Thursday, December 14, 2006

Bakkiam


This is one of my favourite kavithai. It is written by my close friend Aravind. And ofcourse this poen is written to me :)

Friday, December 01, 2006

ஒரு சேதி சொல்லணும்

வணக்கமுங்க...என் பேரு நல்லமுத்து.பொறந்தது காஞ்சிபுரம் பக்கத்துல இருக்க படப்பை. அப்பா அம்மா ரெண்டு பேருமே கூலிங்க தான். அங்கியே கட்டட வேலை பாத்துகினு இருந்தாங்க. மாரி மாமா சொல்லி தான் மெட்ராஸ் வந்தோம். பெரிய கட்டட வேலை. இப்போ தான் என்னமோ குழந்தை தொழிலாளிலாம் இருக்க கூடாதுனு சொல்றாங்க. அப்போல்லாம் அது இல்ல போலருக்கு.

என் ஒம்பது வயசிலேயே கல்லு தூக்க ஆரம்பிச்சேன்.கொஞ்ச நாள்ல சிமெண்ட் பூச கத்துகிட்டேன். காண்டிராக்டர் வேலுவுக்கு நான்னா ரொம்ப இஷ்டம். நிறைய சோறு போடுவார்.2 வருஷத்துல கட்டடம் முடிஞ்சிடுச்சு. ஆனா எங்களுக்கு திரும்பி போக மனசு வர்ல. அங்கியே பொழப்ப ஓட்டினோம்.வேலு அய்யா என்ன வேலைன்னாலும் சொல்லிவுடுவார். மத்த நேரத்துல மூட்டை தூக்குவேன்.

பக்கத்து வீட்டு ரமணி அண்ணா ,"டே ஜட்ஜ் வீடு மாத்தி போறார். சாமான்லாம் தூக்கணும்.500 ரூபா தரேன்னு சொல்லி இருக்கார். நம்மாளு 3 பேரு இருக்காங்க. ஒருத்தனுக்கு உடம்பு சரியில்ல. நீ வரியா? " னு கேட்டார். எனக்கு 100 தான் தருவாராம். அதுவே எவ்ளோ பெருசு. உடனே கிளம்பிட்டேன். ஒரு பெரிய கட்டில்.. பொணம் கனம். அப்படியே முடியாம உக்காந்துட்டேன். அப்போ தான் ரமணி அண்ணா தனியா தள்ளிகினு போய் தண்ணி கொடுத்தார். "இத குடிடா.. வலி தெரியாது"னு சொன்னார்.. ஏதோ கசாயம் மாதிரி கப்புனு அடிச்சேன். என்னமோ.. எனக்கு அது பிடிக்கலை. எப்பவாச்சும் ரமணி அண்ணா கூட்டி போவார் 'பார்'க்கு. அவ அவன் பொலம்பறது கேக்க சிரிப்பா இருக்கும்.

அப்புறம் ஒரு கட்டட வேலையப்போ தான் மல்லிகாவ பாத்தேன். மஹாலட்சுமியே தான். நல்ல பொண்ணு. கோவில்ல அமைதியா முடிஞ்சது கல்யாணம். வேலு ஐயா வாட்ச் குடுத்தார். ரமணி அண்ணாவும் மத்தவங்களும் சேந்து சைக்கிள் தந்தாங்க.

அருணா குட்டி பொறந்தவுடனே வேளச்சேரில வீடு பாத்துகிட்டோம். 'வித்யா மந்திர்' ஒரு பள்ளிகூடத்துக்கு கட்டட வேலைக்கு போனேன். அது தான் என் வாழ்க்கைல முதலும் கடைசியுமா போட பள்ளிகூடம். ஆனா அருணா குட்டிய நல்லா படிக்க வைக்கனும்னு ஆசை. படிப்பு இலவசம் தான். ஆனா மத்தத நான் தானே வாங்கி தரணும். பேனா , பாக்ஸ், லொட்டு லொசுக்குனு.. வருசத்துக்கு ஒரு 3000 வேணுமாயிடுச்சு. தினமும் 10 மணி வரைக்கும் வேளை செய்ய வேண்டியதா போச்சு.

