Sumne heege...

"Skill upgradation" ನ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ;-)

2011-06-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

ಈ Competitive ಪ್ರಪಂಚದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕಂತೆ, ಪರಿಸರಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕಂತೆ Skills update ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರಬೇಕು. ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ ನಾವು ನಿಂತ ನೀರಾಗುತ್ತೇವೆ, ಯಾವುದೋ ಪ್ರವಾಹ ಬಂದು ಹೇಳ ಹೆಸರಿಲ್ಲದಂತೆ ಕೊಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುತ್ತೇವೆ.

ಗೊತ್ತು, ಗೊತ್ತು, ಇಂಥ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು 'ಪ್ರಭಾವಶಾಲಿ' ಕೊರೆತಗಳನ್ನು ನಿಮ್ಮ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜರ್ ಗಳು ನಿಮಗಾಗಲೇ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ, ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾ ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. (ಇಲ್ಲಿ 'ಪ್ರಭಾವಶಾಲಿ' ಎಂದರೆ ಪ್ರಭಾವದ ಅಭಾವ ಇರುವ ಮಾತು ಎಂದರ್ಥ!).

ನಾನಿಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಹೊರಟಿರುವುದು "Skill upgradation" ನ ಅಗತ್ಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಣ್ಣಾರೆ ಕಂಡ ಉದಾಹರಣೆ.

ನಾನು, ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಕಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಸೇಂಟ್ ಜಾನ್ ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಬಳಿ ಕೆಲ ನಿಮಿಷ ನಿಲ್ಲಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಇತ್ತು. ಬಣ್ಣ ಬಣ್ಣದ ಸೀರೆಯುಟ್ಟು, ಸೀಮೆ ಸುಣ್ಣದಂತೆ ಮುಖಕ್ಕೆ ಪೌಡರ್ ಬಳಿದುಕೊಂಡು ನಪುಂಸಕರು ನಿಂತ ವಾಹನಗಳಿಗೆ ಲಗ್ಗೆ ಇಟ್ಟರು. ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾರಿನ ಬಳಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಬಂದು ಕಿಟಕಿ ಗ್ಲಾಸ್ ತಟ್ಟಿದ. ನಾವೇನೂ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಕ್ಕವನು ತನ್ನ ಎರಡೂ ಕೈಗಳ ಬೆರಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಲಟ ಲಟನೆ ಮುರಿದು ಏನೋ ಶಾಪ ಹಾಕಿದ. "ಪರವಾಗಿಲ್ವೆ, ಏನೋ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ blackmailing techniques ಕಲಿತಿದ್ದಾರೆ" ಅಂತ ನಾನು ಅಂದುಕೊಂಡೆ. ಅವನು ಶಾಪ ಹಾಕಿದಾಗಲೂ ನಾವೇನೂ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆ ಹಾಕದಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಆತ ಕಾರಿನ ಮುಂಭಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ನಿಂತ. ಸೊಂಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಒಂದು ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದು ಏನೋ ಮಂತ್ರಿಸುವಂತೆ ನಾಟಕವಾಡಿ, ಮತ್ತೆ ಬೆರಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಲಟ ಲಟನೆ ಮುರಿದು ಏನೋ ಶಾಪ ಹಾಕಿದ. ಭಿಕ್ಷುಕರಲ್ಲೂ ಎಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ competition ಇದೆಯಲ್ಲ, ಭಿಕ್ಷೆ ಗಿಟ್ಟಿಸಲು ಏನೆಲ್ಲಾ ತಂತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತು.

ಇನ್ನುಮೇಲಿಂದ ಕಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗಬೇಕೆಂದು ಯೋಚಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣನ್ನು ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣಿನಿಂದಲೇ ನಿವಾರಿಸಬೇಕು! ಮೂಢ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಂಬಿಕೆಯಿರುವವರು ಖಂಡಿತ ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣಿನ ತಂತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆದರಿ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ!! ನಿಮ್ಮ area ಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಇಂಥವರು ಎದುರಾಗಬಹುದು, ಭಯಪಡಬೇಡಿ.

ನಿಂಬೆ ಹಣ್ಣನ್ನು Tool ತರಹ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ blackmailing techniques ಪ್ರಯೋಗಿಸುವ ನಪುಂಸಕರನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ, IT ಕಂಪನಿಗಳ ಪೈಪೋಟಿ ನೆನಪಾಯಿತು, Resume ತುಂಬಾ skill sets ಪೇರಿಸಿಡಲು ಪರದಾಡುವ software engineers ನೆನಪಾಯಿತು. Hmmm ...ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲೂ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆ.

ಪಂಚಾಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಚೌಚೌ-ಫಲ

2011-06-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

ಜೂನ್ ೧೫, ೨೦೧೧, ರಾತ್ರಿ ೧೧.೫೫ ಕ್ಕೆ ಚಂದ್ರಗ್ರಹಣ scheduled ಆಗಿತ್ತು.

ಬೆಳ್ಳಂಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ, ನಮ್ಮತ್ತೆ ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರು. ರಾಯರ ಮಠದ ಪಂಚಾಂಗದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ, ಈ ಗ್ರಹಣದಿಂದ ಮಕರ ರಾಶಿಯವರಿಗೆ 'ಅಶುಭ-ಫಲ'ವಿದೆಯೆಂದೂ, ಕೆಲವು ಪದಾರ್ಥಗಳನ್ನು ದಾನ ಕೊಡಬೇಕೆಂದೂ, ದೇವರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆಂದೂ ನನಗೆ (ಮಕರಿಗೆ) ಹೇಳಿದರು.

ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಮಯದ ನಂತರ ಅಮ್ಮ ಖುಷಿ ಖುಷಿಯಾಗಿ ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡಿದರು. ಉತ್ತರಾದಿ ಮಠದ ಪಂಚಾಂಗದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಈ ಗ್ರಹಣದಿಂದ ಮಕರ ರಾಶಿಯವರಿಗೆ 'ಶುಭ-ಫಲ' ವಿದೆಯೆಂದೂ ಉದ್ಯೋಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ, ಪ್ರಗತಿ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳ ಸಂಭವನೀಯತೆಯಿದೆಯಂದೂ ಹೇಳಿದರು.

