The First Half of 2010

“Change is the only constant thing in this world.”

Today marks the end of the first half of 2010. This has been “the most happening” year in no uncertain terms. There has been a constant change around me in terms of projects, people and personal affairs (related to relatives, friends and self).

After working for 5 years in one project group, 2010 finally ushered in a breath of fresh air and I moved into a new module. It was a pleasant change, especially because some of my old team mates were in this new module and the merge into the new module seemed seamless.

Couple of my friends bought new houses. Many of my friends got married. Many gave birth to their offspring. Many gave good news of being in the pipeline to give births in the latter half of the year. Many who were in onsite returned back. Made many new friends.

But the hardest part was many near and dear ones no longer were ‘near’. A huge number of colleagues - who are close friends too - quit (or went onsite) in the first half of the year and considering how good each one was, not just in terms of skill set but also character-wise, it was considerably a big loss – a void that can never be filled, even though, the cliché farewell mail typically says “I am just a click away…” I am just thankful that I got to meet such wonderful people who enriched my own life albeit for a short period of time. It is rightly said thus:

Endaro Mahanubhavulu Andariki Vandanamulu…

The Weighing Machine

Whenever my wife stands on the weighing machine and see the scale go higher than she expected, she smiles.

Whenever I stand on the weighing machine and see the scale go higher than I expect, I grimace.

It is strange how one machine can bring about two diametrically opposite emotions.

The Open Fly

Today I saw a fellow lady employee in the campus in Western formals who somewhat seemed inappropriately dressed. I couldn’t place what was wrong with her apparel until my eyes fell on the trousers. Her fly was open! It looked outright odd! Its one thing to have a man’s fly open but it is another thing altogether to have a woman’s fly open!

She passed right by me and I had half a mind to tell her about it. But I wanted to avoid the embarrassing situation. I could have told the lady friend who was with me to inform the lady employee about it but I was embarrassed even to tell my lady friend!

I am not sure if I was right in not telling and avoiding one embarrassing situation than allowing her to walk around all over the campus creating more embarrassing situations.

What the ...?

Seen on a cigarette box in big font, covering almost one side of the box:

SMOKING KILLS. TOBACCO CAUSES CANCER.

Then why are you manufacturing it, dude?!!

The Marital Transaction

Recently I was subject to witness the preliminary discussions being held for a marital occasion. Suffice it to say that it was not pleasant. I sensed negative energy all around me. Suddenly, somewhere, the topic had diverted from the joyous union of a male and female to a completely noncommittal business transaction between the girl’s side and the boy’s side involving money, gold, gifts, etc. There were demands, bargaining, raised voices, etc. It was outright disgusting. It was at times like this when I wish I am the eldest in the group and everyone abides by what I say. Being in the minority (both in age and thought), I was outnumbered by like-minded people who spoke of everything that surrounded ‘Male Chauvinism and Supremacy’ but very much meant that in one way or the other.

I wish I had the guts like Ananya Swaminathan to stand up in front of elders and be counted. I don’t. So I left midway during the discussion.

I choose to ignore what I cannot stand.

Run Vs Walk

I have never seen my 20-something-year-old neighbour walking. I have been seeing him since 2+ years and everytime I see him, he is always running. I see him get out of the house and run, either to shop or to college. I see him come home running. It is as if his thought is ‘Why walk when one can run?’ He is like Forrest Gump. Imagine the amount of time he saves by not walking!

I wonder, just supposing, if he encounters some kind of muscle tear or wear at the age of 40+, his doctor would then ask him ‘Why have you been running all your life when you can walk?’

:-)

The UPS

Whenever there is a power shutdown, the UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) kicks on. This is the norm in every other household and commercial establishment nowadays in India.

For me, this indicates that the Government is unable to provide electricity but the citizen is able to afford alternate means of electricity on their own. It shows that the Government is unable to provide basic means of living to it's citizenry 24*7 but the citizenry can take care of itself without Government's assistance for a few hours. Its like a slap on the Government!

If only this was true for water too...Welcome the Rainfall! :-)

The Mehndi Man

Two innocuous looking men sit on the pavement of Jayanagar 4th block and apply magnificent mehndi on girls’ hands. They are experts. They can complete intricate designs from fingertips to elbow for both hands within one hour. Since they are so good, there is always a queue of girls waiting in glee to get their hands all painted, be it weekday or weekend.

The fare charged for fingertips to elbow for both hands is Rs 500. Lesser the distance from the fingertips, lesser the amount, subject to a minimum of Rs 150 (which covers just the palm). If the Rs 500 takes about 1 hr, the Rs 150 takes about 15 minutes for the mehndi man to apply.