மல்லிகாவும் உடம்பு முடியாம வேளைக்கு போறது இல்லை. அப்பப்போ ஆட்டோவ ஓட்டுவேன். தனியாவே இருந்து இருக்கலாம் போல இருந்துச்சு. ஒரு நாள் ரமணி அண்ணாவ வழில பாத்தேன். கொஞ்ச நேரத்துல துக்கம் தாங்காம அழுதுட்டேன். குடும்ப பாரம் தாங்கல. அருணா வேற வயசுக்கு வந்துட்டா. அவள கரை சேக்கணும். ஆம்பிளை நான்னு பொறுத்துகிட்டேன். என்னமோ ரமணி அண்ணாகிட்ட அழணும் போல இருந்துச்சு. அவரு என்ன பாருக்கு கூட்டி போனார். அழுட நல்லா அழுனு சொன்னார்.. அப்றாம் அடிக்கடி அவரை பாத்தேன். எப்பவுமே 'பார்'க்கு போவோம். அதுவே பழகிருச்சு. என்னை மாதிரி தினக்கூலிக்கு கஷ்டத்துக்கா பஞ்சம். குடிதான் தெய்வமா துணை இருந்துச்சு. ஆனா எனக்கு பார்ல இருக்க பிடிக்காது. நம்ம கஷ்டமே தாங்கல. இதுல வேறா மத்தவனுங்க பொலம்பல். ம்ம் .. நிம்மதியா ரோட்ல விழுந்திருவேன். தெளிஞ்சா மறுபடியும் தண்ணி.
இந்த மல்லிகா மூஞ்சிய பாக்க முடியல. எப்போ போனாலும் காசு காசுனு..

இன்னைக்கும் வழக்கம் போல டாஸ்மாக்ல அடிச்சுட்டு நம்ம சுப்பர் மார்கெட் கிட்ட வரேன். நெஞ்சுல சுருக்குனு குத்துது. உடம்பெல்லாம் வேர்க்குது. ஒரு கம்பத்துல சாஞ்சுட்டேன். போதைலா யாரையும் கூப்பிட வரலை. திடீர்னு லபக்குனு ஏதோ இழுத்த மாதிரி இருக்கு. அப்றாம் வலியே தெரியல. காத்துல மிதக்குற மாதிரி இதுவும் கிக்கா இருக்கு. இன்னைக்கு 400 மில்லி தான் போட்டேன். அய்யாயோ என் உடம்பு கீய இருக்கு நான் மேல இருக்கேனா.... இவ்ளோ சீக்கிரம் நான் செத்துட்டேனே..

யாரும் கவனிக்கலை. ஆட்டோ சுரேஷ் கிட்ட வரான். 'என்ன் அண்ணே இன்னிக்கும் தண்ணியா .." னு சிரிக்கறான். மூச்சு வரலைனு கூடவா பாக்க மாட்டான். கொஞ்சம் தள்ளிதான் ஆட்டோ நிறுத்தி இருந்தான். 2 மணி நேரமாச்சு. நான் அப்படியே தான் இருக்கேன். ஒரு 500 பேராவது என்னை பாத்து இருப்பாங்க. முகம் சுளிக்கறாங்க. ஆனா செத்துட்டேன்னு புரியலை. நான் கத்தறது எனக்கே கேக்கலை.

ஒரு பொண்ணு என் கிட்ட வரா. என்னமோ யோசிக்கிறா. ஆனா பயப்படுறா. அவளுக்கு தெரியுதோ நான் செத்துட்டது..?? ஆனா என்கிட்ட வர பயப்பட்டு சுரேஷ கூப்புடறா.. அவன் வந்து .. "ஐயோ இவரா.. எனக்கு நல்லா தெரியும்மா.. என் அண்ணா மாதிரி. கொஞ்சம் தண்ணில இருக்கார்.. எவ்ளோ தடவை வீட்ல விடறது.. அவரே போய்டுவார்.. நீ போய்வாம்மா... " .. அந்த பொண்ணு ஒரு ரெண்டு நிமிஷம் நின்னா... அப்றோம் போய்டா.. ஆனா அவளோட நினைவலைகள் என்னையே சுத்தி சுத்தி வருது. எனக்கு என்ன ஆச்சோனு யோசிக்குறா.. அந்த நினைவலைகள் மூலமா தான் உங்க கிட்ட பேசிட்டு இருக்கேன்..

இப்போ நான் என் வீட்ல இருக்கேன். மல்லிகாவும் அருணாவும் நெஞ்சுல அடிச்சு அழறாங்க.. என்னால தாங்க முடியல.. இவங்க கதி என்ன இப்போனு தெரியலை. ..ரமணி அண்ணா வரார்.. என் உடம்ப கட்டி பிடிச்சு அழறார்.. தனியா போய் 'துக்கம் தாங்கலை'னு சொல்லி 2 பாட்டில் சரக்கு அடிக்கறார்.. எல்லாருக்கும் ஒரு சேதி சொல்லணும்.. இப்போ என்னை எரிக்க போறாங்க.. நான் போகணும்..

சேதிய மட்டும் சொல்லிருங்க...

-கேள்விழி

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Nanbanuku Kathalar Dhina Vaazhthu



My Fav - Written for a friend.. Read this in Raj FM too . . .

