Glory Be To The Patriots

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose
To the Britishers , he gave a memorable dose

No one can forget the brave Bhagat Singh
In the British Assembly did he make an explosive ding

Fight did she like a tigress
Laxmibai , never willing to give up her fortress

When the Kakori conspiracy dawns in our heads
Can we forget Bismil and Ashfaque's escapades

He carried a name that meant free
Chandrashekhar Azad  the warrior with a pedigree

Oh! words may not suffice in their admirations
Glory be to the Patriots , the truly really Indians

Career ka Choice – Aise hi some bakwaass

“Arun , you should write an article on our school bulletin board” , so said Ms Pratibha as she was going though his English essay . Arun was in class 8^th and was a decently good student. He was fairly good in all subjects but English was his favorite and he was also the favorite of Pratibha Ma’am. Arun un ladkon mein thaa jo ki class mein chup chip kar baithte hain aur answers dene mein bhi katrate hain. Aise bachche lead a life of oblivion. But Pratibha Ma’am tried her best to involve the back benchers of her class always . Do you know one thing , in most of the schools , for recitation and debates always the winners are kept giving chances to participate , but Ma’am was different . She pulled students from the back benches and made them participate giving them all the motivation that they could do . Isi tarah ek baar assembly ke presentation mein hamare class se Zakir gave the welcome speech. Who would have thought Zakir had an hidden orator in him  , but he stunned everybody by doing an excellent job. If only the winners are encouraged , the others could never be getting opportunities.

Wapas Arun ke jeevan mein aate hain .Arun was now in the 10^th standard and he was doing fairly well . Ghar mein discussions had started on what could be Arun career choice in the 11^th standard . Papa was pretty sure he had to follow his brothers foot steps . Arun ka bada bhai Engr kar raha tha. Gaurav , Arun’s brother was doing well in his engineering and Arun was always compared with Gaurav.

Arun , was clueless about his career and was going by his father’s wishes. He had a small intention to take up humanities/arts subjects par in sab subjects ka kahaan scope hota thaa. At least . Arun’s family believed that Arts was for students with lower marks.

Jaisa ki bhedchaal ka trend thaa hi , Arun took up maths in his 11^th and started preparing for engineering competitive exams . Kahin na kahin he had doubts about his caliber in Maths and Physics but he was hoping to work hard and cover it up. He prepared for all the exams and somehow managed to scrape through in one of the exams and joined for an engineering course in a fairly decent college. There were the best of the techie students from all over the country who had joined the college and it was just a matter of time before Arun realized that Engrr was not his cup of tea . He never had the technical flair in him . He was rattofying the theorems and equations and passing through the semester exams . The concepts were , though , never clear to him . But he had to keep up his Papa’s faith so he kept trying as much as he can to get good marks.

He completed engineering and the job hunting started . The campus selections could never accommodate him as he always failed to get into the cut-off list. After completing the course as the core engineering line was not offering any career opportunities for him , he decided , again following the bhedchaal to do a computer course and join a computer course which was a crash course of all the languages in a span of 6 months. With no previous exposure to computers and programming , Arun struggled there as well , kisi tarah complete kiya course.

Aakhir job mila and his career set off.  Aaj its been quite a long while and Arun theek hi kar raha hai apne career mein par dil se he was not very happy . He always felt that he was not doing what he would have wanted to do . But kya karta ,  there is not re-wind button in life.

Yahaan pe the question is not the wrong choice of  career by Arun , the question is , he was equally under confident about making a career in Arts/Humanities. Saala aapko pata hai hi nahin aap kisme achche hain tho aap kya karenge . Kya aisa koi aptitude test hai  jisse pata chale ki what stream one should take up after 10^th. Sab log bhed chaal ko hi follow kar rahe hain. Kisi mein itna guts hain hi nahin ki apna kuch soche . Agar Madhavan from 3 Idiots left his engineering career to take up wild life photography , why cant we? Babu.. Madhavan had that flair for photography , par aap mein aisa kaunsa hunar hai , pehle usko samajhiye .  Ab is story ke Arun ko hi leejiye , he was clueless ki who kya karen. Papa ke nasihat mein chalo career tho banaya even though not something of his interest , Apne chakkar mein shayad kahin ka nahin rehta.

So , how many of us can actually understand the skills and abilities of our children and groom them in that direction giving them the needed confidence booster that they would excel in it even if they are very average. 

Batao bhai log hawa mein hi baat karte hain , sacchai se rubaru tho hoyiye… Try helping your children  choose  there career wisely so that they don’t have to regret the decisions like Arun…..

