Exam Fever...
So tomorrow is my last exam, have written the previous four papers pretty decently. MA English Literature. Pray to God that I get good marks in all the papers and get a First Class Pass.

Monday onwards back to training. Hope to move to mansion by June 1. Waiting for my pay-check. Really in dire straits now.

Cheers guys, back to blogging when I have money to pay to the browsing centre.

Bye....

Training, Training and more Training.....

I have joined the new organization that I mentioned about, its a nice place, the first week is over with sessions on MS-Office. The people are good, facilities are nice, hope th at I will settle into this place.

I am hunting for a mansion to stay, next week exams start, am afraid as preparations are not fully done. Hope for the best.

See you next week, henceforth posts will appear every Sunday only....

Bye folks .

Another Beginning.....

I have resigned today, I am joining another organization on Monday. A new beginning..., another new beginning..

Let me see what the future has in store.....

Hoping for the best.

Sunday Market Gandhi Statue Sunrise at Pondy

Pages From Pondy-Sunday

We planned to cover the Sunday Market, in the morning, return to our room, get our bags and visit Auroville, by boarding the local bus. We had our breakfast in the restaurant at Sabthaghiri, and took a bus to the Sunday Market.

The Sunday Market

The Sunday Market, is a unique attraction, in Pondy, every Sunday traders, occupy an entire street, almost a kilometre in length, and peedlle their wares. Items on sale range from, books, toys, cosmetics, dvds, electronis items like cameras and watches to cosmetics and clothes.

The street is packed with people trying to make a good deal. Both of us bought a pair of jeans and bermudas, Harish bought a bottle of English perfume, a belt and a couple of vests. I got three T-shirts, can you guess the price? Each shirt cost me just ten rupees, I bought the shirts and checked them, there were no defects, in them, good for wearing the house, or while playing cricket.

The AuroBoutique

This is a quaint little shop next to Adyar Ananda Bhavan, that sells incense sticks, diaries, calendars, gift items and souvenirs. We bought some packs of fragrant incense sticks and proceeded to Juice Wagon to have lunch.

The Juice Wagon

It will be unfair of me to overlook this restaurant, where we had two unforgettable meals. This is a great restaurant that primarily caters Continental food. The prices are decent, ambience good and the food is excellent, we were surprised to find the place empty on both of our visits. We had tomato soup, sandwiches, pasta and milk shakes. Do have a meal here if you go to Pondy.

We had our lunch and took a bus which dropped us 8 km from Auroville, autos charge Rs 100 to take you to Auroville. We learned that the Globe of Universal Peace, was closed on Sunday. We cursed the guy manning the Auro Travel infomation centre, wondering why he did not inform us that on Sundays Auroville, would be closed.

Disappointed we returned to the bus terminus and reserved tickets for the 4:25 PM bus. The return journey was uneventful, and the bus was packed with people.

We reached Kasi Theatre at around 8:30 PM. Harish was in a sorry state, as he was nauseated and was ready to puke all over the place at any time. We enterd Saravana Bhavan, and Harish rushed to the restroom.

He returned after fifteen minutes, as a much relieved man. We had dinner and returned to our room, at 9:20 PM. A nice trip, which would have to be made again, as we could not visit Auroville.

Probably the last weekend of May, will find us again in Pondy.

Pages From Pondy-Saturday

We had been planning for a trip to Pondicherry, for about a month, and finally all things fell into place, and on April 27, Saturday, Harish and myself, decided to make the trip.

On Saturday morning we reached CMBT-Koyambedu, at 8 AM, we had our breakfast at Nathan's Cafe, a restaurant adjacent to the bus-terminus.

We boarded an express-bus to Pondy, the bus started at 8:35 AM, soon, we were on the scenic ECR and the bus was moving pretty fast away from the traffic snarls of the city.

There were various villages on the way, the bus passed through Mahabalipuram, Kalpakkam, Marakkanam, and we finally reached the Pondy bus-terminus at around 12:20 PM.

We began hunting for rooms, our first stop was Hotel Mass, an imposing white building, on entering it, we realized that it was a Star-Hotel, the room tariff was Rs 1900, for a day, we left the hotel, and crossed the road to another hotel Sabthagiri, the receptionist said that no rooms were there.

