Lockdown Diaries - Part I

2.5 yr old (Dear Daughter) & 4 yr old (Dear Son)

SCENE 1:

DS: Daddy... She did it (some mischief)

Hubby: Call her... (Loudly calling my daughter) Come here!

DD: (Rushing to the home office room, sitting in front of laptop, busily typing keys) I am working...

(Now where did she get this from????!!!)

__________________________

SCENE 2:

Around 11 AM:

DD: Daddy.... Chocolate.

Hubby: You already had one in the morning

DD(Whining now): Chocolate......

Hubby: Ok, let us ask Mommy if she will let you have another one(Very intelligent! Trying to make me the bad parent)

DD: Mommy is Jijjuing(sleeping)

Hubby: Oh, at this time? let us check if she is really sleeping(walking towards bedroom)

DD: No, don't go

__________________________

SCENE 3:

Me eating my lunch

(My son who has toy kitchens and upturned one sterlite plastic container box acting as a third gas stove)

DS: I have (kept) cooker on the stove... Keep an eye... Call me if it is burning

(Comes back and gives a toy phone) Here you go... Call me if it is urgent emergency(!!!!)... ok, here are the instructions (gives me a mouse pad which actually appears like a printed pamphlet)

Goes to another room, tries calling me on phone, "Hello...is it burning?"

__________________________ SCENE 4:

My Mom Facetiming on iPad drawing shapes and alphabets and trying to engage my kids

After 5 minutes, DS: I need a break now

DD got upset that my mom praised my DS and walked out of the call

__________________________

SCENE 5:

DS on zoom meeting with teachers showing him pictures of bird and asking the class to name them by showing the cards again

(DS wasn't concentrating so I know he wont know it) but nevertheless raises hands when card is shown

Me(Surprised): Do you know the bird name?

DS: (looking at me with a blank face)

Me: Why did you raise your hand?

DS: I was combing my hair (??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I can swim now

Four years and two kids later, returning today. Learnt a life skill ....not cooking (I can already call myself a good one if not expert) but swimming, addicted to few facebook groups, crossed off couple of places from my travel list and book list, put on some weight (perspective matters, so let us consider it relative), added few years to my age,....

Let me start with swimming. First I started with "Aqua workout" before swimming. I was able to outperform three other members of my group..only to realise my mistake the next day, when I couldn't move my hand or feet. They were so modest only because of their experience. One cannot feel the intensity of the workout under water. Then it was running or cycling in water. When I whizzed past at 4 feet, I didn't move in any direction near 5 feet, how much ever I struggled. I think I would have looked like a clown. After few private lessons in swimming, my freestyle was still bad that my husband said that I look like a person gasping for breath and calling for help when I swim :-(. My breaststroke and backstroke are ok and butterfly - the initial part is good, until I have to use both my hands to balance myself...Swimmers know what I mean. I am really jealous to look at those swimmers in Olympics doing butterfly.Long time back, I had gone to swimming class in chennai for few days and attempted breast stroke and there the trainer once told me "Don't fight water, glide through it". I still don't get it but I can manage to swim in pools.

Kids...that is a different story altogether. I used to think all the facebook posts about life after kids are an exaggeration but believe me none of them are. You start appreciating life and parents more. But here is my amazement - Either Kids are Smart or APPLE is too smart. My 2 year old can minimize applications I am using, go to Youtube(he doesn't like Youtube Kids UI), put on his favorite rhymes, write comments which get auto-corrected as well (people out there screaming about screen time and supervision, it is a surprise how they can manage to do all that with minimal exposure). So if anybody got some weird comments from me - ITS NOT ME. May be I should teach him to code, and cook. They would learn these pretty fast if they "CHOSE" to do so. You cannot get any task they don't like "done", for example, brushing teeth, washing face, etc. On a distant note (because I know this doesn't look like a continuation of my previous sentence but I have this urge to shout this out) "My child won't eat" By Carlos Gonzalez is the best book a parent can have. This will save your and your children's' peace of mind. Highly recommended. Every hospital should hand a copy of this over to the parents after child birth to make the world a better place to live in.

Will catch up on more soon...

