A(nonymous) Phone Call.

Looking at this picture, anyone wondering whether this post is about a mathematical formula..? Certainly NO. This is about a phone call from one of the most revered persons in my life.

Sometimes some simple phone calls can make you very happy. Some phone calls are very special, so that you can't forget them very easily. The first phone call from your crush saying that he/she has fallen for you or you are abroad and you hear your baby's voice for the first time through a phone call- they all would be very special. But this phone call which started as an anonymous phone call,

which hardly lasted for about just 10 minutes is not one of the above kinds, but is very special just for this wonderful person on the other end.

...It was around 7:30 on a fine evening. As usual I was fighting with my program. It was giving all kinds of output except the one that I was expecting it to give..! You could have seen a troll photograph with this caption in facebook.."that awsomeee moment when your program works.. YAAY..!". I was desperately waiting for that moment - trying hard and exhausted. It was at this moment I got this phone call from 94438***** and the number was similar to that of my father's. The mobile was screaming and I quickly took the mobile phone, put it in silence and I was looking at the number for a few seconds. I was wondering who would be calling me from this unknown number
and that too with a slight resemblance to my father's number. Though I was slightly irritated for being disturbed from my work, somewhere from the bottom of my heart I was thanking this unknown person at that moment for giving me a short respite.

I picked up the phone and said "Hello.."
Mr. X :- "hmm.. dharani aras ah..?"

I guess people would sometimes skip this word 'hello' on a phone call only when they are talking to a very well known person or to a close friend. He skipped the word 'hello' on a phone call and straightaway mentioned my name. I was wondering who this person could be..a friend of mine..? But his voice seemed to be well matured.

Me   :- "aama..dharani aras thaan..neenga yaaru..?"
Mr. X:- "naan yaara..? hmm.. kandupudi paakalaam.."
Me   :- "kandupudikuratha..sorry sir..neenga yaarunu theriyalaye..?"
Mr. X:- "sorry ellam ethukku solra..seri..naama rendu perum konja neram pesuvom..enna unakku    
              nalla theriyum..naan unakku nalla  paritchiyamaana aalu thaan...un vaalkaila oru rendu    
              varusham en kooda spend panniruka..naama summa pesuvom..nee enna         
              kandupudikuriyaanu paakalaam..enna?"

All this he said in his own slang. Though at that moment I didn't know who he was, I was excited to talk to him. I felt like I have heard his voice a number of times...

Me   :- "(excitedly)..seri pesalaam..unga voice ah engeyo ketta mathiri thaan iruku..gnyabagam  
              varala..naan kandupudika try  panraen..."
Mr. X:- "try panriya..(he laughs)..paakalaam.."

Then this person told everything about me, my family, my cousin...and asked,

Mr. X:-  "enna naan yaarunu theriyutha..?"

I was telling to myself.."utta vishwaroopam padathula vara maathiri..yaarendru therikiratha..ivan thee endru purikirathaa nu paatellaam paaduvaaru pola iruke....!"

Me   :-  I told the name of a relative of mine and asked..."avaruthaana neenga..?"
Mr. X:- "(laughs and then sighs..)seri..un relative circle ah vitru...un teachers yaaraavathu irukumaanu konjam think pannu.."

When he said he was a teacher of mine, without a millisecond delay...

Me  :- "Nagaraj sir..!Theivame...neengala...!Sir..". Speechless for a second.."sir...epdi sir irukeenga...!!".

I was talking to this person after nearly six years..yes it had been six years since I met him. When I met him or talked to him last time, it was the day when 2007 12th board exam results were announced and I went to his home with a bag full of chocolates. I was one among 50 or 60 of his odd students who got a centum in mathematics and I am damn sure he remembers the names of all his students. To be frank I feel Engineering Mathematics is still one of the worst subjects to have in engineering. But this man made maths to look so simpler to me. One could attend his class just to listen to his own way of teaching, in his own slang, with his trademark words ('tikki', 'kokki' - ever heard of these words in a maths class..?)

He then happily said about a student who is studying in Stanford University and one other student who is doing economics in Delhi University. Both of them are my immediate seniors. He then said about many of his students doing their MBA in IIMs and even about students working for Google. I could feel the sense of pride and happiness in his voice. I cannot be dumb without sensing his pride and happiness, afterall my father is also a teacher.

