cook book

             Recently i read a book titled blink. The author discusses about the subconscious and the decisons we make there without being consciously aware. It srtikes me because there were a couple of instances, when, i have personaly  realized that some thoughts  and opinions i had in my mind  was not out of conscious decisons but had been formed in a subconscious state and were slowly pushed up into my consciousness. Everytime, the realization came when someone asked me some question related to that opinion, like," why do u prefer this?"  or" whats the reason behind your view?"

              Thats when i realize that i'm consciously aware of my opinion but do not have any record of how i came about forming that opinion. Such questions take us by surprise. And many a times we try to cook up some answer and eventually we end up  believing that the cooked up reason is the real reason behind our opinion. For eg, in sports i dont prefer playing cricket, and when someone asks me why, i say its because, i dont go to sports ground often and when i do, i want to use the entire time spending my energy and working my muscles but in cricket, only two people are active in an instant and so i find it a waste of time. I know for sure that this is not the reason why i initially formed dislike towards the game.But i've used this cooked up reason so many times that i cannot find the actual reason. 

                   Extending this line of thought i came to realize another beautiful phenomenon. We form a theory or opinion or we read about something and ponder over it choosing our sides. Untill the instant we put such thoughts into words and write them down or tell it to someone, the entire thought process has some level of vagueness and abstractness. And in the process of telling it to someone, we realize that the thought has some gaps to fill or even sometimes it so happens that we evolve a better version of the thought or in some extreme cases we realize there is a flaw and arrive at an opinion entirely opposite to our initial thought  just by trying to put it in words! Now, why am i writing down all this? Because i am about to pen down some of my profound( this term is relative, confined to universal set of my thoughts alone) thoughts which i have rarely discussed with someone in my subsequent posts and any comment/debate on them are welcome. Infact I want you friends to share your views about those topics starting from this post which will help us in refining each others' ideas

kaaka suttadhu paati suttadha, paati suttadhu edha?

hello all, long time no see. things havent been the same since college got over. Job, targets, coffee, travelling, house-keeping and numerous other things which were never a part of my four years college life have kept me busy.
Right now I'm in the national capital of India. Its my last night here. Looking back, i'm getting reminded of einstein's quote "the only constant thing in the world is change".
Lotsa things have changed since my last post, for the better or worse Iam not sure of yet.
i have been travelling considerably adding four to five new states in my 'places visited' list. I have come to know more about India in the past five months than from years of geography&history in school. Let me share one interesting trivia regarding the same:
Along with me, four other fresh engineers were posted in delhi for training. The five of us are from five different states and speak five different languages. Myself from chennai speaking tamil, a kannad guy from bangalore, a telgu girl from hyderabad, a punjabi girl from ludhiana and a bengali guy from kolkata!
And the common language for communication is Hindi. All these days i hadnt grasped the depth of the sentence 'unity in diversity' up to until now.

Once the five of us wandered into a conversation about our kindergarden stories. Looks lik every state has its own syllabus even for lkg! Except for one story there was nothing in common among the five states.
And thats the story of "crow and the old lady". in the story, an old lady is cooking and selling some eatable under a tree. A crow from the tree steals a piece of the eatable when the old lady is distracted. As the story goes, the crow loses the food to a fox.
Notable thing is that, though the story is common in five states, what the old lady cooks is different in different states. In tamil nadu she makes hot vadas, in karnataka its bajji, in andhra its muruku, whereas its paneer in punjab and fried fish in bengal!

What a Nation!

Proud to have born in this land of diversities bonded by democracy.
Now this is miracle on daily basis!

void by failure final chapter

after a long gap, here's the final chapter of jack's "petventures".

