The poor mans holiday dilemma

Sometimes sitting at the barbers shop is an experience by itself. Yesterday while having an haircut, the barbers were talking amongst themselves about taking a holiday. The person who was intending to take a holiday was in a dilemma whether he should be taking a holiday or no. He had some relatives from his native place, who had come to Mumbai, and were asking him for a tour.

This fellow wanted to take them along, but his problem was a particular calculation. He was saying, he earns 100 rupees per day. Plus 100 rupees in tips. That's 200 rupees. So he will be losing out on 200 rupees. What followed further was more calculative. He said, even though the relatives will contribute during the tour, his minimum expenses will be 200 rupees. So a total outflow of 400 rupees.

Though I really don't know what was finally decided, but it has certainly made me think of the calculations. A poor mans holiday dilemma…..Sad but true……

Salaam Wifey!!!!!

Last week was Vatt Savitri. It is a day when Indian women, fast for their husbands wellbeing. My wife was among the many who did this fasting. She even went and did the rituals of tying the thread around a tree and everything.

Yesterday, while discussing about it, she said she was surprised that the tree around which the thread was tied is also supposed to be a home for spirits. The poor girl almost believed in what I told her later, ofcourse all of it fabricated, and thought at the spur of the moment. I told her spirits have direct contact with Yamraj. So you are tying the spirits to the tree in order to prevent them from coming to respective husbands. The look on her face at that time was of total belief. But then she caught on. And we both had a good laugh over it.

But all in all, what I really appreciate is even though modern, and we having so much of our differences, she still goes ahead and fasts for me for the entire day. And me….I didnt even fast on the day of our marriage!!!!!. Salaam wifey!!!!

13 June

This is one date which when I was small, used to dread, and now I miss. This was the date when schools usually used to start after summer vacation. Mine was a morning school, and usually, school opening was also accompanied with rains. With a new bag, new books, new raincoat, we used to go to school, find our new class, new class teacher, were alloted roll numbers, timetables, hhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa, the memories.

I miss the smell of damp table in my school, then we used to have bulbs instead of tubelights. The dark atmosphere outside, the rush to close the windows of the class to prevent the rain water from coming in, the slow moving fans…..

The exchange of vacation notes with friends, who had been where, whos relatives had come from where, meeting friends after more than a month. Ofcourse, now our kids have mobile numbers of their friends, who they can contact easily, but those times were different and fun.

Wish I could really go back in time, go back to school, relive those memories……

Love thy Neighbor……

Yesterday I was watching the T20 warm up match between India and Pakistan, and during the breaks, also seeing the news that India wanted to resume diplomatic talks with Pakistan. Frankly I am of the opinion that we should forfeit our matches against Pakistan. Havent they just released the mastermind in of 26/11 attacks citing lack of proof.

But instead of taking the matter head on, we want to play against them, we want to extend our hand of friendship. Numerous attacks in the past have always been preceded by the diplomatic handshakes of friendships. Our neighbor has always come back , hitting us more strongly then before.

Australia had forfeited their matches and also won the world cup, so what is BCCI thinking of. During the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, was it plain coincidence that the bus of Pakistani Cricketers was delayed?

I am still of strong belief that we should now play against Pakistan in the matches…..even if it means letting go of the final trophy. If our team is capable, it can get the trophy without playing against Pakistan.

The changing face of terror…

Long back I had read that the even though the terrorist dies, terrorism doesn't….only its face changes.

World over countries are eliminating key terrorists, but every new day we keep on hearing of fresh attacks, fresh terrorist groups, fresh names. Osama bin laden became an household name after 9/11 attacks. Now people in India talk of Kasab as the ultimate villain. He is the current face of terror. Once the case is over and he is hung(if ever) or a new person creates more havoc than what Kasab did(God forbid), we will have a new face of terror as Kasab.

Terrorism will never end, it will keep on changing its face, its reasons, its destination. Pakistan is today swallowing its own bitter pill it had created. The reason and destination was India, but today, due to pressure, when it is trying to eliminate it , it is facing terrorism in its own backyard.

What we need to realize is that it should never be started, whether for religious reasons, fanatical reasons, whatever. Today the face created by one party for a particular reason will be eliminated, but it will leave behind many faces, with reasons far different from the original one. And so the cycle will continue……..