Theories around our Independence

Disclaimer: This post was written after celebrating a gloomy Independence day and living through an year full of scams and a not so great economy

 Ok let me start about clearing the first myth that we got our Independence because of that man called Gandhi. Seriously I have lost respect for him. We have seen live anti-corruption movements recently going phut because our Government ignored the fast taken by Anna Hazare and jailed Baba Ramdev. When our own Government does not give a tuppence about our country men, why would a Brit care less about someone like Gandhi fasting for independence.

So given the fact that those Independence movements were a sham, I have always been intrigued about how was our country doing under the British. So I would ask about this to my grandparents and even all the grand parents around. The answer that I would get is most of them admired the British way of governance. And the infrastructure built by the Brits helped our country a lot. Ok next I would ask, if they took part in any of the movements that I read in our History books. They would say that these movements were clustered in different parts of the country and never a countrywide movement. So Aam aadmi was still busy making a livelihood. Ok great!!

So let us look at the different theories on why exactly did we get Independence??

1. World War 2. We know that UK was completely devastated during the bombings carried out by Hitler's army. After the world war 2, roughly 30000 British soldiers were killed. They needed more manpower for rebuilding the nation, hence many Brits were called back from India and gradually an Indian Independence was planned. So, instead of Gandhi, we need to thank Hitler for our "so called independence"... Right!

2. Labour Party gets elected in UK: After the war, the Labour Party was elected in UK and they carried out sweeping welfare reforms in UK. It also aimed at improving UK's public relations worldwide out of which granting the "so called independence to India" was also one of the events....

3. India's economy at its worst: India's economy was doing so bad that, Britain had to rethink its investment in India. Hence they thought that this was the best time to pull out. On the lighter side, we had become so sad and poor and pessimistic and grumpy and complacent and frustrated that the Brits were scared if we were rubbing off all these on them. Wait a minute, these adjectives apply to us even today! gr8....

Well, so why do we think that our forefathers fought for our Independence???
1. The Brits, well the gentlemen they are, did not want to abruptly pull out of India and hence got together with the congressmen and staged an independence granting drama that was enacted so well and publicised worldwide.

2. On the Indian side, Congress/Gandhi was so eager to take the credit that it worked out so well. And all our history books were written by some Congress chamchas in NCERT like Romila Thapar and Irfan Habib.

One another fact that intrigued me till now, is how so many Indians and Pakistanis got into UK so easily post-Independence. Here is the answer... Damn, if one of my grandpas had taken this opportunity....... Well wishful thinking :)))

Oh dear God please let me witness one.....

I have been really happy for the past few days. Major reasons are first, that my husband has finally started to notice my cooking skills albeit with a lot of (irritating) constructive feedback. But that's OK, because that is what you get, when your husband knows to cook..... better than you. tsk tsk But here's the advantage: one fine day, you can tell hubby that you are in no mood to cook and let him make a yummy Dal and rice!

Well the other good thing is that my new boss is a guy!!! Now don't get me wrong, he is sitting miles away somewhere in Iowa, but it still makes me happy! My husband explains that I haven't been promoted, its just that my boss has changed. My enthusiasm caught my colleague's eye and he finally asked me, "OK you say that having a male boss is so better than having a female one. Then will you be a good manager when you become one?"

Ummmm little tongue-tied there..... But I shoot back instantly and say that I won't be all that jealous and insecure and pushy and ultimately b**chy...He just gave a smirk, which made me think more on this.

I have worked under more than three women, and lets just say that they were not the best people to work with... So whats the problem here, I think. Are there no good "female' managers or I haven't met them yet?

OK let me think again on this: overall, there are mostly bad managers out there. But there are a few good managers. There are few good male managers that I have heard about and some I even worked with! There are few good women managers out there and I really believe this from the bottom of my heart! I have read about them, but I haven't witnessed any yet!

Saga of the driving test...

Here I was, had not touched the steering wheel for almost a month, hence I was a bit nervous. There were around 10 to 15 people for the test, from which there were two ladies. So, I started some small talk with one of them. She told me she was pretty nevous. I told her "Me too, hope I don't make any silly mistakes". And then Shazia said its her third time, so she wants to somehow pass this attempt. I was shocked not really because its her third attempt but because she had the patience to come the third time!!! She said that in the first attempt, she didn't horn before taking a turn. The second time, she didn't change to second gear or something like that. Phew and here she was. There was another old man, nearby who joined the conversation. Old man was an NRI, who finally settled here. He came for a two wheeler license for his address proof. Then he started his travails about driving tests. He said that he had to undergo his driving test around 25 times... when in Dubai. Some kind of racism against Indians, he said. Hmmm ok. Then the conversation on Dubai was continued for a while. Then old man added that he had given his driving tests in Canada too, for around 12 times. What!! Why am I hearing things that I shouldn't, before giving a driving test. This was too much to digest and I was annoyed that that the inspector hadn't showed up yet. I signalled to Shazia for a break. We went to have coconut water nearby.

