All because of a red light...

Yellow has been found to be the most visible of colors. That is why people use it for headlights when there is fog. That is why marketeers use it for getting people attracted to their ads. That is why yellow is used to indicate the CAUTION state in traffic lights.

Yellow comes just before it turns red to indicate that the flow is going to stop. And that is what I precisely understood as I saw the yellow on the traffic junction. And like every "busy" modern man, I tried to squeeze through, so that I won't have to wait at the junction for the light to turn green again.

But sadly, I was a little too late to start my acceleration and ended up just not bumping into a car. And so I was stuck at the junction for 120 seconds, as this is arguably the most crowded traffic point in the city. And the story is about how those two minutes I spent at that traffic point killed another being.

You see, I was in a hurry because it was 7.40pm already and I was supposed to visit the temple before it closed at 8pm. And that was because I was mad enough to challenge myself to visit the temple every day for a month. It felt really simple at first, cos this temple was right in front of my house.

And today was the 14th day. I couldn't lose now. Well, you might think why I didn't go in the morning. Well, that was cos I was trying to practice the SUNDAY - Sleep Until Noon DAY. I failed in that too. I woke up by 10am, by which time the temple had closed. And so, the visit was to be, as planned, in the evening. But like all things planned, it had to go wrong.

A friend called up for something important and I had to go out without a fixed time to get back. But when I was able to leave his place by 7.30pm, I saw a chance to keep my challenge alive, at least for another day. And that was the reason for the rush.

Now, about the killing part. I got to the temple in time, prayed before the temple closed, felt proud to have been fortunate enough to keep my challenge alive, when I unfortunately did something to kill something else. As I was stepping out of the temple, I didn't pay attention to where I was stepping and I stepped on a leech, squishing the life out of it in the process.

This got me thinking. All other things remaining constant, what would have been the case if I had got through that junction without having to wait two minutes. Would I have been the one who takes the life?? Would it still have been taken by someone else, or would it have been left for me to finish off??

FATE. It's something we all are too afraid to believe in, but still we can't ignore the fact, that the concept of it not being alterable is far too unnerving. And if you are asking me if I have an answer, then I'll have to say no. All I have, are more questions.

Recap (5 things - Week 49)

*** When a TV series's scriptwriters have a shortage of ideas for the next episode, they improvise on a simple, short script by adding a lot of flashbacks They, thus make an entire episode, which is basically a look back at the best moments in that series. This is my own humble attempt at the same. ***

One of the worst kept secret in this world is that everyone is unique. I won't digress by trying to explain the difference we all have in our personalities, our behaviours and our intelligence. You don't need to have a keen sense of observation to realize that.

Even in this blog, in this series, I've seen that uniqueness - on what different people want from the posts. The humour I often try to employ, the way I describe my experiences, my style of writing and the selection of topics - everything has been influenced to cater to those varying needs. And the response to a post has always varied due to the variety of people who read these random mumblings of mine.

But still, among the 75+ posts in this blog, there is one post which has been read the most. 

"Ormayundo?"

Why is it so, you may ask. Well, let me tell you that it's cos it has got everything. A climax, a funny twist, a real life incident and maybe, most importantly a bit of self mockery.

In the past, you had to submit your creation, whether prose or poem, to an editor and then be dependent upon his taste and his whims to get your article published somewhere; anywhere. But all I got to do now is to click the orange "Publish" button at the top. It's that simple, it's that tough. You get judged by a far bigger crowd with widely varying tastes and preferences.

But thanks to constant feedbacks (both positive and negative), we have been able to keep this blog alive. So, for this week's "5 things", we'll have a look at the favorite posts, which were not a part of this series.

***

1. "Ormayundo?"

This was always going to be the first. Click that link and read on to find out how interesting/embrassing meeting an old friend can be.

2. Seven stages of Love

One punch line gave life to a whole post. Go on and read about the seven stages of love, and how, in the right relationship, you'll fall in love over and over again.

3. On his last game

A personal favorite, because it was the first poem I had written in a decade. What got me so swelled up with emotions?? Well, I had to play my last game of football. And in that one game, I felt, for one last time, all the things which made me fall in love with this beautiful game.

4. Right next to her

Three hints.

Hint 1 : A flight journey from Delhi to Trivandrum.

Hint 2 : "God!! Please let her sit right next to me."

Hint 3 : God wishes you had be more specific about your wishes.

5. Aise na mujhe tum dekho

My tribute to one of the best voices I've had the luck to listen to. Read that post and find out how Kishore Kumar will have you laughing through one song, and crying as you listen to the next one.

