The Dosa Story

"Ting tong" the bell rang. I opened the door and saw two boys around 7-8 years old at the door. I was looking at them quizzically, when I heard, "Oh.. come in .. come in!" from the back. My husband was inviting the boys in.


"They are Nishka's friends and were playing with Nishka in the park," explained my husband to me with a smile.

"Uh! Nishka's friends?" I thought and smiled back. Nishka is my one and half year old daughter and it seemed really nice and funny that she was making friends on her own.

I invited them in. I was feeding breakfast, "a dosa", to my daughter at that time. "What are your names and how old are you?" I asked as I continued feeding.


"I am Ved and I am 10, and he is Hari and he is 6," said the elder boy who seemed a little on the hefty side. I smiled back.

"Would you like to have a dose Hari?" I asked.

Hari was surprised at the question. He seemed a little embarrassed and very hesitantly said, "Okay"

"Dude.. ! This is not your house…. you are not supposed to eat at other people's house!" we suddenly heard Ved's voice from the balcony, where he was now standing watching the cars pass by.

I recovered and said "Thats okay. He was just replying to my question." I continued feeding Nishka.


"Aunty, do you know ? we have a Mercedes...." Ved informed me in a casual voice.

I nodded my head absent-mindedly. He then turned back and said, "Aunty Can I have a dosa too?" I held back my chuckle and replied "Sure!".

I made the boys sit on the dining table and kept the plates in front of them. "Aunty, Please don't give me any Sambar. I would like to have the Dosa plain" said Hari in a small voice.

"Dude! Don't be selective. This is not your house, " Ved reprimanded him again.

"Hari, I have not made Sambar. I will give you both Chutney. See if you guys like it," I replied, ignoring Ved.

"Aunty, I generally eat dose with sauce. Give me sauce if you have some, else chutney will also do," said Ved to me. I couldn't suppress a giggle this time.

I fed Hari a dosa and gave the next one to Ved. Hari was a slow eater and Ved was fast. So by the time, Hari had finished his first Dosa, Ved had finished three. Hari looked up from his plate when he had finished his dosa and said very softly, "Aunty, you make yummy dosas. Can I have one more?"

"Dude! Aunty is really tired now. Cant you see she has been standing for such a long time?" Ved was scolding him again. This time I preferred to just wait and watch the fun.

"I generally eat five doses in the morning," Ved informed us casually gulping a huge bite of Dosa in his mouth. Both my husband and I nodded understandingly. And then I asked him "Would you like to have one more Ved?"

"Yes aunty.. your dosas are really awesome."

Ved ate three more Dosas in silence. And when he finished his third dosa, looked up and said, "Aunty, can you make a mini dosa? That will be my last one."

My husband and me laughed heartily this time. And then I replied, "Yes. And after that even if you ask I will not give. You have already had six dosas. And if you have more, you will fall sick."

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A few sanskrit slokas

It is appraisal time in the company where I work. And the company's internal blogs are full of posts about the appraisal process. One of the blog post, started with the sloka below. I couldnt but help laughing. Our sanskrit slokas seem to have a say about everything :) 

अमंत्रमक्षरं नास्ति वनस्पतिरनौषधम् ।

अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः ॥

- समयोचितपद्यमालिका

Amantram aksharam nasti,Nasti mulam na aushadham;

Ayogyah purusho nasti,Yojakah tatra durlabhah

There is no letter in the scriipt that is not a mantra, a chanting, a principle;what we need is a Pandit, a scholar to put the letters to form in to meaningful word.There is no root / plant without medicinal value; what we need is a doctor to diagnose it.

There is none in this world who is ineligible, inefficient, ineffective;what we need is a Yojaka( MANAGER) who manifests it.Its very difficult to get correct Yojaka- We therefore approach the young minds with firm belief within that they are ayogyah nasti.

Below are a few more slokas that made me smile. 

मौनान्मूकः प्रचनपटुश्चाटुलो जल्पको वा

घृष्टः पाश्चेर् भवति च वसन्दूरतोप्यप्रगल्भः ।

क्षान्त्या भीरुर्यादि न सहते प्रायशो नाभिजातः

सेवाधर्मः परमगहनो यो्गिनामप्यगम्यः ॥

The duty of service is most difficult to be understood; it is beyond the understanding of even sages; (for a servant is called), is called dumb if he is silent! (if he is) ready with answer, he is talkative or garrulous; if he stands near, he is impident; and if he keeps at a distance, he is timid; if he bears patiently, he is a coward; if he can not brook (harsh words, insults), he is generally considered unmannerly.

आपाण्डुराः शिरसिजास्त्रिवली कपोले

दन्तावली किलिता न च मे विषादः ।

एणीदशो युवतयः पाथि मां विलोक्य

तातेति भाषणपराः खलु वज्रपातः ॥

My temples are grey. My cheeks are without the rows of teeth within. My body is wrinkled. This doesn't bother me much. But when those doe-eyed young women call me Taat (a father figure/grandfather), it hits me worse than a lightning.

आयुषः क्षण एकोऽपि सर्वरत्नैर्न न लभ्यते।

नीयते स वृथा येन प्रमादः सुमहानहो ॥2॥

You cannot trade or buy back even a second of time when it has run out, with all the jewels in the world. So, to simply waste time when you have it is the biggest mistake of all.

