Guruprasad's musings & more

what's missing in bangalore?

2010-05-12T19:50:00.010+05:30

what do you miss the most when you move cities?

your friends? your colleagues? your favourite movie halls? eating joints? your house/ flat/ apartment? the temple in the neighbourhood?

i recently moved out of mumbai. and i miss the shoe-shine boys! and the beggars in mumbai! (i don't miss the smells and the sights! thank you!)

i used to take the local trains every day to office and would get my shoe shined from the ubiquitous shoe-shine boy at the railway station platform! in mumbai you will find a shoe-shine boy at every railway station at any time of the day! (i have not seen a single shoe-shine boy in bangalore till date! and i've been here a month already! anyone knows where you can find them?)

so i now have to shine my shoes every morning before leaving for work. not that i'm cribbing, but the pleasure of getting your shoe shine from a shoe-shine boy in mumbai is something different altogether ! any true-blue mumbaikar would confirm that.

i also miss the beggars & the homeless people of mumbai. in bangalore if there is excess food left over after dinner we don't know what to do with it! it doesn't feel right to throw it in the trash. in mumbai we used to pack the food in containers and drive out into the night and hand over the food to the scores of beggars and homeless people you saw on the roads.

i'm not saying there are no beggars on the streets in bangalore, but they are definitely not as many and as obviously 'in-your-face' as they are in mumbai! and for me, that's definitely an indicator of the economic status of a city.

p.s. i am not missing natural's ice-cream! they have arrived in bangalore! :P

big move!

2010-05-09T16:04:00.005+05:30

and i'm back again!

this must have been the longest time i've been away! and even i never thought i would ever come back. but then i guess i was missing seeing my own posts out there! i'm such a narcissist! :P

there have been some big changes in my life... actually, big would be an under-statement.

for starters, i have changed jobs! and when you change jobs, or take up a real job after 15 years of doing your own thing, it is big thing! and especially when you have taken up a job which you have never done in your life and is not exactly your area of 'expertise'!

and because of this job, we've all moved out of mumbai! again, a not-so-small change, when you consider the fact that i was in mumbai for over 23 years! and the big boss has been there for even longer!

so we're now in bangalore... and its a whirlwind affair of school admissions, house hunting, maid hunting, furniture hunting, finding your way around, meeting people... its almost like starting life all over again!

the kids are having a gala time... we're finding new eating joints, shopping malls, complexes with swimming pools, and TELEVISION!!!

we're temporarily staying at a dear friend's place. he stays at this place only for a few days each week. ever since our brood moved in here, the tv set has been used for more hours than he ever used it over the last 5 years that he has been here!!!

p.s. every morning when i slip on my shoes, i miss the shoe-shine boys of mumbai!

a pound of flesh!

2009-12-18T13:53:00.005+05:30

i picked up this movie just on a whim. i had never heard about it before nor had anyone recommended it to me. the very brief story-line on the cover jacket got my attention and i decided to check it out.

and i was glad i did!

if you analyze the film you will find many loop-holes. you would also probably be uncomfortable about some of the moral aspects of the film.

but i would very strongly recommend this movie for all film-lovers. its not a classic or oscar material. but what i liked about the film, apart from the good acting by will smith and rosario dawson, is how the movie keeps you guessing till the very end. and the best part is that you already have an inkling of what is unfolding, but you are still hoping it turns out differently. and that is disturbing. and that is what makes this a very interesting film.

seven pounds is a 2008 film directed by gabriele muccino (who also directed 'in pursuit of happyness'). the film is all about an individual who is reaching out to seven complete strangers and trying to change their lives drastically. and you keep wondering about the motive behind his seemingly bizarre actions. you can clearly see that he is punishing himself very severely and the story slowly unfolds to give you an idea of what's happening. the film has many loose ends which all tie up pretty nicely in the end.

go out and rent the dvd tonight. you will thank me for it! :)

mission junk!!!

2009-12-16T23:13:00.004+05:30

most young parents would have read 'what to expect when you are expecting' and some would have even read the ones that follow...

but none of these books tell you about some of the perils of parenting, especially fathering!

take monday as a case in point! i was getting back home by the local train (my preferred mode of commute in mumbai) after a late evening in office when i got an urgent call from the big boss... i was asked to pick up some stuff which could be used as examples of junk food...

now before you wonder why she was so keen on junk food articles let me clarify! we had to send some examples of junk food pasted on a cardboard sheet which our son had to take to school the next morning...

most of the kids' assignments are completed only a 'jit' basis which ensures that we optimise our effort and put in the least time and get the maximum output to input (time) ratio on the projects! :P
and this is nowhere as efficient as some of the other parents who manage to complete it on the day of the submission before packing off the kids and their bags and snack boxes to the school bus... we still have a long way to go! :P

so as part of my clandestine assignment, i had to get off the train a couple of stations before my destination, get into a mc'donald's outlet near the station, order a value meal for myself, eat the 'junk food' instead of dinner... now comes the nest part...

i had to carefully and surreptitiously squirrel away the plastic glass, the plastic and paper containers in which the fries and burgers are served and leave the outlet hoping that none of the other patrons noticed!!!

i managed to breathe easily only after i reached home... i then felt like i had thwarted some major evil operatives and pulled off some major clandestine operation successfully!

"mission junk" completed successfully... ready for the next adventure! :)

girls are smarter!

2009-12-05T23:06:00.004+05:30

girls are so much smarter than guys... about certain things... (yeah ok, about the most important things in life... there, can i continue now?)

the big boss and i hired another movie tonight - duplicity (which i will write about later)

my son didn't even pause to look at the cover... i guess that's because it had nothing to do with cricket or football or guitar (his latest favourite musical instrument) or narnia or harry potter or any of those things which would hold his attention for a few seconds...

but our daughter doesn't miss a thing... especially when the picture on the cd cover looks something like this...

she promptly wants me to tell her what the couple is doing... (look closely at the picture of julia roberts and clive owen in the middle... missed it? she didn't!)

i knew that she knew, but that she wanted to hear it from me...

i tried talking about some other things... i don't remember but i must've tried talking about the weather... that didn't work... she listened to me patiently and then asked me again...

i then read out the synopsis of the movie on the back cover... she heard me intently and then asked me again... i realised that i am not getting away...

so i looked closely at the picture and told her that it looks like the man is trying to tell the lady some secret! she promptly curled her lips and said 'nah'... so i asked her if that was not it could she then tell me what they were doing? she said she wanted me to tell her...

i then told her that they were about to kiss... she then grinned and said yuck and went away... i thought i saw a smug look on her face as if she had scored a winning goal or something!!!

i tell you... girls are much smarter than guys about the most important things in life... and my daughter is just 5.5 years old! i'm sure the stories are only going to get more interesting with time! :P

films galore!

2009-11-30T18:20:00.010+05:30

its been an orgy of films over the weekend... and i'm going around with a smile that would make you think that i've had a heavy sunday lunch or something! (btw, i did have a heavy sunday lunch too! :P )

i watched an old 2001 film serendipity'... nothing exceptional... fairly predictable, but nice... in a soft, mellow, feel-good kind of way, if you know what i mean...
the film revolves around two people (john cusack and kate beckinsale) who accidentally meet while shopping and click off very well... but they part ways without him knowing her full name... and she says that if they are meant to be together then life will bring them together! the movie after that is about how life finally brings them together, obviously! :)

i like the word serendipity which means 'a fortunate accident' and it actually has a very interesting history! you can read all about it here.

-------------

i then watched 'ninja assassin' late saturday night... this is a must-watch for action aficionados... the action sequences are choreographed and executed ... but if blood, gore and chopped-up body parts are not your cup of tea then i would strongly advise you to keep away... you could end up losing your dinner in a very unpleasant way! :)

the film is produced by the wachowski brothers of the matrix fame, directed by james mc teigue (v for vendetta) and the lead role is played by rain (a korean pop star actually! :) )...

the film gives you the impression that the action sequences were put together first and then they interspersed some kind of a story-line into it! :P

like i said, watch it purely for the poetry in action, the subtlety in the violence and the calming numbness of the blood and gore!

(i never knew that the human body could spew out so much blood and with such ferocity!)

-----------

and last night, the big boss and i decided to pick up a rental movie... and we both liked the brief description on the jacket of 'state of play' which is a 2009 american political thriller... its quite a power-packed film with russell crowe, ben affleck and rachel mc adams...

its actually a film adaptation of a 6-part 2003 british tv series by the same name... the film is directed by kevin macdonald (last king of scotland)...

the movie is tight, and moves at a fairly rapid pace and keeps you hooked on till the end of the 2 hour length of the film...
the script is very impressive with twists till the end, corporate conspiracies, some racy dialogs and humor...

the cinematography and the background score maintains the tension all through the film... and the actors deliver a punch with their performance... russell crowe as an old-fashioned journalist is a pleasure to watch in this film...

a must-see for everyone who likes a good film with drama and mystery!

all i do is wait

2009-11-25T15:53:00.004+05:30

all i do is wait
for a twist of fate
or a turn of events.

i seem to be standing
at the edge of a bottomless canyon,
waiting for a circumstantial nudge.

i expect cataclysmic events will unfold:
the cosmic soup will be bubbling
the infinite oceans will be seething
and the universe in my head
will go into labour.

new stars will be born
destinies rewritten
fortunes will be foretold
empires will crumble as i watch
and my sun will be on the ascendant.

but i am clueless
when it will all begin
and what will trigger it
and how.
all i can do is wait
for it to unfold,
spiral outward to the end
and beyond.

and then finally settle down
into an ocean of calm
where i watch my reflection
and see you smile back at me.

a birthday gift!

2009-11-19T21:27:00.004+05:30

i got this poem from a dear friend on my birthday... had to share it here with all of you! :)

(i won't blame you if you think i'm going through a narcissistic phase here! :P )

---------

I tried it all!

Shopping at the mall,

Another painting for your wall,

But liked nothing at all.

So I thought,

And I thought

And after thinking a lot,

This brilliant idea I got!

If not a book or a tee,

Or a tie or CD,

The least I can do,

Is write a b’day rhyme for you!

So! Uncle Guru,

Your 40! It’s true.

Don’t feel so blue,

For you haven’t caught the flu!

Soon enough though

Your hair will no longer grow

But don’t be so low,

For your bald head will glow!

Even when it’s bright,

You may feel that it’s night

And Thanks to faulty eyesight

You’ll want to put on the light!

when Prasann your son

is playing in the sun,

he’ll beg you to join in the fun,

but you’ll say, “Oh! My backache’s begun!”

“Sunanda! Where is my cane?

Walking is a strain.

It causes my body such pain”

You’ll sigh in vain, “I wish I was 20 all over again!”

Memory loss will come soon

You’ll leave your keys in the bathroom.

And wonder whether it’s April May or June

While heading to the clinic, in a party costume!

“I can’t seem to find the other shoe!

Where ARE you Niru?”

“But it’s time for bed, Guru!

Look at the time, its true!”

And Alas! To read,

A pair of thick spectacles you’ll need,

They’ll be sitting on your head,

Still you’ll reach for your wife’s instead!

Breathe! I’m only kidding!

Don’t look so forbidding!

To take your case is my thing,

Read ahead, cuz I’m still writing…

I can’t do this anymore,

I fear it might become a bore,

I stretched the truth, and even lied

But I can’t insult you anymore, I tried!

So listen to the other side,

Take this in your stride,

For 40’s a milestone

And not a reason to groan!

You’re twenty away from 60

And already feeling 50

But you’re a young man of 40

Who at heart is only 30

You’re talented and poetic,

At your age you’re so energetic!

A movie buff, a music lover

There’s so much u still have to discover.

You are a great sport,

A constant support.

You’re a teacher, a guide

And just knowing you fills me with pride.

There’s so much you’ve taught…

Such joy you’ve brought..

That it’s impossible to say

How grateful I am, in just a day.

it’s your birthday today,

and I wish and pray,

that you find your way,

smiling, each day.

forgotten melodies

2009-09-07T17:36:00.003+05:30

everything seems larger than life

nothing seems normal anymore
every minute detail seems too close for comfort
and screaming without a sound.

maybe i need to step back from the peeping glass
and look around and see
the landscape spread as far as eye can see.

and see that day follows the darkest night
and spring follows the coldest winter
while life keeps moving on
whether i stand still or race ahead.

come hold my hand
and let's walk this last stretch together
we then have a lifetime more
once we reach the end of this road.

sing me your songs
so that i can sing along
and not think of 'could have beens'
or forgotten melodies.

i have learnt

2009-09-04T23:12:00.002+05:30

i have learnt
that today is what i have
to live and to learn from.

yesterday is long gone
leaving memories
not always sweet.

and tomorrow
is too uncertain
and often packs surprises.

i have learnt
that love is not just a feeling
but is a state of being
in love.

and that willingly
i yearn forever
and smile through pain
and yet not want it to end!

rascals!

2009-08-23T10:50:00.004+05:30

this might be slightly late in the day for many of you, but for those of you who haven't watched the movie 'kaminey' here're some words of advice :

GET OFF YOUR BACKSIDE AND GO WATCH IT!!!

this was my first vishal bharadwaj (vb) film (yeah, sacrilege, i know!!!) and it is not considered as his best film by far... infact a friend who's a vb fan sayd that this film was very 'main-stream commercial' as compared to his earlier films... but i still enjoyed it thoroughly!

i'm not going to bore you with another review here... there are so many reviews out there already...
but i'd like to share some kaminey and vb trivia here with you...

- the song 'dhan te tan' was actually not made for this movie... it was used by vb in a tv serial in the 90s...

- there was apparently much choreography planned for the song dhan ten tan... they just went out there and moved to the music and some of that was captured (i find this hard to believe though)

- vb himself has sung the title track 'kaminey' and his wife rekha bharadwaj (she has sung the catchy 'gendhe ka phool' song in delhi6) is one of the singers of the song 'raat ke dhai baje'

- vb has directed, composed music, written the screenplay and sung for the film... its unhealthy! so much talent concentrated in one person! :P

- he bought the script for $4000 from a nairobi-based writer who he mentored in a scrip-writing workshop in uganda

- this is the debut film for amol gupte who plays the role of one of the key villains - bhope bhau. amol gupte wrote the screen play for the award-winning taare zameen par.

i have now decided to catch up on all the vb movies that i have missed - maqbool, omkara, blue umbrella and makdee. the big boss shudders at the thought! :)

a peep into my feverish mind

2009-08-16T11:23:00.004+05:30

boundless hope
unbridled desires
untamed passion
fervent prayers

primal needs
basic wants
ardent longings
urgent cravings

sharp pangs of hunger
parched throat thirst
and then this great urge
a deep inexplicable yearning

so many thoughts
swirl around in my mind
but i ride an ocean of calm.

rhyme's not for me

2009-07-31T18:14:00.002+05:30

i fret and i fume

and feel out of tune,

and against all my efforts

fate seems immune.

i fall and i rise

for i am unstoppable

...

nah,

rhyme is not for me

it just doesn't have soul,

when telling it as it is,

is actually my goal.

i let you know how i feel

as i lay myself bare,

and if it doesn't fit into a metre

i really don't care.

here we are, you and i

2009-07-04T00:00:00.006+05:30

so here we are
you and i
connected to each other
with unseen bonds
stronger than our own fears

savoring each other
living the moment
reaching out across
and touching
just for the joy of feeling you

blinking and noticing
that you are still there
not an apparition
flesh and blood
my love coursing through you

the intensity engulfs me
and i close my eyes
in sheer ecstasy
only to notice you
are now merged within me

man vs. animal

2009-07-01T22:56:00.000+05:30

there's this funny anecdote i had heard about why men are behaving more and more like animals... and why animals so much more humane than most of the specimens of our species!

if you believe in the hindu theory of reincarnation you will know that the soul is imperishable and is reborn in differnt forms depending on their accumulated past actions... now given the way in which most of us live our lives we should be reborn as animals... but then we human beings have not spared too many of the animals either... in fact we've driven many of them to extinction!

so some of us come back as human beings because there were no animal forms available at the time we were born... so we were accidently born as human beings when we should have actually been born as some animal!

so maybe that explains why most of us behave more and more like animals... sometimes more than the animals themselves!
(now some of you might say that i'm only 'monkeying' around here! but i'm not passing off some 'cock' and 'bull' story here... and i'm not going to 'chicken' off by your threats! :P )

there was this very interesting discussion about the key differences between human beings and animals that i read in this slightly bizarre book called 'fierce invalids home from hot climates' by tim robbins.

the list of characteristics that differenciate man and animal include - imagination, rebelliousness, aesthetics, spirituality, eroticism, and humour.

now when you pause to think about it, you tend to agree with this list... and it leaves you wondering if there was anything else you could add to this list... (i couldn't think of anything, can you?)

i then flaunted this list to the big boss on day... i felt she too would feel humbled by this list and wonder if she could add something to complete the list...

she heard me out and then summed it all in obe single sentence - "all of these have to do with the intellect... and that is essentially what differentiates a man from an animal!"

suffice to say that i was humbled and struck speechles... which people who know me will certify is an extremely rare occurence! :P

tagged and delivered!

