first clouds arrive!

Only One Can Know the Extent of One’s Pain

The weekend was hell. I had bad chicken biryani and together with it a recurrence of my back problem. Only One Can Know the Extent of One’s Pain.

So I was writhing in pain and every few hours rushing to the loo. I have had back pain before; it has gone away by lying supine and still on the floor, looking at the ceiling, reading being impossible. So imagine me having nothing to do but look at the white ceiling and a pie of the cloud-scudding sky through the window. Never had this sort of double trouble, err, triple trouble, because the heat was trouble enough.

What with EMIs and all, can’t afford the air-conditioner. I am a firm believer that people should be one with natural climate. So, if I protect myself with an air-conditioner in Mumbai what would happen if I go to Kerala? There aren’t air-conditioners there. Besides power fails many times in my native land during the day.

Today is the third day. I am much better. This experience taught me how to suffer pain. And pray with faith. All these days I never did access the net, never red twitter updates, never answered the mobile phone except once. All I can say is: I didn’t miss much.

“I Worked as a Beggar”

I met an extraordinary rickshaw driver yesterday. We got talking on the way back home late in the night after a busy schedule consisting of writing and co-ordinating work in a marketing department.

He has a weather-beaten face, is quite heavy of physique, is simple in speech and mien. I like talking to rickshaw drivers because they come up with unique stories, the substance of everyday living. This man has an interesting background. He was an asphalt layer, a shop salesman, a peon in an office, and, what else?

"I have worked as a beggar, too."

"A beggar?" I ask incredulously. I am stunned. Is being a beggar a form of "work" then it is an interesting definition.

"Yes, on the road."

"How did it happen?"

"Many years ago when I was studying, father was jobless, no money at home, so I used to go to the nearby busy area and beg."

That's quite extraordinary. He is not ashamed to admit a fact we all would be ashamed to vouch for. Not that we don't beg. I was a salesman once and my job was to beg, irrespective of smart terms like "deal making", "negotiating", "marketing" etc, that they use these days, a salesman's job those days was to beg.

Hm.

"And how much did you earn each day from begging?"

"Around ten rupees. On a good day even fifteen and twenty."

That wasn't bad. It could, sort of, supplement a family's income in those days.

"But did people give you money, since you are okay looking and have no disabilities."

"I used to stand on the road with one hand outstretched, some people would drop coins, may be out of habit."

"Weren't you ashamed?" I needed to get to basics.

"No. No. Why should I be? I was helping my family. Only my mother was working as a household help then. I was studying. We didn't have any other source of income. Some people teased me, but I wasn't ashamed. No."

I didn't exactly say it is a noble profession. But his words made me think somewhat along those lines.

"What do feel about the fact that you were a beggar?"

"Everybody begs, someday or the other. A man when he is about to die, begs God to save him. That also is begging."

Interesting. What a philosopher. I guess to be a Bhiku or a Sanyasi, (a saintly beggar) you also have to be a philosopher. I don't know if the generous tip I gave him was any indication of the way I felt.

Whatever Happened to Good Manners?

Sometimes small things upset me. Sometimes when I am all goody-good intentions and the other person turns out to be full of malice, I get even more upset.

Then I think we are an unrepentant generation, courtesy has been unknown to us, we have been train to give twit (twerp: someone who is regarded as contemptible)-for-tat (cheapness: tastelessness by virtue of being cheap and vulgar).

One such occasion manifested yesterday. I was at my wit's end, kept fuming (smoke, steam, etc. issuing from my ears), uncomfortable beyond words. There's this man sprawled on the seat as if he owned it on one side of the train seat, and at the other side another man deliberately spreading his legs, for comfort, obviously. In the middle is poor me, hedged in, accommodating, uncomfortable, sweating in the sweltering heat of the hotter-than-ever summer evening.

Imagine my predicament. Just imagine! Whatever happened to good old good manners?

Lennon, Cobain, Marley and Morrison Meet in Heaven

Just say a tee-shirt, avid reader of tee-shirt art that I am, which says, "John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley and Jim Morrison, they met in heaven."

What a beautiful thought! And what did they sing together, maybe, just maybe, Lennon's classic, "Give peace a chance." Wonder why these great musicians had to die in their youth. Apparently, they couldn't handle their success. Actually who can? I mean, handle success, when it comes like a storm after the calm? Just imagining things, really. Forgive me.

