salesman: "madam peticoat ka nada chahiye?"
me : "nahee"
salesman: "madam dekh to lijiye"
me : "nahee"
salesman: "madam A1 quality ka hai"
me : "arre bhaiyya nahee chahiye"
salesman: "mmmm... accha to phir pendrive chahiye???"
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Best Friends
When I was in school around 4th std, my father moved to another town. There in the new class everybody had a best friend. I did not. A girl walked to me and said I don't have a best friend. Lets be best friends. I was happy and exclaimed "Yes". In the next few years of school, we hardly spoke to each other. i don't even remember her name now.
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I have my friend vaidehi whom I know since 10th. We have done so many activities together, bought similar looking bags and chappals and what not. She holds more secrets about me than this blog. When I went to US, she and kamra flew down to help me get settled and are the first ones to make me smoke and taste wine. Later, I moved back to India. Last year she had a baby. I hardly spoke to her. just scrapped on orkut/facebook.
She is visiting India and she called me. I knew it was her number coz she had scrapped that to me on facebook and I had it stored. I was watching Avatar movie then. It was the interval time. The conversation (after 3-4 years)
Vaidehi: Hi Arati kya kar rahee hai (Hi Arati Wassup)
I recognized the voice immediately. It brought a smile to my face.
Arati: Arre Vaidehi, mein picture mein hun abhi (I am in the movie)
Vaidehi: Achcha phir tu khatam kar phir baat kartein hai (Ok call me once its done)
Arati: Theek hai chal (Ok then)
Vaidehi: Bye
I felt a sense of compression of time. As if like back in college days when we spoke 3-4 times a day and then she had called for the 4th time. She was so fresh in my mind. Not lost, not forgotten. Somewhere we were still in touch.
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I have my friend vaidehi whom I know since 10th. We have done so many activities together, bought similar looking bags and chappals and what not. She holds more secrets about me than this blog. When I went to US, she and kamra flew down to help me get settled and are the first ones to make me smoke and taste wine. Later, I moved back to India. Last year she had a baby. I hardly spoke to her. just scrapped on orkut/facebook.
She is visiting India and she called me. I knew it was her number coz she had scrapped that to me on facebook and I had it stored. I was watching Avatar movie then. It was the interval time. The conversation (after 3-4 years)
Vaidehi: Hi Arati kya kar rahee hai (Hi Arati Wassup)
I recognized the voice immediately. It brought a smile to my face.
Arati: Arre Vaidehi, mein picture mein hun abhi (I am in the movie)
Vaidehi: Achcha phir tu khatam kar phir baat kartein hai (Ok call me once its done)
Arati: Theek hai chal (Ok then)
Vaidehi: Bye
I felt a sense of compression of time. As if like back in college days when we spoke 3-4 times a day and then she had called for the 4th time. She was so fresh in my mind. Not lost, not forgotten. Somewhere we were still in touch.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Bhopal gas tragedy
Indi today mourns 25 years of bhopal gas tragedy - a pesticide plant shifted to India coz it was deemed too risky for american citizens. Total toll - 20,000 people killed (a painful death) around 5.67 lakhs still affected. The people behind it still free,the people affected by it still not compensated. Most of them homeless jobless in the absence of compensation and ability to work. They still drink the contaminated groundwater.
But I don't remember their plight everyday. I only remember the Top ten news of the day and this happens to be the headlines.
I will forget this tomorrow.
But I don't remember their plight everyday. I only remember the Top ten news of the day and this happens to be the headlines.
I will forget this tomorrow.
Popularity contest
Who are the most popular people. What are the most popular entities ? How do they become popular.
I am a huge believer of democracy - the majority opinion - the popular opinion- still am - it is self-corrective - though slow but steady - because anything radical would mean dictatorship. i was reading a sufi book - the sufi parables are quite like zen buddhist philosophies - which I have quite enjoyed as the eastern philosophies goes beyond thought rather than restricting itself to it.
The book revolts against popular opinion by citing the following parable:
A man died and a coffin was created. He was laid and he woke up. Seeing the entire procession he fainted again. He was proclaimed dead and taken for burial. He woke up again and said "I am alive - let me go". A man said - "But the doctor said that you are dead". He said "No I am alive". The other man asked everybody at the burial "Do you think he is dead or alive?". Everybody said "He is dead". "So you are dead". And they buried the man.
Along with this story, it provides another story - in other end of the book but it is interesting how the solution to above problem is cited in the other story.
A man landed in "The land of Fools". He saw that everyone was scared of a water melon and thought it to be a monster. He went near the melon and everybody said that - "he is daring". He went and smashed it and started eating it. Everybody said - "he is a monster too and they killed him".
Another man landed in the same world. He saw everybody was scared of the water melon. He knew it was just a melon. But he pretended to be scared of it. He tip toed near the melon like every body. He led them, himself acting scared near the melon and then he managed to touch it and made everyone touch it. He then managed to cut and everybody ate the melon too. He was made the king of the land.
I think it is quite an insightful story as to how things operate in our group.
I am a huge believer of democracy - the majority opinion - the popular opinion- still am - it is self-corrective - though slow but steady - because anything radical would mean dictatorship. i was reading a sufi book - the sufi parables are quite like zen buddhist philosophies - which I have quite enjoyed as the eastern philosophies goes beyond thought rather than restricting itself to it.
The book revolts against popular opinion by citing the following parable:
A man died and a coffin was created. He was laid and he woke up. Seeing the entire procession he fainted again. He was proclaimed dead and taken for burial. He woke up again and said "I am alive - let me go". A man said - "But the doctor said that you are dead". He said "No I am alive". The other man asked everybody at the burial "Do you think he is dead or alive?". Everybody said "He is dead". "So you are dead". And they buried the man.
Along with this story, it provides another story - in other end of the book but it is interesting how the solution to above problem is cited in the other story.
A man landed in "The land of Fools". He saw that everyone was scared of a water melon and thought it to be a monster. He went near the melon and everybody said that - "he is daring". He went and smashed it and started eating it. Everybody said - "he is a monster too and they killed him".
Another man landed in the same world. He saw everybody was scared of the water melon. He knew it was just a melon. But he pretended to be scared of it. He tip toed near the melon like every body. He led them, himself acting scared near the melon and then he managed to touch it and made everyone touch it. He then managed to cut and everybody ate the melon too. He was made the king of the land.
I think it is quite an insightful story as to how things operate in our group.
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