Anuradha Sridharan

2006 is coming to an end. It's that time of the year to reflect upon how this year has been and how I fared in my goals/resolutions. 1) I made a very important change in my job. Although it's not a drastic career move, I can feel the effects that this change has brought in. The move from one company to another has been very good so far. 2) Attended Yoga classes (again!) in Jan and Feb this year. Didn't complete the course as I skipped the final week's classes. I repeated the same mistake in 2005 as well. Hope I complete the course in 2007. 3) Completed two Dream a Dream's Computer Programmes 101 and 102. My first step in teaching has been amazing. I want to continue this activity in 2007. 4) Blog updates - written 69 posts so far. This blog has become an indispensable writing pad for me. 5) Wrote many Tamil poems in my blog. Never knew before that writing poetry will be so engrossing. 6) Completed my OCP Performance Tuning exam. I plan to complete my final O...

எனக்குள் பிறந்தது காதல் இதயக்கதவின் சாவி துவாரத்தில் எட்டி பார்த்தேன் உன்னை ! கதவை தூள்தூளாக்கி என் மனதில் நுழைந்த கள்வனே ! நீ யாரோ என்று சிந்தித்து கொண்ட வேளையில் , ஒரு புன்சிரிப்பு என்னை அறியாமல் என் கண்கள் உன்னை நோக்கின இது நான் தானா? கேள்விக்கணைகள் என்னை துரத்தின மருபுறம் திரும்பினேன் உன்னை மறக்க நீ என்னுள் நிரம்பி விட்டதை மறந்து இதயப்பாறையில் பூத்து விட்டது சிறு காதல் பூ என் கண்களில் தெரிகின்றது முதல் மாற்றம். A rough translation in English First Change Love is born in me. I peek through the keyhole of the door of my heart, I see you. Breaking the door into pieces, you enter my heart as a thief. Wondering who you are, A slight smile without realizing it, My eyes look at you. Is it me? I'm chased by questions I turn towards the other side to forget you. Trying to forget that you have filled in me In the rocky heart blossomed a little flower of love In my eyes I see the first change.

This post has been in the draft mode since 13th Oct 2006. I managed to complete it today. My hubby and I finally made a one-day trip to Mysore. I had been to Mysore thrice before with other family members but this is the first time hubby got to visit Mysore. We wanted to see what's so special during Dussehra. We booked a cab and started our journey at 7 AM on a chilly Sunday morning. There was absolutely no traffic on the road and it was a smooth ride on the highway. I have never seen such a well laid road in India ever before. The flowers and plants that are on the separator of the road is a wonderful sight. We stopped around 9 AM at a small restaurant (forgot the name, it's opposite to a big petrol bunk) for breakfast. Hubby tried a different kind of idli called Mallige idli. I guess it's made out of Aappaam batter. I didn't like the taste of it and I settled for normal idlis. We then had steaming hot coffee. In another 20 minutes, we were in Srirangapatna. Our first ...

My contribution to Sunday Scribblings #38 - Anticipation "Papa, I want that icecream", said little Mannu, staring longingly towards his dad Babu. "How can I reject my only kid's request?", Babu thought while his hands were reaching for his pockets of a torn shirt that he was wearing. All he could find was a one rupee. Meanwhile, Mannu's mom Savitri called them for dinner. "Mannu dear, I will buy you a icecream tomorrow. Now let's go and eat food", said Babu. How can he explain to his 4 year old son that he had no money and that he was waiting for his greedy contractor to pay his salary? "Ok papa. Promise me that you will buy icecream for me tomorrow", said Mannu. "Promise Mannu. Come inside now", Babu called him and gave him a hug. Their house is a shack with just enough space for three of them. Their only possession was a trunk with their clothes. Towards a corner was the kitchen space, with a few old vessels. All that Savi...

