Lakshmi Devi

It is Navarathri, and I can imagine the festive frenzy in India now. Lakshmi Puja and Saraswathi Puja will be performed in every single home. Come to think of it, even now, I always put a coin in a purse (even if empty and stowed).

I was musing on these very thoughts on my way back from lunch, and stopped in my tracks at a seemingly normal gesture. Two men, dressed in business casuals and evidently working in the city, threw their one-cent coins on the street, like people sometimes throw trash, and moved on with not even a second glance. I was somehow disturbed. Why could he not have given to the numerous homeless? Or simpler still, dropped the cash in the donation jar kept almost at every counter?

I hesitate to throw out usable clothes, and try my best to donate them whenever possible. I guess our thinking is just ....well "different"!

Adam and Eve-teasing

"Am I touching you? All I do is letch a little and may be a little bit of a$% pinching!"

Why is it that eve teasing is a nation-wide problem especially so in our home country? I still remember the day when a 1st year fresher Ms.X studying in Ethiraj (my alma-mater) was teased, groped and pushed to the pavement on an other wise normal Monday morning way back in the late 1990's. She hit her head, bled endlessly while the police tried to apprehend the couple of college males who had done it for the fun of it.

This is one of the blogs that talks about the blanknoise project and some if their activities.

Somehow chancing upon this post in another blog made me pen this. Actually there's no specific point to this post excepting that we need to look, experience our surroundings more, be aware and more importantly empower ourselves, and that doesn't restrict itself to women alone.

AND to come to Ms.X, she fought for her life for a couple of days, was rumoured to have had nightmares of the *incident* through her last few days before she finally passed on.

Oh! and just so you know, the 3 college boys who were caught later got some meagre virtually non-existent sentences!

Well-- so much for a life!?

PEACE

:-)

Mindframes's blog about email subjects got me thinking about smileys . A smiley added at the end of any sentence changes the context of the email. You can never sound rude if you add a smiley . It is one of the most significant findings for emails. All the hatred brewing around the world is stymied by smileys.

I hope I am not rude . You think," Yes, you are rude".
I hope I am not rude.:-) You think, " Maybe :-)"

Well, you get the gist.

Can you get this done ASAP.
Can you get this done ASAP :-)

What the hell are you doing?
What the hell are you doing? :-)

Get lost.
Get lost :-)

I want the report on my desk by noon.
I want the report on my desk by noon:-) ..Hmm, that may not work, I guess.

What were you thinking , man! running around half-naked ?
What were you thinking ,man !! running around half-naked?;-)

Hi all

whew after a grueling 32 hrs of flying I'm back in town...sorry folks havent been checking the blogs here and BTW this is my first post...well the news is I got married recently (september 9th) to be precise...so was tied up with things and also a BIG sorry for not being able to atleast email invitations...neways will catch up on the posts soon and of course will add some interesting stories as well..cheers then and hope everyone is doing great...

Revised Introduction:

Profession: PhD student (its not 9 to 5 trust me). Working on Game Theory and Bayesian Statistics with applications to finance and accounting.

I love (in order of preference): My wife, My parents and lil brother, My guitars, My books and then everything else in this world.

I hate (again in order of preference): Nothing in particular but surely liars and cheaters. The rest is situation specific.

Best moment in my life: the day i was born, the day i first said amma and achan, the day i graduated, the day i first picked up the guitar, the day i met the love of my life...hmm so many moments to treasure.

Worst moment in my life: When my mom went into ICU, March 8th 2002, 11:54 PM. I cant forget that moment.

How do i define myself: you get but one life and hence live life to the extreme.

Hi !

When I joined my first company, I was so fascinated by the concept of e-mail. I was all thrilled when i knew that I can pretty much contact anyone in the world, all by sitting in front of my computer. Internet was still emerging. Well, if you are worried that this blog is going to be yet another of mine rant on some technical topic, you are completely mistaken. What else is it about? It is the most widely talked about "Subject". Yes, it is about what goes in the subject of an email.

When I started off, for some reason, I got hooked onto "Hi!". Whoever it is, if it was a personal email, it will have a "Hi!" in it. Sometimes, I used to get creative with "Hi!!, Hello, Hi "Name"" etc., But, mostly, it revolved around the same prefix. I found that, it was the same case with most of my friends as well. In fact, having used to writing a lot of letters, I used to begin most of my mails with a "Hope you are doing fine. I am doing great.", which in today's world, is a little arcane and redundant info, in my opinion. With official mails, I always found it to be very easy. I have a wide variety of subjects which will exactly convey the meaning like "Issue with your block, Fix needed, Look at the file from my local directory, Status/Weekly Report" and so on.