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No smiles please.. !

I love cartoons. Along with the daily dose of news in the morning newspaper, if there is something I really look forward to, it has to be these cartoons. In this post I am sharing with you some of the cartoons drawn by Surendra in 'The Hindu' in the recent past.

( Mamata Banerjee bans Marx in textbooks .

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3284870.ece )

( Mamata Banerjee arrests a professor for circulating a mail with cartoon on her.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3409511.ece )
( Rajasthan police invents a plot to keep Rushdie away from the Jaipur literary fest. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2820796.ece )

( After days of dilly dallying Mamata Banerjee decides to support Pranab Mukherjee for the presidential post.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3649622.ece)

( Anna Hazare and Ramdev Baba on their movement against corruption.

Based on the popular Cadbury five star ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ilZ8esAUs)

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The daily wars

On the 12th of Feb this year, I woke up to this news in the TIMES OF INDIA (TOI)
I could only shake my head in disbelief. Is "Hubbies set snoops on wives" a front page news in a leading national daily? I put the paper aside to pick up The Hindu. Don't get me wrong - I have been a reader of TOI ever since I have been reading newspapers - which means for a good 20-25 years of my life, I have read ONLY the TOI. In fact, when my husband had proposed to shift to The Hindu - I had protested vehemently.

But as they say, if you are looking at something everyday, you fail to notice the change. And I had failed to notice the quality of news (read the deteriorating quality of news) that TOI was delivering. Last year, for some reason, somebody brought The Hindu home on the first sunday of a month.

I was pregnant those days, and since I wasnt allowed to do anything else, I started reading. To my pleasant surprise, I ended up reading all the columns of the six pages of the supplement called The Literary Review. In fact I thoroughly enjoyed the intellectual invigoration the supplement provided. We did not waste another day - the next day onwards The Hindu was delivered at our door-step.

It has been almost a year now, and I have been reading The Hindu every single day since that day.

The Hindu seemed to have noticed what I had noticed. Because for the past one month, we have been seeing these ads all over Bangalore -
The ads are funny :)

I dont know if they have helped The Hindu gain any readership. But they definitely seem to woken up the TOI. It has been only one week, but the changing quality (this time for the better) of TOI is very noticeable. I do hope the quality stays.

Here's wishing both TOI and The Hindu all the best.. !

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Keep touching us...

Yes, there will be delegates from the industry. We need to have atleast 25 stalls where they can present themselves. We should have a conference room to show the presentations. Our machines in the lab need to be the best condition. We could upgrade a few machines.

We agreed. After all we were hoisting the city CSI event. We needed to be extra cautious. Like soldiers on duty listening to every command of their brigadier, we were all ears to the person speaking.

After a pause the speaker thinks and he says, “And we need to have snakes too. Each snake is going to cost us 5 rupees. Three of you can be responsible to take care of snakes.”

We were dumbfounded. We looked at each other's faces. My friend passed me a chit, “Are we having a snake show?”

I passed her a note back, “I am as clueless as you are.”

The speaker continued to say, “Can we have samosas, and pastries as snakes? Raghu, Sonal, Priti can you take care of the snakes stall?”

We all were incredulous. Most of us could barely control our laugh. After all he was our Principal at the prestigious university in Gujarat. We barely made it through the meeting with a straight face.

----------------------------------

We had had a hard month. The project had been in its final stages and we had been working hard. The japanese were tough clients. What with their obsession for perfection! But we had delivered and the client was happy.

Anyone who has worked with a Japanese client knows that very few Japanese speak English. In doing a project with Japanese, the difficulty most often would not be the technical difficulties of the project but difficulties of communicating with them. Most of the English documents or mails they would send, would be the ones generated out of a Japanese to English translator software. It would always be a challenge to decipher any written communication sent by our client.

Our project manager, those days was a young, beautiful, fair, stylish young lady. One fine day, as we walked into the office in the morning, we saw her all red and laughing her guts out reading an email. Wondering what had happened, we went next to her. We saw the line that had caused her outburst. Our Japanese client had written a farewell mail to all of us, thanking us for all for the good job done.

The last line of the mail said - Thank you so much again..Keep touching us...!

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Helen Keller - The Story Of My Life - On Examinations

I read the 'The Story of my life' an autobiography written by Helen Keller* a few days ago.

As I read this book I was amazed not only to see how a blind and deaf person went beyond her disabilities and became one of the most respected and noted thinkers of her times, but also to see how Anne Sullivan, her teacher, taught and channelized her young boundless energy to bring out the beauty in her.

Helen Keller's writings are a pleasure to read, and give us a glimpse of the world that she lives in and experiences. Where at one hand one cant help rejoice in the small victories she experiences in her process of learning, on the other, one can’t fail to notice and enjoy her sense of humour.

The text below is a funny excerpt from her book mentioned above, in which she talks in exasperation about examinations and what she goes through every time she has to give an exam.

