My Meetings With... Death !!!

The first incident happened when I was a little child - less than 5 yrs old.

When I was a kid, that time (also) I was less "active". I mean, I will be happy playing around myself. So one day, I was just playing alone in our courtyard. My mom called me for something and I rushed in to the home and fell at the steps - with the edges of the step making a hard impact on my forehead. The edge was so close to my right eye - but fortunately, it just made a cut in my eyebrows. You can still see the mark that it left in my right eye brows !!!

Blood came gushing out... The impact would have been so fatal considering the point of impact and my tender age. I fell unconsious and it terrified my mom. She and relatives took me to the bed. My brother - just a kid that time - was seeing all these drama from the nearby window to the room where I was kept. So he being just a kid and just surprised and terrified to see all these, it seems - he asked mother - Amme, Gopi chathu poyo ? (Mother, did Gopi die ???)

When my mother told this story, I can't stop laughing. "Amme, gopi chathu poyo ?" - how innocent the kids really are !!! And ofcourse, I didn't die - lived long enough to tell the tale. :-) By my kundalini (Grahanila) also - Saturn is in a really good position that gives me an assured age of 72 yrs atleast. :-) Seems, this world has to bear me a little longer !!! :-)

Looking back, this incident reminds me of how close I was to death, to being partially blind, impact to the head could hav left me paralyzed. But nothing of that sort happened. Hence this also reminds me how close I'm to God and how well he takes care of me. :-) Oh my lord, I'm yours for the taking !!!

Incident 2
---------------
Well, this happened at a place where I thought it will never happen. And also it happened as a choice made by myself which made it look all the more interesting !!!

During my last visit to my home town, we went to Veega Land - an amusement park in Cochin. Apart from myself, my aunt, her small kid, one more cousin brother and my sister were there. It was fun to begin with and while all was going smoothly, we saw a ride - "Double flip monster" which surely was going to add spice to our trip.





Seeing it my sister was telling - if atleast one of you can join me I would have gone for that ride. My aunti and cousin brothers (kids) were out of the question for trying somthing like that. Personally I wouldn't have tried that unless it was for my sister. Hence I thought "what is there - if she wishes to try that, let me give her company - its just a ride !!!" and that decision I was going to repent before too long !!! :-)

So we went in for that ride and it started. Oh my god, it was terrific - sorry wrong selection of words, actually... I was terrified !!! :-) This monster thing, started to rotate in full speed - sometimes clock wise, somtimes reverses and spins in anti clock wise and most of the times - me closing my eyes and praying to God for mercy !!!:-) In between, my sister was asking - Gopi kochatta, enganeyundu ? (Brother, how is the ride ?) - and I was telling inside - edi, jan jeevanodeyenganum thazhe ethiyal ninte karyam kattappuka !!! (If somehow I touch down alive, you are gone !!!)

And finally after the longest 3 minutes in my life, the monster finally came to a halt. I was sweating too much and had I tried that thing thrice, I'm sure - it would hav burnt all my fat and my body would hav toned in to a leaner fitter structure. :-) But that was enough and I was just happy to be alive again !!! :-)

Now, there was another ride that struck my sister's eye which was also of the extreme kind !!! Again she made the same plea - if you can give me company we can try that. This time no brotherly feelings came to her rescue. I told her - no my sister, I'm very sorry - but not one more time. :-)

Looking back, these experiences I like to keep them close to my heart. I still remember that ride, when in between I had opened my eyes and was seeing the world rotating around us and the monster trying every possible bit to throw us out of our seats... Yes, I was terrified but some part of me told it was terrific and doing it for someone you care for made it all the more worthwhile !!!

Signing off...

Curious case of our mind !!!

Our mind has an interesting problem. Even if everything is going well - it never let us think so !!!

Let me explain this with a simple example. I have a tonsilitis problem that visits me once every quarter. During that time I will have fever and severe throat pain. Those days, I will think - Oh god, if this illness is rectified how better it would be. How happy I will feel if I can talk freely and eat anything I want. So eventually, in a week's time - after running its due course and me finished with the course prescribed by the doctor - fever and throat pain vanishes. But surprisingly when I'm no longer worried about my throat, I'm not at all concerned about it. Just the thought that my throat is fine doesn't bring much joy to me - because my mind would already have found some thing else to worry about !!!

