A Memoir

The June, 2010 edition of Reader’s digest carried an article on writing one’s own story… It’s a well compiled article about memoirs… This post is the result of my reading that article… Memoir (pronounced “memwaa” not “memooyer”) is an account of one's personal life and experiences…
After reading the article, I thought I would share with you all a memory of my life… This happened when I was three years old and was an LKG student repeating all the time “Rain, Rain go away” and wondering where that little Johnny in the picture lived… Our Home was just a two minute walk from school (Probably Mother chose it so that I needn’t travel much) but, the tragedy was that all my classmates lived far away n used to come either in Auto rickshaws or on their Father’s scooters… N they all carried their lunch boxes… Our Neighbor Deepu n I were the only students in the class who would come and go by walk… My mother used to come during the lunch hour and take me home for lunch… I had to eat freshly cooked, hot, piping food unlike my classmates whose lunch already turned cold. I hated it that way… I just wanted to be like others… Being a sincere boy Deepu never complained… He always obeyed his mother n went home quietly… But, I was so bored with the privileges I had, that one day I decided that I would also carry my own lunch box like all my friends. My mother tried to reason me out but didn’t succeed before my adamancy… She loved me so much that she relented n agreed to send me lunch.
I was very eager that afternoon and waited for my lunch box... All my classmates opened their boxes and our class teacher asked me why I didn’t go home. I replied proudly that my lunch would be arriving… After a long waiting of 10 minutes (I was eager to show off, so 10 minutes looked like an hour), our maid Kamala came in, with a HUGE carrier enough for 10 people… As there’s no kid in our home who had to carry lunch, my Mother had to use the carriage which was available at home… My teacher n my classmates stared at Kamala n me for one whole minute n then started laughing loud… I was so embarrassed n felt so bad that I put a long face n started eating… My embarrassment increased as Mother sent me Drumstick curry… How am I to eat Drumsticks before my teacher n classmates? So, without eating properly, I finished my lunch in a hurry n sent Kamala away quickly. That evening after I reached home, Mother anxiously asked why I didn’t eat properly n fetched something for me to eat… I vented out all my frustration at mother, and immediately grabbed the food (I was too hungry by then).
Do you think I learnt my lesson that day? Absolutely No… I repeated the same mistake again…
Well, That’s me…
Hope you all had a good laugh at my foolishness and childishness… Did you like this post? Did it remind you of Mr. Bean? Do you think I can improve my writing style? Please leave your comments here…
Also post your memoirs n send me the links of your blogs… Waiting…

To ECE IB With Love...

Never thought I would write this, especially for your class... I still remember how I shouted at you with anger and frustration at the beginning… some of you irritated me so much that I hated coming to your class...
Some how things changed later, like they always do… Don’t know when I started enjoying teaching you and later just being with you… I am gonna miss you all… Actually, already started missing you, now that you all are in vacation. I’ll miss giving PowerPoint presentations to you, threatening you about newspaper reading, lecturing the boys repeatedly about the sincerity of girls and their responding by coughing suddenly… and I will miss looking at the three buddies Divya, Sneha and Shravanthi , their cute smiles and all the studious girls who dutifully write down everything which I teach… I will miss Pradhyumna’s stupid jokes cracked with Gopal , Laxman subtly smiling at them.. Subbu’s so called “Mongolian smile”, Yeshwanth’s “Good looking only” description of himself… will miss Teasing Shashank for silly things, irritating Shiva about Record correction N I’ll miss you all, my sincere, affectionate, silent n smiling ECE IB… I will cherish all those lovely moments which I shared with you… It was a gratifying experience teaching you all…

You have already done you part by listening to me patiently, laughing at my jokes and studying for exams, but there’s something more I want you to do for me… One day, you will find your dreams fulfilling… That day, just remember me n let me know of your success… That is the greatest gift you can ever give me… God bless you all… Lots of love,
Yours ever,
English Mam(I know this is how you call me)
BTW, aur koi naam nahin diye naa…

THE LADY WITH A LAMP

"TASLEEMA NASREEN" I saw this name for the first time when my younger brother brought home a red coloured novel that summer. That novel opened new avenues to me.when I finished reading the novel, it was late in the night and I found myself weeping uncontrollably. I just couldn't take in what ever was written in LAJJA.when I started reading about Nasreen, I found out that she is a controversial author, her books are banned in her home country and a Fatwa is issued upon her.
Though Nasreen is widely regarded as a Feminist, after reading her columns, I find that she is more of a Humanist than a a Feminist. The ability to fight against the oppression of a human being by another is what makes Nasreen a truly remarkable humanbeing. I understand that conservative Islamists regard her writings as anti muslim. "Is she against Islam or is she against the customs & traditions that snub a woman" is the question. Her fortitude in pointing out things irrespective of the consequences of her action, and her endurance of the fallacies about her are outstanding.
when Aungsaan suki fought for the people of her country, she was awarded the Nobel. but, Tasleema has to live a life of exile for standing for the rights of her fellow humans. Its time the Indian government honour this wonderful woman with the citizenship of the country.

