Tell her you love her

She is my child,
She sings like a bird,
She is a great kid!,
I never say, but
I love her

She is my friend,
She is so much fun to hang out with,
The days we spend talking on the phone,
I never say, but
I love her

She is my wife,
The most loving ever,
She is the best partner,
I love her

She is my sister,
generous and caring,
naughty and playful,
I never say, but
I love her

She is,
No,
She was,
She was here,
now she is gone

Creativity Fully Loaded!

Man's creativity knows no bounds, This has been proven true again and again over hundreds of centuries. But nowadays, there is more plagiarism than originality in all aspects of life. People with no talent judge talent shows, and people with even an inkling of talent, shout out from their rooftops about it. There are very few humble, yet amazingly creative people left in this world. One such person is Mr. Raveendra, a retired engineer, who I met as part of one of my assignments in a local newspaper. He owns a workshop called "Kalaspoorthi". Here in this nondescript workshop, he has made soooooooooooooo many things, that are creative, yet so practical. Most of the things he makes is from scrap or waste materials that are being thrown away. I'll publish some of the photos I took when I went there.



This is the leaf table he made as a tribute to the Biotechnology conference that happened in Bangalore a few years ago.



This is what he calls the "spice wheel", you can store spices in the bottles and it can be rotated, and the cap of the bottle needed can be unscrewed from below :). Makes things easier, isn't it?



This is a contraption, he created to paint lane dividers on the roads. One of the bottles can be filled with paint and the other with kerosene, and as one just wheels it across, the straight lines are painted easily. Ingenious, I think!





The first picture is actually a swing, which Mr. Raveendra, fondly calls the "cool swing", and rotate it upside down, and Voila! you've got a ladder with a platform on top!



This is Mr. Raveendra on one of his oldest creations. It is an exercise cycle, the power developed on which is used to run either a wet grinder or a water pump. He says he can pump water upto 2 floors in ten minutes.



Its a cot, its a diwan,no wait its a dining table for four! 2 in 1:)



Look at these photos below carefully, to find out how to divide a table in half in 2 minutes. You may think there are legs on the other side, but please check the axis of the table changes from horizontal to vertical as its turned.





Being an avid nature lover, he has converted the top floor of his workshop into a green house, and in this green house, he has created a wonderland for kids. He has made things that will help make kids understand the concepts of science, arts and spirituality better.



The green house



A model to help kids understand how pixels in a camera work.



A model of the solar system



Veena cum fountain :)

These are only some of the things in his huge workshop, and for the record, he is 72 yrs "young". He still continues to expand his horizons.

If ever there was a lifetime achievement award for engineers, I think he deserves it, what say?

Endless ramblings of a confusing life!

Curious are the ways of this chaotic life,
makes me want to be a child again,
but when I was a child,
I wanted to grow up fast!

Myriad are the ways of this confusing life,
makes me think that boys have everything easy for them,
but I have heard them talk,
and they feel the opposite!

Weird are the ways of this abstract life,
makes me think I wanna go back to college,
but when I was there,
all I ever wanted was to start working!

Hazy are the ways of this clueless life,
makes me think I'm done with shopping,
but when I'm there,
I wanna buy everything in sight!

Crazy are the ways of this fast paced life,
makes me feel I am just a kid,
but when I'm sensible,
I realize I'm not one anymore!

Imperfect are the ways of this pretentious life,
makes me think all I want is freedom,
but what I don't realize is,
I'm scared to break free!

Jumbled are the ways of this scrambled life,
makes me walk in a maze,
day in and day out,
All I wanna say is,
Bravo me!

Hell hath no fury, like the sky scorned!

This picture was taken, again in Wayanad. Someone was trying to take a picture of the ensuing lightning, and even I tried to do the same. This was the result

The Thinking God II - Me and my "Industry"

I thought about it,
I thought again,
Why don't I run the human creation process,
like a software service industry?
They seem to be flourishing on my earth,
Why not?, I asked my mute assistant,
He nodded, as always,
I made him that way,

Anyway, I started,
I created managers,
teams and team leads,
I made two teams,
The creators or the developers,
The Quality and Compliance(QC),
I became the client,
I ordered the first batch of humans,
They ought to be perfect,
after all, the process is,

All was set, I was the king,
No worries for me,
After all, I am the client,
Then it came, like a hurricane,

The developers built the first human,
Proudly they sent it to the QC team,
"Ah!, My human is perfect", they said,

The QC people were bewildered,
They found an "issue",
They found his nose to be a little crooked!,
They sent it back to the developers,
The human went around in circles for a while,

Finally, the day came,
The Client Visit,
I was welcomed with open arms,
They garlanded me,
They laid a feast,
I was happy,
I had made a good decision,
Then came the acid test,
They showed me the first human,

I don't remember much after that,
You see, I fainted!,
The human was a sight to see,
He was made upside down,
with the head in place of legs,
and hands, apparently,
were removed in a round of QC,
as there were a few "formatting" errors,

So now I'm thinking again,
again and again,
Should I reconsider my decision?

