Dhairya Toggoli

We parked our bikes in front of the house painted in pista. There were some cars parked around. But still it seemed to be very calm and quiet. That was one among the very few houses in ISRO Layout, Yelahanka, Bangalore. We Five got down from our vehicles and walked towards the gate. The video clippings that appeared in the news channels flashed in my mind. We opened the gate, kept our foot wears near the steps and rang the doorbell. A middle aged man wearing traditional dress opened the door for us.

"Namste. We are coming from Marathahalli..." I spoke. He invited us to the drawing room. There we saw few people sitting on chairs and the person who opened the door whispered "That is his father..." Again the news clippings came to my mind, I tried to compare the man sitting in front of me with the one I had seen in Television. He looked very different. He was calm, cool and tried to smile. Against our expectations he wore a Tshirt and trousers and had a shaven face. "Please sit down..." He spoke in a deep hard voice. We had planned to stand outside and express our support, if we were not let inside.

He was watching some English news channel waiting for an interview of DG, NSG.
"We are all software engineers. I am the only Keralite among us." I started.
"No matter whether you are Keralite or Kannadiga, you have travelled all the way to see us. I am sure that none of you belong to any charity organisation neither do anyone know Sandeep. This is the kind of Moral support we need now." Sri Unnikrishnan spoke his heart.
We all presented him a smile covered with grief.

"Are your family members in Bangalore?"
"I settled here 40 years before. We are seven. Most of them are in Calicut. I am the eldest among all. "
"He is my younger brother ... " He pointed to the man who opened the doors for us.

I saw a small teapoy kept in one corner of the room near the door to a bed room. A photo of Maj.Sandeep was kept over it. In front of the photo was kept a small pot covered with white cloth. Might be the holy ashes of that great warrior. The flags of Indian Armed forces were kept crossed near that.

"It is a personal loss, what ever you say" He broke the silence. "But I won't tell that he has done the greatest sacrifice. There are people who have done sacrifices of the highest order, but we don't know them. There was a person who joined NDA for Officer training. Before completion of the training the Kargil war broke out. He volunteered to go to the battle front and captured 7 enemy tanks. They adorn our Army offices now. He became a martyr in the war. A ground in NDA was named after him. My son had undergone enough training from NDA, then the commando training, and what all he needed. Where does his sacrifice stand in front of others? Being my son I should praise him and I am really proud of him, but we don't know the sacrifices done by many..." These words of a courageous and humble father who has lost his son for the cause of the society delighted all of us. Our hearts filled with pride and the mantra of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".

"Neither me nor my son want to be branded as a Keralite or Kannadigs, we are Indians..!"

Each one of us remained dumb. I had heard the most touching words in my life. The brave father of a brave son.

"When we lost him, the CM of Karnataka came here. He just patted on my shoulder and told "Dhairya Toggoli" (Have courage). That was enough than a big official condolence message or any other offers. I am totally against the ideology of his party, but he came here and told that much inspite of me being a Keralite."

He expressed regret for what ever happened with Kerala CM, who visited the house on the day he had cremated his son....!!

We could hear his mother sobbing from the room near by.

"What ever be done, this fanaticism should end. We should not tolerate any kind of fanaticism, even if it is LTTE or any anti National forces." Words of nationalism from a person who was ready to sacrifice his dear one, still concerned about the Nation and the society.

He talked more about the ugly politics going on in the country, and Kerala especially. He even being the son of a hardcore Communist, condemned the killing of a teacher in front of his students. He couldn't accept man killing man in the name of politics.

Almost an hour had passed. We thought of returning. I asked him whether we can see the mother. He lead us into the room near by. Near the door was kept the holy ashes. We all remained there for a moment in prayer for that noble soul. We entered the room. On the bed sat the veer Matha of the 'abhinava Abhimanyu'. Her eyes were dry. Around her sat some ladies consoling her. We bowed her telling "Namste". She also replied the same. Our faces were speaking our heart. We came out of the room. Once again bowing in front of his holy ashes we were about to leave.
"Are all the rituals over ?"
"My relatives has taken a part of his ashes to native to perform the rituals. We haven't decided what to do with the rest. The Ministry of Defence will have a decision on that…"

He thanked us for visiting...
We walked out with our souls blessed.

Police jeeps came and stopped in front of the gate signaling the arrival of some VIP. We started back on our vehicles...

Manipal days I

That day, 28th of May, myself and Three of my friends were going for lunch. I rode on my new bike along with Kamal. I was proud of doing that. Rajeevan rode his pulsar with Vipesh behind him. The food we got in our canteen was not of good quality. We had the food court near our building, but that was an option, which emptied our pockets! So we used to go outside in search of Kerala meals. This was our usual practice for past Two weeks. That day Rajeevan had no breakfast and was hungry so that we left earlier.