Onboard Allure - Part 1

For a week, I was onboard world's largest ship as of today...Uh huh....don't think Titanic...

So when exactly did it start?

I spotted tiny blue spots next to match boxes and had to rub my sleepy eyes to ensure if I was seeing things right from the plane... Yes, one pool for every house! I don't know if I was looking at town houses or if it is the same all over Florida. But when the plane was landing at Fort Lauderdale Airport, each visible building had a pool of its own, and these buildings were not skyscrapers; just independent houses.
Being a first time cruiser and never known for travelling light, I tried to check the baggage dimensional restrictions in the cruise liner website and didn't find any. Nor did the cruise reviews told me anything about luggage. So I just assumed that the world's largest ship (Allure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean) will definitely have space enough to squeeze my huge suitcases in.

So, we had booked for the 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise with stops or docks at Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

The first day of cruise we had this assembly drill and got to know that around 6000 guests (may be they should create a fancy word for this cruise travellers like we used to have in our colleges - say Allurians  :-)  ) and 2000+ crew members travelling in this ship.

 I felt like going back to my physics lesson or call up Archimedes or Einstein to explain to me how does this ship stay afloat, considering if the average weight of a person is 50Kg(as there are quite a number of kids running around) - 50 x 8000 = 400000 kg + luggage (20 Kg per person), not to mention all the ship weight(16 floors - heavy doors, lifts, merry-go-rounds, theaters, casino,  what not.....) Let me stop there. Ok, this ship is on water and moving, let us leave it at that. Will it go down a bit if I jump? With all the discos, and dance shows, and all - they would have done the stress testing with heavier people on board? Well wont they?

King of Indian Ocean

Anyone who has watched Singam-2 movie in Tamil or Telugu will know what I am talking about!

But have you ever thought about this before ? there are five oceans in planet Earth, namely Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean... but none of the oceans share the name of any country other than Indian Ocean. Infact if we see from a square km coverage, the waters of Indian Ocean(well I am talking just from a rough picture of the earth) are more covered by Africa or Australia.

Has this ever happened to you?

If you are an ardent book reader, and there was this one book which left you with a great satisfaction, as if it answered all your queries, and despite that you are wondering, if there was a sequel ;  And all of a sudden, this book's authors informs you personally(comment in a blog post - ain't it personal message or have they developed bots for this too) that he/she has written a sequel....

HOW DOES IT FEEL?

So humbled, I am running out of words... I haven't read the sequel yet., compared Infibeam and Flipkart prices and ordered it...Keep guessing the book name until I read it...

On other note, few books I am done with:

• White Tiger by Aravind Adiga  (Good read..truth is always bitter)
• The Oath of Vayuputras by  Amish (Good ending...Hope he had written about few other things - as to why people started associating only Ganges from Lord Shiva's locks,  about the serpent around his neck, and about the crescent moon on his head, etc from the viewpoint of the story)

Inertia

Why didn't we have Mogambo do SRK's role in Main Hoon Naa(Reason I chose this is Mogambo can fit the aged professor returning back to college)? How will it be if Rani and Kareena swap their roles in Talaash?

Why do we have the tendency of sticking to a character for the artist. We want the villain to always act as villains, heroes as heroes, good as good, evil as evil. Its hard for us to see a hero doing a villainous act(negative role taken up to do good things or payback is not a villain), a vamp doing a cute lovely heroine, etc. I can't see Bhabo( of Diya aur Baati hum) do let her guard off and dance in Star Parivar shows, nor let Kokhila Ben(of Saath Nibaana Saathiya) to do the compering. This is not because they are not good but more so, a cruel person seems to lose the cruelty of the first character when he/she acts as a nice person. So when we go back to watching their stoic or commanding role, the stoicity or sternness is lost I am not asking to cast them into unsuitable characters. But earlier villains were just bad; no strong reason for their act; they had grudge on all good people; they are what they are. Serials had a cunning lady, with no reason behind it, with no other eligibility criteria than she could express evil by her uncute looks. These days, the villains(other than terrorists) are villains by chance(not by choice).

