A point and a view

a time to celebrate !!!!

2009-07-31T22:42:00.011+12:00

Excuses are the only explanation to why I haven’t been able to write anything on this space and my school, is the only explanation for this excuse.A lot of people scoff whenever I say this,but I have no other way to convince them, except pray that someday, when they make the difficult choice of being a‘ teacher’ ,they’ll agree .The new session has started in school.WELL, it started almost a month and a half back, but the pace at which it’s moving, I won’t be surprised that it’ll be over before we can say ‘start’. Usually new sessions have a slow tempo to them, which gives both the kids and the teachers enough time to snap out of the holiday mood. But, this year is different. It’s barely been a month and a half, and everybody just seems to be running at a maddening, hectic pace to finish portions,projects,exams,workshops..sometimes the kids. The number of teachers switching over to sneakers,just proves it so.

Our school is spread across three floors,with classes never close enough to take a gossip break with the 'teacher next door',and in spite of all the complicated and time consuming time table scheduling,the co coordinators spend numerous hours on,there are always a unlucky few who have their classes all across the three floors(it’s a great excuse I give myself whenever I skip exercise).Our staffroom on the third floor, like our students in class, is the nosiest and the most notorious of the three. We often thank our stars for being the canopy of the school, because we know that, thanks to ‘high noise levels’ ,the principal would have needed an extra pair of hands to keep the teachers in check. In happier times, last year ,we even had to shut the door of the SR most of the time, to seal the sound of guffawing and peals of laughter(in spite of the elevation). This year,however the staffroom resembles a railway station cloak room,when it should ….a waiting room. People use their desks more to park their luggage than themselves. The chairs are never occupied and lunch time has suddenly lost its flavour. Teachers come in with a huge payload of books, check a mountain pile of notebooks and go back home with yet another huger consignment.Some ….actually most of us carry a bigger and a heavier bag than our students.

The only time(these days) you hear someone speaking loudly is, when they are making an announcement. The announcements too, are never about cheerful events, like a sudden holiday or a staff picnic or ‘you can go home early today’ news(teachers are simple creatures).They are always about impending doom i.e deadlines..notebook checking deadlines,assignment deadlines,event deadlines,exam deadlines,question paper deadlines and thereafter correction deadlines. Not that these deadlines didn’t exist last year,but they were always booed,commented and cribbed about.At least they were commented on.This year its more of resignation.

( IN HAPPIER TIMES )

You know for sure that people(teachers) are awfully busy when they don’t comment on each others sarees.Comment doesn’t always mean compliment.The fact that no one in the staffroom has time to even criticize confirms the fact that women are unwell,blind,busy,stressed or (people like me)have no taste for good clothes. Even if they can’t see eye to eye,they’ll always keep an eye on who is wearing what. Right from the necklines to the mismatched petticoats. You can’t escape a teachers eye.Once a teacher always a teacher,even though theres’ a colleague on the receiving end.
And then, suddenly there was a whirlwind of enthusiasm in all three staff rooms. The energy and chatter was infectious.It’s the same kind of energy that is witnessed when either Kumble or Dravid or both of them, come visiting or to pick up their kids or for a school event(at such times there are no prizes for guessing why so many of us opt for the VIP reception duty).I remember making the mistake of mentioning, that I saw Dravid at the school reception, (standing at the staffroom door). I nearly got crushed by the stampede.Oh ,I digressed.So,suddenly,all the teachers(most of us) who leave at the stroke of three thirty,were in no hurry … they strolled and walked out .The coffee wending machine, was working overtime and became a gossip exchange server. It was time for the annual increments to be announced and we were under a strict professional oath, (that was the first line and the last line of the fine print) not to disclose any details to each other,to maintain professionalism.Easier said than done.Teachers are the worst ,when it comes to following rules. You(I) suddenly became an identity and my raise was part of that identity, which everyone was most curious about.

The raise is a boon, coz something is definitely better than nothing especially when a majority, are fighting to get their salaries into their accounts and I know, that ,the fact that our salaries were raised ,would naturally make us a subject of envy, discussion,awe in short demi gods.Had these been unrecessioned and happier times,this raise would have competed with peanuts and lost sorely to them.For as long as I can remember WE have always been content with the nobility of our professions' than with the pay packets.It has always been that ‘last things on my list ‘during interviews.The truth is that teachers need the moolah as much as any other ‘real professionals’. They love the children they teach ,but they also love to have a cup of that Jamaican Coffee at Barista.WE love our jobs but we can’t survive on love and fresh air alone. So,once in a while WE get greedy and talk money instead of morals.
So,while we bask in the warmth of this raised status, we do know and hope that it’s not long before, time, money and salaries will catch up with us.After all,WE are the ones preparing all the future economists,in our laboratories called classrooms.Till then and even after that we shall be celebrating.

rules..happiness ka naya funda

2009-06-29T02:31:00.010+12:00

This year,I am not a class teacher and am not teaching anything. In school, any rumour about anything remotely connected to free periods, holidays or teacher- on –leave and any class without TEACHING travels like wild fire .So, a teacher who will not teach is a fact that kids find difficult to believe and accept. They always have a sneaking suspicion that we are saying that only to get their attention.(most of the time we do).The sad thing is that kids are so conditioned to being TAUGHT, that a class without teaching seems like a paradox to them.
My new project probably deserves a full post. But, in the meanwhile here' s a small excerpt from a book, that I discovered accidentally and read out in class as an opening activity.

‘Seven habits of happy children” by Sean Covey has seven wonderfully written stories, that are interesting,funny yet convey the message in a very non preachy kind of way.(kids are very very wary of moral stories and they have this remarkable ability to pretend to listen to such stories with their minds completely off).

Read the book and the 'happy rules', if you have kids aged 5-12 years or if you are a teacher or work with kids and above all if you have a grumpy kid locked inside you somewhere .
I incidentally fall into all of the above three categories.

1. You are in charge of your own fun.
You can make your own fun.You don’t need others to make it happen. Just look around there are things waiting to happen.

2.Say sorry,if you have been rude, much before you are asked to apologise.

3.Plan your tomorrow.Be it clothes or homework.or your day.Save time,it saves money too.Plan ahead of time.

4.Don’t procrastinate.Be proactive.

Do what you have to do so that you can do what you want to do.

5.Seek first to understand,then to be understood.Listen before you talk.Listen with your eyes,your heart ,before you listen with your ears.

6. Complete your wish list. It’s your wish list and only you can fulfill it.

7.1+1 synergise,value differences, but work together to make a difference.

P.S
Some of these rules may need explanation especially when you read it out to the younger ones.Let me know what you thought about the book.

IN...STUCK....TIONS ! !

2009-06-09T03:59:00.007+12:00

MASALA THAT MAKES NO 'HEAD OR TALE...TAIL ' !!!

Run Maddi Run

2009-06-01T23:35:00.037+12:00

On Sunday May 31st,if you were on the road at 7 a.m with your sneakers on,with a large beaming smile,chances were that you were headed towards the Kanteerava Indoor stadium.If it wasn't the sneakers, then the little rug sack with the bright sunfeast logo gave you away.In our case,it couldn't have got any more obvious.We had our pin numbers proudly pasted on our tees.The autofellow didn't need any coaxing.Nobody seemed in a hurry to get to anywhere,yet looked focused. It seemed all roads in Bangalore led to only one destination.Even if they didn't ,everybody intended to make it to the same place.For a change being just one among thousands didn't feel as bad.This wasn't a race,it was more of a carnival.
You don't get many chances of running a marathon,not winning it and still feeling like a winner in the end.

Marathon statistics

Total participants 2009 sunfeast: 23,150
Majja run participants: 13,000
distance covered : 5 kms
race war cry: RUN MAADI RUN
Total Time spent on training : 2 weeks
last time you ran a race ever : NEVER
personal race timings : how does it matter !!!
No. of smiling faces in the stadium(including the sick bay): countless
race motivation factors:Milind Soman,cameras and being captured by the media.
prize trophy:an apple,a packet of biscuits,a sweet bun that never tasted better
sweat
laughter
and loads of memories.

in the picture,in order of best timing

Anshul finished the race first in 30 mins and spent the next 30 mins looking for his mother and the next 3 hrs rubbing my(poor race timings in).Padma was extremely focussed,on tracking Milind Soman,so she came in second and Shanu and Me decided to share the third position,as we felt the podium generally accepted three positions only.

cinema stubs

2009-04-30T23:19:00.032+12:00

holiday homework.....A movie a day keeps all thoughts of work at bay !!!!!

1.Never judge a movie by its review.I stopped reading reviews and watching them after Rajiv Masand pronounced "Kabhi alvida...a brillaint movie"
2.I can't watch a movie in bits and pieces.I like them strong and on the rocks and I love having a celluloid hangover.
3.I am choosy and critical about the movies I watch.I often end up seeing reruns than new movies,if I can't find any.
A few memorable ones that I caught up with this vacation.

Dev D

Want to see some bOllywood ishtyle masala- romance-hate –romance ,chap films(that we can’t do without).Please don’t see Dev D.It’s one of those movies that take you by the collar and proudly declare that Indian cinema is experimental,bold,aggressive and dares to be different !!!and you are all shook by from the first to the last reel.

If you think remaking classics is foolish,then what do you call remaking and adapting a classic into a contemporary film that challenges conventions of its original masterpiece ….you can call it BRILLIANT.

It’s hard to ignore Mahie Gill as Paro,for her brilliance is partly conveyed through her expressions and sometimes just by her sheer presence(remember the scene where she vents her rage on the water pump).It is said that Anurag wrote Paro’s character after he met Mahie.

The characters are all there…Devdas,Paro,Chanda,chunni…..yet boldly reinvented.The moulds of the quintessential broken down by the bold and the brazen.Driven by love,lust,drugs ,anger and pacified by booze, this is the young and crazy India.

In case you were missing the songs,they are all there(all 18 of them),expertly woven and brilliantly synced.My favourite though is the Pardesi track.Beware the music is addictive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEoFZTGf8Y
It can’t get any better and we can’t wait to watch more Mr. Basu.

Slumdog Millionaire

You can either love it or simply hate it,but you can’t ignore the movie. It’s like looking at yourself in the mirror.You may not like what you see.There’ll be a lot of denial and blame on why things are the way they are.
The fact is that reality isn’t always perfect and beautiful.Let's leave that genre to Karan Johar and his band of men and women.

Why the movie made it to the Oscars and swept them all away is understandable.Precisely the reason why I chose to watch the movie weeks after the hyper -media –hype died down and despite the excessive oscarization(I have to admit) the movie does leave you with a bravo,semi patriotic,I am Indian(partly proud partly not) feeling.That’s what completes the Indianess in all of us.There’s a subtle beauty in all that’s grimy,dirty and filthy in India.We can’t escape that.That the world loves to see that filth and celebrates it, is also a bitter reality.Sadly,it takes a Brit to tell the world, the story about what lies beneath a shining India.
Rahman and Boyle deserve their due,but the real heroes were Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali and all the child artists in the film.They manage to tug at your heart and stay right there(in it) even hours after the credits roll away.

Dil Kabbadi

Okay okay…it’s a miserable ripoff of Husband’s and wife’s.I was warned.But I am a sucker for Irrfan movies,so couldn’t ignore this one.

This movie starts where the others end.The classic seven year itch just got shrunk honey !! to a three year one. The film follows the lives of two modern day married couples – Samit (Irrfan Khan) and Mita (Soha Ali Khan); Rishi (Rahul Bose) and Simi (Konkona Sen Sharma),who are caught in the classic boredom in bedroom feeling after a few years of holy matrimony.The ’They lived happily ever after’,is but a myth known and accepted only by the privilidged many–the married.The other side of marriage not always love,togetherness and fidelity.If you thought being in love was tough,then being married is tougher and being married and in love consistently with the same person tougherer….

Irrfan is his brilliant self as the adventure-lust seeking husband,complemented well by Soha.However,it’s Konkana who manages steal the limelight and the attention with her brilliant portrayal as the passive aggressive…partly confused,wholly irritating,but gets what she wants.character..a winner in the end.Rahul is cute,but boring(and yes ...I meant Both the Rahul’s please)

Being married and in love is a paradox….. no comments please !!!!

Pestonjee

A rerun,but one that amazes me every time I see the film.Definitely one of his best..no def Naseeruddin Shah’s best performance,till date.It has a heady and brilliant cast of big wigs like Anupam Kher,Shabana Azmi and several other stalwarts.Vijay Mehta ‘s direction leaves you spell bound.

See the movie,it's difficult to describe what its made up of.It’s one of those classics where actors transcend mere acting and performances are so lifelike that you fail to see them(actors) being anyone else but their reel avtars.

A must see.

Also watched...

Jodha Akbar

To sir with love

Bicentennial man (another brilliant watch)

Barah Aanah

(suggestions for any more movies are always welcome)

A CLOSE SHAVE(NOT WITH A RAZOR) !!!

2009-04-15T21:25:00.007+12:00

I have been making heads turn,off late.
For,it’s difficult to find a cross between Rudolf and Frankenstein walking in your neighbourhood.Add to that, one bloodshot eye that resembles Arnold’s in Terminator.I don’t blame people for staring.
In fact I forgive them.
My status has now been elevated.I am amongst the few(lakhs of women) who had to go under the knife to look like I do(stunning in every sense of the word). My lips have a bee stung look (which women spend Lakhs on).My chin is more well defined…sharper(am presuming..the rest will be revealed after the bandages come off) and the cheek has a permanent rosy err blood red blush. I wear my shades even when indoors and people are mistaking me for a celeb straight out of Page 3.

My current mental status too resembles that of some of the amnesia stricken characters from Bollywood.So,if I have lent you money in the past,there are chances I may never ask it back.
Unfortunately,the cause isn’t as interesting.No gang wars or mafia or family dushmans involved here.If you are amongst the few who believe auto drivers in Bangalore,then according to reliable eye witnesses, it was a classic case of slip..skid and fall. Something I don’t remember at all.All I remember was waking up in the hospital emergency and wondering why I was there instead of being in Lal Bagh(where I was supposed to reach that morning).

There were only two things on my mind as I sped on my two wheeler last Sunday morning.Meeting friends at Lal Bagh for a walk and the Pune trip,which I was so looking forward to." Life is what happens to you,while you were busy planning other things”
How…when and why??? is still a mystery.I don’t recall much about .I was lucky that I was wearing a helmet,I had a mobile and some consciousness left to call home for help.But unlucky that I chose a half face helmet in a hurry and was(probably) driving much faster than I should.
I was lucky.

Please wear a helmet to save your head rather than your wallet (from the cops).If you are tempted to go bare headed because it's just a drive around the corner. Remember that so could be death.I was lucky to find people who picked me up and helped.In most accident cases,people are too scared to help.Some lessons are learnt the hard way.Some can be learnt through others experiences.
PLEASE WEAR A HELMET EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY BE DRIVING A VERY VERY SHORT DISTANCE.

BTW…am allergic to roses, so red and white carnations can be sent in their place.

(If this post sounds disoriented and disjointed you know whom to blame)

lights, scalpel and action !!!!

2009-03-31T06:42:00.010+12:00

He held my hand tenderly and asked,”Are you nervous.”
"No”, I replied, lying blatantly.
"You are in safe hands," he said and I didn’t want to believe any other man on earth at that time.His eyes smiled at me,for that was the only thing I could see of him.
He was still there when I woke up,peering at me,gently, still smiling with his eyes.It’s not everyday that a complete stranger waits patiently for me to wake up and tenderly asks me. “how are you feeling, now”?
"Never felt better!!! "I replied."It’s am amazing experience. Quite like falling in love. Actually better than falling in love !!!!"
My anaesthesiologist laughed out loud and said that he had seen and heard lots patients hallucinating under anesthesia,but never one with an improved sense of humour.

An operation theatre is far scarier than it looks in the movies ,esp when you are wide awake and can smell the atrocious fumigation fumes. They smell like death itself. The nurses and doctors (for some strange reason completely forget that there is someone remotely human lying on the table).There's a strict protocol that they follow to get the patient ready before the doctors step in.It seems so mechanical,just when you are so vulnerable.
It’s an amazing experience to hit the sack of unconsciousness in precisely 1 /100 of a second(esp for insomniacs like me) and then wake up without an alarm blaring in your ears and still feel like you have slept a hundred years. That’s the power of anesthesia.
While I kept the spirits alive in the OT, with my trademark sense of humour,I was shit scared inside. The very thought of not waking up ever and seeing my family, is probably the worst fear I have ever encountered. It’s a feeling unparalleled,in every sense of the word.
There was just one thing on my mind(as I came back) and I wanted to shout it from the rooftops(at least to my doctors, who were busy discussing patients and medical jargon). “I’m alive !!!” I screamed but I could hear just a whimper.I heard everybody laugh in the OT,despite their face masks.For the first time in my life,I thought I wasn’t being funny and everybody was laughing.

I feel like dying,I must have said this, so many times in the past,completely exasperated with school,kids at school,traffic chaos,home...work and homework .But,now I shall exercise special restrain in saying it again surely !!!!

P.s I’m alive, kicking and well and am accepting get well soon cards,flowers and chocolates.

HOLI- DAY !!!!

2009-03-10T23:24:00.005+12:00

Do you play holi??
I don't remember,ever being asked this question,all these years.Except,in the past two years that I have been in Bangalore(no…I am not being judgemental about the city) .

As far as my weak memory can recollect.You didn’t have to ask anyone to play Holi.You just had to.It was an unwritten,universal rule,that no one dared to break.If you happened to be one of those,who were(mentally) allergic to colours, wet clothes ,violence and detested spending the day painted in the weirdest possible combination of colours…well…you just had to keep mum,grin and bear it,because that would incur the wrath of the rest and you would be the ‘ holi-da-bakra ‘,that everybody loved to get their hands dirty with.

It would be ridiculous to ask anyone such a question.It would be even more absurd to ask someone who wasn’t a " so called north Indian",if they played holi.One thing was guaranteed at every home,sweets...sweets and lots of sweets and mostly from homes were I (now) have realized Holi wasn’t celebrated culturally.Call it being naive or just too blindly secular. I never knew Holi could be segregated into regions...states....areas and worst of all would be celebrated in different parts of the same country on different days.

Growing up in Delhi,as kids we looked forward to Holi(for different reasons)Firstly,we were never asked or rather told when to come back home !!.If you were a kiddo,it would mean inhabiting the streets with all possible brands of water pistols and tankers(which you would beg your parents to buy,promising them that they would last several Holi-days) and gang fights.Might was right,in true god father tradition.If you were in the teen and college gang,Holi was the day that colours would play cupid for you(with a little help from the water balloons,too.I was a miserable shooter and ended up hitting street dogs than Greek gods in my colony).

There’s no place like the army,when it comes to celebrating festivals.It’s definitely one of the most secular organizations that exist in today’s fragmented world.Your religion,state,language,sect ceases to exist once you are in the army.It’s one big family,whether you like it or not.Holi’s are arranged par excellence.The officers play colour with the ranks first and then assemble in the mess(the time you have to report with your family is decided by the seniority and rank…so if you are the junior most in the regiment..you report first)There’s something for everyone…..soft drinks,hard liquor(no fauji party is complete without HL),bhang in the drinks..in your pakodas…biryani.For the truly spirited there ‘s a mud pool,accompanied with a shower.It’s a vicious cycle,at whichever point you wish to jump in,you end up feeling sozzled(in mind,body and soul) in the end. It’s a rare leveler of sorts.