Tishani Doshi Interview in Guardian

Here's the Tishani Doshi's interview about her novel 'The Pleasure Seekers' in The Guardian.

Today being Sunday went for a walk in the wilds in the foothills of the mighty Parsik Hills, near home. The hills end in a valley bordered on three sides by tropical rain forests. The bird sounds were awesome, coming as it did in the early morning silence, and the wind was blowing cool and fresh as I climbed a low outgrowth. I could see a wide vista spread below me of modern flats and bungalows, coming alive with life, then came the muted sound of traffic on the Bombay-Pune highway, a mere murmur. Made me want to write a poem on the experience. So watch this space.

The List of Those on the Ill-fated Air-India Flight to Mangalore

The list of passengers on the flight received from S.A. Prabhakar Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mangalore District, through this article in Hindu. One of them matches with the name of a friend, so am waiting with bated breath for his confirmation that he is safe and sound.

From PNR (Passsenger Name Record) list:

1. Harshini Poonja

2. Aaron Joel Fernandes

3. Niha Imthiaz

4. Bhaskaran T.V.

5. Komalavally Alinkeel

6. Narayana Kanthav Rao

7. Vani Narayana Rao

8. Vaishnavi Narayana Rao

9. Mohammad Ishaque Rafique Ahmed

10 Hasanabba Abubakkar

11. Hiba Azeena (child)

12. Mushina (child)

13. Haifa Hasha (infant)

14. Joyanrichard Saldanha

15. Ummer Farook Mohammed

16. Shahida Nushrathar

17 Zeshan Abdul Rehman (child)

18. Kannur Zulekha Banu

19. Nazeema Muhammad Ashraf

20.Satyanarayana Ballakuraya

21. Sujatha Rao

22. Fathimamehzan Shafqat

23.Rashaad Shafqatmahmood (infant)

