BIRTHDAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

Many times it's on one day
That you will sit and count all blessings,
Sit and reflect,
Look forward and dream
And look up and thank God
For this unique painting of destiny, that made you.

Yes, Birthdays are unique
And you should tell yourself today
That there is no other creation like you.

So unique you are,
That you were sculpted for doing unique things.

Like the sweet symphony of music,

May your life strike a chord,

With every moment in it.

A FUNNY POEM FOR THE NEW YEAR

OUR LAST SINGING SESSION THIS YEAR - A SHOW OF FORTITUDE

The month of December, into the future, will always be a period when me and my family will look at nature, keeping our fingers crossed. The encounter with floods last year and with the cyclone Vardah this year has made all of us at home to see December, as a month to expect something nail biting and bizzare to happen, in the years to follow. We came out of these safely, but not before we felt like being pushed to the edges of life. Nature was kinder this year though, in that we did not have to leave our home and stay at a temporary shelter. But still, more grief has filled in me this year seeing our city stand naked and all stripped off its green cover. Two small trees that stood in area within my contours of my home, fell down much before the climax set in. I however managed to replant them the very next day. 

Two coconut trees gave us creeps, as they kept hammering on our building, once in every ten or fifteen seconds. The impact could have been much lesser if we had not designed the building such that the coconut trees went through two square openings in the building at two places. This had obviated the need to cut the trees when we had constructed the first floor. I never knew about this hammering going on while on the first floor as we had sealed ourselves inside, locking up all the doors and windows. But it was when I got into my daughter's room that she made me feel the vibration on her table. There was a periodic hammering sound coming up, but until then, I had not realized what that sound was. I had not focussed my attention on it specifically as it was one of the many sounds creating the cacophony that day. When I went down to the ground floor, I could sense the real gravity. With every hammering shot, we could feel the vibration in the furniture on the ground floor. Sitting in our verandah on the ground floor, I could see the entire trunk shake after every shot. The next day, I went up our terrace and did a closer examination. The plaster had been eaten up at two places in each of the box holes as the wind had treated us in two directions. The trunks of both trees had two huge scars as two different areas took the impacts with each wind blowing in two different directions that day.

The day after the cyclone, I took my daughter for a walk on the road that ran parallel to our street. I always loved this road for the canopy it had. But the cyclone had unfortunately ripped down a lot of branches and even uprooted some of them. Two trees broke and lay across the road such that there was a green cover over the road, through which we could walk through. My daughter and me took a walk through these. We believed that such an experience would not come up again in the near future. But with the climate change patterns setting in, we never know what is in store in the coming years.

The cyclone was the third challenge that Chennai faced after demonetisation and the departure of our beloved Chief Minister. Many carol singing sessions that had been lined up were called off as a mark of condolence and sharing of the grief that had engulfed the city. But Candles by Candlelight, the singing session at the St.Christopher’s College was to take place. I was in two minds as to whether I should participate, but I pushed myself and went. It was not a competition, but just a stage performance in front of an esteemed Christian gathering. 

Our choir did well. The speciality of this singing session is when they switch of the lights and each person in the crowd participates in the singing with a candle in his or her hand. The serenity and the impact was mind blowing. When I heard the vote of thanks, by Dr.Ravi Santosham of the GATT Qunitet, I was convinced as to why Christmas singing should continue. We believe that the birth of Christ itself was in the middle of so many challenges and suffering for Joseph and Mary and Christ brought hope and peace into a hapless world of sin. Christians should continue singing carols in the midst of challenges so as to spread the word of hope and peace.

I wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous 2017. May good tidings of joy always reach you.

THE IMPACTS OF MY SINGING CRAZE – SHADES OF THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SAD

Although I was a day scholar at college, I frequented the hostel at least two days in a week. Settling in a corner of my friend Manokaran’s room, I would start singing. Jayaram, who also sang, would join me sometimes. Hostel mates would slowly come in and in about thirty minutes, there would be a good crowd listening and calling out for more songs. After each such session, when I travelled back home, I just could not think of anything else other than songs. I consider such wonderful moments with friends to be very precious. Even today, when there are small unions with friends, the same singing happens, but still, those times at college remain as beautiful patches.

