just a little bit about the onam celebrations held at both seremban centre last week, and bangsar centre yesterday. it was stupendous alright! the last time i celebrated onam was with some friends at the malayalee association’s onam celebration in seremban some 8 years back. my friend’s mum was the organising chairperson, so we lent our hand to help out with the performances, and i even modelled! hahahahaha! with shashi and balraj…sigh….those were the days. anyways, back to the recent ones, it was very nicely done at seremban and bangsar, with both having their own charms. at both venues we started off with bhajans, i sang vittala hari vittala, rather slower and a more mellowed down version than the usual scarefest of a bhajan, and in bangsar i sang sukhu’s favourite ganesha bhajan….gowri ganesh. well, sukhu was supposed to have joined us at bangsar, but he couldn’t. i guess, he was there in the song. then after bhajans, it was a time to explain to the audiences on the significance of onam. its a very spiritual celebration that trancends race and religion, just that its the celebrations for the keralites, but the festivities are truly felt beyond the language’s borders.

after arathi, it was time to savour the prasadam. goodness gracious me! sanku even made a vow, “i’m marrying a malayalee!”. although someone commented, that being catred food, it didn’t really have the keralite’s touch in it, well, who’s complaining? sukhu missed the one at bangsar, so, again, both me and sanku had his share.

there are some interesting facts that i would like to share after learning about onam and a little bit of kerala…

1) malayalam is an amalgamation of both tamizh and sankrit, mostly, and blended with the native tongue of the locals there.

2)coconut and paddy plays an inportant role in many of the malayalee’s festivals. guess why? go google kerala, and you’ll see why!

3)to be a complete indian cook, you will have to master kerala’s cooking. its simply superb!

4)the land of ayurveda, as kerala’s land is abundant with herbs and medicinal plants/trees/organisms.

5)literacy rate in kerala is the HIGHEST in india. its quite fun to be a communist after all

6)listen to the chanda mela (i hope i’ve spelt it correctly) when you want to go to war. mindblowing! you will kick @$$!

7)they make full use of flowers, again, thanks to the agricultural cultivation in the land.

8)if you’d listen to malayalam songs, its very righ in raagas and sounds like you’re listening to some carnatic song. indeed, very musically talented people. 

9)its very easy to get sarees/traditional indian outfits for a malayalee girl. its white/cream, with gold/red motifs. simple. that saves aLOT of time at the SAREE SHOP!

10)it was said that by the time of king mahabali, 3 of the major avatars have made their presence in kerala. that makes up, statistically, to about 30% something of the current avatar counts. so you do the math, either ethy need so much of help, or they’re just simply more blessed than the rest. (quoted from suresh anna’s talk yesterday)

cool ain’t it?  i’m going back to my injipuli now! cheers!

Its been almost 3 weeks since I left InterTouch, my old place of work for about 2 years. It all kinda happened in a blizzard of activities, finally the end came to us all crashing, like a katana thrusted into our throats when they at the Top said ” sorry guys, you’re all out, they’re in!” well, those were not the exact words said, but then again, it sounded like that to us all. 

Back in the old office, life was quite good, and made quite a few good friends. some of them are with me here at the new place though, but it is they who are not here i’m missing alot. My CAM (my old department) people, Helpdesk people, the Latin desk, people at training, Sukhbir, sigh, loads to list here. I’m moving on, but hey, this time, i’m going to try what i read somewhere. Love the job, not the people. Love the work, not the office. Love the experience, not the manuals and rituals. Love yourself being good at it, not showning off what you’re good at.

I’m undergoing technology training at the moment, with a bunch of people from various places. some of them come from a similar set-up like where i came from, retrenched workers, and some are people who are looking for new opportunities to move on their career paths. Likewise, I’m getting to know them, but i do have a slight hesitation when it boils down to making friends at work. Colleagues, acquaintances, not friends. Friends are hard to come by, the latter you see them everywhere. It took me a month before i warmed up to most of my colleagues back at Inter Touch. Might take even longer here. Besides, i think they somewhat have this slight hesitation to talk to me, since i became their trainer before we started here.

On with the show, i guess. For now, its good bye Inter Touch, and Hello PA! 

