An ‘AGM’ through my looking glass!

It was a Sunday afternoon, quite windy and sultry. I accompanied my mother-in-law (mother, by nature) to an ‘AGM’ (Annual General-body Meeting) of ‘Flat Owners Association’! Curious, since I was no flat owner for good’s sake and still attending the one, so how could it be! Known issue for discussion was the broken lift and its upliftment followed by a cup of coffee and biscuits. Over! Is it so? …… No!

Well it was a potluck with different minds, different say, different wavelengths etc., with one idea of dedicated time and space for discussion and problems solving.

We reached the destination very early and we visited the ‘tenant’ house there. They were extremely polite and sweet. The house lady not only served us with nice tea but also sat close and conversed with us. We left to attend the meeting.

We were still early and had a privilege to choose the desired place to ‘participate’. We chose a comfortable place and waited for the invitees to fill the hall. Every face entered was welcomed with smiles and hellos by everyone present. Everyone entered with conscious and delicate smiles. It was a neat neighborhood for several minutes!  

The ‘President’ started the ‘meeting’. Well, I did not think it would be so official (I would not say professional!) since it was a conversation of neighbors. Felt happy that they are doing it all so organized and corporate! Yes, I hatched the word, its ‘Corporate’! I should say it was in all ways corporate.

Our ‘President’ of the meeting is a great orator, an amazing person in charge who grabs the attention of the gathering with his loud and authoritative voice. “He should be a personality development coach” I thought, may not be because of his personality but because of his persuasion skills and language.

The decorum of the community hall started getting warmed up as the discussion passed on. Old, young, mid aged people, everybody presented their way of body language to the meeting.

“I must first apologize to ‘my dearest friend’ who is not here with us today, who has misinterpreted my concerned words as ‘abusive’ which I never exercise, which I never have rights to impose on others. If his misconduct is noticed and question by the so called ‘President’ which is me, if that is considered to be offensive and abusive, then openly, in public, I wholeheartedly apologize!” – Oh! This was the welcome speech of the ‘President’. I was listening to him carefully guessing his nature of job!

The heat increased more when people opened up to speak against the President and one another. This didn’t differ in any way than a corporate organization! I could see an easy toggle of individual ego raising up and satisfying the selves in their own manner of talks and gestures.

Some seemed arrogant, some seemed sincere, some were just curious like me since they were new to this meeting. I could hear an old voice murmuring from behind saying “Its always the case, we never discuss any productive things in our meetings”. Noticeable was his attempt to please the young and cute lady next to him!  

The convincing voice of President again, “Coming back to the issue of the broken lift, I don’t understand why people hesitate to pay the requested amount. I saw Jagan uncle the other day, an old man who was struggling to climb the stairs (imitated) from arthritis. I had tears in my eyes looking at his plight”. The lady was gushing to climb I said, “sorry amma” all these are because we are unable to repair the lift since our good neighbors are not paying the nominal amount!” “Don’t we have the heart to think and act upon this issue!”, “He is a real gentleman” I thought.

“My husband has a knee fracture, he cannot climb the stairs, he never comes down since the lift is under repair”…..the voice of an old lady. She grinned with pride on flattering the crowd with her English skills. “I agree with Mrs. Sathyanarayana, I am having so much trouble everyday to go up and down without the lift”…..another fan of English language sufficed her tempt of raising her voice amidst the crowd in English. However, due respect their genuine suffering!  

I smiled within thinking, its not their mistake to feel English as a great language, it’s the generation at which they were born when we were being ruled by the English. One thing was sure, that the old people out there had the better (or I should say purer) English than the younger crowd. Generation again!

Everyone pointed out fingers at one another for the lift not being repaired. Everyone are sorry for the old people, everyone are suffering, feeling bad. But still, the problem is not yet solved! Why?!

“Ok let us not embark over the things past, let us concentrate on what has to be done”, a voice raised from a more sensible and knowledgeable person. He had abundant knowledge on the legalities and commercial issues. “How much funds do we have with us right now”.

“Around 4 to 5” a gentleman said.

!!!!

4 to 5……..hundreds? thousands? We had, 4 to 5 lakhs as backing funds from the association!!! And still, the lift is not ready, we get ‘tears in eyes’ for old people suffering, we feel sorry, still, the lift is undone! Only reason being, still some of the house owners have not paid the charges for lift repair! I was shocked! We have enough funds to get the lift repaired several times!!

Ok….anyways…we got into a conclusion to get the lift repaired ‘immediately’! Now, is the question of its maintenance, how do we maintain it!

“Let us not allow the housemaids, vendors to use the lift” some voice said!! Wow…! This is amazing…..we, sitting below the ACs and fans feel the pain of claiming the lift and we command the housemaids, the toilers to use the stairs!? Is it a sign of slavery? Are we not supposed to respect our maids with the work they do? It is true that they may not be literate enough to use the lift properly but isn’t there any alternative than banning them from using it?!

“How do we control them from using the lift, we should inform the security”, I was astonished to listen to this from an old lady who is nearing her 80s!

“When anyone family is shifting the house, then please switch off the lift”!! another voice from a well dressed young lady!

I don’t understand this grammar! Suppose if a family is in 4^th floor and wants to vacate……then the lift will be shut?! More bothering issue was, the crowd nodded in agreement to this point!! Don’t we have any alternative such as suggesting them to use less weight at one time of shifting!!

Where are we all heading to! Where is the concept of “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”?! We cannot revere our own neighbors, and we are heading towards having a “global village”!!

Let me remind, its not anybody’s mistake over there with the way they reacted!! I seriously feel so! It’s the entire wave of society that’s making all of us more selfish and narrower!!! Is it all the money or is it the act of middle class emerging into the upper class chaos!

I might have also reacted the way they did, if I were to be in their place, never know, since I am also a part of this society! But, as per now, as an outsider, I felt extremely conscious and concerned with the way the society is being tuned up and accept the ‘Corporate’ way!

