And the journey begins..

Just before the train leaves the station you hear a long whistle and the station master waving the green flag, a reminder to all those to hurry on to life ahead because it waits for no one. And like the chug-chug train the motion towards a new destination entails, untill the next and further on....

Our lives are no different we see it as chunks or moments wrapped in time when a particular life altering event happens, which changes the face of some boulders around completely revealing a new scenery or masking a few else. Continuing from the previous blog, that event has already transpired; atleast in theory the practical events would soon follow. Trodding all those years in the bliss of singledom, life seems a bit different than before, ofcourse the taste seems a bit ticklish but surely I will survive :). Ofcourse my other half also has the same events paging forth, as we slowly work our way through the intricacies of adjusting and knowing the idyosyncracies of the halves which should make us whole again!! "Again" you may wonder, well folks, marriage believe me or not is a reincarnation of sort, a new life wherein your life is not yours alone, you learn to share it and feel it beating as whole in the comfort of those you love.



Scores of philosphers have come & gone, contemplating this topic in detail; but theres no easy way for all the answers; the taste of the pudding is in its eating; hehe :). And I am already strapped in. Let the journey begin.

Adieus gringo - II

The ritual which started last year continues this year too, and like old times I am all ready to look back on the year gone by and strap in myself for the year ahead, which would be much different then experienced by me so far. What am I talking about, read on.

The friends who were engaged, got married, the ones who were married increased their family size by one or maybe in the process, our office team shed in some few members and got a few members in exchange. The ones who left would surely be grazing in greener pastures and the ones who are joining in now, think this is as green it can get, a perspective thing isnt it!

"Two men look out through the same bars; One sees the mud and one the stars." - Fredrick Langbridge

Surely the difference is not that stark but it sums the perspective succinctly. Where we stand now tells a lot about our reach of the horizon and what we are able to see. And I guess with each passing day we are able to recognise the oddities of life much clearer and our wants increase our already bulky list by a few more points.

So if I were to sum the year in one breath it goes like this a close friend K who got engaged, got married and also got a baby (fast processing ;) ), another friend S got engaged and would get married next year, one of the friend A who had initiated a venture is going strong though with mild hiccups but he is gulping enough water :) and stands steady, mid-year was sent to Germany for a company trip and visited Rome and Switzerland as a side tour, where also got to mingle more closely with another friend there and other Indian families who hold hands in a far off land. Finished three years in office and got a memento. Though would confess have left blogging from a regular ritual to a side affair, will that change time will tell.



While some of you who were reading my blogs regularly found out that I was getting married an year back, but thats what I myself thought ;) but it turned out to be a hoax call, and the movie story took in a different d-tour from there on, but the stars it seems have realigned themselves for that fortune moment, and it seems real enough now. The dates have been decided and all seem to be in place, and as I said life would be different from now on.

Spending your life with a stranger for another sixty years, yiikees, makes my hair stand, but then I wont be the first one to experience neither the last. But as each person, and his/her experience is unique I guess it would be "Different". Many a times I have thought about this institution and ended with two logical answers of man's desire to procreate and his/her want to share in his life with another being after all we are termed in as a social lot and this is as social as it gets. Ofcourse friends and family included, but this is different I guess, its the step wherein the circle repeats itself into a new line for a different ending struggling for its own space to evolve and touching in a few more circles in the process.

Thats life I guess & maybe not pondering on it more of where its heading I guess I should be running out, there's much to be done and many a lists to be made. I wish you all a Hapy New Year and great life ahead.

To the roots

"Veni, vidi, scribo" which would roughly translate to "I came, I saw, I wrote" or in technically correct grammatical form "now I write" (don't ask me the correct Latin). I had intended to write a travelogue but instead found something quite more exciting then the mountain or the streams. In my trip to Germany my last camp-site was at a friend's home in Switzerland, they are a mixed couples wherein the gal is from Bangalore and guy from Switzerland. (For ease will refer them F & M respectively as they both have same letters in their first name. Hmmmph). In the evening of the first day stay we were planned to visit a get together of similar Indian families out here or mixed couples if you say so.

I was happy and exhilarated to see the effort made by most of these families to hold on to their Indian roots and an equally similar effort, made in inculcating these Indian values in their children. I guess its well said that "The importance of something is understood the most, by whom the least get"

For almost living for three weeks in a foreign land my mind was searching for a common slot or hand, and seeing them cackle in glory almost made me feel at home. They have planned to meet each other at their homes in rotation, but what was more commendable is the camaraderie and zest in organising and keeping these bonds alive, everybody brought one indian dish or the other to contribute to the potluck (and I still can't forget the fish curry. Hmmmph). I faint to remember if we friends so occasionally met back home, here being so close is the paradox of being so far, and I guess we have taken each other for granted and finally its the excuse of a fast life which seems to always fill the gaps. But then I wonder don't these people have a fast life, I know they do, but out here they also realise what's important and have made the effort likewise.

Back home I mean at my friends place after dinner we use to talk about many topics centering about the differences and the points of commonality which sets us apart and also makes two people close. Ofcourse there are both good and bad points, but at the end ain't it our all long endeavour to evolve, out here they get to see and implement the best of both worlds, east and west. And don't ask me which one is the best, neither, its what these kids reflect out as they grow to become the epitome of two melting cultures. I wish them and their families the Best of lucks.

