Yeshwanth

We all know that USA goes for polls this year. BUT… How many of us really know that we have elections in Tamil Nadu this May? A guy in my office was planning for a long vacation as he gets an extended weekend. Oh yeah. Election is on a Monday. Voting in India is a Constitutional right if one is a citizen over 18 years of age. However, that also makes it optional. It has been a tendency among voters, especially in the urban areas, to treat the voting day as a day of rest. Our forefathers believed that we are the king makers and gave us the voting rights. India is the first country which gave voting rights to all its citizens irrespective of age, sex, caste, creed, education and economical status on the dawn of its independence. It is an honor they had so much trust in us. By exercising our right to vote, we would demonstrate our respect for the history of the country. Are we really worthy of that right? Voting is too mainstream for many of us. We look for free mixer, free grinder, f...

Yesterday was indeed a hot afternoon. I had to travel to Chennai from Coimbatore. Ticket was booked in Shatabdhi Express and my journey towards Chennai started with two of my best friends, a book and my headset. After about three hours of the total seven hour journey, I felt sleepy and dozed off. Suddenly, there was a jerk and the train came to a halt.The engines hissed and the brakes squeaked. I woke up with a start and looked out of the window. We had not reached a station. I smelled something wrong.. The smell of a wire burning. Yes. There was a spark in the coach because of a short circuit. The attender of the coach rushed fast and asked us to vacate the coach pro actively. AC was turned off, lights were blacked out and we all were shifted to different coaches. There was a very good coordination exhibited by the railway technical staffs. Kudos to them !! Three minutes later, the train started moving again and accelerated gradually until it was traveling at a constant speed. T...

I was in Bangalore last weekend and yet again I went into the nostalgic mode. I do not know why I write a lot about my past. Now, I look back at how my own summer vacations in Bangalore Chinana’s home transpired in my childhood years. Yes, bouts of nostalgia are hitting me frequently even though I am only in my late twenties. It looks like the age is catching up :). Yep, summer vacations for me, meant packing my bags and going with my Grandma to my Chinana’s home in Bangalore. We spent almost the entire vacation in Bangalore with my Chinana. Luscious mangoes, musk melons, water melons and puffed rice (borugulu) awaited us every day. The hot pongals, red color Bangalore sambar that is both spicy and sweet at the same time, visit to Indhra Nagar Krishna temple, Tippasandra Hanuman temple and Ulsoor Siva temple are still green in my memory. And so many other treats not to forget all the pickles that grandma churned out. For me Bengalore is going on long scooter rides with Ch...

This is what my Friend Samrat Kar said ... At a time when most of the humanity is very busy in the race to have more and better, to be more productive, to do more in less time, to devour more and more, to produce more, to get the best deal - not only in the commodity market, but also in the realm of relationships, - the words like patience, perseverance, beingness, reasoning, love, compassion, relating to, etc are scoffed by many. Today man is eager to kill, not having any time to listen. When I say, "eager to kill", I not only point to the increasing terrorism determined to kill peace, love and solidarity, but I also intend to point to people in this society who are always eager kill others with the ammunition of hatred, superstition, prejudices, narrowness, close-mindedness, impatience, and an deep seated unwillingness to listen to the other, and understand the other. Man is slowly losing out his innate humane faculty to understand, empathize, express his...

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Many around the world advocate for helping others. The society believes in reaching out, giving a helping hand, providing emotional support, and contributing financially. It is true that each individual can make the world a better place by helping others in some way. On the other hand, it’s relatively clear that anything, including help, can be harm too.  Helping aids progression, creates an environment of positivism, adds value to the life of another human being. Helping lifts up, but doesn’t hold up; Helping is controlling in a form but not supportive; debilitating and not strengthening; sometimes paralyzing and not mobilizing. When there is a problem, we think of a help. That help may give a temporary rest. But the real problem is not solved. The real help that can be done to the society that is in problem is to empower them and give them strength to solve the pro...