ಪಂಚಾಂಗದ terminologies ಪ್ರಕಾರ, ಗ್ರಹಣದ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಪರಿಣಾಮವನ್ನು "ಶುಭ ಫಲ" ಎಂದೂ, ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಪರಿಣಾಮವನ್ನು "ಅಶುಭ ಫಲ" ಎಂದೂ, ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಮತ್ತು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಪ್ರಭಾವಗಳು ಮಿಶ್ರಿತವಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದನ್ನು "ಮಿಶ್ರ ಫಲ" ಎಂದೂ ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಆದರೆ ವಿವಿಧ ರೀತಿಯ ಪಂಚಾಂಗಗಳು ಮಕರಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಹಾಗೆ conflict ಉಂಟು ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಅದನ್ನು "ಚೌ ಚೌ ಫಲ" ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ನಾನು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ!

ಉತ್ತರ ವದತು

2011-06-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

"ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಭಾರತಿ"ಯ Spoken Sanskrit Classes ಗೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ದಿನಗಳ ಮಾತು. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕಿ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಶಿಬಿರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತಾವು ಎದುರಿಸಿದ ಹಾಸ್ಯ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದರು. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ ಹೀಗಿತ್ತು.

ನಮ್ಮ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಶಾಲಾ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಶಿಬಿರ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದರು. ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಕೇಳಿ, ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗೂ "ಉತ್ತರ ವದತು" ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿ ಹೇಳಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಂದ ಉತ್ತರ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. "ಉತ್ತರ ವದತು" ಎಂದರೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದಲ್ಲಿ "ಉತ್ತರ ಹೇಳು" ಎಂದರ್ಥ. ಹೀಗೇ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಉತ್ತರ ಹೇಳಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಅವರು ಮುಂದಿನ ಪಾಠ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊನೆಯ ಸಾಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದ ಹುಡುಗನೊಬ್ಬ

"ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಮಿಸ್, ನಾನಿನ್ನೂ ವದ್ದಿಲ್ಲ" ಅಂತ ಕೈ ಎತ್ತಿದನಂತೆ!

ತ(ರ)ಲೆ ಬರಹ -1

2011-06-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

"Allah" meherbaan to "gadha" pehelwan...

"Manager" pehelwan to "programmer" gadha...

ಮಾತೃ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಪ್ರಭಾವ

2011-06-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

MTI or Mother tongue influence ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದೆ ಇದೆ. ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುವಾಗ ಆದ ಕೆಲವು ಹಾಸ್ಯಮಯ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪಟ್ಟಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಇಂಥ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ನೀವೂ ಎದುರಿಸಿರುತ್ತೀರ!

ನಾನು: Hey I am going...

ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: Going ಹೋಮಾ?

ನಾನು: Are you attending the training?

ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: Who? me ಯಾ?

ನಾನು: See...this is Ram's BDA site
ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: Oh! It is in the same areaವಾ?

ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: I have done it this way, Okವಾ?

ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: You ಶ್ಯಾರ್ the file ವ್ಯಾರ್ever there is space.

ನಾನು: I am compiling the files

ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿ: You are compiling ಆಲಾ?

ತಲೆಹರಟೆ

2011-06-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

ಮೂವತ್ತು ವರ್ಷದ ಮಗ ಅಡ್ಡ ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದು ತಂದೆ ತಾಯಿಯ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಕಿ ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ನಲ್ಲೀಲಿ ಕಾವೇರಿ ನೀರು ಬರತ್ತೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ ಗಿರಿಜಾ ಆಂಟಿ ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ದಿನಬೆಳಗಾದರೆ ನೀರು. ಗುರುಬಲ ಇಲ್ಲ, ಶಾಂತಿ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದರೆ ದುಡಿಯಲು ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿ ಮಗ ಸರಿ ದಾರಿಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತಾನೆ ಅಂತ ನೆರೆಹೊರೆಯ ಹಿತೈಷಿಗಳ ಉವಾಚ. Latest ಗೋಳು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಆಂಟಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಶಾಂತಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕೂಡಾ ಹೇಳಿದರು. ನಾವು ಸಮಾಧಾನದ ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಕಳಿಸಿದೆವು.

ನಾನಿನ್ನೂ "ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಪಾಪ" ದ ಮೂಡ್ ನಲ್ಲೇ ಇರುವಾಗ ನನ್ನ ಪತಿಯ ತಲೆಹರಟೆ ಉವಾಚ: "ಮೂವತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ವಾಂತಿ ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಂಡ್ ಕರ್ಮಕ್ಕೆ ಈಗ ಶಾಂತಿ ಬೇರೆ ಕೇಳು!".

ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಟೀಚರ್

2011-06-13T03:31:00.000-07:00

ನಾನು ಓದಿದ್ದು ಒಂದು ಸಾಧಾರಣವಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ. ಎಂಟನೆಯ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲಿಟ್ಟೆ. ಒಂದು ತಮಾಷೆ ಕಾದಿತ್ತು. ಆ ವರ್ಷವೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಶಾಲೆಯಿಂದ ಹತ್ತನೆಯ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಸಾಗಿದ್ದ ಹುಡುಗನೊಬ್ಬ ನಮ್ಮ ಪಾಲಿಗೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಟೀಚರ್ ಆಗಿ ಬಂದಿದ್ದ. ಅದು ಹೇಗೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯ ಅಂತ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕೇಳಬೇಡಿ. ಹೀಗೂ ಉಂಟು! ಅದೂ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ! ನಮಗೆ ಏನೂ ಅರ್ಥವೇ ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗುಸು ಗುಸು, ಮುಸಿ ಮುಸಿ ನಗು. ಮೊದಲ ದಿನ ಪದ್ಯ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಡಲು ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದ.

ಅವನ ದುರದೃಷ್ಟ, ನಮ್ಮ ಬ್ಯಾಚ್ ನಿಂದ ಸಿಲೆಬಸ್ ಬದಲಾಗಿತ್ತು, ಅವನು ಓದಿದ ಪಾಠಗಳು ಅವನ ನೆರವಿಗೆ ಬರುವಂತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ.
ಯಾವುದೋ "ಹಳೆಗನ್ನಡ" ದಂತೆ "ಹಳೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್" ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದ ಓಬಿರಾಯನ ಕಾಲದ ಪದ್ಯ ಅದು. ತಲೆ ಬುಡ ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವನಿಗೂ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಪಾಪ, ಅವನಿಗೆ ಮುಜುಗರ ಆಗಬಾರದೆಂದು ನಾವು, ಅರ್ಥ ಆದವರಂತೆ ತಲೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತ ಇದ್ದೆವು. ಹೀಗೇ ಸಮಯ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ, ಪದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೋ ಒಂದು ಸಾಲು ಕಂಡಿತು "'T is well ..." ಅಂತ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಹುಡುಗ, ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಗುರುಗಳು ವ್ಯಾಖಾನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಹೀಗೆ," 'T is well ಅಂದರೆ ಚಹಾ ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತ". ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಅಂದಿನ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ಮುಗಿದಿತ್ತು.

