Languages

Well, this came as a shocker to me today.. I realized that my command over the English Language has gone for a toss, either because of FB or because of twitter or because I'm using too many expletives.

Whenever I used to interact with folks earlier, they used to commend me for my language.. and I used to take pride in being an alumnus of the CFTRI school in Mysore.. One of "THE BEST SCHOOLS EVER!!!".

It so happened that if someone had deleted my phone number and I started interacting with them in English, they used to recognize me immediately... Probably, the first ever name they used to utter in a reply to an sms would be "Is this Sukumar"?

Now, it is happening the other way around.. They never take my name.. and If I start sms'ing them in Kannada, they realize it is me!

It is not that I am not happy with this fact.. I am happy coz my Kannada has improved and though I am not a Kannadiga by race, I am a Kannadiga by birth. I am an Iyer by race but my interest towards Tamil was never as good as my interest towards Kannada.. These days, I adore the language and the grammatical purity of it..

However, I realize that learning something new, does not mean I need to lose on something that I have already learnt.. Esp if it is a language.. It is bound to be deep rooted in one's soul..

Your brain is not like a removable storage device that if the storage space fills up, you delete a few files in it to continue using the device.

Speech, Reading and Writing were supposed to be something that should have been involuntary when you use it now.. That is the basic reason why they were taught to you in School. How can you even make mistakes in these basic actions of life?

A friend while chatting, told me: "Ishtondu kannada Use maaDthiddre neene antha gotthaithu"!! Earlier folks used to tell me: "Eno, bari English nalle maathaaDthiyaa.. Kannada barolvaa? Athava maathaDokke ishtaa illvaa??"

But this issue has never happened with Tamil or Hindi... the other languages that I use. My tamil was laughed upon earlier, even today, it is being laughed upon. Same is my Hindi usage.. it was laughed upon earlier.. even now, I am taunted with the way I use a few words / create my own sentences in these languages. That is not much of a worry for me.. But English? and Kannada? These are supposed to be like the back of my palm..

I have determined that I am going to bounce right back.. I will not let myself be taunted while I use these languages. Let me improve. Help me improve. Please....

The Truth - "Kannada Barutha"??? Kannada barbeku!

"Kannada Barutha??", ah! I am sure most of you in Bangalore would have heard this, but what is "kannada barutha?" here it goes. Bangalore the IT capital of India , the silicon city and now a Metro city opened its gates to almost all kinds of people. Very evidently the recent poll census proved that there are only 47% of original inhabitants in Bangalore/bengaluru. The life style of the city has seen a gradual change with Pizza Corners replacing MTR's, classy eat out's replacing "Vidyarthi Bhavans" and flashy pub's replacing all our "Mahalakshmi wine shops".

"Change is inevitable" from the days of BEML, HAL and BHEL to INFOSYS, WIPRO; Bangalore has a new look now on the world map. Gone are the days where a typical Sunday for any bangalorean was a nice romantic walk on the pavements of "LALBAGH...", "rave idli and coffee.." at the nearest yet old looking MTR and a wonderful Annavra film either at Santosh or central 'talkies'. Today's Bangalore is deluged in traffic, stress and pressure, Saturday nights without beer is desolate and a Sunday without a visit to either a nearest spa or health clinic is schlocky!! The gandhibazar's are now AC cooled super markets, majestic is now replaced by ultra modern and diversified Brigade road, sri cauvery coffee joint is now Coffee days.. and "Bhagyalakshmi coffee adda.. is now barista. With globalisation and more retail market the city will definitely see more forceful changes.

Have all these changed our language? Kannada the local language of Bangalore is supposed to be one of the most meaningful language, it also has an unique script as compared to its other counterparts; but how many percentage of people really use Kannada in Bangalore now? The figures are staggering, only 37% of people speak kannada in the state's capital, for rest it is only "Kannada barutha?"

I am not biased in mentioning here that some inhabitants who are living in namma bengaluru from the past 15/20 years still don't speak Kannada. The only terms that they know in Kannada is "kannada barolla" or "yeshtu" or "hogbeku". They will climb an auto and say "market hogbeku" or "rate yeshtu" and if the driver tries to strike up a conversation with them, the next phrase is "kannada barolla". WTF guys? You are here.. don't force us to be like MNS. We have a KaRaVe here but we are still open minded.

