Mirage...

The word comes from the Latin mirare, meaning 'to appear, to seem'. This is the same root as for mirror. Like a mirror, a mirage shows images of things which are elsewhere. A mirage is not an optical illusion. It is a real phenomenon.The interpretation of the image, however, is up to the fantasy of the human mind.


Hope all you would have heard the phrase 'Life is a journey' well if not, at least the samsonite (suitcase) caption says that :-) This journey is quite an arduous one, and since it spans over at least 50 years and at most 92 years (well, that's how long my grandfather lived), one would have to go through all the terrains.

First 25 years of ones life, the terrain is an icy mountain terrain. Then for the next 25 years, its the deadly desert, then for the next 25 years for the few blessed/cursed (half glass full/empty funda) souls its the green meadows and finally for those above 75 its like Alice's Wonderland, no sense or sensibility/reality as they would already have entered the senility.

I am 27 and writing this!! Why would I choose the desert terrain to describe the journey through 25-50 years of a person's life??? Well, its the desert where the mirages are... and yes this part of a person's life is all about chasing mirages.

There are various types mirages one chases at different points of time. Like for example, 'Love', 'good' wife, job 'satisfaction', a 'fantastic' salary, a 'beautiful' home, 'top' car and some really weird ones like 'adventurous' life! Just think for a while, do you ever believe we could accomplish or get any of the above? You would invariably find that some one we know has a better version of any of the above.

The dangerous part of the plot is, we define these mirages for ourselves and alas there is no standard definition anywhere else. Furthermore, we cannot really tell what would be the satisficing point and convince others that it is reasonable to chase the same.

Usually, at the end of chasing these mirages, a person is drained out mentally and physically. That's why the retirement is planned at the completion of the chase. After the chase one becomes a 'senior citizen'. All the mirages would clear away and lead to Nirvana.

I have been chasing some of these for a while now. Recent mirage has been ' happy' married life. As discussed earlier, I have a definition. I have arrived at a satisficing point let me see where this chase leads me to.....

"Metaphysical Dilemma"

- Dilemma beyond physics/scientific explanation.

Now for people wondering what is being talked about, let me narrate an otherwise beautiful evening with a "friends for life" candidate. This could be excruciatingly long, so was the play. So, read this narration at your free time when you have absolutely nothing to do....It is one of the fateful turns that life takes, especially these days with just a call on your mobile or even through an SMS.

I got to know that there was a ticket available for the 7.30PM show for the play called Flowers. This information is more than sufficient especially when it comes as an invite from your best friend. Started from home at 7.00 PM we reached the Parking area front of the theater at around 7.10 PM. Parking was as usual a Gordian knot which needed an Alexandrian solution (paying the nearby roadside shop walla a 50 quid and asking him to take care of my 5lac black beauty. ;-)

I hit the queue along with the "Namdhari" crowd... Yes, if you have heard of Organic - shirts,shaving creams, syrups, salads etc., you would definitely understand what a Namdhari crowd is. They are the upmarket, affluent class in the growing Indian metros who shop for the environment and charity, who care for "Page 3" more than the headlines in the front page of a news paper, who appreciate the abstract (obviously without any exercise to the grey cells to understand) paintings of M.F Hussain and plays of 21st century Girsh Karnad.

With French beards, pony tails, bald with little shiny white hair type - uncles and aunties sporting gold reading glasses which were hanging round their neck, supported by a gold string (New age ornament) and super cool cotton kurthas galore, I was already looking odd with a standard Grey T- Shirt tucked in a pair of Jeans. Here I was, a normal, middle class guy, who had just graduated to a 3 box car and Fab India standing amongst the Namdhari crowd.

As I looked at the poster and prepared to pass my usual sarcastic comment, I saw Arundathi Nag :-0 shockingly simple and apologising for a delayed start. I couldn't understand !! This was a mono act play and as far as I could see from the posters, Rajat Kapur was clad in towel not even a dhoti.So, I quickly understood the cause for delay should have been much more serious than make-up !!

