"Hamara Bajaj"

The existence of certain things in life may not be important at all but seeing them go is not easy either.

Reading about Bajaj's decision to discontinue the manufacturing of old-fashioned two-wheelers called scooters is one example.

Not that I own a Bajaj scooter right now or have any plan to, but still seeing bajaj scooters on roads is as part of our generation as much as having Taj Mahal in Agra or Qutub Minar in Delhi. It is just there. But picturing India without bajaj scooters makes my heart skip a beat.

My first vehicle was a sky blue Bajaj Super. I used to feel embarrassed to ride it as a girl but now I feel glad I did.

Growing up watching the Bajaj ad (Old version) and also the new one (New Version) will always be there in my heart.

Hamara Kal, Hamara Aaj, Buland Bharat ki Buland Tasveer......Hamara Bajaj.

(Our Past, Our Future, Sturdy India's Sturdy Image......Our Bajaj)

Bye Bye Maya

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Aanya's best friend from School, Maya left for London.

We met Maya and her family, the Narracotts, first in June, when the school started and Aanya and Maya were sudden best friends. While all other kids at school used to touch Maya and her golden, curly locks curiously, Aanya acted as Maya's protector and saved one slide exclusively for Maya and herself.

Maya always reminded me of the nursery rhyme- Chubby Cheeks, Dimple chin, Rosy Lips, Teeth within......

Where Maya is a very quiet, shy and observant little girl, Aanya is the exact opposite. But still they were inseparable. May be because of the strong common passion for the color pink!! hee hee.

Maya's mom Rebecca and I also became good pals and used to take girls out for lunches. While the girls played, moms caught up on chatting sessions.

Maya's Dad's project got over and they left for England Monday morning. I am not sure for how long the little hearts and minds will remember their first best friend but I will remember Maya and her family forever.

Bye Bye Maya, Lily, Andy and Rebecca. School doesn't look the same without Maya. And here is a Pink post, specially for Maya.

Home Sweet Home

Last one month was super busy as I had one of the biggest and most awaited events of my life to attend to-wedding of my brother, Kapil with a beautiful, caring and loving girl-Shilpa.

So the past month went by like breeze. Doing attire preparations, buying and packing Aanya's nick-knacks, preparing the household so that Nishet has minimum discomfort, traveling, helping in arranging the big, fat Indian circus called wedding, the wedding, packing up and returning to Bangalore.

But I could not be more glad to be back home. There is definitely no place like home. Sleeping on own bed had never felt better. Not even during the US-India transition.

But there were a few small and big things waiting here to welcome us. The biggest of them all being the broken kitchen slab and cabinet. It has been two days since the super-inefficient carpenters/ handymen have been trying to fix it. Not to mention the noise, dust and inconvenience that comes along. I just hope it gets done soon.

Also, another surprise awaiting us was exams for 3 years olds at Aanya's school. Aanya has a series of exams lasting an entire week. Exams were the last things on Aanya and my minds when we landed in Bangalore. Poor thing doesn't even know what exams are. And I do not understand what sense it makes to conduct exams anyways for toddlers.

Another sad thing was Aanya's school (best) friend Maya's departure to her home-London. We always knew that Maya was not here forever, but it is never easy to say bye.

Nevertheless, being home is always the thing I look forward to. It isn't too long before we will be away on another journey away from our Home Sweet Home.....to look forward to another homecoming.

BYOB- is Not just Bring Your Own Beer

Yesterday while shopping at Commercial street market here in Bangalore, I saw a few youngmen putting up a kiosk and banners/posters saying BYOB in bold.

I was taken aback for a second thinking it as another blow to the already confused so Indian culture. "Oh so Bring your own Beer needs publicity now!", I thought. But then I noticed the National Geographic's Yellow Rectangle and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it is not what I am thinking it to be.

