Wedding in the Indian Space Station

It was 08:59 hours on Tuesday, January 28th 2110 and the count down for the Muhurat-30 space shuttle with the bride, Ms. Roboshree, Mr. Robokanth, the bridegroom and their parents to be launched at the exact hours of 09:00 from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Space Center (Hats off to the former Indian People’s President and indeed the Missile Man of India) started to reach the space station (ISS-1) 1 in the Indian Space Station. The ISS-1 already filled with other space shuttles, in which the invitees flew to be the viewers of the marriage. After Roboshree and Robokanth (they were the first female and male children delivered by the robot and they were named as a mark of kudos to the robot) reached the ISS-1 with their parents at 09:10 hours the visitors were allowed to enter the ISS-1. The ISS-1 was house-full even at the early hour because of the delicious menu, which was listed in the invitation itself that the Chef Robot had searched out the internet and had retrieved the recipe for olden days’ memorable dishes like idly, sambar, dosa, pongal, meduvadaa, etc. Some of the invitees of old age had a nostalgic exchange of thoughts about the taste of idly with sambar. The moment the dining hall was thrown open the receptionist robot at the gate of the dining hall checked in all the invitees waiting outside the dining hall and the invitees finishing their check-in formalities surged ahead wetting their lips for those delicious breakfast.

The Muhurtam was scheduled to be at 09:20 and the lunch will be served up by 12:00 hours and menu listed for lunch included palatable puliyogar, vegetable fried rice, Bisi Bela Bath, Vermicelli Bagala Bath, Vangi Bath, variety of raitas, pickle, fruit salads, and especially Indian mango kulfi ice cream as well, (Wow!!! What a menu of wetting lips!!!), which was something special of the robotic era and under special permission alone, it was added to the cuisine by the Chef Robot.

Muhurat-30 space shuttle with the bride, the bridegroom and their parents reached the ISS-1 in the Indian Space Station precisely at 09:10. The bride and the bridegroom went into their respective cabins and changed to traditional suits for the marriage. Roboshree looked gorgeous in her dark blue suit with the sparkling diamond jewelry and equally elegant Robokanth in his unique, ethnic wear. Exactly at 09:20, both of them gathered in front of the Matrimony Robot from the Indian Matrimonial Bureau, all details of the bride and the bridegroom were checked and cleared by that Robot previously and their wedding was unanimously approved by placing their thumb impressions in the palmtop brought by the Robot and both exchanged their wedding rings. There were claps all around and whistles hummed. The musical robot played a wedding tune, specially tuned by the great grandson of the famous Indian music director, Mr. A. R. Rehman. As Muhurat was over, the guests were waiting for that yummy lunch with kulfi ice cream and the menu was the talk of the universe for long time.

The eve of the day was further highlighted with the grand reception of the newly wedded couple and the visitors were entertained with fun-filled gala of events, like ancient barathanatyam and music delight exclusively by entertainment robots and many more fantasy-like events in which wedded pair too participated and made the event lively and fantastic. All were served with conventional whisky-based cocktail and MIDORI of melon liqueur specially brought in for wedding.

Now let us come to the finale of the wedding in the Indian Space Station. It was almost 21:00 hours and the doors of the first nite suit were controlled by a computer. The wedded couple logged in and opened the computer. After confirming their national security number, name, photo, address, thumb impression, etc., then the computer requested both of them to place orders for any other drinks or eatables and they had chosen some items from the carte given by the Chef Robot. Lastly, the computer directed the pair to key in the password for the first nite suite to be kept open. Dual user system with user name and password by the bride and the groom was applied and crosschecked by the computer and the door opened graciously at 21.15. A robot appeared promptly with the items chosen by the couple along with the instruction manual. The manual read the following, “Follow the guidelines as per the manual when the robot was in the first nite suite. Whenever you would like to have anything ordered please give a command F1 it will open and serve. Please make a note that you always remember to give a command F2 on other occasions for Heaven’s sake, only then the eyes of robot will remain firmly closed.”

