Leaves of My Tree

Its August 15, 2010. Its independence day today. 64 years ago, our leaders fought for freedom and independence. Finally we became the masters and makers of our destiny. For some of the most silly reasons, human errors, erractic egos, we divided the country. People who were cordial neighbours belonging to the same roots suddenly bacame staunch enemies. Like all enemies, we needed a reason for hate... We successfully found it ... Kashmir!! Since then, the valley of beauty and wonder has never seen peace, never experienced bliss. Since 1948, Kashmir has always faced wars, terror attacks, the so called 'cleansing missions' etc. The 1948 agresssion, the 1965 war, the 1989 cleansing mission which drove out all the Kashmiri Pandits from their homeland and the 1999 war again...Each one of these cowardly acts has made the valley unsafe. Call it our procrastinating attitude or appeasing politics, we have failed in establishing our hold on the valley not only in the internataional s...

Hello... Long time... I was away for a while. Was busy getting married... and this will be my first blog post after marriage. I am here to thank all my near and dear ones who carved out the event so beautifully. My humble gratitude to thee. In the midst of runnning around, finding things there were many light moments of laughter, heavy moments of parting, tense moments of arguments, anxious romance, exciting surrender and finally the best and the most commmonly found was natural and simple grandeur in everybody and in everything including dressing, thoughts, expressions and actions. Thank you all for making this event one of the most memorable events of my life.

Unity in Diversity… a phrase which I learnt from the Social Studies textbook, a phrase that makes special appearances on the 26th January and 15th august every year. This phrase intends to develop a sense of unity amongst the Indians though they speak different languages, follow different customs, dress differently, look differently, believe different Gods etc. However, what caught my attention today is the oxymoron created by the words used and their purpose. Though the central idea of its purpose is to unity, the central idea of the language is diversity! 63 years ago, this phrase sounded apposite. It was immensely necessary to find that unity amongst diverse cultures. That was a time when our leaders had to imbibe the fact that though we are Kanndigas, Tamilians , Punjabis, Bihari, Marathas etc, we are also Indians. Therefore it was right for our leaders to highlight our differences but also pinpoint our similarities. Since then, we have come a long way. I do not feel the necessity ...

I am not a poet, I cannot see something in nothing. I am not a lyricist, I cannot make you feel through my songs. I am not an author, I do not write pages about ages. I may not see beauty in the moon, But I can reflect her. I may not word my feelings soon, But I can hear yours. I am a stenographer Blessed with the art to scribble the feelings of your heart. ( A poem written when I was in school. I found it recently while cleaning my room!)

Its a lonely path, I tread alone To walk all the way all alone I don't know where to go, I can't stop going I don't know what to do, I can't stop doing No stones, no thorns, nothing to peirce not even horns, The path is free, and so I am bound. I wonder why I fear, no boulder is near. I have walked all the way And reached new places every day. I can trow, drag, walk even run But is it possible to reach the horizon? Freedom binds reasoned minds Path determined; distance reminds.

Sixteen thousand people... all dressed in Khaki uniform, to hear their leader, the 6th Sarsanghchalak Mananiya Shri Mohan ji Bhagvath. I must say it was a sight to see. A speech worth its time and energy! This is not the first time that I have heard such a speech or seen such a sight. But this time there was something more that was not so pleasing. The discipline that is exhibited by the swayamsevaks is usually blatantly in contrast to the disorganised behaviour of the general public, also present to hear the speech. but this time it was not so. A significant part of the younger swayamsevaks seemed to be on an excursion, happily roaming around the field, exhibiting complete disinterest in the speech which was meant to be the purpose of their visit. Busy eating icecreams, taking pictures and littering away the place... all this was agin by the younger swayamsevaks. All the swayamsevaks carry a danda (a bamboo stick five feet long) which is an integral part of their uniform. The age...

