Review of Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New Paths by Timothy Butler

The Author Dr. Timothy Butler is a Senior Fellow and the Director of Career Development Programs at Harvard Business School.

This book is ideal for all those facing psychological impasse due to personal and professional reasons. This book promises to help you how to recognise the state of psychological impasse and use it as a springboard to real change. The book has been arranged in 3 parts viz., Impasse, Vision and Getting Unstuck. The author contends that impasse is a necessary crisis in everybody’s life to change and grow (I whole heartedly endorse this view based on personal experience). A path breaking definition for Vision has been given in the book. Fig 1.2 which explains the cycle of impasse and vision is a must display on the desktop of all those beyond the mid 30s.

We are all self critics and possibly very good at it. The author has borrowed the concept of “The Accuser” by William Blake, the English Poet to drive home this point (P.I Ch.2). He has given a practical threefold strategy to deal with this problem. The definition of free attention (P.I Ch.3) and the exercise prescribed for it is worth emulating. The One Hundred Jobs Exercise (P.I Ch.4) takes your thinking to new frontiers.

The author starts Part II (Vision) with a theme called “Pattern in the carpet”. Certain recurring themes signal what is vital for us. From these themes we can discern the type of activities, work environments and close relationships that make our lives most satisfying. In the chapter Our Deepest Interests (P.II, Ch. V) he has talked about the Ten Basic Interest and also an exercise to identify an interest or two close to your heart. You don’t have to read the entire book; this one chapter should bring a radical change in the way your life is progressing. Grab this book from anyone who has it just to read this section. In the next chapter he has talked about what to do with weakness? In the subsequent chapter he identifies the central role that the three social needs power, people and achievement play in our life decisions. In the next chapter “Mapping our insights” he has given an exercise how to map our insights

The next Part is Getting Unstuck (Part 3). This is the final step in the cycle of impasse and is about integrating what we have learned so that we can make a decision and take action. He has talked about exploring the poles i.e. we need to go to each pole of tension (read individual areas of interest) and simply focus there intently. He also talks about the methods to implement the images gathered from the poles of tension. The final chapter is “Living at the Border” wherein he talks about how to identify an impasse. The only way according to the author to avoid an impasse is to live completely openly because then we would face each moment without any evasions, excuses or attachments to old habits.

This book is a must read for all those who want to break free in life and explore their true self.

Where are the ladies seat in BMTC buses, RTI query by me

http://leadcap.org/

The Economist Style Guide: 9th Edition

Utility: for anybody who wants to write English in a simple and an effective way.

Objective: The book aims to warn writers of some common mistakes and encourages them to write with clarity and simplicity. The recommendations are derived from the style used each week in writing and editing The Economist.

Arrangement: The Book is divided into 3 parts viz., The essence of style; American and British English and Useful Reference.

Part 1 – Essence of Style (a few eye-catchers represented below)

1. Avoid Metaphors, oratorical flourishes and foreign phrases (esp. Latin they are outdated)

2. Cut out unnecessary words (a separate chapter has been dedicated for this)

3. Avoid using phrases like surprise, surprise; guess what in the middle of a sentence.

4. Avoid beginning too many of your sentences with words like compare, expect, imagine, etc; readers will think they are reading a text book.

5. Avoid using terms like affordable housing (by whom?), these are advertising language.

6. Avoid euphemisms and circumlocutions used by interest group. Mobility impairment means wheel chair bound and underprivileged means poor people.

7. Don’t compare a fraction with a decimal. Eg:- don’t say inflation fell from 12.5% to 12 ¼ %.

8. Use active voice as much as possible

9. Avoid the use of former and later, more often than not it causes confusion.

10. A government, a party and a company always take a singular verb.

11. Countries take a singular verb, even if their names look plural. Eg:- The Philippines has its own Constitution.

12. The section on hyphens is very interesting.

13. Avoid Jargons; words and expressions that are ugly or overused [bottom line, major (unless something nearby is minor)]

14. Pristine means original or former; it does not mean clean.

15. A ship is feminine

16. Same is superfluous. If your sentence contains on the same day that, try on the day that.

17. The section on spelling is educative.

18. Avoid the habit of joining office and name like Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

19. Avoid use of words like very because they add nothing but length to your prose. No need to say most probably and most especially, it is enough if you say probably and especially. There is no meaning for the word pre-prepared.

20. Which informs, that defines.

Part 2 – American and British English

I did not find it much useful and hence did not take the trouble of reading through it.

Part 3 – Useful Reference

This is a treasure house of information. This parts contains a list of abbreviations, business ratios, calendars, currencies, internet abbreviations, Latin terms, essentials of proofreading.

Had I found this book a decade ago, my writing would have been more refined but it is never too late to make a start. Only complain I have about this book it does not contain an exercise section or a CD wherein we could have refined our skills. That apart, this book is a must for all those who want to improve their written English. An online version of this book is available on The Economist website.

Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want by Mark Joyner

More than calling it as a review, I would like to call it as a summary of the book by a student.

Genre

Self Development/ Self- Actualization. Ideal book for those who like to get their work done in a simple way.

Author

Mark Joyner who has previously authored books such as The Irresistible Offer and The Great Formula.

Length

It is ideal for a book of its genre 240 plus pages.

Illustration

Very interestingly done in the form of text boxes and meaningful cartoons.

Language

Simple, hardly requires a dictionary while you read the book. Each paragraph does not contain more than 3 or 4 sentences making it interesting and easy to read.

Arrangement of the Book

The book has been divided into Four Books (Parts)

Book I – The Asylum – deals with why you are stuck where are you are now

Book II – The Invisible Walls – shows how to see and then tear down these invisible walls.

Book III - Disposable Reality – A new operating system for the brain – shows you how to reconstruct disposable walls at will in order to serve your purposes.

Book IV – The simple science of getting what you want.

Concepts which were beyond my understanding

Book II –

Chapter 11 – Runaway Brainware

Chapter 12 - Neural Networking

Book III

Chapter 1 – Logic

Chapter 2 – Science (Again)

Concepts which I don’t agree with

Book III – Chapter III – Influence – at the end the author says that the ultimate method to protect yourself from influence is through skepticism and not allowing rapport to influence your thinking.

Since I have lost in my life whenever I have been skeptic I am not in agreement with this concept.

