15 days

Yet Another March comes to an end in another few hours. For me, the Systems Analyst, its just another weekend, may be an exteded one. If I was living 5+ Years before, it would have been the end of an academic year.

Yes, March, the month which schools and colleges goes into summer vacation. The month where sun blazes, but still the child in me goes out to my ancestral houses, wanders around my household with my friends, playing cricket in that idavazhi where if you hit on the sides you are out. The month which colleges close, hostels become empty, A & B Mess's of GECT closes. The month where that huge ground will be almost empty, except for the athletic Vimala-ites and early morning footballers.

She will be lonely at this time, my college my alma-mater, with students leaving for the vacation and study leaves. The room no 226 where we were taught the ABC's of Fortran, which have that small platform from which Data Structures and operating Systems came out of our teachers. I will be there to call a proxy for my best friends. No 14.
To the left was the computer lab, where I by-hearted a few codes, to get through the Compiler Design and Artificial Engineering practicals. I walk down the steps to the canteen, to sip a chaya. Further down across the Chemical Block, I see the new CompSci block, which was made in the form of a Naalukettu. I remember its birth, we sat there for a few hours of our attendance. Took pictures during our last year.

Across the ground, I see the C Hostel standing tall in its pride. The ground where I played N number of cricket and football games. The center pitch where I on-drived JimChak for a six over the midwicket. The small volleyball court where Dileep's Smash came straight to my face and split my specs into two, one for left eye and another for right. The hostel where 13 of us, the CSE would be engineers, played, quarrelled, chatted and less studied. If C 11 was the PJ center C18 was our party office, where we brought out skits, programs and Tryst. C49 was my humble abode , at the top floor with an "anonymous" room mate, who gave an impression that he is not studying for exams, but always had 70+ percentage. Across that room was Shimmy Thomas and Sandeep, to the right there was Mammali. To the left there was an RT, whom once I gave therrivilleess for taking my bucket.

Fifteen days from now, I am going to relive these moments.

She will be waiting for us.

he was unique

Kunjunni Mash passed away, while I was busy losing the rummy games. Who was he to me? No one. But he was a master to the child in me. Not to me, but to a lots of children around the world. The one who came in as Kuttetan in Mathrubhumi Weekily and edited and corrected their small poems and stories. The one who sat around with children and sang poems along with them. The one who can be compared with VKN in short stories, he was the one who bought in new trend of KuttiKavithas and his own "prayogam"s to Malayalam literature.
"Pokkamilaymayaanente pokkam" speaks about his uniqueness. His poems had 2 or 4 lines, may be one. But they conveyed the message.

A few tributes here:

Aana Pokunna Poomarathinte Keezhe Pokunnatharedo Aaranumalla Kooranumalla Kunjunni Mashum Kuttiollum

Janikkum Nimisham Thottenmakaninglish Padikkanam Athinaal Bhaarya Than Per-ang-Englandil Thanneyakki Njan

The Malayali will miss him.

some pizza thoughts

I was at the Pizza Hut the other day, with my colleagues to have a Pizza Lunch – an inherited property from the Western World. There is nothing unusual in it. Corporates and common men like me are having Pizzas these days. We were cracking jokes, sipping our ice teas, eating the Garlic Breads and those medium and large, veg and non-veg Pan Pizzas.

After sometime a group of students, who were in their school uniforms, came in and sat in a table near to us. They too ordered ice teas, garlic breads and pizzas, just like us. They too were having lunch. Only difference was that they were school going children,( may be in 8^th, 9^th or 10^th) and we were employed adults.

I was thinking of the amount of pocket money that they might be having. Sure they might be from well off families, pocket rich with Rs 500 notes. Their uniforms said so.

Years before, near to my high school in Vadakara, there were 2 small shops, may be u can call ThattuKadas. One run by Chandriyechi and another by Moliyechi. We used to go there during our intervals- the short and long ones. I remember eating those sip-ups, those achchars that come in small packets (they used to cost 5 or 10 paise), those endless number of Kadala’s (Kappalandi), and those Bathakkavellams (Watermelon Juice in Kozhikoddan Slang). I even remember getting caught in Appunni Master’s class while eating Kadala’s – I thought I could fool everyone by keeping my hand over my mouth and nobody will see my munching. But Appunni Sir was just too good for me :-). And almost all these things I ate were on debt. Come Vishu and Onam, I will get richer and pay my debts. I thought that was life to the fullest.

