Fewer migratory birds in Delhi

This news article prompted me to sketch again..

Of course to do something about it we have to first, care :(

The Nation Wants to Know

Oh so many things to say about our beloved Times Now anchor (hero) Arnab Goswami... So young, so passionate, so... LOUD....

...also my first cartoon done on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 while charging the electric car.

Capital Pollution

The few times that I have visited Delhi, I have always ended up spotting at least one incident of road-side tire burning. The capital city of India is ranked the worst among 1600 cities in air pollution!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Quality_in_Delhi
But I remain hopeful...

Do teens shy from Facebook?

My guru from whom I learn violin has a teenage student. An American born boy of Indian origin. While some might call him an ABCD, I would never even dream of calling him so. That is because he may be an American born but he is by no means a confused desi! I call him the "vidwan payyan". Not just because he has already rendered a full fledged vocal concert with my astonishingly astute guru sitting in the first row, but because he can memorize an entire page filled with complex swarms in a couple of minutes and play it sweetly on the violin, a feat I seriously doubt even hard-core vidwans in Chennai circles can accomplish.

One day the vidwan payyan's father had come to one of our joint classes. He told me and my guru that it took the boy five full years to accept his own father's friend request on Facebook. This set me thinking… Is it that to some of the younger folks of today, Facebook no longer seems to appeal as a cool thing. If so, why? Is it because they see everyone from their grandparents to their uncles and aunts on Facebook, and that well, restricts precious teenage privacy that teenagers seem to need in large quantities?

So, here is my cartoon take on the subject.

As I read my own post, I suddenly felt very very old! Can't believe I actually typed "younger folks of today"  as if that did not include me! Aaaaaaa!! That is a scary thought!

Well, let me just end this post in the hope that times like these never go away, and things like Facebook continue to be popular for centuries to come among people of all ages.

Merry Christmas :)

Kids These Days!

Too many things have happened since my last blog post. So I thought of ending the hiatus with my newest hobby...

…..After all a picture is worth a thousand words right?

:)

Opposites vs Likes: The Story of Kukoo

Kukoo was our neighbor's cat when I was at Mountain View. She had thick, furry coat which was fully black in color. Her eyes were florescent green with narrow slits. If she looked at you from the dark, you would only see two ghostly bright dots suspended in mid-air. Curiosity was her mantra. She would want to explore everything from tree branches to random patios in our apartment complex. If you left the door only slightly open she would promptly run and place her paw in the opening as if she forgot the keys and does not want to see the house locked! She loved to chase. From squirrels to laser dots to shadows cast by the evening lamp on the floor, Kukoo would chase anything and everything. The only other thing she loved more was probably milk. She could lap up huge quantities in no time. Once done she would ritualistically lick her paw and rub it over her eyes and pointy ears, then followed by a long stretch and perhaps, a nice nap. Oh Kukoo loved to nap - be it afternoons or mornings, she had the power to sleep-at-will!

-------- *    * --------

Now like Kukoo, I too love to nap in the afternoon, am very curious about a lot of things and enjoy that glass of chocolate milk, but my first meeting with her was hardly very pleasant... It was one evening when I came home from work, did I notice two spots of green light suspended mid-air in our dark patio. Curiosity drove me to go near. But as I gently extended my arm toward the dots, a quick prick of her attacking paw scratched my hand sending sharp pain a few seconds later! My eyes got adjusted to the dark just as I saw Kukoo's swishing tail disappear into the neighboring patio. For a few days after that, I kept as far away from that rude feline as possible!

-------  ( At First, Likes Repel ) -------

---- ^  ^ ----

Now, Kukoo had a master and a mistress - our neighbors. An irritable white guy in the late thirties and this chain-smoking, obese female whose hip was as indistinguishable from her waist as her neck was from her chin! Both were probably as close minded, boring individuals as one can get. They always bought the same canned food, the same bread and same brand of beer from the same shop, week after week. They were the type who would not come out to watch even if Britney Spears was doing a 'special' performance in their patio. Yet Kukoo was, at one time, simply smitten by them. She would rub her back on the guy's legs as if they were scratching poles, as he stopped to pick up mail. She would roll on her back as her mistress took puff after puff from her obnoxious stick of death. The couple never bought milk and probably hated afternoon naps, going by the long hours of solitaire the lady could be seen playing until sun down. Yet Kukoo was, so effortlessly, their cat!

--------  ( At First, Opposites Attract ! ) --------

---- * * ----

Unless witnessed first hand, no one would believe that there was abuse. One evening, Kukoo was outside my patio when I saw through the closed glass door (she was still that rude feline to me then)... Right on the tiny depression on her neck, immediately below her head, where were a few brown spots revealing small circular gaps in her otherwise smooth fur. Just out of curiosity I bent to take a look through the glass. Kukoo was busy trying to grab the moving curtain on my side of the glass. At first it looked like someone had tried to give her a bad haircut, but when I got a clearer look, I saw what seemed like grey ash in that cavity! Only then it dawned on me what those brown spots could have been made by - cigarette marks that had burnt their way right unto her skin! Cat fur is flammable but fortunately it looked like the smoking mistress had been careful in using her live ash tray to extinguish and not to inflame! I was shocked, and thought it was someone else, but having seen the lady mercilessly shove away Kukoo when she came too close to her laptop while she was playing Solitaire, with her cigarette, it pretty clear who could be doing it. I carefully looked up CA laws on animal abuse, and the next afternoon mustered just enough courage to have a "short chat" with the mistress. She denied it completely, of course, but from the look of pure terror in her eyes I could clearly see that she neither expected it nor was very prepared. I think I drove home the point well enough. Something about the cat seemed to irk her masters for sure but I never found out what or why. I could also see that Kukoo only relied on them for nourishment and really nothing more!