Concepts which I consider as Lessons of Life

Book II

Chapter 7 – Pseudoscience – Stupidity Training mentioned in a sleek text box wherein he has mentioned that a conversation between a true believer and a true skeptic isn’t much of a conversation. It’s not an exploration of ideas, but a chest pounding shouting match. The author has observed that most of the news debates are of this genre.

Chapter 9 – Focus – Jakow Trachtenberg a mathematician was sent to a concentration camp in Austria during 1938. To take his mind off the imprisonment, he focused his attention inward and played with mathematics in his head. He left the camp after seven years with relatively less psychological scarring and came up with the system of “Speed Math” widely known as the Trachtenberg system. If we could focus on our core competencies in times of an emotional upheaval, how relieved we could be if not come up with path breaking concepts?

Book 4 – Simple.ology

Already listed in lessons of life

The author correctly says that we need to be simple in purpose, method and execution. An inexperienced programmer would write hundreds of lines of code whereas an experienced one would require a couple of lines of code.

Chapter 1 – The First Law – The Law of Straight Lines – Go from Bangalore to Delhi by the shortest route not via Ahmedabad.

The author has illustrated the act of drinking water through the direct method of sipping or just keep it in a glass and start praying “All the forces of nature manifest the water in my mouth”

Chapter 2 – The Law of Clear Vision – You cannot shoot a target which you cannot see clearly

Chapter 3 – The Law of focused attention – focus on the target till you hit it; we focus on what we don’t want, we focus on the wrong target and we focus on diversion like television and entertainment

Chapter 4 – The Law of focused energy

The author has given a very good example of the futility in stabbing a cardboard box with a spoon compared to the easiness of stabbing it with a knife.

Chapter 5 – The inescapability of action/reaction.

Interesting concepts presented in the book

Definition of Insanity in Book I

Definition of Scientist in Book I Chapter 2 (Science)

Book I – Chapter 3 – Influence

Argumentum ad homeim – Its Latin for arguing against the man. All of us do this day in and day out. This logic is valid but has an impact on the listener.

Definition of double bind and the way it has been illustrated is deft.

He has quipped that sanity has little do with how intelligent you are but is more based on a useful understanding of the world.

A mention relevant to India is that language has been used to start wars, riots and all sort of mayhem.

Book II – The Invisible Walls

Definition of what comprises our model of the world in Chapter I (Book II – The Invisible Walls) is definite to strike a chord with most readers. The author has mentioned our model of the world is comprised of not only of what we see, but also of what we hear, feel and think. He has very cleverly used the conversation between two guys in a pub to illustrate the meaning.

The author has brought out the limitations of human memory by using the concept of Magic Number 7 by University of Princeton Psychologist George Miller.

Chapter 2

The author has hilariously used the concept of a bartender who has a belief that “all Arabs are terrorists” and how he beats up an Arab, who actually was asking way to the nearest hospital to take his wife who is in labour pain.

Meanings of jargons such as cognitive dissonance, group think have been brought out in the simplest manner possible.

Chapter 3

The author has enlisted Robert Cialdin’s six distinct weapons of influence viz., reciprocation; commitment and consistency; social proof; liking; authority; and scarcity. A detailed description of 10 simple steps to persuade anyone by Dr. Kevin Hogan has also been given.

Chapter 4

The concept of presupposition and its inherent dangers has been well brought out. The author has also given an illustration how a deft communicator should handle it.

Chapter 5 – Name Calling

Most favorite name calling across the globe “you are either going to agree with me or you are not a patriot”

Write a blog on Secularism, you will find out what it means.  

His statements that Labels are by definition inherently wrong impressed me a lot

Chapter 6 – Faulty Thinking

The tools of faulty thinking according to the book are appeal to ignorance (you can’t prove non-existence of God; so he does exist); appeal to authority (so and so said it); Post hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin: after this therefore because of this); and appeal to emotion.

Chapter 7 – Pseudoscience

This talks about how products of faith are sold under the garb of science. Placebo Effect (where cure is dependent on the user’s faith) and Nocebo Effect (non-cure is due to the non-existence of faith of the user)

Chapter 8 – Disinformation

This chapter is very interesting. It lists the 25 rules of disinformation and 8 traits of a disinformationalist.

Chapter 9 - Focus

Already I have listed it in under “Lessons of Life”

Chapter 10 – Trances

Watching TV is also considered as a hypnotic trance by the Author and this concept is bound to get a nod from all those who read it. The author also rightly says that all of us are under one form of trance or another in every walking moment.

Chapter 11 and 12 – listed in concepts beyond my intelligence

Book III

Disposable Reality

The author lists The Utilitarian Model Flexibility (UMF) as the way to lead life. According to this we change our model of the world in ways that serve whatever your given aims are.

Eg: - You cannot predict the movement of “quantum particles” with Newton’s Law of Motion and Gravity.

Chapter-1 Logic and Chapter-2 Science (again) – I have listed them under concepts beyond my understanding

Chapter 3 - E-Prime (English Prime)

Every blogger would love this chapter.

Dr. Korzybski felt that much of the problem was our inadequate and unhealthy use of the verb to be. E-Prime was an invention of Dr David Bourland. Kenneth Keyes Jr proposed a more practical way also known as The 6 Tools for Thinking. He proposed use of the following terms:

1. So far as I know – instead of saying he is a liar you could say so far as I know he is a liar.

2. Up to a point – You could further refine the above sentence by saying “So far as I know, he is a liar, up to a point”.

3. To me – To me, he is a liar.

4. The What Index – Instead of saying “He is a pig” you can say “When it comes to a party, he is a pig”

5. The When Index – you could further refine the statement “During 2005, he was a pig in the parties”

6. The Where Index – “In 2005 whenever I saw him in a party, he behaved like a pig”

Now only if our politicians and news journalists could learn E-prime

Chapter 4 – Polya

In this chapter, the author has recommended G. Polya’s 4 Step Problem Solving Method viz., Understanding the problem (whether it is a problem at all?); Devising a plan (think of a familiar method of solving the problem) ; Carrying out the plan (check each step); and Looking Back (could you have solved through an alternate method)

Chapter 5 – Rules for UMF

This chapter lists the rules for implementing Utilitarian Model Flexibility (UMF):

1. Thoughts are not things, they are models

2. We have the ability to choose our models (you don’t have to focus on unhappy x but on happy Y)

3. These models can be used as tools (either for you or against you)

4. Utility is the measure of a tools value.

5. Utility is not the same thing as truth (I can think I am handsome which maybe useful to me but that may not be the truth  )

6. No model is absolute

7. No two people share the same model

8. Models are not mutually exclusive

9. Models do not have to be accepted in whole

Book 4 – Simple.ology

Already listed in lessons of life

I consider this book as a must read. It would be great if you could buy it because the concepts explained in this book are relevant across ages. If books are an individual’s best friend, this book is both a friend and philosopher.