2009-06-18T16:49:00.004+05:30

i normally don't do tags... where i have to talk about the 12 things i would like to do by standing on one foot; or the 23 things i would do with a cricket ball; or the 6 continental dishes i absolutely hate; or the 9 smelliest people i have ever come across...

i just can't get myself to do these things... but today i decided to break this self-defined rule and do this tag which preeti tagged me here

so here are the 5 things i love about being a dad :

i am sure there are many more relevant and esoteric reasons for being proud of being a dad, but here are the first 5 that come to my mind...

1. i love having my kids falling asleep while lying on top of me... not any more of course... they weigh quite a bit... but earlier when they didn't weight so much that they squeeze the breath out of me! :P

2. i love hearing my son tell me excitedly about how he scored a beautifully executed goal or catch someone out in cricket or win a chess game... ((most of the time he doesn't get chosen by the other boys to play because he can't kick a ball to save his life... but he makes up for it with all his enthusiasm... and its fun just to hear him describe it all... i always tell people, even if he doesn't become a cricketer, he has a future as a commentator! :P )

3. i love it when my daughter comes and whispers a secret in my ear and doesn't want me to tell her mom... and then the minute her mom walks in the room she can't hold it back for even a couple of seconds... she just has to blurt it out to her! :P

4. i love it when my daughter is scowling and moping (usually because she hasn't gotten her way for once) and tries to maintain a stern, serious expression while i am trying to get her to smile... and finally she can't control herself anymore and ends up grinning or bursting into laughter :)

5. what i love most is watching my kids walk hand in hand, while the older brother is leading his younger sister by hand across the road to the waiting bus on their way to school... :)

space: the final frontier

2009-06-15T23:06:00.004+05:30

"Space: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise
Its 5 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations
To boldly go where no man has gone before"

so many of us have such nostalgic memories when you hear these lines... of the eagerly awaited star trek series on sunday morning on television (on the solitary doordarshan channel in those days)...

i have never watched a single star trek movie after the tv series... i couldn't even bring myself to watch the new series which did not have william shatner as capt. kirk and leonard nimoy as spock... (i remember all the girls in school in those days being completely smitten by capt. kirk... yeah yeah, i know i studied in an all-boys school and you are wondering how i know this about the girls... well, i am not telling!)

but i finally decided to watch the latest star trek movie which is a chronicle of the early days of capt. kirk and his fellow uss enterprise crew members...

all of us trudged off for the sunday morning show... the big boss and the kids... the kids actually enjoyed themselves... and i don't mean just the popcorn and the fizzy drink... they actually enjoyed the film... though the younger one (daughter) did get a little frightened during some of the scenes... it was their first sci-fi film on the big screen...

i simply loved the movie... even if you have never watched star trek you will really enjoy this film... and if you are even a fringe fan of start trek and don't consider yourself a trekkie you would still be comiting an unforgiveable sin if you do not watch this film!

the movie has leonard nimoy playing the old spock (i am not telling you anything more) and he still can make you smirk with his logical dialogs delivered with a punch...

but for me, just like for another die-hard fan i chatted with earlier today, the most 'goose-bumpy' and emotional moment in the film was during the end credits where leonard nimoy says 'space: the final frontier....'

ah! that was the bestest moment in the film for me... but you have to watch it understand what i am saying...

i will sign off by borrowing spock's customary farewell line (accompanied by the vulcan hand salute of course) - "live long and prosper!"

not so simple

2009-06-13T20:27:00.002+05:30

this is the first poem i received in response to my tag... a really nice poem from manasi
here's the link to her blog and the actual poem below :
http://forevermanasi.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-so-simple.html

ओ आसमान में उड़ते पंछी,
कभी मुझे भी अपने साथ ले जा.
खुल कर निडर मुक्त गगन में,
एक उड़ान की चाहत जो है.

बैठी है जो टीले के पीछे,
वो बुढ़िया जो अपना चूल्हा फूकती.
बताया उसने कि तुम ले गयीं थी उसको,
एक सूखी रोटी के बदले.

मैं होमवर्क पूरा कर लूंगी,
दूध वाले को तंग भी न करूंगी,
उस गुरजीत से नहीं लडूंगी,
एक उड़ान की चाहत जो है.

a different kind of tag

2009-06-12T15:29:00.005+05:30

i got a beautiful poem from a dear friend which i am reproducing here.

-----------

i wonder..

will there be a storm,
with howling winds,
and torrential showers,
when you come..

will the earth separate,
with molten lava
swirling at your feet,
when you come..

or will the mountain peaks,
lift their heads higher,
and roar to the world,
that you have come?

maybe, the trees will march,
with creatures of all sizes,
in the parade,
on the day of your arrival.

i wonder, if the brooks and streams
will join hands,
and create a wreath,
to welcome u with..

i wonder, whether this lil flower,
with petals so tiny and blue,
that just fell into my hands,
is actually you..

- riddhi shah (mumbai)
------------

i am sure there's a poet in each one of us. now what i'd really like is for you to send me one of your poems. whichever you like. either its one you have already written before or you can write one now. send it to me and i'll publish them here. why should you do this? just so that others can enjoy reading your poems.

i'll give source credit! :P
which basically means i won't pass them off as my creation... you'll get mentioned with a byline and with the url to your blog .

so go on, don't hesitate... let the creative juices flow and share it with the rest of the world...

(there's no deadline for entries... i'll keep posting them as i receive them)

naming cyclones

2009-05-27T15:16:00.003+05:30

ever wondered how they come up with these names for the cyclones and typhoons that hit coasts across the globe? (and ever wondered why most of them are named after women? aptly so, some might say!:P )

most of you would know that the latest cyclone which hit the coast of india and bangladesh was called 'aila' (no, its not a marathi word :P ) and it means fire in the dhivehi language of the maldives.

ok, now check this out... let me mess with your minds a little bit! i can predict what the next three big storms which hit this part of the world are going to be called! hold your breath... they will be called - phyan, ward and laila! got you there, didn't i? i love this! :)

well, this is the point where i let you into a little-known secret... cyclone names across the world are fixed in advance! this is apparently done by the WMO (world meterological organisation) which is an inter-governmental body that collaborates on everything to do with weather... they also make a list of names for storms & cyclones!

in the us (trust them!) they apparently used to use only women's names for the devastating cyclones they are regularly plagued by... until 1979... feminie protests made them amend their ways and so now they name them with male and demale names alternately! that's like sharing the blame equally for all the mess we create in the world! :P

read all about the naming of cyclones on livemint here.

how to make your blog a comment magnet!

2009-05-25T20:59:00.006+05:30

most bloggers have this secret fantasy about their blog hitting it big-time in terms of popularity and getting hundreds of comments for the posts that you write about...

there are some blogs which are in that league... but most blogs, like the one you are reading, do not boast of a huge fan following ...

so here's my own list of things you can do to make your blog a super-hit and attract more visitors than flies to a piece of jaggery! :)

1. write a daily blog on food and recipes and everything to do with food... this one can't fail... food is the universal solution for peace... i never fight with big boss (or vice-versa) when i am well-fed :P

2. write a blog with daily posts on lascivious gossip on celebrities... again a sure-fire winner... especially if you can include some steamy pictures!

3. write a blog with daily posts (preferably many updates during the day) on stock market activity with stock tips and all the associated rumors... there are thousands of wanna-be millionaires out there who will lap it up!

4. the most reliable and the oldest and tried & tested way of getting people flocking to your blog is to make it a classy porn blog with pictures and stories and advice and tips and all the paraphernalia thrown... you not only get a lot of visitors but you also have a good chance of making your millions faster than through the stock markets!

5. or else you do what i did... put up a greenpeace mailer on your blog (http://guruprasad.blogspot.com/2008/05/ratan-is-about-to-see-light.html), thanks to some misplaced enthusiasm... and suddenly you have tons of people commenting everyday... in the beginning i noticed there were a lot of people from one side of the divide writing in like there was no tomorrow... and now there's deathly silence from that side... now it is the other side which has suddenly woken up... and every day i get about a couple of mails without fail... (after some time i stopped publishing the comments)

initially i thought that my blog was becoming the chosen battle-field for all these environmentally conscious citizens from around the globe... but after some time i realised that maybe i was slightly off the mark here (ok, way off the mark actually.. so don't rub it in, ok!)... my blog was just becoming a platform for both the sides to take pot-shots at each other through some people who plant these comments using various fake names...

i guess both sides in such episodes have a lot to lose with millions at stake... and their reputations as well... but i wonder how it helps their cause by bombarding hundreds of comments on blogs such as this one?

reaching out

2009-05-21T00:07:00.002+05:30

the leaves whispered urgently

as the wind came visiting

with news about you and

a message just for me.

across the distance you reached out

and touched me and smiled

as i started and looked around

wondering if you could see me.

the river gurgled past

and carried my thoughts

across the eddies and currents

and wound its way to you.

and as you drank deeply

of the cool water in your cupped palms

you could hear my response

echoing within the deepest part of you.

birthday celebrations and a movie

2009-05-17T22:10:00.005+05:30

i know, no long time no post... but fret and fume not, i'm still here! :)

this one is actually two posts in one!

i just got back from a fun-filled day... i had gone with my kids to attend a kid's birthday bash... and i thoroughly enjoyed myself...

now children's birthday parties are not exactly my cup of tea, those of my own kids included... and spending a full sunday attending a birthday bash is definitely not my idea of a sunday well spent... the lord had asked us to rest on this day and i prefer to take that word quite seriously... so what if i am not of the same religious leaning, or if i don't exactly follow most of the other commandments as seriously! :P

in this case the kid's parents had organised a day of adventure for the kids at an adventure camp at rivertrail (ecomantra) at kolad. its about a 2.5 hour drive from mumbai on the mumbai-goa route and is located next to the river kundalika. the kids had a whale of a time canoeing, kayaking, and playing in the river. and the parents too couldn't keep away for too long and we all joined in the fun. nothing like a dip in the cool river on a hot summer day!

the brochure of the camp tells us there are many more activities available at this place and it is ideally located for a group of families to spend a fun-filled adventure weekend.

i am sure i am going to wake up feeling sore all over tomorrow, but it was worth it!

--------

the second part of this post is about a movie a friend and i wanted to see for a long time which we finally managed a couple of days back...

we wanted to watch train-spotting long before slumdog millionaire was released but we finally managed to watch it only now... this was the movie which had accorded danny boyle with a cult status long before most of us heard about him after his latest offering...

train-spotting is definitely not for the weak-hearted... but if you like gritty edgy films, this one would get slotted right up there! it gives you a peep into the dark world of heroin addiction and the youth sub-culture in the early 1990s. (the film is set in edinburgh). the film is graphically violent, morbid in parts and dark in the true sense of the word. it follows a group of youngsters who choose to opt out of a regular career-based life that society expects everyone to follow for a messy drug-driven chaotic existence. and it then traces the steady deterioration of their lives.

in the end the main character played by ewan mcgregor decides to clean himself up, but you are left wondering whether he's just jumped from the frying pan into the fire!

if you are into films and especially the hard gritty ones, which don't necessarily end happily and giving you hope, then don't miss this. the others can give it a very wide berth!

shivaji resurrected!

2009-04-26T23:21:00.003+05:30

a movie has to be really good to inspire me to write about it on my blog on the same day! (i watched delhi 6 a few weeks back and didn't write about it at all... well you know what that says about that movie! :) )

but this is about a completely different movie... its about this marathi film called 'mee shivaji raje bhosale boltoy' which has been making waves ever since it was released... in fact it is touted as the largest grosser for a marathi film ever!

this film could also be the comeback vehicle for actor-director mahesh manjrekar whose cousin brother santosh manjrekar has directed this film.

though the film is in marathi, most of you will be able to understand if you can understand hindi... though the film is about the 'marathi manoos' rediscovering his lost pride, a person of any other community also will be able to connect with the theme of the film...

the film is very slickly produced, just like a nig-budget mainstream hindi bollywood film... the casting is excellent, the dialogues are forceful and the pace doesn't ease up at all...

the film is about a middle-class bank clerk, dinkar bhosale, who is making ends meet... he is constantly ridiculed and pressurised and insulted by his office colleagues, family members, and many others in his day-to-day life... a strange twist in the story brings him face-to-face with the resurrected maratha warrior king, shivaji maharaj at his pratapgarh fort... (this does remind of you munnabhai m.b.b.s. but this film is very different)

after this he becomes a hero of sorts and resolves many issues related to the education system, police, politicians, builders, film industry, etc. some of these resolutions are fairly cliched but the overall charm of the film is not lost...

i must've watched a marathi film after more than 20 years! and i have been trying to watch this film for the last 2 weeks and for over 5-6 times my plans changed... i was convinced this film was jinxed :)
boy, am i glad i persisted and finally watched it earlier tonight...

if you are a maharashtrian, its a shame if you haven't wacthed this film yet!
if you are not, but are living in maharashtra (or were living in the past) then you must definitely watch this film...
and if you are not living in maharashtra and you do not understand marathi, then you should hire a dvd with sub-titles and watch this film...

you will thank me after watching it!

bon appetit!

2009-04-15T23:21:00.003+05:30

yesterday was vishu... which is the mallu new year ... it also happens to be the new year for tams... (if i don't mention this here, big boss will go 'hmmp' at me! :P )

like any other mallu festival, vishu is also just another excuse for mallus to go around wearing their crisp white shirts and starched dhotis and have a huge meal on a banana leaf...

no mallu festival is complete without a huge stomach-stretching meal! and its called a 'sadhya' and there's nothing sad about them except that we have only one stomach to stuff all the food into! these are literally mini-orgies where mountains (some might call them mounds, but that depends on which side of the vindhyas you are from!) of rice are polished off with almost a dozen other accompaniments... and you better not try say the names of the dishes to any hot-blooded north indian else he will bloody your crisp white shirt assuming you were saying rude things to him and his ancestors!

no mallu sadhya is complete without a few basic dishes including avial, olan or kalan, sambar, ingi-pulli, thoran, pachadi, papadam, payasam, banana chips, chakaraperati (sweetened banana chips)... trust me, all these dishes taste much better than they sound! :P

and then while i was recovering from a huge meal by wallowing all over the couch like a beached whale, i started thinking... which is what i do when i am full and satiated...
among other things i thought, i realised that its not only the mallu festivals which are about food...

most hindu festivals are gastronomical celebrations... and i think that's the single most important reason why kids love festivals and all of us have fond memories of festival celebrations... whether it is diwali or holi or vishu or pongal or navratri or teej or khojagiri or any other festival of any of the hundreds of communities in india always have some focus on the unique kind of food that is associated with that festival...

and somehow food plays an important part in these festivals because, i think, food generates a sense of well-being and prosperity and peace in the community... a well-fed person, like a well-fed lion, is always less likely to snap or growl or be a general nuisance to the soceity at large!

i'm all for all our festivals and i believe that they should be celebrated with all the elaborate ritual and gaiety... and on those days, keep aside your chronic concern for calories and just dig in... bon appetit! :)

lost in the grandeur

2009-04-09T23:24:00.004+05:30

last night i dreamt of

snow-capped mountains

and mountain streams,

virgin beaches and dense woods.

and you were flying

by my side as we took in

the panoramic scenes

that filled our vision while we

lost ourselves in the grandeur.

and when i awoke

you were still there beside me

and i watched as you slept

your perfect lips lightly smiling

the cascading hair, and a few

errant strands across your face.

and that's when i lost myself

again in the grandeur of this vision!

sun and sand and a good time!

