Whats with the number anyway! :)

I just realised there have been 49 posts this year, the maximum for any year since the time I started the blog. One of the reasons for the higher number of posts be that I did a blog marathon- one post a day- mid this year and also tried to post some interesting stuff from the travels.
I now feel I want to hit the half century post mark for this year! (Whats with the number right? Well, why not please myself with the numbers as well!)
Yaaaay to the 50th post of the year! :D

So wishing everyone on the blogosphere a very happy new year!  :)

Wish list for the coming year...

• Lots of love
• Good health, for all my near and dear ones as well.
• Peace of mind! 
• Travel for pleasure
• Some good books read
• Creative satisfaction - will I finally write that book? :)
• Memorable conversations with friends
• A new skill acquired. 
• Maintain a healthy weight, some kilos lost would not be missed.. :P
• Loads of positivity
• Some fun, some celebrations.
• Some good job done..
• Watch some great, good and some not so good movies! :)
• Learn a new language - may be an Indian language. 
• Blog more!

Happy 2013! :)

Oh my god!

Watched the hindi movie - "Oh my god!". It was quite entertaining, a novel idea - a middle class businessman in Mumbai trying to get his insurance amount cleared after his shop collapses after an earthquake, but the insurance company denies the claim as they do not cover losses caused by "act of god"! How this man wages a legal battle to get his claim is the story. Although it is not completely convincingly translated on the screen. There seem to be some logical loopholes.
Paresh Rawal does a good job as an atheist businessman. Akshay Kumar looks good, but is more a bollywood hero, than the lord Krishna he plays in the movie. "Govinda ala re" song is peppy and Prabhu Deva with the unconventional choreography has done a good job, but you keep wondering why it is in the movie in the first place!
Overall something refreshingly "hatke" for a bollywood movie! One time watch. Recommend it. 

Newspapers? No, thanks!

Reading newspapers used to be a fun thing to do early in the morning over the weekends. But these days, I avoid the newspaper as long as possible during the mornings and read them only around noon, that too because I feel a day at home is incomplete without reading the damn newspaper. It is no fun reading reams of pages reporting crime! Such a sad state of affairs! Even the supplements cant lure me to picking the newspapers up and reading.

 I hope the coming year, brings in a new hope for a better and safer society, where people behave. And those who don’t, are punished on time. I hope more children get educated and more people get employed or create employment opportunities for themselves and others, women get more involved and have an equal say in building the family, community and the country.  

And hope all the positivity will get reported and make me want to pick up the newspaper in the morning and want to know what is up with the world again!

Poochampalli sarees...

As a kid I was fond of one of my mothers silk sarees because of its patterns. As an adolescent I got to know that it was called the Poochampalli design.
Usually silk sarees have the patterns done in gold color threads but the silk sarees with the Poochampalli seem more vibrant and patterns are in several colors. Poochampalli designs are also available in cotton and other kinds of sarees.
I like the angular patterns and it is my favorite among all the other kinds of sarees.

My pencil sketch of a Poochampalli pattern:

One of my mother's Poochampalli sarees:

Some chairs now!

Tried my hand at sketching some furniture...

Pencil sketches!

I have been interested in pencil sketches for some time now. I used to do sketches during lectures in college. They wouldn't be elaborate, just enough to help me not sleep in the classes after lunch! I used to also sketch at (very long) office meetings for the same reasons!

I made a few sketches of some of my ear rings. Am fond of junk jewelry. I just started off sketching them and realized it is actually fun – I still need to work on the relative proportions, the shades. I could only find an HB pencil and a sharpener at home. I need to buy some lighter and darker grades of pencils and of course an eraser(yeah really, dont have one right now, LOL!)!!! Am planning to get myself a pencil sketching tool kit - and I just hope I remember to keep using it! I move from one interesting stuff to another and then much later wonder why I dint pursue an interest when it is so much fun! 

Neelam is here...

There is a cyclone. The sky has been overcast all day and has made me dreamy. Drizzles, chilly wind, dark clouds. Such a perfect weather – well, not for a working day though! Want to be tucked in bed reading a book by the window, right now! 

Barfi!!!!

Barfi is a fun movie. Although the lead character is deaf and dumb, there is no overdose of sympathy for the character. It just does not matter who you are, if you want to have fun in life, sure, you can seems to be the motto of Barfi! Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra are quite brilliant. The supporting cast is also good. The visuals are wonderful, the music is good, the lyrics of the songs are brilliant. I watched the movie, on the first day. Not a single minute of boredom. Very engaging. 