Well, it was the Bring Your Own Bag campaign. I was instantly impressed (not that impressing me is such a hard task). I crossed the street and was standing at their kiosk asking them if they have any recycling centres in bangalore. The answer was negative. BUT, they asked me if I had any plastic bag with me. "Yes, I have 3" was my reply.

The fellow signalled one of his colleagues to hand him something. He took my plastic bags and gave me a very nice cloth bag saying BYOB.

I am completely impressed. But I would have been happier if they also told me some addresses to recycle stuff. Anyways, not expecting too much too soon, it is an excellent step and many more companies should come forward with similar efforts.

What's with this Chetan Dude?And what's with his numbers?

Have you ever noticed that Chetan Bhagat's all previous novels started with an odd number- 5 point someone, 1 Night at the call center and 3 mistakes of my life???

now it is time for even numbers- 2 States-The Story of My Marriage(chetan's marriage).
Next will be 4 corners, 6 lessons, etc.

I am not a big fan of Chetan's books. 5 point someone was nice but not breathtakingly good. I think it's more of noise. I hate 1 night....I have not read a worse book. I have never wasted my time on anything worse......movies don't count.
Also, I have a question. except for 5 point...., where he tells you the tale of his days at IIT D, why in other two novels, people are desperate to tell him their stories? In 1 night....some pretty, young girl bumps into him on the train. Why is he so lucky?why not other guys. Traveling alone on an overnight train journey, all by himself in the compartment and to add, a very b'ful young lady appears and is so keen to tell a story to him.

In 3 mistakes..., Hari is killing himself, he has not even told his girlfriend about anything but he makes sure to inform Mr. Bhagat who lives in Singapore, about his to be demise. And Chetan like God, finds him in a big city like Ahmedabad and flies down!! Also, Hari tells him the story so that he could make a fool of the readers once again. If I had to commit suicide, why would I email Chetan?

Do you know Chatan Bhagat has left his high paying job at some Foreign bank and is a full-time writer now?
Seems like numbers are working out very well for him. ;)

Does anyone one know if he is in touch with the Jumaanis??

Are we all invisible or is it just me??

It happens to me all the time. I am standing in a queue and people start going past me and take or attend to things much before I do. Or, I am walking out of a upmarket store and a woman is atnding at the door in a way that she is blocking the door with her body and her ponch and she keeps staring at me(or through me) but does not move an inch to let me go past the door.

Am I the only invisible person or is it with anybody else here?

I went o Sai baba temple in Cambridge Layout(B'lore) today and was standing inthe queue of female devotees. Suddenly I saw about 15 women going past me in a parallel kind of a queue and they got the Darshan way before I did. Suddenly I heard another possibly invisble person expressing her displeasure and realized I have got company in invisibility world.

It has happened to me countless times. Sometimes i feel I am dead and people can't see me but I can see them. You know that feeling?? People going through a spirit....spooky!

It is also a possibility that I am not proactive and smart in that sense of the term. Like I stand in a line like a stupid, laid back, loser person while the smarter ones get the trophies.

Also, people step on me, push me while I am looking at something, snatch things from the shelf while I am still getting my hands towards the same object, or go past me and stand in front of my face and start looking at things on the shelf completely ignoring my existence in this world.
I have serious doubts about myself.

Trip to Bannerghatta National Park

 

Aanya posing in front of the elephant family

Ever since we disappointed poor Aanya  with the park picnic fiasco, we were feeling guilty about how poor baby is patient with our outings and social dos and does not get any outing for herself. So, we decided to take her to bannerghatta National park one of these past weekends.

She recognizes animals, off springs, sounds, etc. now(due thanks to Meow Meow auntie), we thought it would be a nice trip for her.
So we packed some food and drinks, and picked up her accessories like Hat, Sun Glasses, Bag, water bottle, etc. and started from home. BNP is about 1hour and 30 minutes drive from our place. And thankfully traffic was also not that bad.

