office [story]

I entered my office after eleven days of vacation. Everything seamed to be different in the office. Everyone were sitting in the benches along with table in rows like a class room in school. I searched for known face with whom I can sit so that i will be comfortable.

There, I found Mala sitting at the last row and luckily the place next to her was empty. So I went and sat near her. She saw me and smiled. Everyone were reading something and I remembered that there was an exam scheduled for that week,

I thought that I was right on the starting day of the exam. So, I asked Mala if it was English-I paper examination that day. She raised her eye brow and said that its English-II paper. She then asked me if I had prepared for English-I paper. I told "No". And continued, "Even if I had known the exam schedule, I would not have prepared anything." She smiled.

I asked Mala if she can give me a book to read. She gave me a weekly magazine. I was OK with any book since I didn't have any other. I opened the book and started to write in it as I like to write. When everyone around me in the train are reading something, I am writing this story.

The train announcement voice said that the next station is Thiruvanmiyur. So I closed the laptop and got up to reach the entrance amid the huge crowd. As the train stopped, I got down and walked towards Ascendas International Tech Park Chennai. I had a light breakfast in the Ascendas food court and took the lift to 7th floor.

 [continuation of the story is at the start of this blog]

singam

This was my first attempt of story telling to make my daughter sleep...  நடுல நடுல மானே தேனே பொன்மானே இதெல்லாம் போட்டுக்கணும்...

ஒரு காட்டுல ஒரு சிங்கம் இருந்தது . அது தான் அந்த காட்டுக்கே ராஜா என்றும் எல்லோரும் அது சொல்வது போல தான் கேட்க வேண்டும் என்றும் எல்லோரையும் பயம்புடுத்தி வைத்திருந்தது. அணைத்து மிருகங்களும் வேறு வழி இல்லாமல் அந்த சிங்கம் சொல்வதை கேட்டுக்கொண்டு வாழந்து வந்தனர். அப்படி யாரவது கேட்கவில்லை என்றால் அவர்கள் அந்த காட்டில் இறுக்க முடியாது.

சிங்கம் இல்லாத போது பிற மிருகங்கள் அனைவரும் கூடி சிங்கத்தை பற்றியே பேசுவார்கள். சிங்கம் அந்த காட்டிற்கு நல்லது செய்தாலும் கெட்டது செய்தாலும் அனைவரும் அதை பற்றி கமென்ட் அடித்துக் கொண்டு கிசு கிசு பேசிக் கொண்டே இருப்பார்கள்.சிங்கம் செய்யும் செயல்களைப் பற்றி அவ்வாறு பேசி பேசி அந்த காட்டில் இருக்கும் எல்லா மிருகங்களும் சிங்கம் ராஜாவாக இருக்க தகுதி இல்லாதது என்று மனதிற்குள்ளேயே நினைத்து கொண்டு இருந்தன. அதனால் சிங்கம் சொல்வதை கஸ்ட்டப்பட்டுக் கேட்டுக் கொண்டு வாழ்தன.

அந்த காட்டில் இருந்த கரடி ஒன்று தனக்கு சிங்கத்தை விட அதிக சக்தி இருக்கிறது என்று நினைத்துக் கொண்டு இருந்தது. மற்ற மிருகங்கள் எல்லாம் அந்த கரடியை உசுப்பேத்த அது சிங்கம் தூங்கும் போது அதை தாக்கி கொன்று விடலாம் என்று திட்டம் தீட்டியது. கரடி சிங்கத்தை கொள்வதற்காக மரத்தடியே தூங்கிக் கொண்டிருந்த சிங்கம் அருகே சென்றது. கரடியின் மூச்சு காற்று பட்டவுடன் சிங்கம் முழித்துக் கொண்டு சட்டென்று திரும்பி கர்ஜித்தது. காடே அதிரும் அளவு சத்தம் கேட்கவே கரடி பயந்து நடுங்கி போய் சிங்கத்தின் மேல் இருக்கும் கொசுவை விரட்ட வந்ததாக சொன்னது. பின் சிங்கத்தை கட்டி பிடித்து டாட்டா சொல்லித் தப்பிச் சென்றது. அங்கே நடந்ததை மற்ற மிருகங்களுக்கு சொல்லி சிங்கத்தின் சக்தியை கரடி விளக்கியது. அனைவரும் சிங்கத்தின் சக்தியை உணர்தனர்.

ஒரு நாள் அந்த காட்டில் இருந்த காக்கா ஒரு மரத்தின் மேலே இருந்தது. அப்போது அங்கு வந்த காட்டு ராஜா சிங்கம் காக்காவை அமைதியாக இருக்கச் சொன்னது. மேலும் அந்த இடத்தை விட்டு சீக்கிரம் கிளம்பச் சொன்னது. காக்காவிற்கு இது போல விரட்டுவது பிடிக்கவே இல்லை. சற்று தூரம் பறப்பது போல பறந்து பிறகு சிங்கம் சென்றவுடன் திரும்பவும் அதே மரத்திற்கு வந்தது.கா கா கா என்று பாடியது. சற்று நேரத்திற்கு பிறகு அங்கே ஒரு வேடன் துப்பாகியுடன் வந்தான். காக்காவை குறிபார்த்து சுட்டான்.ஆஆஆ காக்கா பயந்து போனது. அதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக துப்பாக்கி குறி தவறி காக்கா உயிர் பிழைத்தது. மூச்சு இளைக்க வேகமாக பறந்தது.எப்போது தான் காக்காவிற்கு ராஜா சிங்கம் சொன்னதை கேட்டிருந்தால் இந்த இந்த பிரச்சனையே வந்திருக்காது என்பது புரிந்தது. அதனால் தான் சிங்கம் ராஜாவாக இருக்கிறது என்பதை உணர்ந்தது. அதற்கு பின் ராஜா சொல்வதை கேட்டு நல்லபடியாக வாழ்ந்தது.

