Only thing that is constant is Change

Yupp.. this seemingly simple line from Heraclistus of Ephesus has great value in today's world.Change and evolution is a must for any individual or entity. So, I have great pleasure in inviting you to take a look at the new, crisp and colorful Neutronbalance.

Hope you like the changes. Comments are welcome, as usual.

Basement.

Bombay Rains Bombay Girls

If we are set our eyes upon a book so titled, I guess we'll walk over to at least see what it has to offer.I did the same with a mischevious smile on my face when I picked this one in Chennai. Sometimes intution pays and I would have only regretted if I hadn't purchased this book.

My dad admonishes me for the amount I spent on books. But I guess he'll be happy to know that reading this wonderful debut novel by Dr.Anirban Bose has re-ignited my passion to write again. In simple words: Its a Stupendous read. One striking aspect of this book, when compared to the books in this genre, is the fact that Anirban has been able to sell a book with out the most important S : "SEX"

Its a purist's delight and the language is amazingly virgin!! As I can't boast much of my vocabulary, this book really made me search for the dictionary!!!

The plot is set in 1990,location being JJ Medical College, Mumbai when a lad from Ranchi comes into study Medicine. Having nursed a secret ambition of becoming a Cardiac surgeon and abandoning the thought as I couldn't stand the sight of blood, I got an amazing view of the way a medical college functions. Its more of a tale about a self-righteous protagonist: Adithyaman Bhatt aka Adi :D yeah.. ADI.. this names does bring back a lot of my own college memories.. My dearest friend used to call me Adi ... and still does.. (this, we'll reserve for later ;) )The book is about Adi's life in college how he manages to grow into a person with great confidence over a period of time and his trials and travails during this period.. Ultimately, Adi wins over his friends and finds the love of his life. I am not going to delve deeper into the characters or the plot.. read

it and enjoy it. Dont get the pirated version though.. I'll circulate my copy :) BRBG steers clear from the normal pitfalls of booze and sex. This is what our film critics would call as "family entertainment". Rightly so. Friendship and love seems to be the major theme of this book.

Although long, once you pick up this book, its a breeze finishing it off. Fittingly, I read this book in 4 train trips from home to work, forcing myself to take the slow train in the evening in order to give me that extra 30 minutes of reading pleasure.

The book, at times, looks raw because of the way the chapters are structured... like.. what happens to Baba? Two-Three years in college, Adi hasnt heard or spoken to him..and Renuka?? What of her? Did Pheru clears is Pharmac?? And What happens to the Assam Home Minister?.. some loose ends could have been tied up. Nevertheless, the book will leave a smile on your face.

I have to mention about the author here. Dr.Anirban Bose(Consultant Nephrologist with a Kolkatta hosp???). He prefers to be called Anirban. How do I know? I mailed him and he replied me!!! Yeah.. I told him about how I picked this book and how I am ploughing through the pages like a mad man. He found it interesting and was happy to get a reply from one of his readers.

And the best part?? The book is being made into a movie!!!

Er.. this is my first review of a book.. so if it looks disconnected, please forgive me. Go get this book and read it guys.. you'll feel happy and feel a warmth covering your chest as you rapidly read through the pages.

In Solidarity with Cattle Class Travel

Sashi Tharoor Was right!

In solidarity with all the cattle travelling in cattle class! I have always scoffed at people when then say that they dont have a confirmed ticket to travel between cities. Little did I realize that I too was about to be subjected to such a treatement. Boy! I'd like to take Momta watever on this helluva ride from Bombay to Madras(Dare ask me change it to Mumbai!!! #$@#$). Well to begin with, as Devil would know, I had a proper ticket and a trip charted out. I love to plan a travel and I did it with great care, never letting my unsuspecting grand-aunt know that I am coming down for my grand-uncle's Sadhabhishekam (80th bday celebrations). But I guess God and Momta "Ban Her"jee (yes.. some one please ban her from running the Indian Railways) had other plans for us;unsuspecting train travellers.

