A hot cuppa chai

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Today was one the rare days that I managed to coax my self to get up early and come in by 9 to office. (Ok not entirely. There is one person am indebted to for this.) This is a feat which has many pitfalls. Some metaphorical and some literal. It starts off with having just 20 minutes to devote to morning ablutions most of which is done in a fast forward mode because of two reasons.

One: am late. Two: am VERY late. It also entails putting on some moisturizer and accessories simultaneously though if asked to repeat the feat at a later point of time would only fetch one a scowl. One would also probably never see a repeat performance, of putting on a dress and combing hair at the same time, either. ‘Why can’t I get up 10 minutes early?’ is a pretty valid question and everyone who knows the ‘morning person’ in me has shot it at me at one time or another. I cannot explain enough to them that the satisfaction of a full nights sleep is in those very last 10 minutes of it. The luxury of ‘five-more-minutes’ is unparalleled in this world. It works wonders for one’s day-long demeanor. Sometimes it also quickly manifests itself into a wonderful dream. Ok, alright, this is not a post to rant about sleep (ohhh so dear!). Somewhere before my exposition on sleep began I did mention that there were certain pitfalls in coming in to office early. The foremost one is the lack of nourishment. There is no time to get rid of my hunger. For breakfast silly! Reach the bus stop and the van is just about to leave. Jump in and right-ho to the driver who just glares back at me since am an ‘id ka chaand’. Even got threatened to be thrown out of the van once since the driver dint recognize me and I dint recognize the term ‘bus pass’. Then starts the literal pitfall. We are taken through one big pot hole which has roads at some places along the way. It’s a constant challenge thrown at me. I defy the verdict and try to sleep through the whole roller coaster ride. Today I even managed to keep my eyes closed the whole way except for two very special spots. And this also only to prevent myself landing in the lap of the guy sitting next to me. After all this I come in to office and find that what I had endured for has got postponed anyway. AAARRGGH I need my hot cuppa chai to get over this crisis. Catch u later!

Tsunami Birthday

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A strong breeze
A strong waft of salty water
Bright lights in the distance
Sparks at the corn cart closer still
Popcorn popping a few feet away
Dim lights at the “Molaga Bajji” carts
Fringes of hair on one’s forehead moving around
Dresses flapping gently in the breeze
Waves lapping up at the shore
Blissful calm yet it’s the high tide
Twilight in full swing, beautiful
Darkness rapidly descending but not in anyone’s heart
Exotic cloud formations in the sky
Families near the water’s edge
A whole lot of people getting their feet wet
Some fearful, pulling back their loved ones
Others venturing farther into the inviting sea
Groups of friends lazing around on the sands talking
Couples cozily stuck to each other walking along the water’s edge
Singles stuck to their mobile phones walking a little away from the water
Peals of laughter erupting around
Children running around in gay abandon
Some playing run and catch
Others getting reprimanded for not “behaving” themselves
Some dancing merrily at the edge of the water
Some more getting a bit more adventurous
Some clinging to an adult’s hand
Others just running away from waves
Everyone happy
Everyone celebrating life

Is this the same sea which gulped so many people a year back?
Is this the same monster which destroyed so much of life?
Tough to believe given today's sight...but a hard fact of life for many

At the Marina Beach, Chennai on 25 Dec 2005 :

A hot butta in one’s hand
A warm hand on one’s shoulder
A gentle smiling face in front of one’s eyes
A great conversation at one’s disposal
A wonderful companion in one’s life

On the first anniversary of the deadly Tsunami :

Sadness and tears for those who are not with us
Courage for those who defied the sea
Love for those who lost their kin
Cheer for those who live on
Success for those who strive to stand up again

Huh....who am I??

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Your Career Type: Enterprising

You are engertic, ambitious, and sociable. Your talents lie in politics, leading people, and selling things or ideas. You would make an excellent: Auctioneer - Bank President - Camp Director City Manager - Judge - Lawyer Recreation Leader - Real Estate Agent - Sales Person School Principal - Travel Agent - TV Newscaster The worst career options for your are investigative careers, like mathematician or architect.

What's Your Ideal Career?

Blog vs Talk

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Lets say there are two close friends. Both of them blog...a lot. Blog's like their dairy. Now both of them keep commenting on each other's blogs too. Comment, reply and so on in a loop. Would these people have anything to talk (as in using their mouths) about when they meet?
Whereas consider this situation vice versa..there are two close friends. They talk (yak-yak) a lot. And as is obvious in a verbal conversation there are comments and replies in a loop. These people I am sure could blog about the same thing and get away with it. Wot say?

(Siri speedily posts this "thing", packs her bags and runs home in a bid to get away from the brickbats being hurled towards her by fellow bloggers)