Then an auto-driver suggested a guest-house, called Raj GuestHouse, on Palivasal Street, we were a bit apprehensive, but we went there, a double room with a TV for Rs 300 per day, sounded great and I paid the advance, Harish was a bit worried and said that the place was a bit shady, and suggested that I should have looked at some other hotel.

We were informed that we would get a room with the TV in a couple of hours, we left our bags at the reception, and visited the Aurobindo Ashram, then we had our lunch at Adyar Ananda Bhavan.

Then we visited the Auro travel centre to book tickets to Auroville, to our dismay we found that the bus had just left. We were disappointed, and left to our guesthouse. The room was big and clean. We switched on the TV, a local channel was playing the movie"Manamathan," and we saw it.

We left the room at about 5 PM, and walked from our guesthouse to the Manakkulam Vinayakar temple, we completed our darshan and walked to the beach and lazed around the beach till 7:30 PM, then we had our dinner at a restaurant called Juice Wagon and returned to our room.

We were just in time to view the delayed start of the World Cup final. I fell asleep immediately, while Harish saw the full Australian innings.

Now Where to From Here.......


Once again on the crossroads of life, I can't help myself from thinking about Robert Frost's poem-"The Road Not Taken." I am reproducing the poem here for the benefit of people who have not read it.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am quitting my current job, and taking up another job, in a totally different realm, from the one in my current organization.

So perhaps years ahead, I shall be saying that-"I too took the road, less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.

Life is a quest, everyone has a goal, and works to achieve his/her goal. As long as the quest does not end in a fruitful goal, the restlessness, and the need to keep changing paths, keeps happening.

Some people find their goal early in life, some people achieve it a bit late in life, and there are many others, for whom the quest goes on till the last breath of their lives.

Hopefully I should complete my quest soon.

Let us see what happens......

And Time Flies By.......

One more month is coming to an end. Come May 1, 2007, it will be nine years to the day when we moved in to Tiruvallur. It is been a long time, studying in school, finishing tenth and twelfth standard.

Coming to Chennai everyday to attend college. First job, now on the second one, and moving on to the third one, next month, life is going on as time flies by.

This weekend there are plans for a trip, Harish is accompanying me for a trip to Pondy. We are trying to borrow a digicam from someone or the other to take lots of snaps.

Really want to post my snaps on this blog, hopefully it will be another achievment for me.

Let us see, more tomorrow, Bye Folks.

Time is flying by.., and I need to have dinner.

A True Experience

Yesterday, I was travelling by the bus 52 B, from Chennai Central to Guindy. It was evening around 7:30 P.M., many people were returning back to their houses after a hard day's work. The bus was jam-packed, and I was able to find a place to stand. When the bus reached the L.I.C. bus stop, I felt a hand going into my trouser pockets. I realized that someone had flicked my mobile phone. I turned around quickly and shouted-"Enn phone kaanam"(My phone is missing."

I spotted a seventeen-twenty year old youth who was behaving supiciously, I stared at him, he turned around and shouted-"Ivar phone kaanam"(His phone's missing)

I looked down and saw my phone the floor, I bent down and picked it up.

When I searched for the youth, he was missing, he had alighted at the Spencer's traffic signal.

Truly an unforgettable experience.

I thank God, and am happy to have got my phone back.

Much Ado About Nothing

The "Nothing," stands for the marriage of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Right from the shooting of Mani Rathnam's "Guru," rumours were afloat that the two had been married in a secret ceremony at the Madurai Meenakshi temple. Then Aish was spotted along with the Bachchans for some ceremony at a temple.

Finally Big-B announced that Aish, would be the ideal bahu for his family, God alone knows, what happened to Miss Congeniality Rani Mukherjee.

I do not know, why the media is making such a big issue out of this marriage. they are just people, famous actors, but they are just ordinary mortals like you and me, not gods, or great freedom fighters, who have sacrificed the ir youth for the country.

Every TV channel and news website, right from rediff, sify, ibnlive, Timesnow, every channel, has some article or the other related to the marriage. One article informed its readers that 20 kg of henna/mehendi had been ordered specifically for the mehendi ceremony of Aish, another discussed the wedding costume, another about the new house of the soon to be man and wife.

It becomes disgusting and irritation, when you keep getting their pictures flashed on screen, and yet another scoop, about the marriage of the scion of the first family of Bollywood.