Enga Oor Kramam



My First Kavithai Ever posted officially

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

About me in Orkut

Hi I am a simple girl with so much compex emotions. Just obsessed with futuristic thoughts now given a pause II yes a exact pause for everything. My life is now going to revolve with my parents with my thoughts always on love and happiness.

Well about me.. I am a real chatter box. Enjoying interacting with people..

Personal life:

Gone to a new home. A home blessed with happiness and ecstasy. Amma and appa to shower love and care. Would love to have all my friends to my new home spend some time with them to share more love and joy.. Surya - Jothika marriage is over. There is another marriage with so much interesting twist and turns coming up.. waiting for that..

Professional Life:

Believe me my profession life took a smooth drive right from the day i joined till today. It is cool. Can u imagine.. 5/5 in Compre, On the Spot Award, Research projects in the team, Internet facility, Wonderful teammates, An adjustable PM .. Who wont love the job. I do and they love me too for i am being with them. Would love to divert my career in open systems side but havent taken a single step about it.


Social Life:

Recently went to a meeting called "Samam Thozhilagam". I was witnessing a small revolution. More than as a dad, Senthu has proven himself to be the best man in my life. Morning when he called me to the meeting, i wasnt sure. I went for it with a half mind. But when i enter into field i have always been with myself. The most charming girl to have around.

They would call me games manager. Yes. I am well versed for the instant games and interactive games. For this my dad wants me to be there. To cheer the people. To cheer the real people.

Ofcourse i need to mention about my new venture Pankhudi. (www.pankhudi-india.org) Although given a small break for any social activities, it is one of my special zone where ill always keep myself active.

Love Life:

After lots of videograph stories over, right now it stays as a question mark. Fingers crossed i want to know whose fate is there in my hand.. It is also nice to stay single..

Friendship Life:

To accept a fact my naughtiness brought lot of friends and has left lot of friends too. I am bold to accept that i didnt have much friends to stay close. But some still stay close and dear and i cherish their friendship always. For one thing i am too happy. When i am there i see people laughing, forgetting their sorrows and enjoy at the moment. Later they remember me or not is only secondary.

I have a son (oh oh not real son)Suresh .. we are college mates and he is one of the person in my life who knows each and every bit of my life. And his name is suresh. We were like a family in our college - Appa, amma( me), second appa, son, daughter, grand daughter.. was a wonderful journey. Right now the list extends to All Pankhudi buddies ( shahz, Surya, sahal, Aruna, reema, mohan esp), colleagues (swapie, poorni, mythi, shams, maha), orkut ( see my list !!)

Relation Life:

Although Aunty was just my family friend, we are more than relatives. Her love and care towards me just melts me. Another person next to my mom is my chiti. Whenever i go to her home she cares me a lot and cooks nice nice yummy dishes.


Philosophical life:

I am a new buddy to this dimension. Umanath ( Vizhiyan) my bro - stays as my inspiration in writing field. Suddenly an writer in him bloomed. i have scribbled some in my blog and also some kavithais.Few ~ buddies are fans of my activity reports (www.pankhudi-india.org/chennai)

Monday, September 11, 2006

Life @Coimbatore - II

It turned out to be a sudden surprise that i cleared despite other preparing so well than me..

They congradulated me. We were actually roaming outside when we heard this. Immediately i had to give to treat to five of my friends..

Then fortunately or unfortunately i was the only one left alone for tomorrow. Only two of my friends were there and yes we stayed in a nightmare. there were some guys drunk and stayed just in front of us... but i was the only one to cheer our team and we had a safe night. All left me alone at morning 6 o clock itself as they had to catch the train.

It was a thrilling thing.. to stay in a city all alone with no one around. But i called jaipal uncle and seeked his help. he told me to come to his home. mentioned all the bus number and all. he told me to call his mobile number once i reach the bus stop.

I got down two stops after my destination ( without knowing ) and then only realized that i left his mobile number in a paper in my room itself. and yes his residence number was also in the paper only. the bus left me and moved on towards its destination. I was really helpless.

Somehow i would say my common sense worked. Two hours to go for interview. I went to the nearby STD booth. Searched for Abirami hotel. Called them. Informed whom i am. When jaipal uncle booked room for us, we would have given his number for communication. and yes it was done. I am now with number. Called. Met his daughter and went to the room.

It was a wonderful house with lot of room for light and air. There was a dog to welcome us. I was asked to relax. Would I? I got ready. Took my certificates from bag and left to interview. Since it was late his daughter Aruna dropped me in her bike.

It is my pleasure to specify about Aruna. She is such a sweet girl i have met.. so slim and so modern and yet very childish and mature in another dimension. Her room doesnt seem to belong to a +2 girl. there was lenin, marx telling their philosophies thru books.

