I am not a Hindu Terrorist !!

Following the news of Akhlaq being murdered .....its disturbing...
I have nothing to write on the incident –media is already manipulated the incident to several angles.
It’s a loss to his family and a compensation of 10 Lakhs or more is not going to make them forget the trauma they went through...
May be in the areas nearby – no-one would eat beef for a long time now...in fear.

Many have already written articles on this beef topic... many scared to give opinions on the same...
Many given, taken back opinions... or modified to suit their political parties...
Even I have commented on FB...and fought with...God knows with whom all... over the beef thing...and being a Hindu.
Many have the opinion that beef and cow slaughter was brought to India by the invasion of Mughals.. (which is not true......and a long debate still exists on this)
Many want to go back to that era – the time when Mughals were not there.. !!
I am sick reading those comments in social media – where we are discussing about making India to Bharat.. :-(
Yeah....let’s keep running to the past and we will never see the future.
India is the largest exporter of beef meat and still do...sad thing is people inside this country can’t eat – but letting others outside eat it.
Industrialists rule the nation...they benefit with the ban..!!
I am said to be living in a free democratic nation – but truth is my nation is travelling wrong route...with all ‘ban’ things now...

You - the so called – devotee...the Real Hindu’s in this country - are you truly the followers of this religion?
Were you instructed from the heavens above...to stop others from eating beef ? make their living hell by stopping their daily living source?
Or maybe you were asked from the God ‘s residing in temples – to go and kill all those men who eats beef...?
If you worship the cow – please feel free to do so....no-one in this country ever stopped you from that.
When you don’t have a problem in milking the cow to death....then why do you have a problem in slaughtering.
Is it that you prefer milk & kill - than the quick one ?
The agenda is ‘Respect’ the sentiments of cow worshipers...but why are we trying to hold religious sentiments above all ?
When religion is above hunger, when it is above humanity....then there is no meaning being called Hindu, Muslim or Christian or Jain ....or...whatever.
I have many many many things running in my mind related to this....maybe I am forced to think all these by the so called “Hindu Terrorists”...
And if you are trying to make a ‘Hindu India’ .... let me put this out...
A beef ban is not going to make India a Holy Nation......Many minds are dirtier than beefier...!!!

People around me....many of them......
“you eat beef ??? Oh... I don’t eat beef.. Chicken, fish and mutton is ok... But beef .. no no.,I can’t eat that...”
Sometimes I wonder – are they all tied by religion ? But it doesn’t hurt me when they say such things. It’s your choice, this is mine.
All I can think silently is – “I eat because my tongue and my tummy doesn’t say a NO to it. I relish it – I digest it.”
Going to my beef story....
I tasted beef in my teenage at a marriage occasion...though it was by accident... ...
later in my hostel days I relished many of it ... friend’s mom home made beef cutlets.. beef ularthiyathu..etc...
It became part of my diet – when my pocket money during college days couldn’t afford a chicken/mutton fry - for saving money !!!
Most of my friends would remember.. the restaurant Opal Inn in Vadakara - had a tasty beef dish and it came for a cheaper price too...
I learned then to save money by changing my food.. for sure it helped me those days..
Should I have been worried – that I am hurting the Gods by filling my stomach and saving a penny?
Did I become less of a Hindu – by eating beef..? I guess No...
Truth is it doesn’t matter to me– If I became a little less Hindu with this..
My religion is always inside me...my religion is being a better human...being a better soul..

To my ‘beefie’ and ‘non-beefie’ friends out there.. who are now thinking why the hell did I write this post....
I just want to say this...
I eat beef..I love it...and I am not a Hindu Terrorist..!!

winding up .......lunch time...
and I am going to gulp a rice meal with beef fry... :-)

I can say, I do not know...

While at work......

2009 marked the beginning of an era where-in I had to attend this call at least biweekly..
The Quality Call or the QC.....that occurs every day and I had to dial in to it if any of my supported products had an issue.
Everyone on the call used to be bombarded with appropriate and relevant technical questions that always started with ...
when did this..?
how did it.. ?
how long it ..?
why it had to..?
what caused.. ?
what was done..?
what time this was... ?
when can you...?
what impact.. ?
who owns this.. ?
and many more...

Even with 5 years’ experience tag on my shoulders – I was kind of nervous to attend this call...
This was a tough time where 6pm evenings used to be scary time...
I attended many of it – but still a small nervousness always used to creep in....
During these calls....many times I responded not knowing what I had to say exactly and at times relied on others on the call to answer it for me..
This pattern continued...for we were having a busy support time on most of our products... most often had late night SWAT calls, later action review meetings, root cause identification... bug fixes... all that sums up the activities of end to end support..

