The Da Vinci Code

Leonardo Da Vinci - the name I always write in autograph books (from my school days) or in any other place, where I was asked to write my role model / icon. It is because of my interest in paintings and love towards great artists. I know nothing about him. I just heard his name and about his two famous paintings the “Mona Lisa” and the “Last Supper” from people around me. If some body asks me to speak about my role model I never had a word, because I hardly read anything about him. Forget about autobiographies, I don’t even read daily newspapers.

Some where deep in my heart the desire for reading books was residing, this at times makes me feel bad that I don’t read books. All of sudden I decide to read some thing. I ask my friends to list some good books. I take a book from them and start reading. Never did I complete any book which I barrowed till date. Few of them are “Love Story – Erich Sehgal”, “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus – John Gray” and many more. I read a line, find some word difficult to understand, take dictionary to get the correct meaning of the word, find some other word which is more interesting and suddenly I find my self in the world of dictionary rather than involved in the book which I read. I close the dictionary and read the same line with the correct meaning. Few pages pass on, I get bored with this exercise and I stop reading it. The book remains in my shelf till owner of the book forces me to give it back.

“The Da Vinci Code” is the hottest topic now. Any TV channel you tune to, any public gathering you attend, you can just hear people talking about the film and the book. The controversies on this book and the people around me (bookworms) made me to look at the book. I started reading the book (softcopy). To my surprise… reading went on and on and I completed the book in a week. God! Even I couldn’t believe it. It is all the greatness of the author. He carried the suspense till the end that even I couldn’t stop reading without completing it. I am not a great reader to judge this book or give review of the book. But I can certainly say a nice book to begin with. If you are trying to read books then start with this book it is really amazing.

Immediately after reading the book, I watched the movie with a lot of enthusiasm. To my surprise, the movie was not up to my expectations. It is only in three places I found the movie exceeding my expectations. The glass pyramid at the museum, the scene where Teabing explains the last supper to Langdon and Neveu, and the scene where Langdon, Neveu and Silas move out from the plane to the car. Rest of the movie is not that good. I think …

“None can understand the movie with out reading the book… and
None will appreciate the movie after reading the book…”

This is just my perception… I might be wrong. All I can say is "The Da Vinci Code" will be remembered for ever as the first completely read book of my life. Now I am with “Angels and Demons – Dan Brown”.

Rulers of the Road…

I am the king of the roads of city. Even with just two wheels, I rule the road. Three wheelers, four wheelers, six wheelers and even big vehicles with huge body don’t suit this city road. In heavy traffics, I can just have a snake cut, hair pin cut or any bloody damn cut and reach the destination much ahead of my counterparts. In busy narrow streets, I can just go zoom... zoom… and zoom. People driving me can feel the cool breeze and enjoy the whether. Even parking charges is less for me at any place (people don’t dare to charge me more). Maintaining me is also economical when compared to the rest which crawl on the road. I am the Bike and the ruler of the road in all seasons except the rainy season, which I hate mmmm…

Monsoon has come… Yahoooo… it is my turn now. That bloody bike always comes into my way being a great obstacle to me. Now I am the ruler. The bike is scared of me now. I can drive wroom… wroom… wroom… even in heavy rain. I can splash the dirty water on road over these bikes and three wheelers. No one can stop me. People who drive me need not wear jerkins or any heavy dresses to protect themselves getting wet. They will reach destination neat and clean (the same way as they dress up). If people are going with friends or family on a long drive, I will be their first option. I add richness and royalty to the lives of the people who use me. I am the Car and no one can win a war with me especially in rainy season.

Hey… you… keep quiet. Do any of you give livelihood to people? I do. People own me to earn some money. Many middle class families drive me and earn their livelihood. School kids, daily wagers and many others do travel with me every day. I am some thing like… owners pride and neighbors envy. You didn’t get that right… Well I will tell you an incident. You would have heard that Larry Page and Sergy Brin (founders of Google) came to our city recently right! They had a small journey and started praising me a lot. They said it's me who suit the busy traffic of India better than anyone else. You know that is what I am … I am Auto Rickshaw. I have a strong union which can even collapse the ruling government.

