் அதுத்த ட்ரெயின் வரும் . நிரம்பி வழிந்து கொண்டு .

"நம் தலை எழுத்து ! நாம் தானே லேட்டாக எழுந்தோம்?", என்று நினைத்துக்கொண்டு தொங்கிக்கொண்டு செல்லும் பிழைப்பு ! கொடுமையடா !

Tirumalpur Fast!

Two guys started shouting "வழி வழி!" and started their dash towards the door. I, one of the unfortunate victims in the way, was nearly knocked over and one of the straps of my bag came off my shoulder. My immediate instinct indicated a "Otha dei" to my mouth but my mind adviced better to follow these people lest I wish not to get down at Guindy. The next few seconds got warped into time, with me having no idea what happened. One thing that I do know, is that the guy who successfully managed to get down, wanted to write about it.



Here are certain rules that you need to know about getting on and travelling on a Thirumalpur Fast.

1) If you get on a TMPL Fast, you do not get down before Tambaram.

2) If you get on a TMPL Fast, you do not f**king get down before Tambaram.

3) If its your first time on a TMPL Fast, be ready to hear some sensationally-sweet, honey coated words whenever train comes to a station.(sarcasm intended)

4) Forget any signs of decency or politeness whenever the train nears a station where its gonna stop.

Because those who are waiting to get into that train, are like this.

And, after getting down, that is, if you manage to, You'll look like this.

Maybe the Station Master will come and congratulate you, for your courageous endeavour, like this.

Thirumalpur Fast, whatte train!

Reply from somewhere.

Before you start reading this post, you have to read this letter. Find a reply following. Needless to say, the letter was inspiration for this post.

Dear me,

It was so nice hearing from you. I read it over and over again to remind myself of the times that I needed your iron will.

Though I am real, You are the ME, that is impervious. You are the one I can depend on at all times. You are the one, who made me unbreakable. That 'Get up, you! Its not over yet.', it was from You. Now I realize. Through the tougher times, You took over. You made sure that I didn't fall.

Life is indeed unfair. Disappointment cannot be ignored. It is heavy. It cannot be erased, it cannot be forgotten. You taught me to live with it. You told me, "What you are, and what you become, are two independent things." There is no finish line without panting. There is no move-forward, without push-back. We are what we choose to be. We have a choice. You taught me to be happy. Simple things, but those which are oft forgotten. Nobody reminds anybody of these. That is, nobody but you.

I am so much in debt to You, for, without You, there is no me.

I hope to hear from You soon. Its been quite a while.

Till then.

Flash mob!

Today I was late. Errr, not exactly me. But me and Dad start together, and by the time I got ready, it got late for dad. Needless to say, I got my usual dose. Came to the train station, and to my relief, as soon as I climbed down the stairs, after buying the ticket, the train came.

So, got into the train, plugged in my headset and put it on shuffle. Random songs played, but my mind was elsewhere. 'Will start early tomorrow', I said to myself. And, just as the train's crowd was re-arranging itself so that each one is in the least miserable position for himself, a huge guy came and stood beside me. He wasn't muscular and all. But, must've been some 6'8" surely. My head was at the level of his shoulders."'I am not so tall myself, eh?", I thought to myself.

Thoughts had drifted since the tall guy came into vicinity, and I was gazing randomly here and there, and occasionally at my bag which lay at the top of the shelf, somewhere inside. And, just as the train reached the next station, my ears were attracted by another song, one coming from outside the headsets.

These trains, they are like living organisms. Sometimes, you could hear some random Tamizh song(yes, I will not use Tamil ), coming from the loudspeaker of a Chinese or Korean mobile designed to be loud and intended to be irritating! Else, 'dan dan dan' will go the clattering of a wooden stick over an ever-silver plate. Or, some poor disabled person, singing a song that is supposed to arouse sympathy.

