Time has brought in many changes.. in the world, in technology, our work and our personal relationships as well.
A good example, if I may say, I saw today was a change in the matrimonial section of the national daily. Here's the link. It shows a true reflection of the change women have undergone or let me say the urban/working woman has undergone in recent times. Today's woman talks about equality on all fronts.. at work and in their personal relationships. Look at the, I wouldn't say demands, but expectations - and they are fair.
Today, when the woman also comes back home after a hard day's work it is unfair to expect her to attend to all the domestic chores. She needs support from her partner to keep herself sane in an insanely fast world. You may say thats the problem of a nuclear family. And NO, joint family is not a solution. They may work for some, not all. Joint families have their own set of problems and most times it becomes an issue in itself, mostly due to the generation gap of elders. I wouldn't say the previous generation is regressive but it is difficult for them to understand the characteristics of the current world and adapt themselves to it. It is unfair too to expect that from them. So the median way is the best way. Live nuclear but think 'together' when required.
The new woman also wants to retain her identity, her freedom, her money even. I must say that the men of this generation too are adapting and this isn't a big problem. They just need to stand a little more firm on it when the bigger family comes into picture. But still not bad.
All today's women want is to not have to undergo a sea of change cos of one change in their marital status, having a man who earns his living and not just a salary, whom she can respect and expect the same back, a little give and take and lots of love. In the end its all about understanding and adjusting to each other's needs of time, space and goals - and that goes for both. Its not too much to ask for or is it?
They say - "necessity is the mother of invention"... In these times where humans have all they NEED but WANT more.. I say - "boredom is the mother of invention".
You have everything you need .. but does that motivate you to try out new things? Nope! You get bored of the things you have... does that motivate you to try out new things? Yep!
So.. boredom in the kitchen is the mother of inventive dishes. Like today... made "dhirada".. a typical maharashtrian pancake made of besan (bengal gram flour) and the staple onion and chillies. Add to it a touch of all purpose flour (for lack of rice flour) and bingo! A little pudina-green chilli chutney added the required zing to my boring dinner. Came out yummy :)
You get tired... When you have too much to do.. You get tired... When you have not much to do.. Either which when you get tired... you are getting OLD! :-)
Realised today that I have suddenly lost interest in reading.. and even writing. :-(
Have a huge Marathi book with me - which I fought for - but just not able to pick it up and read. Same with writing.. Havent written much in this year so far.
Ofcourse I have been busy. Had been to Germany to visit my bro who was on business there. (Had a much awaited visit to Heidelberg.) Then my youngest bro was with me until today.. so yeah. But this is nicht gut.
I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. You meet people for a reason and that though you may not notice the reason right away, eventually it will be clear. Ofcourse, there are still things that happened and people I met - the reason for which I do not know yet. But nevertheless, the belief stays.
Just happened to revisit some of the old times and thought of it.
with a new year, new resolutions, new goals.. Wish you all a fantastic 2010 and hope you get what you really need and may you enjoy the struggle to get what you just want :)
It was a long break from blogging. Took a good vacation in December and though snow and bad weather played havoc with some of my plans - all in all - had a relaxing 2 weeks.
M back to getting used to the rut of regular life... yea, mid Jan is a tad too late - but if you get an awesome vacation, it does that. :)
"2 States" by Chetan Bhagat.... AND "ek shunya mi" by Pu.La. Deshpande
Well, the first is my first of Chetan Bhagat's books and I must say he has a flair for writing or what! :) His book is just irresistibly addictive and I just cannot keep it down... so I search for any 5 minute break that I get and try to read as much as I can.. even if it is walking ! :)
Well, two reasons... first, he is GOOD! Second, I connect to what he writes... I had a boyfriend while I was at IIM and it just brings back fond memories of that time and it just feels awesome :) (I know my current boyfriend wont like this statement, but ... ) So... its just nice... may be the guys out there will say its too mushy... but hey.. I am a woman.. I like it :D
I dont think men realise how hard it is to be the lone woman standing.. no they would never know.
They takes so many things for granted that its easy to miss the efforts a woman has to put in to be standing alongside them.