I left the home carrying wishes from aunty and my certificates. hey hey people comeon u must understand that mobile, purse, lottu losuku and all is not included in the list. Yes i left them all in Aruna room itself and went to interview. See interview is such a tensy thing that people even forget their third hand ( mobile) ..

but kudos to the presence of mind of Aruna, the moment she came to know i kept everything in home, she gave me 50 Rs ( that much only she had - must have kept to have yummy chocs) ) and left.. I really amaze.. in such a moment of tension i wouldnt have even thought about it. Atleast i had certificates which was essential..

i was so really tensed that i didnt feel that i am around..

then they called me to a room where Mr. Arul was giving some training on how to attend interviews. Beleive me such last minute advises always turns to be a negative impact. But it didnt. It was tips to act in common sense. First of all he asked us all to sit in cross legs. i tried but i couldnt. then he asked few of us to come to the stage and tell about their college.

one guy told "my college is such a waste".. next a girl came " my college doesnt provide us any facility. but teachers are good" - both were so negative. So first tell about ur college,its location, its background and its vision/mission in few words. I didnt know answers to many of these. We all have been associated with an institution for four years but if we dont know its vision and mission our association with it is not complete and this showcases in some way that we are not commited by any way to it ...

and yes people cant try to escape that a small college cannot have mission/ vision and all.. please check it again. An institution must have it. This really gave a new perspective for me. My interview was planned to be at 10.00 o clock. One person came in the middle and said it is postponed to 2 o clock. With only 50 Rs in hand, i had to eat little since i have to save some money to go back to uncle home.

Yes had little food and waited for the interview. Was quite tensed. Before going to interview we have been asked to sit in another room - from there a very smart guy came called my name and left me to interview hall. there were two people. One just 2 yrs elder to me and another 40 yrs old. My interview started...

Monday, July 17, 2006

Life @Coimbatore - I

Whenever i think about Coimbatore it brings me freshness of bag full of roses...

Coimbatore has given me ample amount of Confidence, Leadership, Love

For one reason it has given me only sweet memories and the best and confident moment in my life....

My First Journey:

It started just like that. Anna University has arranged for State - Level Placement. Just in another week we had interview for TCS. First interview of life. All were in confusion and excitement. Havent booked the tickets, havent booked the rooms, no one know noone in Coimbatore. No one has prepared for interview.

We were all in same state. An untold excitement. This was the first experiment of Anna University. They have although planned well. For each college they have allocated a zone ( My college fell in Coimbatore Zone. The other two zone - Chennai and Madurai).. For each college the team sorted out the eligible candidates, the procedure etc etc.

We all started to prepare for the interviews. Gopinath took care of the booking of tickets. And I asked Jaipal Uncle(Dad's Friend) to provide some helping in booking rooms. He agreed. He booked rooms in a lodge. New experience as we stepped into the train.

We all went in group since it is comfortable to see many confused faces around us and gives us a better feeling that I am not the only one suffering. Moreover we all were friends. In the train journey we all were reading and discussing various puzzles patterns...We were the hot topic to be buzzed.. there were around 15 girls in our batch.. cool isnt...

We got down in Coimbatore junction and headed towards Abirami Lodge. Jaipal uncle was there waiting for us. We expected around 200 Rs/ day but the room was only 55/day.. We all settled in our rooms. Refreshed and started to study.. huh.. dont categorize me in that... these other girls were too interested.. what to do?? we were in third floor.. the lodge was in gandhipuram... was a wonderful sight.. 100 feet road.. Kalyan Sarees was very near...

We were too tired to look around.. Slept and got ready for the next day interview. If you expect interview to be conducted with people waiting in 30''s outside the hall you are probably wrong. there were around 1300 people with a expectation in their faces. It quites depresses anyone to see such a huge competition.

Actually it was too tired. Balagurusamy was there. But all this starving and crowd almost 80 percent were sleeping. some stupids like me were listening to what was going on. Then the TCS employees were giving a presentation on TATA. You know what there is a small movie where a guy gets up and how TATA products are useful to him etc. etc... The movie was so impressive that I wanted to work for such a company... It was infact raised the spirits of lots of people like me ..

Then we went to exam hall.. it happened about 1.5 years back.. my convolutions are not behaving the way i wanted them to.. i cant remember exactly... but the exam went fine..
we all returned back to the room since they will announce the result at 6 o clock in evening. Took a nice sleep and roamed all around my lodge. While returning back .. i heard that news...

Totally we were 32 in number from my college. I was the only one selected. Cool isn't ?? First Interview First Company First Exam.. I cleared....

Will I clear my Interview?? Have to wait and see .....

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

My Dear Terrorists....

Hi all,

Posting a mail which came as a forward for me...

