The 5k Milestone

Dear Visitors and Readers (they are different!),

This is to inform you that I have successfully crossed the 5000 visitors milestone on 22nd this month. The counter was placed on Dec 18th 2007 when my boss’ suggested me to do so (I do have a very encouraging boss). It took exactly 3 months ( March 18th ‘08) to reach 1000; what a struggle, huh ? LOL. After March, I got
introduced to this universe called blogosphere through Poonam and then after a series of ‘You comment in mine-only then I comment in yours’ sessions with
fellow bloggers, the counter in V-Lokam finally started moving. I still remember those days (not long back though) when I used to bug my colleagues through internal chat and a couple of close friends through orkut / sms /mails with URLs to my posts. Yeah, I was that desperate, LOL !!! Today, I am a happy blogger with quite a few regulars but at the same time, I also know that V-Lokam has still a long way to go in terms of its visitors and the posts. Nevertheless, even this achievement wouldn’t have been possible without you people and I take this opportunity to thank all of you, it seriously means a lot to me when I meet you guys here.

and now its time for a cliché statement, “ Though I have received a couple of valuable awards, what matters to me the most is when someone leaves their impression here
after visiting. So please, do comment and keep V-Lokam happier.”

Last but not the least, I would like to mention about a wonderful human being who kept a track of the number of visits in V-Lokam. Though I never bothered to know my visitor stats, she kept a close eye on the counter daily- literally!!! She would inform me whenever I cross the 1000’s and even take screenshots to send it across to me. Now how sweet is that !!
Thanks a lot Reeta a.k.a Reets. Your presence, here, has inspired me a lot and
has also been of great encouragement to me. And for the same reason, I dedicate
this post of V-Lokam to you. I have also enclosed all the screenshots that you
had sent me. Thanks once again.

Warm Regards,
Vimal Vijayan (Vimmuuu),
V-Lokam.

The screenshots taken by Reeta :

1000

2000

3000

4000

and finally 5000 !!!

Clicked !

Now, this is a very peculiar tag that Reema asked me to do. I am supposed to display some of my childhood snaps (a snap atleast 10 years old) that were taken without my knowledge or in other words, candid. Somehow I have never been comfortable with these tehelka kinds of shots and have always avoided when anyone tries to do that. I feel, I appear weird in all the candid shots and so I try my best to pose the moment I see someone lugging around a camera.

Well, here are three of those paparazzi moments and I believe there would be just another one or two of such lying at my native.





Bored-games!!!
This snap was taken at one of my brother’s friend’s home in Deira, Dubai. The snap shows how busy they were playing carom and look at me, as usual equally busy in my own world. I wonder (not again, huh?) what would have been in my mind at that age? ( in the picture : extreme left - my bro, extreme right - his friend, vinod)

The damn media never let me even sip my juice in peace !!!
This was taken at the then Safa Park now known as Mushrif Park, Dubai. It seems till I reached a certain age, my folks had to just mention ‘Safa Park’ and I’d be this obedient kid. Parents, I say !!! (in the picture : me and mom)
Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, na mumkin hain…..
I was in my kindergarten when this snap was taken in our Satwa residence, Dubai. You see, I was this chota Abinav in the making, but I would have been discouraged by my parents on account of my inborn violent traits. Guess what, I still play with a gun when I get hold of one; a toy gun that is !

And as a part of the tag tradition, I hereby declare my tag victims :

Aparna, Apar, Aaarti, Vinod, Pradeep, Smita, Sakhi, Vinu, Oxy, Arvind

Sorry my lord, I didnt mean to harass her !!!

Disclaimer : This is not any kind of chauvinist post and I don’t intend to offend anyone, rather take it in a light way. If you still feel that the post hurts, then I would request you to take a break or probably attend the Art of Living classes.
The above picture was taken from Alleppey-Bokharo Express.

It reads :

Harassing women passengers is a punishable offence.

Any obscene remarks, teasing, touching, stares, gestures, songs and unwanted attention are all forms of sexual violence, punishable by up to two years or a fine under section 354A, 509 and 294 under Indian Penal Code and section 145 and 152 of the Railways Act.

I happened to notice this information on my way back from the rest room; strategically placed inside the train, near the entrance. I don’t know how or why I missed this pin up before but it sure did make me think for a while about the privileges a woman enjoy. I mean, do we men have any act that is even remotely close to this??? Don’t women harass men at all? The stories would be less in number, but I am sure there are. And they claim men and women are equal. Hmmph!!! It is not that we men aren’t afraid of women. Sometimes, men are too scared to react or behave in front of a woman thinking of the consequences. There are certain women who are simply unpredictable and who get offended very easily and believe me, such women ARE dangerous. However well mannered the man is, our Indian law/society would not believe him even if the woman makes a false / misunderstood allegation. That’s not fair, is it?

