The Silent Raga

This is named so because I wrote it while watching Mani Ratnam's 1986 hit, Mouna Ragam starring Revathy Menon.

She had just entered

Her work done for the day

When she noticed that the house

Was done up in a special way

Before she could ask

Her mother swooped in

Talcum box in her hand

And yanked her into the kitchen

Her sister entered then

A beutiful saree in hand

Draping, dabbing, this and that

She thought she looked grand

"What Amma? What is this?"

She asked for an answer she feared

Cringing wouldn't make it go

The age of 24 had neared.

She peeked outside, just a peek

To see who were sitting

Did just the parents and the boy come

Or the whole family they saw fitting?

A demurely man about her age

Was sitting quietly in the side chair

So thin, so tall, so elegant

Well dressed too, and ever so fair.

"Enough looking", said Amma

So out she went with fear

Will I like him? Will he like me? 

Is this my husband-to-be sitting here?

She set sweetmeats on a table

Her wondering eyes set firmly on the ground

For that's what Amma had told her

"Eyes down, and not a sound."

But curious as she was, she looked

And their eyes met for the first ever time

And both caught themselves thinking

Oh! If only those eyes were forever in mine!

Inner peace

Our elders advise it for peace. I advise it for sanity. I know I'm not authority on meditation, I'm just eager to share a little of what I know and experienced of this one sure-shot way to recharging your mind. 

We've all seen pictures of, and heard stories about Buddha. In all the pictures, he's perennially squatted, deep in meditation. I'm not sure how he was able to muster concentration enough to sit there like that, for hours and days on end. I once heard this fable about him. His disciples and he were sitting in this forest, meditating, when a snake came visiting. It slithered all around them, hissing to announce its arrival. Terrified by its hiss, the disciples peeked to see their worst fear in front of them, and scrambled away immediately. One of them even called out to the Teacher, but he did not seem to hear. The snake eventually found his way back into a hole in the ground, and slithered away. Upon Buddha's coming to, the disciples realised he never knew of the snake.

Now concentration to THAT level seems impossible by us at this stage. But we can start out with 3-5 minutes of squatting on the floor, with a mat below us. The extremely time-conscious ones can even set an alarm on their cellphones. I had done that my first time meditating. But that's the funny thing about meditation. After all the hustle-bustly running around of the day, I find it extremely difficult to calm my mind down, and evacuate it of the constant stream of thoughts, good and bad. I find it hard to close my eyes for 2 seconds! After the initial glitches I settle into a rhythm. Breathe in, breathe out. Slooowly. And then comes the hard part. You just don't want to get back to your routine. You don't ever want to get out of that trance-like peace that seems to descend on you. Trust me, the feeling is priceless, a calm like none other.

A lot of new words got added into the Oxford Dictionary last year. But the most amusing ones, I thought I have to share:

1. Automagically : An unexplained happening.
2. LBD (Little black dress) : The minimalistic dress that neither hides, nor distracts.
3. Frenemy: Finally, this word is legit! For all those who don't know, a frenemy is an enemy you are polite and civil with.
4. Chillax! : Nope, not just a Mumbaiyya phrase now. It's official. In fact, Wikipedia lists one of the uses as "Chillax dude, or they are going to know that you are tripping". Hahah! 
5. Staycation: A vacation spent at home. It means doing vacation-y things in the comfort of your own home.

Legacy of an adopted child

This is a poem that I read when I visited the Balanand home for underprivileged kids. It was put up on their green-board, and I thought I would share it:

Legacy of an adopted child

Once there were two women
who never knew each other
One you do not remember
the other you call mother.

Two different lives
shaped to make yours one,
One became your guiding star
the other became your sun.

The first gave you life
and the second taught you to live in it.
The first gave you a need for love
The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality
the other gave you a name
One gave you the seed of talent
the other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions
the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile
the other dried your tears

One gave you up
it was all that she could do.
The other prayed for a child
and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears
The age-old question through the years.
Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?
Neither, my darling,neither.Just two different kinds of love.

Elaine Gubish

It all Boyles down to this.

We've sold ourselves.To the first gora who came along.Christian Colson(not sure about his name, though) , that is.
Saying the truth is one thing.Shouting (possibly) one man's truth (or not even that) to a firangi public that will readily generalize this notion to all of India is wholly another.Right now, there is some fat ***ed American munching his caramel popcorn, thinking "Man, these Indians are backward.Religious riots, children begging in scary numbers on the streets and garbage all over."I don't know about you, but my blood boils just thinking about it.

