Amma - The Hugging Saint

How difficult can it be to pen my thoughts about the person who has been one of the most influencing phonomenon of our times?

The most amazing thing to me is the diversity among the followers of Amma. People from every corner of the world. In a world where people try to sneak a holiday to go out and spend time and money for sex, cigars and booze, it is so awe-inspiring to see so many people travelling all the way across the globe to spend a two month vacation just to serve people. Serve people who they are no way related to, except for sharing a binomial nomenclature.

According to me, the one uniting factor that brings all of them together is sheer-love. The word un-conditional love has been undermined/over-used so much that it sounds too simple to explain the love of Amma.

In my first few visits to the ashram, I was trying to be cynical about the activities of the ashram (natural for a person from a country where saffron is the color which is most exploited). How come an ashram started by a young lady from a fisher-man family earn so much reputation in such a short span.. Slowly but steadily I became more level-headed.. The only investment Amma had to make is Love.. And there were lot of buyers.. Buyers who were badly bruised by the harsh realities of this materialistic-world.. I learnt "Only by giving will we receive"..

If Amma's "Love and Serve" strategy is going to keep my neighbourhood clean, if it is going to transform me into a cleaner-me, if it is going to make a difference to the way the society handles the problems, I will be more than happy to be Amma's "Chella Kuttan". I want to live in a better world, if it has to be in Amma's lap, can I get any luckier..

Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi ki, Jai..

Happy Teachers Day

About 21 years back!

I was sitting at home with my younger brother playing with a drumstick and an empty water bottle.. It was a Jugalbandhi contest! Dad comes to me and tells that he is gonna take me to a place where i ll get lot of snacks to eat and a lot of kids to play with.. He knows his son better than anyone else.. I fell for it.. He makes me wear a blue checkered shirt and a navy blue trouser.. Folds a small kerchief into a triangular shape and pins it on to my shirt.. I then hop on to the baby seat on his bicycle.. It was a quick drive to a place, scenes of which i still remember very clearly.. It was one big hall filled with moms and dads and whining kids.. Then we both walk up to a fair lady, with a bob cut.. He says something in English, which I dint understand.. Not that I was least bothered abt it.. The lady pulled me closer to me, kissed me on my cheeks and called me "Bardi kishan, go sit down in there".. Its been 21 years since that day.. And she still hasn't learnt how to pronounce my name correctly.. (Neither have i got the "colors" right..)

Every single teacher has some kinda effect on us, dont they.. Sumathi mam (Maths), Sabitha mam (English), Hariprasad sir (French).. The list goes on.. These are not just people who taught you maths, english and french.. These are the ones who taught you things starting from how to wash your hands properly to how to propel a rocket out of the earth's atmosphere..

If you beleive you are in a better place than many others, or if u beleive u can do better than what u do,it is only cos of them.. Don't you think so?

Happy Teachers Day All!

PS: The author's school journey started as "Bardi Kishan" in TVS Lakshmi MHSS, Madurai and ended as "Irritating Specimen" in SBOA MHSS Madurai.

Google Plus - Any Luck?

Tried out Google plus.. Google is following the invited-users-only just like it did for orkut.. But this time, there is a diff.. When Orkut was launched, we dint have a sophisticated social-networking tool.. So we were super-excited to plunge into Orkut.. But now, things have changed.. I am still excited to try Google Plus.. But, I know i still have FB.. Its cant get any better than FB.. Lemme see how hard Google has tried.. "Atleast he tried" hardly matters.. We all know what happened to Google Plus's elder brother.. But honestly, Google plus is not that bad either.. Its a decent attempt to pin down FB.. But what matters from this point is Innovation.. FB was a late-comer.. But, we all remember how he not only stormed past but also sidelined Orkut to become the front-runner.. Google was nothing but a mute spectator.. If Google Plus has to beat FB, think different.. Thats what winners do and thats what FB did to be what he is today! ;)

Celebrating Life !!!

Here comes the well deserved post about my company..

Its been quite a long journey in a very short time.. Jus about to finish a year @ Atlas

Well.. this is going to be a boring post for dumbos who never understand the joy of walking down the memory lane.. Its more about my placements and its after effects... well.. its not jus about getting placed that made/makes me happy. .its something more.. getting a feel of all that u wanted.. being able to enjoy every ounce of it.. be it enjoying the extremely customizable pani pooris in the rain(hey atlas guys, not jus LW, pani pooris are also configurable.. :P) or be it enjoying my first flight experience ( wit company VP siitng beside me).. be it Mr Banerjee's endless grumbling abt the excessive usage of water, my new friends in kolkata, the very sound of kemonachis and bhaloachis in the morning.. the pleasure of sending money to mom and dad (which very rarely happens).. the pleasure of roaming around pennyless towards the end of the month.. the pleasure of killing chickens in KFC every sunday ;).. the innumerous night calls over skype.. the less pressing (jobless) days at work.. the struggle with Visio.. the long awaited homecomings.. the day i posted my first post on Kurmacup.. the list goes on and on and on.. today when i look back, i feel i havent lived life.. i have celebrated life.. day in and day out..

Thanks to everybody for everything.. Now i know wat learning is.. did some good amount of that after coming here.. thanks to everyone at Atlas, Amritians@Atlas.. esp my roomies Shiju, Vinod, Arun and Bala.. I gave up cooking cos of u guys.. and Shiju etta pls clean the room tonight as promised.. its in a pathetic state..

Last but not least, Kolkata.. Wat a city.. Very synonymous to its name.. City of Joy.. Welcomed us with a thunderstorm.. and it went on to shower happiness in our lives (i shld mention that i have lost 3 umbrellas after coming to kolk.. ppl love to steal my umbrellas and slippers).. anyway...

