Another one of those videos on the tech boom:
Am putting this up here on my blog, cause I kinda felt obliged to do so! ;) The song in the video (tune based on billy Joel's 'We din't start the fire', one of my favourites) has a couple of lines which goes..
"Blog blog blog it all, Blog it if it's big or small"
"Blog even if you are wrong, won't you blog about this song":)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
A Successful life
Last weekend I was at the Jagjit Singh concert in Bangalore. The indoor stadium was packed. People had driven from all over Bangalore on a Saturday evening (the worst day of the week in terms of traffic) to attend his concert. It took us about an hour in the queue just to enter the stadium. (The smart guys had set up just the one metal detector for thousands of people :-/). After all the confusion and chaos we settled down and the show began. Within a few seconds of hearing his voice the crowd seemed to have forgotten all the hours of frustration and was totally mesmerized by his voice. It was interesting observing people, some of whom really looked intoxicated by his voice. That got me thinking...this man, sitting there on the stage playing a harmonium had engineered a successful life. 'Successful' per the commonly accepted definition of the word. They say, he has had a tough life and really struggled to make his way to the top. His voice might be God gifted, but success wasn't served to him on a platter.
As with many such things, this led me into some introspection. I wondered how I would rate my life when I was a 60 years old. Then again, why should I wait till I am 60 to rate myself? What about my life up until now? Can I rate myself a 'successful'? Shouldn't I be able to extrapolate about the rest of my life on the basis of what I have 'achieved' till now? Am I behind target on my plans towards stamping 'successful' on my life?I realized that my definition of 'successful' for myself has a number of sub-bullets, some of which won't appear in the popularly accepted definition. Infact a lot of my sub-bullets wouldn't even match with those that appear in the lists of people I gel with most in terms of wavelength. I must admit, that there was some discomfort about the possibility of being labelled 'unsuccessful' according to the populary accepted criteria. That was soon replaced by the bigger discomfort of having to change my criteria just for the sake of tallying it with someone elses. After all the thought, I decided to freeze on my very own criteria and chalked out small plans towards achieving my goals, none of which has to do with world hunger or any such thing! (I get goose bumps thinking of me reading this page when am 60! Blogger, please save all this up for me to come back and reminisce!)
To think, Jagjit Singh struggled and worked hard for a life time, got a 100 awards, got himself an entry into wikipedia, came to perform in Bangalore and there I was wondering if he thought of himself as ‘successful’ per his own criteria!
As with many such things, this led me into some introspection. I wondered how I would rate my life when I was a 60 years old. Then again, why should I wait till I am 60 to rate myself? What about my life up until now? Can I rate myself a 'successful'? Shouldn't I be able to extrapolate about the rest of my life on the basis of what I have 'achieved' till now? Am I behind target on my plans towards stamping 'successful' on my life?I realized that my definition of 'successful' for myself has a number of sub-bullets, some of which won't appear in the popularly accepted definition. Infact a lot of my sub-bullets wouldn't even match with those that appear in the lists of people I gel with most in terms of wavelength. I must admit, that there was some discomfort about the possibility of being labelled 'unsuccessful' according to the populary accepted criteria. That was soon replaced by the bigger discomfort of having to change my criteria just for the sake of tallying it with someone elses. After all the thought, I decided to freeze on my very own criteria and chalked out small plans towards achieving my goals, none of which has to do with world hunger or any such thing! (I get goose bumps thinking of me reading this page when am 60! Blogger, please save all this up for me to come back and reminisce!)
To think, Jagjit Singh struggled and worked hard for a life time, got a 100 awards, got himself an entry into wikipedia, came to perform in Bangalore and there I was wondering if he thought of himself as ‘successful’ per his own criteria!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
When did we unlearn...
My two year old niece, Avantika, managed to teach me a couple of valuable management lessons amidst her goo-goo gaa-gaa gabble. So what if she calls me 'Shil-pa-pa'...cause she doesn't know when to stop the 'pa'...so what if she calls a tortoise a 'to-to-toise' cause she doesn't know how many damn 'to's are there in tortoise, she seems to know a thing or two about some very important inter-personal skills that we try and learn from these management courses at our firms!
In my opinion, managing a house maid and other such unskilled workers who work for you in a non-professional set up is much tougher than managing educated/skilled people in a professional environment. Keeping a maid motivated enough to come to work every single day and perform well continuously is not a petty task. The feedback system doesn't work most times....the way most maids react to feedback is by quitting!Paying above the market is not always a solution. Most of these people have very tough personal lives. Some of us, do a good job of making the maids working hours as pleasant as possible. But the way my niece handled the situation was so different...that it was almost eye opening! She met my maid for the 1st time a couple of days back and greeted her very pleasantly first thing in the morning. To her the maid was an aunty, just like I was. There was no differentiation. She called her 'anti' just like she addresses me..! The next day, the maid got an even warmer welcome. Avantika, was maybe a little shy to express all her love and affection for the new 'anti' so fell short of hugging the maid when she came in. But she ran around the house, declaring to everyone that 'anti' has arrived (probably expecting all of us to queue up in a line and greet and hug 'anti' etc). After that kind of a welcome and unabashed display of her affection, I doubt if the maid would be able to refuse any task that Avantika requests her to do for her!
When most adults are treating maids as if they are inferior, the kids' approach seemed so much like the right thing to do. Most kids are that way...they come in with a fresh perspective...with no preconceived notions, without these walls that we build while going around the sun. For the life of me, I can't remember, when or how I unlearnt all these things that I must have come in with! Worse still, I am not even sure, if I can learn these things again and effectively implement them! :(
In my opinion, managing a house maid and other such unskilled workers who work for you in a non-professional set up is much tougher than managing educated/skilled people in a professional environment. Keeping a maid motivated enough to come to work every single day and perform well continuously is not a petty task. The feedback system doesn't work most times....the way most maids react to feedback is by quitting!Paying above the market is not always a solution. Most of these people have very tough personal lives. Some of us, do a good job of making the maids working hours as pleasant as possible. But the way my niece handled the situation was so different...that it was almost eye opening! She met my maid for the 1st time a couple of days back and greeted her very pleasantly first thing in the morning. To her the maid was an aunty, just like I was. There was no differentiation. She called her 'anti' just like she addresses me..! The next day, the maid got an even warmer welcome. Avantika, was maybe a little shy to express all her love and affection for the new 'anti' so fell short of hugging the maid when she came in. But she ran around the house, declaring to everyone that 'anti' has arrived (probably expecting all of us to queue up in a line and greet and hug 'anti' etc). After that kind of a welcome and unabashed display of her affection, I doubt if the maid would be able to refuse any task that Avantika requests her to do for her!
When most adults are treating maids as if they are inferior, the kids' approach seemed so much like the right thing to do. Most kids are that way...they come in with a fresh perspective...with no preconceived notions, without these walls that we build while going around the sun. For the life of me, I can't remember, when or how I unlearnt all these things that I must have come in with! Worse still, I am not even sure, if I can learn these things again and effectively implement them! :(
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A thousand splendid suns...
