Back to Basics

The quick (1 day) trip to the village was great. For 24 hours I went to a different world. Were I could travel 25 Kms for six rupees, watching 80s tamil hit videos. Buy quality cotton materials at < 50 % of the selling price, in bangalore. ( I have seen the same material in Lifestyle for a lot more price tag) And a loving family who cooked a festive lunch to make me comfortable for the mere six hours I stayed at their house. No wonder my granny loves them more than us ;).

Simple people simple life. Is it necessary to complicate lives? I know without the current progress esp in medical field life will be more painful for people like my granny. But, at the same time I do miss the simple unadulterated, affectionate, hardworking lifestyle that my uncle and family has. I know life is not rosy for them. But they are so affectionate, I wonder why we are not so? Is it having 3 girl kids taught my uncle to be more loving ? The knowledge that soon all of them will be married and gone makes him more caring? I donno, whatever the reason is, smiling and helping others all the time has definitely earned him lot more well wishers than us.

When I started the trip I had enough to crib about. My granny's stubbornness. Lack of good wheel chair facility at Station. Late arrival of trains. Midnight journeys etc etc. But all that got wiped off after spending the brief time at the village. Sadly I am back to my moody self. Hope I can find strength to deal my life better after this short, but more meaningful trip.

Q without U

Myself and friend of mine were having a discussion about Q words in English and how Q is always followed by U. My 6 year old has started on multi syllabal words this year and remembering spellings was very important. So i told about Q and U being friends and how Q needs a U always in english words. He was so thrilled to know this fact.

After many days, today he remembered this again and started quizzing his visiting grandpa about Q and U....My father thought about it for a while and they both could not find any meaningful English words were q was without u. My father gave him an explanation that Q was a consonant and it needed a vowel u in its words. My brilliant son asked why not a, e, i , o? I jumped in and said Q has a u sound at the end so the best suitable vowel is u.

He was not fully convinced but accepted the explanation. when my father said Q needs U to survive...he was quite amused. He asked, " Without U will Q die? No U No Q?" It is a pleasure to see such innocent questions asked at the face value of words...and I myself donno why Q cant survive without U.

Something I found on wikipedia on words with Q but no U. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U

LalBagh Green Express

After a long time, I decided I need to let loose and relax. I needed to get out of my house badly. Everyday is a nightmare for me these days. Morning, tiff with my cook & maid. Then yelling at aadi or mahesha or my grandma. The falling Sensex scare. Damn it, I chose a really wrong time to quit a regular income job. With things not going my way at work, stress has become too much for me and my family.

I had a perfect opportunity to get out of the house today, thanks to some kids B'day party. After the good lunch, Mahesha suggested we go to Gopalan Mall. Since i was not ready to get into another cycle of depression as I forgot my cc at home, I said no to Gopalan Mall and we went to Lalbagh, the dream destination of r1. As we entered the gardens, I saw a nice green house kind of place and a golf cart. I checked and it was a tour around lalbagh for 100 rupees per head for adults and 50 per kid.

I asked Mahesha if he was ok to spend 250 rupees and he readily agreed. We got onto to the golf cart and they took us around the garden for about half hour (The promise was 45 minutes - since no phiranghees were there, I am sure they made our trip short and sweet). I loved the trip. It was the first time I saw the whole of Lalbagh. I never knew there was a lake in there. The rain made the trip even better. Finally, we shopped a Tulsi for my self and aadi got his next pet, a cactus plant (hoping it will be low maintenance, with all the fish dead as of last week, I needed a more easy to maintain pet . 5 அறிவு ஜீவன் to ஓர் அறிவு ஜீவன்...Donno if this is progress).

After the good ride at Lalbagh I continued my retail therapy at Crossword. Picked up 3 books for myself and couple of books and other stuff for aadi. Ended the day at office, picking my personal stuff. Dint hurt much.

The sad thing is I know what I don't want to do. But, donno what to do. what I want to do is verrrry expensive...so what should I be doing ????? May be just get practical and get back to a 9 to 6 job. Hmmm with the slump, even that seems to be difficult.

circles and squares

As a kid I hated taken a beaten path. My father was posted outside India and he was visiting us on his annual vacation. I remember having a long chat with him on why we are expected to lead a life just like our parents or their parents? Why confine to the same squares and circles? why not do something different?

I was having a passionate discussion, but I dint know I was about to get a new nick name - circles and squares. The whole conversation was never appreciated by anyone. I never got any support to adopt unconventional path in my life.

After many years I am feeling the same today. Taking a less trodden path would mean a new scenery but at its own risk..its own cost. Very few dare to do it in their lives. hmmm...another long day..another day filled with question marks....

Navarathri

The last nine days had been a roller coaster. My desire to balance home and work spoilt my whole vacation. Like every year, this year also I had kept dolls as part of Navarathri. But, I got carried away and agreed for an engagement on 6th, 7th anf 8th. Since I had to go all the way to white field I couldn't do pooja to my heart's content. First 3 days I was unable to do pooja for some personal reasons, next 3 days I had to prepare for the engagement and last 3 days was spent away from home. Net net no fun during the holiday season.

Now, that Rita is back from vacation...the big qn on what next is starring at me like a boodham (ghost). As the inevitable is coming closer, I am looking at my options and Rita's options. hmmm. Why do we lack patience? Why instant gratification is the only way? Why cant we risk a little to gain a lot? o m g my mind is full of qns, but no answers.

Where is the void?

As a kid living in a remote village meant very few guests. In a year we would just get one or two visitors. Every time when someone visits us lot of prep would happen, we would get our behaviour trainings, dos and donts in advance, just like a client visiting the project team ! I would look forward to the gifts I may be getting and also we would get to stay awake late as there will be lot of catching up happening. Unfortunately, all visitors were the grown ups and no kids!! But still having a gust was always special and I loved it. One thing that I hated was when the guest would leave. It always meant a great void in my heart! Especially when our uncle would visit us from Chittoor.

Now, living in the city means better accessibility. But, being a working couple meant we cant be reached on working days! Getting a guest now also means a lot of prep. Ensuring that all groceries are stocked. Fragile items are removed from kids reach. Telling the cook in advance, so we can have sufficient food in time. Buying right gifts etc etc.

One thing that I miss is the void I used to feel as a kid when the guests leave. Now I have no time to even think of how well the stay went. i have to hop on to my next to do...Wonder if it was same for my parents?