ramadocblog

What is your favourite memory of Bengaluru!?

The cherry blossoms lining the road looks like nature is doing a water colouring and he cherry colour is dripping on the floor and that looks so beautiful from afar!
The road which had become dry since the rain like the proverbial passenger train which was supposed to come to cantonment railway station is still delayed!

The aroma of hot hot Bennai dosa from the thindi mane or the crackle made by boondi as it is place on top of the hot bele bath!
The walks on the large lovely gardens of Lal bagh or if you are a little more posh, Cubbon park! The early morning mist which you see form your balcony and suddenly you feel you are in a hill station!

You think summer has begun and start packing away your thick blankets because it is so hot in the noon and tuck it inside the Godrej Almirah only to rush back in the night when it again becomes so cold that you cannot sleep!

You call up the AC technician to come and repair the AC and it works fine in the morning and by the time it is night you turn it off since you do not need it!

You see the latest salwar suits in Commercial Street and go from one shop to another and see so many dresses only to just have the Chats in the end of the street and leave! Of course if it is pain puri you do not forget to ask for one sookha or dry puri and act as if you have won the biggest bargain!

Then you decide to go to MG Road and Brigade Road and look out for the lates trends and designs, not to buy but to keep it in mind and buy it later from either Commercial Street or Jayanagar 4th block!

In the night you rush to the food street to taste those 99 variety dosa which after tasting a different dosa every time finally ends up tasting the same with varying degree of spice!

The day you do not take an umbrella it rains! The day you take it will neither rain nor will it be hot enough! In any case if you do feel hot you will just take the tender coconut water which should be just small to be in the lesser price bracket but still have some cream or Ganji! Getting that from the smallest coconut after drinking the sweet water is akin to getting the elixir!

Then you decide to buy a computer and rush to SP road to get the required component for your assembled computer and the only way to reach there is by walking! That was of course before you had amazon! But then the thrill of selecting your components and then it getting assembled in front of you and you getting it on is nothing compared to what you get at amazon!

The days before Netflix or Amazon when you used to rush to avenue road to get the lates DVD or CD or MP3 or the game CD and none of it was legal! Just to see one DVD having so many movies used to give you thrill! Now with countless movies and series in Netflix or Amazon you still do not have anything to watch!

One thing which remains the same in Bangalore or Bengaluru is construction! Some bridge or road or college or building is always getting built! The workers mainly from out of city or sometimes out of state will be standing in a queue o get their lunch! Their soot covered hands and face maybe adds little more flavour to the food and many times looking at them gobbling the plain rice and dal makes you wanna rush home and eat that rice and sambar which you refused to eat since it was too simple!

You know it was festival when you see the markets of Malleswaram or KR or Kailasipalayam are full of either big banana leaves or full of flowers of different kind and only then you release what to buy when!

Even approaching the Silk Board junction you do not mind the jam since then you catch up with your WhatsApp messages and call all those friends and relatives who wanted to talk to you just out of boredom and not because they were missing you! Then when they realise that there is no gossip to share the phone call gets short! Even in that if you cross the Silk Board signal in less than three signal change then you know you are going to gave a lucky day!

The ride on Pushpak when you have relatives over to show them that your are cool only to come back in the old bus saving some money! The rare auto rides of those days when by default the meter works but you have to pay one half of meter! That auto driver may be a seventh fail but his mathematical ability to calculate his fare to the last paisa will astound even Ramanujam!

Marriage season or time it is off to Commercial Street or SM silks for getting the best deals in Silk Saree and on the way getting the lunch from the Kamat hotel!
Visit to passport office means that if you finish early you can go to MTR for lunch and wait to get a seat! Your hunger would have already soared by looking at those lucky people who had already got the seat and enjoying the hot rice and sambar!

Avarekkalu season you can go anywhere and expect everything and anything to have that tasty bean! It can appear in vada, or uppuma or even in Bisi bele bath though the best combination is hot Saar with ragi mudde served only with hand! You need a special training to eat that and every house has a small wood block which is strategically placed in the corner of the table which lifts the plate only so much to soak the Mudde but not drown it completely!

