Browsing category

Just Generally

From couch to marathon

May 26, 2010
Duh the problem with coming to your blog after long is that you don’t know which one topic to stick to. I wanted to write about so many things – those new books which I read recently, the movies which I watched, time spent with mom last month, those weird new soaps being aired on TV etc etc etc. But for this post, let me just stick to one of the most interesting experiences I had in last few weeks and that is Sunfeast World 10k 2010.


Yes, quite happy that I went for it as it was surely an amazing event. Frankly speaking the decision of participating in it this year just happened in a flash. And after filling the form we both realized that we needed some practice to go for such a long run. Though I have been sort of regular with my walking plus swimming regime and I can walk for any normal length very comfortably but running is something which does not come easily to me; at times I get breathless and at times my legs start aching. N definitely has far more stamina than me but then it’s been only recent few months that he has got back to his exercise regime after a long hiatus. Post his initial few running sessions on his own, he decided to join a runner’s club in Bangalore while I decided to stick to my own regular walking routine but with a target to cover longer distance each day. Joining that club and running with lots of similar athletes definitely worked for N and motivated him further to improve his timing and performance every week. And as N says – from couch to Sunfeast 10k marathon– we were there in 3 months. 🙂 It was a fantastic experience to reach the finishing line and we both managed to do it in our respective targeted time. But what was more interesting about the event was the positive and enthusiastic environment of Bangalore that day. From international athletes, to sports stars, to film celebs, to senior citizens, to corporate biggies, to handicapped people, almost everybody was running. More than 30,000 people on road and those not running were there to cheer others up. Oh man, what positivity and what liveliness, got to see a very different shade of Bangalore that day. Had my jaws open to see that the international athlete Titus Mbeishei (winner of men category) from Kenya actually completed 10 kms in 27:54 mins whereas Yimer Wude (winner of women category) from Ethopia did it in 31:58 mins only!!! At times I was happy to see the sporting spirit of celebs like Rahul Bose or Gul Panag who actually ran for 10k and at others I was in total awe of those handicapped people who really were running through their wheel chairs. I have no words to describe my feelings after seeing them, all I can say is that I had goosebumps when I saw their energy and enthusiasm. Hats off to them and kudos to all Bangloreans for their spirit that day. And I think the event management agency did a commendable job this year. Yes, there were some participants who mentioned timing issues in case of timed runs but considering the size and scale of this international event, I think overall Procam International did a great job in conducting it. Otherwise in India, you never know what mess can happen in such large scale events. With my fun experience this year and better confidence on my physical stamina I think I am surely looking forward to participating in this event next year as well.

My wishlist for some more DAYs

March 28, 2010

Ok, so few days back it was “save water day” & few days later it will be “lake restoration day”. Today it is actually “hot tub day” (time to soak yourself in a steaming hot tub and bust the stress!!!) & on 30th March it is gonna be “doctor’s day” (time to thank the doctors in your lives!!!). Well, earlier also I had wondered and expressed my bewilderment on these millions & zillions of days in a calendar year of just 365 days! Thanks to some authorities, marketers & creators that we have even days for “temporary insanity” (this year it was on 19th Feb) & “teddy-bears” (this year it’s on 9th Sept’10). Well, being a marketer I can’t crib about these weird and incomprehensible number of days as I’ve myself being into situations where I was supposed to come out with some such days just to promote the product / service in a different way! So, as far the concept of these days are concerned, I think whether I like it or hate it, I have sort of done truce with it now. Only wondering why don’t people come out with some more meaningful days which can make our lives bit easier, you know even it is just for a day. And on a vella Sunday evening, here I come with a wish list of my preferable days which I would love to be added in this never ending list of special days. So, here goes my proposed memo from the top 5 in my wishlist, of course if I will have more such free Sundays, I don’t mind adding more to this:

  • Well-behaved auto driver day: Now this is self-explanatory, isn’t it? Imagine you walk out of your home / office and an auto guy is just standing in front of you with a big grin on his face, he bows down and asks you absolutely politely – “madam, aap kaha jana chahengi”? When I say X road, he obeys with another big smile and says – “sure madam, please baithiye”. He starts the auto and starts his meter too, drops you to your destination and charges you exactly as per the meter. If the meter reads Rs. 99, he actually returns Rs. 1 from the 100 rupee note given to him. Ah bliss!!! The imagination itself of even one such day in our life is just so comforting. I’m sure people from metro at least from Bangalore, Delhi & Chennai will vouch for starting one such day.
  • Maid behaving as a maid day: OK, this might be more desired by women but so what, after all a maid is the most important person (ummm, maybe second most important person after the husband) in a woman’s life! Imagine one such day when a maid behaves like a maid and we can ask them to do any number of work without the terror of them leaving our job! Kaash ek, sirf ek din bhi aisa ho paata humare life mein 🙁
  • Negative calorie day: Yes, yes by this I very much mean one such day where whatever we eat (of course, chocolates, ice creams and all desserts included) gets converted into negative calries by some miracle of God. Science has advanced so much, but why on earth some such invention has not happened till now! On this negative calorie day, eat all your favorite calorie laden food absolutely guilt free 😛
  • Cello tape day: One day where you have the power to just shut-up or mute the LOUD persons in your life by officially pasting a cello tape on his / her mouth. And this has to be applicable to anybody whom you hate – be it your Boss, your MIL, that really LOUD colleague of yours, your very irritating neighbor or this person who is so self obsessed that all he/she knows is to speak about “me & myself”. (Well, be careful about this day though, maybe even you would be on hitlist of someone for putting a cello tape on your mouth, but if this happens my advice will be to take it sportingly as even you are getting a chance to zip so many mouths this day

And last but not the least,

  • Sleep in Office Day: One day (some week day of course) where we are allowed to officially sleep in office for as long as we want. Reach office, switch on your laptop and go to zzzzzzzzzzzz…., Boss comes, wakes you up, asks you to do something and you look at him with sleepy eyes and without listening to him completely go to zzzzzzzzzz again…wow!

So, anything on your wishlist? Feel free to add more it in comment section…

Isn’t optimism overrated?

February 16, 2010
Have finally let go of it…had to do it. Evaluated the priorities of my life and finally took this call. At times I’m repenting my decision whereas at times I’m thinking, it was just another opportunity…when we can bear the loss of the most loved ones, what is there in a missed opportunity? Yes, it was a very lucrative one, something which was really-really nice but still I decided to let it go in a hope to fulfill some larger objectives of my life. Those objectives after which I’m running for months now but with no result! Those objectives which have made me miss some equally attractive opportunities in past few months but still I want to run after this one as somewhere I think in the long run this one is more important for life. I’ve no idea if I’m doing right or wrong, no idea if I will get similar kinda opportunities in future but still I’m missing these with a hope that my decisions will prove to be right someday & things will turn out better. “Hope for better” is all I can think of in such a state of mind. Yes I’m apprehensive, anxious, worried, confused, depressed, feeling low & negative too…you heard it right; I’m feeling negative and not positive towards things right now! I’m not sure how am I supposed to feel optimistic about life when despite all my efforts, things are just not turning the right way for years now. And for a change I don’t wanna follow the bandwagon of “pseudo-optimism”. I want to accept my real feelings and the realities they way they are right now.

