For a cleaner beach ... :D

Armed with plastic gloves and a hat
We scouted the beach like a cat

Look at the treasures the sand burped up

Plastics, coins, and even some oil, Bub

This oil wont make anyone look hip

as this is used to run a ship

Some drunk sailor threw a bottle overboard

and there it washes up ashore

Every Sunday is a new adventure, my friend

to find such treasures, there is no end.

The Cry of Corruption

Though I have read and heard a lot about corruption, it has never actually hit me this hard, as it has now. In two separate incidents, I witnessed corruption in full swing.
In the first incident, a government official was caught red-handed by us (poor 'Common Man'). Let me narrate my experiences.

Narration 1 - I have been posted in a project in Bangalore, and have been here for the last 2 months. Being closer to Chennai, I travel home every weekend. Come Friday, and my colleagues and I would board the 'Red Bus' from Infy campus to Hosur bus terminus. We would book our seats in the 9 pm SETC bus (managed by the Tamilnadu Government), and go to the ticket counter to book the return tickets. This is where 'our man' comes into the picture. Equipped with a computer system, he exudes power over the humble mortals who dare to bother him for tickets. Approach him for a ticket, and he will throw up his hands in the air and declare "No tickets pa". This declaration is made without even glancing at the database. Ok. Then we stand there and request him to check the system, and the overlord would brush away our requests with an exasperated look. We stand there for some more time and he would 'pity' us and take one last look at the system. And Lo! Tickets have suddenly become available. He gladly books the tickets for us. But, for this immense favour, we have to fill his pocket with a few extra rupees. One time, the 'mighty seer' just had to look at me once before declaring that there are no tickets available. A little time later, my male colleague went and asked while I watched the scene hidden behind the wooden windows. He managed to get two tickets with an extra fee of Rs. 50.

Narration 2 - Not willing to subscribe to the bribery practised by the Hosur staff, I refused to book the return tickets at Hosur the next time we travelled. I decided to get them booked at Chennai (these officials, luckily, did not take bribes). Unfortunately, no tickets were not available, and I had to venture out looking for private travels. I did manage to get to a 'Jahan Travels' whose gentle and sweet employee charged us Rs. 450 for a ticket, but billed us Rs. 400 for a ticket (in a non-AC bus, that too). The bribe at Hosur would have worked out to be cheaper!

So, what did I do to prevent corruption? I reported to the SETC authorities, and even submitted a complaint letter. As usual, its a forgotten case.

Sigh !! .. Is there no end to this?

Back from Hibernation

Another long hibernation and I'm back. This time with a serious vow that I'll blog regularly. And this time I AM going to stick with this vow.

Oh My God!

Happy 2009 !!! God .. I dont believe its over a year since I updated my last blog. In my last post, I had stated that its my new year resolution to update the blog regularly. Hehe... Sadly, the year 2008 has run off and 2009 has succeeded it. But hell, 2008 has been a great eventful year for me. I witnessed a change of job, a change of place, and a complete change of atmosphere. Oh wow! This change was refreshing.

Regarding the job change, I left Element K and joined Infosys as Instructional Designer. This also led to a change in place as I had to join the office in Pune. Hectic preparations were made for my departure. I missed being at EK, and being with my lovely friends there. The first two weeks at Pune were quite lonely for me, away from parents, away from loved ones. Then, I was assigned a project in Hyderabad, and I moved to Hyderabad. Slowly, I got accustomed to my team, and Hyderabad. In fact, I fell in love with Hyderabad, the details of which I will give in my next post.

The new year has begun. I started my new year in Hyderabad. Whooppee! But, it had a sad beginning when my grandma passed away on Jan 8th.

Still, lots have happened, lots more to come. Awaiting the rest of the year with eagerness!

Writer's block ???

Do I have a writer's block?

This question popped into my mind a few weeks back, when I was wondering why there are long gaps between one blog entry and the other.

Wikipedia defines a writer's block as a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to begin or continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.

I was like .. Duhh?? I'm a hyperactive creative person. Its one in a million chance that I ll run out of creativity. But then, why no posts?

As I sat down pondering over this question, the answer came across like a lightning. Laziness.

Hehehe.. I realized that I wasn't posting anything because of laziness. I ll think about writing on something, then I ll postpone it till a month rolls by. Then in a sudden burst of interest, I ll log in to my blog and make an entry.

One of my New Year resolutions have been to write consistently in my blog. Lets see how much I actually do !!

Writer's block??? Nah !!!! :-)

The Witch of a Woman !!

The other day, an interesting and amusing incident happened on my way to office. An old woman got into the bus. Now, you may wonder whats so interesting about an old woman getting into the bus. Wait Wait!!

Let me first start with describing the woman. She must be sixtyish, with salt and pepper hair. She was around 4.5 feet tall, and was hunched over (carrying the weight of the world???), had a pointed face and a huge mole on her face.

Of course, you may think its wrong to comment on anybody's physical appearance. But, I wouldn't have commented on her witch-like appearance had her behavior and attitude been pleasant.

She let out a banshee wail the moment she got into the crowded bus. She lamented that she was feeling giddy and nauseous and needed to sit. People asked her to sit on the floor of the bus until the giddiness went away. She did sit down but immediately started wailing that the young women (translated as 'we' sitting on the seats) are heartless and do not give way for old people. One gentleman sitting in the conductor's seat offered to get up so that the old woman could sit. But the lady refused to sit there saying that the conductor will shoo her off (a mosquito???) ..

By this time, the people in the bus were tired of her and what little sympathy was there for her earlier vanished.

When the old woman realized that people weren't paying any attention to her, she turned aggressive. She demanded that the lady sitting next to me in the bus get up and allow her to sit. When her demand fell to deaf ears, she pulled that lady's arm and demanded she get up immediately. When that did not work, she got up and almost sat on the lady forcing her to get up.

All of us were disgusted by this little performance in the bus. The old lady immediately tried to strike up a conversation with me (Poor me ... booo hoooo!!!) in the bus. I promptly and steadfastly looked the other way.

OOohhhh !!! Some people !!!!!!!

Helmets - Boon or Bane !!

I got the idea for this entry a little while ago when I was driving home riding my 2 wheeler and wearing a helmet.

Recently, the TamilNadu Government passed a rule making it compulsary for 2 wheeler motorists to wear a helmet while driving. From then on, most 2 wheeler motorists (oh yes.. there are people who don't want to follow the rule too) are seen zipping on their bikes with their skulls protected with the helmet. There are even signs on the road that says 'Helmet or Hell-Met' ..

Though the helmet is useful, I feel it is cumbersome. My helmet feels like a tonne of bricks on my head. And if that is not enough, my nose or my head will pick up that precious time to itch, when Im driving with this bother on my head.

Another thing, I love to smell the trees when Im passing a woody lane (hard to find in Chennai). With the helmet and its visor on, I cant smell a thing.

But every situation has its pros and cons. The helmet has its positives too. For one, it keeps away the smell of smoke and dust. Whoo ... Chennai has become really polluted now. Smoke, petrol and diesel fumes.. Yuck .. One reason why I have given up driving.

Also, this smoke and gas fumes mess up my hair .. After a small trip in my bike, my hair will smell like it has been washed with petrol. Uggh !!! :(

Another advantage of the helmet -- It saves the trouble of having to keep your head covered when the hot sun beats down or the rain showers down ..

So I guess I ll have to live on with it. Concentrate on the benefits and try to forget the cons. :)

I have a better idea .. Get a car and forget 2 wheeler driving .. Lets see how that works out. :)

A Memorable Trip !!! - Day 2

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful .. sounds cliched, doesnt it? :-) .. But it was a beautiful day. I had a long night and slept like a log. So, I was up by 6 am. The house was already abuzz with activity. As soon as the bride finished her morning ablutions, I went into the bathroom, bathed and got ready.

Then the make up lady came and began to dress up my friend. I watched the whole process. It was nice to see my friend getting all decked up. Later, I was asked to go downstairs and have my breakfast, which was aapam and vegetable stew. My friend's relatives sure are considerate. They made vegetable stew keepin in mind the fact that I am a vegetarian. :-)

After breakfast, I went back to my friend's room to watch her being dressed and adorned with jewels. It was nice to see my friend as a bride. I was actually amazed at the transformation. My simple friend, who never wore any ornament was suddenly adorned from head to toe in gold.

After she got dressed up, relatives started pouring into the room to have a look at the bride. The eyes of her parents misted with happiness to see their daughter enter the threshhold of matrimony. After a brief photo session, all of proceeded downstairs for a prayer before proceeding to the marriage hall.

The prayer was interesting and an elaborate one. It lasted for close to 15 minutes. The bride was made to sit in the chair and she was flanked on both sides by her father and mother. All the relatives gathered in the hall and participated in the prayer. Noone recited the prayer aloud except the bride's father.

After the prayer, we pushed off to the marriage hall in large cars. The marriage was a unique and something like I have never seen before. The hall was a large one with a stange upfront. All the women sat in the back rows while the men sat in the front rows. The bride sat in the back rows with us. A table and few chairs had been set up on the stage. Slowly, the bride's father, the groom, immediate relatives of the bride, and the high priests from the mosque occupied the chairs. The Holy Quran was opened and verses were read from it. The marriage was over in ten minutes, and the bride never once proceeded to the stage. All the while she sat back with us.

After the wedding, the party gathered downstairs for the wedding feast. There were separate sections for vegetarians and non vegetarians. I sat in the vegetarian section and ate the traditional sadhya - the Kerala feast. Later, I hung about the wedding hall with my friend's cousins and indulged myself in my favourite pasttime - people watching. :)

After some time, I looked around for the groom's parents and his family. To my surprise, I was told that according to tradition, noone from the boy's family will attend the wedding. I found it a little odd and amusing.

Anyways, the bride and groom soon left for the groom's house and I returned home with my friend's parents. I bathed and got ready for my train later in the evening.

My friend's father dropped me at Alwaye station and waited till I boarded my train and bid him goodbye. Very nice people.

I had a great trip .. and returned with loveley memories !! :)

A Memorable Trip !! - Day 1

Last weekend I was at Kerala. The main objective behind travelling to 'God's own Country' was to attend the wedding of a good friend of mine. So, I packed my bags and was ready to leave on Friday. I boarded the Alleppey Express at 9 pm, and thence began one of my most memorable trips.

I was travelling alone, and so took extra care of my baggage and tickets. But journey was a little tedious as I had a very noisy family as my co-passengers. Also, as soon as the train crossed Tamil Nadu border, my mobile lost its signal. There was absolutely no connectivity in Kerala. This upset me a bit as I was worried that my friend's parents may be trying to contact me. Also, I was not sure whether to get down at Ernakulam Town (my destination) or at the previous station Edappally (as instructed by my friend). But, I decided to keep my cool and enjoy the beautiful landscape of Kerala as the train hurtled through the State. I kept a watch out for Alwaye as that was the station preceding Edappally.

The train was running late. I got down at Edappally station at 10.30 am. The station was deserted as Edappally is a small town. I walked down the length of the platform and enquired about a phone booth so that I could call my friend's parents. The people directed me to a telephone booth at the other end of the platform. With a deep sigh, I started walking down the platform when people called me. I turned back to see my friend's mother and brother rushing towards me. I was very happy to see them.

The scenery outside Edappally was breath taking .. I could not find an inch of space without a fresh green tree or bush .. The 5 minute journey to their house was also pleasant.

I was warmly received at their place. My friend was overjoyed to see me, and showed off her mehendi on her hands. She introduced me to her cousins, after which I went for my bath. After bath, I was called down for breakfast. Since they were Muslims, I decided to respect them, and so wore my dupatta Muslim style and did not keep a Bindi. They were also considerate to my feelings and respected the fact that I am a vegetarian. We had Idlis and Sambar for breakfast.

The day went on swiftly and my friend's cousins engaged me in lively chat, especially after they learned that I can speak Malayalam. :-)
A purely vegetarian lunch was sent for me upstairs as the other people in the house were eating meat downstairs. My friend was nice enough to eat a vegetarian lunch to give me company.

Towards evening, we got ready for the reception. More and more people started streaming into the house for the reception. I too got ready and went down with my friend's cousins. The highlight of the evening was the appearance of Malayalam actor Mammooty. He is an uncle to my friend and had been invited to the reception party. It was nice to see a super star in person. I was thrilled beyond words. But the actor stayed only for 5 minutes.

The reception party was great but also exhausting. For dinner, there were a number of meat preparations, and so I could not eat anything. I ended up eating only ghee rice, which was very tasty.
Two of my friend's cousins, Kunju and Malu, became attached with me. At night, before I slept, Malu even drew a mehendi design on my palm, and the two stuck to me calling me Chechi, which means 'elder sister' in Malayalam. All of this affection and warmth felt too good.

That night, exhaustion and happiness lulled me into a deep sleep.

Homeless and Astray ! ! !

This is about a cute pup that I found near my house last week.

On Tuesday morning, as I was rushing to the bus stand, I heard a very tiny squeal. In my hurry to reach the bus stand before the bus arrived, I moved on. At the bus stand, the bus had not yet come and I had to wait.

The squeal came again and I turned to locate the source of the sound, and I was surprised at what I saw. A very tiny white puppy ( hardly 2 weeks old) was huddled on the outer steps of a house. The steps were also painted white and the puppy was hardly indistinguishable from the step.

As I watched, it ran down with its small baby-like steps and toddled on to the road. Fear gripped me as I saw it right in the middle of the road. Before I could do anything, a car came on. Thankfully nothing happened to the pup because the pup was in between the 4 wheels of the care as the car moved on.

Then a gang a boys came walking along, and seeing the pup, they carried it and placed it in the bushes in the far side of the road, away from the rushing traffic.

I contemplated carrying the pup to Blue Cross, but by the time I could decide, my bus came and I did not want to go late to office.

The whole day I was ridden with guilt, as to why did I not help out that poor pup. I was terrified that it would come under the wheels of a car. I just pray to God that it has found a better home or has reunited with its mommy dog.