That's weird

Lots has happened in a week’s time. Last Saturday was a miraculously bright day. Sun was glazing and everything just looked so bright and pretty. I took the opportunity of visiting “Museum of Flight” Remember playing with toys, cars, some trucks as a kid? I felt exactly the same way; just the size of my playground and the planes had extravagantly increased. I was thrilled to be inside “President’s Plane”. I did want to sit in his chair, but it was strongly marked “Do not sit in this chair”. When the president is on board this plane goes by the name “Air Force One”. I just thought it was cool to name it that way. The one plane which I loved was a 737 / 747, I hardly know the difference. The reason I loved it is coz it goes by the Baby Boeing. Isn’t that cute? An ex-air force pilot gave us a tour of the museum and told us all about the airplanes. I was completely distracted with all the hanging and sitting airplanes, which were in different sizes and shapes. Wish could fly in some of them, wouldn’t that be awesome? We saw a plane which was used for some war purpose; it had a little missile like thing sitting on it. The missile was called ‘drone’. It’s kind of an unmanned little plane, used to spy. I didn’t know they had those back then. I just kept looking at the drone and wondering, what if one could fly in that one. So all in all it was a good way of spending a sunny day.

On another note, I was reading news a few mins ago and I came across this. Isn’t it ridiculous? Now I don’t want to make any comment here, but I am not too happy with people walking out of a function. And what is wrong with the journalist’s isn’t there better news than this one? That made me drop the Times of India for a bit and I turned to CNN and look what I find there. I think it’s some piece of news, now how many times do we get to hear a rebellion like this. Its sounds like, tell me who is the beneficiary of your life insurance policy or I’ll take your life to find that out. And in other news, a volcano which was tight lipped for 400 years, woke up and screamed at Colombia. 400 yrs. By the way, anyone heard or read any more news on the two faced girl. Did she speak?

No other news has been this funny offlate

I started writing this post on a totally different topic while cnn page was opening in another window updating me with some current news. I got distracted and went on to read the news which left me laughing till I guess I started turning red and scared my co-worker. The news is on the front page of CNN about a toddler who fell in a 45 feet well. The 2 year old girl spent 27 hours trapped inside the well. So here is the entire article and what went through my mind:

AGRA, India (CNN) -- A two-year-old girl was rescued Wednesday after spending 27 hours trapped inside a narrow well outside the Indian capital of New Delhi. Don’t we have better news that this one which could have been reported as a front page article. And does Agra need any more popularity then it already has due to Taj.

Two-year-old Vandana was trapped in a well near New Delhi for more than a day.
She fell 45 feet into the uncovered well while playing Tuesday night in a village near Agra, a northern Indian city outside New Delhi. Was she playing with her invisible friend? Was no one around? And which kind of games is played near an uncovered bore well.

The girl was taken by ambulance to a hospital to be checked out, according to District Magistrate Mukesh Kumar Meshram. Checked out? What does that mean?
"The girl is normal, according to the doctors, and there is a possibility (she is) suffering from dehydration," Meshram said. At first I thought the well actually had some water, so this statement got me confused since it says she dehydrated. So I went huh? Geez duh! She survived the fall? She has wings or something?

CNN's partner network CNN-IBN reported Vandana's parents were by her side at the hospital. What else does one expect? She is a miracle child now, who wants to lose out on that kind of popularity.

Her mother was kept away from the well because of rescuers feared she would become emotional and upset the child, but her father was constantly talking to her to keep her conscious, authorities said. The video actually states that her mother was praying. I wonder, didn’t her father’s voice echo in the well. So it would sound like…Stay awake…aaaaaaaaawake…aaaaaaawaaaaake. How did he talk to her? And what does one mean by mother becoming emotional, would she jump in the well as well.

India's army was called in to help, and rescuers dug a parallel well to tunnel into where Vandana was trapped. Now does the Indian army do this kinda stuff too. Who is guarding our borders in that case? And parallel well to rescue the toddler. Whose idea is this whole thing?

