"
Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
- A. Sachs -
My Grand mother passed away!
It's been two days since she started an other journey to an unknown destination. She was ninety nine (1912-2011). Whenever I think about it, I couldn't help but awe. What a magnificent journey ??!!
She lived through three different generations. She would've witnessed the slow but steady invasion of British rule in India. She would've witnessed the long and tiresome freedom movement which involved non-violence, riots, violence and bloodshed. She would've witnessed the unforgettable night of our independence. She, then lived through the change which the world witnessed after independence. Right from the invention of the electronic televisions in 1920's to the latest 'i-pod touch'.
Not an ordinary journey at all ...
Few years back, she was telling me a story about Subramanya Bharathi (One of the ideal and inspiring freedom fighters).
I asked her "Have you seen him?"
She replied "Yeah, But I vaguely remember him. I was too young"
"What about Mahatma Gandhi?" I asked again.
"Yeah, Lot of times! He was always on some trip, protesting something!"
Having written this conversation, I've to include our recent conversation.
Last month I was chatting with someone on Facebook. She slowly came towards me.
"What's this?" she was pointing towards the Facebook screen.
I explained everything about Facebook, about how it works and it's uses. She was so interested to hear about FB. At the end she said "Atlast, the world shrunk to a minimum possible extent!"
ME, MY SISTER, MY GRANDMA ...
She loved me and my sister very much. I always thought that we are her favorite grandchildren. She was so active until the very last day. She told me that she would start her final journey only after my marriage. But I didn't expect that she would leave us the very next day. My dad was so normal when he did all the final duties. He was alright during the funeral. When that day came to an end, everyone who came to the funeral were leaving. After sending off the last family, I went in. My sister was crying out loud, my mom was sobbing and my dad remained silent. After a minute of silence, mom and sister talked about her. Slowly, my dad broke his limits off. He started crying like a small child. We consoled him and started talking about the good things about her. Later, the same silence prevailed again. I felt something unusual. Something strange ... I then, realized something, a part of my family was lost. I couldn't hear her voice yelling out my name. I couldn't hear her slow approaching footsteps, I couldn't see her smile. It's true! A part of my family was gone, forever!
I don't know about her whereabouts. She might be present in this room now, She might be guiding me through this post or she might be sitting behind me with the same gracious smile. I don't know anything about those super natural things. But I do know something. She loved us and if possible she would love us forever :)
This not an other chapter. Consider this as a tiny break in between a boring story.
I found that many readers, who read my blog have somewhat similar interests like I do. I read and follow many blogs. There are many cool and talented writers out there. Here, I've posted two blogs which I thought, might interest you guys.
1. A YEAR ABROAD
Matt, who is the author of this blog is my inspiration for both travel and writing. In this blog, we follow him as he travels throughout Europe. To be precise he's living the life which I aspire to live. Those who are interested in traveling and living your life to the fullest, this blog is for you !!!
CLICK HERE
FOLLOW MATT'S TRAVEL TO IRELAND ...
2. STARSHINE
This is another cool blog by my close friend. She's an aspiring writer and definitely talented. STARSHINE is an example for that. This blog covers some sensitive and interesting topics such as 'Dreams', 'Weight Loss' etc. One of my favorites!
CLICK HERE
Enjoy these blogs while you can! I'll soon be troubling you with another chapter of my story.
READERS BEWARE !!!
Whoever reading this post: Don't be too alarmed! This is not a huge post describing my new bike (If I'm allowed to call that a bike). This is a really small and quick post. So, bear with me!
As you've already figured out, I bought a new bike (or scooter). It's not a brand new Honda Activa, but its a Honda Activa. Recently I've been asked the same question again and again. 'Why Activa? Why not a bike?'
There are lots of answers or reasons for this question.
First and Foremost ...
1. No other vehicle was available at that time and I wanted it within two days.
I know that the above reason serves the purpose, but still there are some other valid ones ...
2. I'll be using this scooter, only for four months. Then it will be used by my dad or by my sister. Both of them, could not use geared vehicles.
3. My mom is not very comfortable with the thought of me driving a geared vehicle in the 'IT EXPRESSWAY' which is a dangerous road stretch. (That's where my office is located!).
