I love this strip coz Snoopy says what I think!!!

-Thanks to Sparky!

I don't have an opinion on that!

How do you answer these questions...?

• Do you think there are/ Do you believe in ghosts?
• Do you think there are/ Do you believe in mermaids?
• Same question for...gnomes, elfs, giants, midgets, black magic etc...
• Do you think there's life out there in space?
• What happens when we die?

I dont have an answer to these questions since I've never encountered any of them personally.
Just because I've never had the good fortune (?) to meet a ghost, to have a swim with a mermaid or to chat with an elf, I can't just disbelieve them. And for the same reason, neither can I believe them.
Though I'll be happy to exchange ideas with an alien if one comes my way, I have no reason to break my head over "UFO SIGHTINGS!!!!" that never happen to me!
And I'm quite content to wait till I die to see what happens next!

This kinda "neither yes nor no" state is not just for these questions. I have the same opinion (of not having an opinion) for

• whether man really landed in moon or was it just a big story NASA cooked up
• is global warming really happening
• is Pluto a planet or not

well...you get the idea.

Frankly I dont give a damn! (Did someone say that already?) Maybe I'm being ultra selfish here, and not bothered about stuff that's happening outside my circle.

But hey, what difference does it make to me right now whether man landed in moon or not? I'm gonna be doing what i'm doing now (staring at the same 14 inch monitor day after day) whether he did or not, right?
Alright, maybe I play a miniscule but a spectacular super-important role in this big cosmic relation, but how does it actually affect me whether I believe Pluto is a planet or not?
And if Global warming is really happening, I'm either gonna be burnt crisp or frozen stiff. Then it won't matter what I actually think about it, will it? ;-)

Dream Come True!

This is a programmer's dream come true... Google has come up with this amazingly useful concept "Code Search"!
You just specify what code you want and how you want and Google delivers it, Hot and Steamy!
And there are many criteria from which you narrow down your search, eg, the language the code's written in.
Well...what more does a girl want!
;)


P.S I'm not peddling the product here. Just sharing a good news!

Chillunu oru....comedy!

It is a rainy morning. I'm picking my way gingerly across the waterlogged streets to office. My umbrella is all that protects me and my bag from the lashing rains. My sandals are very slippery in the water. I'm trying to strike a balance between my doddling umbrella and my slippery sandals.
A lady , similarly adorned, approaches me from the opposite direction and passes me slowly. Suddenly she arrests me with a "Excuse me". I turn around and turn an enquiring glance at her. She points at my legs and says something.
Immediately I think that my duppata end is in the water and check it. It isn't.
I'm sorry to say I'm not very polite at the instant and I just ask her "What?".
A man passes us and points to a nearby transformer which at the moment is spewing out sparks because of the rain and warns us to move on. The lady gives a glance at the transformer and turns back at me with a guilty smile and repeats her question.
When I hear the question, all my struggles with the umbrella ceased. I'm frozen to the spot.
The question she threw at me was..."Where did you buy these sandals?". I answered with the name of the shop. She smiled at me (the same guilty smile) and went on her way.
I tell you, I admire her observant powers that were predominant even in the lashing rains and the morning rush hour.
Kudos to you Ms. Holmes!

Who is this "Me" person anyway?

I've come across numerous quotes ever since I got myself an email account. Most of them aim at developing my personality. I've attended few seminars on the same and also have come across such books.
Most of them are fond of saying
"Be yourself"
"Find yourself"
"You are the best no matter what others say"
"You are the most unique person"
and more in the same vein.
All that's fine...but none of them tell me how to find "myself". They say 'analyse your actions'. Like, how? There's another one that says "You have to first lose yourself to find yourself". OK, so how do I "lose" myself? You gotta tell me that too!
The second most bewildering are those stories with the so-called analogy! For example, they tell me a story that may involve stones, sticks and sand... these stories will normally end in a moral that's so hazy that it'll hide a good sized house...then they tell me "and that's how we should live our life". I will be like "hullo? what???"
Most of these stories are wasted on me since I never have the patience to sit and think about how it maybe connected to my life!
For people like me, we need a very personal personality developer, one who comes with us every step of our life and tries to improve our personality by analysing each of our actions. (am I being too lazy here?)
If you can't do that, and all you can do is just preach us stories and throw quotes filled with the so-called power words then, kindly leave us alone! Let our humble little personalities develop their own way. Let us learn on our own from the syllabus Ma Nature has charted out for us :-)

ரயில் பயணத்தில்...

Question : What happens when a girl like me travels alone in a long distance train and it gets stuck at someplace for 3 hours?
Answer: She attempts poetry.

These are my creations at such time...

ரயில் ஜன்னல் வழி நோக்க
கூடவே வந்தது தண்டவாளம்
எட்டி பார்த்தேன்
முடிவு தெரியவில்லை
அதுவும் நம் நட்பை போல்தானா?