It’s not ‘holi’ today,but we have been given a holiday and asked to celebrate.Unfortunately,its one of those festivals that happens only when you are in a gang of like minded…or should I say like coloured people.So,while I’ll be in school,telling children like an old grandmother ,tales from my erstwhile Holi-days,I’ll hope that the rest of you shall be drenched in colours.Just grab a packet of gulal and head out.Don’t worry about formalities and ask people whether they want to play or not and if you happen to be at the receiving end,well just follow Bapu’s advice…
extend the cheek and be a sport.

HAPPY HOLI

25 random blah blahs....

2009-02-25T19:55:00.005+12:00

You know,you have reached the pits as a blogger...when you copy and paste attempted tags from Facebook onto your blog.Anyways,its the thought that matters.Don't we all cry about not resusing and recycling our resources.It's year ending (yes... we have this phenomenon,even at schools and words are truly a precious resource)
So here it goes...

25 random blah blahs about myself......

1.Whenever I have gone to visit a close friend or family member in the hospital,I have always fainted.(It’s quite embarrassing,cause more than the patient the doctors and hospital staff,start fussing over me.It’s heartening to know, it runs in the family,coz my brother too displays the same symptoms)

2.I am not afraid of lizards.You have to drop a lizard on me to prove me wrong…but then I challenge you to drop it !!!

3.I harbor a secret ambition of being a pilot.The closest I came to it was,when I was selected by Cathay Pacific,but instead, chose to get grounded as a WIFE.

4.I am extremely possessive about my friends.

5.I got married when I was 20.

6.I am an emotional patriotic fool.I have tears in my eyes everytime I sing the national anthem.

7.I am an exercise freak.Unless terminally ill,I can’t do without exercise.I believe it’s not the way you look but the way you feel ,that’s more important.(Dil ko shamjhanee ke liyee khayal acha hai galib)

8.I can never ever skip my meals.

9.I never wanted to be a teacher,but ended up being one.Now,I can't think of anything else I could have ever been.Moral of the story..never say I will never do this…..it may just come true)

10.I can drive as well as change tyres of both my car and kinetic Honda.This includes the front wheel of the Kinectic as well.(go ahead and try changing it,its not everybody’s cup of tea !!!!)

11.I love driving fast.My personal best was 110 km on the Vadodara Ahemdabad expressway.Unfortunately,Bangalore roads aren’t the best place for this.

12.I am a disaster when it comes to spelling.

13.I met Mohan at a wedding,ala typically filmi style.We met and parted and then met again.(the story would have been a happy ending had it not been for the last part.)

14.I can almost never pronounce the word QUEER.It’s just one of those things,that will get me kicked out of my job someday.

15.I love Delhi,But don’t see myself living in it in the near Future.

16.I have high expectations from people I love and often end up feeling hurt,when they crash.

17.I had vowed to write once a week on my blog.It changed to once a month,now its almost once in 3 months.I hope It doesn’t get worse.

18.I hate people with attitude.I have an uncanny ability to identify them from a mile.

19.I was a cry baby at school.

20.I love photography.

21.I hate sleeping late.

22.I dissect movies to the core.I am critical ,opiniated and chossy about the movies I see.

23.I find it difficult to say NO to people(except in school,when with my class)

24.I like to be left alone when I’m sick.

25.I love dancing.I learnt Kathak for 4 yrs as a kid.I want to start all over again.

rehna tu....

2009-02-23T00:02:00.008+12:00

One of the most difficult things in life is to love someone....
second to love them unconditionally....
third love them for what they are , just as they are !!!!

Rehna Tu ......DElhi 6...lyrics by Prasoon Joshi

Rehna tu hai jaise tu
thoda sa dard tu thoda sukun
rehna tu hai jaisa tu
dheema dheema jhonka ya phir junu

thoda sa resham tu humdum thoda sa khurdara
kabhi to ad jaye ya lad jaye ya khushboo se bhara
tujhe badalna na chahoon ratti bhar bhi sanam
bina sajawat milawat na zyada na hi kum

tujhe chahooon jaisa hain tu
mujhe teri barish main bhigna hai ghul jana hai
tujhe chahoon saahey
mujhe teri lapat main jalna rakh ho jana hai

tu zakhm de gar
marham bhi aake tu lagaye
zakhm pe bhi mujhko pyar aaye
dariya o mere yaar
doobne de mujhey dariya

rehna tu hai jisa tu
thoda sa dard tu thoda sukun
rehna tu hai jaisa tu
dheema dheema jhonka ya phir junu

haath thaam chalna ho
toh dono ke dayein haath sang kaise
haath thaam chalna ho
toh dono ke dayein haath sang kaise

ek dayain aage hoga ek bayain hoga
thaam le haath ye thaam le
chalna hai sang thaam le

rehna tu hai jisa tu
thoda sa dard tu thoda sukun
rehna tu… hai jaisa tu
dheema dheema jhonka ya phir junu

thoda sa resham tu humdum thoda sa khurdara
kabhi to ad jaye ya lad jaye ya khushboo se bhara
tujhe badalna na chahoon ratti bhar bhi sanam
bina sajawat milawat na zyada na hi kum

tujhe chahooon jaisa hain tu
mujhe teri barish main bhigna hai ghul jana hai
tujhe chahoon saahey
mujhe teri lapat main jalane rakh ho jana hai

TO MA'AM WITH LOVE.....

2009-02-05T00:05:00.014+12:00

Fed up with the cut,copy.... paste answers that my students wrote,I motivated them to be creative and write out answers in their own words.Little did I realize that their over- active little brains were actually mixing up instructions,that I gave them for the three different subjects that I teach them.
Sometimes, to motivate them and unblock their inhibitions,I ask them to write their essays without worrying about spellings or grammar.They follow that diligently in all subjects,including their exams and some proudly have even declared this to their parents.
(i had a tough time justifying my move to the authorities).
Likewise instructions, to be creative and think out of the box were applied to Science and social studies.

The nominations for the category.......MOST CREATIVE ANSWERS goes to.....

Livestock is ......

1.when animals are domesticated for our use and there is profit.

2.when domestic animals are overused for profit,they are called livestock.

(so much of truth here)

White revolution

........is the cultivation of cattle.

Pisciculture is

........actually bio gas,which is made from cow dung.

alternate source of energy is force.

(and this is going to be true in the near future)

Bi -product of petroleum is speed.

(profound indeed !!!! am sure this kid isn't from bangalore...coz the poor souls haven't had a chance to witness a phenomenon called speed at all)

fossil fuel is

...... when we use the remains of all dead and decomposed things.

blue revolution is......

motivating fisherman to produce more fish by themselves.

operation flood was .

......when a new breed that produced milk was introduced.

Dear N

2009-01-14T00:49:00.009+12:00

Till about half and hour back,I believed that being strong had a lot to do with the number of muscles in your body,or the amount of weight you could pump or number of hours you could jog on the treadmill.Well,I know it isn't that way,but just that somewhere down the line I had forgotten about it.Just this morning the greatest worry on my mind was that k.g and a half I had acquired over the vacations,why I was sprouting new white hair suddenly.....why My son couldn't get a perfect score in his exam....
As I reached back home, this evening(after visiting a number of banks with a close friend) who is trying desperately to get a loan,I realized(shamefully) I wouldn't be able to deal with even one tenth of what she was going through)
Even though in the middle of a severe personal crisis,it's miraculous how she manages to put even a smile on her face.However,she never lets her problems spill over into the classroom.Her students love her.She inspires them,motivates them and pushes them to do their best,each and everyday.Her sense of humour keeps me alive and in splits.When I complain about the weather or about my maid not coming since 2 days,she puts me to shame,by quietly saying(without looking up from her papers)that she hasn't heard of the word called MAID since 1965.She manages her own two kids,pesky neighbours,car troubles,pot holes,an irritated principal,severe backache,paper setting deadlines(every week),screaming kids,anxious and more childish than their children- parents.....without a sweat !!!!
Dear N.....
I don't know where you derive your strength and patience from,but I just pray that that source grants you oodles of it.Meanwhile,I shall try and pray that I never have to be in your shoes,because I 'm too mortal to deal with a situation like this.

Sometimes I wonder if our physical strength has anything to do with our being mentally tough.

Sun,spirits,sand and solace

2009-01-04T15:22:00.028+12:00

The sun never sets on Goa.
Technically every evening it may,though.The spirit(s),soar after sundown,when people get a little more serious,with food and drinks.(and are less distracted by the sun.... sand...... swimmers and sun baskers).This was my sixth vacation in Goa,and I can say that I am still no authority on it,for every time I manage to discover something new in the old here!!!!It has never ceased to amaze and surprise me.Although,facing the inevitable crush of commercialization,it still maintains the old Portuguese charm(though you will have to venture into the heart of Goa to find it now).
There's always something for everybody here.

1.Head to South Goa,to escape the rush and crush of people(try the lesser known Betalbatim,Varca,Majorda beaches)

2.Go green,take a bike and peddle down the beach.It's an unforgettable experience and believe me you just can't keep your eyes on the road!!!!)

3.If you wish to feel truly intimidated,swim in the sea(deep into the sea).Be sure,you go with a group or at least with someone else.It's therapeutic,excessively salty but reviving(and worth the sun tan!!)I finally managed to defeat the last and final remains of aquaphopia,this year.

4.Visit the local churches on a Sunday.You may not understand the sermon,but will still feel blessed like the locals.

5.There's plenty of fish in the sea.Give the naans and dals a miss.Experiment and taste the local fish and cuisine,sprinkled with Goan hospitality.It's red and hot and spicy,but worth it.

5.Sad but true.Recession...terror attacks and then the subsequent panic attacks both in minds and pockets have hit Goa visibly.A little known fact.That friendly waiter in the colourful "I love Goa" tee shirt is probably a Bihari,working for a measly Rs.1500 per month,@only 5 months a year.The rest of the year,he packs off home and eagerly awaits for December.For an economy that balances precariously on THE SEASON,this year has been crushing.The life guards and police are paranoid.The mood is festive but dull.Let's hope Goa can bounce back to life,at least ,for all the people,who have their livelihood depending on it.

CHEERS TO THE SPIRIT OF Goa(and I don't mean the alcohol here!!!)

The New year prayer

2009-01-01T18:44:00.015+12:00

After a week of overindulgence a.k.a Goa,am tanned beyond recognition, resemble an over baked potato, both in colour and size, still have sand in my hair and an even more enormous amount in my shoes, my butt hurts thanks to the exhaustive cycling trips ,I took on the beach, and my blood contains high levels of seafood.

Despite the holiday hangover,like all(ahem),most bloggers, I am eager to put in something on my blog,dated Jan 1,2009 and shamelessly admit so.I can proudly say that this post has been places,for I scribbled on whatever I could lay my hands on.... paper napkins,receipts,bills,while waiting at the Goa airport.

Every New Year, I say the serendipity prayer to myself.It works like magic,Right from the first time I heard it,and it gives me hope and new energy,each and every time I say it to myself.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference."

This year I added a little footnote to god as an attachment.

Please also let me know the difference between right and wrong, between the good and bad….between a friend and an acquaintance and the courage to accept all of the above.

In all my greediness,I know I have asked for more.If all good things must come to an end,then all bad things should never have had a beginning.Isn't it??Wrong.For I know,that its impossible to see the what is right,unless there’s a wrong.The brightness of good,without the chill of evil.
Similarly it requires more than accurate vision to judge and recognize a friend(s) and family and set them apart from the crowd of people,we know and come across.Only time and adverse circumstances have that kind of power.

So,till god decides how much to grant out of this prayer,I’ll be optimistic(like always) and will assume that this attachment has been successfully delivered.

Wish all of you a very very happy New 2009……

full circle....Kite Runner

2008-12-09T00:28:00.021+12:00

I finally finished reading the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and it has taken me two months to do so.Well,its a feat, given the fact,that I was able to spend only about 10 mins everyday with the book.Reading a book, over such a length of time has its own pros and cons.Everybody...from people in the lift,security guards…. to those in the gym and at the bus stop(where i wait for my colleague to pick me up)knew what I was reading.I won't be surprised if they would be calling me the 'kite runner woman' and would be laying bets,as to when I would(finally) finish my book.The pros are that you get to read several parts of the book over and over again(and savour and sip the book),coz despite the bookmark,you tend to forget the exact place where you last left it at.

Anyways,I don't think the book has too many parts and details,that I would like to savour and revisit.The book filled me with sadness,anger and hatred, towards the politics of war and the fact and realization that the innocent always get sacrificed at such altars.Surprisingly,I was eager to watch the movie,knowing very well the fact,that movies are seldom a fitting tribute to the spirit of the book.Watching the movie of a book that you have just read isn't one of the most advisable things to do.For 99.999% of the times,you shall be terribly disappointed with the comparison.Well,I tried very hard to keep the two aside and have to admit, that I did a good job.

To say that a part of me identified with the book,would be an understatement(didn't everybody,in some way or the other).But,this wasn't a kind of empathy, you felt for the protagonist .This was a penance for something I had been guilty of, for a long long time.

My family (i.e my parents, are Kashmiris).Although I was born and brought up in Delhi,we always went back to Srinagar for our summer vacations.Frankly,for me as a child,Delhi was my real home and Srinagar just a beautiful resort which would be bustling with relatives,food and lots of scenic drives around the Dal Lake.After the unrest of 1991,when there was a mass exodus of Kashmiri pundits from the valley(was when my grandparents and close family members fled,with their bare minimum belongings),there was always an air of utmost gloom and despair at home.However,as a child, the pain of being a 'migrant',homeless and without identity,was something I completely failed to understand.I was irritated with the continuous stream of relatives,who discussed nothing but Kashmir.I resented my dad calling himself a migrant(i failed to understand why he did that when he had a home,in Delhi).Only,years later,I realized that like the lakhs of Kashmiris,he did have a house in Delhi,but his home was still in the land they could never go back to.Many Kashmiris still dream and hope for peace to return back to the valley and going back home.But,it seems like a distant dream.My grandfather sold his large palatial home in the heart of the city(and he passed away very soon after that.I think he gave up all hope of ever returning ) and with that beautiful house,were sold all those precious childhood memories,which I have begun to treasure ,even more,as I am growing older,for some strange reason.

That night,I too dreamt of being in my grandparents house,not amongst the ruins,that it would be in ,right now.It was a happy dream.I was in the attic which also doubled up as a library(my favourite place in the house).Ransacking the cherry trees and the strawberry bushes,with my cousins ,till my belly hurt.Of long drives,with my father on his cycle,to buy fresh bread from the kandervan(kashmiri bakers,who are known for their fresh breads).Of crowding around the old television,to watch Doordarshan’s Krishi Darshan,with rapt attention,and not understanding even a word.

I have been having the same dream ,for the past three consecutive days,now.Like a reel it starts and ends at the same place each time and I can’t get it off my mind the whole day. Like Farid says in the book,some memories are best left happy.I don’t think I have the courage to visit that house,and see it in shambles.
It took me two months to read the book, but a moment to realize that I too was a ‘migrant’,in so many ways.A word that I had so vehemently fought against for so many years.Funny,how life comes a full circle.

UNITED IN SMS

2008-11-27T01:27:00.004+12:00

An SMS that floated in .....

Last night at the party,someone shouted

"All married guys,stand next to that one person,who has made your life worth living?"

The bartender was almost crushed to death !!!!!

I had a hearty laugh and forwarded this to a lot of women,and also asked them ,if women were asked this same question,whom would they crush to death..errr I mean what would be their answer.

Not surprisingly,only a miniscule of them agreed (half heartedly) to...."bartender"(but,only if he was absolutely good looking)....and not very surprisingly(at all) almost ALL of them smirked and reacted with every possible non agreemental gesture,when I asked

"HEY ...WHAT ABOUT HUSBAND??"

Women agree and unite, only for the right cause !!!!

RAIN

2008-10-25T04:47:00.014+12:00

A little bit of rain....
can be such a relief.....
esp after four continuous periods
no more stairs to climb...some vocal relief
(we have to bring the kids up everyday after lunch)

A little bit of rain....
and you get a rainy day 10 mins
"you can go home early" bonus from school...
little pleasures that bring a smile

A little bit of rain.....
and you can pamper yourself with
yet another coffee and yet another
indulgence and rain go hand in hand

nothing is more welcome
than the sound of thunder and rain
to drown the voices in your head
when all you want to hear is silence....

there nothing like walking in the rain
pretending that you love splashing
when actually your feet have nowhere
to take you ,and you nowhere to go....

a little rain is welcome
to camouflage joy and sorrow
rain is a lovely umbrella
especially when you want to cry....

Tagadiction !!!!!

2008-10-19T23:35:00.030+12:00

NAME : TAG no.****

OBJECTIVE :To let the world know about yet another 5 quirky aspects of thy personality and to TAG another 5 innocent bakras to do the same.

TAGGER(culprit):MAMPI

When they say addiction,why does it have this evil,accusing mean tone to it?What maybe an annoying, addictive habit in my personality(for others),may be my signature,something that makes me unique errrr wierd !!!
SO,here goes

1.rise and shine and sweat..i shall

Yes,I am addicted to my morning dose of exercise and am loving it.There are very few souls,who subject themselves to this (torture) of actually kicking thenselves out of bed just when you get the sweetest of dreams.I have no idea how well you can kicked by spirits,because they failed to have any effect on me,but there is no better shot of feel good harm ones,than exercise.Oh yes,I may not FIT into any of the global standard height and weight chats,but feel that fitness and stamina are the parameters to measure yourself. If you are amongst the many who aren't convinced....just get a good pair of shoes and kick the bed.

2.BAK BAK BAKWAS...

everyone at home may call it bakwas....i am addicted to chatting with my friends(a select few actually).It's the ideal way to unwind and destress after a hectic days schedule.I often do it at night,when the family's asleep,so that they can't keep a check on the time.I once remember chatting for so long that the mobile burnt out.

3.Yeh banana chips mujhe de de thakur

One thing that I can't resist knowing fully well,that they shall play havoc,with the calorie counters,that I maintain.If there are banana chips around, I am completely distracted and will not rest, till they are over.So,have found a simple solution.....have stopped buying them(in rare cases,they walk upto me on their own)

4.Net and blogging

check mail...check blog...check others blog....and another blog...then another ......
It's an addiction tough to break.Am sure there are many others affected with the same virus.No cure in sight !!!GOOD ...WE AREN'T COMPLAINING EITHER!!!

5.PLEASE DON STOP THE MUSIC !!!!!

not that i am a connoisseur,but there has to be a background score playing somewhere in the house,whenever ,and where ever I am working.As a result,I keep switching systems,as i move from one room to another(i even have one in the kitchen...err bathroom being the only exception.So,what about the time at school??

aha...that's music of a different kind all together,and mostly I am the one dancing to everybody Else's tunes.SIGH

THE TAGGED VICTIMS:

MONICA

SATISH(you haven't done the prev one either)

DOES IT MATTER(yes it does....please attempt the tag and prove so)

SALIL(am sure you will)

NIKHIL

currently addicted to this song...cute and simple...but so true...
dil ki yahee khata hai
dil ko nahin bata hai
arree chata hai kya....