Let us take another example. We all want to be wealthy and ofcourse money does define to a certain extent how much happy a normal person can be. But is that the only parameter ? Let us consider the wealthiest people in India. Let's leave Sunil Mittal - he is an NRI. Now, you know whom I'm talking about - the Ambani brothers. If you don't know how much they are valued, let me throw some interesting facts.

Elder brother Mukesh Ambani had a networth of close to $40 billion and a his poorer brother !!! (poor only when you compare him with Mukesh) Anil Ambani has $20 billion. In Rupee terms that is close to 2 lakh and 1 lakh crores respectively. Oh, my goodness - that's a lot of money, they can have anything and everything in this world. They don't need to work and can go for vacation day after day. Can happily stay at home or wherever they want and enjoy life. But are they really satisfied ?

Well, it came in the news just recently that Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries will be moving the supreme court against RNRL - a company controlled by Anil on a gas dispute case. What it is all about ? Anil wants RIL to supply gas @ 2.4$ and Mukesh wants it to be done @ minimum $4 per barrel. Cool, right? COnsidering all those wealth that is already amassed by them - still they are fighting against each other day in and day out to improve each one's profitability meaning enhancing their networth.

Hence it is just the frame of mind that helps us in determining how happy we are. We can always look at people who are above us in terms of money/power/positions and then worry - oh, I'm not like him or her. Well, if this comparison is done so as to identify your limitations and address it so as to propel yourself higher - then it is good. But in most cases it is not that.

An ideal way is to have a calm mind that takes in each day of life, every experience that brings along with it - both pleasant and unpleasant. As Srikrishna says in Bhagavat Gita - "This too will pass". During my class 10th exams - there used to be 12 subjects, one every alternate day. At that time, I felt this is going to be the toughest phase in my life and if these exams are over I will be happy and tension free. Was I ? Momentarily but again same feeling returned for class 12th / entrance examinations. Or simply said the tension remained more or less the same it is just that I was attending different exams.

Each day will pass and you can't control it. You will be faced with new experiences both good and bad and you can't control it. The only thing that you can control is how you react to those experiences. Focus on whatever you do and give your best - even if you don't succeed in it you will have the satisfaction that you tried your best. And my friend, let me assure you, in most cases your best would take you to the top of the rest !!! :-)

Upcoming posts

These are topics that I would like to write on, I would like to discuss, would like to share my thoughts on...

1. Movie Review: 3 Idiots - Awesome movie !!!
2. Controversies - You can't take back what you told !!!
- SRK on Pakistani players and IPL
- Jayaram on Tamil Maids
3. Spiritual: Krishna - My Lord, My God. My Source, My Destination.
4. Philosophy: The curious case of our mind !!!
5. Music: Songs that touch my heart and break me in to tears...
- Unnikale Oru Katha parayam.
- Niranja Mizhiyum.
6. Lyrics of good songs - Kavya Narthaki, Chamak Cham Cham.
7. Stock Market and Life.

A day in my life !!!

It's been a while since I blogged - been kind of busy last few days. Well, I know thats not an excuse to pursue something that you like to do. Another good habit that I haven't been pursuing off late is writing diaries. When I was a kid, I used to write in diary regularly and then the regularity diminished and it disappeared for the past 4 yrs !!!

So now that its been a while since I blogged and even more - since I wrote somethin in my diary - I thought why not combine the two. So this blog talks abt a day in my life. And let me take my liberty for the first time - to write in my mothertoungue - Malayalam.

Diary ezhuthanam ennudu. Pakshe, enthu, engane ennu oru roopavumilla. Porathathinu madiyum !!! Ok, here it comes or goes :-)

Feb 07, 2010. SUNDAY.
======================
Ravile 7manikku unarnnu. Athisayam 7nu eneetathanu. Sundays are "REST DAYs" for me. "Visrama divasam". Annu sadarana ente brkfst+lunch orumichanu. Randundu gunam -

1. Oru nadappu ozhivayi kittum.
2. Kurachu roopa labhikkam.

Pakshe innum nerathe unarnnengilum a pathivu thettiyilla.!!!

Orazhchayayi - Tonsilitis + Fever - vidathe koodiyittundu. Minijjannu Dr kondappol blood test nadathanamennu paranju. (koode koode varunnathu kondavanam) Innale athinu poyirikkukayayirunnu. (Just to note - while doing x-ray scan, I had to remove the sacred thread - poonool - and I felt so awkward even though it was just for a short span of time !!!) Angane test ellam kazhinju athinte report innu vanganam.

