Diary Entry 22 - "Farewell 2014"

Hey Jenny,

How're you doing these days? Hows life? If you ask me, I would say "Never Better". For the past six months I have been living with fearlessness. I've been living with ease. I've been living with Happiness. I've been living with contentment, confidence and faith. Yes, everything after I joined Phykon. It came as a package of job, money, reputation, prestige, status and profile. I don't know if I had a better life ever before. Nope. Never. I can now feel what real freedom is. I feel relieved. I feel AWESOME.

Photo Courtesy: Social Media Department, Phykon

When I saw the 'Notice Board of Happiness' at Phykon today, so many good and bad things were crossing over my mind. Many yet unfulfilled dreams, some cherished moments with friends and family, some 'F! I am good' moment etc. What should I write and stick on that board? What was the best thing that happened to me in 2014? After thinking out loud for some hours I realized that Phykon was the best thing that happened to me in 2014. Some more new entries to the "Left behind Footprints in my Life" list from Phykon though. I don't want to mention any names.

Jenny, it's been a nice journey. 2014 has been so kind to me. Remembering the most influential moments of my life in 2014. (Mixed Emotions)

> Became the official Marketing Head of Iret Acoustic Technology.

> Witnessed the live performance of Agam, one of the bands I adore for their original music. Even stood next to the members literally on stage for 5 minutes :D

> Befriended Jagadish of Agam (Felt immense happiness)

> Lakshmi Raai and Vedhika shared the sketches I drew, on their official facebook page. What more can I get as an appreciation? :) (I shared - 10 likes, Vedhika shared - 10K likes. W T H! :/ )

> Awesome gift from my dear Dad. Proud owner of a VESPA!

> Not so proud but it felt good to Vote for the country for the first time.

> Best ever tour with family to some of the best places in South India. First flight on the same day.

> BIRTHDAY!!

> Met and befriended Rex Vijayan of Avial. Felt so happy and proud to be associated with Iret.

> Attended Interview at Phykon, got the Job! :) (Goodbye to pocket money; Hello Salary, Full stop to comments from relatives and neighbors who don't give a F!)

> KKR won IPL and Germany won world cup! :D Hurraayy!

> Lalettan completed 35 years in Indian Film Industry (Happiness). Oscar jury denied Leo DiCaprio (Sigh).

> Spent hard earned money on some of the things I love.

> Got drifted far from music. Hoping to make some good music this year.
 
Jenny, I would like to thank all my dear friends, family and colleagues  for making this the best year of my life. I have not included everything in the above list. Off-course there are many personal secrets that I don't want you to be aware about.

I pray for the health of my loved ones. Love you my ever-loving college buddies.

Till next time, Bye.

Diary Entry 21 - "Harmony at Work"

Hey Jenny, it's been a very long time. How you doing? Me? I am okay. Life is in Technicolor I would say. No shoddy memories of the past. It's like I don't have time to think about the past now. Woah! It's been two months since our last meet. In this two months, many healthy changes in my life. You know what, I have two jobs now. So finally, it's a full stop to boredom. Everything happened so fast, Jenny. It was at the end of July I went for an Interview at Technopark. I always wanted to work there. I still remember asking my dad to take me to Technopark when I was a kid thinking that it's something like an amusement park like, Veegaland. :D But now I know it's a place where people from around the globe work in harmony. Such a nice place. The company I went for Interview is called Phykon. I never thought I would be selected. The interview with the manager is one thing I can never forget. He asked me to sell his Parker pen to him. With, Leonardo Dicaprio's Wolf of Wallstreet in mind I told him to write his name on a paper. There. He don't have another pen. Hence Demand and Supply. The pen is sold. :D Still, he made me do it in the old fashioned way. Thank god, he was a nice guy. If it was somebody else definitely he would have kicked me out. :)

So I got the job. I joined on 8th of August with 3 others. Our training period was real fun. Film stories, Ghost stories, Spiritual stories, Late night coffee making, Sleeping in the conference room. Hehe. The best part is we got the best team leader. A very friendly guy. Totally I think Phykon is the most liberal company at Technopark. Ough Jenny, I am Albert now. Albert Ferman. That's my pseudo name. That's what everyone calls me at office. Now I have many friends in there. Some real nice people. It's true that we don't need years of knowing to be friends. There are people who brings food for me everyday, who I bug everyday to clear a doubt, who smile at me even if we haven't talked yet, who helps me even if they are busy. Some of them has already became the part and parcel of my life. So all in all I am loving my new job. :)