2009-04-05T01:12:00.003+05:30

the golden square gang was at it again! doing what we love doing... we used the holiday last friday and went on a weekend getaway... this time it was to the coastal city of karwar.

we were 10 families, 37 individuals... the youngest was a little over a year old and the oldest was... (i am not telling you our secrets! it makes me feel too old actually! :P )

we had booked cottages at the devbagh beach resort which is a beautiful resort with furnished cottages, log-huts and tents situated in the midst of a dense casuarina grove. the resort is on prime property, right next to the devbagh beach with clean, beautiful sandy beaches and blue-green waters of the arabian sea.

we took the matsyagandha express from mumbai which is a convenient train to reach karwar and the kids always enjoy a good train ride. it always adds a sense of adventure to any trip!

we spent three days at the resort and didn't move out for any local sight-seeing, though there are many options in the vicinity. but we still had a action-packed and fun-filled time at the resort itself.

we were taken out to the deep sea for a joy-ride and we were hoping to see some dolphins which can be spotted here... but we were not lucky. though one of our team members was luckier and he managed to spot some dolphins the next day when he had gone snorkelling.

we also managed a few water sports including a banana-boat ride, water scooter rides, kayaking, etc. and these were activities which even the kids could do safely... and they had a whale of a time! we also spent a lot of time at the beach... and it was so refreshing as compared to the beaches in mumbai... it was far less crowded, the sand was golden, the water was also so clean... the kids and adults alike did not want to step out of the water!

the food was also very good... not the usual greasy punjabi food that you get in most of the resorts... here they served a lot of local dishes which everybody enjoyed... since we were the largest group at the resort, they even asked us if we would like any specific dish prepared... and they made some amazing local crab preparation (as reported by the carnivores in the group! :P )

while the kids did their own thing, we adults played antakshari, dumb charades, taboo, teen-patti, etc. but the highlight of the trip was the impromptu game of throw-ball that we came up with... we played on the last two days and they were very exciting matches... each point was hard-fought... the only problem was that in the enthusiasm we'd forgotten that our bodies were no longer as young as they used to be... we were all aching all over after the trip! :P

so if you are looking for a relaxed weekend to destress yourself, then karwar is the place to head for!

here are the pics of our trip which will give you an idea of the place and the activities

and here are some amazing nature pictures from karwar

(all pics courtesy - murli nambiar)

lazy sunny afternoon

2009-04-03T18:29:00.003+05:30

i lie on my back

on this grassy knoll

content watching the clouds

as they form strange patterns

in my head.

a lazy stream gurgles

somewhere nearby

as it meanders across

trying to find meaning

through its wandering

towards the sea beyond

the distant horizon.

she's also lying beside me

maybe dozing

or is that her humming

my favourite song?

we both don't utter a word

lest we disturb the

comfortable silence

cocooning us.

her delicate perfume

wafts across and mingles with

the smell of the grass

crushed under our bodies

and makes for a heady mixture

that i inhale deeply.

i shut my eyes softly

and now

i'm at peace with the universe.

at the ocean's edge

2009-04-01T19:29:00.002+05:30

i sat at the ocean's edge

for three days at a stretch,

watching her every move

as her waves crept up and drenched me.

i could taste her salt in the wind

as it whipped against my face.

she supported life within her

and at arm's length i waited

for her life-saving embrace.

i was thirsty, parched

my lips cracked

but not a drop could she spare

to quench my thirst.

and finally defeated, i stood

to turn back home.

and that's when the cloud burst

and she reached out to me

from the heavens!

someday maybe - a reprise

2009-03-26T02:00:00.001+05:30

hmmm... someday maybe, she said!

someday maybe

i'll be able to open

myself up to you

and give of me fully!

someday maybe

i'll be able to walk

this thin treacherous line

and come across to you!

someday maybe

you'll understand

that i love you

but can't lie down beside you!

someday?

another year? another age?

or another lifetime maybe?

but i want you here and now!

can't you see i'm burning here?

hmmm... someday maybe, she said.

and smiled wistfully!

someday maybe

2009-03-24T19:40:00.004+05:30

hmmm... someday maybe, she said.

someday maybe

i'll be able to understand,

why life throws a curve ball

at you when you are looking away.

someday maybe

i might understand,

why love creeps in on you

unnoticed, and knocks you senseless.

someday maybe

i'll understand,

why the centre of the universe

shifted from within me into you.

and today when

she walked into my life

and into my arms,

understanding suddenly dawned on me.

a math and movie evening

2009-03-16T20:59:00.006+05:30

its been ages since i last blogged! and i have no clue why i had stopped... but i definitely have a compelling reason for writing here today... i have no clue whether this means i will be back to writing more posts now! :P

no prizes for guessing what could be the compelling reason... the big boss actually asked me the other day why i had not blogged for so long!!!
and there was one specific event which thought i would blog about... so here it is!

i saw this obscure announcement in the newspaper about a lecture titled 'history of numbers' by bill casselman who is a professor of mathematics at the university or british columbia.

now its not so much about the lecture, which in itself was quite interesting, that i wanted to write about. (the lecture was about the 9000 year history of numbers!)

what we found more fascinating was the motley bunch of 50-odd people who had assembled in a small lecture hall at the y.b. chavan auditorium in mumbai.

there were a few school & college students, (some of who were clearly brought there much against their wishes by their enthusiastic parents), academicians, maths enthusiasts and some curious souls like yours truly! there was even one white-haired & bearded elderly gentleman who could easily pass of as an eccentric genius! :P

this is when we both realised that there exists a completely different world in cities like mumbai, far removed from the daily hustle and bustle and the frantic tracking of the stock index... a world which sighs when they see a picture of an ancient clay tablet with some scribblings on it, a world which takes pride in being able to decipher a set of hieroglyphs and finds immense satisfaction that the ancient babylonians knew how to add up a series of numbers to the base of 6!

it was with this humbling feeling that we waked out into a muggy evening and decided to take in a movie... and that's how i came about to watch 'the curious case of banjamin button' which is worth a watch just for the amazing kate blanchett... the ladies might like to feast their eyes upon brad pitt, but i think i'll just pass! :)

this magical mystery tour

2009-03-16T20:40:00.002+05:30

i'm on this magical mystery tour.

i've visited some fascinating places

and had some wonderful experiences,

with you by my side.

each day seems like a dream

and i'm filled with awe and wonder

as i take in the rare sights

and breathe in deeply your presence

which fills my senses completely.

but on some days i don't see you

and notice that you've taken off

on a solitary winding path

all by yourself.

but i fret unnecessarily

i only need to look ahead

and see that the path you've taken

finally joins back the road i'm on!

slumdog made millions!

2009-01-24T11:35:00.008+05:30

and i'm not talking about the character in the story of the film 'slumdog millionaire' but the people who made the film including the producer, director, actors and the rest of the gang!

i saw the movie last night, a late show as usual! along with the golden square gang.

this morning my friend (who was part of the gang last night) called to check my take on the film... so here it is.

i loved the movie... liked the gritty edge the film has through till the end... (i would score it a 6.5 on 10)

1. it is a well-made masala film... a love story well-told
2. a good story well adapted into a film (in fact one of my school friends said it was better than the book. and that's something!)
3. the brit accent seemed jarring
4. the actors were all pretty good especially irfan khan and anil kapoor were very good. i thought dev patel gawked a bit too much! :)
5. i also agree that we take many aspects of the poverty (child beggar-workers, child prostitution, slums, filth, etc.) for granted and it doesn't shock our sensibilities as much as it would most of the rest of the world... including other asian countries.
6. i am sure the film made on vikas swarup's next book 'the six suspects' will also be good... its finally about the story and how well it is told
7. but at the end of the day i am not sure this is oscar material, the nominations notwithstanding. its possible that inspite of so many nominations it doesn't win any oscars. and then maybe it will... maybe for technical aspects.
8. but if it does win the oscars for best film, then it proves that the film impressed the western critic and sensibility... india being presented to the westerner through a westerner's eye! in all its grit, grime, gore and glory!
9. but i also believe there are many new-age bollywood films which present a story as well, if not better (wednesday, tzp, etc.)

finally, there is one line in the film which comes to my mind... the actor says that 'today india is at the centre of the world'.... i would add to say that 'mumbai is today the centre of the world'!

my friend felt that the movie wednesday was far better... i agree with him... it had better cinematic values... a story very well told, gripping, and slick... and most importantly, it presented mumbai in a far better light! (manish, murli and i are planning to watch trainspotting soon!)

p.s. for film trivia buffs and those who saw the film, did you'll notice the director's signature style in the frames in the last dance sequence on vt station? (hint : check the time displayed on the large digital clocks on the platforms!)

another puzzle!

2009-01-13T00:36:00.002+05:30

i recently came up with another puzzle... and i'm sure there are many puzzle lovers among you here... this one is a fairly simple one... so have a go at it!

-----------

there's a fairly simple message in the cryptic puzzle below... try solve the puzzle to read the message :

8(1)4(2)4(3)7(4)
6(3)6(2)3(2)
4(3)7(4)
2(1)
3(3)2(1)4(3)7(3)5(3)9(3)
7(4)4(3)6(1)7(1)5(3)3(2)
7(1)8(2)9(4)9(4)5(3)3(2)

6(3)6(2)2(3)3(2)
9(3)6(3)8(2)
4(1)3(2)8(1)
6(3)6(2)3(2)
9(3)6(3)8(2)
4(2)2(1)8(3)3(2)
4(1)6(3)8(1)
8(1)4(2)3(2)6(1)
2(1)5(3)5(3)

----------------

you can send in your answers through mail or leave it here as a comment... entries accepted till 16th jan. first person to crack it (based on the time stamp of your mail or comment) will be mentioned on the post after the 16th! go for it... fame and glory awaits you! :)

----------------

p.s. for the answer check the comments... and for the record it was my school batch-mate sivaram manda who cracked it first! way to go buddy!

our new year celebrations!

2009-01-05T12:53:00.006+05:30

the guruprasad family went for a very unique year-end family camp and ushered in the new year in a very different manner...

here're some snippets which should give you an idea...

- imagine a 70 acre campus in the midst of villages (kolwan village in paud, which is a 2-hour drive off lonavala beyond pawna dam)
- imagine more than 500 people across all age-groups staying together on a state-of-the-art campus with solar-heated hot water and a huge dining facility, etc.
- imagine people from all over the world including the us, canada, europe, uk, africa, south africa, sri lanka, singapore, hong kong, mauritus, australia, new zealand, indonesia, philippines, etc.
- imagine night-time temperatures plummeting to sub-10 degrees and being able to see millions of stars in the night-sky!
- imagine lectures on the bhagwad geeta and talks by various inspirational speakers
- imagine your children being taken care of with fun-filled activities so that you can attend the sessions without any interruptions
- imagine cultural programs from across the world including a 'dindi' performace, a 'hari-katha' with english commentary, a violin & cello recital (western classical), bhajans sung by veena sahasrabuddhe, a bag-pipes performance, a hi-tech multi-media show called 'surya 108' presented by the youth, etc.
- imagine spending new year's eve chanting the vishnu sahasranama archana with puja, archana, bhajans and celebrations along with 500 other people to usher in the new year!

so that's what we did this new year... and the kids had a blast too!

this was an international family camp organised by the chinmaya mission which we were fortunate to attend. click here to learn more about the place and here for some pics of the place.

p.s. for some amazing photographs of the camp and the venue click on this link - http://photos.suchit.in/gallery/6967332_9KBaj/ (courtesy suchit nanda)

children and monkeys and animal droppings!

2008-12-19T23:45:00.011+05:30

kids can do the most embarrassing things at the most inconvenient times!

we recently had a good friend over for dinner. our daughter was going through a 'i don't like daddy' kind of phase... and took a great liking for the friend who had dropped in for dinner...

suddenly in the middle of our casual conversations she decided to declare that her mother was he mother and the visiting friend was her father! the three adults at the table decided to continue our conversation (i don't even remember what we were talking about!) as if nothing had happened... that only served to infuriate the little one, who was determined to get her message across... so she interrupted us again, made sure she had our collective attention and then proceeded to redefine her lineage!

as expected, there was some polite coughing and mumblings and 'ok beta' and laughter all around... and then everyone moved on... the little one smug in the knowledge that she had made her point... and the rest of us relieved that we were not subject to any more such revelations! :P

----------------

we went to matheran this last week-end... one of our weekend get-aways with a group of 6 other families.

we had a whale of a time (i will put up the pics soon) and the kids had a 'blue whale of a time'!

some of the kids got it into their heads that i am the resident narrator of stories and all things amazing! :P
(i have a feeling most of the other dads spread such slander among their kids so that they could lounge around and eat/ drink/ sleep/ play tt without having their spouses throwing daggers at them (just by looks, mind you!) about taking care of their respective kids!

so i was the chosen one to impart them some invaluable knowledge which included naming various species of monkeys and apes and other simians; as well as the various types of dogs... since there were a large number of both species of animals in close vicinity!

later over one of our soul-enriching conversations that i normally have with the 'big boss' i told her about how we also learnt how to identify the animals by just examining the spoor (or potty as the kids preferred to call it)! :P

the big boss gave me 'the look' and said, 'i am sure it was your idea in the first place to educate them about such an esoteric subject as animal droppings!'

the big boss knows me so well! :P

how i wish!

2008-12-19T23:40:00.004+05:30

i wish

moths wouldn't lead

such tragic lives,

and the sun wouldn't burn itself out

while traversing the heavens.

or the caterpillar wouldn't trap itself

in a cocoon of its own making,

and the moon wouldn't wax till

it becomes a shadow of its former self.

i wonder and search for answers

to still the turmoil within.

that's when you walk across the banks

of my ocean of consciousness

and the tumultuous waves subside

and in the clear crystal waters,

the answers reveal themselves to me.

the moth finds eternal glory

in the flame of knowledge,

and the sun lights up countless others

and breathes life into stone.

the caterpillar emerges as

a butterfly bright crimson and blue,

and the moon becomes a diadem

adorning the deep night sky!

now i wish

you were by my side

watching the moon wane

and light up the warm nights!

the day time stood still!

2008-12-10T00:06:00.003+05:30

today i retraced my steps

went back to the beginning

of time

much before the world

was created

and much before

i reached out to you!

there too

i was searching for you

and i kept looking

at the horizon

for you to appear

and i waited,

through births, and deaths

through creation and destruction

through the waxing and the waning

through ebb and neap tides

through heaven and through hell!

and as i watched

you brushed past me

and turned and said you were sorry

and smiled with your eyes

and moved on.

that's when

my world as it existed

came to an end,

time stopped still

and another chapter

was begun on a new page.

now the moon has found

its orbit around the star

and it keeps moving in

closer over the millennia

waiting for the day

when it will eventually

be sucked in completely

and get completely

obliterated!

what can we do?

2008-12-03T10:10:00.010+05:30

i didn't want to blog about it... about the mayhem and madness that ripped through the city last week... because i didn't know what to say that's not already being said... and i didn't have any meaningful suggestions or answers or solutions!

and although i still don't have a tv set at home i kept getting regular updates on sms and through the various web-sites i was checking regularly... (it was like some morbid cricket match that people were glued on to through the day!)

and now in the aftermath the city is on the boil... and a little of people are worried that the anger will cool off like it always does... and all of us will go back to our usual ways... and so will the politicians and the state and the police force ...

there are numerous smses being forwarded, online petitions being signed, candle marches being organised, signature campaigns being conducted... everybody wants to do something... some action to express their anger and frustration... hoping to send a message to the authorities ...

i am also forwarding all the messages i am getting, reading all the articles & blogs, signing all the petitions... but i am not convinced... i don't see any of this making any difference whatsoever... we have seen all this before and we will see it again... there will be a lot of public posturing and frantic behind-the-scene negotiations... who stays and who goes... a lot of announcements will be made... a lot of initiatives will be announced... and all of them will fizzle out before the year ends!

am i sounding too cynical? what do you expect?

is there something we can do?

here's a list of things you could do (thanks to mathatheist for sharing this with me!

where voters can register - www.jaagore.com
info on electoral candidates - http://www.adrindia.org/home/index.asp
the right to go to the polling booth and reject all candidates - http://eci.gov.in/PROPOSED_ELECTORAL_REFORMS.pdf

so we all have to make sure we vote the next time... even if it means to go and reject all the candidates... but that's not enough, let us try find some good candidates in our constituencies who can be motivated to contest... or maybe some among us...

but that too might be too little and would take too long to make an impact at a national level... it would also require a lot of funding in today's age to come up with a viable alternative...

the other option would be for a forum to be created which carries on a dialog with all the candidates before elections and the office bearers after the elections. here are some ideas for such a forum -

it should be non-partisan, not backed by any specific business house or media group or political party
it should have representation from across various states/ religions/ economic backgrounds/ urban & rural backgrounds/ educational backgrounds/ age groups/ etc.
it should be governed by a simple charter and should have its presence across the country in towns and cities
it should define a list of specific concerns & issues of the public and engage each political party representative in each constituency in a public dialog; it should also be allowed to demand transparency from each candidate about their background, etc.
this will help the public decided on the relative merits of each party and local candidate
after the elections this forum would demand a quarterly review with the parties at a national level as well as at a local level to track the performance of each party and candidate
a 'report card' would then be published which would help the ruling & opposition parties to focus on relevant issues and adopt necessary corrective measures

the idea of such a forum is not to relentlessly bash the politicians but to create a mechanism which will help in accountability and a meaningful dialog to help the politicians also serve the constituency better!

does anyone know of any such initiative being taken up by anyone? do you have any ideas of how this can be done? i would be keen to help in this kind of action!

p.s. also make sure we all pay our taxes to the government and demand accountability... let us all learn about the rti act so that we can use it effectively in our wards and areas!

you've come a long way baby!