Memorable wedding howlers I have been part of

Weddings in India have their own howlers. Not matter how well you plan based on previous experiences; the next wedding will have a unique howler to throw up and usually more ridiculous than the previous one. I guess all these make an Indian wedding so humane and enjoyable. You always have something to recall and jokingly barb your spouse/relative with even ages after the wedding is over. Here are some of the most memorable ones I have been through with:

My brother’s wedding – Where is the sacred pole?

One of the custom in Tamil weddings is to erect a pole on the night before the wedding and it is called “Arsan Kal” (can’t exactly write it in English). For some reason my aunts forgot about it, till early morning of the wedding. I had gone home the previous night and came at around 4 am to the choultry hall and was put on a frenetic mission to get one. Luckily, the choultry was near to the famous “Bamboo Bazaar” of Shivajinagar area, Bangalore. I went on my moped to find all the shops closed. There was only one tea shop open and I explained the situation to the shopkeeper, who demanded Rs.100 for one bamboo stick. Desperate as I was, I gave the amount to him and the formal hoisting was done.

This I had kept in mind and tried to avoid it in my marriage but there my reception dress went missing which I have already narrated in this blog of mine.



My cousin’s wedding – Where is the thalli?

This was a wonderful howler. This guy had an intercaste marriage. The wedding was performed according to both Konkani and Tamil customs. It was decided that a “Tamil Thalli” would be tied. Don’t ask me what is a Tamil Thalli? I myself don’t know the difference between a Konkani Thalli and a Tamil Thalli. Since the wedding was organised by the girl side, the rituals started in the noon as per their custom. As per Tamil custom, you have to bring the thalli directly to the choultry. In this case the thalli was not yet ready and hence it was decided that the goldsmith would bring it the next day to the choultry. Next day being an auto strike, the goldsmith (GS) had to come by bus. When I called up his residence, his wife told he had left home at around 830am but it was almost 1030am and he had not reached the choultry. The tension was building up. I and another relative of mine were assigned the responsibility of guiding the GS from bus stop to the choultry. I was virtually looking into every bus which was stopping by. The muhurtham was at 12:15 and there was no sight of the GS even at 1145am; it was decided that there is no point in waiting for the GS and we went to a nearby jewellery shop searching for a “Tamil Thalli”. Thankfully, we got one and came rushing to the choultry, only to find that the GS entering into the choultry at the same time as us. Finally, the thalli made by the GS was made the official one and the other one was exchanged for a ring.

My brother-in-law’s wedding – Who will serve the food?

Wiser from the previous experiences, I had made a checklist of all the possible howlers. Everything was ensured the arsan kal, groom’s dress, thalli, etc, etc. The reception was on a Sunday and after Rahukalam it was scheduled to start at 630pm. At 615pm, the cook called us, aside and said “Sir, people who were meant to serve the food have let me down, you have to arrange yourselves”. Mind you this guy was known to my in-laws for many years. There was no time to react; the guests had arrived in large numbers. We could not arrange anybody at that time and hence a decision was taken that we ourselves would serve the food. All the plans of celebration, dance and most importantly the dressing had gone for a toss. We were not used to serving so many people and did a truly amateurish job. The order of service and quantity for each guest was haphazard; some of the dishes were not served for many of the guests, etc, etc. All the painstaking preparations we had made for the wedding day had fallen apart.

After my brother-in-law’s wedding, I have not been actively involved in any other wedding. I am determined to overcome all the possible howlers in the next wedding but that would make an Indian wedding very boring and colorless.

I just can’t imagine what could be the next howler? Any creative thoughts please leave behind here

My experiences with a regional outfit

I strongly believe that all commercial establishments have to display their boards in bi-lingual with the local language getting the prominence in font size.

There is a particular regional outfit in Bangalore which claims from the rooftop that it is committed to the cause of Kannada. They have in the recent past carried out many “intensive” protests in this regard. I noticed a commercial establishment near my house which did not have the “statutory” bi-lingual board. I wanted to lodge a complaint with this regional outfit and called them up. This is the conversation translated into English.

Me :- Hello, is this ********
Reply:- Yes
Me:- Sir, I am calling from ***********, there is a shop by name ********, they have not displayed their board in Kannada, If I give you the details or send the picture, will you be able to take action?
Reply:- We cannot act on telephone complaints, you have to come in person.
Me:- ok, sir, please give me your address.
Reply:-************************.
Me:- ok, sir, I will come today evening and lodge a complaint with you.
Reply:- Don’t come alone, come with atleast 50 supporters and a few Tata Sumos. All of you have to join our organisation to take action on your complaint.
Me:- Ok, sir, I will try.

I hung up the phone.

Need I say more?

Travelling by public transport

For 14 years, I was used to traveling by office bus. It has its own pleasures assured timings, specific seat, direct route, etc. The 6th Pay Commission changed all this and the quantum of transport allowance payable for renouncing office transport was too difficult for me to resist.

It is only after I started traveling by BMTC (the only public transport mode in Bangalore) that I realized the advantages it offered. Once I step out of my office, I attain anonymity and I am totally shut off from office politics. It gives me an opportunity to interact with a wide range of people. I have to leave home early since I need to take a minimum of 2 buses to reach office on time. Rains in the evening mean worries for me on how to reach home within a reasonable time. On days when I am lucky I get a bus which drops me a couple of miles away from the office. This provides me a great opportunity to walk down in an array of trees, on the perimeter of Indian Institute of Science campus.

The other day I meet a teenager who reminded me of my college days. He was talking in an audacious way to a girl pretty similar to me. The only difference was that I used to have the limited opportunity of talking to girls only in person. Every evening I come across a fried groundnut seller near Shivajinagar. He makes a brisk business and has a more sound business model compared to the financial institutions and airline operators.