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=-GFN1_jV2nU

34 bubblegums and candies....The book launch

2008-10-12T14:00:00.009+12:00

What makes a book special?
Sometimes, the fact that it has been so much in the news ,that you feel you would be an outcast ,if you didn’t read it.Sometimes,a big author,who has finally come up with his nth book,(where he has finally promised to release his inner most secrets) and the rest of the time, other trivial facts like, what the book contains.
But this book was special,for most of the time I know the author and almost always the author doesn’t know me.This time the author was special and she was one of us(and I was certain that she knew me)

Preeti,also known as P.S,definitely needs no introduction,(unless of course If you happen to be a non blogger) .Her blog is an immensely popular one and I say that not because of the quantum of comments she invites,but because her writing possesses an honesty that is simple to read, understand and feel.So,naturally when she came to Bangalore to launch her book.I couldn’t have missed the opportunity.Add,to that, that the launch doubled up as an unofficial blogger’s meet.
The launch of ‘34 bubblegums and candies’ took place,at Crossword (yes,that’s the title…and you have to read and experience the both the bubblegums and candies in it, to completely understand why she has named the book so).I have to confess,that I haven’t been to any book launches till date,so I did not know what to expect. I missed the beginning of the launch, thanks to the mad traffic that descends on Bannergatta road.Preeti spoke about her book and especially about why the book was titled so.Mr R.K Mishra(lead India winner) was the guest of honour,and asked Preeti to read out some of the stories he loved from the book.Preeti’s confidence,while speaking to the audience about her book,reminded me of her posts.Honest and totally from the heart.She answered the audiences questions,especially the one about her next book,(as expected,with strict confidentiality).

For those who have enjoyed reading her blog,some of the stories will be nostalgic.My favourite ones are “Sly Stallone does not open easily” and “radiators and drains”.Of course,the story “what women want” tops the list,for the brilliant retort provided by Satish(her husband).Preeti’s second book and Satish’s (yet to be started)blog are eagerly awaited.

So,I left the book store with a personally autographed copy of 34 bubblegums and candies,with a little bonus of a 35th candy which happens to be the lovely bookmark made by her kids for everyone who buys the book,which sweetly says(‘thank you for buying my mom’s book).

Preeti’s book has finally broken the jinx.I have finished reading at least one book,this year.I know this fact,will have an adverse effect on my reputation as a teacher.But,then like I always say….a bad reputation is more difficult to maintain than a good one !!!!

Kudos Preeti.
(some pictures of the launch taken by -xh-)

reunion 2008

2008-10-05T15:55:00.037+12:00

This vacation has been very different.If you ask my mother to choose an appropriate word,she would probably say WIERD.Unlike,most normal people who utilise their vacations to thrash the bed till 11,pig out on the choicest of home made yummy mummy food,and inflict that shop' till you drop or your wallet cries stop'feeling.I have done none.Thanks to my dear princi,in school,who decided that teachers' should be given the students' share of holiday H.W , as well.I am spending 4-5 hrs,racking my brains on creating CREATIVE WORKSHEETS for my students.Add to that, the navratras,so am devoid of my mom's delicious kashmiri delicacies too.

But,the brightest spot this time was the fact that I met my classmates from school,after 15 long years.I have to admit,that ,previously,every time I came to Delhi for a vacation,a tiny part of my heart wished ,that I would bump into my classmates ,somewhere.I knew it was an extremely romantic notion,given the fact that I had lost touch with almost all of them,ever since I moved to being Mrs.Misra,W/O an army officer.I found it extremely difficult to update my friends,about my whereabouts and thought that I lost all of them.My memory too, by some strange default,had started erasing all school related data. I couldn't connect names and faces.I blamed age.But,I knew the real culprit,was time and that it creates a giant creator in our hearts and minds.
So,this time,when about 20 of us decided to meet after 15 long years,I was a bit skeptical.I hadn't met and spoken to most of them since almost one and a half decade,now.Will they be the same?I had my doubts.
Reunions are not an easy thing to plan,especially in a city like Delhi.People live on one planet and work on another.To expect them to party after this intergalactic ordeal,that too on a mad Monday evening, only to meet me,was indeed overwhelming(though they never gave me the credit).

It was amazing to see the same boyish faces,but with shades of grey,a little paunch and that double chin.Indeed,we had all grown up.It took just a couple of drinks to melt away the initial formalities and most of us surprisingly were back to our old pranks.Secrets that lay buried for 15 long yrs,were blurted out.Unexpressed crushes,leaked papers,grudges,school dances,teachers,bunked classes,unexplained class mysteries...we solved quite a bit.I had started remembering everything clearly now.I also managed to find out who the mysterious tiffin box chor of the class was.It had been a dear friend.
I don't know when I'll be able to meet them again.Although communication is at its peak.I know,a lot of them,will probably fail to respond to mails and SMS's.But,I also know,that even when I meet them after another gap of 15 yrs,they will still be the same friends,I left behind in school.

messages from a tea coaster ! ! !

2008-10-04T13:48:00.002+12:00

Not really the most brillaint of pictures,but worth a click for what it says

A REASON TO SMILE

2008-09-25T00:37:00.011+12:00

(one of the rare moments when WE smile at something .....TOGETHER)

Age is just a double digit...

so don judge me by digits and numbers

stop telling me to grow up

when all i want is to grow younger,

younger at heart and in the head

in body, i know i cant help!!!!

I know,it exists

exists in my smile

coz i feel a lot older

on days I can't....

people who(really) know me, say

I'm growing wackier ..wonkier...FUNNIER

by the moment..by the year

and i feel even younger when I hear that !!!

I pretend to ignore the fine lines

that I see in the mirror

I can only see my smile there

coz thats the only thing I know

that looks best on me.

age is just a number...

I have stopped counting

I'm bad at maths anyway

I hope you are too.

(no it's not my birthday ,but amateur attempts at poetry should be......appreciated,commented and tolerated)

current reason to smile.....

"Delhi here I come..."

true friends !!!!!

2008-09-21T03:17:00.008+12:00

I read a hilarious post on Preeti's blog,sometime back on Orkut and all the X men that inhabit the land of the big O.I have to admit that since then, I too have kept an eye,if not a tag on who leaves his/her footprints on my profile.L.O.L.
BTW Preeti is a launching her book,in Bangalore in Oct.It's a big moment for her.I wish her all the best.
Coming back to Orkut.Sadly most friend requests are not from long lost friends,colleagues,classmates and cousins.In the beginning,I was scared about all the weird requests that poured in,but a lil research and conference proved that everybody received their share of these messengers!!!!Some worthy ones are listed below.(names not included for the sake of privacy)

1.Hi gazal,wanna friend ????!!!!!
(wanna friend...is this the new age language....or i am growing old??)

2.hiI've interest in making new fans bcaz I believe f'ndship is the topper relationship in world & u
(and i have to decode that message......)

3.hi......how r u ??i m ###***** u r name is gazal..its very attrective ..ilike it r u join me.......
(make up your mind man....pause a while....no grammar please,we are indian)

4.Aap Bhi Aayiye, Humko Bhi Bulate Rahiye..Dosti Buri Cheez Nahi, Dost Banaate Rahiye..!!
(no comments)

5.cool attitud eyou got there....
(attitude redefined.....how did he ever know)

6.Hi ...cute name....is that really your picture??
(should i take that as a compliment or an insult??)

BTW...am also curious to know if men too receive such creative and meaningful requests(from women of course)
any comments!!!!!

and why have I put it here....well as Preeti says..."I am a woman".

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A SUNDAY.......

2008-09-11T05:13:00.011+12:00

Well, it doesn’t happen very often that I am assigned homework.Homework,in a good spirited ,jovial kind of way,though am well aware,that it seldom gets rated as GOOD AND SPIRITED ,ever.Am tagged by mampi,to work out what my perfect day would look like.

This teachers’ wish is another teacher's command,especially when it comes from someone,who I can say is the real English ki masterni.Well then ,a dose of my own medicine it shall be.
I must thank mampi for the dose though,for this tag has made me stop and think about what I really want from my perfect day.

The perfect day like the perfect man exists either in dreams or in someone elses life(of course in blogs as well).For many Sunday,is the precisely perfect day to do what they have been dying to all week long.I would probably be seeking a divorce lawyer,if I accept otherwise,and that on most Sundays,I wish for Mondays.There is a certain madness to Sundays that,I both love and hate.But still, it's difficult to dethrone it from the ‘best day of the week’.

So,the perfect day, would therefore be a Sunday, when
1.I could exercise to a point of achieving a negative calorie state,to compensate for all the sins of the past week.( My instructor says such technology is still unavailable)

2.If I could somehow win a game of badminton against my husband.sigh.

3.I could stop finding excuses and rejoin my guitar class,after a gap of errrr months.I have run out of excuses to give my guitar teacher,and he thankfully has stopped asking for any.

4.If only I had the luxury of cooking without the headache of cleaning up.

5.If only I could juggle the time to meet friends,spend a lazy afternoon,laughing ,discussing inane issues, which have been debated over a thousand times,before.For a few hours,keeping aside all the hats that I wear as wife,mother,daughter and just be MYSELF,without the pressures.

6.the same day,spend an entire afternoon watching a movie with my son and husband,that has been kept aside(by him) as ‘to be watched’ for months, now.

6.and finally the perfect day would be if I could stretch that Sunday evening,that flies off before you can say “It’s five o’clock”, indefinitely.
Just a few of my favourite things,(essentially in that order).sunset on the 11th floor,a cup of coffee and silence(very difficult considering the growing traffic)

7. If only there could be a Sunday after Sunday…….and till such time, I shall be content with that little bit of perfection in my Sunday.

Here's to many such small perfections and imperfections in each Sunday,which make me wake up every Sunday and say "What’s in store for me today?”

Sunday is just three days away.HURRAY !!!

TOM ME AUR WOH !!!

2008-09-03T17:28:00.018+12:00

Am taking up a tag without being tagged !!!!

What does this reveal about my state of mind?A lot actually and will share that in another post.

The first time I read the tag on xh's blog(what's on your desktop...)I thought it meant "what was on your desk at work?".AHEM.You won't find many people who blatantly announce their absent mindedness.Let me first complete the tag and then the how and why explanation about why my creative bent of mind tends to bend things..... can go into YET another post.

My desktop contains a picture,which manages to make me smile,no matter how rough the day has been.It's a picture at Universal studios and the sudden display of affection was a last min addition(as my dear hubby was behind the camera...and his expression after he took the shot was worth a million dollars).

Well,he thanked his stars,it was just a cut out while I cursed my luck,that it wasn't.

but the picture doesn't remain long on the desktop.I know he's used my laptop ,when i find the picture replaced by other innocent pictures.When asked why(sometimes i love to ask questions,even though am dead sure of the answers,already),his reply is "it's nothing, but love when viewed from the right angle,".Ahem.

"It's nothing but an ACUTE case and angle of jealously,I tell myself ,proudly".

(The halo around my head is suddenly replaced by horns and an evil grin to match)

The picture's on the desktop AGAIN,and how long it will remain there,is anybody's guess.

No prizes for that,please.

tagging all those who will believe in the noble cause of blogging !!!

ZOO

2008-08-24T02:28:00.018+12:00

(was going through the pictures of our three week old visit to Bannergatta national park.It's better to post and preserve,than never to do so)
“Oh no ,it’s Sunday”,groaned Mr.Bear to Mrs.B.
“This means I have to brush my teeth and comb my hair,and take that walk,and pretend to be busy sniffing at grass,HUMMPH.”
”Well,isn’t it fun to watch a bus full of caged humans,all owwwing and awwwwing, dear.They do look so cute,”she consoled him. The little cubs eagerly followed daddy B,for a live demo.

At other end of the forest, an anxious tiger paced up and down.The cause for concern seemed to be the new entrant, the white tiger.”Damn!!! These fair skinned ones.They seem to be grabbing all the limited female attention.Sigh!”
Well,it was a fact known to all that the poor guy had stuck to an exhaustive abs routine and a low fat -only -lean -deer diet,for more than six months now. However, yet another tiger felt there were other matters more important than those of the heart and the meat. He wasn’t the least bit amused at this intrusion of privacy.”Don’t we have any laws of the jungle here?”
“Well, this is the jungle right.”Except a few flies no one had responded to his statements.”Maybe we need a new government,and a change of the King,err animal.Maybe a no- confidence motion,he asked the grass and the trees.
“There’s more wilderness in the human parliament than here.”He sighed and went to drown his sorrows in the next watering hole.

The Bannergatta national park
1. High expectations will ruin your visit. Please remember you are visiting an Indian zoo and you shall be more than pleased with what you find and see.
2. Despite all the discouraging reviews,it was a pleasant surprise,and if you have a child in you somewhere,you will def enjoy seeing the animals at close quarters.
3. A particular reviewer on a travel site,said that the animals looked bored.Well,what do expect from life that has been caged.Remember that the animals are in the jungle and not in a circus.
4. The zoo’s policy and effort at keeping plastics at bay is quite laudable.(they empty out all plastic wrappers into paper bags,right at the entrance itself. It’s amazing how much plastic they had gathered in a few minutes)
5. The safari is bumpy but good(but since we were quite used to Bangalore roads,it didn’t feel very different),as you really get to see a variety of animals.The conductor is really helpful in pointing out and taking pictures for you(err for a tip of rs.20,he deserved it)
6. The cages are quite well kept and neat.The snake exhibit is amazing. Don’t miss it.
7. The butterfly park is definitely the high point of the park.The feeling is magical. As you enter the enchanted door,hundreds of butterflies come to kiss you with their feathery wings.

8. TIP OF THE DAY
Start early in the day,if you wish to visit on a Sunday,for the crowd that builds up,makes you wonder and pray about the security of the animals and thank god that they were caged.

five to go

2008-08-13T03:16:00.007+12:00

“I’ve got five minutes,!”.I console myself(convincingly) rather than threaten.Five minutes and I have to juggle both breakfast and lipstick,both into dangerously close quartered areas.The few initial attempts taught me that the former should go first..Experience is a good teacher.The past two and a half months ,have taught me the value of all small things in life.Five min,never seemed more precious,and its amazing how much of reading I can squeeze into those five min,while whizzing off in a noisy auto,along with half a dozen of other noisy autos,over J.P Nagar’s dirt tracked roads(it’s amazing to see the number of ORTHO docs mushrooming in the neighbourhood)on my way to pick up a colleague.I cherish those five min of solitude with my book. The progress is slow,(targeted)at 2 pages a day.I have made considerable progress,since I began.From half a page,I have inched to two a day.Slow but satisfying.After all, Five min is all I have,and…..I don’t want to get too ambitious.

the only bright spot,in the near perfect gloomy day of the almost- on -the -fag- end-of the monsoons,weather.Mr.Bindra,you have proved a proverb COOL LIKE A CUCUMBER,true and a nation proud.

SILENCE IS BLISS

2008-07-28T04:54:00.018+12:00

It's amazing how easy it has become to pick up a fight,about the most insanely silliest of things these days.

So,says my dear Husband.

It doesn't take too much(too long) to disagree,but a lot to make the other person to agree and see the logic in what you have to say.But,love and logic are difficult to explain,especially when you have to explain the logic in love.Unfortunately,by then both of us can only see red,and matters of the heart are dealt without the head and only with the tongue.The amazing thing is that most married couple agree with this.There is so much of similarity in the way couples fight.Not just in the way they fight,but also what they fight about.......for each one of us,has our own style....trademarked and copyrighted.The issues however rarely differ from family to family.

It's amazing how we blame everything and everyone around us,whenever the marital thermostat, surges.Stress,traffic,no water,no maid,leftovers from last night,re re re run of a movie,bathroom lights left on(by mistake),kids,their report card,forgotten birthdays......everything but,ourselves.

The A B C'S of a marriage change before and after .They are transformed in the few months of marriage and deformed by the time,you reach the first decade.You start analysing and
counting the years in decades and after 10,the counter just leaps by the tens.

TRUTH changes like the weather,before and after.Once upon a time, truth was the fact that "I can't live without you",now the fact of the matter is that"It's so difficult to live with you".Sweet nothings change to bitter everythings.A lot of times,I feel that wisdom lies in accepting that you(me) are wrong and you(he) is right.Check out the expression on their faces when you do that right in the middle of a heated conversation.......(what?? you can't(don't want to fight anymore !!!).I do that often,these days,Coz I'm told....I often start the fight !!!!!Merely ,not because,you are the man(right)and I'm the woman(wrong).But,because silence is my weapon of conveying the truth,across to you.So,is this wisdom submissiveness,or giving up without a fight?Most people would debate that,I'm sure.

Can we fight when there's just one person in the conversation?NO.It's amazing how easy it is to bring the temperature down,without saying a word.I have discovered the power of silence and the fact that it is a weapon that ignites the other,while helps you to ignore.

BLISS IS IN IGNORE..(HENCE)

a little bit of dash

2008-07-19T05:33:00.031+12:00

Yet another promise broken.
A new post goes up today,when it should have last week just like the numerous "promises of walks",every evening.The week seems to be on roller blades ,these days barely leaving me gasping for air err time.
Just like the sentences that my students make,no commas no full stops,in short no sense at all.So,apart from injecting some grammatical sense,in my students,i decided to insert a little dash,in my schedule,before the sentence..week...me...lost complete sense and I lost my balance.

and this dash is called "Yercaud".A little town,tucked away between 20 hair pin bends and a little lake.Just four and a half hours from Bangalore,it often loses out to it's fairer cousin Ooty.The town has just the thing that you need to break away from the monotony of hectic weeks.......SIMPLICITY.A lazy town that closes at seven,a pond of a lake,a beautiful viewpoint,no crowds to fear,(just monkeys) and just a handful of hotels,which leave no space for comparison.Farthest is one km and feast is a buffet of left over 'chinese veg pulao and gulab jamun'.And you don't complain.You know,you are really chilling out,when at the end of three days,watching monkeys too feels so relaxing.

"The dash is a handy device, informal and essentially playful, telling you that you're about to take off on a different track but still in some way connected with the present course — only you have to remember that the dash is there"
found it in an old grammar textbook

so don't take your grammar lessons lightly !!!!!

JAB WE MET !!!!!

2008-07-08T00:02:00.017+12:00

The setting was perfect and so was the timing.Sunday.....Barista...3 30 p.m and no trace of rain in an extremely overcast Bangalore sky.The rain gods were more than generous in holding back the rains,so as to allow the much awaited bloggers meet.With absolutely no corporate initiate,to back it,and after bumping and raiding and hectic commenting on each others blogs.It was time to say"LET'S MEET".For once, the blogs took a back seat and the authors stepped forward and met.The 50 odd confirmatory and introductory mails,set the tone and broke most of the (non existent)ice between us.

Anoop got the early bird prize,(i don know if he found a worm).The rest of us patriotically followed the IST (no offence meant).Since I knew only Anoop,it was fun trying to predict if the next person entering the door would be THE BLOGGER ,or not.(and mostly we were bang on).Being the only MAN in the group I wonder if he felt like the odd man out or awkward or responsible !!!!Once in most of us ,did what we were best at.......TALKING.... resting only to sip the coffee and the iced teas.

It was interesting to finally meet the faces behind the words and the thoughts and the funny thing was that at the end of it,it didn't feel like a first meeting at all.

those who made it......(in order of appearance)

Anoop,Me,Sushma,Prats,Madhu,Sairekha,Mallika.

Here's to many such meets and a big thank you to everyone who turned up.

Hope we can keep it going.

For those who missed it,we missed you too(esp suma).....there's always a next time and in case anybody was left out and wants to join in.Please drop me a line @misragazal123@gmail.com

for some more pics(by xh)

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/anoop.anoopkumar/Barista_Meet?authkey=cVbvDMMbQLg

L.O.L

2008-06-30T02:38:00.007+12:00

THE WAKE UP CALL...

2008-06-20T00:44:00.020+12:00

I don't intend to be poetic,but I know this post sounds like one.I am trying very hard to write,but the train of thought, just vanishes in between.For those who are sadists,a piece of good news.Yes,the sabbatical is over.Like a fantastic meal,it ended with a creamy, dreamy unadulterated vacation to the land of "bigger,better,faster,cleaner..... ".

