My Last Post

A small clarification about the title. No, its not my last post forever types, it's only the last post of the year.

2011 is almost done. 3 days to go. I don’t plan to work for the remaining days of the year. That also goes to say that I would not be touching my laptop for the coming days of this year. So 2011 has been a good year so far and 2012 will be much better and more satisfying in all the ways (I hope and I want to believe).

I started blogging this year. I end this year with 50 posts and around 2000 + hits to the website. I have been happy and satisfied with the things I have written here. I wish to write better and write more the following year.

Now, it’s my time to tell everybody “Happy Holidays”. Enjoy the remaining days of the year. Be Happy. Be safe on the New Year’s Eve. Remember you are important to so many people, whom you may not even know. So be safe for them. They care about you.  

Hope the New Year brings in a lot of positivity to this world. Cherishing the lessons 2011 taught me and welcoming 2012 with open arms.

The Coolest Month of the Year

December, the last month of the year; the thoughts it provokes in my mind are all here for you to read.

Ø  27^th December is an important day in my life. This was the day my husband asked me to be a part of his life, many years ago. It was a wonderful feeling to have fallen in love.

Ø  Happy Birthday Mr. Salman Khan.

Ø  Anna Hazare is fighting a noble cause. Hope God is with him and helps him win this fight against corruption. I feel ashamed to do nothing about it although I am less than half your age. But Sir, I promise to not be corrupt myself.

Ø  New Year is just 4 days away. Yes, I know, everybody would be feeling how quickly 2011 went by. That is the same feeling every year, believe me.

Ø  The world is celebrating. Everywhere it is the “Happy Holidays”, Christmas and New Year mood. This season is beautiful. Winter is my favorite season and December is my favorite month. It reminds me of Santa Claus, snowflakes, reindeers, Santa’s sleigh filled with presents, Christmas tree, beautiful wreaths decorating the door ways, jingle bells, decorated cribs with sheep’s and cows and Jesus Christ born amidst them, cozy woolen wear, snow capped mountains, a cool breeze kissing my cheeks and so much more. December is my month of the year. As the McDonalds saying goes,” I am loving it”.

Ø  I feel people born in December will be famous. Don’t ask me why? I have no reason.

Ø  I love this “margazhi” month and listening to the “thirupavai”. I like getting up early and going to Vishnu temple early in the morning. Looking forward to Vaikunta Ekadasi. It seems people who die on this day go directly to Vaikuntam (Lord Vishnu’s abode). I was born on this day. So now you know where I came from?

Ø  Oh no, it’s the tax savings time of the year. I hate that.

Except for the last thought, I am thoroughly enjoying December. How about you?

A valuable lesson from my new Guru

After I have become a mother, every day I am learning something new from my little angel. She is my new Guru.

Yesterday, she had 'Sports Day' in her Day Care. When I picked her in the evening, she told me with excitement that she participated in the running race. After going home, I asked her who stood first and second in the race. I did not expect her to answer it, but she so matter-of-factly said two names. I was taken by surprise that she understood what it meant to be first and second in the race. Then I realized that the care taker must have just told “A” is first and “E” is second (or vice versa; I am not sure of the order). So, that must have registered in her little brain.

As a mother I felt bad that my daughter did not stand first in the race. I agree it is my bad. It’s the same old competitive attitude we mothers have. No matter how many ever times, I asked her, her reply was the same every time. It could not be any different. I should have known better. Then I realized how stupid I was trying to be. She was not bothered about the outcome of the race. It did not matter to her. She was so happy she ran the race. It was pure fun for her.

I was being really bad in instilling the competitive attitude in my little angel. I refrained myself and stopped asking her that stupid question of mine.

Lesson learnt dear princess. I will never make you feel inferior for not being first in any competition what so ever. I will ensure I instill this in you. I will enjoy the race as you did yesterday.

You made me realize, “running is all that matters not winning”.

My Resolutions for 2012

11 days to get into the New Year, (probably the last living year *rolling eyes smiley*) so I am into the resolution mood. Here is what I strictly resolve to follow this year.

ü  Stick to my Yoga schedule every day.

ü  "Eat healthy and avoid a junk body" than "Eat junk and avoid a healthy body".

ü  Avoid talking about anybody at his/her back. While I talk about him/her, somebody else might as well be talking about me (does not feel good even as I write this).

ü  Try to see a positive in every situation. (No, I am not being over-optimistic. I am seriously bugged of focusing on the negatives).

ü  Avoid gossips. It steals me off so much of my energy. It might seem juicy, but the nutritional content is ZERO.

ü  Do not judge anybody based on one stray incident. I am also erratic at times.

Yes, these are going to be my primary goals. Hope GOD gives me the wisdom to abide by the rules I set.

Make resolutions and also stick to them. Happy Resolution time of the year!

Can B'lore Central be more courteous?

I had a splendid weekend. I did a lot of shopping on Saturday. It was almost a ‘shop till you drop’ experience. No, I literally mean it. Shopping is not so easy, with a two year old hyper active kid. Yesterday, I went to Bangalore Central, caught a good Kannada movie in Mantri Inox after close to 3 years.