"Oh my god... you have not changed at all.. how come?" " how come you still remember kannada? Oh goodness you still talk in our style!!" " You just came from Canada no? how come you are still wearing a bindi and saree? you dont do style????" ( !?!) " She is lying. She did not go to foreign. Look.. she does not wear western clothes." "She still sings in kannada songs. Why will a person from foreign sing in kannada.. that too before god?" " How come you dont have beads and different colour hair streaks?" " Thank God... you dint cut your hair." I am sure most of us would have been subjected to such conversations specially when we get the status of ' foreign-returned'. I have never been able to understand the reason behind such converstaions: whether they are conversations for the sake of starting a meaningful one or presumed to be meaningful perse. I would be apalled if it is meant to be the later. In eithe...

There have been many movies that have fantasised the concepts of alien existence. One such brilliantly made movie is District 9. The animations in the movie does not look animated at all! (Animation is probably is one such profession where it looks best when it achieves its exact opposite). Kudos to the entire team of District 9. What particularly drew my mind in the entire movie is the relationship between response and stimulus. I am reminded of a saying.." If men were triangles, God would also be a triangle". In other words, man conceptualises things the way he sees himself. It has been very recently that man has begun to imagine different shapes of living beings with equal, inferior or superior intelligence. It took human mind quite a few years to reach this stage. However,till date, he has not been in a position to think beyond his emotions. This is exactly what caught my attention in the movie.The aliens in the movie look like prawns. What they spoke was not comp...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jen-1ofuU4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9kladiGQlk Look at that Child prodigy. Her body language, her attitude is so child-like. She is playing with her necklace.. really not bothered about what's happening around her... I doubt if she even knows the gravity of her knowledge. I am stunned by that ' indifferent' answering! May be it is the pre-acquired knowledge. A knowledge that was acquired by her in the previous birth! I am quite skeptical about the concept of punarjanma, Karma theory etc..... I do not know if there is something of that sort. May be the rational in me is not ready to accept it without a 'studied and established proof' or may be I am that ignorant to even conceptualise it or may be my ego in its sublime level does not want to accept the fact of evident superiority in other people. But when I see such videos, I am humbled. It definitely has not convinced me about the existence of such 'surreality'. It m...

ಇಂದು ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿದ ಪದ . ವೈಚಾರಿಕ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರ . ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಏನಂತೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾ ? ಒಂದು ಹುಡುಗಿಯನ್ನ ಇಷ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟು ಆಕೆಗೆ ಹೇಳದೆ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಡಿಗೆ ತಿನ್ನುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ವೈಚಾರಿಕ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರ ಅಂತ ನಾಮಕರಣ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಒಬ್ಬರು ಮಹಾನುಭಾವರು . ಆಹಾ ! Concept ಕೇಳಿ shock ಆಯ್ತು . ಅಲ್ಲಾ ... ಪಾಪ . ಒಂದು ಹುಡುಗಿಯನ್ನ ಇಷ್ಟಪಟ್ಟು ಯಾವುದೊ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ , ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಧೈರ್ಯ ಆಗದೆ ನೋ ಅಥವಾ ಕೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಅವಳು ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇಜಾರು ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಂಡು ಮಾತು ಕೂಡ ಆಡದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಇರುವ ಸಂಬಂಧವನ್ನು ಕಡ್ಕೊಂಡು ಬಿಡ್ತಾಳೆ ಅಂತಾನೋ ... ಏನೋ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಆ ಹುಡುಗ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಹೇಳದೆ ಇದ್ದರೆ , ಅವನಿಗೆ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರಿ ಅಂತ ಹೆಸರು ಇಡೋದು ಏನು ಸೊಗಸು ? ಅತಿರೇಕ ಅಷ್ಟೆ . ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾತಾಡಿದಾಗ confuse ಆಗುತ್ತೆ . ಇದು ಹೆಣ್ಣಿನ ಮರ್ಯಾದೆಯನ್ನು ಕಾಪಾಡಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಹೇಳಿದ ಮಾತು , ಆದರೆ ನಿಜವಾಗ್ಲೂ ಹಾಗೆ ಅರ್ಥ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾ ಅಂತ . i can put it is crass terms. i will avoid it though. ಈ ಪದ ಕೇಳಿ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತ್ತು . ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೆ ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದೆ . ಆ ಮನುಷ್ಯ , ಮತ್ತೊಂದು extension ಕೊಟ್ಟ . ಹಾಗಿದ್ರೆ , ಈ dating ಗೆ ಹೋಗುವವರೆಲ್ಲ ಏನು ವೈಚಾರಿಕ ವ್ಯಭಿಚಾರಿಗಳಂತಾ ಅಂತ ಕೇಳಿದ . very thoughtful question i must say. i la...

