Social Media Marketing

Hi friends,

I am back again with yet another post.

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) – 2010 – MY DREAM RUN!!!!

The Start, the dream run and the finish:

I thought that a mere reply or comment to Techdivine’s SCMM article may not encapsulate the myriad range of feelings that one encountered during the Marathon.

I Would like to thank TECHDIVINE Creative Services for updating through tweets too the status of the marathon.

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon has been around for 7 years now and I have had the good luck of running the marathon 6 times leaving aside the first time. However this year was a watershed year for me personally speaking. I have had 2 Dream-runs, 3 Half-Marathons & this year I ran the FULL MARATHON!

Let me trace the steps that led to this marathon for me.

Somewhere in the beginning of August, one of my friends’ mailed me about registrations for the marathon being open.

Lazy as I am, I logged onto the SCMM site a week after the communiqué. I was surprised to find that the registrations for the half-marathon were closed. Hence I registered for the next best option – the 42 Km Full Marathon. This was done keeping in mind the fact that the runners for the 21 Kms & 42 Kms begin their respective races from the same starting point. Hence I always had it at the back of mind that I will start off as a full marathon runner and end up running the 21 Km Half-marathon along with my friends.

Come Saturday 16 Jan 2010, my friend and me, went to collect the Bibs and Goodie bags. At the WTC Expo, realization dawned on me that the starting points for both the Half-marathon and Full marathons were different. While the Full Marathon commenced from CST, the Half marathon started from Bandra.

I saw this as a great opportunity coming my way. Never had I attempted anything of such a kind. As for practice for these races, the only practice that I ever did was on Race day!!!.

So, come race day & I was pretty much eager to go the full distance. (Kindly note, this is not advised at all)

I have always been either a quick runner or a brisk walker. Not the average jogger kind of guy who would easily go on jogging till the end of the race. Normally, I carry a small travel bag with all sundries in it and deposit it at the baggage counter. However, today, I had made up my mind that, if it seemed tough, I may return from the very place where I gave up. Hence I carried only my backpack which had a change of shirt and a few energy packs of electrals (FDC Ltd).

On Race day, I reached the venue 15 minutes before time. The race started sharp at the anointed time of 6:45 AM and there were a million feet pounding the asphalt. Here I was, surrounded by a sea of people many of who were playing the follow the leader game & went where the person ahead of him was going. I tried to keep up pace but after 10 minutes, I started my walk.

Every time I felt some amount of energy in my body, I would run. Then once I was exhausted, I continued walking. I had one simple plan and a few smaller ones that helped me on my way. From my past experience, I knew that an hour of walking will enable me to complete a minimum of 7 Kms. This translated into 6 hours for 42 Kms. So rather than counting the Kms left, I counted the hours.

Smaller numbers meant the brain was always in agreement.

Then another trick was when a marker came along, indicating the number of kms completed, I told myself that 21 Kms still remained.

Irrespective of whether the marker showed 5 Kms or 10 Kms or 15 or 25, I tricked my mind into believing that there were only 20 Kms left to travel and since I had done the 21 Km half-marathon before, the brain sheepishly nodded in agreement.

By the time, I was convinced that I would be able to complete the marathon came the stunning and mighty Bandra Worli Sea Link.

For someone who has never seen it previously, this was a God sent opportunity. However little did I know that this was also one of the worst stretches that the Marathon had to offer. With the clock reading 10:30, I set foot onto the Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL).

The sun was at the horizon and every thought of a cool breeze subsided. This coincided with the fact that the water stations that we runners took for granted at every 100 mts, were nowhere in sight. All runners were left to fend for themselves for the entire stretch of 6 Kms on the sea link. So much that all of us were quite thankful when we stepped off the BWSL.

By this time, I had only around 8-9 kms left to complete my first full marathon. As if on cue, my leg started sending signals to the brain that it had had enough and that it may stop walking any minute. There were some indications of this happening earlier too before I set foot on the sea link resulting in a small icepack session at the medical stall put up for this purpose. By the time, I reached within a striking distance of 7 Kms, my legs literally gave way. My toes were starting to turn inwards, my calf starting to bend backwards and my thighs unable to sustain any more body weight. I limped my way actually dragging both legs upto the finish line and heaved a great sigh of relief to have completed the Marathon and still in one piece.

