Before Leaving…

Here are few things about Bangalore, the city in which I stayed for nearly a year.
First coming to my mind are the gardens, which I feel, make the best part of the city. Especially the flower show in Lalbagh Gardens is good enough for a flower lover like me to fall flat.
Second, the Bannerghatta National Park, which though not so uncommon, attracted me with its butterfly park, the first of its kind in the country. Especially when you realize that it’s been ages since you have seen one in a city!
Third, the Bengalooru Habba, the cultural festival of Bangalore, where we were witnesses to some brilliant performances from India and abroad. Thanks to Airtel and others for sponsering the free passes to all the performances!
At this point, Rangashankara, the theatre showcasing bright talent, needs to be mentioned. Enjoyed the plays and the ambience of it too.
The frequent showers in the evenings were a welcome if you ignore the roads clogging.
Apart from this, I have to admit that I didn’t find the city very interesting or exciting.
Probably the lack of proper means of transport after 9 p.m. added to the dullness. Though, the Volvo AC glass buses in bright red colour, a BMTC initiative, caught my fancy for a while and the sight of few bus drivers acting as conductors at the same time came to me as a surprise, and I felt that the windows on the roofs of the buses through which you can spot the stars while struggling to place your feet on the floor was funny, the fact is that you need to own a vehicle if you want to explore the place in the night.
In the end, to me, it was just another episode in my long journey…

P.S: While Mumbai changed my life, Bangalore made sure it remained the same!

Life is all about celebrations!!

Celebration of being alive, celebration of Ur smiles and sweet moments, of Ur strong and weak moments, celebration of moments of joy, celebration of Ur love, celebration of those moments of calm and peace within.

Here are a few precious moments in my life -

In the gorai beach in Mumbai

In the railway station in Coimbatore

On the hill top in Lohgad

In the waterfalls in Lonavala

On the window sill in Mumbai

On the banks of the river in Kolad

On the way to boat ride in Ooty

In Raghuleela mall in Mumbai

In kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada

What makes these moments so special and close to my heart? Simple. They are those pure moments in my life, which remind me that my life is worth celebrating.
Each one of us has such moments, don’t we? Try making a list and feel the thrill while I hope that my list grows with each passing moment :)

The only fear…

I am not known to be afraid of anything in particular. Not only that, I am known to possess considerable amout of courage-the courage to speak out my opinion (which sometimes lead to straining of few relations though that didn’t stop me from doing so), the courage to stand up for what I believe, the courage to walk alone at midnight in the midst of pools of stray dogs, and on a lighter note, the courage to kill a cockroach in a TT court (which some of my mates still fondly recollect ;). But, even I know not much about my fears, until I found this and the difference it made in my life. It is that fear which made me maintain some distance with everyone I know. It is that fear which prevented me from entering into deep personal relations. It is that fear which kept me away from all such emotions and helped me in more than one way. At the same time, it is that fear, which leaves me wondering if I should get rid of it to experience something better and greater, whose possibility I doubt. It is the fear of getting hurt. Many questions crop up my mind as this topic arises for which I don’t know the answers just as I don’t know the reasons behind the very fear. Neither do I think reading some essays on psychoanalysis helps. I believe that someday I will find the answer through my own experience. It might be a hard and long route to opt for but in things related to heart, I prefer to trust myself!

P.S: To post this is the most daring thing I ever did!!

My Time

I am quite possesive about my time. How I spend it and what I do each minute is very important for me. Not only with whom I talk, but also what and how much I talk come under my evalutaion at the end of the day. Is there a purpose for what I am doing and do I really want to do it or continue doing it are some of the constant questions in my mind. Behind all this is my belief that whatever I do should add some value to me as a human being. The conversations I have, the books I read, the movies I watch, and the places I go should add something to my understanding of the things around or bring some insight into the myriads of thoughts that cross my mind each day. Not that I don’t care about others but I believe that only when we evolve as a human being can we accommodate others and make their lives easier by showing greater tolerance and having lesser conflicts. To live and let live. I like to help others when they cannot do it on their own but would prefer that they learn to do it soon. I listen to others/their problems but would like to make sure that they really need to be heard. If they have other options, I prefer to be excused. I like the work that keeps my grey cells active but would prefer if it really adds value to those I believe it should. Of all the choices I have, I prefer to choose the one which gives the best returns for my time in view of the things mentioned above. However, there are exceptions. The time spent with nature, with my family and few friends take precedence at any time overriding the rest :)

Quotation freak!!

