LIFE is all about...

Dealing with life, work, work pressure, life skills, life challenges, and changes have all become my favourite phrases nowadays as i am all set to complete the first year of my early thirties soon. Issues, challenges, and questions all are cropping at a new scenario. Knowingly or unknowingly i have spent some years in a wasteful way, in the sense, that i could have done many many things however could not. No regrets for that now. It was an experience. Recession blues, personal issues, domestic issues, illusionary issues, real issues, issues, issue and more issues - it seems life is made up ofissues only and finding solutions for it. Though many times, setbacks occur it is not all the way failures. So much to learn and live. Learning lessons in life never stops. May be this way life is more challenging, manageable and not certainly not difficult as all issues and challenges have their own solutions - whatever it may be. May be i am over thinking, but still it is an issue of utmost significance and no one teaches them except our life itself. Life, as i have seen, needs its own, altogether, skills and we take "our own" time to understand them.

I remember a Chintana aired by Akashavani Mysore nearly ten years ago, LIFE EXPECTS DIFFERENT AND ALL BEST THINGS FROM US. Our relief, happiness, satisfaction or whatever you call is depending on the fact that whether we provide it what all it needs. This is a simple fact but a challenge indeed. Having told this, I must also admit that I have already become a member of Future Forties' Club with two of dear colleagues and what i see a whole new journey of life ahead.I have always been interested to think, know and understand what is life, how it works, what way it should be etc.

In short, i am interested in life and this interest and dedicated and servicemindedness towards is entering into a new era now and Not but not the least, LIFE IS ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT.

Musings

Now i have sometime to blog. Work takes a lot of time, pressure, stress, commuting, oh...hundred and one things. Since nine days i was so busy with work. Today i have sometime to breathe and blog.

US economy slowdown has hit that country badly and we are witnessing its effects here too. I am reading, listening and seeing all this. Actively discussing about this too. The media have given it due coverage, though it is debatable. Some questions haunt me: Did India need all this? Given the free falling of free market capitalism in US, its visible effects here, what's the solution? Is this outsourcing, ITes sector not safe and secure?

First things first. Yes. India needed and needs this. The changes that we have been seeing in the last 10 years, are dream come true for millions. Common people (read middle-class educated Indians) have flourished a lot. ATM, mobiles, computers, credit cards, fat salaries (It's a fact that a young professional today earns more than what his father drew in the last month of his service).... this is all the result of this outsourcing, ITes jobs. It provided employment.
However, it is true that all this has been one-sided and as some say "abnormal" that has, to some extent, has had effects on society too (We all hear that people are becoming more and more materialistic like Americans and finally we also end up being so, I myself have experienced this). Now the moot question is how to deal with this? Will it be a doom? This is a phase and will pass too, some people say optimistically.

Hampi Tour

Finally, I have now got sometime to update my blog.

Last weekend, I visited Hampi, a world heritage site, more than 300 kms from the north of Bangalore, with one of my good friends. We walked and walked and walked over 6 kms in two days discovering Hampi, the grand capital city of the medievial period's Vijayanagar empire.
Though Hampi is in ruins, it's one time grandeur can be imagined through whatever is left - basements of royal buildings, foundations of palaces, buildings, idol less temples, broken idols etc.
All through Hampi, I was reminded of Michael Wood's legendary documentary "Story of India" being broadcast on Discovery Channel. If I had a handycam I would have made a documentary on Hampi just like Wood.

It was great to find royal enclosure spread over 59,000 acres at Kamalapur, 2 kms from Hampi. The monuments at Hampi are all unique, Ugranarasimha, Badavlinga, Kadalekalu Ganapa, Sasivekalu Ganapa, Hazararama temple, courtesans' street, Purandaradasa Mantapa, Seetha's cave, Kodandarama temple, royal hall, royal pond, tunnel, queens' bathroom, Mahanavami Dibba, Vijayavittala Temple, Gajashale, Kamala Mahal and much more. This royal enclosure fascinated me, sparkling discussions and imaginations.

It was amazing to see the Raja Beedi of the Virupaksha temple where the merchants were selling pearls, gold and diamonds like any grossery item. This fact itself is enough to find how prosperous the Vijayanagar Kingdom was in 16th century, the peak of its glory, particularly during the reign of Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529). Later on the empire disintegrated in the War of Rakkasathangadi in 1565. However the dynasty continued till later part of the 18th century.
Established by Hakka and Bukka with the divine blessing of seer Vidyaranya, the pontiff of Sringeri Sharada Peetha, in 1336, the Vijayanagar empire spread, expanded, and achieved its glory for over two centuries. Ruled by four dynasties, Vijayanagar empire's history is the golden age of Karnataka.

