Unusual.....

Well...I must record this day. The moment this incident happened I decided to write about this.
Its what we wish most people would do. Today I had to go to Ranganathan Salai for something. From Adyar I asked an autoricksha driver and he quoted...
Auto driver: "100"
Me:"100 is too much, 70"
AD:"No sister...90, and its a deal"
Me:"Nothing more than 80"
AD:"ok 85"
I hesitated and was about to look for another one when he said..."OK 80.."
And i got in and he dropped me at my destination.
After some time, i was looking for an auto to get back.
The moment an auto stopped, i told him my destination and told him "Nothing more than 70"
He looked at me and said,"I will put the meter".
Did i hear him right?Meter?? Auto drivers do put meter? Whenever i get into an auto...i used to tell him meter charge and the guy used to tell me..."Sister,Meter does not work". And this is the same dialogue all auto drivers give me.Once i even asked one of them.."why do u have it then" for which he replied, "It was working right till yest" and smiled.

After few months and years of being in Chennai..i realised that nobody puts meter. So i made it a point that i wont get into an auto without an argument.I mean sometimes i hate to the thought of calling an Auto just because i have to bargain to reduce rates. I stopped even looking at the meters in autos as they dont even show digits now.

Today..after so many years.i heard this person tell he will put meter..i was kinda skeptical. I was sure he is saying so confidently just because he has done some adjustment with the meter that it would show extra amount. I told him..."See...noting more than 70". For which he replied.."Nothing more than meter charge".

He took me till my home in besant nagar..and i saw 45.20 in meter. Still i asked him how much as i thought he would defn charge me some extra money telling there is no returm. But he said..45.20!!!. I was so astonished....i took a 50 note and gave him...and he was like....
" I dont have change...".
I said,"Keep the 50".
"No..i dont want any extra money"!!!
I was shocked!!! People think this way even now...????I mean...really? i came down till besant nagar from ranganathan salai for 45 rs???
I fished my purse and found 10 rupee notes and exactly gave him 45.50:).

I mean...i thought he was abnormal. How ironical..for the first time a guy did something correct..and i think he is abnormal????

We are so used to paying extra and being cheated that...i couldnt take his honesty at once!!!
Well i forgot to ask his number....:(. or else i could have saved loads and loads of money which we usually pay extra on autos...I was kinda taken aback by the fact that i actually pay double the price to reach the destination always...

I mean we watch movies like Annyan, Swadesh etc and all the sincere stuff just remain in movies.....Atleast i am happy..not all human beings have turned out to be ignorant about rules in India. I hope this one guy become and inspiration for many others to just accept what they truly deserve....

Friendships in general........

Memory of my first friend goes back to days when I was hardly 3. There was Jebin chettan and Mithun..my neighbours who were my playmates to play on mud and with blocks. I also faintly remember a swing my dad had tied to one of the trees and we three taking turns to swing.
After we shifted to a new place, again my then neighbours Alex and Ammu....became my friends....Then it was followed by many as we progressed through classes in school and then in college.
In school, we have one big advantage in building friendships - you have the same set of people in each year(Unless your parents had transferable jobs, well mine didnt..so i kinda did all my schooling in one single school) and your friendships have time to grow and mature...You start off with just friends to play games and fight, to forming your own groups later on, to taking credit and feeling on top of cloud nine to have a best best friend, then later you become a little more mature and realise that there is much more responsibilites to maintaining a friendship like trust and care.
The next big change comes when we leave school and join college. By this time we have a good ability to realise with which people we gel well...and with whom we dont..we form friendships based on our comfort levels...we are much more maturer and we accept all people who are good to us as our friends..The concept of best friends starts diminishing and the concept of close friends come in.
From college to Job, is again a change. Initially you have your friends from college also in the same work place..you add on more friends to the existing group as days go by and everything looks just like college...but no...we are wrong. In a few months we find our close gang of friends being shifted to many other work locations for new projects or for personal reasons(like marriage, higher studies etc). Initially you wont feel the change so much..but as one by one your friends starts moving on..you realize that change is inevitable. I am right now at this point in my life where I have many friends but the span of togetherness is probably just a few months. Afterwords you just cant be sure where you will be or where she/he will be.We are stil gonna be in touch with occasional mails and calls...but togetherness is only once in a while...
As you look back to school,college and workplace, school is the place which gives you the maximum amount of time for your frienships and these are friends who has actually seen you grow..College gives a little lesser time than school, but this is the time you make the most closest of friends..this is the time you actualy realise the importance of a friend as she /he sees you through your age of questions and doubts and confusions.Workplace is a place where you meet the maximum number of different people, and yes i agree we do make some very close friends out here also(well, i have) but this is where you can consider friendhsip as a basket which is never empty but...one which is always filled with different flavours as time goes by and none of the flavours are going to be in the basket for a very long time...
In my opinion, friendship is of one kind...and the basic rules apply to all friendships..
Whatever stage we are in..there is nothing that can fill the need of a friend.....and first and formost...You are your best friend...:)

