Kasi Annapurna

30-07-2023. Wishing you many happy returns of the day is the common wish that anyone would wish. this birthday of yours is very special to us since our baby is within you and soon will be with us. I may not express my joy of having you in my life all the time. But you are resemblance of my mom. I consider you to be god sent wife. my mom today will be very happier to see us like this. We getting married and expecting a baby soon. i love you to the ladakh and back bangaram. We have many things common in both of us. 07-01-2024. Let me continue this. Today, we have Sriram with us sleeping beside us and trying to wake-up for every sudden, minute sound that we hesitatingly do. Life is unexpected and unidentifyable some times. We may not be able thank our blessings during the time we experience them but we do clearly remember our hardships inch by inch,date by date. Last two years of my life have gone like a dream that any to be married can dream-of. A very good marriage followed by job change brought in so many changes to my/our life. The high-pay, less peace of mind days have hit me atlast. Instead of making most of the newly married days, owing to cash crunch, credit loans and new job I kind of innoculated you, my wife Annapurna to either our house in chintal or to Ankura. I was not successful even to take you near-by kalyana tiruapthi on most prominent days. My good old childhood habits of doing pooja and sandhyavandanam have faded away now. The kasi who can not be peaceful/happy without doing pooja has got carried away with samsaram oka chadarangam. My social skills have come down yet my story delivering skills did not meet the team's expectations. Life has changed to an extent where I need to think before calling my most nearest people of what to talk when call is answered. My life is a mixed bag now. Responsibilities have come with express speed and I need to step-up with sheer discipline to set-up some good practises for myself and for our home so that our coming years will go atleast like a night time KCG-RPL express instead of day time SecBad-RPL passenger.

Colleague to more than a colleague

To someone whom I had first interacted in Pegasus 2k16, 

To someone with whom I worked on multiple projects, 

To someone who is always a joy to talk with in office canteens,

To someone who covered me up many a times, 

To someone who scolded & rationalized my thinking,

To someone who understood my talk and silence, 

To someone who listened my atma katha in-person, in calls and in whatsapp calls, 

To someone who always welcomed me to their home and village, to someone whose family is equally heart-warming,

To someone who gave me a another good sister, 

To both of you who always stood with me and encouraged me to pursue more professionally and personally..

Wishing you only the best in life ahead !

Hope to see you on other side of the planet  but will definitely meet you here later ! 

Thank you so much for all the love ❤ 

From,

Your Bhakt 

Love Story Unplugged

As it was told repeatedly, this Sekhar Kammula's Love story is completely different from his earlier attempt Fida. Sai Pallavi and Naga Chaitanya. No no. It is Pallavi-Chay. They both lived in their roles. Songs especially Ey pilla and Sarangadariya soundings are well dealt by Pawan Ch, the music director. Also, Background score in climax scenes lifted them. Climax needs a special mention here. All artists performances (Devayani's, Pallavi's, her granny, of course heroic emotional fight scene of Chay ( which are rare in Kammula's movies), Chay mother's,  Uttej and Grey character portrayed by Rajiv Kanakala are compelling and hits the audience. 

Dialogues like.. 

1) Meerantha inthe..

2) Na meeda pette drushti, ne koduki meeda pedithe na bathuku bagundedi 

3) Chachededo thelchkuni chaddam stand out!

"Meerantha inthe" alone spoke volumes about our so inherently inculcated castist feelings from childhood. Director conveyed a lot with that one dialogue. 

A director's success lies in writing the characters from our surroundings and in making them appeal very realistic. Sekhar Kammula always does it better and he does more better here. Mom and son characters were written so so beautifully. Mother Eswari Rao's character hits the right chord with every son. After fitness center inauguration, chay's character excelled in expressing his Love for two beautiful women of his life.

Later Pallavi holding his hands and dancing with him conveys her return of love for him. 

The director has weaved emotional romantic  sequence so well before the Ey pilla song. I waited and waited for this song since start of the movie and it only appeared in 2nd half because for me it is not Sarangadariya it is Ey pilla, the song I loved most in this movie. The best part in Ey Pilla is Lyrics sync with picturisation, also drone shots stand out here. I remember Sekhar using drone shots in Fida US scenes too. I got the entire song's meaning except "padugu pekaa malle". 

Ningina mabbulu iche bahumathi nelana kanipisthunde.. 

Maare needalu geese..

Thele bommalu choode !!

Soothing Music with meaningful lyrics has made this Ey pilla so so special ! 

Yes, Sekhar is evolving; his next is a thriller with Dhanush k raja and hoping for Leader-2 soon because Indian politics are still the same konadam,ammudupovadam, free bies ivvadam. 

Thank you Kammula for being so rooted and for making responsible films; you are an inspiration sir👍

From School bells to Wedding bells...(and so on)

Dear Ravi,

Let me congratulate you whole heartedly on the eve of your engagement ceremony. 

I feel very grateful and proud to be your friend since my childhood. You have been my helping hand for many years now. 

[  ] For all the wonderful evening talks I shared with you..
[  ] For all "the good doctor friend" consultations I have been getting,
[  ] For all the valuable suggestions I take from you before taking important decisions...
                        I am indebted to you. I can only return my best wishes to you that you only get the best in this world. 

And I am happy today that you are getting the best as your better half ❤❤

Ravi and Mounika,

For many more happy years to come... Stay together happily, Enjoy and cherish your life journey as the would-be partners and Share yourself the bestest moments as the to be couple.

