How much can the two neighbors talk?

Talking about the master of all talks --- India and Pakistan talks...We have been talking for quite long now. Lately External affairs minister SM Krishna calls his counterpart of have talks after the Varanasi blasts -- while some other Level-2 talks are already going on! Infact we had Musharraf himself coming down a few years back for talks when we had the famous Agra summit...a few years after AB Vajpayee had visited Pakistan again for talks. So both the sides talked and have been talking for quite long now which everytime turns out to be non-conclusive -- at least for the common man! May be it had some significance politically but till now none of these talks have brought any peace to the supposedly 'heaven on earth' and also the rest of India.
So, what are we doing here now, why have just political dimension to the whole thing. Why cant we just have an economic boycott...no terrorist country can have any kind of economic relation with any other country -- no trade and of course no cricket!!  Can a thief survive if he cant steal? No...Let the people there feel that they are residing in a country which aids anti-social and anti-human activities in some parts of the world...Let there be unrest, so the rulers there can think more rationally...May be its time that there should be some kind of "non-cooperation" movement...lest these talks just increase the history burden of our text-books!!

Finally in the waters

Finally after a lot of broken new year resolutions , I finally took the dip...Had been thinking since I don't know when that I need to learn the strokes in water...so here I was today morning next to the pool. Calm water making me lose my calm! It was chilly -- and I had already warned my coach Nishant to be lenient and patient and he was perfect at that!!
First feeling was dizziness and that of drowning...but then I thought of so many great swimmers who win gold medals and I got the courage :-) Head inside water to float...great..the mind had to be tamed and the body would follow I thought...It was wonderful and fun and simply liberating...:-)
Hopefully I will have mastered the skill by the time my daughter starts learning the sport...and I wont be afraid that she will be treading the unknown waters.
Its like fulfilling your childhood wishes once you have a child of your own...looking forward to more of such experiences :-)

White Life in Bangalore....

Bangalore mornings...generally slow and lazy. Even if it is the summers...seldom does it happen that it loses its morning cool - soft and cozy. I wake up in the morning and don't really want to wake out -- if you know what I mean.
Its winters now and winters are short -- and chilly and cloudy -- days are short...just don't realize how soon the sun hides to make way for the cold moon. I had been thinking...what we had a silver lining to these cloudy dull days...what if it snowed in Bangalore. Tiny flakes floating down my balcony. My daughter would love collecting them in her spade from the sand toy kit -- the way she tries to do with the rain drops. Just that the snow drops will stay for some time and she will be happier and busy for at least some more time :-)
So, just thinking aloud...what would the snow on the street look like...may be white with loads of brown here and there -- when every time somebody dug up the ground. You cant say that the digging will stop just because it snowed -- they don't stop digging even just when the road has been freshly laid -- the black tar still shining bright! But anyway white with brown if better than brown and more brown!!
Now, thinking about the brighter side...we would just discard our boring office jackets because just those wont help! Bikes and autos on the road will be a big no-no...and just imagine the lesser amount of scratches on your car! I would certainly love that...We could always blame the snow jamming the roads as against traffic for late show ups!
For sometime, our CM would just sigh in relief..all his denotified land invisible and he can always fight for a new law that denotification laws don't actually apply to lands under the invasion of snow...anything can happen when you want to save your chair!
Think of it, there would be entrepreneurial opportunities too..what about hoarding all the snow to make up for the water shortage...after all snow-fall harvesting will be easier than rain-water harvesting :-)
No potholes on roads - all filled by snow..BBMP can save money..all the garbage can hide underneath the white sheath...clean white bangalore :-)

Santa Claus would appear on the snow-clad roads rather than in mall-centers decked with loads of cotton if it just snowed in Bangalore..... :-)

The Smoking License!!!

It's been 9 yrs since Nishant and I got married - though it seems like we still don't know each other :-) ... may be because in this constant 'upgrade' age ..we also keep on changing/upgrading :)....Anyways, this analysis can be a separate series of blogs....So, we completed 9 yrs of our marriage on the 27th Nov...and we decided to celebrate. Nothing much was on the cards, but we just wanted to relax and have food. Though we do this every weekend but it never seems enough :-)

Bangalore weather was at its best that day and it being a Saturday, we could plan to have a lunch together from our otherwise daily routine of having it in the office. Finally after a little discussion (we wanted to avoid any discussions on that day at the very least!), we decided that a resort nearby was a good option. We could sit outside and it has some interesting ambiance, which Myra would also enjoy. 