However I would like to thank all those who made this possible. My friends who supported me throughout the race. Then there were parents with their kids lining the streets encouraging us participants to go on. There were kids handing out Parle-G and Marie biscuits, some enterprising ones even handing out soft drinks to the thirsty. There were little slum kids who were thrilled at the number of people who were running and gave us hi-fives. It was a pleasure to see those lit up faces. To see the people who came out onto the streets on a Sunday morning for no reason of their own but just to watch all of us participate and to egg us on in our initiative.

I would like to also make a special mention of the seniors who were running this marathon just like any other youngster and yes there have been many who in their 60s have gone past me while jogging along as against my trundling.

It is really a big appreciative effort on part of the populace to turn up to attend events like this and make their august presence felt and make Mumbai known for what is famous the world over. – For its welcoming hands and open heart.

This was my Marathon and I lived every kilometer of it. Would participate the next year too!!!

Thanks

Your views are welcome.

Mani (A.k.a Ananth.S.).

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010

The 7^th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2010 kicked off at the crack of dawn today (Sunday, 17^th Jan,2010). This event representing each individual running for their cause is undoubtedly one of Asia’s largest philanthropic events in India.

The event was alive at this 7^th year SCMM run with each one running for the causes they believed for (Children, Orphans, Senior citizens, Physically challenged, HIV, Water, Pollution……)

Catch our Tweets on this HERE as this year Kenya’s Dennis Ndiso and Ethiopia’s Bizunesh Mohammed won the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the $310,000 seventh Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Ndiso finished in 2 hours 12 minutes & 33 seconds(2:12:33), just over his personal best of 2:13.51 seconds and the course record of 2:11.51 seconds.

The run was all across the streets of Mumbai, as Mumbai’s CST, Bandra Worli sea link and so many zones all across saw the unbreakable spirit of runners with a cause.

Amongst celebrated names and organization’s one amazing spirited team definitely were from Cadbury, as they were seen jingling and running with the cause for Saving water.

John Abraham who is supporting scores of NGO’s was pouring his heart out on the event. He was also seen giving fitness tips on having a safe run.

Rahul Bose, Akshay Kumar, Tina Ambani, Anil Ambani, Gul Panag, Amrita Rao, Shahid Kapur, Gulshan Grover and so many other business and cinema celebrities were seen cheering, running and doing their part in adding more life to yet another wonderful event from Standard Chartered!

Thanks to Standard Chartered for yet another amazing event!

Run Mumbai, run!

The spirit of Mumbai, will always shine!

For those who were part of this amazing event, do share with us your views and comments. We would love to hear from you.

Thanks!

Admin

TECHDIVINE Creative Services

www.techdivine.com

Follow our Tweets: @Techdivine

I am 26 years old as a result of which I am one of the lucky few who has seen a world devoid of cell phones, Facebook & computers in the very early years of my life.

I was also one of the lucky few to have experienced independence from these pseudo fundamentals of today.

Now I am not saying these are totally bad and that I despise their existence .But having a completely computer oriented job and have been at my desk for almost 12 hours these past few days (including some huge holidays) I do question its existence and the level of its necessity.

Does it really make life simpler?

Hasn’t the pressure to perform increased with the mere existence of these “TOOLS”?

Efficiency has increased and so have the expectations. The way of working has definitely changed. Work is expected to be completed instantaneously, hence deadlines are closer.

A very small incident that happened a while back made me realise my dependency on them. My friend and I were shopping leisurely along Colaba causeway. When time came to go home we tried to contact her driver on the cell phone, which as it turned out was OFF. Oh MY GOD was our reaction.

We started roaming up and down the causeway searching for the driver asking ourselves one question.

I actually cannot believe I asked myself this: “How did people search cars when there were no cell phones”? This is what my routine machine centric workaholic life had brought me to. Anyways we did find him half an hour later and he had not realised that his cell phone was off.

There is also a small Facebook incident I would like to add here. My little cousin was told by my aunt to wish all his friends for Christmas, since vacations were going on and he wouldn’t be meeting them until new years. “I will post on their wall on Facebook”, came the prompt reply.

It is then that I realised that these things are completely a part of their lives (like TV was for us) and they have no idea how to function without them.

People who are on each others Facebook list may not even acknowledge when they meet each other in person. Facebook has become like the modern diary which stores information of people who may have spoken to each other even once .Now the difference between this and the good old telephone handbook is that this modern magic diary gives updates of everybody in the phonebook.

I am equally hooked onto Facebook, seeing people’s photos and commenting on their status etc and it is a great place for entrepreneurial activities.

But as pointed out by someone, don’t these “THINGS” make us too aware of everything and overly cautious? Aren’t we too scared of taking the smallest possible risks in anything and everything?