I am searching for the iconic bad guy - there are none, not to mention the movies I am watching - Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Life of Pi, Wreck it Ralph, etc. So why is that we are still not able to accept change? Do we have a term for this in psychological world, similar to inertia(Courtesy wiki: Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, or the tendency of an object to resist any change in its motion)

 On other note, Read "Raja Thilagam" of Sandilyan second time. There is a very subtle justification for bigamy /polygamy. Was just wondering what will happen, if, even these days, the war can be avoided by the families of Presidents/Prime Ministers getting into marital relations with neighbouring countries,or, between states.  But this is democracy and hence there is uncertainty about their rule. Must say that dictatorship or ruling by descendants of royal family had its advantages.


 

Where are we heading?

[A old post written in Mar 2012 and was lying in draft state]

While I was waiting for the third book of Shiva trilogy, I started reading the Millennium Trilogy.

But totally unrelated to it, I happened to watch a lot of movies like "Roommate", "Road"
Most of the people can't drive without GPS. Being alert on road signs or direction signboards to reach the destination is old fashion. We are afraid of interaction with human beings. You never know the person you are asking direction could be a psychopath and may hop on to your vehicle and lead you to danger[Thanks to our Hollywood and Bollywood movies. There were lesser psychos in previous century]. The lesser interactions with other humans and higher interactions with gadgets will make a person less conversant, decrease mental stability and create psychological stress.

Are this generation kids really smart?

P.S.:I am going to refer kids born after 2000 as "This generation", kids born before 2000 as "Previous generation" and kids born before 1960s as "Old generation".

How many times have you looked at a kid and exclaimed, "Wow, he/she is really smart!" or said, "These generation kids are really smart for their age!" . I was also one among you until sometime back.

But then, if you see the activities of these kids, it would have been mostly related to usage of new electronic gadgets like mobile or laptop,etc. And we consider them smart as our old generation or even we fumble with those stuff at times. So it is just that these kids are good with "current" generation stuff or rather they are smart enough to survive during this time.

This world has always been a place for the survival of the fittest. Current generation kids are smart enough to survive in today's world similar to what we were in previous generation.

So when we have been amazed by kids' smartness, what we have actually done is evaluated previous generation kids and current generation kids in current environment, which is thereotically and practically wrong. For evaluation on a scale, the environment should be same.

So how to justify the "knowledge" of kids in handling latest gadgets? Simple. They are born and brought up with these and hence they are just accustomed to this. They are becoming more and more dependent on these.

This generation kid will go clueless if you present him with an abacus instrument or tell him to use fingers to count, the same way our older generation go clueless whether to use "Single click" or "Double click" in windows.

He will consider it an harassment if you tell him to prepare a balance sheet using a accounts notebook with the only help being a small solar calculator(isn't it a harassment if you don't provide him the tools like excel and atleast a scientific calculator to work with)!

So it is that the overall total ability of an individual remains the same - only that the balances tilt a bit. What was lost in the capacity of memory(Brain is not for storing data anymore. What is a computer storage fori then?), and in physical strength, we have gained in usage of appliances which can take care of work.

Why do we need to memorize all tables, poems or mantras when it can be stored in cheap storage? Well, not that I am complaining. I do that too.

Let us talk about genes. We know that no genetical engineering is being performed in our DNAs to make us smarter. Unlike the immunizations for diseases, there is nothing like a "intelligence" injection to make us more intelligent. Intelligence is an outcome of physical and mental stability and well being. So though we are becoming less diesease prone but we are becoming punier compared to old generation. If we see the life size portraits of Kings and Queens of 17th or 18th century, we feel like pygmies in size and stature.

Thank God we don't have to go battle fields on horse backs, chariots or be foot soldiers armed with bows and arrows. We have guns and missiles! Otherwise both side soldiers will just die of dehydration and too much physical stress.

Jurassic Park was a rage when the first movie in the series was released as we were dumbfounded by the graphics. Today, watching John Carter is a torture! Where is the story? Who cares about graphics which is present in every other movie?

Well coming back, are these generation kids any smarter than we were? Not really! It depends on which battlefield you are in. Deprive them of latest gadgets and you don't even have to fight them as they feel the world has come to an end!

