Thodi parking space dedo.. :D

My housing society is a crowded place… cramped with cars. The task of finding a teeny weeny parking space for my battered Swift is an arduous one indeed ! Every evening is a battle. If you are in the society premises by 8pm, your success rate will be good and you will manage to find some space for your dream machine. The verbal bombings begin post 8pm.

Today is a good day. My car is comfortably rested and on my morning stroll, I happened to strike up an interesting conversation with Surender, the famished guard at the apartment gate.

“Raat ko soye nahin kya ap?” He looked groggy and tired.

“Kahan madam, teen baje tak to gaadiyaan atee hain…Kaise soyein ?”

.. and then Surender unfolded the truth and began divulging all the secrets. Never before did I realise that I am the inhabitant of a prosperous society with filthy rich neighbours. I was overflowing with joy and pride when I was told..

“President sahib ki madam paanch gaadiyaan hain.. ghar mein teen log hain..”

Also, flat no 42 is occupied by a young couple and their charming 8 year old daughter. The family owns three cars. The little one often poses for pictures when seated on the driving seat but as a law abiding citizen of the country, she has refrained from driving. The third car (Honda Civic)  is driven by Mangal, the efficient driver who drives ‘bitiya’ to school and back and that’s it ! Adieu, civic sense !

Post this conversation, with abundant joy I have been sending heartfelt prayers for my prosperous neighbours to become wealthier by the day, acquire many more cars and buy an independent property with enough parking space to accommodate all of them ! My ‘poor’ Swift has been injured, wounded, bruised and blemished in the parking area of the apartment, more than on the streets of Delhi NCR.

Note – Thank God for small mercies ! None of my neighbours is an online friend.. Buahahaha !

Remembering the 'self assured' Tina..

Rejection ? Who wants it but we have experienced it at some point in our life ? I personally don’t like the word. But, when the world tells you that you are fat/anorexic/tall/short/lazy/arrogant and the likes, you could become judgemental of your own self.

I am reminded of late ‘Tina’ (my stubborn pet). She was fond of flirting with the other dogs in the locality. Labradors made her go weak in the knees. We were the conservative parents and tried our best to shield her. We called her names. But, she didn’t care and she wouldn’t listen. And then, followed a lineage of Labradors..

What the world thought of her didn’t matter to her.. She was clear about her choices.. Labradors.. Period !

When I checked my inbox this morning, I found an email from a kind lady sitting somewhere in a swank area of Delhi NCR. She had politely turned down my proposal (work related in case you are getting ideas).

At that moment, this is the word that hit me. But a thought followed thereafter. Nobody can reject no one as long as we don’t reject ourselves. Self-belief is the key to everything and this is the word I like.

Everyone around will have an opinion of you and they are entitled to having one but your opinion of yourself  should be the best !

P.S – I am certain. Tina is dating the handsomest Labrador in the eternal resting space !

I love 'freebies' !!

We are a festive nation. The Hindu calendar suggests that 2013 alone has 31 festivals. Most of these have already been celebrated with great verve and enthusiasm.

Bhai Dooj and Rakshabandhan , particularly, are a favourite. These are pocket friendly festivals (only for the fairer sex) and we look forward to them anxiously each year.

Freebies are exciting. Go to a mall, spend your hard earned money buying all the items you need.. Of course, you feel joyful but what adds to the joy is a freebie that is tagged along with one of the purchased items. The sports shoes I had purchased with a voucher gifted to me at work (yes, miracles happen !) is still the closest to my heart. The jute bag that bravely shoulders all the nonsensical stuff that has been stuffed into it was gifted by a generous relative. There is a hole in the bottom right corner of the bag but I will wait till the next one comes along.

The Nokia E5 is working absolutely fine and the WhatsApp is functional too. My brother is a kind hearted man. Not to forget, the red hued cover that warmly embraces and protects my handset. This was gifted by an ex-colleague. No wonder, we are friends till date !

Every freebie has a story behind it. You could forget where, when and how you purchased something but you will never forget when, how or with what did you manage to win the freebie !

Note – Bhai Dooj is on the 5^th of Nov, 2013 (Tuesday)

Did you read your forecast for the day ?

Socializing will bring me in contact with intelligent people. This was yesterday’s forecast for ‘scorpions’. Well, I did socialize yesterday. A free treat with family at a high-end city hotel with property consultants. They have the ability to squeeze, crush and thwart your thinking prowess and alas, when you are at your wits’ end, you decide to give in. They win and you are left confused if that was the right deal for you.

Coming back to the forecast, do you go through it daily ? The newspaper forecasts do find a reader in most of us. But, our responses are pretty much universal in nature.

If the forecast is exciting, for example.. ‘You will be able to grab/accomplish a project that will bring you much acclaim’ or ‘You will have a romantic evening with your beloved’ or ‘Family issues will soon be resolved’ , we feel encouraged and hopeful. If pleasant events unfold during the day, we feel jumpy and are reminded of the nice little thing Pandit Kumar Sharma had written for our star sign.

On the contrary, if the forecast is not so encouraging, for example.. ‘Do not invest in property.. The time is not right..’ or ‘Health is a matter of concern’ or ‘You could have a disagreement with your partner..’ or ‘Be cautious while driving..’.. we choose to look the other way and flip over the page.

Secret sources also confirm that often when the ‘Pandits’ and the ‘Matas’ and the ‘Daruwallas’ are on a vacation or out of office, the redundant, past forecasts come to rescue. These are comfortably recycled.

