గణపతిం భజే !! - My first written short story...

Telugu version (there is an english version at the end) :

అది ఒక కోటి ఇరవై తొమ్మిది లక్షల డెబ్బయ్ ఎనిమిది వేల నూటాఎనభై తొమ్మిదో వినాయక చవితి. ఆ సంఖ్య అప్పటికి గుర్తించబడ్డ అతి పెద్ద ప్రధాన సంఖ్య (లార్జెస్ట్ నోన్ ప్రైం నంబర్). చదువుల్లో ఘణాపాటి ఐన గణపతి కి అది ఎంతో స్పెషల్ గా తోచింది. ఫ్రెండ్స్ అందరిని పిలిచి ఈ స్పెషల్ బర్త్ డే ని చాలా స్పెషల్ గా సెలబ్రేట్ చేసుకోవాలనుకున్నాడు. కానీ ఆ ఫ్రెండ్స్ కి ఇదే రోజు ఇంద్రలోకం లో జరుగుతున్న తిలోత్తమ – 70921 డెబ్యూ డాన్స్ షో మరింత స్పెషల్ గా అనిపించడం తో ఎస్ ఎం ఎస్ లు, ఈ మెయిల్స్ తో వినాయకుణ్ణి సరి పెట్టి డాన్స్ షో కి చిత్తగించారు. ఈ విషయం తనని చాలా అసహనం, అశాంతి, ఆవేషం లాంటి రక రకాల ఎమోషన్స్ కి గురి చెసింది.

రెండవ తరం కింగ్ జార్జ్ ని కింగ్ జార్జ్ II అంటే ఇది ఇప్పటి తిలోత్తమ పేరు.

తనని పట్టించుకోని ఈ లోకం నుండి తనకు దేవుడి హోదాలో రెస్పెక్ట్ లబించే భూలోకం వెళ్తే ఎలావుంటుంది ? అదీ కాక ఎప్పటి నుండో భక్తుల కోరికలని ప్రత్యక్షంగా విని తీర్చాలని ఒక సరదా వుండేది. ఇంకేం, రెండు విధాలా మంచి అలోచన లా తోచడం తో మారు మాట ఆలోచించకుండా భూలోకం లోని విశాఖపట్నం సివార్లలో వున్న తన గుడి ఒక దానికి బయల్దేరాడు. ఈ విషయం ఎవ్వరికి చెప్పలేదు. చివరికి తన వాహనం ఎలుక కి కూడా. ఏలుకకి చెబితే రైడ్ ఇస్తా అంటుంది, అలా వెళ్తే విశాఖపట్నం చేరుకునే సరికి నెక్స్ట్ బర్త్ డే వస్తుంది!!

ఉదయం ఎనిమిది, ఎనిమిదిన్నర ఆవుతుంది. బయట డి విటమిన్ ఎండ కొడుతోంది. పండగ కారణంగా గుడి చాలా శుభ్రంగా వుంది. బయట చల్లటి గాలి వీస్తుందిగానీ అది గుడి లోపలికి వచ్చి, తన మంటపానికి చేరుకునే సరికి వుక్కపోత గా మారింది. ఇంత ఖర్చు పెట్టి కట్టారు గుడి, లోపల ఒక్క ఫ్యాన్ పెట్టించొచ్చు గా అని మనసులో అనుకున్నాడు గణపతి. బయట పక్షుల కీచు కీచు షబ్దానికి లోపల పిల్లల కేరింతలు జోడీ అవడంతో వచ్చిన షబ్దం ఎంతో అహ్లాదంగా వుంది. బాలక్రిష్ణ దో చిరంజీవి దో సరిగ్గా తెలియదు గాని ఎక్కడో దూరంగా ఏదో ఇంగ్లిష్ పాటని కాపీ కొట్టి చేసిన ఒక తెలుగు మాస్ సినిమా పాట ఒకటి వినిపిస్తుంది. ఇన్ని షబ్ధాల మధ్యా గుక్క తిప్పుకోకుండా పూజారి చదువుతున్న మంత్రాలు ఎంతో ముచ్చటగా వున్నాయి. తను పలుకుతున్న పదాల్లో దాదాపు సగం పదాలు ఒరిజనల్ సంస్ఖ్రుతం పదాల కి కిలొ మీటరు దూరం లో వుండడం వల్ల వాటి భావం అర్థం అవట్లేదు గాని మంత్ర ఉఛ్ఛారణ లో రిథం మాత్రం విన సొంపుగా వుంది. మాటి మాటికి మీద పడుతున్న అక్షింతలు, తులసి తీర్థం కాస్త విసుగు పుట్టిస్తున్నా భక్తులు పెద్ద సంఖ్యలో రావడం, మొక్కుకోవడం,కానుకలు ఇవ్వడం, వెళ్ళడం వగైరా తతంగం ఎంతో ఆనందంగా, ఈగో సటిస్పైంగ్ గా తోచింది.

ఇక వచ్చిన పని మొదలెడుదాం అనుకుంటుండగానే ఒక యువ భక్తుడు గంట కొట్టి మరీ తన కోరికని చెప్ప సాగాడు.

'స్వామీ, గత తొమ్మిది రోజులుగా క్రమం తప్పకుండా ఇదే టైం కి గుడికి వస్తున్నా...
మొన్నీమధ్యే పూర్తైన ఫైనల్ ఇయర్ పరీక్షల్లో అన్ని సబ్జెక్ట్లూ బాగా రాశా గానీ ఒక్క కెమిస్ట్రీ మాత్రం పోయేలా వుంది....

నువ్వు ఆ ఒక్క సబ్జెక్ట్ పాస్ అయ్యేలా చేస్తే చాలు, ఈ జీవితంలో ఇంకేమీ అడగను....

నా తప్పు కూడా ఏం లేదు స్వామీ...
వరసగా నైటౌట్లు చెయ్యడం వల్ల పరీక్ష ముందు రోజు 103 జ్వరం వచ్చింది. ఆందుకే బాగా రాయలేక పోయా.....!!'

ఇదీ ఆ యువ భక్తుడి కోరిక అతడి మాటల్లోనే.

