Secret Santa Gift to Mahesh

To the luv of my life... a cute sketch done, keeping you in mind. Hope you like it! 

A butterfly

Abutterfly; devoid of colors, Yes.... but it still depicts happiness and freedom and serenity to one mind. Here's a new sketch.. :) Messed up a lil.. i know wher :P

Cheers to my India trip!

Ramayan vs Mahabharath

Devdutt is like amazing i must say. I don't know how he manages to convert stories from the past into management and business startegies for todays world. I personally feel it applies well.

Heres a video, explaining the difference between Ramayan and Mahabharath through a .... Matrix. Enjoy it!!

P.S: Tomorrow is my last exam for masters :) 

Wedding Wishes (',')

To the lovely couple Sandhya n Vaibhav
May God shower his blessings n Love!

Celebrations and Wishes abound ...
With family and friends all around!

In x yrs, your's soulmates you found
With love care and trust may all the 100-x yrs u be bound!

With marriage may ur lives fill with a new feeling,
Where sharing a caring takes a whole new meaning!

Awww....Looovely couple.. loved ur story. Awesome video :) Super cool sitee..!! Best wishes for this new journey of life!!- Shruthi n Mahesh

P.S: This was like some instant poetry... which is funny... n has math in it... n makes sense too!!
Cheers to me!!  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kolaveri rage... - A new brand in making..?

This post is all about an ordinary south Indian mass song which created sensation world wide with 13,839,508 hits on YouTube currently. Japanese are dancing to it, Americans are playing it back-to-back on Thanksgiving, management lessons being derived from it.... what not...!! Worth mentioning in my blog i felt!! After all i am the 534th user to watch it :) and see it soar to millions!  Well here it is.. all about Kolaveri!!

Original version by Dhanush (with awesome expressions i must say....)

A brutal murder attempt to this song (Female version):

A cute chipmunks version :

10 Simple Lessons from Kolaveri :) - A presentation

8 Lessons for Marketing Professionals from Kolaveri.


Marketing Lessons from Kolaveri


Viral Marketing Lessons from Kolaveri - A presentation


Aishwariya & Danush interview :

Japanese Dance to Kolaveri Tunes:

Theism

Depicting devotion on paper isn't easy. Just tried. Basic idea was taken from a flyer i came across a month ago (approx) in my University. In my last sketch, many liked the portion of the sketch at the left-bottom end. So i tried a full sketch with that kind. I liked it!! I feel the real sketch looks better than these two pics. The pics have a lil' zoomed in effect. :( Anyways here it is.....

Nobody by birth is theist or an atheist. Nor can you force anyone to be either one. As life trods along, as new situations are faced... we need someone to surrender to. What/Whom you surrender to decides your belief in God; In other words decides your religion.

Its left to you to view this picture clockwise or anti-clockwise. In any case please feel free to share your views on this. Here's the original :

God Bless!!

Bucket List!

Yabbba dabbbbaaaa dooooooo.... my 100th post. Was wondering what to fill in...!! Thanks to the Halloween party i attended today... this thing got stuck in my mind!

Here i sing along....

A cool halloween party with a sudden twist,

Everyone started pondering about their bucket list!

A humongous list of to-do's, wants and tries

to be accomplished before one actually dies!!

Scuba-dive & sky-dive to face off all your fears

Travel Rome, Egypt and the entire world for all the coming years!

Set up a place for the deprived who need care

& Feed the millions of hungry stomachs everywhere!!

Fly a plane or air balloon and soar into skies

Some want it alone, while some prefer with wives :)

To turn into an ascetic, renouncing all worldly pleasure

To learn the secret of life... One's real treasure!!

Each of us have been endowed by Almighty with gifts to give,

Make one wish true for a stranger and help him live!

I know dreams fade away, thoughts run astray

But may this little poem remind me of all i need to accomplish before He takes me away!!

!!Cheers to Life!!

P.S: I also want to run down an escalator which is going up. Tried it once before.... but a security guard scolded me...!! Ok back to studies!! :'(

Oneness

Work was all hectic the last week, and finally completed my project today. Working on Prof Mazrui's personal website :)  As a token of appreciation, he said take rest for an hour girl, You have worked hard!! Aaaaaand this is what i did that hour. Actually in 40 mins i did this. What the picture symbolizes is very touching, but as an artist(timepass) i didn't like this sketch. Feel free to give me suggestions on improvising my art work.