God please give these news channels some sense.

I wish that Ash-Abhi have a happy life, but going by Ash's reputation of breaking hearts, God knows how long it will take before the cracks appear.

Let us see what happens.

The summer heat is sweltering, am really dreading May and the "kathri veyil," have to take lots of care to prevent dehydration. Drinking lots of buttermilk and eating a slice of watermelon to keep cool.

Have to try the kambu kuzhu one day.

Let us see, the summer is actually sapping the brain cells, don't you notice the length of my posts has gone down.

The Tamil New Year

The new year, Tamil, Vishu(Malayalam), is just around the corner. It will be a flurry of activity, getting up early in the morning to have a look at the Vishu Kani, wearing new clothes, feasting on special delicacies, watching the special programmes and movies on Asianet and Surya TV.

Another year has ended and another one is about to start. What does the new year hold in store?

Hope there is peace and happiness and love and joy in this world.

Signboard English

English as a global language, owes a lot to the East India Company, and other such settlers and explorers, for discovering new lands, and imposing their language on the people of those lands.
English has become the language of choice and profession, in most parts of the world. A sound knowledge of the language and good communication skills, have become a passport for a good job to many people in Asian countries, where the outsourcing business has mushroomed to unforseen proportions. Today if you can speak good English, are above eighteen years of age, and have atleast completed high school, you can get a job in a B.P.O., that will fetch you atleast Rs 6000/- a month as salary.

Now coming back to the main subject, about which this post is all about-Funny Signboards.
All of us would have seen some funny signboards, and had a really good laugh, I am sharing some signboards that I have seen, read and laughed like crazy.

1-Ramu Snakes Bar-Do the snakes have a court of law, are they lawyers, or is it a bar where snakes sip gin and brandy.

2-Flat Toilet-How can a toilet be totally flat, people will have a hard time using it.

3-Wet Paint, Don't Shit-As if someone would want to shit on paint.

4-Child Bear Available-It should have been chilled beer.

5-Hare cutting done here-Is he a barber or a butcher.

All these are actual signboards, I do not intend to hurt anybody's feelings, but these are the small things that make India such a great place to live in, even though we might have a hundred problems within the country, such things make us laugh and forget our tensions.

The OBC Reservation Row and its problems.......

Will there ever be a solution to the caste quota reservation, I had written a post on this blog about six or seven months back, that detailed the problems faced by people in the General Category to get admission in good colleges and find government jobs. The problem persists, the Supreme Court took a bold decision by putting a stay order on the reservation quota for OBC candidates, and look what happened...

The DMK so called saviours of the down trodden, disrupted life in Tamil Nadu by declaring a state wide bandh from 6 AM to 6 PM on Saturday March 31. Life was crippled, no shops, no theatres, no buses, autos or trains, and for the confirmed alcoholic, no wineshops. On Friday night itself the frequency of buses and autos decreased drastically.

March 31, the day when accounts were closed for stock taking, a day when auditors and busineesmen had a hundred tasks, well everything went awry, because of the idiotic and irresponsible behaviour of the Rising Sun.

Trains scheduled to enter Tamil Nadu on March 31, were stopped outside the state, trains and flights were rescheduled, lots of people who had planned weekend trips and picnics, faced a rude shock and had to stay back at home because of this strike.

What did Kalaignar achieve by calling this strike? Was any practical solution derived from this strike? No, a big no, school students writing their public exams, busy professionals, heck everyone right from the beggar to the multi-millionaire had to suffer at the hands of the DMK.

Thankfully no incidents of violence were reported, the only saving grace of this bandh, much unlike bandhs that happen in Kolkatta, Delhi and Bombay.

Hope the DMK, gives atleast a week's notice before calling anymore bandhs and strikes.

A Tale of Two Businesses.....

Each street has its small shop, where one gets to buy grocery, provisions, newspapers, soft drinks and other articles of daily use. The shopkeeper is trustworthy and he personally caters to the needs of his customers. He loves children the most and always has special chocolates and ice creams for them. I grew up in such an atmosphere and loved Kumar Annachi, who ran a small provision shop at the end of our street.

