Everyone has a Story:
Everyone has a story to tell. Some motivational, some inspiring, some happy and some mere facts. But one thing is common in all, Each story is special on it’s own.
Back then, I was still learning how to crawl and then to walk in my early years, I had already travelled 3 Indian states Kerala, Tamil Nadu finally landed in Karnataka when I was around 5 year old. I have since been in Karnataka from when I was 5 year old, and I finally settled here and my family built our mansion in Mangalore, which is the southmost part of Karnataka. You can explore more about Mangalore City in my Blog.
Early Life:
Born in Kerala in 1986, most of the early part of my childhood until I was 5 year old, was mainly consumed in Learning how to crawl and walk, understanding how to talk, recognizing colors, exploring new taste for food, exploring new earthly languages like Tulu, Kannada, English etc.. and to figure our how to read and write alphabets and numbers.
Then came the next phase of my life called SCHOOL. My Early 90's between early 1990 to early 1992 was consumed in learning in my LKG/UKG (Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten) even though I did not know the Full form of LKG/UKG, since I was 5 year old and probably I did not care about the acronym at that age. The early 90's was the year of learnings of different cultures, languages, stories, comics, movies etc.. Having lived in Kerala, Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and Mangalore (Karnataka) in the first 5 years, the variety in cuisine/food and the difference in culture and language helped shape the taste for various cultures.
Learning alphabets and numbers and being able to read simple words brought in lots of opportunities and the one that tops the opportunity list was "being able to use the remote" on my own. Even though there were only handful of channels on TV like Cartoon Network, Star, Sony and various national and local channels by the Doordarshan with classic television series like Mahabharat (1989-1990), Alif Laila (1993 – 1997), Jungle Book (1989-1990), Shree Krishna (1993-1997), Tehkikaat, Tu Tu Main Main, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Malgudi Days TV Series (1986), Zabaan Sambhal Ke (1993), Shaktimaan (1997-2005), Shriman Shrimati (1994 – 1999), Chitrahaar – (1982 to Present) my initial TV viewing at the age of 5, obviously started with Cartoons.
I started exploring the world of animations through cartoons like TaleSpin (1990–1991), Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990–1996), DuckTales (1987–1990), Aladdin (1994-1995), Swat Kats (1993–1995), Dexter’s Laboratory (1996–2003). After Cartoons, very slowly i started developing interest in Music, Movies, WWE and other trending programs famous for that time period. Also I started exploring games both indoor and outdoor when TV got boring after a while. World of computer gaming seemed so exciting back then, since if you do not like the situation you are currently in, you can just exit and it is all over and you can even restart back from any situation.
Story 1: The Missing Number.
It all started one lazy Saturday morning in Someshwar, Mangalore in Karnataka. In my younger days, one of my favorite games was hide and seek but since our parents were against us hiding, we used to play hide and seek with toys and we would hide couple of items and the rest of the group would search for it. Usually these game were fun mainly because it was fast and we could play multiple rounds in an hour since everyone got chance to hide items and also to search, unlike Cricket, where not everyone would get chance to Bat. Also this game was easy to play even during rainy days where outdoor games like cricket was not practical.
Since we live near sea shore, I used to collect sea shells and I had a great collection of shells back then. So that day I did something that would be a great learning, which i hadn't realized back then. I took 8 sea shells from my collection and wrote numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 on the outer shells and hid them in different places, to star the hide and seek game. That day my friends found all the 8 shells, but still continued their search for 2 more shells, shell number 4 and shell number 7 and gradually there was panic and frustration of not being able to find the 2 remaining shells. All were busy looking for shell number 4 and shell number 7, which of course, was never found, simply because it did not exist. I felt everyone would stop searching after a while and would enjoy television, however everyone continued to search and finally quit after long with with a feeling of not being able to accomplish the task and complete the game.
This day would inspire me to learn one of the self thought lessons, even if it was learnt by coincidence, and made me realize that many among us, who in spite of having a good life are always feeling a "lack of fulfilment" are actually looking for the elusive, missing, non-existent shell number 4 and 7.
If you live life in the present moment,
-
Sound becomes Music,
-
Movement becomes Dance,
-
Smile becomes Laughter and
-
Life becomes a Celebration.
In the early 90's once I could start walking and running, like every other citizen in that age group, my first liking was towards cycling, since it gave a feeling of, being able to explore the world. Cycling was one of the best experience that i had during that time period which started basically with a 3 tire cycle, which was mainly for safety, during my learning days and I developed the confidence to ride a 2 wheeled cycle to explore the real world.