I noticed that BMTC has rapidly improved from my college days. More often than not a person need not wait in a bus stop for more than 15 minutes. If somebody is waiting in a bus stop for long it means either he is in the wrong stop or waiting for someone to come. However, respect for the sanctity of ladies seat has not improved. In Bangalore where traffic rules are not respected even a wee bit; maybe it is wrong to expect such courtesy and compliance. It is more pitiable to notice that very few ladies ask the male occupants to vacate it for them. BMTC has recently introduced “Suvarna” supposed to provide better passenger comfort as compared to the normal buses. Except for the fare, there is nothing premium about these buses.

There is a compulsion from home front to go in for a four wheeler. The emotional argument put forward by my wife is that being an officer, it is pitiable that I am traveling by BMTC bus. I have blocked it putting up an ideological argument of the need for everybody to travel by public transport. Let us see how long I can hold to my position, until then, the travel by the stuffy BMTC buses is an experience to relish.

There is something about the pink color

There is something about the pink color



When a lady wears it she is considered girlie



When a male wears it he is considered metro sexual



When it is painted on the wall it is considered refreshing



When a doctor says “you are in the pink of your health”, you feel elated.



When the same doctor says “you have a pink-eye” it means you have conjunctivitis



Last but not the least you never want to get a pink slip from your employer.

Back to the future

Today morning I woke up to the alarm from my mobile. It stuck to me two decades ago alarm meant from a huge winding clock. I just thought how meanings of various terms have changed/new ones added. Being a compulsive blogger, I thought of keying down some of them. Here are some of them:

Mobile Phone – would have been considered an oxymoron because lifting the good old ITI phone itself required a lot of muscle.

MP3- A third time Member of the Parliament or a telegram code for 3 MPs coming to a certain place?

Mineral Water – Some sort of hard water or one which is released from Mines or steel factories.

Laptop – as in the phrase “She is his laptop”

Desktop – the top of a Godrej office table.

Pen Drive – Right hand drive or left hand drive can be understood, how do you drive with a pen?

Bluetooth – Yellow tooth is what you get because of improper maintenance of your teeth, Bluetooth is possibly what you get by seeing excessive number of B*** films?

www – one of those lecherous graffiti written in the men’s toilet or near public phones.

Broadband – must be one of those terms used in yellow journals to describe a guy with a **** *****, u know what?

Blog – must be a short form for brain clog. People who are obsessed with blogs like me should be having one.

Prepaid – the only thing prepaid those days was movie, bus and train tickets.

Cookies – the ones you got in a bakery.

Virus – the one which came into your body if you are not careful with your food and other habits.


Directory – a book which contained names and telephone numbers.

IT – Income Tax Department

Presentation – one which you gave in glossy colored papers in weddings and birthdays.

PowerPoint – one which you connected your electrical appliances like Radio, TV or Iron Box to make them work.

Attachment – affection and fondness you had towards people or things.

DTH – Did That Happen?

Spam – Sp(iced H) am , tined meat product made from Ham

Wallpaper – the nondescript design sheets that used to be put up in restaurants.

Screensaver – The screen was meant to save you from the harshness of the weather outside, so this term made no sense

Paint brush – an implement used by the painter to spread the paint across the wall or door.


As in the case of my other blogs, this is a hastily written one without any in-depth research or conviction with the sole intention of increasing my blog counts. A lot of terms have been unnecessarily represented here only to prove my non-existent intelligence.

The amazing family functions

Joint family system is a thing of the past and nucleus family is in to stay. The only occasion we get to mingle with our extended family is during family functions like wedding engagements, naming ceremony, house warming, birthdays to name a few. Nowadays they have become public functions like marriages. The simplicity and fun is lost. Family functions in India begin with deciding the menu and invitee list. Each member of the host family has his own favorite dish which he/she would like to be served. If one person’s dish is rejected, the sensitive ones stop talking to other family members for days but everything falls in place on day of the function. Next important agenda is an invitation. Never go uninvited to the function and most insist for a personal invitation (not being served a personal invitation tantamounts to not being invited). Nowadays invitation by phone, email, SMS is also acceptable. I for one don’t miss to attend a family function, no matter what animosity I have towards the host. The main reason I go to a family function (apart from food) is you get a chance to interact with your immediate and extended family in this otherwise busy, mundane urban world. Family functions provide a great opportunity to strike marriage alliances. It also provides a window for love to develop new romances and sometimes rekindle old ones. It is the best moment for burying old hatchets and sometimes creating a new one (for reasons as trivial as I was not invited in a proper way, payasam was not served to me, etc, etc). Family functions provide a platform for displaying your wealth and be snubbed by that odd relative for being too greedy in life. Family functions also help you to update on the latest family gossip (read how bad is the new daughter-in-law of the fifth cousin’s family or how bad are the relations between the husband and wife of a relative). There is always an estranged or busy relative who never comes to any of the functions and becomes a butt of everybody’s jokes who is present in the joke. Food in a family function is such a delightful stuff. Always there is the discussion how good was the vegetable pulav served in “vijaya aunty” grandsons naming ceremony. In my younger days, I remember food in a family function used to be prepared by the relatives themselves. Often the food would land up half-cooked because nobody is used to cooking in such large quantities. Still it was pleasure to have the food and also to take a dig at all those who were in-charge of the cooking. Nowadays everybody goes for catering. Even dishes have become hi-fi and ice cream with gulab jamoon has become boringly mandatory. All said and done, family functions are such a pleasure exercise more so in modern times. It gives us to interact and let our hair down with our very own in a light hearted way. There maybe the odd squabbles but that only adds to the fun. We should teach our younger generation the need for attending and organizing such functions or else they may end up seeing cousins on the email attachments and remember their mobile numbers more than the names. Religious customs permitting please organise family functions on weekends or public holidays. It gives an opportunity to everybody to make it to the functions and enjoy the revelry. Never let go an opportunity to attend a family function. I don’t know if there is concept of a family function in the West, even if it is there, it may not be with the frequency we have in our country. Family functions as organised in our culture are unique and lingers in our memories for long. Feel blessed to attend or organise a family function.

