Veeranin Thai

Anru, manne nee en kann aanaai
Inru piragu, en kanne nee mann aanaai

Unnudan sera oru naal naanum mann aaven
Piragu unnai sumakka naan meendum penn aaven

Anru varai kaathiru en Kanne
En Kannai unnidum oppadaikiren Manne

Meendum oru janmatthil nee en aavaaio Kanna?
Indha janmam pol indha mannai kapaaio Manna?

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

A Hero's Mother

Once, Oh clod of earth, you became my dearest
Today, my dearest, you have returned as earth

One day, I too will become earth to join you, my son
Then to bear you once more, I will again become a woman

Wait until then my darling
Oh Earth, I am giving you my dear for safekeeping

In another life, will you be mine?
what will you be, my sweetheart?
Like in this life, to protect this land,
My hero, will you do your part?
Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

An Engineer's Philosophical Musings - 2: Quantum Life

At all times, there exists potential for almost infinite possibilities and their probabilities. Our choices and actions cause everything to collapse into a certain reality with new potential for newer, almost infinite possibilities and their probabilities.

Life is indeed like quantum physics...

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

An Engineer's Philosophical Musings-1: Photons And Electrons

All that we can ever see and almost all that we can ever sense directly - touch, feel, taste, hear or smell, are photons and electrons or their interplay.

Comments? 

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

It Is Important To Do Unimportant Things

Life is about - Everything! 

Experience as much as you can. The important things will always find most of your time and seek even more.
It is important to devote some time (albeit just a little) to unimportant things.

Copyright (c) and Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Knowledge vs Wisdom

Knowledge comes from teachers and books (or the Internet), Wisdom comes from pain.

Most knowledge comes to us second-hand, most wisdom comes first-hand.








Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved.

Depends On The Situation

It is important to judge situations and contexts properly - the wisest course of action in one can be utterly foolish in another.

The weak are not always right and the strong are not always wrong. Often people are weak or strong for valid reasons.


Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved.

Ever Hopeful Man

It is in the nature of man to be ever hopeful. It is in the nature of woman to keep him in that state.

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved.

Silence of the Wise and the Foolish

While they may sound exactly the same, the silence of the wise is very different from the silence of the foolish. 


Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved.

Does Artificial Intelligence Lead To Natural Stupidity?

We have let machines take over so much of the best of human skills. We have lost many essential survival skills on the average. Now at the last frontier - thinking!
Will more Artificial Intelligence lead to less natural intelligence on the average?
There seems an over abundance of knowledge and a shortage of wisdom in our society...

 Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Happiness And Misery Friends and Enemies

Enjoying the happiness of our friends and the misery of our enemies is easy and comes naturally.
Tolerating the misery and misfortunes of our friends and the happiness or good fortune of our enemies is hard and has to be learned.

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

The Marks Of Civilization

"The civilization of a culture or people is to be measured less by slurping or burping while eating or chewing food with one's mouth not fully closed and more by support for policies of apartheid, slavery, racism or bombing of unseen millions of innocents.
It can also be measured by littering, standing in line, awaiting one's turn, crossing the road at zebra crossings at the correct traffic signal, slowing down for children and the aged, not offering or accepting bribes at the drop of a hat, not playing music loudly or praying too loud to disturb one's neighbours, treating all honest work and workers with respect."

This is what I attempt to convey to my teenage kids. It is sometimes hard raising children of Indian origin in a Western culture. 


Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Sorry! I Did Not Recognise You...

This is based on a real life story I heard at an office party. I was young and working in my first job in India. I and my peers were sitting with a group of engineers who were senior to us. We, the fresh graduates looked up to them. Many of them had travelled abroad, studied or lived overseas in various countries and often regaled us with often interesting or memorable stories about life overseas - in the USA, Germany, Japan and Europe. We youngsters listened to these stories with interest, hoping one day to also visit far away places atleast on a valid excuse of work or study. Stories and descriptions of the places, people, lifestyles and food found in foreign nations were always of great interest to all and office parties or gatherings were very fun and entertaining. Looking back after all these years, this story was a classic that I can never forget. I hope I can do justice in re-telling this.

The original storytellers, A and S, did a fabulous job! They were both electronics engineers who had gone to The Netherlands to train with the famous company 'Philips' as part of an internship program from their universities on a scholarship. They had been classmates selected to go together, had flown together, rented an apartment together. They managed a kitchen, cooked and shopped together. They stayed there about an year. The two Indians would get ready and set out to work together each morning and return together.  Apparently, they arrived in autumn while it was cool in the evenings and night, but pleasantly warm in the afternoon if the sun was out.