Another friend of mine who is going through the “arrange marriage” set up, uses Facebook to find out more information about the alliances found by her parents. But sometimes the information may be a tad bit too much is all I am saying.

Opinions may be formed based on information which maybe totally unnecessary, thus resulting in harsh or incorrect judgements. Having such tools at your disposal I guess it is very difficult not to make use of them and being judgemental is just spontaneous.

Well let me admit here that, I do the research for her most of the time.

Ok now after sharing all my views and giving “GYAAN” about the good old days , I guess this article just stemmed out of the fact that I am overworked  and so its confession time for me .

I cannot live without my cell phone, I feel I need to have Facebook account (I mean how can it not be there, it’s like a phone number), and my computer is one of my most priced possessions.

So, enjoy everything in life but just don’t let it replace human feelings and contact and of course “Never question the good things in life”

Thank you for your time.

See you again soon.

–

“So when something seems worse

Just hang in there

Listen patiently, for this tick will pass

The next swing may be the one

Making life the perfect merry-go -round …”

- Karishma

—

Image Source: ANV Clicks

Married, but to caste and religion

Loves labor lost

A spectacled middle aged woman of average height and looks with tears streaming over her eyes was declaring with emotional fervor: “even in my next birth I want be Mr.’s wife”. The audience was watching this with respectful and emotional silence and clapped thereafter.

I was watching a TV Program on inter caste and religious marriages and the emotional ravages brought by an intolerant society or family on such personal relationships. Some of the experiences described were even more melodramatic that some of the Tamil movies and serials I had watched. Some of the more interesting experiences narrated were :

• senior police officers sensing threat to the lives of the newly wedded couple belonging to different caste/religion, on their own volition,  gave shelter to them in the police station for the night,
• parents living in the same street refusing to recognize such rebellious offsprings and crossing the street to show their displeasure,
• locking newly married daughter in rooms (like Pran in some old movies),
• marriage conducted in a cinema hall while a Kamalahasan movie was on (the parents were outside the theatre keeping a watch on their children) and marriage vows thereafter strengthened in the Hanuman temple outside the theatre.

The persons who were describing their travails in love did not look like Ranbir Kapoor or Shahid Kapoor nor were the middle aged women resembling yester years’ film heroines. My mental image of falling in love was restricted handsome men and women with filmy looks and dashing behavior. Ordinary men and women normally toed the parental/community line and gave vent to their fantasies in love through films, dramas and books.

I imagined falling in love with some of the girls I used to stare very hard in school and college. I tried to extend the scenario further. I imagined taking any one of them (several is too expensive) to a movie near my college. There were two cinema halls nearby. Both were awful then and continue this status even now. The tickets cost between Re.1 and Rs. 2. I used to watch all the movies which were released. Perhaps I would have had to take a fifty percent cut on the number of movies I watched. Would romance have bloomed in darkened, dingy and sweaty theatre with only fans circling reluctantly?  Love is blind but may still perhaps seek physical comfort, dampening any ardor. What about pecuniary limitations? Would I have shared the daily dose of the exquisite Mysore Masala or puri bhaji (I alternated between these two dishes everyday) at Vishwa Mahal for an uncertain relationship? Perhaps, I would have asked her to take a soldier cut (my generation’s code for equal sharing).  What would her view be on my smoking unfiltered Charminar? Is it a macho thing or ugh, ugh!!   On the whole, looking back, all this seems too much trouble for uncertain rewards- mental or physical!

I still have my college ID card. The photo stuck to that shows (in my view) a hungry looking desperado, wearing shirt with wild design which even Aamir Khan would have hesitated to wear in his Movie Rangeela. But then, such outrageous dresses were the “in thing” then.

The next scene I imagine is bringing home a girl from same religion but different community/caste (another religion is beyond my imagination). I bring home a girl studying in second year of college (first year of Plus three in today’s parlance) along with me and declare  my honorable intentions (towards that girl) in the presence of my parents and brother. I can imagine my father’s fury, my mother’s bafflement at this extraordinary initiative and my brother’s anger at extending a hobby or pastime into a full time reality.  The girl would have run away immediately and the relationship would have had a premature and painful demise on that day.

On a more serious note, the impact of the program was higher as ordinary persons had gone through an extraordinary experience and were declaring it in a public arena. One good point which the anchor made was that the emphasis in each of the person’s narration hinged on merging their identity with another caste or religion and not retaining their own post marriage.  Why can’t each person continue to live as earlier retaining their own identity and leaving their children to select their path? The chief guests attending the program explained how they implemented this concept in their life of a mixed religion marriage.