Its a short drive, so no traffic stress -- we were are charged up with a growling stomach. 

Now started the series of disappointments -- first of all there was no valet parking and no parking within the hotel(nobody ever plans parking!!). Anyway, this is a common issue, we parked in a rented parking lot behind and walked the 300 mts to the restaurant. 

There is a kind of beach shack at the very center of the resort where the food is served. We decided not to go for the buffet -- as we wanted to eat our choice of food. Started with ordering the soup and the waiter told 2-3 names which were not there in the menu. I think he just wanted us to have what was available in the buffet!! Anyway, we specifically asked for minestrone soup which he finally agreed. We asked him for starter suggestions and help  and he just gave a blank disinterested look...I thought -- "may be no tip for this one today!" Anyway , Nishant was more generous and wanted to give him a second chance as we had just started ordering and our appetites generally are hearty :-) 

I forgot the rude waiter with Myra's chatter till a whiff of smoke disturbed me...The table next to ours had somebody smoking. The solution was simple...just ask for a change of place. So, thats what we did and moved a bit away..Within a second, there was a fresh whiff again of the same family of smoke! I asked one of the hotel staff (he had a coat on instead of an apron, so we thought may be he was a senior or something.) that if this was a smoking zone? He said "Yes mam"...I couldn't agree less...and hence asked if it was a legal to smoke in public places...He said quite stubbornly that they had a permit!! Permit to break the law I thought. He directed us to sit inside(which is a very small area), but then we hadn't come to sit inside..we wanted to sit out in the open. I requested him to cancel the order and said that we would leave..to which he rather rudely declined that the order was already placed...Strange, so we were stuck to have food either in the smoky outside or stuffy inside! By this time, Nishant jumped in saying that as they had license for smoking, he would talk to Bangalore Mirror that in fact there is a license to smoke in public places(just to add-- this is not a 5-star hotel). So that was it, within a minute we were given a good table outside , a bit away from the beach shack (which earlier they were claiming was reserved) and then a good service by a smiling steward...Had a good food and good time finally...Was it the mention of the newspaper or sudden realization by the hotel staff to be courteous ...but yes we finally got a no-smoking area to sit within the "so-claimed" smoking zone....

Sometimes I wonder -- am I misinformed or is it that law breaking is not very difficult these days!!!

Friday evening poetry....

खुली सी सड़क मेरे दिल की

और उसपे आना जाना आपका कभी कभी

जैसे सूरज की तपती किरणों का 

चाँद की गोद में छिप जाना कभी कभी

कुछ दूर तो चलो रास्ता कुछ मुश्किल है तो क्या

हमेशा मंजिल की तलाश तो सफ़र का सबब नहीं

याद तुम भी रखोगे कि यहाँ से भी गुज़रे थे

ज़िन्दगी को यूँ जी पाना होता है कभी कभी

Trip to Georgia Sunshine village

Okay...so we had a long weekend, but we didnt want a long-weekend trip. Just a short one - a sweet 2-day trip and then a sunday rest at home :-). We did this keeping in mind the monday blues we used to have while driving back to Blore on a sunday after a long-weekend trip.
We had earlier gone to "Georgia Sunshine Village", but this time we thought let us rope in our friends too. Its a small homestay kind of setup , with just 8 cottages, around 150 kms from Blore after Kanakpura. You go down on the scenic Kanakpura road after taking the nice NICE roads from Marthahalli -- Reach Mallavali town and then there is an abstract turn to a small village followed by a a small track off the road leading to this rustic home stay.
It is strictly for people who are lazy and all they want to do to just roam around direction-less half of the time and rest of the time just want to eat and sit on a hammock counting the leaves on the innumerable trees around. And four of us surely belong to this category.
What I also like about going on the Kanakpura road is you dont have to go to the Mysore road :-) I am thoroughly bored going through the long six-lane road with not much vegetation on either sides...so this route was a welcome change.
We reached around 11 am in Friday and all we could think of was lunch...sumptuous just to spoil the guests. The food is really delicious here and specially cooked by the owner's wife..the dining hall has some amazing interiors and antiques clearly showing that the owners have traveled a lot.
So, while we were in a sleep like slumber post lunch...our kids were happy playing with the farm animals. They have some rabbits, ducks, rooster, goats and a few dogs that give a nice background noise while you just let the food slowly digest to make space for the next meal :-) Early evening, we could go for fishing...which was more like feeding the fish..as the fish were too smart to get hooked in our trap. It was a small 10 min walk from our cottage -- scenic and quiet. At the end of the day you are so much at peace - happy at being able to count the lazy moments of the day that got over....
Next day, we could squeeze in some time out of our busy relaxation schedule and visit the roaring sivasamudram falls. It was a short 20 minute stop around 15 kms from Georgia Sunshine Village. So, before the crowd grew, we moved out around 12 pm towards talakkad which is at a slight detour of 20 kms. But, as we progressed, the stretch led to bad roads. It took a good 1 hr to reach there only to discover that it was a very untidy and highly commercial something like a beach on the shores of Kaveri.  The temple (which we wanted to visit actually) was a good walk from that place. Not in a mood to put in that effort and with the kids not ready to get out of the car, we started on our way back...
Overall a good slow weekend...more such weekends to follow hopefully :-)

