Catch the liars…

Have to deal with many kinds of people in my day to day working. Get to meet many. Today while dealing with one labour, whom I know since past 10 years, I happened to notice him twitching his eyes. This he does everytime he is lying about something. Have always caught him in this act and saved myself some money. We used to have one carpenter who had a similar habit. Whenever he would quote high for anything, his one eye used to start blinking, thereby giving himself up and leading to some good negotiations.

There are many such giveaways. I know of one person, who when lying on the phone, will start coughing, clearing his throat. Everytime this happens, I know I am being lied to.

Then there are some who have particular way of talking… one is like .. Arre Sirji…who kya hai na…

Some I know, have a habit of repeating the same sentence again and again, trying to bang in the lie into your head.

And then there are some, who are experts in lying. Impossible to catch them. But have to beware.

Anyways… had not blogged since long… and this labours act caught my attention and set me thinking…so just collecting the ways to catch liars as much as I could remember

FB Photos

Yesterday as I prepared myself to click the Rakshabandhan photos of my 9 year old daughter tying Rakhi to her brothers, she warned me against posting them on FB !! “Click the photos if you want, but don’t post them on facebook” is what she said. My teenage son also supported her in the same.

Been thinking about it… the way we (I mean our generation) and our seniors are active on facebook, our kids are not very keen about it.

I get such warnings of not posting their snaps on facebook during every birthday party, outing, vacation.

Are they growing up to be unsocial? Nopes I don’t think so.

It is the ease of communication to the current generation which was not present during our time, which has made us so addicted to facebook.

For me the best part of facebook is getting an “Add friend” request from a long out- of-touch friend or relative. For me I get excited when out of the blue, thru one facebook friend I get in touch with another. When we were small, we did not have access to mobiles, whatsapp and other messengers, like todays kids. Most of us depended on keeping in touch with each other over phone calls, emails(at a later stage). Our elders were in touch with each other by writing letters… an art which I believe is missing in our generation.. let alone be present in our kids.

Communication and keeping in touch is far easier for the todays kids, then what we and our elders had.

Our kids will never know the fun of giving blank/crank calls thru landline numbers which were in our time very difficult to trace. Modern day  lovers, have direct access to each others mobile numbers.. they will never know the fun/excitement/fear of calling on the landline number, hoping that it wont be picked up by any other family member. Now they can directly call each other, message each other.

Just a few thoughts when I started thinking, am I overdoing it by posting snaps on facebook… but then I think our life was far far better…..

The potted plant

Was watering the plants today morning…and once again my attention went to the Christmas tree which is now standing tall at around 8 ft…many times in the past have blogged about it…then my attention went on to the other plants…. being lucky to have a terrace of my own…have time and again re-potted them into bigger flower pots..and they have grown…but then…their growth again gets restricted because of the size of the pot. It also reminded me of a saying…a seed which falls near its tree will never grow tall, unless it starts growing at a distance where it has more space, away from the parental tree.

Kids are similar. Their development is restricted if the environment they grow up in is restricted. Even they should be let free…free to seek other pastures….your nurturing is important no doubt…but the more they seek…they more they develop mentally, which is always helpful to them. Dont restrict them in a small pot, while they have the entire world to grow in…

Just a thought…so decided to save it in this blog

If the shoe fits…..

These are my observations…about human nature….you could be any one of them…if the shoe fits…

In our society, friend circle, workplace, family there are different kinds of people.

There are some who do all the work, and are happy to see others enjoy the benefits. They will just sit back and smile when they see others reaping what they have sowed for all. But most of the times their hard work credit goes to others because many of times people are not aware of their efforts put in.

There are some who WILL do all the work, and then keep on reminding you that they have done it. Their hard work is washed away with their constant reminders.

There are some who will work only once. And every other time will come out after the work is done, ask how the others have done and then start with their self analysis that they could have done better had they done it.

There are some who are self appointed leaders, they wont work, but will only guide, advice or order. Mind you there is a huge difference between guiding, advising and ordering, the brownie points go as per the same sequence.

Then there are some who dont work, and will always complain about others work. The only thing they know is to object. To try and find a flaw. To stall the work.

There are some who let others do the work, and when time comes will hog the limelight as if they have done everything. These people mostly prey on the first kind of people described above.

There are some who work only for their own benefits…be it social name, monetary gain or some other gain.

While there are some who sit back and reap the fruits of others hardwork. They never complain, never crib, never appreciate. And they are the people who reap the benefits of all the above type of people.

