Slices of my daily life

Just like Murphy’s law, there is a Loooooooong-Weekend-Law. I have discovered it. The Loooooooong-Weekend-Law states: “No matter how loooooooong the weekend, you will find enough pending tasks and social visits to fill it to brim” The Corollary to the Loooooooong-Weekend-Law states: “You cannot cheat the law by filling up some part of the loooooooong weekend with a planned period of ‘doing nothing’ since something that needs to be done 'immediately' will pop up impromptu exactly during the ‘doing nothing’ period” Happy Loooooooong-Weekend everybody :)

In a multi-caste / multi-religion group, caste / religion based comments ought to be made with some sensitivity. I say this with the understanding that no human being is the Supreme Being. Nobody is perfect. Nobody is superior or inferior to anybody else on the basis of anything at all. I do not say this with the intention of preventing or avoiding conflict, but by acknowledging that we are all just about as superior or inferior as anybody else. Change the parameters and get different results. I am not being idealistic, spiritual or even blind to the deep-rooted systems that exist in our environment. I do not claim that I do not think of the caste / sub-caste / religion of a person when I am introduced to them. I am sure the other person does too. The system is so deeply entrenched in our psyche that we immediately classify each other. For me, however, this exercise ends here. I put a tick mark under some column…in fact it happens quite involuntarily…and then I forget about it. It is n...

Recently I attended an awards ceremony. It was a grand function with a huge audience in attendance. Many awards were given and some speeches too. The compère was, unintentionally, terribly funny ! In this function, when the compère announced the first award winner, he announced, “Please welcome on stage Mr. X (pause) married to (pause) wife Mrs. X (pause) from 1977 and successfully (pause) completed 32 years of (pause) married life…” I had tears in my eyes from laughing too hard :D Later, the same compère, while telling the audiences about a certain award winner, said, “…he is married (pause) to wife Mrs. Z (pause) and enjoys playing with his (pause) children K and M. His favourite (pause) holiday destination is (pause) the beaches (pronounced as ‘bitches’) of (pause) Goa” I nearly died choking with laughter for this one ! In the 45 minutes that he was on stage he was responsible for much hilarity due to his totally inappropriate commentary. I, of course, laughed my guts out and what c...

I have been off-stage for too long now…and I am scared. Scared that I have lost it all…scared that I won’t be able to put in a decent performance and will disappoint myself. Just the thought brings tears to my eyes !

I saw a movie on the 23rd in which somebody said this. For a long time now, I have believed this. Previously I too would ask questions like, ‘why me ?’ or make statements like ‘I don’t deserve this’. Gradually I began to understand that the equations aren’t always as simple or direct or straightforward as that. Things that happen to me are not always a direct reciprocation of something that I did or did not do. It is more complex. It may be a cumulative of several things. So I started digging much deeper beneath the surface to understand what were the things that have caused something to happen. Believe me, each time I have found that my actions or behaviour are definitely one of the many factors that usually cause an event to occur. I may not be totally responsible for something to happen or not. But I am, at least, partly responsible. I can try to change my contribution to the situation so that the outcome may change to that extent. Change ought to be from within. I shall try.

My office was closed on Election Day. Days before, I had found out my exact number, polling booth etc. from the Internet. So on D-Day yours truly went and cast her precious vote. ‘So, where’s the story here ?’ you may ask. No story. One lament and one reiteration of belief. Lament: From the minute I locked my house to the minute I was opening the lock as I returned, it took me exactly, and only, 30 minutes to cast my vote. And still there are so many people in my immediate contact that didn’t vote. Despite having access to the Internet and the data related to our polling booths, the candidates etc. Despite the fact that it hardly takes 30 minutes. Despite the fact that the government makes sure that there is holiday on that day so that there isn’t a loss of income. Two: I can’t say it enough and I will repeat it till eternity’s end. It is my firm belief and experience. One vote, one voice, one person, does make a difference. I had read this story in ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ and I re...

The ‘Work to be done : Time available’ ratio has suddenly gone haywire. I simultaneously enjoy and hate such phases. My tough exterior is just my defense mechanism. I am ambidextrous. Really. I can write, play badminton tennis or bowl, even stir with my left hand as well as the right hand. I love to solve crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles. Sometimes when I feel intense love for somebody, I actually get stomachache.