Happy reading..

Dear Terrorist,

Even if you are not reading this we don't care.
Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life - killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars.

You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but everytime you were disgustingly unsuccessful.

Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai?
How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee?

If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewere, not here.We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis,Marathis,Punjabis,Bengaliies,Keralites or Tamilians.

Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt.employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKERS (Bombay-ites, if youlike)

We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this.
On the last few occassions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a singleday killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work nextday in full strength.

This time we cleared everything within a few hoursand were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order,businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch thenext train. (Yes the same train you targetted)Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospital, where most of the injuredwere admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notificationthat blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood.

The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100%, trains & buseswere packed to the brim, the crowds were back. The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigour.We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, donot dare to threaten us with your crackers.

The spirit of Mumbai is verystrong and can not be harmed.Please forward this to others. U never know, by chance it may come to hands of a terrorist in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq and he can then read this message which is specially meant for him!!!

From the people of Mumbai (Bombay) along with me !!

Divya.S

New Version of Mumbai Blast.. Heights of Optimism..

I think this is the True SPIRIT OF INDIANssssssssssssssssss

Read on…..

“STUNNED” - Mumbai Mirror.

“7 BLASTS ROCK MUMBAI”- yahoo headlines.

Which editor wrote these lines?
Which abysmal mother f@#ker had the guts to talk about my mother land, MY CITY being stunned!!! I was there. I was on the train, in the hospital and on the streets and I didn’t see Stunned. I saw Stunning…stunning acts of kindness. And nothing rocked Mumbai. No self respecting Mumbaikar can believe that. No. Its not ‘blasts rock Mumbai’ cause Mumbai rocked, man. She simply ROCKED.

Here is my story. For those who came in late…I have started working in a tutoring firm at Andheri. So it’s the night shift for me since the students are based in the States. So there I was standing at Dadar station. Waiting for the Borivili fast. She came bang on time. After the normal physical exercise routine (in other cities they call this ‘boarding a train’…we Mumbaikars know better:):):)) I got in. The train started. Next stop Bandra…Lots of people got in…some tried to get out:). After the usual round of expletives, shouting and ‘chod do na yaar…are maramari mat karo’(forget about it, man…don’t fight guys) the train started.

BOOM! My first impression was that the over head wire that supplies current to the train’s engine had snapped. There had been a flash like a yellow light and then the lights went out. People started panicking. I don’t know why but at such times I have the tendency to restore calm….a very close friend had once called this habit…tere mein kida kam nahi hain..(can’t translate this one) Neways, I roared out that people should calm down. Miraculously, they did. Someone asked for the chain to be pulled but by then the motorman had pushed the breaks. I jumped out of the train like the rest of the commuters and saw that the first class compartment ahead of us had blown up. I moved towards the compartment. People had already started pulling others out. Lots of guys had climbed the harbour line bridge that starts near Bandra station. Slowly, the injured started emerging.

The first guy whose hand I held was merely stunned. Didn’t have any money left…wallet gone I think. I gave him twenty bucks and he went his way. As I turned towards the train, I saw a guy with lots of blood on his face…thankfully none of it was his. He had temporarily lost his sense of hearing. Walked with him a lil distance. Bandra station was a stones throw away from the blown-up compartment. He recovered soon and some one took him to the station. I turned and saw four guys carrying a fifth. The injuired man was alive but i think, his hand would have to be amputated. A big guy was holding the patient's right shoulder was shouting for some one to steady the man’s head which had no support.

With nothing else to do, I stepped in. We took him to Bhaba hospital, Bandra. While the journey up till the auto rickshaw was tough the journey till the hospital was an eye opener. Carrying a 90 kilo man over the railway tracks, then over a 2 foot incline near the tracks, then over a railing and through the jam caused by the numerous autos which were ferrying patients to the hospital was tough even when four of us were carrying him. We reached the main road outside the station and got into the auto. The big saand (strong-guy) who had earlier called me for help, literally dragged a fellow who had hired the auto out and we got ourselves in. The big guy was sitting with the auto driver and I along with two others was holding the injuired man on our laps. Then the most beautiful thing happened.

The guy to my right told the one to my left to start reciting verses from the Koran and to blow on the man’s head. I think it is some Muslim prayer. The big guy said,”Oh lord! Have Mercy on this man!”. A few minutes later that injured man who was half awake all this time started saying ‘shiv shiv shiv…om namah shivay …om namah shivay.” When I think back about that moment I smile to myself. We six of us in that small auto heading towards the hospital had done it. We had defeated the terrorists. Who can say we were stunned…we won guys. We won. We defeated the terrorists’ plan by that simple act of helping a fellow INDIAN. We didn’t have to invade Pak or kill Muslims. We had won.