MY NEW-OLD BIKE ...
I found that all the above reasons are totally valid and at last I bought my own 'green-colored' vehicle !!!
I read lots of negative reviews about Activa. But I have no complaints whatsoever. It's so smooth to drive and it feels like flying while driving. (Okay, am exaggerating!). But it does feel good. It's a new addition to my friends list. Lots of long and adventurous road trips await both of us!
Okay ... So, Why exactly did I write those words ???
I sincerely apologize for those who got pissed off by seeing the sentence "TO BE CONTINUED." It's because, I dozed off while writing the last paragraph. But I had a target of finishing at least one post for the day. I've been told that the best possible way of ending something abruptly is to add that magical sentence, "TO BE CONTINUED."
Coming to the point, where I left, I was shocked to hear that! 'Twenty minutes walk from Taramani Railway Station.' I replied to that staff with the same phrase "I'll get back to you soon." I spent rest of that afternoon thinking about that station (Why??!!). Later that evening my friend Pavan Kumar called me. That conversation took an entirely different direction.
Pavan "What are you doing? It's so ****ing boring"
Me "I got an offer for an interview. I'm in a dilemma!"
I shared my past experience about that place with him.
He said "I have a bike and I need a job"
After an hour or so, myself, Pavan and his bike reached the gates of a eleven-storey building. I didn't believe my eyes. The building was magnificent! I totally didn't expect that. We went in and met with Human Resource Manager. I asked about the job, instead she said something about a written test. I was a bit nervous. We were seated in an air conditioned hall and the test began!
That computer based test consisted of hundred multiple choice questions covering all the aspects of English language. We finished the test within an hour and finally found that the internet was connected. We could have googled those answers !!!
Within a day's time both of us were called for an HR interview. The same bike travel again, same building and same time as the previous day. It was a personal and professional interview. HR manager asked about my future plans, my past experience etc. She checked my memory. She made me read a huge passage from the newspaper 'Los Angeles Times.' She asked some questions based on that and finally she offered a gentle handshake and said 'Welcome Aboard.'
She then explained about the job (Confidential !!!)
It was better than I expected. The company had that so called 'Corporate Atmosphere.' The company has two branches. One, in Chennai and other one in US. There were lots of foreign faces including our Managing Director. The job is a 'nine hours-regular job.' It required lots of writing. I was okay with every terms and conditions. But, I had a question. I usually have this question when am new to some strange place or atmosphere. "Would I fit in here??"
As I already stated, I was nervous. But then, I was happy to know that Pavan got the job too. We treated ourselves in the nearest restaurant. Within the next day Pavan managed to piss of the HR Manager. He had an argument with her about quitting the job. He decided to reject the job offer. I was left alone !!!
On the date of joining, I had lots of questions and confusions. I reached the office on time (Bus travel). I was seated in the same room where I took the test. That floor had a centralized AC. The room was severely cold and I started shaking. Soon, few others joined me in that room. At first I was so hesitant, to even ask the time. Things started happening then. A corporate trainer joined us in that room. He seemed like a jolly guy. He started taking marketing class. It covered self marketing, personality development blah blah blah .... We underwent two continuous weeks of training and finally hit the production floor yesterday. So, what could have possibly happened in that two weeks ??? Well, according to me, lot of things happened!
To name a few, I earned few good friends, I slowly learnt the job, My English grammar was refreshed, I earned a friendly smile from a cute girl, I finally got over my fear of 'TARAMANI RAILWAY STATION.' (because I travel by train and I have to set foot on that haunted station on a regular basis!)
What more one could ask for ??!!
NOW, SOME OFFICE PICTURES ... EXCUSE ME, FOR THE POOR QUALITY. IT'S A 'VGA CAMERA.'
Finally everything is shaping up in a good and unexpected way! I assume that it is fair to say that my job hunt started and ended in Taramani Railway Station.
Now you know the story of 'How I got my job ???'