Officials said the girl frequently asked for fruits and sweets, which was sent to her with the help of a rope. Woah!! I am sure the girl must be like wow my only chance to get all that I want. So every now and then she would be like, throw candies, throw cake, throw mango. I wonder what I would do if I were in that well. I would be like how about a laptop and a cell phone. Don’t they have wireless connection down here? How about a McDonalds burger this time. No no just get me a burrito. What you guys would rescue me in an hour. Nooooooooooooooo!

Oxygen was also pumped inside the well through tubes to prevent any suffocation, CNN-IBN reported. It was the sixth time a child had fallen into an open pit or uncovered well in India over the past two years. Wow we actually going to make a record in this one.

And if all this hasn’t made you laugh go watch the video, the little girl is swarmed by army guys, do we need to crowd so much. Would the sky fall down if 10 of those people don’t appear in the video? Finally, what a news!!!

Notorious Squirrel On The Block

Spring seems to be knocking at the door. Even 2 out of my 4 dying pet pots seem to have made it through the winter. I feel sad for the other 2 who couldn’t make it through the winter and still keep hoping that somehow they will bounce back to life. I still am feeding them with plant food and water. What really annoys me is the mischievous squirrel who is digging all my pots. Earlier last week I returned from work, to find mud all over my doorstep. I scrutinized the area and found weird step marks leading to a broken branch, which seemed to have acted like a stairway to the huge tree. I looked up the tree, nahh nothing there. Two days ago I reached home to find the same crime scene. But this time around I could catch the glimpse of a bushy tail on the branch and the notorious squirrel nibbling on something. I keenly looked at her and she was peering back at me. This same squirrel can be noted in our backyard and can be heard pounding on our chimney. You can ask me how do I know it’s the same squirrel? I have noted 3 distinct marks on her forehead, and each time I look at her annoyed she bows her head to show me those marks reconfirming my belief. I have thought about trapping her, scarring her even poisoning her. No I am not against cute animals. But this one has got on my nerves due to her continuous mischief’s. Digging around the backyard, digging pots, spreading mud all around our doorstep brrrr. On another note, I was thinking of ways and methods of controlling temper. You would ask, why am I thinking on these lines. Naturally like any other normal human there are days and times when I lose it. I often find myself evaluating the means and methods of bringing the red color of my ears (due to anger) back to normal. So here are some proven remedies:

I would give 10 points to knitting: Be I in a happy, annoyed, sad or jubilant mood, knitting seems to be an activity which demands 100% of my attention. I started knitting a sweater a few months back. Once I moved here, though I brought the half woven sweater with me, I completely forgot that it existed and that I still have to finish it. Now with some guidance, I have restarted the sweater making. Believe me, its one of the good old tricks to manage temper. The more complicated the design, the more focus it needs resulting in making you forget everything else. Well this is the first sweater I am knitting and so far its coming along well :)

I avoid cooking or cleaning or reading during bad mood phases. Cooking itself is quite challenging skill which I feel I have only partially acquired and am still learning. Hence cooking in an annoyed mood for me results in spoiling the dish, which in effect builds up the rotten mood. Cleaning makes me feel quite depressed. Washing dishes on the other hand is a pretty good stress buster. So a 9 points to dish washing, only if you don’t use a dishwasher. Reading makes me feel depressed, I try to associate everything bad that’s happening in the book with me. Silly isn’t it?

Taking a warm water bath definitely deserves if not 9 at least 8 points. Though I would ponder on the topic at hand for a while in the shower, soon the combined effect of steam, fragrance of soap and shampoo plus warm water works well on soothing the spoilt mood. In no time a hundred topics such as the extravagant dress of some lady I saw in the mall today or neighbors garden or the shoe stand comes to my mind.

And the last one is exercising, for me its thread-mill while listening to Ipod. Else walking about 1.2 miles outside. Since walking out doesn’t happen frequently due to the cold wind blowing I opt for walking on the thread mill. Initially I find myself working my temper on the thread-mill and soon as the sweat trickles down I realize I actually am enjoying the exercise and the music. A definite 10 points for this one.