I am going to get married in a while. People say it is a love marriage. I believe it to be so because I chose the guy. I do not know if I love him. But I just know that I cannot imagine a life without him around me. May be that is love... I do not know. I am writing this because, off late, I have been having such conversation with people around me who are looking for life partners. They have come up with a common statement when I have asked them as to why they have not found one yet, when they had a chance of meeting so many people. They have said " annisalilla" ( the feeling never arose). This statement has confused me. I asked my fiance if he loves me. He says yes. But when I asked him what love is he did not know it. When I accepted his proposal, the only thought that was in my mind was ' A known devil is better than an unknown God'. I would have had to marry somebody at some point in my life. I tried analysing his personality. I did not find any reason to reject...

Long time... Infact there have been a lot of things about which I had an opinion that I wanted to share. In the meanwhile, Things got quite bad that I had to rethink my opinion about myself. I irresponsibly lost my debit card. Then I was more irresponsible to I lose my wallet. The next week I fell down and hurt myself. In short, I have successfully managed to irritate myself. That apart, things are moving on in a slow pace with me these days. But nevertheless, the only satisfaction is that they have not stopped. One of the thing that really amused me this month was the statement by our Minister Mr. Gulam Nabi Azad. "Distribute TV to the villages in order to check the growth of population." Quite an interesting and amusing thought process! He supported this statement by explaining that this would be a medium of entertainment, as a result of which the population could be controlled. Imagine, if in the course of time, villages also get infected with B grade movies, which are sh...

For a while I have kept wondering if the term not bad was tantamount to saying good. I know that world is not in black and white. When you say your condition is not good you mean to say that your conditio is bad. But when you say your condition is not bad, you dont intend to mean good. Why is this? Now with respect to good people and bad people. There are a few good people and there are a few bad people. and there are a few not bad people. Such are the ones whom we neither consider as harmful nor as useful. They are the grey ones. Infact they are the inactive ones. Like those not-dishonest ministers who do not take the bribe but at the same time are not honest enough to raise their voices against those who do take bribe. They tend to do so for they have to remain in that system. I have been told by many that if you do not tolerate such things it would be very difficult for you to stay in the system. And it is impossible to change the sytem if you are not within the system. What a ...

I do not like Rakhi Savant. May be that is the reason why I am the regular viewer of her new reality show 'Rakhi ka Swayamwar'. The show started with 16 men of different sectors, different cities, different classes.. competing under one roof to mate ( the word is used in all its positive sense) a woman... in this case Rakhi. The first thing that came to my mind was a clip from the documentary Planet Earth where a dancing bird spreads its feathers in different fashions and colours to attract the female partner. Believe me... I thought it was a beautiful scene of nature, an innocent and intense feeling to keep alive your entity. This show is everything except innocence. Infact, it completely is surrounded by the aura of nonsense. I believe in India, marriage which was being called as a union, had already been changed to be termed as a contract by our laws. Well, a few years ago, I had heard a friend's mother talking about a boy and had used the word 'marriage materia...

