To infinity and beyond

Vairamuthu - Kadhalithu paar

2011-02-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

TITLE: KADHALITTHU PAAR...

" Kadhalithu paar,
Unnai chuttri olivattham tondrum,
Ulagam arthapadam,
Rathiriyil nilam vilangum,
Unakkum kavithai varum,
Kaiyalethe alagagum,
Tabalkaran theivam aavan,
Unbimbam vilanthey kannadi udaiyum,
Kanneer rendu olikollam,
Kadhalitthu paar...

Thalaiyanaiye nanappai,
Mundru moorai pal thulakayai,
Katherendal nimisyangal varasyam enbai,
Vanthuvittal varasyangal nimisyam enbai,
Kaakai kudha unnai kavanikadhe,
Aanal intha ulagamme unnaiye kavanipattai unarvai,
Vaitruku tondaikummai uruvamilla urandai kondu urala kanbai,
Intha vanam,intha anthi,intha boomi,intha pookal yellam kathalai gauvarravaikkum yerpathe enbai,
Kathalitthu paar...

Irunthaiyum adikadhi idam mari thudikkum,
Nisatte alivarasaigallil unatthe kural matthum oliparapaagum,
Un nerambe naan yetri,
Unakkulle anbhu vidhum,
Kadhalil therachaiyille kaamum kilakkum,
Hormongal nainadiyal pirakedhakum
Utathegal matthum saharavaakum,
Thaagangal samundiravaakum,
Piraku kanneer thulikul samunthiram adenggum,
Kadhalitthu paar..

Pookaley modi –modhiye udaithu pogum unnal mudiyumma,
Ayamsiyem imsaiyem adaithaa unda,
Azhungindra sugam arinthaathundha,
Unnaiye unakkulle pothaike theriyumma,
Sabaiye thanimaiyagavum,
Thanimaiyum sabaiyagavum,
Unnai unnoma..
Advaithem adayavendumma,
Ayindagalai idhaivelaiyil amurthairandhum,
Pathani kidaitha palagiyathunda..
Kadhalitthu paar

Chinna-chinna parisagalai silakkamudiyumme atharkagavenum,
Poranggale varathi puthepitha mudiyumme atharkagavenum,
Aaen yendra sollakum,
Pen yendra sollakum,
Agarathiyil yeratha aarthangal vilanggume atharkagavenum,
Valthu konde sagavum mudiyumme,
Setru konde valavum mudiyumme atharkagavenum,
Kadhalitthu paar,

Samurthayam sataipudithallum
Uravegal uyir pirinthalum
Villatthe parkaiyil un pirakkal kalavukke iranthalum,
Ore aaniyil iruvarum sakkanai chiluviyil aareyapattalum,
Nee nesikum aavano aavalo unnai nesikey maranthalum
Kadhalitthu paar
Sorgam,naragam..irandhey ondru
Inggeye niccayam..

Kadhalitthu paar.............. "

I was awestruck when I heard this poem.. Even if you aren't in love, you will fall in love with the concept of love ,if u read this :)..The irony was, it took a movie dialogue for me to dig this poem.. I'm trying to find the same in tamil font.. if any of u do, please send it across.

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to His Son's teacher

2010-09-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

My blog is dying a slow death, i guess so are my grey cells. Inevitable
Anyways this blog is dedicated to the great Lincoln and the Guest in our department who shared this with us
Straight twelve hours of class, from seven in the morning on a Saturday , doesn't leave you with much motivation to attend guest lectures at seven at night. But if you are lucky to have friends like I have, you are left with no choice.
Though long(read loooooooong), the lecture was quite stimulating. I don't think I would be able to do justice to either the speaker or his content in this post.
The leaflet he shared with us , here for all my blog readers (if there are any still left)

Lincoln’s Letter to his Son’s Teacher

He will have to learn, I know,

that all men are not just,

all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader…
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick…
Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books…
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat…
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong…
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon…
Teach him to listen to all men…
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad…
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness…
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient…
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do…
He is such a fine little fellow,
my son!

