116c: A Ride

மனமது புகையினை போலே

மறைத்து யாருமே இல்லையே..!! 

These words are the inspiration to this blog post!!!

That couldn't have happened, I was not late like that usually but then that day, I needed extra time to catch up with my morning routines. Blue is good and I took a quick peep at the mirror to check whether I’ve made myself for the day, surprisingly, that blue salwar fitted me the best than ever. Haste can’t always be a waste, I thought. The sudden state of joy didn’t last long as the huge wall-hanged clock brought back the worries of being late. I came to kitchen for my breakfast and my mom made me sure that I’m not up to the bus sooner. She hasn’t even prepared the food and didn’t bother to notice me in the kitchen which made me mad, so I turned back and took my bag which was right away in the hall and started with the hope to catch the bus. May be the hustle I made with the bag caught my mom’s attention that she came hurriedly with the glass of milk which will barely make up for the breakfast. Her face carried an expression that pretended to be sorry and ready enough to give an explanation. But I had no time for that, well, she might have also had a bad dream the day before.

It was a street’s walk from my home to the bus stop and in that way resided the Lord in a small temple, where I used to spend a couple of minutes to burden Him with all my wishes, but not that day. I relieved Him of his routines for the day and walked ahead. My heart yelled, “No”. The bus passed by me and I looked at it helplessly as it went through. I never had any alternatives until I saw him, stalling in his bike, just opposite to me. He looked at me first, then at the bus which had traveled quite a distance and then back at me again, so he appeared to have understood that I’ve missed my regular bus to the school. I didn’t know what to do and the ‘helpless’ reaction that stood in my face lasted until he drove slowly towards me. He offered me a ride and I sat behind for the very first time. Arun, though a grown-up who earns for his family, was still a little kid who used to spend a lot of time with me. Being my neighbor, we shared most of our childhood and then gradually he started disappearing from me as we grew older. Ages created distance, like a usual childhood relation, and now the distance between our door steps extended like a whole sea. Arun knew that the only bus, in which I was comfortable, had already left and it was the one and only reason for the ride.

But that unusual ride on an unusual day brought back beautiful memories and the bike steered as I glanced through those moments. We were inches away from the bus, in which I should’ve been, and he turned his neck, probably to ask whether I will take the bus in next stop to continue the rest of my travel to the school. But then the crazy girl inside me peeped and she pretended not to look at him or the bus too. He then drove ahead of the bus and didn’t stop at the next bus stop. The crazy girl was relieved. I questioned her act and Ms. Crazy replied, “I didn’t want this beautiful ride to end all of a sudden because I like being with him.” We reached the school and it was time to break this ride. I got down and stood there to give a heartwarming smile and he acknowledged it back with a smile and drove away. What a day that had turned out to be and with the joys jumping over, I went inside the school where I took classes for the age group of 8-12. I loved my job that I tried to put my best into it and that day I had many plans but an unexpected source kept me stuck to his thoughts all through the day. I seemed to have all the energy of the world, even the sun, though I am aware of the fact that I didn’t have anything other than a glass of milk. Hours passed but thoughts stayed, making it stronger and stronger. Evening, I went back in my usual bus and I felt the happiness in breaking the long-standing trouble, the distance.

I didn’t do anything, didn’t prepare for tomorrow’s class, didn’t help my mom in kitchen or anything because I felt like thinking or more precisely, as they mention it in dictionaries, dreaming. I dreamt about a life where Arun would be always there for me, like that day and eventually agreed upon the fact that dreaming is the thing which will bring effortless happiness. I didn’t sleep and just lied in my bed with eyes wide open to see the world which I wished to have in reality.

Red is good and he liked red always. I got up quick the next day but didn’t want to leave early. I got ready 10 minutes before my usual time and my mom made breakfast 20 minutes before her usual time. “It never happens the way we think”, the crazy girl said. Whatever it was, I had the determination to eat 3 dosas for a prolonged fifteen minutes. I kept eating in a slow pace and my mom looked puzzled, she was staring at the clock and then me alternatively and clearly, she didn‘t have any idea about what I was expecting to happen. I walked down the streets and reached the temple, I still had 5 minutes which I decided to spend on increasing the burden of the Lord. Whether I prayed or not, I constantly looked at my watch because I should lose the bus but not the ride that Arun will offer. The time interval between those two instances was very small and I have to stand there exactly. With the hope that the bus would have left by that time, I walked to the stop but then, shockingly, bus was still there. I scolded myself for that and quickly turned back to walk down the street. I just wanted to know whether someone has witnessed my craziest act and took a quick glance at the street. Of all those people, only one saw me and in an unexpected way it was Arun. I had my tension raised to the peaks that I could feel my heart beating fast. Ms. Crazy questioned me and the prime one was, “Has he figured out what we were planning to do?”

My face seriously had the signs of confession and then he gave that smile, it had the mixture of enjoying my craziest acts and his love for me. He just took a moment away from my eyes, looked straight and nodded his head. Crazy girl, then said these, “He knows it and he just loves enjoying this moment.”  He signaled me to wait where I was and drove to me in a more passionate way. It just took half a minute to reach me but for me the wait on the opposite side meant a life time. I sat behind and looked at the side mirror to see an elegant smile of mine like never before. I made my mind to tell him and crossed the distance that would help him to listen my whisper. I opened my mouth and it was until that time I didn’t realize who I was.

I am Aarthi and I am blessed not to hear or speak anything by birth, I work at the school prescribed for the disabled children like me and 116c was the bus only bus I am comfortable since its conductor, known me for a long time, is the only one who knows my destination. And now, I’m sitting behind a guy who made me forget my disability and I felt that I would never worry if he is with me all through my life. If at all I happen to have a chance to speak one word, Arun will be the only word I will utter. We came near 116c bus again; this time he didn’t look back to ask me whether I would get down at next stop instead he steered in front and there began our journey together and forever!

HEART HAS NO DISABILITY

A promise forever: voice of a father

It was one of those non-typical July nights in India with the absence of cooler breeze and slighter drizzle. Around 9 PM, I reached the bus station to find away to travel back to my home after a weary working week. The station was not crowded as it was a Monday and the conductors of different buses were relentlessly shouting their destination to attain the attention of needy passengers. And so I found my bus and went in desperately as if I was pursuing a travel to reach some other world. Yes, indeed it was a world without ticking clocks, buzzing traffics, hyper fast lunches and back breaking demands. Though I knew that it would take eight more hours to reach home, I sensed a big relief. The bus was scarcely populated and the conductor, reminded by the schedules they had, gave a nod to the driver insisting him to start the travel. It was then a family boarded the bus and with their loud voices of native Tamil I could easily guess their destination. They made a menace in arranging their stuffs before they settled themselves in seats before me.  A girl with her baby brother, her mother and her granny made their family. The bus started to explore the city before reaching the outskirts and I preferred gazing through the window as I loved doing that.

I heard the voice of the little girl expressing her mom in a worried way that the window by her side was so tight to open and so her mom looked back at me stating their need. On opening the window for her, the girl gave an enticing smile which could give a reason to rejoice even for a wrecked man like me. I was thoroughly impressed by her innocent smile and that was when I noticed some surgical leftovers near her left ear, it concerned me. But she never bothered about my reactions and started to play with her baby brother by tickling him and calling him out with pet names. Suddenly, the tyres screeched for an unavoidable brake that the driver had to make and the mother shouted “Stella, be careful with the baby”. Everyone in the bus was alarmed with the mother’s cry except the baby as it was enjoying the time in the hands of his sweet sister. The conductor apologized to the family for that and started inquiring about the family, caringly, with the granny. I was listening to their conversation as well as watching Stella play, since it gave me more pleasure than gazing at roads. Stella was a typical Indian girl of 10, with brown colored skin and dark pupils and had a gracious hairstyle with neatly falling hairs. Her mother took the baby from her implying that it was not safe to let Stella handle him. Stella, though annoyed for a moment, started seeing through the window and enjoyed the bus ride.

