shoonya sampadane

Times Times Phishhh...............

2008-10-21T15:08:00.002+05:30

Whoever you are (and if u happen to be a reader of ToI then great)- if you are staring at this piece then for heaven's sake click on the following link.

http://www.theory.tifr.res.in/~mukhi/Misc/dear-toi.html

Please please please....do let me know what u think of it!

These old lives are a pain in the ass

2008-10-21T14:14:00.002+05:30

Lear relinquished his kingdom but,

not the kingship!

Ssssss...too hot...

2007-10-01T20:36:00.000+05:30

A Tug-of-Four

2007-10-01T20:33:00.000+05:30

Plz suggest a title...

2007-10-01T20:29:00.000+05:30

A Million Dollar pic

2007-09-04T20:42:00.000+05:30

Kavi We(l)ds Pranesh

2007-09-04T20:32:00.000+05:30

Kavita Sasi Menon aka Kavi aka Kavi Di - to me just Dudi (a vague antonym of Dude) laughing her way to a new life with Pranesh. The wedding was a spectacle yet simple. Our girl, as usual, was all smiles (should I say laughs?!) throughout in contrast to a dignified Pranesh.

Dudi, you two make a nice pair. Here is Samudaya wishing you both a very happy and contented married life.

Happy Welding!

The jinxed city and twin blasts

2007-08-29T12:22:00.000+05:30

My dear city has yet again been rocked. Twin blasts ripped through two very important eating joints evicting lives, charring bodies and scaring the hearts of Hyderabadis.

Neither blasts nor riots are new to the nawabi city. Ruled by the Nizams, Hyderabad, for centuries, has been the centre for music, arts, trade, revolution and more notably communal disharmony. A land that rose in arms against the atrocious zamindari system, Hyderabad is one among the only few regions of India that were partially successful in implementing land rights. What started of and subsequently came to be known as the Telangana Arms Struggle has since then frettered out making way for a bloodier 'social movement' by the name naxalism. Yet, through these turbulant times the communal camaraderie was intact.

Spurred by the Razakars - a paramilitary force under the Nizam, in the 1930s just before independence, we see the communal fabric tearing apart slowly. The atrocities heaped by the razakars under the demonic leadership of Khasim Razvi on the non-Muslims, especially the women, left permanent scars on the population of the entire region that included parts of Karnataka.

The State of Hyderabad and subsequently Andhra Pradesh, under an independent India never got out of the communal hatered. The only difference was, our politicians had replaced the razakars.

And Hyderabad continues to suffer even in the IT-led 21st century.

The blame-game is a part of any blast package. Truth 'lies' on both sides of the finger raised.What is to be observed most in the recent blasts is the deviance in the terror plot.

My knowledge of terror in Hyderabad (produced a docu on communalism in Hyderabad) tells me that this is a very rare instance of an act of terror outside the ambit of religion. Contrast this with the blasts in the Mecca Masjid a few months back. This is also a rare incident of the new city being targeted.

Having targeted establishment outside the realm of religion, are the terrorists setting a new agenda?

The recent plot is indeed a telling statement on the changed communal dimensions of the city. It is for sure a victory of the mehnati hyderabadi - cutting across religions, that the terrorist has had to target venues outside religion. The twist in the script is even the more dangerous because, the market economy can't withstand it. Even amidst communal chaos if Hyderabad grew as a hot spot for IT and other knowledge industries the simple reason was that the new city was far off from trouble. But by targetting the beautiful Lumbini park at the junction where the twin cities meet, the terrorists have moved miles ahead in their designs of destabilising India.

Hyderabad is truly a jinxed city.

just after the showers

2007-08-20T11:02:00.000+05:30

Naxals and VK

2007-07-12T20:15:00.000+05:30

Hi,
Following is a mail, my friend Satish sent me a few days back. I am posting it as it is. I have been wanting to write about the issues discussed below. But, for reasons I haven't done so. Thought, this to be a way to start. I do not know who the author, Preetham, of this mail.
Bhadri.
________________________

Dear friends,

It is shocking that these days Kannda print media is going crazy. Sorry to say that editors start writing their pens filled with emotions and prejudice. Recently Vijaya Karnataka (VK) and hosa digantha carried a picture on Page 1 claiming it as proof to prove that Kadidal Shamanna is a naxal sympathiser (of course these papers do not attribute any difference between a naxal and a naxal sympathiser!). shockingly it was a photo taken years before when Thunga Ulisi horata was at its peak. Many, including U.R.Ananthmurthy (URA) took part in the protest rallies. In that file photo Shamanna is in a public meeting organised in a village in Malenadu. But the Vijaya Karnataka caption claims it to be a Naxal meet!