ನಾನು ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದು ಅಪ್ಪನಿಗೆ ವರದಿ ಒಪ್ಪಿಸಿದೆ. ಆಗ ಗೂಗಲ್ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ, ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಅಪ್ಪನ ಸಹಾಯ ಕೇಳಲೇ ಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. ಅವರು ಆ ಪದ್ಯವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದರು. " 'T is well ಅಂದರೆ ಚಹಾ ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿದ್ನಾ ಮೂರ್ಖ! ಅಯ್ಯೋ 'T is well ಅಂದರೆ It is well ಅನ್ನೋದರ ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ ರೂಪ ಅಷ್ಟೇ!" ಅಂತ ಅಪ್ಪ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೇ, "ಡಿಗ್ರೀ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳದೆ ಇರುವ ಹುಡುಗನನ್ನು ಹೈ-ಸ್ಕೂಲ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಟೀಚರ್ ಕೆಲಸ ಕೊಡುವುದು ಕಾನೂನು ಪ್ರಕಾರ ತಪ್ಪು, ಅವನಿಗೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಹೇಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು ಅಂತ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ಟೀಚರ್ ಗೆ ಕೇಳು" ಎಂದು ಅಪ್ಪ ನನ್ನ ತಲೆ ತುಂಬಿದರು. ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೋದ ಕೂಡಲೇ ನಾನು ನಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ಟೀಚರ್ ಗೆ ಚಾಚೂ ತಪ್ಪದೆ ಅಪ್ಪ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಟ್ಟಂತೆ ಕೇಳಿಯೇ ಬಿಟ್ಟೆ. ಬೆಪ್ಪುತಕ್ಕಡಿ ಟೀಚರ್ ತಬ್ಬಿಬ್ಬಾದರು. "ಆ ಹುಡುಗ, ತುಂಬಾ ಜಾಣ, ಬೇರೆ ಕಡೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಸಿಗೋವರೆಗೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಠ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಡುತ್ತಾನಷ್ಟೇ..." ಅಂತ ನಮ್ಮ ಟೀಚರ್ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳಿದರು.

ಸರಿ, ಮತ್ತೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಪೀರಿಯಡ್ ಬಂದಿತು. ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಗುರುಗಳ ಮುಖ ಗುರ್ರ್ ಎನ್ನುವಂತಿತ್ತು. "ನೋಡ್ರಪ್ಪ ನಾ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ತೊಗೊಳೋದು ಶಾರದಾಗ ಇಷ್ಟ ಇಲ್ಲಂತ, ಏನ್ ಮಾಡ್ಬೇಕು" ಅಂತ ಬಾಣ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಮುಂದಿನ ಪಾಠ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದರು. ನನಗೋ ಎದೆ ಢವ ಢವ. ಅಷ್ಟು ಬೇಗ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಮುಟ್ಟಿದೆಯಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ. ನನ್ನ ತಲೆ ಹರಟೆಗೆ ಹೆಡ್ ಮಿಸ್ ಬೈಯುತ್ತಾರೇನೋ ಅಂತ ಭಯ. ನಾನು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದರಲ್ಲಿ ತಪ್ಪಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ ಆದರೂ...

ಅಂದಿನ ದಿನವೂ ನಾನು ಅಪ್ಪನಿಗೆ ವರದಿ ಒಪ್ಪಿಸಿದೆ. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದಿನ ಕಾದು ನೋಡೋಣವೆಂದು ಅಪ್ಪ ಹೇಳಿದರು. ಮೂರನೆಯ ದಿನದಿಂದ ಗುರುಗಳು ಗುಪ್ತ ಗಾಮಿನಿಯಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಮರೆಯಾದರು. ಏನಾಯಿತೋ ಹೇಗಾಯಿತೋ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಬೆನಕ ಬೆನಕ ಏಕದಂತ

2011-06-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

ಮೂರು ವರ್ಷದ ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮನಿಗೆ, ಅಮ್ಮ "ಬೆನಕ ಬೆನಕ ಏಕ ದಂತ..." ಸ್ತೋತ್ರ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅದೇ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನು ರೇಡಿಯೋದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದ "ಆಗಸಕೆ ಮೋಡ ಸಂಗಾತಿ, ಆ ಲತೆಗೆ ಹೂವೆ ಸಂಗಾತಿ..." ಹಾಡನ್ನೂ ಕೇಳಿ ಕುಣಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಗಣೇಶನ ಸ್ತೋತ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗೀತೆ, ಈ ಎರಡನ್ನೂ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಅವನ ಬಾಯಿಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದದ್ದು "ಆಗಸಕೆ ಮೋಡ ಸಂಗಾತಿ, ಆ ಲತೆಗೆ ಹೂವೆ ಸಂಗಾತಿ...ಓ ನಲ್ಲೇ.....ನಿನಗೇ....ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತೊಂದು ನಮಸ್ಕಾರಗಳು"!!

ನಿಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿತ್ತಾ?

2011-06-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮ ಐದು ವರ್ಷದ ಹುಡುಗನಾಗಿದ್ದಾಗಿನ ಮಾತಿದು. ನಮ್ಮ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಮನೆ ಅಂಕಲ್ ತಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ ಸುತ್ತ ಕಾಂಪೌಂಡ್ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದರು. ಮನೆಯ ಮುಂದೇನೇ ಆಟ ಆಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮನನ್ನು ಅವರು ಕೇಳಿದರು, "ಮರಿ, ಮನೆಗೆ ಕಾಂಪೌಂಡ್ ಯಾಕೆ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸ್ತಾರೆ ಹೇಳು?". ಸ್ವಲ್ಪಾನೂ ತಡ ಮಾಡದೆ ನನ್ನ ತಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿದ "ಆಕಡೆ ಮನೆಯವ್ರು ಈಕಡೆ ಬರ್ಬಾರ್ದು ಅಂತ".

Tujhse naaraz naheen zindagi...

2007-01-17T00:02:00.000-08:00

Whenever I and my husband go to our flat which is under construction, the cement pillars, the brick walls, incomplete doors & windows and we both walking amid those reminds me of the lovely song “Do deewane is shahar me..” from the film “Gharounda”. I would never wish my husband would sing the sad version “Ek akela is shahar me...” in the same film, but I can’t help loving that sad song also! To my dismay, till the age of 18 I didn’t know that the name of that magician who wrote that song is Gulzar and that the magic is created not only by the Kishore Kumars, Ashas, Latas, R D Burmans but also by lyricists like Gulzars, in Hindi film songs.