But today, it was different. It was like flash mob and surprisingly, they were singing 'கந்த சஷ்டி கவசம்'. I removed my headsets and started listening. It was beautiful. Slowly people joined together, and the devotional aura was simple awesome. By the time it was done, it was Guindy. They switched over to other songs, bhajans etc.

One thing bothered me though. There was this lady with her 2 children, not the sophisticated ones. The kind who take one child in the arms and play the ever-silver drum, while the other performs acrobatics. This coach was however crowded. Its difficult for someone to do a flip in empty space, let alone in a crowded coach. The lady was disappointed at the sound coming from the other side of the coach. 30 rupees, her loss, maybe. What did I know?

It just struck me that whenever some event occurs, however good it maybe, there is at least someone who doesn't like it.

I didn't regret being late. If I hadn't been late, I would've missed such a beautiful event. I look forward to something similar again.

And They All Shouted, "Vamos!"

The 11th of June. 4 30 in the office. Frantically completed office work and opened 3 tabs. IBM Slam Tracker. Twitter and Facebook. Ready to shoot away tweets and status updates as the action resumed from the previous day of the Roland Garros of 2012.

The men's singles final. Here was one man fighting for a record 7th French Open title, rightly called the "King of Clay", for the lion stood undefeated at all occasions but one on the Phillipe-Chatrier court for 8 years. The other, called the Serbinator, was at the peak of his career, having defeated Roger Federer, the elegant master in 3 sets in the semi-final 2 days back. He was looking for his Grand Slam, and a lot of people believed he deserved it.

Both of them had the never-say-die attitude, going at full throttle yesterday, only to interrupted by the rain. Today however, as the clash resumed, Rafael Nadal was equally matched by Novak Djokovic.

The 4th set. Nadal trailed 1-2. He led 2 sets to 1 though.

For the spectator, however, it was nerve-racking to see the scores go from 2-2 to 3-3 to 4-4 to 5-5 !

But finally after nearly an hour and 15 minutes, "Vamos Rafa!" prevailed. The sound echoed as Rafael Nadal broke Djokovic's serve to win his 7th crown.

Or wait? Was it that what happened? No. There lay disappointment amidst.

Djokovic trailed 30-40, readying his serve. The scores at 5-6. Nadal was at match-point. He was eagerly awaiting the serve.

And alas, Djokovic serves a double fault. Nadal won, however, the victory missed something.

It was like, after an impressive battle, just as the victor came to claim his prize, the unfortunate slits his own throat.

Through the cries of "Vamos!", that little disappointment of Nadal was definitely visible, for a moment.

Djokovic, though you lost, you had the last laugh. They say you choked. They say you were under pressure. But I don't believe it. You had the last laugh.

But, does it matter? NOOOOOOO! Congratulations Rafa.

2005 - 6–7^(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5

2006 - 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6^(7–4)

2007 - 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4

2008 - 6–1, 6–3, 6–0

2010 - 6–4, 6–2, 6–4

2011 - 7–5, 7–6^(7–3), 5–7, 6–1

2012 - 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5

You rock! Wimbledon, here he comes!

The Companion

He stood there. At the edge of the cliff. It almost felt like the end of the world, at least figuratively. What was going on in his mind?

'Is he gonna jump off?'

An observer from the back would've probably said yes. He stood so close to the edge. But someone standing beside, would notice the wide grin on his face. Curious how people are misjudged by observers from the behind!

He was brimming with joy. He was 70 years old. It was 50 years back, that he last came here. That was young and hot blood. Now, however, that blood seems to have tired, and not without reason. His toil over the time wasn't an easy feat. He felt the need to come there, and hence he was standing there, at the edge of the cliff.

Was someone standing beside? No. There once stood a lady, beside him, encouraging him, supporting him and sharing every single emotion there existed , with him. Now, she was gone. Died in her sleep 2 weeks back. And, that was why he was here.

'Wasn't he sad?'

Oh, damn well he was. But as it is said, after sorrow comes acceptance. And, there couldn't have been a better rest to that beautiful soul.

