Sarah Jessica Parker just earned a new fan. She has a uniquely cute smile, an innocent look and a disarming french'ed accent where she at time rolls her tongue. While the rest of the cast of 'Sex and the city' doesn't make such a connection, Sarah's character just makes me fall in love with it. Confused and naughty at times, thoughtful, pensive at others and a New Yorker to the core. The back to back episodes of the serial portray New York in a very 'happening' light, with Sarah's character defining the city as her love interest. Guess I'll now make a conscious effort to fulfill the thought of visiting New York in January.
So what are you gonna do the rest of the day? and Sarah says "Who knows, it's New York".
Let me put in a disclaimer here, I have only seen 2 episodes of the serial till now.
Talking of serials, Dexter keeps me gripped and looking forward to watching TV on Sunday evenings. Dexter Morgan played by Michael Hall is a layered character which is a contortion of brutality, innocence, intelligence, compassion and disconnect all at once. The serial is one of the best i have come across after 'Prison Break'. But while Michael Scofield played by Wentworth Miller was very Supermanish in actions and intelligence, Dexter Morgan still feels human.
On the onset, one thing that struck me as common between Dexter and Sex and the City was that both the serials have a background narrative in the voice of the main protagonist, which helps in driving the flow and emotion to the user powerfully.
Watching a scene from the Clint Eastwood movie 'good bad and ugly' reminded me that bread was not always sold cut out in slices at shops. It reminded of me of the 'bread wallah' who used to come every morning at my Nana's house. He used to take a loaf of bread out of his box on his cycle and slice in front of our eyes, with deft ease, moving his razor sharp knife like an experienced chef cuts his onions. The characteristic horn or 'bhonpoo' on his cycle was a early morning wake up call for me. Well, when at my nana's place I had the privilege of waking up at my own sweet discretion. And even though my nana made sure the rest of the house was on its knees early in the morning, he let me back to sleep after a mild wake up call.
Now that i mentioned the 'bread wallah' how could the 'pani puri wallah' be far behind. He used to come to our street or 'gullee' in the evenings. His characteristic sound was the one he made by beating his ladle onto his huge circular pan. 'tan tan .. paani puri ... tan tan ... aloo chaat .. tan tan .. tan tan'. He used to push his cart around. The cart was painted piece of street side art, with 'Pani Puri, Aloo Chart' written in white paint on an orange background and a stock of 'batashas' piled up along side the the big pan which had tikkis being fried upon. Eating 'pani puri' is one of the most pleasurable things that happened during the course of a day. Standing in a semi circle besides the 'pani puri wallah', waiting for our turn as he quickly went in the rhythmic process of cracking the 'batasha', filling it with water and serving it into the 'katoris' of his clientele. And mind you this was a very quick process, and by the time you had just got over taking a breadth after taking in the globe filled with the choicest spices, you would be en thrust upon the next one to finish off. And the best batashas had in them the ingredients to light up the senses and with it your evenings.
If one comes to think of it there is so much to think about. So many things in the world can intrigue a human mind if it sits long enough to notice. The world is such a place that there is always something to discover for those who want to discover and enough mundanes for those who which to embrace monotonicity.
How to break your routine, how to feel happy, how to feel you are living.
The key I think is rediscover childhood. To rediscover innocence. To leave behind the perceptions that we have created over time. To forgo our image. To forgo our habits. To be right there in that moment living it for all its worth.
The human mind is an amazing masterpiece. It can expand its horizon to amazing extents, and is just hindered by the boundaries that it creates for itself. and where do these boundaries come from, the past, the environment. BELIEF is the single most important ingredient that can fuel a mind to its limitless expansion.
So the first step to being anything, including being happy, is to start believing in its possibility not just in the present context of things but in a context that you can create for yourself in the future.
There is something about travelling in the train; wherever I may be going it always gives the feeling of going back home. For me train travel is about the time I spend standing at the doors of the moving train, feeling the gush of winds on my face, the moments I spend befriending kids, playing rock-scissors-paper, the stories that I hear from old people of ‘How the times have changed’ and the buzz at the stations each one presenting a unique cuisine to chose from. Not for the easily irritated, a journey in the second class compartment of the India Railways is a must do for anyone who wishes to feel India in its elements. A one and a half to two days journey from south India to the north or from east to west is a perfect place for ‘Discovery India’.
As soon as you board a train you can see a new ecosystem randomly unfolds itself right in front of your eyes. The journey begins with passengers haggling with coolies over small amounts; the farewell goodbyes from the near and dear ones, if lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of a few tear drops; young people touching the feet of their elders and the elders in return giving some pocket money to the young ones, some of whom refuse to take it, other offer their pocket after a little pestering and still other unashamed to put their hand forth, assuming that money to be their birth right. Slowly as the train leaves the station people start adjusting to the new environments. A few hours down the line it would be tough to distinguish who are family and who are strangers. Generally everyone is bonhomie, exchanging initial introduction and then jumping in to join in a round of cards ‘teen patti’, discuss the latest policies of the government, sharing recipes, playing around with the kids. New friendships are happening all around.
