Ways of Our New House (Part II)

Focus – our new maid, this Nepali woman, who I have referred to in my previous blog. Although, I reach home by the time she is about to leave having completed her work, I still sometimes get chance to see her working or chit chat.

My curiosity to know her more finally got wings when one day I had an off, and hence, was at home. I got to know a lot of about her, which is surely worth a read. Having born and brought up in a really small village, about 200 km away from Kathmandu, she got married at the age of 9. She was finally compelled to live in her in laws' house at the age of 11, after managing to spend two years at her native place post marriage.

Now, I fail to imagine how she would have managed to get used to the funny words called traditions and customs at the age of 11, when all that I must have been concerned with would have been my Barbie or her kitchen set. I thought here ends the climax of the story, without bearing even a single cue of the mere beginning. I had all the sympathies in the world for her situation then and the fact that she could not study much or make her own identity. She went on to tell me that she was pregnant with her first child at the age of 13! Now, this almost dropped my jaw to the ground. I found myself choked and unable to speak a word or rather clueless about what to say. She said she did not know anything about kids or their cause at that time; it was the curiosity which ended up gifting her child.

Further, she came to India with her one-year old in search of some work at the age of 15. She conceived her second child at the age of 16 and the third, when she was 18. And the situation right now is that she is a grand mom to six kids, at the age of 38. Reason – she married both her daughters too at the age of 15 and 16! I don’t know, may be ignorance showed its presence in solidified form.

She says it’s been an era since she watched a movie in a theatre. She could clearly recall the last movie that she’d watched in a hall, Sajan! I felt a sudden dearth, for I didn’t feel she needed any sort of sympathies or condolence. She was happy the way she was living today, accepting the life as it came, content with her financial or emotional condition, and satisfied with the way life has treated her.

Clueless, I feel life does not serve each one of us with the same platter. My quest to know my maid ended that day and now, I respect her even more, not for the reason that I feel my platter was tastier or richer than her, but for the reason that she enjoyed her food to the full. She has no point to apologize for and is living every moment life is treating her with. At times, I try to read her mind only to decipher very innocent connotations of situations or people. I surrender before her surreal incorruptibility. 

Ways of Our New House (Part I)

I suppose this must be happening with millions around and if that's the case, I would love to hear your stories too! Since we have just moved to a new place, getting adapted to the ways of our new house, the location and the people around is surely a task. And, we are obviously depending on a lot of people around us to help enhance our knowledge on things we never paid heed to before.

By the way, let me not miss this tremendously glorious opportunity to flaunt a bit about my new house and its oh-so-enviable location. Well, situated right in the heart of the capital, it seems as if all the ways to almost all the fabulous places in Delhi start right from my house. Nothing seems too far, as if these must-visit places have come home to take me by hand. For instance, I could never have thought of visiting Int’l Trade Fair on weekends because I was always turned down by first, the distance and second, the rush. Well, the second factor still remains the same, but no efforts seem to be that tiring when I know that Trade Fair is happening right in my backyard! *rolls eyes*

Moving on, living in the old house for about two decades, which is like my entire life, I still miss nothing that substantial about it. I know this might sound weird, but I am so mesmerized by my new abode, that zilch seems to fade in front of the old house’s beauty, except for the intangible part, i.e., the memories!

Moreover, here, we have found one more thing, or rather, a person, who has made us, my entire family, kind of used to it. Our NEW MAID. Well, I never thought, being in my old home, that I would ever dedicate an entire blog to my maid, but that’s how life is. It can treat you with nicest of surprises in weirdest of forms!

Our maid looks the similar, when at work

You would be thinking what about a maid, what extra can any maid do, how can one get used to a maid, etc. I’ll tell you more. This maid, a very cutesy Nepali woman, is not new to Delhi at all. She’s been living here for more than a decade. Her wrinkles have a lot to tell about the world she has conceptualized and her very innocent conceptions might very easily keep one glued to her for hours.

Always giving her 100 percent to the work, to the surprise of my almost every other relative, she would be the first to run for help, when any one in the family commands that. I could easily dedicate my entire post to her life story which is equally enigmatic, yet so so clear! For this, I might have to know her more and till then, I would wait to hear from my readers.

I have all the reasons on Earth for calling her that!

Colours of Diwali!

One more festival and thus, the euphoria. Diwali. Here are a few pictures of the festival and the value it holds for an average Indian. Enjoy watching these and do remember to leave your valuable feedback.

Rangoli - I

Rangoli-II

Rangoli - III

Rangoli - IV

Rangoli -V

Rangoli - VI

Playing with fire (the fire crackers)

Puja - I

Puja - II

Home decorations - I

Home decorations - II

Home decorations - III

Home decorations - IV

Home decorations -V

Henna

Series of festivities!

We so determinedly say that we are Indians, but seldom have we seen it the way a foreigner would. Rarely do we try to get into details and examine the affairs happening around us with even a pinch of curiousity. Well, I would not count myself out of the lot, but I dare say that past two days have changed things in me to a great extent. Reasons are two – Durga Pujo and Dussehra.

These two days must have crossed me every year for more than 2 decades but never I stopped and tried to understand their history or the reason why they took over a person’s lifestyle. This time having closely felt the drum beats coinciding with my heart thumps, I surely lived these two events.

Having taken the pain to travel all the way to CR Park and convinced my parents to accompany me, I was pretty excited to witness what I never had before. In fact, I could not distract myself from thinking about the super-awesome food being sold there, which my friend Debbie could not even stop to breathe while talking about. Thus, commences my accumulation of insights and observances.

CR Park is a home to a large Bengali community in Delhi and as Wikipedia says, today despite its growing cosmopolitan demographics, it remains home to a flourishing Bengali community, and hub to Kolkata-style street food stalls, offering Bengali cuisine, fish markets, temples and cultural centers. And, Durga Pujo is six days of worship of Hindu Goddess Durga, wrapped in loads of fun, frolic, excitement, music, dance and exhilarating celebrations. At CR Park, I not only witnessed huge pandals of Goddess Durga but also skipped a beat while watching people dancing to please her, carrying huge, nicely decorated drums. Not to forget the food, which was as deflecting as ever! I also could not stop looking at nicely dressed men and women, who were probably wearing their best dresses, further decking themselves up with their best of accessories and jewelry. Thus, with all this merrymaking, my day ended with a hard-to-extinguish excitement of being a part of such a colorful event.

The next day, Dussehra was equally jazzy and vibrant. Derived from a Sanskrit word, Dasha-hara meaning ‘remover of bad fate’, this festival is celebrated on the tenth day of Maha Navratri. It is also believed that this day, Lord Shri Ram killed the great demon, Ravana, who had abducted Rama’s wife Sita and took her to his kingdom of Lanka. I witnessed the burning of effigies of Ravana, which was filled with lots of firecrackers, which in turn is believed to purify the atmosphere.

In other words, these were two memorable experiences which pulled and tied me closer to my culture and beliefs. Here are a few pictures of the same:

Pandals at Durga Pujo

Fireworks at Dussehra

The Ravana effigy

Everything but Life!

I can quote myself as a classic example of a girl who has lived the best part of her life being a city girl, but could never imbibe what the city air carries with it, what it is loosely known for, the “modernity”. Having stepped out of the student life and entered the shoes of a professional, I finally grabbed a chance of moving out of the city on an “official trip” sans the parental guidance and supervision. The city was none other than the city of joy, Kolkata.

This experience brought about a superfluity of emotions wrapped in a nice, bewitching wrapping of being “independent”! I had Googled out a lot about the place where I was supposed to stay and the must-visit places around it. While building castles in air thinking about my future trip and breeding thousands of butterflies in my stomach, I carried that pseudo, expressionless face all the time at home so as to show to my parents how sad I was about the thought of going alone and the compulsion and urgency of the project I was supposed to cover there.

Time flew and the day finally arrived when I had to step out of the home bidding adieu to every one close. I dare say that when I came back home having intimately seen Kolkata, I was changed. For now, I knew what living alone looked like.

I got my hands on almost everything what Kolkata has been gaining fame for, be it puchkas, Bengali sarees, leather products, Park Street, New Market, Eden Gardens, Hotel Floatel, Belur Math, Fort William Stadium and last but never the least, Hotel Oberoi.