And to eat my first Pizza it took more years. In that Pizza Hut of Powai, Mumbai. That was in 2003 Jun-July. My ITP days at MBT, Mumbai.

All the while I was eating; I was just comparing my childhood with those students. I know it is another generation with another set of thoughts, probably living in a bigger and wider world than mine in that sleepy Vadakara.

Just after that 2 young girls (6^th or 7^th std) in a modest set of uniforms, a blue pinafore, check shirt and pink ribbons, came in. They just browsed the catalogs, waited for a few minutes. I was eager to know what they were doing and was keeping an eye on them. Just when we finished and got up, I didn’t see them. I thought they might have left.

While going to the parking lot, across the road, I saw those two girls. They had that small cone ice cream in their hands. The Gang of Four Students was still finishing off their Chicken Hawaiin Medium Pan Pizza

PS: I wish I could go to those shops next time. I am sure Moliyechi will yell at me "mmala dhanushshalle yathu"

the golden 'rani'

I am a hardcore Cricket fan. Keeping an eye on all the cricket matches happening internationally is in my blood. Also those Ranji/Duleep/Irani Trophies too. But today I pay tribute to a person who won a Commonwealth Gold for India.
Its Kunjarani Devi. The 38 year old lady from Manipur who lifted 166 Kg in snatch and clean n jerk events in Weightlifting.
I salute the spirit of this lady whom we all do not know, who doesn't yearn accolades like an Anju Bobby George or a Beenamol, who is still craving to see an Indian gold at this age.
I salute the way these guys work to bring our country on the World Map and make us proud. They don't have any endorsement or sponsors, they don't create a Sania Mania or Dhoni Dhamaka and they fight all kinds of difficulties all the way from the officials to the coaches.
They just perform

Hats Off To You Ma'am

loving the tranquil solitude

“Tanhaayi Se Pyaar karo..”.

I heard this line in some song in the FM Radio and actually kept a notice of it. Because I think that’s what I am doing now. Loving the solitude in my house, in my office and everywhere now. I am not sure if I am keeping it purposefully to avoid people. I got a recent comment about my that attitude from my best friend. The situation was when I met his fiancé and we had a good talk till we parted. And when she reported it to my friend. He asked – “Did he smile at you?”, she replied – “I didn’t see a smile, but he talked to me.” And when he told me about that, I am thinking – Am I loosing how to smile :( I don’t know.

I know I was not like this before. I was quite an extrovert and made my comments come what may. I was an angry “young” man hating and trying to change the world. Ahem :-) But when I realized my comments are hurting people, I become more careful about talking and meeting up with them. Especially while I met a new guy/gal I made it sure that I don’t involve with that person more and I don’t speak out any unwanted comment. But still somewhere I was loving loneliness. Losing a couple of friends here and there were reasons too, but the end of the day I think I have only myself to blame. Reluctance to embrace the new ones but keeping onto the existing ones.

And now in this new environment, I feel alone. Because there is no one around me whom I know. The one I know seems to have forgotten me as a friend even after our 11 years of friendship. I miss the jangoists, I miss loitering and I can’t even have a pretty good drink – for I am against drinking alone and What Not. Only good thing in this solitude is the books I read :-)

Remembering a beautiful song by Raveendran Sir sung by P. Jayachandran.

Eekakiyaam Ninte Swapnangalkokkeyum Ezhu Swarangal Chiraku Nalki
SnehaKshathangalaal Novum Manassil Chekeruvaanayi, Paari Parannu Poyi
Paari Paari Parannu Poyi

Somewhere deep down the heart I am loving this solitude. I am sure

life in slow motion

Some times you need a break, from this hectic and chaotic life of pressures and more pressures. You need to go home. But still Life has been catching up pace in that town that is about 47km from the city. Internet, Mobile Phones and Small Small IT Centers!! Huh !!

I decided to take life to a bit on the slower side. I traveled further 5 kms to the East of the town on my mom’s Kinetic to my Grandma’s place. She stays alone there in that small not so sleepy village, but our ancestral home is very much sleepy and silent due to the non existence of the ever vibrant descendants of my Grandpa.