Note: Ravi enjoy remaining good days before marriage 😜

To the Messiah of our family !

Welcome to the world of silence aka Welcome to the Dr. Phani Bhushan Ivaturi's room. 

If silence is art; he is artist in it. 

If talk less; work more is age-old quote. 
No talk; only work is his quote. 

Being Silent in tough situations helps one to make better decisions and it is one of the first prerequisites to be "the good doctor". Also, doctor's listening to health concerns of patients lifts the morale and it helps for quick recovery. And he is gifted with both these qualities. And I knew I screwed him up many a times with my half baked medico-illogical questions. 

To be the only doctor in a large family is a tough job for any doctor.(another reason for you to marry a doctor girl ASAP).
And that too, if the family has many elderly it is a bit,bit more tough job. His doctorial skills are catered to almost all the elders in our family and near-by friends families. Sadly, he is almost taken granted for all the second opinions and we seldom call him for general talks (sorry dude) .

Here is we, Wishing you the best birthday and may the destiny shower you with all the goods and fill up the vacant better-half position very soon !

Ee vaaram Visheshalu -1

Hi ra Kasi.!

Ela unnav Ra ?

Naku bore kodthundi 

Ee week target entante.. time ki office work complete chesi .. man's search for meaning of life book complete cheyali. 

Na may 10th varaku isolation repati tho avthundi. So I hope I din't get covid again. My father is getting more cough these days. So I need to check him on spirometer exercise for a total of 30 mins in three sittings a day. 

I also hope that this week I won't get to here any covid cases in my relatives/friends/colleagues.

I really hope so bcoz all my people have either stopped going out or taking precautions more seriously.

And last week, I got stuck to a mass sanskrit song from chatrapathi which kept me going. I worked playing the song on loop. Learnt lyrics (yet to decipher its meaning) and sang without spending much time on it. Reason being I still have some sort of throat pain, worried about covid reinfection I wore N95 and sang with it. 😷🎶. 

So Avi.. ee vaaram visheshalu... 

(Work from home aka lockdown is making me lose myself. To get myself on track I will talk to me like this every week. )

Unta mari ..

Yours, 

Ka.Vi.D

Getting Into Others Shoes

Getting into others shoes is the greatest help which we do to ourselves. It simply means seeing things from others end instead of what we are used to i.e. seeing from our end. In most cases, we do no harm to others by not doing this(unless one is psycho :P) but we harm ourselves. It is easier said than done. Getting to know others is a tough job and what's more tough is- continue doing it with various people in various circumstances. I consider writing this article a success, if anyone after reading this, makes an attempt to get into others shoes before she/he reacts. Sometimes viewpoint change might connect dots or it gives us a whole-new solution to the old problem or it just finds us alternatives and adjustments.

Here are some cases in which we generally tend to opinionize ourselves without checking on others end: 

   We only listen what the winners have to say: For example,  teachers always ask toppers to come and explain their math on board. Rest all are made to replicate/follow blindly. All those toppers who are temporary winners never knew how to respond once their IIT dream flight crashes. But the so called permanent failure in schools whose got tons of scoldings will fare well in the later life as they are already aware of defeats, insults and bitter parts of life. They grow up knowing the reality and have more chances of becoming real life winners. A topper needs a loser because success is not permanent and failure is not the end. If only the failure was made to tell how she/he feels inside during the tough times , a topper would understand how it feels to be lagging behind and still continue the race. 

    We only encourage hypocrite and sop politics : All opposition parties agitate on levying of octroi tax on petrol and increased excise taxes on liquor often end up continuing the same for running their govts when elected because the reality is taxes are the only source of income for running our governments in most uncertain times (covid19). We are not a manufacturing hub. We only export raw materials without value addition. We lack supply chain infrastructure. We are not the best in business to attract investments. Above all, we made our govts to give inadequate allocations to capital expenditure (because we spend more on salaries and schemes i.e. revenue expenditure). It is the politics and public who demand higher salaries and uneven sops end up making India a still developing nation. So public here needs to pay 60% taxes on fuel which is highest anywhere in the world.

    We discourage healthy ragging which is both fear & fun. A fresher who cursed their seniors for ragging then would end up doing the same because Seniors will break our inertia of not expressing yourself in front of others. (Thanks to ragging I used to sing for my seniors in buses then now I have my YouTube channel.) 

    Seniors might refer you for a better job after painful pole dance in RTC buses! ( Yes, we used to get ragged in RTC buses :(   Recently, my senior helped a friend to get her 1st job change !) 

    Healthy ragging builds rapport between with seniors which is advantageous for juniors later on. If a junior is told this viewpoint; parents need not panic.

    We hate our bosses at work: An employee who over-worked and was over stressed under a team leader is likely to show the same torture to her/his sub-ordinates because by then she/he knows the responsibility behind leading a team and who knows that delay in submission would cost their team members job?

    We scold our elders for not picking up: Children who scold their outdated parents will have to enjoy the same song from their off springs. It becomes harder to be in-line with latest trends because of generation gap, age related health issues. How can a two-time older parent learn your way doing things? It is great if they do so. At the same, it is not wrong on their part if they fail to undo what they have been doing all these years. Instead of trying to train them, we might just have to just give some space to them. That's the best way to help them out!

    We lack traffic sense: Whenever a four-wheeler takes a U-turn  on a narrow road, two-wheelers completely surround creating more troubles for it and making the traffic jams bigger. While doing this, we seldom think about the people inside. We limit our thoughts to why the hell this car is here/ it's getting late for me. Years will move on. Same two-wheeler faces the brunt once he purchases car !