The last two weeks of my decision making phase has made me more & more contemplative towards so many things. Be positive! Optimistic raho toh sab theek ho jayega! Don’t regret! Always look on the brighter side of life! Never repent your decisions in life! Whatever happens is for good, so always think positive in life! Indecisiveness and confusions are the traits of feeble minds, strong ones take a decision & move on! Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah….Every other person whom I meet these days speaks no less than any motivational guru and out of all, the crowns for the most used (or shall I say abused) buzzwords definitely go to…OPTIMISIM & DECISION MAKING. I’m also aware that there are some colleagues, relatives, formal friends and professional acquaintances who read my this blog now (thanks to Google, finding this link is quite a simple task) and somehow this realization had actually let me become conscious of topics to be posted on my blogs for past few months. Honestly speaking there are times when I’ve written a post but have not posted thinking, “oh, this post might make me sound like a negative person” or “am I the only one who is so indecisive in life, rest all seem to be so confident & positive.” But somehow today I don’t feel like restricting myself from posting this one even if I’m aware that this will project me as a confused personality who gets depressed at times in life. I don’t think there is anything wrong in that. In fact the recent mantra of “forever optimistic” or “assume a crap to be candy & it will turn into a candy” is something which I don’t buy in. I have had arguments with people on realism vs. optimism and the other side has always won saying, “positive sochne se achcha hota hai” or “go with the flow & life will be fine”…well, does it really? If you’re aware that the flow which you are going along with is going to end in pits, then why not change your course before hand, why optimistically wait for the pit to get converted in a straight road? If you’re on a crossroad where both directions seem to be equally appealing & both are sort of life changing directions for you, then how are you not supposed to be indecisive & confused about it? Positive thinking is fine but it DOES NOT & CAN NOT help you in all situations. I have so many case-in-points where I have seen my thinking getting true but somehow have not been able to voice it loudly as my concerns are generally being taken as unnecessary apprehensions. Call me cynical but I do think (& strongly so) that this term “optimism” & the theory of “prove the world that you’re confident” are just too overrated. I have enough case studies and examples to elaborate the same & I will definitely do so in one of my subsequent posts when I will have more time to write a long one for I do feel that terms like “optimism (prefix: pseudo)”, “confidence (prefix: forced)”, “decision making (prefix: irrational)” are doing more bad than good to many of us.

Long live Indian comic characters

February 8, 2010
Was off on a trip to different places up north in January & what a deadly weather it was this time! Chilling cold with dense fog leading to almost zero visibility on roads, did not see sunlight for the whole of 18 days during my trip and traveling to different cities was just so painful. Either flights / trains were canceled or were running abnormally late. One such trip was my return to Delhi from Varanasi via train. Though the train was running quite late but since I was traveling by train after a long time, I was sort of excited at the prospect of eating those station foods (esp. hot omelets & boiled eggs) and buying books from the station stalls. There is something very different about train journeys & buying books from railway strand stalls, it somehow makes me nostalgic about my childhood, hostel life, vacations when I used to go home by train and definitely – definitely used to buy books from station hawkers –comics, magazines, novels (of course only those which were affordable in my very limited budget then ;)) …aha loads of them which I used to devour on whole journey. And so when the train stopped at a small station during this trip in the morning, the first thing which my eyes started to search for was a magazine stall. Even with dense fog, it was not difficult to spot a vendor just outside my window and guess what! He was having Billoo! And Pinki! And Chacha Chowdhary too! Oh wow…ultimate delight I must say. After how long, I got to see those comics. I do get to buy Archies & Tintin while book browsing on Airports or during my occasional book shopping in Bangalore but then Billoo, Pinki and that too hindi versions are almost extinct from these big city book stores. If I’m not wrong today’s generation kids must not be even aware of these iconic Indian comic characters. In fact these kids esp. the ones from bigger cities are so Archified or Tintinised that they can’t even relate to the simple existence of a character like Billoo or Pinki. I remember few months back, one of my cousin’s son reading English Billoo and saying, “ yeh kya bakwaas hai,yeh bhi koi comic hai”! When my cousin tried to explain the fun part of it, the kiddoo replied, “Mom, I can’t laugh at these stupid jokes”. Slamming the book on table, that 9 year old kid logged onto his Orkut account and started chatting with his friends.
But for me reading those comics after soooo long was great fun. Read it at a stretch & then after seeing a Billoo in my hand, even pati ji got out of his deep sleep and grabbed the book immediately :-). Even after all these years, I didn’t get bored of even one single page. Yeah, at times did get the feeling of “did we actually read all these silly stuffs” but then honestly speaking I love such silliness till now. Long live Indian comic characters – Billoo Rocks, Pinki Rules & Chacha Chowdhary ka dimag abhi bhi computer se tez chalta hai 😛

Wish you a very happy new year!