Okay Jenny, I think that's all I have for you today. Bye till next time. :)

Diary Entry 20 - "The Birthday Special"

Hey Jenny, I am back once again. How you doing today? Well if you ask me, I would say a very pleasant day. Hmm, today is June 2nd or rather you can call it my birthday. 23 years ago I was born at 12:01 am this day. :D Yes I am really happy to be born and alive even now :D About my birthday, I don't really have an unforgettable most special delightful birthday till now to share with you in particular. Off-course I partied with my friends(those birthdays are still the best), been happy with my family and did the usual birthday celebrations many years but I never had that most special birthday till now. Well, there is still time for that I guess, but who knows anything can happen before the next bell. Recently our Lalettan posted about his birthday in his blog. It was called "A passing milestone in a beautiful journey that is life". I totally loved it. What he said has really touched my heart. Yeah it's true that whatever he said or done so far on-screen and off-screen has always influenced me or touched me to the core. But this one was much more powerful. He has written "Each birthday we have is a proclamation of another year we had in this world. A step towards death." I know it's really complicated, but this post has influenced me a lot. I am not telling this has made me a new human but what I meant is I will cherish each and every moment here with my dear ones. I will remember every good things that happened in my life. I will never forget my dear friends for making me who I am today. I will try my best to be in touch with all of themAnd to the people who broke my heart you guys are forgiven and not forgotten. :) Thanks a bunch for making me stronger.

Actually today is one memorable birthday I am having. It started off with a win of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL season 7. I was the only one among my dear friends who supported KKR right from the beginning to the end. I really had a heart attack in the last overs of this IPL. Ha, they did it anyway. Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo. I belive Shah Rukh is very happy :) Oh, Jenny did I ever tell you he is one of the guys I love most in this world for the personality. Off-course I have not seen him yet. What I tell you is from what I have heard and seen in television and media. He is a great man. I can tell that from the way he love his family. He is the best host india has ever produced. Everybody likes him. Such a pleasing personality. Wow. So I love Lalettan for his acting talents and SRK for his charming personality.

Ah Jenny, one funny thing is I had no idea that today was my birthday in the morning when I woke up. I slept before 12 am after watching the IPL award ceremony. Just woke up in the morning at 8 as usual and checked the mobile. I was shocked to see 16 missed calls and around 50 messages in Whatsapp. I really got tensed in the beginning. I was wondering who is dead :D :D So after checking the messages only I remembered today is that day, my birthday and figured out nobody is dead too. :D After skimming through Facebook, I could know that today is the birthday of many famous personalities. The music god Ilayaraja, Actor Madhavan, Director Manirathnam, Actress Sonakshi and many more. Oughh I really am happy to share my birthday with them. :D Offcourse I thank my Amma and Achan for having me and for giving me a nice brother too. :)

This is what I call a happy birthday - Rethin's birthday celebration at Ettimadai.

Then, I really want to thank my dear friends who killed their sleep and tried calling me to wish me at the very start of my day. I am so sorry. You already know I love you all. :) Another thing I wanna tell you Jenny is about Shiny who is the only one to give me a greeting card for every birthday I had since 2nd year of college. May god bless her for her love and care. I would like to thank my soul sister, my best friends and everyone for wishing me on my birthday and I really am grateful to every single soul who stood by me, who laughed with me, fought with me and for travelling with me in this journey so called life. I need you all for the coming years too. Love you all.

So Jenny, thanks for listening. I shall take leave now. You take care. Bubye. :)

Diary Entry 19 - "A Travelogue"

Dear Jenny, again it's been a long time. You know, people are not the same always, right? and time is like a season. There is good times and bad times. I really can't say what season do I have right now. If you ask me I would say I like the spring season the most. The season of rebirth, rejuvenation, and resurrection.  The one that follows the winter. I really wish for spring season in my life soon. As I told you before I think I have the winter season of my life at the moment. The visibility is limited and I am really in a cold blooded state. But in this stagnant time too life is giving me hope like never. Yes, some good times in the stagnated life.

