Happy Independence Day ...

 In a world where I wonder If the WTO still exists ... May countries use the WTO to end Arbitrary Trade Wars and May all our Neighbours get onto a Path to Progress and Stop Envying the Hardearned place Indians have painstakingly carved for themselves ...

May this Entire Region Improve relations with each other and remember that we are Carved from the Same Block and share blood relations and DNA with erstwhile Parts of India ...
May India truly Become a Leader in this Region and show the World How to Forge Ahead Without War
Tact and Chanakya Neti should help us turn Foe to Friends and Solve Age Old problems with Adroitness that makes India a place where Solution Seekers take Succour
May we as a Nation learn to be the Bigger and Better Entity and not Resort to Petty issues some folk seem to be stuck in ...
May we keep our Focus on the Bigger Picture ...
May we not Forget Climate Change and keep aside funds to deal with it ... may we help Everyone in this Region deal with Climat Change with Co-operation
May we become the Nation that Turns the Tide on War and put up an United Front to deal with Arbitrary Tade Wars and Focus on Collaborations for Knowledge Sharing and Persistent Progress ...
May All the Foreign Travels by Leaders help us Learn from Best Practices everywhere else and incorporate it here
May India become a Leader in Uniting this Region and moving forward ... if we have extreme poverty in neighbouring states ... it will become a Dead Weight around our ankles ...
Ergo may Governance be Thoughtfull and Gracefull too
May Ashoka be a Guide to understand ... avoiding war leads to Prosperity for All ...
May the Government have EU as a goal for This Region where we can have a Border like the one we share with Bhutan on all sides ...
May we have something to Gloat about before hitting the 80th year ...
Jaihind ...

Happy National Handloom Day ...7th August

 7th August 2018

Happy National Handloom Day....it is a labour of love ...the history teacher in school ...Mrs Gena Lemos used to tell us about the special weavers of India who grew their thumb nails long and used to weave the finest of muslin saris through the holes drilled on their thumb nails …. the British cut off the thumbs of those weavers and that method of weaving died out completely ….

the thriving handloom industry of India took a heavy beating during the colonial years to provide a market for the cloth woven in the industry in Britain ….

luckily handloom got the patronage of Royalty( in some cases) and the Govt and has a niche market ….

in rural areas many women know how to weave and have small looms in their homes ….. it is a way of life in rural India

7th August 2018 traditional clothes

 being Indian means .... loads of Types and Genres of clothes ok ...then my parents are from Kerala...i was born and bred in Maharastra.... and i got married to an Assamese ....then i have to have operations on my hand ....during which time i lose ooodles of weight and then there was the stint with teaching in colleges ...ergo Saris, And western clothes i wear during normal times ...then the western wear that fits Only post operation times ....

then there is the Assamese wear which is the mekhela chaddor .... the home wear ones and the silk ones ....

then there are the Mallus saris ...white with gold borders and pallus.... and the Mallu mundu and neriyathu ....which is the very traditional two piece Mallu wear ....then a few typical Maharashtrian saris ....

i Rarely wear all the traditional clothes i have ....however can i give away those things ...Noooo ...everything has a whatever and however kind of RTC (reference to context) plus there are occasions i have to wear some of it .... it is so expensive that ...even if i give all the old stuff away ...buying news things would seem like a crime ....  

every year i give away clothes i do not wear ...mostly Indian wear and saris that i can give away .... now there is vey little left to give away ..... and yet ....there is a load of stuff ...that is waiting patiently for ....just airing and putting away ....

first i used to get upset with All the travel across the lenght and breadth of the country and the few times i travelled outside India .... 

now i feel it is good way to Know ...How much of Jazzzmatazzz i own .... and it is the Bestest Barometer of Frugality .... 

Everytime i feel like buying Anything .... i just have to remember three words ....

Excess Luggage Bills !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO LMAO LMAO

paper correction ...7th august 2013

 when i used to teach ....paper correction was quite tedious ...a few hundreds or even running to beyond thousand five hundred !!!!!!!!!!......but the silver lining for me was the sheet of paper for the HERCULEAN BLUNDERS ...poor things some kids dint know proper usage of english.....i never ever cut marks for grammar .....but i would write down some great ones .....some great stories too i got for economics theory ..... and when the others and i were very bored and needed a break .....i wud enact the big bloopers .....was such awsum fun .....dont think other profs ever did whacko things like us in the CAP room ..... i also played music on low volume to kill the monotony ......

i cant find my sheets of carefully preserved papers to put on my blog ....am so heart broken .......a mistake i make alllllllllll the time .....i put away things so carefully and then i forget where i put it .....mustve been a squirrel in my last birth .....or some squirrel DNA in my blood i guess