I reached Dadar around 7:30 PM for the 8:30 PM train. I quickly settled down on the side lower that was allocated to me,stowing my luggage beneath the seat. In less than a minute that I had bent down to place my bags, the entire compartment was suddenly buzzing with activity.. and a whole herd of pilgrims just blindly rushed into to compartment and threw their belongings and themselves where ever they could see an inch of space. Before I knew, the side lower, where I had just royally reclined, was filled with 4 people including me! Well... for people who have seen me, they would know that I can sit on a whole seat myself. Adjusting my bulk against 3 more people with others sitting on the carriage floor is a nightmare. I should have changed to my shorts before I left office that evening. I told Riyaz, my teammie that I'll change when I get into the

train. Well.. that just remained a dream. I sat through my journey in my ducking (well replace and read it with the right alphabet) formals all through, barely managing to retract my belt when I tucked myself on the side upper berth. I had skillfully extracted my baggage from underneath the seat and put it up next to me in the upper berth. I could hardly fit

myself into the berth with this luggage.

Well, before I managed this, I should tell you the plight of the pantry car guys.. they closed shop because they couldnt walk through this sea of people!! And with it went my dinner!!! I was really tempted to have the Motichur ladoos I had got for my people.. but with three more people looking ready to pounce on what ever is offered, I put that thought aside. The wafer thin pizza I had along with my friends that evening was slowly slipping into oblivion and the grinder that my stomach is, started

making the wrong noises. Oh the worst part? My bladder was full and the belt was pressing into it! I jumped, hopped and skipped three side Upper berths and landed near the bathroom. Well this was when we had just crossed Pune at 12:03 AM...I realized that it must be cold outside coz the moment I let myself out, I could see vapours coming out of the closet... and here I was.. in my baniyans and formal pant with bathroom slippers and SWEATING!! Morons.. they had switched off the fans and closed down the windows and doors!! WTH!!

I was sure tat I will run into a TCSer during trip and I was right! A guy in the upper berth in the same coupe as me started noticing my difficulties and introduced himself as Anand from Powai TCS... heading to chennai. We started talking and despite all these difficulties we were laughing at our own predicament. By the time I came back from the bathroom, my berth was taken. I had to sit with those ppl for a good 3 hours before I could kick them out.My legs and arms thanked me profusely for allowing them to stretch finally. Guess it was 4-5 AM when I was able to lie down. And forget sleeping.. the lights were on full and no fans and I was sweating. I guess I would have been the happiest that night if our train had derailed!!!

In the morning, Anand and myself woke up and had a decent breakfast of idlis and medu vada. We had the same fear that if the train passed through the probable telengana, it spelt trouble. But after the way we were travelling, we were okay with them attacking us if they will!! Such was the frustration level!! After breakfast, he offered me his berth to sleep. By then my eyes were soggy and legs had already balooned. I readily accepted it and slept for an hour. I hardly knew how it went by! We

were hoping that the TTE will come and help us with the berths.. zilch. He made a Superstar entry at 12:08 PM when we were about to reach Renigunta. We muttered the juiciest profanity under our breaths when offering our tickets for inspection. He would have killed himself 10 times over if had even heard a word or two of what we said!!

At Renigunta, 1/4th of the train got down and finally, finally we had some way of letting down our feet. It felt like heaven.I was in no mood to change to shorts.. I didn't see the point in changing so late. And some 8 hours later, we reached Chennai Egmore half dead!

The very sight of Chennai brought fresh blood into my system. A hot water bath laced with Volini gel took away some pain from my battered body. I sms'd Devil telling him that I now resembled "a harried broiler chicken" being transported in tightly packed cages from the coop to the shop!

Let people say whatever about Sashi Tharoor's tweet.... we faced it!! I guess even those harried broiler chicken have a better transportation system in place!

Tryst with Destiny II

Freedom at Midnight agian... but how many more to follow?

India and its tryst with midnight destiny continues 62 years since our Independence. The midnight celebrations in the regions set to form the new Telangana State, being carved out of Andhra Pradesh were the most disheartening scenes ever. How can people of the country be happy and, worse, celebrate, when we are bifurcating our own country on the basis of neglecting a region????

A single person's agitation, compared to Gandhiji's fasting, has led to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, which itself is no stranger to such preposterous history. What you sow is what you reap. Andhra Pradesh itself was carved out of Madras state when a politician went on a fatal hunger strike in 1956. But when the whole world is having graver issues like fighting terrorism and saving earth from impact of climatic changes, how can we be so primitive in our thoughts??