All cities in India are dotted by countless such shops which are managed by Agarwals, Singhs, Nairs, Raos and Sens and Guptas. India entered into the era of globalisation and modernisation in the late eighties and early nineties, the concept of malls, where all items were made available under one roof began to gain acceptance among the common public. Shopping Arcades like-Spencer's Plaza, Singapore Shopping Centre, Forum, Shriram Arcade, Alsa Mall, began to do brisk business.

This led to the boom in the retail chain management. Brands like Lifestyle, Westside, Pantaloons, Subhiksha, Vitan made an entry into the Indian market. The convenience of a complete shopping experience appealed to the common man, and the early days of the IT boom saw the pay-packets becoming fatter. Suddenly there was a lot of money to spend and a lot of products to buy. The commercial boom had started.

Now Reliance has moved into the retail segment and started its chain of Fresh stores, which sells vegetables, fruits and provisions. Reliance has appointed people to source the vegetables and fruits directly from the farmers to avoid any brokerage to be paid to middlemen. The traders in Koyambedu one of the largest vegetable markets in India, have started a protest demanding Reliance to close down, as they say they are losing their customers.

Wal-Mart is all set to start operations in India through a tie-up with the Bharti(Airtel) group. If Bharti enters India, then it will be a catalyst in the death of small business groups. Already Walmart has led to the death of many shops across America.

On the flip side these entrants in the retail market promise to provide employment to around 75, 000 people by the end of the year 2007. Young men and women are gettting jobs as salespersons with a decent salary of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. So in a way it is good for the economy.

So how will the system work, will both sides co-exist or will the multinational giants take over the small traders, only time will tell.

So one more day is coming to an end, one more day on this planet, in this life, in this city. Got some bad news today. I was not selected in the Bank Entrance Exam that I had written in January, I had pinned some hopes on it. Well whats done is done, the past cannot be changed and no point in spoiling the present by worrying about the past and the future.

I might perhaps shift to another house, bring my mother and father and stay together, as mother keeps worrying unnecessarily. Let me see by God's grace I should get a decent house, finalise a deal and move in to the new house by May 10.

Hope everything goes smooth.

Madras Nalla Madras
If you have not done this in Chennai...

Chennai, no I will rather stick to good old Madras, it is a melting pot of different cultures with people from many diverse traditions living in this city. The I.T. boom has brought in more and more tech-people from all the stes of India and many people from foreign countries also.

The following is a list of things that one should experience in good old Madras.

1-Wake up to the melodious voice of M.S. Subhalakshmi singing Venkatesa Suprabatham.
2-Have a tumbler of hot filter coffee, follow it up with a plate of steaming hot idlies with sambhar and fresh cocnut chutney.
3-Visit the Kapaleeshwarar Temple at Mylapore and the St. Thomas Church.
4-Go to the Marina Beach, walk bare foot on the soft sand, and have molagha bajji(chilly bajji) and sundal with green mango.
5-Visit Valluvar Kottam near Nungambakkam and the Theosophical Society in Besant Nagar.
6-Go to T.Nagar, a place where you can buy anything, and make a visit to Saravana Stores to look at the crowd that comes to buy all things under one roof.
7-Travel by the Mass Rapid Transit System(M.R.T.S.) flying train.
8-Go to Spencer's Plaza and blow up your hard earned money on things you can buy at half the price in Pondy Bazaar.
9-Visit the Vandaloor Zoo, and the Children's Park at Guindy. Have a look at Gandhi Mandapam and drink a glass of lemon juice from the guy who stands just outside Gandhi Mandapam(It is the best lemon juice that you can get in Chennai).
10-Travel by an auto and haggle with the auto-driver before paying your fare.
11-Go to Burma Bazaar near the Beach Station buy dvds of the latest movies.
12-Go to Devi theatre and watch a movie. I guess its Sathyam theatre for the younger generation.
13-Look at the chaos and order with which the people perform their daily tasks at the Central Railway Station.
14-Have food at a Kaiyendhi Bhavan(Mobile eatery)
15-Buy second hand books from Moore Market and Triplicane.
16-Make a trip to Mahabalipuram, V.G.P. and MGM Dizee World.(The last option blows a big hole in your pocket)
17-Attend a music concert during the Marghazi Music Festival in December-January.
18-Watch the frenzy and adoration of cinema crazy fans during the first day first show of a Rajinikanth, Kamalhassan, Ajit or Vijay movie.
19-Watch a cricket match at Chepauk praying fervrently that it does not rain and stop the match.
20-Travel by the M.T.C. bus service.

