Hitchhiking stories- In dialogue with Shiva

I felt grateful when I got a ride in lorry. I  also felt grateful when I got a ride in BMW. We have a notion that we always run into bad people on roads.  That’s a lie. We also have a notion that lorry drivers are bad and can cause harm. Even this is also a lie. I wonder why we have these notions. May be we grew up with these kinds of events, messages around us. I’m sad that we weren’t told about the stories of so much goodness that happens around us all the time.

Be it Raja( Madurai) Prasad (Kurnool), Babu Khan(Mysore)  and many more. Everyone wish to spread some goodness and peace.

Meet Shiva who offered me a ride in his BMW. I feel grateful for the ride. Thanks Shiva for the ride. We spent some good time speaking about places, ancient monuments, culture. He  suggested me many places to visit. Most of the places are in North Kerala. I should visit them sometime.

Many more hitchhiking stories to come. Will be posting them soon.

Hitchhiking Diaries- In dialogue with Dr. Balmohan Limaye

In the premise of temple, I found peace and lot of people’s presence. I strolled around, closely noticing the sculptures, stones and other structures.

I was at the premises and found elderly couple resting for a while. They seemed enthusiastic, curious. The old person was concerned and taking care of his wife while she was busy being a good observer.

At first, we exchanged smiles. And then words.

“You should visit places with company, then you can share.”

“I do share a lot sir with everyone who cross my path!” I told him. I'm more comfortable with solo traveling than traveling with anyone. I feel I'm meant to travel alone.

And we continued the conversation. He is Dr. Balmohan Limaye, professor  at IIT Dharwad. He got retired at IIT Bombay. He was called to teach again at IIT Dharwad. He is full of energy engaging in a conversation with wit and wisdom. We spent a lot of time talking about prevailing situations in classrooms. He taught me about fractal structures.

I feel grateful to learn something from him. He’s full of charm and energy. I wanted to know his age. And I guessed him to be in 60’s. To my surprise he is 73 years old. He’s inspiring!

He also suggested me this book to know more about Hampi.

Balmohan's suggested book.  Book by John M Fritz & George Mitchell

We strolled around talking a lot about many things. He shared his love story with me. There’s lot of enthusiasm when he talks about his love. He met his wife at Tata Fundamental Science.

“People suggested her to see me in campus. She never bothered. I got to know her and we met and slowly things went well.  After we few years we decided to marry. The person who suggested my wife questioned her.

“I told you to look at him. You said, No! Now you’re marrying him only!

“I didn’t knew him back then. Now I know him!”

"After knowing him also, are you sure you want to marry him.?” retorted her mentor.

Through hearty laughs and honest conversations we spent next few minutes sharing our lives.

With Dr. BalMohan and his wife.

Finally, It was time for me to move on. We parted in different directions. He wished me good luck for all my works. I had nothing to say except smile. I’m glad I met him and made a  good conversation.

A.R.Rahman's interview with Archit Seshadri

A.R doesn't have a defined process which lets him create the magic. As it's always said,  his compositions will choose the singers and sometimes he goes with the suggestion of others. At the end,  rapid fire was interesting. Through it, I got to know about a new artist. Kaushiki Chakraborty.

Whatsapp worries.

In the context of responding to messages, I observed myself procrastinating my replies a lot.  Be it an acknowledgement message or simple answer to a question. On the other hand, I see many people responding to messages quickly. I was in an assumption of them being wired to phones all the time having no work but, texting, I’m wrong!!. They does have a lot of work. They finish it, to move on and concentrate on their further works. It’s us who think we have far more important things and postpone simple things in illusion of feeling we’re busy.

I was observing my thinking patterns when I’m on whatsapp, I acknowledge messages, I do not reply. I check whatsapp after 5 minutes, I look for new messages. I acknowledge and doesn’t reply and sometimes I reply at least after a day or two, if not!, god saved them from my trivial reply.

Hitchhiking Diaries- With Koki and Taisei

He stayed amid the crowd with no expression on his face. His expressions signalled that he's in his own world. His mother was exuberant calling him, ‘Koki!’

