ಕ್ಷಣಪ್ರಭಾ - Kshanaprabhaa

Six years ago, in 2007, when she reached her first grand slam final at the very same grass heaven, people were wondering how Marion Bartoli even made it all the way through to the finals. She did not look like the fittest person around given the normal standards, she did not move that great in the court, she had a strange stance while serving and played both her forehand and backhand shots with both hands most of the times. Comments ranged from "bizarre" to "outrageous" to "crazy". She faced Venus Williams in top form in the final, let the occasion get to her, and capitulated in straight sets. People went back saying she robbed them off a great Wimbledon final by virtue of having reached it. Anyone else on the planet, it seems, would have made a match of it. Many even went onto predict that she would not last long in the game, lamenting the depths to which the women's game had sunk since the glory days of Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis. Not many wa...

There was a survey that asked the question: “What brings you back to work every day?” Not getting into what I had answered for the survey, there certainly have been various reasons at various stages that have kept me going, ranging from the challenges of work, the exposure it gives, the opportunities to learn and do new things every day, and the people at the top who are the guiding force. All these continue to be true, but for the last year and a half though, the primary reason has been only one thing – that of working closely with some of the best people I have ever met. This has been an extremely rewarding experience, so much so that I feel I ought to do it some justice by blogging and sharing some of the creative content which got generated through this alliance. The dedication, focus and integrity of a Chandana, the perseverance and inquisitiveness of an Ajay, the agility and the big picture perspective of a Sumit, the pursuit of perfection and attention to detail of an A...

Photography from high adrenaline sports action sometimes brings out some of the most wonderful moments ever captured, thus immortalizing those moments for eternity. I stumbled upon one such photograph recently, from an IPL cricket match of 2009, when Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer R Vinay Kumar took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar , the iconic skipper of Mumbai Indians. Here is the photograph: What you see here, is a single frame that captures deep dejection on one face, and pinnacle of ecstasy on the other. Pure magic. This brought to mind a Kagga verse from Dr. DVG , which is haunting me for a couple of weeks now, the one where he presumably describes a moment of deep meditation. What these photographs capture is nothing less than that, obviously if you just keep all other things involved in IPL - politics, money, power, etc. - aside. Here is the verse: ಹಿಂದಣದರುಳಿವಿರದು ಮುಂದಣದರುಸಿರಿರದು ಒಂದರೆಕ್ಷಣ ತುಂಬಿ ತೋರುವುದನಂತ | ಒಂದೆ ಕಣ್ಣೊಂದೆ ಗುರಿಯೊಂದೆ ಮೈಮನಮರೆತ ಸುಂದರದ ಲೋಕವದು - ಮಂಕುತಿ...

"There is a journey you are expected to undertake - a journey that would take you to the desired destination. Many have been there already, and people around you believe that you can reach there too. You are expected to be their stepping stone. If you can reach there, you can take those expectant folks with you, and provide them an opportunity to go further ahead and embark on what appears to be a journey that is far more treacherous and challenging than this one. A journey into the unknown. Not many people we know of have been successful in that journey. But this journey, the one that is expected of you, is clearly achievable. You are expected to be analogous to the early pacesetter of a marathon race. That's where the expectation ends. No medal is expected of you. Agreed, it requires its own set of skills. But you are expected to have those skills ingrained in you anyway. Even if you don't have the ability to undertake this journey, you can cultivate it, by observing ...

Well, here we go, an update to my blogsite after a very long time... The reason for such a long break? Lack of time, of course. Well, I can very easily put the blame on my busy schedule for not being able to update my blog as often as I could, but the reality, I feel, is not really that. Everyday, tens of thousands of thoughts pass through the minds of every human being. And I believe, most such thoughts are very special indeed. Many a times, it is very important to catch hold of these thoughts and dissect them further by analyzing them. But unfortunately, we always try to put the blame on lack of quality time to appreciate some of the very important things in life, and move on hurriedly by leading an industrious life. Dr. DVG had made this observation long ago, and writes in his "Marula Muniyana Kagga": ಪ್ರೀತಿಸಲು ಬಿಡುವಿಲ್ಲ ನೀತಿಕಥೆ ಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ | ಮಾತಂಗಡಿಯ ಕೊಳ್ಗು ಕೊಡುಬಿಡುಗಳಂತೆ || ಯಾತ ನಿರ್ಯಾತಂಗಳೇ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಬದುಕಂತೆ | ಆತುರವೊ ಜನಕಿಂದು - ಮರುಳಮುನಿಯ || ೨೯೩ || There is no time to lo...

I have been reading DVG's "Mankuthimmana Kagga" of late, and have realized that it is not called "Bhagavadgita in Kannada" for nothing. It gives a lot of pleasure while reading, along with deep insights into life itself, and its various uncertainties. At first, I felt bad that DVG, the genius, did not get a Jnaanapeetha for this outstanding work of his; but then felt really happy that he actually did not get one. This priceless collection of 800 odd verses is beyond any award or recognition humanity can ever devise or think of. The only award it can fittingly recieve, would be when every human being who can read and understand it, actually goes on and implements at least a tiny bit of these universal truths in his or her life. Recently, I read a couple of verses among those priceless ones, and had gotten into a confused state regarding their meaning. They almost seemed contradicting each other, as I myself faced a similar situation in life. These verses are: ...