It's difficult to describe my present state......I don't blame myself.
croggy....lethargic...lazy....tired....restless
the state is difficult to understand and even more difficult to describe...
SPOILT is perhaps a more appropriate word....

i hoped and wished like hell in the beginning that,it was jet lag....but it was and yet it wasn't....

Probably,i am suffering from an enormous overdose of love,vacation,food,nature,fresh air,sleep,an over enormous state of nothing to do and lots to see.....trying to grab more than I can retain....bite more than i can chew.....like a greedy child unleashed on a pile of chocolates....(i din eat many...O.K ate some...only !!!)....Damn...it's difficult to recollect sometimes....was it a dream....I can't connect and put it together....just fragments......the fragments of a dream....a long long one where reality merges with the surreal like a fairy tale.....without the demons and goblins and the witches....
life never seemed so pure and romantic.....

BUT....
Reality returns,bites,kicks and punches you, where it hurts the most.....

the bumpy auto rides...the "get up and go to work"feeling....the pollution...the empty house....the endless,mindless staffroom laughter,the innocent faces of 8 yr olds,pulling at your sari (and your heart strings)to gain attention....the dreaded school bell signalling the end of the cherished 15 mins of hasty lunch(a potpourri of four dabbas)......that's reality....and it's growing on me....surprisingly...fast.....the transition is so sudden that i have surprised myself too.

wasn't I just standing, watching the grand canyon, just yesterday.....
Well !!!that was yesterday....and this is today !!!!

some more pics here

'YEAR'...IT GOES !!!!

2008-04-30T16:02:00.012+12:00

Is it a coincidence that this happens to be my 51 th post....and I complete a year in Bangalore.I want to believe, its some divine, magical connection.Those who always try to find logic in coincidences, may dismiss it, as just another quirky stroke of chance ,numbers and dates coming together.But,what’s wrong in putting 1 and 50 together to make it special and be happy about it.Nothing,in fact it’s also called………. another excuse to post on the blog.
I had been waiting to say this ,the entire year.Every time someone asked me, how long I had been in Bangalore, I would give a very precise (monthly) accurate figure(proudly).But, like a lot of things in life, which we wait to celebrate and forget to do so later, this too, passed away quietly.Well,better late than never. And this rule, hold true especially in blogger land. And since the blog has been a testament to so many high and low points through the year, why not one more.
So,sit back and be patient,for this is a long post as 365.25 days aren’t easy to compress.

1. Flashback to last April. Three sweaty souls come to Bangalore from Baroda, with a bag full of dreams and a truck load of luggage. When we landed in Bangalore, one of the first things (actually second, because the divine weather was the first)to hit me,was the irresistible aroma of coffee in the air. Can you fall in love with the smell of coffee?I did. The cothas coffee factory was right across the service apartment, where we stayed, and every morning and evening for 10 days, I was smitten, by this dark handsome fluid. The aroma was irresistible and the restaurant next door,was our secret meeting place,for many days to come.
Love is still in the air.

2. The big S .
This year was my sabbatical, and I just loved the sound of this word. This year I decided to take a break from work and rest. And ‘rest’ is something I probably I never found the time for. Being a full time mother and wife and home maker, blogger, friend and myself…... nearly took my breath away. Achievements……why should there be any. I never set out any, for this year. That’s the best thing about breaks, you don’t have to do anything and yet you are so busy with everything.

3. The best way to make you value something, is in and with the fear that it will be taken away form you. And I’m not taking about material things. The very essence of life lies in the power of choice and blessed are those who have this control. I came very close to giving up, the carefree life (that I enjoy, so much), at a certain point and I’m glad I had this power and the support of my loved ones.Count yourself lucky if you have the support and backing of your family ,to say no to a job that pays very well,but could have landed your happiness in a ‘well’.WELL

4. Illusions don’t make reality any beautiful. And I’m glad, that this illusion remained unreal and inaccessible. Sometimes, it takes a nightmare to bring us back to reality, and I’m so glad that the night is over.(if this doesn’t make sense,don’t worry. It’s not supposed to. It’s part of my therapeutic conversation with myself, and believe me it works)

5. I learnt that humanity and charity doesn’t always, reward you back. Be kind but don’t expect any loyalty in return. The number of times, we were let down and duped by cunning maids and drivers, absconding with ‘urgent advance’ is unbelievable. It’s the loss of faith that hurts, rather than the loss of money.

6.Bangalore will always remind me of yet another’ B’.I never thought blogging would become an obsessive, compulsive disorder. How? and Why? I started?…….The reasons for blogging become defunct at this juncture ,and the outcome more important and satisfying. A big thank you, to everyone who has been here, tolerating rants and thoughts and special and not so special moments. It’s amazing how you connect with people, whom you have never met, but they feel and sound so familiar.

7. I have learnt that in a new city it’s foolish to make resolutions, when you have just stepped in. After the initial maddening traffic encounters, I had vowed never to work far from home, to restrict shopping and friends close to home, to curse politicians and administration every time on the road. But then,Bangalore traffic is a great leveler, and made sure I broke every single pledge.

//God, give me the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. //

I’m suddenly a more patient and forgiving person on the road.

8. And then of course I enrolled my knees for a total knee replacement, in the near future. All a result of the hours of badminton,that I picked up this year.I proved a lot of people wrong about how age and weight aren’t detrimental to learning, well that is if you find instructors as patient as the group of ladies who taught me. For without them, I would never be able to say at age 50.Check out my legs….err new knees !!!
(a special mention about the enthusiastic but short burst of love to learn guitar…..some love stories are best left incomplete. Here’s hoping that I ‘ll pick up the threads err strings some day soon)

9. I updated my juvenile knowledge that TECHIES were much more than computer programmers and mechanics. That south Indian is too restrictive a word to describe the vast South and between the saru and sambhar lie a hundred flavours,which are 'unique' than ‘different’, and that I can differentiate a Kannadiga from a Malayalli to a TAM BRAM, is an achievement(and that my friend list contains hardly any north Indians, is a testament,to this)

10. If you tell people in the bean city,especially in Brigade, that you are taking a holiday to the U.S,chances are you’ll never gain any attention(forget about impressing them).When you tell them,you are travelling to the West coast,they ask,”Why not East?”.When you tell them you’ll spend a mammoth 25 days there,they tell you, “You should do 2 months?”.Almost every 2nd…no..correction… everyone except us has been to the U.S,here in Brigade.
That’s not the reason, for taking this trip.
It’s a like those things you always wished and dreamt of,the unachievable. For it hasn’t been easy to move out of the army and struggle to find your feet, over the past three years.So,it’s time to reward yourself for all the hard work,and give the blog(and readers) a break.I’ll be back,with a load of memories, pictures that speak a zillion words and an accent to show off, in Brigade. CIAO !!!

T * A * G

2008-04-25T17:26:00.007+12:00

This is the second time I have been tagged,with the same identical tag,by another person.
It's a shameful reminder.
So,Arun and Suma....here's to you

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER
It took me 5 min to get that…..it’s not the memory….but the words MOVIE ...... THEATRE took so much time to connect!!!! AHEM
"SUNDAY"

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
Ask me how much of which book am I reading
Witch of Portobello…..on the last 10 pages since 1969.

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
So,they do play games inside board rooms…..no wonder they stay locked in for so long…
O.K
SCOTLAND YARD

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Readers Digest.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Petrol….

6. FAVORITE SOUND?
Water falling…not the kinds from running taps….just falling naturally

7. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
Dying a slow painful death

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE?
"Is my maid going to come today?"LOL
O.K ……seriously
"Is my maid going to come today?"

9. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
GOODIES. Baroda
Great food and fabulous prices

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
Anisha…….next life,maybe

11. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D...?
........STILL BE THE SAME PERSON…..
I tend to remain unaffected by the presence or absence of it,and esp immune to the commercial power it enjoys.

12. DO YOU DRIVE FAST?
Yes,I did….and I came to Bangalore and since then ‘speed’ has become history.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
I want to say YES…but my husband will object to being called one.

14. STORMS-COOL OR SCARY?
Neither !!!!
They look good only in the movies, when they blow away miniature sets and models, that aren’t anybody’s home.

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
Maruti 800

16. FAVORITE DRINKS
WATER....make that double and on the rocks

17. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, "IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD .....
TRAVEL ALONE…..CATCH UP WITH FRIENDS….READ……WATCH MOVIES(which I want)

18. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Yes. Is it illegal?
19. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Blonde highlights…..but will have to first spend a fortune in getting a skin tone that matches!!!!double sigh

20. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN.
Delhi, Bokaro, Basara, Jabalpur,Ooty,Shillong,Udhampur,Hissar,Pune,
Baroda,Bangalore.

21. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
badminton
22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU.
sensitive
23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
Lots of dust……..

24. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?
Yes.but 10 k.gs lighter.

25. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL?
Morning…
26. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
NEITHER.an omelet please, with lots of mushrooms.

27. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?
WITH FRIENDS…..THE PLACE DOESN’T MATTER

28. FAVORITE PIE?
APPLE
29. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
JAMIOCA ALMOND FUDGE (NIRULAS)

30. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TAGGED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
The last time I tagged people,no one responded. HUMPH !!!!
A big hug to all the brave hearts who will take it up,without being tagged….
(that doesn’t make it too attractive....does it??)

DID YOU.....???

2008-04-18T01:37:00.011+12:00

Did you worry,today that your two year old doesn't rattle off the names of all the cars in the parking lot,like the others???

Did you remind your kid(again) that the neighbour's kid,always scores ten upon ten in maths in his exam??

Did you fuss about the fact that,you couldn't put your kids in all the summer classes,that have been advertised this summer??

Did you drive yourself insane worrying how what percentage,your child would score in the boards,knowing very well,it's more to do with destiny than hard work??

Did you just blow your top(again) that the kids are watching a rerun of Tom and Jerry for the n th time yet again??

For dropping food over your precious upholstery.....for bringing shoes full of slush into the house yet AGAIN.....for eating food like there's a famine waiting round the corner...for living in a room,that would bring in an epidemic! ! ! !

44 parents in Gujarat will never have to worry about these decisive milestones in their children's lives??? (story here)

Let's thank god and say a prayer ,for all our kids,who have come back home safe and sound and a silent prayer for those who didn't ! ! !

THE HOT SEAT !!!!

2008-04-12T00:16:00.010+12:00

‘BIG’ school in Bangalore,announces expected time of the departure of flight ENTRANCE EXAM.

All parents are requested to proceed for security check.
Fervent last min. checking of checklist before departure , for one ,last time .

"What’s 8 X 4??......what’s the format for the letter??……what’s Hindi for 'leave'?...I hope you remember all the formulae,we rehearsed this morning???” .The drone could match that of a big jet plane about to take off.Not very far away,a big family including grandparents, were trying to recite a last minute prayer,(more to calm their own frayed nerves).

"Don’t forget to check and recheck your paper,dear….and if time is still left…check it again O.K”.The busy corporate Mom ,instructed,checking her watch the tenth time, in the past 10 min.She more anxious about her office, than the exam.
I looked at my Sonnie boy,and he looked at me."What’s the fuss about?”we thought silently in unison. In one of those rare moments,he must have thanked god for,the right choice of mom.Despite that, the parent in me panicked

"Do you want to revise,anything beta?”very well expecting an expected answer.

" After this I’m free,RIGHT???”he questioned and I appreciated his attitude, just before the big T.I nodded and told him,"Just do your very best…the best that you can do,and that’ll be enough”.

He gave me a hug,something ten yr olds aren’t seen doing often……in public.

The flight is announced.Gates are thrown open.Faces are given a Kleenex wipe and the hair done up,the very last time.

"Say your good morning,stand straight,don’t slouch,don’t lose your admit card….get your things back….don’t talk too much…..attempt all the questions…..don’t leave any question….all the best….we love you ".....

Alas !!!! by the time, they said those three magical words, the kids had already reached the examination hall.
Whew!!! part I over ….now part II.Lucky one’s,who lived close by,went back home and those who had driven difficult distances, had no option but to choose the shades of trees,to wile away the time.Notes were exchanged and mothers boasted of triumphs in various entrance examinations, as if they were conquests of lands. The childrens’ present schools were denounced and criticized beyond repair.Apparently,"all the forces of education from the curriculum to the teachers,fellow students, and the management were out to conspire against their kids.”
I contributed heartily,for the past several years of being a parent and a teacher in the same school,had made me zip my lips.
You didn’t need a watch to tell you it was time for the school ‘to release the students’.The flurry of activity and the rising anxiety amongst parents,was an evident enough sign.We lined up,class wise,anxiously waiting to reclaim our baggage from the departure terminal.Anxious,to ask them,the contents of the paper,perhaps.Those moving out on the conveyor belt,were seen reciting the questions to eager parents ,mentally calculating answers and rechecking.

“I’m hungry!!!”blurted out my son, dashing my hopes and my questions and my chance to be a good parent. He finished his packet of Milano and his appy and gave me a dirty look and said,"No,use studying so much!!!!,they never asked anything so tough,ma!!!!”
I was crestfallen. All those precious no nap afternoons, and T.V deprived evenings,and late night studying and soaked almonds had been a waste then??!!!

“Tomorrow,we shall know,who has wasted whose time,betaji!!!”.There,I had said it. Spoken like a true modern day, over involved, 'i'm doing my bestest best,super anxious parent. I patted my back and bit my tongue and wished I hadn’t said that,at all.
Parenting isn’t easy and damn we just made it tougher !!!!!

'A' AND HIS BKB

2008-04-03T22:27:00.011+12:00

"Your food is a big hit in the office," so,I'm told by hubby.

Despite the fact,that the office kitchen lays out a fairly edible spread,my hubby continues to take his 'ghar ka khana',everyday to work. And I'm not complaining. This speaks volumes about my cooking! !doesn't it.Well,frankly,fact is stranger than kitchen fiction.
I admit, on a candid note, that I love to feed people, whether the food is worth being eaten is an inconsequential and small issue.I inherit this streak from my Nani,who was known for her guerrilla tactics,at the dining table, especially when it came to loading and goading people to eat more.
So, everyday at lunch time,hubby dear opens up his dabba,of home made goodies,much to the envy of other colleagues.There are ready takers for paneer and egg curry and Dum Aloo and mix vegetables and the sweets, for all apparent reasons.But,why the dabba comes back with leftovers, on days when it housed orphans like lauki(ghia),tauri,cabbage kuttu,lobia or the oh- so -healthy soya nuggets, is no great mystery.
But,there’s one man,who managed to capture my attention.Mr.A (we shall call him), never has lunch,but has requested to be invited,ever since he spotted ‘Baigan ka bharta’in hubby's tiffin (Steamed brinjal mashed and curried,till it fails to resemble a brinjal)….(err I like to believe that I have readers across seven seas,as well).
“Now,that’s an unusual dish, to be saved under the ‘My favorites’ column”,I thought to myself,one morning packing an extra dose of BKB.Till,one lazy afternoon,the story unfolded itself and was narrated over ,the office lunch table.

The eighties were gloomy times. The economy wasn’t really ‘Rocking and rolling’,like it is.A good job and a decent salary, was what one should have looked forward too.No,flashy M.B.A’s,were required to keep pace with office politics and the job market, and those at the top of the corporate ladder were genuine stalwarts, who had ample amount of salt and pepper,both in their hair as well as their experience.Mr.A,was the average engineering graduate, who had a good job and manged to make more than a decent living, with his wife and little son, in a plush one BHK.

But,then his heart said, ‘Yeh Dil mange more’…much before the pepsi bottle ever did.He longed for an edge,for that elusive M.B.A,unheard of.His seniors laughed and dismissed it as the lunacy of a young mind.Add,to this ,his commitments as a husband and father loomed large,upon him.He,finally decided to take the risk asked his company, if he could somehow juggle both the job and the M.B.A.They declined,but offered to take him back, after he finished his studies.
It was a tough decision. With no job in hand, it was a herculean task,to manage both the household and his tuition fees at the university. His parents, coaxed him to take help from them. It was the easiest option out, but somehow, he couldn’t convince his pride and conscience.
Till, one day someone gave him the idea of approaching a bank.Loans, in those times, were actually a proof of your incapability to manage your income.Apart from being very difficult to obtain.But, finally the bank decided to give Mr. A an educational loan, along with a stipend of Rs.500 for managing his home needs.
He allotted Rs.250 judiciously for home and the rest for his college and stay at the campus.He shifted, his family to a one room barsati,which acted as hall..Kitchen….bedroom. All in one. They shared a common bathroom,with the other tenants,where water till 6 am was a luxury.
Back at the campus,things weren’t all that rosy.A’s classmates were from wealthy families,and were more than aware of A’s economic status. With books being a rare luxury, A often relied on libraries and lending’s from his friends. With his purse strings literally like a noose around his neck, Rs.3 per day was all he could afford to spend on his meals. Very often, the portions would barely suffice the hunger pangs of a students’ stomach. It was here that A discovered, that BKB was possibly the cheapest thing on the menu, and would invariably end up, with it, on his plate.

There were times when,the stipend gave way much before the end of the month and A had no money to buy himself a meal. At such times, his friends would invite him home on some pretext or the other,knowing very well,that he would never ask. He too always waited for such opportunities.
After a grueling two such years,Mr.A went back his old company.Impressed with his ideas and diligence, they further, sent him for further studies, to the U.S.A.The rest becomes,predictable history.Mr.A today is the V.P of an huge Indian corporate giant and enjoys his life,between office,home and his grandchildren.
I’m sure you have heard and read stories that have more awe value than this.But,what touched me was the fact that,when most of us would have chosen to willingly forget anything associated with difficult times in our life,for,it isn’t easy reliving memories that are bitter,Mr.A chose,to retain the humble BKB, as a reminder of the fact, that the life he enjoys today,is a gift from his past. We all move on in life, often embittered by either love,family politics,destiny.But,little do we realize that those times are the benchmark to measure the happiness we enjoy today.

Mr.A will never read this.But,it’s a tribute to his infectious good spirit and his love for the bharta. It’s a fact known by none that I think of Mr.A, every time I buy Baigan and pack in that extra helping.I know,I made someone happy that day.
My granny must be grinning, in heaven, I’m sure ! !

FOOD COURT

2008-03-28T07:08:00.003+12:00

"THE HAND THAT HOLDS THE LADLE..........."

RESPONSES INVITED ! ! !

AN UPDATE

2008-03-25T21:42:00.004+12:00

Sometimes an involuntary gesture and then an unplanned action leads to more action,than our 'meticulously planned ' activities.
I am referring to the post called 'heartless....Russell Market' on my photoblog and the'Wordless Wednesday'post.Little had I realized that,a trip made to check out aquariums,would actually lead to a lot of revelation and a cause,that would be taken by by bloggers.I'm glad it drew a rush of emotions in people,and that they penned it down in the comment box.I did realize that somewhere in this entire game, we were to blame for all this,as a demand leads to the need and supply and hence the market,thrives.
I can only hope that the animals ,although are subjected to 'inhuman' treatment,later find good homes.I hope,they are meant for homes,only.
Thanks a lot Madhu,for taking an active interest in the cause and contacting the PFA.We shall all hope that,the cause will have a 'liberating' outcome.

FISHY BUSINESS

2008-03-17T18:38:00.009+12:00

Please say Hello, to my husbands’ official illegitimate children, whom he has lovingly named ‘fish babies’.Thankfully,not as a result of any extra marital affair!!!!A carp and a moliee(the little black Mollie was too camera shy).
Everytime he’s away on a tour, I promptly get a reminder SMS ,at 7 30 A.M sharp, which sounds more like an order than a request. ‘DO NOT FORGET TO FEED THE FISH BABIES’.
Everything and anything left undone at home can be forgiven, the sole exception being the change of water for the FB’s home…read bowl. The logic being, we(humans) can still help and change the way we live or where we live, they can’t !!!!And of course, the proud father himself has never ever changed their water. “I’m too nervous to take them out and see them slither (for precisely 3 seconds)…reminded me how changing diapers never went down well with him. Thank god, fishes don’t wear one!!!!!

