My collection of dreams and experiences.......

Steve jobs great Speech at Stanford

2010-06-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower," Steve Jobs.

And how well these words describe the man himself. For a man who takes home an annual salary of $1, it is surprising that Jobs regularly is in the list of the world's rich and powerful.

In his resume, Jobs says his objective is to look for a fixer-upper with a solid foundation. "Am willing to tear down walls, build bridges, and light fires. I have great experience, lots of energy, a bit of that "vision thing" and I'm not afraid to start from the beginning."

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin to Joanne Simpson and an Egyptian Arab father, Jobs is the chief executive officer of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California.

Jobs lives with his wife, Laurene Powell and their three children in Silicon Valley. He also has a daughter, Lisa Jobs from a previous relationship.

We present here Steve Jobs' Commencement address at Stanford University where he speaks about the highs and lows of life, how to counter challenges and how to fight the odds to come out victorious. Jobs delivered this speech on June 12, 2005.

I am honoured to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.

I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born.

My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.

Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.

So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course."

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers.

She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later, I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition.

After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.

I loved it.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in thecountry.

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.

I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.

It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.

And we designed it all into the Mac.

It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them.

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky -- I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.

We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh -- a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired.

How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well.

But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.

When we did, our board of directors sided with him.

So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down -- that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologise for screwing up so badly.

I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me -- I still loved what I did.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance.

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.

Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

So keep looking until you find it.

Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.

I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.

I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.

I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades.

Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.

It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.

This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.

It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.

It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.

On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off.

Stay Hungry.

Stay Foolish.

And I have always wished that for myself.

And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you.

Sree...

Best inspiration speech

2010-06-01T20:28:00.001-07:00

Following is the speech by Chetan Bhagat given at the orientation programme for the new batch of MBA students at Symbiosis, Pune.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing – to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure – a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said – don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember – if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’ s cousin is Frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life – friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness – this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You.

Chetan Bhagat

Sree...

MY TREK TO BECOME A GRADUATE

2009-12-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today morning when i opened my Inbox I saw a mail from my friend containing her LOVE story penned down by pouring all her feelings from heart. It was very interesting and as a fan of such stories I thought i can post it in my blog weather or not it refers to me.

I am a girl born with silver spoon in my mouth. No difficulties ,no painful incidents, no sleepless nights and no deviations. I had a royal and graceful life. Wonderful parents ,caring siblings and merciful blessings from God. Anything I just think, would be in-front of me even before asking someone. This is the way I am blessed. All my friends envy me "ohh..gosh!!! ....I hope we had such a merrymaking life like her's!!! she;s damn lucky". yes I admit I am lucky.This is all about my life. Then comes the time when I need to get pragmatic and lead my own life which was quiet curious in the beginning. I decided to go for a grad school to earn a degree in the field i like the most "The Aerospace". The word "aero" was very eye-catchy to me most likely since my childhood. I still remember the nights when I stared at the sky hoping to meet an alien some fine day in my life. I was quiet excited to go to a grad school. This is the juncture where i need to decide a suitable grad school. I was working really hard to clear all my exams to get into the grad school.

Then I meet a person who almost made most of my nights sleepless.I don't even remember a day, not thinking of this person. He is sooo charming, he almost swept me off my feet with a perfect broom. He has a great charm on his face which made any one fall for him. His eyes very sparkling all the time with confidence. His smile made millions fall on his way. His passion towards life made me fall for him. He is an amazing words made me to just listen to him quietly all the time. I am afraid that I can fall short of words to describe this amazing person.

I always heard about love. I describe "Love as an utopia", A land of fairy tales. I never ever experienced this feel before. Whenever I see this person or even think of him, I have a feel of playing a jazz in my heart.My eyes were always curious to meet this person, talk to this person and spend most of my time with him. I never, ever felt something even closer to this before. All my life was scintillating , dazzling and blossoming with his company. I felt for a while that my life would be just a perfect and an idealistic one with him and I am pretty sure that my friends now will be like "jeezzz.....I want a life just as perfect as hers".

Being a girl, I was not bold enough to propose him. I was trying hard to hit him with an idea that i like him more than anyone on this earth. One fine morning I decided to stir up a conversation involving boyfriends and girlfriends. This is the juncture in my life which completely made me turn topsy turvy. I never even gave a taught of him saying something like that. I was completely upset with it. I was unable to express myself to him, which was even more worst as I was never like that. My eyes were filled with tears . My tears were just waiting to droll down my cheeks. I couldn't face him any more. I didn't know what to do then. could you guess by this time what he said??? yup...he said that " I have a girlfriend!!!","She's love of my life". yes.yes yes. ofcourse I completely agree that a guy with such great charm defenetly has a girlfriend. I was pissed off just by my own nature that "how could I be such a dum-Ass that I even couldn't give a shot of thinking him to have someone else in his life??" well probably that shows how much I was mesmerized in his lovely talks.

I was soo much upset with this issue that I almost spend a month to get rid off his thoughts. He's not my crush to forget, I miss him every moment of my life. I got a habit of seeing him every day talking to him almost 7hrs a day by then. I couldn't even digest the fact that I no longer can see him or even talk to him as he said that he is gonna marry his girlfriend and live for ever. For the first time in my life I envy this girl. "plzzz

jeezzzz....!!! make him get rid off her so that he can be mine .I want this guy some or the other way" .I just hated that girl for no reason. I don;t even know her. I never even met her. I was not supposed to say something like that. But I did it.I knew that It was not good but I couldn't stop doing that.

But later I realized that I was just going nuts on this particular guy which is no way good on my part. One day I realized that He's a good guy but not good for me and then I wanna puke on all my thoughts of grabbing him right away from his girlfriend. I realized the aim of my life to be a good or even a great engineer in my dream-field "The aerospace" .I re-focused on my career and got into one of the most prestigious schools "The van kofin fluid sciences".And now I am just doing great.

My dear friends life teaches us lot of things. Some might be joyful and some other might be painful.But remember one thing the lessons taught by life are never sugar coated.They are frank and sturdy.They often hurt us. But what so ever it is, take the courage to overcome the difficulties and strive hard to achieve your goals. Never allow the painful situations to over take you. Remember one thing in your life which I follow most of the times "YOU ROCK". This is the word which makes me to drive myself out of all my difficulties. Makes me to turn all those unturn stones on my path and rewrite great thing on that tombstone and stand out from the mob . Friend's don't forget "YOU ROCK. YOU ALWAYS ROCK!!!"

-Sushmitha

how good am I !!!!

2009-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a dream of all the people around me including god was hating and disliking me for no reason. When I woke up in the morning and gave a thought what could be the reason if someone hates me. I always credited myself a good person like anyother thinks of self. But when i have contemplated and assessed myself based on the true traits of a good human being by taking some elucidations from my life I realized that I have long way to go before I assume myself as salt of the earth.

Characteristics---> How good am I

Fearlessness-- >50%

purity of heart-- >70%

holding fast

to knowledge of the spirit--->60%

charity--> 40%

restraint of the senses-->70%

sacrifice-->60%

study of religious texts-->70%

austerity-->40%

straightforwardness-->60%

Harmlessness-->90%

truth-->70%

freedom from anger-->70%

renunciation-->60%

tranquility of spirit-->50%

lack of malice-->60%

compassion towards all living things--->70%

freedom from covetousness-->60%

tenderness,--->80%

modesty-->60%

steadfastness-->60%

Vigor-->70%

patience-->80%

constancy-->80%

purity-->75%

freedom from hatred-->70%

lack of conceit-->65%

Sree...

