Karma

Its either Cubbon Park or UAS campus for Sunday walks. Also, Sunday walks are also know as barefoot walks. The benefits of which are seamless.

Mr Jason was one such acquaintances on the walking path. He comes across as an elderly, serene and gentlemanly. It didn't take long for smiles to turn into handshakes. We got to know each other better.Mr Jason runs a supermarket in the neighborhood of my residence. Why not said my little brain and I did visit his store on a Tuesday noon. Mr Jason was supported by his wife and daughter to look into the operations. I began filling my basket and eventually culminated into the billing section. I got introduced to Mrs Jason myself and said, "Here I am, your husband's walking partner", for which I got a spontaneous reply stating, "Yeah, I got to know, he was jumping with joy as you walked in."

While I was having a cupid conversation with their daughter, Mrs Jason started packing all the miniature stuffs, which included a seashell, a boxing gloves, some artifacts made out of bamboo and many more. As I was making my way out, she handed over the gifts to me. I proudly turned to Mr Jason and said, "Imagine with one visit, I could earn this. What could happen in consecutive visits?". Mr Jason gave a profound reply, he said, "All these stuffs that you received now were the ones that you had left before."

 

ಒಂದು ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟಿನ ಕಥೆ......

Mr Kingston asked me, "What makes a good thinker?", this was in the middle of the interview, I dint have much time to regroup my thoughts, I started thinking loudly, I began, "Thought makes a good thinker, on a contrary you need a good thinker to harness thoughts. I feel both feed on each other." He giggled and said, "It's not like, which came first chicken or egg?", and we carried on to some informal discussion. 

A conversation that happened a good five years ago, started surfacing this forenoon as I was fiddling with the dough to prepare ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು(obattu) 

I had seen ಅಮ್ಮ(Amma) preparing a zillion times, but never paid attention to the nuances of  making. I started with my experiment after having gotten briefed by ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಅಣ್ಣ (Murthy Anna), my eldest brother. So much of a revelation, probably I made all the possible mistakes. This will also serve as a manual on how not prepare an ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು (obattu).

Lesson 1. Filter

Once, Jaggery syrup + baked dal + grated coconut are mixed together. Not everything should go to grinder. This would spoil the stuffing. 

My gyan - Though everything seem relevant. You would opt to what works. 

Lesson 2 - Catalyst

Now that stuffing is a bit diluted, we use gram flour for thickening. Again if the gram flour is not powdered well, this will tear up as we roll. 

My gyan - 1) Be independent, don't depend on external agents for your bindings / happiness. 

                      2) Choose the right partner. This can make you or break you. Really!!!

Lesson 3. What water could do, oil couldn't. 

Maida and semolina had to be mixed in equal proportions and we soak it in oil for a while. If the dough is not made neither solid nor liquid, and if you think soaking in oil will do the job..... Please keep thinking. 

My gyan - 1) Use the right thing at a right time. 

               2) Overdoing when its time will not fetch you better results anyway. 

Lesson 4 - ‌‌झुठे बूनियदों से रिश्ते नहीं जोड़े जाते ।

Malnourished dough and a weak stuffing will never result in great dish. 

My gyan - You need to bring in the individual brilliance for the team to function. 

Lesson 5 - What goes in come out. 

If you still muster courage, roll out the mixture and place it on tava, it will break soon.

My gyan - The quality of your life depends on your inputs, depends on your  thoughts. Think carefully. 

Lesson 6 - Lubricant Well

The mixture gets rolled out on the oil laced banana leaf for the successful transfer on to the tava.

My gyan - Just because somebody stuck to you and used you doesn't mean that it's yours. Develop detachment. Lubricant well. At least on weekends.

Lesson 7 - Be Banana 

Banana Leaf also gets subjected to heat every time it transfers ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು(obattu) on to the tava. During the process the fringes becomes unbreakable. 

My gyan - 1) Adversity makes you stronger anyway. 

               2) Getting used for a noble cause.

Lastly, "ಅಮ್ಮ, ನಿಮಗೇನು ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ", is the everyday tantrum that gets thrown at her. One should try making obattu, to realize how much she knows.

PS - Obattu, is traditional sweet dish of Karnataka

Idu kathe alla jeevana.......

"Yenri, Nayina sariyagi hathotiyalli ittikollodhu thane", said Venkanna, who was in his late 50’s.

"Soooory uncle", said Pooja, a young girl, who was managing her ferocious Rottweiler.