విన్న వెంటనే గణపతి తన లాప్ టాప్ బూట్ చేసి డేటాబేస్ అర్కైవ్ నుండి ఆ భక్తుడి రికార్డు తిరగేసాడు. అతను చెప్పినట్టే ఇదే కోరిక కోరుతూ 9 రోజులుగా క్రమం తప్పకుండా గుడికి వస్తున్నాడు. పరీక్ష కూడా అనుకున్నట్టుగానే 3 మార్కుల తో పోయేలా వుంది. జ్వరం 103 కాదు, జస్ట్ మైల్దు ఫీవరు. ఈ ఒక్క విషయం తప్పించి మిగతా అంతా చెప్పింది చెప్పినట్టు గానే వుంది. నిజయితీ గా వున్నాడు, తొమ్మిది రోజులు గా తిరుగుతున్నాడు, పైగా కలపాల్సింది ఒక్క మూడు మార్కులే. కాబట్టి ఈ కొరికని సుబ్బరంగా తీర్చొచ్చు అనుకొని దానికి సంభందించిన సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ ని లాంచ్ చేసాడు. లేటెస్టు అప్ గ్రేడ్ చేసినప్పడి నుండి విండోస్ విస్టా లాగా బాగా స్లో అయ్యింది అప్ప్లికేషన్.

కావాల్సిన డేటా ఎంటెర్ చేసి సబ్మిట్ బటన్ నొక్క బోతుండగా 'స్వామీ, స్వామీ....' అంటూ ఆత్రుత గా మళ్ళీ ఏదో చెప్ప సాగాడు భక్తుడు.

'స్వామీ, పరీక్షలు ఇప్పుడు కాక పోతే మళ్ళీ రాసుకోవచ్చు,
కానీ ఫ్రేమ అలా కాదు.ఒక్క సారి పోతే మళ్ళీ రాదు.

ఆదిగో,
ఆ మెరుపు డ్రెస్సు లో మెరుపు తీగలా వున్న ఆ అమ్మాయి పై తొలి ప్రేమలో పడ్డా.

దేవుడివి, నీకు అబద్దం చెబుతానా ?

ఏది ఏమైనా, నువ్వు నా ప్రేమని సక్సెస్స్ చెయ్యాలి. జీవితంలో ఇంకేమీ అడగను,
ప్లీ.....జ్'.

ఇదీ.... మళ్ళీ అతని మాటల్లోనే అతను పెట్టిన చేంజ్ రిక్వెస్టు.

అదేదో సినిమాలో చెప్పినట్టు మైండు బ్లాక్ అయ్యి దిమ్మ తిరిగింది గణపతికి. "జీవితం లో ఇంకేమీ అడగను" అని రెండు నిమిషాలైనా అవకముందే మళ్ళీ అదే మాటను వాడి మరో కోరికని విన్నవించుకోవడం ఈ మైండ్ బ్లాకింగ్ కి సగం కారణం ఐతే 9 రోజులుగా క్రమం తప్పకుండా ఒక దీక్ష లా ఏ కోరిక కోసమైతే ఇంత కష్ట పడ్డాడో, రెండు నిమిషాల్లో అదే కోరికని మార్చడం మరో సగం కారణం.

నా మైండ్ బ్లాక్ సంగతి అలా వుంచి వీడి మైండ్ బ్లాక్ చేసిన ఆ అమ్మాయ్ ఎవరా అని గణపతి అటు వైపు తిరిగి ఆ అమ్మాయిని చూసాక ఎందుకో అతడు మాట మర్చడం పెద్ద అశ్చర్యంగా అనిపించలేదు. చాలా చక్కగా, అందంగా వున్న ఆ అమ్మాయ్ ని చూడగానే తిలోత్తమ 70921 డాన్స్ షో జరిగే చోటుకి పక్కనే వున్న ఏదైనా ఆడిటోరియం లో వెంటనే ఈ అమ్మాయ్ తో డాన్స్ షో ఏర్పాటు చేస్తే బావుండు అనిపించింది. కానీ తను దేవుడు కాబట్టీ, అలా అలోచించకూడదు కాబట్టీ, తను వచ్చిన పని వేరు కాబట్టీ భక్తుడి కోరిక పని గురించి ఆలోచించడం మొదలు పెట్టాడు.

తొమ్మిది రోజులు కష్ట పడ్డది దేనికో ఆ విషయం కూడా పక్కన పెట్టి ఈ కోరిక కోరుకున్నాడు అంటే అందులో కాస్త ఇంటెన్సిటి కనిపించింది. అందునా ఇదే ఈ రోజు బొణీ కూడా. సరే, ఈ కోరికనే తీరుద్దాం అని సాఫ్ట్ వేర్ లో అందుకు తగ్గట్టుగా రిక్వెస్టు సబ్మిట్ చేసాడు. 'రిక్వెస్ట్ కెన్ నాట్ బీ ప్రొసేస్సెడ్ డ్యు టు ఎ డేడ్ లాక్ !!' అని ఎర్రర్ మెసెజ్ వచ్చింది. డీటైల్స్ చూస్తే ఆ అమ్మాయ్ కి అల్రేడీ పెళ్ళయ్యిందని, కట్నం వగైరా గొడవల వల్ల మొన్నీ మధ్యే డైవర్స్ కూడా తీసుకుందని, ఇప్పుడు తల్లిదంద్రుల తోనే ఉంటూ వారి భాద్యతని తనే తీసుకొని మరో 5 సంవత్సరాల వరకూ కెరిర్ తప్ప ఇంకే విషయం మీద మనసు మళ్ళించొద్దని నిర్ణయించుకుందని, చూడడానికి చిన్న పిల్లలా ఉన్నా ఆ యంగ్ భక్తుడికన్నా వయసులో 5 ఏళ్ళు పెద్దదని రాసి వుంది. దేవుడికే ఓరి దేవుడా అనిపించిన ఆ మొత్తం సంగతిని జీర్ణించుకోలేక పోయిన గణపతి వాతాపి జీర్ణం అంటూ ఇక లంచ్ బ్రేక్ కి చిత్తగించాడు.

