unspoken reflections of my heart
trivialties
My REM Entry
Mar 21st
At NITT, final years release a book, “REMINISCENCE”, which compiles the memories of four long years in college, the friends we met and the experiences we shared… The book contains a short article about every student of the batch, along with his/her interesting traits, characteristic features and contact details. We affectionately call it the “REM” book.
My friends wrote rem entries for me, and they were compiled by my friend and room-mate, Saurabh:
Karthik a.k.a Eskay is a GOLDen MAN with a tinge of SACcHarine that makes him an exponent of several disciplines and an extremely sweet and cordial person at heart. Perennially misinterpreted as a geek, Eskay is probably the best way “FUNDOO” can be defined. Someone who is glued to the Laptop “all night long” watching sitcoms but scores a 9 plus in every freaking semester. Give him the violin and you would feel the Gods around you for his hands on the violin are synonymous to MAGIC. A living proof of the saying “the pen is mightier than the sword” a touchdown of Eskay’s pen on paper has produced exquisite works of poetry and a demonstration of his love for detail and correlation. A flipside though are his PJs. A faint tingling of his PJ (mokkai) generating nerves sends gushes of laughter from this PJ-Centre. Beware, you might be found laughing on the floor after a discourse from this magnetic human being. Manufactured with a rare quality of charming people effortlessly, Eskay has a place in everyone’s heart. He is DESIGNed to be a hardworking and diligent worker, so much so that even SUNdays are LABorious with Eskay, though this frequently puts Mr. Perfectionist in some inexorable dilemma when it comes to relationships. All in all an all-rounder who is all set to strike it rich in Life!!!
Too much exaggeration, but still, I like it a lot !!
Engineer vs. Mathematician
Feb 11th
A thought-provoking short story narrated by my professor in class:
An engineer and a mathematician were asked a question:
“Given a stove, lighter, water and an empty vessel, how would you make hot water?”
Both, the engineer and the mathematician gave the same answer:
- Fill the vessel with water
- Light the stove
- Place the vessel on the stove and allow it to heat.
Now the question was slightly twisted:
“The stove is already lighted and the vessel already contains water. Now, how would you make hot water?“
The engineer answered, “This is dumb. Just place the vessel on the stove and allow it to heat.”
The mathematician answered:
- Empty the vessel by pouring the water out.
- Switch off the stove.
- Now the problem is reduced to a sub-problem, the solution to which was previously calculated.
Now, are you an engineer or a mathematician ???
retrospects
Sep 21st
மனிதர்கள் சிலநேரம் நிறம் மாறலாம்
மனங்களும் அவர் குணங்களும் தடம் மாறலாம்
இலக்கணம் சில நேரம் பிழை ஆகலாம்
எழுதிய அன்பு இலக்கியம் தவறாகலாம்
விரல்களைத் தாண்டி வளர்ந்ததைக் கண்டு
நகங்களை நாமும் நறுக்குவதுண்டு
இதில் என்ன பாவம்
எதற்கிந்த சோகம்
கிளியே …
Heard the song “நலம் வாழ எந்நாளும்” while travelling in a bus… The above lines are excerpts from the lyrics of that song. And the lines just made me sit back and think….
blog number 50
Mar 4th
This is the 50th article I am posting under SOLILOQUY. And I consider it to be a great milestone for the blogger in me. And this special article is going to be a blog about blogging, and then about Soliloquy in particular…
The formal definition considers a blog to be an ongoing chronicle of information. But today the concept of blogging has taken a different meaning. A blog has become a replica of the thoughts and emotions of the author. A beautiful imagery formed using the threads of thought that conjure up our minds and painted using the words from a common language. It showcases the character of the blogger. What Wordsworth gave as the definition of poetry can now be aptly used to define blogging – an overflow of emotions recollected in tranquillity.
Thoughts that form inside our mind always crave for an outlet. Happiness, sorrow, anger, frustration, ecstasy, joy…all these emotions look for a way to free themselves from the confines of the small but complex brain of ours. This is why we always look for someone to speak to, to share our feelings, to provide solace.
