Velankanni: Longest Car Trip

This is not our first journey to Velankanni, as we had been to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health the last time in 2010. But this is the first time that we are traveling in that direction by car. Tata Tigor was ready for the most distant location from its origins, and the journey was a memorable one. We took the journey in two different routes – on the way there, we went through the Palakkad-Coimbatore-Karur-Trichy route and while returning, we took the Trichy-Dindigul-Pollachi-Nenmara route, and I would suggest that traveling through the return route, but avoiding Nemara would be the right choice, for traveling from Trichy to Pollachi is joyful. While getting to Velankanni, the route through Mannargudi was better than the shorter Nagappattinam route, which was undergoing repair. Well, we reached Velankanni at a time when there less visitors. There are times when so many people go to the pilgrimage site, and there is rarely even the space to pray in peace.

The better roads in Tamil Nadu made sure that the journey was not troublesome, and only a few areas were troublesome for the vehicle’s suspension. I don’t remember much about that earlier journey to the sacred place, but it didn’t feel like something that far away from memory; yet the place has changed in twelve years. Velankanni is part of Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation, which means that we have hope for the place to feel better. We prayed in the Lourdes of the East, and hoped for the best, as we live in an uncertain world. These are the times when life in this world seems irrelevant, and therefore, such spiritual journeys seem to be the need. Among the requirements to survive in this world, the connection to the other world becomes more important than ever. This trip has been pending for a long time, and the completion of this one provides more confidence and self-belief.

The trip anywhere would require a Tata Tigor and the usual food.

There is something about visiting Velankanni that never leaves us.

The beauty of the basilica will continue to enchant us.

The basilica has been visited by all of us for such a long time.

There is always something about the prayers and penance around here.

You keep looking towards divinity for the spiritual guidance.

Resting at places of divinity has never ceased to bring blessings.

The shrine of the old times continues to be a place of faith and belief.

You look up to God and hope for redemption in a world of chaos and hatred.

No journey is complete without Tata Tigor stopping by the side of highway for tea.

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***The images used on this blog post were taken by me on my Samsung mobile phone during my visit to Velankanni.

TeNy

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Impact of Being Good

We have always wondered about the best way to make the world a better place to live in. Well there are many ways to make a positive impact on the world, and among these right thing to make the best impact, I would choose “being good” to be the best option. doubt if many people have checked for the impact of being good. They look for the impact which they can make by being rich and influential, but the best idea, if you ask me, is to be good and remain so.

Haven’t we been appreciating good men and women in the past? Didn’t saints have a better role to play in each religion than the common people? Aren’t those people whom we respect as great men, saints and social reformers the people who were good and wanted to change the world to make it a better place not just for them, but also for the future generation? Haven’t we all agreed to the fact that these people were great and have made a positive impact?

Well, people have short memories. They find it difficult to remember their past, and this is more of a memory loss of convenience because they don’t want to be that good either. They want to be wealthy and famous in every way possible. They have found it easier to lie to their conscience if there is something like that left with them. If Mephistopheles had asked for their soul in return for luxuries, they would easily give it along with an extra soul from one of their friends. The world is different now, it truly is!

But one has to wonder how and why this world has changed, and when this radical change took its roots. It might not have been a sudden procedure, but it has been a powerful one, no doubt about that. Nowadays, a successful person with money and influence is a lot more liked than a good person – it is a case of shame and a reflection of the pathetic situation of our society. It should be left for a good person to make that positive impact, and a lot is to be done if the world is to have enough goodness in it.

I would say that the first thing about being good is to be nice to others. Actually, it is actually the most difficult things to do these days for some people. In a world of hatred, being good to others in words as well as in action is not that easy. Hate comes easy in this world, and abusing others is fun for the new generation. The truth is that nobody wants anything good to happen to others, and so there will always be the reason to hate others. As it is a natural thing, there can be no questions about it.

Hate and abuse has never been the solution. The impact that hate makes won’t stay forever, but the true change can be brought about by goodness. It is by the power of goodness that the world has to go through that change, and it has to be the light of the world, in a world which has been brought down by haters and abusers, a good number of them being taken over Facebook – do you see any goodness in social media? Well, it is quite rare if you ask me. A lot of people have been too much into showing their lack of culture.

There are many opportunities for us to do good, and it is part of our daily lives. We see people who are in need each and every day, and the impact that we can make in their lives will be a lot. It might be a small thing for us, but something that will define their lives with the impact that it creates. It is from these small and random acts of goodness that a better world comes into the picture. The responsibility for the same lies in each one of us, as we strive to make that impact – the best one possible.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

TeNy

The Tales of 2015

Another year is coming to an end, and 2015 has been a different year – all years have been different frome each other, even though nothing huge happens with life, and whatever happens, things just go back to nothingness which has been part of my life. 2015 will also have its own tales which the year doesn’t want to share with 2014 or 2016. There will be something different each and every time making the years not the same. It was better defined when we were in school or college as each year had something special; but now we have to think more to find those events.

Maybe the best or the worst of the year are yet to happen, but as of now, the best moment was winning the passes for the India Today Conclave at Delhi with BlogAdda. It should be my best win ever at any stage, and that happened with the post The Vision of a Lost Bat. I did go to attend the conclave where the main talkers were Sachin Tendulkar, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Lisa Haydon, Viswanathan Anand, Chetan Bhagat and others. It was a great experience for me and it also made sure that I should blog more, and I would credit BlogAdda for that motivation to write more.

Well, I have written at least one post on every day of this year in this year, and I am still continuing that trend which I hope that I never have to stop soon. 2015 also had many other contest wins for me, and I would call it a rich year which has inspired me to write more and more. 2015 has made me realize that I should do many things, but the one thing that I should always do is to blog, which is why I bought the domain for Movies of the Soul, about which I feel very good. Until 2014, I was only a blogger who wrote something when I had time, but now I find time for writing each and every day, and I shall carry this over to the next year.

Life just keeps hitting the rocks, doesn’t it? But there is always hope.

But there is one big New Year resolution which I really need to make with 2016 right around the corner. In 2014, I fell short of watching 100 movies in the theatres with the final count at 89, and this year, it is at 81 so far, and it seems to be all prepared to end before touching the nineties too. So, in 2016, I want to get it to one hundred movies like I watched 109 of them at the theatres in 2013. I need to take the pledge to be more consistent with this; the problem with this year was that we shifted home and I prepared for some of the PSC examinations. But now I believe that I should keep my movie world alive with the rest too!

I also hope to get a job next year, and it has been the Mission Impossible for me this year. I had sent a huge number of resumes this year at various e-mails, but only a few of them replied and only an even lesser number gave me an appointment. It is a hope which I really need to provide the wings because the relatives are becoming more and more violent every day – the salaries of the cousins are getting higher and they are getting married to rich people which brings a lot of contempt on me. I really need to get somewhere to come up with a direct reply.

Somehow, this relative problem has to be dealt with – we call it The Relative-IT Theory about which I have already written a long time ago. Surrounded by the relatives who are always trying to boast about the salaries and bank balance of their children along with the acres of land and the properties which the children’s off-springs own, will only get worse next year. They will get richer and I will get older in 2016, and so the only precaution to be taken here is to be prepared for those words of vanity, but try to avoid them as much as possible. I have also prepared a few dialogues in case of an emergency situation.

