A Sojourn Remembered

There is something mystical about Kerala, especially when one calls it his homeland! And to express that in words, let alone a post on a blog, is humanly impossible, sheerly due to being grossly incapable of capturing the vivid moments of ecstatic emotion that one experiences and can attribute to the endearing charm of this Godly land.

The day breaks with an assortment of enchanting wonders, with the hooting of sleepy nightjars announcing the arrival of dawn, while the faint chimes of a morning mantra usher into the mind an easy calm that is truly unequivocal. The carousal calls, in union, of a flock of birds adds cheer and the surrounding greenery, that has remain unchanged over decades, embalms the soul in a comforting warmth that one does not feel treated to during normal days of ragged bustle on the other side of life.

The animated chirruping of kinsfolk, untouched by time and age, makes one recall the yesteryear wonders of childhood etched deeply within many layers of memory, able to be revisited at ease. The mind is overwhelmed with a sense of emotion fostered as a result of togetherness which it has yearned for all time, and this coming together, after years of being separated by time and distances, brings out the child in oneself - just like the old times! In the mind, amidst the humdrum of activity, Pink Floyd's Shine on you crazy diamond plays aloud, perhaps as a tribute to life and how indebted one needs to feel as a result of being able to co-exist in harmony!

Late afternoons are always blissful. A sumptuous fare calls for a short siesta on the veranda, propped up on a antique recliner while being able to relish the caressing wind and the muted calls of the wandering cuckoo, all in an animated state of stillness that seem to deftly calm every living soul and create a serene setting for rejuvenation - much needed for us folks who are constantly caught up in withering ways and cacophonies of a fast paced city life.

Come dusk, the stillness deepens, this time, more in the mind, posed as a reflection of the surroundings, soulfully imbibed into the self, thanks largely to the comforting feeling of the lack of a sense of time and the absence of an ominous calling for adherence to its passage. A visit to the Tharavattu Kavu (sanctuary of the deity of the family), cleanses the soul no end and the heightened sense of peace and fulfillment that prevails equals no other.

It it hard to forsake such a place and harder not to remember it with every passing moment of one's life. The sense of nostalgia that prevails can well equal and echo many lives lived, in togetherness, well over many millennia.

The shrill ship-horn tone of the train's call rudely shocks one from the comforting recollection of two days well spent - infinite in bliss, and being able to recall the wonderfully well spent times of childhood, togetherness and happiness. As the train departs and gathers pace making the characteristically monotonous din in motion, poised to plunge into time and eventually to a destination of want rather than need, there is a remembrance of yet another creation of Pink Floyd, aptly titled "Comfortably Numb" and deeply crafted with impassioned words, among others, that "I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now, the child is grown, the dream is gone."

Really, there couldn't possibly be a sense of despair more woeful than the pain of growing up and growing apart!

Footnotes:

Image Description - Korajem, our ancestral tharavad (house) in Kannur, Kerala

Image Courtesy - Mithun Ratnakaran, The other brother

Still Loving you

From the 1984 album Love at First Sting, an iconic masterpiece called "Still Loving you" remains a timeless classic, by Scorpions, rendered in perhaps the most finest styles of musical articulation and emotion.

Much later Rudolf Schenker explained "It is a story about a love affair where they recognized it may be over, but let's try again."



The song is also considered to echo a thinly veiled metaphor for a divided East and West Germany. "Your pride has built a wall so strong that I can't get through, is there really no chance to start once again?" "only love can break down the walls someday" and "Yes I've hurt your pride and I know what you've been through, you should give me a chance, this can't be the end, I'm still loving you" were considered to be clear references to the Berlin Wall and the despair many Germans felt about their divided homeland.

It eventually sold 1.7 million copies and is considered to be the most successful production of Scorpions, reaching #64 on Billboard Hot 100.

And as for me, I promise, this was some strange coincidence that I chose to post this on valentine's day - No intentions whatsoever! 

The Wizard of Menlo Park

American inventor, scientist, pioneer and businessman, Thomas Edison was born on this day in 1847.