This statement is to all those selfish, complaining, irresponsible people in the country, cribbing about the country's state of affairs, corruption, poverty, bad infrastructure, poor performance in sports etc etc. All these morons know is to complain and do nothing else. I know their typical characteristics :- They eat a chewing gum and throw the wrapper on the road. They throw the garbage bags wherever they want. They complain about how things are better in other countries. They keep talking only about those countries and their leaders. They have no respect for traffic rules. They don't care about other unprivileged people living in the same city as they live. Their ultimate aim in life is to settle abroad and crib about India from wherever they are. They bash at all the sports personalities, especially Indian cricketers on their poor performance. Oh yeah, they think given a chance, they can perform better than those non-performing cricketers, hitting sixers every ball and tak...

My contribution to Sunday scribblings #37 - Punishment & Reward This topic has brought a little smile on my "monday-morning-blues" face. Now I have a good reason to relive my school memories yet again. I was in my 9th grade when this incident took place. We had our morning break and waiting for the third session of the day to begin. Our Maths teacher was no where to be seen in the vicinity of our building. All of us were shouting and having fun. An important point to remember here is that ours was a complete girls batch. Finally, our Maths sir entered our classroom after 15 minutes. He was staring at all of us as though we had committed a big crime. "How dare you girls make such a loud noise in my class? Can't you see that the other classes have already begun?", he shouted at us. We were wondering what punishment he was planning to give us then as he is very fond of this brutal act. "Stand up on the bench", he gave a loud order. What on earth does ...

This is my contribution to Sunday Scribblings #36 - "In the last hour..." It was a typical summer. The scorching heat and the frequent power cuts were the norm. The sun was shining bright and the rays had already entered Ravi's room. Ravi was in deep slumber after a night of continuous studies. This had been the case ever since the study holidays began. Today was the first exam and the one he dreaded the most - System modeling and simulation. Though he had prepared well, he always had the feeling that he was going to forget everything in the examination hall. The prickly rays woke him up. He stretched himself and looked at the clock. "Oh my God! It's 9 AM. I have to reach my college by 10 AM. What am I gonna do? Why the hell did my alarm clock didn't ring?". He tapped his clock wildly as though he was going to travel back in time. But nothing of that sort could happen. Slowly the reality dawned on him. He has just an hour to reach the exam hall and his ...

ஆயிரம் ஆயிரம் உயிரினங்கள் கடலுக்குள் மனிதனுடன் பேச ஆவலாய்! தன் கூட்டத்தை விட்டு வெளியே வர இயலாமை, புது சூழ் நிலையை தட்ப வெட்பத்தை தாங்க சக்தி இல்லாமை. எனவே விடுகின்றன கிளிஞ்சல் விடு தூது. பல நிறம் பல வகை பல வடிவம் ஆயினும் ஒவ்வொன்றுக்கும் உள்ளது தனித்துவம். கடல் அலை கொண்டு வ ந்து சேர்த்தது என் காலடியில். சிலவற்றை எடுத்தேன் என் கைகளில் பலவற்றை பார்த்தேன் கால் சுவடுகளில் அழகின் உதாரணம் இவை எளிமையின் இலக்கணம் இவை பரந்து விரிந்த பாற்கடலின் துளிகள் இவை A rough translation in English Seashell message Thousands of creatures beneath the ocean waiting to talk to mankind! Unable to come out of their herd, Unable to withstand the pressures of new environment. Hence sending a message through seashells. Different colours Different types Different shapes But unique in it's own way. Waves brought them closer to me I took some in my hands, I saw many in the footprints. An example of beauty An icon of simplicity, They represent the vastness of the majestic ocean.

It was a sultry summer evening. My classes got over and I was returning home, holding the soft hands of my 70 year old grandma. My school was about 500 metres from my house and my grandma used to pick me up from school everyday. There was no concept of autos or cycle rickshaws in my little village. I was in the 3rd grade and loved the trip back home. My grandma and I used to walk slowly and we stop as soon as we reach my favourite hangout spot "Thaatha kadai" (shop of an old man). I loved the visits to his shop every evening. I never knew his name till this date. All I knew was that he was a very old man with a long white beard, wearing a dirty dhoti. We always call him "Thaatha" (grandfather). His shop was nothing but a small box of space (around 4 * 4 feet), packed with lots of goodies - colourful candies, little animal shaped dolls made out of plastic, cute notebooks and old colouring books. Thaatha used to sit in the centre of his shop, waiting for the school be...