The King is Back!

Any slightly movie literate person will know that I am talking about Don-2. Don or SRK is back, more stylish and better!SRK is one person who can make people fond of villains(or negative character - it is difficult to call him a baddie or villain) in the movie.
As written in HINDU review, Sharukh can play casual arrogance with ease and the entire movie is dripping of style!!!

What more can a SRK fan ask for!

Awaiting Don-3...

P.S: Completed 3 books(Jaladeepam, Mogana Silai, Cheran Selvi) of Sandilyan...Of all three, Jaladeepam is real good!

Twist in the neck

I had nearly made up my mind to find a burial ground and do last rites to my blog, but looks like it is not that easy. So here I start jotting down something which I have been thinking about for quite sometime to ask readers for a response.

Why do villains or heroes twist their necks, especially in Indian movies?

- Acceptable in movies where they were transformed from a non-human form(read as robots, game characters, werewolves, etc) where they have twist their necks to check their brain and spinal cord nerve connections are in place

- Director thinks it creates a "threatening effect"

- Heroes or villains have a real sprain in the neck and didn't notice the movie shot started. And Editor of the movie thought it looked cute?

- They live in houses with shorter roofs that their necks get cramped


Anyone has any plausible explanations? Or do you think one of the above is more logical?

NurJahan's Daughter by Tanushree Podder

Off late, I have been into a frenzy of reading so many books [Star world channel not getting telecasted by the cable guy and hence missing "Castle" series could have atributed to this frenzy].

But it has been a long time since I got this satisfaction on reading a book.This book on Laadli(Nurjahan's daughter by Sher Afghan and hence a step daughter of Emperor Jehangir) is very engaging. I have always been fascinated by history. I thought it will be just another book but I could hardly keep the book aside once I started reading.The only other series of books I used to read this way was Harry Potter series. But after reading this book, those books seem so distant to me. This book gave me a feeling as if I was just hidden behind a curtain and was able to see all that is happening right in front of my own eyes. The author has really done a very commendable job. It is hard to believe the author is from our era and this is not book which was written by someone who worked in the court of Jehangir :-)

I don't want to get into the story here as I dont want anyone who reads this post to think they have got a gist of the story and hence might not bother to read the book.

So less said about the story the better. I wonder why books like these never become bestsellers and get ignored by the mass.

Just wanted to do my part in publicising it. And this also gave a good insight of what happened in palaces. Whenever I visited palaces, I have always wondered about the everyday chores of the royalty - like will there be really servants who will be fanning them all through the time they sleep, how will their restrooms look like, when they travel city to city - how does the tent work out, will the tents be a comfortable alternative to their royal beds, etc. Questions like these have always lingered my mind and I have wanted someone who has witnessed or been in those era to narrate them to me :-). While Tamil authors like Kalki and Sandilyan have satiated my curiosity a bit , they being male went on to describing things from a man's point of view. But here, I see Tanushree's view - what a striped golden zari will make a difference to a muslin cloth or shabnam and all the colors and hues which matter,...

Sorry - if you are getting a wrong picture. This isn't about clothes and grandeur..It is about what was getting noticed. For example, when the emperor shifts from Agra to Lahore or Kashmir, along with the royal entourage, nobles, merchants and beggars also move with them as there is where their livelihood is going to be...

Okay, let me stop my rantings here.... Dont miss this book - that's what all I have to say now.

Feel like visiting all the forts and palaces by Mughals after reading this book. Especially, want to look around the house where Laadli spent her last days with her daughter Arzani and mother Nurjahan, Anarkali's tomb, Meena Bazaar, emperor's palace in Agra, seven thrones of Shah jahan including Peacock throne, etc.

Is there any book on Aurangazeb? Especially about the time, when he was given as hostage to Jehangir in return of pardon to then Prince Khurram and Arjumand's lives(Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal) for Shahjahan's rebellion?