Hello… jujubies… you two or three or four wheelers need to argue to prove what you are. But I don’t need any such argument… it’s a know fact that I am huge (a six wheeler) and I am the king of the roads. Lots of people travel with me, in fact many hang over me. Forget about living, people don't even dare to dream my absence from their lives. And you… hey auto rickshaw… you talk of unions…mmm… don’t you remember my strike periods. People prayed for me and they want me to be on roads as soon as possible OK. My unions are more powerful than yours. Colleges, schools and corporate own me for their needs and not you. For daily journey or long journey, for marriages or get-togethers, parties or any other occasion I will be the first choice. I am the Bus.

Hey folks.... each of you have your own importance and definitely have some impact on people and me. I am RaMo. Today I own a two wheeler; tomorrow I may buy a four wheeler for my needs. And you auto and bus you also help me in many ways. Every one of you is a ruler. Cheer up dudes… :-)

Beautiful Road

Every day while I go to office in the morning or to my room in night, I need to solve puzzle. Yeah…! You heard it right. It is a puzzle solving effort to clear the traffic on my way. The roads appear to be very narrow and taking right moves in jam packed traffic is similar to that of solving a problem. Take a left, cross the van. Take a right, cross the red car. Go straight, over take the city bus. Keep going till you reach the first place in a traffic signal. Ufff…!! Take a long breathe and wait till traffic police man signals GO! This happens every day at Begumpet, Ameerpet junctions at Hyderabad. Poor four wheeler guys, they can’t take all these steps. They need to wait just till their turn comes. It takes more than half an hour to drive half kilometer (specifically from HPS to Ameerpet). If you have a two wheeler as I have, you can apply your dynamic algorithm that suits well for that junction and clear the traffic.

If you look at the same road in early morning at 5.30am, it will be gorgeous. Beautiful black road spread very wide. Yes! You find it to be broader vast and clear. You hardly find vehicles on your way. Zhoom... Zhoom... and Zhoom… you can enjoy riding at greater speeds with some songs singing at the back of your mind (Meghalalo theli pomantu… or Dil... Dewaana … Dewaana… Hai e Dil...). You can smell the fragrance of the fresh air. It is really great experience. Especially in summer mornings, the ride will give great pleasure. Enjoy riding in such an atmosphere… Rainy season is coming soon :-( go on a ride today… if not you need to wait till next summer. Have happy and safe riding.

Paisa Vs Party

I went to my home recently on a long week end of four days. I enjoyed a lot by just eating, sleeping and watching TV (by the way, my Mom cooks non-vegetarian food very well). One fine morning, I heard my mom arguing with some one. I came out and saw her talking to a vegetable seller. “No madam I can’t give any more for 50paisa” said the seller. “I did not ask for 25 paisa worth coriander leaves… I have given you 50paisa and you have given only this much!!!” my mother replied. “How much do you expect for 50paisa, do you need the whole basket… mmm…” said the seller and gave some more coriander leaves and left the place. My mom felt happy. I asked her why she was arguing with the seller for so long time, that too for just 50paisa. “You neither know the cost of the coriander leaves nor the value of a rupee… you just keep quiet!” said my mom.

“Mohan! 20 rupees as a tip for a waiter… No!!! Two or five rupees would be sufficient… give change as tip i.e. coins not notes... Ok…You don’t know the value of a rupee…” said my mom at Malgudi (a south Indian restaurant). “Hello… it is just 11rupees 20paisa... why are you taking 15rupees” my dad shouted. “I have no change sir” said the auto driver. My father searched all his pockets and gave him 2rupee coin and asked him to give back 50paisa. “I don’t have 50paisa Sir” auto driver replied. “Why are you driving auto without change” said my dad and we left the place.

In all such scenarios I was telling them to take things easy. But they always restated one thing…“You don’t know the value of a rupee…” Not only my parents, you might have seen many parents telling the same to their children. Most of the times they are correct, some times they are not. One of my friends watched a movie on the first day. He bought ticket in black for 200rupees. After watching the movie, he said he wasted amount in watching a bad movie. Most of us watch movies buying tickets in black but our parents might not.