 To conclude, we are supposed to absorb certain discomforts while we are here. Not all are alike. We don't know what the other person is going through. Try to listen to the other end before concluding (Audi Alteram Partem in judicial terms means no one should be judged before being heard). We need to find what is others way of doing things and cope up with it. One would definitely not want to trouble themselves for the sake of others. But we forget that we also might have to play the same role in the life's later stages and pass through same troubles.

  

Love Story of  Sun and Earth : 

We all know earth loves sun (pull of sun is referred as love here) so it rotates around him. Sun wants to reciprocate his love by lightening up earth. But no matter how much energy the sun emits, at a time he can only light up half of the earth. Whenever the sun understands that earth is elliptical in shape and stuck in an orbit around him doing rounds and rounds around him for millions of years, he will calm down and generate some love for earth, until then it is only heat !

Happy Birthday Buddhi Bhushan

To the one who is invariably a part of my life since childhood..

To the one who narrated every story vividly.. 

To the one who introduced Sri Ramayana to me..

To the one who travelled with me to different places..

To the one who used to telephone me every other night..

To the one who is more genuine, more emotional and more sensitive..

To the one who is opposite of me in showing his angriness..

To the one who is wanted by everyone..

To the one who always get haunting dreams.....

Here is me wishing you a very Happy birthday Buddhi Bhushan. 

Note: Points were written as and when they came out of me. So they may not be in order but emotion is intact !

MS-III

 When everything is fine, we dream of having the have nots in life. But in the matters of survival we forget all the excesses and only wish for "existence".

Here goes the inspirational list of survivors from Gandhi hospital's Covid ward ( MS-III 4th floor Inpatient block):

Bhoomaiah 80/M/Non-diabetic

Maarayya 60/M/Diabetic

Krishnudu 45/M/Post Radio and Chemo

Chennamma 

D.Narayana 41/M/Dialysis patient

Kavitha 29/F

Lavanya 

Jagadish

Pavan 21/M/Decreased platelet count

Indumathi 

Komal

Surya Narayana 64/M/Non-diabetic/Non Hyper tensive

Kasi Viswanath

Yes, my father and me were tested positive for SARS-CoV2 aka covid19. My father was suffering from moderate to severe covid19 symptoms and we both got admitted in Gandhi. It's been a month now. We both got discharged on Sep 16th after getting treated there for more than a fortnight starting Aug 31st. 

Lucky enough. Thankful to the almighty. Thankful to my doctor cousin Phani who directed us to Gandhi and doctor friend Ravi who guided us at home. And most importantly, all the doctors who treated my father while we were at Gandhi. 

Ending this article with an inspiring quote I saw and experienced from Gandhi Hospital: 

Debugging Weddings-1

With the wedding bells ringing all over braving covid19, I was there at my friend's sister wedding last Saturday. Global economy has taken its toll and every sector is badly hit. Like the blessing in disguise, wedding costs are now down to cost of a grandly given birthday party. With limited invitees and below par attendance from near and dear, 1000 pax grand gala mass event in convention hall turned into 100 pax classy event in mini-banquet hall. In the absence of band baazas and dhandias, an unusual silence prevailed, giving the driver seat to traditional Sannayi melams and vivaha mantrams. Suddenly, I realised I was attending a whole new wedding with the sounds of these reverberating all over. I heard the ayyavaaru chanting the below sloka which had a lasting impact on me as I read it only few days before on one of my colleague's wedding card: 

శ్రీరామ పత్నీ, జనకస్య పుత్రీ  – సీతాంగనా, యౌవన కోమలాంగీ

భూగర్భ జాతా  – భువనైక మాతా  – వధూవరాభ్యాం – వరదా భవంతు

What is a wedding* ? How to define it ?

Why is it so special ? Third most talked aspect in middle class life after good education and good job is a good marriage. They say marriages are made in heaven.. are love marriages included in it ? 

I have witnessed only two wedding ceremonies from close quarters but the sea of emotions, waves of crests and troughs involved in it are still afresh. I wanted to write what a wedding means to me..and what I have understood by seeing the families never-ending apprehensions before and at sigh of relief/happiness after the wedding. Mind you, the wedding couple will be in a complete different world and they are inspiration for both parties to toil all through the wedding day. 

Arranged Marriage:

The message which my grand pa passed onto my mom at her wedding comes to my mind now. "See Lakshmi, bonding between husband and wife is crucial for fruitful wedding. Everybody may not have the luck of love before marriage but still they have every chance of loving their better-half after the marriage in a subtle way." 

Yes, in a subtle way because of all sorts of responsibilities shared between the couple from then on makes the love/caring/affection/concern for each other reveal in a hidden way. It's visibility increases with two vitals called understanding and patience.

Love after marriage starts slowly but it thrives with time and grows bigger over a period of time. Wedding ceremony is a vedic seed sowing event in which both groom's side and bride's side unite to let the grooms sow the seeds of their wedding plant in the soil called family with the help of water called mantras and in the presence of invisible air representing our ancestors, god and goddesses. Slowly, the wedding plant grows and have its branches of trust built between the pair, the pair will have their children called flowers and fruits, thus it flourishes and gives shades of happiness for both sides of families and all the people associated with them.

I will continue pondering over this..

I am yet to write on emotional things involved on a wedding day, my take on advantages of love marriage. And are they really made in heaven ?