Traffic woes in Hyderabad

I have been busy with my new car - my first four wheeler. From the time, I was a kid, I had a fascination for "Red Maruti Car". It got realized now, except the "red" part as Maruti Alto doesn't have the proper red I like.
So, yes I have a driving license and had learnt driving 8 years back. So I had a refresher course from two different driving schools here. But as I have heard driving your own car is really different from driving in driving schools. With the driving school instructors having all the controls, when I drove my car, for sometime I felt as if the car is running amuck.

Well, to start with it took me atleast a week to get the confidence - why not - if everyone drives by rule, it will be a hell lot easier! I am reminded of a Tamil saying - just not writing it here as it not very decent. But a similar one is "Be a Roman when in Rome"

And after a week I have a few things to tell everyone - in Hyderabad no one bothers the indicators you use - either they are not literate about it or they just dont care. For instance, as soon as you put left indicator to inform that you are going to move to the left, a swarm of two-wheelers and autos will try to speeden up and cross me from left side and I really want to yell - when I put on a left indicator - it means - I am moving left and you either need to slow down or move to right.

Share Autos and RTC buses - I just can't stop raving about the gimmicks they perform. Autos take up one and half times their actual space as there are extras hanging out from both sides and the drivers consider themselves no less than racers that they just choose the direction and start moving - you cant expect any signal about stopping , starting or turning whatever from them. Yes poor fellas - they are multitasking and we expect them to signal? They gotta blast loud music for all people in road, and they need to hear a poor passenger who needs to yell at the top of the voice to stop(over the loud music) and as it doesn't work - nearly 4 to 5 other people sitting in the auto tap the driver's shoulder to inform him to stop. And now he feels he has already crossed where the passenger needs to get down and hence brakes so suddenly irrespective of the speed he is in and moves to the left of the road, unmindful of if he was in the middle or the right end of the road!!!!

RTC buses - bus stops for them are just to indicate where they need to stop. But they wont stop at the left end, there by disrupting the left most and the middle lanes basically because the bus stops in the middle lane and the passengers have to commute and block the left most lane as they need to alight and get into the bus.

I just wish I was appointed as traffic police for a week - who are more bothered about cars and two wheelers and dont care about these share autos and RTC buses who ARE the real culprits in causing disruptions in traffic!

First week @Windy City

My first trip outside India was to the windy City Chicago - when I set foot, rather, when the plane landed the weather was good - unlike what was expected in September end.


Well this week passed on just trying to figure out the nearest grocery stores or supermarket and am still stumbling with my way to office. Well, one of the days last week, I wasn't sure of the way to my place and the cab driver told me "You ought to be familiar with where you stay, young lady".Because from a different direction, I cant recognize my own apartment.

Google maps is my second God here, without it - I just can't exist ...In India , I get lost anywhere, everyone around seems to know the direction. But here, I think people will tell me, why dont u check on computer?(well, computer is only google map here). I wonder how people survived before google and esp. google map came into existence. It would have felt like world without electricity.

And here everything is North , South, East or West, as the roads,blocks or the buildings are squares or rectangles. Coming to the food - that was the most difficult thing here - as I just cant eat burgers,pizzas, or, sandwiches (One of my colleagues even commented that I am not eligible to have gone to US then)and Chinese food here is pure chinese, not the Indian chinese. But found some pretty gud places.

And so far, people have already commented that my accent is more Austrian/German...Now, thats something!

Didn't start any sight seeing yet...

Harry Potter disappoints

Watched two movies, visited General Bazaar @ Secunderabad, R.P. Road(Rashtrapathi Road) and Charminar.....

On Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I have to say that I am pretty much disappointed. To be true, it felt like they conducted a survey among HP fans and asked them which scenes would they like to see in visuals and just compiled them all into a movie, keeping in mind to have a mix of comedy, romance, innocence and wittiness in them. Be aware that 3D is only for the first 15 minutes. And the announcement in the theatre was even more worse. It went on ".....Please keep your 3D glasses safe to keep them cleaning.....". Nevertheless, that really pepped up the mood a little.

And the second movie - The Hangover - nothing great about it too. The gross comedy managed to have us in splits but the usage of the four letter word in every other sentence was an overkill. I feel the Bollywood flop movie "De Taali" which was telecasted in DD last week also managed to evoke the same amount of laughter without even being gross.