So, you are on this boat to 2016 – lets go through the troubles.

The biggest hope is to become a better person than I am now; but that is going to be complicated because when I get older, I don’t get any stronger. Still, I hope that the upcoming year will bring something better. We have thought in a similar manner about other years too, but this time, Lets think that 2016 is going to be different. Maybe we can take life as one year at a time. The world might be the same anyway, but we can change and above all, we can hope. After all, it is something which costs nothing. May the year 2016 be better than 2015, and lets wish for the best to happen!

I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me on my Sony Cybershot DSC-W310.

TeNy

Secrets of Life and Death

He had always struggled in his life, and had absolutely no say in his life until he had gone past his teenage and even after that, there was trouble. The whole thing was always a struggle because the relatives always made sure that they knew what he wanted to study and where he wanted to go to school or college, and they made sure that he never got them. The relatives always tried to bring him and his ideas down. The result was that he never really got anywhere, and the relatives wanted to make fun of him and at the same time praise their own children.

There was going to be a marriage function on the very next day. Another one his cousins was going to get married, and he knew that he was going to be ridiculed there because of one of the cousins marrying a rich girl and having a lot of property while another person had got a new job with high salary. He decided to write something about it for some peace. He took his old diary and checked if there was something there which he could add. There, he noticed a letter lying between the books.

Darkness spreads. But how fast can that happen in the life of a common person?

It was about a book. It told him to look for a book which was to answer his question about what life was. He had thought that there was nothing much about it other than to dance to the tunes of some people. He checked under the huge collection of books to find a huge book which seemed to be very old. He noticed what was written on the cover page – “The Secret of Life and Death”. He found that each page of the book was of a different colour and he decided to start reading.

The first page said “Do you think that those who show that they are really happy got any kind of joy in their life? They just pretend. They show off to make you look depressed. With your hopeless behaviour, you are making them happy, and that is their only way of happiness. They actually do this to many people and you are just one of them. They tell you that their huge collection of money is the secret of all kinds of happiness, but it is not. If you keep looking at their faces, you will understand that they can’t always pretend”.

He turned the page to read further “They think that they can hold on to money forever, and can make a fool out of you. But they can’t. There is a certain truth about all rich men, women and empires, and as proven by history, they do fall. This will happen now, later or a long time from now, but it is sure to happen. In the cases of these people, they are not even loved by others. All the appreciation that they get is from the people who are just like them, and they will abandon each other whenever the right time comes. It is the way of their life, and it is how they thrive”.

He moved on to the next page “With the desire to be with their sons and daughters which never happens, these people just pretend to be the great parents of the successful off-spring, but it is just an act of vanity which is powered by their need to show the world that they are not failures. History had such parents who made their own empires fall into nothingness, and the world is only going to know a lot more of them. The darkness is in their blood and it will only get stronger. It won’t matter how you respond, because they have a lot of such dark matter in store”.

Is there a sign of relief among the dark clouds, or is it just vain hope?

The next page turned out to be the last page with clear letters “Therefore my dear, do not fall into the fake paths to victory. There is no need to fall into the abyss of those judgments. There is no mystery here, but you. Only you can find it. Do not listen to others because the only place where you need to look is right inside you. Never let the people around you weaken your cause, as they have absolutely no role in your life just like they have nothing to do with the lives of their own children. We have always known that this day will come for one generation or the other, and make sure that you use this advice well”. He closed the book and decided to make a point.

I am participating in this creative activity organised by makers of The Path of Zarathustra in association with BlogAdda.

***The images used in this blog post were taken on my Asus Zenfone 5.

TeNy

The Undead Book of Life

It was a beautiful evening with Uncle Dracula having gone for a movie with most of the vampire minions. Vampire Owl came out of the castle with a huge book in his hands. It was written as a mixture of Old English and Latin, and he put the book in front of the Vampire Bat who was having a cup of tea in the garden.

“This is the book I was talking about. It is called The Undead Book of Life and has been passed on from our ancestors. It has the secrets to a better life. There is also a letter on the first page which explains things in detail. I found it at the darkest corner of the Great Vampire Library” said the Vampire Owl.

“It is a work which is often considered as the nemesis of The Book of the Dead. Do you trust something which was found at the darkest corners? Don’t you feel that such works will have a certain amount of darkness in themselves ready to be unleashed, taking control of our dark side?” wondered the Vampire Bat.

“We are the creatures of the dark, even though we rarely exhibit those characters in light. But humans do, and their darkness is in their souls. The book talks about it, about how easier it is to be evil compared to being good. You search for goodness, and you end up finding darkness most of the time” added the Vampire Owl.

“It is a well-known thing. Evil is too easy for the humans. These humans do things that we could never imagine. What they don’t understand is that it takes a lot to be a real human. It is actually easier to be a vampire, even though it is tough to be a responsible one”.

“There is a lot of detail about the same in this movie. It talks about the universal brotherhood, and how humans have perverted the idea of equality to provide the same for only a few people. I can say that this book goes back to those times when the elder vampires lived with the humans, and had so much to teach each other” said the Vampire Owl.

“This idea of equality has its origins in the vampire community itself, as we have always supported each other throughout the history because it was necessary for our own survival. It is clearly depicted in a good number of vampire history books. It was the humans who took so much time to understand and then twist it” added the Vampire Bat.

“It is surprising that humans need to be taught morality and love for their fellow creatures. We developed it ourselves. We have tried to teach them the same through centuries, but have failed. Even the religions couldn’t teach them that”.

“Well, I see it here. Life is all about loving and having mutual-respect for your fellow beings. It has always been the idea, right? But why these humans are fighting each other for no true reason is really beyond me” added the Vampire Bat.

“The true essence of life is known to everyone already – it is love. There is a long detail about it in this book, but it exists in true forms. Still people find it too difficult to get the thing enabled. The selfish needs take over. There is envy, vanity and hate which erases all things related to love” said the Vampire Owl.

“So, are we giving a copy of the same to the humans?” asked the Vampire Bat.

“I don’t believe that we should do that. They should be allowed to make their own choices because love is not something which has been unknown to them. It is how it was always supposed to be. You still write a lot, don’t you? Such an interference in the lives of the characters won’t do that good to the story of life. Don’t you think so? the Vampire Owl wondered.

“Yes, lets give them an opportunity to find what they have always known. I doubt if they will still find it though” said the Vampire Bat.

“What is life, but an opportunity to love your fellow beings? What is a better truth?” the Vampire Owl wondered.

The Path Of Zarathustra is an Indian Magic Realism film releasing on September 4th.

I am participating in this creative activity organised by makers of The Path of Zarathustra in association with BlogAdda.

***The image used in this blog post is from the page mentioned above.

TeNy

Some of the Changes

In the last few months, I have made the changes that I thought that I never would. I still don’t know if there are positives or negatives because I still doubt them. Sometimes, I feel that there was no real point in the same and all the decisions were quite wrong. Then I think that change is good and can bring something fair in the variety. Well, life is very confusing as long as you decide to live it; otherwise things are quite easy and right into the grave. May be I should ask at the cemetery. These are the changes.

