The Poet in me - 6

Do, do it perfect

Play the music so well that even the Guitar should wonder if it's really it's own strings that's sounding so good.

Love your woman so passionately that makes her feel she must be the most beautiful woman in the universe.

Sing a song that can so much touch hearts that even tears should not realize when it started to flow from the listener's eyes.

Party so hard that even a stranger passing by gets rejuvenated.

Keep smiling, laugh so full of heart, that the face and heart muscles are happy all the time, and feel like slapping you whenever you frown.

The wait

The wait for you, that longing in that wait,

The anticipation of you being the water for this thirst, the water has turned poison in this wait,

All I have to decide is if I have to die of thirst, or die of poison.

Just the usual life struggles...the struggle is part of the wait, the wait needs more time, and the time is something no one has, just keep singing.

Women are singers, they come and sing in your life, our job is to be the Guitar for their singing and they will make our life musical and melodious.

You are a line in my Book!

When it's happening, it's life,

When it's yet to begin, it's a poetry,

When it's going smooth, it's melody,

When it gets brutal, it's agony,

When it ends, it becomes a story.

Now which part of the story do you tell? The chapters that we chose to omit, the chapters that we chose to glorify.

If we look back at our own story, how many chapters would you re-write? How many pages would you burn?

Here's my book,

I have space for a line of each of you,

You give me love, the lines becomes chapters,

Even if you hurt me later, the chapter of you still exists, but just a para gets added which the readers might find spicier to read, and your entire chapter gets omitted.

The Long Road

On this long road am driving on,

I liked the "me time" driving alone for some time,

I started to believe the journey was more important than the destination,

After some more tyre rubber I burnt, I realized neither the journey nor the destination is important, but the company mattered.

This long road pushed me into self exploration, some self pity, liking some music,

The long road has just enough breaks to refuel and continue the journey,

After spending almost a lifetime on this long road, I realized I was never meant to reach anywhere,

Oh this damn long road, it made me believe if I had bigger Car, drive faster I could reach, but the long road runs for eternity.

The point of truth

That line in the Mirage that partitions reality and visual illusion,

That border where the sky meets the ocean,

That road bend that becomes uphill from downhill,

That point when hope turns dejection,

That point when patience turns to anger

That moment when you wake up from a dream, not knowing if you are out of a dream or entering a dream,

That moment when the adoration on a Lion turns disgust when you see it mercilessly killing a helpless deer.

It's that breaking point, it's that moment where opinions, perceptions change, the choice between the two realities.

To be, or not to be

To be, or not to be,

To do, or not to do,

To accept the mediocrity around you,

To digest the toxicity around you,

To accept the self importance you give to yourself,

To maintain sanity amidst insanity,

To maintain mindfulness in the middle of nonsensical minds,

To realize what you were meant to be, designed to be,

To accept the uncertainty of life,

To find peace with the strangeness of situations,

To be the voice of your own insecurities,

To expect counter opinions to your opinions,

To wipe the tears and move on.

The talented loser

I am full of talent,

I am all fame,

I am respected,

I am the king,

I am loved,

I am the dream, I am the inspiration, I am the epitome of aspiration...yet my life is all about hopes and prayers.

Prayers for my success supersedes my talent and failures.

I can't decide if this is my life story or RCB's!

Frustrations & Disappointments - 8

Claims & Politics

Everything is politics, everything is business, everything is about me, around me. That's how all of us are wired, and that's normal.

If one bunch takes advantage of their involvement in Freedom struggle, other bunch takes advantage of their involvement in building a Temple.

If politicians take advantage of their caste, sub-caste, religion, community to seek votes, the citizens also vote on the same basis.

There is no right or no wrong in claiming credit, everyone does. One man then claimed credit for the Independence, another man now claims credit for everything happening around.

Even Tours and Travel companies have launched new packages to the new Temple and riding the wave. Everyone wants to take advantage, everyone wants to sail along and sail above.

And all these are just being us - the greedy humans!

