Saturday 22 February 2014

Condition Serious Hain (in a non-serious way)



Seriousness is a very serious disease. And when I checked that Indiblogger.in have brought out this contest with Cadburys India to blog about your encounter with people jinki #conditionserioushain, how can I be left behind. This is my entry for this contest

If you have encountered such people, then this post is right for you. You can also head out to the Facebook Page of Cadburys 5 Star which is made for people like us and people jinki #conditionserioushain.

I am a woman. Brought up in a world where emphasis is given to your education and career and well, also marriage. At every phase of life one meets such people who nag, poke their nose in our personal affairs and blurt out without thinking and feeling about other person's feelings and emotions. Through this medium I have tried to share my encounters with such people at every stage of life.


जब हम छोटे थे तब वो पूछा करते थे
"बड़े हो के क्या बनोगे"
पढ़ लिख कर जब बाहर निकले फिर बोले
"तुम नौकरी कब करोगे"
उफ ये जालिम दुनिया सच में कितनी curious हैं
बच ले बेटा इनसे, इनकी #conditionserioushain

जब नौकरी मिली तो हम खुश हुए
की अब हैं दुनिया कदमो में
पर माता-पिता से ये पूछ के
उन्होने फिर हमे डाल दिया सदमे में
"चलो नौकरी अच्छी मिल गयी, बच्चा ambitious हैं
शादी कब करोगे इन्ही, ये उमर बड़ी precious हैं"

पर हम शान से चले
बेफिक्री से नौजवानी जिये
और फिर कुछ सालो के बाद
हम भी शादीशुदा हुए
पर क्या काहे उनके बारे में जिनकी #conditionserioushain
एक महीने बाद ही पूछ बैठे "बेटा गुड न्यूज़ कब हैं"

हम समझ गये हम जान गये
इनके सवालो का अंत नहीं हैं-

गुड न्यूज़ इनको दे भी दे तो फिर ये पूछेंगे
बेटा पेहला तो हो गया, दूसरा कब हैं
अगर हम मोटे हैं तो पूछेंगे
"तुम पतले क्यू नहीं होते"
और जो हम पतले हो तो कहेंगे
"घर वाले खाने को कुछ नहीं देते"
सच में इनके सवालो से हम भी थोड़े furious हैं
भगवान बचाये इनसे, उफ इनकी #conditionserioushain

Monday 17 February 2014

An excerpt from Siddhartha



"When someone is searching," said Siddhartha, "then it might easily

happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for,

that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because

he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a

goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal.

But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable

one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your

goal, there are many things you don't see, which are directly in front of

your eyes."




Hmmm. Makes sense.

Friday 14 February 2014

Realization series continues

On rush days like Valentines Day, ALWAYS book your table in advance in your preferred restaurants.



(Ran in the rain from the restaurant to the parking with ZZ. 10 seconds of happiness:))

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Knowledge is Great

       

       Like every other child in middle-class home in India in 1990s, the only professions that I aspired were Medicine/ Engineering. If the child is good in life sciences, medicine was the way to go and if Maths is the subject one loves, Engineering was the aim. Those who did not have any inclination towards any subject were not considered bright. Today things have changed. We are living in interesting times. With exposure of the world and job opportunities, a child is exposed to different subjects and branches and is channeling one's studies in new directions.

        When I was a child I used to write diary. The description below my name used to be something like this:

                 Noble Prize Winner- Mathematics  (This was my favorite Subject then and I didnt know Mathematics is not any category for Nobel Prize)
                  Noble Prize Winner- Peace  (Oh that must be the Miss India in me speaking)
                  Noble Prize Winner- Literature  (The wish of the writer)
                  Oscar Award for Best Actress (uhmm the girl  sure had dreams. She still has.)

