Short short stories

I have always wanted write these really short and subtle stories that can be interpreted differently by different people.Also it can bring out a lot of stuff as you start thinking about it.It cuts out the crap and presents the message in a crisp and uniquely enjoyable fashion.

The pain of love

 

"I cant believe you are falling for that man...I mean...not THAT man...but any MAN",Sunitha sounded very frustrated.
"I am in love dear",Monica smiled at her room mate,picked up her bag and walked down the street to meet her beloved.

"You are so stupid",Sunitha spoke at the reflecting door,long after monica had left the room.Then she broke down and started crying as his smiling face started another wave of pain in her heart.

 

What I had thought was..

Sunitha had had a love failure because of which she is disillusioned with men and love!!

That disappointment had converted into hatred towards men…

Another interpretation is that sunitha is outwardly ultra modern types and doesn’t like men and all but deep inside she nourishes love for the guy and hasn’t expressed it to anyone!

Her disappointment boils out as anger mixed with feminist views when she learns that her room mate is in love with the same guy!!
These were what I had thought while writing the story

It was interesting to note that there were several interpretations ranging from lesbian to transgender POVs to this one..

Best understood

 

"We never spoke or met each other after that", he finished his sincere narration of his love failure.She had been patiently listening to him ,wrapped in his arms on the decorated bed, on the first night as man and wife. There was silence for some time as she felt his grip tighten around her just a little bit. She felt it oddly comforting...
"Its ok dear!! Dont worry about it..Now you have got me.." she held on to his hand and kissed it.

"So ...whats your story??", he tried to get back to lighter moods with a playful jerk.
"Me???No Chance...You have no idea how strict my mom is...I never even used to talk to guys during college days" , she giggled,trying really hard to fight back the lone tear that was threatening to spurt out of her eye and making sure that the lump in her throat is not picked up by him...
He tightened his grip around her even more,gently kissed on her head and merely smiled.

As many of you might have understood,the lady also has a love failure in her life which she chooses not to tell him due to various reasons.
The husband understands that. He decides not to push her and leave it to her choice.But he also comforts her for her pain.There is a unspoken understanding between the guy and his wife even though no word is directly spoken about it.
Also the the extent of each one's love and the past is kept in dark so that the reader can imagine that to his/her choice.. :)

There is also a subtle message in this story about the pressures and thinkings of a lady before being entirely truthful about her past(even though the husband is very friendly and loving) and tries to get the reader thinking on those points..

 

Bharathiar's birthday today

I am a HUGE fan of this guy And today is his birthday. I have tried translating one of his poems which has been my motivation and inspiration. I am sure you wouldnt be able to appreciate the nuances of the word usage and stuff when you read the english translation (that too by me :-|) But i just felt i should share this with my fellow infoscions. Original: தேடி சோறு நிதம் தின்று - பல சின்னஞ் சிறுகதைகள் பேசி - மனம் வாட துன்பமிக வுழன்று - பிறர் வாட பல செயல்கள் செய்து - நரை கூடி கிழப்பருவ மெய்தி - கொடுங் கூற்றுக் கிரையெனப் பின்மாயும் - பல வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போல - நான் வீழ்வே னென்றுநினைத் தாயோ. Transliteration ThEdicchoru nidhanthindru - pala chinnanjirukadhaigal pEsi - manam vaada thunbamiga uzhanru - pirar vaada pala seyalgal seythu - narai koodi kizhapparuvam eydhi - kodungkootrukkirayena pin maayum - pala vEdikkai manidharaippOla - naan vIzvEn enRu ninaithaayO. My translation : Running around for the daily food, Chatting along into petty gossips, sufferring with the problems of this life and tormenting others with deeds of his own. Aging away like all others and falling meek for this drama in the end Like the above comedy characters,you think i would fall away too??? Gives me goose bumps no matter how many times i read this!! Its LOT more enjoyable when read in tamil! I am sorry for all those who cant read tamil :)

The two stages in photography

According to me there are roughly 2 stages in photographing something.

The first stage is when you recognise that something is worthy enough to be photographed. This is a very precious and unique skill that helps setting a photographer apart from the bunch. The ability to pick up an interesting subject from the loads of scenes that hits one's eye .Many a times we see folks presenting something very mundane and plain as an interesting piece of art.Its all possible because he/she was able to see an interesting photograph in that scene even before he/she decided to shoot.
Then comes the most crucial phase.

