Not to mention the dog Ramu, who belongs to the neighbor nearby, who thinks its his right to treasure hunt the packets of rubbish kept outside in the night. And throw it all around.. after playing with the smelly junk.

Now during the day, this little bugger is a daily visitor.

After we have started gardening greens and different forms of plants, and Dad does his organic bit by saving up on vegetable peels to use them for the plants, its been a feast for the little critter. He even is not letting the greens grow in peace.. sigh…

Somehow, there is this young tree which has been growing like nobody’s business, near my veranda and its a very convenient hop skip and jump to my place.. to eat, forage and go. Rocky usually defrosts the fish in the sun.. Dont ask me why.. he says its faster..

So typically, he was planning to cook something special and left the fishes defrosting in the veranda and forgot about it …

Well after a while, Rocks comes and sees that instead of X pieces of fish, there was only one..

So logically, this lovable critter is a vegeterian… but nowadays, animals in the city eat anything edible and I am not averse to thinking that this was an experimental, exotic dish.

The other suspect are the predatory feather friends… who visit me on and off and who like fish..Crows, kites, hawks, the mystery continues.. till we catch it red handed..

Somebody today had a very good day..

Reminds me of another time, when a dog stole a kilo of mutton right under our nose near Fanoos while we were paying for our kababs… Hahahah !!

And its moments like that lightens up my life..

So well…this post is all about adapting to change…. in my own way..

One of my friends had advised me sometime back that wherever I am, I should not grow roots… but hey guess what… being in a place for almost 5 years, roots with regard to logistics and locations have grown on me and its taking me time to walk the present path…

Its so true that when one lives in a certain condition, you whole being adapts to the same. In a new land and a new country even though sometimes its strange, after a while, the very strangeness which you would wonder at would become your identity… or give you the feeling of belongingness..

This is what happened to me .. which threw me asunder as to what was going on with me..

Pallavi driving to office and though the new work place is nearer and the route easier, she inevitably takes the old route to her old office and for no reason whatsoever, she keeps doing this many times…specially when she is thinking of tasks to do at work and planning the same while driving …. suddenly she always sees herself in a place which is far away from her present work and very near her old workplace… and frustration mounting, she has to reroute herself back…. wasting precious moments… GAH

Pallavi goes to office.. and typically when nature calls,

Day 1 : she runs to the loo.. usually its at the last minute… so run run run…. and bang !!!! she opens the door to the men’s loo and rushes right in… and IMMEDIATELY backtracks…

Day 2 : she again runs to the loo.. so run run run…. and bang !!!! she opens the door to the men’s loo and rushes right in… and IMMEDIATELY backtracks…

And she tries and tries not to do that.. Pallavi is careful.. Day 3 goes fine…

Day 4 : runs to the loo… so run run run…. and bang !!!! she opens the door to the men’s loo and rushes right in… and IMMEDIATELY backtracks…

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I am thinking.. there is something wrong with the neurons in my brain… and I get it.. its the bloody neurons..

Like I learnt and noticed things which you do repeatedly, it becomes an automated path which the brain just does not think but its like a switch which just gets triggered and the body just functions… without thinking..

So for the route, I now plan the route in my mind before starting out.. and I try to be aware and take the right one.. I know that if I do not create this path consciously, I will keep making mistakes..

Bathroom : Well, in my old workplace, the entrance to the ladies section was in the direction of the men’s section in my present workplace.. hence the confusion.. so again, I try not to do the last minute bit and go when I have to go and save myself any corporate embarassment.. ( Sheeesshh) :)

Moral of the story : Be aware of yourself and catch yourself automatically saying and doing things which has no context or prevalence on the present situation.. create new paths of thoughts which is fitting to your current path and you will be surprised to find that the old paths of habits are just lessons and need not be the solution to your everyday growth.. sometimes its good to leave the past beliefs behind..

A new social network : Moooooooooooshhh !!

Pallavi walks into the medical shop to buy supplies..

A BIG BLACK COW (taller than her) with beautiful eyes also walks with her… and it so happens she stops when Pallavi stops.

She looks at me with her beautiful eyes and very softly and huskily says.. Mooosshhh !!!! as if she was asking me something.

Pallavi is conversing with the medical shop guy, and then again, the cow specifically addresses her : Mooooosshhhh!!

Pallavi surprised at this.. replies back : “hello there… what do you need in her own way “

The cow again softly says Mooooosshhhh!!