Reaction to abnormality

Losing temper is a big no,

But I rarely see anyone not losing the temper,

The byproducts of losing temper are ruinous - Stress, BP...

I abuse people in traffic,

I defame politicians,

I rebuke my clients,

Sometimes I feel I overreact,

But with a little introspection, I realize it was a normal reaction to an abnormal amount of bullshit.

You know you will hurt yourself when you slap your own cheek when there is a Mosquito. You got to do what you got to do!

Nutheads on the road, Nutheads on the chair

There's no dearth of rash and irresponsible drivers on the streets.

You can't paint all Cab/Auto drivers with the same brush, there are specimens and nutheads driving all kinds of Vehicles. Even the tense looking, amateur drivers driving in the middle of the road slowly are very bad for the traffic.

Today it was the turn of a Brand new Innova, a Govt vehicle. The Driver was all alone and no one else in the Car.

What if there is a scratch or damage to the Car, who would care for the expense? Neither the Driver, nor that official/politician nor that Accountant approving the Bill.

Because it's someone else's money, it's all free money in the Govt funds, why will anyone bother to be responsible!?

I have never heard a Govt official losing a job due to performance or being irresponsible. Especially when getting a job is so easy - just be born in a Caste.

And we can't even question Politicians, their audacity is seen immediately after they win election. And to the run up to the election, all they have to do is produce a Movie, build a temple, announce a freebie to create a new rhetoric, propaganda, and the Votes fall on their Lap!

Displacing my pain

With so many scary road rage incidents we get to hear everyday, people tend to give many colours to it. Some goto the extent of attributing it to the political party in power they don't like or give it a communal angle.

When I myself engage in road rage, abusing other road users, I feel elevated that my reasons include indiscipline, breaking rules, inconsiderate of others.

Come to think of it, we are just letting our demons lose as it's easy to abuse others.

I feel we all are at war wih ourselves.

There's so much pain inside that we tend to release it on others.

Hope we find peace from our wars.

This Narcissistic behavior is only displacing our pain to others.

The collateral damage are our own loved ones, when this venting out our anger on others becomes our battle.

Where are the rains

I am sorry for singing "Rain rain go away.." when I was young, please don't feel bad rain god, please come and embrace my city.

It is said that Sun god (Surya) is the eye of Rain god (Varuna) and Air God (Vayu) is his breath.

Please take this as a complaint that both are torturing us. One burning us, one not even around us!

Famously known for best weather year round, Bangalore has now lost it's fame, as we are breaking all records of peak temperatures. All migrants formed que to rush to Bangalore saying

"Mausam acha hein"

"Weather semma irukku".

We were used to rains the moment temperature crossed 34.

Call it urbanization, call it climate change, call it pollution, the impact is jolting!

Water shortage, heat wave, dry spell were unheard, unknown to us Bangaloreans. We are no more first class citizens!

The weekend Bangalore Traffic

Is there anything more frustrating, more irritating than a weekend outing in Bangalore traffic?

I have almost stopped driving on Saturdays and usually take a cab to be sane. It's excruciatingly painful traffic on a Saturday than a weekday. A drive to Whitefield on a Weekday is probably bit more tolerable than a drive to JP Nagar on a Saturday.

Blame it on population, migrants, weekend outings, honking madness, illiterate drivers, mindless driving, intolerance, it's a literal explosion of people's diarrhea of traffic sense.

Many of my cousins staying in North Bangalore have gone back half way and skipped attending functions, cutting through the City to reach South Bangalore.

Is there a solution at all? If there was one, we wouldn't be seeing maddening traffic jams in any populous cities.

Supposedly an expert in optimising Transport, I do not have an answer to this frenzy. City planners insisting on Public Transport isn't really solving things.

Only possible solution is for people to move out of City Life!

Hero Worshippers

We all do our best, go overboard to protect our loved ones, be defensive about them and forgive all their mistakes.

