The BIG Leap

What is beyond death – either being remembered or being forgotten? But that depends upon for whom you have lived – for others or for yourself

Yes!!! I am nearing 30s. ( but 2 more years, 760 more days J remaining) and I am often met with this 5 lakh Rs. Question – ‘When will you get married?’. This makes me wonder, is it really a religious sin or legally committed crime to stay single at this age.

Expert opinions and amateur experiences – they keep coming like the uncalled for 'Buy set top box ads' during the recent times. Uncles and aunties sell their life experiences, about marrying at the right time, helping out parents, settling for life etc as pearls of wisdom. Newly wed friends, still star stuck give good reviews as if marriage is like all the romantic-drama movie titles.

Me thinks marriage must be the first MLM to come in world. And the pyramid is still growing with people in the above levels gaining pleasure on getting one more chap into the fraudulent scheme (“aai neeyum maatikkittiyaa” ). Man!!! and those ceremonies, the preparations, have we done so many things while going to school, college and work? . Now, don’t argue that is too big an event – then why don’t people just not work and get married.

For an average middle class bloke like me, freedom blossoms in late 20s – post college proving my worth, getting a job, settling in it and changing from being dependent to being depended upon in the family. At this juncture, one has the full power of doing anything he wants, but still enjoys responsibly with friends, outings, small parties here and there and the end of the day living a happy bachelor’s life. Now, where the hell comes this cruel intention of pushing him into a life long struggle of marriage? Can’t I enjoy my full cup of freedom till its last drop?

Yes I know, I am getting old, friends got married, parents not the so active anymore. Cant one increase this yielding age to marriage? With all the advancements in science, can’t my mom cook still for one more decade? Can’t I get married post 30? And what guarantee that the future sons and daughters are going to take care of their parents?

Oh my married friend, just that you jumped off the cliff unhurt and still adrenaline rushing, don’t ask me to jump. Coz I am still scared, because from where you have landed there is no coming back.

Out of the Box!!!

This one is heavily influenced from Seinfeld. As Jerry says , we all live in boxes in a sense. You are there in a womb - box. You are put inside a room - box. Then you are dumped in an auto rickshaw /car / van to school - box to box. Then college bus to Classroom to lab to office - boxing all the way. And the subsequent  marriage to bedroom to hospital room to coffin - BOX! BOX!! BOX!!!... All our life BOX, and hence the expression "out of the box" ( of course making up this one).

So the phrase "out of the box" - other than the usual, something not related to your life, go beeping die yourself if you cant think normally. 

But then there are few things out of the box which I like a lot

biking - one travel form where you are not in a box... Things don't move by your window during biking. One is not separated by that screen or veil . The biker blends, and he moves into the space , rather than the space  seen moving through the window.

Sleeping under the stars - not just for the romantic ones as stereotyped in movies. Believe me, its a zen experience , wondering whats up there, see the shape shifting clouds, losing yourselves counting starts and getting dissolved into a small nothing in the big universe.

Trekking & hiking up - no one can put a big roof on mountain , right? Well , if sleeping under the stars is about going small, this is about feeling big . Standing on the cliff , office becomes far away, bosses invisible and you get few firsts of nature - the sunshine, the wind, the rain, the bird droppings too...

We all work for the weekends...

Off late I have been working so hard ( unsmart :'( I should say ) that I haven't had enjoyed a proper break or a weekend. Mailing late nights, reading materials on Sundays, and evening skipping great World Movies in my hard disk. Then finally happened to take a trip with my buddies last weekend. Just before the trip, I started working even harder trying to finish off more work. Now, looking back I see that I have enjoyed a proper weekend almost after a break of 3 months. Earlier I used to have a good weekend fortnightly once, merely roaming and hanging out inside the city. Now the gap between the breaks have become wider and the breaks more memorable. Is this good or bad, I am confused !!! This reminds me a cliche, "how long since you took a decent break?" Remember that guy? -  slogging late hours, files all over (the desktop), unshaven, soggy eyes, tired look but still with a fire inside to work... I wonder and assuming to understand, what for he is waiting so long. May be longer the gap, more enjoyable the break? Or he loves to finish off work at a stretch? Then does the latter question mean, people with short gaps between breaks are not so keen on finishing it off? Uh... never mind these ramblings, no matter what, each one has their own frequency / urge / resistance to take a break in the weekends. Fools are those ones , who work so long that they don't have a weekend but just THE END.

The Evergreen Test Match

Who said test matches are long gone. We daily play it, from Monday to Friday . 

The toss

Finding your boss sending your Monday morning mails before you reach the office - it's gone , you have lost the toss. You have been put into bat in a good track if the mail is about appreciation of last week's work or a simple follow up of the same But, if it is about the tasks ahead for the week, hmmm!!! oh boy, you are stuck in a grassy pitch be careful.

Those first few overs with testing swings and bouncers like " you got to complete this by today ", shouldn't take away your cool. Which on losing, you are bound to give away wickets too early by not concentrating on the work ahead. 

The ball gets old

Survive the morning session, you meet the vicious spinning testers/whiners/end users who come up with bugs, complaints and nasty mails to your boss. If you have the solution ready, your middle order is safe, or else, a bad tea break and an exposed tail of "how to figure out these things", will see off your day.

Day 2

Your woes continue, as the tail is wrapped up with few more minor complaints and tasks added to your list, thus inviting your boss to bat. With the calm and arrogance of Chris Gayle, he sends of mails of fours and sixers hitting the typical "why you have not done this? " shots. 