The India Pakistan world cup final victory for India felt nothing short of a thousand splendid suns! In the end, it was all worth it. The whole day planning around the match timings...all the tension and anxiety that all of India went through. That evening, all of Bangalore seemed to be leaving from work in time for the match at 5:30pm. It was so obvious...the regular 6-7pm traffic jams were happening at 4-5pm that evening...but for once, seeing the crazy traffic that evening at 5 felt good...it felt like all of the country was united in something...all of us were one big team...and doing our bit of sending positive energy to our representatives on the playing field at Johannesburg that evening! :)
I am glad, I came out of it alive! I was really worried that the next days news would read 'girl in Bangalore dies of heart attack watching India Pakistan cricket match'. The last ball of the match, where the cool Misbah made the mistake of trying to hit a 6 in the wrong side of the field, and getting caught instead and thus giving the cup to us...caught us all by surprise. We were all hopeful, obviously, but the way Misbah was going there seemed to be no stopping them. The surprise victory was actually too much to take...I realised we were all so caught up in it all...so involved in this...I for one, couldn't say anything for a couple of seconds..voice just didn't come out, I was so dumbstruck! After the jumping and screaming..and crying and laughing, we all picked up our phones to share the moment with our folks who were watching the match in another city...and guess what...all the networks were jammed...and no calls went through!
That evening was a treat to this cricket crazy nation. A day all of us will remember for a very long long time and cherish....just like the '83 victory for all of us who were old enough to remember seeing it. The picture of Kapil Dev in his navy blue jersey, cup in hand, the team behind, the champagne...though 14 years old, hasn't faded from memory. Its nice to have another picture of a young raring-to-go team lead by Dhoni to cherish! :) Nothing short of a thousand Splendid suns!
(BTW, Khaled Hosseini's latest book 'A thousand splendid suns' is worth a read!)
I am glad, I came out of it alive! I was really worried that the next days news would read 'girl in Bangalore dies of heart attack watching India Pakistan cricket match'. The last ball of the match, where the cool Misbah made the mistake of trying to hit a 6 in the wrong side of the field, and getting caught instead and thus giving the cup to us...caught us all by surprise. We were all hopeful, obviously, but the way Misbah was going there seemed to be no stopping them. The surprise victory was actually too much to take...I realised we were all so caught up in it all...so involved in this...I for one, couldn't say anything for a couple of seconds..voice just didn't come out, I was so dumbstruck! After the jumping and screaming..and crying and laughing, we all picked up our phones to share the moment with our folks who were watching the match in another city...and guess what...all the networks were jammed...and no calls went through!
That evening was a treat to this cricket crazy nation. A day all of us will remember for a very long long time and cherish....just like the '83 victory for all of us who were old enough to remember seeing it. The picture of Kapil Dev in his navy blue jersey, cup in hand, the team behind, the champagne...though 14 years old, hasn't faded from memory. Its nice to have another picture of a young raring-to-go team lead by Dhoni to cherish! :) Nothing short of a thousand Splendid suns!
(BTW, Khaled Hosseini's latest book 'A thousand splendid suns' is worth a read!)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Bheja Fry
Bheja Fry....Great movie, Must watch….all that’s ok. You can sit and laugh at Bharat Bhushan’s comical face and Ranjeet Thadani’s plight. When something like that happens to you, gosh, it is tough. I had the misfortune of having to deal with a nutcase who really fried whatever little bheja I have! All along while interacting with this really low IQ guy, I kept telling myself ‘I definitely am smarter than this dud…I should be able to handle him and not let him effect my mood’…but I failed. Every interaction with him, actually frustrated me so much, I had to call someone and vent out to get back to my state of equilibrium. Even with his real low IQ, he is able to create so much of an impact. Should that be admired? I don’t know!
Even though I have no qualms about mentioning his real name here, I’ll just change names, because that’s how it is always done!
Once upon a time, not too long ago, (like 6 months back) we requested for drinking water cans to be delivered home. It seemed like a very straight forward thing. You pay deposit for the cans and dispenser and pay for the water every time it is delivered. To be on the safe side, I requested for 2 cans, so that as soon as one can is empty I could place my request for refill and I would still have one can to go in case the delivery is delayed etc. The 1st time the agent, Ramakant, came home it was quite eventful...more eventful than you would expect out of a situation involving water cans and money. I should have known that the 1st meeting was indicative of eventful times ahead! He was late and it was quite obvious he was totally out of schedule for the day. When he was at home, he got a number of calls from irate customers asking ‘when will you be here?’ and he responded with things like ‘Sir…I am right in front of your house’…’madam…I am just about to get into the lift of your building’….He din’t look like someone who had the ability to be in our living room and at 2 other places at the same time! He came home without all the stuff that was required to set up the cans and after saying all these blatant lies to a couple of thirsty people in Bangalore he looks straight in the eye and says ‘Sir, promise I’ll get it for you tomorrow’. Dippie smiled and said ‘boss…I had to make a 100 calls to you before you finally came…you stand here and lie to other people right in front of me…and you expect me to believe your ‘promise’?’ To that, his response was a stupid smile and a‘He He He…sir..I’ll come tomorrow na…’. I don’t quite remember how many days passed by for ‘tomorrow’ to come. But then it finally did..and we had drinking water cans set up in our home. After one can got empty, I promptly called Ramakant to ask for a refill of 1 can. He says ‘no no…I wont come all the way for 1 can’. I tried explaining to him about the logic of taking 2 cans…the fact that one was a backup in case of delays in delivery. Isn’t that a really simple logic? How come then, he, who delivers cans day in and day out couldn’t understand my logic? He speaks hindi and English…so it wasn’t a case of language barrier. He just din’t understand what I was trying to say. I tried putting myself in his shoes…to think the way he thought…to explain in simple terms. I think in his simple mind, he thought people ordered 2 cans together because 1 would be lonely all by iself! I just started to manage the water a little closely instead of breaking my head over Ramakant.
Gradually, even 2 cans became a problem for him! He would say things like ‘Mam, I can’t come for 2-3 days…am in the hospital’. Initially I gave him the benefit of doubt. Then I started to lose patience, having to wait for water cans for a week when the promised SLA was 1 day. I had tried everything out…contacting his boss…offering to go pick up the cans myself….nothing really seemed to work. That’s when I decided to go with another vendor. But exiting wasn’t easy…because the deposit of the cans was with Ramakant. When I called him to give him the bad news that we din’t want water from him anymore, he wasn’t upset or din’t even try to convince me to stick on. He just said ‘ok..will come and return the deposit and collect the cans’. I was pleasantly surprised…that I din’t have any explaining to do. But the pleasantness was shortlived when I realised he kept giving excuses and never turned up. 3 weeks passed by with this and that. I would call him and he would say ‘mam..can you call me later, am in traffic, driving’. I would call back later and he would say ‘mam..I cant come for 1 month, I met with an accident’. I should have began to feel guilty…cause my phone calls to him seemed to bring him bad luck and he wound up in the hospital at least 3 out of 5 times after my calls! I called his boss, and spilt the beans. Ramakant called back 5 minutes after I spoke to his boss with ‘Mam…did u call my boss?? Ok I will come in 2 days and return the deposit…’. Huh..? I imagined Ramakant in hospital all plastered up, leg hanging from a hook all settled in there to stay for a month. What amazing sincerity for his work to want to come out of all that in 2 days for the sake of my 1k deposit! I asked him ‘I thought you said you cant come for 1 month?’. He would just plain ignore my statement as if I never said anything and say ‘mam..I told you na..I’ll come on Monday….promise’! I started to hate his promises! Come Monday, he says, he came home and din’t find the watchman and he waited for 10 minutes. The building watchman is so old, that he hardly budges from his chair by the gate. Sometimes he is so tired (sitting), that he doesn’t even get up to open the gate when I want to park the car. Ramakant ‘promised’ that he was there at my building and that I could speak to his accomplice if I had a doubt about that. Yes, right, that’s just what I wanted…to talk to another Ramakant like guy who would vouch for him!’ How come you din’t call me when you got to my building? I would have come in 5 minutes?’ *IGNORE* (How does he do that? I wish I could learn to do that….just ignore when someone asks something I din’t want to answer). ‘Anyway, where are you now? I’ll come by home’ ‘No Madam, I am in Yelahanka now’. Now, if I want to go from Indiranagar to Yelahanka, at 2 in the afternoon, it would take me 30-45 minutes in the best traffic conditions. But Ramakant gets there in 15 minutes flat? How does he do all this?
