Blesson's Blackboard

Its never ever going to be too long.....

2008-02-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

I decided to set out fighting the numbness in life that had enveloped in the extremity of a few hardships and tests of consistency I faced during the last few months. The battling lines and ground were extremely rugged. But now the solemn pride of having fought through and the assuagement of anguish have sprouted within me.

During tough times I am constantly reminded and inspirted by the story of Sir William Wallace, a knight and Scottish patriot who led resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Wallace is known to have won the Battle of Stirling Bridge and the battle of Falkirk against the English army. The Scottish men were less armed and less numbered, but the fierce determination and the passion to win freedom for their nation. Wallace fell many times, but he learned to stand on firm ground rather roll and drag in the pits of downfall. He taught his men determination and the pride of winning freedom for their tomorrow, but the price he paid is beyond description. After Wallace's capture and declaration of being guilty he was stripped naked and dtragged through the city at the heels of a hoursee. He was hanged, drawn and quartered- strangled by hanging but released whiele still alive, emasculated, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His body was rent apart and made public display. All this he bore and endured with the pride that he was winning the F-R-E-E-D-O-M for their tomorrow.

There are times in our life when we pay a costly price enduring struggles. But there's always pride and hope of getting through tough times. Its never ever going to be too long.

It's not going to be too long

2007-11-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

Its been a couple of months since I have arrived at the UK. Adaptation has been a word that has been the buzz word. After a severe cultural and climate shock, I have recovered and gained momentum in my studies. As somebody penned it down, 'where there's a will there's a way'. After I reached I did notice a big change in the British Soil.

I usually walk to the University to attend lectures. Its almost a 20 minute walk away in the freezing cold, where I wouldn't even feel my ears and fingers. Every day I used to see an apple tree in the garden of a house. The lawn was not well kept and the house looked deserted. The trees around looked numb, changing their color and paleness of the bitter cold touching their lives too. All fruits were shed off and only the trunk and branches would have to sustain the hostile weather of the next 3 months. The leaves beneath lay crumbled and without life.

Everyday as I walked past this lawn and attend lectures, I used to think how meaningless was life. We are placed to face the hostility and become numb. Ultimately we are ripped of without leaves, and only our framework of the branch and trunk exists. It would have no comeliness nor beauty to endure the winter.

One day I stood gazing for a few minutes at those trees in the lawn. An old man came down the way in brisk pace. I never thought he would notice me or stop over to talk to me. He called out 'Young man, what are you looking at?'. I thought he must have been the owner and didn't want to entertain a road passer to gaze at his lawn. The man said, the trees have shed their leaves, some are changing to colors of paleness, but remember the winter is not going to be long.

How true was it and how foolish was I to think that being placed in hostility and numbness equated to the meaningless of life. The Winter is going to be short indeed. Its not going to be long. There's one bright day after enduring this battle of odds and struggles, that you reach the stars. The spring would come soon. Everyday as I walk past those trees and see the crumbled leaves, it is a reminder that its not going to be too long.

The spring would come, you would regain life and everything would be bright and colorful. The fallen petals and leaves would rise in summer. 'Its not going to be too long'.

When I remembered those days again

2007-09-23T01:32:00.000-07:00

I remember those days of old when innocence enveloped my life. I am trying to repaint that canvas ith those pictures on my memories wall. The tides and cobwebs of professionalism can never wash of those unique shells that have rested on my memory shore and are buried in depth. Never has the mind during these days known the words and acts of prejudice, hatred and retaliation.

But now days and times have changed. Getting busy and busier, with a lot of cobwebs around. There seems to be hardly any time to spare for pals of those childhood days who walked together. Spoke to a few of them over telephone the last day and remembered the days we stayed together in a hostel. We ate from the same plate and drank from the same cup. Played the same game and had same interests. Spoke of mysterious wizards and ghosts of haunted houses.

The last word before our phone conversation ended rested upon the idea that we have all parted, we have all gone into different paths, we have all made our ways different, there were no possiblities of a reunion. Our eyes were wet and our minds were in agony. The days of childhood and adolosence when we remained in unity with friends. But now time bought us apart. The only consolation that we comforted each other was nothing but the solemn pride that all our pals were fighting the fights and struggling the basic strugles of life to succeed. We could all see the gates of opportunities wide open, welcoming us to succeed.

The World was indeed wide open and opportunities even wider. Amidst its wideness the globe is spherical and we would surely meet again!!! What more could we hope for???

Getting back to Academics

2007-09-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

There's just 23 more days left and I am yet to start a new voyage I discontinued 15 months ago. This is going to be a totally new voyage indeed. I would be 10000 miles apart from my family and relatives physically, crossing over the skies of West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, to settle down for a year in a small town Reading in the outskirts of London. Though its a dream come true to study in a European University and do one of the most advanced courses of my field I stand in a frenzy knowing not what would be ahead. I have heard that the weather would be hostile to the utmost and there would be a high slope change in the culturals. How would I adapt so quickly landing there in the midst of the winter season. I have picked up a thick jacket almost 6 kgs in weight and I hope that saves me from the cold.

Now getting back to academics after 15 months is tough. My mind revolves now in a slightly different angle not exactly tuned for the academic world. I worked a couple of months in an Indian MNC. The nature of learning and working was different. Then 3 months of rest though there were struggles to get things done. And now back to academics....

I am determined, I know that for sure, but the way ahead would never be easy. I keep
remembering the old golden proverb'Where there's a will there's a way'. I hope I could return back to the same enthusiasm I had in my college days. I want the same passion to be ignited as during those days when I could tinker with technology and good stuff. I hope all that came in as a capsule.

Getting back to academics would really require some warm up.

Freedom at Midnight

2007-08-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

The words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the midnight of August 14th, 1947. They are still powerful and haven't lost its blend, flavour or essence.

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.

The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.

The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for anyone of them to imagine that it can live apart.

Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come - the day appointed by destiny - and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!

We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the father of our nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us.

We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.

