Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Prayer for a miracle....

Where were the self appointed custodians of the localites when Mumbai was defaced by the "REAL OUTSIDERS"? Not one was visible on the streets of the city along with their band of followers trying to reclaim Mumbai for Mumbaikars.So, all the talk about being there and protecting the interests of the manoos came down to Zilch.

Every citizen of this country was united as one against the people who dared harm one of their own. Each and every one shared the grief and shock of a Mumbaikar whether he was in Chennai or Delhi. This should be enough to prove to the politicians that their partisan policies didn't cut any ice with the "MANOOS" of this country.

I guess the pledge we all learnt and recited in school wherein we say "All Indians are my Brothers and Sisters" needs to be reiterated to politicians in particular.Not a single one of them displayed any sense of solidarity given the nature of events.Instead they were busy bickering and pointing fingers at one another while the real manoos of Mumbai bore brunt to an inconceivable and unpardonable act of hatred.

Time and again some or the other part of our country has come under the wrath and fire of unexplainable acts of extremism.Its the same every time, we cry out in anger and disgust and then slowly we are inured to the situation until another one bigger than before strikes us.For a couple of days the newspapers and TV channels are full of reports and blogger's like you and me vent out about the situation blaming the politicians. And after that its back to business as usual, the incident is lost and forgotten ,only to be marked by fancy name tags like "26/11" etc etc.Will this ever change?

Waiting for the Phoenix to emerge from the ashes...

Monday, December 08, 2008

Wht the.......

01.Why do people decide to put a winky/smiley etc etc after asking "How is married life?" Am I getting worked up or has everyone else succumbed to unwarranted imagination!!!

02. "Arranged Marriage is not SPICY enough" with the ubiquitous winky following it of course---- I tried and tried to understand the import of this one and in the end cried.( Ok that was a cheesy bit of rhyming stuff going on there, but given the situation ,cheesiness is in order)

Someone please BAN the wink emoticon since it is futile to drill sense into some heads about its appropriate usage!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

And the winner is.........$$$$$$$$$$

Welcome aboard to a world where the winner is declared on the basis of the bank balance.Have you ever looked around and felt like the world is getting a crazier place to live in simply because you have to do a lot of unnecessary things just to fit into this world?

Success is equated to the amount of money you make.There is a crazy rush for people to buy/invest in huge properties and flats and et all...Now this one always stumped me why would you kill yourself with a huge loan to be kept paying off till you are ready to drop dead so that you can buy multiple properties??? Hey buddy isnt one gonna be enough for you to live in? The last time I knew/saw we can exist only in one place at one time... whats the mad rush to kill yourself for then?

Im not against ambition and love for materialistic pursuits, but im definitely against a pursuit just for the sake of it or for the sake of others. Sometimes I think people buy /expend themselves only to stand upto a particular level in a society which will judge them based on the property/assets they can show . Whats surprising is that you talk to the same people and they will give you a sermon on how their parents had an easy life and how life in the villages and the 'old days" was better.. Well ,excuse me... but aren't you the one complicating your own life by living upto someone elses's standards and confusing them to be your own?

I guess we are living in a planet which has been zombied out by "Success" criterion that revolves solely on money and how much of it you can churn out. Everything has become a basis and standard for how much you earn.It scares me especially on how we are influencing the coming generation.We no longer dare to encourage our children to go and find their calling in "alternative" fields simply coz the monetary benefits are perceived to be less. Are we doing the right thing here? We are stangling true talent and making our children Factory products.Each one sounding and looking the same. All in the name of competition.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Hmmmmm......


When you have just shifted out to a new City /Town /Village /Country or even just moved out to a new street the one ubiquitous question you are faced with is "so how do you find life there?". First and foremost isn't life the same everywhere? "Yeah Scotty!the life form here is different,the human species here has actually found a way to generate 6 hands!". But seriously it got me thinking and I started noticing all the things that truely felt different or weird in some cases compared to the place I have lived in all these years.

1. The moon always appears bigger than back home .Its almost as if you can stand on a hig rise building and grab the moon!Hmmm The moon was a far away object of fantasy in my land but here it looks enormous, takes on a more scientific approach when you look at it not a poetic one. Maybe thats why song writers back home sing songs praising the moon whereas here it is just "THE MOON."

2. Certain highways have deer crossing symbols,now I know its not unheard of.But here's what tickles me ,its a straight highway ,no turns or twists and the symbol pops up saying "Deer crossing next 1 mile". Wow! How the hell do the deer know that they need to cross the road right about here? I mean they are deer for heavens ,cant they just prance about and start crossing the road even before the symbol????

3.I find it extremely weird that you can actually walk upto a theatre 5 mins before the latest release and still get tickets for it.Doesnt matter even if it is "BatMan".Now this just depresses me, its almost as if you dont need to plan to watch a movie. Miss the hulaboo of getting tickets for new releases 2 days in advance.Booking tickets for the latest releases used to be like a festival celebration.

4.The foothpaths or the so called pedestrian walkways are not accesible to vehicles from the main road!!!. I mean, come on what if I want to ride the bike on the walkway to beat the traffic? Creativity on the roads is stifled in this part of the world I tell you.

5.People log onto weather.com to religiously know about the weather and only then leave their homes.And what's weirder is that the forecast is true more often than not.Now where is the fun in going out prepared for the rain?How the hell are you supposed to comprehend songs like 'Barso re' if you are always preparing to stay dry!

6.Brocolli in Pav-Bhajji in Indian restaurants.This is not just weird and depressing ITS SACRILEGE!