I concluded, he has supernatural powers. He can be in 3 places at one time. When he stares at a broken foot for about 5 minutes, miraculously it cures…and he has a solution to the Bangalore traffic….he flies!
Even though I have no qualms about mentioning his real name here, I’ll just change names, because that’s how it is always done!
Once upon a time, not too long ago, (like 6 months back) we requested for drinking water cans to be delivered home. It seemed like a very straight forward thing. You pay deposit for the cans and dispenser and pay for the water every time it is delivered. To be on the safe side, I requested for 2 cans, so that as soon as one can is empty I could place my request for refill and I would still have one can to go in case the delivery is delayed etc. The 1st time the agent, Ramakant, came home it was quite eventful...more eventful than you would expect out of a situation involving water cans and money. I should have known that the 1st meeting was indicative of eventful times ahead! He was late and it was quite obvious he was totally out of schedule for the day. When he was at home, he got a number of calls from irate customers asking ‘when will you be here?’ and he responded with things like ‘Sir…I am right in front of your house’…’madam…I am just about to get into the lift of your building’….He din’t look like someone who had the ability to be in our living room and at 2 other places at the same time! He came home without all the stuff that was required to set up the cans and after saying all these blatant lies to a couple of thirsty people in Bangalore he looks straight in the eye and says ‘Sir, promise I’ll get it for you tomorrow’. Dippie smiled and said ‘boss…I had to make a 100 calls to you before you finally came…you stand here and lie to other people right in front of me…and you expect me to believe your ‘promise’?’ To that, his response was a stupid smile and a‘He He He…sir..I’ll come tomorrow na…’. I don’t quite remember how many days passed by for ‘tomorrow’ to come. But then it finally did..and we had drinking water cans set up in our home. After one can got empty, I promptly called Ramakant to ask for a refill of 1 can. He says ‘no no…I wont come all the way for 1 can’. I tried explaining to him about the logic of taking 2 cans…the fact that one was a backup in case of delays in delivery. Isn’t that a really simple logic? How come then, he, who delivers cans day in and day out couldn’t understand my logic? He speaks hindi and English…so it wasn’t a case of language barrier. He just din’t understand what I was trying to say. I tried putting myself in his shoes…to think the way he thought…to explain in simple terms. I think in his simple mind, he thought people ordered 2 cans together because 1 would be lonely all by iself! I just started to manage the water a little closely instead of breaking my head over Ramakant.
Gradually, even 2 cans became a problem for him! He would say things like ‘Mam, I can’t come for 2-3 days…am in the hospital’. Initially I gave him the benefit of doubt. Then I started to lose patience, having to wait for water cans for a week when the promised SLA was 1 day. I had tried everything out…contacting his boss…offering to go pick up the cans myself….nothing really seemed to work. That’s when I decided to go with another vendor. But exiting wasn’t easy…because the deposit of the cans was with Ramakant. When I called him to give him the bad news that we din’t want water from him anymore, he wasn’t upset or din’t even try to convince me to stick on. He just said ‘ok..will come and return the deposit and collect the cans’. I was pleasantly surprised…that I din’t have any explaining to do. But the pleasantness was shortlived when I realised he kept giving excuses and never turned up. 3 weeks passed by with this and that. I would call him and he would say ‘mam..can you call me later, am in traffic, driving’. I would call back later and he would say ‘mam..I cant come for 1 month, I met with an accident’. I should have began to feel guilty…cause my phone calls to him seemed to bring him bad luck and he wound up in the hospital at least 3 out of 5 times after my calls! I called his boss, and spilt the beans. Ramakant called back 5 minutes after I spoke to his boss with ‘Mam…did u call my boss?? Ok I will come in 2 days and return the deposit…’. Huh..? I imagined Ramakant in hospital all plastered up, leg hanging from a hook all settled in there to stay for a month. What amazing sincerity for his work to want to come out of all that in 2 days for the sake of my 1k deposit! I asked him ‘I thought you said you cant come for 1 month?’. He would just plain ignore my statement as if I never said anything and say ‘mam..I told you na..I’ll come on Monday….promise’! I started to hate his promises! Come Monday, he says, he came home and din’t find the watchman and he waited for 10 minutes. The building watchman is so old, that he hardly budges from his chair by the gate. Sometimes he is so tired (sitting), that he doesn’t even get up to open the gate when I want to park the car. Ramakant ‘promised’ that he was there at my building and that I could speak to his accomplice if I had a doubt about that. Yes, right, that’s just what I wanted…to talk to another Ramakant like guy who would vouch for him!’ How come you din’t call me when you got to my building? I would have come in 5 minutes?’ *IGNORE* (How does he do that? I wish I could learn to do that….just ignore when someone asks something I din’t want to answer). ‘Anyway, where are you now? I’ll come by home’ ‘No Madam, I am in Yelahanka now’. Now, if I want to go from Indiranagar to Yelahanka, at 2 in the afternoon, it would take me 30-45 minutes in the best traffic conditions. But Ramakant gets there in 15 minutes flat? How does he do all this?
I concluded, he has supernatural powers. He can be in 3 places at one time. When he stares at a broken foot for about 5 minutes, miraculously it cures…and he has a solution to the Bangalore traffic….he flies!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Little Miss Sunshine
Spoiler Alert: This post contains some details of the movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". Don't read further if you don't like hearing parts of the story before watching a movie.
I got to watch the academy award winning "Little Miss sunshine" recently. It was a simple movie and in my opinion, made very well. There were no major schemes, plots, clandestine activities, love affairs, wars, gadgets or spooky characters. It was just a simple story of an ordinary family and their journey together to a children's beauty pageant called ‘Little Miss Sunshine”. The youngest member of the family a cute, smart 7 year old ‘Olive’ aspires to walk away with the "Little miss sunshine" crown. There was no anti-climax at the end. No moral of the movie. No people turning from Good to bad or vice versa. It was just a slice of this family’s life. Maybe I loved it, because it was just that. It was something that anyone could somehow relate to. There are so many things we go through in course of our lives that no one makes a movie out of. It feels nice to sit and watch some slices of your life in an entertaining movie.