Those well maintained parks with road to walk and jogs, those lights of new year and Deepawali, those big banners during temple festivals and the mad crowd at Chinnaswamy stadium or a big function at the palace ground! The destination was not important but the journey was memorable!

This is the Bangalore or Bengaluru we remember. The Bengaluru we love! The retirement paradise! The garden city! The city of malls especially Whitefield which is like new Bangalore now!

And now we are in the midst of a ravaging second wave which is not showing any mercy. The most outside friendly city in the country is now getting hit by this foreign virus. Everyone is helping everyone else! You have people arranging food and oxygen and ambulances and what not!
Helping is a genetic flaw in a typical Bangalorean!

We will survive and conquer this tsunami; all we need is time and hope.

Then all the things we like about our city we can once again enjoy!
Just for the sake one fine day we will take that toy train in cubbon park and enjoy the sights of the city in move having recovered from COVID…

Keep fighting Bengaluru, we are rooting for you…

Day 1 to five

When Minu got tested and was found positive, I knew that I will most probably be positive too! (Even in that in our house it’s ladies first! Gender equality you see!)

It’s not only because we are close but I was having mild cold. Then again I was ignoring the cold since in Bangalore everyone has some allergy and I am both the patient and doctor when it comes to allergy!

But when the body pain was more! ( A working person and someone who works out every day will have some body pain or the other!); I decided to get the testing done anyway!



Immediately I took all precautions and rushed to compete my rounds and make preparations for my absence for some time!

Then got some provisions and vegetables and medications for tiding at least one week though frankly it’s not needed as our Sandeep Vihar AWHO apartment is well equipped with protocol ans provisions!

Now don’t get ballistic on me on why I did not immediately isolate myself! I was on my way back from hospital when I got the news and in any case if contact with COVID positive patient was the deal then ever since the second wave has started, I have been diagnosing at least one to two COVID patient every day and as far as I am concerned everyone is positive unless proven otherwise. So please do take precautions like we do for every person and patient.

After that free advice and no disclosure agreement which you agree in principal lets move on with the story!

Of course the dreaded positive news came soon enough and I got a confirmation soon after by the government message and call both! Even though it was automated call, it was still nice to listen someone comfort you! I am part of COVID health volunteers and also treating doctor so it was a nice change being on the other side of the call!
We get this call everyday and we respond promptly.

Of course with two kids we had planned the isolation protocol to some extent! Many of course volunteered to take care of them but we decided we shall fight it together and take it one day at a time.

We both had got the first vaccination done and now just when we were supposed to get the second dose the positivity struck negatively!

We also got call from an automated system enquiring about our symptoms and comforting us! It’s nice when the state makes an honest effort! I know some volunteer doctor is going through the work load and trying to make time to call us! Since I had been doing that!
Have reduced calls for now and doing video and online consultation so that financial setbacks will be a little less (it will still be there but then health is wealth!)

For now we are fine with all the medication and rest. We have divided our work and room! ( Have been doing this for one year now!)
Of course it meant that we couldn’t allow dad to come and have food with us and with mom not there anymore that was the most difficult thing to do. Then again he came down and we spoke and waved at him via the balcony!

Bhabhi and bhai immediately went into elder mode and sent for ayurvedic medicines and advice on taking care of the kids! Friends also did the same! Nice to have caring people around!

We work and get little tired but otherwise we are doing ok. Will keep everyone posted once in a while and not daily since that’s boring!

Stay home stay safe and keep us in your wishes and blessings…

The best thing about Langar or going to Gurudwara is the super tasty food which is because it has been blessed by Wahe guru and this is a common phenomenon! Whenever we make food for any festival or whenever we get prasad from any temple or Gurudwara; it turns out to be so tasty!

It is interesting to note that we do not taste the food while cooking for Pooja or prasad but most of the time if you make with true devotion (read follow the instruction carefully!) then it will turn out to be tasty!

I have also believed that food or for that matter anything is in demand if the quantity made is less and you have to work for it!