DESTINY-deep from mid sea

2009-08-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

The sea god was soaring at his best; eddies and the dimples of tide were playing around the bows of ship, for some time I enjoyed observing the mid sea whirlpools and for some more time I gazed at the blanched sky to find the nothingness except fleecy clouds. When the reverberating noise of cranks from twenty cylinder engine along with the ocean sounds made soothing symphony I tried to sing till I realized that there was none to listen except meters and multiple desktop screens. I tried my best in all possible ways to elude my confinement in a small control room of big engine room but the loneliness just like a storm in ocean caused the floods of thoughts about my past and destiny.

I became frustrated for failing in all three consecutive core job interviews when all of my friends were able to make it through campus recruitment. I was known as technical savvy in our class and even our class topper used to come to me for clarifying his doubts. I had never imagined myself without being placed especially after having had 8+ GPA and lot of other credentials. Not entirely true to my apprehension I could get one job finally at the end of our final sem!!! I was the last one among fifty to be placed but only one to get jackpot. Yes, ironically I got a job in IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation Ltd), one of the most lucrative jobs offered in our campus.

When I shared my triumph with my family they celebrated it with the whole village as if they reaped the rewards of all their twenty years of hard work. My uncle who was delighted by my success had announced me as a best choice to his beautiful daughter. But it was not much longer did I realize that the destiny had the role to play it again. I was assigned a job of maintaining a petrol bunk (outlet) on a highway somewhere in remote area of Assam where my duty was to audit the daily cash and oil consumption. Moreover my boss whose attitude was domineering and overbearing was unbearable. Soon I became spiritless and wondered why they required a mechanical engineer from one of the premier institutes in the country for a clerical kind of job. One day I happened to attend a seminar on ‘self realization’ by a famous management guru and then decided to call a quit my permanent job for pursuing the noble profession of Teaching. But it was not easy as I expected to get a teaching job considering my inexperience and qualification. I had to sit idly for more than two months at home by listening to my family woes and my uncle’s nit-picking. Somehow I got a call from CBIT for the position of Lecturer to guide and help students in their technical projects but the monthly pay was not even half of my previous paycheck. I grabbed the offer with both hands and tried to help the students in their technical work. The ‘Sir’ job lasted for another six months until I met one of my childhood friends in a train to Mumbai for student hybrid car project presentation in IIT fest. In return to Hyderabad I had to meet my friend in Pune and he took me to Lonavala for outing where my next future was destined to begin. Then and there I came to know about the SIMS (merchant navy school) in Lonavala through my friend and understood about the life of adventurous voyage. May be it was ordained but I have seen my future and made a determination to join in that school. In a month when I was selected to SIMS through national wide entrance exam my uncle who had been thinking of my wedlock with her daughter till then could not bet on my capricious nature and married her to a nice gentle man against to my wish.

After one year of education, six months of vigorous training and grooming I was on a ship for my first assignment to Europe. And soon I was absorbed by a multinational company with six digit salary in dollars and promised to give perks for my work. But I know it’s futile to think much about my future as MOIRAI will have a role to play again.

Sree…

A Decision to make

2009-07-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

“I don’t know what to tell them, they want the marriage should take place in ten days and asked me to make my decision by tomorrow evening. It’s very much puzzling; my legs are shaking with jittering movement. I feel like nerves pulling throughout my body and heart is pounding with lot of emotions. It’s all on your decision; I’ll accept for the marriage only on your consensus and I am sure your take the judgment that will be bliss to me.”

I was really stumped when my best friend asked me for help in making her mind for an arranged marriage which her parents left to her choice. When she put her future at my tip I saw her lot of assurance on me. When she believed me to take the best decision I had to have a sleepless night.

First of all I enquired about his back ground through my contacts and later spoke with him for an hour. Somehow I was convinced and believed that she should marry him given all the constraints she had. But again I remembered it as an important decision to make and I had to think and use all the possibilities of a true decision making techniques before I have come to a conclusion.

GOAL---------àMaking a decision (is that a prefect match or not)

-------àAvoid all negative, unintended consequences (it should not affect her future)

Identify the roles of different people:

Her parents and her uncle& aunt--àthey all accepted except her uncle who is bit hesitant about the NRI culture & habits.

Her cousins & friends--à they have all nodded though they didn’t know much about the groom n his family except his education background.

Importantly, her decision--à She’s doesn’t want to marry at this point of time although she is perfectly alright with the groom.

Objectives: She should be happy with her marriage

What kind of the guy he is--à modest, shy, hard working, reserved, well planned and but bit stingy & arrogant and not so good looking.

What are their neighbor’s opinions on that guy?-à sincere, submissive and timid…

What is their neighbor’s opinion on his family?-àwealthy, not kind to less rich, bit pompous, and politically connected.

His habits, routines & hobbies? ---> Drinks, smokes, less sociable, neither a movie buff nor mad of books. Not much religious and hardly go to temple.

Siblings?--àTwo younger sisters, one married & other studying..

About his Job?--à Very stable & good pay in a known MNC.

Location?-à NJ,USA

How long he wants to be there?--àpermanent (looking for green card)

How was the conversation with him?-à trying to impress her and showing lot of curiosity.

Range of alternatives:

Another match in next 6 months?--à Unsure of getting a rich & good looking groom.

Does she love someone?-à No (even in next 6 months)

What about a good cultured family?-àIt’s difficult to find a guy without habit of drinking and religious with matching cast & status etc.

Is she attractive enough?-àVery attractive & very good natured to get good husband anytime.

Can she wait for long time?--àHer parents can’t wait for more than a 6 months.

How about her family?-à Very respective, known for their helping nature and very religious. Not rich comparatively and losses in business recently. Also her younger sister is yet to marry.

Determine each alternative meets Objective?

Likewise I jotted down all the parameters for decision making and gave weightage to each parameters depending upon its importance and priority by keeping in mind the main objective. Later, I segregated the negatives from positives before giving final count to each of them. Finally, I could see more of positives in favor of the marriage and matching with my earlier instincts I suggested my friend to agree for the marriage proposal.

It may look silly and absurd but even after a year I still believe that I could successfully take one of the most important decisions of my life with the help of brain storming especially given the fact that I was always lauded by her for my usual aplomb and composure at that time.

Sree…

Deserted Heart

2009-07-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

When I leafed through the yesterday's e-paper I found the main paper with same mundane political news, opposition castigating the government and government accusing the opposition of sabotage. But the short bold lettered heading at one corner 'A 23 year old committing suicide for love failure' could grab my attention and made me to dig deeper in to the story. Surprisingly it exactly reflected my past experience and perturbed my mind with recollecting my failure story of love just a year ago. When i said it is an unfortunate, my friend indicated that it is a crazy and stupid act. He also asserted that the very idea of felo-de-se itself is a most foolish act one can do, no matter if it's a love failure or a blow up in personal life. But in my experience one has to understand what circumstances force them to take that most unpleasant decision especially when they were as good as us mentally and intellectually. Accurate to someone's theory, Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain, I was also compelled to think ending my life....

