The 49th post

Dear friends and followers, there are totally 54 posts in this blog now. 3 of them written by my friend Suresh (aka Subi), and 2 posts that have no real content. So, practically this is my 49th post. 49 posts in about 3 years is not a big achievement at all, but it is a good point to look back and analyze a bit.

(You can click on the images below to see them better).

Subject range and stats

In these 49 posts, I have attempted travelogues, humor, suspense, romance, poems, eco-gyan, movie reviews, personal musings and even history based fiction. Some of these posts received wide attention and a few of them did not gain any attention at all.

Though I have tried to balance between Thamizh and English, number-wise, there are more posts in English. For a good number of my readers Thamizh was not the second language in school and so they have trouble reading Thamizh. I had to retain their readership!! Plus, my humor is contrived - except in a couple of posts that I wrote immediately after reading "Three men in a boat". The contrived humor works out better in English (Of course, you may argue that it doesn't work out anyways).

I have not ventured into any social issues and 'should-be-discussing' topics. That would require assessing all sides of such issues and being able to come to a conclusion. I should be able to do it, when I have made myself knowledgeable enough.

The popular ones

"Kaadhalagikk kasindhurugi" has received the maximum number of page views. I myself have read it many times. Even if my own page views are subtracted, I think it would still top the list.


Going by the number of comments (after subtracting my own comments), the top 3 are:

Busy for nothing (13 comments) - Some of these were greetings and not comments on the post.

Love and my first blabbering post (13 comments) - This was my first major success.

Kaadhalgikk kasindhuriugi (11 comments)

My picks

I have a special liking for the 3 posts below. They have unearthed old memories for some of the readers and helped them relive those cherished moments:

The one on dad's retirement

Yeh tumhari meri baathein

Venu Lane - Biodiversity hot spot

Traffic inflow and stats

I don't consider myself a good writer (not after reading posts by Seralathan (serious writing) and Jaya Madhavan (humor)). Further, I write mostly about what I have been through, what I think, what I want to be. When there is so much of "I", my writing may be of interest only to my close friends. So, I have some hesitation in publicizing my blog.

To begin with, most of my readers were my close friends, then it extended to a few co-workers. Only a very few followers are strangers to me. Thus, my readers circle is very small. A small number of people have dropped in, to read just one or two posts.

Some friends have helped to extend the readership by forwarding links through mails and facebook. I was surprised to see traffic flowing in from countries like Russia and Ukraine where I have no friends (unless Veerabahu was ever posted there for one or more of his frequent foreign assignments).

I have some traffic flowing in through Seralathan's books review blog. That may be natural because, some people who know him are likely to have known me as well. But, I was surprised to see traffic flowing in via talesofthewanderlust (Madan) and some-sensible-nonsenses (Divya). I should thank Seral, Madan and Divya for extending the readership of my blog by listing it in the list of blogs they follow.

Some traffic comes in accidentally too. Have a look at some of the key words that lead people to my blog:

Visitors trend:

I used to receive comments from many friends. Marriage and parenthood has made some of them busy (that is not a complaint :) ). It is a pleasant surprise when some of them comment after a big gap, that gives me assurance that they still visit my blog.

Anyways, not all of my readers leave comments in the blog itself. For various reasons, some friends talk to me over phone, some of them mail their comments and some give feedback when they meet me. Some of them share their own experiences and memoirs with me. Interestingly, there are some good writers among them, but they do not maintain a blog or are inconsistent. I have tried encouraging them to write as that is one way to get better - that and reading more.

I have also got a few good critics who pat me when I write well, tell me when I could have done better and advise me even on the font size.

Looking at the stats, the page views seem to be picking up in 2012.

Overall, I am pleased with how it's going. A couple of friends have suggested that my writing is going to the next level. That is definitely encouraging. Thanks for the continuing support folks. I love you all.

