Are We Lucky?????????????

ARE WE LUCKY???????????????

The big white Tata Sumo arrived on the pavement and stopped with brakes squealing.  Raj, Vicky, and Shil got out of the Sumo.  Bangalore was rain hit that day, gloomy skies hoovering above them.  It was about 6:00 in the evening and they were all ready to get to work.  They had their usual habit of coming to the office and before going up, having chai and the local bakery cum chai shop.  They greet Benzy and Sadath, who were already there.

The Hosur Road traffic was as usual maddening and very loud.  It was a very beautiful day however, the weather was really awesome.  Nobody felt like going to work, but unfortunately they had to.   Raj and Benzy ordered for coffee and Shil ordered for tea.  The usually silent Sadath said no to beverages and Vicky as usual wanted to eat something before having chai. 
 
The chaiwala was a bald, dark, lean man, who was very funny and comical, usually expressionless.  His aide was a boy, probably in the age group of 10-11.  Raj looked at him with admiration, but at the same time thought that he was lucky as he had a better childhood.

The chai shop was crowded with all sorts of people.  Most of the men hanging around there were from the same company.  A few middle aged men on the right hand side were talking about the local political scenario, which did not matter to their lives, but then that is what we call in our local lingo "chai ke dukan ke batan."  Neither of them cared about the country, but at the conversation table, each one sounded like a person who was in politics for more than 20 years.  The owner of the bakery was a well-fed, young man, who ordered the other boys in the bakery to work fast to serve his regular customers, yelling at the top of his voice in Tamil. 
 
The chaiwala, Raj guessed, had authority only over that small boy.  The boy had a very handsome face, cute rather.  He was dressed in a dirty moss-green colored shirt and shorts, which were probably never washed.  Amazingly obedient, he carried out all the duties he had to without even being told by his "master."  He was calm, expressionless, dirty, and yet with a twinkle in his eye.  He was one of those boys who never had anything good in his life to rejoice for, but at the same time probably thought that he was lucky enough to have a job on hand. 
Raj and his associates were talking about everything under the sun.  Raj observed that his collegues and he were complaining about many things like their job, food in the office, the infrastructure the office provided them with, the kind of treatment they got from their bosses, etc.  All these people who complained had good clothes to wear, slept in good warm beds, and ate three times a day.  Raj's attention went to that boy.  Some people called him "magu" meaning child in kannada, some abused him, some addressed him as if he had no name, and some just said "oye."  He had lost his identity, but the boy never frowned, never gave a dirty look, never reacted to the way people approached him, but carried on with his work.  At that age, Raj thought, they had a wonderful education, good clothes to wear, went to movies, enjoyed themselves, etc., but that boy was working; working for a family or himself, but he was working.  Raj thought, that was an age where the boy could make something out of himself, and he was working.  Raj thought that he was lucky.  He wanted to help the boy, but then thought to himself, he could have only if he had the resources, which he did not.  Raj was not very well placed financially and so he could only hope. 

He hoped that someday he would adopt a boy or a girl, maybe even more, if God gave him the strength and bring them up as their own children.

He looked at his group and himself and thought, "We always complain about everything we have ever had in life; when is it that we can learn to be happy with what we have?"  A question, which probably mankind has long forgotten.  Mankind's greed has never ended and looks like it never will.

Please ask yourself a question:  "ARE WE LUCKY?"

COMPARE YOURSELF WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NOTHING AND YOU WILL FEEL HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jaane Kaha Gaye Woh Din??????????

THOSE GOLDEN DAYS…………….

I am 32 years old now.  Today; July 23, 2004, I have become fat, a little bald, and old.  I recollect my childhood as a sit alone on my desk with a computer in front of me and think, “Where have those golden days gone?”

I used to stay in Secunderabad, the rich brother of Hyderabad.  My home was very close to Clock Tower, which I correlated to the Big Ben whenever I saw it.  Most of the time, it never showed us the correct time, but there were some times when we had some delegates coming over and suddenly the local “Big Ben” used to start working.