Well lets start with the basics.. her attire. Too long - she's labeled boring and too short makes you a too loose. So you wear a slightly low neck tee and you have men hardly listening to what you have to say.. lower attention span.. :)
Once they get past it they will judge you for what you speak and how you speak. Soft will make you weak and a little strong will make you too aggressive! What the hell ?!
Your status... the first thing to check will be her ring finger and if thats missing then they will ask you out. And if you turn them down, well, you have a hidden enemy for the rest of your time in that project. For guys, its the done thing to flaunt their married status and kids. A woman asking to adjust the timings to take care of her home and kids will make her a liability.
The jokes... are incessantly on the wife, the girlfriend, the mother or the bitchy lady boss. Whoever noticed that men too do the same? Language is another issue. Swear words (all mostly based on woman) are like interjections in any statement they make... so casual. Men get irritated when they have to mind their language around a lady! Btw..I have never understood why all the swear words are based on a woman.
And these are only some superficial points I made.
Standing as the lone woman many a times in my career so far has sadly, still not taught me how to tame a man at work.. no, doesnt mean I know how to do it in my personal life.. but it is surely something that oughta be learned in order to crack into the group and get access to the same information that men have.
Being pally doesnt help.. neither does being girly... or classy.. Is it that men still have not warmed up to the idea of a woman working shoulder to shoulder with them and being equally successful?
finally at 11:30pm on Saturday night :) A relieved lot enjoyed the drink with laughter and fun and light banter over the tough times in the recent past.
For me... now starts the phase of adjusting with the inlaws.. the defects that might get reported when the system goes live on Monday! I hope they aren't too tough.
It will also see me trying to get the fine balance between work and home... that is defects and new releases. Its gonna be an exciting time ahead.
No matter how boring the weekly task of ironing my clothes is, I realised today that I like it.
The reason? Well, that is the time when your mind is initially focused on ironing out the creases and making sure the shirt looks wrinkle free n stuff... but eventually the monotony of the task sets in and puts you in semi-trance. You start thinking about the various creases in your life and ways how to iron them out. Will the steam work, should it be just less hot, or should you just put it on maximum heat? Sadly, it doesn't have an option of soft heat or a caring pull that will straighten out the situation. But well, you get the point.
This is fact that I have to live with for the rest of my life! Cos I am going to be with Indian men in my personal life as well as professional. Wont talk about the personal part, but the professional discrepancy was there for more than me to see today.
I have been raising a couple of points since the time I moved into this project regarding the way the team operates and carries itself at a client site. That was the first resistance I met - saying I was new and should not be bringing in too many reforms all at once, which was a valid point. But the same behaviour has become rampant now and has spread across many teams. So we call for another meeting and I raise my voice again. This to much dismay makes my male colleagues (who are indians) uncomfortable of having a lady speak more strongly than they and that our bosses agree to my point... no matter how valid it is. It has also resulted in me being infamous to a certain extent for moving the team out of the comfort zone. All that is lacking is a formal protest!
Then we have a big shot lady manager here, who is Dutch, and she has a reputation of being strict and well, not ruthless exactly, but authoritarian. She is known to openly slam mistakes and caring two hoots about who she is dealing with.
When I was discussing this with my team member, he was all praises for her. I did a small test on him to check if the same will work had she been an Indian working with Indians. The answer was an expected "No.. it would not work!"
This is so unfair. Indian men do not mind a foreigner (lady) bossing around and on them.. but the same done by an Indian lady would not go down well with them. This is so absolutely ridiculous.
I understand that this boils down to the Indian culture and roots and upbringing and stuff... but men working abroad are exposed to so much more than what they have been in their childhood. They are also much more capable of thinking on their own, judging what is right or wrong, where to draw the line between personal and professional and the works. But this has not changed the way they think! :-( The so-called Indian values are so imbibed in them that they do not take anything outside of that as acceptable and will openly rebel!
Its a one time event and takes all it takes. The pre-wedding, the wedding, the post-wedding.. the after-care.. You need to make sure the venue is right.. the food is there.. the guest list... the entry passes... the accomodation... the rituals... the rehearsals... man.. does it ever end?
Its on 27th of this month... goraj muhurta.. Be there...