The break

The reason for this 'looking back' analysis even before reaching the 50th post is because I plan to take a mini-break giving myself some time to prepare for the exams (2oth May). Because, once I plan to write on something, it begins to occupy a corner in the mind and creates restlessness. Sometimes, many pieces run at the back of the mind at the same time. That is an unwanted luxury with exams around.

A compelling reason may arise pushing me to change my mind in a hurry and break the break as well. The 50st post might not be far away. Hopefully, Sachin would have scored his 100th hundred by then!

My recent obsession - March 2010

I have already written a post under this title in 2009. So, this one is titled "march 2010".

1. "Vinnaithandi Varuvaya" album - Everyone said the songs were good. I had been visiting "Music World" almost every night that I came from office by 9. Those guys never had it in stock (Dude..why dont you reserve a copy for me!!). Finally, I got it from a different shop on a weekend. On the first hearing, I was disappointed - especially with the lyrics. But eventually...got addicted to the album. As Veeru put it, first 'Aromale' sounded the best, then "Kannukkul"...now "Mannippaya"..Rahman is a genius. All movies for which he composes should be translated in English just to compete at Oscars.

2. Shopping - I have been on a shopping spree ever since I landed in Coimbatore. Had to buy new clothes, shoes..lot of books and DVDs. Using my credit card to the fullest extent..

3. IPL 2010. I thought I would never have any interest in Cricket again. Per Seshu and Srikk's advice, I retired from cricket :) - even from watching it. But we have a fun game at office, where we predict the winner of a match and get points. Just for the sake of it, I have been following the scores....not to the extent of knowing who hit how many sixers, like I used to before.

4. Weekend jobs. Wondering what this is? We have been having some problems with our application jobs that run during the weekend. Since it is a new team, I am having to get involved every week...(once I was in the movie hall attending a conference call!!).

5. Commitment worries - My mom is in the look out for brides. After all these years, I still am worried about getting committed.

6. The Spiritual self - a perennial obesession this is. A recent visit to Isha yoga ashram to visit Suren and Anitha has rekindled my spiritual exploration. (Not to be confused with visting temples, reciting mantras, fasting and worshipping an idol). This is more on the lines of being in harmony with nature.

7. Bikes - I have never been the macho kind that knows about every bike in market..what's the CC and what's the mileage. I have been wanting to buy one and have been reading some reviews and noticing every bike that passes by. Have shortlisted Honda Shine, Passion Pro and Discover. Mostly, will go for Pro..just for the looks.

8. The mountain view from office campus - I am yet to find the name of this mountain. It is on the edge of the horizon as seen from office. There is so much mist in the locality that, the mountain is not always visible. On some days it is visible and some days it is not. Infact for the first 2 or 3 days, I didnot even know that it existed. One morning I was surprised to see that there was a mountain right in front of the canteen(at some distance ofcourse)...it was like how suddenly a mountain pops up in fantasy movies. From then on, I make it a point to see if the mountain is visible that day or not.

9. Food outlets - I have been experimenting the 'Economy' category food joints around Gandhipuram(CBE). They are all good - except for one. My picks are Anadha's and Arya.

10. IPod - Recently I asked my friend Ananth to delete everything from my ipod and load with the ones in his. It has a good collection now including some books. I liked one chapter in "The natural mind". Rest of the book was boring. Yet to listen to the other books. Great thing about Ananth's collection was that it had "Rock On" and "Delhi-6". After Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, all time favorites are "Rehna Tu" and "Yeh Tumahari Meri Bathein"....and "Wicked Games" (purchased from Apple Store - courtesy Siva).

11. There's a 11th one too. I used not to give a single rupee to healthy beggars under the pretext not to encourage lazy men/women. I realized lately that I myself havent contributed a minute for world peace or quantum physics inspite of having no trouble with education or opportunity. So, I am always on the look out for beggars - especially after dinner (ha...ha..roll drums)!