Here it is..... tadaaa....

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! 
~Albert Einstein

And the original as always :

Let me know how it is!!

P.S : 1. If you have a doubt as to why 3 hands and 4 people... I have no answer!! :)

First Kiss

A new sketch.

A kiss, when all is said, what is it?
A rosy dot placed on the "i" in loving;
'Tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear.

 Thank you. Hope you liked it. :)

Thatha pic

To all the Cute Thatha's in the world!

VML & GG 2011

Gowri Ganesha Sept 1st 2011

Varamahalakshmi Aug 12 2011

A small truth about Ramayan

I had heard this version of Ramayana but had shooed the thought away because the Ramayan soaps/serials that were aired didn't have this story. My grandmother too, for the fact didn't tell me this. I think someone is my school/ my mom told me this story. 

One more thing, I like Lord Raam very much but have always wondered, why on earth did he suspect Sita and doubt her? Isn't this proving him to be like any other man? This story shows that too happened for a reason. Here it goes...  

--------------------------------

Ravan's  eyes fall on this beautiful lady Vedavathi, who is an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. He tries to molest her and own her. She struggles to escape from his clutches and is finally saved by Lord Agni. She curses Ravan, & vows that she will be the reason for his death. Agni helps and protects her in his home under the care of his wife Swaha. 

When Ravan again desires another woman who is now Sita and kidnaps her, Sita tries to escape from his clutches and seeks help from all Gods. Again Agni comes to her rescue. He replaces Sita with Vedavathi.  [Both being incarnations of Lakshmi, its said they have very similar appearance as well and hence Ravan lusts for Sita too.]

It was Vedavathi who went through all the torture Ravan bestowed her in Lanka while Sita was with Swaha devi. Finally after the war, after the death of the demon, Lord Raam knows that this cannot be his wife Sita and summons for Agnipariksha to test her purity. Here she will be set ablaze and if she returns alive, then she is a true Pativratha, else she's not. Sita agrees for this test where Lord Agni takes in Vedavathi and returns real Sita sound and safe.

Thus proving Sita's loyalty/purity/devotion to husband and also fulfilling Vedavathi's desire leading to "Loka Kalyanam".

A Black Woman

I have just used a red pen & a pencil for this sketch.

However, the black & white version of this looks better i feel :)

 
Yay to me..!! Took almost a month (a line everyday :P) as i had no time :)

Jaya & Vijaya

What would you answer if someone asked you, if you'd like to be born as a good human being for 7 lives or a baddie for 3 lives. Depends on person to person right?? This question was asked by Lord Vishnu to his door-keepers (dwara-palakas). Lets get to know the true story behind this and the answer they gave.

Jaya and Vijaya were the dwara-palakas for Lord Vishnu.They are known to be guarding at the last door to Vishnu's abode. On a particular day, the Lord instructed them to not allow anyone inside. They were very sincere and obedient. Narada came along singing and  requested to meet the Lord, but they objected from opening the door for him. In this fashion, they restricted everyone and anyone who came. A few of them returned angry while few didn't bother.

Meanwhile, the 4 brothers (sons of Brahma) called the Sanath Kumaras came to pay their respects and  requested for entry. Sanath Kumaras were 4 young men but with a child-like appearance (They looked like 10 year olds). They were a symbol of knowledge and were known to be supreme beings. They urged them to open the door. The keepers denied and also teased them for their appearance. They couldn't withstand continuous denial and mockery and they cursed the door-keepers, to be born as humans for 3 births who were against Lord Vishnu himself and would resort to insulting and killing Lord's devotees.

Jaya and Vijay fell to their feet to take the curse back. Curses were very powerful and once cursed they could not be taken back but effects could be minimized. In the meanwhile Lord comes and the door keepers fall to his feet explaining what happened. They also add saying that, they can never imagine themselves against Vishnu and would never want to be born like that. Since Lord had ordered them to do this and he was partially responsible for this curse, he gives them an option of being born 7 times as devotees or 3 times as dians. The door keepers were in a fix  now. They couldn't imagine even being 1 minute away from his holy abode and now 7 lives was too much to think about. More over if they are born as enemies then its the Lord who himself will kill and conquer over them. Keeping all these in mind they chose to be born as enemies for 3 lives.

