Rue in the loo

An MBA perspective of B-school hostel bathrooms

Maybe, the 3 million of the future managers will be able to relate to what I write here. The 3 million who aspired and were eventually driven away to hostels to share the ‘exotic’ rooms will be able to. Bathrooms were the least worry then, it is the morning ritual now.

There is something about the bathrooms of the hostel that no other place can teach. Honestly, JK Rowling should have written her books in there. The intriguing half white scarred tiles empowered with cobwebs in every corner you notice, you might as well be inspired like the King Bruce who learnt from the spider.

Applying the S.W.O.T. (Strength, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis to the four walled, tri-partitioned area, we can arrive at the following :

(a) Strength : A place for meet over and exchange of pleasantries

(b) Weakness: The strength of the place is misused

(c) Opportunity: every senior is dodged by the junior

(d) Threat: By Murphy’s law, it is never available when you need to use it.

This place can teach you more than necessary:

(a) Patience and calculation: Place your bucket in front of the door and wait for your turn . More than the virtue, it instigates you to calculate the probability of the person coming out that door as compared to the next one.

(b) The social network: Introduce, interact and associate to the gossips of the haven.

(c) Estimates: Understand the usage patterns of others, estimate the resources and time utilized, reduce competition by seizing opportunities.

(d) Competition: Observe what the competitors do and use. Be a leader in a peculiar habit/ usage or be a quick follower. Go for a defensive strategy when the a product you think is your is lying next to the wash basin but someone else claims for it.

(e) Full utilization of your senses: Capture the sounds and smells. Stay alert to dart outdoors.

(f) Management crisis : Run on the tap for hours together in anticipation of hot water, forget to carry the soap into the bathroom, three people queued before the door are all crisis that needs tactics to solve. Make long term strategies.

(g) Time management: These teach you time management like no other.

The BCG (bathroom consulting group) :

Star Hot water	Question mark? Individual bathrooms?
Cash cow Shower usage	Dog Dustbins. Bathrooms never have dustbins!

Hostel bathrooms are mini discotheques; people rush in like mad, play music for whatever reason, sing aloud and leave in a happy hurried mode.

Bathrooms have their own business cycles too:

The normal usage is at peak but during exams, the usage is nearly zero. Bathrooms experience recession during exam time.

CSR activities:

The only CSR activity that can be practiced is to use the bathroom for what it is meant for. Also, keeping the "environment" clean gets you the ISO standard.

Thus, the conclusion that can be drawn is that bathroom problem still remain, at large, unattainable. The college doesn’t care. The students don’t care either!

Words, an obsession

Flattery among the unnoticed clutters,

Magnanimous altered from the simple things,

Volume echoed from a shrivelled voice,

Words, o wonderful words ! What else is better than you?

The flow that captures the moment that never lasted,

Drills in accordance with every human emotion,

Laugh, cry, smile and wonder,

Words, o wonderful words ! Can a face do any justice as you do?

When in solitude, I hear you stronger,

When you string with your kind, I feel you,

Speak of volumes that man had created,

Words, o wonderful words ! Utter the tales that I never lived to see.

Present through sands of time,

Living my life as it were borrowed and lent,

Passed through aeons of timeless experience,

Words, o wonderful words ! You complete me, my beloved companion.

When wrecks occur in believed blissful life,

I set out to search the right sequence,

Embed in my mind, heart and lips for ever,

Words, o wonderful words ! Violent wars are imbibed by you in history.

Form of expression never recognised,

Silent whispers like tears in a lover’s eye,

Pacifier and purifier of doubts, anger and pride,

Words, o wonderful words ! Where do you not exist?

Creating magic and language among human life,

Preserving the most sacred relations in dying times,

An angel to every brotherhood and sorority kind,

Words, o wonderful words ! Wed you, shall I?

Digging deep the grave

Oh my! Did you not know the way back?

Work of art remains here though,

Did you not notice what may have left behind?

It doesn’t seem to hurt me anymore.

Blood may bleed, so may it clot

Tears may dwell, so may the heart rot,

Your happiness is embalmed in my curse,

For that every word you had uttered.

Die o love! Die in the faith you never had,

Cry in the tears of loss and suffer,

Celebrate the victory that was never yours,

Pray for the sins that were committed.

I am not your God, I am not another vain,

I am not your love,I am your pain,

Conceit to the world your peaceful thoughts,

And shake in pain deep within,

Does it hurt to see me happy?

