Ethical cleansing

A colleague of mine narrated an incident that occurred to him recently. He takes a bus to the office everyday. That day he was seated & was reading a newspaper to kill time during his bus-ride. Just then someone prodded him. The fellow standing next to him urged him to lend his seat to a lady who too was standing nearby. A thorough gentleman, he immediately obliged. My friend was then pick-pocketed by the same guy :D

The Bangle Sellers

I've been trying to lay my hands on this poem for soooo long & am glad that I finally managed to find it! I first came across it in one of my English-texts in school & vaguely recalled it. I remembered that it was so full of such powerful metaphors & similes that even at that age it had hit me like a brick. I like it so much that I just can't help sharing...


The Bangle Sellers
- Sarojini Naidu

Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves

Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.

To Kashid beach & Murud-Janjira fort

Revisited the Kashid beach and the Murud-Janjira fort, this time with my mother. It's a serene beach with white-sands in the North of Konkan. Reached there via Pen & Alibag after taking the Khopoli-bypass off the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. It took us roughly 3.5 hours from Aundh, Pune. One can also take the Panvel-exit instead at the end of the expressway. Or one may even skip the expressway & take a completely different route - the Tamhini Ghats (via Mangaon).
Being odd-days (Monday, Tuesday), there were just 10 people (including us) on the entire beach. That made it look all the more serene & enjoyable :-). Was put up at the Prakruti Resorts, a fantastic place by the beach. Also bumped into Sherrin Varghese of the 'Band of Boys' fame, who was there with his wife & kid.
The next day took a boat-ride to the fort. Though repetitive for me, mom enjoyed it thoroughly.
All n' all a very relaxed & an enjoyable trip :-)

Indian Parliament on terror...

It was quite a feeling to watch yesterday's Parliamentary debate/discussion regarding tackling terrorism in the wake of the recent terror-attacks at Taj/Trident/CST. After a very long time, I saw the politicians rise above petty party-boundaries. They spoke with maturity, honesty & genuine concern. The ruling government spoke with an apologetic tone and the opposition didn't take pot-shots at them. Nor did they pounce on opportunities to score brownie-points. It was the coming-of-age of an otherwise squabbling lot.

What was encouraging was that even the young-entrants to politics seemed very informed & concerned.

Tricking oneself...

Ever since I've realized that I'm getting lousier by the day when it comes to reaching office 'on time', I've made my wrist-watch run fast by 30 mins. It hasn't helped. Instead, now whenever I check time, I spend another second in subtracting 30 mins. from the displayed-time. So much for cheating oneself!

Bowled over by Arya...

Must admit that Arya Ambekar's rendition of the song "Chandane shimpit jaashi" on Nov. 23rd 2008's episode of 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Little champs' was absolutely extraordinary. I've been humming that song ever since!

Besides the composition & music what appealed to me the most were the lyrics -

"( chandane shimpit jaashi chalata tu chanchale
onjali udhalit moti hasari tara-fule ) - 2

vahati aakashganga ki katichi mekhala
tejpunjachi zhallalli taar padaraa gunfile
chandane shimpit jaashi chalata tu chanchale..."

I mean, what is it that inspires people to come up with words, word-arrangements & imaginations like these!! I believe that an artist knows when he has a tiger by it's tail, but this... this is way beyond... this is divine.

And for someone as little as a 14-year old Arya to pull off such a tricky song and with such finesse was absolutely unbelievable. Hat's off!

All songs in the audio-format are also downloadable from the Zee-Marathi website. The video can be found here.

On condition of anonymity...

On the occasion of MIP's hitting the lunar surface, TOI published a very informative article in their Saturday (15th Nov.) edition regarding the maneuver. Funnily, it had more information than intended :D

Where is winter?

Every morning as I wake up, I rush to my library to see how many bulbs have risen in my Galilean thermometer. And each time I'm disappointed to see just one - the magenta one (indicating 26 degree Celsius). When is winter really planning to barge in? Just the teasers in the form of morning-mist ain't enough! I remember last year all the bulbs in the thermometer had risen to the surface. So eager to see that pretty sight again...

Nov 27th 2008. 8:30 am - The 2nd bulb (orange one) rose to the surface right before my eyes!! It indicates a temperature close to 24 degree Celsius. Now this is wishful-thinking being answered instantaneously. It's like 'commanding' the spoon to bend & seeing it happen in a jiffy! Rare event :).

Just how much informality is 'OK' at workplace?

There are a few things one should seriously & consciously refine when one steps up from student life and joins a corporate environment... Few observations at my workplace have always caught my attention and sometimes made me shake my head in disgust...

1) Attire - Some employees are just so shabbily dressed. I mean they still operate in 'student-mode'... chappals & long untucked shirts are such a shabby combination! No-one's enforcing a dress-code here, but at least be presentable!

2) Language - Swear-words & slang are a definite turn-off ! Even-though it is over some friendly-banter in a conference room, avoid slang! And then they are such sissies on the football field!
Also please... Don't say "Good night, sleep tight" to a senior architect while wrapping up a conference-call !!

3) Freebies - Just because the company provides a free-stock of stationery or snacks in the pantry, it is just so juvenile to carry this stuff home for personal use. U are paid well. Go buy! Also don't come to office late-night with your spouse to make those free long-distance phone calls to your native!

4) Freedom & flexibility - These are the most abused concepts! Don't keep stirring into the coffee cup with a spoon and make that irritating clanking noise when in a conference call!! And don't get that apple that u eat half-way & then leave it for others to appreciate its color change from yellow to its darker shades and then to black all in the stretch of a single conf. call. Don't form a habit to always work at inhumanly hours. Working 11 pm to 5 am daily is gonna leave you nothing more than an individual contributor. U r always unavailable for architecture-discussions as u r sleeping when others need to discuss it !! Also all immediate info-requirements are discussed over mail waiting for u to wake up and read!

5) Personal/Domestic problems - Don't wash your dirty linen in public! Whatever happens at your home is personal. Don't discuss your spousal fights or your divorce-proceedings at office over lunch-tables! Are you seeking sympathy or are you providing entertainment here???

6) Personal calls - Try keeping your personal phone calls to a minimum when at office. Politely hang up! There are ppl. at my office I can't talk to for continuous 10 mins. due to constant phone calls they keep getting from all over the world! And such silly domestic issues are discussed during these unsolicited phone-calls with priority over important technical discussions!

7) Cubicle etiquette - Framed certificates u received in your 7th grade at some singing competition need not be displayed in your cubicle. Dolls, teddy-bears & hanging-monkeys are a definite No-No!!! Aren't you all grown up now?

In short, be clean, considerate, well-mannered & good-listeners at workplace. Is this too much of 'formality' to expect?

Saina...

It was indeed a fantastic evening, today :). Had been with friends to the Chhatrapati Shivaji sports complex at Hinjewadi to watch Saina Nehwal in the Finals of Women's World Junior Championship against Japanese rival, Shato Sayako...

Firstly the entire stadium is very well done. Was very impressed! And then, the match was a cracker... The moment Saina entered the court, the entire crowd was on its feet & there was cheer & cacophony all over. Every point scored saw the re-enactment of this cheer. What a fan following! And the way young Saina handles this kind of heightened expectations & pressure is really amazing. She was confident, focused & aggressive and a master at her craft... She won in 2 staight games (21-9, 21-18).