A Talent indeed....

Well, today the account for which i was working for hosted a small get together with the senior manager who was supposed to come and speak to us and answer our questions. Usually i am not very interested in such meetings as most of the talks would be boring and esp when u have lots to code you just feel..its not a good idea to go and listen to the same old stuff..Neverthles..i just went.

We were all seated, and the senior manager walked in. Its the first time i am hearing him speak.
Right from the first word he spoke..till the end..i was never bored!. I mean may be its the way he spoke with little bit of humour, with the wits cracked, the 'right to the point' sentenses..,that made me observe the way he spoke. The way he formed his sentenses with the right words of the right clarity was amazing..the same things were not repeated and everything had a touch of humour. Somehow the discussion was very lively.

It is a very big talent to communicate effectively and also to make the listner enjoy while he listens:). I mean i would call him a true leader because of his communication skills...apart from the wide knowledge he has on the subject:)...

'Dont judge a book by its cover'

To reach my uncle's house in chennai, we have to follow a narrow road which has slums on its one side and temple, shops etc on the other side. And in between these there are wider roads that will take you to apartment blocks. I do pass through this road whenever i walk down to my bus stop. And the sight of the slums was not exactly very pleasant for me. I even wonder how people live in those tough conditions, in such tiny space. And it looks all crammed, and so i try not to look that direction as i walk.

For some personal reasons, i wanted to meet an old brahmin couple and one of my uncle's acquaintances helped us in finding this couple. It so happened that they stayed in the slum.
A set of houses in the slum had a common gate. As i walked through the gate i was totally surprised by what i was experiencing. I had expected to experience bad odour, dirty lanes, dirty water flowing etc.But what i found was neat lanes, nice agarbathi or smell of cooking food. I mean when u actualy look the houses had bad and broken floors and walls with paint peeling off..We reached this old couple's home and i must say, they have kept the house so clean inspite of all the short comings of their living environment.

There was one cot with no bed on it. 3-4 plastic chairs, buckets and a shelf with god's pictures and another room where i guess they hanged clothes. There was nothing like a kitchen or bathroom- or rather i guess i didnt see these from where i was sitting. But the neat and tidy house actualy give u a very warm feeling to heart.

I am almost into 600 pages of 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts and there is a section in the story describing his life in the slum and it seemed like i was experiencing something directly from what was written in the book.....

The thaata(old brahmin grandpa) and the patti(grandmom) were there. The taatha was has lost one of his legs and he hardly speaks. But the paatti had a wide smile and she talks a lot. They offered nice warm tea and was very happy that we visited them. We took leave after a while.

It was a very pleasant experience and one that opened my eyes to see the 'world of people in slums' through a different angle.

'Dont judge a book by its cover'

Easiest Upperi!!!

'Upperi' is the mallu name for the dry side dish which we have for lunch along with rice. Its also named 'Poriyal', 'Thoran' etc etc. Well I thought i should try out something today.
And this is what i did...

Ingredients:
1.Carrots-3
2.Potato-2
3.Cabbage-1/2 piece
4.Onion-2

Cut 1,2,3,and 4 into small slices.
a. Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds.
b. Add sliced ingredients 1,2,3 and 4 along with 'karuveppila'(dont know the english name for this)
c. Add corainder powder(1 tspn),chilli powder(1 tspn), turmeric(a little) and Salt(to taste)
d. Add a little water and allow it to boil(Close the pan and wait)

After a while, chck if the vegetables are cooked and then serve with rice:)

This hardly takes 15 minutes!!!
This is not a great dish...but just thought it would inspire people like me to start cooking at least:).