Pallavi finds it cute and goes back to the immediate task of giving the money for the meds she buys..

The shopkeeper now finds the cow a bit irritating because its blocking his street.

So knowing Pallavi as a regular customer to buy this and that, he asks her politely:

Madam, DOES THE COW KNOW YOU..????

Pallavi is like WHAT !! Maybe sometimes she gives too much importance to semantics.. But there was a pause before she replied..(did she KNOW this cow ??? Nope, never saw her or talked to her or said hello before.. )

And he goes again politely.. :No Madam if you know each other, I will not chase her..

Pallavi cooly smiles and says, No She does not know the cow, thank you. She just likes animals.. LOL and tells the cow to go her way.. and the cow actually turns gently away and goes her way. I cannot forget her beautiful eyes.. She was sorry she could not help her..  she knew the cow was asking her something ( go figure !!)

Rocky tells me that cows back home do this to humans to ask about their babies.. its natural.. So I rest myself.. thinking … oh very well, I did not know where her babies were.. but I definitely did not KNOW the cow.. buhahahaha !!!!

Moral of the story : You dont have to KNOW any sentient being to be kind to them..

Buahahah !!!

I was going to spend time with a soul friend…

Everything was ready, my backpack was ready, my book and music added, my checklist ticked, alarm set and ticket “assumed”.

Typically before any journey, I have this muted excitement which sends thrills of anticipation of discovering new bits and pieces or revisiting old bits and pieces when one travels..

Being up early in the morning, I was ready an hour early. My train to Coimbatore was at 8:00 AM. With lot of love and kindness, my mother-in-law and Rocks decided to drop me off.

We reached the railway station and I was in the frame of mind to hop on and get into my drifting space of travelopia.

I took out the ticket to check the train number and GUESS WHAT !! my train had already left for Coimbatore at 6:15. All the while I was referring to the return ticket.. GAH !! I was ashamed when the enquiry guy looked at me as if I was stupid to enquire about a train which already left..

For the first time in my life I MISSED MY TRAIN. Rocks was boiling and slowly fuming.. I did not know what to say… Well what do you say ?

Its no use bemoaning the fact that you have missed the train. I just smiled and laughed it away. When I called my friend, she also laughed out loud.. and well I was happier to hear her laugh and my world was better again..

By now Rocky also swallowed his ire and patiently started driving back murmuring under his breath that I could cancel my ticket..

I was keeping my pleasant attitude about this and did not point out until later that one cannot cancel the ticket once the train has left. Ha ha !! But he was only trying to be a man and help me out so I smiled again.

Its no use cursing yourself.. well then I thought to myself… I think I will end up chilling at home which was also fine.

Then suddenly I thought of trying the bus and fortunately, there was only one counter open and Rocks patiently waited till I found one lone old man chewing on tobacco half asleep.. blearily asking me where I wanted to go..

I said Coimbatore and he did say that there was a bus at 12:30 PM. I was thrilled. He suddenly woke up and skipped and crossed the road. I skipped behind him to go to another counter which was also the only one open and got myself a ticket to Coimbatore.

Rocky drove us back home and on the way back we had some freshly made dosas under a huge tree.. and generally enjoyed ourselves… mother in law was very encouraging about the situation and though I was embarrassed… I was feeling better that I would be going on that trip anyway.. and it was about a few hours late.. well all was well.

Rocky kindly dropped me and saw me off from the bus station at 1:00 PM, this time making sure that I left with the bus and not without. Typically IST wise, the said time and the actual time differed. No surprise there..

The bus was comfortable and since I had Seat no 1, I was pretty glad that I could have a wide view of the drive and what was in front of me..

Well the bus started with some nice Tamizh songs. Which was fine. They are pretty cool with fancy DVD with some MP3 CDs ready to be played for the traveler’s hearing pleasure.

Suddenly I was jerked by a song which sound like TITANIC many a times in the lyrics.. It was funny to say the least but I was bright and happy.. so it did not matter.

We stopped at the Bharat Petroleum Eating joint after Krishnagiri. And it was late afternoon. After a quick bite and an empty bladder, the bus started onwards. The handyman very enthusiastically, took out a 5 in 1 DVD and switched on the DVD.

And on came RAJANIKANT with his different expressions and that sultry look of his chewing on his trademark ciggie.