Another half hour passed, after which the inspector finally came. Inspector was rather young and ok looking. And thankfully driving school guy was also there. Seemed that this was the inspector's last day here. And there was some lunch party (final khilana pilana party). Our school guy gestured to us "Kaafi khilaya isliye sab pass ho jayega". Then the two wheeler tests began. Old man had taken Shazia's Activa and was trying to get it started but in vain. Then we whispered "Abhi pata chala Dubai me 25 times kyu and Canada me 12 times kyu". Shazia went over and helped him start. By this time even our driving school guy had lost his temper and shouted "Dai, enna velai panre nee". Old man somehow finished his test and the four wheeler test was about to begin. A couple of ladies moved towards the car, when the inspector said "ladies last". Hmm wily guy. So all the guys finished first. The test was to drive ahead for a distance and take reverse to the same spot. I thought, if this was it I can manage easily.

There were four girls and none of wanted to go first. Finally, one lady sat first and the other three behind. The lady started the car while the inspector started a light conversation. From the Q and A round it was deciphered that she was Hema Hemavati and worked in a government setup (CDAC or something similar). Hema finished pretty smoothly and it was Shazia's turn. Shazia turned the keys and tried to start, when we heard some vroom sounds and the car was not listening to her. Then the inspector looked at her file and asked her, "Shazia, tumko gaadi chalana aata hai kya?" By this time she was drenched in fear and anxiety. He repeated the question again. She said ya. He replied, "to fir hand brake nikala kyu nai?". Then he demonstrated her the usage of hand brake. Finally Shazia finished her turn and I found out that she was a hair dresser and Inspector wanted some info for his cousin with similar interest! Now I understood why Ladies last.....

Then it was me and I started the car and went till the road end and was about to take a reverse, when Inspector told that it was pretty sunny and we can take a round. I was flabbergasted and then after a couple of seconds, I put the right turn indicator and tried my best to take a decent turn. As I was about to turn the steering wheel, Inspector sensed my stress levels and gave me an option to take reverse and finish off. I said its fine I will manage. Inspector in his filmy mood said "Darne ka nai, kyuki jo darta hai wo marta hai". I finally took a right and kept going. Then he told me to stop and take a reverse. When I was taking the reverse, I didn't notice that the car was going a bit left instead of keeping straight. And a stupid bike guy just parked on the left and was talking to his GF. I put the brake that scared the guy, but thankfully nothing happened. And filmy Inspector said "Kya Ramya, lover logo ko dara diya". I was praying "Sirji test finish karo na". Finally he let me go and take the backseat. Then came the last girl, (some babe working in Yahoo and giving a second attempt). Inspector was delighted to see her, and asked " Mene hi tumko fail kiya kya?" She said yes. Then Inspector told her to go for a full round. She started the car and filmy inspector turned flirty. He asked her "Sudheera tum kaha se ho". Hyderabad replied Sudheera."Arey mujhe Hyderabadi Biryani bohot pasand hai, next time mujhe Hyderabad leke jaana" Then some more flirting came on the way, and I must say, all this while she was actually driving good and handled the inspector also pretty efficiently. The inspector also praised her driving skills. I wondered why she failed the last time.... Then Sudheera finished and we got down. Our school guy talked and Inspector talked for a minute. Then Inspector wanted some more of Sudheera and said " Kya Sudheera , side me parking kar do na" Poor girl went again. Finally, the eventful day came to an end. next day I called in to find out if I had passed and they said YESSSS.

Extortion and Corruption, whats the difference!

I have been thinking on this for quite some time. Since long, I have heard people talk that Bangalore is a costly city to live in. I thought that its mere exaggeration because in a city where tender coconut is just 15 bucks (ya just 15 bucks!!!) how can it be costly. But I had the first hand experience when I moved in here.

One of first few days when I started to travel by bus, I found the conductor's hesitance in giving back the change for my ticket. But what startled me in the next few days was the conductor's hesitance in giving tickets! Here began my journey in understanding the corruption levels of Bangalore.