I'm proud to say that finally I got a job. Finally everything is shaping up in a good and unexpected way. By everything, I meant my study-abroad plans, financial conditions, getting all my degree certificates and stuffs from my college etc etc. Out of all this, I want to mention few things about the study-abroad plans. Studying abroad can be an easy and exciting thing to plan, but to execute ???!!! It is the most toughest thing to do. I'm going to dedicate a separate post for all that confusions, dilemmas and decisions. It totally deserves that. Now, coming back to the job part, again, am proud to say that I finally got a job with a good pay but without a single bond and time restrictions.
To be precise, my job hunt started and ended in Taramani Railway Station. For those who don't know about Taramani, it is an industrial suburb of Chennai city. Unlike other city railway stations, Taramani has a unique one. Unique in everything! It is a place which scares me. Yeah! You heard me right! It SCARES me. The station is deserted all the time. If you're lucky enough, you'll find some two or three passengers on a sunny afternoon. The place has some never ending dark tunnels, leaking pipes, squeaking mouse, bats and what else ??? To be exact, picture a haunted mansion in your mind. That's Taramani Railway Station for you. Some may think that this description is a bit over-exaggerated. But it's not!
Coming back to the story, me and my friend Ravi reached the legendary Taramani Station on a fine sunny afternoon following an interview call from a person unknown. I think this incident, happened before a month's time. I couldn't recall the date. He called from a consultancy and left us with an address. He told something about an interview for graduates. It was the time when we were desperately searching for a job. We found our way out of the station (took us more than ten minutes!!!) We started walking and after twenty minutes of walk, we managed to find a small two storey building which matched the address. We then waited for about fifteen minutes to be received by a man who called us. Another ten minutes in that building and we finally figured out the nature of that job. To sell 'caller tunes.' The script goes like this ...
"Hello, I'm calling from XXX cellphone company. Are you interested in activating a caller tune which is new in stores?" Later that hour a woman, who is an employee of that company inquired about us and she said few things in return. The context of what she said was 'There are two types of customers for this company. First type of customers would disconnect the call at 'XXX cellphone company' part. Rest would disconnect after hearing all of it. The fact is that no body would buy! But the target is fifty buyers per day. If not, the management wouldn't let us go home. The salary is below Rs.5000/month. (Doesn't even cover my conveyance charges !!!) We gently smiled at the person who interviewed us and said "We'll get back to you tomorrow. We have to give it a thought!"
As I said, I gave it a thought and from then on, I never attended any interview until last week. I got a call from a consultancy (again!!!).
"I'm calling from XXX consultancy. I saw your resume in naukri.com (job site) I assume that you are a writer" (I do a lot of writing, but writer??? Nooo !!!).
She went on saying "I have a job which matches your profile. An article and profile writing job. Rs. 15,000 basic pay with no time restrictions or bond." I was so excited. That's the exact job profile I was looking for. I thought 'I couldn't ask more'. I asked in an overwhelming tone "Where's the company located?"
She replied
"Twenty minutes walk from TARAMANI RAILWAY STATION ... "
- TO BE CONTINUED -
Unbelievable !!!
It's been 4 years since I came to this mighty metropolitan CHENNAI. Small town of Guduvanchery showered motherly love towards me. It showed me the happiest and soft side of life. Lakes, Mountains, Friends and lots of Cricket. But Chennai taught me the meaning of merciless life. It robbed my innocence and forced the maturity which I badly needed that time. But there were lots of happy, fun filled and life changing moments too. Most of them, happened only in ABINAYA APATMENTS. My place and my house for almost four years. My dad rented a house in that apartment before four years. I joined my college, my sister joined a new school for her 12th grade. That house witnessed each and everything I narrated in this blog. I remember starting the first post of this blog sitting and holding the laptop on the wide terrace of that house. Lots of experiences and happiness. ABINAYA APARTMENT provided my two good friends of all time. Kishore and Shamini. Kishore finished celebrated his 8th birthday last month and Shamini is his classmate. My two good friends. I can't forget the days of cricket and throw ball, I used to play with them. Two months before, our house owner requested us to vacate the house as he decided to give this house to his daughter. That's when the search for an other house started. The search lead to a newly built apartment near a suburb called RAMAVARAM.