"I remember the first time we met our next door neighbours - a  young Dutch couple, they both had no clothes on! " said A.
That immediately caught the attention of all us listening.

"We had rented a town-house in a duplex, with a small lawn in the front and backyard with a hedge running around it. We had not seen very much of our next door neighbours who were not in for the first few weeks. Moreover, we worked different hours. One weekend afternoon, as we went to put out some clothes to dry in the afternoon sun in the backyard, we heard someone calling and greeting us across the hedge we shared with the house next door," said S.

"We did not see them initially, and both went over to the hedged and looked over. We saw this couple who were sunning themselves on reclining lawn chairs, facing the sun, not a stitch of clothing on them. They each wore just a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses and had some drinks set next to them. They turned their head towards us smiled and waved Hello," said A.

"We strived to keep our jaws from dropping and regain our composure but managed to greet them - "Nice to meet you!"" I managed to say," said S.

"They invited us over for a drink and we were not sure if we should go over dressed or undressed," joked A.

"They were a friendly couple and the woman was definitely very good looking and shapely too!" remembered S, smiling.

"Its not big deal there in Europe. They go nude in the sun in summer or winter. It is perfectly normal in many places. Grown-ups and kids alike," said S.

Some of  the senior managers in our group who had also been there nodded, smiling. For a moment, it seemed like that was the end of the story.

"What happened then?" blurted out one of my peers.

Everyone laughed. A sudden gleam came over A's eyes. He and S exchanged glances.

"Well, we did go over, they offered us a drink. We had our drinks and chatted a bit carefully making eye-contact and maintaining it!" said A.

"They were curious about India and had planned to visit the Taj Mahal sometime and visit a few places of interest. And that was that!" said S still smiling.

We all laughed again and then as it quietened down, A and S continued to smile at each other.

"Should we tell them more?" A asked.

We were all ears, immediately. There surely must be something more interesting to this story.

S looked at us, then over at A and nodded, "Yes, all the way to the end!"

 We saw a couple of the senior managers look at each other and wink and suppress smiles. These two had apparently told this story a few times before and they had all of us hooked now.

"Well, we used to regularly see each and greet each other across the hedge most sunny days. We both made sure our clothes were sun-dried whenever possible. Sometimes we were asked over for a drink and other times, we took over something we had cooked. They enjoyed eating our Indian food and attempts at cooking some local recipes too. They were both always together and always naked. Apparently, they worked together at a hospital and they owned just one car between them. They were away most nights," said S.

A continued:

"We two were very busy with our work and learning as well. We made many other friends at work and a few around town. Every weekend we would go shopping for groceries at a market nearby and carry our stuff in big bags. We bought only as much as we could carry and it worked out well as we took the local bus to and from our place. Sometimes we were a bit overladen. One winter weekend, as we stumbled out from the market, I tripped near the exit, one of the bags slipped and fell down near the entrance and in trying to retrieve it, more slipped and fell in a heap. Some of the people around us looked to help. A Dutch couple in their warm winter coats, hats and scarves came over, asked us to stand up. They patiently picked up the fallen stuff, put them back in the bags and handed our bags one by one as we stood like coat racks. The man held the last one as I tried to grab it between my two fingers.

"Thank you very much! We should be OK now!" I said.

Suddenly the man just pulled back still holding the last bag as he looked at the woman and then towards me.

"Can we give you a ride home?" he asked.

"Oh, no! That is kind of you to offer! But we are just headed to the bus stop over there. I think we can manage after that. We live close to our bus stop. Thank you again, very much!" I said.

"But it is really no trouble A. We are headed home too!" said the woman.

Suddenly, it hit us! How did these two know our names?!! It seemed puzzling..

We looked intently and the two laughed, "Oh! Did you not recognise us?!!"

Yes, they were our neighbours!!

Sheepishly, I blurted out,"Oh! Yes! I am sorry. I did not recognise you both with your clothes on!"

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Fork of Fate Stories - Seeing In Love

"If we take the other fork in the road, we might end up somewhere totally different!
We all create the forks in the road of fate that is our life."

This is first in a series of such stories that show forks in fate and the destinations they lead to. See if you can spot the fork in the road of fate.

Fork 1:

They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .

They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.."  or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".

"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and  _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.

To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.

They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.

There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.

Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.

