I'm ashamed to be a man

I did not want to write about this. 

Everybody has made their point. They want the rapists to be killed, castrated, burnt, stoned to death.

What were they waiting for? Why today? Were they waiting to see how violent men can get? This is not the first time something as brutal as this has happened. Rapes happen everyday. We talk about it, we sign petitions, we go on protest marches but what can we do about it? Nothing. Because there is nothing to do. Punishment solves the problem? Do you think the victims care about that? No. 

The media and most of us are using this opportunity to be heard. Branding Delhi as the rape capital. How is that civilized? That man would have raped a woman if he was from Delhi, Madras or Varanasi. 

You suggest education. Flawed.

Where are we going wrong? Educating the men about women? Education doesn't solve anything. At least not in this country. We are taught history and science and math. And we copy from our friend during the exam. Are we sufficiently educated in math?  

You suggest spreading awareness. Flawed.

After 60 odd years of independence, 10 five-year plans and schools and colleges, men are not ashamed to pee in public. Awareness much? 

If you are reading this looking for a solution to all this please stop and carry on with your work. I am not suggesting a solution because there is none. Writing articles, updating Facebook statuses and tweeting about rape and the effects of it will not make a change. The ten men who ganged up on the girl couple of days back were the same ten men who read the newspaper article on a 5 year old being raped a week back, a 20 year old being raped 10 days back. The same men who 'liked' and shared a facebook update on saving all women who are targetted by sex thirsty animals on their way back home. A rapist is reading this now. He will be done with this article go out and rape a woman, because it is okay to destroy the life of a 5 year old kid or a 50 year old woman for the sake of his pleasure. Because it is okay. Because he is a man. Because he has a penis. That is a superpower in this wretched country. 

In this sovereign democratic secular republic country, all a girl has to do to get raped is walk home after watching a movie, in broad daylight. 

You suggest self-defense. Flawed.

When ten brutal animals gang up on one girl what amount of self-defense will help? A revolver has 6 bullets. These animals will wait for the victim to exhaust all that, then rape her. Because sex is important than another person's life. Because raping a woman is a badass act. Because the movies say so. The man who rapes a girl in a movie drives a BMW. Because lust trumps every human emotion. It is sacrilegious to use the word human in this post because the men in this country are anything but human. 

What else can be done? I don't know. Do you? No. We can hang 10 men. And 10 more rapists are born the next day. You think they are not aware of the prison sentence? No. 

I am scared. I am scared for the people around me. I am scared for my friends. I am scared for my family. I am scared because these men are widening their borders of cruelty everyday. 

I am scared.


I did not want to write about this because all that has to be written has been written. I did not want to write about this because I did not want attention. I did not want to be called an hypocrite.  I did not want to write about this because I don't know what she went through. No amount of explanation will make me realize that. I did not want to write about this because I am a man. I did not want to write about this because I am ashamed to be a man.

I am ashamed. I am ashamed to be a man. I am ashamed to be a man in this country.

We don't have your money.

Firstly I'd like to establish the fact that College of Engineering, Guindy and Anna University, Guindy are not one and the same. CEG is a college housed inside the University, that's pretty much the only difference between the relationship between CEG and Anna University and the relationship between other affiliated colleges and the University (Apart from the curriculum, certification and all those techs). 

The final exams (laboratory and the theory papers) are held across the state by a body of the University called the Controller of Examinations (COE). The exams for the University departments which includes the four constituent colleges housed inside the University (College of Engineering - Guindy, Madras Institute of Technology - Chrompet, A.C. College of Technology - Guindy and School of Architecture and Planning - Guindy) are also conducted by the COE. So apart from the question papers and the people who evaluate the answer scripts there is almost zero difference between the examination procedure of the University departments and those of the affiliated colleges. 

In the University departments, once the exams are done the papers reach the controller of examinations and they are evaluated during a certain evaluation period. All those are irrelevant because, remember this, all the answer scripts are given dummy roll numbers and are evaluated by people who don't have any idea of the candidate whose answer script they are holding. So, all you people who think the evaluation procedures are rigged, please change your opinion.

Similarly, for the affiliated colleges, once the exams are done the answer scripts reach the correction centers and then professors from various colleges are appointed to evaluate those scripts. Al this is done by the University and College of Engineering has no part to play. It serves as one of the correction centers if I am not wrong. 

Re-evaluation:

Re-evaluation is done under pretty much the same circumstances. After the results are published candidates are allowed to apply for re-evaluation of their answer scripts incase they are not satisfied with the outcome of the correction process. Same goes for the students of the University departments also. Even the fee that is collected for the re-evaluation are the same. 

All this is done under the control of the University not CEG.


