Let's Race!

I commute to work every day on my Bike and each day I wade through the irritating traffic under the blessing Chennai sun. Not a day goes by when I haven't wished the traffic would just vanish and the sun god would take rest behind the cool clouds when I am driving to office. But since that prayer gets answered very rarely, I resort to diverting my attention away from the traffic or the sun. I either listen to music or I engage in mock races with my fellow travelers on the road.

This morning as I was driving to office I engaged myself in one such mock race, with a guy on a TVS Apache. I chased him from behind and went ahead of him in a matter of minutes... and to my surprise the guy caught up with me and went ahead. I chased him and beat him again; he chased me and went ahead again! I realized the guy on the Apache was having fun too and so we kept racing each other for close to 10KMs. He had his moments and I had mine and we were toe to toe on the points table. Just when I was taking a turn that would lead to my office, telling myself the race was over, he made the turn too. To my surprise (and his too) we were both heading to the same building. We both realized the race wasn't over and we raced each other again till the parking lot.

Now, the building has a lot of speed breakers laid out (must be specifically to stop racers like us :D ) and going through them is a real pain. I was in the middle of a race and the thought of losing out to my competitor was something I did not like very much. As we climbed over our first speed-breaker I saw another ahead of me. I could see that the speed-breaker actually had a small gap toward the corner (See pic). I thought to myself that if I could navigate my way through the small gap at the corner, I wouldn't lose speed and I could win some precious seconds that would help me win the race.

So I began to navigate toward the small gap and I had to be careful because there was just enough room for my bike to pass through. I honked a passerby away and with immense focus and determination I drove through the gap and came out. For a second I told myself "Well done" but the next moment I realized my fellow racer had actually gone over the speed breaker casually and was going on ahead of me! I had just lost the race. In the few extra seconds I had taken to try and navigate through a tricky opening my opponent had won. I thought I could avoid the speed breaker completely, only to realize that had I faced it head on I could have actually won!

Most of the times in our life, the problems we face are like the speed-breaker. We strive hard to avoid them, we worry about how they would impede our progress, and we focus all our energies in finding out a shortcut to ESCAPE from problems... Today the speed breaker taught me something valuable; it taught me that not all speed-breakers are bad. Sometimes, you have to face them and go over them to become better and to win! Sometimes facing a problem puts us in a much better place than avoiding them. 

I might have lost a race today, but I won a much bigger fight inside me!

The Spinach Seller

I live in one of the busy streets of Chennai and my house is located directly opposite a temple. On most days, the space just in front of my building is packed with bikes of people who visit the temple. There is hardly any space to move about and it is an ordeal from me to get my own bike out of my house unscathed and drive away.

About a month ago, the space in front of my building was occupied by a hawker! A spinach selling woman had her business laid out on the road. Her shop was a real nuisance and instead of bikes, there was now her shop for me to contend with. If by some outward chance i park my bike temporarily on the road for a short while, the spinach seller expertly wove her shop around my bike in such a way that i wouldn't be able to move my bike an inch without running over her products.

This irritated me too much and one day I confronted her and asked her move the shop somewhere else. She didn't budge and instead pleaded in a fake voice "Just for some time.. I will move away in the evening". My irritation increased every time I encountered some discomfort because of her shop. I tried all means to send her packing; i pleaded her, I scolded her, I shouted at her... but nothing worked. One day, as a last ditch effort I threatened to call the police and it stopped her temporarily as she was not to be seen the next day. But it was more like an off day for her as she came back again and continued with her shop. I was angry and irritated and didn't know what to do. 

A couple of days ago, as I was going out, a scene played out in front of me and it grabbed my attention. A stray dog that lives around our area was idling around the shop. The lady who owns the shop tried to shoo the dog away as it was inconveniencing her sales. She tried everything she could. She spoke to the dog softly, she scolded it, shouted at it and when all went in vain she picked up a stick and chased the dog off. Now, I am a dog lover and seeing the woman chase the dog away with a stick incensed me. I wanted to blast her off but chose to move away from the place. 