I returned to my seat with those Acts, Penal Codes and the newly developed inequality feeling in my mind. There was a middle aged woman in the same compartment. Gawd, I have this habit of singing or humming constantly and now I do have to think twice before I could do so. I had to be sure that the song didn’t have bad lyrics, vulgar picturisation or an ill famed actress? Aargh!!! Or even an inappropriate situation to sing the song would be enough for me to taste the bitterness of trouble. What if she stares at me for no reason, I can’t even return the stare!! I was getting settled in my seat when my Aquafina bottle fell and landed up near her foot. Oooooops, I just harassed her; that was an unwanted attention !!!

Song : Mungaru Malaye; Movie : Mungaru Male (2007)

Well, this is going to be the first song that I am going to dedicate to someone in the blogosphere. I was waiting for an opportunity to post this love song and thats when I came across someone whos so much in lovvve that he keeps trying all possible ways to express his love through his blog. who else? our very own love struck mirror-cracked, Nikhil.

Nikhil, buddy, we wish you all the best for your love and we are all waiting for the news!!! (Please, dont hunt me if this song brings in any negative reactions!)





The lyrics can be found here.

Trivia :
Its a whole new effort from my end, I do not understand head and tail of Kannada language and I seriously dont know how my diction is. The original singer is Sonu Nigam, and I hope he has sung it with proper pronounciations as he was my only reference. So, Kannadigas, if I had mispelt any of the words making them sound offending, please pardon me.

This is the first Kannada song that I ever listened to and it was my current boss, Mr.Vijay Shankar, who referred me this song. Believe me, the music and the flow of the lyrics are so magical that I fell in love with the song the moment I heard it. A fine example of language not being a barrier for music.

To listen in a better way:

• Please wait till the entire song streams.
• Try using a headset/earphone for the overall sound clarity.

seven wonders.....

wonder what would Maneka Gandhi do when her house is filled with cockroaches, rats and worms ?
1) Buy another house
2) Call the pest control
3) Live with those creatures (well, arent those animals too????)

wonder where would Saif Ali Khan be today if Dil Chahta Hain never happened ?
1) With Amrita Singh still enjoying the glory of Yeh Dillagi and Main Khiladi Tu Anari.
2) Doing item numbers and participating in reality shows like Big Boss.
3) Waiting for Salman Khan to re-introduce him.

wonder why do certain words carry silent alphabets (for example, p in pneumonia, t in listen. aah well, there are so many !) ???
1) English is a zfunny language
2) People who coined them included their name initials
3) They actually arent silent, we are too lazy to pronounce the words with an extra alphabet.

wonder when would people find a cure for A.I.D.S. ?
1) Never
2) The sadistic Germans had already found it out in 1940's during the world war (Even Fanta was created in 1940 by the Germans) and they just wont reveal it.
3) A.I.D.S. who ???

wonder whom would Aiswarya Rai be dating now if she hadnt married Abhishek Bachchan?
1) Imran Khan
2) Himesh Reshammiya
3) Amitabh Bachchan

wonder if dinosaurs existed during Ramayana and Mahabharata?
1) No, they knew what was coming and so committed mass suicide.
2) The dinosaurs got misinterpreted as demons and rakshasas as centuries passed by.
3) They would have, if Michael Crichton tried his hands at the epics.

wonder how people would treat this post?
1) Crap, nonsense, waste of time
2) People read anything as long as it is in a blog.
3) See you in the comments section, yeyy!!

Current Favs : Sep 2 - Oct 2

8 new entries this time. Harris Jayaraj comes with a superb album, Vaaranam Aayiram after a very very long time. Yeah, but he still reuses his tunes ! I am not a Himesh listener, but two songs of Karzzzzzzzzz (Sorry, if i mispelt it) were kind of good, Lut jaaoon and Dhoom; the latter sounds more like Main Jahaan Rahoon from Namastey London and would have sounded better if any other singer tried it (Wonder why the hindu activists are keeping quiet on Himesh's Hhharrrri Ommm). The surprise song this month was the one from Horn, Ok Pleassssssss(good god, whats with these names??), another aggressive number delivered by Sunidhi Chauha like Beedi from Omkara. I am sure Oxy would go ga-ga over this song, its got Rakhi Sawant in it.