      Jack is now 15 studying 10th standard which is a critical stage in school life cos you gotta compete in a state level annual exam. everything was going busy until one fine sunday while they were having their breakfast, jack heard some animal sound coming out of the spare bedroom. he went inside the room. there was nothing strange visible. but then again a scratching sound from under the bed. there were many packages stacked under the bed which is usual if you're a family moving from time to time. when he moved some stuff to the side, he found two cute kittens! just hours old! haven even opened their eyes! both had white fur! one had black patches and the other kitten had red patches.

       jack thought the mother cat will come n take the kittens away havin realized that its hideaway was exposed. but the mother cart never came. next day, the kittens started "mewing" out of  hunger n jack couldnt stand it any more. he took out the plywood box which he made for the school science exhibition spread some news paper over and kept the kittens in it. then  he kept a bowl of milk inside. but the kittens were too young to understand they've to drink out of the bowl. so he taught them how to. they were very clumsy. so jack made a feeding bottle out of an old lubricant oil can and fed the kittens.

        
            he was very happy and enthusiastic in taking care of the kittens. days passed by. the mother never returned. as soon as jack returns from school he would go play with the kittens. the red kitten was very active and adventurous and the black one was a little introvert type;) jack's mom would tease jack saying that the red one was his sister and the black one was jack. to some extent it was true. there was some amount of sluggishness associated with jack but not out of laziness but out of patience and serenity. everything was going well n good until his mom raised the question as to how long is jack going to keep the kittens. he wanted to keep them forever but he knew that he was already distracted by the kittens from his studies n also that it was difficult to take care of them cos they urinate every hour and the entire room smells of urine and milk. 

      
            he made a difficult decision. to "let the cat out of the bag" uhmm out of the plywood box in this case. he took them out to the backyard and released them. he very well knew about the wilderness and instincts of  cats and was sure that they will survive on their own. two days passed by. the kittens had strayed to the nearby colony houses and the kids living there had made the kittens their pet. jack could see the kids playing with the kittens from his window. he felt rather happy for the kittens to have found a home, than feeling bad

      
           after about a month, jack's mom told him that one of the kittens died! the red kitten. a stray dog killed it! jack cant remember how he felt on hearing the news cos its been so long, almost 7 years. the black kitten was safe. jack had some small happiness in the corner of his heart that the black kitten was safe cos of its characteristics similar to himself, which his mom used to tease about.

      
            later, one evening jack was alone in his home, watching tv. his mom had gone out for some chore, his sister had not returned from college yet. he saw that a cat jumped into the bedroom through the open window. jack made loud noise to scare away the cat but it didnt budge. he went slowly near the cat.To his surprise it was the black kitten he took care of!!! the cat seemed to have recognised him and so did not run away like the other cats which sneak into the house for milk. but as he went closer he observed that the kitten's fur has withered in many areas and he was bald in many spots. it looked like he had some skin disorder. he looked very ugly, not like the small cute kitten jack had been with. jack just stood by the window and stared at the kitten. the kitten also looked at jack. jack felt that the kitten was trying to talk to him. few seconds passed with no one moving. jack then tried to make the kitten go out the window. the kitten was now actually almost a cat now, he had grown. the kitten found it difficult to climb to the window. jack helped him out the window. the kitten stood outside the window looking at jack for a while and then it walked away. jack also returned to the tv room.

      
           the next day when jack came home from school, his mom informed him that the neighbors told her that  the other kitten also died. it was sick for about a week and finally died today, she said. Alas, the kitten had paid one last visit to the place which was its home and to the person who was its parent. Jack now understood what the kitten was trying to tell him the day before!

              and that brings us to the end of jack's journey to find a pet.

void by failure chapter 5

ANTLIONS

Two butterfly seasons after:

                Jack successfully grew more butterflies for the next two seasons. Eventually he grew out of the fascination of rearing caterpillars. He needed something new. That's when he went to a village on his vacation. It was his habit to hunt for ant lions whenever he went there. Only this time he had seen a program in nat geo about ant lions. Ant lions are actually larvae of a flying insect somewhat like a dragonfly.

Ant lions dig pits in loose sand and wait hiding inside sand for ants to fall in the pit. once an ant falls and struggles to climb out the ant lion grabs it and takes it inside sand. To hold an ant lion feels soft and squishy.

Jack, determined to grow an ant lion till it becomes a fly, carried some ant lions to his home back from vacation. He filled a small tray with sand and let the ant lions in it. Its very fascinating to see how the ant lion digs the pit. The creature looks scary but the pit it makes looks so beautiful.It requires patience to watch the ant lion make a pit.

Everyday he used to catch ants and put it inside the tray. He watched how the ants fall into the pits and how the ant lions throw sand over the ants and grab them and drag them inside.