I must thank my elder brother for introducing me to the songs of Gulzar when I was studying in college. Till that point I didn’t have the slightest idea that the song “Tujhse naaraz naheen…” touched my heart due to the combination of great lyrics by Gulzar and music by R.D.Burman. Till that age I was only focusing on the music and voice of the singer. I was not appreciating the lyrics part of the songs. After listening to all the songs of a cassette “Gulzar hits” I was introduced to an entirely different variety of songs sung by Bhupinder, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and others. These songs had an unusual usage of words by Gulzar, though the lyrics looked simple sometimes I was not able to get the hidden meaning, there were so many Urdu words which were new to me, in spite of all these obstacles the songs didn’t stop attracting me, didn’t stop touching the heart. Then I did a rewind to my memory tape. Started wondering how the endless list of songs “Do naina aur ek kahani..”, “Lakadi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda..”, “Musaphir hoon yaro..”, “Sa re ke saare ga ma ko lekar..” ….created a “jadu” on me and all these days I enjoyed them without acknowledging even a single word of appreciation to Gulzar. The song “Mera kuch saaman...” became my all time favorite just after listening it for the first time. When my brother had got that cassette “Gulzar hits” I heard songs “Thodi si zameen, thoda asaman...”, “Dil dhoondta hai phir wohi...” for the first time in my life and was sad that I missed the “jadu” for so long! After this I became conscious of the fact that whenever we like some songs we should also appreciate the lyricist who created it.

During the same lovely season of knowing many new golden songs of Gulzar, I happened to see the film “Masoom” (courtesy DD Metro). I had seen that film when I was studying in LKG, I was full of innocence then, and obvious option left for me was to cry for Jugal Hansraj. Since those days I longed to see that film once again. You know, seeing a film was not as easy as seeing films repeatedly in Sony TV or buying CD/DVD or copying CDs from friends, or downloading films as we do these days. I am talking about years 1995AD to 1999AD. So I was ready to wait indefinitely to watch “Masoom” once again. My wish was fulfilled on a Sunday afternoon. I was extremely happy and installed my body firmly in front of the TV not to miss even a single frame from the film. After few seconds, to my great surprise I saw “Story…by Gulzar”! I was taken aback with an expression as if to exclaim “Ohho! This guy writes stories also…” followed by another late realization and surprise “Ohhooo! The story of Masoom is written by Gulzar, that’s why it is such a nice story… Till now I didn’t know this!!!”

I became a great fan of Gulzar. I recollected all of my favorite songs and checked whether they are written by Gulzar or somebody else. Slowly my psychology underwent changes in such a way that when I liked a song I used to check whether it is Gulzar’s lyrics and also I started liking songs just because they are written by Gulzar. I know this is not the correct way to judge, but I am a common man, not a judge sitting in the panel of Oscars. Why do I need to justify my choices, my likes and dislikes?

Gradually, I became sensitive and conscious in this regard. I started seeing the cassette covers not only in search of hero-heroine’s photos & songs-list but also to read information on singers, lyricists, music directors, film directors, producers, script writer etc. As I am talking about the period earlier to1999AD, in that period I had not seen a CD, there were only cassettes.

Days passed by, and I grew more mature. I reached a maturity level where I was able to identify whether the song is written by Gulzar just by listening to the songs. Anyway I was intelligent enough from my school days to identify whether music is directed by R.D.Burman or not. The only missing part was lyrics! From the star-cast I was also able to say “Its Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film or Basu Chatterjee’s film”, courtesy- Set Max for showing repeatedly Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s hit films!

I must also thank my elder brother for opening a door for me to another world of music created by A R Rehman. According me, his entry was another revolution, generation and a phenomenon in the world of Indian film music. I was so impressed by the songs of “Roja”, “Gentleman”, “Kaadalan” and “Kadal Desam”. That’s why I was wondering how come the title music of “Spirit of Unity Concerts for National Integration” program on DD1 was so fresh, youthful, yet having flavor of Indian classical music, because it was composed by A.R.Rehman. Through the “Roja” fame A.R.Rehman became hot favorite among the teenagers of my city! But but but…when I compare Rehman’s music with that of R.D Burman my feeling says something like this; whoever may be the singer or lyricist or actor or film director the effect that R D Burman’s music has created and still creates on my mood is something which can not be expressed in words. His music speaks directly with the heart. The way he used guitar music in his songs is so beautiful that whenever I listen to guitar music in some song I exclaim “R.D.B effect is used here!”

Except his music I didn’t know much about R.D.Burman. When I was in Pune, I had attended a program, a charity show where R.D Burman hit songs were sung by many good singers. Famous lyricist Gulshan Bawara was also present for that show. He shared many of his interesting experiences with “Pancham Da”. I was amazed to know how passionate R.D.Burman was. He was just crazy! That was the most memorable show I had ever witnessed. To come up with one ever green hit song it takes immense passion, crazy experiments, unusual madness and a number of pegs in the background, I realized!

We find R.D Burman song for every occasion and for every mood appropriately. When I was in love, longing for my lover was so blissful for me when I hummed the song “Aye tum yaad mujhe, gane lagi har dhadkan”, I always wish to be praised by my husband as “Jeevan se bhari teri aankhen majboor kare jeenekeliye”, fell in love with guitar when I heard “Nile nile ambar par chaand jab aye”, I forget the present and will be lost in an imaginary peaceful place of greenery with my husband when I listen to “Katara katara milti hain, katara katara jeene do”, I just enjoy some magical moments with the song “Roz roz aankhon tale”, I get cheerful after some bitter moments by the song “Anewala pal jaanewala hai”, I thank god for a wonderful childhood I had which is reminded by “Lakadi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda”, I get tempted to praise my husband when I hear “Apki ankhon me kuch mehke huye se raaz hai”…

I thank god for presenting us with this wonderful duo magicians R D Burman & Gulzar every time I listen to “Tujhse naaraaz naheen zindagi, hairan hoon main…”

Cubicle Love (a short story)

2007-01-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

5th May, Mon

Network Admin Abhijit was checking new system and its setup. Office boy Nagappa just confirmed the cup-board gets locked properly. I could guess someone is coming to occupy that cubicle which was left unoccupied for a long time. This cubicle, which is somewhat in front of me has beautifully curtained window. Every evening the sunrays sincerely peep into the window from a particular point and then fall on my desk, my pen stand, my huge pile of H.263 Video standards print-outs. All the rays, free of cost. Only fortunate people get a cubicle by the window side, only fortunate people get to see sun rays decorating their cubicle. Now I am robbed of my golden rays by that unknown cubicle owner who will block the path of rays. Who is that newcomer? We didn't even get a mail from HR.
Padmini Murthy Ma'am came with a girl introducing her to the audio codec team members, who are our neighbors. So, a new girl has joined to Audio team, obviously will be working under Saket. Finally came a mail from HR. The new girl is Subhashini Chatterjee, BE E&CE from Calcutta, 1 year experience from Tata Elexsi. How does it matter to me? She is neither in my team nor good looking. I don't know why our company is always after such good for nothing girls. That young but married Smitha in PTR team, Roja in Quality team, Meghana in our video team, those 2 chatter boxes in 2nd floor and this new Subhashini, what they are achieving in life? But I don't have any complaints for our pretty receptionist Krupa, because of her there is some lively atmosphere, at least in the reception.

