The Importance of Understanding History.

The word “History” brings to me thoughts fresh from those Harappa & Mohen-je-Daro related history classes, and i am pretty sure you must have cursed your history teachers then. But that’s not all what history is about. You have a history! Your friend and your friendship with him has a history. Your family has a history so does your society and even your collage/office. Your mobile phone, your i-pod, your computer, your pen, the paper you write on, the bulb that lightens your room, the chair you sit on, so on and so forth everything has a history quite unique to itself.

History is anything that could have happened in the past and here past means even the second that has just ticked by. The dot/full stop that had just passed by your eyes a moment ago is also history. So what’s the importance of this history? The importance of understanding ones own countries or societies history is important to better understand the cultural rites and rituals, the social sentiments and even the character of the people. Understanding your past reveals the mistakes and the good deeds you have done in the pasts and that’s a learning curve for your future. The importance of history of a gadget or a mechanism leads to better understand the situation or environment that lead to its creation and you can work on those to make it a better product. Studying the history of an organization reveals how things are done there and how it has reached its current position.   

As my field of interest and expertise i try to watch many of those aircraft crash investigations to understand what minor negligence's could have led to many a catastrophic accidents. Life is always an evolution and you might want to collect all about yesterday to your subconscious mind that you atleast don’t end up repeating a mistake once committed.

A Lecture at 4…

I’ve always heard, seen and enjoyed works of students, those who had became creative during their most boring lectures, be it in the form of poems, articles, cartoons or caricatures. So i too, hoping to make a good article, took the pen in one of the most boring subjects ever. 

Its been more than an hour (its 5.05 PM now) since i had entered the hall and the interval was already over. All i had created were numerous “writes & cuts” in my book. Seemed like the “Writing During Boring Lectures -Theory” was not working for me. Those who had written, drawn or penned down poems could have had the advantage of a silent atmosphere, thanks to their sleeping friends, opposed to the noisy one here and let alone an article, i couldn't even find a suitable/interesting topic to think about. Now i understand why always teachers ask us to be silent in a class, so that we don't disturb those guys right at the back benches, escaping to their own world of wildness and fantasy.

But a look around at all those interesting characters in the classroom made me regret, not for entering this noisy class, but for not noticing the randomness of those people, and those random things they were doing. I’ve always heard that cinema fraternities should make more films on reality issues rather than regular melodramas and un-human action stunts and romancing around the trees. So i stopped thinking on what fantasy i should write about and started writing on those things i saw in my right, left , front and back.

So this is my Heat Transfer lecture (not that the subject is of any significance to this article ). I doubt that the 32 students (including me!) in the class could be those jobless ones who had nothing else to do. The topper in our class was seated in the front on the right side . He was like an island, all the seats around him were totally empty. There were 2 more guys in the 1^st two rows, and they looked like listening to Sir, well.. let alone god know the truth..!! Then there were groups of students here and there, discussing and murmuring as if preparing for a group task. Discussing in lame voices, but as drops n drops of water collected together forms an ocean, these murmurs created a buzz all around, as if the humming of an approaching bunch of bees.

There are people reading books, those with headphones & iPod's, discussing the Oscars and the upcoming cricket tourney, discussing about how they felt like..when they killed that rat inside the test chamber at “environment control labs”. There were guys eating buns and biscuits and drinking flavored milks or juices. Thank god!! At least no one is smoking inside the hall. And then there is a lecturer at the front, negligent of the happenings in the class, was so busy with his lectures, as if delivering a lecture on the most interesting topic to the most interested & active students ever. The only positive is that, the freedom and an assurance of No-Attendance ensured no one was sleeping in the hall. If an education Inspector was on rounds, through the Verandahs, he might mistake this buzzing sound as those made by an active classroom, responding to the teachers questions, and could be really impressed, provided the doors stays shut and he stays outside!

When i learnt what “AWESOME” really means!!

  

At last i feel like I am doing some justice to the name of this blog. Yes! A Journey to the Unknown Spaces. I am attempting to write an account on a travelling experience. Don’t get me wrong by these big words like travelling experience and all, i am just going to talk about how it felt to go out and explore some new things on a relatively not-so-cold evening.There were hardly any clouds in the sky and as it neared the evening, the winds became light and all in all gave way to the most pleasant conditions to have an evening walk.

The campus have finally got back its life. The silent roads inside the campus a couple of days ago have suddenly disappeared and now there were these clattering sounds of suitcases rolling through the tarred roads, and the tak-tak sound of ball hitting the ground and baskets from the basketball court. All those Chinese who had gone home for vacations were back and they all seemed to have a fresh kind of energy. We were happy too, not because these guys are finally back, but for the warmth in the air.