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ఒక బక్క చిక్కిన రైతు భక్తుడు... అలా దూరంగా తన వైపే వస్తూ కనిపించాడు. ఫ్రపంచంలో వున్న దుఃఖం మొత్తానికి బ్రాండ్ అంబాసిడర్ లా వున్నాడు. నేలే నా తల్లి, వ్యవసాయమే నాకు తెలిసిన విధ్య అనుకునే లక్షలాది అమాయక రైతులకి ప్రతిరూపం తను. వస్తుందో రాదో తెలియని రాబడి మీద అవసరంతో, పడతాయొ లేదో తెలియని వర్షాల మీద నమ్మకం తో దగా పడ్డ మరో రైతు ఆ భక్తుడు. "నాలుగేళ్ళ క్రితం కాలం బాగా ఐనప్పుదు క్వింటాల్ బియ్యం గుడి కి దానం చేసిన ఈ రైతుకి ఇప్పుడు వేసుకోవడానికి చక్కటి బట్ట కాదు కదా, తినడానికి తిండి కూడా లేదు. ఐతే అతివృష్ఠి, కాకుంటే అనావృష్ఠి అవడం వల్ల నాలుగేళ్ళలో నాలుగు లక్షలు అప్పు మిగిలింది ..." ఇంక చదవలేక అప్ప్లికేషన్ విండో క్లోజ్ చేసి ఎదురుగా నిల్చున్న రైతు భక్తున్ని చూడ సాగాడు గణపతి.

కోరిక ప్రత్యేకంగా చెప్పాల్సిన అవసరం లేదు. వానలు సమయానికి కురవాలనో, చేను కి పట్టిన తెగులు పోవాలనో తప్ప ఇంక వేరే కోరిక ఏం వుంటుంది ??

'పంపు సెట్టు కాలి పోయింది....
చేనుకు ఎర్ర తెగులు పట్టుకుంది.

మొత్తం 4 వేలు ఐతే ఈ సారికి పని జరుగుద్ది.
అప్పు పుట్టేలా చూడు సామీ...'

ఇదీ కోరిక.

బక్క రైతు కి అప్పు పుట్టించడం దేవుడి తరం కూడా కాదు. ఆ విషయం ఎంతో ప్రస్పుటంగా తెలిసిన గణపతి మరేదైనా మార్గం వుందా అని ఆలోచించసాగాడు. ఒక బంగారం లాంటి ఆలోచన తట్టింది. లాంటి కాదు, బంగారు ఆలోచనే. నా విగ్రహనికి వున్న ఏదో ఒక బంగారు అభరణాన్ని అతడికిచ్చేస్తే ? ఐడియా బాగానే వుంది. లెఫ్ట్ హ్యండు రింగు ఫింగురు కి ఇప్పటికే మూడు ఉంగరాలు ఉన్నాయ్. ఆది చాలదన్నట్టు ఊరి ప్రెసిడెంట్ అల్లుడు, లోకల్ అగ్రికల్చర్ ఆఫీసరూ ఐన రంజిత్ కుమార్ ఇందాకే మరో ఉంగరన్ని ఫొటో కి ఫోజ్ ఇస్తూ మరీ తొడిగాడు.

ఫైగా ఈ రంజిత్ కుమార్ సంపాదించే ఇల్లీగల్ ఆస్థుల్లో ఈ రైతులదే సింహ భాగం. ఈ ఉంగరన్నే రైతు భక్తుడికి ఇస్తే? ఆలోచన బాగానే అనిపించింది. ఇంకా ఆలస్యం చెయ్యకుండా ఆ పనిలో పడ్డాడు గణపతి.

తన జేబు లోకి బంగారు ఉంగరం వచ్చిన విషయం ఇంకా ఆ రైతుకి తెలిసినట్టు లేదు. కానీ ఇక్కడికి వచ్చి కోరిక చెప్పుకోవడం వల్ల ఎదో ఆశ మాత్రం కలిగినట్టు ప్రస్ఫుటంగా కనిపిస్తుంది అతని కళ్ళలో. హుండీలో వేద్దాం అని రూపాయి కోసం జేబు లో చెయ్యి పెడితే ఉంగరం చేతికి తట్టింది. తీసి చూసి, అది జేబు లోకి ఎలా వచ్చిందో అర్థం అవక ఆలోచించసాగాడు బక్క రైతు.

'కొంప దీసి ఏ పూజారికి ఇవ్వడమో లేక హుండీ లో వెయ్యడమో చెయ్యకు, అది నీది, తీసుకొని వెళ్ళు.....' అని మనసు లో అనుకున్నాడు గణపతి. కానీ ఏం చెయ్యాలో పాలు పోని రైతు ఉంగరాన్ని అలాగే చేతిలో పట్టుకొని ఆలోచిస్తుంటే ఆ విషయం గమనించిన ఆలయ ఇంఛార్జ్ మల్లేష్ దగ్గరగా వచ్చి అది దేవుడికి సంభంధించిన ఉంగరమే అని నిర్ధారణకి వచ్చాక, ఇద్దరు ముగ్గురు పని వాళ్ళని కూడగట్టుకొని వచ్చి ఉంగరాన్ని లాక్కొని రైతు చెప్పేది ఎమీ పట్టించుకోకుండానే థర్ద్ క్లాసు మాటలతో రక్తం వచ్చేలా కొట్టడం ప్రారంభించారు.

పాపం, గణపతి కి ఏం చెయ్యాలో పాలు పోలేదు. పరిస్థితి ఇలా మారుతుందని తాను అస్సలు ఊహించలేదు. ఒక రకంగా దెబ్బలకి తానే కారణం కాబట్టి సినిమాల్లో చూపించినట్టు భక్తుల దెబ్బలు తాను తినే సెట్టింగ్ చెయ్యాలన్నా కొంత సమయం కావాలి మరి.

బండ రాళ్ళకి కూడా కన్నీరు తెప్పించే ఈ సంఘటన కి దేవుడైన తనకి కన్నీరు రావడం పెద్ద అశ్చర్యం ఎమీ అనిపించలేదు.