Of his many significant contributions to the world, perhaps a lasting legacy for all time to come would be the creation of General Electric, which is easily among the most admired corporate organizations in the world.

A proponent of excellence and values, GE is today across a hundred countries, over 3,00,000 people strong with revenues of over 160 billion USD.

Having been a part of GE, myself, the iconic words that "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work," have found prominence in my life, no end, and today, Redefining Oblivion salutes this great soul for what he was and for how his vision continues to inspire millions across the globe. 

Hello

One of those absolute yesterday favourites of mine - for all time to come! Nothing beats listening to this at dawn with the day opening up. An overwhelming state of emotions rushing down in moments, while doing so!



Hello was sung by Lionel Richie and released in the year 1984 as part of his multi-platinum album Can't slow down. Eventually, the track reached number one on three billboard music charts - the pop chart - for two weeks, the R&B chart - for three weeks, and the adult contemporary chart - for six weeks. The song also went on to become number one on the UK Singles Chart. It has since been regarded by many to be Richie's signature track.

Over the years it has gained iconic status owing particularly to the line "Hello, is it me you're looking for?"

With time, the track has also found feature in a number of movies and commercials, most recently one of Yahoo in 2010.

This video, in particular, directed by Bob Giraldi, tells the story of a music teacher, played by Lionel Richie, who falls in love with his student who is blind!

Footnotes:

With inputs from Wikipedia

The 300th

Not really a nice way to celebrate a 300th post, in the midst of significant upheavals elsewhere in parts of the world - especially Egypt, which seems to be burning, but the effect of having arrived at yet another milestone certainly evokes great deal of thrill and much more!

7 years, 120 countries and countless associations certainly makes one feel much much more than being elated in the true sense of being able to realize and further a passion and more importantly, remain connected.

That apart and more significantly, this could not have come at a more appropriate time - Today marks the birthday of the most wonderful person I have ever known and possibly ever will know - my Mother!

Cannot say enough of how much strength and a true sense of vision of excellence that I derive from her!

Communities and Us

On German television, DW, the other day, I was watching a short feature on how elders of a tribal community in Australia strongly deliberate and weigh the impact of their decisions on as far as seven generations into the future.

Strangely, I'm wondering how none of us, this side of the planet, pay attention to how much our actions could impact our immediate posterity, let alone a few down the line.

Therefore, I wonder if we depict too much of arrogance really - quite unlike, in utter ignorance, like how we think we'd be capable of destroying the world! Silly plums in fools paradise, I say because a fool with a tool is still a fool! 

24

No, not the Jack Bauer, CTU and save the country types - I mean the title!

Really, what do you do when you find yourself at the limitation of time, hideously at that, when surely 24 hours is way too short for all that keeps happening?

For all the organized bit that I think myself to be, or did until now, there is surely a great deal of test happening, even as I write this out. I guess life has a way of putting one's beliefs to the test purely to be able to stretch things to the maximum aimed at making one much more malleable than what is perceived or, worse still, emphatically believed!

I wonder where it was I read a while ago that the thing about time is not managing it, but managing ourselves within it.

Truth, ultimate!

Dateline Chennai

Nik Gowing of the BBC would not be too happy that I chose to title the first part of this post after his popular feature on London, but I couldn't do otherwise, considering this very interesting snippet I chanced upon while sampling some good continental cuisine over the weekend.

This seems to be a very interesting detail of the history of Chennai and how it came to be! The image is compressed and will require a double click plus some degree of magnification to read through, after which one finds a great deal of interesting things about the city in a chronological format. It was worth the read to me and I thought it would make a wonderful Monday morning post, especially after a bit of running around places to get the original paper which was much larger than the standard A4 scanned, and finally ending up cutting it slipshod considering that it wouldn't fit into any flatbed scanner otherwise. Worth the effort, I thought! 

Have a good week ahead folks!

Anya

Anything that results as the coming together of Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey, Ritchie Blackmore and of course Steve Morse can only be known to life as Deep Purple and that for me stands among the most respected music lineups in history. Whilst the glory of such a magnificent creation cannot be articulated within the limitation of this post, I thought, nevertheless, to showcase one of my most admired tracks of Deep Purple here.



