Zeno Says

கிடைக்க வேண்டுமென கஷ்டப்படு
கிடைக்கவில்லையெனில் கஷ்டப்படாதே

இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக(அல்ல)

எங்க வீட்டுக்கு வாயென்
நிறைய பொம்மை தரென்
நிறைய choclate தரென்
பெரிய TV இருக்கு
அவனோடு சேர்ந்து விளையாடலாம்
அன்பாய் அழைத்த அத்தை

எங்கள் வீட்டுக்கு வர
நிறைய நகை கொண்டுவா
நிறைய பணம் கொண்டுவா
பெரிய car கொண்டுவா
அவனோடு சேர்ந்து வாழ
ஆசையில் ஆணையிடும் அத்தை

அன்றே போய் இருக்கலோமோ?

காலை பொழிதின் மயக்கதிலே

Footboard-ல் தொங்கியவாறு
Road-ல் scating
செய்யும் பயணிகள்

ஆட்டுபட்டியில் அடைத்து
Rollercoaster ride
தரும் shareautoகள்

Traffic rulesஐயும்
Signalஐயும் சட்டை
செய்யாத twowheelerகள்

Handsfreeயில் இரகசியசி்னெகிதியொடு
கொஞ்சிக்கொண்டும் கதைத்துக்கொண்டும்
அனைத்தையும் சபித்தவாறு

சென்று கொண்டிருந்தான்
wrongside-ல்.

Deepavali

காற்று மண்டலத்தை
கரி மண்டலமாக்கும் புகை

தலையை பிளக்கும்
காதை செவிடாக்கும் சத்தம்

நடக்க முடியாமல்
யாழ்ப்பாணமாகிப் போன தெருக்கள்

காந்தி தாத்தாவை
குப்பை கூளமாய் வீணாக்கி

துப்புரவு தொழிலாளியை
stretch செய்ய வைக்கும்

பட்டாசு பிசாசு
தேவையா விசுவரூபமாய் கேள்விகள்

வெடிக்காத வெடியாய்
புஸ்வாணமாய் காணாமல் போனது

சிவகாசி குழந்தைத்தொழிலாளி
மனதில் மின்னி மறைந்தபோது!

For a very long time recently, I am back to square one.Yeah,I have been reading nothing else than tamil fiction.One such novel that held my attention was Dollar Marumagal (daughter in law) by Sudha Murthy. None else than the wife of NRN, the co-founder of Infosys.

It was initially written in kannada in the name, "dollar sosai" not dosai, sosai which in kannada means daughter in law. It is also a text book in mysore university. It has also been translated in telugu, hindi and marathi. Even it has come has teleserial in Zee. Hope our Radhikaa doesn't comes as the heroine either in sun or kalaignar tv

Our hero is the ambitious younger son of a middle class family with an elder brother who leads a contented life.The story begins with, hero(technically speaking, he cant be called hero!!To know why keep reading) hearing a sweet voice in the train, get to meet the girl,sacrifices his berth to her due to a confusion in the ticket allotment by the clerk(which company wrote the software for the railway ticketing system?) ends up staying in the house of the girl,comes to know her life is filled with grief, the girl takes care of him during his arm fracture. Well, what else he falls in love with that girl. (Poor hero doesnt have guts like NRN, who proposed the sudha, the author herself)

In the mean while, he gets a job in TCS,(does the skipping, earns a lot more in dollars. Being a NRI,He gets married to a girl from a rich family during his vacation to india and takes her back to US.

If you havent guessed, the girl with who he has fallen in love will end up as wife to your elder brother, either you havent watched any of the balachander movies or you havent been reading this post with your fullest concentration.(You gotta concentrate in Reading comprhension section, if you are appearing to CAT this year)

Well, the story is not all about a guy who lost his lady love being ambitious and chasing dollars. It is not all about just another day in today's IT techie life,though it portrays it. It is all about the knowledge transfer(odyssey of meeting with long term people) that happens to a mother to be precise the mother in law during a short term visit of the with two daughter in laws, one at onsite(america) and the other at offshore(india).