I later read that there are comparisons to Chaplinisms in some reviews, but it is a work of art at the end of the day. I wouldn’t take away any credit from Ranbir for sure. A refreshing Bollywood movie and I would love to watch it again!

P.S: Happy birthday Ranbir! :)

Israeli love song...

We were on our way from Govind Ghat to Badrinath which is about 25kms drive. It was a small bus. Big buses cant take turns easily over the winding road. We met an Israeli couple from Tel Aviv. The man was a shy type, but the woman forthcoming. We introduced ourselves. Got to know that he taught music and they were on a two month vacation to India. It was their last week, they had been roaming around Leh, Ladhak, Valley of flowers etc. All the places covered were in Nothern India. They were excited to know we(me and three of my friends from Bengaluru) are from Southern India and told us they planned to visit this part on their next trip to India.

I asked the music teacher to sing a song for us. He declined politely saying he taught percussion and not vocal music. We just insisted a little more and the couple started singing a song for us. It was very melodious, may be in Hebrew. Their voices sounded good together, it felt they must have sung together many a times before. They were generally facing us as they sang, but would look at each other almost at the same time, as they sang some parts and their eyes seemed to light up.  They seemed to share some secret thoughts even as they sang. It felt so good watching them sing. After the song got over, we clapped in delight. It was quite evident, but I asked them what kind of song was it, and the woman told us it was a love song. One of the most melodious love songs ever, she said. It must be so good singing one of the most romantic songs ever, with the person you love the most! :)

Chaat burger!

We were walking around Joshimath. There was this big copper colour container tilted in a weird angle, such that its big base was visible. It was placed inside a mobile cart with tomatoes, onions, chilies, lemons at the base of the standing vessel. Was very curious - it was most definitely some kind of eatery, but what? Could not find the vender. I was hoping we come back on the same road, and we did. It was a "chaat burger" stall! The vendor had all the veggies- onions, chilies, tomatoes, boiled potatoes and channa ready. He mixed them all with some masala and lemon in the big copper container to make a tangy, spicy saucy mixture, slit the bun and filled it with this. Every bite was surprisingly delicious! hmmmmm yummmm!

The mobile tea shop!

It was a busy, narrow, winding lane of Rishikesh, on either sides there were small shops selling all kinds of things - jewelry, clothes, bags, books, items of religious significance like rudraksh etc. I noticed a tea vendor serving tea. What was different was how he was preparing tea freshly as he moved along and served both shop keepers and their clients alike! He had a covered kerosene stove on top of which he had placed a kettle of milk. There was another plastic bucket in which he kept his milk can, disposable tea cups, tea powder packet and a container along with a filter to prepare and serve the hot tea. The tea tasted very good. His shop was amazingly mobile and was a good business idea compared to the stagnant shops. Given the fact that the streets were quite narrow, a mobile tea shop works thoroughly well for some of those lanes of Rishikesh. 

Ice Age 4...

Watched "Ice age 4 - Continental drift". Was in 3D and I am fond of the Ice age characters. Enjoyed the movie. It is about Manny the mammoth dealing with his paternal feelings for his teenage daughter. Diego finds a partner. Sid meets his family! It is sweet that way. There is a crazy ape for a villain. All this set with continental drift backdrop. 

Looks like it is a season of sequels - with Spiderman, batman, Madagascar and all. I am not even comparing Ice age to its earlier movies. This movie is short and did not bore me at any time. But I would like some fresh animated movies now! Sequels are ok, but new ones will be fun. Anyone listening? :)

Hyper enthu...

I used to be this super enthusiatic teanager and mostly restless about many things. Actually, many people may wonder how this can even be a problem. It is. Your expectations from life, people, situations and yourself will be way more than others. That can easily stress you and lead to the feeling of being let down! This hyper enthu sometimes even leads you to take yourself too seriously! One good thing though is one cant be feeling low too long, that will bore the hyper enthusiastic!
I thought age would "cure" me of this hyper enthusiasm about life. But age by itself will not change anything, unless one does a concious effort to identify certain aspects of life and try to change them. Probably this is what most people actually imply when they say, things change with age!

Leh - Ladhak...