Anya, from the 1993 album The Battle Rages On, is a wonderful characterization of the self in the successful quest for purpose, I believe, supplemented strongly by the desire to embark on a journey in the fullest belief that every endeavour is a milestone that needs to be realized, almost always in singularity, propelled by a deeply driven passion originating undoubtedly from the level of the soul, though originally it intends, among other things, to convey traits of a Russian girl by the name Anya!

Ultimate in its rendition of the marvelous guitar, combined by momentary staccato type beats pulsating a feverish state of ecstatic euphoria, I will forever remember this one to be a ballad to be carried a very long way into life! Timeless legend, I'd say!

Incidentally, fellow-blogger and mother of Kareltje and Betsie, among others, is also Anya, who I know is as deeply thrilled listening to Deep Purple, as I am. :-)

The First Session

By some measure, though small, and particularly debatable in the context of the present day, given a large measure of visible lopsidedness, today in history has been witness to perhaps the very first attempts to further a culture of democratic coexistence aimed at achieving a sense of peace and mutual respect in the geo-political scenario that was.

This day, in the year 1946, the United Nations Security Council held its very first session.

Presently, though the situation is far from desired, with many raging battles ongoing, there is a sense of hope that collectively, we, as mature human beings, empowered by reason and discretion, will come to understand the importance of diversity and unity in the same sense that we respect and value ourselves, at least for the sake of our posterity that absolutely needs a supreme sense of security to live in ways that we have always envisioned and endeavoured for our own selves.

Short bursts of spontaneity perhaps, but lengthened implications, well into timelessness? Well, time will tell, and most certainly, only hope will fuel.

Happy Birthday Deepu

I've watched you grow. I've grown up with you. Now I will want to watch you grow up, bigger and better than me.

Love you lots, Deepu! Thank you for being such a wonderful person that you are. Thank you for being you.

Sunday Morning

Not quite, I know. But that's not stopping me make a post on one of the most admired music numbers, for the message of ease, peace and quiet it conveys, all of that in the face of intense adversity. What best than to post it on a Monday morning, I thought! Besides, its been a while since I did a full-fledged music post, but somehow the messages seem to tag well.

Have a wonderful week ahead folks. Stay calm, easy, peaceful and more importantly stay happy.



Footnotes:

"Easy" is a 1977 hit single by Commodores for the Motown label, from their fifth studio album, Commodores.

Written by Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie, the song, a slow ballad with country and western roots, expresses a man's feelings as he ends a relationship. Rather than being depressed about the break-up, he states that he is instead "easy like Sunday morning."

Released in March 1977, "Easy" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of "Easy" paved the way for similar Richie-composed hit ballads such as "Three Times a Lady", and "Still", and also for Richie's later solo hits.

Faith No More recorded a cover of "Easy" originally as a b-side during the studio sessions for Angel Dust, following its repeated performance during live shows, but was released as the final single to the album in late 1992 - early 1993. It was their highest-charting UK hit, reaching #3, their second Number One single on the Australian charts and their final charting single in the American chart Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #58. It was originally issued on December 29, 1992, on the double A-side single with "Be Aggressive", listed as "I'm Easy", in Europe and over three months later in America on the Songs to Make Love To EP, it was later included on the European version of their album Angel Dust. Other appearances include a 2006 commercial for Levi's Jeans and as the theme tune for the TV program Goals On Sunday.

With inputs from Wikipedia.

Deflating Life?

It seems that somethings that have been bad for a while now are just getting worse!

Couldn't help wincing aloud reading "Food inflation for the week ended December 25 jumped four percentage points to 18.32% on the back of rising onion, tomato, egg, fish, meat and milk prices. This is its highest level in more than a year. And the rising food bill could well be the thin end of the wedge. Food prices have a 14.33% wei-ght in the overall inflation figure. So, when the inflation rate is released on January 15, it is bound to be significantly higher than the 7.48% level last month."

Am quietly wondering if this combined with my 15 hour days are more than enough reasons to ask for a raise!

