2bOR02b – That is the question?

To be or not to be … the well known soliloquy (monologue) from Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been fodder for thought ever since I read it in the book prescribed in my school curriculum. I bet everyone on this earth must have been victim to a particular cul-de-sac in their lives. It's a deadlock- either die to break the lock or persist in the situation. How often have people been brave enough to take the plunge rather than succumb!

Be it a school going child or an octogenarian-doting-great-grandpa, be it the king or the subject, a vagabond or a destination traveler, a cat or a lion, potato or onion- all have encountered it- To be or not to be ? It has been quite a question!

There could be an instance in which you have eaten loads, satiated your appetite and have not a centimeter room left in your tummy to accommodate another morsel. Your friend reads out the dessert menu aloud, and your taste buds reach out to your brain to accept the offer. The tongue wants it, but the brain says no! If there is a little more taken, there could be morning havoc :o) If you do not take it, you will regret the royal relish that your palette would miss. A question to reckon! 2bOR02b?

Another simple example would be engineering exams.

It is a general trait of engineering students to shirk studies until the night before the exam. Excuses are handy for any accountability to be taken for the anticipation of poor scores. The very prospect of flunking would send chills down the spine. I have had such experiences too.

No amount of studying helps as the time is too less when measured against the humongous syllabus. That is sure no consolation neither motivation. It only leaves with the guilt of insincerity and a feeling of helplessness. Few students with lambent wit and good humor often lighten the situation by cagey remarks “ Ab tak nahin kiya, toh raat bhar mein kya padh lenge” which are good enough to help recline and think on similar lines. This again devours some of the precious hours which could have been otherwise used to study.

The posing question would be – Should I be appearing for the exams or not? 2bOR02b? If I answered yes, I was sure to flunk. The humiliation of failing for once a topper would be poisoning. Similar debate over if I do not appear for the exam, I would flunk anyway, but with grace. If I took the exams and somehow cleared it, I could save one year. Would such unhealthy report be good for my career? How will I tell my family that I have passed and achieved only 50%? How will I tell them that I have failed? All such questions do stem in that sensitive hour.

How I wish it were a perfect world and such situations never haunted us! There would be no dilemma, hence less mental stress, and of course a healthy life.

Don't Ask, Why?

Don't Ask, Why?

Dogged and undaunted,
The eddies swirl high
Rising from the dungeon,
To ask the reason why?


Why is it on the top
The fear of tumbling?
Why is it at the ankles
The fear of stumbling?

Swept is the sand
Leaving it all-bare,
The heart understands it
But mind differs to care!

Why on land
The dales of honesty,
Now reigned by coup-
Of the brazen dynasty?

Why does the wanton wind
Play on the sea-bed,
Only to tear apart-
The imperturbable red.

Cast all whys
Exhorts the zephyr,
Questioning is but
Viling the fervour.

The withered optimism
Yet to fade away,
Strung rigid to the pole
Causing fears to allay.


Sketch the figure-
Of unabated determination ,
Splash the hue
Of honesty's culmination

Sweep all filth
From every nook,
Let the senses breathe
An unadulterated look!


The eddies will calm,
Time will bestow its balm,
Stretch your determined palm,
To clasp every helpless arm !

English Rigmarole!

I have been suffering from what is called the Obsessive Pronunciation Syndrome. Mostly, when I articulate in English, I tend to fumble for the fear of wrongly pronouncing whatever follows. I have been practicing this since childhood and deserve a pat on my back. I am improving. Improved but at the same time I have espoused an inexplicable habit of rectifying people on their pronunciation. As I believe in the truth of the adage “Old habits die hard!” it blissfully accompanies my conversations with sometimes quite unknown people. Either the audience is left in awe or the orator herself suffers from the guilt of insolence.

This has altogether become an involuntary act. I do not realize until the person I try to correct becomes quiet suddenly, or chases to bang my head. It would be fun to share some of those instances.

Now I hail from a geography where people are too good with their Pro-noun-ciations. That is how they would render it saying “Boss your pro-noun-ciation is wrong”.

Even funnier is when you travel to eastern India and you would come across people who would be in a serious attempt to vandalize the language – “Babu, the baash wheel leebh!” Please move your ass sorts! Well to decode- it would read as “Babu, the bus will leave”.

There are these western Indians who would say “Jigness’s wife laa-oo-s(loves) me a lot and she has flow-less (flawless) skin” :)

Northern India has peculiar articulations as they love to ‘tamper the temperature’. They would say ‘Delhi has very high tamp-rature and they swat(sweat) like pigs!’

The South has some royal distortions of consonants itself. The man himself is flip-flopped…. YEM YAY YEN! (MAN).

Thankfully, the Central India has spared English and they seek refuge in Hindi.

All of the citations above are my own experiences and I have tried to correct the speaker but to minimal avail as I said- Old habits die hard.

