Life Rules #2

The Mentor looks with amusement at the Confused taking a pill for headache and says, “When I have a headache, I don’t take a pill or apply a balm.”
“So what do you do?”, asks the Confused, almost as if he doesn’t really care about the answer.
A pause... and a deep breath later comes the reply.... “I go through the pain.”

#DialogueswithARA

(c) Chala Denominator, Numerator Ban-ne

life rules#1

"It is good to be idealistic. But do not remain a prisoner of your own ideologies."
# conversationswithforefathers
(c) Chala Denominator, Numerator Ban-ne

sentimental... na... kilomental

I distinctly remember my first day at Oxford school. I stood outside classroom VIII-A, saying "may I come in" to the lady who was my class teacher. She did not hear me. I remember the boy sitting in the first bench saying something to me. I could read the lips- "zor se bol". The looks were enough to confirm that this guy was south Indian. For somebody from the south who'd moved to the north, this was a very very comforting factor.

I think what brought me close to him in the initial years was the south-India-familiarity factor. We grew closer in the days ahead for reasons beyond sharing Tamil as our mother tongue.

We were both entering our teens when we first met. Our friendship was not without its share of skirmishes. He was and has always been an embodiment of all that is conventional and I have been at the other end of the spectrum. He was the perennial front bencher and I was the proverbial last bencher. Our teachers often wondered how we stuck to each other. Our friend- Scientist (Mridul) completed our gang.

When I look back at my life@Vikaspuri, I always have a smile- primarily due to this gang. Our regular visits to Rathore for the chaat, our half yearly vists to Satyam, the very regular sessions at Arjun park, visiting each others' places regularly and definitely on Diwali... And girls are a definitive factor in the life of all teenaged guys... and in adult life of course...

These 2 friends have always been there- to share the happy and not-so-happy moments in life... to share happily that I cleared this entrance test...or to complain that my love interest is marrying somebody else... To happily share that I got my dream job... or to happily reminisce at this that I was at a place we visited together.... These were amongst the first few people who I informed from the Thiruvananthapuram airport that I finally got hitched :-)

I will always thank God that he has always brought some wonderful human beings into my life.

As I stood clapping watching you go on your knees and put that ring on to Radhika's finger, I knew that my next entry on the blog was for you ;-)
This is for you, Gautam... I wish you and Radhika a very happy life together.

This is for you, Scientist. You suprise me hamesha... As I type this, my eyes are moist... You are absolutely mast... Your strength is an inspiration...

This is for you, Anusha... Kid, I want you to know that you are the only reason I have ever envied Gautam for...

18th of June

This date holds a lot of significance in my life.

Exactly 15 years ago, on this day, I landed in Delhi. I was a reluctant resident here- forced out of my comfortable stay in Thiruvananthapuram, thanks to Dad getting transferred here.

When the flight took off that day from Thiruvananthapuram,I was emotional. The last teardrop that day rolled out of my eyes as the plane turned left showing me the city from up above the world so high.

Delhi was a new world altogether. The culture was different. The food was different. The climate and the environs were different.

Except my parents, none of my favourite people were here.

But this is where I've Lived my life. This is where life is for me. This is where I met my best friends. This is where I first fell in love. This is where I first earned my cheque. This is where... I learned to love life!!

Moving into Delhi was a life changing experience. In retrospect, God has been very very kind!!

On this day, exactly 10 years ago, the results for my entrance exam for B.I.T. in the University of Delhi came out. Thanks to the result, it was confirmed that I would not be required to leave for Chennai and pursue my Engineering in one of those colleges there. Had I gone for my engineering to Chennai, I would still have been in first year :-)

18th of June changed all that. The best of my friends in my life have been from my B.I.T. days. But for how I fared academically, I could not have asked for a better life. God had been very very kind.

On this day, exactly 8 years back, I went through the most difficult phase of my life. Dad had his heart attack while we were on a vacation in Port Blair. The person who was my biggest support system was suddenly on the bed. Well, God was kind; in a few months, life was back on track.

This life changing phase also made me realise, further, the worth of friends and relatives. All the well wishers I had known made every effort to make life less difficult for Mom and me. God had been very kind even when he put us through a difficult situation.

On this I day I remember each of you who has made life as beautiful as it has been...in Delhi and otherwise. This one is to each of you who have made my life special and who, at each juncture have made me feel that God has been kind- for he brought you into my life :-)

Tribute to Bar

Friend to me, "Teri sabse badee problem ye hai ki tu ek novel ka character banke reh gaya hai...tu kabhi insaan nahi ban paaya"

I agree

ek aur station...ek aur train

"... Jab aankhein khuli toh aisa laga ki jaise kuch galat sa hua hai...kuch galat sa ho raha hai....Jaise koi train chhoot rahee ho!!

Aankhein bharee hui thhi...shaayad....pata nahi...

Aur fir yaad aaye woh kissa...

What do I call the protagonist...Bunny??? Mowgli??? Baba???

Alright... so Bunny Bechara, in his dreams one night, speaks to God. God is showing Bunny the entire sequence of his (Bunny's) life...Metaphorically...Bunny's footprints are there wherever he went...and wherever Bunny goes...there is an extra set of footprints near his own.

Bunny: Whose footprints are these?

God: Those are mine. I was always beside you.

Bunny smiles, a li'l bemused, somewhat embarrassed and grateful bahut zyaada.

And then come those sequences when Bunny had the worst times of his life. In all those sequences, there was just one set of footprints.

Bunny: Why did you do that?

God: Do what?

Bunny: You left me whenever I needed you most.

God: Why?

Bunny: See, there is just one set of footprints during those worst times.

God: Those, my son, are mine...when I carried you in my arms :-)

Aankhein fir khuli...aisa laga jaise station naya thha...duur kahin se us announcer wali aunty ki aawaaz sunaayi di...ek aur train aa rahee hai....ek alag destination ke liye...

Aisa laga jaise ki yahi shaayad theek hai...Pocket mein dekha toh ticket pada hua tha... kya isee train mein chadhna tha mujhko...kahaan tak jaana hai mujhe....

Well as always...aankhein band karke wohi kia jo hamesha se kia...train ka intezaar :-)

Ek gaana background mein suna...Tu Bin bataaye, mujhe le chal kahin :-)... "

(C) Chala Denominator, Numerator Ban-ne

That priceless question

"... there I was, faced with the unenviable task of having to say a 'yes' or 'no', well, almost immediately.

If I said 'no', it would destroy my future as I had envisaged it to be... Those dreams would be over...finished...khatam...with that one word- 'No'.

If I said 'Yes', it would destroy the very essence of my life thus far!

I tried asking the intellect. It shut its doors and played deaf.

I sought suggestion, then, from the heart. It stood there- as a meek mute spectator.

I closed my eyes and did the only thing I had the power to do. I trusted God with my future uncertain, opened my eyes, and said.... 'No'..."

(C) Chala Denominator, Numerator Ban-ne