Ahh leave all that for now. Now I am here to talk about some happy moments I had with my family in the past few days. We went for a Spiritual Trip to one of the famous temples in South India, The Sri Mookambika Temple, which is situated in Udupi district of Karnataka. I should tell you this Jenny, this was in fact the best trip I ever had with my family. From the beginning till the end it was really a great experience. I don't know, usually what happens is we plan a lot and do nothing. But this time everything was fast. Amma put forward a suggestion of going to Mookambika since she has leave for a week from work. Achan accepted it without a second thought. ( Usually never happens :D ) I booked the tickets and everything at that instant before any new thoughts come to their mind and plans change :D

The First Flight with my cousin

It was 11th of this month, we started from home early morning to catch the train at 7 am from Kollam Railway Station. We got down at Ernakulam South Station. From there we got into a cab to reach the Airport in time. Wow, I was really excited. This is going to be my first flight. I haven't even been near to an airport before eventhough Trivandrum Airport was very near to my house. Usually Achan comes from gulf without any notice. So I never got a chance to take him from airport to home. And when he leaves, he says he don't want to see our crying faces and good byes. So I never went to an airport. :/

So I was having butterflies in my stomach as I am gonna see Cochin International Airport and gonna board Jet Airways. Luckily everything was fine and the plane was on time. We boarded the flight. Just like I have seen in TV, Air-hostess was waiting at the entrance for greeting us and to show the seats. The best thing I liked is the Take Off. I've heard before that the aircraft uses maximum power during the take off and the speed will be around 250 km/h. Fish!! I was wondering how it gets that much speed in just 2 or 3 seconds. Ouggh. It's totally like a miracle for me. I would say it was the best moment I had through out the journey. :) May be because it was my first time. Ahh I am still curious about this. Gotta clear doubts with my aero buddies :) 

So with gods grace we landed safely in the runway of Bangalore Kempegowda International Airport. I remember somebody telling this airport is the second largest in Asia. Ah don't know if it's true. :) The thing is I was just thinking about the next flight :D Bangalore to Mangalore in the next 1 hour. So my first flight and second flight was in the same day. :) We reached Mangalore in just one hour. From there a cab to Kollur where the Mookambika Temple is situated. We stayed the night at a rest house very near to the Temple hoping to get up early in the morning and see the Nirmalyam. The next day went as we planned. Total of 3 times visit to the temple. It was really a great experience Jenny, My mind was free from adverse thoughts. I felt vey much alive in that temple atmosphere. The same day we went to Murudeshwar (Shiva) Temple which was around 70 Kms from Kollur. Wow!! No words can describe that place. That temple is a magnificently built temple. There we can see the second largest Shiva statue in India. This temple is surrounded by sea. Out of all the gods of Hindu's, Shiva have that bizarre looks and has always had an influence on me even-though the god I call the most is Krishna coz of the Krishna Temple near to my house :) Shiva is called as the Destroyer or the Transformer but still an enchanter. :) I don't know much about spirituality and all. But I can say I am a believer of god. There is always a supreme power. The power above all. That power is what we call God. :)

The Murudeshwara Temple

So Murudeshwara is one of the most delightful place I have ever been to. We came back to the rest house at the evening and spend the rest of the time sleeping and shopping. The next day early morning too we went to Mookambika. :) That day's plan is to go to Kudachadri, which is at the western ghats. There are many songs in our regional language about Kudachadri. The road to western ghats is very unfair and harsh. Its the combination of elevation,hairpin turns and extremely harsh roads. Yeah, offcourse we are climbing a mountain :D Only a jeep can go through such a condition. We were leaving Kollur the same day so we checked out of the hotel, rented a Jeep and started the journey to Kudachadri. Just 30 Kms but we need around 2 hours or more to reach there and out of that 45 mins travelling is through the most perplexed and harsh road I have ever seen in my entire life and I am damn sure I wont see this elsewhere.