Climate Change… 7th August 2019

 Went chasing some Sun...I didn't get a direct.. one on one...though latent  .. took in the Atmosphere and walked a bit and tied a door that has got jammed and washed my hands and drenched my skirt and shoes ....hopefully the torrential rains that have been predicted ...won't happen ...it did not rain much yesterday and today too there is just light rainfall

And when the whole world is busy honking and running about their morning schedule ....to be able to stand in the rain and listen to it's faint pitter patter on my umbrella ....and keep my face towards the non existent sun ...is what makes me Lucky ...to have been able to Quit an industry i did not gel with much ....to keep being able to tinker with things .....to be able to have my kids with me 24x7x 365 ...to be able to homeschool them ....to be able to share with them and see them grow 

decided to count a few manageables today morning

last year my cousin who is a bank manager got a long leave due to the floods and she told me how her friends in low lying areas caught the fish which swam into the lower floors of their houses and ate those fish too ...to survive 

here in Pune water born diseses must be a problem in some low lying areas ....however the muncipality does use the necessary precautions when dealing with a calamity 

natural disasters and rain patterns changing is something we will have to find new ways to cope with ....instead of finding more ways to contaminate water and soil and now the mountains and Himalayas and the Moon too....heard that humans have left a lot of waste up there on the moon too ....

Monsoons in Pune 7/08/2019

 

iron doors expand so much during the rains ….. and can not be locked ….ergo used some wire to tie it up ….few days back it created a loud ruckus at night when there was a strong wind blowing …. 

Pune used to get mild to arid level rainfall during my growing up years ...

never ever saw mildew and moss or mold during the 80s and 90s  ...whereas used to have to Air every kind of silk and expensive wear in assam and annamalais due to rains the whole year practically 

I used to long to come back to the dry arid climate of Pune ..water shortages notwithstanding …. 

in 2004 for the first time Pune got torrential rains and I wondered if I had bought the rains with me from assam 

from that year onwards ...rains in Pune have been heavy ...Of course it had to be due to the major Afforestation drive taken up by NGOs and citizens of Pune …. 

water shortages are not an issue in my part of the city and is kind of induced in some parts thanks to the tanker public and the middle men and contractors 

my locality was Never soooooo Green during my childhood days ….everytime we had guests at home from Kerala ...I had to go with a cousin or whoever was visiting to buy chicken from a poultry farm near the house I stay now ….

it used to be a Walk in Scorching sunlight ...one or two trees only ...

now I can walk all over my locality and not get one bit of sunshine due to the number of trees 

the people in charge of pruning trees have not done their bit ….or else the electricity dept would not be having so many power cuts 

usually the people prune big trees before the monsoons …. dunno why they did not do so this year

7th August 2025 

PS: they regularly do prune trees before monsoons … 

this summer even the drains were also cleaned to avoid water logging …

Hmmm… rooftop… 7/08/2019

 

standing on the rooftop terrace and listening to the mild rain and then the slight fragrance of these small flowers ….. was a nice way to take a break ….. luckily the rain has stopped ….. first it does not rain for all of June and then it does not stop …. 

most people in Pune drop everything and go bridge hopping when the monsoons peak …..this year it is a bit too scary to go watch the bridges ….

musings ...7th August 2019

Sometimes the Knock from Destiny is so very Gentle that I do not see it …. sometimes I feel I do not want to go into the Arena anymore ….. the point is will the Arena let a gladiator go ….for once it smells a gladiator …. the gladiator had only one task ...

to enter the arena and get annihilated in the name of the game …..Gladiators are not human ...nor does anyone feel or weep for fallen gladiators …. fights are what they are Groomed for since the time they are born

the arena is their Final Destiny ….and those that run the fastest ….away from the arena get arrested in their tracks when their eyes open ….they can not run ...they have to stay and face the crowd that is booing and or cheering

their lot is …. Not to Question Why ...but to Do and Die

Parenting 5th August 2018

 I was wondering what to do with the Boxing Fixation ...last time I would go after them for reading their Bible of Football and hide their football every night without fail and it had the Contrary Effect ….my kids went Krazy for football …. every day for the last few days I would wonder about How to get the kids OFF boxing …. 

and then suddenly ...just like that ...

Boxing is Off !!!!!!!! 

the new friend they had made is a huge JP and LP fan and Boxing was his idea …. both that kid and mine went to different boards and schools …. finally those kids dumped a friend my kid had introduced to the group  

and the differences started …. 

it became a school thing and the collaboration is sooo Off … 

when discussing what happened and how it happened and everything else …. I voiced howwww horrible Boxing can get to be …. no matter if it is Amateur ….. luckily the elder kid agrees on most things I suggest …. 