My home was a part of a building which housed four families, the Taliaths, Nairs, Singhs, and us; the Malurs.  The outhouse of the building lodged a family of five, the Raos.  The building had a huge gate in which was the old 1966 Fiat parked; it belonged to George Taliath, a man who was relaxing most of the time.  As a child, I always used to think why this man never went to office like Appa; least did I know that he did not have the necessity to work as he had a huge rubber plantation in Kerala.  The Taliaths were four in number; Mr. Taliath, Mrs. Taliath, and their two daughters, the always gentle and docile Priya and the naughty and tomboy of the building Preetha.  The ground floor of the complex housed the Taliaths and the Singhs.  The Singhs were a weird lot.  There was no woman in the household.  Mr. Purshottam Singh’s wife was no more and he had five children, Vasu, Prakash, Kishore, Ramesh, and Shyam.  Exactly above the Singhs was the Nair family, a conservative Keralite family consisting of Mr. Nair, Mrs. Nair and their two children, Baby aunty (as we used to call her) and Unni, the son.  Facing their house was our house, Appa, Amma, Ravi, and I.  The fifth house was not attached to the main complex, but was more of an outhouse.  The Raos consisted of five individuals; Mr. Sudhakar Rao, Dr. Ratnaveni, and their three children, Prasanna, Suresh, and Sunitha (all of them extraordinarily brilliant); these were the ones I envied.

Those were school days and we were at our peak in terms of energy.  Hyderabad was a very ancient city with more than 400 years of history behind it.  History being one of my favorite subjects, I always used to look at old buildings.  The area of Marredpally housed many English buildings and constructions, belonging mostly to Anglo-Indians.  I used to wonder to myself, “These buildings must have seen the coming of the British, their superior powers, their atrocities towards the native Indians, etc.”  All sorts of ideas popped my mind those days, a curious child I was.  School was about 15 – 20 kms away from my home, at Jubilee Hills.  It took us a good 45 minutes to get back home.  As soon as we were back from school, we used to throw away our bags, change into something more comfortable, and run out to play.  My house was a lane with about 7 buildings.  Right opposite my house was a huge space with small houses in the interior, a scooter mechanic garage in the front, a dhobi and a car graveyard.  Next to that was Mr. Appa Rao’s house.  Following that were two huge protestant churches.  On the opposite side; i.e. the row where my building was located, starting from the “Big Ben” end, was Mr. Ravi Khanna’s house (the owner of Basera – now a 3-star hotel in Secunderabad).  Next to that was Arvind Nursing Home, which lodged the Sharmas; Dr. Sharma, his wife and his three kids, Anand, Arvind, and Archana.  Adjoining the Nursing Home compound was the Zandu Pharmaceuticals Warehouse, which also held the family of Parekhs.  They were four in number, Ms. and Mr. Parekh and their two children, Jyothi and Ashish.  We were their immediate neighbors.

Anand, Arvind, Ashish, Ravi and me were the kids in that lane and the kings of our lane.  We used to get together to play cricket at the Zandu Pharmaceuticals warehouse, which had a huge front yard.  Come from school, play cricket until my mom used to call us back and then get back, finish your homework before Appa was back home and be ready for the 9 o’ clock show on television, which was the only interesting thing we used to watch.  The 9 o’ clock shows, as far as I remember were the following:
Monday:  Nukkad – a Hindi comedy serial.
Tuesday:  Hum Log / Buniyad – the first two soap shows of DD (DoorDarshan).
Wednesday:  I love Lucy.
Thursday:  Ados Pados – A comedy by Sai Paranjape.
Friday:  Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi – Another comedy starring Shafi Inamdar, Swaroop Sampath, and Rakesh Bedi.
Saturday:  Buniyad again.
Sunday:  This was at morning 9 o’ clock; Star Trek.

We as children of those days used to end our days in the above manner.  Movies were an integral part of the families those days.  We used to go out for movies, eat outside periodically, go to art exhibitions, consumer exhibitions, etc.  This is something, which I don’t see very often lately.  Movies we used to enjoy were more simple and local Hindi movies.  Hyderabad is one of those Indian cities which was not very westernized and we were some of the privileged ones, who were able to watch those good movies of the late 70s and 80s like Golmaal, Chitchor, Choti Si Baath, Bataon Bataon Mein, Katha, etc.

