The Mother of All Debates

For a long time now, I have refrained from writing on this topic.. Finally, I had to write on it after reading many articles on this topic over the last few days, seeing people fight tooth and nail on this subject and literally snarl at each other on social media

This raging topic carries a lot more impetus than many constructive political, socio-economic and humanitarian topics. And the rage builds up exponentially when special occasions like Womens' Day and Mothers' Day draw closer and in its immediate aftermath. 

By now, most would have got close to the subject in discussion, no prizes for guessing - Stay at Home Mother vs Working Mother , who makes a better mom? I must admit that starting from Womens' day till today, I have read a huge line up of  articles from various news platforms and personal blogs. 

Why do we have this question at all in the first place? 

A mother decides to stay at home full time to take care of her little one or go to work and do her mommy duties alongside based on a core set of circumstances. In addition to these circumstances that define her environment post delivery, she has an innate nature and some priorities in head, right from the time she plans to start a family. This set of factors, unique to each lady, makes her decide on her way of parenting. She is free to go back on her decision any time she finds gaps in estimate v/s reality. But the whole subject is not as simple as it sounds because we have a million people around the woman in question judging her for every activity and decision. 

I can tell you without batting an eye that for the last four years, after my son was born and after which I decided to call it quits from the semiconductor/hardware industry in which I had a job for 7 years, every friend and every acquaintance has asked me why I took this decision, how I could so suddenly turn my back on my job, dreams, career and ambition. Fair enough, a little curiosity is always essential to make life interesting and informative!

The problem starts when these questions do not stop and the session gets more intriguing for these unknowns or barely known people in a park/mall/supermarket that you happen to visit with your kid figure out where you last worked, what was your job profile there, what salary you drew, which college you graduated from, which school you studied at and even your percentage score in 10th grade and 12th grade. Yes, some have the audacity to elicit these finest details. By now, an impression is formed by the interviewer and his/her (its mostly 'her') reaction can vary anywhere from one of pity to one of absolute disgust.

When people get judgmental, then comes out the basic trait of defense to our rescue. As we answer questions, it appears we strive hard to defend our decisions. And if the interviewer chooses to differ, we try hard to remain polite but when the pressure builds up after repeated Q and A sessions, we go out to malign "the differently thinking group" and question their intent. It is this sequence of actions that has sparked off the super debate of Stay at Home Mum v/s Working Mum , who is better?. We fail to understand that no Omniscient God will come down to earth and crown us with a tiara or adorn us with a beautiful cape for the role we choose/chose. 

The stay at home mum does not choose to leave her career (if she had one before) or remain full time at home because she is lazy to do work, is unambitious, is complacent, is not good at multi tasking. It is not only because she has a husband who mints money in crores that she takes up the luxury of staying indoors. It is not always a luxury, it is a conscious decision. 

Similarly, the working mother manages to do as much as possible for her little one in the time she has at home, delegating remaining work to others of help in her absence and toils at workplace. She goes to work for many reasons, not always because she is a victim of huge financial crunch and is fated to toil. It is her conscious decision to do so, for many reasons best known to her and her partner.

Women are hands-down winners when it comes to judging other women around them, on all topics under the sun. If a woman churns out yummy looking delectable dishes in the kitchen for her family everyday, many are quick to dismiss her as a dull headed lady who has resigned to her masala dabba. If a woman heads out to work and comes back late, leaving her kitchen chores to other people at home, then her very purpose or existence is questioned. 

It is not required that we plant an extra pair of horns and provide an exalted status to a woman who is a super cook at home for her excellent culinary skills or dismiss her as a boring, routine monger. We all earn so that we can have good, healthy food at the end of the day, let's just stop at that. Let's not over define cooking as an art, hobby, necessity, stress buster and classify/characterize people who do it and don't do it under different heads. Likewise, your child needs you for sure, how you choose to handle this need of your little one without taking too much stress on yourself is left to you and your partner, not for the world to judge and pass opinion on. 

A Women's day will be best celebrated under an ideal situation when women stop judging other women, when women stop asking other women questions like "When are you getting married?" , "When are you going the family way?" , "Why aren't you thinking of a second child?" and scare them with the cons of delay in making up their mind. Just to relax from that overly Utopian like situation - ask questions if you share required level of comfort with the person in question, but don't make it the very conversation in entirety causing agony and irritability and push it to an extent that the subject leaves a bitter after taste and becomes fodder for debate. And the day when women manage this sincerely, at least half of her daily problems will be solved. 

And how ironic it is to have the mother of all debates deal with "mothers"?

Money often costs too much

The Big Bang ...

The scenario in my country for the last one week has left me mulling over a few questions and thus brings me to writing this post on my blog. I could not find a better title for it than a quote by noted American poet Ralph Emerson - "Money often costs too much".

Indians turned their heads a little away from internal affairs for a brief period to keep tab on who was winning the race to become the next American President when a big bang was announced by their own Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, just hours before the day - Nov 8, 2016 came to a close. Indian currency with value 500 and 1000 were no longer legal tender starting from midnight that day. Rules were tabulated for the citizen on what they could do with old 500s and 1000s at hand. New 500 Rs notes and a new denomination - Rs 2000 were set to replace them soon in market.

Prima facie, it appeared, that the government had a sharp agenda and a firm plan in place to root out corruption, eliminate black money and fake currency notes; thereby crack the whip on all wrong doers, from tax defaulters to terrorists. 

Why no new 500 Rs notes?

What started as a "wow" feeling about the demonetization announced slowly downgraded to a "Hmm .. I don't understand" when new 2000 Rs notes came into circulation but new 500 Rs notes were amiss. Even as I write this post, new 500 notes are not in circulation. This gargantuan gap from Rs 100 (the highest valid denomination from old currencies) to Rs 2000 (newly announced) could not be bridged by a simple leap of faith. In a country, where providing change for Rs 500 after a purchase from market/small shops invites complaints from vendors and leaves them scowling, introduction of even higher denomination 2000 made many mad. And its introduction into market before its less valued but more often used partner Rs 500 made matters worse. The "something is better than nothing" formula does not work for cash in hand all the time. 

             A cartoon by a friend depicting the fall out of demonetization - "Cash crunch or Compassion crunch"

Physical re calibration of ATM machines, could this have been avoided?

The whole operation of demonetization soon landed up in bitter taste when realization struck that new notes, now smaller in size were not compatible for ATM dispensation and trays in machines had to be physically replaced by workers for process correction. Any sane citizen can gauge the mammoth effort and plentiful time required for this task completion. ATM s remain shut LARGELY, even as I write this post. Citizens have no choice but to stand in serpentine queues outside banks for withdrawal of money needed for their daily chores. If ATM s were equipped to handle withdrawals with minimal delay, at least in urban and sub urban areas for many possess cards here, stress on banks and its officials would have largely reduced. This , along with timely release of new 500 s could have improved the efficacy of demonetization implementation and made the PM's brainchild a noteworthy success.

Why I fail to find sense in what the Finance Minister says?

If P Chidambaram in the role of Union Finance Minister during previous UPA regime irked me thoroughly with his rigmarole like answers interspersed with many pauses and a composed "I can never go wrong" attitude, the current Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley too seems no less. He foresees a cashless way of economic life unfolding soon but could do plainly nothing to put existing set up of ATM s to optimal use to ease unrest among card holding public. A commoner residing in India knows that to bring everyone from a local tea seller to ones who run small road-side eateries to use digital wallet and replace use of small value currency notes with it is a Herculean task and highly preposterous.And what makes one think that hi-tech digital stuff is the answer to all worldly problem and being error free. How can one eliminate human error when these technological inventions and innovations are created by man himself? Not to forget, a few weeks back, about 3 million debit cards were hit by a massive hack and a plethora of faulty transactions created alert . 