Conversation between the conductor and the granny still existed and they started speaking about Stella, I was all ears at that time. He enquired about the recent surgery made to the girl as it was evident from the plasters that were stuck on her left ear. The granny replied that a fluid-like thing was erupting occasionally and they had to make a surgery to stop it and she added that it was due to the shock that Stella experienced when her father passed away. I was equally shocked as the conductor on hearing that and I didn’t take my eyes off Stella and happened to notice sudden elemental changes in the emotions by her face. The pain she was undergoing now was not new, I felt that it has besetted her many times whenever she heard someone speaking about her dad. Her looks were struck at one point, her thoughts were deep around something and her pain echoed through her heartbeats, that I could hear. She was experienced than me in handling pains so that she controlled her tears but not for a long time. Her thoughts won and tears welled from her eyes. I could see them roll over her cheeks and splash on the steel bars that guarded the bus windows. I couldn’t bear the sight and rested my head over the seat and the last sight of my day was seeing Stella cry.

I woke up suddenly around 4 AM in the morning to see Stella physically disappear from me as the bus reached their destination. But Stella stayed back in my thoughts and she made me realize how a daughter could miss her dad with all her thoughts. I took a nap before the bus reached my destination. The morning was so damp and misty that it was only with the great difficulty the day succeeded in breaking. I had to wait for a local bus to reach home and in the spare time I decided to have a tea which will help sustain the morning cold. I sat down thinking about Stella and uselessly glancing through the magazine that was on the table. One particular news caught my attention, it read: “Life term for father in Paravoor sex scandal”. I was not able to read through its contents after going through the introductory passage of the report, as it certainly troubled my mind terribly. It was about the ruthless act of a father, who raped his minor daughter and allegedly involved her in prostitution. It was insane and felt that I was exposed to the two corners of the world within 12 hours: the good and the evil. I came through a daughter who misses her father in every minute of her life and a daughter who hates her father in every second of her life. The thoughts prevailed inside me and I got a bus to reach my home.

My wife opened the door for me with a blank smile and relived me of the luggage from my hands. I straight away went to the room where my daughter was sleeping, as it was too early for her to be awake. I sat in one corner of her bed and kept my hand over her head and said in a low voice “I will take care of you”. And it was that time, that day, I made a promise. A promise of limitless love; A promise of endless care; A promise of a better life; A promise of eternal happiness; A promise that I will not make my daughter weep; A promise that a little angel of The Lord, Stella, told me to keep; A promise forever. 

The words in bold-italic (fourth passage) were taken from the novel "The Idiot" to express my liking over it!!

Brighter Shadows and Darker Men

Yesterday was a warm, humid day and the conditions were pretty good to play some of the finest cricket I have ever played. I, along with my friends, thought that playing cricket right after an exam, which held that morning will make us more wearer. And apparently, Exam is one great thing which will exhaust all your energy however you write it. So we were not up to the ground straight away and tried to take a nap after lunch. Some eventually stepped the doors of dream while the rest were not quite carried away to those blessed places because of the annoying sound their fan made.

It was Three and the thought provoker knocked, literally banged, all the doors in the hostel and made sure that boys are ready for the match rather catching up their wild dreams. Ten of us gathered at the corner of our block and walked to the ground. It is not exactly a ground and we are not good players to share a space in a quality cricket ground. Barren lands behind the hostel were perfectly prescribed for a shorter format of the game. By shorter format, I meant limited overs, limited player, limited rules, limited cricket yet limitless enjoyment!!!

We played a 5 on 5 match and it made me feel that I have a good touch with the bat. Suddenly, I felt a sense of competition. From nowhere, 10 other guys showed up at what we claim as our home ground. They appeared like a flash and I have barely met some of them in hostel. I found them talking to my friends may be because of close acquaintance.

Obviously, next was a 10 on 10 match with expanded overs, rules and boundaries. I never knew about my opponents there who on losing toss gave us an edge over the game to bat first. We missed completely to contain the situation and made 36 out of it. Don’t ask about my contribution to the total score, it was a big zero, really big indeed. They started to hunt down our score and their conduct made a clear statement of their game plan. There appeared our hero, a well-defined knowledge frame of our bowlers which know about the weakness of every batsman. They bowled at spot which supposedly should be troubling them. But things went out of control and I could see ball gliding all over the ground. With this meager target, they seem to crash out with quicker singles and made us more wearer than our exam that morning.