Like you have to stand in a queue to get the prasad or when you see how little it is there, the craze and desire increases! It is also understood that most of the time we usually keep fast when we do puja or go to temple for any occasions! That hunger adds to the already increased desire!

Also the aroma slowly stimulates the acid secretion in the body which we call as the cephalic phase of digestion and this is dependent on many factors such as the sight, smell and your relative hunger!

Now coming to the Lungar Ka kada which for South Indians like my mom and me is a genuine rare prasad and for ages we were trying to replicate the recipe!

For an expert chef like my mom, it must have been an easy task but somehow the whole task gets some obstacle or the other!
Either it becomes too watery or too thick!
In all cases though the best thing is that the taste remains good! Of course not as good as the langar!

Then last year after a similar function we decided to make the kada! I got the best quality atta and ghee and with mom guiding from behind we set upon making the kada!

It was coming very nice and the part where we add the brown roasted atta slowly to the sugar water was really coming out well and I was constantly stirring! Then I asked mom whether we need to add Kova? She had asked me to buy and keep and so she told me to add a little.

The moment we added the kova, the whole mixture changed consistency and became hard as a rock! It had lumps now and it was impossible to cut!

Another defeat, but the taste was good nevertheless!

We looked at each other and said simultaneously in our own ways, “Next time!”

Of the many painful things to do after she passed away was to clean the place and her fridge!


There in a corner was two packets of good quality Kova…

When finally I had the mental strength to make the kada in an ode to mom, we cooked the kova first for some time and I used a filter to strain it (I had no idea who was guiding me! I just felt that I need to do this!)

Believe me, I did not even take proportions of atta and water which is very important in making Kada! And lo it came out better than ever! Guess it works only if you have a person of influence (read mom!) up there!

The tips to note are these

– Cook the kova separately with sugar and strain it so that it does not form lumps
– Keep on stirring the mixture and do not leave it for even a second
– Use lots of ghee so that it remains soft
– Use atta as per the quantity as if it gets more then the whole halwa becomes hard
– You can use little less sugar since the kova is there and also the stirring is easier!!


So this is for you mom, and as usual your representative Kashika (my daughter!) loved it!

Dhrishyam 2 not a spoiler!

What is Dhrisyam 2 about? It is just about a father who wants to protect his family no matter what which is his primary aim.

It is also a movie in which most wanted George Kutty to win (even in the second part where his apparent rise in life gets some jealous tongues wagging!). Even if many believe that the family has killed the young boy, the audience still wants him to win!

The general public though is not very kind to the survivors, till the time the family was an oppressed lot they had good public support. But when George won the first battle (read Dhrishyam 1!), he became a winner and the mother and father of the boy became the victims in the second part!

Public memory is short lived and the sympathy is immediately for the family who have lost their only son and not for the family which though escaped the prison but are still living in perpetual horror and fear. The crux here is that the problems of the winner family are known only to them while everyone can see how miserable the mother of the son is!

The way Jeetu Joseph has bought out this change in opinion is simply remarkable and an echo of the harsh reality that is life!

In real life also everyone likes the under dog! Even in a road traffic accident especially in India, the sympathy is always given to the two wheeler and not the four wheeler regardless of who is at fault!
Human behaviour is deep rooted with competition and that makes envy a vital part of the human DNA! A simple matter like friendship also follows this pattern only! You immediately have sympathy and concern for anyone who is suffering or at a loss but the moment someone tastes success then you have the fame but you will not get sympathy or concern!

No wonder why many do not advertise their achievements or many do so in the social media just to evoke this envy! The whole idea of my life is better than yours! When in fact everyone has his own share of problems which they may or may not reveal to the outside world!

Coming back to the movie you must not see the patriarchy or misogynistic attitude here because the story of a strong and intelligent father and the supposedly weak daughter or wife! It could have been any story but the final aim of the movie is to show how the weaker George kutty who in spite of his new found wealth and riches is still not powerful enough to take on an ex IG of police at least by influence! He has to then use his mind to be one step ahead of the whole team! The role could have very well been played by Meena and the tough inspector could have the father as well! Of course that is something to look for in the future movies but for now lets take the central message!