They usually start their business by about 10 am and go up to 10 pm. The demand for them is less in the morning and more as the day progresses. Assuming an average income of Rs 300 per hour, the daily income of one mehndi man is Rs 3600. (I am sure this is the bare minimum because every time I have seen them in evenings, they have a huge queue; and almost every girl gets the Rs 500 service) Assuming they work for 6 days of the week (weekends are when they get more customers), this would imply their weekly income is Rs 21600 per person and monthly income per person is close to Rs 1 lakh with almost zero investment on equipment and real estate!

So these simple looking men on the pavement applying mehndi on girls have a gross annual salary of about 12 lakhs per person and completely non taxable because there is no bill provided and transaction is all in cash. They don’t even have a shop. On the contrary, its better not to have a shop and not to expand as having a shop will only eat up their profit in terms of taxation, real estate, shop equipments, etc. And in any case, girls prefer mehndi on pavements (thinking they will be cheaper) than mehndi applied in shops (thinking it will be costly).

So.

My happy-happy mehndi-laden wife finally came to where I was waiting and my hour long wait came to an end. I stopped thinking further on the mind-boggling intricacies of small-time lesser-known Indian economy.

My First Interview

Today I participated in my company’s recruitment process by being part of the Interview panel. For the first time in my life, I conducted an interview. It was akin to Man playing God. You suddenly have power to enhance lives or ruin hopes. In other words, you have power for one day to help the organisation grow and make it better. That’s a better and diplomatic way of putting it. I have come a long way since I attended my first interview…

Note: Incidentally, my first interview for employment - about 8 years ago - happened in the same campus where I conducted my own first interview, albeit it was for a different company.

My Two Cents

I have noticed that my wife brings out the humour in me.
I tend to crack more jokes and have more laughs with her than when I am with anyone else.

My wife says I don’t make pals easily.
Although I hate to admit it, its true.

After my friend Adiga informed me, I started noticing the weirdness in Harsha Bhogle’s cricket commentary.
His commentary is full of statistics and numbers revolving around cricket but it is not actually about cricket.

After my dad informed me, I started noticing that Bangalore traffic is filled with ambulances and their blares while it was not so much in yesteryears.
Reminds me of cities like New York and Boston where it is a common occurrence.

We had 9/11 and 26/11 but the dates do not signify a common month.
Life would be so much simpler if we standardize one date format, one metric unit, one method of driving system, etc across the world.

There are so many people playing farming in Facebook.
If even half of them plant real trees and get their hands dirty in the mud instead of playing on the net in the comfort of their homes, this world will become so much better.

When I go on train journeys, I get to see vast farm lands filled with lush greenery.
Somehow this has a soothing effect on me and it makes my travel that much more enjoyable and desirous.

I realized that mornings are never my own and I never get to enjoy the ozonated oxygen early in the day.
Except on weekends, but that’s when I prefer bed than fresh oxygen.

Many soap operas emit heavy negative energy and revolve only around sadistic schemes within the family.
Life will be enriched if happiness of co-existence mixed with humour (remember Dekh Bhai Dekh?!) is shown more than just disappointments mixed with revenge.

I think I will stop here.
I am feeling sleepy.

16000 Hours

In a year, we have 365 days.

Counting out the weekends, we get 261 days.

Counting out 20 days of leaves and holidays, we get 241 days.

Considering 9 hrs per day, we have 2169 hrs per year.

Approximating my corporate life to 7.5 years,

I have worked for over 16000 hrs as a Software Engineer.

Does that mean I can never make a mistake in my profession on any given day?

PS: No offense meant to the ill-fated pilot but just an observation. It just seems silly to quote a huge number of professional hours against a person to show his infallibility.

Welcome to the cruel world

The maid who comes to our house is aged about 40 and has many daughters and sons and umpteen grandchildren, thanks to a series of child marriages (a phenomenon still ever-so-existing in the below-poverty Indian populace). While sipping coffee after her daily chores, she usually narrates a tale of her life or my mom does the same.

In one such tale-telling-moment, the maid related an event wherein her daughter’s parents-in-law threatened her - while the daughter was in labour in a Government hospital - that she will be welcomed back to the home only if she delivers a baby boy. As it turned out, the daughter delivered a baby girl. In panic, our maid bribed a nurse to replace the new-born daughter with a new-born son. In just Rs 5000, the job was done. Perhaps the mother of the new-born son needed some part of that Rs 5000; or perhaps she never came to know about the switch and wasn’t even aware what child she had given birth to.

Whatever be the case, the maid’s daughter had to forego her own dear daughter – whom she carried in her womb for the last 9 months – to some one else’s son just for the sake of entering back into her in-law’s house and continue staying with her husband. This switch, to this day, is known only to the maid and maid’s daughter. The grand son thinks of the maid’s daughter as his mother while his own mother is somewhere out there and the maid’s real granddaughter is somewhere out there without even knowing who her real mother is. Or perhaps she is already dead in a ditch.