'So, that was why he was grinning?'

He was confused. For the first time in ever so long. He was there alone and he felt it was the best place to seek an answer.

'But he's alone. Who would give him the answer?'

He didn't know for sure. But he felt the urge to come, and so he came. And, still, standing at the edge of the cliff.

'My life has been lived. I've done everything that I've wanted to do. Not that I'm tired, but I'm relieved. What do I do now?', he shouted.

It echoed throughout. It was haunting. As the echo subsided, the answer came, slowly, without echoes.

'Go back to every point in your life where you made a decision, don't look down or away. If you're able to reach 50 years back, then, you've lived your life to the fullest.'

He said, 'Thank you, but who are you?'



'Your shadow. The only one who knows you better than your wife.'

La Premiere Anniversaire!

And, so it happens that, Randomness Redefined completes one year. :)



Last year, on the 30th of May, after many a failed attempt at creating a blog, I started off with "A Journal? Definitely Not." Over the year, 40 posts and around 2.5k hits, I would like to thank each and everyone of you here for reading, encouraging, criticizing, commenting, liking and sharing my posts. Thank you all so much and I hope you will want me to blog more.

La premiere anniversaire! :)

Randomness Redefined!

Rajkiran Rajkumar

How huge Facebook actually is!

Disclaimer : This is any sort of facebook ad, and neither am I an advertiser. I'm just a undergrad who hopes to be placed in the aforementioned company, somewhere in the future! :D

Everyone knows that Facebook is huge, in terms of people, activity, and lots of other stuff. There was this discussion on Quora on whether Facebook notifications were kept count of. An interesting topic, I thought and it struck me that I should try to find it out myself. Following some of the most randomly recent stuff, I sought to find out this and I came up with the following stuff.

Likes :

There you go, "id=2707916356750". A 13 digit value! If these were in fact, in order of uniqueness, since Facebook maintains a timeline which keeps an account of all activity on Facebook, I'm guessing that this IS a unique 'like' identifier, which then means that there are more than 2 trillion likes on Facebook already. And that was a month back. Maybe millions more by now :-P

Then, as it did, my curiosity went deeper and I found something similar with groups too.



There you go again, "....groups/350924038264868/" A 15 digit value! Now, that would possibly mean that there are more number of groups than there are likes which seems slightly absurd. But then, considering that there are different types of groups and each one is indexed in a different way, some of the digits could stand for an indexing code maybe. But then, I'm just guessing :-D

However, this does give an idea about how large Facebook is, in terms of 2 very big numbers or so it seems. Who knows?  Explore around!

Have your fun with Facebook :D

Avengers!!

I went to Avengers today. Plan - Sathyam / INOX. Actual - Vettri. Apparently they renovated Rakesh and figured that Tambaram, Chrompet n surroundings had gotten good enough to come for an English 3D movie

Reached the theatre at 2 30 for the 2 40 show and got the tickets. Went in, and wow!

"Namma Rakesh theatre-ah idhu?". Renovations were very good and I was beginning to get restless for the start of the movie, kindled by the 3D trailers of MIB3 and The Amazing Spiderman.

The movie was simply brilliant with good weightage to all superheros. Believe me, bloody hard to have 6 superheroes and still pull the rabbit from the hat! Two and half hours went magically and for the first time ever, I didn't eat popcorn! :D

The sheer brilliance of the movie brought out by classy dialogues and timely comedy  couldn't have been better. However, the very best was when Captain America gives instructions to all and finally to Hulk, "Hulk? Smash!". Hulk thrashing Loki like a "alasi potta thundu" had everybody in splits.

Confidence when Downey Jr. says "Genius, Playboy, Billionaire and Philanthropist" is just too good. His feelings for Pepper are more intimately revealed. "Phil? His first name is 'Agent' ". Haha :D

However, I did felt that Captain America formed more of the backbone for the team than a leader-up-front. More scenes could've been centered around him. All in all, a good tone-setter for the semester exams to follow :D

Maths book, where are you?