Everything is not digital logic 

From recent conversations with friends and acquaintances in person or over social media, I have understood it is all either black or white, no, I am not talking about currency here. 

If I raised questions on implementation of demonetization, I was quickly dismissed as a fan of a buffoon named Rahul Gandhi, an admirer of All time Anarchy Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal or a victim of media foul play and its exaggerated negative projection.

There is no middle path. I am one among those who voted Narendra Modi (or better said his party, BJP) to power and I look up to him as an able leader, a great orator and a smart administrator. His announcement on 500/1000 note ban instilled in me confidence that my decision, my vote was purposeful. But watching his plan unfold into action gives me credible doubts. Unquestionable, blind faith in an elected leader is not an essential quality of being a nationalist. 

Demonetization has created a huge wave of change in buyer-seller relations in my observation. To me, I have temporarily shifted my loyalty from local, small time vendors to supermarkets where I can swipe my debit card and imposed a restraint in buying stuff that needs me to part with small value notes, I possess few of them and for now see they are difficult to procure. 

People; most importantly, the bank officials are highly patient and extending full support to the government's move of demonetization. The commoner will begin to shed his/her skepticism and feel positive about this change only when some of his immediate discomfort is minimized at the earliest possible. A clear reflection of this change , its promise for a better future will be visible only when murky waters on the surface give way. The government can rest assured that sensible citizens of the nation meantime will neither be swayed by Rahul Gandhi standing in queue for currency exchange nor emotionally moved by Prime Minister's old mother doing the same. 

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Note: The cartoon that features in this post is by my friend, posted here after due permission.

Virtual Reality

A veteran Tamil actress/comedian in one of her movies desires to eat some chicken biriyani, and true to her portrayal of being miserly in that movie, she hangs a picture of a chicken in front of her and relishes plain white rice with immense satisfaction. Virtual reality, I must say, this is. I don't know why this scene from an old movie flashed in my head as I read articles of Pokemon Go becoming a rage among youngsters and  this made me think more. 

Long gone are the times when people of a family clung together while visiting fairs and exhibitions, now there is no fear of getting lost in huge, milling crowds. The mobile phone comes to our rescue almost all the time; we dare not step out of our home without it. I would have got scolded more often for leaving my phone in silent mode than for all other mistakes summed up. Long geographical distances pose no impediment in communication with phones, chat/messaging apps, video conferencing techniques becoming popular in full blaze, we virtually stay connected all the time with loved, known and unknown ones. This definitely is a great advantage without which we cannot imagine getting strewn around across the globe. However, we become owl-like to beat the disconnect in time zones, crave for eating one meal at peace without having to answer the phone midway, earnestly hope faces do not glare at us when we leave our phones ringing inside a temple/hospital/library. We are expected to talk even when we drive, with a phone neatly tucked into our helmet; we talk hands free and look quite like a lunatic. In name of working from home, we try hard to juggle between personal and professional spheres of life having allowed them to mingle too much.  

Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms ensure we stay connected with dear ones. Admittedly, we've got complacent maintaining virtual friendship links and sharing a slice of our everyday life with others through 'likes', 'follow' and 'share'. We express our opinions like never before to run into trouble at times with some governmental and non-governmental agencies checking if we committed an act of sedition in name of free speech and expression. The Internet provides information of all kinds and suits all tastes, one does not really need a dadi maa to know ' dadi ka nuska'. However, plagiarism, piracy and breach of someone's privacy make things shoddy, that thin line which demarcates right from wrong is fast disappearing. 

While on one hand we boast about access to a million songs from different genres across all languages in the world at just a finger touch, we silently adore one who possesses a collection of old LP records, few recorded TDK cassettes and a bunch of HMV ones. We deem him/her to be a 'real' and fine connoisseur of music. 

Pages of old photo albums from trips during our childhood times show us how carefully we spent 34-36 snaps on a camera film roll on only precious shots. Now, we virtually have thousands of snaps clicked without a second thought for every single trip, all cached in sectors in hard disks or memory cards, to see them with a quick click or a swipe, we do not have time at hand. 

When my aunt showed me letters written to her by my grandfather from inside a torn envelope with postage stamp clinging to it, I could not refrain from thinking if I should take a print out of some recent emails written by my dad before I accidentally deleted them or my mail account got hacked. 

e-books and Kindle allow us to carry our bookshelves everywhere; being light weight and travel friendly, any time-anywhere access provides a big boon for book lovers. But a bibliophile will never shy away from accepting that the smell of mold from old books, towering racks stashed with many titles in shops, sight of a silverfish wriggling inside an old copy and the crackling sound of actually turning the pages give unparalleled joy. 

This 'virtually' real aspect which technology has provided us with has overtaken all realms of life. The convenience it imparts, the ease of use, a sense of appeal creates dependence. It gets menacing only when the dependence grows into an addiction. Our parents had only one idiot box named TeleVision to deal with but parenting in today's times is no less than a Herculean task with idiot box type 1 version 1, idiot box type 2 and 3 with multiple versions for every hardware/software fix/release. Many youngsters do not want to swap the comfort of playing games on a console inside defined precincts with actually sweating it out and playing real games with team mates. And, if Pokemon Go answers the sedentary aspect of computer games, it carries untold hazards with it. 

The quality of 'virtually real' is erasing all fine lines. No doubt, there are benefits with each invention that technology puts forth for a lot of thought and innovation goes into making them. However, to exercise restraint in use and keep check/control is a painstakingly difficult job. It is the need of the hour for when the reverie breaks it should not be hard for one to accept that what was on the plate all through was just plain rice and not biriyani.  

Lord Ganesha, coolest of all ..

Happy Ganesha Chathurthi to all ... the best part of the calendar year has begun :) 

I am all smiles, I always love this post-July part of the calendar year as the scorching summer season comes to an end, monsoon showers bring along the much needed respite from heat, fresh smell of earth and some chaos too, but above all, this part of the year is full of festivals and therefore HOLIDAYS!

Not much has changed over 8 years of my stay in Bangalore in a locality called New Tippasandra, we are nestled between quiet sectors of Geetanjali layout and the busy, bustling Tippasandra market. Starting from today for over a month, almost every street - narrow or wide will stage a pandal with a big and colorful idol of Lord Ganesha - celebrations galore!!

Just as I began my puja at home today, the song "Deva Sri Ganesha (guess from Agneepath movie) came blaring from the speakers from a nearby pandal. Kids were shouting Ganapathi Bappa Moriya, guess they had a competition on who is the loudest of all. The festive mood had just set in and then came the SHOCK - an abrupt transition and the song Tu Cheez Badi hai Mast Mast played in full volume. Anyone who watched the show Superhit Muqabla on DD would be aware of this chartbuster. Lord Ganesha, I must admit, is quite a mast mast god. He won a special mango after performing the act of circumambulation around his parents thrice when asked to go around the world the same number of times by Sage Narada, how cool is that?

Just as I tried to digest what I heard, the song changed to Chura Ke dil Mera, it seemed like people in the association who installed that pandal loved Akshay Kumar just as much as Lord Ganesha. According to common faith, Ganesha remains a bachelor, so whose hearts he stole remains a highly debatable question. 

I guess someone thought these songs were too old fashioned, a line of new Hindi songs, largely from the item numbers/party numbers subset are dished out in quick succession. One is highly fair as songs of this kind are played in all languages, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The God gets a brief break from this musical discourse for few hours in the noon as he braces for the worst in the evening hours. 