கனவில் கன்னம் கிள்ளினான் அவன்

விழித்தபின் வலிக்கிறது

சுகமாய் மனதில்

"தலை வலிக்கிறது", என்றாய்
"எனக்கும்", என்றேன்.
"உனக்குமா", என வினவினாய்
உன் வலியை நான் உணர்வதை நீ உணராமல்.

பார்வை

அதிகாலை நேரம்
என் வீட்டுவாசல் வழி
சிறு ஓடை கண்டேன்
அதில் இளங்கதிர்களின்
விளையாட்டை கண்டேன்
ரசித்தேன்
பின்னர் உணர்ந்தேன் - அது
அருகில் இருக்கும் உணவகத்தின்
கழிவு நீர் என்று
கதிரவனுக்கு தெரியவில்லையே அது!

A Trip to the Surface

It was the day that Shiko the fish has been eagerly waiting for. After a long time he and his wife Rayno are expecting a baby fish. Shiko was waiting nervously outside the anemone cluster. Inside the cluster was Rayno and the baby will hatch any moment!
After what seemed like ages, Shiko heard the soft voice of Rayno calling her husband in. Shiko rushed in and saw the most beautiful little baby fish ever.
"Shiko, darling, it's a girl" said Rayno.
Shiko didn't say anything. He couldn't.
He gently nudged the baby with his fin.
Rayno said "Shiko, our baby was born on Full moon day. I'd like her to be called Luna".
Shiko nodded his head and said "That's a lovely name, baby. Luna it is. Our Luna. Our Little Princess".
Days passed by. Luna was almost 2 weeks old and she was learning to go out of her anemone cluster. But her doting parents never let her go out of their sight even for a moment.
Luna had heard about the wonders of the big ocean from the Old Crab who lived in retirement in the next cluster. She wanted to see for herself the many treasures of the sea and something they called the 'sky'.
But Shiko and Rayno kept telling her it wasn't time yet for her to venture out so far.
But after continuous requests, they agreed to take her out near the surface.
Luna was so excited to be going! Atlast she was going to see the 'sky'!
Shiko, Rayno and Luna swam all the way up and reached the surface.
Luna could not look enough! Shiko showed her the great big bright blue thing up there and told her that was the 'sky'.
"And look Luna, those white fluffy things are called Clouds" said Shiko.
"What is that daddy", asked Luna.
"Which one?", enquired Shiko.
"That long white thing moving among the clouds", pointed Luna.
"Oh that looks like a shooting star. You can see the trail it's leaving behind" said Shiko.
"Shiko dear, I don't think that's a shooting star...", said Rayno.
At that very moment the long white thing burst into many pieces.
"Hey I know, that's fireworks!" exclaimed Shiko.
"Oh daddy, it's so scary" said Luna.
The pieces were coming very fast towards them. And when they fell in the water they created such a big splash that for a moment all three lost sight of each other. Luna felt the water turning hot where the pieces had fallen. She could not see her mother or father. She called out to her parents but no answering voice came back to her.
It was a lone little lost voice calling out to the parents who will never answer back.
An announcer's voice from a radio in a passing fisherman's boat spewed out the news "GSLV crashes into the sea", which made no sense at all to the forlorn little Luna.

Re-mixed...and messed up!

I was making noodles for dinner and had the radio on for company. I was quietly enjoying the cooking and the listening....all of a sudden my ladle stopped, my eyes widened and I went rigid with shock.

I had just heard the re-mixed version of an old song.

Only yesterday I realized the true meaning of "Old is Gold". The song that was being tortured was a motivating and inspiring number from a top actor of yesteryears. He had played the role of a slave in the movie and in this particular song he talks about how to make best use of our situations however down we maybe, emotionally and socially. This song had been written in such a way that it fits in the general scheme of life too. The song is eloquent, emotional, rousing and in short captivating. The singer had a deep voice and his delivery was impressive.

And yesterday I heard this song completely mutilated. I'm sure the silly little music director had lofty ambitions of "making a mark". Also I'm sure the singer, the poor guy, thought he was making a statement with the "modern" way he was singing.

The result was absolutely detestable.

The deep rich baritones of the original singer had been replaced by a guy who sang from the tip of his tongue. And it was the wrong tip too. There were unneccassary "ooooooooohs" and "aaaaaahhhhhs" in the middle of the song by a bunch of screaming females.

Altogether the music director (God save him!) had accomplished whatever he had set out to do, make a mark!
You did it my friend, You created a deep impression in me.
At the end, I was left wondering, "WHY???"
Why did he have to take a quite, unassuming song that was harmlessly going its way and completely demoralise it?
All I hope is that when the Day of Judgement comes, all these will be taken into account!
:-)

First steps...

