Writing Libra'lly...

2012-02-14T06:38:00.023+05:30

A job, a career and a professional relationship
Way back in the late nineties,when I was working on my doctoral thesis, I was introduced to the Internet. And believe me, it was love-at-first-sight with the amazing power of this technology, especially in transforming how we communicate, learn, do business, etc. And it was my resolve to work with this technology and contribute to the field of education, training and communication. I grew so fond of it and that I eventually decided to change my teaching job and look for opportunities where I can follow my dream, little realizing then that the job opportunity with Cordys in 2002, would help me build a career in the field of technology, content design and communication.

Being passionate about something is good. But just remaining passionate and not being able to realize one's talent and potential can be terribly frustrating. This is where opportunity plays an important role. And somewhere on the way, we need lots and lots of patience and perseverance to fulfil our dreams and ambitions – professional or personal. Today, I complete 10 years with Cordys and my passion for understanding and working with technology continues to grow, retaining the same levels of curiosity and enthusiasm as a new comer. Staying on and growing in the same organization has not only exposed me several facets of software industry; it has also given me lots of positives – most importantly, work life balance, freedom and accountability, new challenges and explorations, scope for creativity and collaboration, developing new skills and competencies, working with geographically distributed teams, insights into business goals, products and technologies, managing projects, handling uncertainties, deeper understanding of customers, business, market and so on... I’ve handled different roles and performed a range of activities falling broadly under e-learning and training design, development and delivery, blended learning and marketing communications.

A career is one’s personal choice
Often, people were curious to know what a non-technical person like me could do in a software company (other than technical writing). Some wondered if I was training people in communication skills and some others assumed I was into technical writing. Let me share one such incident. Sometime in 2003, a year after I joined Cordys (then, Vanenburg Business IT Solutions) I happened to meet one of my professors who taught me and had known me for long. "What are you doing these days?", was her first question. "Working for a software company", I said. She gave me a quizzical look and asked, “you, after Ph.D - in an IT company, doing a corporate job? Doing English language training or something?” “ No, ..." I tried to tell her what I was doing, tried hard to explain but it seemed to be a futile effort. But then, she immediately retorted – “...with a Ph.D is this what you want to do? Well, what I must have said I don't remember exactly and forgot how our conversation ended. I didn't understand why a Ph.D holder cannot work in a corporate setup. Apparently, it's all got to do with mindset, our preconceived notions about education and employment. So, with a doctorate one is naturally supposed to be a professor or take up some other teaching assignment. Here, I did not conform to this standard practice. What mattered for me most, was how can I use , apply my knowledge, my research and my interest in doing something creative and intellectually challenging. And, most importantly how I can align my formal education with my job and enjoy what I am doing. Not sure, if a university job would have allowed me to satisfy all my professional desires... a whole lot of them in fact!

From ‘identity crisis’ to establishing an identity of my own
This was how I faced an identity crisis of sorts when I joined Cordys - what with my background in English language education, my doctoral research in curriculum studies, and previous work experience in an e-learning company and of course my interest in writing and communication. In the office too, I had a different set of questions to answer – the software engineers often asked: are you a technical writer? No, I had to tell them that I was an Instructional Designer - inevitably, following it up with how these two roles are different. Thus, the initial days of my association with a software company were quite hard! I was lucky to have several colleagues helping me in understanding and appreciating our product and technology. My enthusiasm and eagerness to learn helped me face several challenges. Learning about SOAP, XML, Javascript, Web services, BPM, SOA, Cloud computing turned out to be quite exciting, though I must approached them with some apprehension and hesitance initially. In a way, developing e-learning courses in technology helped me get acquainted with them in the process. Soon, I realized that a whole new world waited for me while working on tools for content development, developing and reviewing training materials, working on user/learner experience and adding value to other activities that required language and communication expertise. Coming up with new design strategies, transforming highly technical content into simple, interest and engaging, creating demos, movies etc...I was responsible for a host of initiatives driven by business goals, with many members in the team - visual designers, instructional designers, Web developers.

...And the relationship strengthens!
Our team worked on innovative ways of developing learning content as our products grew and new versions evolved. We explored new tools and technologies for delivering our courses. We used blended learning approaches, conducted user studies, followed up using learner feedback. On the marketing front, we have produced a variety of multimedia content for the Web.The job was intellectually stimulating and creatively challenging and satisfying. As years rolled on, I found my career in content development taking a concrete shape. I was not only into e-learning but also designing and developing content that was intended for marketing with a larger team with several talented members. I was interested in newer ways of educating through e-learning and marketing initiatives. A wide spectrum of opportunities opened up with Social Media, especially in the field of marketing and customer education.

Looking back, I feel immensely happy that I made the choice of staying with Cordys and evolved as a thorough multi-skilled professional. I'm thankful to my peers and seniors who contributed to my growth with their suggestions, feedback and advice. On the personal front, I’m glad I got the much-needed cooperation and encouragement from my friends and colleagues to complete writing my book and get it published!

2011-12-15T22:29:00.016+05:30

A visit to 'Dialogue in the dark'
...when I began to see the unseen in many different ways

Haven't we felt this very often: all of a sudden, the moment the power fails and it turns dark, we begin to grope in the dark for a torch or a candle or the switch for alternative sources of power - even in the most familiar surroundings of our home. The discomfort and frustration is understandable - we are so used to 'seeing' everything that we can't withstand even few seconds of complete darkness. In those few minutes of darkness, we may walk straight to reach something, stumbling over or hitting against things which have remained in the same place for years.

Rarely, we think of using our other senses like touch or hearing while navigating, communicating and interacting in the dark. It seems that we've most of the time considered the sense of seeing things, the 'vision' or 'sight' to take control of our lives. And when it turns dark, we lack the all-important vision. What if this sense was temporarily disabled? How would we cope with carrying on with normal life? How do those who are visually challenged lead a normal life despite the lack of this overpowering faculty? It is concerns like these that occupied my thoughts when I visited the exhibition at Dialogue in the Dark, Hyderabad. This is their only presence in India. However, Worldwide, Dialogue in the Dark is present in more than hundred locations across several countries.

It is like a self-reflective dialogue I engaged in while going through a variety of experiences in an absolutely dark environment. The professionally trained guides (Nisha, Jagdish, Soham) who are visually disabled, lead you through a variety of situations that enliven your other senses like touch, hear, taste and smell. In fact, it's surprising how instinctively, I began to use these faculties to find my way through, feel and hold something, smell and eat something and so on. I started wondering how I was never aware that our other senses are equally critical and they can apparently substitute vision impairment in the dark. This sensitizing was a valuable learning from the exhibition, apart from the curiosity and excitement that forms a part of exploring the unknown, unseen and unimagined.

Two hours of darkness (an hour for the exhibition, followed by 'Dinner in the Dark') was a unique experience, something that was adventurous and entertaining on its surface. At the deeper level, I quickly woke up to the fact that there was a complete reversal of role in this experience. In 'normal' circumstances, I would have helped visually challenged person to do something, but at Dialogue in the Dark, I was guided and served by them. It was heartening to see the guides take us through and help us appreciate things from a totally different perspective. I began to understand their condition in better ways and learnt how they're trained to be independent and contribute meaningfully to social life. What struck me most was something to do with the lack or loss of the faculty of vision. An hour of exposure showed me how my other senses can 'compensate' for that overall perception and experience. I was able to really feel something when I touched it and I was able to really listen when I heard something. What about taste? The taste of food - this was an amazing experience to be able to eat in a pitch dark restaurant. The taste of darkness, as the dinner is called, has a surprise four course menu, served in an absolutely dark restaurant. I realized the value of vision like never before, imagine eating in the dark with absolutely no idea of what is served, in what quantity, what consistency, what shape, what color, what texture...and trying to guess everything with the help of taste, smell and touch most of the time!

Apart from overcoming my fear of the dark, this dialogue has helped me see the unseen in many different ways! While I would not turn a blind eye to my other senses like touch, smell, hearing and taste, I will certainly appreciate and value my sense of vision more. Isn't every sense equally important and together they make our life what it is!

2011-11-18T17:02:00.007+05:30

Third dimension in movies - The adventures of Tintin in 3D

Sometimes we like the whole movie or sometimes we like it in parts - with 'The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of Unicorn' it was both. On the whole, the movie was good but it was most enjoyable in parts however, I could not figure out how 3D had added to the cinematic experience. After watching the movie I really wished it was not in 3D, wonder if the next two movies of the proposed Tintin trilogy by Spielberg will also be in 3D. The movie had enough live action for a fast-paced-Indiana Jones-style-mystery-thriller-entertainer using motion capture technology.The drawings of Herge' were completely reengineered and taken to incredible heights with whatever best could be done for the digital medium.

From comic book to 3D movie

The transformation from the medium of print to digital should not be seen as an adaptation and it should not invite comparisons for these two media are as different as chalk and cheese. The only common aspect is the storyline serving as a base to explore, experiment and enthrall the audience. When the character and the story (as famous as Tintin) has enough for that rare cinematic treatment, why was the movie made in 3D? How did it add value from entertainment point of view? It would have been better in 2D itself .

These days, with the invasion of 3D movies, one is forced to watch them whether we like it or not -not all animation movies have the 2D option. For the movie Rio, I preferred the 2D version and avoided 3D. Avatar in 3D was a strict no-no! But there was no option for Tintin.... Perhaps, 3D is a selling point for some but it makes a strenuous viewing for many. The only movie I thoroughly enjoyed watching in 3D (IMAX version) was The Polar Express. I felt the use of 3D in this movie was every effective in creating the larger-than-life feel of the story. Others 3Ds movies like Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and Shrek 3 left me with mixed feelings coz I ended up with a headache after watching them.

My team member Arun Kaushik, who has a Masters in Animation from IDC, IIT-Bombay, oftens shares his ideas and expertise on film making and animation films. Occasionally, I chat up with him on technical aspects of such movies, especially motion capture techniques, and this time I approached him to share his thoughts on 3D. This is what Arun has to say:

When does 3D suit the most?
"I think 3D works really well when coupled with movies that allow the viewer to experience grand expanses or complex volumes at a leisurely pace. Grand expanses, because cramped spaces might as well be shot on 2D, and leisurely pace, because frenetic editing and camera movement ends up forcing your eyes to refocus faster than the brain can handle. I imagine watching documentaries on Mt. Everest or about outer space should be an amazing experience with 3D."

Advantages of 3D in movies
"3D helps you experience spaces to a greater extent. If the 3D is effective, you can actually feel the distance between an object close the camera and an one that is a kilometer away. I think that is essentially the feature that people like Cameron and Spielberg are excited about, and trying to capitalize on. And since it offers a tangible advantage over 2D, I think 3D is here to stay in it's inferior form, until the technicians manage to fine tune it over the next few years to remove the elements that cause headaches."

Side effects and appropriate use of 3D
"For an excellent explanation of why one gets headaches when watching 3D movies, I'll direct you to this letter from Walter Murch (arguably the greatest living film editor) to Roger Ebert (an extremely popular film reviewer). I don't think anybody can offer a clearer explanation."

Going by what Arun has to say, I wonder what it would be like to watch 3D film on a TV, now with advanced technology you don't need to wear the 3D glasses!

However, wouldn't it be better if the third dimension is left to the viewer to figure out, create, imagine or visualize - at least in some movies?

2011-11-09T20:28:00.004+05:30

Between the 'said' and the 'unsaid'
Lines inspired by Facebook and some Hindi movie songs:)

'Pal pal dil ke paas tum rehete ho...'
Par tum Facebook aur twitter se chipke rehete ho!

Status update: 'Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana...'
Agar yeh maante ho to zaroor mera status 'like' karna

'Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge'
Dosti virtual ho to tootegi kaise?

'Tujhse naraz nahin zindagi hairan hun main...'
Itne profile pics badalne par bhi kisi ne nahin kiya 'like' mujhe:(

'Khuda jaane ke mein fida hoon , khuda jaane mein mitt gaya...'
Khuda jaane yeh mere mobile Facebook ko kya hua!

'Dost dost na raha pyaar pyaar na raha, zindagi hame tera aitbar na raha...'
Yeh tha mere friend ke mind me jab usne badla apna status from 'in a relationship' to 'single'
Aur is pe kiya ek aur friend ne comment:
"Dude..take it easy, remember the song, 'zor ka jhatka ...shaadi ban gayi umar qaid ke saza"

'Yaron dosti badi hi haseen hai...'
Kyun na ho? Jab sab kuch virtual ho: greeting, inviting, meeting, gifting etc.

'Baatein kuch ankahee si, kuch unsunee si hone lag...'
Jab se main itne puraane aur naye doston ke 'updates' me kone lagi

'Saari umr hum mar mar ke jee liye, ek pal to ab humein jeene do jeene do'
'Give me some sunshine give me some rain, give me another chance wanna grow up once again'
Haan once again, mujhe is virtual social network se real ki duniya main jaane do!

'In dino dil mera mujhse hai keh raha...'
Teri life beet jaayegi yun hi 'Like', 'Unlike', 'Comment' aur 'Share' karte karte
Na kisi ka phone, na kisi ke aane ki aahat
FB me hai mere 549 'friends'
Par sirf 2 hai asli dost - main aur meri tanhayee.

Take it easy friends!
'Na juda honge hum kabhi khushi kabhi gham...'
Hum tum aur FB:)

2011-11-06T20:24:00.016+05:30

Yeh mera India: the week that was - a recap
Last week saw some interesting things happening around. One got to see how desires are fulfilled and ambitions are realized in many different ways in a nation where affluence and poverty co-exist with mutual indifference. Again, we showed how our mixed bag of priorities favors the glamour and glitz of international recognition than the truth of less privileged classes of society. To recap some headlines:

F1, Ra.1, 7 billion...It's all a game of numbers!
Yes, numbers of a different kind made last week's headlines. Numbers to fear and cheer about! For a change it was not the numbers we've been hearing from 2G and other scams. If Baby Nargis Yadav is the 7,000,000,000th kid in the world, Sushil Kumar had the unique distinction of winning the highest ever amount in a game show (KBC) of Rs.5,00,00,000. And of course , the crores spent on Ra.1 and F1 that were being discussed endlessly- proudly displaying our ability to go international in sports and entertainment business. One quick look at these events and we know how our country is uniquely positioned as a nation of stark contrasts and mixed priorities.

When an 'aam aadmi' shot into fame!
While some need F1, some others need the bare minimum to make the ends meet.True to the spirit of the game show KBC5, the winner immediately shot into fame, from being 'aam' (common) to 'khaas'(special). Doesn't every ordinary person yearn for that 'special' status of achieving something. Ok, what does it take for someone common to become special: hardwork, luck, opportunity etc. For that matter, for most of us, life is a symbolic journey from a present state to better and improved one . However, not everyone is fortunate enough to make this transition from one social status to another.Unfortunately for millions of other aam janta who are toiling hard, there are no game shows to improve their condition.

Of fasts, yatras, jails and bails
Leaders and followers all aiming or getting attention with the tried and tested weapon of 'fasting' - the most misused Gandhian instrument. This has become a regular spectacle at least in my region. While some thought they could garner support for a revolution (a la Egypt or Libya) to wipe out corruption and other vices plaguing our county, some others believe tha yatra is the most powerful way to gain attention. As seen earlier, yatras on wheels or on feet, was a sure fire way for political wannabes to become a minister, a chief minister, wonder if it works for the post of a prime minister as well. And what about those who already had such positions and have landed up in jails. When those in jails fail to get bails would the jails be managed by prestigious star hotels?

Petrol, diesel and electricity
Who said the song from Pipli Live "Mehengayi daayin..." presents only the condition of the hapless farmers! Soon, the song could be equally appropriate for the city dwellers as well. The rising prices of fuel and power are bound to affect every aspect of life. The solution is not as simple as changing to a diesel car or the govt levying extra taxes on diesel vehicles. This will only add to the vicious cycle of demand and price rise dynamics.And what about electricity? Thanks to power politics in Hyderabad, most of us wake up to darkness every morning with scheduled load shedding , what with the government's supposed reluctance to buy power from other states.

Some wishful thoughts and...
If only, the taxes earned from high value events like F1 could be efficiently utilized for the benefit of the aam aadmi. But then, the question remains: what is the definition of aam admi - one who is below the poverty line (BPL)- one who's waiting for a job with MNREGA scheme or needs to depend on Aadhaar card for every transaction? Or, one who earns the livelihood on the pavements of a city or performs hardest of tasks possible with human labor? Or, one who...well, the list is definitely longer. Whoever he or she is, every politician would certainly get interested in them just before the elections.

2011-10-30T18:12:00.007+05:30

Music and memory
(How I overcame the 'beginner's blues' while learning the guitar)

Let me introduce you to my new friend, my sweet sounding acoustic guitar.
It was my third or fourth guitar class and I was nervous when my instructor asked me something like ‘what is the note on the third fret of the first string’? I would stutter something not-so-confidently but when I was asked to play the note I would do it right. It was kind of strange - I could play the note but I would get confused in remembering the names of the notes like "G", or "A" or "D". Later my instructor told me how important it is to ‘memorize’ everything in music. Since then I’ve been consciously making an effort to ‘work’ on my memory whenever I practice new lessons. Memory and recall are integral to learning any musical instrument. For me this was a new kinesthetic and psychomotor skill to practice: it needed a different set of sub-skills to remember, recall and reproduce a particular melody. Memorizing was a new challenge and often I would end up blaming my dependence on reminders, alerts on my mobile phone for remembering simple things and organizing and planning my time.

Later as I improved my performance and got appreciated for being a ‘fast learner’ by my instructor, I could memorize the notation for the latest lesson (a song) but I would forget the previous lessons. Perhaps it is ‘normal’ to do so, but then, I just didn’t want to give up. I started practising the old lessons along with the new ones and imposed more self-discipline in playing the song without looking at the notation – something like memory test. It was important for me to take this approach because of my love for the instrument and my firm resolve to continue learning, especially when, the experience of learning a musical instrument is simply out-of-the-world. Imagine the joy of performing for your own pleasure, pursuing your passion, especially when your favourite songs are based on this instrument and it was my long cherished dream to play the guitar. Of course, there are other aspects of learning like the amount of patience, the mood and the most critical – the time. I never faced a problem in handling them because of my interest and strong desire.

When I look back, I can still remember the lyrics of songs learnt several years ago and I can easily recall them and sing along. But, the same is not true of recent songs. Trying to understand the problem, I could figure out why ‘old’ lyrics are still so fresh in my mind while the ‘new’ ones just vanish, even from the short term memory. To a large extent this was because, earlier, I never depended on any gadgets, there was no technology (ready reference) that could retrieve the lyrics from the Internet or YouTube like we do today, for everything had to be written in book and mugged up. Perhaps this also had to do with the quality and emotional quotient of songs then and now. And most often I would play the song on the music system and take down the lyrics by pausing it and writing down in my music book. This was a good exercise in memorizing it and in the process, there was some activity for the brain that would otherwise get rusted.

While our phones are getting smarter, we are getting laid back. The pace at which technology is changing and our ease of adopting it, had made things very different. With the gadgets like smart phones and other handheld devices getting more and more sophisticated, we seem to be getting perpetually dependent on them for managing our lives. The convenience of technology claims its first casualty – our memory! Look at the way the virtual memory (on the hardware or on the Cloud) has ‘lightened’ our burden. We are happily storing most of our stuff and access them when needed. We need not remember any numbers, we need not calculate using our brains, we need not remember directions – for these are normal and basic things performed by a simple mobile phone. And for everything else we have Google. So, we don’t tax our brains and prefer to ‘live light’ as our lives are getting more virtual and less real.

2011-06-29T23:50:00.002+05:30

Plastic - a bane that's difficult to ban

Sure thing it was - the government of Andhra Pradesh has 'relaxed' the ban of plastics from 'total ban' to implement banning upto 40 microns.Now, how does one decide what is 40 microns? Technically, some of us know what it means and upto what thickness etc, but think about others- those who have very little time and interest to check in which polythene bag they are carrying the stuff, let alone judging the carry bag for its microns. And the other categories of buyers who are well-educated on the harmful effects of plastic on our bio-diversity but hesitate to change their habits. And, this is also the time when consumerism is thriving in urban, metropolitan India. The new age retail-therapy offered by malls and hypermarkets are the hubs of carry bags and other forms of plastic items.

Telling small and medium traders, shopkeepers to stop using plastic is like the story of the king who wanted to test the milkmen for adulterated milk. The king asks the milkmen to fill the tank with pure milk and when they actually start on the task, each one thinks smart and pours water into the tank assuming that the others would pour milk. Finally, the king was shocked to see the tank filled with water and confirmed that milk was getting adulterated in his kingdom. In our context, every person will think "I will continue to do whatever I want to and whatever I've been doing, others will take care of the environment and all that".