They were none other than:

1. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu who were by Vishnu in the Varaha and Narasimha avatar respectively.
2. Ravana and Kumbhakarana who were killed by Lord Rama an incarnation of Vishnu.
3. Sishupala and Danthavakra who were killed by the Lord in Krishna avatar.

P.S: How Shishupala was killed is also nice story will post it sometime.

365 days!!

Started this post on : 06/08/2010

My first 365 days in US. My first 365 days as Shruthi Mahesh :) My first 365 days as a MS student. My first 365 days in Binghamton. Wonderful right? 

2 semesters up! And haven written about life here! Duhhh...! Time is the reason. Actually "No time" :P Dedicated to the place, which taught me not only to crib and cry, but to live!!

BTW this post answers: Hows life? Hows married life? Hows education system there? Hows masters there? I heard too many Indians right? and last but not the least when you returning? Hopefully all :D

The US of A, the thought was indeed enchanting. I remember the very first day we landed here. I was feeling like any other tourist. It was 7:30 pm and it was bright as if it was 3 pm. I liked it! He kissed me and said "Welcome to USA!"  There were 3 suitcases and 2 baggage's. I had to carry 2. I was looking out for my dad for help. Later just shooed the thought. :)  The drive to new home was lovely. There was green and more green and green all around and i fell in love with the city instantaneously. I was noticing every effort Mahesh was taking to make me comfortable and relaxed. After all had left everyone for him right ? :D He was a darling actually. 

The grassy spaces in between each house, wide side-paths, huge backyards, wooden houses, lush wooded hills, 2 rivers and bridges over them makes Binghamton a beautiful quiet place.Its in fact a valley formed by the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers. One thing missing in Bangalore was a river and lo!! Bingy has two :) The tourist feeling hadn't left me yet. I missed my 2-wheeler now. But i loved to walk too so would cover near by places and visit few small malls and stores by foot. Every time i paid the grocery bill with crisp notes at least 2 people would stare at me. I wondered why. :P

Almost a month till school began, I was learning the art of becoming a good house wife. I didn't know how to prepare coffee or tea and till date i don't know:P  Mahesh according to me is a "ghar-foodie", if such a term exists. He likes home food and who had to prepare? ME. I was fretting/cursing for cooking once a day when people cook thrice a day back in India. MM actually liked what i cooked. So that was relieving. But the main issue was i was not liking it. A tongue used to mom's food for 23 years couldn't adapt to new food. (Wish i could use Adapter Pattern here :P Ah.. the geek in me..!!) He actually told me parents that i am good cook. My dad some how doubted that :P

School began in the Fall. The vibrant colors exhibited could make a visitor just go mad! Hectic schedules began.. You are expected to know everything, if not at least learn them soon. While i was complaining about the abundant course work in my university.. i started hearing about how other universities have pretty light schedules and give good grades too. Mr MM convinced me, I am fine and doing good. That kept me on.

We made abundant visits to the Wegmons, price chopper, Walmart late nights. I loved and will remember them for ever. There are instances where either of us would be apologizing or making promises to change for the better. He even called my mom and said "Your daughter is more worried about house, food and vessels than studies!!" 1st semester passed by and then there was December. Fall was an awesome experience, with long walks on the bridge, Beethoven park and eating together and fighting over who would prepare food and who would wash vessels and the New York trip.

I started missing Indian food. I am used to hotel food during sundays. And who on earth cooks on Sundays in India. I wanted all those liesures and pleasures now. I wouldn't mind if someone fed me also. A little i realised now that Binghamton is all this. But i still liked it. 

I met many new families and made new friends. They invited me for Vishnu sahasranama recitations, pot lucks, godh-bharai's and birthday parties. I was always exempted from cooking. The woman treated me like their lil' sister who's come to study and never bothered to assign work to me. It was a very warm feeling to be with Indians in US.  Hmm.. their kids, how could i forget them? I was trying to understand their accent, answer their questions and seeing all new toys and equipments todays kids have  to play with:)

 Here, i learnt why "White" is the symbol for "Peace". Every morning, inspite of the effort taken by me to walk carefully to the bus-stop (have slipped innumerous times and fallen thrice :P) I would love to look around, for everything was pitch white and looked so serene to my sleepy eyes. I used to royally crib to go to the morning lectures. Woahhh!!