"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.

She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"

Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.

"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.

Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.

"You must be tired, dear!  Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.

"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."

Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.

"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.

"I was too busy, darling! I could not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail. That's how it is with business often," she seemed to sense his reproach and put him back on the defensive quickly with a slight testiness to her voice. He started feeling a bit guilty.

"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me.  I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but dripping honey.

Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.

The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.

Ten years later....

He sat down on the steps of the courthouse, bitter, angry and hurt. It had been an acrimonious divorce. It would be difficult for him to trust anyone for a long time, mostly himself and his own judgement. How could he not have seen such a terrible, ugly side to her for so long? His life was a mess and so were the lives of their three children. He would have to somehow pull himself up and get on with life, at least for the sake of the little ones. He had to learn to be wiser and happy in the future, to show his kids it was possible. The toughest struggle had just begun...


Fork 2:

They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .

They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.."  or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".

"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and  _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.

To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.

They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.

There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.

Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.

"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.

She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"

Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.

"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.

Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.

"You must be tired, dear!  Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.

"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."

Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.

"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.

" Oh, darling!  You were worried about me? I did not realize that. I am sorry. I was too busy. I did not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail so I just put it off. That's how I am often with the business," she seemed to sense his being torn between not appearing too pushy and his genuine concern.  He looked a bit hurt.

"Sweetheart, I am sorry, I know I should have and I promise I will make time to drop a quick line atleast, the next time," she promised, squeezing his hand. He was mollified.

"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me.  I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but with sweetness.

Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.

The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.

Thirty years later....

They were celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Their children had gathered for a family dinner. They all fondly recollected the first family dinner in which their mother was introduced to the family. Everyone was thankful for their fate and getting together .
Some of the best years together were still ahead of them. The fun had just continued and some of the best had just begun...

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Ek Boond (One Drop)

Mere Bachche,
Upar se umad-ghumadkar barse
Bas dekhkar muskurata hun
Tumhari aankhon se bas ek boond
Meri duniya doob jaata hai 

ENGLISH TRANSLATION :

My child,
When it pours down, surging, with thunder and lightning from above,
 I just watch, smiling.
Just one drop from your eyes and my whole world drowns.

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved.

Grandpa Stories - The Hare And The Tortoise

GRANDPA: He imagined he was a hip, young grandpa. In winters he wore a hoodie and his usual Veshti (also called Dhoti in North India) which is a long white cotton (or sometimes silk) band of cloth wrapped around the waist and that reached down to the feet. It is a typical South Indian traditional male attire though females in the state of Kerala too wear a simple version of it called "Mundu". In the tropics the men rarely wore anything on the top except on formal occasions or in the tropical winters.
Here in the cold freezing winters of the Alpine region in this western country, he still clung to a few vestiges of his heritage as he wore it around the house and yard sometimes. He liked to pun - "This is a "Veshtige" of my original culture". Sometimes he wore a more colourful version of this garment, also called a "Lungi".  This usually has the two ends sewn together to make a circular band. It is often found in bright, multicoloured, checkered patterns.

While the white, or slightly off-white Veshti with gold or a thin coloured border is the traditional dress of the Brahmins - and a formal attire in schools, parliaments, courts and temples and during weddings, the Lungi is the attire of the working class - much like the 'jeans' were for the gold miners. It is now famously popular as the lower-half of the dress even in the north of India among truck drivers.

Even a tiny spot of dirt can be spotted anywhere on a Veshti and it can be frowned upon, almost as much as a spot on the character of the person wearing it. On the other hand, you could spill your entire spicy, multi-coloured meal on your Lungi and no one could be the wiser!

The sight of the grandpa in this Veshti or Lungi, gangsta-rapper style hoodie, socks and shoes with his unshaven bristly salt-and-pepper face with his dark sunglasses, out on a winter walk could easily scare a little western child or two, but he still got along very well with the little ones. It was the adults who manfully suppressed expression of a bigger shock. His neighbours and the town folk were all very gracious and avoided paying any conscious attention to it though he had caught a few quickly averting their glance or stare if he happened to look in their direction. Some commented on his 'Malay'  looking 'Sarong'.  While his own kids had learned to get past their embarrassment of his walking around in his Indian attire as young kids, they were even more embarrassed when he wore a mix of eastern and western clothes! They had to accept his stubborn determination to dress as he pleased.