But as I drove away I realized the significance of what I had just seen. I had treated the lady exactly the same way she had treated the dog. I tried to chase her off just because she was causing some inconvenience to me and she chased the dog away as it caused nuisance to her!! Whether what I did was right or wrong I do not know. Whether the lady is right or wrong I do not know. But what I do know for sure is that if we keep our senses open, life throws so many lessons at us.

It wasn't until the scene played out that I realized that sometimes we do not treat people with enough respect. Sometimes we respect animals more than we respect humans. Sometimes we behave so rude that until someone else treats us that way, we do not realize how we have been!

The spinach seller still has her shop outside my place, I still find her to be a nuisance, I still get angry... but I express my anger a lot better now! How about YOU?

Kochadaiyyaan - Music Review

Well, neither the movie, nor the hero nor its music director need any introduction. the title of this post must be really enough :) So lets jump into what i think of the album straightaway...

Enge Pogudo Vaanam

This is the typical intro song we are used to in every movie of the Superstar. The usual inspiring lines, words of wisdom for youngsters and the voice of SPB are all present in good measure. A good hear.

The Lyrical highlight -

"Ungalin Vaazhuthukalaal Uyir Køndu Èzhunthu Vittaen | Vaazhthiya Manangalukku Èn Vaazhkaiyai Vazhangi Vittaen" - In an apparent yet subtle way the lyrics tell of Rajni's comeback from illness and his gratitude for his fans. 

The Musical Crescendo - 

The best portion of the song comes in the instrumental interlude from 2:45 to 3:10. One of the best interludes in the whole album

Medhuvaagathaan:

ARR said recently that this is a song he composed specially for SPB's voice and it is indeed a beautiful melody. Replete with strains of Carnatic music and lilting voices this song is an ARR special!

PS – This song will definitely not impress you in one listen. Give it a repeat audience and it just will grow on you

The Lyrical highlight -

“ Enai Vella Yaarum Illai | Unaiyandri Disaigal Vellum Isaiyaae “ - It’s such a relief to see this line which says excepting nature, only you can win me over. The clichéd lines over glorify the hero and seldom gives the respect nature deserves. So it’s lovely to find that nature is being given her due.

The Musical Crescendo – 

The high point arrives the moment the Mridangam (percussions) enter the tune. From there the whole song is given a different color

Maattram Ondrudhaan Maaraadhadhu:

This one is for the Rajni fans. The song follows a repetitive pattern (pretty unusual from ARR) and has Rajni’s punch dialogues throughout. :) Rajni’s Tamil seems a little scratchy though. His usual clarity is lacking a little and the pronunciations of ‘ zha’ could have been done better. My prediction is that this track will be relegated to the end credits of the movie. 

The Lyrical highlight -

“Porumai Kol Thanerrai Kooda Salladiyil Allalam | Athu Panikatti Aagum Varai Poruthirunthaal “– I chose this line because most of the other lines I have heard often. This one here is completely new and says be patient, you can gather water in a filter, if you wait long enough for it to freeze into an ice cube/snowball

The Musical Crescendo

The Konakkol at the end is a refreshing medley of Carnatic Classical and Western rhythms. Definitely provides a brilliant finish to the song.

Manappenin Sathiyam & Manamaganin Sathiyam :

Both these songs ride on the lyrical beauty and keep you hooked onto the language play. The tune, the instruments, the melody all merge as one and give you a lilting poem. Haricharan’s voice is aptly masculine and suits the song to a T and Latha Rajnikanth’s voice is fresh and adds surprisingly to the beauty of the song. These songs are the brainchild of a refreshing concept (Promises made during a marriage by the bride and the groom) and have been executed efficiently

The Lyrical highlight –

“ Kattil Araiyil Šamayal Araiyil Puthumai Šeivaen “ – When vulgarity reigns supreme in the lyrics off late this single line has brought back the subtlety that ruled in the 80s. Well writ Vairamuthu sir!

Idhayam:

This, in my opinion has to be the best song of the album. A really difficult composition sung flawlessly by Chinmayi, this song is definitely a terrific number. This track too is surely not going to impress you with one or two listens. Brilliant singing!