There were some mythological characters, Rajani in modern clothes and role and Rajani in a villager role. As the movie unfolded, I was zapped, sitting in silence, trying to focus on the nature passing by but forced to watch the movie and got caught up in the story which was totally ludicrous to say the least but totally entertaining..

I watched disbelievingly at Rajani making an entrance on a motorcycle with smoke billowing behind him chewing on his ciggie trying to block a truck on the highway at night.

Then he starts beating up people right and left and the fight scenes goes on and on.. Rajani with his white shirt and pant and him beating up some 10 -20 people without his white shirt getting dirty. WoW !!

Then while Rajani is fighting for his life.. in the fight scenes, we have Sheeba ( the somewhat known and forgotten Bollywood heroine) shouting.. “ippdi” !!! ” Sooper ” Soober man” And mimicking her arms boxing the air.. “adi adi ” “Sooper.. ” Then she throws him a flying kiss and Rajni in the middle of the fight, has the time to look sexily at her and take out his distinctively pink tongue and looking at the camera and lapping the flying kiss up like a puppy.. and then goes back to beating up the goons… I was like GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH and that was supposed to be a hot moment…. GROSSSS !!!! I was having a quiet stomach ache laughing my head off. Oh and lets not forget some 2-3 song and dance routine with him in his white dress and shoes and lots of extras jiggling around with Sheeba and then some more fight scenes.. which made no sense…

To continue and make this short, Rajani gets killed and he floats around in heaven with three guys, one of whom is Chitragupt the divine bookkeeper of karmic accounts or whatever.

Cut to Rajani doing his role as a village bumpkin and prancing around with a village belle. They sing and dance and Rajani gets beaten up by his uncle by a whip and gets poisoned for his property. Then we see the floating Rajani with his heavenly companions waiting for the village bumpkin counterpart to die. Once he dies, this modern Rajani gets transferred to the village bumkin’s body and then he proceeds to do some impossible things like beating up his uncle and aunty with whips, wearing modern dresses and still romancing the village belle. Then he comes to town and somehow gets found by Sheeba and he romances her too.. at the same time.. with the village belle.

And I am not saying anything about the 10 odd songs in the movies which sometimes is close to pornography by their very movements.. and no I am not shocked.. just an observation. At one time, I noticed Rajani just stiffly moving his body while the females falling and touching him all over… to make a dance… GAH !!!

I was also somewhat disturbed by the scene where Rajani does not only beat up his evil uncle with a whip but also his aunt. So well as per the movies, its ok to beat up a woman with a whip and so what.. if she was evil.. That is good punishment..

Well anyway, I will not be surprised if the public ( the mango people) believe this to be true and had a justification in beating the women up in the household..

My head was not making sense at all.. yet I was forced to watch it.. I tried and close my eyes but it did no good.. The driver had pulled a screen down half of the front window so that the passengers do not have a view of the outside and can ONLY watch the movie and clap their hands when Rajani does the beating up or cheer when something happens.. which makes them happy.

Anyway, the movie goes on and on… and many impossible feats later which defy science and gravity, he is left with the two heroines. Then one of the heavenly companions whisper in his ear. He whispers back in two of the heroine’s ears and they both get to maul Rajani at the end and he has a satisfied smile on his face.. This Chinese Whisper session is the climax of the film and I get to see the credits..

I sigh in relief.. but no my pain knew no end… my torture was beginning.

DVD 2 – The tamizh version of our bollywood remake Ghar Jamai. – suffice it to say that it did its work on having my ears and hair stand at my end.. the script defies everything in the name of films..

By the time this movie ended, I am going bonkers.. and just when I think I can breathe, Than tha naaaaaann !!! up comes yet another movie..

And to top it all, everytime some dialouge comes up, the driver repeats the dialogue along with Rajani.. I did not know what to do.. I was I think ready to puke on the drivers head.. or whack him with something.. I had SOOSOOSOSO lost it..

I had to vent it out. I called Rocks up and swore and cursed about the torture and after seeing my wild and mad behavior and hearing the words torture couple of times.. the driver instructs the handyman to switch off the movie.. ( Rocks on the other side was laughing his head off)

BLISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!

But the next hour is full of loud radio music.. which I was ok with and also sang along with some popular Tamil songs.

I am also embarrassed by losing my temper.. and cursing so badly.. which I usually refrain.. but the human mind can only take so much..