Here’s one slice that I particularly liked. Olive’s uncle is a part of the road trip. He is forced to accompany the family because he is suicidal and has to be kept in sight as he just had made an unsuccessful suicide attempt! I wonder how it would feel to be caught attempting suicide. Is there a point living after that? ;) Anyway, so here’s this guy who feels there is nothing to look forward in life and in all his sanity decides that he needs to be elsewhere doing other bigger things like floating around without a body! Ironically, he is forced into this tedious road trip in which he has to drag not only his body but also the rundown van. And the mission of the entire trip is getting Olive to participate in a silly inconsequential (to ‘mature’ adults) beauty pageant. After a painfully long, eventful journey, which would completely drain anyone, they reach the venue just in time. Even before the van comes to a complete halt, this suicidal uncle jumps out of the van and darts off…for a moment, I really thought he was so frustrated with the events of the entire day, that he was tipped off enough to make another attempt at suicide. It looked like he was waiting for the van to stop to get off and do something drastic. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this man was running towards the pageant registration desk to ensure that Olive didn’t miss the registration counter timings. Would you expect a guy who would rather be dead to care about a little girl’s fancies? Believe me…he really ran as if it was his life in question. It was really heart warming. None of us have fairy godmothers appearing before us everyday to fulfill our wishes. But once in a while someone around us, does this small but completely selfless thing for you…and that means so much more sunshine than any majestic coach formed out of a pumpkin!
I got to watch the academy award winning "Little Miss sunshine" recently. It was a simple movie and in my opinion, made very well. There were no major schemes, plots, clandestine activities, love affairs, wars, gadgets or spooky characters. It was just a simple story of an ordinary family and their journey together to a children's beauty pageant called ‘Little Miss Sunshine”. The youngest member of the family a cute, smart 7 year old ‘Olive’ aspires to walk away with the "Little miss sunshine" crown. There was no anti-climax at the end. No moral of the movie. No people turning from Good to bad or vice versa. It was just a slice of this family’s life. Maybe I loved it, because it was just that. It was something that anyone could somehow relate to. There are so many things we go through in course of our lives that no one makes a movie out of. It feels nice to sit and watch some slices of your life in an entertaining movie.
Here’s one slice that I particularly liked. Olive’s uncle is a part of the road trip. He is forced to accompany the family because he is suicidal and has to be kept in sight as he just had made an unsuccessful suicide attempt! I wonder how it would feel to be caught attempting suicide. Is there a point living after that? ;) Anyway, so here’s this guy who feels there is nothing to look forward in life and in all his sanity decides that he needs to be elsewhere doing other bigger things like floating around without a body! Ironically, he is forced into this tedious road trip in which he has to drag not only his body but also the rundown van. And the mission of the entire trip is getting Olive to participate in a silly inconsequential (to ‘mature’ adults) beauty pageant. After a painfully long, eventful journey, which would completely drain anyone, they reach the venue just in time. Even before the van comes to a complete halt, this suicidal uncle jumps out of the van and darts off…for a moment, I really thought he was so frustrated with the events of the entire day, that he was tipped off enough to make another attempt at suicide. It looked like he was waiting for the van to stop to get off and do something drastic. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this man was running towards the pageant registration desk to ensure that Olive didn’t miss the registration counter timings. Would you expect a guy who would rather be dead to care about a little girl’s fancies? Believe me…he really ran as if it was his life in question. It was really heart warming. None of us have fairy godmothers appearing before us everyday to fulfill our wishes. But once in a while someone around us, does this small but completely selfless thing for you…and that means so much more sunshine than any majestic coach formed out of a pumpkin!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
(b)RAIN WAVE
A couple of days back, it rained heavily and the 2nd century drainage system in Bangalore just gave up and timed out. We were driving back late at night after watching Harry Potter – Order of the Phoenix and everything around us was in disorder! Before I realize and prepare myself I find water all the way up to the bonnet of the car and then lo and behold the water seeped in through the base of the car and I could feel it at my feet! After that there was no stopping my over imaginative mind! Though I hate to admit this about my car, the zen sometimes gives away in the ½ tarred roads in Bangalore. So by no stretch of imagination can it pull through from deep waters. Now there’s water at my feet…how long will it take to cover us up..and drown us? The thought itself made me breathless as if I was literally in water and drowning. How much time did we have? We din’t have oars…else we could have rowed back to land. Rex hadn’t given us any of the harry potter magic wands as souvenirs for watching the movie on a rainy night! I started picturing ‘Day after tomorrow’ and looked around melodramatically and asked Dippie ‘what should I do? What will happen now?’ expecting him to say something really cool or bizarre….maybe the next step was lowering the windows, leaping out and start swimming to safety…In anticipation I had started taking deep breaths before plunging into water.
He looked at me quizzically and said ‘swerve a little to the right and then make a left’. How boring! While I had made a trip to heaven/hell and back, all he did was look out carefully at the road for relatively steeper portions!
He looked at me quizzically and said ‘swerve a little to the right and then make a left’. How boring! While I had made a trip to heaven/hell and back, all he did was look out carefully at the road for relatively steeper portions!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Slipping away...
It is fast slipping away
Even as I do all I can…
Even as I put all my will and might
Unperturbed, the grains just slip away…
As if to mock the sweat I put
When I naively picked up a fistful
It bore a promise of fun times…
Now, painfully, I am aware of every grain…
Callously slipping away and causing scars as they leave
Not even turning back to savor victory
It must be the undying hope of triumph
That makes me foolishly just hold on tighter
Abetting even the smallest grain
To do more while it is happily slipping away
And forever be lost amidst the countless grains
Scorched, defeated and scarred
I brush my hands in despair
I look around unwavering…for something less transient
With outstretched palms make a dash towards the ocean
Believing that water from my palms will never slip away!
Even as I do all I can…
Even as I put all my will and might
Unperturbed, the grains just slip away…
As if to mock the sweat I put
When I naively picked up a fistful
It bore a promise of fun times…
Now, painfully, I am aware of every grain…
Callously slipping away and causing scars as they leave
Not even turning back to savor victory
It must be the undying hope of triumph
That makes me foolishly just hold on tighter
Abetting even the smallest grain
To do more while it is happily slipping away
And forever be lost amidst the countless grains
Scorched, defeated and scarred
I brush my hands in despair
I look around unwavering…for something less transient
With outstretched palms make a dash towards the ocean
Believing that water from my palms will never slip away!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Losing Gracefully
Ever since I was a kid I have been accused of not being a graceful loser. I remember the endless games of Ludo we used to play all through the summer vacations with my brother and friends next door. Everything was hunky dory while I was winning. But the moment I started to lose my bro used to hold on to the Ludo board and after every throw of the die, take a mental picture of where all the coins were, so that we could resume even after I had flung the board ceiling ward! No matter how much we played and how much I or my team won, I have had a problem with losing!
When I was older, we played basketball during lunch break. By then, I had learnt not to display my extreme emotions with my friends. Though I was at my aggressive best when I was losing, I managed to not throw things around or make a scene while I was losing. But I remember feeling miserable about losing. A couple of weeks back, in some trivial competition at my work place, I lost something I thought would be a cakewalk for me. I smiled and clapped alright..and definitely didn’t look like someone who was miserable. But I walked out of the award distribution with so many unwanted thoughts as if I had lost the biggest game of my life! I sometimes think it is so weird that I make such a big deal about these trivial things. I like to hear/read philosophical things like ‘its just a game. Treat it like one. Have fun playing it’. But it ends there…I just like to hear and read those things. I can’t assimilate it. I think it is perfectly all right if the captain cries after losing a match, right there in the middle of the ground. In my opinion that shows he/she was passionate about winning. What’s wrong in displaying a little disappointment at not meeting your own expectations? I agree it would be inappropriate if Nadal flung his racket across the net at his opponent after losing. But I think it is quite alright to sit there and bawl first…and then if the opponent comes up to you…well..he could shake hands and congratulate him. You went out there to win. The topmost thing on your mind is extreme disappointment at losing…it is inhuman to expect such a person to smile and say ‘am glad for you’! You are anything but glad! Why has smiling after losing become the accepted code of conduct? While outwardly I silently abide by the code in most occasions where I am expected to, deep down, I am still learning to lose gracefully and treat a game as one!
