Moving on...

Change in everything is inevitable and here I am, moving on to a new place with all my pennings.

I continue to Unravel the Enamoured Enigma at www.meinsentience.wordpress.com starting from 07-07-07.

Parthipura - Part 2

I start the second part of the story with due apologies to my readers. The absolute joblessness that I enjoyed in Perth totally vanished from the moment I decided to board the flight back to Hyd, via Singapore. Parthipura – Part 1, did seem a tad depressing, I would fancy it is merely the state of mind that was reflected. By the end of first week, I had devised plans to keep myself terribly busy over the three day long weekend. Well, it was the chance of a life-time to go around an Australian city, being absolutely anonymous, no one to call home and report to and more over do exactly what I would like to. Well, this does include starving myself for a simple vegetarian meal. Yes, continuous effect of wraps/rolls/burgers does take a toll on ones psychic and the yearning simply multiplies by N (where N tends to infinity).

Coming back to the plans of the weekend, I will limit myself to the Perth and its surrounding in this part, which essentially covers my Saturday’s itinerary.

After having woken up at a comfortable hour on the Saturday morning, I decided to furnish myself with the stocks from the Indian store. I did this en-route via a trip to the Western Australian Cricket Association or the famously known cricket ground – WACA. The timings for the ground trips and museum tours are so weird that no individual who is working 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM during weekdays can hope to visit. Added to that it is closed on public holidays and on days when there are matches. I wonder why is it even open to public (tourist perspective)!!! Anyways, I contented myself with the trip to the Race-course (just opposite WACA) and a peek of the stadium from the outside.

My exploit at the Indian store, included that of the life-saving Maggi noodles and some other stuff, which I hardly used. My next stop was the Swan bells. This is a tower constructed on the banks of the picturesque Swan River. As per the description kept outside - Swan bells is one of the world’s largest music instruments and includes the twelve bells of St. Martin-in-the-fields which have been ringing since well before the 15^th century. I was lucky enough to witness the last time the bells rang for that day. No, I wasn’t really late; it was merely past one ‘o’ clock in the afternoon and just like everything there, the bells also close down early. The idea of going to Swan bells was driven by the ulterior motive of having a good Indian meal at Annalakshmi, the Indian restaurant that runs on charity where the guest is expected to pay as much he/she thinks fit for the food. They did start this restaurant in India and not very surprisingly the concept hasn’t been as much of a success as in abroad. Coming back to me, as luck should have it, the place is closed on Saturday afternoons and Mondays. So, once again I ended up having some firangi junk for lunch. But did go back to have a happy dinner there in the evening. Come on, I was starved for a proper vegetarian, Indian meal, couldn’t have left the chance for a million ;).

The best part of being alone is that you can sit anywhere for any long and then do whatever the self pleases at that point of time, without any botheration. The stroll from the Swan Bells to my hotel is a nice one, along the Swan River. Perth is a quiet place and families go around cycling along the river. There are cycles equipped to take children around. One also sees a lot of families enjoying a nice picnic lunch or playing in the parks. Yes, all this can be attributed to the low population levels and a lot more, but all said and done it does feel good.

Lazed around for the rest of day and had a great meal at Annalakshmi to wind up early. Well one thing I really enjoyed there was extended sleeping hours. Reason being pretty simple, my office was 15 minutes by walk and a small bus ride. I loved that!

@ Work

Sitting at work, an observation hit me hard once again. All said and done, men of any nationality do seem to be very nice to women, to start with at least; its civility and chivalry at its best.

There is a definite advantage being a woman and making use of it does make some sense to the pragmatic mind. Now the purists might say that this isn’t ethical, but then, will this be coming under the banner of ethics and all, if a lady has not in specific asked for it and then got it as a result of her sex? The answer is clearly, No. Firstly, the woman never even thought of something like that and secondly she didn’t want the help. Well at some point of time it does help one’s cause to make life livable, I personally think it should be used, but like all things life, caution and discretion is a must.