During pregnancy scans, the gender of the child is not to be revealed as per the Rules and Regulations set forth by the Indian Government just so to avoid female genocide. But of what use is this rule if it is manipulated in this manner, that too in a Government Hospital, for a sum of money?

In the above tale, every one has played a criminal act – from the in-laws (threatening) to the husband (meek) to the maid (bribing for the switch) to the daughter (agreeing to do the switch) to the nurse (doing the switch and taking the bribe) to perhaps even the son’s mother (if applicable) (accepting part of bribe).

At the same time, every person had a reason to do what they did - from the in-laws (desperate need for continuation of the family generation) to the husband (ditto) to the maid (future life of her daughter) to the daughter (her own future life) to the nurse (compassion to the daughter and daughter’s future life) to perhaps even the son’s mother (if applicable)(desperate need for money).

The only innocent persons are the new-born-son and the new-born-daughter. What did they do to lose their real mothers? A fitting welcome to the cruel world.

Natural Beauty

She had perfect features, with her eyes, nose, lips and ears the right size and in right places. That is all it takes to make people beautiful - normal body parts - yet why does nature mess it up so many times?

~Chetan Bhagat in "2 States: The Story of my marriage"

After-Life

Suppose there is no such thing called life after death, then it means its always a big get-together after-life! What with no one leaving Heaven or Hell as the case may be, there is no farewell parties - just welcome and get-together parties! Boy, its fun to get back in touch with so many great people with whom we would have lost touch...!!

Salesperson at Jayanagar

There is this guy in a tie who sells microwave-able plastic kitchen containers in Jayanagar 4th Block complex everyday. He has a backpack full of such containers and he juggles about 4-5 in both of his hand. He stands near the Bluebell sweets shop and scans each passer-by to check if anyone is gullible enough. Sometimes he even crosses the road and follows some customers in the faint hope of them being interested in his containers.

He has never approached me as yet but I haven’t yet seen anyone even listening to him for more than 5 seconds. As soon as he approaches, people wave him away or shake their head. They not even stop in their stride.

Who would want to buy plastic containers from someone on the road when there are so many shops around wherein customers can exchange a day later if they are not satisfied? What is his profit margin? What is his ROI for the time and energy spent?

What makes this guy go on everyday? Especially, dressed with a tie at 9 pm.

Helpless

I received a forward which had originated from a professor in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research imploring a corporate friend of his to forward the email to ask for funds to sponsor a bunch of high school students who had been selected in a global competition to participate in a related event being held at Texas, USA. The mail went on to talk about the exemplary innovation used by the young minds and the irony of being short of funds to even take part (and possibly win) the competition.

When I read this mail, my heart went out to the professor. He was asking for about 2 Lakh Rupees. That’s peanuts for so many people in this world. If only a few such people come forward and sponsor those bright kids, this world will be a better place.

Some times I feel so helpless, seeing so many such ‘Want Money’ mails. It is at times like this when I feel I should earn more and more and increase my donation budget but there is only so much one person can do…And then again, a catch always lies with earning more.

Yummy!

Friday Breakfast: Khara Bhath (Uppit)

Friday Lunch: Chow Chow Bhath (Uppit, Shira/Sajjige)

Friday Evening snack-cum-Dinner: Avalakki, Cucumber-carrot salad, Banana, Mango, Apple, Toblerone chocolate, Basin-Ladu, Ice-Cream, Orange Juice.

Saturday Breakfast: Puri-Saagu.

Saturday Lunch: Curd-Rice.

Saturday Evening snack-cum-Dinner: Churmuri, Veg-Puff, Chips, Gobi Manchuri, Dahi-Puri, Banana.

Sunday Breakfast: Vermicelli

Sunday Lunch: Tomato Cream Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, French Fries

Sunday Evening snack-cum-Dinner: Masala-Bonda, Sambar-Vada, Pani Puri, Sambar-Rice, Curd-Rice.

The case of the Hello Tune

I received an sms from Airtel stating that a Hello Tune (Kannada song) was subscribed to my cell phone and it was charged at Rs 10 for 10 days. This was without any intimation from me. I also received an sms stating what needs to be done if I didn’t want the Tune to continue beyond 10 days. But there was no message to indicate what needs to be done if I wanted to unsubscribe from the Tune right away and get back that Rs 10. Since I didn’t want the Tune even for 1 day, I unsubscribed immediately but I did not get back the Rs 10. Thinking that there might be a batch process that refunds the amount, I waited for one whole day. The money was not refunded.

My wife called up the customer care on my behalf to enquire about the refund. The operator informed her that I should have called up customer care before unsubscribing and the money would have been refunded upon cancellation of the Tune. The unsubscribing option was only for those who stayed with the Tune for 10 days. And since I unsubscribed via sms, the operator mentioned that the refund cannot be processed.