A Privilege, I might say?

BERTIE
True, you never called yourself ‘Doctor’. I did that for you.
BERTIE (CONT’D)
No diploma, no training, no qualifications. Just a great deal of nerve.
LIONEL
Ah, the star chamber inquisition, is it?
BERTIE
You asked for trust and total equality.
LIONEL
Bertie, I heard you at Wembley, I was there. I heard you. My son Laurie said “Do you think you could help that poor man?” I replied “If I had the chance”.
BERTIE
What, as a failed actor!?
LIONEL
It’s true, I’m not a doctor, and yes I acted a bit, recited in pubs and taught elocution in schools. When the Great War came, our boys were pouring back from the front, shell-shocked and  unable to speak and somebody said, “Lionel, you’re very good at all this speech stuff. Do you think you could possibly help these poor buggers”. I did muscle therapy, exercise, relaxation,  but I knew I had to go deeper. Those poor young blokes had cried out in fear, and no-one was listening to them. My job was to give them faith in their voice and let them know that a friend  was listening. That must ring a few bells with you, Bertie.
BERTIE
You give a very noble account of yourself.
LIONEL
Make inquiries. It’s all true.
BERTIE
Inquiries have been made! You have no idea who I have breathing down my neck. I vouched for you and you have no credentials.
LIONEL
But lots of success! I can’t show you a certificate - there was no training then. All I know I know by experience, and that war was some experience. My plaque says, ‘L. Logue, Speech  Defects’. No Dr., no letters after my name.
(with mock seriousness)
Lock me in the Tower.
BERTIE
I would if I could!
LIONEL
On what charge?
BERTIE
Fraud!

 

This is an excerpt from the movie, "A King's Speech". A wonderful movie, I got to watch it only yesterday. This dialogue particularly stood out from the whole movie purely because of its sheer brilliance and weight.

Often, mistakes happen. More often, in interpretation. Even when someone is crystal clear, misinterpretation can happen. The chance to explain, or clarify, in that case, becomes a privilege and a subject matter of trust.  Be it any case, after the mistake has happened, the question of "Who's first?" simply vanishes.

 

The rambling will end here and if you are so free enough to read through this, you would also be to watch the movie. Please do! :D

Just choose!

You can make a choice.

You can decide what you want.

After all, it is your life.

You can choose to

Blame fate.

Cry.

Be desperate.

Curse your bad decisions.

Beg God for something good.

Be depressed about your misfortunes.

Wait for something good.

Ruin your beautiful today.

Hesitate.

Forget and be haunted by it.

Look back and regret what you didn't do.

Or

You can choose to

Take things as they come.

Laugh.

Be patient.

Learn from your bad decisions and move on.

Thank God for making today a memory, or an experience.

Look out for whatever good that you have, and feel, "It ain't so bad!"

Strive and deserve.

Do something that'd make it memorable.

Step-forward.

Forgive and feel proud.

Look back, smile heartily and walk forward.

"I am what I am, because I choose to be.". You are, too. Just choose.

Two years

March 19, 2010. Uff, an end to misery. Hectic schedules would come to an end. I could wake up at 8 after 3 long years. I could watch Naruto from 9 to 5. I could eat and sleep whenever I want. Yes, I had completed my 12th std exams. I still remember, these were my exact thoughts when I came out of the exam hall.

But March 19, 2012. Looking back today, there was much more to it. The year had so many memorable events to it, only to be masked by the insanely important BOARD EXAMS!!

I still remember,

Going to classes at 8 05 and finishing breakfast by 8 10, before the teacher comes, shoving whatever was in the box blindly.

Starting a cold war with Maths ma'am because she didn't let me sit with my friends.

Being an all-boys team and winning the School Rangoli competition.

Coincidental unshaven face becoming a perfect make-over for the politician's role in the drama that we staged.