We all departed with the conscious smiles back on our faces!   

The naive influence!

Its not a folly that elders quote the quotes with great experience and also the fact that we often quote these quotes and understand but seldom actually experience them on our own! One of such enlightenment occurred to me by a very…I should say ‘non significant’ personality today. The quote I recollected when I happened to experience this incident is a very simple quote which we all know. It is none other than “Ignorance is bliss”. Don’t we all know this? Yes! It’s the same one. But what made me actually ‘realize’ this?! Well let me share it.

By chance or by choice, various colours of life are attracting me these days. The colours do include bright-happy, dark and gloomy ones. Good or bad, they are simply thought provoking out of which some are timely, some unwanted and some speculative! Well, before I get into the other details, let me talk about this person called “Nagaraja”, the office boy at my organization. Nagaraja is an unknown, unnoticed and neglected person who hardly is visible and always busy with petty chores at office. A person to whom generally people call with a “hiss” and he attends them with concern and get their works done silently. Fortunately or unfortunately, neither did I care to know his name till date. However, today I had a little work and wanted “that” guy. It was then I realized that I hadn’t even bothered to know his name!

Luckily I saw him pass by and asked my colleague to call him. He called him with that ‘hiss’ sound which I liked least. He came to us with a smile. He had dressed in a clean uniform and looked neat with oiled and combed hair. His innocent smile and the confidence in his eyes was actually like a mockery at us who were all tensed with many things in mind. What captured my eyes as soon as he entered our cabin was his watch. People started starring at it and mockingly grinned at each other. It was a dark green coloured, plastic, ring like watch in which the ‘time’ can hardly be seen and which confronted with our professional timings and mannerisms both physically and psychologically. It was a lame watch which is sold at footpath that too for children’s play.

Thinking about his ‘time’ less watch made me feel happy for his tensionless and peaceful life. His smile and his interesting watch made me start a conversation with him. I asked him “what is your name?” with a blush he said “Nagaraja madam”. The all curious me, tried to intrigue about his watch and asked him, “nice watch nagaraja, where did you buy?”. To my surprise, he started blushing so much and his face sparkled with bright smile. He could not meet his eyes with mine. I was like “hello, what is going on! What is so special about that watch!” I asked him again, “What nagaraja, did anyone give you that watch?”, his blushing became more and with great difficulty he nodded saying “yes madam”. Well, his innocent blush, his spark in the eyes and bright smile in the face made me understand the story behind. It was actually a gift that he got from his beloved!

The amount of shyness he portrayed in his face and his happiness substantiated his sincere love towards his lady. His smile was so contagious that I almost forgot all my work and tension and a happy aura started filling around. I gave some files to him and asked him to place them in the destination for which he nodded with a smile again and left quickly.

What intrigued me and enlightened me at the same time was his innocence and love for his girl. He is an office boy with a petty salary, he doesn’t know how difficult it is to survive a family within this metropolitan city. He is too childish to gain even the materialistic ‘knowledge’ about lot many things in life. How hard can life treat him! But he doesn’t care about any of these things or in other words he is not even aware of them. He is in love, the pure and innocent form of love which many of us seize to even notice in life!

Well, he is at a loss on many things, starting from the knowledge, power, education, sophistication, money and more. Loss is a loss which I do not deny, whatever it is, he is so happy and contented in life! For a moment I felt ashamed on myself or I should say on ourselves, the so called ‘educated’ and ‘sophisticated’ people. The more we have, the more we gain, the more we crib about things around. It can be anything, I am generalizing today’s generation which is so busy running around multiple things and harsh about achieving ‘goals’ as what we call it, that we forget the delicacies, the intimacies of human relations.

The sophisticated scrutiny stretches to the point on analyzing too many things even while choosing a life partner or any other intimate relationships, which opposes to Nagaraja’s relationship that is beyond all these analysis and calculations. It is just pure love, a delicate love that surpasses the tensed area which I call the ‘urbane culture’. The love which is beyond all the calculations, a pure form of love which retains a naïve, capturing blush, happy feeling and that’s all!

The relationships and the amount of love generated by it is the reality attaining which can take us to reach the divinity. As Sri Sri Ravishankar quotes;

“’Perfection’ is availability of the Divine Love deep within us, of the wholeness of Love deep within us — undying, unshakeable, ever-growing Love deep within us”.

It was evident that, its not only about love but be it any issue in his life, Nagaraja would easily pass that phase without worrying too much on it. A pure love, the innocent happiness and a significant confidence to lead any situation smoothly in life, what else does one require to attain the sublime state?! This is what we learn by great saints, which we realize after reading and knowing a lot! But here is a man who is ‘unaware’ of any such knowledge around him and still leading the similar life that is close to supreme happiness?! This is where I felt, alas, yes, ignorance is bliss! Hmmm! I then came back to my regular office work, though I ‘passed a lot of time’ thinking about this person Nagaraja!

But of course! It is not easy as said, and I didn’t mean that all of us should stop gaining knowledge, or not be focused to achieve our goals and start living like Nagaraja, no! But, what I realized from him was, when such a person without any sorts of materialistic and intellectual belongings can lead a happy life. Why do we, who are moderately a step ahead in all respects when compared to him, analyze so much and crib or feel conceited about issues in life. As Sri Sri says;

“Life is nothing to be very serious about. Life is a ball in your hands to play with. Don’t hold on to the ball”.

Life is precious and blissful and we just need to explore it. We need to learn few, give few, compromise few and most importantly spread happiness by winning the life as it comes!

Well not bad! Nagaraja encouraged me to scrap so many lines! I am not sure how far I am right on this thought, do correct me if I am wrong. This did help me for sure and I hope it does for my friends too and with the same intent I planned to write this note! A note dedicated to Nagaraja, the happy, unnoticed, uncanny guy!