Some of my friends call me a ‘Quotation freak’. I have nothing to deny. Simple they may seem, yet few quotations played a powerful role in my life. I have always looked up to them, apart from my inner self, whenever I needed comfort, motivation, caution, inspiration and the like. I consider them as the words of wisdom and experience passed on by few great men, to serve as the guiding light for me over the years. Here are a few of those, which have served as the operating instructions in my life many a time.

“You can’t fail, unless you quit” – From an article on Abraham Lincoln

“Time is precious. But life is more precious. So, be cautious” – A Note on the Highway

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – On a leaflet of an orphan home

“He who asks a question may be a fool for five minutes. But he who never asks a question remains a fool forever” – From a seminar in school

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is a part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us” –From a Telugu weekly (translated)

“Never explain. Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway” – From Reader’s Digest

Few more to come…

The Lost War!!

‘Robots will wage a war against humans in future,’I often hear people remark. But I think technology has almost won the war against us now! Atleast, that is the feeling I get when I hear people remark, ‘I can’t imagine a life without a mobile or internet.’ Wonderful tools as they are, I can’t stop wondering when they are compared with the likes of air and water. A generation ago, when I heard such words being used by people when referring to persons of a different gender, I used to find it funny. Someone explained it to me saying that love rules. Now, when similar words are being used for tools, I am obliged to say that Technology rules making us its slaves. Do we want to free ourselves from this bondage and start living as independently as possible? Use our brains a little more and tools with discretion? Look a little more at the things happening around and try to talk with people who are physically around? Coz they might be badly in need of us while we are virtually present elsewhere. Tools are definitely the works of a genius but overusing them may hinder our creating one!

It takes a lot to love!

Here’s my take on what it takes to love, the evergreen (or red?) topic, from what I have noticed:

1) You got to be shameless – To pass through those times (which seem to occur often) when the other person doesn’t seem to care for you, but you still got to hang on coz love is self-less (wow!)
2) You need lotz of time – To analyze every thing that happened between both of you, get to the bottom of it, search for hints that might suggest the other person’s interest in you waxing/waning and then get excited/worried
3) You got to have lotz of money – To call/meet the other person on a regular basis, lest he/she might start doubting that someone else caught your interest for the day

Apart from these, having your emotions ridden by their moods, your precious smile at stake, half the time trying to defend them against any unpleasant feelings they might arise in you as a result of their inactiveness in many situations concerning you, the rest judging if your active participation in events concerning them is being appreciated or resented or being left unattended…huh…tiring even to think about all this, isn’t it?

After all this, finally when the day comes when you realize that you can forget your love and fall for another person or remember but don’t mind going out with another, then just think of those days when you yearned for him/her, and you realize that it was the yearning for love and not the person exactly. So, if you got to forget your love and move on in your life, never mind. Chances are you may get it again. After all, love is not so uncommon too! Not sure about the self-less part though.

P.S: Anyways, guess it’s a lot easier to live with a person than having to love him/her.
Again, only expereince can tell…

Apart from bureaucracy…

The word ‘Government’ is often associated with bureaucracy and corruption. And, it has its reasons. But there are few departments of Government, which I would associate with trust and safety. They are our postal and public transport. You may disagree but my experiences till date say otherwise. Though we have a wide variety of choices available for the dipatch of important documents in the form of private and professional couriers, I still somehow trust postal dept. when it comes to reliability. The same is the case with public bus transport. Though there is a huge network of auto-rickshaws available at our disposal, I prefer public bus when I have to travel to places unknown/far away. They not only save you from the trouble of having to alter your eye between the roads and the ever-running meter but help you identify your destination safely. I still am thinking as to what made them different. Is it the motive behind or the system itself or just dumb luck?

Do some professions have an extra obligation?

Not every professional seems to have the same rights. Some seem to have an extra obligation, an extra responsibility than the rest of us, which we all are ready to point out to them as often as possible. A doctor is cruel becaue he wouldn’t operate after a certain time. An actor is irresponsible if he chooses to enact a role that is out of the norm (read Amitabh Bacchan in Nishabdh) or chooses to follow some rituals that don’t appeal to all. While the rest of us are free to do whatever we like and follow whatever we believe in, a doctor or an actor (for example) doesn’t seem to have such choice. Even if they went ahead and did what they want to, they receive the wrath of the society. Probably, few professional roles are not meant for everybody. Especially, not to people like me who don’t like to live life on other’s terms.