May their potlucks never run dry!!

Life on a flat line

It was almost day in, day out that I was finding the things blanch, I went to office came back in the evening, flipped channels, ate my foot, washed the dishes and mechanically went to bed to wake up the next day to repeat again. And the weekends I don’t know, went into something or the other. My life was going through the normal life sequences of a flat line, I remember reading one of my fellow bloggers mentioning that the life was almost too boring ; and I remarking back, its better then the one compared to many, where they wait for the changes to rest!!

Anyhow my alarm clock rang when I was just hoping to warm up my palms for a blog entry sometime soon, when somebody reminded me; that it was Time "already".

I am not a great fan of classics but now and then I like to read those, and this time I just pulled a blue cover out "Picture of Dorian Gray", I don’t know how many of you have chanced it, but believe me its got some pretty slick one liners that have made me think in unison with myself and seeing my head go up and down in affirmation to its crude yet simple ways.

"The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or a luxury of a regret."

"What a fuss people make about fidelity!.. Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot.."

"To get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one follies"

"The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion.."

"Real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich"

“It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.”

Well its one of those books you should chew and swallow, the first time I read it, I simply gulped it down, more so for passing time, but now I truly am relishing it bit by bite :)

Coming back its not so, that my life was really a flat line, ofcourse life throws some hoops now and then. Hmmmmph. Events are such when one relates it and we are the listener its always something happening to someone else, we nod, we console, but somewhere we deep down we console ourselves as well; that it would never happen to us or never can. That I say is the farce of life. But we shouldn’t take life too seriously, and those little hoops now and then should be taken in a right frame of mind, afterall, with so many variables inter-playing, it’s not too much that once in a while some things do go wrong.

Just few days back I saw Parzania, an art movie about the Gujrat riots, and believe me, it made me shiver down the bones seeing the things out; and like I said in this information age we get to see/ read so many things happening out there we cannot do anything but detach ourselves and listen it out, like a spectator. But there watching the movie, the terror, sobbing, the groveling made me realise that I am better off, with, my life on a flat line.

And those dips in between are simply dips, somehow I am happy; afterall; those were just small ones!!!

(PS: I would be traveling to Germany on a business trip and then Switzerland visiting a friend, so most probably, be ready for some travel logs)

15 sec of fame, cooking, woman

This weekend was a tad different from my other weekends when I simply sit at home, clear all the washing stuff, laze around the house, play some violin and finally doze off reading a book. One of my office colleague "T" is getting married in a few months and as little birds gathering straws for their new nest, he also in the scrummage rented a new house. T and another colleague C were invited to visit and enjoi some cooking while we banter along. Being a bachelor, his home was a bit ruffled up with things lying around here and there. Never mind. We started with cutting and peeling and joked about how after a few more months this would be taken over by his wife and would look much more organised, while C congratulated T on being a husband cook many wife's would love to have :). Finally we made our chicken and for of our vegetarian C tomato purree mish-mash. Being on the same cross roads (but searching-not-there-yet zone), T recommended me some money saving options and other things that I may need to care for before putting my foot in, and then we scribbled about our office boss, life in general and the girls in office who would be off-limits for our so called "to-be-soon" married friend (at-least in theory).

This was the first time in life when I actually cleaned raw chicken though I have been eating it for the past twenty eight years, but being the single son and living at home ,never felt the need to practise or try my hand. Here in Bangalore also I ate mostly at office mess or got the tiffin facility delivered at my doorstep. But I like cooking (many will frown a brow at that). Its just that life didn’t allow me a hand, this saturday I really felt like experimenting and it felt nice, but then didn’t wanted to ruin our only source of food ;). Maybe I will learn it from my wife directly, but being her only husband will she allow me :D hehehe.

Before leaving T asked if anything was missing I just remarked it needs to be more organised, to which he replied he has left it for now, although no mater how good the things are stacked "its only a women who can make the home complete"; and ofcourse I second him without doubts. Hats off to those lovely ladies as mom, sister and wife.

Returning back I headed to a mall which advertised some mega sales, so thought of the long pending shirt shopping I was planning for some time, but reaching there I found the whole city junta buzzing around like bees next to an unkept stall. All good spoils had gone and I returned back empty handed. Before exiting the mall, I saw a crowd frantically hovering around a circle with blaring music. And I also whizzed in, to see some college boys and couples huddled in to dance out a few steps on the bollywood music in the background and the comparer trying in to mesh in a few more people to get them their very own fifteen seconds of attention or was to shower a few moments of happiness in this artificial surrounding she and her company had so diligently orchestrated. While some young lads held their flashy mobile cameras filming that out, others eyed along the best chic around.

And I standing there wondered; "Happiness" is such an elusive quantity, people go whole length and yards to get it, other rake it on the sides while still others cash in while others pretend to have a good time, but even if it was for that fifteen minutes; atleast they forgot everything around; and enjoyed.

Right now -----

I just finished reading Jug Suraiya article in TOI his tickles style of writting has been my source of inspiration from long; thanks Juggy.