ఆంతలొ పూజారి కల్పించుకొని, 'ఇది గుడి. ఇక్కడ హింస ధర్మం కాదు. పోలీసులకి చెబితే వాల్లే చుసుకుంటారు' అని చెప్పడంతో శాంతించిన మల్లేషం పని వాల్లను ఆపమని వారించి, అవకాశం మల్లీ రాదన్నట్టుగా మరో రెందు థిర్ద్ క్లాసు బూతులు తిట్టి పోలీసులకి ఫొన్ చెయ్యడానికి వెళ్ళాడు. తను కేవలం ప్రెక్షకుడి లా చుస్తుండాల్సి రావడం గనపతి కి ఏ మాత్రం నచ్చలేదు. ఎంట్రెన్సు దగ్గర కన్స్త్ర్ర్క్షన్ జరుగుతున్న చోట పై నుండి రెండు ఇటుకలు కింద పడేలా చేసి మల్లేషం తల బద్దలు కొట్టాలి అని ఒక క్షణం అనుకున్నా తను దేవుడు అనే విషయం గుర్తుకి వచ్చి ఆగి పోయాడు.

ఓక్కొ సారి దేవుడిగా వుండడం కూడా భాధగానే వుంటుంది !!

ఈ రెండు విఫల యత్నాల తరువాత ఇంక లాభం లేదనుకొని తన లోకానికి ప్రయాణమవుదామని లాప్ టాప్ షట్ డౌన్ చెయ్య సాగాడు. కానీ ఒక్క భక్తుడి కోరిక కూడా పూర్తి చెయ్యకుండా వెనక్కి వెల్లడం సిగ్గు చేటు గా తోచింది. సాయంత్రం నాలుగు అవడం తో భక్తులు ఎవ్వరూ లేరు. గుడి మూసేసే పనిలో వున్నాడు పూజారి. దాదాపు 20 సంవత్సరాలుగా తన సేవ చేస్తున్నాడు. మాటికి మాటికీ కుంకుమ, అక్షింతలు జల్లి ఇరిటేట్ చెస్తున్నా రిథమిక్ గా మంత్రాలు చదివి రంజింప చేస్తున్నాడు. ఇంక ఆ రైతు విషయం లో కూడా తన మనసుని చదివినట్టుగా ప్రవర్తించాడు. భక్తే తప్ప కోరికలు లేని మనిషి. ఈ పూజారికే ఎందుకు సహాయం చెయ్యకూడదు ? అలా ఆలోచించిన గణపతి పూజారిని ఇంటి వరకూ ఫాలో అవ్వసాగాడు.

వెతకాల్సిన అవసరమే లేకుండా కుప్పలు తెప్పలు గా తీరని కొరికలు పడి వున్నాయ్ పూజారి ఇంట్లో. పిల్లవాడికి లేటెస్ట్ మోడల్ గేర్ల సైకిలు కావాలని కోరిక. కూతురుకి డొనేషన్ పెట్టి మెడిసిన్ చదవాలని కొరిక. భార్యకి పట్టు చీర నుంది కొత్త బంగ్లా వరకు రక రకాల కోరికలు!!

కుదిరినన్ని కోరికెల్ని తీర్చి తన ఆకలి తీర్చుకుందాం అనుకున్నాడు వినాయకుడు. మల్లీ లాప్ టాప్ బూట్ చేసి అప్ప్లికేషన్ని ఓపెన్ చేస్తుండగా పూజారికి, పూజరి భార్యకి మధ్య సంభాషణ ఇలా వినిపించింది.

"ఈ రోజు కలెక్షన్ ఎంత ?"

"పండగ కదా... బాగానే ముట్టింది. ఒక వెయ్యి దాకా వుండొచ్చు,
నేను హుండీ తెరవడం కొద్దిగా అలస్యం అయ్యి వుంటే మల్లెషం చూసి వుండెవాడు!!"

"వాడేదో సంసారి ఐనట్టు... గుడి భూముల కబ్జాలో వాడికి కూడా వాటా వుందిగా... వాటితొ పొలిస్తే ఇదేం పెద్ద విషయమే కాదు.
ఐనా మీరు కాస్త జాగ్రత్తగా వుంటే మంచిది"

అలా సాగిన ఆ సంభాషణకి బాధపడాలో, కోపపడాలో, నవ్వాలో ఎమీ అర్థం అవలేదు గణపతికి. వెంటనే పూజారికి సంభందించిన రికార్డు ఓపెన్ చేసి ఫ్లాష్ బ్యాక్ బటన్ నొక్కి చూస్తే తన వంశమె గత మూడు తరాలుగా గుడికి పూజారులుగా వున్నట్టు, తను పూజారి గా అపాయింట్ అయ్యే సమయానికి తమ కుటుంబం కటిక పేదరికంలో వున్నట్టు, మొదట్లొ సిన్సియర్ గానే వున్నట్టు, కమిటీ వాల్ల అక్రమాలని ఒకటి రెండు సార్లు ఎదురించినట్టు, కానీ పోను పోనూ ఇలా మారినట్టూ రాసి వుంది.

ఆటో రిక్షా నడిపే వాడి కన్నా తక్కువ రాబడి వుంటే తను మాత్రం ఏం చెస్తాడు !!

తన ఆవేశాన్ని మూడోసారి అనిచి వేసుకున్న గణపతి ఈ భజాయింపు తట్టుకోలేక వెంటనే తిరుగు ప్రయాణం అయ్యాడు.



English version :

Lord Ganesha's 12978189 th birthday it is. Thats the largest known prime number of that time. As someone who is good at studies, Ganesha wants to celebrate this 'special' birthday a special way and invites all of his friends. But Thilothama-2312's debut dance show looks more special to them and they bunk Ganesha's party by wishing him through SMSs and emails.

If second generation King George has to be called King George - II, 2312 is this Thilottama's number.

Angry and bored Ganesha thinks of traveling to earth, where he is given more respect and value. He also had a desire to visit a temple on the earth and to hear and fulfill the wishes of devotees. So as it looks like a better idea for both the reasons, makes no delay and starts to a temple in Vishakapatnam without even informing his vehicle, the rat. If he tells about it to the rat, it offers a ride and that will be his next birthday by the time he reaches earth !!