We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good and ill fortune alike.

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be.

We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service. Jai Hind [Victory to India]."

A Martyrs Last Letter

2007-07-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

To my family
Dearest Papa Mama Budie and Granny,
1. By the time you get this letter I'll be observing you all from the sky enjoying the hospitality of Apsaras.
2. I have no regrets in fact even if I become a human again I'll join the army and fight for the nation.
3. If you can, please come and see where the Indian army fought for your tomorrow.
4. As far as the unit is concerned the new chaps should be told about this sacrifice. I hope my photo will be kept in the A'loy mandir with Karni Mata.
5. Whaterver organ can be taken, should be done.
6. Contribute some money to orphanage and keep on giving 50/- Rs to Ruksana per month and meet Yogi Baba.
7. Best of luck to Birdie, never forget this sacrifice of these men. Papa you should feel proud. Mama so hould you, meet ======== (I loved her). Mamaji forgive me for everything wrong I did.

Ok then its time for me to join my clan of the Dirty Dozen. My aslt (maybe assault) party has 12 chaps. Best of Luck to you all.

Live Life King Size,
Yours Robin.

At the age of 22 Capt. Vijyant Thapar laid down his life for our tomorrow. Vijyant a soft hearted soul with an armour of fearless determination and love for the nation. At the age of 22 when life was still to come he chose to battle with the enemy without any thought about himself. he was very sure that the God in the heaven will protect him. He gave up his life fighting the enemy and protecting our motherland without thinking about himself. Considering he was only 22 years of age, this selfless act makes him a very noble soul. Fond of Music as he was, he was always playing tunes of his favorite movie "BORDER" even at the war front.

2 Rajputana Rifles was given the task of captaining Toiling Knoll, Three Pimples. In this actions Robin fought like a man and true soldier. These forbidding heights were held by enemy Northern Light Infantry (NLI) . They had well constructed fortification very well stocked, well sited, dominating the narrow ridge line on which 2 Raj Rif had to attack. During this Battle Vijyant captured a Pakistani position called Barbad Bunker Pt. 4590,Tololing was the first victory for Indian army on 13th June 1999 and has gone into history as a turning point in the war.

After the successful capture of Tololing he spoke to his mother on V Sat telephone and proudly said "Mama we have captured Tololing". Later on 28 June, 2 Raj. Rif. was given the task of capturing Three Pimples, Knoll and Lone Hill area. The attack started with Vijyant's platoon leading on a full moon night along a razor sharp ridge wih no cover to offer. There was intense and accurate artillery shelling and heavy enemy fire. He lost some of his dear men and some more were injured causing the attack to be disrupted. However with his indominable spirit and tremendous urge to capture Knoll he got together, the remenants of his men and moved through a ravine to face the enemy. It was a full moon night . Moreover this was an impossible position to capture. The troops of 6 Northern Light Infantry had all the advantages. Strongly prepared positions one narrow knife edge ridge, with precipitous slopes on both side, ravines thousands of feet deep, devoid of cover and almost vertical climbs at places.

At 8PM the attack commenced with a thunderous shatter as 120 guns opened fire rockets hit up the sky. Shells, own and Pakistani covered the whole area mixed with lethal machine gun fire. Into this inferno 2 Raj Rif moved with capt. Vijyant Thapar leading the attack. Among the first to fall in this rain of death was sepoy Jagmal singh Vijyant's very dear orderly.

While the exchange of fire was going on, full of excitement Vijyant reached his company which had already secured a foothold on Knoll. By this time his company commander Major P. Acharya had been killed. At this news Vijyant's anger was explosive. He surged ahead with his colleague Naik Tilak Singh. Both of them started engaging the enemy merely 15 mts. away. There were two enemy machine guns firing towards them. After about an hour and a half of fierceful exchange of bullets and abuses Vijyant decided that he had to end the enemy. As he moved up to do so a burst of fire struck him on his head. He fell in the arms of his comrade Naik Tilak Singh. A brave son of India had fallen. It was after that the men of his company charged and fully captured Knoll. The victory at Knoll on 29 June 1999, is a saga of bravery unmatched, and unbounded grit and determination. Courage alone and unflinching faith in Almighty God alone turned a tactically impossible situation into a victory.

Vijyant was a die hard soldier and a proud Indian. He was always smiling no matter what the circumstances are. He was a God fearing person. He displayed an exemplary devotion to duty during the main attack at Knoll even at the cost of his life. One such hero was captain Vijyant Thapar an ordinary, simple happy go lucky boy but a man of character who did what his country, his army, his paltan and above all his family expected of him- "His Duty" even on to death.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2007-06-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

Crazy Men and their Crazy Dreams

2007-05-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

And I remember those famous words of Martin Luther "Though we wallow in the valley of despair......I have a dream today"

Signs Of Life after Disaster

2007-05-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago in the early hours of April 26, a chain of events began in Soviet Ukraine that was to unleash a catastrophe of unprecedented scale. At 1:23 a.m., a massive surge of power in Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station caused an explosion that lifted the 1,000-ton lid off the reactor's core. Within hours, a column of radioactive material some 1 kilometer high was drifting northwest across Europe that would leave traces across the Northern Hemisphere. In Belarus and Ukraine, the accident left huge swathes of land deserted and radioactive. An area of 30 kilometers around Chernobyl was evacuated and is still abandoned. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them volunteers, fought courageously to contain the damage.

Twenty years later, what lessons have been learned from the disaster, and what is being done to address the damage it did to the region? But there are still reminders of life, reminders that preserve the memory of the tragedy. Laundry hangs on balconies. Some houses still have pictures of family members on the walls. You walk into a kindergarten and see scattered toys, scattered dolls, and respirators between the dolls. In your mind you see those children who were there [at that time]. The restricted zone around Chernobyl is surrounded by barbed wire. People are not allowed to enter without official permission. Many former residents still want to see the places they once lived, worked, or maybe were even born in. Some of those who used to live in Prypyat meet in the center of the town every year on the anniversary of the accident. Other former residents choose to bury their dead in
cemeteries inside the restricted zone, even though they now live far away. The restricted zone is a reminder of the fragility of human existence. "Only in Chernobyl a human being can clearly understand that in fact he is temporary here [on the earth]. And Chernobyl shows that this span of time might be very short."
Even though there aren't many people living in the zone now, for them it is "the best place on earth and the native river is the most beautiful in the world."