My recent obsessions

After watching Jodha Akbhar, I spent the next 3 to 4 hours surfing the net about Akbar, Mughal History and such. When someone told me about how Vaishnavites don't prefer worshiping Lord Shiva, I spent the next one week or so, reading about Shiva and what Hindu Mythology says about him. I am not talking about just academic research....to quote another example, until recently, I listened to 'Sindbad the Sailor' from movie 'Rock On', almost every night.
Do most of you go from obsessions to obsessions, like me? That's probably a gene that we carry from our great grand parents - the monkeys.

Anyway, here are some of my recent obsessions:

1. Firefox - I don't remember what prompted me to install Firefox...probably, my friend Vinayak's propaganda :). It's been sometime now. But I generally switch between Firefox and IE. For the past 1 or 2 days I have been exploring the features in Firefox. I have been trying different skins. "Mozilla Firefox" skin is the one I am using currently. Unfortunately, I have to use IE in my office laptop.

2. Stumble Upon - While hunting Firefox, I stumbled upon 'Stumble Upon'. I created an account and chose some of my favorite search topics. Every time I click on 'Stumble!' button, it shows me a website relevant to my favorite topics. The last one I hit was a site on 'Buddhism'. Haven't explored much.

3. Theology - Well, this has been a permanent obsession. I am a non-believer - yes....but I like to read about the philosophies and mythologies of different religions. (I am the second kind that Mel Gibson describes in 'Signs').

4. 15th Lok Sabha in India - A couple of bitter experiences in college created a distaste in me for politics. My roomie Siva, who is my window to current affairs, gave me updates on the Lok Sabha election results.....and the Manmohan magnet pulled me towards NDTV and CNN IBN. I have been reading positive comments about Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah and generally about luring youth towards politics. Hoping for good governance in the next 5 years. (For those of you who think I am a communist, 'Equality' and 'Secularism' are not principles of communism alone :) )

5. Animation movies - I have watched a series of animation movies over the last 3 months (Antz, A Bug's Life, Madagascar, Lion King 1.5, Wall-E and 2 or 3 more). The best thing I like about animation movies is the philosophy most of them carry (Eg: Secret Ingredient in Kungfu Panda) and the intelligent dialogues (Eg: from 'Madagascar' - Alex (Lion) to Marty (Zebra) - "You know your black and white stripes? They cancel each other out! You are a nothing"

6. Ye tumhari meri baatein - Song from Rock On. This is my anthem now. The lyrics are simple and the music is soothing. In the comments section of this blog, someone has tried to translate the song line by line: http://pritiahuja.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/song-on-my-mind-3/

7. Kaakkaichiraginile Nadhalala - Poem by Bharathiar. He sees and feels God in feather, grass and fire. God is everywhere!! Scientifically speaking: http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post_31.html

8. 'Blue Night' - MLTR. Romantic lyrics and a cool video.

9. http://vadakaraivelan.blogspot.com - he writes well, in simple Thamizh about day to day topics and has a lot of fan following.

I wanted to make it 10, but couldnt think of any recent obessesions to add. So, there ends my obsession to write at least 10 in every list :)

Yellow Wood

When my father made a stubborn decision that I should go to a different school for my 11th and 12th grade classes, I still think, that the only thing in his mind was that I should get a better score to be able to enter a top rated college for my "Engineering" (That was my decision versus his "Medicine") . It turned out to be a good decision, not because I got a good score but because, the new environment made me a better individual fit enough to compete in the struggle for existence. Being amongst the new crowd, re-engineered almost everything about myself. If I removed those two years from my life, I might not have walked out of college with a job in hand.

When I look back, that's the last time I remember him supporting the bicycle from behind. probably he knew that it was time for me to ride it by myself and may be fall a few times if that is what it takes to learn bicycling. Of course he has been there to guide on few occassions, but he let me make all the decisions in personal life or career thereafter.