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But the examinations are the chief bugbears of my college life. Although I have faced them many times and cast them down and made them bite the dust, yet they rise again and menace me with pale looks, until like Bob Acres I feel my courage oozing out at my finger ends. The days before these ordeals take place are spent in cramming your mind with mystic formulae and indigestible dates--unpalatable diets, until you wish that books and science and you were buried in the depths of the sea.

At last the dreaded hour arrives, and you are a favoured being indeed if you feel prepared, and are able at the right time to call to your standard thoughts that will aid you in that supreme effort. It happens too often that your trumpet call is unheeded. It is most perplexing and exasperating that just at the moment when you need your memory and a nice sense of discrimination, these faculties take to themselves wings and fly away. The facts you have garnered with such infinite trouble invariably fail you at a pinch.

"Give a brief account of Huss and his work." Huss? Who was he and what did he do? The name looks strangely familiar. You ransack your budget of historic facts much as you would hunt for a bit of silk in a rag-bag. You are sure it is somewhere in your mind near the top--you saw it there the other day when you were looking up the beginnings of the Reformation. But where is it now? You fish out all manner of odds and ends of knowledge--revolutions, schisms, massacres, systems of government; but Huss--where is he? You are amazed at all the things you know which are not on the examination paper. In desperation you seize the budget and dump everything out, and there in a corner is your man, serenely brooding on his own private thought, unconscious of the catastrophe which he has brought upon you.

Just then the proctor informs you that the time is up. With a feeling of intense disgust you kick the mass of rubbish into a corner and go home, your head full of revolutionary schemes to abolish the divine right of professors to ask questions without the consent of the questioned.

---------------------------------------------------------------

*Helen Keller was born in 1880 and at nineteen months lost her sight and hearing owing to an illness. Thereafter she was tutored, guided and taught by a wonderful teacher named Anne Sullivan to read, write and communicate. Helen went on to complete graduation and become an activist and one of the most prominent personalities of the 19th century. She had met all the US presidents of her age, and knew famous personalities like Alexander Graham Bell personally.

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The day I set out cooking

It was a sunday morning. My in-laws with whom we stay had gone outstation - which meant my husband, me and our four and half month old daughter had the whole house to ourselves to fool around with. My mother in law's absence also meant that I now had the control and charge of the kitchen and could try out and enjoy a few dishes for the afternoon feast. So then, I combed my hair back into a clip, tied up an apron, took on a belan and like the super cook they show in the cookery shows I was ready to go - when I realized I needed some chillies, tomatoes, bhindi for making pulav.

We have an in-house vegetable shop in the apartment, but woe of woes! I did not have his number. My husband proudly fetched out the intercom book and with a ever helpful voice said - The number is 3-6-2.

I said - ok! 3 – 6 - 0 !

A pause on other side and I hear him shouting - No ! 3 – 6 - 2

Funny ! Why did he have to speak so loud I thought and said - Ok..Ok ! 3 – 6 - 2 !

I dail the number and all charged up that I am, I say- "is it the vegetable shop ?"

The voice on the other end goes blank and says - "Bejitable shop ? ..."

I pause. I frown and I reply - "Isnt it the vegetable shop ? .."

And the voice says - "No madam.. Bejitable shop nahin hai... Security hai !" ( No madam.. its not the Bejitable shop… it is the security ).

Uh ! I pass a very silent long 5 seconds with the receiver on my ear.

I recover first and before anyone else can deduce anything I say confidently and sweetly-"Is it 3 - 6 - 0 ?"

The voice seemed pleased as it replied - "Haan Madam.. !"( Yes.. Madam !)

"Do you have the number of the vegetable shop?" - I ask. I continue to have the confident sweet smile on my face and the sweetness in my voice.

"Nahin madam... hamare paass nahin hain... "( No madam... I dont have it ... )

And then, as an after thought - "ruko madam.. Bejitable shop ka number chahiye na... Book me check karta hoon..." ( Wait Madam... you want the no. of the Bejitable shop.... Let me check in my book ... )

And I hear him fluttering some pages and mutter to himself -" B .. A... G... I ....."

( Uh! I couldnt believe my ears. I am unable to suppress my smile that is forming on my face. I sit back and give myself a few seconds before I continue. )

"Thats Ok.."( barely able to speak between my giggles..) "I have the no.. Its 3 - 6 - 2..."

"Achcha madam !" ( I can hear the relief and happiness in his voice ) .. (Ok... madam..)

I still have the smile on my face as I call the Bejitable shop to order for the chillies, ladiesfinger and tomatoes that I needed for my cooking. This time I am more relaxed and slow.

"Kul milake kitna hua?" ( How much will it cost .... ), I ask the Bejitable shop owner, Sanjay.

"60 rupees", he tells me after a bit of mental calculation..

"Ok, please have it sent immediately", I say

"Thik hai madam"( Ok, Madam), He answers. And then lowering his otherwise very loud voice down to a whisper, he asks a little cautiously -

"Madam, Maa ji nahin hai... ?" ( Madam, is maaji( motherinlaw ) not there ? )

Uh... !!!!!!!

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Hmm...

me: What are the tasks that I will be busy with when my child is 3 months old

Shruti: if you are breatfeeding, the child is still not taking solids at 3 months old

which means the child is feeding about every 3 hours

me: hmm

anything other than the feed that I need to take care of ?