So being a women at work and making the most of it because of the simple reason that you are a woman and not have to do anything to get that is a flattering proposition. I for one, never seemed to have understood why and have asked many of my close men friends. They have this wonderful smile on their face (surely thinking about that last incident which they are relishing it again now) and just say, “Understand madam.” Hmm… I guess my readers did understand and can probably throw some light on this. One of the burning topics that I have been unable to unravel and my guess is, no one really has been either. Comments and observations as always are welcome.

Parthipura - Part 1

I have been getting numerous mails asking me as to how am I doing “Down Under”. “What have you seen so far?”, “Post all the pictures.” Hmmm.. I wouldn’t want to start the blog on a sad note, but then the most FREAKING thing about this place, or so I have heard about most places in OZ is, shops close down by 5 or max 6 in the evening. Praise the lord there are some shops that are kept open till 7 or 8 in the evening. Apparently, Thursdays and Fridays are the designated shopping days for the folks here. Logon, aasha ki kiran ab bhi kahin jeevit hai!!!

I am dying to talk to someone and talk more than just a “how you doing?”- I am supposedly doing good. I have all the time in the world to do absolutely anything. Unfortunately everything closes by 6 and it is dark by 5:30. A woman going around alone is not safe. So, will the kind souls tell me what other options do I have? Well, apart from updating my blog (every other day), I think I can hear folks back home yelling and sayinh, cook, cook. Yes, I agree. Even without them yelling. The last few days have been spent eating “ghaas-phoos”, in ordinary English, I am living on salads, burgers, wraps and weird stuff that folks here call food. Mercifully, I will be going to an Indian store this weekend. Why mercifully? Well, I did try getting something for today to cook, and came to know that chilli powder is out of stock. Not my fault, and left to eat one of the funniest dinners ever possible. Soup, apple, orange juice and left the Greek salad. He just put all possible crotons that one sees in the pots back home, into it. I couldn’t eat it. Just chucked it into the bin without least of remorse.

But the thing to still look forward is the lovely weather, pretty scenic views and some interesting shopping left to be done. I hope these things will not be disappointing. I’ll have to go about with a pinch of salt, am all alone, so wherever I go it will be “Main aur meri tanhayee, aksar yeh batein karte hai….” Oops, forgot my Ipod Nano and the rebel, chalo kuch to hai.

PS: The title is inspired by my dear friend, recent Ex-Infoscion.
PS 2: It is that undying habit to comment and express my critical views upon everything, something and nothing that is driving me to end up writing such posts. Earlier it was just few people who were subjected to this torture, now thru this blog I have the humanity. (The sadist in me - Chuckles!! )

Oz, here I am!

There are some cherished dreams, some secret desires, some things one has always wanted to do and some places that one always wanted to visit. Australia is among the top few countries I always wanted to visit. Out here on a short official trip, I have a pretty decent opportunity to visit some parts of Western Australia to be precise, Perth

and its surroundings. Quite an unexpected place to go when visiting this country, but that’s how I have always been and I am enjoying every minute of it.

After all the hustle-bustle and loads of attention from you-know-who, it suddenly feels very lonely. Tough is the word. But am sure we can get through. Probably worth the effort now, really??!!??

“Oceans apart day after day.....and I can't seem to find my way...”

I covered my 14 hour journey in two steps with a couple of hours stop-over at Singapore. Trust me, I couldn’t sleep more than a couple of hours all through. Yes, for the soporiphic creature I am, it is actually very tough to sleep in an air-plane. Let me clear your doubts, I flew by the Singapore airlines and it is among the most comfortable airline to fly by. I just seem to have too many attractions every time I fly. The take-off, the view, the movies (managed to catch on two movies that I missed watching – Guru and Music & Lyrics), oh! well, the food is something not to be missed either. For all the things I end up trying and sometimes miserably failing, I enjoyed my meals on-board too. Wouldn’t want to alarm anyone, but all said and done the air-hostess on Singapore Airlines are mostly very pretty and I really envy the way they do their hair. I can never dream of having mine in any sane style ever. Coming to my pet window seat, it is always an attraction and here are some pics taken at 10000 odd meters above the sea-level covering the Aussie coastline.