And as far as action from the Finance Minister is considered, one would be better off waiting for mythical beings to arrive from the very distant world of Zukon, or hey, is this the handiwork of the Trade Federation of Naboo?

Nevertheless, do have a good weekend and stay safe - more importantly, stay happy!

Opening Statements - 2011

I wish you the Love of friends and family...and Peace within your heart....

I wish you Health... So you may enjoy each day in comfort!

I wish you the Beauty of Nature. I wish you Wisdom to choose priorities!

I wish you Generosity so you may share... all good things that come to you!

I wish you Happiness and Joy... And Blessings for the New Year!

I wish you the best of everything... that you so well deserve!

When you are lonely, I wish you Love!

When you are down, I wish you Joy!

When you are troubled, I wish you Peace!

When things seem empty, I wish you Hope!

Wishing you a very happy and prosperous year ahead, one that will bring you peace, happiness, success and cheer in unending measure!

Footnotes:

Opening Statements - 2010

The Ramparts of 2010

Nothing excites me more than the ability to envision the change I want to be in the coming year!

-- In Ooty; on 27/12/2010

At the beginning or rather at the envisioning of the beginning, every year is thought to be similar to the one that passed by. But living through the expanse of that limited time, one comes to understand that only the count of 365 days is similar and that the similarity ends just there! In truth, it is the differences that are a plenty, if anything!

This year too hasn't been any different from the feeling and understanding of that reality! For me, this past year has been very eventful having taken me places and made me feel so much more closer to the purpose of learning that I have always so inherently imposed by belief upon! Nothing, you'd agree, could be more rewarding the ability to learn and learn well, of the realities that exist and how therefore the person would have to comprehend and come to terms with that on an ongoing basis.

For starters, a relocation to Chennai, cloistered well into the Southern face of India, has helped me sort of begin an innings that someday I hope to title as well-rounded in experience. This move has been very exciting and the multitudes of learning thereafter have been a gift that many would never know of, let alone be able to envision and understand! For that purpose, life has been kind, though challenges have been at the door front like ominous signboards screaming apprehensions! But perhaps, if I were to answer the question of what that singularly moving learning lesson was, I would lose little time in being emphatic at the fact that it the test of one's character to be able to remain composed in the face of all adversity while maintaining stoic disposition of what one truly wishes to become as against what one could be forced into exhibiting in temperament, considering circumstances!

Moving to the blog part - It couldn't have been more rewarding this year, particularly for being able to manage it as desired, despite all the hectic schedules. A while ago, someone on Facebook echoed loudly of how much free time I had in possession to which my response has been that "despite however much busy I would be today or in the coming times, I will be sure of never ever being so busy to forgo my passion."

Although, I haven't been able to remain as engaging as I wished to be, on the blog front, I'm very happy to note that Redefining Oblivion has long surpassed the 100 countries readership mark. This year alone, there have been 15,466 page views, 5137 visits and 2787 visitors. I can't thank all of you folks for this priceless support and patronage that makes me feel absolutely wonderful! On the blogger meet front, I have been very fortunate to be able to meet 3 of the finest people in the blog world, an association with whom I will cherish for all time to come.

This coming year, I imagine will be much more structured, in being able to define what it is that we need as against what it is that we are prepared for work for, strictly in the sense of wanting to be a part of a journey of excellence and good that we have always envisioned ourselves to be an integral part of. Let there be no doubt that our journeys are deeply intertwined and purposeful and so also the importance to be true, realistic and always oriented to a culture of excellence, more from within than to be able to see it outside of the self!

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous year ahead, one that will most certainly bring you the very best, yet! It is also my prayer that you be blessed with the rationale of being able to be wise, steady, firm and confident in all that you endeavour to do, supported unconditionally by a great deal of courage and conviction, while also believing always that excellence is an ongoing journey and not a destination to arrive at!

Most importantly, may you be blessed with unending measures of happiness and health!

God Bless you and thank you for bringing the light in my life!