"Sorry andre noovu hogbidutha", came a spontaneous reply from Shankramma, brushing her hands on her little Pomeranian.

Pooja’s Rottweiler had just pounced on the couple's Pomeranian. The couple took turn in expressing their anger while other pacified the hurt pet. Pooja halted on one of the benches of the park and started giving gyan to her dog and instructing him not to do the same.

The couple continued to brush their hands over the hurt Pomeranian. What’s interesting to notice was the dogs exchanged some pleasantries while their owners were in no mood to do the same.

“Aaa hudigiganthu budhiilla, nimbuddhige enaayithu?, neevaadru naayina sariyagi hidiyoodhu thaane??’ Blamed shankramma.

Venkanna had no answer to his wife’s query and more over after few years of marriage, husbands generally for sure would be dumbstruck. The charisma and magic of words would just fade away. Venkanna was no different, with over two decades of so called companionship, the inevitable has enwrapped him too.  Probably he was worried about the aftermath of the incident.

The couple reached home with a limping dog.

............... After 10 min.

Venkanna texted his friend Ramanna to join for a thateidli in a nearby darshni. 

[If you still wonder, what happened in 10 min??.... Pretty simple, he was made to skip breakfast at home]. 

Ramanna was updated on the incident and Venkanna blamed Pooja and her dog for his wife’s beast like behavior for the day.

“Prarabdha, beega idli thagondu baarooo”, yelled Venkanna. Soma, who was multitasking on a Sunday morning with above par footprints in his darshni couldn’t take up the ill words. He did retaliate, and served him the substandard chutney with hot idlies.

“Raayare, neevu en thagoltheera??”, questioned Soma glaring at Ramanna.

“Ekadhashi…. Swalpabisi sugar less coffee kodappa”, replied Ramanna.

"Eega, mundhina kaaryekrama??", asked Ramanna.

"Raakshasi, hurudhu beelthaale, innu Ramayana mugdhirolla, nadi, Surappana manegehogi, swalpa cards haadona.", concluded Venkanna 

Rummy began, the score cards too reflected how Venkanna began his day, he had two books, [i.e, a score of 80] in the first four games of play.

"Yeno, Venka, this is unlike your natural game of play", hummed Surappa.

“Yaakoooo…….,Venkanna started puking without even completing his sentence.

Venka, venkaaa enaayithooooo venkaaaa???? Ramanna and Surappa expressed their concern.

Venkanna drained all that he had in his stomach, and was gasping. He choked, his eyes blurred. He was on the verge of collapsing.  He was rushed to nearby nursing home. 

"Yendha Prashne??", uttered a maleyaali nurse, by looking at the other two.

“Doctorna karireee………….. call the doctor please”, screamed Ramanna. He was really worried and had never seen his friend in such a state.

Doc was given the patient history, and when questioned about Venkanna’s intake that morning, Ramanna duly updated. Dr. Farooq, prescribed an I V [Intravenous fluid] and Tigan to be injected along I V.

Shony, got the medicines in the tray, and tapped on Venkannas hand to find the nerve to pierce the needle. The doctors have the habit to divert the attention of the patients, Shony too imbibed the same. While she was doing it, “cheta, malayaaliyaano??” questioned Shony, looking at the almost unconscious Venkanna.

“Reeeee, iroore swalpakannadigaru, avarannnu neevu maleyaaligalannna maadikondubidi???” said aghast Ramanna.  

I V began its assimilation with blood. Tigan too has started its reaction on Venkanna. Surappa regulated the speed and wanted his friend to recover faster. While he was doing so, he discovered, the nurse has just injected the expired Tigan along with IV.

He howled, cried and wanted some immediate action to be taken. Dr Farooq was called, another couple of doctors joined and, Venkanna was rushed to another room for treatment.

The doctors couldn’t save him, Venkanna was declared dead after an hour and half.

The expired Tigan had its effect on him. Shony was questioned? and asked the reason for injecting the expired medicine. Shony had her own story, but the life was lost.

Now, who is responsible for Venkanna’s Death??

Is it Shony, who otherwise is meticulous and would check the medicine but dint do the same because she wasn’t allowed an off on Sunday?

Was it Soma who served the sub-standard chutney?

Is it Venkanna himself who was rude that made Soma behave the way he did?

Or is Shankramma who denied the breakfast at home?

If you think its Pooja and her dog……what a fate??, a dog has a say in you being alive or dead. 

If our life are driven by the circumstances, isn’t it as good as being dead?