When I was older, we played basketball during lunch break. By then, I had learnt not to display my extreme emotions with my friends. Though I was at my aggressive best when I was losing, I managed to not throw things around or make a scene while I was losing. But I remember feeling miserable about losing. A couple of weeks back, in some trivial competition at my work place, I lost something I thought would be a cakewalk for me. I smiled and clapped alright..and definitely didn’t look like someone who was miserable. But I walked out of the award distribution with so many unwanted thoughts as if I had lost the biggest game of my life! I sometimes think it is so weird that I make such a big deal about these trivial things. I like to hear/read philosophical things like ‘its just a game. Treat it like one. Have fun playing it’. But it ends there…I just like to hear and read those things. I can’t assimilate it. I think it is perfectly all right if the captain cries after losing a match, right there in the middle of the ground. In my opinion that shows he/she was passionate about winning. What’s wrong in displaying a little disappointment at not meeting your own expectations? I agree it would be inappropriate if Nadal flung his racket across the net at his opponent after losing. But I think it is quite alright to sit there and bawl first…and then if the opponent comes up to you…well..he could shake hands and congratulate him. You went out there to win. The topmost thing on your mind is extreme disappointment at losing…it is inhuman to expect such a person to smile and say ‘am glad for you’! You are anything but glad! Why has smiling after losing become the accepted code of conduct? While outwardly I silently abide by the code in most occasions where I am expected to, deep down, I am still learning to lose gracefully and treat a game as one!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Parking woes
Does the area around your house belong to you, just because you got someone to clean it up a little and cemented it? Here in Bangalore people seem to think so. I can understand 'no parking' signs in front of the gate leading to someone's house. But I just don't understand signs on the boundary walls of houses saying 'If you park here, flat tyre guaranteed'. When I first saw the sign in the lanes in 7th block Koramangala (behind Food world, hutch etc) I was quite surprised. Since then, I have noticed such rude signs in many localities.
I have been in a couple of arguments with house owners on this parking issue. One elderly lady once decided not to argue/reason out with me. She just popped up near the boundary wall of her house while I was parking and shouted at me so loud that I wondered how something like this could impact an old person so much. If it meant so much to her, I would have parked elsewhere had she just asked me. She needn't have started the conversation assuming that I wouldn't move. She needn't have risked her voice box and put her life at stake for this! After a couple of minutes of hearing her, I just slotted her in my mental list of elderly people who have issues with all of us 'software people' invading their city. The next day when I was in that area again, I noticed she had put some dry twigs and branches in the area around her house in an attempt to thwart anyone's plans of parking there!
Another time I waited in my car by an apartment complex for a few minutes. The watchman approached me and asked me to move out. He was quite polite and I tried reasoning out with him. Told him that my friends had just stepped out and would be back in 2-3 minutes and I would move the car if anyone came that way and wouldn't cause any inconvenience to anyone. He was on the verge of agreeing to let me be when a couple of drivers who had parked in the commercial complex nearby came up to listen to the conversation. One of them again didn't believe in talking/sorting things out and very rudely asked me to move out of the area. It caught me by surprise and I thought I'd first ask him to lower his volume and talk nicely. Of course it din't work and my face must have turned red when this roadside hero gestured 'get lost' to me as if I was scum. My friends came back just then. Then I realized that what I thought was rude and cheap was all very decent in comparison to what was to follow. What I had faced was preferential treatment on account of my feminine status. The crowd's true colors came out only after that. When I saw how they spoke and treated my male friends I was truly shaken. The whole situation had spiraled out of control for something really trivial. The irony of the situation was that the apartment's watchman who initially requested me to move out was nowhere to be seen!
There is lack of space. No doubts about that! Quiet residential areas are getting crowded with all these cars being parked because of businesses not providing parking space within their premises. Every resident is impacted some way or the other. But some people are not able to take all the chaos and are reacting. Some of them have decided that they will make their own rules and laws and devise their own means to enforce them. The best way to deal with this situation most times is to park far away from these kind of people even if it means walking 10 minutes to get to your car! Steer clear! A flattened tyre is a small issue...a flattened nose is not!
I have been in a couple of arguments with house owners on this parking issue. One elderly lady once decided not to argue/reason out with me. She just popped up near the boundary wall of her house while I was parking and shouted at me so loud that I wondered how something like this could impact an old person so much. If it meant so much to her, I would have parked elsewhere had she just asked me. She needn't have started the conversation assuming that I wouldn't move. She needn't have risked her voice box and put her life at stake for this! After a couple of minutes of hearing her, I just slotted her in my mental list of elderly people who have issues with all of us 'software people' invading their city. The next day when I was in that area again, I noticed she had put some dry twigs and branches in the area around her house in an attempt to thwart anyone's plans of parking there!
Another time I waited in my car by an apartment complex for a few minutes. The watchman approached me and asked me to move out. He was quite polite and I tried reasoning out with him. Told him that my friends had just stepped out and would be back in 2-3 minutes and I would move the car if anyone came that way and wouldn't cause any inconvenience to anyone. He was on the verge of agreeing to let me be when a couple of drivers who had parked in the commercial complex nearby came up to listen to the conversation. One of them again didn't believe in talking/sorting things out and very rudely asked me to move out of the area. It caught me by surprise and I thought I'd first ask him to lower his volume and talk nicely. Of course it din't work and my face must have turned red when this roadside hero gestured 'get lost' to me as if I was scum. My friends came back just then. Then I realized that what I thought was rude and cheap was all very decent in comparison to what was to follow. What I had faced was preferential treatment on account of my feminine status. The crowd's true colors came out only after that. When I saw how they spoke and treated my male friends I was truly shaken. The whole situation had spiraled out of control for something really trivial. The irony of the situation was that the apartment's watchman who initially requested me to move out was nowhere to be seen!
There is lack of space. No doubts about that! Quiet residential areas are getting crowded with all these cars being parked because of businesses not providing parking space within their premises. Every resident is impacted some way or the other. But some people are not able to take all the chaos and are reacting. Some of them have decided that they will make their own rules and laws and devise their own means to enforce them. The best way to deal with this situation most times is to park far away from these kind of people even if it means walking 10 minutes to get to your car! Steer clear! A flattened tyre is a small issue...a flattened nose is not!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Midnight marathon -Bangalore (May 19th 2007)
After having run a full marathon last year,I chose to run a half marathon in the Bangalore midnight marathon on May 19th 2007. I wanted to focus on my timing and get that right in 1/2 a marathon. The day before the marathon while talking to my mom over phone on my plans for the weekend I said 'Am running 1/2 a marathon' and she goes 'oh! why? Don't tire yourself.' I thought it was a funny response 'Don't tire yourself'.What she din't say was 'Can't you find anything better to do? Why don't you just do the regular stuff people do?' At the end of the race, while walking about 20 minutes to get to my car at 4am, I really wondered if I was getting obsessed with all this running stuff! I think I am! I set myself a target of doing 21.1km in 2 hours and I did it. Now I am thinking of how I can better my timings.