The very fact that the son was a police officer’s kid is may be the only reason that the whole department was behind solving the murder! If it was any other kid they would have long forgotten it and may not have wasted such precious time and resources to nail the culprit!
Even this proves that justice is served on a platter only to the rich and powerful!

Amidst all this everyone has conveniently forgotten that Varun was a spoilt kid who took a objectionable video and resorted to blackmail! He even hinted sexual blackmail not only to the daughter but also to the mother! In spite of knowing all this, his mother who herself is a woman does not have an iota of sympathy or guilt towards the girl whose life has been destroyed by her son one way or the other! Of course we can always argue that the girl must have been more brave and not get intimidated by Varun but that is so easy to say and write but in real life especially in a small town in Kerala is very difficult! It’s like how I always tell my patients to ignore the tinnitus and then I also add that its easy for me to say but believe you me, it is very difficult!

So all the debates aside, don’t feel guilty if you are rooting for George Kutty! You are just supporting the actual under dog and being human that’s all!

Happy viewing folks!

I hate Upma! Not what you expect when the title of this is Upma- The saviour of Mankind!; don’t get me wrong but in our house we (read mom!) used to make Upma only when there is no good food to make (read more oil based and tasty!)!

My mom just hated Upma since it was what she used to make when she had no mood to make anything else and just needed a rest from the kitchen! It was like how many make khichadi or Pongal! Also it was the dish to make when someone was ill or not well.

In Bangalore though Upma is a delicacy and the residents here are known to put every possible vegetable in the concoction and of course the humble Upma is one dish which can digest any vegetable! No other fast food dish can come accept the variety of vegetable which Upma can take! Noodles comes close but have you ever put potatoes in noodles!?; I have and if you like potatoes then you can manage but Upma can take even potato like they were good buddies!

Another reason why I hate Upma is that during my stint in Calicut medical college, there was not a single day when I had not eaten Upma! This was because it was cheap and available all the time and the most important is that it was filling and godsend for a vegetarian like me! But eating this everyday for five years will make anyone hate Upma! Another dish I hate for the same reason is peas masala! But I still vividly remember those late night visit to the cart shops where our constant guy used to make hot Upma in minutes! The way he used to fry some onions and then add the rava and masterly parcel the plate in a plantain leaf parcel! I used to eat one plate then and there and save one for later! All for less than ten rupees and we have solved the food problem for the day! But do that every other day for five odd years and it will drive you insane or at least angry over the same old Upma!!

My mother also did not like Upma because it meant that she, a great cook had made Upma! It’s like Sachin Tendulkar scoring less than 10 runs! But then she was the Sachin Tendulkar of cooking! So even her Upma was one of the most tasty Upma in the world!
She used to make that with small onion and lots of ghee and always accompanied by a chutney and tomato curry! The combination was so tasty! That was the only Upma I used to eat but mom never used to make Upma for me since she knew I don’t like Upma and no mother will give Upma to her kid normally when she is cooking something special for him or her! I make Upma only once in a blue moon but when I do it is always like my mother and luckily it normally gets over when I make it and I do not have to run behind everyone to eat it!

My dad and wife Minu are big fans of Upma though! You give them any type of Upma any time of the day and they will gobble it up happily! Minu of course makes Upma typical Kannada style Upma and in her endeavour to make up for the fact that she is making Upma she will put all the vegetables which she finds in the vicinity and she will be happy that she is making something healthy for the kids! Then come me and my daughter (who is just like my mother!) and we look at the Upma and just pretend to like that but mentally we are thinking that lets just put this in the mouth and get it over with! Just like a bitter pill we have to swallow!

Lately though I tolerate Upma since the love Upma crowd have increased and in a democracy it is always better to go with the majority!