Bangalore was "Bang"galore for me! No rivers, no much greenery(as compared to here) but people and food, that made all the difference. :D Weekly golgappa's, bhelpuri's at 4th block Jayanagar. A visit to grandma's house every sunday and those fireside chats (influenced by Head First Design Patterns :P) with mom,  bhashans from dad and all the quarelling with bro and cousins and of course my friends! Aww.. miss them!!

Proud Citizen

Weighty Issue

A Zentangle

B'day gal Varsha :D

Hi! Varsee (MP)... Happy Birthday dear... I always cherish the time which we have spent together. I can never forget those crazy scooty rides, Sangam circle chaats, 2006 New Year celebration and your attempt to make me dance but the most memorable for me is the trip which we took, when we were in first PU cos that’s when we got to know each other well. While we were coming back from the trip all the way back to Bangalore we listened to music and spoke about our favorite songs. Music made us to bond with each other and I hope we always keep this bond special. Thank you for being my friend and giving me such beautiful glorious memories to remember. Wish you a very Happy Birthday. May God bless you with loads of love, luck and prosperity…Love ya lots, Muaah, Take care. Party hard and enjoy your Birthday..

Hi varsee,,, Wish you a very happy birthday :) :)
Really miss you a lot tik and also your home.. hee hee.. most of the times when we had half days or on days like holi, or to watch movies, combine studies, and not to forget our dance practices(especially maangalyam tantu naanena... ;), for which we won 1st place also.. some college,, (I don’t remember :( )and also mind blowing maahiya and some other dance which I could not do because of some leg injury :( .. For all these...the only place that wud come to our mind is "varsha's house"... so much fun those days were... Though I wasn’t so close to you initially, it was all during our last 2 yrs of engineering that we got close :)

Everyday with you during our college was so much fun!! I always used to wonder how on earth this girl has got so much energy that she keeps talking all the time... always full on and in full josh!!

Well, I really am not able to recall any particular incidents now... but when i think of you, the things that come to mind are :- A great dancer, superb singer , trass coffee, ur mom made curd rice,, and few names of the tamil specialties which you used to get for lunch... and also maddy,, our senior. Remember we both took a pic with him ;) :)

Crazy times...

And also the last time when I met you recently was so much fun!!! You haven’t changed at all the same old sweet cute girl... be the same tik... u rock :)
Love you loads:* and miss you too :(

Happy birthday once again and have a blast!!

Hey Varsha,
Have a super duper birthday :-) I miss spending time with you, I still laugh and relive the moments when I look at all the photos and reminisce all the crazy things we have done.
It’s always said that in any relationship you have to put in efforts to maintain it but with you it’s been effortless, I could be myself and knew for the fact that I would still be respected for that and that something lovely about you that you keep the other person in the comfort zone.
We might have grown apart now but I know that we will always remember each other as the other twin or kongi sisters (as people call us)There are lots of incidents involving both of us and things

about you that I would like to write but let me keep it a little short rest of it is better off in memories ( getting a little emotional when I am writing this )

It all started off in 5th semester on a Friday when we had our first stay over which was at your place the day before mind blowing mahiya auditions, we laughed our hearts out mocking at your neighbors, playing the "what you think about the other classmates " game ( if you have forgotten I will remind you sometime on chat or when we speak :-) ). I don’t remember how mind blowing mahiya dance came along but I definitely remember the fun part of it with you: P

Through you I met a lot of people who actually went on to become very important in my life at some point or the other (thanks for that) and also before I forget while writing the other stuff, I must say you were/are a very smart student because you could not only understand the subject but crack some joke about it with the lecturer: o ( one of it being the OS joke about deadlock and some trains ) while I was blinking sitting next to you, but I dint have to worry about that because anyway you would yell at me and make study all those questions given by Apsara ma'am the day before internals and we would ultimately rock :D and remember the MC internals ? Where we decided to sign and come out, it was hilarious.

