Patience, My dear Watson

Patience is an admirable virtue. Many times I think not about the people but the things in my life which have waited and still waiting to get my attention. I wonder what they would say if they had a mind to speak up.

One of the most patient creatures is the apple that travels with me everyday to work. Poor thing endures all the hassles of car and train journey every week day and still puts forward its best red face on Friday evening when I eventually eat it on the way back home. I don't know why both of us should go through this torture. I should better start bringing a fruit which I relish.

Every time I buy tindora I promise myself to cook it the very next day and every time I forget or just ignore it. They sit in my refrigerator braving all the fungus that might be threatening them. Ultimately when one of them goes bad, I cook to save the others.

I might be one of the few people who owns the Dosa/Idli Grinder and never uses it. In the past so many years, I can count in one hand how many times I might have used it. I, in fact own two of them. My mother got me a lighter one few months back thinking the small and light gadget might allure me. Trust me, nothing yet has convinced me to grind the dosa/idli flour at home. I buy from the super market when needed.

I can't believe why a machine to fold washed clothes has not been invented yet. I actually end up folding at least 2 or 3 loads of accumulated washed laundry. This, after I realize that I better do the work else we would have nothing to wear.

Coupons and I are poles apart. We are never together at the same time. I remember them when I am not shopping and when I am indeed buying things, they are conveniently forgotten at home. Every Sunday, I keep aside the coupon section aside to take out the ones I need and every following Saturday I trash the newspaper as the coupons would have already be expired.

Half of my email box must be filled up by Tarla Dalal and other cooking emails. The amusing part is when I have to make something different, I always google for the recipes and never go through my emails. I should better unsubscribe myself from all these just to make my email box lighter.

There are of course other endless financial concepts, languages and To-Do lists trying to draw my attention which I’ll look at some other time.

Childhood Fascinations

There are umpteen games that we play as kids which never make to the main stream. Everyone knows about soccer, tennis, cricket, volleyball, football etc. I am talking about those simple, small games which remain fascination for few months or years and then wear off. Later as adults, we start following whatever the main stream sports offer.

And if you research, you would find that these games are played in almost all parts of the world with minor variations and they remain source of joy only for a short while during school years.

There was a game I played as a small girl with five stones. I don’t even know the game’s name but I used to call it “five stones”. Later I read in some book that young children in Africa also play similar game. This was a fascination for me for a year or two in mu middle school and I used to practice playing at home daily. Now, I don’t remember the rules but have a vague idea of how to play. Another one used to be “ghasita”. This was not as popular as its cousin “staapu” or “hop scotch”. It involved dragging the main striker along as one hopped over the squares. Even “staapu” and “hopscotch” are not exactly the same.

I enjoyed playing “pithu” that involved marble stones and a ball. It must be one of the most popular street games. There was a game that our whole class used to play when we were in grade 11 and 12. It used to involve two teams and one team had to run to a certain point and come back while the other team tried to stop them. I forgot the name but I used to love playing it. There was another game which also involved two teams and there were four squares drawn on the ground. The idea was to have one whole team in one square while the other team tries to stop them. Again, my memory fails me in remembering the name.

As a girl, I played even more girlish and sometimes meaningless games – clapping hands, jumping and turning around. Then there were others: “kho-kho” – this is kind of duck-duck-goose, “oonch-neech-ka-papda” – where the team has to choose between up or down. If they chose up, they had to be in an elevated position. If they tried to come down, they could be caught. Anyone remember “Chidiya –ud”?

All these were harmless yet fun filled games. Summer was never boring as one can play these over and over and over again. Then the world advanced and video games became part of our life. I have not played much video game. I used to have couple of computer games when I was in college but never got addicted. Tennis, soccer or cricket is not the same playing in a 20 inch screen where a slight movement of your finger can turn the game against you. Few of the computer games I enjoyed were Solitaire, Minesweeper and Tetris.

Now with Wii and Xbox, gaming industry has completely turned around. Now days, toddlers are getting introduced to Wii before their first soccer class. I am sure Olympics would also start featuring popular games played in current times. Last I heard was they were planning to introduce Tetris in Olympics!

Bon Appétit

Some dishes are like friendships. You always relish them. I can actually count the number of dishes I have really enjoyed in my life till now. These tastes heavenly and I can still remember the joy of eating them the first time. To name a few:

1. Nirula's Hot Choc Fudge: My mouth is watering as I type this. One of the best deserts existing on the earth. Surprisingly I have not had too much of these but I remember once treating my work colleagues on my birthday.