*Here, Wedding and marriage are used synonymously for the sake of better writing.Usually, a wedding is a ritualistic ceremony after which the marital relationship starts between a girl and a boy.  

In the journey of life..

To Mouth ulcer, 

"In the journey of life..." is such a phrase which can be beautiful and awful; it depends on where we currently are in our journey. All the toughest mountain passes once surpassed becomes an achievement and a life time memory but whilst going through them we may struggle and look downhill .

To err is to human and to dream is to human. Certainly, not everything we dreamt of is in our hands. Life drags them; it gives us hope and solace sometimes, thrill and pain the other time just to make us feel the sense of it. What is the fun if everything happens in a flash ? At times,when the journey once thought to be on a smooth highway turns out to be a rough ghat road; the best we can do is to decelerate, reduce the gear, apply brakes, control all other anxieties (of where are we leading to? what road is this?) and continue driving to reach our dream destination.

In this regard, nature provides us good examples. A tiger, even a mighty tiger must await hours and hours for its prey to become vulnerable and  hunting prone before the hunt actually begins. It is just like the long-lasting pre-production work done by Baahubali director Rajamouli before commencing the shoot. 

Trees in southern India have to survive in dry-deciduous forests unlike trees in tropical evergreen forests in the north and northeast. Lush green forests in south post June will have to shed its leaves after February to sustain the dry summers till the end of May. These dry deciduous never feel sad for the good fortunes of evergreens which experience rain for most of the year. In their journey of life, these trees prepare for adversities, consume less and continue their wait for the onset of monsoon i.e. for the life to thrive again.

A herd of thirsty elephants walks miles and miles starting March in search of water ponds. But the greatest happiness for them comes after the showers in June with the joyful bathing in water plenty rivers and lakes. None in this eventful planet goes without struggle and none ends their struggle midway !

All living creatures in this lovely world experience joy and happiness which is scattered amidst the pain and uncertainty. However bright the sun may be, he has to re-emerge from darkest of the clouds to shine again!

With love,

Dentogel

Let the child in us shine forever !

Stop thinking a lot !
Change is the only constant !
Whatever happens, life has to move on !
Stay strong and keep moving!
When going gets tough, the tough gets going!

These are some common quotes we keep on listening from our near and dear when we express our  inability to carry out day-to-day activities efficiently and when we ponder over happened things from past and might-happen things from future only to waste our valuable time. And most of such concerns are mind-set related and are often seen as small issues when conveyed openly.

So how do we deal with them ? Is it just because of over-thinking, over imagination, living in past or fearing about future? Or is it because we are less-occupied and inactive ?

Let us try to devise a solution to this by seeing newly born in our family.

A kiddo does many amusing things all through the day. He keeps himself busy with something or other until he sleeps, he shows his enthusiasm to grab everything he sees, touches things to have a feel of it, he enjoys what all he sees, he has keen eyes, ears and eagerness to know new things. He displays all sets of human emotions as and when they occur to him without attending communication skills class like most of us do. It's just that he doesn't know any of our languages we speak but he conveys everything with his actions and natural signalling system. The smile he gives whenever his dad comes back from office, a quick cry if his mother is quietly slipping away from him are priceless. He is what we saw with no filters and no hidden things. He cries whenever he falls down but in a minute forgets the pain getting hold of newly bought teddy! That's the best part in a kiddo ! He is instantaneous, natural, super optimistic and relentless in his efforts.


Now, are we all the same what we were in our childhood? Many of us say No!


Time to re-inculcate some of the best qualities which we all had in our childhood.

Dr. Kalam always says "it is the optimism, cheerfulness and ever-learning attitude of the child that we all should carry throughout our lives." These qualities are enablers for our continuous growth and teaches us new things wherever we are and helps to make ourselves better day-by-day; it also leaves a positive impact on our surroundings. But the problem here is, having got the best of nurturing, the best of schooling and now better social status we all tend to relax, take light and try to enjoy/limit ourselves. Once we are stagnant, thoughts of endless cycles about every minutest things create ripples in our mind eating away what all good we acquired over the years. What the fun in ruining us like this! Let us all choose some stream, some hobby, some activity to carry the child in us! Let us be more occupied like a child to be happy because happiness is contagious and it creates a happy environment ! It clears away our polluted minds and paves for the far better world for us! To be happy, we need not be rich, we need not do great but we need to pursue small things consistently and grow continuously like how a tortoise pursues it's race! Know that (1.01)^365 gives 37.783 while (0.99)^365 almost nullifies. So, start now and never stop! Go beyond the goal for there is no real goal till the journey of life reaches it's last mile !

Let the child in us shine and shine forever !

అమ్మ అని కొత్తగా..మళ్ళీ పిలవాలని-2

అమ్మ నా కోసం, నేను అమ్మ కోసం భలే సపోర్టీవ్ గా ఉండే వాళ్ళం.‌ చిన్నప్పటి నుండి నేను అమ్మ ఒకే పార్టీ.‌ అమ్మ, వాళ్ళ నాన్నని (‌మా తాతయ్య చాలా స్ట్రిక్ట్) కూడా నన్ను ఒక్క మాటయినా అననిచ్చేది కాదు. "ఒక్క! దెబ్బ వేస్తానే వీడి అల్లరి మరీ పెరిగి పోతోంది,"  అని ఆయనంటే అమ్మ తనకి చాలా ఇష్టమయిన మా తాతయ్య మీద అలిగి, భొజనం మానేసేది. అలానే మా‌ నాన్న అమ్మను కొప్పడితే నాకూ ఆయన మీద కోపం వచ్చేసేది. నేేేను వాళ్ళ మధ్య దూరే వాడిిిిని.