Shruti : Yaar.. I dont understand your hmmm... What is that supposed to mean ??


Hehehe :) ( Ok. so dont ask me what does a hehe mean )

A hmm just means - well I dont want to comment.

On a serious note, of all the things, a "hmm" says, it definitely says - I have a mind of my own and right now, I am thinking of something that I dont want to comment on. Which means, right now, I don’t want to share with you my inner most funny, naughty, intellectual, curious, silent, non committal thoughts.

So when you are sitting behind a chat window chatting, playing with the words,emotions and thoughts that the person in front of you is thrusting in front of you, enjoying the privacy of displaying your intellect without revealing your emotions, you revel in the alienation that allows you to play around with your “hmm”. Among the various things a hmm conveys, it could give a support of a friend when a friend talks about a broken relationship and how it is breaking his life… With your eyebrows twitched in concern and your heart filled with love and concern you would say. Hmm. Meaning - I understand your pain and I am with you and I will hold you till you are through with your it.


On occasions, a hmm can hide your embarrassment and the red face when you have goofed up on an important information and your friend is asking “how is that possible” and you quickly say a hmm. ( Behind your beet red face hidden behind the chat window of your laptop – you yourself are wondering – “Damn ! how could I have made that mistake”.) And you put up a brave front to your friend and with your teeth biting your tongue, you type in a word – the all hiding – hmm …. ( meaning - I too don’t know how that is possible )


A hmm can be an expression of understanding, an expression to digest in important information, an expression that indicates a quest for fulfillment of your insatiable hunger for knowledge. So when your husband gives you a gyan on how organizations are run and how people who own the company could be so different from people who control its daily affairs – You pause and digest the information on the screen and with bliss and contentment and achievement written, all over your face, you recline back on the chair and say a silent hmm ! ( Ah ! That was good information ! )

And there are times, you dont really agree to something someone is saying. But what to say - you dont want to upset the person in front of you. Its been 3 years since you have not spoken to that friend of yours. That friend has been your closest buddy for a long time. And now you are not on speaking terms. Your cousin is asking you to patch up with that lost friendship of yours. Call her up she says. With your lips pursed in anger, and your face all tight, you say an arrogant hmm - meaning - Not really interested. But I will think about it.

And there are times, when you are expressing to your friend how much you are enjoying your break from your career. And your friend says a hmm. This time I was on the recieving end - Well, this "Hmm" stumped and puzzled me. But I guess that meant – Good I am happy for you . What next now ? You hear the love and concern of your dear friend in that hmm. You hear a connection that is deep and a support that is for ever. And you smile to yourself and think – guess this is what friends are for.

And with a glazed look on my face as I am “Hmm”ing to myself – I hear a “ting” on my laptop. My chat window is blinking. It says

Shruti: Where are you ?

Oops! I realize I got lost. I got serious !

Collecting my thoughts back and looking at the chat window and looking at my dear friend for twenty years awaiting a reply to her simple question, I have nothing to say but – Hmmm…Meaning – I am here. Just lost for a while. And am I glad that you are there.. !

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Whats the spelling of cancel ?!!!

Ok...! If you don’t finish your food now – WE ARE GOING TO CANCEL THE MOVIE...! She said to her four year old son, who was delaying eating his noodles and hence delaying going to the movie. After wanting to drink water, and wanting to watch TV, this time, the angelic, harried boy wanted to go to the bathroom.

Ok! Ok! Wait...! I am going to go to the bathroom...! Then I am going to finish my noodles... and-and-and then we will go to the movie...! “ He pleaded breathlessly!

And then as he rushes towards the bathroom, he turns back and asks in curious desperation... "What is the meaning of Cancel!!!?”

Dead silence! All of us are stumped...!

And all of us are amused...!!!

She recovers first. She says with a straight face... “Cancel means - we do not go for the movie.”

“OK!” He says as he hurries about his tasks. All of us smile at the confusion.

And then running back to his plate of noodles, he turns back to look up and with his eyes elongated into a question mark asks –“What is the spelling of cancel!!”

Another direct hit...! All of us stumped again...!

He has just learnt the use of words and spellings and can correctly spell, read, spellings for his everyday use like his own name, his parents names. He might not correctly spell but he can easily read some of the spellings like those of his school, his parents’ office, some favorite cartoon characters like BEN10 or Tom and Jerry, and some everyday use words like OK, YES, NO etc.

This time both the father and the mother recover from the stump. Barely managing to conceal their delight they shout in unison-

“C - A - N - C - E - L!!”

“Ok...! Then please don’t cancel the movie...! I will be ready on time!” he says, gulping a huge mouth of noodles into his mouth.

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Vayun and Thomas

This is a post about my nephew Vayun, written by his mother in her own words.. Enjoy ! :)

All of four years old my son, Vayun, is a boy of few words. However an incident that happened a few days back reminded me that talking little doesn't necessarily mean thinking little.



As a rule we set expectations before visiting a super market as to whether he can or cannot buy toys that day. On this particular occasion however I forgot to set the ground rules. So as we entered E.K.Retail, a neighborhood all-in-one outlet, my son's eyes fell on 'Thomas the steam engine'. He tried hard to convince me to buy one. Needless to say I disagreed and staunchly headed home with a teary eyed 4 years old. He now decided that negotiations won't make me see reason so he resorted to emotions.