Finally,
Mr. Maths :- "unkooda pesanum nu romba naala ninaichuttu irunthaen..un kooda pesunathu la   
                       romba  santhosham dharani.."
Me            :- "Sir..actuallah atha naan thaan sir sollanum.."
Mr. Maths :- "all the best for your future da.."
Me            :- "Thank you sir..!"

Don't forget that I am just a mediocre student - I am not one of his students who is doing masters in Stanford or Harvard - I am not one of his students in IIMs - I am not one of his students in Google - I am just an ordinary student. This extra-ordinary teacher remembers even an ordinary student like me. Being an ordinary student, I cannot expect much from him other than his remembrance about me even after these many years..

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great  teacher inspires."    - William Arthur Ward

A beautiful life @ Hostel

It's a cloudy morning - dark sky, cold weather with the smell of wet mud. "Oru paadhi kathavu neeyadi.." in speakers. The climate seems perfectly beautiful to have some steaming hot bajjis or bondas with a cup of hot tea and that's when Nataraj says "ppaah..! sema climate..ippa mattum hostel la irundha semaya irukkum..entha kavalaiyum illaama joly ah irunthurukalaam..". Suddenly it starts raining and retrospective thoughts begin to fill up my mind...

It all began on 12th August 2007. Four beautiful years. Those days, irrefutably, are the best in my life till now. Those mixed emotions that anyone feels when he miss his family and move to a hostel for the first time in life cannot be easily described in words. I still remember my 'first night' at hostel - my 'first night' that too 'with 3 idiots'(with Santhosh, Tamilmani and Pragathes at blockII, #34). I didn't sleep well at my 'first night' because that was the 'first time' for me to sleep in a hostel far away from home; because that was the 'first time' I realized that the sound of airplanes could disturb your sleep.

When I look back at my hostel life, I realize that my life has changed a lot now.
Back then, I had many freedoms - freedom from bathing daily, freedom from wearing ironed formal clothes.
Back then, I had never felt like going home even for long vacations.
Back then, I had never slept without a late night chat with friends, atleast for few hours.
Back then, I had never felt lonely. Be it anything, to read or to play or to bunk classes or to possibly anything, there used to be always someone with me.
Back then, even a few pennies and a little pocket money rejoiced me as much as having earned millions.
Back then, I had more hair than what I have now (gifts for being a 'hard core' software engineer)
.
.
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Lots and lots of back thens...I feel I miss my little freedoms a lot.
Now most of the things are completely different from how it used to be in my hostel days and now I understand why most of us get nostalgic when we think about our hostel days. Especially, the climate with constant sprinkling of rain drops sets my mood perfectly right to get nostalgic. Going further down my memory lane I realize I miss many things...

-those birthday bashes..
-those hostel photo shoots..
-those first time experiences of watching a *#censored* movie..
-those days of roaming around the campus under moon light after second shows in Ganapathyram or Thyagaraaja..
-those DJ nights in hostel rooms..
-those laddus and jilebis which friends bring from their home after a vacation..
-those HPL(Hostel Premier League) and especially all the team names FFF,TTT,SFS,8P,BWB (all the names are *#censored*). The worst part  is I still don't even know how to exactly hold a cricket bat #self-deprecating humour..
-those carrom boards and Table tennis in newspaper reading tables, those card games with more than 10 people in a room..
-those idiots who call even me as a 'pandu'..
-the moments that you will remember forever.. those moments of laughing until you cried.. those moments of laughing until your stomach hurts.. those moments of perfect craziness.. It is those moments where you had to be there to feel it. It is those moments that make life worth living. It is those moments that makes life incredibly and unutterably beautiful..

   will those moments ever happen again.?? 

Remembrance of those days is so vivid that I am tempted to pen down my memories. Hopefully, this could take you all back to your past and probably leave you with a smile to reckon all those unforgettable moments that you possibly cherish even today..!!

I feel that hostel is not just a place where I stayed. It is where I played, I studied, I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed and I lived. Those walls of my hostel room would have seen all my emotions and feelings. I wonder whether it even knows how I would react when I am happy or when I am sad.
       College hostel is like another home away from home, where you have nothing to be worried of..

Before I completely go into the past, it is Nataraj again, "dae naaye..mazhai nindruchu da..vaa office polaam....".
Back to life, back to reality after a short break. All that I could think of now is the words of Robert Frost,
               "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on".

Could Money buy Respect?

For me, this new year starts with a beautiful lesson learnt from a small conversation between a fruit seller and a stranger. Totally the conversation would have lasted for just a minute but the impact and the outcome of it is huge.