The Red Cross Advertisements on Chernobyl Disaster inviting your attention.....

Twenty years after the disaster, Chernobyl's landscape reminds one of a barren planet. Even more damage was done to local residents, their bodies and minds alike. Recently, radiation linked illnesses have increased. How and who will impart the news to those anguish stricken lives “Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It’s only after you’ve lost everything, that you’re free to do anything.” ???

Will we Support them and keep up our interest in Chernobyl ???

Is there a Beacon of Hope ???

2007-05-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today is May 7th. People around the globe remember the lives of their cherished ones who innocently became the victims of torture and struggles of a war between bloody nations of the world. I am referring to the incident on May 7, 1915, during World War I, when Britain and Germany were at war, the 'Lusitania' (a civilian cruiser) that was torpedoed by a German U-Boat, the U-20. It sank within 18 minutes, killing 1,198 of the 1,962 people aboard.

The Lusitania departed from New York on May 1, 1915. Prior to departure on that very day, a newspaper warning was given advising people not to travel because of U-boat activity. The German Embassy in Washington had issued this warning on April 22.

NOTICE!
TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.
IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY,
Washington, D.C. April 22, 1915
This warning was printed right next to an advertisement for Lusitania's return voyage.

The warning led to some agitation in the press and worried the ship's passengers and crew, except for the captain, an experienced 58-year old sailor and captain named William "Bowler Bill" Turner. Turner downplayed the concerns, and told one passenger that Lusitania was "safer than the trolley cars in New York City."

Lusitania steamed out of New York at noon that day. As the liner steamed across the ocean, the British Admiralty was tracking through wireless intercepts the movements of the German submarine U-20, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Walther Schwieger and operating along the west coast of Ireland and moving south. On the 5th and 6th of May, U-20 sank three vessels in the area of Fastnet Rock, and the Royal Navy sent a warning to all British ships: "Submarines active off the south coast of Ireland". Captain Turner of Lusitania was given the message twice on the evening of the 6th, and took what he felt were prudent precautions. He closed watertight doors, posted double lookouts, ordered a black-out, and had the lifeboats swung out on their davits so they could be quickly put into the water if need be.

At about 11:00, on Friday, May 7, the Admiralty radioed another warning, and Turner adjusted his course to the northwest, apparently thinking that submarines would be more likely to keep to the open sea and so the Lusitania would be safer close to land.

Lusitania was making for the port of Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, 70 kilometers from the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of U-20 at 2:10 p.m. It was sheer chance that the liner became such a convenient target, since U-20 could hardly have caught the fast vessel otherwise. Schwieger gave the order to fire, sending a single torpedo towards Lusitania. It hit cleanly under the bridge, blowing a hole in the side of the ship, and was then followed by a much larger secondary explosion that blew out the starboard bow. Lusitania's wireless operator sent out an immediate SOS and Captain Turner gave the order to abandon ship; however, the liner was in a difficult position. The hole caused by the torpedo was causing her to list severely, the damage to the bow was making the foredeck sink under the waves, and the ship was still moving at relatively high speed.

Lusitania's bow slammed into the bottom about 100m below, her stern pitched up in the air, and she overturned on her side before sinking. Along the way, boilers proceeded to blow up with one causing the third funnel to explode and collapse, with the remaining funnels proceeding to snap off soon after. The liner sank soon after.

Lusitania sank in 18 minutes at 2:28 pm, 8 miles off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. 1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children. The bodies of many of the victims are buried at either the Lusitania port in Cobh or at the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale. Yet, there are many who remain emtombed inside the wreck.

This is an opportune time for us to consider the true costs and consequences of War. The statistics are indeed horrible. There was not a single part on the globe that was not affected by the First World War.

Is there a Beacon of Hope for those who have seen their communities and livelihoods destroyed by violent conflict? To those who have suffered the most? To those who wished only for peace and a return to the lives they once knew?

Let us remember the most important lesson of history:
“War makes victims of us all.”

"Peace on earth and goodwill toward men”

Know your Strengths

2007-04-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei, " the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know, " the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.

Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No, " the sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.

He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons, " the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances and our self for it but we never know that our weakness can become our strength one day. Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!"

Know your Strengths in commonly perceived Weakness....and Success is Yours !

Children are a new beginning of tomorrow

2007-04-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today People from many countries all over the world and people from different countries give each other gifts. The United Nations participates and many people consider this a day of peace. Everybody wears their best clothes and shoes. The people who come celebrate and even do performances such as: national anthems, folk dances and many other things that are related to their countries. There is no school so children enioy the day by celebrating by going to certain places like a mall where people can ice skate or a park and an arcade called The Pyramid. You can get any kind of gift like a basketball for children's day. There are children who receive Playstations and many others get a snowboard so this is a sort of Christmas in Turkey. I am making mention of the Children's day celebration of Turkey.

Mustafa Kemal Aataturk was the one who started Children's Day in Turkey. After the Ottomans had fallen during World War I Turkey had been occupied by other European countries such as England, Italy and France. Ataturk was a commander who gave his army courage. After a while they fought against the Europeans and just like the Ottomans, they slowly took back control of their country. After Turkey was back in control of the Turkish people there was an election and Attaturk won the election. He started to build up the government and create what is today the Republic
of Turkey.

Ataturk loved children and he often said: "Children are a new beginning of tomorrow". He even dedicated the day 23rd of April to the children which is today celebrated as Children's Day as well as the date when the Republic of Turkey was founded. The sovereignty day was dedicated to the children and entrusted in the hands of the youth for the protection of this sovereignty and independence. Turkey is also the only country around the world which has a National Day for children.