Any more tips on shrugging off a bad day? Soothing the one ticking nerve in the brain? What do you do when you are simply annoyed?

Desktop background and mood swings

Every week I change my desktop background, most of the pictures I set as background are animal's pictures like dogs, puppies, cats etc. I just changed my desktop background a minute back and started wondering what goes into the decision making of choosing the picture. For last two weeks it had been a little kitten , sitting in a room with not too much light, kinda grayish and looking at the floor, or rather looking at a little ant by her foot. She looked as if she was pondering, thinking attentively, focusing. When I look back at those 2 weeks with respect to work, that was exactly the state I was in. Focusing, pondering to find solutions and thinking. Before that it was another kitten (cute this one) lying on her back, eyes closed, paws by her face. It seemed as if she just wanted to keep her eyes shut and act ignorant. I wonder if that was the state of my mind then. Just keep my eyes shut tight and say this will pass too :). Ok I know I don't discuss work issues here but doesn't mean I can't. Everyone loves work place gossips, don't you all agree. So those of you, who don't agree, act real and listen. Back to the desktop background, before the 'act dead' cat it was a stupid faced dog. One which has hair all over its face, golden colored, so much hair that you can hardly see his eyes or nose or mouth. This one had like a small pony on its head so one could see his eyes. But this made the dog look extremely silly. Moreover it was a face close-up picture hehe. All in all, the dog looked grumpy and seemed to be starring at whoever looked at him. Was I in a grumpy mood then? And before the dog it was a lion, sitting across my screen and looking at my telephone. That was probably when I had just joined the job. I guess I was trying to be brave. Each time I looked at the lion I guess somewhere I felt brave. Soon the lion turned to a rabbit and guess that reflected me too. I was totally scared being in a new industry, a new country and a new career. Now when I look back at the order of the pictures, I can’t stop smiling. Something’s do reflect our moods, knowingly or unknowingly. Do you know of any such things you associate with your mood swings?

Pipal tree near my home

There is this huge old tree near our house. Its one of those where you have to bend your neck right back so much that it hurts and that's when you are able to see the huge branches and shimmering leaves. When I stand beneath it and look up, I can see streaks of sunrays filtering through its thick leaves, as if only the purest of the rays are showering on me. The trunk of this tree is so huge that I probably will not be able to catch my fingers if I put my hands around it. I don’t intend to either. Though I am totally mesmerized by the hugeness of this tree, I find it creepy. There are these weeds, thick fat weeds growing around the huge trunk of the tree. And worst, its not just the base, the weeds go right up to the sky. And these weeds maintain their shape and weight right up to the top. And well that not that, there are leaves growing too. At least ¼ th of the trunk is covered by these heart shaped leaves. I wonder whether how does this old huge tree tolerate this. Doesn’t it feel like shrugging off these weeds and leaves. Or do these weeds and leaves act as a blanket, protecting it from the fierce cold. Which means they are dwelling in some sort of symbiotic relationship. You protect me and I feed you. But each time I pass this tree I think of the good old story of a Pipal Tree. The one which hosts ghosts, my mum always told me these scary stories and convinced me so much that I still seem to believe them sometimes. Errr okie many times. So a pipal tree is a dwelling of ghosts and according to my mum they hang upside down from the branches of this tree. Well these are different from bats, so don’t even try mentioning something like that to my mum. Anyways, these ghosts live there as one big happy family. Mum said its not good to stand under this ghost dwelling tree, because some how these ghosts find the neck and shoulder of every human attractive, so they jump on to the neck and follow home. How ? Don’t ask me :) I don’t remember a single horror movie of Ramsay which didn’t feature the famous pipal tree. In fact, to make it look real there would be this white smoke surrounding the tree and some sort of light thrown from behind the tree. But what makes me smile when I see this tree, is its evergreen nature. Its not an evergreen tree but due to the green weeds and ever more darker green leaves over its body, it looks alive. So while during winter all other trees are playing dead, this giant is enjoying looking green. Since observing this I have a renewed interest in this humongous tree. I don’t miss looking at it even once when I pass it and the weeds don’t seem to bother me anymore..

