Happy New Year 2013

For new beginnings,

For new dreams,

For new endeavors,

For new courage,

For new enthusiasm,

For new experiences,

For more love,

For more hope,

For more positivism,

For more togetherness,

For more fun,

For more laughter,

For more joyous times,

For lesser pain,

For lesser grief,

For lesser anger,

For every moment,

For every hour,

For every day,

Here is wishing you…

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2013

Most importantly

Everyone has a story to tell

Everyone has a secret to keep

Everyone has a struggle to recount

Everyone has a pain to repress

Everyone has a fear to repel

Everyone has a dream to chase

Everyone has a thought to express

Everyone has a poem to pen

Everyone has a cause to anger

Everyone has a reason to hate

Most importantly,

Everyone has a life to love

12/12/12 made super special by a doting father!

I have been very lucky to meet some amazing auto drivers and have had some memorable conversations.Today, 12/12/12 was made super special by a doting father.

The FB post I wrote:

"What a start to d day! Met such an 'educated' n inspirational person.
The auto driver, Mr.Nanjunde Gowda spoke about how his daughters are both distinction students, doing MCom and BCom. He said he has only his auto but he has ensured that his daughters have a secure future. Narrated about how when d older one topped accountancy n business studies in her college n he n his wife attended d felicitation ceremony! There was so much pride n so much love.
In a country that still battles female foeticide, dowry deaths n marital rapes... People like Mr. Gowda spell d right future! RESPECT!
#my auto stories"

 The full story is here and I hope it does justice to what I felt and the impact the conversation had. 

"Walking through the stone laid Amruthahalli road, I looked for an auto in vain. Finally decided to walk towards Byatarayanapura. Half a km later, managed to get this auto and the person agreed to go to Hebbal 500 wala busstand on meter. I was already happy that he wasn't asking for extra or making a fuss.

I sat and asked if he had put the meter on and he said, "yes madam, I have. I will fight for the right fare and may even argue, but am an honest man..I do not believe in haggling and cheating my passenger." I smiled and said that that is nice to know. He then said, "I have two daughters you know; both distinction holders. My older daughter is doing MCom and younger daughter is doing BCom. My older daughter has been asked by her college to do CA, they will help her with fees."...Turns...looks at me, smiles and continues...

"I have only this auto and we recently shifted from Nagarbhavi to Amruthahalli.   I may be auto driver but I am giving my daughters a secure future. I want them to become teacher in college, good money comes and also respect."..I said, " yes sir, correct. Teaching is a good profession and it is nice that you are so encouraging."

He then said.." They are so smart. My younger daughter did 8th,9th and 10th in Kannada medium and PUC in English medium but she worked hard and got 90% in PUC. Also, my older daughter got full marks on accountancy and business management in her college. She got an award of 1000 Rs. per subject, a garland and a shield. My wife and I went...we were so happy. Everybody Clapped."

By now, I was so choked with emotions that I just smiled...He asked me what I do and I said that I have just completed PhD from Tata Institute and working in Nagarbhavi at IIPMB and he said, "next to ambedkar college your office....i Know..I know..."

By then, we reached Hebbal, the traffic...the dusty roads ...were all lost in this conversation with this 'educated' and inspirational man. When I paid him the fare, I thanked him and told him that it was wonderful to start my morning listening to him talk about his daughters.

He smiled and said, "they are everything to me."...

Before I got down, I did take a pic of his License plate for memory. Will add that to the post later. 

Every morning when we wake up to news of female foeticide, khap judgements, moral policing, dowry deaths, elderly women being raped, marital rapes, girls dropping out of school and more, men like Mr.Nanjunde Gowda make the difference. 

I am just so humbled and just so overwhelmed!  

Each leaf has a story its own!

Walking into the place

I smile in apprehension

Carrying a tote bag of positivity

The green in shades multiple

The peeking sunshine adds lustre

Greeted with smiles

Shown my ‘cabin’

The hierarchy evident

Call a number for any query

Tea at the table hot and yummy

A different world it is

Signatures and gestures significant

The learning has begun

A new sector, a new perspective

Challenges leaps and bounds

 

One week it is today

And the view from the window

Beautiful as ever

Connoting the mantra of life

Each leaf has a story its own.

 

(Written on 9th Nov, 2012)

Pebble

If there was a past life,
I must have been a 'pebble';
that got kicked from pillar to post.
How else, Do I explain my
fascination for photographing
trees and lamp posts?