Buying a domain instead of using the free WordPress.com option: I never really wanted to buy a domain because I am a jobless person and I seem to go on without having a job or income forever; so this buying a domain might never stay forever as far as I am concerned. I still have no hope to continue having this domain because I have no salary, and I expect to lose that domain anytime and return to that WordPress.com site. Movies of the Soul might not stay with me forever as a separate domain.

But I had to buy that for now, because I thought that I needed it. Many of my friends has told me that it was better, and I was afraid that I might not be able to get that domain if I had chosen to delay – so I had to take that. May be it will bring something good for my movie reviews – it hasn’t done much until now, but I hope that it will be good some day. May be something will come up and I will get a job before I have to pay for the next one year. I would otherwise hope that parents won’t mind another year of Movies of the Soul.

Using Bing instead of Google: This is surely what I never thought that I would do, as I have shifted from Google to Bing, thus permanently changing my Search Engine. I have used Google Search for a long time, but I later found out that even though we won’t really matter in the end, Microsoft’s Bing is rather more caring for the common users. Even though things will always be in favour of the corporate side and we are just those little cockroaches for them, I have found that even my blog links appear better on Bling than Google.

Bing uses a reward policy for searching, and I have found that inspirational in searching; I see no reason why it shouldn’t. It provides separate credits for computer as well as mobile. It took some time to let me into the program after registering for the Windows Live Account, and I haven’t completely figured it out, but everything looks nice as of now. There are also rewards for inviting friends. Well, I would like to keep my search useful rather than do it for no reason.

Using the other browsers consistently at least on the mobile: I still use Google Chrome on the laptop even though I have installed other browsers too. But at least in the mobile, I hope to use the other browsers by default, and I mostly use the UC Browser and Opera. I have been using them consistently and hope to continue doing so. I don’t know why, but Movies of the Soul looks a lot better on UC Browser when looking through the mobile. It also seems to be the faster browser among them all.

Getting a gamepad and speakers from Flipkart: I still have not understood about this – I don’t play computer games or listen to songs these days. The games have left me because I can’t even come close to winning any game of life. The music no longer makes me feel anything too. So, I wonder why I bought these. Still, I hope to play some games and listen to any song. May be, I will get some of my interest back. Things have been going mechanical these days, and I hope for some twist to happen.

TeNy

A Few Weird Wishes

I have had many wishes during my life-time, even though I have not retained many of them right now, not because they have happened, but because the chances are only becoming less as I become older; as I get older, I only become weaker. I haven’t been completely against miracles in my life, but when nothing really happens you have to cease believing in positive things – miracles is just one of them, and goodness can follow the route to extinction as there is a lot of time left for the world to end. At the same time, there will be wishes.

To see the world while falling down from the sky: I have been to a number of very tall towers, and even when I was standing at the top of those tall church towers here, I used to wonder about this. The view was very good from the top. What would happen if I jump from there, and how the image will be during my fall. I have only felt that during the first person shooter games which had quite a lot of buildings, and may be this real fall will help to have a more realistic view of the same.

To go to sleep and never wake up: This still remains one of my wishes. With life having no real point, this might be the right time to have this wish. I thought about this yesterday, day before yesterday, and the day before, but nothing reall worked. Well, the nights never end, and so lets see what can happen on the days to come. After all, what happens more than the rest of things in my life is sleep. Can I at least go the other dimension like in the Insidious movies? That should also be fair.

To be adopted by aliens: When we are denied too much by the humanity, we have to look for the next species not belonging to this planet. With the basic human nature returning to evil with ease, we have to depend on the others for hope. The undead should be the first option, but as too many humans are in this planet who outnumber the undead, we have to look for the best option, which will be on another planet. So, I have been looking for a spaceship to appear for quite a long time.

To die and return from the dead: Being dead and back; I have always thought about it as a lot of fun. The other world might be something which can provide a lot of valuable experience to make us succeed in life. After all, they should have met a lot of interesting dead people who have passed or still remain in that world. We will just have to make sure that the return is made before our bodies are buried or cremated – otherwise, we will be caught in that world forever with no existence left here.

To find a city underwater: I had special love for the underwater cities, a lot more than the cities built in the air, underground or on other planets. No, not under the smaller water bodies, but under the oceans rather than anywhere else, because the chance of being taken over by the saline water is more. The wish developed early, but got further strength after playing the game Bioshock, which had an underwater city of Rapture with enough horror to bring the enjoyment – the graphics remained so good too.

To have a detailed discussion with death: I have kept this on my wishlist for quite some time, and it still remains there. I have been interested with this since I read Emily Dickinson poetry for the first time. The interest had also developed earlier with Pappan Priyappetta Pappan, a Malayalam movie which features Yama and was the first movie of the famous Siddique-Lal team. Death is not the kind of person who has many friends, and so, I think that there will be no problem in having a discussion.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me only.

TeNy

300th Post Nihilism

This is my 300th post. The Tea Cerebration(s) has completed 300 posts in 394 days, after its beginning in July 2014. My last 200 posts were done in 194 days. I have done the last 100 posts in 95 days and the last 50 in 46. I did post a minimum of one post on every day. By doing these, I have once again proved that I have no other job. May be I should have another job, but unfortunately, I have none. In the next two hundred days, I will reach the 500 posts marks, if life keeps going this way. Well, there is not really any point about life.

I keep wondering where do I reach with my blogs. Sometimes I think why I should write here. It keeps going on and on, and nothing really happens that would bring a clear change to my life. Each and every day, I write about something or the other, and then I post it, and then nothing else happens. I just go to sleep, and then I wake up and I write. It seems to me more like a loop which goes on eternally. Well, people do many things which seem to be constructive and good for their future. I wonder where does blogging stand.

Doing good with blogging has very less effect on my daily life. I remain the random jobless, useless person as I have always been. The India Today Conclave Win came up as a small relief, but the situation still remains the same. Sometimes, I feel that the particular post came from a part of my brain which I know very less about. The fifth month has arrived after that positive thing, and I am sure that most people have forgotten about that. My life remains empty and I believe that worst things are waiting to happen without giving any slight chance of an escape.

Sometimes, I think whether it does anything which counts at all? 300 posts here and 200 posts at Movies of Soul later, with the extra on other two blogs making more than a 100, thus making it above 600 posts in total, I still remain the person I used to be when someone looks at me. Is it doing good or bad for me? I wonder how it will define my future. Can something really positive come out of this or will this go as how I wasted my life? Will it even make sense to most of the people, the majority of the world?

I have never thought that I would ever reach the number three hundred in my life time. I was completely out of ideas when I started my blogs. Now I do have more ideas, but not sure if it is really a positive thing. I have been just writing and writing without caring about anything else. But I have still reached nowhere even after trying regularly. I am still stuck at the abyss from which only depths call, and not a soul to return to the surface.