Still disappointed with Harry Potter. Disappointments are common when you have high expectations.....

The Case of the Stolen Debit Card

This is one post many of my friends wanted me to write. It was in Draft mode for quiet a long time(more than a year) because of a few reasons and now, here it comes...

This incident is dated 21st January 2008 - a day to be remembered in this journey of my life...

I stay in a hostel, which is a bit on the costlier side. I was in a two-member room - got to share my room with another roommate.

I was going to Yoga classes (Isha Yoga - 7 day Inner Engineering program) from 6 AM to 9 AM everyday and Sunday full day(6 AM to 6 PM). Monday morning, I noticed that my debit card is missing from my purse and hence, immediately checked my account using net banking and found that my debit card has been swiped across various counters in Hyderabad Central for a total amount of about Rs. 43000 and the balance in my account was only Rs. 15.

Tried phone banking and for some reason it did not work. Then I visited the bank's branch in Jubilee Hills and the branch manager there was really helpful and I blocked my debit card and he informed the necessary people to start investigation on the transactions and told me about the procedure I will have to follow.
I had to submit the Lost/Stolen Card form with franking(stamping of Rs. 100 in each sheet of the form. There were two sheets) along with the copy of FIR which I will have to get it from the police station in my area where I suspected losing the card.

While travelling back to office, I got the number of Hyderabad Central's office from Just Dial(040 -24444444), called them up and explained what happened(That a stolen debit card has been swiped 7 times across various bill counters in the mall). They told me to come in person.

I was going to the police station to raise a FIR. On the way, I collected the bank statement from the bank's Hi-tech City branch along with the exact card swiping timings.Then went to the police station and the police officials had just gone on some duty and I was told to get a User form from any of the e-seva centres which is a pre-requisite before they come.

In the meantime, I decided to visit Central and while I was on my way, I called up my roomie and asked her if someone entered our hostel room and I explained what had happened. She told me that none entered the room and told me to call her up if I needed any help and keep her informed what I am doing. At that time, I didn't suspect her at all as she is very rich that she spends around 10K per day without worrying.

She asked me what I am doing. I said I am going to central to see if I can find out anything. She asked what can I find there. I told her I will call her later.

Then went to central, tried meeting the office people - they were of little help. Then if I hadn't told u before, there were 7 swipings between 12.17 hrs to 15.58 hrs(Shopped for 43K within 3.5 hrs).
One for 9990.00 in Just LifeStyle(Just In Vogue), 17500.00 in IIIrd Eye(a digi cam shop) , 1 said Madura Garments and the rest all said Hyderabad Central. Though 3rd Eye and Just LifeStyle are also in Central, thank God it showed its own names against swiping.

Somehow, got in touch with Just In Vogue. Initially, t he person in charge was reluctant to give any information. Then I had to say that I am "Fathima" and I am telling u that a fraud has been committed using my card in ur shop but u r not ready to give information. He said, he will give info only to bank and all that. I tried to find if its a guy's watch or a girl's watch,etc. At last he budged and showed the signature and details. The signature was totally different and the phone no left there in the bill was fake.

Then went to the camera shop and guy in charge was very helpful. He told it was a girl and she was roaming there for more than 1 hr in that area.

Then went to the back office of central. The guy over there was also helpful(None of the top officials were helpful) and led me at last to the CC footage room. (Usually, the footages get erased and re-written every 24 hrs. So I was afraid that it may get erased). There, somehow after a lot of convincing, they agreed to show it(as they said proper permission has to be obtained).

In the meantime, my roomie was calling to ask what I was doing. I was really getting irritated.

Then in one footage of the camera(I could give the timings the person was in each shop based on the swipings) in front of the watch shop, I saw a girl's back pose exactly at the swiping time. So got confirmed that it was a girl. But the camera at that place was not working properly, so could see only a blurred image.
Then I tried to see the footage was at another place. At that time, my roomie called up again and confessed again that she did it, and at the same time, I saw her in the camera.

She told me to come to room immediately and that she is not that type of girl,blah, blah, blah and that she will return back all the money and all that.

So, I got my money back later and all that...
Thanks to everyone who helped me in identifying the culprit...