Writing 3*2 = 5 and missing out a 200 in maths (LOL :D )

Calling friends and trying to put up a schedule for half-an-hour and finally saying "Ada poda. Paathukkalam." before hanging up.

Specifically requesting Thyagu sir to attend the evening batch (All Arul Institute students would know why. ;-) )

Pleading with Arul sir that we'd write tests early morning so as to accommodate the schedule.

Watching  Yu Yu Hakusho, Hungry Heart and AstroBoy and discussing them in class.

Half and hour prep-time for next micro-test that turned into sleep-time.

Wantedly leaving notebooks in the Sanskrit class and interrupting both French and Sanskrit classes.

Echoing CS class answers sitting in the corridor (we were Bio students btw. )

Going flower-searching, the day before practicals.

Playing Kings(Dodgeball or whatever you call it) during PT sessions, because that was the only possible game in our school ground.

Cricket match after the end of every micro-test series.

Singing "Happy birthday" randomly whenever English teacher starts advising.

Records, observations, tests, exams, practicals, revisions. I can only laugh at those memorable times.

Whatever said, school was special because that is where we learnt to have fun, enjoy yourselves and get that 'come-what-may' attitude. College? That's a different roller-coaster, all together.

Memories, and so so many of them. I do miss school :)

The Smile

First of all, I haven't been a hosteler. The last time that I was away from family was during the NCC camp, which was in 9th standard.

 

However, whenever family conversations come up, as they have so many times, most during the 12th standard holidays, "Be prepared to live in a hostel!" was a common sentence, which would inevitably be followed by long speeches, on how bad, a hostel can turn out to be. My usual retorting rant would be, "Ah! No problem at all.. Plus, you wouldn't be nagging me at all times Ma :D ". I'm pretty much sure this would've happened to every single college-student out there.

During sometimes when I was very very jobless(this happened a lot during 12th holidays), my thoughts would drift to "Life as a hosteler". And, I tell you, imaginations can be very hilarious.

But then, I am not a hosteler. I'm a day-scholar(read poor soul) who commutes from Tambaram to CEG, everyday. Travel was, ohmygod, a bad bad nightmare(I know, nightmares are already bad :D ). Getting used to it took almost a semester. Nowadays, though, it is actually enjoyable. For example, like the green chudhidhar. LOL :D

But coming back, as I said, I've never lived the life of a hosteler. Hell, I thought, I'd never miss anyone if I were a hosteler. But yesterday, perspectives changed. My friend Karthikeyan's parents had come from his hometown. You should've seen the smile on his face when he saw them. Wah, priceless.

That was joy, coming at the bottom of the heart. I realized that "Everyone can talk the talk, but only a few, walk the walk" like how uncle says in Jackie Chan adventures.

P.S.: Home, sweet home. Nothing can substitute it :)

Twists n' turns

It was supposed to be a very boring and gloomy day, that had to be spent, with my face buried in the uninteresting pages of Roger Pressman's Software Engineering book.

 

Yet, what happened was very different.

 

Run, jump, think, outwit, hunt, treasure!! This was my excited view of a treasure hunt until first semester. But, one single participation in Agni '11's treasure hunt was enough to bring it all down. That day, was a very tiring one. The long runs from one end of the CEG campus to the other, didn't yield any fruit too. After then, I'd decided to, not participate in any treasure hunt.

 

Intecho '12 - MIT E&I

 

My friend Ramu had invited me to the General Quiz, and so we went, our group of friends. Attempted the quiz prelims and didn't qualify because of some exact terms that the quizmaster expected.

 

So, next what shall we do? There was C debugging. Ok, attempt that atleast. Wrote, didn't qualify. I think there is a jinx against me and debugging :D

 

I was very near to being pissed off and at that time, Ramu invited me for the treasure hunt. Oh, no! I wouldn't go. Then, Harikrishna said, he'd go in my place and I replaced him in the quiz finals with Shreeraman.

Oh, whatte quiz! A narrow difference of +-2 points continued between ours and one other team for 2nd place which eventually ended up in their winning. Till then, this was, in no way better than Roger Pressman.