Technical and cultural fests at CEG:

There are two international technical and cultural festivals Kurukshetra and Techofes in the month of January and February respectively. These fests are conducted by two student bodies namely : The CEG Tech Forum (CTF) and the Students Association and Arts Society). Each fest is planned well in advance (right after the year's event is done, next year's planning starts) and students across all four years of Engineering and across all the branches work on every single area to make the fests happen. By all areas I mean every single one of them. Right from advertisements to finance, from industry relations to logistic support everything is handled by the students under the guidance of staff advisors. 

Sponsors:

There is this general opinion that all the re-evaluation fee collected from the affiliated colleges go in as funds for these two festivals. I am yet to come across a bigger load of nonsense. Like I said, the University and college are symbiotic bodies all the while operating mutually exclusive with each other. There is a separate team for marketing and sponsorship comprising entirely of students who go around and meet people from all sectors and hunt for sponsorship. It is not an easy task at all. I personally have seen so many of my friends going around and attending meetings without even breaking for lunch. After doing all this, they don't even expect credit. This shows how much of a responsibility these people are carrying on their shoulders without even expecting being mentioned. And after all this, the talk among the students from the other colleges is that all the funds are from their pockets and we have it easy. Well, NO. Every single penny is a result of a day's work of meeting and convincing people to support our events. In turn they get amazing recognition and branding. 

So next time your friend from another college says it is his re-evaluation money we are using to hold college fests, make him read this.

Success

I was walking along. There was a crowd. I wanted to know what was happening. Curiosity always gets the better of me. So, I walked in the midst of those people. They were telling each other their experiences. They seemed really happy. The one that isn't fake. There was no need for drama there. The moment seemed priceless to those people. They were smiling. I observed them carefully, real carefully. 


Some of them were crying. They weren't sad or anything. In fact, they were smiling amidst tears. I didn't understand how that worked but they did seem happy. But they were crying. I observed them carefully. I tried to figure out what was happening. 


Some of them seemed like they were lost in thoughts. I wished I could read their thoughts. They did not seem lost though. Their eyes were clear. They had a certain Zen which was unbelievable. Again, I couldn't understand how it worked. I took it all in. At least I tried to. 


I came back home. I stood in front of the mirror. I remembered all those faces. I tried to do whatever they did. I smiled. Smiled so wide. I thought this is how they must have felt.


I cried. Silently. I tried to remember all the awful things that had happened to me. I cried. I cried till I choked. And then I tried smiling, smiling between tears. I thought this is how they must have felt.


I freshened up. Tried to get lost in thoughts. I started thinking and wondering about stuff like, why is darkness black. Why should earth be habitable. And so many other questions that I thought were unanswered. I thought this is how they must have felt.


I couldn't decide. I couldn't fix on a single emotion. I was curious to find out. Then I thought, someday I'll realize what success feels like.




This was something I wanted to write about. Don't leave condolences and consolations as comments. Thanks in advance.

Fourth world problems

So many centuries back, some knowledgeable people (who probably were the ancestors of today's knowledgeable Chennai crowd) classified people into four kinds (or varnas, for the Sanskrit-ly inclined). People those days didn't do much except praying, fighting or something like that. The four divisions were 


Kshatriyas- people who fought.
Brahmanas - people who performed scholarly activities (like reading The Hindu from top to bottom)
Vaisyas - people who bought and sold things, merchant folk.
Sudras - people who did physical labor.


Today, three of the four classifications have merged with multiple regional and religion based sects and what remains in the Brahmanas and that too only in the name. I call this group the fourth world.


I think just because they were self proclaimed scholars in the ancient times there are a million hurdles and loopholes to make sure none of the modern day citizens of the fourth world would be eligible to carry out the pursuit of knowledge. 


The fourth world is also referred to as the 'forward community' in pop culture. That's like the best irony inspired name ever. It gives tough competition to terms like relative grading, flash mob, engineering college and music director Harris Jeyaraj. 


In the mark driven educational society today, the fourth world can only sustain itself if it chooses to embrace illiteracy. I mean come on, there are so many jobs one can end up without getting a degree. 


"What is your percentage in class 10?"


"98%"


"Good. What about class 12?"


"99.5%"


"Very good, very good. Where is your community certificate?"

"I don't have one. Forward community."


"Oh."


"You should've worked hard in class 12. You are 4% short of the cut off."


"But I have 99.5% already."


"I know. But that's what the system says. The system is never wrong."


Well, the system is never wrong. No?

