Bang! all my anger was directed on the heavy half-opened window.. and the glass broke with a loud noise! glass pieceswere thrown off while I closed my eyes for a moment. The next second, I jumped off the weird vehicle and set my foot on the land.. Which was surprisingly cold, and sandy.. Like the beach at late evenings. There was no vegetation around.. No signal of life!

JUST THIS EXPANSE OF ENDLESS SAND AND THE SCORCHING SUN SHINING FROM THE TOXIC BLUE-GREEN SKY!

I turned back. the vehicle had vanished! But I did not get startled.. For I have seen many movies where the same thing happens. So, cursing myself, I walked till the sands glowed at me flickeringly, when green pastures were at sight at a distance. There it is! a small oasis.. and When I reached the stretch, there emerged a veiled old man, with a weird sounding laugh, handing over a mud pot of water at me. When the veil was removed, I was horribly thrilled.. to find the dead man alive! and worse, he had grown a more lengthy beard, which he stroked as he peered into my eyes!

As a matter of reflex, I touched my cheeks myself, and was even more surprised to find a thick shell of beard on myself.. Heck I have walked for days together.. to reach here.. or is it that, this old man has made it appear like, again… the movies! Whatever be it, I opened my one liner ” Who are you”

“Enough of doodling with that pen. Come with me honey. Let me show you a great guy you would love to know.. “  I answer back, a little annoyed, ” Why girl? why should I come? At least introduce me a little about him. Who is he by the way? “

She did not speak much. I just stared at her a few seconds.. When I squinted again, I was left stranded at some corner of a empty flyover.Is it Mowbray’s Road or Adyar?No clues..  I could not guess the geographical location. For the next five minutes, She did not speak to me. It was horrible to stand there added to the Sun scorching on me. Irritated, i sat down on a stone nearby. I just checked myself. To my satisfaction, I found my wallet intact. fine, then, let me at least catch an auto rickshaw and get back to office. sigh.. Cursing the Sky,I got up to see this guy smiling at me. His eyes were peering through my eyes, and maybe, He might have seen the back of my skull. heck, I shouted to him, “Who are you? ” He kept staring at me scratching his annoyingly disheveled beard. He said, “I am a Watchmaker.. a humble little flower  in this Great Desert of Madras” Oh dammit, this is getting nowhere, “I dont want to talk to some flower now” I now went a few steps away from the gaze of that old guy and looked up as far as I could.. and shouted to my Sky.. “What is this all leading to? Who is this ridiculous  guy who is attempting to scare me? Come on girl, answer meeeeeeEeEe… “

The next five seconds made it clear I was behaving to be a more worser fool than this beardwala guy. The Sky has deserted me. Ah! now, it makes sense, the Great Desert of Madras. I see a few Auto-Rickshaws go by. I wave at them.. Nobody stopped. Thirsty and sick, I turned back and glared at him. He was this ever smiling religious preacher kinda irritant. Now, there is a different way to deal with him, i decide..

I go and sit on the stone. He sits beside me, looking so harmless. He offered me water, on a earthern pot. I gulped it down. He is after all, not so bad.. I examine him closely. He is dressed well indeed. But for his beard, he is okay. He spoke: ” Have you ever realized that you are only a tiny speck of this colossal universe? And you are just an evolved piece of junk and there aint any soul after all? ” Aww.. come on Man.. dont kill me now with these philosophical gibberish. Just tell me how you brought me here.. Some magical powers eh?

I asked him, “So what? whats the point anyways?” Unperturbed, He continued, talking so many things.. I decided not to listen to him deliberately.. But from those words that somehow filtered into my grey cells, I can now remember, ‘ocean.. vast.. colossal.. space.. cosmos.. solitude.. enlightenment.. aloof.. great… self-actualization.. dreams.. surreality.. absence of absolute truth.. ” and Duh.. So on.. And So forth.. I was just coolly sipping to the next mud pot of water, and listening to him half-heartedly. When he finished talking, I said, “So, whats the point? Is this the philosopher’s stone? and are you the philosopher who has got no other job than to somehow magically lure an office guy out oh his cabin and boring him with your bloody lecture? “

He said,” No, Come with me.. “

“Where to? Just leave me. I am catching an auto and going to office… Saying so, I waited and waited.. what the hell… This aint a real flyover after all, and this is not a real city.. Oh.. This is not Madras really.. I am just seeing some mirage.. Where am I? Before i get shit-scared and faint, let me go and ask him help.