The small happiness from eating mangoes, flying kites, hanging out in Irani cafes, watching cricket matches standing outside the barbed wired Gymkhana Ground.  Seeing “Star Trek” and using two empty matchboxes, make a telephone like the one they use in the show.  These were small things we found our happiness in. 

In contrast to that, we always see kids today using cell phones, stuck to television, CDs, DVDs, and a huge amount of technocrap.  If you ask a kid today about nature, he might be able to give you a good answer (using computers and television programs), but ask him about how to climb a tree, he would not know.

Are we driving our kids and the coming generation to a life of complete techno-dependency?  Ask yourself this question and if you do find an answer, please let me know.

JAANE KAHA GAYE WOH DIN????????????????????????????

Imposing Male Superiority????????????

The phone rang twice and a sleepy-eyed Raj woke up and picked up and let out a feeble "Hello!"  It was his brother coming back from Hyderabad, who asked him to pick him up from the bus stop.  Raj checked his watch, which probably never left his wrist ever since Rajani had presented it to him; it was 6:15 in the morning.  He woke up and, after his morning chores, got ready to go to the bus stop.  He started the bike and went to the bus stop and picked Ravi up.
 
It was Sunday; July 18, 2004, their father's death anniversary and they had to do the usual pujas on that day.  They got ready in a couple of minutes after arriving home.  They had to go to the temple to perform the puja that day.  Their mother was busy with the cooking part in the house for the offering to the crows that day.  Raj and Ravi finished the puja by around 10 in the morning and came back home to help their mother cook.  Division of labor resulted in finishing the cooking part early.  They had a small puja after that and everybody had lunch.
 
It was seven years after their father had expired.  Raj thought to himself, "Seven years, a long time, I miss you dad."  A normally enthusiastic Raj was rather dull that day, a reason not known to himself.  He considered his father his best friend (after his mom of course), but then he was no longer there.  Thoughts raced his mind, seven long years and it was like his father was there with him all along.  Life has to go on, he thought and the day proceeded.  He was supposed to meet Rajani.  Especially, after three weeks, it was a very big day for him.
 
He got a call from her and he left on his bike to La Casa, a restaurant, which served Continental food (Food which Raj could kill for), but then that day he could not eat outside.  He reached there at 1:30 PM, Early (as usual) and waited for Rajani to arrive. 
 
The restaurant had very little crowd.  There were two friends at the corner of the restaurant, smoking and sipping on beer beating the hot Sunday sun.  Their seat overlooked the rather deserted street.  Behind them was a couple, young and probably new to their share of love, Raj thought.  Raj waited and saw a group of college going kids enjoying themselves, thinking that he had grown old and times had changed.  He recollected that it was the first place where Radhika Chopra, his Medical College classmate had given their entire gang a party on her birthday, then it was Anurag Upadhyay, Salahuddin, Prashanth Singh, etc, etc. and the list went on.  La Casa was one of his favourite hangouts in his college days. 
 
Rajani and her friend Sindhu arrived.  It was a program, which was planned as Sindhu had got engaged a couple of days earlier and she wanted Raj to see the photographs of her engagement.   After the initial greetings were over, Raj got to see Sindhu's album, which held her engagement snaps.  He was actually pretty happy that Sindhu had finally come to a decision and decided to get married.  From what little he knew about her, she was a person who was very apprehensive about marriage, but now she had succumbed to her father's demands and agreed to marry somebody.  She did not look very happy though, but then Raj hoped that she would be, once she got to know her fiancee better.  On one side, Raj was very happy for Sindhu, but again on the other hand, he was depressed as he knew that he was getting older and his marriage plans were not taking shape.  They ordered for omlette and it came in a jiffy.  Raj was not supposed to eat and he ordered for lemonade.  The girls finished their "lunch," and Sindhu arranged to depart as she was expected by her friends at a nearby movie hall.
 
Raj and Rajani decided to go and sit at Coffee Day at Jayanagar, close to La Casa.  The place was full of college going kids between the age group of 16-20.  There were couples mostly.  A couple of youngsters, smoking away to glory, least knowing what they were heading to.  In the Cafe was a group of kids enjoying themselves.  The Cafe played all kinds of music, especially with their Juke Box, people could choose. 
 