2. Nirula's veggie burger: It is one of the first fast food I have tasted and boy did I love it. There was one Nirula's pretty close to the University I studied in Delhi. My friends and I would eat burgers on any pretext as lunch, mid day snack, not-hungry-but-can-eat-burger time.

3. Buttered Nan and shahi panner: I don't know how those calories act as appetizer and make stomach want for more.

4. Veggie Quesadilla: I used to love the ones served by TGIF. I don't go to TGIF as they hardly have anything veggie but I heard that now these do not taste the same.

5. Rava Dosa: These have always tasted heavenly.

6. Burrito Bowl: I cannot have enough of this. The best part is it is healthy. I never knew plain rice and raw vegetables can taste so yummy. I think guacamole does the trick.

7. Mango Milk shake: Need I have to say thing here? The king of fruits is definitely the king of drinks.

What makes your mouth water?

Words are all I have

I can converse in three languages fluently and also have the ability to mix and match the words from these languages into the same sentence. Now I am so comfortable with this mix and match that I often forget the origin of the word. Add to this all the slang of teenage and college days. The result - a new language that can baffle any stranger. In my younger days, we tried to invent a "code" language which parents would not understand. At that time the code would be very simple - reversing the word or switching letters in specific places. Of course we never had an earth shattering secret to hide. So it never mattered if our code language actually got decoded. Later in my teenage days, my normal language became code to my parents.

Language of course evolves with time. Words describe not only the kind of lifestyle but also the change in our mindset. I am sure the current English Dictionary looks completely different from it's first edition. It is also keeping pace and updating new words from different origins, communities and reflecting the time we are living in. I wonder how many of the actual English words are of English origin now.

Did you know that 1 millionth word is going to get added into Oxford Dictionary on June 10 2009? Following are the finalists:

* Chengguan: Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriffs and city managers.

* Jai Ho! From the Hindi, “It is accomplished”: achieved English-language popularity through the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

* Mobama: Relating to the fashion sense of the US First Lady, as in “that is quite mobama-ish”.

* Noob From the gamer community: a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term.

* Phelpsian: The accomplishments of Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics.

* Quendy-Trendy: British youth-speak for hip or up-to-date.

* Wonderstar: As in Susan Boyle, an overnight sensation, exceeding all reasonable expectations.

* Zombie Banks: Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention

Who do you think should get the honor of being the one millionth word in English lexicon?

UPDATE: The millionth word is "Web2.0". Wow, I did not know it was a finalist. Thanks to it, we are able to meet in this virtual land.

Write-a-thon

Among other things, this generation will be remembered for its obsession to physical fitness. Almost every person who maintains a reasonable standard of living must be working out or at least experienced it once. They in fact burn their calories even before their food is digested. So much is the fascination that even donations are related to exercise of some sort. There are marathons, walk-a-thon, hop-a-thon, bike rides happening frequently all around the world. Recently I heard of a person raising money by climbing the stairs of Sears Towers in Chicago. So now we have climb-a-thon for the enthusiastic stair climbers. I read in a story about charity fundraising through bungee/plane jumping. Not sure if that got implemented in the real life. I realized the library close to my home had a weekend reading. Basically, you come to the library and read for 48 hours to your heart’s content. I doubt whether it was a fundraiser.

My workout till now has lasted a day. I do have taken part in couple of activities at school. Not sure if these will be counted. As kids, we used to have silly contests amongst ourselves such as who takes the lecture notes fastest or who can write in smallest handwriting or how much of lecture notes one can scramble in one page or how many books/comics can be finished in the 30 minute library time. I can’t say how much went inside our heads but these were fun nonetheless. The contests used to continue as who would reach home first without running and things of that order.

This brings out the basic nature of humans of getting involved. People nowadays are obliged not only to give money but also calories for a good cause. I wonder whether we will ever have cook-a-thon (you get to give money as well as food), meditate-a-thon or skip-a-thon. One thing that will never surface out is sleep-a-thon, which anyone will be too pleased to oblige.

Life isn't a bowl of cherries

Biologist proved long time back that life is always the survival of the fittest. By fittest, you can say the mightiest and the most powerful. Of course others always try to stand up and are successful in their own ways, balancing how much they can fight and how much they can adapt. Let me clarify beforehand that I am not advocating anyone. I am just trying to highlight the fact that we need to look within before shouting.