(This peice has been reproduced verbatim from the newsletter by Dr.Mardy Grothe. I enjoyed reading this. I hope you will too). On July 2, 1917, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree died at age 64 in London. The half-brother of the writer and caricaturist Max Beerbohm, he began his career as an actor and ended as the most successful theater manager in thehistory of the English stage. The founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he was a prominent figure in London society and is still regarded as one of England's great wits. Throughout his life, Tree kept a small notebook which he used for keeping track of engagements. He alsoused it to record epigrams and aphorisms, many of which have become favorites of quotation lovers: "Every man is a potential genius until he does something." "A gentleman is one who doesn't care whether he is one or not." "A man never knows what a fool he is until he is imitated by one." "It is difficult to be thoroughly...

I want to lead a lonely life, away from all the sorrow and evil. Far away from the city's cacophony, Amongst the trees dense, deep in the woods; Listening to the Nature's rhythm: The rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds, The dancing of flowers to the melody of the breeze, Lingering to mysef the song of my heart, Strange and unheard to my own soul; No wonder 'sole' rhymes with 'soul', Soul solely helps us reach the goal, So ... I want to lead a lonely life. Away from all the tesion and obligation; To lead a happy life?or is it sheer escapism? Mounted with fear of being a failure; Well .... cowards turn their backs to life. Run away leaving behind the challenging strife. In the pertext of listening to their soul. Yes... soul does rhyme with sole sole also means ego... hindrance to goal.. So... you want to lead a lonely life? Things are thus, good and bad, accept it; Life is thus, happy and sad, but live it; Don't leave it. ( A thought that came to my mind...

Can I forget you friend? You were there for me always… You wrote my essays ,You taught me my speech. When I was confused, you chose me my love.. And I loved it for you told me to. You told me the way to live with it, But you also made me strong to live without it. Can I forget the day when I felt proud For you said that I could beat the crowd; I remember the day that day when I came to leave you.. Wondering how I would live without you, But you made me think that you were never away For you were there here in your own way. Today… you are back, you are here. But I am afraid you have changed, Which has made us estranged. No longer am I anything in your life I have accepted this after an inner strife. I wonder whether it is a dead end… But can I forget you friend? Can I forget you friend? ( A peice written for a dear friend of mine. Things change, relationships change, but memories remain!)

Why can’t parents be like children? Why can’t parents be like us? Children are so innocent; even when they go around bantering, Though they are behind the pranks, without a ray of diffidence! Calmly wait for the consequence, optimistic in anticipation. But parents are so suspicious; always go around searching, Indicting the blame on the children with words sharp and dense Impatient to wait for the results, ever agog for investigation. Why can’t parents be like children? Why can’t parents be like us? We are so sensible, far sighted with a vision, Always think in the long run, which reflects in every thought and action; We wish to stroll in the sun and drench in the rain; It is imperative for diseases to restrain. Parents are so ludicrous,grown-up, but have no perception; Each and every instruction reflects restriction and convention. Didn’t they teach boiling and cooling milk is Pasteurisation?A method of milk conservation? then why can’t they? Why can’t they understand the concept of h...

The sun only seemed a cracker shining forever, The moon a nice ball of butter, And the stars seem tiny flowers; And some of them under the covers. From a distance the mountain is only a heap; And that lake? In a small bowl you can keep. From atop the sea doesn’t seem deep. But the moon is rough and the sun is a big ball of fire The stars are brighter and the unseen could be bigger The mountain is huge and the lake can overflow. The sea is certainly not shallow . As we go near, better we get to know it… Just as a human heart which is as small as a fist But it can home all whom you list. (from my previous blog)

Every day I look at a star, That particular star in the north. I wait for it to appear; And when there is cloud I have a tear, Often I have a tear. The cloud seems thick Though I have not measured it. It prevents the starlight That makes my face bright. I talk to the star, It never seems to hear; I look at it, I look at it, I am never seen by it even a bit. Why does man wish that which can’t be his? Why take tension to attarct attention Of something that gives you no affection…but How do I tell myself to attain satisfaction? ( quite a compulsarily rhymed poem.. again from my previous blog)