Then come the urban educated who think they speak correct English but are oscillating between the American and British English. I fell prey to this too. Watching English movies has totally ruined my understanding of the English that I learnt in my school days. I am unsure most of the times when I pronounce a word . Let’s say for example the word ‘leisure’. You can either call it lee-zhur(American) or ley-zhur(British). Recently my friend corrected me on the pronunciation of the word ‘Nazi’ which should be correctly pronounced as ‘Naatzi’. Similarly you have the Peetza (Pizza). The British ruled India for two centuries and left us their language. My primary school English teacher had aptly described this as a ‘Horse Language’.

There are certain other words which great orators would use with utter poise like
‘Epi-toam(epitome) of kindness’. Folks I cannot control any further and I have to correct you here. It’s pronounced Epi-tuh-me. Another word which has been ringing in my mind is Duplex. Just to sound chic people call it “Dew-play” which is 200 % wrong. It is to be pronounced ‘Dew-plex’ .Phew! what a perplex! Heard of penchant? You can pronounce it pen-chunt or po(nasal)-shaw(nasal)… How on earth can a person remember so many variants of a word? Well that’s what the English seers are for.

I think if I do not stop here, I will go on and on. If you think I mispronounced any word above ;) do stop by and help me learn.

The Sun Smiles

Virgo~Capricorn~Aquarius~Pisces

Virgo~Capricorn~Aquarius~Pisces … Wondering why only these signs of the Zodiac?? Hey… I leave it to the interpretation of the readers and I’m sure three of them would have guessed it correct by the mention itself.

Eat like a king and sleep like a baby! This is the maxim of life which is common to all the four, though the exponents in this field may differ. Capricorn loves fish and so do Pisces and Virgo whilst Aquarius curls her nose up and shrugs the smell away!! Name Chicken 65, Tandoori Kebab or Mutton Biryani and everyone is all smiles! Food binds the four against all odds and dare anybody draw them asunder.

One day Aquarius woke up and found that the three of them including Pisces and Virgo have grown out of shape. All of them were overwhelmed with grief and could not bear the sight of them in the mirror. The three, never in envy but in awe of Capricorn’s sculpted figure decided to take the plunge. Hence the schedule changed and the alarm now barges uninvited into the dreams of the three at 5:45 a.m. Dot six, after a bit of pushing and shoving each other, they get on the run with their jogging shoes. This fitness regime is concluded with an occasional, fair, on-the-lane badminton tournament, and none wins! In the meanwhile, Capricorn saddles up for the day with apt formal attire and breakfast which is painfully pushed into the mouth as the sun rises a tad high. The three jog back and behold! They are four. The sun smiles J

It’s time to catch up with a little news outside the house and the legendary ‘Friends Series’. So one grabs the newspaper, the other takes the supplement to the early-in-the-morning-not-so-mentionable-place! Virgo guesses that the newspaper supplement acts as a catalyst in getting rid of the unwanted and so it is so important in Pisces’ life. Impish Virgo! Aquarius backs it with a hoodwinked smile. The daily dosage of the Friends even if it has been watched and laughed-at uncountable times, never fails to add a glow to the ordinary. This often plays a delay game for Virgo and she tends to miss the office bus more often than missing ‘Friends’. All the four are off to office by 10:30 a.m. The sun smiles J

The four are well connected to each other while working in different offices. One goes down and the rest of three get into prolonged wired conversations and comforting! It is kindness and concern flowing to be meted out to the needy. This is the essence of the ‘She’ legacy. There are times when the four, plan to go out on a trip during the so called long weekends and mails keep flowing from one brand (read as company’s email account) to another seamlessly. It’s great to have a whole chain discussing which resort to book and what to wear specially which cuisine to try! Having fun is an inherent part of the nexus. It sometimes also involves discussions about other friends, colleagues, families of colleagues, the crushes and the crushed … The victor and the vanquished are equally praised and criticized respectively. It’s time for the sun to hide. It’s seven and then eight. The four get home. The sun smiles J …The sun smiles as it hands its mission over to the moon.

The four get into cooking and watching the idiot box again. Capricorn is a sweet singer. Aquarius and Pisces combined can form the walking-talking movie encyclopedia with the behind-the-scene gossip at their fingertips. Virgo is a singer cum dancer in waiting. All of this also cooks up while the food gets cooked. It is dinner time and all the four come together. A hard earned sleep waits while droopy eyelids beg to be relieved of the daily soaps and movies playing on the TV. The sun smiles J ...This time the stars twinkle too!

Amidst all of this, there are weekends full of activity, spring cleaning and gargantuan shopping. If there are bouquets there are brickbats too. Mind it, not all the fingers of the feet are alike, yet the four manage to be one!! They have joy, they have fun, and they have seasons in the sun. Many such sweet ones yet to be seen…

Virgo dedicates this to the rest of the Zodiacs – Doing without is undoable!!!

The few i like :)

The ANT Story!!!

