Tea-20 by Vinod Kumar S [Book review]

Getting into an unknown city and getting impressed by its beauty is a pleasant experience. But, walking into a city, after doing a lot of research about it and seeing a lot of pictures of the city and yet getting lost at its pretty sight is even more enjoyable. Reading Tea-20 was such an experience. Having read some of Vinod’s short stories I already knew what to expect from Tea-20. But, what impressed me the most was the way in which those little roses were packaged as a bouquet and presented in front of me.

Almost half the stories in the book talk about good practices and ideal philosophies. Some of these stories can be directly put into the moral instruction school books and some of these stories are so good that they can form a part of the Chicken soup series. One story talks about a young girl’s action which melts a frosted heart and another story talks about another young girl, who teaches the people around her the real value of the money. There are a couple of stories which gives advices to the urban youth. The conversation between a beggar and the protagonist on the New Year’s Eve is an eye opener.

But, my favorite story is the one in which the protagonist learns the most important lesson about life from his dog. I have read it 5 times till now and would not mind reading it again and again.

Right from the first story, I was expecting to read about Sachin and voila there was a full story about the Master. Knowing the author personally, I feel that if the book didn’t have a story on Sachin it would have been an aberration. JJ

There are a couple of stories which are entirely deceptive. I found them to be childish. The story about beauty and the beast did not have any impact on me. There was a thriller towards the end of the book which was a good read, but was certainly a misfit in this wonderful light hearted collection.

I enjoyed the stories related to the IT industry. They provided an insider view and I was able feel the author’s emotions. The fight between an auto driver and the IT employee was cinematic but nevertheless amusing. I loved the funny story “Nowhere to run”. But, the pick among the lot was the story in which the guy goes to see his bride. It was a complete laughter riot and I enjoyed every bit of it.

The biggest selling point of the book is the simplicity of the language used. You need not run to the dictionary once in a while to understand certain words. It is just a collection of pragmatic examples from the author’s daily life. After completing the book, I was able to understand the author’s writing style. He thinks of a message and weaves a story around it and takes it to his audience. We love stories and so we enjoy the story and accept the message along with it. It is more like giving a small dose of medicine along with sugar. The Author has achieved this with silken grace. Hats off!!!

Is this book so very good that there are no negatives about it? Absolutely not, the simple text used in the book makes people take the author too lightly. The message may not reach a bigger set of audience because of the quality of the prose. The grammatical mistakes which pop up here and there did divert my attention from the book. I would blame the publisher/editor for not reviewing the text clearly.

But, having said this, the message shared in the book is very noble and should reach more people. The feel good stories are ever green and make you feel better when you feel down and out. It is aptly named Tea-20 and is certainly the perfect companion for your tea time, if you don’t have a wife or a girlfriend. If you do have a GF, gift it to her too…

Thanks for this wonderful collection Vinod.

http://www.flipkart.com/tea-20-9381576991/p/itmd68phhuvnpjk7?pid=9789381576991&ref=4f786edc-a5a8-4b49-8158-aff23ed08396

Kyra’s vacation

Here comes another contest blog.

This fictious entry is written for the Lakme sun expert contest held by Indiblogger.

www.facebook.com/ilovelakme

I am very happy today. I need not work for the next 2 weeks. I have not received such a long vacation since I joined St. Stephens. This time, I am planning to spend my vacation with Kyra. I need to get permission from her mom before I plan for something. She is a mommy’s girl and would not like to go against her wish.

When I was in Anna University, I used to spend a lot of time with Kyra. But , as I had to move to Delhi, I do not get to spend much time with her. I call her and see her on the webcam pretty often but I have never taken her out. In fact, I never had the time to take her out. I have all the time in the world now and I want to make Kyra happy. I still remember her sad face, when I told her that I have to move to Delhi. She cried and shouted, “I hate you”, but then my career was my first love.

Kyra loves the beaches. She loves to play beach volleyball and also loves to swim. She also loves to hang out with her friends. So, I need to plan something which will make her and her friends happy. Something to do with the outdoors. She isn’t the kind of girl who loves shopping and board games. But, she is always worried about getting sun burns. The same is the case with her friends. These beauty conscious girls are scared to go out in the sun because of this. But, then I need not worry about it now. I know about Lakme sun expert. It would save her from those sun burns. It comes with SPF 50 which will safe guard her against the scorching Chennai heat. The cucumber and lemon grass sunscreen which comes with SPF 24 can help her with the limited time that we roam around. I have heard some of the girls in St. Stephens talking about the texture and fragrance of this sunscreen and I bet that it must be good. The girls who spoke good things about the sunscreen aren’t the girls who accept things blindly. They are geeks and hence it must be absolutely true. I will get this for Kyra and she would be happy. The Lakme sun expert comes in an yellow bottle and yellow is Kyra’s favorite color. Now I know the perfect gift for Kyra for this summer.

