Life's Snippets

A tit-bit you hear as you pass by in a hallway or a random conversation that falls in your ear as you are around waiting for something; maybe in a super market or at the bus stop......does not mean anything to you at all. But more often; those little conversations drives the life and day to day struggles and efforts of that individual.

I am an intense observer; I look at people's body language, their facial expression; those convey a lot - about their fear, inhibitions, joys and such; combined with tit-bit often gives an interesting perspective of one's life.

Now! dont get me wrong. I m neither looking for gossip or juicy piece of news to entertain myself. This is all about people's struggles versus what they are passionate in life about. Trust me! its always at the opposite ends and they dont meet. The whining and the complaining hoping to get past the troubles is never ending.

One may wonder; all these conversations most times complaints? What about happy stories? Yes! happy stories are very easy to notice and deduce. Smile, joys, excitement defines happiness. Its just that - pure and plain happiness.

On the other side; sorrows manifest in many ways - anger, dullness, fear, sombreness. The talks are often subdued, contained and private unlike a happy moment where it is proclaimed. Been hearing a lot of such brief conversations off late. Or rather; I m being a bit attentive maybe these days. As i walk past them or as they walk past me; I hear those one or two sentences which paints a picture of their situation at work, or at home or in a city. Tells a lot about their pain, their desperation and the hope.

"How long would it be until I can start contributing independently? Working with him is such a pain!" - lamenting about a difficult co worker. Our job - plays such an important role in our life given that we spend almost 50% of our day either at work or doing work related activities. Our peers become a part of our life; and their behavior affects our well being so much. Did you know about "work spouse"? Google it. Woah! how much our work influences our life!!

"This is all show; metropolitan life, cars and careers. But each of us are struggling underneath. Whats all this money going to give us? There are times when I seriously think I should go back to my village. Herd 2 cows and be happy with that little I'd get but with peace abounds" - a cab driver's frustration driving in insane Bangalore traffic. I am sure he dreams of his village and two cows every night and yet wakes up in the morning looking for business to be able to lead his "Bangalore" life.

"Its NOT my way; its my mothers way!!" - an 35+ year adult living under the shade of his mother. Mom thinks her "child" needs assistance and help; interfering in his day to day activities, monitoring what he eats, when he sleeps, where he goes. The "child" just playing along.

Sigh! I could go on and on. When I hear conversations as these; I cant help but wonder how we are all so similar; sailing the same ship and battling the odds - some of us fighting the pirates, few of us trying to cross the rough seas and few of us trying to share space with monsters.

Gypsy's worry - "When do we play?"

Life!

Missed opportunities?

Its a question I ask myself....

Well, the opportunities are not of the meritorious kind. So one may say those are not "moral" ones. Hey! so what? I am a lowly normal "human" being and these days opportunities dont knock on your doors. They graze it and flee away!

And as for me; luck and me have always walked in opposite directions. So yeah! thats why opportunities that go by makes me cringe.

What kind of opportunities you may ask? Everything and anything...personal networking, work related ones, a lil' favor here and lil' obligation there. Everything man!

See! it all starts because of the weird short name I have. Not very short..but short short. Many of my friends here would already know my name. If not; here it is. No! its not the most recognized, often on news name. So don't have any expectations. The name is BINDU...BINDU..

Yeah....James Bond style.

But tell me this...does my name tell you anything about me? My native place, my language, my community, my religion, my region....anything at all?

If my name were Krishna Priya Gopalakrishnan appended by a religion/community identifier followed by regional identifier ; maybe it would tell I am a South Indian belonging to such and such community and speaking such and such language. But no! Nothing of that kind. 

Its just Bindu and yeah I have a TG attached to the end like any South Indian. Its the TG that holds the meat you know. It does have my community, ethnicity, religion, language...blah..blah..blah..attached to it and no wonder generates a lot of curiosity. And that my dear brothers and sisters I hide the expansion of TG like they have hidden the original Coca Cola recipe.

Many have asked me to expand TG and yes, there is a lot of curiosity. Human beings - curios nature - cant help. I have often refrained from it. Sometimes I get away the awkwardness by expanding it to "The Great" and people cant understand why I don't want to reveal what is just a name. It would have been easy if there was a Kurien or a Gowda or a Reddy or a Shah or a Singh or a Fernandez or a phew!!!!

But no; I dont want it that way. I dont know why; its always been embarrassing. So among my cousins; we have some who proudly flaunt their ancestry (which gives you an idea of their kulam, gothram and all that origin) while I here dont have a clue of it. And to make matters worse; I dont look typical so that people can attach me to a group. People have conveniently put me to a group or origin as they thought right. I have been "mistaken" to be a Marwari, Tulu, Malay (hehehehe), Sri Lankan (more hehehehehe) , Malayalee and the list goes on.

What would you make out of a girl (ok! ok!), strike that out...A woman who has short hair, most times unkempt, wears some washed out worn out jeans, a T shirt and roams around with a sling bag. My spouse recently commented that I am dressing up like boys (This one warrants a separate post).

OK! Now why missed opportunities?  Its easy isnt it? Just think..

I cant be part of a Malayalee gang nor can I fit myself into a Tamizh gang. North Indians look at me with suspicion while South Indians feel no commonness with me and have disowned me. At work too; people group together based on their region or language. There too, I am nowhere. The favor my Telugu colleague gets just because of her oh! so! Telugu surname is something that I am deprived off.

No ones comes up to me and starts a conversation with "Neenga Tamizh-aaa?".

So I often wonder....

Did I miss a salary hike or did I miss a promotion?
Did I miss a hot-guy in a party?
Did I miss a friendly lady group?

I will never know...as long as I choose to remain Bindu with a TG. Sigh!

Before you think I am ending the post with a Sad face; here is a true incident that happened at the Udaipur Airport. It was 5 AM chilly and I am all brrrrrrrr trying to get inside the airport building. The CISF personnel checking my ticket asked me "Doosra aadmi kahan hai?" It took a moment for me to fathom what doosra aadmi he is talking about.

You see, only my passport has the expansion of TG and with that my name crosses the reserved 22 boxes provided to fill in my name in the India Immigration Form. The TG in itself is good enough to be another person's name. In my case, its my grand father's and my father's name put together garnished with the community name they belong to. I said there was no doosra aadmi and all and in time the CISF personnel realized it as well and we started laughing. Phew!

This is fine but I was close to being rejected boarding a flight in JFK because my name didnt fit into the provided boxes and I restored to short form which didnt match my name in the passport! Oh my God!