Even though our destination was to the right, we had to turn to the left, go almost half a kilometer and then take a U-turn. I used to go through the left side of the road so that I had to take care of vehicles from one side only. However, that day I tried out something new. After taking the U-turn I kept along the side of the divider which also had the same advantage. As I moved on a car came from behind and was overtaking me. I did not keep my foot on the brakes as it had enough speed to go away. (Such things should come as a reflex action, while I was doing everything after a thought! After all, I had very little experience of riding it. But it was improving day by day and that was the day on which I rode to office the best way I ever did. Vipesh had also accompanied me in my morning journey). As the car was overtaking me, it came closer to me and I went closer to the divider. Suddenly my vehicle stuck with the divider, and I fell down. I went ahead skidding along with the vehicle with my right leg beneath it. I tried holding the grass on the divider with my right hand. It was of no use but gifted my palm with a deep wound filled with mud. It all happened in the wink of an eye. When the vehicle stopped moving I saw Kamal coming running from behind. He tried lifting me, but I asked him to lift the vehicle. He did the same; I got up, removed the helmet and sat on the divider. I looked at my vehicle, to see if anything happened to it. Nothing serious was visible. I realized that the wound was on my right knee where my trousers were torn.

Kamal seemed confused of what to do. He immediately called Rajeevan and asked to return. People stopped their vehicles and came to see what happened. I found that I was sitting opposite to my office's entrance. There were auto-rickshaws parked outside the gate. But none came to take me to hospital, as they also had to take the U turn and travel about a Kilometer! By the time, Rajeevan and Vipesh reached there. Suddenly a taxi car stopped in front of us and my friends managed to get me in. Vipesh also got in along with me. Kamal got in into the front seat. By the time, somebody had informed my colleagues in office, and they came rushing. Rajeevan along with them took care of the vehicle.

We rushed to Manipal Hospital, the nearest. Vipesh seemed much tensed seeing blood on my hand and knee. I told him that I lost a biriyani that Rajeevan had promised me. The mud inside the wounds prevented them from bleeding much! I had seen this hospital many a times while going to office by bus, and had wondered how big it is! Now I was just inside it. I was taken to casualty in a wheel chair and Kamal walked in. One person came and put a collar around my neck. He started cleaning the wound on my palm. He poured hydrogen peroxide into the wound. I felt deep pain. But I was happy to see the dirt coming out leaving the wound clean. I asked him to check if there were any stones inside and he found two or three. Then he turned to my elbow. He poured the same thing there. That was a terrible experience. I felt as if kerosene was poured and fire was lit! He told it is still contaminated, covered it with bandage and removed my trousers with scissors. He used H202 for cleaning there also and covered it with bandages. There were small aberrations beneath the knee up to the ankle. Those were also cleansed and bandaged. Then he left.

I laid down alone. My mind was blank. I accepted that I was wounded and will have to take rest for some days. I thought of ways to get rid of the pain. That reminded about Bhagvan Ramana Maharshi. He had cancer and observed it as if it was on some one else’s body. I tried to look at me from above as if somebody else was lying on the bed wounded. I understood how great Ramana Maharshi was! But it gave me some sort of relief. I found that some wire was connected to me through one of my fingers on the left hand. I heard a beep-beep sound from behind and turned my head there. I learned that it was from the machine connected to my finger. I could see uneven waves on the screen. I had seen such an instrument in films, connected to highly critical patients. As per my understanding, it is for measuring heartbeat. I wanted to know if it really was. I tried to inhale and exhale slowly; it had some influence on the graphs shown. I tried very fast breathing, which could also influence the graphs. Now I wanted it to be uniform and harmonious. I used some breathing techniques that would relax the body. I could very well hear my heart beat. Slowly it came down. Now the waves seemed beautiful. My naughty mind made me hit my finger against the thigh and found that the waves became disturbed.