I met this collegue in the office bus who had just returned from Leh-Ladhak trip. He was full of experiences. He was animated the whole time he was describing his experiences, how elated he was seeing the beautiful landscapes and how scared he with some near death experiences - there was a landslide and someone ahead of him had got hurt. In that fortnight he had experienced a whole gamut of emotions - he had been very excited, very disturbed, demotivated, super tired, physically exhausted, highly enriched and very pleased for having completed the trip! He said he was all recharged. Despite my aversion to very cold weather, I, for once wished would do this trip someday! :) 

The dark knight rises...

Saw "The dark knight rises". I have not watched the previous Batman movies, but I did not find that a major hindrance to follow the story of this one. Indeed only the first few minutes have strong references to the previous movies. The storyline is good, I really like the stories around the prison where Bane would have put Batman. Liked the action sequences. It was a little longer than regular Hollywood movies. I love happy endings! A good movie to watch.

Cocktail...

Watched the movie - Cocktail. The songs were good. Deepika as Veronica has put up a decent show, to an extent the saving grace in the acting department. Saif tries to be rather too funny and looks pathetic at times. His character happens to be a software engineer and none of the office scenes make any sense. Diana as Meera is ok, her character is too meek and weakly built. Dimple Kapadia plays a loud character as Saif's mother convincingly and Boman Irani provides comic relief. But even their characters are not thoroughly conceived. The story doesn not move smoothly, its a bumpy ride and at times appears directionless. It is predictable. The aspect about trying to be selfish in love, i.e. the protogonist realises whom he/she truly loves- going in all for it irrespective of who all gets hurt in the process - seems to be the common thread of all Imtiaz Ali movies. Cocktail, whose story has been written by him is no differnt. There is a bit of Ali's older characters and plots from his older movies. Wonder if that is why it is called Cocktail! It could have been an interesting plot had it been more engaging. You do not get fully drawn into the movie at any point of time. I only felt engrossed when Deepika mouths some brilliantly fresh dialogues here and there. But then that would be a few seconds and the story would go back to being itself. Well if you want to watch it for the songs, and to figure what you saw in the promos, sure go ahead. 

Not being a control freak...

Trying to control the way things are and things can be, is quite human. But this should be done sparingly, else will sap our energies and leave us good for almost nothing! Let go.  Go with flow. See how it goes. There is some fun in letting go and discovering some beautiful things that you never realised, existed! Letting go is also being unselfish, giving a chance to life, accepting that there are somethings beyond control and being at peace with the world.

Have been thinking what I can do to practice :
1. Say some soothing prayer. If you acknowlege there is a higher power and belive things will be taken care of may be helpful.
2. Deep breathing. Drink some water.
3. Imagine what is the worst thing that can happen if you cannot control/alter the situation you badly want to.  Is there still a way to do without it? Will it impact your life after five or ten years from now? Remember some past event that bothered you so much, but later things turned out to be alright.
4. Remember that this too shall pass. Change is inevitable.

P.S: easy to say, hard to follow, I know! :)

hmmm...

The more I watch the "Sherlock" TV series, I realise it is fun having someone to share things with. Like Sherlock has Dr. Watson.  It need not necessarily be a romantic relationship. Any healthy sharing and caring relationship is nurturing and it is a nice feeling to know you have someone watching out for you.

 I somehow do not enjoy when some characters ask them if they are a couple! It is not funny. Come on people, I find Sherlock so charming!

P.S: I did it! I wanted to post 30 posts in June on my blog and yaaaay I have done it! 

Growing up...

In my juvinile days, I used to think that life would be a series of exciting events once I finish school. I would travel, write and do amazing things. My small town life would end, and various oppurtunities would open up. I did move out of my small town after graduation. But I soon realised life is not a series of exciting events as an adult. I did travel, I did have fun. But excitement was more in bursts, here and there. It was humbling to understand the fact that I had to work hard for "fancy" stuff to happen. With a day job and the mundaneness it brings to life, you need to strive for ways to find joys. Sometimes it looks like some people just get lucky and get things easily, but only with time do you realise, luck is just a form of reward for hard work and immaculate planning. Not always can you see the cause, its only results that are evident. It is definitely not heart breaking, but it takes a while to grasp this. That is what is growing up - getting a reality check.

For a healthy mane…

Add equal measures of coconut oil, castor oil and sesame oil. Heat it and apply on the scalp and hair. Steam the hair. Leave the oil for about 30 minutes and take a shower. It makes your mane healthy and nice. It is tried and tested! J

Spidey is back...