Anyone with little common sense would disapprove this claim. No banned out-fit holds its meeting in public that too with the sound system in place.

Moreover, the photograph was taken long back when there was no sign of Naxal movement in Karnataka. Then, what makes these papers carry it? Did they lack common sense or do they have taken readers for granted! This is utterly unmaking of journalism.

Those who have figured as naxal sympathisers (as listed by the GoK) may have sympathy for the causes for which the Naxals are fighting. But none of them are comfortable with the means adopted by Naxals. Nobody can comment that naxals are fighting for their welfare. If so, why should they hide in forest facing difficult to get food in heavy rains?

Think over it and don't foget non-violence is the strongest weapon, nothing can match it.

- Preetham

Gulzar and Poetry

2007-07-05T12:24:00.000+05:30

"Don't you guys feel that our thoughts are our worst enemy? But, can we imagine our lives without thoughts and if we stop thinking then what will we write, paint or sing?..." I was just pondering over this issueafter speaking to Gulzar, my favorite lyricist, at a party.

While everyone was surrounding him to get an autograph I wasstanding alone in a corner sipping ginger chai. I had met Gulza rearlier and I never thought, he would remember me. But he did cometo me and we were again arguing on the topic we left abruptly in thelast meeting – "All feelings fall in the ambit of thought. Whether for good or bad, it sucks life and keeps us on move".

Though it was sounding true I felt that thoughts are dangerous at times; they can make and mar the person's life! They suck everyone's life but a few of them like Gulzar could react with the pen.However, I find Gulzar a more sensible writer who carefully spins emotions to human understanding. Not only his lyrics but his voice has so much of depth. It speaks his whole personality. I don't know why I am mad with this guy. Probably because he very well responds to his thoughts!! Right now I am reading his Hindi poems. They are just amazing!!!

-Lakshmi.
________________________

"Dafn kardo ki mujhe saans mile,
Nabs kuch der se thami si hai".
-Gulzar

(Bury me so that I can breathe,
the pulse seems to have stopped since a while)

Dear Lux,

I envy you that you not only personally know Gulzaar Saab, but alsofor the fact that you carry out conversations with him. Lucky Lux!!!Gulzaar is in a sense the most accomplished of the modern Indian poets. His magic stretches across genres and so he is a name heard and recognised long and wide in India. Starting from film music my tryst with Gulzaar was bonded by Ghazals. I am too small a person tosay much about a towering personality that he is. A fan is always a fanatic and hence is biased while talking about his/her idol.

However I would like to add a few lines to what Lux has said. Poetry, music, painting in short art, as we see it/them is a refined product of a crude seed called the thought. And this seed in turn is theresult of a 'superior' sense called the 'feeling'. So, what starts instantaneously, without any colour, is the feeling. And what gets across as art is the total collection of such feeling/s which over aperiod of time is crafted, sculpted and given hue. This is where William Wordsworth and T.S.Elliott differ. For WW poetry per se was the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility. While TSE put poetry as a craft and compared a poet to the sculptor. A feeling is neither strong nor weak - it is value neutral and colourless. It gains all the adjectives that we people tend to heap on it only when the 'feeling' is converted into a 'thought'. Inshort 'feeling' is 'abstract' while a 'thought' is 'definite'!

Thanks Lux for inspiring me to write something close to the heart after a long long time.

-Bhadri.

(An exchange over a yahoo group during June-July 2005)

Time

2007-07-05T11:34:00.000+05:30

I believe
as days unfold
Time's comforting hand,
wipes away tears,
Time outweighs
the measure of loss,
Time mends, Time cures

Just one answer
will reaffirm my faith

How much time does Time take?

-Lakshmi Devi.

______________________

Dear Lux,

Just to say that the one above is really nice. Dear, don't get lost in the wilderness of Dehli.

Luv,

Bhadri.

Dad, I love you...

2007-07-04T19:46:00.000+05:30

Dear Pappa,

Having traversed the many ups and downs you have reached an unenviable stage in life with lots to look forward to. And you have reached 60 just as you were; say since I have known you (forget the gray hairs and an odd wrinkle).

The conviction with which you have lived is fabulous. Your outlook towards life is one that’s worth following. The unshakable principles and ethics that you have followed throughout your life is something, which we, youngsters, look up to. Your words, though sparingly heard, are resplendent with sense, meaning and love. What to say about your silence?!!