I need to plan for the outdoor activities now. I can take her to the Elliots beach and she can play in the water with her friends. I would also drive her in my Santro to Mahaballipuram and see those wonderful sculptures. In the blazing Chennai heat, the sun screen can be her only savior. I would get loads of cool drinks which will prevent her from getting dehydrated. I would also take her to Pondichery, the city with wonderful French architecture. I need to make sure that she brings her friends along with her. She can play beach volleyball with them. She can have a lot of fun with her friends and stay in the sun for a longer period now. I also need to book a resort with a pool. She can stay in the pool all day long. If I can, I will make sure that Kyra who is crazy about beaches stays in the beach the whole day. But oops, I have a problem. I need to convince Kyra’s mother and let her accept my plans. She is a very strict teacher and may not encourage her daughter staying the sun the whole day. I hope that I can make her understand the power of sun experts in this modern world. I have to do this and make her accept that playing in the beach the whole day isn’t such a bad thing.

I hope I can do this, after all the husband is the best person to convince his wife and I will try to get this done for my teenage daughter Kyra.

This fictious entry is written for the Lakme sun expert contest held by Indiblogger.

www.facebook.com/ilovelakme

PS : I image in the blog was clicked by me.

Internet is fun

This is an entry for the contest, "internet is fun"

 www.vodafone.in/fun

12^th May, 2012..

9.00 a.m, Delhi, India

“Dude, wassup man? When are you flying?”

“Having a H1B visa is one thing and flying to the US in another thing, Ritesh”, John replied unenthusiastically.

“I know that it is a long wait, but your parents will be happy. They get more time to look out for a bride”

“Huh..That is another tragedy. They find girls who dumb, dull and not socially active man”

“Socially active? What does that mean?” Ritesh was curious.

“Girls without facebook profiles and the ones without twitter handles”

“Come on, Dude..You must be joking. I don’t know anyone without a facebook id for a long time”

“What is the point in having a login in facebook when you don’t login often? I am a social networking freak and I need a girl who would match my taste..I don’t want some outdated girl, even if she is a super model..”

“Haha, that’s interesting… Hope you find the girl of your dreams”

“I seriously wish that I find someone soon. My manager told that I will be back to India only after 3 years and mom and dad want to find a girl for me ASAP”

“Tough days ahead, dude” , Ritesh smirked.

“Where is aunty and uncle? I can’t see them in the house? “ Ritesh continued.

“They left to Bangalore yesterday. Dad’s friend’s daughter is getting married.Chalo, we’ll go for a drive”, John walked out of the house with his car keys.

9.30 a.m, Bangalore, India

“Jessy, please put down that damn mobile phone”, Mrs. Kuriakose yelled at the top of her voice.

“Oh, come on ma..I am 25 and I know what to do”, Jessy was equally agitated.

“I don’t understand what you find so very interesting in that damn mobile phone?”

“Oh, come on ma, I can even live without your food but I can’t live without my mobile. It has anything and everything that a girl needs”

“I know that you girls are addicted to SMS, Facebook and twitter, but can you pause your online activities for the next 2 hours”

“Ahh.. That delhi guy’s parents are coming and you want me to act dumb before them Huh!!.. I can’t understand how you people call someone whom you met just yesterday for lunch. And even worse, you are trying to get me married into that family”

“They are no strangers Jessy, they are our family friends. We were neighbours in Kollam. Don’t you remember that cute guy John? You always used to play with him”

“Mom, I was 4 then.. I don’t remember John nor his parents. By the way, what is that uncle’s name?”

“He is Richards, he worked for a Bank in our place. Get ready, they told that they will be here by 11.00 or so”  Mrs. Kuriakose hurried her daughter.

Jessy smiled when she heard Richard uncle’s name. She recollected the games which she had played with John.

“It is such a pain to take bath on a Saturday morning”, Jesse murmured and walked away.

10.30 a.m

“Hello Dad, How is it going? How was the wedding?”

“We are fine John, you are asking as if we haven’t met for months together”  Mr. Richards was at his satirical best.

“We just left delhi yesterday and will be back on Sunday night”, he continued.

“Come on , Dad, stop pulling my legs”

“We have a surprise for you son” Mrs. Richards yelled at the phone.

“Surprise, don’t make a fool of yourself, Mom… By the way, what is it? Where are you people now?”

“We are going to look for a girl for our smart son” , Mr. Richards laughed aloud.

“Oh!! dad, I have seen enough girls and am quite bored”

“You will like this one dear”, Mrs. Richards.

