Mumbai to Mexico City - My journey into a new world... Part 1

What do you say when you are going to a new city, away from all that you have seen, been with. Hang to your pants folks, it will be a ride through madness :P

Between meeting friends, saying my good byes, packing or deciding what not to, to adhere to the weight limits that our commercial flights allow was a very interesting experience. 


To top it off bright and early on Sunday morning I am asked to prepare something from office. So drop everything and travel two hours one way to retrieve the blessed office laptop so that I can deliver the information. 

Fast forward to Monday morning, packing pending, tickets pending, documents pending, money pending, flying that very evening. I love the thrill and certainty of things around me - everything will be last minute - if you prepare in advance, murphy will come to say hello.

Well it was not to be just so simple as solving the pending items before the travel. One of my dear aunt's scheduled a meet a girl for marriage. What's the harm in meeting a girl and decide if you want to marry her in 30 minutes, 3 hours before you are going to fly to a distant country for a year or more? I cannot fault with that reasoning can I?

The day pans out brilliantly as I run from one team to another asking for the bare necessities, targeting to leave by 5 PM so that I can finish my packing, meet the girl (to be or not to be my future wife). 

Anyways I made it in time and managed to fulfill the commitment to meet the girl, finish my packing. Sorry the girl was not to be, and dot at 12:15 PM all set to take the first step to this new adventure in life. PHEW!!!

Insanity & its benefits

Well there is something about doing too much thinking work, which short circuits the brain, or rather if you have thought too much, your brain starts working super fast, faster than the normal course of day. Well the end result with me having done too much thinking is equal to some really interesting situations!!! :P
Today while working on some concept notes here and there. I was done after thinking about it for 2 hrs and getting no where, so I decided to have a conversation with my bag... or at least tell my friends I was talking to my bag. Those who know me, know that I am insane and I hope they agree that it is part of my charms :D...
Friend 1:
Me: right now i m talking to my bag 
My friend: :-) 
bag gives inspiration? (well seriously I think she expected worse from me, talking to bags is certainly not something to surprise this one)
Me: naa i don think my bag is giving me any inspiration
Me: i was just asking my bag if he wanted a 'bagvati'
My friend: lol
Me: well he laughed too and said - tere budget mein nahin aawegi
My friend: Yeah so true, there is waiting list for bagvatis'
Friend 2:
Me: right now i m talking to my bag
My friend: that's gud
Me: well i was just asking my bag if he wanted a 'bagvati'
My friend: wow
bbye
logging off now (wonder why the sudden urge to drop off?)
Friend 3:
Me: right now i m talking to my bag
My Friend: :-) (now I am starting to wonder, why people smiled when I said this to them!!!!)
Me: neways so i asked my bag if he wanted a bagvati
My Friend: ya right!!
My Friend: and I am sure being your bag......
My Friend: he said "NO!!!"  (Such a good thought, she is such a good friend)
My Friend: ;)
For those who did not understand, who is 'bagvati' please watch "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara"...  

The Little Things (Part 2)

Realizing that my subconscious that noted these little things, had gone on a temporary strike from bringing this up. I decided to brush this skill with a conscious attempt to notice things and smile once I had noticed them.

These observations that I share here are the two which I felt are worth mentioning:

• The Gate-keeping cats: Well I believe this tops the list of funny little things and one in a millionth probability. So here I was walking on my way to a bus stop when I pass this one floor home and for some reason on that day, two cats decided that they would be lions. One white cat and one blackish cat were sitting on the two sides of the gate, without facing each other in a perfect statue like state.
  
  They were concentrating so much on something that I thought they were actually newly placed home decors!!! However, on some closer view, I realized they were living cats :P. The photo here can best showcase what I saw: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2959697; although the cats were just 1 feet big unlike the photo
  
• The Newly weds: What I am going to say here, may not be a big deal for many. However, in India its easy to identify a newly wed bride (not sure about grooms yet), since they wear a lot of red bangles on their hands.
  
  While traveling on the bus, I noticed this couple boarding, as with our buses, they were crowded, and there was a sudden jolt, to avoid falling the bride quickly gripped her husband tightly. Her husband, held her hand, smiled and they both continued the journey.
  
• The Poor but Lucky Chap: I had noticed this once on my nocturnal drives I took with my friends. There was this lad who seemed so sloshed that he was unable to walk. Thats the poor part, the lucky bit was that this chap was being dragged not by a fellow friend, but by a girl.
  
  To say a girl, is misleading, he was being held up and helped not by 1 but by 3 girls. Well I think forest gump's dialogue can be modified here - "Lucky is what Lucky does!!!"
  
  I will add more instances as I notice them in this beautiful world that is trying its best to make us laugh.... Are you watching?

The Little Things (Part 1)

It is funny how some very small yet interesting things get missed in the hustle bustle of daily life. I have always considered myself to be a crack at it, with a great eye for detail. However, I have had a few interesting incidents that have turned my views, inside out or have put satisfactory doubt into my mind.

The first was at a friend's work desk, in the last two years I have walked there a million times, awaiting the next question she will throw which will put me in a quandary. She has this amazing knack of finding the 1 in a millionth possibility which will undo the hard work. Let us not take away the fact that, that 1 possibility will magically be in her projects only. Thank God for these small mercies!!!

Anyway, I digress, the last three times I have been at her desk, I started noticing things and was pondering when did they get there! Haven't seen them, and with my usual confidence, I asked when she had gotten them. Wham! (came the first smack to my precious ego), where she said that these things were always there. Double Wham!! (the second whammy came), you did not notice these for all this time!!!

I smartly beat a hasty retreat to avoid this cornering, but I returned and decided to mine the beautiful wall for, here are the two very interesting spoils I plundered from her desk:

"Sandpaper When you have to put up with mean people, Think of them as sandpaper. They may scratch you, Rub you the wrong way But Eventually.... You end up smooth and polished.

And the sandpaper...? It'll be worn out and ugly! Makes you think, doesn't it?
 
Never lose sight of who you are because you are the best thing God ever created! Embrace the gift."
 
"Common Sense Common Sense is NOT a Gift…… It is a Punishment!!! Because you have to deal with everyone who doesn’t have it!!!"

Again the confidence about noticing the little things, got thrashed. I was waiting for the bus that nicely packs us and delivers us to office, the sun was doing its all time best to bake me alive. When I moved under the shade of a pillar and was blessing it and wondering when it was put up for the greater benefit of me. That's when another colleague seemed to read what was on my mind and said, "yeh toh pehle se hi tha!"...... 

Aieeeyaaa!!!!

(to be continued)

Passion – The recipe I want for EVERYTHING!!!

It is very intriguing to look at kids while they play or do something; there is always a passion in them to do things. It’s funny, that the one thing that makes us excel at what we do, we become very selective in showcasing the same. For a kid everything is new and hence, they are passionate to experience it – they want to experience everything and yet would not know what they have experienced. I think that there are few who would clearly remember what they did when they were kids.

It is easy to say that we become “selective” with our passions and the energies, we evolve and dedicate ourselves to the specific activities that give us the most pleasure. I sound wasteful but why be so selective, would it not be fun if everything is met with the same kind of passion and furor?

I wholeheartedly agree that passion is addictive, indeed I love observing how some people showcase their passion – there is a fire in their eyes. Some interesting things I have noticed is a friend starts singing a hymn when it he is fully into something he does. Another friend, develops a smile out of nowhere when the passion engine is kicked. I get mesmerized by these views, for in them you see the best of everyone. Even the most introvert show signs of "Its time to rock this joint!". 

Sometimes, equating passion with anger also has its bright moments. However, due to the risks involved when someone is angry, distance of observation is directly proportional to the level of threat from the anger :P – I do not want to be dead for running experiments :D.

There is a need to be wasteful about passion, I wish to somehow control the selective power of my subconscious and whatever needs doing, gets done with the same passion as I get while I am running a raid in a game, or seeing a buiIding come up.

An Experiment on Mumbai Locals

Courtesy the desire to have a thought a day on this new blog, I thought why not try something interesting. I am learning Chinese and a thought came to my mind - why not try practising Chinese in the middle of a local train and observe the responses of the people around :P.

Well this experiment was done in two phases, the first was today in the morning when I was with some folks from the classes and the next when I was heading back home alone in the train.

So here it goes.... So here my friend Alok and I, sitting in the train when we started discussing the Chinese pronunciations and trying to pronounce "Malad" the Chinese way. Which was - "MAAA - LAAAA - DE"; with the negotiation happening about how to pronounce the last word "D" to Chinese Pronunciation Perfection! After some initial discussion I observed the person sitting next to me stare at me weirdly and that's when I hit upon this idea. Alok and I then in earnest started practicing Chinese. 

The gentleman on my left got so scared that he actually shifted a little away from me, with a stunned/ shocked look on his face. I looked forward and the man in front of me was intently listening, wondering what is wrong with these folks, in fact he was kind enough to enquire about my health when I was getting off at Borivali.

The second stint started when I was heading back from Borivali. This time I did not have a partner in crime, so I thought I would really get some interesting views. When I got a seat, there are three sets of people who are worth mentioning, an elderly gentleman on my left, a couple and an old lady in front.

As I started pronouncing the Chinese syllables, the elderly gentleman thought I was reciting music and started singing too. Infact he was offended when he realized I was doing anything but reciting music. He frowned at me and started singing even louder, as if to drown out my terrible noise. I should be worried, seems I sound terrible :P.

The couple was really not interested in my recital till, for some god forsaken reason (honestly the Chinese I was screaming), made the guy think I was hitting on his girl :O. Let us not take anything away from this man, he was well stuffed with mass in the right places - biceps and gave me the dirty looks. Fearing for my health I promptly took out my notebook. I started smiling and did everything in my power to not look in that direction.

The old lady was my only solace, she was a stern looking one, but when she saw I was just a "little" kid studying, she smiled at me. Thankfully, it was time to get down at Andheri and I happily got down thinking of how interesting this experiment had been.

Honestly, I think the fact that "u" pronounced with the lips in a circle seems like you are hinting at kissing someone. Need to work on that, but loved the reactions. I think I will now try doing this in a best bus.

Funny sights... R-City Mall

Folks,

 

Careful what you wish for, I have started typing for the fun of typing :P

 

I had gone shopping with Ayesha, more like tagged along with her while she decided what she wanted to buy. While waiting I noticed two ladies and a baby girl with them. The girl and her mother were from the north east India. This has no relevance to what I noticed and could be true of any Indian family or any family for that matter.

 

While waiting for her friend to try out clothes, the kid who I must say was dressed in a shiny blue dress which is peculiar of the Japanese/ Chinese, I believe it was like a Chinese traditional dress, but beautiful flowers inlayed into the dress. The kid was hyper active and was not in the mood to sit and do nothing. She was constantly moving around and trying to explore and entertain herself. This was driving her mother crazy and she was continually telling her to sit down and not make a mess.

I was happily sitting and smiling at the situation, the girl however, started lying on the floor, touching the floor. This I think drove the mother over and she lost her patience with her daughter. The initial ploy she used was to threaten her by calling their doctor. This seemed to work initially cause I think the girl was genuinely scared of going to the doctor and tried to stop her mother. However, within 2 minutes the girl was back to her antics and took an adult’s dress and ran into one of the changing rooms. 
 
The mother finally got very annoyed, and asked the store attendant that if the “dark room” (Janitor Room) is for keeping naughty kids locked while the parents shopped. The store attendant actually said yes. I must say I was very impressed by how the attendant was able to catch up to the ploy or perhaps since the group was there for long, she too had observed the mother’s pain and sympathized with her.
 
However, the threat to lock the girl into the “dark room” was the killing blow. The girl quietly came and sat onto the cushion next to me and was tear eyed. The girl was hurt that her mother had contemplated throwing her into a dark room. However, as soon as the mother saw her kid crying she started to use logic, which I must say was very funny. The exact words were: “I did not say to lock you into the dark room, I asked them that do they lock in naughty kids into the room. You are not a naughty girl naa, you do not like dark rooms naa!!!”
 
Ayesha had made her decision for purchase by then and I left smiling at the funny course of events I was witness to.
 
For a moment I was impressed by the sheer talking skills displayed by the kid, the use of English, her native tongue as well as some Hindi. On the other hand I was not happy with the arm twisting tactics that the mother was using, however, I did not judge thinking she must have had a really long day and the kid was very restless. 
 
This brings me to an interesting query that flashed across my brain – what are the kids being taught today. They are smarter and have greater comprehension of the world around them, they talk smarter, understand a lot more, explore a lot more – but what is all this advanced intelligence costing them. The kid did not seem to respect her mother, she was slapping and scratching her mother and making a face. I somehow was surprised by that behavior of the kid…