That was much intended, oh,you blind?

Let it scar on your mind and heart,

Like that of burnt lips from fag.

Let it spread the misery of heaviness,

Like that of the fragrance of flower.

Let the flesh burn raw and crude,

Let the heart cry out loud in hell.

Ask not what are the reasons to hate,

Pebbles in the shore of river are never rare,

Choke with sadness for all that matters,

Like the smoke in you that was not let out.

When you thought that everything was over,

That very moment was the beginning,

For the mistake you made this time,

Carry the burden for generations to come.         

Fag end of life

Cigarette. The most intriguing commodity I have ever witnessed. It seizes the holder in minutes of madness and claims a power that is inexplicable. Still, he lingers on to it and succumbs. He does not get judgmental in the moments of its companionship and this character makes him vulnerable.

He is lost in its unexplained charm which confuses him of what he thinks of it. He enjoys it in his boredom, failure, thoughts and pleasure. He does not know what he wants nor understands what he gains when it is placed between his fingers.

Irony it may be, but analogies can be drawn from every aspect of life. Are not decisions like the cigarettes?

When two paths unfold and you choose one of them, does that mean a choice? As human of rational thoughts, we would say a yes. But, is there a choice in everything that we foresee and forgo? If the answer is yes again, then decisions make us vulnerable and the hard hitting facts makes us understand that there is more to what we had assumed or known.

Decisions make us succumb to the best of alternatives that has been drawn out of the experiences we accumulated. We make them all the time. We think, confuse ourselves and hold on to what we believe is the best.

I am of opinion that all decisions are of evaluative in nature only after it has been occurred. Just like the cigarettes, you cant be judgmental while acting upon the decision. You have to fall into its confusion and unpredictable nature on the go before understanding the full implication.

What makes a decision right or wrong? Maybe, it is only the outcome that can tell. Till then, you will have to enjoy it in the moments of boredom, failure, thoughts and pleasure. You will have to let yourself indulge in hope and wait in despair for the results you wanted to know.

Decisions can make you addictive like the commodity as it can force you into thinking about it all the time. It is like the nag at the back of the head that appears at times when you need it the least.

When the ashes of the cigarette burn out, would you not be tempted to go into the same dilemma again? Decisions are exactly like that. We make them too often enough to notice. We fall into the same repetitive cycle of ever lasting dilemma.

Except that, decisions don’t burn out like ashes. They stay to make scars.

Roll of a die

In chaotic state of doubt and desire,

When every materialistic and subjective things matter the most,

Bring it closer to your vulnerable heart,

And understand the rhythmic beat that you own.

Being merely prudent is a delusion,

Because there is no relative perfection,

Attain what you must,

For no one shares your own regret.

Don’t believe the folks when they utter,

That grey shades do occur in life,

Black and white is the choice,

And in all circumstances, choice was present.

Destiny moulds as you go,

Fate unfolds when least expected,

But can’t you do something to the withering flower,

That has been placed in your hands.

Thrust forward to run the mile if need be,

Plough the impossible grounds if you want to,

Break the barriers with nonchalant might,

Live the life in your own boundary less right.

Journey that has been cast may seem blurred,

Or easily attainable in companionship,

Whatever be the reason,

Even shadow refuses to follow you in the dark.

Why waste life on things you didn’t want,

Or things that were unattainable,

Why risk for things that were never meant to be yours,

Is running behind the pot of gold under a rainbow considered wise?

Same thoughts, why not fight for what you want?

Give the chance a chance in random,

Move the time in reasons of faith and hope,

And never give up for that one reason you wanted the most.

Miracles are made to occur,

Battles are avenged to fight,

Sometimes, let heart do the talking,

Things that the mind never has to know.

Don’t turn back to see the steps taken,

Deeds are never to be justified,

Sprint forward towards the dark unknown,

No one lied when they said life happens only once.

Cribber's diary

Amongst the darkest and most annoying phases, this maybe a cynical post but I deserve one. Everyone does. I pass phases just like every other person, except that I realize and think about it too much. Memory is a bi- emotion; it helps you at one time and gives you a headache the other time.

Here are my entries in the diary I would love to lose.

I regret..

(1)Not doing the best of ability: Cliché? But it is true. I often wonder what makes one passionate and other, not. There were things that were planned and laid ahead with so much careful calculations but in implementation, everything was lost. Academics, relationships and even, capitalizing on the strengths. I was methodical and never learnt to break free. I am sure nothing is lost but I wish I had tried more and better rather than letting everything take over me. This regret, I am still working on.

