Category: General

Naranathu Bhranthan

I was really confused today with life.. I could not make any sense out of it. I remember the doings of Naranathu Bhranthan which I read from a book in Malayalam, “Aithihyamaala”. My appa had bought that book during one of his travels, along with another book., “kathasaritsaagar”. In Aithihyamaala(garland of myths) there were stories about 12 children of Pandit Vararuchi. The most impressive one is that of Naranathu Bhranthan. Historically, he is considered a “Siddha”(a realized person), but the name Naranathu Bhranthan, literally meant the Mad person of Naranathu(place).

His routine.. In the morning, after waking up, he used to push a huge boulder up a steep hill. He used put a lot of effort in taking the boulder up mountain and by evening he will manage to take it on top of the hill. Once its on top of the hill, he wont waste a moment in pushing it down and laugh out loudly, while it rolls down. No wonder people used to call him mad and used to laugh out loudly. But little did they know, that Naranathu Bhranthan was laughing at them.

People still laugh at Naranathu Bhranthans.

Another story of Naranathu Bharanthan soon

Hoorrrraaaayyy!!

Horraaay!! Cheers to Indian Cricket team..

India Defeated Australia today!! The Australian Dream run was finally ended by India. A Wonderful Innings by VVS Laxman and Dravid and magical Bowling by Harbajan. No., I couldnt see the match, but I caught up with it in www.cricinfo.com with live scoreboard. A really stunning win since, India bounced back after made to follow on. Well, I didnt spare much time to tell it to the whole office, that we will be sending a mentally battered Australian team here for the Ashes!!

Dave thorn(our Chief Pervert Officer), an ardent cricket buff, had asked me about India’s loss in the first test. I replied that, Indian players are really patriotic, and hence they first try to earn more Foreign Exchange for the country and then think about the game..(I didnt have any other explanation to give, other than using the match fixing matter in a humourous way). Dave is planning to setup a Cricket match between Asian tigers(well.. Myself, Rajesh, Zakir etc) and England Tions (comprising of Dave Thorn and others).. Maybe that’ll materialize soon.(psst.. Dave.. I’m availble for match fixing!! tee hee)

Yesterday night.

Yesterday night, after office, I drove to Woking, where Sunita lives. Sunita’s amma is here to help her to pack things, before she leave to India. Sunita is getting married in June, and then will be moving to Austin, Texas., with her hubby Raghu(Sunita.. dont forget to take my resume!!! Tee heee). I will miss her.. From the beginning we used to help each other out, whenever we felt homesick. I would call her up whenever I felt low, and she would call me whenever she was down, and soon after some jokes and chat, we would be our old selves, back to our work puching the keyboards and churning our brains.

Later she moved to Woking, which was more closer to London and then she occasionally used to visit us. One day we all got together (all – Sushil, Ramesh, Sunita, Rashmi, Zubin, Girish and myself) and had fun till five in the morning.. We played antakshari, cards, and of course Dumbsherads. Yes it was a memorable evening. Ramesh has now gone to India, Sushil is in switzerland, and Now she will be going.. sniff.. Soon I will have to call US to speak to her..

Her mom made Dosas for me, while we watched another Malayalam movie “Friends”., enjoying the real comedy by none other than Srinivasan. A homely meal, movie and magic., that was yesterday night!!

Of Cats and Dogs!

I read an article recently, which was about how cats are being reared and killed for meat in China. It said that Cats paw is considered a delicacy in China. The article was vivid of the details of the gore atrocities done to cats. There were some pictures also, where many cats were put in small cages and it was reported that many of the cats died while in transit.Our cat was white with brown patches I was wondering whether this article was not an example of hypocrisy!! A person, who can have cattle, and other animals, for breakfast, protesting against cats as a food delicacy!!

No, The article falied to move me., despite the fact that I used to have cat as my pet from the School days itself Where as most of the children used to get a solid “No” for the request for a cat or a dog as a pet, We (myself & my brother) were fortunate, that our parents though objecting initially will give way to our choice. Cat used to be my favourite pet, and Dog, my brothers. Our first Cat was named “Thendi”(somewhat translates to beggar in malayalam),. a name given by our sister, since it used to be not at home during daytime and will roam at others houses for food. When I got up in the morning, it used to be at my bed curled up and asleep near me. The first dog we had was christened “Holding” after the Westindies fast bowler, who was my brothers favourite West Indies bowler.

Two incidents come to memory, when its about pets. After Holding went missing..(Everyday night he was let free in the compound, and he will come back to the cage after the usual night duty in the morning.), we had another pup, after a short gap, which was named “Chunnu”. We used to play with out dog after school, and amma will bring him food. One day accidently he bit amma,Our dog was brown... and poor amma had to take 14 injections.. Well Chunnu too was sad, as he knewsomething was wrong., but my amma’s caring brought his cheer back.. Chunnu died, after some years, when Myself and my brother had moved to Bombay.

The other incident is ofcourse related to cat. This happened one rainy day, when myself and Manikandan(my school chum) were walking back from school(School was around 1 km away, and we saved the bus fare for the ice-cream stick during the lunch interval). I found a small kitten wet in middle of road, and since I felt really bad(knowing how cats love water), I took the cat into my arms and walked home. It didnt take much convincing for my parents to accept the cat. I arranged some gunny sacks for warmth, and mom provided the warm milk for the poor creature. I would visit the cat everyday morning and evening and arrange for its comforts. One day the cat was not to be seen and I had searched everywhere for it unsuccessfully(I had kept it in an attic room by the side of our house, where many old furnitures, trunk boxes were also kept). I gave up searching the next day when I couldnt find it anymore. I got the news, the following day, when I cameback from school, that it was dead, floating in our well. I had a last look at it, as it had been fished out from the well, before myself and my brother buried it. Interestingly no one shouted at me for this.. but got some comforting words from all, and grandma stated “You cannot change the destiny!! whatever you may do” and later told us a story from mythology to illustrate..

The well was chemically purified the same day..

Back home..

Nice morning, yet foggy, misty.,
made my way through to the Karnan tower,
holding its head high over Helsingborg,
thought the nature greeted with a small shower.
am I trying to rhyme?

A long walk, the board roared,
by the nature and the hills.,
Alas the directions were not correct..
soon I found myself on someones backyard..

Traced back my steps and decided to go to beach,
had a long walk to beach by a sea wall.,
soon I reached the beach and it was empty.,
The gulls were there to greet me.

Stood looking at the sea for a long time,
wrote on the sand, watch the sea take my secret,
smiled to myself and walked by the beach.,
the kreeching gulls again drew my attention.

Soon had to pack and leave, got to hotel,
packed my bag and decided to walk to Helipad.
Ferries were going from the harbour created,
Cars queued up to get into ferries.

Got into the copter, flew over sea,
ferryboats cutting through water below,
seagulls were just whitespots now..
on the deep green sea lying beneath.

Reached copenhagen, waited for the connection,
want to reach home soon, for I felt lonely.,
and when you feel the lonliness, the hard thing,
is to lift your face and flash a smile.

Reached home by night,
only to find that my car battery has gone flat.,
“jump Leaded” it and started it.,
and to charge the battery went of a 20 mile drive.

Back at home, didnt want to unpack.,
everything lying hapzard in my room,
I too joined the list,
and soon was on my way to slumberland..