~ Abraham Lincoln

My first Bloggers meet

2010-03-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Life sometimes gives you wonderful moments when u least expect it. The Bloggers meet that I attended last Saturday was one of those photograph moments.
I went to the meet with least expectations and lot of doubts. I mean, I never knew even one among the 200 who were supposed to attend, and what if it turned to be one of the boring lectures. I would never be able to forgive myself for missing out the rare weekend I get to spend at my home, but curiosity kills. So here I go, to the GRT convention center, with a novel just in case my worst fears were true.
The introduction by the Indibloggers cleared all the doubts. The world is not as crazy as it looks, it’s even crazier, don’t believe me, talk to one of the event coords of Chennai Bloggers Meet.
The 30 seconds to fame, where each person was given an opportunity to introduce themselves, was a real ice breaker , especially all those witty ones..How I wish I had a chance to record this, and show it to all ppl who said blogging is an escape from real world and most of them are boring .
Man ,the first thing that hit me was the motley of people who were a part of the meeting. There were people at all ages from 16 to 64, and who wrote about everything under the sun. The tech, books, movies, music, and a mechanical guy’s frustration (in a class with just four gals).. U name it.. u have it..
The chart chain given to each one of us made us finally move our lazy bones and get to know ppl with their urls (:P) (Nice Idea, Kudos to Indiblogger).I just wish we had more time..
The panel discussion that followed, did spread some dissatisfaction among ppl who were up in the air to meet everyone of the two hundred, add to it the fact that it was in Tamil which not many understood...But it did bring out the seriousness and the impact that bloggers who as a part of aam admi was creating in the society. Kinda made me feel responsible and elated at the same time .
Looking back, the meet gave me a wonderful chance to meet lotta amazing ppl, the economics teacher who was so charming, my neighbor at the last seat, who had the credit of getting his blogs banned twice :), my old college friend(that was a real surprise),the poor Mcc guy who was tweeting when the panel discussion was in Tamil, the visionary Anoop from Indiblogger :P , ....The list would probably extend once I decrypt the handwriting and associate the name with the person (my grey cells and me , both are pretty lazy )
Personally, I really had a sense of fulfillment after the meeting...I mean, it is not every day you go out of your way to meet 200 odd ppl, who you had never heard about in your life and yet get connected so well , so much that u felt sorry when it was all over..
I can’t wait for the next one..Way to go Chennai bloggers..

Kiran Bedi at IITM

2010-02-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

You know what is the best thing that could happen after a sleepless and peace-deprived weekend and a six hour class on a Sunday morning? A talk by one of your role models. The one who had been one of the main reasons for what you are today. I was lucky enough to have such an experience.

Kiran Bedi was in IITM, to share her experiences with the future leaders of the nation (well, she called us that).

We had enough goof ups before the start of the event, audience mistaking an old lady as kiran bedi and worse still, one of the organizers joining them and starting to read the welcome address for the old lady. The laughter that started, couldn’t be stopped even after the lady of the evening came and the guy welcomed her with the same speech yet again…

All this was till Kiran bedi went onstage… Words wouldn’t do justice to explain the experience that we had for the next sixty minutes…

Man, what an energy! It didn't take long to figure out, why she left service.. Here is one rare celebrity who doesn't mince words. Ten minutes after she started, she accused us for not producing enough patents and abusing tax payers money..And we cheered her up... :)

For ppl who misssed it, here is the crux of what she said,

1. Be a Master in what you do.

Success is not the aim, excellence is... Being ordinary is a sin

2. Be a Member of the community...

Without being inclusive, you can succeed but you can't be happy//

3. Define a Meaning for your life...

Well, that’s 3Ms for you...

The best part was , she declared that she might form a government one day..Here is a lady who, after all she has done, was abused by a system but still believes she could make a difference...

I definitely can't bring even one tenth of the effect she had on the audience through this post...It was not about a good lecture which was entertaining, or one which had a wonderful speaker, or about one of the rare women who had finally made it big... It was all and much more than that...It was about a human who worked to make a positive difference wherever she went, and who continues to do...Here is the link to her site...

For once, I couldn’t find a smart closing line.. :P.

I guess its Kiran bedi’s effect...So let me close with her words itself

“Ur work should aim at solving problems not at stopping obstacles.”

P.s.I’m trying to get hold of her speech... will load it as soon as i get lucky..

My Vday post.

2010-02-13T10:09:00.001-08:00

For once, I don't have much to talk or write...
Since valentine's day is just an hour away, I thought i would post one of the recent forwards that I loved.
********************************************************************************

A very touching matrimonial Ad, Have a look at it ….…..!!!!