***

I know I'm not allowed to give excuses, but still I've been swamped with work. It's ironic that this has happened only after I quit my job. If it weren't for the "Leap of Faith", I would have been writing this post out in my room at Gurgaon, after another week at office, getting ready to enjoy the weekend. It would have been easy, but it wouldn't have been the same. Take your own leap of faith to know what that means.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Where's the snooze button?? (5 things - Week 48)

I've been back on the wheel for a whole week now. Having schedules to meet, stuff to brush up on, meeting new people, getting up at a fixed time in the morning, etc etc. You could call these the chores of an average individual, and it is nothing but that. But after enjoying the forbidden pleasures of indulging in absolute laziness, having to jump back on the wheel showed the expected glitches of moaning from yours truly. Hence the cliche, "Where's the snooze button?".

Somewhere in the past week, I heard something that I really liked. "Living in this world is like trying to force yourself to run up a escalator. You are successful as long as you keep running. But the second you stop to celebrate your triumph, you are knocked back on your arse. So, keep moving forward."

Don't get me wrong, I've not suddenly started supporting the rat race, or that, I'm against it. My personal opinion on all subjects, let it be the current topic of rat race, politics, religion or homosexuality is the same - "To each his own." But I'm always against people trying to enforce their opinion on you. You can make a case for your viewpoint in a sane, logical manner, and I'll be all ears for it. I'll hear it out, I'll think over it and if I find your points to be genuine, I'll support you.

But if you try to forcefully convert me to achieve some personal glory, then please don't blame me if I turn a deaf ear to what you say. And if you think that this whole rant is because I'm sick of all these sms forwards/ whatsapp messages/ emails related to the impending Lok Sabha elections, then I won't say that you are wrong.

And in case you were wondering where my loyalties lie, if I had to press a button on the voting machine, I would prefer it to be for the "NONE OF THE ABOVE" option.

RANT OVER.

And we shall get back to the task of this post. The "5 things" for this week is now coming your way.

***

1. Recursive Acronym

The expansion of the acronym GNU is [Gnu is] Not Unix.

Simple right, but also extremely intriguing in its concept. Anything recursive has always captured my imagination. From the time I had to write loops in computer programming, I took immense pleasure to sent the artificial intelligence into a fit by writing infinite loops. And when I heard of this concept, the first thing, okay the second thing that came to my mind was posting it here for you. The first thing was to check if there are more like it. There is.

2. "Is there a mall at Kazhakootam?"

One of the punch lines this week. And it came from a classmate at the CDAC course, Rachit. He's from Delhi, and by the looks of the Technopark campus, where we have our classes, he expected the surrounding area to have at least a mall, where the techies can go off to have some fun. Thursday being a holiday, he wanted to get around the place as well as do some shopping. And it was for this purpose that he called me on Thursday morning and asked me the above.

My first reaction was to laugh at the preposterous nature of the question (since Trivandrum is still waiting for its first official mall, there being many mall-like buildings). But later, I was apologetic for the lack of a mall in my favorite city, and offered to help him around the main shopping areas in the city. He is yet to take me up on that offer, though that might be due to the fact that he will have to travel almost 10+ km to reach here.

3. Godwin's Law

Godwin's Law states that "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

Interesting because I've seen it happen on many a forum. The said Nazi name calling might be in its pure form, or in some derived form like Grammar Nazi. Talking about derived forms of Nazi, for the Seinfeld fans out there, hope you remember this guy.

Soup Nazi !!!

Anyways, we can all be safe in the knowledge that Godwin's Law doesn't apply to this site. There has to be a discussion for that probability meter to start working.

4. Man and Machine - Power Extreme.

Sorry. That was due to the good old Centurions catch phrase.

What I intended to convey with my poorly constructed excuse of a heading was that not only have I started gaining weight after coming back home, but some similar improvements have been noticeable in my machine, the Avenger. The bike, which used to give about 35-38 km per litre of petrol I pour in it, had been pushing that number upwards of 40 ever since I got here. And after the past week, when I had to travel about 30km of the NH 47 every day, this has been found to reach 47.34* kmpl. The * is to indicate that the measurements are still ongoing.

If I were a person interested in statistics, I would have told you that this was a 29.69% increase on the previous average. But I'm not, so I'll not. Anyways, it's good for me in this period of enforced austerity.

5. Inside out

I came to know about a discovery that a friend of mine has made recently. He claims that he has found a way to increase the life of the undergarments that he uses. If you can't put the last sentence and the point topic together to get what he meant, you are one lucky ***.

***

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Throwback (5 things - Week 47)

We are going retro this week. This series was actually started to talk about "5 things I learned"  this week. Since my skills in observation and deduction, or even just plain mugging up, are sort of pathetic, I had to shift my motto for this post to what it is presently - blabbering about anything and everything. So, enjoy a throwback to the early 2013's.. ;) :D

***

Did you know..