They went in; Raj, for a reason he did not know, started to burst at Rajani and blamed her for every possible thing on earth.  An act, he knew he would repent for.  Rajani was dumbfound and was shocked to see her man react that way, especially after she met him after three weeks.  Things had changed.  Raj was not the same docile and caring person she had fell in love with.  He was acting in the most unreasonable manner ever.   Then, the anger died down and Raj decided to switch topics.  Rajani, as usual, complained about her office and how she was not happy working there.  After a lot of convincing by Raj, she said she had to face the truth.  The company she had joined was a dream come true for her, but least did she know that she was not going to be as happy there.  Talks went on until both of them decided to leave.
 
Rajani had to buy something for her friends at her new office for their birthday and coaxed Raj to go to Commercial Street; a place Raj hated to visit on Sundays (especially because he knew it was going to be crowded and he was agoraphobic).  One thing Raj could not see was a smile dissapearing on Rajani's face.  He agreed, they paid the bill and left.  Raj was somehow not well, but did not want to emphasize on that fact of being unwell, as they had met after three long weeks and he did not want to spoil Rajani's mood.  They left and after a long ride of about 8 kms, reached Commercial Street.  They got down, and as all girls do, Rajani took him to different shops, saw many dress materials.  That day was very unusual.  She liked something in the first shop she went into and Raj was amazed and thought to himself, "Good!  Now we can get out of here."  What he did not know was that Rajani had different plans.  She took him to Westside, a place he never liked because clothes there were very expensive and were really not worth it; however, to keep Rajani happy, he did go.  The shop was really really warm and the air conditioner was not working.  It was really full of rich people and richer people, who probably had never known poverty.  They were shopping away to glory, mostly women and Raj could see a couple of worried husbands behind them holding the goods and some of them holding their kids.  Raj noticed a middle-aged couple behind the "Ethnic Wear" department, where the wife had already bought a lot of clothes, but then was continuing to buy more.  The husband was holding a child, probably 3-4 years old and a bag full of his wife's clothes and a worried look on his face, which almost said, "Will I be bankrupt today?"  Raj thought to himself, I am lucky that Rajani is not so demanding.  He was also happy for the fact that she was very choosy and that he hoped could save him money.  As Raj expected, Rajani did not like anything there and they went out without any purchases.  Raj suggested something and Rajani snapped at him.  He was angry and sad at the same time, but then least did he realize that he had reacted the same way a couple of hours before.  A male chauvinism kinda creeped in him and he acted very cold towards her.  This happened without his knowledge and he went on like that.  Rajani asked him to take her to the place they had first met, Hotel Capitol.  They rode on the same streets they had taken strolls in the initial stages of their love story, but then things had changed over the past five years.  They had grown mature and Raj did not know whether it was for bad or good.  They had become more than friends over the past five years and that is what mattered.  Raj dropped her off at Institute of Engineers at about 5:30.  This was not like him.  On any other day, he would have loved to be with her longer and in fact usually used to beg her to stay back, but not that day.  He somehow wanted to be alone that day.  He wondered, after she left, was it really me.  Why am I acting like an MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig)?  He took the long way home, rode slowly, escaped two accidents because he was thinking of something else.
 
He arrived home and just slumped on the bed, slept, slept, and slept.
 
An act of unwanted, imposing male superiority, that is what he could derive of his Sunday's behavior towards Rajani.  He was sad.  It was not like him, never had he acted so recklessly, never.
 
A thing a man like him is going to be ashamed about for the rest of his life!!!!!!!!

An Evening with Friends.

An evening with friends:

It was the usual cold evening of the Monsoon hit Bangalore city when all of us came to work. It was decided that Poonam gives a party for her birthday, which was long gone, a month ago; typically, Indian. Everything can be postponed.

It was about 9 in the evening, or should I say night that we decided to go for the dinner party. As usual, a debate over the venue for dinner. Benazir had gone out of the office earlier to drop her brother to the bus stand, as he was new to Bangalore.

I called Benazir, who told me that she was walking towards Mayuri, an Andhra Hotel, which serves authentic Andhra-style spicy food. We decided against it as the major item of eats would be rice and we were too well fed to put on any more weight; well at least me. We decided that we go to “FRIENDS,” a restaurant, which served all kinds of food, Mughlai, Chinese (Indian Chinese of course), and also Continental food.