December 30, 2009
Hmmm…last day of the year and last post for my blog in 2009…I remember writing a post on 31st Dec for this blog in 2008 as well. 2008 was bad, really bad as it was the year when Amitesh Bhaiya had left us forever but then the optimistic in me thought that next year will be fine. I had wished, prayed and hoped that 2009 would be better for us never to know that 2009 would actually turn out to be the worst year of our life till now as 2009 is the fateful year when fate snatched Kishu from us very brutally and callously! They say – all that happens is for good…well not really. I don’t think there can be any good in losing Kishu and Amitesh Bhaiya from our lives forever. Life will never be same after Kishu & Bhaiya. The days are passing on but certain losses are irrevocable and some pains can never be healed. You just somehow willingly or unwillingly learn to live with it. Some incidents do make you succumb to your fate and do break your belief towards so many aspects of life…now I don’t even know whether I should hope for a better 2010. Yes, the strong optimistic in me has slowly-slowly died with time; the staunch faith has faded away. Now I only know one thing – jo hona hai woh ho ke rahega.

Had read this beautiful poem by Shri Bachchan which describes my some of the thoughts so aptly now, we keep on hoping for something better, something new but then again hota wahi hai jo hona hota hai aur din beet hi jate hai jaise-taise…

लो दिन बीता, लो रात गई

लो दिन बीता, लो रात गई,
सूरज ढलकर पच्छिम पहुँचा,
डूबा, संध्या आई, छाई,
सौ संध्या-सी वह संध्या थी,
क्यों उठते-उठते सोचा था,
दिन में होगी कुछ बात नई।
लो दिन बीता, लो रात गई ।

धीमे-धीमे तारे निकले,
धीरे-धीरे नभ में फैले,
सौ रजनी-सी वह रजनी थी,
क्यों संध्या को यह सोचा था,
निशि में होगी कुछ बात नई।
लो दिन बीता, लो रात गई।

चिड़ियाँ चहकीं, कलियाँ महकी,
पूरब से फिर सूरज निकला,
जैसे होती थी सुबह हुई,
क्यों सोते-सोते सोचा था,
होगी प्रातः कुछ बात नई।
लो दिन बीता, लो रात गई,
– हरिवंश राय बच्चन

With these thoughts, I would end my post by wishing all my readers a very happy & prosperous new year. Hope the next year brings more sunshine to your lives, have a great year ahead! And please do pray for me and my family to have a peaceful 2010…

Hello, I’m there :-)

December 28, 2009
OMG, again I’ve not come back to my blog for soooo long and I only realized it when a reader emailed me that she is missing my posts. Looks like one of my resolutions for 2010 has to be about being regular on my blog. There are so many things which I wanted to blog about but blame it on twitter, farmville or busy schedule including weekends that I’ve not been able to do so. And December weekends are all the more pre-occupied, well with so many good movies releasing every Friday and some cool live concerts happening in Bangalore, how is one supposed to sit at home and spend time with laptop? The only thing which has made me spend time on my laptop over weekends is harvesting as it’s just not possible for me to let my crops die at my farm in Farmville. Such a hard working farmer I’m! Apart from my kheti-baari, every weekend I’ve ended up watching some nice movies and I think all four movies which I watched in December were amazing – be it Scent of a Woman on DVD, or Paa, Rocket Singh and the latest one Avatar in theaters.