I became a bit clever in this aspect and started to give money only when I get the ticket. Then came the baap of all experiences, when I traveled from Marathahalli to Bellandur. The conductor as usual, gave me the ticket after which I paid him the money. All was going well and Bellandur was the next stop when suddenly conductor aiya remembered something and came up to me. He told me that the ticket was actually 11 bucks instead of 9, while simultaneously trying to snatch the ticket from me. Well, my mind was calculating instantly, if he takes the ticket away he definitely won't give me one in return, so what do I do? Then I thought its just 2 rupees, whats the big deal and I gave him the coin, while my stop arrived. And the next moment, I saw the conductor running away to the back of the bus. So I called him for the ticket. He glanced at me and gestured that, that wont be necessary. That's when my bheja got hot and I shouted for the whole bus to hear, "Arey bhaiya mene paisa diya uska ticket to de do". Then our conductor aiya, also became angry, as if I had gifted him a gold coin and now charging him for it. He took a ticket out of the box and threw at me. I was like ticket gaya bahad me par tere jeb me nai jana chahiye. So there ended my saga from which, ticketing in bus for me is like going on a war!

But I prefer to fight with the conductor rather than give away all my savings to the auto guys, who are almost same as their dear cousins in Chennai. But Chennai still has got better alternatives to autos, namely the metro, call taxis and the buses too where I did not encounter such incidents.

Though it is true that some or the other form of corruption is prevalent in all parts of India, but when people stoop down to such shocking levels, it makes you question. In some way, I think that the conductor is a poor guy and I may as well think that I have given alms to him, but at the same time it is also my hard earned money that he is taking away without my permission. And we think that instead of giving to the government we can at least give to the known devil in front of us.

In the concept of corruption, we have no one to blame but our greed. A typical example of bribing is a disciple promising god that he will break 100 coconuts if he gets so and so that he needs. Or someone putting money in the donation box and telling god to give him/her something. When we bribe our gods, what such a big deal about bribing each other.

So corruption is what makes the giver and taker both desperate enough to commit this act. Hence, if we switch off need/greed from our mind, there will be no corruption at all. So Simple :)

And this is life...after all

Wow, I can't belieive, my blog has been in limbo for four months. What have I been doing? Well apart from being married, I have been trying to impress my hubby with my culinery skills, and my boss has made me master excel skills, and in between I haven't had much time in my hands. And those driving classes...How can I forget them... Whenever I see a lady driving through the traffic, I get so jealous.....

Ok apart from all this clutter in my happy life, there is one experience that I can't seem to forget. Weeks ago, I volunteered for a event though my office to visit a disabled home for girls. It was a three hour event, so I registered my name. We were told that we would be organizing a tea party for the kids and it sounded fun! 
Out bus from the office reached there in the afternoon and I was numb for the first half hour. There were around 20-25 girls there.The little ones were in the middle of the room. There was a 5 year old girl whose legs were twisted backwards, so she couldn't move much. One kid had a problem with her backbone because of which she couldn't stand. Then on the wheelchair there were kids who looked like there were around the age of 7-8 but they were not able to communicate properly, so they tried to gesture repeatedly. There was a girl, who could manage to say hi-hello and what's your name-drill. There was another girl, who justed wanted someone to hold her hand. Then she would gesture at her bangle and try to tell something.

Somehow, I couldn't mingle as easily with the kids as my colleagues did. I saw couple of my friends taking the kids in their lap and talking to them. I couldn't come out of my dumbstruck mode at all. I tried my best to communicate and play with some of the children but I couldn't help feeling sorry for them. There was a another girl kid, who was pretty active. She mingled with the others easily. It was just that her face was small and monkey like. We were told that her parents had abandoned her because they thought she was actually a monkey. Then there was another kid who seemed pretty normal but had a bent backbone. Again that is the reason her parents abandoned her. One of my colleagues, who had visited previously told me that last time the kid cried to him and pleaded with him to take her home with him. After hearing all this, I couldn't fight back tears. And one of my friend saw this and tried to cheer me up. I also noticed that I was the only one who couldn't battle with my emotions. The others were seeing the same things as me and were still able to digest this fact of life. My friend just told me, "Dont think too much. Its of no use" And it was true, a lot was going through my mind. Why had these parents abandoned this children? Is it just because they were poor or they could not love these special children? Why were these children born like this? Can I love my child if it gets afflicted with a similar problem?

