Wednesday, December 12, 2018

LANDSCAPE SHOTS -OOTY

Ooty is one of the popular hill stations in South India and it is the place where tourists flock during summer. It is a town in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu, located in the Nilgiri Hills and is often referred to as the Queen of Hills. It came under the rule of the British East India Company at the end of the 18th century. The original name Udagamadalam was pronounced by the British as Ootacamund and thereafter became Ooty.

Most of these spots that you see in the snaps below have been the popular spots in many song sequences in Indian movies.

Landscapes are a great treat for the eyes especially when we don't have any man made structures like buildings, electricity towers, etc for miles and miles. The greener the expanse the more pleasant and soothing it is for the eyes.

We as a family spent a lot of time here, and after about two hours, had to flee as a bison started racing down the hill towards us. You can see it in the last two pics.

So sometimes it's not just the man made structures but even the natural creations such as these that we don't prefer while enjoying the view. That's the peculiarity of nature. Sometimes, it offers something to enjoy and something scary in parallel :)














Tuesday, November 6, 2018

INTERESTING PATTERNS OF PRACTICING OUR FAITH - PART1


Last Sunday, I was on my way to home after our church service.  Every Sunday, while on my return from our church, I have to run through a street adjoining another Pentecost church, before entering the street where my house is located. Seeing the way the bikes were parked on either side of the street, I knew that I did not have enough space for my car to freely move forward. Inside the church I could hear the chants “Halleluiah” pretty loudly. Every member there, whose bikes were parked outside, was into a trance. I had no clue how to move forward with my car. As I was anxiously pondering, some people on the road, who saw my situation came forward to move the bikes and help me.


After some struggle, I was able to negotiate my way through and I was on my way again towards my home. I remember going through this encounter almost every Sunday and it makes me think about our pursuit of faith and religion. Each person inside the church is immersing himself deeply in worship while immersing in parallel, the public like me, in deep inconvenience.

May be a mortal like me, is also doing the same thing in some other way, if not through the parking of a vehicle. There are so many actions that we do like this parking of a vehicle that affects others, if we are not conscious and careful. This is where I see that as a Christian I am trying to climb onto Step 2 in the religious ladder when I have not made myself worthy of standing on Step 1.

Actions like these form an interesting pattern of the faith that Christians like me practice as part of our religion. I will be writing on a few more similar observations, in the posts that follow. Of course we could apply and adapt it across any religious or belief turf. But I prefer to stick to what I observed within my domain and leave it open for my friends to interpret it the way they are comfortable with.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

MY BOOK OF POEMS NOW AT THE FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, VIRGINIA, USA

I am really happy to share the absorption of my first book, a book of romantic poems titled "INDELIBLE ETERNAL ETCHINGS" into the Fairfax County Public Library, Virginia State, USA.  The book went through a round of screening and was then taken in. I am thankful to my friend Subhashini Satish for doing all the ground work required to submit this book to the library and for the repeated followups post submission.







I really appreciate her for sparing me her time. I had requested many other friends for helping me to present my book to the libraries in different states in the USA and also in the UK. I am happy that Subhashini was able to spare time for this and help me. It's a big thing for me and for the book.

Friends in Virginia. Request you to grab a copy and read. It will be really great to hear from you. We have four copies available there and it's a nice sleek book of 55 pages. Your romance with the romantic book will only take an hour or two. Give it a try. When the intensity hits you, please share the book with friends and drop your reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

CAN YOU TEACH?

I consider it a cacophony
When my daughter and wife
Just talk normally
But at high decibel levels.

When they spot me all stooping
With my head helplessly buried
Deep into my hands,
They know it's the noise
That's creating this effect.


I have earned the respect
For being able to teach subjects
To little ones who came home
Seeking my help.

But if it was a noisy class
With all kinds of students
Each in their own state of excitement,
How good would I have been
In patiently teaching them.
I would have found it
To be an arduous task.

I salute my teachers
For their infinite patience.
More than the knowledge aspect,
It's their patience that inspires me.
It almost borders with
The golden patience of a mother.

Saluting every teacher!! 

Friday, June 15, 2018

BOOK REVEW: VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE

Veronika Decides to DieVeronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The initial pace of the book was pretty slow and I had a challenge to hold on and continue. But with the progress of the story and the coming in of characters Mari, Zedka and Eduard, the plot becomes very interesting. Dr. Igor is a very ambitious doctor in his bold research steps.