In all, it was experience to discover the once flouring royal city which was described beautifully by the foreign travellers. No wonder it was one of the most rich cities of its time, a world heritage site.

We were ably guided by Sandeep, a Hospet-based school teacher, my friend's fried, with whom I had good discussions on many issues. The discussions can be called walking discussions.
The mention of hills around Hampi Hemakoota, Matanga and Rushyamooka are found in Ramayana too. It is said Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were staying here during their Vanavasa.

A great tour for me. A welcome break from the boring busy Bangalore.

ಯಾವ ಜನ್ಮದ ಕೆಳೆಯೋ ಕಾಣೆನು ...ಮೈ ಫೇವರೆಟ್ ಸಾಂಗ್

ಯಾವ ಜನ್ಮದ ಕೆಳೆಯೋ ಕಾಣೆನು ಕಂಡ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಒಲಿಯಿತು, ಕಣ್ಗೆ ರೂಪವು ಇಳಿವ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ಎದೆಗೆ ಪ್ರೇಮವು ಹರಿಯಿತು...

ದಿಕ್ಕು ದಿಕ್ಕಿಗೂ ಹರಡಿ ಹಬ್ಬಿತು ಹಸುರು ಹುಚ್ಚನ್ನೆರಚಿತು, ಚಿಗುರುಚಿಗುರಿಗೂ ಒಲವ ತುಂಬಿಸಿ ಹೂವು ತೋರಣ ಕಟ್ಟಿತು, ಒಳಗೂ ಹೊರಗೂ ಬೆಳಗು ಸಂಜೆಯೂ ನಿನ್ನ ದನಿಯೇ ತೇಲಿತು, ಎಂಟು ದಿಕ್ಕಿನ ಗಾಳಿಯಲ್ಲೂ ನಿನ್ನ ದನಿಯೇ ಕೇಳಿತು.

ಇಂದು ಮಾಗಿಯು ಮುಗಿವ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ನಗುವ ಬೇಸಗೆ ಬಂದಿದೆ, ಕಾಮನಂ ಬೆಳರನ್ನು ತಂದಿದೆ, ಬಾಲ ಹಾದಿಯ ಎರಡು ಕದೆಯಲೂ ಕಣ್ಗೆ ಹಬ್ಬವು ಹರಡಿದೆ, ಮಾವು ಹೊಂಗೆಗಳನ್ಥೆ ಮನವಿದು ಹೊಸತು ಚಿಗುರನು uttide .

Taking some 'TIME' to ಬ್ಲಾಗ್

Oh, God, I can't believe I did not get time in the last one and half months nearly, to update by blog. Amid all this huge traffic of life (Mainly job, domestic work like cooking, cleaning, family, commuting, lack of clarity of what and how to do things etc),I have been thinking of writing about so many many things. But what to do? I did not get time. This brings to me to one interesting point.

Earlier I disliked to hear words like "I have no time", "I did not get time", "I am busy" and so on. The irony is now I am taking refuge in these bland verbiages.

I am basically an idealist and read a lot of things about timeliness, ideals in my middle, high school and pre-university college days that I still cherish. I was following time, discipline and taking everything in good stride. Everything was going good and even if something bad happened, I used to take it as it is. When others used to say they did not get time, I wondered and did not understand what were they saying.

But now things have changed a lot and I have become one of them. Due one or the other reason, I put off so many things. Consequently things pile up on one another. For all I have to wait for the weekend. If I can't do one thing this weekend it gets postponed to next weekend and so on. Like this, I have a long list of things to do in the next four weekends, that means a week! OMG! Like updating the blog now. So all these days I "just did not have time to update my blog". Rather my commitment to blogging failed. Bombed.

This leads me to recollect a great sentence read in some magazine, paper or book long ago. WE all, actually, have sufficient time. We can't even imagine how much we have. What we lack is not time, but the WILL. Clarity. Commitment. Dedication. In fact, the greatest blessing that we all have is nothing else, but TIME.