I had a cousin sister with whom I had the opportunity to discuss many Malayalam songs. She was blessed with a great voice and there were songs that I always wanted her to sing again and again. She also would very keenly listen to the songs I sang. There were many moments we spent, singing and discussing the finer aspects of the songs. In 1993, in her twenties, she left for her heavenly abode after a battle with aplastic anaemia. In a forest, where lots of birds sing, even the absence of one, makes a difference. Her songs still remain in the song space that surrounds me.

My marriage was in 1993 and my wife never knew about this craze that I had. Whenever we went out together, I always had a song running on me, either humming or singing. My wife often nudged me to draw my attention to people who were watching me. She found this to be very embarrassing and calls me crazy. I have still not got out of this habit as yet.

On an afternoon in the hot month of May, 1996, my colleague, who is my good friend and I, stepped out for lunch and were walking through the shop floor. This was while I was with my first employer. I never knew that he had actually come out after a hot board room discussion. We moved towards the company canteen silently and I was humming a favourite song that was on my mind, a little louder. I knew that I could hum it even louder as my song would never be heard by anyone 15 feet away due to the din of the machines around. I sang a little louder. A third person joined us while we were on the way. He was part of my colleague's team and on seeing him, my colleague started off with the same topic that had been discussed in the board room. I was still humming and singing a bit loudly. Seeing my casual demeanour while such a serious topic was being discussed by him, he suddenly yelled a question "Why can't you keep quiet?” at me. It really rattled me. I should have been careful I thought. He immediately apologized for what he did, but I too felt I should have desisted from such behaviour that time.

In 2000, my first employer sent me for a management training programme at Lonavala. This was for a week’s duration. There were participants from several corners of India, belonging to the same company. One person named Kumar, with whom I was teamed up for working sessions and presentations treated me with sheer disdain, right from day one. It really put me off and also hurt me so much, that I could not focus on the sessions that were running. I really did not know why he was doing that either. On the last day, there was an open session around evening time, where the participants could entertain the gathering. I was also one of the few who sang a few songs in Hindi and Malayalam. Kumar came to me and was effusive in his praise for my singing. Thereafter, the way he talked to me and treated me was so different. That evening, many other participants called me to their places in the hotel, where they were meeting as small groups and made me sing.

In the year 2003, I joined my second employer at Kolkata. My wife and daughter had not moved with me as she was into an established job at Chennai and my daughter was into school. So I was shuttling between Kolkata and Chennai once in three or four months. The Howrah mail took a long time and so the Coromandel Express was what I always preferred to for coming down to Chennai. The return was by flight, as that way crunched down on the sad period of thinking while leaving home. I had a good Walkman with me and I had just caught up with Salilda's Bengali film songs. On one such trips to Chennai, I was on the middle berth and with my earphones on me, I was singing along while the song was running. I never knew that my singing was that loud. When we touched early evening and I had climbed down from my berth to sit down for a while, a Bengali lady who was travelling with her little son complimented me for the singing. She also gave me a Chocolate pie that they were having then and told me to always keep singing.

Kolkata gave me a new high in singing. There was a corporate Anthakshari competition, for which I also had mailed in my nomination. I still don’t know Hindi although I keep singing a lot of Hindi numbers. On the night before the competition, my friend and roommate Ankur, spent his valuable time, to explain the meaning of the songs that I had selected for singing. I had written down the script in English. In the first round which was an individual round, I sang three Hindi songs and I got lots of appreciation from the judges for my voice and singing. And then, they started talking to me in Hindi on something else they wanted me to sing along with another colleague. I did not know how to respond. The colleagues with whom I went were also new to me and they also did not know why I was displaying an embarrassed silence when the judges were asking me. I did not want to show any sign of my ignorance of Hindi as I thought that it would go in as a negative point. Nevertheless in the team round, we as a team could not qualify and move further. But, that was the first time, an external judge was complimenting my singing and it gave me real confidence. The very next week, I was on a stage at Kolkata and I sang a Hindi number.

The singing craze still continues even when age is going up in numbers. Many times I wonder if it’s time to keep quiet. But frankly, am not able to.

OUR SECOND WIN THIS SEASON - A BIG KILL

I remember our battle at the Green Meadows Resort on the ECR road in 2011. The teams who battled were from a diverse genre. We hall all kinds of groups and it was a real treat to watch. I could not believe that we battled and got the second position then.