Group Health next door!

I have to tell you about this. I don’t remember if I have mentioned earlier, but our company shares the same building as Group Health Medical Centre. There is a Hear Centre, See Centre, Behavioral Centre, Psychologist. This doesn’t mean that there are patients walking in and out of the building all the time. Yet occasionally there are weird people one might bump into, either in the elevator or in the lobby. These are mostly harmless people. There hasn’t been a single harmful or aggressive episode or event in the building, I have to mention this so as to get it out of way and out of your minds.

I have travelled to my office on the 3rd floor sharing the elevator ride with old couples. I find oldies and kids very similar. They both have soft skins. They both do not have most of their teeth. Invariably I have found both the kinds smiling a lot. Today in the elevator there was a old couple. They smiled at me and suddenly the old man said. "Do you know we share the same ancestors?" I was like WHATT. I thought he was talking about Chimpanzees or Monkeys. I thought maybe he just came from the Behavioral Centre, so best ignore him. If possible try and recite Ram Raksha Stotra. But well then he went on to say "Your ancestors travelled from Africa to India. And ours travelled from Africa to Europe and then to here. That makes us related in some way". I was almost walking away from them, but this sentence made me turn around and face them. "Huh? Well ok" I said and smiled. His wife smiled back at me. Then he goes, "That’s the reason you have good big eyes just like we do". I burst out laughing at this. He kind of made a grumpy face. So I replied, "Well Sir yours are blue and mine are black". It was as if he just wanted me to comment on his knowledge and kind gesture or something. It made him feel satisfied. He put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and took baby steps towards the exit while smiling at me.

At 12.00 pm today, I saw another old couple. The woman was dragging a small cylinder on a little trolley which she was pulling. I just caught a glimpse, so I quickly took fast steps to see what she is using it for. It was an oxygen cylinder. She had an oxygen supplying cable running to her nose. She still smiled at me; I felt awkward and called myself “stupid” at least 4 times because I had run to see what it was.

I also remember one time this old woman had walked into the lobby and spread out her hands as if they were wings and kept going round and round in slow motion. She was trying to locate some address. Weird eh? There are a couple of youngsters who come with their parents, teenagers really. In hip hop clothes and sort of disoriented looks. This bunch does give me creeps. There was one such kid who had not tied his shoe lace and kept flipping it over and over. It was like he needed something to distract him constantly. His mother was calmly standing along the wall of the elevator, eyes closed. I felt she was praying.

Then this other time, there was a young couple, both with weird hair. The guy's were really long, where as the girl’s were really short and spiky. The moment the girl entered the elevator, she dramatically hugged the guy. I kind of folded myself and stood in a corner, biting on my own nails. When we reached level 1 and the elevator door opened, they both exclaimed, "We did it! This elevator ride wasn’t scary". I looked around standing in the elevator while they walked out, wondering what could be wrong with this elevator and why a ride from level 3 to level 1 could be so scary. I never got the answer but whenever I am alone in the elevator I still wonder about it.

There was also another old couple one time, the hubby was arguing with his wife that he doesn’t need new glasses and she kept telling him how he certainly does because he looks sooooooooooo old in the current ones. They were headed to the See Center. Heheheh. This couple must be in their 80’s. But the nice part with all this is, you always come across someone who shares a quick smile, chats a bit and that makes you feel a part of this society. Sometimes you find home away from home.

Bai Famine!!