Okay. So, if I decide to follow my ancestors and resort to priestly professions, even they are competitive. People fight reservations, finish doctorates in posh foreign universities and once they get married, they come back to India, put their kids in PSBB, grow a pony tail and become vaaddhiyaars. So if I finish school with a meagre 98% and try getting into one such profession, I will be ineligible for that also. What should I do tell me? I think this is all a master plan to make sure nobody from the forward community remains to fight against reservation. They are aiming at a society filled with peace and harmony by waiting till all the people of the fourth world die.


Lets look at the possible jobs where there are no reservations:


1. Item dancer - best possible job. But men cannot apply because of penis and poonal.

2. Bodyguard for the dons/mafia heads - not possible because of curd rice.


3. Politician - No money, no politics. Yes money, no need of politics. Paradox.

And a few others like amateur photographer, social media expert etc. People used to become writers but these days one needs an MBA from the IIMs to become a writer. 


So to sum up one does not simply be born as a citizen of the fourth world and also expect decent education. Oh wait, you cannot control that.


Pesama naanum kalacharatha kaapatha poidlamnu iruken.

அட நான் தெரியாம தான் கேக்கறேன்

உலகில் இரண்டு விதமான அறிவாளிகள் உண்டு. ஒன்று, தனக்கு தெரிந்ததெல்லாம் சுட்டிக்காட்டி தான் அறிவாளி என்று நிரூபிப்பவர்கள். மற்றொன்று அடுத்தவர்களுக்கு தெரியாததை எல்லாம்  சுட்டிக்காட்டி தான் அறிவாளி என்று நிரூபிப்பவர்கள். மூன்றவதாக ஒருவர் சில ஆண்டுகளாக உலா வருகிறார். அவர் வேறு யாருமல்ல, நம்ம விஜய் டிவி நீயா நானா கோபிநாத். தனக்கு தெரிந்ததை எல்லாம் சொல்லி, அது எதுவும் உனக்கு தெரியவில்லை. உனக்கு தெரிந்த நாலு விஷயமும் தப்பு. என்று ஆழ்ந்த அனுதாபங்களோடு பேட்டி எடுப்பவர்களை வழியனுப்பி வைக்கும் திறமை சாலி.

எனக்கு கோபிநாத் அவர்கள் மேல் மிகுந்த மரியாதை உண்டு. மிகச்சிறந்த பேச்சாளர். என் கல்லூரிக்கு அவர் சென்ற ஆண்டு வந்திருந்தபோது கடும் கூட்டத்துக்கு நடுவே நின்று அவர் பேச்சைக்கேட்டேன். திடீரென்று என்ன ஆயிற்று அவருக்கு? நல்லத்தானையா போய்க்கிற்றுந்துது?

ஒவ்வொரு ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமையும் குடும்பத்தோடு உட்காந்து நீயா நானா பார்ப்பது என் வீட்டில் ஒரு வழக்கமாக இருந்தது. சில மாதங்களாக நான் அந்த நிகழ்ச்சியை பார்ப்பதில்லை. ஏனோஅந்த நிகழ்ச்சி இப்போதேல்லாம் கருத்துக்களை தாண்டி மக்களிடம் ஏதோ பொருளை வியாபாரம் செய்வதைப்போல் போலி ஆடம்பரங்களையே மையயமாகக்கொண்டு செயல்பட்டுவருகிறது என்ற எண்ணம் எனக்கு. 

நல்ல வாக்குவதங்கலையே கொண்டிருந்த நீயா நானா நிகழ்ச்சி, குக்கர் மிக்சி குடுத்து கூட்டம் சேர்க்க ஆரம்பித்து விட்டது. விருந்தினர்கள் என்ற பேரில் சமூகத்தில் பெரிய இடத்தில் இருப்பவர்களை கூப்பிட்டு வந்து அவர்களை தர்மசங்கடப்படுத்துவதில் என்ன ஆர்வமோ இவருக்கு, எனக்கு புரியவில்லை.

ஒவ்வொரு ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமையும் குறைந்தது இரண்டு சிறப்பு விருந்தினர்கள் நிகழ்ச்சிக்கு அழைக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். நிகழ்ச்சிக்கு நடுவராக விளங்கும் கோபிநாத் யாரேனும் ஒருவர் பக்கம் சாய்ந்து விடுகிறார். எந்த பக்கத்தில் இருந்து நிறைய கைத்தட்டல்கள் வருகிறதோ, எந்த கும்பல் இவரது நக்கல் நிறைந்த வாசகங்களை அதிகம் ரசிக்கின்றதோ அந்தப்பக்கமே பேசுகிறார் நடுவர் கோபிநாத். 

சில சமயங்களில் சபை மரியாதை மறந்தும் அளவு மீறியும் பல வாக்குவாதங்கள் இந்நிகழ்ச்சியில் இடம்பெறுகின்றது. தெரிந்தே அவமானப்படுத்துகிறாரா இல்லை அவர் இப்படித்தான என்று புரியவில்லை எனக்கு.