I wonder if many of you have read my previous post, Time Machine’s Child, which has been a reflection of my world. It has been recently selected as a WOW post at BlogAdda, and I have been wondering about the same situation. Is the search for a better timeline, or a deviation into a better reality just an illusion? Is there light at the end of the tunnel or is it just a fake belief just to make us explore more of a tunnel which is infinite, and ends for each person only with death?

Will the search for a better alternative end up in the worst situation? Or is that alternative waiting for us after death? Isn’t it easier to have trust in after-life than the present one? There is no justice in this world, and shouldn’t that make the idea of after-life more exciting than the present one? May be if death is the entrance to that better life as religions talk about it, embracing it before being a bigger sinner to ruin it is the better option, right? And if there is no after-life at all, still isn’t it better to finish it off now than later?

***The images used in blog post were taken on my Sony Cybershot Camera.

TeNy

Quote Challenge 2: Tennyson

“We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
― Ulysses (Lord Tennyson)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson – that name itself had a lot to do with my life. I was often asked about by name by my English teachers, and they have always loved my name while I was in school. I never really realized that it would mean that I could be doing a degree and also the post-graduation in English Language and Literature, but yes, even though late, I did realize what I was supposed to do. Even then the name helped; having the same name as the greatest poet of an era and the longest reigning Poet Laureate has its advantages.

To add to it, I do love his works, and my favourite among them is Ulysses which I studied more than once, and read so many times – then there is this quote “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. Well, it is a nice quote, but among those which I want to talk about and wish to relate with life includes most of the lines in Ulysses rather than anything else. Among them, the one I have mentioned here has a lot more significance, at least for this period of my life.

The quote is about something that we all face, about not being good as we used to be. I have always thought about the same. I am sure that as of now, I am able to write better and with more variety than I used to, just an year ago. I am able to write about things that I never thought I would write about. Two years ago, when I began my other blog with the pen name, The Vampire Bat, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Why The Vampire Bat? I had no idea. But then things got better. I never knew I could bring anything new to my writing style.

But there are things with which I am not getting any better. They include most of the things which are not related to writing. I know that I won’t have the stamina to play more than one singles game in Badminton if I give it a try after such a long time. I know that I might not be able to bowl two consecutive deliveries without sending one for a wide. I also know that I might not have the energy to withstand one single football game any more. I am not that good, and I am not of that strength as I was when I was doing by degree.

I know that I don’t understand things that well as I used to, and I feel that I won’t be able to memorize things that well. I keep having that feeling that I have done with reading, studying and all; and even when writing about a movie, I feel that I might not be able to do justice. When I understand that almost everyone that I know from my college got a job and a good number of them are married, I do feel that I am trailing, and when I get to do one of these things, I won’t be as good as they are now, because I will be tired and older.

I am always reminded of the same, by one person or the other, being the oldest person without a job, and about the rating in the marriage-alliance market going down as I get older. The strength of that old days – we all miss them, and I miss my friends from those wonderful days too. I also feel made weak by time and fate, but I hope to do well, and overcome the weaknesses that have come upon me. I am surrounded by two things, immortality of one world which I love and the mortality of the other which I have to embrace.

I cannot take a step backward, not at this period of time. May be we can dig through the dead end. There are people who want me to, and events which are fair enough to make that call for me. Inspired by my favourite single line of all-time, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”, I still leave myself with some hope for miracles, and at the same time keep doing what I hope that I can do well till the end end of time. In the name of the great poet with whom I shares my name, it might really be depressing for his soul if I gave up. Ulysses had a sea, and I have an ocean. But I am still younger. The last times were used to inspire athletes for London Olympics 2012, so why can’t it continue to do so for me?

***The images used in this blog post are from the game Age of Empires III which I used to play.

I have been nominated by Kiran, at https://drkiranacharya.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/day-three-quote-challenge, for the three day quote challenge. Thanks for the tag 🙂

Rules for the challenge:

• Post one of your favourite quotes (different quote on each day) on three days. The quote can be from your favourite book, author, or your own.
• Nominate three bloggers to challenge them.
• Thank the blogger, who nominated you.

For my day two, I nominate my blogger friends:

Ranjini (http://rangelz.wordpress.com)

Tara (http://crimsonapril.com)

Archana (http://drishti.co)

TeNy

Religion and Love

There might be a lot of people who have achieved more, and a good number of them got the potential to reach the summit of greatness like nobody else – it is the quality of the list of people related to #WillOfSteel by JSW that makes us feel proud of our fellow countrymen at the first look. But then there is the realization about what we really want. Above all, what comes to the mind is more about what the nation needs than anything else. It is not people who make a lot of money or those who become famous for being good at a random thing – it is more.

Each and everyday that we spend on Facebook or the internet as a whole has become more of a curse, and it continues like there is no end. There are more hate messages than there is the true essence of any religion. Everyone has their own idea of bringing hatred, and they go on with the same. People hate all who spread the message of love just because they are of another religion, and we know how the venom spreads when some people opens their mouth.

Therefore, Krishnadas becomes the man whom the nation really needs and should inspire a lot more with the message “Follow your religion, love everybody”. He has spread the message for years as he stands at the centre of the busy street holding the placard having the message; also leaving something for the people who visit the beach. With a few declarations which have been made in the recent days, I would expect the intolerance to rise to a new level and people are going to be doubtful about the other religions. Some worship centres are going to be closed to others due to fear of mob violence, and some devotees are going to avoid certain places of worship due to fear of the same. This is where people like him can do wonders.

When we wander through the dark realms of the internet, we see those high achievers and those men with lots of money, education and fame that make ridiculous speeches spreading hatred against other religions. Then we have this man who spreads love in the name of all religions to everyone alike. If your religion is not love and kindness, but hatred for other religions, you need to rethink in the name of any God which you follow – is this what your God has taught you? If hatred comes free with some people, you have to wonder what kind of devotees they are.

Some people bring the past to hate other religions, but if you do repeat what has been happening in the past in present modern age, it only gets worse in your case. It doesn’t get any better, and extremism in the modern world of globalization is plain stupid, no matter how much you can fool people. The world has changed, and it is time for people to stop going through the Dark Ages again. Yes, some people need to be reminded of love very often and may be we can have this written everywhere! This is actually with a potential for the end of religious terrorism that we have here!

What we need are people like him, not politicians who divide us in the name of religion, caste and many other things. We need educated people who understand the true meaning of religions, and spread the message of love. We don’t need the religious leaders who spend their time talking about how bad the other religions are, and we don’t need those who care about others only after looking at what has been filled in the “religion” column. Yes, love people regardless of their religion – why is it so difficult these days?

Well, all we see on the road these days are religious processions and political protesters on the roads, but it is so difficult to spread love. May this man’s #WillOfSteel be inspiration to many, and work as a device for not hating other religions just because some of those so called “leaders” say so. If anyone comes close to being a true sage these days, it is him. We need someone like him everywhere as we always see the loss of respect towards other cultures and religions. People need to know that being Indian is beyond religions. This man is more than just a sign, because his sign is the new hope. He has #WillOfSteel.

I’m voting for Krishnadas’ #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help him get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.