There are certain children that are picked that take over the places of the government and they even let a lucky kid be the president of Turkey for a whole day and you can decide what's going to happen and whether or not you are going to have the president next to you. There are a very large number of possibilities of things you can do but some shops aren't open because they are celebrating as well.

In the last 20 years, Turkey has been trying to internationalize this important day of children and many countries around the world send groups of children to participate in the celebrations. Foreign children participating in the special session of The Grand National Assembly every year can have the important result of children's international commitments to peace and friendship. This should be the dream of the whole world. The importance of April 23 as a special day of children has been recognized by the international community. UNICEF decided to recognize this
important day as the International Children's Day.

The dream and hope of Turkey for all the children of the world is that the Children's Peace Train's (A model set before the world) journey will pass through mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, oceans and visit all the countries, showing peace and joy of life around the world through the children’s eyes and creations with their songs and poems. There is an invitation for you to the dream of The Turkish Children's Peace Train, with the great Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet's words...

"To live like a tree, lonely and free
To live as brothers like trees in a forest,
That dream is ours!

Let's give the world to the children just for one day
like a balloon in bright and striking colours to play with
let them play singing among the stars
let's give the world to the children
like a huge apple like a warm loaf of bread
at least for one day let them have enough
let's give the world to the children
at least for one day let the world learn friendship
children will get the world from our hands
they'll plant immortal trees"

Will those dreams be fulfilled ???

2007-04-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Courtesy: Unicef

Five-year-old Alina holds her ballet slippers, at home in the western port city of Kaliningrad in the Russian Federation . Alina was abandoned by her father and severely neglected by her mother, a drug addict and alcoholic, who is ill with AIDS. After social services took custody of the child, her mother disappeared. Alina now lives with an older couple, Nina and Alexander, who have started proceedings to adopt her. Alina used to be sick frequently but has tested negative for HIV and is healthy now. She attends kindergarten and would like to become a ballet dancer.

Will her dreams be fulfilled ??? What do we contribute for this sake .... to fulfill the dreams of the younger generation and make this world a better place for them to live ???

Closed Gates in Darkness

2007-03-30T02:42:00.000-07:00

Gates are closed
...to the late commers,
...to the unpunctual,
...to the belated,
...to the dilatory,
...to the laggard,
...to the dawdler,
...to the trailer,
...to the tardy....

I am none of these.
I am early.
So have I been refused.
My gates are closed.

I stand outside those closed gates
frozen and frenzy
with nothing behind for me to gain,
no paths to retread.
My path ahead is blocked and closed
with Iron Gates in Darkness.
I know there's light ahead,
just a stride to victory,
but thats bounded by those Iron Gates,
all that closed mysteriously.

"How do I go ahead Lord? "
My prayer is yet to be answered.
Hope this gate opens soon.

Turning back a year - The Pain of Parting

2007-03-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

I have graphical ideas of what happened 9 months before; that was last year. The day many of us were forced to say 'GOODBYE'. They were the last few weeks and days at college. Memories are still afresh. They seem to have just happened yesterday.

The 1460 days spent in 3 different tiled roof and long traditional corridor classrooms that was once a school, but now a prestigious college can never be erased off my memories. I remember those days as a freshman, I used to play it all single with not much company, but the time I graduated there was a solid company of 58 in unison of actions and mischief. But now they were all coming to an end and thats how life is. Parting is a parcel of life and we conclude it formally through a so called 'Farewell Party'. I didn't know how it would be to live without the topography and demography of Government Engineering College, Trivandrum. 4 years - never had a thought of self sustainence outside Trivandrum mingled in my mind and parting from this place would be really tough.How could I ever say 'G O O D B Y E' to those sources of momentum, inspiration and relationships I had gained there. Somebody once asked, "where is the 'Good' in 'Good Bye' ?"

With vivid thoughts, heavy hearts and comforting each other, I left a deep and heavy sigh, with tears rolling down my cheeks, said that toughest word 'G O O D B Y E' - 'auf wiedersehen' - 'au revoir' - 'adios amigos'.

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. ~Richard Bach

We remembered the Old Irish form of Blessing,
"May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand."
Each one was forced to walk off into 58 distinct walks of life, knowing not what lay ahead of us, with tears watering our classrooms and playgrounds, and the dusty wind covering those teardrops....Memories that would last a Life time, a fresh leaf amidst the dry and withered leaves of life.

The World is wide, we spread out in different directions;
But the World is Small and Round, we will surely meet again.

Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. ~William Shakespeare

The Daffodil Principle - The Theory worth Learning

2007-03-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

This story came in as a forward through email, but not just like any forward it conveys a lot..........

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign w ith an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration .

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ...

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle: Stop waiting.....

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So work like you don't need money.

Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

~anonymous

eCP: The Making of Me

2007-03-01T02:58:00.000-08:00

Its 7 months since I joined HCL Technologies Ltd, Chennai. Its been an experience of learning, sharing and making. I remember my first day into the company with a perfectly blank head with academic knowledge and vague, inexperienced professional ideas. I had finished at least 18 years of academics (Kindergarten - 2 yrs, Schooling - 12 yrs, Graduation - 4yrs) and now July 24th, 2006 was going to be the stepping stone to my professional career. I never knew what lay ahead of me.
My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Courtesy: Forrest Gump.
I was to board a cruiser in the sea, that had come from miles away in history, become the member of a large family round the globe that was built up on trust and commitment for the past 30 years. And here I was becoming a member of the same while they celebrated their 30th year.

Two days later I was introduced to my Reporting Manager, Mr. Thejas Joseph. A bright smiling guy. I was elated by hearing his words and I had to start everything of my profession with him. I never knew at that time he would be my mentor and moulder. There it started all together, hand in hand. My first task came within a few weeks. And I started working....

