The grey line

All through our younger, innocent days, we were given only options. Chocolate or icecream. Study or play. Good girl or bad girl. Yes miss or no miss. This or that. Everything was either black or white. We liked something or we did not. End of story and end of confusion.

As we grow up, we see that faint line of grey emerging between the black and white. It grows so thick that the black and white fades into a thin line. With that comes the realisation. There's nothing right or wrong in anything. It is only a matter of perception. To each ones own. Hence, the beginning of conflict within ourselves.

What's with the lyricists these days?? What happened to those good old days where each song was first loved for the lyrics and then the tune? I remember spending free time writing lyrics of film songs with my friends and being in awe of the way in which situations were described. Now I'm dumbstruck. You must be living under a rock if you still don't know Why this kolaveri song. Or even that song from Velayutham where the guy describes the girl as an assortment of vegetables in a very weird way. I mean, really, do you really think its good?

I know many people who enjoy such "Songs" and listen to it on loop too! Still... Why? :( I' had lost hope on film music in general. Rockstar songs did help in restoring faith in me a bit :)

Articleship

Come august, I'll be completing the compulsory articleship (For the uninitiated, its the compulsory training a CA has to undergo) But these three years have been enriching to say the least (I know i sound cliched but this is the fact). It has actually been a mixed bag when I introspect. There were many highlights and many incidents that I want to erase out permanently from my memory.

Ultimately, I owe this place a lot because I know I've changed a lot because of this place. I've discovered many things in me that I never knew I had. And I must say these 3 years have been the most memorable years till now.

Few things that I learnt and want to remember always:

1. Google and Incometaxindia are your best friends.
2. You will meet all kinds of people - People whom you appreciate, whom you admire, whom you totally detest... every possible kind. If you are an introvert or the silent type, its time to change. You have to interact with them. No choice about that.
   
3. No matter how patient you are, you will come across people whom you just cant stand. Even if you feel like throwing the person out of the window, remember the saying - "This too shall pass". Patience is the virtue.
   
4. If, out of the blue, your boss appreciates your work, it definitely means you are about to be drilled. Beware.
5. As many good hearts you'll encounter, that many back biters will be ready to pull you down.
   
6. However boring it may sound, if you are honest and hard working, no matter what, you will always be in the limelight. As long as you are in the limelight, there'll be people who silently wish for your failure.
   
7. You will realise the value of your childhood friends only in this period. Make sure you spend a lot of time with them. Hold onto them dear.
   
8. Creating formal relationships and getting many acquaintances is part and parcel of articleship. Make full use of it.
9. Forget about getting 8 hours of sleep everyday. You will not get it. :P
   
10. Clients and Bosses demand respect. It does matter if they deserve it or not. Keep all personal emotions to yourself.
11. You will realise that a lot of your perceptions are completely wrong. That will lead to you remembering your old blog :P
    

XYZ : What do you do?

Me : I'm doing CA.

XYZ : Oh, which year?

Me : ??!!

I mean, what would anyone answer to that?!

Another thing I have noticed is that most of the students who have taken up commerce in school know about the science stream and the various courses offered to them, but its not so the other way round.
Why? Ignorance? Or is it just the fact that the "commerce courses" are not as popular as BE / BTech / MBBS?

One day...

Abhishek saw the city from his office window. It seemed as if the earth was covered in a white blanket. The road was being cleared from the snow that seemed to engulf the entire city. Something seemed to gain his attention... He saw an old man walking down the road and a kid probably half his size and quarter his age jumping and walking along with him holding his hand. They seemed to be lost in their own world, oblivious to the surrounding, happy to be with each other.

He was probably 7 years old that time, the innocence of childhood was still held intact. His grand father, whom he used to call him thaath, was a fragile, lean person but better known for his wit and humour. Abhishek was the apple of his eye.

Everyday when Abhishek stepped out from auto after school, his once neat uniform totally covered in mud, his thaath who would always wait for him near that tree, welcomed him with his toothless grin. His otherwise drowsy eyes always lit up during that time, reason being his favourite grandson returned from school. No matter who teased him for spoiling Abhishek, his thaath was unfazed. Abhishek was his favourite. His happiness.

Now, he has everything he had dreamed of... A big fat job, palatial house, loving wife and kids... generally a happy life.

Still... there always seemed to be vacuum within him. And he couldn't stop that drop of tear running down his cheek.

Hello!! :)

My last post was on March 16, 2009 it seems!! :D

Anyways Wish you al a happy new year (Whoever still reads my blog.. if at al there were any! :))
Thanks to all those who enquired about my absence :)

Will definitely blog frequently from now! :)

Few things disturb me longer than usual

One such thing happened in Delhi few months back.

I was in a car waiting at a signal and few kids were doing their own thing to get money from the ones in the car. These children were not more than ten years of age and one among them was a very small kid. Hardly 4years. And I sat there with my eyes brimming with tears.

They are kids for gods sake! At their age I was probably having a good time listening to my grandmother's stories or playing with my brother. Not doing somersaults to get money from unknown faces. What really hit me was the fact that people could actually be blind to the raw reality before their eyes. While I was here secretly wiping away tears, there was a couple on a bike and the lady was all praises for how cute the boys performed! I was completely numb!

When did everyone become so insensitive? Do I actually live in such a society?

I have no answers!

How I wish I was here now...

Being depressed is the easiest way out.
But overcoming it, is the most difficult job ever!

IT giant gone down the drain

Yesterday about 1 p.m. we got the news about the Satyam scam. And the entire office came to a stand still and everbody was glued to the net.