***The image used in this blog post is from the BlogAdda page related to the same.

TeNy

Tea for Inspiration

It has always been about the tea. Throughout my life, I have believed in the power of tea which has worked like the elixir of life for more than one occasion. Even this blog itself is carved out of the same stone of belief. We have heard it more related to our Prime Minister than anybody else. The drink which is known to mortals as tea, has changed too many lives. It has had a very significant role in my life, and there has been so much of tea each and every day.

This brings us back to the man whom this post is all about, Vijayan – he has had more travel experience than any of us by selling tea at Kochi. He has witnessed more variety in those landscapes and has set foot in more nations than I might ever manage to visit. The first time I heard about the journeys of him and his wife, I wondered if I can ever come close to those journeys in my entire life. The story of the man also gets a mention in the Malayalam movie How Old Are You.

So, here is the man who sells tea, but is just that elixir of life that he is providing? He is giving us hope, and a direct transfer for the realization that we have to go chase our dreams no matter how much limitations are there around us. It is not the limitations which define us, but how we manage to overcome them and chase our dreams, and it is a message well provided. It is the man’s spirit that we can take home; not for today or tomorrow, but forever.

Sometimes, it is all about seizing the moment and not worrying about what can happen in the future or what all factors can become the big villains in a later stage of our lives. It was never meant to be about being better than the rest each and every day, or about making the most money – it has always been about following your heart and doing what you think will be the bliss, and this man has done just that. There is no room for denial here.

People might stop travelling at an age which gets close to the seventies, but not this man for sure. There is no age for dreams; they can just fly as long as those wings are not cut off. The problem about being a dreamer in one’s own way is that people will come up with all wrong ideas about the person. They want to dream about all luxuries, but the true dreams are personal and not defined by the society. Our dreams should be ours alone, and it is to be no territory for others to do some random inception.

It might never be too late for us, and never should we be pulled back by the limitations. There is only one life and it belongs to us – as Lord Alfred Tennyson says in “Ulysses”:
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

There is something about #WillOfSteel. Sometimes, a few people are just credited with the same because it seems to be so for a certain number of people from a distance. But I would vote for Vijayan on any day. It is not because of any other reason, but for his will to go through a path which would be considered impossible by any average person at this part of the world. He decided to make the decision, and it was to make the right choice, worrying not of the limitations or any possible problem in future.

I’m voting for Vijayan’s #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help him get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.

***The image used in this blog post is from the BlogAdda page related to the same.

TeNy

Being Alone in the Dark

Vampire Bat and Vampire Owl awaited the return of Uncle Dracula after his meeting with his daughter who was having certain problems related to faith, belief and courage. The rest of the vampire team were playing football, and Vampire Owl was eating more and more potato chips, but Vampire Bat was really worried. Vampire Hamster was sitting idle though, as he had forgotten why he was there. The scene inside was actually of another level.

Dracula: No, Mavis. You don’t need to be afraid. I am here, and all your uncles are outside. You are the daughter of the greatest and the most feared vampire to be born or rather re-born on the surface of Earth.

Mavis Dracula: But I am really afraid of the dark, daddy.

Dracula: Let me make one thing clear, dear Mavis. You can be afraid of many things because it is quite natural, and darkness is not one of them. I don’t really get the point why you ever had to be afraid.

Mavis: Actually, I read this newspaper, and there was a night which had a terrifying incident at this capital city…

Dracula: What? How many times do I have to tell you not to read these bloody newspapers published by humans? They are full of the stupid or evil deeds that they do to harm themselves or their fellow creatures. We don’t need to learn from these people who have absolutely no mutual respect. I used to read these regularly and one day, I had a heart attack due to the overdose of human terror. Then I realized that this doesn’t really matter as I was already dead and everything became “vampire normal” again. Do you know that there are terrorists who ask for one’s religion before shooting people? It is really a new low. Did those terrorists from Somalia shoot people at night in the darkness? Do humans need to wait for darkness to fire missiles or throw bombs at others? Then, even at this age, people are afraid of darkness? What did darkness ever do to them? They have actually done all the injustice to darkness by declaring it scary and evil.

Mavis: But I have heard about bad things on darkness. I can only switch off the lights as long as you are with me. When you are not here, I sleep with the lights on. Sorry about the electricity bill, but can’t help it.

Dracula: Let me tell you something. Darkness has always existed with light coming much later, and before inventing fire, do you think people had the chance to see beyond the darkness at night? You are also going to have a better night vision soon; you are only growing up.

Mavis: I have known that bad things happen to good people at night. It is what the humans say. They talk about getting home early before the night becomes too young. I guess that night is the worst when it is at the youth stage. There might be human monsters waiting to catch us. They shall search and hunt us and say that we shouldn’t have been walking around at night.

Dracula: Walking around at night, is what we do. It is your right as much as of any human. This fear of darkness comes from a time when there was not enough light available. But we have unlimited options these days. The real darkness is in the mind of the people, and the absence of light is actually a phenomenon of the soul.

Mavis: But it is real bad at night. Darkness is like their big friend, and it supports all their evil deeds.

Dracula: That is a misconception. No, darkness is not an entity itself. There is a limit to the darkness and its shadows in our city, as it has enough lights to prevent darkness from completely taking over. It is your right to go out at night and the darkness that it provides. You don’t need anybody’s favour to walk out there in full or partial darkness. Don’t let what the others say get to you, especially those humans. They are like the worst creatures on the surface of planet Earth, or rather they have transformed into the same.

Mavis: There are shadows out there, and they won’t hunt me? What if they come after me right when I go out?

Dracula: They are the shadows of humans. Let me tell you one thing; there is evil everywhere, but to change that, some of you have to become the force. And my dear Mavis, you are more powerful than you can imagine. Have you even seen your fangs and claws? They are almost as good as mine. Do you know how fast you are, and how powerful your body is? You are better than them all, and soon, there will be no limit to your abilities. You are like the fire and the wind, all powerful. You don’t need to worry about the monsters out in the dark, but be careful about the monsters within yourself and those monsters who wear the mask of friends.

Mavis [to herself]: I am afraid of the dark, but that doesn’t define me. I have the right to go out at night with all its darkness if there is the need, and there is no bloody human with a ridiculous set of ideology who can dare to stop me.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of Hotel Transylvania.

TeNy

Joy of Being Together

There are many forms of happiness in one’s life, as they become the other side of that coin which has sadness on one side. One of them is that bliss of being together with your loved ones – friends, relatives, and all those who find a nice place in your heart. The need for people in our life is a certainty, and we need some good support to remain motivated through the dark times – after all, life is not a soft bed of flowers on which you can just lie down and enjoy.

This brings me back to a memory from some time ago. We had shifted to our old home again, and it was a return to the past. But there were still not many friends around there, and couldn’t find most of my childhood friends there, as most of them were having jobs somewhere else, and a few others couldn’t be contacted at all. I was lonely there and the scope was there to be eternally alone unless there was a nice twist to come.

Then one day, I had a Facebook message from an old friend of mine who stay near my present home to which we have returned after a gap of around fifteen years. We had studied together for the tution classes, and it was good to hear from him. He was getting married and told me that he will be coming to visit me. I told him to come whenever he wanted because I wasn’t much hopeful about it – this had happened before with nobody really coming and I was pessimistic.