Come evening time, post 6 pm, mini trucks carrying small time music troupes block the streets and traffic, these artists render their favorite songs for God and common man, they are accompanied by dancers dressed in bright, gaudy clothes who groove non-stop enthusiastically. Over years, my ears have got accustomed to these artists' favorite numbers - Nakku Mooku, Chikini Chameli, My Name is Sheela, Dont' worry Padmavathi, Aa ante Amalapuram, so on and so forth. Around 8/9 pm, smell of liquor begins to dominate the air around, this along with high decibel music, jarring colors and dance moves make the experience of seeing the Lord all so repulsive. 

However, year after year, Lord Ganesha stays calm, unruffled as all this farce unfolds in front of his eyes, he tolerates this chaos in name of celebrations without a single complaint. He remains as cool as a cucumber, drowns into deep filth of today's polluted lakes and rivers only to emerge with more smiles the next year. And he teaches us all the same -to remain calm and cool even in most testing times, be tolerant and endure pain/problems without complaints, doesn't he really do that?

Every dream comes to an end

Until today, every time I heard the theme song for ICC World Cup 2015 - WDL Bob's beat, after a match that India played, there was a sense of elation, pride and deep content. The summary of the day's game with the song playing in the background evoked a degree of confidence in the Indian team. For the first time, I felt disappointed as the song played, as MS Dhoni walked up first to have a chat in the presentation ceremony, after India lost the semi final by 95 runs at Sydney Cricket Ground against an indomitable opponent, Australia. 

Expectations which started with a zero balance soared high with every win of the Indian team and seven consecutive wins in a tournament like world cup is highly laudable. Veritable improvement appeared in all three departments for once, and after a long time the home team gave the notion that they did not rely on just one GOD batsman to score all the runs, everyone had to chip in and they did, fielders remained agile, leapt in air and performed unseen acts and fast bowlers proved that they mattered too, much like or may be much more than the spinners in a game. 

Despite all the above positive changes, an extended stay in Australia and losing many games against the host nation, one has to admit that team India still has to learn few more vital lessons; more aptly, remember lessons learnt and implement them without faltering. We clearly witnessed how fumbling and choking under pressure does not help from the first semi final game between South Africa and New Zealand where the former team despite getting headway in pieces failed to get their act together. Also, within the team there are many lessons that fellow mates have to learn from MS Dhoni before seniors/veterans and many from all quarters question him on when he will relinquish captaincy and take a back seat. After all, sporting tattoos, blowing kisses off the bat and displaying aggression/anger on field alone cannot win matches. 

MS Dhoni gets an ardent fan in me after this tournament, it would only be appropriate to rephrase the simile as cool as cucumber after him. The way he guided the team, toiled keeping wickets, gave essential tips to bowlers and fielders studying opponents on field and came to rescue with the bat when needed proved that there is just none like him. Kudos to this man's stamina, fitness and composure, squat and get up for each ball for fifty overs and still come hit helicopter shots! 

I have always harbored special admiration for other wicket keeper captains/leaders starting from Adam Gilchrist, Kumara Sangakkara to Brendon McCullum. This admiration is the sole reason why I wanted team India to win today's game, sail ahead and lift the world cup; a befitting gift for our captain cool though it was too sweet a dream to come true. Also for the same reason, I will now want New Zealand to win the final on March 29, 2015 for McCullum is a wonderful leader and the team rightfully deserves to win the trophy at least once. 

Sad that dreams of billions came to an end today but have to admit that it was not purely bitter and starkly premature, after all. 

Happy New Year - My first post for 2015

A week into the New Year, 2015 and here I come to wish you all a happy and peaceful new year, one filled with loads of good things and lots of good luck. As I watch 2015 beginning to unfold, there is a part of me that lingers in the year gone by. I try to sum up all that happened in the year 2014 and the not so pleasant or more aptly, some very tragic events stand out starkly. Before you dismiss me as a bizarre pessimist, let me try to substantiate my claim.

Early in 2014, the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lampur to Beijing; after almost three weeks of rigorous search, a trillion theories propounded to explain why and how it went amiss, it was concluded that the plane ended up in southern Indian Ocean causing death of all on board, a  toll of 239. Before one could move ahead in hope of a breather, a deadlier accident occurred when a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 Flight 17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists over Ukraine in July 2014 resulting in a toll of 298. The year ended up being more turbulent when Air Asia QZ8501 crashed in Java sea killing all 162 on board.

Women empowerment, the most oft-repeated phrase in 2014, thanks to Rahul Gandhi who uttered it like a trained parrot, witnessed new heights when tech giants like Facebook and Apple offered $20,000 to its female employees who chose to freeze their reproductive eggs and not their career aspirations. But it seemed farcical against reports of abduction of over 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria by Boko Haram Jihadist group, of spate of child rapes inside school premises in our own Bangalore. Be it inside a moving bus, an Uber cab or inside a deserted mill compound, from sophisticated urban locales in Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore to rural Badaun in UP, irrespective of  the hour of the day or age of the female victim, cases of sexual assault gnawed at a woman's basic right, right to return home safe.

Terrorist/militant outfits and Jihadist groups sprang up like mushrooms in Mario game. ISIS perpetrated unprecedented terror smearing territories under their control with blood, beheading journalists, seizing ancient and heritage-rich cities of Iraq and Syria. Pakistan pretended it learnt a lesson that there was nothing called "good" Taliban from the Peshawar army school massacre which consumed lives of 132 innocent children. The year ended with a bang in India in literal sense when an IED blast in Bangalore killed one woman. Even on New year's eve, shelling across Indo-Pak border did not cease and the Indian Coast Guard chased a Pakistani boat sneaking into Indian waters till its operators considered it safe to blow themselves up than surrender.

The Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa sent a shudder and reminded us that despite human efforts to make many advancements in the field of medicine and many successes, man quite shockingly loses it all to microscopically diminutive life forms.

The Indian General Elections during the summer of 2014 became a watershed event in the history of Indian democracy. Millions voted for the first time with zeal while thousands who always voted were shocked to see their names deleted from lists. Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India, he led his party to power in absolute majority, won an unprecedented mandate and proved that Modi wave existed after all, its ripples felt even in New York and Sydney. Politics in 2014 saw it all, some who knew nothing about politics and administration wanted to make that gargantuan leap, some in whom people placed trust ran away in middle of things after whinging for sundry, some who amassed wealth disproportionately spent weeks behind bars and some who grabbed power by following erstwhile divide and rule policy thus giving birth to the 29th state in India.

Even in department of sports, the year 2014 seemed a joyless mixed bag. Brazil hosted FIFA battling corruption, huge delays and bundles of civic problems but the country sans its star player Neymar and its shocking defeat against Germany in semi final game sent fans reeling in gloom. The Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea threw Indian fans in confusion, whether to rejoice in Mary Kom's gold or regret the brazen denial of silver to Sarita Devi who later faced heavy punishment for refusing to accept the bronze medal bestowed on her. Cricket only got murkier with reports of betting and match fixing bringing top players and officials under scanner and Dhoni's chaotic exit from test match format of the game added more mystery. Fans all over the world still pray for seven time Fomula One World Champion Schumacher's recovery and deeply regret the sudden death of Aussie cricketer Phillip Hughes from an on-field injury.

In the field of entertainment, Salman Khan delivered a KICK, flew a kite alongside Modi and posed by the side of Rajapakse too, Shah Rukh Khan wished a nonsensical Happy New Year much before one really dawned and Aamir Khan reigned over the box office with his PK unfazed by massive protests from right wing Hindu groups.While superstar Rajinikanth's entry into politics remains a mystery, he showed the world he still held unparalleled reverence with the release of his Linga. Our ears resonated to Yo Yo Honey Singh's rap numbers and Bolly/Kolly/Tolly/Mollywood chart busters but yearned for music from that one mandolin that went silent so prematurely.

The Mars Orbiter Mission/Mangalyaan's success filled us with pride and gave us reason to smile but floods in Jammu and Kashmir, its after effects, tropical cyclone Hudhud in Vizag with its bag of colossal damage left common man in turmoil; why bother about Mars when one cannot solve many a riddle on Earth itself.

Even as I write this article, reports of terror attack in France (Charlie Hebdo attack that claimed 12 lives) and sexual assault of a 7 year old girl in Bangalore school by her teacher, more things that make you feel sad and sigh than smile trickle in. However, I look forward with hope, beyond all that has transpired, wish fervently that 2015 be a happier, healthier and more peaceful year, for hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness (quote: Desmond Tutu).

Footnote: An image from http://www.mapsofworld.com/events/year-2014/ that I used as reference in writing this article.

Elections 2014

Elections 2014 in India has earned many sobriquets - watershed elections, India's most polarising elections, elections with the highest voter turnout. The longest election ever held in the history of the largest democracy in the world, with nine phases spanning from Apr 7 to May 12, 2014 culminates tomorrow, May 16, with results declaration.

The elections to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha in 543 constituencies has been a significant one in many respects. It has witnessed sledging and slamming that downplays infamous episodes in cricket and puts masters like Aussies to shame. Repugnance and acerbity have overflown in excess in all directions.

While debates still ensue if a Modi wave exists at all, it is undeniable that an insuppressible urge to vote persisted in the youth of the nation. For the first time, youngsters cared to look and think beyond cricket and its closely linked partner in entertainment, cinema. While people wanted to come out and vote, the Election Commission did not quite like this over enthusiasm and deleted as many as 74 lakh names in the state of Maharashtra alone.

People thought only paper and ballot boxes proved convenient for rigging but were taken aback when Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) too malfunctioned. Irrespective of any button pressed, lights flashed against the current ruling party. As if men were not enough to rig, rodents too joined in creating mayhem, cut wires, devored buttons and damaged EVMs stored post voting in Ghaziabad, the only solace that rodents imparted damage impartially.

News channels ate, drank and slept elections 2014. News on weather, sports, cine glitz and glamor, terror/militant attacks, economic/market affairs, international topics like problems in Nigeria,Ukraine, Turkey, South Korea all went missing much like the missing Malaysian airline MH 370. Reporters ran between Amethi and Varanasi like lunatics and many reconciled to spending days and nights on Ganga ghat in Varanasi.

Nations' pulse is high, anxiety and enthusiasm levels hit a top notch, call it over awareness incited by media or a mad drive against incumbency or intolerance to unfathomable corruption and scams in the nation, this election has been the most closely followed one by many who never cared to check how the government formed or functioned.

I voted in Bangalore on April 17, 2014 and did my duty as a citizen. As said in the Gita, I am only supposed to do my action and not expect the fruit of it. I wait with bated breath (minus expectations) for the announcement of the nation's leader for that decides the country's future. And yes, a quick sign off from the post before someone terms me communal and non secular for having quoted the Gita.

Up On Cloud Number Nine

Here I Am, __ __ __ _ _____ !!!

I am sure some of you reading this blog post would have filled in those blanks with "rock you like a Hurricane" , taking cues from the song by Scorpions :)  But those blanks only indicate my long absence from the blogosphere; I went blank in a much bigger way while composing this post, got a little out of touch now. 

I am now a mother of a baby boy, we named him Kashyap and he was born in Bangalore on Aug 26, 2012. The new role as a mommy is keeping me far from phone, newspapers and world wide web; therefore my blog too has been lying in abeyance for some months now.

On the front of managing baby affairs, I have just begun to get a grasp of it all. After three months of hands on training, I am still learning to become nocturnal and virtually shift my time zone from IST to USA's EST.

I gave this post the title "Up on Cloud Number Nine" for two reasons -

1) My baby was born in Cloud Nine Hospital, Old Airport Road, Bangalore; every time I visited my doctor here, this line from one of my favorite Bryan Adams' song used to hit my head. 

2) Also, I intend to write about my doctor - gynecologist and obstetrician in this post, she has a huge share in my elation, "the cloud nine feeling" of becoming a mother. 

Dr.Praveena Shenoi MBBS, MD (OBG), DGO, MRCOG(LONDON) is my doctor. I came to know of her from few of my office colleagues; and personally, have known her since June 2011. 

A search on the Internet for good gynecologists in Bangalore brought me to her again and again; she had an impressive set of "clearly positive" remarks. There were even two blog posts that thanked her immensely. So here comes my turn to chip in some good words about her so that people looking for similar information can benefit and turn to her confidently for medical guidance.

The best thing I like about my doctor is that she follows some very simple principles like - let nature play its part; human body and its systems naturally adapt and react; prevention is better than cure - these clearly govern her methods of treatment and work wonderfully for you. Surgical means of intervention come as last resort and she turns to them only when absolutely essential. 

Since conception, I was advised to avoid eating outside food (strictly) and I followed her meekly. Pregnancy is definitely a period where unnecessary medication must be avoided at all costs. Also, my 8 weeks Oral Glucose Challenge test showed me little inclined to gestational diabetes, therefore I was advised to go off high glycemic foods like maida, potato and consume less rice. Dr. Praveena Shenoi really knows how to get her words across, there is a lasting smile on her face but important instructions are nailed in crisply and curtly, with no lenience in tone. 

For those of you who complain she spends little time answering queries from the first few consultations; just hang on! As time progresses, rapport with her builds up and she spends more time with you during consultations. You can rest assured that post delivery she will remember you and your baby for her lifetime. 

With a huge base of patients, when you see her scurrying between consultation rooms; to and from operation theater and labor wards, her abundant energy trickles down to you too and helps you sail through a weary first trimester. She infuses high energy levels and confidence with every visit during the entire course of pregnancy. Even now, when I wake up through the night attending to my baby, I think of how she attends to her patients round the clock, anytime she is summoned; yet makes it to her routine consultation hours in mornings and derive inspiration from it. 

My 37 week ultra sound scan revealed my baby's weight was above average for Indian standards. With absolutely no cervix effacement and dilation until 39 weeks, my doctor showed no hurry in inducing labor or pushing me to a C-section. I had concerns if I would be able to deliver a 3.3+ kg baby naturally but she only put my anxiety to rest by saying labor is the best judge and things will take a natural course. And true, I delivered my 3.69 kg bundle of joy naturally with her by my side at 39+3 weeks. 

In this world that is hard pressed for time, I feel she could have always wrapped up her work in 15-20 minutes performing a C-section. I am not denouncing C-section means of delivery but I strongly feel a person should be given a fair chance and sufficient time to deliver normally if medical parameters suit the case. And to find a doctor who genuinely believes in this and implements it seriously, I believe, is sheer fortune. 

She is reachable on her mobile for queries and concerns outside appointments, one can leave SMS s to her mobile number and she will respond to them. 

When I first consulted her, she handled out patient cases at her clinic - Perinatal clinic, Domlur and at Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road. Eventually, through the year 2012, she shifted her base completely to Cloud Nine Hospital, Old Airport Road. To me, consulting Dr.Praveena Shenoi alone mattered, I knew I was in safe hands and the hospital set up did not quite matter. 

About the hospital, Cloud Nine is definitely heavy on wallet, call it more appropriately a boutique birthing center. However, with support from medical insurance, one does not get much room to complain. The support I received from nursing staff during my stay in the hospital was stupendous; I am highly grateful to all of them. The labor wards were clean and maintained well. There are visits by lactation and diet experts, visits by doctors for the baby and you that keep you alert all the while during 2 nights and 3 days stay at the hospital. It is this limited duration of stay at hospital that puts parents/elders to question if the establishment is a hospital or a resort. I personally feel that one gets bombarded with too many details in this small duration at the hospital, may be little extra time will help. However, an extension in stay is recommended only if doctors observe something abnormal. 

To end with, it might seem an ordeal to manage an appointment to meet Dr. Praveena Shenoi, waiting time for consultations may make you groan and complain. However, that little extra effort and time you give for your visits pays well in the end without doubt. 

Some Dumbo Kids with Over ambitious Fathers

There are awards for best actors/actresses, awards for sports persons and their teachers. Recognition is meted out in field of arts, literature, press, journalism, photography, environment protection (despite calamitous damage done to it by humans), try naming any field and a bag full of awards, trophies and medallions bestow honor and appreciation.

Parenting too, is an art and this seems to be a department where I have not heard of awards or accolades. There are days or occasions celebrated across the world to mark its importance like Father's day and Mother's day but no particular trophy is given out to a chosen few.

If there was an award for the most doting, caring, supremely dedicated father (in India, keeping focus on some star kids) it would go to Amitabh Bachchan, undoubtedly.

With a dumbo - Abhishek Bachchan, for a son, Big B's efforts as a father to shape his son's career, future as an actor, to elevate him to a larger than life image have been relentless. From Bunty Aur Babli to the recent take - Bol Bachchan, the father has shouldered all responsibilities in an unimaginably excessive fashion leaving no stone unturned. In a ripe old age, he sings, dances, emotes, shouts, delivers crisp dialogues in his baritone voice and pulls along Baby B to stardom. Be it interviews or KBC shows or personally upclose moments, as a father he constantly swears by his son, stands by his son and is an immovable Rock of Gibraltar to him. The son, though now a father himself, no doubt, loves the cozy, warm zone of protection , has not shown enough mettle to prove his capabilities. In fact, the million dollar question is if he is capable at all? Or toning down the quotient of sarcasm, is he fit/suited for the field of cinema? Barring the movie Guru, where Mani Ratnam fiercely extracted some expressions from this rock faced star child, Abhishek has proved disastrous in all his other movies in all departments. When he dances, he makes only Tapori like/Dappan koothu moves, biting and rolling his tongue, making dodo like expressions on his already awkwardly shaped face. However, the father still believes his son who turned to stone in one of his earlier births by a stare from Medusa, will turn victorious some day.

Though Big B and Aby baby make the most outstanding example of best dumbo son, over ambitious father combination the world can ever witness, there are other examples from the film industry itself. Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor (recent histrionics in IIFA awards) is an example that hits my head directly; the son is not a failure in all departments but looks a complete dodo and definitely delivers incomprehensible dialogues. When Ranbir sings "Jo bhi mein kehna chaahoon, barbaad kare, alfaaz mere" in Rockstar movie, you cannot refrain from nodding in appeal.  

Moving from these examples and changing domain from films to sports, recent newspaper and TV reports have made me conclude that though the kid is not a dumbo here and the father has not done anything overtly to push the kid into limelight, this nosy father and an arrogant kid combination has wreaked havoc to true sportsmanship spirit. Leander Paes and Vece Paes form this unexpected example. The father features in all press reports like a spokesperson, brokers deals and bargains, asks for written assurance from Sania Mirza that she will partner with her son in mixed doubles format on the pretext of which he claims his son will play along with Vishnu Vardhan in men's doubles format at London Olympics (2012), all of this has gone awfully irksome and weird. Leander too,  throwing his weight around, quoted preposterously - " The only one I need to worry about is Vishnu, the poor boy is 307 in the world and I don't even know if he has grass court shoes. So it is like a bit of tough one." Such a gibe from an Olympic Bronze medalist, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, winner of men's and mixed doubles in 1999 Wimbledon is a real shocker.

Personal frustration, ego, superiority complex and professional vendetta have ripped Leander off true sportsmanship and his father, an ace hockey player himself, has forgotten to drive lessons to get his son grounded. Paes will need to pick cues from other sports figures in India - Tendulkar and Vishwanathan Anand for instance, who are GODS in their respective games; yet haven't roped in their families/fathers to speak on their behalf, their likes and dislikes. 

True, we all admit - Like Father, Like Son; a son always looks up to his father for emulation. However, it is true that each one of us has a distinct talent, an area of super specialization which can quite be different from that of the father. Leander took this lesson to his head and chose tennis, not hockey; but few lessons of humility went starkly amiss and his over ambitious father failed to reinstate them. 

60 years of Parliament

Seldom a newspaper like Times of India presents collection of facts, some serious and sensible stuff for readers. All and most other times, it is full of advertisements which come in bigger doses on special days like Mother's day, Friendship's day and Akshaya Trithiya etc.

I have always expressed displeasure at reading TOI. The Hindu, Bangalore edition fails to impress me, being nowhere close to the Chennai edition I grew up reading. Both Deccan Chronicle and Deccan Herald cover national news in a myopic manner. Given the junk that gets published in a well pronounced fashion in TOI, Bangalore in form of Bangalore Times and many glossy supplements, I think the decision to resort to other options is just around the corner.

Anyways, May 13, 2012 saw completion of 60 years of Indian Parliament and there was some information to take back from page 16 of the day's print - Sunday Times, Bangalore.

Ramachandra Guha, in his book - India after Gandhi describes how many felt India would never work as parliamentary democracy given differences were wide and occurred in many categories than similarities that actually could bind a nation together, that too a nation fresh from severe partition woes. If we were to argue on whether we have succeeded as a democracy and squashed many wrong notions, whether we really deserve to be applauded as the world's largest democracy etc - it would take publishing many more books; more analyses from historians like Guha and daily debates on news channels for years together.

There are many times where you feel the country has failed miserably as a democracy, it is only a banana republic. There are very few occasions where you may concede to believing that the scenario is not so bleak. I am writing this post on my blog only to make an entry of some important facts I garnered from reading the newspaper Times of India, Bangalore, dated May 13, 2012.

The House Story  

Parliament house was originally known as Council House. 

It was planned initially to be a part of Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

It was decided that this building will be the Indian Parliament in 1919 Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. 

The building was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, various designs - from triangular to colosseum Rome like were thought over before finalizing upon the circular design. 

The Parliament has 200 pillars, foundation stone laid in 1921 by Prince Arthur, it uses black marble in columns of chambers brought from Gaya, white marble for lining walls in the library from Makrana, teak for doors from Assam and Burma, rosewood from South India and pale and red Dholpur sandstone. 

The building was inaugurated on Jan 18, 1927 and it was on May 13, 1952 that the Parliament had its first sitting. 

What's special for 60 years of Parliament? 

Release of a stamp and a coin to commemorate the day. 

Joint sitting of the house in Central Hall at 5 pm. 

Veteran parliamentarians honoring ceremony presided over by President Prathiba Patil where - Rishang Keishing (92 yrs) stands out as the oldest Rajya Sabha member, the only sitting MP until day, a veteran Naga leader, he was elected to the first Lok Sabha (1952-57). 

Also, Reshamlal Jhange from Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), aged 88 years will be honored. 

Other important points discussed in the article in TOI 

The first LS has 22 lady members. 

The Parlimentary proceedings were televised for the first time during 1991-96 with Shivraj Patil as the speaker. 

The Parliament faces a terrorist attack on Dec 13, 2001. 

Many low points in parliamentary proceedings are also discussed in the newspaper in this article, many of these lows occuring during the tenure of Indira Gandhi as the PM - the time when corruption brewed in legislation without adulteration and in no dilution. 

Truth alone Triumphs

A show on television with Aamir Khan as the host, a trailer that shows him traveling to different places in India, from Kochi to Ladakh meeting people there, a song written and composed brilliantly well as an earmark of the show, the many ads and promos, all in a way that instill interest; there were, I must admit, more than ample reasons to wait for 11 am, May 6, 2012 and tune into Star Plus channel. 

When one has huge expectations, reality's bound to fall short and going along that line, personally, I was left little disappointed when I saw Aamir Khan walk into a chic, air conditioned studio with audience seated in a  gallery around him. May be it was the snippet of the show aired repeatedly that made me think Aamir will travel places, gather information about local problems of people, highlight them and treat them wisely, with a difference and garner public support in favor of solving them. I grew little upset when Aamir called out few names and talked to these selected few on a one on one basis, it only brought back memories of the once very popular Aap Ki Adalat show by Rajat Sharma and Aap ki Kacheri show by Kiran Bedi. The formats do not match exactly since Aamir keeps repeating during the show that individual cases discussed are under judicial question and he is none to judge/provide opinion but somewhere, there's a meek prayer that this new initiative by the perfectionist of the film industry must not fall into the same league as shows that have been aired before. 

The disappointment did not abate as the issue discussed was female foeticide, an issue so pernicious in our country that it is too difficult to address it on TV and in one episode. Aamir questions different people, from a not so well educated lady to a doctor by practice about their personal grievances in this subject; we get to know that irrespective of where they hail from, their social, literary and economic background they all have been meted out the same treatment and have faced brutal discrimination; they have been both a criminal and a victim. Aamir fervently tries to impart knowledge by telling that the mother in no way determines the sex of an unborn child in a few sentences, even then I cannot applaud this effort. Reasons - literacy does not help, economic well being does not also help, even passage of time and generations does not help, nothing appears to eradicate this evil. 

I am sure a few hundreds listened to Aamir when he said Athithi Devo Bhava and stopped spitting and throwing trash on the streets, may be even stopped stalking foreign visitors in crowded markets. But for the message sent out last Sunday afternoon, I cannot believe even a 0.001 % change will ensue in the positive direction for no domestic, national or international voice has ever been able to batter this evil notion. 

Aamir chose to end the first episode with some light moments when he interviewed a group of men in a village in Haryana, all above 35 years of age and yet unmarried, unmarried due to dearth of girls in their community. These men requested Aamir to solve their problem and cheerfully said they would even nominate Salman Khan as their team captain. There were ripples of laughter but the bleak truth was lying barren in front of us all. 

It is said that the website dedicated to this show crashed the same day due to heavy online traffic, there were thousands of tweets congratulating the show and its makers, true and well deserved, I am very happy for it. But there is something amiss as far as I am concerned, few more Sundays would be required for me to conclude if TRUTH REALLY TRIUMPHS.

Inspired ...

I have always wanted to highlight the creations of this special friend of mine on my blog space. Guess here comes the right moment for it. Readers of this post are requested to visit -http://www.juhishandmadecards.com 

This website is maintained by my colleague and friend, she posts all her cards, scrapbooks and many other creations here. I am proud that I have been the recipient of some of Juhi's lovely cards, in fact, many of them and they occupy a very special and notable place in my showcase at home. 

I am providing the links of some of the cards Juhi made for me on various occasions since year 2009 - 

1) Flower-pop-up-card

2) Apple-of-my-eye

3) Blue-lace-card

4) Bike-card

5) Black-and-white-birthday-card

6) Winnie-the-pooh-card

7) 3-d-window-card

I never requested her to make a scrapbook for me but I must admit that she has some really ravishing stuff in that category too. She makes fantastic mini albums, photo frames and step cards (which can be placed on the center table). One side step card that she made specially for me carries a very beautiful message (Courtesy: side-step-card) 

Okay .. so by now, a lot of WOW s, amazing, "really great stuff" and similar expressions of awe and wonder would have struck you all :) 

I tried my hand at making some cards at home recently; inspired by my friend. Nothing can parallel Juhi's work for she is heart and soul into crafts and card making and really takes painstaking efforts to make each and every creation perfect and pleasant. 

Quite inspired by her efforts, I made cards for my nephews' (two of them) birthday which is round the corner. They are turning 3 years old and am sure when they grow up they will cherish this card from their aunt. I was immensely happy and satisfied making them :) I had, long back, procured some hand made paper, ready to paste flowers/feathers (from makers: ITSY BITSY) from a Reliance Timeout outlet and used them for making these cards. Here is a picture of the two cards ... yippee :) I wrote a sweet message wishing my nephews a very happy birthday in bright, bold colors on the inside, drew some cool stuff and put in more stickers; marked one of the margins with a satin ribbon that was lying at home for completion. 

Pic of cards with envelopes made 

Heavily Misconstrued ...

If your mail box was flooded with "Buy Gold Coins", Gold ETF and Gold Funds investments related emails, pouring in from the likes of Reliance, Tanishq, Birla, ICICI and HDFC and many more banks and business groups for the last 20 days, you sure knew Akshaya Trithiya for this year was round the corner. 

Yes, the D-Day has arrived and it is today, April 24, 2012 and what a start it has been for the day, one opens the newspaper and finds page after page decked up with advertisements of gold and diamond jewellery, gold coins, gold bars, biscuits and cookies, what not. About 60% of the newspaper print today carries these ads. The percentage of these ads has only increased since last week mimicking the transition from a gentle reminder to a mandatory guideline to buy gold. Heavily misconstrued, I must state, is the importance imparted to this yellow metal and in matters like this India stands united. Class no bar, religion no bar, money no bar; beg, borrow but buy gold today, that is the norm. 

Even a casual search about this day will yield results that Akshaya Trithiya or Akha Teej is an important and auspicious day for Hindus and Jains. For Hindus, it is believed to be the birthday of Parashuram; an incarnation on Lord Vishnu, the day when Lord Ganesha and Veda Vyasa began writing the Mahabharata, the day when Ganga descended onto Earth from heaven; simply a day when prayers can bestow upon one infinite good times, luck and success. A small gesture of charity performed today is expected to bestow unlimited good luck, health and good will. But people have grossly misunderstood it all; they utter by rote, like machines- Charity begins at jeweller's shop. 

As for Jains, this is the day when their Tirthankara Rishabadeva,  renouncing all his riches, meditating for an year, broke his fast and penance. Even when one uses a magnifying glass and puts all effort to read between lines or within lines of any description of this holy day, there is no vague mention of buying gold and diamond and platinum. 

However, from retail outlets to online portals, there is complete frenzy on gold, gold and gold. It is proven that many traditions and practices get distorted over time when handed over from one generation to another. Blind faith creeps in at times, horrific rituals dominate at other times, heavy misinterpretations usually mar an original idea.

In case of Akshaya Trithiya, we do not know who started to spread the wrong word around, the day's notion is so heavily misconstrued that to question "Does buying gold on Akshaya Trithiya day augur prosperity?" seems to invite wrath from many quarters, not definitely from the gods but from humans.  

Top Notch Marketing Strategy

I always wanted to write about this place, a bakery, I visited in Mumbai and it has taken me over an year to do the needful. The address of this bakery is as below - Paris Bakery, 278, Dr.C.H. Street, Our Lady of Dolours Church Lane, Dhobi Talao, Mumbai - 400 002. Phone 2208 6619, 6423 3678 (Time: 9 am to 8 pm with lunch break from 2 to 5 pm, Mon - Sat). I visited this bakery in June 2011 and I must admit, though it is a small outlet with no facilities to sit and dine, the shopkeeper exhibited some of the top notch marketing strategies and impressed me. 

The shopkeeper at the bakery had a smiling face, was willing to answer our questions with just the right details, there were no curt replies like Indane/Bharat Gas agencies and no over mollycoddling like McDonalds and Pizza Hut, some examples that starkly hit my head. Paris bakery is famous for its Butter Khari (many layers of maida, thin and wafery, baked to precision, basically a mini puff sans filling) and when I browsed about Mumbai before my visit, I learnt people traveled far and wide to fetch a stock of their kharis.