The midnight marathon was a very unique experience. We din’t have to bother about the sun beating down on us. The arrangements were pretty good and there was no dearth of water in the water stations. There was enough security and I wasn't scared about stray dogs chasing me. The organizers managed to keep the tempo up with a lot of people in costumes, on stilts, playing music and beating drums etc. The running loop was actually totally cordoned off and we din't have to worry about any vehicles running us over etc. (except for the bikes with camera men and videographers who made us feel like celebrities). Things were more professionally organized and each of us had a running chip attached to our shoes which recorded our timings. At the end of the race there was some chilled Minute maid handed out which tasted heavenly. The whole atmosphere was pretty festive with food stalls, music etc. It reminded me of 'Sports day' at school!
As with anything, experience really helps. After having run one full marathon a few months back, I knew I couldn't depend on the organizers for replenishment of essential salts and sugars. I had my energy bar and Electral with me. Also, being part of Runners For life (RFL) really helps. I get to read about all the smart techniques and we get some professional advice from a doctor (sports and exercise medicine consultant) who is himself a very passionate runner. There are some things that scare you as well....like the news about the 22 yr old guy who died after running the London marathon a few weeks back. I would never have guessed that someone could die of drinking excess water! I think the organisers should write in big bold letters in the marathon forms and advertisements 'Running a marathon could be injurious or fatal.' One should really have a good hang of what this is before putting one's body through this. I think I have been really lucky so far. Wonder if I should keep trying my luck or switch to doing some less eccentric things! I have time to think...next Bangalore marathon is only in September. :D
Thursday, May 17, 2007
MTR, Bangalore
A few days back, we went to south
At 6 in the evening, it was jam packed. We saw a couple of free seats and excitedly ran towards them, thinking we were very smart at having noticed them when so many people seemed to be waiting. The waiter serving in that section seemed to figure that we were not regulars and announced 'Ee section only coffee'! Ah-ha!An enlightened trio, we walked out of the 'coffee only' section to the main hall which had just 6 tables and at least 25 people waiting around the tables. We thought the section on the 1st floor might be a little free...but the queue there was worse so we placed our bet on the ground floor hall. We weren't well versed with the etiquette and protocols of the place, and it took us some time to feel ok about standing so close to some one's chair while he/she was eating and pouncing on it as soon as they began to get up! Each of us picked a chair at a different table and started the wait.
In about 15 minutes one of us got lucky and got a chair. Again, in the hope of optimizing and getting to eat ASAP, we thought we would just place the order and the other 2 can just stand around the chair and eat and just get out of the place. There was no luxury of menu or any waiter patiently rattling off the items on the menu so we decided our items by looking around at what everyone was eating. We did all this across the room, signaling to each other, pointing at half eaten stuff on the tables etc. By that time, the time pressure and tension prevalent in the room seemed to get to us and when the waiter came my friend actually stammered a little while placing the order! He was probably scared that the waiter would give him just 3 seconds to place the order and would just walk away with whatever he heard in the 3 seconds! :D But the waiter heard the list, gave a Are-you-really-going-to-eat-all-that-by-yourself look and asked how many people were with him. He declared that he wouldn't take orders for people who hadn't got chairs...so the other 2 losers just had to wait for the damn chairs to free up.
Since we had all the time in the world we just stood and observed people. There was so much tension all around. Small arguments between people betting on the same chair and claiming they were in the vicinity of the chair first, people waiting for their stuff to arrive...hungry children tired of waiting and displaying their impatience. Far from being a place with a nice ambience for your favorite snack the environment seemed conducive enough for mini domestic fights. An elderly couple ended up having a fight there with the husband shouting across the hall to his wife when the wife wasn't fast enough to pounce on a chair that had freed up. The poor lady seemed to have lost all her appetite after that and just looked in the opposite direction after she got shouted at! It was quite amusing. Even the foodie in me din't quite get why anyone would go through all that for a snack. We ended up spending about 1.5 hours for some dosa, khara bhat, rava idli and coffee. There was no doubt that the food was good and quite unique. But the whole experience made it not worth the while. It felt like we really had to earn the food not only with money, but with a lot of time as well. I have heard that the chaos is much more at lunch time. Patience is in short supply and the waiters treat you like they are doing you a favor and serving you free food. I walked out of the place thinking that the name is quite appropriate – MTR – only it shouldn't expand to “Mavalli Tiffin Room”, it should be “Maha Tension Room”!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
River of dreams
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep...
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To the river so deep...
(Billy Joel - River of Dreams)
Last weekend, on a trip to Masinagudi, this song played in my head when we went on a night safari in the middle of the night, through mountains and valleys to a small stream in the jungle. This was the first time I went on a night safari and unfortunately I wasn't bestowed with any beginner's luck and I didn't catch a glimpse of a tiger/leopard or any such animal that we all hope to see in a safari. In spite of that, it was a very memorable experience for me.
As we set off, I wondered how we would spot anything in the darkness. We had the driver switch off the jeep lights in the middle of the jungle for a moment and then we saw (or didn't see!) what they really mean by 'pitch dark'! As the noisy jeep went through the quiet jungle, we had a lot of irate onlookers! They glared at us from among the bushes...and as we drew closer, they scampered away, quickly deciding that it wasn't worth confronting us for encroaching their territory and creating noise pollution. Their orange, yellow or reddish eyes actually glowed as if they were LEDs. How brightly they must have glowed to allow us to be able to differentiate between the orange, yellow and red light reflecting from their eyes!
The most memorable part of the safari was the stop by the stream. For a few minutes none of us got out of the jeep..maybe for fear of being mauled by the tiger striding to the stream for a drink! Wishful thinking! Then we all stepped out of the jeep and quietly just stood by the jeep, scanning the banks of the stream down below and ears alert for any rustle or growl. Since we were in clearing, the area wasn't pitch dark. The stream looked soothing...flowing almost noiselessly under the clear star studded sky in the chill of the night. The only noises were those of crickets and owls. After a while of waiting, we heard a growl and rustle. It probably came from someone we would have loved to see from a distance! But we weren't lucky enough. We just drove back with memories of the stream of dreams.
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep...
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To the river so deep...
(Billy Joel - River of Dreams)
Last weekend, on a trip to Masinagudi, this song played in my head when we went on a night safari in the middle of the night, through mountains and valleys to a small stream in the jungle. This was the first time I went on a night safari and unfortunately I wasn't bestowed with any beginner's luck and I didn't catch a glimpse of a tiger/leopard or any such animal that we all hope to see in a safari. In spite of that, it was a very memorable experience for me.
As we set off, I wondered how we would spot anything in the darkness. We had the driver switch off the jeep lights in the middle of the jungle for a moment and then we saw (or didn't see!) what they really mean by 'pitch dark'! As the noisy jeep went through the quiet jungle, we had a lot of irate onlookers! They glared at us from among the bushes...and as we drew closer, they scampered away, quickly deciding that it wasn't worth confronting us for encroaching their territory and creating noise pollution. Their orange, yellow or reddish eyes actually glowed as if they were LEDs. How brightly they must have glowed to allow us to be able to differentiate between the orange, yellow and red light reflecting from their eyes!