“Oh, wait, Philosopher, now, tell me what are your plans? I clearly understand I am in some sorta trouble.. “

Ah, that irritating smile again, emanating from that hardly-ever-washed beard.

“Then come with me.. ” Taking my hand without my full willingness, He lead me uphill the flyover. And there came a Vehicle I have never ever seen in any Auto expo.. Of course, that ran on wheels on road as far as I remember.. Some Kinda Bus it must be.. for it had a huge illusion covering it that tricked me in figuring out what It really was..  The Watchmaker guy pulled me inside. We heard a revving sound.. And then, everything went blank.

I woke up to find myself in horrendously windy terrain.. With the old man, sleeping beside me on his beanbag. I gently tap him to wake him.. He doesn’t!! I shake him so bad, and to my utter horror, find that He is dead! Now, I go here and there, stricken with fear, inside the vehicle.. there was no driver on board. and the doors are not working.. And when I opened the only window available, I see the Blue Sky.. With a wicked smile of sorts.. She had eyes of clouds that changed every micro-second signaling me something.. I just recall his words now, composing myself..

Now, more words come to my mind, from what He said, ” There is nothing called Absolute Reality. and there is teeming life that flourishes beyond the expanses of your tiny planet… “

Ah.. now I understand.. Dammit.

“there we are my man.. isnt it wonderful? now that you have shaken off your thought-strings as of now, you are now ready to take in my talks.. but i warn you.. never grip my words, never bite my tongue, just flow with me.. just flow with my thoughts… ah… good.. you are getting it.. and, 1, 2, 3… here we go.. “

We flew up above, sailing through the streets of Adyar, with the glitzy shopping floors and the river of shit flowing by the other side.. we flew through thousands of motorbikes and cars honking their way through the roads there.. i saw children, elders, hawkers, workers, idlers, students, police, thieves.. who else.. i just flew.. without grasping anything but just enjoying the flow and observance.. cattle crossed the busy streets, crows flew far below me, the eagles – some of them came dangerously close to me.. but i never feared… i just flew with the sky.. flew around the city of life..

“What do you see?” She asked..

“i never see.. i exist.. ” i replied without any further talks.. she must have been amused.. because she had tickled me then.. i lost balance at once and fell freely.. to a big thud!

of course, that was the end of the dream.. i looked up. the sky was becoming paler and paler.. as if she took up the whitening cream the actor Asin sells on tv…  must be dawning..

i wake up, and of course, without much thoughts, get down to my flat, and off to the office.

terrified to even look back at where ‘she’ may have been hiding, i just blabbered, ” you… you.. where have you taken me? where am I? i dont feel anything.. but i think i am feeling everything.. I.. I… is this the space? where am i? am i still breathing???… “

” Chill, my man.. chill.. just look down, look.. there.. the red spot.. that is the Sun.. which wakes you up everyday… “

I was now feeling so terrified that, i dared not to speak a word.. but i became a little calm since i found that, i was breathing.. yes! what a relief.. i took a long time to compose myself.. and stared at the tiny dot.. the Sun.. oh pathetic.. that looks like a speck.. i tried to turn my body around.. i went swirling round and round.. i saw all the wonderful galaxies , nebulae, dust, and what not.. i felt like i was at a place of extreme solitude.. and innocence.. yes, innocence.. there was a great degree of calmness in me now.. how much time has passed? bah, who cares… i just enjoyed my time for a while..

……….

all my thoughts came back… all earthly thoughts.. all that i have known of so far.. i just followed the flood of thougts.. it was annoying me.. i have not come this far up here to fall back and bathe in those mundane thoughts.. ha.. what the hell.. i want to overcome these thoughts.. i want to.. and i persisted on the single urge of overcoming all my thoughts.. and remained.. i was still swiveling round and round pivoted on my ass, on the vast space up above.. i saw all the galaxies pass by me round and round.. the eyes blurred.. and thoughts ceased one by one..  i experienced a great tranquil..the stars were swiveling, or it was me who did it.. din matter.. the experience of floating there mattered.. i just felt the existence… my body, my soul.. my me!..

and now, she broke the silvery silence..