In order to save my time thinking about what needs to go in the subject, these days, I omit the subject field. Ofcourse, most mail tools will try to make sure if you really want the subject to be blank or not, which is okay. Thinking more about the subject part of the email made me to think about the spam mails that get loaded onto my mailbox these days. When the spams started, it used to have subjects like "New promotion, Urgent! and so on". If you look at the new spams, most of them have a subject of "hello, hi!, (no subject)" and so on. As much as I resist my temptation to open a mail if the sender is "Aishwarya Rai or Trisha", if the mail doesnt have a subject, there is always a tendency to atleast open the mail to see what it is about. What if, Aishwarya Rai really wanted to contact me and I dismiss it as a spam mail...:)..

Customer dis-service?

I returned recently from my trip to India. Needless to say, there were many blog-worthy events and incidents. Not that there aren't any when I am here..

I had to open a bank account and chose ICICI. They really wanted to make things easy and were even willing to come to a potential customer's home at customer convenience to collect the application and other required details. I met Vel (not his real name) in the bank and fixed an appointment for the following day and specifically asked him how I could identify him or anybody that came to my house representing the bank. He said they would carry an id that stated the bank's name. Sure enough, he came the next day and to my surprise, he was punctual too. I asked him for identification, he did not have a badge. I was not very happy. However, after a few questions I let him continue with his work. He collected the required details and let me know that he should be able to file the application the same day and by Monday the following week I should have an account and receive the notification. He seemed very sincere in his conversation and called me "Madam" a million times. I was comforted. "India has changed", I thought to myself, "how easy it is to get things done."

Monday came and went, but there was no news from him. I called him and he said there was once particular information that was missing and he would come home to collect it. And he did. So, now I was to expect it within a week starting from then. The next Monday came and went and no word from Vel. By now, I was anxious as I did not have much more time left in India. I called Vel and he said he would call me in half an hour to report the progress on the application. In half an hour, I realized that customer service had not changed all that much. Vel never did call. The strategy seems to be, "Let me get the customer of my back at the moment and I'll say anything to do that", which is not really much better than the state of things before. In fact, its been a month now, I still don't have the account number. I have asked the bank to return my check and I don't want an account anymore. Doing business in India is as scary as it has always been. Vel had no problems making commitments, the problem came to keep those commitments.

A trip to my tailor later that day rebuffed this conclusion. This is the condition of customer service in premium institutions like banks and local mom-and-pop stores alike. Think then about the service we get in state government offices ( which also I had to visit), but I'll cover the topic separately. There are other elements in it that need its own blog.

All in a day

She walks into the Gym , all set to have a good workout.

Ann and Jennifer are talking about Alaska. Ann has plans of taking an
Alaskan cruise next year. Jennifer says," Oh! I love Alaska. We are
thinking of taking another cruise. That place is abundant with
nature". Ann says that she is really thrilled and is already looking
forward to it though it is 6 months away. Jen says," There is this
place south of anchorage….I don't remember its name. We took a train
ride and it was wonderful".

" Hey! Alaska is lovely gals. I wish I could travel more
often. Jen, I think you are talking about Seward. It will always be my
most memorable train journey. Ann, you would love it."

" I think Jen is talking about Seward. It was quite a
memorable ride. These girls always find something to talk about. Give
me a break. The trip is 6 months away and she is already gushing over
it. There is abundant nature in California too."

" Shit! I wish that guy at least had some decency to tell
me why my raise was a meager 3% . He has an intellectual vacuum
surrounding him and has the audacity to call me incompetent. How dare
he?. Maybe, I should have just retaliated .So what if he is my boss."

Ann and Jennifer's conversation is steering towards TV programs and
they are talking about the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Ann is talking
about the United 93 and the TV program which telecasted the fate of
the family members of the people who fought with the terrorists. Jen
says she watched just a snippet as it is depressing and leaves her
hollow.

" I watched the show too. Looks like they have created a
monument in the name of the seven crew members who traveled in
United93.It is certainly a very touching episode in our lives."

" Oh yes !! All they can talk about are TV programs and the
latest diet programs. I am sure those two have not really experienced
a loss as big as the 9/11 episode. Its nothing but frivolous talk."

" How dare he? I should seriously think about quitting this
company. This guy is an oxymoron. He is a nincompoop. Maybe I should
talk to the GM about it."

She walks out of the Gym,deliberating.


" Not a bad day after all. Maybe we could go out for dinner ."

"What a day ! .I wish my headache would get better."

"The worst day of my life.I want to quit."

Run of the Mill Reporting

Topic: Katrina's anniversary
Coverage: Redundant, boring
Suggestion: MOVE ON!
Excerpts:
"Most people I talked to after Katrina are hopeful and positive of rebuilding their lives."

So, let's say that for most people the focus has shifted on to getting on with life. I suggest the media do the same. While I understand the importance of learning from past mistakes, there is a point when I feel enough is enough. For all the thrashing and blame-fixing, I frankly don't see much happening.

So why continue thrashing and blame-fixing - killing time till the next fiasco? That seems to be a cruel explanation, but the only one I could come up with.

There is lots happening the world over, and as usual the US seems quite wrapped up in its own stories, however old and lackadaisical they may sound.

Just a rant ....