Gifts, parties, dressings and in many other things, we spend money just like that. At times I question myself “Am I a spendthrift or is it just because of raise in my standard of living?” Earlier I had parties very rarely. It might be a birthday party, New Year party or some thing else. But now… party – party – party. Week end party, onsite party, team party, friend’s party and at times party-JLT (Party just like that). If we start listing the way we have parties and the way we spend money, it goes on and on. I want to lessen spending money. (In fact my friends spend much more than me… I hope they realize soon). When our parents fight for paisa to paisa to save some amount and help us to have a good future, it is every ones duty to support them in having our future bright.

Gang Bath

Every day early in the morning on my way to practice yoga, I notice a group of labourers bathing together (Gang Bath). What a beautiful scene is that!!! Even though they all fight with each other for their turn of getting soaked with water that is coming out of single tap, the scene looks beautiful. In spite of their worn out underwear or Gochis (a Telugu word which stands for a piece of cloth worn by a male to cover his genitals) and ugly looking ambience (because of drainage which is beside the tap), the scene is still beautiful. All the beauty lies in their smiles. Majority of them don’t use soaps, they all use coir (fiber from Coconut) or squeezed plastic covers to rub their body. No shampoos for their hair, they all use fine sand mixed with water. Still they are clean, healthy and happy. The reason for their cleanliness is every one helps the other in cleaning their body (specifically back and hair). They are happy having bath with their friends and beloved ones. If you see them, then you understand the happiness in having a bath with your near ones. These smiles and happiness are priceless assets which mostly poor have (might be because of lack of bath rooms).

This scene reminds me of my stay at Banglore, while I was in search of a Job. Bachelor life is really memorable. It has many sweet memories, funny events, lessons, etc. We were seven (at times even ten) staying in a small room with open bath room...Yes!!! No wall and no door. You can have free shows every day. You can take help of your friend to rub your back. You might help some one who is taking his bath. If you are a kind of person loving to have freedom bath (with no undergarment) then you should wait till every one leaves the room and have your bath at the last, after closing the main door. Those days were really funny :-). The smiles of labourers bought the same on my face with all those memories flashing in my mind.

Do not have (More) Expectations in a relationship…

This is what my colleague and friend Mr. China Boy (not his actual name) advised when I was dull, thinking about one of my friends’ behavior. I accept what he said because if the expectations are not met, then it gives you only sad and sorrow. The problem is... to judge what is “expecting more”.

My friend came from Sweden (not the correct place) last month. He came to my room (in Hyderabad) with out prior intimation and it was really a surprise. It was a working day, so I couldn’t spend time with him on that day. He said he is going to stay in Hyderabad for three days and meet all his friends. I thought, if not on that day, he would spend some time with me, some other day. I was expecting a call from him for lunch or dinner so that we can sit and discuss. It didn’t happen on any of the days during his stay. And all this time he was staying with me under the same roof.

He was very busy all those three days. He met his ex-colleagues and had a party. He met his college friends and had another party. He was busy watching TV late in the nights. He had some offering at regional temples, so spent some time there and at last called me while he was in the bus, going back to his home. This made me think for a while. Expecting that a friend will spend some time with you, who is in your room for three days that too coming after a long time…Is this expecting more? I couldn’t judge and I couldn’t even be the same as he.

By the way today is “Relationship Renewal Day” – a day to thank all our friends, beloved ones, relatives… every one with whom you have a relation. Thanks to all of you.

My cute infant dream…

If our world is filled with only kids and no adults, then… How will it be?

Every one on this earth will be really good looking and beautiful. Boy or girl, rich or poor, black or white, native or foreign, nothing matters… even dressed or undressed doesn’t matter ;-) … what ever he or she is, every one is beautiful.

Every thing you do will be appreciated with a true heart. Your smile… cho... chweet. Your walking style… will be more attractive than cat walk. Your words… will be recorded and replayed very often as they are really sweeter than the voice of nightingale.

Every one will be friendly with others. No politics, no cheating, no revenge, nothing negative… every thing will be just innocence. You can play with any thing you find interesting bat, ball, computer, vcd player, cell phone, etc. You can even break or make them useless. Don’t worry; you will get a new one. All that you need to do is simply cry :-(.

There will be nothing to worry, to take care of, and to think of… every thing will be taken care of by some one… and that some one will be The Almighty. You cry and he will give you all you need. You feel hungry or you need some thing just cry and you will be gifted with what you want. Hope to see you in that dream land…

It is really hard to hit a girl…

It is really hard to hit a girl. If you are hitting her hard then it is still harder. I came to know this fact with my personal experience today. You couldn’t believe RaMo hitting a girl hard right! But it all happened today.

