Fool or trouble seeker?

This evening I leave chennai with profound distaste. A few times now I have been ripped off by the tricky auto walas, in chennai or elsewhere. This time i thought of standing my ground. But that gave me a day full of bad mood, in addition to the official branding that I am short tempered. Now I wonder if feeling foolish gives less of a distaste than being called an immature trouble-seeker by my own loved ones. Either way I have decided to stay away from those criminals who take the city hostage with their three wheelers even if it means walking a couple of kilometers or missing a train. But I wonder how long that would last or if that would remove the tag I have on my forehead. But if thats the only way to keep myself at peace amidst these goons, I suppose its worth the try.

Passport to passport

Standing at the queue at passport office for reissue of passport I realize how the gandhi capped freedom fighters would have felt during dhandi march. Waiting in line to face the inevitable blow. The checking officers here are no less arrogant than the british imperial police. :)

Deemed universities demystified!

Have you ever wondered how so many deemed universities have mushroomed, that too out of colleges with no reputation? The latest copy of Frontline provides answers and outlines how it all started with a politically motivated move by Murli Manohar Joshi that soon opened a can of worms.

Happy Birthday, young man!

Today is unique in the history of our family tree, at least the extent to which I know and consider. My grandfather (Shri S. Jcelebrates his 91st birthday. The first person that I know in my family to do so!

Like anyone belonging to the pre-independence era, he has been through a lot of hardships in stabilizing his family and bringing up his children. An immensely spiritual man, he has always believed that an unknown force always leads one to his or her destiny. That must have made him fearless, for I have never seen him afraid. He is a very rigid believer in consistency and regularity, not just in education, but also in games and fitness. When I was a child, ye used to say

"You have to play one hour everyday! Poet Bharati told 'Malai muzhudum vilaiyattu' (Play though the evening""

But he would allow the evening play no longer than that! He would call me back exactly after an hour, make my chant the evening prayers and get me started off with my homework. I honestly wish he had spent a bit more time staying with us (then he was at Trichy and would visit us only occasionally.) so I could have used a bit more of his regularity! :)

I have also noticed that he has been very balanced in digesting joy and sadness. Be it the death of his beloved and eldest son (who I hear was exceptional in college, before he died suddenly of unknown reasons) or the more recent convocation of my cousin Priya (who is the first Ph.D of our family and an early pupil of my grandfather), he always attributed it to God's will and took the feeling into heart in. Which explains why the young man is so young.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Thatha! :)

Photo

The picture to the right is my brother as is the one on top left. To the left is his son shashank! I know! You could tell! :)

Shradda

My niece can barely walk. But she sure wants to ensure that she knows the nooks and corners. Quite an explorer!

Reaction to new education bill

Optional 10th exam is a bad move. The schools will internally assess poorly performing students allowing them to pass on to ensure better pass percentage.

My servent maid

My servent maid had an attack of fits....again! This is the second time in two months. She had her first attack in her life early last month for the first time. She hasn't showed up for work for more than a week now.

She has two kids of her own, a boy and a girl both in their primary school. She takes care of her sister's daughter too. She would have been in her secondary had she gone to school. Every time my servent couldn't show up for work, she send this girl as a replacement. I usually refuse to discourage child labour in my own small way. My servent maid talks a lot about her three kids, but never does about her husband. I don't know if he is even there. I wonder who takes care of the kids. For my part, to avoid a double whammy for her family, I pay her the full month's wage.

Drive safe lovable morons

I hate the hyderabadi driving culture. Especially the bikers who inspirationally 'pave their own way'. But now I owe them some benign words. Being a bus commuter, I frequently find myself chasing a bus only to miss it by a whisker. But almost always I find a biker stopping to give me a lift till the next bus stop. All the love i have for chennai considered, I must say hyd seems to beat my home town in this one. But you should drive more carefully you lovable morons!

Homemade sweet homemade

I would not buy a mango that looks like this from market. How would i know such an ugly mango can turn out to be so luscious? Combine that with the knowledge that it came from your own backyard as a result of absolutely no effort and it just gets sweeter! Really! What did i do two deserve this? Sow.. and reap. Thats all? :)