If you have not done these things then you have not experienced the true spirit of Madras.

Anger-When I lost my cool?

I am calm by nature and even if I get angry with someone or something I do not show it out and I bottle up my emotions. But everything has an exception, and a small incident occurred on March 24, 2007 when I really got angry and lost my cool.

We had cricket practice, following the dismal performance of our corporate cricket team, in the league and our captain decided that we would train well and sweat it out in the nets to regain our form. I reached the venue, and our captain divided the team into three groups. One group that included me was sent for fielding practice. The other two groups were involved in batting and bowling.

I thought that maybe after 40 -45 minutes I would get an opportunity to bat, but I found out that all I and four other members of the team would only have fielding practice. All our hands were getting numb after almost 80 minutes of catching the ball, and no sign of an opportunity to bat, I lost my cool and threw the ball with all my strength at the person who was conducting the fielding practice.

The other guy also lost his cool and we had a war of words, and we would have almost come to blows, if the others had not stopped him. The incident was reported and the captain gave a lecture, stating that-"Cricket is not only about batting and bowling, fielding is equally important....."

I was really sorry and apologized to the other guy who was still a bit angry, but by the time we left the ground we shook hands and he said-"No issues."

I guess anger is nothing but temporary madnees that causes a lot of problems.

I hope I get to bat at the next practice session.

A look at life-If I was an auto driver

Everyday I commute to office by a share auto. A distance of about 3 kilometres. People living in Chennai and Kolkatta should be familiar with the concept of share autos. I have not lived in any of the other great cities of India, so I do not know if share autos exist there. The auto drivers have fixed rates. If you get down anywhere in a stretch of five kilometres, you have to pay four rupees, after 9P.M. at night the fare is five rupees. This fare system works on the Udhayam theatre to Guindy route. On the Porur to Adayar route the fare is between 10 and fifteen rupees. Each day as I travel by these share autos, I think on the life that these auto drivers lead. I have come to one conclusion, I have a big mistake by studying.

I should have finished tenth standard and started driving an auto. Just think after taking a look at these calculations. For an average student who does not study engineering, law or medicine, but some arts, science or commerce course, the fees from nursery to college graduation would range between 7 and 12 lakhs depending on the city and the institution that the student studied in, if its engineering, well then add another 3 or 4 lakhs to that number.

Suppose I own a share auto, assuming that I have taken a loan from a bank to buy the auto, then this is how my balance sheet will appear:

Monthly payment to bank-Rs 4000(for 3 years).
Monthly petrol expenses-Rs 4000 to Rs 5000.
Monthly maintenance expenses-Rs 1000.
Monthly mamool(bribe) to the traffic police-Rs 1000 to Rs 2000.
Assuming that I ply my auto on the Guindy to Udhayam route from morning 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. at night seven days a week, I should be able to make thirty to forty trips a day. On each trip(one way) on an average at least 15 people travel by the auto. So 15 multiplied by 4 equals to 60 rupees for one trip, a two way trip gets me Rs 120, So forty trips a day gets me Rs 4800 a day.
I will keep the figure to Rs 4000 for easy calculation.
So at the end of a month I earn Rs 4000 multiplied by 30, that equals to Rs 120000.

If I keep all my auto related expenses to Rs 15000 a month, even then I am earning about a lakh of rupees every month. Much more than many IT engineers and seasoned BPO executives.
Assuming that I am driving a hired vehicle, if I pay Rs 1000 to 1500 as daily rent, then I make about Rs 50000 to Rs 60000 a month.

I really feel I should have stopped studying and persuaded my parents to buy me an auto. Then I could have worn khaki shirts and moved about in Rajini style singing "Auto kaaran, auto kaaran, naan, naalu terinja rouute kaaran.."

That is life I guess, perhaps I am destined to be stuck to a desk job for life, missing out on the adventures of life.

Why Raj, Why...?

It was three o' clock in the morning, when I was rudely awakened from my sleep, by the ringtone of my mobile phone. At first I thought it was a dream, and I continued to lie down, but when the ringtone persisted I realized that it was not a dream and the phone was actually ringing. I looked at the number, and was surprised, it was a foreign number. I answered the call, it was Mr. Mishra, a close family friend who was settled in Germany. His son Raj was my classmate at school, and he was currently working in some research facility in Melbourne.