6th May, Tue

Today I came early at 9.40am to office; I had to complete the ppt for motion estimation. That girl was already present in her place, typing a mail, the first thing people would do. She got a call from someone; she got up and went out side, passing by the side of my desk. I got a chance to see her closely. She is blessed with not so attractive figure along with not so attractive face. We have so many 'not so' in our company, this is so sad. She wore an old pale yellow color Salwar Kameez. Some girls really don't have good dressing sense. Whatever it may be, the sleek model of her Sony Ericsson mobile was good and even the polyphonic “Saathiya” ringtone. She often passes from my side; in fact she always enters this floor from the door nearer to my cubicle, though she has other options. May be other paths are always crowded by TLs and programmers pretending to be discussing algorithms out of the world which even the ITU and Fraunhoffer guys don't know! She often gets calls. May be her parents call her frequently from Calcutta. How does it matter to me? I have never interacted with her. I am not interested too. Ever since our HR has stopped recruiting pretty girls I have given up.

8th May, Thurs

This girl seems to be very good in communication skills. She gets along well with all of her team mates. She has already started going for tea with TL. She is seen with so many guys around her, I wonder! Though our cubicles are close we have never made an eye contact. I have seen her when she is not looking at me. I can't say about her. She is already the topic of discussion for some of my colleagues. Poor chaps pile up huge expectations, whenever they get the hint of a girl joining our company. But our HR successfully disappoints them. I am an ardent follower of the Buddha, “no expectations, no disappointments”. As usual this time also we (except me) are disappointed. Girls are always hot topics of discussion, irrespective of their looks, so she is no exception. But most of my colleagues are not at all bothered about her; they are bothered mostly about the release by the end of May.

9th May, Fri

Today evening she was in a meeting. So, lovely sunrays fell on my desk again albeit for a short time. I was very happy. I bent my back little bit so that the rays could fall on my face. I started playing with them, forgetting rest of the world. I closed my eyes and opened and closed again. I was disturbed by the sound of papers, I just turned and saw, she was back from meeting and was passing by my side. She slowed down to see my childish actions. I didn't know how to react. She flashed a smile at me and from the next moment my whole life changed. I was just caught in that magical smile. I didn't know why she smiled, what she wanted to convey. But I was taken over by her smile. I had never seen her smiling like this. She looked like the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was wearing the same dull yellow dress. But I could never forget the feel of the breeze created by her dupatta. The whole night I couldn't sleep properly. I was trying to bring her face in front of my eyes again and again. She has a wonderful smile. I wanted to see her once again. But I had to wait for 2 more days, Saturday and Sunday.

10th May, Sat

I decided to go to office today morning. There were chances of her coming to office to check mails or to chat. I had a hope to see her face once again. I logged in my system and kept staring at her monitor instead of mine. That's all I could see. After this episode my attitude towards her changed a lot. 75% of my concentration would be on my monitor and the rest on her. I can't help observing her.

12th May, Mon

I entered my floor thinking of her, searching for her. To my dismay, she wasn't at her place, and just after 10mins my friendly PL called me for a discussion. Every now and then I was trying to look for her from the transparent glass walls of our conference room where we were discussing. She was back but unfortunately I was asked to explain something on the board, so I couldn’t see her from my place. Finally I returned from the discussion and sat in my place. I started to read H.263 video coding standards document. She was also busy reading some print-out. She was not at all turning this side. I had lost concentration. From the past 10 minutes I was reading the same paragraph "Advanced Intra Coding". I thought it was a high time to scroll down. At the same time she again got a call. My heart started beating fast. When she got up from her place I started looking at her with all my eyes. She was wearing a thin white choodidar with little lavender color flowers on it with a pleasant lavender color duppatta. The delicate and beautiful embroidery along the border of the V shaped neck of her Kurta was suiting her somewhat-fair complexioned skin. The little black colored bindi between her neatly shaped eyebrows was adding to the beauty of her face. It seemed she had a head bath today. She had left her jet-black hair, tucked only in the center with a black butterfly shaped clip. Yes, as she crossed from my place, she left behind butterflies in my stomach. I felt butterflies in my stomach for the first time in my life when I was asked to come on the stage to receive the first prize in carom competition that was when I was in 7th standard; today's was the second time. But today's situation was so different as well as pleasant.

I went for tea on terrace at 4pm. Some 20 to 30 people were there including girls. But for my surprise only that girl was attracting my attention. It was like nobody else was there and only she was there. I am getting attracted towards her.

13th May, Tue

Today I came to office at 9.30am.Entered the lift. To my surprise she was also there in that! I was extremely happy but I managed to hide my feelings. At the same time I was feeling odd too. I didn't understand what to do, whether to say 'hello' to her or to be quiet. She was cool. I was becoming nervous slowly. My heartbeat increased as usual after seeing her so close in front of me. Because of this odd feeling I didn't know where to look at in that small lift, couldn't dare to look at her, leave alone talking to her. While I was struggling to decide whether to talk or not to talk, she smiled and said, “Are you working under Suresh?” I replied “Yeah!” I felt, today her smile was something different, she smiled as if she knew whatever was going on in my mind all these days and all these moments in the lift. Before our conversation could continue, the journey from ground floor to 5th floor ended. I should be grateful to the office boy who entered the lift in 3rd floor and added delay to the journey! I will be killed within a month if she goes on giving dose of smiles like this!

16th May, Fri

It was already 10.30am but she didn't turn up. I just kept guessing the reasons. I thought she might have taken off on Friday. But what might be the reason? My office life seems so dull without her. Is my life also going to be like this without her? I don't know. I lost my peace to her. For the whole day I didn't have any mood to work, somehow I managed to pass the time till evening and I left for the day.

19th May, Mon

God only knows, how difficult it was waiting for Monday to come and again see this pretty girl with smiling face. Yes, suddenly she has become pretty girl, for beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. I got up very early in the morning and went to office before time and waited for the pretty girl to come and flash that radiant smile again. No, she didn’t come.10, 11, 12 PM, no hint of my pretty girl. I felt embarrassed as my colleagues were staring at me where as I was staring at her desk from 8.30.am. Demoralized, I left for lunch but could not eat. Some kind of anxiety had made me tired. Added to this was the fact that I hardly slept during the weekend. I was drowsing all through afternoon meeting. My team leader asked me to go home and take rest.