Geometry Box

Yeah, remember those bright orange and yellow colored Camlin heavy boxes which carried utilities that had special place in your school bag?

Every school kid's birthday gift wish. Neighbor's envy and owner's pride. Some kids were lucky enough to own them much earlier than others. And then what a show-off it was. Get the whole group's attention, get the box out of the special zone in the bag, take off the plastic cover that it came with; no not your dirty hands but your teeth that would open the box. Place it near your lips, feel it, caress it and then bite it open. Each of the instrument were neatly put pack in their plastic cover, tucked into the plastic molded holder and shut tight only to bring the box back to school the next time there was a geometry class.

The world inside was all like Calculus and Trigonometry for a high school kid. Compass, double compass(didn't know it was called a divider then), Protractor and what were those 2 other 'scales' doing in the box? For all I knew, the double compass was used to carve out names on the desk. Co-ed folks would have used it for carving out hearts also I believe.

I remember nagging my parents to get me once the moment I stepped into class 5. Some of my class mates already had them . It was also the battle of mass v/s class. Mass being the "ok-ok" Nataraj Geometry box. They had mini versions too. Class being the Camlin ones. The look and feel of the two would give you an idea why Camlin was expensive and tougher to possess than Nataraj.

Only when I shifted to a prestigious convent in high school that we were taught it was not Geometry Box but Geometrical Instruments Box. Aaah! see, sophistication. Rubber was to be addressed as Eraser, Mender was to be called as Sharpener and Scale as Ruler :-D

Of course, got to know that Double Compass was Divider and it did have a noble use than carving out names. For all I knew, Geometry box was an expensive object to possess. Only few kids were privileged to  get them. And once you own it, you need to preserve it so much that you ended up borrowing set squares and compass from friends in the class so that yours remain new. Such care :)

Miss those days? Aah certainly!

Nuisance

My mom called me an hour ago. She asked me if I can send the photos of me with pilots to my cousin. She was referring to the photos I clicked during my inflight experience in light aircraft and photos with pilots after the flight during my trip in Costa Rica.

I told her it was online on Facebook; so if he adds me as friend he can view them. I asked her why my cousin was interested in those pictures. What she told me irritated me as usual. She told me that during one of the usual conversation with her sister; she mentioned my photo with the pilots episode. Her sister got back a while later that it was utterly impossible to click snaps with pilots during flights as passengers dont have access. My mom has retorted with "Do you think my eyes would lie? I saw the pictures"; to which her sister has asked her to send the pictures as proof. My mom does not understand the nuances of facebook; she asked me to repeat what I said slowly so that she could write it down and repeat to them. 

Now this is not new to me. The cold war between two sisters as to who is living a better life and whose kids are doing good in their life, careers, financially....is a regular affair. Of course this stems from the insecurities and inferiority that have been nurtured for decades now among them but the fact that I am victimized every time irks me.

Some time back, it was about the cost of my car; I had to detail the model, engine type, type of transmission etc to justify the cost as compared to what my cousin and his mom believed was the price for the car! Some other time it was the comparison of cost of my flat versus cost of the flat in London where her sister's daughter lives.

I lost it today and told her not to disturb me with such stupid matters; she shot back telling me that she wants to show-off to her sister since she  also brags!

Each time, I need to give an explanation so that these two ladies are equipped with information to prove who has better life; not in terms of quality definitely but in terms of material possession. What are they trying to prove by taking credits of their children's life? Does it add any value to their quality of life is what I do not understand. The fact that I have to satisfy their silly ego annoys me.

Choice!?

"He would regret it for the rest of his life. It will prick him through his life. I gave him full freedom you know, I don't want to force, this was his choice. He left....."

I heard these statements being made by a woman outside a supermarket. She was talking on the phone. I felt sad looking at her. She was educated, well dressed and came from a middle class family like most of us. Her voice quivering; pleading conversation. For a moment I imagined lot of things. Was her husband treating her bad? Was her son giving her trouble? What was the sad situation she was in that she didnt seem to care her surrounding.

I picked the basket and walked into the supermarket; got my stuffs and forgot all about her until after 10 mins. She was still on the phone talking standing out. This time I heard "He definitely wants to do engineering. That is his choice. He doesn't care about my choice and my wishes......"

I just rolled my eyes and felt stupid about feeling bad for her few minutes ago.

What it means to Die

Oh yeah! How inappropriate. How would one know what it means to die until one dies and how can the aftermath be expressed :)

Well, what I am going to talk here is the hearsay. Death means an end to problems, events, situations, freedom from all. "Go die!" is something we say to an irritating person. So in short death means peace? I think I am close even if I am not right.

This evening at around 5:15 PM, I left office so that I could escape the traffic. I am commuting by scooter since 2 weeks; with all these fuel hikes and the irate attitude of the auto drivers; I decided enough is enough. Anyway; today there was a pile of vehicles on the road, moving slowly feet by feet in snail's pace. The traffic was piled for a km.

My fingers were aching by applying frequent brakes. It was so frustrating; to make matters worse a Mallu guy driving a Volkswagen Vento behind me was constantly honking!!! How do I know he was a Mallu? The car was KL registered. Anyway, it was not that I was having a party on the road. The road was choc-a-bloc, where will I find a path to move? After few minutes, I thought I should do something about it.

I turned behind and asked gestured what was the problem? That guy gave a smile, loser! I just asked him to wait and continued at snail's place. So after those horrible pushing the vehicle for one km, noticed flowers strewn on the road. Not another party procession! But the HC ruled out any party meetings within the city radius! So this must be something else. Any festive procession? What's special today? No festivities. Then I see a policeman helping streamline the traffic. A hearse van ahead of him.

It was the final procession of a dead person. As in some of the customs, they were celebrating his/her final journey. Bulbs of flowers strewn on the road, music band playing the standard music, a couple of drunk men dancing while remaining oblivious to the traffic pile up they created. The road is busy from 5 to 8; there are 2 major Business Parks hosting around 30+ MNCs having 50,000+ people working. Everyone rushes home during these peak hours.

My thoughts were about the dead person. How would he/she have been? Quality? Would that person have liked celebrating any event at the cost of causing trouble to others? Or was that person a trouble all the time that he/she is living(dead) up to the expectations?

Die in peace but leave others in trouble? I hope whoever that person was would have hated the trouble this event has caused; poor thing was helpless.

Humanity in Religion

The basis for religion is humanity but do we really find the humanity part in our cultural practices?

