We the people

Just saw Swades for the nth time and it continues to make me take a long and hard relook at life in general. It's not about fancy designations at work or at the corporate, its not about whom you report to or what you do, It certainly aint about buying that new car which gives you an apparent ego boost, not about the number of influential people you meet and get clicked around with. Not about achieving targets, meeting deadlines, being the best broker in the firm or in the country. We get so caught up in counting the numbers that lead up to our targets, the number of awards that grace our showcase. We get great kicks in walking into a five star hotel and get so annoyed if the doorman doesnt do his duty up to our expected levels. We think it to be so fashionable to be seen on page 3 or to be invited to that much sought after 'party' that we feel a lower sense of self-worth if we are omitted.

Swades gives me a reality check. A check that subtly yet powerfully relects the triumph of human spirit. A story of one man's transformation brought about by the troubles he sees his fellow countrymen facing and moreover, transformation brought about by understanding his ability to make a difference. The fact that by sharing and giving we feel a sense of accomplishment that is unparalleled. That the smile on the faces of the people we love is worth more than any wealth in the world. Its about we-the people.
Jai Hind!!!

Words

Words. The very means of our communication. The way we express ourselves. The way we twist them, turn them, manipulate them, play with them. A good command of them can mean the difference between life and death, between a heart won and a heart broken. Someone who doesnt have the pleasure or skill of commanding them faces a tough and uphill task in the journey of life. We live in a world where we are judged by our ability to communicate (oral and written). We prefer writing emails, SMS, and chat messages instead of reaching out to someone. Instead of giving someone a hug, we prefer to use smileys (not exactly words but still impersonal) which show a cute yellow character with his arms extended. When there is an unpleasant conversation or some bad news to be conveyed, people prefer an SMS, email,or chat. Indeed it is dangerous lest as humans we lose what we pride ourselves - 'Human Touch'.

We connect with people everyday, we give good news, we get good news, we give bad news we get bad news. We get emails we receive emails. Now heres some food for thought. Compare the best meeting uve ever had with the best email uve ever had. What do you feel? How good do you feel? Do you remember word for word? Does it replace moment for moment? How would you feel if you were down and had a friend send you a sweet message? Ud feel good. But what if that person came over to see you? He/she dropped everything else to come to see you only so that you feel better. Now isnt that something? Dont you feel good already just thinking about it? Sure it depends on the person, but just for once lets not be people specific. Just be thought specific.

Words can heal. Words can make you happy, Words can insult u. Actions can do much more. So be careful of actions more than words. They can make or break a life far more than words ever can. So are you a words person or an actions person?

Rizwan Khan and us

Recently saw My Name is Khan. The message the movie shares with us is something that is already there within us, only that we have forgotten. Love. It tells us that the world can be a pretty nasty place and if we give it chance, it will grind us down to dust leaving us bitter and disillusioned.

Rizwan loses his adopted son to a mindless act of violence that we have grown so used to...racial abuse. His wife Mandira, so stricken with grief, blames the loss of her son because he was named 'Khan'. Rizwan does not understand this. He has only been taught by his mother that there are only two types of people in this world, good people and bad people. or rather people who do good things and people who do bad things. There is nothing else that differentiates people. His innocence is so evident. When Mandira asks him to leave immediately, he asks her 'when do I come back?'...she then tells him to go and tell the world that he is not a terrorist and that her son was murdered. When he succeeds, then he can come back.

So off goes Rizwan Khan, with very little money, to meet the president of the United States of America. Why does he do this? Does he really need to prove his innocence? Is it going to bring back his Son? Is it going to undo the immense damage inflicted upon him? Not really. He does this simply because he loves Mandira and she wants him to do it. A small town man in a country that he adopted, sets off to meet the President of the USA.

It is very easy to dismiss Rizwan Khan as just another character who has a form of physical defect and therefore depict his achievement of meeting the president as a celebratory event. But thats not what makes him special. The journey and the hardships he undergoes en route to fulfilling his mission is what really does.

Along the journey he comes across a lil village which shelters him, and gives him love. On the day of his departure, he gives a little talk about how he misses his son. Given his physical defect, his words are mostly devoid of any emotion although he does feel them. He thanks the lady who sheltered him and moves on.