Hmmm one mention of Avatar and lo I’m again spell-bound. I think it would be prudent to say that I’ve not seen anything so magnificent and terrific in my life ever. This movie is simply outstanding and soooo….uh I’m running short of adjectives now. Story wise it was just another fantasy movie with added flavor of love story in it but visually it’s a treat for your eyes. The 3D effects are mind blowing. There are scenes which have just made me jump out of my seat. It’s thrilling and must must must watch for everybody. Do watch it no later than today in case you have not till now. Only a director of James Cameron caliber could have done justice to this film. And speaking of caliber, I think I need to mention the acting potential of Mr. Bachchan. With his character as Auro in Paa he once again has proved it that there is only one Amitabh Bachchan in overall cinema industry. Man, what a film and what a performance! Paa is a beautiful story of mother-son relationship (yea, I think it was more mother-son than father-son story as advertised in promo campaigns). BigB’s portrayal as Auro just leaves you amazed, and the bigger surprise package is Vidya Balan as the mother of 13 year old Auro. Only an actor of Amitabh Bachchan’s caliber could have done justice to this film. Once again a must watch, if you have not watched it till now. Rocket Singh was nice too but it’s definitely not a mass movie; mostly people with corporate career can relate to this movie better. I personally liked it. Scent of a woman was awesome, I don’t think I need to write anything about it; in fact I’m wondering why I never watched it earlier. Next on my “watch-list” is 3 idiots which I’m going to watch sometime soon.

So, that’s all on movie front. Will be back with my year-end post in a day or two. In the meantime, here’s wishing all my readers a very happy new year. Hope you’re enjoying this holiday season to the fullest 🙂

And I was cribbing about…

August 25, 2009
Last weekend was sort of sickness special weekend for me – high fever with bad cold & severe body ache. Now personally speaking I think cold coupled with running or blocked nose is one of the most lethal combinations to have. To add to that, every other person was giving me advice on getting a swine flu test done. And most importantly her highness i.e., madam maid was on unannounced leave for past 3 days. Resultantly I was at my IRRITABLE best! Ready to shout even at the drop of a word! All I wanted to do was sleep silently but all I actually did was cribbing…

Somehow I managed to get a girl through a neighbor to do cleaning etc of my home but she quoted an abnormally high rate for a day’s work. Initially I got irritated on her quoted rate but then considering my health and knowing that any other maid would also try to extract money in this situation, I thought it better to get the work done by her. While she was mopping the floor of my bedroom, I observed her coughing badly. On enquiring and touching her forehead I realized even she was having high fever. I asked, “why are you working with water and that too at extra houses, go home & take rest?” She slowly replied, “karne do didi, extra paisa ka jaroorat hai. Mera 3 saal ka beta hai aur bimar hai, uske liye dava lena hai.” One look at her face and I felt she was not faking it; she looked genuinely in need of money. Not sure if my observations were right but I handed her the money and asked her to leave. And here I was cribbing about my fever…

In the afternoon, apartment manager sent two young boys to paint our balcony. Resting on my bed near window, I was keenly observing those kids painting the balcony so enthusiastically. One holding the ladder while the other climbing on it and brushing the ceiling. Suddenly we saw one of them jumping outside the balcony to paint the external panel, he was almost hanging in air with just one rope around his waist and the other end of rope in hands of the other boy. Immediately me and my husband went out and asked them not to do it like this to which the boy replied this was the only way to do it. I again insisted, “mat karo aise, kahi gir gaye tum toh, agar aise paint karna hai toh koi zaroorat nahi hai bahar paint karne ki.” The kid gave a hearty laugh, “kaise girenge didi, usne pakad rakha hai na rassi ko, aap bekaar ka tension le rahe ho, hum yeh roz karte hai, yahi kaam hai mera”. Worried I asked again, “tumko dar nahi lagta and tumhare kamar mein dard nahi hota hai”, he replied with a bright smile, “hota hai thoda bahut, lekin chalta hai”. Once they left after finishing the painting successfully, me and my husband were discussing the meager money versus high risk and pain which those kids must be getting! And here I was cribbing about my body ache…