As usual the morning sun in Hyderabad unmasked the bustling life for bread and butter, the Ameerpet Jn which is famous for heavy traffic already packed with street vendors and the traffic signal standing in the middle by resisting all kind of noise and pollution was staring at me helplessly as if I was the only one who could listen to its woes. I cursed the government for all the traffic tribulations and killed my bike engine at the red signal in between looking at the heavily loaded city bus. All of sudden a girl on Honda Activa zipped in to the narrow space few inches away from my bike by curtaining my view on the bus. She was very pretty in her yellow dress with innocent face but she was damn good to attract my rigid, temperate and not her type behavior. But the signal flashed green by making my face red and leaving her hurtling past in a moment of time before I tried to talk with her.
Exactly two months after that I saw her again in our office as GET (Graduate Engineer Trainee) just like me joining as fresher. I could not believe my eyes and pinched my arm remembering similar scene from a movie. True to my luck she was also placed in R&E along with me and I got to spend lot of time with her in the canteen, training sessions as a matter of fact everywhere at the work place. The days passed with usual chatting, laughing, bantering, gossiping and also occasionally going out for shopping and movies. With a year of our association I could gather some courage and proposed her one day, true to my love at first sight. She didn't say anything for more than a month but behaved as if she loves me more than I do though she never told me directly. One day she hinted me that her parents were looking for a match but didn't say anything about our due course of action. For next one month I was away to resolve my family problems and meanwhile she got engaged to someone else. I thought of going to her home and talk with her parents but I was helpless as she herself changed her mind and tried to convince me that we could never be a couple due to the our different caste and status.

I was disheartened and could not concentrate on my work despite knowing the facts of life, i.e. life is beyond her love and it's about achieving my dreams. I was more sadden day by day and one point of time I considered dying is better option than to digest her marriage with someone else.

-Fani

Sree...

A Nightmare

2009-07-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Last night when I was watching an English movie there is a scene similar to one of my dreams which created many nightmares when I was doing job in Bangalore.

It's a summer evening; I was riding my bicycle through our campus starting from main block, right turn to cross the auditorium and then took a short cut along professor's colony to reach the main road through the second gate. As I just crossed the road an unseasoned rain started pouring heavily and there was no shelter I could stop by except a tree and a half ruined hut just abuts onto the main road. By standing under the tree close to the hut I looked inside with expecting no one but mysteriously I saw a middle aged guy and his fifteen year old son sitting on a broken cot with a roll of tobacco fuming in their mouth. I asked that chap why he was spoiling his son by encouraging the smoking. Unwittingly taken aback by some unfamiliar voice he told me that he never denied his son to do what he wanted to do and left to his choice. He told me that he sent his son to school when the boy really wished to go and later he didn't say anything when his son desired to work in a mechanic shop. I asked the boy why he stopped going to school when his father was ready to send him. To be perplexed by my query he retorted that he's very much happy in playing with screws and bolts in the auto shed. He also uttered that he never do anything against to his happiness. Unconvincingly, I told him that he needs schooling at least to get basic knowledge of what is good and what is bad. I also stressed the importance of studying in becoming successful and rich although he seemed to be not interested in my discourse.

The rain god has not finished his smiling yet, I was called to stand inside for protecting myself from showers under the tree. After a long pause the boy asked me what I do and weather I was happy in doing so. Well, I could admit unwaveringly that I was happy in what I was doing (I meant in doing job). He also asserted me that I would be happy only if I listen to what my inner voice says.

Once rain stopped everything got disappeared and I was wakening up by my mobile alarm to start another unpurposeful day throughout which I would be spending in office against to my wish.

After many days of affliction I conferred with my soul and I decided to quit my job in pursuing what I always wanted to do.

-Raghu

Sree…

I remeber my first crush

2009-06-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

It had been pouring heavily outside from couple of hours, “might be storm surge occurred in the Bay of Bengal”, I surmised. I took my bag and raced towards the bus station without worrying much about the outside cloudburst. As soon as I reached the station I saw a hi-tech bus just started and I ran hard towards it by waving to the driver.
The bus has got already occupied except few window side seats which were drenched by rain water infiltrating in to the bus. I looked around and got settled down adjacent to a middle aged Uncle where a beautiful girl rested along with a middle aged aunty (probably her mother) just in front seat. As I was completely soaked in the rain I put my bag on the seat and stood close to the bus door to dry up my clothes. As I was drying my hair, inadvertently few drops dribbled on the girl’s cheek. I tried to act as if I have not seen her and continued to wipe out the water from my hair but this time few drops have fallen on the Uncle’s face. He thought that I did it deliberately and yelled at me “don’t you see the people around you?” before I said ‘sorry. I did not say anything except one more sorry and reclined myself on the window side seat by thinking about that girl. I was sure that I had seen her before somewhere but could not recollect where I did and tried all kind of mischief acts like keeping my hanky on her seat head, pushing my shoe towards her and playing sounds from my MP3 player to gather her attention so that at least she could identify me. But nothing has worked out infavour of me; I was seen by that uncle when I was throwing a piece of paper towards her seat.
After sometime the bus broke down in the middle of the road due to radiator problem and the driver told everyone to relax for few minutes till another bus comes from near by bus depot. To my surprise the uncle along with that girl and her mother got down from the bus in hurry and scuttled off by taking an auto without even waiting for more than ten minutes. I didn’t know why they left abruptly but I understood why the uncle was fuming at me throughout the journey. As I took off the news paper from the uncle’s seat I have found a bunch of keys including car keys. I didn’t think much and stopped another auto to catch them and I could successfully return their keys before they are lost.

BY now I forgot the uncle’s face but I still remember the uncle’s hangdog expression when he was saying thanks to me. Also I figured out later that the girl was my first ‘crush’ in my junior college.

Sree…

…….last confession

2009-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

That day afternoon also I heard some sound from my grand father’s room (it used to be a store room previously) but it was completely different from his daily moaning ‘abba, ayyaa’. It was like some one was murmuring or muttering continuously. I went to near the window and peered out at my grand father who had been lying on the same bed from past six months. I was surprised to see him chanting

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

…. … …. … …. …. …. …. … …. ..

and could not believe my eyes. If it were not for my grand father who lived his entire life as agnostic anyone would have done the same, especially when you are on death bed. He was always used to be self centered, very dogmatic about his opinions on god and admonish that god doesn’t come and feed you. Even as a father or grand father he never treated his sons and grand sons (also grand daughters) with affection.

I was not certain initially whether he was chanting ‘coz of god-fearing or he was making atonement for his sins. But later I understood that he was meditating on god to confess his sins and to attain liberation and salvation as per Bhagavad Gita at the time of death. I never understood what made him to talk like a sage but his last words are still echoing in my mind:

‘When life is good, it’s especially bitter to admit that it will end someday. When it’s ending you realize that you didn’t make anything out of that good life….(a long pause) I should have lived my whole good life by thinking my ending everyday so that I could have accumulated lot of something more pious. I wish I live for few more hours to get some more of that (punyam).’

-Prav

Sree…

…another train experience

2009-06-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

I didn’t have to do much work from morning and most of the morning time I was thinking about how to get out of the office by noon to catch the evening train. But I had to tarry two more hours after lunch to meet my boss who was in meeting with some foreign delegates. As it became very late by the time I packed few things in to my backpack I had to take the help of my colleague to drop me at the railway station. Luckily the train was late by ten minutes and I was on time before its departure.