Me and my friends started walking to the direction we have travelled the least and walked through those roads we have never been to. The air became more fresher and the roads emptier. The tall buildings started disappearing and there no longer were taxis in the road that could take us back to our university in case we were lost. The side of the road was unpaved, reminding us of most of the roads in Kerala. It was an area slightly in a higher altitude and we were like walking up and it was getting a bit more colder (thank god, there were no winds). There was a board intended for tourists and it had a description about the whole place in English with a detailed map too. We were walking through the road that goes to the top of (a tourist spot) Purple Mountain. It was quite far away and there was the this Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the left side. So we deviated from the course and went into the mausoleum. There was a ticket counter in the front but none was there, and they would probably have said that visiting time is over, but luckily there were none and the way-in was open too. It was a double bonus because the place was so silent and lovely in the night and we didn't have to pay the entrance fee.  You almost wonder how you could find some silent places like this just kilometers away from the heart of one of the most biggest cities in China. We walked around and was impressed by the scenic beauty rather than the historic importance, which were discussed many a times on our Chinese Culture classes.

If i were to describe the place in a single sentence i would say, “Its like the perfect place for you to take your love on a surprise date.” The place was totally silent, not that no body was there, but everyone enjoyed this silence. It was getting darker and the view of clear sky with the moon and the stars made it even more beautiful (it really looked like a planetarium). Each and everything i saw there made me regret for not carrying my camera. You had the moon secretly gazing at you between those leafless-trees. You had the reflection of those trees ,the moon and stars on a still man-made lake, which reminded me of the song “mele velli thinkal, thaazhe nilaa kaayal”. You could hear the sound of water falling over man made falls and then see the perfect view of lighted skyline at a distance. These are some of the rare incidents when you unknowingly chants “ awesome, awesome, awesome”.  After enjoying all these picturesque views, i want to continue my journey to find more of these unknown spaces…

An Ode to the Gods Own Country.

My Efforts to know Kerala more closely, both Statistically & Factually.

When India was divided into many, on the basis of native languages, a tiny strip at the very south, the one sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea , the one where the natives spoke this beautiful language Malayalam, a state was born. Kerala, on November 1st 1956. The same date which we celebrate as Kerala Piravi. At my school, we were not allowed to speak in any language other than Malayalam on that particular day, or you could be handed the Joker Card! (its customarily passed among the sub junior students, those who speak anything other than English at Sainik School Kzm,and the one who has hold of it after the lunch is punished by their house captain).

The sight of the Sun hiding deep into the oceans at Kovalam beach, the sight of House boats afloat a picturesque Vembanad lake at Kumarakam, the sight of lowered fishing nets at Fort Cochin with a lazy sun slowly rising above the horizon at the Arabian Sea, the beautiful sight of tea plantations at the hill stations, are only some of those scenes that might leave a tourist “Awestruck”. In the year 1980, Kerala started its efforts to find revenue by promoting its tourism. By mid 1990’s Kerala had slowly become one of the first pick spots for tourists, both domestic & foreign. By 2007, Kerala had become the fastest growing tourist spot in the World. Kerala cuisine is well praised as one of the best in the world, known for their mouthwatering mix of spices. The festivals like Onam and Thrissur Pooram and local art forms like Theyyam, also had played a big role in taking Kerala way ahead in the tourism map of India. The competitive display of decorated umbrellas atop the ornate set of elephants between the two major temples at Thrissur and the amazing and thunderous display of fireworks that follow at the Thrissur Pooram are some of those things that are worth experiencing.

Since its incorporation as a state, Kerala has invested more on humane aspects and moral values and made sure each kid attended school with a pleasant smile at young ages, rather than clean the tables at hotels or carry bricks at factories.  As a result of those efforts, Kerala now has a society where people respect the moral values of each other. The fresher water bodies and cleaner environments ensured a relatively healthier population than most other states at the same time. The efforts to promote education has paid off well too, making the state cent percent literate. Its found that nearly 1 out of every 3 malayalees are capable of communicating two or more languages. This might not be a big thing for you, but it really is a big thing in a country were 1 out of 3 are still nearly illiterate. (India’s literacy rate as a whole is still hovering around 60% only). Kerala is also tightly knit together by a network of National & State Highways and a end-end railway network.