Over weeks his ant lions had become bigger in size. He thought they would pupate any time. But he was wrong. Unlike his former pet, ant lions pupate after four to five years of feeding and also only when circumstances are favorable. They need a plant or some support nearby because just like the butterfly, when an adult ant lion fly emerges out of the cocoon its wings r crushed and wet and the fly needs to climb on some support in order to expand and dry its wings.

Jack waited for sometime. Finally he discovered that the ant lions need much longer time to pupate and also he was getting bored of catching the ants for them. so one day he released the ant lions. adieu

void by failure chapter4

A Piece of Green Wax!

He watched with tears in his eyes and a heart as heavy as an elephant, as his best pal ascended into the sky defying gravity! There was no sadness in his tears but ecstasy. He felt like BRAHMA( Indian God of creation)!

EARLIER...

Jack is now 12 years old. Having enjoyed enough of wilderness he moved to a growing concrete jungle; a small town where generally one's grandfather used to be a farmer; which will be his neighbourhood for five years. he was already in his 4th school studying 7th standard.

Jack was a bright child. He was interested especially in life sciences, may be due to his early bonding with nature. Also he was becoming fond of another subject "Physics". He was very fascinated when he learned about the metamorphosis of butterfly. From an ugly looking worm to a beautiful splendid creature of natural flight! He felt a sense of unexplainable irrational joy and enthusiasm, just by thinking about butterflies and their life cycle.

His school was located in the banks of a famous river of the state. There were lots of vegetation around the school campus. Especially a poisonous plant named erukalam. And butterflies have this funny habit of laying their eggs in the leaves of such poisonous plants so that the larvae which hatch from the eggs,namely caterpillars,feed on the leaves and become poisonous themselves thus providing natural protection against predators.

Jack had seen black and white pictures of the butterfly life cycle in textbooks and it didn't take him long to figure out that the funny-coloured worm living in the erukalam plant around his school was indeed the caterpillar form of a future butterfly.

He made up his mind to rear a caterpillar till it becomes a butterfly; to travel along with it in its journey of life! But mom can be a problem. He decided not to tell mom. He caught several caterpillars and put them inside his geometry box. This time he was careful enough to punch some extra holes in the box for circulation! the "rabbit in the box" incident may have been behind this precaution ;). He also regularly put fresh leaves for them to feed on.

He then chose one caterpillar which showed more growth than others, he released others in their natural habitat. It is really amazing to observe how the tiny thing munches away the leaves like some machine and how it gets bigger by the hour. It used to defecate at the same rate of eating. So jack had to clean his box often. He learnt that having a pet comes with attached responsibilities. But he was happy to do it.

He eagerly waited for the next stage of its life cycle-The PUPA. And one evening it finally happened. Mr.Caterpillar climbed to the roof of jack's geometry box and hung himself upside down like a bat. He then started to shrink and have jerks as if he was having hiccups. Then slowly his striped coloured skin started to peel off showing a wet light green inner body. Jack was amazed and nervous at the same time.

He did not know whether what was happening was right. He knew how a pupa looks like but he had imagined that the caterpillar will build a cocoon around itself like a spider building a web. But this was a surprise. But after an hour he was satisfied that everything was fine as the form attained the familiar pupa shape. Now his pet looked like a solidified droplet of green wax and even felt like shiny wax.

He then waited days and days for the transformation to complete. It was amazing to see how such an active big life form has become so small; so plastic and so lifeless. Jack wondered what was happening inside. He wondered how this small blob can be considered a living thing. He wondered how the pupa is sustaining its life. Its not breathing or eating. It is sealed in an airtight shell. Without his knowledge Jack had stepped into the realm of philosophical thinking.

Slowly the colour of the pupa began to change. There were shades of black and orange visible. Everyday jack used to have a look at the pupa at least ten times. He could clearly see the shape of a butterfly now. Once there was an ant trying to break into the shell. Jack was lucky to notice it early and defend his helpless immobile pet! He was so scared that the pupa might have been damaged. He was not sure whether to call it damage or injury. The transformation did not stop. He was glad.