As it happened to be Friday the train was fully crowded with IT geeks who travel every weekend from Pune to Hyderabad. It took an hour for me to settle on my berth before my berth status was changed from RAC to SL. I was quiet and started reading a novel to pass the time but it was rather stodgy- digressing from actual story. The journey soon became tedious and I had to start conversation with uncle who’s sitting next to me. In that process I had to tell my biodata like where I am from and what I do and where I studied etc. The girl who has been quietly listening to us from adjacent row just opposite to my berth joined us by introducing herself as Srivalli and she works for Tech Mahindra and so on. I could not stare at her eyes while she was talking as I didn’t feel comfortable and maintained silence by nodding. The uncle was listening to her but it was my turn to answer her when she asked me ‘what do you think’? I tried to act as if I have not heard her but had to look at her when she moved further close to me. She was good looking, plump, and with the innocence of small child against to her talkative nature. For next one hour we had nice discussion on politics, Telangana issue, education system in India and foreign opportunities etc. After some time the uncle moved to the upper berth and there by given more space between us.

We had our dinner together and she asked me to wake up her at Nampally if she doesn’t get up. I wished her sweet dreams before I was about to sleep and there all of sudden we heard a loud shout from few compartments away. It was known from the fellow passenger that some bandits snatched gold from a woman neck and ears. Fortunately she was not hurt seriously however she was strangled for sometime when they were pulling the chain from her neck. Everyone was frightened by that barbaric incident and cursed the railways for not arranging proper security. And Srivalli too horrified by that scene and asked me to do favor of not sleeping for some more time. She talked about her childhood dreams, friends, movies and her colleagues etc. She even shared all her personal feelings and family details to me and at one point of time I felt like she’ll propose me. I was very happy to listen to her for one more hour by looking at her ingenuous smile until she told me that she has engaged and her marriage is in next month.

Sree…

Colorful Life

2009-06-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

I opened my laptop to see if my friend Archu (Archana) online so that I can share my joy of freedom with her. Yes, I am very happy that I am able to devote plenty of time to do what I always wanted to do; that is reading the Indian philosophy and epics. My friends always used to say that I will become busy once I get married and go to US and even I won't get time to chat with friends. But here I am sipping tea by sitting on a swiveling chair when it's dribbling outside and enjoying the view of glistening roads just like a free bird in November rain with hell lot of time to spare.
Well, to write my story I need a proper starting, u…u..u. it was last summer when we were preparing for final exams I got a call from my Dad to come home by evening without even saying the reason. The sudden call means something unpleasant might have happened back at home. There was only thing I could guess was my great grand mother might be serious or died. As expected my great grand mother (g.g.mother) was serious and she was laid on a bed surrounded by all her grand daughters and grand sons. Doctors said their last word that she may not live for more than a month or two. As for as her she had lived long enough (94 years) and had seen three generations already in her life though was it not enough yet, now she is wishing to see my marriage before she dies. The idea of marriage and that too in a month was appalling me at the time of my final exams. But I was happily preparing for the exams as I thought I won't get a match within a month. Just a week after that day I heard from my younger brother that someone from distant relatives brought a match where the groom is a software engineer based in US (NRI) and they were equally keen that marriage should take place in a month as that guy also will not get leave afterwards.

I couldn't contemplate how it going to be if I marry someone whom I heard just few days before marriage. My friends suggested me to inquire about him through someone and know about him by some means (someone from the same place of him). They also gave an idea to search ORKUT profile if his details are available. I only believed that anything happens for our sake and prayed god for my bright future.
My marriage ceremony took place grandly just two days before my last exam in presence of some hundreds of crowd and my father felt like relieved after him himself so occupied for ten days in distributing wedding cards, booking the wedding hall, arranging catering services, shopping and importantly selling our farming land in short span.
I accepted my hubby for making love with whom I spoke hardly before the marriage. He was seemed to be very good (as he's) at first impression and he took me to various places like his friend's house in Hyderabad, to a marriage party, to Daman (a hill station where his close friend resides) and importantly to an orphanage (run by him and his group of friends) in Hyderabad.
My hubby flew back to US just after two weeks of my marriage and it was me all alone had to go for visa though all the docs were kept ready by him. My g.g.mother died at last few days before I left INDIA and I have that glum feeling till now that I haven't attended her twelfth day obsequies (pedda karma). Sometimes I believe that life is so strange that my g.g.mother last wish became bliss to me as may be I could have not got a very good husband had I married someone else after a year.
In a month I got my exam results were out and I could manage just pass in last exam with the aggregate of 71% and sent rejection letter to Wipro for not able to join with them. I still remember my family crying, whooping and waving just outside the gate before I checked in at the airport.
Now, here I am enjoying the summer evening of California when it's still pouring outside…by doing what I always wanted to do…

Yawp!!! It's already quarter past 6 PM..it's time for my sweet hubby to come from office. I have to prepare snacks and tea for him. I think that's it from my story from great Calvanuru to California..

I got to go,
Byee then…

Cheers
Yours Vaasuki

(..told by my friend Vaasuki after her recent marriage anniversary)

Sree…

People in your LIFE...

2009-06-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

. . . When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do. This is what the secret behind understanding your destiny.

When someone is into your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason, you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season!

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (any way); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

So, did u figure out how many people have come in to your life for a REASON, for a SEASON and for a LIFETIME???

Sree...

U r so special to me...

2009-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

"Your so sweet, your so cute, know will you please pick up the phone" Madhu's phone started ringing loudly.
" hello" he answered
"hi, you sleeping? did i disturb you!" Sravanthi said she was in the other end.
"n.....ope, i..was just....... anyways what happen you called?" he replied
" remember you have to meet me today at six, i have to talk with you something important" she said
" yeah! i will be there on time..... bye... take care" he hurriedly ran to bathroom. it was already five fifteen by then...........

Srav(as he calls) and he were class mates for 4 years in engineering and now they are colleagues in the same office.

"What is there to loose, everything is lost", Madhu sighed deeply at the very thought of evening incident. He got on the train with so many thoughts whirled around in his mind and did not care those Punjabi couple who are trying to sit as close as possible leaving no space between them in opposite berth. He leaned towards the window only to see the vacuum to get rid of all the thoughts from his mind. But he couldn't forget everything what happened in last couple of days. He thought that she will express her love when she called up to talk an important but he never expected her to say

'And probably this will be our last meeting in our life as we will leave to US just before u come back from Delhi'.

He still remembered their clash on 1st day of the college, becoming Mr &Ms Fresher, 1mile walk in the rain during their tour to Manali and most recently kissing on his forehead in 'GET TOGETHER' party with their office staff.

......Temme dude, what's the so important matter? He asked
"U know, I have told u many times that my parents are looking for a match.
Now they have finalized with a NRI from US. Our horoscope is also matching perfectly. They urging the marriage should take place in 15 days as that guy won't get leave again" she said
"Could u give a glass of water, please", Madhu asked while looking at the sky with his hands rubbing the sweat on his face.
"And probably this will be our last meeting in our life as we will leave to US just before u come back from Delhi".
"…uhhhhh", he took a long breath.
"Thank you, all the best for u r future life", he uttered and before he walked away,
"A small gift for u and open it after going home", she gave a pack wrapped in color paper with her eyes looking anxiously for his answer.
He didn't say anything except 'Thanks'.