இதே போல் காலப்போக்கில் அனைத்து மிருகங்களும் சிங்கத்தின் திறமையை உணர்ந்து சிங்கம் போன்ற ஒரு ராஜா  தேவை என்பதை புரிந்து கொண்டனர். அதன் பின் எல்லோரும் ஜாலியாக சிங்கம் சொல்வதை கேட்டு சந்தோஷமாக வாழ்ந்தனர்..

[story] சுண்டக்காய் கதை

சுண்டக்காய் கதை
===================
(As narrated by my wife for kids)

ஒரு ஊர்ல ஒரு சுண்டக்கா இருந்துச்சாம். அத ஒரு அம்மா சமையலுக்காக வெட்ட போனாங்களாம். அந்த சுண்டக்கா, "என்னை வெட்டதீங்க! ப்ளீஸ்" என்றதாம். உடனே அம்மாவும் பாவப் பட்டு அந்த சுண்டக்காய சுண்டி விட்டாங்களாம். சுண்டக்கா உருண்டு உருண்டு போய் ஒரு மூலைல நின்னுச்சாம். அப்படியே ஒக்காந்து கால் மேல கால் போட்டுகிட்டு பாட்டு பாடிச்சாம்.

அடுத்த நாள் காலைல அந்த அம்மா எழுந்திருக்கும் போது வீட்ல கெட்டி இருந்த மாட்டை காணோமாம். அம்மா மாட்டை காணோம்னு அழுதாங்களாம். அத பார்த்த சுண்டக்கா, "அழாதீங்க மா, நான் போய் உங்க மாட்டை கண்டு பிடிக்குரேன்" என்றதாம். மேலும், "எனக்கு ஒரு மூட்டை பொரிகடலை வேண்டும்" என்றதாம். அம்மாவும் சரி என்றார்களாம்.

சுண்டக்கா மாட்டை திருடிய திருடர்களை பிடிக்க புறப்பட்டதாம். ஒரு தீப்பெட்டியில் கயிறு கட்டி அதில் இரண்டு கட்டெறும்பு பூட்டி ரதம் போல் உருவாக்கியாதாம். தீப்பெட்டியில் ஏறிக்கொண்டு கட்டெறும்பு இழுக்க திருடர்களை நோக்கி புறப்பட்டதாம்.

வழியில் ஒரு தேள், சுண்டக்கவை பார்த்ததாம். "சுண்டக்கா! சுண்டக்கா!! எங்க போர? என்று கேட்டதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "நான் திருடன பிடிக்க போறேன்" என்றதாம்.
தேள், "நானும் கூட வரேன்" என்றதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "சரி வா போகலாம்" என்றதாம்.

பிறகு, வழியில் ஒரு பாம்பு, சுண்டக்கவை பார்த்ததாம். "சுண்டக்கா! சுண்டக்கா!! எங்க போர? என்று கேட்டதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "நான் திருடன பிடிக்க போறேன்" என்றதாம்.
பாம்பு, "நானும் கூட வரேன்" என்றதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "சரி வா போகலாம்" என்றதாம்.

பிறகு, வழியில் ஒரு கழுதை, சுண்டக்கவை பார்த்ததாம். "சுண்டக்கா! சுண்டக்கா!! எங்க போர? என்று கேட்டதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "நான் திருடன பிடிக்க போறேன்" என்றதாம்.
கழுதை, "நானும் கூட வரேன்" என்றதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "சரி வா போகலாம்" என்றதாம்.

பிறகு, வழியில் ஒரு யானை, சுண்டக்கவை பார்த்ததாம். "சுண்டக்கா! சுண்டக்கா!! எங்க போர? என்று கேட்டதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "நான் திருடன பிடிக்க போறேன்" என்றதாம்.
யானை, "நானும் கூட வரேன்" என்றதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "சரி வா போகலாம்" என்றதாம்.

பிறகு, வழியில் ஒரு சேவல், சுண்டக்கவை பார்த்ததாம். "சுண்டக்கா! சுண்டக்கா!! எங்க போர? என்று கேட்டதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "நான் திருடன பிடிக்க போறேன்" என்றதாம்.
சேவல், "நானும் கூட வரேன்" என்றதாம்.
சுண்டக்கா, "சரி வா போகலாம்" என்றதாம்..

இவ்வாறாக சுண்டக்கா, தேள், பாம்பு, கழுதை, யானை, சேவல் அனைவரும் திருடன்னின் வீட்டை அடைந்தார்கள். சுண்டக்கா தேளை தீபெட்டியில் போட்டதாம். பாம்பை வீட்டின் அடுப்பில் போட்டதாம். கழுதையை வீட்டின் பின் வாசலில் வைத்ததாம். யானையை வீட்டின் முன் வாசலில் வைத்ததாம். சேவலை வீட்டின் கூரையில் வைத்ததாம். பிறகு சுண்டக்கா ஒளிந்து கொண்டதாம்.