How I wish I had interacted more with you. You have led by the front and Pappa, please be there to rap us on the knuckle and guide us in the right & righteous path to peace and prosperity.

And Amma, much goes to you also for keeping us all sane and simple.

On this auspicious occasion of your sixtieth birthday I wish you the best of health, wealth and peace.

Happy Birthday, Pappa!!!

Toast!

You know what?!

2007-06-12T15:40:00.000+05:30

A bag on the right shoulder you walked with an air of confidence. Was it a question mark or confusion - on your face? It's another matter that the expression readily transformed into a huge smile quickly growing into a round of big laughter.

A flight in your steps and the rhythm in speech were testimony to your ability to dance. But, Oh girl! You mesmerise when on stage. Be it classical, light or western - the subtlety of your movements and the nuances of expression lend a distinct flair and flavour to your dance.

That's you, my Dudi!

My cabin still echoes your laughter, silent sobs and the vehement arguments. Mad or what! is a phrase I no more hear. With you is gone the charm of my cabin. It's empty in all senses.

Got a Cultural Co-ordination Committee meeting now. Got to go.

Good Luck!

Yours truly,

Dude.

The road much traversed...

2007-06-01T16:18:00.001+05:30

OM Beach, Gokarna

2007-06-01T16:13:00.000+05:30

Sunset at Malpe

2007-05-17T17:24:00.000+05:30

chiraag tum jalaao bada andhera hai...

2007-05-09T19:19:00.000+05:30

Strings

2007-05-08T18:09:00.000+05:30

Hoo-Hudugiyaru

2007-05-07T12:28:00.000+05:30

Balegaara Chennaiah Baagilige Bandihanu

2007-05-06T20:29:00.000+05:30

Rangaanveshane

2007-05-06T19:53:00.000+05:30

Mai aur meri tanhayi
aksar
ye
baatein
karte hai...

My early memories go back to the small house in Jayanagara, Mysore – the home I was born in - where we shared the compound with three other families – Puttswami, the landlord & his family, Auto Gopi & his whimsical wife Vasantha (I faintly remember their daughter as Sunitha) and Bhatt, the cook, & his family. Very much a Malgudi (an imaginary town planned by the great R.K.Narayan), Jayanagara, one of the old localities, was a hub of myriad activities with literally everyone knowing everyone by their names! The playground of my childhood, Jayanagara, remains etched in my heart.

Ranga was probably my first friend! To borrow a phrase from Raja Rao, he was neighbouring house (pakkada mane) Ranga for us all. We both were of the same age and classmates for a while. Moments spent with him remain the best. !

Be it goli (marbles) or buguri (spin top) or tikki aata (a game played with folded cigarette packs/the top side of match boxes piled within a circle and competitors trying to garner these packs by dislodging them out of the circle by throwing a flat stone) Ranga was a master. He was our lord saviour each time one of us sent the ball atop a roof playing gulli cricket with our exam carboards making for the bat. Literally a manga (monkey) Ranga could climb any facade.

From then to now there is, obviously, a sea change in what I am. I have some how managed to preserve myself from almost a lost position. Today, as I sit in my pleasant chamber with the world at my finger tips I think,

Where is Ranga? What’s he up to? Sorry! No idea...

Ranganodige adi beleda aa kshanagalu avismaraniya. Gonneburuka Ranga ootikyatadante ellandaralli hatti biduttidda. Badakalu sharirada avana kalugalige ellillada vega. Avanu oodahattidare naanu dummanna susto sustu! Kadeya barige Ranganannu sandhisiddu sumaru 1996 ralli anta nenapu. Saraswatipuradalli sikkidda. Adu goodangadiyalli. sigaretina hoge suruli-suruli bidutta nintiddava avane Ranga. Of course, naanalli hodaddu gutkha kollalikke. Avattu sakhat harate hodedidda. "Diploma course madtidini sunilaa. Nodtiru, innerede varshadalli duddu-duddu...", attyutsaahadinda matanadidda.

Aamele nannade jeevana 'kati patang'. Dari tappida jeevanavannu sari hadiyatta taruvudaralli saku-bekaaytu. Iiga Pai dhanigala international city Manipaladalli kulitu vishwadaadyanta chaduriruva nanna geleya-gelatiyar patte hachchuva hara saahasakke aniyaagiddene. Avarell IT mandi sikkaru, adre nanna Ranga?!!!

choti si ye duniya
pehachane raaste hai
tum kabhi to miloge
kahin to miloge
to poochenge haal...