This post is actually a prompt, after I happened to read Preethi’s blog and it was while writing the comment,the thought,to put this up, came in. Despite the fact,that I gush and drool over puppies,kittens,rabbits,squirrels,piglets and birds,in real and reel life, strangely enough, I have always shrugged and shied away from the responsibility of keeping a pet. A self proclaimed coward,I’m not sure whether I will be able to look after it,well.I have often seen pets being brought home, like a new toy,fussed over for a while and then left to whine away all morning,while everybody left home for work.I would rather not keep one, than keep the poor soul tied up at home, leading a solitary and hopeless life all day long.

This argument has never gone down well, with my family and continues to be a bone of contention.My heart does a quick flip,everytime I pet my neighbours’ dog,but my head quickly fights back.The battle continues,everyweek!!!
I hope and wish that someday logic will give way to emotions.Till then,I shall reiterate,what I wrote on Preethi’s post as a comment.

If you can’t get something big (as a pet), start by loving something, that’s small.

BTW it happens to be my deadline to change the FB’S water!!!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2008-03-12T17:21:00.010+12:00

'HEARTLESS'......RUSSELL MARKET (Bangalore)
A one stop shop for all pets !!!!!

some more images http://www.photoblog.com/gazal/2008/03/12/

Visit Wordless Wednesday for more participants.

A VIRTUAL CONFESSION !!!!!

2008-03-06T19:54:00.010+12:00

If there is anything that makes me uncomfortable(low waist jeans being the only exception),it’s lying. If I can, I shall promise,or I won’t. When in doubt,I prefer to speak the truth(mark twain)

I say and admit that often, at the cost of sounding virtuous and godly. But that’s the way I am,honestly !!!! People say sometimes you have to lie,because you land yourself in a situation and there is no way out. I feel you can get past (that) situation if you are honest to others and yourself. There’s a thin line between being honest….frank….. Forthright…..brutal. They all stem from the same word, but then the harm you do ,with them,to others varies from left to right.Yes,there are times when I had to hold my honest opinion and tell people things that may not be true. Those are days,when I make people happy, by lying not to them but only to myself.But there are days, when lying is
the only way out(and I have to eat my own words, to accept that) and on such a day, I feel miserable and claustrophobic.

So today morning I geared myself up,took a deep breath,said my rehearsed lines,coz otherwise I would have fumbled over what was not true.I hope god forgives me,coz I have lied, as I would have been dishonest,to myself, had I spoken the truth.I wouldn’t have been able to do justice to my job,would have made my family uncomfortable, and would have given up the a lot of freedom and happiness that I enjoy. Convincing the mind is easy, but not the heart. Guilt like dandruff is difficult to get rid of.

And now that I have sinned, I shall go and sin a little more,by telling myself that rajma chawal is not fattening and so aren’t two packets of Cadbury's bytes chocolate crunch.

FILMY-FARE

2008-03-04T05:05:00.031+12:00

I can now boast that I know Kareena Kapoor,up close and personal.unluckily,had the filmfare awards telecast stretched (just)another half an hour,I would have been able to sketch Kareena with my eyes closed.Just 20 mins into the programme,and I was prophetically announcing ,the next actor/actress in the frame,and there wasn't a very big list to choose from.You don't need to be a genius for that.The usual predictable sequence was hopelessly oscillating between Shakrukh ...Gauri...saif...kareena...saif.....kareena.....Shahrukh,to a point of blur.
The function was initiated by Vidya Balan, looking ,like a ready to pop, fanta bottle,(and i thought most men loved her for her cherubic face)ahem!!! the perfect nominee, for the 'wardrobe malfunction' award.I expected SRK and Saif to recreate,the brilliant comic timing they had displayed previously,I waited patiently,and they failed miserably.They tripped time and again over their lines and the jokes fell flat.It just proves,that big stars fail to shine,in the absence of a good script.However, full credit to SRK and Saif for correctly predicting that "we are going to be rude,crass ,cheap and ridiculous",as rude and cheap they were,down to the last E and the P.Their gags lacked humour,were in bad taste,hopelessly ridiculous.
The whole show seemed to be a public declaration of the Saif- Kareena love story and 'the tattoo within'.The Saif-Kareena onstage kiss (on the cheek)received more coverage than the union budget ,perhaps.Saawariyaa was literally the 'BUTT' of all jokes,for all BUTT obvious reasons.Maybe they should have renamed it to 'Filmfare Kapoor -Khan -dan' awards.Adding to the misery,was Karan Johar,his usual coyish,boyish and gayish self( he missed no opportunity to kiss Shahrukh on stage( close up Gauri Khan several times) .Not surprisingly,Aamir Khan kept away from the scenario(not even a scene was available from TZP for the nominee listing).Surprisingly,The Bachchan parivar absented themselves(for reasons known).None of the vetrans were present,(and if they were there,no one bothered to cover them).

Sigh,I should have watched "hum aapke hain kaun"running on Zee instead.Madhuri,tuffy.....the wonder dog and Salman in a vest ,singing dhik tana..dhik tana,is any day..err any night a more tolerable option.

TAG

2008-02-29T21:06:00.016+12:00

I have been tagged by xh a.k.a anoop and I'm grateful to him because it comes at a time when i'm suffering from a severe bout of writer's block.Actually,my usual absent minded head,intercepted it to be a tag, about "10 things you hate about girls".I had finally found a way to vent my frustrations.But luck was not on my side.However,who said you can't have the cake and eat it too(was a pessimist).
I'm bending the rules people and writing about both.so here's my take..err cake on the issue.

(The rules of the game are:---write 10 things u hate about the opposite sex---
at the end of the tag, tag 5 random bloggers to take up the Tag)

5 unexplainable mysteries about women.......

1. Why do we have to pretend to be on a diet always?Thin is in and hip and there are no decent clothes available if you aren't size 0..1.agreed.But,there’s really no harm in accepting once a while ,that we love to eat…err live to eat.

2. Please don’t deny it.It’s time to accept a bitter reality….bad driving and women have become synonymous !!!!Is it really necessary to peek into the rear view mirror, time and again, while driving,to adjust the makeup. Do you have to take your hands off the wheel and straighten your hair again and again and….???and btw You do have to stick your head out most of the time to reverse the car !!!!!!

3. speaking of mirrors,why can’t women resist the temptation to peek into every mirror they come across.In shops, lifts,rear view mirrors,hospitals, toilets and even through plain glass sometimes.Where there’s a mirror,there’s a woman next to it.

4. why do we have to wait,for someone to buy us a gift.Be it a chocolate,a dress or that diamond you dream about .STOP CRIBBING.Just go ahead and pamper yourself .It’s really unfair to expect men to read your mind and buy you exactly what you want.

4. Can we ever stop being paranoid about our age.Trying to look younger than you are,is not the only thing left to achieve in the world.Accept the fact that age and beauty are not related.
"you look so young" Can't you see it,men are conning us with that line, all the time.

5 things that make men ,what they are(adorable)

1.why is it so hard for men to accept that their wife's/girlfriends,have friends that are boys/men,but it doesn't make them their boyfriends.Men and women can be just friends is a bitter pill.isn't it??

2.stop telling your wife,who’s a homemaker,”aww,do you know what it is to go out and work,you are so lucky to be at home".Kids,home,groceries,homework,PTA,PMS,neighbourhood gossip,bills and maintenance and of course in laws.try juggling all that with just two hands.Try to swap places for a day,and let me see if you are still smiling at the end of the day.

3.Do you always have to act so bored and distracted and stony when you go shopping with women.It's really embarrassing when you choose clothes,by looking at their price tags.
A little bit of attention and your credit card is all we ask for.

4.Is it necessary to look at every pretty face that goes by,especially when you are with your wife/girlfriend?Stop giving inane justifications like “beauty should be admired”….”I love observing people”(how come you didn’t notice that good looking guy who came in?”)wink,wink
be creative and come up with better reasons next time.

5.Stop reading(pretending to read) the paper and don't answer in monosyllables, when you are asked " how do I look in the new dress OR howz my new haircut?
you get 'one quarter of an inch ' haircut,and still get complimented,by us,don't you?
and at least look at us when you are lying !!!

satish
guruprasad
arti
prax
darshini are hereby infected with the tag

PLAYING GOD

2008-02-23T18:49:00.020+12:00

I am busy playing GOD these days ,

I have made the sky bluer ,

the trees and leaves cleaner,as if just polished and scrubbed

maidens fairer and prettier than they are,

clothes fancier ,their colours richer more beautiful than when bought

but i couldn't get the smiles on faces,the sparkle in their eyes,

or bring people together,and make them happy

so ,asked the big G,if He could allow me to do, JUST that !!!

"I have original copyrights on that one",said big G smiling.

I played god today and re-viewed history

today, i finally learnt how to use 'adobe photoshop' on my computer

and now am busy altering the way we look at the world.

BEFORE

AFTER

TO MOMMY WITH LOVE !!!!!

2008-02-19T18:05:00.008+12:00

A long long time ago, as a little girl I promised myself,that I would be a much better mom to my kids.I would refrain from saying and doing anything that would break their 'oh so fragile hearts'!!
Time and genetics have proved me wrong.

This song is a tribute to the wonderful phenomenon called MOTHER.
whether you are one...going to be one...or are still suffering under one.
READ ALONG TO ENJOY IT AND TRY SINGING ALONG!!!!

Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepy head
Here’s your clothes
And your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now
Get up and make your bed
Are you hot?
Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where’s your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and your gloves and your scarf and hat
Don’t forget you got to feed the cat
Eat your breakfast
The experts tell us it’s the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at three today?
Don’t forget your piano lesson is this afternoon

So you must play
Don’t shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside
Don’t play rough
Would you just play fair?
Be polite
Make a friend
Don’t forget to share
Work it out
Wait your turn
Never take a dare
Get along
Don’t make me come down there
Clean your room
Fold your clothes
Put your stuff away
Make your bed
Do it now
Do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn?
Would you like some hay
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone
Get Off the phone
Don’t sit so close
Turn it down
No texting at the table
No more computer time tonight
Your iPod’s my iPod if you don’t listen up

Where you going and with whom and what time do you think you’re coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me
Makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You’ll appreciate my wisdom
Someday when you’re older and you’re grown
Can’t wait ’til you have a couple little children of your own
You’ll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now
I thank you NOT to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew
Would appreciate
Take a bite
Maybe two
Of the stuff you hate
Use your fork
Do not you burp
Or I’ll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an egg A, Get the door
Don’t get smart with me
Get a Grip
Get in here I’ll count to 3
Get a job
Get a life
Get a PhD
Get a dose of reality
I don’t care who started it
You’re grounded until your 36
Get your story straight
And tell the truth for once for heaven’s sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff
Would you jump too?

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said at least a thousand times before that
You’re too old to act this way
It must be your father’s DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straight when you walk
A place for everything
And everything must be in place
Stop crying or I’ll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth
Wash your face
Get your PJs on
Get in bed
Get a hug
Say a prayer with Mom
Don’t forget
I love you
**KISS**
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom’s work never ends
You don’t need the reason why
Because
Because
Because
Because
I said so
I said so
I said so
I said so
I’m the Mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
Ta-da

GO....TAR...GO !!!!

2008-02-14T18:34:00.017+12:00

A kabootar:Knock Knock???
B kabootar:who's that??

A: a kabootar..
B: what kind of kabootar???

A: err an indian kabootar!!!.....just like you!!!!
B: thats not good enough,are you a north indian/south indian/maharastrian/north eastern/guju???

A: hey how does it matter??
B: It does.How dare you question authority..... !!!!
shoo!!! this window is only for OUR community kabootars.

A: But then when I was studying at K school,they told me I could fly anywhere in this country and live at my own will.You know,the class where they told us… “Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India and….Freedom to reside and settle in any part of the territory”.

B: Well,its' my RAJ.We make our own rules here,and according to this new rule all north indian kabootars,that includes you, can’t perch yourself here.Now shoo!!!!!
As it is,our own kabootars don’t have enough space here,and then you come here corrupt our world,litter our space,with with ….your weird language…

A: I thought that was our national language???

B: Ah ,only cultureless and stateless pigeons say that!!!!
All cultured pigeons speak...should speak only ,their own NATIVE language.

A: But I have always flown and worked with YOUR pigeons,shared their festivals,their food,sorrows and joys,how come THEY never complained.

B: Aah!!!!spoken just like a DUMB *****kabootar !!!!
Don’t you realize it’s not about them,it’s about US…main…mera ..mera ahem…mera ego!!
CHAL AAB BHAAG SHOOO!!!!!

FATAL LAWS OF ATTRACTION

2008-02-09T18:35:00.000+12:00

If you thought newspapers ,only provided you, with all the high about news and views(guaranteed to make you feel the converse ),escalating frauds and scams ,broken political promises, the politics of sports, more good(err bad) news about the Bangalore’s new airport and of course the who’s who on tattoos and breakups. Wait for the weekend edition.
Monday to Friday the papers do just that, but the weekend edition trains you, for that extra edge. Do you wait to gorge the weekend edition of the newspaper, to catch up on the latest buzz on mundane things like restaurants,movies,theatre and bargain shopping? Then you are probably passé and archaic (like me).Check this out.From 'how to talk and how much to talk', to the latest research in locating soul mates. There’s a whole page devoted to PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT. It’s the age wholesome information, who needs a love guru, when you have ‘THE TIP’, served crisp and fresh for breakfast, on a Saturday morning.

And I quote……
(How to make a man fall in love with you)…TIMES are changing bhai!!!

1. Get a life. Your life should not revolve around a man. Have your own interests and hobbies, it’ll help in making you attractive.(the more the hobbies……. the more attractive a woman is!!!!!Equation simple)

2. Make him ask you out on dates, but don't ask him. It’s not about being old fashioned, it’s about playing hard to get.(of course courting and love is a game……who’s the hunter and who’s the hunted??)
3. Don’t be desperate. You must not agree to go out on a date the last minute. If he asks you out the same day, say no. Tell him you already have plans. He should know that you are a busy woman, with a life of your own.(even if you have been waiting to spend the weekend with him)

4. Do not answer every email or text message he sends you. This will give you some mystery and make him want to chase you even more. When you do plan to answer, make him wait a little bit, and don't answer the phone every time he calls. You can't let him think you are available for him all the time.

At the cost of sounding old, I would say, times have changed. This is indeed the age of meticulous calculations and planning.Whether, it’s love or relationships,the motto is….. “play hard to get and calculate what you’ll get at the end of it”. Elusive is exclusive??Whatever happened to good old spontaneity, an unexpected kiss or the peck on the cheek, cupid’s reliable assistant, which said so much more than words could ever. That last minute change of mind and heart, to go for a drive instead of a movie, because it was raining. And if you are still old fashioned and listen to your heart,still say yes to that unexpected suggestion for a drive,answer the phone promptly,answer mails readily.Then you are likely to confuse your man,about your intentions.

Spontaneity and romance just died an unnatural death, somewhere. Instinct and love just got replaced by the newspaper. I feel oddly old today!!!!

MANGALORE...HOW MAY I HELP YOU??

2008-02-06T18:27:00.000+12:00

Five things no travel book will tell you about mangalore.

1.THE VIEW DOWN UNDER

If you don't have a window seat on your flight,you actually miss the "love at first sight" feeling,may be I haven't travelled or flown and seen much,but the sight of flying right over and along the west coast,is overpowering enough to make you forget the food and drink,even on an empty stomach. I must have gone down as the weirdest passenger in the history of Kingfisher Airlines,for flying the last half and hour of the flight with my head nearly plastered to the window.And in case,that doesn't interest you,Mr.Mallaya has provided with a lot of inflight on screen and off screen entertaiment.

2.SANAS

Sanas, are not some exotic coastal dancers but IDLIS.They can easily replace a sponge,whenever required,and are known for absorbing high quantities of chiken stew.Local gossip says they are fermented in toddy, no wonder they are so addictive and afternoon siestas become a must after them. (photographs not avaliable due to high levels of hunger)

3.TERE MERA 'BEACH' MEIN

If you ever dreamt of owning a private strip of beach,but always cursed lady luck,for being born in the wrong family,head to managalore.One of the rare privileges of being on an Indian beach,not a spot of commercial activity,no hounding hawkers and ogling gawkers,just endless surf and sand all to yourself.However Indians as we are,the feeling of being all alone on a beach,too is scary at times!!!

4.DO YOU LIKE IT HOT!!!!
No matter how much you deny it,there's no escaping it,whether you like it hot or cold,ICE CREAM doesnt come cheaper than this.

@ Rs.60 SOME LIKE IT HOT(ice cream in case your mind digressed)
sizzling brownie with a hughest dollop of vanilla ice cream(commercially served),a round of dark chocolate sauce and a generous helping of nuts.GASTRONOMIC EROTICA!!!!

5.And in case, you still didn't feel like a king err queen,picture this......you know you are in mangalore,when you reach adlabs in precisely 10 min(it takes lesser but the roads had been dug up that week!!!sorry for the inconvenience!!!)

Adlabs,on a saturday @Rs.120 and you have the entire theatre to yourself,except the 20 odd people who trickle in,who were a welcome sight,as the show stood threatened with the attendance less than 20.

Mangalore has become a habit and this is one habit,i'm not willing to give up.

A ROAD..... BUT I AM AFRAID TO TRAVEL !!!

2008-01-29T01:08:00.000+12:00

The fact that Mr. Frost finds a mention in this post is not because , the blog belongs to an English teacher. In fact, those who have been enduring me patiently, through most of the previous posts,will agree that my blogabulary bears no resemblance to that of an….any English teacher(coz people often ask me which subject I teach). An interesting discussion took place in class last year, when we took this poem up. Astonishingly a segment of students came up with a convincing argument about the fact, that Frost had actually regretted taking the road less travelled.(for more…read the complete poem)
Had Mr. Frost been around in Bangalore, in modern times, I’m sure he would have felt an urge to reword his poetry to

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
Took the one less travelled by
AND I NOW REGRET IT,COZ
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN
THAT IT’S WISE TO TRAVEL
ONLY ON ROADS, OFTEN USED.

But reality is stranger, more perplexing and permanent than poetry. Sometimes the road we are about to choose, seems clear yet, one can’t see clearly at the end of the road and suddenly like a poor traveler one is worried, more about the destination ahead than the journey. And ,you hope that you had the luxury of not making a choice and following the beaten path.

Simply put, right now the new road…read job, I have willingly chosen, means a change of place (again), relocation for my family. If south Bangalore was suburb, then I will be living in the super suburbs, a hectic schedule, being on call 24x6 and teaching only boys in a residential school, working for a big big brand, being in the company of fellow faculty members, who have jaw dropping C.V’s and call some of India’s leading colleges their Alma matter, when you are welcomed with warmth that is startling, but genuine and to top it all, the lure of 3.5 months of unadulterated holidays .

I wish I had a fast forward button,to flash past life and see where the less travelled road ,that I have chosen, has led me.but then I forget,this is life and the only fast forward button I can control is that of the DVD player.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,

This post is getting too poetic…too poetic for a blog or maybe it’s time to go back to school.

Bloggorhoea !!!!!