Next, the problem was how to get there. We had two bikes, a Kinetic Honda and a Pulser. Shil and Poonam decided to leave together and Sadath volunteered to pick Benazir from where she was. That left Vicky and me; and we decided that we take a rickshaw. We walked about one-fourth of a mile and got into a rickshaw, who was Michael Schumacher incarnate; at least he thought he was. We survived three accidents before we reached the dimly lit “FRIENDS,” which was less than a mile away. We, Vicky and me, waited for about 10 minutes before Shil and Poonam joined us and we took a table for six in the café.

I could see the dimly lit café surprisingly crowded at that time of the evening, mainly because the location was not very popular. There were three girls, giggling away to glory on something, probably a story of their latest boyfriends. One of the girls was constantly over the phone, chatting. She was probably the leader of the pack, giving Gyan Sessions to the other two who were listening to their leader intently. The other side of the restaurant was a boy of 18 – 20 years of age, (probably) patiently waiting for his girl friend, who was on her way. He looked to be more of Chinese origin. The restaurant smelt dully of cigarette smoke combined with the aroma of food.

We sat at the table, right behind the Billing counter. We were waiting for Benazir and Sadath to come down. Finally, after about 5 minutes the duo arrived. I had to get up and go as I got a call from Rajani. That call, I would not miss for the world. I spoke to her for about five minutes. In the meantime I happened to see a couple of worried faces passing by in the darkness of night. Traffic gradually dying out and most of the vehicles hurrying back home. A lot of FORMULA-1 drivers of Call Center vehicles driving at top speeds trying to beat time at its own game. The call ended and I re-entered the restaurant.

My friends were still discussing as to what they should order. I sat next to Poonam, as that was the only seat vacant. Shil told me that they had ordered some starters and were waiting for me to order the main course. It was evident that they had made up their minds, all except for one, Sadath. He was still very intently studying the menu. Finally, after a couple of minutes we arrived at what to order.

Next to me was a busy couple. All they did was silently eat. As usual, I began thinking, they must be a couple who would probably have had a fight and just wanted to try and end the day on a pleasant note. Food came. In no time, the starters were empty. We were all chitchatting and the noise of the restaurant drowned the old English Music they were playing. The faint music actually reminded me of school days. Nobody really bothered what exactly was being played. On the far end of the restaurant was a middle-aged couple; they had probably seen the good days and were fighting life. They were arguing upon some topic, which obviously we could not hear considering the noise in the café. Behind us was another couple; these people probably were the ones who came in there for a special occasion, but unlike all the other couples I could see, were very happy and cheerful. They looked like the ones who saved their entire month’s savings for that day. What made me come to that conclusion??? Well, I could see that they were not wearing the usual city kind of clothes, second, they were having soup first, which meant that they had not come in to grab a bite, but have a proper three-course meal. They were not very well off, but they were happy. A table away was our group, who were complaining about everything and anything, right from the weather of Bangalore to Saddam’s plight; and then there was the couple sitting beside us, happy and immensely contended. Seeing them, made me feel really happy and contended that there were some people who did not care about the world, but for them that special moment was that time that they shared amongst themselves; their private party.

First came Vicky’s chicken fried rice with Gobi Manchurian. Then came Poonam’s food, Chicken Pepperonata, and then began the interesting part. The food was bland and she complained. She asked the waiter and the steward to make it a little spicier, and sent it back. Some time later arrived the parathas and the Chicken Kadai. A little later came my Chicken Pantoque, which I quietly started to eat. Benazir had ordered for a Vegetable American ChopSuey, which finally came at the end; guess they had then gone to find vegetables. A few minutes later, Poonam’s dish arrived with a different flavor, more pepper and again complaints and outbursts were heard. Poonam was very disturbed for the fact that there was too much pepper in the Pepperonata. I did taste it, but felt it to be okay. She would not agree and blasted the waiters, stewards, and everybody who came to the table to help, finally canceling her order. She had a bite from our plates and that’s how the evening came to an end. It was already 10:15 in the night and we had to get back to work.

I was just thinking how complex the FEMALE SPECIES was. On one side, I have seen Rajani, who does not complain at all and on the other side was Poonam who complained about everything she had.

God obviously couldn’t rest once he made the female species!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marriage????????

Fifteen years ago, 1989, Hyderabad.

It was a hot Sunday afternoon, when Mrs. Malur was resting after her daily chores. Mr. Malur was on his couch, a pipe in his mouth, relishing the holiday. Summer was at its peak and the old big Air-Cooler was making a gushing sound in the serene neighborhood, but keeping the Malurs cool.

In came Ravi, 12-year-old, the youngest of the Malurs. He said, "I don't know why people marry."

Mother was stunned looking at her 12-year-old speak about marriage, but then felt that it needed a more practical answer than the usualy ones given to kids. She said, "It is something that you would do when you come of age."

Argument began between mother and son. The older one and the father were the onlookers. Astonished by the questions of his younger son, the father replied, "What will you do when you grow up and have to go to the office and then who do you think will take care of the house for you?"

Silence surrounded the room, the only noise coming from the cooler and a distant chirping of birds. Moments later, the boy had a glow of wisdom on his face and said, "I will hire a servant."

Mom laughed and said, "Do you mean I am the servant in the house?" The boy ran away.

Last Saturday, 2004, the same boy got engaged, to a wonderful looking girl. Least did he remember that he had opted to hire a servant and not to marry, but in the corner of the big hall, the mother did.

Her child had grown and become mature, she thought to herself.

A Trip To Pune.

Raining as it was, cats and dogs on the day Ravi and his bro had to leave to Pune, the poor cousin of its much known neighbor, Bombay.

Ravi with his bro had almost made it on time to the much crowded and chaotic bus station of Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. Ravi and Raj, brothers. A typical bus station scene, loud and unclear announcements being made from the old and cob-webbed loudspeakers. The TCs resting and spitting over commuters and conductors. The worried conductor of a small town bus, shouting and advertising his bus. Drivers relaxing and probably narrating stories to others about their feats and the number of people they had managed to scare and kill (mentally) over their last drive, etc. Chaos, haphazard arrangement, unclean platforms, homeless and jobless youths taking naps over the dirty and rain-drenched benches of the bus station. The 21st Century, the IT capital of India, home to the largest number of professional colleges, and a worthless and useless bus station.

The third partner, an MBA graduate, a BDM in a reputed software firm, but with absolutely no planning of his own life, was no where to be seen.

Ravi, wearing a black jacket, searched his pockets for cigarettes, lit one and said in dismay, "Raj, Abhi's got the tickets." As usual, Raj was frustrated and shouted at his bro, "Are you crazy to have left it with a person, who doesn't know which foot the left shoe would go into?" All in woe, the bus driver shouted to the TC that the bus had to leave.

Raj put on a sad face, requesting the ill-tempered driver and the co-driver of the 48-seater Volvo bus, who just snarled and said they had to leave as they were already late, and lo, the bus left.

A few moments later, Abhi arrived, drenched, bleeding from his left foot, shoes in his hands, a wet laptop bag, and a completely sorry and apologizing look on his face, only to be dragged to another auto (the 3-wheeler chauffer driven of India). After a long drive of about 20 miles, the auto broke down. Abhi called up the next stop of the KSRTC bus stand and requested them to hold the bus for a couple of minutes more. The phone dropped with a thud on the other end. The face lit up, Abhi said, "I think we can get the bus, the guy probably ran to inform the driver." Least intersted, Raj turned away, looking into the gloomy sky, pouring and spitting on mankind. A true scene of horror from the sky, it looked like doomsday and that the rain would swallow everybody. The sun was hiding from the fury of the rain, nowhere to be seen. The trio got into another auto, who took advantage of the time and demanded double, only to be accepted by the three fools.

Finally, after a drive of 7 miles, the trio managed to board the bus, being laughed at by the whole lot of passengers and repeatedly being scolded and scowled at by the drivers.

After so much of an adventure, the trip, was it really worth all this??????????????

A question I have never been able to answer.

Life's like that. We are putting ourselves into so much of tension, turmoil, standing up to unnecessary competition, and troubles (troubling not only others but ourselves too), etc., is all this really worth the effort. What are we fighting for, where are we going, where is this going to take us to, I don't think we have the answer. I would love to listen to it if you can give me one................

Everyday, we get up only to face the beginning of the end.