Sky: ” I am so happy honey “

“why? why are you happy? “

“you are now in a mood to recieve my thoughts.. receive more than my thoughts.. come with me.. lets travel back and have a closer look at your dwelling.. “

and i descended down..

Ah! i notice a shooting meteor there.. up above, which almost seems to be coming towards me.. may be, may be she s appreciating my growing Wisdom and sending me that glowing junk as a medal to me.. ha ha.. ” Hey Sky..!, come on girl, say something.. I am having this bloody monologue going on “

I looked up.. found an airplane swooping down in the direction of Meenambakkam.. She was quiet still.. She did not Speak anything.. I was getting irritated.. and finally, just lay on my back, on the terrace, staring up.. all these time..  and she woke me up…

” Hey man, you are missing the point ” thundered the voice from above..

I jolted and squinted at the watch. 2AM.. ha! i have snoozed all long.. may be its time to go down to my flat.. when she spoke again.. now, gently..

” You are missing the point man.. missing it all.. “

” Missing what? come on.. make it straight.. dont be a girl always.. ” i quipped.

” hmm.. you have been thinking so much dude.. so much.. these thought strings are taking you to enormous swirls of muddy ambiguities.. just chill my man.. and just listen to me.. dont rely on the words iself.. dont either grip onto the meaning of the words or grasp my tongue too tightly you naughty boy… just flow with me.. just be with my flow.. my flowwwww.w>w.WWwwwwwww…. (here, i slept again.. and it must be some 4AM.. i guess.. and i went straight into a dream..) and here i am, 6000 million kilometers above the sky.. in perfect darkness.. the sun was a tiny dot.. the earth nowhere to be seen.. perfect heart-in-the-mouth situation.. and here, i heard her voice again.. so crisp.. on my ears.. so husky and captivating, her voice was.. and she said… “

…continued in the next post.

“What are you looking at suddenly? and was that a doubt in your eyes dude? well, dont think too much yaar. its obscene to think too much..   i remember exactly, how this bearded Guy was thinking.. oh My Goodness, he thought too much, and got so many people around him.. around…. err.. what was that place near the mediterranean? ah.. Greece! well, this guy was thinkin too much and eventually was given poison to drink forcibly.. so, that explains you all.. oh.. wait, what are these small pieces of Junk? aha.. your satellites right.. you are thinking you are controlling everything? haha.. very funny creatures these satellites are.. even though they act as a cataract to my eyes.. i am much amused by the ways you think.. crazy buggers you are.. spending more of your resources sending these irritants up but making that kid starve.. yeah, you saw her.. as you passed the traffic signal.. aha.. she s looking at me.. smiling and with eyes full of questions.. i wonder what those questions may be.. well, ill ask her sometime when she is in a mood to talk to me “

and the sky turned gloomy, and there were clouds all around.. i looked up.. there may be hundreds of satellites above those cotton-like clouds.. and i passed a few moments sitting on the tea-shop bench.. staring at those clouds.. and they did form.. into the head of the Philosopher who was given poison in greece.. aha.. is it true that, you see all those you have in your minds? or is it that, the sky was revealing the guy’s face? where could he have been gone? after death? is he there behind the clouds too? wait, ill ask the sky.. and so i asked..

i should have tickled the funny bone of my dear blue sky.. but She was no longer blue now.. (yes, i called the sky, ‘Her’, i like it that way! ) she had turned reddish.. was that anger? blushing? what was that reaction? did i ask any wrong question? well, i did ask her where the philosopher guy went after death.. and i looked up again..