Any normal guy starts with this sentence "Kannada barutha?" while talking to other person, people confirm before they speak the language. You want to ask an address in Bangalore ? Or reply to a question then English is the most preferred language other than Hindi. It's a famous fact that two kannidagas in an IT company always talk in a neutral language!! even the vendors and shop keepers are channeled with this new wave, the moment when you step in any shop in Bangalore , you are always asked "Kannada barutha?" or the entire conversation takes place in non kannada languages. People have lost the confidence of speaking in the local language and more over speaking Kannada on the streets of "M.G road "or "kormangala" is substandard.

Shopping malls in the city have been completely banned from using Kannada, not a forced one but definitely an adapted one. One has to confirm that the other person knows the language before he starts using any language. "ondu glass beer" is a insult when it comes to any decorous pub in Bangalore . "Swalpa menu card kodthira..??" has been replaced by "Can I have the menu card pls...?"

Just to hit some facts, marathi is still the largest and common speaking language in mumbai even though mumbai has the highest no of inhabitants. Telgue is a practised ritual in yet another IT HUB Hyderabad . When it comes to tamil nadu, beware you can be alive either if you are a fan of rajnikanth or you know tamil. Malyalam runs in the blood of every mallu be it Kuwait , dubai or any hospital; but when it comes to kannada it is always "kannada barutha?" and next is "namaskara."

I am not a Kannada activist neither I run any Kannada supporting organisation, I am just a plebeian who just love the language. Globalisation is the trend and modernisation is the mantra but at the cost the language? Sounds no logic.. is speaking kannada down market? The answer has to be found within oneself. Next time when you hear "kannada barutha?" you just remember that "kannada runs in your blood.."

This mail is in English, only because it can be read by non Kannadigas and understand how much we love our language.

This post is a forwarded email that I received.. I have made an addition there in the midst of the post.. This is absolutely true, esp. in today's instance.. Kannada / Kannadigas are looked down upon wherever you go.. But if you look at it, it is more of our own mistake than anyone elses..

We see a tamilian speaking on the road and we approach him and speak to him in tamil only, to make him feel comfortable and to show him that we know an additional language. This is just not the case in TN.

We do the same mistake with a "Northi" - we approach him and ask him "bolo bhaiyya, kyaa chaahiye aapko". Where have we spoken our language in front of others? Why are we so careless about our own language? Is it that we do not respect it? And when we do not speak our own language in offices and streets and when conversing / commuting, how can we expect immigrants to speak our language?

Bengaluru - Fun place to live in

This post is an ode to Bengaluru - Inspired by constantmotion. Though I might not be able to put my thoughts in a poem, I would definitely put it in paragraphs.

This post was framed in mind during the first bengaluru tweetup which was named as "chat over chaats"! We are expecting more pics of the same.. till then, a few of the pics are herehere and here. and

The idea was just to meet and have fun. This was in the pipeline from the past 3 months. What started off as a discussion between @hnprashanth (of techbangalore) and @pqrshanth (of payaniga) was interrupted by me who thought of joining in for the chaats @ the chaat street.

This blogpost is being completed after bengaluru had its second tw-eat-up.

A few pointers abt namma bengaluru are listed below.. This list is definitely not exhaustive and is purely my view of the things here:

• You can compose a blogpost on the way to office - courtesy traffic jams in namma bengaluru!
• People honk on the roads though there are no vehicles in front of them
• There are alternate routes to reach the place in question, but not many people know of them and not many people take them.. at times, you can reach from silkboard all the way to Basavanagudi without going through a signal or getting stuck in a traffic jam
• If you think you can see hot babes in bikinis or topless beaches when you hear the name FLORIDA, you will be shocked to know that you have a NURSING institute named FLORIDA in HRBR Layout, Bangalore
• People are so dedicated to their work that they drive to office one handedly, the other hand, no not on a call, but in a sling after having had a fracture!
• You wait at the same signal for 4 consecutive green lights and you pass the signal at the 5th green light - esp. in ring roads or near BTM Layout
• Your vehicle starts moving after the signal turns red - in almost all the traffic junctions, unless you are leading all the traffic and are waiting in the first lane during the signal
• In a 22 seater van, you have only 1 girl and 6 guys sitting incl. the driver -- economies of scale or is it LUCKY Girl???
• You have scumbag bosses who feel that if you work continuously for a couple of months without taking any leave, your productivity will go down!
• There are roads on which the traffic would be at a snails pace at times, but on which you can go at 80/90KMPH at times during the day time itself e.g. JC Road
• You can jump signals during day time and might be caught while jumping signals at night!
• When you are doing drunken driving, cops might not stop you, but when you are in a hurry to get home and you are not drunk, you will be stopped thrice, within 1 KM.
• A cop who asks for RC book would not recognize it if you present the original one.. he would be used to only checking the xerox copy of it. (Courtesy @pqrshanth)
• Though Bars / Restaurants are supposed to be open till 1130PM, if you go into a Bar at 1030PM and ask him to serve you food (without drinks), he would say Kitchen closed sir!
• Not many people know that BTM Layout is the acronym for Byrasandra, Tavarekere and Madivala Layout - called so as it borders all the three mentioned areas.
• There are parks for walking in almost every locality and there are a lot of fitness oriented people walking their fat out in these parks.
• You can see PDA happening in every nook and corner here and though it is so common, you can also observe people gaping as though they have never seen a guy and a gal hugging on the street!
• Street Harassment happens, not only by guys to gals but also vice versa, esp, near colleges.
• People stand in Queues outside pizza outlets/chinese restaurants during weekends after 900PM. Before that, the eateries would have seating space.
• You book a restaurant in your name, esp. in Koramangala and you end up finding that when you reach the restaurant someone has already taken your place!
• Bangalore traffic remains the same even during weekends when the so called bengaluru junta would be going out, but their population would be compensated by the junta coming from nearby villages and towns to look @ bengaluru.
• Bangalore North and Bangalore South have the maximum number of eateries.
• Where even cars of cops are not let to be parked at NO Parking areas :

(Pic Courtesy a friend of mine through a forwarded email)

• Where "For Rent" Boards are fixed even before the building is completed
• Cops ask you whether you are drunk and even if you say YES, they let you off based on the slur in your voice and the smell of ur breath
• Traffic cops ask you for your DL and have the nerve to ask you if you have kept your DL "at Home or with you?"
• Traffic cops suggest you not to take a matter seriously in case of an accident and just chill, to close the matter mutually
• The traffic cops are real helpful to guide you during the day and to get you out of any soups that you might land up in.
• Not all cops accept bribes... and a very few who do accept it, won't definitely demand for it.
• Where parking tickets are attached inside restaurants for the refrigerators
• Where multiple helmets are attached to a bike for convenience sake
• Schools have Independence Day parades and practices in September and October too at times, same goes for Republic Day - in February and March
• Kannada Rajyotsava is celebrated not only on 1st November but for months later than that.. at different localities on different dates!
• Ganesh Chaturthi puja is done after a week of the festival getting over - probably coz of the advantage of lesser cost of idols!
• Cycles too have number plates here
• It is a tech city for sure coz advertisements of ERP being sold is put on buses
• If you try to do manual labor, people look down upon you. Even your prospective employer checks if you are in a right state of mind when you go asking for employment
• You have an authentic punjaabi dhaba in the centre of the city at Ulsoor - the minimum waiting time during a weekday for lunch is 45 mins.
• You have a "ANDHRA STYLE PUNJAABI DHABA" at Hebbal - I never knew something like ANDHRA STYLE PUNJAABI could even exist.

I'll update this as and when I get more points to add.. And as mentioned earlier too, this is not an EXHAUSTIVE LIST!!!

UPDATE: 27th August 2008

• The weather / climatic conditions here are just amazing. Hot and sunny in the morning and all day long, and it would rain only at the time people start towards home daily.. is this Murphy's Law in place?
  