Of course we could have lost if the 2 muslims had walked away from the man knowing that he was Hindu but they didn’t. They continued working with me at the hospital for nearly an hour transporting bodies to the morgue, taking patients to the upper floors and providing a lil water to the other impromptu volunteers. Going towards the office after all this was over, was probably the stupidest thing I ever did but that gave me the chance to see the City become one. Guys in designer tees, shorts etc. were flooding out of their houses with water bottles. The rick I used was stopped in 4 places…two places for others to get in ( the driver lied saying we were going to parel.) and at two others, hands full of Parle-G biscuits were thrust in so that we and the thousands of others like us who had been affected by the Western railway system being shut down could have something to eat. The over crowded buses were being given food and water at some signals with people throwing biscuit packets into the bus…even good old Bourbon biscuit…yummy:):):)

All in all a lot happened yesterday but my city didn’t budge. We have been hit before, we have been hit yesterday and we will continue to get attacked. The only thing to do is to come together. Together as One. For that is what the terrorists don’t want to see. They don’t realise that the more they attack us, the closer we become. We can’t let ourselves go down so we can’t give up. You may think what I did was pretty heroic…it was may be…but I like so many others wouldn’t like to be called heroes. It feels very uncomfortable. If you want to give us a name just call us Mumbaikars. That name is all-inclusive.

Ishan I. Bhole.


(Hats off to Ishan I Bhole... Would love to meet you once for your optimistic approach.)

Let us be humans first . . .

Divya.S

Monday, July 03, 2006

How I handled him...

July -3 Night 9 o clock

After finishing my work i started to my home. I was waiting for the bus stop in Sholinganallur. It was around 9.15 that time. I was little hungry so desperately waiting for the bus. A Share auto came. But it was full the moment it stopped... So have to go in bus only.. there were around 30 people all tired... there were some north indian in the opposite shop who work in the Road construction. This is my usual place where i wait for bus everyday. Then a guy crossed me saying something. I didnt bother what it was... He must be blabbering i thought. But then i realised there was no one around me. I mean there were people in the bus stop but none near me. Then i searched where that guy is - he was standing about 3 meters from me.. looking at me.. smiling.. he looked like a typical drunkard.. u can see them everywhere in the evenings almost everyday with their own blabberings.. hmm... this guy was smiling at me..

hey i didnt understand first.. next time when i saw he twinkled eyes.. ha ha ... he is having a bad motive.. i didnt turn to see him.. after around 7 mins i just saw if he is around.. he was too too far from me. i thought he must have gone for search of another girl..

atlast the bus came. two buses together. the first bus went too front almost near him.. so i thought he must have got into the first bus and i got into the second bus.. releived i went near the conductor to get the ticket....

for few mins all the guys i saw were like him.. all have a similar faces... but then he was there... laughing as him a lion caught a deer.. i was actually scared.. but then i went near to driver and asked one man to give me seat. He got up and gave me place. But that guy came and stood near me...

just then an idea sparked. i just took my mobile. selected the ringtone option. there were different tones coming in the mobile i picked up as if someone called me..

he just bent down near me to overhear what i am talking.. that is what i wanted.. in the phone i said "yes yes my father is in police only.. oh sure ill do that.. ya he knows IG very well.. ya sure ill help you.. dont worry he will be waiting for me in bus stop.. ill tell him.. ok thanks...bye " - it was a one-sided conversation.. i just pretended as if someone called me.. the next moment i kept the mobile inside my bag the guy just went behind...

then in few mins i was not able to see around.. i just thought he left far behind.. i realised someone pushing me from behind.. a wave of fear passed over me.. then i turned.. there was a kid behind me ... holding my dress.. i smiled... then i saw the guy getting down from the bus in the next bus stop but didnt forget to give me a terror look when he got down from the bus...

later i remembered how kokila handled a guy of this kind.. just a slap from slipper.. if i meet him another time ill try the same.. he he .. i beleive he wont...

Cheers,
Divya.S

Sunday, July 02, 2006

.NET in Human Relations - Part - 1

Let me explain you what is Try- Catch Block.
Consider a typical function in .NET

Public Function CalculateSum(Byval num1 as String, Byval num2 as String) as Integer
Try
Dim number1 as Integer = CType(num1,Integer)
Dim number2 as Integer = CType(num2,Integer)
Return number1+number2
Catch formatex as Formatexception
MessageBox.Show("The Parameters provided is not a number")
Catch ex as Exception
MessageBox.Show("Cannot perform the operation. Try with another set of values")
End Try
End Function


Ok. This is a simple function where two parameters are provided as string into the function CalculateSum. This function converts this string into Integer and returns the Sum of them in Integer(Number) Format.