Then, two good news. Ramu had qualified for treasure hunt finals and Hari had qualified for Circuitrix finals. So, again I replaced one teammate of Ramu's in the finals, since he had work to do and left.

Treasure hunt finals began at 3:20 p.m. The first clue was an anagram, to be figured out.

O' MENDING FIN

For a guy, who has adored Marlin and Nemo enough to watch the movie a dozen times, it was only a matter of milliseconds. Eh, the organizer was surprised at how quickly I retorted the answer.

We had five clues and one common theme. The clues were straightforward, but if someone didn't know their way around MIT, they were surely screwed. We went from Hangar-1 to the IN 252 aircraft to Golden Jubilee Park to the RO plant and collected our remaining slips and submitted them. Our theme was Harry Potter.

 

Finally we'd won something. When we went to collect our prizes, surprisingly we found that there was a thrid place or quiz!

\m/

On a day, where I went for quiz and didn't qualify;

On a day where no prelims were cracked by me;

On a day where again, debugging got the better of me;

On a day, where I participated in treasure hunt after  years, to win it, was sweet :)

All in all, the day was one to be enjoyed purely due to the mixed happenings!! :D

The Devil

"An idle mind is the devil's wokshop."

I don't know how true this is, but one thing that I do seem to infer; The devil's mind is rarely idle. Sounds weird? Well, it does, even to me :D

The devil, who is it anyway? Someone? Something? I'm not sure about that either. To me, the devil is an idea, a notion.

A childish prejudice, a narrow-minded fantasy or even a weird case of OCD! Who knows?

The red colored guy with the cute horns and the grumpy voice sitting on your left shoulder nudging you? Yeah, he's the one, I call the notional devil.

More often, these devils are developed through narrow-minded and illogical thoughts that would seem very logical over the course of thought, whereas, the rise in absurdity would be only exponential to the curious observer. It most often happens, when we seem to put ourselves in others' positions and imagine what we would've done.

So, where does it start to go wrong? The "imagining" part! Bingo, most would say.

So, solution? Don't imagine. Oh, how stupid!

That where it goes wrong is the, "If I were him/her...." part. You're not, you're never gonna be, and you're not a genius all-situation-factoring-in future calculating machine! So, why even suppose? Think for yourselves, for I leave the question open.

So, the next time someone asks you and you say, "சொல்லு மச்சீ, வெட்டியா தான் இருக்கேன்", think twice. The devil could be right inside you :D

\* unleash your thoughts */

The Search

14.2.

Decimal? No. The 14th of Feb.

Where's the year? Well, who cares. Was it gonna make a difference? Nope. It would be one of those countlessly many normal days when the sun rose as usual, set as usual and everything else happened as usual including my routine sleep in class. Anyway, one among the few teenagers, who thought so, was me.

Feb 14th. Valentine's day. Oh my god, Oh my god! The best day of the year. Wonderful day. Beautiful day. Day of destiny. The others probably thought like this.

However, this day, this particular day became a particularly and curiously interesting one.


*cough* *cough*


No, I am not going to tell a love story, neither did I see the girl in green chudidhar again. If you were hoping so, please close this tab.

Thus, I begin my narration of "How I found my bag!".

Yes, my bag. Bag, bag, bag.

Starring : Guruprasad.
Co-stars - Myself and Kaushik Jaganathan.

It all started at 1:15. Lunch was over and I had to go to my dept(CSE) and finish off small works there. Guru was sitting at the sundial, apparently waiting to go out(probably for lunch).

"Dei Guru, I'll go to the dept and be back soon, will you take care of my bag until then?"
"Sure da. Text when your work is done."

I went to the dept, forgetting the fact that 1 to 2 was lunch break. I had to wait until 2 and my job was done. I came to the sundial and to my surprise, my bag was gone. So, was Guru. I called him; not reachable. I called two others and they didn't have it. Then, Guru called back and asked me to check in the Z hall of EEE dept where he'd left it when he went there to meet some of his pals.

