All the random thoughts

“You will have to sit outside and wait. One of the assistants will call you at some point in time. It is all random though, so do not complain if someone who had come after you gets to speak with the Guru before you” I did not like what I heard. But having traveled that far, didn’t want my ego to deprive me of whatever experience destiny had in store that day. A friend of mine suggested I visit this Guru in a remote village - “If you want to seek answers for anything at all”. So here I was after a good two hour drive from the city and then another hour or so on a dusty road that led to this half village, half forest location. There were quite a few cars, some luxurious included, that were parked outside the tiny two room hut. “Those who came in luxurious cars must be here for health and those who came in Ola cabs or small cars must be here for wealth” I assumed rather disdainfully. I was not sure what category I fell into given my car. “Doesn’t matter. I am here neithe...

I have never heard of any of these people returning their awards (while keeping the reward!). I had to write this because a friend of mine, who probably knew that I liked Gulzar’s work, asked me to respond when Gulzar made some statement about “rising intolerance”. Gulzar and others might be responding based on the newspaper reports and media trials. There is a very conscious effort on part of the media to build negative perceptions and opinions after every minor incident in the country. Falling into that trap and then changing ones world view accordingly is a sad reflection of ones state of mind. Has someone responded based on actual data? How many incidents of intolerance have occured in this country in the last year? How many of them would have been ignored as 'stray incidents' if Congress were in power and why they are being attributed to 'intolerance' otherwise? In how many cases have the police reports and courts have actually corroborated the media judgmen...

“For the rank you have got in EAMCET, you only have two options. Printing Technology at REC Warangal OR Civil Engineering at Osmania University College of Engineering”   For the life of it, I could not fathom what Engineering has got to do with Printing. On the other hand, Civil Engineering was a “dying art form” - I was sufficiently brainwashed at those coaching centers on Bank Street, Koti. There wasn’t enough time to form a larger picture and philosophize between these choices. So I changed the criteria for selection. “Wherever I know more people”, I said, “I’ll join there”.   And that is how the path of life took a major turn.   If there is something more important than education at the college, it is character building. Those graduation years is the time of our lives when we start building definitive opinions about who we are, who our friends should be, what the world is about and what our role in it should be. Life in the Osmania campus impacted me in ...

"And you are?" the visa officer had a somber expression as he riffled through the documents.   The man replied.   "You are American? What do you need a Visa for then?" dealing with Indians can be exasperating some times.   "I am not American sir. That is my name. I am an Indian" the man explained.   "So you are an Indian but named American? Why'd your parents do that?"   "May be they wanted me to be rich. That's what my name means"   The officer sighed. "You have no idea my friend. It is only a select few that become super rich but there is rest of us who need to toil in strange lands with strange names, then we have illegal immigrants from Mexico who are poor, then there are benches full of Indians in our downtowns - and their names are strange too and more. But yes, your lot are much better off in our country. Anyways, why do you want to relocate?"   "Not me sir. My wife wants to...

The atmosphere in the room was, let's say, electro-mechanical. At one end was a regal looking lady occupying the only chair in the room. Her head was in the middle of of other confabulating heads and, the only one visible as she oversaw a circle of black/white and bald tops around her. This was the Mechanical part of the room. At the far end were the still green future confabulators who were arguing amongst themselves about the presence or lack of it of the revered halo on the lady's head. "There it is. I just saw it" a young one shouted excitedly. "Where? Where?" everyone else had disappointment writ on their faces at missing the opportunity to spot it - that which had its only parallel in another such light at Sabarimala. It was all this positive and negative sightings that made this end of the room Electrical. All was routine until this sudden interruption. "You should not have responded that way, Madamji" a voice spoke from the m...

The cafeteria was noisy as ever. There was a sea of people - some waiting for the masala tea and samosa they had ordered, some waiting to order and even some more waiting to wait. There were young people with curious faces, middleaged ones with impervious faces and a small number of old people with serious faces. The time was almost 330 PM and yet no one seemed in a hurry to get back to work. If not for the air conditioned cafeteria and neatly dressed people serving tea and samosa, one could easily mistake the place to be any Government office in India.  The man serving tea and samosa had an ever smiling expression unlike his customers. He was the only one working in that crowd and the only one who seemed to be content and clear about his work. He wore the mandatory head gear and a branded uniform provided by the catering company he worked for which, for some reason, lent an aura of peace and grace to him.  It was a pleasant setting all in all.  Th...

It is difficult sometimes to look at the world and be impressed by it. I always believed that the mind has two realms to spend its time on - the world and the S elf . The world with all its stories, glories, glitter, options and challenges normally is the more attractive one. There are way too many things in it for the mind to indulge itself without getting bored. The Self, on the other hand, is quite abstract. It has no variety. That aside what's in it itself is a moot point. There is a promised utopia in the Self that most religions want us to believe, but the road to utopia just doesn't seem to exist in this one vast expanse of a desert. There are no maps, no routes and no fun in the Self. So the mind chooses the world. It is drawn to the pleasures and grits through the pains in anticipation of happiness. The mind engages with every aspect of the world - natural and human made. Food and drinks, friends and relatives, men and women, love and hate, wife and children, bro...