“Mom..I called for an important update. I have to travel on the 3^rd of June”

“Oh my God, so we have just 20 days to find a girl for you” Richards laughed again.

“Come on Dad.. Who is the girl, You don’t know anyone from Bangalore, right?”

“This is a girl know to us son. Do you remember Jessy from Kollam??” Mrs.Richards was all excited.

“Jessy..Jessy..” John smiled shyly.

Jessy was his first love. He was 7 and she was 4 when his dad got a transfer to Chennai. He is hearing about Jessy after 21 years and he just couldn’t control his excitement.

“Which Jessy are you talking about mom”

“Son, I am your father and I still remember how you used to tell stories about your friendship with Jessy after we reached Chennai. I still remember you crying for 4-5 days. Do you thing you can fool me”, Richards replied.

“Oh Dad, you mean to say that Kuriakose uncle’s daughter?”

“Finally the cat is out of the bag.. She is the one my boy. She has completed her BDS and is a dentist in JayaNagar ”, Richards laughed.

“Hmmm.. She was very pretty when she was young but now my priorities and interests have changed Dad. I am not sure if I will like her now”

“Oh..you and your interests.. I am done with those things”

“We will reach their house in 30-40 minutes and when we come we will get her photograph. You can check it and tell your decision,son” Mrs. Richards was concerned.

“Ok Dad.. Take care and don’t have much hopes. Have a nice day” John disconnected the call.

John touched the facebook symbol on his smart phone and searched for “Jessy Kuriakose”.

30 search results and he patiently looked at each one of them and rejected those based on the likes interests and maps. His eyes stood still when he saw that one of those profiles was in Bangalore.

He checked the likes and found “Indian dental association”. He gave a victorious smile to Ritesh who was driving the car.

He sent a message in facebook, “Hey, is this the same Jessy from Kollam who sings in the choir? The girl who used to ask me to catch the butterflies behind our house? Do you remember me?”

“Oh, dude..You got her in facebook , is it” Ritesh teased him.

John was blushing but was skeptical about the response and had his fingers crossed.

“Come on Dude, don’t blush” Ritesh continued with his teasing.

“Is this the same guy who was not even able to catch a single butterfly for me? The guy who told that the moon is a dosa made by his mother :P” , John jumped out of his seat in joy when he saw the reply in facebook.

YEAH..he yelled in joy…

“Jessy Richards wants to be friend with you”

John was literally out of the world when he saw these words in his mobile.

He accepted the friend request and checked her friends list. He was very happy when he found that she had 655 friends. Just 245 less than him.

He saw her online and started to chat with her.

“Hey, I could not believe my eyes.”

A smiley came as a reply.

“Here I am driving with a friend in the dry lands outside delhi, but I am chatting with a childhood friend”

“Smiley. Power of internet”

“Do you have a twitter handle?”

“jesssysparkles”

“Awesome.”

The chat went on and on and on…..

In the meantime, the Richards family had come to Kuriakose’s house and there were a lot of happy moments.

“We will get Jessy’s picture and mobile number, and then ask John to decide”, Mrs. Richards said while leaving.

Jessy was secretly grinning as her fingers replied to John’s chat message.

04.00 pm

“Jessy do you blog?”, John was curious.

“Yes, I do blog a lot. Mostly about the things that happen around me”

“Oh my God.. We are almost similar. I do the same, but with video blogs..”

“Great.. I will SMS you the video blogs that I have made”

The next 2 hours was spent in talking about the blogosphere and how John records a lot of stuff in his mobile and creates video blogs. Jessy was thoroughly impressed but Ritesh wasn’t. Ritesh had to do all the driving while John was busy with his future fiancé….

“Jessy, I have seen you pictures, but haven’t spoken to you. Let me call you now”

“Hmm..yeah sure” replied Jessy.

“But do you have a phone with front camera?”

“Of course, I do” replied Jessy enthusiastically”

The vide call lasted for the next 4 hours.

10.00 pm

“John, had a great day with you… A virtual date”  said Jessy.

“It isn’t over yet, Jessy” replied John and moved the phone from his face.

He had come to a cozy restaurant and decorated the table with roses and just candle light . There was a bottle of wine and a diamond ring nearby.

He kneeled before the camera and asked, “Will you marry me??”

Jessy smiled and replied, “The best proposal ever”

John smiled and continued the talks…

“Fine honey, when my parents come tomorrow, let me tell them to fix the wedding date” John smiled…

“I would update my parents now itself, Jessy smiled and disconnected the call.

A love story which would have taken months, was possible in a days. Thanks to video calls, facebook, twitter and vide blogs. In other words, Thanks to the Internet.

Internet is fun, indeed..

