Moving on to wordpress

From last month, I have moved all my posts on this blog from blogger to wordpress

https://ceekaywrites.wordpress.com

The Dark Room

The Dark Room    … by Rachel Seiffert

The Dark Room is one of the best novels I have read in the recent times. It is a collection of three stories set in the backdrop of the world war. It portrays the life pre-war and how people took it, hardships of the common people during the war, and how the present generation lives with the fact that holocaust and killings took place in their own land, by their own forefathers of the nation. Guilt engulfs when poring over the dark history and this author captures the complicated emotions in the present generation of people. 

Helmut aspires to join the Army but ends up as a photographer, who loves his skill as photographer. He is devastated by the war and left lonely forever with his photos. I really liked the character of Lore, who dares to take the long walk all the way up north with her siblings just because her mom wants them to, and Lore’s mom meticulous preparation of the kids for their long journey, knowing that she would be taken off from them forever.  Micha life becomes complicated when he wants to pursue the real life of his grandfather

The long walk of Lore was really moving and full of unknowns, and the quest of Micha’s pain was understandable. I felt pandora boxes are best left unopened, for they might cause more harm than good.

calm after storm

As after storm wanes away, the eerie silence that prevails... I felt that on July 5th after the massive re-org that happened in my client place. This news not only shocked me who was new to this, but jolted also those who survived the brutal wave. Of the people whom I interacted with, few were clueless on their next steps, few hid their grief and were exchanging mail-ids excusing themselves that they got time for a vacation. This was purely a finance book decision which was really a bitter pill. 

Back home in my offshore team,  we were discussing in length on how to replace a team-member who was grappling with tasks. He is a nice man and is affable, but given the nature of the project we were not able to fit him in the team puzzle. Finally I was forced to take that harsh step, sending out a minor shock wave. It was well received at my client side though. 

Storms are a part of nature and we got to harden ourselves to the realities. Whatever doesnt kill us, makes us stronger !!!

Back to a classroom

After almost 10 years, I step into a classroom in a university-extension to attend a course on jitter in electronic systems. The difference in me this time is that I am already a practicing engineer who could appreciate electronics and I am self financing my course. I am able to  correlate the discussions to my lab observations and to concepts that I learned (or not learned) from my degree classes.

When I stepped into the room, I met people from various background and was really puzzled by their questions and approach until I was revealed how various pieces fit together and  understood where my roles fit in the whole jitter chain. Once again I felt timid like a lone boat rocking in the sea. The quiz, homework assignments and the final assessment tipped me to take the plunge into deep sea. I am sure to hunt invaluable treasures and return to the boat, but I doubt if I will ever return to the shore. 

Will keep the boat rocking ... on and on, steadily

from the other side of the globe ...

Its been a long time that I blogged something here. Life took its own twists and turns, taking me by its roller-coaster. The vicious arms of dull work, work pressures coupled with newer manipulative dynamics took the gas off me. These years, a crave for change started to set in myself.

All the lobbying within the organization yielded results - I got a promotion which was due for two years and a decent change in work location on the other side of the globe. I'm typing this from a conference room in California watching FIFA world cup match.

I plan to take the major step and plan to blog again- my experiences in a foreign land... as I always had thought and expressed "speaking and writing are my veins, transporting energy from the solid earth to the leaf, the factory of thinking"

Music troupe and wedding receptions -- Inevitably married by society

You are in and around Chennai and a friend invites you for a wedding reception and you accept; entering the place, the first thing you will surely notice is a local music troupe singing hit tracks from kollywood. Whatever be the circumstances your friend is in…be it your friend is in financial crisis out of wedding arrangements or simply he hates spoiling the get-together mood brewing in the wedding reception, music troupe is a must.

Amidst the gossips and get-together hugs everything gets absorbed; even if the world falls apart or the bride and groom decide not to marry… everything… No one has an ear for this troupe except for kids who are generally ignored during such events, elderly people who are usually avoided and introverts who wish to avoid such events but are forced to attend. These are the only people for whom the troupe plays.