One thing I noticed was some of the staff in Bangalore Central was wearing a head band/headgear (I will stick to a head band). The head band was really pathetic. It was shaped like a crown and it was white in color. There was a blue outline to it and it had some text written in blue in between. It read something like “May I help you get your payback” or something similar. I felt very bad to see the staff put on something like that. I mean, fine you pay your staff, but asking them to look funny is something I sincerely don’t approve off.  I somehow personally felt very bad to see men being used like puppets. Whoever has come up with this idea, please imagine your boss asking you to wear something like that? How does it feel? It is definitely not the same feeling one gets when dressed as a Santa or his elves. That kind of dressing makes one feel good, because children around you are excited. But this is ridiculous.

They are less qualified and paid less but they are fellow human beings with emotions and they need to be respected. The head band could be replaced with some signboards everywhere and a common counter where there are people to assist customers in the offer that the shopping mall is providing. Or the staff could be provided with a “May I help you?” badges. I was deeply disappointed with this attitude of Bangalore Central towards its employees. I am not sure how they treat them in other aspects, but this is a definite no-no for me.

It is not long before; somebody told me that Indians lack respect for life and fellow countrymen. After seeing this yesterday, I was forced to believe the latter to some extent.

Will the World come to an End on December 2012?

This is an interesting topic that is doing the rounds these days. It seems the world will end at Dec 2012. It seems there will be a “pralaya” (a deluge) and everything will come to an end. I have heard that Lord Maha Vishnu will take the “kalki” avatar. It would be his 24^th incarnation sometime at the end of Kaliyuga. But if next year the world is coming to an end, I wonder where is Kalki? Ok, I am moving off the topic.

Every morning while cooking, I listen to the radio. Today even on the radio, this was the topic of discussion. The RJ was confirming that the world would not come to an end. She said she would site a reason why? But for some reason, I could not get to her reasoning and analysis. Some days back this was the conversation I had with my maid. She had seen this topic being discussed on the television. She was happy that the world is coming to an end. I always told her not to believe in such things, for she would be disappointed if it didn’t happen. Today when she heard the RJ saying the same, she was visibly upset. She said, after working in 12 different houses, I need to work at my home. She said, she is fed up of this life and she would have been happy if the world would come to an end. I felt very strange when she got so serious about this.

I, on the other end don’t want to believe it is true. I am not yet prepared to die. I don’t see my death anywhere close to me. I have so much to do, so many places to visit, so many people to meet, so many things to explore. If death is happening in December 2012, I would be disappointed. I thought of making the TO DO list, in case we are all going the following year. These are some things that came up without much thought.

Ø  I would quit my job. Ask my husband to quit his job. Spend the rest of the year with him and my kiddo.

Ø  I would go on a trip to Manasa Gangotri. See the Himalayas from up-close. I would also go to Leh and Ladakh on the way.

Ø  Send a sorry card to all those people whom I might have hurt. I would call them and apologize. I am not sure I have anybody on that list now? I have this gut feeling that I am a good human being with no enemies. Not sure what others perceive of me?

Ø  I would give a big bear hug to my mom, grandmom, my brothers, my in-laws and put aside all the hard feelings, if any once and for all.

Ø  I would go travelling to Europe, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa. I dont think I have the money to go to all these places. But, I have a backup plan; I would sell off our house. My husband being a travel buff would surely agree. I know him.

Ø  After setting aside money for the travel plans that I have, I would give away all my gold and silver to buy good food and clothes to some of the homeless children and the aged.

How wonderful it is to think that tomorrow is the last day to live. That reminds me of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

There is no security to worry about, no savings to worry about, no old age to think about, and no tomorrow to think off. The thought about making our life secure and safe is what causes all the stress, isn’t it? What do you say?

Share your to-do list and views on what if December 2012 is the end of the world?

I love Bangalore

This weekend, we had two different experiences with the auto drivers. At one junction, we asked the auto driver, if he would come to our area. He demanded Rs.50, when we refused, he asked to pay Rs.40. Then he said, pay Rs.10 extra on the meter. My husband M sensed he was drunk and he said we won’t get into that auto. When we started moving away, that auto driver got down and started coming towards us. We walked away, he was yelling from behind. He was asking us to walk home, ridiculing us. We did not care and walked to the next auto and got into his auto. He demanded more, knowing that we were walking away from that drunk driver. Although, we were pi**ed off with him, we were forced to leave and went by that auto.

When driving towards our home, one biker cut in front of our auto and tried to overtake him. The auto driver was so angry that he cornered him and made him stop, after which they almost got into a fist fight. I guess the biker was drunk in this case. In a matter of 10 minutes, we saw two drunk drivers on a Sunday evening.

So many drunk drivers let loose on the road. They are posing safety threats for themselves and people travelling by public transport. How can I endorse public transport, this being the case? Are the Traffic Cops of Bangalore listening????

Please help in making Bangalore safe. I love Bangalore.