They, including me, are chilling time out in the cool cities or ignoring this sleepy nature. I didn’t do any thing special there. I just spend some time out there- about 30 to 45 minutes. That time was more than enough for my grandma to tell me all the stories that is happening around the world, which some I am interested, other I am not. She opens her story box and in that few minutes Pullottu Nanu, Thazhekuni Chandran, Aarottu Usha, Moideen, Ahmad Haaji etc all pass through as characters from some fairy tale.

Yet time doesn’t move. It seems Grandma has stopped the time, while she was serving me tea. There was a whole lot of talk about the diet that is she going through these days. How distaste it was when she fried the fish in the Sunflower Oil instead of the normal Coconut Oil. Awesome – that is the word I should put here I think. To the way she remembers all these stories and tells me about it. No wonder we still yearn to here a lot of Muthasshi Katha’s.

People. Sometimes we ought to take time and visit our ancestral households. For there lay lot of happiness and sorrows, a lot of stories and fairy tales , a lot of beauty of the nature and finally a slow and special life which is free from all the hassles of our day-to-day life

Take Time Out

PS: That house in the picture is not my home. Its just another sleepy house in the Nalom Vayal, Near Kurikkilad, Vadakara

history

ODI # 2349
Australia in South Africa, 2005-06, 5th One-Day International
South Africa v Australia
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg12 March 2006 (50-over match)

Result: South Africa won by 1 wicket
Series: South Africa wins the 5-ODI series 3-2
Toss: AustraliaUmpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and BG JerlingTV Umpire: KH Hurter
Match Referee: BC Broad (Eng)
Man of the Match: HH Gibbs and RT Ponting
Player of the Series: SM Pollock (SA)

Australia innings (50 overs maximum) R M B 4 6

+AC Gilchrist c Hall b Telemachus 55 68 44 9 0
SM Katich c Telemachus b Ntini 79 138 90 9 1
*RT Ponting c Dippenaar b Telemachus 164 154 105 13 9
MEK Hussey c Ntini b Hall 81 75 51 9 3
A Symonds not out 27 23 13 3 1
B Lee not out 9 13 7 0 0

Extras (lb 4, w 5, nb 10) 19

Total (4 wickets, 50 overs, 234 mins) 434

DNB: DR Martyn, MJ Clarke, NW Bracken, SR Clark, ML Lewis.

FoW: 1-97 (Gilchrist, 15.2 ov), 2-216 (Katich, 30.3 ov), 3-374 (Hussey, 46.1 ov), 4-407 (Ponting, 47.4 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Ntini 9 0 80 1 (1w)
Hall 10 0 80 1 (2nb)
van der Wath 10 0 76 0 (1nb, 1w)
Telemachus 10 1 87 2 (7nb, 3w)
Smith 4 0 29 0
Kallis 6 0 70 0
Kemp 1 0 8 0

South Africa innings (target: 435 runs from 50 overs) R M B 4 6

*GC Smith c Hussey b Clarke 90 100 55 13 2
HH Dippenaar b Bracken 1 6 7 0 0
HH Gibbs c Lee b Symonds 175 142 111 21 7
AB de Villiers c Clarke b Bracken 14 43 20 1 0
JH Kallis c & b Symonds 20 22 21 1 0
+MV Boucher not out 50 79 43 4 0
JM Kemp c Martyn b Bracken 13 20 17 0 0
JJ van der Wath c Ponting b Bracken 35 20 18 1 3
R Telemachus c Hussey b Bracken 12 10 6 2 0
AJ Hall c Clarke b Lee 7 9 4 1 0
M Ntini not out 1 3 1 0 0

Extras (b 4, lb 8, w 4, nb 4) 20

Total (9 wickets, 49.5 overs, 228 mins) 438

FoW: 1-3 (Dippenaar, 1.2 ov), 2-190 (Smith, 22.1 ov), 3-284 (de Villiers, 30.5 ov), 4-299 (Gibbs, 31.5 ov), 5-327 (Kallis, 37.4 ov), 6-355 (Kemp, 42.1 ov), 7-399 (van der Wath, 46.3 ov), 8-423 (Telemachus, 48.2 ov), 9-433 (Hall, 49.3 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Lee 7.5 0 68 1 (3nb, 1w)
Bracken 10 0 67 5
Clark 6 0 54 0
Lewis 10 0 113 0 (1nb, 1w)
Symonds 9 0 75 2
Clarke 7 0 49 1

Australia full substitute: GB Hogg (unused).
South Africa full substitute: RJ Peterson (unused).

who does sahara sponsor?