We know what the answer is; so isn't it ironical that we continue to put 'humanity' as the basis for religion?

I visited a remote village in a neighboring district yesterday. It was the village festival but my interest was not for the festival. I thought I could do some bird watching and capture good photos.

Capture did I some nice snaps and I also spotted beautiful birds - peacocks, cranes, kites, partridge, huge sparrows and larks. I was so glad to see these birds so happy lapping up in nature while we find it so hard to spot a sparrow in Bangalore. Anyway owing to my poor 18-105mm lens, I could not capture any of them on my camera.

I digressed along the way; so I was talking about religious practices and humanity. Treat others with respect and be kind to animals and all that one learnt in your school as part of catechism and moral science? The event was a village festival; so people flocked from nearby villages to a tiny temple to sacrifice animals and appease the goddess.

Sacrificing animals is not something new; in fact sacrificing humans and animals were very much part of world culture right? For me it seemed the Goddess was a violent lady and she liked torture and agony; she wanted to be pleased as apposed to peace and serenity. Now, thats how people seemed to have read it.

Every religion has the same base principles. For eg, Bible talks a lot about sacrifice. What is a sacrifice? Sacrifice is giving up something that we really want; the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is symbolic. But people do tend to take it literally and dramatically. It involves shedding of blood of a hapless creature to atone the sins of the individual or the group making this sacrifice. Obviously the blood shed is not of the person making the sacrifice; an animal is being made to pay for someone else's sins.

What I witnessed was such unethical treatment of helpless animals; tied and handled with no respect for life whatsoever. They were brutally butchered as they continued to cry. To watch a sight of barbarism as their body shudder and finally they give up that life is ghastly. People cheered as the poor creatures died; they skinned them, cleaned and cut them; in some time they relished the food.

What if the man was meted out with such an end? I saw this nice picture on facebook and it is worth sharing it here.

Stranded

Not marooned in an island with just Wilson for company; but in own small way; many times.

So once again, as many other times; I was stranded in office yesterday with no money to go home. You know; one thing is that my bank balance is almost zero and another thing that even with few hundreds; I cant withdraw money from my own account.

I have this unique problem of my debit card not working in ATMs in India only (Yeah it works outside country :-S) I have had my card replaced many times; it works well for first couple of months and then whichever ATM I try; the ATM blares a very embarrassing message of my card not being recognized. If thats not enough; I get suspicious looks from shops when my card is swiped and get a "Card not valid" or "Not enough balance" message.

I get chided for being clumsy while swiping and hence damaging the magnetic strip (something like ladies not knowing to drive). Anyway, after many futile attempts of getting a fresh card and being locked from using my online account while the new card reaches me; I have given up. Here is my arrangement. I have a banker at work (my colleague) and a banker at home(my husband). The arrangement is this. I transfer money to their account and they withdraw it for me.

So yesterday all I had was Rs. 20 in my purse which I spent on Ginger tea. I reminded my colleague to withdraw money for me. We forgot and then he left for the day unnoticed. So I was there at work post 6 while most of my office crowd are already high at the beer bash hosted by my organization every Friday.

I am a shy lady for one; couldnt get myself to look around for someone to part with a couple of hundreds for me to commute back home. I called up my colleague and reprimanded him for forgetting(as if it was his problem!) and forced him to get back to office and give me some money. He did so!

This was office; a familiar territory. But being in such a situation is not new to me. I have been left with no money when I am out; not knowing what to do. At such times; I have walked back home; sometimes 10+ kms. Yeah, I am not a disciplined woman to hide 500-1000 Rs in my purse for a rainy day as this.

I am nagged by my friends to get my card replaced. It is inconvenient; not only does my bank charge for the new card which will stop working after a couple of months. But during the window period of getting a new card; I cant transact online as my internet account is also locked as I need to key in combination of numbers as present in grids on my debit card.

Catch-22 situation huh? But its fun to put myself in such situations :P

PS : I got a custom domain. My blog link is http://www.insigniasblog.com. Please bookmark it. 

Office Spouse

A famous newspaper that is known to contain ads and gossips more than actual news had an interesting article of late.

The article started with a question as to how would you like it if you had someone who would be constantly supportive, your agony aunt or a punching bag at work? A spouse without having to marry!!

Few things sound dramatic when you give a name to them. It might be as simple as having a supportive colleague; but look at the term. Office Spouse!! The term Spouse brings in lot of packages with it - Nuptial agreement, promises to love each other in sickness and health, be loyal and honest until death..err...job hops do us apart!

Can we claim a no harm being friendly with colleague relationship as a "spouse" type? This very word is going to draw flak and make people wary of a healthy relationship at work. So yeah! you definitely would be bound to like one person more than others in the group. Like minded people would like to steal few minutes to go for a walk and talk on topics they could relate with.

There could be situations where in you could work better with a person having similar working styles than in isolation. Its all team work and productivity. Sometimes you need a person who is going through the same pain of working in a stressed environment and could relate with your verbal diarrhea. You need someone who knows the working of the organization and the frustrations of working with some people who you both know can be a pain. Should one give just a controversial name to it? I find it out rightly hilarious.

These sort of friendships among colleagues are everywhere and its a no harm thing. Tagging it with a ridiculous word as these could be extremely misleading and could lead to complications. Well why not? one would think twice before taking a walk with a colleague; lest others dont start speculating and send wrong signals!!

Imagine, the work place would be then a boot camp.

Simple things

Every morning; my dad would go out to get half a liter of Nandini milk; mom would pour out the milk in a bowl and pour half a cup of water to the empty packet; shake well and drain the last drop to the bowl. This empty plastic sachet was then put in a sack and collected religiously to be sold once the sack was full. Half of the milk was used for coffee, the other half saved for the evening.

For bath; it was that brick like Lifebuoy which I hated the most. It was meant to survive all odds. We used to wait and wait for that bar of soap to melt. The only other one Lux "Flmi sitharon ka soundarya sabun" was a LUXury. Talking about sachet, washing hair would be preceded by going to a kirana shop to get Re.1 shampoo which came with freebies like a hair clip.

A kirana shop would hoard 5 varieties of shampoos, equal varieties of bath soap; mind you it was not beauty soap then. Just one fairness cream - you know which one I am talking about. Still, it felt that the shop was hoarded!! What do I call for varieties now? Choices! what else? A head wash meant washing your hair with soap or shikakai. We never heard about conditioner, face wash, after wash, moisturizer.....lifebuoy was omnipotent.