2 year old cute Koki hails from Japan touring India with his parents. I couldn’t stop myself from taking him near me. I started speaking to him and silence was the response. On being asked about them, Shoko, Koki’s mother told about whereabouts and their trip.

Names always intrigue me. On being asked about the meaning of names, I learnt few Japanese words. Ko- Sunshine, Ki- Sea. While we were in a full conversation, we had another guest, rounding up the whole place. 4 year old Thaise, Koki’s brother.

Thaise is very active and kept running all the time. Kids hardly understood english but,  we got connected in a trice. He quickly grabbed my hand and took me for a tour. We ran together corner to corner exploring the temple. Koki was left with his mother. After few minutes of running, Koki joined us and we three were sitting at one place, sharing smiles.

“Ab Nayo” is the word I frequently heard from Koki’s mother. I wondered how she knew my name without ever telling her. Later, I realized, it means, “Danger,” she was warning Koki and Thaise from reaching edges of the steps.

And then we strolled all around the temple, while I was holding Koki. Thaise tried dragging me while I was with Koki. We ran. We played. We had a great time. Meanwhile, I tried learning few words from Shoko, Koki’s mother.

After an hour, Koki and I were very comfortable with each other. He started dancing with me, grinning at me. Koki with all smiles was damn adorable!

It was beautiful afternoon with these two little kids. Wish to meet them again at other place and other time in India.

TEDxYouthBrookefieldSalon- Zerowaste event

TEDxYouth@BrookefieldSalon, the only Youth+ Salon TEDx event in the country, was held on a bright sunday morning of the 29th of October at the B Block Overhead water tank park, in AECS layout.

Hetvee and Sid are the young and enthusiastic organizers of the TEDxYouth@Brookefield community. It's heartening to see the kind of work they're doing, inspiring the whole community.  Zero-waste event is what TED suggests in the organiser's guide of TEDx events but, I never saw any community, trying to do one. TEDxYouthBrookefield Community attempted  it and taught a great lesson to all the communities to pull our socks up and work  on the ideas that are most effective and most needful right now. 

In his own words, Sid explained how they organised the event, 

It was organized as well as curated by the youth.

The theme for this event, which is the second event in the Salon series, was 'Ecology and Us.' From ideas like Collaborative Consumption to Youth Activism to how events all over the world can become 'Zero-waste events' were discussed. 

The audience got enough and more time to question and converse with the speakers, thereby generating even more enriching conversations. 

And while one of the speakers, Mrs. Anu Govind, talked about 'Zero-waste events', the audience so happened to witness an example of it too, as the event was waste-free.

Few practices which we used include:

1.Clay Kullads for tea instead of Plastic or Paper cups. Supports indigenous businesses and can be used as potting medium or reused as well. 

2.Seed-paper hand bands were used instead of ID cards which always end up as a waste and most often contain plastic casings and lanyards. 

3.Cloth pieces upcycled to create cloth buntings as decor (borrowed from Neralu -Tree Festival) 

4.Water dispensers and metal cups instead of plastic bottles. 

5.Saplings as gifts instead of flower bouquets.

Also, no paper was used for brochures or invites (all were shared through email).

Amazing work TEDxYouth Brookefield team. More power to you!

Sounding off by Resul Pookutty

Resul Pookutty “Sounding Off” is a memoir written in Malayalam and  translated by K.K. Muralidharan.

I picked this book to know more about the Oscar- winning sound designer, and also about Slumdog Millionaire crew (You know  about whom i’m talking about :’D)
Resul Pokutty didn’t bother to present himself as  Ideal person. That makes this book, a must read.
Resul Pokutty hails from a village named, “Villakupara.” The transition from Vilakupara to Pune film institute is the biggest change in his life. He hails from village and talks about ‘life in the village,’ whenever given a chance. In the epilogue too, he worries about being in the vicious circle of consumerism explaining his village life. His childhood at village gave him a good grounding for his whole life.