Fast forward, after he is released from prison (he gets falsely imprisoned because he utters the word terrorist during a presidential rally), the lil village that he left is in trouble. A hurricane has hit it and so far no medical aid has been sent. Rizwan is not your quintessential hero who believes he can save the village from the onslought of the hurricane. He feels he needs to be there and therefore he decides to go. This is a character that may not be able to express his feelings but he does it through his actions. Rizwan goes to the village just because he wants to be with the people who took care of him. Its a simple gesture. But it speaks volumes and volumes of Rizwan Khan as a person. Sure he has to meet the president, but his need to be with the people who cared about him leads him to a heartwarming reunion with these people.

Why am I writing all this? What difference does it make to any of us what Rizwan Khan does or doesnt do? No difference I suppose. Coz we are all so wound up in our own lives that we have scant interest in what he does or says. It made a huge difference to me. We live in uncertain times where mysterious illnesses strike us and before we know it, a few thousands succumb. We live in a time when bombs go off every other day at some part of the world. In such times, we need to tell the people whom we love just how much we really love them. and not just that...prove it. Our generation has this attitude plastered all over them which screams 'I dont have to prove anything to anybody'...its cool u know. But then we do need to realise that at the end of the day it is actions that speak much more than words and that we are defined by what we do and not what we believe. So if u really love someone out there, tell them and show them how much they mean to u. And never mind what the world says, it doesnt matter.

A friend I lost

It was a dusty morning en route to office that I stumbled upon Alison. The moment I saw her I thought to myself that if she wasnt taken care of immediately, she wouldnt survive the next 24 hours. I got off my car and called one set of rescuers. She was in bad shape...her face was infested with maggots while her skin was mangy. She had'nt eaten for at least two weeks and could barely walk. She didnt look anything like a German Shepherd-majestic and powerful. What I was amazed to see was that despite the condition she was in, she was such a friendly dog. I held out my hand and she came towards me, limping, in a few seconds. I mean she could hardly walk but she came. Makes me believe and she and I had some kind of karmic bonding.

The resuers came and went. They couldnt take her since they didnt have space in their kennel. They instead volunteered to give her treatment daily where she was...on the road-yeah I know, a ludicrous thought indeed. It was then that one of the rescuers gave me the number of Animal Farm- a home for abandoned and neglected animals. The owner of Animal Farm-Sucheta Vishwanathan was more than happy to take care of her. I was relieved to the point of feeling that I have achieved something in life.

Day went by and Alison was steadily recovering. I only saw her twice in the last 4 months but everytime I saw her,I saw love and loyalty in her eyes. I wished I could adopt her but that was not to be. She grew in strength and slowly, the burns and infection began to vanish. Her skin began to heal and her coat started to grow again. My heart was filled with pride and happiness that she was well and truly on her way to recovery until that fateful day.

At 5pm on wednesday, the 14th of October, I received a call from the Animal Farm. I was informed that Alison had died of asyphixation while the attender was trying to apply medicie on her. I couldnt believe what I was hearing. I was planning to spend a few hours with her this Diwali. It was especially because I had heard that she was 95% back to her old self and she was one beautiful dog. I dont recollect the last time I felt a sense of numbness within me. I wanted to strangle the attendant for being so careless. My chat with Sucheta made things worse as I found out that there were at least 3 people willing to adopt Alison (Sucheta kept her name). Alison, whom I would love talking about to all my friends, was dead. As I write this blog, I think of her as a someone who came to my life for a reason and left without one.

Wherever you may be Alison, I just want you to know that I love you. Till we meet again, in another life and another time. goodbye.

Now thats what I call a dialogue:

My favourite dialogues from my favourite movie of all time:

Star Wars: The scene: Luke Skywalker has just failed in his attempt to pull out his space fighter which has sunk beneath the swamp on the Dagobah System-Yodas Home.

Luke Skywalker: We'll never get it out now!
Yoda: So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?
Luke Skywalker: Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.
Yoda: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.
Luke Skywalker: Alright, I'll give it a try.
Yoda: No! Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try.
[Luke concentrates, and the X-wing begins to rise out of the swamp. A moment later, however, it sinks the rest of the way, with Yoda and R2-D2 both expressing their disappointment.]
Luke Skywalker: [tired] I can't. It's too big.
Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you, hmm? And well you should not, for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Everywhere. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship.