It hasnt been easy taking decisions. Especially, with what they call "the quarter-life" crisis. It isn't just two roads that diverge in the yellow wood. Every road taken diverges, triverges and more often multi-verges. It may have been possible for Robert Frost to always take the one less trodden by. But I have very rarely taken the one less trodden. Sooner or later, I have always taken the path that many took. At the best, I try to wear a different shoe....and has that made any difference? You know, I know, 'No' :)

Decision making is a subject that I keep thinking about often. Obviously, I have written about it before, in the pre-blog days. I decided to write again now.

Scientifically, it is greatly amusing that nerves across the body use chemical and electrical synapses to communicate and thereby simulate a certain action by the body. Not all reactions happen on the fly! Some actions are based on past experiences. So, the nerves have to first identify peas in the plate, then search the folder "past signal repository" on "eating peas" and send back signal to my hand, eyes, tongue, nose and mouth - "Don't eat. Roger", then the hand has to send "Copy that. Roger". Sometimes it has to apply over-rides and say "peas prepared by friend with love. Applying override. Breach recommendation. Roger".

Now think of this - the signals about aversion towards peas is supposedly on the left side of the brain and the emotional operations of the brain are on the right side. So, everytime my eyes sense peas, the left brain has to generate orders which then are reviewed by the right brain to see if any over-rides need to be applied. What complex machine am I? Well...those of you who just thought about "God", had one pulse sent down from right brain. And those of us who just thought about "corpus callosum" had one pulse sent down from left brain....and then those of you who thought both - dont worry, you can survive on this most trodden road and do not have to take "left" or "right" in the next road and I am not going to influence you take "left" :)

Suresh, my close buddy, once said - "This is happening to me because I made a decision a while ago, but I dont know which one". I have often thought, how deep that statement is. Every decision made is interleaved with another, causing all the happiness and disappointments in life. Every decision small/big has butterfly effects that are small/big. The decisions could be good or bad. What is good for one could be bad for another. What is good for one could be bad if taken two days later. What is good for one in US could be bad for the same one if he/she were in India.
But, it is decisions that run this world. One cannot run away from decisions.

So, what is it that one should consider while making decisions? Thoughts???? If anyone wants to write on this elaborately, let me know, I will be very happy to send you an invite to be an author in my blog.

I dont know the answer to this question, but I have decided to try to come up with something within the next 8 weeks.

If this post was written by someone else, and that person were to end it right here, I would feel like kicking him/her. I am ready for the kicks - keep them coming....!

(Part II - http://alpha-beta-blogma.blogspot.com/2009/06/yellow-wood-ii.html)

The evolution of an aspiring writer

No marks for guessing that the aspiring writer is me. I am not a sensation or a rage, but if I dont write about my evolution in my blog, poor me, who will?

'Romance' is twice removed from reality. Not sure who owns the patent for that, but the one who told me was my English teacher in 8th grade. I realize that better as I start seeing grey hairs in my side burns.

My first attempt at poem, that I recall, was a political satire (trust me :)) and it was about Harshad Metha when I was in 5th or 6th grade.

Harshad Metha
ஒரு தாத்தா
அவருக்கு இவ்வளவு பெரிய சொத்தா?

I followed that up with a variety of 'angry young man' poems. Most of them were short and digged at the evils of the society - though I didnt even have the maturity to comprehend them.

Some of them were advisory ones with themes like 'stay united'.

I remember that my first attempt at a nature poem was in 10th or 11th grade. It was a conscious effort to write a nature poem....it described a misty morning scene and ended indicating that it was a dream. I intentionally made some practical mistakes since it was a dream (how intelligent and how evolved?!!).

Then came Mr.Orator who needed short punch lines. But then, I had a serious of failure attempts at competitions and did not get my well-written 2 page long poem published in the school magazine. When I look back, I admit that it was not good, but not as pathetic as the ones that emptily sang the school's praise and made it to the magazine.