Posing at the Sarvajna Peeda

We reached Kudachadri in 2 hrs. A very small place in the top of mountain. There is a small temple which is resided by The Devi of Kudachadri. From Kudachadri there is nearly 2 Kms to The Sarvajna Peedam ( The seat of the all-knowing ). To get to sarvajna peedam literally we need to climb a mountain. The Peedam is at the top of a mountain. There is no way I could miss that. So I started climbing with my brother and cousin. It was really hard but it was worth it. The view from top is just amazing. The Sarvjna Peeda is the seat where Adi Shankara who is also known as the Shri Shankaracharya has meditated. Oh, he was a Keralite. A great Philosopher who merged the creed of Advaita Vendanta. Uff, am I boring you Jenny? Even I don't know much about this places and people. I am sharing all I got with you. :) I can tell you this Jenny, The Sarvajna Peeda is one place on earth where you will have absolute peace. The beauty of the place will just blow your mind. The sun was just above our head but we did not feel any heat due to the ever-blowing wind. :) Definitely it's a place you should never miss in your life.

The Sarvanjna Peeda - Western Ghats, Karnataka

The next place we went was Udupi, to see the Udupi Sri Krishna Matha. The only temple in India where you will have the Darshana of the idol through a small window. There is a story behind that which I am not gonna tell now. :D You may go to Wikipedia and search. :P The temple is gigantic and ancient of around 1500 years of age :/

The Udupi Sri Krishna Matha Temple

The same day we returned back to home from Mangalore by bus. Ough Jenny, I would say this was one amazing trip I had in my life. Many good experiences. Many new knowledges. Totally astounding. So I guess that's it for today. See you another day. :) Take care now, bye-bye then. :)

Diary Entry - 18 "Happy moments during Temporary Stagnation"

Jenny, I am really sorry. I kept you waiting for a very long time. I hope you still have the same interest in me and my stories. Actually I was a bit held up by many happenings around me. So how are you? Off-course you looking so fab as always. You know what, my results are out. Hmm, what to say, not so bad but not very good though. I have cleared 3 more papers which makes it 4 more to go. Just glad that I didn't get washed out. :) Ah 4 more, right. Will clear it in the next chance itself.

I guess, all in all, this new year is giving me so much. It started of with giving our IRET a valuable customer. A very well known guitarist from one of the finest music bands in India called 'Agam'. Mr. Jagadish Natarajan. I am so glad that all the communications with him was done by me. He liked our product very much. He has now finished his fourth gig with our product and he said the shows were monumentally epic and one of the gig I could watch live. :D Yes, it was indeed the best live performance I have ever watched in my life. And the best thing was I could meet Jagadish. He is a very nice person. An artist by all means I would say, so modest. Not only him, all the artists associated with Agam, All are so nice. Ough Jenny, Jagadish called me to the stage during the sound check. I don't know, I was literally in heaven for that 5 minutes. I was actually sharing stage with all the members of Agam. You can think how excited I was when I am standing right next to one of my favorite band and that too on stage. Ah kinda best day in my life. :)

Rig of Jagadish. IRET's Thunderstruck in the middle along with some American made's.

I was so glad to hear that our IRET product is doing fine for Jagadish. OMG and did I tell you that I officially work for IRET as the Marketing Head now?? :D Yeah and I think I do have some talent in marketing. ;) All I wish now is a great future for IRET and Rethin.

Off-course I am really sad about my exam results. So dejected that I am still a plus-two completed guy when all my friends who is/was there with me are engineers. But I don't know, I am not getting that bad vibe. I still think that everything is for good. May be this is not my time. I am still being optimistic. Why should I worry? I still got much time left. I am totally sure that what I am having right now is going to be the worst time I would ever have in my life. The only time I may/may not curse in my future. Yesterday I saw Anil's latest blog post. "Stagnant". I really felt sad when I read it. Off-course stagnant, stopped flowing, and stinking too. Yup, he is right, Jenny. But only for now. I am sure that this stagnation is temporary. For him and for me. I am being positive here. Tell me why should I be sad. My life isn't over yet. This is just a speed breaker for me. But this ain't gonna stop me, Jenny. I am Sreelal and Sreelal is not somebody who regret on the past. ;) He is always pleasant even when the soil under his feet erodes. That's why I like him a lot than anybody else in this universe. :D Oh you like him too? Hehe. I know. :D I wish Anil all the best for his future. I will tell you a little secret now, it was him who inspired me to start a blog. I liked his blog so much. I could understand how talented and creative he is. I think he is a very nice guy. We have been staying together for nearly one month during the arrear exams. God bless him.

So Jenny, I shall take leave now. But I will see you again very soon. Take care. Adios.