Phewww…. that was that 

however the most surprising thing was the networking and crowd support boys get ...the minute their friends got wind of an event being organised around a Boxing match …. out came a friend who is into Football and is a State Level Boxer !!! 

the last school my kids went to was an IB board and the friends the elder kid made are his big fans too …. ergo he is used to making decisions ...it was educative for him to deal with older kids and getting into a situation where those boys were not in favour with his designing ….

another thing I was worried about was ...Not knowing the parents of these new kids …. I know the parents of all their other friends and I know who my kids should not call during exam time …. as I know what each parent's goal for their kids are ….

meeting and discussing and setting the rate for hiring a venue and everything else that went into organising an event …. I take it as practical application of what they learn from text books ...

ergo it was not time wasted … plus the elder kid got a brush with dealing with people older than him ….

the little one is still boxing in the air …. hoping that will stop soon … hmmmm 

and I seriously Hope ...Fauzy Tube gets well and returns to YouTube …. he is any day better... than the others out there … 

as for me ….I learnt how peer pressure can be a Force to reckon with …. vehemence and force to deal with peer pressure can have weird outcomes at times …. ergo I was waiting to see how this would pan out ...as every time I wanted to meet his new friends …. something would come up and I never got to meet those kids and talk to them ...

5th August 2018

 

black is the granite 

strong is the coffee 

light weight the frothy bubbles

sad is the story

this is the first coffee mug i bought when shifting to mumbai after getting hostel accomodation there ....it was August 1995 and i had just joined work ...went home for Onam that year and went shopping for essentials to carry with me to mumbai and this mug i bought in Tulsi Baug ...a shopping area for steel products and all kinds of household items ....i like steel better than ceramic as one it does not break and two it lasts Forever 

and off i went back to mumbai to work for a minimum of two years for the sake of a good start in my CV ... the kids father had left for assam and i wanted to live away from home to be able to write and recieve letters and be able to talk via the phone with him ....everything was being done to keep a long distant relationship alive 

what life is preparing us for is never clear nor do we Ever see or know how the rest of india lives ....despite the kids father getting a job with an economic journal in mumbai ...i told him his family would be wild with me if he stayed back here and specially since his father was a widower and liked the kids father the most .... i thought it would be best if he went back to assam ...

the risk was the relationship ending ....and the Worst Part ...i had Zero Clue as to what life in assam and tea is All About ...

i was in a 7 seater room initially ....5 engineers from Tamil Nadu, me and a Mallu lab techncian ....the mallu girl was a very innocent and friendly person .....however mallus stare ....early morning on my second day in the hostel and first day of travelling to college from the hostel ...i went to the bathroom and finished and went to the room in my blouse and petticoat with a cover on top of my blouse and found the mallu girl watching me ....it was unnerving to see her stare ..... Mallus can stare the most in all of India ok 

then i opened both the doors of my cupboard and stood in between them and drapped my sari ....it was irritating and time consuming ... and i went down to have breakfast at 6.50am ....it was just being made ....big fat medu vadas ....meaning big fritters made of black lentil ....and i Groaned 

if took one bite of it ...i would Not be able to speak for a week ...

went running to the bus stop on an empty stomach ....and compared to buses in Pune where no one looks at me and no one tries to get Fresh ....mumbai buses were Irritating ....once or twice i remember getting down from a bus and feeling sick to the point of wanting to Puke 

finally i came up with a theory that men in Kerala and mumbai are the same and rather horny ...the bus travelling kind at least ....sic to the core 

ate at the college staff room kitchen from a kaka there and it became my one good meal of the day ....only problem was that ....i could get my first meal only after the first lecture ....ie after 8.20am ...at 7.30am no food .....and i always feel the B.Com students in Maharashtra have the worst timetable ...actually it is so as many of them do their Chartered Accountancy along with graduation and can do their Articleship peacefully after 11.30 am when college is over for the day 

reached back to the hostel and went down with a coupon for food ...got to know that if i wanted lunch ...i should have to leave a tiffin box at breakfast time ....i was hungry and upset and did not have the will to go out and eat Alone ...went back up and had snacks ....took a nap and then hand washed quite a bit of clothes ....

then took this cup and went down to get coffee ....the kitchen girls were giggling at how i did not know the system and i too laughed about it 

now anger, hunger and wallowing in self pity is a lethal combination for things to go Wrong ....

and as if on cue on my 3rd step i tripped and dropped hot boiling coffee on my left chest ....went running down to the cafeteria and poured ice cold water on myself and soooooo wanted to cry ....took antoher cup of coffe and went back up to the room ...ate biscuits and applied a calamine lotion where my skin had turned a raw red and swollen ...