                                                                                                    http://www.wardtog.com/bangalore-india+mousepads

Unplanned trip to Mantralaya

We went on a one day trip to Mantralaya. It was totally unplanned. My husband M is like this. He loves to travel and is always ready to go. I often tell him, you are always with one leg set outside the house on the weekends. He gets so restless when he has to sit at home on the weekend. So Mantralaya happened this way. My mom and grand mom joined us. Three + two = five of us set off on Saturday, the 3^rd Dec.

We had no tickets with us. It was a similar situation on 17^th Oct, when we went to Tirupati. It was 10 in the night and we were in Majestic with no ticket. Then for some reason, my husband assumed Mantralaya bus was Tirupati’s and he got in, while outside I stood wondering what he was doing? Then we got a comfortable bus to Tirupati. So, we assumed there would be many Volvo buses to Mantralaya (wrong assumption), as is the case for Tirupati. We luckily got a bus and some manageably comfortable seats. The conductor and driver were good and my husband got into a good conversation with them and was thrilled to know that the bus had actually come to Bangalore from Chintamani (his home town). We reached Mantralaya, had a wonderful and quick darshan. You would not believe me; Manchamma Devi’s darshan took longer. We filled our eyes with the wonderful sight of Guru Rayaru. I feel the Brindavana he is in, oozes out grace and kindness. I am still in that state of peace. We were tired of the night journey, so we went to the room and got some sleep after having had ”anna prasadam” from the temple.

After having slept well, we started off to Panchamukhi Anjaneya temple. That was pure fun. We went in a coracle (Teppa in Kannada), then waded through knee height water to reach the autos/cars standing on the other side of the Tungabhadra bank, hired a sumo to get to the temple. We got a nice and pleasing darshan of the god. Here we saw some rocks, which were supposedly used by Hanuman as a pillow and a bed. It was exciting to listen to these stories and imagine Hanuman having slept on that very rock. And yes, do you know that Hanuman never went to Vaikunta along with Sri Hari? Hanuman said that if Sri Hari promises him that he would continue to be Lord Rama and if Vaikunta is going to be filled with Rama Nama, he would accompany him. But when Hanuman learnt that would not happen, he said, he will continue to stay on earth and be present where ever there is Rama Nama. This temple also houses the sandals of Sri Hanuman. I just get carried away with such stories and I feel very excited seeing these things and listening to these stories.

So, after the Panchamukhi visit, we did some shopping on the streets of Mantralaya, we rushed to the room and packed and left to catch the bus. We were back in Bangalore at 5 AM on Monday morning. The unplanned trip happened to be exciting, fun and safe. Sometimes, unplanned trips offer an excitement for there are a lot of unknowns involved. But, I know it’s not always advisable and I am also not too “for” it.

However, I leave you all with this quote.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

World Aids Day

http://www.aidsandhiv.org/news/world-aids-day.html

http://berkeleycollegestudentblogger6.blogspot.com/2010/12/world-aids-day-fight-aidsnot-people.html

Spread awareness and stay away from this dreadly disease.

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di???

No matter how hard I try not to think this way, there is a difference between North India and South India. Be it the food, the appearance, the skin complexion, the culture, everything is so different. This is a sensitive topic and I am not comfortable writing about it. But, I must say that many people still dont feel connected with South India. "We are from the North", kind of feeling exists in many of them. I dont want to offend anybody. But all that I care to say is that people feel divided within the same country. The sense of belonging is not seen. I feel sorry to say that and I want to truly see India as one country. The other day, on Radio One 94.3, a girl said she was from the North India. In some context, she said in "our side", we dont do it this way. The RJ caught her on that point and said, "What is this our side, your side? Please dont divide India into the North and South. And remember, please say you are from India. That is enough". I loved that RJ for this. Kudos to him. We all belong to one global village and should seek ways to connect to one another rather than disconnect. Nobody is superior or inferior. The ways are different, but diversity is what makes our country so beautiful. Please dont divide India by religion, caste, creed, color of the skin, language and state. We have enough problems as a country, let us not create problems within the country too. We are educated and matured to understand that all these does not matter when it comes to interacting with a person. All that matters is the person. Dont let all these useless differences poison your mind.

All said, today I rushed into a meeting as I was late. The meeting progressed and a mobile started ringing loudly. We always forget to put our mobiles in the meeting profile. The "murderous rage" song, "Why this kolaveri, kolaveri, kolaveri di?" played loudly, bringing a smile to everyone's lips. The otherwise serious meeting cooled down a little. The owner of the mobile, very conscious of the loud ring tone dug deep into his pant pocket, trying hard to reach it. He ran out of the conference room, letting the meeting continue. Anyways, the point I was trying to make here was that, he is from the "North" India. I truly was amazed to see him set a typical kuthu song from "South" India, as his mobile ringtone. Is this a sign of diminishing difference between the North and South? Its not false when people say Music has no boundaries, is it not? How about the Chamak Chalo song - the chartbuster song? It has Tamil lyrics in it. Another encouraging sign.

I pray many more such barrier breakers come and break all the differences within and between South, North, East, West and Central India. I just hope to see India as One country, one lovely Country.