Till sometime back I used to think that writing kavidhai was something that I'll never ever be able to do in my lifetime. Well I changed my mind now! I will not say that this is a full fledged kavidhai but hey! it's from an officially non-poet!

my first one

பேசாதே..
உன் வார்த்தைகள் தரும் அர்த்தங்களை விட
உன் மெளனங்கள் தரும் அர்த்தங்கள் ஆயிரமாயிரம்.

the latest

யாரை பார்த்தாலும் உன் முகம்
எதை பார்த்தாலும் உன் பெயர்
எங்கு கேட்டாலும் உன் குரல்
தூங்கும் போது கூட உன் கனவுகள்..
தபாலில் வந்த கல்யாண பத்திரிக்கையை புரட்டினேன்

கடவுளே! அதிலும் உன் பெயரா??

Beep! Beep!

Yes, that is the beep of cellphone and NO, don't check your mobile when I'm talking to you.
I belong to the cellphone-savvy generation and each and every person around me has this extra growth from their hands. SMS-ing is the order of the day. Yea it helps us be in constant contact with our buddies, and yea it helps us planning a trip or a gift or anything easier. All that's fine, but there's an aspect to this messaging that I feel most people overlook.
I call it the "people-sense".
Consider this, you are taking a walk with your friend, and you are telling her/him something that has made a deep impact on you. You turn around to know their reaction. What do you find? There they are, messaging away to eternity. I tell you how I'll feel, I'll feel like taking that phone, drop it on the floor, jump on it and scatter the pieces.
These are the kind of people that are lacking in the people-sense. Well, perhaps the person they are messaging to maybe the most important person on earth to them, also that if they did not send that message at that very instant, the sun will rise from the west. But hey, aren't you overlooking something here? By giving much importance to a friend who's miles away from you, you're ignoring(intentionally or unintentionally) the friend who's right next to you.
Yes, you are developing a relationship miles away, but hullo! Open your eyes, a relationship right next to you is deteriorating!
Together with your mobile you are giving 'busy' signals to the friend right next to you.
Cellphones are the best in helping you maintain long distance relationships! But do make sure that it is not at the cost of a closer-to-home-relationship.

Kids say the darndest things!

My three-year-old niece was playing with my father one day, as usual talking nineteen-to-the-dozen. She was recovering from a cold so her conversation was peppered with coughs. As she was scrambling over her thatha he looked at her and said "dei, you have a snub nose!". She stopped her scrambling long enough to look up to his face and say matter-of-factly "No thatha, I have cough".

Another time, when they were getting ready for bed, her grandma was carrying out the nightly ritual of smearing odomos all over her little body. She was as usual discoursing about that mosquito-repellent to the audience (consisting of me, my mom and dad). She went up to her thatha and said "thatha, see, this is odomos" brandishing the tube which didn't quite fit her little hand. Her thatha said "yes, that's for the mosquito". She widened her eyes and asserted "No! It's for ME!"

Indian Railways - Take Notice!

You know how it is when you least expect it to, an idea pops into your mind? Well this time, the idea stayed with me long enough for me to take it down (or should I say put it down?)

I travel by the local electric train to get to my workplace. This evening while I was on the way back, after an energetic badminton game, this idea suddenly popped in my mind when the train pulled in at a station.

I was looking out through the window at the station's signalling guy who held up a lighting apparatus to signal to the guard when to start the train. He held up this thingummy above his head, it was blinking red. He kept shaking it and it was not pointing in one direction since I'm sure he's never played "Statue" in his life. The signal was not very effective (atleast in my view!)

Now that's when this great idea popped in my mind...alright alright, i'm gettin to it!

The idea is this, why not have a light fixed to the underside of the roof of the station? This light can, for its control, have a little lever that has three levels. 1. Red 2. OFF 3. Green

Ok here are the advantages of this.

1.The present thingy is a hand-held torch light kinda thing. So it is not a stationary light source. It makes seeing for the far-away guard a bit difficult. This roof-light changes that!

2. The present day signalling people have to be of average height to hold up the light up above their heads for the guard to see. But the roof-light can be operated by even a disabled person.

3. Normally automation will remove human intervention thereby lessening one job for a needy person. But the roof-light still needs a signaller to operate it.

4. The present torch-light is battery operated. But the roof-light will be electrically operated. And those who are going to ask me what if there's a powercut? (which sadly is common in our city!) Well hullo!?!? we're talking about a railway station that operates "electric" trains!!! What more does a tiny li'l switch want to be happy?

I think 4 advantages are fair enough for now! atleast that's all I can think about!

Authorities interested?

I have a little nagging at the back of my mind that Blogger.Com is not exactly in the top of the list of sites visited by the railways authority! Well, I atleast got it public!

