Of managers and fatherhood

A mail from SRC's manager to their team went thus :

Hi All

X and his wife have become proud parents of Twins (Boy and Girl) today.

X, Hearty Congratulations on becoming a father of both boy and girl at the same time.(what the???)

Errm.. so this is like saying Congrats , X , with this release , you have managed to deliver Feature A and Feature B?? Did you like work it out? Now.. hmm let me think .. which is the most optimized way of having children?Eureka! What if it were to be a boy and a girl at the same time?? Oru kallula rendu manga!! (One stone , two mangoes!)

Sheesh!

Of thoughtful ex-colleagues

I love Fridays.The day ends with a lovely feel to it especially with the prospect of not having to see one's co-workers for at least 48 more hours.

And in all this , a innocuous little message pops up on the mobile screen.From an ex-colleague.After several odd months.In broken tamil.
"Eppidi Irukku? Naan Inge Bangalore vanthachu.Stomach eppidi?"

And you smile.The radio breaks into "Bhanwara mann".The signal turns green and the little car skips along , you glance at the rear view mirror and see a happy goofy face.Sometimes having a grueling week makes that particular Friday worth it all the more.

The song is from Hazaaron khwahishen Aisi..

hazaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwaish pe dam nikle
bahut nikle mere arman lekin phir bhi kam nikle
-Mirza Ghalib

Current reads

For the longest time , To kill a Mocking Bird had been my favorite read.At the impressionable age of 16 , it left me with a startling visual.The Help by Kathryn Stockett , pretty much does the same.It nudges its way into your mind unobtrusively as it may seem in the beginning, and before you know it the characters are a part of your life.Set in the early sixties , its about Afro American maids working for white households , in Jackson Mississippi.

The writing is powerful , undoubtedly.It requires a great deal of literary prowess to be able to put your point across without seeming too pushy , especially on a difficult subject such as this.A must read.The book is being made into a movie apparently.I have my own doubts if it will be as good.

I'm currently into my fourth volume of Alexander McCall Smith's
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.Give it a miss if you're into heavy reading.The language is simple.Endearing,even.Reading them is like sipping on hot tomato soup while being tucked into a warm bed.To give you a background , this series is based on "Precious Ramotswe" who has her own detective agency.She, along with her assistant "Grace Makutsi" help solve the problems that the people in their village approach them with.Ramotswe's answer all issues is to follow the suspect :D.Man cheating on his wife? Follow him , get friendly with him in the bar , click pictures with him and voila , the case is resolved.
Client is very sad , but the wife is very happy.Follow the wife and find her having an extra marital affair.Don't tell the client because that'l make him unhappy.Give wife the clean chit.Man happy.Say Fini.
Client comes asking for more details about her estranged family.Follow the lady back to her house and ask around in the neighborhood!Re-unite her with her "brother" only to find out he's not!Turns out in the end they discover that they actually like each other enough to get married.

What you do take home from the book is the fact that sometimes you don't really need to create an aha moment to make people smile.Sometimes happiness lies in the simplest of things.

"I am an African, not because I was born in Africa but because Africa is born in me."

-Nkwame Nkrumah