Fix it

It's a kind of wired mind mechanics, someone up there have got the wiring wrong. There is a constant conflict that the brain howls..... this is not it !!!

Common men puts it across as, the other side of the grass is always greener.

I am between jobs now, to be more precise, I have chucked the one on hand and hunting for another. For some reason I have now started to believe my HR friend who talks the philosophy of employment, "Have one and kick the other". My little Gray matter had a different take, it said, you need to empty yourself to cling onto the other. Result, whatever I am now. Can we call jobless?, maybe!!

Now the issue is, I always wanted time off from work for the holistic maintenance of mind, body and soul. Morning walks on the wood-side, a healthy cook your food regime, a simple movie to call it a weekend, recreation offered by Sadguru, a pilgrimage to add bliss and subtract ihajanmani, janma  janmaanthareva sampathidha, kayaka, vachika, manasika, Brahma hatyadi, mahapathaka, upapaathaka, sanchaya nivaaranaartham, a mere exaggeration of the accumulated bad omen, and more importantly no proper SLEEP TIME.

Worse, when I have all the time in the world to practice the said above, the restlessness creeps in to hooked on to be called as,  EMPLOYED. It's been a month now, and I am busy doing nothing!!!

The frequency of body being under the shower has reduced, but the bum always had its share. Food has become 1 and half meal a day. Brews in the morning are preferring the late evenings, but the specification remained same, HOT!!! My bed has taken a dent, probably any quality of mattress would be, if subjected to a little less than three figure, for most part of the day and night, and I still do not have a quality sleep. Inner engineering suddenly seems to be heavy on the pocket.

So, what do I have, a good rationale logical precise facts for not having a life that I always wanted. Wow, Eureka.

Someone rightly said, 50% of the problem is solved if you have got to know the real cause of distress. I have been analyzing, the present and similar circumstances of the past and found a root cause and a  predominant fact that has been common throughout, and that is ME.

All the more it becomes more evident by the statement, "Only I can be the hindrance for my success."

I have got to fix that me which has denied the other me to do all that I can, to be all that I can.

The solutions to the future lies in the past. Happy fixing!!!!

5th September

A few messages on the cell wishing on teachers day is such a pleasure. I presume this remembrance is a token of love to the little contribution if not huge. While my students remember me on this day….it is natural that I too express my gratitude and respect to my teachers. They indeed had their influence in making and unmaking of who I am today.

But the best of all is Ms.Vijaylakshmi Rajgopal.

• She taught me life lessons. 
• She taught me patience. 
• She tried hard to put emotions in a dead log and was pretty much successful. 
• She taught me when to say what and how. 
• She walked what she preached. 
• She is indeed the embodiment of such fine distinctions of life that makes her the best Mother the planet has ever seen.

I couldn’t remember any greatest gurus of all times than her. Some noble soul has rightly said, "Thaayiye modhalane guru, manaye modhalane paatashale….."

While her teachings and preaching’s continued ever since I was born, my bad, I wasn’t respective enough and gave unnecessary pain and caused hurt. Wish life had Ctrl Z, I would go back and wipe some of those which I did and which I dint do.

This was the worst of all……

Amma was ill and couldn't have food the previous night. Probably she was hungry by mid night and had no energy left in her to help herself. She preferred to wake me and asked me if I could prepare some porridge, for which I obliged. I Walked to kitchen and returned back with some semolina porridge. I kept it changing tumbler to cool it faster. When it was right temperature handed over the same to Amma. She woke from the small nap, gulped a couple of spoons and pushed it to the corner. I overheard the sound, and questioned Amma, for which she said, she is done and she couldn't have more.

I gave mouth full for,

1.       Not having what I have prepared fully…. that too, post-midnight

2.          I found it too silly to just fill yourself with a couple of spoons and waste the rest.

She dint utter a word. I fell asleep with the noise of the clock lingering in the background. Worse, she had two noises to put up with.

While all were busy the next morning to attend to what they had in the schedule, Amma was still on bed. She looked really weak. She asked me to prepare porridge for the second time. As I made faces and started walking towards kitchen murmuring, she softly uttered, "Ee sari ganji maaduvaaga, swalpa reva huridhu maadappa."

I felt like kicking myself. Semolina if not fried prior doesn't get cooked, no wonder she couldn't have the half backed one which I gave the previous night. Imagine you are ill, missed food the previous night and was given some nonsense to both body and brain and you still keep quite!!!! Who on earth could behave this way. While this incident was just one of them, and there are many which went unsaid, unnoticed and buried deep down.