2008-01-23T07:23:00.002+12:00

Ten things that tell you........you have been hit by the blog bug.love it or hate it,once bitten and there's never goodbye.Denial of the following ten observations is the first symptom of the ailment.
( Sometimes you don’t need a degree in medicine to analyze and diagnose ailments. )

1. Check blog replaces check mail as one of the first things you do, once you boot the computer. One of the earliest symptoms, probably a silent killer, it creeps in silently and you don’t realize it till you find yourself praying to god for…… “I hope I get some comments today”.

1 a)and when prayers go unanswered,some chronic cases, are known to they put in comments and sign them as 'annonymous' on their own blogs.serious medical help is required !!!!

2. You start chat with……READ MY BLOG? instead of HOW ARE YOU?

3. An irrepressible urge,to inform people about your current status as a blogger,will grip you. No matter how severely you may have to digress,all discussions lead to the same.

4. You get your daily share of news and current affairs from people’s blogs. You read blogs more than newspapers.

5. You seriously think you’ll make millions out of writing your blog. (Stop getting conned by those of 'write and earn ads')

6. You sympathise with blogs and brave hearts, who in spite of not receiving a single comment, remain undeterred in their mission to write…week after week .I salute them, for they have proved that you blog to be read, and not commented…BLOG LIKHO LEKIN COMMENT KE CHINTA NA KARO !!!!

7. You are convinced that if humans practice YOGA, dogs practice DOGA,then blogs should adopt BOGA…... it’s always a good idea ,in between posts, to let your blog meditate and breathe ….I mean give others time to read!!!!!Unless you are one of those blog veterans, who have a devoted fan following, and receive comments within minutes of posting…….

8. You suffer from PMS…..irrespective of gender.
‘ POST’ MANUFACTURING STRAIN….You are moody and depressed, without a reason. Silent and broody,classic symptoms of Bloggers block. One of those ill fated moments in every bloggers life, that remains unsolved, like the many mysteries of the universe, as to why one isn’t able to write.

9. Your list of real life friends is dwindling and getting replaced by blog buddies.

10. You connect instantly with people who have their own blogs. Like a global family, you respect and admire people who go that extra word to pen their emotions.'The blogosphere is our world and all of us fellow brothers...err bloggers.'

10 b)and about how we get introduced to people as 'meet X. she is the author of abc blog.' (our identity is largely derived from our blog!...or restricted to our blog.

PARKING AT OWNER'S RISK !!!!!

2008-01-16T22:22:00.000+12:00

It’s six thirty in the morning and you have the entire day planned out for you,you promise to write something meaningful on your blog,promise to keep your cool,when madness descends at eight in the morning (and since effective planning is not really your forte), it fills you up with tremendous pride…read proud. You have an interview, (the third and the final one).You rehearse the last minute, as to how shocked you will be at the un(expected )pay packet offered and how you would coolly and professionally refuse the meager offer, and bargain a hike and in the end finally emerge a winner.But,then life would be such a plain piece of vanilla cake, had it not been for the unexpected slosh of events that are the chocolate icing on the cake. You impress the panel, with your answers, but can’t press them enough to give you what you asked for. It’s a fact well known and discussed but never acted upon,that teachers are the most underpaid of all professionals.They expect you to bring in a revolution, but want to pay peanuts because it’s a noble profession. You buy a little more time and carry your fragile ego carefully down the steps of the building.

DESTINATION 2… local friendly bank, that refuses to acknowledge that your cheque is missing and wants you to believe “what is yours will come back to you…if it doesn’t it never was”, a fraction of that interview confidence is discreetly used here too. As you head back, you speculate ,whether the consumer court would take up your case, and you catch the familiar sight of your two wheeler being scooternapped by the police tow away truck. You watch helplessly, for a second completely numb with shock. Several agony uncles, who had been a witness at the crime scene advise you to negotiate with the driver and get the vehicle off in 100 rs. An angel in the disguise of an auto comes by and actually agrees to take you to the police station(for auto drivers consider below their privilege to go distances less than 5 kms)

Like devotees outside a holy shrine (with green offerings), you patiently wait for your turn to pay up (that’s what it’s all about) in front of the inspector. “Ninna hesaru,madam”,(whats your name)the madam doesn’t really cover the arrogance in his voice.You make the mistake of asking him why your vehicle was the chosen one amongst all the others,and he answers by mouthing some incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, with a few madams thrown in for courtesy. Later, you are informed that all vehicles in the second and third line are targetted to be carried away.You wonder why in spite of all the rights that one follows ,why one is caught at the first wrong turn. A trip to a police station is always a humbling experience, both for one’s ego and our pocket.Three hundred rupees,to get your dear one back ,is a small price to pay.
I shall retain the slip, to remind myself, that parking is as dangerous as driving.So, look before you park, and that parking has it’s own set of rules and regulations,to be followed. I wonder if I hadn’t been to the bank,I wouldn’t have ended up being caught,but then realized that some roads are destined to be journeyed, some fines destined to be paid, and some posts destined to be written, by the sheer force of spontaneity.

DILWALON KI DILLI ????

2008-01-07T18:18:00.000+12:00

I'm back home after spending 10 (short )days in Delhi,though Bangalore is much warmer at 23 degrees,the house seems cold. I (strangely) feel drowsy,lethargic, moody,and to top it all suffer from a severe bout of writer's block. I guess it is a hangover of all the excessive enjoyment, food ,tea and travel, that I indulged in. When you have 10 days to do a BANGALORE-DELHI-CHANDIGARH-SHIMLA-DELHI-BANGALORE route,a big(NRI) family wedding to attend,friends and relatives to catch up with in every corner of Delhi,then sleep is a luxury and a waste of time.

The positive thing about going on a short break is that you are not authorized to crib and complain,coz it is considered a severe waste, not even when you spend 5 hrs,hovering above Delhi airport(when it should normally take 3) in queue, like migrants in a ration line, waiting for permission to land ,a window seat then is a boon as Delhi looked breathtaking at night with a million lights sparkling like diamonds and add to that the sight of several other waiting(migrant)planes , flying like fireflies in the sky. One sight I shall never ever forget.

There's something very soothing about the bitter cold in Delhi,and that there are a few things you can’t resist doing…..peeling mattar and eating moongphali while basking in the sun,fighting over who polished off a whole box of Gajak,tucking tandoori aloo parathas at a road side dhaba, the wonderful feeling of slipping into a warmed bed,the weight and warmth of a heavy razai,and being tucked into bed,by your dad,when you are all of 33 yrs old ,mother’s logic that says...."kha lo gajar ka halwa,kuch nahin hoga",visiting old haunts like Nirulas and drolling over the dark and handsome 'Jamaican almond fudge',all over again.Feeling jealous as you see your husband reunite with his NDA course mates and friendships that have lasted 26 yrs...and hoping that one day, I too will boast ……meeting relatives who have seen you when you were knee high and now they see you with a son who is shoulder high…..dancing and singing all four nights before the wedding as if ones’ back and voice were insured for a million dollars.

There’s a small part of me (O.K…I lied.. a huge part of me that’s still in love with Delhi,and every year when I go back,I hope that the city would have changed for the worse, so that I could be happy and content,where I am. Beneath the spit and polish,it isn’t easy to live here. Gallis are common vocabulary and people lovingly call each other mother and sister abusers(and with such panache).so much so that the actual meaning of the sentence is completely lost,trying to keep track of the number of times the person has abused(god knows whom).Hypocrisy and corruption still run free on the huge network of flyovers and roads that adorn delhi,and that the common MAN'S motto clearly seems to be ‘aao lech karen’.But,It’s difficult not to fall for Delhi………for it’s humongous well marked roads ,for the steely metro that flashes and whizzes past you,for all the handrichshaws that will still carry you,when you feel lazy to walk that kilometer,for all the heavenly food right from the road side eatery,to the fine dining creme de la creme places,where when you speak Hindi,it’s good enough to prove that you are an Indian and that people clearly ignore,which side of the country you belong to.

Right now am just looking for remedies to get over a hangover of a different kind!!!!!!!

CHEERS

2007-12-20T00:01:00.000+12:00

A picture from my photoblog,and the most common thing served in Bangalore restaurants!!!

If you are amongst the lucky few for whom a glass full of spirits can elevate spirits and induce happiness,then why not,go ahead and capture the elusive happiness,in your glass.Except,when the glasses are empty,you should know where to go,and where your car was parked.Yes….but it is what you are the ‘morning after’ ,which is the test of a real man……(err woman)It's not whether you are able to stand your drinks , but ,whether you can still stand after you had your drinks…..whether you are 'man' enough to decide that you are not fit to drive back home…And can still remember the name of that pretty girl/cute guy, you met in the party last night, depends entirely on ‘how spirited you are’ in the true sense….”

Don't drink like there's no tomorrow,because there always is a tomorrow, and a hangover,especially when you have to go to work the next day(and if you don't remember anything,there's always your wife to narrate the gory details......)

and if you are gifted like me,who can get drunk and feel on top of the world with just a glass of water,stay that way because who needs a glass full of spirits….when we're already high on life......

cheers..burp...hic

happy 2008

P AND ME

2007-12-11T22:46:00.000+12:00

Unarguably,this picture is one of my favourites,(Although I have managed to look a little more presentable in a lot of others).At six in the morning,with a rumbling tummy,threatening to rumble loud enough for everyone to hear,being held back and not allowed to go into the sea,(even though i convinced my friends that i could swim) ,the mangalore humidity giving your sweat glands a spin,a ton of sand in my hair and a huge tear running down my 3/4's,I certainly look anything but presentable!!!!!!!

the reason being ,it manges to capture me when I'm just me,no other designations like a mother or a wife,and that happens when you are with the friends(a friend) you love.It isn't easy to find many instances where you can be yourself(much as we argue) and there aren't too many pictures which can capture you,when you smile,into the camera, because you are happy.

But,what it also captures is the chemistry between MATHS AND ENGLISH.

well,words and numbers always didn't share this chemistry and history and Vidya Valley school has been a witness to sparks that flew,when words clashed with numbers.

Five years back,here i was thrown into the middle of the (sharks)school session,into a class full of kids who were sour at their previous teacher having left them mid way,and to top it all, the friendly colleague,Padma(the lady in question),was anything but friendly,trying desperately to COVER the syllabus,and fighting tooth and nail with the P.ED teacher,who had done the heinous crime of taking her class for games,when the exams were literally hanging over the entire school.Although,she spoke Marathi ,hindi and english with equal ease,she chose to torture me by (mis)communicating in marathi and in spite of reminding her several times,that MARATHI YEIT NAHIN(I can't speak marathi),she couninued to do so,till the time she turned around to tell me blatantly,' go and learn the language'.

I was mighty impressed with her dedication and her stamina to fight though,fight for the fact that Marie biscuits are lunch,Richard Gere is the most handsome man alive,how to stay silent and still fight and be stubborn,teachers are not boring,especially maths and biology teachers,and fight and lose and still be a winner in life,when life gangs up against you.

the rest they say is history,and although people say it isn't a coincidence that i chose to come to Bangalore,when padma was in mangalore,i choose to call it destiny.There aren't too many times,and too many people,being with whom, you don't have to be told 'Say cheese',to capture your smile and happiness.

REACHING ACROSS

2007-12-08T07:27:00.000+12:00

If anyone in Bangalore gives you directions in terms of distance i.e kms, then either they are new or possess a sadist streak in them (as they don’t want you to reach your destination).

In Bangalore, distances in kms have lost their value and time taken has become a more valid tool for measurement. In fact travel directions acquire theatrical dimensions (timings).Between 8-10, you would reach in 2 hrs (anything below 2 hrs is not considered TRAVEL in Bangalore) 12-2(1 hr...and this is fast diminishing, because the myth of traffic easing out in the afternoons is now a thing of the past, coz the only ones who nap in the afternoons are the friendly cowboy policeman and the traffic lights themselves)and between 6-8 ,you should believe in an old Chinese saying…"It's not the finishing point, but the act of travelling which is important" (there’s no one who can predict when you will reach during this time).

The diminishing gardens are sad reminders of the city which was once known as a garden city, and is now as infamous for its traffic snarls as it is for its’ humongous IT giants. Travelling still petrifies me, thanks to the maze of one ways that pop up weekly at one place and miraculously disappear the other. At such times the humble auto comes to your rescue and it’s a relief to be driven, than drive. It’s easy to remain fit if you are a regular traveler, as the emission from the vehicles serves as an appetite suppressant, chocking you at every red light and leaving you with a queasy feeling at the end of it.

And under such conditions, you learn to forgive (but not forget) your friends, who you know are reeling under the pressure and the grind, and when you meet…. ice cream before dinner and movies just become an excuse, rather a means to reach across. In Bangalore, if you can find the time to catch your friends and catch up with them, its nothing short of a miracle.

13 isn't that odd

2007-12-04T18:54:00.000+12:00

On a cold foggy winter morning ,13 years back,I played the biggest gamble of my life.At 20 1/2,I had no stakes to choose..... nothing to lose,no high profile job and gorgeous salary to lure me,no burning ambition of hitting the best educational institutions,no pushy parents to taunt and torture me(sometimes though they did) about studying hard and harder.Actually,I wasn't thinking straight,but was wondering,why this handsome man who sat beside me, had asked me to marry him,when we were as different and apart in personalities as probably,one and zero. Skeptics on both sides of the family gave it 'not more than six months' and they probably gave up speculating after that .....

So ,you think (like everyone else),that it's love that makes you want to write your whole life off ,change your name,leave your family,friends,city,roots and get set to live a life which demands a change of place every few months(i have moved a total of 12 places,in 13 years)
Well,if you are still single and happy,then you would attribute it to the phenomenon called LOVE,but those who have been through the ire and fire,will agree,that love is too light a word ,when one thinks of what keeps people going and keeps them happy in a marriage.A lot of fuss is made about anniversaries, especially,thanks to the numerous ads that crop up,fortunately anniversaries are(NOT) about being perched atop a luxury liner,with a candle lit dinner and a huge diamond......(they should censor such ads,for they cause severe domestic violence and irreparable damage to a woman's heart and mind) ,instead they are about celebrating love and togetherness,something which perhaps we tend to replace by gifting a diamond.Love changes and evolves as we grow old and I realized its a beautiful evolution.

love is, celebrating birthdays,with a candle perched on a pastry,because the salary never arrived that month,and one was too proud to ask for help!!!!

love is, when you tell him,it's O.K..we have no job...and will have no job and salary for the next eight months and though the bills will keep coming, we still have each other.

love is forgetting your wife's birthday,and being forgiven for that.

love is to think with your heart and tell your head,for love is irrational and illogical and cruel and angry,especially when you are having an argument.

whoever said love is, never having to say sorry,probably was a divorce lawyer.......because it's about saying sorry,to the people who matter, its better to be sorry than feel sorry later!!!

The (bitter) truth is something I said 15 yrs ago,to my husband( sitting on the steps of Nirulas,in Chanakya Puri),love is being in a room with someone and feeling that love is in the air,marriage is being in the same room,and watching love fly out from the window(he was probably impressed at the wisdom I possessed at 18!!!)and asked me to marry him..... but sadly that was the last time I displayed any sign of wisdom!!!!),love doesn't fly out,I realized, it just acquires a new meaning,with time.Love is blind and foolish,but even after 13 years ,it still makes my world go round.

serve,shot.....I'm smashed!!!!

2007-11-28T19:48:00.000+12:00

When you go to play,leave your bag of excuses at home.......

"I've never played,in school or college...."

"I've never been a sporty kind of person,I prefer the gym...."

"I have just started learning....."

with every excuse my opponents smashed me harder than ever...

It was probably all those afternoons of playing(being pampered) with a friend,which gave me the over confidence to lend myself to a group of ladies who play badminton,every morning......how good can they be??or I'm not that bad!!!!!I thought vainly to myself !!

If I ever believed that over confidence kills......I could see myself being slaughtered.Blood was all over the court especially, burning hot like shame and embarrassment on my face....I rummaged through my bag of excuses,but was tongue tied......luckily my opponents were much softer than their serves and their shots....."you'll pick up"...don't worry,they consoled me.I felt like a patient with an incurable disease ,don't worry you'll live....

If that wasn't enough,my family took pity and started extending training sessions over the weekends....If i dreaded the weekday mornings,in anticipation of shame and humiliation,the weekend was time for my confidence to shatter(once again)....for my belief that"husbands are the worst instructors " was proved just right(again)

as he smashed my ego and confidence across the court,the others playing adjacent left in a hurry sensing a rise in the mercury(literally)....I had a feeling he was taking revenge for all the minor and major domestic squabbles,we must have ever had(man's only chance to get even!!!)

I realised that apart from the (excuses) mentioned above,a major part of the problem lay in the fact that the rules of the game went against my very fabric and thought process ....

1.play the game at two levels...one in your mind and the other on the court(are you kidding I can't even cook and chop at the same time....

2.pounce on your opponents weak points,thrash her when and where she least expects it(and i can begin when I'm through getting thrashed.....can barely take my eyes off the shuttle)

3.Be unpredictable,don't let your opponent know about your next move or serve(well,it's hard for me to change..i love being predictable and easy!!!!)

3.Play to win....and only win(any team I'm in....loses.....and it is not a coincidence !!!)

end result

my knees cry for mercy,

my ego is fractured,

I dream(at night) of being at the badminton court and winning two out of three games,

I have started watching sports channels(in the hope of catching tips on the sport)

I'm smashed.....but not certainly not defeated!!!!!

SHALLOW WITHIN

2007-11-22T21:09:00.000+12:00

I saw 'Shallow hal' yesterday.
I saw 'Shallow Hal' yesterday AGAIN !!!!

Well,I guess it can be counted as a criminal offence in the court of the time gods,as watching a rerun when you have two almirahs to fix,two unfinished books(to read),uncooked vegetables begging to be cooked(slaughtered),loads of blogs to be read and a houseful of chores ....is criminal enough.But I guess,one can pamper oneself sometimes.the best thing about watching a rerun is,you begin to analyse movies to an extent which would shock the poor director.You begin to see it a new light,as if one is going to be paid handsomely to judge and comment on it.But,then its a free world,and blogging gives me an opportunity to express it.

The movie in question -Shallow hal is a story about altered perceptions, a hilarious romantic comedy ,about how a shallow Jack(hal) black,who is always on the lookout for the Perfect 10 kind of hottie woman and,is dehypnotized by a self help guru,to see the inner beauty of women, rather than their superficial outer appearances…and thus it helps him find his match in a 250 pound Paltrow.(u have to see the movie to enjoy it completely)

It left me thinking about how all of us are a little shallow Hal within and have programmed our minds to approve or reject people purely on their physical appearances….a facet that is strangely god given(and a little credit can go to the beauty and grooming industry too…I guess)

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” we have been taught to follow…but I often wonder how many of us have been gifted with those’ EYES”….which can perceive and accept the true beauty of a person …the one that lies deep within us and requires no paint and polish…

but, the truth is that appearances do matter… …..as more and more people……crave to fit in…..fit into tighter jeans…..a smaller size… painstakingly calculate and fit and pray for our bmi’s to fit into the normal category…. And try for the nth time to get into that college jean that has been retained for the day “I fit…….”
No wonder the beauty industry makes whopping profits, helping people realize their BIG dream of being SMALL……
Somewhere in this race of smaller is better, we forget to see our real inner self in the mirror.
We forget to fit into a more humane world……forget to lend a helping hand when we aren’t asked…..smiling when others aren’t…..saying sorry wen we should….giving an elderly person our place in the line at the supermarket….holding the door for someone……saying good morning before others can ……..

It also left me thinking if like the character of Hal in the movie…..who sees the waifish Paltrow…instead of her weighty real self…if the world could be transformed just for one day into a place…where everyone who was a beautiful person ‘within’ could be transformed into a stunning beauty……..thus exposing the façade of .......
“the beauty fool” .