KADEDI............ANARHAM

one of the very famous mythological stories of India describe the young prahalada worshipping lord vishnu. when his father, the famous demon, hiranyakashipa asks him, where is this vishnu present, the young devotee answers, you needn't search for him at a particular place, he is present every where: "Endendu vedikina andande dorakunu". The rest is known to every one, the demon tries to smash a pillar which is beside him to see vishnu and out comes the"ugra narsimha". Just like prahlada sees the lord every where, today we can see corruption and money centredness every where in india. If you try to break any pillar, what comes out is the ugra roopam of corruption or worse, that pillar might collapse the moment you touch it, because already its eaten by corruption termites. They can digest iron also...........
The common man of India suffers and detests this evil, CORRUPTION. some of them think that nobody can change this country and they leave for some other country. The people who can't leave this place or those who don't want to leave, keep reading articles on corruption in magazines or news papers and start criticizing it severely.They might probably say that no body can change these government employees.
If one thinks that parasites are only govt. employees and the private sector is free from them, there's no greater hypocrisy than this.
one of my friends has been consulting a famous fertility centre for the past five years. she has beeen told that the problem is with her ovary and that medicines would help. later, they told her that she should opt for a test tube baby and for that thay need the ovum of some other woman. My friend agreed to this and her husband continued using the medicines. After an year they told her that as his sperm count is very less they would give the fertilized egg of another couple. Devastated with this, my friend and her husband stopped consulting the f.centre. As the fertility centre people have in store many artificially fertilized eggs with them , they cash the ignorance of people and make money out of it!!!!!!
Till now we heard about doing business with dead bodies; now a days, people are capable of doing business with unborn babies also. kavi vemana said, "tinaga tinaga vemu tiyyanundu". probably in a few days people would accept this and get used to this also.

MOUNAM

"You say it best when you say nothing at all."

These are the lines from one of Ronan Keating's famous album. Probably he means to say something else when he sings this, but it suits the mind set of common Indian (middle aged) men. They like it when the women of their house holds keep their mouths shut.
We in India might boast of women like Pratibha patil, Sonia Gandhi, Kiran bedi, Indra nooyi….. but still in Punjab, female: male ratio is 850 : 1000.What a nation we are!!!!
Domestic violence is one of the serious forms of oppression against women. This is not given much importance as much as female infanticide, rape & murder. May be people think it's not a big thing for a woman to be beaten up by her father, brother, husband or son.

The first law maker of india, MANU describes in Manu Smriti how well a Woman should be treated by the men around her.
It's an irony that men who worship woman in the form of "Goddess Durga", don't hesitate to beat or abuse their wives once they go home. I don't say that all men are like this. If Indians can become so civilized to eradicate untouchability, then why not Domestic violence?
Women's problems, their tears are not given proper attention. The most pathetic thing about this situation is no body likes to give voice to this.

As I read some where,
Enno deshalu, endaro mahilalu,
Andari basha okkate,
MOUNAM.

This aggravates the feeling that getting a good husband is sheer luck. When I wrote a blog on FEMINISM, some one wrote a comment that I don't understand feminism. Does he understand what it is? He might say that feminism originated in USA, a foreign country and it came to India, just like English, Jeans, MNC's & Coke.
But, where did this concept of treating women as inferior creatures araise? Not in India. That was also imported in the same way from other countries.
Like the most famous religions of the world, Hinduism doesn't talk about man as the supreme creature. It says that woman is the abodement of power (Adi Shakthi).

The wife of a drunkard and mother of two wants to commit suicide because of domestic violence. But, she doesn't have the courage to do it, when she sees her children. She silently sheds tears and the dark night devours them calmly. Who is answerable to all those countless tears?
As sri sri says,
Rooraktha pravaha siktham, pishacha gana samanakaram...
Narajati charitra samastham parapeedana parayanathvam...

TEACHER'S DAY

Well, I understood that there are only two days in a year when I hear the message alert frequently on my mobile. One, May 6 & the other Sep. 5. The first one is my B day & the second one, S.Radhakrishnan's. Being a Teacher is not that wonderful, at least for me. For the first few classes, it feels like somebody ducked your head into water. You want to breathe but you can't. After a few weeks, you become normal. Not that great experience. A Teacher speaks standing on one side of the class, the students on the other. Not a considerable difference. What matters the most is the 75% attendance. "Teacher, tum bug bug karte jao, hum smsing karte jaate". Ideal class room, found any where in India. To hell with this education system, sorry the most profitable business in India. And the teachers!!!!! my god , the "Teachers", some of them who teach Under graduates & Post graduates are not even worth to teach 5th class. God save those students.
The Best part of the day is watching Julia Roberts' MONALISA SMILE. Kat Watson, I wish I were like you. I some how, missed my students yesterday, especially the ECE gang. When I was studying I used to wonder whether my teachers would remember me after I finish college. Now I am thinking whether my students would remember me after they finish their college. GOD BLESS THEM.

INDIA: SHINING OR STINKING?

In one of my favourite novel, "Barrister Parvatheesam", the protagonist, parvatheesam goes to England to study law & become a Barrister. He is invited to a party over there by English people. When he arrives at the party, the servant comes to him, asks for his coat and enquires politely whether parvatheesam wants to use the toilet. Immediately, our clever fellow replies, "no, thanks. i did IT in the corner". This novel describes a 19Th century Indian, who went to England. But the Irony is you see parvattheesams all over India even in 21st century.
The so called God's best creation, MAN (according to the Bible) doesn't even bother to find a public urinal in India. A man, urinating shamelessly on a road in broad day light is not an uncommon scene in India. There are men who think that urinating in public is a very common thing. For them, its as natural as eating or breathing. Probably the makers of our constitution forgot to include this one in the rights of an Indian citizen(only male!). Look at the plight of Indian government! I see the symbols om, half moon, & cross on the walls of many institutions & govt. offices. Utter Stupidity! How can any one dream that mere painting of religious symbols would stop men from doing this heinous act? I am not saying all men in India are like this. Men, who are not sensitive to the rights of other citizens of the country, Men who are not bothered about any thing except their lives, are capable of filling their pockets by illegal means and emptying their bladders without any shame.
I desperately want to believe Ram Chandra Guha who writes very positively about INDIA in his columns. But, all I can Say is THE WHOLE NATION STINKS.