Now you decide what kind of person you are…see which shoe fits…if the shoe fits…

Baki sab Theek hai…

The following are the experiences I have heard from numerous people, they are not figment of my imagination…….

Poojya Pradhan Mantriji

Namaskar.

Main ek aam hindustani hoon jo roj mehnat karke apna ghar sambhal raha hoon. Pichle mahine hi ghar ke ek sadasya ka mediclaim reject ho gaya, aapke IRDA ke paas bhi gaya, lekin kuch fayada nahin huwa. Ab doston se aur rishtedaaron se paise udhar leke hospital ka bill chukaya hai. Woh roj mujhse paise maang rahe hai. Kuch logg to naaraj bhi ho gaye hai. Baaki sab thik hai.

Bijli company ne rate badha diya. Bill pe likhke beja hai, pehle paise bharo phir complain karo. Kal notice aya hai, disconnection ka. Baaki sab thik hai.

Paani roj subah subah mil jaata hai. Jaldi uthke bhar dete hai. Hamare sone ke liye jagah thi na, bus udhar 3 drum laga diye hai. unn 3 drums pe ek gadha lagake main so jaata hoon…badi chain ke neend aati hai. Baaki sab thik hai.

Kal mere padosi ke biwi ka mangalsutra chori ho gaya. Do saal se paise baccha baccha ke kharida tha. Police station waalon ne usko gussa karr diya…Pata nahin kitni choriya ho rahi hai….itna keemti mangalsutra pehenke nikalte kyon ho….Baaki sab theek hai…

Dhanda chal raha hai, kha peeke, Sales tax, building tax, Professional Tax, Income Tax, Service Tax bharne ke baad, aapke sarkaari karmachariyon ke visit ke paise bach jaate hai…. baaki sab theek hai….

Gaon jaane ke liye train ke ticket nikalwane gaya tha….bees minute line main khade rehne ke baad maalum pada ticket nahin hai….line se nikalne ke baad agent ne ticket karwake diye….thode paise jyaada lage…lekin ticket paanch minute main mil gaye…baaki sab theek hai.

Gaon main hamari jameen Dam ke raaste aa rahi hai karke sarkaar humein paise degi aise maalum pada, main sab kagaz leke gaya, lekin mujhe kahan gaya ke kagaz barabar nahin hai… phir gaon ke aadmi ne kuch paise udhar dilwake cheque dilwaya…jitne milne the uske aadhe to mil gaye….baaki sab theek hai….

Ek builder aaya hai, kehta hai paise leke yahaan se jaao, mujhe yahaan tower banana hai. Woh jitne paise de raha hai, utne main to mujhe yahaan kuch milne waala nahin hai…maine usse manna kiya…lekin ab roj gunde bejta hai….police main gaya tha…woh kehte … negotiate karke khatam karr do…hum baat karre kya….baaki sab theek hai…

Bus…aise hi aapke likhne ka mann kiya…Baki sab Theek Hai!!

Burn like the Sun

I work my ass off but nobody appreciates me….

How many times has one heard this..or even said this about self…One does maximum for office, for family but no appreciation. Just like the sun…its comes out daily…helps in plant growth…helps keep humans alive…but how many time has one heard a word of appreciation for the Sun. There are numerous poetries and praises of the moon.

Yet it comes up everyday…spreads its warmth…and still people like seeing the setting sun and the cool light of the moon. (though practically even the moon light is the result of Sunlight).

We get angry when we are not appreciated…The Sun also along with its warmth many a times heats up things…and we dont like that…Humans are also like that…they work day and night…but dont get any appreciation…they get angry…things heat up …and others dont like that.

But has the Sun complained ever? If it strikes work what will happen is known to all. This entire human race can get wiped out. We humans are just a tiny spec compared to the work Sun does…but we want appreciation.

Best is work like the Sun..without worrying about being not appreciated…spread the light…spread the warmth….you are playing a very important role in others life…but like the Sun…keep burning yourself ….

Credit where it is due??

You get credit for what you finish, not what you start.

Nice line, its also true. Half baked efforts are remembered by none. I dont agree fully with the above line though. How many times you do start something…and also finish ….but someone else takes the credit.

Take for example a bridge or flyover….the number of people from labours to engineers who work on it….but in the end the Stone laid for inauguration will bear the names Politicians.

A cook prepares the mouthwatering dishes in a restaurant…but one remembers only the Waiter who served you nicely.