By the way, i never knew AVG is that good! seriously……

coming through! coming through!

these words echoed against the white walls of the Forensics Unit, when they first brought the wodden box that will soon be his final resting place. it was a day i will never forget, and that is one face i’m not going to erase out of my mind.

it all started last weekn, i think it was a tuesday, when i received the call from a friend,  informing of the tragedy. i knew, i had to go, lend my support, so i finished off my work late that night, hoping that i could stay on and that at least, i could have some work done for the next day so that i won’t be bugged during the rites. i left for rawang late that night, and, all along the journey, i was thinking how on earth am i going to reach there at this time of the night.

the journey was interesting enough, pitch dark most of the time, and i had my windows down, as usual. i like the wind blowing on my face, but, at that time of the night, was like an invitation of some sorts, "come hit me!".

somehow, with the help of a friend who was constantly on the phone, i managed to get to the house. it was fairly the same as any other house, only the mood was sombre, and the general feeling there was all mundane. death, it seems, could be felt. it was an eerie feeling, something that i had not felt in many years. i’ve been to many funeral houses, not that i’m running a parlour of sorts, but hey, lets face it, as an indian, if you don’t show up for a funeral, especially if they’re relatives, by blood or not, you’ll be skinned alive! this time, it was different.

the spectre of death was hanging everywhere, but, it seemed more comforting than terrifying. it made me think a lot that day, it made everyone think a lot. everyone was just being, too philosophical about  everything, to the point that it seemed to be like a convention of intellectuals that day.  so i stayed back, spent the night in my trusty car, and was there, on standby, to offer any sort of assistance the family might need.

it came a few hours later. i was asked if i could go accompany the deceased’ brothers to the mortuary, to reclaim the body. He was to be brought back for the last time, so that the final rites can be performed, and all along in the car, i was thinking, again, on how fragile this life can be.

8 years of marriage, no kids, but a healthy life, model worker, loving family, loved by the neighbors, but, yet, when he passed away, it was like that of a nobody. he passed away 3 days ago, and his body was found lying in the ditch, covered by overgrown bushes, in a decomposed state. now, when his brother was relating the story to us, i quickly got into this visualising mode, trying to renenact the whole incident based on what i heard. somehow, decomposed seemed to evade my imagination. i just couldn’t picture that, yet.

after a long wait in the mortuary, the call finally came. the pathologist called for the deceased brothers in for a short discussion, and the funeral parlour people were called in to prepare the reclamation of the body. i happened to pass by the door, trying to avoid the stench that followed, when the coroner called for me. shit.

he asked if i wanted to see the body. he must have probably thought that i was a relative who came along, but i was not. yet, that visualizing part came back to me, urging me go and take a look. then, will i know, how it looks like. i braved myself in, but the stench was just too foul. the odour of rubbish cans were no match for this one. i reached out frantically for my pockets, and found a hanky that i could use to cover my nose. i paced myself in slowly, and took position to the right of the deceased.

the coroner opened the body bag, and, for the first time, i saw that face. it still had the resemblance of a human being, but, there was just no more skin. all i could see was the face just covered with maggots of many different size and shades of white/ivory. it came out from everywhere, his eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears,everywhere. the inner part of the body bag, too, was covered with the maggots.

it was then i wondered, how God was so mysterious in his ways. even in living creatures, does He embody the three embodiments of the universal way of the Brahman, which is to create, to preserve, and to destroy. too many things just flooded my brains, so much so that i just couldn’t react to the sight the way i thought i would have, which was to vomit out the very minute i had that sight.

i stayed on for the funeral, and i drove back silently to kl that evening. all along the way, i could still see his face, everywhere. i just chanted all along, trying to calm myself, and not to break any sweat. i still see his face now and then, but its no longer haunting me as it did the first time. but one thing remains clear, though, that is it was the most gut-wrenching experience i’ve had till now.

to the deceased and his family, i could only offer my prayers, and my sincere thoughts of well being. the feeling was mutual amongst many who came to visit the family. in the end, it just reminded to me of what my dad said once, that one thing remains after we go, and that is the name. whether the name will be beneficial or not to the family, depends on how one behaves while the name still bears a physical self.

Bloody hell! i’m back!

well,what can i say? I’m either just too lazy opening a new blog site (which i’m planning to do in the future, but not so soon), or i’m just one of those people who are just plain loyal to friendster. neither, actually, just plain busy. and have loads to write too.

I’m entering a new phase of life now, settling down. this is scary, because so far, its been good floating about, hovering above life’s problems and being an onlooker when there’s been so much happening around me. gosh, miss the days, but now, its a new beginning, a new frontier, a new land waiting to be conquered, a new…..aaaaaaaaaah shut up.

for starts, i’m now actively looking for a place i can build my empire, so to speak, hehe, a home of my own. then come the job part, whereby its been nice here at my current place, and like the good ol cliche, all good things must come to an end (dumb, like all bad things will never end, but they seem like it anyway). so here i am, with retrenchment looming in 3 months time. working towards the job part though, so, if there’s anyone with an offer, i’m your dude! otherwise, another statistic added then to the country’s unemployed.

like how they all started their journeys in the past, it still is the same. small, baby steps. it’s not gonna be a terrific ride, but one thing’s for sure, this ride has a GPS of its own, and i owe my success to it. GPS - God’s Piloting System. it works all the time. just have to trust it like you’ve not trust anything else before….