But that was not the case this time. As I was going through my normal pessimistic model, he came to my home on the very next holiday. We talked about a lot of things, like how he was going through the difficult times in his life, especially with facing people without a job, and it was easy to relate for me because it was the same on this side too. Society wants all of us to get a job, then get married and afterwards, bring kids to this world.

He told me that it will pass, like in his case, as it has only gotten better for him. He had been going through the same phase as I was, without a job and writing for entrance for his post graduation. There might have been times when his case was worse, as I always had some other things to do. He was like for this all the time, but never really achieved the good results for a very long time. He struggled real hard, and I have been the lazy one with my studies, even with my good scores.

He told me that there is always the right time for the right thing, as it happened with him. After his marriage, he was going to go for the Doctor of Medicine, and his wife was also going to pursue the same. He made it clear that things did finally came right for him, and what you have to do was to keep trying. There was never going to be a substitute for hardwork, and he was another example for the same.

So, we had porotta and paneer butter masala at the nearby restaurant, talking a bit more about it, finishing the small meeting with a cup of tea each. It was a fine day which proved with ease that being #together is very important, and we all need our friends in our life. This was that little nudge that I needed to get back on track, and just like Housing.com, lets believe in the power of optimism which can be attained in one way or the other. Check this link for more details about Housing.com and how they can be helpful: https://housing.com/

***The images used in this blog are those of St George Basilica, Angamaly – another symbol of optimism for me. These two photos were taken by me on my Sony Cybershot DSC-W310 #together.

TeNy

A Big Change to Life

There is always the need for a bold step which ends up changing our lives for the good or the bad. It is often powered by fate or by ourselves. Almost everyone should have such an incident which changes one’s life in such a big way that the later years become defined by that moment. For a good, well-thought decision, the decision can rarely be negative, and it can do wonders to our lives. Here is a story of my life that I share here: #StartANewLife.

It happened when I was submitting the application for MA English at Union Christian College, Aluva. Almost everyone I know told me that it was impossible to get an admission at that college for someone like me with very less number of seats left after all the reservation procedure and the quota ends. It was like making an effort which was not going to bear any fruit. It was going to be a useless procedure to apply directly through the website.

The other option was provided by the same people. It was to look for the management seat as the only right and possible option in their eyes. People said that it is near impossible, but I had hope, with the feeling that I can get admission by myself. I haven’t had much of an opinion about myself at that time and neither did most of the people around me. I thought that may be this could be a first, to change that opinion, because the change had to start somewhere.

I was provided many options with possible recommendations by many people. But I decided to move on with the direct path, the Centralized Allotment Procedure. I hoped that I could move out of those large number of tags by joining the course in this particular college by merit. UC College still remains one of the most prestigious and the most well-known colleges in Kerala, and it was also close to my home.

Then, on that day when I felt more respect to Mahathma Gandhi University that any other day, there was the trial allotment displayed, and with the choice of course and college given, I understood that there was a big chance of getting admission in any of the colleges in my district, as for admission to MA English, the score for the English languages was added extra along with the total score. UC College was there for me join.

That was a twist, and it happened after I took the decision to go for the direct admission rather than just the management seat. Yes, there were discussions, and there was the idea that a regular seat was impossible, but I stuck to the usual procedure and tried directly despite people telling me not to. Most of the people didn’t believe that I actually got the admission on merit, for some time.

With the successful admission on merit, I was able to leave my past behind. I understood that I was good enough, and my decision to choose English over the other subjects was working well. I had a very good time at the college, managed to win inter-college competitions, scored well for seminars, did assignments nicely and finished with good marks in the final exams. This could still have happened even if I had joined in the management quota, but not with this much confidence and smoothness, that is for sure. All of these were made possible because I could take the step to choose direct entry, and I am glad that it happened in the best way.

Housing.com also loves changes, a good change, moving forward: https://housing.com/

***The image used in this blog post is from Housing.com home page. You have just read about my memory on the idea – #StartANewLife.

TeNy

A Season of Beginning

Throughout my life, I have searched for spring or even autumn and found summer, the kind that has been the cruelest of them all, with no hope for rejuvenation. Even now, the heat surely takes over, and this year is one of the hottest of them all, and my aim has been to eat three ice creams every day, but still not helping me that much. This temperature runs parallel to the heat that I have to face in life with a black hole of emptiness which keeps pulling me towards it.

The amount of heat has kept me without a desire to go out during day time, but then something happened; it is more of the discovery of a spring that could be eternal, without being bothered much by the other seasons. I had remained clueless, even as the decisions were ready to be made – I even had a problem about going out of summer, because I was never used to the spring. The closest to the spring that I ever reached was with the green trees of Union Christian College.

I have been trying to restrict the summer with a few movies, as I had gone to watch another one, a Malayalam movie called Saaradhi to another town, adding to the list of the places where I have watched a movie. After watching the flick, I wandered around the city aimlessly, looking for a place to have another tea. Then, my eyes stuck at an advertisement about a PSC coaching centre and I noted down the number.

I had given this a lot of thought that a little coaching can only do good, but couldn’t find the right place with the best timing. But when I had a cup of tea and made a call to the number, I could find the most appropriate timing at this place, for the early morning batch. It was not like magic was going to happen, but a new beginning was needed – just like the spring.

I decided to work hard for the PSC exams, going for a coaching in the early morning, just some distance from home, inspiring a journey of about twenty one kilometres. A coaching in the early morning was the best option, as it was sure to bring the freshness of the spring and there is cool climate which gives a boost, not like the winter cold, but with a certain lowering of temperature that gives a nice feeling.

I personally feel that the mornings are the best time to study, and it brings out the spring inside you to make the brain work better. I have always chosen to wake up early in the case of examinations, and it has mostly worked for me, unless I never really had any sleep due to the pressure and ended up with less sense in the examination hall.

I hope this also works for me, and helps me better with the future tests. I have been caught with a deep struggle with Mathematics for a long time, and I can surely feel the loss of many other things which I had learnt at school level. I can feel time running about, and I do feel worried that if there is no lasting spring this time, there might be no other. I need the season of rejuvenation in a world that has had so much less of spring.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

***The first image was taken on my Sony Cybershot DSC W-310.

TeNy

What Remains of Christmas

*I would like to begin this post with a statutory warning which has been issued by Uncle Dracula in association with the whole vampire community and a message from Simona the Lionhearted. She asks everyone to wear your helmets during this Christmas, and not to drink too much that you might end up forgetting your helmet, as it is not too different from forgetting the significance of your head. Simona loves her helmet and prefers to save herself inside it, a lesson for all the humans to learn. Use your helmet, no matter what 😀

Simona likes helmets and chooses to save herself from those possible injuries. Do you? 😀

Now, what can I say about Christmas? I doubt its existence as the big thing that it used to be. It still exists for me because it needs to. There is the loss of power of celebration that I associate with a number of festivals, and I can do the same with Christmas. I haven’t really seen a Christmas carol for ages. But no, this is not a festival that you can let go that easily. Unlike the others, this one keeps coming back, and the best reason for the same may be the time of the festival. May be there should have been full power snow here – that should have worked a lot better.