Managed to settle down pretty cozily out here, will update with happenings in Perth in a short time from now.

Master Card

“There are some things money can’t buy, for everything else there is Master Card.” The punch line is too good to be forgotten or to be ignored. Often I have pondered over what all are these “some things”.

A soft touch, a spontaneous hug, a smile can be said as some small things that money can never buy. They become all the more worth when coming from a person you love. Some nights before, having come across a similar situation, I was asked if the same satisfaction and happiness can be given to me if I were given a BMW. Surely not! There are certain achievements in life that come from pure love, sheer passion and total disregard to what others think. The people who manage to live by them are the true winners.

The outcome of these achievements could be success in relationships and/or profession. We hear people emphasizing the importance of the personal life and relationships and lecturing about the need to slow down professionally. How many have actually thought that if a person is a go-getter professionally, has an ambition to succeed beyond all odds, then what’s he/she made up of? For the better part of the times this is a consideration given to men and off late to some women. Man being the traditional bread winner, the ambition and stubbornness was and is still acceptable. In the changing times we have some women joining this club. It is a welcome change and what is even nicer is the fact, many of these ambitious or super-ambitious men actually want such women in their life too.

I had started this post with a plan to write about the “some things” and “everything else” that money cannot/can buy. A lot has been said about the finer aspects and emotional support. But having them is just not enough. Rather I would say, because you have them, you now should be in a position to get more from life. Otherwise, where is the difference between you and the ordinary bloke on the road? In the mire of comparisons, unsatisfied jobs, and daily routines - we somehow tend to loose the focus on the bigger picture.

Living in the present and looking ahead, just a tad little bit toward the bigger picture can help ease one out of lot of frustrating things. A preachy blog! Well, yes. Thought it was pertinent to the busy, horrid schedules that we lead. And having learnt to tackle it, I do have some right to preach. What say? :)

Flowing like ..... Water

This weekend was spent doing some of the most mundane things. Lazed around, read a magazine, touched on Wodehouse, cleaned up lot of neglected closets, bathed at leisure without even bothering about time. Watched a movie and thought I might just crash. Pretty ordinary, peaceful day till then and yet memorable, in terms of the time I got for myself, quite a change from the ordinary. Must say, the rat race is pretty abhor able.

With world cup finals having started, my sis came up with the proposition of watching ‘Water’ – Deepa Mehta film. I must say, I was a little weary at that time in the night to watch it. But then, had been postponing this particular movie for a while now and the idea to watch a good movie won over my sleep deprivation.

I really don’t wish to do any kind of movie review here, but then it was simply excellent! Strong in its story line, subtle in portrayal of situations with a nice under current to be felt by the viewer accompanied by some very good cast and direction to back up. Water, was straight and hard-hitting. A seven year old little girl is married and then widowed and left in the widow aashram as that is the custom of the times. She is waiting for her mother to come and take her back home. How heart wrenching can that be? The supposed explanation she is given is “When the husband dies, half of the woman dies and hence an aashram is the best place for her”. The girl replies, “But, she is half alive.” Subtle dialogues like these that give this movie a nice touch and set one thinking.

The meanings of the rituals and practices written in the scriptures have been understood as per the convenience of the times and more so as per the convenience of the wealthy people of the times. This is pertinent even now. Just that, this has shifted to politics and politicians make use of religion and manipulate people to fill their pockets. At the end of the day, it’s all about money, honey.

Being the optimist, I hope to see an improvement in the world and more so in the treatment of children around. We, the blogging or say the Inet accessible community, all said and done, is definitely more privileged when compared to millions of others. Isn’t it time, we did something about people around us? The question is part rhetoric too, because going with the milieu it is very easy to follow the crowd.

I think it is time I did something.

To catch an in-depth review of Water, check out Rashmi Bansal’s blog.

Topsy - Turvy

Hit and trials, endless discussions and heated arguments seemed the norm of the day for a while now. There was a point when I prayed that time would just be forwarded and I wake up four years older. Can you beat that?? How desperate did I get to be left all alone and by myself.