A trip down under

A trip to the southern most point of India. It sounds exciting, doesn't it?. After all the things I read in geography text books, in school about Indira point, Vivekananda Memorial etc, I was really geared up to go. We planned on a road trip from Bangalore and took the route from TN. Our first stop was Srirangam, a place famous its Ranganatha Temple.

A glimpse of the huge Gopuram can be seen in this pic below,



Then came Tanjore, most popular for its Monolithic temples where the whole structure is carved from a single stone,



Then After a long road, with windmills and greenery on both sides, came the enigmatic Kanyakumari, a small bustling town, with a great view of the sea


Vivekananda Rock Memorial



Thiruvalluvar Statue


A View of the Town


My Favorite Pic- The Sea

There was a path into the sea, I don't for what purpose this rock path is used. I walked from my hotel through the settlement of the fishermen, and to the beach, and walked along this path, which led almost 1 km into the sea, one of the most exhilerating walks of my life!, I thought when I reach the end, I will be enlightened, though I was not:), I really loved it, every moment of it.




On our way back from Kanyakumari, we went to Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. We stayed at a beach resort in Kovalam beach. I could jump from my room's porch and walk to the beach. Here are some of te pictures taken from my room,



The next morning, I saw fishermen busy at work. They dropped a huge net into the sea and this is what they caught



And from there, we headed back home, all exhausted, but with a great experience!

I'm a disco yogic!!

I've been working in fact half a day and half a night daily, what with my office starting at inhumane hours like 6 in the morning! I'm back home at 3, have absolutely no idea what to do afterwards. I tried sleeping in the afternoon last week, and it worked. Then I tried not sleeping, that worked too, but with me being cranky 'bout what to do when 'not sleeping'. So I decided to join some classes, preferably something that didn't need much commitment (What if I don't like it?, What if I have to practice, like in case of guitar classes?, so on and so forth). Finally after due deliberation, I decided to join yoga. I thought I needed some exercise!

I reached there 5 minutes ahead of schedule, but it had already started. They were doing some lying-on-the-stomach-twisting-right arm-stretching left leg sort of exercise. I got scared. Before I venture further, I have to tell you that I have the most inflexible body ever. In fact, my movements are more limited than Upen Patel's facial expressions. yes, I'm really that bad.

But thankfully, may be because the instructor kinda had some psychic feeling about my abilities, he moved on to simpler exercises, 15 minutes into which I was already puffing and panting even without doing half the stuff!

Then ten minutes later, I tried doing the sarvangakashtashtaasana or something which involves coiling the body into a circle. Do you think I could do it? Miraculously, No! Even an aunty of 40 years old, as better than me. I think thats why elders blame our generation to be couch potatoes. You see its not our fault. If they make yoga into a video game, where we have to simulate the aasanas to move to next levels, We'd do it!

Anyway, thats not my topic, I'm more bothered about myself. That was my first day, I don't know how long I'll last there. The countdown begins:)

P.S: I know the title is misguiding, but I liked it, So I didn't wanna change

A to Z of The Great Childhood Summer Vacations:)

A holiday, today, tomorrow, everyday!
Brushing teeth and wearing shorts,
Calling friends from their house gates,
Dancing in the summer rains,
Eating chocolates,cakes and cookies,
Fighting with friends for no reason,
Going berserk doing cycling tricks,
Hulk Hogan and HitMan, They were the heroes!
Ice-cream, lollies and mangoes, unlimited supply,
Jumping on the sand, when buildings were being built nearby,
Keeping the fingers crossed, as result time neared,
Licking the lollypop, you won in a bet,
Making merry, when parents went out,
Nasty cuts and bruises, brushed aside,
Often being chased by neighbors,
Playing hide and seek all day long,
Queuing for tickets, in circus, movies r zoos,
Reading tinkle, champak and everything colorful,
Stealing cashewnuts from jars,
Tom and jerry, everyday,
Umbrellas in rain!, never heard of them,
Vicks was something hated afterward,
What wonderful days they were!
Xbox and playstation, we never wanted them,
You know what this is,
a to Z of our Great Childhood Summer Vacations:)

Am I what I am?

I smile at them,
They seem happy,

I'm a mother, I hate cooking,
but they love to eat,

I'm a father, I hate my job,
but they respect me for my money,

I'm a husband, I hate my wife,
but they envy me for my "perfect" marriage,

I'm a son, I hate my subject,
but they think I'm going to be a "big" man by studying this,

I'm a daughter, I hate the idea of marriage,
but they throw the phrase "settle in life" at me,

I'm a man, I hate myself for it,
but they seem to love me,

I'm a woman, I hate watching soaps,
but they've branded me a "soap maniac",

I love to live on my terms,
but I want to keep them happy,

I think they are happy, but are they?
Am I losing touch with myself in this process?
They call me "perfect",
I know I'm not,
So why don't I stop?