--------  ( Later, Opposites Regretfully Repel ! ) --------

---- * * ----

Whatever dislike I had for Kukoo vanished quickly - one such evening when Kukoo was busy chasing the curtain on my side of the glass, I got a saucepan and poured a little milk onto it and slowly opened the glass door. Kukoo took a few steps away as if to run off, but as I kept the saucepan down, she turned around curiously to see what this nut-case neighbor is up to. Then slowly, as I stepped away, she came forward, smelled the pan, took one good long look at me, and began to lap up the milk. I waited patiently till she was done with her paw lick routine. But as I bent down to examine her wound - she took off with a sudden noiseless jump. It took many such drinks breaks before Kukoo and I became friends. But soon enough, I became one of the fewest in the world who was allowed to stroke her fur or play chase-the-shadow games! I kept a close watch on the wound on her neck - fortunately it never freshened or worsened... perhaps my talk was still ringing in her ears or maybe she just bought a real ash tray. I did not care, Kukoo was ok and I was happy! Ours became a rare bond of friendship and true trust.

--------  ( Later, Likes Bond Beautifully ! ) --------

---- * * ----

I relocated to Foster City soon later and had to bid Kukoo farewell. The last few times that I spent with Kukoo were very different though - Through her narrow slit eyes, she would often give me this dark look every now and then. It was as if she had already heard of my plans to relocate. Her look would seem to ask me, "Hey do you really need to leave?!" Sometimes she wouldn't even play chase-the-shadow with me. It was as if she wanted to make the parting process easier. But then the day dawned and I had to tell Kukoo my last goodbye.

I never really went back to Mountain View and never saw Kukoo ever since, but her deep slit eyes converse with me in my dreams some nights even today....

Kukoo:  You aren't coming back are you?

Backbencher: I am soo terribly sorry Kukoo but most likely not.

Kukoo: Who am I to play with then - the grumpy old hag with the fire-stick?

Backbencher: She hasn't burned you again, has she?

Kukoo: No, uses her glass bowl instead, but they aren't very fun to play with.

Backbencher: Thank Goodness... but why do they hate you, Kukoo?

Kukoo: It's not hate, it is just that my masters and I are so different that there is a lot of friction!

Backbencher: Why did they pick you in the first place then?

Kukoo: Haha because Opposites first attract, silly.. haven't you heard people say they FELL in love?

Backbencher: Yes, all the time, what's wrong in that?

Kukoo: Well, if it is so cool, why fall? why not RISE in love?

Backbencher: I lost you there Kukoo...

Kukoo: It's simple, it is in our basic nature to be attracted to folks of opposite gender who are very different from us. How many stories have we heard of the religious tam-bram girl eloping with a tall ruffian on a motorbike!

Backbencher: So are you saying that is bad?

Kukoo: Well, the trouble is opposites first attract then soon enough the differences in personality are what start causing friction and arguments and fights and all that.

Backbencher: Why don't people pick like minded partners then?

Kukoo: Because unfortunately like minded folks of opposite gender might tend to compare and compete with each other at first and repel! When has the class topper girl eloped with another topper guy?

Backbencher: Oh Yeah you Scratched me at first didn't you?!

Kukoo: Hehe, sorry about that, but my point precisely. See I couldn't bare to meet another clown as curious as me!

Backbencher: You know I see your point, its all over the movies too... Have you watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Jane Tu Ya Jane Na or My Best Friend's Wedding or When Harry Met Sally..

Kukoo (a little offended): I am a cat and cats aren't allowed to watch movies, Silly!

Backbencher: Oh sorry, but all these movies talk about how friends seldom fall in love from the beginning.

Kukoo: Well, yes, your most compatible partner might just be your buddy, but it does take some amount of maturity and wisdom to see the truth in this.

Backbencher: Shouldn't we do something about this?

Kukoo: Yea why don't you go and blog while I have a squirrel to chase...

Backbencher: I miss you Kukoo...

....but Kukoo was gone already!

Happy New Year Folks!

An Ink called Adrenaline

My Scariest Dance
Cast upon a role, I had not foreseen,
by a missing Oracle Diwali queen,
I became main lead organizer...
         ...of this year's annual routine!

I did what I could to my very best -
Passed the big choreographer quest,
Dances, Acoustics, all issues addressed.
Shot short films in a team with real zest...
even got out my violin from its tiny rest..
then decided to fill in as a dancer...
                          .....for the big fest!

Dry run, Dress rehearsal they all went well..
Enthusiasm was building folks could tell
Then,
Oct 21st 2011, 2pm - many folks gathered ...
                   .... as the crowd began to swell!

Violin, Dance, Films all went good,
as per plan, as they should,
but just before my biggest dance began...
                         ...in shock I stood...

At first, my costume's pant felt a little loose,
But I pinned it to the undie and tried to spruce,
But only then I realized, it may be no use!

The pant is still going to drop, You Deuce!!

Munni Badnaam Hui was the bollywood number
Palpable Gymnophobia I could not encumber,
Shit I am gonna go nude, 1500 people ...
                           ...are gonna see the lumber!

Adrenaline is such a good ink,

memories etched with it never ever sink!

even bigger things are forgotten in a wink,

but such memories can stay pink in every blink!

Good good karma, is but useful to befriend!
I would highly highly recommend -
it came to my rescue, it did defend!

Even as my mouth went, very very dry,
my own choreography, I managed to apply
pulled up my pant, in the dance, on the fly
and kept it from sliding down, the bare, naked thigh...
....Aaand at long last, the music did die
I thanked the heavens up at the sky!

I lived to tell the tale as a very..
                        ....thankful, decent guy ;)