My wardrobe malfunction

Right from 1st standard, I was always awe-stuck with my brother making speeches on Independence Day and other competitions in schools. So when I got promoted to sixth standard (the cut-off for a student to be allowed in these competitions), I readily gave my name when it was called for. The first assignment was to speak on Independence Day about Lal Bahadur Sastriji. With active assistance of my father and the Panasonic two-in-one we had at our home, I practiced the speech over and again. Three days before the event, Dcuna Madam who was in charge of the culturals decided that all the participants will wear a dhoti and make the speech. I never took it seriously and continued with preparing for my speech. My father had taught me how to keep the head at 90 degrees and talk. How to bow to the Judges, the principal, etc and how to maintain eye contact with the audience

The D-day came and all the “freedom fighters” were made to wear dhoti and come to the stage. First it was “Gandhiji”, next “Panditji” followed by “Patelji” and then came my turn “Sastriji”. I stood up to see nearly 900 students in front of me. I immediately realized that public speaking was more than reproducing a prepared speech. All the lessons of my father on the etiquettes of public speaking vaporized from my mind. I was shivering, mumbling the speech when the audience burst out laughing. A wardrobe malfunction had occurred and my dhothi lay on the floor. Obviously, the tension within my body had resulted in this scandalous wardrobe malfunction. Thankfully, I had worn inside the customary half-white pant for Saturday class and any further embarrassment was prevented. I could see my brother feeling for me but I did not want to give up speaking. Despite all the jeers, I continued speaking. To my surprise fear had evaporated and I was able to speak freely. Though I did not win any prize, I did get a special mention from the principal for courageously standing on to speak despite the mishap.

Thankfully, there was no moral police around those days or else a campaign would have lodged against me for intentional wardrobe malfunction, that too in a boy’s school.

Accepting failure is the sign of your inability

Hardly there would be anybody, who has not said “This does not work me”, “No matter how hard I try I cannot succeed”, “What is the use of working hard, I don’t get recognised at my work place?” etc. More often than not it is the excuse of the lazy and the feeble minded. The last named excuse is very commonly used in Government offices by employees who want to get paid without work. Government service is the only place where it is impossible to terminate the services of an employee because he/she is not working.

Sunil Gavaskar says frequently on air “If your knocks (read performances) at the selection committee’s door does not open it, keep knocking (performing) until the knock becomes a thud and the door is broken down”. I will stick to examples of sportsmen to drive home this point better because victory in sports requires a perfect co-ordination of mind, heart and body. A sport exposes everybody no matter how great you are because on the given day even Bradman got out for a blob.

If you get success easily, you will never know how to value and preserve it. This can be explained with the example of sportsmen like L Sivaramakrishnan, Sadanand Vishwanath and Vinod Kambli. All of them were immensely talented, found success at a very early age but could not sustain it possibly because they have never had to strive very hard for it. Mathew Hayden and Damien Martyn were discarded from the Australian team for years but came back into it after years of perseverance and performance. The same is the case with our “Bengal Tiger” Saurav Ganguly. There can’t be a better example of fighting back from the brink than Lance Armstrong, the former Tour De France Cycling Champion. He was given 25% or less chances of surviving a losing battle from Cancer but came from death bed to win six consecutive Tour de France titles. If you feel your health, mental state is the reason for you not to achieve success, please read his autobiography “It is not about the Bike”.

Failure to get success despite one’s best efforts is the true test of an individual’s mettle. If you still have the heart for a fight, you will reach the next level and possibly stay at the top for a long time. I admire Navjoth Singh Sidhu and Rahul Dravid for this attribute. Both were dubbed as strokeless wonders and deemed not fit for one day cricket. We all know how they answered their critics. Mohinder Amarnath never got his due from Indian Cricket but his struggle and efforts to make n+1 number of comebacks could put to shame the fable of King Bruce and the spider. The true test for Sania Mirza has come now given that her ranking has dropped from mid 20’s to 100 plus. I like Dhoni a lot but I want to see if he can maintain his cool and smile even when he goes through a sustained lean patch.

Thus the takeaways for anybody dissatisfied with their progress are:-
Success never comes easily and should never come so. Only those who have achieved success after intense struggle value it.
Those who give up because of failures remain mediocre for the rest of their lives.
Giving up because success did not come your way only exposes your inept laziness, lack of innovativeness and not necessarily lack of opportunities or futility of the task.

How well the email ids of BBMP work?

Bangalore is the silicon city of India atleast in terms of the revenue it generates from software exports. In such a city, the authority responsible for maintaining the city infrastructure has to have functional email ids and its officers should regularly access to find out if there are any complaints from the citizens. This is important because in today’s busy world, very few can give a complaint physically.

Bruhath Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is the agency responsible for maintaining the infrastructure and civic amenities of Bangalore and recently I tried to lodge a complaint with various authorities of BBMP on the state of drainage in my locality. Read below to find out what happened

"postmaster@bmponline.org"
hide details Sep 23 (12 hours ago)
tobalu036@gmail.com
date
Sep 23, 2008 12:26 PM
subject
Undeliverable: Please clear this Chikungunya/Dengue Mosquito breeding centre
in Indiranagar

Joint Commissioner (East) BBMP email id
jce@bmponline.org
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------------------------------
Sent by Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

*Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists:*


PRO (BBMP)

pro@bmponline.org
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Public Grievance Cell (BBMP)
pgcell@bmponline.org
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One of the two things is quite possible:-
1. These officials have not accessed their mail boxes for ages.
2. BBMP is functioning so pathetically that complaints come to is mailbox like swarm of bees.

Either way it only reflects the sorry state of affairs of a premier Indian City which claims itself to be the Silicon Valley of India. Talk about e-governance.

The invisible cultural divide that existed in Bangalore

This great cultural divide of Bangalore existed once. Thankfully growth of IT sector has meant that no longer this divide is sustainable. Bangalore till late 90s was divided into two cultural zones viz Bangalore South and Bangalore Cantonment. People who have been living in Bangalore for long will remember and relish this artificial barrier which existed in Bangalore for several decades

Bangalore South consisted mostly of the local population and the Cantonment area had a sprinkling of people from various regions, religions and languages. Bangalore South was famous for its conventional way of life whereas the Cantonment was more westernized due to the presence of a substantial number of Anglo-Indians present there.

One particular area in Bangalore South West was famous for streets full of people belonging to the same sub-sect. People would be ready to let their houses for a lower rent to a person belonging to their same sub-sect. The influence of Britishers on Bangalore Cantonment is pronounced. When you come to Bangalore Cantonment, you can find a large number of Churches and Christian institutions. Hardly there would be anybody in Bangalore Cantonment who has not been associated with a Christian institution either as a student or patient. Even the most conventional Hindu families have a picture of Mother Mary/ Infant Jesus in their pooja rooms. A unique future of Bangalore Cantonment is that in an undivided family, you could find members practicing three different religions and yet living cordially. Hindus coming from Bangalore Cantonment were looked down upon by their South counterparts as “The soiled Hindus”. You could never maintain homogeneity of culture, diet and language if you stayed in Bangalore Cantonment for a length of time.