A team effort in preparing a Presentation is always overshadowed by the person who runs the presentation in front of others

How many times one hears of efforts put by a certain person in preparing dishes for a house party…but in the end…other members who serve the dishes are remembered and complimented( i know the waiter line might sound similar)

Behind every successful Name are a number of unknown names, who have also worked hard, but other than monetary compensation(which in many cases is not there) never get the fame they deserve.

There are many who do acknowledge that there has been a team effort…there are some who purposely take the entire credit….while there are more than that number who always remain silent when credit is been given to them alone…thus leading to Silent is Consent kind of thing and taking the credit.

PS : The credit for the thoughts behind this post goes to a friend who had posted the “You get credit for what you finish, not what you start.” on his facebook status

Whom to follow…

Nowadays I often tell my friends to start a twitter account. Some do…but then they feel lost over there….their next question is whom to follow?!?!?

Now every person has got an individual choice of celebrity to chose from be it movie, tv or sport. Somehow I refrain from advising on whom to follow because of this very reason. I personally prefer following mostly non celebrity twitters…who tweet about their day to day thoughts…no its voyeurism for sure….but I prefer it that way.

Celebrities….they can be categorized into

PR Celebrities : Their tweets appear only when they are launching a particular movie or product. Otherwise you will find them missing for long periods. If the movie is a hit, they will be there for another few days….if its a flop…they just disappear…only to resurface on the next launch

Showoff Celebrities : They tweet about everything…about the script …about the roles…about their car…about their shoes…about their watches….about their vacations….its like reading a movie magazine for free. Then there are celebrities who will put of photos of what they have worn …….. or what they have not worn!!! The latter have a lot of followers to be frank…more for such photos……

Social Celebrities : They will protest about everything….from the poor dog who has come down under some unknown Indians car …. to page 3 parties being cut short by the police. They will compare their high society problems with the 3rd world problems and complain about it ….

Genuine Celebrities : These are the best to follow….they enjoy tweeting….tweet like normal people do…about their thoughts…about other issues..about their movies or products too but in a subtle way(they have every right to )…they voice their opinion…and also respond back…unlike the first three categories…which respond back to only those tweets which are in their favor….

Twitter Celebrities : These are common people like everybody….and they are the best to follow….they have a knack of tweeting….and can be fun to follow too….Follow them…blindly!!!

I would say…just start following people whose tweets you find comfortable to read…you will get the knack of it…

Pay and frown

Mumbai…a city which heavily depends on BEST buses and its local trains….a city which cribs that these facilities are overcrowded, not comfortable….a city which has on several occasions been given a chance to travel in style…but no…I would say that these new modes of transport did not fail…Mumbai failed.

From private intercity A/c buses to AC cool cabs….everything has failed in Mumbai. For one Mumbaikarrs know just to crib about being overcharged and at the same time ready to pay and frown in the overcrowded buses and trains.

These private buses and cool cabs were not supported by our Government also. Our Government itself is incapable of providing quality services and when private players try to venture in, they are not helped by providing parking lots and even stops for them.

Pass from under any Mumbai flyover and you will find these buses and cabs rotting away, already having eroded the funds of the entrepreneurs who thought Mumbai could have better services and in turn they could earn from it.

Many might argue that Cool Cabs are still running, well they are , but looking at how they are maintained nowadays says a lot about cost cutting to me atleast.

We want services…we want them at dirt cheap rates…and would even prefer to have them cheap….

Having said that…I know people will use the Monorail and Metro…they will Pay but frown…..

Whats in a Name???

Whats in a Name??? Everything in this modern world. Parents have to think a lot nowadays when naming their kids. After all the current generation of kids dont want to spend their lifetime with a name which they dont like!!!

Think about it…can anybody name their kids Laloo or Rabri anymore? The kids will run away from school on day one!!!

Take the case of my own grandfather….with due respect to him….but will any child today be ready to live with a name as Lalchand.

Kids today are much smarter…and they certainly will object to any non urban name in school for themselves.

Certain names were a norm in the yesteryears…. but not anymore. One wont even dare think of naming their kids Amitabh, Mithun, Phoolan, …they just dont fit anymore into the urban lifestyles!!

Cant imagine kid with names like….Rakeshchandra….Harishchandra…Sudhakar…Champaklal…Hiralal…Maghanlal…Chaggan…

Gone are the days of religious names…Saraswati..Hanuman(yes i know of 2 people living with this name!!!)…Prathna…

The point being..nowadays Names are to be very carefully selected….else be ready to hear a bit or two about it from your kiddo!!!