Was watching the "Jailed Abroad" series on NGC. It had this episode on an American woman jailed in Cuba for carrying cocaine.
No matter where you are stuck... in a boring job, a dead-end marriage, in your head, in the quicksand... everybody realises this at some point or the other... that Freedom is truly Priceless.
He obviously doesnt speak much.. but we had a good conversation. He kept looking for me underneath the computer table (cos we were talking over the internet :P) and just sat there for a long time listening to my blabber and responding in his own ways. :)
Oh he does miss me... and I miss him sooooo much :(
This is the weirdest place I've been.. I see so many lookalikes around... thats strange and kinda eerie. Seen 4 so far who look so so similar to people I know.. Hmmm wonder how many more to go ;)
The previous post is a famous song of theirs. Posting a stanza from another awesome song on the life of a common god-fearing person.
धुतलेला सात्विक सदरा, तुटलेली एकच गुंडी टकलावर अजून रुळते ... अदृश्य लांबशी शेंडी मी पंतोजीना भ्यालो, मी देवालाही भ्यालो मी मनात सुध्धा माझ्या... कधी दंगा केला नाही
गाडी सुटली, रुमाल हलले, क्षणात डोळे टचकन् ओले गाडी सुटली, पडले चेहरे, क्षण साधाया हसरे झाले
गाडी सुटली, हातामधुनी हात कापरा तरी सुटेना अंतरातली ओली माया तुटूदे म्हटले तरी तुटेना
का रे इतका लळा लावुनी नंतर मग ही गाडी सुटते डोळ्यांदेखत सरकत जाते आठवणींचा ठिपका होते
गाडी गेली फलाटावरी नि:श्वासांचा कचरा झाला गाडी गेली डोळ्यामधल्या निर्धाराचा पारा फुटला
हे भलते अवघड असते... हे भलते अवघड असते... कुणी प्रचंड आवडणारे... ते दूर दूर जाताना... डोळ्यांच्या देखत आणि नाहीसे लांब होताना...
डोळ्यातील अडवून पाणी... हुंदका रोखुनी कंठी... तुम्ही केविलवाणे हसता अन् तुम्हास नियती हसते... हे भलते अवघड असते...
तरी असतो पकडायाचा... हातात रुमाल गुलाबी... वार्यावर फडकवताना... पाह्यची चालती गाडी... ती खिडकीतून बघणारी अन् स्वतः मधे रमलेली... गजरा माळावा इतुके... ती सहज अलविदा म्हणते... हे भलते अवघड असते... तुम्ही म्हणता मनास आता, हा तोडायाचा सेतू... इतक्यात म्हणे ती - माझ्या कधी गावा येशील का तू? ती सहजच म्हणुनी जाते... मग सहजच हळवी होते... गजर्यातील दोन कळ्या अन् हलकेच ओंजळीत देते... हे भलते अवघड असते... कळते की गेली वेळ... ना आता सुटणे गाठ... आपुल्याच मनातील स्वप्ने... घेऊन मिटावी मूठ... ही मूठ उघडण्यापूर्वी... चल निघुया पाऊल म्हणते... पण पाऊल निघण्यापूर्वी... गाडीच अचानक निघते... हे भलते अवघड असते... परतीच्या वाटेवरती गुदमरून जड पायांनी... ओठावर शीळ दिवाणी... बेफिकीर पण थरथरती... पण क्षण क्षण वाढत असते... अंतर हे तुमच्यामधले... मित्रांशी हसतानाही... हे दु:ख चरचरत असते...
It did atleast last week. Blinked and.. I am here.. on a Sunday already :(
Moved into my new apartment on Monday eve and was busy setting it up. Finally, stopped living out of my suitcases. Work has been hectic too .. and its absolutely nothing but work for around 9 hrs in the day in the least.