Amma, I take this opportunity to kneel down in front of you and seek forgiveness for my wrong doings and being stupid all through. Love you Mamma.

Maralugaadina Alegalu

14th March 2014, Friday, Time 10.51 PM - Sharjah

I 'am leaning on a couch near to the balcony door which is partially kept open. It’s highly unlikely that the weather has been pretty good so far. Rain god really does have the powers to sooth the temperature of a desert!! I have been allocated a fully furnished flat on Al-Jazairi building on the 54th street of an Al-Wadha Main road.  Also, I stay near the City Centre Shopping Mall in Sharjah.

My flat, 1104 is on the 11th floor of 'B' block, unlike in Bangalore where the car parking are underground, here the first 6 floors from the ground are the place where cars hid from the frowning sun. This puts me logically on the 17th floor.

'A' block of the same building blocks the sun hitting my balcony directly making my home relatively cooler, needless to say it also blocks my frontal view. If I tilt my head to the right, this is what I could see in the morning @ 6.00 AM.

 

 

 

My cell read the time as 7.30 AM, I purposely dint change the IST to correlate better with the loved ones. The scenic view made me to put on a decent cloth [its just a matter of time, Sharjah will feel comfortable me wearing lungi] and started walking with my priced collection, Cannon Digital DSLR.
 

My place of stay ..... Al-Jazairi Building

 

 

The sounds produced by cars ripping on the roads were similar to that of sound produced by waves on Sri Somanatheshwara beach of Mangalore. A perfect resonance.

 

Pedestrians also had to take a D tour to reach the other side of the road. After walking up the lane, we found a subway that took us [Me and Muki] to the other part of the road and this is what we could see.

I ensured I captured only the man made nature and was cautious not to capture any humans, and if I did, it shouldn't offend them. The laws of UAE are stringent, the judgement days will maximum be a week away. Appreciated the effort that the people here imported mud and grew lawns and planted trees. Chirpings were heard near the trees, for a while, it definitely made me wonder if there were speakers hid in trees!!!

There were quite a few who took the stroll round the park. Muki, was busy categorizing Indians and Non Indians, though, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis also looked similar to us.  

Lebanese, Koreans, Africans, Austroloids, Philippine, walked apart from the locals, whose men wore a long white robes. From the impressions, I could guess they wore a full sleeve vest inside, but couldn't get an iota of what they wore below the belt!!!

 

We got home, guess what? In a fully furnished home, where all amenities were at our disposal, we deeply missed the gas connection, which is scheduled to be fixed only by Saturday evening. Bread, butter and Jam of previous night became our breakfast.

A small flash back here.....

As Mr.Lakshman picked us from Dubai International Airport. It was quarter past eight in the evening. Heavy traffic stretched our journey of 20 minutes to an hour and half. Change in plan.....my stay of residence was made in Sharjah than Dubai, probably because of the low rentals here.

A nice gesture from the employer, they made sure "Important & Urgent" stuffs were at our disposal. A welcome kit contained 250gms of Sugar, Jam, Water bottles, Nescafe, Lipton tea bags, a small can which contained condensed milk, a small knife, bed spread, pillow [which blew up as I cut opened the plastic ]. Nice of them, they had placed bread and butter in fridge too. For some one who had virtual travel for 12 hrs and had a bad back this was heaven.

Mr Lakshman also handed over the envelope which contained,

• Id Card
• Medical Insurance Card and
• Re locating allowance of 3000 dirums.

As Mr.Lakshman finished the formalities I too went in search of the local SIM. I knew family and friends back home were very curious/anxious to know about our wellbeing. Learnt City Centre mall sold 'du' SIM, only to find a long queue which was more than a half a kilometer and took the shape of serpent in a busy mall. Pure economics, demand and supply. Only two companies sold SIM, 'du', a private agency and 'Etisalat', a govt competitor.

I managed to speak to the authority who was managing queue. They wanted passport copy in original for verification for the issue of new SIM. I had carried only the photocopy of it. All efforts vent in vain. Walked back home with a dropped shoulder. I knew even though I took back the originals, the long queue will certainly prohibit my entrance.

We munched on bread butter jam after a quick shower. Muki got busy cleaning and unpacking stuffs in kitchen. I started setting up the hall.

 

 

I was exhausted by the time I vacuumed hall and passage. Probably the culture here doesn't expose women of the family to the men who gate crashed and my home look like this.