Not much choice with toys, bags, shoes either. A Hero pen, Bril ink pot was a luxury. Do you remember going to a shop to refill your fountain pen with ink for 10 Ps? Or segregating all the left over pages of your notebook at the year end to make one book to be used as "rough note"

Around noon, a cow would come looking for starch water/vegetable wastes; those were collected to feed the animal. Not only cow, your neighbors came to borrow a cup of sugar, a glass of milk promising to return them later. Your mom sent them away if it were someone looking for curd after the lights were powered on - a belief!! Siesta time for an hour and that authentic filter Kapi later - who knew the espresso or the mocha?

Buying vegetables meant a trip to the market in a rickety bicycle; outing meant a cinema when tickets were Rs 10 for 4 of you; masala dosa indulgence in a dharshini on the 5th of every month. No multiplex, no Thai food, no Pizza..

Its more nicer now, but I miss the simple things then.

Two bucks

"Ma'am, please give me 2 dollars. I wanna buy beer". I remember this call from a tramp sitting near an intersection on Hollywood Boulevard. I visited Los Angeles in 2005. The image of this tramp is still vivid in my mind - unruly hair, torn canvas shoes, a tote bag. He was intimidating; I just walked by while he continued to call out for 2 bucks to buy his beer.

In Bangalore. "Didi, 2 rupyah dedo didi, subah se kuch nahi khaye" - An incessant plead; almost about to cry expression; lurking forward to hold your feet; you find them everywhere on the road; kids as young as 5 years. They might not even know how much that 2 Rs is worth. They are made to beg in most cases by their handlers.

Cut to San Jose, Costa Rica - lotteries being sold on the streets. People throng the shops to buy lotteries - 2 Colonies each ticket. They want to try their luck; get rich. 

Back in Bangalore...

"1 dozen fishes"
"How much do they cost?"
"24 Rs"
"2 Rupees each?"
"Yeah"

12 fishes is what the cat fish we have at home eats every alternate day. Those beautiful creatures are alive. They are breathing - as we are. They can see, sense, touch, eat, breathe, move.....as we do. Their value is 2 Rs each; we buy 12 of them every other day to feed to the bigger one; we watch as the cat fish eats these 12 one by one.

2 bucks was all that was needed :-)

My brothers and sisters

After mentioning briefly about software engineers in my previous post; I thought why not write about me! :-) Me as in many like me - Software engineers.
Do I see a "Oh! no not again! ?". Well, well, yet read; you have no choice! :-P The term software engineer is by itself a delicious title and so far the most uncertain profile ever. We ourselves dont find a definitive answer for the SW Engineer tag that gets attached against our name. 

Ever since India got into the IT business, we have seen the demand of IT and related courses in college.  Since sometime back, IT was a lucrative opportunity. A glamorous career right from the start in a reputed MNC, handsome pay package and awesome life. Here is a gist from a SW Engineer's life.

Disclaimer : Any reference to incident, person or anecdote is pure facts and definitely bears resemblance to all living SW Engineers

Potential SW Engineer : The IT/Comp-Science/E&C Engineering student. Parental and relatives pressure forces him to study hard during his matriculation years to get a medical seat. Tries his luck to grab an engineering seat as well. Low medical rank, engineering rank not good enough to find eligibility in a deemed/reputed university. Settles for a private college affiliated with a decent university; or if affordable; finds a payment seat in a reputed college. Clean state, all enthusiastic to start fresh. Gets bogged down the very first semester with innumerable internals, labs, theiry papers, compulsory attendance and blah..blah..blah.. Works his ass out the next 8 semesters - cheating in internals, seeking lab instructor's help, paying fine for lack of attendance, buying projects, getting caught by lab externals for buying projects......

4 years, 8 semesters, 50+ theories, 20+ labs, 6+ projects, 24 internals, 8 semester exams, 24 lab exams, 6 project demonstrations - soft skill trainings, written tests, placement interviews.....phew!! The D-Day arrives. A Fully Nurtured Software Engineer ready to solve the world's problems...Yieeppiieee!!!

Rookie : After all those hurdles, by hook or by crook; manage to grab a MNC offer. The company is known world-wide, has its footprints in major countries, life-changing technologies to work on., healthy work environment.....Fresher is all excited. His chest puffs and puffs with pride! He wears his ID badge on the collar(literally!), its all so overwhelming to be working for a dream company. Flexible work hours, free snacks, free beverages, outing, lunch, friendly colleagues, more friendly manager, an awesome pay packet....what else to ask for? Parents pride, neighbor's envy.

1+ Year  : After all that initial hysteria and pride, truth sinks in - that the title of software engineer is too broad and shallow; there are heck a lot of profiles related to software and that not all are exciting and challenging. That initial sumptuous meals during the induction and new-hire training was a bribe to sit through the whole stuff ;-)  and that humongous cost to the company did not necessarily mean CTC/12 - those were flexible benefits and not to forget the tax and your 'take home' is what matters :-) Still trying to figure out if you enjoy your 'work'; still trying to grab on to those fancy terminologies and the 'I am doing great' feeling.

3+ Year : The late night conference calls; trying to be as polite as possible while being belted black and blue by your 'client'. When your supervisor feels you are good for nothing and your juniors look up to you while you feel distress! Not to forget those 'extra responsibility', 'raising the bar' and 'you are capable of delivering more' sweet talks. Long working hours, conked up biological clock, irregular meal times. Well did you notice your growing belly and your receding hairline?

Senior Engineer :  Ill-fitting T shirts, sloppy looking jeans, good to throw away slippers, unkempt hair, shabby!!. :-) The new age nerd - the techie. Scurrying away with laptop; always confused look on the face. The face! - pale, lifeless, dark circles, under eye bags....On the verge of being diagnosed with a repetitive strain injury; yet free internet, free phone, free gym(which you dont even know exist), free cola........who cares!

Team Lead : Neither here; nor there. Always paranoid of expectations - technical expertise and management ability. Do I prepare this status report? Or work on this new feature? If I do this, they ask me what happened to the status; and if I am working on the status; they want to know about the new feature implementation! At this level, you ARE expected to handle multiple tasks with ease! Yeah right! I drive my newly acquired hatchback(on EMI which eats up 30% of my salary for 5 years) while taking conference calls!! Is it not multi tasking?

So here is what it is - Pride of the family, darling of your spouse; inspiration to your kids, earning handsome money, holding a job to die for (yeah to DIE for), having a great work environment......................

But slogging day and night, no regular work hours, hoping your folks will understand 'tapping the keyboard is still lot of mental work' and that 'working from home' means you ARE putting in serious work and effort. It means you are entitled to pay tax religiously and your 'take home' has dramatic difference than your CTC.