Note: 

 నేను అందర్లో ఏదయినా పిచ్చి పని చేసేసి తిట్లు తింటుంటే మాత్రం తానే ముందు ఒక్కటేసి ఇంట్లోకి లాక్కెల్లేది. నేను ఏడుస్తూ ఓ మూల కూర్చుంటే, కాసేపయ్యాక సారీ నాన్న! ఇంకెప్పుడు కొట్టను అంటూ నన్ను దగ్గరికి తీసుకొని నా కళ్ళు తుడుస్తూ నుదిటిపై ముద్దు పెట్టి, నా చేతా పెట్టిచ్చుకునేది. 

గుడ్ నైట్ అమ్మా !😊

అమ్మ అని కొత్తగా.. మళ్లీ పిలవాలని-1

2006-07 రోజుల్లో (నాకు సైకిల్ కొనిచ్చిన మరుసటి సంవత్సరం): సైకిల్ వేసుకుని బలాదూర్ తిరగడం ఆరంభించిన రోజులవి. వేసవి సెలవుల్లో మా క్లాస్ మేట్స్ ఇళ్లకి వెత్తుండే వాడ్ని. అమ్మా, నాన్నలకు నేను ఒక్కడ్నే అవ్వడంతో, హాలిడేస్‌లో ఇంట్లో టైమ్ పాస్ అయ్యేది కాదు, అందుకే నేను బయటికి వెళ్తానమ్మా! అంటే, అమ్మ తనకి లోపల భయంగా ఉన్నా కాదనకుండా పంపేది. అలా పొద్దున్న క్రికెట్ రాని ఫ్రెండ్స్ ఇళ్ళు కవర్ చేస్తూ, సాయంత్రాలు క్రికెట్ 🏏 ఒచ్చిన వాళ్ళ ఇంటికి వెళ్తుండే వాడ్ని.‌ ఒక్కోసారి‌ నేను ఇంటికి‌ రావడం లేట్ అయితే‌, నా‌ కోసం‌ ఎదురు చూస్తూ బక్కెట్ వాటర్లో కత్తి వేసుంచేది. అలా వేస్తే నేను తిన్నగా ఇంటికి వస్తానని అమ్మ నమ్మకం ! 

2020 turning into test match

A quote from my good friend goes like this.. "sometimes we may not win the race; completing the race itself would be an accomplishment".

I remember reading one of the Sai baba's quote on our calendar.. "धीरज के सामने भयंकर संकट भी धूएं के बादल की तरह उड़ जाते है।" I will try to put its meaning the way I understood in my childhood. "Instead of shying away from facing problems, the undeterred, the brave who stood like a rock in the times of crisis would finally be able to sail through the hardships if not comfortably." 

In the times like these, we all need persistence more than anything else.

Before-math of corona:

At the times when Indian economy wass slowing down but have the enough vigor in it to become a $5 trillion economy* by 2024 (with the evens of growth drivers i.e. largest consumer market and largest demographic dividend). At the times when two super powers of the world (US and China) were waging tariff wars. At the times when Saudi Arabia(aka US) and Russia were in a tug of war for supremacy over crude markets. At the times when millions of endemic Kangaroos and Koalas went dying in the great Australian bush fires(seemingly natural but man-made disaster) and at the times when Brazil's Bolsonaro preferred economy to environment causing enormous loss to the Amazon forests aka earth's lungs (an artificial disaster).

Yes, these are the times, when man's extremely irresponsible behavior was troubling himself, troubling the tiny creatures in the farm field and troubling the giant whales in the oceans to name a few. Now comes the turn of mighty man who claimed to tame the whole universe but miserably failed to figure out the tiniest of the tiny SARS-CoV-2 !

Let it come to us, then we will face it attitude rightly fits for many of the developed countries.  Whilst the developing and poor countries lack health infrastructure to fight pandemics, it is sheer negligence of developed countries that welcomed the invisible and made it invincible. Studies say vaccine hesitancy (also known as anti-vaccination meaning reluctance to be vaccinated or to have one's children vaccinated against contagious diseases despite the availability of vaccination services)  in the developed countries like US and Italy is one of the reasons for wide-spread outbreak. The strict implementation of vaccination programs have helped countries like India to build some sort of resistance to existing and new viruses.

Today,  May 1st :

Many countries are celebrating International Labor Day in lock-down! There is a saying mother loves the weakest of  her children the most because it is they who needs more care, more back-up in all the stages of development. Look at the plight of laborers and daily wagers, their lives are most affected and most shattered. Governments and the able should take every possible measure to ensure रोटी कपड़ा और मकान to them. May be, we also need to make them self-reliant. In fact, no big country in the world is self-sufficient today. Current global supply chain is like a spider web any disturbances to it will impact all the developed and emerging economies. If oil is supplied by US and OPEC+ countries, most cars are manufactured/assembled in oil-deficient China. And the result is largest known slump in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil market ! 


Children are also playing their role in this crisis. They are now facing amusingly annoying situation. Most of them got promoted but extended summer vacation has also given them extended lock-down :-)

Yes, health care providers, public administrators, police, sanitary workers have rendered their services in the need of the hour. They are doing exemplary work. The quote "వైద్యో నారాయణో హరీ" can now be extended to policing and public services also.  In the later years, we may see more children aspiring to become doctors, collectors and policemen to serve this nation.