Rathna cafe

A few days ago, at the office I was animatedly remiscing the wonderful aromas of freshly steamed Idlies, pongal and the golden brown crisp dosas that my hometown -Chennai is so renowned for. Add to that some freshly ground 'thenga'(coconut) chutney garnished with 'Karuvapillai' (Curry leaves)and 'perungayam' (asafoetedia), and some delicious sambhar- all enthusiastically served by a waited with the popular thick moustache, and served on the even more popular 'yelai'. There-You have the perfect south Indian breakfast washed down by the most popular of all- South India strong filter coffee (In fact, thining about it now I feel like going back...sob sob).
A fellow colleague of mine, overhearing this, came over and said to me " I lived in Chennai for a while in an area called triplicane". Triplicane is one of the oldest areas in Chennai and is quite densely populatred with temples (some more than 400 years old), messes, and really old houses. He carried on " While I was there I would have most of my meals at Rathna Cafe". Now the juices were flowing. Coz Rathna Cafe is as old and as good as it gets. You really dont have to go beyond it once you've had a flavour of it. Every morning, the entire area is woken up by the aroma of sambhar being cooked at Rathna cafe as early as 5.30 in the morning. When the doors of Rathna Cafe open at 6.30, the first of the lot to enter is usually noisy bunch of oldies. They would have just completed their morning walks at the beach (which was very nearby) and indulge in a feast of idli, vada and pongal (with an extra helping of ghee). Now Rathna cafe has a speciality. they dont serve you idlies the usual boring way i.e in a plate with chutney and sambhar together in tiny bowls-NOPE. Instead they bring hundreds of absolutely steaming hot idlies and a ton of pongal in basins from which they serve you how many ever you wish. and that too on a nice green clean banana leaf. Now comes the best part...They have a bucket of boiling hot sambhar which is poured on the idlie/pongal and then glazed with a generous dollops of ghee. The result...pure heaven.

Rishav asked me curiously, " Does Rathna Cafe still serve sambhar the way they used to?" " I nodded. He sat back on his chair with a smile.

Now and forever

She opened the door of her apartment, their apartment. She barely fought back her tears. She sat down on the sofa and held her pillow tightly. As she closed her eyes she recollected the day that just went past. She had just been through hell at work. Her confidence had been shattered, battered and bruised by a bunch of inconsiderate and opportunistic colleagues who blamed her for the loss of a contract. You see, she was very very good. She had been so good at what she did that it was evident the firms pitch for their largest deal ever was given to her hands down much to the growing resentment of her colleagues. They were waiting, like a bunch of Hyenas, to pounce on her whenever she faltered. And falter she did, an error of judgement from her part led to the contract slipping from her grasp. " How did I not see the obvious?" the question pounded away at her relentlessly and mercilessly. " Shes so overconfident that she thinks she can do it all", " Miss Know-it all finally falls", "Had it not been for her stupidity, we would hav ewon this contract"- these were just some of the accusations and nasty comments that she had been subject to. The tears began to flow as she wept in the solitude of the apartment.

The bell rang twice. She quickly wiped her tears and steadied herself. She couldnt let him see her in this state. After all, he too was having hard days. She opened the door to be greeted by the usual show of affection. A warm hug. He held her by her waist and walked in. She let him go and went towards the kitchen, desparate for him not to see her for a few minutes at least. "By the time he refreshes himself I'll be fine". She poured some milk into their coffee maker staring into the vacant wall in front of her when she felt his touch. It shook her up as he felt his fingers through her shoulders and went all the way down to her palms. Her palms were cold while his were warm. She trembled at his touch as he turned her around and his eyes met hers. He was smiling. A smile that meant " I felt your pain as soon as you opened the door". He didnt say a word but his eyes spoke volumes. More than ever before she saw something in him that said " No matter how bad things may be, I'll be there for you. As long as I live". He held her hand gently and took her to the sofa. He sat with her, still not uttering a word, just listening to her silence. She lay her head on his chest as he held her hand. In the background, one of the greatest love songs ever sung -Unchained Melody played on. He stroked her soft hair till she fell asleep in his strong, warm and reassuring arms. He thanked his life for being there when she needed him. He was there.