How sane, justified is it to express similar emotions towards unknown Heroes? When people express similar connect, being protective and shamelessly defend every mistake of their favourite politician or an actor!!??

Who doesn't admire an achiever...we all admire people and make them our heroes...be it Sachin, M.J, Kohli, SRK, Modi or Darshan.

We admire their talent, skills and that's it.

Probably a psychology expert needs to answer the psychic behind ordinary people's hero-worshipping tendencies.

Beyond a point, we don't know them, they are just someone else and not our own people to be invested so much.

When people go overboard and express nauseating emotion towards a Hero, making him larger than life, and defend all his mistakes as well, I feel it's a chemical imbalance in the way they think.

As someone said "I use Airtel service, I pay for the Network and they provide Network. Period, end of transaction. I can't get emotional and say I will punch you if you say a word against Airtel's CEO".

Let's Celebrate - Part 4

The first circle Weddings

Family Weddings treat the way you treat it. Either you involve, have fun, meet and greet people, or stand in a corner and get bored.

Nothing like a happy wedding, nothing like a hall filled with beautiful people, nothing like the sight of so many good looking men and women fully decked up and looking their best.

HDB Preeti!

I didn't know you existed 15 years ago. You came to my world and became my world. What I like the most is the Child in you is very much alive, which makes you appreciate, enjoy every small happiness and moments.

And I have made it my life mission to feed that child in you with happiness, loads of memories and pampering.

I always believed in creating memories and celebrating you everyday and more on important days of our lives.

Every Birthday celebration has been unique, hope this one also we celebrate in a unique way and make it memorable. Celebrating you is the way I convey my Love, and Creating Memory is my Gift to you.

Wishing you a very happy birthday Preeti!

Happy Women's Day

How do I express, what do I write on Women's day? Some beautiful, emotional, choicest of words to praise her? Some WhatsApp forwards? It surely makes her happy, feel important atleast today! All Men praising her, encouraging her, showering love on her. She is soaked with Women's day wishes through out the day. I only pray and wish for her to continue to have the strength, courage, patience to fight her daily fights. This angelic creation is an angel in someone's life. She is the ritual in the festival, she is the light in the house, she is the source to life, she is the reason for life, she is the oxygen in air....someone loves her, someone depends on her, she is indispensable!

The Day After..

What will happen to the Day After the Women's day?

Are we back to taking them for granted?

The bubble in which she was, with all the special feeling, wishes, praises burst and she is back to the routine.

Same feeling after your Birthday, Valentine's Day, Anniversary day, Mother's Day, Father's Day - the special feeling is activated only for that day, the day after, you are just another person. All the lift in emotions, all those expressions that made you feel important falls flat the next day.

It's like the phase after Covid times..we all forgot those feelings of Value for life, value for money, value of relations, value of time..all those introspections during Covid times were forgotten.

It's like you return from a good weekend break. All those rejuvenation, energizing, uplifting your spirits during the weekend, just fizzles out the moment you step into a Monday!

Birthday Wishes

I received Love today, I received blessings ..what do I wish for? I only wish to be robbed! I wish my stress is robbed, my work is robbed...my monotony, my ego, my temper, my anger, my frustrations, my dreams, my aspirations. Rob me of this city life, rob me of the falsity, fakery, madness. Rob away my lust, my inebriety. Leave me with my love, my words, my evenings with my friends, my spirituality, somewhere in the nature. Just free me!

Jaya Jaya Rama

Jaya Jaya Rama

By

Murali Murthy

I was waiting to post this, for the sedation to fade, sudden splurge of devotion to go back to the Heart from the top of the Head.

Undoubtedly (without any toxic and insensitive intent) it's a sacred occassion for all Hindus that a historic wrong was made right, which was overdue for over 100s of Years. Period. All other arguments on the need, secularism, constructing temple over a demolished Mosque are unjustified, irrational, everyone have moved on from defending those absurd debates.