Hey, Kolkata.. Ami tumaki bhalo bashi !!! Love u guys!!! U never made me miss ma home !!! Please keep on feeding me with ur aweome Rasagullas!!!

Its review time.. Boss is calling!!! Ll get to know if i am getting richer or poorer!!! Catch u guys soon!!! Keep Praying !!! ;)

PS : Congratulations Bala, Vinod, Arun and Shiju on completing one year @ Atlas

Answer Me !

After having worked in Healthcare domain for about 8 months and after having seen what it takes to have your suffering friend treated in a Private Hospital, I felt that the least I can do about it is to dedicate a few hundred pixels of screen space in my blog. I am too young and inexperienced to find fault with established systems in this country. But the Census and my birth certificate say that am 22 years old. My Social Studies teacher has once taught me that after 18 years of age, I become an integral part of the society. Keeping all of this in mind, I have a few doubts to be answered by the great minds which established these systems and even greater minds which found successful ways to corrupt it...

India’s Healthcare system has improved a lot over the past few years, but much is yet to be accomplished. Unfortunately, the steady increase in the number of multi-specialty clinics does not mark a significant improvement in the treatment a common man is provided with. The priorities seem to have switched from proper patient care to revenue generation. The person getting treated is seen more as a customer than as a suffering patient. The deliberate commercialization of the healthcare industry has been pushing the state behind others in the race towards overall excellence.

People are sick... Many of them in fact... The sickest of them become founders of hospitals... They die... but for money... they kill... for money... All they look for is name and fame... followed by money... What is it if not shame? You say u care... u don do it unless v pay our share... even for ppl to whom money is not near, lives are dear.. We pray... Don make us ur Prey.

My questions are many... Can u answer any?

Build Up..

After watching a few Vijay(Non Tamilians read as Akshay Kumar) movies in a row, i got carried away by the amount of "Self Appraisal", more commonly known as "Build up". I thot i should try something like tht.. they record it on celluloid.. i do it in ppl's heart..

Here i go..

Somehow, i have been drawing ppl's attention right from my birth.. I have even talked about this in my orkut profile..

People say "Great People Are Born on Great Days"..

So was I.. It was Christmas '87..

The entire country was mourning the death of a famous Politician turned Actor, the then CM of Tamil Nadu Mr. MGR.. It was curfew all over the city..

At the same time, the entire world was celebrating Christmas.. Prayers resounded the Globe..

Suddenly.. An added excitement in the minds of everybody..

A star was born.. It shined bright.. It is shining brighter now..

That happened to be me!!!

And i jus added a feather to December 25th's Hat! ;)

So.. now u tell me..

If Jesus was Messiah version 1.0. Am i Messiah Version 1.1???

Am i "MGR Reloaded"??

Am still not able to figure it out.. !!!

This question gets reinforced whenever i see thousands of newly wed women stand in front of my house and sing this to my mom

"enna thavam seidhanai- yasodhaa, engum nirai para bhrahmam ammaa enru azhaikka - enna thavam seidhanai"

( For those who cant understand tamil : "Oh! my mother!". To get such a call, from such a supreme person, what was the penance you did? ).

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. I just don understand which of these category i fall on.. Whatever it is, through this post, i just make one appeal to the public.. Me and my family deserve some privacy.. Please respect it.. And don worry.. I m with you always..

Mr Lazy Crazy

Long time huh ??? Seems like u guys have been desperately waiting for the release.?? :P

Its been a really long week.. My roomie was down with dengue, hep B and jaundice.. All at once.. ( Trust me ! I aint making it up).

I made up my mind to see more of hospitals and less of "The Girl Next Door" ( and her dad!!! ). Shalini was waiting for this week cos her mom is travelling to South to attend a long awaited family event. It was her grandpa's death. Mr. Agarwal a.k.a. Mr. Stiff Head F/o my pretty girl friend refused to attend the funeral cos the dead man had refused to pay him dowry a few decades back. This meant "the girl next door" was "home alone" except from 9 PM to 7 AM . I knew shalini was gonna kill me if i say that i cant meet her cos i need to be in the hospital. Damn !

Fast forwarding...

....

...

03 : 20 AM
My place

Its been 143 hours since we spoke.. She had called me 1764 times.. I cant face her.. My friend is being shifted in an air ambulance to one of the best hospitals in India..

while i was about to leave home to send my friend, Mr Stiff Head knocked the door..

"Hey Badri.. wanna have a fag?"..

"Yes Uncle.. Why not?"

Fast Forwarding..

..
..

03 : 40 AM
Outside Shalini's house

"Okay Badri.. Thanks for the help you gonna do! I appreciate that" ( Trying to sound "amerrrican" )

"No prob at all"



Fast Fowarding..

..
..

06:30 AM
Airport

"Hello Aunty"..

"Hi. Heard about ur friend. How is he now?"

"Ya.. We just sent him to Kerala.. He is gonna get treated there. Aunty. Sorry about your father"

"Well. It happens. Am more worried about Shalu now. I couldn't even wait there till all the rituals are over.. I dunno how she let that happen to her.. She is pregnant Badri"
...
...
...
...
...

"Get up u lazy piece of crap. Your manager is yelling at me cos u were supposed to meet the bloody client 10 mins ago. Next time ur boss calls me i am gonna tel him that

his "Resource" is still on the bed with his striped shorts and sleeveless t shirt which says "Go Fuck the Canteen Dog". Get the hell outta here".

OMG.. 25 missed calls from "Pain in the Beep" 10 missed calls from "Baby".. I guess i should rename "Baby" as "Shalini".. Cant take it anymore..
Gotta get rolling...
bye...

Vrroooooooommmmmm...


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