Just came across this pic in rediff. Doesn't Sahara Pariwar sponsor the Indian Cricket Team? Or does it sponsor the entire BCCI/Selection Panel?

Just a question as the Chief Selector has sported an Indian Jersey. Or was it Mr More didn't have enough dresses to change :)

the 100 milestone

Another one reaches there. In the elite panel of players who have played 100 Test Matches for India. Rahul 'The Wall' Dravid will join a select band of Indian cricketers when he takes field in the third Test against England at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on March 18. And The Cricket Club of India (CCI), along with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), will present Dravid a commemorative plate before the start of the first day's play.

Yea. They are the select band. And they have bought glories to the country. But 2 names that redefined captaincy and the best captains India have ever produced are not there. Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly. Azhar was 1 test away and Ganguly has 13 more tests to go.

I hope and pray atleast SG would reach there. God (or More/Chappel) knows.

raveendra sangeetham veendum

Thanks to my new timings. I am able to get up early and watch a few programmes on the TV. One such programme I watched today was a re-telecast of an old Raveendran Interview.
The Interviewer was Biju Narayanan and they were talking on the modus operandi of normal music direction - lyrics first, music after and music first , lyrics after(which is normally followed these days).
The film they discussed was Mizhi Randilum and the song was "Enthinaayi Nin Valamkayyin..". According to Raveendran , Ranjith, the director asked him to compose a tune where a sister sings a song for her younger sis whose marriage is fixed. The first thing Raveendran thought about was the same situation in an old movie of music director Baburaj and the song , "Annu Ninte Kavilithra Thudithitilla..." and when the lyricist Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma-Vayalar Ramavarma's son- called Raveendran to ask about the mood of the lyrics, he said to follow the same theme of the Baburaj Song. So he wrote "Enthinaayi Nin Valamkayyin.." on Babukka's tune - (Those who know the tune and lyrics try singing it - it is a perfect match) and handed it over to Raveendran.
Obviously Raveendran cannot put it in the same tune. And he created a wonderfull high pitch music for "Enthinaayi Nin Valamkayyin.." which was sung by one and only K.S Chitra. And man what a song that is.
So one song that can be sung in two tunes. Absolute Raveendran Magic. Oh God why did you pluck him away so early, why you didnt allow us to hear more Raveendra Sangeetham.

"Innumente Kannuneeril Ninnorma Punchirichu

Eeran Mukil Maalakalil Indradhanussenna Pole"

che, ee manushyanu naanamille .. (isn't this man ashamed)

That was the one liner which was quite popular in an early nineties Malayalam Movie Vandanam in which the heroine asks the one and only Mohanlal when he is persuading her to fall in love with him.
I too only have that to ask Mr Greg Chappell, coach Indian Cricket Team, about his recent statements on Ganguly. I agree that SG may not be giving any energy to the Indian team due to his bad form at that time, but that never made him from not being a successfull captain. And his allegation that he was hunging onto the captaincy because of the finances that it provide to him.
I think somebody must go up and tell Mr Chappel that how rich Ganguly was even before he was in the Indian Team. And I am not aware of any benefits the Captain gets on monetary front, because of leading the team. ( Some one please help me here .. ).
This man is just seeking personal vendetta. Nothing else. Otherwise why should he just give these comments when Ganguly is doing nothing and may be played a not-so-good-not-so-bad innigs in the Deodhar Trophy. Just to bring down his morale ??
It was nice to see that Ganguly hasn't still lost that fighting power which he used to display off and on the field. Hope BCCI will look into it properly and not as an "anti-Dalmiya" Issue. And atleast this time Mr Greg would hang own to his statement and not say it was "misintepreted" by the media.
One last word to Mr Chappel, this was such a bad thought. No wonder you only can think in that terms, for you are the only one that engineered the popular under-arm-bowling. Such a gandi and neech soch.
Hats Off Mate.

mooli theeratha gaanangal

Ravindra Sangeetham Maanju Poyittu Oru Vayasakkunnu
Read it Here

dum dum dum

I am Altair-ian now.