The music in this ecosystem is added by the vendors and the beggars. The vendors sell everything they possibly can in those narrow alleys. ‘Kabuli channa lelo’, ‘Jhaal mudi wala’, ‘Pepsi Thumbs up Cola’, ‘chaiii coffeeee’, ‘nashtaa lunch dineer’ are some of the common shouts you get to hear continuously. Magazines, duplicate electronic items, keychains, toys and among the many things apart from food that is sold here. As for the beggars, there are two major categories. The ones that entertainer to get money, and who should not exactly be called beggars and the others who try to touch an emotional chord within you. The most song most sung by beggars in a north india that I have heard is “garibon ki suno wo tumhari sunega, tum ek paisa do wo das lakh dega”. And gods save you from an encounter with the Hijras. They are a species in themselves. Be ready with a change of 5-10 Rs if you don’t want to be on the receiving end of the abuses. Its always funny how they start. ‘arre mere shahrukh chal paise nikal’ or ‘aaye haai sallu, teri zulfe to bahut lehra rahi hain’. Whenever I heard any of them at a distance, which one generally does hearing the characteristic clap, I made sure I sneak into the toilets or the act sleeping in the top berth not waking up even on repeated shakes.
There is nothing in this place that won’t bewilder a first timer. There is so much to discover in every journey. This one goes out to all those who have stopped travelling by train off late or those who never did.
It so tought to choose a life partner, what do you look for in him.
You need to be an indian girl, an independant one to figure out the pains involved. Some of the questions that loom in the minds of these troubled ladies are such :
will he let me be independant
will he be understanding
will i have to bear his mother and family
will they stay with us
can i work after marriage
what happens if one of us get transferred to another location
when do we have children
does he have enuf money for us to live in prosperity
And when i came back home i had so many ways in which i could have responded to her. Why do people loose humility as they grow older, why is there so much hate. Just a simple act of 2 people playing cricket outside her home made her go mad, so mad that she didn't have the coutesy even requesting us to leave. Out she came like a bull behind a gate charging on seeing a red cloth, blah blah blah and more blah with the sound boom!! bang!! One thing did stick out "At this age how can you be playing cricket". Damn do i look so old or may be she was just too illogical to makes sense of things. Had she ever seen light moments in her life. Where did all that vengeance come from, that lady spitting venom made me feel out for her, she definitely was not happy with life.
Well maybe she was just too worried about the Rangoli outside her gate. But whatever the case, humility and requesting are abilitites that any person can do with.
We quitely walked away without uttering a word, her illogical remarks made it dificult for me to even start a conversation.
Getting back home I felt happy and sad at the same time. For once the incident reminded me of the times when we were kids and there were these aunties who used to scold us for playing cricket. But sad that such people exist in education home like hers with her house proudly proclaiming her husband to be an IIM B graduate. I atleast hope he has some humility, i seriously do hope.
2:30 at night on friday, I got this sudden urge to visit my relatives in Almora by bike (410 kms from Delhi) and unbelievable as it may it would sound it just required 15 mins of planning.
The only thing that was to be overcome was the thought of "What if something happens". Once this was overcome and the skeptical attitude chaged to one of 'Let's do it', then there was no thinking but just the goal. My first real long distance bike trip, alone apart from it being the first time i was going to try to ride on a hilly terrain. I was sure that this excitement in itself was fuel enough to take me a long way.
At 3:15 with a few clothes in my bag I and around 600 bucks in my purse I was ready to hit the road. Had a look at the route in google and figured out it was atleast a 10 hr journey. I woke up the guest house attendant, told him i was headed towards Almora, not sure how far i'll be able to make it but inform the same to anyt one who calls for me.
It was pitch dark and the moonlight added to the charm of the trip. Empty roads gave me the licence to hit the speeds i wished to, and in no time had i crossed Ghaziabad. It was time for the first Tea break. The best part about journeys is the eating at dhabas and drinking Tea at various chai wallas, making trivial conversation with strangers and giving lifts to anyone and everyone who asks for it. A tea and an oily bread ommlette down my stomach I was ready to move on.
Nearby Ghaziabad I found my first pillion rider somewhere in the middle of the highway. It was strange at first, with me recollecting all the Ghost stories i had heard about, checking my purse again and again, and looking into the rear mirror to check if the person was still sitting :D. Few minutes into the situation and after asking a lot of question to man, I was able to get back my confidence and by the it was time to guy to say good bye.
