கனவுலகம் (Dream world)

கண்கள் சொருகி
பார்வை விலகி
சென்றேன் கனவுலகத்திற்கு
திரும்ப மனமில்லாமல்

விடுதலை வேண்டும்
கண் கருவளையத்திலிருந்து
வேக ஒட்டத்திலிருந்து
கால சக்கரத்தின் சுழல்களிலிருந்து

நிற்க வேண்டும்
ஒவ்வொரு நிமிடத்தை ரசிக்க
கால் தடத்தை பதிக்க
இசை வெள்ளத்தில் மிதக்க

நடை போட வேண்டும்
தென்றலின் திசை நோக்கி
இயற்கையின் அழகை நாடி
சிறு ஓடையின் தெளிவைத்தேடி

காற்றில் பறக்க
சிறகு தேவையா?
கடலில் கலக்க
கால்கள் தேவையா?

அளவில்லை
உளறல்களுக்கு
எல்லையில்லை
கனவுகளுக்கு

A rough translation in English

In a state of trance
with my vision blurring
I stepped into my dream world
with no desire to return

wishing for freedom from
dark circles around my eyes
speed of the race
rotation of the life wheel

wishing to stop for
relishing every minute
leaving a footprint
floating in music

wishing to walk towards
the direction of the breeze
the beauty of nature
the stillness of the stream

To fly in air
Do I need wings?
To walk in ocean
Do I need legs?

No limits
to ramble
No boundaries
to dream

PS: Inspiration can come at any time, any place.....in a macroeconomics class as well! :-)

Evolution of Diwali celebrations

In the 20 odd years that I remember, Diwali is one exciting festival that I look forward to every year. I could think of so many memorable experiences that this day has offered me. The most distant memory I could recollect is waking up to the music of Nadaswaram at 3.30 AM on the morning of Diwali. The musicians used to visit every house, played Nadaswaram and Mirudangam for a few minutes and collected some money. The specific rituals would be in the order of taking oil bath before sunrise, wearing new sets of dresses, eating a delicious breakfast with a lot of sweets, firing crackers and visiting relatives' houses.

There used to be times when I was so scared of crackers that I would hide inside my house. When I had to go to my nearby grandpa's house, I would run fast with my ears tightly closed. My only interest was the harmless sparklers which my dad used to buy a bunch of boxes, especially for me. My little brother had all the crackers in his control with no competition from my end.

Then came the times when I started bursting roll and dot capes (remember the red dots and rolls!) and bijli crackers (tiny ones). My brother was happy to share them with me as he had already moved to the next level of lakshmi crackers and double sounds. Slowly I started moving to sparrow crackers and my fear started vanishing. My bro had to share the entire crackers box with me with a strict ratio of 50:50. He couldn't believe that he has to relinquish his monopoly one day.

With years passing by, the manner of bursting crackers has also changed. There used to be times when we used to untie the 28 wala or 58 wala (stringed crackers) and burst them one by one. But as we grew older, we started tying bijli crackers into a bunch and bursted them. How can we miss the heroics of lighting bijli crackers by holding them in our hands and throwing them to neighbours house?

Once I remember we had a very bad rainy season just before Diwali. Most of the crackers never bursted. A creative person, my brother is! He collected all the crackers that didn't burst and lighted the pile. Pishshhhhh! Black smoke all over his face! We had to rush to the hospital and give him an injection to avoid any infection.

In our apartment, we had a competition among the kids as to who bursts the crackers the first. My brother and I used to get up very early, burst a 100 wala outside and then come home with a big success smile. We also had competition among the apartments in our street. Which apartment has lots of bursted crackers and papers outside the gate? To win this competition, we used to burst a lot of lakshmi crackers. For people who are not aware of the properties of lakshmi crackers, they are the ones that spit out the most paper bits.

In the past few years, the passion with crackers has considerably gone down. We like to just laze around, watching TV and teasing cousins who fear to burst crackers. Whatever it is, Diwali is a special day to share joy and happiness!

4 month anniversary

Today is a special day and you know why! It's been 4 months ever since I joined PGSEM in IIM Bangalore. It would be highly dramatic if I say that life has changed a lot. Maybe, I will try to keep it subtle. It has been a long cherished dream to study in a premier institution like IIMB.

Fridays and Saturdays are days that I now look forward to every week for many reasons - getting back to student life, interacting with students from different backgrounds in software industry and Profs who are experts in their respective area. Ever since the first quarter started on June 16th, it has been a busy 4 months so far. The learnings that I receive from the classes every weekend have been excellent, which is the key motivating factor behind my full attendance. The mode of communication has been two way with students and Profs discussing every aspect and the situations we face at work. Apart from the classes, the projects/assignments that are part of the curriculum are very interesting and helps me to learn a lot more beyond textbooks. I love the case based approach of learning. The strategy cases have been like reading some interesting stories about different companies and their leaders. It has been an enlightening learning experience that has broadened my perspective and look beyond the comfort zones of software development.