Watched "The amazing Spider-man" today. First day, first show in 3D. I had expected more action, in that way was slightly let down. There are more details on Peter Parker's past and how he ends up with power to spin webs and masters his art of "flying". I would have been satisfied with lesser details and more action. Given that it is in 3D increases one's expectation on the action front.

Andrew Garfield replaces Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, he looks quite juvinile. This may have been intentional as Peter is still in school in the movie. Emma Stone as Gwen - Peter's love interest has done a neat job. This version of Peter Parker comes with a greater sense of humor.Somethings he does and says makes you chuckle. One change from the original/previous version is that the villian happens to be a super reptile.

The second half has some good action and the 3D makes it more effective. Basically old wine in new bottle kind of a plot. The skeleton remains the same as original, details and cast bring in some freshness.  The screenplay could have been better and the length - shorter. Overall a good movie for the weekend. Would I want to watch it again? Probably not.

Monsoon finally sets in....

Its raining cats and dogs. The weather is lovely. Watching the rain lash out against the bus window is fun. Can see two-wheeler riders who have parked their vehicles under trees and shelters for cover. People waiting for the bus at the bus stop have kind of huddled to prevent from drenching. But its windy as well, so lots of people are bound to get drenched in the rain! So the long awaited monsoon is finally here. Yaaaaay! 

Freeing up...

I remember from one of Oprah’s life classes that forgiving is accepting that the past could not have been any different. It is as simple as that. But we hold up things and try to make sense and even after that we do, won’t let go. Our precious resources, like all resources are limited. If we hold back and fill these with unwanted stuff, that hardly matter as time goes by, it would be a sheer waste. So being nice to yourself would be, to let go of the unwanted, free up those resources, channelize them to do things you would love and enjoy. 

Spill check...

What to do when you spill nail polish on the floor.

1.       Exclaim something aloud like “holy ****” – this will ease you and take a deep breath. No crying over spilt stuff – be in milk or nail polish!

2.       Don’t panic, its only nail polish. If it can’t stick on your nails for long, the same holds for the floor.

3.       Don’t try mopping it, just let it dry. If its thicker it is easier to wedge it after it dries up. In case it has spread and you want it off the floor sooner use nail polish remover. The cleaning liquid will take a while before all the stains are gone – if you just rely on mopping.

4.       Lastly remember, prevention is better than cure, the next time around you want to shake the bottle, hold the lid and bottle together- what if you haven’t closed the lid tightly the last time you used! 

Sherlock...

Am watching the TV series - “Sherlock”. I like how the original Sir Arthur Canon Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes” has been adapted to the current times. Like Dr. Watson having a blog which is widely read. There is an episode where the number of hits/views to the blog doesn’t get updated for a while and is thought of as a clue, which later turns out not to be! Dr.Watson happens to be a war veteran who fought in Afghanistan! And Sherlock in the series is not too fond of wearing the signature hat(or that is the idea he gives).  I just watched the episode of “ The Hounds of the Baskerville”, it was as much a pleasure watching it as it was reading it. Am almost done with watching both the seasons. Eagerly awaiting for the third.

Unlike other TV series, each episode is about 90 minutes and that actually adds to the fun of watching it! You are not bored even for a minute - guaranteed. 

You see words on the screen when Sherlock is thinking, which helps you follow his train of thoughts. That is done brilliantly. Even the first time I saw, I knew what they were meant for. They are subtle. I mean, they would not bother you like the subtitles do sometimes!

I initially felt Sherlock, played by Benedict Cumberbatch was kind of cold, but now I find him suiting the character to the core. In fact find him very charming!

Highly recommend it. Fun to watch, brilliant cast, well made and even if you have read the books, you won’t be let down.

Almost...

Its drizzling and the weather is just plain awesome! The very fact that am writing about weather is an indicator that I have currently run of ideas for a post! Last few days have been very plain and devoid of any ideas for the blog. Or rather I am not making any conscious effort to think of ideas for the post. My initial plan of making June a month where I blog every day is not going to happen – since the last five days I haven’t posted anything. So I am going to modify it to a month where am going to post 30 posts. Hmm.

Wishful...

Yesterday when I woke up I just wanted to get back to sleep. The weather was good to stay in bed. But we had a family outing planned and I did not want to play a spoil sport. There are times I wish I don’t have anything to do for an entire day and last few weeks have been not so favorable in this regard. How I wish I can laze, day dream and just have no plans for a day!

