The Sparrow and the Crow

The sparrow rushed into the room as I looked up at the sound of fluttering wings. A crow chased the sparrow all over the room and chased it right out. I stood there looking on. The sparrow came in again. It hid behind me. The crow looked at me, eye to eye. The cold hard murderous stare of a raven. The gray-black unblinking eyes. My heart turned to stone from fear and anticipation of it's evil intentions. I felt the sparrow's fluttering wings on my back. The sensation of the beating wings struck my ear drums. It's tiny claws melting into my spine. The tiny warm heart warming my soul. The beating wings fusing into my shoulder blades. The thrilling sensation...and I woke, clenched fist, arched back and a frozen heart.

sms lingo update

well today I decided to come up with a new way of calling my sweet heart - ladies and gentlemen may I present to you my 'qt' a.k.a cutie :) oh well sometimes the bulb up in the brain works.
thank you and that will be all for now!

Kashmir and I am

For more than a quarter of a century I had never ventured beyond South India. When a friend of mine suggested I visit him in Kashmir I took it up without a second thought. The date was set to coincide with the tulip blooming. Spring in Kashmir is unlike anything in India. As I gaze out of the tiny window from the plane a whole new world unfurled in front of me. A realisation that the cloud mass is actually just a line of clouds stopped by a massive range of snow-capped mountains brings geography lessons on the might of Himalayas to mind. The huge carpet of yellow sesame flowers is like watching nature's own version of the famed kashmiri carpet. The crisp mountain air rejuvenates the soul in a manner no medicine ever can.

The tranquil mood as I get out of the airport is disrupted by the heavy military presence and the constant undercurrent of fear. However, a drive around the centerpiece of srinagar - the serene misty mystical Dal lake - instills a state of surreal existence. The overpriced ride on a Shikar suddenly feels priceless as I float along on the mirror finished surface. A walk around the Mughal gardens is like a sneak peek of the opulent times of the mighty kings.

For a flavor of the local, there is the famous Rogan Gosht for the meat eaters and the lotus stem for the herbivores. While the kashmiri Kwava - a delicate saffron infused golden yellow tea with almond flakes - is a treat to the senses, the salty herbal tea refuses to go down without a fight. The coveted Pashmina, the hand woven carpets and carved walnut furniture are wonderful heirlooms. The saffron and walnuts need to be savored in the short run of life as is a visit to the valley at the head of the mighty nation.

As I sit in the theater watching the movie "I Am" it suddenly dawns on me the enormous void in the hearts of 300000 odd kashmiri pandits who were forced into a mass exodus. Working in IT and watching people relocate all the time and a thought floats, "My roots". Are childhood roots important or can we grow new ones like the aptly named runners of plants? I guess each individual has his own behaviour. Yet, on reflection, roots are still needed no matter what.

The looker

I have gotten into this habit of looking at my phone and my gtalk messenger every now and then. It's because of sheer boredom. I wait for someone to think of me, call me, sms me or ping me and start a lively conversation. Just a distraction from the mundane task of sitting around. I should get over this and start doing something. I have like a myriad of hobbies to keep me occupied but I seem to have taken up the worst ones, procrastination and feeling low. Gonna actively work on changing it. Wish me the best! :)

Oh ya I get tired of waiting and call/sms/ping someone myself.

Absurd.

moments

A snap of a couple sitting on a bench in lalbag shot by the "then" one...
A bracelet given by the "then" next one...
The dosa joint frequented with the "then" yet another next one...
The bench in 4th block with the long conversation late evening with some other one...
The chocolate bar gifted every meet by...
The cute funny tamil song introduced by...

The long passionate sweet loving hug given by them all....

The tear drop that forms at the thought of it all....

Ive something to tell you...