This book gave me an outlook to the work that happens behind the camera.  Be it about Foley recording or the kind of mics  that are used for various purposes. Now, I’m more conscious about the sound in the movies I watch and, it’s sad how many people’s work is still under the shadows of people who are only shown on screen.. Every artist should be acknowledged for his work. At least people who are under spotlight should keep sharing about people who strive to make a picture whatever it is.


There are many instances I was overwhelmed by his sadness, happiness, confusion.  He made a point where his acknowledgement is due. He acknowledged people who helped him at times when he was in need of all help. Be it Jeji Bai, who cooked for him or the Bai, who washed and ironed clothes for him. I loved the act of acknowledging all the people who helped me to be wherever he is.

His clarity of thought towards  work, cinema and life is worth learning from his life experiences.  He writes, “ What makes me feel emotional is my own intensity of work.”

“When we see something over and over again, it might soften the edge of our instinctive reactions.”

“Reading and writing are much more personal and private experiences compared to cinema. A book triggers different sensations and thoughts in different readers.”

“What we proudly take to be a glamourous, rebellious attitude is nothing but a mistaken rigid pattern of thinking.”


“Here let me share with you a pearl of marital wisdom: Don’t ever try to teach your wife anything. “


It’s interesting to know about him. His evolution from college student at Villakupara to being a Pune artist. His knowledge on Art and Literature is immense. I loved knowing few facts on sound from him. He shared why everyone’s sound seems pretty in bathroom. In his own words,

“Normally, when you open your mouth and utter something you hear three kinds of sounds- the sound from the  mouth, its reflection from the surroundings, and the sound conducted through your body, or bone conduction. And we comprehend sound through two kings of hearing, The first two kinds of sound you hear with your ears and the third kind  through the whole of your body. That’s why when we hear our voice on a tape, we find it a bit  unfamiliar. The tape can’t record the sound that you hear through the bone conduction within your body.

We don’t find our recorded voice on the tape very appealing.

In the bathroom, your voice gets a bit enhanced because of the reflection  and a bit of delay and reverberation. Your voice gets a little prettier. When you hum a tune, it gets sustained.”


Learnt a lot about the procedures of sound mixing, Foley recording. Loved reading a new subject all over.

His Oscar journey is worth reading again and again.   I’m glad, I picked up this book at the exhibition sale.

Reading this book gave me a good outlook to the work that happens behind the camera.

And not to forget, K.K. Muralidharan did a decent work, without messing up the essence of text and context.

Resul Pookutty deserves the best in the world for his intensity towards life. God bless him.

Thought of the hour.

Sometimes being attached to a thought, idea and action, i forget to see what exactly i’m moving with. In the journey with the thoughts, actions, I condition myself to see everything how i wish to see. Spotless, flawless. But in real it’s not.  Sometimes, I assume i’m doing it right being too attached to identify anything worth changeable. Despite being close, i forbade the flaws as I love to be in the bubble of ‘right things’. Maybe the attachment to  an idea, cover up all the flaws it has. All I have to do is detach from it and see with a perspective from where i really want to see. It’s always good to see from the place where we really started. There lies the purpose and ‘why’

To Madhukar Bhai who wished me good all my life.

Life is fragile. Life is fragile.

He saw me working every time.

Never read my work in all the time.

His support

His wishes

Pushed me to be my best.

Life is fragile. Life is fragile.

For he knew nothing about poetry or prose

But wished me ever to write whatever my heart said.

Life is fragile. Life is fragile.

For

Now I write to be my best

But

Not by my side

Not by my sight!

He is there for me to wish me luck

To wish me to be the best

Life is fragile. Life is fragile

For I heard it. I knew it

But never realised

Life is too fragile to miss him for evermore

Life is fragile

For his breathe was brought to a halt

Life is fragile

For he never uttered. Never ushered.

Life is damn fragile!

Enfeebled him. Exasperated him.

For I wished him to be on my side

To be on my side.

But

He already crossed the side and faded out of my sight.

Leaving the fragile life!

Life is fragile.