Mobile revolution…

The mobile communication has come a long way in India. Many years ago, the person who was receiving calls also had to pay! That seems almost prehistoric. The mobile rates have dropped drastically. Infact the charges are per second rather than per minute. People of every economic stratum are able to afford a mobile phone. These days the maid would also call you to take the day off.

 I just saw a daily wage earner sitting in the back of a truck carrying construction material happily talking on the mobile phone. It made me smile, yes each of us need to share and it is so good that it is affordable for most of my countrymen. 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I have been watching the FRIENDS show for almost a decade now. By the time I starting watching it was almost at its fag end, so what I watched were mostly reruns. It has always been fun to watch. Even now I watch episodes randomly whenever I feel like. I thought I had seen every episode, until yesterday! I had missed the last episode for so long! Only last evening did I realize that Rachel and Ross reunite. I had wondered how Rachel could go off to Paris like that! How on earth had I missed it! I thought it was some behind-the-scenes-stuff episode and hadn’t watched it until now!

It was a very pleasant thought that two of my favorite sitcom characters reunited and it was a happy ending! 

R n M...

One of my favorite shows Highway on my plate- with Rocky and Mayur is going to campus canteens all over the country. I watched an episode over the weekend and enjoyed. It seems to be fun and I just love watching these guys. 

Father's day!

Happy father's day!
There are somethings in life only a dad can teach, by example. My dad enjoys work. I remember one incident from childhood vividly. It was a bundh and my dad could not go to work that day. He is not used to sit idle. He cleaned up the whole garage from morning till noon. Then refreshed, had lunch and spent the rest of the day with us. He doesn't believe in a free lunch! :)

Accepting...

I was just analysing something (you could say a life situation) and wondered if things can be ignored or if one pretends things dint happen or don’t exist will it do you good. Well, for a hurt, healing starts when we accept something went wrong. So acknowledging, accepting, fixing what went wrong (to whatever extent you can) and building immunity should be on the to-do list. Came up with an analogy. If you have a fractured limb, you just cannot pretend there is nothing wrong with that limb for obvious reasons. For the fear of attracting attention, you cannot just remove the plaster/bandage - that will not help you recover. So the plaster is there to protect the fractured limb and not to make you embarrassed. Even with all the care you take, you may have a scar to remind you that you had hurt yourself. But if you don’t let the fracture heal completely you may make that limb vulnerable to more injuries. So the moral of the story is you would be better off having a scar than end up with vulnerability for life.

For a bag of rice...

There was a field laborer who used to work in the fields from sunrise till sunset for a land lord. After putting away the tools of farming at dusk, he would sit in the open backyard adjoining his land lord’s house waiting for his bag of rice to take home. From the far corner of the yard, he could figure the people of the house cooking, eating and have a good time with the family. While he, waited squatting on the floor with his hands folded pressing against his chest and resting on the knees. Every time the man of the house came out, the laborer called out “Ayyaaaaaa” to get his attention. He sat patiently as if he was being given his bag of rice as charity and not for the dreary field work he had done from dawn to dusk. His stomach growled. His body ached. He would doze off for a few minutes and wake up dazed. Had the master come with bag of rice, if he finds him asleep, it would not look good!  His thoughts wandered to his family, eagerly waiting for his arrival. He was anxious that the delay in taking the rice bag home, meant his children would be tiring being hungry. Once he reached home, his wife would cook the rice and the family would have their meal, at last!

My favourite animation movies ..

1.       KungFu Panda(1 and 2)

2.       How to train your dragon

3.       Up

Madagascar – 3

Watched Madagascar 3 in 3D. There was something about the narration that felt it wasn’t well knit. Compared to the previous editions this was less engaging. The 3D effects were brilliant at some places. There were some witty lines. Some of the regional stereotypes/clichés meant to be funny weren’t so funny. I enjoy watching movies in 3D, so yes I did enjoy this one as well. A one time watch. 

The story of my silver rings...

I was in Chennai for a few months in late 2008. I had been to a jewelry store that had an entire store exclusive for silver jewelry. One, I like the silver colour more than gold and two, there was an astrologer who would help people choose their “lucky” stones, three – rings are my favorite jewelry. I have always had an inclination towards astrology, palmistry, tarot cards etc. The thought of knowing and predicting the future amuses me. So, there I was in the perfect place of culmination of my likings and surely, I bought two rings, one for each hand – a coral and a turquoise.  I was very pleased with myself.