Now seated, and settled, Lights off and the play starts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A brahman in panchakancham (particular way of tying the dhoti) and shawl steps out from darkness into strategically lit walk way which was precariously hanging in the air. Comes to the end of this platform and starts to deliver his monologue. (Now I wish, if only I could have had a dialogue with the actor and the play wright....hmmm...)

Bangaloreans were "awakened" with introduction to the discipline of Moral philosophy through "Flowers" a mono act play by Rajit Kapur and Co., Play write: Girish Karnad. This play marked the commencement of Rangashankara" the Theater festival in Bangalore.

Globalisation of Ancient oriental philosophy carved out a new discipline of Philosophy called Moral Philosophy/Ethics.This was considered as one of the major branches of philosophy alongside metaphysics and epistemology by the Greeks and ancient Romans. This play was supposed to narrate one such internal conflict on ethics which a priest has.

The play starts off with the priest describing his feeling of lust for a courtesan called Chandraaaaaaavti...(I still am figuring out why Rajat was spelling out Chandravati with the drawl of a Texan.) Description of Chandraaaaaavati as narrated by Rajat is the best rendition of Playboy center cover photograph on stage I have ever heard. The priest's rendezvous with the courtesan and his relationship with Chandra..........is narrated as lucid as a CAT 3 (XXX) adult movie. At this stage (about 45 minutes into the play) am sure the audience would have drifted into their own 'private' fantasy world, their dark side of lives without bothering much about the "Metaphysical dilemma" which the play wright was trying to drive. Slowly but steadily the story reaches the expected climax when the Priest reaches a stage wherein he seeks a divine intervention to cover up his 'divine lover' and much to the anticipation of the crowd, he is absolved. Albeit, the priest commits a suicide, because of the metaphysical dilemma.

Fantastic narration...Rajit kapur in his inimitable style delivers a script. OK.....so what was the play wright trying to convey??? Million $ question !!! What was the takeaway?? Innovative fantasies or the metaphysical dilemma experienced by the priest??? Well, as usual it was left to the crowd to decipher and ponder.

The producers have put together a piece of article in the handout - It reads "It has been pointed out that the Indian Philosophical tradition has never treated what would be called moral philosophy as a separate discipline. But painful moral concerns are very much alive and find expression in the epic stories or narrative literature or as here in tales orally handed down"...

The narration of play was definitely not palatable. It had more on sex than moral philosophy. The narration was not about the jihad in priest's mind between morality and dharma, not about the internal conflict!! There is no discussion about the internal conflict except for a couple of lines sparsely interspersed here and there.We have innumerable literature in our ancient texts which talk about the concept of Metaphysical Dilemma. The most recent of them being 'Experiments with Truth' - MK Gandhi. In this book MK Gandhi describes his internal conflict with regards to the two ladies whom he used as support while walking. The subtlety with which the issue of moral turpitude has been dealt with in our epics and Upanishads is missing in Grish
Karnad's narration.