Athu poyi vangi vannu - Vijayashree Diagonostics near St Johns hospital. Report'umayi veendum doctor'e kandu. He said that everything is normal. "Havoo enthoraswasam" !!! "Sinusitis" anatre. Kelkkumbol adutha veetile kuttiyude peru pole. :-) Orazchathekkulla marunnukal koodi kurichu thannu. Santhosham. Athum vangichu. Samayam 12.15. Neram ketta neram. Brkfst - samayam poyi, lunch time ayilla. I mean, enikkayi - pakshe mallu messil meals ready ayi kannilla. :-) Kurachu neram net surf cheyyam ennu vicharichappol ottayennam free illa. !!! Thirichu roomil vannu.

T.V chumma vachu nokki. India - South Africa test - avar adichu thakarkkunnu. Dr thanna injection'nte gunamano ennariyilla - nalla mayakkam vannu. Eneettapool - 3 mani kazhinju. Angane "lunchum" poyi kitti. :-)

Angane, 3 manikku unarnna jan veendum T.V kku mumbilayi. Asianet'l super duper hit malayala chalachitram - Baba Kalyani !!! Daivame lalettante immathiriylla chila chitrangal kandal "petta thalla sahikkoolaa" :-) Pulliyude, itho polulla - ithinekkal bhayanakamaya film kondittanu - enee Mohanlalinte cinema theatre'l poyi kashu mudakki kanunnilla ennu theerumanichathu. A film anu - "Hariharan pilla happiyanu !!!".


6 maniyayappol chaya kudikkuvan poyi. Oru mallu bekary aduthu thanneyundu. Pinne, Net surf cheythu. Orkut'l kurachu nalla songs add cheythu. Ente looks - Attractive akkiyalo ennundu. Kanan valiya thettilla ennanu ente viswasam. :-) Viswasam athalle ellam. !!! :-)

Thirichu vannu. Roadies - 7 kandu. This was the last episode in India before starting with the African safari. "Deal or no deal" kurachu neram kandu. A game of pure probabilities and possibilites. I would say its more closer to gambling and not a logical game. Athenthu kunthamengilum akatte - its just a game show. So there is a lady contestant and she had come with the family. Chechi aniyathiyodu paranju oru number paranjolan. Aval paranja number - 7. Doom.. aaa box'il undayirunnathu - 50 lakhs !!! :-) Enikkitrayokkeye sahayikkan pattoo enna lookumayi aniyathi. Full desp ayi chechi !!! :-) Ethayalum veettil chellumbol aniyathiyude karyam kattapookka. But, poor girl - it was just a random selection as I said earlier there is no logic in it and it could have been any thing. Avalde bhagyathinu 50 lakhs thanee pottichu kayyil koduthu. !!!

Dinner kazhikkan 8.15 ayappol poyi. Oru malayali hotel'il ninnum anu (orchid) sthiramayi kazhikkaru. Innu valiya visappilla - (orkukka - ravile/uchaykku onnum kazhichittilla.) Idavilayayi - 1kg orange / 1 kg munthiri - iva thattiyathallathe. :-) Pinne, pakale - chayayum, parippu vadayum. (Jan communistonnumalla. Chumma prasathinu paranjatha !!! :-) Angane, enthanennariyilla - visappu theereyilla. Dinner innu vere ethengilum (nalla !!!) hotel ninnavatte ennu karuthi. Chennu pettathu Vishnupriya yude munnil !!! ???? :-)

Sorry, Vishupriya oru restaurent'nte peranu. :-) But the name surprised me a bit. My sister sometime back had told me that she would like to change her name - and Vishnupriya was my first choice. Avalum achanum valare close anu. Achante name - Vishnu ennanu. Hence I thought this name to be very appropriate.

Ethayalum dinner kazhichu. Thirichu roomil vannu. HBO'il film "Collateral Damage" Arnold Schwasnagar'nte thanu. Adyavasanam kandu. Thante priyathamayeyum eka makaneyum vaka varuthunna terroristi'nethireyulla revenge anu cinemayude thread. I liked it - I mean, you will really feel for him - having lost his wife and only son what else will he do !!!

Ok. Marunnukal kazhichu, athishtam poleyundu. Etra nirangalil, roopathil :-) 4 tablets in all - thrice a day. Innathe expenses ezhuthy vachu. Diary ezhuthy. Kidannu.
...................................................................................................................