I just gazed at my friend who shared the field and it was a sharp look right through his eyes by which I came to know that he too was eagerly waiting for a miracle to happen. I winked my eyes and all I could see was a bright light that led me through a divine path. A path for blessed one!!! And in no time, I saw myself around a mess of people who were very primitive. May be I went centuries back. And the signs of God made me realize that they belong to a clan, well known for its archery.  Now the thing which took me here has something to say me.

The brave clan were fifhting their enemies furiously as if they had took something irreplaceable from them. They were aiming recklessly for their enemies but with rifles, instead of bow and arrows. Knowing that their enemies were unaware of the newly-available rifles, the clan was starting to fire at  them. All bullets fell in a vast pool of vain.

With another wink, I am back at barren lands witnessing the last ball of 8^th over which was put away for a four. Why did I go there? What is the hidden message?

A clan which is well known for its skill in archery is fighting with rifles, sounded pretty absurd. That is the real message. Men who are fantasized by their opponent’s weakness, try to attack them with it forgetting that their potential lies somewhere else. They find hard to concentrate on their strengths which make them darker and the intention to attack one in their weakest part makes them more gain more vengeance thereby turning the darker part of them, shadows, brighter.

3 runs from 12 balls was not a big task and the bowler was getting ready to give it away. I quickly went to him to share the message I’ve got and said him to bowl at his favorite spots. Over ended and it turned out to be a maiden. I found him bowling where he would love to do. He glittered  in that lazy sun and his dominant shadows were now diminishing.

Last over, 3 runs needed from 6 balls!!!!

Why KEC needs competitions like ‘E for English’?

Placement preparation is one of the most potent applications of the college (KEC) administration. It never leaves any area unearthed. Whether it may be a demanding aptitude skill or a compelling communication skill, importance was shared on equal grounds and yielded the predicted results. But these predicted results, in my point of view correctly, are far below than the achievable margin of students who receive enough inputs to tackle interviews. Why there is backtrack in expectation? Are we still lackluster? Answers will give a definite reason why KEC needs competitions like ‘E for English’.

            Behind the scene, if you look at a class of 60 during admission, you can find the class to be a perfect example for ‘Unity in Diversity’. Well, with majority of people from suburbs and rural, English and communication are two different hemispheres that never meet in first two years of study, except for the two English papers. Students who hail from Tamil-instructed schools find it very difficult to cross this dire danger. Some with consistent hard work break this hardship and continue to move further while the rest compromise them and will wait for a crusader to arrive. Unfortunately, majority of students fall under the latter category and they fail to recognize the crusader within. Two years later, you can see the class virtually grouped into three: Extremely communicative, moderately communicative and hardly communicative. The third group is left in the virtue of nature, so that only training is given and perfection and performance are not expected.

            When you clearly examine the students under group three, their existence in the group may be traced to any one of the two cases.

• People who in the process of learning English and communication lose their hope on facing sudden blows and criticisms.
• People who really have less molecules of morality in their blood. They feel that English is far too little for them and hopefully they are very less in number to worry about.

             So on the verge of placement schedules in the final year, you can find a majority of students, who are distilled with all inputs but not the courage, stand with a irremediable fear even when they are in their ‘hot seats’. They all need a little push called internal motivation and with that they will be carried home by the ‘gravity of morality’.

            Who is going to offer that ‘little push’? Definitely, neither the college nor the placement preparation activities that are drafted by the college will provide this.  As a matter of fact, they have already provided mammoth facilities to succeed in recruitment drive.  To give this spark and ignite them is the fellow duty of the rest of the students in the class. They really have to carry out this operation because they know more about their friends than any other in this perspective. Their aim must be to relieve the prisoners of hopelessness and to aware them that they can still do it.

            And hence there is a call for competitions like ‘E for English’ which spotlights the interconnection between students to help one another in the process of seeking dawn. E for English makes a group of students to come under a particular student in the class who communicates at ease. Being given the responsibility and a touch of leadership, performance of group may map to explore unreached heights. Every student will be asked to deliver speech on various themes and ranked and thereby scrutinized participants will reach the finals to put a big show. With the sense of backing and the spirit of competition, these events will strengthen the morality of class.