• A road, that looks awesome during the day time when dry, would become invisible under 3 feet of water when wet! And scary part is you never know which pothole is open where and which manhole is open where!
  
• The weather would take a drastic change all of a sudden without prior intimation which makes it a great place to have the practice as a doctor - a general physician at that!
  
• Namma bengaluru has so many "covered" manholes that even with a slight falling of rain, the BWSSB would be put to action by overflowing of the sewage and the drainage!
  

Whatever it is, I still love this place!!!

Love or Infatuation

Infatuation is instant desire. It is one set of glands calling to another.

Love, on the other hand, is friendship that has caught fire. It takes root and grows - one day at a time.

Infatuation is marked by a feeling of insecurity, you are excited and eager, but not genuinely happy. There are nagging doubts, unanswered questions, little bits and pieces about your beloved that you would just as soon not examine too closely. It might spoil the dream.

Love is the quiet understanding and mature acceptance of imperfection. It is real, it gives you strength and grows beyond you - to bolster your beloved. You are warned by his/her presence, even when is away. Long distances do not separate you. You want him/her near, but near or far, you know he/she is yours and you can wait.

Infatuation says, "We must get married right away. I can't risk losing him/her."

Love says, "Be patient, Don't Panic. He/she is yours. Plan your future with confidence."

Infatuation has an element of sexual excitement. If you are honest, you will admit it is difficult to be in one another's company unless you are sure it will end in intimacy.

Love is the maturation of friendship. You must be friends before you can be lovers.

Infatuation lacks confidence. When he/she is away, you wonder if he/she's cheating. At times, you even check.

Love means trust. You are calm, secure and unthreatening. He/She feels that trust and it makes him/her even more trustworthy.

Infatuation might lead you to do things you'll regret later, Love never will.

Infatuation is almost always one sided but there can be no one sided love, love is love only when it is reciprocated

Love is an upper. It makes you look up. It makes you think up. It makes you a better person than you were before.

Change is constant

The most common of bumper stickers on cars is "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN". The latest FAB in them is "CHANGE ME IF YOU CAN", probably of an EGOISTIC person like me! If I get a car, I would put that sticker on for sure. ;)

Everyone is scared of change, but they would eventually change and blame it on the circumstances that caused them. They say, I would not have changed, if it were not to be that shit and this shit. C'mon buggers, grow up. Open your eyes and admit the truth that you were too scared of standing against the flow.

There are quite a few incidents in life that will make you change or that will give you an opportunity to change. You should recognize those opportunities and change. There are quite many incidents in life that will ask you to change, but you could continue the way you were earlier without causing much damage. There are other incidents which give you an opportunity to change the course of events post those incidents. You could grab at them and change the course of future events.

There are a lot of examples that I can quote for CHANGE. Lemme first give you a few of the quotes that are available on the net:

This one is always in my email signature:

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

Another one goes as follows:

Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix.

Anything that you notice people doing out of the normalcy and ask them, they would respond that "Just for a change!" Ask them why they want a change, they would either not answer or will mumble something incomprehensible.

Nobody can change anything in anyone. Change can be brought about only if the person heeds to it. You can remain without changing and if your psyche is strong enough, you will succeed in remaining the same without changing. It is all in your psyche.

There cannot be any reasons for change... it happens coz U let it happen. It's as simple as that!

Lemme tell you that initially, I was homophobic, but then, I met this guy who was gay and who carried himself off so well that it was just normal for him to be gay just as normal as it is for us to be straight/bisexual. So, that required a change of outlook. There are a lot of people who still look as if you are some extra terrestrial being if you just say you have homosexual friends. The thought here is to be changed and not the way you interact.

There is a saying in Kannada that goes "ಗುಂಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಗೋವಿಂದ" which means you just follow the crowd blindly without even thinking whether the crowd is right or wrong. Unfortunately for us, more than 80% of the people do this. The remaining 20% are being ignored coz they choose to stand apart from the crowd. Guess 20% is too huge a number... I would break it up into 15% who are confused whether to stand by their own or to follow the group and the other 5% who stand by their own.