The light was put off and the husband (I guess) now encroached her lap completely by leaving half of the berth empty. When the train stopped at a small station the whole compartment is in deep sleep. Madhu got up to get something to eat and suddenly he remembered about the gift while taking the parcel of samosas from vendor. He rushed back to train to open the gift which she has given in the evening. He found a greeting card referring to VERY SPECIAL with her written words

U have been my best friend before u became very special to me. All these days I had a fear if u say NO; But now I m saying

Ami tomAy bhAlobAshi
Tane Prem Karoo Choo
Mu tumaku bhala paye
Main tumse pyar karti hun
Maza Tuzyavar Prem Ahe
enikku ninne ishtamanu
Naanu Ninna Preethisuve
nenu ninnu premisthunnanu
Naan Unnai Kadhalikiren
I love you

Hopefully, I'll live with you forever…

He got down from the train once again but this time with his bag…giving those couple more space… to catch the return train…

(It's one of my friend's own experiences and the names were changed on his request )

Sree...

Life is unfair to me...

2009-05-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

As usual I lied on the bed before sleeping, gazing at the sky to observe the plough of stars as I always do especially when I sleep on the terrace during summer. But this time I could see something peculiar in the sky which loomed close to my eyes scared me and made me to close my eyes before I hid under blanket. Further, I did not dare to peep from the cover and but closed eyes firmly to get slumbered.

This was not the first time I have gone through some horrific experience; almost daily I m encountering some strange dreams from last few days, especially after my recent break up with Priyanka. Also, I am not able to digest the fact that I am not gonna make in to good universities after my consecutive poor performance in GRE. Even the universities which showed sympathy by giving admission are not ready to give funding. My Uncle whom was I assuming as financier for my MS has given a jolt by saying his job is in jeopardize and he can be no longer as sponsor. Now, I am neither sure of getting Visa nor fulfilling my ambition of studying aeronautics in reputed university.

Also, I am frustrated with monotonous work in my job; became inert and not able to do simple tasks assigned to me. My boss says I am a dullard and my colleagues treat me as a maniac. Soon I may be fired from the job which I have been doing from last two years.
I can figure out the only solution to all the above problems is running away from everyone. Yes, I don't want this life which is so unfair to me….

-B.V.Patel
(This is the mail I got from some one who's very frustrated with his life and want a solution to his problems)

Sree…

Another frightful day in my life

2009-05-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

I woke up early in the morning at 6.59 AM just a minute before my mobile alarm rang, finished my morning prayer before I rushed to get ready to go for the job. It was severe cold outside true to forecast -21 C (feels like)temperature and adding to the woes there was heavy snow falling with wind speed of 85 kmph made me to hesitate to go out of my room. I prepared myself wearing a thick jacket along with thermals; warm fleece mittens to keep the fingers protected and put on earmuffs as if I was marching to war. Somehow I stepped out and walked steadily towards the bus stop to catch the Shuttle. As I was near to the bus stop i could see two black people and hear one mumbling by looking at me. I got unnerved and no longer could walk but tried to act as if I was on phone and did not care them. Once they ensured that there was no one except me, they started approaching me and I shrank back against their direction by holding my breath. When I walked for some distance I have seen the shuttle advancing with high speed but there was no way I go back to the stop as those buggers were still chasing me. Eventually I had to go back to my room and lock inside till I was made sure that they were not in sight.

I was late to the job by 1 hour and the gas station owner growled at me for not opening it at 8 and I had to make it up by working till evening 6 by bunking the Maths class. It became 11 PM by the time I reached my room after finishing another job at Indian store; got exhausted completely especially standing for more than four hours at store. There was no one at my room by that time as my room mates have already left for their jobs in motels and it has become 4 days since I have seen them. As I was very hungry I opened the refrigerator to find nothing and then I had to cook the rice to eat with the pickles. It became 12.59 AM in my mobile when I was setting the alarm to wake up at 7AM to start another frightful day in my life.

-RAJESH

Sree…

Mission 'INDIA'

2009-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

My brain was working harder than ever before, thousand of different thoughts started conflicting to generate a physical phenomenon called 'Headache'. I could no longer concentrate on my work, leaned forward on the desk and asked Malli (maid) to bring cup of tea so that I would be easy for evening teleconference.

The screen on my lappy flashed up to show a huge crowd of about a hundred people who convened in an open place, cheering to welcome their leader Bhagat. Most of the people in that group were personal drivers, secretaries of politicians, contractors and business people, some of them were Government employees, Students, Doctors, Lawyers and software engineers. It followed Bhagath's talk in quiet atmosphere,

"I welcome all the people of our ACB Anti Corruption Bureau (but it is A CONSULTANCY BUSINESS for out side world) fraternity, who have the same motto of 'saving India' by eliminating the culture of corruption and corrupted people from the society. Giving the updates, last week our boys have done great job by recovering Rs 100 millions from eight corrupted politicians across the state. Also few of our guys succeeded in getting the details about black money deposits of two contractors and two government Doctors in four different places and they are soon going to recover that money as well. It has been outstanding so far and our group has done great work but you do remember that we are not even half way through our task. As of now, we were able to recover only Rs 2000000000 from 87 places and it's believed that we can still recover 10 more times to this money. So far 22 of our people have been caught and put in imprisonment though none of them gave any clue about our group or our activity. So keep in mind that we are prepared to put our life at stake and get going by remembering our basic rules and cautions. The Team-1 has already identified 54 more 'to be eliminated from corruption' people across the state and our group of intellectuals are chalking out plans for how to go for next foray in our mission.

I once again presume that this whole money actually should go to many poor people for providing the basic necessities like health, shelter and education and Team2 is working on how it is implemented. The recovered money will also be dispersed across the state and some of the places which require immediate development have been already identified. It's also your responsibility to provide the suggestions and solutions through our network mail in successful completion of our greatest endeavor on the earth. Most importantly you should be honest and faithful towards our ACB even at the situation where someone keeps a knife on your neck. There is nothing personal and selfish in regard to our job and organization.

Last but not the least; don't forget that we are the in the consultancy business as per the out side world knows but as per our heart goes we are in business of 'Saving India' by redeeming from the evil of corruption. "

After hearing to Bhagat words 'there is nothing personal…..' I was more determined and there was no apprehension in including her father's name in the 54 named list despite the fact that I may feel guilty whenever I will see in to her eyes.

How the money is recovered !!!!!

Sree…

God's blessing...

2009-04-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Last night when I was surfing I have come across a nice story which I thought I can share with my friends. Here the story goes like this:

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many years he had admire a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As the graduation day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him in to his private study room. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather bound BHAGAVADGEETHA. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, “ With all your money you give me a ‘BHAGAVADGEETHA’ book?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in his business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of the things. When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father’s most important papers and saw the still new BHAGAVADGEETHA , just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the BHAGAVADGEETHA to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the holy book. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer ho had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL...

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

Sree…

..am getting married!!!

2009-04-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a dream about me getting married. I was standing in front of the temple, in my wedding dress; slowly as the doors were opening, I could see an image of a lady far away from me. She was standing near the altar, though her image was really blurred, I could still see that she was smiling at me. As I walked down the aisle, I felt in my heart the nervousness and excitement to see the woman that I was about to marry.
Unfortunately my cell phone alarm was turned on and my brain automatically responded to the annoying sound. After preparing myself on going to the office, I went to the bus station and seated comfortably in the back row. As I was listening to the radio, a wedding song 'alanaati raamachandruni' (from Murari movie) was played. I felt it was really unusual for the station to play such a song. Then I recalled my dream. I was so curious, who was the girl I was about to marry? Then someone came into my mind; she was my friend. A very close friend actually, she was also one of the persons that I almost fell in love with before but I only considered her a very good friend. I really don't know what came into my mind as if I was wishing that it would be her, that she would be the girl that I would marry in my dreams.