I met some of the most brightest guys Sundar - our calm Tech Lead, Ananth - Microsoft Whiz kido, Azhaguthasan - the other half of Microsoft, Bhuvana - who introduced the term Facade, and Nandhini - who introduced the term Diagnostics, LeelaPrasad - the silent Killer, Guna - the role model SQC member, Raju - the classical tester of the team. And I've heard a lot about the Onsite managers Roy Wang, Pierre Fischer through the team members and I have mailed them my queries. They were real brain's. Their quality of work and ideas were scintillating......An awesome company, the best minds I ever saw. And I was in, with no professional qualification. Initially it began formally by standing an arm distance apart, talking with perfect eye contact and of course formal vocabulary......Days passed by and I came to know everyone better. The style changed. Everything around became informal. Team treats, outings and masti and of course the words like stupid, dumhead, dumbo, crap, vetti (Tamil), poruki (Tamil) started to emerge. At times I would stand with my arms around my manager's shoulders... I got a mimicking version of my college days with a small company of mighty men, who could find hundreds of errors in a single line of code, work for 25 hours if a day ever had it, good in heart, frisky and ever enjoying the so called today of the year......

Today is March 1, 2007. I stand in awe of these men..... with a standing ovation I appreciate their struggle in helping me through difficult times.....the people who influenced my life and taught me a lot. With heart felt gratitude I dedicate these few lines to them.

The world is moving faster now;
We're on a changing course.
But you have helped me deal a lot with life;
You've been a stable force all this while.

When I have had to follow;
New directions, you were there.
When time was hard on me;
You always seemed to care.

When nothing held together;
Made the slightest bit of sense.
You have always helped restore;
My inner confidence.

Everyone needs someone;
Who's reliable and true.
Through the moments I've endured;
I'm grateful there were you all.
Courtesy: www.indianchild.com

NB: For those of you who are thinking what eCP is....Its "the" team in the Semiconductor domain in the KLA-Tencor ODC of HCL Technologies Ltd., Chennai with which I am associated.

Vignettes of Reality

2007-02-15T02:30:00.000-08:00

Vignette 1: I don't know who penned this down, it came in as an e-mail forward.

My mom only had one eye.
I hated her... she was such an embarressment..
My mom ran a small shop at a flea market.
She collected little weeds and such to sell...
Anything for the money we needed
She was such an embarressment.
There was this one day during elementary school..
It was field day, and my mom came.
I was so embarressed. how could she do this to me?
Threw her a hateful look and ran out.

The next day at school...
"Your mom only has one eye?!?!" ..and they taunted me.

I wished that my mom would just dissappear from
this world so i said to my mom,
"Mom.. why dont you have the other eye?!
if you're only gonna make me
a laughingstock, why dont you just die?!!!".
My mom did not respond..
I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it
felt good to think that i had said what i'd wanted to
say all this time..

Maybe it was because my mom hadnt punished me, but
I didnt think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

That night...

I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of
water. my mom was
crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that
she might wake me.
I took a look at her, then turned away because of the
thing I had said to her
Earlier, there was something pinching at me in the
corner of my heart.
Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one
eye.
so i told myself that I would grow up and become
successful.
Cause I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty..

Then I studied real hard.
I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and
got accepted in the
Seoul University with all the confidence I had.

Then, I got married.
I bought a house of my own.
Then i had kids, too..
Now i'm living happily as a successful man.

I like it here because it's a place that doesnt
remind me of my mom.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when..
what?!

Who's this?!
It was my mother...
still with her one eye.
It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me.
My little girl ran away, scared of my mom's eye.
and I asked her, "Who are you?!"
"I dont know you!!!" as if trying to make that real.
I screamed at her,"
how dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!"

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!"
and to this, my mother quietly answered, "oh, I'm so sorry.
I may have gotten the wrong address,"
and she dissappeared out of sight. thank goodness...
She doesnt recognize me..

I was quite relieved.
I told myself that I wasnt going to care, or think
about this for the rest
of my life. then a wave of relief came upon me..

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to
my house. so, lying to
my wife that I was going on a business trip, I went.
after the reunion, i
went down to the old shack, that I used to call a
house...just out of curiosity
there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground.

but I did not shed a single tear.
She had a piece of paper in her hand....
It was a letter to me.

My son...
I think my life has been long enough now..
and... I won't visit Seoul anymore...
but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to
come visit me once in a while?
I miss you so much.. and I was so glad when I
heard you were coming for the reunion.
But i decided not to go to the school....for you...
and I'm sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an
embarressment for you.

You see, when you were very little, you got into an
accident, and lost your eye.
As a mom, I couldnt stand watching you having
to grow up with only one eye... so I gave you mine...
I was so proud of my son that was seeing a
whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
I was never upset at you for anything you did..
the couple of times that you were angry with me,..

I Thought to myself, 'it's because he loves me..'

my son... oh, my son...
I dont want you to cry for me, because of my death.
please dont cry...
my son, I love you so much.

Vignette 2: Thomas Alva Edison was blessed by proclaiming these words "my mother was the making of me... she was always so true and so sure of me... And always made me feel I had someone to live for and must not disappoint."

How different were these two vignettes of reality. Whose words and life do we associate with? The former who has no gratitude to his mother but lives for his own sake, while the other who owes everything to his Mom, for her nourishment and encouragement.

The hands that Rocks the Cradle, Rules the world

2007-02-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

I was feeling too lonely and the stress of work cramping me a few days this week. My eyes caught a few photographs in the National Geographic website and a few poems from a poem website. Here I leave it for you to see, read and understand.

Nature reveals that there is none for a child, but his mother who brings him up with the best company, picking him up when he fell into drowning waters, nourishing, encouraging and watching while he walked the course of life till the very last day she can.

Why are you crying, a young boy asked his Mom?
"Because I'm a woman," she told him.
"I don't understand," he said.
His Mom just hugged him and said,
"And you never will, but that's O.K.".......

Later the little boy asked his father,
"Why does Mom seem to cry for no reason?".
"All women cry for no reason," was all his Dad could say......

