One life to live!!

I have a life! One life to live!
I am more than a bundle of responsibilities,
I want to push them aside and live my life!
Why not, I have one life to live!

I am not a full time servant and not here to serve everyone always,
I want to enjoy my time, I have one life like you to live!

I am not a machine to work per the instructions every time,
I am tired like a human, I have a life that I like to live!

I am not a TV series that goes beyond 1000 episodes!
I get bored of going on endlessly, I need a break like anyone!

Like every living being, I want to feel alive!
Because, I have a life! One life to live!

Kaka's musings

Dumbstruck by kaka's explanation, while I was yelling at him for throwing his toys everywhere and my maid was sweeping the floor. He put a friendly, smiling, mischievous expression and said, 'amma! will u shout at me in front of everyone and anyone!!?? They'll laugh at me. Just take me to a lonely place, explain everything, leave the issue and come out smiling' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???? I did not know how to react to this! Pondering over it since 3 days............May be, he's correct! I need to correct my mistake, change my habit, respect his age and behold his individual self-respect!!!

OMG.........I'm in Guntur

I don't want to wake up from this dream-come-true situation..........Finally, I am in Guntur, at least for one day........the sweet dream that has been haunting me and giving me sleepless nights (recurringly) since quite some time. 
Yesterday was a sweet day to be marked and celebrated in my life.........one of the few days when I felt so lively!!
I finally made it come true............walked on every street from my childhood memories.......my place, my school, my home, talked to my dhobi, my milkman, my panditji, my familiar faces..............showing off my school to my kids...........I can't express my happiness in words...........I can't say how long I have been longing for this to happen!!!!

Seen him in a dream

Dressed in dark grey shirt and pants and seated in his official space, he was narrating to one of his closest friends ( Santoshkironvedantam Vedantam uncle) yet another incident of delighting an elderly customer by personally handling his issue at the bank. The lively eyes, the scar between his eyebrows, the hairline, his slightly crooked front tooth, the way he uttered the words could not be more prominent even when he spoke to me. His body language, the fullness of his face and built showed that he is healthy and hale. When I asked him to come to my house, he thought for a second, but did not hesitate to say, 'We'll go day after tomorrow'. I said, 'You cannot travel by train so long, we shall fly. Even while giving this statement my dubious mind was calculating the total expense that would have to be approved by the financial manager back at home!!! When I was requesting him to come with me immediately, I woke up suddenly! Very sad...........this is just a dream, where I could see and talk to the best dad in the world, My 'NAANNA

Warangal Trip

Had a look at the richness of our heritage through the sculptures and scriptures of the Kakatiyas at Kolanupaka and Warangal. Spellbound by their sense of art!
The 10th Century Someswaraswamy temple in Kolanupaka, once moulded into an archaeological musuem, is now in its ruins. It has numerous sculptures of Gods and Ekasila scriptures in Kannada and other Dravidian languages.
The Jain Temple here is carved from marble stones and the floral designs are embedded into them. The long statues of Vardhaman Mahavir and his contemporaries enchants everyone and sets the correct ambience to send one and all into the Bhakti mode.
The song in 'Varsham' was playing in our minds when we entered the Thousand Pillar Temple in Warangal. These numerous pillars are pressed into one another to realise a temple-like structure, which is the abode for Shiva. The Nandi here listens to the wishes of everyone and conveys them to the Lord.
The one-and-half hours of extra journey to Ramappa temple is a totally worthy experience. The slightly bent pillars and uneven flooring signify the earthquake during the period. The pillars and ceiling in the hall that leads to the sanctum sanctorum are excellent. One cannot believe that it is a human effort - so good and perfect. The sculptures of madanikas and naaginis on the roof, around the temple are simply superb! Nandi here is alert to answer the call of his Lord!
Adding up to all these are the home-cooked food, the good-spirited companions and the music!!

Lazy Sunday

Lazy sunday for me. But, Kaka and Prithvi are thoroughly enjoying the last day of their vacation............all the animals from the forest launched an attack on the super heroes- Superman, Spiderman, He-man and Chhota Bheem. Their heroes won and the animals are injured. Kaka is carrying them to the nearby tent, giving them first-aid and Dr. Prithvi is treating their wounds!! :) 
Kids need not be entertained. They just need a companion, so that they create their own means of entertainment and enjoy under any situation

Mithunam

'Mithunam' movie pushes every telugu person who got to enjoy the tastes of parents and grandparents, into a nostalgia. Truly, you get to hear the good childhood radio programs.........opening music from AIR played in every household early in the morning, the Vandemataram, the sanskrit news (Samprati vartaaha shuyantaam!), the music before the agriculture-based program(oops..........forgot the name!!), Janaranjani(Vividbharathi, vanijyaprasaara vibhaagam) and everything.
The food at the heart of Telugu household, the pappu, vankaaya koora, dappalam (in bowls made of stone - raachippa), gaarelu, kaakarakaaya pulusu, and it goes on (I can't name them anymore....my mouth is already watering) is not left behind.
The open backyard filled with herbs, shrubs and trees of various fruits and vegetables is Telugu home authenticated.
The similes, the reclining chair with wooden frame and cloth seat, the wooden pillars placed outlining the verandahs...........I can go on describing the numerous sweet little things that the movie brought back to my memory and those reflections that came out as drops from my eyes. My father should have loved it to the core.
I prefer not to take back the performances of the actors (the characters from Sriramana's story, which I read 13 years back, are still intact in my mind), the story (the version on book is better) and the direction (Kaka is totally bored of the characters either staring at each other or quarreling).