What matters most in a religion or caste in our day to day life? It is certainly not concepts of the sort described below.

Dvaita – mean dual(two distinct – atma and God/Pramatma). The proponent was Madhvacharya.

Vishit-advaita – Qualified(Special) – advaita. It is similar to advaita, meaning both atma and paramatma are one/similar in nature/quality(being and consciousness) but not in quantity(paramatma is infinite).

Mostly it is the pattern of behavior, rituals followed, community oneness and familiarity with one portion of the society to which we have a sense of ownership, identity and belonging. We enjoy the familiarity and the memories these observances bring to us and want to continue it to the next generation. One example of this is the number of temples abroad and the sincerity with which the rituals observed there by Indian emigrants. An even better example is the caste and community based organizations in Mumbai which celebrate various festivals with pomp and splendor which is sometimes absent in our respective places of origin.

The question which reverberates in our minds is how we ensure that some part of our way of life which we believe is beautiful and is to be retained for posterity. One source of optimism is the presence of the younger generation in many arts, callings, religious institutions, places of worship in more than expected numbers. The next is the inquiring minds of the present generation which while giving up blind and unquestioning acceptance of our generations, is willing to explore further in finding out what is beautiful about our respective heritage and are willing to toil for it.

When I speak to the younger generation, I find a yearning for marrying for love and not because the identified time has come and it is “your duty to get married.” One person told me with great disappointment that the intense hunt for a suitable spouse did not yield the desired level of success. The middle class society’s quest to earn a living –whether in metro or tier two cities- leaves little time to go close enough to another human being to take the decision to spend rest of the life with that person.

But then times are changing.  But they are changing slowly. We still see ads of the following kind:

Wanted Bride: only very beautiful, fair & slim, up to 24 years, from middle class or even lower middle class with educational qualification like graduate/ undergraduate or even  plus 2 for—–.

I would love to hear the younger generation’s response to this. Do give me your views on the same.

Regards

Anjeneyan

Everything I touch seems to have life. Or is it that our passion rubs off on to those around us.

LIFE: Stay Positive

Well, if that be true, let’s stay and share things that can make us more positive everyday.

Belief and system have never gone hand in hand and that’s why we have those with the unconventional approach positively changing million lives. We have been so hooked with the “this is right” approach that we at times tend to forget the bends and twists that life gives us to feel the curves ahead. It’s not just a bumpy ride it’s a life time of learning that comes out of it.

During loneliness we seem to miss the presence, during downfall we miss the hand that shoulders us, during pain we miss words of comfort. We never heard anyone say, I missed a bag of money or a big house when we are sad, down or hungry. For those who have lost touch, these are some human emotions which are still around with few across the globe.

We miss being well, at times miss just being human or can I quote being human enough.

I recently met a lad in his early thirties, eyes moist, heart uncontrolled, palms untamed, asking me “Where do I go from here?” and when I asked him what are you looking for, he cared to mention in his haste of finding the way, “I am looking to be free and successful” I laughed not in his face though and I said, “If I knew it today, I would be on Forbes magazine too”.

But something told me that his definition of success was going to be different. Why? To start with he had just parked his brand new Hyundai outside the café shop and his well styled hand stitched Italian shoes were only overshadowed by his branded designer wear. So it was clear, he was not looking for money’s success tunes to bless his disturbed soul.

I just looked at him and his constantly shaking and restless fingers and bulky eye bags that told me he needed someone to just listen to him.

I felt, it was simple. You can’t be guided but only heard to. It’s true every man makes his own destiny. But not every one of us would get a chance to touch someone’s heart and make that impact. Not all of us are blessed like the holy mother (Teresa) or as wise as the Swami (Vivekananda) himself, but all of us have the ability to either make someone or well, even break someone. I had not such a huge opportunity, but at least to sit and listen. So I did just that.

I have stopped giving the right to anyone to guide me. But I am always ready to listen to you. Why? Simply because, I realized when things go wrong after listening to someone else, you can even blame yourself for it, so why take the pains. Just follow your heart.

After I had listened to the young lad, it was clear, he wanted to rectify a wrong in a different kind of way & it was well unique.

He was a successful corporate hero in his early thirties. He had shaken up a few chairs, competed wildly in the jungle to survive the rat race and pushed a few bright minds down the clogged drain to come out well, successful. It was Darwins theory simplified, ‘only the fittest survive’.