They know that we know. Yet, they don’t care and neither do we ! They write, we read ! After all, we believe that we are the ‘pandits’ and the ‘daruwallas’ of our lives. Our destiny is in our hands J

The magic of 'thank yous' !

Last night, while returning home after a late dinner, we met Mr. Beggar on a traffic signal. Middle aged and emaciated, Mr Beggar looked haggard and exhausted.

That evening, greed had taken over us and we ended up ordering more than our collective digestive systems could have churned. Good sense did prevail though and we were carrying along quite a lot of food back home. Mr Beggar painted a pitiable picture and immediately, I suggested handing over all the food to him. With a lot of compassion, my friend rolled down the car window and gave the food packet to Mr Beggar. He opened the packet and all the boxes with great enthusiasm. We were relieved to have made a difference in Mr Beggar’s life.

We weren’t expecting the ‘thank yous’ but we weren’t expecting what followed thereafter, either ! The signal had turned green and just when we were about to zip zap zoom past him, Mr Beggar waved to us.

“Ye kya hai ??” he looked angry. Well, then, he threw all the food in the adjacent drain as we kept looking with our mouths wide open. He was drunk and didn’t want food. Money was on his mind, honey ! Certainly, he values Indian currency much more than the world does.

“I could have had the ‘kadhai’ chicken tomorrow for lunch.. It was sumptuous.. what a waste ?” my compassionate friend remarked.

“Idiot, he dosen’t have an iota of gratitude.. huh..” was another response to this strange act.

This got me thinking. Gratitude should be a way of life. But, even to a child who is the purest form of life, it dosen’t come naturally.. Last week, when I gifted a ‘Fruit and Nut’ chocolate to a kid  in the neighbourhood, he accepted it with a huge smile but then, a voice echoed from behind him.. ‘beta, thank you bolo..’ !

It is relatively easier for us to focus on the things not moving and the misfortunes knocking at the door. Counting our blessings is an arduous task. It needs an effort and for Mr Beggar to practice gratitude, it would need a much greater effort.

The effort is certainly worth it because grateful people are happy people.

The next time someone gifts me a ‘Fruit and Nut’, I will remember to say ‘Thank you’.. So, anyone ?

By the way, 'Thank you' for reading this post ;D

Do you have a joke ?

Is there anything more attractive than a smiling face ? Doesn’t the sunflower grow in the direction of the sun-rays ?.. Similarly, a happy person functions as a magnet to draw people towards him/her.

A sense of humour is undeniably a personality trait that gets you the brownie points (if you have one, that is).. Don’t we love it when a silly friend/partner/colleague cracks something totally ‘daft’ when we are down and out and surprisingly, it makes us feel better.. It lightens our mood, hope returns and so does the joy of battling the odds !

But, there are many who try very hard to be funny ! Every sentence is followed by a hehehe with onlookers wondering about the context, the joke, as they struggle to locate the humour.. The well mannered ones join in the laughter while the honest, undiplomatic (can also be referred to as the ill-mannered) are expressive enough to pull the joker down along with his pants. Sometimes as the 'funny' boss, in an effort to be uber cool, one could make the employees go through some serious torture. The 'poor' things, are left without an option and have to applaud every 'hehehe' moment initiated by the boss.

On many occasions, such people are asked to explain the joke after they have finished and the honours are also done by the protagonist with great enthusiasm.

A humorous person grabs the spotlight with much ease, people like to rally around him. He/she is much loved and he does dispel the darkness the minute he walks into a room. But, it is perfectly okay if you don’t have a joke to crack each time you see the girl of your dreams or the boss who can influence your journey up-the-ladder. Not having a joke is always better than having to explain the joke ! 

Don’t try too hard to be humorous.. Try to be happy.. Happiness attracts all !

What's with the kids ??!!

My mother often reprimands me for not helping her enough in the kitchen..

“Tumhari umar mein hum ye, ye, ye, ye……. Ye bhi kar lete they..” is an often heard statement and I seek solace in the fact that I have all of you for company. I am not the only one subject to such words of praise in my heavenly abode.

Interestingly, a child was considered an adult in every sense of the term,  by the time he/she hit the 20’s. I am referring to our parents’ generation here. The young adults were responsible enough to take care of their lives and their wives. The family used to be complete with ‘hum do, hamare do’ coming alive by the time they hit the 30’s.

Welcome to today’s cosmopolitan scenario. A grown up, young man , all of 22 will be referred to as a ‘bacha’ by the entire ‘khandaan’. No wonder, he behaves like a ‘bacha’. One can’t blame the ‘bacha’ either if he becomes offensive and defensive when confronted with the family’s expectations of behaving like an adult once in a blue moon.

Then, one fine day, the ‘bacha’ will  dive into ‘an almost’ drained swimming pool and fracture his skull or hit the road divider at 3 am because the poor lad was drunk and he had nobody to drive him home. The family has always been there. Isn’t it their duty to support ? In fact, this is the KRA of the parents. Give birth to the ‘bacha’ and then sit by the ‘bacha’s’  side in the hospital.

My mother has done a good thing. She has scolded me and reprimanded me enough to take responsibility of my life, to treasure my life and the lives of others around me. We will always remain a ‘bacha’ for our parents. But, if your dad gave you a mouthful today for not keeping your bike in a good serviced condition or if your mom refused to talk to you until you had cleaned that messed up study  table, it is a good thing. This is what will keep us grounded !

But, I am still a little bewildered ? What is the expiry date of being referred to as a ‘bacha’ ?? J