(2)Not loving my family as much as I should have: This is very true. I have never let them know how important they are. I never wanted to be known as an emotional individual and chose to be independent. Now, let us not imagine a girl with no love or affection. It is just a feeling that I should have carried out more than what I have ever done.

(3)Letting things go at the end: I have not been very persistent about many things. Too much thinking and too little confidence. It would be nice if I had a bowl of optimism that I could drink from every day. Little things did annoy and little things did exhilarate me. I wish I worked till the end without any confusion and with more clarity.

(3)Letting people hurt me: It is entirely my fault that I chose to go around wrong people and ended up getting hurt. I hate being naïve and thought of being so either. If given the super powers, I would love to dwindle all the time I wasted on those people. If given the chance and guts, I would love to hurt them back. I am not being cruel. What goes round comes back.

(4)Not learning to sing: Music has never amazed me and I, till date have not been able to find out why. It doesn’t make me lose myself nor does it bring any happiness. Music, to me is just another sound; pleasant and not pleasant. But, I love the words that are strung together with the music. Because of this one sole reason, I wish I had learnt to sing.

(5)Not calling my friends: This is a common complaint that I don’t call anyone without a reason. I am sorry. It is laziness that encapsulates my consideration. I promise to call.

(6)Not capitalizing my strength and leaving the weakness: I did exactly the opposite and ended up putting the eggs in too many baskets. Though, it is not my regret, I hope to be more careful in future.

(7)Not saving enough money: Guess this is self explanatory.

(8)Not eating less: Apparently being a part of the fair gender, there are some traits that need to be prominent. To me, beauty and health takes a backseat when food comes into the picture.

(9)Not being able to market myself: I cant laugh loud or throw couple of swear words that every boy in the corridor would notice. I cant say things I did and emphasize on my contribution. I cant let others know what I can do. In simple terms, I cant market myself.

The list seems endless and it does send me to a state of utmost depression. It imbibes a feeling of inferiority and makes me seem insignificant. But, do I do anything about it apart from cribbing? That is another most important weakness.

If God rested

12^th December, 2012, 15: 45 p.m.

He waited for her over the big monitor that has been his only partner for past few decades.

In less than few seconds, she appeared.

“Are you sure?”, he asked in subtle voice that ensured no fear and coveted reply.

“Absolutely”, she replied.

“Dextera Domini”, he said in his breathe and almost a mumble.

“Means the right hand of God. If they work out their plan and execute accordingly, rest assured that the entire world would be convinced”. She emphasized on the ‘entire world’.

“Can it be done scientifically? Bring darkness over light?”, he asked for the thousandth time.

She knew he had something in mind and would stress on a question until he was satisfied. It was her duty to give him the information.

“It pertains to the fundamentals of quantum physics. Light and darkness are mere illusions of mind. Light and darkness are part of the same spectrum with different names. Darkness just consists of wavelengths of various radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma rays. If they are emitted in the right quantities, they constitute the darkness”.

“So, it is possible”, he asked again.

“Yes, it is”, she answered again. This time frustration emerged in the conversation. She hid her face behind the 4-D signals monitor. The signal indicated the urgency of the message.

“What is the ultimate motive?”, he questioned. This time he at least seemed to take the conversation further.

“Chaos”. Her one word reply.

“Chaos?”, he asked genuinely perplexed.

“Chaos is the pivot of confusion, untrustworthy, doubts, fear and tends to set human to extreme measures. It makes sure that no one depends on the system. And by this, no one bothers about norms and there is no setting in the society. It is like an epidemic break”, she explained satisfied by her own understanding.

“So, it cant be stopped. People will stop believing in the system and us. There would be murders and suicides.”, he added to her explanation.

“Not just murders, but genocides. People will think that killing is their right. It would involve another survival of the fittest. Dextera Domini believe they are sent by God to destroy everything. Just like the Ark of Noah”, she explained to indicate the seriousness.

“This must be stopped”, he claimed.

She felt this was the first time he said something wise. She didn’t reply to him. She remained calm and allowed him to think.

“How did they convince that the world would end?”, he asked.

‘Questions again’, she thought. “Sir, the means of communication is much more complex and far reaching”, she almost smirked in reply.

“No. How did they say that the world would end?”, he asked more clearly.

“They said that the earth would rotate the opposite direction. This indicates that the places that have sun would become dark and vice versa. This would be followed by cyclones and any other factors that might exist in this phenomena”, she uttered clearly.