I still remember for a person to go to work in Bangalore South from Cantonment and vice-versa was a major issue. Shifting houses from one region of Bangalore to other was considered to near blasphemy. Bangalore South is famous for its splendorous temples, ashrams, Hindu colleges, superb vegetarian restaurants, good bus connectivity, etc.

With passage of time and increased commercialization, this barrier has slowly fallen. You have a lot of people coming from other states/countries. Moreover, apartment culture has taken the place of Independent houses and the homogeneity of many a conventional area has been lost. As they always say “Change is always for the good”.

I cannot be God's Warrior/Salesman

The number of warriors for various Gods has increased multi-fold. Be it the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Kashmiri Mujhadeen, Bajrang Dal and the ever promulgating Evangelists , all claim to believe strongly in their religion and champion its cause in their own nerve wrecking methods. To ensure that their God wins, they don’t mind killing people of other faiths; defaming other’s Gods and destroying other’s God’s religious places. God obviously does not employ/pay anyone to fight wars on his behalf. Thus, it would deduce that these self-appointed warriors for God are obviously those who lead their lives 100% as per their God’s preaching’s and hence are fighting for his cause voluntarily. However in my case, I am not leading life the way my or any God did so during his lifetime.

I can never be the uttam purush that Sri Ram was. He bequeathed his right to be a king because his father asked him to. I would not give up my power even if the whole world asks me to go. He was the symbol of marital fidelity but this quality of mine gets shaken every time a beautiful female passes by me. If I was him, I would have chopped off the washerman’s head who dared to talk ill about Sitaji.

Jesus could forgive even Judas but I bear grudge against my friends who don’t favor, pamper and boast about me, leave alone betrayal. Jesus asked to show the other cheek if somebody slapped you but I retort every allegation against me with double the ferocity. Jesus went to find the lost lamb but I don’t have the patience even to wait for a friend who has lost his way a bit.

Islamic laws talk about charity in the form of Zakah (donating 2.5% of wealth one has) and Khoms for money is done by taking the fifth of the increment or the increase in the income stored after one lunar year, and this is done after paying debts or bills (if any). I don’t donate even 1% of earnings but look to usurp others. The holy laws also prohibits greed, drinking and prescribes stoning to death for a thief, etc. I won’t follow all those either on the grounds that it is a modern world or that it is anti-human.

Thus, it is quite clear that I am not qualified to fight for God because I have not emulated anything which he has prescribed. Does it mean that all those who are fighting on behalf of God have fully followed his teachings? I leave it to your discretion to decide on this issue. There is no point in fighting for God without truly believing and following what he prescribed. No God has asked his devotees to plant bombs for him, destroy places of worships and lure people into believing him. If we truly emulate the principles of any of the Gods, we won’t be able to hate our fellow human beings. Let us stop fighting over whose God is the ultimate God. God is best kept within the confines our heart, mind and actions. Don’t make God a commodity or a concept to be sold. This world has more serious issues of poverty, hunger, floods and above all global warming to fight. Let us fight to save our future not to decimate it.

Chikungunya/Dengue Mosquito breeding Centre in Bangalore thanks to BBMP

The attached video is of a Chikungunya/ Dengue Mosquitos breeding
centre at 14th Cross, Indiranagar 2nd Stage, Bangalore 560038, which is
flourishing thanks to the laxity of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (the
authority in charge of ensuring public health and drainage
maintenance). Water stagnates in this drain and no action is taken to
clear its choking. Now it has become a breeding place for mosiqutos.
Chikungunya has broken out in Karnataka and it seems BBMP is only
facilitating spreading of such diseases. In this case citizens are to
be equally blamed for dumping various wastes in the drain.

An owl on my back

The phrase “getting monkey of the back” is quite popular. How about an owl on your back? A couple of days back an owl got perched to the extension of my office window right behind my seat. Since there is a lot of greenery in my office campus, a lot of doves and occasionally crows sit near the window but this was the first time an owl had come. I did not notice it as I was engrossed in my work. After attending to the routine briefing of my boss, I came back to my seat, when a few office boys were trying to shoo it off. The owl would have none of it and stuck to his guns. It was only then I came to know about this owl on my back. Possibly it was hurt or just waiting for dark to set in. I shooed them asking them to mind their own business.

Somebody asked “Are you not worried about an owl so close to you?” I replied “It is only the owl which has to be worried about getting so close to human beings”. Next came a fortune teller, who told “This is auspicious, you will get lots of money” I replied “Yeah like you I am also due for the sixth pay commission arrears”. I also asked him whether the owl would not run into bad luck because of sitting on my window. He went off saying “You are always indifferent”. Somebody else remarked both have an equally grumpy face, I replied “No, I win hands down”.

Like in any other Government office, there are a set of jobless persons in ISRO also. They were discussing the issue as if a tiger was sitting on my window and how I was unmoved. My window pane became a place of site seeing for the jobless in the office. If only I had charged a viewing fee, I could have made a neat amount to finance me for a Gold Class film in PVR.

I don’t know what an owl eats, so I slid a biscuit through the window. It did not budge an inch. I tapped on the window; it gave me a hard look and later turned the other side. Possibly it found my face more disgusting than it has. A couple of crows came to attack/play with it, it was helpless and started screeching, I chased them away. It did not even give me a look of gratitude and continued with its wait for sunset. I kept some water for it but it did not drink that also. Is this the reason why people scold a simpleton “Ullu (Owl in Hindi)”

It was almost 6pm when my boss called me. I came back only to see that my little guest had flown away in the darkness. So my initial instinct was correct, it was just waiting for dark.

I could not name him though the name “Shi…… Pat…….” did cross my mind. I gave it up least of all the owl should sue me for insulting its entire creed.

Ads that linger in my mind

Ads have become an inevitable part of our lives, more so, if you are a couch potato. I remember the days when we were required to pay tax for keeping a radio or TV. That was the only revenue for these authorities. With the advent of TV ads, this system went out of vogue. In the plethora of Ads, only a few stay back in our memories and they linger for ever. Such of those ads which linger in my mind till date have been keyed below with most of them from the 80s and a fair sprinkling from the 90s as well.

The first major TV ad I watched was “Only Vimal” during the dreadful India – West Indies series of 1983.