Then the romance bug bit me. I really got better at love poems with the help of androgens and adrenalin, inspired by John Keats, Khalil Gibran and ofcourse a pretty face in the class(the last time I heard, the girl was to marry a doctor. Hearty wishes!!). The angry young man used to show up now and then (mostly to support Mr.Orator) , inspired by Abdul Rahman, Vairamuthu and the numerous communist writers in "Thamarai" magazine. (Pause - my first inspiration to write poems is my cousin Siva).

I got better after reading some quality books. I started crafting my poems rather than just writing them. They became crisper. College life was successful, compensating for the school experience. I won competitions, I think mainly because there were only few who could write better....and most of the time they were in the panel of judges. Got lucky. And college, obvioulsy was the most romantic period too. Angry young man - still there.

Chennai - early days in Cognizant was the golden period for love poems. Numerous forwards, and many stereo type forwarded "poems(!)", lured me towards non-fiction. I was fairly successful with both, earning some admirers. In this phase, both nature and technology played a vital role in promoting my poems. Nature - Chennai Beach. Technology - Free SMS.

Did not take long for reality to show its grave face....that with may be the taste of money, slowly saw the angry young man off...atleast in poems. Then came the quarter life crisis (which, by the way, still continues). Higher studies? Shift in job? Technical/management? Business? Too many decisions to make and Mr.Romance became a overburden. That was a real difficult phase......to have decided to concentrate on career and to give up the longest lasting 'object of desire(shortly, OOD)' (it became easier later for a different reason). By this time, most of the 'admirers network', got transferred to the western world. Gentle Men - please welcome 'dry period'.

One thing I am proud about though is that, there has been only one sad poem till now....and that too was before I got inspired by Bharathi (Seems, he did not write a single sad poem in his life).

Incomes a renewed college friendship, enquiring about my poems. Well....fresh inspiration. No OOD, Angry Y man is lost and had grown out of the "heart-throb" shell.....all doors for 'removing reality twice' closed. This stage in my life is called : "Becoming wordsworth - the nature poet". The withering of leaf, branching rain drops on bus window, street lights on highway, smell of idli from next compartment, chennai traffic, stagnated rain water - everything had a poem in it. This was a greater step in the evolution process. There was no personal or social influence.

Then came the career move, that brought me to the other side of the prime meridian and there has not been much inspiration.....and I have begun to appreciate reality too much that, it doesnt even please the ego when admired, unless the appreciation comes from a very close friend.

That pretty much brings us to Dec 27th, 2008. This could be the most meaningful stage in life.I received an email from Geetha this morning that, my writing has become more beautiful now. That may be means, she is becoming old too :). She has been audience to my writing since post-school days.....well, that email is the inspiration for this post.

Blogman begins

Hey...hi!!

Months after creating this blog space, on this Christams night, I finally decided to write something and leave my bit or may be some bytes in the cyber world. Incidentally, it happens to be the birthday of one of my best friends (yeah...he too is, but I am not talking about Christ here), who has in a way, inspired me to start blogging. So, thanks to Ramprabu alias Rampi.

It's been 26 years and 3 months since I started my insignificant existence in this world and about 6 years since I heard about the concept of blogging. So, let me start with why I have chosen the night of December 25th......

1. It is holiday season and my friends have all flown to Florida
2. I have a lot of work which I better start tomorrow morning and I wanted to do something as a filler till I fall asleep
3. I have watched 3 movies since last night and not in a mood for one more now
4. I had my immune system tested recently and got to sleep a lot because of tiredness and medication with a lot of mixed and badly edited confusing dreams......which has nothing to do with the 'Why Dec 25' list....but I thought of anyway putting that point, so that some people will enquire about that if not about my first blog post
5. Most importantly, there's a lot of people, writing a lot ranging from 'my camera is the best' till 'how to make bread omlette'. So, I dont want someone to tell me after a year, 'What!!! you dont have a blog? In which world are you?'....something like that happened in circa 1998 AD when someone said "What!! You dont have an email id?".

hold on guys, let me first click on the "publish post" button, before it becomes Dec 26th. I will be back.