“Which simply indicates that they would induce darkness and light at appropriate places and chaos would follow”, he nodded in reply.

“Where are their reactors placed?”, he asked the final question.

She gave him six combinations of longitudes and latitudes. “You will have to destroy every of them before their operation begins. Good luck Sir”. With these words she disappeared.

He called the operator and gave the instructions.

12^th December ,2012, 23: 53 p.m.

He was sure of their system and perfect execution of commands. More than three fourth of his officers were sent to do the job. There were instant five calls assuring him that the reactors have been taken care of. The sixth reactor, bigger and rumoured to be set on first was still not destroyed.

He was waiting for that one call. A success call that assured him a promotion and the world to look up to their organization. One call that might restore faith in human race.

The communicator blinked.

“Yes?”, he asked.

“We destroyed the all the reactors”, the voice spoke.

“Brilliant !” , he claimed.

“I am not very sure , Sir", voice lowered not in secrecy but in pain.

“What do you mean?”, he screamed.

"There has been spilling. We can see darkness flow right before our eyes.It seems that the reactors continue to function even after being hit.”, voice panicked.“The operation continues because the reactors cannot be destroyed by mere weapons. It was all programmed. We should have hit the source code.”, voice explained.

He slumped into the chair. Everything seemed to fade before his eyes.

12^th December ,2012, 00:04 a.m.

Chaos was set out. Dextera Domini succeeded.

Then the clock ticked

Three shadows that cast in the room seemed still. If a painter was brought in, he would have completed a painting without any hassle. The steam from the coffee mug seemed to blur one of men with spectacles. He grumbled, scratched his chin and removed his glasses. The other two didn’t even acknowledge each other’s presence.

The wood creaked every time they made slight movement. Many old dusty photo frames and medals were hung random on the walls. Being new to the job, Mr. Ruskin felt it was an odd and old fashioned place to enquire a criminal. Especially some one like Mr. Frussel.

“We thought we would never lay our hands on you”, said Mr. Merchin. He rubbed his glasses on his sweater sleeve.

Frussel didn’t say anything. It seemed of his nature not to speak more than what is needed of him. This was taught to him in twenty seven years with faith and fear of Lord Durne.

Ruskin smirked at the naivety of Merchin. It was just over a year when he joined the investigation bureau. To his knowledge , Merchin was with the enquiry department for past thirty four years but he handled only small petty suspects and criminals , so, this innocuous statement was not a surprise.

“Hope you wouldn’t bother me with questions about the whereabouts of Lord Durne”, said Frussel curtly.

“I was about to ask only that!” , squeaked Merchin in surprise. Ruskin rolled his eyes.

Frussel looked from Merchin to Ruskin. He felt it was strange that both didn’t act their age. The young man was silent and the old seemed to enjoy talking.

“I wish I knew”, he replied back.

Before Merchin could say anything, Ruskin spoke.

“You were the right hand of Lord Durne, what was your job?”

Frussel was slightly surprised and didn’t take efforts to conceal it.

“There was a hierarchy in the system. Lord Durne was careful not to involve just a person in any of the crimes that were committed. One person would not recognize the other even if they worked under him. I was responsible for conveying the messages from him to another”

Ruskin moved slightly forward, “How did he give instructions. Has he ever called over the phone? “

Frussel looked down at the table. “Usually it came in an envelope marked with a seal. It always contained the mark of Lord Durne. A red dove.”

“Red dove. That’s odd for a criminal like him”, said Merchin more to himself. He fiddled with his ring and glass but the other two ignored him completely.

“That was his daughter’s name , Dove. But she was raped by couple of drunken youngsters. The case didn’t even come to court.”

Ruskin rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “And who was assigned the task of killing?”

“I always delivered it to Orgy. That’s what everyone called him. So, I never knew who was assigned the work”, replied Frussel.

“Orgy? You mean the man who was killed last year?”, asked Merchin trying to butt into the conversation.

“Yes. It was him. There were rumours that Lord Durne killed him. He knew too much. Lord kept his men well but at the same time, wouldn’t wince a bit when they got too close or suspicious”, explained Frussel.

“You treat him like God. Have you seen Durne any time?”, asked Ruskin.

“He was our savior from poverty and miseries. No, I have never seen him. Not when I was conscious at least”

“What do you mean by that?”, asked Ruskin in a curious voice.