Traffic came my way this morning. I was worried being late at work but I enjoyed the traffic that morning. I recalled every sweet moment that this girl and I have the past few days, though I was not giving any spite in those things. Maybe I was so moved by her that we are starting to be really, really close these past few days. Maybe it was all my imagination. A little wish inside my heart that even in my dreams, we could be together more than friends. I went into my day, as I walked inside the office, I was feeling this different mood as if I was really happy, then I opened my Yahoo Messenger and started greeting my friends good morning and shouting to the world that I was very much happy that day and I was totally in the good mood. I really felt so lively, maybe it was because of the dream or maybe it was because the weather was not so hot, though I was a bit late in the office everything really went well. I really didn't care for the reason of me being happy but I liked that kind of feeling.

The day is almost over; I was looking forward on going home and had a good night sleep in my bed.

But I still had one hour to go before I could finally get out of the office. And then a message popped into my screen, "she" was online ... she greeted me good evening and asked me why I was so happy that day. She even teased me that I was in love that is why I was happy, but I said no. We talked about our day; she said that she also had a good day. We talked for a while that I didn't notice the time. It was almost 6:30 before I signed off. I was happy that we still didn't miss to communicate to each other even though we haven't seen each other that day. She stopped me from leaving but I really had to go, as I was fixing my things, she kept on sending messages; the one that really shocked me is her last sentence. She said, "You know what, I had a cute dream last night, we were about to get married in an old temple where I used to stay every time I was sad. You are there standing by the door and looking at me from afar, you were wearing a beautiful gown." I paused for a moment, it felt like everything around me stopped moving; I didn't know how to respond in what she said. In the end I answered her with a smiley and said, "What a cute dream, sorry now, but I really have to go bye-bye."

I really didn't know how to handle that kind of situation, but I left my office with a smile in my face. I couldn't tell her that I also dreamt the same thing because she might think that I was making it up but I was happy the way it happened. That night I could not sleep, expecting more coincidences……

Sree...

My idea of 'True Love'..

2009-04-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

I was splashing my hands helplessly in the Hussain sagar. I can’t even swim in a pond, let alone in the river. I was semiconscious when my friend brought me to the shore, I could recollect four people whose faces hided in masks beating me with the rods before I was thrown in to the river and then saved by my friend. I know they were sent by Preety's father to kill me.

My nightmare ended as my cell phone rang hard just close to my right ear and I woke up to its ‘Mothership’ ringtone but it got disconnected before I attempted to lift. I understood that it was from Preethi and she is going to come online in 10 minutes. I rushed to my friend Sree’s room for his laptop to sign in Gtalk account. As soon as I signed in the chat window popped up,

Preethi: Gud morning, sir

Me: Hi, gm Madam..

Preethi: wat time r u starting?

Me: I’ll start in an hour ..n it takes 3 hrs 2 reach hyd.

Preethi: Make sure that u’ll show up by 3 PM@ Cineplex cafe..

Me: ok..done

Preethi: U remembered na, I’ll b in white Chudidar..

Me : ya …It’s difficult to identify but I’ll try..if I cant, call me frm coin box..ok na?

Preethi: ok..ok..

Me: ok then, c u at 3 PM, sharp!!

Preethi: ok..byee..love U

Me: love U too…Bye

Preethi: bye.. wid 1000 kisses

Me: caught all…k, byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

When I was sleeping in my room in the evening, I got disturbed by my friend Sree knocking the door to call for dinner. To my surprise, he did not ask anything about my first meeting with Preethi though he was the one who advocated me to meet up. In fact, he’s the only person who knows about my 6 months love story, right from my initial chating in yahoo to our commitment for marriage without seeing each other face to face.

After some time, he assured ‘Dude, leave it.. I know she might not be as beautiful as you expected. It’s very silly to go absolutely nuts about a girl before you actually sees her, don't worry you can try for another girl'. I shrugged, didn’t say anything for a while though it seemed like he has conceived what I really sensed after looking Preethi first time @Cineplex. It’s true that I could not talk with her comfortably despite the fact that we knew each other from 6 months. It’s true that I got some strange feeling, like some repulsive force restrained me talking with her when I saw her first time. May be Sree was correct; she was not like my dream girl in her figure, looks or mien. May be he was not correct as my first impression could be deceiving!!!!!

In the next day morning I ascertained to Sree ‘ yar, your mistaken, I have the same kind of feeling towards her. I know everything about her nature, her liking and disliking also I understood her completely before I committed to her. Now, how my love on her diminishes just because she’s not so beautiful!’ (In fact she’s very fair to my shabby and crumpled face).

As I was thinking I could recall my understanding of true love

‘When u forgets yourself, deeply eliminating in someone else existence... when you sense the link between your both hearts and souls... when you are not belonged to your own’...

I realized that mine was true love and it never ends..

By the way I am Sarath , working for a multinational company in Hyderabad, just 10 miles to Preethi’s home. Now, I thank my friend Sree for giving an opportunity to express my experience of LOVE on the occasion of my 3^rdsuccessful year of ‘TRUE LOVE’.

---Sarath

Sree…

A new begining....

2009-03-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

08/02/2009

As the sundown from the adjacent window the bells were clanging in the school tower only to indicate that one more hour passed and Raj who has been on the bed from a week looked at the clock on the wall to realize that one more dreadful day elapsed to welcome one more painful night.

07/25/2009

It's been so exciting right from the moment he heard that he was given visa to the land of opportunities, USA. As train moves he dreamt about his life in US by lying on the berth and got disturbed by sudden jerk once train stopped at Kandambam, border of Tamilanadu and Andhra. A person looked like in his forties occupied other berth in the 2nd class A/C compartment just adjacent to Raj. After long pause, the same guy introduced himself to Raj by saying he’s Amith and has come from US just two weeks ago after staying there for more than 10 years. He said ‘Good Luck’ to Raj after knowing about his visa and told him to enjoy the life to full extent but not to settle there forever, nevertheless it’s very difficult once habituated for that life . He also suggested Raj ‘India is India, once you are away from India you’ll come to know that. I thought of coming down here just after my studies, but it took me more than 10 years to realize what I lost during all these years’.
As the conversation progressed on different topics, a sudden jolting and thundering sound heard. The back bogies crossed over the front three bogies due to some joint failure and in a fraction of second the accident took away 300 lives. Amith who was just adjacent to Raj is no more and his body was chopped down to pieces without recognizing his identity. May be god has shown some mercy on Raj by leaving him just half dead with his back bones fractured, his face dislodged and all twenty four tooth broken out.

08/02/2009

As the time passes he became alone in the room after nurse leaving first and then his mom departures after making him to drink some apple juice. He started cursing the God for causing this agony, for shattering his dream of going to US? No, he never wanted to go to US till last 2 months and he always wanted to start an agribusiness to provide employment to rural youth. He only convinced himself rather than persuading his family about his interest of becoming an entrepreneur when they asked him to go abroad and make money. In retrospection, he also recollected how he had to change his mind to engineering from medical just because his family couldn’t afford it, how he had to forget Neelima in spite of loving her so much just by reason of his sister marriage, how he had to live like a niggard when all of his friends were enjoying the parties. Like wise he never lived according to his wish; it does not mean some one was interfering in his life, but he never fought back against the adverse situations. He has just taken the things for granted as they come in his way. As he thinks about his future, a famous saying echoed in his ears;
‘To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people just exit, that’s all’
He made up his mind to live actual life not just by existing but by doing what he really wanted to do. This time he did not curse the god but thanked him for making him to realize what he really wanted in all these days.