அடுத்த நாள் காலையில் திருடன் ஒருவன் காபி போடுவதற்காக தீப்பெட்டியை திறந்தானாம். தீப்பெட்டியில் இருந்த தேள் அவனை கொட்டியதாம். அய்யோ என்று அலறினானாம். உடனே மற்றொரு திருடன் ஏன்டா கத்துற நான் காபி போடுறேன் பாரு என்று கூறி அடுப்பை திறந்தானாம். அடுப்பில் இருந்த பாம்பு அவனை கொத்தியதாம். இவனும் அய்யோ என்று அலறினானாம். இருவரும் அலறிக் கொண்டு வீட்டின் வெளியே வந்தார்களாம். அங்கிருந்த யானை அவர்களை தும்பிக்கையால் அடித்ததாம். இருவரும் மேலும் அலறிக் கொண்டு வீட்டின் பின் புறம் வெளியே சென்றார்களாம். அங்கிருந்த கழுதை அவர்களை காலால் எட்டி உதைத்ததாம். வேறு வழி இல்லாமல் அவர்கள் வீட்டின் கூரை மேல் ஏறி தப்ப முயன்றார்களாம். அங்கிருந்த சேவல் அவர்களின் கண்களை கொத்தியதாம். உடனே, திருடர்கள் மேல் இருந்து கீழே விழுந்தார்கலாம். சுண்டக்கா ஓடி வந்து திருடர்களை கையிற்றால் கட்டியதாம்.

திருடர்கள் பயந்து போய் மாடு இருக்கும் இடத்தை சுண்டைக்காயிடம் சொன்னார்களாம். சுண்டக்காய் மாட்டை ஓட்டிக் கொண்டு அதன் நண்பர்களுடன் வீடு திரும்பியதாம். அம்மா அவரது மாட்டை பார்த்து மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் இருந்தார்களாம். சுண்டக்காய் அம்மாவிடம் கேட்ட ஒரு மூட்டை பொரிகடலையை சுண்டகாயிடம் கொடுத்தார்களாம். சுண்டக்காய் பொரிகடலையை தனது நண்பர்களுக்கு எல்லாம் கொடுத்ததாம். அனைவரும் சந்தோசமாக வீடு திரும்பினார்களாம்.

அம்மா சுண்டக்காவுக்காக ஒரு சின்ன வீடு செய்து அதில் சோபா போட்டு அதற்க்கு தேவையான சாமான்களை எல்லாம் வைத்தார்களாம். அந்த வீட்டின் சோபாவில் சுண்டக்காவை உட்கார வைத்தார்களாம். சுண்டக்காய் மிகவும் சந்தோசமாக இருந்ததாம்.

[stort] only robots

TamilNadu Government along with the Chennai Metro Railways Department has decided to allocate all the upper berths of the metro trains running in the city to everyone for their living. Long back, around 2009-2010, the land price was very less in Chennai and people use to construct houses. Now all available movable & immovable properties are being used by everyone for their living. I too applied for a berth.

The city is looking like a concrete jungle with many tall concrete buildings. Everyone is talking about global warming. Not sure when this jungle is going to be cut down for trees.

The new railway berth distribution announcement from the government has got good response as the space available per berth is more than enough for everyone. There is a restriction that one can apply for only one berth and also the allocation is purely based on lottery system.

I do not wear a helmet though I remember to take it while driving because I do not have a helmet and nobody wears a helmet in this city and helmet is not required for driving a car:) Considering the fuel price and the global warming, I purchased one latest model car last week. This car doesn't need any fuel to run. Long back Prasad Sir developed a car that runs with water instead of fuel - water car, but that never came to market! My new model car works on the principle of the olden day's bicycle.

Once upon a time, there were few robots in the city. That time Mala use to say that only robot's will be able to survive in the future.

Luckily, I got one upper berth for me and I was very happy to live there. That was the space required for each one of us, even the richest in this world. Because all we need is two units of electricity per day.
Only robots were able to survive the series of natural disasters during the later half of 38th century AD

flying cat

Once upon a time there lived a cat. He wanted to fly in the air. He tried a lot of ways for him to fly. But he failed in all his attempts. He got suggestions from variety of people from scientist to monks. all in vain.

Atlast he came to me. I gave him an idea to fly based on my experience. It looked great for him, so he tried. It was unbelievable for him that he was able to fly!! He was so excited and it was life turning idea for him. Do you want to know the idea that I gave for the cat? You would have easily guessed what my idea was. Yes, I asked him to fall in love.

[story] 3D maze

Mala stepped out of her home and started walking down the street. Mala is new to this city and she does not know the address of her home or the phone number. But she wanted to explore the city by herself. She did not know that this city is not like her village. Story, Screenplay, dialogue, direction : Vijay

Mala continued to walk fast with the ipod playing her favorite music in the background. After a while the road diverged into two roads. She stood there and looked at both the roads as far as she could see. The first one went downwards as if it is taking you to the underworld, while the other went upwards as if it is taking you to the sky. Surprised Mala took the one downwards.

While Mala continued to walk through the road, it went more downwards and more steeper. The surroundings looked more modernized as she proceeded. Then, she took three left turns thinking that she can reach her home then. But she was 100 feet straight below her home. Also she was able to see the sky when she looked up!

All the buildings around her looked alike and she was not able to trace her way back home. It was like solving a maze puzzle, but her brain was not sufficient to solve that.

No human's were seen by the roadside. High speed cars rushed through the streets. Nobody stopped for the red signal or for the green signal. It looked like an alien world for her. She badly wanted to go back to her home.

Mala roamed here and there to get any help from somebody. She was not able to find anyone. As she was running through the walkway, a cat (Felis catus) came in front of her. She got frightened seeing it suddenly. The sharp claws, dark blue eyes and the rusty spotted skin combined with its two legged posture made her more frightened. As Mala moved sideways, the cat also moved as it is if blocking her. Mala started screaming in fear. The cat also moved its hand with sharp claws outside and wide opened its mouth. Mala stepped back and became silent.

The power went off and came back in ten minutes. By then, Mala came back home and the movie ended subam. I will tell you the detailed climax of this story when I see the movie again without any power cuts :)

[story] Bangalore <-> Chennai

I wanted to meet Mala. I think you would also want to know about her. With the contacts that I have developed over the past few years, I could easily find that she is working in a small software company in Chennai. I sent my profile to that company as though I wanted to change my work location to Chennai. As I expected I got an interview call from that company.