But there is one other way for the emotions to be let out – the written form. Why did the written form emerge in first place. Knowledge could have been passed on by word of mouth. Views could have been expressed by speech. But why has the world preferred the written form? Why was literature born? Shakespeare could have narrated his works to a group of people. Why pen them down?
The answer is very simple. the human memory has its limitations. It cannot retain for long and it cannot replicate the input. Had Shakespeare’s works been transferred by word of mouth, we can be very sure that the Merchant of Venice would have been a very different story, and sonnets would have become couplets. This is exactly why most speeches are misinterpreted and most words are mistaken.
There have been many a times when we take a paper, scribble down our feelings and destroy the paper. Well, it is much better than screaming out loud. And yes, the present day blogs help most people in the same way-to let out their emotions, feelings, joy, sorrow, etc.
Most of us hate loneliness. We all long for someone to be with us, to listen to us, to share our thoughts, to care for us. We all long for such a friend in our lives. In modern times, our blogs are our friends. We spend time with our blogs. Our blogs help the world to connect to us, to know about us.
Soliloquy has been a friend of mine. I share all my thoughts with my blog. Be it my opinion about movies or music or my experiences and defining moments in my life – I share them all with my blog.
Blogging is a trend which is going to last for a really long time. And my blog will continue to be a dynamic image of mine – showing the world what exactly is going on in my life. And milestones are meant to be acheived and surpassed. Pleased with 50 and awaiting the next – 100…
what’s in a name ??
Jan 3rd
Karthik being my name, I have often wondered what is in my name? It is a name that is very common and is also the name of Lord Muruga. But were they the reasons why my parents christened me Karthik? Or was there any other significance to my name? I asked my dad.
SANKAR – my dad’s name.
SHANTHI – my mom’s name.
The last three letters from both names, when concatenated, gives KARTHI. And thus my name was formed…a part of both my parents’ name!!! I own the last ‘K’ though, and hence own the name KARTHIK.
Nice concept na ?? Probably I must pass on the legacy too…
exists… but does not exist…
Oct 18th
My mathematics teacher at TIME coaching classes was explaining about ancient Indians and their knowledge and skill. He extolled about the Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, about their researches, philosophies and their knowledge about the meaning of life.
Consider the following statements:
X exists.
X does not exist.
There are two states for X. Existence and non-existence. Now, the question is,
Is there an excluded middle between the two states, i.e., is there an intermediate state ? Like, X exists but does not exist ???
Well, the research goes thus:
Consider you are sleeping.
In your dreams, you are chased by a tiger. You fear for life. You start running in order to escape.
Suddenly, you wake up from your sleep. You see no tiger. You are not running. You dont have any fear for life.
Now, we see that the tiger existed in dreams, but not in the awake state. It was real in dreams but unreal in reality. X (tiger) exists, but does not exist…
Why so much complexity ? Concept is very simple…
While we wake up every morning, we have a buffer time when we are awake, yet we are sleeping. We tend to live partly in our dreams.
One day, I experienced this. I had a nice dream. Suddenly, I woke up in order to go to class. I locked the room and went out. Apparently, my roommate was still sleeping inside the room. Conclusion : He did not feature in my dream, and I was dreaming when I was locking him inside. So, he did not exist, though he existed…
if only i knew a bit of english
Sep 7th
For the first time I was travelling long distance, out of Tamil Nadu. It was a long journey by train to New Delhi, to attend a training programme. And I don’t know Hindi. I had been of the opinion that since English is an universal language, I can manage without Hindi. But I was wrong.
I found it very difficult to order food. The caterer did not know English. I managed to ask him if he knew Tamil. Fortunately, he understood my question and answered in the negative. All that I had to say was that I did not want dinner. I avoided English because he did not know the universal language. I tried my luck with Hindi but in vain. Finally my co-passenger helped me out and did the translation.
The next time he came for taking orders, I knew it was going to be a tough time, if i do not ask for help. Somehow I managed to convey the message. At the end, the caterer murmured something in Hindi and left. I knew he was abusing me. My neighbour translated it for me … “if only this boy knew a bit of English…”
The icing on the cake is this fact: Another co-passenger was a Japanese girl. I tried to build a conversation with her. When asked why she was in India, she said that she was here to learn Hindi and was attending classes at Benaras. Now here is something I should be ashamed of….