The little boy grew up and became a man,
still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God and when God got back to him, he asked "God, why do women cry so easily?"

GOD answered......
"When I made woman,
I decided she had to be special.
I made her shoulders
strong enough to carry
the weight of the world, yet,
made her arms gentle enough to give comfort...

I gave her the inner strength
to endure childbirth
and the rejection
that many times will come
even from her own children.

I gave her a hardness
that allows her
to keep going and take care
of her family and friends,
even when everyone else gives up, through sickness and fatigue without
complaining....

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all
circumstances. Even when her child has hurt her badly....
She has the very special power to make a child's boo-boo feel better and
to quell a teenager's anxieties and fears....

I gave her strength to care for her husband, despite faults
and I fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart....

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but
sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him
unfalteringly....

For all of this hard work,
I also gave her a tear to shed.
It is hers to use
whenever needed and !
it is her only weakness....
When you see her cry,
tell her how much you love her, and all she does for everyone, and even though
she may still cry, you will have made her heart feel good.

She is special!

~Author Unknown~

From seeds
You watered us.
As we sprouted
You helped us grow
With the warmth
Of your radiant love.
Along the way
You trimmed us
To keep us safe
From Harm.
When we grew out of
Our little pods,
You replanted us,
Where you gave us hope
And showed us faith
That we may be able
To do for others
As you did for us.

~Jim Little~

My memories just raced back, how could I ever be what I was if those golden hands weren't there for me. How could I ever have survived if my mother wasn't there? How much more do I need to love and care for her? Only then did I learn Each day is a mountain that must be climbed; with courage each step gets easier like how my mother battled and fought her life through the odds raising me up to be her pride and the best........

Love your Mother Always and keep her Smiling.

Disaster - It was a loss but it taught many

2007-02-02T04:11:00.001-08:00

Today is February 1, 2007. 4 years past the day of disaster of the Space Shuttle Columbia over Texas during its reentry into the Earth's atmosphere on its 28th mission, STS-107. All seven members of the crew were killed often called as The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

The crew members of the Columbia

The loss of the Columbia was caused by damage sustained during launch when foam insulation the size of a small briefcase, broke off the main propellant tank under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing on the number 8 reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) tile, damaging the shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS). While the shuttle was still in orbit, some concerned engineers suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation on the grounds that little could be done even if problems were found.

During reentry, the damaged area allowed the hot gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, eventually causing the in-flight breakup of the vehicle. A massive ground search in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas recovered crew remains and many vehicle fragments.

The shuttle breakup in the earth's atmosphere.

At 14:04 EST (19:04 UTC), a somber President George W. Bush addressed the United States: "This day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country... The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors." Despite the disaster, the President assured Americans that the space program would continue: "The cause in which they died will continue. Our journey into space will go on."

Wasn't the foam insulation just the size of a small briefcase? But it took away 7 lifes. A small mistake in the beginning and the cumulative effect towards the end. How, this shattered the hopes of those men and women onboard? But truly the crew though the victims of this disaster they set forth the examples of sacrifice and speak to us silently "Never let go small mistakes. They are always big in the end when they are accounted". How often do we neglect and ignore the mistakes we commit? But do we understand that the very end is going to be disastrous. Life is not worth commiting mistakes. There was no way for recovery from the Columbia Space Shuttle. It was too late. We have to recover from our mistakes early and go ahead else there would be no ground for recovery.

Yes the journey into space will go on.....but never ever neglecting the small mistakes of the beginnning.

Doesn't the Columbia Disaster Alert us powefully though silently: "Recover from mistakes early and continue and go on"

The True Battle of Valor

2007-01-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

I have never seen the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, but I have heard of it. It is one of the most famous festive occasion in the district of Alappuzha. Though festive, there is pride, prestige, honor and a great battle to be endured in the Punnamadakayal. Spain is known for its Bull Fighting, but here in the Venice of the East Washed by the silvery waves of the Arabian Sea, the Palm fringed canals and shores bustling with glimpses from the day to day life in the country side, the mirror still lagoons, picture book lakesides and its long sandy beach, Alappuzha, the land of backwaters of Kerala, one witnesses a greater fight that teaches the whole world mightier lessons on the Second Saturday of every August.

This battle just doesn't begin that day. It has been strenuous preparations and practises for over years. The boat builders and craftsmen try to build and put in their very best from the first day they thought of it. Everyone is determined to to make the snake boat as long as possible, accommodate the best rowers and go on for the race.

The story of these battling boats goes back 400 years in history when the rajas of the erstwhile principalities of Chempakasseri (Ambalappuzha), Kayamkulam ,Thekkumkoor (Changanacherry) and Vadakkumkoor (Kottayam) in the old Travancore area, which are part of the present Alappuzha district and Kottayam district, frequently crossed swords on the backwaters of Kuttanad. The Chempakasserry troops suffered heavy casualties at the hands of the superior navy their rivals commanded. It soon dawned on the Chempakasserry Raja that the real defect was with his war boats, which were sluggish and cumber.

He called all the boat architects in the land to his court and told them of his desire to have better, faster boats for the troops. After days of hard labor, a man who was reputed to be the best boat architect in Chempakasserry, Koduppunna Venkitanarayanan Asari, came up with a specimen which satisfied the raja’s requirements. It had speed, maneuverability and capacity to carry 100 able-bodied warriors on board and its eel-like construction was most ideal for launching an ambush since it could be easily kept concealed behind the overhanging bushes on the river banks. The Asari was generously rewarded and in the subsequent battles, the Chempakasseri Raja emerged victorious.

The story goes on to tell how the defeated Kayamkulam Raja sent a spy to Chempakasserri to learn the secret of the new war boat. The spy, a handsome youth, succeeded in seducing Asari’s daughter. The girl’s mother was overjoyed by the prospect of getting him as her daughter’s bridegroom and persuaded her husband to teach him the construction of the boat.