Then one fine afternoon when jack was in his school, the pupa started to crack. There was a vertical split near the proboscis(the straw like mouth of the butterfly) area. Jack couldn't watch closely after that as the class started. When he finally took a peak into the box the "MONARCH BUTTERFLY" was out of his self designed womb flapping his wet crippled wings. For the next hour jack watched in ecstasy as the wing straightened and dried. Finally his pet was in its beautiful form. Jack held the butterfly in his hands as it was flapping its not-yet-ready wings without realizing that once the wings are fully dry and flat, he had to say goodbye to his longest kept pet!

void by failure chapter3

The Eagle

Four years have passed since the flying squirrel incident and jack was already in his third school with no success in his pet raising ventures. This time he was living in a dense forest in the foothills of western ghats-Mudhumalai. He had many friends now. They used to roam around together in the forest in the vicinity of their neighborhood playing (cop-thief) திருடன் போலீஸ் .

On one such occasion jack and his friends heard loud noises of monkeys in the nearby bamboo bush. When they got there they saw an injured eagle fighting to get away from the monkeys. They rescued the eagle. There was a deep wound under the eagle's wing. So the poor bird couldnt fly properly.

The kids decided not to tell the elders because they feared that the elders might take the eagle away somewhere. one of jack's friends had a small hen-house. The eagle was sheltered there. Meanwhile the evil monkeys were planning to catch the eagle again.

That evening when everyone had left, the monkeys came near the house and examined the spot where the kids had gathered to examine what was wrong with the eagle. The monkeys tried to sniff a trail in vein. Defeated, they left. Jack was happy seeing this not realizing that the monkeys will soon get what they wanted!

For the next couple of days, the kids tried to feed the eagle. They tried carrots, vegetables and then realizing that Mr.eagle may be a pure meat eater they tried to bring whatever natural food they can get their hands on-earthworms, beetles, grasshoppers etc...But Mr.eagle never opened his mouth...uhm beaks.

Sunday is usually when Indian families cook non-veg food. The kids decided to wait till Sunday which was two days after. Meanwhile they tried to teach Mr.Eagle to relearn his flying skills. The wound was healing quickly because of the medical attention by the kids. But even then flying was difficult for Mr.Eagle.

It was Sunday. Jack eagerly opened the hen-house with a piece of raw chicken in his hand. He was not invited by a 4day-domesticated bird of prey, but by a corpse!
Yes! the eagle had given up its struggle for life. It had passed away peacefully sometime in the middle of the night. Jack and his friends were mourning the entire day. They burried the eagle in their backyard.

That evening the monkeys sniffed their way to the grave and dug out the eagle. They then fought with each other on who should first peel off the bird's feathers. As Jack watched, the monkeys moved out of sight with his 5day-pet in their hands!

Will jack ever get to have a proper pet?

void by failure chapter2

Rabbits

&

Flying Squirrels

Jack was in his LKG. they were living in a scenic mount covered with green curtain. the place was devala where tea estates were abundant; also was wildlife. there used to be occasional visits by leopards and elephants!

jack's dad used to tell him about a fluffy furred creature with huge ears the size of his hand and hair as white as milk. this creature used to hop in a funny way and people call it RABBIT. jack had never seen the creature before. his mental picture of rabbit was more of a sheep with fur till its ankles.

jack's father decided to bring one for his son as jack was pestering him for a pet. He caught hold of a wild rabbit and took it back home.

when jack returned from school he was invited not by his first pet; but by a new non veg food!

his dad had put the rabbit in a box in his hefty enfield bullet for a safe ride back home which eventually became its coffin partly because the person who designed the box did not consider air circulation and partly because the government was too lazy to maintain the condition of roads in that area.

Poor boy jack. he did not have the chance to see even the dead rabbit!

jack also used to pester his dad to get him a flying squirrel. its a type of gliding rodent which inhabited the local ecosystem. though jack had not seen one. once a flying squirrel landed on the butter fruit tree in front of his house but before he could catch a glimpse it disappeared.

once again his dad decided to get his son a pet, this time a flying squirrel. it was rather by accident. a squirrel landed right next to him and he by impulse caught the rodent.

when jack returned home he was again not invited by a new pet, but by a big bandage on his dad's palm! the squirrel had bitten his hand and escaped, leaving both his dad and himself in pain.

will jack ever get a pet? or at least see one?