James Gregory (November 1638 – October 1675) was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He was regarded for his contributions to mathematics and trigonometry. However it took years for the world to realize that what Gregory tried to claim was actually discovered by Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1340 – c. 1425). Madhava hailed from the town of Sangamagrama (present day Irinjalakuda) near Thrissur, Kerala, India. Madhava was the first to use infinite series approximations for a range of trigonometric functions. His discoveries opened the doors to what has today come to be known as Mathematical Analysis. Madhava made pioneering contributions to the study of infinite series, calculus, trigonometry, geometry, and algebra. However Irinjalakuda failed to remember Madhava. 

Irinjalakuda is renowned all over the world for the relevance of its role in creating musical geniuses such as Paliyath Jayachandran and Korambu Subhramaniyan Namboodiri. Mridanga, known as deva vadya (drum of Gods) is one among the most ancient drums of India. In any Carnatic music concert, it is the main percussion instrument. Famous Malayalam playback singer, Jayachandran initiated his journey into music through Mridangam. He was a disciple of the legendary Korambu Subrahmanian Namboodiri. 

The famous ‘Korambu Mridanga Kalari’ of Irinjalakuda, has the credit of introducing mridangamela to the world of music. A performance comprising of artists as young as 5 years old creating symphony in unison using mridanga had stunned audience around the world. Mridanga artists from Irinjalakuda honoured venues across Japan, Malaysia, Europe and Middle East during the past decade. According to Vikraman Namboodiri, the bond with mridanga is more of an eternal bond sanctified by the divinity of music. A bond that is a lifelong commitment. Vikraman Namboodiri has disciples spread over 11 nations and has taught over two thousand students during the past two decades. All Irinjalakuda can hope is that may this unsung genius escape from the fate Madhava had suffered from the minds of under-educated authorities and self obsessed people of Irinjalakuda.

Aladdin had a magic lamp. When he summoned, the genie would appear and grant his will. When technology had reached the threshold, everyone had access to the magic lamp. But the complexity was staggering. Everyone became an enslaved genie to each other. Summoned upon dialing a number, and limited to the amount of 'currency' in the account each resided with the split identity of Aladdin as well as the Genie. Yes, mobile phones are the magic lamps of this generation. When technology superseded emotions, words lost its meaning. In the flow of words human beings learnt to shut their emotions. Upon summoning a person, we failed to communicate what must be communicated. Every act of our lives turned into an act of a mere tweet or a post or text; if utmost important then a call.

I received a few calls to remember, the one I remember the most was when I left my house for the first time for my higher studies. I was a world apart from my home and my phone rang. The ringtone was so clear that it shut the world around me. At the other end was my Father, slowly I heard the faint voice of my Mother. I do not remember what we talked but I felt them closer than ever before. It kept my heart at peace for a few moments. Some moments are powerful enough to make you realize how beautiful your life indeed is. I was at home for that moment no matter how far I was. Was it the brand of phone I used? Never. Was it the OS of the phone? Well it was a Nokia 1100.

Then came a day to remember, few years down the lane of my life when I met with an accident and I was crumbling in pain. I was trying to make sense after I realized that the injuries could be a full stop to my dreams. I was falling apart and darkness was spreading around me. The phone rang, I was slipping down to the end of a tunnel. And voice from the other side asked me, "Are you okay?" The person who called was someone who never pick my calls or used to be in her own world most of the time. The gravity in the voice and the concern had the power to keep me going when I though it was almost over. I was not alone in that moment of darkness. Well, least I made my mind that it was not time to give up. Just like a boxer crawling back to the corner to fight one more round, I made my mind. Hell I was not okay, but I found the light I was searching for. The irony was that I have never even seen the person ever before and still we are strangers. How much I wish I could smile to the person and thank for the miracle of words that flowed that night. Still I remember the simple sentence that put me back on track.

Finally an event that etched profound thoughts, it was rather an experience that haunted me for a long time. I was in Guruvayoor Temple in Kerala, along with my parents. I took my cellphone along for it had the games to get rid of my boredom. My parents were inside the temple, while I was seeking God outside the temple. While the rich begged inside, the poor begged outside the temple walls. While these thoughts played in my brain, a woman came to me. I digged my pocket, but she said she don't want money. She said she was lost in the crowd and want to make just one call. Her silver hair and calm face announced that she wasn't the one to be suspected. Her eyes were tired, and the lips were drooping and trembling, to reflect the situation of being lost in that crowded place. Reluctantly I handed over my phone, slowly she uttered the number and dialed it. The phone rang on the other side. I waited, she waited. The call was picked. She said "Hello". Suddenly the call was disconnected from the other end. Her eyes reflected helplessness. She handed over the cellphone to me. Not a word was uttered but one could see how she struggled against the weight of pain that was tormenting her. As she walked away from me the shopkeeper who was noticing this smiled. He said to me the words that tore my heart. "She was abandoned at the same spot three months ago. Nobody responds to calls. May be she is too much of a burden to bear." I didn't knew what to do. By that time she faded in the crowd. If that call was answered my cellphone could have made a difference. I owned one of the best phones money could buy, still it is incapable of connecting an abandoned mother to her child. In a world where hearts have lost their reason, what value is for words uttered from the depth of one's soul? I tried that number to no vain for a few days till it was deemed disconnected.

