Going gets tough!

Things have not exactly worked out as planned. And that is when one gets really tested, I guess.

I wanted to exercise regularly, get to read regularly, draw atleast one sketch in a month and also get to make some money. None of what I set out to do has happened till now. I can give a good number of excuses like

1. No time-the stupidest excuse

2. No inspiration for a  sketch

3. No parks nearby to go for a jog

4.  Work in the planning stage and hence no chance of making money

Still, deep down I know that all these are lame excuses. I got to get those things going as soon as possible.

Got to get going.

Three weeks as an entrepreuner

It has been three weeks since I have left Mumbai to work on a private project.

I have to recollect my experiences in this past three weeks. I have travelled close to 3000kms in these three weeks, with visits to Tirunelveli, Palayamkottai, Sawyerpuram, Bangalore and Hyderbad. First thing is that I feel an immense sense of doing something substantial when compared to my feeling when I was working for Johnson & Johnson. Given that it is a healthcare company and all that, but here I can see people standing in long queues waiting for specialist physicians to attend to them. Some to most of them have come long distances to see the respective physician. I also happened to meet some patients who were recuperating from surgery and could see the kind of gratitude in their eyes for the change in their lifestyle. I knew that I could do something about it and am working on that.

I also had the boon to spend an evening with my ‘Guru’ and discuss my thoughts with him. Thoughts on my career, my plans and my view of the world a large. As usual I returned with some new seeds thrown in.

The long rides in the early mornings, on roads with fields stretching for miles on either side, air thick with the fog caused by the moisture exuded by the fields was magical. I even managed to sneak away to Courtallam in the dead of the night to take a quick shower in the falls as this was the best time of the year to come to this place. the shower was in partial discharge, but just right for tourists to venture and take a bath without getting washed away. Oh the water was like a seasoned masseur, pounding away mercilessly at my torso and at the same time being not too harsh to leave me with a sour body and mind. Refreshing is the word.

I savoured on fresh dosas with brilliant chutneys which people were finishing by the bowlfuls,…balls to north indians,..:)

Now coming to the entrepreneurship part,…yeah,…feels liberating when I am alone and stressful when people look upto me for ideas in my venture, both of which are becoming partnerships.

Good mix of action, mind gymnastics and loads of fun. Like my friend wrote,…

‘I’ve got the fever once again’

‘Machan’,…

I grew up with this on my lips every time I spoke to one of my colleagues, acquaintances, friends in and around Madras. I cannot claim to have traveled all over, but I have traveled decently across India. I have not come across this sort of camaraderie anywhere else. I must qualify that I do not say the above sentence as a sort of superiority, but am only saying that it is different around here.

 

I noticed this because one of my friends pointed out that my entire demeanor changes when I am speaking to one of my friends from around here. I have come to notice that I speak in a boisterous, nasal and rough tone when I am speaking to my friends from around here. My location doesn’t matter in the least. It is the connect. My tone starts going higher than usual and I start reliving memories.

 

The word ‘Machan’ is supposed to mean brother-in-law. It reminds me of the Hindi word ‘Saala’, which means the same. It is also interesting to note that both these words have a lingo attached to them, which is different from what they mean in reality and also different from each other. While ‘Saala’ or rather ‘Saale’ is used with a negative connotation, ‘Machan’ is much more casual. Any person from Madras will respond to this, irrespective of the context. ‘Machan’ might mean anything on the orkut scale of

1. Never met

2.Acquaintance

3.Friend

4.Good friend

5.Best friend (my addition to the orkut scale)

It is an ice-breaker, social stroke, positive re-affirmation only amongst equals or from a person of higher social stature to one below. It is informal and casual. It might sometime be shortened to ‘Machi’, but the effect remains the same. It has to be prounounced correctly to bring about the right effect.

Machan ( Ma, as in Mud; Ch, as in church, N as it is)

Machi ( Ma as in mud, greater emphasis on the Ch, as in Cheese)

 

If I run a google search on all the conversations that I have ever had, I guess this word would figure in more than half my conversations. I throws light on my friends circle (past) and the ubiquitous use of this word around here. This is Madras,…Machan Land!

 

You might find these links interesting.

http://basia.blog-city.com

And this

http://www.lazygeek.net/archives/2004/10/deepavali_shopping_polamaa.html

 

Fancy items in Metros

1. Madras

2. Calcutta

3. Bombay

4. Delhi

Work after 12

Working late into the night after ages,…feels good to have your own work and your own rules,…feels like a King.

Entrepreunership rocks!  

This one is for Ashok

I was thinking of writing what little I know about Madras. There have been two reasons for this. One is that I have come to realise what little stays in the mind of people spending a fleeting moment, which is so much different from what this city is. The second reason is that Ashok has embedded a link in his post on his days in IIT Madras. Today is his birthday too. Let me start, or so I will try.

Even before I start writing about Madras, I had spent a decent amount of time trying to figuratively describe the villages of my state, something which represents the lives of the people, their toils, their travails, something which they spend time with, something which is stoic and changeable, yet changing in tune with their fates. With this in mind, I saw a Tamil movie called ‘Veyil’, which means ‘The harsh rays of the sun’ (Madras is supposed to have three types of seasons- hot, hotter & hottest,…never mind it sounds like the soft porn programme on Southern Spice). The movie features a sequence where there are sequences of well tanned children in a rural setting, playing with tops, fighting with friends who supposedly cheated in the game, playing pranks with the sleeping old man, whistling at village lasses (when their moustaches started sprouting), breaking dried up soil flakes on vacant land, jumping against dry wind when everybody else is taking cover in their houses, so on and so forth.

This sequence is followed by the welcome showers, when the same children come out to welcome the rain. They dance in the rain as though the rain will wash their worries away and leave them fresh for another year of fun. The dance as though the soil is their stage, the air is their partner and the rain is the music,…surrounding them and egging them to do the groove. Their smiles are as fresh as the rain itself. Mirth flows and happiness abounds.

I feel that this ‘Veyil’ is what sums up things in my place,…I have played, fought, whistled in equal measure. Don’t take cover in your sunscreens and cosmetics and curse Madras. You come to our place and curse the very essence of this place. This place is like that and ‘That’ is how we like it (except when it is >43C). 🙂

Madras

Am back to Chennai,…

I never relate to that name,…is not associative at all.

I would always prefer Madras,…just like my ‘bong’ friend relates more to Calcutta than Kolkatta. It is in my psyche and it feels so good. Stylish n all. I am proud of my association with this city and I can say it with panache. No mater how I word Chennai,…it never sounds as good.

Anywayz,…approximately three years after I left,…take 9 days off,…I am back in Madras,…lock, stock and barrel. Feels good.

Have decided to give a active account of things which are not mainstream to erase the huge biase created by the autowallahs in Madras. There is so much that this city has to offer.

Let me see,…