          I grew up to become an Engineer with an heart for all things Art and Humanities. If I could study/ specialize in my subject, it would be Sociology (Humanities) from the second oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the world's third-oldest surviving university.As per this website, University of Cambridge is the 6th best educational institution in the field of Humanities and the best in UK.I have always been interested in the psychology of man , psychology of society and what better way to channelize my interest by studying the subject and that from this renowned institute. The study of Sociology would help me in understanding of the public policy and social beliefs and the parities that exist among different societies.Sociology provides the rich picture of how the social world works.
          I read about the Cambridge university in some English story-book (I reckon it was part of the biography of Jawahar Lal Nehru of his young years- a part of our English textbook curriculum) in my childhood and being the dreamy person I used to be and I am, I have imagined many a times of myself studying in the prestigious institution.
            To me, Cambridge University is the ultimate university. The university where each stone speaks of history, where every path was taken by the intelligentia who influenced the world,where the classrooms and laboratories are filled with legends, where the air is enriched with the lives of its great students- from Srinivasa Ramanujan to Stephen Hawking, from Charles Darwin to Amartya Sen, from Charles Babbage to Salman Rushdie. Be it any field, the alumni of Cambrige have made their mark.

           And if the history itself is not enough, look at the view of one of the colleges of Cambridge University
The panoramic view of King's College, Cambridge
           It would be such a dream-come-true moment for me if this happens. And if its academia, architecture  and heritage is not enough, the current Duke and Duchess of Cambridge elevate the charm of Cambridge in itself.
          Knowledge is Great is a great initiative by British Council. Please click on the link http://knowledgeisgreat.in/ for more information.

        This post is my entry for the indiblogger contest "Knowledge is Great".

Pic courtesy: Google Imges & wikipedia 

Monday 10 February 2014

Lessons to remember

The trip was planned two day in advance. The weather had been nice for these ywo days and we were looking forward to a sunny weather on the day of trip as well. The morning of the trip begun late. and by 8'o clock when everyone of us was ready, I looked outside. It was a cold grey day and had started drizzling. My first reaction was that of anger and annoyance. "Why!!! Its raining. Why does it have to rain today only. Its going to be a cold day.Bah. Why???!!" ZZ was non-chalent but wondered "It seems that it is going to rain continuously". Mummy was cool and pondered how nice it would have been if the weather were nice like the previous two days. I usually blame my irritable behaviour to my father. Oh its always better when you think you are not responsible for your behavious but its the fault of your genes;). Papa in his calm demeanour said " Its good that it has rained. It will provide the much needed moisture to the soil. Let's wait for some time and then start this journey."
Oh and we did start the journey within 15 minutes and the rain left us midway to our destination and the sun shone later.
And I was left wondering of the positive thinking of my father. Oh high time that I stop complaining and act positive.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Late Bloomer

Today I am sharing some secrets here...

I watched "The Sound of Music" after my marriage.

I read "Charlotte's Web" last year.

I got to read "The Little Prince" this January only.

"Daddy Long Legs" is the book which I started and finished in a day and that is today.


I went through the passage of childhood without the oppurtunity to read these books and movies. I have yet not a read a single "Fantastic Four" series or "Agatha Christie" or other young adult book. It was not that I was not into books in my student days. I had my monthly dose of youth magzines, comics and I used to read english stories from the course books of my friends of other schools and curriculam. But I never got exposed to the classic children literature. May be it was location factor as there never were such book shops or good library and I never had peers and cousins who had read such books themselves. But better late than never. And slowly and stealthily I am reading my share of children literature and loving every second of it. I have said it earlier but let me say it aloud again-"One is never too old to read children book and watch animation movies". I downloaded the pdf format of "Daddy Long Legs" and read it in my office today and finished it at home just now. And I loved it. Every.single.line. I may count it in the list o my favourite books. The book inspire me to read "Little Women" (I have already seen the movie) even if possible in abridged form.

So if you have any more good books to recommend to a woman in the last pedestal of her 20s, please feel free to comment and share. You would definitely make the child in me very happy.:)