My friend’s parents were contemplating on whether to arrange for a music troupe for his wedding reception. His uncle was convincing enough for taking the music troupe off the task-list and helped the hour long discussion to end. Arrangements were on a full swing and invitations were ready in a fortnight. Upon seeing the invitation, many of the invitees called upon. Some of them expressed the need for a music troupe performance; many wanted to know if they had any financial crunch; only very few wished for the wedding and confirmed their presence. Now to keep rumors at bay, a troupe performance was finally arranged in a hurry.

Music performances were a part of the wedding in olden days when the celebration use to take place for more than a day and has no relevance in the present trends. The society we live in thrusts upon such obligations that may be contradictory to our thoughts and way of life yet we have to concede to the fact that we are a part of a larger society.

Wall posters and Chennai

Posters for all seasons and reasons: You can spot them almost everywhere in Chennai. Posters for political events, general wishes for the local politicians, strike announcements, condemning the ruling political party, birthdays, celebrity functions, anniversaries, house vacancies, movie audio release, movie 10th day, movie 25th day, someone going abroad, obituaries, music concerts … the list is endless.

Thanks to the metro-rail construction that’s been happening in the city whose steel barricades are utilized for sticking these posters. Sad part is that the metro-rail contractors employ 2-3 men for removing these posters on a monthly basis. Sticking of posters start once the hustle-bustle of the city roads starts to diminish and goes on past midnight. I often see guys carrying the poster material and a bucketful of glue in a bicycle riding the entire stretch of metro-construction. Huge mammoth sized posters are printed in separates blocks and are stuck in a matrix fashion. I got to know that there is poster creation software used these days for the matrix type huge poster printing.

Wikipedia states that the wall posters have 200 years of history and the modern day posters emerged in 1870’s. Pure textual posters were present during the time of Shakespeare circa (1600). Posters then evolved into an art form as well before they were used for political or commercial propaganda.

Posters are a good medium of propaganda, but how much is the achieved penetration of information in this busy metro-life, with most of the people hooked to their own ear pods, succumbed to their thoughts and their way of thinking?? Is the amount of paper and money that’s being put is worth?

Fake: Notes and people ...

Fake notes. We encounter them every day: be it with local grocer, tea shops, supermarkets, even bank tellers and ATM machines. Finance Intelligence Unit reports a 250% rise in the fake-currency circulation (click article-1) and the Excise department turns to public for support. This is a welcome move from the Indian government. The article quotes that private banks seizes the most fake notes. I presume the private banks are diligent in seizing fake notes compared to the PSU banks which either does not report its seize or does not seize at all. Practically fear grips us in reporting it to the nearest police station or bank.

We tend to check and recheck the higher denomination notes and leave the lower denomination notes unnoticed. Fakes of Rs 5, 10 and 50 and lots of punched metal are circulated engraved with one and two rupee coin designs. These lower denomination notes even fake the watermarks, the silver thread and many other safety aspects incorporated in the currency notes. Even ATM machines and experienced tellers dispense them everyday. Its no good complaining: Click article-2

I blame ourselves: our selfish society rather than the government or the officials, for the latter are we and we are the latter. Faking ourselves, faking notes!

Fraction of moment -- mighty sea

The same beach, the same wavy waters that knocked me down two weeks earlier welcomed me with an unknown affection this time. An affection that rises out of familiarity, an affection that ebbs out of understanding. Waves lashing me knee depth, i stood gazing the eastern sky weeping hues of bluish-orange for the west setting sun. 

My thoughts rolled back two weeks to when Bengal sea at Eliott's beach took me by surprise. Already the water had flooded till below my knee cap that a new wave formed right in front of me knocking me down. A fraction of second before I was standing firm on the sand enjoying the salty gale, a fraction later my fingers were grappling the sea sand to resist the receding wave. I stood up and found that Uma had also fell right next to me and that she had gobbled sea water out of exasperation.

I gathered my thoughts and rolled back into the present hearing to three school girls who were enjoying the caressing sea waves by laughing their guts out. After all nothing is permanent . . .

I am Ck...

I am the steam, wafting from rice bowl
I am the cofee, brewing in the mug,
I am the salad, sauted in olive oil,

I am the feel, in food and in music,

_Ck.,