Much has been said about my anger in previous posts. As I overheard this conversation taking place between my wife (who was passively subduing to the fact that Rs 10 was lost because of my hurried unsubscribing action and because of Airtel’s policies) and the operator, my blood pressure shot up and I fumed. I snatched the phone from my wife and lambasted the poor operator like anything. You might even say, I almost bomb-blasted the lady! I outpoured like the famous Eyjafjallajökull and did not even allow her to get in a single word.

Worse, she knew whatever I was speaking was fair. I did not ask for the Hello Tune. Money was debited from my account without my permission for a feature that I did not want and on top of it I was blamed to have messed it all up by unsubscribing instead of calling customer care. As if I would know that I had to call customer care for unsubscribing. And why would Airtel want to make customers call customer care when they are pleasantly enjoying a concert or a movie?! Oh boy, it sure gets nice to verbally beat someone to death when you know you are in the right side of law! Its like pumping one’s fist after winning a hot duel! I got all fired up and spat fire for about 5 minutes after which the operator meekly gave the phone to her supervisor. I would have axed the CEO of Airtel too if I was asked to. It was not the Rs 10 that mattered, it was the gross injustice of it all.

I didn’t even have to speak to the supervisor for the supervisor just came on the phone and said the money will be refunded. It seemed like an anti-climax to me. I mean, here I was, all powered up to serve a 150 mph ace of a serve when the opponent just walked out on me accepting defeat! Sure enough, I got back my money in a minute’s time.

When I went to office and told my colleague about this, who was a fresher, she informed that she had been one such operator in Airtel's competitor company and the fact of the matter was that the operators were taught to convince the customers about customers’ mistakes and if the customer was meek enough and accepted the rules, the company made profit. But if the customers fought and raised their voice, they were to be immediately refunded.

Boink!

So much has been said about not to be angry and to treat everyone fairly and to always be calm and soft, and lo and behold, people misuse people of such character totally! Bottomline is: if you are weak, you get trodden over!

Social Entrepreneur?!

I often wonder what great human beings CEOs like NRN, Azim Premji, Ratan Tata, etc are. My main flow of thought is that they are great because they have given employment to so many fellow human beings, thanks to them thinking big and taking risks and investing and what not. But my friend Adiga informed, quite rightly, that they might not have had such noble thoughts of giving employment to lakhs of people when they started their companies. Their main idea would have been to maximize the profits. This can only be achieved by recruiting the right people and pay them accordingly. Capitalism, in short. Employment to lakhs of people just happened.

I wish to be an entrepreneur too one day but not for the sake of maximizing the profit. It would be more for empowering employees to be bread winners in their homes. In this regard, I have found one small and simple way to start off. It is as thus:

In India, its very common to see all kinds of activities being performed by cheap labour. For e.g., we have folks on carts on roads who iron the dress. We have vegetable vendors in moving carts shouting out vegetable names on roads of residential localities with the hope of selling their inventory. We have tender coconut salesmen on shabby dresses without slippers cycling on punctured tyres brimming with hundreds of tender coconuts. We have maid servants washing dishes, clothes, cleaning the house, etc. We have teenagers wanting to clean the sump and the overhead tank. We have people to wash the vehicles and dust the windows. And so on and so forth.

My idea is to maximize the usage of such people so as to provide them with daily bread. Even though we can iron our own clothes, give clothes to the local guy on the cart who will iron your shirt for Rs 3. Do not bargain with the vegetable vendor and tender coconut salesman. Instead, give them Rs 25 if they ask for Rs 24. Bring in a maid to wash your clothes, dishes, clean the house etc for Rs 300. Employ the teenagers to clean the sump and the overhead tank and clean the vehicles for Rs 300.

Surely, these are the amounts which we can afford. For most, it takes a lot to just donate Rs 1000 for the needy. But if we get some of our work done for that Rs 1000, then it’s a win-win situation. Not only that, we are in a way supporting their family by employing them to perform tasks which we ourselves can do. A social entrepreneur. A noble thought, huh?

My mom calls me just lazy.

:-)

Calvin on milk

Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said, "I think I'll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze 'em!"?

ROFL :-)

Punchline

"We have been all the way to Moon and back,
But have trouble crossing the street to meet a needy person."

~ Read on Infosys Foundation website

Bangalore to Chennai to Bangalore

Midnight: 27 degrees : Bangalore Railway Station

3 am: 30 degrees : On the way to Chennai

6 am: 31 degrees : Chennai Railway Station

9 am: 33 degrees : On the way to US Consulate in Chennai

Noon: 35 degrees : On the way back from US Consulate in Chennai

3 pm: 37 degrees : Chennai Railway Station

6 pm: 31 degrees : On the way back from Chennai

9 pm: 25 degrees : Bangalore Railway Station

Spice and Sweet

I like sweets.

