Why not Gandhian principles?

Posted by P U Krishnan

May 16

Even as science and technology are moving apace, creating one miracle after the other, several countries in this world are facing internal problems which crop up in one form or the other. Austerity drive, unemployment problems, price hikes, student unrest etc are the main issues which bedevil the governments of these countries.
Though the method of tackling these problems differ from country to country, the people who seek immediate solutions for the problems faced by them behave more or less similarly. Blocking roads and vandalizing government properties are the main weapons.
When people face problems and the authorities concerned turn a deaf ear to their protests, they may have to resort to some drastic steps but when they become violent and destructive, they are not only crossing limits but are also doing something detrimental to a quick solution.
The best way to seek a favorable solution is to follow the Gandhian principles which are more effective than the ones followed by these protesters.

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Filed under: Facts and Fiction, Humor, P U Krishnan, Politics in India, Strikes and Protests

A wild guess indeed!

Posted by P U Krishnan

May 10

When one’s body and mind are reluctant to go out for an evening walk, one’s only option is to sit at home, blaming the weather. But, rain or shine, the very same body and mind succumb to the inner call, at times! And, off you go to have a glimpse of the outside world, preferably to areas where nature is company enough for you.
On such days when your reluctant body and mind repeat the age old mantra, “Home, sweet home”, you spend your time watching TV shows…..film songs and jokes, of which some are worth watching umpteen times.
But, the other day, I happened to watch a comedy program conducted by a TV channel. The subject was an interview for a couple of jobs in government run transport department. The sting was very clear but the spectators burst into laughter. The comedy was a worth seeing but not more than once or twice. Yet, I watched it several times on the ipad with the sole purpose of taking a close look at one of the spectators who reminded me of my college days. After several looks, I came to the conclusion that he looked exactly like one of my class mates. May be this chap is my friend’s son….No, I don’t want to make a wild guess; but his smiles…

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Filed under: Humor, In real life, P U Krishnan, seasons, Television, Vancouver

Back again!

Posted by P U Krishnan

Apr 29

“Rain rain, go away come again another day…” The rain seemed to respond favorably to this prayer from all and sundry. By 6 ‘o’ clock in the evening, the rain was back to the pavilion but dark clouds were still there, may be waiting for a strong wind to carry them to some other destination where they could spend the night, undisturbed by such prayers! Anyway, we heaved a sigh of relief.
When we woke up the next morning, all our hopes vanished into thin air. The rain, accompanied by dark clouds was back again with a song, “I missed you guys, I missed you guys. Nice to meet you again.” It could be friendly warning that your prayers won’t work this morning.
The inconvenience, notwithstanding, the rain has its own charm and when it is not too harsh, its presence is ideal for window shopping.

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Filed under: P U Krishnan, Short Stories, Vancouver

Beware of Reckless Promises and Misrepresentations

Posted by P U Krishnan

Apr 22

Though the democracies the world over have distanced themselves from the worn out definition: “By the people, of the people and for the people,” every party knows how to brand some people, no matter how well-off they are, as “poor and downtrodden”. They, in turn, corner a large chunk of benefits under the garb of “poor and downtrodden”. On the eve of general elections, the ruling parties are at the receiving end, mainly because the main opposition parties come out with a list of unfulfilled promises or price hikes of certain items for which no one in the country could be held responsible.

Most of the political parties act in a unique way when they are in opposition and struggle when they are in power, to overcome several stumbling blocks created by themselves.

Since all these problems are the result of reckless promises or baseless criticisms, we need a new force of patriotic intellectuals who are apolitical and watchful, to tell the common man the consequences of reckless promises and baseless criticisms made by the politicians to capture power. Politicians who mislead the innocent people whenever there is a price hike, especially petroleum products, should be exposed so that they won’t take advantage of such problems. The victory or defeat of all political parties must solely be based on their basic policies and performance.

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Filed under: Elections, Facts and Fiction, Issues in India, Ooty, P U Krishnan, People, Politics in India, Strikes and Protests

Afforestation, need of the hour

Posted by P U Krishnan

Apr 14

With sky scrapers in every nook and corner and lines of single and double storey buildings in between, and a steady flow of cars and buses along the wide main roads and the connecting subways which run criss-cross, Vancouver is as big as any modern city. But, one also gets a glimpse of what is in store for those who would like to spend an hour or two in the evening, completely free from the din and bustle of the city. Such people won’t be disappointed, for there are parks here and there as one proceeds aimlessly along the subways… they look more like mini forests rather than parks. The environment in these ‘mini forests’ are such that it takes you back to the distant past when human beings lived in forests, fully focused on a life style which would protect them from wild animals. Their priority was of course, food, shelter and clothing and towards this end, they began to expand and own the lands occupied by them and, as we all know, their lifestyle changed beyond recognition. In due course, forests were few and far between. Trees gave way to buildings, buildings all over. But still, the life styles of their ancestors kept on haunting them and the result was parks and afforestation! May this spirit take root all over the world.

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Filed under: P U Krishnan, People, Vancouver

Peaceful co-existence

Posted by P U Krishnan

Apr 6

I was half asleep when I saw the “full moon”. But, in a jiffy I became alert and asked myself, “full moon on a new moon day?”. The bus in which I was travelling took a U turn and the moon or sun disappeared from the scene. What I saw was a setting sun which I looked smaller or rather, just as big as a full moon! The Why and How about the unusual size of the sun had something to do with Netherlands where I had been recently for a month.

On bright and sunny days, rare though, Netherlands like any other European countries is pleasant and glamorous and one is tempted to go out for a walk, enjoying the beauty of canals across meadows and trees. A wide variety of birds ranging from wild ducks to pigeons could be seen here and there, but some of them see us as intruders and make strange sounds to warn us!