I need to burp out this sales call issue which seem to be hovering in my brain. I totally understand the pressure of sales targets and all the so called cold sales callers go through to achieve them. I totally sympathize with them but then again the calls I receive, they are unforgivably barbaric. The point is, these merciless cold callers seem to somehow manage to obtain the number and blast a series of calls trying to sell anything right from office supplies to financial products to some stupid directories, was it nail clipper last time? Oh don't ask, it could be anything on the face of this planet. And the worst part is they try to con you. Yeah I said CON!! The same caller calls 5 times a day trying to sell the same product, changing his accent, tone, style sometimes he even tries to cough or sneeze or choke creating a different tone and voice. Ridiculous, isn’t it? But well the deal we have at my office is not to be rude to anyone who calls; it's like a karma issue I guess. So I try to calm myself by counting from 1 to 10 and trying not to focus on anything the salesmen is saying by focusing on replying to my emails.

On another note, I was thinking about maids in India, who doesn't think about them when you are trapped in a bai famine country. I declared Bai's whether its Sitabai, Savitribai, Moushi or Simply Plain Bai as one of the most valued assets when i moved to US. I remember at least 10 Bai's if not less who were employed by my mum. Their interviews were conducted solely by my Ma and the sessions were quite grueling. Grueling for me I say, neither for my Ma nor for the Bai but definitely for me. The most important decision making factor would be the salary and our Bai Candidate would simply turn out to be a no show on the very first day if it weren't for industry standard salary which meant same or more than her other employers or our neighbors. Ma would try to evaluate her on various parameters as in whether she would steal, cleanliness, argue, ask for raise, gossip with neighbors (meaning definitely tell us about them but not tell them about us) and of course how many times she would WFH (Dandi marne as we call in Marathi). So each one of the 10 Bai's have left a memory which makes me smile.

Savitribai (Not Phule, just our maid) used to constantly eat mawa or tambaku (tobacco), which meant visiting the sink to spit a thousand times while she did all the chores. Though she claimed to have cleaned the sink daily, the stains of her incessantly tambaku eating reflected on the sink. Savitribai was fired the day my dad logged a complaint to Ma.

Then came Moushi, I don't even know why I called her Moushi. She was definitely the award winner Bai. Why?? Coz in a few days of employment she managed to terrify my mother. I believe she had some sort of schizophrenic personality (disorder). She used to talk to herself while she swept bedroom. Initially it began by mumbling to herself but then later she was talking full volume. She was fired for the doubt of stealing my Ma's wrist watch (which has been one of Ma's all time favorite firing strategies).

And yeah how can I forget Kamla Bai, she was the one who always managed to flood the passage between kitchen and bedroom where we put clothes on wires for drying. How? Simple, never used to wring them. Get the clothes fresh out of a bucket of water and throw them on the wire. Water would drip till the entire passage was flooded. Ma, fired her went one day when Ma slipped in that passage and barely managed to grab the door before she could fall with a thud.

Kamla Bai left the job soon after that unable to cope with the constant nagging. Another unique character was Luckshumi (Laxmi really!! But that's how she took pride in calling herself). Luckshumi bai had a thing about tv serial especially the Saas Bahu ones. Ask her about any serial, the characters (not real names but serial names), their costumes, accents. Instantly she would turn into that character herself and mimic the character. It was quite disturbing to watch her perform I tell you. But anyways she was some character. She believed she had sinned in her previous life and hence ended up being a Bai else she would definitely be in the league of krishmas and kareenas of Bollywood. Most of the time I would find her day dreaming. She quit hoping to join Bollywood.

Then came Vimla Bai, she was a narimukti person. While all Bai’s before her had complained of being beaten up by drunken husbands. She on the other hand used to come home and inform that she managed to give two punches to her husband for getting drunk. I have a feeling she knew karate. Her husband Ramu washed all the cars in building. Was an extremely skinny guy. I don’t remember why she quit or guess she is still there.

Does all this mean its better not to have a Bai? Ofcourse not. I still remember Sunita, Anita and Sulekha who were so good at their jobs. Knew what we liked to eat, knew that the collars of shirts need to be brushed, the ironed clothes need to kept carefully and who somehow never felt like Bai’s. Really all I need is this Bai Famine time to end...can Bai's be outsourced here??