Friday was. Got myself registered at the IND in the morning. Went to check out some houses in the afternoon. Everything is awfully expensive out here. :( So booked a pretty expensive apartment at the end of the day - could do nothing about it :(
And then in the evening went to a Casino.. that was interesting. Made 20 euros out of nothing :) paid for my pizza that night :)
It appears now (to my mom) that Goddess Durga didn't want to let me go before Kojagiri (5 days after Dusshera, since she is 'prasanna' on me). The logicial explanation to this (as per me) is that I postponed it by 2 months and then the consulate delayed it by another 2 weeks and here I am... being showered with blessings from the Goddess :)
Whatever, I hope she smiles down on me through my next stint as it is a challenging one. I have a gut feel though that I am gonna shine brilliantly through this one .. as always .. hehe ;)
Den Haag (or The Hague as it is known in English) is a cosy sea side city, an hour's drive from Amsterdam. I visited it earlier this year and liked it instantly. NL in general has more genial feel to it than Germany, which is a little uptight.Anywho. The Hague is the pseudo capital of the NL and hosts almost all of its royal and government offices. It is home to around 150 international organisations including the UN orgs and others.
So this time my target is to cover the Nordic countries... though I will have to wait until Feb/Mar for the cold to be bearable for me. I don't think I will be able to manage to eat a reindeer till then.. but lets see :)
There is this dialoge in the recently released "Kaminey" which goes something like... "One doesn't get screwed by the path one chooses... but rather by the path not chosen"
Well, if you analyze this further you will notice that if you choose a path, then obviously you are not choosing the other (unless you are a mentally-handicapped convict with no choice but to serve your sentence). So you will get screwed for not choosing path B.
Now instead, if you choose the unchosen path, ie path B, you are still choosing one and not choosing the other (path A) ... which means that you will still get screwed (for not choosing path A this time).
So no matter which path you choose, "getting screwed" is a given, regardless of the path chosen. Hence the above statement is proved wrong.
But another axiom overrules all other theories in the movie and that is "Life is a bitch" ("Duniya bahot kutti hai" or something to that effect).... The important improvisation coming from the theorem I proved wrong is "any which way"...
So moral of the movie... "Life is a bitch... any which way".. :)
....is what my travel partner said on the second day of our trip to the beautiful coastline of Maharashtra. If you overlook the acco and the food I would say the trip was good. The journey was a walk in the clouds... literally. Winding roads, large water bodies, lush green mountains, clouds floating by your side, numerous waterfalls - small and big, the rough and tough terrain of the Sahyadri's, the adventure of the Ghat roads - what more does one need to feel like being in heaven?! It was a beautiful drive.
Our accomodation was far from that. Listen to this. Going by the "new improved" look of the tourism corporation of Maharashtra and on recommendations from a few friends who have stayed in MTDC resorts earlier, I did the blunder, well, a mistake to be honest, of booking a room in a MTDC resort. The charges looked like that of a good hotel in town and I dreamt of a beautiful sea-facing room with rich carpets and plush sofas. (Too dreamy after my trips in Europe.. ah even the cheapest hotels were so good and the staff so cordial. The breakfasts were lavish and kept you going for hours.Aaah.) Alas, the govt never lets us forget the problems faced by a developing nation. It was a basic room with bare minimum amount of hygiene maintained ( I still doubt it). The bed was a concrete slab covered with marble - yes, don't faint - as a reminder perhaps to increase the tourism to the state of UP. The matresses, well let's just say the marble bed would have been softer. The curtains looked like they had been washed when the leftover marble was brought from Agra. The lights were hardly there to make the setting more natural (eerie?!) The toileteries - I gave myself a pat on the back for taking my own set with me. And this saga continues into the kitchen. The restaurant on site serves you with any dish on the planet - as long as you stick to their 10 item menu :) And what does it take to make sandwiches btw? Well, not much if you have bread. (Imagine me crying hoarse for not getting fish on a trip to the coast... I can't either.. but here I am.. dreaming about fish after a 2 day beach trip :( ) All this excellent service and food comes at a cost and it was well worth the stupidity I had displayed while booking this place. So, though the location of the resort was good everything else left much much much more to improvisation. We kinda renamed MTDC as "More Torture from Devil's Corporation". I think this one suits.
What was surprising was though the "no meat, no drinks, no evil (, no living ;))" period was over and we could officially start eating meat - we just couldn't find fish anywhere on the coast. Not in Harihareshwar, not in Shrivardhan and neither in Dive agar. Nope. It was highly disappointing. Dil ke armaan.... samandar me beh gaye. (So I dug into the first fish item I saw after returning to base. May be the fish were touring too.) Anyway, so thats the tragic story of my fishing trip.