2008-11-13T23:30:00.000+05:30

(this is a post 'inspired' by this post by 'tys on ice')

women sure have come a long way! (where have i heard this line before? :P )

i still remember when people used to talk about women being born as daughters of their fathers, then becoming wives of their husbands and then mothers of their sons! the idea was that women always got their identity in society through the men in their lives!

times have changed, and how!

most of us guys wouldn't such statements today! (actually we wouldn't dare make such statements for fear of being clobbered by the women in our lives! :P )

and most of the men living in our housing complex get their identities from their wives, who in turn get their identities from the kids... so i am known as the 'big boss's' hubby who in turn is P's/ S's mother!

what we are witnessing in our own lifetimes is the evolution (?) of man...

the man of the 70s bossed around and made it clear to everyone who cared to listen who was the boss! (most of the times he was allowed by the boss at home to project such an image to massage his male-ego in places where it mattered... which was usually in front of other bossy men!)

the man of the 80s was the cool, silent and strong types... (actually, most of the time he didn't know what to say! and he knew he would lose the argument anyway... so best to stay silent!)

the man of the 90s was the one who got in touch with his feminine side! (and not just his female friends & colleagues!) and that's when the male cosmetics industry witnessed a boom of sorts... and men discovered the pains and pleasures of waxing too!

but the man of the 21st century has reached the pinnacle... he now has found the perfect balance of the yin and the yang within himself!
look around you and you'll find men carrying babies, changing diapers, rocking them to sleep, helping do the dishes, helping with the kids' school-work, attending open-house at school... you get the idea!
(this is the point where most women readers will want their hubbies to read this post and convince them that they are stuck in some hoary past and that they need to do all this if they are to be considered an evolved man!)

but here's the real deal... (this is where i let the cat out the bag!)

- men with babies attract attractive women
- by attending open-house at school you get to meet the 'interesting' teacher the other fathers have been talking about!
- when you have a baby in your arms or a kid with you, you can walk up to the most gorgeous looking woman anywhere and strike up a conversation.. if they have not already asked you for the kid's name!
- going grocery shopping allows you to strike up a conversation with some of the 'pyt' mothers who just love helping men choose the best detergent and other things... (and your wife's wondering why you picked up a brand which was never tried before?)
- and helping out with household chores ensures you get fed your meals on time (with a few other perks thrown in for good measure!) :P
- you can buy clothes for your better half and ask for help again... and you can get away by making statements like 'yeah, she's about your size'... or 'do you think this is a good color or is too sexy?'
- and since we can't try on women's perfumes you can actually ask one of those willing, helpful ladies to dab some on her wrist so that you can smell it and compare notes!

.... well, i guess you get the general idea! :P

i guess the man of the 2020s will be a completely transformed animal while the woman would have completely 'arrived'... and it might finally become difficult to differentiate between the sexes any more!

we owe him big-time!

2008-11-10T22:51:00.003+05:30

we owe our son big-time! at least the 'big boss' owes him big-time!

he averted a major disaster in our household! no, we are not talking about him intervening in one of our squabbles... this disaster registered far higher on the 'domestic richter' scale than even the biggest temper tantrum the 'big boss' and i would have thrown at each other!

our 24-hour maid literally gave us notice when she was away visiting her family over the weekend! she was told by her well-wishers and family that she would get paid much better than what we were paying her! she personally didn't want to leave but the pressure on her to give us notice and leave was too much, i guess... and so she gave notice!

the 'big boss' is not someone to brood over such calamities for too long... after having fretted and fumed for a couple of minutes she promptly swung into action and discussed her plan A with me... which was to hike her salary by a certain amount (which was still way off from what was being demanded)... and as plan B, she start contacting everyone in her cell-phone address book asking for help in finding a suitable replacement...

while all this was happening our kids got the gist of what was happening and kept trying to get more information out of their mother...

today the 'big boss' was supposed to have a 'woman-to-woman' chat with the maid after she got back from work in the evening. but our son reaches home from school in the afternoon.

after she got back home, the maid told 'big boss' about the conversation our son (who's all of 8) had with her...

he asked her why she was leaving and whether it was because of money... she said yes and that she was going to get paid more elsewhere... he asked her how much we paid her and how much
she was expecting... he then told her that once we combine our houses (we had recently bought the neighboring apartment which we are leasing out) in the near future he would pay her more than double the amount she was expecting!
the sincerity with which he said this made her laugh and melted her heart!

and then when 'big boss' came back from work he also put up a heart-felt appeal to her on behalf of the maid!

the 'big boss' and i later discussed this and we felt quite amazed and touched at the same time... at the maturity and sensitivity he displayed in this situation... and we didn't for a moment think that he was acting 'too big for his boots'!

and so peace prevails for yet another day at the guruprasad household! :)

i need some solace!

2008-11-08T11:06:00.004+05:30

yeah, i need some solace!

why, you ask?

when you go for a bond flick, after sacrificing precious sleep, you expect to be entertained... you expect to get introduced to freaky gizmos and gadgets... you expect edge-of-the-seat action... you expect technical brilliance... you expect class and pizzazz and more... (and the women of course!)

and the least you expect is a classy opening credit sequence...

don't you all agree?

and the last thing you expect is a sentimental bond! and i just can't picture bond holding on to a dying man and feeling senti and all...

if you look at 'quantum of solace' in isolation i guess you would rate it as a decent action flick... like international khiladi or something!
but this flick did not have any iota of the class that one has come to expect of bond films! as one of the friends in the group said after the 90 minutes dragged itself to an end - 'i mean, how difficult can it be to make a good bond film? just put in some funky gadgets, some exciting stunts, some great chase scenes, some mind-blowing ladies, some torrid scenes, and some excuse of a plot! i can't believe they couldn't manage something as simple that!'

well the excuse of a plot was definitely there. no doubt about it! but the rest of the formula was forgotten completely!

i guess the producers and the director forgot one cardinal rule of sequels - if it ain't broke, you don't need to fix it!

so if you haven't seen the quantum of solace yet, i would advice you to wait for it to be shown on hbo or star movies! especially if you are a bond fan!

i am your radha tonight!

2008-11-01T14:31:00.003+05:30

tonight i felt

how deeply the gopis longed

for their dark-skinned kanha.

i now understand

why the jamuna sighs with longing

and the kadamba sheds her leaves

in despair.

i feel like a calf

searching for her mother,

lost, alone, heart-broken.

i am like radha

sitting serenely by the jamuna,

tenderly caressing your humble flute

bearing the pain with grace.

secure in the knowledge

that you will return,

but knowing not how to resign

to the fact that you will never stay!

speaking in 'code'

2008-10-28T01:07:00.005+05:30

there was a time when the 'big boss' and i spoke to each other by spelling at least one word in each sentence...

all parents go through this phase where they want to say something to each other and don't want their young ones to understand what they are saying... and we are not talking about the parents getting lovey-dovey or anything! we're talking about things like
- i need to G-O O-U-T for a while
- let's have some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M tonight
- please keep the C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E-S away from his (our son's) visual range
- etc. etc. (you get the drift, i assume :) )

well, like all other good things in life, this phase too comes to an end, when one fine day we have our son talking back to us and telling us firmly that 'i am not ready to S-L-E-E-P yet'!

we went through this phase once again. with our daughter this time. and this time our son too joined us speaking in code, feeling mighty proud of himself!

but history repeated itself again and we realised our 'speaking in code' phase has come to an end when our daughter (who hasn't started learning to spell yet) piped up the other day at the dinner table, when we were trying to reason with her older brother about when he could have his share of the C-H-O-C (a shorter code version of chocolate, of course) in the fridge, saying, 'oh, is the C-H-O-C in the fridge? can i have some too?'

oh well... it was good till it lasted! :P

mamma mia!

2008-10-25T00:54:00.005+05:30

just got back from the movie 'mamma mia! the movie'....

you can't help but get the feeling that you've just watched a slickly made bollywood production... except that it was dubbed in english! :P
bollywood's arrived in hollywood!

there's drama & melodrama, romance, music, songs, dances and a wedding! no i am not talking about 'hum aapke hai kaun'! :P

the movie, mamma mia and not hahk, is a 'stage-to-movie' adaptation of the 1999 west-end musical by the same name. the plot revolves around a bride-to-be (amanda seyfried) who's living with her single mother (meryl streep) on a greek island. she wants her father to attend her wedding. she finds her mother's diary and finds out that there are 3 possible candidates who could be her father!

she invites all 3 of them for the wedding using her mother's name hoping to identify her real father immediately... but she can't... and then the rest of the movie is all about a lot of songs and dances and the story unfolding! the plot is weak and limps along between the songs...

most of the songs used are from the successful pop group 'abba'! these include the popular ones like mamma mia, dancing queen, i have a cream, money money money, chiquitita, etc.

the cast includes pierce brosnan (of james bond fame), colin firth, stellan skarsgard, amanda seyfried and others... all the actors have played their roles quite well and have even lip synched very realistically! :P
but the show-stealer is most definitely meryl streep! even at this age (she's close to 60!) she packs so much energy and life into the role... she runs around, prances about and dances with abandon like a 20s-something-year old! in once scene she actually jumps up on the bed and manages a split (i am talking about a leg-split as done by dancers)...
she carrys almost the entire film on her shoulders!

so go for the movie only if you are an abba fan! its a must-see for you...

for the rest of you, its not a bad movie... worth watching even if you are a bollywood movies fan... you will identify with it! :P
and its definitely better than most of the bollywood movies currently playing!

p.s. did anyone guess who's the real father? i don't think even the script writer knows! :P

birthday bash!

2008-09-30T13:40:00.006+05:30

no, i am not talking about some wild birthday parties and associated orgies! those happened in the distant past in the days of my youth... and no, i am not telling you anything here! (it would be injurious to my health, given the people who read my exploits here!)

i am talking about this strange phenomenon of birthday parties we organise for our kids... our kids who become completely involved in the game of one-upmanship (or one-up-womanship, if you prefer that) that gets blatantly passed off in the name of birthday celebrations!

my son recently attended a pool party... yes a birthday party celebrated in a swimming pool! i was very keen on accompanying him for this one... i put on my most innocent face and told the 'big boss' that i could lend her a helping by taking him to this party... but she always manages to see through my tricks and promptly informed me that none of the kids' mothers would be in the pool... it would only be the kids... that was when i suddenly remembered i had some other urgent work to be done! :P

birthday parties in malls and fancy restaurants are so passe! so what if it puts back the poor dad's (or mom's, before i forget!) finances by a significant number of rupees, the weakening notwithstanding!

i've heard of birthdays being celebrated where the kids are taken for a movie... you say what's the big deal? i'm talking about the entire hall being booked! and then there are birthdays where the kids are taken on a cruise...

gone are the days when a party meant a birthday cake being cut, playing passing the parcel, and then eating potato wafers, a samosa and the cake with a soft-drink to wash it down! this was only on those rare occasions when the birthday was actually celebrated! and there was no concept of return gifts!

these days our kids sometimes walk back home after a birthday with a return gift that is more expensive than the gift we gave the birthday boy/girl! :P

and talking about gifts! the kids get flooded with so many gifts that they don't even manage to open all the gifts before their next birthday arrives! therefore it is not surprising that some gifts make their way around a couple of times and sometimes come back at our own doorstep, like the proverbial bad penny!

and the 'gifting' problem reaches epidemic proportions when you are living in a complex like ours where you have at least 2-3 birthdays every month! with an average of 10-15 kids being invited for each birthday party the numbers of gifts and return gifts can become quite mind-boggling! and as you can imagine, a few local gift shops are doing thriving business! :)

p.s. the big boss and i are trying to organise a group of friends in our complex to get together and give a meaningful combined gift to the birthday boy/girl after consulting the parents.
do any of you have any more creative solutions?

wednesday!

2008-09-27T11:11:00.004+05:30

thanks to a good friend, who's a movie buff like i, i watched 'a wednesday' on wednesday!

and boy, was it a good film!

this is one of those movies which made a relatively quiet entry and has only gathered momentum over the past few weeks! and i think many people are watching because of sheer 'word of mouth' publicity and it is slowly acquiring something of a cult status already!

if you have not yet watched it, you must! you will enjoy every minute of the film, take my word for it! (there was only logical loop-hole i found in the film... and if you have watched the film already then i'd like to know if you spotted it too? write in with your answers and i'll reveal the flaw in a couple of days! :) )

the best part of the film is the powerful message delivered by two equally powerful and towering actors (naseeruddin shah and anupam kher). nothing preachy, just a simple message delivered with a punch.

the story line is kept taut throughout the film... there are a few surprises thrown in and some questions left unanswered...
the complete package is almost perfect, the music enhances the mood of the film (no songs in the 120 minute film), the cinematography keeps you engrossed without going overboard!

the characters are very well etched, and all the actors deliver... the dialogs are very well written and there are a few humorous moments as well!

all in a all, this is film-making at its best! a total 'paisa vasool' film... go and watch it... you can then thank me later by writing in :)

p.s. check out more details at http://www.awednesdaythefilm.com/... though the site didn't load when i tried! :(

digital puzzle!

2008-09-08T22:20:00.007+05:30

(solution provided at the bottom of this post)

this is a logical puzzle that struck me when i was waiting at one of those traffic signals which take inordinately long to turn green!

some of the signals mercifully have a digital counter which counts down the seconds between the signal color changes. and as i watched, i noticed that one of the digital digits was showing me a weird set of numerals as it was counting down. it was obviously because one of the 7 (3 horizontal and 4 vertical lines) lines of the figure 8 was not working.

this got me thinking up this particular problem -

which of the 7 lines of the figure 8, if it was not working, would still cause the counter to display the longest sequence of valid numerals, albeit not in logical order? (irrespective of whether the counter was counting up or down)

options -
1. top horizontal
2. middle horizontal
3. bottom horizontal
4. top-left vertical
5. bottom-left vertical
6. top-right vertical
7. bottom-right vertical

also list the sequence of valid numerals.

(p.s. you can send in your answers as comments or by email. the contest closes at 12 mid-night IST on 14th sept 2008)

p.s. in case you like such logical puzzles, click here to check out the previous one!

--------------

quite a few people got the answer correctly... though some of them interpreted the problem a little differently...

the correct answer is option 5, the bottom-left vertical segment.

if this segment is defective then the longest sequence of valid numerals that result are - 3, 4, 5, 5 (instead of 6), 7, 9 (instead of 8) and 9!

i have posted all the comments received so far! manasi (http://forevermanasi.blogspot.com/) was the first respondent with the correct answer! :)

---------------

got rocked!

2008-09-02T19:03:00.004+05:30

the 'big boss' is very particular about her quota of sleep. nothing comes in between her and her quota. not even a discussion that i want to have after a sinful dinner about life-and-death issues like the extra 2 inches that i seem to be putting on at the wrong parts of my anatomy!

so if she's sacrificing her sleep and doesn't grumble about missing her sleep for some nonsensical get-together or movie or something, then you can be rest assured that the reason she sacrificed must have been really worth it!

we watched 'rock on' last saturday! very late show... the movie ended at 1 am! we both loved it thoroughly! she actually said that this movie was definitely worth losing sleep for!!!

the movie has a 'dil chahta hai' feel to it! the best part of the movie for me was the music! the actors were perfect for the roles they portrayed, the story was simple and stayed true to the theme, there was a very gritty and natural feel to the entire film, nothing was over-the-top... very highly recommended if you have not already seen it!

i got a late sms the same night after the movie from an ex-colleague who also must have just seen the movie... let me reproduce the sms here as a short review of the film :
"Hey friends, do watch ROCK ON... its a superb flick! Its a sensitive movie with music as a metaphor for life... with delightful little nuggets of humor & realistic dialogues. The movie is refreshingly witty! The music is great, true to a raw band type. Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal & Luke Kenny have done a great job but my personal favourite is Purab Kohli. I loved the end of the movie as well! Take aways -
1. Pursue your passion, no matter what because the happiness & satisfaction you get is beyond measure.
2. Never let a small misunderstanding injure a great friendship... good friends are forever!
3. Life mein compromise karna padta hai!
4. The journey is more important than the destination.