My wife is pregnant??!!

What is your count? Mine has reached 20 in the last 7 years, the time when I started observing the phenomenon, where the person says, 'My wife is pregnant' when his better-half is carrying a baby and does not hesitate to transform the same into 'My son/daughter' while referring to the same child after he/she is born?????!!!! (these statements might be technically correct)
I don't want to sound like a feminist or a perfectionist, but this behavior intrigues me a lot. How nice and inclusive would it be if the person says, 'I and my wife are expecting a child' and 'This is our child'!!!
Inclusive behavior, which makes the other person feel the shared bond and secures it, can't be taught. It just reflects from our broad-minded thinking, that expresses itself in our words and actions.

SVSC

I am back to bombard all of u yet again with my latest watch..............
It might seem weird, but I loved the movie SVSC to certain extent(didn't like some parts), while every other person passed a negative comment. The crew has put in a lot of thought into the story, direction and the dialogues (while some serious efforts seem to be missing badly in some aspects and portions of the film). 
The struggle, confusion and anxiety of standing up to himself in a city, expressed by Peddodu are real. A person whose ego and stomach are fed well at home and hometown, is pushed into a city where compromise is the first thing and ego should be the last one in the mind of new-entrant, while trying to find a foot-hold. Using Chinnodu, who is well-versed with how things work in a city, as a prop to draw the emotional support and necessary confidence, is also real.
What I absolutely love about the movie is the way they showed the brothers. The relationship works that way for the siblings who stay away from the parents(staying elsewhere, mostly a village) I think. The connect is more than that of brothers or friends. They have grown-up together and know each other too well from inside. They are friends and share the secrets, fears and shortcomings. They are roommates and understand the hardships of staying without parents. Above all these, they understand the strengths and have confidence in each others' actions and future. They can't live without each other, but can't cry like girl-siblings do or they can't be senti-(which makes the other person weak too). To cover this up, they draw humor from the surroundings and divert themselves. They want to stay together for a lifetime, but know that life is not that simple. Brothers are like that.......................
All the remaining stuff from the film went above my brains(and heart)!

The Full Moon

It appeared as a tiny speck somewhere behind the faraway green signboard of 'Courtyard Marriott' and then grew into a huge golden ball, adding its shimmer to the waters of the lake. Then, as the journey of full moon continued, it turned white, tinting the water with its silvery glow and sending the message of inner peace to the watching souls. Witnessing this wonder while sitting on the banks of Hussainsagar, I don't want to ask for anything more!!!
Nature has endless surprises and bounty of resources to keep us happy in every way. I hope it keeps blessing us with the same grace (as long as we appreciate the fact and act responsibly)!!!!

Thoughts about life

Life is an endless collage of struggles. Whenever you come out of one, you either end up hurting yourselves or the others!! When you hurt yourself, no one cares for the sacrifice; but when you hurt someone else, everyone talks of your selfishness!!

The Fortune Tellers

Staying near a temple, that too a popular one, brought a new sect of people to my notice, the Fortune Tellers. Numerologists, palmists, face-readers, naadi astrologers and so on..... One year ago, it was just 2 of them, but since last 6 months, the number has increased invariably. Their white or off-white khadi shirts, angavastram with attractive zari borders, gold colored bracelets, steel watches, big red tilaks and a book or two in hand; have become a familiar sight, especially on tuesdays and fridays when the temple is flooded with devotees. The look is not complete without their iPhones, Samsung smartphones or the Xperia with a leather sleeve.
They first observe the people, their dress, cars, body language and family members from a distance and select a target. Rich and effluent, who get down from expensive SUVs; or a lady with dull and depressed look, with an unmarried daughter walking behind or young men with fresh out-of-college but concerned look, are the primary target groups. They start off with a unique accent and a sloka or two (these same 1 or 2 are repeated to all the customers!!!). The so-called life-savers through predictions chase these people, pester them and go behind them until these prospective customers are duped by the words. Slowly, the customers are moved to a shade and the fortune telling kicks off. The good things spiced with upcoming threats are bombarded on to the prey, creating a sense of fear and the need for a savior (our hero of the story)!!!! Only a small percentage of the predictions are disclosed per session!!
The business is closed by 12pm at the temple and these people disappear. At around 6pm, you can find most of them at any addictive place (don't want to mention the names).
These forms of astrology are accorded high respect. Some of them are even recognised as science and seriously studied under graduate and post-graduate courses in some of the universities. It is painful to see these people reduce the gyan gathered by our saints and rishis through their multiple years of meditation, experimentation and practice to the street-side pestering levels. On top of everything, does the profession demand a false dress code?

Salt!!

Thought for the day: 
A pinch of salt can make a lot of difference to a day! Putting aside the repercussions on physiology, let us consider the emotional well-being. If the breakfast has less or more of it, the mood turns wild and day starts on a bad note! I think salt is the feel good factor in food or it stimulates the release of some happiness hormones, that kick start your day. However, there is one thing that prevents me from drawing the conclusion. The optimal amount of salt that each one of us enjoys in food varies. Coming back to the thought, should salt hold so much control on our temperament and our day?