In any emergency though Upma is your saviour! The other day when I went to have dinner with dad, he embarrassingly accepted that he did not make much food and was planning to just eat some fruit. Then I made his favourite Upma in a matter of minutes and made sure he ate with relish (he saved some for next day also so I knew that he liked it!).
In Karnataka is is always served with the sweet version called the Kesari and in Kerala it is taken with their standard banana! The combination is called Chow Chow bath and the first time I heard it I felt that it was some foreign delicacy only to see my nemesis in a different name tag! I should have anticipated this since one other time when I was dining with my friends in Calicut; I decided to try on a dish called vegetable chow chow! When it came, it was all partially cooked vegetables in big size dipped in some kind of white sauce! My friend who came with me then commented that, “I think whatever vegetables were left after cooking the biriyani they have just put like that only in the left over batter of some pakoda!”
An instant tip there my vegetarian friends in Calicut; if in doubt just stick to Panneer butter masala or tomato fry in any mixed hotel!!
Then again during my experimental phase of Bangalore Dharshini I saw a meal called Khara Bath and this I ordered with high expectations only to be served with Upma albeit with chutney and more vegetables! No matter how you coat it; the fact of the matter is that it is still Upma nothing else!

Mothers and Upma always have a connection in that if you don’t have anything to make, you can always make Upma! It is one dish which is easiest to make and very difficult to go wrong! At the end of the cooking you can always eat it no matter how it tastes since the expectation has been reduced so much! In fact Upma is a very humble dish who takes every insult thrown at it and still serves to please!

That may be the reason of it being called Upma; a combination of salt and mother. When she was there it was sweet and there was no place of Upma constantly but now since she is not there, the salty tears have been transformed into Upma…

Just before he was born he was scared of coming into this world. He could not see but only hear what’s happening around him. He was floating in water of some kind so he used all his feeling and called out to God.

“Where am I God?”

“You are in the womb of your mother my child”

“Why did you leave me alone like this! Who will take care of me now!?”

“Don’t worry my child, your mother is a form of me only! She will protect you and love you forever! And once I feel that you can manage then I will call her back to me!”

“You will ask me before you take her right?”

“Yes my child, and God thought hopefully he will stop needing her when he grows old”

The child never stopped needing his mother. Whether it was the growing days or the lonely days of school or those days in college when he would be alone and home sick. Even when he got married his love and devotion to his mother only increased! When his mother had the first attack his affection only increased.

Then after a very fulfilling life one fine day God took away his mother!

That night after crying himself to sleep he had a talk with God in his dream…

“How could you do that to me God?, you had promised that you will ask me when I don’t need her and only then you will take her! You cheated me!”

“Yes my child, I could not wait for your permission to take her,  I realised that you will always need her and you can never let her go!”

“I know but at least you could have kept her with me for some more years! She was hardly 70 when you took her! That is a very short life if you ask me!”

“Short you say!? Don’t you remember your own thoughts which you used to put in the mornings or late night!? Life must be big and not long! Your mother had a big life! She was loved by all! She had all her desires met and she was finally and truly happy! Is it not better to go on a high?!”

“But what about me!?, how will I leave without her!?”

“Her love and memories are enough for your lifetime! The love you had for her give an extra to people younger to you especially your daughter! Did you not say when she was born that she reminded of your mother?! And the respect and concern which you had for her you must give to your elders especially other mothers and daughters! And I am sure that will really make your mother happy!”

“If I had known when you will take her I would have been prepared!”

“You were prepared my child! I can take every mother anytime so make sure that you are always nice to her! You never want that last thing you said to her was rude or would have made her sad! But you should have no complaints! Even till the end you were nice to her and she was happy for you without any regrets or remorse!”

“All this is fine but still this is hard!”

“Of course it is! That only shows how much she was important to you and how much you loved her!”

He got up with a start, looked at his daughter and thought to himself, “her eyes are just like my mother!”

It is hard, but that’s life…

My first sketch after that tragic break… Of course it goes without saying that my mom was much more beautiful than my stretch…

Good night all…
God bless… Miss you mom…

Book review

Genre fictional drama

Rating-5/5 for the research and recreation of the dark times! It may not be accurate but then there is no way to confirm that! 4.5/5 for the ending! 3.5/5 for the stretch it took to reach there!