Here’s the dialogue that followed.



"Thomas was crying and said he wants to come with Vayun, but you left him behind", he said.



"Oh did he? I did not hear him", I remarked nonchalantly



"Only I can hear Thomas!", he retorted with a four year old angry look.



I tried reasoning with him and went on to explain that his grandpa who was coming the next day from Mangalore would get the Thomas set he had left behind there.



He didn't seem convinced and admonished me with an upset face," You are being naughty! Thomas will punish you!!"



I decided to needle him, "If he punishes Mamma, the police will lock Thomas up in Jail".



"Thomas will run away from the Jail", an indignant Vayun replies instantly.



The reply brought a smile in my mind. Now I decided to needle him further.



"But the jail has steel bars, how will Thomas break them?" I quizzed innocently.



"Two hands will come out from the sides of Thomas and he'll pull out the bars and run", (note: Thomas is an engine - he doesn't have hands!J!)



"But what if the police pull out the guns", I was beginning to relish the creativity.



"Oh! I'll snatch the guns and throw them away" He replies confidently



"Then they'll chase both you and Thomas. What will you do?"



To which he calmly responded, "I'll pour some water on the floor so all the policemen will slip and fall. Thomas and me will run away ".



My son had thought his escape strategy through!!

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Another day at the boring office !

Work environment are places where some work gets done. Also it’s a place to interact, collaborate, fight, grow, and live! Most of us who are career oriented realize that among the mundane work, the boring bosses and un-understandable rules and regulations of the office, we all get to meet interesting new people with interesting ways of thinking and interesting sense of humour.

I remember one of my friends telling me this anecdote that had happened in his project. BTW, let me tell you that I have been a software engineer all my life.

And this particular project of his had not been keeping well for almost years. They had a young, fun-loving boss, who took care of a team of 40 noisy, cheerful, sharp youngsters who, in between their wise cracks and silly jokes and endless leg pullings, just managed to keep the project alive. All the old team members, who had actually created the product, had left the team resigned about the saleability of the product. Everyone in the company knew the product was outdated and no amount of customization would help the product.

Once in a while when there would be a client visit to check out this product and the young boys and girls would somehow manage to tailor the product, wash it up, dress it and comb it and get it ready to showcase like a beautiful young bride. And once in a while when the bride just did not dress up or look presentable, the team would be left frustrated( they would wonder when this product would be obsoleted ) - like on this particular day, this very young talented youngster, lets say-Krish, got fed up and gave up on the product. After working day and night on the product for two weeks, with not much progress, he decided he did not want to work on this stupid product and went home on a two day leave.

The manager came the next day and saw there was no one working on the product demo scheduled for the next day. Also, he heard that Krish had gone home in a huff on a two day leave. Shaking his head helplessly with a smile, praying to God to give him the strength and humor to handle the situation, he sent his car to pick this funny boy up from his house.

Krish couldnt have had a worse nightmare.

He changed into a clean pair of clothes and grumpily sat in his boss's car.

When Krish reached office, the whole team and his boss were at the door were waiting for him at the door, with a mischievous smile on their faces. Well, they just needed to have a pooja thali to welcome him, he thought silently in his mind, keeping his gaze awry.

The boss, notices the boy's looks, his disheveled hair, his unshaven beard ( the boy had not taken care of himself for the last two weeks ) , tells him - Boy, Where were you ? This product needs to be readied. You are the best person we have !

Giving the boy another look, he says with a smile- Also what are you doing to yourself. Take care of yourself –its high time you shaved your beard !!

The Boy already tired of the funny boss and the product and the non fruitful work he was doing and thinking about the product that was waiting for him with a defiant mocking smile, nonchalantly replies –

Uh ! The product - will see what I can do.

He looks up from the product and looks at his boss’s face, looks back at the product, and says with a mischievous smile – Well! The beard - cannot be shaved off now - Only trimmed and shaped - will do my best though.

The boss chuckles at the joke and leaves the boy to complete his job.

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Oh ! The Twenties !!

A few days back I was driving around in a crowded market place, when I remembered that I need to buy some medicines. Since it was a crowded market place, I was looking for a place to parking - and finally found a small lane . I parked my car on one side of the already very small lane.

I went about doing my shopping and came back to my car to return home. Now, the real challenge began. I needed to reverse my car in the very small lane. I started the engine to take it forward - when I saw a young girl in her early twenties beginning to park her scooty there. Oh ! ho !

I honked my horn, and gestured to her to move her scooty a little so that I could remove my car - she obliged - and I moved my car forward . I turned my car to the right to start making the U turn. This meant , that the space where I had parked my car earlier was empty now for me to reverse and straighten my car.

To my surprise, this young girl , now turns her scooty and parks it at the very same place that I had parked mine, making impossible for me to reverse now. I felt incredulous. I started laughing at the sudden turn of events. Maybe the girl hadnt realized what she had done. ( I looked around there was no other way I could squeeze my car out ). I honked my car two or three times. My funny predicatement had already attracted the attention of the nearby shop owners - who were watching the fun from the corner of their eye.