நல்ல கருத்துகள் இருந்தால் ****-பற்றி கவலைப்பட வேண்டாமே? சென்ற வாரம் அப்படித்தான் பவர்ஸ்டார் டாக்டர் சீனிவாசனை நிகழ்ச்சிக்கு அழைத்திருந்தனர். போலி கெளரவம் தான் அன்றைய தலைப்பு. அவரிடம் அதைப்பற்றி கேட்காமல் அவரை அவமானப்படுதுவதையே குறியாகக்கொண்டு கேள்வி கேட்டமாதிரியே இருந்தது. அவருக்கு எதிராக அமர்ந்திருந்தவர் ஒரு சமூகவாதி. என்றைக்கு சமூகவதிகளும் சினிமாகரர்களும் ஒத்துப்போயிருக்கின்றனர்? சங்கடமாக இருந்தது, அந்த நடிகர் ஏதோ தன்னிடம் இருக்கும் பணத்தை வைத்துக்கொண்டு நடிகனாகவேண்டும் என்ற ஆசையை நிறைவேர்திக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார். உங்களுக்கு பிடிக்கவில்லையெனில் அவரை ஆதரிக்காதீர்கள். என்னதான் மோசமான படங்களில் நடித்தாலும் அவர் படங்களின் மூலம் நாலு பேரின் குடும்பத்தில் அடுப்பு எரிகின்றது. அதை நீங்கள் பாராட்டவேண்டாம். சமூகத்தில் அவரை பெரிய மனிதராக பார்க்கவேண்டாம். ஒரு சம மனிதனாக பார்க்க வேண்டுமா இல்லையா? கோமாளித்தனமாக இருக்கிறார் என்பதற்காக சபையில் அமர்த்திவைத்து இவரைப்பார்த்து சிரியுங்கள் என்று சொல்வது மனித உரிமை மீறல். மனசாட்சியற்ற செயல்.

கோபிநாத் ஒரு சிறந்த தொகுப்பாளர், சிறந்த பேச்சாளர், சிறந்த எழுத்தாளர்.

அட நான் தெரியாம தான் கேக்கறேன், கோபிநாத் எந்த அளவுக்கு சிறந்த மனிதர்?

How does it matter if the IPL is fixed?

Dear closet CSK fan (in other words, Dear people),


I agree you are an ardent cricket fan, you worship test cricket and you have an XXL size Dravid poster on your bedroom wall. But what is your problem with IPL? I mean one moment you sit quietly and watch Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers play one blade game, once Chennai starts winning you start reacting like you ate Molaga Bhajji (Chilli Pakoda/ Roasted flour with chilli in between). You cry all over saying IPL is fixed. These people are cheating the public. Well, if you expect quality cricket in 20 overs both sides will end up scoring 80 odd runs and then IPL will die a slow death like Raju Rastogi's father in 3 idiots. If you want entertainment AND quality cricket, you should play one in your computer only. It is entertaining and you will definitely not admit that it is of poor quality because you are the one playing. 


Let me ask you, did you find Siddhu irritating before you created a twitter account? Some people found his statements cliched and started dissing him, yes. But you wanted to be noticed. 


You wanted to blame IPL. And you wanted to be heard. So, you started tweeting everything with #IPL. I mean there is a level of desperation dude. If you tweet " YAY!!!111 My dog successfully moocha-ed today #IPL" Danny Morrison won't read it out. 


Most people claiming that IPL is fixed are claiming so because the matches go down till the last ball. Well, you wanted entertainment. There, you get it. How many of us watch movies repeatedly just for their entertainment factor? This happens once a year, have got a good fan following, why not let people enjoy? No, you HAVE to find faults with it.


First, you said it is spoiling quality cricket. But you want Sehwag to score a century in 50 balls in a match where each team plays 50 overs. Even in a test match you watch till Sehwag gets out and refresh cricinfo once in 20 minutes when Dravid is batting. Why should you talk about spoiling the quality of cricket?


I wonder if you would have cried out 'match fixing' if your favorite team reached the play-offs or the final. When United wins title after title you seem to have no problem. But it is CSK, so you should claim that it is fixed. 


Dhoni hits a six, it is fixed. Morkel hits a six, it is fixed. Murali Vijay gets Hussey run out, it is fixed. Warner makes a fool of himself, it is fixed.


Amits and Gults think this is JEE and Chennai people are not supposed to fare well. Well we ended up bidding you farewell. KKR might end up winning the final but you will complain if CSK fans update status saying we have done it twice. You will take pains, research cricinfo pull up statistics and all just to prove us wrong. But we will simply reply saying that we have won it more number of times than you have reached the finals. 