ಕಾನ್ಫೆರೆನ್ಸ್ ರೂಂನಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾಂಧೀ...

ಅಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ಆಫೀಸ್ ಹಾಗೂ ನನ್ನ ವೃತ್ತಿ ಜೀವನದ ಒಂದು 'ಮುಖ್ಯ' ದಿನ. ನಮ್ಮ ಮಧ್ಯಮ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಕಂಪೆನಿಯು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಖ್ಯಾತ ವಿದೇಶೀ ಶೈಕ್ಷಣಿಕ ಕಂಪನಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕೈಕುಲುಕಿತ್ತು. ಎರಡೂ ಕಂಪನಿಗಳೂ ಸೇರಿ ವಿಧ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸದ ಒಂದು ಹೊಸ ಆಯಾಮವನ್ನು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಲು ಮುಂದಾಗಿತ್ತು ಮತ್ತು ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ ಪಾತ್ರವೂ ಒಂದಷ್ಟಿದೆ ಎಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನನಗೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯೂ ಇತ್ತು. ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡಿನಿಂದ ಆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ನೀಡಲು ಮತ್ತು ಮುಂದಿನ ಹಂತಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ಚರ್ಚಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ವಿಶೇಷ ಟೀಮ್ ಅನ್ನು ರಚಿಸಿ ತರಬೇತಿ ನೀಡಲು ಸ್ವತಃ ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡಿನಿಂದ ಓರ್ವ ಅನುಭವೀ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಬರಲಿದ್ದ. ಆತನನ್ನು ಭೇಟಿ ಮಡಿ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಹೊಸವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಅರಿಯುವ ಸಂತಸ, ಕುತೂಹಲ ಎಲ್ಲರಲ್ಲೂ ಮೂಡಿತ್ತು. ಆ ಹೊರ ದೇಶೀ ಅತಿಥಿಯನ್ನು ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸಲು ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಉತ್ಸುಕತೆಯಿಂದ ದಿನ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದೆವು. ಲಿಫ್ಟಿನ ಬಾಗಿಲು ತೆರೆದಾಕ್ಷಣ ವಾಡಿಕೆಯಂತೆ ಹೂವಿನಿಂದ ಅಲಂಕೃತಗೊಂಡ ರಂಗೋಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ದೀಪ. ನಮ್ಮ ಆಫೀಸಿನ ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿದೇಶೀ ಅಥಿತಿಯರಿಗೆ ಇದೇ ರೀತಿ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಂಬಿಸುವ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ ಸ್ವಾಗತ.


ಸುಮಾರು ೧೦ ಘಂಟೆ ಮತ್ತು ಈತ ನೈಲ್ ಆನ್ ದಿ ಡಾಟ್ ಹಾಜರಿದ್ದ. ಕೆಂಪು ದೇಹದ, ಎತ್ತರದ ಮೈಕಟ್ಟು, ಸುಮಾರು ೬೦ ರ ಪ್ರಾಯ. ಔಪಚಾರಿಕ ಶೇಕ್ ಹ್ಯಾಂಡ್, ನಗು ಎರಡು ಮಾತಿನ ನಂತರ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತರು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದಲೇ ಶುರುವಾಯಿತು ಈತನ ಮಾತು. ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಪಡೆದಿರುವ ಈತ ಶೈಕ್ಷಣಿಕ ವಿಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಷ್ಣಾತ. ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ತನ್ನ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ವಿವರಣೆಯನ್ನು ನೀಡಲು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದ, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಅನುಭವವಿರುವ, ಜ್ಞಾನ ಪಡೆದಿರುವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಎಂದು ಅವರ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಗೌರವ ಇಮ್ಮಡಿಸಿತು.


ತರಬೇತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಗ್ನರಾದ ನಾವು ನಡುವೆ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ವಿರಾಮವನ್ನು ಪಡೆದೆವು. ಆತನೊಂದಿಗಿನ ಚಹಾ ಸಮಯದ ಮಾತುಕತೆಯ ನಡುವೆ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದದ್ದು ಚೀನೀ ದೇಶದ 'ವಿಚಿತ್ರ' ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳ ಕುರಿತ ಪಟ್ಟಿ. ಆತ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ರಸಭರಿತವಾಗಿ ಕಳೆಕಟ್ಟಿ ಹೇಳುವುದು, ಮತ್ತದಕನುವಾಗಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಟೀಮ್ ನ ಕೆಲವರು ತಾಳ ಹಾಕಿ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದು. ಅರೆ! ಒಬ್ಬರ ಬೆನ್ನ ಹಿಂದೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದು ತಪ್ಪಲ್ಲವೇ? ಈತ ಇಂಥ ಮೇಧಾವಿ, ಇವನಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ಅದು ಇಂತಹ ಅಫಿಶಿಯಲ್ ಮೀಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ! ಎಂಬುದು ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿಯುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ತರಬೇತಿಯ ಸಮಯ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮೊದಲ್ಗೊಂಡಿತು. ನನ್ನ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ್ನೂ ಆತ ಪದೇ ಪದೇ ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಚೀನಾವನ್ನು ಖಂಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದು, ವ್ಯಂಗ್ಯ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ವಿಚಿತ್ರವಾಗಿ ತೋರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಅವೆಲ್ಲ ನಿಜವೋ ಸುಳ್ಳೋ ಅನ್ನುವಷ್ಟು ವರ್ಣನೀಯ ಮತ್ತು ಕೆಲವು ಹೇಯಕರ!


ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಆತನ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಸಿಲುಕಿದ್ದು ಅಮೇರಿಕ! ಅಂತಹ ಪ್ರಬಲ ದೇಶವು ಲವಲೇಶವೂ ತರುಮಿಲ್ಲವೆಂಬುದು ಈತನ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಕನ್ವೆನ್ಶನಲ್ ಐಡಿಯೋಲೋಜಿ ಇರಬಹುದು ಎಂದು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸಿದೆ. ನಂತರ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದದ್ದು ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನದ ಇದೇ ರೀತಿಯ 'ಗುಣಗಾನ'! ಛೆ! ಏನಿದು ಎನ್ನುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲೇ ಹೊಳೆದದ್ದು ಈತ ಒಬ್ಬ ರೇಸಿಸ್ಟ್ ಎಂದು. ಆತನಿಗೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡ್ ಹೊರತಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದೆಲ್ಲಾ, ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಏಷಿಯಾದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ದೇಶಗಳೂ ತುಚ್ಚ ಮತ್ತು ನಿಕೃಷ್ಟ. ಅದೇ ಹಳೆ ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ಮೈಂಡ್ ಸೆಟ್.


ವಿಷಯ ಅತಿರೇಕಕ್ಕೆ ತಲುಪಿದ್ದು ಭಾರತದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದಾಗ. ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜಕಾರಣ, ಸಾರಿಗೆ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ, ಮಾಲಿನ್ಯ, ಡೆಮಾಕ್ರಸಿ, ಕೋಮುಗಲಭೆ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ತರೇವಾರಿ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಆತನ ಕೊಂಕು ನುಡಿಗಳು! ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಆತ, "Why cant Indians follow rules like Europeans" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿ ಜೋರಾಗಿ ನಗತೊಡಗಿದ. ಪೇಚಾದ ನನ್ನ ಮುಖ ಏನನೋ ಹೇಳಲು ಹೊರಟರೂ ಅದು ತೀಕ್ಷ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲದುದಕ್ಕೆ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ನಾನೇ ಶಪಿಸಿದೆ. ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಸಾಲದು ಎಂದು ನನ್ನ ಟೀಮ್ ನ ಜೊತೆಗಾರರು, ಇದಕ್ಕೂ ಅವರೊಡನೆ ಸೇರಿ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದ ವಿರುದ್ಧವೇ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ! ಅರೆಕ್ಷಣ 'ಇಲ್ಲೆನಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ' ಎಂಬ ಪರಿಜ್ಞಾನವೇ ಇಲ್ಲದಾಯಿತು.


ಅವರ ಕೆಲಸ ನಡೆಯಲು ಜನ ಎಷ್ಟರ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗಾದರೂ ಇಳಿದು ಹೋಗುತ್ತಾರೆಯೇ ಅನಿಸಿತು. ಆತ ಈ ಜನರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಭಾರತದ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಕೊಂಕಿನ ಲೇವಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಅದಕ್ಕಿವರು ನಗುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ, ಇವರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವ ಗೌರವಕ್ಕೆ ಧಕ್ಕೆ ತರುವುದು ಕಂಡು ಆತ ನಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆ ಎಂಬ ಸತ್ಯ ಅರಿಯದೆ ಹೋದರೆ! ಅಥವಾ ಅರಿತರೂ ಅದು ತಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸದ ಮುಂದೆ ಏನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ನಿರ್ವಿಣ್ಣತೆಯೇ! ಎಂಬ ಭಾವನೆ ಮೂಡಿತು. ಆ ಹೊರದೇಶದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಿಂತ ನಮ್ಮ ಟೀಮ್ ನ ಜನರ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ತಿರಸ್ಕಾರ ಹುಟ್ಟಿತು. ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟದಾಗಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಆತನಿಗೆ ನೀನೆ ಸರಿ, ನೀನೆ ರಾಜ ಎಂದು ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೊರುವುದೇ!?


ಆತ ಇಷ್ಟು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರವಾಗಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಲು ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಪಡೆಯಲು, ನಾವು ಗುಲಾಮರಂತೆ ತಲೆಯಾಡಿಸಲು ಕಾರಣವೇನು?! ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಂಪನಿಗಳ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಹೀಗೇನೆ?! ನಮ್ಮ ನಾಯಕರು ಅವರ ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥಪರತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಜನರು ಅವರದ್ದೇ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿದುದರ ಕೊಡುಗೆಯಿರಬೇಕು, ನಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಂತಿಕೆಯ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಕಾಳಜಿಯಿಲ್ಲ, ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿರುವ ನನ್ನನ್ನೂ ಸೇರಿಸಿ! ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವೆನ್ನುವಷ್ಟು ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ!


ನನ್ನ ತಲೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಈ ಭೂಮಿಯೂ ತಿರುಗ ಹತ್ತಿದೆ ಎನಿಸಿತು. ಆದರೆ ಈಗ ಹಿಂದಕ್ಕೆ, ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯೆಡೆಗೆ ತಿರುಗುತ್ತಿದೆಯೇ? ಮತ್ತೆ ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ಛಾಯೆಯತ್ತ! ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಈ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಗಳು ಏನನ್ನು ಪರಿಚಯಿಸಬಹುದು? ಜಾಗತೀಕರಣದ ಭವಿಷ್ಯ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಈಸ್ಟ್ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ಕಂಪನಿ?!.....ಕಾನ್ಫೆರನ್ಸ್ ರೂಂನ ಮೂಲೆಯ ಕುರ್ಚಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿ ಮೌನವಾಗಿ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದರು!

Haunting Poem!

ತುಂಬ ಸೊಗಸಾದ, ಭಾವನಾತ್ಮಕವಾದ, ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ತುಂಬ ಕಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪದ್ಯ.
It is Alfred Lord Tennison's one of classic poems.

Tears, Idle Tears

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.

Thanks to you all!