Welcoming Monday...

Its a looooooong Sunday...merging silently into the official first day of the week. This doesnt happen too often - no long weekend trip(for a change no traveling!), just got to know on Friday that Monday is "bandh". Great...business get affected, money lost etc etc but what about the people relaxed :-) that counts too after all!
Talking about people, the Indian Skipper got married - but am too old to worry about that :) hopefully his game will remain the same and we will continue to win matches specially T20s(thats all I watch now - 1 days are too long!). First time watched Etv Jharkhand to get some inside news. But then all they had was a couple of snaps repeatedly being shown from different angles, as if reality changes every time you change the focus!!

And so also, Germany crushed Argentina - not that I am a soccer fan but I had a good time while my husband was explaining the game to my mom. To my surprise she enjoyed watching it - a relief from the loud TV soaps. Whosoever thought they were entertainment was living as a recluse or just had a bad temper!

Best of all, its an unplanned holiday on Monday , matching the calendar with the US vacation time of 4th July.

Sometimes, doesn't it seem that you have a lot of time and you think you can fit in everything -- so many pending tasks, forgotten indulgences and the list goes on endless. You start with one of them and by the time you are not even mid-way, you realize its better to sit back and give up because time runs really fast specially idle time. So, pending tasks still pending, forgotten indulgences never remembered - you just start doing something silly like blogging in the wee hours so that you wake up very late next day and everything next day runs late!

So while the clock ticks away the free hours, you again accept that you should never plan your holidays. You should just let things flow. After all weekdays are the reality hours and weekends should be the lazy gaps cushioning us from them!

Its an endless world out there...
I slowly trespass it
Feel a bit lost but still going on

Day break and I chase the horizon..
Its always there - far beyond reach
Stubborn sun watching me arrive

Am firm on the land
But the sky is unfathomable
What should I reach for
For its depth is unknown...

Then I see the sheath turning grey,
It pretends to be near
Embracing me softly..
Even warning me gently

It pours like a mighty warrior
An undeclared attack
I stop and catch my breath..
Things are different - I give in

Sun is defeated and so am I
The sky is not endless
Horizon blurred, the earth cocooned
Relieved abruptly and so am I

A Lost Space

I have my space,

Its cluttered but I can find what I want to

The rest hides beneath

And I am happy for that

Moments clicked eons ago

Some shining and some blur

Thoughts concealed from all

But still very much visible

My space has all

As and when I need

I go back there and I am me

There is an invasion now…

A separation from my space

Addition to my space

Unknown zones, don't want to go there

Slowly it’s moving away

Squeezing me out…

My space is distant now

I am left with a lot of vacuum

How do I fill it and with what

I can’t meet me now…

My space is gone

Taking me for what I stood

Save our tigers - Really?