It was a foregone conclusion; the complete ban is next-to-impossible and highly impractical in a city like Hyderabad, with due respect for the good intentions behind the initiative. And it gave a wonderful opportunity for the opposition parties and vested interests to politicize the issue in the name of employment for plastic manufacturers, small traders and so on. Come to think of it, how can there be an imposition of complete ban - every bit our life is invaded by plastic, it's not just the carry bags. Of course, carry bags cause most damage. Every activity of ours is somehow connected with the use of this material that is highly non-biodegradable. This is something many of us have accepted as a part of life, perhaps with the 'relief' that plastic scrap like broken mugs, buckets, chairs, plates, containers etc can be recycled. Actually, recycling plastic is not easy and it is expensive. And, harmful plastic is not just carry bag, there are many more things that we use for comfort, convenience and cost. So, we cannot expect an overnight shift in people's attitudes nor can we find immediate answers to the concerns of those whose livelihood depends on making and using plastic.

We all know this: the ubiquitous plastic is more a bane in any form. I need not describe how it is spoiling the environment from public places to forest reserves with its indiscirminate use. But, by looking at the way we have adopted this magic material for its utilitarian and commercial values, it would be difficult if not impossible, for most of us to go back to the previous state of existence when there were hardly any 'disposable' (read plastic) things around us. We then believed in using thing that had a permanent character.Everything had a value beyond its present form. Didn't we clean and use the same cup again, or ate in steel plates and cleaned then even when we were on the move..and where was bottled 'mineral' water then? Didn't we carry our own bags for any kind of shopping?

Government's enforcement of any ban is a typical 'top-down' decision that may or may not percolate downstream. What can be done by us, the conscientious citizens is to spread the word about the harmful effects of plastic through different means, different media to educate the people. Such awareness may have a positive impact on reducing the use of polythene bags that litter our surroundings. Another possibility is to practice segregation of plastic stuff from the waste and hand it over to waste management agencies like WOW from ITC/Ramky that collect it for recycling. Insist supermarkets to either use just or cloth (reusable) bags or tell the to allow us to carry our bags. Create awareness among children and use their pester power to change the habits of their parents. And the list goes on... Powerful social messages, campaigns, pledges etc could be the tools here.

We certainly need to act, we've thought enough over how to avoid and reduce the use of materials that harm us and our environment. But this needs to be done in a different way; complete banning and imposing would further politicize the issue, bringing in resentment and yielding no tangible result. We need change to the mindset of the people and simultaneously create awareness and of course support any move that helps in this direction - this is definitely time-taking, it certainly cannot be achieved with a single 'ban order' but we know when people believe in something good, they don't mind going an extra mile to achieve it. And this will definitely have the long-lasting impact. Old habits die hard, or they may not die at all...but new habits can always be acquired!

2011-05-24T22:45:00.000+05:30

A tale of two hills
In April-May 2011 I visited two hill resorts - the Nandi Hills near Bangalore and the Horsley Hills in AP. Here's an account of my experience at these places.

Horsley Hills
It was 7.00 AM and the sun was as reluctant to come of the clouds as I was from the cozy corner of my room. The cool breeze from the window was making me feel even more indulgent. The sight of gulmohurs and copperpods majestically swaying to the silent melody in the air was perfectly orchestrated by several chirping birds. I couldn't believe it was part of Andhra Pradesh in peak summer. Nick-named as the Ooty of AP, Horsley Hill Resort can be a quick weekend escape from the sweltering heat of Hyderabad, especially when we cannot plan a proper hill station holiday such as Shimla, Nainital, Ooty, Kodaikanal or Darjeeling.

The Fusion Tree

The day breaks slowly, occasionally disturbed by the noise of a vehicle entering or leaving the premises. It's an enjoyable laziness, a welcoming lethargy that invites you to participate in the natural process of unwinding, away from the hectic and maddening crowds of the city. A walk in the green surroundings make you curious at the 'fusion gulmohar tree' with its joint branches from two different trees.
The view from the viewpoint is spectacular with bright gulmohars dotting the sloping hill sides while mauve jacarandas peep out vying for attention among the red hues. There is a tiny zoo with some monkeys, colorful birds, peacocks, rabbits and crocodiles. I enjoyed viewing the sunset with several hills at the backdrop, making it a perfect scene to be captured as a souvenir. The resort also organizes adventure games, yoga and trekking.

Horsley Hill resort is about 540 kms from Hyderabad. We took the Bangalore highway upto Ananthapur and then drove down the bypass road to Kadiri. Here, the drive gets tough with narrow road with several railway crossings and narrow bridges. Thankfully there weren't many vehicles on this stretch. The drive uphill has some sharp bends, after crossing a few you can suddenly feel the drop in temperature as you are greeted with fresh and sweet scented air.

We stayed at the Haritha and here APTDC seems to have accommodation to suit every budget. We also visited the Rishi Valley school which is 30 minutes drive, on the way to Madanapalle. On both sides of the road there are tomato farms and mango orchards. Since it was the mango season the sight was lovely as the trees were laden with a variety of mangoes.

Nandi Hills
A short drive from Bangalore (about 2 hours) and you are at Nandi Hills. Ideally on such an altitude you'd expect it to be cool and pleasant. But, I found Nandi hills hot and humid. There are so many monkeys here that you'd want to call it 'Monkey hills'. The monkey can come and snatch anything from you, like it happened to us when I was holding a packet of Cadbury Bites. It was interesting to see the monkey climb the topmost branch of the tree and enjoy the chips by removing the 'masala' from it. Another monkey snatched the bhel puri cone from Shreya's hand. The viewpoint presented a breathtaking view of the surroundings. There wasn't much to explore. Here's something that caught my attention; an old cactus will the graffiti from different tourists! It was sad to see that people don't even spare trees and plants from the ugly habits of inscribing their names. There were guest rooms available on booking. The garden around the guest house had lovely seasonal flowers. The Karnataka tourism restaurant had very few items for lunch from that presented in the menu. After spending some time sitting under the trees we decided to get back to Bangalore. Perhaps, the visit would been better if we had started early in the morning. Also, we did not go around the hills, visiting the Tipu Sultan monuments and the temple.

2011-04-05T22:07:00.008+05:30

Storm 'over' a tea cup (how I can never be a 'teatotaler')

Here I am, creating a storm, no no, a tsunami 'over' a tea cup, giving the proverb a selfish twist. Exaggeration apart, my friends must be wondering kya chai bhi koi topic hai blog likhne ke liye? (what...is tea a topic worthy of blogging)? Why not! Like today, for me missing my afternoon tea at office caused nothing short of a storm 'over' a tea cup, my 'forced' abstention from that healthy addiction. How can I describe that tea-deprived state of mind - when suddenly my mind goes blank, slowing down my reflexes, creating a drowsy feeling, craving for that missed cup... and the meeting that demands my complete attention and participation.

If I were Keats or Shelley I would have definitely written an ode on this elixir of life. The wonderful leaves from the shrub Camellia Sinesis - tea has a story to tell in most of our lives. Sadly, the action between the cup, the lip and the sip is such a routine that we often forget to appreciate the magic of this 'mundane ritual'. The very thought of it arouses a fresh and active feeling that stimulates and energizes to catch up with life.

Many tea lovers believe that preparing a good cup of tea is not everybody's cup of tea! Mainly because the taste of tea is so individualistic, it's such a personal thing. Some like it with more milk and sugar, some others hate to see milk in their tea. The hard-core tea lovers like me, vouch for the taste of long leaves and light decoction unlike the extract prepared from popular CTC packs available all over the shops. There's the other type who like it in its Irani avatar served in most of the local cafes in Hyderabad. For most of us, office-goers, tea breaks give us the much needed break to enjoy the fresh air outside the AC cubicles, with a hot cup, catching up with all the gossip. It's also the time for the dip-dip tea bags and conversations around the vending machines.

Yes, tea is something personal. Coming from a family of tea-lovers it's hard for me to accept anything that goes in the name of tea, especially the boiled and brewed sugary 'tea' that sticks to your tongue, leaving an unsavoury taste of milk and sugar, successfully wiping out the color, flavor and aroma. How can I not be fussy or finicky about it. The magic of tea lies is in the quality of leaves and the way the decoction is prepared...in a kettle? Using tea bag? I like it best when I prepare it myself. Sometimes, my recipe includes a piece of ginger crushed and added to the boiling water when I need that extra kick to wake me up properly and feel charged-up, especially on a rainy day or cold winter mornings. In summers, cold tea is okay with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of mint for added freshness.

Green tea is the in thing, the new mantra for anti-oxidants and a craze among fitness freaks. Any supermarket gives you dozens of brands (hot and cold variants) with all kinds of flavours mint, lemon, ginger, camomile, jasmine, tulasi, masala, ilaichi and what not. But believe me, tea tastes best when it's enjoyed in its pure form - black or green- without any added flavors, savoured without any accompaniments like biscuits and pakodas, if possible while listening to this composition from Dr. Bhupen Hazarika from the land of tea...the songs goes: Ek kali do pattiyan, nazuk nazuk ungliyan, tod rahi hai...here it is.

The picture used in this blog is taken by Paridhi Verma.

2011-04-01T21:18:00.021+05:30

Cricket in the time of Facebook

This is first World Cup Cricket (WCC) on Facebook and it's a different kind of excitement as we see the changing face of community viewing! The fact that Cricket is in the DNA of our country needs no better manifestation - you may love it or hate it but you cannot ignore it! You need not be following the all the matches and need not know who is in the team but it somehow enters your system because we all breathe the same air. Some interesting updates on Facebook during/after the India-Pakistan match which made the experience a different one, here's a random pick (with sporting spirit and in a lighter vein)

"2011WC is a study of modes of transport. Aussie sent home via flight, Pak via Road, and now Sri Lanka's turn on saturday to take the ship." Ashish Tiwari

"‎#IndvsPak #Mohali a good match. Terrific win and Thanks to invisible security people who kept it free of incidence." Ashish Tiwari
"yessssssssssssssssssssss, i wish there was a scream button on fb." Brunda Murthy
"Nehra Nehra Karo jeet ka rang gehra!!!" Rosemeen Khimani
"Spare a thought for the man behind the success of Team India- Gary Kirsten !!!" Vinod Sharma
"Joke of the Day- Team India has done what Indian Intelligence agencies couldnt do ........ Keep Pakistan out of Mumbai."Vinod Sharma
‎"2003 avenged! :) Australia knocked out! :D" Dhurjati Bhattacharyya
But then, Facebook also had those irritating ball-by-ball updates, which were more frustrating and less cheering and some comments disgraceful to the game itself and potentially harmful and ugly. However, what is interesting in the phenomenon is the 'virtual community' of 'friends' sharing updates and commenting though not watching together at the same time and in the same space...on the positive side.
Cut to the first world cup victory by India: I have vague memories of 1983 Prudential Cup won by Kapil Dev's men in white. Then, there was no blue, no merchandise and TV was just evolving as a 'virtual stadium'. We watched it on our first TV - a B/W Dyanora. And the game was less aggressive unlike the terminators, destroyers and eliminators of today.
One reason why I remember that match was because it was important to know everything about it for any GK quiz. Memorably, the score was 183 and the year 1983 (some connection between the year and the score?) On a superstitious note, any clues for this year's final match? Ok, let me not link the year and score, using this equation/speculation this year the score could be 211 (from the year 2011)...and that's not an encouraging figure against Sri Lanka, assuming India bats first.
Now, I've another superstition, about this year's world cup: after I purchased the new TV and I was particular about buying it during the WCC, I was happy to see that India got three consecutive wins (against West Indies, Australia and Pakistan) and will it repeat against Sri Lanka?
Now move to 2015, the next WCC to be jointly hosted by Australia and Newzealand. It's difficult to imagine how Facebook or other such social tools would change the face of the game. Imagine with 4G and beyond, and Internet TV and all that. Would be all be watching the match on the Internet like a virtual stadium. I'm sure today's buttons on FB wil l be a thing of the past. How many other apps would be there to make the game a techno-gizmo-wonder? Till then, let's hope that 1983 repeats after 28 years!

2011-02-21T22:39:00.006+05:30

Things and thoughts left behind

Some post cards, a diary (the last one)
Some black and white photographs
Some blank greeting cards that waited to be sent
Old books with papers turning into hues of brown, smelling so good
Some books 'spoilt' by my scribbles and drawings, when I was a kid
Some letters from relatives carefully preserved
Some scribbles on the diary methodically documenting the monthly expenses
Or recording the details of things done, places visited or visitors at home
Or visits to physicians, or details of personal savings
On some pages where the handwriting is barely legible
As if in a hurry to pen down a whole lot of things
Some newspaper cuttings with cricket match schedules
Some newspaper cuttings with interesting news and pictures
Like the one with a picture of the crow trying to drink water from a tap
That appeared in The Deccan Herald on 23rd May 2005

Somewhere in between all these things, time stands still
As I recollect the days when everything was in 'hard copy'
When everything had a physical existence, unlike today's virtual
When post cards, inland letters and greeting cards
Had to be 'posted' and not 'mailed' online
When collecting postage stamps was a popular hobby
When diaries were handwritten and remained truly personal
When everything had a meaning beyond its present form
When things were preserved, cared for and valued
Surprising isn't it! This was not too far away
Since it is still fresh in my memory
The speed of change ...wasn't it too quick
So quick that it sucks the recent past like quicksand!
These are some thoughts as I lay my hands on few things in the cupboard, left behind by my father. Though, not a single day passes without remembering him, it's on 22nd February 2006 that his condition worsened and he survived till 11th March 2006.

2011-01-24T23:00:00.012+05:30

In gratitude...

If faith compels one to be a believer then I'm a believer, a firm believer in the voice of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi - the voice I grew up listening to, the voice that is eternally sublime, spiritual and soulful. The voice that evoked the divine in me - an evocation that left me in a trance. And of course, the voice that remains immortal, timeless and matchless. Filled with positive energy of the Sun, molded by the undulating waves of the rivers and softened by the calming moonlit evenings, this voice was a part of my everyday - especially my mornings - relaxing and peaceful, filling me with renewed energy and new hope to get started afresh.

Especially, Panditji's devotional music had everything that one could possibly look for. When I was confused it gave me direction, when I was disturbed I sought solace, when I wanted to give up it helped me persevere.
Listening to Panditji is a purifying experience. Like a tonic for the mind, it strengthens and purges at the same time - the raagas rendered by him in the form of khayals, bhajans and other compositions. Be it the devotional jaya jagadishwari mata saraswati or jo bhaje hari ko sadaa or madhukar shyam hamaare chor or several of the similar numbers. I used to love the way he pronounces my name in madhukar shyam... I used to feel honoured when I heard him sing man har liyo madhuri moorat - the enchantingly magical quality of rendering it. Or the listening pleasure from the supremely divine Dasa keertanas in Kannada- Bhagyada lakshmi baaramma and Karuniso ranga karuniso.... that are my all time favorites.

It was an emotionally disturbing day since I heard the news about Panditji's demise. Back home from office, I waited for the news on Doordarshan especially Kannada and Marathi channels to catch a glimpse of his 'last' appearance. Then, listened to the albums that I usually hear in the morning. Then, quickly put together all the cassettes and CDs to 'secure' the precious memories. Then, listened to Babul mora naihar chooto jaye and with a heavy heart watched the opening sequence of the popular mile sur mera tumhara... that was being beamed on all TV channels.

Today this voice is silenced! But it will continue to live for ever, as long as there are believers on the earth, for art is immortal and so is faith. Panditji, I shall remain grateful that you are a part of my life!

2011-01-17T22:33:00.013+05:30

Songs on the theme of maajhi - a thing of the past?
Let me admit once again, I'm a diehard fan of old Hindi movie songs and I shall remain so forever - seeking refuge in them in my highs and lows. While the lyrics guide and advise me, the music soothes me and the voice of the singer takes me to a different level! And what if the actor is my favorite - then I transcend into a different world. On one such late evening, I happened to listen to some songs - coincidentally some of them had references to maajhi, the symbolic saviour in most of the Hindi songs. I felt like recollecting all the songs I know with this theme and here they are. I hope you enjoy listening and viewing them as much as I did.

O re maajhi...mere saajan hai us paar... it is one of the classsics from S.D. Burman (from the movie Bandini) that set me thinking about the beautiful compositions on maajhi – the boatsman or yachtsman who sails a boat. The river flows steadily and the tranquil waves add to the mystical quality of this scene. The maajhi is the quintessential bard who sings eternal truths, sends inspirational messages and helps us cross the hurdles. Most maajhi songs are based in Bengali ethos, with remakes of popular Bangla folk songs.

Let’s take the song, Maajhi naiya dhoonde kinara, from the movie Uphaar.

Interestingly, like we see in this song, maajhi is rarely the protagonist in the movie or a participant in the events, he’s usually an objective onlooker, plays a crucial role when the male or female protagonist is caught in some problem. The songs indirectly express the thought processes of the protagonist rather impersonally giving advice, sharing knowledge on the significance of the event or the critical moment in their journey.

The song O maajhi re...apna kinaara nadiya ke dhaara hai from the movie (Khushboo, music R D Burman, lyrics Gulzar) is profoundly reflective in mood. The symbolism is obvious where life is compared to a journey in a boat - we neet to sail through it smoothly, reach the other end and not get caught midstream. Majhi ensures that the boat reaches safely and it is not left midstream or majhdhaar.

In songs like O maajhi chal... (from the movie Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke.. sung by Mohd.Rafi - lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music by Lakshmikanth Pyarelal) and Nadiya chale chale re dhaara (from the movie Safar) we get to see the motivational aspects of a journey in a boat, the river that flows, the metaphor of waves, the undulating moments of life and so on.

Door hai kinara (from the movie Saudagar sung by Manna Dey, music and lyrics by Ravindra Jain) is about the difficult times in one’s life and how one should face them. How we should have a balanced outlook and carry on or even have a never-say-die attitude.

Though Chingari koi bhadke, to saawan use bujhaaye (from the movie Amar Prem) is not directly addressed to the maajhi the beautiful picturization of this song lends it a distinct identity. The lyrics bring out several ironies of life as we can see in these lines Majdhaar mein naiyyaa doobe, to majhee paar lagaaye, maajhee jo naaw duboye use kaun bachaaye? And we start questionning on the same lines! The impact of the lyrics is hypnotic when they are sung by Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and Manna Dey.

In fact, most of the maajhi songs evoke a benign feeling, almost equating the role of the ordinary boatsman to the role of the almighty in guiding, steering, leading and saving us from trouble.

2011-01-12T21:17:00.006+05:30

Bangalore-Mysore-Nagarhole

This was my third rajyotsava (state formation day) in Karnataka in the last four years. It was my niece Maansi’s birthday in the last week of October. Bangalore was chill with continuous drizzle and fog all over because of the cyclonic weather. We packed our bags and started for Mysore without any clear itinerary. On top of our mind was the Mysore Palace which we wanted to Shreya to see, since she is reading about the kings in her history classes. The palace was extremely crowded with the post-Dussera vacation and tourists. Hence we decided to skip it. Instead, we moved on to the Karanji lake and spent some time watching the birds.

The evening was spent at Chittaranjan Palace Hotel (The Green Hotel). The gardens were tastefully lit up and everywhere we could smell the sweet scented flowers. Our over night stay at this hotel was pleasant and enjoyable. The morning was spent photographing the colourful flowers – the end-of-the-season Zinnias , bright red Exoras and lillies were a sight to behold! The rooms were nice and cozy and decorated with ethnic paintings.

Next morning we drove to Nagarhole National Park. The refreshing drive amidst the green forest led us to a resort amidst coffee plantations in Coorg region. But we did not plan to stay at the resort so did not bother about accommodation. The sad part of the trip was there was no good eatery anywhere close to the park! We managed to get some rice and rotis at a small joint. We returned to the park in the afternoon for a safari ride and what a ride it was! The rickety bus was not only noisy but also gave us the experience of a jungle roller coaster, rattling all the way. Just imagine, with so much noise which animal would dare to come close and give us its ‘darshan’. The park seemed more like a deer park with hundreds of them all around. We did not get to spot many animals. Perhaps, if we entered the park from the Kabini, the experience would have been a better one.

2011-01-12T20:20:00.003+05:30

A visit to Pochampally village

Pochampally is the land of exotic Ikkat weaves and the historic Bhudaan movement. This was an unplanned long drive with family on a Sunday. My Alto must have felt good to cross the city limits and feel the freshness of nature as we touched the highways. Pochampally is 50 kms from Hyderabad; driving on the busy Vijayawada highway was quite a thrill! The village is surrounded by scenic hills lending it a picturesque look.