Uncertainties of Life

Prashant was very happy that day . It was his first day at work . He was among luckier few  among his friends who had made it to a this MNC through campus placement .  He was very proudly flaunting his identity card. No wonder , his dad was so very happy that his only son had settled in life. Prashant’s father , Mr Ramesh was a school teacher and his mother was a home maker. Prashant was in the seventh.

Only an year in the job , Prashant got an overseas assignment and was off  to London  for a project work. He went on to stay there for 6 months and in the process made good money .  Back in India , he bought a car for his Dad . This was just what he had dreamt of while studying in the engineering college.

As more years passed by , Prashant  got married to Alka .Alka was a typical gharelu bahu and very soon won the hearts of Prashant’s parents.  In two years time , Prashant and Alka were blessed with a baby girl. They had named her Samridhi . Samridhi brought all the joy and happiness into their family . Life was going perfectly and they  would not have asked for more.

When Samridhi was 5 years old , she had a  vomiting tendency . The doctor was consulted who gave some medicines . But the vomiting continued and the family then became worried . A senior specialist doctor was consulted who suggested some tests.

When the test results came , the world came shattering down on Prashant and Alka . Their sweet angel was diagnosed of cancer in her abdomen and it was in the final stage.  They could never imagine that God could be so unkind on this little child. Now , the doctor allayed the fears of Prashant by telling him that modern medicine had cure for everything and that he(the doctor) would leave no stone unturned to save Samridhi.

The treatment started and so did the expenses . Soon , Ramesh was broke and all his savings, including his father’s , were spent on the medicines and chemotherapy. The good news , however was , Samridhi was showing good signs of recovery and the chemo session were doing wonders.

His company , decided to start a charity drive to collect money for Samridhi’s treatment . The staffs and colleagues of Prashant contributed generously and a sum of 5 lakhs was collected from the company. Donations were also pouring in from other companies and Facebook was also used to spread this fund collection drive.

Now , just sit back and think . How many of us actually contribute when such a drive happens , some of us don’t do it as we are least bothered and others doubt the genuineness of such drives. No doubt , there do exist lots of fake collection drives. But , please imagine that Samridhi could be your daughter , sister , mother and just think of people ignoring you.

We spend 1000s of Rs on liquor, throwing parties but we think several times before donating for a noble cause. A small amount can save somebody’s life. Par is tarah ke cause ke liye in reality very few come forward , this is a fact . Bas apna family khush rahe , to hell with the rest of the world . Guys , please understand that aaj kal  nobody is being spared , we are hearing so many cases of cancers , kidney failures and what not , All of these require very expensive treatment and even the most well-to-do person might become a bankrupt in no time.

My request to you guys is , kuch tho charity mein involve hua karen brothers and sisters. Nobody should be forced into this but it should be voluntary. Bhai , God has been so kind that our friends and relatives are hale and hearty and the best way to thank God is to help those in need of such financial assistance.

The best place to start this in the organization you work . Set up a charity program , have people contribute their mite to this . Make sure to keep a high level of transparency in terms of the amount collected and the organization which is intended to be supported.

Is tarah ke kai articles are published on FB and people hardly bother . But , Please bear  in mind that life is so uncertain and nobody is spared .

God Bless everybody with long and HEALTHY life.

Man Proposes , God Disposes

Hema tells me that I keep referring to the the God Willing or Bhagwan Ne Chaha Tho or Deivam Sahayichal.She in fact tells me on a good note that she too has started using such phrases in her references.

I got into this habit because of my association with Arabs who use the phrase Inshallah which meants (If God Desires...).This is a very common reference in Dubai.Life is so uncertain and you dont know what is in store for you the very next moment of your life.Nothing moves without the consent of the all powerful.

We might have observed that even when we plan everything meticulously , they just dont work out for us.The thing to understand here is that the almighty best knows whats best for us and nothing less than that comes to us.

It might appear cliched , however when you miss out on something , be assured that there is something better in store for you.

As someone as very aptly said , Man Proposes , God Disposes , how true it is.

All mothers!! my shashtanga namaskarams

On 9-Mar-10 , Hema and her Amma had visited Dr Kumar where he said that there is a possibility of the delivery happening in any of the coming days and it looked like being a normal delivery(though there could be exceptions).Dr Kumar asked Hema to go back home and come back to get admitted in case she gets any pain or labor sensation.Until then things were very normal for her and both of them(Hema and her mother)came back home.

Towards the evening she had a slight pain in the lower abdomen which she told me when I made the usual call in the evening.I was in Palakkad then.My amma was very anxious to know the status and kept asking me to call Mumbai to get the latest update.Later Hema called up Amma to inform that they were planning to get admitted to the nursing home just to make sure that if the pain aggravates , the doctor would be around.