The second stage of the activity.This is when you try to look at the scene in your perspective. Every person is unique and special and his/her way of looking at things is shaped by the experiences,mindsets,grooming and attitudes of that person. And the way a person looks at a scene differs due to that. In this stage a photographer tries to appreciate the beauty of the scene he/she is seeing and tries various ways of looking at it.

How will it look if i kneel down a bit,how about stepping up a little?? How will the light change if walk a few paces to my side...etc etc..There are a hundred million ways of looking at a thing...
Its fun....This is the phase i enjoy the most.Its this phase when a photographer totally forgets everything,and is totally immersed in the nuances of the art.This is the phase when a photographer's style is stamped onto the picture and decides how much it is different from a cliched version of the scene.

It took me a lot days to realise this.When i started with my hobby,my primary aim was to share the beauty i see in this world. Photography was an effort for me to capture something,show it to my friends and say"Look at this..this is how beautiful it was..this is how special it was...
Something on the lines of "யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம்,பெருக இவ்வையகம்" (Whatever i enjoy,let the world enjoy it too). So i didnt want to miss the moment. I was afraid that if i dont capture it i will never get a chance to capture something so i never gave too much of a thought before clicking.As a result i ended up with far too many of pictures which i couldnt show to anyone let alone the fellow enthusiasts who expect something special.It was too normal...It was too unprofessional.

There was no "me" in them.They were pictures which "anybody" could have taken...But ever since this realisation hit me,the ..my photography experience has been more fulfilling and enriching.
Though i couldnt claim to have learnt even 1% of the tricks of this beautiful art,i felt like putting this thought of mine in words so that somebody might find it useful..

Keep clicking!! :)

The Restroom chain

Just recording a thought...
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I think privatised restroom chains will be really good idea to implement.
Iam sure most of the upper middle class will gladly pay a nominal amount(I will) to have clean and decent restrooms in places they frequent(Pondy bazaar,MG road kinda places).Iam sure this will be a major relief for ladies and they will be more welcoming about such an idea.One can buy cards with which they can use any of these restroom outlets opened in various parts of the cities.
Currently you never find any "usable" restrooms in public places.People either have to control their urge to relieve or find a corner...Such outlets can be made mandatory in major railway stations,bus stations etc
With enough marketing and advertising coupled with an aggressive awareness campaign this project can be a grand success , provided this is rolled out on a mass scale with enough coverage on all important places.
This idea will have a dual benefit to the country. This will be a very nice business oppurtunity for the big corporates(I am sure guys like Reliance will lap it up) ,also this will this will bring in much needed hygiene and sanitation in the streets of our country.
I can think of another positive outcome out of this idea.Once the this business is carried out on a professional scale,the job of maintaining restrooms will no longer be considered as menial.Iam sure that the perception towards the sanitation workers improved after the advent of uniform clad workers of ONYX...
Just a thought..
Your views please :)

PS: I HATE to see people pissing in public!!! I get to see that quite a lot during my commute to office and i cant tell how much it disgusts me :(

Large Haldron collider.

What is it??
Unscientifically put its a setup for a experiment where protons shall and passed and made to collide at very very high speed generating conditions mimicking the early "second" after the bing bang(phew)

Where is it?
The LHC was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and lies under the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland.

Cost?
The collider, 14 years and $8 billion in the making, is the most expensive scientific experiment to date.

To experiment what??
At stake is a suite of theories called the Standard Model, which explains all of particle physics to date, but which breaks down at the conditions that existed in the earliest moments of the universe. The new collider will eventually reach temperatures and energies equivalent to those at a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. There are many theories about what will happen, including the emergence of a particle known as the Higgs boson, which is hypothesized to endow other particles with mass, or the identity of the mysterious dark matter that provides the invisible scaffolding of galaxies and the cosmos.

So whats the big deal?
There has been predictions and concerns raised from many quarters that this experiment shall accidentally cause mini blackholes which could spell the end of the world..(now...thats interesting :D)

If you are someone like me whose eyes widen at the sight of black holes,dark matter and stuff I am sure you would want to know about this...so just wanted to share ..


Also check out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7543089.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/experiment.shtml



References;
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/science/09collide.html?ref=science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

Its all about people

The system is a double edged sword.

On one hand it ensures orderliness and sustenance of civilisation, on the other hand it becomes the root cause of evils, obsctructor of justice and tool for destruction and pain.