            Many think that the ultimate aim of ‘E for English’ is to produce a fine speaker but it doesn’t turn out to be that way. We try to provide the required awareness over the need of English throughout the four years of study and to spread smiles of satisfaction. These competitions with mighty themes will be a strong bridge that fills the gap between preparation and performance and so, undoubtedly, they are the need of the hour.

           

An Infallible Soul

            Once I had acquaintance with Mr. Heart, Mr. Thought and Mr. Dream. Each of them was my personal favorite and I never took pain in distinguishing their influence over me. But they were not so; they decided to show their best and prove their superiority over one another. So on a fine day, they planned for the action. I along with them needed a solitude place, so that the outside world would not have any piece of the competition. And hence they chose a place: dark yellow trees guarded forest. I have never been to that forest and barely thought that such place existed in the Universe.

         

           It was difficult to find a large space enough for us to sit and jot down. At last we found one, but almost in the centre of the forest. And every tree was looking exactly the same and I had no idea on how to come out of the forest. We sat down quietly over a broken tree that made a blissful appearance just for us to furnish in it. May be it was used for same purpose by many since a very long time. Suddenly Mr. Heart broke the silence and that too in a louder voice. He started to narrate all the incidents right from my birth and justified his presence on the scene. Mr. Thought reflected instantly that it was he who helped me in every inch of my life. Hearing them, Mr. Dream jumped out of the trunk in a more ferocious way I have ever seen him and he said that he carried me throughout the life. Then all of them gave a sharp gaze at my eyes. I was perplexed and rally didn’t know what to do.

          

             They started to stare at each other and it was time for round 2. This time, I was hearing more than one voice at a time, may be all the three. And this bloody forest was echoing like a hell. What started as conversation had turned into a quarrel. I feared that it may turn into a street fight, Oh! More precisely, forest fight. I never had strength to see my friends fighting with each other, so I decided to run out of the forest. I ran as quickly as possible assuming that they will follow me and soon a big crime scene would be avoided. But I was evidently false as I could hear the echoes of their quarrel still. God! They hurt me so much and I was getting to taste my salty tears. On the other hand, I never found a way out of the forest.

         

            I was restless and it created a big turbulence in my blood. I just closed my eyes and at that time I was left with only one thing to do. I went back to the broken tree arena and I shouted “Listen!” This time I was more ferocious than them. The forest got back its serenity. I said “From now onwards, you three shall be acquainted with yourselves. And that will be the only way to continue our relationship” I walked and l never looked back that time to find out whether they were coming or not, but they actually did. Surprisingly, I found the way out of the forest with none of them guiding me. I know that they will obey my orders because, after all, they are my heart, my thought and my dream. Though they didn’t guide me they were with me together to get out of the forest.

So, for the ones who read, it is really not a big problem if you are not good in relationship with your heart, thought and dream. Anywhere at any point of your life you can pursue it and have a happy relation with them from there on. But if your heart, thought and dream are not interconnected with each other, it really means trouble. Give yourself a thought over the dream and add your heart and soul to it. It will make you an infallible soul – incapable of failure. 

"The Setback"

                When I made my mind to write for my blog today, the first thing which struck me was Steve Jobs video which I saw very recently. It was delivered to the students of Stanford University in the year of 2005. After watching that video, I was so obsessed with his thoughts and started reading about him. But that is not the one I am going to share about. I carefully noticed one phenomenon that every leader comes across – ‘The Setback’.

                

            When you try to plot a xy graph, with life on x-axis and time on y-axis, the slope of the curve traced will not always be positive. And the negative ones are called depressions. So does every graph have negative slope or is there anyone only with the rising curve? To prove it more colorfully, Cinemas give a brighter insight into the truth. Almost every hero, presumably 99.9999% experience hardships exactly at the half time and score a goal at the last minute by knocking the villain down. Trust me, figuratively and vividly, it is so true!

                

            One thing which you must always remember is that they do not come with prior notifications. They are not anticipated, just one more example of a beautiful idiom- bolt from the blue. Please do not try to control them and end up yourself in a land of frustration. Take a business model for example, whenever a product is launched, they also mark it with the period of decline so that they reinvent themselves. And why don’t we do it? Well, if you want to cite the reasons- we are very scared and we are not sure of getting back into the track. Hiding yourself in those periods is definitely a wrong action.