The Z hall was empty, "empty". I searched every nook and corner, but no, my bag wasn't there. I called Guru again and said this. He called back n said that Kaushik might have it and he called Kaushik.

In the meantime, Kaushik had taken my bag, which Guru had forgotten in the EEE dept and took it to his home(in Alwarpet). I sighed and thought, "Phew! Atleast its there; I can get it now."

But, anga thaan director twist vekkaraaru! (This is where, the twist of things happens!)

Kaushik's friend had his birthday today and he had gone to EA to buy a gift for him and Kaushik wouldn't be back until 5:30 p.m. :-P My German textbooks, workbook, bike key et al was in bag and, thereby, I could neither go to German class nor go home.

Guru called. "Dei, I'll get it for you da. We'll go in my bike."

But then, Fate wouldn't make it so easy for me. Guru's license was in his uncle's home and so, he went by bus and was back with my bag. Time - 6:10 p.m.

Phew, man, I was glad to see that bag(never been so much!). Hung it around my shoulder, thought of going back to German class.

But then, decided against it. "I've had enough entertainment for one day. Let me go home.". And, so I came back home and laughed at the irony of things because, today morning I decided, "Innikkavadhu German class ku time kku pogalam!"(Let me go to German class, on time, atleast today!"). HAHA.

Whatte day! :)

25 minutes

Humph, and I woke up, "Oh my god, I've missed my alarm!!". Sat upright, searched for my phone under the pillow and looked at the time. 5:59 a.m. One more minute to alarm, thank god. My usual dominating lazy self ordered my head to bury itself under the pillow, and so I did. Then it flashed.

It took a moment's ponder to come to a conclusion that it wasn't a dream but that it had happened the previous evening, for real.

Ah, the lady in red. The lady in red never fails to catch your attention. But, then again, this time, it wasn't the lady in red, it was a lady in green. A green chudidhar. But that was not the first thing that I noticed. I had just gotten a train and was on the way back home; I found a place to sit, and as rarely as that happens, that jet black hair caught my attention. She was reading a book. Or rather just turning pages.

Station number one, gone. She raised from her stooped posture. A phone call, I assumed, and a phone call it was. It was then I saw her face. My first thoughts were, "My, my, what a pretty lady!". I couldn't help but observe more, as there was nothing special to do on the train trip back home.

She was holding the phone in her left hand, and I thought, "I usually hold my phone on the left hand too, dont I?", and then I thought, "Now, why did I think that?"

The forehead was as square as the stones that they cut, that they polish I should say. There wasn't a bindhi. A Christian, or Muslim, I assumed. But what does that matter?

Station number 2, gone. She was speaking for quite a time, and her facial expressions were funny for the distant observer, which in this case, was myself.

More time passed, and I was admiring her little square nose. Should someone keep a marshmallow and she kept her nose behind it, it would beautifully vanish, I thought.

Black beady eyes, and yeah, the green chudhidhar, the distant observer was still admiring those. By this time, I had lost count of the stations that had past. She closed the magazine in her hand, and put it in her bag, when I noticed, it was Aval Vikadan. Knows to read Tamizh I thought.

And, finally my gaze drifted away at the station board read which read, "Chrompet".

Where I get down. Instinct, I thought. I hurriedly got down.


What her name was, where she lived, what she did, what did I know?

P.S.: It takes 25 minutes from Guindy to Chrompet.

D for Dialog

It was only today that I saw one of the most awesome, charismatic movies that I've ever seen so far.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. [laughs] Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me "V"."



If you haven't figured it out it by now, the movie is "V for Vendetta". Of all, this dialog was so awesome that I wanted to know what it meant to the fullest(Come on, you didn't get most of it, either!).

Voilà - French for 'here'.

Vaudevillian - a theatrical performer.

Veteran - expert.

Vicarious - to take/experience something as a substitute for someone else.

