Benares's Romantics

After reading “The Romantics” by Pankaj Mishra I have been wondering how this book managed to stay away from the best-sellers' shelves and from the pirated book-stalls.

It’s a wonderfully written tale of the narrator “Samar” who comes to the city of Benares and is pushed into the world of some foreigners who have come there to spiritually enlighten themselves. The book shows a beautiful and ironic picture of the confusions and realizations of the expatriates in the country mixed with the Samar’s curiosity and awkwardness towards these aliens and their life. The book proceeds, taking Samar to Pondicherry for a while where he meets his father who then sends him to Dharamshala. All this while he tries to come to terms with the past and make a sense of his life. The story ends in Benares again where he comes one last time to face the past he had left behind. The very nature of the three places played an important role in Samar's life. The hustle bustle of Benares represent the restlessness Samar felt in the new world. Pondicherry made him realize what he had left behind and sort of help him in his transition to everything which came later. During the seven years, the silence and serenity of Dharamshala makes him lose himself in the memories of the past and the realities of life's expectations.

I believe this book puts Pankaj Mishra in same league with Amitav Ghosh and Jhumpa Lahiri not because of how good they write but because of their capacity to take a part of one ordinary man’s journey through life and make it look extra ordinary and truly beautiful. Being his first novel he doesn’t gives any signs of immaturity, the credit of which goes to the fact that he has written two travellogues and is also a regular writer in Nytimes Opinion columns. He is very lyrical in his narration and gives a beautiful picture of Benares. It’s so good that one can’t help imagining being in the city himself. I would say the story ends up provoking a thought that we all go through these similar extra-ordinary situations and gradually morph into what we truly are today just like Samar did. It also made me realize that there is an amazing story in all of us, it just looks deceptively ordinary.

A ride with Floyd...

There is a fascination I have for traveling long distances in a bus which I hardly find in any other transport. I generally find flights to be fast to enjoy the journey and trains too crowded that I end up spending my entire time fighting for the space to enjoy the trip. Surprisingly the very small and confined seats in the bus which people are so fussy about give the opportunity to create the wonderful parallel universe to quietly slide away.

I end up spending hours watching the distant hills, the orange glimmer of the far away factories, the audacity of the overtaking cars, occasional empty petrol pumps, the sparsely-lit shops in the dark and every small amusing piece constituting the vast expanse. The pleasant shiver of the cold wind and Floyd in the ears makes sure to keep me in this reverie undisturbed by the blare of the movie being played occasionally in the bus. Every journey I take reminds of the distant imaginary lands we used to read about in our childhood and were so captivated to. The mood created helps to put my belief and thoughts together. The questions which bother day and night get replaced by ideas to solve or the desire just to let them go.

Even the world seems to be much clearer. Turns out, it’s easier to see the washed face of the world left behind from a distance and at a speed where it won’t be able to catch up, at least for a while.

Resolutions: First Update..

In the ruckus of the Christmas and New Year celebrations I sort of forgot the fact that I have blog which is yearning for my attention for a quite a while. Lately my tendency to procrastinate work has been climbing new heights. Anyways its time for my first update on how my resolutions are coming up. so here it goes:

Resolution 1, going to gym: I wanted to start going to the gym from the beginning of the year. But 1st being a Thursday was a bad day to start with the gym as I would have to take a weekend break just after two days which my inner self which also doubles up as a gym instructor discouraged me to do at such an early stage. So it got postponed to Monday. On Monday the plumber was supposed to come so it got postponed to Tuesday. On Tuesday I went to the bank so postponed to Wednesday. Now on Wednesday I grabbed my gym bag and headed for the gym but on the way I met another friend and I ended up going to the cafeteria. The next day again was Thursday and the cycle continued.

Resolution 2, decide on future of career: With all my “Personal Decisions” on my career going completely haywire in the past, I have put all my career decisions on hold till my capability to take decisions “myself”, improve considerably.

Resolution 3, improve capability to take proper decisions: I am yet to take any decision on how to go about it.

Resolution 4, turn vegan: Postponed it for 83 years, 11 months and 23 days after the BBQ Chicken I had in Tangerine.

Resolution 5, Write a book called “Procrastinate”: Delayed it just to get the feel of the topic before I start.


By the way.. Happy New Year to all you guys..

When A Day Dreamer Writes...

Staring back with its pale,
white face, the paper mocks
my thoughts to disgrace.
Thoughts, they fade away,
leaving behind an empty room
filled with a dying flames haze.
Feelings of appeasement try
invading my soul. Somewhere it wins,
Somewhere it loses all hope.

But when all lights go dim,
I see a world in no one's sight
pouring tales in my mind
like a old tavern's aging rye.
With a new hope of a
fiery sky, I write for
glory. I write for the
day dreamer's rising cry.

Picture Perfect.....

The work of professional photographers has always amazed me. Few days back I went to a photo exhibition in Max Muller Bhavan in Bangalore. I must admit it was my first time to a photo exhibition. The theme was Bangalore and all the photographers showcased some aspect of Bangalore. What amazed me was the fact the pictures were of the every day places we visit and I never expected these places to look so awesome. The technicalities were amazingly taken care of. The way the moonlight reflected form the stream of water in front of the house or the way the light shone in the small shop in an empty lane was taken awfully nicely. Every element in the pictures kind of gave them a shade of a mystery novel.