Its around 8 in the morning. The vitamin D sunlight isn't yet gone outside. There is a very pleasant cold breeze outside but by the time its reaching his room in the temple, its getting a lot hotter. They spend a lot of money in building and maintaining the temple but why don't they buy and fix at least a fan inside my room ? Birds sound outside mixed with the screaming of children inside seems very pleasant. From far behind, there he can also listen to a mass masala Telugu song which was a copy of some English album. Among all this noise, the rhythm in poojari's chantings appears very pleasant. As half of the words are more than a kilo meter far away from original Sanskrit words he couldn't figure out the meaning but enjoys the sound.

Disturbing him with a huge bell sound, one young devotee expresses his wish and asks him to pass him in his Chemistry exam that he wrote recently. He claims he has been regular to the temple for last 9 days and that that's the only wish that he had for life. Ganesha cross checks the data base to make sure what he is saying is right and while he is just about to approve the request using the software he has for that, the devotee asks for a change request saying he fell in love with a gal who just arrived to the temple and again promises that that's the only wish that he had for life. Confused Ganesha looks at the girl and seeing her beauty feels as if its justified for this guy to put that change request. Ganesha also thinks that if this gal is brought to Devaloka, she will rule Thilottama-2312 out :) When he tries to submit that change request, the software shouts 'Request can not be processed further due to a deadlock !!'. Looking into the details Ganesha finds out that the girl was already married an yr back, got divorced due to dowry issues, taking care of her parents now and that career is the only interest for her for next 5 yrs. He also finds out that though she looks young, she is 5 yrs elder to the young devotee. True deadlock !!

A poor and thin farmer arrives into the temple. He appears to Ganesha as if he is the brand ambassador for the whole misery in the world. He needs Rs. 4k as loan to fix his broken pump set and to buy fertilizers and that's his wish. As a wise man (sorry god), Ganesha very well knows that its impossible even to a God to convince anyone to give loan to a poor farmer of Andhra Pradesh. So he thinks of an alternative and comes across a gold like an Idea. Not gold like, but a 'gold' idea. He has lot of gold ornaments. Few hours ago Ranjith Kumar, son-in-law of the president of the town who is also the local Agricultural officer presented Ganesha with a ring along with a pose to a photograph. The ring is too tight to wear. Good.. let me displace this to the pocket of the farmer and the job is done !! He makes no delay in doing that. While attempting to grab an one rupee coin, the farmer finds out that there is a golden ring in his pocket. Being confused, he holds the ring in his hand and thinks about what to do. Ganesha is afraid that this guy will return it back to the Poojari or put that back in the hundi. Temple in-charge Mallesham observes the ring in his hand and starts beating farmer along with four workers there without even making an attempt to listen to what he is saying. Ganesha is sad. As in a way he the reason for the farmer getting beaten, wants to save him. But even if he could and play trick of transferring the pain to his body from farmer's as shown in our movies, it takes some time. Bringing tears to Ganesha wasn't that tough to this incident that can even make stones cry. Poojari warns Mallesham saying its temple and violence isn't good in these premises and advices to leave the farmer and inform police. Mallesham scolds the farmer using some third class vocabulary as if he wouldn't get such chance again and goes to call police. Ganesha wishes to make 2 bricks in the construction area at the entrance fall on Mallesham's head. But as he is a god and as gods are not supposed to wish such things, he stops there. Its tough to be a God too some times !!

Worried and sad, Ganesha plans to go back to his place. Temple is about to be closed and no more devotees. Ganesha is sad for the reason that he couldn't make even one devotee's wish true but he had no option. The Poojari is doing the work of closing the temple. This person has been in the service of Ganesha for more than 20 yrs. Also, as if he read Ganesha's mind he did exactly what was needed at the need of the hour in case of the farmer. Why not help him ? Yeah, the idea is good and Ganesha follows the Poojari tilll his home to find out if there is any help that he can do to him or his family. Leaving no need to search for wishes, there are umpteen number of em awaiting. Poojari's young son wants a latest model Gear cycle. His daughter wants to do Medicine paying donation. His wife's desires range from a costly saree to a new Banglaw. While Ganesha is about to boo this laptop launch the required s/w application, he hears the conversation between the Poojari and his wife.

"How much is the collection today ?"
"It should be around 1000 as its festival day. Mallesham just missed seeing me taking money from Hundi"
"Ah, that Mallesham also involved in temple land kabja etc., what you are doing is nothing in front of that !!, anyway you gotta be careful"
"Yeah..."

Ganesha is speechless. He pulls the flashback record of the Poojari. His family was serving as Poojari for the temple for last 3 generations. He was damn poor when he was appointed as temple Poojari. He was sincere in the initial days and also fought a couple of time with the committee against their corruption. But yrs down the line, he is changed to what he is now.

What else can he do if his monthly earnings are lesser than that of an Auto Rickshaw driver ??

Ganesha goes back to his place thinking that though thats boring, thats better there...........

Good stuff !!

Steve Jobs, the man behind the modern computer graphics, the CEO of Apple Computers and the founder of Pixar Animation Studios on his speech at Stanford University said that at a phase of his life as student he used to walk for 7 miles across the town every Sunday to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna Temple. I bet you, none of those who contributed to that temple had ever had an intention of helping a Christian student behind their contributions. But they helped not only a Christian student but the whole world by indirectly contributing to the evolution of modern user friendly Computers.

There was a person who stood all India first or some thing of that sort in IIT M.Sc. entrance exams for Chemistry few yrs back who hails from a village close to my hometown. In an interview, he mentioned that there was a scene in a telugu movie Gharshana where heroine tells hero that she is an M.Sc. maths graduate from IIT and that that was the source for him to know that there is M.Sc. in IITs as well. With that information as starting point he did his work and went all the way to win all India first rank. Again, I bet you, none of the persons behind that movie, the director Gowtham Menon, or the hero Venkatesh or the writer of that scene or the producer would never ever had an intention of giving that information out to help the students who didnt know about that.