She must have realised the death it seemed.. silent she remained.. though she started to send me drops of tears.. aha.. too philosophical i am.. well, simply, it started to rain.. and before it started to rain profusely, i was aboard the MTC bus number 11.. and here i am after 10 minutes, at the entrance of Chennai or Madras central railway stn..

the sky s quiet and darker now, the road was thick with the scent of earth. when i boarded the suburban train and when it passed through the basin bridge, i saw a rainbow so colorful and beautiful, just behind the towering smoke-releasing chimneys of the Power Plant.. oh, may be, i thought.. may be she had cried thinking of the smoke we create that wipes out life.. and may be, may be… she had now stopped crying and had sported the lovely rainbow to change her mood a little.. she is lovelier still.. as she smiles at me.. my Sky.. my Blue Sky..

this is one of the stories my sky told me. yes,’my’ sky.. my blue sky. “what the hell do you mean by ‘your’ sky?’  you may ask.. but all i can tell you is, this story that you are gonna read, was told by ‘my’ sky, thirteen hours and a few minutes ago.

thus spake my blue sky :

” I see these lovely plants beneath me. and yeah, i see those buildings too, giving me a sore eye. i see this guy walking.. so stiff and upright, so carried away by his own self-importance.. i know by my years of being up-above-the-world-so-high that, no one has ever  come up this far so much as ME.. however big they tried.. you guys are not bad though.. you have those crazy shooters.. or rockets or whatever.. but even that, wont change much for the general guy there.. yeah.. i was pointing out him..  yeah, you are a clever guy! see, he is sitting tired and watchin at me.. ” i feel like shouting, what are you staring at? go work..” but i never ever shout. maybe your TV serials show that i shout and do revelations.. holy crap.. i dont.. trust me.

i have watched with calmness, the whole world that has come down there.. yeah, right there fella, where you are listening to me.. but.. i like you my man, for you are humble enough to lend your ears to my talk..

people have looked up to the sky for mostly three reasons.. one: to check if the weather or time  s changed.. two: in times of warfare.. and three, when they seek for inspiration. It felt nice indeed, when the little cricketer guy  looked at me everytime when he hit some century..or whatever you guys call it.  the same was with this short and furious fella from Germany, some 70 years ago, again, the same applies to the frail old guy with that wierd looking wheels spinning on his hands who lived around the same time..

I ve seen thousands of men, women and children from all walks of life look at me frequently, lookin for inspirations..  its good.. but i kinda feel amused.. for i think why may that be so? what makes you feel that I am someone to be looked and drawn inspiration from? what for you guys stare at me so long?

sometimes back i was eavesdropping on the conversation besides a church , temple or whatever.. the mom was showing her hands to me, when the sobbing child asked where the daddy was.. i mean, weird.. you people, come on.. I did not take anyone with me.. i am just the sky..

and pardon me on asking so much questions again and again.. is there anything called blue? why did you think I was blue? Blue is the same colour as that little cricketer wore right? but i again feel amused.. let me tell you, I am not.. i dont understand this colour thing has anything to do with me.. I am just the Sky.. well, to make you happy, let me be the Blue Sky.. ah.. there you are, smiling.. and let me smile too “

the sky beamed so much at me.. as i crossed the Peters road flyover to the all-encompassing Mount Road, i saw the sky too bright.. ah.. it smiles at me now.. wonderful..

the sky talked lots more.. and ill tell you what it said, in the subsequent posts..  bye

And the time to act is now. You may think that things can’t get any worse – but they can, and if nothing is done in the next few days, they will.

- Paul Krugman, his interpretaion of Chaos theory. I find similarities between him, Kamal Hassan and Arthur Schopenhauer.. he he.. what do you all think?

Head seemed overladen..
the mind mourned of the sun
warming up the horizons
a squint at the watch
revealed some odd minutes
past eight…….

bed seemed heavenly
smeared all over with
a magical glue binding me
luring… for extended bliss
sprang out unwillingly, still
eyes re-adjust…….

brushing, peeing, washing face
thro’ the mirror i saw and
heard the scurrying sparrows
or rather my peers
spiral down the stairs
my shoes on…….

stale upma,lukewarm curry
proved anti-thesis to 
the phenomenon called ‘taste’
cofee sans coffee bean
lifeless dilute powder milk
better starve…….

slanting downpour thanks to
rain God.. the mystic scent
of mama earth wafted it’s way
into my nasal canal..
the hills nowhere to be seen
welcome splash…….

in perfect matrix, we sat down
rain still hammered steel
assembly ended, umbrellas rose
shivering and sodden, we
sat down rather efficiently
last bench…….

