Life Lessons

Life is full of lessons that are taught to us in small increments. 

When we first moved to Bengaluru, we stayed at a rented place in Rajajinagar. Since both mom and dad worked, I would finish school and go to the Acharyas who were our neighbors,  where I would stay until mom came back. Usually, there’d be milk and biscuits and snacks to keep me busy, plus Ahalya aunty being a wonderful conversationalist, would keep me engaged asking me what I learnt (that was a short conversation), etc etc.

I remember one day picking up a letter that was lying around and started reading it loudly. Aunty immediately took the letter away from me and told me gently but firmly that letters were private and should only be read by who it’s written to. I was in first grade when this advice was given to me, that was nearly 50 years ago.

 I have never forgotten that lesson.

The Thing we discussed

Wife to me…. “You know that thing we were discussing the other day, I think we should go ahead with it”…

Racking my brains now, trying to figure out What Thing? Which Day? and What to go ahead with?

Sigh….

Words to Live By !!

A couple of weeks ago, I visited a friend who was admitted to the hospital. On my way out, I decided to take the stairs (instead of the elevator) since I was just 2 floors up and anyhow the elevator was tiny and claustrophobic. Halfway down, there was an elderly gentleman who was walking down, one hand on the railing and the other hand taking the support of a walking stick. Instinctively I reach out and grab his right arm to support him. He accepted the help gratefully and both of us walk down.

“People expect me to take the elevator” he says, “..but I like to exercise when I can”. When we reached the ground floor he thanks me and then suddenly asks “Are your parent’s alive?”. It was a question that caught me off guard. “Yes..” I said..He then continued.. “If you don’t mind I will tell you something. Talk to your parents for at least five minutes a day. Ask them whether they’ve taken their medication, had their breakfast..just speak to them”…..

He paused for a while before continuing… “It will make their day more enjoyable…”

Words to live by !!!

RVCE Files – The Beginning

It was 1981. Admissions happened and lo and behold we ended up in RVCE.

WHAT??? RVCE??? THAT ROWDY COLLEGE? That was the first reaction from everyone I talked to.

“Beware of ragging guru” one guy told me, “They make you take a bath in the nala” (for those not in the know, the above mentioned nala is the enormous drain that passes by the college). Another one told us horror stories of what would happen in the college bus on the way there. “I heard they make you hang out of the bus”….

We regret to say, the President is…..

Before passing judgements, the reader is reminded that the characters in this story were 13 years old at that time.

The day started at VHS with the daily assembly. Students would gather in the quadrangle and arrange themselves by classes. The teachers would be on the stage. KSC out in front and the rest of the teachers lined up behind him at a respectable distance. Usually prayers would be followed by announcements and a speech by KS Chandrashekariah (KSC). The speech would be about things like study habits (some great speeches), or general advise to us advising us not to eat stuff sold in front of the school (this was a losing battle for poor KSC).

So one day the assembly gets halted in the middle for an announcement.

Happy Ugadi – 2014 and the Elections are here

Happy Ugadi to All…really need to get back to Blogging. I miss writing.

Now that the Elections are here, it will definitely provide new fodder.

I miss Lallooo, Deve Gowda and the other stalwarts who provided so much to write about. Too bored to write about Rahul Gandhi…

TV Reporters….Learn to !@#%^$$$ pronounce !!!!!

Dear Reporters and Newsreaders on CNN-IBN, Times Now,NDTV and all the other etc etc Channels… please note the following:

1. Its not Karnatak… its Karnataka…see the extra “A” at the end? Come on is it so hard?

2. Its Bengaluru not Bangaluru, not Bangaloooooru

3. The CM’s name is pronounced Sidda-raamaiah..NOT Sidda-ramya..if you can’t say it just say Siddu like the rest of us…

4. Finally its Kannada…not Kannad …again its just an extra “A”..if you guys need to get paid extra to say it..just say so to your employer !!!

Do I call you Rajdip? No its Rajdeep…

Do I call you Arnav..no its Arnab…

Do I call you..don’t remember the name of anyone on NDTV !!!!!

Take some time and effort before you start blabbering on National TV.. If you can’t, there are others who can…

 

Dont wan’t to work hard? Get downgraded…Use Reservations…

States want to be labelled backward. Why? Because they’ll get more funds without working for it.

Communities vie with each other to be labelled backward.Why? Because they don’t have to work hard to get seats and jobs.

I even have a friend who got a certificate that made him a backward class in a minority community just so he’d get an Engineering seat.

Without going into details about how the system is screwed up, lets look at the mentality that causes people to do it.

Basically, the mind is fed from a very young age that you don’t need to work hard and there is an easier way without having to use your brains. The method is to milk the system and find loopholes that will help you in the milking process.

Communities that cannot milk the system get jealous and start protesting. There was one community in Rajasthan that put thousands of people on the street demanding a lower Scheduled Tribe status instead of their current higher status… WTF !!!

I get it that there are people who are economically backward and need to be helped. But the people at the receiving end of a lot of this largesse are not poor. They just want to as one “leader” puts it, they want to “qualify for government jobs” hence the need for re-classification. They don’t want to do it on merit.

Bogus Surveys

For a while, every time I visit Cricinfo, I get a little balloon popup asking me to take a “Short” survey… after resisting it for a while, I thought what the hell…the questions started out relevant to cricket.. How often do you visit Cricinfo? What is your favorite section? etc etc…then suddenly the survey starts asking me about the car I own, how often do I eat out, do I watch movies etc etc?
Obviously either Cricinfo or the survey company are doing multiple surveys in one but not telling you that up front…

Needless to say, I did not complete the survey !!!

TV Ads – Creativity vs Social Responsibility

I see car Ads these days and each one seems to be keen to outdo the others in showing dangerous driving. I guess they want to demonstrate great breaking systems, they keep mentioning Air Bags (as if they want to get you into an accident)…and then the cars keep jumping over humps (great shocks), do wheelies etc… and these cars are always driven by youngsters.

Its all nice and creative but what kind of message but what message is it sending? The advertising companies definitely know they are not doing the right thing because all of these Ads have a small disclaimer that says “Don’t do this on your own” or something like that !!!

There was an accident on NICE road in Bengaluru the other day where 3 of the 4 kids riding a brand new car were killed when they try to imitate a stunt… okay silly kids, the Ad company had a disclaimer..but does a disclaimer make it alright?

Heres an Ad by Maruti Suzuki