meeeeoooowwww.." My eyebrows shot up--"Now who was this..". With my eyes still fixed on the Lays packet which was now completely empty ,I continued munching the last of the lot,wishing the packet contained what the manufacturers promised-100 g of potato chips..but its always 50 g potato chips and 50 g of nature's fine composition(nitrogen-78%,oxygen-21%,carbon dioxide-0.03% and other gases-0.07%) called air. The amphitheatre was almost empty at around this time except for a few people enjoying their evening snack."Its getting late..I have to hurry up to my desk and finish my work for today before I can leave by the seven 'o clock bus,and then I have to go to the.." "MEEEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWW"..this time louder and commanding..my thoughts slammed on the brakes.
I turned my head to the right and there was this grey kitten looking at me with a forlorn face.It looked like any ordinary kitten at first sight.Small grey body curled up like a fur ball with white stripes on it.Little did I know then how surprised I would be in a few minutes time. "hmmm???"..."meeeeeoooowwww" came the reply. I shifted my body so that we were face to face."Ok sweetie,am listening..whats your problem?" . I knew I looked totally foolish talking to a kitten like that,but the tiny thing really had my attention drawn!
Expecting another hopeless meeoww I continued like an idiot.." I know you have problems too...probably your mama screamed at you for something,or you flunked in an exam,or that you are hungry...but its all part of life dude..you gotta live it.."..tossing my hair ,I looked out into the darkness in a melodramatic fashion that comes naturally to me when I say something highly philosophical!
"Who do you think you are talking to,huh??" This was too much of a response to get for what I expected I would get from the kitten(what would you hope to hear from a CAT other than a meeeow????). "W-w-w-w-w-w-what was that???" As I turned my head to face the object of my attention ,my jaws dropped down! In the place of the little kitten with that oh-so-sad expression was the same kitten with a smile (yeah,a real S-M-I-L-E) on its face,grinning at me!
"Who spoke just now??" ...I looked around at the empty amphitheatre..not a single soul. "Haha,you still don't believe that it was me who spoke,right?"..the smile was irking me now. A talking kitten???Have I started hallucinating too!!!
"Ok,little girl,let me explain...Am Almighty God from Heaven.Everyday when I visit Earth,I make it a point to visit atleast one software professional in this world.And you are the 12,456,567 th person I have talked to.".."There are more software engineers surely...you can find that number in Bangalore itself!And you have talked to only so many?" I mused out aloud."Thats cos I don't talk to them unless they take pains to talk to me...Software professionals have become so engrossed in their own activities that it takes little pranks like this to remind them that there other things in life.."The Kitten replied. "And you think this would help?"..I was feeling smaller and smaller before that tiny thing claiming to be God Himself.
"What would help you mean??Finished off the entire Lays packet by yourself,huh??? And you sit here blah-blahing nonsense to yourself!Why don't we make a move now?Its almost seven!"..I looked up at the voice ..I could make out my friend's figure in the darkness. "Oh yes..am sorry..where were you? Lets go..." I replied,feeling a little shaky.
As I got up to go,I feared looking to my right.But the temptation was overwhelming.I tried looking out through the corner of my eyes...nothing there.where is the..?? I took two steps forward and as though I had forgotten something I turned back and looked at where I had sat. "Whats it?Did you leave anything behind ?" my friend asked. "No...but where is the.." my voice trailed away,as I kept searching in the emptiness for it...in vain.Looking straight ahead but with a defeated face,I strolled silently with my friend.As I walked away slowly,my friend carelessly asked.."Lots of cats here,right?Do you like them??"..Back in the amphitheatre,a small smile appeared on the face of the lone fur ball in the darkness...nobody saw it ....
Friday, March 31, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
God's Own Country-You are missed!
Lush paddy fields,circled by a chain of palm trees,a gurgling stream finding its waythrough tiny narrow openings,caressing the smooth white pebbles underneath,mountains lining up the horizon kissing the clouds and blue blue clear sky as you look up .....the thought of
Kerala fills my heart with pride and love and that longing drives you so crazy that you are
prompted to go through your calendar.