For the current economic condition, all have to take the blame. In the recent prosecution of Richard Fuld in the Capitol Hill, the congressmen were trying to make Lehman CEO as the scapegoat. They know everyone is in a mess and are just pointing fingers to save themselves. It takes courage to take responsibility and not to point fingers. When the going was good, all the politicians and the investment bankers made money. Even when it was not so good, their earnings were not bad. The treasury secretary himself and few other politicians who were CEO of the biggest investment firms have already made their millions and I don't think that they have the right to find someone to take the blame. They are all responsible for this big mess. If they feel so horrible, they can try to give back to the system by not accepting this year's compensation. I don't think it would even affect their multimillion savings.

This reminds me of some excerpts from My Life by Bill Clinton. His impeachment was not depended on what he did but who was in the power. In his second tenure, the Republicans were in majority in Congress. Had it been Democrats, it’s possible the impeachment might not even come through. I am not supporting what he did was right, all I am trying to say is others are equally bad too. The fact is so many people are trying to accuse others when they themselves are swimming in the same waters. Of course this is what politics is but is the human side completely lost?

What we need now is a leader to looks beyond and focuses on getting the results. This is such a simple statement and all would know but I wonder if the system so bad that none of the leader is able to make a break through. Of all the Indian politicians, Abdul Kalam is the only one I respect, maybe because he is not politician in the first place. He is a scientist who believes in betterment of humanity. I know there are many more like him across the world. I wonder if the power of communication could be strong enough to make them come together. In all world crises, it has never been a question of right or wrong but has always been a power play.

Smack - There you go...

Though the world is propagating non-violence, which has my vote, I still believe a spank here and there can serve good. It is applicable not only to humans but also to the electronic goods used by us. Good candidate is any person talking nonsense. A good jolt would bring him back to his senses. As a kid I was brought up in a strict environment but was never spanked. We had a chemistry teacher who was known for her piercing pinches but thankfully, I was spared of it.

As any other kid, I grew up in India knowing cricket before learning my alphabets. In an era before the cable TV, radio was the only way to listen to cricket being played abroad. Many times, the frequency would be catching up some other station as well, making the commentary sound gibberish. A smack on its head and radio would promptly catch back the cricket station.

I'll never forget the innumerable times we spent waking up our Ambassador car by either pushing it from the back or just kicking the engine out of frustration. Somehow one nice sturdy bolt always works irrespective of the case in question.

The way the world is evolving, except for humans, everything else is coming up with a user manual. Many times, in fact all times, we do not patience, energy or time to go through all those 358 pages. So when disaster strikes, do what comes instantaneously in your mind. By that time, I am sure you would be so tormented that you always raise hands. I have heard people hitting the audio player to make it work, rinsing DVD with water and drying with a clean cloth to remove the scratches, spanking the washer/dryer if it gets stuck. Ninety percent of the time, things would start working normally.

Recently we had trouble recording in our video camera. It worked most of the times but would get stuck with some strange error. Replacing the battery or the tape did not do much good. When we googled for the error, the solution was to smack the camera softly but firmly. If it does not work, do it twice. Since everyone who reported the error had their camera working, we tried the solution too. Our camera is an obedient one and understood with just one spank.

Bitten by Wilderness

I have never liked bugs, so it very difficult for me to admire them. Except of screaming and trying to get far from them, there is nothing much I do when I see them. I wonder if I would have behaved differently if I was introduced to them in a different way. I learnt there are museums for insects. Of course, with zoos and national parks being there for animals and birds, this seems to be pretty natural. However I wondered who would bother to visit them till my own flesh and blood of 5 years old made a field trip and was pretty ecstatic about it. I see all the kids are pretty excited with bugs. Perhaps they are able to relate to a world where everything else looks big and to the fact that they can be mischievous and still come out of a situation.

Of all the bugs, the only I have admired are ants and butterflies. In my younger days, I have spent hours seeing ants transport food grain. It is amazing how hardworking and disciplined they are. As all kids, I have tried to catch butterfly. Once I did catch but let it free the next moment. I did not like it flutter in my hands. I have seen some of my classmates having butterflies between books. They must be the only creatures who are taken care of well when they are dead.

Once on my way back from school, I got stung by a bee. I had a swollen head for few days but otherwise I don’t think anything else went into my head. Of course lizards are no way bugs but they have bugged my life enough. I would never be in the same room as them. In my school days, once I could hardly concentrate in my school prayer as I was distracted by two lizards chasing each other in the wall.

No talk of bugs would be complete without mentioning cockroaches. These are the only creatures that can compete with humans. As man is making this world more difficult for others to live, cockroaches are the only ones who can survive. So it was no surprise when a cockroach happened to be friend of WALL-E. One of the things I used to dislike was to catch cockroaches for Biology practical. I was surprised when I read recently that there is dearth of these creatures and now they need to be bought for Biology classes.

I never kept track of bug evolution and my knowledge regarding them is less than that of a 5th grader. I didn’t know there are bugs that have invisible wings to help them fly. The only mysterious one in that category that I am aware of is fireflies. But there are lots of its cousins who do not glow and cannot be seen. I got bit by one of these. Now my arms are red and itchy. This did not happen while I was hiking but happened in my own room. I have no clue how these came inside. All I can think is they are smarter and much evolved, why they even know how to become invisible.

Hi Tech, Hi World

We have become so dependent on electronic devices that we are clueless what to do when they breakdown, even if the solution is pretty simple. We grew up listening to sermons of not to talk to strangers and have enough money at all times because one never knows what could happen. Then the world went electronic and we forgot those sermons.

Most of my childhood was spent in correcting my spelling mistakes and healing the wounds/scars I got from playing. Now with the auto spell checker, one does not need to learn spelling at all. Why, it even helps in figuring if a sentence is framed correctly. Playing with Wii, kids would never dirty their clothes or get a scratch in arms and legs. With no scar anywhere, I wonder what heroic stories they would reel when they grow up.

I have a decent sense of direction but I need to go a couple of times to a destination before the route registers in my mind. So I had every reason to thank God for GPS though I did miss the adventure of wrong routes and getting lost. In case you are one of those who first check GPS before checking if there is enough fuel in the car, all you need to do is go to a complicated circle and see how GPS seems to lose direction.

The other day I went to a hair dresser to get my hair trimmed. Their credit card slider and computer were down. Since I did not carry any cash, I had to go home with disheveled hair. I remembered in my younger days I would carry enough cash to help me out in sudden expenditure.

Though being a boon, cell phones have their own story. Recently I realized that I spend half the time asking my friend to repeat her(him)self. At least now I have an answer to those huge telephone bills.

Now when daily morning coffees have been replaced by the sweet sound of windows coming up, you can imagine the nightmare when the keys of the keyboard start to fall off. Two of the vowels have fallen off and some of the keys do not get typed when I press them. The funny part is "unable to type" key syndrome seems to be going around. So one day I could not press the "space bar", next day it was "shift", then "control". Right now it is "Alt". Now I have to change my passwords not to have the two missing vowels and space.

I can only thank God that the automatic garage opener busted after opening the garage half way. At least I was able to squeeze myself inside the home to get the keys. But now I am better prepared. I remember to take money, house keys and a map to my destination just in case any of these devices cease to function.

Green Thumb

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. I can't agree more. A beautiful garden is a treat to eyes and medicine to mind. What is more difficult is cultivating and maintaining a good garden. I have always admired people, which include my mom, who are able to maintain greenery in their house. Like any other art, it requires time, money and patience. As always some art suite better than others. I would like to have a nice garden in my home but I know that I do not have enough enthusiasm to take me through. I can work on a garden for a day, two, three days. A week has passed and I am still holding on. Fortnight and you are on your own now. After a month, my guilt starts overcoming me and I would feel terrible for neglecting my plants. Again the cycle would start, my enthusiasm driving me for a week or so and then fading after that. However the plants get watered somehow, either by the Almighty or someone at home.

I subscribe to Home Depot’s gardening magazine on line. I keep getting emails on how I can deck up my patio for a particular season. To be honest, they stay in my inbox till the size of my mail box becomes huge and then move to the trash folder. I haven’t watched much of gardening shows in US. In India, I remember the popular “Krishi Darshan” which used to be telecasted when I was kid. There was another serial that used to show how people decorated their garden. People had styled their homes with rose garden, rock garden and even hanging gardens on their terrace. All of them looked astounding.

Some people do have a green thumb. Whatever they sow grows. Few of my family members have it. Somehow, I don’t seem to have inherited it fine. Whatever I sow grows but not very well. Till now, I have generally grown flowers, foliage and croutons to give a fresh look to the patio. I have never been able to survive any of my plants during winter. That is a huge task of its own. It needs more drive and time precision to keep changing the location of plants so that they get their amount of sunlight. This summer, I was more enthusiastic and sowed few vegetable seeds in a hope to fuel my enthusiasm to last longer. When I see the results that can be eaten, I thought I would be more driven to enhance my gardening skills. I planted 5 varieties and made sure they don’t get dry and had enough sunlight. Rain was a great help. For two weeks, I could forget my watering duty and it rained every second day. All was well and I saw small saplings and new shoots coming out of the mud. What I forgot was to label them. I remember to have planted spinach, tomato, cabbage or cauliflower and I don’t recall the other two. So, I have to wait till they start flowering so see what vegetables come out!

Chasing the Darkness

Someone wisely said that only unknown induces fear. Little acquaintance makes us curious enough to discover it completely. Space has always been unknown. I am not sure whether it is humanly possible to discover it completely. Maybe not but the little doors it opens for us to reveal itself more is exhilarating.

Aug 1 2008 experienced a Solar eclipse. In recent times, this is considered a rare delight. I remember earlier and even now in some parts of the world, people take it as an omen. Rituals are performed to ward off any side effects. Years back, I read a short story "Dhoomketu"(which means comet in Hindi) about a scientist in Calcutta, India who was to present a paper in London on his research findings. On the day the comet was to be seen, he was in the terrace with his telescope while his family were performing rituals and prayers. I was very influenced by the story and liked the scientist for holding on to his beliefs and fighting against the social norms.

On 1986, Hailey's comet flew towards earth. Our science teacher had urged us to see it as we might not get another opportunity in our life time, given that the comet visits earth every 76 years. My brother stayed up late to see but I cooly dozed off. Later when space fascinated me more, I used to gaze stars every night and try to identify the constellations. I was so infatuated that I wanted to take up astronomical science and join NASA. I remember only one friend of my brother took up astronomical science. At an era, when computer science and electronics were so popular, people could not understand his choice. But those who understood would know that he made career out of his dream.

I had stayed up late many nights to catch a glimpse of comet or shooting stars. While trying to figure out falling meteors, I had mistaken planes for celestial objects. Till date, I think I have seen 1 or 2 shooting stars but no eclipse. In fact, now there is a company - Travel Quest International which helps astronomy enthusiasts to experience these rare feats. This company actually takes people on a flight across the globe to experience the solar eclipse. The owner, Aram Kaprielian, is a ardent solar eclipse fan. He is taking people over Asia, North Pole and even Antarctica to see the solar eclipse. By 2010, he plans to offer space travels to outer space. Now, that would truly be an out of the world experience.

Work of Human

Architecture is a measure of human progress. It is human imagination personified. Each monument has a unique history of why it was created and how it was built. Any ancient civilization -Greek, Roman, Indus, Egyptian is filled with human created treasures.

Man can create wonders with rock, stones and even glass. The artificial islands getting created in Dubai and Italy are breathtaking. The other day I was watching Travel channel and found that every winter in Sweden, they build a hotel made of ice. They still use iron/metal pillars for some part of the framework. During fall, they get the framework in place. When enough snow has been accumulated, within a month a new building with a different architecture is constructed for people to stay. Check out the link for more information. The pictures are stunning.

Olympics is not far away and the way Beijing is getting decked up with new buildings is phenomenal. I particularly liked the egg-shaped National theatre and the water cube aquatic centre. Apart from the manufacturing industry, the travel industry in China is also set for some huge gains in future.

There are lots of other buildings that we come across daily which are marvels in their own ways. They don't get the public recognition but they hold some significance to you. As a teenager, I used to enjoy walking in Connaught Place (now known as Rajiv Chowk). I liked the architecture of the buildings and roaming around them made me feel free and independent - qualities I always aspired for. I used to visit British Council Library which helped me delve into different varieties of books genre. Libraries were not much popular in Delhi in those days and a building with two floors stacked with books was enough excite me. The other place I used to love going with my mom was "Sahitya Academy Library" in Mandi House. Much of my Indian mythological knowledge is attributed to this library. The whole area around Mandi house would be very rejuvenating for me. There was a beautiful building called "Little Flower theatre", where years later I watched a fantastic play "Love Letters" starring Rajat Kapoor and Shehnaz Patel. The Modern School round the corner would remind me of the yearly "Shankar's Drawing Competition". I would also love to walk in the North Campus of Delhi University. As a kid, I used to accompany my mom to various shows and library. Years later when I myself became a student of the University, I enjoyed attending the college festivals and chatting with friends in the sprawling lawns. The Vivekananda statue in the middle of Arts Faculty used to give a serene look to the whole atmosphere. I still remember the precious last minute preparations before exams sitting in those steps.

Almost all cities in the world are developing rapidly and getting decked up with concrete buildings and monuments. It is pure treat to see the kind of shapes they attain and the materials used to build them up. With rock, stone, glass, sand, ice already being used, can walls made of water be far behind?

BTW, do you know this building in Banglore?

Walk the talk

"Silence is golden and speech is silver." It is true depending on the situations but talking enhances bonding. Most of my friends are my friends because we have chatted a lot. We have shared dreams, overcome our failures and celebrated successes. In all relationships, I do seek friendship and the only way I have known to attain it is by talking. Anyone of the relationships where talking is less, I do maintain them but with very less trace of friendship. Talking has helped me regain friendships which have been covered by the silence that gets embedded in friendship because of distance and time.

As a small girl, I was pretty quiet and shy to outsiders. This helped me to gain appreciation of being a nice girl from neighbors and acquaintances, much to the annoyance to my brother. I would go home and end up eating his and my mom's head by narrating them all the day's incidents and my opinion on various matters. But I still remained calm and introvert to others. This lasted for only few years. As I grew up I became more extrovert and talkative. You don't need to imagine my college days. I used to shudder when my dad opened the telephone bill.

I have always wondered how guys, who are more on quieter side, maintain friendships. I am sometimes puzzled how can a person talk so less. Do they not feel like expressing an opinion on a matter or argue just for the sake of argument? Maybe they are more evolved and don’t believe in these trivial matters. Maybe they seek something else. After all silence is also a language. But I also believe that everyone opens up in the right company.

What I admire in a person is not how much they talk but how well they talk. Some are able to talk precise and to the point while others just blabber to glory. In fact this reveals a strong personality trait. People who convey in fewer words are more confident of themselves whether they have accomplished the task or not. The ones who keep talking about the same thing or convey the message in more words and time seem to be justifying themselves more that others on how the task was accomplished.

Having good conversation skills definitely enhances one’s chances of climbing a corporate ladder. But this fact seems to be de-emphasized in today’s world, especially in software industry. All it seems to care is whether a problem was solved or issue was fixed but the process of getting there is not talked about.

Toastmasters is a good club to join if you are interested in improving oratory skills. It not only teaches one how to talk effectively in public but also helps in organizing thoughts and conveying them well. Till recently, I was not aware that CEOs and their board have public speakers visiting them regularly to encourage and boost their confidence. After all, success starts at few encouraging words.

Growing up can be lots of fun

Has it ever happened to you that the things that you thought you would never do, think, understand is exactly what you are doing now and worse, be fairly comfortable about it? It's all part of growing up or getting matured but sometimes I get terrified that I might end up being a person I once abhorred!

As an enthusiastic post teen, I believed work as worship. I would feel guilty if there was not much work on my plate or if someone else was doing much difficult or creative work. I would feel I need to earn my money and less work did not fit my belief. Yes, I was young and stupid. Not that I am old and wiser but now, I don't mind free time accompanied by money paid for having it.

There are so many thoughts, ideas that I used to think occurs to others, only to realize that I am not left out as well. But on further thinking, only thing I can conclude is it’s a human nature and well, life happens to anyone.

Let’s just not even talk about food. All my childhood tantrums of eating only a selective few has taken a reverse turn, now that I eat anything vegetarian. Apart from surprising few who know me since I was a kid, I sometimes surprise myself seeing what I have in my food plate.

Though I respect the genuine concerns that my previous generation has for us and the future of the planet, I don’t seem to be much bothered about it. There are some global issues for which all of us have to contribute but otherwise, things which were considered taboo before are not looked upon the same way anymore. The society in general is becoming more generous and liberal. This of course, impacts human mind and the way it works. The realization that life is not black and white but shades of grey is more profound now.

As someone said, “Life is not what you think it is but what you make out of it.”

Edit: I changed the title as the previous one "Becoming someone you once disliked" was too strong. I don't think we can become someone else whom we abhorred but we start understanding life in a broader spectrum.

Modern Marvels

Technology never fails to amaze me. Of all the modern marvels that have come out, I like GPS the best. It has helped me regain my independence all over again. I don't need to prepare myself to know direction to the destination neither I need to worry about missing turns or getting lost. The best part is there are no arguments on taking wrong turns. Whether the route taken is right or wrong is never discussed. In fact, the poor thing keeps recalculating to find the nearest way to reach the destination. I recently learnt another new feature by which we can save the location where the car is parked in the mall and roam about freely. When we plan to return back, it would more than willingly help us reach the car, safe and sound.

iPhone is the next. I understand this idea has been floating around for sometime but we have to give credit to Apple for making it available to the mass. Now, all we have to remember is to carry this gadget, for everything else, there is iPhone. The iWear to give a display equivalent to theatre video screen is phenomenal. With iPod already out, I knew something for the video would just be around the corner.

All these are bringing realization to a chapter of English that I read in class 8. I don't recall the fiction completely but it was about a house where all the electronic gadgets spoke to each other and how they tried best to save themselves and the house on the doom's day but no luck.

I am equally marveled by Microsoft Surface. The touch technology does surface out a new way of learning, sharing information. This definitely makes a tremendous impact on the consumer market. Few years ago, in a class presentation on what future beholds us, we had come up with the way online shopping would be evolved. We imagined how we could compare products online. In case of dresses, we can actually have a profile looking similar to us and checkout how the dress looks on that. We also proposed of comparing perfumes online. I am not sure if there is any olfactory plug-ins available. If there are none, there must be something evolving somewhere and it’s just a matter of time when it surfaces out.

Kindle can be any book lover's dream come true. Having accessible to approx 130,000 books and publications in an 8 X 6 palm device is astounding. Somehow, I have never felt reading in an electronic device as gratifying as shuffling the pages of a book.

As Einstein had once said: “It is appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity”

This post was due long time back but could never see the day of light till today.

To choose or not to choose

Can you believe being overwhelmed by the amount of choices? After all, have we not always looked for more opportunities and choices? Being bombarded with choices may feel good but the frustration that might result is almost similar to the one we experience when we have no choice at all. The simile is choosing between drought and flood.

If you feel like drinking a hot tea to get rejuvenated, you would be exhausted by just choosing an appropriate one. Apart from the regular black, brown, green , red spanning the entire rainbow spectrum, we now have fruit flavored tea, that too with choice or organic or not.

Forget the tea, maybe a soda would be more refreshing on a warm day in summer. Now you are caught up in choosing between a regular coke/pepsi, orange /grape fanta, vanilla flavored, cherry flavored, herbs flavored and ofcourse calories ranging from zero to the celestial distance between earth and moon. I wonder why have they not come up with chocolate flavored coke?

Speaking of chocolates, that’s once thing I won't complain with the varieties we have. I want to tryout an ice-cream, which is supposed to be chocolate lover's paradise - "Death by chocolate” but first, I have to figure out where it is available. Checkout the link for unusual chocolate flavored items.

I don’t understand why fruits are getting added everywhere. All ingredients for various items ultimately come from Mother Nature but adding fruit in soda, tea, coffee and now soap, mouth wash, toothpaste is just getting too much. Some of the hand lotions smell so good, you are tempted not to taste it else you would end up devouring your own hand.

How deep is your sleep?

There is nothing as rejuvenating as a good night's sleep, which leaves us cheerful and charged up. The change is lifestyle does have a huge impact on sleep patterns. As a kid, I was used to hearing sermons of getting up early. Now it’s the other way around. Folks are asking me to sleep more. If you ask me, just let a person sleep. The days (s)he is sleeping half a day is well compensated by the days when sleep time equals the flight time from London to Paris.

One summer day, my mom had gone out for running errands. The sun was nice and warm and our playing made us sleepy. I and my brother decided to take turns to sleep so that one of us could still be awake to let my mom in. He took the first turn. Seeing him nice and snug in the bed, I couldn’t resist closing my eyes. We were so comfortably dozing that we did not hear either the doorbell or my mom banging the door for an hour or so. Finally, we did wake up before my mom panicked and was about to call the police.

The first time I did a night out in my college, I was thrilled. It's besides the point that I slept the whole day next day. Once when we became confirmed night owls finishing off assignments and projects late at nights and a morning walk seemed to be a distant nirvana, I and my friend actually stayed awake the whole night to see how life is at 5:00 am in the morning!

If I had exams or had to catch a train/bus for a vacation, I could get up really early. I knew the reason. We had an alarm clock which could wake up the whole neighborhood and sounded really bad. Yes, I know an alarm clock with nice wake up call tune might just put one back to deep sleep. I used to dislike hearing it so much that I always used to wake up before it could buzz.

Most of the distinguished personalities have a track sleep record of sleeping 4 or 5 hours a day. In my childhood, I had heard enough of these people how they got up in the morning to be ahead of the world and accomplished things even when the world was sleeping. But I think I still had a valid point of sleeping such long hours in my school days. You see, I was trying to buffer the sleep that I might be losing in years to come.

All play and no work

Contrary to the popular phrase "All work, no play makes Jack a dull boy", the reverse is equally true. Work culture has changed 180 degrees in the last half of the century. From working in places walking distance from home to working in a place half the globe across. With the whole world becoming one global village, the opportunities are boundless. Of course, everything comes with a pinch of salt.

The kind of work we do, the people we interact with and also the times when we accomplish it has completely changed. I remember as a kid, I used to be off from school only on a Sunday. In fact, I loved to wear the white shirt and skirt uniform to school on Saturdays. Later, few years down the lane, we were off on 2nd and 4th Saturday. But now, many schools are corporations adopt a 5 week schedule. In fact, now there are rumors of 4 week schedule!

On one hand, there are people with 3-4 hour commute daily and in the same space are people who work from home many times a week. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on one's personality and lifestyle. I knew a nurse who used to work three 12-hour nights and used to have a 4 day weekend every week. And I have friends who end up working till 2am everyday.

There was a recent survey in some media asking if we would prefer a 4 day week schedule to 5 day. Though all of us would love to work less, I think we still yearn to work, just so that we can enjoy our leisure time. I feel the same excitement on a Friday which I did on Saturday, years back, realizing that weekend is around the corner, though the length of weekend has changed. What would you prefer for your work schedule?

Sweet smell of the world

A nice smell can always pep up the mood. Women, obviously have a better olfactory sense than men and that is the reason we see a huge range of women perfumes.

As a kid I used to love the smell of the sauce that was seen in a roadside burger stall. It was not tomato ketchup but some vegetable sauce. It’s smell would always lure me and I would persist my mother to buy me a burger. I had even inquired about buying them but the shopkeeper mentioned they were not for sale. The same is for the bakery. I love the smell of baking cakes and cookies so much that I thought I might as well open one up. The only downside is I would end up eating into my profits.

Having a sharp nose is especially good for chemistry practical. An acetone used to smell like nail polish remover and fructose like vanilla ice cream. If you get one of these in the lab test, you can be assured that you are done as soon as you get the sample. You can just relax the next couple of hours watching others struggling through various tests.

Though I am not much of a drinker, I have always found the aroma of coffee aristocratic. And I have generally loved all the Nescafe ads. They are refreshing, just like what they are advertising. I have tried drinking it earlier but never liked the bitter taste. Finally, I gave in to my olfactory senses and since last week I have been drinking coffee in the morning and boy do I like it!

Amigos

Friends make up the world. There is an entire spectrum of how people perceive friendship. There are people for whom the entire world is their friend. Many a times, I have wondered how they were able to gain her/his friendship. I think it is just the magnanimous of my friend to stand people of all characters. On the other end, I know people who do not have many friends. I am not sure is it because they are not seeking people or just that they have not found the right ones.

Whatever it is, friends do influence one's thoughts and character. Though family plays a big part in shaping up a personality, many a times it is the friends who fine tune and surface up the talents in a person. All my life, I have been seeking friends and have been fortunate enough to find some wonderful ones. And I do agree that they have broadened my thoughts and the way to look at life.

The reason I enjoy Seinfeld and FRIENDS more than Everybody loves Raymond and others is they are centered among friends, where they talk about themselves and pull others legs - in short, live a life.

Time and space do influence a friendship and either harnesses it further or makes it grow apart. But we do value the few hours we are able to spend with them in couple of months or even years. That's the only time when we are able to cherish the past in the present.

Before you wonder why I am writing such a poignant post on a Monday, I have to tell you that I spent yesterday afternoon with some of my close friends, whom I discovered recently and the evening with my very long lasting friends. That’s not the end to it. The coming weekend, I am going to catch up with my long lasting friends again and it’s gonna be like our college days. Few days back and I believe for the next week, I am going to be living my present remembering my past and future.

As Elizabeth Foley says
"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."

Amen.