 

 

 

I hit the bed after keeping my cloth in the cupboard. It was 1.00 AM local time by then. Woke up as early as 6.00 AM. Saw the Narasimha photo who was staring at me sitting on the dressing table.

 

'Nodidhya Narasimha, ninge naanu dubai thorisibitte' was my first thought. How mean one could be, "Narasimha nange dubai thorisirodhu", came the next thought. Walked to the balcony and have shared with you about what happened henceforth.
 

Now back live. The left overs of yesterday became our breakfast. The anxiety by this time has shot up. People back home are still not aware about our whereabouts.

As the clock showed 10.00 AM, me and Muki rushed to the City Centre mall, this time with originals. Congratulations!!! It was Friday. A public holiday. People of private agency resumed work only by 2.00 PM. We were disappointed again. On the way back walked to the grocery shop where Muki did some purchase. My first transaction came up to 27.5 ADE [Dirums]. I realized the importance of 17 tables and cursed the fellow who according to me overshoot the bill for a mediocre purchase. Never again, I will visit his shop vowed my conscience. We were getting a few insights into the people around and more importantly our own selves too.

R & D began, Muki used the electric kettle to make a cuppa of Maggi and I suggested we can also make mosaru avalakki which eventually became our lunch. Orange juice and cucumber too filled our drought struck stomach. On the day of travel, 13th March, Amma served idlies and I restricted to four as we were getting late. A snack and a lunch provided in Blr - Mumbai and Mumbai - Dubai flights were pathetic. So, it was close to 36 hrs of food deprivation.

We headed back to the 'du' center and I stood in the queue and Muki went to shop household stuffs. A Lebanese du personnel helped me through the process. Unlike back home, here the SIM activation takes only 10 minutes. There were frequent shower in Sharjah, the rain god has swept the roads neat by the time we walked back. Made a call to Appaji and thought to use 100 MB complimentary data in bits and bytes .......literally!!!, to connect to gampara gumpu via WhatsApp. Did update Jagga Pete and Kallu and also asked them to inform Amma that am safe. Some solace that I have got connected to the angles back home.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Something stroked in our minds. We rushed back again to City Center, purchased a glass container which could withstand heat up to 300 ⁰ C ... made use of the electric oven, resultant,

As I started keying down, my dish was still baking. It was 30 min past 12 in the night as I thanked god for the morsels of rice.

Thanks for your patience listening.

 

 

Uncertainty

Uncertainty - Probably the most certain word in every ones journey from cradle to grave. The other day I was reading an article written by a knowledgeable soul...

He depicts few incidents of what he called as ‘default life’, the next few lines are stolen from his blog without prior permission......

 “There’s an old story that is basically true: Ordinary Roman carts were constructed to match the width of ruts in the road that the war chariots had left. The chariots were sized to accommodate the width of two large horses. Roads throughout the vast Roman empire were all built to this spec. When Romans marched into Britain, roads were constructed at that width. When the English started building tramways and railways, the width stayed the same. British labourers built railways in the Americas using the dimensions they were accustomed to.

Fast forward to the space shuttle. The two large solid fuel rocket engines on the side of the launch shuttle were sent by railroad, and to be transported were designed to be the same width. A major design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of two horses.”

Let me get into something personal, how I behave now is based on what my mom thought me since I was a 4 year kid or may be of the age when I was receptive to.

I remember  Amma saying, “Put yourself last, I will serve you once the guest have, Share this with him/her, bla bla bla....................”. 

I sometimes feel horrified for behaving the same way as my father did for which I hated him all my life!!!

Life takes the shape of ‘this’ or ‘not this’. 

Why? I too do not have an answer....

Why is that I order butterscotch every time I visit an Ice cream parlour?

Why is that I have had Butter Nan, Alu Muttur, Jeera Rice and Dal Thadka a zillion times?

If it has to be coffee, why is that it has to be Shanti Sagar?

John Players beat the other brands at least in my wardrobe. Lee Cooper became the absolute. Shell became the only fuel station and McVeggi my favourite bite.

This more or less defines what I have done the most part of my life. My default life!!

Ohh, I began keying down about uncertainty and eventually after a page and half have all the certain stuffs filled in. 

I now really wonder, If uncertainty can play havoc in our so called default life, how will life be when uncertainty coupled with uncertain life with uncertain circumstances along uncertain people!!!!

Wow!! This should be something for 2013, ‘Swalpa other options try maadi’!!

One single life, Be all that you can be and do all that you can do.

Peace Out.