1 Mundhinam Paartheney from Vaaranam Aayiram (Tamil)
2 Tum Ho from Rock On (Hindi)
3 Mit Jaaye(Rock version) from Kidnap (Hindi)
4 Mar Jawaan from Fashion (Hindi)
5 Ek Meetha Marz from Welcome To Sajjanpur (Hindi)
6 Nathani Uthaaro from Horn Ok Pleassssssssssss (Hindi)
7 Lut Jaaon from Karzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (Hindi)
8 Taxi Taxi from Sakkarakatti (Tamil)
9 Drono Redux from Drona (Hindi)
10 Vaa Vaa En from Abhiyum Naanum (Tamil)

I just hate my forefathers !!!

It has been quite a while since I wrote something different and wow, it really feels great to come out of the never-ending series shell.

2008 according to me is one of the worst years for India in terms of deaths through terrorist attacks and communal riots. It has often made me thinking as to why people actually do this; what pleasure do they get by killing so many; what lesson are they trying to teach and most importantly whom are they trying to teach? To top it all, now, we had a stampede in Jodhpur that killed 147. If my facts are right, this is the second stampede this year at a Hindu shrine. Why is it that people are so disorganized when it comes to religion? We have processions on the road that blocks traffic, we have frequent communal riots, we still have sacrifices (humans or animals-both are uncalled for) and people queuing up until the roads to have a glimpse of their ‘God’, all in the name of religion. We donate crores on beautifying the place of worship, but the same hand shivers when asked to donate for a relief fund. Any idea on how much the annual income of the Tirupati temple is? More than 5 billion Indian Rupees. India is a developing country, huh?

Personally, I am not an idol worshipper and so I have tried my best to stay away from places that has its presence. But to wherever I have been, people, however literate they are, behave so ignorantly at these places. The public, at the religious sites, are so unruly that it is only justifiable to have a security to manage them (referring to the Guruvayoor temple in Kerala, Sabarimala in Kerala and the Tirupati-Thirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh). When Muslims and Christians can go quietly and come out the same way from their respective religious places, why on earth cant the Hindus exhibit a decent human behavior? Why is there even a specific dress code for devotees to enter the temple premises? For example, men are supposed to be topless and women are not supposed to wear anything that looks like pants (even the bottom of a salwar) when they go to Guruvayoor temple. Even more atrocious is the rule that girls aren’t supposed to enter temples when they are menstruating. If God makes women like that, why is there a resistant from his side to attend devotees that way?

All these years, I had been having high regard towards Muslims, probably because of the fact that 15 years of my life was spent in a Muslim country and also for the reason that they believe only in an ultimate power called Allah, which has no shape or form. But off late, it has been very upsetting that only Muslims were responsible for all the world’s recent terrorist’s attacks. They are degrading themselves by doing so and also by calling themselves a minority. They have that undying ‘spirit of Islam’, wherever they go and do just about anything to defend their community. Only wish they had used all these spirits for the betterment of their so- called community.

Everything seems so dignified and disciplined within Christianity, but again as I put it, the discipline is only within. There are communities among themselves who find it hard to exist with each other in harmony. It’s a fact that they have opened missionaries, charities and orphanages, but why does this section always remain adamant on converting its inmates to Christianity. Even in the schools they manage, their prayers are forced on all the students, which they easily put under the bracket ‘daily routines’. Why don’t they have a generalized pledge in their schools, which everyone could follow? And most importantly, why do they claim that theirs is the only religion and the rest are just derivatives from them?

This ranting of mine would never end here and its not that these are the only religions that has flaws, we all know what happened with the Sikh community recently. Except for the frequent festivals and riots, none of these religions even find their place in the newspapers these days for any of their activities. Do we really need these religions for our existence? Or have we created them to kill one another?

I am not against religion nor am I trying to bring out the agnostic in me. But I condemn all those who create India a difficult country to live in. These religions, which I believe, are a set of tenets aimed only at dividing the country and its people. The British back then, were smart enough in realizing this fact and they brought in the ‘Divide and Rule Policy’. Yeah, we did get divided and now it has become difficult to rule us. I hate my forefathers to have created these many religions. I seriously do !

Disclaimer : I know I must have hurt a couple of people on their religious sentiments. I am not apologetic since these are strictly my views and if anyone feels bad, it’s their own problem.

Btw, Happy birthday, oh Father of the Nation!!!