If we re-learn to bring emotions and care back to our life, world is still a beautiful place. Smiles will dwell forever in our lips and in our eyes will blossom a thousand roses.

“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.

There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.

You feel it, don't you?” 

~ Rumi

Moments passed by and my eyes were fixated on the ceiling fan. I could see a set of tubes running haywire all around me. Some struck out from my arms and one went down my nose. Moments stood still beside my hospital bed. And one thing that ran out from my soul was hope. Bedsores and pain were my best companions. I waited for hours and they seemed like years. I waited for the footsteps of the nurse arriving with painkillers. I memorized the names of broken bones. Scaphoid bones of my left and right hands, broken mandible, Ulna on my left hand, trapezium bone on my right hand and radius of my right hand. I was often tortured by the sympathetic visits of near and dear. After a few days it seemed like that the world has forgotten me. I tried to hold a spoon but was utterly defeated when it slipped from my hands. I couldn't hold a mobile and talk. I couldn't talk at all! I accepted death a second at a time. I understood that death is when memories about you fade. Slowly the visits from my friends stopped. The clock gave me company and each tick was the drum beat towards my way down. 

I wanted to scream. Let my voice be heard. The tubes inside my nose were agonizing. I couldn't even scream. The monster inside me was caged. It slumbered because it had no choice. Days passed and the tubes were removed from my body one at a time. I felt like an animal who lost a shackle at a time. Freedom in small scoops. Still casts bound my arms. I remembered my past life as if they were echoes from light years away. Smiles and moments that I experienced haunted me. I will never get back the life that I took for granted. From the other side of life I observed, I revisited the avenues that were the zenith of my life. I slipped an extra pill of painkillers at times. But they couldn't ease the pain within. Or a shot of rum to ease the thoughts. But they weren't enough to keep them submerged. These small steps made giant leaps. I was getting addicted. I was busy hiding, I was busy finding more and more excuses. I spent my time pointing fingers to explain how good I am. And the day came when the casts were removed. I stood before the mirror and I couldn't recognize myself. The mobile that kept ringing a lifetime ago was silent. I was in ground zero. No friends, no job, no health and money was running out. I had to make a change. I have to live, one moment at a time. But the ghosts of my pain were in full force. I knew deep within that I need to exorcise them one at a time. The monster inside me was rattling the cage. I was depressed but I was restless. I need to take my life back by the throat and own it just one more time.

I got addicted to my laptop. Catching up friends over the internet was less painful because I need not reveal my fragile self. I wandered the cyberspace. One day I happened to come across an interview of Neil "Yoda" Hill, the fabled trainer for IFBB Pro Branch Warren and mentor of 212 Mr. Olympia Flex Lewis. In his words fitness was not about competitions. But it was more about what you feel deep inside. The test is about who will complete the journey and not about who will smile and vanish. His words were direct, they were simple and they were true. It is something that completes you and keeps you going towards the goals you have that can make the difference. And it is all about to be or not to be. Champions are champions because they live like champions and work like champions. When you perfect one action it affects all other actions and spreads across your life. It in turn affects life of people around you. The change is like a wave and the waves are invincible. 'Yoda' as he was affectionately addressed was indeed Yoda. And the Jedi in me found a mentor. The right words ignited the motivation I was searching for. I was making the necessary changes to direct my life in the right direction. The breakfast seemed more delicious that it could ever be. I avoided the escalator after months. May be it was just moments, but the spark turned into a fire and the beast within me was unchained. I went back to the path I left behind a few years ago. The way of the iron. My feeble wrists could support only a few grams during the first day of training. But the beast did the remaining work. It was hungry and the hunger could burn all the fuel I could ever find. All I could think was how isolated and unwanted my life became when I lost all hope. My enemy was within me. And when I tried to make myself stronger, it made my enemy weak. I forgot the smell of alcohol, I quit stuffing myself with poison and I avoided friends who made me weak. Within weeks I turned out to be a machine. I had my goals and I was pursuing them one at a time. When I block the negativity out of me, the light came searching for me. Good friends, great time and better opportunities came to my life. I was hunting my goals with no time to lose. I started with converting my thesis into a book, working on fresh photo essays, restarted my painting lessons and I partied in gym lifting more than ever before and consuming more clean food and protein.