Thankfully the girl turned. I ached back from my car and requested the girl to remove her bike from the behind my car. Before I could say anything more - the girl - turns back with a questioning look on her face and says - "What ? you had just now parked the car here na ! Now I will park !! you cant stop me !"

Uh ! With a smile on my lips and mind - I did not know what to say - whether to laugh or to cry ! The shopkeepers around also had a smile of disbelief on their faces. Nobody turned to look at me though - they suddenly seemed very immersed in whatever they were doing .

I couldnt help but laugh at the innocent, funny way that only a youth in her early twenties could think. At twenty, one feels at the top of the world - everything seems with in reach - your self belief looks to be at a all time high. You are out to change the world - and the world looks oh! so topsy-turvy ! The twenties is also a funnily arrogant phase too that way - and sadly one of the main reasons that most of us experience our first failure in life. But the twenties is the twenties - there is no better age than that to be in at that time.

Smiling at the unexpected turn of events I was gifted by this wonderful day , I somehow did manage to U turn my car without waking the girl up from her story and drove on home.

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What did I do ! ?

Are there times when you are so lost in your own world , that say or do something that is so absolutely hilarious and disbelieving to the people around you. The world around seems to stop functioning and everyone seems to stare at you to watch your next move in eager , nervous , curious, hilarious anticipation.

Your world goes on in its rhythm for a while and it takes some time for you before you realize, oops ! am I missing something here?

Well I have always been very straight forward. I don't seem to understand too much of signals and special signs people put out. This has put many of my friends in a lot of embarrassing positions more than once.

Among the many friends I have , I have a friend who is a good reader and most importantly good at collecting and maintaining her books. She has a good library at home with books of all sorts for the book lovers. Needless to say, hers books are perpetually in high demand.

One day when we both were coming back from yet another of our shopping trips, one of our mutual acquaintances came up to us. She said a hi to me and started talking to my friend eagerly. She said, she had been thinking of calling her for quite some time. She needed a book on photography and she remembered my friend had it. She then asked my friend with a cute smile "Can I borrow your book for two days". To which my friend tells her with a very innocent face and the nicest smile I had ever seen on my friend's face- "Oh ! Well ! I would love too. But I cant ! Its with Veena".

Uh! I remembered that I had returned her book. Maybe she had got mistaken . For sure, I did not want to inconvenience my friend. Also it was important to clarify my position with her . Sure that she will be pleased to have this news, I looked at her with a happy face and big round eyes and said- "Hey , no ! I don't have the book anymore. I have returned it to you last week". Did I see my friend turning towards me in surprise - maybe she remembered something - I ignored that expression.

The next moment , my friend seemed to move and stamp my foot completely - almost trampling my toe. Ouch ! That hurt ! I looked at her in reprimand and said in my loudest exclamatory voice- Hey ! Watch out ! You are stamping my foot !

My friend seemed incredulous , gave me a disbelieving and exasperated look on her face - ( I thought she was trying to be apologetic , but I sure couldn't understand her look) Her eyes seemed to say - You are impossible !( why was she giving me funny looks ?) She went on to complete her conversation.

Not understanding the confusion - I waited till they had finished.

Once she packed the girl off ! I got it royally from my friend.

What did I do ? - I wondered.

Why cant you understand my signals - she said.

What signals !

My friend put up her hands and gave up .

That sure was funny. What did I do to animate her so much ? - I thought.

My friend was trying to nudge me to keep her secret since she did not want to share her book !

How was I supposed to know !

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Colourful hats !

About a week back, I was in Chennai. And as I went about my duties, I noticed that the head gear of the traffic police in Chennai is quite different from that of those in Bangalore.

Made me curious! Is it really true that the head gears of the traffic police in each of the states in India have their own distinct identity? Pretty Interesting!

This made me go about looking at the head gears of the traffic police in South India.

Check the Chennai Traffic police head gear. Perhaps the most boring one of the lot.


The traffic police in Bangalore wear something like this. Note that the traffic police also has the round shapped hat - only his is in white.
And then I also knew that the traffic police in Pondicherry wear their european style hats - the influence of being the French colony long back.

And check out the head gear of the Mumbai traffic police. The very traditional cap worn in the villages of Maharastra.
The bureaucrats in India do have a good sense of humour, creativity and identity ! Feels good to know that !! :)

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Accounts are all messed up ! :(

I was counting the rupees on my desk at office. It would just not count right. The balance would not tally ! Oh lord ! What will my manager say now ? When I hear a loud calling from my brother. What does he want now when I am so busy - I wonder ? Cant he wait for sometime. I decide to ignore him for a while - go back to my books - and try to figure out the problem.

But my brother just wouldnt stop calling. Something surely had to be important. So pulling myself away from my account books, I went and opened the door - looked at my brother helplessly and exclaimed - 'Accounts me kuch ghotala hai' ( The accounts are messed up )!!

My brother goes blank - gives me a look of disbelief that changes into a look of amusement - and bursts out laughing uncontrollably!!

Wondering what is so funny - I shake my groggy mind - only to realize that I am at home - at the bedroom door.