So we reached there at about 11:30 am and started our outing with a roasted corn. Yumm!! I love bhutta! And so does Aanya. Honestly, I was a little sick of neat and cean food so wanted to hog on all the roadside food availabe there. But I recalled my past encounter with gastroenteritis and gave up the idea as quickly as it had popped up. But settles for a Sandwich and coffee. :D
There were 3 packages for safaris. We opted for the Grand Safari because we wanted to make the best of it and also, because there was no one to explain what was the diffrence between the 3 packages.
We entered the Zoo and stood in the queue for the safari. Surprisingly, the queue was a queue. Not a queue where everyone runs over each other, pushing and cutting past you.
Our journey started in a Green cage like mini-bus. Aanya was so thrilled!! We reached the Bear habitat first and there were soooooo many bears. Aanya's teddy bear poem lasted through the whole of bear park tour.
One of the co-passengers who was sitting right behind us started teasing one of the bears. the bear got really upset and spat and threw some wet mud flakes on Aanya and my faces. It made poor girl scared and also a brief episode of crying started.
Next we went to witness the Deers, Antelopes, Wild Boars, etc. in action. She was doing her counting this time.

Something very funny happened when we were heading to the tiger town. Suddenly all people stood up and stared outside one side of the bus. They started taking pictures and sighing as if they had seen a yeti or something of that sort. I asked my hubby dear to atleast check whats going on. Now what he came back with is - "there is some bird sitting on a pipe rotating its neck and people are saying 'moonga moonga' but I can't see what it is". I wondered, "Rotating neck is an owl's job". Suddenly i got a peak at the bird and it looked like a definite owl to me. The description of the bird and the people's reaction to the situation had us laughing for the next many minutes.

I don't know why, but Aanya wasn't very excited to see Tigers and Lions. It surprised me. She was as if she plays with them everyday. Or may be she was tired by then.
The safari ended at the zoo and we went around enjoying the very pleasant weather and Aanya's expressions to the animals. She was very happy to see a baby elephant. May be she could relate her smallness with him.

Also, she saw an Iguana(creepy) and said, "I for Iguana" immediately.Similarly Hippo started with an H and elephant with an E. Children of this age live in their own web of shapes, colors, letters, numbers, etc.

We avoided the snakes and the monkies were too stinky.

There was also a lonely Zebra faced against the public. I think he was so sick and bored that he wanted to say - Kiss my A**.

 

Zebra displaying his/her Rear

We ended the trip with some not so satisfying Chinese fried rice and noodles at a Karnataka Tourism Restaurants. Also, we did some shopping from the Roadside Merchandise shops(Pun Intended).
But if this was US, we would have definitely missed on Bhuttas and chai/desi coffee. Aanya got a little clucking yellow duck as her souvenir.:)

Reddy Flu Vs. Swine Flu

I am feeling very sorry for the sad demise of YSR. It is really difficult to find an honest politician in India. My due respects to YSR and condolences to his family and friends.

But have you realized that since its eruption in India, Swine flu has claimed 111 lives whereas 122 people have died of either shock or suicide in the last 30 hours since they heard the news of YSR's demise.???

First case of Swine flu was confirmed on May 16th 2009 in India. So, it has been about 3.5 months. YSR's copter crash news broke at noon on Sep. 3rd 2009.

Which one is more fatal???

India of our times

With advancements in technology, sometimes I feel we are losing some of the very good things of life.
Like-
1. Tree swings- I really miss the monsoon season coupled with rope swings on old, tall, trees.
2. Going on the terrace and rotating the antenna. And we needed an assistant(or may be we used to be the assistants) to scream "Little more, oh no no, not that much.Stop!Stop right there. Perfect! you can come down now."
3. Sleeping on the terrace- I can't even imagine life without an AC. And we used to sleep on the terrace on a few occasions every summer and felt a little chill even during the month of June at the time of dawn. And, now living in an apartment, we don't even have a terrace.
4. Traveling in a train- eating aloo-poori and achaar(potatoes and deep fried wheat bread and pickle) and everything else that was sold on the train. I still try to travel by train when I have to go to my in-laws place from my parents' but it isn't the same.
5. Listening to Walkman- OMG! It was the coolest thing and a must flaunt object of our times.
6. Lending a helping hand to Mom while she made potato chips, Kachri, Tapioca(sabudana) Papads,  Papads, achaar, etc.
7. List is endless.