Last but not least, let me share another similar example before telling what I wanted to tell. There was a slum boy who graduated as IPS and was posted as DSP to his own place (if I remember it correctly, thats Karimnagar) in a letter to Eenadu (a telugu news paper) shared the experience that changed his life. He mentioned in the letter that as a child the whole classroom stuff, the letters, the digits, the chemical and mathematical formulea were all confusing to him until he met the friend of his life, an Engineer at a construction site near his hut in the slums. He said that the Engineer used to take him to his shelter every evening and used to explain for half an hour the internals, the logic behind few lessons of maths and science which changed his his way of thinking and there by his life. The angel like friend disappeared after a couple of weeks but not his effect. He wanted to thank that friend through the news paper for changing his life. Again, the Engineer might have not though that the boy will one day be an IPS.

People do stuff. Good stuff, bad stuff. What one thinks as good maynt look as good to other, what one thinks as bad maynt look as bad to other. But do stuff that you think that is good. Donate a buck to a temple, to a political party or to an orphanage, or to a beggar or what ever. Donate a minute. Donate a calorie. Donate anything that you can or want. Do good stuff. The result may amaze you one day.

Let me do some good by sharing URL to Stven Jobs speech that I mentioned above :)
Its amazing. I loved it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Born into Brothels...

I had been thinking to write some thing here, some thing very interesting, some thing that will bring the interest of writing back in me. I thought I should write some thing about the Telangana. I thought I should write my experience in the hospital few months back when I was undergone a minor surgery. I though I should put my first short story. But I never thought that I would write some thing like this until I reached the middle of the documentary that I finished watching few minutes back, the 'Born into brothels'.

My friend Shiva was successful in making me download this documentary of 600 odd mega bytes of size after repeated attempts of reminding me in spite of my least levels of interests in watching documentary films. All I knew about documentaries was that these are the less than two minute length films casted in theaters before the actual film begins, these are the films made by those filmmakers who have no skills of filmmaking but some influence at the government authorities and that they make their living by making these films on a Kajuraho temple or on a Godawari river or some thing else of that sort. My opinions were slightly changed after watching an interview by Meera Nair few months back but that was very slight.

Coming back to the film, the film is about a dozen of kids born in the brothel houses of the red light district (Sonagachi), Kolkatta and an American photographer's (Zana Briski) association with them. The film starts with the introduction of the kids, each of them talking about them and their friends. One is taken care by her aunt who plans to sell her to Mumbai. One is taken care by his grand mother and has no parents. One is taken care by his father who is addicted to smoking. To the most part, the meaning of the phrase 'taken care' should better be reversed fit into the context. Every story is more or less the same, but more miserable than the other.

The photographer who recently moved from Newyork to Sonagachi gives each of those kids a camera and asks them to take photos. Teaches them the fundamentals of the photography. Takes them to a zoo parks. Takes them to beaches. Takes them to the Howrah bridge. Leaves them free, completely free and allows them to photograph on their own. As the time passes, she observes that Avijit, one of the kids who was exceptionally well at drawing being very good at capturing the emotions on human faces, another one being more interested in editing the photos, one being good at framing, one being good at taking photos on streets and so on. She once tries to get a four of them into a school. No school would be interested in taking them in due to their red light family background. One school asks for ration card copy. She tries for more than a month to get a duplicate copy of the missed ration card only to understand the levels of commitment and competence of the related government authorities has. Finally a school agrees to take few students in but only on a condition that the children should under go an HIV test and a positive result would stop them from getting in. For her happiness, all of them would result in -ve and get into the school.

She moves back to Newyork to arrange exhibitions of photographs and there by to raise funds for their education. There would be a great response. One of the leading magazine publishes a photo by the kid in its front page. Most of the photographs would be praised by critics. An organization named World Press Photo selects Avijit as one of the six kids (from among four thousand applicants) who would get the opportunity to visit Frankfort for a week and exhibit the photos to the visitors from all over the world attending the exhibition.

She comes back to India with great happiness but only to learn that Avijith's mother was killed by fire set by her pimp and that Avijith is neglecting studies, let alone photography. She arranges an exhibition locally in Kolkatta and that sees a great response from the visitors and from media. All leading news papers and tv channels cover it. She tries to get passport for Avijit but his redlight background becomes a hurdle. After more than two months of efforts, her last attempt succeeds and he gets the passport. He visits Frankfort. Get to attend the exhibition.

A social service organization named Sabera takes some these kids into its boarding school. Avijit joins Future Hope school. Manik's father would not let him to go to school. Puja's mother withdraws her from Sabera, a few months later. Shanti leaves the school of her own accord. Gour still lives at home and hoping to go to school. Tapasi runs away from home and joins Salnap school. Suchitra's aunt refuses to let her leave the brothel. Kochi chooses to stay at Sabera, being happy and doing well. This ends the film.

Later on, I learnt that this move won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and many more prestigious awards. I also read in wiki that the photographer started a non profit organization named 'Kids with Cameras' continuing similar kind of work at different parts of the world. The co-director of the movie, Ross Kauffman says that the total sum of Rs 4.5 million earned by the movie will be spent on the education for the children of prostitutes in India.

The amazing part about this movie is that it is real. I saw many movies those were made inspired by real incidents, those which are very close to reality but this movie, being a 'real' movie will have a great influence on my career and on my life. This changed my opinion on documentary movies and on movies as a whole.

My favorite line from the movie is 'Nobody here understands anything but money'. This is the English translation to a part of what a kid replies to the photographer when the photographer asks her if her mother can attend the photo exhibition held in Kolkatta. She says in her reply, 'My mother needs to take care of my months old sister. If someone else has to attend my sister, they would charge 10 Rs. Nobody here understands anything but money'.

Kabaddi kabaddi...

The whole idea behind starting this blog was to capture some of my notable experiences, precisely like in a dairy. That is why if you see, you see that I tend to leave atleast one memory in every post out here. This time I would like to write only my experiences of my trip to home, back and of stay.