Christmas has had its charms during the childhood days. There was Santa Claus, and there was hope; even as nobody really gave me the presents; none of those self-proclaimed loving uncles or aunties – not even the big cousin-brothers, when I have seen my dad giving to the relatives, and a lot of my friends receiving from their uncles. Nobody even gave me five rupees to buy black tea. But I still believed at that time, because others did receive, and I thought Santa Claus might give something to me directly.

Every year of not receiving anything, the level of that hope comes down. Now, we are left with the absence of Santa Claus as well as that hope. As it is said in the end of the movie, The Polar Express, “At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe”.

The Christmas Crib there – prepared it again after more than fifteen years for no reason.

We were all dreamers, but when we grow up and choose not to believe – I live in my doubts, created from the chaos that is in my mind. I have been that close to disbelief that I could never believe in anything anymore. Christmas had its magic, but it seems to be disappearing, just like all the traditions and those celebrations that we had. Who wants magic in the world of science, right? Who wants tradition when without it one can be free evil and do anything and everything? Then there are the saviours of traditions who rarely makes sense. There will always be non-believers who choose religion for material benefits.

We are left with people who celebrate the festivals for showing off, or for some random personal benefit. Everyone wishes to show the money power and the Merry Christmas is no longer merry. The only thing that comes with a certainty is its reverse, Remy Martin – people take this as another occasion to drink along with the hundreds that they have ever year, and it passes. Santa Claus gets stuck in the chimney with his reindeer sent to the slaughterhouse and nobody will care – thank God that Mahabali comes from the underworld; he only have to save himself from the pot-holes taking him back to his abode. We have gone on to become a selfish group of people, and every festival has gone on to reflect the same.

The star for Christmas – put it once again after a long time just because I could.

We have reduced faith in God and it has reflected in our love and care for people. The hatred that we see everyday is just too high. Some people think that it can be solved by converting people into one religion. They are as responsible for this as much as those without faith. We are being thrown into a world of mutual hatred, and it is getting only worse. Whatever happens, the fact remains that we are influenced by more than one religion in our life time, and we don’t belong to just one. Why would Santa want to come and receive the news about Peshawar? Why isn’t there the chance for every child to celebrate Christmas and get the presents? Isn’t there at least a chance for them to live?

We need all the customs and traditions, and we need each and every world religion with all those good things that they teach. The world needs all its beliefs because humanity was shaped by them. We need people to explore each of them, and understand the basic message of love. Lets do something good on this Christmas, and not publish it on Facebook. That would be a good idea. It will bring back a part of the magic of Christmas; lets give it to someone else who is in need. Lets do it irrespective of religion, and let no one take away our right to be good to people, not considering their backgrounds.

I shall keep my doubts, but all of you have a wonderful Christmas nevertheless 🙂

The decorations for the crib are from
I. Trinity Supermarket, Keezhilam
II. Pittappillil Stores, Kuruppampady
*Just mentioning because they proved effective and substantial in making the crib, something I did after a break of fifteen years or so.

TeNy

Strongest of Memories

This is something that I thought I should share on another day which would be considered more as the day of bigger relevance, but I don’t see any reason why I should delay this. To be frank, I think that I should have posted this one a long time ago. The one below is a poem which I had written on the demise of Jean Mathew, one of the earliest elderly brother figures I ever had; and to think more about it, I can’t remember any other. We had lost him to brain tumour on the third of March 2013.

He should be the most hardworking person I have ever known. Even at the worst of times, he was known for his faith, belief and hope, with a courage to face whatever comes next. He was active at http://jeanmathew.blogspot.in/ and http://photoshealingwords.blogspot.in/ during the toughest of times. The poem below has been shared before in his memories collected in a book form, but never online, and so I thought I would share this here too. This is no In Memoriam, Thyrsis, Adonais or Lycidas, but just what I could come up with at that time. May be I can come up with something better on another day.

The memories go back to the 1990s
It was to Malampuzha that our first big trip
Happened like never before, with bliss
And I stood there with Jean chettan in front of
A structure which was India’s map in grass
And there was our first photo taken together.

One of our earliest photos, scanned from the old collection of memories.

And just in a few years, during that sojourn
At Palai, among the first few computer games
Which I ever knew, one of them named Paperboy
Along with some random Tetris and Racing stuff
And then at Vagamon, still one of our best photos
With the wind, Jean chettan and myself.

And that is not everything about photos though
As he captured the best moments of the world
Freezing time and space for us all to behold
And each snap by Jean chettan brought thoughts
With Bible verses gracefully attached to them
Those lambent snaps added further sunshine.

Cropped from his photo collections with inspirational Bible Versions.

I still remember how much of hardwork
Jean chettan put into everything he did
And whenever I see any photo of those
Which were fallen autumn leaves or that
Which fell from the sky as pure white snow
I feel the radiance of what he captured.

Even as I shall never be able to show the same
Undisputed courage and strength in adversity
Or be that much hardworking as Jean chettan ever
His self-evident faith and optimism has done
A lot and has given strength to more than one soul
And left me further vivified in my own beliefs.

TeNy

Past, Present and Health

We all have memories of our childhood, but mine actually started much later, but among those days which are part of the big memory train, are those early days of school and what followed the same. I was considered as a child for a pretty long time, and therefore I haven’t really kept the exact border for the moment which I ceased being a child, and that should indeed be debatable. All the pictures that I share below are scanned from my old photographs.

Among the things that I can remember from those days include a number of calcium tablets, and a few tablets for immunity, but there was always Dabur Chyawanprash which took the centre stage on a lot of occasions. I used to run away from anything which was said to be good for health, but this one did have an interesting taste at that time, even though I did ask for one chocolate after having the same just because it had become a routine for me.

I was pretty good at smiling those days 😀

The need for some extra immunity rises from the fact that these days, there is rarely the time for children at the hands of parents who both would be working, quite in contrast to that idea of having the mother always being present for the child. Yes, things have changed radically, and the need to improve the child’s immunity and protect him or her from illness now has more requirements, and parents might not be able to do the same.

This is where something like Dabur Chyawanprash would come into the picture. It has also happened in my case, and I didn’t have that much of a healthy childhood. Born to working parents, and with a father who is always working at one or the other corner of the nation, not really there when you needed him the most, and the mother struggling to handle two pesky kids (I was still the less mischievous one, even as irritating enough), it was never going to be easy to get the right nutrients to the kids.

Maintaining one’s health is extremely important, and there is no need for any text book to talk about the same. When a child gets sick, it destroys the flow of daily life and the problem takes over the whole household. The children can always be asked not to go outside to play or venture out when the climate could get bad, but the question is about why can’t there be the thought about increasing the child’s immunity rather than stopping him or her from enjoying life before getting stuck with a boring life that is to follow?

Still, one of the more dangerous kids around, of course 😀

Here comes Dabur Chyawanprash again with its offer of a better immunity. There is no time for the parents to see what all the children eat and drink, and they often let them have food from outside – but how can one be sure about what they are provided with in the canteens and restaurants with their friends or relatives? Even yesterday, there existed the news about a number of restaurants given notice for supplying old food – and most of the times, these people are repeat violators and we don’t even realize that. There is nothing that we can do about that.