The most memorable part of the safari was the stop by the stream. For a few minutes none of us got out of the jeep..maybe for fear of being mauled by the tiger striding to the stream for a drink! Wishful thinking! Then we all stepped out of the jeep and quietly just stood by the jeep, scanning the banks of the stream down below and ears alert for any rustle or growl. Since we were in clearing, the area wasn't pitch dark. The stream looked soothing...flowing almost noiselessly under the clear star studded sky in the chill of the night. The only noises were those of crickets and owls. After a while of waiting, we heard a growl and rustle. It probably came from someone we would have loved to see from a distance! But we weren't lucky enough. We just drove back with memories of the stream of dreams.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Cooking Thomas...?
Everytime I travel abroad, I get back home wondering if India will ever get to where the developed countries are. For a week or two after my trip, I keep thinking up small plans in my head to do my part to navigate India towards more progress. Then I get back to my usual common (wo)man life! It is not something I am proud about...maybe it shows I am mediocre...maybe it is cause of the lack of confidence that I can make a difference at a large scale...maybe it is cause I am actually most comfortable and at home in all the chaos.
I travel 1/2 way across the globe to a different country, hire a car at the airport and drive to my hotel which is 30 miles away, without even having to stop to ask for directions. It is so seamless. Here, over the weekend, I drive 1/2 the distance (15 miles) to Masinagudi in 5 hours...stop about 10 times for directions and then get to know that 1/2 of the activities we were hoping to do aren't possible at this time of the year! It is anything but seamless! This kind of important information is not available here...and in London if I have excess luggage I can plan my route in the underground based on the number of steps that are there in the station! All the information is available online. They are literally apologizing for not providing escalators and lifts at all the stations and give you a work around for that. It seems so ironical...how are we even surviving in all this chaos?
In all this cynicism I got into a discussion about whether the Food worlds, Fabmalls and Reliance Freshes were increasing the disparity in India. The 1 billion here need to get richer if we want to get to a 'developed' status. What will the thella waala do if his customers switch to shopping for vegetables at Fresh because it is neat, has AC and is available at a comparable price. Over coffee my friend and I worried for the faceless thella waala on Tippasandra main road and then we took the easy route of getting back to work! A couple of hours later the worry for the thella waala was gone and he was sure that Reliance or Foodworld won't put the thella waala out of business...he would fight back with his ingenuity! This enlightenment came to him on MG road!
He got off the auto on MG road at the Brigade road junction, crossed over from the Cauvery corner and made his way towards Higginbothams vaguely recalling that Thomas Cook had an office somewhere there. He must have walked some 10 meters when a man came up to him with a Thomas cook card and asked 'Looking for Thomas Cook?'. Now, how is that possible? How do you figure out that someone dressed casually in a shirt and jeans is going to Thomas cook? There might be some 100 shops on that side of MG road. How did this salesman single my friend out as 'the guy who is going to exchange currency'? He wasn't carrying a banner or asking about for directions. He wasn't even carrying a briefcase of cash or any such thing. For all you know, it might have been a relatively light day at work and he just decided to meet some ex-colleagues for lunch at Coffee day.
Friend: Ya, am looking for Thomas Cook. Where is the office?
Smart Salesman: This way sir (and he walks along all the way to the Thomas cook building, and passes the door which seems to lead to Thomas Cook)
Friend: (Pointing to the Thomas cook door) Isn't this where I should go in?
Smart Salesman: No no..that is just administrative office, for exchange you need to go in there...(and leads the way into the building and through another door to a man behind a desk, waiting to grab Rs and hand over dollars)
Once inside my friend looks around and sees no Thomas Cook logo etc. He finds it a little shady
Friend: Is this Thomas Cook?
Man behind the desk: Yes we exchange money. What are you looking for?
Friend: (Again): Is this THOMAS COOK?
Man behind....: Yes, we give good rates.
Friend: (Persistently) But, Are you Thomas Cook?
Man behind...:No Sir, but we give much better rates than Thomas Cook!
And then he tried to convince my friend to exchange Rs there...but wasn't as successful in pulling a fast one as the smart salesman on the road! My friend walked out of there into the other door with the Thomas Cook logo. He walked out with a lighter pocket but not without a sense of admiration for the illegal guys working next door to Thomas cook, cooking them up and eating up their business. Imagine their guts, here was a Golliath looming right in front of them, but David doesn't seem to be perturbed. He is devising new work arounds every day and earning his life. We could get into a whole new discussion on right and wrong and whether the ends justify the means etc. We would probably talk about whether the unethical route Guru (Abhishek Bacchan, said to be portraying Dhirubhai Ambani) took, to work-around the license raj was right or wrong. But one thing is certain, as a country, we have all the survival instincts it takes in this place! It might appear that there is nothing to cook, but most will find a Thomas Cook to cook and not only appease the hunger, but also end with a cherry topped dessert!
I travel 1/2 way across the globe to a different country, hire a car at the airport and drive to my hotel which is 30 miles away, without even having to stop to ask for directions. It is so seamless. Here, over the weekend, I drive 1/2 the distance (15 miles) to Masinagudi in 5 hours...stop about 10 times for directions and then get to know that 1/2 of the activities we were hoping to do aren't possible at this time of the year! It is anything but seamless! This kind of important information is not available here...and in London if I have excess luggage I can plan my route in the underground based on the number of steps that are there in the station! All the information is available online. They are literally apologizing for not providing escalators and lifts at all the stations and give you a work around for that. It seems so ironical...how are we even surviving in all this chaos?
In all this cynicism I got into a discussion about whether the Food worlds, Fabmalls and Reliance Freshes were increasing the disparity in India. The 1 billion here need to get richer if we want to get to a 'developed' status. What will the thella waala do if his customers switch to shopping for vegetables at Fresh because it is neat, has AC and is available at a comparable price. Over coffee my friend and I worried for the faceless thella waala on Tippasandra main road and then we took the easy route of getting back to work! A couple of hours later the worry for the thella waala was gone and he was sure that Reliance or Foodworld won't put the thella waala out of business...he would fight back with his ingenuity! This enlightenment came to him on MG road!
He got off the auto on MG road at the Brigade road junction, crossed over from the Cauvery corner and made his way towards Higginbothams vaguely recalling that Thomas Cook had an office somewhere there. He must have walked some 10 meters when a man came up to him with a Thomas cook card and asked 'Looking for Thomas Cook?'. Now, how is that possible? How do you figure out that someone dressed casually in a shirt and jeans is going to Thomas cook? There might be some 100 shops on that side of MG road. How did this salesman single my friend out as 'the guy who is going to exchange currency'? He wasn't carrying a banner or asking about for directions. He wasn't even carrying a briefcase of cash or any such thing. For all you know, it might have been a relatively light day at work and he just decided to meet some ex-colleagues for lunch at Coffee day.
Friend: Ya, am looking for Thomas Cook. Where is the office?
Smart Salesman: This way sir (and he walks along all the way to the Thomas cook building, and passes the door which seems to lead to Thomas Cook)
Friend: (Pointing to the Thomas cook door) Isn't this where I should go in?
Smart Salesman: No no..that is just administrative office, for exchange you need to go in there...(and leads the way into the building and through another door to a man behind a desk, waiting to grab Rs and hand over dollars)
Once inside my friend looks around and sees no Thomas Cook logo etc. He finds it a little shady
Friend: Is this Thomas Cook?