If we(Environment) are going to provide correct values the function is going to execute well. suppose parameter1 is given as "Divya" - Will it be possible to convert it to number. No!!


So the application will throw exception indication i dont know how to act with this kind of data please help... Exception is understood as something which is not under normal conditions. A good program must anticipate such exception and act according. Here i am catching the exception and handling it will appropriate message.


In exceptions only we can realize the significance of Try - Catch block. Try Catch block is always keen is catching any exception and handles according to the code written within it. Catch block can be specific. In the sense it can handle exceptions according to the type of exception. For example FormatException happens in the case when i try to convert a alphabetic string to integer. Here it can handle by saying "The Parameters provided is not a number".


Hence i can see that you understand the power of Catch Block. Let us not get into detail for this. Since this article is not intended to be too technical. ;-)


How this is related to human relations??
Here is goes .....


Mothers are always like a Try-Catch Block.. Whenever exceptions happen to our life they know how to handle. Our execution of life cannot be safe without Mothers because we never know what exceptions our Environment will throw on us.


I know i need not explain this anymore. I hope you set the context right.


Please pour in your comments,
Cheers,
Divya.S

Monday, June 19, 2006

Slum visit on 18th June,2006

Ok... Ill just give a glimpse of things happended this weekend.
As usual we all met at around 2 o clock in Saidapet Teachers college. We started discussing what activities to be carried that day..We initially had
Arun
Shiva
Divya
Thiagu
Mohana.

Mohana already has some prior experiences on these work so she was explaining few concepts on it..
Then that happened. It was a little pathetic event. I have explained in "Incident or Accident" -
Then
Ramya
Manoj
Karthik
Balaji
joined us...after some introduction and other fun we moved into the slum..

Last week we promised the kids to come on saturday 3 o clock.
When we entered into the slum all asked "y didnt u come akka.. we were waiting for you" - We apologized a lot.

Later we came to know that saturday all the kids wore new dress and waiting for us from 1 o clock in the place where we used to meet and have activites..So sweet on their part and so bad on our part.. :-(
But it was all only for a moment they started to come and play with us..we used to have a scout clap initially (1 2 3 1 2 3 1 .. 2 .. 3 . ).. this acts like a signal to other kids that we are starting to play..so the kids will join us...

after that we played few games... and sang few songs... last week we had 100 children and we engaged them for 2 solid hours.. this time many children were missing (all went some places...) but the enthusiasm remained in all children.. the fact i was not so effective this time is i missed my pal Hema who used to back up and also quite nervous and kind of depressed of the event mentioned in the Blog.. So it was little unmanageable..But Ramya and Balaji helped me in organising a lot.. we played "Eli -- Poonai", "Chinna paanai periya paanai". I had to engage the children for sometime .. meanwhile another half of the team was talkin with the volunteers on conducting an event called metric mela next week...

We will be having 10 stalls.. two kids will be responsible for each stall. Each stall will be responsible for a kind of metric. For example in one stall they will be having a cabbage and will enquire about the diameter of the cabbage. this would be interesting things to kids and they can also learn about metrics.. like that children will calculate the length with help of groomstick etc etc.. counting number of individual rice in a bowl etc etc...So this activity will be carried out next week Sunday and we will have regular visit on Saturday @3

Another good thing happened in this visit is that - the other side of the hand came forward came for a clap... Yes some men in the village came forward to set-up a proper structure for the children to sit and study in the tuition.. This is indeed a remarkable turn out. Thanks to Suresh and Moideen - people in the slum.. They were talking to Karthi and Balaji. They responded properly. Special thanks to them. As usual after we finished our work we all had tea there. it was a compulsion from them. they are happy in having us as their guests and give us tea on their account. Last week they gave us in Plastic cups. we told dont use plastics.. They told "we do have tumblers but dont know if u will drink in our tumblers." - Go ahead akka.. we are same... So this time we had a much relative kind treatment.. we were all made to sit in a mat .. then all were served tea.. the children didnt have to heart to leave us and go... So there were few kids with us.. :-) we had few dance and songs from the kids.. see it in manojsays.blogspot.com... All kids got the promise from us that we wont disappoint them next week... we gave all our hands to ensure it.. and then we left out from the slum... there at the end of the slum there was a kid who was playing with us now washing vessels.. she twinkled her eyes and said bye to us.. that will keep us motivated for this full weekend.. lets see what next....

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Is it a incident or accident??