There was some information that I did get though. That most of these kids don't cross the age of 15. If at all they do, then they are transferred to a special care centre. Finally, came the tea party. The nuns got muffins and milk for the kids. Some of my colleagues fed the children. some children did not want to eat. The attendants said its no use force-feeding them. So the kids were put in their beds and we bade them farewell and got into our buses back to office.

A big bye to 2011

Hah, Let me tell you that this is the best new year that I had so far! Thats because I was not at home watching TV as I do every year end. This time I wen't to UB city in Bangalore for the DJ Party! The party was on the open area in 2nd floor. Started from 7.30 pm. I started dancing from 9 pm. No there were no earthquakes reported and the cyclone was in Chennai, so I am not responsible! Took a break at 11 for dinner. Came back to the dance floor at 11.45 and danced till 12.30. The only regret that I had was that I didn't wear a party gown. And my gosh, the gals over there were mind blowing. The only minus point was most of the gals were dressed in black as if there are no other colors at all! Cmon now. Guys, the only guys worth drooling was the the DJs ;) ;) Till 10.30 It was DJ Chetan, then it was Norman.

So coming to my new year resolutions:
1. Plan is to join a gym and hopefully keep gymming all year long. Hopefully.......
2. Learn to drive a four wheeler. Please pray for me because the last time I drove a car, I hit a lady zooming away in a two wheeler and had to pay Rs. 30000 for her medical expenses. And the worst thing was she lived in the other wing of our complex.... Ya I was learning to drive in the road outside my building. Very bad mistake.... So I am gathering my courage after 4 years! Please please pray for me.
3. Finish my education loan! I have 5 lakhs to go to close my education loan and I am hoping to close it this year. I am even thinking of getting into a side business to close it sooner! If you have any ideas please let me know!!

The Great Indian Sport

One thing I forgot to mention that its exclusively played by women! So all you need to do is put all your aunts in the same room and get some popcorn or even better french fries :)

So the match opener is the aunt who has the loudest voice and can be heard across the mohalla. She starts her own saga of how her manni (bhabhi) is. Then the one other aunt tried to come in between with another gossip, which is supposed to be mushier. Then the loud aunt scans it in her mind and decides if she should continue on this topic or dash in another topic of discussion. Here somehow it was her interest so she adds her own masala. Then my sweet own granny (has to be the odd woman out :), as she praised her devrani of how sweet she is. This the loudspeaker could not digest and had to point all the devrani's bad qualities. And so continues the conversation.

I am so surprised on how female psyshe works. Some of these aunts cannot sleep peacefully without badmouthing other women in the family. For some women, its a weekend gossip compilation session. My mom got a call from one distant aunt (with her daughter in background) when we were going through a bad patch. This aunt wanted to know the details of what happened, and how it happened and what was the outcome, and what would be its future effects... phew! I was imagining the daughter compiling a research report and publishing it in the family SharePoint!!!

Now with relatives like these, who needs enemies................

Chick lit experience!

After reading Emily Giffin, I couldn't get enough of chick lit. So browsed through http://chicklitreviews.com and chose to read:

1. Big Girl (which is actually a diet lit) 
2. Keep the change 
3. October breezes 

Big girl was definitely all about guilt calories and dealing with it. What I liked about the book is the author has given a good sketch about what the protagonist goes through due to which she thinks ice-creams are her savior and best friends. So much that she takes help of a psychiatrist to deal with it. But the part, which I found unreal was her final boyfriend who tells her to throw away the weighing scale and he doesn't really care about how she looks. Now, I am still waiting for a guy like that! In all a nice read, I finished it in one day. One thing I share with the character is a yearning for more understanding parents, who don't take you through the guilt trips over and over. Maybe that's where my problems lie.

Keep the Change is an awesome book written by a fellow Tam-bram from her life in SSV and Sons to an MNC in Mumbai, supposedly Citibank. What struck me was the amazing similarities that tam-bram girls deal with, no matter which part of the world they grow up in. I could relate to 32 Amman koil street even though I was raised in Mumbai. The only quality I din't share with her was her talent with number crunching. The narrative was very funny and filled with expressions like jumping into idli batter, termite peeping out of old furniture, and convincing her mom that Goa is as safe as Mount road in a Monday morning :). Definitely a must read!