Early in the morning, I took along with me the tvnet that I was using while I was the robot and started to Chennai. While I was traveling in the bullet train, I saw a Tamil movie in the tvnet. The name of the heroine of that movie was also Mala. So the movie was very interesting. I reached Chennai at 7am.

It was 7pm when I reached back Bangalore. A lot of things happened in Chennai(?) :)

At 10am, I went to that software company. It was pretty small. I could easily spot Mala's smile amidst the people working there. I went straight to her place and showed my interview card to her without speaking anything. She turned at me, smiled and greeted me. Then she said something about bangalore, I couldn't hear that. Then she stood and walked with my interview card in her hands. So, I followed her.

At 8pm, I was discussing with my friends whether to join the company or not.

As I followed Mala, we reached the office pantry. 2009 Cricket match was being screened on a big tvnet over there. There she called her boss and handed the interview card to him. Then, I had two rounds of technical interview and one round of HR interview. To my surprise, they gave me the offer in hand and asked me to join the company at the earliest.

At 9pm, I have almost decided to join the company.

Then, I had a cup of coffee with Mala in the office pantry. While we were chating, She said something about Bangalore, I couldnot understand it again. After saying good bye to Mala and her boss, I started back to bangalore at 5pm in the bullet train. I saw the same movie which I liked during my onward journey. Reached bangalore at 7pm.

A month full of dreams passed by ...

One fine Monday morning, I joined that software company in Chennai. After finishing all the joining formalities, I went to my cubicle by afternoon. That time, all the employees were gathered at Mala's place. I too joined them only to know that that day is Mala's last working day in this office and she is changing her job to my old office at Bangalore :)

The journey

" That day, My manager woke me up early in the morning around 04.30. That is usual during a weekend since when I joined him. We started at 05.15 and rushed through the Bangalore roads. As we progressed, the road looked very familiar to me, yes its the same Bangalore-Mysore road. I don't know why we are going through the same route every now and then. I can just follow my manager's instruction, but not speak a word.


I could hear some good music of different languages changing often as per my managers wish. Being a kannadiga, I preferred the kannada songs. It was a tiresome ride with lot of high beam headlights approaching ahead. After some small breaks here and there, we reached Mysore at 07.30. We all charged up with the required food here and I could take some rest too.



We continued our journey towards the south. The road was very poor for some distance before we reached Gundulupet. In few minutes, I could sense that we are entering into TamilNadu. We posed for a number of snaps captured in Nokia Coolpix S10 and Cannon digital cameras on our way. The ride was very exciting as the route was very scenic with lot of trees around. While enjoying this ride, I did not realize that there are also some tough ride waiting for me.



We could spot some deers, lot of monkeys and also a couple of elephants by the road side. It was nice to see them under their natural habitat staring at the vehicles. Especially the elephants with big tusks playing with the mud & bushes around is nice to watch. We silently passed by without disturbing them other than few clicks.


As we moved we started climbing uphill - its OOTY hill. It was dangerous to go near some of the speedy vehicles especially the innova's around. Also difficult to climb the steep hill. My managers never bothered about me. As I have told, I can just follow my managers instruction, but not speak a word. There were about 36 hairpin bends that we need to cross. Atlast we reached the hilltop at around 12.30. Now we are at 2500m high from MSL." speaks our dear yellow color maruthi alto.

more photos here

[story] tenten

[my tenth story in this blog site.]

Long long ago, so long ago, oneday at 11pm I was chatting in gtalk with my Chinese friend Jing Wu. Till that day the SUN rises at 11 am and sets at 11pm. It was 11-11 day world. While chatting, Jing Wu told me a secret about a great human power which she learnt from her fore fathers. It was interesting to hear but very hard to believe that day. It was about a technique where one can enter into other person's dream and do real time activities. Interesting is it? I will tell you more. "tenten" is the name given by her for this technique.

Though I didnot believe at that point of time, I asked her to teach me the tenten technique. She asked me to sleep. OK, I logged out and slept near the computer itself. In few minutes I woke up hearing the calling bell sound. As I went and opened the door, there was a typical chinese girl standing there. I pointed my fore finger at her and questioned "Jing Wu?". "Yes Vijay, how are you?", she asked.

After talking to her I thought that she is there in my dream. But even after realising that it is a dream, I am not out of the dream!! She explained me that it is not she in my dream, but me in her dream. She can make people do whatever she wants in this dream. Its like she is the director of that dream in real time world. She would be able to direct the entire universe. ie., This dream is like a parallel universe and She is like a GOD for it. Also she told that this dream will end only when she decides to end it:)

Woops!! Head is rotating for me now. What is a dream? Not thinking too much I asked her to explain. In her sweet voice she started. Chinese english was bit difficult to follow yet I keenly observed her. Every word she spoke was true and very basic that helps realization of human power to the fullest extend. I acknowledged everything. I remembered the tenten that she told me during our chat and asked her about it. She explained me how to execute the tenten technique. No crystal ball or no magic stick, but only mind processing. It was amazing. (I will tell you the procedure for this tenten technique in a seperate blog).

Jing Wu then told me bye and went away. I locked the door and came back to sleep. I think Jing Wu has finished her dream by this time. It was 5 am when I woke up again, this time really (but what is real ? is a question). I remembered most of the things told by Jing Wu in her dream. Having known this great technique what do you think I would have done? If I teach you this technique what will you do?

Now, early in the morning, I wanted to try the tenten technique. I started the mind process as explained by Jing Wu. WoW!! I got into the dream. Rather I brought everything in the universe into my dream. The universe acted as per my wish, as per my direction. Now everyone around me are sleeping. I can do anything I want. OK, let me get the sun early so that people get up. I wished the SUN to rise at 6 am instead of the usual 11 am. Yes, the SUN did come up. It was a beautiful sight to see the sun at 6 am. hahaha.. I am the GOD for this dream universe now.