This like most of Ken’s drama book is also a big mammoth of close to 920 pages! With moderate print and smooth language it does go fast though! Great credit must go to Ken for having combined real events of dark ages and infusing them with fictional characters without altering the relative authenticity in the process! He did this best in the World trilogy and Pillars of the earth and here also he does not disappoint!!

Spoilers- None that will spoil your joy of reading a Ken!

It has always been a pleasure to read a Ken novel! He is like Sidney Sheldon of the dark time with enough spice in between to make you wanting for more! Of course in the recent times George Martin is the one author who has done so much work in fantasy fiction Game of thrones and the back story of each character is so detailed and exhaustive! No wonder with such a mountain of work he may never finish the seventh one and the sixth one will be a close call!

Coming to this one, Ken takes off where he left A column of fire though not in chronology since this one is a prequel to the Pillars of the earth which is still his best work yet. And this one does not come close to it by years!

Kudos of course to Ken for giving strong character to a female character in most his novels and this was also the pattern in many of his novels! But in the dark ages being a woman however strong willed or intelligent or skill full, you would still be abused and treated as dirt even if you are royalty! You just cannot compare those times to this since rules and regulations where non existent in those times and it was every man over woman to himself or herself!

The one thing which is consistent in all ages and book and novels is that the rich are powerful and the poor may be pious to an extent but still abused and powerless!

Since I am still in awe of Tom builder there are some references to building and builder who is in fact the main male protagonist Edgar who is a talented Boat builder who loses everything to a Viking attack (Vikings are popular nowadays!!) and then he tries to rebuild his life first as a farmer then as a builder all the time juggling with his very terrible love life which is practically only in his mind in most part of the story!

The female protagonist or the chief other player is a Norman Noblewoman Ragna who starts with a bang and in the middle of the novel becomes an abused tormented shell of herself! In one hand Ken tried to show that she was different than other girls of that age and very intelligent and in the very next moment she would do something utterly stupid even for a girl that age! She has never shown to be acting clever or prepared (except in the very end when it was ABOUT TIME!). She is finally shown to be someone who loses her heart to a utterly Macho Ealderman who is in fact married and event after event she is relegated to a corner like a timid girl from a peasant family!

You also have a righteous Monk who desperately tries to fix the right in the world around him which is difficult since no one fears god or punishments and all the sins are done with impunity! Of course it has been shown what finally happens to the sinners but then that is in the novel! In real life we have no idea!

You have an Oaf for a husband who is maybe the one eyed guy in the city of blinds who still has all the vices of a noble man or rather a MAN but has some guilty consciousness at least occasionally!

His two brothers and his mother play the role of villains quite convincingly and then it is just a soap opera of the dark ages and it is a battle of wits and power between the two teams!
Of course the curses of the dark ages at least in a fiction Nobel goes to the sinners so the most gruesome finish is reserved for them!

Of course you have the Ken dose of brutality, clever crooks, some mystery as the true identity of the highway robber!, sex is like a walk in the park for Ken and the descriptions follow that principle! And finally when all hope is lost; like a typical Ken novel you have some redemption in the ending and that really makes up for the wait! Then you feel it ended so soon only after 900 pages!

Kudos also for trying to create a feel of the dark ages, of the disparity, of the poverty, of the powerlessness of the king, of the state of slaves, of the status of women (worse than slaves sometimes!), of the state of religion especially church and other places and how even in the times of dark, money still shines bright!

Don’t miss it if you have read the Pillars of the earth series or if you are reading this first then anyway this is a prequel so don’t miss the sequels Pillars of earth, world without end and the last one columns of fire which are really good reads especially Pillars!

First family by David Baldacci

Book review

Genre- Fictional thriller

Spoilers-None that will give away the story!

Rating- 4/5 chiefly for the ending!

Whenever a regular person is given a pen or a pencil to test whether it works or not, he or she will most probably write his or her name or sign his or her name! It’s the same with the mirror! If you see a mirror while walking then you will definitely see yourself even if it is a glance!