LOL!!!!!!!

“Hi!! Mom!!! What’s this? Why you laughing while asleep? Are you dreaming!!!” son shook me up.

Yup!!! I simply was dragged out of the dream, maybe an aftermath of the movie, “Endiran” (Robot) previous evening at the theater.

Behind Every Smile

Behind Every Smile

Behind every smile
There is a hurting heart
Hiding out for a while
No long lasting ever

Behind every smile
There is a conk out
To evince oneself
And no longer be blue

Behind every smile
There is a tale of untruth
To be not allowed viewing
Teardrops to cry

Behind every smile
There is a grievous face
Whose own saddest thoughts
To make descending from grace

Behind every smile
There is a chronicle of lost soul
Holding back to be found
Seems of the priority

Behind every smile
There is a secret kept aside
Downing always in bosom
To be the cause of wept

Behind every smile
There is a feel of loneliness
Wishing to bid adieu
Not able to withstand

Behind every smile
There is a lost way of life
Yet masking with felicitous patch
To get through each and every day

SADAKO, THE PEACE MONUMENT

“Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me” may not only be a slogan for Sadako, Japanese toddler, but obviously for every universal peace lover.

August 6, 1945 is a day of disaster for Japan as bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki jeopardized the nation as a whole and it’s for the little girl, Sadako Sasaki in Hiroshima too. When bomb was dropped on her home city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 Sadako was as little as two years of age, seemed to be out of any ill effects after her exposure to bombing, but pitiable girl acquired ill-fated, so called atom bomb disease, leukemia ten years later. As she was seriously ill in the hospital, a friend told her about an old Japanese legend saying that if she folded 1000 origami cranes, she would be granted a wish that she would become well again. The crane is a Japanese symbol of longevity, but Sadako was able to fold six hundred and forty-four cranes before she died at her age of 12 in 1955. The remaining three hundred and fifty-six cranes were finished by her classmates so that one thousand were buried with Sadako.

A statue of Sadako with an origami crane atop of the statue was built in 1958 as a peace monument through contributions from school children in Hiroshima Peace Park in memory of Sadako and all children killed by the atom bomb. Every year on Peace Day, August 6, thousands of paper cranes are placed beneath Sadako's statue by people in remembrance of Hiroshima disaster and to express their hopes for a peaceful world. The prayer that has been incised at the base of the statue is as follows:

This is our cry,
This is our prayer;
Peace in the world.

Let us solicit and pray for peace in the world. Let our hopes come true at some point.

ANGEL @ SUICIDE GAP

Of utmost grief moments, depressed and desolated souls stuck out atop the Suicide Cliff in dilemma to end their lives, a gentle voice shattering the wind waves just as an angel whispering, "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea?" would ask.

The Angel, Don Ritchie, considered as a guardian angel living across the street from Australia's most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbor, otherwise known as “The Gap” has energized countless people away from that suicide edge for almost 50 years in his life and how wonderful, this former life insurance salesman says, to save so many and so money for the life insurance companies.

As per statics, around one person a week commits suicide there and efforts are made to build a higher fence and enhance security, but Ritchie keeps up his voluntary watch and Ritchie and Moya, his wife of 58 years were named as 2010's Citizens of the Year.
Each morning, he climbs out of bed, pads over to the bedroom window of his modest, two-stored home, and scans the cliff. If he spots anyone standing alone too close to the cliff, he hurries to their side. Ritchie once rushed over to help a man on crutches. By the time he arrived, the crutches were all that remained.

But he remains available to lend an ear, though he never tries to counsel, just gives them a warm smile, asks if they'd like to talk and invites them back to his house for tea. I am offering them an alternative, really," Ritchie says. "I always act in a friendly manner. I smile.” A smile cannot, of course, save everyone; the motivations behind suicide are too varied. But simple kindness can be surprisingly effective. Mental health professionals tell the story of a note left behind by a man who jumped off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way to the bridge, the man wrote, I will not jump.