Just as I was thinking about Jing Wu's tenten technique I remembered that I had forgot something important before coming into the dream. It striked to me that I can go out of the dream and bring it the next time I come to the dream. But, What I forgot is the process for going out of the dream, Oops, now I cannot go out of the dream. Oooh.. What will I do now? I am trying to remember the process for getting out of the dream.

Once I complete my dream, we all will go to the actual 11-11 day world.

[story] 2 in 1

"There was a paddy field outside the village and very near to a dense forest. While working there, the villagers appointed John for looking out any wild animals and warning the people whenever some man eater comes so that they could join together and fight against it. It was a boring job for John.

One day John decided to play some trick. He suddenly started shouting 'Tiger.. Tiger.. Help..' All the villagers rushed with all the instruments to save John. As it was a fake call, all were disappointed but John was laughing in his mind.
The next day, getting bored he did that trick again. And the villagers were disappointed badly this time.

The third day, really the tiger came!! Oops.. John shouted for help. The villagers thought it as a fake call and continued with their work. John tried his best to fight with the tiger. Luckily with bad injuries he escaped his life. The villagers felt very sorry for him.

Next day also John went with the villagers for the same job. What do you think the villagers will do if John plays the same trick again?
Boring John shouted for help without any wild animals around. The villagers rushed for help. Seeing no animals around they asked John not to shout simply as it could lead to similar problems faced by John when the tiger really came.

Now, if John shouts next day also the villagers would again run for help, because they dont want to loose John for his kiddish behavior. This would repeat indefinitely even if the villagers get bored of running for help :)

As I was seeing all this happening in the village, I realized and told John that 'There are some things in the world which you cannot ignore even though it did not help you in anyways for so many times'." To explain further, I told him a story. Let me tell you that story...


"I was driving the new 'Chevrolet malibu' at 110 mph (this 'mph' gives a clue that I am driving in US). Looked like I was in rush for something, but not.

My friend was also there with me in the car and we were hearing nice Indian songs as we were enjoying the ride. I know you will know her name. This relaxing ride is the usual thing that we do everyday evening.

Each time I need to turn the car to the next lane of the road, I had to move myself little front and check for any vehicles through the rear view mirror. I need to move to avoid any blind spots. I have observed some times that a vehicle next to me does not appear in the rear view mirror unless I move a little. So, every time I was moving to confirm that no vehicle comes in the next lane before turning the car to that lane. I told my friend that this is a very boring job for me and I am going to miss it sometime.

But I know that I cannot afford to hit another vehicle by not watching the rear view mirror properly. She told me that 'There are some things in the world which you cannot ignore even though it did not help you in anyways for so many times'." To explain further, she told me the story of villagers and John which is above.

[story] strong beaks

Once upon a time there lived a bird called CK in the city of madurai. She was so intelligent that she could complete all her day to day activities in less than an hour. So she had a free time of almost 552 hrs per day. I know you would ask how it will be 552. Considering that she can do her 24 hrs job in 1 hr, she will have 552 normal bird hrs free per day. All these calculations are made relative to today's time.

She decided that she should do something and avoid wasting time. She always wished to visit different parts of the world. So, packing the required food she started flying across the world. In almost two normal bird months she visited three countries in two different continent. She got to know about many birds from many places. And then she returned home. From her experience over this two months, she has gained a lot of knowledge.

Same once upon a time there lived another bird called LA. He was so lazy when compared to CK that he had only 422 hrs of free time per day. In last two months he did nothing other than eating, sleeping and being idle. He use to be so jealous of CK as she is very active. But somehow he like his way of life and continued. Though CK doesn't like LA, she always believed at his capabilities to handle though situations.

When CK returned after her trip, both LA and CK went for dinner together. CK was very happy to explain all her experience. Then she started the worst things she learned during the trip. She told that the planet will be destroyed soon. LA came to the edge of his seat and listened. She explained various situations across the planet which could lead to destruction. As the discussion got hot, each of them picked a dinosaur with their beaks.

One such reason for destruction of world is that a mighty tailed star would rush through the entire universe in next six months. It would burn any body whose volume is greater than 10000 cubic kilo meter. This includes the planet itself. However if it is less than 1000 cubic kilo meter in volume, that star would not do anything. Someone has to save the lives of the planet. Who will do?

After a long discussion, LA came up with a spontaneous plan to save the planet. It looked pretty decent and there seemed to be no other option. The plan was carve out equal sized blocks from the planet which is less than 10000 cubic kilo meter and throw them into the universe. The speed and the direction of throwing should be more calculative that these blocks get together after the mighty tailed star finishes its job (after thousands of years).

CK and LA did not have any time for the planning and the design phase. They decided to do it themself, as it will be difficult to explain the situation and the plan to other birds. Also no one would belive, like today. CK and LA decided to start of from madurai itself. LA started off. He opened his beak wide. Having madurai as the center of his beak, he carved out a big block out of the planet. He then threw it into the universe. He turned and smiled at CK with pride. CK moved her beak left and right and turned quickly.

OK. Now CK continued the same job towards south of madurai and LA doing his job north. They carved out all the pieces from the planet and threw them into the space. As CK threw the last block, both of them were free floating on the universe without any gravitational pull. Both of them looked at each other and smiled. They had a big satisfaction of saving all the lives of the planet. They know that one day all the pieces would join together and the life would sustain in the planet.

They were very tired. They dint even have a dinosaur to eat. As they were thinking if they have done the right job, the mighty tailed star came and burnt them :(
5000 years later, the Earth got created.