Wife likes it spicy.

I am sweet.

Wife is...?

:-)

Four Hundred and Four

This is my 400th post and this blog is 4 years and 1 month old. After achieving 100 in 1 year, 200 in 2 years and 300 in 3 years, I did not really expect to do 400 in 4 years but I came close.

Well, I am 400 and am not out. Thats mimicking Brian Lara. Except that this is simpler :-)

500, here I come...

C & I

... Story Continued

April 17th 2010

Bangalore Vs Bombay. IPL 3. First time in stadium with wife. There was Sachin in Mumbai team and pride of Bangalore in home team. Also, both teams had more or less qualified to semis. And, Bangalore team was very much in form, so much so that it had beaten Mumbai (the top team) in Mumbai earlier in the tournament. If Sachin scored, people were happy. If Bangalore won, people were happy. So, more or less, this was a win-win for spectators.

Alas, neither did Sachin score nor did Bangalore win. Whats more, there were couple of low-intensity blasts and more bombs diffused in and around the stadium, although we weren't much too concerned. And Bangalore lost so badly that there was a threat of not even being in the top four for qualifying into semis. Till date I haven't gone home real happy from Chinnaswamy and the sad saga continues but I ain't dissuaded :-)

After all, one wave from Sachin to the stands to acknowledge the crowd - after the crowd chants, "Sachin, Sachin, Sachin" vociferously over and over again - is more than sufficient to make one's day. As one banner said "Heard that God is in town. Have come to seek his blessings." As I stood there watching this tiny little man on the ground, I wondered how one single man can make over 45,000 people - young and old alike - give him a standing ovation every time he comes into bat, even though he is in the opposition team. To be a part of that standing ovation, is simple priceless.

30

2008 - Sahib Sindh Sultan

2009 - Ivory Tower

2010 - Pier 39

Expressway Vs Highway

We try to save money now

To spend good quality time with family later.

When we finally end up with saved money later,

Either there is no more a family

Or we ourselves are no more in the family!

Given a choice between the toll expressway and the free highway, which road should man choose? The expressway is costly but its faster. The highway is free but its slower. Faster means more quality time with family. Free means more money in the kitty, because money saved is money earned.

Twist in the tale: Going slowly on a traffic-ridden free highway consumes more gasoline and also leads to more wear and tear of the vehicle in the long run than going smoothly on the toll expressway. So, is money really saved while going on the free highway?!

The Vicious Circle

Higher pay packet entails a desire for better life;

Better life leads to liabilities exceeding assets;

Then, sustenance depends on higher pay packet.

:-(

Bloopers

I am making too many mistakes these days.

Sometimes unwillingly; sometimes willingly.

Each of them is costly.

:-(

"First time" of the day...

..Sat under a fan that actually worked in the BMTC bus!

..Toogire Rayara was not sung in the Mutt on a Thursday after all the preliminary religious activities.
:-(
Incidentally, it is only after one year of marriage that I came to know that my wife liked this song very much and my wife came to know that I liked this song very much! [Same with Indu Enage]

..Saw a lady crying in the Mutt in front of the Lord, with total devotion, as if there was no one else around her...

Experiencing the music!

Cool showers after a long, long time in Bangalore...

I have always liked this song, but today I felt the joyousness that is shown so well in the choreography...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpTCnl36gZI

Alas, the rain-bearing clouds can be compared to actual rain today. The rain vanished - like the rain-bearing clouds in the song - as soon as it came...

:-(

Peer Pressure

Scene (and seen!) in a female boutique shop in US (sometime in Nov 2009):

Three teenage girls checking out the innumerous dresses spread across the different shelves.

The quest for the ‘Right Dress’ made the three friends wander across the shop.

One girl picked up a jazzy top and her jaw literally dropped as if she found gold.

She grabbed it with both hands and made way to the friend nearest to her.

She said to her, with her eyes rolling: “Isn’t this cool? I mean isn’t this is so damn good?!”

The friend looked at the dress, just shrugged and said “Its okay” and continued her own search.

Not convinced if the top was just “okay”, the first girl then took that ‘piece-of-gold(!)’ to the third friend.

She asked her the same question but this time with less enthusiasm.

The third girl frankly said “Naw...” and she too got busy with her own search.

The first girl gave one last look at the jazzy top, gave a shrug and kept it back on the shelf.

Just goes to show how much one value other’s opinion…

Good Deed for the day

I was hungry when I left my office cubicle. By the time, I ran to the bus and got a seat, I was starving. I had a box of rusk with me which I opened and started munching. Etiquette told me that I should offer it to my (unknown) colleague sitting right beside me. But something within me was stopping me. I was not sure if I was embarrassed or if the person listening to iPod was stopping me but I sure wanted to. A part of me was stopping me from even starting the conversation with the unknown person while another part was urging me to the good deed.