Of Kalki & Vigadan

One lazy summer afternoon, a month back, I was idling at my parent's house. I felt like reading something light and rummaged through the cabinet. Inside there were current and old issues of "Ananda vigadan", "Kalki" & "Mangayar Mallar". I took out some issues with colorful front page, stacked them besides me and started browsing through them. Usually my first reading includes glancing at the pictures, reading jokes & interesting tidbits. Maybe some "Kelvi Badil" when accompanied by interesting pictures. However, this time I decided to pack all those magazines in my empty suticase and bring them with me to US. That way I could read "The Week" one day and 4 month old Ananda Vikatan the other. A break from monotony.

I have them all stacked in by bedside. I go through several iterations of one magazine and incrementally finish reading the entire magazine after a few days. I found that the jokes no longer are funny. But the "cinema star" gossip articles are still interesting. A day with Asin, Virkam's body building secret, Nayantara & Simbu seeing each other etc, Jyothika to wed surya, this is accompanied by a picture of jo & Surya from the movie "Chill Yendru oru Kadal" (Cold love???).

Kalki and Mangayar Malar have a plethora of cooking, household & Beauty tips. I am not sure if all of these work. Here is one I read: Want your hair to become soft? Apply vinegar mixed with 1 teaspoon of lemon. Can someone try this and let me know if it works? And then there are these short stories. I love reading them. They are short and some really pack a punch. I can't read "Thodar Kadai" and wait till a week to read the next chapter. My Paati used to cut out each week (like sujatha's Ganesh Vasanth) and make a book out of it. That was much easier reading for me.

Yesterday I read this short story about a middle aged mother who is called "Sudoku Sundari" coz she spends all her time doing sudoku. Her hubby darling ends up taking "Kadugu thalichu kottina Moru sadam" for breakfast and lunch. He thinks of making a business out of his wife's sudoku passion by having her start a sudoku class. He comes home that evening with this brilliant idea and finds that his wife has joined a sudoku class taught by a next street "maami" for 250Rs a month. This story is accompanied by a color picture of a rolly polly, saree clad middle aged lady sitting on the bed with a paper and pencil. Her face shows excitement in solving the sudoku. A thin wirey veshti clad husband looks at her with raised eyebrows, scratching his head and a pavadai clad girl peeps from the kitchen with a coffee cup for her dad.

I have 3 months of Kali, viagadan and Mangayar Malar to read. I just finished the first iteration. Good for another 6 months!

Another Life is Taken

A guest blog by Arthi Umesh ( my niece)


ANOTHER LIFE IS TAKEN

Another Life is taken,
Little difference does it make,
The newspapers yell it,
The T.V. follows,
After which it is forgotten.

Another Life is taken,
Little difference does it make,
Only adds a little more blood,
To the pool already created
And a little stinking smell
To the already foul-smelling bodies.

Another Life is taken,
Little difference does it make,
To this vast country
But what about that ruined family,
Which went without many things,
Thinking that one day their child
Would fetch them more than they could ask for.

Another Life is taken,
But what about that dream which
Never came true?
What about that baby which,
Never learnt to smile?
What about that lady,
Who burnt herself alive?

A kitchen with a window.

I have been living in a rental apartment for a long time now. Those of you who ever stayed in an apartment would know that kitchens in general are not spacious. And If you have a kitchen with a window, lady luck is smiling on you. Having a window in the kitchen depends on whether your kitchen shares its walls with neighboring apartments or not. Most of the kitchens are open to the living & dining area and you end up getting just one patio door that lights the entire kitchen, dining & living. So, when I moved into an apartment that had a window in the kitchen, dining & a patio window in the living I was thrilled.(Its got windows in the bathroom too! Cool!)

I have been cooking in a windowless kitchen for 6 years. For 6 years I did not realize how important it was to have a window in the kitchen. Maybe since people here bake or throw a salad or sandwich together or barbecue most of the time, they do not feel the importance of having a window to let (a) light in and (b) smoke out. Our cooking requires us to bring oil close to a boiling point and splutter all condiments in it. And don’t even talk about deep frying. For 6 years I must have made "Bakoda" (not the north Indian pakora) or deep fried "Appalam" 3 or 4 times. The first time we did deep frying and went out for shopping, we came back to a home smelling of oil and bakoda. And don’t even thing about cooking before going to work. You are probably going to smell of what you cooked.

Turning my attention to the new kitchen now - one word, "WOW"! My husband is sensitive to irritating smell from the kitchen (sautéing red chillies, green chillies etc) and used to cough a lot in the old aptmt. New one, I have not heard him cough one day. The window takes care of it! In the mornings as soon as I get up, I open the window slats and beautiful sun rays come streaming in and light up the granite counter tops of my new kitchen. Granite counter top. Another WOW, so easy to clean though difficult to spot dirt. But then that’s a nice thing right?

Right from the time I went to the new kitchen, I seem to be cooking more often and my creativity in the kitchen is flowing. I feel that its mainly because of the windows. Ladies (and men who cook), we need windows in the kitchen!

Funny Math Answers !