I remember having read in Steven Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" about the best way to set our goals is to think of what the world around in different layers of relationships i.e. family, friends, colleagues,etc would want to think of us once you leave this earth. Those are the biggest dreams that lie dormant inside us.

In this novel there is one step further that the author takes us and that is to explore the embarassing territories of our dreams which may not necessarily be what people would want to speak about you but what you would like to experience in life.

On the whole I liked the book. I have had the opportunity to observe persons with schizophrenia and those who were about to embrace death soon, from very close quarters and so I was able to understand the rhythm of Eduard and Veronika. Some of the takes of Paulo on sin in the Garden of Eden is interesting.

Definitely a book worth a read.


View all my reviews

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

A GIFT FROM THE THIEVES

The policeman’s shoe screeched with every step that he took through the mess that lay all around in the bedroom. Each step that he took was careful enough so as to not disturb the existing pattern of the mess. But still he could not avoid stepping on and crushing a few glass pieces that lay all over like smithereens. These were from photo frames that had been brushed off from the top of the cupboards and the refrigerator in the adjacent hall. I followed him with the same cautious approach. “Who was the one who reported this theft to the police?” he asked in his baritone voice in Tamil. “It was Suresh who is the neighbour to this house Sir”, I replied while pondering on what could be his next question. “I would like to see him”, he mumbled.


His deep and inquisitive eyes continued to scan the room as I stepped out into the hall and tried calling Suresh on my mobile. He was not reachable. I reported this to the policeman. “Please ask him to meet me”, he said as he nodded and continued moving around with his probing eyes. “It appears to me that a group of thieves had executed the whole thing”, he said still looking down. The sad aspect of the location of the house was that it had a school on one side, an office building on the other side, a school ground on the rear side and a very large approach distance in front from the street. And so, the sound of any activity from within the house would not be easily heard by the neighbours.

The hall had all kinds of things on the floor flung from a cupboard that stood there all stripped. They were also several books, most of them lying open, that were thrown out from a book shelf from one of the rooms, The doors of the two bedrooms adjacent to the hall lay ajar with their locks almost pried out with a crowbar. On the dining table lay all the locks, some opened with their keys still on them and some broken. Bunches of keys lay beside them. It appeared as though the group of thieves had tried out the locks with different keys. They had used the same crowbar technique with the lock of the back door too, as the entry to the hall through the front side was through a door that had a secure padlock. The crowbar technique would not work here. It had to be broken open and that would create a lot of noise and attract attention. The thieves were probably too circumspect about this, although the house lay isolated. And in the midst of all this chaos, the framed photograph of Reginald’s mother, Aunt Mary, hung there intact.

This was the house of my classmate Reginald who had settled in the USA. Aunt Mary’s calm demeanour was really striking and it was as though she was unflustered by all that had happened. She had passed away only a few months back and David Uncle, Reginald’s father had left for the USA along with him to spend a few months there. Reginald had entrusted the keys of the house with me and I had made it a point to visit the place and open the house once every fortnight. Suresh, their neighbour had my mobile number and he had called me up that morning to communicate about the incident. Reginald had told me that all the valuables and important things had already been kept in the bank locker.

Two more police men arrived and they did forensic procedures on the spots where the thieves would have possibly made impressions. I stepped into the next bedroom along with the policeman. Suresh had called up and communicated about what happened to Reginald that morning. The only worry now for Reginald was about the extensive damage that the thieves had inflicted on the house. Inside the bedroom I noticed something very peculiar. There were at least 20 jewelry pouches and boxes that had been opened and the colour tissue papers inside each of these had been taken and thrown out too. These were there all over the room. David Uncle also had several leather purses and pouches and each of these had been opened up and the contents emptied onto the bed and to the floor. The steel cupboard in that room had been broken open and all the files and folders had been taken out and thrown all over the floor. In the next room, they had opened all the loft doors and pulled out the briefcases and bags kept there and left them on the floor too. 

It appeared to me that they had very clear objectives and that was only to get hold of either money or gold, but they had got nothing as there was nothing. David Uncle had probably tested their patience with all the seemingly full and valuable jewellery purses and pouches, that they became frustrated as time ticked by. And towards the last stage of their performance, they became more or less like psychopaths in a violent dance, pulling everything out and mercilessly breaking and flinging them all over the floor in revenge.