Despite our hope for an immune India, the world around us won’t get any better, and the choices we would have can only get worse. Due to the same, it is only a very good option to choose something like Dabur Chyawanprash. After all, what we want is the best for the kids, and what is better than giving them protection, that supply of immunity which they need, and what parents have the duty to provide them? Let’s hope for the better days and healthier children on this wonderful festival of lights, and keep the faith alive.

*This post is specifically written for the Indi Happy Hours campaign, A HEALTHY CHILD MAKES A HAPPY HOME! Thanks to Dabur India and IndiBlogger for the opportunity. For more details, please visit the link below:
https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/

TeNy

The Virus of Cynicism

It is indeed a universe of chaos, where there are more doubts and uncertainties than the world has ever dreamt of. We live in a world which seems to be governed by the Lord of the Flies and not by any ring, magic wand or a talking lion. In the human world which is intrinsically bad and inherently evil, there is still goodness, and even as I am surprised that there is at least a little bit of the same, there is such an existence, and a more significant thing is that a lot of people believe in the same.

There have been certain incidents which have lead me to feel that may be people can actually trust each other in this world. It is not that people are regularly breaking my trust – I am a cynic, because I have seen so many people going through the selfish path; yes, we all might choose such a road at some point of time, but when we see that so often and as the only path that some people travel through with no chance of even one wrong turn that makes them differ, cynicism takes over.

The humans are grown in a world of chaos, aren’t they? (Pic from The Matrix official FB page)

There are a few occasions when I wondered how people can afford to trust others so much in a world where people are judged by their money and achievements. The first one was when a random person who didn’t know Malayalam, English or Hindi trusted me to lead him to the bus station and into the right bus. I traveled with him and made sure that he was going towards the right destination. Sticking to my cynical self, I would have never even thought about asking a stranger, and might go around asking at least three people before getting into a bus, plus I would ask and confirm if he or she is hundred percent sure about it.

The second one was when a random elderly person asked me for help to withdraw his money from an ATM machine. But in my case, I wouldn’t trust any person to be even near me when I am using it. I keep checking my surroundings if there is some possible thief waiting somewhere, and if I can’t withdraw the money, I would just drop all the plans. So, as soon as his job seemed to be done, I rushed out of there without waiting for a thank you, because I was a cynic and will never approve his idea as to trusting the stranger. I was actually afraid that someone else might not do it rightly for him.

Then there is the case of people borrowing books from me, and it is not that much of a different case, as there are people who haven’t given them back to me and hence the case justified. So, when I give them books, nowadays I believe that I won’t get them back, and so if they return them, it is just a bonus. There is no difference in the case of CDs and DVDs. I have wondered which is that point where there comes the part from where we can begin trusting people. Yes, I do trust my good friends, but that trust doesn’t come from nowhere, but rises from situations and after a lot of time.

Only if controlling the idea could be done through dreams (Photo from The Inception FB page)

The same has been the case with me since childhood; when I was a kid studying in around the fourth standard, I gave a friend a video game, and when it was asked back, his mother asked “Why did you give it to him? It is why this has happened”. There marks the beginning of my cynicism. I have still trusted too many people unconditionally in my life, but more incidents have lead to the spreading of this idea about trust like a virus, and it has been growing inside me, not allowing me to trust people in general. I don’t believe that people have good intentions in general, and that idea is something which had a slow growth inside me.

But it has helped me to be more careful and not to expect much from people. If a break of trust happens, I will always be ready for it, and there will be no complaints from my side, and that much I can be sure about. I don’t have much hope or expectations, but I am more than just willing to do my job with sincerity while keeping my expectations low. We should do what we have to, and bad things will happen, but lets go on with what we do. We just can’t make people trustworthy, or be good. It is not within our power. It has helped me to try and be more sincere to others, as the world might not be.

TeNy

The Path to Redemption

2009 saw the release of Solomon Kane, telling the tale of the rise of a hero, a protagonist who was different from the rest, and even his motives having a separate cause behind them. It has James Purefoy has the protagonist, a former mercenery seeking redemption. It came up with a great atmosphere, which was not scary, but still haunting, and its use of the elements like plague, demons, sorcery and swordfights without overdoing anything, is worth mentioning. It was one of those movies which came instantly into my favourites list.

Our hero is Solomon Kane, a ruthless man who has massacred innocents in war, and one day, captures a castle in North Africa where his men are taken away by demons from the mirror around, and he comes face to face against the Devil’s Reaper who is there to take his soul to hell for the terrible things he had done. But he rejects the fate that is put in front of him and jumps out into the sea to begin a life in hope for redemption.

You don’t mess with Solomon Kane (Pic from movie’s FB page)

He comes to believe that his hope for salvation will be attained by pacifism. But that would change when he is provided asylum by a family which is later slaughtered, and the young daughter of the family is taken by an evil sorcerer. There comes the alternate path for redemption, and we see that he says “There are many paths to redemption, not all of them peaceful”. From there, he travels a different path, not something that is unknown to him, but something that was there to be taken.

The world itself reflects the state of the protagonist’s mind. There is wasteland all around, with not much hope left for anyone. There is evil running through the world and goodness is rare to find. Demons ravage the world and the angels are nowhere to be found. Well, not that much different from the present world, but in the case of this movie world, it was clearly visible – in this century, even demons can act as angels really well and any possible angel is mistaken as a demon.

The name itself reminds us of two people, and we see the contrast there – the wise king who was Solomon, and the cursed human whom Cain ended up becoming, after slaying his sibling. These two personalities seem to exist in him, and it was only upto him to decide which one he had chosen to become. James Purefoy is a lot like the poor man’s Hugh Jackman, and here he is, like Hugh Jackman in Van Helsing – and that helps. Do look out for the yound Rachel Hurd-Wood as Meredith Crowthorn, the same person who played Sibyl Vane in 2009’s Dorian Gray, another character of innocence.

“If I kill you, I am bound for hell. It is a price I shall gladly pay” – this is what Solomon Kane would eventually come up with. The movie has no clear presence of God or the Devil, as there are only messengers to those beyond Earth. Devil himself chooses to send the Reaper rather than bringing himself or his trusted minions to Solomon Kane. Even the redemption of our protagonist is a story which seems to be never-ending, and only a few sequels can bring it to the finishing line. There is a lot left for humans to accomplish on Earth by themselves, and for the same, we might need help, but not new human gods.

Behold evil in all its glory (Pic from aceshowbiz)

Solomon Kane’s message is to react to the evil rather than let it thrive. It asks to act for the righteous and on the side of goodness rather than checking such things and thus seek redemption for the wrong that has been done. Even for the worst, there is the hope for redemption, even during the worst of times. The movie’s message remains strong as it has a strong protagonist played by a wonderful actor, and the atmosphere of the movie keeps the viewers interested in it. I loved the rain that kept pouring. This is a movie I choose to recommend highly. It deserves to be watched – for Solomon Kane didn’t get a release at this part of the world.

TeNy