By the end of it all, I was zonked out.. and eagerly counting kms on the board till I reached Coimbatore.. 140, 67, 35, 28, … it blurred and I started staring into space and just thinking nothing.. so much was I lost that I did not realize, we had come to my stop… if my friend would not have seen me, or I would not have spied her, I would have moved on to god knows which destination.. and ended up screwing my day royally.

But thanks to all good things that make life easy, my friend called me down and we finally reached her place..

It took me a cup of tea and a good bath to wind down.. and start my weekend…

GAHHH GAAHHH and double GAHHHHHHH !!!!! to crazy movies !!!

I must say that we have to upgrade to headphones connected to the bus TV which allows us to watch or ignore a movie and journey in peace..

Or maybe I should invest in some noise reduction headphones.. the next time I take a bus..

So well, I am fresh and rejuvenated to start another week and looking forward to the usual stuff that happens in a week and another travel.. coming up this time some family time in the forest..

So hopefully you had a lovely weekend.. Have a great week ahead.. It’s a wonderful Tuesday today..

Ode to the man himself.. :

Its titled R K Laxman’s Selected ones.

Once in a while we had the neighborhood insane boy shout but that was just once in a while. He was the one who would love to hear his voice. He is kind of mentally retarded and would scream and then be quiet and then play loudly. It was tolerable since it was not happening at odd hours..

And now after civilization has decided to spread its roots, the only thing I hear is either someone renting those huge trucks to dig borewells for water.. forget sleep or rest, you will breathe in smoke and dust, you will be beset with the incessant droning of that machine for 48 hours or more till they get water which is depleting at an alarming rate.

When that is not the case there is this neighborhood, dog who when his owner is out of town keeps on with an incessant barking in the same tone day and night.. day and night .. day and night… so much so that many neighbors have actually thought of something drastic, which thankfully they did not implement… to ensure some peace and quiet

When that is taken care of, I would pick up my book to read before I go to sleep and just when sleep is flirting with me, I am jerked awake by this fish market type of fight where the new neighbors are at their throats with each other for some house dispute or the other..

If that is not the case then I am awakened by a drunk beating up his wife and the wife beating him back… LOL…

Today early morning… I was dreaming I was browsing the Mysore Palace.. Why ? ? for no reason.. well the dream got unpleasantly crashed by the loud scream of our neighbor’s hen who was either being chased by the pet dog of the same house or was being chased to be stolen by some other neighbor…  I wish I could define the croaks.. It was heart rending, irritated, angry and then amused….

CROAK CROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAKCROAK……………..

CROAK….

CROAKCROAKCROAKCROAK…CROAKCROAKCROAK

CROAK CROAK CROAK  ( it went on for some half an hour)

And imagine, me.. My hair standing at ends … and my eyes bleary… wishing for some divine providence to step in and let me get back to my dream… Sigh.. but my peace was already stolen.. albeit unknowingly by that hen..

And there was a time… when I would really enjoy the mornings.. Today I dread it… its like an inner alarm to be broken by some civilization predicament or the other…

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

Worst experience in good company .. ACK !!!

Yesterday I had the worst food possible in a very long time. I greatly hoped for Italian cuisine and invited this long time pal to join me for lunch for some bonding time..  I entered and then we got the information that Portabella did not exist and it has turned to “The Herb”.

The place was empty and I should have taken my friend out to another place but thought well so what if it has changed. Maybe the food would be worth tasting..

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH !! It was horrible..

My poor friend was very sporting and tolerated the place…

I was served Ice tea which seemed like normal milk tea dumped with ice.

The pasta my friend ordered was terrible to say the least. ( my friend’s lid was about to blow every time they brought in something which looked like we would not serve at home as well  GAHHHH )

The chicken steak that I ordered was overdone with salt to such an extent that it burnt my taste buds… BRRR…

The only thing decent was lime juice, the tea ( I think) and the French Fries..

I must say that when really bad stuff is shared with a good pal, it does not leave that bad a memory..

Now that is the positive lesson I learnt…  all things good in good company…

Currently there has been a lot migration of bong geeks from Kolkatta.

Which is all good. More power to the Bongs and for a change it is nice to hear a language which I love to speak and I love to be.  In all its glory of food, human discomforts and general bong advice.

So it was all nice to here a familiar tone talking familiar subjects.  But slowly it started to really get on to my nerves.

I like to think I am a ok kind of tolerant soul unless my trigger is set off right from the start. At least as I am growing in years the tolerant quota is slowly but surely increasing.

I repeat. I like to think that about myself.  It could totally be an illusion.