I have been thinking about these things for a long time now. But just got to write about it since I felt bad over yesterday for my daughter. We planned a picnic for her to a very nice play park in Indira Nagar here in B'lore. I prepared Pulav, took disposables, achaar, dahi, sweets, etc. with us and went to the park. And the park was closed.:(
Aanya was so disappointed and no excuse or logic worked for her.Now, I wonder why do they have to close the park for lunch hours. Nobody can steal swings, slides or big trees from there. May be the corporate culture of long lunch hour has reached parks also. It opens from 8 am-11am and 3pm-7pm. Now who will bring children to the park at 8 am?!
Anyways, we consoled her by arranging for a picnic at our balcony. I spread the picnic mat and brought all plants close to the mat to crate a cozy garden effect and used the pots as a small table to keep things on and the effort was worth it. I missed taking a picture of smiling Aanya. And she finished her food and vegetables and even finished a laddoo(Indian sweet ball). But that's when I realized how easy it was for us to go on a picnic or lets say it was so simple back then.

We still get to see and experience some of these things in towns. But I really miss these in metros and feel sorry for our children since they cannot have it.
I am also feeling very lucky to be a small town girl. 'Coz I can still run back to find these somewhere.

Meow Meow!!!

Wondering why my new post sounds like meow meow?
Let me explain(My Fav. Line from sarabhai Vs. sarabhai).
Ever since we moved to this apartment complex(almost 8 months now), every night between 11:40pm and 1 am,a sound wakes me up. This sound is a female voice screaming "MEOW MEOW" at least 20 times. I believe this is her call for her 2 or 3 white spotted cats.
First these cats are always roaming around in the campus like stray cats and are a deterrent for us to step out for a walk 'coz you never know what mood the cats are in. Second, the owner wakes us up every night without a miss at midnight looking for her dearies.
We live on the 5th floor and the voice is so loud as if she is screaming in our balcony.
I HATE IT!! I simply hate it!
But my question is.....Isn't it wiser to get your cats in by 10 pm for all practical purposes?

I am an animal lover. I have always had dogs, fish, birds, etc. as pets. I even picked up an abandoned kitten once from my college and brought it home and even found a very nice home and family for her. We called her Mili.
But, I will never wake up an entire apartment complex to look for my loved ones at midnight.


But looking at this in positive light, our daughter is now proficient in her knowledge about cats, sounds and their off springs. Poor thing wakes up at midnight to get her lessons from the super busy aunty who has time only at that hour to impart lessons.;)

I have made complaints to the apartment office but no success.
I don't know if there is a polite way to convey the message to the owner when you have been woken up at midnight for the last 8 months but I still want to give it a peaceful shot. I am looking forward for your suggestions to resolve my new cribbing.

Going Green

About a year back,or may be longer, after charging my cell phone, I did not unplug the charger and this was not gone unnoticed by my husband. "You are not green!" he had commented as he gave me a stare and unplugged the charger. His words still ring in my ears.

Co-incidentally, we also watched Al Gore's 'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' around the same time. (Ref.- http://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm ) . What a Film/ documentary!! I am almost entirely green ever since I watched it. I am recycling as much as I can, I unplug everything that is not in use, I switch off whatever is not needed, I buy only natural fabrics now(well, 99% of the time. But to make that 100....the clothing industry has to go entirely green), etc.