Please Note: I have done some cooking when i was in Shanghai....So i am no novice here:)(But still equivalent to novice)

Hidden Care

I have been living with my uncle and family in Chennai for the past several months . My grandmom ,whom I called 'Achamma' was also there along with us. I am very attached to Achamma as she was one person who has looked after me from childhood. She was my best friend and I have always reached out to her for all emotional support. She has pampered me and as you can imagine whenever I was with her..she looked into my stuff right from when I woke up, whether I had my breakfast to when I went to bed. 'Thayamma" is someone who comes to clean my uncle's  house and help out with other chores. She has been working here for around 18-20 yrs now. She is very close to my cousins Achu and Abi and she took care of all their stuff. She never showered too much attention on me  and that could be because she is not very familiar with my needs or so..Or may be she thought Achamma is already looking into when I ate etc. It went by with the usual hi and byes. My Achamma passed away 11 days back. She had a cardiac arrest and it was a shock for all of us. I still cant believe she isnt there with me..still can feel her presence around. I have been so used to her being there that..somehow I  know no one can fill the void she left behind. Its still has not sunk into me that she is no more. I continue to stay with my uncle as I work in Chennai. But since the past few days I am seeing a difference in Thayamma. She enquires if I had food...whether I need milk....I mean questions she has never asked before to me. I see there is a difference in the way she thinks about me now.Some kind of care thats hidden. Is it because she has accepted me as a member of the family just like Achu and Abi or is it because she knows the person who cared for me the most, is no more and she is trying to help me out by reducing the emptiness in my heart? Whatever the reason, its feels good:)

An Angel who continues to be in my Life.....

When you think of Angels, the image that mostly comes to our head is of a girl-around 14-20 yrs of age in a white frock/gown with wings behind....Now i have a new face for my angel...the face of my Achamma..


When I look back, my first memories of this cute lady is of somebody who had a bunch of stories down her sleeve and who used to patiently feed me by entertaining me with her stories..
The stories ranged from Epics to film stories and also panchathantra....


May be its the calm way with which she dealt things which made me cling to her for all kinds of support. To a great extend she has spoilt me with her unconditional love and care. I mean there has never been a day where I had to give up something for her. It has always been the other way round. She was really unique in her own way. She was from a very traditional family and was the typical house wife in her young days, but the surprising thing is that inspite of all this, She was one of the most broadminded people I had ever come across. So broadminded that I could easily tell her all my secrets without being scared of being judged.

Achamma, patiently tried to cultivate some 'good manners' in me..but I took all those for granted and hardly listened most of the time;).But she never lost hope in me and conitnued to advice me and correct me whenever I was wrong.

Those happy days were not for long. She was soon hospitalized for severe heart ache and breathing problems. I couldnt believe that she was ill as she was pretty healthy and I did speak to her just a few days back. I heard the news when I was in BBSR and immediately started for home. When I reached the hospital, I saw her on the bed and though she couldnt speak, she could hear me. What passed in my mind is how this wonderful lady has made my life beautiful.

After a few days, achamma passed away and it was a shock to all who knew her well. We were deeply affected by the loss. .I miss her constant voice telling me to do this and that. I had promised her that I would defenitely bring to her to US for a few days so that she can see the place. Still I cant believe that she is no longer there with me. She has met Sree once, but i was looking forward to she knowing and loving Sree more, just like she loved me.

May be, she is still there around. The best way I would like to think of her in like the Angel in my life. An angel who still continues to guide me throughout my life......

Small things in BBSR...

As you must have gathered from my previous blogs, i am currently in BBSR Campus. One more day, and Iwill be in my flight back to cochin
I had no idea how Bhubhaneswar was when i had taken up this assignment. But some instinct of mine told me that things are going to be fine.
May be its because of my experience in shanghai, the creeps i get when a change happens, like a new place and new environment is far lesser than what it used to be before.