The Lyrical highlight -

Senthee Vizhuntha Sempor Paaraiyil | Nandhi Uruttum Mayilini Mutayaai… idhayam nazhuvi nagarndu pogude… - Roughly translated means “Like an egg of a peacock being rolled by a monkey, on a stone scorched(burnt) by a red flame… my heart slips and moves away from me”

The Musical Crescendo

Chinmayi’s breathtaking vocals and the magnetic voice of srini teasing the listener often are works of pure genius! No one except ARR can do this magic!

Engal Kochadaiiyaan & Rana's Dream...

Both these songs bank on the technical brilliance of ARR and the former has chorus singing praise of the king Kochadaiiyaan and the latter is more like the instrumental version of Enge Pogudo vaanam. Sadly though both these numbers are average fares and there is nothing great in my opinion to write home about!

Karma veeran:

This is the crowning jewel of the album. I would rate this song on par with Idhayam. ARR’s voice is magnetic and captivates you from the start. I would be surprised though (pleasantly) if this song gets any screen space, watch out for this song in the opening/end credits

The Lyrical highlight -

Kalladi Padum Enbathaalae Maram | Kaaikaamal Povathillai – A tree doesn’t stop giving fruits just because it knows it will be stoned

Nindra Idathil Nirka Vaendumaa | Nee Odi Kondae Iru – If you want to last at one place (at the top), keep running

The Musical Crescendo

Rahman lets out a grunt when he sings the lines”… Veerargal Mannithaala Athu Varalaaru Varalaaru..” Hear it to understand why I make it the highlight of this song…

The music did impress me and I would give this album a 4 out of 5. This is my personal view and I hope you like it too J

Satya Nadella and the INDIAN(?) Question

So, Satya Nadella is the new CEO of Microsoft! Congratulations to him. Frankly speaking I did not know anything about this man till a week back, but now, thanks to the multitude of blogs, articles and debates on the man in the last two days, I now know him a lot better. 

While I wholeheartedly appreciate his achievements I believe strongly that patronizing him and celebrating him as an Indian is not fair at all. It is like celebrating Kevin Peterson as a South African! KP was born in South Arica, but went off to England for livelihood and progress. He played for the England cricket team and achieved what no other Englishman has. His records speak for themselves. He is their best batsman ever in terms of the runs he has scored. One could even step ahead and say he is the best cricketer England has had in a long long time.

But the point is, is SA calling him their own? They congratulate him yes, but do they patronize him as their own? So then why do we proclaim Satya Nadella as our own? If KP is on the England team, then SN holds a Green Card!! Why do we Indians still call the likes of SN, Vishwanathan Anand, Sania Mirza, Kalpana Chawla and others as our own? They have stopped living in this country and moved permanently to another country citing infrastructure, growth possibilities, career and many other reasons! They are individuals who represent themselves and not this country. Yet, we hang on to them. Why so? Have we really run short of inspirational icons who live, sweat, achieve and die in this country? Why have we failed to put the people in here up on the pedestal and celebrate them more? 

                      

Have we turned so shallow that we need the glamour, attention and titles given by other countries to celebrate our own heroes? Do we not have so many Padma awardees in our own country to be inspired by? Is this what we are going to show the kids? To be a role model, and an inspiration, move away from this country and this system?

I have nothing against the names mentioned above; they are truly magnificent and inspiring. What these people have done i will never be able to. I will laud them for their achievements, will be inspired by them, but will never call them INDIANS! Because if I call them Indian, then I am letting my own country down; if you call them Indians, you are letting your country down. And also setting a bad example for others.

It’s up to us. Being educated and with the capacity to look at things in the proper light, we must understand what's what. Let’s not fall into the populist mentality ourselves. We need not stop others, but we sure can stop ourselves! 

Satya Nadella and the many achievers need to be saluted but not necessarily glorified as fellow countrymen. There are others who need that support now and there will be a lot more who will need it in future. Let's do right by them. 

Jai Hind 

Thank you CGI and Goodbye...

I am leaving CGI on Jan 3rd and honestly at this moment my heart is brimming with emotions that I never knew I would feel. A mix of sorrow, anxiety, fear, anticipation, hope and more than anything else a huge amount of gratitude! I have had 40 terrific months at CGI, and I thought I must record my memories in words and so, here is my recollections of a glorious phase of my life. This blog is not sorted in any order. They are just simple plain recollections.