Being a software engineer also means people have right to bully you because you are 'sophisticated' in other words - a dumb idiot. It means you CAN fix your neighbor's printer or offer career advices to budding engineers. Oh yeah! not to forget the hair line getting thinner at the same rate your waists go fatter!

We need to get a life my brothers and sisters! seriously!! 

Silver Streaks

Dazzling bright,
against the brownish black,
Like a double rainbow,
if only for the colors,
just two in number,
yet commanding and conspicuous,
As the blacks bounce and sway,
These twins stand apart,
As if they had a fight,
Grabbing attention,
of the Mama,
As if to declare
"We are special"
Facing the mirror; admiring the mane,
I twitch in disbelief,
Despair and shock;
For these twins
are streaks of silver hair ............

I had a hair cut today. Its not a regular affair; I visit the salon once in 18 months or so. It happens when I realize what the condition of my hair is; unruly and weak. Then I go have a hair cut. I get pampered a bit with wash, conditioner; blow dry and all that.

I came home and was admiring the new style and the bouncy hair; when I noticed these 2 silvery strands. They were beautiful against the light from the bulb. Murphy's Law always in action; they have sprouted right near my forehead to full view of glory. I am in my 20s and gray I thought. But age is not a factor isn't it?

Hmm, souvenir. Let them have their rightful place. I am growing wiser :-)

In Poor Shape

Poor...
Poor...
Poor...

This is not a remark on any of my report/marks card. I have never got such a remark ever during my school days. But now a well grown up adult; mature and responsible me got not one; but repeated POOR remark.

I was dismayed; was my condition so bad? Well, these were the remarks made by my physical trainer. I thought let me keep this a secret; so that I do see some effects. But a secret and me? That's not at all possible; I am loud-mouthed and brag a lot; due to which most of my efforts dont end up the way I would want it to. Thats OK!!

Age is catching up faster and thanks to my lifestyle and my work; I practically lead a sedentary lifestyle. So thought let me wring my muscles(as if I had them!!) Well, the objective was to keep my tummy tucked in; I do not have the flattest ab but yeah its flat; but I think it can get better. So the just shaping up love handles and a bit of flab that I have ought to be banished!

Two weeks ago I visited this fitness center and enrolled myself in. The first 3 days were building up the stamina. I am proud to have added few more lingo to my dictionary. Thus started my early morning routine. It was difficult and is difficult even now to wake up at 6:30 and rush to the fitness center. Cardio exercises - treadmill, cross training and cycling. Initial excitement and the urge to see the different me bundled with encouragement seeing others working out pumped up my enthusiasm. I thought my body is not that bad; after seeing people with layers and tiers of fat deposits working their sweat out.

But I was wrong!!


Forth day - my trainer got my height, weight, BMI, fat and protein analysis, water content, muscle weight done. Next was the fitness test. Carido, cross training, stretching, weight training. He assessed me; never even once did he approve about my lack of exercise throughout my entire life. A constant smirk, a comment thrown in "Girls are flexible. You are not trying much. This is the minimum weight. You can do it"

Even after much cajoling and encouraging; I stuck to minimal weight and painful stretching. And then my fitness was assessed.

Protein percentage - Under
Minerals percentage - Under
Fat                          - Excess

and so on.....................The only consolation was that my weight and my BMI was normal and within limits. Everything else was either under or excess :-( My trainer had the following comments on my chart

Fat - Reduce 10.2 kg and Muscle - Put on 6.4 kg. (while continuing to retain my weight)

:-S

Well, this is my beginning and I have started on my training and workouts according to the plan devised for me. You know how one feels insecure and scared seeing new things and being in a new environment, its the same with me. I dread when I see all those sophisticated machines which exist to help us to look good and keep fit. Their names are as fancy as they look - Chest Press, Lat Pulldown, Hip Adductor, Hip Abductor, Rear Delt, Ab Crunch, Chest Fly, Shoulder Press, Rear Fly.............Phew! It goes on.Their complex mechanism and the enticing digital readings which show how much calories you have lost, the speed and your heart rate. One cant stop but awe in wonder how they can analyze you and size you up.

And now the actions!! Few of them are so desperate to lose those extra flab that they run on the treadmill as if they are running for their life. Huffing and puffing, sweating and panting; they work our rigorously. Few are amusingly thin that they come to add some weight - body building. Few are senior folks who are immaculately fit and are so agile and flexible that they can put a swift teenager to shame. They ritually exercise and are so dedicated. And then there are few who come in the best of designer outfits and fragrance oozing out as they work out; rich folks you see. Few are fit and they workout to maintain -  the boring group; they are not amusing at all.

Not to forget the ladies group who gossip around even while walking on the treadmill and then there are girls who seem to be inseparable from their cellphones. Among all these workouts and fitness regime are the trainers. It somehow seems to me that they get free entertainment watching all these people in action. They are lean and mean, seem to be docile until they flex their muscles. You then know their strength and stamina otherwise hidden deep beneath that slimness.

I whine in pain; smirk my face and close my eyes tight when I have to do weight trainings. My trainer keeps reminding me that the weights I use are minimal. Yet I repeatedly keep asking him if he can give me a lesser weight! Only to be given a look which puts me to shame! I want to run away right then. I bargain lot better with him than with any vegetable vendor. I say "10 of 2 sets each" and he "Its 15 of 3 sets each". I break down even before reaching the count of 5. I look to see if he is looking away and if he is not observing me; I take unsolicited break. I reduce my weight or skip a count. I know I am cheating myself; but what would I do when I feel as my shoulder is being ripped apart! :-(

The bargain persists "I am done. How many counts? Ten..... Five more?........ No, see I cant even raise my hands to comb my hair.....Here let me help you."


He shares my load and tries to weight train me. I huff and puff, whine and smirk; shut my eyes tight while trying to exercise.

Image from http://www.fotosearch.com/UNC334/u22835842/

Amidst all this action, a lone soul at regular intervals silently stoops and bends to wipe the floor and machines clean to sparkle and wonders why people want to lose weight and fat in such glamorous way when all one has to do is some bending and flexing in the form of regular chores.