Though, what I liked the most was the starry treatment, the fun-filled four days and friends, who’d been as crazy possible sans their particularly corporate skin, what I appreciated the most completely diverges from what I find hip-yet-so-not-hip thingmajigs.

When we stepped out of our hotel so as to board a bus, I saw a couple, hand-in-hand, carrying their one-year old. The special thing in this scene was while it was a working day, the couple found time for their family pushing the day to day chores at bay. Amusingly, they seemed way too happy doing that. The woman was dressed in a typical Bongo woman wear, further bejeweled with a shaka pola and vermilion. The view itself raised goosebumps, kicking off a lot of good vibes.

The thing that inspired me was simplicity, commitment and nevertheless, veraciousness in conduct. This is precisely what I find nonexisting in my forward-looking state, and this is what I believe everyone yearns for!

Overall, this indeed was a wonderful trip to get back to, where I amassed lots of memories to hold dear. Lastly, I would like to share some of my reminiscences wrapped up in classic examples of amateur photography! :)

The view outside Oberoi

 Taxis

 Hotel poolside

 Howrah Bridge

 Vidyasagar Sethu

 Belur Math

 Boats in the River Hooghly

Finally, the room!

Accidental Geek

I was one of the kinds who find solace in their li'l ignorant world, free of anyone poking with unheard-of concepts or terminologies, when at work. That was the time when I was an editor – a journal and a book editor. From the time I’d stepped into the shoes of an editor and owned them for about 8 months, I’d started finding warmth in the cozy editor skin, until when, something happened which clicked and changed my life, forever. 

 I guess it was the somewhat heavier paycheque, which cost me my favorite pelt. Two words, "New" and "Media" before my old profile, one switch and here I am, an accidental geek.


Call it a boon in disguise or a curse in veil, my new profile doesn’t let me breathe in an unwitting shell. With the clock running fast to strike 6:00 in the evening, I am the one panting heavily asking for some more time to complete my day’s job while others gawk in awe.


The fact that I-will-learn-and-then-do-it attitude has made me start from a scratch in order to get a tighter hold of my chair. Keeping an eagle eye on technology forums, I’ve to constantly hone myself to safely handle the weird questions of my colleagues who think a new media editor is a person from terra incognita who can safely combat a NASA scientist’s or a Google programming head’s doubts.


Fight and make your way out, I once heard some one in some action movie say. Though weird, I can so relate myself with the adolescent in the movie gearing up for his some future fight. My each day, without even a single soupcon of spice, resembles his, the only difference being the fact that I don’t have to stress my body with 100 abdomen crunches to start my day. :)


So here I am, conforming myself in the said atmosphere, making my way out of technically weird situations and calling myself an accidental geek! :)

Reality frightens, does it?

Read this: We have more than 750 million active users on facebook, more than 100 million active users on Orkut, and more than 190 million users on twitter today! What’s absurd with the real world that intellects today fear to tread on it and rather find the virtual space cozier? I guess reality frightens, does it?

Feel this: Things across decades are becoming chokingly difficult to fight off. Talk about any issue which matters to a layman and you would surely find it strangulating him to death. Be it defining his space in the office, sticking to the chair given to him poking into all the pairs of eyes staring at it, living up to the expectations of several people, recovering from the aftershocks of ever increasing prices or getting his kids admitted into some nice school, things are certainly no more a cakewalk.

Realize this: The fact that virtual space does not ask a person to dress well and look perfect, the number of zeros in his salary cheque, the problems he faces every day and how a big loser life makes him feel he is, virtual space is indeed bringing a lot of solace to every one. People might end up being totally insular and would not need anything except for their comp or tablets to spend some good time, the heart of the matter is that the concept has engulfed the globe and, trust me, it’s indeed too late to get rid of it.

And why not catch it by the collar if it makes one shut himself from the troubles he faces out in the real world? He now is so addicted to his virtual space that he anyhow manages to steal a moment to check any updates or any new scraps, any mentions or retweets, any tag or any new photo upload.

The crux is that the virtual space is any day more assuasive. It makes one shed the burden that real life makes him carry all the time. It’s like insulating oneself in a room with no one eyeballing him.

Keeping an eye on the increasing popularity of networking on virtual space, I sense that the era of identity crisis is not that far!