Man behind the desk: Yes we exchange money. What are you looking for?
Friend: (Again): Is this THOMAS COOK?
Man behind....: Yes, we give good rates.
Friend: (Persistently) But, Are you Thomas Cook?
Man behind...:No Sir, but we give much better rates than Thomas Cook!
And then he tried to convince my friend to exchange Rs there...but wasn't as successful in pulling a fast one as the smart salesman on the road! My friend walked out of there into the other door with the Thomas Cook logo. He walked out with a lighter pocket but not without a sense of admiration for the illegal guys working next door to Thomas cook, cooking them up and eating up their business. Imagine their guts, here was a Golliath looming right in front of them, but David doesn't seem to be perturbed. He is devising new work arounds every day and earning his life. We could get into a whole new discussion on right and wrong and whether the ends justify the means etc. We would probably talk about whether the unethical route Guru (Abhishek Bacchan, said to be portraying Dhirubhai Ambani) took, to work-around the license raj was right or wrong. But one thing is certain, as a country, we have all the survival instincts it takes in this place! It might appear that there is nothing to cook, but most will find a Thomas Cook to cook and not only appease the hunger, but also end with a cherry topped dessert!
Monday, March 12, 2007
About Beers and Dears...
Just a little silly poem after the weekend's bowling and beer with friends...
I don't make any big claims of being a poet...but even I think I can do better than what I have done here..!
He asks for a mug of beer
As if it weren’t even a bit queer
A gulp or two later he's surprisingly on track
And bowls the pins with a never before knack!
'Oh Wow! Food and Drinks?!'
With a gleam, in all the high he willingly sinks!
But not before adding the calories earned
Silently committing that by the morrow they’ll be burnt!
And then, in the group, there is the PRO ‘you know’?
With his wife a trip to Europe he did go
And that’s where they learnt after a lot of Q&A(!!)
All about beer that’s there to know till day.
And last but certainly not the least
Is the lemonade she picked for the feast
Coz she din’t want the beer to settle in her belly
And undo all that was done not in a year or two..but MANY!
As if it weren’t even a bit queer
A gulp or two later he's surprisingly on track
And bowls the pins with a never before knack!
'Oh Wow! Food and Drinks?!'
With a gleam, in all the high he willingly sinks!
But not before adding the calories earned
Silently committing that by the morrow they’ll be burnt!
And then, in the group, there is the PRO ‘you know’?
With his wife a trip to Europe he did go
And that’s where they learnt after a lot of Q&A(!!)
All about beer that’s there to know till day.
And last but certainly not the least
Is the lemonade she picked for the feast
Coz she din’t want the beer to settle in her belly
And undo all that was done not in a year or two..but MANY!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Holi Hues...
When I was growing up in Ranchi, holi meant a riot of colours. It meant, painting the town red, green and pink, literally! Every year, we tried to be the 1st one to be up early and appear at our friends’ doors all prepared to splash randomly at the ‘canvas’ who made the mistake of answering the door without looking through the peep hole. And if the ‘loser’ sent his/her parents to answer the door we would instantly wear our masks of innocence…which they would fall for. They would invite us in and settle us down with the hope that these good kids have come to sort out some math problem even on a holiday forgetting for a moment forgetting it was ‘HOLI-day’. And then, when the ‘loser’ appeared he/she would be in more trouble than we had planned to put him/her in…cause we would start off the painting in the neat/prim settings of the living room and not the already colorful staircase! I learnt more of ‘1st mover advantage’, planning, scheming, strategizing, SWOTs playing holi than I learnt sitting in a classroom in b-school. Now I don’t recall why we cared to be the 1st one to strike. At the end of the day, we all looked alike anyway!
After a couple of hours playing with each other, we would just hang around the building and strike at new comers and scamper away at the sight of the rowdies coming on bikes with permanent paint and water balloons. The slowest among the lot would be the victim of the external attack and at times wail and cry at being left alone and not being big enough to fight back. When we were sure the rowdies had left our area, we would appear out of our hiding places and console our shaken up comrade. We had the choice of heading back to the safety of our homes…but we stayed there in the field as if to show respect to some pact that we had signed with someone….till all of us inevitably got caught atleast once! Then we would reluctantly head back home…to be scolded at for looking like a badly painted kathakali dancer. (As if it was my fault! ;)
This holi, we ventured out in Bangalore. We did not see any of the outlandish fun that we have witnessed in the north but in its truly cosmopolitan spirit, Bangalore participated and made available the paints, brush, palette et al. All the holi enthusiasts had to do was go make a canvas out of their unsuspecting friends!
After a couple of hours playing with each other, we would just hang around the building and strike at new comers and scamper away at the sight of the rowdies coming on bikes with permanent paint and water balloons. The slowest among the lot would be the victim of the external attack and at times wail and cry at being left alone and not being big enough to fight back. When we were sure the rowdies had left our area, we would appear out of our hiding places and console our shaken up comrade. We had the choice of heading back to the safety of our homes…but we stayed there in the field as if to show respect to some pact that we had signed with someone….till all of us inevitably got caught atleast once! Then we would reluctantly head back home…to be scolded at for looking like a badly painted kathakali dancer. (As if it was my fault! ;)
This holi, we ventured out in Bangalore. We did not see any of the outlandish fun that we have witnessed in the north but in its truly cosmopolitan spirit, Bangalore participated and made available the paints, brush, palette et al. All the holi enthusiasts had to do was go make a canvas out of their unsuspecting friends!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
...And sunshine follows the rain...
Blr: Sunshine and blooms (as seen through my 1.3MP phone camera!)...And sunshine follows the rain...
that's the name of the play I saw this week. (don't read any further if you plan to watch the play...this post might spoil the surprise element in the play!). There was something very very unique about this play. Something that I have never come across in another play or any kind of performance or form of entertainment.
There were 4 main characters in the play and each of these characters parts were played by atleast 2 artists! There were 3 Tom Wakefields, 2 Laura Wakefields, 2 Amanda Wakefields and 2 Jim O' Connors! Neither were they stereotyped representations of the character in different stages of their lives..nor were they distinct 'the good' and 'the bad' representations of the characters. It was just that all the 3 Toms put together represented the complete 'Tom' at any given point! If 'Tom' had to deliver a dialogue, it was kind of split between these 3 artists. And all the artists delivered the dialogues pretty well and there wasn't any lack of continuity just because 3 people were saying what 'Tom Wakefield' was supposed to say. Needless to say, the 3 Toms all dressed alike...but they made no attempt to be look alikes in their expressions or mannerisms. They did not resemble each other. Amanda 1 had short cropped hair, and Amanda2 had long curly hair! Laura 1 was thin and tall, Laura2 was chubby! I thought the dramatization of the play and the idea of splitting a character in 2 or 3 randomly was the most ingenious thing I have seen in sometime.
Overall, the play was good. All the performers were not hard core theatre artists but they were definitely very talented. Laura1 sang 'Wrap your troubles in dreams, and dream your troubles away' rather well, I thought, for a non-professional singer!
....
Your castles may tumble (that's fate after all)
Life's really funny that way
No use to grumble, smile as they fall
Weren't you king for a day?
Just remember that sunshine
Always follows the rain
So wrap your troubles in dreams
And dream your troubles away
....
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