ROCK ON completely ROCKS... Go enjoy the MAGIK!"

yeah i know, quite a long sms!
but it hit the nail on the head and it saves me the effort of reinventing the wheel and writing a review! :P

dads and the school bus

2008-08-19T14:39:00.008+05:30

we live in a complex which has about 200 flats (apartments). what this means is that there are about 25-30 kids who go to the school in the neighborhood. both my kids go to the same school.

the school bus picks up the bus-load of kids from the complex gate in the morning. most of the kids have their mothers or maids helping them onto the bus. and there are a couple of dads too, yours truly being one of them!

but the 'big boss' firmly believes that there's nothing noble about this early morning exercise i dutifully undertake! she believes that my morning excursion has more to do with my wanting to meet and chat with the group of mothers at the gate than with seeing off my kids. i guess she knows me pretty well after so many years of living with me! :)

but then i am usually not the lone dad at the gate. there are at least one or two others to give me company. now i don't know about their 'intentions' but then i can't paint everyone with my brush, can i? :P

one of the most memorable incidents i remember tells you a lot about us dads and how we deal with our kids (before i get flamed by the numerous mothers who read my blog, i am not saying that we guys do a better job or anything... on the contrary! read on to find out...)

there's this friend who has normally already left for office before the school bus arrives. he has two angelic daughters. its usually the kids' mother or the maid who drops the kids to the bus.

now one day he happened to be leaving a little late and so was downstairs with his younger daughter, presumably to drop her off to the bus.

when i was reaching the gate with my own younger brat, i noticed him bent over trying to having a serious conversation with his 3 year old. she was intently sobbing while he was doing his patient explaining. as i reached closer i understood the situation a little better. she was very clear that she did not want to go to school that day. and he was trying to explain to her why it was very important for her and her future that she go to school.

but you know kids (actually mom know kids!), they know a sucker when they see one! she didn't relent and if anything upped her decibel level and got the desired effect... his heart melted and he asked the bus driver to go ahead without her.

suddenly, out of the blue, the little girl was lifted off her feet and carried away! it was the mother who was watching the spectacle from the window . she knew where this was headed and that it called for some drastic measures! she hollered at the bus which had just started, and managed to deposit the kid into the bus. the kid realised that the game was up and promptly stopped howling!

the father walked away sheepishly towards his car while the mother face displayed a mixture of smugness and irritation on her way back home!

all of us had a hearty laugh as we headed back home to our respective morning chaos! :P

my perfect pearl

2008-08-12T23:24:00.005+05:30

i'm that deep-sea diver

from the legend you've heard of

in your childhood.

who had found the perfect pearl,

the queen of all pearls.

i drank in the sight

to my heart's content

and then threw it back

overboard

in the high seas.

for i couldn't hold it

any longer, it was far too perfect

to be placed in any ring

or adorn any maiden's diadem.

and i would have no reason

to dive any more

for there would be nothing more

to dive for.

so now, i keep diving

to find that perfect pearl again!

lessons from a panda

2008-08-12T00:11:00.006+05:30

the big boss has 'asked' me to post this... and i post it, no questions asked, obviously! i mean, i am crazy and all that, but i love life. my life being the most loved one, of course!

the guruprasad family watched the kung-fu panda a few weekends ago! mr. guruprasad junior was treated to the movie separately... the rest of the family promptly went and saw it the day after that! (the excuse the seniors used was that ms. guruprasad junior could not obviously be deprived of this movie! :P )

(the murky truth lies in the fact that the parents would go to any lengths to watch such animated movies! in fact the big boss liked it so much that she was keen i post this piece here about the movie... so now you know who to thank!)

well here's the verdict to anybody out there who's still not watched this movie - WATCH IT NOW!!!

and it doesn't matter if you are single, married, divorced, separated, with/ without kids, celibate, etc. or if you fall into any other category! this movie (one of the few non-pixar ones) which ranks right up there with the best animated films! (my list includes finding nemo, the incredibles, monsters inc, the lion king, shrek, aladdin, jungle book, the little mermaid, etc.)

the story is fun for kids, and carries a bag of laughs and a few good hard-hitting messages for us boring oldies as well. its all about a 'fat' panda (do they come in any other size?) who wants to be a kung-fu warrior. and then becomes one in the end, despite all the 'heavy' odds, without any 'secret recipe' for success.

its a fairly simple straight-forward story which is presented very well. the action sequences are a delight to watch. (frankly i didn't pay much attention to the fact that the voice-overs were done by some heavy-weights including dustin hoffman, angelina jolie and suchlike.)

my only advice is that it wouldn't be a good idea to watch this movie before going to the local stamp duty & registration office... whatever inspiration you gained from the movie would be effectively sucked out of you there! but then that's the gory stuff for another post later :)

p.s. read this great review cum career advice post - http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2008/07/kung-fu-style-career-advice.html

p.p.s. i also happened to watch the latest sequel in 'the mummy' series - the tomb of the dragon emperor. my only comment is that i hope the mummies are well and truly buried this time and are not resurrected any further!

a memorable evening

2008-07-27T12:38:00.004+05:30

last evening i finally managed to do something which i have have been wanting to do for a long time now! hold on... before your rabid minds concoct innumerable unmentionable ideas let me clarify :)

the 'big boss' and i went to watch a play called kabir.

it is a mono-act play by acclaimed and multi-talented shekhar sen who has written, directed, acted and sung in this play.

the play takes us on an interesting journey which describes kabir's life. born around 1398 as an illegitimate son of a brahmin widow, raised by a childless muslim couple, a weaver by profession, kabir is greatly influenced by the religious mood during that period. he then finds answers to most of the questions tormenting him when he meets his preceptor, ramanand, and then goes on to become one of the greatest revolutionary philosopher-poets ever in india.

his dohas (couplets) in vernacular hindi are a treasure trove of some of the highest philosophical declarations with some of the most practical and simple ways of looking at life.

in his two hour long play shekhar sen uses very very simple props but weaves powerful magic on the audience through witty, hard-hitting dialogs (where he enacts the roles of more than 30 other characters using different voices), melodious music (pre-recorded sound tracks) and over 40 songs rendered in more than 30 raagas.

the passion, the energy and the sheer power of the message of kabir as delivered by shekhar sen in this play will not fail to move the audience and make an impact. irrespective of whether you are agnostic, an atheist or a cynic! he manages to get the message across even if you do not understand the vernacular version of hindi that he uses in the play.

i would strongly recommend this play to all of you who are interested in kabir and his teachings, theatre, music, philosophy and all things indian!

p.s. i am now eagerly looking forward to seeing his other two mono-act plays - vivekananda and goswami tulsidas!

the 'fowl' pox

2008-07-05T22:33:00.006+05:30

hey everybody! i'm back... whether you like it or not :)

its been ages... and i've a lot of people checking if everything was ok and if i would start blogging again any time soon!

i've been gaining some knowledge during this period of blog-abstinence!

did you know that the virus that causes chicken-pox also causes shingles? and that you are typically immunised against it for life once you get the disease? that adults are affected much worse than children?

the 'boss' and the kids played tag with each other and had the pox in turns! and the boss came down with the pox just the day after i left for a week-long tour... most people who knew me were sure that i scooted the battle-field since i knew it was coming... others who don't know me will believe i was completely in the dark about this :)

prasann, my son, was aghast. he accusingly asked his mother whether she had consumed chicken because of which she got a pox by the same name! when she couldn't convince him that it had nothing to do with her diet, she logged on to the internet and showed him the explanation on some site which then reassured him... that's the power of the www on our generation for you!

i also learnt that most communities in india believe that this version of the pox is a manifestation of the angry form of the 'devi' or goddess... its amazing how this belief cuts across all regions, states and communities.

another amazing learning was that none of the doctors prescribe any medicine for the pox. they just ask you to go through the entire cycle and assure you that it will heal by itself. at best they will recommend what skin creams you could use post-healing to reduce any pigmentation left behind by the scars! :P

and the leaves of the 'neem' tree are the most popular traditional medicine used for the pox. our maid would religiously tie the leaves above the door to appease the angry goddess... but i think the leaves were hung largely to inform people that there are people in the house who are afflicted by the pox :)

the leaves and twigs are spread on the bed to alleviate the itching and burning sensation caused by the blisters... but i think it just serves as a better tool for scratching the itch especially your back... and its far safer than using your hair brush for the same purpose! :P

but i'm glad the guruprasad family is over and done with as far as this pox is concerned! i would rather keep the goddess in good humor than have her pay us a visit in a 'fowl' mood again :P

Ratan is about to see the light

2008-05-24T17:26:00.002+05:30

If you are having problems viewing this message, please click here.

Today, we're taking the fight directly to Ratan Tata.
Here's how you can join.

Dear friend,

Your campaign to protect the highly-endangered Olive Ridley Turtles is finally showing results.

As of this morning, over 70,000 Tata customers just like you have written to Ratan Tata, telling him the destructive port in Orissa must stop.

Over the past three days and nights, Greenpeace activists have taken your messages directly to Tata in Mumbai, and used high-powered projectors to display them on Tata offices.

Meanwhile, every day, seven new blogs mention their support for this campaign. And the media is taking note of all this. As are Tata's partners.

In a big blow to the project, banking giant BNP Paribas has said -- following an independent assessment of the Dhamra port's environmental impacts -- that it's no longer thinking about financing it.

This is fantastic work, and proof that your efforts are working.

But it's not the end. Later today, for every message you send us, Greenpeace activists will personally deliver a lit candle to Ratan Tata.

There are 70,000 Tata customers that want the port to stop. We're hoping to light a candle on behalf of each of them, so Ratan can feel the heat of public pressure, and see the light of common sense.

Seventy thousand candles for the Olive Ridley Turtles. Click here to light yours.

Ashish Fernandes
Greenpeace Campigner for the Oceans

You're reading this email because you want the Tata port relocated. If for any reason you want the turtles relocated instead, we can understand. Just click here to unsubscribe.

If you have issues, questions or comments, click here to write to us.

secret doors!

2008-05-19T13:22:00.003+05:30

she walked in and opened a door,

a door which i never knew existed

deep in the recesses of my mind,

and a fragrant breeze wafted in.

i walked through and found

a whole new world

wainting out there for me

to explore, and i went forth.

and as i went deeper, it kept leading

even further, and i don't know how far it'll go.

all i know is that

i'm going all the way to the end!

hibernating blogger

2008-05-13T21:10:00.003+05:30

its been ages since i last posted!

actually thats not true... i've been posting... but not the regular posts. i've been going through a poetry phase! its been ages since this bug last bit :)

and i've been posting some of them on the blog.

but i have not been emailing my usual mailing list about these postings. don't ask me why!

but some people have been able to track these poems and have been commenting. while most expressed surprise at my poetic inclinations, others were appreciative.

but the most common underlying vein among most people who commented was what i found quite hilarious!

to quote some of them, there must be 'something in the air'. some wondered 'what was up?'
well i guess its not a 'normal' thing to do. but if try explain too much here they will also say that 'i doth protest too much'!

so i think i should just respond with a straight face and say that the poetry bug was in the air :P

you could check them out in the blog yourself. comments and brickbats are welcome.

i hope to resume my regular blogging soon.

adios till then :)

the endless dance

2008-05-09T12:27:00.002+05:30

it was a full moon night

and the gopis danced with abandon

swirling and laughing and clapping

their hands in unison,

while their feet tapped to the rhythm.

and each gopi could see him

right next to her and dancing only with her,

giving her all his attention

while she danced with abandon

drunk with the joy of the moment!

in my mind each day

each thought dances with abandon

swirling and laughing and moving

ever forward, smoothly synchronised with

the myriad other thoughts of the day.

and each thought is in a trance

and swirls like a dervish possessed.

nothing else appeals to my mind

other than thoughts focused on you

and i dance, drunk with the joy of the dance!

personal pilgrimage

2008-05-07T11:02:00.002+05:30

i climb nineteen steps

to reach my personal sanctum,

and there i take refuge in you

and shut out the world outside.

you calm the storm raging within

and drive away the fears haunting me,

and then the glowing embers ignite

and in that fire i behold your form!

this is a pilgrimage i would

make as often as i possibly could,

but i have to wait for the auspicious times

when your gates open for me to enter!

measured speech

2008-04-29T13:59:00.005+05:30

she chooses her words carefully

and steps over this tricky terrain,
like one would walk barefoot
across a glass-strewn floor.

she wouldn't want him to quote her
out of context or read between the lines
or misinterpret her words for
the declaration of some undying love!

and he watches her with an amused look,
as she fumbles as she tries
to mouth the words she doesn't believe in.
but her eyes give the game away!

pause for eternity!

2008-04-10T18:23:00.004+05:30

what is it about you
that makes me
swing across the spectrum thus?
sometimes i grin idiotically
and then sometimes i'm
working myself into a frenzy.

you seem within arm's reach
and yet the chasm seems
too wide for me to span.
and like a caged beast
i pace tirelessly, waiting,
for the gate to be opened
by you.

you clasp the key to freedom
tightly in your palm,
moist with the knowledge
of the power of the choice.
but you know better than to
unleash this caged beast.

and yet you move closer
inspite of yourself,
driven by the faith you harbour,
that the beast without is but
a reflection of the one within.
and by freeing one, the other
would lose its ferocity!

you take a deep breath,
reach out,
and then pause
for eternity....

waiting for the rains

2008-04-07T16:40:00.003+05:30

the air is muggy

and a tiny rivulet of sweat

finds its way down my back.

i can smell the approaching rains

as dark clouds speed

across the heavens.

the parched earth within me

thirsts for the cloudburst.
its been a long drought

after the week-long flood.

you had saved me

from drowning then.

now i wait for you

to quench my thirst.

the young shall rule the world!

2008-03-31T00:14:00.004+05:30

that should actually read as 'the younger sibling shall rule the world'!

its twice in the last couple of days that i have been part of a discussion involving the younger sibling in families with two kids. (i am sure this is equally for people with more than two kids :P )

ok, here's the theory.

the younger of two siblings is always tougher, more independent, more assertive and more aggressive than the older one. they seem to have a mind of their own and typically will not get bullied by the elder sibling. on the contrary, it is more likely that they are the ones terrorising the older one!

do you also agree with this theory? if you are a parent of two kids do you believe this is true in the case of your kids? even if you are not a parent or a parent with only one child, have you seen evidence around you which proves this theory?

i was trying to understand why this is the case? and here's what i could come up with -

1. the parents of the second kid are usually are usually self-proclaimed veterans at child rearing and are far more sacked-out! (have you seen at any gathering, when kids play and end up fighting or bawling, the single-kid parents are usually on their feet trying to resolve the problem. while the two-kids parent continue munching on their bhajias or sipping their drink... confident that whatever the problem, the kids will sort it out among themselves!)

2. the older sibling is told by the parents that they have to protect the younger sibling. what the parents don't realise is that they take this very seriously but it is the elder ones who typically need protection from the younger!

3. the younger ones learn all about life (which basically means getting their way around and knowing the weak spots of the parents, siblings and friends) pretty quick and usually from the elder siblings.

like i said... the young shall rule the world. how do i know, you ask? well i should.. i was the eldest among three kids!

today i meet my destiny

2008-03-30T15:09:00.003+05:30

i woke up this morning
and i knew
that today is the day
i'll meet my destiny.

how do i know, you ask?

i just know, and i know

you will know too

when your time has come!

i'm going to light up

1008 lights to light your path

and welcome you back home,

where i'll make an offering of gratitude.

we were destined to meet

for thus would i be fulfilled.

this was destined to be

for you are my destiny!

i wonder

2008-03-28T14:32:00.002+05:30

right in the midst

of plunging through

this hectic roller-coaster ride

i wonder.

what if we had both met

in some earlier time,

another life,

a different world?

would we still be friends

or sworn enemies,

or lovers maybe?

or would we just be strangers?

and pass each other

on a lonely street

without noticing each other?

or would we still connect

inspite of ourselves

and inexplicably

like we do today?

playing games

2008-03-27T00:42:00.002+05:30

waiting is a game

played alone.

waiting is not what i am built for,

redemption is all i seek.

but i need it here and now

and i have no patience

for the promises of eternity

in the after-life!

of girlfriends & lovers - II

2008-03-26T16:18:00.005+05:30

big boss's colleague narrated this anecdote to her (which she in turn related to me, and i am now relating to you!)

his son, who's in the sixth grade, was waiting for him to come back from office because he wanted to tell him something. and this was apparently one of the first times he wanted to share it with his father and not his mother!

he then explained that one of the boys in his class had proposed to a girl in the same class that day. and he went on to add that this boy (let's call him P for proposer, for clarity) was part of his (and we'll call him S, as in colleague's son) group. all the groups members had helped him write out his 'love note'. so it was some kind of communal effort with the entire group trying to play cupid.

then came the issue of belling the cat, viz. reaching the note to the object of his desire (let's call her O). now P might have wanted his romantic correspondence to reach O but he was not so that he would want to hand it over himself.

so now for the messenger they requested a girl (and lets call her M) from the same group to do the needful. i guess they must have impressed upon her that it was her bounden duty as a group member to do such tasks for the sake of the emotional well-being of another groupie.

so M went and dutifully handed over the note to O. but the story doesn't end there! M then proceeded to go up to the class teacher and inform her about what had just transpired! :P

we can only imagine what P and O would have gone through! but the teacher apparently did not make too much of a fuss about this incident and only told the entire class that they have enough time for such pursuits later on in life. and that it would be far more sensible to use their time in studies and enjoying life!