24. Khader Ammangod Mohammed Shafy

25. Suhaib Mohammed Naseer (child)

26. Bibi Sara (child)

27. Nabeeha Mohammed Nasir (child)

28. Mohammad Asraf

29. Maimoona Asraf

30. Ashaz Abdulla (child)

31. Ayesha Afsheen (child)

32.Plaviashakunthala Lobo

33. Venishanikola Lobo

34. Vishalfloid Lobo (child)

35. Abdullah K.M.

36. Merwyn D' Souza (No Show)

37. Rosly Shibu

38. Godwina Thomas (child)

39. Gloria Thomas (child)

40. Bhagali Prabhakar

41. Kammadam Kunhabdulla

42. Shashikanth Punja

43. Manirekha Punja

44. Abdulbarr Damudi (child)

45. Mahesh Shetty

46. Mohamed Naser

47. Anwar Sadiq

48. Hassan Kutty

49. JoelPratap DSouza

50. Arunkumar Shetty

51. Vasantha Shetty (No Show)

52. Abdul Samad

53. Prasadand Manjrekar

54. Krishnan Koolikunnu

55. Mullachery Balakrishnan

56. Shanthi Olivera

57. Chethana Mukeshkumar

58. Thresiamma Philip (No Show)

59. Mohamed Ashfaq (No Show)

60. Husna Farheen (No Show)

61. Ahmednaushad Abbu

62. Rajan Pulikodan

63. Jayaprakasha Devadiga

64. Jayaram Kotian

65. Chitra Jayaram

66. Rahul Jayaram (child)

67. Prabhavati Karkera

68. Ashitha Bolar

69. Akshay Bolar

70. Suresh Kunder

71. Sanjeeva BabannaHegde (No Show)

72. Soman Narayani

73. Pradeep GK

74. Kallingalabullah

75. Thalangara Ebrahimkhaleel

76. Louiscarlo Vincent Geraro (No Show)

77. Naziya Afarin

78. Mohammed Abaanruknuddin (child)

79. MohammedRafi Beliyapura

80. Abdullah Mohammed

81. Ibrahim Saheb

82. Sameena Saheb

83. Issam Ibrahim

84. Rida Ibrahim (child)

85. Perumbalamohammed

86. Shivakumar Nagaraj

87. Meenu Gupta

88. Shetty KK

89. Gangadharan Nair

90. Prabathkumar Attavar

91.Sathisha Shetty

92. Irshad Ahmed

93. Neha Parveen

94. Affan Ahmed (infant)

95. Sameerbeerran Moideen

96. Abdunnazir Avinja

97. Riju John

98. Sabrina Nasrinhuq

99. Steven Rego (No Show)

100. Mahammooda Abdulla Kanyana

101. Althafahmed Moolana

102. Lokeshasadananda Belchada

103. Hameed Pookayam

104. Mayankutty KP

105. Vipin Kattoor

106. Kishorekumar Kudpapoojary

107. Chandukutty Nair K

108. NM Bharatham

109. Abdulazeez Anchikatta

110. Umashan Vijayan

111. Cavin Sequuiera

112. Reshmasanthosh Rai

113. Nalandshaunsantosh Rai (child)

114. Vihasantosh Rai (infant)

115. Vamana Prabhu

116. Ganesh Prabhu

117. Qazi Abdulsalam

118. Qazizulekah Khuddus

119. Jackson Periera

120. Mahammed Ismail

121. Naveen Kumar

122. Sanjaykumar Mahabal

123. Mahendra Kodkany

124. Indumathi Nayak

125. Vijesh Kovval

126. Ramakrishna Nayak

127. Ajesh Mottathil

128. Navid Ibrahim

129. Ignatius DSouza

130. Sukumara Kuzhiyamkottuchal

131. Abdul Basheer KM

132. Mohiddin Farasusman

133. Mahim Mohammedpalli

134. Mohammedashraf KA

135. Mohamed Usman

136. Kunhikannan Chandu (No Show)

137. Naveenwalter Fernandes

138. Saritaphilomena Dsouza

139. Ullas Dsilva

140. Mannapadupuashraf Abdul

141. Safdharali Sheik

142. Mahesh Shetty

143. Abdulharish Koppalamhouse

144. Abdul Jebran

145. Parambathkunhi Krishnan

146. Prabhakaran Pachikaran

147. Nekkareibrahim Ismail

148. Melwynkiran Menezes

149. Siddeeque Choorisulaiman

150. Putturismail Abdulla

151. Somashekhar Potyalsrinivasa

152. Lokesh Narayanan

153. Lolitta Dias

154. Lilly Dias

155. Praveena Sundar

156. Hilda Douza

157. Pradeep Deepanivas

158. Denis Saldanha

159. Ashton Saldanha (child)

160. Manthur Hassainar

161. Rama Satish

162. Mohammed Basheer

163. Aboobacker Siddeeq

164. Mohammed Usman

165. Shaileshrao Brahmavara

166. Mohammed Ziad

167. Sameena Abdul Karim

168. Zainab Mohammedziad (child)

169. Mohammed Subairzaid (child)

“Educated People in India Live in Cities” Hm?

Here's a gem from Harini Calamur's blog. Harini is correcting Mumbai University examination papers these days and here is a sample of what she has to sit through:

"Educated people in India live in the cities and speak and read English. We (as in these) watch English channels. The rest of India that is illiterate speak their mother tongue or vernacular languages. They watch regional language channels because they don't understand English because they are illiterate."

Harini blames it to on the teachers because too many students write these stereotypical and somehow mentally malformed statements. How could anyone be so naively biased and ignorant? I would have broken into a fit if I was made to sit through such drivel, or, perhaps gone bonkers. Atta girl for thine bravery, thou deservest an award!

Air-India Flight Crashes in Mangalore

Heard about the Air-India aircraft that crashed on its flight to Mangalore from here. First reports have come in. My thought go out to the affected families.

Helpline numbers:

Mangalore: 082-42220422

Mumbai: 011-25656196, 011-25603101

More updates follow.

Predicting the End of Facebook? Not Yet!

This article is a bit premature, me thinks. They are backing some brat-brigade to overturn the empire set up by Facebook. What those pimply youths can accomplish, let's wait and watch. Oh, I forgot that Mark Zuckerberger himself was a pimply youth when he founded Facebook as a way of keeping in touch in his university campus at Harvard.

While I am mighty skeptical that this might come to fruition, I am also a bit biased bout my love and addiction for Facebook (or, FB as it is lovingly called).