You can like IPL, hate IPL, but when a billion people are watching it, you just cannot ignore talking about it. If you don't like the idea of it, do not watch or endorse. It is not like test cricket is dying because people are watching IPL, it could be because there aren't enough people who are watching test matches. But I'm quite sure that's not the case.


Anyway, put whistle. 

The tale of two cities

So like Suriya in Varanam Aayiram I decided to leave my city in search of a girl. Now that we have established all that I am going to type underneath is going to be as truthful as the first sentence we shall start every sentence with 'I wish'. 


Due to my extraordinary interests in research and outstanding academic records (read as invaluable favor and a derisive snort) I got an opportunity to intern at a famous institute in Bombay. I was all excited about spending my time away from home for a month (turning 20 and all that shizz). So I bid adieu to my family and boarded a train to Bombay a.k.a 'Amit land'. Tickets were booked but sadly I did not get a berth to sleep on. But since I was used to staying up all night and sleeping during the day I thought I can exchange berths with the non-nocturnal people. Brilliantly worked out plan, that was.


I am not sure if it was Andhra or Karnataka, mostly because the station names reminded me of Diwali sweets, people decided to demonstrate the power of the Indian population. People entered the train in tens. It was like the labor ward in some hospital. One moment there were snoring uncles and the next it was filled with kids looking at you like you are a Tyrannosaurus rex at the Museum of natural history. 


I mean come on. One, you don't have a ticket. Two, you don't have the right to ask me to adjust. Three, I cannot understand what you are speaking. Four, nothing I just got carried away. So due to the fear of dodging all these people I had to control my bladder and all to save my seat. Also I had to save my seat from my bladder. Too many complications.


One fellow kept smiling at me till he got a seat on the opposite side. Creepy, that was. And then I passed a few stations with names tracing the roots of swear words (Madar, Dadar and all) and then reached Mumbai. Then started the adventure. One shady taxi driver took me to the address i asked for. I couldn't find a room there. So one autodriver hi-jacked me. Then another taxi driver fought with this auto guy and hi-jacked me and made me check in into a shady hotel. I couldn't sleep only. I was scared someone would kill me and take all my luggage (Seriously :|).  Then about 7 hours after I reached Bombay I escaped and reached my institute. That's when I took a breather. That's when I started thinking clearly. And the first thought that came to my mind was "This place can never be Madras."

அமுதா

கன்னத்தில் முத்தமிட்டால்: நெஞ்சைத்தொடும் திரைப்படம். ஓரளவுக்கு வயதானதிலிருந்தே பெண் குழந்தை ஒன்றை பெற்று வளர்க்க வேண்டும் என்ற ஆசை எனக்கு. அமுதா என்னை பாதித்ததைப்போல் யாரும் இதுவரை என்னை சிந்தனையில் ஆழ்த்தியதில்லை. சிரிக்க வைத்திருக்கிறாள் அழ வைத்திருக்கிறாள். யோசிக்கவைத்திருக்கிறாள். சினிமாத்தனமாக இருக்காலாம், ஆனால் பல நாட்கள் மழை தூறும் வேளையில் ஜன்னல் ஓரம் அமர்ந்து உப்புக்கண்ணீரின்  சுவடு பதிந்த கன்னத்தோடு நான் யோசிப்பது, யோசித்து முகம் மலர்வது , அவளைப்போல் ஒரு குழந்தை எனக்கென்று, பிறந்து, வளர்ந்து "அப்பா" என்று என்னிடம் ஓடி வந்து...

..கன்னத்தில் முத்தமிட்டால்.

***********

அந்தி வானத்தில் சூரியன் உறங்கச் சென்றுகொண்டிருந்தான். கிழக்கில் அதை பிரதிபலிக்குமாறு செக்கச்ச்சவேல் என்று இருந்த உள்ளங்காலை மேல் நோக்கி வைத்தவாறு படுத்துக்கொண்டிருந்தாள்  அமுதா.

பாகிரதன் தவம் செய்து கங்கா தேவியை பூமிக்கு அழைத்து வந்தானாம். அவளின் வேகம் தாங்க முடியாது என்று புரிந்து கொண்டு சிவபெருமானை வணங்கி உதவுமாறு கேட்டானாம். அவரும் அவனுக்கு உதவியாக பூமிக்கு வந்து கங்கையை தலையில் தாங்கி நிலத்தில் விட்டார். கட்டுக்கு அடங்காத வேகத்தில் குறுக்கும் நெடுக்கும் ஓடி, மலை காடு செடி கொடி எல்லாம் தாண்டி கடலை அடைந்தாள் கங்கை. அதைப்போலவே குவித்திருந்த கன்னத்தில் மேலும் கீழும் உமிழ்நீரா கண்ணீரா  என்ற பாகுபாடு இல்லாமல் ஓடியவாறே இருந்தது. அதையெல்லாம் பொருட்படுத்தாது கும்பகர்ணனுக்கு சவால் விடுவேன் நான் என்று சொல்வது போல தூங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தாள் அமுதா. 