Running my finger along the rows of the month,my eyes
light up as I see 30th marked in grey in my official calendar.A
pplying for leave on 31st was the next chore in hand.And then finally tickets to that sleepy town-Palakkad! Its summer back in Kerala and am looking forward to the ripe mangoes and jackfruits waitingfor me!Reminds me of those sultry afternoons during the summer vacation when there was
absolutely no option about going out.I used to make myself as comfortable as possible before
the TV with juicy mangoes in hand....
And come June ,it rains cats and dogs!I studied in a school where summer vacation began a
little late and stretched to mid June.For the other schools in the state,June 1 is Day 1 for
the next year.And the monsoon in Kerala plays the prank every time. It lets out all its fury
right from that day! Its really a sight to watch kids return from school,drenched to their
skins despite their raincoats and umbrellas.Once back home,there is a lot of hard work to be
done...the brand new leather shoes is completely soaked,an entire bucket full of water is
wrung out of the socks and the uniform no longer identifies your school! But as all kids
knew,that was all mama's job...:-) How I miss those days!! Kerala,I miss you! And am coming....! Have a nice day!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Hell-raising Infernos!
The clock showed 10:30.Having finished my dinner early,I opened the door to go to bed.The
lights were still on.I let my eyes wander around the place.The room looked as though it had
been swept by a mild tornado..(there have been times when it looked like The Big Bang
occured in our room!) The person I noticed first was Miss Hutch2Hutch on the bed with her brown teddy in hand..chattering away on the phone in some unintelligible language(fortunately,she always says!).If the language had come into existence some time around when mathematicians were busy with sine waves,this would have been another inspiration for them to put in more effort into the discovery! Her bed always looked "lived-in"..:-D..clothes,bags,more clothes,more bags! I smiled back at her,thinking she had smiled at me...no,she and Mr Hutch2Hutch on the other end were sharing some joke!
Next my eyes rested on Miss India,the one multi faceted personality who believes sleeping 5
hours a day was more than sufficient for her to come up with her best! All true,in her
case,but still people do wonder how her eyes look droopy!A good buy for an IT industry.
Talking about her,she does so many things at a time that looking at her hurrying around,you
gasp for breath,but never she!! Takes MBA part time by burning the midnight lamp,speaks
endlessly(literally) to her boy friend(s) during breaks and is notorious for her exactly-
one-and-half-hour-bath everyday! And when she speaks,its as though she forgets the fact that
she has to breathe!And many times,we have had to remind her...
As my thoughts stray away to the college days I spent with friends here in my room,a voice
brings me back to the present.."Should I go through the Java book tonight?? "Thats our dear
Miss Uncertainity Principle a.k.a Binary Beauty. One good fact about her is that though she
comes with questions like "Should it be done or not?".."Should I wear this or
that..".."Should I move out or not?"..."Should I speak or not..?".."Should I blah-blah (you
can substitute almost anything here) or not?"..she always mentions the choices too - A 1
(yes) or a 0(no),which is why she is called a binary. She manages to find answers for
complicated questions like why a static variable should be used in some places of the code
and why not,but this system pops up a fatal exception when it comes to questions like
"Should I eat the food or not ? " .Another fact about her which I should not miss out is
that she has this amazing capability of retaining all her five senses when she is
sleeping.Which is probably one reason why she managed to clear that doubt on pointers in C
when all of us thought she was fast asleep!
The fourth person in the room-the most unassuming,less-hyper active and comparitively more
sane Miss Principles.She abides by her rules,draws the line wherever necessary and manages
to bring some order in the prevailing chaos and we are grateful to her! The most common
answer we get from her for all the types of "why" questions we ask her is " I have some
principles in life and wish to go by them.."..which roughly translates to "Mind your own
business and now,get lost! "
So that makes up my room....and of course,the 5th person is me...the lesser said the
better! Cheers!!
lights were still on.I let my eyes wander around the place.The room looked as though it had
been swept by a mild tornado..(there have been times when it looked like The Big Bang
occured in our room!) The person I noticed first was Miss Hutch2Hutch on the bed with her brown teddy in hand..chattering away on the phone in some unintelligible language(fortunately,she always says!).If the language had come into existence some time around when mathematicians were busy with sine waves,this would have been another inspiration for them to put in more effort into the discovery! Her bed always looked "lived-in"..:-D..clothes,bags,more clothes,more bags! I smiled back at her,thinking she had smiled at me...no,she and Mr Hutch2Hutch on the other end were sharing some joke!