This is an entry for the contest, "internet is fun"

 www.vodafone.in/fun

The Day I quit International Cricket…

The title may be deceptive and one may think that this is written by an ageing Indian Cricketer, but that isn’t the case. The post is written by just another ardent cricket fan who belongs to the most cricket frenzy nation in the world.

I was never a believer of the adage that cricket is a religion in India. You don’t talk about your religion to anyone and everyone just like that. Do you? You pause a bit, think twice and then talk about any religion so that the sentiments are not hurt. But the case is exactly the reverse when it comes to cricket. You comment about the players and their techniques and even families to complete strangers. Cricket in India is much more that a religion and for many it has been important than their career. [Ask the people who have failed/got bad grades in their board / university exams because of the Cricket World Cups]. Cricket is the best conversation starter in the nation and makes one feel comfortable with the other person within minutes. But, for a sport to become an integral part of the billion people in Nation there must be something spectacular about the sport. Is there something really special about this sport that makes us eat, sleep and pray Cricket?

On deeper introspection, I find that more than anything else Cricket is associated with our psychology. I may not be able to speak for the people who used to watch cricket even before India’s premier world cup victory or the test match era but I can certainly vouch for the guys born in the 80s. I still remember the BOOST Ad which made me a mad fan of Sachin Tendulkar. As a 6 or 7 year old, you get inspired when a 16 year old smashes the world deadliest bowlers. You get attracted towards a person when you hear stories about him batting with a shirt full of blood. You get goose bumps when a diminutive baby-faced teenager looks into the eyes of Merv Hughes and Craig Mcdermott. We started to create an alter ego of ourselves of what we saw from the little champion. It was a story of courage, a story of hope that gave us a cushion to think that we are not what we are.

Cricket instilled a lot of patriotism in us and gave us a big mountain, to hide our problems. We had something to look forward even in our turbulent times. We suddenly had something with which we are not directly associated but felt as a part of. The 1996 World cup quarter finals victory against Pakistan gave us more joy and pride than Pokhran II. We were a nation obsessed by Cricket by then. Thanks to the jam-packed schedule and the introduction of a bunch of talented new players in the side.

From a single super star who was driving the nation behind him with his bat, we suddenly had Fab-3. Even the regionalists were forced to follow the game and come along as the Fab 3 were from the different zones of the country. We were suddenly watching India 2.0. We were with the Indian cricket team throughout the year. We celebrated when they won, we cried when they lost and we stood with them during the darkest times like the match fixing.

The reason for such unbridled love and affection towards the team is not a one off affair. It is the result of the joy and happiness which the team has provided us over the years. They have helped us to forget our personal problems and have made us cheer for them wherever they go. People who live far away from home for ages also have a sense of belonging when the Indian team plays cricket. Such love and affection is way ahead of the restricted love which we exhibit amongst friends or relatives. It is an unexplainable and uncontrollable kind of feeling which can never be penned. But, they say, Success has a lot of fathers and failure is an orphan.

In love, you never see the imperfections. It is because you are blind when you are in love. When you come out of it and look back, you start to analyze the black spots with a magnifying glass. You try to extrapolate based on your assumptions and try to demean them. The more you think, the more you hate the other person. You think that you have been deceived for all these years and you start to question the wonderful years that you’ve had together. The parting made by such a loss is much more difficult than a real break-up. So, I have taken a bold yet cowardice decision to call it quits.

When we have our own problems, it doesn’t make sense to carry the other party’s problem along with us. We had a wonderful relationship, where we enjoyed every moment together. But, now the load is too much for me share it. This isn’t like the 2007 WC loss, where a single bad day turned the tables around us. These are matches where we have our best resources. But, the weakness of the best has been brutally exposed. The great mental image created in the past decade and a half now looks like a mirage. A little more thought may bring out something else or may even prove that I am completely wrong, but dissecting into the problem brings out a lot of pain than answers.

The reason for mentioning International Cricket in the subject does make a lot of sense. When Tamil Nadu lost the Ranji trophy finals even before batting, I was disappointed but not sad. When Chennai Super Kings were shunted out of the Champions League, I did feel sad for my city but I never cried. But, when the Indian cricket team loses in such a fashion, it takes days to come out of the trauma. It makes all the things in the vicinity ugly, it makes me harsh, it makes me absolutely worthless. Hence, this break-up which may atleast help me gain more time on the personal front.

I took this decision on the first day of the Perth test, when I saw the cookie crumble yet again. I may not see the 100th ton for which I have been wishing and praying for a long period, but again I know that it will come sooner than later. By that time, I will be happy to watch somewhere in the news channels and secretly cherish and feel happy for the Master once again.

PS : The image was taken from google when I searched for images which can be reused. No copyright violations here :-)