On one such day,Where do you think, would you find the most beautiful people in the world…

any guesses!!!!!

celebrating children

2007-11-15T19:10:00.001+12:00

It's really easy to make children happy....believe me....it is !!!!

just do something that will surprise them,something, that they just don't expect you to do.As a teacher,i have often surprised my students,on several children's day functions,by putting up awkward and amateurish shows as a choreographer,dancer,singer,fashion model and actor.At all times, the sight of their teacher in another role,just freaked them out.I interrogated a lot of kids in my apartment complex,on the 14th, about how their children's' day went by,sadly none of them,sounded content !!!I missed being at school,and seeing their bright faces.

In two days time Santosh had my scooter purring like a content cat.At fourteen, he knew more about two wheelers,than a forty year old experienced mechanic.Santosh,worked at 80 rs a day and he wasn't complaining.He had never been to school,his only learning being in the garage ,working almost 8-10 hrs a day and was proud of the fact that he supported his family.

When i asked him,if he knew ,that today 14th was children's day,he said, that was for kids in school and that he wasn't a child anymore.At that time,it was hard to believe that he was just fourteen.I guess he was right,because he wasn't doing anything that a child of his age should have been doing.As i was about to take his picture,he stopped me with his question,'why are you taking my photo,aunty?'I, who am always ready with my bag full of answers,had to think for a while,and told him,that i was writing a story, and that he was the hero of my story.
i think i told him the truth....not a story,the kind that we usually tell,to avoid and ignore questions that children put up to us.

Mayank,age twelve years celebrated his birthday,the same evening,and the celebrations were certainly the talk of Brigade millennium.With a party happening at two levels,with two different themes and two different D.j's,two different sets of menu's, and loads of games.It was every kids dream come true.I don't really blame his parents,like all modern over enthusiastic parents, they were simply using the depth of their pockets,to display their love to their kid (and the rest of the world).

what is it that separates these two children,almost the same age,and puts them in stark opposite lives.Money one would say......i think,it's a bigger word called, DESTINY....

I wonder if Santosh knows about, how children like Mayank celebrate their birthday....I hope he never finds out......

i wonder if Mayank knows,how Santosh spends his day......I hope his parents show him someday.

IT WAS RAINING 'BOWS'

2007-11-08T02:43:00.000+12:00

One is lucky,when....

After a heavy storm....

there appears a rainbow...for nature proves time and again that, none of her services come as a guaranteed package deal.....

and that 'ek ke saath ke free',exists in nature too...

in true diwali (commercial)spirit and style ......

(a rare occurrence of two rainbows....the second one to the left of the brighter one)

There are very few things left in this world that money can't buy,

for everything else,there's MASTER CARD

BUT sometimes you DO need a MASTER CARD ,to buy a camera to click such a brilliant moment !!!!!

the memory of those two rainbows,both at the same time...

PRICELESS....

thank you MASTER CARD !!!!

2007-10-31T18:32:00.000+12:00

It was peering at me,when i opened my eyes this morning.

"How do you feel ?"it asked me.
"well,just the same.What did you expect?"said I ,irritated at this early morning confrontation.
It laughed,a haughty half laugh,as if victorious and said"Well,all those who care, will remind you of me today,gently ,in their own way!!!!"

"And by the way,don't take too long to get used to me,I know you hate change."
"Shoo !" I tried to push it away.
"I'll be back next year,with more additions," it had a smirk on his face as it walked away.

"and oh ,BTW,HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!" it said turning around one last time.

thirty three came to scare me this morning,but i told it,what i tell everyone
(and i believe Mark Twain wrote this for me and me alone!!!)

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter

MAIDLESS !!!!!

2007-10-26T18:47:00.000+12:00

Well, life in a metro like Bangalore, is tough, a replacement (house) maid has more attitude, than your just returned US EXPAT neighbor.I am maidless, and all those of you who are raising an eyebrow at the mundanity of the topic, please raise both eyebrows now and bestow a little pity, because, this is one crucial issue, and a formidable force of nature, which hits each one of us, no matter which stage of life we are in. Whether you are married or happy, man or a woman, this is one maid you can’t do without. Like at the end of every ordeal(2 full maidless)days, one has arrived at the following profound conclusions……

· A ‘no maid’ situation ,has therapeutic value, here I was down and out with fever and chills, barely able to blink and lo behold, the tragic news cures me of all aches and pains .MODERN MIRACLES !!!

· The maid does a lousy job of cleaning (realized this while cleaning yesterday), yet is more efficient than me, coz what takes her exactly 25 min took me more than an hour!!!!TIME MANAGEMENT WITHOUT ATTENDING B SCHOOL

· Am losing hair by the kilos. It can’t be anybody elses, coz the only other two people in the house, (fortunately) still sport near crew cuts!!!! HAIR THERE EVERYWHERE

We have too much furniture at home. It’s technically and humanly impossible to maneuver through the furniture, while cleaning the house. GO BARE!!! I mean reduce and reduce!!!

· 1600 sq ft is really too much of luxury to deal with or rather clean!!!! SIMPLE LIVING AND IN SMALLER SPACES WILL INDUCE HIGH THINKING…..i am convincing myself to believe

· The myth, that I was some kind of high endurance cardio queen in the gym, was busted, as one round of JHADU POONCHA took the wind out of me. WAS SWEATING AT 19 DEGREES CENTIGRADE.

·That I have the most adorable husband, as was taken out for dinner and from being MAID was given special treatment by both father and son as MAID OF HONOUR.

AN INDIAN EPIC !!!

2007-10-22T22:06:00.000+12:00

Move over Harry potter and Lord of the rings,and all those who accuse Indians of plagiarism, for here is a movie ,which can be touted as the original ‘baap’ of all Fantasy, long before the genre ,ever came into fashion. If you thrive on Fantastical adventures, here’s one which will gratify all genres and tastes, as the ultimate masala movie, with a potent mix of Fantasy, family drama, costume (drama) and of course rib tickling comedy that will leave you crying(for NO more)

The plot of PATAAL BHAIRAVI is the story of a brave heart, poor lad(Jitendra) dressed in Greeko style,(GOD alone knows why)and the fabric of his dresses, alternates magically between suede…leather and embroidery, in love with our heavily ‘accented’ poor little rich princess(Jaya Prada),who in turn gets kidnapped by an evil ,satin obsessed Sorcerer, Kadar Khan, who strikes everyone with his rather ingenious, indigenous version of abracadabra……AAM PHAT !!!(You read it right aam phat) if Achilles’ had a heel, the key to all his (KK’S) magical abilities, lay in his……….his beard !!!!

One of the highest points(there being innumerable ones)in the movie,is the item number by the damsel in distress Dimple(kapadia),who is desperately trying to lure our chaste hero(a la Menaka style)and our VIshwamitra(Jitendra,who fights her off, with corny lines like….tum mujhe aapne vasna ki aag mein jalana chahte ho)and who has been ‘shraped’by an evil tantrik,and is freed by Jitendra.There are numerous other unforgettable characters like Asrani and the unmistakably large Amjad Khan, playing a la Astrik and Obelisk(with the horns) reincarnated in Patal Lok,who help thicken and unthicken the plot,and make this movie,truly a ‘CLASSIC’.Watch it to believe,the insanity !!!

DIL MANGE 'MORE'

2007-10-16T23:09:00.000+12:00

read 40% of the newspaper, at a stretch(which is quite a feat, considering low levels of concentration)

· took Anshul to the dentist(because bitter past experience has taught me that prevention is better than waiting endlessly outside the dentist's office)

· visit doctor for vaccinations(which have been so delayed that the doc suspects that I’m his foster mother,and the fact that I can’t remember whether he had measles or chicken pox,when he was a baby,acts as fuel to the doctors’ doubts!!)

· buy ‘GOOD’ vegetables, that everyone will eat(which actually leaves me with very few options, so easier said than done)

· Give clothes for stitching (for this is the ideal gap between post eid and pre diwali,and may be I'll be lucky to get them back in a month)

· Wind up pending job at the bank (which meant I had to remove my helmet, sun coat and scarf AGAIN!!!...coz with all these on ,the security guard would not have let me in)

· pick up pamphlet from ranga shankara,about theatre festival,(so that one can plan much ahead and not miss the plays…YET AGAIN)

Seven major errands done and seventy more pending at home. If there’s one complaint I have against god, it is that he gave me just 24 hrs in a day. I decide to reward Anshul with a pack of kurkure, for he is extremely upset at being ‘pricked’, without adequate notice!! We park ourselves on the J.P Nagar II Phase curb and sit down to enjoy, a tight rope walking act,by two little girls, in the middle of the street(much to the annoyance of passers-by).
As the little girl accepted the 10 rs reward from us with a smile, I marvelled at her ability to smile, despite the kind of life she lived. Maybe I was being unfair and selfish by complaining about walking on a tight rope, juggling small time assignments (which can hardly be called as work) family, gym, holidays, friends, watching plays,reading, attending guitar classes, housekeeping(where the maid does 80%of the REAL work).

I guess it's just a habit and in fashion to complain about ones’, severe lack of time and to lament about the undone than the done. We all complain of tight schedules and the growing TIME –LESS syndrome, we grumble about how we are never able to do MORE...
Well here was someone who did that not for more, but just to make ends meet.

The to-do list is endless, 24 hours in a day; never seem enough to finish what is...or rather is intended to be done. I have decided to look back and see and feel happy, more about the DONE this time…!!!
As I reached back home, I gave myself a pat on the back,for having kept the lunch ready, for there is nothing like a good lunch waiting at home, when one is really hungry and felt thankful to be in a situation where I could take a break from work to sit back at home, to do MORE or LESS NOTHING!!!!

As for the list of things still undone, because I sat down to write this post.....
Tomorrow is another day, which promises a full 24 hours......

PICTURE THIS

2007-10-09T22:55:00.001+12:00

LIBERATING OR SUFFOCATING !!!!!

the view from the 11th floor ,clearly my favourite place in the entire house

but sometimes the growing concrete jungle tells me,that very soon ,there will be no more 'JUNGLE' left

'PICTURE THIS'

2007-10-09T22:48:00.000+12:00

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL,

HOW DID I BECOME SO THIN AND TALL,

TALL IS THANKS TO THE GENETIC SELECTION

AS FOR THIN,I SHOULD THANK THE FUNNY MIRRORS SECTION........

(vishveshvaryya science museum,Cubbon park)

'PICTURE' THIS

2007-10-08T22:45:00.000+12:00

THE OLD AND THE NEW CO-EXIST

while the new 'steels' away the attention,

the old lures you with a coat of red lipstick.

(venketappa art gallery and the TVS towers near cubbon park)

2007-10-03T21:36:00.000+12:00

An inquisitive mind is often the victim of punishment.I knew teachers believed,and executed, this adage,but here the tables were turned,and was punished when I questioned a blogger,about the what and how of TAG......AND GOT TAGGED IN RETURN.

Frankly ,would have never responded to the tag.However, it's true that the question,
what are the 5 random things that people don't know about me...quizzed and hounded me for days.....is it that i am so transparent,that there's nothing which people don't know about me???OR is it that i would have to dig out my secrets and desires and fears and put it up!!!!!!
Found them five points to ponder!!!!!

1. Have a miraculous ability to oscillate between being an introvert and an extrovert.....how and why it happens i don't really know......love being with people,never really care about saying things which are politically correct,but somehow, intensely worry myself silly about why I said it and whom I said it to,????maybe I'm an ambivert or just plain old indecisive!!!!!

2. intensely hate plastic bags......they have a rare chemical ability to raise my BP to abnormal limits.It does embarrass family and friends,when i carry my own bag everywhere,and don't leave any opportunity to lecture people on shunning plastics.....shopkeepers,shoppers caught unawares,school kids...i drive my Eco lessons anywhere and everywhere....It amazes and irritates me,when i see people ask for a huge 5 kg plastic bag,to carry home 1 solitary nimbu !!!!!
"polythene dena bhaiya is every Indian shoppers' fav line."

3. am hopelessly patriotic.....romance,lovers dying to meet in heaven,motherly love...nope....nothing gets the senti out of me as much as a dose of desh bakhti.Strangely,can never sing the national anthem,without feeling tears well up in my eyes.India's struggle for freedom remains my fav.lesson,and often get emotional teaching it.

4. Don't want to sound psychic,but have a rare ,and sometimes irritating ability of receiving vibes from people.....good or bad.....which warns me or pulls me towards them......99% of the time....... I'm correct.Also have an insanely high level of expectation from the people whom I call F.R.I.E.N.D.S.....lethally high.....(don't know how the two things are connected....but am getting a vibe that they are)

5. Cannot do without my daily dose of exercise......whether that daily dose of exercise leads to any calorie depletion(and mostly it does not)...is a fact ,i don't bother...but the satisfaction and exhilaration,whether in a park or the gym ....is a mood elevator for me..... working up a sweat is worth ,every trickle of sweat.

CRICKET AND ITS 'MEN YAH' !!!!

2007-09-27T20:34:00.000+12:00

It’s time to change the way we see, or feel ‘BLUE’.

Blue is indeed the colour of the season and cricket is back, with its biggest bang, as the national flavour,this time with no distaste in the mouth.NO !!!I’m not a cricket fan/buff, in fact I don’t watch cricket at all, and confess that didn’t witness any of the T20 matches,except the final ,because when you get an opportunity to witness WAR, that too without bloodshed and misery, one really can’t help be a part of it.
And what a war it was!!!!

The team is back, and has received a historic heroic welcome.Certainly,something which will go down as ‘once in a lifetime’,for onlookers in Mumbai,telly viewers,and of course Dhoni and his boys, as well. The media, as expected, is going bonkers, covering and reanalyzing all aspects and angles of the team, and nobody is complaining!!!!!!Well, The print media too, hasn’t left any page unturned, with out reminding the reader, several times in each second, that we are now world champions.

I wonder now, what would have happened, if team India hadn’t won the match that memorable Monday evening. What if sreesanth hadn’t been there to catch that ball, which had been so awkwardly handled by Misbah-ul-haq? Would it change the fact that, India played marvelously well throughout the tournament? Would we still adore Yuvraj, Irfan, R.P Singh and the others? Would we still worship and hail Dhoni and his destroyers???
NO!!we wouldn’t !!!We would have cursed and complained. We would have lashed out at the team, for crumbling under pressure,even charging them with allegations of Match fixing and being a thoroughly indisciplined lot.

The same companies,who are busy revamping their campaigns, and flaunting their blue brand ambassadors, would have taken all such print and media ads, off air!!!
Effigies would be burned, the families harassed, and the team would be hiding to save their faces, probably they would have needed tighter security at the airport, in anticipation of angry and dejected mobs…..see how the word changes from FANS to MOBS!!!!!

It’s a fact well known and displayed that we are a nation of unforgiving people who expect the world, from these men, and somewhere forget that it is a game and that whether we win or lose, the fact that we made it to the finals, and defeated an arrogant and invincible giant like Australia, should have been a reason enough to welcome the team back as heroes……

But, why worry about that……right now the flavour of victory is sweet ,and strong enough to be savoured over a lifetime…….

KYA DARD HAI ISKO..........DARD E DISCO !!!!!

2007-09-21T01:14:00.000+12:00

Mannat
Lands end ,Mumbai

Dear Mr Shakrukh Khan,

Hope this letter finds you in the best of health…… (as wealth…I guess is something you and the next seven in the kin don’t have to worry about !!!!)

I have to confess,that I was pleasantly shocked to see one of your (item )songs on television recently. Shocked, because at first, I thought it was some new kid on the tube,who looked like a cross between you and the very honorable Mr.Salman Khan. However on closer inspection, I have to admit I realized I was wrong,and this time the shirtless wonder was the other Khan. Quite frankly, at first glance the abs actually looked computer generated……. I mean, I may hurt your feelings by saying this, considering the fact that you must have “worked your abs off”…literally for such a ABSoulutely chiseled look ,which I believe you acquired at the insistence of your son!!!!!
Believe me , kids !!!!they can drive you up the wall with their demands. I am quite relieved, that my son sets out more achievable goals for us, like an X box or a game boy.

However,curiosity killed the cat in me as I failed to understand and make any head or tail out of the enlightening lyrics of the above mentioned song……I KNOW YOU ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE JULMI NATURE OF YOUR beloved,
“Woh Hasina Woh Neelum Pari,
Kar Gayee Aise Jadoogari…..
Dil Mein Bechainiyan Hai Bhari…..
Dil mein mere hai dard e disco…
dard e disco…..dard e disco”

but how on earth does the disco become a source of dard…..AHA ,maybe that’s what they call,the absurd in poetry…(had only heard about it in theatre !!!)

As a concerned fan,I also wanted to bring to your notice certain unknown aspects about the song,which are quite puzzling….. , it seems they have shot a lot of footage of the video without your consent????
for e.g they have taken some pics while you must be taking a wash on the sets, (you I’m sure ,must be quite oblivious about it) ,I found it strange as to why you would like to splash around ,while in your jeans …..you must be aware that the monsoons are on and that drying clothes is such an effort….and that all the shirts that they have provided you, have no buttons……isn’t that weird???May be you never noticed!!!!!

I have also heard that the movie is set in the 70’s,maybe that’s why in the song, there is a certain sequence, with the girls in boney M style hair dos ,wearing leopard skin body suits(now you don’t want the PETA activists hounding the movie ,do you??)….and yet another sequence with everybody in mining helmets……I guess there must have been a power cut that day in the studio and the director made a smart move by providing mining helmets for lighting up the sets……I'm sure...!!!!

Oh….or is it that you have gladly consented to be part of this SHOW business….well, if ,yes,
I JUST WANTED TO TELL you that I CAN speak for **** crore janta who inhabits this country, that KAL HO NA HO…….YA PHIR ABS HO NA HO…… we love you and like you for being the original FAUJI and an adorable Commando Abhimanyu Rai(and the fact that I still remember your full name is the biggest compliment you can ever get !!!),

for being synonymous with the name ‘RAJ’,
for being the pensive and sensitive NRI in swades, who‘s torn between duty and desh……
for being Kabir khan,a fighter who turns pain and shame into victory……. and who reminded Indians that HOCKEY, is their national game.
and for raising the hopes of hundreds of teachers like me, who wished every new academic year, for that overgrown college drop out , Major Ram to walk into their class rooms and say main hoon na!!!,
For being yourself,on and off screen….for smoking ,while on air….. and making no bones about it and then apologizing to the entire nation, dancing at weddings and justifying it as being part of the show biz,and for staying away from controversy ……

(for all the hamming and all the kkkkk ing that you do, we forgive you…)

If, it is ever found out, please do let me know,
WHY THE SONG IS CALLED ‘DARD E DISCO’ ???!!!!!!

Regards and best wishes,

Gazal

HOT AND COLD TOO !!!!

2007-09-14T00:44:00.000+12:00

O.K confession time…last weekend’s blogging…(rather it should be called posting)…left me exhausted…..three posts over the weekend….( in this part of the country Friday too is considered a weekend)…..completely run out of words so decided to become teletuby……

Have watched so much of Lakme fashion week ,last week that am inspired to buy some clothes…..‘Enough is enough”,I tell myself. Although, actually, Enough is never Enough in a woman’s wardrobe. Am pretty sure, it will take me 10 yrs of starvation and ten years of consolidated salary to buy even a ch**** from there…….
So I catch these poor girls (a friend’s daughters) ,while they were waiting for their college to open….actually I bribed them with the prospect of a good biryani lunch…
We head towards Commercial Street (THE shopping hub) in Bangalore…..and attack a popular clothing store (am tempted to use the word apparel….hangover of the fashion show I guess)

YOU look HOT aunty!”, exclaimed the 18 yr old ,as I came out of the changing room. I made a silly face just the way I do when a compliment comes my way…. “No way!,” I exclaimed…. “I am not buying this, I DON’T WANT TO LOOK HOT!!!”