Next my eyes rested on Miss India,the one multi faceted personality who believes sleeping 5
hours a day was more than sufficient for her to come up with her best! All true,in her
case,but still people do wonder how her eyes look droopy!A good buy for an IT industry.
Talking about her,she does so many things at a time that looking at her hurrying around,you
gasp for breath,but never she!! Takes MBA part time by burning the midnight lamp,speaks
endlessly(literally) to her boy friend(s) during breaks and is notorious for her exactly-
one-and-half-hour-bath everyday! And when she speaks,its as though she forgets the fact that
she has to breathe!And many times,we have had to remind her...
As my thoughts stray away to the college days I spent with friends here in my room,a voice
brings me back to the present.."Should I go through the Java book tonight?? "Thats our dear
Miss Uncertainity Principle a.k.a Binary Beauty. One good fact about her is that though she
comes with questions like "Should it be done or not?".."Should I wear this or
that..".."Should I move out or not?"..."Should I speak or not..?".."Should I blah-blah (you
can substitute almost anything here) or not?"..she always mentions the choices too - A 1
(yes) or a 0(no),which is why she is called a binary. She manages to find answers for
complicated questions like why a static variable should be used in some places of the code
and why not,but this system pops up a fatal exception when it comes to questions like
"Should I eat the food or not ? " .Another fact about her which I should not miss out is
that she has this amazing capability of retaining all her five senses when she is
sleeping.Which is probably one reason why she managed to clear that doubt on pointers in C
when all of us thought she was fast asleep!
The fourth person in the room-the most unassuming,less-hyper active and comparitively more
sane Miss Principles.She abides by her rules,draws the line wherever necessary and manages
to bring some order in the prevailing chaos and we are grateful to her! The most common
answer we get from her for all the types of "why" questions we ask her is " I have some
principles in life and wish to go by them.."..which roughly translates to "Mind your own
business and now,get lost! "
So that makes up my room....and of course,the 5th person is me...the lesser said the
better! Cheers!!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Say Cheese!!
Remember your curiosity and enthusiasm when you saw an elder handling a camera in your childhood? How you used to gape as he adjusted the lens with expertise ,gave a firm support with his palm and the moment of pure bliss was when he clicked and the bright flash of light appears for a split second!
For many, photography has been a passionate hobby.They wouldn't mind spending half their life and money clicking away pictures of nature and animals.Or even birds and butterflies?? I know of a person who hangs around parks and sanctuaries with his blah-blah-blah-specification-Nikon camera-with-even-more-blah-blah-blah-features and takes amazing pictures of dragon flies in every other position! Even the intricately woven details of the wings are seen glistening in the sunlight. And the joy on his face when he shows it to us!
But for me,its being on the other side (or probably,with regard to photography as a hobby,being on the "wrong side") of the camera that has thrilled me! My protocol is that "If there is a flash,there is me!!" :-)
Now,am sure,most of us are no different...When it comes to photography,if you can't shoot cool pics,then be an object for cool pics ;-) Recollecting those college days when we used to try fitting into the frame of almost all the photo taken in the class! And remember those photos where everyone had a "V" over their heads????
One of my careful observation is that most of the time you look the prettiest in photos when you are wearing the shabbiest of your clothes,amidst the dirtiest surrounding...and when you take pains to get dressed up well and expect the photo also to come up well,you are taken in by surprise! There would be no words to describe the shocked expression on your face when you take a look at the result! I still haven't found a way out of this paradox! If somebody has an answer,kindly let me know!
Now,as a final note,few tips on photography(I mean,for the wrong side,of course!)..
1) ALWAYS smile in photos...it makes you look much happier (even if you are not!)..Nobody likes seeing sad faces on photographs!