Have you heard of life going topsy-turvy? Priorities changing dramatically, twenty-four hours seeming too less and days flying past before you can stop to take notice and somehow just not being able to take out time for anyone or anything else. With no further narratives let me end this and get to the crux of the matter.

To sum it up in one word or rather sentence, I have found that person with whom I would like to spend the rest of my life with.

I don’t seem to be scared about it nor flustered. Uncertainty of future (ah! a paradox), don’t seem to bother me and before anyone starts to assume, let me say I have no tinted glasses either. But definitely life seems much better.

An affair to remember

On a rainy sunday afternoon, I watched one of the most enchanting romantic movie. A 1957, classic movie, which made me feel very glad to see. The story line would have been used a number of times earlier, but am sure there can be no parallel to it.

Our love affair is a wondrous thing
That we'll rejoice in remembering
Our love was born with our first embrace
And a page was torn out of time and space

Our love affair, may it always be
A flame to burn through eternity
So take my hand with a fervent prayer
That we may live and we may share
A love affair to remember

PS: Was rumbling through my collection and found these poems. Liked them and decided its time for them to see the light of the day.

Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher

Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher

To force the pace and never to be still

Is not the way of those who study birds

Or women. The best poets wait for words.

The hunt is not an exercise of will

But patient love relaxing on a hill

To note the movement of a timid wing;

Until the one who knows that she is loved

No longer waits but risks surrendering -

In this the poet finds his moral proved

Who never spoke before his spirit moved.

The slow movement seems, somehow, to say much more.

To watch the rarer birds, you have to go

Along deserted lanes and where the rivers flow

In silence near the source, or by a shore

Remote and thorny like the heart's dark floor.

And there the women slowly turn around,

Not only flesh and bone but myths of light

With darkness at the core, and sense is found

But poets lost in crooked, restless flight,

The deaf can hear, the blind recover sight.

-Nissim Ezekiel

Heroplane

My daily bus drive to office takes me around the city in about an hours’ time. The best part of the morning ride is the view of the airport runway. Many a times the timing of our bus has been such that the aeroplane just about lands or is about to take off. The alignment during take off is perfect. The front wheels are exactly in middle of the lights that are placed for marking this. There is hardly any level of deviation to this.

To me, the take-off, airborne flight and landing have always been a matter of awe. Fine, I heard people yelling that science has progressed so much and all the jibberish and so on, but I insist on writing this blog. I insist on capturing those innocent and pristine memories of childhood when I used to stand in my balcony and wave at those helicopters or an occasional plane that flew over our house. And assume that they can actually see me and they do wave back, just that I can’t see that they are waving. Sometimes even go running behind the plane in an attempt to chase it. I remember my little bro calling the Airport, Hairport and the Aeroplane, Heroplane. It has kind of stuck on and mostly all of us at home still use the same name. It instantly brings a smile on our faces and throws one into reverie of the golden period.

Looking at the surface from a height of thousands of feet for an acrophobic can be a quite exhilarating experience. I never miss the window seat in my journeys. Well if the plane crashes then I might as well see my last descent. Some would say, what a pessimistic way of travel, but then I look at it otherwise. I am in absolute awe of the latest Boeing 787. The pics sent were courtesy one of my Aerospace engineer friend. This guy is scared of flying, for the simple reason that he kinda knows what could be wrong because of such and such noise. Good gracious! I didn’t take that branch in my engineering; otherwise added to my fear things would just have been “flights of fantasy”.

And yes, I am soon to get a Boeing craft as a gift from the same “Aero” friend. Will update the blog with a pic, as and when I get it.

This post is dedicated to the same “Aero A” friend.

Gone with the wind

A glimpse of one of my most cherished books - Gone with the wind.

“After all, to-morrow is another day.” are the words of Scarlett O’ Hara in the famous book Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. These words have etched themselves in my spirit. Many times in life one experiences incidents that seem unjust and very incorrect. They seem to shake our belief in the system that exists and the world itself. It is then that I say to myself that “Tomorrow is another day” and keep the indomitable spirit alive.