Out of all the other houses this house seemed more comfortable and the area seemed to be so quiet and decent. One fine Sunday morning we moved to a tiny beautiful house in the RAMYAM APARTMENT. It's always interesting to move to a new place because of its people and feel. New people means new characters. There's a great chance of finding some great untold stories in new places. I took a long night stroll on my first day in that place. The area was so quiet and peaceful. It was filled with lot of bungalows, new trend houses. It's a sophisticated area. I couldn't find anybody walking or riding in that road except a stray dog which kept following me right from the start of my stroll. I heard some distant television voices inside a bungalow. I guessed that almost everyone in the area goes for great payable jobs and after a long hard day they lock themselves in their bungalows and wait for that day to come to an end. Almost every rich or upper middle class families prefer these areas and they're so proud about moving there.
My new area doesn't have a gang of playing children yelling and running through the street, It has no mobile ice cream cycles where children scream for their share, It doesn't have a gang of kids playing cricket in the street, it doesn't have life. Everyone's minding their own business. It's sophisticated and am not proud of it ...
If you take a look at the "ABOUT ME" part of this blog, I'd have described myself as a weird species. Yes, I am! "What's your dream?" This is the most common question one would face in a socially effective community. Each and everyone in this planet has their own dreams. It differs from one another. Some people dream about doing weird and insane things while some people dream about the most common things. I have a basket full of dreams. But unlike many others, all my dreams revolve around travelling. Recently I added an other dream in my basket and I bet this is a strong one! Spending my last days around an unknown lake in Iceland. I know, that it sounds too weird. But, I can't help it.
There are many reasons that I got obsessed with Iceland. It's a virgin land. The nature of the country is merciless. Beautiful barren green lands, purest rivers, clear sky, harsh volcanoes, silent lakes and forests. It's untouched by man and offers complete wilderness. One of the most important thing is that being in Iceland one would get to see the NORTHERN LIGHTS. A Northern light is a natural light display in the sky, particularly in the polar regions, caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field. The pictures I've posted below shows the northern light in a clear sky. These pictures are not edited.
These are some of the reasons which strengthens the desire to spend a considerable amount of my life time in Iceland. I'm sure that I enjoy my life am living at present, a perfect artificial urban lifestyle. Roaming out in the bright streets with friends, watching movies in giant multiplexes, taking long walks in the traffic filled roads, big artificial malls, college life, exams, projects, presentations, career, future, jobs, money, car, wife, kids ... and the pattern goes on till death.
'Is there anything outside this pattern?' ... 'Yes, there sure is!'
There are lots of beautiful things out there which we fail to see or refuse to admire. There are lots of things to wonder about. I always wondered about a never never land which is far far away. Let me tell about it! Usually am the last one to go to bed in my family. It takes time for me to sleep. I'd be lying in the bed staring at the silent sky outside the window. That's the starting point for all of my dreams. At times I'd think of some strange far far away land where everything's so pure and untouched. A land very sparsely populated. A life so related with the true colors of nature. Most of the nights I'd dream about that magical land in my dreams. Sometimes I'd be so disappointed to find that everything's just a dream.
But a few days before I had the chance of reading about Iceland. Before that I had no clue about that country. I knew that it's a small island in Europe. But I never knew that Iceland is the far far away land I've been dreaming of. I read a lot about that country, I saw a bunch of videos and made friends with few of the Iceland people through Facebook, and now I feel so related to it. I know that it is the recession capital of the world. The recession has attacked it's capital Reykjavik worser that any other countries in the world. The country is slowly relieving from the clutches of the evil recession. But nothing bothered me. It's the only land I could at least closely relate to my dream. As I mentioned earlier, my one of the weirdest dream is to spend my last days around an unknown lake in Iceland. I only have a picture of it. I've no idea about the whereabouts of that place. But am sure that one day my dream would come true. I'd be living far away from the artificial society, far away from the sounds of machines and traffic, far away from the fights and quarrels, far away from everything and I'd be the quiet sailor who is sailing in this unknown lake.