                

            But ironically, you need to live yourself in those drastic times; be your best at every second and make your confidence grow high. “Do what you like “says Jobs, He was thrown out of Apple once and he is not a failure, instead he is called as ‘Henry Ford of the modern period’. Imagine you are fired from the company you started, that is the most dreadful dream one could surpass. But Jobs lived it and that too in a more passionate way – he started another company which suited his interest and grasped his passion. Not just in the case of Jobs, but also almost every successful person was definitely once a victim of this natural phenomenon. By the way, I call it as natural because it is mandatory for everyone; everyone around us is an example. So what is the difference between you and Jobs?

                

            Most of them say it as ‘the rejuvenation’, to put it simple it is ‘the bounce back’ and technically it is ‘the resilience’. The bounce back must be big; both in terms of size and confidence, and the work out must be hard for it to happen. When there is a setback, there is always a lesson for us to read. The lesson of enlightenment, it may be cracked down by analyzing how the setback happened. But just don’t go straight to seek a lesson, you cannot obviously. Because you will be suffering from a weak heart and it will not be ready to cope up with your mind. So make your heart strong and bold and the only way to do so is doing things which you would like to. May be for hours, days or weeks, the time really doesn't matter.

               

           Then just hook up to basics, find what went wrong and make sure that you never repeat it. Take time to plan the near future, flexibly strong and you will come out with a power that you have never seen. It is a fresh idea, a fresh world, a fresh beginning and eventually you will be fresh too. When days pass on, you will realize that the setback (along with the bounce back) made you more tougher, more stronger and more happier.

               

           Now in contrary to the graph which we first plotted, now plot a graph with power on y-axis and time on x-axis. What would I wish to see in your graph is a positive slope straight line and yes, you will also love it!!!

The Mitrans

Power of synergy

In Sanskrit Mitra means friend. I cannot call them just as friends because they are more than that; they are a power packed team with high ambition and goals in front of them. And no doubt, they will march steady to attain them. I met them at Chennai, Young Entrepreneur’s Convention and it began; the connection with Mitrans. The convention addressing aspiring young entrepreneurs was organised by Jobsutsav.com, another portal of the Mitrans. Oh! I did not say about their main portal: Mitrastudios.com.  It is the vision of young souls who spend time together in a productive way to make their dreams come true.

Why should I post about them in my blog? What is so special about Mitrans?

To organise such an event, was not an impossible task, but it was surely a challenging task. Challenge of targeting the perfect audience for the convention, challenge of bringing the right people to encourage those young hearts and challenge of making the event useful. They had three big things to work on and they cleared all the three hurdles with an ease. That was evident from the way the convention went.

i) Targeting the perfect audience:

They got sponsors from websites which attracted youths mainly. And as the administrators of Jobsutsav.com, they clearly outlined the fact that relying on job opportunities are not just the only thing young minds can expect but also mastering them in their own way- so called ‘entrepreneurship’. They emphasized on entrepreneurship throughout the convention, no where they spent time on jobs and no where they spent time on publicize their job seeking portal. That was their first success; they kept the audience close to the program with individual attention for everyone.

 ii) Targeting the right guests:

I always wondered, after attending the convention, about the network they have developed. Whenever my Facebook profile reports “Bharathiraja Thangapalam is now friends with 10 other people”, I am so curious to know the people with whom he is connected. Because the network they have established is just so awesome. And so finding guests with such a big network wouldn’t trouble them, though bringing the right people to that special place was an important task to be considered. They did that in a splendid way. Guests who can help guide, warn, encourage and motivate the participants were present. That’s the second success.

 iii) Event Organisation:

There were many guests and for the first time I witnessed the phenomenon of ‘short talks’. When I saw the agenda for the day, I was not sure about the way it was going to be conducted. But later, when the event started I found the advantages of short talks. No boredom; Crispier; Easy to listen & assimilate. With these three things, they made a big day to rejoice forever.

They did not stop there; they are trying to incorporate ‘Arise Awake Cell’ regionally to post the passion of entrepreneurship within students; dealing with media giants, as I heard, with their Mitra Studios and even serving to the society with their ‘I am your Mitran’ campaign. How else can I say about them? Just few more... Go, Mitrans Go!!!