Of course there may be exceptions and they are special and different and in the same way a book or a novel is different because as you read you tend to discover something different! That’s why we read novels or watch movies to see something or read something that we have not seen or read before!

I took a long time to read this one and this was worth it since it was a roller coaster ride with revelations which come out of no where! Just when you are lead in one direction on who the culprit is, it turns out in a way you would never expect!

The story starts with a kidnapping of the daughter of woman who gets killed in the process and then the game begins! The woman’s sister is the wife of the President of USA! Hope that got your attention! Then I did wonder why go to all that trouble and not just kidnap the president’s kid! Ponder on that for a while!

Then our home grown sleuths with a myriad of problems of their own are bought in the case as Sam is kinda close to the president’s wife! Now they must race against the FBI and the secret service to solve the case and literally put everything in danger!

Add in a little death which later becomes homicide in the side and that also takes some time to get solved with the classic misdirection! This was really better than this main case!

Then they tell you the story of a man who served in the defence whose daughter gets in to big trouble for which she suffers for years and this forms the whole premise of the kidnapping and the murder and finally revenge!

Just remember that somehow David does not like the first family especially the first man!

Of course in life you may not have happy ending but this is a novel so all’s well that ends really well and I was real content with the ending for a change!

Though the novel could have been cut short of at least a hundred pages to make it short and fast paced! Time is precious and ain’t that the truth!

Did you know that both Graphite and diamond are molecularly the same!?

You read it right! For a saint or a swami, I guess they may be the same even otherwise!

But you will be surprised to know that they both have the same atomic composition in being the form of Carbon!

But can you imagine putting a piece of graphite on your ears or nose or hang it over your neck?

Diamond is rare and is special only because it is unique, it does not care what others are which means that it is not a part of the crowd! It stands apart and shines so much so that everyone want a piece of the diamond. Plus the fact that it is one of the hardest substances known also makes it a more valuable component!

And of course you also need to consider the fact that diamonds are forever!

But unlike gold which shines even in the deep parts of the earth, Diamond needs a gem cutter, a specialist and an equally capable person to get its shine! The best diamonds have been rendered useless by a single wrong cut but with the proper cutter and shaper, a diamond can shine like the star and then some!

So even if you are a diamond you do need a good cutter or a motivator or a recogniser of talent who can carve out the shine out of a

Now diamonds are a girl’s best friend and you can see how they decorate everything with diamond and gold of course but you can never see them decorate themselves with graphite!

So what do you think is valuable?

Of course your answer is diamond only but that was till graphite was just a piece of black dust in the mud! But when Graphite was made a part of your average pencil was the day it became not only precious but sometimes more costly than diamond!

That was when it was seen in the hands of kids trying to learn a new language or any new thing! It became priceless when it was held by an author who wrote his or her first script or draft of a story which could be a runaway block buster or when it was held by an inventor or a scientist who made a pathbreaking theory or revelation!

Graphite also became precious when it was held by an artist who made a best selling sketch with black and white because those were the only colours he or she needed to make a masterpiece!!

Also graphite knows the meaning and importance of partnership and being a part of society and when it becomes a part of a group it can do a lot of things!

You can also see that graphite becomes diamond when it it under tremendous pressure and very high temperatures! So when you are under stress and heat then you can either melt or like graphite you can become diamond!!

So you can see that even if you are graphite you should not lose hope! You can still shine and even become more powerful and richer than diamond!

And if you are diamond do not assume that you will anyway shine! You have to endure the process of cutting and polishing before you can shine!

Remember that graphite can over a period of time and pressure become diamond but once you become diamond you can become dust but never graphite!

Diamond or graphite…you decide. Since there is no black or white in the world today, everything is Grey…

First of all I really liked the movie and frankly it was better than Shakuntala Devi. With all the Nepotism debates going on it is difficult to digest a movie starring the daughter of Sreedevi and Boney and also the fact that the movie does show Indian Air Force in a bad light which was unnecessary.

No spoilers in the movie and my rating is 3/5