I never expected that there would be a farewell for final year students. But yeah ... There was one. A great one! All the final year students of mechanical got an invite for the farewell party from third year students. After I saw the invitation in my cell, I thought, apparently we're gonna get beaten up by them. Yeah, we got off on the wrong foot. So, It was decided that the venue was ABIRAMI MEGA MALL, one of the ... uh, let's say ... a decent malls in Chennai. My invite message said that the function is gonna be held at 6PM. I reached the mall around 5.50PM. I was said that the function is going on at the terrace, roof top! I cautiously climbed the stairs. I didn't know what was waiting for me. I said to my leg ... 'Even the slightest sign of danger ... Runaway my boy' I was so hesitant to open the door of the terrace. Everyone of us would have experienced the 'ahhh ... what the hell' moment. I experienced it and I opened the door. But 'what was I thinking?' ... It was unbelievable. The decoration, the stage, the speakers, even the chairs looked great! It was an actual grand farewell! Third year students forgot the friction between us and came up with a mind blowing party. I'm sorry guys and I thank all of my juniors who made such a great effort for a great party.
All of my classmates were present. There were shouts, claps and joy. I felt so terrible to even think about what I thought. Our juniors asked everyone of us to speak something about these four years. So did we. After the grand speech, I realized that it's not just me! Just me to think that 'To love a girl is an absurd think to do' Almost everyone warned the third years to watch out for girls, and by this, I mean "no offense" for all the girls out there. You know what I mean. Then started the music. Music of the south! The fast beats and the environment made everyone to dance. 'Sounds gay right? :P' But I swear it was 'friggin' awesome!!!
The roof top offered a splendid view of the city. Then dinner! I must say, it was filled with variety. It was amazingly delicious !!!
But another important thing ... this farewell party proved to be a great opportunity to meet a lost friend who's now in 'Balumahendra Film School'. The best film school in the city. He discontinued the engineering in his second year to pursue film making, something which I tried to do, but couldn't. It was great to meet him and we discussed about films, film making and his film school. Finally the fun came to an end as the clock struck 9PM.
But that's the last time, I guess. Everyone's gotta plan. Next year, the same time, I bet many would be studying or working there ass out in some other part of the world. Very few would be here and am sure they'll be so busy looking after their life. No more messages, no more 10 rs ticket in Devi theater and no more night out at the beach. After many goodbyes and take cares the place finally became empty. Empty stage, unoccupied chairs and silent speakers ...
I guess it's been a long time since I wrote something in this blog. That's because am now in the process of learning a very valuable art which is the most essential thing for every human to learn. THE ART OF DOING NOTHING ...
Still one more month to go. The most important phase in my life is coming to an end. As I already stated, the phase which brought out the MAN in me. College life's coming to an end. In a month am gonna be a complete engineer. Actually am very happy that college life's gonna end but at the same time I'm gonna miss those crazy days with my friends and all those night stays and horror movies we watched, Especially the rainy as well as the scary night of REC!
Here are some of memorable moments of college life :)
That's me alright :P
Ram showing ****
With Bus mates
Sai Shyam's exam paper
Toy Story 3D
Anyhow, back to the topic of NOTHING, you gotta ask the engineering students ... "What's the most toughest job in this whole damn earth?" They'd say "Spending the final days of engineering"
Watching TV - Sucks ...
Downloading Movies - Can't watch more than 3 films per day ...
Talking to strangers in Omegle - Can't do it for more than a hour ...
Riding along the streets of different countries in Google maps - 2 hours tops ...
Facebook - Once in 5 minutes :P
Nothing else to do ... But I'm guessing this is the only chance that's given to me to learn this beautiful art. Everyone's real life starts after they finish their college. I remember someone saying this to me
"Enjoy your college life, after that, you're on your own son, May God not be so hard on you"
Definitely these words are the voice of the man who faced some harsh experiences in his life. Everyone's stating the same quote again and again
"Life's not full of roses" or "Life's not the same after your college" or "You're gonna face the true color of life after your college"
I don't know what's with these different quotes, but I have a small hunch that am gonna enjoy all the above stated experiences. For all the final year students out there, 'We know that something big is waiting for us, maybe big enough even to swallow us, but let's be prepared, and not give a damn about that thing ... Till then we could simply enjoy the blissful 'ART OF DOING NOTHING.'
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