As we entered the village, I felt excited about meeting some weavers and spending some time with them. I drove past the narrow lanes of their colonies and found that almost all the houses were locked. Then we got to know that they had come to the city since it was a Sunday. So we couldn’t meet any of them. Then we headed towards the APTDC guest house and found that the staff was ill-equipped with information about the place. In fact, the entire guest house and museum complex was deserted. However, we caught a glimpse of the lake while driving; the lake didn’t seem to have been maintained properly.

Later, we wanted to try our luck with the Handloom park. Even the park was closed. The security person told us that the best time to visit Pochampally is on a week-day! Added to these disappointments, we could not find any good eatery on the main road. So we ended up buying some stuff from a ‘mithai bhandar’ for the return to the city.

The trip would not have been so bad if the government's initiatives were well-thought out to promote eco-tourism on weekends too! Pochampally has tremendous potential for eco-tourism, hope it is optimized well for creating awareness about our weavers.

2011-01-11T23:00:00.004+05:30

Pigeons – pests? nightmare?

Forget about all the romantic associations with this winged creature. Songs like kabutar jaa, jaa or the more recent masakali, masakali… must be for people who haven’t seen what a pain these apparently innocuous birds can actually be. Over the past one year or so, the open spaces between our flats have become home for these pests. I never imagined that the design of our flats (with no common walls) could actually land us in trouble with several birds perched on the most unimaginable spots – windowsills, drain pipes, balconies, AC units.

Because of this menace, my flat is deprived of good ventilation. The doors and windows need to be closed all the time because leaving them open would mean inviting them to create more nuisance and dirty the place. The only way to keep away these birds would be covering the balconies with a mesh. And I don’t think I accept this as the solution, perhaps when all else fails, I might consider meshing it up.

But till then, I wanted to try other ways to shoo them away. Once I saw a note put up on the notice board of our apartments. It suggested a natural and harmless way of keeping away the pigeons. The idea was to keep some chillies, pepper and cinnamon in a plate where the birds usually perch. I followed the instructions only to find that the next minute the plate in which I kept the stuff and its contents were thrown down promptly by the birds. Next, my domestic help told me that she would catch at least one of them and then take it far away and leave it there. I thought this was a rather hurtful method so did not encourage her. But, one day she actually caught one of them and put it in a bag and carried it away. Her idea was that this would make other get scared and stop them from entering our house. Sadly, this didn’t work either! Now what? The other day I had left the bedroom window open and went to have my bath. When I was came out I was taken aback…there was a pigeon pecking on the neatly ironed dress which was on the bed. And when they enter inside they can be anywhere – on the cupboard, on the fan, on the paintings – how menacing! what a nightmare!

I was reminded of the “Durbar Hall” of the Kothi Women’s College where I studied. It had hundreds of pigeons. During our exams the pigeons would become such a nuisance - it was common to see pigeons dirtying the exam papers and making us rewrite on a fresh page!

2011-01-11T22:56:00.003+05:30

A visit to Ramoji Film City (RFC)

The first time I visited Ramoji Film City was in 2000 and now, my second visit was exactly after 10 years. This time I went with my team in the office. Last time I accompanied my relatives from Bangalore who were here for my brother’s wedding reception.

We had a pleasant ride in the Tata Winger hired for this trip – taking pictures and having fun, good occasion for team bonding. The Vijayawada highway is one of the busy roads, especially with several district buses entering and leaving the city. The picturesque location where the largest film city in the world is located, is a sight to behold as you enter the hotel Sitara. We had booked the Sitara entire day package for our tour. It included the bus rides, lunch, fun and games and snacks.

RFC has several gardens based on themes that are landscaped and maintained to perfection…the replica of Moghul gardens, the Japanese gardens or the maze…There are caves, interesting ‘sculptures’, statuettes etc. These would form the natural setting for picturizing a typical Indian film song. The sets take you to a world of make-believe where every structure transforms itself into a ‘real’ building or a setting when the camera rolls and the director says “Action!” You have the college, the jail, the airport, the railway station and whatever is needed for the scene.

The “Movie Magic” was the best part of the tour. I liked it because it conveys in an interesting and simple way the complex process of movie making for a lay person. The demo includes a ‘live’ movie making with some volunteers who bring out the importance of different aspects like light, sound, editing, sound mixing in making a movie. It is also like paying a tribute to those thousands who work behind the scenes while the main actors enjoy the stardom as it were. Once the movie process is demystified, you have a display of stunts performed by professionals.

Other attractions include the 4D theatre, the scary house, the fun and rides for kids etc. If you are lucky you may catch a glimpse of your favourite star in the shoot.

2011-01-11T21:15:00.012+05:30

The mirror as seen in some Hindi movie songs
I felt like keying down some random notes, when I thought over the imagery of mirror or aaina in some memorable songs. Often seen as a metaphor for reflection, I guess there may be many songs that refer to the many facets of aaina - existential and philosophical - literal and figurative. Here are some I could think of:
Kyaa koi nai baat nazar aati hai hum mein

Aainaa hamen dekh ke hairaan saa kyon hai

(Last two lines from the song "Seene mein jalan aakhon mein toofan sa kyon hai...")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyoKDxbbhIs

From the movie: Gaman ( lyrics- Sharyar, music - Jaidev, singer -Suresh Wadkar)

Such beautiful lyrics have become a thing of the past...Let me try translating them...Is there something new about me? The mirror and I - we both are the same, but why is it that the mirror is surprised looking at me? Some lyrical compositions, like this one, are difficult to translate as they do not retain the essence of the original, lose the magic. Perhaps, the newness in me is because of the way I look today. But, I couldn't have changed so much that the mirror finds me so very different. Now, lyrics from another song:

Aaina wohi reheta hai Chehere badal jaate hain

Aakhon mein rukte nahin jo aansoo nikal jaate hain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFsgQ2Hrg5o&feature=related

From the movie: Shalimar

How true! The mirror remains the same, and we change - mind, body and soul. We really change or we wear masks - a mask for every occasion. I looked back and pondered, "how often do I look into the mirror? how much time do I spend in front of the mirror?" Not more than few seconds in a day! In fact, the only time I get to see myself in the mirror is when I'm in the lift of my apartment that has mirrors on three sides.

Does the mirror remember I how used to look earlier? Then why does it ask me for my 'previous' face as described beautifully in the lyrics below:

Aaina mujhse meri peheli si surat maange

Mere apne mere hone ki nishani maange

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGkmoCv4R6w

From the movie: Daddy (Singer- Talat Aziz)

Is that the reason my mirror finds something strange in me. It has seen me grow up and seen me go through changes at various stages of my life. Why does the mirror feel startled looking at me? Certainly not because of the way I look! For, I've looked more or less the same always. Is it because of my expression? Is it because of the things I've forgotten? Is it because of the things I remember? Which previous 'image' of mine is the mirror trying to match? How does the mirror remember so many of my them?

Isn't mirror a chronicler of life - imprinting all the events as it were!

2010-10-12T17:18:00.000+05:30

Nous ne sortirons qu'au printemps

Feeling nostalgic about my French classes, especially thinking of Prof. Christian Asquaciati, Madame Rastogi and Madame Sishupal. I'm glad to find the lyrics of one of the songs taught in our Adv. Diploma.

Richard Anthony

Nous ne sortirons qu'au printemps

Non, ce n'est pas une hirondelle
Qui vient de déchirer le ciel
Les grives et les tourterelles
Dorment encore d'un profond sommeil

Ecoute, c'est le vent qui passe
Et qui recourbe nos sapins
Regarde, ce matin, la glace
Recouvre encore l'étang voisin

Pourquoi veux-tu aller dehors ?
L'hiver n'est pas tout à fait mort
Pour nous aimer, prenons le temps
Nous ne sortirons qu'au printemps
Autour de nous, tout est pareil
Tu n'as vu qu'un peu de soleil
Reste encore près du feu de bois
Tu vois, l'hiver est toujours là

Les fleurs n'ont pas percé la neige
Et je n'entends pas les ruisseaux
Le ciel est gris, le ciel est beige
Le givre est toujours aux carreaux

Pourquoi veux-tu aller dehors ?
L'hiver n'est pas tout à fait mort
Pour nous aimer, prenons le temps
Nous ne sortirons qu'au printemps
Autour de nous, tout est pareil
Tu n'as vu qu'un peu de soleil
Oublie le monde, oublie le temps
Nous ne sortirons qu'au printemps

Qu'au printemps.

2010-09-10T00:38:00.006+05:30

Proof-reading my book...how I miss you!
It's a strange feeling these days, ever since I got to see, hold and feel all the chapters of my book together. This is hard to express. It's something that you feel when you are unable to share your happiness at reaching a milestone with your most loved ones. I missed my father at every little goal I accomplished in the last two years of my writing, re-writing and editing. And now, I remember him each time I look at the first proofs of the printed chapters; I'm sure he would have been more excited than I am and would have eagerly awaited to see it in final shape. I know he would have definitely helped me with at least one round of proof-reading using those standard 'proof-reading' symbols (like he had done for my dissertations).

Sometimes, I feel I've had imaginary conversations with him, telling him in detail about the subject of my book, updating him on the progress, my meetings with the publisher (Mr. Madhu Reddy), introducing him to the editor (Ms. Dharani. K), the difficulties I've been facing in managing my writing along with regular office, and every little thing to do with it...just like how I used to narrate things during my college days and take pride in telling him about any reward or recognition that I got. Or, how he would 'react' looking at any write-up of mine published in newspapers and magazines. I miss those words of encouragement and appreciation.

My father was not an academician but he was indirectly associated with academics throughout his career at CIEFL. I remember when I was pursuing my PGDTE at CIEFL, how he would get curious about me working on new ideas for textbooks and new ways of teaching English. He would often ask me if I was going to write textbooks after my research. Perhaps, that was not the way my career would take shape, as I bid adieu to college teaching after a brief stint and got into e-learning design and development in an MNC.

However the idea of writing/publishing a book (not a textbook) remained with me, and I explored several options. I wanted to publish my Ph.D dissertation, but that didn't seem practical as I 'changed' my career and my professional priorities were different. Later, I explored writing on 'Instructional Design' since most of my articles and presentations were well-received and I was asked by several professionals to write more on this subject. But, this didn't seem to work as the topic was too narrow and that was not how I wanted to project the area of content design for e-learning. Later, I toyed with the idea of working on a professional blog on the same subject but didn't pursue it further.

Then, one fine day, it was like a 'revelation' for me. In one of my invited talks on e-learning design at CDAC, some participants sought help in learning on their own about various aspects of e-learning. I quoted some references from websites and mentioned my idea about blog to them. Immediately, I heard some of them saying that to access the blog or to refer to the web pages, they need the Internet and most of them do not have access to the Internet. Not that I wasn't aware of this fact, but this point was bothering me because I felt what they said was true about most of the teachers and trainers in India. That's when I felt that I should reconsider my book and start working on it again. This time, it was on e-learning design, development and delivery, specifically targeted at the Indian audience.

More about my book in the next blog.

2010-09-05T22:30:00.004+05:30

An evening with Mukesh
I wanted this Sunday evening to be different, a really relaxing one with good music, something that is soulful and refreshing. Last weekend, Total Recall on Times Now channel paid a tribute to Mukesh on his 34th death anniversary. Ever since I watched this dedicated episode, I felt as if I was 'haunted' by Mukesh's songs, the episode was a neatly woven piece with archival info, pictures, interviews and songs classified decade-wise, his playback from Raj Kapoor to Rajesh Khanna. Like all other episodes of Total Recall this was informative and memorable, making it special to all the lovers of Hindi cinema and its immortal creators. Of all his songs, I've had some favorites like Kahin door jab din dhal jayen from Anand, Kai baar yunhi dekha hai from Rajnigandha, Jaane kahan gaye woh din from Mera Naam Joker and Sajan re jhoot mat bolo from Teesri kasam and so on...Let's look at the classic from Rajnigandha:
kai baar yunhi dekha hai, yeh jo man ki seema rekha hai
man todne lagta hai,
anjaani pyaas ke peeche, anjaani aas ke peeche
man daudne lagta hai...

Today, when I went to Ratnadeep for routine grocery and stuff, I couldn't resist picking up an MP3 compilation with some of the best songs of Mukesh. The CD has 40 songs, 30 of them are super hit numbers picturised on actors like Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and others.

Incorrigibly romantic that I've always been, I was always in awe of the lyrics and the compositions in Kishore Kumar's immortal creations. And Mukesh did not fit into my perception of 'romantic' music. Hence, earlier I could never relate to Mukesh with such intensity, though my parents, especially, my father was a Mukesh fan more because of his renditions for Raj Kapoor. This time, after ages, I reconnected with Mukesh, and the experience was different, perhaps a sign of how such music fills a void in today's fastpaced life and meaningless stuff in the name of entertaiment. The philosophical strain in most of his songs had a cathartic effect, complementing those meaningful lyrics there was music by Shankar Jaikishan, Salil Chaudhary and Khayyam...it created an atmosphere that is kind of unearthly. I wondered how it must have been in the times of singers like Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi, music and singing must have been such a spiritual pursuit for all of them. How true, 'the sweetest songs really tell you of the saddest thoughts', the sadness from loss and betrayal or themes related to ultimate truth or the complex human relationship, Mukesh had an inimitable style and a flair for conveying the beautiful lyrics in a voice that touched our hearts and tranquilised our minds.

2010-08-23T20:04:00.012+05:30

There's something mystical about the monsoon skies*

View from my balcony

The skyscapes with myriad hues
Symbolic colors expressing several emotions
Ranging from pure serenity to frightful fury
Clear blues quickly turn amber
Suddenly enveloped with shades of grey
As greys disappear into sombre black
The celestial spectacle leaves me spellbound
As if the stage is being set with a magical wand
For several scenes to be performed
And when the overcast skies open up
The scenes unfold in drops, downpour and deluge
Sometimes the clouds fooling you
With all the thunder and lightening
They fill you with an air of expectancy and hope
Of an impending shower or an incessant pour

The city seems to have become more unreal
And I get caught in the inevitable realities of urban living
I stop blaming the concrete structures
Find my own ways of connecting with nature
So what if I can't walk on the green grass
I have the privilege of looking at the sky
When every green patch is turned into a permanent dwelling
I'm left with nowhere to look, but to the sky for peace, solace or inspiration
Often thanking my stars for the view from my balcony
Though it limits the horizon
I try to look beyond with gratitude.

*Blogger tells me that this is my 100th blog post:)

2010-07-24T20:06:00.008+05:30

I can relate to your experience Archana!
...Though not completely, but yes, the relationship of parents and attitude towards a single daughter, the taken-for-grantedness and much more. How you and I, as kids, became crisis managers in our families, where was the childhood I wonder... how I had to grow up soon, there was no choice...I'm moved, touched, reading your blogs because it seemed so autobiographical, especially how I became a dedicated care giver when my father was suffering from a terminal disease...how I would weep alone whenever I looked at his medical reports and deteriorating conditions, how, on most occasions, I would go alone to get him tested in the hospital, collect the reports, again alone...all this while managing my work at office...and so on.
But, no regret at all! I'm glad to have owned and shown responsbility at the crucial moments without bothering too much about the dynamics of singlehood, relationship with siblings, etc etc and never once did I bow down to the 'social pressure' of changing my singlehood for reasons whatsoever. Perhaps that was how I could return all that my father gave me by not forcing me to do things that I never wanted to...and I do have my bit of fun because I take life the way it comes!
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/archanajahagirdar/2770/61955/a-depressed-dad-being-single--life-in-between.html?from=tn

2010-03-16T23:35:00.016+05:30

Bitter, sweet, sour... this new year

New life, new living, a fresh beginning
Like everything that blossoms in Spring
The season of rejuvenation
The season of mirth, joy and revelry
As the nature seems to blush like roses
As trees in full bloom turn yellow and pink
Gulmohurs waiting to spread cheer
With their bright orange and red hues
Hidden there would be some koel or myna
Waiting to break into a fresh morning song.

New thoughts, new ideas
Unfurling like the tender mango leaves
A whole bunch of tender mangoes
Green little, sour things reminding me
That sourness is a taste to savor.

I walk past the whiff of sweet scent of Neem flowers
The huge neem tree covered with delicate white flowers
Frail little bitter things reminding me
That bitterness is also a taste to savour.

Far away there seems to have been an early shower
The familiar smell of first showers on dry earth
The sweet smelling air reminding me
That sweetness is not just in sugar
It's an everlasting taste of all things pleasant.

The days get longer and warmer
Signs of impending summer
Perhaps a severe one, hotter than the previous one
Sweltering, scorching and sizzling
Forcing me to be indoors till the Sun goes down

The tender coconut vendor
Sits there around the corner
Under the shade of huge green tree
Quenching the thirst of a passer-by
Or selling the refreshing drink to as many

In the evening
The bazaars are graced by the divine Jasmine
The heavenly perfume fills the air
As the buds slowly bloom into flowers
Making every evening a special one
For the dame, adorning her long hair
Or as earnest offerings at places of worship.

Taking together
Sweet with bitter and sour
Just as the tastes of nature are many
A melange of several feelings and experiences
Isn't this true of us, as we step into another year.

Image courtesy: http://in.ygoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ugadi.jpg

2010-03-11T01:31:00.002+05:30

Our sweetest songs are those that tell you of ...

Our sweetest songs are those that tell you of sad thoughts, bitter-sweet realities, existential and profound truths- to extend Shelley's famous lines. Isn't this true of most of our movie songs? There's a mystical charm about songs that make us feel exalted, elevating our spirits while experiencing the lyrics, the music and the singer. The way these songs are composed brings out the best in the singer, making us feel the emotions vicariously - poignant and cathartic -intoxicating and liberating - existential and transcendental. The lyrics of each song, highly poetic, composed and rendered with utmost artistic appeal. Such sublime beauty is rare to find these days when songs have become 'musical' commodities, created, packaged and distributed - legal or pirated. Most of these songs have remained as masterpieces with everlasting listening pleasure for the discerning listener. Here are some of my eternal favorites:

Yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum jhoomti bahar hai kahan ho tum...
Ae dil-e-nadaan, arzoo kya, justaju kya hai...
Yun hasraton ke khwab mohabat main dho liye, khud dil se dil ke baat kahi aur ro liye...
Hasne ki chaah ne itna mujhe rulaya hai, koi hamdard and dard mera saya hai...
Chingaari koi bhadke to sawan use bhujhye, sawan jo agan lageye use kaun bujhaye ...
Main to ek khwab hun, is khwab se to pyaar na kar...
Suhani raat dhal chuki na jaane tum kab aaoge, hawa bhi rukh badal chuki...
Tujhse naraaz nahi zindagi hairan hun main, tere masoom sawalon se pareshan hun main...
Yeh jeevan hai is jeevan ka yahi hai , yahi hai rang roop..
Katra katra milti hai, katra katra jeene do zindagi hai, behene do pyasi hun main pyasi rehene do..
Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahin, shikwa nahin...
Aane wala pal jaane wala hai, ho sake to isme zindagi bitalo pal jo yeh jaane wala hai...
Jaane woh kaise log the jinke pyaar to pyaar mila, humne ne toh jab kaliyan maangi kaanton ka haar mila...

2010-01-07T22:21:00.006+05:30

Kites

(Following lines are inspired by Kite Kraft at Cordys, Hyderabad)

Thin sheets of coloured papers

Transformed into

Wondrous pieces of colourful craft

Purple, pink and pale green

Red, blue, white and yellow

Like pieces flying from the rainbow

A colour for each emotion

And a colour for each reason

Like my aspirations

Flying high, flying low, flying even

Blown by gentle breeze and strong winds

Gliding, sailing and soaring new heights.

Amazing artifacts!

Don’t they look like pictures of human imagination

Framed with thin bamboo strips

Fragile but strong with courage and determination

Shaped by hopes, desires, beliefs, convictions

As if telling stories

Of thoughts, actions, dreams, promises and failures

Of hits and misses striking a balance

As they rise higher and raise my hopes

Or plummet suddenly reminding me of a possible despair.

Look at the ones that are flying high

Rustling sound of crisp paper

Forming tiny specks of myriad hues

Some get tangled and some get cut

A flight cut short, perhaps a reminder

Of how we clash, win or lose

How we give in to ego, envy or other emotions

I let my ambitions soar as high as the kite I fly

The string that it’s tied to is as strong as my will

The sky is where I look for my limits

I hold it tightly

Then I loosen my grip

Alternating between…

Seeking control.

Ethereal creations!

Will you be my guide to fanciful flights?

In a new world beyond the clouds and cosmic realities

Where I become a child all over again

Fascinated by the world of fairies with magic wands

Excited about fulfilling my wishes and wants

As you carry my message

Beyond the bright blue and white clouds.