It’s amazing the way these photographers not only take a picture but also gives it a certain character. If one looks at them closely he will surely find a story somewhere rooted in them. I believe, to be really good photographer one should be able to be imaginative enough to cook up a story and narrate it entirely in one picture. One should be passionate enough to create a parallel universe where a tree tilting on a road is actually a demon waiting to pounce on its prey, where there is always a killer hiding in a dark alley and where sky is always sinister blue with swirls of red dragons flying all around.

A 'Legendary' Saturday...

Good weekends are hard to come across these days. I believe it should have the right combination of good music, good food and bit of awesome beer. That’s exactly what my last weekend was all about.

It started with attending a talk by Richard Stallman on GNU and Free Software Foundation. It was kind of eye-opener although I was expecting some Microsoft bashing (I hope my Avanade bosses don’t read my blogs :p). Anyways, the day got even better when we were greeted by a new band in Java City. Although not as good as their usual band listening to Floyd and Dire Straits was a nice change from the usual play list. The grand finale was in Purple Haze, Kormangala which included a good dose of beer and again awesome music.

So this was our schedule for Saturday which fueled us with enough of ‘good times’ to last at least another week of drudgery in the office.

Democracy in my town...

Democracy for all its virtues has one major flaw. It’s run by the citizens. Citizens, who in many countries are narrow-minded, illiterate, unemployed superstitious, therefore very gullible. So when the powers are handed over to the common masses what is the guarantee that the country will be run better than any autocratic government. What is the guarantee that the people will not vote a candidate just because he is of their own caste, religion or any other factor while totally ignoring the fact that he might be incompetent for the job?

When anything goes wrong in the nation we immediately go about blaming these leaders for not acting “responsibly”. We completely ignore the fact that we were the one to elect them. We even ignore the fact that we have the complete right to take the mantle of the leadership if we think we are more capable to handle the situation than the existing leadership.

Its time we realize that the success of a democracy lies solely on its citizens. They are not only supposed to elect the right person but also volunteer to be the right person when there is a need. Democracy is not something which can be managed by laws. It needs to be fueled by the passion and desire of its citizens to have a secure and developed nation.

Protecting mobiles for Dummies....

It’s official now. I have been formally inducted to the hall of fame for the thickheaded.

The reason??? I just lost an ipod and a mobile in a span of three months in a busy BMTC bus. This time it happened even before the bus started to move. I wonder is it just me or the thief was a pure genius. Also I just hope it wasn’t stolen by the same thief. That might just catapult my sluggish reputation to levels never seen on earth.

Anyways a swanky new mobile and two days of visualizing the thief as one of the victims of the psycho doc in the movie ‘hostel’ has soothed the wound quite a lot. The only problem is that a crowded BMTC bus will keep on giving me the creeps for a long time now.

Looking back....

Attaining adulthood is like finally getting to know that there is nothing magical about the rainbow. The days of childhood illusions, daydreaming and innocence just vanishes away giving way to ambition, competition and lots of manipulations. Now it’s hard to find people whom one can trust. Minds have become so skeptical that there is always a lingering doubt even on the closed ones.

Even those “childhood heroes” who once brought a smile on our faces every time we see them, fade away. Circumstances just make us them or even ignore them and those who still command that respect are too few.

I sometimes miss those days when making friends was just about having a good time, when one’s favorite uncle was one who cracked the funniest jokes. When one use to be eager to return home from school to play in the locality. I miss those simple unadultrated joy we used to get by having the latest candy bar in the market. I miss those simpler days.

The Credit Card Debacle...

Few months back I had this embarassing conversation with my dad which I remembered a few days back. I had uploaded my CV on a few job portals, while searching for a job. After a month I got selected in Accenture and shifted back to Bangalore. On a Sunday morning my dad calls me up and what was said between us is as follows:

DAD: (in a very serious tone) Hey, How’s your training going on.

ME: (in a very bored tone) fine.

DAD: I wanted to talk to you about something.

ME: what is it?? (Gosh, hope it’s not about investments again!!)

DAD: I just received my credit card bill.

ME: So

DAD: There is an entry for Bharat Matrimony.com.

ME: (WHATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#*%#$#*#^%$#%^&)

ME: That’s not me. That can’t be me.

DAD: (now in a very fatherly tone) you should have at least talked to us. You know we always support your decisions even though this is a bit too early.

ME: (agitated) aggggghhh!!!! There is nothing to talk about. There are no decisions to take. Dad!!!! I seriously have no idea about this.

DAD: Then who else would want to get married in our house.

ME: How should I know? (He did have a point)

Suddenly I realized about the online transactions for the job portals. I checked the net and it turns out that both the sites belong to the same company and they charged using the matrimonial site’s name.

On explaining this to dad he gave out a sigh of relief and said,” Well that resolves it. Anyways, now that you have a job, next time you decide to get married, kindly use your own credit card.”