[story] Its long time

Its long time since I wrote a story here. As the time increases, I feel pressurised to write a good story to meet the expectations of the encouragers. So keeping apart my grand stories behind in the queue, here I present a simple short story -


Its long time since I did swiming, I used to swim daily when I was in US. I remember reading that you will never forget swimming after learning even though you donot practice it. So, I am resonably confident that I can swim for my life if needed. I am thinking all these as I was riding a raft all alone in the wide spread Indian Ocean. I couldn't see even a square feet of land in all the directions. Getting tired of driving, I stopped in the middle of the ocean and started dreaming.

I thought about many old sindbad stories as the boat moved along with the wind. A big ship appeared and I was happy to see that as I already decided that I have lost my way. As I waved my hand, the ship came near me. I climbed on to the ship and suddenly my boat vanished. oops! I couldnt believe it. Is it because of the black hole? Though I couldnot assure, I was not into the black hole atleast.

As I moved into the ship, one more big surprise awaited - there was no one in the ship other than me. This reminded me one episode of 'alif laila' (will tell you this episode in a seperate blog). Ok. Now I decided to take the driver seat. Just used my experience of Titanic ride and turned the ship 90 degrees and increased the speed. It was getting dark and also I could observe light flashing from behind. On turning behind I was surprised to see a tall light house flashing the light, I could also witness a big land with lot of tall buildings. Hey, that was the place where I lost my boat and got this ship. now its a big land! Not knowing what to do, I tossed a bhat coin within my heads. I should have got heads, thats why I turned the ship by 180 degrees quickly.

I slowed down the ship as I approached the land. The ship hit the shore and luckily not much of damage. The place looked like a beautiful city. I was walking over the shore and I turned back to see the status of the ship. As I expected the ship was not there :) This land was definitely better than the boat or the ship. Though all the buildings were lighted, I could hardly find anyone like me (humans). Actually there were no moving objects. I went inside a building and had a nice dinner which was ready on the dining table. Then slept over the soft water bed.

Next morning, I got up and opened the bedroom window. It was a nice warm day and I could see the clear beach. Excited with the view, I ran out for a bath into the sea. Suddenly the intensity of the waves increased for a few moment and I am not able to touch the ground. Cool, I am doing a good swimming!

Now my mind told me that there will not be any city behind me. I turned around to find that I was partially correct. I could not witness the beautiful city but a very beautiful city with lot of people around. As I waved my hands, a fisherman came to my rescue. After landing I found that it was the chennai marina beach. After relaxing the day in chennai, I took the train to bangalore.
When I explained this to my friend, he told, "Its definetly the blackhole. You are (un)lucky to comeback!"

[story] Foolish Fools

p.s: I wrote this story (including this note) while traveling from office to home in bus today. Now I am just copy pasting from my mind to the blog.


By God's grace, now I am in a so called good position in the society. I have a flat and I own a car too. Mala and RamMohan are my close friends in the office and we stay closeby. We decided to do car pooling for traveling to and from the office. We did this just by considering the traffic in Bengaluru. Although being close friends its difficult to share anything without getting into any small issues.

That day it was Mala's turn. She picked up me and Ram in her car early in the morning. I should say that she is pretty good at driving. As Mala was riding smooth in the outer ring road, suddenly she had to reduce the speed from 40kmph to zero, as the auto infront stopped. She quickly turned to the right (This is how drastic accident happens). Luckily noone was there and she could manage to stop the vehicle. Ram got hurt on his knees. He shouted at Mala for riding so bad. When Mala told the reason for not noticing the auto, it was an acceptable one. I always consider that nobody could escape from this reason.

After reaching office, me and Mala were discussing something. Ram interrupted and asked for the car from Mala. He told that he need to goto the complex nearby to finish some work. It is just 200m away from our office. Mala asked him to walk. Ram said that there would be lot of pollution outside and he wanted to go in car. Mala scolded him badly and told that he should be fool to ride car for 200m distance. Ram went away, but we were still friends. I too felt that Ram should walk instead of taking the car and thought that Ram is a fool to ask for a car to goto that small distance, but I didnot tell anything.

A week later when we went in my car, Mala approached me and asked for the car. She told that she wanted to goto the same complex and its very polluted outside to walk. I just told her that "you should not call someone fool just because you donot understand them", and gave my car key to her. She understood that I was referring to the previous week incident. I then felt that Mala should be a fool to take the car for this small distance.

One more week later when we went in Ram's car, I had to goto the same complex. Hesitant to ask for the car, I decided to walk. It was very horrible to walk and I felt very bad for not asking for the car from Ram. Also after thinking about the three week incidents, now I feel that Ram was wiser to have asked for car in the first time itself. I said to myself that "you should not consider others as fool just because you donot understand them".

[story] Robot in the city

It is almost 6 years since Robot's have been banned in India. After the liquid state semiconductor and the nanobiological revolution period, every other scientists were able to make their own robot's at their home. This led to huge economic wave across the countries. People were restless and jobless too. After a big chaos for two years, the World Peace Organization along with the World Scientific Community created a set of rules and regulations on using the technology. One major point in that is that no individual can have a robot with more than or equal to 6 Susi power.This would restrict anyone having robot with human power. And India supports and imposes these rules.

Beyond these rules, some Indians like the criminals/ terrorists of the past have robots with human power at their home. The major duty of the Indian Police Force is to detect these people and produce them at the court of the King. They have a vital eight hour interrogation technique to identify the robots and their owner. As you know the criminals are almost wiser than Police, initially at least. I am one such person :) There is a Robot in my house created using the tips given in Reader's Digest and the tvnet.