அமுதா பிறந்து நான்கே நாட்கள் ஆகியிருந்தது. 

அவள் படுத்துக்கொண்டிருக்க, அறைக்குள் மூன்று பேர் நுழைந்தார்கள். 

கை கோர்த்த வண்ணம் இருவர். முகத்தில் போலிப்புன்னகயோடு ஒருத்தி.

சில நிமிடங்கள் அமைதியாக கடந்தது. கை கோர்த்துக்கொண்டிருந்த இருவரையும் தனியே விட்டுவிட்டு அடுத்தவள் வெளியே சென்றாள்.

ஒருவரை ஒருவர் பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருந்தனர். அமுதாவை பார்த்தனர். 

"அமுதா", என்றாள் அந்த பெண்.

அன்றிலிருந்து புது வாழ்வு. அமுதாவுக்கும், அந்த இருவருக்கும்.

அமுதா உறக்கம் கலைந்து பசியில் அழுதாள். 

நாட்டின் மறுமூலையில்  எங்கேயோ சாப்பிட்டுகொண்டிருந்தவளுக்கு  விக்கியது. 

************

பி.கு: படத்தில் வந்த அமுதாவை மனதில் வைத்து எழுதியது தான் இது. மன திறுப்த்திக்காக எழுதுவது. உங்கள் நேரத்தை வீனடித்திருந்தால் மன்னிக்கவும்.

Dear ladies using MTC, why?

Dear ladies of Madras,

"Since everyone is quoting all kinds of nonsense and saying that I said all that, let me make my mark on this blog post also." - Mahatma Gandhi.

This is not just a blog post. This is the culmination of the outrage I have accumulated over the years and since this place is where all the open letters end up, mine shall also. 50 percent of the ladies population can perhaps relate to this post, the rest can simply read and laugh. The former, do not take it seriously and send lawyer notice and all to me. Trust me, na avlo worth piece ellam illa. (I am not worth the effort)


First of all, second of all and third of all, one big salute to you. I mean really, with so much amazingly awesomesauce talent you occupy the gents side of the MTC buses and sit like you belong there. If only a guy sits on the ladies side, one lady from each seat will start yelling "Yen pa,  ladies nikkaraanga la!"(Ladies are standing no?)  I mean wow. You want equality and reservation, is it? If I come and ask you to get up saying this is 'gents' seat, that's all. You will start one anti-me group, recruit members and collect donation before the next stop comes.


I am ok with standing also. But what I don't understand is that you ladies are standing alternatively along both the columns like one Bharathiraja dance sequence and making it difficult for men to walk inside the bus. The conductor is also one paavam fellow. Apart from all this you will give one look. I am seriously asking, you think we wake up at 6 o'clock, brush teeth with close up, drink bru coffee, wear pant sattai, run behind the bus and all to come stare at you or rub against you? 


Whilst the process of engaging my superior colliculus on serious thoughts like "Will the canteen have Masala Dosai during lunch or not?" and other first world problems, we accidentally look at you. Or may be you look pretty and we look at you. That's all. Finish. You will picture a scene where Mahmood Ghazni is looting and pillaging Somnath temple where we men are Ghazni and you are, well do the math.  If I give my bag also you won't carry. You will give one expression that will seem like I asked you to carry my child. 


Nobody wants to travel in bus ok? If you stand near the door and ask evreryone to go inside followed by the most conscience less dialogue ever "Ulla avloo edam iruke pa!" (There is so much space inside no?) when all the men inside including the conductor are standing like dogs before transformers, what will we do? 


One special service for students were started. That also you started occupying. Now they call it the students/ladies bus service. Why is there no gents service? This and all if I ask I will come off as one male chauvinistic anti feminist posh scene putting boy who can't adjust with reality.
Most of the boys turned like this only after getting off 21G or 21L.


Slighta understand the situation. Cut down the drama, a little bit. Because, a journey of a thousand miles begins with an MTC season ticket.


Yours sincerely,
Yet another footboard commuter.

Ten Commandments for the Indian Engineering student

Are you an Engineering student in an Indian college? Don't worry even I had a bad day today.


So amidst all those 'cool' Facebook posts and funny satirical tweets that outrage on how the system should be and how everyone else is wrong, here are ten things you should always keep in mind. You are going to hate these. You have been warned.