Of terrible tuesday, gruesome crime and we the people

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What prompts a crime? Is it the victim or just the criminal’s mind or both? This is the question that always comes to my mind when I come across any crime especially dealing with assault, rape, murder and many such of the same ilk.
It was the very same question which came to my mind when I first heard the news about HP BPO's employee Pratibha Krishnamoorthy Shrikanth. In my tormented mind I imagined her fear as the sick guy committed the heinous crime. I read about the police’s reaction to it. But my question is “Will checking the background of all cab drivers prevent this”? Nobody is born with an evil mind. It’s developed over a certain period of time or it’s developed in one weak moment. I am also a bit skeptical about the background check itself. There are ways and means known to many about by-passing laws. It’s a universal truth and let’s acknowledge it. We did our bit of living room discussion on the subject when one of us raised the point that sending security guards with every cabbie might be a good idea. But my skeptical mind raised another question “How will you trust the security guard? On what basis?” We have heard of criminal incidents involving security guards as the main culprits. Whom do we trust? What about cases of mugging in broad daylight? Withdrawing money from an ATM or bank doesnt feel secure anymore. What can one do in such a situation where you have an assault weapon in your face and nobody around who will help? How do we change this situation of perpetually being in terror? And they talk about cross border terrorism all the time! I for one don’t feel very safe anymore about moving around alone in Bangalore. I have been in Bangalore for the past 17 years and never before did I shirk from walking back home from a bus stop 10 minutes away from home at 9:45 in the night. Now I will. I will become an obsessive compulsive over-the-shoulder looker. Our society is leading women towards a pepper spray and karate revolution. And it’s not only women. What about men who get mugged at knife point. Safety is fast becoming a myth in Bangalore.
I know there are a lot of questions and it’s an open ended debate. But it’s a debate that has to be discussed and a solution to be reached soon. Like Narayana Murthy said in discussion with Bill Gates and Prannoy Roy on NDTV, Indians are great at debating endlessly but we need to arrive at decisions faster (This quote is of course not verbatim. It’s just a quick gist). This need is of a greater consequence today. So let’s rally together and try to pool in our ideas. Let the solution to the growing problem of safety come from us, people!

Sucess at last

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...and I owe it all to a very nice Airtel customer care executive!
I am..sorry...I was(yippie!) one of those unfortunate souls stuck with an airtel feature which I enabled quite by accident. The Hello Tunes (groan). From that fateful day till today I have been trying to disable it to no avail. Maybe its my dumbidity or the complicated IVR. Anyway for all ye people stuck with the same problem here is the solution that I got from this gentleman of an executive who dint harass me with questions like "why?", "why not?" etc..

Go to 678 which is the Hello Tunes number
Press # for Main menu
Press 2 to hear wide range of songs
Press 4 for hello tunes profile
Press 1 to unsubscribe
Press 1 to confirm unsubscription

Voila you are rid of it!

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan

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I was initiated into R.K.N's writings by a very dear friend of mine. Prior to that I was an avid reader of run-of-the-mill fast paced western world novels. The first snippet i got to read of R.K.N was ofcourse "An Astrologer's Day" which is part of our curriculum in 1st PUC. It dint create much of an impression in me for I was not really a big fan of humorous stories back then. But once I embarked on the R.K.N journey I have never looked back. I simply love his works.
I will write in detail about my reading experience some time later (I really have to cater to a work deadline rt now), but below is a list of his books for all ye collectors!

R. K. Narayan's Published Works

1935: Swami and friends
1937: Bachelor of Arts
1938: The Dark Room
1939: Mysore
1945: The English Teacher
1947: An Astrologer's Day , and other stories
1949: Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi
1952: The Financial Expert
1953: Grateful to Life and Death
1955: Waiting for the Mahatma
1956: Lawley Road , and other stories
1958: The Guide
1960: Next Sunday : sketches and essays
1961: The Man-Eater of Malgudi
1964: My Dateless Diary : An American Journey
1965: Gods, Demons, and others
1967: The Vendor of Sweets
1970: A Horse and two Goats , stories
1972: The Ramayana; a shortened modern prose version
1974: My Days
1974: Reluctant Guru
1976: The Painter of Signs
1978: The Mahabharata: a shortened modern prose version
1980: The Emerald Route
1982: Malgudi Days
1983: A Tiger for Malgudi
1985: Under the Banyan Tree and other stories
1986: Talkative Man
1988: A Writer's Nightmare : selected essays
1989: A Story-Teller's World : Stories, Essays, Sketches
1990: The World of Nagaraj
1992: Malgudi Landscapes : the best of R.K. Narayan
1993: The Grandmother's Tale : three novellas
1993: Salt & sawdust : stories and table talk

Feel free to add to the list if I might have missed any

Now here's a profound thought for bloggers

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-

"The objective of communication is not the transimission but the reception".

Frog Prince

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Frog Prince
Originally uploaded by siriroop.

On one of the coldest nights in Germany last Christmas, I found this cute little guy in a show window. All dressed up and raring to go Party.

I met a Beauty Queen this weekend.....

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‘Twas the Ford Supermodel from India, Shubra Aiyappa.

I had my own (little world) apprehensions about what to wear and how to present myself to a supermodel. Come to think of it I never imagined I would one day, me being light years away from the “public life” spectrum. I landed at her house in a blue jean and a well worn and favorite Tantra t-shirt. It was more like the t-shirt would instill confidence in me. (It’s that chilled out feeling one gets when one wears one’s old clothes compared to the jitters in a brand new ensemble). I rang the bell which was on a wall covered with beautiful murals. Waited expectantly to meet the queen and met a very pretty queen mother instead. "I know where she gets her good looks from", I thought. Then was ushered in and seated in a comfortable sofa. It was then that I got a fleeting glimpse of her standing shyly near the kitchen door. “Was that?…Is that tall young girl in a cute short frock the supermodel?” was all I could think of! She looked so different. At the same time stunning was the word to describe her even sans make up and arc lights. Contrary to popular beliefs about beauty pageant winners, she is a down to earth, very congenial and sweet girl who was as much at home with excited neighbours streaming into her house congratulating her, as with celebrities doing the same on a more public platform. Looking at her sitting cross legged on a dining chair behind the sofas in the living room and peering in between shoulders to watch Star Plus, I wondered whether this was the same girl who looked so much at ease walking the ramp and confessing that she belonged there. Another one of my myths broken. I will not judge a model by her “rampishness” anymore.