Just a few days ago, when I was sitting in the same bus with another (unknown) colleague, I found it so easy to ask if Sachin had got to his momentous 200, but now, when I wanted to do a good deed, it was such a humongous task. Simple words – “Would you like to have some…?” But the words just wouldn’t come, even though I knew the other person would politely refuse! I tried and tried, I mentally spoke but physically it just wouldn’t come out! I finally felt so guilty eating all by myself, that I took the direct approach: I stopped thinking and blurted out the question. As expected, the person politely refused. Phew! What a relief to just ask and be rid of the guilty conscience!

Why is it so difficult to do a good deed? Why do we feel embarrassed?

Then I remembered Trevor McKinney in Pay It Forward. A simple story of doing 3 good deeds, and how the world gets transformed…

Quotes on Life

"It is a disturbing thought that we suffer in this world just as much by being prudent and taking precautions as we do by being rash and impulsive and acting as the spirit moves us."

"Freddie, resplendent in evening dress, bustled in, patting his tie with solicitous fingers. It had been right when he had looked in the glass in his bedroom, but you never know about ties. Sometimes they stay right, sometimes they wiggle up sideways. Life is full of these anxieties."

"Life was like one of those shots at squash which seem so simple till you go to knock the cover off the ball, when the ball sort of edges away from you and you miss it. Life was apt to have a nasty back-spin on it."

"Mankind is divided into two classes, those who do sitting-up exercises before breakfast and those who know they ought to but don't."

By P G Wodehouse in The Little Warrior

Ambitious?

Everybody in the family is happy and excited. But I am a little concerned. I have my reasons. And I have my questions.

Am I being too ambitious? Is this the way I want to lead my life?

Its funny how Life takes you even when you have no clear cut goals and you just flow with the river. And boy, its not boring.

The 3 shoes on the T-shirt

The other day, I saw a girl wearing a black T-shirt
That just had 3 shoes lined up vertically in the middle.

This made me wonder.
What in Heaven’s name was that design supposed to mean?

What could have inspired the designer to imagine such a T-shirt?
What could have inspired the girl to buy and wear such a T-shirt?

Just goes to show, to borrow a Wodehouse phrase,
“It takes all kinds to make this world!”

But hey, wait a minute.
Because the shirt had such a unique design, I noticed it and so would have many others.

Perhaps this was the inspiration behind the designer’s design!
To create a design that does not make any sense but catches the attention of passers-by!

Perhaps this was the inspiration behind the girl’s sense of attire!
To wear a shirt that stands out and makes people look at it!

And me, like many others, fell for it in a flat.
Now, include me when I say “it takes all kinds to make this world!”

Sun set

These days I am taking the 6 pm bus back home from office. The bus comes over the celebrated elevated NH7 for about 14 kms. Almost every day, now being on top of this elevated expressway, I get to see the sun setting, and boy, it is so wonderful. A red hot ball thats dipping, dipping amidst an excellent easel of choicest colors that no man can ever dream of painting...

AC

These days AC has become very common in India. A decade ago, only the privileged few (like business men, actors, etc) flaunted it but with the economic development and fat pay packet jobs, AC has become affordable for the middle class. Sleeper 3-Tier folks will now opt for AC 3-Tier, the AC room is now better than the normal noisy dining hall in restaurants, windows of the AC car are now shut out to the noisy traffic and the heat outside, BMTC Vajra buses are “standing” full, etc, etc.

While AC indeed provides comfort and luxury, I feel it is somehow a temporary solution to a growing problem and not just that, it is something that’s adding fuel to the growing problem, the growing problem of increasing global temperature. If my understanding is correct, AC blows out more heat outside to keep the inside cold (You only have to stand beside an AC vehicle at a traffic light to feel the heat). So, when there are lots of such air conditioners blowing out heat outside, wouldn’t the global temperature increase? It might be an insignificant amount, but then when a complete country starts affording AC, and at the same time cuts a hell lot of trees to make way to wider roads thanks to economic development, that would be a lot of hot air added to the global temperature.

So, this is what we have: There is bearable heat both inside and outside; but people use AC; AC blows more heat outside to make the inside cold; so, outside heat increased; so more people opt for ACs; more ACs blow out more heat outside; so outside heat increases even more, and becomes unbearable, and hence we end up with this vicious cycle that’s actually tightening the noose over our own neck, and we are not even realizing.

If, like the decade ago, we had continued to stay without the amount of ACs that we currently have, who knows, perhaps we would not have had to sweat out as much as we are currently when not under an AC. ACs make more sense in ultra-cold and extremely-high temperature countries like US, Russia, Europe, etc but India is a country that could have lived without ACs in the first place.

PS:

1. If my understanding is wrong and ACs do not blow out hot air due to enhanced technology, then this post can be ignored! Suffice it to say that I am in bliss (read ignorance)!