Evening it was raining and I stood in my balcony with a cup of tea. Generally I enjoy such lovely weather but maybe because of fever and cold somehow I didn’t like the chill and rains that day. Suddenly I saw 3 poor kids drenched in rain running in the opposite ground after something, it was actually a big plastic sheet which was floating in air; wind must have blown it from somewhere else. The moment it came down they jumped, snatched and brought it down on the ground. Once they had that big plastic in their hands, all of them stood in a row. The ones on the outermost corners held the sheet like a hood on their heads and the middle one raised his hand to keep it high. Three of them started walking together with their hands up holding the sheet straight, though already wet but still struggling to save themselves from rain through that temporary plastic shelter. And here I was cribbing about rain & cold…

Not sure if it was my silence or thoughtful mood which made me observed all this but while I observed it just set me to think more…

Oh, how I wish!

May 7, 2009

Phew, life is running like crazy these days, seems to be always on some roller coaster or on curvy path with some huge ups & downs! And work life was never more hectic than this, I get home at all weird hours these days & the 1st thing which I do after reaching home is….well, with one hand I open that jar having potato wafers & with the next I open my freezer which is having 2 big tubs of honey nut crunch kept over there. Ummmm, actually it’s not 2 now, it’s reduced to 1.5 & it’s just 3 days that we had got those 2 big tubs. Yeah, that’s the speed of my consumption of ice-creams if it’s something as heavenly as honey nut crunch from Baskin Robbins 😀 😛 :-). I decided to write a blog post today while enjoying my ice-cream but on second thought I think let me relish my ice-cream right now, I will pick up my laptop again once I am done with every drop of it in my bowl.

I’m back & hahhhh… all my work tiredness gone and the main topic of this blog post is also gone, right now I want to focus ONLY on ice-creams. Why? Because when ice-cream & that too honey nut crunch is in front of me, I can’t focus on anything else. Considering the perpetual right side inclination of the pointer on my weighing scale I know I should not eat this daily but isn’t it N’s fault that he got 2 tubs & kept in fridge when he knows that I simply can NOT resist this flavor of ice-cream? How am I supposed to not eat when this is just kept at arms away distance? Why on earth ice-creams only have all possible calories in it? Ah, life would have been so simpler if only:

  • Ice-creams were like those green veggies with negative calories in themselves. The more you eat, the more left that pointer on weighing scale would have moved. And the best diet chart prescribed by nutritionist to lose weight would have then consisted of 1 “death by chocolate” in morning, 1 “almond fudge” in lunch & 1 “honey nut crunch” at dinner, ummm the thought itself is sooo exciting & yummy!

Now, I am getting some serious thoughts on my ideal diet plan, how about:·

  • Having Maggie every day during lunch time along with “almond fudge”? Oh yes, I love Maggie too & I seriously think Maggie is one of the best gifts to mankind ever. If given a chance I would like to make it the staple food of the country.
  • To satisfy the evening hunger pang, the only thing on which I am allowed to snack on is potato wafers!
  • And in case because of all the dieting I feel weak or my blood sugar goes down, I am supposed to have one full big bar of fruit & nut chocolate!

Oh wowwww! Life would be so cool if ice-creams, Maggie, potato wafers & chocolates become the diet food for us. How I wish they either had only zero or rather negative calories in it and we could eat as much quantity of these as much we want. It would have been so much fun to go on a diet then & I would have been always willingly ready to eat “these” diet foods. Oh how I wish! OK, enough of wishful thinking now, time to get back to reality, while I was into my wishing mode, I think I have already had 2 bowls of it!!! Honey nut crunch is NOT with negative calories and this means some XXX amount of calories has gone inside me yet again. And then I wonder why I don’t lose weight :P!

