Travel Tales

Ok , just returned from a week long trip to Delhi Agra and Jaipur and my ! was it good or was it good ! I'll probably bore you with a detailed account of each place I visited and what hit me most while being there in another post, Ok? Not ok ? Well , you've no choice 'cause you don't have my password , so there!

Some " Did you knows"
Did you know..

1. That Delhi isn't like Bangalore ? Well Duh , I mean like no one wakes up before 11 and there is no concept of a Darshini ! People eat bread toast an chai from the road-side vendor who sports an oil tin for a seat!!

2. That its very normal for a man to be carrying 5 buffaloes in an open cart , and casually lift up its tail so that the buffalo can attend to its nature call? I mean the nature call of the waterfall kind...
I wondered why he would want to do that ,is it to prevent the.. err waterfall remains from slapping merrily against him ? hmm ..

3. A snake charmer who's traveling alone has no choice but to hold his snake firmly at a feet's distance while he attends to his nature call. I mean what else could he do?Ask of a stranger "Here , could you hold this for a while?" No NO! Hold it calmly and do whatever!

Driver time tales

We'd hired a car to take us from Delhi to Agra and Jaipur , and the driver gave us some laughs!

1. My mother was "mataji" and Altoid and I were "sister" and my Dad was "Daddyji". So that makes him our brother. Our brother Pappu.
2.He would referring to a "construction" (and trust me there were quite a lot of them in Delhi)
as a "contraction" , and it used to send a mixture of pain and laughter through us every time he said that!
3.While we were passing through a set of houses in the outskirts , he casually informed us (in the tourist guide style) that " Yelloji , this is a red light area". And I heard it as the "red alert area" and I started quizzing him " Pappuji , what happened over here? Is there a curfew??" . All this while the mataji pictured me with a noose around my neck..
4. My Dad would fondly call him " Paapu".Total south indian ishtyle!

Tales from Firang ..

A foreigner asking the guard at Rajghat..
" Where is Gandhi?"
Mom(in the background , of course): " Turning in his grave"


You know you're missing home when...
1.When in the middle of Karol bagh , you jump at the sight of a Udupi restaurant and you clamber inside to taste a Vada and coffee that you haven't had in what seems like light years! And you look happily at the steel tumblers and plates and the CHUTNEY!

2. You are walking along in Karol Bagh and a weary southie voice behind you says " Bhaisaab , where is Udupi?" And Altoid jumps from somewhere and beams at the man and says kindly (I understand your pain types) " Go left"

Additionally , I was reading Indu Sundaresan's " Feast Of Roses" , a sequel to the "Twentieth Wife" , a tale about Nur Jahan while on the trip , it added that final touch to the trip , the pleasure of standing on the very same spot that the Emperor and his Empress had perhaps walked 600 years ago is just about priceless..

Weird me

HHG has tagged me to reveal 7 weird things about me and to further tag seven people to continue the tag ,Here goes!

Ok this one extremely peculiar trait that I’ve noticed about myself.

Manager gives me an issue to debug at work

I pour and pour over documents , analysis files yadda yadda and something strikes.. this is the issue the brain says.. yes RM this is it.. and then I stop right there and go for a cup of coffee OR I go home , i.e I don't continue to check if the solution is right in which case I should’ve rejoiced nor do I prod along to see if I’m wrong , in which case I must’nt be going home.

Methinks its cause I’m scared it might be wrong in which case it was all a lost cause and I’d have to start from square one.

I have this incessant need to wash my hair every alternate day

Whenever my Mom/Dad/sis are traveling to/from India, I keep googling for the flight number to check..Just in case types. I’m totally paranoid about my family!

I love my birthday J I wait a whole year for it every year. And I always wonder if people would’ve bothered to remember, they DO! J

I walk weird; my right leg is always at 60 degrees to my left

Sometimes I like to throw myself challenges. I.e RM, if you can sprint and catch the lift just before the door shuts , then it means you will find the silver ear-ring you lost.

If the man on the bicycle ahead takes a right turn , Altoid will give her modal tee-shirt to you..

You get the drift...

I dislike odd numbers and I love the number 4!

Ok , now anybody who wants to take up this tag can!

The world in a cube

My friend SRC has spent the last week trying to convince a russian that her name happens to be S , she even signs off as S in big black and bold. And yet somehow..



SRC :"Hi Rai (or Chatterjee?),
RM says: wow
RM says: she wrote that?
SRC :very soon i'd rather sign off as Rai
SRC:a certain Cynthia watever!
SRC:bah!
RMsays:bah
SRC says:how mean wud it be if i replied to her and addressed her as 'Hi watever'
RM says:send her some abuses...
RMsays:"hi WTH"
SRC:she might not follow
SRC:she's russian i guess
RM says:send her a link
SRC:her designation is "Software Entwicklungsingenieur"
RM says:if shes that dumb mebbe u shudnt mail her queries?

A little while later SRC mailed an almost diabetic mail that went "Dear Cynthia... Just to clarify.."

Yeah yeah , we Indians are adaptable and never take offense and all that ... little do people know what conspires on the IM...

oh so sigh!

Cool "Reebok Dance" RM gave her heart to = 600 Rs (Yes , yes Gulp)

A cool book the sister recommended = 300 Rs

A cool non fruity non flowery non girly but "Hmmm oh so fresh n tangy" perfume = 500 Rs

All this bought thanks to a "Diwali gift Voucher" from hamara company shtrongesht = Summation of all above.

The feeling of dread which overpowers all the above positives of hamara company shtrongesht on a Sunday night = Priceless

:(

Happy Diwali..!

Here's wishing a very happy and a prosperous Diwali to everybody :)

May every one of your whim /fancy/crazy idea/most bizarre thought come true !

Leaving you off with a favorite poem of mine
(one of the very few I've read)

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I
Have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.

-John New­man

PS : The diya always reminds me of my principal at school.She always used to say "Lead your life like a flame , look upwards and always try to ward off darkness" :).

Sound of music

6:15 AM: *ZZzzZZ*

Sounds from the wash stand:"Splash splash , tweeka tweeeka brush brush"

RM:"zzeeh?"

RM:(glaring hard at the ceiling)" Appa?"

Dad:"Shploosheh?"

RM:"Never mind , am up anyway!"

Some other day,

4:11 AM:* zzzZZ dream dream*

Sounds from the kitchen

"BANG clang scrub bang "

"Ting ting ting ting"

RM:*Looks at the ceiling*

RM:"Ma?"

Mom:*Sing song voice from the kitchen* " Oooh did I wake you?"

RM:"No no , I'm still dreaming"

Mom:" Early morning sarcasm eh , hehe"

RM: " WHAT are you doing at this hour? Is it that Kanu festival today?"

Mom:*bang bang clang* "I slept in the afternoon yesterday and I couldn't sleep at all in the night , so I thought I would finish up with the cooking and call Kedar earlier so that I could finish up with the tuition as well"

RM:"Ok , open the front door , I'll sleep in the garden"


Sometime during mid December

1:05 AM

*Har dil jo pyaar karega woh gaana gayegaa*

RM:"#$#$#"

Altoid:*Switching channels*" Ooooh goodie , you're up!"

RM:" I'm not UP! I've been WOKEN up!"

Altoid : *Nods* " You know , its been ages since I saw these geet mala kind of songs"

RM:"Really now, tch tch!!!!"

Altoid:"And did I tell you ? Remember that visit to someamericansoundingmuseum? I sent you the pics?"

RM:"No , you send me pictures of paintings , flowers , buildings , so I don't remember which one. Now , if you'd told me remember that photo of me in the brown spanish skirt , THEN I MIGHT remember "

RM:" Hello?"

Altoid: *ZZzzzz*

RM goes to the wash stand

*Splash splash , tweeka tweeeka brush brush*


The first scene repeated this morning , and I resigned gracefully to fate and woke up.

Mom:"Hello!"

RM:" What do you want?"

Mom:"Be more courteous to your elders and how did you know I wanted something?"

RM:*Grin*

Mom:" Yesterday , I asked GuruRaghavendra grocery guy to give me some cardboard boxes"

RM:"Ok...."

Mom:" And he gave me some"

RM:" Err.. so what's the problem"

Mom:" They all read TANGY CHICKEN noodles"

RM:" That were once there? Hmm..."

Mom:*Troubled face* " I don't like to keep them , I know you would think it very old fashioned ..but"

RM:" Yeah Ma , I understand , I wouldn't want to keep them either somehow"

Mom:*Bustles away beaming*

Sounds from the verandah

Dad:"Hmmm one more accident"

Mom:" Yesterday , I asked GuruRaghavendra grocery guy to give me some cardboard boxes"

Nothingness?:)

Everybodys left early , this being a combination of a day before a State holiday , a possible long weekend , and a blissful Diwali week waiting ahead.Its 6PM and all I can hear are the sounds of my hands tapping the keypad , my floor mate G's voice as she pulls her colleagues leg , my friend S's groan(she's got a lot to do this week and apparently can't even *think* of a day of respite), I like this feeling , of having some work to finish off , of not having too many heads around me(sounds so gory eh?) , of the thought of polishing off a pastry at the cafetaria plus a cup of coffee , messaging Alto a Good morning , of telling Amma that I will reach home in time for our serial...errrm now I'm thinking "Do you think I'm asking for trouble?"

All in the family

Now , just before I decided to do a post about it , I did ask my Mom if she had any objections to my content. As always she said she did , and as always I choose to disobey , so here goes..

I think my family has a strange strain of sadism running through it that has gotten better with each generation.With that Dhamakedar opening , I shalt resort to using less fancy words.You've knitted your brows? You wonder why it is so? RM patti will tell you why.Here's why.Shall I commence now? Or now?

See what I mean?

Let me start at the very beginning.I was born in Secunderabad(besides that , I do not have any attachment or sentiment attached to the place ) .During the formative years of my life , my Mother and Altoidster led me to believe that I was actually a Muslim (No offense meant to the religion ,more to do with regionally) woman's throw-away baby and my original name was "Raziya".To make matters worse , during throes of "Im-an-unwanted-child-who-loathes-studying" , I was led to believe that I had not one but TWO sisters far away in a hostel , and the reason I didn't see them was because they chose to come down during my summer vacations in Sec'bad!
I bawled my heart out and talked to the mango tree while the Mom and Sis exchanged glances and whispered
"Where's she"
"Under the mango tree"
"Did she hug it yet?"

*********************************************

Now , we will introduce the C Maama , my Mother's equally sadistic brother.
After a heavenly lunch of Rice-Vetha Kozhambu-Vadaam-Thayir shadam-pickle-Banganpalli mango , I would wander around the book-shelf aimlessly(i think sometimes people can't bear to see my happy face), and then C mama who would be seated on the reclining chair would catch hold of both my hands and wouldn't let me go. He would then say " This is how the crocodile caught hold of the elephant in Gajendra Moksham ..Heeeeehahahhaa" .And I would wail around uselessly to an empty audience and promptly fall asleep.

*Thinks*

*Pouts*

*:(*
****************************************************************

Yes , there's more

There was/is this muslim family who were our neighbors in Sec'bad. And apparently a kid called Mujaheed who was around my age lived there too . Yes you guessed right.

They had arranged for Mujaheed and his long lost Raziya to be united in Holy matrimony on the 2nd of some month , some year.

And I nearly died of palpitation as the day neared...


The only saving grace in this whole situation was probably the Dad ... someone who'd frown sometimes , look on amusedly at other times...

So I kid you not when I quote

If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.
~Linda Sunshine

On a related note , Altoidster has designed this template for me , and it is SO me , the colors , the illustrations et all. Ty Ems :)

Diverse are we

I believe
Diversity is a part of the natural order of life
As natural as a billion shapes and shades
Of the colors of spring
Or the leaves of autumn

We had "Diversity Day " at work this Friday . A day to acknowledge the fact that we were a French-American organization with one of the branches in Southern India with one of the campuses next to Bangalore's largest drain.Yes , diversity in all shapes and forms there.

"Do your floor" was one of the bullets in the To-Do list.10 heads came together on the first day with cups of coffee and a board marker .

K: "All the floors will do the cliched color paintings and colored lights"
L:"Last year , we did nothing , When the judges came in , we were still cutting color paper, we were the worst decorated floor, we got a pity award"
S1:"Maybe we should shift to the HR's floor , they always win"
S2:"Its full of women , man .Theyve got loads of time to kill"
RM(looks murderous):"Ahem"
S2:"Heheh , didnt mean that.. I just meant HR's have a lot of times on their hands"
RM(looks murderous):"Grr"
S2:"Whats your problem ?"
RM:"BAH"
K(The efficient floor captain instincts surfacing):"Ok shut up everybody and listen to me"
L:"Thats what we did last time , then we decided this time we would be democratic and take a poll"
S1:"I opt for democracy and opt out"

*** General pandemonium where everybody tries to get S1 back into action***

Minutes of the Meeting : We agree to be democratic

Day 2:

S1:" I think we could do stick paintings to depict the software development lifecycle"
T:"Why dont we show diversity in different ages"
S1: "It wont work , our floor always loses"
RM(looks at S1):"I wonder why"
S2:" Ok , lets show diversity in work , starting with the cave era , the jungle age , the medieval and the Space age"

MOM: We have a THEME!


Day 3:

K: "S2 takes Space , RM takes the cave,S3 takes the jungle , and I take the medieval"
RM:" Good lord , the cave age?"

Many ideas , inputs , good ,bad,eccentric flowed in and finally the day before the D day arrived.

I had 6 handy and happy helpers to create my cave :)

S4:"What are you guys doing in this cubicle , I have WORK!"
RM:"Shall I call Mrs K?"
S4:"Whos Mrs K"
RM:"Our Director and someone who mailed saying we had to celebrate Diversity Day"
S4:"Ok , do what you want , just dont upset my desk"
RM:"Haha fat chance"

After spending 10 minutes trying to stick brown paper to the ceiling and having it fall unceremoniously all over us , we rethank our thunk

B: "It looks too straight "
V: "Hmm"
RM(Glares at the unforgiving brown paper):"Double sided tape with a drop of Fevi-kwik"
V:" Chutki mein chipkaye hehhe"
RM"Grr"
B:" lets stack dustbins and cover it with brown paper , it will have that uneven effect"
N:" (sweet smile)"
I personally love N's smile , its so unaffected and sweet :)
After 3 hours of foraging for dustbins , standing on desks , stretching our (by that i mean mine) five feet forms to reach the ceiling , we had some weird sinister looking brown sheet hanging structure that swayed gracefully!

But at the end of the day ,when I was riding home at 9:30PM , I learnt that

1. I had a new found friend in S5 , especially after we set out on his bike at 8:30 to look for more brown paper and adhesive
2.The tissue rolls (:D) play a good roll in making as clubs used by cavemen
3.You get to see the best in your colleagues
4.You never knew you had this big an ego to live up to!

To cut a very long story short , our venture was a success , we actually ended up with the second prize.
yes , yes the first went to the first floor with all its creative HR's :D

These are a few of my favorite pictures ..

"Happiness is a toothless smile"

Taken in a village very close to Muthathi , you'll find a representative from each generation, different people , same smile :)

Kaladi , Shankaracharya's birthplace












Murudeshwara , a few days before lightning struck the idol










Somebody's very pretty house in Mangalore :)

Urrm , any single guys inhabiting this place ?:D