This former Navy seaman now battles with cancer and his advancing years have taken their toll though every now and then, he looks up to scan the horizon for anyone who might need him.

He says he'll keep doing so, he says, for as long as he is here.

And when he's not?

He chuckles softly. “I imagine somebody else will come along and do what I have been doing." He gazes through the glass door to the cliff outside with a smile on his face.

Endless Search

I feel like
Cloudy sky on
Bright sunny day

I feel like
Falling leaves in
Spring not autumn

I feel like
River streamlining
Up to mountain top

I feel like
Too many closer to me
But none I have
To rest my head upon shoulder

Friendship Day

Friendship with you
I comprehend
Worthy of being
More than precious gold
Give all the love
A heart can hold

Happy Friendship Day

Brooney, Princess of My Dynasty

Brooney, Princess of My Dynasty

On a lazy Sunday eve, 4 pm. (how nice if it would be all week days as Sunday) I got up after a catnapping; humming my favorite old Tamil song, “Oho endan baby; nee vaarai endan baby” (manasukulla super singer nu ninappu!!!!!) unknowingly the affix of a new member to the Great Paalayam Dynasty (none other than my family surname). Hubby and myself got together to dine tea @ the dining table and sudden bark shook up both of us. Two handsome young men (I should say it is my son and his pal) were approaching the tea table with a cute GSD puppy. Son yelled, “mom, dad, are you okay.” “This is Bruni, (Brooney; please forgive me Mrs. Carla Bruni) my humble gift to you mummy; you love puppies (puppies always lovable as long as they are pups), so I brought for you; don’t worry; dad will look after Brooney and go for a walk with her” (to enforce weight loss for hubby and son is a medico).” This is shortly the entry of Brooney to my dynasty.

Initial days of Brooni’s childhood have seen through as though she is a princess, but days move on, my hubby starts threatening me to resign my job or else let her walk out of home. Indeed I’m being caretaker most of the time and taking her to walk on leash outside sometime is the only thing he does (often my son accommodates to go for a walk with Brooney at night).

As I was forcibly to leave my job as a quality analyst in view of soft corner in taking care of Brooney, otherwise she would be often beaten up in anger by my hubby. I informed my MD about my resignation. He exclaimed, “It is amazing and it’s unfortunate to give up a capable QA like you, Bhavani!!!!”

Meanwhile, since I have changed over to full-time caretaker of my Princess, she completed her first year last April.

Days progress in and Brooney has become center of attraction of my family and the street too. In the meantime, thanks to Brooney and my son, who is responsible for all the above I have turned out to be a doctorate in dog grooming, professional in home training, basic-off leash obedience training, and now analyzer of dog psychology (whenever I see a local breed pup in our street or outside I apparently begin to think of how it could be brought and trained up well!!!!! I just imagine that I am running after each and every pup (there might be some kind of relationship between dogs and me in the previous jenma!!!!). You know, I am preparing to start puppy kindergarten, my own URL for dog lovers and thinking of Kennel Club in our area!!!!!!).

My housemaid admires Brooney utmost as she keeps on telling, “I would like to born like our Brooney in the next Jenma” and I warn her, “Be careful, you would be beaten or leashed by the owner” since my hubby beat Brooney with stick in her early childhood in the process of taking care of her whenever I left home (probably unable to bang me).

Nevertheless, Brooney is most obedient to my hubby. She obeys most of his commands (I did train her, but credit goes to him) and he would be the happiest person with Brooney and never like to leave her alone.

I’m indeed the ball out of the court!!!!! But I am able to succeed in convincing my hubby to bring up my princess together.

In fact, I however, feel some sort of fulfillment like I have done my duty despite some setbacks.

Nothing could be simply achieved without losing something.