My work life has seen me getting close to 3 women. All are now far away on different continents and all of them quit IT and are now full time housewives. In the past year or so I have see this line on the gtalk window from each one of them. Instinctively I know what's coming. :-) While I am happy to hear it, I am also gripped by anxiety of the things to come, if it will be alright and all that. There is also this tiny feeling that there is going to be someone else who is going to take up a lot of their time...some of it time that would have been my time with them. well...life goes on. It time I got used to the distance.

post op

It's been almost 3 months since I had my hernia repair surgery done. I still get pain once a while and most new movements always result in some sort of pain. To make things worse I have sprained or whatever the other side too while driving the car! And today I wore a smaller pair of pant and when wearing the shoes I kinda I guess pressed the muscles in the healing area a bit. The damn thing is hurting since morning! I get quite worried when such things happen and to make matters worse I read all kind of crap on the net that gets me even more worried! God I think I should live with a doc! I need constant attention! :) And oh ya ive been soo restless cause of the worry that I just want to go home! God! ammmh!

the wintery summer day

It's been hot as hell and April is still a month away. Bangalore, the then garden city that didn't need even a fan in peak summer, today has A/Cs running around the year. In an unexpected but pleasant change, the last two days have seen the mercury fall, almost 6 degrees. Sitting in the middle of the southern peninsula, I can smell the heady scent of the rains soaked earth far away on the eastern coast.

Nature beckoning, I headed out to do the South Banglorean thing. Hot crisp dosa and a by two coffee with a friend at the famed Vidyarthi bhavan in Gandibazar. The fragrance of the garlands - hung on the road side trees for sale welcomes - the foodie in me.

Riding back was a relaxing enjoyable experience. It was as if the tensions of the city were some how removed by the calm soothing weather. I can't help but let nostalgia creep in - of the days gone by when Bangalore had a lot more of such days.

The Bull ride

After long, I had a lovely experience that made me wanna blog.

A friend of mine has got a new bike, a lovely Bullet electra with a thump that thumps up one's heartbeat. We decided we would hit the roads at night, being in Bangalore traffic is something that can kill the joy of riding even a "Bull".

A short ride ended up being a ride all the way out on kanakapura road till the AOL ashram. We crossed the bustling city streach and voila! The nearly empty, tree lined, winding road; the heavenly vault with the cresent moon, twinking stars and the bike head light leading our way; and the pollution free, warm, summer air united the heart beat with the thumping of the bike and the chords of nature.

It's been many years I went on a long ride being the pillion. It's been a decade or longer I sat on a Bullet. It was a first time experience riding out of the city late in the night. As we returned home, I was strangely at peace but I only wish...our highways were safer at night.

Im begining to wonder that we are indeed thankless

Mumbai terror blasts. The news channels have been raving abt this and blaming everyone from Pak to Politicians to People. In all this we forgot to say thank you to those who came forward and saved hundreds of lives. Be it those commandos who faced the enemy or the doctors who worked 3 days without sleep. All that we like to do is point fingers and blame. Can we get any less thankless? The media was all hyper when pak media blames them but why are they not showing images of doctors saving lives or the wounded commandos taken care of? And just say one word, "THANK YOU" for saving so many lives, for being brave and facing the enemy and bringing it to an end.

yet another ad with a missed attention to detail

Recently I saw Amir khan in an ad where he is washing utensils for his wife. I am not very sure but I vaguely recollect he had split up. Anyway, the actual annoying thing was that he had the tap running as he was just scrubbing the plate and talking into the camera, and the water was flowing in full force!! Why waste so much water!!! :(

Going global

Sometimes I wonder what makes Indians so desperate that we are ready to forgo our traditions just to make money. Especially so with the so called Global companies coming into the arena.

Deepavali/Diwali is a time of year where traditionally the company gives gifts to employees - at the very least a box of sweets. If a company sends a mail greeting people and saying gifts will reach in 30 days, perhaps the management got it's ideas really wrong, considering diwali and it's dates were known at least a year ago! I wonder how it would be to hear such a thing around Christmas time. Motivation... oh well ya a month later buddy :-)

I have even heard of companies where people are given holidays in line with US. In fact to such an extent that they get holidays for US independence day but not Indian. Did someone say globalization? Perhaps it's synonymous with westernization...

The iron ladies

I am pleasently surprised at the fact that the media houses are airing movies focused on LGBT life and for a change the movies don't focus on the only thing that everyone seems to want to link LGBT with - AIDS.

The first one I can recollect is Birdcage aired on star movies recently. It's about how this couple wants to lead a normal life involving getting the son married to a conservative politician and the like. This is a typical US movie. More here.

Today morning WM channel aired The Iron ladies. A thai movie shot in 2000 about this group of G and T group who play volley ball against straight men and win, that too at national level. It was quite nice to see LGBT being portrayed as sportsmen and better still that the team consisted of all kind of queer people, the quite and masculine to the loud and queeny types. More here.