1. You will get to interact with seniors in due course of your first year in college. You will carefully avoid those who are marching towards the library with books in hand and go disturb the one sitting with his girlfriend. He will ask you to 'chillax' and take things light. That's because he wants you to get lost and not disturb him. The right person to contact is the one with the books. He will provide you with the right advice. It will sound something like 'CGPA is important.'




2. In due course of time you will join/start ohmygodsofunny Facebook pages like 'Even-We-have -an-Engineering-college tips'. They will have coolmax posters that say stuff like develop your aptitude. Bunk classes. Have fun. But they miss some essential advice. CGPA is important.


3. You might be extremely interested in research. To the levels that you actually cultured ants for your sixth standard science project instead of saying they all died because your mom mistook it for Bournvita. So, you will end up doing tens of projects and millions of lines of code. While you are busy with all this you will grow up thinking you are superman. But CGPA is more important.


4. You will prepare with your fullest dedication to answer any question under the roof during the interview. But your preparation is not complete if you don't have a satisfactory answer to the question, "What is your CGPA?". Because CGPA is important.




5. Are you a programming wizard? Can you solve any problem in under 10 minutes? How many languages do you..? Wait, before that, What is your CGPA? Because, CGPA is more important.


6. You would have won gold medals in three consecutive math olympiads. But, CGPA is more important.


7. Your fellow classmate who asked you what is the difference between C and C++ two days before the test would get a Boston admit when some BPO would refuse to interview you. Because, CGPA is more important.


8. Your parents would think you are not working as much as your next door neighbor as he would end up with better grades because he 'refers' to Local authors only. Hey because at the end of the day, CGPA is more important.


9. You would think some basics on research and may be a paper would cover up for your drop in CGPA because you couldn't cut a pyramid into three equal parts. You will spend an hour filling your CV with accomplishments you think are going to make your profile look like Vidya Balan's gorgeous smile. But to start up with research and cover up CGPA you need a good CGPA. Because CGPA is more important.


10. You might choose to ignore all the above. But remember this alone, CGPA is important.

So the world has shrunk, is it?

There used to be a time when your only friends were those whom you went to school with or those that you played with after school. There used to be a time when cousins of your same age were categorized as friends. But today, the thing that scares you the most is a friend 'request' on Facebook from your mom/dad. For those familiar with Twitter, a colleague or a long lost school friend following you is something that would scare you. Not because you don't like them, but because it would be harder for you to maintain the image you have created for yourself. 

The internet has made our lives into something like a restaurant. We choose what we see and work with. If you do not find someone's posts on Facebook interesting you unsubscribe from their news-feed. Yes, internet today can be summed up as Facebook + Twitter + E-mail client. Less than one percent of our internet time is going into constructive work. We read one Wikipedia article for every hundred tweets we read. I'm being generous here. Only one percent of the Wikipedia pages are completely read. It is indeed sad that the internet is eating into our lives.


I happened to stumble upon a fact that Google search results vary from person to person. Even computer to computer for the same person, depending on attributes like location and even the browser you use. We are not reading news in the form of facts. We are reading what the algorithm assumed to be our topic of interest.


You make friends with people whom you haven't even met. You are far more comfortable talking to them about stuff you probably won't discuss with your classmate. One, it is because you find these people to be anonymous and well cut out from your life for the information to come back and bite you. Two, it is because you think these people match your wavelength or in layman's terms they crib about the same thing you do.


Ask yourself how many good friends you had and how many good friends you have?
How many of them have you met online? 


Imagine the number of personal data you have let out into the internet. None of us have the faintest idea about how much of it is recoverable. Facebook is using the data to try and make it more user-friendly. 


Did you notice how many of your friends have disappeared from your news-feed? Do you think it is because they are inactive on Facebook? If so, you have been fooling yourself. It is because you did not pay enough attention to their posts for a certain period of time. You stopped 'liking' their posts. You stopped commenting on their photos. Facebook assumes you do not find them interesting anymore and has made ignoring them easy by removing them from your news-feed entirely. Facebook is phasing out your friends. It is playing the boss by showing you what interests you. It is a machine and it probably is wrong.


Like I said your life has become a restaurant and you are choosing what to see while the internet decided what not to see. It gives you the illusion that you are connecting with people across the globe all the while losing touch with your next door neighbor. Day by day you are becoming an island where all you can see are  the things you once found interesting and the internet assumed that summed up your world.


Ask yourself, has the world really shrunk?

Why?

Why did it end?

Because, he walked away.

I don't think so.

Then why?

Because, she walked away also.

பையனுக்கு பாட தெரியுமா?

"ஒங்க பையன் என்ன காரியம் பண்ணிட்டு வந்து நிக்கறான் பாருங்கோ!"