I had been reading lately and I am sure all of us our aware now that only 1411 tigers are left and we need to surely save them - after all its our national animal. We need to act and spread the awareness - thats ofcourse the first step. But, is that all? I see this message everywhere - internet, hoardings, television!
"Internet" is still a sophisticated thing in India and is used by the educated ones - do you think it would be used by the poachers or the villagers who knowingly or unknowingly harm this animal or even other animals? So, while blogging, facebook, twitter may like really spreading the word around but will it reach the right ears?
Are the poachers and hunters listening to these messages - and if in case they are will they become over cautious in committing this crime or identify it as a crime? May be the former - after all why would anybody be willing to give up money just for the sake of saving some wild animals!
May be we need to wake up the law makers, the forest securers, the illiterates who dont know what extinct means and most important the poachers - who earn bucks out of this cruel means. Not only this - the luxury resorts which have come up around these sanctuary need to be checked before it gets too late. Are we willing to take up this daunting task - fuel a change in the law or the enforcement of it or meet the villagers, educate them or form groups to get the culprits - something that really counts.
We really need to save the tigers - but this task surely needs more than a few words written here and there - it needs a more sincere effort for a more effective result.

Ahmedabad Diaries - the first reel

    Ahmedabad – the twin city of Gandhinagar which is the capital of Gujarat – the land of the Mahatma – I have a sojourn here - a short one (though which may actually seem long depending on my experience)

    I landed on the airport of Ahmedabad a few days back – the same day when Aamir Khan along with the other idiots landed on the very same airport! I overheard somebody saying that Aamir was coming from Kolkata to promote his film 3 idiots and then the lightening struck - this flight had come from Kolkata via Bangalore – so I was traveling with HIM in the very same flight for the whole 2 hrs!! I missed the opportunity again and it was too close a call – felt bad if I would have known this just 2 hrs ago, my experience would have been rich. I could have added having met Aamir too in person to the list, this would have been the second major one (that really mattered) after meeting (actually watching to be very correct) the Indian cricket team on the flight from Ranchi a few years ago.

       Anyway – this is my third trip to Ahmedabad and I could notice a substantial change – even in its air (after all the other two trips were made in the nasty summer months!). At last I had chosen a good time to come here – I just had to battle the enormous amount of dust which is an integral part of this city (just like 99.9% Indian cities), but the weather was on my side. Anyway Ahmedabad’s airport luckily and thankfully is still within the city unlike Blore or Hyd, so you could just catch any mode of transport to reach anywhere in the city say in max 30 mins – that's the beauty of not being a metro (apart from ofcourse not having a metro!).

      So after well-settling in the dream MBA institute here – I think it comes more in dreams and generally doesn't become a reality for most of the odd 3-lakh MBA aspirants every year! So it’s for people who not only dream big…but also can make the big dreams happen. To clarify, – there is no 2 month MBA crash course here, hence I have not come here to study in any course here, but to merely reside and become a mute spectator to all the activities here and also their coverage in the newspaper.

     A couple of days back I was talking to one of my very old friends and he suggested that I write a book like the many other MBA pass-outs from this institute and pen down my experiences here. But then I am not experiencing anything else here – except the daily grind of running a household while running behind a kid at the same time! And none of the MBA aspirants here have the time or energy (read the latest book which describes IIMA as a pressure cooker!) to share their experience with me – so what can I write, may be just a few not-so-significant or path-breaking thoughts. May be some of the thoughts can be categorized as having no value proposition and strategically misplaced – straight out of that part of the brain which has the most number of files archived – call it the junk folder…so as and when my RAM retrieves these from my hard drive – a blog follows. Too many jargons in a few lines?  may be it's the IIM air…More from me in Amdavad later…

A Hindi Number...

ये वही पहर है रात का -
जब चाँद है खामोश कि ये उसकी चांदनी है
या कहीं सहर की रौशनी का है आलम

कि अभी रात है बाकी मेरे सोने की जुस्तजू में
या कहीं पहली बांग कि राह देखता है कोई...

अब इंतज़ार है मेरे वक़्त के आने का.
कुछ और पल के बाद ही सही,
पर रुका हूँ एक सही शुरुआत की आरजू में.

Great Expectations...

Opportunities siezed or opportunities lost...
Just two options our life is made of ..
I sit back and relax
but thats not the way to live..
I ponder and brood now and then..
but thats not the thing to think of
I let time pass by as days and nights
but thats not the time they are really proud of
Need to run and catch a lane-a shorter one now..
That simply leads me fast to gain.

Years lost they say in dont know what..
It was as if you never lived after being born...
Living dreams that never impressed...
Of small moments only giving you joy
Where was the big deal that may have fetched
Where was the passion you should have followed
Where was the direction you should have identified

What did I do if I couldnt figure out
That just two options my life is made of..
Success achieved or failure received