-------------------------
talking of love notes in school, i remember the amazing innovations some of my class-mates used to adopt to declare their undying love to their lady-loves when we were in school. (obviously i never did no such thing, and i'm not saying that just because the big boss reads my blog!!!)

the most hilarious one was when a good friend thought he could make use of some basic principles of aero-dynamics to do the job. so he wrote his note and converted the note into a paper aeroplane and launched it towards the lady in question across the row of desks in the tuition class.

but aero-dynamics was not my class mate's strongest subject and he had forgotten to factor in the cross-wind and the impact of the bent ailerons on the flight pattern of his love-missile. suffice to say that the missile crash-landed on the maths tutor's shoulder instead of soft-landing onto the lady's heart!

and to rub salt into his wounds the tutor decided to read it out to the rest of the class!!!

touche!

2008-03-24T15:45:00.002+05:30

'touche!', she said
with a smirk
and all i could manage
was a wry smile in response.

i don't even remember
when we started sparring
and why and who
had started it?

this is a game i'm
no good at playing,
but play i must.

i'm not playing to win,
for in losing you
there is no victory.
but if by winning
i win you forever,
then losing to you
is not an option!

its that time of year

2008-03-18T23:15:00.002+05:30

its that time of year
when tender mangoes
hang in clumps
in the mango groves.

and the fragrance
of the blossoms
hangs heavy in the air.

the plaintive cries
of the koyal and the mynah
rent the air
as they are driven
by nature to seek their mates.

its that time of year
when all of nature
waits with bated breath
with me as i wait
for a sign from my beloved.

a sign that will
fulfill me
make me complete
and rejoice my second life.

therein lies
my liberation.

of girlfriends and lovers

2008-03-17T23:48:00.001+05:30

our son is suddenly interested in girl-friends. he's all of 7.5!

it happened at the dining table and in the middle of his description of some arcane cricket fundas. he suddenly asks his mother, 'mom, who is a girlfriend? isn't it just a friend who's a girl? thats what i told k (another boy in the complex who's one year older) but he told me that a girlfriend is someone you love'! before the big boss could allow this to sink in and collect her wits to come up with some meaningful response, he had already moved on and was asking her if she knew who played 6 down after chaminda vaas the sri-lankan one day cricket team!

big boss and i looked at each other and raised eye-brows :)

he brought it up with her again soon after. and asked her the same question. he's also been getting curious lately about marriage!

this time the big boss was much better prepared and she patiently explained to him that he was right when he said that girlfriends are only friends who happen to be girls. but once people get to a marriageable age, then they might develop a special relationship with a girlfriend and then want to marry her. this explanation seems to have resolved whatever doubts he had internally because he is now back to his non-stop chatter about all things cricket!

i have this theory (actually everybody has the same theory, so its no big deal!) that girls grow much faster and are a lot smarter than guys at that (its a different matter that they remain smarter for the rest of their lives. but thats not the point i am making here, so don't bring it up and confuse the issue here). and i saw concrete evidence of this fact in the same week the above conversation took place.

i saw two young girls, who are my son's age, playing badminton while i was on my way to the garden in our complex. i saw them suddenly stop, point, whisper and giggle. i innocently asked them what they were up to. one of them, without missing a beat, said 'nothing uncle' (please ignore the 'uncle' reference here) and moved away. the second came up to me and said in a conspirational tone, 'we were looking at that boyfriend and girlfriend. we see all of them but watch from a distance.'

that's when it hit me that these girls were aeons ahead of my son (and i think this would true of most boys of his age) about their understanding of friends and lovers and the distinction.

anguish

2008-03-16T00:03:00.000+05:30

have you experienced
anguish before?
i am sure you haven't.
not the kind of anguish
i'm talking about.

the kind which
rubs your nerve-ends raw,
gut-wrenching.
and every breath
a painful reminder.

while i wait
for a glimpse,
a whisper,
some clue.

anything that would help
me get through this day
and make it to the next.
with a dream to span
the night.

inspired living!

2008-03-01T18:31:00.001+05:30

i am thick-skinned... nothing shakes me. (the boss prefers to be more direct and says i am incorrigible and hopeless! )

i used to be a skinny guy in school. and i used to be embarrassed with my own body. and i used to keep fantasising about putting on a few kilos. and i did :)

well, maybe more than a few kilos. but i'm still proud of myself. it took a lot of hard work... eating, sleeping, lazing around, and not exercising....

the big boss kept trying to pierce through the thick skin with well aimed barbs about the bad shape i was in! i even agreed to wal every morning if she gave me company since i am pathetic company to myself! and this just didn't work out, which suited me just fine :P

and then disaster struck! and how!!!

my daughter, all of 3.5 years, and my own flesh and blood made the unkindest cut! oh how can i ever live this down? let me explain and then you will surely sympathise with me!

my daughter is friends with another girl in our complex where she spends time almost every other day. (her parents are good friends). they were expecting their second baby and the expectant mother was visibly pregnant.

now my daughter's friend, with a lot of pride in her voice, announced that her mama's tummy is big because there's a baby in it. and my daughter (oh the shame of it!), not one to be left behind, promptly piped up and said that we too are having a baby because my papa's tummy is also big! and this is in the presence of my friends. well you can imagine the ir reaction to this announcement. and then this obviously reached the big boss' ears who lost no time in relaying the news to me.

and she expected me to see the humor in this situation!!!

well, that broke me and my resolve completely!

its been about two weeks now that i have started walking every morning with the same friend who gives me company. (so i don't even the excuse of not having company)

second chance

2008-02-28T18:40:00.002+05:30

how many second chances
do i get to start afresh?
why do i not get it right
the first time around?

four nights
and three days
i burned in hell
before i could admit
to myself

that i need you more
than you need me.
and it would take me
seven lives before i am
freed from your clutches

and that is what
gets my goat!

inexplicable

2008-02-28T18:35:00.003+05:30

this morning i woke up
to a completely new world
from the wrong side of my bed
and saw a new face in the mirror!

and had no clue if
i was dreaming or
if i had just woken up?

am i sleep deprived?

2008-02-21T23:29:00.006+05:30

i think i must be 'sleep-deprived'!

no i don't draw this conclusion based on my the intelligence levels of my conversations or the topics of my posts. but most people tell me that i must be sleep-deprived. but for most part of my life (which is quite a bit.... but i am not about to tell you) i have always been up so late that i'm convinced that i'm a direct descendant of an owl!

staying up until 1 or 2 am everyday was understandable during your college days which meant that you were carefree and footloose. either that or you were up pining for some girl in college and you were sitting up all night scheming on how you are going to pass on your 'love letter' to her the next day! you did this for a couple of weeks after which the letter seemed a bit lame and so you drafted another passionate one and then fretted all over again... you get the picture?

but i still stay up till 12.30-1 am, on an average. and no i am not writing 'love letters' and scheming! i am usually writing such posts or watching some movie or reading a book.

but what gets my 'big boss'' goat (actually many things get her goat, this being only one of them :P) is that when i have to read a bed-time story to my kids i doze off mid-way into the story! it is such a chronic problem that my kids protest violently when i suggest that i read them a bed-time story! they believe that their mom is the best story-reader in the world (apart from being the best mom/cook/masseur/doctor/hugger/kisser/...).

but she's not easily fooled. she's convinced that i've purposely and very carefully built this image that i suck as far as story-reading goes.

but that's not true at all.... in fact i think i have cracked the problem. the point is, the minute my head hits the pillow i feel drowsy! i think i should put this theory to test and try doing it differently.

will keep you all posted :)

mind-bender quiz

2008-02-19T18:57:00.006+05:30

here's a mind-bender. can anybody decipher the following message?

"i'm hungry and three and need some done room. can you get of something to numbi on up way good? or maybe u can tops up a quick neck? what about u? u know what i'd love. smart dual. he u order at the deli they'll deliver it good. i'll in good n take a quick shower, bomb my hair n them get ready for my neck. i want u to john of for an enjoyable neck."

(hint : assume this was an sms from a technologically-challenged hubby to his wife on his way back from work.)

---------------

ok, here's the solution :

I'm hungry and TIRED and need some FOOD SOON. Can you get me something to MUNCH on UR way home? Or maybe u can TOSS up a quick MEAL? What about u? U know what I'd love. ROAST DUCK. IF u order at the deli they'll deliver it HOME. I'll GO HOME n take a quick shower, COMB my hair n then get ready for my MEAL. I want u to JOIN ME for an enjoyable MEAL.

(solved using predictive text option on a nokia phone :P )

ziah cracked it fully (almost!). and the people who came close were prats, thinking aloud, and tys on ice. the funny versions were from gazal and preethi! and some of the others who wrote in include ~nm, swati, and jayashri.

let's all hear it for ziah! (there ziah, you just got your prize! i'm such a cheapo :P )

thanks for participating. that was fun! now let me think up something equally inane in another post :P

pssst.... creativity in 'full flow'

2008-02-16T16:47:00.000+05:30

this post is inspired by 'writings on the wall' by 'tys on ice' and 'why'' by prats.

one of the biggest challenges faced by public administrators in indian cities (and also by the superintendents responsible for cleanliness in trains and by the members of the 'cleanliness' committees in countless housing societies) across the vast indian sub-continent is the scourge of defacement of public property. specifically the literary outpourings of sundry love-struck romeos on numerous walls that stand stoically while such above-mentioned mischief is being perpetrated!

while i whole-heartedly agree with the view that defacement should be discouraged and that such defilers should be penalised, i cannot help but appreciate some of the most humorous and insightful messages that i have come across over time. in fact, there is also a branch of graffiti including street/sidewalk drawings which is viewed as art.

the majority of the graffiti that we see all around us (lifts/elevators, public bathrooms, public transportation) can be classified as lewd and 'not for family viewing'. but the best graffiti are the pithy, humorous and politically incorrect messages that are like rare gems.

one of the best examples that i have come across (on the net) was about a line scrawled in a men's room which read : 'marie, if you can read this, its all over between us!'

and graffiti in school bathrooms sometimes aptly communicate the not-so-kindly feelings of the students towards their teachers. one of the best i came across reads - drive carefully - don't kill a child. wait for teacher.

sometimes the angst felt by the student community to the prevailing political situation also is reflected in these scrawls. i remember during the highly volatile situation in colleges during the mandal commission protests reading a message in my college men's room - (next to a line drawn horizontally) if you can reach this line join the fire brigade! (and next to another line drawn about a foot below the earlier line) this one is for sc/st!

and there were graphic ones which were usually designed to shock the viewer. some of them did have their humorous element.

one of the classic ones which i used to find in most schools and colleges was the one where you were asked to follow the arrows drawn in front of you while you were relieving yourself and which progressed up to the ceiling and even behind you sometimes. and then right at the end there is a line which says - watch out you fool! you are tinkling on your shoes!

so i guess i must confess here that i am a fan of graffitti and the pithy humor and wisdom most of them hold. but i prefer grafitti which doesn't deface public property. i prefer them on unused surfaces or on t-shirts and websites :)

p.s. i always used to wonder whether the girls in school (and the women in general) were as expressive and creative on the walls and doors of ladies' rooms? (i remember reading an article about men getting 'creatively expressive' on the walls of the ladies compartments in the local trains in mumbai and offending the sensibilities of the commuters. i still haven't come across a case of the reverse happening! i wonder why?)

one tree festival!

2008-02-10T23:19:00.004+05:30

i was lucky to get some free passes to the 'one tree music festival' on the 9th and 10th of feb in mumbai.

the bands, like every year, were really classy. this year the line-up included joe bonamassa and the robert cray band on the first night. and gold spot (read what ultrabrown has to say about them here) and jose feliciano on the second night.

what i like about the one tree festival can be summarised as follows -

1. the music is not for kids. and so you will find yourself in the middle of an audience which is comfortably middle-aged (or should i say 'right-aged'). it helps when you know you fit the median on the age bell curve of the audience :)

2. these bands are classy acts and not like the used-up, burnt out popular bands which tour india since they don't get invited in any other part of the world!

3. i get free passes every year (i'm such a cheapo :P ), thanks to a dear friend. these music shows (including the teeny bopper bands and burnt out pop-stars) almost always cost a bomb!

but i've always wondered why these visiting bands always get a lot of big-name sponsorships (the one tree festival is sponsored every year by johnnie walker) while local bands and indian classical music have it much tougher?

p.s. i also attended the 'heartbeats' show organised by 'every tuesday' where the six gods/giants of indian music (zakir hussain, sivamani, viku vinaykaram, u shrinivas, selvaganesh and shankar mahadevan) performed together on stage! awesome experience. (and the organisers had managed to get a good line-up of sponsors too!)

suited and booted!

2008-02-07T00:55:00.000+05:30

put me in a plane with a bunch of indians coming back from any of the asian countries and chances are i can tell you which community each one is from. if not his community, then i can tell you about his profession. and if i laid a wager with the chinese sitting beside me in each of these trips i would be richer by quite a few yuan! (no matter which flight you are on and in which part of the planet you will always find a chinese and an indian on the flight! check it out yourself!)

1. the software sales executive is usually carrying a laptop and wearing worn jeans and a cool shirt.

2. the senior executive is always checking his blackberry and is usually wearing casual formals (or is it formal casuals?).

3. the punju trader from delhi is usually wearing a loud shirt, carrying on a louder conversation with his fellow-traveller and is guzzling whisky and water like its the last bottle on earth.

4. the gujju bhai is usually wearing a safari suit and is calling up his wife before they shut the door asking her to send the driver to pick him up and also asking her to cook some good dal khichdi and roti saag for dinner!

5. and if the flight is from some gulf nation and if there's a mallu lady on board, then she's usually wearing enough gold to cause some serious overloading on the flight. (they get away because the airlines haven't begun weighing the people yet!)

and the usual expats that you will find on the flights to india are :

1. the tourist on a budget trip and who looks and smells like he's just landed up on the flight straight from bed!

2. the ubiquitous old white man with a young oriental girl wearing a skimpy outfit. and no, thats definitely not his daughter! (i guess i'm just jealous.)

but the person who never fails to amuse me is the tam-brahm mama (an elderly tamil brahmin gentleman) who will board the flight wearing a full suit and tie and the works! but he's either going straight from the airport to his hotel or has just checked out of his hotel and is on his way back home! (i think they do this because most of the tam movies in the 60s always showed the hero travelling by air in this fashion! but i might be way off the mark here. maybe one of you could enlighten me.)

and each of the flights, i have taken, always has a professional rip-van-winkle who can sleep off the minute the wheels leave the tarmac and wake up just as the plane is touching down. and that is i :)

education redux!

2008-02-05T15:40:00.000+05:30

this post was prompted by a comment from 'thinking aloud' and a post by amit varma in 'india uncut'.

the most common comment i hear when people (usually the ones without kids) are debating about our education system is that 'it sucks' and that it needs to be completely revamped! and that this system does not generate leaders and that it smothers the creativity of the children!

i beg to differ!

school days were the best days of my life! though i used to count down to my vacations when in school and then count down for the first day of school during my vacations.

and we learnt our lessons in life, both, inside and outside school. and the manner in which we learnt most of the basic concepts in math and science are being abhorred today. but i'll never ever forget my multiplication tables which we used to chant by rote between periods (i mean, between the class-room sessions. that's what we used to call them, so don't blame me!). and i'll also never forget the fact that if the blue litmus turns red then the liquid is acidic. (my friends taught me the mnemonic 'bra' - blue-red-acidic)!

and i remember having this major crush on this one teacher. this was then later redirected at her daughter. you think that was being fickle? well how about this girl who i sent a note to (i think it was poetic version of 'can we be friends'?) who wrote back saying that she found my friend cute! now that's what i call fickle! (just a case of sour grapes, i know. so don't rub it in.)

this was also around the time when i suddenly discovered my love for music and choral singing. i was not able to convince my friends that it had nothing to do with the fact that the practice sessions were held in the girls' convent across the street! philistines and uncouth they were, my friends.

i definitely got a well-rounded education through this education system (though my wife will say that i need to lose a few pounds around my waist and around my head!). and i'm none the worse for it!

p.s. and now the japanese also want to adopt our schooling methods!

the quirkier (not murkier) side of me!

2008-02-01T13:06:00.000+05:30

prats from 'Retrospections! Emotional ecology...... ' tagged me and i am doing something which i had promised i'll never ever do! but since this gives me an opportunity to rave about myself officially i decided to break the rule :P

The Rules:

- Link to the person that tagged you.

- Post the rules on your blog.

- Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

- Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

- Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

well, about the rules, i don't think i can stick to them since there's nothing about me that i don't consider important! so instead of playing by the rules, i'll just wax eloquent about my quirks.

and about tagging six random people, i mean why i would them to think that i consider them 'random'? :P

but what i'm going to do is this - i'm going to do a google search of bloggers and tag complete strangers! lets see what happens. and if anyone sues me, i don't exist ok? i'm just a robot blogger spewing out 'random' posts here!

1. i count the steps on any staircase and i try to land on the last step with my right foot!

2. i always lift the plate when i'm at a restaurant to identify the brand! (infuriates my wife, but i can't help it!)

3. i can't remember dates to save my life! read here.

4. i don't like to miss the ads or the traliers before the movies. even in the old days when they showed news reels, remember? its not only about 'paisa vasool', but i feel i missed out something really important. (i think my wife also shares this quirk... no wonder i think we are made for each other :P )

5. i want to try out all the modes of transport whenever i go to a new place. so i've travelled by bullock cart, horse cart, buses, trains, planes, gliders, bicycles, bikes (in some places you can pay people on bikes to take you from point A to B), auto-ricshaws, trams, jeepneys, tuk-tuks, hand-pulled rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, trucks, etc. (have i missed out anything?)

6. i button my short alternate buttons from the bottom-up and then do the rest top-down!

so there it is... take it or dump it, but thats how the chips fall with me!

ok, now for my tag list :

1. anita bora from bangalore

2. anantha from new jersey

3. jaina from uk, i think

4. Kanagasabapathy Surendran from india

5. twisted dna - an indian-american

6. the mad momma - from bangalore?

lets see what happens now ;-P

am i daddy blogger?

2008-01-23T16:15:00.000+05:30

am i a 'daddy blogger'? or are they called 'papa bloggers'? (some, who are not very particular about being politically correct, might call them soppy, middle-aged men dealing with a combination problem of a mid-life crisis and premature balding!)

when i look around in the blogospehere i notice that there are quite a few 'mommy bloggers' out there. so now i know about kids taking their first step, the kiddies day out, the tantrums, and so many other life-enriching details of kids and their moms. some of these 'supermoms' also maintain multiple blogs with one focused only on their kid. and they are maintaining these blogs in the midst of juggling with career, home, kids, family, extended families, pets, hobbies and so much more. (i have this hypothesis that most blogs dedicated to specific kids are maintained by moms with single kids. is this true?)

but i don't see too many 'daddy bloggers'. i mean, there are many male bloggers out there. but then we men are all busy saving the world, analysing the stock markets, dishing out economic theories, discussing the relative merits of new phone/car/laptop models. you know, the usual stuff. our wives are worrying about small details like bringing up kids, schooling them, managing the household, balancing the domestic budget; while we are busy worrying about the fiscal budget, global oil prices, global warming, the US presidential elections and such-like weighty matters.

and have you noticed how most mommy bloggers have some kind of sisterhood of their own. i don't know of any such brotherhood of male bloggers (and i don't think tys' and my new cult initiative with our membership of one each counts)! but have you also noticed how mommy bloggers have a legion of fan followers (and not all the fans are mommys or women either!)? so its not only the single lady bloggers who have scores of lascivious male followers posting appreciative comments and trying to sound intellectual and humorous at the same time. (again, tys and i are excused because we are only trying to woo members into our cult. ladies, did i mention earlier, but membership is free for you for a limited period only? and the limited period expires as soon as i get 100 lady members! that would ensure i also have about 1000 faithful male members too! :P)

but i must confess here that i do tend to keep waxing eloquent about my kids on my blog at every opportunity. which is very often. does that make me a soppy, balding, middle-aged guy who's fast approaching mid-life crisis? maybe. (well actually, yes.)

but the learnings and experiences that i have gained from my kids is something that i would never have had otherwise. and i am leading a happier, fuller life. thanks to them. and if i am called a 'daddy blogger' because of my irrational need to share this with the world at large and get my dose of daily attention and adulation, i think its a small price to pay :)

p.s. let me clarify, at the grave risk of losing many potential lady members, that the pic i have inserted in this post is not mine :(

the chief guest

2008-01-22T22:28:00.000+05:30

i recently attended the annual sports day function at our kids' school twice! because the sports day for the pre-primary section was on a different day from the primary section. (click here to see the pics. and don't believe the slander you will hear that i was trying to get the pretty teachers on film instead of my kids!!!)

every year i worry about reaching office late because of having to attend the darned event! and how the financial markets will crash and the country's economy will slip a few notches if i reach office a couple of hours late! (somehow this sense of panic doesn't creep in when wake up late and crawl into office at an unearthly hour, late hour, i mean!)

but every year i only feel glad that i still managed to make it. (actually i should thank the 'big boss' at home for goading me into action with some well-aimed below-the-belt remarks about the afore-mentioned effects on the stock markets, et al!)

this year's events was no different. no actually, there was a big difference. and therefore this post.

there were the usual march-pasts, the drills, the yoga/karate/gymnastics displays, the races for the kids (which actually look like some cultural show more than races) and all that.

but what made it different this year was the choice of the chief guest by the school. normally they call some local dignitary or a school official or even a teacher from one of their group schools. but this year they actually had a student from one of their group of schools as the chief student! and not an ex-student who had made it big in the big, bad world, but a student from the current 9th standard (or 9th grade as my develop-world compatriots would call it) batch!

her name was neha bole and she was a state level swimming champion who had also won at many national level events. this was the first time i saw a school honoring one of their students in such a novel way. by inviting an athlete to be the chief guest at the annual sports day!

i think this sent a very apt message to all the students as well as the parents. about how we need to give due attention to sports. about how sports is important to make our children well-rounded individuals. about how sports can help in developing skills which can actually help even in academics. about how sport can also bring glory to the individual and to our nation!

please appreciate him!

2008-01-18T01:10:00.000+05:30

(i couldn't resist doing this post in response to "Please Appreciate Her". those of you who do not like politically incorrect writing, and using humor to deal with serious stuff, please do not read any further. and if you do then it is with the express understanding that you absolve me of any liability whatsoever and that you promise not to sue me ever, on any issue! (just in case you thought you could trip me up there! hah!))

tomorrow you may propose to a man who doesn't work,

but you should marry with these facts firmly grounded in your mind...

here is a guy who is as educated as you are,

but who is hoping that you will earn enough for both.

one who dreams, because he is sleeping most of the time.

because he is less of a human than you are!

one who has never entered the kitchen just like you (and any other member of your family)

as he was busy goofing off and was never around to get into the kitchen,

and was busy trying to beat the system while he would have actually liked to lie down on the sofa in front of the tv!

one who lived and constantly fought with

his parents and brothers and sisters for the past 30 years of his life

but still wouldn't leave and live separately

because everywhere else he would have had to pay for boarding and lodging.

one, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that,

his home, people who are glad to see him go,

to adopt to your home, your tyrannical ways, your constant badgering

your discipline and regimen.

one, who is expected to be man-of-the house from day 1,

while you cook and manage all the household chores,

oblivious to his predicament

as he come to terms with his new-found marital status!

one who is expected to wake up early, smile

share the bathroom, and say the right things every time

even if he is tired and partially drunk.

and yet never expected to shirk from his responsibilities

to be a supporting, caring, loving husband, father and hunter

all rolled into one,

even if he doesn't want to !

(he would rather watch the indians thulp the australians

at the waca)

and is learning the ropes, just like you,

to stop being clumsy and sloppy at all times

and knows that you won't like it

if he is not always appreciative

(but not of the good-looking neighbour)!

one who has his own set of friends, men and women,

but with whom he can't go out with for a late-night movie and drinking session anymore

because the lady of the house doesn't approve and won't appreciate it.

and would welcome you with a cold shoulder and

you would have to sleep in the living room couch for a few days

without the tv!!!

one who doesn't mind you smoking or drinking

but can't say so because you think/know

he is saying it just so that it gives him the excuse

to have that extra drink!

one who is doing his best to make this most important relationship work

cos else he will have to actually do some real work!

one who wants only one thing from you, as you are the only one

he knows in the entire house (or so he naively thinks)

your love and understanding (no regular headaches!)

your unstinted support (no haranguing him to get to work

while he is trying to work things out in his head)

your sensitivity (his male ego needs that regular boost)

but not a single woman understands this....

please appreciate him!

its all been arranged!

2008-01-14T00:35:00.000+05:30

most marriages in india are still 'arranged'. as opposed to 'love marriages'. (also click here to read more)

for those of you who are not familiar with these terms, an arranged marriage is a typical indian phenomenon where the marriage is completely arranged by the parents of the bride and the groom (and usually paid for by the parents of the bride). and this also includes finding a bride for your son (who would otherwise not stand a chance of finding a bride on his own) or a groom for your daughter (who has, on last count, driven at least 6 boyfriends up the wall and around the bend!)

and no, i have never come across a same-sex, arranged marriage till date. i mean, there's only so much any parent would do for the apple of their eye!

the entire arranged marriage rigmarole is quite an involved exercise and the rituals and associated customs across different states, communities and sects are far too many, even for wikipedia to capture.

but most arranged marriages begin with the ubiquitous horoscope. if you venture out into 'arranged marriage land' without this piece of indecipherable gibberish, you have as much chance of landing yourself a spouse as a sea-lion has of marrying you because you remind him of his voluptuous neighbour! (no, maybe i wouldn't bet my money on that!)

this is usually followed by a terse, crisply worded matrimonial ad in some leading national daily. each letter costs money. and people in the know are able to decipher the meaning of the ads which usually read like this - "SM for 27/5'9" Handsome Goel boy MBA Rich/ Affluent B'ness F'ly seeks for V'B'ful Edu. Homely N.Manglik Girl BHP Em: axaxax@gmail.com, Mo:98200 xxxxx".

can't make head or tail of this ad? well, it only goes to show that you have a long way to go before you venture into the business of 'arranged marriages' :-)

most of the 'subjects' in these ads are usually blissfully unaware (thankfully for them!) that their carefree days are dangerously outnumbered and that most of the 'arranged marriage' seekers are perusing their cryptic descriptions, while they are innocently out on a steamy date with their boy/girl friend!

the responses to the ads are carefully and expertly filtered out by the wise ones (usually parents, uncles, aunts, or any remotely connected branch of the family tree). you can't have some cranky pervert trying to slip through this cordon to steal a peek at the 'apple/peach/pumpkin of your eye', can you?

the long-listed candidates are contacted and then the BHPs (bio-data, horoscope, photograph) are exchanged. this is followed by another more careful round of scrutiny and short-listing.

and then follow the 'meetings'. (some of the non-believers rudely term them the 'meetings' before the 'matings'!) this is when the 'boy' and the 'girl' accompanied by at least 3-4 members of the family from either side meet at some coffee-shop/ restaurant/ meeting-place to 'see' each other. this usually means that the family members politely introduce each other and then after some small talk, the 'boy' and the 'girl' move to another table out of ear-shot but still under the watchful eye of the elders. here they try to get to know each other as best as possible over tea/coffee/lime juice. both parties usually have a prepared set of queries which they believe will help them instantly evaluate the opposite party and thereby grant them a blissful marital life.

but its not always as easy as i make it sound here. one of my friends told me about how he 'saw' about a dozen prospective women before he made up his mind on the first lady he had seen. but by then she was already hitched! (my wife usually does the same thing when she is out shopping for clothes! its always the first dress that she goes back to, after she has gone through a few dozen options. and unfortunately for me, unlike the disappearing 'lady in question' in the case of my friend, the dress is usually still waiting for my wife! i am so glad she, my wife and not the afore-mentioned 'lady in question', did not select me through this arranged marriage routine! i wouldn't have stood a chance in hell!)

and finally if you have managed to make it through all these rounds and are still standing, and if the opposite party has also chosen to throw in his/her/its lot with you, the topic of marriage is broached. not by the 'boy' or the 'girl', but by the 'elders'.

the run-up to the actual wedding would be the subject of another post.

but as i mentioned earlier, majority of the weddings in india, even to this day, are arranged marriages. and they seem to work, not just for the earlier generations, but even for our own generation. and i am sure they would work for some time to come.

just when i thought it couldn't get worse!

2008-01-10T23:49:00.000+05:30

just when i was smug with the belief that i have had the worst flight experience in my life, the universe conspires to show me that i still have a long way to go!

i am trying very hard here in this post to see the humor in the entire episode, so help me along by laughing with me :-D

in my attempt to surprise myself, i reach the airport about 4 hours before my scheduled flight (jet lite S2109 from delhi, etd 2020). (my wife will shake her head in exasperation and say something like, 'why does it always have be either extreme'?) the lady at the check-in counter serves me with a smile and refuses to accommodate me in the earlier flight. i smile back at her, but i think the sub-text is lost on her. she instead chooses to smile at the next passenger in the queue.

over the next few hours i have managed to look at all the shops in the concourse, eat and drink as much as i could, finish reading the book i am carrying (the calcutta chromosome by amitav ghosh), read all the possible complimentary newspapers including the delhi times (and if you thought the mumbai times is pathetic, think again!).

and then i notice that all the flights are running about an hour late. only one of the airlines believes it necessary to make regular announcements that the flights are delayed because of congestion at the airport. (no prizes for guessing which airline it is). after some time i think the announcer was too exhausted to make any more announcements. and the person operating the controls for the display board also has lost interest in updating the revised times.

i sat and watched life pass me by. no actually, i watched passengers of all other flights stream by and depart for their respective destinations. and then finally i board my flight about 2.5 hours after the scheduled time.

and if you thought with that my travails ended, keep thinking again. it took another 15 minutes before we got clearance from the atc (air traffic control). that was after the initial 10 minutes lost in trying to trace one passenger who seemed to have disappeared. (my bet was that he was blissfully sleeping in some corner of the airport.)

and then finally we got airborne with the shrill engines reminding us of how well they have served humanity for a very long time! and then well into the flight the captain suddenly remembered that he had to apologise to us for 'all events beyond the airline's control'. and he ended his monologue by saying that he hoped to reach us to mumbai as planned unless 'the atc and events beyond his control' had other plans in mind for us!

after munching through some insipid fare being passed off as veg burgers and a cup-cake which had been pulled out of the oven before it was fully baked, we all decided to lean back and await our collective destiny which awaited us in mumbai.

and wonder of wonders! we landed in mumbai without any 'traffic congestion' or 'atc clearance' holding us up. but before we could start feeling amiable towards the airline, disaster struck. the plane taxied into its holding bay and then we had to wait for almost 15 minutes in the aircraft waiting for the ground staff to find the ladder for the aircraft! one of the passengers could be heard explaining very patiently to his wife that the ground staff seem to have lost their ladder and they are asking the passengers to either jump off the aircraft or sleep in in the aircraft until they found a ladder!

i finally reach home, at 2 am, three hours later than my scheduled time, tired and battle-worn, but glad to be back in one piece!

who's the villain here?

2008-01-04T00:53:00.000+05:30

another new year and another shameful story besmirching mumbai's tag as a 'safe' city for women! two women, who were accompanied by their male partners, are molested by a group of over 70 men for about 15 minutes before a few journalists get help from a police inspector who chases away the mob. the two couples are taken to a police station nearby, but they choose to leave without registering a complaint.

now while the incident is a heinous act and the perpetrators of this should not be spared and all that... i wonder who is the actual villain here?

1. the people in the mob who commit this crime with the secure feeling that they are safe since they are part of a mob. and as recent incidents point out, people really believe that mobs are the best way to party! mobs allow the tiger to be unleashed from the whimpering kitty!

2. or the police, for the amazing faith they manage to inspire in the law-abiding citizens of the country! why do you think the victims of this incident did not want to press charges? and it was the same with the molestation case at the gateway of india last year! in fact the newspapers even claimed that the two couples were asked to go to another police station since the area where the incident took place did not fall under their jurisdiction! i guess registering such cases would not look good as far as the statistics go!

(all the 5 suspects arrested in last year's molestation case were finally let off because of lack of evidence!)