Thanks Kiran for the artistic touch with the kite pictures.

2009-12-30T22:19:00.018+05:30

The year that was...

My motto in 2009: "I am my competition" and "Re-live and enjoy the intellectual waywardness all over again long after my doctoral studies"

Job, professional
New and pleasantly unexpected creative challenges, geared up to do my best
Exploring social media, its potential for learning, marketing B2B enterprise software
Completed 10 years in e-learning, new media and corporate training- glad that I followed my heart and quit teaching English
Discovery
The convenience and power of social networking, connecting through Facebook, touch base with old friends
Writing
Writing my book and working on a plan to market it
Writing, writing and writing...simply loved every bit of the slog
Movies I thoroughly enjoyed
Kaminey, Wake up Sid
Movies that could have been better
Kurbaan and 3 Idiots
Became a fan of
Ranbir Kapoor (doesn't mean I'm ditching Shah Rukh Khan)
Enjoyable moments
Listening to Sanjeev Abhayankar during those stress-filled days
Early morning 'Moonset' and catching it on my lens
The drive to airport on Expressway
The thrill of seeing 267pages in shape!
Regretted
Spending at Shoppers' Stop and Woodland and ending up with dresses that shrunk and got discolored and footwear that never lasted for more even 3 months.
Not checking the stepney of my car when the tyre got punctured and I ended up with two punctured tyres
Best buy and ownership
Replacing my kitchen chimney with Faber
Over with EMIs - now I own my car
Finally decided to own a vacuum cleaner as borrowing from Madhu was more of an excuse for not cleaning frequently...nothing much has changed even after owning one:)
Satisfying buy at Fabindia, Bangalore
Jewellery
Parting with my earrings (a collection of 100+) coz of problems with the piercing in the earlobe and for medical reasons... wasting money on a pair of diamond and gold earrings...imagine what a gold-hater like me had to go through, being unable to match my earrings with my dress:(
Not-so-pleasant
Several visits to the physician at Care clinic, diagnostic tests etc what with viral fever, swine flu, dengue all over the place
Seem to be on the verge of sleeping disorder because of my erratic sleeping habits to cope with my writing and office timelines
Kept postponing
Visit to L&M for eye check-up and new spects
Bravery or agony or endurance?
Underwent RCT for 3 teeth and one pending:)
Pleasant ones
Meeting Kavitha's kid Vaishnavi
Playing with Shreya's friends on her birthday and seeing her dress up as a fairy on the eve of Christmas
Maansi's surprise visit one morning in the month of May
Shreya improves her sketching, she writes stories in English and attempts the same in Hindi
Maansi playing "air hostess" and offering us food and drinks while I was in Bangalore
Reading
Mostly work related- other than this, well nothing:(
In fact, my reading took a back seat because I concentrated more on my writing
Books and CDs
Books - none, CDs - some Hindi movies
Television
Convenience of ordering movies on Tatasky Showcase
Michael Jackson memorial service
50 years of Doordarshan - a documentary revisiting those serials, songs and sitcoms
Memorable
General and local elections - voted for the first time from my own house
My presentation at national e-learning event and the appreciation
Driving back home from office on my birthday in real heavy rain, late in the evening
Unable to get started with
My initiative on web based help and counselling for students to 'follow their heart'
Unfortunate
The Telangana turmoil and resultant impact on the lives of commoners in Hyderabad and other places in A.P

2009-12-30T09:37:00.007+05:30

My city missing a beat again...too soon!

My city is where my heart is, this is where I belong, being born and brought up here. Past few days have been a testing time for the city dwellers gripped by the 'fear' of the unknown and uncertain. Today, I simply wasn't able to be normal self - somewhere there was a lurking apprehension and anxiety, "would I return home safely, will my colleagues who depend on private and public transport make it to office?" and so on... Something has gone wrong somewhere - will things get back to normal soon? My heart overpowering my mind, perhaps my dirve to office today was the most painful one, may remain in my memory for long, as a sad reminder of the day my city missed a beat. The frequent 'bandhs' seem to have paralysed the lives of millions of peace-loving people who have made Hyderabad their home.

The familiar scenes were missing - there wasn't a soul on the otherwise bustling Kirshna Nagar-Jubilee Hills road. Every little tea and tiffin stall is closed. I could empathize with people waiting perhaps for their breakfast at these outlets. People waiting at the bus stops with forlorn looks. People stranded in trains and buses at the outskirts of the city. People waiting to reach hospitals and people faced with emergencies. Vendors who depend on us to make their daily earning. It's the people - we the commoners who bear the brunt of agitations, bandhs, strikes and other similar violent manifestations of public ire. This time it's a region that wants to establish its identity - later it would be another region that wants to do the same and this may be followed by similar instances all over the country- a country that was divided on the basis of linguistic identities for better governance- how ironical! Apparently, this was not-so-flawed a strategy for retaining our regional identities yet understanding and tolerating other cultures and religions.

Scratch a little and it's all over the place - strong feelings of regionalism, casteism, communalism - when provoked come out with true colours-making no difference whatsoever in terms of education and culture. Even the most 'educated' get a pleasure in establishing so-called 'superiority' on the basis of religion, caste, region and other parochial priorities. North Indian? South Indian? From Telangana? From Andhra?From ...endless ways to establish our identities, where are the actual issues of economic and inclusive development? Why don't people explore avenues of cooperation and collaborative development? If these were the issues on the basis of which the 'struggle' was planned, there could have been other means of achieving the goal - perhaps with less agony and destruction to the lives of common and innocent people.I'm sure my city will soon get back to normal, one can destroy the physical assets and cause similar damage but one can't kill the soul of a city that's consituted by its sincere citizens who have toiled to make it what it is today!

2009-12-26T09:49:00.006+05:30

All is well?

Perhaps not, hmm, certainly not...especially with our educational system, social pressure and rat race and all that. Was this the message Hirani was trying to convey in typical Munnabhai style? The message, though strongly intended, got entangled in those innumerous twists and turns and those overly exaggerated 'comic' scenes, like the one where Chatur makes a speech on Teachers' Day and the childbirth on a table tennis table.
Devoid of such farce, may be the movie could have been more honest and fresh in treating the same theme.

If Five Point Someone (the novel on which the movie is based) is itself a pulpy version of the dark side of engineering education, the movie based on this novel, remotely addresses any issues raised, leave alone developing them, at least in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' style. In bits and pieces the movie does make some points- student suicides, lack of recognition for innovation and creativity and parental pressure to outperform others etc. But the conviction with which these points could be been conveyed is missing, since there is so much of typical Bollywood mass-appeal kind of 'comedy' that the actual story is lost somewhere in between the witty one-liners that comment on our engineering education and the stereotypical depiction of schools and colleges in Bollywood movies.

3 Idiots can at best make you laugh and enjoy for the moment, if you can ignore the excesses, you will come out with a 'feel-good' that there is more to life than becoming an engineer or a doctor. Other than this short-lived feeling the movie lacks the sophistication and finesse that was evident in handling social comedies like previous Munnabhai flick. What gets proved again is the difficulty involved in conveying a message without being preachy and yet making it comic, likable and memorable- like two extremes - the Gowarikar type and the Hirani type. Or, the maturity with which Aamir himself handled a similar plot in Taare Zameen Par. How does one do a balancing act while handling series of connected themes like freedom of education, creativity in curriculum and following one's heart. No easy answers here!

2009-12-12T19:44:00.013+05:30

Innocent, funny and...
Today's four-year-olds have much more at their disposal than any one of us in our childhood - no two thoughts about this! Mostly the wordly stuff they catch from TV - be it kids' programs, movies or daily soaps. I got to see how my little niece Maansi was playing a prank with her papa the other day when she was in Hyderabad. Vinod had just returned from office and they had an hour or so to leave for Bangalore, perhaps he got busy talking to all of us and Maansi felt she didn't get the attention she wanted. She quickly picked up the phone (intercom) and started dialling some numbers to "call the police" saying her papa is a "bad boy" and they should come and take him, perhaps thinking that bad boys are better handled by police.

She seemed to enjoy her imaginary call, and later started playing with the other phone as well. Shreya was watching her intently. We were having fun observing her 'seriously imaginary conversation' with the 'police'.

In the meanwhile, my landline phone rang and I picked it up wondering who it was. It was Sandip calling from his mobile from the other room, asking me to give the phone to Maansi. He pretended to be the police and wanted to have some fun. I handed the receiver to Maansi saying that the police is on the line. As soon as she picked up the phone, Maansi got the scare of her life...her innocent expression said it all and I asked her who it was. P-o-l-i-c-e!!! "Please don't take my papa away , he's a good boy" cried Maansi, suddenly her cherubic face turning literally scared. Little wonder, her teeny-weeny brain couldn't figure out that it was Sandip who was on phone.

I felt sad seeing her fun turn into something 'serious', she ran to and sat beside Krupa, tears rolling down her cheeks. Like several kids of her age, Maansi loves to watch TV, I also heard that she likes detective serials like, 'CID' and seems to be clear about what needs to be done with 'bad boys':)

2009-11-19T21:38:00.002+05:30

Latest from Shreya

Shreya has picked up words like "e-learning", "Design" and "Storyboard" :)) And she proudly says she knows the shortform for storyboard; I always write it as "stbd" and once she asked me what it means. Hats off to the observing power of little kids!
And she tells me I write only about these words and not stories like she does about "cheat jackal and clever rabbit".
P.S: I got to know that she learnt about storyboards in the school, here's one I saw her illustrating by reading the description.

2009-11-15T10:47:00.001+05:30

Children's Day

Shreya and Maansi were out on some children's day shopping at City Center Mall. They participated in the painting competition at Max on the occasion of children's day. Sad, I missed seeing them perform live... Good that their masterpieces were captured on mobile phone by Krupa. Here they are:

Shreya

Maansi

My Invited Talk at ELELTECH 2009, organized by CDAC and JNTU Hyderabad

2009-11-06T06:11:00.001+05:30

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

My Invited Talk at ELELTECH 2009, organized by CDAC and JNTU Hyderabad

View more presentations from MadhuriDubey09.

2009-10-31T22:51:00.004+05:30

31st October, 25 years ago...
It was my instant reaction to Mrs. Gandhi's assassination. My first write-up was published in the Deccan Chronicle, a couple of days after the tragic event. Mine must've been one of the hundreds of articles that were published all over the country, but to me it was important and memorable to see my writing in newsprint format. I still remember how some of my friends, family members and acquaintances encouraged me to pursue writing as a hobby. Not to mention that I've still preserved a copy of that day's edition, as with all the later write-ups. It feels good to go back and read it fondly remembering my teenage days.

2009-09-08T05:42:00.005+05:30

Who has seen the wind?

While helping my niece Shreya with her English lessons, I couldn't help reminiscing my primary school days at Paramount High School, in the old city of Hyderabad. I fondly remember this poem (must have 'learnt' it in my primary school...probably 2nd or 3rd class) along with stories like William Tell, the Brave Little Dutch Boy (I forget the actual name of the story) and several others...I'm lucky to find this poem on the Web:

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you.

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I.

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.
by Christina Georgina Rossetti(1830-1894)

Want to try for those English textbooks during my next visit to Orient Blackswan or other such stores. These books were meant for lower primary classes, before the introduction of "Let's Learn English" series from CIEFL which we followed from 4th class onwards.

2009-09-04T05:30:00.005+05:30

Tragic end...
Sad and tragic end of a bold and powerful leader who carved an identity for himself and broke all records in providing a stable Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy leaves a vacuum in state politics that may never get filled...however, the inevitable practical reality forces a question. After him who? Can't help thinking back of the pre-TDP days when we would have a new chief minister almost every year during the Congress regime controlled by the center. Will history repeat itself now?

2009-08-08T22:28:00.019+05:30

Fifth Anniversary at Srisairam Manor

Today I complete five years at Srisairam Manor Apartments. Memorable years! More because this is the first place where I stayed beyond 4+ years eversince I moved out of CIEFL campus after my father's retirement. Feels good because I know I've a place that'll, after few years, be my own. Not to mention that these five years seem to have fleetly fled. It really feels as if we just entered here couple of years ago.

Just remembered those years when I was inviting queries about when I'd "settle down" ... getting this flat was my way to settle "up" in life and live it to the full!!! (BTW, there can be no real "settling down" as no private job gives you the stability and security of being in the same place all your life). And I wonder how can one ever "settle down" in any other sense of the term? How can someone be so certain when there are so many struggles and unsettling experiences as we move ahead, do our best on the way to realize our dreams! And this flat has seen me live my dreams, be a part of me in highs, lows and mediums. Just remembered the stressful time I had finalizing this flat and then till the loan got approved, those anxious moments. Just recollected the day when my parents saw this flat for the first time...that nice feeling after having climbed the stairs of six floors when the lift was not fixed as the building was still under construction.

With time we all age- so has my dwelling, it's high time I got it re-painted, it's high time I did proper caring; there are so many pending things about my home, I think I haven't been to dedicate myself there , but I know I will, very soon!

2009-08-02T21:50:00.007+05:30

Stopping by…
Remembering Frost
There are loads of things I need to do
Domestic chores keep bothering me
From cleaning the dust to changing curtains
From buying things to getting things done
The clutter on the table is piling up
Some Post-Its on the wall have gone
Some new ones have come up
I’m scared of looking into the deep
The to-do list is getting longer
Writing is an endeavour
That demands everything of me
My mind, body and soul
All come together
As the thoughts come and go
Lines become paragraphs
Paragraphs turn into pages
Profoundly remembering Frost
I’ve lines to compose before I sleep
I’ve lines to write before I sleep

2009-08-01T16:10:00.015+05:30

Past, present and future
If past was in the past
What about the present that's linked to the past
If future is still unknown
What about the present that'll impact the future
When future is known, it no longer remains future
It becomes either present or past
If present is now
What about past that was yesterday
What about future that'll be tomorrow
Worry about present and not past
Worry about present and not future
Nevertheless
What about past that was today's yesterday
What about future that'll be today's tomorrow
Is past something really over and done with?
A matter of lost control
Future can't be in control
For it's unknown
So, look at present
Look at present in the way it connects with past
Look at present in the way it builds the future
Hold what is firmly
Between what was and what'll be
Present is NOW
THEN is over
WHEN is yet to come
NOW is what we have!

2009-07-24T04:48:00.014+05:30

The daybreak

Piping hot mug of ginger tea
Kick starts my day
After those hours of involuntary sleep
My laptop gives me company
Feels good to be connected virtually
Emails, Blogs, Facebook and all that...

After some time
The gentle breeze sweeps across
The Azan echoes from Masjids around
The only other sound is the clatter of vessels
From the caterer whose day begins at midnight
The birds are about to chirp and twitter
Though very few of them live near the concrete structures

It's that precious time of morning
When the mind gets nourished with fresh ideas, beautiful thoughts
There is something about the time just before the Sun rises
The darkness before dawn may be the darkest
Yet, there's something about it
Mystic, saint-like feeling...truly energizing, empowering

As I read, write, think, compose my thoughts
Picking up where I left it all
Sometimes stitching the pieces together
Or putting those puzzling thougths together
As puzzles get solved
A picture forms
A picture gets erased
A picture gets recomposed
A picture gets repainted
The canvas waits to be filled with myriad strokes

As my mind brims with new ideas
I try to control my thoughts from wandering
Though my mind resists this taming
There is so much to do
There is so much to complete
Dreams remain dreams if they aren't accomplished
How can goals be reached without focus?
How does one focus without concentration?
How does one concentrate without clarity?
How does one have clarity without goal?
Isn't this something like the circle of ...

The first light of the day- it really brightens me up!
And I am in complete control of myself!

2009-07-23T19:38:00.003+05:30

Bird and Clouds

by Shreya Mishra...22nd July 09

2009-07-22T14:49:00.010+05:30

The day my car was left alone...
21st July 2009
People tell me I'm very protective about my bike and car. Why should'nt I be so? My bike and my car are a part of my family so I naturally get worried if I haven't parked them well or if they are not cleaned properly and maintained well with regular servicing and so on.
Yesterday was one of those rare days when I missed the ground floor parking in my office building (Auriga Block).* The other slots in the open which face the cafeteria were also full. The parking space outside our IT park which usually has late comers' and visitors' vehicles lined up was also completely packed. I wanted to try my luck in the Vega Block on 1st, 2nd or 5th floors...the moment I crossed the first floor, the security person, stopped me to say it was full. With nowhere to go, I seemed desperate and perhaps cut a sorry figure for the other security person who voluntarily suggested a free parking slot on the 5th floor. Having driven all the way and parked in the "free" slot, I was about to get into the lift...then suddenly another security person approached me and asked me to take away my car immediately. I realized that it was not really a free slot and it was officially allotted to some company, and I was thoroughly misled by the other security person.
After driving out, I kept searching if there was some space anywhere in front of our IT park so that I could squeeze it in at least till lunch time. But I wasn't lucky... now I was left with two options - either go back home or park it on the opposite side of the road. "I can't do this to my car" I felt like screaming ...leaving it all alone on the other side of the road and worrying all the time with "what if...' kind of thoughts !?
Eventually that was the only solution (look at the picture taken by Harry, from the 7th Floor). With a heavy heart I left it on the empty road, but wanted to keep an eye, so parked it in such a way that I could see it from my office which is on the 7th floor. I was just not comfortable...till I found an empty space in front of our building and asked Harry to physically hold on to the space there till I got my car and parked it there...this made me feel better. Now my car had other cars for company:)

Cut to the next day ...I was in office sharp at 9 am as usual ... this time more for my car than for anything else!
* I had decided to come an hour late to office for few days because of some personal work.

2009-07-07T21:38:00.007+05:30

The Earth Song - Michael Jackson

a sensational, complicated and controversial life and an even more sensational and controversial death... What a life it must've been! flawed, touching, tragic and tormented..of someone who broke all boundaries with his enigmatic performances...with powerful, energetic visual music...simply phenomenal!
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah
Hope the world really becomes a better place ...as the lyrics of another song go.

2009-07-05T15:11:00.003+05:30

Digital art

by Shreya Mishra...5th July 2009

2009-06-29T09:36:00.002+05:30

While I was driving and listening to my fav music

Some fine lyrics from Suresh Wadekar's songs that are sure to haunt me this Monday morning:
1. Khamosh sa afsana paani se likha hota
Na tumne kaha hota na hum ne suna hota
2. Seene mein jalan aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai
Is shahar mein har shaksh pareshaan sa kyun hai

2009-06-24T13:29:00.002+05:30

Bharatanatyam in the time of the Taliban

80-year-old Indu Mitha has been teaching the dance form to Pakistanis for decades...click the link below to read the complete story.

This story appeared in The Hindu.

2009-05-23T22:47:00.009+05:30

Mall'd from all sides

There seems to be steady addition to the number of shopping malls around the place I live. With so many of them, Hyderabadis are not far behind their counterparts in other metros. I needed new batteries for my watch so visited Titan in Amrutha Mall.

Amrutha Mall...yes, this used to one of those 'original' malls in the busy Somajiguda Circle...with Midways, Minerva, etc. After ages I visited this place, also wanted to see if those old shops are still there like Pallavi and some others. After the widened road and the flyover this hardly looks like a shopping mall, not to mention that horrible stench at the dark and dingy cellar parking. In fact I didn't know such a parking existed coz earlier we would happily park all around this place. I was disappointed to see that now Pallavi sells only sarees and no dresses.

With so many malls around my place I think very soon we are going to be mall'd from all sides, all within a distance of 2 - 3 kilometers. Though I'm not a regular at malls coz I don't ever do window shopping or even find time for it.I shop only when I need something...most of the times I end up in desperate buys. GVK One has a very spacious Shoppers Stop with good collection of trendy ethnic wear....mostly tops with a poor collection of bottoms (but nothing to beat that real original shoppers stop dresses that were there in early years of this brand, can't believe that I still wear a dress, bought from their Bangalore outlet , sometime in 2000), hope that the proposed Fabindia outlet here will have more variety. City Center appeals more for its Crossword and Sahib Sindh Sultan, Lumbini has a good Food Bazaar, Basil there is just ok, what with the dearth of veg-restaurants in Hyd. Central of course has lots of stuff, but always crowded; I really enjoyed watching movies at PVR. Closer home is Big Bazaar that has Rajdhani for that authentic desi khana served in huge thalis. Cinemax is more a multiplex on the lines of Prasads. Haven't been to Ashoka mall at the intersection of Road No 12, the Music World there is quite tempting. Maheshwari group is coming up with a mall at Nagarjuna Circle. And I heard there'll be at least too more on Road No.3. I really don't understand how the retail outlets sustain their business with presence in all the malls at the same time...the same brands everywhere.