7.Buying Milk in cans :-(

8.There are 'Stores' on one hand and then 'Indian stores' on the other hand.

9.Sarees ,Salwar khameez ,kurtis and kurtas etc are no longer called clothes but they are called "Indian Costumes" (even by Indians).I always felt costume was a word you used for the kind of clothes jokers wear or probably something you would pick up for a fancy dress party.Why call clothes you wear in one part of the world on a regular basis a COSTUME? Ive never heard of Trousers being called "Western Costume" in India.

10.There is an election going on in this country and you dont find a single poster anywhere! I mean c'mon whats the point if you cant print posters and throw/Park them all over the city? Thats what is fun about elections!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Unresponsive responses!

I've always wondered how to respond to certain statements or rather whether I should respond at all...

For example if someone 'Thanks" you, we are all taught from day one to respond by saying "You are welcome" etc etc , a simple "Sorry" is backed up with "Its ok"( that is of course if you are polite).
Now here is my problem, how do you respond when someone expresses their condolences by stating "Im sorry to hear about the loss" ???

Do you respond by saying :
Option 01. "Its ok" ...........thats weird isnt it? I mean ,come on, the demise sure isnt ok!

Option 02. "Thank you" ..Yeah right ! Thank you that you are sorry buddy? Now thats sounds equally crazy....

Option 03. "Im sorry too" Hmm getting warmer I guess...But not quite thr is it?

Option 04. "Im at a loss for words and I dont know to respnd to you"... thats as truthful as you can get and still gets the response through. Hmm maybe thats all you can say.

Option 05.Its a different story if the person expresses their condolences in your presence ,you can just shake and nod your head and be done with it.

I personally think a minutes silence would be the apt response.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

A dedication to the yummiest place on planet earth-VV Puram Chat street

Anyone and everyone who claims to have breathed the air in Bangalore for even a few months should swear by it.In fact if you ask me, to authenticate yourself as a true blue bangalorean you should be able to recite all the lovely,heavenly and not to forget the oh so 'not costly' fare from the beginning of the street to the end.


For all those zombies who have dared live in bangalore and have not yet sampled VV Puram here is a small sneak into what the street can churn up.
At the begining of the street near the arya mandir you have a shop which serves normal chat which almost every 'gaadi' on VVPCS(VV Puram chat street) specialises in,But this shop is famous for its out of this world gulkhand with fruit ice creams and of course masala soda. Right opposite this shop there is another 'gaadi' wala who sells great authentic mumbai Vada pav and Pav Bhaji... my only complaint against this guy is that he takes more time to give u ur stuff than the others ;-( .

Anyway personal grouses apart and moving on ,near the Gulkhand Ice cream wala you have an 'angaadi' which serves up mouth watering hot 'Obbattu' topped with loads of fresh desi ghee, Of course you can also get a mind boggling range of south indian fare here, right from the greatest 'Panniyaram idli' to the most simple yet crispy Dosa.


Saunter down the street and you can get yourself treated to a rare combination of 'Chitranna dosa'. Its nothing but Dosa with chitranna accompanied by the uniquitous chutney.yeah, i know no one likes to eat chitranna even if its offered free, but try it with dosa and its some thing different!


Spin around and you find yourself sampling every mans gastronomic dream 'Bondas'!.Of course apart from the boring aloo bonda,you have to try the capsicum bonda which is served with carrot and onion topings and tempered with tangy lemon juice.


And as a befitting finale to the chat street, there is a cluster of sweet shops , dont even dream of leaving the street without sampling the outta this planet Rabbadi. There is also an assortment of american corn chats on the oposite side of the VVPCS (opposite the park) for the bottomless pits. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to give a glimse into the beauty called VVPCS. But im hoping my words made up for it.


Happpy drooling!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

180 DEG of separation makes a pair of opposites...

Welcome to a world where it seems like birds of opposite feathers seem to prefer to flock together...

Haven't you ever wondered how you can have two contrasting statements like "Birds of a feather flock together and opposites attract"?

Come on...It makes no sense to have such contradicting statements existing on the same plane!I've been thinking about it for quite some time now,rather trying to figure out which one actually substantiates the world we live in and which one is more apt for today's day and age, and I must say that no two birds of the same feather are preferring each other of late by the looks of it.

Lets consider books for example,Ive seen 'N' number of my friends appreciate and swear by certain books and characters they admire idolise etc etc.. now what would you expect from someone who shows an appreciation to something.. well as a normal person i would expect them to either imbibe that personality,if not completely at least a bit of it or at least not show opposite traits in their life style...well surprise, surprise they act exactly the opposite!
I have come across almost everyone who claims to love Fountainhead and is bowled over by the character of Howard Roark,but why isn't anyone who insists
that its their fav work of fiction or literature(which ever way you chose to view it) ever want anything to do with Howard Roark or with John Galt(a character in Atlas shrugged-again by Ayn Rand) in their real life?

Is appreciation only meant for the mouth not for imbibing in real life?Don't people ever aspire to be like something they admire?Why does it stop with just an empty praise?

We never exhibit the similar attitude to materialistic likes do we??If I like/ love a dress i would immediately make it my own.What stops us from making characteristics we admire our own?Maybe it is because we no longer know the means.

I still need to fathom this incredible behaviour where we would prefer to stay far apart and admire and expect something better and good but would never aspire to become that beauty which we praise.Truly Opposites attract but its just that.. pure attraction which can brushed aside but never be made good enough to make it a part of your flock.