“I had a heart attack a year ago. He came to visit me at the hospital. I was dazed because of medicine and couldn’t see him well”, he looked down.

Ruskin collected all his thoughts and what Frussel had said. Lord Durne seemed to know what he was doing and was good at it. A man of his position was respected and feared.

“Remarkable guy”, he thought to himself.

Suddenly he saw Merchin staring into the coffee which he had sipped just a minute ago “Merchin, what happened?”

“It tastes weird”, he replied back.

There was ten seconds of silence.

“Don’t drink it!! Don’t drink!! It could be poisoned !!”, Ruskin screamed.

Merchin threw his mug on the table. It crashed sending echoes across the room. The other two picked their mugs to do the same. But, there were two gun shots.

The light in the room flickered. There was a strong coffee stench.

“Hello, headquarters?”

“Yes”, came the reply.

“There was a rift between a criminal and officers here at Bureau quarters and looks like they killed each other. Can you come immediately?”

“Shit! Who are you?”

He placed the receiver down and turned his ring on the right side which showed a red dove. He put on his hat and looked at the two dead bodies.In few hours, a third body would be discovered in the room. The body of the real Mr. Merchin.

“He knew too much”, he thought and left the place.

Yin Yang

Un-real

(What I write. The heights of exaggeration)

The heat wafted over my skin. The world seemed to nod to the violent silences. I followed as it moved stealthily and in the same pace as if it knew where it was heading. The circles made my senses spin in its own direction. The mind flew in the other and everything ceased to shatter in every direction that was not right. I shut my eyes to the unreality or was I assuming so? I did not want to confirm my fears but had to open my eyes to succumb to the endless movement.

My body felt heavy and fulfilled. The repulsiveness to spring upon remained though. I could not move and one side of the torso was reluctant to obey the other side.

Loneliness made its grasp and choked upon me as it were my enemy. Even when it was the case, I embraced the lost friend and let him torture me. He continued till I began to find him pleasant.

I began collecting all my thoughts that were hidden away in black vague shadows. I drifted to the place I never wanted to be but had to go. That was the norm of the moment.

Real

(What actually happens)

It was a hot afternoon and I was lying on the bed looking up the fan. I was following the rotation of the wings till my eyes and head hurt. I kept doing this because of boredom and having nothing to do.

The lunch was very heavy that afternoon and I had ‘kattufied’ moru kozhambu and everything that makes you sleep and because of this, I was not even able to move my body.

I was very bored and nothing was helping me at the moment. This all led to the feeling of loneliness.

I began to dream and drifted away to sleep.

(And there you go :D)

Realm of reality

Wise said beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder

Meandering that beauty make not exist in reality

It cannot be defined because it seems not permanent

But, defying that, I say beauty is permanent,

Or that is what it should have been.

Beauty, like every other instilling character, has passed through innumerable stages. It has been defined as external appearance and some other time, an internal embracement. Of all faults of men, this is one: to define beauty in the first place. It is the first nature of human to complicate things and most of the times, in contradictory to what should be made simple is made complex.

Beauty is such a thing in the ever unforgiving traits of generations. Two pairs of eyes see more than one and even more, interpret more than needed. If I say a particular thing is beautiful, would you agree with me? Beauty is opined according to every individual and let us keeps that distinct as it is. Let us give each the freedom to what he thinks is beautiful rather than allowing him to define it.

Shouldn’t beauty be last longing? Wars were fought, kingdoms were brought down and mythologies, histories were written. This might indicate beauty should have lasted long than few minutes of encounter or few hours of prejudice. If mistakes were made because of this very feeling, should it not be a part of seven deadly sins?

Is beauty a thing or a feeling hidden amongst the intricate gathering of emotions? Is it to be experienced or to be watched over carefully? I don’t understand the nature of it. Maybe it is one of the intriguing mysteries unraveled and better left that way.

Beauty is more invisible than air and even tasteless like water. It has no foundations to hold upon and stand for itself. In other words, beauty just looks out for a medium. It is like the salvation, free from something to get something else yet unknown. It is as dangerous as the unknown and as simple as a baby’s laugh.

Beauty can be omnipresent like God or be God Himself. After all, we did see God in many things. Didn't we?

Now, you ask me to define beauty.

A mother bears all pain to bring her child into this world. This is beauty.

A lover sacrifices everything to get her. This is beauty.

A soldier stands in between the divides and does not know for whom he is holding the gun. This is beauty.

A friend runs to help the other, come whatever may. This is beauty.