The best thought that comes to my mind now is the one that is mentioned by Ayn Rand in her famous book "ATLAS SHRUGGED" as the speech by John Galt. That is what I stand by, That is what I follow.

Also, there is another interesting conversation in the book "ANTHEM", which goes like:

"It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect."

For people who can go into the depth of the above-mentioned statement, this means a lot and for others, this statement means stupidity! For me, this comes from the heart.

I completely agree to this statement and I would say that this means it is your life that you are leading and it is advised that you choose between the options and change for the better if you feel that the change would being about something better in you. Else, you remain yourself and at-least, be true to yourself.

I dunno if this post is justifying the 4 odd weeks that I took to compose this one.. but hell, who cares! :P

Money....the magic

It's all about money.. honey!

My cousin used to say that whatever comes, it first comes to your pocket/wallet and then to your psyche. Later would it come to your physical being. He was scolded by one and all when he used to speak like this, but it is nothing but the truth that he used to utter.

Thinking about the same, if you fall ill or if someone of your closest circle falls ill, the first thing that hurts is your wallet/bank balance coz you need to spend on taking him/her to treatment etc etc. Then comes your psyche when you would get worried about how you would take care of that person. Then comes your physical strains of having to shuttle between office, home and clinic/hospital.

However, it is not that much of a different scenario if you fall ill. No wonder you will be physically tired and psychologically tired after hearing to every tom, dick or harry abt how to get treated or which doctor to approach for the perfect treatment, you will hurt even more by your wallet.

Lemme tell you that I found a very convenient time to fall ill at the end of last month. Salary not having been credited, no balance @ bank, no money @ home, the first impact was to the wallet naturally. The next impact was to the psyche coz I had fallen ill due to some neurological disorder (I guess) and whether I could have lied @ home and @ office not to make them get worried coz of my sake.

I was absolutely normal. I have been getting these kind of feelings on and off from the past 4/5 years. I have not bothered about this coz if it were to be something serious, it would not have lasted for 4/5 years. And if it is not serious, what is the use of getting it treated / shown to a doctor? One day, I was unable to sit @ office or ride my bike back home. So, asked my colleagues to drop me back home.. That triggered it all... My sis and mom were so worried that immediately, 8 - 10 phone calls were made to all known people and addresses / contact details of doctors were collected, a taxi was booked and I was rushed to a clinic in Jayanagar. Thankfully, the doc had left for the day already. So, I got a respite that day.

But unfortunately for me, both my colleagues and the people in my house forced me to get an appointment the next day with a neurologist, who promptly asked me to get a CT Scan and an EEG done, the reports of both were Normal. Then, he concluded this as a migraine. I don't get any headache. The neurologist did not inform how this started or why is it happening on and off from the past 4/5 years. He just prescribed me 90 tablets (30 * 3) and has asked me to sleep for a minimum of 7 hrs on consumption of the tablets. I dunno why, but ever since I started consuming the tablets, I've lost sleep.

So, losing sleep coz of tablets and making people @ home losing sleep and losing sleep even more coz I spent 3500/- bucks when It was not worth it... This entire episode SUCKS!

Now, to add to my woes, we got a mail from our executive director that our company is in a financial crunch and only 50% of our salaries would be credited to our account. WTF??? Should everything happen at the same time?

Without any money, how do I watch Sarkaar Raj? How would I repay my debt to my sister? How do I give her a proper send off?? How would I ever survive this month?

My dad, when he was alive, was mentioning that man lives on hope. Yeah right.. but if the hopes are crashed, would he not even die of hope???

Wish I would not have gone home that day by taking the help of my colleagues. If only I had gone home alone, it would have saved 3500/- plus the medicine costs of 300/- plus the doctor's consultation of 300/-.

There was a saying in Hindi, which goes thus:

"तुम राजा हो या भिकारी, तुमको तो है पैसे की बीमारी!"

The translation of the same is: "Be you a king or a beggar, money is your vice". Completely agree to that!

Why, even in HP7, Bellatrix Lestrange (Hermoine after consumption of Polyjuice Potion) is told by Travers that "Gold, filthy gold! We cannot live without it!"