1. .. that my vacation comes to an end in 24 hours?

For the past two months, I've been as lazy as lazy can be. The most responsible thing I had to do was to write out these blogs in time. But in 24 hours, I begin my classes. The distance education MBA classes begin on Sunday, and another 24 hours later, my course on Embedded Systems begins. Enough to say that I've to pick up my Monday to Friday routine again from next week, with added task of the Sunday classes. It truly is the end of my last all lazy vacation.

2. ... that you can never be sure in life??

I remember classifying my post-BTech, pre-Job era as the last all lazy vacation of my life. And you find me filing off my present vacation in the same name. No one, not even myself, would have predicted that I would go for the jugular and force myself to quit my job and turn my life into an entirely new, different direction.

At times like these, I remember what my school VP telling our class, "The only thing you can be sure of in life is Change."

3. ... that I'm 73.5kgs now??

If you would remember from a post a few weeks before, I had claimed that my weight has gone up in the past two months. I checked it yesterday and it was 73.5kgs. You may ask why this is such a big deal. For a guy who has been stuck at or around 65kg for the past 12 years, this is nothing short of monumental.

4. ... that there are problems cos of this weight increase??

I've estimated about 5 kgs of this increase in my weight to be concentrated on the one pack I'm sporting these days. The result is that the formal pants (that I had to hang on my hip bones using a belt) are now bursting. All in a span of two months. And the saddest part is that I had a formal pant which I was yet to wear for the first time. I've planned to make an unplanned effort to reduce the tummy so that I can use that pant.

5. ... that the best people in the world are near to you??

"Sach me" I don't have any explicit examples to prove that. It's something you'll have to take my word for. 

***

It's better to learn WISDOM late, than never to learn it at all.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

How many kilometers between the richest temple in the world and the temple which has the largest gathering of women in the world?? (5 things - Week 46)

2.6 kilometers says Google.

If you don't know the temples I've just mentioned, the richest temple in the world is Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the temple which holds the Guinness world record for the largest gathering of women is Attukal Temple.

And on the 16th of February 2014, the Attukal Temple celebrates the 'Pongala' festival. I hear you think, "What is a Pongala?". Well, for performing Pongala, a devotee prepares a food item for the deity on the auspicious day. This is usually preceded or post-ceded by a request. This request asks for an assurance from the deity in carrying out some task.

In this week's 5 things, we'll have a look through the five things related to this festival.

***

1. Attukal Amma

The presiding deity. She is supposed to be an incarnation of Parvati. The story behind how the temple came about to be is also related to the story of Kannaki. At least, that is what the wikipedia page says. Don't hold me guilty of not knowing the history. From what people say about the Goddess, and from my own personal experience, I know one sure thing. "Villichal villi kelkuna devi aanu." [She's a Goddess who hears your calls.]

2. Pots

Ahhh!! What would this festival be without the pots. The 2.6km that I had mentioned before, along with countless other roads in this city, have their footpaths decked out with pots. This is for preparing the prasad in. It is quite the sight.

3. Food

So, what happens to all this prasad that gets prepared?? Well, that's were the young ones in the family come in. Since most of these items are sweet in nature, those heavier in the age column find it hard to consume more than a little. This leaves open the opportunity for the young ones to finish them off. And like kids in a candy store, we eat - we eat left, right and center. We eat till there's nothing left.

Looking forward to eating this sweet on Sunday.

4. Family

Like mentioned earlier, this festival is a quite a big affair in this part of the world. So, everyone in the family gets together. While the women folk are busy preparing the pongala, the men would be responsible for the daily duties within the household, including preparing food for everyone. The kids would be left to their own, with their mothers busy with the pongala, and the fathers swamped trying to make some kind of lunch.

5. The Ladies

What would this festival be without them. They turn out in hordes; they brave the heat; they go about their task with utmost devotion; they are the symbol of this festival. And it is said that nearly 3 million women will take part in this year's festival on Sunday. More than the Guinness records, what amazes me the most is the monumental effort  that this city makes to provide as much comfort as possible for these women. Hats off to you, Thiruvananthapuram.

Womenfolk leaving the city after offering Pongala.

***

I had promised you three blog posts this week, and here I'm finishing off the third one off in time. The Part 27 of this series which was skipped at its supposed release date was brought out as "Best of the unwritten" on Monday. And earlier today, to some welcome positive acclaim, was released, as promised, the "Seven stages of LOVE". Thanks for reading.

***

That's all for this week. I'm off to celebrate what has become the festival of the city of Thiruvananthapuram. Let the festivities begin.

'til next week,