We had tried Lagaan-ing,even tried Paheli-ing, but the golden lady was eluding us.There was only one way out.Put our garbage-filled railway stations and cockroach-infested kitchens up for global entertainment.And now that we've smiled, posing with the award, we're happy.Happy that a bunch of foreigners approved of how dirty our country really is.But we don't think about all this.We've got Indian cinema on the world map, they say.At what cost?, I say.

There are loads of nice things about India.Every aerobics class that makes the people perform Suryanamaskar must thank us for it.Every time they pick up a Deepak Chopra, they should remember us.Forget India, let's talk about something closer to home.Dharavi.No one talks about love stories unfolding while waiting in queue for using the common toilet.And the fact that the kids at Dharavi know better English that you'd imagine, thanks to adventurous foreigners who visit Dharavi for a whiff of the real Mumbai.There was Kalpana Chawla, there was Rabindranath Tagore and then there was S.Radhakrishnan.I don't see movies being made on these.

I know we're all tired of the "snake-charmer, mystical" typecast on us.It is gone for good. But if we just sit there, there is a new typecast ready to take its place.Which will take long and lot to erase.

Me

Following this whole "25 things about me" list that all Facebook users are making nowadays, I started thinking about what i would write if I had to.I'm going to try, but friends reading this can help out.I need it.

20 things about me:
1. I love my brother more than my parents, or God, or myself.
2. I was underweight when I was born (yeah yeah I know, I was shocked too, when my mother told me. Ironically, my mouth was stuffed at that time.But then again, when isn't it?)
3. I don't REALLY know what "ironically" means.But I use it in sentences anyway.
4. I have a dramatic monologue going on inside my head, and I absolutely LOVE imagining potential conversations between "namoone" that I get to see so often in buses.
5. I despise the idea of anyone calling their parents "Mom and Dad".C'mon, they at least deserve better than THAT.Westernized idiots.
6. On the same note, I think the most beautiful word that ever was is "AMMA".Kinda makes me feel all warm and tingly every time I say it.
7. I have more best friends than some people have friends.
8. I'm judgemental about people who dress well.Don't ask.
9. I have a lot of little beliefs that keep coming and going.Like -"If a 92Ltd. comes along in the next 1 minute, I'll do well in today's test".
10. I'd like to think I'm one of the cooler nerds of V.J.T.I.
11. I HATE my cellphone.And all cellphones.And the fact that people use them only for messaging at 3am and for getting out of an awkward conversation by faking a call.
12. An hour of sports makes me feel thinner.Just feel.
13. I love talking about religion, God and the abstract with my mother.
14. I start crying when a song matches my mood EXACTLY.
15. Oh, and I cry only when I'm alone.
16. I hate it when people use sms language in their blogs. Or anywhere, for that matter.
17. I can listen to Chandler Bing all day long, if that's possible. It's love.
18. I'm sarcastic to the core. More so at home, where people are greatly annoyed by it.
19. I love punning with words.Though it doesn't come voluntarily.
20. I've always dreamt of a wedding with me in jeans and a comfortable t-shirt.

There,I've said it.Go ahead, change it, comment,suggest, criticize. Whatever.

Waaat you doing, da macha?

Ek chaturanaar, bada hoshiyaar...



Frankly, I have never heard this song fully.Know why?Coz I can't. When I see Mehmood dressed in a dhoti with ash all over his forehead, and screaming Ayyo Ayyo after each alternate breath, it disgusts me.To see how Tamilians are portrayed on-screen.Or anywhere else,for that matter.

We are FOREVER called Madrasis, not that we're all from Madras, but who cares?All we do is wear really colourful lungis, go to temples all the time and say things like "Poda rasscalaa".May I point out here, that Rajnikanth, who made that phrase a household affair, is a hard-core Maharashtrian.And how could I forget!Our language,Tamil can be pretty much summarised by 2 words(I can't even call them WORDS), Andu Gundu.

I can understand if people cannot differentiate between the four different southern languages.But at least recognize the fact that there are more than 1!And that Tamil does NOT have any words like Andu Gundu!And that we eat things other than Idly and Sambar!I am proud to say that I can at least differentiate between Gujarati and Kachhi.And between Bengali and Oriya.Maybe someday in the (hopefully near) future, Bollywood will stop stereotyping us "Madrasis" and recognize us for the truly modern community we are.