I was taken to X-Ray room. Vipesh also came along. One of my colleagues Krishnan had also reached by the time. I asked them about Kamal, was happy to know that he was fine, and had only a small wound on his leg. Both of them also came into the X-Ray room with special dressing. I was not able to shift on to the bed there. Therefore, they had to adjust their equipments, bringing it near my body to take the snaps. Different photographs from different angles were taken. Once everything is ready, the leader of the team would cry out “EXPOSE”. Suddenly all of them expect my friends went behind a wall. It reminded me one of the games that I used to play in my childhood. I made comments about Vipesh wearing that dress and he smiled. All the formalities were over and I was taken back. I asked Vipesh to call Shameer who was my roommate. I was taken to the casualty and other friends who had arrived by that time came to see me. One of them told me not to look at a foreigner lady lying next bed. I looked at her and told that she was beautiful. The situation turned very relaxed. Vipesh collected my username and password, to take some printouts required for medical insurance. Rajeevan told me not to inform home and make them tensed. He explained me the pros and cones and left the decision to me. By the time Shameer had reached. Others went back to office and he came to me. Now it was about 5.30. He looked very serious and tensed. I told him about the lady next bed. By that time, the view was curtained. I told him that it was done to rescue her from me. He too smiled and told he had called Rajesh, who also lived with me.

In between, some doctors came and examined me. Thee or Four of them came, opened my wound and dressed it up. Two of the junior were speaking in Malayalam as if it was alien to me. They wondered whether X ray photographs were taken or not. I replied in Malayalam and they were surprised to hear that. I asked them to remove the collar around my neck as it was annoying. He loosened it and asked me to never tell his name if somebody asks. It gave some sort of relief. They told me that my wound was contaminated and there was no enough facilities in casualty to clean it and I will be taken to Operation Theatre(OT as they pronounced) to clean it. A doctor senior to them came and opened the bandage. He told me that he would clean the wounds next day morning. I wanted them to be cleansed that day itself. But I agreed to him. After a few minutes, a more senior Doctor came to see my wound. He opened it and exclaimed “this is a very bad wound!” He asked the junior doctor to do the surgery that day itself. And he agreed.

Rajesh reached around 6.30. I asked him to call home and inform the situation. He dialed my brother’s number and kept the phone on to my cheeks. My brother was playing cricket in a nearby ground. Still he picked up and I explained him the situation. I asked him not to worry and told him that there were no fractures. I was told that I would be given a room by 7'O clock. I wanted to have a piss. I waited for the room. It was 7.15, I asked for a bedpan. I was not able to do it lying down, as that was not the habit. I sat up and again failed. I stood up with the attendee holding me. This time I succeeded. I felt great relief in spite of increased pain on my leg. I was shifted to the room around 7.30.

I called my father. He was on the way. I told him not to worry, and reminded him to bring his medicines. I was not allowed to eat or drink. I had a glass of water almost 8 hours ago. They wanted me to wear their uniform before going to OT. I told trousers were not needed, as they will be removed anyway. Still I had to wear that too. I wore a uniform after Six years. I was taken to OT around 9. There I spoke to the doctor about where my wounds were. I asked him to give at least local anesthesia. He assured me that I would be given full anesthesia. That instrument got connected to my nose. The pain was haunting me. So I took breath as fast as possible and slept. When I woke up, all the wounds were dressed; the wound on the palm was stitched. I wore no uniform. The clock showed 11. I was shifted back to room. Shameer was waiting sleepless. I had vomiting, but nothing except air was there inside. I was told that I could eat only after 2'O clock. Shameer had bought some bread. I waited until the prescribed time, took permission from the duty nurse and had them. After that, I tried to sleep. I woke around 3.30 and found Shameer sitting on his bed starring at me. He was afraid that I might fall down. I asked him to raise the gate like structures present on both sides of my bed and sleep. I was touched by his love and dedication. I felt sorry for him. I could not sleep that night…

The Alchemist

The Author himself calls it a “magical fable about following your dream”. It really is. The terms used and incidents described in the story are quite mystical, magical. It may not be digestable for a youth living in the world of modern science. But throughout the story author has maintained a flow that makes reading it a thrilling experience. The characters that he portrays in his tale about the boy Santiago, catches our attention. Everybody has something to talk about the philosophy of life. They may seem contradictory to us on the outset but speaks on the same platform. Moreover we find ourselves in many of them.

Lot of mystical terms like ‘the elixir of life’, ‘philosophers stone’, ‘Alchemist’ etc are splendid in the story. We can read about a boy speaking to the desert, wind, sun, and the ‘hand who created them all’. The Author introduces concepts like ‘The soul of the world’, ‘language of the world’ etc. He says once our soul gets into harmony with the Soul of the world, we can understand the language of the world. We can even transform ourselves in to wind or anything we wish to. Here we smell the lavender of Indian spiritual science.

Author discusses in detail about the destiny of everything living or non-living. He emphasizes on the importance of living out ones own destiny, for which he is created. He points out four reasons which prevent a person from realizing his destiny. Those are relevant for anyone who has dreams and wants to achieve them. We can find a lot of examples in ourselves which seconds them.

