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Showing posts with the label Calvin

How I became part of "His" Story - Part II

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Continued from Part I...  (Since the gap between Part I and Part II is 3.5 years, I suggest you please read Part I before continuing below)  April 1 2005 The Bhajans reached its crescendo with the pace getting faster and faster, moving my thoughts along in similar speed. Suddenly, without warning, the sound of "Aum Jai Jagadesha Hare..." started, much to the disappointment of the assembly. We had all been made April Fools. Immediately, I rushed to my father and said, the tie is not all that important. I will share it with some classmate of mine. A scene of some Kamal Hassan film, in which he does that was playing in my mind. So, it seemed a cool thing to do. We would stay back for the evening session and leave for Bangalore in the night. During the afternoon session, I was seated on the third row but directly in front of Swami's Chair. IF , Bhagawan decides to sit on stage, I would have a wonderful view but THAT was not very regular. Swami used to usually take...

A Matter of Confidence

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Now that you have read the worst story I ever wrote, It is time I introduced you to some of my better work, lest I lose all the respect of my readers. This story was written by me during my MBA days when I was fascinated by P.G.Wodehouse and Douglas Adams . There were many a night when I stayed up to read but not the texts. It was the brilliance of Jeeves and the eccentricities of Zaphod Beeblebrox that kept me up at night. Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/10/18 Ever since I read that Adams himself was inspired by Wodehouse and since he applied it in the genre of Science Fiction, it was almost unrecognisable, I thought... let me try it with Spirituality. Presumptuous? I suppose so but nevertheless, a short story competition in Asian Age spurred me into this ridiculous experiment and the result of it is down here for you to judge. Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado I present, "A matter of confidence..." "Kreeng, Kreeng", wa...

...and the sun rose

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The writer's block hits the best of us. While the many who expressed their anguish at my silence moved my heart, it is the few who expressed gratitude for not insulting their sanity which drove me to action. Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/03/03 This below is a short story for children, I wrote during my student days on the theme, "and the sun rose". If this does not give you your dose of madness, I don't know what will, I was sitting in my favourite couch at home watching Sachin and Sehwag making mince meat out of Glen McGrath, when the Mysore bonda which I was about to put in my mouth suddenly started screaming in a little girl’s voice, "Aaaa…" I got up with a start only to realise that though the bonda had been a dream, the scream was real enough. The voice seemed to be that of Shania Lee, the youngest among the inter-continental group of nine students on a world tour organised by the United Nations for spreading uni...

The Thought Merchants

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On the third day, we had a coastal ride and an ayurvedic massage scheduled. I was in the second batch of the ride and the last one for the massage. That meant a lazy morning with nothing to do. For me that means only one thing: A long walk and what is more, a walk along the shore letting the sea caress my feet with its temptingly chill and silky fingers. Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/06/27 Now an idiosyncrasy I share with many Tamils born during the 80s and the 70s is to walk with my hands in my pockets (why do we do that? It is never cold in Chennai. One answer: Style) and the boombox in my head playing "Kadalin Deepam Ondru". Despite being a Kamal Fan, this Rajini number is my default walk song.  Ilaiyaraaja 's music is extra-ordinary and Rajini's cool, casual and yet thoroughly love-stricken stroll in the woods is a visual thoroughly imprinted in our minds. Though Shankar and ARR tried to replace the above song with  Kadh...

The Vagrants and The Pilgrims

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"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J.K. Rowling) Our previous night's trekking had a similar effect on us and we were now a closely bound group. We woke up the next morning, fully refreshed and ready for our tryst with sea. The bad news was that the sea was still rough and we could not do most of the sea activities and the Jet ski scheduled for the morning would be manned by a professional with us as the pillion. The resort usually allows us to ride the jet ski ourselves. Kayaking and Banana Boat Ride also had to be cancelled. I wanna play rough! The Good News was that the SEA WAS STILL ROUGH. The Wet and Foamy Blue mistress is a lot more fun when she is angry. We spent the morning flirting with the waves, jumping and dipping to take the crests up or down based on her whim and our fancy . One of us c...

The Adventure Seekers

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It was a calling twice delayed but not any more denied. I finally got to visit the much talked about Vegetarian, Non-Alchoholic Beach Resort, Sai Vishram with five amazing people. We were welcomed into the resort by two adorable Labradors, Fudge and Bozo. Fudge the younger and more enthusiastic host followed our jeep to our tents allowing us to pet him before making way for us to unpack.  Bozo the wiser and mature host was in attendance as the grand father of the house: Happy at the arrival of the guests, approving of them but with the knowledge of the easy perishability of the relationship. "This too shall pass" seemed to be etched on the scars on his face, an indication of adventures of a bygone era. Canine hosts apart, a cherubic young man with elliptic spectacles and a ready smile, already amused by our enthusiasm, gave us our keys and informed us that the sea was uncharacteristically rough and that we can forget going there on the first day. Not sure if we were to...