The Adventures of Ms.Commuterix

Its been 2 years since I commuted by the public bus service. Though every 4th day of the month is Bus Day in Bangalore; when everyone are encouraged to use the bus service; I shudder thinking about the experience. Bus was my in my essential check list for years; from the time I went to kindergarten to work; until two years ago. Commuting 30 km either ways was a nightmare each day; hanging around for most part of the journey; half the time sharing a foot of space with 3 other foot; hanging on the foot board with laptop bag and shoulder bag was not a pleasant experience. Jostling and pushing around; and the fashionable me would not compromise on my choice of footwear; that ranged from 1" to 6" heels such that they complimented my attire more than the comfort in a crowded bus.

Last week; I had to take the bus. All these memories flooded me and gradually ebbed away. I have quite forgotten the knack of pushing through the crowd and finding a seat or the smartness to stand farther away from the actual designated bus stop. When has the bus driver ever stopped the bus right in front of the bus stop? My sense in center of gravity seems to have deteriorated as I was finding it difficult to find balance with one foot or to jostle around and push everyone to find my way out. 

I had written about the experiences much earlier and thought let me share it once again. Enjoy :)

Adventure!!!
Para-sailing? Bungee jumping? Rock climbing? Trekking? Skiing? River rafting? Para-gliding?

If these are what your idea of adventure is; which of course I am sure is expensive in terms of time and money, then read along to find a sport more adventurous than any of the above. You would be jealous if I say Ms Commuterix( New term coined for a female commuter - copyright held by Insignia) gets an adrenalin rush going on an adventure each day.

So hear it from the horse's mouth. This is what Ms Commuterix has to say...

I don't have any better word than "adventure" to describe the journey on the mass transport system - metropolitan bus service. They say a country's progress is determined by how efficient the mass transit system is. As such, all major cities in India boast of a good connectivity. People are being advised to take the public transport - the metro rail and bus to commute. They are called the most efficient and convenient way to travel, yeah it is......if taken with a pinch of salt, sugar and any other favorite spice of yours to give it the sweet but salty and a tangy experience!

It begins with the basic job of finding the right bus. Its not easy as they claim - Buses available at regular intervals and all those. You have to pray that the bus has not left yet; no - its not that you are late in arriving to the bus stop. Its just that most times, the bus is either very early or too late but never on time. Poor them, what would they do? With all these traffic, newly planned one-way and no-way rules which change frequently as our government; coupled with infrastructure development - flyovers, underpass, sky bridge and subways to ease traffic congestion. Hoping that the bus has not left already, one waits at the stop amidst loud jarring honking, traffic at peak hour when the two-wheels use the footpath/side-walks as substitute to regular roads so that they can zoom without delay; without any concern for the folks using the footpaths; while you keep walking to and fro as each bus stops to see if you can take the bus. Other disturbances like people rushing helter-skelter, chaotic, to reach their destination on time.

Even if you are on time for the bus, you might miss it for many other reasons. The bus stopped behind a couple of other buses, you didn't either notice it or by the time you noticed, the bus moved away. Sometimes, the bus does not have a proper name board - the destination mentioned is not legible. Or the bus stopped 300 metres away from the designated stop and by the time you run carrying your bags and stuff; as if you are practicing for Olympics, the driver takes off. I have always observed that such drivers get a wicked pleasure in seeing people run behind the bus and rushing in while breathing hard. Or sometimes simply the driver decides in all his authority NOT to stop at this particular stop. After all, its HIS bus!!

For people who regularly commute at a particular time like office-goers would choose to travel by same bus each day. It might be pretty easy for them if they share a good rapport with driver or conductor. A friendly chat each day with them would ensure that you don't miss the bus.

Alright, after undergoing any one of the above ordeal, I manage to hop onto a bus. There are more amusing experiences waiting in there. Push your way through only to find the men folks having occupied the entire bus, with maybe some space left for ladies to stick in. You find the seats reserved for women(4 seats on each side) has been occupied by ignorant men. So you reach them by straining you way jostling and pushing around and then ask them politely to vacate the seat. Its a nightmare. This is what one can hear - "Why? I cant". "Its not a Ladies seat". You show them the signboard and they ignore. Ask the conductor to help you, he either tells them to vacate for the sake of it which is ignored or he too walks away unheard. Few people indulge in wicked things like scraping out the notice that says "Ladies". They confront women who ask them to vacate, in fact bully them in such a way that it makes the lady who is asking for her right to actually think if she has done anything wrong.

I came across an amusing incident when a guy who didn't know the local language was asked to vacate the ladies seat. The bus co-incidentally had the signboard in local language but there was a pictorial representation with it. He picked up a fight when asked to vacate and was stubborn to say it was not a Ladies seat.

Men are very inconsiderate yeah!. but the worst offenders are the women.No pity to offer a seat if someone is sick, lame, old or pregnant. They continue to sit like a lifeless rock. So having discovered that asking to vacate wont make any difference but would create a uncomfortable scene, I generally stick to the safe-zone and remain standing.

Image from www.karbonjournal.org/.../detail.php?ID_focus=29

One can come across several interesting characters while on the bus. A passenger who stands by the foot board and dons the role of a conductor and throws instructions to people on the bus as if he is the appointed one. There's the guy who has opted to switch on the speaker of his cellphone while hearing to music. Radio-Jockey or is it Phone Jockey? Community service. So everyone has no other choice but to listen to his choice of music. And then the teenage college girls who laugh out loud to any silly jokes to grab attention. The girl in salwar who has lost track of where she is and doesn't mind whispering sweet-nothings to her boyfriend on phone while middle-aged women stare at her in horror and then continue with their gossips. Elderly gentlemen who complain how world has changed for bad and how youngsters lack discipline and respect.

With all these, the bus driver swearing at the car driver who overtook him and the conductor hastily pushes past you and way through the crowded bus to have a friendly chat with his female commuters while ignoring the constant plead of a commuter to return the remaining money that he is supposed to give back. As I witness this silently oblivious to the conversation around me, yeah with my iPod on volume loud enough to mute things around me, the driver realizes that he is approaching a speed breaker or just late enough to avoid a pothole, one finds thrown off balance.

Image at malibucola.ricjo.org/2008/09/18/crowded-bus/

And lo! hands emerge from nowhere to help you stand balanced only to linger around trying to steady you for longer than required. When you want to turn around and say "Thank you, I am fine.", you realize there's no point actually trying to confront as he would have disappeared among the crowd of men. Just as you thought its going to be fine, a fight is picked up by a lady who feels a guy behind her is standing too close and the guy confronting her to "buy a car and commute by car" if she is finding it tough to commute in a crowded bus.