To put in simple words, beauty, to me, is the white light. It is sacrifice, pleasure, happiness, forgiveness, trust, care and everything that exist within God’s creation.

If there is anything that is going to make you content and show you the purpose of existence like a human being, it is beautiful.

Beauty is permanent.

P.S., This is a part of Dove along with Yahoo to promote beauty. Please vote for this write up here

Who am I?

• I am an Indian: Emotion is a weapon of defense and strategy
• I am an Indian girl: I have been stereotyped
• I am an Indian aspirant: USA still is a top priority
• I am a south Indian girl: Most of sex knowledge comes from books
• I am an Indian reader: I used to love Sidney Sheldon. For all wrong reasons.
• I am an Indian Sportswoman: I played basket ball, not for passion but to increase height
• I am an Indian B school student: Facebook is my breath
• I am an Indian Electronics Engineer: I did everything except understanding electronics
• I am an Indian daughter: I am a display doll in other marriages
• I am an Indian sister: I am used for comparison
• I am an Indian foodie: I look at the price before eating
• I am an Indian movie buff: Regional language movies are for watching and English for discussing
• I am an Indian educationalist: Speaking will get me anywhere
• I am an Indian employee: The more I sit, harder I seem to work
• I am an Indian spender: Food always seem taste better in roadside shops
• I am an Indian consumer: I buy a dress from a big brand and look for an occasion
• I am an Indian traveler: Bargaining with auto driver is my right!
• I am an Indian counselor: I have an advice for anyone and everyone on the road
• I am an Indian supporter: I would support both a cricketer and an activist even if they oppose each other
• I am an Indian activist: To me, religion is a cause and an excuse
• I am an Indian writer: I try my best to please others

Halogen killer

How naïve can we be? How ignorant in spite of all the education? Only after IndiBlogger declared this contest, did I ever bother to look it up in google. And to my shock, there was not a single thing about the harmful effects in first few pages.

I remember the times I spent in the swimming pool when I was 13 years old. I was fascinated by the deep blue colour that resembled the beaches that were portrayed in the bollywood movies. In an attempt to do a back stroke just like those heroines in the movies, I ended up gulping in tons of water. The taste was just the opposite of the beautiful sight. The other senses were awakened too. The smell was as bad as the taste.

There are millions of hotel and commercial pools in our country. Each of them needs to be maintained to retain their customers. This is the reason chlorine is added into the pool.

With many people using the same pool every day, it is obvious that the pool collects various containments like lotions,dirt,oil etc.

To clean this, chlorine is added to the pool.

Most pools contain both good chlorine and bad chlorine. The good chlorine is called free chlorine and is capable of killing germs. Bad chlorine, on the other hand, is called "combined chlorine" and is a poor germ killer.

Too much combined chlorine in your pool causes the strong chlorine odor. When the combined chlorine level reaches 0.2 ppm or more, it is time to shock your water. Shocking will eliminate the odor.

Routine shock treatment is necessary to destroy combined chlorine compounds and restore the chlorine sanitizer to "free chlorine" efficiency. A pool can be shock treated by adding large doses of chlorine, commonly referred to as superchlorination, or by adding a non-chlorine shock such as OXY-BRITE.

The shock treatment can be done with both chlorine and non chlorine substance. The non chlorine substance scores over the chlorine substance as it does cause any harm to person or clothing.

If such a thing as non chlorine treatment is available, why not go for it? By using these substances, most of the lives can be saved.

Why am I getting sentimental to mention life? Yes, the TCCA (Tirchloroisocyanuric acid) used to purify waters in the swimming pools can cause cancer. The dangers are as bad as the abbreviation of the acid.

This TCCA is not just used in pools but also in many households. Do you own a water purifier? Got yourself fooled again? Most of the purifiers also contain TCCA as a purifying agent.

What can be done?

· Raise voice against chlorine usage

· Use the medium like facebook to communicate to others

· Get people to read on the harmful effects

· When you come across pools or households using chlorine, warn them

As a citizen, it is very important to raise voice. Let us not delve in ignorance again.

The factor analysis

The following write up is a subtle gender bias. Probably not the first time but there is only one gender I know of, while the other remains among the mysteries unraveled. “Girl talk” is what would be running in everyone’s mind. Defying the age old story, I say men are little hard to understand.