Her name is Mala. She use to help me out in all my household activities. She helps me in my business. All of the above I like her smile. Somehow we both have a permanent account number and we are in the IHL(Indian Human List). When everything was going fine, I heard that there is going to be a random check in the city. I was afraid as the Indian Police Force have a good record for identifying almost all powerful Robots. I told on various things that Mala needs to do and importantly not to do in next few days. Still I did not have much of hope.

When we were browsing through the tvnet, the police came and rang at our house. I asked Mala to keep watching the tvnet and I opened the door. As the police came inside, Mala was seriously reading something. Though I asked her to be careless and free, she was serious. Police asked some normal survey questions to me, which I answered. Then they called Mala. She turned 90 degrees within a fraction of second, which I have asked her not to do. While we were talking casually (which was supposed to be the interrogation), the police asked some wage mathematical question - what is 8 to the power 16? Mala as she remembers all our previous discussions, answered 281474976710656 immediately. Oops! Again I told her not to answer anything tough. Then they took Mala inside a room.

After complete interrogation for about 8 hrs during which my heart beat increased, they came out. I was silently asking if there is any problem. The Police replied, "Sorry for the trouble Vijay. We are done with our work and found no issues. Thanks for the cooperation." I told thats not a problem. As they went out,
I locked the door, went straight to the reading room. I Eat 6 pieces of horse shoe magnet, and put the right hand fingers into the electricity plug point.
hehehe. I am the Robot created by Mala.

[story] gas balloon

One fine Sunday, when I was in Madurai, I went out to buy some groceries. At the shop there were lot of balloons hanging. I realized that it was Christmas time. I added some balloons to my shopping list. With the shopping bag in front of me, it was little difficult for me to ride the bike back home.

After reaching home, I put the bag minus one balloon in the kitchen. With one balloon and the sunnambu dabba I ran to the top floor of our home. I remember that drying balloons with sunnambu inside will make it a gas balloon. I decided to try that out. After applying the necessary chemical stuffs inside the balloon, I dried it with the sun light. Then, blew the balloon. It did not fly as per my expectation. I waited. Slowly the balloon started raising. I held the thread tightly. The balloon moved up with force. Not wanting to leave the balloon, I tied a big rope to the balloon and my body. The balloon started pulling me up. wow! I was flying with the balloon :)

In sometime, the houses looked like match box and people ants. In moretime, I was moving through the clouds. I was hungry - checked my pockets, and found a choc. Remembering that chocs will give instant energy, I took it and ate it. As usual, I put the choc wrapper into my pocket. As time went by I was worried that my mom would be looking for me. Even if the balloon moves down fortunately, I would not land in the same place where I started. The earth rotates and the wind is blowing.

I saw a flight as big as it would be when we see it closer - it should be an international flight, as I am already high enough. still the balloon is moving upward. Now I could feel some kind of difference in pressure. Not sure if it is high or low pressure. My mind thought of physics - With high pressure difference within and outside a balloon, it may burst. As I was thinking the same,
damaar... damaar... the balloon busted. why is there two bursts??

Suddenly an auto driver shouted at me - "did you tell your home before leaving?".
Still I am driving the bike with the shopping bag in front of me.

[story] call from GOD

I was in Houston USA that time, working for HP. One day my teammate from India mailed me that a new girl Mala has joined our office and she is beautiful. This reminded me about Prasad's daughter. I had a good time in USA. When I returned India, I went straight from airport to office. When I met Mala in office, I was surprised, she is the same Mala whom I met first in hotel Germanus.

Few months went by.. People planned for a trekking in our team. I had some other important task for that weekend and hence did not join the trek initially. Then, I heard that Mala is joining the trek as she knew almost all of our team members. Inspired by Mala, I too joined the trek canceling all my work for the weekend :). Our plan was to hit kodachadri peak in kolur. Eight of us traveled in ksrtc the whole friday night and started with the trekking on saturday 9am. During our initial trek, I was telling the story of kodachadri peak to the team (will tell you in a separate story). We had early lunch and started the real trek.

As we moved on we could feel the goodness of nature. We were deep inside the forest with lot of other forms of life. One such thing is the leech. There were lot of leeches getting over our legs and sucking our blood. If we stop by to clear some leech, many more would climb and do their job. One good thing is that it will not pain when leeches suck our blood. Silently they climb over our leg, swell by drinking our blood and then fell down. Hence we had to walk continuously without rest. As it was pouring too we dint have any choice of taking rest also.

Me and Mala were really slow that we could not see others atall. It started getting dark early and the rain didnot stop. We ran for sometime, yet we could not catch others. Probably we have lost our way :( We checked our mobiles if it can help us.. Ooh God, no signal. As we were already tired, I was very much worried about the night. There is no place to camp expect the hill top and we had roughly half hour to reach that spot. If otherwise we are gone. While thinking of the leeches and other wild life I was totally scared. Running out of idea's I could not walk further.

Suddenly her mobile rang. She gave it to me saying the GOD is calling!! I asked her who is God? She told its real GOD. we were surprised. I turned ON the speaker. A divine voice started - "Good afternoon my kids. I am the Goddess Moohambigai. What do you want?". I was nervous as I asked "What is this GOD? We are left alone. We are afraid. We just want to escape from this forest". GOD began... "My dear kids, if you think you are alone, you will be alone for ever. If you think you are afraid, you will be afraid for ever. If you want to escape from this forest, first leave out your fear. Just try with your full energy - full mental energy in addition to your physical energy. If you have full faith in yourself, nobody can stop you...."

Tough it was not an inspirational talk by GOD, it triggered my mind. I multiplied my thoughts and in seconds, I cut the phone, grabbed mala's hand, started running. In next five minutes I was at the hill top where my friends were waiting :) Cooool.