Malls don't spare me at my workplace too:) There's Inorbit Mall coming up literally next to my office. Doesn't it look like being mall'd from all sides!

2009-05-10T22:36:00.003+05:30

Tata Tea Jaago re Campaign

I liked the Tata Tea "Jaago Re" campaign for its novelty, use of media, innovative approach to social advertising in community building. Check out the link below to know the details of this advert.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Brand-Equity/Blending-tea-leaves-with-ballots/articleshow/4461630.cms

2009-05-10T21:14:00.007+05:30

All of a sudden*

It was a strange moment of nostalgia
Of days that were what I made them to be
When I was in college
Of time that was spent reading, writing, listening to music

Time spent with friends and cousins sharing same interests
Especially in music
Buying, borrowing and sharing cassettes
Saving all that was possible to add to the list of priced possessions
Don Williams, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton, Pink Floyd, Madonna and a long list of favourites
On some holidays a medley of favourite numbers would play on
With the living room door bolted from inside
Often singing along with photocopied lyrics
As siblings we had our choice of music
Love songs vs soft rock
Hindi songs vs English numbers vs Hindi pop
Classical music vs ghazals
On radio and casette players and later walkman
Not to miss an hour long program on Yuva Vani for latest pop numbers

Carpenters took me on a high with "such a feeling" and "there's a kind of hush"
Denver and Williams - my eternal companions
Incurable romantic what I am...
Still never lose a chance to play and replay those favorites
Some evenings with George Michael or Lionel Richie
"Father figure" and "Hello..is it me you are looking for"
Those innumerable hits from Grammies in late 80s and 90s...

I listen to most of them today
But the experience is never the same.

(*Felt really nostalgic when Sandip laid his hands on an old Don Williams cassette and played one of the afternoons in summer...I simply could not control the flight of my thoughts, fondly remembered the time, people and places)

2009-05-10T19:02:00.007+05:30

No real stuff this!

After ages I got interested in following a TV serial. Aired on Real Channel, I felt it was worth a watch... thought this would be different from those never-ending sagas of weeping and wily women in those unreal and utterly non-sensical 'stories'. Called 'Namak Haraam' with Narayani Shastri in lead role it seemed to tread a different track, seemed interesting coz it could have thrown up some relevant conflictual situations faced by several women in decision making roles, perhaps, more so in administrative services. But soon it was not to be...I simply couldn't figure out how a potentially interesting storyline could suddenly get transformed into a mushy love-triangle-sort-of-thing with the actual issues the serial was trying to address getting completely sidelined. Stereotypical characters with typical emotions resurfaced - where has that headstrong character of the District Collector gone? What about issues of idealism in today's world and her dedication to bring in and live the change she wanted to see? Why is a woman in lead always made to show up her emotional side, no matter how tough she is personally and professionally for that inevitable twist in the story?

Call it TRP or competition, can any channel worth its name has some content that is dedicated to real issues? Can it not sustain its viewership on the basis of such content and still compete with other channels? Not sure if we will get back simple and sound drama that communicates and entertains and drives good sense - all at the same time, makes the viewers ask questions, makes them reflect on reality around them... make them socially aware and so on.

2009-04-18T19:32:00.007+05:30

As the democracy matures...

16th April was election time in Hyderabad - a holiday for many private establishments to facilitate their employees to exercise their franchise. It was a nice feeling for me to exercise my vote from my permanent address; I missed the previous elections because of change of address. There's something that made this election different from the previous ones. The awareness and education on the importance of voting, especially for younger generation, who don't relish talking politics. Worth mentioning is the Ads on TV- one by Tata Tea and many other types of awareness campaigns in rural areas. So there was something more than the usual rhetoric and rigmarole.

With each election, the number of parties seem to increase, we seem to move more and more towards coalition governments. This requires sound judgement in positively participating in the process to strengthen our democracy. Being world's largest democracy by itself doesn't mean anything - the challenge lies in evolving the right policies and sustaining our efforts in providing equal opportunities for development through a stable government. It's time we find ways to avoid frequent elections as coalitions may not be able to last a full term, given the fact that each election process drains our exchequer.

The election commission deserves a mention since it's no easy task managing this process efficiently, ensuring that it goes smoothly despite disruptions...in a country as huge as ours, with so many states, union territories that require different administrative processes...in different climatic conditions, difficult terrains, threatening situations, till the counting of votes closes and the verdict is announced.

2009-04-18T19:12:00.009+05:30

You are in queue...please wait

Do we need to be told this in so many words!

Each time I see people crowding around cash counters or registration booths, my hunch gets re-confirmed - there are two different cultural aspects to queuing - one that holds it in utmost reverence, and the other that simply hates to line up and wait. No doubt we Indians belong to the second one. I tried finding a word that means 'queue haters' to describe ourselves, but sadly didn't succeed. Picture this: hotels, airports, train and bus ticket counters, supermarket billing counters, cinema halls even hospital counters... would we ever queue up unless thus instructed or forced?

Given a choice, every Indian would exercise his or her right to demonstrate their 'egality' by standing next to each other than line-up one behind the other. Rather strange way - it's the same behaviour whether in a star hotel or in a fair price shop. Is this some trait of being Indian, something to do with our culture -uniquely ours- we seem to display unacceptable signs of restlessness, impatience and anxiety when in public, jostling and shoving people, as if this was the best way to show off our might.Though I'm not a stickler for rules and disciplinary action, I always felt queuing is one of the significant traits of civilised societies.

This time it has to do with the school function I attended at Future Kid's School at their premises. As soon as the school staff announced that the parents could collects their passes for the show, all the parents simply crowded the make-shift counter near the school gate, making it chaotic for the school staff. I wish one of them had 'enforced' the queue system. What an example these parents were setting for their kids. This may be a very small and 'insignificant' instance, just observe our behaviour at cash-counters in food court and you will see how we spread 'horizontally' around the corner, rather than forming a straight line! I really admired the 'discipline' abroad, whether it's an eatery or any public convenience...lines make it orderly and manageable, I still remember those long queues of visitors patiently waiting for their turn to use the rest room in the Louvre Museum at Paris.

2009-04-18T18:53:00.005+05:30

Beat the heat with cool salads

This summer I'm freaking out on cool melange of fruits,veggies and cereals. I really enjoyed these, so thought I'd share my 'recipes' for a healthy and wholesome diet.

Recipe 1: Cucumbers (unpeeled), pomegranate, musk melon and meusli
Cut cucumbers and musk melon into cubes and toss some pomegranate seeds, top it with meusli for that crunchy bite.

Recipe 2: Cucumbers (unpeeled), apple, carrots and grated beetroot
Cut cucumbers, apple and carrots into tiny cubes, add grated beetroot just before you serve it.

Recipe 3: Watermelons, grapes, cucumbers, pomegranates and pineapples...amazing mix!!! top it with some crunchy Britannia high-fibre or nutrichoice biscuits

Recipe 4: Tomatoes, cucumbers, coriander and moong sprouts...cut tomatoes and cucumbers, add chopped coriander and sprouts, spice it up with some pepper and salt

Recipe 5: Cucumbers and roasted and coarsely ground peanuts....cut cucumbers into cubes and toss in some coarse peanuts, squeeze a dash of lime, salt and jeera powder for that tangy taste!

Recipe 6: Pears, corn, grapes and apple - Cut pears and apple into cubes and mix grapes and boiled corn, add some honeyed cornflakes just before serving it.

There are many more creative and imaginative options to decide what can be 'saladed'...eat fresh and be healthy!

2009-03-13T09:14:00.002+05:30

Robots smile in classrooms

"Unlike more mechanical-looking robots like Honda’s Asimo, the robot teacher, called Saya, can express six basic emotions — surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness — because its rubber skin is being pulled from the back with motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth. ...."

"Japan and other nations hope robotics will provide a solution for their growing labour shortage problem as populations age. But scientists express concern about using a machine to take care of children and the elderly....." Read on...

2009-03-09T09:28:00.003+05:30

Reflections on the global economic crisis

Markandey Katju' s perspective includes reflections on global crisis, Indian economy and role of tax.

"The central problem is not how to increase production, but how to increase the purchasing power of the masses in a grossly iniquitous economy. This is the time for all serious thinkers to address the challenge. "

The problem is also not how to increase demand. The demand is there but people do not have the money to purchase goods. In India, for instance, 70 per cent of the people live on incomes of Rs. 20 a day. This is not sufficient even to buy necessities such as food or medicines, not to speak of durable goods.

The solution to the economic crisis lies in raising the purchasing power of the masses. How this is to be done requires a great deal of thinking and discussion, and all serious thinkers must address this problem facing India, and the world.....Read on...

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/09/stories/2009030950850800.htm
(The author is a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. This article is based on his speech, ‘Global Economic Scenario – Role of Tax Professionals,’ given at the National Tax Conference at Varanasi on March 7, 2009.)

2009-02-22T12:05:00.009+05:30

Time - a great healer

Come February - and I cannot help re-living the recent past however much I try to engage myself in other activities. Each of those days comes back as fresh as today, Feb 22, ....March 11. Even after three years my sense of loss is still the same and I continue to reconcile with eternal truth of what it means to part with your loved one. Several memories flash through as if my mind is working parallelly in past and present while I'm at home or office, cooking or cleaning, reading, talking or writing, driving or walking, awake or asleep.

His pure white Khadi wear and nicely oiled hair
His short tempered outbursts at slight mistakes
His walking stick and spectacles that made him look older
His joyful moments playing with little Shreya
His annoyance at all those strips of medicine
His restlessness when the newspaper got late
His love for tea that was prepared tastefully
His love for early morning bhajans on radio
His tendency to switch off the television when India was losing a cricket match
His neat way of arranging things
His habit of waking up before the world does
His habit of dozing off while watching TV
His habit of reading aloud some interesting stuff in books and showing it to me
His recently acquired interest in solving simple Sudoku puzzles
His sense of bewilderment at computers and Internet
And the list goes on...

It is these images that we capture and preserve in our minds. This is the stuff one leaves behind that gets imprinted in us, and you begin to wonder at the healing power of time. I'm reminded of these lyrics from Boney M:

Time, changer of seasons, time will see another flower growing.
Climb over the mountains, there you'll find warm winds blowing.
Somewhere in the world ...

2009-02-21T18:36:00.004+05:30

Shreya explaining the four seasons and the earth

This was recorded on my mobile phone,when she was reading and explaining from a book. She wasn't aware that I was videoing it.

2009-02-21T11:07:00.018+05:30

Is this a curse of the rocks?

Suddenly everything has come to a standstill. Few months ago the surroundings of my office building were buzzing with several unrestrained quarrying and construction activities and now it's all quiet. It was painful to see such picturesque rock formations razed to ground in no time. And I felt helpless, all I could do was capture these remnants of changing ecology on my lens as they told several tales about the character of my city, as they became the 'silent victims' of the newly emerging cityscape and as the place would never be the same again!

And I became a witness to the sad saga of destruction when dozens of cranes, forklifts , tippers, dump trucks and other 'demons' lay siege of these rocks. I used to watch the events unfold day by day till the rocky surface was quarried, blasted and levelled into plain land ready to be dug to hold the new skyscrapers. Today's it's all changed - there's complete silence, thanks to recession and slowdown in realty and infrastructure sector, things have come to a grinding halt. The activity may pickup again soon but the curse of the rocks cannot be ignored. Here are a few snaps of 'then' and 'now' scenes.

Click here for some news on 'saving the rocks' in Hyderabad:http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/04/stories/2009020458540200.htm

2009-02-21T09:56:00.027+05:30

Of Indian Slums and Englishmen

Sex sells, porn sells, poverty sells too! Especially when it has to do with 'modern mysticism' of urban India in times of ubiquitous call centers, electronic media, reality TV etc- perhaps the only country with such starkly contrasting realities, seamlessly woven in its sociocultural fabric. Sure this movie will break all boxoffice records abroad and get as many awards in various international film festivals. India, in this format has always been a bestseller - in print or cinema like all those images of India constructed by the West for the western audience.

I got a chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire* when it premiered on TataSky, didn't want to miss this much-talked-about movie, that too, when it is being served at the comfort of my living room at a nominal price of Rs.25.Would I have seen it in the theatres? Perhaps not! Too much of publicity often kills interest in watching a movie, especially with so-called 'global recognition' and a plot like slum-kids-poverty.

I knew as an Indian I was watching this movie at my own risk. Having watched it I can't remain silent, a keen student of Cinema that I am. The plot of the movie (and the imminent trend it's going to set with apparent neo-realisitc portrayal of a single aspect of India) was so striking that I shall refrain from going into other themes like the love story, the street smartness of kids, music or screenplay.

Now to the movie - it seems to have all the ingredients that could please the voyeuristic palate of typical 'western' audience when it comes to an Indian subject. I don't think it offered me anything new other than blatant exploitation of people in slums. Very correct, it has nothing for the Indian audience but we are curiously positioned since it is made on our subject, with our actors on our soil. We are caught in a complex interplay of emotions because though the subject is not alien to us it's treatment is!

Sure, for us, poverty is something we live and breathe all around us - be it beggars at traffic signals and places of worship or slums adjacent to our skyscrapers. Poverty is both organized and unorganized - it is 'natural' and inflicted though its 'eradication' is always on top of the agenda for any government. But we don't see the glamour side of poverty - in fact we may be ashamed of it, we feel guilty and we may abhor it and shun it but we don't hesitate in accepting this aspect of our reality. For the west, our slums present a spectacle of human condition with unending scope for dissolute perception and misrepresentation.

When hunger, deprivation, nakedness and homelessness become subjects of attraction for a Westerner especially an Englishman, say Danny Boyle, you know what you can expect..like the stereotypical BBC or CNN. No difference here: instead of those images here you have a collage stitched with a popular game show (an English game show in Indian avatar) , in the backdrop of callcenter and reality TV that present a 'contemporary' India. Because of the similarity of subject, I was suddenly reminded of Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay but later felt that these two are as different and hence there can be no comparison.

The same set of questions arise again: why is Indian media raving and ranting about this film? Why do we/the film industry yearn for 'global' recognition be it Golden Globe or Oscar or whatever, isn't appreciation from our billion - a verdict big enough? There's nothing in this movie that can make any Indian feel great even from cinematic perspective, other than opening up more commercially competitive avenues of making and selling cinema or music (A R Rahman type, btw I love Rahman's music, that's besides the point). True global recognition lies in accepting our reality by others, as we see it in the backdrop of our history, our culture and our unique socio-political milieu - but this will not fetch awards! The west would reward us for what they would like to see in our movies. And I'm sure no self-respecting Indian would stoop so low to make poverty a subject of entertainment at this scale. Don't be surprised if "Indians" get Oscars thanks to this movie - a recognition manipulated and managed by Englishman for Indians with an overt agenda of inviting more on similar subjects. Let's not equate such an 'honour' with Bindra's gold medal in Olympics or similar feats.

*I haven't read the book "Q and A" by Vikas Swarup on which this movie is based.

2009-01-16T00:39:00.002+05:30

Shreya's suggestions

Seeing me drowned in reading, writing and surrounded by books, Shreya was worried and restless that I was not playing with her. She asked me what I was reading and writing.

I found it difficult to explain that I was revising my book based on reviewers' comments coz she thought that I'd already completed it few months ago. She had half-a-dozen queries: why was I writing the book again, what is it about, for whom was I writing it...

I told her I need lot of time for this and once I'm back in office it'd be difficult to concentrate on my book. First suggestion that came from her made me burst out laughing: "see Maasi, you write every evening after coming from office till middle of night...when you go to office, be there till afternoon, then tell your friends , you have a feverish feeling and come back, then again you write". I said that's not right thing to do etc..Otherwise, try this, she said: "when you are in your office, take the microphone and make an announcement to everyone saying you have something important to write and you cannot come for a few days".

Though I was touched by her concern, I could not implement either of her naive suggestions:)

2009-01-11T23:36:00.012+05:30

2009 - already uh?!

2009 has quietly swept me in its fold. I hardly realized that 2008 is already past. Friends asked me "so what's up for 2009" I said, "for me 2008 is still not over".I'm mentally in 2008, funny right? Perhaps because all that I wanted to accomplish in the last year has spilled into the new year. I've extended my 2008 by two more months, so this time it will have fourteen months instead of twelve. Sounds crazy?

Well, that's the spirit with which I shall go ahead this year - non-conforming, rebellious, outspoken and all those qualifiers used by my college friends to describe me during my college days! Who says entering mid-life is like a crisis? Mere thought of my college days makes me feel rejuvenated, much younger, reminding of times when I didn't have to think much about mind-body-soul therapies, haemoglobin and thyroid levels, yoga and detox methods.

I want to re-live those moments in totally new and challenging times - defined by terror trails, political scandals and corporate scams and what not- all in the backdrop of perhaps the worst economic recession. Isn't this what we are into as we herald this year. Sounding cynical? That'd be the last thing for me, i'm just trying to be realistic and calculative in understanding the magnitude of issues that characterise our age. We still continue to do the same old things - new year parties, fireworks, celebrations, greetings, visiting crowded temples...aren't we tired of all this? Some self-indulgent and some meaningless acts of self-mockery - taking shelter in transient experiences devoid of any introspection or self-reflection!

Time to introspect: Just wondering, did I take things very seriously so far? It's high time I change my perspective of looking at things, people, surroundings - I think I need to consciously change my focus and re-set my goals for the next five years. There's lot to do in these years - more for personal satisfaction through social extension than anything else. Not the least, undermining the importance of clocks, calendars, to-do lists and deadlines.

2009-01-01T20:52:00.006+05:30

Some good news for train passengers

Delayed but not denied - the right of every passenger for dignified travel. At last the goverment has realized that it was not worth the 'effort' to add that additional berth in 2nd class and AC 3tier. Read the details at:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/01/stories/2009010155081300.htm
My earlier blog on the same topic can be viewed at:
http://madhurid06.blogspot.com/2008/11/thoda-adjust-kar-lo.html

2008-12-27T06:45:00.008+05:30

A Wednesday

Rarely we come across films that leave an indelible imprint. Something that'll remain etched in your memory and conscience even after days, especially when some scenes keep recurring and reminding you of something...something that makes a point. Is it a valid point? Is it ethical? Is it ideologically sound ... none of these questions seem to matter, what matters is the point made. How the point is made, is it this or that? We really don't care!
This is how I felt watching A Wednesday that premiered on UTV Movies. A movie that said a lot without wasting reels and reels of the film. Astonishingly different perspective as the suspense unravels - perhaps I could not detach myself from it because the Mumbai attacks were still too fresh to disassociate myself from the plot of the film. At the same time I could not take my eyes off the superb portrayal of the key character by Naseeruddin Shah.
A regret - I should've watched it on the big screen, mainly to avoid those long breaks on the TV. I'd love to watch it again as DVDs are already released in the market, this time more to study it as different movie than anything else, because elements like suspense and thrill can hold your breath only during the first viewing.

2008-12-13T18:38:00.025+05:30

Taramati Baradari

Few notes on visiting Taramati Baradari with my office team:
Legend has it that Abdullah Qutub Shah (1614-1676), the grandson of Mohd. Quli Qutub Shah, the founder of Hyderabad was a great lover of music, poetry and dance. An admirer of Taramati, the courtesan, he built the Baradari (pavilion with 12 doorways) for her, close to the Golconda fort. He could hear her sing at the Baradari from the fort. Sounds amazing but not incredible! Remember your visit to Golconda and the awesome acoustics of the fort, and how we marvel at the way it was integrated for entertainment and safety during reign of Qutub Shahi rulers.

Cut to 2008 - there you are, in the midst of smog, noise and the din of a booming metropolis, the new Hyderabad rising to prominence with liberalized economy, globalisation and a preferred destination for job outsourcing. This was my third visit to Taramati Baradari in the last two years and I was stunned at the pace at which the surroundings are getting encroached with high rise buildings and other concrete structures. Very soon, this historic monument may lose its identity as a serene spot tucked away from the humdrum of the city. Taramati Baradari, along with Golconda fort, Qutub Shahi tombs and other heritage monuments are literally getting smothered by the uncompromising array of modern constructions. If these were not located on hillocks, probably one would have missed these landmarks of a city -that tell a thousand tales about its rich culture and heritage.

We were lucky to view the sunset, though not so spectacular as earlier when there were fewer building around this place. However, viewing the moonrise with the Golconda fort as the fainting backdrop presented a maginificent sight to behold.

As the monument gleamed in the dynamic lights of myriad hues, a strange quietness filled the air, occasionally disturbed by the vehicular movement on the road.
We attended the Kuchipudi dance performance by Raja Reddy and Radha Reddy in the auditorium (sad, it was not in the open air theatre, perhaps it was too big for this event, as the turn out of people was quite poor). This was organized by APTDC as a part of the Taramati festival. Dinner at Haritha restaurant was just a random pick of rice and curries, since the restaurant was more focused on serving the special invitees for the dance program and the tourists.