There have been three instances where I thought I had lost the rings and found them. They do not fit my fingers exactly. The silver smith suggested I could get it altered for no extra cost, but I did not want that clear mark of a cut and weld job. I do not put threads around them to fit better. I somehow seem to believe now they always find me back! It makes me smile.

The very first time after buying those rings when I was traveling for a visit to Bangalore, by the time I reached home, I did not have the coral ring. I wasn’t sure when was the last time I had seen it. My mother insisted I should look in my hand bag, but I told her, it could have fallen anywhere and did not look. My mother was convinced it would be in handbag and looked for it, she actually found it!

The next time it was in Minneapolis. It was a snowy day and I was wearing my gloves. Along with the gloves I had removed the ring and put the gloves the side pocket of my bag pack. I had removed the ring with the gloves several times, so I checked the gloves when I realized my torquoise ring was missing.It wasn’t there, so I assumed I had lost the ring. Several days later when I was looking for something in the side pocket I found the ring!

Today I realized in the noon that I forgot my turquoise ring. I thought it would be at the usual place where I keep it before taking a shower. Back home, I did not find it there. Even without an iota of doubt I knew it was in my handbag. I was not even sure I had worn in the morning, but I was damn sure I will find it. Voila, and there it was! I am still smiling!

Normally...

Wasn’t feeling too well today. When you are not able to sleep due to bad health, all you wish is you could sleep normally. And when you are normal again, you start wishing for the things in the world that you mostly do not or may not need! Probably that is what being normal is all about!

Irresistible...

One thing that people find irresistible – Discount sales!

For a reason...

Over the years, have wondered if things happen for a reason. The human psyche  needs a story, a cause to make sense of what happened and believing there is a reason behind it makes it a convincing story, even to the self. It is a nice way of looking at things actually. Life does not guarantee fair treatment and this “reason” funda can help us cruise through difficult times. Some of the reasons are not evident at first. And when you do not understand why a certain thing happened, it is unsettling and may remain in the subconscious for years. Sometimes it takes several years to construct that one simple story, to give you the insight you need to detach yourself from an event that affected you in some way and move on with life. It is sure a liberating process, and everyone likes a good story! 

Random thought...

I think travel and sports are the most fun ways of growing up – getting the right attitude and perspective about the most important things in life. 

Kahaani...

Kahaani has a good story line and keeps the viewer hooked till the very end. Not a regular Bollywood movie, “hatke” in a good sense. Kolkata is one of the characters in the movie and is captured beautifully during the Durga puja. Vidya Balan is a natural and carries the film effortlessly with good support from Rana( Parambrata Chatterjee)  who plays the Police officer. Most of the supporting cast are not well known faces,that adds to the freshness of the film. The script is good and the screenplay matches it. A good movie to watch. 

Customer (do I really) care?

Sometime ago I had started putting pics to some of the numbers in my contact info of mobile phone. It necessarily wasn’t the person's picture. I hadn’t figured this would actually help me deal with something.

Last year, my mobile service provider had enabled some extra services unsolicited and the bill was huge. They just would not account for or take responsibility for what had happened. I tried escalation but it did not change anything. Finally I ended up paying the amount as they maintained it was my mistake that I did not disable those services(I came to know they were enabled when I saw the bill!). But in just a day or two, the stress of dealing with those junk guys had taken a toll on me. I came up with a creative way to make me feel better(I know I could have handled it better, but when people are willingly being unreasonable I would rather get rid of the situation). I put the picture of a roll of toilet paper for the mobile service provider customer care number.  When I see the picture it makes me smile!

Now every time I find something fishy happening on my mobile, I shoot a mail and make sure they don't mess with my bill. No calling the customer god-damn care!

Random thoughts...

It’s the World environment day. Being environmental friendly also happens to being economical with time and money. My two cents on some simple things one could do:1.       Get your bills online and pay them online. Saves both time and money.2.       Use less plastic bags. 


Watched the movie “Chillar party” last evening. A very simple story told in a simple manner. Enjoyed.


The weather in Bengaluru today is amazing. Mackerel sky. Cool breeze. This is the best part about being in the city.