Anthamam:
~~~~~~~~~

This folklore from Chitradurga which is supposedly a painful expression of moral concerns of a priest, turned out to be a narrative story as in Letters to Penthouse Volume - X. It is appalling and I would like to share my empathy with the audience who had come along, with their children and family and apathy to the Playwright for such poorly scripted play.

BTW for those wondering about the solution to a Metaphysical Dilemma, it is possible only from a knowledge of the absolute nature. This play is definitely aligned to my philosophy of Wine - Women & Wisdom !!! The priest seeks a woman, has a metaphysical dilemma and realises that his next step is to seek wisdom....here you go.........this is what I takeaway from this play! (Sorry Mr.Girish Karnad for having compared your play with my blog, but that's how much bad it is)...

Reality Bytes / Bites ???

Friends, from the previous post I believe you would have understood / realised the compartment you are in, in the yaatra of life.

I have spoken about every compartment other than the 2 most important ones. The one-in-front, and the one at the back. Yes, the engine and the van guard. These two compartments are reserved for 2 special people in a girl's life. It is a paradox though... These two special people are the one who would have no option but to travel and travel alone in this yaatra.unlike you, they do not get the opportunity to switch compartments. They are employed full time :-)

Engine = Husband. Van guard = Lost Love.

Don't be mistaken, they do not get to drive the train (Girl's heart). Just like you they too are driven.

If you are still reading this and feeling sad instead of smiling at your (in)famous past, then you certainly need either dawa / dua / dhuaan / daarooooooooooooo..... Well lets reserve the topic for later.

Girls, don't feel offended, I have something coming your way too, The latest phenomenon in town, Discretization of Love !! Heard of it ?? No ?? Better watch out, guys are not naive either...

Ciao

Com'part'mentalization:

Com'part'mentalization:

Ever wondered how is that a girl has so many 'friends' in guys and how guys have just 1 and only girl in their life!!

Well that's possible because of a factor called compartmentalization. Girls are hard wired in their brain to compartmentalize their hearts right from their childhood. So, when life reaches a stage where guys start getting 'friendly', the nature kicks in. Some of the typical compartments manifest themselves as friend, colleague, best friend, childhood friend, boy friend, family friend, course mate, cab friend, etc., But there are lots of compartments which are unnamed, unclear.

Now guys, stop running to make reservations in the compartment of your choice!! You would not have to do that. The compartments are allocated in this journey of life with the girl. Some are lucky to find themselves in the choicest of the compartments, some need to adjust a bit; some really need to scramble for space in their respective compartments.

Don't worry about the allocations. Sometimes they are made in a hurry. Be certain, the allocations would change and one has to change compartments at the master's (sorry mistress's) will. People would be told/conveyed to disembark, and board on to another compartment. It's after all guys who want to travel and they need some compartment. There are loads of passengers in other compartments who are waitlisted and could potentially be allocated the choicest of compartments. So, tera number bhi aayega (you will get your chance:-)...

The yaatra (Journey) of life in these compartments is exciting, sometimes exacting and most of the times excruciating. So, if I could share some wisdom, it would be, start flying, have ever heard of speed dating????????

:-)

- Ciao

Missed Call...

This is one funda which I have tried to decipher all along. I am sure all of you who have a girl friend would have Xperienced this, Missed calls... Have you ever wondered why ? Why is it that girls just give only missed calls to their boy friends ?

Who invented Telephone?
Ans: Alexander Graham bell

Wat were the first words spoken over Telephone ?
Ans: Mary had a little lamb.

Who invented Missed calls?
Ans: INDIAN Girl friends .... !!!!!!!!!

I am quite sure, when the concept of phone was invented and the service was provided, nobody ever envisioned Missed calls. But as always our girl friends are always very creative and innovative. They invented the concept of missed calls. Some interesting instances, 1 ring - 'Call me back', 2 ring ring - I have left the house and am on the way to the ice cream parlour 3 ring ring ring, Where are you????

And I always believed... ''a ringing phone always needs to be answered???'' ...

Got a missed call ever?...Go get it...

"The conneXion"...

It’s been some time since I scribbled anything in this section...

If you were ever wondering how the three fundamental elements of a guys life (Wine, Women and Wisdom) are connected, read on...

First factor that connects all the three is money. Money is one resource if spent well can earn a guy opportunity to get to know each of these three aspects of life. Good money could get you the best wine and showering gifts on your girl friend would get you the time needed to invest or build a relationship and once you have done the above you will have no money left which would get you the all the wisdom in the world.Another facet of these fundamentals is that you never can tell for sure 'When it is enough'... while drinking one always feels that he/she would get better with the next drink, with girls, guys always feel that they would get better in their behavior, life etc etc. with the next girl they meet and with wisdom nothing is really enough till one attains moksha, which happens in the surreal world.