2) For gods sake,stand still , unless you really want to end up looking like a spooky soul right from the graveyard!
3) And most important of all,pose for a photograph only if you trust the photographer's skill !!!
For many, photography has been a passionate hobby.They wouldn't mind spending half their life and money clicking away pictures of nature and animals.Or even birds and butterflies?? I know of a person who hangs around parks and sanctuaries with his blah-blah-blah-specification-Nikon camera-with-even-more-blah-blah-blah-features and takes amazing pictures of dragon flies in every other position! Even the intricately woven details of the wings are seen glistening in the sunlight. And the joy on his face when he shows it to us!
But for me,its being on the other side (or probably,with regard to photography as a hobby,being on the "wrong side") of the camera that has thrilled me! My protocol is that "If there is a flash,there is me!!" :-)
Now,am sure,most of us are no different...When it comes to photography,if you can't shoot cool pics,then be an object for cool pics ;-) Recollecting those college days when we used to try fitting into the frame of almost all the photo taken in the class! And remember those photos where everyone had a "V" over their heads????
One of my careful observation is that most of the time you look the prettiest in photos when you are wearing the shabbiest of your clothes,amidst the dirtiest surrounding...and when you take pains to get dressed up well and expect the photo also to come up well,you are taken in by surprise! There would be no words to describe the shocked expression on your face when you take a look at the result! I still haven't found a way out of this paradox! If somebody has an answer,kindly let me know!
Now,as a final note,few tips on photography(I mean,for the wrong side,of course!)..
1) ALWAYS smile in photos...it makes you look much happier (even if you are not!)..Nobody likes seeing sad faces on photographs!
2) For gods sake,stand still , unless you really want to end up looking like a spooky soul right from the graveyard!
3) And most important of all,pose for a photograph only if you trust the photographer's skill !!!
Friday, March 24, 2006
Secret to Survival : Maadifying our Life !
"Left maadi.."... "Right maadi.."......"Turn maadi...Stop maadi.."... "Why are you bent on speaking in Kannada??Am sure he can understand Hindi" ,I said,trying to control my never-ending giggles. It fell on the most deaf ears of my friend.Ok,thought the rest of us,let her have her way!
And when the auto driver took a neat right turn and parked his vehicle right behind our bus ,my friend beamed at us and said.."See...its as simple as that!! Look how well he got my message!"..
Now,if you wondered what I was talking about--I am talking about the favourite word of the non-kannada people staying in Bangalore-simple,omnipresent and "context free" Maadi.Which roughly translates to "do" in English.
The magic of this word which also happens to be the reason why non-kannada people go gaga about it and it is that it can be paired with almost any English word easily to make sense! For example,wouldn't you understand if I said "Iron maadi"..."Wash maadi"...and "Think maadi" ??
And if you thought it was restricted to only the personal chores,you are gravely mistaken ,dude. How would you react if I said that "maadi" can be paired with all the common words in the drop-down combo boxes available in Windows OS??? Don't believe it?? Try a few...Click on File ...try saying "New maadi" .."Open maadi"..."Save maadi".."Save as maadi"..."Close maadi".."Exit maadi".... :-) ...cool,ain't it??
So lets conclude,the very essence of life today in Bangalore is to "maadify" it to suit our needs! Hey,if todays blog sounds strange,adjust maadi...;-) cheers!
And when the auto driver took a neat right turn and parked his vehicle right behind our bus ,my friend beamed at us and said.."See...its as simple as that!! Look how well he got my message!"..
Now,if you wondered what I was talking about--I am talking about the favourite word of the non-kannada people staying in Bangalore-simple,omnipresent and "context free" Maadi.Which roughly translates to "do" in English.
The magic of this word which also happens to be the reason why non-kannada people go gaga about it and it is that it can be paired with almost any English word easily to make sense! For example,wouldn't you understand if I said "Iron maadi"..."Wash maadi"...and "Think maadi" ??