2. For the uninitiated, increase of global temperature is not a problem just because people have to sweat more but it has another serious issue of melting of ice in the Polar Regions which has a two-fold problem:
a. More water in the oceans which will merge coastline cities
b. Currently the ice in the Polar Regions is reflecting much of Sun’s rays out of the atmosphere. But when all the ice melts, the complete set of Sun’s rays gets stayed within the earth’s atmosphere and this leads to a number of skin diseases (and many more as yet unknown diseases deeper than just skin) due to the Sun’s Ultra Violet radiations.

Indian Roads

Although parts of India are now connected by great national highways that are comparable to any foreign expressways, the Bangalore to Chennai NH4 is not yet up there, what with a number of sudden potholes and double-lane-system-without-median and what not. On this highway, I saw a hoarding (similar to the ones which we usually see like ‘Speed Thrills But Kills’, etc) which got me confused:

“Roads are our culture.”

I failed to see if we were “boasting about the richness” or “showcasing the poorness” of our culture…!

3 words that bring joy

Today I was given a task that seemed daunting but I was told 3 words by the client (who gave me the task) which gave me utmost joy and almost deflated the mountain of work that was already on my head:

"Take your time."

I ended up finishing the task with ease in lesser time and realized that it was not a mountain after all! Come to think of it, if I was given a deadline of, say, 2 or 3 hours, I would have done a sloppy work and would not have enjoyed either, what with the deadline hanging like a guillotine.

Just shows how words can affect a person and his task.

Electricity

Methinks electricity has to be first people’s priority. The government has to ensure full electric power to its country’s residents, in urban and rural areas, 24 hrs a day 365 days a year before allowing private organizations to buy electricity for advertising on hoardings and malls to flaunt jazzy lights in and around their buildings and sports events to be held under thousands of watts at the expense of what rightly could have been electricity for millions of rural poor who spend hot summer nights without light and fan. Its like having load shedding in the whole city of Nevada but flaunting all those lights in Las Vegas Casinos.

Thought for the day

At times you will have to come to a lower gear to propel your vehicle to overtake - or ‘pass’ - as they say in US. I sometimes wonder if it is the same with one’s career. Does one have to come to a lower-paying job to enhance the career growth?

Sita on Fire

If someone were to ask me what is the only thing that you hate in Ramayana, I would say Rama making Sita go on fire (agni pariksha) to prove her chastity. [Later, he abandons her in spite of the fact that she comes out clean in the agni pariksha, just to satisfy the rumour spread amongst his people] However much Rama is praised on being the 'Ideal Gentleman' (Maryada Purush as he was called), I am of the opinion that his action of testing Sita/abandoning her was not the right thing to do. If Vishnupuran had continued till the tenth avatar, perhaps I would have known something that I do not know about this particular episode to change my opinion...

The little things of life

I had a problem with my left eye last week and I was waiting at the reception of an eye hospital for the doctor to summon me. It was a pretty long wait and was just getting boring when I spotted this small girl, roughly aged between 2 and 3, with hands hanging onto dear mother’s neck and legs comfortably wrapped around the mater’s tummy. She was fondly resting her face on her mother’s cheek, and sometimes suddenly, as if remembering something, took her mother’s face in her wee both hands and planted a kiss and continued to rest. The mother was busy talking to the receptionist when all this happened and of course, embarrassedly happy but I wondered how this little action was so significant. I mean, 20-30 years later this kid, then adult, will think twice about kissing her mother!

Then, the kid spotted her granny, sitting behind me. She slid down the mother and started half walking, half running towards her. This spontaneity was as if she had seen the granny for the first time, although she had come along with her and mommy to the eye hospital!

On the way to Granny, the kid’s wandering face latched onto something and it deviated from the destination. It walked for a couple of steps and suddenly fell down flat on the ground, intentionally. I then saw that the kid was performing what we Hindus generally do in temples in front of the Lord – genuflect. There was a big Lord Ganesha in the reception hall that I myself had not seen even though I had come to this hospital many times! Perhaps I had not seen it before because of the commonality of presence of Lord Ganesha in every other place these days in some form or the other! At the same time, I mused on how an upbringing of a child can self-motivate it to perform something on its own which it is taught to do or it has seen in adults, even without supervision and even without knowing the intent. This shows how important it is for the child to grow in a good environment.

This done, it resumed its journey and reached the Granny, who received her in the strictest of terms – there was no smile on her face matching the kid’s. Obviously, granny’s thoughts were on the problems of her eyes! Now that the kid was near me, it started shyly looking at me. Whenever I looked at her, it smiled and tried to hide its face at the same time. I returned the smile and tried to entertain her in as much of a way as only a face can endeavor to do.