The first smartest ad one can recall was for the Godrej Shaving Cream, wherein one guys takes a market survey of all men with the standard question “Sir, which shaving cream do you use?” and at the end a bearded man turns back and asks “Me?”.

Liril was a blasphemous ad those days with a semi-nude women going under the waterfall in a bikini. As a growing boy, I could watch it only when my parents were not around. Bombay Dyeing was such an enticing and seductive Ad.

The ad that created its first celebrity should be “Lalitaji’s Surf Ad”. The ad by nature was a simple product comparison but the way it was enacted was legendary. The name “Lalitaji” became synonymous with “Samajdhari”. Dabur Lal Dant Manjan ads made the “Masterji” quite a celebrity, for his question “Ramu, tumhare danth motion jaise kaise chamak rahen hain?”( I don’t remember the exact wordings).

The biggest cricketing ad was reserved for Kapil Dev in Palmolive da Jawab Nahin for Palmolive Shaving Cream. Gavaskar had his own Dinesh Suiting. There was also Srikkanth modeling for Bournvita and Sri Chakra Tyres. Later came Kapil’s Boost is the secret of my energy.

The first funniest ad was the Bajaj Bulb ads. It was such an innovative idea for projecting the longevity of Bajaj Bulbs. It describes how a Bajaj Bulb was responsible for exposing a man’s transgressions from childhood till old age. Equally interesting was the “Sunday ya ho Monday Roz Kahon Ande” for the National Egg Promotion Council. Chal meri Luna for Luna was not far behind as was the first ad for “Maggie- 2 minute Noodles”. Jalal Aga's “Pan Parag” Ads were equally funny. The king of funny ads was Jaffery – Pankaj Kapur, Maggie Tomato Ketchup “Its Different”.

The first concept ad I came across was Tata Steel’s “We also make Steel”. Bajajs “Humara Bajaj” is of legendary propotion since it epitomized middle class aspirations of those days. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara wets my eyes and heart even today so does the animation film “Ek aur Anek”.

The best innovation ad was from Onida “Neighbour’s envy, Owners pride”. Pepsi with Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai was not far behind. Kelivinator’s the coolest one with a penguin was cute and innovative. The Vicks ad in which a boy gets drenched to get a bouquet for his mother on her birthday was innovative and heart warming.

The Five Year Plan ads (the same visuals used to be played for five years before being changed) were the meaningless “Apne Chabi se Khulne” Wale Linc Lock ads and Colgate which was such a poor advertiser those days. Nirma, Lijjat Papad also came in the same category.

There are many more ads which were brilliant and I have mentioned only those which I could remember. The main thing about all these ads was there was not much of a technology but more of human emotions and intelligence involved.

My dramatic debut at reaching home late

I am on the Government rolls but working for a schedule oriented organisation like ISRO means as good as working for a MNC and reaching home late is but inevitable. In addition to the work schedule, once in a while I party with my friends though I am a teetotaler. None of the reaching home late was as dramatic as the first time I reached home late.

My debut in reaching home late happened when I went to pay the fees for a professional course. At that time I was in second year of my degree course and was passionate about becoming a cost accountant. I was staying in Banaswadi and the institute was located in Basavangudi atleast 25 kms away from my home. Given the pathetic state of mass transport in Bangalore at that time, this was quite a distance to travel. My mother would not let me go by cycle and hence I was forced to go by bus. I reached the institute pretty late at 7pm, though I left home at 4pm. The queue was lengthy and at around 8 pm, I reached the cash counter. The clerk pointed to me that I did not enclose photocopy of certain documents and asked me to get one. By the time, I could be back it was nearly 8.45 pm, I paid the fees and went to the NR Colony bus stop. I had to board a bus to Shivajinagar. A bus going towards the Majestic bus stop came and the conductor urged me to get into it saying it was the last bus. I would have none of it and continued to wait.

It was getting close to 10pm and I began to feel jittery since I have never been away from house all alone. There was no phone in my home or any neighbour nearby to communicate the mess I was in. Since I was fairly adept at the geography of this locality, I started walking towards Gandhi Bazzar and there I just missed the last bus to Majestic. My heart started thumping because I did not know how to reach home with the limited cash of Rs.20 I had in my pocket. I madly started walking towards National College Road. On the road, a cop stopped me seeing my helplessness. I explained him my situation and also that I had only Rs.20 in my pocket. The good guy he was, he gave me a twenty rupee note and asked me to take an auto. He stopped an auto and asked him to take me upto my house, where I would pay the fare. The auto driver understood my situation but explained to the cop that since he was driving from morning he could not drive that far and assured him that he would drop me till Shivajinagar. The cop took his details as well as my brother’s office number and sent us.

As promised, the auto driver dropped me upto Shivajinagar at around 11:15 pm. After paying him I was left with Rs.10 in my pocket and a distance of 10 plus kms to travel. Having reached Shivajinagar, I heaved a sigh of relief. I knew another 5 to 6 kilometers of walk, I could reach my nearest relative/friends house. I walked for a couple of hundred meters when I saw a HAL bus coming. I just waved my hand and asked him “Banaswadi”. He replied “ Maruthi Sevanagar”. That was ok with me, because this place was only 3 kilometers from my home. I hopped onto the bus and the employees inside asked me what I was doing there at that time of the day. I explained them the situation and the driver refused to take money from me.

I got down at Sevanagar at around 11:50 pm, only to find my Father standing at the bus stop frantically looking at each passing vehicle. I thought he would thrash me but he understood something wrong should have taken place and asked me “What happened?” I explained him what had happened and he just smiled it off appreciating my quick thinking after 10pm. He was equally critical of my inability to take the Conductor’s advice. The next day the cop called up my brother to check up if I had reached home safely.

I always had a negative thought about cops but this cop changed my perception. Till date, I don’t wait for a direct bus no matter what time of the day it is. These were the two biggest lessons I learnt from that eventful night.

When the groom's dress went missing! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.. ha!ha!

I despise marriage receptions which start half an hour beyond scheduled time, to the extent that I have walked out of such functions in the recent past. I feel that it reflects that the hosts don’t have any respect or regards for their guests because the same set of people don’t have any problem in starting the muhurat on time the very next day even if it is at 3am. Possibly we fear the unknown stars more than respect the known guests.