Hi friends,

I am really happy for the response that I am getting for my analysis of my favorite poem “The road not taken”. Thanks to all of you for appreciating my effort and encouraging me to work more on this initiative. On the same endeavor and as suggested by one of my dear bloggers, I am now here to work on the poem”Fire and ice” by Frost.

Before that I would also like to request you all to come up with such suggestions and we can all work together to make this blog a discussion forum. So, any suggestions, any comments, positive, negative…always welcome. Thanks to you all.

Call a mother as mother and pay fine!?

Sounds strange right? My neighbor’s daughter used to attend music classes with me. Cute, pretty girl of about 12 years old. She had a wonderful pitch in her voice, but she was not very interested in singing. Its only at later stages that I came to know that she was attending music classes only by parental pressure. However, she discontinued it later. She is a brilliant girl from a CBSE school and a kannada girl from a perfect kannadiga family. Surprisingly, one day I came to know that she was unable to read and write kannada. Her kannada accent was also like English. The reason sounded truly bizarre! In her school, the students should pay fine if they speak in kannada. It is just like, paying fine to call a mother as a mother! I mean its really strange because, one cannot make a child learn the concept of language by preventing the learning of mother tongue.

It was really shocking to know that schools, charge a fine to small, innocent children for speaking their own tongue! Children will imprint an image that we portray for them, be it on any substance. If the educational institutions itself create such a blunder, the students will obviously get an aversion towards the banned languages. They will feel guilty to even speak that language in public. They will ultimately come to the conclusion that speaking regional language is a matter of shame. And English language itself becomes the status symbol. Finally for marketing purpose, few Medias bring out a mediocre language in the name of ‘regionalism’ and ‘affiliation for regional languages’.

We don’t recognize these mistakes and at later stages we curb for our language being decimalized. We realize the scarcity for regional language affiliation only when it is being politicized. We have become so narrow minded that, only when it comes to the matter of personal relations like marriage or something, we suddenly become regional and culture lovers. But otherwise, we need all ‘modern’, ‘western’! When I quote these terms here, please observe that I have used inverted commas, to highlight the fact that those terms are also misperceived and wrongly applied.

Of course I don’t deny the fact that English learning is of high importance in this globalised world. Without English, surviving a decent livelihood is almost next to impossible these days. And also we have to learn English for the other reason that it is one of the beautiful languages. But should the learning be happen at the cost of regional languages? Any language, is a bliss to the humankind. I personally feel that, study of a language is a broader concept which includes not only the grammatical aspects of a particular language but also the culture, the psychology and genres of human nature. And also, linguistically all languages will have its own beautifying factors.

It is altogether a different matter that we are not even learning English (or any language for that matter) as it needs to be learnt. This statement is being made here keeping the view of the method of learning a language academically. Language learning needs its own space. The forum of language learning methods can be kept aside for time being and I want the readers to know, hatred for any language is foolishness. It is also objectionable to hate other languages in the name of ignorant love for a particular language. If I am a kannadiga, it doesn’t mean that I should hate all other languages. As youth its our responsibility to understand the political games and make the difference out by our own cognitive knowledge. Let us come out of our ignorance and try to learn all languages with equal respect. To begin with, at least let us oppose this disgusting ‘fine’ system and allow the freedom for children to speak and learn their own languages. Because, language is neither politics, nor class!

At whose cost ?

It was a party time at office, all were discussing about the happy occasion that was going to occur shortly. We were heading to a joyful outing for the weekend. Though all were working, there was full of enthu in every one’s face and a festive mood. I was not very keen on the party this time for various reasons, but still, after looking at every one’s rejoicing attitude, my mood cheered up. Well! I was not sure to join them. It was the lunch hour, and all were enjoying sharing food and cracking jokes, unfortunately I could not participate completely because I was not so acquainted with their means of communication. I mean to say, their language is different and I was able to understand only in bits and pieces. However I was happy that they considered me as one among them to much extent.

Much to our shock, some one shouted saying there is a bomb blast in Bangalore. “What!!” was the initial reaction. At first every one took it lightly as a part of humorous aura and we thought it was a practical joke. But, for heavens, it was not the one. It was very much true and all of us started tuning NDTV and TV 9 for news flash. It was a threatening fact that there were 2 blasts. Unable to digest the news we were all sitting in front of the computer blinking. Every one again startled by the knowledge that it was not 2 but 3 blasts!

The fun and festive environment at office all went for a toss. Every one started calling their dear once. But, as predicted, all phone lines were jammed. Suddenly we came to know that, my newly wedded colleague’s wife was there at the spot where the blast took place, but unable to reach her. It was such a pathetic situation. All were pressing their phone key pads again and again but in vain! In a very short span we again got a news shock that the count of the blasts had incresed to 5!! At that time no one wanted that party or fun or even work. Of course life is important right! Ultimately it was more distressing when we came to know that it was totally 8 blasts by that time and most of them took place near to our office surroundings! Complete office environment changed just in an hour’s time.

By that time we came to know that one lady lost her life in this malicious incident. At whose cost should she loose her life? Who knows how wishful her life was and how she wished her future to be! At whose cost should all of us loose our harmony? The common people are always unite and peaceful. Regrettably it is only one set of the population, who wants to create such feeble acts for their own benefits. Who are held responsible for this entire traumatic situation? The terrorists? Or the popular, masked political terrorists? Or the sadists?!

Everything ls fair in money and marketing?

20 gorgeous (but dumb) girls plotting against each other to impress 2 guys and try to win their ‘love’, the guys in turn flirt with all of them, date with them and ultimately choose only 2 (one each) and ‘dump’ all other girls.

This is called the ‘Romance Reality Show’. Switch to MTV any time, you will find at least the trailers or the advertisement on this stupid show called splitsvilla. The whole concept proposes a ridiculous scenario. Any sensible person is sure to get frustrated by this one.

The reason being, firstly, it depicts a complete chauvinistic, bigoted implication. A girl pleads, the guy dumps! (well, fair enough if its genuine). The words such as, ‘dump’, ‘dumping zone’, ‘reach the guy’, ‘date with both of them’, etc. can envisage the outlook of the program. Secondly, the concepts like ‘romance’, ‘love’ are more intense than just the inane commercialism and the money games. Love is more chaste than the bony flesh and the bikinis and begging the guys to choose them. Love is a silent speech between two hearts (no, am not being poetic) and jelling of the two intellectual persona and definitely not the sequential dumping of girls and girls’ much abided struggle to make the guys to choose them.

Let me reveal more pathetic story. Neither those girls nor the boys are responsible for this mediocre program. They are just paid puppets, who come, act and go. They are the commercial devices for making money. The innocent audiences like us are being royally bullied by these commercial markets, by making good profit out of it.

In a broader sense, if we come out of ‘splitsvilla’ and think, this splitsvilla iconization is not new. We have many like this in today’s capitalistic society. Our culture and dignity are being vaporized. Somewhere I feel we are loosing our roots. In the brutal capitalistic society, every thing is considered as fair and true. This is true to such an extent that even human relationships are loosing its values and are being commercialized!

I don’t dare to call it westernization because that would be a hyperbole. There are plenty of good things that we can learn from westerners. This is nothing but the ‘carefree’ attitude of us that’s leading to a wrong way. This doesn’t mean that I am an anti modernist. No, we have to get trendy and modern but only in its true sense.

What do you say friends?

ಆಕಸ್ಮಿಕ...

ಅಪರೂಪಕ್ಕೆಂದು ಬಸ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೀಟು ದೊರೆಯಿತು. ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕಿಟಕಿ, ಜನ ಜಂಗುಳಿಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ನನ್ನಾನಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಪಾರವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಇನ್ನೇನು ತುಂತುರಿಸಬಹುದು ಎಂಬಂತಹ ವಾತಾವರಣ. ತೇವ ತುಂಬಿ ಭಾರವಾದ ಗಾಳಿ ಮುಖಕ್ಕಪ್ಪಳಿಸಿ ಮುದನೀಡುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಕೂತವಳೇ ಕಿವಿಗೆ ಎಂ.ಪಿ.ತ್ರಿ ಹಚ್ಚಿದೆ. ಸೊಗಸಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾವಗೀತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾ ಕಣ್ಮುಚ್ಚಿದೆ. ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ಕಿನ ಖಿನ್ನತೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವೂ ಬಳಿಸುಳಿಯಲಿಲ್ಲ. "ನಾನು ಬಡವಿ..ಆತ ಬಡವ..ಒಲವೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಬದುಕು.." ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾ ಮೈಮರೆತೆ. ಹಾಡಿನ ಭಾವರ್ಥಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಅದರ ರಾಗದ ಶಾಂತತೆ, ಪ್ರೇಮ, ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಗೆ ಕಾಡಿತ್ತು. ರಾಗಾಲಾಪನೆಯನ್ನು ಸವಿಯುತ್ತಾ ಕಣ್ಮುಚ್ಚಿದೆ.

ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದಂತೆ ರಸ್ತೆ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಬಸ್ ನಿಂತ ಹಾಗೆ ಭಾಸವಾಯಿತು. ಕಣ್ತೆರೆದು ನೋಡಿದರೆ, ರಸ್ತೆಯ ತುಂಬಾ ಜನ, ಪೋಲೀಸರ ಗುಂಪು, ಛಾಯಾಗ್ರಾಹಕರು. ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಚಿತ್ರೀಕರಣ ಇರಬಹುದೆಂದು ಕುತೂಹಲದಿಂದ ನೋಡಿದೆ, ಭಯಾನಕ! ಎದೆ ಜಿಲ್ ಎನ್ನುವ ದೃಶ್ಯ! ನನ್ನಷ್ಟೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಹುಡುಗಿಯೊಬ್ಬಳ ಆಕ್ಸಿಡೆಂಟ್, ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲೇ ಮೃತಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ಒರಟಾದ ರಸ್ತೆಗೆ ಅವಳ ಕೆನ್ನೆ ಹಣೆ ರಾಚಿ ಹೋಗಿದೆ. ಹೋಂಡ ಆಕ್ಟಿವಾನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊರಟಿದ್ದ ಆ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಪ್ರಾಣ ಪಕ್ಷಿ ಲಾರಿಯೊಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಡಿಕ್ಕಿ ಹೊಡೆದು, ಮುಗ್ಗರಿಸಿ, ಬಿದ್ದು ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಹಾರಿ ಹೋಗಿತ್ತು. ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಜನ, ಕೆಲವರಿಗೆ ಭಯ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕೆಲವರಿಗೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ, ಅಂತು ಎಲ್ಲರು ಸುತ್ತುವರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಪೋಲೀಸರ ಓಡಾಟ ನಡುನಡುವೆ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯವರ ಫೋಟೋ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ಕಿಸುವಿಕೆ, ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಬಿದ್ದು ಜಜ್ಜಿದ ಆ ಒಂದು ನಿರ್ಜೀವ ದೇಹ. ಅದುವರೆಗೂ, ಆ ಕ್ಷಣದವರೆಗೂ ನನ್ನಂತೆಯೇ ಉಸಿರಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ, ಆಫೀಸಿನಿಂದ ಮರಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದ, ನನ್ನಂತೆಯೇ ಕನಸ ಹೊತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಾಣ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ!! ಯಾಕೋ ಭಯವಾಯಿತು. ಸಾವು-ನೋವು ಕೇಳಿ ಕಂಡಿದ್ದರೂ, ಈ ರೀತಿ ಒಂದು ಅನುಭವವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಇದೇ ಮೊದಲು. ಅವಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಜೀವಗಳು ಮಿಡಿಯುತಿದ್ದಾವೋ! ತಾಯಿ? ತಂದೆ? ಗಂಡ? ಮಗು?! ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಕಾಪಾಡಿ, ಆರೈಕೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಬೆಳೆಸಿದ ದೇಹ ಈಗ ಮಣ್ಣುಪಾಲು!