I can make myself deaf; but how can I stop my nose from picking up the smells? A girl chewing mint gum or the man behind who smells as if he has bundled himself with 100s of cigarettes. Also found are men who are yet to get out of their hangover and paan chewing ladies or the ones who could never be caught -  who silently fart.

If you are lucky that day, you do manage to get a place to sit only to be vacated when a lady with a kid hops on at the next stop. Even if you retain the seat, just pray that your rest of the journey is uneventful. Probably it might turn out to be bad one if in case a guy chooses to sit beside you and has tough time to keep his hands idle!!

Image from www.karbonjournal.org/.../detail.php?ID_focus=29

It requires lots of patience to remain calm while giving a go-by to the wailing child or an old man looking for a seat - ladies seat always; thereby, whatever remaining seats that is spared after being hijacked by guys is also gone.

And after hanging on for your life and your mood, with all these ruckus; you'll find yourself jubilant and satisfied to have finished this adventure!!!

Image at www.ballina.nsw.gov.au/.../vdoc.asp?id=866

Compliment Please

"Compliments. Give us some compliment"

This is the usual hullabaloo in any store after the final billing and packing of the things bought. Its the colloquial word for "complimentary gifts".

This concept might not be native to India, but the way the gifts are demanded is. :-) Generally, complimentary gifts and take-aways are given off in stores as a token of appreciation for the business and also that customer loyalty remains. But we here take it to a different level, anything FREE is not spared; even be it consuming acid if its available for free :-P

Its our constitutional right to demand 'compliments'; whether they are being given or not. And to think of the manner in which people demand it, its somehow incomprehensible to me. I mean, you shell out thousands of rupees to buy a diamond necklace; get some discount after much persistence and everything is done. Now after the billing, you fight with the sales person about the choice of your compliment.

"Such a small purse? I need that bag. Why dont you give? I bought a lakh worth of jewelry!!" - you can hear such grumble. At that precise moment, the diamond necklace is so trivial in value compared to that bag that the salesman is refusing to give as a compliment.

Buy a washing machine and fight for complimentary washing powder, buy a sleek smart phone and fight for complimentary free talk time.....

We fight tooth and nail unless we get the 'compliments' we want. We forget where we are, who is looking at us, whats the circumstances.  Well, I just caught myself on time yesterday trying to fish for a compliment at a store. I paused, looked around and saw people staring at me; for the way I was close to fighting,

This post is the result of self-realization and got me thinking.

How about complimentary gift at a dentist - "Buy a service of filling one tooth and get a complimentary gift of getting a healthy tooth pulled out. Our complimentary package does not include anesthesia"

Complimentary gift in a salon - "Pay for trimming beard and get a complimentary gift of tonsuring head"

Complimentary gift at a cold storage store - "Buy 1 kg of chicken and get 1 egg free"

Complimentary package with a lawyer - "Take counseling service and get service for divorce as complimentary"

Complimentary with a software product - "Buy our latest technology and get bugs free"

All that we are concerned is the 'compliment'. But any takers for the above? 

Not Fair!

Does success come only to beautiful people?

Does success come only to fair people?

Does beauty mean only fair skin?

It seems so, even to this day. If you have been keeping a tab on few of the latest advertisements, there is one very latest one which has brought out a new men's fairness cream to the market.

The advertisement goes something like this - A person is shown questioning another guy in an interview. The questions are what an interviewer asks an interviewee. But it turns out the other way, it is the interviewee who puts up an over-confident aggressive behavior and asks "When do you want me to join?" Then the panel of interviewers are revealed on the screen and the interviewer who was questioned all the while says "Tomorrow".

What follows is the blah-blah of confidence and other positive qualities that seems to come by using fairness cream! All these days, they were selling this preposterous idea depicting women as victims of having a dark skin; lack of job opportunities, delay in marriage and all that nonsense. Now men too!!

What I admire is the chutzpah of these marketing team to go ahead with such concepts to sell. Or is it that they are merely taking advantage of our weakness to fair skin? When the British left, they left behind the concept of fair skin dominance and success! How sad. Why is the infatuation with fair skin among us?

Why do we have to blame the advertising agencies? They are doing their homework well. How many parents are happy with a dusky girl baby? Lets be honest here, even though it would be unbelievable. My mom has tried all her mighty best to pursue me in applying creams and consuming food that could 'improve' my color. I do not blame her. Poor thing!! she wanted her child to find better prospectus. Is this not a deep rooted racism? Are we not insulting ourselves? Look around, bus stops, TV, magazines, in stores - you see hoardings everywhere. Any marriage advertisements read thus - Fair skinned. Have you see any marriage advertisements or proposals asking for "DARK/DUSKY" only apply?

We do talk at length about how America had arrived when Mr. Obama was made the President. There is no craze for fairness creams in America. Dark skinned models are used as frequently as the white ones. There are no qualms, of course there are exceptions as everywhere else. Yet our media went gung-ho about the global progress American achieved.

And we see - skin lightening cream, white glow? What is that white glow? Why don't we understand our skin is not of that type. Indian movies influence us a lot, how many dusky beauties do we see in movies? Or why are they branded DUSKY and others not branded "WHITE' or 'FAIR'? The WHITEST is the most successful and highest paid. Teleserials and movies also tend to have a story line around how the duskier girl finds it tough to find a guy for marriage. A girl is dejected as she never gets an opportunity, she uses fairness cream and becomes an actress and gets the Best Actor Award!!

Does anyone of us recall any advertisement which uses dark-skinned Indian to sell the product? If you saw one or two, they would be a playing a peon, sweeper...Heights of absurdness.

Fairness cream market share is alone over whopping 700 crore in India, and the annual growth rate is not less than 20%. Our skin texture is different. Achieving fairness, at what cost? The main ingredient is bleaching agent, so we know what it would do to the skin. Do the fairness cream deliver what it promises? NO!! Everyone knows that it would do more harm than good.

Yet, why is the market so thriving and influential that our superstars endorse it? These superstars whom millions revere are not ashamed. Do you recall the tag line of Fair N Lovely? THE POWER OF BEAUTY. Our preconceived notion that fair is beautiful and that being fair means success comes without any effort. What does it mean by the Power of Beauty? So dusky ones don't stand a chance at all? Or worse, don't they deserve a chance at all?

And LOREAL's WHITE PERFECT? Notice it? Aishwarya Rai promotes it. Time and over, influential people like these keep taunting their fellow citizens that skin color matters, even when its only a minor percentage that are fair skinned here.

We talk at length about talent and at the same time run behind acquiring fair skin guaranteeing success? Are we Indians schizophrenic? If so, its high time we get sane!

Sultan

I went on a trip yesterday visiting a couple of tourist spots just 120 kms away from Bangalore(Lot of photos to share!!!). Experienced something that I have always wanted to.

Traveling in a tonga :-) How funny we are, aren't we? When you have luxury, you want to go back to basics!! Well, at least with me, I have wanted to travel in a horse drawn carriage since I was a child. Spoilt after seeing the Mahabharat where elaborate and extravagant horse drawn carriages transported the prince and kings and those mushy romantic songs where the boy and girl ride a carriage pulled by milky white horses....

Well, so parked our car at the bus stand and took a tonga to roam around the town of Srirangapatna(capital of Mysore under Tipu Sultan. More about this later), which is not more than 100 kms away from Bangalore.

It seemed we traveled behind in time. The decorated lonely horse's name was Sultan. He had a brightly colored rich plummet over his head, noose around him and raring to go. The owner of the cart and the horse was a shabby looking guy who was talkative and full of energy. Aww!! I forgot to ask his name. He would have been mad at me I guess for having promptly asked the horse's name but not his. Oh!! But what would I do? I am partial towards animals and they are more important to me.

Alright, Sultan was pulling a neat tonga. He was smart and handsome. Obeyed his master and never threw any tantrums. And how he galloped across the town....Tak..tak..tak..tak..tak...in rhythm. A high-pitched "Hye!!!" meant run, a lower pitched "Ahhheeyyy" meant stop. Brushing the stick against the wheel of the tonga meant run faster. And the way he braked, pull both his fore limbs and balance with his hind limbs and brake!!

His master and Sultan had an unexplainable bonding. They made good company to each other. They never spoke to each other, but there would be no one else who could understand each other any better. Both were at peace with whatever little each had.

This mode of transport is long forgotten and ignored. I did feel sad with the thought that Sultan was being burdened. But that is what he is supposed to do!. And I know he did not complain. That was Sultan!

Of Calories and Weights

Note : Had written this as a guest post for one of my blogger friend. Thought why not share with readers here :-)

How many of you have been elated reading your weight and satisfied with your kgs? Raise your hands....No cheating!! Be honest. 

Not many eh? Is it not each one's secret desire to lose weight? I guess the most hated machinery in this world would be the poor little weighing machine.It is a technological marvel. Why not? That poor little machine can earn the wrath of so many people, it could witness jubilation or it could get cursed. Now which other machine has this privilege?

Almost everyone has that intense desire to shed some flab, lose weight. What with the fashion world claiming size zero is the in-thing!! But there's a slim chance, or should I say a FAT chance that most of us would reach the desire body weight!! But hey!! what is the harm in trying?

Talking about the emotions that arises, you could see all types and forms of expressions. There's some qualm always before stepping onto the weighing machine. Nervous, you close your eyes with hope and silently pray that the needle points to the number you want it to. And then you reluctantly look down to read the scale, first there is denial!! How can it be!! Then despair, anger and frustration. And abuses and curses to the weighing machine first.

You question its precision and genuineness and then realization pours in. You then start cursing the devil in you which taunted you to gorge on those cheesy snacks and those chocolate cakes. All the while, the poor weighing machine earnestly looks for some appreciation for being honest. But what it gets is a stare!!

And most times, we believe that the machine is not right, so we tend to calibrate it manually by slightly adjusting ourselves until the needle reads to what we desire. And very rare is the jubilation and excitement of having achieved what we wanted. Oh yeah!! its short lived though. Weight is like a boomerang, it always comes back to you!!

Sometimes the machine adds few kilos as a compliment and sometimes it gives you discount. Discount is what is preferred here. I recently came across a joke where the lady in question removes everything from her shoes until she is almost nude to get her weight right. You see; the shoes, the dress are all 'accessories' which hinders you from getting your correct reading.

Few of my friends step onto the weighing machine and protect the secret magic number so much so that you feel that the number is a secret code to an enormous amount of wealth. Few people believe that weight changes with season, so they tend to weigh themselves in their favorable season. Few others believe counting your calorie intake might keep check on your weight. Fine!! but if it is only yours its fine; but why others' as well for heaven's sake; even if they didn't want to?

This is what happened at a recent birthday celebration of two of my team members. One of them had lost 26 kilos by hook or by crook. There were cakes cut and this man instead of gorging on his cake, kept commenting about how much calorie would each piece of cake have. It was really disturbing, couldn't gorge on those cakes.But the sin factor was short lived, we later ignored and started committing the sin :-P

None giving a thought about the weights or the calories :-)

My world?

In my post Its fine...You Nut!!, i had asked 2 questions....


Have you tried unlocking your house door by showing or swiping your badge and wonder why the door has not opened? 

Were you trying to increase the TV volume with your cell phone?

Most of us proudly proclaimed that we did it and that we ARE nuts. But reiterating on the same, are these to be dismissed off as an aberration? Isn't it that it needs some thought?

One could say, What big deal? I was just pre-occupied or engrossed in some thoughts. Even so, isnt that your first instinct relies on technology? At the switch of a button, your AC is turned on, at the swipe of a card; money at your disposal. Don't you feel empowered?

You don't have to walk to the switchboard to control the AC, you don't have to run to the bank, wait in queue to withdraw money. Your favorite songs are all loaded into your ipod. Your contacts are all at the flick of your finger tips, imagine jotting them down in a diary and carrying that book around everywhere you went.

You have created a virtual world around you. If you have a problem, tweet it and just watch how many advices, support and sympathies you get. So many virtual shoulders to cry on huh!....If you feel alone, just pick your phone, choose, call and connect.Technology lets you keep connected emotionally and mentally with one another, empowerment.

But is it really what it sounds? Are your online friends really friends? Do you really get peace of mind after sharing your sorrows online with a virtual entity. Are those smileys real emotions? Are we not creating a distance with those physically present around us? How awkward it is to be frowning at your spouse but smiling at your laptop!!!!! Is it not weird?

You get irritated when the door bell rings, but you are glad when your cell phone rings. You wait for those calls which never come, keep looking for the messages that was never sent. We create our own little kingdoms, keeping the friends we need, play the games I want....in silos. You are glad when your online friend sends a message but peeved when your spouse wants to have a chat with you.

So while you tweet, your spouse scraps. Instead of sharing the thoughts with each other, its tweeted and scrapped!!!

But when its a hassle to keep away people who are physically with you, isn't it just a click of a button to shoo away those who are part of your virtual world? No expectations, no complaints. Click away your relationship :-P