Ideology through Society, Culture, Family and Sports

(Read time - 5 mins) This quote isn’t directly related to what is going to be written in this passage. But it closely resembles another favourite quote of mine - You cannot keep repeating the same steps and expect different results . All of us complain about things going wrong every single day. But very few of us are prepared to get down, get our hands dirty and try to change things around. It's time we step out of the crowd and start considering every public problem as our own. How many times have we stopped at the white mark in traffic signals, while others happily move as close to the signal as possible while waiting? We will look foolish, but being rightful while looking foolish is alright. I was punched by a group of men once for failing to make way to their honk, while I waited for the signal to turn Green [BTM Signal, 16th Main, Bangalore]. I felt hurt but not ashamed - which I think should have happened to those men. When was the last time we questioned a nati...

28-Jan-2018: Around a fortnight ago, as I was taking a walk on the streets along with Hema [my wife], we met a girl selling story books and little toys. Neither will be of use to us, so we ignored. While we tried to move, all we heard from her was, "I'm hungry..I'm hungry.. please buy this, I'm hungry". Everyone of us is hungry at some point in time during the day, but being hungry without knowing where the next meal will come from, is a very tough situation to be in. From whatever I have seen in my life so far, I strongly feel that the pain nobody should go through, is the one induced by hunger. We asked her, "We really do not need the books, will it be OK if we buy you food?". She happily agreed. Coimbatore is known for the numerous bakeries and tea stalls you can find. She took us to one of those nearby and listed down what she needed. A veg puff, a pack each of chips and biscuits, accounting to 37 rupees. She gleefully thanked us. ...

Around the end of July 2017, Mega suffered a career-threatening accident, which I can also term as Life-threatening. In a total mood of deflation, I posted this and I certainly feared the worst on he being able to play again. When Diva [our skipper] and I met him in the hospital, we just said "Mega, wait for a year, you are going to be on the field soon". Within me, I was thinking even that time frame was a highly optimistic one. He looked terribly damaged which I wouldn't be able to put in words. Fast forward to a little over 5 months, he was playing for the company again. This time he was needed much more than earlier, because too many key players have moved on from the team. Forget about playing well, he being there on the ground by itself was a far-fetched thought. I missed his batting, but I heard he has continued from where he left before the road mishap. 67 runs off 32 balls opening the innings and playing on almost till the end, is something I couldn...

For many of us, a New Year is usually about new resolutions that includes letting go old habits and bad memories, working on plans for the present year. For traditional Tamilians, the month of January is much more than just the beginning of a year. The beginning of the Thai Month, also known as Tamizhar Thirunaal [தமிழர் திருநாள்], is the time of Farmers and is much more eagerly anticipated than the New Year itself. Having just completed the yearly harvest, its the time when people say thanks to the Sun God for the support. But this by no means indicates a stoppage. The next cycle begins immediately after this thanksgiving note! We call it as Pongal in Tamilnadu, different states in India celebrate with a different name, almost on the same date. Spreading our wings wider, a month or so later, many countries in the world celebrate Carnival, which is believed to be an act of welcoming the sun as winter closes [some call it a role reversal day, others mark it as religious re...

A few months ago, I had booked a couple of movie tickets for my wife and me. It was a Friday evening show, in Fun Republic Mall, Peelamedu, Coimbatore. As always is the case, we managed to reach the theatre only a couple of minutes before the showtime. As we entered the hall, we saw a bunch of people waiting at the entrance and they didn't look happy enough. When asked what was wrong, one of them explained that they could sense a dominant pungent smell right across which looked like coming straight through a rest room. In truth, it could be due to a badly maintained air conditioning system or something similar to that. We checked and we nodded in agreement. There was a member from the theatre committee listening to people's anguish. Voices went up, viewers who had come from a distance were furious and were rightfully demanding a refund. I neither came from far nor was I really comfortable [call it courageous?] to confront. I was quietly standing along with th...