ಬಸ್ಸು ಮುಂದುವರೆಯಿತು, ಸುತ್ತ ಜನರತ್ತ ಕಣ್ಣು ಹಾಯಿಸಿದೆ, ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ತಮ್ಮ ಲೋಕಕ್ಕೆ ಮರಳಿದ್ದರು. ನನಗಿನ್ನೂ ಶಾಕ್ನಿಂದ ಮರಳಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಏನೋ ಇನ್ಸೆಕ್ಯುರಿಟಿ ಕಾಡಲಾರಂಭಿಸಿತು. ಅದು ಆ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮರುಕವೋ, ಆ ಸ್ಥಿತಿ ನನಗೆ ಬಂದರೆ ಎಂಬ ಭಯವೋ ತಿಳಿಯದು. ಒಂದಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತು ತೀವ್ರವಾಗಿ ಕಾಡಿತು, ಚೇತರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲೆಂದು ಹಾಡು ಕೇಳಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಆ ಕ್ಷಣ ನನ್ನ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಪ್ರಿಯವಾದ ಹಾಡುಗಳೂ ರುಚಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಹಾಡುಗಳಿಗೆಲ್ಲ ಅರ್ಥವೇ ಇಲ್ಲವೆನಿಸಿತು. ಜೀವನ, ಉಸಿರಾಟ, ನಾನು, ಈ ಜನ, ಬಸ್ಸು, ಜಗತ್ತು ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಆ ಹುಡುಗಿಯಂತೆಯೇ ನಶಿಸಿಹೋಗಬೇಕಲ್ಲವೇ?

ಈ ಯೋಚನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿದ್ದ ನನಗೆ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಸೀಟಿನ ಹುಡುಗಿ ಎದ್ದಾಗ ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯಾಯಿತು. ಇನ್ನೇನು ನನ್ನ ಸ್ಟಾಪ್ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಬಂದಿತ್ತು. ಭಯಸ್ಮಿತಳಾದ ನಾನು ಒಂದು ನಿಟ್ಟುಸಿರಿನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಎದ್ದು ಬಸ್ಸಿಳಿದು, ಮನೆಯ ಹಾದಿ ಹಿಡಿದೆ. ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ತುಂಬಾ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು. ಈ ಗೊಂದಲದ ನಡುವೆಯೇ ಮನೆ ತಲುಪಿದೆ. ನನ್ನ ಕಂಡ ತಕ್ಷಣ ಓಡಿ ಬಂದು ಕೈ ನೆಕ್ಕಿದ ನನ್ನ ನಾಯಿಮರಿ, ಬಾಗಿಲು ತೆರೆದು ನನ್ನ ನೋಡಿ ನಗೆ ಬೀರಿದ ಅಮ್ಮ, ಕೋಣೆಯಿಂದಲೇ ನನ್ನ ನೋಡಿ 'ಏನಮ್ಮ..ಬಂದೆಯಾ' ಎಂದ ಅಪ್ಪ, ಇವರನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ನೋಡಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಆ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ನೆನಪಾಗಿ ಕಣ್ಣು ತೇವಗೊಂಡವು.

Who says bus journey is tedious!

Morning @ 9.00, I dress up and stand near the gate, a royal bus would come and pick me up for my office and drop me back after hours. This was a fairytale concept I had in my mind. But fortunately this did not happen or to put it in a smoother way, I did not wait until this happened. The result was, I got placed in a good company but with no commutation facility. So the world (in)famous BMTC became my means of transportation. Though it was a ‘turn off’ thing in the beginning, now I have begun to adore it. I can say people who don’t travel through BMTC, shall surely miss some thing in life.
This is a great place to study human behavior. One can grasp psychology based on personality traits, ego, passion, love, frustration etc. etc. surprised? But true. Let’s see how!
If you just visit any bus stop at peak hours, you can see innumerable kind of people. Some with all the tension and rush will be waiting for the bus, some with all the passion will be standing to stare at the ones who are rushing. Few with complete indifference with the world around, enjoy their own privacy through FM and head phones. Few with dream filled eyes will be busy on phone conversations. Few others with all the eagerness and naughty smiles shall wait for their sole mates to arrive.
There shall also be people who have all the time in the world to just sit and relax for hours together. For such people, bus stops are a boon. After all it’s a free and entertaining place where they can at least avoid the accusations and the tantrums by their family. I have met with a strange man whose job is to sit in the stop and watch every one and note who catches which bus, and in turn help them by informing about their respective bus timings!! And trust me, his job helps people a lot at times. Can we call it just a time pass or social service?
I have seen 70+ age old couple travel in bus daily, that too at peak hours. (I really wonder for what reason!!). Middle aged couple will also be there waiting. The middle aged man would be much concerned about his wife. So his worry is all about guarding his wife rather than bus catching. Some over aged single females would also be waiting, but god knows if its for the bus or some other!! Among all these, there shall be some frustrated, desperate souls who just want to stand amidst the lady crowd and fantasize.
After minutes and hours of waiting a single bus will arrive. At this time all categories of people are warriors. They can go up to any extent to climb the bus and grab a seat! We can confidently say these buses are the place where there is complete equality. A break through from all caste, class bars. Any class, any caste, no matter, people just rush the war field and fight staunchly. In this battle, winners are those who manage to get a seat and also the ones who dare to cliff on the foot boards. The defeaters would proudly accept the defeat with a gloomy face and get prepared for the next battle where they will make sure to conquer the royal one and a half seat!
But I must say, after the bus moves, every one are again in their own world. Though the war after effects persists, it will be much more peaceful and cold. The standing people with all the envy shall dump their baggage with a simple “excuse me” to those who are sitting. And the sitters with complete deferment receive the bags. The sitters also posses the smartness to turn their faces off at the time of emergency to get up, but very few shall have the humbleness to get up and leave the seat for genuine persons.
With all such characters and behaviors and also the dust and traffic people reach their destiny. And I, one among them and as a passive observer, travel daily to get more and more experience and in turn understand myself better.