It was not until a month ago he had realized that one of his peers whom he had pushed right below in the routine rat race of the corporate world, died of a massive heart attack. He had left behind his mother with his wife and his two year old kid. With that of course the young couples mortgaged house and a car loan. When he went to their house to pay his respects, the deceased’s family let go of a wrath of anger blaming him for his downfall and corporate agony.

It sounded so ‘movie-like’

It was real and it’s as real as it could get. Probably that’s why when movies on these come up, we tend to quote, “that was filmy” reassuring ourselves of such things not happening with us or around us.

Now after listening to this lad, I had a feeling that there was something more than meets the eye. He was restless even after sharing it and his beady eyes screamed of shutting this sudden chaos around him, but his heart never quoted a sense of dismay for the family that was affected. It was not even sheer guilt eating him up and when he blurted, I was shocked, “I cannot take this blame. It will affect my corporate stature. How do I get free?” he said.

I did not know what to say. I just finished my coffee, put my bill money on the table and smiled as I moved out of the café.

Never surround yourself with things that can negate your life or add sinful energy to your thinking. As everything you touch has life, it gets affected one way or the other. So stay positive, stay calm & live Free!

I guess it is true. Life gives us lessons through ‘us and others’, everyday. Listen, pay heed to it and well get on with it.

It’s a long road ahead. Life isn’t short.

It’s long enough and we have enough time to think, act, react and play it well. We may not be able to even choose the path at times, but we can at least try to steer it right.

Stay positive, dream big and play it well.

Learn, grow and be well.

Live Free!

Love ....

Love makes life livable, said someone!

Somewhere here I am trying to decipher and decode the exact meaning of the phrase and yes before people reach to any conclusion on what kind of love that I am talking about, let me clear the air.

The Love that will be described and poured out in the coming lines, is the one that makes two people go “I Do” at the altar.

I would like to touch upon aspects in this post, about whys would two people who have nothing in common, become what they become, until they meet each other and discover a whole new world – together.

The very reason for undertaking this exercise is my own experience at this peculiar feeling which is known as LOVE the world over.

I am 25 and by the time this article is published, I will be a year older. I have had many crushes in the formative years of my childhood and have been seriously interested only once……….. ok…….. I am exaggerating, may be twice.

The feelings just fizzled out because I am the type of guy who lets things like love take their own way rather than forcing myself on it. This is what led me to ponder as to what makes people tick?

This article may have a subcontinental flavour to it due to the fact that I am quoting examples from the, up and coming land called India of which I am a proud citizen. It’s then that I have tried to get into the “What of Love” and to say that I got satisfactory answers in my quest.

I will be best based on the analysis of the cases presented here and the readers own judgement. (Do not Judge me! )

I believe that Love is an important part of any relationship and is one of the pillars other than trust and loyalty on which the tree of mankind stands. In this regard, I have had certain observations to make and will tell you real life incidents of which I have been witness to or been a silent spectator of.

Case I – A young man whom we all knew of as a studious and very intelligient person who normally kept to self and incapable of doing no wrong along-with being protective of a blind father and an illiterate mother shocks everyone by proclaiming marriage to a young lady whom he met at his workplace

Case II – A young man who is given all freedom in the house and is an intelligient fellow does well in his education, completes his Masters in Business Adminisration where he falls in love, joins a high profile company complete with a good salary and perks. Then he confides about his desire to marry his lady love.

Case III – A young lady born and brought up in a liberal family has had many affairs by the time she reaches woman hood and goes on and marries a person whom she met at the workplace.

Case IV – A young man who has both parents who go off to work leaving him and his younger brother alone meets his lady love in college and they tie the knot. The lady in question in this case was junior to him in college and lived in the same complex as him

These are the samples that I have delved upon and arrived at certain conclusions after making careful observations. These are real life stories with the proverbial “& they lived happily ever after” theme ringing true.

The following observations were found to be true in each one of the cases mentioned above.

Ability to take decisions: In all of the cases mentioned above, the individuals involved have had to take/make decisions at a very early point in life. Be it the guy in case I where he was thrust the responsibility of being the head of the household or in cases II,III or IV where the individuals were required to take decisions due to the fact that there was very little parental assistance involved. It may be noted that people love persons who make their own decisions without getting influenced by other factors especially those which are emotional in nature.

I hope me making points and taking you back to ‘cases’ does not make this sound like a court ruling, it’s just that I would like to share different such scenarios, based on which  began to quote this post on the most beautiful thing in the world, Love!