Ugadi

It was two weeks to go for Ugadi, the festival to mark the first day of the Kannada new year. It was around 6am and Tara was brooding about it as she walked to work. She remembered the last Ugadi when her mother was alive. Her new clothes for the new year were a beautiful green blouse and long skirt with golden border for the festival. Her mother had got it stitched from one of the two silk saris she had. Wearing new clothes, prayers  and feasting with the entire family  were part of Ugadi. The thoughts  welled up her eyes and she could not see the street anymore. She hastily tried to wipe her eyes.

She had lost both her parents by the age of ten. She lived with her uncle’s family for a few years, but she could not endure the nagging aunt. She was forced to move from her village to a cramped hut in the outskirts of the city with her brother’s family. She had hoped for a better life. Tara’s brother doted on her.  But her sister-in-law, Jaya, made it quite clear that Tara could no longer go to school.  There was no such thing as a free lunch, even for a thirteen year old. She had to do chores in the house and earn her living. Tara was made to baby sit her 3 year old niece and watch over her 8 year old nephew. The little boy went to the local government school. Tara had to take care of both the children while her sister-in-law worked as a maid servant. A year later, Jaya got Tara a maid’s job. She told Tara to tell the employer that she was 17 years old if they asked her age. The city dwellers seemed to be psyched up about not having children to work for them and Jaya wondered why.

Tara found doing the maid’s job was far easier than doing never-ending-house chores at her brother’s house and watching over the kids. If she finished her work at the employers’ early, she could go home and rest a little before Jaya came back from work. She had started enjoying this small siesta and the satisfaction that since she earned money now, she was no longer at anyone’s mercy.

That day Tara reached home, and laid the mat to take a nap when she heard Jaya coming in. She folded the mat back hastily and put it back in the corner. She was surprised to find Jaya back earlier than usual. Jaya was carrying some carry bags. She came in, kept the bags on the shelf, and left without saying so much as a word to Tara. Tara waited for a while and when she was sure that Jaya was gone, checked the carry bags. There was a small frock, a pair of shorts and a small shirt, a sari, a big shirt and a white dhoti. New clothes for the entire family, for Ugadi! But nothing for her! She felt sad. Whatever she did to belong to the family, she was reminded in one way or the other that she was an orphan, an outsider. Tears rolled down her cheeks. There was no need to hide them from anyone and she cried till her stomach hurt. She missed her parents and wished she had died with them.

The next day when she went to work, finding her dull, the lady of the house,lets call her Ms. M, asked her what was the matter. Tara was reticent and maintained she was just having headache. Ms. M coaxed her to talk. Tara usually would be scared to talk to anyone, scared that if Jaya got to know anything she had shared, Tara was bound to get beaten up. But after the previous day’s episode she felt too vulnerable and had nothing to lose. She only mentioned that she badly missed her mother and wished she was alive. Ms. M was a kind woman. She casually asked Tara if she had got new clothes for Uagdi. Tara gave a wry smile, a smile so sad that Ms. M got her response.

The next week seemed eternal to Tara. She could not bear the festivities. When she had come to the city, she had told herself that she would try her best to be cheerful and happy. But now nothing seemed alright.

The city made her sick and reminded how lonely she was in the world. She could not sleep at night and felt tired at work. When she saw her nephew go to school it reminded her that had she continued schooling, she would be in tenth standard the coming June. It had been her mother’s dream for Tara to complete 10^th standard!  She was helpless, alone, without a soul to care.

Atlast the Ugadi day came. Tara could have taken a day off. But she did not want to be the outsider in her brother’s house interfering with their happiness on the day of the festival. She went to work. She kept looking at the ground all the time. She did not want to meet anyone’s eyes. It seemed too much. After finishing her work, she meddled with the coffee tumbler for a long while. Finishing coffee meant going home. Ms.M asked her to lock the back door and come in from the front door. She was slightly surprised, followed the instruction. Ms.M came in with a plate in her hand. It had vermillion and turmeric with flowers in the side. It lifted Tara’s mood as she felt good with the treatment. Ms.M went in and got a coconut, two bananas put on beetle leaves. It had a small packet next to it- a piece of cloth that could be stitched to make a blouse. Tara was touched by Ms.M’s gesture.  She felt cared for and smiled for the first time in weeks. She accepted it all and touched Ms.M’s feet to get her blessings. She rose and got up to leave. Ms.M asked her to wait. She brought out something wrapped in brown paper and gave it to Tara. Tara’s hands were already full. She kept all the other things away keen to see what is inside the brown paper. It was green blouse with golden border and a red long skirt with golden spots on it, the most beautiful dress that Tara had ever got!