At the shop, my husband and I would casually ask the shop keeper, pointing to a bottle of bread sticks - What is this? He would reply - Garlic Sticks, draw few of them out and make us taste them. He would then show more varieties of these garlic sticks, the ones that use less butter, ones with a lavish dose of butter, ones that go well with tea, ones prepared with a liberal dose of cheese. He would not only stop at that but ensure we tasted a small sample of each variety. We were little embarrassed by this shower of affection and decided not to ask any more questions in the fear we would finish quite a substantial portion of his shop in the name of tasting. But he would not relent. 

If we quizzed mutely over the biscuits in trays, he would politely point out the facts behind them all, again provide a small sample of each to taste. This treatment was not only meted out to us given that he figured we came from outside Mumbai but to every customer who visited his shop, regular or irregular or a first timer. There were superbly delicious shrewsberry biscuits, buttery and divine short bread biscuits, nutty and sugary kaju macroons, jam biscuits and fan biscuits. 

We were lucky for two reasons -

1) We visited the shop before they closed for lunch. We went to this bakery on our last day of Mumbai visit to take back some goodies to Bangalore. We would have missed out some excellent tasting baked goodies and such refreshing hospitality had we hit the place a little late in the afternoon. 

2) We reached the bakery at 1 pm and were planning to break for lunch thereafter, but our meal plan was almost taken care of by the shower of affection from the shop keeper. 

We left the shop with a sizable purchase - 3 packets of garlic sticks, 2 packets of cheese sticks, 1 each of shrewsberry and short Bread biscuits, 3 of kaju macroons. The supreme friendliness of the shopkeeper and his excellent marketing strategies of answering our questions patiently, providing us with required information of his bakery's products and more than enough goodies to taste and make a decision, bowled us over completely. Prima facie, it may appear the shop keeper will turn a pauper if he exhausted his supplies in name of providing the right to taste to his customer. But the warmth in his business dealings and the fine quality and taste of his products will sure win anyone's heart. None in my opinion will leave the shop without his/her share of bounty. A customer from Thane, alongside us, was in tears when he came to know that the shop exhausted its morning stock of kharis. He promised to return at 5 pm and get fresh evening stock before he headed back home that day. 

Other products that Paris bakery offers are - butter batasha, cheese batasha, cheese papri, nankhatai, mawa cake, fruit cake, sponge cake, buns, milk toast, melba toast, garlic toast and soya toast. I will always pay a visit to this bakery every time I am in Mumbai.

Some more information:  

We stayed in Goregaon (West) and traveled by the Western Line of Mumbai sub urban railway. We got down at Marine Lines station and from here any one can guide you to Paris Bakery or Lady of Dolours church. 

Paris Bakery is barely 10 minutes walk from the station. On the way to Paris bakery, there is a likelihood that you hit the Parsi Dairy branch in Dhobi Talao. Do not miss out the Malai Khaja and Mawa Khaja sweets here, they are truly out of the world. On all days of our stay in Mumbai, we commuted by the Mumbai western line trains which serve innumerable commuters at an unparalleled frequency. As a tourist, if you resort to road travel, then you will only kill time and all your energy; hissing and sighing in traffic. 

Quick tips: 

Get down at Mahalakshmi station and take a taxi if you wish to visit the Mahalakshmi temple and Haji Ali dargah. 

Get down at Charni Road station if you wish to spend the evening at Girgaum Chowpathy. This beach is a well-kept short strip with many food stalls; definitely much better than heavily polluted, plastic stricken and congested Juhu beach. 

Get down at Marine Lines station if you wish to spend time at Marine Drive, catch a view of the Queens' necklace by sunset time, take a stroll by the Arabian sea on wide and well laid out pavements. 

Get down at Churchgate (terminus of western line trains) to take a tour of all buildings and monuments of British colonial times located in South Mumbai - the Taj hotel, Gateway of India, Victoria Terminus (this is the last station of the central line route), Kala Ghoda circle, Mantralaya, Mumbai police headquaters, Prince of Wales Museum (now known as Chattrapathi Shivaji museum), Art galleries. You can take a taxi to save time but a walk would definitely be more interesting. The roads are wide, pavements well laid out with small road side eateries at intervals; milling around the buildings of British colonial times and gazing at their exemplary architecture would provide many cherishable memories. 

IPL 2012 - what will make it interesting for me?

Ahhh ... so April 4 2012, it is, tomorrow! Indian Premier League Season 5 will kick start tomorrow with an inaugural session and a match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai. Nine teams battle it out with each team playing against the other - 9x8 = 72 T 20 games in the league session itself barring qualifiers, semis and finals ... that's a whooping big total.

1. With MS Dhoni steering Chennai Super Kings this time too, from the front, no surprises if a repeat of 2010 and 2011 years happens. 

2. I think Sachin really got tired of all media reports, tons of questions and speculation of his calling it quits from cricket, so he decided to pacify press folks by handing over captaincy of Mumbai Indians to  relatively younger Bhajji. 

3. Sehwag will get to make his own rules and run his own empire, no Dhonism to hamper his progress, no injury will now come his way, he will fight like many kings history has seen from times of Hastinapur to Shahjahanabad and conquer it all for the Delhi Daredevils. 

4. What is Kolkata Knight Riders without Dada? Though we are now used to his absence, Gambhir with equal bouts of fiery temper, arrogance and attitude like Dada may work hard and harder to Korbo, Lorbo,  Jeetbho! Still somewhere, the positive passion that emanates from fury and attitude as in case of Dada will go amiss. 

5. Pune Warriors India will miss a true warrior, Yuvraj Singh, who is waging an even more critical battle than cricket itself. To not have the swashbuckler play the format he excels at creates quite a loss. It is a little absurd to see Dada - Saurav Ganguly head Pune Warriors India, even more absurd to learn from the newspaper that he insists on opening. The only Bong connection that is evident is that the team is headed by Subrata Roy. Hope this Poorab Poschim connection works. 

6. Kings X1 Punjab don't have any Chak De Phatte effect. This season, even rumor mills will fall quiet as Preity's pretty guy Brett Lee does not figure in the squad. 

7. Loyalty changes and so does royalty... may not make sense but it does rhyme well. The Wall - Rahul Dravid who recently became more of a Wailing Wall after retiring from cricket will have his hands full as the coach and captain of Rajasthan Royals. 

8. Royal Challengers Bangalore can earn back all fortunes lost, save many a sinking ships or more aptly said save many a drowning planes if two things are tightly adhered to, one keep Deepika Padukone out of all matches and never issue her a ticket and secondly keep Virat Kohli just happy (not too much or too little) and more focused so that centuries rain down heavily without stoppage. 

9. Deccan Chargers.. ahha ..there's something in the air of this team, they are like students who prepare extremely well for their exams, so well, yet flunk on d-day. 

Not too many reasons in favor to kindle and sustain interest in this season, yet I am sure I will keep a good eye on most, if not all matches :) After all, for really long, have I waited to break free from endless news debates on NDTV, CNN-IBN and Times Now channels .. so long, so long ....  

Mere Symbolism

Happy Holi to one and all reading this blog! 

I hit my blog space today after a break, thoughts run in my head but they are all quite muddled up, not sure if I actually need to put them down here because over years these have become trite following redundant and ineffectual expression. 

There's been some brouhaha in newspapers since Mar 1 about International Women's Day celebrated today - Mar 8, 2012. Exclusive columns are dedicated in newspapers for entries on women, their achievements, their daily hassles and probable solutions. Bigwigs like Nita Ambani, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chanda Kocchar and  Shahnaz Hussain wrote over the last week on what they sowed in their young days to reap the success share they witness today. 