And if you thought it was restricted to only the personal chores,you are gravely mistaken ,dude. How would you react if I said that "maadi" can be paired with all the common words in the drop-down combo boxes available in Windows OS??? Don't believe it?? Try a few...Click on File ...try saying "New maadi" .."Open maadi"..."Save maadi".."Save as maadi"..."Close maadi".."Exit maadi".... :-) ...cool,ain't it??
So lets conclude,the very essence of life today in Bangalore is to "maadify" it to suit our needs! Hey,if todays blog sounds strange,adjust maadi...;-) cheers!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
When I grow up....
Title sounds too mystifying to be said by a 22 yr old..right? Well..today while I was wracking my brains(excuse me,why do we use a plural here???:-o) about what I should be writing in my second blog , I had 2 choices ...either to write about the gory details of the "battle" I had today in the morning in the "arena" (a.k.a The Bathroom) with my opponent (a deadly sized creature with sturdy claws and a menacingly long tentacle,firmly sticking to my bath towel) or...something much less gory..the multitudes of ways I used to complete this sentence "When I grow up,I want to be a.." in the past years..I chose the latter.
As some great PJ master said.."Let me begin from the beginning.."..
My first day in school as a 4 yr old...I remember very little of that day except for this incident.The teacher in blue sari (She was pretty,but I always thought my mom was the prettiest in those days...! ) asked all of us to answer a question.."What do you want to be when you grow up?" Initially none of us got her question.Then she suggested.."like..teacher..doctor...??" Many around me flashed smiles,probably because they got their answer...but I was still have the same puzzled face.My classmates started answering her question..one by one.."teacher..".."doctor.."..."doctor..".."teacher.."...somebody said "pilot" (and I wondered what in the world was that!) ...my turn was fast approaching...and I had still not got the answer...I could feel my hands going cold...what am I to say????
Then the person right ahead of me said "Doctor" and immedietely I sprang to my feet and said "teacher..",for the only reason that my friend had said "doctor" and how can I say the same thing????..I sat down and relaxed for having answered the question.
That was my first way of ending that sentence...when I didn't even know what the question meant!
Soon as I "grew up" inch by inch,I fancied doing all kinds of jobs...After what I thought was careful thought,I decided to stick to the teacher figure for quite some years..until I was about 8 or 9 yrs old.I had narrowed down my dream to a "KV teacher" cos I was a KV student.
Then when I was 10 yrs old,teacher announced one day in class that there was this essay competition in school and the topic was "My Ambition in Life"..hmm..why not participate! Back home,I was pestering dad to come up with an "exotic" profession so that I could win the first prize ;-)..and both of us put our heads together and decided that I should be writing an essay saying I wanted to become an "articket"..i mean..an "architect"..with great difficulty I managed to pronounce the word. Soon a nice essay was prepared by daddy and I memorized every line of it in no time!
Voila!!! The essay won the second prize...(I secretly wondered what "extra-exotic" profession the 1st prize winner had come up with!) ..and that day I decided I would become an architect!!!
Those were merry days....cos even though I changed my mind few times,I still secretly hoped to become an architect when I grew up...
The other jobs that caught my attention were..and the weird reasons why were...
1) News reader...cos I had a crush on almost all the news readers in my teens and dreamt of reading news with them!
2) An anchor for cookery shows in TV because I envied those people on Tv who managed to get along without cooking,but still dug their teeth into all the yummy things the chefs cook!
3) An aerobics teacher because I thought that was the only way somebody who didn't know the ABCs of dancing would dance and the world would still not laugh at them!
4) And finally a software engineer (which today I am)....cos...:-)
And today,as I look back on all the clumsy thoughts I had,I still think of all those dreams-unrealized,with a smile on my face...may be one day I can fufill them....??? And the equally clumsy fact is that I have still not stopped uttering the statement "When I grow up.." even today...!!!! have a nice day!!!
As some great PJ master said.."Let me begin from the beginning.."..
