Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Am I lucky?

There are times when I wonder if I am a lucky person. I don't think I have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but yet I've never felt the need for anything either. Well...as I mature in life I guess I am getting the feeling that 'luck' is a relative term. Previously my idea about 'luck' was to get goodies in life for doing nothing at all! But now, with a few years of work behind my back, I guess 'luck' is to get recognized for the work and effort you put in. Ah..I've been through days when in spite of having put in the best of efforts to clear issues and bundling in a lot of proactive thought for future, I have reached alleys of non recognition. And yet, there are those days too, when a casually done piece of work gets accolades from quarters you never knew even existed! Thats when you wonder if Ganesha(Indian God, harbinger of luck) forgets to balances his scales fairly!
Talking about luck, I remember a episode that an elderly pediatrician doctor friend revelated to me. He used to bugged with patients complaining about their children, " Oh my son is not smart enough, he catches the flue too often", "Aah..I wish my daughter were born smarter, she is so poor at math!" And my friend would take out some snaps,of spastic children, of children born with a hole in the heart, and of mentally retarded folks to show them. And he would ask them, "Does your kid look like this or behave like this?" And would say "The greatest gift God has given you is to bless with a normal healthy child, a child who can see the world, call you daddy and mommy with a clear sound and walks on his own feet". How true...I really AM born lucky...I am blessed with every human faculty to make my own roads in life. :-) Guess, anything else that comes on the way is just a bonus!

Monday, August 30, 2004

Maribetta


Maribetta,view6
Originally uploaded by quatros.
I had been to Maribetta, some 70 Kms distant from Bangalore, Karnataka, for a single day trek. This snap is just a view from the summit. God send us good weather in a week troubled with incessant rain here in Bangalore. :-) A refreshing break from the urban jungles we live!

Appraisal time!

Well, today is appraisal time for me at work. I see a lot of dejected faces in office. Coming to think of it, I really don't know if I deserve a promotion. I've got enough work experience for the next level in my line of work. But then I remember that there are a thousand indices that work towards getting promoted. Finally it would all trickle down to a unique combination of talent, techno prudence, a smart tongue and most importantly, the ability to keep your boss boots well licked!! But then, if your boss doesn't have much hand in the appraisal process, it means your tongue must be flexible to lick in the 'right' boots at the 'right' time.
Hmm...I remember those exam times at school. When the results used to pour in, the excuse would sometimes be that "the questions were too hard to crack",and sometimes "the examiner was biased in his evaluation of the answer sheet", but end of day mostly it was just my lack of hard work and focus on the subject. So, I guess I am going to take in whatever I get for my appraisal with a pinch of salt. I have room for growth, huge fields of it in fact. So, I am going to put my gears higher and go for it the next year. But then, that's a long long time to go...!

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Proud to be sinistral!

I got a card today morning from my close buddy Akos wishing me a happy left hander's day! :-)
Yes, i am sinistral,gauche or just plain left handed. I write, eat and do all that right handed folks do with their right hands, with my left hand. To think of it , in this 'right hand' dominated world I personally think I have adapted quite well and have become pretty ambidextrous.


In India, the concept of a left-hand driven car is quite a one in a million episode! So I learnt to drive on a right handed car and well i am as good as anyone else. I read somewhere that there are degrees to handedness, and on that note i could be 80% left handed and the rest right handed. Well, i got this quote from a site. It quite shows the plight a left hander faces in terms of deciphering directions and well in short doing things 'right'

"As insane as this little rhyme sounds, it does help one remember which direction screws, threaded nuts, lightbulbs, etc. turn (clockwise vs. counterclockwise)
"Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey"

Hmm to understand more about my lot go here!

A hum too much..

Today morning I was in good spirits...and for no particular reason altogether! Trotted along to office and grabbed my head phone and put on a particular song I liked. Hmm, and I got so engrossed in the song that I was soon humming the song albeit at a higher volume than the headphones playing the song!!
And then it was not too long before I saw many heads popping up from their cubicles wondering where that 'junglee' ( read unearthly!) sound was emanating from. I was still twirling around in my own world, gulping the gist of the lyrics and the melody in the song. What else could I do, it was like my brain pleasuring me from two sides. Finally I was awakened from my musical reverie by a concerned colleague, the poor soul couldn't take more of my vocal torture anymore.
Yep, headphone users ,thou art warned! :-)

Monday, August 16, 2004

Spider!

Folks, I belong to a nearly extinct group of individuals who still use a relic called the fountain pen to write! Well, one morning on my way to office, I was about to unscrew the lid of my ink bottle, to fill up my pen, when I noticed something unusual. There was a small intricate web--a spider web connecting the lid of the ink bottle with that of the surface of a framed photo! Well unscrewing the lid of the bottle would result in the breaking of this delicate balance. There it sat, the spider, yellow and brown, right in the center of that paradise it wove for itself! I could don the role of the destructor, and with one swish of my hand would do the job, hours of it labour down the drain! The poor creature thinking the lid of the ink-pot and the frame to be immobile, static objects, built its home on their shoulders. But to me, it was not so. Both the ink pot and the framed picture were mobile, objects to be shifted according to my convenience!!

Mind you friends, I am not particularly fond of spiders or for that matter cobwebs! But what struck me deep was the realization of how this seemingly trivial situation would translate to in my life. Often we build the fabric and foundation of our life upon certain assumptions, certain beliefs. Seldom do we realize that they are merely ghosts or apparitions that we often take for granted so naively! Just like the poor spider, most of us take many elements of our life to static, whereas we are quite taken aback when we realize that in reality they are not! It's sad to realize that what may be static and stable in one persons frame of reference may not be so in another persons case. Perhaps it is this clash between two contrasting ideals in our society that is the cause of all discord prevalent. Man retaliates whenever the safe sanctum of his beliefs are intruded upon, but seldom is able to withstand higher forces in the society. Well, if I had dislodged the web of the spider in contempt, the poor creature would definitely struggle, but with no effect. So would a common man, struggle against the onslaught of his circumstances, seldom with any effect. Just like the unfortunate spider he would try to build the web of his existence on other 'seemingly' safe pillars!

You definitely may be wondering what after all this sermon, I had ultimately done with the spider and its web! I decided to allow nature intervene (my mother, the servant maid, wind ...) and decide the future of the creature. As of then I took refuge in a ball pen compromising the need to fill my fountain pen! Though hypocritical, I really doubt whether I would have done the same, if the spider had built its web on my wall!