I got leave granted for only a couple of days and got permission to 'Work From Home' for what ever the number of days I wanted to and started to attend my Nephew's Naming Ceremony. Well, its called naming ceremony but its actually my parents doing some thing big to my sister's family to show that they care, its actually my father taking pride in doing something big to show to the town, to the relatives. Well, I have all these weird thoughts but I might be over reactive and wrong. No matter what it is, I really enjoyed it as I got a chance to play with my little cousins and meet some of my relatives after a long time only because of this.


I invited Sudhir to the event and asked him if he can accompany me till Warangal. He said yes and he did. Nothing very special about the journey but after watching a movie ATHIDI in bus on my way to Warangal, I realised Alfred Hitchcock is right when he said a subject with too many and too complex twists would only leave the audience in confusion. Well this opinion may get changed with time. Lets see.


After a lot of waiting, lot of phone calls I got boradband connection setup at my home to start 'Working From Home' (I never know what is the difference between dialup and broadband :P . I think its the speed but I'm sure its wrong). My company laptop stopped working which was very much expected and in addition to that, I screwed something up in my personal laptop in the process of finding a work around to make my VPN client work. It was my friend Srikanth's brother Santosh who fixed the issue just a few hours before the time I thought I would start to Bangalore to avoid scoldings from my Manager. Some thing interesting here is that this Santosh who fixed the issue with my laptop in minutes is a collage drop out, met with a major accident an yr back doing some feats on road, and is considered as a Pokiri guy in the town. A sound idea to do a networking course, a three months of hard work made him this. No one is born, but is made !!


I was attending a 1 hr. status meeting on phone with a bunch of people from Trustmark. My manager Rajan was already hot as the issues list was long. The phone line wasn't clear at all. It gets dropped in every 10 minutes and I had no hint why. The front desk person takes his own sweet 5 minutes to connect back every time. Power goes and comes in between. People come in, go out, talk something. Lots of disturbance due to the noise of lorries going and coming on the road nearby. Someone celebrates his marriage on road with huge bands. Halts right in front my house for 10 minutes for a dance break !! Well, what else can you expect in a country like India ?


Meeting my childhood friends is always fun. Srinu, Naveen, Rambabu, Murali, Surendhar, Naresh, Hari, Srikanth, Ramesh, Madhu.... Srinu isn't happy at all for missing the party. Even a fat guy like Naveen could be emotional at times and say this happiness is only for few days until you guys are in town. Hari broke his neck which was half broaken erlier while playing kabaddi. We had a party, we played cricket, practiced long jump, did chit chat on politics (will YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ever become CM or not ?? ) and last but the best, played Kabaddi :)


Babies are awesome !! Their smile, their moves, the sounds they make, the way the respond to things... everything, everything about babies is so beautiful. It was really hard for me to see my nephew cry.


Reached Bheemavaram crossing all those famous towns Mudinepalli, Gudiwada, and Kikaluru, (Observe. For each of these names, there is a famous telugu song having the name as its first word). Again, I had to attend another 1 hr. status client meeting on phone. Rajan wasn't that hot. Issues list wasn't that long. The phone line was very clear and never got dropped. There was no power cut (there was, once but there was backup too). No noise of lorries on road, no one comes in and goes out. No disturbance at all. Well, we blame India so easily !!


I have to be back in Bangalore by Monday morning and there were huge floods in Krishna and Karnool districts, two districts I need to cross one to reach Hyderbad, one to reach Bangalore. Lots of people killed, lots of roads broken, and lots of loss. I couldn't find a single train or bus and had no hint what to do. Meanwhile, I see a mail in my inbox with subject 'Flood relief fund, urgent'. Well, I'm not bringing up a weird theory to escape from donating few bucks but why should one donate ? Why should one donate for a disaster which wasn't purely because of nature but because of the neighbourhood states mistake for opening gates without foreseeing and estimating the danger ? Why should one donate to those people who repeatedly vote and support those selfish and brainless leaders though they have better options ?


Sabari's wedding reception, Harnath's company, his parents, his coconut farm, the paddy field behind it, Eenadu movie, flight from Vijayawada to Bangalore, beautiful aunt and her xerox copy son in the bus, stunning 150 Rs. bus ticket... Overall, it was a wonderful experience.



Sabari wedding pic

BIG SHOTS...

No matter how far away they live, how much busy the are, these brother-in-law's always have some work to be done by their little mates. As assigned by one of his brother in law's, Harsha wanted to visit Manipal hospital in his second attempt to install a piece of software in some BIG SHOT doctor's laptop, the doctor who helped his brother in law recover from a health problem by doing a world class surgery. I was along with him. He told me that the doctor that we were going to meet is some one with very unique qualifications, some one who is very busy, who works for 6 months in India and 6 months abroad, etc. etc., to put in a single word 'BIG SHOT'. We were told to wait for half an hour as the doctor was busy with some work. We were sitting in the waiting room looking at the aquarium, observing the people roaming around and having left with no option, enjoying the hospital smell. After an hour, the doctor came in. I was expecting him to be a bit fat, old and to wear a steth and a white coat but he looked like a middle age man with rich clothes and spects, shirt toughed into the pants. For my satisfaction, there were two junior doctors following him meeting all my imaginations. We installed the software and there were some modifications that were suggested by the doctor. Harsha, only to avoid visiting the hospital again wasting a Saturday, suggested the doctor to follow certain steps to import the modifications after he sends an email with all the updated files. The steps were very simple like clicking a short cut, browsing for a folder, and clicking a button. We thought that the job is over. But the doctor replied saying that all this computer/software stuff is is Greek to him, that he cannot do any of those steps suggested, and that all he is good at is doing surgeries !!

To me (or most of us) surgeries, operations and all other health related stuff is something the most difficult and those big shot doctors are like some immortal beings. But to me one such an immortal being looked so silly when he said that he is scared to do some simple copy/paste, clicking some buttons etc. which is easier than eating peanuts to me. After thinking for a while, to me it looked like the concept of 'big shots' is a very relevant. One can be excellent at one thing or few things, but it looks very funny, silly when they are so dumb at other things. That is why we see the best cricketers in the world sweating to act in ad films, the silver screen superstars, the best political leaders sweating to play in charity and opening cricket matches etc.