October Breeze. This was a stupid book I picked because it starts with my favorite month. It was more like a hindi movie, because the protagonist ends up making all the wrong choices which proves that she din't have a brain, and that is the hypothesis Hindi film directors have been trying to prove over the last fifty years. Basically, its about teenage pregnancy. But I suggest to stay away from this book unless you are researching on the social effects of teenage pregnancy.

Spain milegi na dobara

Last week, I watched Zindagi milegi na dobara and yes it was as soggy as the Spanish economy. Though Farhaan tried to crack some jokes and Hrithik and Katrina did their best to keep gals and guys occupied, yet the story was missing somewhere. I did not find anything new because I have already watched the lonely planet episode of Spain in Discovery channel. After watching the movie, I really wanted to ask Farhan/Zoya; was Spain their first choice? Well truth is that there are a lot of Indians in Spain especially Sindhis and they have a very strong presence in the tourism industry. Maybe some Sindhi friend gave the idea to Farhaan to revive the tourism industry.

Speaking about Spain, its a bit heartbreaking to see such a beautiful country amidst huge public debt. As experts around the world are analyzing the cause of the debt, reasoning the housing bubble, trade deficit, and the curse of socialism coupled with the curse of Euro, Spain's tourism has definitely taking a hit. That is because before joining the Euro team, Spain was a cheap tourist destination for the western middle class but post Euro it lost to other destinations in Asia like Malaysia and Mauritius. Apart from investing heavily in infrastructure projects, it also tried to ape its neighbor France in socialist welfare policies. These policies made life difficult for employers, which caused the rise to 20 % unemployment. How France manages its welfare policies and still manages its economy is still a riddle.

Coming back to Spain, it is still a destination only for millionaires like Kabir (Abhay Deol). I have to wait for Spain to return to its national currency (pesetas) to be able to afford a peaceful holiday.( btw 1 rupee is equal to 3 pesetas!)

Another Pigeon Post

I have been wanting to share this for a while :) When in Mumbai, as you may all know that I had pigeon abodes at almost all of our house windows. Watching the babies is so much fun because they make funny kind of moments like standing up and sitting down again when  they see humans or maybe when they are scared. A pigeon baby takes around 25 to 30 days to grow up fully and fly away. Once the pigeon learns to fly, the dad doesn't allow it in the abode, I guess maybe he has started preparing for another round of children.

Another interesting thing about pigeons is that they are very individualistic. Like they keep switching their partners after every round of children. And as soon as the pigeon learns to fly, the parents stop feeding it by mouth, hinting that the pigeon should find its own food from now. Sounds very American, doesn't it? Even in the evening when they rest at the terrace area, they don't like a fellow pigeon intruding their area. I don't know how they demarcate their space, but they start dancing (some strange ritual ) as to establish their personal space. Almost all of the babies are very eager to fly. After the 15th day they start taking small jumps to test their wings every now and then. Once they make it out of the window, its pigeon day out!

Then when I shifted to Mylapore in Chennai, the house windows did not have any extensions, so no pigeon abode :(. But just opposite to my window, there was a window sill with some extensions done for a/c box, where to my relief a pigeon couple lived. In Chennai, you will always find pigeons below the a/c boxes. Its like even they need a/c ;).
This window sill was kind of 10 feet away from my window, so couple gave birth to a little one. Around the 20th day pigeon had fully grown and almost ready to fly. So I thought in a few days it would be gone. Then I checked back around the 24th or 25th day and saw that the baby had grown to the extent that it was difficult to differentiate between mom and baby. Then checked at the 30th day, fully grown baby pigeon still happily occupying half of the nest that it was difficult for mom to be there. Then checked again after a couple of days and still it was the same! At one point, I was like grrrr fly man don't you wanna explore!!! And to my disbelief the parents also did not kick it out and even fed it. Then at the 40th day finally it was missing from the nest, so I thought finally pigeon thinks it has grown up. But after a couple of days it was back resting at home, whereas the parents were not to be seen. I thought, great so you are so lazy that you don't wanna find a home for yourself? And by this time the parents had started to prepare for the next round of children because they had started with their dancing rituals. But baby was still happily taking its noon nap. Finally, I guess around the sixtieth day baby was finally not to seen.

I don't know if its one off incident but I couldn't help resist drawing parallels!!!
Mumbai People/Pigeons:
1. Very ambitious
2. Eager to explore
3. Love their space
4. Change partners frequently

Chennai People/Pigeons:
1. Grow up late
2. Love to laze around
3. Can't live without a/cs ;)
4. Love to live with their parents!