I must say, that i have been lucky to have got this opportunity to come down here.
The reasons are listed below:)

1. I was provided a very cosy accomodation at the ECC(Employee Care Center).
a. Well made beds
b. TV - with all possible channels
c. Neat bathroom
d. Gym - in the same building( which i should have visited more often)
e. Laundry service - which i have made use of totally:)

2. The Climate : extremely pleasant climate and it issimply amazing to curl up on your bed and watch tv or read books

3. The amount of time I had for myself here. I didnt have to answer to anybody here (not work wise), and Icould just take my own time to do things Ilove to do..no pressure to do anythign in a hurry

4. My friends Kaushik and Mitali - the only family I knew here, and who were so warm to me that they invited me over to their house, and it was fun to eat mitali's good food, and the shopping afterwards and the jokes cracked

5. The new track I was introduced here was challenging for me, but then..i am not gonna miss work anyways;)
6. The small visit to the cinema hall with my teammates who had no inhibitons in making me part of their gang. Well i must say my expertise in the hindi language remains the same;) inspite of people speaking only in hindi to me....:)

As the day has approached for me to leave this place, I am happy I took up this chance and realised that even small things that u take for granted in life,are the ones that make u feel immensely happy...you just dont realise it till you gear up to move on for deal with the next change in life:)
Thinking optimistically( a very rare thing my side) any change can lead you to happiness, if you have decided to be happy.
Note : Dont think that i always decide to be happy:), But as everybody else I wish to be happy 24/7:)

Keep Smiling:) and Bye BBSR!

Achan urangathe veedu

I happened to watch the movie 'Achan urangathe veedu' yesterday. Well anybody who has watched this movie would surely know, how touching this one is. This movie is based on a real life incident and i must appreciate the people behind this movie for such a bold move in portraying it so well and awakening the audience(Well how many are actually awakened and will keep the moral behind this movie is still a question unanswered).

Here is a review about this movie.Its one of the few movies which everybody should watch for the simple fact that for the 2 hrs you watch it, you will defnitely realise that there are people in this world who have much worser problems than what you have.

http://varnachitram.com/2006/09/14/review-achanurangatha-veedu/

God's Debris!!!

One of my very close friends asked me to read the book, and sent me the link to God's Debris by Scott Adams. Well i just know Scott Adams as the originator of the cartoon character Dilbert.

I was not able to open the link at that time and forgot all about it. But today morning, the mention of that again, reminded me of it and i thought its time that i atleast looked into it.

Its a 144 page book, and the introduction section of this book gripped my attention to it.
I kept reading and i must say, the experience is something which cannot be expressed.
My head started spinning, by the end of it:)(You can take it either way:)).

If you would care to read this, then heres the link to get the PDF version of the book
http://images.ucomics.com/images/pdfs/sadams/godsdebris.pdf

Enjoy reading:)

BBSR Food & Me

Well...its been three weeks since i came to Bhubhaneswar. The DC is nice, a nice change from Chennai..(for a short while though;)) and I  have comfortable accommodation( TV with all possible channels in the room, something we dont have in chennai).The people are nice and food was also OK. I thought to myself.."wow good decision to come here, this is a nice change."

But as days passed by, my poor stomach started acting weirdly.....The food provided in the food court(north Indian lunch/dinner) started becoming tasteless for me...
The south Indian caterers..provided equally bad lunch,where sambhar and rasam were just names given to liquids served with rice!!
I was a victim of food poisoning for a few days during which the only things i had was cornflakes and milk and sometimes bread.

I usually skip lunch because of the above said issues, but then realizing it as a bad practice, I decided to have lunch from Cafe Coffee Day here. With great eagerness, I bought a chicken sandwich, a cold sparkle and a chicken wrap...total - Rs100.

I started with the wrap...Oh no!!! too much onions:( .Then I gave that up and gave a bite to the sandwich, which I later realized had BAD tasting chicken and had to stop and the cold sparkle was simply ice with a little coffee powder!!When I dumped everything into the waste basket, it was equivalent to throwing my 100 rupee note inside.Somehow, I just silently walked away, not even bothering to complain to the CCD people(for some reason, the guy who took my orders, looked like a very innocent fellow!!! that saved him!!!)

I was starving and in the evening,taking a chance, I ordered cheese omelette.
Well they were right from the pan and tasted delicious!!! I finally found something which was tasty and knew i could survive on them!!! I was happy.

The moment I told this to my friend here....He said "Hey..Dont have any chicken, or Egg items. There is a report about bird flu"!!!
Well...there goes my cheese omelette!!!!

Now I thrive on soup and bread toast and milk!

And reading this, if any of you feel that I might have lose some weight, well u know me too well;)..I always find stuff to eat..because of the simple fact..I love eating;)

P.S...i do try to diet;)