Let me share a couple of experiences before putting a full stop. I read an article about the Hotmail guy Sameer Bhatia who was telling how the acquisition of Hotmail by Microsoft took place and as part of that, explaining the way he met Bill Gates on invitation to talk about the deal. He said that he got to meet Gates after going thought several security checks and that it took not more than ten minutes for him to understand that BIGSHOT is as 'ordinary' as we all are. Similarly, I met the walking encyclopedia Mr. Jayaprakash Narayana in Hyderabad once along with my friends Shiva, and Naveen. I witnessed his knowledge, control on emotions, clarity on things, iron desire etc. several times in TVs and news papers. I was thinking that his presence would be magical and wonderful but soon after meeting him, I understood that he is just a normal human being with two legs and two hands.

I feel it is the individual's commitment, iron desire, work, efforts, creativity, luck and stuff like that that makes the individual special, that makes the individual a BIGSHOT. A big shot filmmaker who gives 100 classics looks like a fool after giving a piece of crap. A big shot politician who commands politics with single hand for years looks like a fool when he gets to sit in opposition. Big shots are never born, but are made. It is an every day effort, every minute effort that builds big shots, it might be you or even me.

Loksatta experiences - 1

From here on, I would try to put in the blog all my experiences with, related to Loksatta Party. To start with, let me share those experiences with Loksatta that I had so far, that I remember.

* There is a website akhilandra.com which publishes news and different articles majorly related to Andhra politics and movies. Once in a while its conventional for the website to put some thing against Loksatta, makes sense or not with evidence or not. There was a news link 'Loksattta bhootakama - 2' and clicking that would show us an article written by some one against loksatta in his own perception and terms. I was fed up with work in an evening and opened the site and that news heading grabbed my interest towards it. I was expecting a low class article inside but surprisingly clicking that news link took me to http://loksattaanswers.blogspot.com :) Surprising !! Some techi loksatta supporter spent some time on it, used his skills and made this happen. I guess that it is done using a hacking technique 'Script injection'. I think he/she wrote some javascripting and html code in the comments section some where which made this happen :) Kudos to that personality. Using technology at right time, for right thing !!

* Got a chance to meet JP second time, on his visit to Bangalore. I took my colleague Guru Chetan along with me. I asked him to list out the work that he is gonna do for Kukatpally. He took time, interest and explained me in detail. As per him, most of the work will be visible in an year or so. Thanks to Anand for informing about this JP's visit.

* I had a conf. call with the folks in USA regarding 'Call MLA' programm for gathering support for, bringing awareness on Anti Corruption Bill to be submitted by JP in assembly soon. Call went disorganized. And not to mention, I got a bunch of phone numbers but never called any one so far no matter what the reason is. Let me see if I can do today :)

In the name of GOD

After half a dozen of phone calls between different pairs among the taxi guy, office security, Ajit, Vinayak and me, I booked a cab and was waiting at the National Travels, KR Market. My colleague Vinayak was arriving to Bangalore with a whole bunch of luggage and his wife and asked my help to ship the same (just the luggage :P) to his newly rented house. It was a pleasant early morning with a wonderful breeze hitting my drowsy face which was right out of the office doing night shift, with every one just getting settled to get into work, with buses arriving, auto rickshaws dropping and picking up passengers. Every thing was so pleasant except a heavy noise/sound coming out of a set of cheap quality electrical speakers tied to a tree near by. I felt it as noise but generally its called devotional songs, Suprabatham or what ever. The intensity was so high that it literally was disturbing every passenger around there. I don't know how many school students with exams, old people with health problems were getting distributed by it behind. I strongly guess that the temple management responsible for the noice didn't took any kind of permission from the relevant authority for the same. Also guess if any police around or any one getting distributed by it even thought of asking the temple management to stop it. I guess they all were habituated to it years down the line just like the people at the shores of dirty Moosi river in Hyderabad.

I came back to home and read in the front page of my favorite news paper Eenadu that an MP from Karnataka named Gali Janardhan Reddy donated a diamond stuffed crown to the god Tirupathi Venkateshwara Swami which is of worth rupees 40 crores. In the same news paper in 7th or 8th page, I read a news article where Loksatta Party president JayaPrakash Narayan saying that if their party had 40 crores of funds, they could have made a significant difference in the passed by Assembly/Loksabha elections. While one was taking pride in donating a crown to a statue of god, other was feeling bad in failing to 'serve the human which in turn is serving the god'. Not sure if thats how it is or if thats how the G O D wants it to be.

There was a scene in a Tamil/Telugu movie Kakka kaka (Gharshana) where a road side fella tries to escape from a policeman (while caught teasing a collage girl) by showing the (Ayyappa) Mala !! There are some organizations which catch the couple found in parks, roads etc. on every Feb. 14th and try to make them brother and sisters !! There are cricketers of exceptional records, there are politicians in the best positions who bow at a man in Andhra Pradesh who is considered to be a god !! Every thing... In the name of god !!!

One makes money in the name of god, one dumps money in rivers in the same name. One finds mind piece in the name of god, one makes the surroundings dirty in the same name. One creates races in the name of god, one divides races in the same name. One stops touching meat in the name of god, one takes lives of sheep in the same name. One feeds a hungry stomach in the name of god, one wastes milk, honey and ghee by dirtying statues in the same name. Good or bad, it keeps on happening in the name of god, an unknown, unseen, abstract G O D.

A man who could stand on his words and spend more than a decade of life in forest is a god. A man who could bare the pain of cross for the sake of good is a god. Its not necessarily be a Rama or Jesus, it could even be you or me. Who knows, Bagat Singh, a man who fought for freedom and gave his life at the age of 23 and Vivekananda a man who inspired millions of young people with his speeches and sayings may turn out to be gods in the temple for future generations.

Smell of a beautiful flower, skin of a beautiful fish, smile of a young baby, human brain, sex, emotions... I don't think are the out comes of chemical and physical reactions over millions of years. There certainly is a super power behind it and is Almighty to me but not the god. God is in you, god is in me, in every pure and every selfless action.