The country has all the ultra-modern facilities but not at the expense of old world charms. They have art galleries and museums and gigantic gardens.

An interesting incident took place while I was chatting with my folks over a cup of coffee at a restaurant. A young lady who introduced herself as a journalist asked us several interesting questions about our visit to Netherlands and what impressed us the most. She made us so comfortable and happy that we felt that this was one of the interesting parts of our visit to the Netherlands.

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Filed under: Europe, Facts and Fiction, Groningen, Humor, In real life, Netherlands

Be happy with thy better half!

Posted by P U Krishnan

Mar 24

I get the taste of his appreciations regularly in his own inimitable style. I look forward to his morale boosting pieces and very often he seemed to ask me “what next?” and without wasting time, I come out with my next stuff.

Now that he has come out of his single-blessedness, his better half must be doubly happy to be with him in the queen of hill stations.

Good luck to the happy couple.

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Filed under: Facts and Fiction, Humor, In real life, Ooty, P U Krishnan, People

Certain mental distractions!

Posted by P U Krishnan

Mar 18

When one reads a novel or a short story, one is reminded of some real-life incidents, at times, and the eyes refuse to move further till the mind gives the green signal! But, the mind itself has two sides… the impatient one which says, “Yeah, I got it” and the one which says “not even a distant cousin…”

Anyway, when the train stopped at the next station, the young man who seemed to be restless all along told his wife “Let us get down here” and the wife reluctantly followed him. Another young man who was sitting in the same row with his wife burst into laughter and told her “Your former lover seems to be guilty…He kept you waiting and you believed him till I convinced you.” The wife simply smiled and said, “And your former lover seems to have an eye on you even now… I was eager to hear more about their story but they changed the topic” and it was time for me to get down!

The novel I was reading had no such incidents but somehow, this brief incidents flashed across my mind when I was half-way through that novel!

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Filed under: Domestic, Facts and Fiction, Humor, In real life, Ooty, P U Krishnan, People, Short Stories, Travel

A noble gesture indeed

Posted by P U Krishnan

Mar 5

India is a land of festivals. Some are common to all states, some restricted to certain states. In Kerala, where we were born and brought up, we celebrated almost all festivals but as far as children were concerned, they looked forward to Vishu, Onam and Deepavali, mainly because they were free from the clutches of homeworks and other school-related botherations in view of the holidays. In our native town, Vishu has an edge over other festivals because of the week-long temple festivals enriched by the presence of four or five elephants which were the center of attraction.

Onam was a ten-day long affair… a bit expensive for the parents as it involved the purchase of new clothes, not only for the family members but also for maid servants and their kids. But, for us (the children) it was a game of flowers of all shapes and colours.

I have only a dim recollection of those good old days and those festivals at regular intervals. But one… just one is still fresh in my memory. On the eve of the 10th day of the Onam festivals we were busy collecting flowers from nearby bushes and temple compounds. The responsibility of collecting flowers was entrusted to me and my younger brother because the elder one had to lend a helping hand to mother who was busy preparing certain delicious sweets and snacks.

Our baskets were full but we were still hunting for those dark red flowers which were a must for the proposed design which would decorate the courtyard. Knowing our predicament, our maid servant instructed her son who was my age to help us. He was too happy to help us that he ran to a palatial house, not far off from our area. We saw him squeezing himself through a narrow gap between the huge gate and what looked like a fence. Thereafter we could not see him. After 10 minutes or so, we saw him running, basket in hand, but chased by an elderly person. “It seems he has stolen those flowers”, my younger brother said. I too had the same doubt. We went home without waiting for the boy, but he followed us and placed the basket full of red flowers on the courtyard and said, “I didn’t have to pluck all these flowers. I was scared when I saw the Thampuran (Master of the house)”. But he chased me to handover a bunch of red flowers and said “It is meant for those boys – I knew they were in need of these red flowers”.

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Filed under: Facts and Fiction, Humor, In real life, P U Krishnan, Short Stories

When childhood days were longer!

Posted by P U Krishnan

Mar 3

Even when one brings up one’s children, one’s own childhood days bounce back… the memories of those days, of course! Now-a-days, childhood days are limited to three years. Thereafter, it is LKG, UKG and the more tiresome first standard. As far as my generation was concerned, there were no such things as LKG and UKG and we were as free as mountain winds till we were five years’ old, howsoever tough the parents were. As far as my parents were concerned, they were not very strict, though they had an eye on us even as they were immersed in their day to day works… our father with his official work and our mom busy in the kitchen. Father raised his voice when we went noisy now and then; but our mom used to tell us stories and some jokes after supper when father was immersed in his official work even after the office hours. When we (me and my younger brother) went out of control on certain days, she used to threaten us by saying that we would be sent to school!

My 5th birthday was fast approaching and it coincided with the arrival of our eldest brother who was living with our maternal grandparents. He used to visit us during his school holidays; and he was given a VIP treatment every time.

In those days, school admissions were not a problem at all. All that had to be done was to take the child to the school with an application stating the age and the names of the child and its father or guardian. Our mom told my brother to take me to school in connection with my admission to the first standard and my brother responded with a “Sure, sure let him go to school”.

But, on our way to school he noticed that I was not happy. Luckily, it so happened that he too was not happy. “We are not going to school, OK? We’ll go to the beach instead”, he said. I did not know how we would convince our mom. We were back home by 11’ O Clock.

On seeing me with him, our mom asked, “What happened?” His reply surprised me. “Mom, the head mistress says, “He is only 5 years old and he’ll have to wait till next year”. My mother was convinced and I jumped for joy because my childhood days got extended by one year!

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Filed under: Humor, In real life, P U Krishnan
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