And Life is;

Piya Tose Naina Lage- Classic

Thanks to my friend Elsa for humming only the bit, "Piya tose naina laage re". I'm finding many classics which I never acknowledged till now.  Love this classic.

Memories- Sepaktakraw

Thought of the hour- Sharing

In the act of sharing, there’s no giving, there’s no taking. We’re conditioned to look up on the act of “giving” and merely acknowledge the act of “receiving”.

 In sharing, I see both the people as receivers.  No one leaves the place without receive anything.  How beautiful is it to share. In our core views, when we inculcate the superiority of giving, we  may not enjoy the ‘joy of sharing’ and reap the benefits of sharing completely.

Conversations.

Going through the old files, a folder streaked on desktop named 'Presentations.' Title of my presentation in that folder was, 'Horrible Happy Life.' Looking at it, I could see many dots laid randomly in my life. As we can only connect the dots looking backwards, I looked backwards and started connecting the dots.

One conversation is what I cherish, celebrate it, for it gave me immense pleasure experiencing heartfelt conversations.
April 9. 2015
A 10 minute long conversation is what I cherish, for it was an influencing one, heart felt one, honest one. It was a conversation with the sweet brat, Samhita P.R

It was a long pavement a.k.a 'Lords Pitch' for it's own reasons. I was passing through, to reach court. I was wished by juniors over there. It was during end of the semester, It was common to us to know how bad one is at, to save the semester, to reach minimum 65% at least to pay condonation fee.

Starting with a casual conversation, given a little time on watch to leisure, I sat with my friend asking how interesting the life is.  Soon after we shared few thoughts on how to save the sinking 'attendance' ship, train of thoughts landed at the happiness in one's life.

She revealed then how she was planning to run away, seeking hiatus in life. Though she never did that, she really intended to do it. Such was her intention and intensity in her thoughts. I was intrigued listening to her sadness. It seemed more interesting, and we delved into a long conversation discussing about what makes us happy, what makes us sad, what do we crave for, in life? It was a heartfelt conversation. If she's reading this she'd be wondering why I'm so crazy about the one conversation among many conversations we had.  

So intrigued I was with the brat hero, That's how I call her, "hero". I penned words describing her life. That's the night when 'In between the bridge' poem was inked. So motivating was those words, "In between the bridge", it became title of my 1st novel,


I may not celebrate my birthday, but April 9th is the day I celebrate for the conversations we made, For the bond we share.

Stories on Wheels - Rainy ride

The thunders blared, signaling the rain. I looked out from the cab window and it started pouring. As the rain got started, the road got painted in red and yellow. Game of clutch, brake, and gears.

It rained and never stopped.

I was in awe of the weather gazing at the rain drops. It was hitting the glass straight. I could see the rain hitting straight to the wind shield and the wipers sweeping off the rain to clear the glass. The game of blurs and clear views. I could see the road. A beautiful sight.

As time passed, clouds did not pass. It was still pouring. We reached the city and it was drizzling by then. We were stuck in a long traffic. Plenty of time to spend on road, I listened to the Mozart for a while. Classics could not calm me for a long time. We reached halfway home in two and half hours. Halfway more to go. 

Had a good conversation with the driver. Watched random videos. Nothing helped to beat the boredom and the irritation to sit silent in the traffic.  I looked out at the roads. The roads are clogged up and wondered how the drain system could be redesigned. It needs to be replanted. Being in SUV, did not affect me much but, I could relate to the plight of the bike riders and pedestrians.

After a whale of time, I decided to walk as I realized I am never going to wade traffic through drive.

I began walking avoiding the main roads. Though muddy, I tried tip toeing in small roads. It was a deserted lane. I was walking focusing on the path.  A bike rider stopped questioning about my destination. ‘Hundred feet road,’ I mentioned. He offered me a ride. He was concerned about a fellow who was walking alone on the road.

I am grateful to receive kind help from everyone in this world.

I reached home after he dropped me half distance. In the muddy pants, I was grateful for the great experience I had. Glad I decided to walk rather than sulking at the cab.