But there are certain factors which are stopping me from going completely-green.
Like-
1. Insufficient recycling venues in Bangalore.
2. No place to recycle plastic bags- Now, I do try to carry my bags from home when I go out for a planned shopping. But, sometimes when I go off my shopping list, I get plastic bags. I collected all these bags from the grocery store I regularly go to and flattened them and kept them nicely so that the bags look almost new. I went back to the grocery store yesterday and offered them the bags. I told them that I just want to recycle those bags. But they refused. Not just that, I also got weird looks from all POS people as well as other shoppers. I dont care a lot about the looks as I am used to that(thanks to my good looks) but what bothered me was the lack of social responsibility. Just to add a bit of irony, the grocery store is visually the greenest store in Bangalore. Please do tell me if what I did was something really uncivilized or bizarre.
3. What shocked me this morning was the news that BBMP wants all autos to be painted green and yellow so that the city looks GREEN. I dont know how Mr. Gore will feel about this but I am sure he wont be too glad. Hello BBMP! Going green means acting green not looking green.
I spent my college years in Delhi and I was there around the time when delhi was in process of switching over to CNG. Oh what a mess it was! Because of lack of planning, awareness or whatever you may want to call it, but I even had to stand in a Tata 407 truck to get back to my hostel because all public transportation went on strike. And we had to paid Rs. 40 for that Tata 407 convertible, if I remember correctly. And yes, I was wearing a Business suit and returning from IIFT after a seminar.
Those days, there were not enough CNG filling stations and the autowalas has to stand in queue the entire day to get refueled. But at the end of it all, Delhi public transportation is on CNG completely. That is going Green!
4. Many other such deterrents which I will write about when I face it.

This also reminds me another incident from our days in CA. This was right after watching An Inconvenient Truth. I collected all beverage cans and bottled and went to a recycling center about 3 miles from our home in San Jose. On my first visit, it was closed. I did not get discouraged. I had pledged to be green. So, I went again. Now, I was standing in a very long queue of homeless Asians. If any of the readers have been to San Jose, they would know what I am talking about. Yes. The shopping cart guys walking on the curbs......you can find them all over CA. Some of the un-bathed, toothless, and whatever, women gave a detailed look to me and them murmured something that I didn't understand. Then one of them said"you have to wait for 2 hours".
2 HOURS!! in that queue?
NO!!Never!
Then with another grin, the lady said "u give your bottles. I get money. OK?"
Not OK.
And yes, the most important part of this is that CA charges 10 cents as a security deposit for the cans and bottles purchased. And there is no place you can get your hard earned 10 cents/bottle money back conveniently. Going green is inconvenient! and so is the truth.

But MI is one state which has made recycling at grocery stores as easy as it could be. It has ample number of bottle, cans, etc. acceptor machines which prints out a store credit coupon equal to the value of returned stuff and you can redeem it in cash or use it to pay your grocery bill. That's pressing easy button.

And if anyone is wondering if my green pledge is the reason my blogs have a green back ground....Yes.

At the end of my long blog, I request everyone who happens to read my blog, to Go Green! as much as you can and as much as you are allowed to. And, Please watch An Inconvenient Truth.

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This policy is valid from 24 August 2009


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Why do we blog?

Finally, the blogging bug has bitten me. I am a firm beleiver in one's privacy and also a carefully understand the other person's privacy policies. But somehow, I failed to understand why do people let their innermost fellings or thoughts out on internet for the world to read it.

Lets go back into history first. For times unknown, people have written diaries where they wrote their experiences, feelings, love, hate, secrets, etc. and they guarded it. Gurded it so that no one can read it and know about whats going on.

Now, we write blogs. A similar online version of a diary. But since we went online, we deleted the private part and instead of guarding it, we scream and call out for people to read it. So, dont we need privacy any longer??
Or, is it that we have guarded it enough and now want to be understood and may be, appreciated for our thoughts or creative writing skills?
These thoughts are still bubbling inside my head as I am typing these words.

Now, I dont want to be sounding like one conservative blogger. I do understand that blogging is not only private thoughts. It has much more to it than that.
But is it the need for appreciation? Or may be we want to know how many people agree with us. Or may be because we all think "I am the only unique thinker with writing skills".

What is it that has spread the contagious blogging flu to as far as me?