The first time I read this book, it became my instant favourite. The central characters in this book are those that I have always adored. It is primarily because I can see glimpses of myself in them, mirroring my thoughts and my spirit.

The beautiful Scarlett O’ Hara is the perfect heroine. Through the pages, one tends to love her, hate her, adore her and detest her. Born to an Irish father and mother who was a Coast aristocrat of French descent, the eldest of the three daughters, Scarlett is a mixture of her mother’s genteel looks and an Irish temper. Story set in the backdrop of the American Civil War, the book reveals a lot about the lives of Southern people in those times. The customs and traditions of the days bound Scarlett to be prim and proper but her real self is reflected in these lines: “The green eyes in the carefully sweet face were turbulent, willful, lusty with life, distinctly at variance with her decorous demeanour.” This willful nature has most appealed to me.

During the Civil war, Scarlett is thrown into a situation where she has look after her family in every which way. She is a mother, widow and now a caretaker and provider all at nineteen. From the cushy existence of less than few months she is now in a situation where she does not know where the next meal can be got for her family.

Her character displays an innate sense of practicality and objectivity. There are umpteen examples when she tells herself “I’ll think about this later – Yes, later when I can stand it.” By thinking so, Scarlett is compartmentalizing her thoughts. She is trying to concentrate her energies towards more pressing concerns and is analyzing the best possible solution given the circumstances. Though some of her tactics may have seemed to have been carried out without ethics, but in the given circumstances she acted upon them objectively. One striking example is when Scarlett, in her effort to save her home, Tara, finally hits upon the idea of marrying her sister’s beau when all other measures have failed. It is highly unethical thing to do. But, she realizes that if her sister had got married, as was planned, Tara could never be saved.

Hence, she takes the drastic step to marry a second time, without any concern to her feelings. From the time she marries, her primary motive is to save her home, Tara which she eventually succeeds. Coming to the protagonist of this plot, Rhett Butler, he is the most charming and outspoken character that can be described. As the story progresses one understands that this character believes in himself and most importantly can stand for his views. It is exactly for this reason that he is considered an ill-bred person by the people around him. Many instances of the same can be observed. For instance, when he openly expresses his views about how the Southerners have only “cotton and arrogance” to fight the Yankees and tells the rest to take stock of the situation before it is too late. He is able to face the truth and most importantly has the courage to express the truth in clear cut terms to all.

The central theme of this book revolves around land and this is woven intrinsically into the story. The Southerner’s pride in his cotton or the courage to fight the Yankees till the very end, all of it shows how important land is. Scarlett values her mother and on par red hills of Tara, her home and estate. Margaret Mitchell has shown the love and affection towards one’s motherland in a very poignant fashion.

Me

This birthday started on a very different note. Some of the most unexpected folks wished me and the most expected didn't at the time expected. Among the various gifts this 'pome' is a novel item. Being pertinent to the blog, I decided to air it.

Me in sentience,

Approbation blest.

Naivety and nefariousness

Advert my zest.

So Save your reverence,

My Acrid clapper is at the best.

- The Raakshas

Ps: From a friend, who calls his penmanship - The Raakshas.

Profile

A painting by Mary Cassat

Can't think of a title!

Ahh!! I finally get some time to start this new year on my blog. 2006 seems to have gone past in a whiff. Thought it was just my perception, surprisingly many people have concurred on this. In a way, it feels good.

2007 is here and we are soon to hit mid Jan. I am yearning for a pause: a pause from duties, responsibilities, ambition and relationships. Not that I am vexed, but then life a little slow paced would probably suit me a lot better. May be just take a year off and go around India. Splendid!

But, the flip side of all this is that am enjoying myself tremendously. Just read about the ephemeral and ever changing factor in life conveyed as a simile through Water. Yes, I quite agree to that.

Coming in touch with long lost friends, one always ends up being jittery as to how would this meeting be. The moment you meet the void automatically fills up and there seems to be a continuum of time. The magic of the days gone by rekindles itself and results in the best.

This year, has started on a similar note. Lets see hows the desert safari this year :-))