3. or the media! i'm sure the molested couples, already traumatised by their experience, would have been horrified to see their images being splashed across all the newspapers and television channels. and this would have only intensified their suffering and destroyed whatever little hope they had of trying to bury the entire incident as a bad dream!

now some people may defend the media action by saying that the media's job is to report facts and be honest about it and all that. but did anyone even bother to ask the permission of the victims before using their images to publish a sensational story? did any of the journalists pause to think of the mental trauma they would heap upon the unsuspecting victims?

so who is the true villain here? you decide!

pani puris and women

2008-01-01T23:49:00.000+05:30

have you noticed how there are always more women around a pani puri stall than men? ever wondered why?

now a pani puri might be called a 'gol gappa' in the north or a 'puchka' in the east (i don't think its exists in the south!) but the phenomenon is the same.

and as kids i remember how the girls in the convent across the street from our 'all boys' school would crowd around the street vendor who sold tamarind and wood apple and amla (gooseberry) and such like. i don't remember us guys having any such favorites when it came to food. i think the only thing that we guys showed a clear inclination towards in school was the 'much thumbed salacious' books we read surreptitiously. (this reads much better than saying 'we loved reading porn')

now most of us believe that this is because of our social upbringing which makes boys act differently from girls. but i tend to disagree. i think it has more to do with the way men are 'wired' differently from women. (most women will read that as 'men being weird as compared to women' and i wouldn't blame them :-) )

i notice this so clearly in our kids. our son is currently going through his cricket phase where he literally eats, breathes and lives cricket. i mean, he can't hold a bat to save his life, but when did that ever stop him? why, he even sleeps cricket. just the other day when i was trying to wake him up he mumbled 'its a four!'. he will catch any unsuspecting adult and start off with his own analysis of various teams and players and styles and matches and strategies and scores and what have you. we pity the poor person who's trapped and gasping like some fish stranded out of water!

but his sister cares two hoots about cricket. she loves music and dancing and dressing up and wants to try on different hair-styles. she loves coloring. she is not as keen on using the computer unlike her brother, unless its for watching her favorite dvds. (during our recent weekend trip, while all the young girls were dressed up and learning to groove to the latest filmi numbers , my son made his irritation clearly felt and went off to practice shying at the stumps by himself!)

and i don't think either my wife or i have put any of these ideas into their heads. we usually just go along with whatever they enjoy or would like to try their hands at.

i am convinced boys are just 'wired' differently from girls. don't you agree?

saved the best for last?

2007-12-31T00:29:00.000+05:30

just saw taare zameen par this afternoon. had read enough reviews and got feedback from friends who had already seen it and couldn't miss it.

it was exactly what i had expected from the film, an aamir khan film. (i think even if he hadn't directed it himself, he would have ensured it was treated the same way!)

its definitely worth a watch. so don't miss it. given the timing of its release, i think it will be rated as the best film of the year 2007 and also be a hit in 2008!

darsheel safary as ishaan awasthi, the dyslexic kid, and tisca chopra as his mother get my votes for the best actors in the film. and i think the film would have been as wonderful even if aamir khan had got anyone else to play his role in the film. the subject matter and the way it was dealth with would have ensured that. don't you agree?

the movie, like most of our films, ends on a happy note. that's part of aamir's formula for commercial success and you can't hold that against him.

but life doesn't always have happy endings in store for such dyslexic people. but the film at least increases awareness and attempts to sensitise people to this phenomenon.

like i said earlier, its a film you must watch. if you haven't already!

p.s. i would be lying if i said that i did not have moist eyes during some of the poignants portions of the film. (so be ready for some 'moist eyes' yourself!)

an adventurous weekend

2007-12-27T00:32:00.000+05:30

the golden square gang made good use of the long holiday weekend, took the day off on the24th (monday) and had an adventurous weekend from 22nd till the 25th. pawan and his family were also here this time on vacation from singapore. (read about our earlier trip to kashid here.)

we drove down to palas resort which is on the mumbai-goa highway (just a little before nagothane - check the map here) on saturday morning. (we were planning to start by 7.30 am but ended up leaving only by 9.30! tanu will never let me forget about this for life!)

we had a good time at the resort. the pics say it all. spent time in the pool, playing cricket, badminton, football, cards, dancing, watching 'the incredibles', lazing around.... and most importantly stuffing ourselves at every possible opportunity.

on monday (24th dec) we drove to kolad which is about 45 minutes away from the resort and spent a day at the z-bac adventure facility. everyone, including the kids, rappelled, rafted, climbed rocks, made pots and had a whale of a time!

the punch-line for this trip was 'jaana padta hai!' (one has to go!) people had to use this line whenever they had to excuse themselves from the group (for reasons i can't state here, since this is a family blog) or when they had to try out the adventure activities after the kids took the lead!

palas resort is named after the nearby village called palas, which in turn is named after the 'palas' tree. this tree has leaves with 3 large segments and these dried leaves are used to make 'patravalis' or plates.

this trip also showed us that -

1. food tastes much better when we are really really hungry!
2. kids are much tougher than we make them out to be.... they need more exposure to nature.
3. roughing it out occasionally is good for all of us... it helps put things in perspective.
4. fear is in our minds... and we normally transmit these fears to our children.
5. children overcome their fears quite well if they are left on their own. they get inspired by the other kids.

there's no such thing as 'free'!

2007-12-20T22:52:00.000+05:30

i recently got an sms from a lady who said that she will not be using her cell phone any longer and that she can be contacted only by email.

when i checked with her later (not through her phone) then she explained that she felt the phone was a nuisance (an obstacle in her path) and that she wanted to try this out as an experiment!

how many of us can think of doing anything like this? and survive? the only time i manage without a cell-phone is when i am on vacation. else i usually get a panic attack or a great sense of incompleteness when i leave home without my phone. and its not a one-sided thing. most of my friends, family, business colleagues, clients, etc also would feel annoyed/upset if they are not able to contact me on my phone.

now if we think about this carefully we notice that the cell phone, like many other things in life today, is a tool which binds us even while it frees us in some other way. this reminds me of what a great master said recently - 'remember, the law is, you have to pay the price for anything in life'.

the blackberry allows me to access my mail anywhere, so it frees me from my desk. but then ask any harried executive's spouse and you will hear a long discourse on how it has become the bane of their existence!

travelling by car frees up so much of my commute time (not to mention the convenience) but then i have to walk on the tread-mill to overcome the problems associated with my sedentary lifestyle!

i could go on and on.... but i guess the message is very loud and clear - there's no such thing as a free lunch!

flight to nowhere!

2007-12-17T23:22:00.000+05:30

a mumbai-ahmedabad Go Air flight took off on 13th december without 24 passengers. (read all about it here).

no i am not going to shout myself hoarse that this is grave injustice and that the airline should refund the money. nor would i say that the passengers deserved such treatment for reportedly being abusive and violent with the airlines staff.

i think the truth, like it mostly does, lies uncomfortably somewhere in between.

(i recently had a similar experience on my way back from delhi. waiting for your flight in delhi airport after your security check is a very depressing experience as compared to any other airport in the country.)

- the airline for some inexplicable reason chooses not to keep the passengers updated on the status of the flight. why don't they realise that passengers would be less upset if they were told about the problem upfront?

- i don't like to crib, but the state of the delhi airport brings out the worst in me (maybe bangalore is a close second) - its usually dirty, there are not enough chairs, the air-conditioning is either too hot or too cold, the snack counters sell food at a premium, the indicators are usually not working, ... i could go on and on... but like i said, i don't like cribbing :-)

- and passengers don't help the situation any. they normally tend to do one of the following

start pouncing on the poor ground staff as if they have purposely delayed the flight and are taking perverse pleasure in agonising the passengers!

start crowding around the gates demanding to know what is happening, when they will be asked to board, will they get some refreshments, will they get a refund, will they be accommodated on another flight, etc?

demand that the airline charter another aircraft because the aggrieved person who is making this brilliant suggestion has to reach his destination to meet some other equally important person at any cost (as long as he is not bearing the cost!)

threaten the afore-mentioned ground staff with dire consequences and demand that the top honcho of the company appear in front of them right now and give them an explanation for this mess.

or threaten to drag the airline to court for the mental torture and trauma caused and the irreversible damage caused to their delicate psyche! (how about the poor staffer who's wondering what sins he had committed in his past lives to land this job!)

and the smarter ones are trying to negotiate free life-time flights, upgrades to business class, use of the vip lounge, etc. to compensate for the inconvenience.

sometimes i miss the good old journeys by train!

vodafone blues!

2007-12-13T00:41:00.000+05:30

i don't know if its only i who's going through this experience. but i've been on the receiving end of the drastic and perceptible deterioration of quality of service in my mobile phone service. and this has been noticed ever since vodafone took over hutch in india.

the problems range from :
1. sudden absence of signal.
2. regular dropping of calls (at least 8-10 times a day).
3. poor voice quality (and no, i have not changed my handset recently).
4. and all this obviously resulting in higher billing amounts every month.

but i must mention here that this has been my experience in mumbai (and also when i travelled out of mumbai to delhi). i am not sure if others have had similar experiences.

if there are more of you out there who are facing a similar problem, here's a simple plan that i am putting into action.

1. i am writing a complaint mail to the following address - assist@vodafone.com with a copy to the nodal officer whose email id is provided on their website. the url is - www.vodafone.in. (i tried submitting the same complaint through their online feedback form but with no luck.)

2. the text of the mail is -
Hi :

I've been a Voadfone client since many years now (right from when it used to be Maxtouch, to Orange, to Hutch to Vodafone now).

My number is 9820190487.

Ever since Vodafone has taken over Hutch I have noticed a perceptible deterioration in quality of service. This includes -

1. Sudden absence of signal.
2. Regular dropping of calls (at least 8-10 times a day).
3. Poor voice quality (and no, I have not changed my handset recently).
4. And all this obviously resulting in higher billing amounts every month.

With this mail I am writing to communicate to Vodafone that I AM EXTREMELY UNHAPPY WITH THE DETERIORATING QUALITY OF SERVICE!

I hope that :
1. You will acknowledge my mail.
2. You will let me know how you propose to improve the quality of service.
3. There will be a significant improvement in service standards.

Best regards,

Guruprasad

3. you can replace the number and name with your number and name.

4. mark a copy of your mail to me at ckguruprasad@gmail.com.

5. i then propose to collect all your mails and send a consolidated mail to the vodafone india ceo. (if anyone has his email address please send it to me.)

i am sure such collective action will get their attention, and hopefully get them to act promptly and fix this problem.

please send out your mail by the 20th. i will keep you all posted about further developments.

when tv was a celebration

2007-12-07T23:53:00.000+05:30

(this post was suggested by my brother.)

i don't know about you, but i remember the days when a television set used to be a big luxury. where i grew up, it used to be as rare as a 'vertu' phone is today, maybe more so :-)

and tv watching used to be a social event. those were the days of black & white tv and a solitary 'doordarshan' channel. and the programs were beamed only for a limited number of hours each day. and weekends were the high points when we all trooped to the houses of one of the more 'fortunate' ones to take in the weekly dose of a regional language film on saturdays, a children's english film on sunday mornings and a hindi film on sunday evenings.

it was not a rare sight to see an entire family visit another family so that they could watch tv together. and the news break was an occasion to have some tea and snacks too :-)

and there was no mtv, can you imagine??? only some rare telecasts of the grammy nominees or an occasional collection of the european 'top of the pops'! with artists in sequined dresses performing in clubs with disco lights!

those were the days of star trek, and fireball xl5, and 'go kart go' and lucy ball. and buniyaad, of course :-)

and we used to lap all this up so eagerly. each film or episode would be discussed at length in schools and playgrounds.

but today we have a surfeit of channels offering you everything you could ever possibly want. but we don't find anything worthwhile to watch. and we don't even have any excuses to visit neighbours for a movie and some tea and snacks. we prefer doing this in secondlife! :-)

did i miss something?

2007-12-04T18:38:00.000+05:30

it sounds like the economic times is venturing into the business of foretelling the future. this article looks like a peep into the future. but the reader is clueless about who or what is launching the service that this article is talking about!

i am reproducing the entire article verbatim here. i would like you to read it and tell me if you got it? i didn't.

Browse, chat, confer — all on the same Web page!

AHMEDABAD: All your favourite Web sites will soon be available on a single platter. Personalised, only for you. So, whether it’s checking latest stock market tips online, discussing it with your analyst friend through a chat tool or taking global cues and holding live video conferences, everything will be available on a single Web page. And that too without any downloads but by simply registering on a Web site. What’s more, the new tool will also enable phone, mobile and web users collaborate on a single platform.

('quick bytes' section on page 5 of the economic times of 3rd decemeber 2007.)

good cop, bad cop!

2007-11-30T01:20:00.000+05:30

(came across this post on india uncut which prompted me to write this post.)

i recently came across a news article about someone we know being stopped by cops when he was driving to lonavala. though the papers were in order and he had a valid license, the cops accused him of being a private taxi operator without a permit and wanted him to pay up. when he refused they then found that he hadn't renewed his puc license. when they realised that he was a tough customer and one his co-travellers was calling up various people they drove off with his license.

and then there was this time when i spent a few hours in a police station when a friend and i were rounded up by the cops. our crime was walking in a group on the road during holi. we had to pay a fine to be let off. later i heard that the cops have a target of people they have to round up on days like holi.

but i've also had my share of 'good cop' experiences. the most memorable one being an incident at the delhi airport.

i was carrying my hp laptop in a bag which looked like exactly like what at least a dozen other people were carrying. after the x-ray scan in security i noticed my bag was missing from the x-ray machine belt. and there was another unclaimed laptop bag of a different brand. i reported this to the cops on duty.

one of the cops then mentioned that he recollected a man in a light pink checked shirt picking up a laptop bag which he felt was not his. he then came along with me to help identify the person in the large busy concourse. and he managed to identify the passenger too, who happened to have picked up my laptop bag my mistake.

i was completely dumbfounded and thoroughly impressed.

bob's my uncle!

2007-11-26T01:38:00.000+05:30

a friend recently shared this very interesting observation. and it hit me when i thought about it. and i'm sure it will hit you as well :-)

we were talking about the recent trend of many recently married couples who willingly choose not to have children or to have only a single child. earlier i had written a post about the benefits of having at least two kids - the second solution!

my friend then said that we will soon have a significant number of kids who will not have brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, no brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law, no co-brothers or co-sisters, and so on and so forth! and as this trend continues it will be even more stark.

most kids will only have theoretical knowledge about such relationships and will not be able to understand what these actually mean in real life. in fact, over time, they would start wondering whether such people and such relationships actually existed!

i guess it would be similar to our understanding of kings and queens and dinosaurs too!?

such kids would lose out on the joys of visiting relatives, vacationing with cousins, the scores of marriages in the family which are usually an excuse to fix some more marriages and also have a feast with good food and the company of near and distant family for a comfortably short period of time!

i wonder what fond memories the children in the future would have

mosquito magnet!

2007-11-20T00:16:00.000+05:30

my wife and i never let go of an opportunity to pat ourselves on our back when we see one of our kids do something which we believe is a trait they have inherited from the 'self-back-patter'! nor do we miss an opportunity to rib the other party whenever there is some embarrassing or awkward trait noticed in our kids and are convinced that we ourselves had nothing to do with that particular trait. and we all know where that came from and all that!

well here's a bizarre one where both my wife and i have the same view, one of those extremely rare moments :-)

my daughter is a 'mosquito magnet', just like i am!

before she was born, if there was one solitary mosquito which was in the mood for some human blood sampling it would unfailingly find its way to some exposed part of my anatomy and proceed to go on a binge on my vital body fluid! the said mosquito would choose to ignore the presence of an entire brood of family members present in the vicinity at the same instant. i used to console myself by claiming that i was a 'pure blood' which even the discerning mosquitoes vetted! ('pure blood' of what species, don't ask me!)

and now i've noticed that our daughter is a better mosquito magnet than i can ever aspire to be. the solitary mosquito now makes a bee-line (shouldn't that be 'mosquito-line'?) for her. that explains the ever-present tube of mosquito repellent in our household.

till recently i thought there must have been something unique about me which makes us more attractive to the animal kingdom. (nonetheless, i would have preferred doves and cats and other representatives of the animal kingdom expressing their allegiance to a royal personage than just some measly mosquitoes!)

now medical science throws some light on this mystery. scientists believe that genetics account for about 85% of our susceptibility to mosquito bites. people with concentration of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface; people who produce excess of certain acids like uric acid; these are the people mosquitoes like best :-)

researchers are still trying to pinpoint what compounds and odours people exude that might be attractive to mosquitoes.

so next time the mosquitoes prefer you over the others in your company - blame your genes!

p.s. here's an interesting fact - mosquitoes have been around for more than 170 million years. basically tells us that they are not going to disappear in a hurry :-)

frozen food!

2007-11-17T00:51:00.000+05:30

i stumbled upon this news item on the bbc news site - Doomsday vault begins deep freeze.

engineers are building the svalbard international seed vault in a mountain on one of the islands of svalbard, norway, where they will store seeds from all known varieties of key food crops by freezing them at -18C. built to hold about 4.5 million seed samples the vault aims to safeguard the world's crops from future disasters such as nuclear wars, asteroids or dangerous climate change.

the concept is amazing and i could think of somre more such vaults for :
- books
- art
- films
- recipes
- animals/ birds/ insects

... a post-modern noah's ark of sorts!

but a few questions come to mind -
1. what if nobody survives doomsday to pull out the seeds from the vault?
2. will there be any arable land left for use?