And one more very funny incident was in Rekha teacher's class and the topic was wireless communication I guess. That day somehow you decided not to sit next to me even though I did not have cold or any sort of viral fever and when she asked about examples for wireless you gave an example of Khabootar ( another brilliant creative side of yours :P ) and somehow I wanted to disprove you , so I drew a picture of you with your hairstyle ( remember the b**** cut which we got ? ) and a bird with a rope tied around its neck and the dor was in your hand which proved wired communication and by the time the paper could reach your hand Rekha teacher took it off from us and you know the rest :-)

You have been my partner in crime and we have done a lot of things together, whether it is getting people the famous " b**** cut" ( Nish's hair cut) or writing testimonials ( Shru's testimonial :-) ) , playing prank on people ("guess who" game ) , watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S bloopers ( and always fought over the topic who is gonna be Phoebe and who is gonna be Ursula ) , celebrating birthdays together, composing the naga dance or drinking the trass coffee ;)

Whoops!! Did not realize how time passed when I was writing about all this (same would happen when we got together... always!!). I have attached some photos of us and dedicated a song to you. Happy birthday once again and wishing you all the happiness in the world.

VARSHA !!! u are such a multitalented ,fun loving ,cutie, chirpy, cheerful, bubbly gal ,always full of lifeeee :) and u create such a wonderful atmosphere around that can never be forgotten. U have always been der wid me ,for me , been a guide to me ,and no wonder making everything seem so easy n nice:) . After megu, u have always guided me perfectly ...stood by me and been so supportive. There is no "one" instance which i can mention as very special or fun! It has always been so much fun being around with u:) All those vacations , movies, weddings, get togethers ...its all been so awesome .Our instant plans of doing something, watching random movies, playing some random sad ass(killer) games..dancing ...jus all kinda crazy fun we ve had! Wen eva amma wud tell us that u are coming home....we would just be so eagerly waiting for u di:) ..getting nostalgic:( .U are just a kickass gal, a super singer, a sweetie sister, a wonderful daughter, d most priceless friend one can have:) and now on the process of being a perfect wife:) ...we all are so blessed to have you with us...it’s a very special feeling and can’t be described in words..:) u are just d best di...:) hope u achieve all the success and prosperity. May u have a super exciting year ahead!!! May each day motivate u to do your best:) May u keep good health always. May u have dat flawless smile of yours every day.:) May u look stunning with every passing day....:)..phew my list can go on baby!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY VARSHA . wishing u loads of happiness and a rockin day !!!! enjoy every bit of your life!!!! miss u loads!!!! hakuna matata:) :)

Shru, such a nice thought!

Ok, so to think of I have so many memories of us and our childhood....let me think of 1 nice incident and write it down.......

The minute u say b'day...I only remember her 10th b'day. Madam wanted to celebrate birthday like other kids do, but no arrangements at home for it. No one at home in the evening, except me. (read as no cake). One by one all her secret invitees arrive for the "Birthday Party" and I had to put up instant sweets n snacks for all of them.

Then she come home n says, "You guys might scold me, so dint tell you all that I’d invited my friends".

I still remember her in that white lacy frock with a mustard jacket kind of thing and saying all this standing in a corner. But I had screamed at her royally (as usual) even though it was her b'day.

Ok so out of 4 years I am suppossed to pick ONE incident ante... ONE??? Anyway.. Here's one that I vividly remember...you'll know why :)

Rekha's class.. Nobody is listening to her.. she finally says "i'm giving blue books" .. she gives the stack to students to distribute.. finally all of us get our blue books.. and the first thing we realize is, you got 1 mark more than lens.. even though lens taught you before internals!!! You and your luck!! anywayyyyyy :) we're done seeing blue books and we start getting bored so you decide to put pieces of paper on lens hair..your usual timepass.. and I'm sitting next to you getting annoyed at you... finally you decide to open your dabba.. one side you open.. the other side shru also opens.. rekha is happily arguing with students telling them she wont give them 1 mark extra.. and students trying to justify themselves.. in all that tamasha, both you and shru are sitting on my either sides and happily munching away.. you say "hey shru give your dabba,.. i wanna eat your mom's akki rotti.." you pass that damn dabba across me to mean to give it to shru.. at that exact point, rekha gets super annoyed and looks at the three of us and says "no shame.. i'm standing here for all you ppl.. all teachers always asked me, why you support ISe batch.. but somehow i always supported you guys since 3 yrs.. i dont think i should anymore.. you ppl dont respect me only.. what nishchita eating in my class.. " and i go "ummm... no ma'am.. ummm" ... rekha goes "all 3 of you get out of my class.. dont take advantage of my leniance.. " .......and we happily go out :) :) :)