08/03/2009

He woke up early in the morning to start a fresh beginning, asked his brother to bring his favorite books (the books which he wanted to read from so many days but couldn’t due to some reasons). In the evening he called up his friends to talk about his business idea. He also called Neelima to tell sorry for his mistake. Also, he could set up music system with the help of his friends to listen to his favorite songs.
In a month he started walking with the help of stick and got approval from the bank for his business project. He soon won the Neelima’s heart and introduced to his parents too.

Sree…

..........a night in the train

2009-03-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

I packed my baggage's and made sure that I was not forgetting anything. I checked once again to see my laptop, handy cam, clothes, bathing kit, novel, pulla reddy sweet box and gift which I bought for manoj’s family. I started to catch the evening train to Kakinada from secunderabad and again I had an intuition that I was forgetting something. Yes, I forgot the train ticket!!! Once again I had to ask the autowala to go back and rushed to take the ticket from the cupboard. I was bit excited to go to a village in coastal Andhra first time where the people celebrate Pongal (sankranthi) with great spiritual and religious fervor. I thought the journey was going to be bit hectic as I was with a family in the compartment leaving one more seat empty. The train started and all the passengers got settled down, I myself became busy with the novel ‘Dreaming of You’ by Lisa sitting at the window side and in between gazed at the road side fields. The train stopped in Warangal and someone in the platform shouted that the train stops for ten minutes; I got down taking some snacks and got back to my seat quickly as there was no one to take care of my bags. As train jerked, I saw a girl running towards the train and she was fast enough to catch the train before it accelerated. Whenever I travel in the train I wish for a beautiful girl to give a company to pass the time. As you know, man proposes and god disposes..Needless to say, i never had a chance to travel with a beautiful girl but that day was exceptional, I did not wish for someone to sit behind me..But the same girl who was also holding leather bag in one hand and mobile in other came towards me to occupy the window side seat which I was enjoying till then. I was bit hesitating to talk with her, but to my surprise she started the conversation by saying that the she likes novel reading and read some novels like ‘The guide’, ‘the painter of signs’, ‘11 minutes’, and ‘Alchemist’ was her best. I was quiet and listened to her although I read all those novels which she has talked about. Her voice was very sweet and cute like her lovely face. And then she started asking what I do and what were my interests..Likewise she continued to talk on movies (spoke about my fav. movie Bommarillu too), general issues like ragging in her university (I understood she’s doing MBBS), her family and her hostel life so on.. At one pint of time I had to tell her directly ’you are very talkative and sociable’ and she laughed. The time passed as she talks and mean while the train reached Vijayawada. I asked her to sit and I got down bringing some snacks. To my goodness, I heard news that the train on the same track got derailed and our train would be stopped for 3 hours. After hearing news I could see her startling face and then I had to soothe her by saying’ it’s going to be alright’. And then I proposed an idea of walking till prakasham barriage which is around 1.5 miles from the station. She denied the idea but reluctantly accepted after wards. We started walking in the shining street lights by chin-wagging, bantering, singing (her voice was very sweet).. What a night it was..One side the glittering lights near the Kanaka Durga temple looking at me with more envious and other side her glowing face just close to me..I enjoyed each and every moment of it, I was sure she did too…We wandered around the river, temples till we got tired and sat for a while near the bridge. When I was blowing in her eyes to remove dust particle an unexpected incident happened. By mistakenly I rubbed her cheek with my lips. For next few seconds both of us became silent, and then she revealed about Rahul, her boyfriend. She said that he’s very handsome (am I not?), very talented and pursuing Masters in US, and they are going to marry once she finishes her house surgeon training. I was bit discomfited and shattered by her story and asked immediately to make a move. While going back I was very curious to know more about Rahul character and could not control to be quiet. She enjoyed while talking about Rahul and in between looking at my eyes how was I felling, it was very embarrassing and I really hated those moments.

Fortunately we reached on time as the train started one hour early, I became dumb for next one hour and she was enjoying by listening songs from my lappy as if she does not know anything although the reason was very obvious. I asked her to give my lappy back as I wanted listen to music while sleeping. And the train accelerated, every one was asleep and I was awaken by some whining sounds from adjacent compartment. I looked at her berth, only to realize that she was not there. Initially I thought her going to wash room but twenty minutes later also; she was not there though her leather bag was apparent. I moved down and searched in all compartments and surprised to see her sitting in the last compartment observing the dark nature.(may be she was pondering over my behavior). I was almost slapped her to show how badly I was looking for her but moved back swiftly and laid on my berth. As I was thinking, I realized that I liked her and decided not to loose her at any amount of risk.

At 9.30 AM the train reached Kakinada and I could see my friend waiting for me in the platform from far end. But I was thinking about her and decided to express my feelings in the last minute. As I turned other side, she moved away quickly before I said anything. I did not try for my luck again and walked along with my friend towards his car and within half an hour we reached Corangi village where my friend’s family lives.

……continued

Sree...

A disturbance of LOVE....in pursuit of destiny

2009-03-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last night, when i was reading the book 'Synchro destiny' by Depak chopra i really got excited to know that life is full of coincidences and these coincidents are the signals from the universe which can guide to our destiny. Also it's being said that we can encourage those coincidents to happen more often to achieve our destiny provided we can understand those coincidents. I got an idea to do the experiment as described in that book . I sat in a dark room by closing eyes and started recollecting the major events happened in past 24 hrs. What?? Was i kidding!!! It looked insane as i thought i am not a celebrity to have major events happened daily.. I could not get anything except the monotonous work which starts from going to school and return home in the evening. This time with more firm i started to dig out the events happened in last 1 month in my life. Well, i could vividly recall going to shoping, a talk with my friend about his love problem, serious talk with my sis about my niece stomach ache,a quarrel with my close friend, a coquittish smile of a girl towards me..Once again i started to call up the incidents happened in last 1 year and i could recall huge shopping, long drive in the winter, lying to a professor in regard to work, praying for my mom's health, partying, tearful parting at airport,flirting a pune girl for quite some time, a friend's suicide and other incidents (which i think are not major).

Again with more zest i started recollecting the events happened in last 2 years. I could bring the memory of trip to north india, and and....I struck up with that incident..I tried once again to recall other incidents but the same incident disturbed again..

[It was during the village festival i was in my traditional attire with the comapany of my friends went to see the main event of the fiesta. A huge crowd assembeled around the chariot where a bare chested person with blood spilled over his face was waving to the crowd, and the priest just adjuscent to him was chanting loudly. When all the throng started roaring the person in the centre showed a lamb in his lap indicating that he was ready to slash the lamb with his teeth.And all of sudden the crowd became silent and a voice from the mob shouted NOooooooo!!!!...just behind me!!!!

Everyone gaped at the direction where the voice has come from.. and there she was draged from the group by a guy who's of almost her age... and both of them ran towards his bike before everyone got realized . I knew it was a heroic deed to save my sis friend from the people who became very furious by her move. Luckily, the uncivilized act of killing a lamb in the name of god was stopped due to the interruption which caused to lose the auspicious time. But nothing has stopped my uncle's family to be ostracized for a month despite the fact that my uncle himself was chief of the village. Out of all, it was me who gained a lot by becoming close to her and eventually loved by her.]

I tried once again to remind the other events but could not concentrate further. As i thought it's pointless to try again and i opened eyes only to hear the song ' Urumulu ni merupulai, merupulu na navvulai' played from my friend sarru's lappy in adjuscent room.