20th May, Tue

I came to office at 10 am; today also she wasn't there. I went to cafeteria with colleagues to have a cup of coffee. One of my colleagues told me that the pretty girl joined and flew to Redmond, Microsoft to work on their brand new DirectShow Technology.
Nothing is permanent in this IT industry.

-*-*-*-

She/He...And a love story

2007-01-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Friend: Happy birthday!
She: Haan...tha......nk yo....u...was just getting up from the bed.

Friend: Oh! That means I am the first to wish you!
She: Naa! He has already wished me at 12 in the night.

Friend: Who???
She: Come on, who else, Nitin.

Friend: Oh, ok. So, what’s the plan for today?
She: Nitin told me that he has a surprise gift for me for my Birthday. And also we are going to Flower Show today. I am excited! I have never seen the flower show that happens in Lal Baug. Actually that itself is the most wonderful gift for me.

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Friend: “Did you go to Palace grounds all the way from Basavanagudi, to see Bryan Adam’s show!!! Who accompanied you?”
She: Nitin

Friend: By the way, who referred your CV in SoCrates? I mean you don’t know anyone there, right?
She: No, he forwarded my CV to one of his friends there.

Friend: I heard that the HR round interview went on till 8pm in the night. I think you faced difficulty in returning to your room.
She: No, he had come to pick me up. He came from his office, dropped me to my room and he returned to his room at around 11pm. He didn’t have dinner also. I asked him to have at my room. Poor Nitin.

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Friend: If you are supposed to go home tomorrow itself then what about reservation?
She: I have told him, he will go to Majestic and would get it done, and he told he has some work in Majestic. That’s why I am relaxed a bit.

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Friend: How was your written test in Philips?
She: I failed yaar. The day before the test I had prepared perfectly. Nitin had come to our room. He taught me the basics of embedded programming concepts. I was very confident only because of him. But something else was in store for me.

Friend: Then, what did you do on Sunday?
She: We had gone to see “Lakshya”. He doesn’t see Hindi movies. But as I was upset after failing in the Philips written test, he took me for movie. I was very happy and surprised that he himself decided for a Hindi movie, and he was very happy that I enjoyed the movie. And you know; we had dinner in Pizza hut. It was his belated B’day treat!

Friend: And, what was your belated gift ;-)
She: Gift!! I had given the gift on his B’day itself. I was the first to call him at 12 in the night, he was busy throughout the day, and somehow we could meet in the evening and I gifted him with a cute time piece with a nice quote on it. He doesn’t have time sense, so my time piece must always remind him of this. That day he didn’t give me any treat as he had to go back to office. Yesterday I had a fight over this, you know! Poor kid.

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--
Friend: Hello...what about our sari shopping program in Malleshwaram?
She: Listen, I will call you later.

Friend: You didn’t call me back in the morning, so I called now.
She: Yeah, when you called I was in Koramangala, with Nitin. He was very upset in the morning. He had a fight with his elder brother. So, it wouldn’t have been fair on my part to leave him alone. If I am with him in such situation very soon he comes back to normalcy. So I postponed the Malleshwaram program.

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Friend: Hey! What happened? You seem to be very happy today.
She: Why not? You know today is one of the most happiest days for me. Nitin got an onsite assignment in UK, for 6 months! That’s why I am very happy. All of his hard work paid today. He had been waiting for this opportunity since long. He’ll be leaving next month.

Friend: You will miss him.
She: Badly. I am so much dependent on him. I must thank Sanju, through him only I got to know Nitin. Without Nitin it would have been very difficult for me to stay in this alien city with no friends, relatives and on top of all, no job. He has been so caring friend all through my tough times in this city, he is so mature, so understanding, so trustworthy...a true friend.

Friend: He loves you yaar.
She: I know.

Friend: And you? Don’t you love him?
She: I don’t want to.

Friend: Don’t tell me. You also feel for him.
She: I know yaar. He has everything that I expect in my dream-life-partner. I know I can never get a true life partner like him. But I don’t want to commit.

Friend: What is stopping you? I really don’t understand. When Miya-beevi are razi kya karega kazi?
She: Please...don’t say like that. I never told him that I love him or something like that.

Friend: Is he a fool not to understand your feelings which are so clear from outside only? Poor fellow, don’t leave him alone.
She: I have told him everything about my family. He knows how orthodox my parents are. They can never expect me marrying a guy from a different caste. They trust me. Come what may, I will not hurt my parent’s feelings. I cannot imagine also. Now they are happily searching a guy for me in my native place.

Friend: Hmm, I don’t understand at all.

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She: This Saturday I have to go home, a guy is coming to see me.
Friend: Oh! Is it? Good news yaar. Your first interview! Wish you all the best.

Friend: Any guesses, who is he?
She: Please yaar. I am least bothered and least interested. For the sake of my parents’ happiness I have agreed for this.

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Friend: What about the interview, I was expecting your call actually?
She: Nothing so special. I didn’t like the guy’s attitude. I told my parents clearly. My parents are very understanding and so they too told me that they won’t go ahead with this matter.

Friend: But still you should have analyzed properly.
She: I shared my views with Nitin. He had called me the next day. He didn’t suggest me anything. He didn’t tell me to say “yes” or “no”, he didn’t preach what is right or what is wrong. But after talking to him I was satisfied that whatever decision I took was right.

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Friend: Yesterday your mobile was engaged for more than half an hour. I kept trying, but I slept after 11pm.
She: Yeah, I was talking to Nitin. He is very much worried about my marriage. He is concerned whether I would get a guy of my choice or not, whether I would be happy with him or not. I was very sad to know this. But I am helpless. I pacified him and convinced that whatever my parents do, that will be the best for me, so no need to worry.

Friend: How Nitin will feel after you get married? Will he not be upset all the time?
She: Time will change everything. He will start living again. Was he not leading a normal life before I came into his life? It’s all matter of time. Even I can’t do anything other than pacifying him and myself with these philosophical statements.

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Finally “She” got engaged with a guy of her parent’s choice (with her “yes” of course). She is in touch with both Nitin and the new “him” regularly through chatting in Yahoo Messenger.

Finally “She” got happily married to “him”, very soon converting Nitin into memories, but deleting the memories was slow and almost impossible for Nitin.

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Why do girls/guys do like this?