Reginald called again and this time, checked with me room by room and all the things in them, item by item. Everything was there, only that many were in pieces and others a little damaged. I informed the policeman about it and he along with the two forensic analysts, left after telling me to ask Suresh to meet him at the police station. It was obvious that the police did not have anything great to retrieve from the thief and they did not have the burning desire either to chase a thief who had taken nothing but just ripped up a house. 

While I continued with Reginald on the call, I told him about a large plastic cover full with six new branded shirts that I had spotted in one of the bedrooms. Reginald had no idea as to how it had come into the house. He checked with David Uncle and he too had no clue. I could not believe that the shirts could be that new as though straight from a shop. “Take it with you. Try it out. If it fits you, use it or give it to someone for whom it will work fine”, said Reginald with a laughter that had a tinge of despondency in it. 

I left the place after locking the house and reached home. I left the shirts in a corner of my wardrobe. It remained there for months and one day when I was in need of shirts, I thought I should try them out. What happened is something I cannot believe even today. Each shirt fit me so well. I used each one of them for important occasions as they were too good. I told myself that the shirts were left behind by the thieves in their moments of frustration. They had probably lifted it from somewhere else and then come into Reginald’s house. It was ironical that a set of shirts so new came as a gift to me from a house that was stripped apart and left in a mess by the thieves. I still see it as a gift from the thieves.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

A FEATURE ON MY SECOND BOOK IN THE MEDIA - DT NEXT

Dear Friends,
Happy to share this piece with you. This is a feature on my second book "A Pearl From Every Oyster". There is indeed a long way to go in my writing journey, but still this is a good feeling. I thank all of my friends who were part of my writing journey with their feedback.

The link to the feature is below:




Wednesday, March 14, 2018

THE FINAL JOURNEY

It was a rainy morning in October 1982. I was nine years old then. Although the peculiar stench of the mortuary was making me uneasy, I still enjoyed the rhythm of the water drops falling from the grill of the large window beside which I was standing. 

My mind though, was still in parallel pondering on why Dad had woken me up early that morning and taken me with him to the mortuary. I knew Dad was here to assist with the burial of John Uncle who had passed away a few days back.  John Uncle was a widower. He had been staying in Chennai and all his three sons were settled outside India. They would be reaching only that day afternoon. Some friend had to step in to support the family in the absence of his children.  


Dad was a pillar of silence as he stood beside me. He got the news  from John Uncle's neighbours, only after the body was kept in the mortuary. Standing beside him was another man of almost the same age as him. He was a close relative of John Uncle who had come from Kerala to attend the funeral.


There were a few other people, possibly the family members of the other departed ones whose mortal remains were also kept there. Soon, I saw two attenders carry the body of John Uncle out of the chambers and then place it on the floor. The sheet that covered the mortal remains was old and dirty and so was the attire that was on it. They lifted the head and placed it on a wooden block, so as to keep it raised. The two attenders proceeded to strip the clothes from the body and then with an ordinary bar soap that is normally used to wash clothes, proceeded to bathe and clean the body.


I turned away from that ghastly scene and looked out through the window. I tried to keep my eyes and thoughts fixed on a crow outside whose feathers were all ruffled up after it had shook off the rain water that had dressed it. I could feel Dad's hand pat me from behind.

"Do you remember going to John Uncle’s house last Christmas as part of our carol group? It was drizzling then and he did not let us inside. We could hear him say that he felt that we would dirty the house, as we were all wet. And so the entire carol group stood outside the gate and sang two songs and then we left. And today, you see the irony. The clothes that were on his corpse and the floor where it is kept now are all dirty. This is life. There is nothing here that we can possess and take with us my son. Unless you have exhibited love and respect, mostly you will not get it in return.", he said calmly. The two attenders dressed the body again and soon we left the place along with the body.

As I left that place, although it was a harsh reality of life that Dad had shared, I found it very difficult to digest. But that’s what life is, when it shows its ruthless face.

You can have some more taste of my writing through my books. Visit them at the links below:

The book is available across all Amazon country sites with some providing both Kindle and printed versions and the others only Kindle versions.

Monday, February 26, 2018

UPLIFTING TRAITS FROM LIFT RIDES

The hubbub of the audience beyond gave me creeps as I stood like an ice statue behind the curtain. I was in my kindergarten then and my parents were also there as part of the audience to witness my performance in a stage play that was coming up next. I could feel the heaviness of my breath as the announcement went by and the curtain went up. I could feel my legs shaking and I just did not move an inch. I continued to stand there like a statue. It was the play of the popular kindergarten story "The Monkey and the Cap Seller". I was the cap seller and I had to make the first moves in the play and here I stood like a rock instead. My friend Simon, who was supposed to be the monkey, was all active as he was supposed to be and waiting for my move. My parents urged me with signs and gestures from where they sat so that I would overcome my frozen state, but I just stood there. Many in the audience smiled, giggled and cajoled and nothing worked. Soon the curtains came down and I was taken off from the stage.