2008-12-03T22:54:00.005+05:30

TV - An idiot box?!

No way! According to my six year old niece Shreya. This evening she seemed to be in a real good mood while I was helping her solve some puzzles in Young World in The Hindu. She was pretty much in listening mode so I made an attempt trying to tell her to cut down on TV. Like other kids of her age she's terribly addicted to kids' channels. Coz of this, she sometimes get shouted at by all of us. Also, today's newpaper carried a story called 'Why children should stay clear of the idiot box?' Taking a cue from this story, I hoped my effort in explaining the ill-effects of TV would help in weaning her away, earnestly.

I began by telling Shreya how when we were kids there were hardly any programs on TV especially for kids, how we would spend time playing outside, or going to the library, listening to music, how my father had once put the TV set on the loft while our exams were approaching and so on. She listened to me intently, then I told her someone who watches TV all the time is called a couch potato and why TV is called an idiot box.

The moment she heard me saying idiot box, she immediately retorted "...how could it be an idiot, it makes your brain smart, it tells you about places and animals, and you watch so much news, you learn so much....", she went on defending the TV programs. I tried my best to tell her that these are good programs but she should not watch all that is shown indiscriminately, I happened to mention some Japanese serials, that show a lot of violence etc....pat came her reply: my karate teacher speaks Japanese, I'm learning karate, it's from Japan, it is very good...."

I had no words for her, I started wondering is TV really an idiot box, may not be, it all depends on the kind of channels you watch!

2008-11-30T22:40:00.007+05:30

Treat the disease and not the symptoms

Terrorist attacks seem to have become cyclical events. Let's live with the reality and face it boldly. I tell myself. Is the worst yet to come? I wonder. Another dangerous trend is our acceptance of these events and our inbuilt resilience to carry on with life, albeit with symbolic protests - lighting candles, holding peace marches and so on. Even more dangerous is the emerging stoicism of people as if nothing ever happened. Business is as usual. But is it really? The inability to question and reflect on one's predicament is one of the signs of a people that is myopic and missing the big picture.

Today, the television was filled with 'postmortem' on 26/11/08. Views, analysis, discussions - mostly bringing to the fore the inevitable blame games, bickerings - so sickening to watch it all!! Is this what we should be talking? Is this how a chief minister, acccompanied by family and friends visit the affected site as if it were some 'ordinary' object of curiosity seen during that post-dinner stroll? I simply fail to understand the presence of Ramgopal Varma in his entourage!! Perhaps he wanted to get first hand 'inspiration' for another blockbuster, from the charred remains of the hotel, apparently tired of copying Hollywood flicks! What was Sagarika Ghosh upto on CNN-IBN? Yelling at that top of her voice in her interaction with two senior retired IPS officers... trying to prove, defend, analyse and what not. Is this the way to address the issues? Why do we always react and never believe in being proactive? Why do we always treat the symptoms and not the disease? A disease that is deeply rooted in the way we are evolving, internally as a nation. Being vulnerable to terrorist attacks is one of the symptoms. The disease is more serious.

Confronting terrorism demands us to be a nation, a nation that can proudly face these destructive elements. A nation that puts the collective consciousness before its individual motives. A nation that does not stay content and complacent with sacrifices of policemen and commandos but thinks beyond. A nation that examines its hypocrisies and illusions. Is it really possible to achieve such lofty ideals in today's India? India - where politics is getting more parochial than ever, where state are getting further divided into smaller regions motivated by vested interests of some sections. Factional politicians should remember - when Mumbai was burning and bleeding it was not merely the local leaders who came to the forefront to save her, but people speaking different languages and representing different cultures. Then why do we put up with people who still believe in dividing and ruling ...religion, region, caste, socio-economic reasons...you name it we have all in India, innumerable ways to break the people.

Now that we are into an era of coalition governments where it's a pure game of numbers each party vying for power, risking stability and sustained administration. Frequent elections drain our exchequer, frequent elections are a sign of decaying democracy. Do we need a basic constitutional reform from the perspective of coalitions? How can we present ourselves as a strong and unified country to the rest of the world?

2008-11-30T10:00:00.003+05:30

This Maestro is beyond awards

This writeup on Pt. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi appeared in The Hindu when he was conferred Bharat Ratna the highest civilian honour in India, tells us about Panditji's youth and the rigorous training the maestro had undergone under his guru Sawai Gandharva. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/11/23/stories/2008112350190500.htm

2008-11-29T17:10:00.010+05:30

26/11 - Rape of human sensibility

Writing, it is said, is one of the outlets for releasing that accumulated angst, anger and anguish. Especially, when your thoughts are maimed by certain events beyond your control and you feel incapacitated in more ways than one. I write these lines as I watch, read and reflect on the gory events that eerily unfolded since the late hours of 26/11/08 when Mumbai was marauded for her magnificence, benevolence and tolerance.

Those unforgettable sixty hours
Glued to their televisions were millions of Indians
And people from rest of the world
Watching one of the worst, heinous and despicable
Acts of timidity and barbarity
Unfolding in unperceivably obscene manner
Targeting hotels, hospital and railway terminus
Involving people from different countries, faiths
Innocent people, most vulnerable
Blindly slain, held hostage or massacred in cruelest manner
Perhaps the most abhorrent terrorist attack

Was it merely the city of Mumbai that was marauded?
Was it just the siege of an iconic heritage structure?
Certainly not!
An act of unimaginably inhuman magnitude
Planned and executed with such precision
Impacting the human psyche in ways impossible to frame in words
Probably worse than any act of physical violence

To me, it was a rape of human sensibility
Outraging the modesty of human values
A rape by gang of misled youth
suicidal and
Unconscious of their dastardly deeds
Driven and used by destructive agencies
Unabashed by sights of human carnage
While meeting their target in the form of numbers killed

Leaving more questions than answers
As we count the dead and injured
As we mourn the martyrs
As we assess the damage done to the edifices
As we wonder when normalcy would be restored
As we listen to the victims and survivors sharing their experiences
As we empathize and choke
As we sleep and wake up
As we...

Little realizing that
If anyone is to be blamed, it is us!

2008-11-16T22:36:00.010+05:30

Haritha - 7 Kms

Typical Hyderabadi weekend when cyclone hits the coastal AP, especially in early winter - cloudy skies, light drizzle, chill breeze - perfect weather for snugging up in the cozy corner of one's home, snacking on some hot tea and muffins, perhaps catching up with some reading as well. This time I wanted to do something different since I badly needed a break from daily chores, especially that inevitable visit to Ratnadeep for vegetables and other stuff.

None of us wanted to remain indoors, just felt like unwinding, may be go for a refreshing long drive that would take us away from the din of the city, at least for some hours. We started and drove towards NH7. Sandip was keen on some bird-watching, armed with his camera and binoculars. We could not see many birds though, mainly due to the inclement weather. We crossed Medchal and were about to reach Toopran, I badly wanted to have some tea, so thought we would stop at Reliance Plaza, unfortunately it was closed. We were unable to see any tea vendors around, then Sandip spotted a signboard on the right pointing to Haritha (the APTDC restaurant). I took a turn and entered into a road that showed Haritha 7 kms. To our surprise it turned out to be a lush green driveway that connected to Gajwel about 25kms away.

Serendipity - was my word of the day for this splendid Sunday!!!

This lovely road had some green and golden paddy, potatoes and other vegetables farms lined up on both sides of the road, neatly interspered with sugarcane and some mango orchards. There were some ponds too, that make it look even more picturesque. We stopped for a while, since we found some rare birds near the waterbodies. The panoramic view was simply exhilarating. However, we could not find Haritha anywhere on this road. Half way through there was a temple, wondered if it was a famous pilgrim spot, and concluded that the restaurant would be in the temple complex. We were not sure about it, coz the temple did not seem big enough to be promoted by APTDC. Nevertheless, we did not slow down near the temple, the place was too crowded with people since it was an auspicious day for vanabhojanam. We reached Gajwel and took a right turn to state highway that connected to Shamirpet. It said Hyderabad 60 kms. Towards our right we spotted a big Haritha restaurant, but we weren't prepared to turn back. Was this the restaurant that the signboard pointed to, we speculated ? It was exactly 27 kms from that point? May be the '2' before '7' got erased from the signboard? Were there two restaurants by the same name within such a short distance? We were just wondering trying to solve the Harita puzzle, but thanks to the Haritha signboard we got to drive through some pleasantly serene avenues, full of rustic charm, that made us hard to believe that we were just 60-70 kms away from Hyderabad.

2008-11-16T22:28:00.003+05:30

Rajma Art

One of those evenings, when Shreya decides to keep herself away from the TV, toys and books and gets really creative. Here's her piece of art done with Rajma (dried kidney beans). She kept it in tact till I reached home from office so that I could capture it in my camera. There is a story behind the scene, it had to do with a man and his car...

2008-11-13T09:35:00.013+05:30

Thoda adjust kar lo...in 'Garib Raths'

Normally, passengers in trains adjust and oblige with lower berths for senior citizens and expecting mothers considering the fact that they cannot not get into middle or upper berths. Now, it looks like Indian Railways have made it their motto by asking everyone to adjust. And we Indians seem to be good at the art of adjusting with anything and everything even if it means risk to our lives. Look at the way the new AC 3tier coaches are designed. I managed to dig out this newpaper report on 'redesign of coaches'.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rlys_will_add_a_third_aisle_berth_to_AC_sleeper_bogies/articleshow/1947084.cms

In the last couple of months I travelled thrice to Bangalore by three different trains - Kacheguda-Bangalore Express, Kacheguda Yashwantpur Express and Bangalore Rajdhani Express. I've been travelling by trains for years, but this time the exprience in AC-3 tier in Bangalore trains including Rajdhani Express has been harrowing to say the least. Well, in Rajdhani too, the bedsheets and blankets seem to have remained unwashed for ages! Thanks to Lalu Prasad Yadav's Garib Rath and new management concepts for Indian Railways, all normal AC-3 Tiers have been re-designed and converted to nine passengers per compartment. Several compromises seem to have been made in terms of quality of service, infractructure and so on. This new idea may have helped Indian Railways fill the coffers but for the common person it spells trouble. Now nine people share the seats which is originally meant for eight. We have three side berths and with AC fluctuations it gets suffocating. The 'unfortunate' ninth passenger with a confusing odd number who gets the side middle berth remains at the mercy of other passengers for his/her seat during the day time.

Where are the principles of design and usability in the whole coach re-design process? I guess these have been sacrificed for better revenue for railways. With the introduction of an extra berth the lower and upper berth spaces are very congested, forget about sleeping, you cannot even lie down properly, wonder how someone who's more than 5-5" adjusts in this space. What if the passenger is on the heavier side and gets the side middle berth? Is there a weight-limit? What about the way these berths are folded? There are several issues like this that one gets to think of ....

Note: The pics in this blog are from the Internet and not from the train in which I travelled.

2008-11-05T22:12:00.003+05:30

Kids' dance party

Watch out Shreya and Pratham dance on Mithu's birthday.

2008-10-03T19:22:00.002+05:30

An artificial plant for a nest!

This is really incredible! Birds turning from natural habitat to articifial flora for nesting and bringing up their fledglings! Here's the link to the story that appeared in THE HINDU on 3rd OCt 08.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/03/stories/2008100360980400.htm

2008-10-03T18:38:00.013+05:30

Welcome to Sajjanpur

Like every year, this year too, my birthday was more or less predictable: greetings from friends and family members, a treat at a restaurant, some moments of reflection at the end of the day. The best part of my birthday was the surprise the movie Welcome to Sajjanpur had for me - it was such a different movie from Benegal! A Shyam Benegal film is something I'd always look forward to - but this time it made my day special - it's such a lovely, enjoyable movie coming from the master storyteller! Shreyas Talpade in this stellar role and Amrita Rao as the female lead reminded me of another hit pair of the 80s- Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval.

Hilarious, yet heartrending at the same time, this effortless and breezy style of comedy - with a strong social message though , makes an apt satirical comment on the present day Indian village. Comedy as a genre is skillfully handled, so deftly that all the harshness of human condition is neatly hidden behind the humor, thus unleashing the power of cinema as a medium that can effectively convey meaningful messages .A village with 0% literacy cannot be a figment of someone's imagination, it's indeed a sad reflection on how we are still grappling with problems like illiteracy even after six decades of independence (where literacy is equated with being able to put one's signature on paper).

The ease with which the story develops, meanders and flows through the people and their lives in this village never leaves a dull moment even as it makes you think while laughing out loud. Be it - the rubber snake carried by the snake charmer in the background of the government banning cruelty on animals, the Sarpanch bullying Mahadev, Kamala's surprise when she receives a reply from Bansi or Munnibai's ability to sign on the paper as against the former Sarpanch who cares two hoots about literacy, or when he meets Mahadev asking him to write a letter to the collector requesting for safety. In fact, the down-to-earth depiction of social reality can beat any big budget block buster in its entertainment value (only limiation is its Hindi dialect).

It is interesting to see how the present day disillusionment is turned into a delightfully entertaining story, told in a lighter vein, reflecting on the lopsidedness of so-called development and its social agenda. Amazingly, there 's not a single instance of preachy sermons and long drawn, patronizing monlogues on how things should change etc etc. All the same it's so contemporary - SEZ, Singur, nuclear policy, a eunuch winning elections, people blinded by superstitions - you find all of them etched, tacitly or explicitly, on the canvas where the protagonist, who has the rare distinction of being a graduate earns his living by writing letters, by helping people and 'manipulate' their for social good.
There could be several Sajjanpurs in India. If we believe that movies have the potential to become change agents, this could be one of them!

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a review of the movie.

2008-10-03T13:23:00.007+05:30

Chattees - buffet and BBQ

Occasion - my birthday treat on 1st October. We drove down from office to - Chattees, the relatively new restaurant on Road # 36, Jubilee Hills. We opted for the buffet and BBQ- the spread was quite exhaustive. The fare was delectable, especially, the kababs and tandoori veg and non-veg on the skewer getting BBQeued right in the middle of the table. The kofta in palak gravy and glazed vegetables tasted good and stood out from the rest of the dishes.

Perhaps, the BBQ at your table is what distinguishes it from other similar restaurants. However, the skewers ate away quite some space on the table. And I wondered how it would feel during summer to have the burning charcoal and spicy fumes in the middle of the table, even if the AC is on. It may not be all that good to visit this place in summer. Moreover, I didn't like this idea very much coz the skewers were hardly heated at our table as the kababs and tandoori stuff were left cold. On the whole, food was good - both veg and non-veg (certified by my friends who relish non-veg), thought the service left a lot to be desired.

The location and ambience are okay. It's one of those residential bunglows converted into a restaurant. Now the new Pantaloons outlet has blocked the view from this restaurant. Another not-so-pleasant-experience at this place - artificial 'lawns' with plastic grass spread all over and the noise all around with lot of construction activity in the neighborhood.

2008-09-30T11:23:00.000+05:30

A message in the rumour

Things are falling apart again, the capitalist centre of America is unable to hold, to bail the financial firms out from the worst-ever crisis. The global financial terra firma is shaken, markets are in turmoil, the tremors are being felt everywhere in the world. How can the city of Hyderabad be left behind?

At 9.30 pm, I get a call from my friend, "you know something there is no money in ICICI Bank ATMs, people are queuing up like mad! running helter-skelter, if you have any money in your account , go and withdraw soon!" It was such an odd hour at night. I told him, "don't worry it could be a rumour and the ensuing bank holiday must be adding to the anxiety."

For a moment I wondered, what if...eventhough ICICI bank is rated almost on par with some nationalised banks in India...what if it really happens, for all you know banks can go bankrupt anytime especially if they've risen fast, the fall could be faster! Hey, but it can't be like quicksilver, I calmed myself, though I did have some money in my account. The global financial meltdown is sure to impact our banks, but not so soon, I comforted myself.

Next day, the newspaper reported that it was all a rumour. Perhaps yes or perhaps no! but a 'rumour' compounded by the irresponsible role played by media, especially the local TV channels. Naturally, it led to people panicking, running to various ATMs, not realizing that ATMs can hold only limited number of currency notes. In fact, someone told me, 'you can be very lucky if this bank really closes down, coz your housing and car loans are from the same bank!' I certainly wouldn't have liked that at any cost! I also heard that some people were finding ways to use up their money with their debit cards in anticipation of the worst scenario! How apprehensive one could get!

However, there was an underlying message in this turmoil. How volatile private banking could be, the necessity to maintain a balance between public and private sector banks. That could be one of ways of mitigating the risks involved in present day banking.

2008-09-29T16:58:00.000+05:30

Crowning glory for the melody queen

It was Lata Mangeshkar's 80th birthday on 28th Sept 08. I came across this interesting news item. Such a lovely way to honor the person you admire. It's hard to come by such passion and admiration for music these days. I feel like blogging this news, managed to find it on the Internet. Here it goes:

"A die-hard fan of legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar will put 28,000 gramophone records of her songs for public view on the eve of singer's 80th birthday on September 28.
Suman Chourasia claims that he has spent his all earnings in collecting gramophone records of Lata Mangeshkar, who was born in Indore in the year 1929. Chourasia (59) along with his friends has decided to set up a museum of his collection in Indore so that it becomes a permanent memory for her large number of fans.
His collection has songs, 'ghazals', 'qawwali' and Sufi songs sung by Mangeshkar. The museum was set in a 1600 square feet area full of records of Mangeshkar.
However, he said that he was not still content with his collection and was looking for 1300 more gramophone records of her, which he said he will collect at any cost. He informed that he has named the museum as ‘Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar Gramophone Record Museum’ and added that he has travelled thousands of kilometers to collect these rare records.
Chourasia, who runs a small eateries shop in front of the railway station here said that for those doing research on Lata Mangeshkar, he has constructed two rooms in the museum so that they can have access to the rare collection. "

Courtesy: http://www.apunkachoice.com/happenings/20080927-0.html

2008-09-29T16:03:00.000+05:30

My bilingual niece

When Maansi talks to me on phone I'm constantly reminded of my reading in the field of language acquistion, especially child language acquisition during my M.Litt course at CIEFL. Maansi is soon-to-be-three year old. She is equally fluent in Kannada (mothertongue) and Hindi (fathertongue). At home she spends most of her time with her Ajji and ocassionally Muthajji - both speak to her in Kannada. Her mother uses Kannada, Hindi and English. At school it's English and ocassionally Kannada. Her friends speak Kannada, so is the neighbourhood. Some interesting observations about Maansi:

1. When I talk to her it's always Hindi, even if I ask her in Kannada (I can manage short sentences) she replies in Hindi. She is very clear that with me and my mother it has to be Hindi.

2. She can parallelly talk in both languages - the other day I heard her giving instructions to her Ajji in Kannada while she was talking to me in Hindi.

3. Sometimes she indulges in code-mixing and code-switching like 'Kal raja hai na' (tomorrow is a holiday). Since her Kannada vocabulary seems to be richer than Hindi, I sometimes heard her using kannada words when she could not find the Hindi evquivalent like 'gombe' for gudiya or a doll.

Another interesting fact about her is her ability to carry on long conversations on phone when she's in a mood for it. She monopolizes the phone, engaging me with her rhymes, songs, gossip about her friends and other general stuff. The other day I tried speaking to her in English, since it was a Sunday I asked her ' Maansi, are you going out somewhere?' Prompt came the reply ' no out going:)' Signs of becoming an omniglot kid like many others! Another kid, my friend's son, converses with ease in at least four languages. I haven't had the chance to interact with him much. His name is Aarav, about five years old - fluent in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and English, I'm not sure how much he's exposed to Hindi. My other niece Shreya mostly speaks Hindi but is quite fluent at English. She's on her way to pick up Oriya. Though she does not speak in Telugu I guess she understands it.

2008-09-29T15:36:00.000+05:30

Back after a short break

I'm back to blogging after a short break. In fact, during this break I have written several pages, editing them, revising them and re-composing them! what a pleasurable experience. I enjoyed writing, the sheer bliss of holding a pencil and jotting down those first thoughts and then composing the lines, keying them on the laptop... I thought I was living my dream, writing several pages that would eventually form into a book. Not creative writing, I'm working on professional and specialized book.

Many a times, I would not remember what time of day it was as I was thoroughly preoccupied with the chapters and sections. There were days when I would lay awake trying to catch some sleep, thinking about a paragraph, and get up at an odd hour to scribble the lines in my notepad. There was a phase when I was just short of becoming a 'social recluse' as I treated everyone who was not connected with my book as an obstruction in the flow of my writing.