Read on……

Self-Confidence: All the characters mentioned herein have amazing confidence about themselves. It may have been the result of their minds not being clogged by parents constantly advising about what is good and what is bad, When should one call the stops, What should one do and the likes. As a result of these, an individual goes into a mental state of being wherein he prepares a checklist before making any decision and ensures that the checklist is strictly adhered to. This process ensures that such a person arrives at a decision, which may be right or wrong, much later than those who go by the gut instinct. Also many a times such decisions may seem to be erring on the side of caution so as to ensure that one is always on the right side of the universe whereas confident people may go ahead with a decision that may seem to bewilder many but get positive results. For these people there is the inner belief that they can do no wrong because they do not distinguish between right and wrong and also believe that they can always survive any bad effects that their decision may entail. This leads to the making of a very self confident individual who also appears to be confident with an ever warm smile that pleases most people and charms the toughest of ladies.

Unfettered Lifestyle: Due to the minimal parental objection in their lives, these people live life to the fullest. They work hard, make loads of money, party harder and are always enthusiastic and positive about life. These are people who want to live lives that are worth meaning to them rather than sulking around, thinking about others or about decisions that may have far reaching consequences. That’s the reason why, when one comes across such persons, one feels quite positive and they are like a whiff of fresh air that has invaded your senses carrying you along with it.

Here I would like to rest my case wherein I have always been smitten by some one or the other. However when the time comes to make a choice, it’s always about making them a part of my life rather than colonizing them. So my mind starts throwing up questions like Would she fit the bill, Will my parents approve of her, How would the elders react about the match, What mother tongue will the children adopt and so on till the mind is left totally confused. What finally emerges is a chaotic situation. If not that then by the time I make up my mind, the lady is already been taken!

So friends I think I have unraveled the human mindset about love to a great extent and its physiological aspects. And for those who try desperately to fall in love but don’t, may be now we know why…

Enjoy

Do share your views with me.

Thanks.

Mani (A.k.a Ananth S)

Thinking of my sweet memories with the rising sun

As i woke up today with the shining rays of the sun, I got a phone call. It was good news, great news, actually surpirisngly good news.

What I had just heard took me back the memory lane.

Just like our childhood, the Middle years too hold a very important place in our lives. These are the years when a man needs to grapple with his inner demons and make decisions that have a very profound impact on his future. These may be decisions both personal and professional and may be ridiculously easy or exponentially difficult.

This period in life which begins at 20 and ends somewhere in the mid 30’s is marked by various stages like higher education, employment, marriage, children, aged parents etc.

Against this backdrop, I would like to introduce to you one of my best friends who has a lot in common with me and I would like to take his case as an ideal one to see what it takes to make the most toughest decision of all time that many men shudder to even think of, many cower and others relish – MARRIAGE!!!!!

This friend of mine from, how do I put this, well, from pre-historic times, has got characteristics similar to mine.

He hails from an orthodox TamBram family, a very pious man who goes to temple daily and also on weekends, very particular about reaching a place in time and also a stickler to rules and regulations as well as one who thinks thousand times to cross that unquoted line that parents draw for their kids.

This friend of mine, Lets Call him Mr.A, was enchanted in our high school days by a girl who was far more superior in the academic field (crazy, how those things mattered then) & he was afraid to go and talk to her about his crush on her. The result being the girl getting married to one of his own classmates who would ideally not be seen as the perfect combination at that time.

Then another major crush happened when he was working in a premier financial institution wherein he fell in love with a young lady who was known to be a fierce individual and also was one step above him in the corporate ladder. Our man tried to open up to her many times but never could make it face to face resulting in yet another heart break. Last heard the girl is happily married for nearly a year and wonder of wonders has moved to a locality near our own hero’s house!!!!

I being a friend was always aware of his various crushes and out of curiosity asked him about the reasons for this since I knew for a fact that there would not arise any inter-caste repercussions if he were to go ahead and marry any one of them since both ladies in question were simple TamBram women. He was blatant enough to tell me the truth that these two girls whom he liked a lot had many things in common that he wanted in a girl –fiercely independent, go-getters and people on whom you can depend if ever you were in a life threatening situation that they would take care of your family and not bat an eyelid about their personal loss (at least that’s what he thought). He would tell me in is own humorous way Arrey yaar, ‘Imagine I propose to her and she accepts my proposal, then I will have to marry her. But afterwards, there arises a situation wherein I have to play the judge and juror in the house after a hard day in office that would lead to an unpleasant situation. Especially if it’s a case of mother pitted against the wife. Coz no matter what decision the man gives, he stands to lose either way, be it the husband or the son. So I always wait for them to come to me!’ Also his parents being real orthodox, there are quite a few rules in the house which may or may not be liked by all.