"I don't have to dress to please anyone, anymore," he proudly said often, "Remember, most who wear a suit are out to win the approval of someone. I had to wear formal western clothes when I first started to work as an engineer. I could have done my job in any dress. I have now the freedom to be as I want and I will."

It was true. Grandpa had done well in life, earned and provided for his family and he did not need to work or dress to please anyone anymore.

Grandpa liked to tell stories. He usually had more than one version of each of his stories and of even the most popular children's tales. They would start in the usual, same manner and then slowly, gradually and often twisted off into a completely different ending than what was previously known. Usually, there was something worth noting from the difference. Just like a story had its moral, the changed version usually had an equally worthy and different moral.

His children wanted him to tell his style of stories to their own kids - his grandchildren. It was a while before the little ones began to understand that Grandpa's little game. At first, the little ones protested at the unexpected turns in the story, which they had already heard before. Then gradually, they came to look forward to the 'different', 'grandpa-version' of the story too.

Everyone remembered the first time grandpa told the story of "The Hare and The Tortoise" to his three grand-kids - a girl aged three,  a boy aged two and a baby girl less than an year old at a family gathering. They had already heard the story before from their parents and teachers. The first time they heard it from their Grandpa, he told it to the traditional plot. They were in splits as the grandpa pretended to be the 'hairy hare' and slept and started to snore loudly halfway into the race. The little crawling baby tortoise climbed all over him, tugged on his whiskers and beard and refused to crawl to the finish line until she was picked up by her mother and taken past it. She immediately crawled back to the surprised and awakened hare. All had a great laugh.

"I have heard this story in kindergarten," said the little girl.

"So, what is the moral of the story, sweetheart?"

"If you are like the tortoise, keep going without stopping. You can win" said the girl.

"That's right!"

The next night, the kids wanted to have the same story again.

"Ok, I will tell you a story of the hare and the tortoise. After I finish, you must tell me moral of the story. OK?" said Grandpa. The little ones nodded.

"Is it the same hare and the tortoise?" asked the little boy.

"Yes. Listen carefully though," said his father.

So, Grandpa began in his usual style.  His grown-up children watched as the different story unfolded.

"There once was a hare and a tortoise. The hare could run very fast and the tortoise could only crawl slowly. The hare was quite proud and the tortoise resented him. So, he challenged him to a race.
They set off from the starting line. The hare took off really fast. The tortoise followed slowly," said Grandpa as he sped fast half the way from the starting line and stopped to see the little baby look at him smiling and eager to follow him as his mother held him back. The baby wriggled out of her grip and came at a blistering pace (she could crawl real fast, much faster than Grandpa.
Grandpa looked shocked and said,"Maybe she should be the hare. Perfect! Lets start the story again with her as the hare. I will be the tortoise. Get her baby's favourite toy on the finish line!"

So they restarted the race with the baby as the hare. Her mother waving her favourite toy at the finish line. Grandpa became the tortoise. He started narrating again in his booming voice, holding the baby.

"There once was a hare and a tortoise. The hare could run very fast and the tortoise could only crawl slowly. The hare was quite proud and the tortoise resented him. So, he challenged him to a race."

Grandpa released the baby. As soon as the baby was let go at the starting line, she sped without looking back straight to the finish line.

"They set off from the starting line. The hare took off really fast. The tortoise followed slowly. The hare did not even look back or stop. It sped straight to the finish line and won the race,"  said Grandpa crawling slowly.

"But! But the tortoise won the race in the story, Grandpa!" the little boy said looking surprised.

"That was another story, Son. This is a different story. Same hare and the tortoise, but a different day, different story," said Grandpa.

"So, what is the moral of this story?" asked the little boy's father.

"If you are fast and dont stop or waste your time you will win," said the little girl.

"That is right!"

"What about the poor tortoise?" asked the little boy.

"Well, perhaps he should race mostly with other tortoises. He cannot always win against hares. If the tortoise thinks all hares are foolish and will lose, he will be disappointed," said Grandpa.

Copyright (c)  Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved

Understanding A Man

"Setting aside ego in love should not be confused with a lack of self-respect"

When it comes to love, I try and not let my ego get in the way - communicating or receiving. I do not hold any expectations from anyone on this even if hopes are high. I will go the extra mile in this area.
However my self-respect is not to be confused with my ego. In my regular and all dealings with ALL people I have definite expectations - courtesy, promptness and reciprocity in desire to communicate clear and upfront. If my expectations are not met, after a few attempts and hints I let the person be. No extra mile - may be an extra foot or two and then I pull back.


Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved