Moments so Far ...

We will have candle lights all get their own They will arrange for music system green carpets chairs and in-house DJ We will have light snacks all come empty stomach They have cancelled carnival, yesterday to honor the brutal killing Post light dinner We can shake a leg twist and turn to latest Bollywood numbers and do little dance A nation soon forgetting in disguise of concern creating a mockery of celebration making the shame an act of past to welcome the new year we sit on a time bomb waiting it to implode in our neighborhood until then we ignore the sick body and mind are the common man part of your support system a driver, a guard, a gym instructor a relative, anybody but we continue to make believe the tragedy was theirs we are safe the needle did not prick us so we ignore waiting until the blood spills here and now only then we scream foul blame the society and system cry innocence we are victim we are victim...

We have been brought up with this question. तुम क्या कर सकते हो? छोड़ो यार, फालतू मैं परेशान होते हो ? अपने काम से मतलब रखो न यार देश की तो ऐसी तेसी वैसे भी हो रही है तुम अकेले क्या कर सकते हो मीडिया कब तक इस को पकड़ के रखेगी , कल शाम के साड़ी चैनल्स पर क्रिकेट का विश्लेषण चालू हो गया था सारकार क्या करेगी, जो अब तक सोते रहे उन्हें हकीकत से क्या वाकिफ करोगे क्यूं हताश होते हो तुम्हारे आस पास भी सबको अपनी नौकरी और बीवी और बच्चों  की पड़ी है, जब तक उनके सर पर शैतान नहीं हमला नहीं  बोलेगा  तब तक वो तस से मस नहीं होंगे इस देश मैं ज़माने से होते आया है और होता रहेगा रावन भी सीता को ले गए थे So you see there are many reason to sit on the couch and wonder at the failure of system and society. What can the politicians do? call parliament session introspect and discuss with open mind  pass laws that restore confidence in citizens laws that are clear and easy to implement debar any MP/MLA with criminal record against women What can the ...

Aamir provides a balanced perspective on issue of female foeticide in India. It is an evil born in 1970's through government initiative to curb population menace and picked up in 1990's with introduction of ultrasound. And now we have crores of girl infants perish through inhuman behavior across society sections. Nawanshahr's  former Deputy Commissioner  Krishna Kumar could clean a district and reverse the male-female ratio. Why did we and government stop and could not support to help him build a framework through which we could curtail and eradicate evils like female foeticide and others.  Women are still considered objects of desire, only there to fulfill certain needs of male dominated society. Some have had to undergo abortion multiple times. Why cant we create a law that would equal this to murder and hang the perpetrators? It is amazing that noble professionals from medical field including lady doctors have made killing a foetus a business, a mean...

We have been talking about the Indian youth and Indian middle class for so long. With the advent of diverse career opportunities we have really transformed our lifestyles from being localized to government quarters to freely spending money. We have been lazy to vote. Thus, there was no love or affair with the political class. We were happy to pass the days until Anna Hazare pricked our nerves. He took an issue which has touched all of us. Its like the air around. We don't complain about air whether its stale or fresh or polluted or sticky. We have to breathe. Same way we paid bribe from traffic cop to post man to policeman to government bureaucrats to either get our work done or to escape punishment. An issue that did not pinch us much. We talked about it in isolation, over the tea/coffee and went back to life. Anna Hazare sat on a platform called as India against corruption. He was visible. He was on empty stomach. He was clean. He made us wonder. Why is he wasting...

We look up to him. We seek his words. We seek inspiration and get from him. We did not witness Mahatma Gandhi. We are witnessing Gandhi incarnate. His humility, honesty and courage stands out. He decides to move and the nation follows him. He decides to fast and nation is with him. He brought in Right to information act. He is bringing corruption to death. He is not a sports star, not a business house, not a film actor. He has single focus. He will live and die for India and its people. A social activist. No accumulation. No money. No cars. No airplanes. A simple life. A simple house. A simple village. A former soldier who is shaping India of tomorrow. Issues he takes are the issues that hurt us all. Healing he brings will soothe us all. The beauty of his protest is that you don't have to do anything. Just be there. Just pray. Just sing. Just dance. He will carry the pain of thinking, planning, execution. In a society in which we seek nook and corner for rol...