I think its been about 3 odd months or less and my level of patience is in the process of drying up.

I tried venting it out by posting in Facebook and Twitter thinking that my frustration would get over.

Phone call 1 : ( assuming he is talking to his wife)

Almost everyday as we start work.. this has got to be a trend…

hello : ki korcho. Pujo shesh. Appel ta kheye niyo. ( what are you doing ? Puja over ?? Have that apple)

This continues to when he will have lunch and when he will be back.

Phone call 2 : ( Tata Sky )

Getting all excited, his house got a tata sky, he calls his wife and tells her over the phone what to say to the Tata sky guy.

Amake khali Bangla channel lage. oke bolo this and that and this.. ( I want only Bangla channel and tell him this and that)

and the conversation goes on loudly for some time.

Phone call to his friends : This individual has got decent amount of friends who he regularly calls. Methinks that his group are all migrating from Kolkatta.

So he calls and talks to one of his friend. Telling him about himself and how he is settling down. Then he asks, where he got the job. The friend answers. And then he does not stop at that.

Accha bol to, tor salary koto. ( tell me how much salary are you getting ?? )

The friends hmms and hawwwss.. ( I am assuming)

Now our pal is not satisfied. He goes on asking about his salary.. I think he asks about 4 to 5 times.  Till he gets an answer and typically says..

Eito !! if you would have asked me before negotiating, I would have given you a higher figure. You have to bargain for it.

And on and on and on..

Recently, one of his friend is leaving his job I think… and our pal goes on and on convincing him why he should not leave and since he is married, he should think about both of them..

Blah blah blah !!!!!

Phone call on Vomit : ( yes that is there too)

One morning he picks up the phone and tells in a weak voice that he cannot go to lunch with him that day since he has vomitted some number of times. Goes on to relay when he puked.. and how many times.

And how he had some food over the weekend and it went haywire..

and thats why he says he will have to be careful

Phone call on ticket cancellation : ( this is a funny one)

Now this is what happens when we do too much of “Jugad”. Dont know the word in Bengali. This bugger calls up a friend to cancel  one of his tickets or some of his tickets via train to Kolkatta.  He sits in a no worry mode where things will be taken care of.

Then he gets a call that  the job is done and ALL the tickets have been canceled.

He is shocked and does not know what to say. Keeps soclding the fellow and immediately calls his wife to relay this new turn of events. And he keeps bemoaning this fact on and on.

Finally he decides to book plane ticket..

I could not help but giggle silently while on the other hand being frustrated at yet again having been privy to this conversation.

Phone call on his breakfast : ( “deem shidho” – boiled eggs)

One day he went on and on about his food and boiled eggs and fish and boiled eggs and fish and boiled eggs and fish

I was like hungry just listening to him talk so much and me is not very happy when hungry and there is no food.

Buhahahah !!! :):)

When does this bugger work ?? If he talks from morning to afternoon to evening..

So after listening to his private ins and out and his so called meanderings between friends, family and his food habits.. and his loving concern for the “aappel” that his wife has to have everyday..I talked to another Bong Manager who is a good pal as well and sits on the other side of the cube and told him to help me out.. by telling him to keep it down and to take a conference room…

Seriously I really dont need to hear or form an opinion about someone’s personal life and their doings..

I am ok with bits and pieces of phone conversation which we all have during the day. It does not invade..

But to go on and on and on and on .. after a while, it takes me away from my work and the mind gets stuck into that which is no business of mine..

FINALLY today !!! there is quiet and limited quiet conversation.

Thank you Bangali Babu.. !!

Appreciate it  !! I can work in peace..

A computer was something on TV
From a science fiction show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean,
And ram was the cousin of a goat

Meg was the name of my girlfriend.
A gig was a job for the night.
Now they all mean different things,
And that really mega bytes.

An application was for employment.
A program was a TV show.
A cursor used profanity.
A keyboard was a piano.

Memory was something that you lost with age.
A CD was a bank account.
And if you had a three-inch floppy,
You hoped nobody found out.

Compress was something you did to the garbage,
Not something you did to a file.
And if you unzipped anything in public,
You’d be in jail for a while.

Log on was adding wood to the fire.
Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your commode.

Cut, you did with a pocket knife.
Paste, you did with glue.
A web was a spider’s home.
And a virus was the flu.

I guess I’ll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head.
I hear nobody’s been killed in a computer crash,
But when it happens they wish they were dead.