The 3 Hs

I visit Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt (a place of worship) on Thursdays. I have a habit to thank Him for mainly 3 Hs: House, Health and Harmony.

1. House is for providing shelter and for enabling me to own property of my own.
2. Health is for keeping away the illness and keeping the physical body fit.
3. Harmony is for mental peace and a tensionless “I have all I want” life.

I also have a habit of assessing my current state of affairs in a binary manner:

a. Either I am like an infant comfortably sleeping on Swamy’s lap without a care in the world
b. Or I am falling down a bottomless well and waiting for the inevitable end to hit me.

Most Thursdays, all of the above are satisfied and I thank Him for all the Hs.
-So the position of affairs is that of an infant.

Some Thursdays, one of the above is not satisfied and the grouse against it will be occupying my mind and I thank for the remaining 2 Hs.
-So the position of affairs is that of a bottomless well.

Few Thursdays, two of the above are not satisfied and the grouse against it will be occupying my mind and I thank for the remaining 1 H.
-So the position of affairs is that of a bottomless well.

Last Thursday, for the first time, all of the above were not satisfied…

Good and Bad

Sometimes if something happens that we think is for good, it might well turn out that it is for bad.
Sometimes if something happens that we think is for bad, it might well turn out that it is for good.

Nature's way of playing a joke.

The (Food) Weekend That Was

Friday Evening snacks: Road-side Capsicum Bhajji and Aloo Bonda; Bhel Puri at Shanti Upahar

Saturday Breakfast: Idly with Sambar at Shanti Upahar.
Saturday Lunch: Veg Dragon Noodles parcel from Chungs.
Saturday Dinner: Pani Puri, Masala Puri, Mirchi, Phulka with ennegai, champakali. All home made. Topped off with Gold Label whisky on the rocks. Get together.

Sunday Morning: Home made coffee at road side on the way to Paaparapatti.
Sunday Lunch: Thali at Ananthalakshmi Hotel in Palacode. Boasts itself as High Class but... :-)
Sunday Dinner: Sambar made of Lady's finger and rice. Topped off with another brand of whisky and Ambode! Another get-together.

Debates

I hate debates. These days, there are a lot of debates shown on TV. Pundits of the language and great orators come on stage and battle it out. It is in fact amazing. But the thing I hate about debates is that the guy who is for “pro” can talk equally well when he suddenly finds himself in the “con” team and the “con” guy can bring up equally better points when asked to promote the “pro” debate. The guys are so good in talking that they just need a forum to speak and it doesn’t matter if they are “pro” or they are “con”. Their real feelings are actually masked.

Looks and Skills

Looks and Skills are somehow related. There are occasions when I have made some kind of impression on seeing a new person but this impression undergoes a drastic change a few months later when I realize the person’s potential or lack of it. For instance, there was this new guy in my team who looked like an alien with beaked nose and adam’s apple. But a few months later I realized the guy was really good at his work. I came to realize that I was no longer considering him as an odd looking person but in fact I started respecting him and preferred his company. Ditto with one good looking gal in my team. She seemed nice and looked nice and seemed as a nice company to have in the team but after working with her for a few months, realized that she was not good and not a preferred person to have in the team.

Women and Footwear

There is something about Women and Footwear. I have seen many of my female colleagues and colleagues’ female colleagues being crazy about footwear. There is this person who has a wardrobe full of footwear – enough for her to wear one pair once in a year. There is another person who takes so much care of her feet that she wears socks if there is sunlight to ensure it doesn’t tan! I knew couple of my (gal) friends who would pass their time in a mall looking at men’s footwear and rate their personality! Strange!

Hindus and Muslims and Moon

In 2010, Ganesha festival for Hindus and Ramzan festival for Muslims fell on same day. I guess (I may be wrong here) Muslim folks had to see Moon and (this I know for sure) Hindu folks had to avoid seeing Moon. If the belief is for goodness to prevail on Earth, then Muslim folks would want all Hindus to see Moon too and Hindus would want all Muslim folks to avoid seeing Moon. How exactly opposite!

Job: Bread or Joy

I sometimes wonder what is more important. A job that brings home the bread (or bacon as the case may be) or a job that gives joy? Bread is a necessity; joy is optional. So we have four main classifications: No bread, no joy (unemployed and doing nothing); Only bread, no joy (a grocery shop owner working over 12 hours a day seven days a week to make ends meet); No bread, only joy (unemployed but volunteering); Bread and joy (sportsperson). Of course, the two important variations are “Little Bread; More Joy”, “More Bread; Little Joy” amongst which the majority of the middle class get into.

Sunlight

Sunlight is important to a certain extent. It enriches the human body with Vitamin D. But the current craze of the modern women to be fair depletes the essential vitamin in their body resulting in future complications. Even for a short walk from the office cubicle to the canteen, from the bus to the office cubicle, young women nowadays open up the umbrella. Fairness, after all, is not everything. Health is.

Americans in India

When in America, the pleasant thing to notice is that Americans look you in the eye and say “Hello” or something to that effect and sometimes even go so far as to comment on a topic of mutual interest. But when an American is in India, they act like Indians and act as if you do not even exist. So unfortunate.