Decide when you can trust us

Have you ever had a tilt with a person whom you loved the most? This might sound an extremely brainless question, as the answer will definitely be, ‘Yes’! We fight with the people whom we love the most as the sense of right over the person conquers every lobe of our brains. But, this fight tends to take a different turn altogether when the second party here turns out to be our parents.

Nothing in the world can match up to the care and affection our parents shower on us and the level of sincerity they express while dealing with the issues solely concerned with the present or the future of our lives.

But at times, this never-ceasing downpour of their finicky and extremely watchful attitude tends to choke the neurons of their kids and deviate the end results from the desired ones.

Though this might reignite the almost perpetual debate on validity of the existence of ‘generation gap’ but parents should make their viewpoint a bit flexible to witness the world the way their children do. The faith that seeds might not always mature to bloom flowers or reap juicy fruits but they won’t definitely go out of the way to harvest cactuses should stay engraved in their cerebellum.

Parents should trust their tykes with the principles that they have imparted to them, the way a farmer sows seed and gives the right amount of attention required at the right time. Just trusting the minors with the inherent talent they have, the level of skills they have imbibed in them and the knowledge they have gained since they have crossed the boundaries of the home can actually do wonders for them.

Trusting them with the choices that they make in life, the learning that they have gained outside, the skills and the mannerism they exhibit when they meet people can surely smoothen out things for them.

Therefore, a sincere appeal to all the parents: 'please trust your nestlings with their way of leading life. Their actions are anyway controlled by the educations imbibed in them by you right from the birth.

They would certainly think twice before going against your words and making a path of their own intellect. If you think that they might not be intelligent enough to make their own decisions, well… trust me, most of the times, even they think the same. The matter is that they just might not want to display their dim-witted intellect while accepting this in public.

But that’s how one learns; by hit and trial or by falling and standing again. And may be that’s how you must have learnt. Agree that life might now always turn out to be a bed of roses but if you pick the thorns together and not you solely take all the pains, don’t you think life would seem a little more controlled and a lot more peaceful?

Decide when it is the right time for you to take the back seat and enjoy the drive, trusting your children that they won’t let the automobile called life crash!

Do you have a bosom buddy?

The aspect that would drive the next paragraphs would be ‘mysterious deaths’. I know we in India are a bit held back when it comes to talking on this grievous subject (death), but we need to comprehend that at times there is no substitute to what is necessary.

Ideate this, more than 1,000,000,000 people out there inside Indian periphery and yet we find it tough to discover even a single person who could perfectly match to our tunes. Ever tried to figure out what could be the reason?

I’ll help you in unriddling why along with highlighting the fatal consequences this rising endemic has brought along with it. I would call it a social phobia, and trust me, there’s nothing to brag about being a stone introvert.

A modern professional would start his day plugging earphones in his ears, would keep his eyes glued to the computer screen throughout the day and would leave for home once again earplugged. By the time he would reach his home, he is left with no energy to conclude even his daily chores, put aside actually sharing with his family the whole day’s occurrences. So, not just to blame one’s true skin, the general schedule of people today is also constantly driving them into insularity.

The other day while reading newspaper, I noticed few news stating mysterious deaths of people who were so living in a society, yet not were a part of it. They lacked any close friend who could put forward any substantial reason for their deaths. There have been numerous cases like this, e.g., Parveen Babi and millions of others who commit suicide every year. I lost one of the acquaintances this way and I so wish I was her close friend because I believe I could have saved her. There might be many incidents happening in our day-to-day life, but it is utmost essential to pour them down your close friend, no matter who that person is.

Your bosom buddy can be anyone – your daughter, boyfriend, spouse, granny, next doors or even your blog. This would not only make you feel light every day having thrown all the secrets down your bosom buddy but would also make you feel cheerful and light, as that person would obviously listen to your experiences, thereby mixing them with insightful inputs of his wisdom and experience and would make you grow and learn with every happening in your life.

In addition, that person would be thorough with the stuff happening in your life, keep a watch on your actions and to an extent, control them as well. Put it this way, if, god forbids, you end up being a part of any mishap tomorrow, your close friend can convey to the world the possible reasons of the outcome, keeping in mind the series of events taking place in your past.