Having not slept the night I think I sleep rode thruogh most of the journey from there till somewhere near moradabad. Finally unable to keep myself awake any longer I went to sleep in a charpai at highway dhabha. Half an hour of sleep, 2 glasses of tea and a fan (a kind of patties) made me feel ready to move on. This was around 9 in the morning.
Met this italian hippi, in a tattred undershirt and pink pyjamas near kainchi dham. He was trying to find a address where a japanese guy had told him that there was gonna be a hippi get together. Well for a moment I felt i should go with him to this place but alas sense prevailed over me ;)
. . . . to be completed . . . .
On the way back:
With no protection i felt I could just freeze to death unless the sun god decided to have some mercy and show itself soon enough.
One of the techniques i found very useful on my way downhill was to follow a truck at a safe distance. This makes sure that the path ahead is already cleared for you.
I decided to make it fast and not stop at a lot of places on the way back.
One of most striking places was the sight of the 'Bhim Tal' fron a distance, surrounding by mountains.
My fisrt stop was the same dhaba near Bhimtal where I had stopped on the way up.
The stretch from Haldwani to Rudrapur whith forest on both sides of the road was a absolute pleasure to ride through.
- [self] Man's last successful desire - Free me of all desires
- creativity at the times of frustration and despair bring out the best of the poet in me
- [self] Never overestimate the continuity of the past and never underestimate the randomness of the future
- [self] Aint it simple, you can only BE ..... by Being
- The only thing u'll ever regret is denying who you really are
- Lock up ur heart but keep the key within reach
- [self] some like it dreamy
some like it real
and some just sleep dreamless
- [self] the romance might have died but the love you once showered lives on
-Frank Gilbreth, one of the pioneers of industrial psychology discovered that you could cut the time it took to shave if you used two razors at once—but then abandoned the idea when he found that it took an additional two minutes to bandage the resulting wounds.
Today red bus got its new Coffee vending machine which signals the end of the chai walla. I dont know what he'll do, may be find another place to sell his chai, but i'll definitely miss the energetic good morning and good afternoon he greeted everyone with and the smile he gave back ones you replied to him.
Today at dream a dream, the children from Ananya gave a decent presentation, an output of the 202 program we did with then with the Enable Child Foundation.
After a group of 2 children gave a presentation on the Olympics, the director of Ananya asked the children why they had chosen the particular background for the presentation. The children didnt have an answer, which got me thinking if it was my mistake for not having told them that the picture they had chosen didnt really represent the Olymics clearly. But what i was definitely proud of was that I had not medled with their product, it was as they had created it.
One of the biggest conflict when it come to teaching children is deciding to what extent you let the them experiment and to what extent you keep them within the requirement of a particular class to get to a desired result.
Another important aspect is the intellectual capacity, the mood and the inclination of the children. It is easy to deal with a bunch of kids who are at par in these things, but more often than not every child has a very different mind of his own. You tell them to research about the Great Wall of China, but rest assured after a minute you'll find them researching their favorite movie star, the likes of Kamal Hasan and Ganesh here in the south.
One of the best things about these courses is that over a period of the 3 weeks you develop a bonding with these children, some of them are soooo cute, some so inquisitive, some so mischievious.
Teaching children is a big challenge as its amazingly difficult to hold on to their attention and everyday is a new learning in terms of discovering myselfand in learning about the world of children.
Have you ever thought what a road would be for a traffic police man. For each one of us the road leads somewhere, but for the Traffic man it is so still, he stands there all day long directing traffic, his position unchanging. All around there is motion but is static like the light house in the sea which keeps being hit by the waves all the time.
Sometimes, rather most of the times, unplanned journeys are the best ones. Well, this time it was a visit to the beutiful Jog Falls with a freind rom office, Pawan. All credit goes to him for organizing everything, my only contribution being the agreement to go :)
Sealong travels, the bus slated to leave Bangalore at 10:30, eventually left around 12. We reached the bus stop at 10:15 and due to the delay got time to grab a bite at the nearby Shanti Sagar. I gobbled up a lot of Pavs, thanks to the good quantity of the bhaji. Pawan had his regular smokes, and we made small talk, well the initial ice breaker time when you go out with somebody you are used. So that was the time when we started talking.
Into the bus at around 11:15 we went to sleep, the long day a work being the primary culprit. And ya it was a sleeper bus, pawan had the upper berth while i was in the lower one, just above the tyre. Not surprisingly it was a like sleeping through an earthquake, but then having not slept the last night, i went unconscious as soon as i hit the bed.
Morning around 8, we landed at this place called Sagar. Sagar is small town with a typical bus adda having those pay toilets, jittery buses and small shops all around. Next we boarded a bus to the Jog as our stay was at a KSTDC guest house near the falls.
T-20 cricket to me represents the whole conscience of the society we live in today. We want quick results, we are intolerant for failure. The slower but more solid players of old like Dravid are not valued; what is valued is the quick cameos by the Yusuf Pathans.