But like I said earlier, the drive more than compensated for the food fiasco. The drive from Harihareshwar to Shrivardhan and further on to Dive agar was along the coast and it was amazing to drive with the hills on one side and the sea on the other. The beaches as expected were dirty due to monsoon and not worth setting foot on. Visited a couple of historic temples around and it was time to head back.
Dirty minds... stop salivating. Its nothing like you think it is .
I was meeting a friend for lunch and he being a great host that he is.. took me to his, hold your breath... Office Cafetaria. Yea.. but as you can guess from the title of this post, it wasn't that bad :)
For startes, the place was clean, did not stink as much as the other cafetaria's I have visited, the food was great and to top it all ... it was FREE. Yep. This org he works in provides free food to its employees.. be it at breakfast, lunch or dinner. But the quality wasn't compromised . So it was great. I heard of the org also promoting healthy snacking options with fruits.
Off late, after listening to a few of my friends and after being to this jaw-dropping (literally!) cafetaria I am coming to a conclusion that Indian org's have a lot to learn to catch up with the MNC's.
Well it was a long fight... a 2 month long fight with the builder. I didnt expect to have to fight with a builder of such repute.. but .. they are all the same. I am still not so satisfied with the final touches and am in full mind to see the workings of a consumer court. Anywho..
Down with throat infection.. and I pray hard it stays at that.. what will the biggest scare of the century gripping Pune currently.. Swine Flu... when will it "flew"???
Well, not exactly a tragedy, but life for some strange reason isn't as cool as it used to be until I landed in Pune. :-( So many chores to attend to, issues, work, traffic, colleagues ... ah... and sometimes they all converge to make me explode like a nuclear bomb. :)
Well, it was madness to the 'T'. Was one helluva ride :)
Started at 5:30 am on a lazy Sunday morning (and that meant I had to wake up at some ungodly hour) and ended at around 8 pm the same day, thankfully. There were around 15-20 other jobless people ready and raring to go Except for the virtually non-existent roads in the villages the ride was smooth and was a joy. Every small village you visit bears the sign "Pradhanmantri gram sadak yojana".. and it is literally that.. you can hardly see a gram of tar in these far flung places. It was also educational - no, I didn't learn anything about how windmills operate and are good for the earth or so - but what I did learn was that I am a spoilt urban resident. It has been ages since I rode pillion on a bike and it was extremely difficult to get used to it. My sense of safety has so heightened after my short stint abroad - it made the ride worse.. for the person driving :) Ofcourse the usual signs of spoilt citizens like electricity, good roads, communication lines, easy access to the global market etc were absent and thats when I realised I was spoilt :)
What I brought back with me were the innocent smiles and the curious looks on the faces of many kids (and adults alike) lining the path of our drive.. that is something that is hardly visible in the urban areas. Kids today are so grown up they hardly have any curiosity and adults are so busy that they forget to smile at the simple joys of life.
Though most of the 350 odd km's we drove in one day were good, the 200 odd kms of rough/hilly terrain killed my back. Thankfully there were no breakdowns or accidents (in our group). So, would I like to go back on more such adventures... Sure, why not! Its fun, its thrilling, it sharpens your risk taking nature and pushes you to try out daring adventures even more ... despite the screwed back.
With the multitasking I am doing since being back. And to top it was the task of filing IT Returns.
I decided to fill it up on my own this year... but alas! The govt's policy of alleviating unemployment starts with the ITR form. They have made it so complex and tricky that an individual cannot fill it out on his/her own (if you are not the "naak-ki-seedh me chalnewala" types) - without the help of an expert! So finally went to the expert and did my bit to help the govt in their "reduce unemployment" drive.
I hoped to relax on Saturday...but sigh... there's work to do today as well :-(
I hope to have fun tomorrow though. My friend is a member of the Bullet (Royal Enfield) club in town and we are gonna enjoy the "Monsoon Madness" event. It's an event sponsored by Suzlon and I am excited to catch up on the windmills in India. Excited to be using my camera again after a long break. :-)
"LIAR"..... is what I called a friend whom I haven't spoken to in QUITE some time now, when he told me that he missed talking to me.