Ha ha ha ha!! Mind Blowing mahiya!!!!!! That second step we did in that song... how much you tried to teach me.. you broke that step down for me in sub steps..but i'm sure even if i still try it i wont get it!! yappa..!!

And i'll never forget our buzzintown days.. how much we used to wait for the lunch time.. yummy yummy lunch served hot.. and we used to wait so that we didnt have to go with that manager guy.. what was his name helu?? saraswati maam's manager i think... dont rem!! i think friday's in buzzintown was chole special alwa?? how many fryums you used to get and eat :) and that wait for that one cup of coffee at 4... :) and that thin guy who used to sit next to us attending phone calls remember...he used to wear major suit boot and all?? :) taking your sis's vehicle and going.. on the way dropping puppy to his school! cant forget cant forget!

Many many happy returns of the day.. have fun! wish we could all get together and cut a "pizza cake" for you again :) Once again, happy birthday!

It was that time when we had a good time in life which i would say college life and because of you there are so many memorable moments that has been created to cherish in our later part of the life .I love the way you make things excited !!!! Thank you for such wonderful and beautiful memories which you shared with me..
Allways Miss you ...... Bigggg hugggg and Birthday wishes from meeee.....Have a wonderful life ahead with lotsa fun.... GOD BLESS.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIKKKKK !!!!!!!

Hey Varsee, Dian is what i address her as ;-)... many many returns of the day sweet dian

VTU fest together...thats the thing which got us together..and thats where i got to know VARSHA

V ibrant

A rtistic

R eliable

S pry

H appy go lucky

A ffectionate

She is an amazing dancer, a good scholar,a very soulful singer and a helpful and trustworthy friend. She is dynamic, creative and spontaneous. These are not just adjectives but words that truly define her.

We had wonderful time rehearsing for the VTU fest(Tribal dance)..rem the time when we were trying out the ulta turn step and i got stuck....i am not going to get into more details cos u'll gross out...he he he...had so much fun... the nighouts at her place, studying together for exams,dance practices for verve, having dabba in class, canteen masti etc... there are so many memories to look back to......Of course ur snores..everything is memorable Varsee

She is the one who introduced me and Tanu to Shru, Nish, Renu,Swa and everyone....so thanks Varsee cldnt have got such terrific friends without u...

Wish u all the love and luck in life...have a blast at ur bday... Love u Dian.

Still waiting for the jallebies you once promised,

Soma

The first month I met you, I thought “Such a fool…”
The next month it turned “Isn’t she cool??”
 3rd month I wondered “Aren’t her words sometimes bitter & cold?”
Few months later I realized “She’s just too too bold...!”

The hug in the CET cell changed what we were,
We became close, we began to care,
All the fun, excitement, the chaos and the notorious fame,
Without you all 4 year of Bachelors wouldn’t have been the same.

Don’t know of all, how wedding bells rung first for you, and me later
Helping us prove “Best friends are like wine, the older the better”
Such a bubbly, hyper and lovely girl you are Varsha,
In everyone’s life may you always bring harsha :P

Finally cheers to all the shit we speak &
All the stupid advices from each other we seek,
Caring and sharing our fun & fears
Lets remain the bestest friends for all the coming years!!
<3 u Varsee!!

Battle of Wits!

Keen observation and quick reaction to a situation is what i call "Wit". I don't know how i remembered this story suddenly. I am sure you will love it too.

All the sages and munis were living peacefully until the two demons Ilawala and Vatapi started troubling them. The demons ruthlessly ruined their houses, disrupted the homas and yagnas. The sages warned them saying that definitely Lord will be come to their rescue. Fear arose in Ilawala and Vatapi. They had always been hearing how Lord Shiva, Vishnu had been killing all the demons/asuras one after the other. They didn't want to be the victims too.