But before I write on, a big THANK YOU to every colleague at CGI! Thank you for all the support over the years, for all the memories and the incredible love and guidance given to me!

WARNING : This blog might be longer than my previous ones, I hope you will understand why :)

The FIRST interview: 

The interview with Logica was the first one I ever attended in my life. Your first interview is always special and it becomes even more so when you actually crack it. My interview happened on June 2nd, 2010 and life has never been the same after that day. Muthalagan Shenbagaraman and Ponraj Ponnusamy handled the interview of which I remember every second. Ponraj asked me after the talk, “Raghavan, you seem to have a unique set of skills. But how do you think you will fit into this I.T atmosphere? There might be no scope for you to express all of your skills here. You sure you want this field?” the question rattled me. I was desperate for a job that day and I told Ponraj I would adapt to any atmosphere given the chance.

That day I told myself, if at all I got the job, I’d discover all avenues there are to express myself completely. I vowed to do more than just BAU! And eventually, I guess I did do what I pushed myself to. And I hope Ponraj and Raman, would agree :)

The ‘You are unfit to be in this team’ moment:

I did debate on whether to put this moment in writing but decided to go ahead because this was one of the turning points of my life.

I was put into a highly technical team immediately after joining. As a fresh grad, I did not realize the significance of knowledge and experience in deciding which team you can work in. I felt that whichever team I was in didn’t matter as long as I would learn and work. But my manager then was someone who strongly believed I must have enough experience to be a part of his team. He came to me and said ‘You are unfit to be in this team. To be here you have to come through a lot more…’ there were a few more sentences that conveyed more of the same.

That conversation made me angry and I made a decision that day. I told myself I would one day surpass the person who told me those words and I worked for it. For 25 months I carried that anger in my heart. I kept moving onwards, but the anger was too much of a burden to bear. I did do things I wanted to, I did raise my own standards but the anger was always there. It took me 2 full years and a moment of spiritual inspiration to make me realize that Letting Go was very important.

Today I do not blame the person who told me I was unfit; it was a case of him saying the right thing, but in a wrong way. The incident though taught me two things,

1. It is very important to know WHAT to say but it’s even more important to know HOW to say it.

2. One must learn to LET GO; Let go of all ego, anger and frustration. The longer you carry negative emotions, the slower your progress would be!

The TOASTMASTERS journey:

I wanted to learn ‘HOW to say what I wanted to say’. I was good at public speaking yes, but I had the yearning to learn to be professional speaker. My yearning led me to this club. I have had the best time of my life at CGI Chennai Toastmasters Club and today I am most proud of myself for having made the decision to submit myself to this movement. ‘Toastmasters’ has given me so much in life. Learning, practice, applause, popularity, pride and above all some really irreplaceable friends and mentors.

I can say without hesitation that, but for ‘Toastmasters’ I’d be a lesser person today. So, join this movement. There is a club in every locality of Chennai. Search for it and you will find birds of my feather always around!

BEET, Writers Club, Syntillations, CSR, Music Team, GIS Cheers Team, Splash Team and Photologic:

Over the years I ensured that I associated myself with as many people as I possibly can. I carry with me the belief that the more people I interact with, the more I learn. I put my hands up and joined every social community there was/is in CGI. Time was never an issue to me. That was something that I learned through the journey too. If you really want to do something and you have the passion for it, you will definitely find the TIME and ENERGY.

Being a sub editor for the Global Newsletter, the Beet (formerly YELLOW) has been a life changing experience for me. Through this role I understood the corporate culture better. It was my job to understand every project in Chennai and also the functioning of it all. I also got the chance to get up close and personal with many of the leaders in Chennai and Bangalore and these interactions are priceless. Being on the writers club helped me immensely. I got to read material of my fellow writers and there was so much inspiration that I drew from them. I would surely be a lesser writer if not for them.

Syntillations was a glorious team, so was the CSR and the Red teams. The former gave me a chance to contribute to the people I was working with in this organization and the latter gave me the opportunity to serve the society. The Music team was pure pleasure. Jamming with likeminded musicians gave me freedom I had never experienced before and it gave such a high when performing on stage. Photologic is another amazing group. Freezing your best moments on cam is a fascinating experience and this group of magicians excel at it.