India has got a single voice in form of Anna Hazare . Corruption has eaten into development and shaken the morals of Indian society. We know it for a long time. Political parties have known it for a long time. There have been mild protests now and then. Numbers have been thrown in tonnes of losses we incurred due to corruption. There have been instances of whistleblowers losing their life. No one had. No one could. No one dared. We took it as part of our existence. An unnatural truth. Now. One man stood up. One man held his head high. One voice shook the nation. A single voice has taken the imagination of youth. A voice of a 73 year old gentleman who lives in village temple somewhere near pune. He decided enough was enough. The simmering have led to flames. Now the jungle is witnessing wildfire. Corrupt will burn. Corrupt will be sentenced to jail. A hope is born for a society. A movement is shaping up. A revolution to clean. Beware. The new Gandhi  is marching...

I saw a parent hitting a the back palm of a girl child aged about 5 in front of sweet shop, beside SLV in RBI Layout. Her offense. She was holding a pole that must have gathered dust during the day. She was merely playing with it. Of-course her palms would get dirty. She may acquire infection. But does that justify the swift hard movement of an adult arm to distract and hurt her. She managed to go into her mother's arm. Mother then changed attention of father to the sweets that they had to buy. The girl looked at the Frootie in the cold storage. Her mother followed her gaze and offered to buy her. The father would have regained his senses as he relented. Then we moved on to Everfine, a supermarket. Second floor has gift section. A girl aged about 6 was urging her parents for a fancy item. Her mother "Beta, you have so many of them at home, you have not yet opened them, play with them first and then we will think about this". Her father "Behave yourself, I don...

Photo is print media continues to inspire me to give a third in this series of posts. Hopefully trilogy end here. So lets get rolling. Mahesh kale , a college alumni left a message on linkedin.com . Harshal Gaikwad and Milind Deshpande have liked the blog post on Facebook. Priyank and Bhuvnendu have also liked the status on Facebook. Geeta ji who sits diagonally behind me. You don't notice when she comes, when she goes or when she is having her lunch. Her presence is quite. We share office space. The space is provided by elagaan.com . Navin at elagaan put out a notice in bangalore coffee club  and we took the opportunity. If you are nearby Arekera Mico Layout, Bangalore then do check out this place. There are few more seats left. But yesterday, she came over and whispered to me. "I saw your photo in paper. I told all my people. " "I reminded them that its the same person whose application I had described some days back. " Few days back I had give...

The time to redeem wednesday 2 kg sugar coupon was around. When I reached Big bazaar I was disappointed to find it being offered to anyone whose purchase exceeded Rs. 500. Nevertheless the place was crowded. This time compromises had to be made for choices of brand in the given shopping list. The following brands were unavailable. Parle G biscuits Sabeena Powder Harpic Blue Toilet cleaners Tata Salt  So the choice was to shop elsewhere and find the above brands or collect the alternatives that Big Bazaar was offering along with free Sugar 2kg. No 1kg biscuits bought Alternative brand - dont recall name - spouse said it looks like its filled with sand. Harpic rose cleaner which spouse claimed had milder effects on commodes. Saffola salt which was Rs 8 costlier than Tata.  How was your wednesday at Big Bazaar?

Halenijagal kids dancing The Sunday, 28th Nov,2010 was different. The students were divided into four groups. Each group had to present the idea as to "Define a feasible project for village development if you have a budget of 1 Lakh". There were interesting ideas on Improve irrigation and extend rainwater harvesting Cultural center in villlage with a outlet on NH4 highway close to the village. Scale biogas plant to cater to needs of every household. Basic Health care center. The constraint of the project were in line with India@75 vision of Professor Prahalad. The winning entry beat the runner up by mere 3 points. The participating schools were Shishuvan from Mumbai , The Jain International School from Bilaspur and a school from Kochi. The students played games like गिल्ली ओर डंडा (Gilli and डंडा), कंचे (marbles), लट्टू () and danced with local children in the school campus. Highlights of the day Kochi school kids talking about seasonal unemployment e...

Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14th November. We celebrate children's day in his honor. The daily routine may force you to forget about him but for the sincere and dedicated mothers who like their kids to showcase their talents at stage. Not really, I really appreciate the hard work and effort put by the ladies in composing a event that is memorial for their kids as well as their parents. Their is dance,skit, keyboards,songs and fashion shows. Ah! I forgot another active class in enclaves who needs the events. The teachers of various arts and crafts like dance/song/keyboards who want to market their availability for your kids so that he can attend one more class. There are dance and more dance and too much dance. Indian bollywood music and its steps copied by students, cheered by parents. Where is talent? Traditional music being rendered by half screeching loud speakers. Will you close your eyes to get lost in music? Distribution of fast foods like chips packets means more ...

This Diwali Big Bazaar gave a sheet to all its customers with coupons for getting 2 kg of sugar on every Wednesday for the next few months based on the kind of spend they did during the offer period. Generally we postpone our Big Bazaar trips to end of week and gather the dump and bring back home. Now they want to come on the day that they want and spend atleast 500 rupees so that you get the 2 kg of sugar that you have been consuming so fastidiously. What this entails? Your consumption of sugar goes up. There are 4 Wednesdays in a month and now you consume 8 kgs of sugar. Apparently sugar is responsible for most of middle and old age diseases according to a 100 year old Rishi who never had roti in his life. Your outflow to Big bazaar goes up. You spend atleast 500*4 = 2000 rupees to get that 8 kgs of sugar. And you know better  than me that bill is not always exactly 500 depending on who accompanies you. Chances are high if you are alone but if your daughter,son or spouse ar...

Will you go to Hotel Ashok on Kumar krupa road? 10 rupees extra sir Can you go by meter? Okay, sit ---after the auto starts and in motion--- You will have to pay rupees 30 I will pay by meter, if you dont want it then please stop the auto and I will get down Sit sit ---reach a traffic signal, a beggar comes on the side I dont have a rupee, can you give him a rupee? Even I dont have a rupee See sir, a truck struck me from front and i have almost lost a eye, thanks to god that I have survived, since then I earn and eat well but also give needy when ever I can. ---i check for money but the least amount that comes out is 10, he takes the 10 and obtains a change of 5 from beggar and puts it back into my hand, the signal becomes green sirr, do you know kannada? No How long you have been here? 6-7 years ---then he starts teaching me kannada, the below in double quotes is in kannada next time when you meet a auto driver tell him "I am kannadiga, dont cheat me" -- i...

A beautiful evening of performance at MLR convention center. An evening where the children performed, teachers and support staff orchestrated the events and parents simply walked in and witness the performances. We could only clap at the series of performances. The skits made us laugh. The history took us into our past. The theme for this year was Goa and Maharashtra. We could see the costumes of Portugese,Hindu and Sultanate/Mughal rulers. We could hear the Portuguese music customized by local and called as Goan. The choir. The flowing dances, ballets and folk. Mumbai illustration had Songs and Dance from Bollywood, fashion from the commercial capital of India. The dance/fashion of every decade was portrayed, we could see twist/disco/... The children looked so happy in performance. The older kids looked so matured walking on the ramp. The kids helping with seating arrangements were so courteous , soft and beautiful. The inauguration speech was by Ms. Jaishankar. She touched ...

So much for the public transport. So much for the public apathy. I was screaming I have lost the mobile and no one moved in the entire bus. Everybody turned around twitched a little and ignored the cry. More than the loss the reaction of the public shocked me. The bus conductor of BMTC bus somewhere in front. He did not bother to intervene. One person offered to call the number but the phone was promptly switched off. Other said you can block the phone by using some code. The doors of the bus were closed. The thief was inside. I could do nothing but get out of the bus. Bus number is 201 and it mostly runs between Banasankari and Koramangala. I had heard stories of people losing mobile phones and purse in 201 but it was a first hand experience for the first time. I called up my spouse and she kept trying to reach BSNL toll free mobile help line number. She was always in queue after choosing the lost mobile option. She visited the nearest BSNL office and they said she had...