When I got married all my emphasis was that the reception should start on time. The reception was scheduled to start at around 630pm and almost till 5pm I was personally monitoring the situation. The custom in my place is that the groom’s dress will be given by the bride’s side before the marriage reception. At around 5pm, I went to receive the esteemed dress but found my in-laws blinking at each other. Nobody knew where my dress was and the only person who knew it was my wife and she had gone to the beauty parlour. Those were the days when mobile phones were not popular and it was decided that somebody would go to the beauty parlour to get the required information. Sensing the frown on my face, the informant came back in an iffy only with the news that the dress was kept in my in-laws house. Thankfully, their house was nearby and somebody went to fetch the dress.

He came back at around 6:10pm with the news that he was able to locate only the shirt and the tie. I could not digest that somebody could be so careless and construed it to be a deliberate act to defame me. I got ready to walk out from the hall only to be pacified by a couple of friends. Later it was revealed that since everyone was seeing the dress, with an intention that it should not get soiled, the same was kept under lock and key. When they left for the choultry, they forgot to pick the same or tell anybody about its whereabouts. By the time the dress arrived, whoever from my in-laws house came to pacify me got a very angry piece of my mind. I got very little time to dress up and the reception started with a delay of 20 to 25 minutes.

This is a funny-sour moment from my Marriage. I just can’t believe that anybody could have forgotten their son-in-law’s dress and turned up at the choultry. This thought brings a frown on my face. However, I got a nice stick to beat my wife with for the remaining life brings a smile on my face. Any marriage reception, we go, I pop the question to her “Hope the girl’s side have brought the groom’s dress?”

Vasu's eventfffffffffffffffful wedding

Indian Weddings are made memorable due to unintended incidents. What about a marriage which is full of incidents? I attended one such marriage of my friend’s (Venkatesh) brother Vasu in 1997. There was not a single moment of dullness in the entire marriage. The marriage was in Salem and a private bus was arranged. The bus had to leave at 6am but left at 8am. Venkatesh father who is notorious for his punctuality was chiding all for the delay but all his missiles were replied with giggles. A couple of hours in to our journey we stopped for breakfast. The menu was supposed to be idli, kesari bath and vada. The problem was one of the containers containing idli was left behind in Bangalore and there was a rationing of Idlis. Added to this we had to compulsorily gulp a lot of sambar. This was the sign of things to come.

We resumed our journey and as things would have it, the driver lost his way and strayed on the route towards Vellore instead of Salem. Thankfully, 20 kms down the route somebody realized the folly and we turned back. Venkatesh’s father who had vouched for a KSRTC bus smiled at Vasu and told “You won’t listen to me this is the problem with these private buses”. All of us were busy with our revelry and his words were lost in the din. Finally we reached Salem with a delay of four hours. Locating the choultry was not a problem because somebody from the bride’s side had come to the highway to guide us from there.

We settled down and had our lunch. The rituals had begun and Venkatesh got busy with his duties. I and my friend Anil decided to check out Salem roads and babes. The roads were bumpy and babes most of them were chubby. We decided to have a Coke. As most of them know, there is a penchant in Tamil Nadu for translating every English word into Tamil. So was the shop where we went to have a Coke, except that “Milk Shake” was written in English. Anil asked me “Is there no word in Tamil for milk shake?” I tried to whisper into his ears “aatna pal (shaken milk)” but as bad luck would have it came out in a very audible tone. The shopkeeper gave us a stern look but could not control his laughter and burst out laughing with us.

It was late in the evening when we decided to go for a second show. We went for the historic hysteric film “Kadal Kotai (Fort of Love)”. This film is so because two people fall madly in love with each other just over the phone and they continue to be lovers without seeing each others face. We came out of the theatre praising Indian Railways Coffee and the guy who spilled it on the Hero’s shirt because otherwise the film would never have ended. We reached the choultry only to find the gates securely locked. No amount of banging, shouting could wake up any one and we had to spend the night in the bus itself. Next morning we got our dose of advice from his father for being playful and childish.

The entire marriage ceremony was a typical South Indian Brahmin wedding. It has its own flair and joy. The driver of the bus told us that there was some minor maintenance work and he would get it done in an hour and be ready with the bus. After lunch, we packed up and came out only to find that the bus was nowhere to be seen. Immediately somebody from the bride’s side took a vehicle and went to the major garages of Salem. Three hours later the bus turned up. It seemed the driver had lost his way and was stuck a couple of streets behind. Not being well versed in the local language, he was not able to find his way out. Unfortunately, nobody cared to search for him a couple of backstreets. Having got delayed, it was decided that we would have our dinner and proceed. An urgent preparation was made and we proceeded towards Bangalore. The return journey had its own skirmishes with some family scores being settled through a lashing match. We were scheduled to return to Bangalore by 11pm but reached at 5 am the next day.

This was not the end of events of Vasu’s Wedding. A reception was scheduled in Bangalore for the next day. 400 guests were anticipated but a minor surplus of 100 turned up. Consequently, the entire food got exhausted and not a morsel of rice was left behind for us. The entire reception party had to go to a nearby hotel and have dinner. With that the curtains came on Vasu’s eventffffffffffful wedding. Vasu is now having two kids and well settled in life. Vasu’s wedding was the most eventful one I have attended in my life and going by the looks of it will remain so.

Funny SMS bar of Sun Music

Viewers of Sun Music (Tamil), Gemini Music (Telugu), Kiran (Malayalam) and U2 (Kannada) will know the sweet SMS that are transmitted on the screen. Hardly each message gets a look in of a couple of seconds but some people enjoy their message being displayed on the screen. I really appreciate the spirit and enthusiasm about life. Whenever I am bored, I do switch on to SUN Music or the ilk just to see the messages and have a laugh. I always think how nice it would be if I could instantly reply to these messages. Here is a sample of few of the delirious messages and much more scandalous replies I want to send

I love you_________________
My reply: Do you know who does she love? Or sorry, she is dating me

I love my wife/husband
Thank god, it is not your friends

I love my parents
Are they in an old age home that you are sending an SMS

I miss you____________
She is busy with me

Dear__________, Please accept me
You beg very well or you the top most SMS beggar

This song is dedicated to_____________ fans/only for______ fans
Why other actor’s fans should not see this song? Or what will you do if Jackie Chan fans see this song?

I will be updating this list as and when I come across new gems. It is really funny and you must have a special heart to enjoy this phun. This message bar goes blank to my eye when songs of Simran, Rambha, and Shriya are played.