I have been quite non-political in this piece ;-) Take care guys; embark on your quest for Wisdom!!!
-Ciao

Corporate Bangalore !!

A typical day in Corporate Bangalore is worth a topic to be written about…Earlier known as Pensioners Paradise, Bangalore has transformed into Corporate Bangalore bringing the Bangalore Corporation to its knees.

Early morning 8 o’clock (well that’s earliest in Bangalore before things get started), at the tea shop which I religiously visit everyday for the morning chai, I get my morning briefings on the days interview sessions, openings in the new company which has just setup shop in India etc…etc. Gone are those days when people used to read news papers at tea shops and discuss about politicians, politics, challenges faced by the nation and how hapless the government is …its all about job shifts, hikes, bikes, lost loves, pubs and hangovers.

“Good morning Bangalore…” the FM radio blares, get ready to face the greatest challenge of human life in Bangalore. Yes, you guessed it right, its traveling to office…corporate citizens with a rag sack (the latest competitor to the mysterious Ladies hand bag, which is a world in itself from Jeffrey Archer to J2EE books, CDs MP3 to MSDN, bills, papers, eatables, makeup kits, mobiles, chargers, caps, scarf, lighters, a mini survival kit and deserves a dedicated column), helmet and a jacket riding their bikes, senior citizens (I mean in the corporate world) in their zing thing (the car), peppered with autos and spiced up by BMTC with a small helping of company shuttles…makes Bangalore roads look like the greatest spaghetti ever cooked. And a word of caution for pedestrians, please do not be fooled by foot paths, they are our city’s new 2 wheeler lanes…only a fool would dare to tread on a foot path.

Look at the opportunities this traffic jams provide. We get can contribute a new phrase ‘I am in a jam’ just like ‘I am in a soup’, a perfect spot for conducting stress interviews coz the candidate is driven to his/her limits, we can catch up with long lost friends by SMSing them, catching up with updates on Mandira in ‘Kyon ki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi’ over the FM and for the imaginative possibilities are endless…

Probably the big bosses have got it all wrong by placing themselves strategically on the Hosur road and Whitefield. When people cribbed about ‘lack of challenge’, they meant ‘lack of challenge at work’ and not ‘lack of challenge to work’. Also, when the corporate policy reads, we are part of one family, they mean it. Just take a moment and you would soon realize that we spend almost 4 hours of quality time with our cabbies.

Reach office, we have loads of friends (sitting in an outbound center in the remote corner of erstwhile Bangalore), calling us to check up if we would like to get a credit card, home loans, car loans, just loans for shopping, mobile connections, insurance policies an endless list of things which would make sure we are indebted to them forever for their ‘favour’. Away from the din and dust of the outside world, Corporate Bangalore works away to glory, in a world of their own in posh campuses and cozy chairs which unfortunately are best suited for sleeping than slogging. Its 6 or 7 PM and time to complete the challenge started in the morning.

Only thing that is affordable and cheap in Bangalore these days are autos. Do not be mistaken, I mean to purchase and not for hire. After all the struggle and hard days work, last thing we can do is haggle with the auto drivers especially if you are held up at Whitefield or Electronic city. It’s a thrilling experience and probably the closest you can get to negotiating ransom with a kidnapper.

Bangalore is probably in its fourth avatar, first being a holiday heaven and military base for the British, then being the preferred location for India’s premier research and educational institutions, and with coming of MNCs the third avatar was a cosmopolitan Bangalore and now the latest avatar is Corporate Bangalore. This avatar has made Bangalore synonymous with sky high prices, rocketing real estate costs, posh housing apartments, Forum, fashion, traffic jams, cabbies, IT , call centers, job shifts, parties, pubs, hangovers and list goes on…

One of the few things which have not changed with time is probably ‘Food’. Be it either the quality or quantity, its been the same all the way…also to give some credit, Bangalore is probably one of the few cities in this country where one could manage to work around the native language by just learning what I call navaratnas, which are beku, beda, illi, alli, yelli, saaku, kodi, hogi, yeshtu. These nine words if peppered in any of the Indian Languages would make you sound like talking Kannada, and help you live your life peacefully without getting discriminated.

Having said and done its after all namma ooru, bangalooru and we should give it some time. As responsible “Corporate Bangaloreans” rather than cribbing, we should look to alleviate the situation in every possible way we can, and help Corporation of Bangalore to keep in pace with Corporate Bangalore.

Intro !

Hello friends,

Just realised its time I had my own blog. Well, as the blog reads I intend to share all my (not mine as well :) experiences on Wine, Women and Wisdom which one gets at last after going through the first two strictly in the order of mention.

First entry is about the city I live in, where I have had most of my experiences.

Let's get started...

-Ram