She gets to interact with different types of NRI's hearing about their "ABCD's (American Born Confused Desi's) as well as the ground reality about her dollar daughter in law.she gets an insight about, People not interfering in other personal lives, man and woman sharing the domestic chores in an equal fashion, Festivals being postponed to week ends and racism.
At one instance in the novel, the mother in law travels alone in a less crowded bus. When she goes and sit near a old lady of her age, the old lady moves away and sits in another seat. The mother in law compares this to an incident where she sacrificed a seat to travel in a crowded corporate bus, when a sweeper woman sat near her. (what else could be an eye opener, even though it could be a land of opportunities irrespective of caste, it is a land with difference to color)

I wouldn't be surprised, if the novel is nothing else but a collection of the account of true stories several NRI's.

This is not something written in mind to act as detrimental effect to avoid the long term guys making a skip(pun intended). as well as to paint a bleak picture that migration and settling down at US is dangerous. It is not to emphazize,"east or west, home is best"

Still,I strongly feel that it is a must to be read by all the software guys, girls and their parents as well as non-software people.(Because everybody lives in illusion) hence a post in english about a tamil novel. (I remember seeing the same title even in english.)

இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக

அவளை கூட்டத்தில்
தேடும் கண்கள்
அவளை கண்டபின்
தொலைத்தது கூட்டத்தை!

avalai kootathil
thedum kangal
avalai kandapin
tholaithathu kootathai!

Black Belt

A martial artist was kneeling before the master sensei in a ceremony to recieve a hard earned black belt.
after years of relentless training, the student has reached the pinnacle of achievement in the discipline.

"before granting the belt, you must pass one more test," says the sensei.
I am ready responded the student, expecting perhaps one final round of sparring

"you must answer the essential question: what is the true meaning of the black belt?"

"the end of my journey" says the student. "a well deserved reward for my hardwork"

the sensei waits for more. clearly, he is not satisfied. finally the sensei speaks," you are not yet ready for the black belt. return in one year."

a year later the student kneels again in front of the sensei.

what is the true meaning of the black belt?" asks the sensei.


"a symbol of distinction and the highest achievement in our art," says the student.
The sensei says nothing for many minutes, waiting, clearly, he is not satisfied. finally, he speaks," you are still not ready for the black belt. return in one year."

a year later, the student kneels once again in front of the sensei. and again the sensei asks," what is the true meaning of the black belt?"

" the black belt represents the beginning- the start of the never ending journey of discipline, work and the pursuit of an ever higher standard," says the student.

"yes. you are now ready to recieve the black belt and begin your work."


Note:
Some people say, the sensei dint give the black belt in the earlier years because still the artist hadn'paid the dues of the fees.

இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக

அனைவரும் ஆயிரம் முறை அழைத்தும்
அவன் அசையவில்லை செவியும் சாய்க்கவில்லை
அவளின் மௌன மொழியில் மூழ்கிவிட்டதால்!

Google and Gphone

When Apple iPhone was making history, there was a widespread news that GOOGLE will launch gPhone and will give Apple a run for the money.
It was quite interesting to read an article in information week, titled, "Why Google wont sell a gPhone?" (Thanks to the Google Desktop web clips gadget, if not would have never come across this article)
The thought that, it could also be a ploy to strike relationships with every carrier and having a psychological advantage over them on the deal table could be a real possibility.
Does the data, "Google share price was almost 20 percent up in the last 6 weeks " in the article also suggests, it is just a stunt to keep the share prices up with the buzz being generated? ( Am i reading too much between the lines?)
If both the above could be true, what is the power that Google wields on the minds of the people? Just a mere possibility or a stupid conclusion, sends shock waves to the carriers, generates theories with innovative suggestions that they are doin something path breaking(wimax and wifi phones independent of carriers and what not hypothesis) and not to mention the soaring of stock prices?
I would really agree with the conclusion of the article that they are possibly building a mobile OS. Arent they challenging the microsoft on all fronts, especially the OS. Google docs, spread sheets and powerpoints and sponsoring mozilla. May be one day all the applications will be running on a browser.
I was also able to come up with one more reason why google will not sell gPhones? You can't have a hardware in the perpetual beta stage!!! :-)

Disclaimer About My Dabblings on...

Ever Since i wrote my first poem people do ask me the question in various possible permutation and combinations.

Who the hell is that "

That's my family Kay, it's not me. "

I am telling you readers, "This is my blog, not me"

P.S
Do you know all alcoholics deny that they are alcoholics?