Then I put forth another question – How is it that you cope up so well with your so called loss since he has an ever smiling face except when he is angry or in one of his moods.

I even went to the extent of telling him that a man not mourning about his lost love ever thought about loving at all.

That’s when he repeated one of the oft mentioned cliches in Hindi films about Bus,train aur ladki – Ek jaati hai tho doosri aati hai!!!!. I was appalled at this emotionless (Though he is never an emotional being at least to the outside world) and seemingly childish answer to my question. The next moment he surprises me with – Tho kya karoon Suicide kar loon gham main doobke? I cannot even do that coz I am a coward. I asked him in what sense do you term yourself a coward.

He says – “Ask any man to jump from the top of a 10 storeyed building or to consume a bottle of rat poison or rather to shoot/knife himself and he will look at you like you are a crazy man. That is because every man however much obstacles he may face, loves his life. So men who are courageous enough to make that decision should be appreciated. I cannot bring myself to do it since the moment such a thought enters my mind, the sullen faces of my parents occupy center position and all such thoughts get blown away. However much I try to be emotionally un-attached, I cannot bring myself to do it.”

I do not know whether anyone else is satisfied with this explanation, But I sure was and these words coming from a man who I have known to be an emotionless creature. Now for the twist – Life sure has its ways of proving things wrong just when they seem to be right.

Last heard our man has married a Northerner, a Kashyap girl and is presently honeymooning in the backwaters of Kerala.

He married so suddenly that even friends like us came to know after 2 days.

P.S. – Mate, if you are reading this, Please don’t think of this as my way of getting back at you. Am waiting with open arms for your return to our world.

Tell me what you think. I had a great start for my day.

Mani S

I recently read an article about the lavish, partying and rocking life of mallus and tam brams (Of course I am being sarcastic).

The mail was hilarious. It spoke of the heritage names and remorseful work timings and really sad social life’s that “we” southies, live as routine.

I would like to disagree to it. Probably all the mail needed was a good laugh but when I received the same mail with a comment saying, “It’s so true”. I kept contemplating & pondering over the comment. (Ya, I know I could have just quoted there “I kept thinking instead of pondering” but I had this sudden urge to use big words as most readers of this post at this time would be southies sitting in offices as the Gujus, Panjus and other baniyas would be busy planning the evening for the day & also I needed to show off. Oh come on, Vocabulary is all I got). Anyways, read on…..

I think life’s a lot different than a mere southie’s routine mockery. Its, well…..  hmmmmm… how do I put this, …….it’s complicated.

Yes, even for those tam brams & mallus who have at least till date not ended up with love marriages (southies love marriages, wonderful usually. They are mostly with the same caste, community, the “gotram” needs to be different, carefully chosen, selected, discussed, horoscopes matched & agreeable to both parties, parents, relatives, neighbors whose opinions are equally important as a background check would also have happened of the couples, ahem)

Why even bother calling it a love marriage mate? I think this whole process has taken more time than actual courting. So where’s the romance. Naaah!

Can’t blame the poor chap though. How often does he anyway get to claim having gotten to get someone fall in love with him or at least remotely agree to him. After all, he must also have taken pains and been patient & careful enough to get across his job profile, designation, job security, mutual funds investment, idea of his probable salary, his investment plan, housing loan amount etc & such other details to the fairer sex and then woo her. Wow! How did I forget, qualifications here. Ya. That too. Phew! So that’s about a year till that time. & yes, he is a double MBA / Masters… Again, why?

Also, the south indian girl realizes that this dude, can I call this male human neatly oiled hair category, a dude, please, please… please let me Thanks …. Well so as ammai, appa & other family members would also agree and she is also sure to be with someone who can and has a stable job (remember, Home loans, mutual funds & PF – I am sure she also must have noted down the possible savings he must be making annually after tax deductions). & wow, how did I also forget, the guy has to be 5’8” at least. Why? Just make the criteria 6feet then. What is it, an oomph factor!

I just don’t get it, may be partly because I am not 5’8” but still. Why?

Why the criteria, at least “ “.

Is it like, if the calculatedly fallen in love couple get troubled by a dude, is this tall or taller guy gonna tap the tip of the other guys head before he succumbs down or faints (people who eat only curd rice, dosa & rasam chadham(rice) get bruised more easily, you see)

Anyway, it does not make any sense.