With a smile on my face, it was then that I realized ! I was checking the office accounts in my dream !!

Whatever !

After that , a few days later - I was scheduled to give my exams. On the same day , one of our relatives fell very ill and I had had to go to the hospital to see her - so I was a good half an hour late at my exams which was for two hours of duration. I looked at the questions that were easy and short, so that I could answer them first and ensure my passing percentage. Since I was late, I concentrated on speeding up on the questions and slowly I became oblivious to my surroundings. I had completed around five questions and had two more that I realized I could answer. I was thinking on the best and the quickest way to solve the questions. Five minutes to the end of my exam - I saw my husband gesturing to me at the door. I was angry at him - why was he calling me before my exam ended - what was so important ! He of all the people knew I had gone late for my exam !!!

I took my eyes off the exam to look at him one more time frustratedly - but then I shut my eyes again ! I wanted to finish my exam !!

You must be wondering what I meant when I said "Shut my eyes again".

Well, to tell you the truth, I was writing an exam in my dream !! :)

Dreams take us into a world of its own. Its fascinating and beautiful to be a part of a fantasy world. Dreams are a world that your subconscious mind weaves, of the unfinished businesses and un-dealt stories of our life. Most of the times, the dream that we were so much a part of , and loved so much, just go blank the moment you wake up. You dont remember anything of the dream that seemed so real. And there are times, when dreams as fascinating as the ones that I described above, become a part of your life and a beautiful hilarious memory.

As I was writing this post, I remembered this wonderful hindi movie song that is based on dreams and the first line of the song goes – Sapney me dekha sapna ( meaning – I saw a dream in my dream )

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Wassup !! :)

It was a sunny sunday afternoon and both me and hubby were getting bored. We were debating on how to have a fun filled sunday - when hubby comes up with the bright – na brilliant idea to go to the Sony exhibition that was on at the local Kanteerva stadium! Ya ! Sure! - Well! have you ever noticed that a guy’s idea of having fun or spending leisure time is going to a newly opened electronics shop or a cars showroom !

For the dearth of nothing else do, I agreed to his idea, albeit, a little reluctantly.

After a while, we landed up at the Sony exhibition. The exhibition was huuuggeeeee and there were three or four spacious rooms displaying the latest Sony products. Hubby loved the various gadgets and was very curious of the newest of the new technologies displayed there. And me.. well, I too was.... no, I tried hard to be excited :) I went to the various stalls - Tried to be very seriously interested in the new products ( but beats me- what is the need for a higher end version of a camera, or a mobile - when the one currently in circulation is great ! ) and triiiieed hard to match the spirits of the various stall keepers by asking intelligent questions. :)

The exhibition by now had completely attracted my hubby’s attention and he was pulled to the various stalls, the way that a magnet attracts all iron around it.

Not wanting to tag myself along with hubby and disturb him on his very intense pursuit, I continued making my rounds –alone. When the technology did not interest me, I amused myself with watching the people around. After half an hour of aimless roaming on the stalls, and watching all that could leave me amused, I went to a stall that seemed to attract a lot of crowd. After a while of listening to the sales guy, to my pleasant surprise, I saw my husband's hand next to me.

Finally !! I thought. Thoroughly relieved and extremely happy that hubby had completed his rounds, I held my hubby on his elbow. I had held it for about 5 seconds, when I realized that hubby had not acknowledged my gesture. Realizing that he was very intensely listening to the sales guy, I held his elbow a little tighter and moved my grip a little higher. The sales guy must have been extremely interesting, coz hubby just didn’t seem to notice my hold ! Hmm.. !

Determined to get him of his reverie, I moved my gaze up from the elbow, to the shoulder, and up - till I saw the face that owned the elbow. Something looked different at the end of the neck! Imagine my plight – The face that I was staring at was that of a good looking, amused guy in his early thirties , with mischievous twinkle on his eyes and a smile on his face –who was staring at my hand , twitching his eyebrows, and gesturing a questioning 'wassup ! " with his other hand :) Much to the amusement of this guy and my embarrassment – I realized I was holding the elbow of a complete stranger !!!

Needless, to say, I turned beet-red, and started apologizing profusely - telling him that I thought that it was my husband standing next to me. He knew that it was a goof up, gave a nice smile and brushed aside my apology and went about his own shopping.

But I had had my lesson! :)

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In love with a camera and a car ! :)

God has made men and women very differently and it is not for nothing that it is said that Men are from Mars and Women from Venus. All their unique idiosyncrasies apart, I can almost imagine Mars as a place full of gadgets and gizmos of all kinds and one superior, all-important gadget trying to maneuver the rest of them – the one with special abilities called ‘Man’. I mean how else can you explain a 'man's' love for gadgets !