For a few days, they stopped troubling, but their hunger and thirst for destruction was not satisfied. After all demons are supposed to do that.:P They being magical as well came up with a plan. A plan to satiate their hunger, physical and materialistic.

They disguised themselves as sages. They began befriending few sages and invited them  home for lunch. Vatapi, took the form of food i.e various delicacies and Ilawala used to serve this on a banana leaf to the invited sage with all due respects. After the heavy lunch, Ilawala would call Vatapi out, who would rip the sage's stomach and come out thus killing the sage. Days passed and few sages started disappearing.in this manner. No one knew where they were nor they knew anything much about these new sages.

The great sage Agastya once came to perform a yagna/sacrifice in this village. After the yagna, the other sages told him their troubles with Ilawala and Vatapi and about the mystical disappearances of few sages and requested him to sort this out. He promised to help them out and hence stayed there for a few days, noticed how the sages were disappearing.

One fine day after he took his holy bath, the 2 sages invited him to their house for lunch. He noticed how plump and well-built these sages were and also their behavior was not sage-like. He guessed they must be Illawala and Vatapi. Moreover their hermitage was a little far away. All these made him more suspicious and more careful.

As promised he went to their hermitage. After the heavy but a delicious lunch, Agastya immediately said   "Vatapi jeernapi". This time when Ilawala called Vatapi out, there was no one to come out. He was digested.

That was the end to Vatapi and Illawala later apologized resorted to Sadharma.

P.S: Vatapa jeernapi is sanskrit for "Digest Vatapi".

The phone call

"Damn the server!"

Kevin was exhausted. He looked around with his droopy eyes. He rolled up the window shutter next to him. He hung his car keys from a hook that dangled from the rafters. All the cubicles were empty and looked depressing. Everyone had left for the day. This is the thing about being a part of a small firm; you get to learn, people you interact with know you well, but for the world, you are no one.  It was a colourless week, for he was aware of only eating, sleeping and "the script". It was Friday today, the last day of the never ending work-week and luckily it ran without errors. He raised a brow; he was proud. He knew his client would appraise him. All that was left was to deliver it to the client. But the damn server was down. This was a pretty common scenario here. Servers restart at 11p.m and things slow down at this hour. However, it would be back by few minutes and he could peacefully go home and enjoy the weekend.

He kicked the coffee maker in the pantry with some might as it failed to work at this hour and made hot green tea for himself. The door creaked. “Who could be here at 11 in the night?? May be it is the wind or a cat” he wondered. He went back to his cubicle and stood by the window thinking about all the promises he had made for this weekend. He had to take his mother to the dentist. That was first on the humongous list. Then he had promised to take Lily out. Such a stubborn but a lovely daughter she was. He had to help his wife with her shopping. He grinned.

"Hands Up!!" he heard.

"What on earth is going on here? Who are you...?"

A muscular man, dark in complexion appeared with a revolver in hand. His face was draped in black cloth. He had a navy blue bandana. He was quite shabbily dressed but seemed to handle the gun with expertise.

"Where's the cash young man?"

"I don't know" he answered. "I am just an employee here."

"Just answer to what i ask. Else today will be your last day on earth...”

"No please don't..!" "I...."

"Where is the cash?" he demanded.

"really don't know......"

Million thoughts were running in his mind. His heartbeat paced. He was scared; he felt suffocated. His spine stiffened. He had to do something now to save his life. His work, love, marriage, life, and future everything was at gun point now. He hated this eeriness.

The phone rang.

Both of them jerked a little. Both their eyes were fixed on the phone. It took him a few seconds to recover from all this chaos and he managed to speak up.

"I need to answer the call. It is my manager...."

"Dare not touch the phone..." he yelled.

He moved his finger to click the trigger. This alone was deafening to his ear.

"Trust me, else they will suspect something’s wrong..."

"Ok boy, you answer it. But one word from your mouth regarding this, you will be dead forever."

He answered the call.

"Is the script running now? I think you said it was almost over...." his manager spoke gruffly on phone.

He was quiet, but his brain was working up. Real intelligence is not in books, not even in the degree you hold. It is when you practically put it to use to come out of a situation. He needed to act quickly. He eyed on the telephone box. He held the receiver tight in his hand. He spoke.

