Thursday, April 19, 2007

Chords

I just look around me as I post(verb) this post(noun).
Coffee mug, water bottle, cellphone, penstand, a magazine flapping in air, a greeting card from my friend. No sign of humans in the vicinity of my mind. Now, is that the reason why I post to this blog. Had a friend called now or if I had seen a friend online would I be writing this?
Are all the events in this world interconnected. Are there anythings which can be termed as mutually exclusive events?
I got a bicycle from my dad and I am working in a multinational company. Two events, spread across two different period of time, seemingly unconnected and exclusive of each other. But I find a mild chord running through these events. So mild is the chord that it needs absolute solitude and a mug of irish black coffee to discover the connection.
Yesterday was a gloomy day in bangalore. It rained as though it had never rained before. It made me stay in office late. So late that I got bored of rain. Finally it showed some signs of receding and I managed to sneak into the coffee day near my office. I like coffee especially on a rainy day.
Alone to coffee day.. Sounds crazy..? Coffee shops are not meant only for lovers, I know a friend who goes to coffee day alone like me. Infact I found more little chords criss-crossing my past. All that happened yesterday. The 'bicycle - multinational company chord' is only one thing which I am quoting here. There are millions which I discovered yesterday itself. I plan my next coffee day session (of course alone!!) for I would be lost in discoveries otherwise.
Physics means fascination to me now. It is a world where nature,philosophy and logics merge into one. It is a ecsastic experience to live in such a beautiful world.
I developed this love towards physics during class XI. The one who`s responsible for showing the world of science to me was my physics tuition teacher.
So deep was my love towards physics that I started collecting MIR publication books (of erstwhile soviet union) which explained concepts of physics in the easiest possible way.
I developed love towards astrophysics. I started reading more books regarding that. At times I was cautioned to come to the academic routine.
It is only natural that I took mechanical engineering. I thought it would enhance my love towards physics. Then because of some more chords ( really thick ones this time), I developed love towards automobiles. Because of that I read everything which carried the picture of car with it. I still count this transition as one of the decisive things in my life.
Finally I ended up in multinational company which is the heart of automotive industry! I find love (towards physics, of course!) behind all these events. Thin chord?
So.. Wondering where does the bicycle come into picture here?
I told my dad that I will go for tuitions for my class XI only if he gets me a bicycle.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

When I travel

I like window seat. No matter wheather its a bus or a train, the window seat really fascinates me. It gives the picture of the world outside. Its not that easy to peep into every village and feel their inherent beauty. Being a window seater gives you the opportunity to have a glimpse on country side. The flora and fauna, and most importantly the people you see from the window of your bus carry lot of untold stories behind them.
I am a frequent traveller and I always used to take window seats during my journeys. As the vapours of the steaming filter coffee block my vision as I type these words, I am thinking of how I got into the habit of sitting by the window and what had made me to give up that.
Though my native is salem, I was born and brought up in temple-town of palani till i was ten years old. During those times, I used to travel with my parents to salem atleast twice a month. Its a 150 mile journey spanning for five hours. We used to start on friday evenings around 5pm. I was still a half-ticket then and so I was forbidden a seat in the bus. So I used to be in my mom`s lap. She is also a window lover. As the bus traverses through the country side, I used to ask innumerable questions.
Who lives in this hut .? Why are people washing clothes in the river side? Why some roads are left unattended? and some real tuffy like Why are some people begging?
My mom used to be patient. Many of her answers would be "Its like that".
I used to ask back "Why it is like that?".
Through the world shown by her, I picturised a portrait based on what i saw through the window.
Later when we moved to salem, I missed those window journeys. But it was not so long as i landed up in college in one another city of coimbatore. Again window journeys.. Hippie!!
Most of college friends who travelled with me those used to sleep as soon as the bus starts. Many ways it helped in creating a solitary space around me. I started loving the world which i saw through the window. The portrait was more colourful.
In the faces of people whom I see through the window i interpret untold stories. In the sunset which bathes the green fields with its golden rays I see unwritten classics. In the breeze that only window sitter can get i hear unheard melodies.
But all this was till my last journey...
Two days back I was travelling in a 1970 model tata bus (the one which had benz engine inside) from Bangalore to Hosur. The KSRTC driver was pressing the accelerator pedal upto the floor tapping out the maximum power that he can get from the age old vehicle. Having crossed the limits of bangalore, the bus was screaming ahead at a tearing pace. It was like a rolling juggrernaut. He handled the corners with the precision of an F1 driver. Sitting in the first seat I enjoyed that joy ride. Its as though playing a computer game.
Ya.. I have decided to give up my window seat for the front seat. If the window seat was a calm portrait of transendence the front seat is the transendence itself. The roaring engine, The clumsy instrument panel, An age old gear knob, uncleaned windsheild with scratches left behind by the wiper. The cars and truck that play the sport with you in the highway. Its the real thing. I am seriously thinking of taking up a job as bus driver.:)
As i finish posting this i would be taking my Maruti 800 and test its horses. Vrooom...

Auf wiedersehen.

About what?

I wonder how people perceive the word 'blog'. Mostly people look for themes.They are used to the patternized outlook of world. The most frequent question i face when i speak about my blog is "about what?".
Actually, i still dont have a perfect definition on what my blog is going to be about. My first blog was a flop.It was a theme based blog and after a few posts I ran out of ideas. Basically our minds can never be confined to think about a theme. Its wings are spread all along. Blogs are not confined spaces, Its the reflection of our minds. I will never answer 'about what?' questions. I go sick of it.
Sitting in the solitary space created in the steel and concrete jungle of bangalore.. I would be passing my thoughts to the cyber community.
This is jus a small post to start with. Look out this space to know how it is like being prasanna!