Open-Mike Poetry Performance

Every fourth Tuesday of the month, Prithvi theatre café is not just a meeting place to romance over a cup of coffee, it is a special venue for poets to perform their poetry.

Yes, I do like to write poems but performance for me is light years away.

When I reached at Prithvi today, my friend asked me to recite a poem. Now, a shy person like me, who hates to be stared at, can I ever perform my poems in front of strangers?

Nah! I just cannot.

I like to sit there and listen to other poets, while sipping coffee. Most of the poems today were in Hindi and I find Hindi poems very different from English. I mean to say that English poems have meter and form and they are more chiseled, where as Hindi poems are very free flowing and quite dramatic. Well, that’s performance, I guess. People enjoyed and hooted at shayaris but during English poems, they just nodded their heads.

Maybe I should write something in Hindi too.

What is the moral of this story??

I got this humorous email that says: “If Columbus had been married, he might never have discovered America because of the following: Where are you going? With whom? Why? How are you going? To discover what? Why you? What do I do, when you are not here? Can I come with you ? Coming back when? Dinner ghar par hi khaoge? Mere liye kya laoge? It seems you deliberately made this ....Hain na... Why? Dont lie.... Why r u making such programs You seem to be making a lot of such programs….Why? I want to go to my parents place I want you to come and leave me I don’t want to come back.... I will never come back.... Why are u not stopping me.... I don’t understand what is this discovery chakker? You always do like this..... Last time also u did like this.... Now a day’s u always seem to do like this.... I still don’t understand what else is balance to be discovered... Itne sab questions ke baad..... America kya, he may not have reached the front porch of his house.” Hahaahaha and Ha!!! What this person doesn’t know is that today, it’s the men who ask too many questions… and then…like babies they whine…all the time… Women have learnt to take everything in their stride They have learnt to live in this world with grace and pride Managing their workplace and also thier home Leaving fragrance of fresh flowers in thier comfort zone If men choose to have a woman by his side And still if he wishes to travel for extra dime She can wait till dawn and never ever yawn She is happy to relax in her social networks lawns.

Diwali is just round the corner

To enjoy the true essence of Diwali festival, one should be in India. Last year I was in Spain, and I tried to create the atmosphere of the festival so that my brother’s kids, who have never visited India during this time, could experience this festival. I made rangoli, prepared sweets at home, performed Laxmi pooja at our shop and then went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, but that was all that we could do. No fire crackers, no lighting of Diyas in the house, no meeting people and no wishing every second person ‘Happy Diwali’ Ah nothing….. But this year, I hope, it is going to be different; I hope it to be the way I like it. The kids in my building are quite excited. I see them every evening with a big basket of fire crackers, having competitions of being the loudest joker. They pretend they are brave but take full five minutes to burst a tiny cracker, cowards! The only brave thing they can do is to burn fooljari. (sparklers). During my growing up days, there was great variety of firecrackers available in the market, like those triangular and circular fountains that sprinkled sparklers in the air, then there was a whistle that would go whizzing up in the air, sometimes in wrong direction chasing a frightened person. Then there were rockets, which we would keep in sleeping position at the end of the lane and see it flying parallel to the ground. We had snakes emerging from a small black tablet, there were chaklis that would go round and round, throwing sparklers in all directions. I don’t see these kids with such simple firecrackers any more, (I am sure they must be available but these kids don’t seem to like it) they just like those loud bombs, which me thinks, gives them thrills, you see them blinking their eyes, covering their ears and waiting for it to explode and then jumping and laughing, like tiny terrorists. I don’t even see any adults with these kids, except the watchman or a maid. Parents, aunts, uncles and relatives are too busy with their own lives to bother accompanying their kids. The streets are decorated with lights and lanterns, retail shops are eagerly waiting for shoppers, but everything is so damn expensive that sitting at home and networking seems like a better option.

Are There Two Indias In One Bus Route? - Will “1 thru 10 for India” help?

I am seated in an AC bus, comfortably settled, with a book and digital camera on my lap, on my right is this young man, surfing the net. Yeah, there is socket in this bus for people to use their laptop. Some have closed their eyes and are already in deep meditation while others are humming the song. The Bollywood music is playing in the background and it is calming the nerves of all the passengers. How much better can the life get? “India is shining” and I grin shyly. The bus stops momentarily at a signal and I look out on the streets. A five-year-old child smiles at me, raising her hand to wave at me, another child, six-year-old cradles one-year-old in his arms. I am thinking if somebody could guide them to the nearest pre-school where they could discover the magic world of words. They shouldn’t be here on these dirty streets at such a tender age. Ouch! "India is NOT shining" on other side of my window. Should I de-sensitize myself and not look in the direction of “other India”? The “Other India” is as much a reality as the “India Shining”? Is that fair? Is that right? Can we lend a helping hand? Do you care? Will you make your 3 days count? Can you go do something good for your country? Will you do something for the “Other India”? More on the topic including the "Africa in Peril" presentation that influenced/inspired 1 to 10

Needle work helps me on my blue days

Today is one of those days when I feel terribly blue. I feel nothing is right. What am I doing in this world? I feel useless and incapable of doing anything perfect.I am envious of those to whom everything comes so easy, almost on a gold platter and yet they find reason to complain. I wonder I am the only one feeling this way. May be it’s the weather which is so gloomy, no rain but so damn cloudy, even the birds are confused. I can only hear crows crowing (but then they always do to add to the noise pollution) I am trying to write but cannot. I want to visit somebody but I am too lazy to go out. Should I make a phone call..but ...what to say??? Maybe I should watch TV, if only there was something very, very interesting. Diwali is round the corner, maybe I should help my maid with the cleaning but she is more lazy than I am and she is always in hurry, I can feel that she is bored too because she is doing diwali cleaning in all the five houses where she does the same routine work everyday. I am bored. On the days like these, I think, my art work helps. Sewing requires lots of concentration and with failing eyesight, even this activity can be done only during daytime…I do it while watching TV. I finished this needle work last week and I shall gift it to a friend. Maybe giving something may ease me from this boredon, I so badly want to feel useful again.

A Day at 'Times Bandra Festival' - A photo Essay..

This saturday, decided to go for this 'Times Bandra Festival. Actually there are lots of things happening in Mumbai, had planned earlier to go for the grand opening of Palledium, a mall at Parel, also since it is ashtami, went for lunch at the pandal and then wanted to see more of Devi idols in different parts of the city, but too confused, we finally went for this one instead. The entrance to this festival There were different stalls selling various things such as electronics, house-hold articles, food and also handicraft. At the entrance there was a display of art work After walking for over two hours, we rested our feet in an enclosed AC theatre that was showing some play. The play on story telling was a play- a must watch, based on Dastan toi, a story is forever. The board outside the theatre shows different plays on different days and all looked good, would have liked to attend them all. if only I could.... Then attended the live show of Hariharan Hariharan's show was amazing!!!! The only problem was getting the transport back home, we were lucky, we got a ride.

Dil Kya Bole????

Imagine how wonderful it would be if women and men, played in same cricket team. Equality between sexes is catching up and women are getting stronger, maybe India might win the world cup this way. One never knows. Well that’s the first thought that entered my mind as I sat watching the film Dil bole Harippa!...... My friend booked tickets and asked me to meet her at the theatre and I didn’t know which movie I was watching till I read the title of the film on the big screen.(serves me right for blindly trusting my friend and following her) Yeah, now-a-days I go for a film because somebody wants me to accompany them. Personally I am losing interest in film bee-cause I have not seen a good film for a very, very long time. But this film was well…er..…I wonder if my opinion counts, (my friend writes that this is the copy of English film ‘She’s a Man’, well who cares, its nothing new, this copying biz when they get exhausted of original ideas, what do you expect? Huh? ) Well, anyways, this movie is very noisy with loud bhangra-type-of-music played through out the film. (Thank Gawd I didn’t oil my ears that day) Rani Mukerji looks cute dressed as Sardarji chicco, though over-acting was the theme, cleverly played. Shahid kapoor has lost his baby charm but acting-wise-he-was-okay. Rakhi Sawant has no role to play except few belly dances, although she does look slim and good (that is if you don’t look at her face and forget those horror days at reality show some weeks ago.) It’s a kind of movie to just watch and forget the story (???) the very next day. Out of curiosity you may watch, but what was that? Say it again? You are still waiting for good movies and therefore you decide that you might as well watch this one since there is none other for a movie buff like you? Well, right-oh!. Go watch if you have nothing else to do. BTW: went for shopping and heard two youngsters bragging about Rani’s outfit in this movie…they were looking for those vibrant colorful dresses similar to one Rani had worn in this film. I wanted to tell them those colors blind Mumbaikars…..and cause traffic jams!!!!...but then, nobody ever listens to me…..

Al Pitcher came to my town to disappoint me…..

Everybody told me it is hilarious and that I would laugh, Ha, Ha, and maybe roll on the floor, really? So, naturally I was curious. Now, when I go for a play, I don’t compromise on comfort, I need best seats and less distractions and I am willing to spend the money, so here I was paying Rs500 per ticket, to enjoy the show of Al Pitcher. And I was disappointed. What I did not anticipate was that this is a stand-up comedy and it is made on the spot so I risk it because every show is different and most of the jokes can be repeats that I must have heard them several times during the SMS rounds. This guy goes around the city, during the day and clicks the shots of whatever he fancies and during the show he has his wisecracks. His mind is seeing the distorted images and he has an opinion on everything which is also lopsided but maybe not be funny. He showed few shots of watchmen of different buildings and he had an opinion, saw a car covered with a sheet parked in front of gate that showed ‘no parking’ sign, he had a comment to make, saw people at a beach, some ads, some graffiti, made a comments and the comments were not even funny and it were similar to ones I hear the young kids in my building making all the time….. Then he had some stupid jokes to make on anatomy of male parts. He answered some questions that were asked by audience, but they were not funny too. People in audience came for the show with the expectation of being entertained and they did laugh and I tried so hard to laugh too.(tickle, tickle) Wasn’t he supposed to be freewheeling genius and had Midas-like ability to make the most jaundiced audiences see their world anew as it was expressed in Sydney Morning Herald? Am I losing my sense of humor? Paying Rs500 per head for the party of five people to watch this stupid show almost made me cry! sniff! sniff!! img source: googled

Random Thoughts on Survival

Do we really need too much money??? we have only two feet to wear one pair of shoes, we need just two pairs of clothes, one car, one job, one house and enough to eat and share. So why should we earn too much money??? Why should we snatch money from others when we don’t really need the excess? Well I believe that it is certainly not right to snatch money for extra comfort. We are not living in a safe world. Today we do find in each and every newspapers, TV channels, this murder, that murder, rape, snatching, bribery and so many ways people adopt to snatch others money. But can we change other people’s action? WHat we can do is to only mend our own ways and try to live our own life in the best way that we can. We should try to concentrate on what we can change and if plastic money can be used to stop the criminals from functioning, then we have a strong tool. But personally thinking Money is important. Many people do take lot of energy to earn money in a mad race so that they are able to make a difference.. And make this place a better place to live in. Money can buy happiness if used in correct way. Because we need money for everything. Because to lead a respectable life and to be able to do what we really want to do. Okay I will tell you about the discomfort we have when we don’t have enough money to make a difference in somebody else’s life. Somebody comes asking for monetary help and you have to refuse it because you don’t have enough for yourself. If we have talent then we are blessed and if we can make money using that talent then we can start buying comfort. When we have exhausted our own needs then we need to look outside. There is so much pain in this world, so much suffering and many of them suffer because they have neither strength nor talent to make money to make their life better. That is where the rich people come in. Rich people with big hearts reach out to people to help those who are not so fortunate. And the rewards you get for that work cannot be described. Get a poor girl married and see the look on her face, it will bring joy. Get a child educated and he grows up to be successful and when he brings a box of chocolates out of gratitude for you, you get that different kind of happiness. Everybody has a purpose in life. Even a plant does not just grow and die. During its presence on earth, it gives shade, fruits and greenery to the world. It gives inspiration to poets and writers. Even after its death, it leaves behind its woody usefulness. Similarly, our presence in is world is there for some purpose. We are in this world to do something and we only need to find out what it is to make our life meaning full World is not just paper notes, plastic money and also some minerals like gold, diamond etc.. It is something more than that……. Moreover, don’t expect anything in return. Don’t sit and crib that people are enjoying your money but they are ungrateful. We must do our duty and not expect fruits in return. For every action there is a reaction. If you wish to live selfishly, then you really don’t need to accumulate wealth, if you are concerned only about your own comfort, then stop working when you feel that you have enough and don’t need anymore money and start enjoying the world, travel, see places and finish off your wealth. Don’t share your wealth if you don’t want and miss the opportunity of seeing the real wealth surrounding you..

Reading a book during my bus trips...

I am reading this book called ‘The Diary of a Social Butterfly by Moni Mohsin, which is quite hilarious and keeps me entertained. The author is a Pakistani and she has used lot of Hindi words (Uff! Itni main exhaust ho gayee hoon, na.) in the book to make it interesting with phrases such as ‘three-tiara cake’ ‘business typhoons’ or ‘slip into a comma….’ Excerpt from page 136: Imagine! The guts! And you know what he looked like? Like one of those clerks, all thin and reedy, who used to quietly, uncomplainingly work for hours and hours in Daddy’s outer office where there used to be only punkhas and no ACs. And now they’ve got cars! And tongues! As daddy says, “Bhutto has a lot to answer for!” Recently some one commented on my thread on a forum of writer's group: He writes - “I've noticed that these days, there are a lot of Indian authors trying their hand at writing, and unfortunately, many of them are really really bad...I only buy their books because I want to encourage Indian authors to write more and more, but their writing is so pathetic...” and now, he might even hold the similar opinion about Pakistani authors. But the fact is that everyday new styles have to be established and people will write what sells and this book is selling. People like to read ‘light stuff’ sometimes and we cannot call them ‘pathetic’ just because they write differently. It is good book to read in a bus trip, when the rush hours drive you crazy and the humor helps keep our sanity.

Caught in a Jam

If you have done a bad deed in your life and wish to be punished, then you must travel in Mumbai on festival days. The torture that you go through is worse than getting stranded in a Sahara dessert under a hot sun without water to quench your thirst, actually even worse than that. But I don’t think I have done any bad deed lately, I lead a very moral life, tell no lies and hurt no soul, nor carry any tales not even gossip, acting so goodie-goodie that it irritates my naughty friends, in fact, I am presently participating in ‘No Complaining Pledge’ for 21 days!! I am all the time distributing happiness like they distribute sweets at the end of prayers in a temple, (Sometimes, I even distribute free smiles, virtual gifts and hugs on facebook too) still, why do I go through this torture I fail to understand. And all the time I believed that life was fair, it functions according to the laws of Karma I had a change of opinion today when I sat in the bus for four hours (while returning from my otherwise two hour trip from my school at Belapur) wasting my time by just watching the traffic crawl through the crowded streets. I am sure Ganpati must not be happy with the noise that is blaring on the streets that is lighted with million bulbs and people dancing their shaky-whaky dances with their limbs going loose and crazy and changing directions in hip hop way, challenging the laws of gravity. Come on.!!!! Gimme a break!! Whoever has taught them such dances? Do these people just pick up random dance steps from Bollywood flick and make a fusion dance of their own?? I was sitting there in that bus, helplessly, looking out of window (what else can one do?) when all of sudden a dirty stench entered my bus suffocating me and the other passengers in the bus. The lady in front of my seat took her dupatta and wrapped it around her face, covering her nose so tight that her life saving organ might say goodbye to its last breath. I started scrolling through all the emergency numbers on my mobile, she coughed a little, then loosened her duppatta and decided to inhale the bad smell instead. I investigated the source of this discomfort, and lo behold, just parallel to my bus was that garbage van, crawling at the same speed. My attention was now drifted from bad traffic to this stench that was following me. My bus halts, garbage van stops, my bus moves a little and garbage van moves too, disturbing the fresh air, polluting it and pushing it straight through my nostrils. I was now afraid. All this time I was dodging swine flu, I had even started those tiny white pills, twice a day, to prevent the tini-mini-germs from entering my system and here I was, dodging the garbage van…and wondering what disease I might finally die from and whether there would be zero attendance at my funeral or any of my friends would start a fan page for me for condolence on my facebook. I turned my head, away from stench, trying to find empty window seat on the other side, when, all of a sudden, my glance filtered out, through the window, on to the idol of Ganpati across the street. The beautiful face of idol momentarily distracted me and I was filled with affection and gratitude for all the blessing that I felt it sprinkling around me. I smiled at the idol, asking him if he feels good at all the attention that he was getting for eleven days, hijacking the busy city of Mumbai. And I actually saw the idol shrug. What could he do? If only idols could talk, they would put some sense in this human world. Alas! Nobody can!!!

Random thoughts ~ Complaining

Mumbai is celebrating Ganesha at every street……and I am introspecting…. If your intention is to worry then you are likely to touch slippery ground. It is your mind that makes you win your battles. Battle is between positive and negative qualities within us. The mind keeps changing everyday it is how we expose our self to that knowledge that we can find peace. It is possible to create a new habit in 21 days. And new habit we must, to change our bad habit and be a better person. The habits that cause us pain should be eradicated from our system. I never have found complaining the best option. It makes the things even worse. And to whom should I complain? People are so pre-occupied with their own problems that they would hardly care if you were uncomfortable. In the company of hundred people there will be one person who will truly care, but to reach that person, we miss so many turn, that most of the time we are left with solving our own problems. And if we can really solve our own problems then what is the use of complaining and telling others our problems?? It is hard lesson I have learnt but I have learnt to deal with it. And its feels good that people find me happy-go-lucky. They don’t hear me complaining and I am not about to seek their pity. The root cause of all our problems is the attachment. Whenever I have got attached to people, they have been the cause of my misery and conflict. My intentions have always been good but how do I understand other people’s intentions? People have crazy minds and they form their own opinions. Even though my attachment is pure and not selfish at all, they will make nasty comments and give it a name. Why? I fail to understand. World is mixture of opposites and to remain happy we have to adjust because world is not likely to change. It is no use fighting and trying to change anything. We have to decide what is good for us and put our foot down to what is not necessary. In every experience there is a lesson to be learnt.

Voluntary work done Involuntarily

My FB friend posts a link that says….. Mozilla Service - Want to Help Source: mozillaservice.org If we can make a browser that makes the Web better, just imagine what we can do for our local communities. Equipped with a group of committed, energized, service-minded individuals and a belief in the open web, there's no limit on how far we can reach! It states that Mozilla for coming up with this idea. From the site: "During the week of September 14-21, you can make a serious difference in your local community. Here are just a few ideas of ways you can help: * Teach senior citizens how to use the Web. * Show a non-profit how to use social networking to grow its base of supporters. * Help install a wireless network at a school. * Create Web how-to materials for a library's computer cluster. * Refurbish hardware for a local computer center. * Update a non-profit organization's website. * Teach the values of the open Web to other public benefit organizations." Thinking back, I can proudly say that I have done all of the above services in my free time. My free time is my time away from my reading, writing, handicraft, art, painitng, entertaining my family and friends and travelling. People often ask me what do I do and I often say ‘Nothing in particular’. The problem with me is that I cannot sit idle, not even for a minute. Am I bragging if I discussed what I actually do with my time? Well, I have taught seniors, children, maids and housewife the use of net, how to operate it, how to surf for information and how to send e-mails and they have been quite grateful to me and the payment I get in return for this service is the beautiful smile they give me, when ever they see me passing by and I am grateful for that. I regularly go to school (at Belapur, CBD) for mentally challenged, which is two hours away from my house (I live in Bandra), I click their pictures and update their blog, and maintaining this blog has been very useful to school. Many people are willingly to be associated with this school because they are sure it is real and not a fictional institution. On festival days, food is sponsored for these children, sometimes, from as far away as Spain, the proof that their money was spent on children for food only, is shown in pictures on the blog and this encourages people to donate more help. The children are always enjoying the feast and are happy to come to school. I maintain two blogs: http://sbp-pushpa.blogspot.com/ is the blog of the school where I blog about the activities at school keeping the parents and the well wishers updated with the school. This has been of great help to the school, because people want to be associated with the school that shows so much progress. The other blog http://arushi-sbp.blogspot.com/ is mainly for teachers and parents to help them understand the problems of dealing with mentally challenged. I write about the various diseases, methods of dealing with them, and the facilities provided for mentally challenged. I prefer to stay focused on just one institution so that I am able to help out just one particular group of people. I seek neither recognition nor any awards for this voluntary work (I am camera shy so I never give interviews) and do it just for my own interest. It gives me immense pleasure to extend my time and support in this little contribution that I am able to make. Actually speaking, the rewards are very satisfying because I would otherwise be bored, doing just nothing in my free time.

Three weeks of 'No Complaining'

Okay I have made the pledge of ‘no complaining for 21 days’ and I have nothing to complain about. Personally I think that people who expect something from others and don’t get it then they find the reason to complain, if that is the case then it should be easy for me because I never expect anything from anybody. And what can anybody give to person who has everything? Love, care and affection come from giving. These are reciprocal. If people have no time for us, its because they have their own priorities that have to be sorted out first. what to complain about this? The truth is that if we learn to accept the things as they are and try not to change anything, then there is little reason to complain. Quite easily said! For people who live in large family, it is natural to accommodate each other to live peacefully. To avoid unpleasantness, we try to curb our discomfort, but are not always successful. Because the resistances to accept thing that are against our principles do boil us over, and without complaining, it builds up and eventually harms our health.

Wall of Canvas

It is important to build a wall to separate the street from railway lines, especially if the railway line and street run parallel to each other. It has its advantages; it safeguards the security of people and help them walk in straight line, parallel to the wall without getting distracted by moving train that passes on the other side of the wall, It serves as a shield for naughty children, who may escape the strong grip of their parents and run on the railway track out of curiosity and is also a great boundary of obstacle for those stingy commuters who get special pleasure in travelling without a ticket. But the wall has its disadvantages too when it is used by street dwellers as a back-drop for their temporary-about-to-become-permanent home and some times used by people who have never learnt their bowel-control-habits and peeing on the wall is an instant relief and sometimes, it is even used by hawkers to put up their temporary stall. Unless, it is seen as a canvas by an artistic eye, which will change the wall’s status from a poor, old, rust-colored, dingy wall into a beautiful work of art that the travelers will admire while driving down those colorful lanes. When people start to care, the results are astonishing…. On 15th August, while the whole country celebrated Independence Day, I walked down the Tulsi Pipe Road to watch the children and adult dabble paint on the wall producing amazing art work. Even the children as young as five year old, were happy to hold the paint brush, one size bigger than their size of the palm, giving colored strokes on that dingy wall. “Move a bit, let her click few pictures” said someone in the crowd, letting me capture the event into my lens. Freedom for me, on this day, was to watch the artists doodle freely and let the images appear out of nowhere……..Freedom to express one self in vibrant colors.

Thadri

Life has not been the same since I lost my mom, about three years ago. I miss my mom terribly, especially on festive days when my mom would spread the happiness to each and every member of the house, without expecting anything in return. Today was the big festival of our Sindhis. It is called THADRI The mother goddess is worshipped in various forms, Sittala, is worshipped by Sindhis. She is the eldest of several sisters, The annual festival observed in honor of this goddess is called "Thadri", or the cooling festival. It falls on the 7th day of the waning in the month of Savan (July-August) every year. Ladies prepare Lolas and curd on the previous day of the festival , They sing, go to the local shrine and the cold meals (thados). On this day, fire is not lit at home. On this day, mom would be too excited because she loved cooking and it gave her the reason to cook, Her cooking would start, a day prior to the festival. There would be dry vegetable, lentil chappatis, sweet pancakes, sour rice-curd, fried bahjiyas and many more delicacies (I would marvel at her stamina, she never complained about work, never ever) . On the festive day, She would invite everybody for cold lunch. There would be card session after lunch and so much laughter in the house. My family had a great sense of humor; specially my aunts (dad’s sisters) and they would be laughing and quarrelling at the same time…how much I would enjoy seeing so much commotion. Me and my cousins would receive lots of gifts in cash and kind. It would be a great day to celebrate. All my aunts were very jovial and their jokes were always laced with metaphors which made their conversation wittier. With time, most of my family is gone and the traditions are also gradually dying. I don’t make any such things, nor do I enjoy this kind of food anymore. Being weight conscious, I don’t eat fried stuff, or too much sweet or anything with too much masala. I like simple stir fries, or simple home cooked food. I just eat to ease my hunger. My sister called me for lunch today, but I ate quietly and remembered my mom and missed my family and their laughter even more….

Mumbai is not afraid.

Early morning my sistah calls me and warns me not to step out of house. I want to know the reason, and she says, because flu is in air, (but that I already know,) media has pounded me with an overdose of this news, and if I have work to do, it cannot wait. So I leave for school on this dangerous morning But the streets are full, aren’t all the people supposed to sit indoors? Nah! The spirit in Mumbai is that it never sleeps and when they can dare floods and riots then who is afraid of this silly disease? Just a flu (never mind if it has got a horror name-swine flu) People in Mumbai always believe that nothing can hamper their spirit and streets are crowded like they always are. Did you say that Children are vulnerable to swine flu? Well, this kid must be not more than 5 years and he is here on the street without any cloth covering his mouth,(I did see many people with their mouth covered) but not this kid, he doing his odd jobs of begging….I saw him run with a packet of Vada Pav, (which somebody had given him) and was back to the same place (without eating his share) to continue his begging And what about this dabawallah…he takes a breather on his inverted stack, smoking his beedi and then taking a short nap. But I play safe. I decide to go to school in AC bus. When I reach school after two full hours of travel, there is a sinister look in school….school is closed…..

The Power is Within Me

After many lazy Tuesday, I went today to attend Jaya Row’s spiritual class. I like going for her class to wear the spiritual blanket and think under my bonnet. It gives me insight of who I am. It reminds me of my duty towards leading a good life, more over, I like the interactive session, where people ask question about the subjects that they already know but act ignorant and I start thinking about it. I am wondering if people ask question just to get attention to them selves or do they really not know the answer? Many of the questions I hear them repeated class after class. Do they really suffer from amnesia or is their mind wandering in another fantasy world when their questions are being answered? Anyways, today this lady was asking the difference between disciple and Guru. Now as far as I can remember, she must be attending this class for more than ten years already and she quite regular, does she really not know the answer? Is she really searching for answers? I can’t believe this, why cant people ask something that they don’t know….. Well, Jaya Row has patience, because she also must be aware of this lady’s presence in her class for more than ten years, but still she went on to answer her question and explained patiently the difference between Guru and Disciple. Patiently, she explained that Guru is one who is at a higher level and he is able to guide us in overcoming hurdles in life. He helps us to keep the balance between devotion and knowledge, Disciple is the seeker while guru is the guide. Disciple should know what to ask from a guru, but many people are misguided and they will ask such stupid question such as what they should name their child or what property will be useful to them. Is it sensible to ask your guru for materialistic gain? Shouldn’t they be asking their Guru the spiritual guidance to reach the salvation? And what is the right path to follow, how they can lead a better life and be a good human being? A Guru is one who has power of communicating with his disciple and showing him the real path, he should be knowledgeable himself so that he has power to guide his disciple. He should have capacity to teach and the disciple should have sincerity to learn and have desire for liberation. My mom would often say that I don’t have to go to seek my Guru; I just have to strive to be a good human being and lead a good and clean life, follow the rules of our society and live within my means. When the time for spiritual enlighten will come, my Guru will find me And I will know that He has come…..…..because I will know that I am ready, when I will understand the powers within me….…..

All that you wanted to know about me but were afraid to ask...

but I do have friends who will tag me so that I can tell the truth...and of course, I do like to talk about meself,(who doesn't?) if only people would allow me...many times, when I am talking about meself, people cut me and say, 'rehne do..stop showing off, we already like you too much'...and I feel blessed that people like me even when they dont know much about me...but when I get chance to brag about myself.(which I finally got)..how can I ever miss???? so, here I go answering all the questions as truthfully as I can..... 1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:00 am 2. How do you like your steak? I like it when it smiles 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? New York (and that too, without US visa!) 4. What is your favorite TV show? CNN _IBN- Cyrus with his phunny news, kya baat hai!! 5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Mumbai of course, and in this same house...muje kahi nahi janna! 6. What did you have for breakfast? A glass of fresh vegetable juice (laoki, carrots, cucumber) 7. What is your favorite cuisine? Stir fries, fast and easy..... 8. What foods do you dislike? One that has too much Indian masalas and I am burping continuously after eating….buuurb! See…there I go again!! 9. Favorite Place to Eat? In my balcony, enjoy the westerly winds ruffling my hair and I go Chomp! Chomp! 10. Favorite dressing? a mixture of honey, vinegar, musturd oil, salt and black pepper 11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Why should I drive? I am not a driver… 12. What are your favorite clothes? cool beige, pale blues or light pink, t-shirts with round necks 13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Phew! I am done with travelling, been all over the globe, not taking any more chances--bas ho gaya..... 14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? ½ empty of my stamina 15. Where would you want to retire? In an old age home with all the comforts of TV, Computer, AC room and library, spa, massage parlors and playing cards room with all the young volunteers being at my command with snap of my finger. 16. Favorite time of day? 11pm to 2am, everything is so quiet and I can think better…. 17. Where were you born? Jaipur, Rajasthan 18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Watching the married couple arguing over minor things, blaming each other, cribbing….snapping...bahut mazza aata hai...!!! 19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Some one who hates me… or my guts 20. Person you expect to tag you back first? one, who never ignores me.... 21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Someone whom I have been stalking for days.. hehhee 22. Bird watcher? Arrey, where are the birds in this concrete jungle?? doorbhini se bhi nahi dikhte hai....! 23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Depends on my moods 24. Do you have any pets? No way, I love my freedom 25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Pssss! Rakhi Sawant is coming back on TV, (I will buy ear buds this time so that I don't hear about it even from my neghbor's TV) 26. What did you want to be when you were little? Wanted to own toys industry (hey, I had actually won prize for most innovative toy when I was little, (tsk! tsk! India lost me to bad writing) 27. What is your best childhood memory? No good memories, only bad. I had a bad childhood, was abused, punished, threatened by my school teachers everyday….. They all hated the sight of me… 28. Are you a cat or dog person? I am pushee cat 29. Are you married? huh? 30. Always wear your seat belt? never, but I hold it in such a way that traffic policemen are fooled 31. Been in a car accident? Yes, but I was blessed, (not a scratch) 32. Any pet peeves? Dishonesty. Unpunctuality. Wrong message carriers. 33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? hmmn! Cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, onions, broccolis and eggplant 34. Favorite Flower? Sunflower 35. Favorite ice cream? Vanilla, tender coconut 36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway 37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Well, I never like failing in any test, so I never try one which will give negative results…. 38. From whom did you get your last email? From my fellow blogger who wants to swap-blogging post with me 39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I do only cash buying, never credit cards…. 40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nah! I am a deeeeeeeeep thinker….I don’t react immediately 41. Like your job? Of course, if I had one…… 42. Broccoli? Pretty. Healthy. me like it very much. 43. What was your favorite vacation? The one where I traveled across the whole of North India that included Haridwar, Badrinaryan, Rhishikesh, Jammu, Kashmir, Delhi (with my family of 25 members ,,Wow! That was unforgettable) 44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My favorite cousins from Caribbean Islands 45. What are you listening to right now? some distant traffic sounds on the linking road 46. What is your favorite color? Blue 47. How many tattoos do you have? What! Do you really think I would do that??? 48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? Depends 49. What time did you finish this quiz? 12 midnight 50. Coffee Drinker? Nah!

That terrorist swine flu to my country!!

This is really serious.. Swine flu is gripping the city and I am afraid of going out, nah, not that I am afraid of dying, if I die, it won’t make much difference to this world, but what if I fall sick? then, of course, it is likely to make a difference to the people who surround me…..Yes, I am afraid that if I get, I might infect more people, and I would certainly not like if somebody else got sick due to my carelessness. But that is exactly what has happened, it started in some distant country, thousands of miles away and has travelled all the way to India and is now infecting so many of my people in India. (I bet, if any disease such as this had started from India and travelled the same route to that distant country, there would have been some soldiers sent over to combat this war of disease and resolution to isolate India would be broadcasting on prime shows at every International TV channel Anyways whatever the case maybe, I still don’t like that our children are also suffering and are more prone to this disease because they have very low resistance. Also, unhealthy people especially those, who suffer poor health, are at higher risk from the H1N1 virus, which is commonly known as swine flu. People with diabetes, weak lungs, cardiovascular conditions, liver problems, blood disorder, neurologic disorders, immune suppression, including HIV infection and medication that suppress the immune system, such as cancer chemotherapy or anti-rejection drugs for transplant and people with low resistance are easily infected with this disease. So, how do I recognize this? Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Many people with swine flu have had diarrhea and vomiting. Nearly everyone with flu has at least two of these symptoms. But these symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions. That means that you and your doctor can't know, just based on your symptoms, that you've got swine flu. Health care professionals may offer a rapid flu test, although a negative result doesn't necessarily mean you don't have the flu. But the best thing that we can do is to take precautions. We have to get paranoid of washing our hands every ten minutes. The minute you hear someone coughing/sneezing, run to the nearest tap and wash your hands. Wear a mask, or better still, stay away from infected person. If you don’t feel the need to go out, don’t go. Stop roaming on the street aimlessly; enjoy the comforts of your house. The virus does not spread by eating well-cooked pork products, though it would be a healthy option to wash your hands properly after handling pork. In spite of all the precautions that you have been taking, are you still suddenly coughing/sneezing? RUN!!!, run to your doctor, and don’t waste your time reading my blog…Go to doctor RITE NOW..... FOR GOD’S SAKE!!!!DUH!!!!

Are you drooling? I don’t blame you!

 When I am at home, my stomach is stitched tight, not even a poke will induce hunger. I am busy in my work and food is the last thing on my mind. Many times, when my maid comes for work in the afternoon and sees the empty sink, she screams, scolding me for not having eaten all morning.

 But story is different when I am outdoors. I am always hungry. I see vadapav, I will hog, idli dosa, bhel puri, sandwitch,.there are so many hawkers on every street that it is impossible to remain hungry. One of my NRI friend once commented that people in India are happy lot because they are always munching something, and believe me that is true. I am surprised how hungry I get even when I visit my friends or family.

Today, I visited my friend and she served me uttappa topped with onions, green chillies and tomatoes, There was green mint chutney and coconut chutney. It was so delicious that I could not stop eating. I had four of them and wanted more. Then there was Rasgolla and then masala tea.. I was having the feast as though I was starved for weeks. (that’s shameless me) Surprisingly, at home I don’t eat any snacks, nor drink tea in the evenings. Not that there is no food in my house. Actually, I buy many food items and store them till their expiry date, but I don’t remember to eat.

 So why do I feel so hungry when I am out of my home?

Thinking! Thinking!

What do I do?

My maid comes late today and I stare at her, real hard “darn! where is my fresh vegetable juice? My bed is also unkempt, My kitchen is so dirty, there is too much mess…” she looks at me with sad eyes “Kai Karoo, What to do maam? Yesterday was 'Raksha Bandhan' but my brother came today for Rakhee, plus hubby is sick and he drinks too much..I am born with so many misfortunes, forgive me I am late…” And I slap myself for being so lazy and not helping her. The least I could do is to make my own bed.

Script Writing Workshop

I am a late bloomer so there are many things that I am doing for the first time because I missed it when my friends were doing it. Script writing is one thing that I decided to do but had to do in a group of much younger generation but what the heck, if I have to learn then I guess there is no age for learning. I attended 2-days workshop on script writing that was conducted by Rajashree, a National Award-wining filmmaker who has assisted the film personality like Mansoor Khan and Sanjay Leela Bansali. On the first day, we were five of us who were present for this workshop. To break the ice, Rajashree asked us to write an audio-visual script of any scene. The morning session started with the long discussion on process of making a film that included pre-production, production and post production. As a writer, we have to see the trends that are popular before writing a script. During the second half of the session, she discussed the international format of writing the script. We read the audio-visual script that we had written earlier and then were guided in writing our script in a correct format. Films are an audiovisual medium, so a script is basically a description of the visuals and sounds that will be seen and heard in the film. The ideas for the story can be sourced out from our experiences, or from topical news or by research and interviews. For a 2-day intensive workshop, I found the pace on the day one rather slow. The next Saturday, when I went again, I was surprised to see that all had shifted to 7-week course (Sundays only) which costs Rs3000 more and I was alone with one more person who had missed his class on another day. Together, we discussed the character analysis of protagonist and antagonist, the psychological, physical, emotional and social attributes of a character, and the back story of the character. The protagonist must have a goal to reach and there will be hurdles posed by antagonist. In the afternoon after lunch, I was alone attending this workshop. (hilarious!!) anyways, Rajashree reported ill, was having bad cold and requested me to come the next day and do the rest of the course with other up-graded group. So here I was, with a bonus extra-day at no extra cost, attending on Sunday. Normally, Sunday is the day of saints, and it is reserved solely for my family, but sometimes I make exceptions, though unwillingly. Ahem! We were nine in this group, chirpier with excellent ideas. During the morning session, assignments were read out that included sights and sounds of Juhu beach and the mall, character analysis of a protagonist, a scene of an act and the break-up scene-by-scene analysis of the film ‘Sholey’. It is amazing how two people have a different perspective of the same scene at the same time. During the afternoon session, she discussed the structure of the story and how it can be used in the story. A Syd Field’s 3-Act structure story has set-up, confrontation and the resolution. The plot point is when dramatic action takes place and there is climax. In a structure of 120 minutes, 0-25 is the set-up point, 25-30 is the plot point, 30-85 is the confrontation point, 85-90 is the second plot point and 90 to 120 is the resolution point. On the other hand, Shakespeare normally has 5-Act point in which Act 1 is the exposition/establishing, Act 2 is the introductory of a conflict, Act 3 the conflict deepens, Act 4 there is climax and Act 5 is the resolution. During the third session she discussed ‘Bharat’s Natya Sashtra which is actually the flavors of emotions that are seen in every film with which you succeed in creating the emotion in the audience. The nine Ratnas of emotion are Shant (peace), Shringar (love), Hasya (humor), Krodh (anger), Karu (sadness), Bhaye (fear), Ver (courage), Adbhut (wonder) and Bibuksh (disgust). Some film strips were then show to get some insight on the message of the film.. While the rest of the group will be busy for next four week, doing the intensive workshop on script writing, I shall do self-study and improve my skill. Whether I succeed or not in writing a script for a film, I am content that I have explored yet one more field.

Busy Again....

This week-end I went for script writing workshop and learnt the format for writing a film script. We were made to watch the film Philadelphia. Rajeshree, who was conducting the workshop, would read the script for about ten minutes and then show us the film for two minutes, pointing out as to us how the script is translated into a film, it was quite interesting…the problem with me is that I hardly ever watch TV serials, I get bored easily, but she has told me to watch as much TV as I can, to understand how the script is written .and to be able to write…(there are so many TV channels in India, if I can write for some serials, it would be nice but for that I have to understand what works and what are the trends.) .I am thinking of installing TV in my bedroom next to my computer…but, this is extra work for me….sigh! To install TV, I have to change the positions of my furniture, make new lower cabinets, shift wardrobes and give away the extra furniture to anyone who will use it… there is sewing machine that I am not using, have to get rid of it soon…the carpenter will begin work from next week….. Imagine, during my growing up years I have never read PG Wodehouse book! They are so very interesting. I am starting one now (never too late) I bought ‘Aunts aren’t gentlemen’ Gosh! I am loving it. I read in the bus (whenever I m travelling, I normally read or listen to FM) on my way to school. Truthfully, I don’t get enough time at home…. I have also started needlework. Made a small drawing of a cottage and will fill that with embroidery. One of my friends visited me recently and she liked the needlework-frames in my living room and she asked me to make it for her. I told her to take what was hanging on my walls but she insisted that I make new one, specially for her. So, here I am, doing needlework while watching news on TV.

‘Accu-Heal’ – Health in Your Hands

Okay, it is about time I did some work on the net and squeezed out the cash from it. Everybody is eating honey on net except me. So, I looked around, thinking of marketing some products where I can make some money and hear it go 'jingle-jingle' in my pockets, because that is where (I am told) people can find some gold-coated dough. Writing is my passion but I cannot make money on from it (right??) since I write only when I feel like and what I feel like, I can never write what others tell me to (and also, market is flooded with writers who blog for free and Ad Sense makes money from stupid bloggers like me and also there are too many writers around and I have managed to squeeze just one toe in, many people like to read what I write but none will pay me, how sad, na?) But wait a minute, yeah, I have found something that I would use it regularly. Because I care for my health and I hate taking pills, they normally get stuck into my throat and I have to drink gallon of water to flush it down my throat. Now, I can keep healthy by just pressing few points on my hand. There have been various things available in the market like pointed pencil-shaped sticks, colored pokey balls, iron spring rings, etc, and I have used most of these products but the most interesting thing that I found useful is this ‘Accu-Heal’. ‘Accu Heal’ is a mushroom-shaped thingie that has spring inside it; it is made of plastic and it is of very good quality. (not the China kind of plastic) The broad end is used to press with your palm (so that it dos hurt you)and the blunt narrow end is pressed on the points to stimulate the nerves that are leading towards that organ. It has spring inside it that makes it possible to press and release. I am using this and it is showing great results. When do I use it?? Well, every time I get minute or two for me, for example- While sitting in the bus, while waiting in a queue, while watching TV and also while waiting for the web page to open, (sometiimes it takes forever to open a page) These are the moments when I take care of my health. It is always here, next to my keyboard and also in my purse.(Yes, I have two, its not expensive, na..) Now I am going to sell these because if it is useful to me then it should be useful to others too. I have taken the agency of marketing this product. Yey! I am doing business!! Okay, the packing comes like this It has a graphic manual that shows the points and its corresponding link to the organs. For example, if you have a headache then you may press the narrow end of the mushroom on the upper tip of the thumb. Got it?? You see the points and corresponding area to the organs in the body in the manual. It is very clearly shown and very easy to follow. Just buy this product and be your own doctor. PS: Good news is that I have received one order from a company who plans to use it as a souvenir and distribute it as a gift to all its’ employees. Now isn’t that a cool idea??? I told you it is a great idea. Why don't you try it? huh? For trade enquiries, contact me at pmoorjani@yahoo.com

People from Bihar are quite hard=working .....

If you want to truly make money in Mumbai, there are hundreds of ways to make it, all you need to do is the hard work and sincerity, Me thinks that Bihari are very enterprising and you see them doing all kinds of odd jobs making our life easier. Auto rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, street hawkers, carpenters, painters, etc, etc, most of them are Biharis. Had they stayed back in Bihar and worked so hard in their own city, how rich and successful city would Bihar be? But Mumbaite are lucky that we get opportunity to avail of their service. Take for example like these group of Biharis stationed outside post office. The other day, I shopped for my niece some t-shirts, skirts, earrings and some accessories and headed towards the post office. It was drizzling and as soon as I stepped out of the auto, this Bihari smile at me and asked me if he could assist me. He took the packet from my hand and examined the contents and then led me inside the post office to show the contents to the post master. We were then back on the footpath, outside the post office, he dusted a small wooden stool and asked me to remain seated while he would pack it for me. Thus I sat, on a low stool, watching the traffic and the people on the streets and then watching him pack my parcel. Cramped up on his lower seat, with a small bag on his lap, and the broken plastic sheet over his head, up against the wall, barely protecting him from rain, he removed beige colored cloth, measured it around the packet and cut the cloth with razor blade (he didn’t even invest in scissors) and stitched the cloth around the packet. He gave me two forms to fill and guiding me the right way to write the address, stressing the point that both, ‘To’ and ‘From’ addresses should be written on one side of the packet and he stuck the form on the other side. He accompanied me back into the post office, bought stamps and helped me post it…. Quite easily done for a small fee of Rs50 only….

I Became a Film-Maker......Well, Er...Almost!!!!!

When I read my humor piece on Caferati read-meet on Saturday, I didn’t think much about it, but the next day, when I attended workshop on film-making and photography, that’s when my humor script found a channel... I went alone on Sunday morning (normally Sunday are reserved for family activities and I don’t usually go anywhere else, my family disapproves of it), I was hoping that I would have a friendly chat with at least one member at the work-shop, because I am normally quite shy to talk to strangers, especially when I am alone. The venue at Varsova (about one hour away from my house) was easy to find and I reached half an hour earlier than the actual time. To my surprise, I met the hostess of Caferati, Pinky, whom I had met a day earlier for the first time. We exchanged short greetings and then I waited for the hour to arrive, passing my time, flipping through magazines, avoiding the eyes of more strange people around me. The workshop started at 1030 hours and there were too many people, more people than what a room could accommodate. The session began with the instructor showing us a film he called pixilation ( a method of clicking still pictures and making a film on a computer using the application of 'adobe-after-effects') he showed us some great shots. I especially liked the one in which a story was made on a bed with graphic that showed the activities of a woman during the day (it was a great idea, must try that some time.) We were then asked to form our own groups to make one film per group. We had to spend the first hour making a story-board and then the rest of the day was to click shots, and then make a movie. Everybody started making groups. People who knew each other were first to form their groups. I waited for somebody to invite me, looking in all directions. Ann Huang,(casting director and short film maker) who was sitting opposite me, asked me if she could team up with me, she also asked Pradeep (lawyer) and Sidharth (Lawyer), who were sitting next to her, and we all agreed. Then Pinky,(Architect) who was sitting behind, approached to ask me if I could team up with her and her friend (graphic designer). I told her that I have already committed to one group, but Ann asked her if she would like to join us and thus team of six members were formed. We rushed out and occupied a private corner and thus our session began. Pinky suggested that I read my humor piece to the group and everybody loved it and so it was decided that we would make a film on my script. The story was about a foreigner in a coffee shop which I have blogged HERE It was decided that Ann was to play the role of 'foreigner', Pradeep the 'Bank director', Sidharth, the 'cousin' and yours truly was relaxing on a easy chair(as a back drop) and executing the story. Photography and graphics were done by Pinky and her friend. And thus the fun began. We clicked and clicked, more than 200 shots, checking it each time. Ann, Sidhharth and Pradeep put on their best acting performance and proved that they were gifted with acting talent, their expressions were captured in shots and we laughed through out the day. It was the best workshop that I had attended to this day. After lunch we downloaded the shots, edited them, added music and made a film, thus bringing my story alive.. The last session of the workshop (at 1800 hours) was to see all the film made by different groups and there were fifteen such groups. All the films were made with great interest, but of course, we felt, ours was ‘the best’. And why would that not be? My story was good, we had film maker in our group with graphic designer and architect and if anybody protests or disagrees, then we had lawyers to fight our case and prove our point. *grin*

My Un-invited Guest

I am not sure if it is wise to blog about a crow, It is a known fact that not many people in India would be interested in talking about it, though it is a daily visitor at our home, perching on our window sill, hopping from one window to another, getting restless when ever it sees us munching something.. a most greedy and irritating bird, who wants his share in everything that we eat. Wants to grab everything that it sees lying around, whether it needs it or not. (Some ancestor that it is believed to be, whenever it visit me, I try to guess its relation to me) Well, it has got my attention since last two months and has held me prisoner in my own house. The story goes like this… I was out of my Mumbai for two months and the crows believed it was a haunted house. It gathered twigs from different branches and built a nest, a nice round nest, tucking it neatly on my balcony grill, very artistically made and was tied with a blue cord to make it secure. Some workmanship there…. When I came back home after two months, there were five pretty eggs, bluish in color with brown and black spots. I had no heart to destroy the nest and throw away the eggs, plus the gang of crows would not allow it. Each time I went into my balcony there would be more than twenty crows hovering near my balcony. I would show my fist to them and come back into my room. For next two months, I watched them grow and even managed to click pictures out-smarting that gang. It was a great sight watching them grow from tiny helpless mass of flesh to a full size crows. I was amazed by the care that the other crows took to see to the safety of their young ones, (humans are careless some times, but not those crows) although there were five eggs, there were only two crows hatched, I wonder what happened to other three eggs, cause there were no sign of broken, un-hatched shells…..also, my balcony was quite clean during those two months, no litter, no mess, nothing. The only thing that irritated me the most was that they were so damn rebellious when ever I wished to sit in my balcony. They would threaten me, cawing loudly and entering through my grill and flying around me. Even the bribe of bread or morsel of food would not help. They were so very protective of their young ones and were not ready to risk my presence. (“Hello, this is my house” I would protest) I normally have an evening cup of tea in my balcony, but since last two months I have been deprived of it. I have watched them grow. I saw the little ones try to spread their wings, saw them looking up into the sky with their open, pinkish beak, and trying to produce sounds that sounded like squeaks. When they were able to walk, they walked around the grill, flapping their wing, slowly practicing flying a short distance and then snuggling back into their nest for some rest. And finally, they gathered enough courage to fly into the sky. I was relieved of course. I quickly asked my helper to destroy the nest. But the crows were still rebellious and furiously cawing but she had to defy them and remove the nest. It was so strong that she had to use her strength to lift it out from the grill. Late that evening, the baby crows came back (I recognised them from their slightly pinkish beak) and they were surprised that there is no comfortable nest. But they are still there, jay walking in my balcony, not yet courageous to leave my home. And I am still a prisoner in my home

Guru, I Bow to You!

Yesterday was Guru Purnima and it was a great day to celebrate and remember the greatness of their Guru. In India, everybody has a Guru and first thing people will ask you is, ‘Who is your Guru?’. When I say ‘nobody as yet' then they are surprised and shake their head in regret telling me that there is no hope for me. I belong to a family of one Spiritual Guru, and I secretly believe and have faith in Him. He takes very good care of me. Why must I propagate my Spiritual Guru’s name in public?? Isn’t the relationship between Guru and disciple a personal matter, not to be gloated or advertised?? I respect everybody’s Gurus too. If people believe in any Guru and want to talk about his greatness, I have no problem at all but I wish they would not ask me about my beliefs. Anyways, my sister celebrated Guru Purinima in her house. Her sister-in-law is quite religious and she knows to perform many religious rites. Yours truly went to help with the decoration prior to puja Later, that evening, all the family and friends gathered in her house to sing and chant hymns while they washed the idol of their guru with oil, milk and water and then they prayed to the picture of their Guru, offering fruits and money, flowers and light from the incense coil. I was thinking of all the teachers during my school days and could not recollect any warm memories of the days with my teachers. None of the teachers ever loved me. I do remember the names of only those meanest teachers who hated me the most and they would compare me to the brightest student and point out my stupidity. Some of my teachers had promised me that I had no future at all and that I would be an idiot all my life. I have very unhappy memories of my school days cause I would be punished almost everyday and spanking was the order of the day. Some days I came home with cracked knuckles and some days with injured ear. My cheeks would always have the imprint of marks left by angry teachers. I learnt to hate them all and wanted so badly to teach them a lesson on tolerance and patience. Well, some people are lucky that they have found a good guide in their teacher and are happy to remember them on this day. It was a good feeling to see the devotion of people around me. All the people chanted happily about the greatness of their Guru and later enjoyed the feast of snacks and drink. I went away mid way, to a book store, to pay my patronage to the books at the store. Most of my life, I have done self study. Knowledge to me has come from that printed matter and it has given me all the joy. My spiritual Guru is in my heart and the printed words balms my mind. I am also grateful to my family and my close friends who have stood by me, have guided me, encouraged me and had faith in me. I am proud to be a person that I am, hopefully not as stupid as my teachers imagined me to be…...

I have changed my profession, have started farming….

I have just one plant at home that was gifted to me by my sister, a bamboo plant. My sister promised me that it would bring me luck, I am not sure whether its’ magic is working on me., but yes, it is out there, near my main door, growing healthily. But I cannot take credit of this healthy plant because I am so damn lazy that I cannot take care of plants. I am too lazy to even go to fetch water for myself, so how do I find strength to go and water the plants? The task of watering the plant is handed over to my maid, who dutifully waters and tends to the plant whenever she thinks it is time to do so. But that does not mean that I do not like plants, actually, I love plants, especially those flowering trees that line up the road in my lane. I love the fragrance and the colors that brighten up my days, its' freshness and the greenery and I sometimes wish I were not so lazy, then, may be I would probably tend a garden too. Now-a-days, all I like is sitting in front of this computer and reading and writing. I enjoy meeting my friends on face book, reading their status and playing scrabble with them, there are links that my friends direct me to visit and I go to those links to read what they find it interesting, and now, my friend sents me a potted plant on face book. Wow! thats kewl! isn't it? It’s true that I cannot do the break breaking job of tending a garden, but this virtual farm town on the face book is something different, and quite a blessing indeed. Now I have become a farmer, I buy land, plough fields, plant seed, and harvest the ripe fruits and crops and sell the produce. sometimes I store them because I am too lazy to go to market and sometimes I hire help during harvesting. Its loads of fun and I am quite enjoying it. I even visit my friend’s farm and look after their farm when they are busy and I am not feeling too weak. hahaaha! In two days I have learnt to grow grapes, potatoes, I have some animals in my farms too and now is in process of putting fence around animals because otherwise they keep escaping and walking all over the fields. I will even buy a farm house. When I am rich with lots of trees and enough stock of fruits and vegetables, I will be able to invite some friends to come and spend few days on my farm. No need to rent a car, or buy fuel to reach my farm, it is just a click away, now that is what I would call a ‘Mouse Potato’ huh??

My Birthday Celebration

Till the age of twelve, I did not know the date of my birth….every day was the same and nobody cared. Being the fifth girl in the family, I was most unwelcomed arrival into this world. So the celebration was naturally out of question.

At school, I would receive sweets and chocolates from my friends and sometimes was even invited for birthday parties but mine was never ever celebrated. I envied all the rich girls and hoped to be born in a better home in my next birth. I always wished that some one would celebrate my birthday, make me feel important, shower me with gifts and get me those frilly new dresses. But being fatherless, things were different.

 Luckily for me, I was blessed with most beautiful and caring mother but she also had her own problems and was under too much stress. Living in a joint family without a spouse is difficult, life is hard. Therefore I never dared ask her for a celebration of my birthday nor did I ever ask her the date of my birth.

 It was at the age of thirteen that I finally learnt the date. That was when I had changed school and I was able to peep into my school leaving certificate. It said 27th June and I waited, glancing at the calendar everyday, waiting for the day to arrive. And at the age of fourteen, I finally celebrated my birthday for the first time in my life.

Being inexperienced, I took all my friends for a movie and then treated them with Samosas and drink and the culture of celebrating birthdays began.

 But, this kind of celebration always embarrasses me, I no more enjoy the attention and the fuss associated wih it and normally like to spend it quietly. But, friends who care, drop in uninvited to wish me and I treat my friends for a lunch or an outing and have a good time.

 But this year, things were different. It coincided with a marriage celebrations of my cousin’s son in Jaipur. Now, Jaipur is the place I was born in but I have never ever celebrated my birthday there. It sounds good! My sister decided to gift me a return air ticket, and that was a perfect. So, this year, the birthday celebration was different.

I wore a new dress, travelled to Jaipur, took a tourist bus from airport to ‘Le Meridian Hotel’ a fifty minutes drive (during which I was able to get some great shots of the city), was received with traditional music, a flower garland and a warm welcome, and I was given a suite, the biggest room in the hotel that I shared with her mom (she always says that I am her favorite cousin whenever she introduces me to her friends, so naturally, I deserve the best..), attended the Hi-Tea event, where we were introduced to other guests, and then late evening, there was a welcome party in the hotel with delicious cuisine and entertainment.

There were many dances organised, including belly dancers who put in their best performance…. Although all the guests were attending this wedding celebration, I pretended that it was my party…..

hahahaha!! What more can one ask???

Living in a Talibanised Society

There is a news article about a British Muslim woman who feels that veil is simply a tool of oppression which is used to alienate and control women under the guise of religious freedom and is calling on the government to follow the lead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and ban burkha in the country. She feels that the veil restricts women. It stops them achieving their full potential in all areas of their life, and it stops them from communication. It sends out a clear message: 'I do not want to be part of your society.' This reminds me of my trip to Kuwait some years ago. While in Kuwait, I saw many women in burkhas. I knew that they were fashionable from their selection of high heeled shoes and their beautiful, smooth white skin that was laced with crystal bracelets and diamond rings. The eyes that peeped through that slit also had mascara and eye make-up. The women moved in groups and I would see them in malls shopping for branded clothes. On my way back to Mumbai, I was wheeled to my seat before the other passengers. I saw many women in burkha board the aircraft. But this particular woman had left a lasting impression on me. She had approached my seat, and confirmed it to be next to mine. Before sitting, she went to cloakroom. When she came back, she had burkha under her arm. The woman who sat next to me was chirpy teenager with a sweet smile and was dressed in branded jeans and noodle-strapped blouse.

Culinary Chat

Whenever I visit my friends I am surprised by the number of dishes that are served on a dining table, there will be great assortments like Rice, Chappatis, two starter, dhal, two different vegetables, yogurt, aachar and papad. One big Thali!!!!How can we eat so many things? I am always confused if my plate is filled up with so many different delicacies. Should I eat Rice first or should it be Chappati? And Indians feel insulted if you don’t eat what they have so lovingly cooked for you, so you have to stuff yourself and that is not all, after lunch comes a bowl of fruits and then deserts like ice-cream or kulfi and finally Paan…..gosh how do they do it? I am beginning to hate masalas in food that means that I am not enjoying outside food and would like to cook all my meals with as little masalas as possible. That’s the reason I like Chinese…it takes so little time to cook and yet so tasty. Like today I made this shredded chicken, Chinese style. I had marinated chicken in garlic, chicken cube and soya sauce for half an hour. On a very high flame I stir-fried the marinated chicken, added spring onion, green chilies, red/green/yellow capsicum, and the dish was ready in just ten minutes. Had it with rice and the little empty space in my stomach I filled it up with orange juice. See, so easy? It is better than preparing Indian dishes where we keep stirring and stirring till the arms get sore. If it takes just ten minutes to eat the food, why should it take two hours to cook it? We just have to fill stomach, we must eat to live and not live to eat. Feasting on food should be reserved only during festivals when burping is the sign of enjoyment. Right?

BollyWood is ‘Maid’ up of all ‘Un-Shiney’ people! Rascal! Bai-Sexual!

Every news channel in India is talking about Shiney Ahuja…(see, I can remember his name, for otherwise, I am lousy at remembering names,.) Well, this Shiney looked like a nice guy in movies.(.but then, most of the heroes in the film do look good, what with all that make-up et-al)…but, he turned out to be such a big goonda…raping a maid? Bollywood is filled up with people who could have readily quenched his libido, free of charge, why go and rape a helpless minor? Is he really ‘Bai-sexual’ (like my friend commented on her FB status.) And, his wife comes to his rescue… “Anupam Ahuja on Wednesday mounted a spirited defense of her husband Shiney Ahuja who has been accused of raping their maid in their Oshiwara home.” Screamed the paper headlines today. Now, that is strange! I am sure his wife knows him well, why is she defending him,and blaming the maid of raping her husband?? At a press conference, she said her ‘soulmate’ and ‘doting father to our daughter’ was innocent and was being framed. “Rape is a very heinous crime and in these times, rape can be committed not just by a man; we all know that even a woman can do it,” she said, adding that her husband was being framed “possibly because he is a celebrity and all celebrities are soft targets’’. And I want to ask her as to how will she explain the blood on the scene of crime (bed) and the brutal marks on her body? There are clear evidences that the girl has been abused by her hubby, her dearest hubby, Ahem! Come on! Be practical Anupam. You must know your husband well. ….let him rot in jail for seven years, let his career be doomed for ever This will be a good lesson for all men who take poor people for granted and believe that they can freely abuse anyone.. arrey.. Media is strong now-a-days. Don’t you know that? You really cannot fool around… Very powerful I say, and very strong… and the media's verdict is 'GUILTY' NOW, BUT, PARANTU, KINTU, over to justice, law and police...proof, money, witness, believers, nonbelivers...Fate will be decided by luck alone.... Prayers might also help Understand?