Hope that the 377 case is fought fair and won. It's not just the health issues that is of concern here (I am sure AIDS does not discriminate homos and heteros) but more importantly the suppression of a minority's right to lead a normal life.

judgement call

Setting:
Riding to office on the bike. Stranger "uncle" on the road looking for a hike.

Thoughts:
a) Humanity and the crap, lets give him a ride. It's just another person looking for help
b) He has a helmet, bike might have broken down. He sure can afford a bus ticket as he looks quite well off. Bus stand 2 steps from where he is. Don't stop, might be a risky proposition.

Act:
Too many loose ends. Better to keep going.

Justified further by:
I live in Bangalore. Quite a few bomb blasts of late. Festival day. Better off without the risk.

vandalism and ads

Just when I thought of posting about an ad I saw recently on tv, I read this post. It verbalizes my thoughts most aptly.

vegetarianism and food crisis

I was watching TV the other day when the host was teasing the guest that according to latest news, about 10kg of grain goes into obtaining 1Kg of flesh. The guest kidded if he should go vegetarian.

Why not! As humans we really have acheived tremendrous acheivements. In all this advancements, we have lost some basic human nature, "we are social beings." There are hundreds of people without food but those lucky ones who can food on time done even seem to be bothered. I see the following places where we can make an effort and improve situation for our own species.

1) The world at large is non-veg mostly. There are hundreds of veg dishes. Why not switch to it at least once a week?

2) At homes and hotels, cook food that is sufficient enough to feed the amount of people who ordered it. Most places serve more than enough quantity, this is specially true of rice and noodles. Sometimes we pack the left overs but most of the times we just throw it. It's more profitable to give less isn't it?

3) Lots of food gets wasted at many office because they are just not edible. It's cooked that bad. Perhaps its time hoteliers take up this issue of massive wastage and cook edible food? This is particularly true where food is catered.

The world is getting better and these are a few things I follow to make it a little better.

Monsoons

Refreshing droplets
Cleansed air
Fresh thoughts
Elevated mood
Wet Greenery
Cool Breeze
- Life, Simple and Flying high

Dark clouds
Roaring thunder
Filthy streets
Overflowing drains
Depressed soul
- Man, Modern and Depressed

Bangalore and Heritage

It got me thinking, as I was reading the various posts about preserving Bangalore's heritage landmarks and how we are loosing a lot of the old buildings to the new mall and plaza culture. I can't but notice that people start harping about things only when the axe is to be brought down on it, be it trees or movie theaters of the begone era or the various charming buildings from the old Bangalore. Is just cribbing about the loss enough? Is it not more important that we do something before the crisis occurs and the buildings are forced to be torn down?

Let me take a particular example, Mayo Hall and Galaxy theater. While the former has got a new coat of paint and some renovation and is still earing huge revenues the latter is almost erased from people's memory and from the face of Earth. In today's economic scenario, these landmark buildings NEED to be renovated and made into an economically viable option. This city produces hundreds of top notch management and engineering graduates every year. Could they as citizens along with the owners of these landmark buildings not come up with ways to preserve these buildings and help them generate enough money to keep it standing for the years to come? Does the Government always have to do things? Do the citizens of this city not have any role to play at all except complain of the heritage lost or succumb to the greed?

Every day I pass by the Opera at Residency's and Brigade's junction. I can't help but conjure images in my mind of elegant shows and charming people at this lavish building and the spectators gazing in awe. I guess we will never see such an scene...

A surprise encounter

As usual I was scourging through the Citizen matters webpage when I came across an article about IIWC. This place has been my childhoood haunt and I have quite literally grown up reading and studying in this library. With my mum being the librarian there, this is quite expected I guess. Herez the link to the article: IIWC.

Trees - advertisement

Trees or No trees?

While we all love to claim that having a tree at home and it's advantages, it is often a pain to have random people pelting stones at the Mangoes/Gauvas et al. It becomes even more difficult when one intends to extend the house and axing the trees is such a difficult decision, one goes through a huge emotional trauma to see their favorite tree and child hood companion chopped down.

Looking for people who can design houses incorporating existing trees instead of axing them, any help welcome...