Well, I know he isn't lying. The current pace of life and the weird problems we face these days makes us so depressed (!?) that we go into our shells so deep that even we don't realize how depressed we are. How many times have you promised to call a friend and have not done it for like weeks or even months? Can you count the number of occasions you have turned down an offer to socialize cos you didn't feel up to it?! There can be many such examples, but I think you get the point.
No, don't give me the standard excuse of not having enough time. Didn't you have time when you were young? Traffic is not a good enough reason either. You will beat the peak-hour traffic if you desperately want to go some place. Phone-bills? There are cheaper ways to keep in touch these days. So you see, there is no reason for us to not keep in touch. But we don't! And its everybody.. for some reason or the other.
Have our lives becomes so unbearable? Have we become so numb that we don't want to put efforts to revive it? I know some of you might say we do socialize on occasions... a wedding, a party, a picnic or a funeral. But it stops at that doesn't it ? Not to mention how exhausted we are at the end of it all. How many times do we actually meet/call up friends and come back satisfied after a 5 min chat? It used to happen more often earlier than now.. no?
Or is it just me in my age-blues?! :-) Donno.
Whatever... I miss the heart-to-heart with a simple soul... the laughter and fun and the serious talks over ultimate Margarita's :-( The silver lining numbs the pain a little for now.. Hope to catch up on good ol' times in the Coffee Houses of Holland soon ;-)
I know, I know, I am talking too much about the traffic in India. But as much of a pain that it is driving around here it is as much fun involved when you look at it objectively.
The funniest event is when the back of a car has a sticker posted onto it saying "I follow traffic rules, do you?!" is breaking a traffic rule. Its hilarious to scream at the unsuspecting driver who thinks (s)he is the one who is on the right side of the road.. er, rule.
The usual drama involving pedestrians crossing the roads has different variations. There are the brave (read arrogant) ones who just cross without blinking their eye and expect the traffic to come to a screeching halt as they go about their normal business. And then there's the meeker or a little sophisticated variety which stretches out its hand in a stop sign to the oncoming traffic. Well, it works only sometimes in India. And then there are the in-betweens - the ones who cannot decide whether they should cross or stay put. They are the ones who cause most accidents on the roads :) They should just know that a (wo)man oughta do what a (wo)man oughta do and should JUST DO IT! Alas, they keep moving back and forth on the road leaving the driver confused and wondering whether (s)he should accelerate or should hit the breaks. If you are a good judge (of people AND of traffic OR are a reckless driver) you will get it right and there will be no confusion. But if you are not, then the resulting chaos is hilarious when you look back. Notice it next time.
I am a firm believer that every road in India NEEDS to have a road divider. Its just too unmanageable otherwise for crossing the street as well as to drive. But putting up 2 feet high road dividers has not helped either what with people putting in all their effort to climb it up and get to the other side and cross the road. Whats funny is that it will take almost the same effort to go to the nearest road crossing and cross the street. (Well, I am almost certain its going to be as difficult there as well, but its good for the traffic to know where to expect people popping up suddenly. Its kinda expecting the unexpected! ) :)
Apart from people and vehicles the other most common (as per foreigners) entity to be found on Indian streets is cattle. To be honest I never noticed cattle on the street until after my first visit abroad years back. :) I swear. But yes, the 'forener's' are correct here. You will see a single cow/buffalo or an entire herd ruminating lazily in the middle of a crowded street, totally oblivious to the deviations the world has to make for them. There are also street dogs running behind any vehicle they think suspicious and barking at them with all their energy to prevent them from entering their territory again. That's the kind of security people on the street have - totally natural and reliable!
Then there are the modern, educated, hip, sophisticated cattle on the street - the ones driving whilst talking on their cell phones or the ones who do not understand what "Yield" means or the ones who care a damn about splashing rain water on unsuspecting targets walking on the street or driving a two wheeler or the ones driving throwing all caution to wind and driving in the mind numbing belief that they own the road - caring two hoots for the mere mortals. Well, who says education educates a man ?!