“Wait aunty”,she said. It’s nothing to do with what you are wearing, but how you carry it, that makes you look hot….and right now you look hot in this tee shirt…..

History was in the making here…… I bought the shirt instantly, and those who have been subjected to the torture of shopping with me will realize what a miracle it was….. (not that I bought the tee shirt for the hot value attached to it)…but some how she had also made me see the fact that hot had little to do with skin show and exposure and was more of attitude and confidence. I don’t really blame myself for harboring such an outdated attitude…coz growing up in a place like Delhi,which still retains the leching capital crown on it’s head….. hot and sexy were always considered derogatory prefixes ,for ones personality….

The apparel…(ha ha) is put to test again the same evening, as the family prepares to go out for dinner…….a long hmmmmm from the hubby.Now a non verbal hmmmm is actually more confusing than any other compliment.
You look cool, ma! , compliment from the ten year old man in the house. I did not want to ask him what he exactly meant by that word, but knew that he meant every word he said.

It’s difficult to comprehend the modern vocabulary. In the past two days I have managed to draw two contradictory compliments for the same thing.
Hmmmm I wonder if this is that they mean when they say HOT …. COLD TOO !!!!
And YOU thought it was HAUTE COUTURE

Have realized that time is the biggest editor of dictionaries, and it’s time I upgraded myself to its latest version!!!!

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN"

2007-09-10T04:14:00.000+12:00

"Frankly,my dear ,I don't give a damn !",has been voted as the favourite movie line ever.Well,nothing brilliant about quoting a line from Sunday's newspaper,but then the first post warned you against expecting anything remotely connected to brilliance on this space.

Rhett Butler,had a reason for throwing this line at Scarlett,but for mortals like us,we just want to flaunt this attitude of 'I don't give a damn' at everyone around,probably trying to project oneself as independent and immune to anything and anybody........
It's an attitude virus,spreading like an epidemic,but honestly,fact is stranger than fiction and fictional characters
the truth is ,we do care,much more than a mere damn,about and for a select few in our lives,

we crave for attention, no matter ,how much we deny it,we long for appreciation ,at work and at home,when we put in our best,we want to be complimented on how good we look,every time we dress(yet,every time we say we dress for our eyes only)

and no matter how much bloggers' may deny it,they DO write to be read ,and wait to be commented,and those who deny this universal truth,are probably still being untrue to themselves.

"I do care",and I love it when my friends tell me that they wait for me to post and update my blog,even though it may be filled with the crappiest of all content,i love it when my students send me mails telling me how much they enjoyed reading the 'Hyderabad post',but felt silly commenting on their teacher's writing !!.....i love it when my friend immortalised my blog,by posting a it as a recommended link and I love it when my anonymous prank,inspired a whole post on another,I respect and value all advice and comments ,that come from friends and well wishers(and never ever label it as criticism),when they tell me not to try too hard and be myself on the blog.

For i know only fools believe that they are perfect....

Please say 'I don't give a damn',but,
to hypocrites,
and to pretentious people,who lurk around you,
to office politics and neighbourhood gossip,
to baseless media reports of who kissed whom and who slept with whom.......

sorry,thank you and I love you !!!three expressions that will never change in meaning,and yet we chose to say them ,with so much attitude and discretion......

We all give and care much more than A DAMN,let's accept it and show it to the rightful, more often,than they deserve.....

CAUVERY MAIYA KI JAI !!!!!

2007-09-08T09:29:00.000+12:00

This was the second time we had reached late,yet none of us were playing the blame game with each other.....a second time we had missed the coveted rafter......however the organizer took pity on us and swore that he had bent rules to adjust us !!!!

the wait was painful....the kids played cards and fought like wildcats,over Jacks , spades and points and created a din,which actually was welcome,considering the fact that Himesh Reshmiaaahhh crooned in the backdrop,and to top it all........the omlette bread turned out to be the most shameful thing that could be made out of an egg....

when i said the cauvery was slow yet seductive.....it wasn't just an overt usage...for everyone who sat at the banks(incl me),watched her absolutely mesmerised,this was not some fair Ganges ,which intimated you with her fury,but a dark,slow and muddy river,which still managed to give her fair cousin stiff competition......

an agonizing hour later....the huge grey whale arrived.....and we were ordered to 'leashen' (listen) to instructions carefully......a dummy drill of rowing.....all back...all front...T grip not to leave madam !!!!.....a few reassuring words about the cauvery being a peaceful river.....drowning instructions...err not to drown and panic instructions.......red life jackets(we were warned were 500 rs each). blue helmets......fancy oars....a tough looking row master,who chose to align us on the rafter , by tapping us on ours bums with his oars !!!

we looked more like aliens then adventurists !!!!

the instructions fresh in our head ,I was a trifle disappointed with the calm waters at first(felt only a pump in adrenaline was paise vasool)......but soon realised,the peace and the calm ,was worth every penny.......just as we were getting comfortable with our skills....and listening with' raft' attention to the riveristic jargon.....came two words from the R M

'Get off'...Now this wasn’t exactly the middle of M.G/brigade road/connaught place..,(actually between Cauvery and MG road….i would choose alighting at the former….for reasons best known to bangalorians)and since we had just been informed about the 40 feet depth fact,all of us retorted back at the poor guy with a …WHAT??

Gingerly and reluctantly, coz none of us had any faith in the 500 rs.life jackets we wore, we did take the plunge,and soon realized that the principle of buoyancy ,did really exist.Soon,the chill of the water disappeared, the life jackets proved themselves sound,surprisingly,none of us spoke,we just floated like inanimate objects ,on the muddy waters.

O.K!!!!sharp whistle from the RM,BTB(back to boat),now it was nearly impossible for us to climb back into the rafter,without support, so the RM,jumped in,to prove that the money we had coughed up was actually worth it.The drama,which followed was worth every penny,for those unknown to the sport,he caught the straps of our life jackets at the shoulders and then with a mighty grunt yanked us back into the boat.I chose to be uplifted last…..for I realized the guy should be warmed up…before he made an attempt on me…..believe me when he did……I found myself laughing uncontrollably,at the pretty picture,and was glad they were no cameras around…and i assured him that would recommend him for the Ripley’s believe it or not(India version) for sure….

The rest of the journey was uneventful, one more round of ‘get off’, however this time was met up a YIPEE !!!we had become seasoned now…….and the poor guy had a difficult time convincing us to get back to the boat.After about 15 min of synchronized and disciplined rowing,it was time for some rapid action,like a mini roller coaster,C tossed and twirled us,like one twirls the last remnants of those crushed badams,at the end of badam milk…..

Surprisingly, we all seem to be aware that this ride was over,for no one spoke as we passed trees,dotted with plastic bags...a sign that humans were here...... little islands and marshy banks…..oars locked to the side,the current gently pushed us out to a thick yellow rope,which signalled the end of the adventure.

9 kms and one and a half hour......now i know what they mean when they say.....time flew by!!

According to S, a dip in the Cauvery was pious and known to cleanse ,all our sins,
and we certainly had more than a dip…we had had a trip of a lifetime…..and now that my slate of sins was cleansed, I was ready to commit some more …….

CAUVERY ,COORG AND MY CAMERA !!!!!

2007-09-08T07:45:00.000+12:00

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE NOTICED THE TIME ON THE POST...THIS POST WITH IT'S HEAVY DUTY IMAGERY HAS COST ME ...A NIGHT'S SLEEP....AND STILL NO SIGN OF ALIGNMENT.......

What makes an idyllic holiday.......
a tank full of petrol(i don't want to ever call it GAS !!),the company of the most jovial , gregarious ,and extremely travelled, 'R' family(used for reasons of privacy),a low down on every village and landmark,the best eating joints on the way,and no idea of what we were to encounter....!!!!!

COORG...AKA....MADIKERI....AKA.......KODAGU.....
(picture 1)
WHERE THE SAL WORE PEPPERY PYJAMAS...(oh damn!!not sure if they are visible...how many times have i told mohan to buy me a decent camera....at such times he becomes a good husband.....conveniently deaf !!)
and coffee grew like wild grass....the weather was whisky......yes whisky....coz according to local gup...it's risky to order anything but whisky....coz they take ages to fetch

FROM SHIVANSAMUNDRAM(120 kms from Bangalore) to DUBARE (banks of the cauvery....252 kms)

The cauvery behaved ,displayed all the characteristics of a typical woman...... resplendent in her many moods.......furious and roaring,breathtakingly beautiful,pregnant with the monsoons,as it cascaded down ,

at the shivansamudram falls.....(PICTURE 4)

(picture 3)

pouring and roaring and frothy and milky and spraying us with misty waters,as we watched it from a rickety bridge at abbey falls....(i mumbled a prayer,as i stepped on)

(picture 2)

seductive , slow and tranquil on the surface,yet deep and dangerous inside.....at the dubare forest reserve.....

TO BE CONTINUED..........

RADIO AND THE OLIVE GREENS !!!!!!

2007-09-04T20:53:00.000+12:00

Please note that........
Any resemblance to the genre of poetry is purely accidental…….and unintended……

The rules and regulations of blog land
I may or may not understand

I hope ,I can borrow subjects from and for posts
and that won’t be constituted as plagiarism or post lifting
Coz chanced upon two words on a friends blog
and was reminded of a radiotic era gone by……

When books and the radio were my best friends(and a few others...of course)
When the postman was, as eagerly awaited as,
the monthly allowance……(am running short of appropriate similes off late)
And then spending a part of that measly allowance,
to buy yellow post cards to write to the radio station, requesting for songs and special people…..

Applying all the acquired skills from the physics practical lab, so as to fine tune the radio...........
till one could catch the faintest strain of that lovable signature tune -Col BOOGIE………
Of friendship requests from and to LT ‘S...LIEUTENANT(a time when the rank was more respected than the bank balance……)

If the unit adjutant acted as a censor,
there existed a civilian equivalent, in the form of ones ‘ mother,
for every letter was viewed and commented on …….
with disdain and a bag full of caution(ing) words….
But then one got smarter and caught the letters before she did……..

Of practicing and perfecting the art of letter writing,
to these unknown and unseen Men in Green,
who lived at destinations known as 56 APO and 99 APO…….
Of innocent friendships, exchanging pleasantries,
and the joy of discovering common hobbies,
and catching up with a few(lucky)ones,
when they touched base in the capital…….

‘FORCES REQUESTS’ ON ALL INDIA RADIO……….

FREQUENCY...... FORGOTTEN…….TIME…….. PROBABLY 10 PM….

BUT MEMORIES and IMPRESSIONS……….. UNFORGETTABLE

REVERSE GEAR !!!

2007-08-31T00:20:00.000+12:00

Just met up with a bunch of spirited Navrachanaites (the school I taught in Baroda) and it brought back a flood of memories…..hence the flashback.

October 2006…..I discovered the elixir to youth and age reversal………

And that the elixir didn’t really come in a 5 gm puny bottle, which made your wallet sweat…..

At Navrachana school, in October, the buzz could generate enough electricity to power the whole of Baroda, however,the same buzz……the very thought of going on a full five days exercursion,with a bunch of 15 yr olds, …was sending jitters down my spine…..especially after all the toe curling tales of teacher torture, that were being narrated in staff rooms and dining hall lunch time sessions by the more X perienced lot.….somehow these stories remain miraculously covered ,throughout the year and pop up only during the times mentioned above…..I had a sneaking suspicion they were to discourage you more than…..

In typical fauji style we had our endless round of briefings……with principal…with students….with the distraught poor travel agent (I pitied him) with parents, who were more nervous and anxious than their children…..and between those of us ‘marked’ for the trip…(for the zillionth time)

There is always a first time and this hopefully is the last…I consoled myself as I boarded the train….
a second round of riots in Gujarat, erupted from a train yet again… only this time, however, the arsenal was… TOOTHPASTE, for the first time in my life I slept with my shoes on…for the casualties kept coming in through the night…..(and they were those who had taken the risk to sleep…!!!)

and yes it was the first time I had stayed away from home {5 whole days}, the first time I didn’t have to cook or make tea, clean the home, make my bed {God bless the Room Service dept.}

Whether the Gujarat and Andhra governments were into any alliance ,was a fact not known, one thing was sure……. these Gujju ambassadors were here for some serious economic reforms. For Navrachana made their presence felt all over Hyderabad, OH! YES, be it Golconda or Salargunj… Ice world or Charminar market, no food or drinks stall was left untouched by their benevolence which managed to create quite an economic stir in the Hyderabad market, and this time, cash flowed straight from Gujarat into Andhra Pradesh.

The trip was truly educational, as I was updated on all the hip and happenings, in and around class…… new friends were discovered while old ties were strengthened…… MP3’s and Ipods served unerringly {even in the loos}. That our children were hardy and possessed stomach’s of steel, was proved beyond doubt by the fact that many of them could survive on coke, chips and five day old theplas.

That October, I know I had turned fifteen again, for my students, never made me feel like an adult… for all of us…. laughed, sang, cried and danced {man… the DJ party left us all a few kg’s lighter} together….

That October… I knew what it was like to be….. mother to a 100 children.
That October they made me realize,I was still 15…just pretending to be 30…..
Thank you Class IX…. (Batch of 2006-2007)
For making me feel fifteen all over again.

still shifting gears

2007-08-27T20:23:00.000+12:00

Nadira,the bold and brazen vamp of the yester years ,who lured Raj kapoor and millions of others in mudhe mudhe ke na deekh…mudhe in shri 420……one who reached iconic status with her magical eyes……would beg people to come and visit her and then prolong their stay by offering them food and drinks…said an article in yesterday’s paper…..stardom…success and…….now unasked for Solitude…
Another article….same paper….recognizing signs of depression……another article……doing things for yourself……and a massive one on social networking sites and their accompanying hazards…(if you didn’t know they were hazardous …now you will…!!)
The more we grow in numbers the more we are probably heading towards a lonely planet……
A weekend with an endless list of things to do……didn’t have even a minute to spare, yet called up half a dozen friends and chatted with some more..i love the way the pitch of their voice jumps up…the moment the recognize my voice….I’m sure they have a smile on their faces too (I buried modesty long ago)…made them laugh at some insane jokes, discussed silly things, and gave them all verbal and non verbal signals about how much I missed them……..surprisingly all of them spoke of hectic schedules, that were strangely empty……
Loneliness a word which often we fail to recognize….and push under the bed….in an effort to hide it out of view(for sometime)…

I thought I would take the sabbatical to view life…..people…issues clearly…. I watch people whizzing by from the 11th floor…….but instead ……. see just a blur…… because in the rush to get somewhere…..no one has the time to look up and wave….

Trying desperately to debug my system from this temporary virus…..before it attacks my software called sense of humour……
And if nothing works……..I’m sure the next months' phone bill will……

SHIFTING GEARS !!!!

2007-08-25T22:59:00.000+12:00

I wanted to write something sensible for my second post. I owed it to it…..but all sense eludes you, when one is faced with exigencies of the M kind. For in every woman’s life the four M’s play a major role in marking her life’s milestones.MENSES,MEN,MAIDS AND MENOPAUSE……The first and the fourth should be accepted as nature’s gifts ……the second deserves analysis at length, but it’s the third M that unfortunately is a force of nature which one feels helpless to deal with !!!!
So the weekend was ruined, when the maid decided to call it a day(err two days)…… I prayed for her return.... relentlessly, I dashed to the door every time the bell rang, and even personalized her no. on my cell with a different ring tone…..(YES SHE HAS A CELL)
The dilemma was between sitting down to write and attacking a precipice of utensils which screamed for attention…finally I decide to follow my head….put the FM radio …on a volume generally non permissible by Brigade millennium standards…..and did the dishes ….strangely all the stations seemed to playing CHUK DE….CHUK DE INDIA…goading me on ….

I was grateful Mohan wasn’t at home ,for one, he has become absolutely immune to mundane household emergencies like no maid, no water ,no electricity…..and second ,he would have suggested some insane brilliant idea like turning a blind eye, ear and nose to the squalor and would have coaxed me to watch a movie with him, which would have irked me to a point of no return…..I guess it was his lucky day!!!!……and Anshul behaved intelligently by avoiding interaction…as he felt that somehow his languor reminded me of the maid less situation even more….
My fingers are all wrinkled up, after the close encounters of the watery kind. I kicked myself for procrastinating when I should have done the utensils long,long back .
I kicked myself for not having procured tickets for a play I had been waiting to watch....... the entire month.

Have come to the following conclusions………

Treat your maid well….for with, and in her, rests the peace of the entire house hold.

Tickets to a good play, like good men, never remain available for long…
grab them before someone else does….!!

first gear

2007-08-23T15:35:00.000+12:00

TO B(log) or not TO B(log)

It must have been about 7-8 months back when I accidently stumbled upon ‘The Blog’, while trying to locate a long lost friend. A quick trip to the dictionary and a few discreet inquires (shockingly) revealed that the phenomenon was in fact a decade old…. (Nothing new for me… one who remains in the dark ages of the technological time line, most of the time)

What amazed me was the fact, that people wanted to put up ‘personal trivia for public display '(quote exact words told to a friend) and since then have been looking for a definitive answer to why people blog……

Do people write to express or they express to be read……..can one write naturally without pretense knowing fully well the fact that their emotions are put up on the world’s display window…..sorry to be so cynical but, the questions are but natural for any new born…..(reference…late entry into blogging).
Call it peer pressure or e pressure, a sudden spontaneous overflow of feelings ……ahem…..creativity (I know that’s Mr. Wordsworth’s), or may be just a desire to connect and reach across with words, which are informative, inspiring and (sometimes !!) intuitive. Pardon me if I’m metaphorically incorrect, but the blog seems to be ones ‘creative virtual offspring’ …..you conceive the posts (sometimes) in seconds, see a part of you in it….proudly watch it growing…….recommend it to others…….(they way parents flaunt their kids’ newly developed developmental skills)…compare it ….…and of course expect people to compliment(comment on)…it.
Well, time went by and the inevitable happened….I steadily and unquestionably got addicted to reading about the private and the not so private ‘lively…lifely’ details of friends and strangers and have to admit ,marvelled at peoples' ability to transform feelings and experiences into words ……
The desire to peep into the lives of friends through their blogs is indeed addictive………the pressure to comment intelligently…….challenging, but, above all the desire to stay connected and communicate is alluring!
Yes, I have been pretty skeptical and apprehensive about writing one of my own, despite words of encouragement offered by friends…..to join the league…!!!BLOGGERS INC!
for one…… revelation doesn’t come naturally to me…..especially when expressed in the written form. Probably like they say, when you lose one of your senses the others become stronger…..antonym(ically) true….for the excess of verbal gaffe….has induced the above mentioned deficiency ….second and most important…..the Macbethian dagger(read pressure) of being an English teacher looms large over me……for I confess(and my students will agree) that words don’t come easily ,I thrive on Gulzar ,Nida Fazli,Shakespeare,Hemmingway and Rushdie and O Henry and Maupassant, but possess no ability to create magical lines of either prose or verse, and often wobble when writing, supported by the crutches of a dictionary and now of MS word.
But, can and will write with honesty and simplicity……candidly and probably in language that’s as plain Jane as ME!!!
Apprehensive and unsure…am still looking for reasons as to why people blog….
Till I can find substantial, raison d'être that can put me at rest…have succumbed to bloggers’ pressure
For it is better to have written and expressed than not to have written at all…...