"ஆமான்டி, கணக்குல நூறு வாங்கினா ஓம்புள்ள. பிரச்சனணு வந்தா எம்புள்ள. ஏன்டா ஹரிஹரா, என்னத்த பண்ணிட்டு வந்துருக்க? மறுபடியும் அந்த veena போனவன் கண்ணாடில கிரிக்கெட் பால் அடிச்சியா? "

"என்னண்ணா நீங்க! வெவஸ்தகெட்டதனமா பேசிண்டு! லவ் பண்ணிட்டு வந்து நிக்கறான்!"

"ஹாஹா. வயசு பையன் லவ் பண்ணலைனா தாண்டி பிரச்சனை."

"லவ் பண்றது தப்புன்னு சொல்லலை! யார லவ் பண்றான்னு கேளுங்கோ. நாராயணா!"

**********

"ஏன்டி பேய் அரன்ஜாப்ல இருக்க?"

"பின்ன எப்படி இருக்கரதாம்? சாயங்காலம் அவன் சொன்னதெல்லாம் கேட்டேளா இல்லியா? நாலு அற வெச்சு புத்தி சொல்லாம, அம்மாவ நான் பாத்துகறேன்னு தைரியம் சொல்றேள் அவனுக்கு. மற கழண்டுடுத்தா?"

"என்னடி பண்றது? அவனா வந்து சொன்னானேன்னு  திருப்தி பட்டுக்கோ. காலம் மாறிடுத்து. நம்ம பையன். நாம தான புரிஞ்சுண்டு போகணும்?"

"அதுக்காக இதெல்லாம் எப்படிண்ணா? ஆத்துல மத்தவா கேள்வி கேப்பாளே. அவாளுக்கு என்ன பதில் சொல்றது?"

"தீபாவளிக்கும் பொங்கலுக்கும் வந்துட்டு போறவனவிட என்னோட பையன் தாண்டி எனக்கு முக்கியம். எவன் கேள்வி கேக்கறான்னு  பாக்கறேன்"

"நீங்களாச்சு ஒங்க புள்ளயாச்சு. எக்கேடோ கெட்டு போங்கோ."

**********

"வெள்ளிக்கழமை நல்ல நாள். அவா ஆத்துக்கு போயி பேசிட்டு வந்துடுவோம். ஹரிஹரா, அவா ஆத்துல விஷயம் தெரியுமா இல்ல நாங்க போன் பண்ணி சொல்லனுமா?"

"தெரியும் பா. ஒரு நிமிஷம் பா. வேற குடும்பத்தல பொறந்துருந்தா என்ன அடிச்சு ஒதைச்சு அமக்களம் பண்ணிருப்பா. குடுத்து வெச்சுருக்கேன்  நான். மன்னிச்சுடுங்கோ பா."

"என்னடா மன்னிப்பெல்லாம். எம்பையன் சந்தோஷம்தாண்டா எனக்கும் சந்தோஷம்"

**********

"வணக்கம். நான் வரதாச்சாரி, ரிடயர்டு மாஜிஸ்ட்ரேட். ஹரிஹரனோட அப்பா. விஷயத்த பையன் சொன்னான். இவளுக்கு தான் நேரம் ஆச்சு ஒத்துக்கறத்துக்கு.  பசங்க சந்தோஷம் தான முக்கியம். என்ன சொல்றேள்? கல்யாணத்த சீக்ரமாவே முடிச்சுடலாம். சம்மதம் தான?"

"என் பேர் கல்யாணசுந்தரம். ஏஜிஎஸ்ல இருந்தேன். நானும் ரிடயர்டு தான். நீங்க சொல்றது சரி தான். பசங்க சந்தோஷம் தான் முக்கியம்."

"ஏன்டா ஹரிஹரா. என்னடா சொல்றா ஒங்கம்மா?"

"அவன என்ன கேக்கறேள்? ஆமாம், பையனுக்கு பாட தெரியுமா?" என்றாள் ஹரிஹரனின் அம்மா.

"கணேஷ் நன்னா பாடுவான். ஏழு வருஷம்  சங்கீதம் படிச்சான். ஹரிஹரனுக்கு சமையல் வருமா?" எனறாள் கணேஷின் அம்மா.

"பேஷா சமைப்பான். என் கைப்பக்குவம் அப்படியே வரும் அவனுக்கு."

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கல்யாணம் ஜாம் ஜாம்னு நடந்து முடிஞ்சுது. ஒரே வருஷத்துல பெண் கொழந்த ஒருத்திய கணேஷும் ஹரிஹரனும் தத்து எடுத்துண்டு சந்தோஷமா வாழ்ந்துண்டு இருக்கா