Similarly, it is the time for us to acknowledge dignity of labor across all facets and respect every job doer in the society. Then, Indian migrants will work in India, for India with due respect in the society. By now, we understood that it is is OK to make a simple living staying with dear ones though with limited luxuries.

Between our matinee idols and demi-gods are reduced to man status and are busy in making #BeARealMan videos on twitter and instagram !

Given the intensity of outbreak, it's interesting to note that few Americans who stranded in India amidst lock-down are not willing to return to their homeland while fellow Indians on foreign land (Iran, U.K, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines) are making every attempt to return home!



Aftermath of Corona:

Once the life after corona reaches normalcy, it will never be the same old one, it will be a new normal. Remember now spitting is punishable crime in India (recent guidelines by Ministry of Home Affairs). I believe the current generation always had a good sense of humor (thanks to all comedy shows we watch) , now along with it we also got good sense of life like how it can turn the tides for us. With corona dismantling all our dreams (postponement of personal events like marriages,postponement of client projects; housing loans scarcity, losses in business, pay-cuts, no hikes, no promotions and no new recruitment) let us take a long breathe, start making game-by-game strategy as MS, the captain cool emphasizes we take one game at a time, it is long way to world cup final and we cannot give our best keeping finals in mind from league stage! 


Signing off ! Stay home, Stay safe, Live today, think today !

Edit1: 

If it is compulsory to go out for work, yes we are not exception to corona but we have tools like mask, gloves, sanitiser, personal hygiene and most importantly the spirit to drive away Corona. 

The Story of Ganesh Utsav

श्रीकान्तो मातुलो यस्य​
जननी सर्वमंगला।
जनकः शंकरो देवः
तम् वन्दे कुंजराननम्॥

Colony wide celebration of Ganesh Navarathri Utsav was initiated in Maharashtra by Bala Gangadhar Tilak during independence movement. The festival period was used to instil nationalistic fervour in the hearts of native Indians. Today, Ganesh Utsav has become a tradition and is celebrated grandly all over India. Let us look at proceedings of the festival in Hyderabad city.

Thousands of families in Hyderabad make their living through idol making, decorative works, erecting tents, arranging band and sound systems during Ganesh festive season. Children and youth along with elders come together, invest considerable amount of time to make celebrations successful. Mothers make mouth-watering prasadams and children queuing up is routine sight. This is the best part as it brings everyone closer by developing bondage, trust and unity among all. This is the real essence of "Vasudaiva kutumbakam-One world one family" which our scriptures teach us.

Having said this, we will now look Ganesh Navarathri Utsav from the other side of the coin (from the mother earth perspective). As we all know, earth is the only liveable planet with limited amounts of natural resources for the ever-growing population. We have 3/4th proportion of earth as ocean and 1/4th as land. Less than 4% of fresh water resources are available for 7.7 billion people. Because of rapid Industrialization and growing Urban population, we are already bearing the brunt of water scarcity. Chennai is the first Indian metro to go completely dry this year. Safeguarding our water bodies is the need of the hour.  If we continue to immerse POP (Plaster of Paris) Ganesha idols into water bodies, we welcome severe drinking and domestic water scarcity, increased medical ailments owing to land, water and soil pollution.

Hussain Sagar was once an Osman Sagar. In early 1900s, Hussain Sagar and Osman Sagar were dug to provide drinking water to twin cities. Now Hussain Sagar is in a pathetic condition and no one bothers about it. Governments come and go. Political parties will continue to flood people with irrational and false promises. Bringing Krishna and Godavari rivers, laying pipelines to Hyderabad from hundreds of kilometres is not great deal. After all, what all they spend is our tax rupees. To revive Hussain Sagar and such many kind of lakes in and around GHMC should be a matter of pride for all Hyderabadis. Crores are already spent and plenty of outstanding loans (from JICA) are sufficient now. Disastrous situation of water bodies continues for months regardless of how much ever GHMC tries to cover it up. Immersion of chemical made idols and floral waste will pollute the water bodies, seepage of heavy metals like lead pollutes ground water table, degradation of floral waste eat away dissolved oxygen (DO) and fishes die. Finally, all solid waste recovered is sent to Jawahar Nagar dumping yard. This way we end our festival by causing irrevocable damage to mother earth.

To stop further deterioration, I propose the following measures which make Ganesha's festival eco-friendlier:

1) On personal front, we should stop giving Ganesh Chanda to those members who go for false pride and opt for POP Ganesha Idols. Time for all of us to bring that 1% change.

2) GHMC should provide incentives for clay Ganesha making, provide alternative employment to the families willing to do away with idol making.

3) Ganesh Utsav Organising committees should realise pollution concerns and should stop racing for tallest Ganesha idols. Khairtabad Ganesha’s height to be decreased gradually and should settle at a height where the Ganesha can be comfortably made from clay. We must continue our traditions keeping an eye on unnecessary humbugs.

4) All floral waste must go to in-house composting units instead of getting dumped in water bodies. GHMC has a live example here-TTD invites tenders for composting tonnes of floral offerings made to Lord Venkateshwara on a regular basis.

5) Children need to be groomed properly for that elders need to change. Sustained and continued development is the real gift to our younger generations. To err is human, to correct is more human!

Celebrate eco-friendly clay Ganesha !!

Wishing you all Happy Ganesh Chathurthi !!!

My Eco Story

***My Story-My Environment***

As the famous Sanskrit quotes says, Lokāḥ Samastāḥ Sukhino Bhavantu. Let the entire world be happy with our actions. For this to happen, Sustainable living¹ and Circular economy² are to be given greater importance from elementary education itself.