Advertisements are tucked into today's newspaper stating offers in Big Bazaar Supermarket and like places. Online portals shower cash credits and marvelous discounts on ladies clothes, cosmetics, jewelry and all accessories that a woman requires.

Supplements along with newspapers have featured articles on all topics like - 10 healthy foods for women, 10 ways to stop ageing in women, 10 most essential nutrients for women, 10 ways to fight acne, 10 ways for a lady to look good. 

A circle with a + sign at its bottom has become too familiar over the last few days. 
All of it just constitutes mere symbolism. 

By now, one reading this post would have inferred I am sort of a feminist, may be concluded I am going to speak of social evils and atrocities inflicted on women from birth to death. Strong NO!! 

Our society has functioned in a certain way over many decades, elders over generations have fashioned thought process in a meticulous manner. All this conditioning cannot be reversed/changed by observing a single day or a week full of merry. We had/have a varna or caste system which assigns a certain occupation to a certain community, likewise we also have clearly assigned some daily chores, probable ambitions, best suited hobbies, best suited educational degrees for women. Even certain character attributes like cleanliness, organization and neatness at work, multi-tasking and parallel processing abilities, foolproof memory to remember what lies where in the house are expected in stronger doses from women. 

Expectations from women folk are different, there are many reasons to it - while there may be limitations her  own physique poses, bigger responsibilities beckon her due to her greater mental endurance, patience and tolerance that only grows exponentially with age. 

I am not urging the world to celebrate women's day when women too drive equal number of buses and airplanes as men do or when women too participate in combat and trench warfare. That is absolutely ridiculous. But in a country, where a half-half probability of a girl child being born to a couple is rashly dismissed by heinous methods, aggrandizing  womenfolk for only a week or a day seems too much of trash to take. Many say, times are changing and literacy helps in reconditioning opinions. But even from the most literate folks of our grand parents and parents generation or from the most urbanized class, I am sure many of you would have heard overt wishes or seen covert expressions that favor a male child over a female one. No generalizations that all literate folks think alike, all women suffer and men are spared. Generalizations don't help and don't work in any walk of life. But why this symbolism and empty celebrations when man still tries hard to interfere with natural probabilistic mechanisms lies beyond my comprehension. 

What's going to be your first song?

The link provided below leads to one of my favorite ads - that of Flipkart.com - an online shopping portal that has made and is still making online shopping a rage. Online shopping has become a healthy obsession, thanks to the site due to wild discounts, fast delivery, 30 day replacement guarantee and high quality delivery standards. 

Advertisement Link :(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnJJ0CNBok

I wanted to possess a portable media player for a long time but never took that last step to make a purchase. Recently, I visited flipkart.com and found exciting discounts on MP3 players and purchased a ZEBRONICS STEM MP3 player. The player in its package comes along with a micro USB cable for charging and data transfer and a basic pair of earphones. This bundled along with a Transcend 4GB micro SD card is priced at Rs 650 on the Flipkart portal.  

Product Link: http://www.flipkart.com/mp3-players-ipods/zebronics/itmd6hdjadehwamw?pid=audd6hjvadteame6&_l=JazPKRgnU3I8JEoA0s6zpg--&_r=wg_LFMzh0BMD68aHOTyjKw--&ref=d625768b-e1e8-4903-8a39-84cb0d16421f 

In less than 24 hours of my placing the order, I received the player with the micro SD card in superb condition.  

Coming to some details of the mp3 player or more precisely portable media player - Zebronics STEM supports only MP3 and WMA file formats. It supports USB 2.0 interface. It does not have any built in memory and can take up to 16GB micro SD card in its slot. It has a built in lithium battery chargeable through USB interface. The player can also be used as a card reader and USB disk. 

I found the player worth every penny I spent. There is no elaborate instruction manual, the handy and small player does not require one anyways. The touch wheel on the player has keys to navigate to previous and next track, lower and increase the volume, play and pause the current track. The player comes with an on/off button and throws a red flash when out of battery power. The audio quality is very very good. There are no complaints. The ear phones are rudimentary but there is no crib if an additional set of better earphones is at disposal at home. 

The slot for the micro SD card has a powerful spring inside, so take care while giving a push to eject the card, you would not want the card to spring dive with a thud onto the floor. The player is basic in that there is no random/shuffle play option, the tracks loaded onto the card will play in order and we can use NEXT TRACK and PREVIOUS TRACK to skip or replay. Also, being really minuscule, there is no display that will show play lists and help you traverse from one folder to another. No such frills but despita that all,  Zebronics STEM portable media player provides an awesome experience and is superb value for money. 

Big thanks to Flipkart for providing such valuable products to its customers at a highly affordable price at an alarmingly super speed and with great care. 

A case of Over Display of Emotions

This Sunday gave a shocker to many watching the news for the first time it was reported Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is suffering from a malignant form of cancer. Definitely, a real shocker, Yuvraj is a batsman of great caliber with great titles like Player of the Tournament in 2010 ICC World Cup, only one to hit 6 sixes in an over in a T20 format game, he has led the Indian side to victory in many crucial games, fields well despite odds of a huge beer guzzler tummy, bowls magical spells that leave all spellbound and hits like a rocket in steadfast attempts to damage the opponent. 

The Times of India newspaper on Monday Feb 6 quoted that in India his initial reports were stolen - now that is highly ridiculous. Not sure who wanted to auction these reports and earn money. Also, another hospital (unnamed) in India failed to detect the cancer last year. So in clinical diagnosis of the disease the nation has not been of any avail. But in arenas of displaying emotions and support - we stand second to none. Since Sunday evening, there have been scores of people coming on TV and talking about how Yuvraj is a great player and an even bigger fighter. These people encompass a group of cricket commentators, fellow players from IPL and other formats of the game, self declared cricket enthusiasts and some time pass souls who get a daily wage to appear in one of the windows of the news channel, whatever be the topic. Fans from all over the country are being questioned on news channels on questions like - when do you think Yuvi will return to cricket, do you think he can churn the same magic when he returns, how big a fan of Yuvi are you? 

The news channels are already on their way paying homage (Shraddanjali) to a person who is very much alive,  battling the disease which has been discovered at the earliest stages, thanks to medical expertise of a Russian doc. 

Today's news article in TOI describes the form of cancer that Yuvi is suffering from, its symptoms and treatment methods. The first line of this article reads - Yuvraj Singh is happy he is in Boston for his cancer treatment and not in India where unwarranted and sentimental attention could have dampened his mood. Very well said ! Full blown accolades to Yuvi for taking the decision of undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Boston away from homeland, may be this is the most crucial and well taken decision of his lifetime. If he had been treated in India, his parents would have had to spend more time giving interviews to news channels than be by the side of their ailing son. Journalists would shed their skin and shame to get a sneak peek into the room in which Yuvi is resting. They would not mind climbing skyscraper buildings for this purpose, even break their back in the process, just a picture of Yuvi drinking a glass of mosambi juice in his hospital ward would suffice news mongers for many days.  

Crowds would throng the hospital where Yuvi is admitted and create a huge law and order problem. If for a break, Yuvi tuned into a channel other than news channels, he would be feasted to his own advertisement which has been running in an infinite loop mode since Sunday - the ad on BIRLA SUN LIFE INSURANCE - Jab thak balla chal raha hai thaat hai (which literally translates into - as long as batting and career is fine - everything is rosy - when the bat does not work its magic .. then FULL STOP). This completely unwarranted over display of emotions is an inseparable part of  fundamental rights of every Indian citizen - something like Sadda Haq, Aithe Rakh. This situation can never be mended, so wiser and wisest to run away from it. 

So here's wishing Yuvi a very speedy recovery and issuing strict warnings to stay away from motherland till he is fully fine and completely cured.