The experience was quite similar to my thesis-writing days, it had the same kind of duress and perseverance. However I must mention one main difference. This was the absence of a concern, a voice that would ask me 'aren't you tired of writing, why are you working so hard, sleep now...do it tomorrow.' Those used to be my father's words when I would work as if there was no tomorrow. Such words, and a concern coupled with a curiosity of what I used to write (though he did not have a deep knowledge about the subjectmatter)... I missed these immensely in the present writing project.

How I wish I could write more! At a certain point I needed to put a break and get back to my 'normal' routine.

2008-09-29T14:43:00.000+05:30

Har ghar yeh keheta hai, andar isme kaun reheta hai!

I feel these lines from a popular paint advt are written especially for a person like me! I really don't care much about immaculate cleaning and dusting type of work since I'm not one of those 'log-kya-kahenge-if-I-don't...types'. I'm okay with little bit of dust on the windows or little bit of grease in the kitchen; isn't this what differentiates a home from a house!!! More so, because of my dust allergy that I'm prone to, now it's reached a maturity level where Cetrizine, Allegro, Actifed or Alerid hardly have any effect. At the same time I've no option but do these 'detestable' things, well if I don't take care of my house who else will? When such a thought crosses my mind I immediately de-prioritize my other activites and get down to brooms, brushes, sprays and cleaners. Of course, I regularly act upon such thoughts, sometimes inevitably, there could be a long gap where I need to concentrate on my core activites.

Who would not want his or her house to look tidy, neat and clean! Though not a finicky spick-and-span-clean-home type, I get into a cleaning spree when I can't take the dust anymore on window grill, ceiling fans or other things in the house. Our windows are sliding-type but the grills and glass panes are peculiarly placed. Cleaning the glass is almost impossible without some specially designed brushes or sprays. I usually insert my hand through the grill and brush it from outside. After a while my hand begins to hurt. What a design! I keep cursing the architect for having thought so little about window design and usability. On some windows that face the road, the dust settles stubbornly. There is very little space between the grill and the glasspane; here only a vacuum cleaner can help. And for people like me who cannot hold the vaccum cleaner for a long time, it adds to my woes. I get a peculiar pain in my forehand my I hold the vaccuming pipe for long. My windows can never look immaculate, no matter how much I try to clean them, the outer side is simply is not reachable. Why can't things be made simple?

This time I had another challenge. This had to do with the wooden unit on which we have placed our TV and music system. When I got this unit custom-made I insisted on a 'wireless' look behind these entertainment gadgets. I wanted all those ugly and dangling cables and wires to be hidden behind the equipment so that it looks neat. What about cleaning! I don't think I gave it a serious thought, otherwise I would have made some provision for easy way to disconnect and remove it while cleaning. This was a real painstaking task. Removing the TV and keeping it back was not that bad, however pushing and pulling the wires through a single hole at the back of the central unit-top demanded some real gymastic skills. I had to repeatedly bend and get into the compartment below, often hurting my back as I had no idea how I could bend so low and then push the wire from under the hole and so on! The problem took a grave turn when I had to fix the music system. The speakers wires had to be pulled in from tiny hole in the central unit. I'm sure these holes were made adhoc by the carpenter when he realised the length of the speaker wires was not that long. There was no way I could move the central unit, the wires had to be first placed into the hole and pulled in ... what a pain!!! the speakers had to be connected to the music system and then the main plug of the system had to be pushed out from the hole behind. How could I not think of any of these issues when this great piece was made ? I wondered, feeling helpless. Finally I managed to put things in order and checked if the wires were connected properly. It did!! Wow! Now I was able to relax, watch TV, play music... slowly I sensed the pain again, every part of my body began to ache, severe muscular pain, it was agnozing to say the least. A lovely Sunday was lost lying on the sofa, I simply could not get up, even after a Brufen tablet and some Myolaxin.

2008-06-01T20:37:00.000+05:30

In a league of his own…

I was pleasantly surprised and felt very fortunate to watch Manna Dey's interview in the "Being" series on CNN-IBN on the occasion of releasing his autobiography. However, as the interview progressed it was not a very nice thing to hear (for a huge Manna Dey fan like me) that he could never become of the voice of one hero of his time, as was the case with other singers of his age. Perhaps, this was with reference to some facts mentioned in his autobiography...how Manna Dey still 'regrets things he could not achieve or how he could have done things differently if..". Later the interviewer rightly pointed out that it is this 'distinguishing' fact that made him a unique singer who is remembered and admired for his scintillating or soulful numbers than the heroes or situations on which the songs were picturized. We find it difficult to remember whether it was Ashok Kumar or Bharat Bhushan or Raj Kapoor. Think of the ageless masterpieces like ‘ poochoo na kaise main raein bitayee’ ‘tum bin jeevan kaisa jeevan’ or ‘sur na sajee kya gaoon main’ , 'zindagi kaisi hai paheli haae’, ’… these will remain all-time favorites as long as we have music lovers on this planet.

Manna Dey is incomparable, his voice is rooted in Indian classical music, for him a song is more than a mere composition of words, evidently this is what differentiates him from other ‘playback’ singers, he never interpreted the song for a particular actor by modulating his voice or style, he treated it as ‘song’ with its own identity devoid of where or how it’s going to be shown… the conversation touched upon his struggle in life to ‘prove’ himself when there were ‘better singers’ as he claims, referring to Kishore Kumar, Mohd.Rafi, Hemant Kumar and others. His versatility is what makes him a different singer from the rest. Needless to say...today several decades later the scene is completely different...we have half-a-dozen singers singing for the same superstar in one movie.

Though an octogenarian now, Manna Dey still believes in regular ‘riyaz’ and the need to excel and do better than he did before. How humbling it is to hear from a great master, in an age that lives and dies for instant fame, success and luck. Isn’t there something for all of us to learn!
Here are a few lines from his private album:
Sunsaan jamuna ka kinaara
Pyaar ka antim sahara
Chandni ka kafan oodhe
So raha kismat ka mara
Kisse poochoo main bhala ab dekha kahin mumtaz ko
Meri bhi ek mumtaz thi.

2008-05-15T12:24:00.000+05:30

On Tenterhooks Again

The phone rings, I pick up
“Watch the news, quick, bomb blasts in Jaipur”
I switch to news channel
Seven of them in less than thirty minutes!
And the media…they are at it again.
Familiar scenes, blood, mutilated bodies and other gory details
Too soon for a mind that hasn’t yet forgotten Hyderabad or Mumbai
People on tenterhooks again

Alerts resounded … How frequently? At such regular intervals?
“Meticulously planned mass murder of such magnitude,” everybody reacts
Police, government, people all over
Was it RDX, was it something else
Were they from Bangladesh or Pakistan?
Help is assured, bodies are kept in morgues
Cell phones of dead are used for conveying the news to their dear ones
Half lived lives, these young men, ill-fated and hapless victims
Their people crying, helplessly at the loss
Panic spreads, life is threatened
People on tenterhooks again

Stoic reaction to this barbaric act
Matter-of-fact kind of approach to deal with terror
If we don’t hear of such terror attacks periodically
We feel something is missing
Bane of modern life
Curse of this century - Terrorism
Temples scan coconuts before offering them to God
At Churches, Mosques and Gurudwaras very soon security men may outnumber visitors.
People on tenterhooks again

Next morning, my little niece looks at the newspapers and screams “bomb blasts again”
Kids of this generation will grow up differently- I tell myself.
I get ready and leave for my office.

2008-05-15T10:58:00.000+05:30

The Tale of my Toenail

“Is it going to be very painful”, I asked the surgeon.
“Yes, the injections are a little painful – three shots for local anesthesia”, said the surgeon.
I was in two minds again – to go ahead with the surgery or not.
“What is the other option”, I asked.
“You can take a course of antibiotics and painkillers and see me again after five days, then the chances of infection on the affected area would be less. But surgery cannot be avoided”, he asserted.

Sounds like a serious matter right? Can’t believe that the seemingly innocuous toenail can take you to the casualty ward of a hospital. I was mentally preparing myself for the inevitable pain and agony and decided to go for it. I firmly told myself: It is better to solve the problem than endure its symptoms.

“We can do it right away, it may take an hour for the whole process, you need to take rest for two days and then visit me for removing the sutures”. As I needed someone to be with me for help I went home and brought my sister along with me.

There I was, lying on the operation ‘table’ (which was actually a stretcher), grimacing at the nurse who was trying to adjust the focused lamp on my foot, telling her about my phobia of needles and syringes and how I can’t stand the sight of blood. She laughed and told me that it’ll not be that painful. The surgeon reassured me that it’ll be okay soon. Nevertheless, deep in my heart I was actually very scared, I didn’t want to show it up, because I had decided to be bold and undergo this intervention. For everything there has to be a first time, isn’t it?

“You can see what I’m doing”, he said, “oh, no I won’t I’m scared” I immediately blurted out. “Okay, then relax” he comforted. First, I saw that he applied the yellowish brown solution on my toes and part of my foot. Then he asked the ward boy to bring some surgical instruments and the nurse was ready with three syringes. This sight was enough for me to shut my eyes turn my head and tell myself that it’s going to be fine soon.

Just then, I could feel three syringes being pricked in three different points of my big toe. I shrieked with pain. Next minute it was comfortably numb. I have no idea how the ingrown portion of the nail was removed, towards the end of the process I could feel that the skin was being tacked up. I asked him, “how long will it take for healing, will I be able to walk, drive, and carry on with routine soon?” He laughed and said, “Till now you were scared of surgery and now you are worried about healing”. He informed me about the precautions. I was advised to lie down for sometime before leaving the hospital.

The ‘real’ pain began after four hours of surgery when my toe was getting back to senses, it continued in spite of painkillers. I endured. I took all precautions not to hurt myself at this most exposed part of the body. I patted myself for this show of ‘courage’. I’m so glad now - my fear of injections and surgical instruments has considerably reduced. At least, that's how I'm feeling at this point in time:)

2008-05-06T19:57:00.000+05:30

Honey, they're eating away my food!

"Earlier they took away our jobs and now look, they're eating away our food! Why are they grabbing our food? What are they upto? How dare they can afford such a prosperous life! Aren’t they supposed to remain ‘poor and undernourished’ as they were in the past? We never realised the magnitude of this problem, look at their teeming numbers, just the middle classes alone outnumber our entire population and we hear that their poor classes are also on their way to improving their lifestyles. Honey! you know something? These intimidating Indians are also adding to global fuel scarcity, do you know how many cars get sold in India each day? Isn’t it a pity that we are facing the worst food crisis because middle class Indians are able to afford superior quality food. Very soon they’ll overtake us in terms of consumption and I’m getting almost paranoid at the very thought that they may dictate terms in managing the global economy! I will not let this happen, certainly not, I hope they remember what we did in Iraq when we found a threat to the civilization in the form of Saddam… as you know the problem here is not that simple; it’s not one person but 350 million Indian middle classes…life sucks!"

Give me a break Mr. Bush (and Ms Rice), it’s so sad to see that your knowledge of Indian middle classes is so limited, dangerous and superficial, you seem to be addressing the ‘nouveau riche’ upwardly mobile classes who swear by brand America, blatantly flaunting their consumerist attitude especially in food; consuming tons of Lays chips, Coke and Pepsi, Pizzas, McDonalds, Tropicanas, Washington Apples, Kelloggs Corn Flakes, ActII pop-corns, sweet corns, chewing gums, chocolates, etc etc…the truth is such Indians are a just a handful of the total billion plus population. The real middle classes are born thrifty, they struggle to earn and save for their children’s education and marriage, for building a house of their own. This class restrains from indulging in wasteful expenditure on food and prefers to cook their meals buying stuff from local grocery shop and enjoying with their families and friends. Rarely you come across such people splurging money on anything beyond simple necessities. Then, there are lower middle classes for whom managing a square meal a day is an ordeal. They strive to make their ends meet by saving on food and other expenses. Then, there are millions of those who live below the poverty line. Then, there are those who die of starvation and malnutrition. Here I'll not get into the argument about how much we produce and consume in our country or why there is so much poverty or why farmers commit suicide...

Where I’m in complete agreement with you is the fact that our country is unfortunately getting flooded with many things American; today people are spending a lot to buy and eat the junk served in your franchisee eateries, sadly and inadvertently profiting your economy. Perhaps your blinkered vision is drawing parallels and extrapolating this trend to be the ultimate truth about our country and various strata of our society, particularly the middle classes. Thanks to the ‘glocal’ food habits the upper middle classes are not aware of the hidden risks they take while adapting our food habits to your taste. But Mr. Bush, please be corrected – the actual middle classes have always been eating healthy homemade food unlike the tons of pre-packaged frozen food consumed in your country. It’s time you did some homework before making a mockery of Indians with your unthoughtful and outrageous statements. Same applies to Ms. Rice.

2008-05-06T19:46:00.000+05:30

Cricket - the next level

Cricket, as we knew it for so long, will never be the same again! It’s redefined and re-engineered beyond its original identity. It's moved far beyond color and glitz added by glam-girls like Mandira Bedi. It’s packaged for media, for TRPs and for entertainment. It’s produced and directed by Bollywood and business badshahs. It can only be matched with horse racing and no other sport. It is meant to excite your passions in whatever way – from cheergirls and other props to the actual players on the field. It’s supposed to arouse your erotic sensibility while watching the game as you would while watching a movie or a soap on TV.

It is played and lost for money, it is not a ‘sport’ anymore. It’s a neatly crafted gamble and we are expected to enjoy the sensationalism associated with it. At stake are millions of dollars, with a hefty price tag for each player. Perhaps it will take time for old time fans of this game to accept its new format and frenzy. The fact remain- it lost its credibility as a character building sport long ago thanks to the matches fixed by the respected team members. Wondering what is in store in its new avatar...well, wait and watch. Did I hear someone say Advt revenues;)

2008-04-24T09:20:00.000+05:30

Leaving sport culturally impoverished
by Nirmal Shekar

Compression kills sport; it gnaws away at sport’s artistic aspirations, its claim to aesthetic élan. Art, and sport, cannot aspire for the high ground when they are condensed to the perpetual climax of the present.
The best of sport allows for the pause. It lets us sit back and savour the has-been and dream of the still-to-come. Nothing that is breathless — and therefore leaves no room for a complex cognitive process leading to emotional fulfillment — can lay claims to sporting greatness.
For complete article check out: http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/24/stories/2008042460052100.htm

2008-04-13T21:00:00.000+05:30

Scorching, sizzling Sagar

Perhaps, it may not have been the ideal time to visit Nagarjunasagar in the second week of April. Since we were planning for a long time but never managed to get the rooms booked at the APTDC guest house, we decided to go ahead as we finally got the rooms. The drive was quite smooth as there was hardly any traffic after we crossed the city. We tried for the launch to visit Nagarjunakonda as soon as we reached. The next available boat was at 1.30pm. And what a boating experience it was! So many steps to climb both ways in that sweltering heat - to get into the boat and after getting down at Nagarjunakonda- it was least pleasing in that scorching mid afternoon. The water levels had receded quite significantly, and the dam road is closed for general public so we had to drive some extra kilometers to reach the launch station.

In the evening we visited Ethipothala waterfalls. This was a soothing experience - the place is done up quite well, the illuminated waterfalls and some instrumental music to create the right ambience. The cool breeze and comforting scenic surroundings negated some of the harshness of the sun we felt in the afternoon. The next morning I spent most of my time sitting in the balcony of my room and enjoying the serene blue expanse of water. The stay was quite comfortable, though the stuff for lunch could be made less spicy to avoid adding to the heat of summer! One observation: This place hasn't undergone any remarkable change in terms of eco-tourism, may be because of some inherent limitation in its location.

2008-04-09T13:17:00.000+05:30

Where is the real khadi?

Last weekend I happened to drive past the Khairtabad road, there was an exhibition on Khadi and Gramodyog at Institute of Engineers that caught my attention. It was long since I came across a government sponsored event that dedicatedly promoted Khadi except the regular stall at the annual industrial exhibition at Nampally.

Years ago the big Khadi shop at Kothi was turned into a small and insignificant outlet by moving it somewhere in the bylanes behind the Andhra Bank. Rest of the Khadi shops along the Lakdi-ka-pool area have hardly any genuine Khadi; they mix up powerloom and other handloom stuff in the name of Khadi to cater to the symbolic requirements of our politicians.

Well, this exhibition had nothing great to offer in terms of genuine Khadi - neither material nor readymades. In fact, even the gramodyog stalls hardly had any handlooms or handspun ethnic wear. They were filled with machine-made garments and similar materials that too, mostly women's wear. The only exception was the terracota stalls from West Bengal that had some artistic pottery and other decorative items. There was some regular eatables like pickles, papads, jellies and jams that kept the visitors busy.

Where is the real handspun coarse khadi that signifies a certain identity, makes a statement, and promotes eco-friendliness. Is it limited to the designer wear and some privilieged and powerful segments of population in society? Or is it on its way out unable to adjust to the demands of mechanization in handspun and handloom industry.

2008-03-31T10:25:00.000+05:30

BPS Scheme from GHMC

Few months ago, GHMC came up with Building Penalization Scheme (BPS) to 'regularize illegal structures and land' in Hyderabad' by imposing a penalty on the property owners. I wasn't even aware that such a scheme would apply to my flat and my apartment complex until one fine Saturday morning I was notified that I should immediately regularize my property for all the deviations made by the builder. The notice said that it was an 'opportunity' given to all the owners to pay the 'minimum' fine and get a NOC from GHMC for deviating from the approved plan. First question that came to my mind: why should I pay for the 'irregularities' committed by someone else. But later when I did a bit of research to find out more about this issue I came to know that it is the responsibility of the owner to do so as a law-abiding citizen.

Our flat owners association had a meeting with our builder and requested him to share this 'penalty' amount since it was he had flouted the rules and the buyers were ignorant about such issues; in fact they are not aware of the actual approved plan. But the builder outrightly disagreed with this proposal stating that the GHMC has mandated the owners (and not builders) to shell down the amount. Several questions arise from this development: What is GHMC trying to achieve from this operation? What is regarded as deviation from the approved plan? Which builder really shows you the so-called legally sanctioned plan before the buy the flat and tell you how much he's going to deviate and what would be the result of such a deviation? Is it good to 'legalise' the illegal structures this way, what would be the result on the environment and other disasters if means regularizing buildings that are a threat to eco-friendliness and conditions favoring urban living.

Okay, now that I live in flat that breaks the rules and is built according to a 'legally deviated plan', what is the next step? Should I pay the penalty for having been a consumer do did not bother to verify the building rules and regulations applicable in my city. What If I pay the penalty before the deadline and get a certificate from GHMC. Does it end any future plans from GHMC and similar bodies as and when they change their definitions of deviations and come up with new strategies to fill their coffers. No doubt, the present plan is aimed at fetching a few hundred crores of rupees for GHMC even if onw-fourth of the owners pay up by the deadline.

When enquired about the repercussions about failure to comply with such penalty norms, the builder openly said there is no need for us to even pay the amount and we can rest assured that there would be no resultant action and that nobody would demolish the building, perhaps the issue might get raised when we want to sell our property and the prospective buys insists on an NOC for deviations. In fact, some of the points that came up in our discussion with the builder are worth a mention here: The builder confidently said that no building in Hyderabad is built as per originally approved plan and that without deviations you will not get a livable space in the city. According to previous GO every builder could break the rules and it was a known issue. Beneficiaries included in the chain are government officials, financers, land owners, architects, surveyors and of courses the owners. Whereas apparently, the new GO is quite strict in terms of following the approved plan and does not permit any deviations whatsoever. One of the flat owners happened to be a home finance official, he was quick to add the there are several builders who have deviated to the extent of 100% while building and there are people living comfortably in such flats being fully aware of this issue. This was even more disturbing to learn how the home finance and builders’ nexus operated here.

The latest development here is the stay order on this scheme and the postponement of deadline by a month. When some of the owners were wondering what if they sincerely pay the amount and their neighbors don’t do so. In such an event what would the GHMC do? How can they demolish only a portion of an apartment complex? Are we being too conscientious in the whole issue? What if we wait and watch. Some others pitched in: well, we can do so but GHMC is sure to come up with heavier penalty if we lose this ‘opportunity’ to regularize our property. The bottomline: as a sincere, tax-paying, law-abiding citizen I should not think twice but just go ahead and pay the penalty, if not for anything, but some peace of mind!

2008-03-28T11:09:00.000+05:30

I learn, therefore I am

Isn’t this true if we could alter the famous quote by Rene Descartes? Just turn around and see how each one of us is trying to learn something or the other. If your colleague in the next cubicle is learning some new techniques of handling his demanding boss, your neighbor is learning to operate her new digital camera. Far away, your cousin is learning to cook her own meals in a foreign country. Your friends are learning some new stuff to do better in their jobs. Your mother is learning to operate the new TV remote and your spouse is learning to de-stress after grueling day.