Mr.Smart’s lecture – too lengthy
the nutty professor’s circuits – scary!
cams,flywheels,residual theorems
cryptic & crap design stuff
not to mention crystal defects
no one understands…….

sprung up joal wit a weird question
of whither to position the stuff
call’d graphite. hushed overtones,
made up explanations, endless
array of unanswered doubts
worthless drag…….

lunch, right in between – BURP !
chit chat, fights and more burp
time flies, no one cares
the sun disappeared o’er the folded
horizons. cool breeze slammed doors
time to loo and nap…….

out in the streets, happy and smiling
dialling friends blah ! blah ! blah !
coins disappear, the moon did appear
came back to fill our deflated tummies
suddenly,.. where the hell are the guys??
oh ! study hours…….

ayodhya, cincinatti ,chennai and water
what a strange combination – nay,
’twas the newspaper – our virtual world
lab stuff, wash , a game of chess
sulkin’ around the crammed tables
yeh ! we were free…….

thirty odd pentium two-s and
a couple of ‘latest’ pentium three-s,
i searched for gyan, knowledge – the
ultimate power. but all the s**t
I got was a white screen titled
firewall…….

i blog’d,chattd and play’d
the miserble compatibles,mail’d 
classmates enjoyin’ at LA, delhi and
some at home.. some surprise replies,
google catered to my grey cells
eyes craved for slumber…….

laid back in my flowery bed,
i wondered really screwing my head
where am I ? WHO am I ????
why does life seem so
damn unworthy??… ah ! i got it.
i’m a budding ENGINEER!!!!…

FiLtEr CoFfEe… made in the real Madras style and served in a steel tumbler and the holder(well, what do you call the vessel in english? am rather confused.. !) (as in pic)  is one of the most soul satisfying drinks a person could ever have. not that because i am a madrasee myself that i am writing so highly or flattering about it. but, because of its appeal beyond boundaries for centuries…

 a strong cup of filter coffee can be best had in all of these occasions and even more, as you’d fancy…

* a lonely and shady afternoon

* after coming back from the office

* when it is raining outside

* when you are relaxing with a smoke on hand

* when you feel snobby, tiresome and weary

* when you’re happy after an evening siesta

* when you get up too early in the morning to catch a lecture or meeting

* when you jus got a promotion or increment

* when you are sad after a loss in the share market

* when you feel thinkin of a reason is dumb than grabbing a cup

 A LiTtLe bIt oF HiStOrY

Legend says, a farmer in Arabia was rearing his sheep in the oases. when he found that when his sheep grazed on a certain kind of a fruit, it became more active and quick… in one sleepy morning, he decided to try one of those fruits… it was bitter to taste at first… but he liked the taste in a certain way… his eyes brightened and he felt brisk and felt active and energized… there begins the story folks…

the divine bean, having its origins in Arabian peninsula, was brought by the traders in ships to south India… it grew as a home-grown cash crop in the British raj days in the chill hilly terrains of Coorg and a few places in Tamil nadu, kerala and the north-eastern states. soon, in the 18th and 19th centuries, it became the drink of the intellectual lot who preferred it to tea, which otherwise is, the most relished drink by the working masses…

the south Indian folks learnt the art of brewing a cuppa and they developed and mastered it their own way… the Madrasee way…

a recipe for Filter coffee: ThInGs YoU MiGhT NeEd :

# thick and frothing hot boiled milk

# pure coffee powder. (sometimes mixed with 5% chicory when preferred, which increases the texture of coffee and smell but is not much advised owing to Chicory being an inferior bean which may cause medical complications of the spleen and the like)

# sugar.

# coffee filter and a vessel to collect the decoction.

# steel tumbler and saucer.

PrEpArInG MeThOd :

its as simple as this:

step 1: boil drinking water in a vessel.

step 2: fill the filter with coffee powder (six tablespoons for four cups of coffee’s worth decoction will be the best in terms of strenght and smell)

step 3: pour boiling water over the coffee powder and do something else while the decoction collects below the filter.

step 4: take a steel tumbler, put one and half teaspoons of sugar (or as preferred) and pour the collected decoction till one-third of the cup.

step 5: pour hot frothing boiled milk on the top till the brim.

step 6: toss the unmixed coffee into and back on the steel saucer till the sugar dissolves.

the next step is to enjoy the heavenly drink on hand.. frothing, dark and yummy… ready to awaken a few sleeping brain-cells.. here you go…