For some time, it was restlessly shifting this way and that, annoying the granny, who wanted it to be ’Obedient’ and ‘Decent’ and ‘Sit still’! The granny gripped the kid’s wrist in what seemed like a dead-lock and the kid countered its attack in the only form known to her - wailing! Unable to withstand the grandchild’s wailing on top of an already acute issue of the eye problem, the granny let go of the child’s wrist. The child readily escaped and used its freedom to walk back towards mom – the sense of wanting to enjoy the company of the granny somewhat having turned sour.

On the way back to the mom, the kid perceived Lord Ganesha again and again fell flat on the stomach! It was as if the previous encounter with Lord Ganesha never happened! It got up, raised its hand towards the idol, and touched its (kid’s) own heart and repeated this action about ten times – just like how adults do at temples!

After some more wandering – to the nurse’s station, to the TV stand, to the exit door (which made her granny almost follow), to the stairs (which made her mom lie (scare) about cockroaches on the steps), to the elevator doors - it then finally reached the mom and climbed her body to regain her old resting posture – hands wrapped mom’s neck and legs wrapped around mom’s tummy. She stayed there for some time. The receptionist started talking to the girl and the girl was shyly hiding behind whatever mom’s possession she could lay her hands on. This went on for some time.

She got tired of this too after some time and slid down and again started walking here and there. Her walk was very unique. The left leg kicked an invisible football and the right leg made a semi circle for every stride. The hands went all around like a spinner’s bowling action and the head tilted unevenly. It was very comical – so obvious that she had just learnt how to walk and was totally enjoying it! If she were doing this walking action 20 years later, she would be assumed handicapped or labeled as a disabled person!

Once more, she came across Lord Ganesha, and she fell flat on her tummy! The same action of reaching out to the lord and touching the chest n number of times. The whole thing as if it was the first time she was seeing this idol! This time, she went near the idol, touched its necklace and other paraphernalia adorning the idol, and seemed amazed by it. Then, suddenly her granny was called to the consultation room, and her mom picked her up and the trio went away.

I was amazed at how a kid can keep itself busy, by being fascinated at the little things of life and here I was getting bored! Well, to my defense, as long as I was watching the kid, I wasn’t bored, and even I was fascinated by the ‘little things’ of life!

:-)

The Superior and The Subordinate

I was waiting for my manager the other day in his cubicle and saw a unique scene:

~ At the north east end of the floor, I could see the GPM standing at the door of the DM’s cubicle and talking to the DM.
~ At the north west end of the floor, I could see an SPM standing at the door of another GPM’s cubicle and talking to that GPM.
~ Here I was, at the center of the floor, almost a PM, waiting for another SPM.
~ Finally, at the south end of the floor, I saw a bunch of freshers cursing my peers (almost-PMs and PMs) for giving some crap work.

There you go! The complete chain! Majorly, the subordinate waiting on his superior but the superior being a subordinate himself.

Reminds me of what one of my own ex-managers had once told me “Everybody hates their managers.” I have come to realize that while this is not 100% true, it is indeed true in most cases.

Sad but true

It’s a grave situation.
The volcano is seething and seems to erupt any time.
Heard too many negative stories now than positive ones like this.
The fury and furor is palpable.
The mutiny seems to be just around the corner.
The tension is almost tangible.
The frustration is cracking through the walls and the smell of the ensuing flood is in the air.
Like a poisonous gas, it is spreading everywhere.
Its sad but true.

200* !!

There are millions and millions of words written about Sachin Tendulkar but I feel that I will be doing an injustice if I write anything about him because I fear my words cannot be as powerful as I want it to be. Gaurav writes really well on Sachin. I second every word of his. Esp the post on Sachin's 200 and the Sachin generation...

Boy, am I happy today!

:-)

A special day

Today is a special day.
It has been exactly 2 years since Gouri and I first met...

Media

Feb 4th was Bus Day in Bangalore. Posters were put everywhere to encourage commuters to travel in public transportation as against taking own vehicles so as to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

On Feb 5th, I saw headlines of 2 newspapers. One newspaper said Bus Day was a huge success and showed pics of professionals going in the bus. It even interviewed some non regulars and asked them their experience in coming in the bus. Another newspaper said Bus Day was a big flop. It showed the usual congested trafffic and many cars plying on the road.

Those who read the former would have felt proud about Bangalore and Bangaloreans' effort - miniscule though it might be - towards global warming. The participants in this exercise would have felt happy and the non participants would be encouraged to participate in future such events.

Those who read the latter would have felt helpless and dejected. The participants in this exercise would have felt the futility of their effort and the non participants would feel that such events hold no water and continue not to participate.

Just shows how media interprets a particular situation and what impact it has on the general public.

Boys Day In!

Grandfather, Father and Son
Or should I say
Father, Son and Grandson

Spent one whole night
Under one roof
With no female counterparts.

First time ever

:-)