I never ventured into a stage activities for the next six years and then made my next attempt at small public speaking opportunities at school. Although the start was shaky, I managed it well as I was fluent in my language. But still, I was not that natural and free through the first ten minutes while I got onto the stage anytime. I always felt conscious until these initial hiccups went by each time and thereafter I could see that I became stronger. To beat this jittery patch, I made several plans. The plan that I put to use mostly, was to get behind the stage early and have a feel of the audience before my turn came in so that I got used to the crowd.  With the passage of time, I was on stage several times as part of presentations and seminars and these strategies worked well for me. But still, when suddenly put on a stage in front of a huge crowd, I would still get the flutter of wild butterflies deep in my tummy.

I also noticed that many times I would get this same funny feel while waiting for lifts at my office. I would be close to the lift door waiting and suddenly the lift would open with people jam packed inside. Each of them would look into my eyes and I would be taken unawares. There would be nothing I could do looking at each of them and for the span less than a minute that the lift door took to close, all eyes would be at me. I would move away from that spot or shift my eyes away.

One day I witnessed a young recruit handle this situation with such grace. I was inside the jam packed lift and as soon as it opened, I saw this young gentleman with inquisitive eyes and a sly smile assess the situation quickly and then make a graceful bow. It was really an amusing scene for all of us as he remained outside with a smile on his face. A few days later, I saw the same gentleman again while I was inside a lift which was not really jam packed, but seemingly so. And this time he was quick to discern and very beautifully handled the situation. "I think Madam, you can move a little to the left and Sir, you could just step a little backwards, so that this little soul can find a place" he said to a very senior lady and gentleman in the lift and beautifully created space where all of us inside thought was really impossible. After this happening, my respect for him grew all the more. At those moments I really wished that I had been so bold, cool and graceful when I was young. But many times a chunk of any trait comes with the genes and thereafter we get to work on it and polish it further. But I see possibilities and I believe this is an uplifting trait to have.

You can have some more taste of my writing through my books. Visit them at:

A Pearl From Every Oyster - India Link


Indelible Eternal Etchings - Poetry- USA Link

Thursday, January 18, 2018

AT THE CHENNAI BOOK FAIR WITH MY SHORT STORY BOOK : A PEARL FROM EVERY OYSTER

It was a great evening with family at the Chennai Book Fair. I had the opportunity to see my short story book 'A Pearl From Every Oyster' being perused and bought by readers. We took some photographs that day. I came back again with my office friends for a second visit the next day. Though we all feel that the reading habit has generally come down, the book fair still had a huge response.

I have been to the fair earlier, but this is the first time as an author and it's a different feel.

Standing for a long time was tiring but once we see a good book, we feel the energy flowing into us again.

The fair closes on 22-Jan-18. Chennai friends can pick it up there for a good price.


The book is also available online.


Please visit the link below to see more details:

For print paperbacks:
INDIA

USA

UK

For Kindle eBooks:
USA

UK


AUSTRALIA


CANADA

Please feel free to share and forward to as many friends you can and help me reach more readers.
Happy Reading friends !!!



Monday, January 8, 2018

RELEASE OF MY SECOND BOOK: A PEARL FROM EVERY OYSTER

BOOK RELEASE:
BOOK YOUR PRINT PAPERBACK AND eBOOK COPIES ONLINE OR PICK THEM UP AT THE CHENNAI FAIR. 
FAIR CLOSES TOMORROW.
Hello,
Happy to share with you the release of my second book 'A Pearl from Every Oyster'.
Motivation:
This is a collection of 22 stories drawn from the lives of people I connected with.

Audience:
This book will cover a wide age RANGE from age 12 or 13 to the serious readers in their 60s and in particular will help individuals to reflect and see things in life in depth. These are stories that inspire and recharge your life batteries.


Please visit the link below to see more details:

For print paperbacks:
INDIA

USA

UK

For Kindle eBooks:
USA

UK


AUSTRALIA


CANADA

Please feel free to share and forward to as many friends you can and help me reach more readers.
Happy Reading friends !!!