ONWARDS! TO GLORY!

fired up plain joe, waiting for his car to begin his extraordinary new adventures….

its been fun! thats what crossed my mind when i started writing this ‘au revoir!’ note of sorts…

thank you for the memories, and the wonderful friends i have had here…..

plain joe will be on blogspot now……. see you there

Pissed! totally pissed!

thats what i felt when i found out he extent of the politics at my department of work.

WELCOME TO CAM! it still rings a bell when it was first uttered. little did i know, it was indeed a threat. and i’m not going to stand there watch my department and my career blown to bits, due to racist politics and sheer power hunger dimwits. no way jose, i’m fighting.

and i’ll not go down, but if i do, i’ll make sure i beat ‘em to pulp before i go.

now, howzat for a change?

been too nice, lately. and when thats challenged and raped, so to speak, boy, they ain’t seeing the rest of me, yet. i’ll pounce, just like what i said to sukhu yesterday over dinner. crouching tiger, hidden dragon? nah….more like, stampeding elephant.

i’m so pissed to find out the extent of racism that one can employ in a work place. at first when news broke that i was to lead this new department, i was thanking Gus for it. well, not that i’m not doin git now, but it came with a new thought. whats my role in Your plans?

i think i’ll neverget that answer, for it will be so subjective (unless, Gus, you tell me in person, but then again, i’m not complaining ).

as for the war, it has just begun. i’ve blown the conch,waiting to rain arrows at you. to think that i had he hope that you could be retuned with a little bit of concern and love, boy, was i wrong.

and beleive me, i’m gonna hit ya so hard, you’re gonna wish you never thought you’d join my department again.

game, set and match!

-angry plain joe, cleaning the barrel of his sniper rifle, full ammo.-

i’m hunting. you’re ready to run?

Jodhaa Akhbar….

this ain’t a film review of sorts, but more of a post movie hypnotism blabbering that left me stunned….and for once i was actually looking forward to watching a 4 hour movie again….alas…the cinema, on the other hand, decided that it needed a break for the day, and so, i will continue my screening rendezvous with the film again some other time.

the movie itself was one that many purists and fans alike of the cast and the director and the music were looking out for, imagining how it would turn out to be. the music has received, still is, and still will continue to receive numerous plaudits, setting it aside from the other soundtracks that are churned by the rest of the Bollywood (and even the Tamil ones, whom to some, may think that the more the albums, the better, its like trash…the more, the smellier???).

I, for one, was hooked to the music the very first time i had it blessing my ears. Mana mohana, was indeed, a truly enthralling experience. and this was indeed, my favourite song in the movie. you should see the faces of the Mughals when that songe reverberated in their court during one of the scenes…this is like a Hindu bhajan sung at a predominantly Muslim court, in the presence of their Supreme leader himself…although it was just a visual enactment in the movie, but the impact it would have caused in real life, that i leave it to you to imagine. but what shed a tear in me was the events that followed that scene. Akbar racing towards the voice, and standing in front of the altar, then, not enjoying the sight of his beautiful betrothed, but gasping in awe at the sheer splendour of devotion. that’s my view of it. certainly, a highlight to watch.

then came the wide smile on my face at the end of the 4 hour epic (it came with a 3 minute break…an intermission!!!!!). at the end, Akhbar makes his point clear. Religion, and administration does not mix along. treat it as a separate entity, and pour devotion and love into both. and to see the same in the eyes of people of different religions and beliefs, to see the common goal in us all that we seek the same Divine in different names, and to serve the land that feeds you with the same humility and respect we have for ourselves. phew…that kicked me in. and this, coming from Akhbar, which, historians agree, that was what that made Jallaludin Mohammed worthy of his title, Akhbar.

and then came hope. as Akhbar finished his message, he finished it as a prayer, and uttered the sacred Amin. that very word was repeated by a boy, no more aged between 4-6, not even knowwing what he heard and how powerful it means. it gave me a hope. that some day, we will all live as humans, and not as people of different religions. that we will live in hope, and in joy, and in utter selfless service towards all. as one.  and that boy, in his innocence, said it all.

i knew Gus was speaking to me that day, never knew it came to me through that boy.

watch the movie. get loads of makan, or eat before you go in. and remember, they say its a 3 minute break, but it ended in 2. i counted the time…kekekekekeke

ciao, veio!