Among the 3.5 billion approximate, why is that we often fall for the special few? No, it is not a typos error; it is ‘few’ and not one. Also, ‘we’ here are the females. Unless we are shut away on a female island or our parents are extremely orthodox who run scripts of ‘abhishtu’s’ when we take a second look at a guy, I am pretty sure that we would have interacted with at least 20 men in our lives. Simple ones, hep ones, boasty ones or a character that is just inexplicable but we end up just pampering one.

What is that girls look out for in men?

Looks? We have our own subsets of external appearance: handsome, cute, a mix of handsome and cute, hunk, not good looking but something extra (when we don’t have an adjective) , hot, rot, skunk, sweet, sombu, pazham, nerd, stud etc. Quite an exhaustive list. Remember, nerd are not the ‘dislike’ types or hunks are not the ‘sought out’ types. Every guy with decent looks is up on the list. This way, looks are disqualified.

Intelligence? If that was the case, Einstein would have been celebrated till today. Too much intelligence is scary and too less, you know is dangerous. We look for intelligence that we can challenge and are willing to give in trivial fight. We don’t want a “you know nothing” in things that are too arbit or “you know a lot” in things that are important. We seek for intelligence that make quick decisions and stand to their forte; knows what to talk given a situation.

Maturity? Sages in age old eras did say the right thing, men mature late. Most times, never. Maturity is all about how one carries himself and what he talks. That is all. But, this character of life is the most difficult to portray. Maturity is hard to find and we don’t go searching for things that are hard to find. Period.

Polite, soft spoken? This generation is a totally influenced by movies. Polite and soft spoken are wrong signs. In fact, they are not even characters to define a person. If you lower the decibel in the voice, it becomes polite. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sense of humour? Does making someone laugh called a sense of humour? If not, what is? I believe sense of humour lies in individual’s capability to laugh and not in the person’s ability to make the other person laugh. I have known instances where I have seen girls laugh out loud and hard just for the expressions made by the boy. Does this qualify a sense of humour? Boys are boys and not circus clowns.

Down to earth, modesty? Consider a situation, when there is nothing to flaunt, how else do you expect the person to be? Modesty is recognized only in higher levels. When in small amounts, it is camouflaged in traces of ‘nothing’ness. So, calling a guy modest is just a symbol of appreciation and nothing to do with the inherent character. It just grows with age and sense of how others look at you.

Uber cool? What is this word/adjective of definition? Does it mean ‘a complete package’ types? Please look around. Found anyone? If yes, please let me know too.

I have all the characters that can make a guy lovable but not able to narrow down to that “x” factor of a guy. With myriad of choices, how does a girl seek one? How does she connect to very few guys and banish the rest?

Defying the age old story, I say men are little hard to understand.

But agreeing to it, women are extremely hard to understand.

the instincts

Her & Him: New to place. Just a week.

Me :Been at the place for 2 months. Knows everyone quite well.

Her: "I am hungry, lets have lunch".

Me:" Lunch hour at office is from 1 - 2. Fifteen more minutes." (Not looking up from my desktop)

Her: "Come on! who follows the rules anyway. Lets go!" ( a little persuasive)

Him: Hmmmm...ya! I am hungry too. Lets go.

Me: "Hey! People at office will stare at us. Lets eat when everyone does."

Him:"Who is bothered about us here to notice?"

Me: "That is not the point. If we some one notices us today, then we will be the talk of the day." (A little irritated)

Her: Were you a 'first bencher' at school?

Me(shocked): "How did you know?!!"

Giggles. Laughter.

:'(

Why would I want a love marriage?

The opinions are solely mine and please don’t take it too personal. I don’t want to be bombarded with questions. And don’t blame me if I have an arranged marriage J

This is for every man and woman who understood/understands/will understand the simplicity of words and genuine love. I am writing this for the love that lead/will lead to marriage.

Why would I want a love marriage?

Because you would know a person in prior and can have an understanding? Cheesy. Put two boys in a hostel room for three years and they would be ready for marriage. It is not about the “prior” knowledge that sets a love marriage apart but something more and not thought of.

Arranged marriage has thousand benefits of its own and I could put it in words much better than for love marriage.

Which of the men do you want to be in the court of law? The judge or the lawyer? Arranged marriage is where you are the judge while in love marriage, you are the lawyer. Why do I say this? If people at home were to arrange the marriage for you, your highest responsibility would be to accept or reject an offer. You look for the compatibles and much more before you can proceed into the offer. Love marriage is not that way. Love finds you; it is an age old secret of how it is done but it does find you. Compatibility is learnt on the go and then, you convince for the marriage to happen.