It was a fine sunny day and we were sitting in the teachers college, Saidpet. We comprised of Divya,Thiagu,Arun,Shiva,Mohana. We were discussing about the activites planned for the Slum meet in another one hour. While we were discussing something about Metric Mela, there were group of guys coming towards us. They were having some crickets stumps in hand. Then one guy1 was scolding another guy2 with all sweet words in the world like [NOT MENTIONED] etc.. Anyway thanks to Anniyan for making these words familiar even with kids... Now it has become a common word like Hi Bye...
Then there was a group of guys who backed the guy2. They started to beat the "guy1".. so guy2 got the courage to beat him in the stump he had in his hands.... And others started cheering him up... "Beat him.. Kill him" wah wah what a motivational support...
So guy1 got scared and started running scared to get this beating... guy2 running behind with stump in his hands and others cheering ( as though it was a olympics running race).. Guy1 was running like a mad dog turning his head backwards seeing the progress of guy2.... this time he didnt see the Pillar awaiting his hit... YES!! HE HIT THE PILLAR WITH THE FULL MOMENTUM AND BOUNCED BACK AND FELL INTO THE GROUND...
Just a rewind.. Guy1 running without seeing what is in his front and Guy2 chasing him.. and there was huge pillar which guy1 failed to notice and just hit it hard with the full momentum and just fell down.. My hands are still shivering... All this happened in front of my eyes just less than one metre from me... Before even realising what happened the other team guys left as cooly (as if they finished a game)... Man it is life.. It is blood.. The other thing we must be proud thing we need to know about this guy2 is that after going to a particular distance he returned back towards Guy1 who was lying in the ground .. came near him... saw him.. then took a torn slipper next to him and left cooly...

Then only the reality pinched our hands... Thiagu, Arun rushed towards him.. I was still staying away scaring of that would happen. and yes it happened .Blood blood all over... Appa used to tell me - when some mishap happens u r not to say "acho acho" be bold to go and face it.. But i couldnt... Blood - A+ve or A-ve... We all get so many forwards " needed blood" everywhere.. Blood is precious.. A part of life... Then they tried to make him sit.. he was just falling.. was out of senses... then some people around came...they were asking us what happended.. i explained scene by scene ... like i saw it in a movie.. i explained atleast 10 times.. Did i do this to register this event in my mind??

Then there were some big heads coming.. Told he needs to be taken to hospital... Ha kandu pidichutaanga edisonunga... we were shouting we need to admit him to hospital.. "Wait.. They wont admit - they will need FIR" .. Shit.. It is the reality anyway :-( .. The hospital will only take a safe stand.. But it was not any accident.. it was only an incident.. or is it accident only??

Then few more people.. few more backgrounds on their fight.. no one considered that blood was running thru.. then he cried... "they beat me they beat me"... ok ... how much time will this go on?? Arun and shiva went to call an auto to take him to hospital...

Ha our big heads... Took the best responsibility and said to thiagu... "Please be careful in admitting him in hospital.. This can be a police case" and in few seconds only we were left... Cool isnt it.. They must be having some magical powers... Came from nowhere and went somewhere... that guy crying "akka akka . leave me in my home... let me die let me.. atleast ill see my child face atlast"...
That cry stirred me a lot...we consoled him that auto is coming... please wait.. he is telling "i feel something.. i am dying" - i cant say he is telling simply.. it was really a worse hit and his head hit the pillar so forcibly.. i prayed the fluid in the brain will balance the shock...

Atlast the auto driver came.. we decided that someone of us should accompany him... Did the story over?? No ... the auto driver asked the area of the guy and left immediately... "i cannot go to that area.. it was a very worse area".. then one guy told .. these guys are so bad ma.. dont help him and get into problem.. see him he is drunk... if u help u r only into problems...
but is that a problem...
we all do so many mistakes... we expect everyone to forgive us.. even if he is bad and wrong .. this is not the situation to be left out with..

What happened at last.. Mohana was worried - If we accompany him and he faints in the way and he will not be able to explain his people that " we are only to help him" and then people will get a lump of money... we were left in a critical situation... we cant leave him like this.. but at the same time we cant get into problem...

that guy now cried a lot.. I am auto driver myself.. please take me towards the road.. ill find any of my friends around.. and ill go.. so arun and thiagu carried him in their shoulders... he was drunk... that smell mixed with his blood smell... doesnt matter...

we went to the road which was around 10 meters from that place.. then an auto came .. we just asked the auto driver to please drop him in his house and gave enough money for him... That guy... Finally said "nan poren nan poren" ...


I terribly hope to see him someother time with good health...
Just closing my eyes to not imagine what will happen when he reaches there...

Should we limit our thinking here alone...
there will be another round of fights and clashes here..
somesay this is common in chennai... and everyone has faced a similar kind of incident...
i dont know i faced like this for the first time...
when i used to cut my finger i saw my father worried for it.. that time i realised human life is important .. even if it is a drop of blood...
after this incident i think is it "just a life..???"

Confused and worried....

Divya.S