Three minutes magic...

What can you possibly do in three minutes?
If you can cook noodles in two minutes, you can very well do more than that in three minutes.
The past Sunday, I was on a mission of finding an accommodation.
As I promised the lady that I would be there between ten to eleven, I rushed.
I got into an auto and reached the metro station. Anna Nagar West to keelkatalai bus travel was beyond imagination and the idea of going by metro upto alandur seemed a good option. Passing by Cmbt and vadapalani by road is frightening.

So, I got down from the auto and stepped on to the platform. As I was approaching the lift, I heard the announcement, "the next train to St. Thomas mount arrives in three minutes".
I didn't give much thought about it when entering the lift, but after a couple of seconds, somehow the idea of catching the train got into my head and I started to speed up.

I managed more than what I thought I could do.

So, these are the things that you can do in three minutes...
* You can rush from the elevator, cross the road and walked upto the ticket counter.
* You can bargain with the cashier for change, argue, pretend that's the only two hundred rupees note you have, and eventually get her give you the change
*You can walk upto the security check and scan yourself and your handbag.
* You can recognise the security officer who smiles at your gesture for reaching out to your bags.. while thinking of his sense of humour and his easiness with the passenger and wonder at his ability to relate and read your gesture and urgency.
* You can still reach the platform after collecting the bag, and take a deep breath when looking at the digital board displaying, "the next train reaches in one minute".

So, you can do all the above in two minutes only, precisely.

I wouldn't have been known that I could do  so much had I not tried.  You never know what you are capable of unless you try.

Not too bad, it was worth a try.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is money there is life!

I updated my whatsapp status with the above lines this morning.  I received a reply from my friend denying the status.  I have my reason and I respect her reason to deny. Aren't we all different in our understanding of the world?

Past few days, few weeks, perhaps, few years have been frustrating. Hoping in vain. Hard work, hard work, effort after effort, seem to be failing. Sometimes, you would not know why you work so much. Work without pay does not seem to equate life.  Loving your work, contributing more to the work that you love and to society can be fulfilled only when the basic necessities of life are met. At least, getting bread and butter and other essentials need to be met.

Trust me, in my circle, I am the only one. I wonder what was the grave mistake that caused me so much suffering and what can I do to fix it. I have been on the righteous path, ethically and morally good, responsible to the family and to society etc. As per the premises, if the moral righteousness is correct, I should be leading a struggle free life. But nonetheless, the world is built around different premises. If you are morally correct, you are more liable to be having financially tough life. Ethics and money do not equate with each other. They are different poles but attract few people.

Ever since I remember, I have been struggling to make both ends meet. If there is no progress in our work or in our financial condition, we should watch our behaviour. I follow my heart.  Perhaps, following your heart is not the right thing to do when it does not do any good to you. I help people.. At least, my people. I believe, helping your family is the first or the most important sign of care. Ignoring your family but focusing on the society is a hypocrisy.

But anyways, there is a lesson behind this suffering. To be more careful, to be more calculative. I am very cautious, very careful in every step that I take. I am a new me. I wish I had followed this in my early life. It's too late.

Having less or nothing is equal to dying. Luxury, survival, and living have different connotations in life. If you are unable to make the ends meet, all struggles, wisdom, knowledge and experience loses its meaning.

Trust me, Money can buy you anything.

Reading "Adultery" by Paulo Coelho

Adultery. My colleague was bewildered by looking at the book cover. I expected.  I expected mixed reactions from at least few people. Well I did not take the book to my workplace so it escaped being noticed and I escaped being judged. 

Well, I live in a society which judges everything and everyone by its cover, I mean appearance. Be it a book or a person.  And I am brought up not to care, to be bluntly, not to give a damn about it. Brought up by many things and few people. 

So, I purchased the book approximately 10 months ago, and trust me I didn't have time to read it. Seriously. I mean every sense of its word. I was busy busy and busy. Some revelation happened few days back...sort of waking up from a long slumber. I woke up or my inner self woke up to realise that there are few other things or perhaps many other things that matter in the world than what I was doing. I am sure you know what I mean!

A long slumber gives you the power to forget things and rejuvenates the self and helps you with more meaning in the world. And so it happened to me. After a short but deep nap two days back,  it was a flashing but compulsive thought to read something. While I was in the kitchen getting my coffee, my mind was busy browsing what to read and picked up Paulo Coelho.  One of his books still left unread was "Adultery". 

My introduction to Paulo Coelho was through a Tamil translation of his Zakir. The translation was so good and so smooth. The language (Tamil) and the concept took me to a different level of awareness. I purchased, (I always buy and never borrow even from a library) series of his books, read one after the other. I read them all.

As in the case of his other novels, this also talks about revelation, realisation, discovery and identification of the self. The main character of the novel is a woman, a married woman who is loving and lovable. She leads a wonderful, contented and peaceful life with the children and the husband. She is blessed with what many people do not have in life: real or fictional. However, simply because of boredom, she wants to experiment something that is different from the routine. There begins the problem. Since she lives in a closed, perfect country, not knowing what else to do, she tries to restart her relationship, eventually she did, with her school days boy friend who also has a peaceful life.  And the story goes on and on with the turns and twists, mostly unexpected, and finally the revelation comes. She realises that nothing is more important than family, the usual conventions of a married woman. And it is her husband who helps her in redemption. I can't imagine this in Indian context!

The book, of course, is not his best,  at least for the people who have read Zakir, Pilgrimage, Veronica or the Alchemist. His characterisation is similar to his previous novels. The goal or the objective, whatever you may call, is clear and the same like his previous novels. The transition and transformation is also the same, and the role of other minor characters are also similar. The novel's setting is different.  

After completing the novel, I was wondering why would the protagonist came out with boredom as the reason to for risking one's life and reputation.  When a woman commits adultery, the whole family is at stake unlike men. It is a universal phenomenon. Contrary to many stereotyped men, the husband understands her and gives her the option-to stay or to leave.  Very few characters are generous, in real life too. 

The best aspect of Paulo's writing is the style, and may also be the translator's. The way in which he takes you through the process of realisation is overwhelming. The process and the minor characters you meet in between before the destination is fantastic. However, the theme of his novels are the same with slight variation. 

Not too bad, it is a good read. But, may I not read him anymore? Don't know.