She

They worked in the same office, He and She. Ever since She saw him She has been aware of a subtle interest in him. He was not, by the established standards, a handsome or cool or hot guy. Then why this attraction, She had wondered many times, never arriving at a satisfactory answer. She was a normally level-headed girl, who wanted everything in place, her life included. This out-of-place attraction disturbed her.

Their job threw them together frequently. They could not help meeting and talking. The way He talked, the way He behaved, everything construed new meanings for her. She started reading multiple meanings in simple sentences He spoke. Sometimes the word Love cropped up in her mind, and She was quick to smother it because She believed herself to be above all that. Hadn't She always believed that her true mate will be the guy who comes to her and says "My Girl!"? Then why are the thoughts of this guy bothering her this way?

She willed herself many times to read no more than the straightforward meanings in his words. Willed herself to stop looking at his desk (even if he's not there) everytime She passed that way. But many times her usually trusty heart betrayed her. She was actually amazed that She could feel this way.

She started believing that He was behaving towards her the same way He would behave with any other colleague. She slowly came back to normal (or so She believed).

One day, only both of them were working late. She looked up from her unfinished work, felt the need for a stimulant and walked towards the coffee machine. And He was there!

They exchanged plesantries for a while, but it became apparent to her that He was in a state of subdued excitement. He suggested her a walk around the campus. A walk? Just the two of them? Around their large sprawling campus? All her suppressed feelings re-surfaced with a vengeance. This is it! This is it! cried voices inside her. Her heart rate slowly started multiplying. Admonishing herself not to be silly, She accepted. Both of them started walking with their cappucinos.

She could see that He was tremendously excited, and could hardly contain it. Many times He turned to her as if about to say something, looked in her eyes and nervously stuttered some out-of-the-way topic. Slowly tension built in her too, She was actually wondering in what way to accept his proposal.
They reached a lawn with benches around. They sat in one of the benches, looking up at the glass walls of their office building.

He coughed.

She turned.

He was looking at her.

He haltingly said "I want to say something to you". His whole face was aglow.

She couldn't do anything but nod mutely.

He looked deep into her eyes, his own eyes sparkling with excitement, and said,

"My Code is working!"

Who's getting your vote?

well...elections tomo in my state...for the past week or a few days more...the question most ppl seem to ask me is "who're u gonna vote to?". then when i say some party name they go either "what? why not this party? they've done bla bla bla"
what's with these people? first of all...the first question itself disturbs me.. Isn't that something like a personal question? I'm a simple citizen of this country. My political preferences are my business...I mean it may be a big news that this film star supports this party etc...but me just a humble engineer...
I dont mind it when people i'm quite close to ask me this...but when just-acquaintances ask me this question and then try to brainwash me...makes me uncomfortable...
and when it comes to politics...people are always quick to advertise their views...the pros of the party they support and the cons of the opposition...why?
why cant u guys accept people as they are? why cant u accept that others have a bit of brain too? that they'll survive in the political world without you being their sole guiding light?

OK here's it!

Many comments to my previous post to me directly! the gist of what all of them said was "What the hell was that? i dint understand anything"!!!
OK all u guys...here's the reason i wrote that scrap...
there was a presentation goin on...i was pretty bored...felt like writing somethin...then wondered what will it be like to write a looooooooooooong sentence. Dunno if u guys noticed that the whole stuff is ONE sentence! (an incomplete one at that!)

my idea was that...it's the thoughts of a young girl...living in a socially-disturbed country...who has been pulled into a terrorist outfit by her friend...she has been given an assignment now...what if you could peep into that girl's thoughts for maybe 10 secs? my previous post will be what you see.. long line of thoughts...tumbling upon one another...starting from one place and ending at a totally different place...and never ending...

does that make any sense now?
:)

Some threads

..with that. But then she was wondering why in the name of anything sane was she compelled to do an act termed 'an act of kindness', by certain people she had met so few times in her life that it was not even enough for her to remember their names and connect it to their faces, against her wishes though she was not even quite sure of what exactly are her wishes since her mind had been bombarded with so many ideas in so few months although she was cognizant of vague feelings of disquiet and rebelliousness though she was aware that after she entered the realms of what her 'friend' had termed as the 'Headquarters of the World' that there will be no turning back, no return to 'normalcy' or atleast what she had previously thought as normalcy but which now was only a vague memory of a father never at home for a time it took longer than for him to fight with a mother who was almost always hysterical and a brother who had shady friends who always met together at nights wearing multicolored arm bands....

Me! Here!

i was just googlin my name when i hit upon this site...guess there's another blogger here with the same name! i wonder how she feels about this uncommon name? in my whole life time i've never met another person with my name...i've just heard about 3 so far..
does the name define the person? if so, will she be like me?
time to do what my company pays me for ;)