But where is this taking us to.
Early burn outs, a lot of one match wonder, a loss in the concept of solid foundation, a loss in the ability to give second chance to those who fail.
We as a society today respect speed, be it someone who earned quick bucks, someone who reached a higher position quickly without looking at the means used to get there. Most of the times the effort of those who actually work for society are easily forgotten. There is a mad rush to the top, cause the concept of everyone being respected has been lost. Anyways its no longer are people who are respected, its just money.
Another aspect to the issue is that we are not ready to look for solutions by discussions any more, but would rather fight or kill someone to get the work done, cause patience is no longer a virtue we carry along.
Damn ... sometimes I just become so pessimistic ! These are just thoughts. May be there are brighter things coming out of all this, may be i am just missing a basic point, but till then T20 for me is the face of the impatient society of today.
Logic i believe is the opposite of love. Every relation, as soon as it gets into the argument of 'You did this hence I'll do that', goes one step closer to death. For love there is no logic, its unconditional ie. without conditions. And logic is defined only based on conditions. As soon as we start putting conditions there is a part of the love that is lost. Giving without expecting any return is an illogical act, but is the basis of an everlasting relation.
We dont know so much about this world. I realized it today after seeing a documentry on Enron. Everyone should know the enron story to see what can happen wrong, how one lie can lead to another and giving power to people who live only for money can I do not still understand exactly what went wrong with Enron, apart from the fact that they did a lot of futures trading and misrepresentation of their companies.
And their downfall started right after all that they did in california. It always struck to me why did California have some one Arnold as its governer. Well hge always came across as macho, but never intelligent. Today i know that he was the result of all the power games played by the top guys at Enron
Watched the motorcycle diaries today .... the voyage of transition of Che (Ernesto). It was so much like the journey of Siddharth who was stirred within after seeing the plight of people and went looking for answers. Once he found them he was no longer the same but became Gautam Buddha.
It was about the moments, the moments when you meet yourself devoid of any superficiality, about the moments when something within you cries out to stand up and fight, about moments of pity on those you meet and more so on yourself for not doing something about their state, despite have the power to do so.
Surely, the greatest journey one can ever make is the journey to find oneself, to get in touch with your real self.
Like philosophy aside, I was surprised to see the awesome similarity between the landscapes and the people of Peru to those of Arunanchal Pradesh. Reminded me of my journey to Ziro, one of the most adventurous trip i have been on. It was the kind of experience that will be hard to recreate.
Going to the Incas civilization sites in Peru along with a bike trip across India like the one in motorcycle diaries is certainly up there in the 100 things to do before i die !
Also, I think everyone should take such a journey once in his life time, the earlier the better, to travel across the country, bond with people, understand the difficulties that they go through, so that you start valuing the gift of good life that some of us are born with.
Whatever one does, there needs to be love, an attempt to the highest union. Only then can one be happy. Happiness derived from the pleasure of taking and giving control to each other.Take a socccer ball for instance, inanimate till we bring it to life, but once brought to life it is a pleasure in falling in love with it, trying to understand every interaction it makes with your body.
Such is the beauty of love that it can happen with anything, anywhere. The only criteria for it being a source of lasting happiness though is that u need to give it your all.It is the principle meditation is based on. The principle of meditating on a certain object, a certain God and falling in love with it so deeply that nothing else is important, that you loose all your other thoughts but the one of him .
We are a bunch of people who are passionate about technology and strive to use it to solve problems and create products that add amazing value to the society and lot of profits for uor clients.Its time for us to group together to ignite our hidden desires andto create a forum and reserch group wherein we do stuff we like, to form something on the lines of MIT media labs,to create a forum for research like the way probably google does ..the best part of our company is the open atmosphere that we have here, with even the highest level ppeople easily accesible for discussion.With experience of the older people, and the exuberence and the creative ability of the younger crowd we can create a amazing comunity of nerds to visualize a new world for tommorow.The NEXT gen of things ... ides that will change the world in amazing ways....Lets be the torch bearers for the society and give our contribution to the way the world of tommorow will be shaped.In todays world of connectivity and open source we have all the reason to feel empowered, to be at par with anyone, anywhere else in the world.Lets gather ... brainstorm ... and take all the advantage of the atmosphere that we have all accidently or otherwise landed in ..... there is no reason for us to be restricted by anyhting .. no resource in now faraway ... every voice .. every idea is precious ... every thought might be a key to a locked ocean of ideas ...all are invited ... all are stakeholders ... all are drivers ... and all are the source ... welcome to the new world order ... be a part of the revolution ....
Another day, another accident ... this time it was an invisible speed breaker ... damn ... when will i learn to drive !! Just this time i didn't but rather hit the bumper of a Zen :)
Hit the Gym for the first time in life ... lets see how long can i survive the morning 6'o' clocks.