[story ends]
For those who don't believe that GOD spoke to us, assume that those were spoken by Mala. Anyways she is an inspirational girl for me.

[story] water car

Thursday morning "The times of India" had some news about Dr. Prasad, my physics professor. I read it with interest to see that he is being awarded by chief minister that sunday. The paper had his address which excited me to meet him. I dint forget to take the paper when I went home friday night. Asusual I slept in the upper berth while travelling to madurai in train number 6732.


Saturday morning, I took our newly bought old omni and drove towards Prasad's home. I was happy to see some new bridges being constructed on the way. That has created some traffice in madurai too. I was not worried about it as I am used with bangalore traffic!! somehow I was feeling very sleepy:) As I reached Prasad's home, I pressed the calling bell and waited. The door opened shortly. I was surprised that Mala opened the door. The same Mala whom I saw in hotel Germanus the other day!


Mala was so beautiful in saree. She just asked me to come in as if she knew me. As I sat in the shofa, Dr. Prasad came - he has become pretty old. After greeting him, I looked at Mala. Prasad introduce me to her, and told me that it is Mala her daughter. Prasad asked me if I want coffee or juice. He turned to Mala and asked coffee for himself. Mala looked at me and raised her eye brow as if to ask what I want. I told, "ditto". She smiled a mile and went into the kitchen. Her face didnot vanish from my eyes.


Prasad told me that he is getting old and not happy with travelling from home to office - hence had setup a lab in home itself. I acknowledged him by saying that the roads are becoming busy and its difficult to travel. He did not expect any answer from me and he complined that he is getting so much of anger these days. I told that I am still in a sleepy mood and hearing some train sound at the background :) He wanted to show me his lab. I wanted to goto lab after having coffee, as I was still thinking of Mala. He pulled me saying that he will show me a car which runs in water. I asked him if it will be like a ship. He replied that it will use water as its fuel. Amazing! I went with him to his garrage (lab).

In his lab, I saw a car hanging at a height of 6 feet from ground. When I went inside, Prasad warned me not to touch anything as the parts of the car are fitted tight. ok. I went below the car and rotated one of its wheel. It came with my hand. ha.. I left it down and ran outside. As I just came out, the car fell and got crashed:( Prasad got angry - frustrated - took the long heavy screw driver and came towards me as if he is going to kill me. I got frightened and shouted "Mala...". nobody came :( Prasad came near me and inserted the screw driver into my stomach.. aaaaaa... The train sound increased and the person in the lower berth woke me up saying that madurai is nearing.

[story] small RamMohan

"ditto", I told.. and the coffee arrived.
Taking the first sip I told, "Dr. Prasad committed a big mistake!". The girl in front of me asked me what has happened. I have never met her till yesterday, but decided to tell my story to her as she was looking good :) I started...
"Dr. Prasad is my physics professor in college. He is a research oriented person who never cares about the external world. Once he has given me 108 marks out of 100 in the lab exams. That day my AC motor was smoking and it never ran after that. He is such an encouraging person for experiments. He has so much of confidence in my brain.. J"

That girl in front of me interrupted and asked me to come to the point. I continued...

"I never met him after completing my degree until last month. Last month he met me near my school and told me this thing - He was doing some experiment in his lab to find a medicine which will keep people young for ever."

"You mean young for ever?" she came to the edge of her seat.

"Yes. The bad thing is he used his experimental medicine with my friend RamMohan. RamMohan became a baby after taking the medicine. And the worst thing is that he is not able to bring him back. We were discussing about that medicine for almost an hour. Then, Prasad had set up a meeting with me to discuss more about his experiment. As I told you, he always believes my brain :) We fixed the meeting at hotel Germanus at 8pm."

As always I reached the hotel well in advance 7.30pm. I took my seat in a table which faces the gate so that I can catch hod of Prasad easily. When I was waiting for him, a young girl came alone through the gate. I could not move my eyes out of her - she was so beautiful. She came straight to my table - I was surprised. After getting my permission, she sat with me - wow. As we introduced ourself - she is mala, the waiter came and asked for the order. Mala told "a coffee please". The waiter raised his eye brow and looked at me asking for my order.

[continuation of the story is at the start of this blog]

[Story] hundred rupees note

Last Friday, I was in full happy mood to go home. I stay in bangalore for work and my parents are in home at madurai. No wonder why I was happy. I packed everything and rushed to Madiwala among the heavy slow moving bangalore traffic. With a huge risk i got into the 8.30 parveen travels bus at 9pm. ha.. the bus also has to come through some traffic!

My seat number was f1, a window seat. Next to me in f2 there was a mid aged man sitting and talking to himself and sometimes to me. Though I dint care for it, I could understand it was his frustration for bangalore traffic. The bus started and I slept, In my dreams....

"A parveen travel bus stops on the way for tea/ snacks. People in the bus are sleepy and no one is getting out of their seat. A small boy from the tea shop comes into the bus, I am looking at him. He tells everyone individually that he can bring them tea to their seat. He is so eager to get some order. When he comes to e1, the seat in front of mine, he gets an order for tea, probably from a software engineer. I will tell you why it must be a software engineer - that person gave 10 rupees and asked the boy to have the change as tips. ok.. then the boy comes near my seat and asks, "what can I do to get hundred rupees note as tips". The already frustrated person at f2 scolds him and asks him to get down. I stop the boy and ask him, "what will you do if you get a hundred rupee note". The boy did not reply how he will spend it, but told that "I will sleep this week" :( I take a new 500 rupee note from my purse and give it to him. I could see the happiness on his face :) He turns around, runs and jumps out of the bus, probably for a good sleep. I was happy."
and my neighbor woke me up saying madurai has come.

Just as I woke up, I checked my purse to find that the new 500 rupee note that I took from SBI ATM was missing.