Present Tense

You are doing everything right in the Present. You are unstoppable. Your Future is shaping as per your Ideas. Then….BANG!!!! Something from the Past crops up…..you start wasting your Present to correct it, you know in your heart this is going to delay the Future….

Happens…happened with me this week in terms of work….a few bad decisions in the Past suddenly decided to pop up, began working to correct them, but surely took away a lot of time, my Present time and set me back.

Sorted it out, but thought me a lesson, never forget your bad decisions of Past, and while working for a better Future, work on correcting the bad decisions simultaneously in the Present.

Currently to sort out my Past, I had to make a few decisions, which like I said will delay my Future plans, but have decided to work towards correcting that too in my Present work…..Currently my Present might be tense, but want to assure that in Future all of that is Past…….

Confused Human race….

When we are kids, we want to grow up

When we are grown up, we want to be kids again

When we are in school, we want to be in college

When we are in college, we want to be in school

When we are single, we want to get married

When we are married, we want to be single

When we dont have kids, we want kids

When we have kids, we dont want kids

When we are living, we want to die

When we are about to die, we want to live….

Confused race … arent we?

The Christmas Tree

I have a Christmas tree on my terrace, since past more than 8-9 years. It was brought from Pune from my brother in laws place when he shifted back to Dubai.

 

At that time it was a small tree around 1-2 feet tall, in a small flowerpot. With time we increased the size of the flower pot on suggestion of our gardener. Its height increased more. Then the gardener again suggested a bigger pot. However for a 1-2 years we noticed that there was not much increase in the size. Last year, when the gardener again said change the flower pot, we were surprised to see that the previous pot was still intact in the new pot. The gardener pointed out that this is the reason it has not grown. The previous pot was restricting its growth of roots.

 

Today the height of the tree is around 6ft plus, and the gardener again has suggested increasing the size of the pot to make it grow more. Maybe plant it in the compound now is my opinion.

 

This has taught me one lesson. Give space to people around you to make them grow. Don't restrict their space. The more space you give the people around you, the more they can spread their roots and grow.

Just a few stray thoughts..

Its been quite a while since I have put up something. Not that life has been quite. Something or the other keeps on happening. So this time I trying to put down a few stray thoughts over here….

E-Book : I have downloaded for myself Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol. Hardly I have been through 11 pages, and I am wondering what am I doing. I miss holding the book in my hands and reading it. I miss turning the pages. I miss lying down and reading the book. Dont know if I am old fashioned, but I am not able to adjust to this idea of Ebooks.

Water woes : Mumbai has been facing shortage of water since past 3 months due to the erratic rainfalls. Our building has one big support line in having a bore well, the water from which is used for flushing. Somehow I have noticed that since past 5 years, whenever the question comes of overhauling the bore pump, there are rumblings over the expenses. People tend to question the expenses involved in the process. Why they cant understand the only expenses they have to incur is the once in 2 years maintenance, while they have to pay for the Municipal water, is beyond my understanding. Whenever the pump fails, it has a tendency to do so every one to one and half years, our management people just start pumping in water from the Municipality for flushing purposes, thereby not having it repaired. Currently the pump is not working since 2 months, there is water shortage, and now after two months, it has been realized that the bore well is required. Its like digging for a well when the fire is out of control.

Diwali : It is odd that here I am typing a blog on a Saturday, and by next Saturday, Diwali will be over. Over the last few years, for me Diwali has been growing less and less glamorous or exciting as it used to be. Dont know why. Cant understand why. When we were small Diwali celebrations used to start 2 week before the actual D-Day. Now it has become more of a 4-5 days affair around the actual day. Dadar used to be full of hustle-bustle during diwali, and one would find it difficult to even find a place to put down ones foot. But now with malls and shopping complexes springing up in far flung areas, the crowd has got divided. There are no more Diwali shopping rushes to be actually seen. Not that people are not buying, but now there are so many places for them to go and shop, that there is less of overcrowding.

Obama wins the Nobel for Peace : My only question is for what? What has he done in that field? The fact is that he has just started his stint. Its tooooooo early I feel for Obama. The poor guy is already living under a shadow of expectations of “Change”. And now he will have to live under the heavy expectations of Peace Keeper. Can American policies make this person keep up with these expectations? I dont think so.

2012 – end of the world? : News channels are going overboard, saying that the current floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons are dress rehearsals for the predictions which state that 2012 will be the end of the world. I feel it is a clever publicity stunt for an upcoming movie by the title “2012”. No doubt, these disasters are taking place, but the publicity guys are having a field day promoting their movie.