My Child
After this, let me get back to blogging. My child (three months old now) has been one of the greatest blessings that I have received from God. Seeing him growing is truly great for me. A wonder indeed!

That he is so innocent, so dependent, so cute is beyond my expression. He is a rich source of joy to me. Seeing him, listening to his ununderstandable sounds, watching his movements is truly great. It's a great discovery for me to understand and assimilate how a child grows day by day. I have so many things to write about him. Truly emotional!

Stories and Miseries

This week is passing. Two days of Weekend again. Last week, as I wrote in these columns I was me, myself at home except attending Dr Mathoor Krishnamurthy's 'Maneyangaladalli Maathukathe' on Saturday and 'Nenapugala Meravanige' on Sunday with my younger brother. Recovering from emotional anticipations, demanding work, lack of time for personal pastimes, stress it was ok. Still my time and my space are elusive. And I fell ill. I saw doctor and took tablets lately, I came to office. Had a little quantity of food at office, at hotel and home too (in fact the vegetable baath that I made was too good), sometimes yielding to temptations (read bajjis and pakoras) and suffering later. This suffering has made me conscious and now wants to consume food in necessary quantity. This week can be summed as 'Stories and Miseries' with a number of experiences. With two my far-placed friends calling me after a long time, it was indeed an eventful week. Now again another weekend. Last week's pending work: Washing clothes, writing, reading, personal time ..... and much ಮೊರೆ.

ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಾರದ ಆರಂಭ

This weekend I was ill. Now recovering. Fever and uneasy feeling engulfed me. There were other issues as well like cleaning house, washing bed spreads and clothes - it's a four day programme. As I wished I did not go out much expect to the Mathoor Krishnamurthy's programme and Gandhi Bazar-VV Puram. My brother and my friend visited me. I was at home 80 per cent. Took rest on Saturday. Things are going haywire again. Have to get them back orderly and move on.

ಹೀಗೆ ದಿನಗಳು ಕಳೆಯುತ್ತಿವೆ.

ಸವಿನೆನಪುಗಳು ಬೇಕು ಸವಿಯಲೀ ಬದುಕು, ಬೆಂಬಿಡದ ಆ ನೆನಪು ಮರುಕಳಿಸಿ ದಿನವೆಲ್ಲ ಕಾಡುತಿದೆ ಮನವ, ಸವಿನೆನಪುಗಳು ಬೇಕು ಸವಿಯಲೀ ಬದುಕು...

ಸುಖದ ಸ್ವಪ್ನಗಾನ ಎದೆಯ ಆಸೆತಾನ ಒಲವ ಭಾವವೀಣ...

ಹೀಗೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಾರದ ಆರಂಭ...ಒಳ್ಳೆ moodirali ...

Thank God, it's WEEKEND again

Friday always heralds the weekend - 2 days leave. All the week's pending work and relaxation should be done on every Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes, the weekend is so full of activities, meeting friends, paying bills, going to bank or relatives, that they are exactly like working days except the thing that I don't go to office for work.. When it's Friday, I always feel freshened up and I say to myself Thank God, there's no office for the next two days. There's so much of time to be myself to relax and to sleep. But it's never happens like that...

I feel I should have two days full for myself - never going out, not meeting anyone, listening to music, tv, all by myself. And I hope this weekend would be like this. Everytime the weekend comes but when it will be my own weekend.....

Mere man ye bataade thu...kya paaya nahi tune kya dhoondhrahaa hai thu...jo hai unkahi jo hai unsunee voh baat.....mitwa kahe dhadkane thumse kya....

Will I find myself totally relaxed this weeked? There's much to do cleaning the house, keeping so many things in order, a little bit of writing, washing clothes, playing my favourite music...

why blog?

I have taken up this blogging seeing my friends and others. In Bangalore, travelling in buses, working with set deadlines and what not? Everything has become a challenge. And in this crowded world, I hope to see a ray of hope and express myself in this blog.

""I don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices" - Well-known author Chetan Bhagat in his blog http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog/

ಸ್ವಾಗತ

ಹರಿ ಓಂ. ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಹೊಸ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್. ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೊಂದು ತಾಣ. ಈ ಭೂಮಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ನನಗೂ ಒಂದು ತಾಣ ಹಾಗೆ ಈ ಇಲ್ಲೊಂದು ತಾಣ. ದೀಪಕ್ ವರ್ಲ್ಡ್ ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್.