Conformist - no less

I am ready to accept people as they are, no matter where they hail from; no matter where I meet with them. I believe in exclusivity of relationships. I believe in other people’s abilities and I am not iconoclastic enough to call myself a non-conformist even though specific instances in my life have given people reason enough to call me a maverick.

So since non-conformism is an oft projected quality, let me indulge on it for now. The label, people feel gives an edge. But sorry guys 99% of people who label themselves so have no idea that they are the most conforming of people.

Yes you were not there when traditions of marriage, family, brotherhood and organization were devised. And unthinking people, you say, carry on unmindful of better alternatives. The fool that you are you forget the very role ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ (as institutions) played in your being. You forget the organizational prowess and the alumni- reach the school that taught you has earned over the years. You miss and egregiously so the fraternal bonhomie of the newspaper-boys who take turns to deliver your paper on six o clocks.

Samuel A Maverick, the 19^th century cattle-rancher who refused to brand his calves, was a maverick. Yes he was. In 1880s his deeds were as unorthodox as deeds can be!

But no matter whatever you do, no yardstick would treat your actions as non-complaint.

Yes the Buddha was a maverick. Would you forgo a palace and a beautiful wife! Despite the sexism of my remark! Think! The answer is no. A big NO.

Wake up and stop using Non-Conformal, Unorthodox, Contumacious, and Recalcitrant in your about mes.

I for one am a conformist, a man of the society, responsible partly for what you and I see around. And yes I am available on orkut, blogger , yahoo et al.

VISHNU MENON M

Sayi- ku................................

Sayi-ku --- A new artform emerges.

Life is a continuum. You make mistakes, correct them, make more of them and correct them. You have unsuccesses. You have successes. You are at times pessimistic and then again incorrigibly otherwise at other times. People say there’s no hope for you. No way the dwarfs and the trolls are going to make peace says Pratchett. But then again there sunny days of bright hope. Anybody ever thought of embodying all this in an art form.

I just thought of a way. And it’s Sayi-ku. A distant cousin of Haiku. The word has close resemblance to ‘sahikku’ which in Malayalam means ‘to bear with’. Ya! Friend, bear with me. Bear with my fallacies and wrongs. Get along with my punctuations, my lapses and my derogatory use of the f word. But don’t tolerate my despair, inspire in me hope. Do not tolerate my filth, cleanse me up. Tolerate not my unconscionability. Kill my disrespect. And here it is Sayi-ku for all.

DISCLAIMER:-

The mission of Sayi-ku as an art form was inspired in me not by any one individual. But I have considerably drawn from the philosophies and methods of my mentor friends. Thanks Pattar a.k.a Jayaram K, for all the initial help. Thanks Pratchett, for the satirical pessimism, a dose more effective than optimism in modern literature. Thanks to Torque, I dream big. And thanks to K.K – my superlative in ‘don’t caring two hoots’.

RULES for Sayi-ku (in no particular order)

1.) The central feel should appear to the wanton eye as derogatory, pessimistic and pejorative. But it should in its own right have a sting in the tail that abounds with optimism and enthusiasm.

2.) The ‘poem’ (here it is!) should invariably be a five liner.

3.) Double negative for single negative can be used.

4.) Use of the words ‘ain’t’, and ‘gonna’ is welcome.

5.) Explicit and Implicit references to nature.

6.) The first line rhymes with no other line.

7.) The second and fifth lines rhyme.

8.) The third and fourth lines rhyme.

EXAMPLE (based on the Banglore Marathon) – This is the first ever Sayi-ku

I ain’t gonna take the rain as it comes,

Leave alone the rising sun,

I ain’t gonna have no snow-flakes,

For I had for break-fast corn-flakes;

No matter what! I am gonna run.

You can see that pessimism is blasted. Its sounds sort of anti-nature in the beginning (I still doubt whether it is or is not). Any way it shows my resolve to run. It follows the rhyme rules.

This is sayi- ku for all.

Join the orkut community at http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=20763566

Dhwani - Special Comeback Edition !

for two years and a longer half the village
lay plain, dead, barren and bland;
the knights lay wasted, chained on rusted metalware;
the bluejays flew far south away from the ghost town.

Outside, the forest on one side bloated with
an underbelly of vermin and weeds
The lake on the second and the sea on the
third side stood noiseless and still.

Music lay murdered - a murder most foul.
Music lay looted - a crime undeserveth of parole.
Music lay checked, muted, without the waves of
progression, insipid and lost.

Then came our way a monsoon and an August,
Somehow our village came alive.

I could hear the rustle of moving feet.
the clang of metal being freed.
the chirp of a few mockingbirds.

I could feel the weight of history
I could see the conscience of the village
And like ink spreading on paper,
like sun rays sweeping across the cornfield,
I could see them all arising in steps from the deep slumber.

The Arabian sea frolicked in exotic Tandava
The Akkulam lake meandered beyond the IT park,

And the faint beats came distinctly alive.
Don't tell me I didn't warn you that
the faint beats shall soon explode into 30,000 watts,
the floodlights shall soon daze the crowd

Don't tell me you never had the time to find your place
that you couldn't dance along,
that you couldn't jump along,
That when it came you never came along.

Dhwani - The village of music - Special Comeback edition.
Sept 28, 29, 30 Oct 1 2006 CET.

Come along or die regretting..................