Victim - Prey.

Villain - The bad guy.

Vicissitudes - Unfortunate turn of events/circumstances.

Visage - Appearance.

Veneer - a thin cover/veil(that's a V again btw :-P ).

Vanity - Pride(usually excessive).

Vestige - A trace.

Vox populi - Latin for "Voice of the people"(denotes the oppressive times, that the movie is set in)

Vacant - Empty.

Vanished - Disappeared.

Valorous - Of bravery.

Visitation - To visit(as simple as that :-D )

Vexation - To be vexed.

Vivified - Brought to life.

Vowed - To have sworn.

Vanquish - To destroy.

Venal - Corrupt.

Virulent - Dangerously poisonous.

Vermin - Relating to pests(rodents, mostly).

Vanguarding - The first line of defence.

Vice - A bad habit(euphemistically put).

Vouchsafing - Granting permission.

Violent - To mean physical harm.

Vicious - Grossly immoral.

Voracious - Insatiable.

Violation - Breaking of rules.

Volition - The act of choosing.

Verdict - Judgement.

Vengeance & Vendetta - Revenge.

Votive - A wish.

(in) Vain - The outcome being fruitless.

Value - Price.

Veracity - Accuracy.

Vindicate - absolve/clear of suspicion.

Vigilant - Cautious.

Virtuous - Upholding moral values.

Verily - A derivative of 'very'.

Vichysoisse - A culinary item(a soup).

Verbiage - Relating to words that are too much technical.

Veer(s) - To deviate.

Verbose - Containing excessive number of words.

V - Eh? That's just V. And it's also the name of our hero.

Now, I'll keep the known words. Here's the easier version of it.

"Here! You see, a humble expert performer,cast both as prey and the villain, by the unfortunate twist of fate. This appearance, not a mere curtain of pride, is a showcase of the voice of the people, that is now, vacant and vanished. However, this brave visit of a bygone vexing event, stands revived(animated), and has vowed to bring down these corrupt and destructive pests, that defend and permit the violently immoral & insatiable, breach the freedom of choice. The only judgement is revenge, a revenge held as a wish, not in vain, for, the values and the conforming of such facts one day, shall absolve the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this word-play most deviates on the sheer quantity, so let me simply add, that its my very good honour to meet you and you may call me "V"."

Clear, but not charismatic! :-P

What a dialogue! I could only "Wow!" at the end of it.

\* unleash your thoughts */

P.S.: Then again, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look in the mirror.

Farewell

The unforgiving clock moves forward as one more year starts to draw its curtains. There is much to look back, yet the forthcoming times are those which the hold the most important of all - "Hope".

The learnt lessons aside, towards the end of this year, I'd like to say

->Thanks to those who've taught me things, the lessons were worth learning even though the learning experience was hell.

->Sorry to those who I may have hurt, intentionally or unintentionally.

->Goodbye to those who're going to leave me.

->A warm welcome to those who came into my life.

->And a huge hug to my friends who'd been with me, through thick and thin. .That you ppl were there no matter what, was my Herculade.

Carrying forward the lessons, memories, the brunts and the scars, I say goodbye to you. Farewell 2011.

Bienvenue 2012. Happy new year :)

That Split Second

The world grew silent. Deafeningly silent. The silence was creating a void, or perhaps more appropriately, widening the nascent void...

In the midst of the abhorring realization, the question "Why?" seemed irrelevant. It just didn't matter anymore.

Having brought back into reality by a sharp pang, a wrench of the gut, the truth struck harder than ever. Exploding anger and excruciating pain vanished into thin air, for the mind knew he'd snap, if it were let loose.

As the sky would grow dark and eventually rain, eyes grew wet and a single tear fell. However, not silently.

It asked, "Losing something again for an unworthy cause?"

He said, "You'll be the last one."

And, synchronously, they uttered, "I'm sorry for you." The tear fell. The next didn't come.

He'd been betrayed by a friend.