My hubby got an analog SLR camera about a month before our marriage. And as can be expected, he loved the camera - and went berserk experimenting with it. He would take utmost care of the camera and was very possessive about it. It was almost as if he had brought a baby home.:)

A week after the wedding, we were in Darjeeling and the hubby and me were taking a leisurely stroll on the Mall road with me hanging on one of his shoulders and the camera taking his other one. The weather was beautiful, the climate not too cold, there was mist all around. The tourists all around were enjoying the chill as they snuggled in their shawls and jackets. The road side vendors seemed to be making brisk business. All in all, it was beautiful, and as is very common in Darjeeling, it started drizzling. And both of us( naah the three of us – who three ? – hubby , me and the camera of course! ) were getting wet. Ever the thoughtful guy, hubby quickly fetched the umbrella, opened it. Feeling all nice, I cuddled to get inside the umbrella. Ten seconds after the drizzling started and the umbrella was opened, it was still drizzling on me ! Curiously I looked up at hubby – when –I saw him holding the umbrella very protectively on his darling camera !

Just as I was recovering from my shock - he looks at me nonchalantly and says -
The camera needs to be covered !

With a helplessly innocent and righteous look on his face, he adds noticing the disbelief on my face- You can take care of yourself - the camera cant !

:))

Ya.. Right !

Even as early as 2-3 years old, boys can be distinguished as boys and girls as girls. Little boys show a clear liking towards cars, aero planes, mechanical gadgets, mobile phones, CDs and CD players as against dolls and cuddly stuff.

I tell you there is something about men and their love for machines! – Honestly! Even the pictures that my hubby took or the ones that instinctively fascinated him would be some form of buildings or machines( cars ) in all angles possible.

As the boys grow up, their fascination for cars moves from toy cars to real ones. Once I was sitting with my friends( guys ) on the porch of my office drinking hot tea. As I was spending time with them, lost in narrating office politics - I could barely hear a ‘hmm’ from them. Curious about what could be more interesting than my stories, I looked at them. I couldnt believe it - My colleagues were busily engaged in droooooling over all the cars that were passing by. They were lustily and longingly watching each and every car, with their gaze unflinchingly moving along the boot to bumper of every single car.

: ) : )

One would imagine that it was not cars that were passing by, but beautiful, size zero models strutting themselves on the ramp !

Its absolutely hilarious and intriguing to watch men and the special relationship they have with machines. I am sure each one of you have tales to tell. Do share !

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Look Who's here

I was reading a short story 'The leopard' by Ruskin Bond , where Ruskin Bond describes his experiences as he rambles along the Himalayan mountains. In this story he mentions how he spots a leopard as he is trudging along the mountain paths. Though initially he is scared, he keeps his cool and tries not to alarm the cat. Soon he and the leopard become comfortable with each other - so much so - that the leopard follows and trails the author on his journeys in the wilderness - and lets the author enjoy himself in the midst of nature. It’s a beautiful and touching story of bonding between a leopard and a man.

Nature and animals are as full of life as any one of us. They feel, care, love, respond, fear just the way human beings do. Most of the times, we, supposedly the most intelligent of the living species, tend to be insensitive to or even scared of the life around us. Those of us who are able to break free of their thoughts, are able to experience the most beautiful companionships with life and nature.

As I was reading the story, I remembered an incident that had happened to me, one evening, when I was around 9 years old.

It was a lively, pleasant, beautiful spring evening. For the want of doing something new, all of friends decided to go to the nearby park. We loved this park - it had a huge lush green lawn. Around the lawn, was sand and mud, covered with the flowers, fruits and twigs that had fallen from the flowering trees all around. It was an ideal place for us children to run and fool around. This particular day we were playing 'blind man buff' - and I was the 'blind man'. With a cloth around my eyes that completely barred me from seeing anything, I was supposed to run and touch my friends - who were now teasing me around.

We all were in a very playful mood and I went around chasing my friends - sometimes I would hear them to my right, sometimes to my left - sometimes in front and sometimes at my back. I ran in all directions. At one point I ran to my left. I guess I ran a little too further - because the next thing I knew was that I was tumbling down the sand and was feeling the flowers and twigs of the trees all over me.

Like a typical child, I quickly pulled myself up – pulled my blind fold out - and patted myself clean of all the mud and flowers that had got stuck on me. A lot of the twigs had gotten inside my dress – and I started pulling out the twigs. I could feel one of the tree twigs on my chest - so I put my hand inside the front collar of my frock and tried pulling it out – the twig stay put! Finally after a lot of trying - I gave up on this twig. After all, it was not so uncomfortable. I thought I would remove it once I changed my dress at home.

I went back and played for another hour with my friends. As we were returning, I could no longer bear the discomfort of the twig inside my dress. So I went to secluded corner of the park, put my hand inside the dress again, caught hold of the twig tightly and pulled it with all my might .

It came out.. ! Finally !

Feeling accomplished, I looked at my 'prized accomplishment' - to my astonishment - I was holding a full grown lizard with its tail ! Wow !

Cant say who was more shocked – Me or the lizard !

Because, once the initial round of recognition wore off, the next moment, both the lizard as well as me were shrieking and jumping around out of sheer fright! The lizard shaking itself thoroughly through the grip my hand had on its tail – shouting – ‘let go of my tail!’.

Still in a shock, I quickly dropped the lizard from my hand - who was, I guess, more than glad to rush back to its familiar territories. I guess it had had enough adventure for an hour !

Can you believe it, I had spent around 1 hour on the lawn with a lizard resting peacefully on my chest ! :)

Or shall I say, that I sheltered a frightened lizard on myself for about an hour :)

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