But yes, there had to be a trigger to end this scary crow episode...
Until then... one fine evening....in one of the teleconference meeting with my Big-Boss Steve ..... (his office is in US.. so we used to have one call with him monthly)
He popped out this question from nowhere....I guess...
“Shruthi - I had to ask you this .... how ok are you attending Quality calls ? Are you ok being there? Is it pretty late for you to attend ? any trouble you have or do you go to it with fear? If you are not ok – just let know”

I was surprised as that was out of context.... but yeah... I was glad he asked that...while somewhere back of my mind I had it running – how did you find out that I am afraid to attend the call?
My reply to him was an indirect or may not be the right one... I was not ready to admit that I was starting to dislike the calls... coz of my unsaid fear...
“hmm...it’s ok... Steve, I don’t have any problems to attend...hmmm.... It’s that......hmm..... sometimes I don’t have answers to tell them when they ask.. ..and huh..sometimes it’s too early to investigate and put across the right answers before the call.... so I kind of find it difficult at times ...”

The long pause between words was enough for him or for the matter anyone to understand I was running in a mode called QC fear ..... the fear of putting across the wrong things to senior technical people on the call... the distress of answering to those questions which I can’t even make out what it meant...an unsaid shame of going wrong in a call when a hundred ears are listening to only you..

Steve’s response was not exactly the same as below.. but it came to me like a bulls eye shot....
“That is ok , it always happens, you don’t need to have all answers with you... Whoever may be asking, whatever it is – just tell them straight – ‘I don’t know... I do not have an answer to this one’. You can always tell them to follow up with you later.. You don’t have to be scared of anyone– they ask questions because that is their job to do so...and you are doing a wonderful job.... I can ask your manager to attend it. You don’t need to stay back evenings all the time for the QC.”

“Ok. Steve. Ok... Thank you..” My response to him was short... I was not quite sure what more I wanted to say..
....and the meeting continued with other topics...

By the time I came back from the meeting room to my desk – that alien feeling with the QC had gone off...
I was not feeling any fear...it was like I was all ready for a thousand calls..
I repeated his words in my mind.....
With the blue marker I wrote it on my desk...“I can say, I do not know”
================================================================
Many people around you ....inspire.. encourage....motivates and drives you...your family ,besties ...your hero figures....
.... but very few can reach to the unknown darker or deeper side of you... they just fly in and move those big rocks that was stopping you from doing things....


By a word... or a deed or a small gesture they help us in ways we never thought of...
And true that things like this may be happening to me daily... or may be with every one of us...
We normally don’t notice these things that others does for us ...
Many unsaid ‘Thank you’ s always remain in our life....

P.S. :
Dedicating this post to Steve....
A small sign to show how much of positives he has brought to my life... Thank you!!

Bibles and Beef and Quakes..?

We have been seeing many natural calamities in the recent times…
This time the Everest started it all….. the result of it was heartbreaking…

I have been worried of the Nepal quakes – as my cousin brother was on a trip to Nepal with his friends.
We later got to know he is safe. It’s a relief for me and our family to have him back safe home now.
It’s like Our prayers are heard.

Some disasters that happen is really affected and have emotions flowing in and out of us – only when we have someone involved in it.
We pray for the victims, but the pain is never the same as we never gets directly in touch with those…
Until and unless we experience the pain of losing someone that we know of –in such an incident we may not get the real picture of it.
May be an anger against nature for having done this to many families…reaped in me. But then it soon subsided knowing how our planet is….
It’s a sign to all of mankind. You are here to live and die. Do now what it takes to make you and others happy …

I am just reading the news in numbers and figures – and how much ever I read or see photographs or videos..
To be totally frank with my heart … those dead and injured count are just numbers to me..
And in between I read many interesting news as well….

VHP leader linking Nepal quake to Beef eating - I should say bull shit ?
http://thenortheasttoday.com/vhp-leader-links-nepal-earthquake-to-beef-eating/

A plane full of Bibles for relief… sounds like edible bibles?
http://thelapine.ca/emergency-gideon-bibles-rushed-to-nepal/

Should I read more on what’s happening to this world or what happened to this world ?
It’s sad to hear such incidents…. But makes it worse when we read such classic stupid things…happening over.


May things clear up soon in Nepal…may all the saved ones – build their lives sooner….and get back to normalcy.

Wanted to scribble on Nepal. But my thoughts are wandering.
Stopping this here.