On the job..

Hi friends,
Thanks for visiting my bloggie ;)

Well….there goes the journey of me as a working woman! Boy..! mom’s lap..dad’s scoldings...hanging out with friends…those 5 o’clock serials…in total me as a student is no more..!! Yes, the day came when I had to go to “office”! That was sort of a derangement for me to think that am going to office and no more to collage…

The girl in me started thinking, was it right on my part to take such a responsibility...am I actually the grown up one? With the same confusion and pride I reached the office. My seniors welcomed me with half smiles on their faces. There awaited a computer for me and a chair with a name plate. It was altogether a thrilling experience to sit on that chair for the first time. After some time, me thinking to break the hostile silence around...started a conversation with the team mates, who with much difficulty accepted me as one among. First day gone with introductions and induction programs. I was back home to get a royal treatment.

Day two…month two…the work, the meetings, the team lunch, out door work and me. Perhaps jelled well for some time. Days gone by enjoying the work and the perks. I was confident enough to manage my work in the new stream. But at the same time I was also encountered with new experiences. To much of my surprise, I came across the most resentful attitudes. Saw two faces of the same coin. Learnt that life is of much more challenges and dangers than I imagined it to be. Finally I came to the conclusion that…oh this is what is called…”the professionalism”!

The hunt!

The last day of exam…final semester MA English literature’s last exam paper. A win over feeling after handing the paper over. Came out from the exam hall, a conglomeration of happy, sad and confused state of look on everybody’s face that seemed more or less a monotonous aura at that time. However every one were happy and bid a farewell to each other and as usual we 3 took our way. Me n my friends Neha and Manu. All three of us were happy but again with a question mark on our faces! Need less to say, that question was, ‘what next?’.. in this exploding information technology world, we being the arts students, where would we stand was the much bothering thing hitherto.

Birds of the same feathers flock together..all three of us started thinking alike…that is say no for teaching, which was the only remarkable way for literature pass outs. But that doesn’t mean that we were against teaching. Because we knew teaching is a kind of spiritual way to keep our minds peaceful and happy. Also in a mean way…when I say mean way, I talk about the egoistical satisfaction and the superior feeling that the teaching profession fetches. At least to my extent I can say this is true because, teaching makes one ‘teach’.. be the guru, where as in other profession one has to work under some one as a clerk.

Well…true, but then….! Was it the glamour of the corporate world? or the money in it? Or the social fame it claims? Or was it just a passing affair? Am still searching for the exact reason as to why it made me not to choose such an adorable teaching profession ( atleast for right now, I might take it up after some time though!). However, as we planned before the examinations itself, right after exam we uploaded our thin resumes in the job portals. Ironically, the portals itself had monstrous names to indicate the future! ;) By that day we were already employed, meaning to say, our current profession was hunting for jobs. No sooner our exams ended Neha and me got a call from Meta-I, who had come for the campus selection to our beloved Bangalore university and told us that we both have been shortlisted. There was no end to our happiness. Our fears that we might get rejected by the corporate world, started fading away. But we felt bad for manu being not selected. But however with all the eagerness, we both started getting ready for the interview. Neha, who was pretty much a Belinda of our collage, wanted me to have a great makeover which she often dreamt off. She took me to the parlour, made me have a haircut, step with razor cut!! Was bit painful for my long black hair. And she made me have my eyebrow shaped. Finally, it was looking like a warrior well trained and ready for the jump into the new corporate world!

The day came, when we have to reach our much awaited destiny. We were ready to kick the day off with the journey to meta-I. Our stomach trembled with full of butterflies. We were amalgamated by fear, curiosity and happiness. It was in JP nagar, as we reached near to the place, we started thinking as to how diplomatically we have to behave and how hypothetically we have to answer. The land mark was next to Aris global, and we reached there. Oops! That was starring. We got down there and started searching for meta-i. As we moved further, for our much disappointment meta-I was a small, not so professional, home come office! All our eagerness and hopeful hopes came to an end, but however we soon recovered and thought to attend the interview. That was a general round of interview wherein we were asked to introduce ourselves and gave the company’s introduction. A day later came the results that I had been selected. With all that disappointment I really felt happy as my first attempt didn’t go a vain. They didn’t not select Neha as they knew that she was of much above the company’s standards!
I was asked to report on 2nd of July 07. A week more to go. By that time we got another call. That was from fidelity investments!!! A big boss in corporate finance. By this time we knew that we have our say in this unknown world. All three of us went to take the test there and test ourselves. This was a real challenge. We still managed to clear all the round but unfortunately, we could not make it up in the last and final round. But Neha made it up to the mark and got a seat in the big brother’s lap. The fidelity was a huge office, full of glamour and passion and also scary. Though that was a kind of place we dreamed, after reaching there I personally felt, this is not what I am!! Within me I never really wanted it. But still I wanted it. May be this is what is called the psychology of human beings. We never really want a single destination. In other words everybody think always in oxymoron. Without thinking much, I started my journey again. But also decided to seek the present fruit in hand that is meta-I.

(to be continued)

kanasu

Hii visitors!
This is my first attemt to create a blog. The blog which is all about me, my life and my thoughts. Everybody's life is a chaos! Atleast at some or the other point, this is true. So in this chaotic world of mind, mine is a small attempt to discover myself. A journey into myself. Well!! all i can say is...let's enjoy blogging. Pls share your views about my views.