The Splash team helped me work closely with team mates from my vertical and organizing 2 big outings for all GIS members was a terrific experience. The cheers team is an upgraded version of the Splash team and right now monthly events are being conducted and this team has already brought smiles to everyone’s face

The ‘With hands inside your pocket you came across as an arrogant guy’ moment:

It was in October 2010 that I got my first opportunity to host a show at Logica and the show was the Oscars. I wore my dad’s blazer for the event and it was the first time I was wearing a blazer. The show went well and a few days after the event I got a ping from a female colleague. Initially I thought she was going to commend me on a job well done but she actually told me, ‘Throughout the evening you had one hand of yours in your trouser pockets. There can only be two reasons for it, either you were scared of the audience or you are an arrogant guy who doesn’t give a damn about the audience. Doesn’t matter what reason it is, it’s an alarm for you to change dude!’

Obviously her pings hurt me (actually hurt my ego). She was right of course, I was extremely scared of being the host. But after her ping I realized that I was doing the wrong thing. And since then, I have hosted 10 shows in CGI but never once has anyone found me with my hands in my pocket. You might know by now that this incident was the spark behind my first ever short story. My colleague? She is now the best friend I ever have :)

You will have your ‘hands in your pocket’ moment in life too and a friend might point it out to you. Correct it immediately, you never know, it might change your life forever

The BIKE rides :

Our Chennai office is located exactly 17KMs from my home. There is no direct bus/train from my home to office and so to commute, I bought my first bike - Unicorn Dazzler. I did fall in love with the bike when I first saw it, but every day I rode to office on my bike I realized something about myself. I discovered the world’s different dimensions. I observed so many things about life and this society that I would never ever have, but for my bike. Most of the blogs in this page of mine were written twice; Once in my head while driving and then again on this medium in print. Creativity abounds when you are alone and my bike gave me so much during the 1 hour drive every day. These 34KMs have given me a much deeper understanding of my own self than anything else ever has.

I used to listen to songs while driving (yes, I can hear you saying its dangerous :D but I guess I am too spoilt now to change), I used to race with fellow (unknown)riders, I sang, fretted to myself, cried when I failed in something, sweared at god and rejoiced about my successes too. 

If you have a bike or a car, then I would urge you to take a drive… alone! Ask yourself some personal questions and listen to what your mind answers. I learnt a lot about myself through this exercise, it may work for you too. Trust me, if it does work for you, then I am sure you will be an entirely different person altogether!

YOU!

Yes, YOU! You are the one who makes my life complete. I may or may not know you, we may or may not have met, we may or may not have spoken to each other, we may or may not have worked together, but in taking time to read this blog, you have spent energy. It is through this blog that you and I are connected and without you and your time, love and energy I would be incomplete!

So you are the most special part of my life! So THANK YOU! Thank you for your continued support! I hope our lives intertwine soon but till then, Fare Well.

May this New Year be the beginning of the BEST YEARS of your life.

What are we selling???

A couple of weeks back, I was waiting in queue at the Dominos outlet in DLF, to place my order for lunch. Two nicely dressed gentlemen from some foreign country were standing just behind me. The customer in front of me was arguing with the store waiter at the counter, about an order and some confusion in their billing. I was hungry and was getting impatient, but watched on with the hope that the argument would end soon. After just around 5 minutes of waiting, the man behind me shouted in an irritated and bossy tone "What on earth is happening there? Could you just move??" and mumbled in a lower voice, "Fucking Indians"!

His last statement incensed me and my impatience boiled out into anger and I turned to him and said "Maybe it’s time you showed some fucking respect"!! The guy was a little shocked and taken aback that someone actually used the language back at him and he said "Excuse Me?" and looked at me with surprise and shock.