For a state, as small as Kerala, and with a population of around 3 crores, the kind success and prominence the Keralites have achieved in all the fields is quite phenomenal. Kerala is cited to have the best standards of living in India and when this is matched with the cent percent literacy rate, you got to call it the best Society. Malayalees have been among the top democrats in India. Many renowned writers, artists and top scientists also leave their traces to Kerala. This state has also produced some of the finest acting talents as well as the many of the top cinematographers, directors and other technicians known to Indian Cinema. Even after 25 years since her performance at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, PT Usha is considered as the “Queen of Indian Track & Field”. Keralites have gone on to win Oscar and the Booker Prizes, have been nominated for the Nobel Prize, have held the highest office in the Indian Democracy and has even raced to the top of the United Nations Organization.

The thing that lets Kerala down as a state to some extends is their politics and the law and order systems. The political games and evils of corruption are well known, even to the kids. Kerala government lacks the ability to accomplish the projects at all,  even if not at the expected time. People are least interested in Politics and they have almost zero faith in their law and order system. People are afraid to report a theft to the police because they might ask you for more, than what you actually lost. Its this impression, the public has about their politicians and their law and order. It has to change,for the good, not by words, but they have to prove us wrong by their actions. Yes!! They have to prove that the politicians and the law and order section are trustworthy too and they can implement changes too. As i said, it should not come from their mouths, but from their actions. In a country like ours, where a player turns into a  national Hero by just the virtue of a  100 or a 5-wicket howl in a cricket match, the politicians must understand that if they stay and act honestly to take the country forward rather than fill their own pockets, their names will be hailed by the nation in the times to come.

Kerala has a near perfect mix of climatic conditions, the lovely lakes and the beautiful hill stations and the warm beaches and one of the most loving & hospitable locals. If the responsible leaders of the state govern the state with utmost honesty and pride, Kerala can be your answer to a Heaven down in this Earth. Kerala, The Gods Own Country.

Santhosh George Kulangara, a renowned malayalee,  who has travelled all around the globe is now chasing his dream and is all set to travel to space as the 1st Indian Space Tourist. Let there be opportunities for not only all Keralites but all the Indians and all human beings to achieve even the craziest of their dreams!

Twitter: A Bridge to the fantasy

Social sites like Twitter, Orkut, Facebook not only helps you find your old mates and be in touch with those far away friends of yours, but also gives you amble opportunities to meet up with new people, whom you could never have met, but for this wonderful invention called “Internet”.

I logged into Twitter as always and saw a new dude in my followers list. This guy was so busy following the Johar’s  Khan’s & the Kapoor’s of Indian Cinema and almost ignored my tweet. This reminded me of my own Twitter-time.

Shashi Tharoor and his saga with the twitter have been in news’s for some time now and that provoked me to enter the Twitter-land myself. So a couple of weeks back may be??.... Or even closer?? Ok, some time back I signed into Twitter. The familiar method to find people in all the social websites made things easier for me and I found Mr. Tharoor’s profile in no time. The better thing about twitter was that, if I was attempting to find him in Orkut or Facebook, the other famous social sites known to Indians, I would have encountered millions of his fan groups and communities and fake profiles before the original one. But Twitter has Verified accounts of these public figures making it easier for us to find them.

So I wrote something in his space and went through his world famous tweets. And in the right side I saw a bunch of recognizable images. Those were the guys Mr. Tharoor was following. There were quite some like Karan Johar, Lalit Modi and so on. So I clicked on Karan’s picture and went through to his profile and was overwhelmed to see the whole of Bollywood in his following list. So I opened each and everyone’s profile and followed everyone and spent hours reading their tweets. Even I made tweets to each and every one of them, claiming to be their biggest fan and dying to personally handshake with them and so on. I even posted my blog links on Karan’s space hoping he will like it and even ask me “Naveen, can you script my next movie, please?” (Hahaha!). It was so overwhelming and I felt in the same league as those guys were, hearing them speak seeing them talk to their co-workers.

I was so excited coming back to Twitter a couple of hours later, imagining how Shahrukh would have thanked me for my compliments on My Name is Khan and how Karan would have reacted after reading my blog. but …

But you understand that ironically, even though they  are at your mouse clicks, they are as far away from you as they ever could be. The world of fantasy can never be reciprocated in the reality and it will be tough for those of you, who takes these stars too seriously at heart and when you feel your mad love and admiration for these stars have gone un-noticed.

So today when I found my new follower running behind the Khan’s n Johar’s n Kapoor’s, I tweeted on his profile “ aliyaa, avaru thirichu ninaku reply cheyyaan ponilla..!!” (dude, they are not going to reply to all these tweets ).

Twitter might seem like a bridge, that connects the common man like me and him and you, to those big celebrities. A bridge that has no end. Inspired by the sight of a stranger, who have been following Shreya Ghoshal for a long time now with all the sincerity, but only to see him/her left alone in the middle of a never ending bridge.