Apart from the sentiments, devotion, spirituality, the Temple will change the face of Ayodhya, transformation of a small town, infrastructure evolution, Millions of Jobs generated. Sarayu river will have a competition now, as the investments also will flow in full swing! 😀

How much ever I criticize the intent behind the event, what ever I say, there is an undeniable energy, vibes, spirit, enthusiasm, festivity amongst the people.

The politisization, claiming credit and force fitting himself in the heart of everything is the art mastered by our Man.

He surely knows one Temple is enough to bring him back to power. History stands proof of that - Nationalization of Banks got Congress to power in 1971, Emergency alone was enough for Janata party to claim power in 1977, assassination of a PM got Congress back to power in 1991, "Ache Din" promise got BJP to power in 2014, Freebies got many State Govts to power.

No wonder our Man was in a hurry to inaugurate with him sitting in the Center on 22nd Jan, and not on 17th Apr (Ramanavami) because he knows Election Code of Conduct will be in place by then and he can't extract juice of this opportunity.

The spectacle and placing one Man in the center of a spritual event is what is disturbing, who by the way also became a chief priest!

There's no question that this was indeed momentous, monumental event and cultural resurgence.

I will take a pause here and admit this Temple and this Man was required at this stage and pace of the world. To re-establish, reconnect to our civilization, to our roots. Why he does what he does is his personal agenda, but the outcome was essential to Hindustan.

......The art of keeping people busy just before the election, is a skill that this dispensation has mastered over the decade.

Be it Lakshadweep or Rameshwaram, one man alone on the beach doing his usual antiques or sweeping the temple all alone, in front of his Camera Man was sickening. When it's presented on TV, my mom was like "wow, what devotion, even when he is alone!". I had to tell her that he is in front of a personal Camera Man and that's why you are able to see!

I was tensed and on the edge of the seat when the Idol was unveiled, as I was worried if I would see Idol of white bearded man, instead of Rama!!

Amidst all this, I can't decide if I have to laugh at Opposition's dilemma or pity them. As it is they are clueless, idealess, agenda less, headless, brainless, leaderless, visionless, narrative less, and now they absolutely have no answer to this Rama BaaNa!

One Aunt who came home was so excited with the Temple, mesmerized with the preparations, she genuinely feels there will be change in the world, in awe with people celebrating Temple around the globe, with foreign tourists in Ayodhya, she feels soon entire humanity will be converted to Hinduism and there will be Rama Rajya....

Does building a Rama temple bring Rama Rajya? Then let the same State build temples of Saraswathi & Lakshmi which has the highest illiteracy, crimes and poverty!

Even Rama cannot help, as it's the same people with same toxicity, greed & lust for power, indiscipline, immoral, heinous mindset.

How Much ever I don't like a leader, I only criticize them objectively with no intent to cause/wish for physical harm. But the devotees openly say that the lady should be assassinated like her MIL!

I mean...What! It's exactly what other religion fanatics think so, isn't it!

Religion, spirituality should be used to bring in harmony, peace amongst people and society, but here it's only used to drum up a drama, to keep the fault lines alive and to spit venom.

And many of those bike and car rallies on the streets with Saffron shawls, screaming "Jai Shree Ram" posing intimidatingly, laughing mischievously, honking madly, with not an iota of Bhakti, Spirituality on their faces but all screams! The scenes reminded of my horrible experience of Eid celebrations in Hyderabad, which was ofcourse 100 times more scarier and 1000 times more in numbers!

Many incidents (definitely not isolated) occurred where Saffron clad, "Jai Shree Ram" roaring Rama Bhakthas were seen throwing crackers, slippers inside Mosques, putting up Saffron Flags over the Church, during such "Celebrations".

Day 2, we saw lakhs of devotees at the peak of unruliness.

Reiterating, Building a Rama Temple is not ushering into a new era. People must inculcate habit of following rules, being disciplined, being mindful of nature, people.

Unfortunately, this event seems to be a licence to be unruly and feel a sense of freedom to be provocative, instigating and acceptance of being brats.