***Preface***

1) During my B.Tech days, our chemistry sir urged us not to use polythene covers.

2) 5 years back India started her most ambitious Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan.

3) Somewhere in my mind, I knew we as Genxt had to carry this idea of need for green forward.

4) To start with, I stuck to the habit of throwing waste only in bins.

5) Today I keep chocolate/biscuit covers, empty cans, bottles in my bag until I find dustbins.

6) Also, there are few inspiring personalities^* on Fb, Twitter who kindled my eco-spirit.

***My Eco-friendly activities***

For plastic waste:

a) Encouraged my dad to carry cloth bag to vegetable market, thus we closed our doors for new polythene covers. (earlier, he used to take one for every other vegetable). Gandhiji said “be the change that you want to see in the world.” So, it is time we change ourselves first instead of blaming govts. for not banning production of covers.

b) While in a tiffin centre, I prefer to eat over there instead of taking parcel (carrying boiling sambar in LPDE covers and consuming is fatal to health and creates soil pollution when dumped in landfills and marine water pollution when dumped in oceans.

In case of compulsion, I take the parcel without sambar packet & cover. I rarely order food on Swiggy and Zomato, a habit which every middle-class Indian possess is we won't spend much and cook in our homes/rooms.

c) Saying no to some single-use plastics³.

Do it this way,

à Avoid straw, drink juice/cooldrinks directly from the glasses.

àAvoid plastic spoons-wash your hands and eat.

d) While going out, I always carry:

àa backpack-to keep my supermarket purchases.

àa big size cover-just in case I have more stuff to carry.

àa 1L bottle to avoid purchase of new water bottles, to carry sugarcane juice & coconut water.

Few More Tips:

e) Collect plastic waste and send them to recyclers.                   

f) India is predominantly youth and many marriages to happen in the coming years. So, we need to dwell on the idea of eco-marriages to avoids single-use plastics and minimize food waste (there are people who does that for usàhttps://bit.ly/2Ks4gal)

g) Stop Marine water pollution-3/4th portion of earth is water. Thanks to man’s indiscriminate dumping of plastics, plastics are now found in Mariana trench (https://bit.ly/2Id0huj).

For organic waste:

a) Last week, I ventured into home composting concept. Made a DIY compost bin (https://bit.ly/319sOej) and started dumping floral waste, dry leave waste. Checking with process of composting every day and reading related blogs for more improvements. Earlier we used to throw all floral and dry waste in polythene covers at a distance to our colony which harmed environment.

b) Composting is an aerobic decomposition, microbes feed on organic content and finally produce soily back manure which is a nature fertiliser. (for startersàhttps://bit.ly/2WqODao).

c) By composting our organic waste at home, we provide respite to locals of Jawaharnagar, Ghazipur, Deonar, Mavallipura landfilling sites. (more about landfills àhttps://bit.ly/2RnWYZa)

For e-waste disposal:

a)      This week, I am going to an e-waste collection centre to hand over used tube lights, CFL (which pose a serious environment threat as tube lights and CFL have harmful mercury in them). Yes, gone are the days of tubes, CFLs but LEDs are still there which contain 12 toxic chemicals in them. So, we need proper dispose for them too.  

b)     Over the last month, I have tweeted concerned electrical and electronic producers, concerned local (GHMC), state (TSPCB) and national (CPCB, MOEFC) authorities urging them to strictly implement EPR⁴ guidelines-2016. (my twitter https://bit.ly/2Wmneqa). Also met Mr. Praveen Kumar, an EE in TSPSCB, Sanathnagar. He finished his words saying “it is public who need to think about safe disposal of ewaste and PCB can only pass rules and regulations”

c) The same rules apply to all the e-waste; it is next major threat to the world. India is one the largest producers of e-waste. It requires proper dismantling, segregation of waste, recycling and recovery of some valuable metals like cobalt, silver and even gold. Illegal exporting of e-waste to African countries and burning ewaste to recover metals have to be banned. We should all make it a habit of sending e-waste to authorised dismantler nearby:

(download link for e-waste collection centres in GHMC- https://bit.ly/2HVHkOY).

(Saahas zero waste operates in Bengaluru and has some e-waste drop off locations. https://bit.ly/2WGK4Z1)

(Delhi and Gurgaon regions have number of registered e-waste PRO⁵s like Namo e-waste)

c) One good idea is to bring in carriable ewaste to the office campuses and drop them in ewaste bins placed (they are usually there).

***Future Plans***

a)      Subhash Palekar’s ZBNF⁶ can be the solution for agrarian crisis. I sincerely want to venture into agriculture. Natural farming is a part of sustainable living in many ways:

è No chemical fertilisers, pesticides (many of them already proved to be cancerous)

è No extensive irrigation required- thanks to micro-climate which reduces evaporation.

è Safeguards bio-diversity as farm helping microbes and insecticides are saved from extinction ex. Earthworms.

b)     AP govt. started ZBNF on large scale. (https://bit.ly/2WblevT)  Those who own farm lands request them to switch from chemical farming to ZBNF.

***Eco Terminology***

1) Sustainable Living- To lead a life happily and healthily on this wonderful planet and leave away giving the same wonder to our next generations.

2) Circular economy- is a part of sustainable living which reuses, recycles every product after its end of life (EoL).

