My Pensieve

A very emotional poem. Came across it in the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" where it is delivered during a funeral in a most touching manner. Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with the juicy bone. Silence the pianos and, with muffled drum, Bring out the coffin. Let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling in the sky the message: “He is dead!” Put crepe bows around the white necks of the public doves. Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my north, my south, my east and west, My working week and Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song. I thought that love would last forever; I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one. Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can come to any good.

'The riches belong to nobody, certainly not to our family' The head of a former royal family renounced any personal claim to billions of dollars' worth of ancient treasure discovered in a temple in Thiruvanantharam, the kingdom his ancestors once ruled. Padma Rao Sundarji speaks toUthradam Thirunal Marthanda Verma, the former King of Tranvancore. PRS : What is your family's connection with the Padmanabhaswamy temple? Varma : We are the Cheras, one of the four erstwhile royal families of South India and have a long and dynastic family tree. By 1750 Travancore had become rich and big. So my ancestor, the then king, made a unique spiritual and historical contribution. He decided to surrender all his riches to the temple - Padmanabhaswamy is also our family deity. He said our family would look after that wealth, the temple and the kingdom forever. But he did want the ego that comes with possessing it. He was influenced by Emperor Ashoka's catharsis in the killing

Thought I'd try a kind of satirical journalism piece (not even sure if the below piece qualifies). Sree passing her B' Ed gave me the perfect oppurtunity :-). ശ്രീരേഖ ശിവദാസ്‌ ബി ' എഡ പാസ്സ് ആയി സ്വന്തം ലേഖകന്‍ ശ്രീരേഖ, ഭര്‍ത്താവ്‌ അനൂപ്‌, മകന്‍ അഭിനവ്‌  ദുബായ് : ഒരു വര്‍ഷത്തെ കഠിന അധ്വാനതിന്ടെ ഫലം മധുരം ആയി തന്നെ കിട്ടി ... ശ്രീരേഖ ശിവദാസ്‌ ഒരു ബി ' എഡ ബിരുദ ധാരി ആയി. ഷാര്‍ജ എമിരേറ്റ്സ് എയര്‍ലൈന്‍സിന്ടെ അപാര്‍ത്മേന്റ്റ് കോംപ്ലെക്സില്‍ ശ്രീരേഖ , ഭര്‍ത്താവ് അനൂപ്‌ , മകന്‍ അഭിനവും ചേര്‍ന് നടത്തിയ പത്ര സമ്മേളനത്തില്‍ ആണ് ഈ വാര്‍ത്ത പുറത്തു വിട്ടത്. ഒരു വര്ഷം തന്ടെ ഭര്‍ത്താവ്‌ ആയിടുള്ള വേര്പാടിന്ടെ ദുഃഖം , " അഞ്ചാം വയസില്‍ നട്ട ഭ്രാന്ത്‌" എന്ന ചോലിണ്ടേ മൂര്‍ത്തി ഭാവമായ മകനെ നോകണ്ട ചുമതല , കാലിക്കറ്റ്‌ യുനിവേര്സിറ്റിയുടെ കഠിനമായ ബി ' എഡ സില്ലബ്സ് തുടങ്ങിയ അനേക ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുകള്‍ തരണം ചെയ്ത ആണ് ശ്രീരേഖ ഈ വിജയം കൈ വരിച്ചത്. പരിക്ഷ കഴിഞ്ഞ ഉടനെ തന്നെ പാസ്‌ ആവും എന്ന തനിക്ക്‌ അറിയാമായിരുന്നു എ

I had bought a DVD of Steven Spielberg's "ET-The Extra Terrestrial" during my trip to Bangalore last weekend. Now, my wife, Anu, is not into English movies and falling asleep besides me or doing her chores while I watch one has become a sort of routine for her. I have been slowly trying to break this ever since our marriage and trying to induct her into the world of Hollywood cinema. What better way to do this than to show her one of the "best family films" ever made? We were seeing the digitally remastered 20th anniversary edition of the movie and I could see from the corner of my eye that Anu was hooked. The antics of ET, little Drew Barrymore’s scream, the scene where ET walks about in the hall right under Elliot's mothers nose, the sensational cycle-flight scene were all being thoroughly enjoyed. Then came the gut wrenching scene where ET is pronounced dead. During the build up to this, I had told her jokingly that the movie would end once ET is dead

Posting after a long time. This was a short essay I had to write for a forum at Infosys. The theme is mentioned in the title :) Papers and Pens have been an integral part of offices throughout the world. They are considered indispensable and until recently, had anyone even mentioned a paperless office, he/she would have been considered a candidate for serious mental evaluation. It is only with the recent advent of IT and its infinite possibilities that people have woken up to the fact that the paperless office could become a reality. However the transition is not easy. Ensuring that the office is 100% paperless would mean making sure that technology is affordable and accessible to all members and a huge influx of support infrastructure. Even if these are available, the functioning of the technology need to be absolutely PERFECT with all dependencies accounted for and with a contingency for all possible issues defined. This is certainly a very tall and seemingly insurmountable orde

Iniyennu kaanumente puthu vasanthame... Nirathingal chiriyalen arikil varille... Pularkalam viriyumbol innum nin mukham.. Ariyathen ormayilo madhura nombaram..