Valentine's day (???)

It is my first ever Valentine's day today. After spending more than 2 months with my husband Varun, I keep thinking why didn’t I ever meet him before. When I had met him on the first day, we hardly spoke for 2-3 minutes. He is a man of not just few but much lesser words. On that day itself I found a strange sort of love in his silence. We both agreed and got to know each other very well in the past few months. I am sure I would have not found anyone better than him for myself. Every morning, I find it very difficult to part with him to go to work. He has to literally push me out of home. Even in the bus, I constantly message [We don’t want to talk as it hurts our privacy] him till we both get to our seats at work. I also like his “Oota aaytha?” message around 2 or 2:30 every afternoon. In the evening, the messages continue.

I was a bit late today and had to get in a crowded bus. I found a seat finally next to a man of around 35-40. He was dressed well, though not a hero in looks. He was on phone, talking loudly in a sort of fake American accent. At first, I thought I will let go of the seat but thinking of the 2 hour journey, chose to sit. I was about to start messaging Varun, but realized my phone was out of currency. I had not noticed in the morning that it was one-rupee-a-message day and had shared some joke with some of my friends in the morning which ate up all my currency. I had no choice but to sit through the journey. With the man next to me talking like a crier on the streets, I could not help listening to his one-sided speech.

I gathered he must be talking to some woman over the phone as he was addressing her as “Jaan”. He was sharing a lot of things with her so it had to be his wife. 

“Jaan, Bangalore is getting hotter nowadays. I wonder how it is in Delhi. Are you uncomfortable in the weather dear?”

I thought she must be living in Delhi and he is missing her a lot.

“Arre.. Nahi Jaan. How can I ever do that to you? I love you more than anything else in life. Do you think I booked the tickets next week to Delhi just like that? It is my Valentine’s day gift to you.”

“Agra? I don’t think that will be possible as I have taken just 3 day’s leave.”

“Arre.. You are still caught up with the same thing? What should I do to convince you that I love you?”

“Gaana?? Yahaan? Is bus mein?”

“No Jaan. I can’t sing in a bus.”

“Arre.. Fine.. Kaunsa?”

“Ha ha.. Koi kannad ka gaana baj raha hai. How should I know what it is?”

“Ok. Hrudayave bayasithu ninne.. Oh God.. This is difficult.”

I was controlling my laughter a lot. I was surprised how his wife was making him dance to her tunes even from a distance of 3000 kms. I was thinking of Varun’s reaction if I had asked him to do that. He would have simply told “Why only sing dear? I would dance too, but only in front of you. I don’t like Public Display of Affections.” 

The man continues..

“Kaunsi? Saath Khoon Maaf? Theek hai. Kya baat hai? Pati ka khoon toh karne ki nahi soch rahi ho na? Ha ha..”

“I was just kidding Jaan. Come on. Tum toh meri sweetheart ho na.”

“I sent you the photos of my new flat in the morning. Did you check?”

“Ofcourse. I can occupy it by 15^th March. When are you planning to come to Bangalore?”

“Haan. You can stay till May 23^rd Jaan. After that my wife and children will be back from her mother’s place.”

I was shocked when I heard it. I was used to the fresh and innocent love of Varun and could not get myself to believe that few men are like this man too. How could anyone do that to his wife who had given up her family to make his family happy? I was praying to God I find another seat and get away from this devil next to me. I usually imagine myself in their place when someone is suffering and decide. But I did not even want to imagine myself in her place as I would be insulting my husband. I finally got a seat three rows ahead of mine and I just went and sat there. I did not want to start my first Valentine’s day on a sad note but I sure did.

Why grow up..!!??

This is the question I am always haunted nowadays. Why did I grow up?? I keep asking this to myself, my mom, dad, God.. well everyone who were with me in my growing years.


1. Was I not happy with the mud puddles I used to play with? Why am I given complex codes to work on?


2. Was I not happy with 1st/2nd ranks in schools? Why was I subjected to such huge ranks in Entrance tests?


3. Was I not happy with my so-called flowering plants and my little garden? Why am I a reason for global warming now with constantly working on computers in Air conditioned offices?
 
4. Was I not happy with my Comic books and novels? Why did I have to study 1000 page books for my engineering degrees?

5. Was I not happy eating Golguppas and  Bhuttas on the road? Who made me forget those days and eat in Coffee days, McDs and Pizza parlours?

6. Was I not happy with standing in my Dad's shoes and carrying his Laptop and pleading him to bunk Office for a day? Why am I working for 9 hours everyday?

7. Was I not happy with the people I used to chat and have fun? Why did you give me people who want me sit and do their work?

8. Was I not happy being my teacher's pet during school  and college days? Why did you give me Supervisors and Managers?


9. Was I not happy with playing with the kitchen set I got as a gift from my Granny? Why am I made to learn cooking at home with such big and boring utensils?

10. Was I not happy with my scooty rides to college? Why am I traveling 4-5 hrs per day in bus?

I was going on with the list.. My mom got bugged with these questions. She  thought she will answer these fair and square

1. No wonder your clothes are cleaner nowadays.. !

2. You were happy with your ranks in school, but I wanted you to know there are millions of 1st rankers.

3. You were happy with your flowering gardens, I wanted you to plant trees.

4. You were happy with your comic books, I wanted you to now gaining more knowledge is heavy.

5. Are you eating a lot of Junk food? Please stop that...!!!

6. Why do you still do that? When you know it is difficult to bunk, please allow him to go to work atleast now.


7. It  is because in colleges you would pay, but in offices, they pay you. They expect something from you.

8. Just for you to know that, buttering a few people for marks would help only in schools and colleges, not in real life :-)

9. Please.. Don't tell me you are cooking.. Are you serious???

10. I felt bad for the scooty.. Thought buses are better since you don't know how to drive them.

Me: Ok. That's enough. !!

Some more PJs

I came back from my aerobics class, tired. I saw my dad reading the newspaper. I had submitted some entry for an article in DNA. I wanted to see whether it was published. There was no chance of me getting the paper when my dad was reading it. I tried my luck.

"Daddy, DNA kodthya?"

"Yaavaaglo kottiddeeni. Even before you were born." He said it smiling at me. 

"Beligge beligge irritate maadthya? Hmmm.. You only read it." I started reading Bangalore Mirror.

After a few minutes, my dad spoke.

"Mirror kodu."

Finally, my turn.

"Sorry dad, I am not so strong."

"What?"

"Room nalli fix aagbittide. I can't pull it out."

My dad started laughing at this.

Our roads got some new boards with crosses, mains and street names. They gave some names of rivers. The previous road is named Tunga and ours Bhadra, with reference to the famous south Indian twin rivers Tunga-Bhadra. I had noticed it in the morning. I didn't think of it much. That evening when my dad returned, he was happy. He said

"I feel safer now.."

"You feel safer cos they put some crosses and mains??"

"No. Didn't you see the name? It says Bhadra Road."

"So?"

"Have you forgotten Kannada? Bhadra means Secure. This is a secure road." 

"Heights dad!!!!"

Angel in Disguise

A person ate 7 Ferrero Rocher chocolates in 1 minute and won himself a Guinness World record. Another person carved a pumpkin in 24.03 seconds and he gets another record. A person buries 77,882 unwanted and abandoned corpses and goes unrecognized..!! The person is Mahadeva who has been doing this work from the past 20-25 years. He was doing this in the premises of Victoria Hospital in Bangalore. He was given several awards from the state government but a work like this one deserves more than that. He retired a few years ago. But this does not end his work. His son is following his steps. His son, Praveen Kumar, aged 21, has already given a decent burial to more than a 13,000 unclaimed corpses. It is no big deal if a politician's son gets a political seat or an actor's son in spite of being untalented gets a lot of offers in acting but following his father in a work like this is highly surprising. Praveen Kumar has been supporting his own education from the past couple of years. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree in social work.

Praveen has been helping his father since he was 9 years old. His father, too had started this work around the same age. At his present age of 21, when other people prefer hanging around the posh localities of Bangalore, this boy goes to Victoria Hospital in search of these corpses. His daily routine includes attending college in the morning, and as soon as he returns to his home in Rajarajeshwarinagar, he takes an auto to Victoria Hospital and also NIMHANS. From there, he collects the unclaimed corpses, which may vary from 1-4 per day. A day without unwanted corpses is very rare! He takes these corpses to the burial grounds of Wilson Garden and gives them a decent burial. The police entrust him with this work and pays him Rs.350 per body. But by the end of the day, after paying the bills of mortuary and the burial grounds, he is left with Rs.25, which is very less for his work and for supporting his family. In spite of all this, he never claimed publicity. He was not doing this work for money. He said he did it for his satisfaction. Being the eldest son of four children, he makes his family proud.

I read about him in an article in the December issue of a Kannada magazine. I was not sure that many would have read it. So, thought of writing about him in the net. A news photographer K. Venkatesh who saw his work, had a display of around 50 photographs of his routine in Chitrakala Parishat in November. The people in the following picture are the true "Angels in Disguise"..

I miss 2008!!

The year 2008 has been the best year for me. Some of the most important things happened this year. Though I am dying to face my future, I miss this one. The year started for me at The Leela Palace, where the new year party was arranged by my dad's office. The same night, we met with an accident, so bad that it took around a fortnight to get our car back to normal. It was around 1.30 am. The roads were filled with drunkards and there was so much noise everywhere that it was impossible for my dad to concentrate and we hit a bike which seated 3 people. Our luck started there. None of us were injured, not even those 3 in the bike. Our vehicles were completely damaged though.. Again, the policemen were luckily near the site, else, the drunkards on the road could have pelted stones at our car. The police took over the case and it was discharged smoothly..
My 5th sem exams were actually going on at that time. We still had 3 subjects to complete. I could have missed them if there was any sort of injury. Academically too, the year was great. I faced 2 VTU exams this year, and both the times, I got a distinction. The first being the 5th sem exam, I got 72% and in the 6th sem, I got 78%, and was the second topper in our class..
I got placed through Campus Interviews in Infosys and Oracle Financial Services in this year only.. Both offering a good pay for a fresher. I am actually planning to join Oracle because they are likely to post us in Bangalore.
My dad got promoted as an Associate Vice President of the Corporate Legal Dept in his work place, GMR group of Companies. He was so excited, he finally started giving me a respectable pocket money. He always gave me money whenever I asked him, whatever may be the amount. But, I insisted I have some pocket money, so that I can manage my accounts in a better way. Well, that has not stopped me from asking him extra money though..
After much persuasion and convincing for about 10-15 years, my mom finally quit her job. Initially, she did not want to leave her job as she had no problem with it. She had worked for 22 years in BSNL and did not want to leave it as she had no clue how a housewife spends her time. Though she was working, she always had time for me and never left me uncared for. I have heard a lot about working women not having enough time for their kids. But my mom had managed it so well. I did not want her to work as she deserved some rest as her office was getting more crowded. She is actually a lot more busier now.
Our house got a completely new look this year. It had been 8 years since we shifted to this house. We wanted to change a few things about it. It looks more homely and comfortable now..
A lot other small and petty things happened this year which made my year great. It maybe my cousin's marriage or my trip to Goa with college and other things which are too much personal and cannot be mentioned here... ;)

Food v/s Money???

I don't understand how I got the courage to write this post at this time of my semester. By using the word 'courage' I mean my externals are going on. I wrote my first paper yesterday. I just could not resist sharing an incident which took place while I was on my way to college. 

I saw a man in rags in the dumping grounds near Bangalore University. It is a highway and passing that road in the peak hours is a nightmare. The traffic moves at a snail pace and one has to stand on feet until some of the vehicles move. I was standing there when I saw this man. He seemed mentally unstable. He was picking up some papers from the dump and was making a small bonfire nearby. When there was enough heat, he picked up a dead rat and started roasting it. I was shocked !! I could not see a man eating a dead rat. I turned around. I was even more shocked to see the people around me. Some saw him and made faces as though they were disgusted, some were laughing at him and some were indifferent. That man eating a dead rat made no impact on anyone.

The traffic began to move. I had to act fast to stop him from eating that rat. I was a bit scared to talk to him. May be because of his appearance. But still I did not want to leave him like that. I opened my wallet and took out a 50 rupees note and put it in front of him. I left the place with my vehicle and stood at a distance to check whether the man took the note. He came near the note and looked at me. I forcibly smiled and left for my college. As I told you I had my exams and forgot all about this.

While coming back, I remembered the incident and thought of checking whether he had not eaten the rat. I didn't see him anywhere, took a U turn and came to the place where he was previously there. I was shocked again as I saw some leftovers.. probably of the rat and a charred 50 rupees note!!  He had used the money I gave him as a fuel to his bonfire!! I was disappointed but that gave me some sense. I realised it was food that was more important to him than money. Everyone knows the value of hunger. As I told you before he was mentally unstable. Probably I should have thought of it at the time of giving him the money. I am not disappointed that he made a wrong use of my money but I am disappointed that the money I gave him did not help him with his food the way I wanted it to help.. 

Bangalore will surely develop!!!

I was on my way to college around 11.30 in the morning as I was attending only the second internals today. Near Rajarajeshwarinagar, I happened to see an accident. There were no threats to life but it was a Road roller which had crashed into two electric poles. The electric poles were damaged and the whole road was blocked. I cursed the driver as I had to take a very long route while trying to avoid this road. I made a mental note not to take this way for another 2-3 days before they repair the whole thing. It took me an extra 5 minutes and I reached the college to attend my internals. 

I had forgotten all about the accident in college, as I was more concerned about doing the internals well as I had to get a 25 in order to make my average 25.. I did it well and spoke for some half an hour with my friends and started towards my home. It was around 3.30. When I reached the same road, I remembered about the accident and I hated myself for forgetting it all this while. I could have taken a whole new route from college and reached home faster. I was imagining about the road block, the traffic jam, the hot sun, the way I had struggled in the morning amidst the cars and made my way out.. Suddenly, I realised that I had passed that road completely. Not even a slightest hint of the accident. 

I was afraid I had hallucinations about the accident and had been imagining things. I went back to the place of the accident and noticed that they had repaired the electric poles so well that there was not a single flaw in the pole. I have never heard a good opinion about BESCOM for years. I started to leave. All the way home I was happy to see their efficiency as they had managed a lot of damage with expertise and perfection in such a short span. Bangalore will definitely develop if people take more interest in making things work faster and more efficiently.