In an arranged marriage, you discover one another and try to attach all the strings together leaving behind the differences. Beautiful, is it not? But in a love marriage, you discover yourself. You would not know why you wait for the special person for 2 hours; you just wait. There would be no reason to most of the actions but it happens. Traits like selfish and possessive don’t disappear but you know they exist which you never understood for years.

Sacrifices and adjustment happen in both types of marriages but what is the stake is important. In an arranged marriage, there is a guarantee of things that wait. This is not true in love marriages. When you sacrifice something for another person without even knowing what is at the other end of the tunnel, does it make you a blind fool? Maybe it does and it is for the same unknown magical reason love marriages exist in our country today. Selfless motives behind every action and probably, no right results yet you are willing to take that stride.

Have you understood friendship ever in your life? Why is that sometimes, they are as important as the family or even more? Friendships play an important role in love marriages. No, I am not going into that bollywood and kollywood kind of fantasies. You will understand that friends are there just for you and nothing more or less. They are there for support and are your spine; they exist yet unseen. They would never ask the unnecessary questions are willing to hear to anything you say. You want them. Like never before.

What is being in a relationship mean? An elated feeling of not being alone and someone is there for you? Someone you can cuddle in cold nights and pamper in sunny mornings? Have a pet; it will serve the same purpose. Being in a commitment means you will think twice or more than usual. You will think for yourself and the other. You would know what is to take decisions through heart and not mind. Maybe you got into the relationship through mind, looking at the favorable things but when it comes being in it, you would just not think for yourself alone. Can anything in life teach you to make decisions as good as this? Has your life ever been planned like this?

I often consider that it is the duty of the people in a relationship to convince everyone, including parents. Maybe this is the first time you would have known what you want; so would your parents. There may be clashes or smooth handling depending on the family and beliefs but the first step is to approach the parents. They understand you and you understand yourself better. Among all the chaos, the bond just becomes a bit too tight.

Faith is a good thing. Faith is something that keeps you going. It helps you work towards something that you want so badly. Faith is why human exist and it is found in love. You do everything letting yourself believe that the other person will become yours some day. With love comes a package of emotions that don’t even have names.

Finally, it is the accomplishment that makes a love marriage altogether superior. The efforts that were taken to get that one person into your life will make memories. You went beyond all the conflicts, misunderstandings, no confidence and highest level of persuasion to get what you believed in. Whether this ‘love’ will exist for a long time, I do not know. For a marriage to last longer, faith and trust in each other is a must. For all people who loved before the marriage, it already happened.

Please find link of the contest here: https://www.facebook.com/LoveYaArrange

Midnight shadow

She made a quick noiseless move and I sensed it right behind my spine. The silence that wrapped us was the savior of the moment but she chased him away.

“Are you writing again?”

I lingered on to my savior

“Hmm..that means you are thinking deep. It is not good for you to do that often.”

Bloody. She knew me.

“Anyway, looks like many like your writing. But do they know the reason for those masterpieces?”

“They are not masterpieces! Just amateur writing”, I gritted through my teeth. Temper erupted.

“Ahhhh..you love appreciation, don’t you?”, she asked in normal tone.

To me, it was a jeer.

“Everyone does”, I replied curtly.

“You want to be better than her. That could be a reason too. Feels like a loser?”, she whispered in my ears.

I didn’t reply. It was not true.

“Not everyone is gifted. You are just trying too hard. And all this is not going to bring him back”, she hissed in my ears again.

“Who?” , I asked in a meek voice. I knew the answer. I never confess.

“You can cheat the world, my girl, anyone, but not me. You can act like nothing happened but I know all the moments you cried.”, she said in a voice that brought back the memories.

I concentrated on the words I wrote. There were too many mistakes, just like in my life. The mistakes I never acknowledged. Mistakes that had happened because I didn’t think. Or maybe I thought too much.

“How do you know? What does it mean to you?”, I snarled.

She laughed. It trailed through my ears and seemed like life long.

“You are so vulnerable. You have nothing that is yours; love, money or even talent”, she laughed louder.

I stared at the words. They were crawling all over the place. The echoes of misery lashed everywhere.

Trrrriiiiinnngg

“Hello? Subha?”, I heard a familiar voice.

“Hey Srini!”

“What are you doing?”

“Hmmm..nothing. Was thinking what to write. What are you doing?”

She disappeared from the place and went into my head again. I shut her again; from myself.