Animal Farm

OK, I admit it.

Iam a voyeur.

The first thing I do every morning is look out through my bedroom window at my back-door neighbours, ogling at their everyday routine. It helps that my Mom joins me in my voyeuristic activities. It also helps that my neighbours have such a big backyard. Also, that the subjects of my attention are a pack of delightful animals. G-ruff the watchdog, Snow and White the twin puppies, General, Major, Brigadier and the Ugly Gooseling the geese, and of course, Billy the goat. Welcome to my neighbourhood!

Here are a few snippets of knowledge I've gleaned over my few weeks of surveillance.

Four-month old puppies are playful puppies

Snow and White are a couple of snow-white (duh!) Rajapalayam puppies intent on having a good time. Rolling around in the mud, playing catch-my-tail, basking in the sun and begging for food completes their day. Even the occasional snap from G-ruff or one of the geese fails to dampen their enthusiasm. Its hard to believe that in a couple months time, these would be mean, surly, alert watchdogs. Which makes me wonder, is there something intrinsic to humans, like animals, which causes us to lose the 'joie de vivre' as we grow up? Are we taking the easy way out by just blaming it on more responsibilities, pressures, et al of adult life?

A group of geese is a troop of geese

Four geese, three white and one brown, which display some fascinating team dynamics. As opposed to Snow and White, who are as much at home with the goat as they are with each other, these folks display a remarkable sense of identity. They sleep together, they eat together, they swim in the rainwater puddle together, they walk in formation and almost in step! Hence, General, Major and Brigadier, depending on who's leading the pack. But even within this tightly-knit group, all is not well. The brown geese is treatly aloofly by his brethren. Is it because he is brown, I wonder? Talk about racial prejudices! He is the quintessential Ugly Gooseling, anyways. So while the geese put up a united front when someone like G-ruff emits a snarl at them, the Ugly Gooseling is always seen apart when the geese are alone. And you thought the Indian cricket team had problems!

A dog tied up 24 hours is a bad-tempered dog

G-ruff, I think, is a cross between a Dalmatian and a mongrel. And he's deliberately tied up all through the day to develop his "watchdog instincts". Unfortunately, this leaves him at the mercy of the other animals, which they make use of to the maximum. So as the geese troop by past him, it isn't surprising to see Brigadier suddenly break ranks and neatly snap at G-ruff's behind and run squawking away just out of his reach, which is limited by his leash. Friendly nibbles from the puppies and equally friendly butts from the goat only serve to demoralise him further. As a result, G-ruff is a mere parody of the "top-dog" image he would have loved to have cultivated, in his role of watchdog. Which is sad to see.

A billy goat is a wise goat

Billy the goat is a billy goat (duh again!!), with an authentic goatee and all. Being the largest animal around, he commands the respect of all the others. The geese never bother him, he tolerates the puppies with a sagelike temperament as they climb all over him, and he even treats G-ruff's occasional snarl with disdain. Generally, he always reminds me of some kind of ancient Buddhist monk,...always chewing, never hurried.


Not really sure what I hope to get out of all this, but it sure is fun to watch Animal Planet right in your backyard!

And yeah, a couple of more weeks of this, and I'll be able to decide on my future vocation.
a) become a certified animal psychologist
b) do an Enid Blyton and come up with "Bimbo and Topsy-II"

The Maelstrom

Have you ever been all alone in a hospital room, dying to know what was happening in the operation theatre?
Have you felt the walls closing in with each passing minute and feeling suffocated by the detergent smell typical of a hospital?
Have you let wierd notions enter your head, about what could be happening in the operation theatre, what could be going wrong, what you would need to do if something did go wrong?

Have you ever experienced the relief when the phone rings and the doctor tells you that everything went on fine?
Have you felt the simple happiness when you inform your close ones about the good news?

Have you had people calling you up throughout the day, asking over and over again, how the operation went, and you reply over and again, that it was a success, without ever getting tired of saying it?

I wouldn't wish a few of these experiences on people, but the fact is, each of these emotions, good or bad, is a must-have.

Thank God for doctors, thank God for loved ones, thank God for God!

Captain Takes the Plunge!

After bashing up all the villains on the silver screen, 'Captain' Vijaykanth has decided to take on the real-life baddies too.

It's such a predictable series of events and the easiest possible route for an aspiring politician in Tamil Nadu. Enter Kollywood, make films for 20 odd years, gather a mass following for yourself, then towards the end of your film career, come out with movies having a 'political message', slowly ease out of making films, create a splash in philanthropy and education, and one fine day, you're ready to launch your own political party!

Anyways, our man's party is called the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhalagam (DMDK) and staying true to his Murpokku (progressive) philosophy, he stressed on the importance of English in today's world.

"..Though Tamil is our mother tongue, we must not stop the youth from learning other languages which will help them get employment outside the State..."

Atleast we don't have another Ramadoss in the making. Thank God for small mercies!

And being the bold Captain he is, Vijaykanth plans to contest next year's Assembly Elections all by himself. Can't see him making much of an impact just yet, but maybe a few years down the road...could we have a three-pronged struggle for power in the state? It does get a bit boring watching Amma and Kalaignar at each others' throats all the time.

Anyways, till then, this venture is just another acronym with K's, M's and D's and just another red and black flag.