Rama Rajya is not something one leader comes and establishes, it's seen when all the citizens become lucid, rational, express Rama bhakthi from the Heart.

The celebrations by our Desis on foreign soil looked funnier to me. Why should another Nation accept and tolerate a non-native religious celebrations out in the open and aloud?

What's the difference between Mughals/British and our Desis there? All of them are carrying their ethnicity, religion, faith along with them and establishing in other countries! If this is right, it was right then as well. If it was wrong then, it is wrong now also.

I was also trolled for not expressing enough enthusiasm, high decibel chants and showing happiness on the streets, in the writings and praising the Man who is in the center of the inauguration. The table turns when the same set of people visit Udupi and express dull and subtle devotions! It's all about where we find the connect and not necessarily everywhere and in everything.

Get ready Krishna, you are next in line, the election agenda for 2029!

Jai jai Ram,

Nirguna Ram, Nirbhaya Ram,

Sadhguna Ram,

Your Ram, My Ram,

The Hindu Ram, the Political Ram,

The Election Ram,

Jai Sri Ram,

The saviour of Ram, the re-incarnated Ram, the resurrected Ram,

Ayyo Rama!

The land of entrepreneurs

 The land of entrepreneurs

By

Murali Murthy

There are zillions of movies, biopics, web series made on how some entrepreneurs were born, how they created unicorns, got millions of funding and made it big, somewhere far, somewhere in the west.

We (not so) young entrepreneurs have to get the right inspiration, practical use case and awakening examples.

Our eyes light up, ears stand straight and get orgasm when we hear a company got Funded. The definition of success of a business has unfortunately come to - being funded.

Business principles, profitable model, bottom line, ethics, courage, confidence, risks all have blurred.

To be inspired, motivated, let's stop looking out, but start looking in our own backyard.

The Maiyas, the Kamats, the Bhats, the Pai, the Hollas, the Aithals - known for setting up extremely successful, profitable Hotels and most of them are now a chain of restaurants or a stand alone gem.

I am talking about those daring Young men and families who migrated from the Udupi / coastal belt far and beyond, across India.

Many stories that we have seen in Movies that a young boy ran away from home in Udupi, went to Mumbai, joined a Hotel as a cleaner, promoted as a Cashier, ended up buying that Hotel.

This is definitely not a story imagined, this is a true story of many Udupi families I have known.

The story of none other than Preeti's grand father - Sitarama Maiya, whose Uncle had a Hotel in a remote town in the then Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Sitarama Maiya was asked to relocate and take care of this Hotel after the Uncle passed away, who had very young children.

Once the children grew up, Mr. Sitarama Maiya moved on and wanted to setup his own Hotel. He started scouting for a place, and kept traveling up North till Nanded in Maharashtra, where there was no other South Indian Hotel.

He got his wife to run the Kitchen and he setup a small Hotel opposite to the Railway Station.

Slowly made progress and purchased a plot, built a small hotel. He kept improving the Hotel, furnitures and expanding every decade.

The eldest Son Vasant Maiya (my FIL) after finishing his LLB, took charge and started running the show along with his younger brother Nityanand Maiya.

Both brothers made New Udipi Hotel, a famous South Indian Hotel in Nanded!

Imagine someone as humble, as simple as Mr. Sitarama Maiya, from a very small town near Udupi, migrating to a remote Town amongst unknown people speaking unknown language, yet setting up a successful Business, way back in the 1940s. They even helped others in the family to setup Udupi Hotels in the nearby towns.

And this story is not unique, the template is same across all the budding Hoteliers from Udupi belt migrated to various parts of India and setup successful business.

If entrepreneurship is about being enterprising, being street smart, being gutsy, having self confidence, risk taking ability, and confidence to sell anything, ability to engage in interesting discussions even with strangers, ability to multi task, learn and improvise, treat life and life experiences as Institution, without any backing of Investors, Funds, then such people and businesses should be our inspiration.