August 14th trip: A write-up by Parvathy: Staff and parent at Bubbles centre My daughter and I had a wonderful experience during our trip to Hallenijgal. It was as close to nature we could get as possible. The lush green fields, the tractor ride, the walk through the fields and amidst the village houses and cattle.. it was truly an undescribable experience. We were touched by the kindness and openness of the villagers. The best part was that our kids were able to interact freely with the village school children, which is a huge benefit. I hope we will be able to take our kids more often to get such exposure which is key to their development. 0 Trip to Hallenijgal, August 14th, 2010: A write-up by a parent and staff-member: Pamela The trip to Hallenijgal was a very enjoyable trip. The children had a very good experience. They got to see the village scenario and the village life. We have taken photographs and are doing picture talk based on what they had seen and experienced i...

Rajdhani express leaves Jhansi at 01:20 towards Bangalore. I saw my ticket a thousand times and wished that it was really 00:20 or 23:20 or 22:20. My uncle and their family was kind enough to entertain me till about 23:00. Then the power and mosquitoes took over the reins of mind and allowed it to lose patience. He asked me "Why are you so uneasy?". I gave a lame "I dont want your night to be wasted because of me." We went to Railway station and I found a cybercafe offering Rs 25 per hour. I said "I want for 10 mins, Will you reduce the price? There is noone inside, atleast it will give you some business." He was adament and said "It will not be compromised. You will have to pay in full, in advance" and he showed me the notice that said "Even if there is a link failure your money will not be refunded". I checked email and forwarded the BSNL bill copy to my brother so that he could go to BSNL office and show it to them as proof of me hav...

She made special efforts to walk and she did succeed. She managed to come to the table close to the cash counter of Augusta Club. She was just catching on breath when she gestured for water. The cashier named Raghu instantly went to the water container to fill a glass of plastic glass for her. She accepted it full of gratitude and placed her order. I would have brought the water if Raghu delayed. Yes. I looked at her and smiled after a while. Generally I am private person. A simple direct smile and she asked me questions. I asked the same questions in return. Generally I am not so creative in asking questions so I mostly get into deadly and fearful silence. Then she poured out and I listened. Nothing sentimental but general topics. She lost her husband some twenty years back. Her eyes still missed him. Life moves on but some memories stay. They defy the movement. She blessed me as I collected my pack of brown bread. She enquired about color and when I said brown acknowledged it and w...

He was travelling in Indian Auto. He was getting late on an appointment. He generally uses the services of BMTC buses (the most cosmopolitan of buses wherein there is no way for a first timer to know where she is coming from or going to by simply looking at it). He got into a wrong one and then another and lost his sense of direction and could not place himself with known coordinates. Thus the decision was made. He chose to go by Auto. Michael Schumacher may have retired from formula 1 racing but he has left a legacy with the Indian auto drivers and especially in Bangalore to consider every nook and corner of the city as their F1 track. On this auspicious day the Gods decided to send a Meru cab coming from opposite direction with a driver somewhere in Koramangala. The driver left his lessons of relative speed in school itself for he chose to take a turn in front of the oncoming rush of this auto. The miscalculation made the auto on three wheels to touch the back of can and sometimes a...

The toys of channapatna are made of locally available wood and vegetable dyes. The artists have passed on skills since generations and with every new generation there are fewer left to continue the tradition. Some of the designs listed in the following clippings Let me know which ones you like and if there is any customized design that you are looking for then you are welcome to suggest the same. Also please suggest ways in which reach of the same can be increased for better sustainability of the craft and its artisans. Buy local toys, encourage local artisans and allow the local art and crafts to flourish and blossom again.