I am not looking for only a beautiful, slim and an intelligent girl…….They
are all clichés. The ones that matter are:

The first prerequisite I expect of my wife --- no it isn't the ability to
understand me, that's the second---- the first one's a sense of humor for
me and all my nonsense

She must sleep in my lap and allow me into hers. She must run her hand into
my hair and fight me with pillows as often as she can.

She must allow me to disturb her, Which I will, ---no matter how busy and
serious she is and I am--- , while she goes about our household chores.

She must sit with me shoulder in shoulder when we watch the late night
movie together and must oblige to have a midnight walk anytime in the
night.

When the curry isn't nice and I stare into her eyes, she must straight away
go and make an omelette for me.

When she is downright tired she must flirt with me to win a cup of tea or a
glass of cold water. She must be ready to blow a kiss any time any day and
any place.

She should call me nicknames and how innovative she coins out new ones the
better and must be prepared to confront some deadly ones in return. She can
call me 'Tu' or anything as am not at all particular about those pronouns.

She got every right to beat me up when I annoy her while she watches those
dreaded serials. She can also extract what she wants of me on women's day.
And I am also ready to share her premarital crushes and secrets.

On those rare occasions when we might fight and then go on a mourning
spree, it can continue for the night. The next morning must again be
normal.

I aint promising her a paradise but yes she will always get more of my love
than our children.

And finally, she must have a higher life expectancy than me. I may not be
able to live without her…..
********************************************************************************

ps1: For all gals out there... IDEAL state is a myth..and this is ideal.

For all those guys, we know the earlier sentence, but that doesn't stop us from hoping...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FOLKS....

Happy weekend :)

Spontaneous Sparkles

2009-12-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

I was watching a talk show called neeya nana (the translation is “U or ME”)by gopinath yesterday. It was one of those stuff that i really missed, while in hostel. It’s not that I always understand / agree/appreciate all the things that they talk. But they do strike a chord most of the times, and yesterday was one of those lucky days. Nd the host has a decent sense of humour(Read sarcasm).

Before I digress further, the topic of discussion among other things was who get pleasure from life most, the lazy loafers or the busy bees.

The brilliant busy bees said they derive theirs by, going early to office, not being caught in the traffic, the perfect triangle of the tie, the degree of shine in the shoe blah blah blah...

My god, It looked like these people never knew the spelling of impulsiveness. (nd I aint talking abt the literal spelling anyways, after spell check nobody worries abt them anyways ). I really felt sorry for them, maybe that was the purpose of the show and those people were given these lines to mug up and deliver. Well, i’m a cynic ,especially if it comes to reality shows J. And i still watch them, how else can u complain about them if u don’t.

Coming to the heart of the issue, impulsiveness. Doesn’t planning every nanosecond of the life , blocks the big picture? At least it inevitably makes us deliver a curse during every detour. Not that i would enjoy one every day, but once in a while won’t hurt, and who knows u may find the script of the next horror movie at the bend of the road.

Looking back ,most of the cherished moments in my life are the one that were off the cuff.

Like the marina beach trip our ug class took @ 3 p.m after an educational tour :P. Chennai beach, fun and hot sun don’t come in the same sentence unless u are insane (In my dictionary, the typical beach couples are). But even then we had fun. The merry go round guy would still remember the whole of our batch J

The time when we got wet to the bone in a five minutes downpour and made others who came late to our college bus wonder what was exactly wrong with us.

The list would go on, but discussing my tomfooleries is not the purpose of the post. The point is detours at least as much if not more exciting than the actual ones.*

At least it helps us connect with the rebel each one of us have inside. The one that, throws paper rockets , draws caricatures in lectures, makes faces at the back of hermoine clan...and so on...

So go on ppl, Be a rebel once in a while, i’m sure “all will be well”, until u shoot ur boss...( ya ya i couldn’t get tickets for 3 idiots and i’m suddenly obsessed about aamir khan)

* Conditions apply.

PS: This post is a tribute to all those people of my ug batch and the men who pulled merry go round on that fateful day.

PS1: Its raining again. Is there any research connecting rain and blog writing instincts. That might be my next blog. No spoilers please

The contrast effect..

2009-12-01T09:41:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer :This post is gonna be completely insensible...

For all those ppl, who are muttering when it has been otherwise, welcome to my world.....
I had been toying with the idea of writing a blog, at least for two weeks ,and something was stopping me..Nd with a sound sleep and good home food , I discovered that the something has been my previous post...Somehow it turned out to be a kinda high in my standards :P. So this post is just to bring the bars down.