So the planned, arranged but loving couple say, the hell with love at first sight. We have taken into consideration all the factors that may or may not suit both of us. Now we will make this work, the girl says it with confidence. Yes, they are going to revolt and rebel, against … hmmm…. Against cruelty to animals. Lets not get offtrack, what else will they revolt to, how can they upset ammai & appa and family & friends and did I mention neighbours.

Little does she know that the tam bram / mallu dude might have even comp up with a probable percentage of risk involved in this relationship (he might just tell the statistics if pressurized, but I am sure he would have also made a pie chart of this analysis probably in SPSS software).

Anyways, with the money that both make, they can afford many such revolting romantic SRK movies on DVD at their 2/3 BHK homes that is of course only after both of them have finished reading their book / novel for the day (reading is very important for our cult, that shows we are educated and belong to a different class & category of people). Educated & class, I dun’t know, but different category…. Oh, I am so sure about that.

Ya, we southies need to have stacks of books at home from Crosswords & Strand book stall, nothing pirated. It has to be purchased for the original price. Hell, we even have hardback cover books. We don’t read it all, but those books are usually kept closest to the ‘Big glass’ door of the library at home for the world to see. What world, which girl is going to come to a southie dudes home first of all and even if she does, and the sweet dude shows off his massively huge and BIG, collection of books, trust me my friend, she is never coming back. So make sure & mark my words carefully, do not lend your books to her, she is never, ever coming back. Lets continue.

We have overgrown TV sets, but we make sure we put on our social networking sites status, “Don’t watch TV”, What? Why? Is it like a crime? I love watching TV & I grew up fine. Ahem! Let’s not get into the details here. Lets read on…

So now do you realize why these mails tickle our funny bones. ‘coz only the Truth shall finally set you FREE!

Also, did I forget to mention, unless we learn to accept ourselves how can we…. How can we…. How can we face god in the morning during sandhyavandanam…. J   Have fun

Yes, yes. My name runs over 50 letters…….. so I am not writing it. Vaise bhi, mera naam to suna hoga!

Do tell me your views…..

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth ’’ – MUHAMMAD ALI.

So much has been written, read and said about the most hypnotic legend of all times….. THE ONE THE ONLY – MUHAMMAD ALI, born January 17, 1942.

I have been just one among the billions of admirers of this GREATEST ICON for as long as I can remember.

Yes, I have his books, his Documented videos & it makes me keep wanting to just catch a glimpse of the LEGEND up close & personal one day, just once in my lifetime

Muhammad Ali, what makes him so special- – -

• Is it the fact that he always did what he said he would.
• Is it the fact that he called the rounds, his way.
• Is it because he truly was the BEST
• or was it because he is forever the PEOPLE’s CHAMP.

He is all that and more. He kept saying,  “I am the Greatest’’ and his very famous words “its not bragging , if you can back it up’’ always keep coming back when you hear any of his critic’s words…..

He was a man who dreamed, who predicted and accomplished every time he set his focus into. He is a man who is all about pure passion.

His impeccable skill, his heart of gold, a man, a legend and the one who made an impact which has been truly larger than life holds all our hearts together.

In Louisville, on October 29, 1960, ALI won his first professional fight he was then in his greater bouts duly crowned the heavyweight champion of the world and he reconfirmed his abilities when he knocked out Liston in the first round of their rematch in Lewiston, Maine on May 25, 1965.

One of my most fav bouts of his is: “The fight with FOREMAN, held in Zaire – The Rumble in the Jungle.’’ on October 30, 1974.

His talents and skills can be surpassed only by the power of his heart.

His love for the less fortunate, his strong beliefs on color and racism – where he said “Hating people because of their color is wrong, it does not matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong’’.

Muhammad Ali is a true legend and a hero forever who will till eternity inspire millions to pursue their dreams and make that IMPACT truly positive.

Some resources where you get to know the Legend a little bit more.

www.ali.com

www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/ali01.html

http://techdivine.tripod.com/flashcontent/id12.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali

www.alicenter.org

A brief listing of few of his amazing talent :

Total fights: 61

KO: 37

W: 19

L: 4

KO’d: 1

(source – his official website )

Tribute to a legend:

Muhammad Ali is a true Legend I believe,

his greatness , his skills which no one could deceive…

the man , the machine a hero he is to me….

the greatest ‘n none like him the world will ever see…… ALI