Absolutely agree to the statement that MONEY IS EVERYTHING, AND YET NOTHING IF YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IMPORTANCE TO GIVE TO IT! For me, at this stage, MONEY IS SOMETHING VERY VERY IMPORTANT. Atleast, till I come to a particular stage when I can say I have achieved something!

Relationships (2)

In continuance of my previous post "Relationships", I got a huge comment from a friend of mine (Sudheer) which I did not publish coz I wanted the same to come as a blogpost. So, here goes. First the comment and then, my views on the same:

Hey suksi,

Liked ur interpretation on relationships and memories and the corresponding pain that follows as a natural corollary...

I feel that it is in our very basic desires that make us choose people as either our friends or hubby's

let me explain:

If " I " as a person likes biking " I " will go in search of people who do biking and try to build a relation so that " I "can get some one to understand 'my' thoughts or try find one who becomes a medium of expression for " Me ", a thought which gives " Me " pleasure and not that the other person likes biking or birding.

It is here where " expectations" start building up - like " I " would have a particular way of shifting gears and once someone becomes a friend " I " would start "expecting " that he shift gears like " I " do or that 'my' line of thought should more or less become his thinking.

If this does not happen or if he starts to put his interpretation to a particular event in his way.. " I " get hurt or " I "start disliking him.. not because he said what he felt but because he did not say what " I " was feeling.

We always try to host an image of ourselves in different people and like only those who cater to such " self hosting ".
which brings us to the ultimate truth of

" We love no one but ourselves "

Just because " I " see what " I " want what " I " like what keeps 'me' happy in many people in bits and pieces " I " imagine to have a relationship.

And when such relationships break.. We get hurt.. It pains.. and we feel sorry not because we lost a friend but because we lost a " host " to our feelings/wants/desires...

This becomes more aggravated when one looses a girlfriend.. not because that we will no longer see her smile or listen to her talks etc... but because no longer " I " will be able to kiss her, " I " could f*** her, " I " will be able to fondle her t***, " I " will get a consoling talk and " I " " I " " I " " I " " I " ...... goes on an on and on...

What do you say...

Well, here's what I say my dear friend..

First of all, thank you for taking the time off to read my blog in your busy schedule and give such a huge and wonderful comment on the same.

Next, I'd say that you are a bit confused as to where friendship ends, where love ends and where lust happens. Also, not all relationships of a boy/girl friend would be related to sex or making love or having lusty thoughts in their minds.

I have a few female friends of mine whom I address as "honey", "sweetheart" and "darling".. that does not mean whatsoever that I am in love with them or they are in love with me, or that I have lusty thoughts in my mind about them. I also know a lot of boy/girls who are boy/girl friends of various other people and they got physically intimate only after a couple of years into the relationship. I also know a few people who have only lust in their minds and would never enter a relationship unless they are forced to do so!

And I do not understand the use of * there in the comment.. why could you not mention the words as they are used normally?? Are you thinking what people might feel if they came to know that you had given such comments??? I'm sure, you would not say w***r for water or w**e for wine right???

Yeah, it is true... Everyone lives as per their own whims and fancies.. and everyone loves to have their own reasons for either being in a relationship or being out of one. A few people get into a relationship for fun, a few others get into one without knowing what they are doing, a few others are pretty serious abt their relationships, a few more are in a relationship coz someone has forced them to be in, a few others will get to know that they are in a relationship only when it is too late for them to come out of it, and they refrain from coming out of the same coz they have a constant fear towards CHANGE!

Again, this "I" is nothing but the EGO that speaks. How many people do you think would agree that they have an EGO which controls them? If you know any, tell them that they are EGOISTIC and SELFISH, they would retaliate mentioning that they do not have EGO.  WTF do people consider EGO as bad?? I have no idea whatsoever.

I agree that I am EGOISTIC and in fact, that is the headline of my orkut profile too. I'd say that if I don't know how to love myself, I will never be able to love others or hate others or even hate myself for my shortcomings.

Again, the most important aspect in any human interactions is TRUST! If two people have TRUST in each other about each other, it is better than being in any kind of relationship.