Here I come "Bade Dinon Baad!!"......Truely speaking it was a long drab hiatus since my pen last rolled and my mind emerged from inaction. I would like to remind myself that this is a time of "Lent". Forty days of penance and sacrifice, but have I really lived upto it..this is a persitent question disturbing me as I know there's no one but me to blame... So in my next piece I do talk of life , the anticlines and the synclines and of course the trials to cope with imperfections!
Have you ever seen an army of ants marching ? and if you have possibly noticed, each treads the exact path as the one preceding it. This small phenomenon exhibits exemplary discipline in nature! It's very simple for the ants following, to find their way, but have you ever thought how difficult would it be for the leader! These ants might not have emotions like humans have but still they like to abide by patterns drawn by their leader.
Our lives are not as simple as these ants but in some way I admire them and somehow implement it in my own right. I try idealizing people and imitate what I like in them. Sometimes I do fall short of breath chasing my ideals, nonetheless it proves beneficial. People might not be perfect but I like to pull out the last grain from a heap of chaff!!! 

I have been a follower all the while and quite liked it until I started seeing imperfections!

Discipline is the quintessence in leadership, and if one fails to sustain that quality, the person is not fit to be a leader. For sure I know, I can never be the helm of a ship, because I lack discipline and that is what I look for in the person who I should be following. I still have to mature and inculcate discipline in my life!! But those of you who think are leaders...It's time to ruminate!!
I do strive to exercise my franchise this Election 2009 so that the largest Democracy in the world does not turn out to be 'Demo-Crazy' ...I do give up my laziness, I vote and then go to work, I help others to get there.
It is a very noble task to save our nation from clutches of the power hungry and self-centred ignoble rulers!!!

Hope this act of mine helps me attain forgiveness for all my meanness and anger in the last forty days!!

Slumdog Millionaire??

My system is up and running and so is my pen!!(Fingers in this case :D)

Why such hue and cry over the Movie - "Slumdog Millionaire"?? Well, Why not? This movie has stolen the show on every possible arena. Bagging awards for all the four categories it got nominated for in the Golden Globe awards, it now heads towards a pompous ten nominations for the Academy!! Danny Boyle sure hadn't thought about the way this movie has ushered knocking down my personal favourite "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". If you guys have the time , then its a must watch for all the movie buffs! This is one, which if you do not watch, you wouldn't attain salvation :D

Lets not deviate and I'm still hanging on to Slumdog Millionaire..My favourite in the movie is the first kid who has acted as Jamal! But seriously when I retrospect , I do not get why people fancy such a movie. For me if I relate to this movie, it is only because I relate to the Indian -A.R.Rahman who by his incredible talent had proven his worth and set the global stage ablaze!! Hats off to him. Kudos to Danny for the direction( I would like to imitate his style if I happen to direct one :P)

For a background let me tell you this underdog saga is based on a novel named "Q & A" etched by Vikas Swarup.

Should I come to the point you would know why I am accentuating on this much hyped movie. My friend lent me a book on the premise that I would return it intact .It was already in tatters when it passed hands. When I decided to read, another friend got the DVD for Slumdog Millionaire. See the co-incidence that two people trying to fabricate another coincidence which has stirred me !! Serendipity!!Now if I say this is my story, don't say that I'm baiting for credits! It is Danny's baby undoubtedly!

Well to start with :

Name of the Character in the book(Jamal in the movie): Ram Mohammad Thomas

My Name: Sheila Selma Bilung (For those who do not know of my middle name)

My first name suggests I'm a Hindu , Middle name does hint at me being a Muslim and Bilung is Christian as I am one!! An Indian in the real sense !This is nothing to do with caste or creed. I believe in a very secular conversation. This is quite evident that the name of the character tells the same tale as my name does. The only difference lies in the circumstances in which the names were devised. For the guy in the book it was the unsecular aura which compelled his saviour to name him Ram Mohammad Thomas, but for me its a lore! When I was born my mother wanted to name me Sheila - a very common name to denote spinsters in movies(You would have not missed hearing once "Sheila Aunty" if you have watched old Hindi movies). My Dad's sister i.e. my Aunt was adamant on naming me Selma which she thought was cool , a little over two decades back! (A girl's age is not to be disclosed you see :)... Well in this battle of the weaker gender , as you happen to have witnessed in every home and hearth, the male (my father) was being penalised..Our family has always been a case of Female supremacy!! Lucky, I was born a girl! My father , a peace loving man could only contribute to my surname. To say he could only exercise his right of offering me the family name . So this mini-battle of names gave indentity to the great Sheila Selma Bilung who wanders this soil !

Now you may never know , if there are more co-incidences I would end up winning One Million as Jamal did. But this time his luck of being asked the questions to which he knew answers would be replaced the adequate education ensured by my parents! No shares ! It would be all mine $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$......................Dreamzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!

Happy Unhappy !

A very happy and unhappy day for me when the everything around me apparently ceased breathing! Being an IT guy it is difficult to survive without your life-rendering gadgets ( Laptop, mobile and of course your ID card!). Such was a day in the office , where every soul was busy rummaging through the various hierarchies of success and I lay idle!("wink" got an excuse from work) What a loss it is when the earth seems to move and you are left unforgiven for not budging. So this one goes from my side .
Never forget to do without these and even if you don't , take care that all of these are working perfectly fine. But when you really want to have the holiday flavour in office shun following my aforementioned preaching! ;)