A streak of hope

April 27, 2009
It was a very hectic day today, rather a marathon day in office, whole lot of work to make me feel like a log when I returned home just now. But still a small mail, just a two liner mail was big enough to motivate me for writing this post immediately. This mail was from the editor of Kaavyanjali website that he has selected the poem of Kiran Sindhu :-). Wow, so all my efforts of pushing mom has started giving some results. After whatever happened with all of us, things have been really difficult of late. Yes, we all are struggling to live a normal life but then too even if we get one free moment we just can’t stop ourselves from going back to same thoughts, same depression…it’s a very different emotion which really can’t be put in words, a feeling of pain which is beyond any rationale, a sense of loss which is beyond any consolation, a suffering beyond expression.

But amidst all this one bigger pain which was hurting me more was to see the state of my mom, who was alive yet living the life of a stone…whose eyes were open yet completely blank…who was surviving somehow yet completely hopeless about life. How it feels to see a woman like her who has always been the single most strength of my life crumpled on bed like that! How it feels to see the guiding force of my life suddenly being directionless herself! Being the eldest child of my mom, I have been taking care of mom & my brothers from a very early age in life. Despite my life being full of struggle, I still never lost hope only because of mom’s one sentence which she always used to tell me every night, I remember instead of good night, she used to say – “kal subah bahut achchi hogi beta, kal dekhna sab theek ho jayega”. Yes life was challenging but then there was this inner belief of mom that everything will be fine & tomorrow will be a better day which helped me sail through so many ups and downs of life. And after facing so many challenges why it was difficult for me to get my mom back to her normal life? I knew she will never be normal again after Kishu & Amitesh Bhaiya but then too I wanted her to have some engagement which can divert her mind & help her get out of this depression…I tried & tried & tried to motivate her, to engage her & to involve her into her long lost passion of writing & I have been literally forcing her to learn computer, internet & typing online. Initially there was a huge resistance from her side with only one question , “kya hoga likh ke”? Still with the virtue of patience which I have got from my mom only, I used to tell her, “arey likho na, log padhenge, kahi pe publish hogi tumhari kavitayein aur tumko achcha lagega”. And her replies used to be, “rehne do, ab bas kisi tarah baki zindagi kat jaye, mujhe aur kuch nahi sikhna hai”. Hmmm… 🙁

Today as soon as I came back from work I checked her mail & I called her to say that one of her poems got selected in an online forum, her initial reaction was just, “OK”. But then she called back after 2 minutes and I asked “main kaise dekhoon ki kaha pe ayi hai meri kavita, mujhe bhi internet sikhao”. I said ok & then I taught her how to open websites & showed her some hindi blogs too…After some moments of silence she said, “achcha mera bhi blog bana do aur mujhe bhi typing sikha do”….YES!!! This is what I was waiting for, so at least there is some amount of interest which she showed. Aha finally there is a streak of hope, MOM, I am not going to give up on you so soon…I am going to push you more now to learn internet & start writing again…I am sure you will get at least some purpose back in life 🙂
.
P.S.: I’m sharing the links of some of my mom’s creations with readers of my blogs, if hindi literature or poetries are of your interest, do visit the following links of my mom & I’m sure your genuine feedback will help her write more:
Link to Kaavyanjali poem (yeah I know this is just another online website, but I’m happy that at least there is a start now): http://www.kaavyanjali.com/Naarii-ks.htm
Her blog which I started today: http://godhulikiran.blogspot.com/

Main aur woh auto!

April 21, 2009

I happened to travel by auto again today & my overall journey quickly reminded me of my recent experience with Mumbai auto guys. This post will be more relatable to Bangloreans who travel by auto rickshaw often.

Location, Bangalore: Me already late, desperate enough to catch an auto rush to this nearby auto stand and see some 15 auto guys just relaxing under that tree.