I love the shades of green,
and the brown twigs in between.
The rays of light,
and the happy beam.

They signal hope amidst despair,
They signal courage in a messy affair.
It is a bridge to be crossed, with memories tossed.
A mark to be made with fabled poise.

Life of a Researcher!

Simple questions, Complex answers

Simple smiles, Complex interpretations

Simple love, Complex emotions

Simple faith, Complex rituals

Simple optimism, Complex reality

Simple idea, Complex Thesis!

Insti in the Rains...

The leaves rustle in harmony

The paucity of noise is music

The overcast skies take a bow

The millipedes find their home

The footprints on wet mud

The stones a mushy brown

The rains bring in a fable

The heart dances poetically

The fibre of my being smiles

The me finds solace unfound!

HFD:)

Friends give meaning to your dreams,
they are the wind beneath your wings,
they are there for the bad and the good,
they are the perfect example of a package deal,
they make nightouts adventurous,

they make gossip sound angelic,
they love your every poem
and like your every pic,
they tell you when you are wrong,
and pat you in moments right;
they are the reason you are you!
 

...moments of bliss

What is life without a little imagination and creativity,
That little spring in the step and glint in the eye,
Those unimagined moments when the thought strikes
and ideas find the form,
Pure happiness I say it is...
What is life without such moments of bliss!

Goes out to all my friends who have inspired me with their imagination and creative repertoire!

kaalo jogoter aalo... dark is the light of the world!

"Mirror mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?"

"Chubby cheeks, dimple chin. Rosy lips, teeth within. Curly hair...very fair"

"Wanted convent educated, slim, fair girl"

"Black out, white in"

Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, matrimonial ads and the cosmetic world have time and again stressed on the importance of being fair. Been a while since they have traversed even gender boundaries (http://www.fairandhandsome.net/; http://www.boldsky.com/beauty/body-care/2007/men-cosmetics-fairness-creams.html) , with men being coaxed to look fair. 

Not that the Indian market needs this much coaxing, it is steeped in this dream for a fairer world and abhorment of anything dark or dusky (2011 : The constant preference for fair skin has resulted in the market for fairness creams and bleaches touching Rs 2,000 crore. Of this, fairness creams account for approximately Rs 1,800 crore, while bleaches make up about Rs 200 crore of the annual sale figures. Source:http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111106/spectrum/main1.htm) . The latest ad that promises women fairness in private areas has taken the society by storm ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18268914). While many groups have come out against the ad, the sale of the product is on. 


I was once told that all the dark girls are jealous of fair girls and so we are agitated by these ads. Looks like many people just miss the point- Someone being naturally fair is an interplay of various genetic aspects. The worrisome thing is to believe that fair is good, fair is desirable, fair is the norm and everything on the otherside of the continuum is not good, undesirable and not the norm! Many who diligently use these fairness creams for over decades may feel that it is a matter of personal choice if they want to turn the skin from dark to fair and please the mirror on the wall. I wish to tell them, "you are beautiful irrespective of the color of the skin and learn to love yourself for what you are". 


Psychologists could argue the impact on adolescents, sociologists could see the societal anomaly this is giving rise to, feminists could have a different take and view this as oppression; the fact of the matter is that this is an infringement of human rights, an infringement of self worth and an infringement of confidence.

It is disturbing to see this trend, see this loss of independence, witness education having little impact on mindsets. Not sure what can be done...but there sure are many questions that arise...

• can we have a law that bans sale of such products and treatments? Or puts so much tax on them that the buyer thinks twice of the return on investment?
• would we be destroying the desires of many by doing so? 
• does this have to be a part of parenting to teach your children that black, brown and wheatish are also colors, just like white is?

I do my bit by never buying anything that promises fairness; am happy being wheatish:) But i guess my parents played a role in this. They never told me am not good enough, they never told me my color determines my capability, they never behaved like my skin decided my self worth. I remember an incident vividly just after my brother was born. He was the chubbiest, fairest and cutest baby around, having taken after my mom. We were at my native and an old grandmom passing by said, "maiya ta toh kaalo, pola ta khub forsha"...(the daughter is black, your son is fair). Thank my stars that my parents are the way they are... the 8 year old me was in tears and my baba said, " miki! kaalo jogoter aalo"... (miki, dark is the light of the world...). Thank you ma and baba!

Bitten by the laziness bug!

thoughts on a trail and then they lose the path
to dos present but look frail
mind is minding these moments and yet in a slumber
guess, i have caught d bug in a rumbler