Footnotes:

The Ramparts of 2009

Opening Statements - 2010

100th post this year

It gives me immense pleasure to be able to pen my 100th this year and more so of a pleasure to be able to do it from home in Ooty, where I am presently vacationing, watching over the coming days that will herald the turn of this year!

Stark contrasts in almost everything, Chennai and Ooty are poles apart. I guess I will never be acclimatized to the weather here in Ooty despite how many ever years that I have been here or will continue to do so! But I must say I love this peace and quiet, something of a luxury of sorts, to be able to unwind in the calm expanse of nothingness really!

This year has been very special, purposeful and quite meaningful too, having spent sometime doing that I was expected to do and then furthered onto something that I have always wanted to do! There is a sense of excitement and goodness, one that I am reasonably sure will prevail for a long time to come.

But this post is different, in the sense of arriving at a count for the year, since, unlike 2009, this is not the last this year! At 101, please standby for 'the Ramparts of 2010.'

Do have a wonderful holiday season!

A sleighing song tonight!

O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way,
Bells on bob tails ring, making spirits bright,
What fun it is to laugh and sing,
A sleighing song tonight!

Redefining Oblivion wishes you and folks a merry Christmas!

Do have a wonderful and safe holiday season!

Socially networked!

Technology, and it's ability to be all pervasive, never ceases to amaze me, despite however many times I've been a direct user!

Time zones, boundaries, cultures, mindsets and a whole lot of other barriers later, there is one thing that makes me feel awed beyond words - about the feeling of togetherness, even in distance!

To imagine the ability to connect to a loved one and share the workings of life thus far, and listen to the amazingly wonderful bygones of the not so very distant past seems blissful, and what makes it more appealing, is that there is no challenge of time and other supposed significants involved!

I'm not professing that technology replace the good old warm hearted togetherness of face to face, but certainly where that cannot happen, this can be a quick-fix facilitator?

Perhaps, it was wrong, after all, for me to have titled this post the way I left it to be, as opposed to actually naming it more aptly to be the exercise of living together in the world of the handheld! ;-)

This blog, for instance, only one among the many! :-)

Messages from the masters

I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens. 

-- Woody Allen

A wonderful message that landed into my inbox! Thought it worth sharing as we head into the weekend and spend some quality time with ourselves.

"In deep sleep you have no world for you. But you are there in that world. You also feel very comfortable. Only after awakening from sleep do you feel lost for comfort. During waking hours, this sense of identification with body and mind prevails.

This is something new to you. In your sleep there is no ego.

The birth of your individuality with your ego is considered as your birth.

When that individuality of the mind is eliminated what remains is only that of true self.

And, that is the eternal bliss!"

Do have a wonderful and safe weekend!

A Beautiful Boy

13 December 2010
Chennai, India

Dear David

I never will possibly understand what you could have been through over the years, often battling overwhelming odds to ardently shelter your loved one from a destructive force that is almost always all permeating in the mind and the body!

I began reading your account 'Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction' this past weekend and I must tell you how touched I am. One cannot readily imagine the situation of a parent, or a child, who is faced with a situation such as yours, except wonder how telling it would be on the strength of the family to pull through another day, as if that were perhaps the most arduous of tasks ever.

Besides, dealing with a feeling of guilt while maintaining stoic disposition of wanting to control the situation, and yet being unable to successfully chance upon a measure of cure, someone in such a situation must, I believe, be terribly caught in a quandary over being so utterly powerless in the very first place.

Perhaps, the biggest and most commendably courageous step forward, apart from of course, being the person that you were during those telling times, was your remarkable ability in speaking to the world what it was to be who you were, the family included.

Surely, today, all of you are much stronger with the realization that there have been many lessons learnt with the passage of time and I take this opportunity to greatly appreciate the person you are for the unimaginable commitment and courage that you have so characteristically displayed, without a moment of doubt, specifically at a time when all of that would have been so easily impossible!

I'm touched, beyond words and cannot possibly describe how it feels!

Very sincerely,

V. Rakesh

Footnotes: 

Beautiful Boy is about a very moving account of a boy and his addiction to Methamphetamine, narrated in first person by his father.