She needs him when she is new to the city.
She needs his help in finding out a PG or hostel for her
She makes him prepare a good-format-CV for her
She needs him to drop her to the venue of a walk-in interview
She expects him to collect all the consultants’ mail ids
She needs him while preparing for the interviews
She needs his help in identifying HER skill sets, strengths and weakness!
She wants him to conduct a mock-interview for her!
She gives her yahoo mail id password so that he can forward her CV to consultants through internet in his office (in office hours!)
She needs him for boosting her confidence when she fails in the 1st written test in her life
She wants him to take her to , , Forum and Big bazaar
She needs his company while visiting all the temples in Malleshwaram on Vijayadashami, though he is not a believer of God.
She asks his opinions on importance of marriage
She wants him to be a shoulder to cry when her parents force her for marriage
She needs his help in preparing her mind for the first interview with a guy
She needs his help in deciding about the marriage proposal
She loves to share her happiness with him when she gets engaged
She expects him to attend her marriage (Come on guys, he is a true friend of her!)

The guy does all this honestly, without saying a single “No”.

He loves her.
He cares for her.
Whatever he is today; it is only because of her entry in to his life.
He treats her as his life.
She changed him.
It is only because of her, he is smiling.
It is only because of her, he has forgotten the past bitter experiences.
She is the first person in his life to influence him so much.
He was the “bhatka hua musafir” and she came as his “manzil”.
He threw the cigarette in the dust-bin because of her.
He has cultivated a positive attitude towards marriage and family because of her.
She is the perfect Indian woman he has ever seen.
He keeps a photo of Lord Krishna in his purse now; only because of her (also it is her favorite deity!).
Weekends come and go without his notice; it is only because of her.
He stopped going to office on Weekends; it is only because of her.
Onsite project was his dream; he puts all his efforts now, not to get an onsite assignment but to get a job for her in Bangalore.

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The girl depends on the guy as if she never lived and can never live without him. Guy behaves as if he has taken birth on this earth only to care for that lady. She treats him as a shoulder to cry and he treats her as a puppy in a rain storm. She loves to depend and he loves to take care, finally they fall in so called “love”, ultimately adding an unnecessary trauma to life. Girls want a perfect life partner but they don’t want to hurt their parents’ feelings, guys know that they can’t get her but still they want to care for her(because they want her to be happy wherever she is and with whoever she is).Great! Or shall I say crap!

Or I think no need to be so serious about it.

She gets engaged, life goes on...
Long lasting phone calls become short and sweet, life goes on...
A heart which was used to “Good morning” SMSs learns to be happy with just the “Happy weekend” SMSs, life goes on...
No more “Unread messages” in the yahoo mail, life goes on...
No one to share coffee at “Barista” at the end of a tiring working day, life goes on...
No more consultants’ calls to be diverted and life goes on...
He starts smoking again, life goes on...
He is still living in flashback, and no looking back for her, but life goes on...
He gets promoted, he is a manager, she is mother of two kids, and life goes on...
He is in his late twenties, happily married to a beautiful, understanding, mature, caring, broad minded wife! Anyway life goes on...

Who knows, among these “Nitin”s someone will come up as “Cheran” (ace Tamil film director)and make a wonderful movie “My autograph” telling us of his unsuccessful love stories, or someone will come up as “Sudeep”( Kannada film actor turned director) who goes to his flashback after seeing this movie and then decides remaking this movie in Kannada, giving common people an opportunity to relive their past love-life at least for 3 hours, that too with their spouses, without any problem! Because there is “She” in every wife and there is Nitin in every husband (most of the times!). There are dumb spectators like “Friend” who are puzzled to see the whole episode between “She” and Nitin and just ask themselves “WHAT IT IS???"

ಶನಿವಾರ ಮಹಾತ್ಮೆ

2004-03-23T03:58:00.000-08:00

ಹೀಗೇ ಒಂದು ಶನಿವಾರ ನಮ್ಮ ಯಜಮಾನರು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಬರೋಣವೆಂದರು. ಆ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಅವರು ಆಗಾಗ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ನನಗೇಕೋ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಭಕ್ತಿಯೇ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ವಾತಾವರಣ ನನಗೇಕೋ ಆ ಭಾವನೆ ತರಿಸಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಯಜಮಾನರು ‘ನಾವು ದೇವರ ಗುಡಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವುದು ದೇವರನ್ನು ನೋಡಲು, ಅಲ್ಲಿಯ ವಾತಾವರಣ ನೋಡಲು ಅಲ್ಲ’ ಅಂತ ನನ್ನ ಗೊಣಗಾಟಕ್ಕೆ ಪೂರ್ಣವಿರಾಮ ಹಾಕಿದರು.

ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಹೊರಗೆ ಹೂವು, ತುಳಸಿ, ಕರ್ಪೂರ, ಊದಿನಕಡ್ಡಿ, ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಟ್ಟ ಎಳ್ಳು-ಎಣ್ಣೆ , ಹೀಗೆ ಇವೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಮಾರಾಟಕ್ಕೆ ಇಟ್ಟಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಅದು ಶನಿದೇವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಒಳಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಮುಂಚೆ ಕಾಲು ತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಇದೆ. ಎರಡು ನಲ್ಲಿಗಳು ಸತತವಾಗಿ ನೀರನ್ನು ಧಾರಾಕಾರವಾಗಿ ಸುರಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಜನರು ಸಾಲಾಗಿ ಬಂದು ಆ ನಲ್ಲಿಯ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಕಾಲು ತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಒಳಗಡೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಶನಿವಾರದ ದಿನ ಜನಸಂದಣಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ನಲ್ಲಿಗಳನ್ನು ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸುವ ಮಾತೇ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಬೇರೆ ದಿನದ ವಿಷಯ ನನಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ.