I'm home ... No exams, no case studies, no all night chats and sleeping in the class.. :))

Itching to write a sensible post soon..

To Sir With Love

2009-10-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

To Sir, With Love is a 1959 autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite set in the East End of London. The novel is based on true events concerned with Braithwaite taking up a teaching post in a school there.

The book cover describes it as "a story of a dedicated teacher who turns hate into love, teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into consideration for others -the story of a man's integrity winning against all odds".Fair enough, but I guess the book is more about a man's journey in discovering himself in his attempt to help his pupils become better citizens.

The book doesn't have a very interesting start(I took nearly a month to force myself to finish the first few pages).The author's description of his days in post-war Britain does makes u empathize for him. Especially when he says that he was willing to give his life in the war for this same people who actually doesn't even treat him like human.But that doesn't make the book a compelling read.Nor does the fact that ,he took his job as a teacher as he couldn't end up anywhere better.

The book picks pace ,only when Mr.Braithwaite , finally bursts out to his pupils and then goes down to set the ground rules for them. If u are someone like me, who looks for happily ever after ending after this (or in simple terms a typical rajini style one- a billionaire from a beggar in just one song), u are in for a surprise..

Its one of the very authentic books that I've read in the recent times, and a very moving one too..

Ur heart swells with pride for Mr.Braithwaite,when the pupils finally present him with a gift duly signed as " To Sir with love".

Whats amazing about the book is its after effects. It will definitely bring back the memories of those good teachers who had been the ladders to aid u reach where u are..

All in all, even if u are one who subscribe to the philosophy that teaching is just another job under the sun, give this book a chance..

I wouldn't bet that it would turn u upside down, but it would take u one step further in the process of becoming better humans..

"Serious" Fun

2009-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

A month has passed since I got into my riskiest venture ever..
I wanted to record my first thirty days into an entirely new life, who knows i may see it yrs later and have a laugh...
And if it could make some else happy nd nostalgic then guess my purpose of blogging is fulfilled..

The first few days at DoMS was all about serious+ fun, serious for us, fun for our seniors.. :P

I still remember my second day vividly..I finished my intro exactly at twelve..and we still had a lot more to go...Man, if u had a habit of blabbering truth when ur sleepy as I do, u'll understand what a soup i was in....

The situation looked that bad that I wanted our regular class to begin..But lookin back, we did have our share of fun...I mean before the classes(u see , I'm no longer a nerdo ;))

And here we r , nearing midsem,

juggling philosophy with the greek and latin of economics and finance,

tryin to find solutions for world problems at CCD (concurrently findin a scape goat for the bill)

balancing subjectivity and objectivity with self nick naming ceremonies :P..

witnessin the middle of the night bday parties and bumps

enjoyin late night walk the talks with " tiffanys tea is the secret of my energy"

always at alert in the secret mission of catching ppl sleepin in the class

caught in the middle of the avalanche effect that follows when somebody asks a question

sitting and commenting about a pj, said a man who was supposedly a mentor of a nobel laureate

(u see, being impartial is one of the core value of DoMS, we don't spare anyone)

nd the best of all,

549 group msgs in jus a month...with topics rangin from
class change to snacks exchange..

well,thats DOMS 2011 batch for u..

Jokes apart,

We r still in the process of discoverin ourselves nd others...

Learning , Unlearning and Relearning a lot, inside and outside the class....

On a personal level,

I was sad nd sceptic a month back, I 'm humble and happy now
who knows I might become mad nd madder with midsems next week..(thts definitely an estimated guess)

thats it for now...

ps:The whole intent of this post is to record the first thirty days of my coll life...

I would be happy if ppl add incidients i missed,

happier if it involves pulling someone's leg,

nd happiest ,even if u could say i was here...

.

Us and The U.S

2009-08-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

I had this writers' itch for the past few days ,to revive my blog back...But then ,I didn't want to start with the typical IITM is amazing stuff. Well it is but I was looking for a spark..And I got more than what I had bargained for. A slap... :P .Courtesy: Ari

First things first, Ari is my classmate from South Korea.

Today I was explaining her about Abdul Kalam and his INDIA 2020 vision. We got struck with the "developed nation" phrase (Ari just learned English as one of the languages unlike most of us).

We kinda had a hard time getting over the phrase. I being the Miss. Intelligent told her India wanted to become something like USA .

