I got a speeding ticket a couple months ago.
I signed up for traffic school
There's an online option. Yayy! I don't have to spend 8 hours in a classroom!
I enrolled
I clicked on the "Start Course" button
First thing I see...
A gal with brown sunglasses in a light blue BMW convertible!
Now that's called really rubbing it in!
Groan!
Inspired by Chirag's haiku
Public Awareness!
Its hard to stay mad..... at the absent minded man who makes you Wai Wai at 2.46 am, decorates it with two grapes and a bit of coriander, and presents it with a flourish and a bon appetite!
So what's new?
I was watching a public awareness ad in morning
Awards for everyone!
Yesterday i saw Star Screen Awards, and i was wondering what the awards function have become...just a song and dance show?
It could have been any one of us.
So, winning Cuckoo's Trophy of The Month has made me greedy for more...
What's our Future?
This is the question that stares at IT grads fresh out of college.
The slumdog euphoria is in full swing.
A discussion in class today sparked these thoughts.
Am copying the instructions for making this straight out of Chirag's post...
"The way to do this is really simple. Randomly select three blogs from your blogroll and just write first line, it will all be connected and will make sense, give a title"
Have fun :-)
Why is negativity more powerful than positivity?
Why does a sneer have the power to wipe off a smile?
Why does a cold shoulder have the power freeze a warm embrace?
Why does fear win over faith?
Why does ego win over love?
Why is it easier to destroy than it is to build?
Why is suspicion more instinctive than trust?
Is this natural or conditioned?
I think it is a mix of both...sigh...
I am reading all these articles where people are protesting against movies like "Slumdog Millionaire" because it projects India as a poor, not very nice country.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but have heard and read a lot about it. Of course :)
I wonder why all the uproar? Because the movie won awards, and we are jealous? Because what it says is true and are ashamed that the truth is out there for everyone to see?
There are other movies made about issues in India (Firaaq for instance). But they have not become so popular, and hence no protests?
Look at the other movies that are made in Bollywood. Where the lead couple sings and dances in Switzerland and almost everyone lives in mansions. That is also not the true face of India, then why no protests against that?
What is the true face of India that we want the world to see then? I think about the day to day life of an average Indian, and what story can we make out of it? I don't know :(
I loved Swades, but wasn't that also projecting how bad the Indian villages have it?
What story would YOU like to show? Which reality in India would you want non-Indians to know about? Can you recommend any recent movies that make you proud of India? That you would love to see winning top awards? Taare Zameen Pe maybe?
I am not saying that poverty and struggle is all there is in India. But I would like to know HOW we can separate ourselves from the poverty that is there on each and every traffic signal, on all footpaths, just about everywhere? Please do read this post by someone who works with slum dwellers everyday. See what she has to say about portraying this side of our country.
Slumdog Musings by Anouradha Baskhi of Project WHY.
Would really love to see comments on this one!
I can start off and say I would love to see a movie about the Chandrayaan...and without the song and dance trappings!
Edited to add:
And about how the role of the Indian woman has changed over the decades! Maybe something with three generations of Indian women in it! I can see a huge huge huge difference between the life, way of thinking, everything about my nani's life and my sister's daughter's life. They both live in modern day India!
Edited again (1/20) to add:
Just wanted to say that this post is not about dissing India, or supporting Slumdog.
I just want people to think about good things that they would like the rest of the world to know. Good things, like the ones I have listed above (at least I like them!)
For the uninitiated, please read the first two parts of the series :)
Raymond and Debra
Raymond and Debra - II
So...we were both working from home today, and went out to lunch. It was a Friday afternoon, and the restaurant was packed with people. We got our table, ordered our regular food and were sitting yawning and waiting for our food to arrive, busy in our own thoughts. One of the thoughts in my head being, all these people are talking and we are not. And that is fine, because we know everything that is there to be said anyway :) We don't have any catching up to do.
Then I started paying attention to conversations that were loud enough for me to hear.
As usual, there was an Indian on a table of maybe 10, giving investment advice to anyone who cared to listen. It made me wonder why do typical Indian men talk only about money and stocks?! Boring...so I tuned into the table next to me.
Two colleagues, a guy and a girl out on their lunch break. The girl was talking non-stop. And her statements made me chuckle...
"I am so dying to get out of this place, but I can't right now because of (*whispering*) you-know-why"
(This one was repeated a lot many times. I was dying to know why :)
"So I hear you go home, get online and work from home. Really? People do that?! I can't be bothered to carry my computer home. Its too much trouble to get connected. You know what I mean?"
(You kidding me? I would stop breathing if I could not "connect")
"I have worked in Novell, and then in an educational setup. You know what I should do now? Medical. I should get into the medical field. You know what I mean?"
And then the very next statement....
"You know what I have always wanted to do? Open my restaurant. We're thinking of a pizza place in the mall. You know like how you go to the mall and you get hungry? You know what I mean?"
(This one...you go to the mall and you get hungry, really made me laugh!)
And for some reason, the guy responded to this with "Baseball or football?"
Well, they do rhyme with "mall" and he was after all a guy, he had probably zoned out and was thinking about some game!
Then she started talking about her mother-in-law. And how she would not want her to come to her pizza place. Because she would mess it up. And then in a whisper...
"You know what I am scared of? That she will touch the baby!"
(My eyes went quite wide at this one!)
"Its not like she is my mom. You know what I mean?"
(Groaaannnn...I don't want to listen to this anymore)
We were done eating by then, and were SO sleepy! We tried to figure out whether we should sleep on our table, or the bigger one that the 10 people were sitting at, or in the car. We decided on the car since the table looked too hard to sleep on. And there was a tiny risk of being chucked out on the street ;-)
The husband, by the way, heard not a single word of the conversation. He loves his chicken too much, I guess :)
I rather liked this new version of Raymond and Debra ;-) No talk necessary, just eat and sleep :)
I have recently started contributing to a blog called "Giving it a shot". It is a very interesting blog, where we can contribute ideas for a better India, a better world!
Here's my latest contribution there. Do drop by! And also catch up on the other innovative (and often very simple) solutions to common problems.
Went back to work yesterday after 3 weeks! And felt good to be back there. I looked around at all the familiar things in there, and realized something. Most of the things in there are gifts from friends and family :) Here are pictures of things exactly as I saw them when I had that thought...
The plant used to belong to my best friend. We used to work together, and she gave me the plant when she left. Till date this is the only plant that has been put into my care that is still thriving! And so is our friendship!
The little statue of Amba Mata is from my cousin.
The bracelet (don't know why its there!) is from the best friend's mom.
The cell phone is from the dear hubby.
Even the sugar packs were given to me! My friends at work brought me coffee and some extra sugar yesterday, since I was still limping a little bit from my knee surgery.
The coffee mug was part of the welcome kit from my previous company.
Gosh! Even the calendar is not my own! The cafeteria gave it!
And in this one...
The "chair" my phone is sitting on is from my jeeju. I think I just took it from him.
The pen which controls the little monkey in his car is from my sister
The frame with my nieces and nephew was from my previous company for completing my first year with them. The picture was sent by my sister.
The frame with my parents was a birthday gift from my niece, and the picture sent by my sister.
And if you look closely behind the pic of my parents, there is a small laughing buddha sitting in a candle holder. That was from my close friend.
FINALLY...some things that I brought myself...
The candle holder that the Budhha is sitting in
The car...but this one also holds memories of my best friend from childhood. I had bought it from her town when I visited her after around 10 years!
The cell phone cover...I made it :) But this one is new. Until a couple days ago, it had a cover given by yet another friend!
I like my love-filled office :)
Ria has put up a riddle. I will answer it here :)
She asks what I think of these words by Marilyn Monroe, whether I agree or not.
Here are the words:
"I believe that everything happens for a reason."
Well...things happen. We can either learn a lesson from them or not. Whether there is a reason, I don't know. Whether there is a lesson, yes, always!
"People change so that you can learn to let go."
You don't have to let go. You need to accept that people change, and accept them for who they are. Understand the change and go with the flow. Because change is the only thing that is constant!
"Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right."
This one I agree with :)
"You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself"
I do not like this other extreme of not trusting anyone. I would say you believe lies and get cheated so that you can learn to believe your own instincts. Learn to trust yourself ALSO, not just others, or not just yourself.
"And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
Hmmm...maybe. I agree to it somewhat.
Thanks Ria :) I liked putting this one together :)
I am amazed at how thoughtful my husband is! Really!
I had knee surgery a week ago, and he has been the best caretaker I can ever have.
Preparing 3 meals a day, making sure I get the right nutrients, helping me exercise my leg, icing the knee, helping me take my first baby steps to get off the crutches, making a fun game out of walking. Am so glad and grateful to have him by my side.
But what inspired this post is today's lunch. He had to go back to work since yesterday. Yesterday he stayed home till lunch time, fed me and then he went. Today he couldn't stay, and didn't have time to make anything for me either. So he asked me if I could make some maggi? I said sure, since I am walking a lot now, and maggi is no big deal. Just put the pot and the maggi packet out on the counter so that I don't have to look for them.
When I went into the kitchen to make my lunch, I was amazed!
He had set the pot, filled in the required amount of water (so that I don't have to go to the sink to get it!), broke the noodles into even pieces and set aside in a plate, set out a spatula and a scissor next to the masala pouch! He knew I liked my maggi without any extra additions, so had prepared everything exactly like I would have wanted it. I did not have to move an inch to get anything else! He had even laid out the table for me! So much thought into something as simple as making noodles!
I am sincerely grateful to him and for him!
Dreams are supposed to be nice, right? Like when you say, "dream sequence" its always so nice and beautiful and mushy. Why then, are my dreams always so action-packed?
I don't remember having one single peaceful dream to date. Romantic, beautiful, idyllic...is a far cry from what I see. I see Osama, ghosts, accidents, death, fights, animals...always very disturbing dreams! I have so often woken up in bitter tears.
And some dreams like this last one from yesterday, I have "seen" more than once. So this one is completely wacky.
So we have this huge backyard, right? For some reason in my dream it was full of animals! All kinds! Bears, cats, zebras, giraffes. And the way I find out about them (in my dream) is I hear stomping of hooves, as if all these animals are running (ever seen the wildebeest migration in Africa? Like that!) towards my yard. Sometimes they run through the house and back out in the yard, like ghosts, you know? Through walls and furniture and people? They reach the yard, and then slow down, and then they are just milling around (hubby says he had invited them to a jungle party. whatever...)
I never go out to the yard though, just watch from the window. Once I think I had called the animal control people to take them away. Eventually, they go away one by one, as if leaving a party.
In yesterday's version, after the "party" was over, the doorbell rang, and I kind of saw a lion standing at the door. (Civilized lions ring doorbells, I suppose!) I was in my room, and couldn't get up because of the bad knee. So I just saw him at the door. Not sure how he got in the house, but he did, and came straight to my room. And then I saw that its a big, cuddly dog, not a lion at all! He's cute, but so sad, and climbed into the bed and tried to cuddle up to me, hit my knee in the process and what not. I petted him for some time and he calmed down. So he went in the yard (why oh why do they all want to go into my yard!). He found a ball there that he was playing with when I woke up.
The dream makes NO sense at all. But then can someone explain why my knee was hurting exactly where the dog was supposed to have jumped on it?
Read a really really dull and boring book over the last 3 days. It was about some guy who was once divorced, currently married and having trouble, and falling for yet another woman while he was still married (rolling my eyes and blaming the Vicodin for making me read the whole thing!)
The basic premise was that he wanted a marriage like his parents, which had lasted both their lifetimes, and was having absolutely no success in staying happy in his own. He realizes that he enjoys only the chase, where everyone puts forth their best selves, is at their best behavior, cares a lot all the time. Once marriage happens, all that simply disappears. We are simply supposed to "know" that we are loved, there is no need to show it to the other person.
So he asks his mom, how did her and dad stay together so happily for so long. And she said,
You have to fall in love everyday! Treat each day as the first day you laid eyes on your loved one and lavish them with all the attention you can!
That is SO true! We start taking our loved ones for granted and that is the biggest mistake.
Fall in love everyday, and the excitement of the chase will stay with you forever! The freshness of new love will stay with you forever.
Now how to do this...that his mom didn't say :) Hehe :)