Me: “X road challenge”?
1st driver: Blank look on his face, stares at me & then very conveniently turns his face away.
Yeah, I know Bangalore auto guys have the birth right to not respond!!!
Amused me replying to the 1st one & turning to the 2nd one: “Arey bhaiya reply toh kar dete”, “X road ge barthira”? (Me trying my luck best with broken kanadaa)
2nd driver: “Illa Medaam, morning time traffic jam”
Thank god at least he gave a reply, Kanadda works!
Me experienced enough to know that no point in wasting time with this 2nd fellow turn to the 3rd one: “X road ge barthira”?
3rd driver: Simply shakes his head left to right & then right to left.
Me: “Yake”?
3rd driver: Does not respond & turns his face away!
Gawd, give me patience please!
Me to the 4th driver: “X road ge barthira”?
4th Driver: Despite me trying my best in Kanadda understands my accent, looks at me & says, “whokay maidam, but one & half rate”
Me: “yake one & half? It is 11 am right now”
4th driver: Smiles & starts reading his kanadda newspaper back!
Oh, I am getting late, I need to get an auto. Let me settle down for anything which this next guy asks.
Me to the 5th driver: “X road”
5th driver who was already observing me interacting with other fellows replies: “Ok, but medaam 40 Rs. Extra”.
From his accent I know he knows hindi
Me: Yake 40 Rs? Normal fare to X road will be hardly Rs. 55-60.
Driver ignores me completely & starts talking to another driver standing nearby.
Me: Ok, I will give you 25 rs. extra.
He quickly turned on his auto keys & said: “come in medaam”

I was anyways late by now, so I immediately jumped in desperate enough to reach the place asap. Finally I reached, the meter read Rs. 60 exactly. I took out 100 rs. note & asked him to take Rs. 85 ( 100 +25), he took the same & says “medaam no change”.
Me: “Arey, u already charging extra 25, give me 15 rs. back, I know u have change or get change from somewhere”
Driver very well knowing from my last phone call that I’m already late smiles in his typical way, “medaam change illa, u get change from somewhere & give me 85 rs.”. Bloody**** he very well knows that there is no place nearby from where I can get the change right now & I m getting LATE!
Frustrated I leave the auto by finally giving him that 100 rs. away!!!

Location, Mumbai: Few days back, I was out on a personal trip to Mumbai and was traveling by auto to some location:
Me: “Y road”?
1st driver starts the auto & turns his meter down. Wow, with a delight I jumped in the auto & we reach the destination in some time. The meter read Rs. 89. & I handover a 100 rs. note to him, he quickly returns me rs. 10 but is still rummaging in his pocket & small cash box. After collecting my bag & all, I get down. Auto guy with a very sorry face asks me, “madam 1 rs. change nahi hai, chalega kya”? Yeah I have lived in Mumbai for long but after all these years in Bangalore I was nothing less than SHOCKED at his reply. He was sorry for not returning 1 Rs.??? I immediately replied, “haan haan koi baat nahi”.

After finishing off my work, me needed to go back to the same place. I see a local black & yellow cab with door open.
Me: “Z road”?
Driver silent & looks at the door of his cab.
Me again: “Boss, Z road chaloge”?
Driver holds the door & me with all my Bangalore experiences assume that he is shutting the door. Me quickly started to walk away saying: “Arey bhaiya bol toh dete ki nahi jaoge”
Driver: “Arey madam baitho na, darwaza hi toh aur khol raha tha, aap pooch kyun rahe ho Z road, jab taxi nikali hai toh chalaunga hi nahi or jaha passenger jayega waha le hi jaunga na”.
I sit in the cab quickly with my eyes wide open…jaha passenger jayega waha le jaunga na! Oh wow, I think I had forgotten I was in Mumbai & not in Bangalore where auto guys don’t travel if there is traffic or heat or morning or night or…well this list of reasons can be endless actually.

I have lived in Mumbai for long & now living in Bangalore for last few years & I only know one thing about auto guys of these two places – “ Mumbai will always be Mumbai & Bangalore will always be Banaglore”!!! I love Bangalore but I do miss some of the things of Mumbai a lottttt!