-bullet joe-

Kintama Kumi!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sounds like some Japanese war cry, to my horror, i found out that it actually means golden balls. go figure. but then again, there’s a history behind this phrase.

it all started bback a few months ago, when we team leaders (back in helpdesk) were supposed to come up with some name for our teams. so, here i was, cracking my brains again, the same way how i got ANDRE to be my callsign, i wanted something Japanese. Tis something about the Japs that facinates me. I just lobe the whole Samurai culture. Honour. the very essence of life. I owe this to Mr Mile, my Aikido sensei back in college, and also to countless sword fight movies that i grew up watching.

so, back to the team leader situation…..

so i asked my team member, the japanese speaker on the floor, innocently, putting trust, i asked for a cool name. and she came up with this. sounds cool! and it means, apparently, to her, the tough one. so i bought it. Kintama Kumi it is then.

to my horror, i found out months later, that it means the other! and i’ve been made the butt of all jokes in the office. but me being me, i developed this whole new philosophy behind it. honour….something i upkeep dearly. and so. the philosophy sounds something like below:

to be tough, one has to embrace this : life, must be taken by the balls. and make life golden. so, you have golden balls, meaning to say, life, will shine for you!

see….i just turned muck into gold!

and now, the joke’s on them.

so, in short, i just remembered a dear old song that i heard once….

"ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE……….."

and tomorrow, i’ll name CAM the Kintama Kumi clan as well…gotta teach them this principle…..

take life by its balls!

-plain joe…counting the golden eggs on the way-

my plans are working! its aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive! its aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiveeeeeeeeeee!

ha ha….so today’s been quite a good day at work. I’ve managed to get some asses moving, and you’re talking about some people who just won’t lift theirs to do anything apart from their base station. i think they would make perfect turret gunners…..or snipers…..

besides that, gaining normalcy back to life again. I’m still getting used to this going back early thinggy. last 2 years, the earliest I’ve gone back home was at 1 am. every night
last year, that got stretched. but now, i feel bored going back so early. must be the changes i’ve got to go through now.

sigh, i’ve got two very close friends who are currently facing relationship problems, and apart from consoling them, i’ve got nothing else to offer. but my advice to them was simple. whatever action,decision,they take, it must reflect what they really want. and not to regret it. regret it, and there goes the lottery ticket. and not to mention, the respect. i wish the both of them best of luck, and i’m here. don’t forget it. besides, i’m still single…. kekekekekekekeke ……… you know i’m joking about it, right? not the part that i’m single of course….. readers, any takers? 

and i’ve got to finalise sham’s video. sukhu has started on it, hopefully this weekened the videos will rock, and so will the show. featherlite productions is gonna rock again.

and hopefully, i get to see her.

cheers dudes and dudettes……

-plain joe-

ps - i finally got the World 5s pix on my pc….awesome pix of the Brasil squad…..and their keeper…i looked like him….minus a little bit more of my ehem, signs of prosperity…which, GUS willing….will soon turn into rock solid Leonidas styled , err, thinggys…..

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHA! yeah. another year. another headstart.

the past couple of years’ beginning was marked with a job movement. most of the time, i would have already secured a new adventure outside the company i was in thelast year, but this time, something else happened. the phone call i received was a surprise indeed. My boss asked me not to come to work! but instead, come the next day. and take over another department!

whoa! pinch!punch!slap!whack! what did i hear???

and itsa freaking different department. a department, i heard, that was SHIT in capitals. so to speak. but, then again, i asked for a change of environment. helpdesk was just too tiring. it was so monotonous, that i was practically turning into another assembly line robot, churning reports of what happened daily, and monitor things daily that was so mundane, watching Arsenal play Negeri Sembilan would have been exciting!

So, new morning, new challenge, new department.

To my surprise, i kinda warmed up to everyone there, and the first thing in my mind was, damn, they got that SHIT wrong! this department rocks! no need to watch any dramas on tv, just work in my department. haha….yeah,very the interesting!

so now, i take the bulls by its horn, i let the bull run me around instead, for i need to learb the way of the bull first. learn the bull, then grab it by the balls. and squeez it, then grip it hard, never to let go. only when the bull succumbs, then, pt in on a leash, ad watch the bull churn out what you want. disgusting? man….tell me about it.

new department, meas, NO MORE SHIFT WORK!!!!! = I GET MY LIFE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

and smack down, GUS gives me another shot at serving. Teen Youths. the avenue wherei got to know GUS in the first place. now i get a chance to share that experience and me a guru of sorts to other aspiring teens! wow!

so here i am, with a new challenge, looking at life, and planning, how to handle the new set of horns! its not a road i’m gonna tread alone, mind it, rascalla. i’ll be needing help. I know you’re reading his, GUS, so help me. help me, help you, help me. key word = help.

and something else wat in the horizon…..

a certain someone is back. am i going to do anything in particular?

i need an answer GUS, a sign, to the least. something. the last time i went bonkers, ad i’m sure you pretty remember what happened, right?

i sad once at a recent camp, don’t have blind faith, but have the faith of the blind. I’m blinded by my own shortcomings now. i need the faith. for slowly, i think i’m losing grip over it. let alone embracing it. sigh.

for now, i’m gonna take faith by its balls!

on for another round of the buffet! ladies and gentlemen……….

PLAIN JOE IS BACK!