The Metamorphosis.Dont be fascinated by the title, it is just another article.

My first love is human expression. I love writing, reading and oration.

My earliest choice of a career, like say when i was 5 yrs old and was more or less not knowledeagble about the standards of education available in a third world country like India was to become an astronomer. I was fascinated by the night sky like any other kid, between I presume kids are thus.
But soon that gave way and i wanted to be an author, more because i liked the 'about the author' prefaces that most childrens' classics had, than because of true love for the language. But nobody expects a seven-year-old to know that language is a pliable medium, sculpable, shapable, easy to manipulate, embellish and package.

Cutting the crap! More about me later, now to mine.

THE HINDU DTD Saturday, 19 Aug, 2006... TVM EDITION OF METRO PLUS.

The metamorphosis

College of Engineering Trivandrum was abuzz with activity for ZONASA

DANCING AWAY TCE, Madurai, was placed first in the cultural events

The beat of drums, resonating cheers, hand-painted T-shirts and student-designed flags gave the ambience a carnival feel.

Annual event

College of Engineering, Trivandrum, was abuzz with activity and excitement last weekend as South India's architecture students gathered for a three-day zonal convention on the college premises. ZONASA or (south) Zonal convention of the National Association of Students of Architecture is an annual event hosted in rotation by 17 member colleges. This year ZONASA was christened `Metamorphosis,' in which 673 delegates and a few teachers attended.

Metamorphosis `06 had renowned architects like Sasikala Bhusan, a national award winner, David Tollas, Chitra Viswanath, Rajiv Anchal and Suresh K. Nair participating in the seminars and discussions. The festival was supported by major industrial players like GEFAB.

Seminars on various disciplines in architecture and hands-on workshops provided the delegates first hand experience.

A visit to the residence of Laurie Baker and an expo on ArcoSanti - the fusion of architecture with ecology - was organised.

A workshop on 3D modelling by Toonz animations was a crowd-puller. So was the one on murals.

Pradeep George of T.K.M College of Engineering says, "The workshops and seminars gave us the much needed exposure and interaction with the industry."

The formal competitions included quiz, structural system design, collage, graffiti, clay modelling, poster design, jewellery design and T-shirt design.

These events brought out the creativity in the visitors and the level of competition was palpable.

School of Architecture and Painting, Chennai, emerged champions in the formal section.

The informal events included face-painting, Jam, newspaper dance, coconut bowling, tug of war, eating competition, and Ad-zap. TCE, Madurai, was placed first in the cultural events while Hindustan College of Engineering, Chennai, bagged the prize for the best flag. SRM College, Kanchi, was adjudged the best cheering team.

Arun Joseph, one of the organisers, said, "Through the meet we managed to provide the delegates with a receptive clientele. "

VISHNU MENON M

----------------

I have done many a cheap publicity stunt before. Even in earlier times when my opinions used to flood the letters' col of the Hindu and the Outlook, (omit the exaggeration), I used to devise ploys for publicity including clandestine treatys with a friend whom we all call Amby. Like take this example. Amby would rush into my class during lunch time and make a fuss about my view on adulterated milk flooding the domestic market and make pointed remarks of criticism about my latest post on the PeopleSqueak (oops PeopleSpeak) column of the Hindu often jabbing his finger many times in thin air and adding as much drama as is possible to his grandeloquent gestures.

The class would be impressed and my piece would'nt go unnoticed. Behind their back Amby and I would share my cake (the cake if you dont mind is hypothetical).

But over the months I have done a lot of bigger and better articles and my focus has shifted from writing opinions to covering lifestyle and events for the metro supplement. Instead of just making my pocket fill or my ego swell the experience has frankly given me a slice of human life, that i have carefully dissected and examined. This dish I got is just a starter. I have the main course, the side dish and dessert uphead and not to mention the beverage i will take along given my predisposition towards food.

So when Arun Joseph called me in on Zonasa, I knew it was another window of opportunity for me to meet, observe and write about a sizable section of engineers, whom we were made familiar to by one Mr.Howard Roark ( of the Fountainhead fame if you need my reminder).

It is my sense of responsibility that I as a writer has to publicize the event and the coverage it got, that led me to Xerox the page from the Hindu's loose sheet and paste it on 'pivotal' corners of the college. I confess it was not another stunt for publicity.

And I had added an 'author's note':-

"This account is limited to the journalistic standards of a 400 words column that I as a cub reporter had no choice but to follow. Zonasa was much more and every face I had met therein was diligently individual".

VISh

I hold the line, now

A light has just gone out of my life;
And that too my guiding light.
I am still reeling from the shock,
And I am groping in the expansive darkness,
Searching for a prop, a support pole, an anchor;
A new meaning for life altogether.

I still feel like a kid, waiting for my father's loving hug,
I still feel its early to know about life, but sadly it is not.

An instance too many is long lost and past
And I have lost my loving papa this fast.

It is time to know what he wanted of me and not.
It is time to forget the botched up past.
It is time to start from where he stopped.

I will have to plant for him his trees,
I will have to chant his hymns
And worship his God.

I feel re-energized as it continually dawns on me that I am holding the end of the line; and will have to till the date arrives to pass it on.

Like my forbears I will have to take care and hold it high along rough terrain and low amidst sandstorms and one day find the hand to pass it on to.

TVM
17/8/06 VISh