It’s time to touch something else!!

India is poised! Touch Wood!!
Rupee is growing stronger! Touch Wood!!
Stock market is rising! Touch Wood!!
I really never understood why people touch wood and why only wood, when there are better things to lay their hands on ;)
So, I sat one day to find out what my ancestors had to say about it and here is what I found:
“To touch wood is a superstition action to ward off any evil consequences or bad luck, perhaps because of some recent action you’ve taken or untimely boasting about your good fortune.”
Interestingly, there are some who also said this:
“It wasn’t always wood that was lucky: in older days, iron was also thought to have magical properties, and to touch iron was an equivalent preventative against ill fortune.”

Hmm…I think times have changed now and it’s no more appropriate to touch wood.
Don’t you think so?
My choice would be gold…what’s yours?

P.S: (Did I hear you saying ‘girl’?)

Update on May 14th:
Once upon a time there was a golden rule, now if you have gold, you rule (Read this on net)
Now, u decide!

Who owns the cities?

I often hear people discussing the presence of slums in big cities and find that their focus of discussion is neither the problems of the people living in the slums nor its causes but how their mere presence upsets a city’s image. This leaves me wondering if a section of the people own the cities. I understand that when Government develops infrastructure in a place and calls it a city, it is meant to provide oppurtunities for everyone. If it has some rules saying that all the dwellers of a city ought to live in pukka houses, it has to construct houses for those who can’t afford it, else it is denying them the oppurtunity. Or it shudn’t have any rules and allow people to stay the way they can and earn a living. Ya, some people don’t like the sight of slums in the cities. Even I don’t like the sight of people coming from airports after hours of happy flying when I am walking barefoot. So, how does it matter? Some might argue that they are paying money and they need to be served better. If someone has some extra ‘papers worth a transaction’ by some fortune and they throw them at the Government doesn’t mean all the problems that the Govt. and everyone else face are solved. Nobody has any right to ask the slum-dwellers to go back because they pose a problem to the image of the city. There might be concerns of health and other issues that the Govt. has to learn to deal with. Neither for the sake of foriegners nor for the filthily rich, you can dismiss the poor to the remote parts. Not untill all the places are developed enough not to give their dwellers the pain of having to part with them to earn a living. In case anyone has any problem, he/she has two choices. Face the reality and learn to live with it or get to action and help create more cities!

TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

For few people education means something other than a means to get a job. And few employers would deny that experience counts more than many other qualities. In that case, if I start working at an early stage in my life, earning my wages, gaining experience, I don’t understand why anyone should have a problem. When I do not find either history or calculus helping me much nor do I find that my brooding over the reproductive system of cockroach earn me anything, why should I be forced to do anything like that? If someone is really concerned about my well-being, he/she can give me a loan when I feel proficient enough to set up a mechanic shop after gaining a thorough understanding of auto parts at the garage where I started my work as a cleaner. But I really cannot understand their intention of snatching away my job from me, handing me books on atoms and circles while my heart wanders around auto parts and later tell me that I am unemployable because I neither have experience nor high percentages. I find this bewildering. Either the employers should train me and employ me or I should be handed books that make me employable. When they are not ready to do either of the things, they should allow me to do what I find more convenient. I guess I made myself clear enough…if you still hold any doubts, you can always find me at the local shop few steps down your street.

-One
‘Child Labour’

Getting too personal?

I have a reason for this long absence from blogging. It is not any exam or lack of intriguing thoughts but a soul-searching question for which I am yet to find an answer!
“How much of myself can I expose to the outer world?” I am not afraid to but the question is about the necessity. How far and how much is it essential for people around me to know me? I can simply keep writing and allow you to decide to read the essentials. But then, why would I write something that is not necessary for others to know. At the same time, how am I to be sure that the observations that I made in my life, though little and few would not benefit others, as I myself depended many times on other’s observations to learn! Then comes the question of the purpose of my blog. I have used this as an outlet for the thoughts and emotions that have occurred or disturbed me and also to know your opinion about the same. To bring clarity to my thought process and benefit from yours! To help myself, and in the process you, know me more. And there is this undeniable passion for writing. But, the question still remains – How far can I take it?

Update on 06/04/2007 :-
I have taken it quite far today (Refer to the post with this date);
I want to overcome few shortcomings and chose to do it this way!