thought about what i was doing and when things would turn …..

that night i told my roomamtes about my brush in with a burn... and they Immediately suggested a Kovil trip ....all those engineers were such staunch temple goers and i was their interpreter and guide in mumbai ...

i would go to all the tamil kovils in chembur but i put my foot down about going to mahalaxmi on a sunday ....when i had prep to do and i was not free at home like those engineers were ...

practically every evening they would go out .....one girl was engaged and she had the Most Desparate urge to roam around ....

as we women know what our Lot in Life becomes once we get married ...the jail term starts and all movement Questioned and counter questioned and debated and then we get to step outside the house .... even if we are breadwinners too ...we have our movements outside the house curtailed... life is very different 

my cup i used all through my mumbai stay and then i used it in pune and then i carried it to assam and then it went to tamil nadu and then back to assam and from there to pune and then to bahrain and back from bahrain ...back again in 2017 and finally after soooooooooooo many travels it is back in Pune ....

my cup and me still going strong as ever

4th August 2019

 I was in a two seater room ...meaning I shared my room with just one other …. and my roommates kept changing … however eating cheat meals was my thing and I made all the roommates eat too and I would tell the IT folks about Obsessive Compulsive Eating and the psychological funda behind it and how we are sooo right to get into OCE ...to Deal with the Soul Eating place that Mumbai is …. it was Cribbers Incorporated come night time at the Birla Hostel for Breach Candy nurses in Chembur ...the 4th and 5th floors were for professionals from outside the hospital 

we all had money and never had a financial crunch ...ergo the eating was not budget eating ….however sometimes we would eat biscuits and jam and biscuits and a chocolate spread …. and south Indian snacks I kept buying from near my college.... and Salad ….vegetables and fruits I ate the most ...because the minute I saw oily flat bread and dal and rice and the vegetable dish …..I would go back up to my room on some days …. 

my throat would cry seeing oily food …. taking class with a sore throat was Killing …. 

bread was a staple product I picked up and I would go buy palak/spinach paneer from a restaurant near my hostel ….

anyways All the Bad Experimenting made my HB hit a dangerously low level and I finally went to a doctor ...and then Quit teaching in Mumbai … life was soooooo Peacefull post that …. 

before joining the hostel ...dal, eggs and potatoes I could not stand the sight of ….post joining the hostel I would eat eggs at home like I had Never Ever seen food ….and Everyone would feel soo bad to see me eat something I used to hate LOL LOL 

dal I used to hate even after hostel ….till I was carrying my first child and I went Aggressively Vegan with a Craving for alcohol …. and I started drinking dal .... I used to wonder what was Wrong with me ….all of a sudden ….tough it was to crave and never have alcohol …. LOL LOL 

my elder child used to be very a picky eater for quite a few years ….after he was 8 ...he would not eat non veg ….now he does not like fish or mutton or pork or duck ….eats chicken and turkey ...though he does not like turkey legs … LOL

4th August 2020

 thanks to 21 years of living with a Capricorn ….Gaslighting I have dealt with ...till I would feel like ending it all in Assam ….my responsibility towards my child is what helped me Stand Up for Myself ...

I know vindictive behaviour … Scorps are made out to be the Worst of the Sun Sign …. I am different …. I Understand and always Forgive ...till the point I have reached Saturation Point and am Full ...

then I do not Listen...Even to Myself … even if it means a Hara Kiri of sorts …. the Japanese are very Tough on themselves ….their code of conduct and Standards for Code of Conduct ….Ruthlessly Difficult 

they live by it …. 

Let us All look for the Best in the World and help share information that Really Helps ok …. 

I ended up getting into controversies at Every work place ...because I would fight for Grace marks to be higher ….to listening and hearing out kids in distress and Being There for them …. it was What I was Getting Paid for ….

so I would feel bad and understand other people and them getting to be in one controversy after another and I would feel bad to read some of it 

there is a very kind side to all in those circles ….. Nurture Only that aspect ...

Always was Respectfull and will Continue to be 

let not people who write to the PM about Instagram hate directed towards themselves and their kids …... be owners of Pages that use and encourage using of crass language as a pos .. I guess the front benchers want such language and gulu gulu to get their share of whatever 

it is each person's notion of creativity and I should be last one to judge ….considering the fact that I do not know the M of movie making or the C of creativity

we all are made of flesh and blood only ….I am not made of stone …. my blood is not Blue nor do I have a sackfull of money 

butttt….

If you read my profile 

I have said I love to Argue about good topics 

if you just want to Pitt your brains against mine 

let the games Begin !!!!!

Jio !!!! 

magar jeene bhi do na …. bhaiyon