3) Singe-use plastics are disposable plastic plates, cups, straws etc.,

4) EPR- Extended Producer Responsibility

5) PRO- Product Responsibility Organisation

6) ZBNF-Zero Budget Natural Farming

***Inspiring Personalities***

1) Parveen Kaswan, IFS (https://bit.ly/2wEVVYJ)

2) Subhash Palekar (https://bit.ly/1Cie8Lz)

3) Ramu Dosapati (https://bit.ly/2Z9DAzj)

4) Sidharth Naik (https://bit.ly/2JXI0FW)

Endeavours Never End

This article is to remember my professors who motivated me throughout my lean phase.

• If you want to taste success, start facing the music now-Manoj Verma Sir

• We are here to help & not to destroy you. Please do not take us for granted-Radhika Mam

• A stude(a)nt for survival has to feed on the books-Vennela Mam

• No issues. Gone is gone. Please proceed to make most of the available time-Shiva Sir

• Imagine the sufferings of the Pandavas to belittle yours-Prasad Sir

• God is preparing you slowly. Just imagine how difficult it would be, if it happens in a flash- Bhargavi Mam

• And there is ever cool Manohar sir who stood like a big brother in college days for all mischievous things :) 

• (Class room notice went like this: Students of 2011-15 chemical batch, gather in Aryabatta, 2nd floor auditorium for farewell.)

One of our professors, Archana Mam finished her speech saying.."Wishing you All the very best ! for your future endeavours !!"

I may not go back to college but I wish them on every Sep 5th. 

A big thanks and respects to all of them who made me what I am today.

Their backing and moral support kept me strong to pursue my education. Forever indebted to my professors.

Dear Voter...

17th Lok Sabha Elections are due in April-May'19. According to EC, there are 90 crore voters in India.

India is undeniably politically literate country. Every village, every town, every city is aware of the politics and politicians. There are very few occasions where in India stood together for a cause. India being vast and deep, it is difficult have a single voice at a time. Before independence, it happened once with Gandhi who was unanimously accepted by the People of India. 

In the post independence scenario, for two decades only one party ruled India. Later on, politics in India have taken clever stand based on language, religion, region and caste. This made impossible for a single party to form government until 2014. Elections in India happen every five years but people's mood and interests are never the same.

Students and Employees debate a lot on politics. Some of us seem to have deeper understanding of politics than real-time politicians and election strategists.We speak on reforms taken-up by governments, it's successes and failures. Discussions starting from GST, Demonetisation, Job creation, Corruption, Bank defaulters( Mallyas and Modis), Inflation, NPA , National security, Inter state issues and NRC etc.,

People's participation via discussions and debates on policies and functioning of government play pivotal role in safeguarding democracy. Having said that, how many of us are serious about casting our genuine vote to further the democracy ? Many say 'no political party will deliver their promises and in most cases all are false promises' , 'whichever party may come, there is little effect on us', 'no candidate is genuine' and 'going for NOTA and not voting are same'...so we are keeping away from voting.

North Korea goes for elections every 5 years; there voting is made mandatory for all. Isn't amazing ? Definitely not, as people must vote for single party and no other party contests. Not even, NOTA is allowed. So it is "demonocracy" for them. That country suffers from poverty yet the rulers want military might.

Luckily, India chose "democracy" which is of the people, by the people, for the people. We are vested with full powers to elect or erase parties,politicians. Today, the political wars are between evil vs lesser evil parties. We should choose the better option available if not best. After all, it is our country which resulted after many sacrifices from freedom fighters. Literates must not forgo their vote for any reason.

Dear Voter, Be wise...Think sensibly..Go out and Vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Let us do away with our lethargic behaviour and Celebrate the biggest festival of democracy.

Young India Go Cashless, Go Casteless to Cast your vote this time.

Jai Hind !! 

Vitamin-H and its sources

To me, love and happiness are synonymous. Where there is love, there is happiness & vice versa. Both of these words are used interchangeably in this write-up.

In life we seek love from parents, friends and relatives; and feel sad for not being able to get it always.

The issue here is we expect love in a certain way from certain people.

People are not constant in life. To receive happiness from same set of people all through one's life is impossible. Some are truly blessed to have both parents till their marriage and see their off springs. Some will have single parent. Some others are lone children. Some others will find their loved ones as life partners.

But for others, life may not proceed in the same way they dreamt of, leaving them devoid of happiness. This article aspires to help them suggesting the sources of Vitamin-H

When loved ones are lost, we feel life is lost and give up everything to be in solitude, and miss them badly and become deficient of Vitamin-H*.

But then, we also receive love from strangers on many beautiful occasions. Preserve those small events of love in your memory and revisit them every time you feel low.

Go out on a tour, walk along the roads, walk along river banks, experience hilly terrains and see some unknown places, talk to the natives and ask them about their work, living and surrounding areas.

On many occasions, people in cities get offended listening to these questions but these natives will narrate their whole life story as an answer to a tiny question. Because they are hardworking, open-hearted and most importantly contended with their earnings, life style and societal status unlike many living ( or else dying) in Urban areas. They are the people who lead a happy life inspite of many problems. To visit them and to have a word with them will definitely enlighten our souls.

Don't forget to grab all those moments in your camera. Rewinding them after years will be your sweetest memories.

Stay conscious and hug the love which comes your way. Accept love from 360 degrees.

Life is so beautiful never never make it sorrowful !!

*Vitamin-H is a Happiness vitamin found in contended people. Mostly found in the hearts of simple and hard-working people on countryside. Mostly not found in people of developed cities.