A fruit seller was selling fruits in a wheelbarrow. A person came there buy some fruits. He enquired about the price of guava. The fruit seller replied "கிலோ இருவது ரூவா". He asked the fruit seller to give half Kg guava. The fruit seller weighed it, put it in a bag and gave him the bag.

The person took the wallet out of his pocket. There were a few hundred rupee notes and one five hundred rupee note. He took a hundred rupee note, waved it at the fruit seller and asked him "சில்ரை இருக்கா?". The fruit seller looked him up and down. He didn't reply anything. He just shook his head up and down, nodding that he has money to give him the balance.

The stranger gave the fruit seller a hundred rupee note. The fruit seller took out a plastic cover bundle out of his pocket. The person looked at his bundle. I wonder whether he felt, that the fruit seller's wallet is bigger than that of his. While the fruit seller was counting money to give him the balance, he took an apple and was contemplating whether to buy it or not. The fruit seller took his turn now and asked, "அது கிலோ இருநூறு ரூவா. காசு இருக்கா?". The question left the stranger dumbstruck. He didn't reply. He just shook his head. The fruit seller just smiled and gave him the balance. Their conversation ended.

There were just two questions in this conversation. In the first one, the buyer asks the fruit seller whether he has money. In the second, the fruit seller asks buyer the same question. While the genuine intention behind the first question was to know whether the fruit seller has money to give him balance, I could feel that the manner he asked it troubled the fruit seller. I don't know what made him to authoritatively ask the question - whether the 'assumption' that the stranger made that he has more money or his patronizing attitude towards the fruit seller.

Whatever it is, the point that I would like to make is - many forget the fact that they should respect a person for his character, for his personality, for his attitude and not for money. When I look at the dictionary, I could see the definition for money and respect as,

Money(Noun) - "The most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender".
Respect(Noun) - "A courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or regard".

Obviously both doesn't have the same meaning. Then, it is strange why people treat them as synonymous. I accept that it is hard to accrue a lot of money. But just because a person has accrued a lot of money could not make him a person deserving great respect.

Respect should be given to anyone who deserves it. It shouldn't be something that could be bought with money. Neither should it be something that is sold for money.

 Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. -  Benjamin Franklin

 Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. - Albert Einstein

21st December - Is it the end ? - If so what would you do ?

The world has only two more days if the Mayan Calender prediction is going to be true. I just had a casual chat with my friends and just out of curiosity I asked them what would they like to do if they are sure that they have only 2 more days. There were a lot of answers ranging from a trip to the USA to an affair with the girl friend..!

Most of them(including me) were determined to do what ever it takes to fulfill their life's last desires if they are sure that the world will end. But, most of their wishes seemed very simple, that they could have fulfilled in their years of life so far, rather than trying to fulfill all their simple wishes in the last 2 days. Everyone of them could have lead years of fulfilled happy life which they want to have for just 2 days now.

I wondered, what made them to try to fulfill desires now?
I wondered, what made them to try to achieve whatever they wanted, in two days without even thinking if it is possible..?
A simple, one word answer to these questions would be 'Time'.

When we realize that time is running out and we don't have much time, we give our everything to accomplish our desires. Otherwise, for most of us, life is a routine process with some occasional surprises. Is that life all about?

I feel life is not just that. We always had time to make friendship. We always had time for a hangout and of-course we always had time to love, to make a girl friend. But why couldn't we make the best of every day even when there's nothing called a doomsday and we have a lot of time(I'm damn sure world is not going to end day after tomorrow). The problem is we think we have a lot of time and  compromise ourselves on many things.

There might not be any truth in the Mayans prediction but I feel, if there's something we wish to do, we should go ahead and do it anyway. Or one day we may regret for missing many things in life.

Life is too short to worry about anything. You had better enjoy it because the next day promises nothing.            -Eric Davis

Even if the world doesn't end, another year from our life has gone. I wish next year doesn't end in the same way as this year with  a list of things that we haven't done. Instead let it be one in which we have given our best to the things that matter, a year where we have tried to be the happiest we can be.

Do not compromise on your happiness. It's your life and it is in your hands to fulfill your wishes and dreams.
Happy living..!

Confront Your Weaknesses

It has been long since I posted in this blog. I would like to come back with a good story..!

Yeah, everyone of us have weaknesses. But how do we face it and how do we overcome it makes the difference. I would like to share one incident which happened in my life some years back.