Sree...

Almost died!! but love prevailed...

2009-03-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

It had been twenty three hours since i was laid on a bed in SS hospital, and i felt severe pain in the muscles , migraine and dizziness with head movement. O, god i can't describe what was my condition, i felt like going to die soon..I could not hear anything when people around me were talking although everyone seemed muttering themself . When i turned my head , i could see a lady in her white apron (may be doctor) saying something to Sandhya and all of sudden i could here some screaming sounds (i guess sandhya's) from my right corner. I could percieve Doctor's words ' it gonna be last day to him'. I closed my eyes before it closes forever, and thought for a while about death. The words about DEATH spoken by a great Indian philosopher echoed in my ears.
'Death is as good as birth, death is no different to birth. Either of them is inevitable and both the incidents symbolize the presence of divinity. During the birth, Lord Krishna himself comes and occupy the soul and also during death the body is taken to the burial ground where Lord Shiva abides himself. So consider the death also like symbol of exaltation.'

The words pacified my agony but could not digest the fact that sandhya 'll be left alone without me. I had never been away from her for more than one day since our wedlock. I did not want to leave her, i wanted to live for her. I made a brave attempt to get up only to tell her 'i don't want to leave you', As you know, man proposes but god disposes, i could not tell my last words to her. This time the room became so silent and i could see only darkness. I started counting the seconds and prayed god last time.

Some one was calling sree, sree, sree!!!! Hey, i could hear the sound and also i could see a glare from the window..Oops, i haven't died...Yes, god harkened to me, understood my misery and agony...

Here Sandhya explains, ''last night you have got 105 F temperature in your body due to Malaria and Doctor said that it gonna be alright. Alas!! the patient just next to you died last night and i could not talk with you as the room was occupied with many of that patient relatives.''

Sree...

A scary and 'love'struck night!!

2009-03-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

As usual the day began with morning surya namaskara, morning prayer to thank god for keeping me lively and energetic and going to school.. the day passed like any other Thursday except i thought of going back to home after maths class at 7 PM instead of going by bus at 9 PM. There was no other way other than walk by taking short route from the park side road, a road used by pedestrians which connects one end of hi-way to another hi-way ,a path which leads from the bushes and pine trees. It was very dark and only dim light rays from the main road were falling like a faint light in the graveyard. It was bit scary although i walked alone many times through that way. I started chanting 'jale rakshatu vaaraha, sthale rakhathu vaamana......'.... ( repeated loudly this time) 'jale rakshatu vaaraha, sthale rakhathu vaamana......' to kept myself brave and dauntless.. All of a sudden i heard some foot steps just behind me and it was like some one was following me closely.. I did not dare to look back to see who it was and i strode across the bushes ( with more loudly 'jale rakshatu vaaraha, sthale rakhathu vaamana......' )

..........my hand moved swiftly to where it was bitten by mosquito........................

This time i could see a shadow running just behind me and in no time it encroached me....Yes, it embraced me from behind!!!..I stopped abruptly and felt like touch of a lady..a touch i always crave for..a touch i have already familiar with..To my surprise it was my angel, Sandhya whom i fell in love at first sight, whom i was trying to propose from last couple of months. Actually, she was scared after hearing smack in the bushes and ran towards me without knowing who was walking in the front....I did not want to loose the opportunity to hug her ( though i am not her type) and instantly i also responded..I whispered close to her ' I Love you' by encroaching her completely.....

and all of a sudden i heard 'raayinaina kaakapothini, raama paadamu sokaga' (I wish i could have been a stone to be touched by Lord Rama's feet ) just close to my ears only to realize that i was dreaming..

Sree...

©

Where r U, my lady love?

2009-03-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

I was still tossing up and down in the bed and bit indolent to get up so early (about 10 AM) in the Sunday morning..I thought i will sleep for some more time so that i can have dreams and which may become true ( i know elders say that the morning dreams come true!!)..I closed my eyes only to welcome some exciting dreams but the same dream has come again...the same dream about my lady love, Sandhya..the same dream in which i would do some heroics to impress her, the same dream in which i would propose like shahid to amrita (sorry for bad comparison, but wat 2 do i like amrita rao very much), the same dream where i would long for her love and like to see her smile..the same dream where we would spend the evenings together at the pond side temple in the village by sharing my feelings by looking in to her eyes, discussing about our future and dreams ...............................(interruption in the dream).......

the same dream about how our marriage take place as if it's made in heaven, the same dream in which i would wait for her in the evening till she comes from hospital (i 4got 2 say, she's a doctor) and i sit for the dinner looking in to her eyes before we make love...

Once i get disturbed from the noisy and jazzy songs played by my friend sarru i only realize that it's already quarter past 2 and it's the time to get up and take coffee along with lunch..Every time i dream only up to our love making and this time i decided to sleep once again only to get more dreams or rather continuation of my favorite dream..But i didn't get dreams and i tried to analyze the previous dreams..i ended up with nothing except wishing it would become true..

I ask a question to myself who's sandhya? is she the same sandhya whom 'll i love, the palm reader at chilukur temple in hyderabad told me once? is she the same sandhya whom my mom was talking about when some of our relatives were looking for a match? is she the same whom i saw in an auto and ran after her unconsciously? is she the same whom i heard from one of my friends that one of his cousin's named sandhya doing MBBS?

You could say, don't be foolish..it's a crap .. it's all shear coincidence!! there are hundreds like that..Then i would suggest you to read 'power of coincidences' by Deepak chopra which says that there is some physics behind all of these..

What do you say?

Sree...

Never ending dream..

2009-03-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

..................................It was very long time when i was a 8 years old kid, going to school..I think it was during summer holidays we our group of friends went to picnic to a near by village named 'kumbam' along with our teachers..There was nothing special to see or visit in that village though it has everything which makes an ideal village like full of trees,paddy fields, old temples surrounded by two ponds and banyan trees and nevertheless it's being lived by nice innocent people. Nothing has fascinated me except an old 'Ashramam' (place lived by saints and sadhus), looked like built in 17th century..thought it seemed like an old mansion with bricked walls, there was a room in underground (about 300 m deep ) where all kind of pujas (sacred rituals) are performed..

As it was very silent none of us dared to enter in to that room.
To my goodness, i was bit curious and tried to peep in to it and could see a 'Yogi' (saint) was doing meditation..When everyone has gone out of the sight, i entered in to the room only to find what was going on..The yogi opened his eyes and asked me, ' kid who are you? what do you want?. .I was scared, trembled and only realized that it's gonna be alright..He told me not to get scared by the dark and told me 'to twist my right ear twice and remind myself that i am god's son' whenever i am scared of something..That's all what he has whispered me in that dark room!!!

Believe me, I used that mantra (chant) for next eight years and i never felt fearsome or never get frightened of doing anything..After all years i only realized that the fear is an inner feeling or to say precisely a psychic feeling.. there is nothing like twisting ears r blowing nose to get rid of fear or evil..If i think now i still wonder how did i follow that chant for eight years without thinking much about it ..You can say that i was a kid who doesn't know much at that tender age... I tried to inquire about that sadhu in that village but none knows him or a matter of fact everyone said that they never ever heard of that kind of person in that village.. The interesting thing is where did that Sadhu (saint) has gone now? I only realized that it was a dream, a never ending dream which made me to live for eight years without fear..I wish i 'll have 'never ending dream' ever!!!!

Sree...