Damned to doom?

I was just enquiring about the fee for a friend's sibling in a local college. I was in for a big surprise. It was not professional course and it was pretty expensive (it was about my two years engineering fee 8 years ago!). I hear about how expensive even primary education is in Bangalore. Education is a basic requirement. Like health care even education has become very expensive for the general public. It seems to be such a sorry state of affairs.

 I had once accompanied my mother to a private nursing home and she was running high temperature. She initially did not want to go and it took some persuasion. When we reached there we were told that the physician is about to leave and we had to check with him if he was available before taking the appointment at the reception! When we turned from the reception, the doctor happened to be going out. I worriedly requested him to take a look at my mother. He said he was running late for another nursing home and we will have to go there for the check up! I just did not get the point. My mother was already tired. It was not that we would pay him any less or he was doing us a favor financially by seeing her in the other nursing home. He was a doctor we knew and that did not make any difference to him. My blood was boiling. I wanted to yell at him and demand how he can call himself a doctor with such a disgusting attitude. These people take an oath while becoming doctors that they will serve people. It is all soon forgotten. Even when we are ready to dish out the money some doctors act like jerks. I just could not believe what I had heard.  When a loved one is not keeping well, the last thing you expect from a doctor is to disgust you.  I just looked the other way and enquired if there was any other doctor available. We met a junior doctor who treated us with a smile. I was grateful to her. She even charged less than half of his fee.

Some people reason it out saying these doctors would have paid several lakhs to even become doctors. Some of them could have huge student loans which they are keen to repay and hence such money-minting-care-a-damn-about-patients-attitude. It again boils down to expensive education systems. Is it a vicious circle? Is there no way out?

 I just pray and hope our health care and education systems become less oriented towards money and more towards people. Else there is no way why people who go abroad would want to return to such pathetic state of affairs where even basic amenities of life are made to look like luxuries!

Plans...

I started off doing my MBA with a lot of gusto in July 2010(although I had enrolled in mid 2008 and could start the course early 2009, other things happened and this went on the back burner). I cleared all the papers until I hit a road block in the form of “Finance” of Stage II in Jan 2011. That was the first time in my life that I flunk an exam. Initially I was slightly shocked as I did not know how to react to failure in an exam!(I hadn’t prepared that well, but the shocking part was probably for luck running out, finally!) Eventually I somehow convinced myself that it was a good thing that happened to me – now that I know how it feels to flunk!  I tried teaching myself some basics in the subject before actually reading the text books. I downloaded some stuff from the net and was warming up. Somehow plans changed and I could not study as seriously as I had planned. As I was aware that I had not prepared, it messed with head and I did not attend the exams. There was probably a fear of failing, but I just acted aloof. Over the next couple of months I even stopped preparing. There were classes I could attend over weekends, but I made no effort. I stopped believing I could even pass this exam.

 My initial target was to complete my MBA before end of 2012. That seemed farfetched.

I had been running away from it for too long. Finally in Feb 2012, I thought of giving it another try. I tried studying and understanding what I could. When I got frustrated I watched back to back movies while trying to study over the weekends! I am not sure how, but I got a “C” and cleared the paper. Such a relief, I must say! If all goes well, I can still complete my MBA by end of 2012! Fingers crossed!

Quotes...

“People are never so trivial as when they take themselves very seriously.” Oscar Wilde

“Learning is the only thing which mind can never exhaust..never fear…and never dream of regretting.”  T.H White

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato

Signs to believe…

“Something interesting happened today. Was waiting for  the elevator. I was standing in front of the lift that was still going up. People started flocking around the one that was already coming down. I just stood where I was watching. Eventually the one I was waiting for reached sooner!  Sometimes you just need to believe you will get it and voila you will get it! “

I jot down my thoughts in pieces of paper and sometimes leave them in books am reading at the time. I found this note written some two years ago! Before reading this note, I had been watching “How I met your mother”. In the episode Ted says what bothers him is that he is believing less and less everyday. Somehow it struck me.

So am I getting some kind of signs here! J

I have been on some kind of a search these days. And yes, what I got to believe is that I will find what I seek.

New game..

One thing I love playing is solitaire on my phone. Uncovering the unknown is fun, trying to know which card is under this one is also fun. But sometimes I wonder if life has become one of those games in which you don’t concentrate for a while and then end up with very few choices and reduced patience. You wonder if there was a “new” game option. May be every day is a new game option of life!