Needless to say, the deceitful youth disappeared the moment the thought he had learnt the secret. Asari was imprisoned by Chempakasserri Raja for treason. But he was released and showered with many honors when the snake boats built by the Kayamkulam Raja proved to be no match for the war boats of Chempakasserry in the next battle. The subtleties of the snake boat’s design are hard to pick and even today it requires years of apprenticeship under a master boat architect before one could independently undertake the construction of this ancient boat.

When a village decides to have a new snake boat, a committee is formed to raise the Rs.6 lakhs it requires now to build the boat. The boat architect is summoned and the search for the “anjili” tree of the required size often takes the villagers to the high ranges of Kerala. As the snake boat takes shape out of the huge trunk, the ‘asari’ relies mainly on his instinctive estimates.
Courtesy: The Nehru Trophy Boat Race site

Photo 1: Courtesy - Nehru Boat Race Web Site

Photo 2: Courtesy - Nehru Boat Race Web Site

Photo 3: Courtesy - Nehru Boat Race Web Site

But what does the Nehru Boat Race speak to us:
Behind a victory there is great learning, great experimentation's, great practises, great sacrifices and a lifetime battle. How selfish are we when we think of success as a medicinal capsule and want it in the twinkling of an eye, when there are people in Alappuzha, who rely on hard work and sacrifice of a life time to succeed a Nehru Boat Race and be victorious. How much more should we strive in the struggles of life to show our valor and might.

Fight the Fight against foes, Battle the Battle against the odds.

Those images never fade....They are still afresh in my mind.

2007-01-19T05:37:00.000-08:00

I remember those train journeys very well.They are still afresh in my mind.......I would have left for home from Trivandrum, the city where I did my graduation because my study holidays in Trivandrum would have been exhausting me.I would come home for a few days, relax myself and then get back very soon to Trivandrum. I travelled on train all alone for around 5 hours, mostly sleeping. But then my train journeys became very interesting after a few trips. I used to board the train early morning by 6 am so that I reached Trivandrum by afternoon and settled back in the room where I stayed. Mummy would pack breakfast and lunch. I used to board a sleeper compartment and find an Upper Berth to sleep the half sleep I was in. After two and a half hours of journey I would be awake and then start thinking of the days ahead of me. I would feel tensed if there were University exams coming up. My mind would be fuming with all equations, formulas and programming concepts and many other stuff which at that point of time for me lacked magnamity. I would just start scheduling the portions left to study, then work on the Critical Schedule if nothing worked as per the ideal schedule. Then I would think of how I could complete each module of a subject. But ultimately they were no useful thinking for a train journey. It just pulled up my blood pressure.

But after two and a half hours of journey I would have completed half the way of my journey and the train would have reached Kayamkulam. Then I would get down from the Upper Berth. The compartments in the Trivandrum Mail train would look deserted, since the majority of the passengers got down before Kayamkulam. I would wash my face with the thread like stream line that came from the Indian Railway tap in the train. Then there was nothing to think more, but just have the breakfast mummy had sent me. It would usually be dry food, like some sandwiches which I enjoyed. The sun would be glaring on to my face and I would enjoy the sandwiches, eat the very last bit that fell on my lap, drink half a bottle water and then in a sigh of relief just push back myself on to the seat, looking outside the window. Then again it would be the process of thinking about the days ahead. How could I ever manage them??? But whenever these thoughts came up I would see some beautiful imprint of nature through the window. Usually the lush green paddy fields, the calm palm fringed back waters, a 'vallam' and a person working hard rowing it.

Since the train moved very fast I would just get a glimpse of the scene like a flash. How beautiful were those images of nature?? But I couldn't see it again. My train was determined to reach Trivandrum. I was in that very same track of getting to Trivandrum, but there were good images all throughout the journey. The thought of how my days ahead would be,never captured again in my journey again.

Finally I would reach Trivandrum. But these train journeys were not just journeys but 'the journeys of my life' that taught me to decide that I have to run the pace that my train ran in the scorching sun. There could be good images that get imprinted in our journey and we carry them all the way...that could be the real motivation to reach our destination faster and the means that rejuvenate us from our exhaustion.
Those images never fade....They are still afresh in my mind.

The reason to live

2007-01-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hi folks........ Sure you must have read about my Vizhinjam and Neyyar trip.
24th July, 2006 was the beginning of a new era in my life. 18 years of intensive education in Academic institutions was ending. I was now becoming a professional and had to relocate myself in Chennai. Never knew what lay ahead of me....but just heard and knew that life would be tougher than in school and college. Taking up jobs at the age of 21...in MNC's - Isn't that too young??? That question bothered me a lot. Why live working now, while I have healthy parents and all the circumstances around me? But I knew I shouldn't and couldn't give up to this question.
Somewhere in September I went with one of my roomates - Babu (my classmate at college too) to the Vandalur Zoo. It was very far from the place where we stayed - Thiruvanmiyur. Reached Tambaram East and then had to take another bus to the Zoo.
The zoo was very well maintained unlike the other places within the city. It had to its name - one of the biggest in Asia.
There are 2 life styles that made me ponder.
The swans.....I had heard a lot about them, but never remember seeing them. It stood in water, waded in water. Didn't have any worries of life. Waded in the streams to where the stream took them. Fluttered in between to stretch themselves and still kept wading.

What a life was that....You stretch your wings to relax and you continue on the streams - the road where you were on. There are others beside you and many to follow you, not forgetting the wadings of many leaders who went ahead the hardships of life. What more should I have learnt.

Then it was the fun - the chimpanzees....Oh they were extremely entertaining. Kept sliding on some slider, played tarzan on ropes, kept jumping on the roof of their shelter, clapping and proclaiming something which ofcourse I didn't understand. Oh..ho What a sight was that.