Well..At the that instant she probably understood that I'm stupid :P

To use the word surprise to the reaction she gave would be an understatement. She explained India need not become like U.S or other rich nations for even they have the poorest of poor.And India was better or rather more special than U.S..
slap ..slap..slap..(ya ya..thats the slap I got ).

The moment was bitter sweet, A moment when I was both ashamed and proud.
Man, that was kinda real awakening..Not that she stated new facts. But the passion exhibited made me rethink about my patriotism factor...

Looking forward to this independence day with my head held high..

JAI HIND..

ps1:This blog is decicated to Ari for the obvious reasons and the 15 monkeys who are sitting outside my room right now..

A female chauvinist

2007-12-17T19:43:00.001-08:00

This is gonna be the story of a female chauvinist,I honestly don't know whether such word exists.But then the title feminist sounded too positive for my protagonist.Before I get started one final note,this story is told in first person just for the feel of it and not an anecdote(now U gotta believe it)

It was a hot Monday morning and I had all reasons for complaining.Getting up early on a holiday ,going to the RTO office all alone,waiting for an hour.But then I finally had my work done and it subdued everything else. The feeling of triumph made me walk all the way to the bus stand(the first mistake).I was totally drained and the bus looked like a saviour in disguise.

I thanked all heavens when I found it almost empty.But then it was just almost empty.

There were three single seats on gents side and one on female side.Fair enough.But the problem was it was occupied by a man,with the filthiest brown shirt.Thats it,the jansi rani in me was brought to life.
Me: "excuse me sir"(yup...sir).

Mr.brown : . .....no response

Me: tap the seat "hello"

Mr.brown : "enna?" with a look of a terrorist.

Now I've never seen a terrorist live,but then his look terrozied me.So he gotta be one.Anyways I've come too far to retreat.

Me: "this is ladies seat"

Mr.brown : "so?"

(Not again..I mean.....R all guys dumb?)

Me:
(now in a rather loud voice)"there are three seats over there..U go and sit in one .I gotta sit over here"

Yup.That was the trick.Now all the 50+ eyes in the bus on my side.Mr.brown was struck by a lighting.But even then he continued with the' I never heard u 'philosophy.A granny in front came to my rescue, "todays guys r all bad"and the 25+ heads nodded in agreement.
Left with no other choice, Mr.brown slowly got up.Wow finally I won.

But wait,he walked like he had a problem with his leg.Oh no.He did have one and poor Mr.brown had to all the way to the front of the bus for the seat.The 50+ eyes were now filled with sympathy.And when I finally sat down a few turned to check out whether i was the new age voldemort.phew.all for a stupid seat.

Time does run away.For the next stop came,nd nearly half the population got down.Mr.brown coughed.My jansi rani got lost in the turbulence.Again 10+ heads turned my side with each one thinking of a way to burn me alive.

I was so eager to leave the place,so much that I got down at a point before my terminus.Walk again.At least the worst was over or so I thought...

But the great chennai traffic jam played villain and the bus was walking with me.:(. The female chauvinist walking hand in hand with her bus.
There comes the terminus and the almost empty bus to my rescue.Again almost empty.This time it was red shirt and that too a sleeping one...

No no no.Jansi rani was imprisoned this time.

here again i was caught in a traffic jam and the other side vehicles were flying .Who cares.
But wait .....WOW ..a guy just crossed the road with a knack of a proffesional football player..
he looks familar too..nd there stood mr.Brown....................
Guys r .....NO COMMENTS..Honestly..

Hi:)

2007-12-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

Writing a blog had never been my aim,but then I got so very engrossed reading them...at one point it felt like peepin into some one's room.So I thought I'll better create one of my own.So here I go.
As of now I'm just into my hols,after the horrible phase of exams......
So this post is gonnna be about exams,for that's the only thing that has occupied my brain for atleast a month.....
Exams .. they have always the nightmares atleast to most among us.....But then exams r good..nope I aint those extremists who believe u gotta test ur knowledge(as if they do),nor do I belong to those group of nerdos who love muggin up.
Exams r good because they provide u with a sense of satisfaction and relief once they r done...And nothin else gives u so much bliss even when u don't deserve it.;).so ppl HAIL EXAMS...
thats it for now....
I'll take a few days to get back to the sane state.May be my right brain will start workin(hope is the only thing that drives life)
till then
sayonara