At 9.00am while I was taking my bath, I heard some one opening the main door. I thought it might be one of my room mates and called “Hari…Shekar…” I heard no response. I came out of bathroom and saw main door open. I couldn’t see anyone in the room. I ran out to see who might have opened the door. I could see a girl of age 20+ who was standing in front of my neighbor’s door. When I asked her who she is ... She replied “be… bey…be...” with some signs indicating she couldn’t speak. I couldn’t believe that she was really dumb. She is not just a girl by records; she is a real good looking girl, tall and slim. My neighbour just then came out and gave her Ten rupees.

Suddenly some thing flashed in my mind. I ran into my room and saw my purse, cell phone etc, and found Rs. 380 missing from my purse. I got hold of her and checked her bag. To my surprise I found my 380 rupees and 1,740 rupees… CASH...!!!. She is a THIEF… damn it… I couldn’t stop my hand hitting her on her cheek. After I smashed her, she yelled “Anna.. nannu vodiley anna…”. She was pretending as if she was dumb.

Basti people came running to my room and checked her completely. She was running out of my hand. I couldn’t hold her. When basti women got hold of her, she fell on my feet, caught my legs and started crying… I knew she's acting but felt uncomfortable with her holding my legs (so tight). I could only kick her to get rid of her. Every one was shouting at her. After a long lectures and hits, she was let free with a severe warning.

Thought of taking the rest of the amount and dropping it in a temple hundi. But I did not do that. Any way the thing that’s bugging me is… whom should we sympathize with ... whom should we trust… these questions remain unanswered. Events like these are driving compassion and love for fellow beings away from my heart.

It happens with me. Does it happen with you too?

Why does heart go silent… all of a sudden?
This is what I ask myself after being silent for hours without knowing any reason. Well people say it is “depression” in psychological terms. I don’t know all those terminologies, symptoms, etc. All that I know is… it really hurts a lot.

What is the reason behind that silence?
I tried to find the root causes of it… Few of them are…
Some one very near and dear leaving me (might be for a short period or for a long duration or even a permanent departure)…Some one whom I think close to me is not really close… and the worst part is, the same person being very close to some one else… mmm… it happens with many of us, any way, we can’t force some one to be the same way as we are with him/her. At times even our action and the way we are with some one might hurt him/her. No one is responsible for it… Right!!!
Sometimes it might be because of…
Some thing which I couldn’t achieve as planned…
Some precious thing which I lost…
Some promises which were broken…
Some one misunderstanding me…
Some one cheating me… this list goes on and on.

How do I come out of it?
I don’t know any scientific methods. All I know is when I see the smiling face of a child, have a small chat with my family, receive a phone call from my friend or even a mail (not a forward) pulls me out of it. Hope you got the summary… be in touch. Keep calling and mailing me.

Now tell me about you? What makes you to be off and how do you come out of it?
(Share your thoughts here in comments)

Celebrating…???

One fine morning, some strange noise in our room caught my attention. Two birds were trying to build a nest in our room ventilator. With the view of helping them, we placed a shoebox near the ventilator so that they can build their nest in that.

Next day, we noticed that the two engineers (No Comparison to our engineers), started building their nest. … Not in the shoe box, but the place they chose initially. The nest was built. The male bird would jump around making a lot of noise and the female bird was sitting on its eggs and enjoying its partner’s happiness. Well, they were happy and we were happy watching them.

Dec 31st night, a night to be celebrated, a night to fire crackers, a noisy night. We had a lot of fun in our room.

The New Year morning. My friend woke me up with news… Not a good one. We saw one of the bird’s eggs broken on the floor. And the birds have left the nest. When we checked the nest, we saw one egg in the nest. We thought the birds would come back to the nest for their egg. After a while, we noticed that the male bird came and started disturbing the nest and threw the other egg down. What could have gone wrong? Was it the loss of one egg that shattered the bird? No idea!!!

My perspective of this incident is that, the noise on the 31st night must have scared the birds and in that confusion one of them must have dropped the egg.

This incident made me realize one thing. One’s happiness might be a misery for others. Should our happiness be at the cost of other’s happiness???