The politicians are learning smarter ways of cheating people and the sales and marketing person is learning to create a market for the product. The technician is learning to handle the new tools and the engineer is learning from the feedback on her recent project. People in remote villages are learning to cope with water scarcity and scientists at NASA are learning about foolproof methods to land a spacecraft. The farmers are learning to grow different crops in arid situations. Rahul Gandhi is learning about his country a la his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘discovery’ of India.

At home, the five-year old is learning to draw with her new crayons and her friend is learning to play Scrabble. In the park children are learning to play volleyball. The grocery vendor is learning how to care for his customers. The mall managers are learning about ensuring fire safety. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is learning French for his new international opera ‘Padmavati’ while SRK and Preeti Zinta are learning about cricket. Vijay Mallya is learning about dog-proofing his aircrafts for a safe take-off...more and more people are learning about how to learn.

2008-03-26T21:51:00.000+05:30

User-friendly design? Who cares?

How often have we spent our mornings at the dining table in frustration - not being able to open the lid of a jam or a sauce bottle or not able to remove the cello tape that's stuck in most 'secure' way by twisting cover of a bread loaf in innumerable ways. Do we really need such a strong adhesive to seal the packet? Why should most of the packaged food need a household implement to open, unwrap or cut? Look at this ice-cream container.

The frozen dessert was completely melted by the time we decided to use a knife to cut the lid. There was no information on how to open the lid and it was sealed from all the sides. With people waiting impatiently to taste newly launched flavor from Kwality Walls, including my little niece who simply lost her patience waiting for her first scoop from the icecream.

My experience with opening the flip kind of lids is often a disappointment. Sometimes I wonder if my psychomotor skills are okay and sometimes, well, the design of say a Tropicana tetra pack or something like a Haldiram Rasgulla tin. Why do such simple things come with such great complications?

Think back on how talcum powder is packed or the shape of shampoo bottles. Even today we need to pierce the talcum powder containers using a hot needle of a very sharp pin to make holes into the lid. The list can go on... Recently I had another funny experience...Kiwi clean liquid bottle and the spray nozzle. Look at the the design ..intuitively you feel it sprays on the other side..but it's vice versa.

2008-03-26T21:37:00.000+05:30

You live eternally in my memories

Euphemistically, you may be ‘no more’ with me
But you will live with me as long as I do
In my memories
Memories, that get profound as time goes by
Constantly reminding the subconscious mind
Of what it was, what it is and how it would have been
Often I converse with my memories
Sometimes, they are as old as a decade or two
Occasionally those from the childhood and adolescence
Rarely the years in between
Often from the recent past
Perhaps because that’s latest on my mind

As my mind vacillates between turbulent thoughts
Interspersed with ephemeral happy moments
Transient, transitioning, momentary
Recapitulating, recording, reminding, playing it back
Long moments filled with sadness, painful, benumbing,
In between
Feeling strengthened with energizing, rejuvenating memories
My source of continuous strength to do better than I did earlier
To pursue my dreams and never give up
Memories give me solace, for they would be by my side
My invisible companions in solitude
Memories, memorabilia, memoirs – the collective source of spiritual strength

In John Donne’s ‘death be not proud’
The poet ‘kills’ death by demeaning its dread and pride
Ridicules the vanity of death in comparison with other ‘mundane’ forms
For the soul lives eternally, peacefully
Relieving the dead of worldly pleasures, sorrows et al

I will never perform any rituals and rites
That people normally do for their 'lost' ones
Or that is expected of a daughter towards her father
For I haven’t lost you, you live with me and for me,
Eternally, as long as I do.

2008-03-26T21:30:00.000+05:30

Taare Zameen Par

Rarely we come across Bollywood movies that make us think. Taare Zameen Par is one such heart-warming expression of cinematic excellence that makes us reflect on our relationship with our young ones. It goes much beyond the touching and sentimental aspects that has moved celebrities and aam janta to tears. The movie centers on the inability and resultant resistance of a dyslexic boy who finds it difficult to compete with other children and cope with the 'unsympathetic' parents. In fact, we all can relate to this movie as parents of children whether dyslexic or not. It throws up several questions that need immediate attention from the perspective of good and sound parenting and respecting our little ones.

After watching the movie I casually asked my five year old niece what she liked in it. She was quick to point out that she got a ‘crying feeling’ when the boy is sent to a boarding school and she elaborated on the good and bad aspects of the film. What she enjoyed most was the painting that the children make. Amazing I thought! If a five year old could be so expressive in her opinion on the film what about older children. What about their viewpoints? How often do we care to seek their insights before we decide for them. We are very prompt in threatening and punishing them as if we are always right. Let’s remember the fact that today children are exposed to a world of information and knowledge courtesy media and Internet like we never imagined. They no longer depend on books, films and people as sources of their knowledge.

In our race against time and our determination to outdo others we end up smothering the most beautiful phase of our children. Sometime, unwittingly though, none of us have the slightest idea what our kids could be undergoing under the parental pressure and academic regimen. Even if we are aware of how harmful it could be of the overall growth of child we seem to ignore it and impose our demands that stifle their freedom to think, express and nourish their ideas. All this happens under the guise of the worldly wisdom ….we don’t encourage them to question, to seek. They are expected to accept the ‘answers’ that are provided in their books and

Stop for a moment and think! What happens to our memories of childhood when we become parents? Why do we suddenly become conscious of people around us and mould our child’s behaviour to fit into a pattern? We seem to forget the fact childhood is the most short-lived phase of our life and we impose restrictions on the child once he or she joins a school – the way in which the subjects are taught, the teaching methodology, evaluation scheme and so on.

Intolerance of difference
Mimic and reproduce
Creativity and innovation
Compete with oneself, excel, outdo oneself

Look at the sordid state of affairs presented by the reality shows on TV, especially that involve children who sing and dance. I was recently watching a show where a lead playback singer (female) was one of the judges. In her ‘appreciation’ of the performance of a seven year old she pointed out , ‘aaj aapke gaane mein bilkul bachpana nahin tha’ (today you sang very well, you never sounded like a child!) I frankly didn’t understand what was expected from that child. Did it mean that the child mimicked the original singer perfectly? What kind of a contest is it where we encourage a seven-year old to sing like a seventy year old. Don’t parents have a right to contest such judges? Where is the childhood when children are made to perform on the stage for materialistic reasons and commercial reasons that bring them ‘instant’ though shortlived success through dubious means like an SMS. It is sad that the so-called talent hunt in the form of these TV shows are doing more harm than good in identifying and promoting the real talent.

2008-02-04T13:51:00.000+05:30

Animation in India: Dearth of ideas

"Bee Movie" is latest animation movie from the Dreamworks team. Backed by a reasonably good storyline, it's about bees vs humans, treated in a typical American style. Well, I'm not blogging about the good or bad aspects of the movie since that's not my motive here.

Watching most of these animation films makes me wonder - why is it that in India we don't produce and direct such creative animation films? Why do we always animate the mythological characters and 'cartoonize' the familiar to make it comical? How under-utilized is this medium in a country that is second to none in art, creativity and film making. This can't be due to dearth of talent in the department of creative thinking or visualizing. Can't be true because we score well in related genres like advertizing (another area where creative mind is challenged). Or is it because the returns are low and this doesn't make a good business proposition.

What exactly could be the reason? It can't be the lack of financial backing either. Are we happy just being the technical backoffice for these animation studios in Hollywood. We seem to have a very limited perception of the potential of animation; we interpret it as just another medium to add some humour to the already established stories but not as something for which we can create new characters, give them life and weave stories around them. Is it because we don't take animation films seriously, so what if it's primarily targeted at children? It's time we moved beyond characters like 'Bal Ganesh', 'Krishna' and 'Hanuman' and took up the challenge offered by this medium more seriously. We are nowhere close to making a mark in this field by exploiting the unlimited possibilities for creative visualization of any kind of content.

2007-12-18T11:15:00.000+05:30

“Consumerism and materialism deadlier than armed occupation”
Ramsey Clark,former U.S. Attorney General, on globalisation, the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, the Iraq war, and more.... (this is an interview that appeared in The Hindu on 17th Dec 07.)
Here's an excerpt:
The sweep of globalisation, strongly associated with accepting U.S.-style capitalism, has spawned fresh inequities across the world. How do you perceive the phenomena?
It’s a terrible threat to civilisation, to humanity: not only a political threat, an obviously economic one, but at the most fundamental human level a threat to distinct cultures — the same technology, the same entertainment, the same fast foods so to speak. Based on economic power, it is pushing itself into different parts of the world. Consumerism and materialism have a power of their own and perhaps the greatest victim is culture that in a way represents the accumulative imagination, the pains, suffering, and history of the people.
But there has been the emergence of alternative strategies for development in different parts of the world to counter the one under whose cover the U.S. is alleged to be establishing its hegemony.
I see an enormous increase in awareness to the problems thrown up by the globalisation process. As an optimist I think we can see a slowing down in the rate of globalisation and more importantly an awareness of its true meaning, what it is doing to individual societies. Globalisation is often perceived to be a mirror image of neo-colonialism. Would you agree?
The difference between the old imperialism and the new globalisation process is illustrated well in India. The country suffered the brutalities of foreign domination, the impoverishment that resulted from it. But until globalisation, if you look at the Indian movie industry for instance, its facial aspects remained Indian. Now, with the intensity of globalisation reaching into every little corner of life, even the comedians, the jokes, the rhythm of the music has started changing.
This really makes consumerism and materialism deadlier than armed occupation.
In the old colonialism you at least knew who your enemy was, you felt the knife on the back. You knew what had to be done if you wanted a better life. In the new consumerism you are captive and unaware. When the prisoner is unaware of his chains then it’s hopeless. If you look at globalisation you are completely captive in imagination and desires and this is where the greatest danger lies.
Yet you have countries in different parts of the world that are closing ranks against the U.S. designs of world dominance.
Domination in itself is hard work. You dominate to exploit. That is how you get your wealth. You hold others down and get your wealth. But you also distract them so that they cannot see the changes, see what you’re doing to them. If you look at the new independence in Latin America, it is startling. You have the old Cuban revolution whose survival is a miracle; the country has the highest reading scores, the [highest] maths score in the hemisphere in their grammar schools though under powerful sanctions for decades. Then you look at Venezuela, what is happening in Argentina. You look at Brazil and Chile where a woman who was imprisoned by Pinochet and whose father was murdered by him in 1974 is President. These countries have broken their chains and they are coming up.
I think India too sees the enemy in ways it never has never before. So does China. There is power in this region, given the sizes of these two countries — which the U.S. cannot manipulate and handle very easily. So what we have to do is to spread an understanding of the problem. The imbalances in military power can mean us going in for an awfully bloody time if we do not see it.
But above all we have to come up back to values that are better than simply consumerism — that which means ‘I want things, I want better food, a better house, a bigger car’; that which means ‘I want to buy my kid every toy in the world.’
Don't miss the full interview at:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/17/stories/2007121754781100.htm

2007-12-17T12:19:00.000+05:30

When there was only one news channel...

The news of Tejeshwar Singh’s demise instantly took me back those growing-up years when TV news was synonymous with Doordarshan news. I remember him for something more than his rich baritone voice, and the bearded look that kept several of his female fans glued to TV during his news reading session. For me, he represented a time when news reading was an innocuous activity devoid of any present-day aggressive sensationalism, and it was to be passively watched and listened to as the newscaster read the bulletin with few actual video footages and fewer live reports. The voice of the newscaster, the diction, and the delivery style could command and hold the attention of any viewer, whatever may be the news content. Tejeshwar's voice had that rare magical quality.

That was the time when there was no breaking news, no citizen journalists and absolutely no advertisements. Competition among news channels and commercial dimensions was unheard of, since DD was the only channel for news and entertainment. That was also the time when watching news was more of an after-dinner activity when all of us would sit in front of our B&W Dyanora TV in our CIEFL campus house. That was when news reporting was still conservative, cautious, non-commercial and staid sort of a presentation in a bureaucratic style fully owned by the government channel. That age belonged to news readers like Komal G B Singh, Tejeshwar Singh, Ramu Damodaran, Neeti Ravindran, Rini Khanna and the likes - all TV stars in their own right and their voice was the voice of the medium, be it for DD documentaries, live show commentaries, international film or cultural festivals or even a funeral or a swearing-in ceremony of a natioan leader. Perhaps, that was also the time when fledglings like Rajdeep Sardesai and others were being mentored by Dr.Pronnoy Roy whose ‘World this Week’ was hugely popular.

Cut to 2007...looks like we've come a long way in news broadcast: today news is not read, it's presented and anchored, and it’s a commercial commodity that competes globally with other channels. It involves direct and live reporting, sting operations and exciting exposes. It calls for people to ‘participate’ through SMS and amateur videos. It has Rajdeep, Barkha, Anubha, Udayan and Pronnoy who sustain our curiousity for information and present tons of it, as and when it happens.

2007-06-12T14:22:00.000+05:30

In the event of fire...

Today we had an emergency fire evacuation drill in our IT Park. I must tell you this was the best ‘event’ of its kind in all my years here. As it was an 'emergency’ (a mock one though) we were informed at a very short notice to assemble at the ‘Assembly Points’. When the person-in-charge of the ‘show’ (the expert Mr. Moiz Ahmed from Bangalore) saw most of us walking leisurely towards the lawns he began to shout into the mic, ‘walk brisk ! walk brisk!’. Apparently, it was his way of replicating the sense of urgency in the event of real mishap. But most people were very casual and didn’t seem to pay attention to his call. In fact, we took it up as one of those routine drills when we are trained to use the emergency staircases to reach the ground floor.

Next minute Ahmed turned pretty serious and made us realize the importance of such a drill and how we should prepare ourselves for such a calamity. Nevertheless, he didn’t seem satisfied with the response of the people around. What was interesting in the whole exercise was the way in which he could motivate us to listen, realize the significance and involve ourselves in the demonstration. Instead of a theory class on crisis management, Ahmed used several techniques to make it an inspiring call to handle such crises in real life. Here are some points from the way he managed the whole ‘event’ successfully:

Loud voice on the mic and a stern tone that was audible to remotest part of our IT Park
Use of humor and wit right from the time he introduced himself through conducting the whole show, narration of real life stories about how people lost their lives in such incidents
Examples from landmark fire accidents in our country, that could immediately grab our attention and make us want to listen to him
Use of some key words like 'it’s not the fire that kills you, it’s the smoke and panic' lecture-demos, wherein we could comfortably view how one should handle such a disaster
Appreciation of volunteers from the audience and make them feel special, for instance, he referred to them with the names of celebrities
Professional demos on operating the fire extinguisher and dealing with casualty

It really requires some extraordinary people skills to turn an uninspiring topic like fire safety into an ‘entertaining’ show that invited public applause at regular intervals. At times, Ahmed resembled a magician who performs several feats on the stage and invites participation from the audience. This was a good example of how one can add elements of edutainment in a serious topic. Well, thirty years of experience in Fire Department is not something that can be taken lightly! On my way back home, I saw him repeating this session for other buildings in the IT park with same gusto and fervor.

2007-06-11T11:40:00.000+05:30

OTC drugs at Medical retail outlets

Last weekend was my annual bout of cold and viral infection. It was time for me to 'update my anti-virus' with new dosage of antibiotics prescribed by my physician. Whenever I fall sick, I prefer to call the medical shop for home delivery of medicines. This time when I called up, the shop, the counter guy promptly told me that there was nobody available for home delivery and it may take hours since it was a Sunday. Nevertheless, I reeled out my list of medication on phone and told him that I’d come and collect it personally. Well, it was not all that comfortable when I had to gear up for that quick drive with my running nose, sneezes and feverish feeling, coupled with the general irritation that there was nobody around to help me avoid going out in that muggy weather.

Of late I started visiting new MedPlus retail chain, because that’s the closest to where I live. In fact, you can find at least four such shops in about 2 kilometers radius. (I'm not sure if such a mushrooming of medical outlets is a good sign keeping in view the general tendency of people to pop in a pill at their own risk)

In the shop, there were already five customers waiting for the medicines out of which only one had a valid prescription. Others were all OTC customers with 'self-prescribed' drugs. One of them was reeling out names of several tablets and capsules (most of them seemed to be vitamins and dietary supplements) and when the guy at the counter was unable to match his speed, he even helped him with the numbers/codes with which they classify the medicines. I was simply amazed at the ease with which he recollected the numbers and location of those rows of identical boxes. Perhaps, he was a regular customer and he could point out where which medicine was stored. Of course, his unusual memory helped the shop guy to speed up his search but it suggested a quite a dangerous trend - how easily people can buy various types of drugs without any formal presription from the physician! To top it, 'customer-friendly' retailing such as home-delivery and 24X7 availability also encourages people to pick any pill that they feel is right for that moment - right from vitamins to antibiotics.

2007-04-25T15:53:00.000+05:30

Retail Blitzkrieg

The retail boom in India has just begun. With giants like Reliance, ITC, Pantaloons, Bharti etc jumping into this bandwagon (Walmart not far away), this blitzkrieg may simply wipe out all the small and medium vendors. We also hear that global players like Walmart are not keen on sourcing the products locally, they may do it from China where they get better margins.This boom may certainly increase employment opportunities for the huge number of youth in the country, the job market being projected at one lakh plus. There's a serious point of concern here. What would be the plight of local traders, the kirana shops and supermarkets from whom we’ve been buying our grocery for ages? We can already see the impact of Reliance Fresh on push-cart vendors and the like. Competing with it are Fresh@, and other similar ventures.

There’s no doubt that big retails outlets offer more variety, at competitive prices. But I sometimes found it difficult to resist my temptation to buy more and often buy ‘unnecessary’ stuff getting lured by the brand or display. A small outlet close to my home would serve my needs in a better way, where my purchases are need-driven and not greed-driven. Added to it are questions about sourcing the produce. Who’s actually getting benefited in the whole chain? Government initiatives like Rythu Bazaar can save the farmers from the middlemen to some extent, but I’ve often found these direct sellers cheating people in weighing the stuff as the prices are fixed.

One of the ways to face the giants is prepare small vendors like the push-cart guys. This is how ITC is planning to compete with big brands by giving professional training and customer skills to these people whose livelihood depends on day-today sales. Sounds like a workable strategy to combat the undesirable effects of giant retails.

2007-04-25T13:22:00.000+05:30

Going Mangoes

Mangoes and summer go together. Remember those days when as kids we enjoyed picking up tiny mangoes that fall after a heavy summer shower or a hailstorm. How we relished the tangy sourness of the tender fruit. Or, the thrill of plucking mangoes by climbing a tree. I’m sure each of us has a story to tell when it comes to mangoes and our adventures under the mango tree or time spent in mango orchards. Summer vacation was virtually a mango treat! Mangoes after breakfast or occasional Aamras with poori or dosa, mangoes as dessert and of course a piece or two soon after dinner. My mother generally insists on drinking a cup of milk after eating mangoes, perhaps to reduce the acidity.

In my campus house we had two mango trees. But the yield was not so good, by the time the trees really matured we moved out of campus. Several houses, especially the Director’s bungalow had several Banginapally mangoes. We never missed our share of naturally ripened mangoes from them and also from some other profs gardens.

Aam ka panha is a coolant made from raw mangoes. Mummy used to always make it ready when we came back home after writing our final exams. In fact, a paste made with raw mango pulp and cumin powder was applied on the soles and palms to reduce the effects of sunstroke. Pickling mangoes is an annual ritual that has its own charm. There was a sense of anticipation about the whole process, cleaning and drying them, grinding the spices, adding the right brand of oil. And there you are! The taste of fresh Avakai or the North Indian style pickle in mustard oil and occasionally the sweet pickle, or even the scraped chutney type of pickle… the list goes on. New pickles would be exchanged between neighbors and friends. I simply enjoyed the Maagai from my Telugu friends which we never made at home.

Today eating mangoes are not free of toxins. This lovely golden colored fruit with heavenly taste is being ruthlessly exploited for commercial reasons. With all the best varieties being exported to other countries, we are left with not-so-good ones. This link tells you more about how dangerous these toxins can be.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/23/stories/2007042314110200.htm

Alternatively check out for naturally ripened fruits. These are mostly sold directly by farmers. We also have several retail outlets claiming to sell such fruits. However, I was quite disappointed whenever I spent exorbitantly on varieties like Alphoso. Dasheri and Langda are ok towards the end of the season in Hyderabad. My all time favorites are Cheruku Rasalu, Banginapally (Benishan) and Dasheri.