This is already a long post but I couldnt end it without talking about the daily dose of rallies, protests, morchas, VIP visits, road diversions, road work-in-progress, broken traffic lights, sudden changes in routes or religious marches? These are the motivations for a young man in India to become a Formula One driver. Where else could one get so much practice ?! I think we should have more of these since these are clearly not enough.
Nuff said! Its surprising that despite all this you won't see as many accidents as you would expect to in day to day transactions. It's minimal and usually with very less casualty. The other benefit of the Indian traffic system is that it is a very active form of meditation. The driver is totally aware of all his senses and has all his concentration on his driving. (The swearing and stuff is part of the meditation, kindly do not take it otherwise.) How could I forget the laughs you get out of revisiting some of the events that happened during your drive, the live action sequence unfolding right in front of you, the intense drama, watching the police in action and at the end the expressions of the unhappy car-owner - are some things money cannot buy. Priceless!
So go get your daily dose of meditation and get going! Happy journey :-)
in Pune. Moving back to my hometown after so many years I fail to recognise its changed face. The first time I drive into any area anytime now is a confusing experience. The roads have changed and there are flyovers in places unimaginable and there are one ways and what have you. So I drive like I am totally new to that place though I know I still am familiar.
To make a tough choice.. of whether to go with your heart or with your head.
I have always been a practical person, so the choice is clear. But there are times in life, esp after a hard time, when you want to follow your heart without caring too much about what might follow. And that is the toughest choice.
It is even more difficult to listen to your heart when you have been listening to your head all the time. :-)
Anywho... I've made my choice and I know my next destination now :)
I think slowly my wardrobe is turning black and white and I plan to do something about it. But its more a modified case of "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black". So I need to keep a tab on myself whenever I pick up a piece of non-color :-)
On deeper thought, do you think life is fun if it is plain black and white and no gray? I think it will be simple, yes, but intereting- I don't think so. It will be mechanical, predictable and boring.
Some encounters with parents are always embarassing, no?! Well, I had an embarassing encounter yesterday and I surprised myself by not wriggling out of it, cos I was sure of myself :)
So, at the end I came out happy listening to the echo of my resounding "Yes' :-)
Man, what a hectic week. If I had any inkling of having to repay an entire laid-back month, with interest in a week... I wouldn't have opted for an easy going month! Believe me you!!
The week was a little short of four weddings, what with such elaborate functions held and making it mandatory for the close relatives to attend :-( I absolutely detest elaborate but brain -numbing rituals of which no one can make head or tail out of. Its just plain waste of time.
Well, getting back on track.. the week saw me commuting to Mumbai on two consecutive days for stuff I had parceled from Germany. The drive on the second day on the express-way was awesome. Just loved it. But hated the (again, mind-numbing) procedures that we had to go through to lay our hands on our own stuff. Me and my friend went with the minimal expectation (of a simpleton you would say) of having to sign on a document on receipt of our luggage, like we do in the case of a courier. But that was the biggest balloon to have burst on my face :) Not only did we have to travel to Mumbai for two days in a week but also had to go through the entire process of customs and excise complete with pestering agents, not-so-friendly govt officials, dirty and dingy offices and at the end opened bags! Yep, the locks on our bags were broken when they were delivered. Luckily since we hadn't moved any expensive stuff we didn't lose anything. But it was a lesson learnt and if you haven't learnt it yet, you aren't smart enough. So next time you want to move your stuff from abroad - DON'T!!
But the drive compensated for it to some extent. It was just beautiful to drive in the rains next to mountains kissing the clouds and making it so romantic. :-)
End of a hectic week? You would think! Still have some other chores to attend to... but am looking forward to it. Well, I have my reasons :-)
पुरूष धड पत्नीचा नसतो आणि आइचाही नसतो॰ तो स्वतःचाच, त्याचा असतो॰ तो वेळेचा विचार करतो, न्याय-अन्यायाचा नाही ह्या क्षणी आपल्या सोयीचं काय आहे इतकंच तो पाहतो॰
- An excerpt from the marathi book Sakhi, by Va. Pu. Kale.
Is what I think... after one year of my involuntarily self-imposed curfew on driving.