I just thought weren't I too free to jump, free to slide, free to clap and free to entertain. But weren't there restrictions??? Absolutely not. It was we ourselves that felt we were in bondage of our surroundings and circumstances when we were in absolute liberty. Our ego kept us think wouldn't the others laugh at us when we would slide, clap or entertain

I made up my mind, I could stretch my wings to relax and I was free to slide, free to clap and free to entertain. That's how I sustain in this city. I don't feel the feel as of bondage. I am free and I know there is A REASON TO LIVE.

Vizhinjam - The fruit of hardwork revealed

2007-01-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hi friends.....I am sure you read 'Neyyar - The road to Transformation'. But ever before I could reach Neyyar, I travelled all my way to Vizhinjam with one of my friend - Praveen. That was a great experience. We boarded the Vizhinjam Fast Passenger from Kizhakkekotta. It took us around an hour to reach there. Just before you reach Vizhinjam, you have the world famous beaches situated around Kovalam. But my self was forcing me to Vizhinjam and not Kovalam. I had heard a lot about Vizhinjam - that it has a fishing harbor. I just wanted to see the way stuff worked over there. The Saturday we left, was a day after hectic work for the B.Tech final semester project. We had a total sleepless week, working really hard to forge some Internet Packets to achieve some goal, which I do not intend to mention here....That was all negative techie stuff rated as Computer Crime for hacking.....

Vizhinjam looked like a normal place to me. It was a small town with people and vendors busy. We found the beach road and decided to walk through. Finally a few hundred metres we saw the blue stretch of the Arabian Sea.

Everything looked lifeless initially.
We decided to enter the beach taking a route that would go through the housing areas. People really had tough times over there. Going from the city and seeing it was even tougher. We saw children playing in dirty puddles of water, and stinky roads.... and some kind of language that seemed pretty indecent. But what more....Vizhinjam is beautiful. We had forgotten all that had happened the past week, the sleepless nights, our academics. So free was this stretch of sand which now looked lively. Children playing cricket...The waves dashing the rocks and a far off sight of small boats called 'vallam'. But there.....to our excitement we found a few people standing in line and pulling a rope very hard. I asked Praveen was this some 'tug of war' the Vizhinjam fishermen were playing against the sea.............

I wanted to investigate that. We went forward to the spot where the people were pulling hard. Each one encouraging the other to pull the rope and they were doing it giving the very best. Only then did we understand that they were trying to pull a net that was cast hours ago in the deep sea......Enquiring we found that they had done it 28 hours ago and the length of the net was about 3/4ths of a kilometre - 750 metres. They were trying to pull out the catch of the day. The fruit of what they had done all throughout the night. The fruit of joint effort, of sportsman spirit, of leadership, of toiling.......They were battling against the fiery winds, against the rumbling - tumbling Arabian sea, against all odds. They were going to get their wages. Everybody on the shore was excited.....They kept pulling hard. Some men swam into the sea to remove the knots and tangles....Finally we could see a part of the net. I had never seen such an enormous net with innumerable fishes. They were all happy.

Oh what a catch was that???
What was our work compared to this? These fishermen were doing it all the days of their life, sleepless nights and then the wage after 30 hours of work. At times they wouldn't have a good catch. Never did they fall in despair, neither did they go back...They fought and went ahead. Vizhinjam had a lesson to teach me - hardwork gets rewarded, but you have to fight, fight the fight, fight against all odds.......Finally you reach, you gain, you attain...What more should I have learnt from that trip?

Neyyar - On Road to a Transformational Journey

2007-01-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

I was a nerd a geek till I visited this place 35 kms from Trivandrum. I still remember that day and remains afresh in my mind. My seventh semester results had come. They were not too good as far as my expectations had risen. I had lost marks miserably in some papers. My final year project team had put in a lot of efforts to a tough project we were working on. But the results of hardwork weren't there. I was totally out for the next few days. My mind was in an asynchronous mode of some explosion, a state of ignominy started enveloping me.

The Saturday, exactly speaking was March 4th, 2006, I set out all alone with Rs. 300/-, a debit card and a digital camera with a few charged batteries deciding to rejuvenate myself travelling to the Western Ghats. I went to the Thampanoor Bus Stand and enquired with the KTDC counter on any hilly place that was nearby. I got a good option and made up my mind to visit Neyyar. I started at 7:00 am from Trivandrum, a nice comfortable journey on the Fast Passenger. I had a short nap and what do you think I saw when I opened my eyes???

Hey..Where did I reach..I had come from the smoky city mood. A sleep and now what...Some real cool place. I pinched myself once....twice...thrice. It was absolutely real. I had come 35 kms from the city to some fabulous place. I got off the bus, washed my face. The time was just 8:15am on my mobile. The surroundings were very neat and heard the sound of water gush. I could see some concrete structure ahead of me. I was sure this was a dam site. I entered in and started walking. By this time I had never thought of the exam marks even once. I was approaching some place really cool and cooler...I just adjusted my camera and started clicking endlessly. And this is what I ultimately got.

Photography is prohibited here. But I decided to break the rule with my Kodak C-350.

Walking all the way I had forgotten to take breakfast and lunch. Finally I reached the boating arena. Luck favoured me and I got in along with a group of 3 doctors who had come for some training for boating absolutely free. I couldn't believe my eyes. Breath taking scenes of nature.......I realised the verse in the Bible 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.' On that boating trip I just realised how well did the Engineer and Architect of this Universe fashion it. No wonder why is it said about the creation that 'God saw it was GOOD'.

Finally by evening I decided to return having some Church activities. I was back all together in a real new mind set. The feeling of having lost marks never again returned. I was back casual and yet to put in more hard work for the final semester.

What more do you think I could get? One of the most successful projects we had done and could demonstrate and got the highest marks for the project. I topped the Kerala University Department of Information Technology.

The splendour and the beauty of Neyyar transformed myself. Only then did I realise that the magnificent creation of God was intended to transform...It had a purpose of its own....and how successful were they in their duty that God had assigned them to transform the broken hearted, like me. Do we realise that God works in His own ways??? Unknown and never imaginable by the 1.3 kg human brain.