The beating Continues

You have a bad lunch session, with all those bugs and pending items in mind. Back from lunch you google, refer old files do reverse engineering and all other means to find out the cause and the solution. But as the sun sets you still have not answer with your boss leaving the field dominating the day - " you better sort it out".

Day 3 - Finally some wickets

You are starting to get frustrated with no head way, but then a conference call is called for with the super boss. This time your boss gets it, unable to explain and vaguely hitting in the air giving motherhood statements  like "it's just a small problem sir. we will sort it out".

Post Lunch Declaration

Post the call, a one to one meeting happens with your boss setting the deadlines with the usual sledging.

Day 4 - A mountain ahead

You sweat it out hard, try not to lose wickets. With little tasks getting completed one by one you feel the confident in erasing lead. But as the tea session nears, cracks appear. You still haven't found the solution for the big tasks and made no head way losing few wickets with the EOD status mail.

Day 5 - The Survival

Your boss starts coming around to bowl those bouncers and Yorkers again . Even the spinners pitch in giving out the googlys stating "this is not what I asked for!!". With all your brains, might and luck you try to eke out the todos, but the game ends post tea with this classical end game ball taking off the last wicket -

Please stretch out tomorrow and finish it off

rgds,

Your Boss

Post Match Commentary

You always wonder if you could finish off all the work before Friday and be the Aussies of test Cricket. but then , till you have a boss you are always a minnow.

அப்பாவிகள்

அப்பாவிகள்,
குடுகுடுவென ஓடும் பிள்ளைகள்
காய்கறி பேரம் பேசும் இல்லத்தரசிகள்
நட்போடு உரையாடிச்செல்லும் இலங்குமரிகள்
சாலை ஓரமாய் குப்பைக்கொட்டும் பாட்டிமார்கள்
காதலிகளுக்கு குறுந்தகவல் அனுப்பிக்கொண்டு செல்லும் காளைகள்
என யாருக்குமே ,தனுது வாகன ஒலி கேட்காமல் ஓட்டிச்செல்லும் பாவிகள்-வாகன ஓட்டுனர்கள்!!!

Damn these journeys again and again

Our railway journeys are mostly preplanned – prebooking, packing, arriving station before time , checking seats, double checking for tickets and safety , goodbyes and then the journey. Observing this journey process, I think this is present even in the small journeys of our lives, like schooling, college, marriage, and career. Checking out various options, getting the application forms, attending interviews, filling out forms, getting the offer/admissions is same as checking the route, selecting trains and booking the tickets. Then the things to carry, ID proof, ticket printouts is like prepare the certificates, stay, and finances and back up plans. This common phenomenon in travel and in life can be attributed to our inherent risk averse nature, meticulous planning or assuming the outcome and acting on how things are going to happen or working for the predicted outcome. And for the unplanned in the life, there are a few whose journeys are made in the last minute, unexpected. Some carry it off well, with their extra resources (tatkal and bribes) and some with taking risks travelling the hard way (unreserved). And we have also the unfortunate few, who don’t get ticket confirmations, those who miss the train accounting for the failure situations.

Now at the stations,  those quiet moments before the departure the passengers waiting for their journey to begin. Loaded with luggage of expectations to be carried, the instructions are given and goodbyes waved as the whistle is blown. Their journey begins with a jolt shaking them back to reality for the experience which they are going to face alone.  Wary of co-travelers and the hawkers with the instructions and prejudices in mind we cross few stations carefully treading on relationships. But as people get to know each other, bonds begin to form and the loneliness fades off. We begin to relax and start to believe in others entrusting with them our luggage of secrets. With friends and foes being made, secrets either safe or stolen and experiences various flavours along the route, we get down at our destination not being the same person who boarded.

didnt want to name it...

People are not born the same, all races don’t start equally

If you start slow, you can always catch up,

And if you have a good lead don’t ever lose it.

Cruising on highways when everything is good,

Don’t look back often but take short stops.

Take time in life’s big changes like you go slow on curves.

Not all routes can be travelled going hard on the gas,

One should know to use brakes, likewise when to say ‘No’.

You are not the only one with problems,

Watch others in traffic jam and learn from their mistakes.

And ‘The End’ it doesn’t even matter,

The journey is not only about the bike, life lies in the ride…

Hardball

I troll, scroll, stroll

Friends all, and their wall

At work pay so small, I get gall

I Play ball, go mall, back home I fall

My Boss call, I bawl, tell him “screwball”

Grab a shawl, go pub crawl, get into a brawl

Thrashed by all, in road I sprawl, yelling “f’ck ya all”

  I groan and wrawl,& she helps me out, looking a baby doll

As I dream of “happily ever after”,   she dumps   me in the church all

        I ask her “why this kolaveri di?” , she shows the finger, aint she “hardball"...

Bikitation

The monk is confused as he sits, and the man climbs on the ride.

An imaginary veil covers the head as the helmet is put on.

Forearms stretched and they grip the handle bars like the chin mudra that controls the chi flow.

The engine is revved as the breathing starts.

As the closed eyes gravitate near their center the focus sets on the middle of the road.

The rider passes the busy streets and signals as the mind wanders around the distractions and worries.

The breathing sets into a rhythm as the speed began to increase and steady.

The bike hits the city outskirts into the highway and the mind begins to ignore the surroundings and focusing on the nothing.

A peace sets in, with the mind sinking deep inside the soul and the bike cruising on the highway - both of them running away from the troubling things.

Alas the monk opens his eyes to the light of enlightenment; the rider closes his against the light  seeking his nirvana...

(Earlier ending for the above : The peace is broken as the eyes are opened, and the bones are broken as the eyes are closed. )

(the above pic dedicated to my ride, my horse on the track, my camel in the desert and my rat in the tunnels)