System can be an idea or an institution,a principle or a belief.It can be anything from religions, nations,casteism,atheism,grammar,language,deadlines and other social setups right upto calendars ,traffic system to dresscodes.
And we identify ourselves to a convenient shade of grey and start siding to groups and fighting...
The issue is when people lose focus of the purpose of the system and the system rises above the spirit with which the system was put in place.
People fought wars for hundreds of years for a variety of these systems and created more and more systems to "solve" the problems created by these systems....more systems,more problems,more confusions.
On one hand , system ensures that the common man gets his basic needs covered like food,security and peaceful living and on the other hand its the very system that is the cause of majority of human beings not getting these basic amenities.
The issue is when people forget the very basic reason ,the systems are formed.
Its all about people.
This is being forgotten by those who blindly follow the system and vehemently oppose any deviation from the conformance even if it defeats the whole purpose.But the most funny aspect is the case of those who oppose certain systems ,complaining that it results in pain and injustice to mankind.These people forget why they oppose the system and stick to the opposition ,forgetting the basic principle to their stand.
Its all about people....

One fine morning as i was travelling to my office in the local train ...i was wondering.. Is it possible for the human race to thrive and live without a system or atleast to live with a system without problems?? problems created and manifested by the very tools that were envisioned to ensure peaceful and happy living of fellow human beings.
Not until human beings realise one simple universal truth...
Its all about people

Spiritual but not religious

We have heard it from people and we have seen it in people's profiles.
But what does it really mean???

One of my friends asked me this question,because Iam one of those guys who likes to be known as "spiritual but not religious" types...
What followed were my efforts to encapsulate my understandings of this phrase into the constrained spaces of Gtalk box.
As i was rambling on,the friend suggested that I should probably blog this.
And so here goes...
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Spiritual but not religious means not subscribing to something just because its professed in a religion
or not stopping with a religion to explore the divine connection
,to seek out the ideals of spirituality outside the limits of my religion.

To be non - religious means to do something
or to refrain from something
not because God will be angry with me for doing so.
It is to choose to do something,because i like to do it.

It is not to pray for favours but to identify a relationship with a supreme being
higher than a master slave relationship.

It is to question about God,analyse and to have the right to accept or reject.
To do things that will be regarded as blasphemy by religion, just because they don't conform to set practices.

To interact with God outside religion
To engage with humanity and to love and care for humans outside religion
and its guidelines and rules.

It is the freedom to choose.To take the responsibility to imbibe discipline to oneself and to strive to become a better human being within our limitations ,rather than depending on a holy book or holy man/organisation for that.

To be spiritual is to realise and practice the purpose of religion.

Purpose of life - random thoughts

The purpose of life is not to be happy

The purpose of life is to live.

To live is to be happy, sad, endure, struggle, rejoice, and get angry.

To live is to follow your heart.

We all get really depressed when things don't go fine, when we get into things that don't make us "happy". Or into things that we think won't make us happy in the future.

We lament why we are put into such situations and see it as an out of norm occurrence, something which shouldn't have happened but has happened to put us in misery, something of an anomaly.

There in lies the flaw! By understanding that tricky situations are as much a part of life as happy situations we can feel liberated cheerful and can have a more matured and positive outlook on life.

Life at best can be explained as opportunities that bring out the best human in you, giving you opportunities to express the ideals within you.

To take decisions based on truth, bravery and love.To follow your heart without giving up!!!

Challenges are the only opportunities which shall let you achieve this!

The more testing the situations are, the more fruitful the result is going to be, In establishing your self belief and to understand yourself better and to live.

Sure we can't be all perfect all the time. We have our limitations with respect to love, truth and courage.

I can't be all loving all the time! I can't donate my entire salary to the empowerment of poor.

I can't be all courageous all the time! And nor I can be all truthful!

But the trick lies in understanding the limits and to try and push them when you feel like doing it.

To live life is to be happy.

To live is to follow your heart.

To struggle, endure, and fight, the opportunities that lead you to do all these……it's all part of life, not just the moments that make you smile end to end.

Most situations can be funny if only we can learn to step back a little and look at it as an outsider. Its worth a try.

Sure you can derive happiness while doing all of the "non-happy" situation, if we can train our mind to understand that its meant to happen in your life, no matter what life offers you.

One can be happy even if we are in situations that don't make us "happy".

One can be really happy only when you follow your heart!