Mishra uncle conveyed a shocking news-his son Raj had commited suicide. I was lost for words and I consoled the poor man who had lost his son. I was surprised because I had spoken to Raj ten days earlier, and he seemed fine although his voice sounded a bit shaky. When Mr. Mishra finished his call, I was no longer in a mood to sleep. I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and poured myself a glass of milk, and went to the veranda.

I thought about Raj, there were too many memories, that had been refreshed by the depressing phone call. Both of us grew up in the same neighbourhood, studied in the same school, and were classmates from nursery to high-school. Then Raj enrolled for a course in Chemical Engineering, while I pursued a course in English Literature. Raj studied in Sydney and he topped the university, he received a gold medal. Things looked bright and rosy, and Raj got an opportunity to work in the research facility of a leading chemical company.

All through these years, we were in constant touch with each other and he even visited India to attend a mutual friend's wedding. He was an excellent student and a brilliant athelete, my mother always used to compare my report card with his, she used to say-"You spend all your time with Raj, why don't you get some of his intelligence, and score some more marks in Mathematics."

As these thoughts crossed through my mind, I wondered what prompted Raj to commit suicide. He was always the ever courageous boy leading the football team from the front, and never wished anyone any harm. He was happy with his job and had no complaints against anybody. Mishra uncle said that the caretaker of his son's flat in Melbourne had discovered Raj's body, he had hanged himself.

Why Raj, why did you do this, I don't know, you had such a loving family, a caring girlfriend, they were supposed to get married this October, why did you choose to end your life this way. I looked at the sea from my verandah, and saw the first light of dawn as the sun was about to rise in the east. The sun was rising as another son had set forever.

All that is left are memories, memories of playing games, watching movies, fights, now all those memories have become meaningless as the very person with whom I shared those memoreies has ceased to exist.

Had Raj accepted defeat? If yes defeat from what. All that we found was a suicide note that said-"I am tired of living in this world, I have no regrets, forgive me Dad, Ma and Anu(his girlfriend), perhaps we shall be happy in another world in another time."

A tragic end to a man who would have achieved something great.

Why I Blog?/ Why I Write?

I was happily blogging and asking my friends to read them and give their feedback. Everything was going smooth and I was getting a lot of good suggestions on improving my writing style and choice of topics, when right out of the blue, one of my colleagues posed a question-"Mahesh tell me why do you write?" I was silent, why did she ask this question all of a sudden, I thought for a while and said"I will answer this question through a post on my blog." So that is how I landed up writing this post.

Her question made me reflect on a lot of things, my childhood, my friends, my uncle, my school, my English teachers; all small factors that have shaped me into what I am today. I remember my English teachers in M.P. Birla School. Kolkatta. The first teacher who made a lasting impresion on me was Ms Rekha Gopinath. She was a Malayali and was an excellent teacher, all students in my class liked her and we used to eagerly wait for the third period of the day-English. She was a tall, dark lady and had a clear voice. I still remember the poems that we had in our Radiant Reader text books. She used to give us small assignments, essays to be writtten describing our weekends. It was fun and I believe the reason why I began to develop an interest in English, was those assignments that Rekha madam used to give us.

When I reached Class VIII, we had a English teacher who was a man. For the first time we were going to have men who were strict and carried a wooden scale or cane with them. We had Maths sirs, but the concept of a man teaching English was alien to us. He was Mr. Joseph Vincent, again a Malayali, and he really inspired me to study English with an almost religious fervour. He used to come in full shirts and Raymonds trousers and a silk tie, as they have in boarding schools in England. He was strict and we used to be afraid of him. But he was an excellent teacher and I still remember him teaching "Merchant of Venice," which was incidentally the first full length Shakespeare play that I studied. Then I shifted to small non-descript town in Tamil Nadu, called Tiruvallur.