I was shown a picture of a baby, laughing happily. I was given 5 minutes to prepare a 3 minute speech relevant to that picture. After 5 minutes, I was asked to come on to the stage to deliver a speech in front of nearly 40 strangers.

I stepped on to the stage. An awkward feeling rushed over me and it was a heart thumping moment when everyone was watching me. If you have ever experienced this feeling, then probably I am one among you. Somehow I cooked up a small story for the speech.

Here it goes.
"Good morning everyone. Seeing that picture, some of you may have thought, 'why couldn't I be so happy as that baby? Why life is not happier as it used to be when I was a child?'. For those of you, I'd like to tell a small story.

Three boys, Ram, Shyam and Kumar, were sleeping in a room. Unexpectedly, the power went off. Since power cuts have become a common scenario now, 'unexpectedly' doesn't seem to be correct here. OK, lets leave that and get to the point. As the fans were off, they felt opening the windows could get them some fresh air. But no one wants to get up from their bed to open the windows. Laziness - one of the characteristics of some contemporary boys. Ram asked Shyam to open the windows. Shyam asked Kumar to do the same. Kumar said that he has opened the windows. After that all the three slept well.

Next morning, Ram woke up to find that the windows were never opened. That was when he realized, what he felt made the difference. He felt that the windows were opened and he got some fresh air. That made him to sleep well. Same goes with life. If you feel that 'All is well', everything will be fine. After all, life is to live, to love, to share and not to suffer. Happy living..!"

Does this story has any relevance to the post title - Confront Your Weaknesses. Of course, yes. To confront your weaknesses, believe that you are not weak. If you believe that you are not weak, then you won't have such heart thumping moments or any anxiety in the pit of your stomach when facing people.

"What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become." - Bruce Lee

Could 0.03 make a big difference..?

Hi Guys,

Placement season started and almost every newspaper has this headline
                          "IIT student gets Rs.70 lakh job offer from Facebook".

Placements started in CEG too with some high paying companies like Amazon, e-Bay, Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley..fighting to recruit students from my college. Some of my friends are happily distributing sweets saying that they got placed.

Wait..wait.. I am also a student of CEG. Why haven't I got placed yet..? Because none of these companies even consider me for an interview. Trying to find out the reason for my rejection, I found that my CGPA is 7.93 out of 10, which is 0.07 short of their 8.0 CGPA expectation.

Can 0.07 make a big difference..?

I would like to share an interesting incident with you all. During the last year placements, one boy (let us name him Ram, does name really matter here..?) who got 6.97 as his CGPA, which is 0.03 short of the 7.0 CGPA expectation from Microsoft at that time, got placed in Microsoft. I was curious to find out how he got placed. Ram submitted his resume stating his CGPA to be 7.5 and he cleared all the technical rounds and the personal interviews to get selected in Microsoft. Later, his placement director found that he attended the interview with a fake CGPA. He suggested Microsoft to cancel the offer made to Ram. Going one step further, he prevented him from attending any of the campus interviews further.

Do you think 0.03 made a big difference in his life..? Absolutely NO....!
He did not attend any campus interviews after that. He went for an off-campus interview for the same company Microsoft and got placed again. Next year he came to my college for recruitment and the same placement director welcomed him. wah..Hats off Ram..!

Let us come to the point. Most of us continue to place a premium on external indices. Most of us think that knowledge is synonymous with the marks a student obtains, which in many cases need not be. To be frank, by giving importance to only marks, we fail to nurture our genuine passions. We give respect to anyone who has more number of digits in his salary. One sad point is, only when knowledge is tagged with some priz(c)e, we're giving attention to it. But, could salary bring you happiness if you don't have job satisfaction..? or could salary buy you some good friends..? I guess I need not answer these questions.

One last thing. Hereafter, I won't make life's choices based on money. I'll start following my own passions. After all, marks are just some random numbers scribbled on your exam papers which may eventually end up in dustbin. Would you consider something that will end up in dustbin so important than your own passions..?

Somehow it Started..

 
Blogging - This has been a part of at least my past two new year's resolutions. All my resolutions to blog has become a joke. At last this year has become an auspicious year for me.

But still I don't know what to write about. I thought of scribbling whatever comes to my mind - "Thoughts from my mighty wandering mind..!"

I welcome all your comments and I believe all your constructive criticisms could make me a good blogger.

Welcome to my blog.. and I wish you a very happy new year to all of you..!
Happy Reading..!