It brings me great joy to remember the good old days, when I was able to ride 🚲 in and around my neighborhood, which I could otherwise, never explore by walk during that time period.
With great power comes great responsibilities and having born in one of the historical places in the globe, where cricket is something "more than just a sport" where the players and considered nothing less than hero's, by 1991 I had already started following cricket. We did have a neighborhood where everyone had dreams of becoming the next cricket legend in our earlier days, which I believe is the aspiration of every 5 to 10 year old, where the dream is to be able to hold the bat in our little arms and hit the ball out of the park, while the crowd goes crazy cheering your name "Ananth.. Ananth... clap, clap, clap.. Ananth.. Ananth... clap, clap, clap...
Story 2: RESPECT EVERYONE.
Many years ago, in my village, I used to wish everyone that I would meet. I also used to wish the watchman at the gate daily, in the morning on arrival and every evening while leaving. This would continue everyday, for many months and over few years.
One evening as usually at 6′o clock everyone went outside and watchman locked the gates. While watchman was going back home, he found something was missing deep inside his heart.
Finally he realized that, I had wished him in the morning, but did not wish him that day in the evening, then he thought that I might have forgotten wishing him that day.
But he finally decided to come back and check, and found me inside and rescued me, and all this, because of my act of wishing everyone.
Moral: Respect everyone around you, and it will surely pay you back.
Story 3: The Echo in the Shell.
One evening, while walking on the beach, Ananth found an ancient shell. It wasn't white or pink, but a bruised, oily violet. As an intelligent boy, he knew the "sound of the sea" inside a shell was merely the echo of one's own blood vessels. But when Ananth held this shell to his ear, he didn't hear blood. He heard his own voice—screaming for help from beneath the waves.
The horizon suddenly curdled into a sickly charcoal gray. From the surf rose a figure that defied logic. It was a "Mirror-Wraith" of the deep—a creature composed of black seawater that took Ananth’s exact shape. It moved with his athletic grace, but its eyes were hollow voids of salt and sand.
The creature didn't attack with claws; it attacked with doubt. It spoke with Ananth’s own voice: "You are the smartest, the fastest, the best. But that is why you are the loneliest. If you fail once, this village will forget you. The sea never forgets. Sink into the dark, where you don't have to be perfect anymore."
The sand beneath Ananth’s feet turned into a freezing slurry, pulling him down. His athletic legs felt like lead. The horror wasn't the monster; it was the crushing weight of the persona he carried every day. For a moment, his intelligence failed him, and the cold water reached his head.
But then, Ananth looked at the creature—his own reflection—and realized a fundamental truth. He didn't run to be the best; he ran because he loved the wind. He didn't study to be the smartest; he studied because he loved to.
He didn't fight the creature. Instead, he dropped his defensive stance and let his breath out. "I am allowed to be tired," he whispered. "And I am allowed to be afraid."
The moment he accepted his own vulnerability, the Mirror-Wraith shattered into a thousand harmless droplets. The violet shell turned to dust. The predatory sea retreated, rebuked by a boy who refused to be drowned by the pressure of his own shadow. Ananth walked home in the dark, not as a perfect icon, but as a human being.
Moral: The brightest lights cast the deepest shadows.
The story teaches us that true strength and intelligence aren't found in being "perfect" or "invincible" for others. The most terrifying monsters we face are the unrealistic expectations we place upon ourselves. To defeat your internal horrors, you must accept that it is okay to be vulnerable; your worth is not measured by your achievements, but by your courage to keep standing even when the "perfect" version of you fails.
Story 4: The Secret of the Banana Leaf
In our house, we always ate on fresh green banana leaves. One day, being the "efficient" student, I complained to my grandfather. "Thatha, why do we waste time cutting leaves and washing them? If we use stainless steel plates, I can finish my lunch five minutes faster and get back to my studies or my running practice."
My grandfather smiled and invited me to a feast at the local temple. He pointed to the rows of people eating. "Ananth, look at the leaf. It is wide, humble, and when we are done, it returns to the earth to feed the cows. A plate is hard and proud; it demands to be cleaned. A leaf reminds you that you are a guest of nature."
That day, I noticed that the hot rice and saaru (rasam) actually tasted better on the leaf—the heat released a subtle fragrance from the wax of the leaf that no metal could replicate.
Moral: Efficiency is not the same as effectiveness.
You can rush through life to save time, but if you lose the "fragrance" of the experience and your connection to the earth, you haven't actually gained anything.
My Favorite Vegetables and Fruits:
