Yesterday night, Pune experienced some heavy rainfall after a long while. Thunderclaps and lightning kept awakening us intermittently and each time we dug deeper into our sheets and buried our ears into the pillows. We slept well despite the current failing in the middle of the night. It was a cool and pleasant night.
Each day, my roommate awakens at 7:00 am, the first in our household. After she is done with her morning ablutions, she awakens me.
This morning she awakes and shrieks in horror, “Paaaaani”
My sleepy self assumed that there was water leaking from the tap and I asked her to go close the taps.
She however continues in spasmodic interjections, “Water”, Paaani”, “Utho”, “Dekho”,”Oh No”…
The gravity of the situation strikes me then. I conclude that she is drowning.
I jump out of the bed, blanket in hand and think of a source of water large enough to drown a 5ft, 3” girl.
With my otherwise fertile imagination, failing me at this crucial moment, I just decide to follow the sound of her shrieks. She happens to be in the adjacent bed room, screaming over the remaining people sleeping..
“Paaaani” …“Uthhooo”… “Uthhooo” …
I wondered if this was a new form of alarm she devised of rousing us up. My brain comes up with this brilliant risk mitigation strategy. I decided that maybe if I covered her up with the blanket she would calm down and stop yelling!
And just when I was about to cast the blanket over her head, it happened.
I slipped!
“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…………”… “Ouch”!
What was happening, I was confused and wet, was I drowning???
I frantically managed to get up and looked around and then it struck me - Our house was flooded with ankle deep water.
Phew!!!
We looked around for the source of the miscreance and realized that the balcony drainage was blocked and the rain water with no where to escape decided to seep in from under the door and out into the hall and continued its arduous journey into our kitchen and the bed rooms. On its way it watered out the TV set, the mattress in the hall, our books, our little electric kettle and our iron. So much for irrigation!
And then began the tiresome labor of four girls fighting against the water. (Which fought back quite valiantly, I must say)
But then by getting down on all fours and fighting with brooms, mops and funny looking aids given by our “ever so helpful” neighbours (note the abundant sarcasm), we conquered the water. We emerged victorious albeit drenched and dripping. But we won!!!
Overall, this morning was fun, all we needed were some beach balls and swimming costumes, that would have completed the party!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Mega Mart
Life is an unpredictable teacher. It will teach you many important lessons in strange ways, at unexpected moments.
Yesterday, a friend and I went shopping at Mega Mart. While waiting for some alterations to be made to the new purchases, we visited the food court in the mall to indulge our famished selves. As we gulped down the delicious viands, I noticed a young, married couple entering the foodcourt. The woman held a kid in her arms. Their humble dressing clashed with the flashy ambience and the grandly clad folks around.
The couple seemed apprehensive about venturing in, and cast nervous glances about them. Tiptoeing their way to the counter they glanced up at the oversized menu hanging overhead. On seeing the exhorbitant prices, the husband gently pulled the wife's hand and led her out of the restaurant.
It made me think about the begone days when our parents had to cut out on many of their joys inorder to provide for us, inorder to ensure that our future be bright. Every bit that they held up..stored up..restraining themselves on unwanted expenditures, all thinking that their children might have a bright future.
And how recklessly we spend money now, throwing it away on luxuries. Maybe we ought to think how this money came to us in the first place, the prices paid, the struggles undertaken by our parents in the past. It's time that we made them feel special and pamper them, rather than selfish indulgences on our part.
.
Yesterday, a friend and I went shopping at Mega Mart. While waiting for some alterations to be made to the new purchases, we visited the food court in the mall to indulge our famished selves. As we gulped down the delicious viands, I noticed a young, married couple entering the foodcourt. The woman held a kid in her arms. Their humble dressing clashed with the flashy ambience and the grandly clad folks around.
The couple seemed apprehensive about venturing in, and cast nervous glances about them. Tiptoeing their way to the counter they glanced up at the oversized menu hanging overhead. On seeing the exhorbitant prices, the husband gently pulled the wife's hand and led her out of the restaurant.
It made me think about the begone days when our parents had to cut out on many of their joys inorder to provide for us, inorder to ensure that our future be bright. Every bit that they held up..stored up..restraining themselves on unwanted expenditures, all thinking that their children might have a bright future.
And how recklessly we spend money now, throwing it away on luxuries. Maybe we ought to think how this money came to us in the first place, the prices paid, the struggles undertaken by our parents in the past. It's time that we made them feel special and pamper them, rather than selfish indulgences on our part.
.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
On books and reading
I've recently shifted to a large 2 bedroom flat in Pune. There are four of us from the same college. Lately we have been thinking of purchasing a TV, to alleviate boredom during the hours between dinner and sleeping.
One night, I was reading the book 'The Argumentative Indian' which discusses the rich history of India, developed from a long tradition of open discussion and debating. One of my roomie decided to join me and together we peruse the book, delving into the depths of Indian history, sharing our knowledge and learning much more in the process.
I invited the other roomies to join in, but they were reluctant to the extent of feigning sleep.
Makes me wonder why is the pursuit of knowledge so tiresome to people. Why is reading considered to be so uncool an activity... Why do people hate books? Trivial humor, gossipping, soaps on tv are all a part of living. But when the mind is only open to such cheap forms of entertainment and is not involved in the process of enlightenment and enrichment, then don't we devolve from being the most intelligent of the species...Shouldn't life be aimed at gaining knowledge and contributing to the progress of society and of mankind at large.
.
One night, I was reading the book 'The Argumentative Indian' which discusses the rich history of India, developed from a long tradition of open discussion and debating. One of my roomie decided to join me and together we peruse the book, delving into the depths of Indian history, sharing our knowledge and learning much more in the process.
I invited the other roomies to join in, but they were reluctant to the extent of feigning sleep.
Makes me wonder why is the pursuit of knowledge so tiresome to people. Why is reading considered to be so uncool an activity... Why do people hate books? Trivial humor, gossipping, soaps on tv are all a part of living. But when the mind is only open to such cheap forms of entertainment and is not involved in the process of enlightenment and enrichment, then don't we devolve from being the most intelligent of the species...Shouldn't life be aimed at gaining knowledge and contributing to the progress of society and of mankind at large.
.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Cycle of Life.
All of a sudden, I began floating. My body was light, wispy and formless. I could bend and twist myself into various shapes with utmost ease. Golden sunlight was penetrating my entire being, I realized that I was translucent.
Is this what happens, I wondered, when we pass from one state of being to another. I had heard about it but had never believed. But now, I had to believe. We change forms but we continue to exist. We carry onwards with our Journey.
I knew I was moving. To where, I didn’t really know. It was like being led or pushed by some unknown force. I felt I was floating in the air.
I looked down and there I saw the very place I had lived my entire life. I could make out my home, my family. The friends I had known, the places I had been to. My entire life flashed before my eyes.
The boy who had wanted water and had come searching for me. My proud and haughty self ran away from him. I never bothered to find out what happened to the thirsty boy.
The little children who came to sail paper boats in me. I didn’t like them putting their muddy hands in me and so I turned fierce and lashed upon them, till the frightened children ran away from me.
There were young women who came to bathe in me. They made a lot of noise and laughed a lot. Their voices overpowered my sweet, silvery voice. I didn’t like that. So I made the rocks in me very slippery and I became a dangerous place to step in. The women all soon left me and my tinkling voice was heard again.
At one time, there were a lot of huge shady trees that stood around me and a number of birds that came twittering around the trees and drank from me. But the trees shed their dry leaves into me and made my crystal water dirty, the birds dropped seeds and feathers into me. I disliked being dirty and so I stopped watering the trees around me. They shriveled and dried up. And once again, I was a clean and beautiful.
As time passed everyone stopped coming near me. I grew very lonely. I had no one to talk to. No one ever delighted in hearing me sing in my silvery voice.
I called out to the little children and beckoned them to come play in me. But they said that I was dangerous. I called out to the birds in the sky to come and join their melodies with mine. But they called me selfish. I wished the young maidens would come near me and sing and laugh with me. But they had long ago learnt to avoid me.
I was all alone. But was at least alive.
After a few days I started feeling extremely uneasy. Piercing sun rays invaded me. I felt like I had turned into a hot water stream. I tried to hold myself together. But I began shrinking. I heard the passerby’s saying that it was summer and a stream that didn’t have trees shading it would soon die. They pitied me but no one came to help me.
I started crying and wailing, but all that could was heard was the sound of water boiling around me. I lost my enchanting form, my tinkling voice. It became torrid and nauseating. I began losing my form. I soon lost consciousness. And here I am when I woke up. I am no more a lake. I have now become what I believe is a cloud.
I made a terrible mistake in my life. My actions led me to where I am today. My pride caused my fall. If I could only get one more chance, I would be kind and generous. I would have all my friends back. I had once heard that the cycle of life goes on. Maybe I would get a chance to correct all the mistakes I made…just maybe..
“Granma, can we go play in the lake outside”, asked Chintu.
“Yes dear, you all can go out.” said Lata, the grand-mother of the little children.
The children ran out to the lake in joy with little paper boats in their hands.
“You know Mother, when I was a young girl and wanted to go bathe in the lake, the rocks there were very slippery and it was a very dangerous place to go to.” said Jaya, the children’s mother to Lata.
“But now it’s the most enchanting place in the village, there are so many trees surrounding it and people from all over come to it to fetch water. I cannot believe it’s the same lake. It’s seems like the lake repented for its past behavior and in this rainy season it has come back to continue what it had left then. The cycle of life goes on, doesn't it Mother? ” continued Jaya.
“Don’t be silly Jaya.” scolded her mother. “You are a grown woman now. Lakes are inanimate objects, they don’t repent like we humans do. They do not have life.“
.
Is this what happens, I wondered, when we pass from one state of being to another. I had heard about it but had never believed. But now, I had to believe. We change forms but we continue to exist. We carry onwards with our Journey.
I knew I was moving. To where, I didn’t really know. It was like being led or pushed by some unknown force. I felt I was floating in the air.
I looked down and there I saw the very place I had lived my entire life. I could make out my home, my family. The friends I had known, the places I had been to. My entire life flashed before my eyes.
The boy who had wanted water and had come searching for me. My proud and haughty self ran away from him. I never bothered to find out what happened to the thirsty boy.
The little children who came to sail paper boats in me. I didn’t like them putting their muddy hands in me and so I turned fierce and lashed upon them, till the frightened children ran away from me.
There were young women who came to bathe in me. They made a lot of noise and laughed a lot. Their voices overpowered my sweet, silvery voice. I didn’t like that. So I made the rocks in me very slippery and I became a dangerous place to step in. The women all soon left me and my tinkling voice was heard again.
At one time, there were a lot of huge shady trees that stood around me and a number of birds that came twittering around the trees and drank from me. But the trees shed their dry leaves into me and made my crystal water dirty, the birds dropped seeds and feathers into me. I disliked being dirty and so I stopped watering the trees around me. They shriveled and dried up. And once again, I was a clean and beautiful.
As time passed everyone stopped coming near me. I grew very lonely. I had no one to talk to. No one ever delighted in hearing me sing in my silvery voice.
I called out to the little children and beckoned them to come play in me. But they said that I was dangerous. I called out to the birds in the sky to come and join their melodies with mine. But they called me selfish. I wished the young maidens would come near me and sing and laugh with me. But they had long ago learnt to avoid me.
I was all alone. But was at least alive.
After a few days I started feeling extremely uneasy. Piercing sun rays invaded me. I felt like I had turned into a hot water stream. I tried to hold myself together. But I began shrinking. I heard the passerby’s saying that it was summer and a stream that didn’t have trees shading it would soon die. They pitied me but no one came to help me.
I started crying and wailing, but all that could was heard was the sound of water boiling around me. I lost my enchanting form, my tinkling voice. It became torrid and nauseating. I began losing my form. I soon lost consciousness. And here I am when I woke up. I am no more a lake. I have now become what I believe is a cloud.
I made a terrible mistake in my life. My actions led me to where I am today. My pride caused my fall. If I could only get one more chance, I would be kind and generous. I would have all my friends back. I had once heard that the cycle of life goes on. Maybe I would get a chance to correct all the mistakes I made…just maybe..
“Granma, can we go play in the lake outside”, asked Chintu.
“Yes dear, you all can go out.” said Lata, the grand-mother of the little children.
The children ran out to the lake in joy with little paper boats in their hands.
“You know Mother, when I was a young girl and wanted to go bathe in the lake, the rocks there were very slippery and it was a very dangerous place to go to.” said Jaya, the children’s mother to Lata.
“But now it’s the most enchanting place in the village, there are so many trees surrounding it and people from all over come to it to fetch water. I cannot believe it’s the same lake. It’s seems like the lake repented for its past behavior and in this rainy season it has come back to continue what it had left then. The cycle of life goes on, doesn't it Mother? ” continued Jaya.
“Don’t be silly Jaya.” scolded her mother. “You are a grown woman now. Lakes are inanimate objects, they don’t repent like we humans do. They do not have life.“
.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A bus ride with an 8 year old :)
I was travelling by bus on a Sunday evening. Sitting beside me was a woman who might have been in her early thirties and wedged in the small gap between us was a particularly talkative son of hers. A fine 8 year old lad.
As the bus kept moving and the boy kept chirping, I couldnt but help ask him his name.
"Rohit", came the quick reply. And yours?" asked the eager boy.
AFTER a round of introduction and my attempts to explain to an 8 year old what my job was,I asked him 'So Rohit, what do you want to be when you grow up?'
"A rocket Scientist" came the prompt reply.
"And what will you do after becoming a rocket scientist?" asked the inquisitive Infoscion.
"I will roam around all the planets and my photo will come in all the papers, with the helmet on my head", chirped Rohit.
We parted at the Mysore city bus stand. Rohit and his mom walked to the right and I headed left to meet my friends.
I didn't think much of this until late in the evening when my mom called up and asked me what my future plans were.
"An MBA, mom",i said with the usual lacklustre tone I adopt when she discusses my future plans.
And it was then that it struck me.
I was once that 8 year old child with big dreams. I had wanted to be a famous heart surgeon or a renowed scientist who would find the cure for some deadly disease.
I seeked fame and honour. And unlike now, I was enthusiastically ready to work for it.
There was nothing that could dampen my spirits then.
I had the audacity to ask life to throw its best at me and I was sure that I would fight back and win!!!
Havent we all been like that 8 year old boy?
A child with big dreams for the future, a confidence brimming from within us.
A charming zest for life, for each day. Looking forward with widened eyes and eager hands.
Then why is it that as we grow up we slowly let our spirits dampen, we get complacent with whatever we have. The urge to reach out for more gradually ebbs away.
Does the reality of life strike us so hard, that we just cannot recover from that?
Where is that driving force within us? Why do we live such that we barely manage to pass though each day...
Doing so we are committing a crime against our own selves.
We are supressing the joy within us by shrouding it under layers of worries and obligations.
True, as we grow up we become aware of our responsibilities and chores, but we also need to be aware of that inherent joy within us.
The joy with which we once woke up every morning and leapt out of bed..the joy with which we made friends..with which we ate our food...with which we sought new things.. The joy that once made the world look nice and friendly to us.
Indeed, we may claim that we have become wiser than our 8 year old selves, but the wisest among us is the one who can still look at life, its challenges and then throw his head back and laugh.. with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old child racing against the wind!
As the bus kept moving and the boy kept chirping, I couldnt but help ask him his name.
"Rohit", came the quick reply. And yours?" asked the eager boy.
AFTER a round of introduction and my attempts to explain to an 8 year old what my job was,I asked him 'So Rohit, what do you want to be when you grow up?'
"A rocket Scientist" came the prompt reply.
"And what will you do after becoming a rocket scientist?" asked the inquisitive Infoscion.
"I will roam around all the planets and my photo will come in all the papers, with the helmet on my head", chirped Rohit.
We parted at the Mysore city bus stand. Rohit and his mom walked to the right and I headed left to meet my friends.
I didn't think much of this until late in the evening when my mom called up and asked me what my future plans were.
"An MBA, mom",i said with the usual lacklustre tone I adopt when she discusses my future plans.
And it was then that it struck me.
I was once that 8 year old child with big dreams. I had wanted to be a famous heart surgeon or a renowed scientist who would find the cure for some deadly disease.
I seeked fame and honour. And unlike now, I was enthusiastically ready to work for it.
There was nothing that could dampen my spirits then.
I had the audacity to ask life to throw its best at me and I was sure that I would fight back and win!!!
Havent we all been like that 8 year old boy?
A child with big dreams for the future, a confidence brimming from within us.
A charming zest for life, for each day. Looking forward with widened eyes and eager hands.
Then why is it that as we grow up we slowly let our spirits dampen, we get complacent with whatever we have. The urge to reach out for more gradually ebbs away.
Does the reality of life strike us so hard, that we just cannot recover from that?
Where is that driving force within us? Why do we live such that we barely manage to pass though each day...
Doing so we are committing a crime against our own selves.
We are supressing the joy within us by shrouding it under layers of worries and obligations.
True, as we grow up we become aware of our responsibilities and chores, but we also need to be aware of that inherent joy within us.
The joy with which we once woke up every morning and leapt out of bed..the joy with which we made friends..with which we ate our food...with which we sought new things.. The joy that once made the world look nice and friendly to us.
Indeed, we may claim that we have become wiser than our 8 year old selves, but the wisest among us is the one who can still look at life, its challenges and then throw his head back and laugh.. with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old child racing against the wind!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Beauty is all around me :)
When I first entered the Mysore campus at Infosys, I was stunned at the beauty all around me. The magnificent buildings, I had only seen on the Internet, the lush green lawns, the pink bougainvilleas grazing the hostel walls, multicolored arrays of leaves, bright flowers peeking from in between velvety sheets of green grass, wide roads and a calm aura pervading the atmosphere. Blissful, beautiful surroundings.
As I sit writing this, I realize with a mix of both joy and surprise that I have been here for more than 3 months now. Surprise at the quick passage of time. With every tick of the clock, Time surges ahead, both through good days and bad. It’s a very funny thing about time, when I stand at the threshold of a new month, it seems long and winding. But when I glance back at the bygone days they seem but a mere breath of time. Was to be here but gone soon before I know it. There is also the joy that with three months done, the training here is soon going to end and hopefully I’ll be posted in Pune, nearer to my lovely hometown.
The reason for this post is that over these 3 months, all the beauty of this place gradually began fading before my eyes. Each day as I walked to and fro the GEC and my hostel with images of assignments and projects floating around my mind, every art of nature lost its charm, soon nothing around me was beautiful.
I forgot that I was actually living in a place, I had dreamt of being in for nearly a year.
Yesterday, I received a mail, a winding road lying admist brilliant orange foliage. I gazed at it struck by its spectacular beauty and wished that I were there – walking.. moving, existing in that paradisiacal Eden..
But then again what if once I get there, I lose delight in my paradise. What if life’s responsibilities and duties blind my eye to these rapturous visions of nature. What kind of sad dilemma would I be in! I would keep dreaming of bliss and on attainment of that bliss, I would inure myself to it. All the beauty of the world would over time be just a mundane landscape. A frightening thought!!
I mulled over this before writing this post and here’s what I realized.
Beauty is all around us, each day, everywhere. There is beauty in nature; there is beauty in the people all around us. There is beauty in what we say, there is beauty in what we do. All we gotta do is at times pause in between our daily chores and remind ourselves of it. Beauty or for that matter happiness or love is not to be sought at distant places, its right where we are. It you don’t find it here, chances are that you’ll never find it elsewhere. It comes to us in various forms often touching us in ways we don’t realize until at some time in a moment of retrospection your eye opens to it and you realize how blessed you have been all along. And such times may just inspire you to spread that beauty around you.
.
As I sit writing this, I realize with a mix of both joy and surprise that I have been here for more than 3 months now. Surprise at the quick passage of time. With every tick of the clock, Time surges ahead, both through good days and bad. It’s a very funny thing about time, when I stand at the threshold of a new month, it seems long and winding. But when I glance back at the bygone days they seem but a mere breath of time. Was to be here but gone soon before I know it. There is also the joy that with three months done, the training here is soon going to end and hopefully I’ll be posted in Pune, nearer to my lovely hometown.
The reason for this post is that over these 3 months, all the beauty of this place gradually began fading before my eyes. Each day as I walked to and fro the GEC and my hostel with images of assignments and projects floating around my mind, every art of nature lost its charm, soon nothing around me was beautiful.
I forgot that I was actually living in a place, I had dreamt of being in for nearly a year.
Yesterday, I received a mail, a winding road lying admist brilliant orange foliage. I gazed at it struck by its spectacular beauty and wished that I were there – walking.. moving, existing in that paradisiacal Eden..
But then again what if once I get there, I lose delight in my paradise. What if life’s responsibilities and duties blind my eye to these rapturous visions of nature. What kind of sad dilemma would I be in! I would keep dreaming of bliss and on attainment of that bliss, I would inure myself to it. All the beauty of the world would over time be just a mundane landscape. A frightening thought!!
I mulled over this before writing this post and here’s what I realized.
Beauty is all around us, each day, everywhere. There is beauty in nature; there is beauty in the people all around us. There is beauty in what we say, there is beauty in what we do. All we gotta do is at times pause in between our daily chores and remind ourselves of it. Beauty or for that matter happiness or love is not to be sought at distant places, its right where we are. It you don’t find it here, chances are that you’ll never find it elsewhere. It comes to us in various forms often touching us in ways we don’t realize until at some time in a moment of retrospection your eye opens to it and you realize how blessed you have been all along. And such times may just inspire you to spread that beauty around you.
.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Life at Infy
It’s been more than a month in Mysore now. Life is very different now than it used to be back home. The perks of independent living that I had fantasized about don’t seem to exist in real life in the same degree.
I missed my brother’s engagement in Pune. I had two days to be at home for the wedding . I hardly got to know my sis in law. I miss my family, I miss mom. Food I disliked at home have now become delicacies here. The winters here are colder than at back home. Solitary night walks back to the hostel on days when friends are too busy, make me feel lonelier.
It’s not that life is bleak or cheerless. There are fun stuff to do too. But I have been wondering whether it’s worth staying away from home.
After nearly a month of going to a Catholic church and attending English mass on Sundays, I finally found an Orthodox church yesterday and attended the Malayalam mass. Had a very spiritually invigorating experience in Church. Maybe it just felt good to be a part of something that reminded me of home. Somehow the English mass didn’t work with me.
There are three more months to go in Mysore. Training is pretty easy. We do like complaining of long working hours, but that’s because we spend much of the time before 5 playing games and chatting.
Blogging is difficult here. Infy has blocked all our sites and many proxies too. We gotta find newer ones, which they eventually will block too.
I guess that since I have chosen to do this, I might as well do it with a smile. Maybe I could make good use of the free movies on the weekends and the various games and sports Infy has organized. A change of attitude would definitely work for the good.
.
I missed my brother’s engagement in Pune. I had two days to be at home for the wedding . I hardly got to know my sis in law. I miss my family, I miss mom. Food I disliked at home have now become delicacies here. The winters here are colder than at back home. Solitary night walks back to the hostel on days when friends are too busy, make me feel lonelier.
It’s not that life is bleak or cheerless. There are fun stuff to do too. But I have been wondering whether it’s worth staying away from home.
After nearly a month of going to a Catholic church and attending English mass on Sundays, I finally found an Orthodox church yesterday and attended the Malayalam mass. Had a very spiritually invigorating experience in Church. Maybe it just felt good to be a part of something that reminded me of home. Somehow the English mass didn’t work with me.
There are three more months to go in Mysore. Training is pretty easy. We do like complaining of long working hours, but that’s because we spend much of the time before 5 playing games and chatting.
Blogging is difficult here. Infy has blocked all our sites and many proxies too. We gotta find newer ones, which they eventually will block too.
I guess that since I have chosen to do this, I might as well do it with a smile. Maybe I could make good use of the free movies on the weekends and the various games and sports Infy has organized. A change of attitude would definitely work for the good.
.
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