I have been managing my time better. I know there is a still a long way to go. With 8 more quarters to go, I'm sure it's going to be a nice, steep learning curve that should help me realize my full potential and become a better person.

Movie time

I've been wanting to watch Chak De India ever since the movie got released. With a single day weekend and unwillingness to go to the other end of the city just for the sake of a movie, a trip to PVR cinemas had been disappointing, with the movie shows running house full. So my hubby and I decided to drive down to Innovative multiplex to watch Chak De. We were shocked with the ticket prices for a multiplex so far from city - silver class for 180 and gold class for 200. Heights of inflation, I swear!

We had some time to dispense before the movie starts. What better time than now to visit Homeworld! With the huge banners and advertising in the newspapers, we cannot miss this chance. It's a massive complex with a variety of options for home decor. Anything and everything you need for a house is out there. The display pieces are wonderful but not the prices, ofcourse! The less expensive furniture models are of poor quality. The display pieces had many cracks and very easy to figure out that these are the cheap models which can break easily while you transport the stuff to your home.

After a quick lunch at the "Village", we entered Innovative for the first time. A single dull lamp was the only source of illumination in an otherwise dark cinema hall. The movie started on time with no advertisements or trailers.

Chak De is a movie with a predictable story line. Though the opening sequence was melodramatic with the usual sad tone when Shahrukh and his mom vacate their house, the story picks up once the girls start registering their names. The movie clearly depicts the plight of Indian sports other than cricket, how some states are given a more preferential treatment than others, how team work always wins, why egoistic attitude takes you nowhere etc etc. Though there are so many messages, never once I felt the movie is getting preachy. No wonder my CEO suggested all the employees to watch this brilliant movie.

The world cup sequences are shot well, with the final match bringing the audience to the edge of their seats. The kids who were watching the movie got so engrossed that they started clapping and cheering when the women's team won the championship. The characters are well chosen, with King Khan portraying the role of Kabir Khan brilliantly. He fits such roles (like Mohan in Swades) better than the hero-running-around-the-trees movies these days.

Sports sells and movies based on sports are definitely super-hits. It's good that for a change, movies are being based on sports other than cricket.

Something unique and new

I like spending time at CCD (Cafe coffee day). Though I don't do it quite often, the moments I engage in a cup of coffee are memorable. I love the CCD at the Crosswords book store after roaming around and browsing through different collections of books and having a quiet chit-chat (an oxymoron?) with dear hubby. My preference would always be for a cup of milky latte. Having been brought up in a South Indian family where coffee is close to everyone's heart and a daily morning ritual, I like my cup of coffee as a mixture of strong decoction at the bottom and frothy milk all the way up.

I came to know of this new coffee place Brewhaha in Koramangala while whiling away my time reading blogs sometime back. Having got disappointed with the tickets of Chak De not available on a Saturday evening, we decided to hang out at brewhaha around 7 PM. It's a unique place with a casual ambience and with many college-goers playing Scotland Yard and Scrabble. They have implemented a different concept where you can hang out with your friends, play a couple of board games and enjoy different flavors of coffee. I also heard from friends that they organize many interesting events. Their website (though not updated recently) shows that there was a Harry Potter quiz held on 22nd July. How did I miss that?

Now for the bad part. The service was pathetic, with the waiters focused more on setting the table for the buffet dinner than getting our orders for coffee. I don't understand the need for a buffet dinner when the USP (unique selling proposition) of this place is coffee. It looks like this place has lost its primary focus and trying different things. We waited for 15 minutes and finally got hold of the menu card. As usual, I ordered a latte and hubby went for a chocolate milkshake. This time, the wait was over 20 minutes and we were wondering if the coffee beans had to be plucked from the plantations of Coorg.

Though the idea is unique (coffee, events, hobbies and board games), trying other options like buffet dinner is not a good idea. The differentiation aspect goes for a toss. Moreover, the poor service adds to the fact that their operations is not upto the marks of CCD and Barista. Coffee places are picking up big time in India and it's a good business to venture into at this point of time. With a clear market leader in CCD, new entrants can succeed if they have some unique aspect that differentiates them. And I guess that is the reason behind Brewhaha's strategy. But lack of focus and customer service with not-so-good operational model can become a huge setback for their unique strategy. On top of it, their prices are on the same lines of CCD which shows that they are not very keen on capturing the market share with low prices. I'm not sure if they are advertising through any form of media. Being setup right next to a college (Jyoti Nivas college in Koramangala) really helps in capturing the pocket money of the college-going youngsters. It will be interesting to see if any new branches of Brewhaha opens soon.