Our competition at the Hindustan University was of a similar profile. There was a Mizo choir, four Marthoma chruch choirs, two CSI choirs and many bands and to beat all of them and come out as the winner was truly amazing. As a group we have given our best and Vinod, our great conductor and trainer deserves a big applause for ironing out all the discords while we were put through the rigourous drills.

We had some lovely and precious moments around the time the victory was announced. Me and my choir mate running up from the ground floor on hearing the cry of our other mates, never expecting a victory at all, the sight of other teams giving us a standing ovation when we were collecting the award, our ride back home with lots of singing and revelry, our group walking a short distance to the church singing 'Jingle Bells', our dear priest waiting for us at the church with a bag of sweets and the final victory shout before we parted for home.

Here's a small poem that I jotted down after this victory.

When  Victory Came Knocking

The smell of victory,
After an intense battle,
Can be intoxicating,
And yesterday,
Victory overwhelmed us.

For many of us,
Victory came knocking,
When we had closed the doors of hope,
And had started looking beyond.
Some of us had moved afar,
And were busy feeding our horses,
And sharpening our swords,
For the next battle.
But then we heard,
The cry of victory,
Resonating all over our camp,
And we ran back,
To embrace an astounding triumph.

The unbridled joy,
That victory inundated us with,
Could be seen and heard,
On our journey back home too.
There was revelry,
And a joy that was very special,
Even as we sang,
While on our way back to our church.

There is a special camaraderie,
That can be sensed,
In our bunch.
It is this affinity,
That is feeding into,
The celestial harmony,
That we generate.
May God, always keep us this way.

We are gifted with a General,
So committed in his venture,
And blessed with such a sharp ear,
That even the tiniest discord,
Will never get past him.
May God bless him,
As he mounts his horse again,
To lead us,
Through many more carol battles.

WE OPENED THIS SEASON WITH A BANG

The Christmas season for this year opened up sometime during October end. Due to some personal exigencies, I could not make it for two practices and thereafter I caught the singing bus over the last two weeks for the next two practices that followed. Sometimes during the first practice that I was into, I felt that the choir was chewing something too big for its calibre. In fact two of the songs were picked from last year's list as last year's Christmas had been literally washed out due to the floods, and we did not get to sing much. And the chewing impression I had, was about the two that we had picked up from last year. During the second practice, that impression changed as I saw many aspects of harmony falling in place. But still, perfection was eluding us somehow. It was somewhere there close by, but somehow we just could not embrace it.

It was with this mindset that I had got on to the podium for our first competition today. We had a stiff battle from a few other teams, but then it just happened today. We saw everything falling in place and it was close to or I should say, a flawless performance. I saw one of the judges stand up and clap for us when we finished the second song. A few other judges did again mention about us  and our superb performance while they spoke before the award ceremony. And in the feedback session from the panel, we had no negatives listed on our performance. 

So, we could smell victory, much before we were declared as the victors. That was indeed a great feeling. It's something I cannot fully express in words, but it can only be felt while standing right there in the middle of the audience and the judges and listening and watching them while they give their feedback. Today was our first competition for this Christmas season and we, the Celestial Voices, have begun with a real bang. We convincingly beat seven teams and emerged first.

We will prevail right through this season. Let there be no doubts !!!

BIRTHDAY TIMES ARE HERE AGAIN!!!

Today, you should take time for yourself,

And walk along those serene paths,

That you always wanted to,

 Those pristine green paths,

Feeling the flowers and shrubs caress you. 

Today you should wear,

Your uniqueness boldly on you,

And should as the young ones say "rock". 

But it's also a great day

To be silent and reflect..

Today is when,

Reminiscences will fill you to the brim. 

It's a good day to look forward

And set new goals. 

But more than that, 

It's a great day to be just YOU,

And do all you really like,

From the bottom of your heart. 

Long back on this day,
When the earth heard u first cry,
They were filled to the brim,
With joy boundless.

Everything you did,
Brought happiness to all around,
And many a hand,
Wanted to take care of you.

Today, with the burdens of life,

You probably prefer,
To cry all alone,
To cry while it rains,
So that only Providence will know,
Your tears.

But today is a day to smile,
To be just YOU,
Unique, unbridled and effervescent!!!

Happy Birthday!!!