My first day in school as a 4 yr old...I remember very little of that day except for this incident.The teacher in blue sari (She was pretty,but I always thought my mom was the prettiest in those days...! ) asked all of us to answer a question.."What do you want to be when you grow up?" Initially none of us got her question.Then she suggested.."like..teacher..doctor...??" Many around me flashed smiles,probably because they got their answer...but I was still have the same puzzled face.My classmates started answering her question..one by one.."teacher..".."doctor.."..."doctor..".."teacher.."...somebody said "pilot" (and I wondered what in the world was that!) ...my turn was fast approaching...and I had still not got the answer...I could feel my hands going cold...what am I to say????
Then the person right ahead of me said "Doctor" and immedietely I sprang to my feet and said "teacher..",for the only reason that my friend had said "doctor" and how can I say the same thing????..I sat down and relaxed for having answered the question.
That was my first way of ending that sentence...when I didn't even know what the question meant!
Soon as I "grew up" inch by inch,I fancied doing all kinds of jobs...After what I thought was careful thought,I decided to stick to the teacher figure for quite some years..until I was about 8 or 9 yrs old.I had narrowed down my dream to a "KV teacher" cos I was a KV student.
Then when I was 10 yrs old,teacher announced one day in class that there was this essay competition in school and the topic was "My Ambition in Life"..hmm..why not participate! Back home,I was pestering dad to come up with an "exotic" profession so that I could win the first prize ;-)..and both of us put our heads together and decided that I should be writing an essay saying I wanted to become an "articket"..i mean..an "architect"..with great difficulty I managed to pronounce the word. Soon a nice essay was prepared by daddy and I memorized every line of it in no time!
Voila!!! The essay won the second prize...(I secretly wondered what "extra-exotic" profession the 1st prize winner had come up with!) ..and that day I decided I would become an architect!!!
Those were merry days....cos even though I changed my mind few times,I still secretly hoped to become an architect when I grew up...
The other jobs that caught my attention were..and the weird reasons why were...
1) News reader...cos I had a crush on almost all the news readers in my teens and dreamt of reading news with them!
2) An anchor for cookery shows in TV because I envied those people on Tv who managed to get along without cooking,but still dug their teeth into all the yummy things the chefs cook!
3) An aerobics teacher because I thought that was the only way somebody who didn't know the ABCs of dancing would dance and the world would still not laugh at them!
4) And finally a software engineer (which today I am)....cos...:-)
And today,as I look back on all the clumsy thoughts I had,I still think of all those dreams-unrealized,with a smile on my face...may be one day I can fufill them....??? And the equally clumsy fact is that I have still not stopped uttering the statement "When I grow up.." even today...!!!! have a nice day!!!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Getting over "To Blog or not to Blog"....
I had been thinking of starting a blog for quite some time and kept pushing the thought off like many others do ...and I was secretly glad that I had a zillion reasons in my basket to do so...
--> What do I write...??? And that too,very frequently....else I might forget my userid and password ..or probably they would even chuck out my blog for being inactive (do they really do that??? ) !!!
--> Then comes the favourite million dollar question everybody keeps asking these days..."Will I get time for this???"
--> Now,since I can't list down all the zillion reasons I have (ok,I admit,I lied abt that "zillion" figure!)...I'll stop with this last one..and probably the best of the lot....I was plain lazy! (I guess,Like everybody??)
But today morning I felt less lazy (amazing!!!) and so finally decided to take the plunge and try my hand at this...and here is my first blog...sprawled majestically for the world to see(??eh??Am not so sure!!!) lets see how this will turn out to be....
Cheers...and have a nice day!
--> What do I write...??? And that too,very frequently....else I might forget my userid and password ..or probably they would even chuck out my blog for being inactive (do they really do that??? ) !!!
--> Then comes the favourite million dollar question everybody keeps asking these days..."Will I get time for this???"
--> Now,since I can't list down all the zillion reasons I have (ok,I admit,I lied abt that "zillion" figure!)...I'll stop with this last one..and probably the best of the lot....I was plain lazy! (I guess,Like everybody??)
But today morning I felt less lazy (amazing!!!) and so finally decided to take the plunge and try my hand at this...and here is my first blog...sprawled majestically for the world to see(??eh??Am not so sure!!!) lets see how this will turn out to be....
Cheers...and have a nice day!
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