Santiago had a dream of a boy telling him about a hidden treasure. He had chosen to be shepherd against his father’s wish of becoming a priest. He goes in search of the treasure selling out his folk. On the way he meets many obstracles. The way he revives from each setback he receives is amazing. It really makes the reader think what he would do if he were in the same situation. The boy meets an alchemist on his way to the treasure. An Alchemist is a saintly person who understands the soul of the world. He can transform any material to gold and live countless number of years. Actually the title role plays a supporting role to Santiago, the shepherd boy, providing him with enough guidance to reach his treasure, to live his destiny. The story goes through unexpected scenarios and the climax becomes the most thrilling one.

The book has really made a mark in the history of literature with 20Million copies sold world wide and translated into 42 languages. It is no wonder that The Alchemist is counted a publishing phenomenon.

My Country, My Life

The Nation Witnessed a grand book release at the capital few weeks ago. It was the release of an autobiography of a renowned politician. India has not seen such an event for long, Nehru being the last in the list.
The book is very large with 800+ pages, and depicts the post independent India's political scenario very beautifully. It also describes the relation with his friend and Guru Sri. Atal Bihari Vajpayeee. Their comradeship is something uncommon in Indian politics. Working together for such long periods, under the same umbrella, in spite of differences over many issues...

Traversing through the book we develop a kind of respect for Advani. He has shown the courage to talk about all the issues that were controversies in the past, at that point of time when he is projected as the Prime Minister candidate of his party. He has not changed any of his views expressed earlier. He repeats that 6ht of December 1992 was a black day in his life This is stated when he is believed to be a pro Hindu leader by all, and the major share of his supporters belong to that fold. Also even if he tries to project himself as a secular person by such statements, that is not going to help him. The result will be he loosing his own ground support and gaining none. Still in such a scenario he has reiterated what he has said earlier!
Another such statement was during his Pakistan yathra in 2005. He had quoted Jinnah in his speech which was misunderstood by his own political comrades (presented in such a way by the media), which eventually lead to removal of his crown as the supremo of the party. Still he has given the title of the chapter where he mentions this incident as I have no regrets!
This courage, political honesty makes him eligible to be called the Loh Purush (Iron Man).

Another important thing that stuck me was the way he has narrated the incidents through out the book. We don't feel that we are reading an autobiography but a book on History, and at times a story of his party. He has used more ink to portray the historical incidents in our Nation, of course from his perspective. He has also used space lavishly to tell the story of his party and 6 years of the NDA Govt at the center. So it has been an Autobiography with a difference

Chocolate

Chocolate, the newly released Malayalam movie with Prithviraj doing the prominent character. The film was well noticed for the novelty of the story it presented. It showed a deviation from contemporary cinemas.

Prithviraj playing the lead has utilised the chance he got for showcasing his talents. He has improved a lot from his past films. He really gives rays of hope for Malayalam film industry. The way he dance, fights etc has improved considerably. A kind of flexibility has arrived in his acting. Also he is maintaining a good physique.

Salim Kumar an actor of immense potential as he has proved through Samuel (Achan Urangatha Veedu) is not fully utilised here also. Still he conquers the viewers with his natural style of jokes.

Another thing we see in Roma back in action. She also has done well in the film making it a success.

Lalu Alex is presenting another important character in the film. It seems that he has been type casted to the role of a father who can under stand the mindset of the new generation. He played the same in Niram, Manjupoloru penkutty etc. Any way he can do it an unique way.

The film on the whole is an entertainer. It is a financial success pulling large crowds. It will continue in theaters of Kerala for at least one more month. But we have to ponder on the message given out. I don't see a much positive message from the film. The film underlines that comedy means Adults only. This has been the trend in the comedy industry for the last decade. In stage shows we have seen stories of royal families with the servant being the father of the prince. Liquor and women are the favourite topics of comedians. Is it not possible to make the audience laugh without these stuff? This is the plight of so-called family entertainers also. It is tolerable is small proportions but if only that is present... Where the level of appreciation of Malayalees stand? This will not give out a great message for the youth. Can we expect the comedies of the standard of Kilukkam and In harihar nagar to return?

The film projects the life style of its hero and heroine. Both of them enjoy a lot of freedom. They do whatever they want. The hero has many police cases and suspensions during his graduation. This may be the concept of hero in 21st Century. The heroine also is allowed to fight with college management and teachers. Her father once tells that he loves that kind of a behaviour. Both are not going to college to study. They just enjoy the life there. Will this suite an era of consumerism and disgrace?

As it is said that under democracy people of a region get the Government they deserve, so also the art will reflect the culture of the people. This gives us subject for serious thought.