"I thought of calling you for help. The script is ready, but i am not able to gunzip it. Don’t yell at me. Server is down right now. Trust me i will handle this emergency here. Be patient please"

He ended the call.

"Show me the way to the safe now. Get me the keys as well... "

Kevin faltered. He took a huge bunch of keys and started fiddling with it, trying one after the other. All the water he drank in his entire life was oozing out as sweat. He tried to keep his calm and kept mumbling prayers. The sound of wind combined with the false efforts to open the safe made his nerves tingle.

With a loud thud the main door banged again and this time it was the cops who stormed in. One cop whacked the burglar on his neck with one arm which made him feeble and he fell on the floor. Meanwhile another cop handcuffed him from back. One tall officer slapped him hard and bombarded a few questions and made a report of this attack. All of them admired Kevin’s courage and asked how he managed this. “I used the mute button.” he said.

P.S: Read it now again

"I thought of calling you for help. The script is ready, but i am not able to gunzip it. Dont yell at me. Server is down right now. Trust me i will handle this emergency here. Be patient  please"

My first story to my  favorite genre of novels "Mystery." Let me know if you liked it!!

Visitor Visa/ Tourist Visa Questions

The following are the questions a Visa interviewer would ask if you are applying for a tourist visa. This set of questions is focused on "USA", but its the same set for any visiting country. Definitely not all, but if prepared for these clearing the interview would be easy. But remember,

1. Answer to point.
2. Dont lie.
3. Carry necessary documents.
4. Convince them that you would return back :)

Here they are:

1.   Why are you going to the US?
2.  Have you been to the U.S. before?
3.  Do you have relatives in the US? If yes, who?
4.  Who is going to sponsor your visit?
5.  Where will you stay in the US?
6.  What does your son/daughter do for a living?
7.  How much does your son/daughter earn?
8.  Where does your son/daughter work?
9.  What does your son/daughter-in-law do?
10.  Who is paying for your son/daughter-in-law's studies?
11.  How long has your son/daughter been in the US?
12.  Which visa is your son/daughter and son/daughter-in-law on?
13.  Did your son/daughter study in the US? Where?
14.  What visa did your son/daughter enter the U.S. on?
15.  Is your son/daughter married?
16.  Does your son/daughter have any children?
17.  Is your daughter/daughter-in-law pregnant?
18.  Will your wife/husband accompany you on your trip?
19.  If only one person is traveling to the U.S. then they may ask: Why are you traveling alone? OR Why isn't your husband/wife accompanying you?
20.  When do you plan to travel?
21.  Why do you want to travel at that time?
22.  What are you going to do in the US?
23.  What is the purpose of your trip?
24.  Have you blocked your tickets?
25.  Do you have return air tickets, medical insurance etc.
26.  How much expense do you expect from this trip?
27.  Have you been outside India before?
28.  Is this your first visit to US?
29.  What places do you want to visit?
30.  How long will you stay in the US?
31.  Can't you finish your visit earlier? Why do you want to stay for so long?
32.  What is the guarantee that you will come back?
33.  When did you last see your son/daughter?
34.  When did your son/daughter last visit India?
35.  When does your son/daughter plan to visit India next?
36.  Where do you stay in India?
37.  When did your son/daughter go to US?
38.  What work do you do and where?
39.  What is your job profile?
40.  How much do you earn/ What is your annual income?
41.  If you are working, you may be asked: Did you take leave?
42.  Your income is not enough to support international travel. What do you plan to do?
43.  If you run a business, you may be asked: Who will look after your business in your absence?
44.  When did you retire?
45.  How much pension do you get?
46.  What assets/property do you have in India?
47.  Who will take care of your property in India while you are gone?
48.  Can I see you Business/visiting card?
49.  Do you have a credit card?
50.  Will you work in the US?
51.  How many children do u have ? And where are they? What do they do? Are they married?
52.  What is your son/daughter's birth date?
53.  When is your son/daughter's wedding anniversary?
54.  Can you tell me your son/daughter's contact details?
55.  Show me your documents OR Has your son/daughter sent any documents?

Tulip Fever..!!

Had a wonderful walk in my street
Captured few lovely shots.
N now displayin it here... as
"The flora around my house". :)