As soon as we heard this , my Amma had a small panic.The nakshatram at that time was Pooradam and it was to be around till evening of the next day.Though we all claim to not to believe in the good and bad effects of nakshatrams , Amma was very worried about the nakshatram of the baby being Pooradam.Now , this is out of our hands and if destiny has it , the baby would be born in Pooradam.My Appa consoled us saying that we should not be worried about things beyond our control and pray for the normal delivery and good health of the baby arriving.Also , there are some parihara poojas to minimize and nullify the effects of the nakshtrams

The whole night passed with Hema and her Amma in the hospital and we (me , my Amma and Appa) in Palakkad.In the meantime , I booked the ticket to Mumbai from Coimbatore to reach there the next day i.e. 10th –Mar-10 in the evening.I sent the details of the ticket and the arrival time in Mumbai.Hema promptly collected the details(while still in the hospital) and passed it to Shriram who was going to come to pick me up from the airport.

The dawn came and still Hema was in the hospital.As there wasn’t any more symptoms of labor appearing , Dr Kumar and Mrs Kumar advised them to go home and come back later in the evening.

I reached Mumbai in the evening and Shriram had come to pick me up.As the distance from Mumbai airport to Dombivili is fairly long and also with the traffic at its peak , Shriram has brought some snacks for me to have it during our journey home.Hema had given strict instructions to Shriram to carry water , pokkodam and chips for me(all this she did while she was under big discomfort with the baby ready to come anytime).We as husbands can never think about the welfare of our spouses as they do.There could be exceptions but this is the general attitude.

I reached home by around 8:30 in the evening and dinner was ready for me.We were supposed to leave for the hospital immediately after my dinner.Geeta mami (as always) has made some very tasty sabji and roti for me under some very strict directions from Hema.Hema (though very weak by then) was running around with me while I washed my face , sat for the dinner and quickly finished it.

We reached hospital and the doctor said that they will wait till the next day and if there is no labor sensation , they would give the pain inducing medicine.

We came home and as luck would have it , Hema did not have any labor sensation for the whole night.

Come 11-March and the doctor gave the pain inducing medicine .Slowly Hema started getting the pain but it was coming in small bouts.

From the morning of 11-March till the afternoon Hema was writhing in pain but as the baby was not correctly positioned , the doctor suggested Hema to keep walking within the hospital to hasten the positioning of the baby. This is probably the severest pain suffered as I could gauge from Hema’s expressions .Hema’s appa , Shriram , Gayatri and myself could only watch helplessly and keep chanting Radhekrishna , Radhekrishna to ease her suffering and make a normal delivery.All of us were chanting Radhekrishna together and praying to Guruji and Guruji Amma . We think of our Gurus and God’s only in times of adversity and if only we could chant the bhagwan nama all the time !!!!

The chanting continued amidst frequent calls from my mother asking about the status.In the meantime the doctor said that if the delay continues , they would be forced to go for the caesarian.

We kept telling Hema to continue to withstand the pain to make sure that the baby was born normally.

All this time radhekrishna nama was being chanted continuously and Hema had a small Krishna vigraham(affectionately called Kichu) which she carried with her to the hospital.

Finally the doctor took her to the labor room by around 5:30 pm and it took over 30 mins and the baby arrived at 6:08pm..

The site of the new born baby is a must watch.Dr Kumar , true to his popularity made it a normal delivery.We had lord Krishna( Dr. Kumar’s first name) delivering the baby for us and there was no scope for error .The doctor came out and said ponnu kozhandai porathirukku…..The nakshatram was Uthradam(much to the relief of my mother)

Our happiness new no bounds.It was followed by the umpteen phone calls which were made and 100s of sms’s sent informing everybody.

Among others , we spoke to Guruji and he was very happy.I too spoke to him where he suggested two names(VedaRadha and VedaPremi).

We opted for VedaRadha as one of her names.

We have named her Ananya Lakshmi aka VedaRadha..

This is how little radhu/anu came in our life.

Hema , though tired , was relieved and was very happy to see me holding the baby as a proud father!!!.

I must say , becoming a father is one of the greatest gift of nature.

I would like to thank all the mothers of the world for undergoing this intense pain for delivering all of us.My head bows down in a shashtanga namaskaram to all the mothers of the world!!!!

Guruji and Gurujiamma with all their blessing and good wishes have always been with us and would continue to be.

Our namaskarams to Guruji and Guruji Amma.

Radhekrishna ,

Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu….

My first article

Hi friends,
I am not a very keen blogger.But , off late , with so much things being done on the blog , I too decided to take a plunge into the world of blogging.

I intend to write all my thoughts , the happenings in the my life(past and present) through this blog.

God Bless All
Srinivas