Not everyday we get news about an IT giant inflating its Balance Sheet! I mean, 7000 cr is not such a small amount for heaven's sake! Where did all the money come from? Where did all the money go? How did that escape from the auditors eyes? I don't even want to get into the details... Inflating cash and bank balances is no joke. How on earth did they do it? Its not like inflating fixed assets!

The auditors is another story in itself. As a person entering this profession, I look up at PWC. Obviously many of us, though now doing articleship in small firms, want to get into Big 4 for employment on day. But this issue raises so many unanswerable questions. Even people in the profession like Mr. Pattibhiram are shocked. I mean if they're guilty in any way (which i'm sure they are), then what is our future? Would I still want to get into a job in PWC or E&Y? I don't know! Seriously...

As my boss said yesterday, this is a black mark for our profession.

Trip to Parambikulam

There is just one word to describe this place - Mind Blowing!
If you are planning for a trip, don't have any second on going to this place...
It's truly worth every single penny.

PS : Detailed post coming soon :)

Why is it that others do not like the way you are but expect you to like the way they are?

Why is it so hard to understand others but easy to get upset when others don't understand us?

Why do we expect everything to be right when we are wrong??

Why do we even expect anything from others?
Why is it that we can't be satisfied with what we have?


Too many questions with no answers...

Those who don't have to travel on weekends...

... through Mada Street in Mylapore are blessed!

Others were cursed with a vengeance!
Hmph!

Simple pleasures :)

Have you ever drenched in rain top to bottom? Few days back I did that. I was on my bike (ok ok.. it's a scooty) and returning home when it started pouring. Even though I had a raincoat, I was least bothered about getting wet. It was too good to miss. And then I saw people holding umbrellas or running for cover. I could only smile at them. They don't know what they're missing. ;)

PS: Just now I realized the stat count has crossed 600. Thank you all! :) I'll try to post more regularly. :)

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way

Looks like the Murphy's Law is working overtime for me... But I still believe that when things don't go your way, something good is waiting on the other side... Let me just wait for that! :)

Irony or Fate?

I sit here before a computer and look around the place I live in. I see a coffee mug near the monitor, a cell phone and an Ipod. There's a cot, a cupboard full of books and dress. Generally, leading a comfortable and happy life with hope for the future.

And then, I look out through the window and watch a girl of my age (or perhaps younger than me) collecting garbage from the bin outside my home. Clad in a old, filthy dress, a sack on her shoulder and a stick in her hand to look into the bin with no intention to think about her future. Will she even know whether she'll get food the next day? Does she know about so many beautiful things in life? Does she even care? This whole design of privileged and underprivileged children pains me. Why should she(and many others like her) suffer when another part of the world is enjoying? I know there's no answer for this.

Then, I closely look at her and realize what she really is. I see her as a fighter. For survival. For existence. But what is she fighting for? With whom is she fighting?

Sigh. It's better not to be so sensitive.

"Meeting" a legend

Meeting this man may be a dream to so many and definitely I was not one of them. I mean, I was not dying to meet him or anything. Well... I met Rajnikanth himself! Just a few inches close, at the most unexpected time ever!

I was in a doc's place with my grandpa and when I opened the door to leave, there stood the man himself! waiting for us to finish our appointment with the doc. Clad in his usual white kurta, dyed hair and white beard, he was there standing before me and smiling. (I think he saw my jaw drop). And he went past me and I still kept looking at him. I think he sensed that because he turned back and smiled at me again. (God knows what was going through his mind!)

I could do nothing at that time than to smile back at him. My grandpa who was following me also was clearly surprised and amused as to how he looked! And he being him, overheard Rajnikanth saying to the doc that he was sorry to be late and that he was held up in shooting.


Clearly seeing Rajnikanth was not even the last thing on my mind that time and seeing him be so humble and so close surely makes me smile. While returning home grandpa said to me, "fool, atleast you could've shook your hands with him or atleast I could've done it!" Er... you could've said that at the appropriate time, thatha. Atleast I wouldn't have given a met-a-demon kinda look! :)

Who's next in store for my eyes to see?? ;)

Trip to Goa!!!

Just a few random pictures I took in my trip to Goa. It's a very beautiful place, of course, but a must see for those who love green :). Please take a train and not a flight - you shouldn't miss the scenic beauty of the hills. (I did that mistake while coming back and my flight got delayed by 6 hours! Go figure!)




Guruvayurappa guruvayurappa!!!





Have you been to a beach at 12 noon and been there till 4?? :D




Who said Goa has only churches ?





Please tell me you can see the clouds pouring in the right half of this picture...

Today's fortune on Orkut

Society prepares the crime: The criminal commits it

Now what does he want to convey??

Those years of blue and white uniforms...

I was cleaning up my book shelf yesterday and chanced upon my school scrap book. It was so much fun reading it again. So immature, so funny... It's been only three years since I finished school but nevertheless I was transported back to my school. The morning prayer, running around the playground if found by PT sir that you are not in proper uniform, sleeping through history classes just after lunch break, endless conversations about alaipayuthey and kaho na pyar hai, endless politics, assignment notebooks, assignments themselves, PT classes, radio show (in 10th std?), working for school newsletter,the jollu teachers... it simply brings a smile when I think of all those 15 years I spent in that school.

When I look back, the most cherished moments were the last two years where we simply had a blast! Our computer science classes,especially, were the best. In 11th, almost all classes were free and it did help in class bonding. :) I remember once, we, a group of 15 (or 16? I don't remember) were playing an unusual game of winking! It was such fun!

Since most of the times we were left free, we were the pests to most of the other subject teachers (especially economics sir! :) he never really liked comp students) and our comp sir was never bothered about it! He was such a cool person! even the lab sessions with him was fun!

Sigh... I miss my school!