So, my sincere request to everyone who checks this post, do make a close friend or a friend close, and if you already have one, give him/her a polar bear hug.

It’s indeed lovely to have friends, experience them!

You know "he" loves you when...

An anecdote of my comprehension, and of course, the fact that imagining things always helps realizing them soon and no matter what, consider yourself lucky if you have been or are a part of a woman’s universe ;)

Though the word "love" brings about a surfeit of emotions in my brain, the auricle concerned with the feelings is still waiting for my Mr. Right to read this and react! :)
So, how do I make my packet of wisdom authentic? Well, my years of Hindi + English movies experience, Balaji Telefilms, my friends who have so-frequently been in and out of love and lastly, me! Can’t I have feelings, eh?

So, here’s how it goes. You know he loves you when:

• He gives you a title while introducing you to others; for instance, my girlfriend, so as to give away clear signals to others to keep a distance from
• He avoids taking calls, in fact, ends up rejecting most of them
• He appreciates you, no matter how bad you look, even on your bad hair days
• He doesn’t say a word when you hit him and outcries a lot when you wipe where you hit
• He understands what you meant by those incomplete sentences
• He even understands the stuff which you say when you yawn and finds it to be perfectly fine
• When he messages you saying he’s already missing you shortly after the date
• He sees you soon after you wake up in your dirty shorts and half torn shirt and still loves you to the core
• He knows when to let go and when to hold you tight
• He accepts instead of except
• He cares for you more than he does for himself
• He relies on flowers and cards just to “sorry”
• He would cook for you and rub your back even if he had a real bad day at office
• He doesn’t care what his friends has to say about you
• He would buy you feminine things and still not feel embarrassed doing that
• He lets you sleep on his chest even if this keeps him awake
• He finds your weird ways of saying that you love him “cute”
• He makes you a part of his important and not-so-important decisions
• He scolds you only to make you smile again
• He rests his arms on your shoulders only to express that he’s there
• He does not mind holding your bag in public
• Neither he minds shedding tears while admitting that he loves you
• He remains there to help you out in suggesting ways to fight bad asses at work
• And lastly, he makes it a point to read all your stupid blogs :)

Though it may sound really schmaltzy, but hell ya… what’s wrong! Being a part of woman’s everlasting and unconditional love does not come easy, does it? Every man knows when a woman loves him. She would celebrate his success and would stand by him in failures, talk to him until there’re no more words left to say, encourage him when he feels directionless, never leave his side when he’s sick or alone, laugh with him when he feels happy, cook for him and smoothen out all the rough juts only to make his life appear more comfortable!

Though this blog may come as a surprise to many, this is mere sporadic ooze from the pump situated somewhere top left in my rib cage! :)

As if this would help…

I am deeply bewildered by the government’s thought of the cabinet reshuffle. This is as good as like… “Ohkay, I have had created enough chaos in the power sector, now let me take charge of the education sector. God save thy soul!”

The concept of “cabinet reshuffling” simply transits through my mind without leaving any residue behind. Oh! This was surely an inadvertently shot arrow of rhyme which has coincidentally hit the bull’s eye! The so-blue poet in me!

Anyway, holding the focus of the subject tight, the Indian government has showcased the two perfect examples of its idiocy. The first one being fixing no minimum educational qualifications for the country’s highest strata of jobs and second being this cabinet reshuffle.



Alright this Tom, Dick or Harry has finally accustomed himself to the art of taking care of the urban development aspect of the nation besides easily pocketing bigger chunk of wired papers, and his growth graph shows trembling pace of growth or a drunkard’s path to success, but some motion has been there, or whatever! Now, to gain a drunkard’s pace took this person half of his term.



Can anyone please tell me as to how would this help to the people choking under the reign of this “No-I-am-intelligent-and-I-will-prove-it” minister, was he handed over the petroleum ministry following the damned reshuffle? Nothing, but another half of the term for him to get hold of the basics and for common man to burn his sweat to let the lamp back home lit.

No technical expertise, no educational background, nothing to do with the field, here are the representatives of the so politically motivated democracy of fools and here is the common man, still recovering from the aftershocks!

Onion – 60/kg!