I finally gave up on my efforts (atleast for the time being on some of my initiatives) of not increasing my carbon foot-print. The public transport system in Pune is horrendous and that would be an understatement. The buses are from the stone age, the bus-stops (where the buses hardly stop btw) from the iron age and showing all signs of it, the routes if you could decipher would fetch you a prize in a puzzle competition, the staff being the royals on service to mere mortals at their mercy!
No, the local trains are no better. Well, they do stop at the stations, but are so overcrowded that I couldn't take the train that I used to a couple of years back. The same train that used to appear so spacious and airy and comfortable was choc-a-bloc with people bringing in the fragrances of their land that make your nose shrivel up in the luxury that is offered only in a few malls in India. India's population is growing up so fast it is increasing the burden on the infrastructure at exponential rates!
And the monsoon playing truant didn't help one bit. The monsoon setting in is going to open up another pandora's box! With the extreme heat going on it was impossible to reach office or home without having drenched your clothes in sweat. (Well, yeah I know I am exaggerating, but it is not very far from the truth)
So after all the efforts to not add to pollution I took my vehicle out on the mean roads of Pune. Contrary to my fear and anticipation, it wasn't that tough driving on Indian roads again. The roads in most parts of the city are fantastic and offer a good drive. Yes, driving discipline left a lot more to be expected but still not that bad. The left-hand/right-hand drive confusion can also be cleared up quickly and you can have a smooth sail. It took me approx 45-50 minutes to cover a distance of I would say 25km. Not bad, eh!
All in all was a good decision to drive the car. I hope to do car-pooling in the near future to get rid of my guilt (and ofcourse some of the leg pain that exists due to the strenuous drive) :-)
स्त्री म्हणजे विश्वकर्त्यानं आपल्या पहिल्याच साखरझोपेच्या वेळी टाकलेला एक हळूवार निश्वास वाटतो मला॰ त्या निश्वासांत पुरुषाच्या जळणाऱ्या मनाला शांत करण्याची प्रचंडा शक्ति असते॰ स्त्रीच्या प्रेमळ सहवासात माणूस जगाचं क्रौर्य विसरु शकतो, अपमानाचे कडू घोट पचवू शकतो, नव्या परक्रमाचे पर्वत उभे करू शकतो॰ तरुण मनाला ज्याची नेहेमीच ओढ़ असते असं जीवनाच्या वाटचालीतलं सर्वात मोक्याचं ठिकाण॰
- An excerpt from the Marathi book "Mrityunjay" by Shivaji Sawant
As usual the restless soul was upto generating work and keeping oneself occupied all through the weekend.
So while at that I tripped upon some long lost items of my creation. It was so nice to see those diaries and cards and stuff - it took me a time gone by and still made me feel so fresh.
Was very heartening to read the notes in my slam book from my friends at school and work. It was hilarious to moving. And so was the diary where I penned down lines which had moved from the books I was reading or the poems/Sher's I found interesting. Some of them can be truly revisited any number of times without a hint of boredom.
My prayers have been answered and it has rained in Pune. Aaah... the rains made it so much better... its cool and nice but a tad too warm for monsoon :) Nevertheless.
Most of my friends from work are based in Bangalore, where I used to work. The ones from school/college are all abroad mostly. The ones from my current organisation... whom am I kidding :)
Have only 3 friends in town.. of which one is a visiting friend.. hehe... so he doesn't technically count. The other is one with whom I can discuss only career and the last one is a little more fun, but he is out of town.
Zoooo... I am back in India... to the gentle heat and pristine surroundings.. hehe... :) Yea its far far away from the scene above but I hope it becomes that way some day. But its HOME and I love being back.
So starting the proceedings for my next location now... and I hope its DE again.
War es Treue oder Sehnsucht? War es Treue oder Sehnsucht? Jahrlang habe ich auf dich gewartet Doch nie hast du mir offenbart was du mir heute endlich sagst
Hilflos weinte mein Herz im Stillen Was soll ich nur tun? Denn ganz plötlich ich est liebe
If you happen to translate this to Hindi, you will rofl :) And if you dont, ask me.. I will tell you what it means.
