When I landed in bangalore I found that it was easy to interact in hindi with people. Almost everyone here seemed to know hindi. Once I was in a bus stop and I wanted to ask whether the bus was going to ‘Majestic’ and if not which buses would. I tried it in hindi and unfortunately the conductor did not seem to know hindi that well. He tried telling something to me in kannada which I could not understand much. We let it go and suddenly I realized that the bus was playing tamil songs. I asked him if he …
Continue readingUS and us
This is my second visit to Andover, Massachusetts, US, but much longer than the earlier one and thus enabling me to look more closely at the people and their customs. The first thing that strikes anyone from India will have to be the quality of roads and the driving pleasure here that is almost non-existant back in their city. The single most astonishing fact was the adherence to the traffic rules and regulations. I was amazed and it was not just staying behind the line when a RED is flashed in traffic signals, but respecting the STOP signs put everwhere …
Continue readingRun and you will be safe
Consider that you are working in a multi-storeyed sophisticated building. Chances are high that you were taught by the fire squad team there, how to escape in case of fire. If you had ever attended that drill you will know that at the time of fire and asked to exit, you have to simply get up and start moving towards the exit (staircase) without any other thought. No saving your files, no shutting off your computer. No searching for valuables.Now consider that as you are reading this a fire breaks out. Will any of you stop and try to figure …
Continue readingDINK, DINS and SINS
Well DINK stands for Double Income No Kids. It is not a new word by any means, and has been discussed in lengths in the west. But for bangalore and an urban India on a roll, it sure is a new phenomenon. It is about couples who are married (live together) earn and don’t want a kid. They just don’t feel like bringing up a kid. Either they are too busy working and are afraid that a kid might cut short their otherwise brilliant career or they are of the opinion that a kid is a hinderance to their blissful …
Continue readingCricket
After a looooooong time, atleast 5 years, I happened to play a proper cricket match (at Broadcom). I was waiting eagerly for the match for a week atleast and then the day came. It was Saturday, 15th of July. My wife did encourage me to play well though she actually preferred me staying back and taking care of Smitha (who was not feeling well) as she had exam duty on that day. But I ended up at the venue (Koramangala : St. John’s Medical college ground). I was apprehensive and so took to practice bowling. I then got the confidence …
Continue readingThank you very much!!
Today morning I had to go to Koramangala for some personal work. I met Mr. Ram Mohan and came out of his house. My bike was parked over a cement slab on the pavement and I was having difficulty in getting it down on the road. Just then a woman came begging for some alms. She should be close to 50 and was looking like any other beggar that we see in India. Since I had already started moving my bike down the slab, it was difficult for me to get to my purse. But I usually try my best …
Continue readingHope for the best. Prepare for the worst
Thanks to Srini. Your comment got me in mood again to write on Personal Finance after quite some time. ‘Hope for the best’ – we all do it, almost without any effort. When we buy a stock, we expect it to sky rocket out of everybody’s expectation. When we plan to get a car we expect the prices to fall down and freebies added by the sellers. No one needs to tell us that. We will always hope for the very best to happen to us whatever be the case. There is nothing wrong with that attitude, after all positive …
Continue readingFirst Flight
I hope everyone of you remember the first time you were on board a flight or atleast expect the day when it will happen. I was expecting and when my company arranged for a goa tour, I thought that would be the day. But eventually they dropped the flight idea and instead took it by road and we had to drop the tour idea itself. Then it happen that it is our company’s process that all who join our team (development) are required to have their VISA ready. So they had booked my interview at the US consulate, Chennai. I …
Continue readingDhavamai Dhavamirunthu
If you know Cheran and the films that he had directed like ‘Autograph’, ‘Porkaalam’ you know what to expect from this film. The film has a very strong message and the story and film revolves around it. It is to highlight the sacrifices our parents make to bring us up and how many of them suffer their entire life with just the hope that their children will one day come good and take care of them.It is about a father and two sons. The father (has a own press and struggles to make ends meet. Still he does the best …
Continue readingJune.R
A sentimental film. Jothika is June.R, because she is an orphan and was found in the month of June and because one day while at a Cathedral she was so upset by other kids calling her an orphan, that the Sister (read Nun) there said that she was the daughter of Rose. Jyothika is in a marketing firm and looks like she is enjoying her life. But back home she talks with her virtual mother and yearns for motherly love. To hide this fact from co-workers, she gets food from a hotel and says that her mother had prepared it.Kushboo …
Continue reading