I replied back to him, "We sell food here, not respect. So either be patient or walk off"

He was too taken aback to reply and I didn’t wait for it either. I gestured to the counter and asked another person to take the order at the other counter that was free. We both eventually did eat there and walked out without any further exchanges, but what disturbed me and still does, is the alarming lack of respect for Indians. We sell service yes, but we do not have to sell our respect along with it. My reaction was not just because of this one isolated incident. It was a collection of one whole week of unpleasant happenings. Our labor is cheap and it is common knowledge that countries abroad use our services to the fullest. But do we really monitor the thin line between using our services to exploiting it?

I am still asking myself some troubling questions.  Why do we tolerate disrespect? Why we do not make it clear that it is only our products/services that are for sale and NOT our self esteem? What would actually happen if I went to an alien country like America and shouted “F*****G Americans”? Would they remain silent? No they wouldn’t. Why is it that we Indians alone bear this disrespect?

We Indians are a warm bunch of people, extremely proud of the work we do. We are immensely talented at what we do and the world will fall flat on its face if we Indians stopped working for others. The world knows it and yet, we are trodden upon by many. The reason is that we tolerate disrespect and just move on. We do not retaliate enough. Actually, we do not take enough efforts to keep our self esteem high! Would these gentlemen shout again the same way anywhere else here on? I doubt it!

It’s time we took it upon ourselves to change the way the world treats us. And it’s also time we realized how people should not be treated and refrain from giving this treatment to those working for or with us too! 

Money! Money!! Money!!!

Money has become the most inevitable entity for a human being’s life on earth. Money has enormous reach and it can move mountains, literally. From being just a tool that empowered man to now being the force that literally makes the planet rotate, money has grown; a little too fast. Humans are fascinating animals, we think and we adapt. Our reactions to situations/crisis/problems are what make us unique. When money was just a basic tool we gave it just the respect it deserved, we respected people more. The skills, capacities and talents of people were valued more. But today those who do not have money are trodden upon. Money goes into places where even air and light do not. It doesn't matter these days if people have unique talents; it only matters if they have enough money.

The world around us has changed dramatically. These days no one asks you or checks if you have talents, if you have potential, if you have what it takes to reach the top and stay there; all that one needs these days to journey to the top is money and more money! Look at the power wielders - politicians, actors, entrepreneurs and even sports administrators – everybody comes from money. Being rich is the ladder that will take you anywhere. I am not sure if this is the scenario worldwide but I am sure this is how things are today in India.

Money is like self confidence. When you are confident about your own self you perform well. But when your confidence crosses a line and becomes too much, or even too little, you begin to fail. Depending on which end of the spectrum you are in, you either turn arrogant or depressed. Money has turned all of us into what we never thought we will be. Excess money makes a man arrogant and too little of it makes him an outcast. Somewhere along the line we failed to actually use it properly. How many of us actually think money is to spend/use? Do we use money to buy stuff or do we lose our sleep over accumulating more of it? Money is but a tool that helps us satisfy our desires. It should have just been the yardstick that tells us where we belong and what we can aspire for.

But our ever growing desire and an inherent nature that never lets us be satisfied with what we have has turned the tables. When we have 10 rupees, we yearn for 20 instead of thinking we could spend 6 and save 4. What you could buy and use with 6 rs will give you more peace and happiness than what you would get by having 20! I am not saying that money is not important, nor am I saying that we can live without money. All I am saying is that if all of us started using the money we have instead of hankering for more all the time, life would be a lot more peaceful.

The recent betting scandals in cricket have left us all fuming. Skeptics have started saying they knew from the beginning that the game was corrupt and those of us who are still passionate about the game are fooling ourselves and so on. As a cricket lover, what pains me is not that the game is being criticized but it is that the people who have been arrested thus far are by no means the ones who were badly in need of money or fame. Every individual caught in the net is rich, influential and popular. One wonders why they did what they did. The answer though is pretty simple, GREED. 

Money works in strange ways. Money makes man dance differently. When we have a lot of food, we eat as much as we can and either give away or throw the excess; when we have too much water we drink as much as we can and store some and give away the rest; when we have too much love we share it with others. But when we have too much money, we only try to accumulate more!

The universe always balances out eventually. Someday the value of money will come down to dust and people and relationships will mean a lot more. But life could be a lot better if we put things in perspective ourselves and used the money we have instead of yearning for more and more! Life is simple, let’s keep it that way!