Smiles revisited the faces of people who I cared for. It was not about the muscles, but I could invest more energy to focus on things that really mattered. I was healthier and that influenced my thoughts and earning capacity. Never did things turn me back. And my life was getting richer. I was in demand. I was travelling, holding lectures, completed my second Master's degree and I was clicking celebrities and models. Things went on a roll. Two years passed by so fast that I couldn't even recognize. Now I bench press my own weight. And the moment of truth. A fitness event was taking place in Bangalore and I was backstage. To my shock it was none other than Neil Hill, who was present in the venue and things came full circle. He was gentle and soft spoken, he explained the concepts, work ethics and principles, which are also applicable to life as well as fitness and bodybuilding. One need not stay forever to change a person, but a moment can change the universe. I had been heading in the right direction, but his words and experience motivated me to take steps further. I perfected the flaws that I couldn't even realize. I ate like a champion, I dreamed like a champion and I worked like a champion. I could fit in a 36 hour schedule of my previous life into my current life. While I sat at my desk completing my first work of fiction, a page at a time, I recollected the words of a mentor who may not even remember my face. "When you perfect one action it affects all other actions and spreads across your life." And so I am here a happy person.

Thank you Neil, for bringing out the champion within me.

Bangalore is known as the garden city. As the influx of population increased, the city was turning into a garbage city. Primarily due to lack of scientific and organized garbage disposal mechanism, the city was facing a crisis. Garbage is collected usually by the mornings, however most of the population in the city does not work on the basis of a specific time limit. This caused garbage to be dumped at irregular intervals and get accumulated. The presence of food and decaying elements make the situation beyond description. So far, stray dogs have been the zero cost solution to combat the rising volume of garbage and the menace of rat infestation on the city streets. If planned and organized systematically, the role of stray dogs could have been crucial in combating garbage, rat infestation and crime rates in an eco-friendly manner. 

I came across a pack of stray dogs while I worked in the offshore unit of a Hollywood post production company in Bangalore. My work schedule was hectic and often I had to wait for the cab to pick me up and drop me home at odd hours of the day. I remember a face that accompanied me during those one and a half years of my struggle. Often escorting me to the door step and chasing away strangers at 2 AM, while I wait for transportation or open and close gates after taking my vehicle out. The stray dogs are a menace that could be converted into a benefit. Most of them respond to drunkards and strangers and bark them away. These dogs are extremely territorial and they maintain their segments of territory. This could mean that each territory has its watch dogs. This comes extremely helpful in a city where crime rates are high and it gets less safe to park vehicles outdoors. They also get rid of rats that infest the city streets along with piles of garbage. It was a fascinating system within the city. However it is important to keep the population under control, since it could lead to dog fights and emergence of violent packs. Local administration and independent bodies have come up with neutering and vaccination as a solution for this crisis. Yes neutering and vaccination is a bitter pill to chew to keep the population under control, however it works in benefit of a larger population. Vaccinated and neutered dogs are left with a significant portion of their ears cut off to mark that they have completed the vaccination phase. It is done so as to make identification easier while capturing strays from the streets for rehabilitation. The process had been in place in the city for over two decades and animal rights activists had not efficiently responded against this or came up with a viable solution other than adoption drives. Bangalore is an amazing city driven by technology. However it is horrible to find disfigured dogs roaming the city whose ears are infected as a result of 'marking'. It would not be too hard for the authorities to come up with a viable solution that will solve this issue in a more humane manner.

Yes, growing population of stray dogs is a menace for any metropolis. However it is the need of the hour to thank these friends for their services. Scared and disfigured dogs roam the city and such a sight is not what Bangalore want to project to the International community. To many of Bangalore's working population who reach home late, the particular stray dogs present in the streets they live in are common faces. At the cost a biscuit or two what is offered is friendship and security to an extent. These dogs accompany civilians during their long walk from cab or while waiting for transportation at darkest hours. Cleaning the streets from rat infestation and garbage as they serve the city more than any average citizen. Bangalore is famous of its common sense approach to solve its various problems. The city stands tall among other older metros in India for its vibrant culture and attitude. The disfigured faces of these friends raise not just the question of morality but how human beings can thank their fellow beings. It is time for Bangalore to go out of the box and stand tall yet again as a glaring example.

Many a times I had wondered about the tradition of lighting lamps in Kerala tradition before auspicious occasions or in the evening. Last day I came across an article about this tradition. According to the tradition, light signifies knowledge. All our activities should be governed by the light of knowledge and dharma. By this knowledge, ignorance or darkness is dispelled and righteousness is let to prevail. Light symbolizes the beginning of awakening. The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolizes our negative tendencies and the wick, the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the negative tendencies are exhausted and replaced by positive energy. Light symbolizes the absence of darkness, grief & unhappiness. Light is considered as the source of each form of life on Earth. In darkness light is considered to be the representation of the presence of the Sun, guiding us throughout the dark. Positive energy is spread all over the house through this representation.

In life there are moments beyond the realms of language. In Portuguese they called it 'saudade': a longing for something so indefinite as to be indefinable. Love affairs, miseries of life, the way things were, people already dead, those who left and the ocean that tossed them on the shores of a different land - all things born of the soul that can only be felt. A churning in your soul that thoughts cannot put to rest. Sometimes it is better to be indefinite and unfocused. There must be empty spaces in ourselves to liberate us. Vacuums in human life that remains unexplained and undefined to complete our overflowing lifestyles. That incompleteness that defy the logical choices to attain perfection. Let life be a journey to the emptiness within. For are we are not striving to be shining examples of perfection, but only to answer our conscience.