The Citizen Journalists.

Amitabh Bachhan , the Big B of Indian cinema spoke on the CNN-IBN’s Citizen Awards function and he stressed up on the need of citizen journalists. “To be a citizen journalist is to be the spirit, letter and action of a citizen in a democracy” , said the legendary actor. He even made the later part of his speech a bit funny and really interesting by respectfully imitating the speech given by Mark Antony in the Sheakspeare’s epic Julius Ceasar, “friends , indians , countrymen and women a good evening to all of you".

Later i really liked this idea of citizen journalist, because i really feel that each and everyone should contribute in a way or other. Every one has a story to write or a song to sing or an image to draw of the things that comes to his mind, because each and everyone is Unique in his/her own ways and the thing that came to your mind may be the idea that leads to the biggest innovation that could change the kind of life we have in this place or it could also be just another piece of stupidity.  If not today, some day your work and story could be appreciated, may be by just a person, or a bunch of individuals, or who knows man!! your piece of writing could well turn out to be the only piece of evidence, showing that this kind of a human race used to exist in this world. I am not talking of today, am talking of the thing that could happen, may be hundreds or thousands of years later. May be silly things scribbled by a useless bunch of jokers could be the rare things we find out today and speak highly as the Indus Valley Civilization, the Harappa’s & the Mohen Je Daro’s. Everyone has a story of his own which is totally his own and no one knows that better than ourselves. So it is our duty to project our angle of life or our story and it is each and every one else’s right to know the same. Amithabh had earlier said, “one citizen’s duty is another’s right; another citizen’s right is the other’s duty”.

Today a day of your friend’s or families or love’s wont be complete without you. Tomorrow when we all would have long perished, the story of human beings wouldn’t be complete without your testimony. I know its totally impossible for everyone to write books and we all very well know, no body is going to read all these books. So why don’t we just log in to Blogger.com and make a blog for ourselves, be a part of millions of other bloggers out in the world and be a proud “Citizen Journalist"

An Outsider.

Its 8.05 PM. Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year and the intensity of celebrations can be seen and heard everywhere. It’s quite chilling out here and the snow that had fallen on 10th haven’t totally melted down yet. The street is completely empty and it was much close to this "pin drop silence" , but for the amazing aura of light and thunderous sounds created by the firecrackers, somewhere far away.

Walking through these empty streets, I was grasping all the strange thoughts in my mind. For the last couple of days, the last phase of winter was really picking up and, adding to the woes all the shops were closed around our campus. The burger shops and the small hotels in back street have all been closed, because of the New Year. We had to almost take a complete “Pradikshina” of the campus in those chilling conditions if we had to find some food in the night. Today the traffic is much light and there are no pedestrians at all. Even though there were not many vehicles on the road, the red letters on the traffic post still read “89,88,87…0” There are predictions for snow falls for another 3-4 days and these could well be the last snow falls we might see in China. Because they say in Nanjing, if it snows this year, the next one wouldn’t.

If you are able to adjust with whatever that comes your way, the life in China has to be funny and enjoyable. Well, first of all let me give a brief introduction about what China is because I don’t think many people are really aware of how life is in China and how everything happens here. It’s this country that lies directly above India. Yet can you name a city in China other than Shanghai, Beijing & Hong Kong? China is one of the emerging superpowers says the magazines and surveyors, then have you ever, bought any of the Chinese products for their quality and brand name rather than their cheap price?

“All that glitters aint gold” is a good old say, which summarizes about China. It’s the place with tall-tall sky scrapers, the cities where the cultural depth is as important to them, as the scopes for development, where the city looks so clean and looks so "westernized" . But you will be stunned at the sight of people spitting in the floors while they eat in restaurants. It’s the country where the university campuses are so vast and the class rooms are so luxurious, but the only thing you will have to compromise is, with the teaching and evaluation standards. Anyone going abroad would be hoping that he can nurture his English communication skills by going to a foreign country, but here in China, 9 out of 10 can't even speak a sentence in English confidently. It’s the country where, one of every three popular social websites could be blocked or banned. The list includes Youtube.com, Facebook.com, Twitter.com, Megavideo.com and even this blogger.com. (am logging in through proxies.) . It’s the same country where the internet giant Google has threatened to stop their internet services. As I said, its all about adjusting to the place where you live and once you do that, all these extreme irregularities becomes extreme fun.

In this 21^st Century when the boundaries seem to erase and the whole world starts converging into a single home , when anywhere in the world you can communicate with a single language, China remains the only place , where you could still feel like an Outsider.