The change from a bustling metropolis to a small town was drastic. But I was fortunate to study in a school, which has some excellent English teachers. I studied in Sri Venkateswara Matriculation School, and the two teachers are Mr.N.Nagarathinam and Mr.V.S. Shiva. Both of them were excellent teachers, Shiva sir was a simple man and I have only seen him wear a white cotton shirt and a light colored trouser. He was a true follower of Gandhiji and led a simple and unpretentious life. Each and every student of Venkateswara School respects and admires Shiva sir and he is a living encyclopaedia, who can speak on any topic under the sun.
When I completed my schooling it came as a big surprise to my teachers when I did not write the Engineering/Medical Entrance and just applied for a course in English Literature. I got admission in R.K.M. Vivekananda College, at Mylapore in Chennai. It is a college that has an illustrious past and many of its former students are heading many companies across the world. In college I was influenced by two professors in first year. One was Mr. K.Venkatramana Rao and the other was B.Suresh. Both of them were excellent educators, and told us to cultivate the art of writing. In high-school, I had started participating in Creative Writing competitions, and college-life gave me the perfect opportunity to visit lots of colleges and take part in many competitions. I particularly cherish memories of Coffee House (Loyola College Literature Fest) and competitions in Madras Christian and Women's Christian College. All this while I was writing short stories and poems and in the span of the three years that I was in college, I wrote about fifty poems and some twenty short stories. I had decided that I would be a novelist and would write novels in the vein of the works of Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth. I dreamt of headlines, which proclaimed the super-duper sales of my novels, movie adaptations awards and lots of money.

I was all set to pursue my M.A. from Madras University, when I attended a Campus Interview in college. It was for selecting students who would be placed as Instructional Designers. The designation was new and unheard of, and I decided to take the written test alongwith 750 other students. At the end of the day, it turned out that only two out of those 750 students were selected and I was one of them. I had a job and a decent salary. Well all plans of a regular postgraduate course disappeared and I started working as an Instructional Designer. It took some time to adjust to the corporate world.It was like starting a long journey in a desolate jungle. Slowly I started writing courses and I began to enjoy my work. Thus writing short stories and poems transformed into writing full fledged courses on different topics for an audience whom I would never meet. It was an indeed fascinating experience, and I am still working as an Instructional Designer, but in a different organization.

Now to answer the question-"Why I write?". Well I really don't know, maybe it has to do something with my childhood. I was a very shy and silent boy. I had very few friends, but I loved animals a lot. I used to enjoy the company of dogs, cats and cows more than boys and girls. I loved playing with puppies, and I remember the scoldings that my mother used to give me. She used to say-"Even if you spend half the time that you play with your dogs in your studies you will top your class." I never did that and consequently never topped my class. I used to love Enid Blyton as a kid and used to fantasise about a world of talking animals, toys and dragons and princes. I used to write very small poems, of four to ten lines about my teachers, classmates and my favourite Enid Blyton characters. I wrote the following poem, when I was in the third standard.

GOOD OLD FATTY
I wish I was like you.
I wish I was like you Fatty.
Good old Fatty, eating icecreams,
And solving mysteries.
Playing with Buster and his four friends.
Wish I had a doggie like Buster and a friend like Bets.

This was based on the principal character of The Five Find-Outers series written by EnidBlyton. There were many such small poems and some mystery stories modelled on the adventures of Famous Five. My first recognition came when I won an Inter-School Story writing competition for students of class five, six and seven. There was no specific topic, we were given a word limit of two thousand words. I wrote a science fiction story titled"The Submersible," based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. When the prizes were announced, I was shocked, I had never thought that I would win. I got a certificate and a book-"The Hound of Baskervilles" as the prize. After that I participated in a number of competitions right till I finished college and won a number of prizes. I believe that the first prize that I won acted as a catalyst, and I thought why not write, I can get more prizes. Initially it was the prize factor that prompted me to write. Then there were magazines like Gokulam, Tinkle and Chandamama that offered cash and free subscriptions as prizes. In college, I read the works of George Orwell and realized the might of the pen. I thought I would complete my post graduation and become a journalist. I still might become one, you never know.

I write because I love writing, I blog because it gives me an opportunity to express my views on the things happening around me. My articles are read by my friends and other people whom I have never met, they share their comments and we have healthy discussions. We may not solve the problems in the world, but the discussions do clear the misconceptions that any of us might have had. Sometimes it becomes a tool, which enables me to vent out all my frustrations and anger. On completing the article I feel refreshed and regain my tranquility. To conclude, I write because my heart directs me to write, and my mind prompts me to write what my heart directs me to write.
By the way this is my hundredth post.
Happy Reading and thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.