ನಾನು ಒಂದು ಕ್ಷಣ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಯೋಚನೆ ಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಉತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಜನ ಯಾರದರೂ ಈ ನಲ್ಲಿಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದರೆ, ತಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಹತ್ತು ಕೊಡಗಳನ್ನು ತಂದು ನಲ್ಲಿಯ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಸಾಲಾಗಿ ಇಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೇನೋ ಅಂತ! ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಜನ ಹೋದ ಜನ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವ ಕೋಟಿ ಪುಣ್ಯದ ಕಾರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೋ ಏನೋ, ಕುಡಿಯುವ ನೀರಿನ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಹನಿಗೂ ಪರಿತಪಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಉತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಜನ ಒಂದು ಕಡೆಯಾದರೆ, ಕುಡಿಯುವ ನೀರಿರಲಿ, ಚೆಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಲು ಕೂಡಾ ಈ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಜನ ನೀರನ್ನು ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಒಳಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ದೇವರ ದರ್ಶನ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ ಅರ್ಚಕರು ದೇವರಿಗೆ ಮುಡಿಸಿದ ಹೂವು ಅಥವಾ ತುಳಸಿಯ ಗೊಂಚಲನ್ನು ಪ್ರಸಾದವಾಗಿ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಜನರು ಭಯ ಭಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ತುಂಬಾ ಜನಸಂದಣಿಯಿದ್ದರೂ, ಪೀಕಲಾಟವಿದ್ದರೂ ಜನರು ನುಗ್ಗಿ ನುಗ್ಗಿ ಈ ಪ್ರಸಾದವನ್ನು ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕೆಲವರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸುವವರೆಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಪ್ರಸಾದಕ್ಕೆ ಮಹತ್ವ, ತುಳಸಿಗೆ ಮೌಲ್ಯ. ಅದಾದ ನಂತರ ಅದು ಕಸ ಮಾತ್ರ. ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಹಾಕುವಾಗ ಅಲ್ಲಲ್ಲಿ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯ ಹಿಂದೆ ಕಿಟಕಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೂವನ್ನೂ, ತುಳಸಿಯನ್ನೂ ಎಸೆದು ಕೈ ಝಾಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡುಬಿಡುವುದು. ಈ ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಕೈಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟು ಭಾರವಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದನ್ನೇಕೆ ಅರ್ಚಕರಿಂದ ಪಡೆಯಬೇಕು? ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಹಾಗೇ ಹೋದರೆ ಶನಿದೇವ ಶಾಪ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾನೆಯೇ? ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಪ್ರಸಾದವೆನ್ನುವುದು ತಿನ್ನುವ ಪದಾರ್ಥವಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದು ಗುಡಿಯ ಹೊರಗೆ ಬರುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಖಾಲಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣನ ಪ್ರಸಾದ, ಕೋಸಂಬರಿ, ಗುಗ್ಗುರಿ, ರಾಮನ ಪ್ರಸಾದ, ತೀರ್ಥ, ಪಂಚಾಮೃತ ಇವನ್ನು ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಕಿಟಕಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಕಾಲಲ್ಲಿ, ಚೆಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವುದನ್ನು ನೀವು ನೋಡಿದ್ದೀರಾ?

ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಸ್ವಚ್ಛತೆ, ಮಡಿ-ಮೈಲಿಗೆ, ಎಂಜಲು-ಮುಸುರೆ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಾಳಜಿಯಿರುತ್ತದೆ(ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಅದು ಬೇರೆ ವಿಷಯ ಬಿಡಿ!). ಆದರೆ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಜನರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಚ್ಛತೆಯ ಪರಿವೆ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ ಹೇಳಿ? ಇಂದು ನಾನು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಸ್ಯಮಯ ದೃಶ್ಯವೊಂದನ್ನು ಕಂಡೆ. ಒಂದು ಹೆಂಗಸು ಪಾಪ ಕರ್ಚೀಫ್‌ ತಂದಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪಂಚಾಮೃತವನ್ನು ಕುಡಿದು(ನೆಕ್ಕಿ) ಆಕೆಯ ಕೈ ಅಂಟಂಟಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಕರ್ಚೀಫ್‌ ಬೇರೆ ತಂದಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಸೆರಗಿಗೆ ಒರೆಸಲು ಮನಸ್ಸಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಕಾಣುತ್ತದೆ, ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಆಕೆ ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಹಾಕುವಾಗ ನಿಧಾನವಾಗಿ(ಹಿಂಜರಿಕೆಯೇನೂ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ) ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಗೋಡೆಗೆ ಒರೆಸಿದಳು. ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬ ಪುಣ್ಯಾತ್ಮೆ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥ ವೃಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಹಾಕುವಾಗ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಮರಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈ ಒರೆಸಿದಳು. ಮರವನ್ನು ಮುಟ್ಟಿ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ ಮಾಡಿದಂತೆಯೂ ಆಯಿತು, ಕೈಗೆ ಅಂಟಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಒರೆಸಿದ ಹಾಗೆಯೂ ಆಯಿತು. ಏಕೆ, ಮಡಿ-ಮೈಲಿಗೆ ದೇವರಿಗೆ ಬೇಕಾಗಿಲ್ಲವೇ?

ಸರಿ, ಇನ್ನು ಶನಿದೇವರಿಗೆ ಎಳ್ಳಿನ ದೀಪ ಹಚ್ಚುವ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ. ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹೋಮಕುಂಡದಂಥ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಗ್ನಿಯಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತಾ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದೊಂದೇ ಎಳ್ಳಿನ ದೀಪವನ್ನು ಹಾಕಬೇಕು. ಒಂದು ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎಳ್ಳನ್ನು ಹಾಕಿ, ಅದನ್ನು ಎಣ್ಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅದ್ದಿ, ಅಂಥ ಗಂಟುಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾಗದದ ಪೊಟ್ಟಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಮಾರಾಟ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇಂಥ ಪೊಟ್ಟಣಗಳನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡಂಥ ಭಕ್ತಾದಿಗಳು(ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅದರ ಮಹತ್ವ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುತ್ತದೆಯೋ, ಆ ಶನಿದೇವರಿಗೇ ಗೊತ್ತು!) ಅಗ್ನಿಯ ಕುಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಎಳ್ಳಿನ ದೀಪವನ್ನೂ ಉರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಅಗ್ನಿಯ ಕುಂಡದ ಪಕ್ಕಕ್ಕೆ, ಕಾಗದವನ್ನು ಎಸೆಯಲು ಕಸದ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ಕಸದ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕಡೆ ಕಾಗದದ ರಾಶಿ. ಜನರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವಾದರೂ ವಿವೇಚನೆ ಬೇಡವೇ? ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಈ ಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಕಸದ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನಾಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಇಂಥ ವಾತಾವರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನನ್ನು ತಂದು ಕೂರಿಸಿದ್ದಾರಲ್ಲಾ ಎಂದು ಶನಿದೇವನಿಗೆ ಕೋಪ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದಿಂದ ಹೊರಬಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಾನು ನಮ್ಮ ಯಜಮಾನರಿಗೆ ಈ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದೆ. ಆಗ ಅವರೂ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಪ್ಪಿದರು. ಸದ್ಯ, ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಸುಧಾರಿಸುತ್ತದೆಯೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ, ಶನಿದೇವ ಪ್ರಸನ್ನನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ, ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇವರು(ನಮ್ಮೆಜಮಾನರು)ನನ್ನ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ‘ಹೂಂ’ಗುಟ್ಟಿದರಲ್ಲ ನನಗದಷ್ಟೇ ಸಾಕೆಂದು ನಾನು ಸುಮ್ಮನಾದೆ.