Where did the momentum gain for this statehood after so many years? A single man's waning political image and the greed to be on top of people's mind is all that I can think of. An entire state has been brought to standstill and going by the last assembly election results, a separate state is the last thing in mind of the people in the region.

And kudos to the Congress government at the center, what a vision they have!!!! At this rate, India will soon need to be called The United States of India. Now how are they going to address the needs of Gorkhas, Nagas, Ulfas etc? Give them a state and let the future generation battle it out?

We all can see the results of having carved out Chattisgarh, Jharkandh and Uttaranchal. What little development could have happened in these regions have vanished and instead stands a billion dollar business empire of the likes of Madhu Koda. The politicians cannot be blamed in this entire episode. We, the people are to be blamed. If we can be held to emotional ransom by such nitwits and imbeciles then what right do we have to call them names?

If we cannot express our solidarity in choosing a strong candidate, we have no rights whatsoever to answer Barkha Dutt as she barks her views across India on prime time TV. Soon we will have debates and SMS polls and TRPs on which channel broke the news first.. but for the Mango people... oh sorry Aam Aadmi, its just another tamasha until election comes next time.

Tata tea couldn’t have come out with a better ad campaign. Jaago Re!!

I seriously believe all of us are in a deep state of slumber. Come on India... can’t you see that it’s our country that is being done to death by these plunderers?? Can we do anything to stop this from happening??

Yes we can!!

Write to the President
Write to the Prime Minister.. mail the UPA Chairperson.. Ask them not to commit a major treason!!!
And please somebody talk sense to the person who wants the state cut out!

If nothing works, let’s file a Public Interest Litigation in Supreme Court asking for a stay order before they table the Telangana State formation bill.

We have to brand these self-styled pricks as traitors of the country and banish them once and for all from our Motherland.
Wish we had a mass movement to awake the senses of this generation!!

Democracy has gone to the dogs!!

Systematic Chaos

The pinprick of numbness overrides any other pain. Sitting inside the Yoga Insitutue, a 90 year old organization, I tried to re-establish the connectivity with my inner soul. The nagging doubt in mind about the way we are leading our lives manifested in me after the discourse. I was on a soul searching mission this week end. A lot of thoughts were going on in my mind, for which I had no answers. In short, it was pretty chaotic. Like the Brownian Movement of particles in Physics. Random, chaotic, yet with some predetermined outcome.

Yeah Right.

Individual life is the perfect example of Chaos theory and Butterfly effect. We tend to relate this to fate, naseeb etc. If we dwell deeply, we will understand that each and every thing that occurs to us is infact determined by ourselves years ago. A simple decision to stop cycling to soak in the pleasures of a 100kmph drive on a motorbike, will have its effect 10 years down the line in the form of elevated blood pressure. We miss the cue. We blame it on work tension. But the fact remains that its our decision to stop cycling, thereby becoming unfit, is the main reason.

We seek explanation for everything that happens in life, little realizing that we have the explanation in our mind. It doesnt need a spiritual awakening to understand this fact. The journey of life is all about self realization. It doesnt necessarily need to follow the beaten down path of spirituality. Belief in self is the best way forward. My current turmoil is largely due to lack of self belief. Faced with more than one problem at a time, mind tends to jump from one problem to another, concentrating on none of the issues. Therein lies the mistake. It will make the situation more chaotic. We have to pick up the threads(fibre) of our lives one by one.

Personal space is of utmost importance in these days. When we start paying more attention to what we do instead of why we do, life will be a lot more easier. Compartmentalize our thoughts. Prioritize the events. Enjoy what we do. May be these are the keys to a happy life. I dont say successful. Success is a mere state of mind. Happiness is what matters most. The more I think, more I realize that life is mostly cosmetic and materialistic. It is not supposed to be as serious as I thought it to be.

I can feel a slight thaw in my numbness. The warmth of blood flowing through my veins. I now believe that life is not very chaotic and I am able to find reasons for my utter helplessness. My mind is light now. If Brownian movement can help predict the way stocks behave on the exchange, self inflicted chaos should help in interpreting life in a better way.

The threshold of the Stairway to Heaven is quite within sight.

(End of Part II)