While on the subject, I got to see Mr. Lal Krishna Advani in the flesh today, even if it was only through the window pane of his airconditioned car. Just the second national politician I've ever seen after Rajiv Gandhi, which was...well, aeons ago. Interestingly, he was leaning forward in the car, looking out at the world as inquisitively as we might have been looking in at him...quite different from the withdrawn, introspective mood I was expecting, considering all the turmoil and flashpoints expected in the BJP Chennai meet today.

Song of the Unborn Child

One of my rare attempts at poetry.
Actually, I am trying to string a few chords together on my guitar and fit it into a song....


In the stillness of the warm night,
I can hear my mother’s beat.
My eyes are closed, yet I feel the light,
I am waiting, I am waiting.


The freshness of the morning dew beckons me,
And the chill of a winter’s eve,
The rain in the mountains, the wind in the trees,
I am waiting, I am waiting.


To feel the pleasure that freedom can give me,
Experience the shackles of bondage.
To feel numbing despair, and then taste victory,
I am waiting, I am waiting.


To accept what life may deem fit to send,
Sorrows, joys, experiences.
To decipher the meaning of the beginning and the end,
I am waiting, I am waiting.


Will I be the one to bring understanding?
Or will I just continue to exist?
Will I be a slave? Will I be a king?
I am waiting, I am waiting.

To be born.

Freeze Frames

It's 5 in the evening and I feel sleepy. Not surprising when you've been up most of last night, watching battles royale at the US Open, which was preceeded by yet another Indian surrender on a cricket field in an ODI final.
Yep, being a couch potato when it comes to sports, has its drawbacks. But the more you watch, the more the memories you carry away with you. So here's where I sit back and recount my most recollected memories of sporting action. I don't consider these to be my favourite or most significant events in sports, by any means. Just images which stick to my mind, for whatever reason....freeze frames.


1. Hrishikesh Kanitkar hoicking a spinner away to the deep mid-wicket boundary amidst the smog and gloom of a Dhaka night.

The first time I saw a successful run chase of over 300, that too by an Indian team!


2. Cedric Pioline coming up with a brilliant on-the-run crosscourt forehand winner, leaving Sampras stranded at the net, Wimbledon final, 1997.

I guess this one sticks because it was completely unexpected, completely against the run of play, where Pistol Pete predictably dominated the entire match.


3. VVS Laxman in his whites at Adelaide, driving on the up through the covers, the red cherry scattering the pigeons on its way but keeping the Aussie fielders rooted to their spots.

One of those Very Very Special occasions when Lax elevated cricket from a mere game to an art form.


4. South Africa. Rahul Dravid at forward short-leg rams into the batsman Gary Kirsten to catch the ball which popped up after hitting the bat. The bowler Prasad appeals, Dravid and Kirsten are lying all tangled up on the pitch, but the latter is given out.

Blame this one on ESPN-Star. The number of times they kept showing this for years to come engraved it in my memory. And the incident was kinda funny too.


5. Jana Novotna crying on the Duchess' shoulder after losing to Steffi in the Wimbledon final.

It wasn't the crying as much as Novotna seeking out the Duchess' shoulder. At that moment, she was just disappointed all over and desperately needed a hug from somebody. Vulnerability...


6. Aravinda deSilva nicking a snorter to the keeper from Ajit Agarkar at Sharjah.

It was Agarkar's magic debut season and one reason why I feel more sad than angry or anything else, to see his inconsistency time and again.


7. Goran Ivanisevic with his Wimbledon Trophy...at last.

I can still feel the gooseflesh all over me.


8. West Indies. Brian Lara edges a ball through the Aussie slip cordon for a boundary with 8 odd runs required for a Test victory and Courteney Walsh at the other end.

The Caribbean genius playing his most magical Test innings in a magical match.


9. Gigi Fernandes changing shirts oncourt during a match at a grand Slam.

Darn! Where did this one come from?....


10. South Africa. Dravid lofts Allan Donald over his head for a 6, only to be treated to a verbal assault from the White Lightning.

At that time, I didn't know which surprised me more, Donald abusing Dravid or Dravid hitting a 6.


11. Australia. Donald again, unsettling Mark Waugh, getting him to walk onto his stumps, but which was controversially given not out.

White Lightning breathed fire in that spell. One of the best bowling efforts for insufficient rewards. Australia won the game.


Iam pretty sure the ongoing Ashes series will add a few memories, as will Sania Mirza. And I notice I haven't written on anything apart from cricket and tennis, which is not surprising.
What is interesting though, is that I don't have any special memories from the matches I've watched live at Chepauk or at the Gold Flake Open. Am I equating sporting events with TV programmes too much, I wonder?....hmmm.

But what I do know now is why I watch sport.
For the memories, nothing more, nothing less.

The Welfare State

Came across this hoarding on the way to office.

The usual Congress political one, this one was extolling the virtues of Rahul Gandhi, with a huge cutout of his, dimpled smile and all. It had been proudly put up by the Rahul Gandhi Welfare Association (RGWA).

Got me wondering.....
If the Indian Child Welfare Association is meant for the welfare of the Indian Child, a colony's Residents' Welfare Association is meant for the welfare of the residents, does that imply that RGWA is meant for....... ?