'Inspired' cleaning
I cleaned my book shelf yesterday! Whats great about it? In fact, everything. Usually, the very thought of clearing the junk in my shelves drives me round the bend. Then why and how did I clean it? I dont know. I just felt like clearing the junk and did it. My colleague (right next to me in my office) once told me she had this habit. May be its just the vibrations. This is the second time she has 'inspired' me to do something. The first was when she decided to start a 'trivia' blog.
'Bunk shop'
The Hindu is surrounded by electronic shops. I have to walk for quite some distance to get my favourite Cadbury's Dairy Milk or 5 Star. And the shops stocking it are mostly 'bunk' shops, and I think I must be the only person to buy Dairy Milk from the shops. I also have to be careful - the stock could be old as no one buys chocolates. They mostly sell cigarettes, bidis, pan masala (despite the ban).
This is likely to change soon. There is another 'bunk' shop coming up _ this time near the office. The 'bunk' shop I mean here is the Bharat Petroleum petrol 'bunk' which will have its 'In and Out' outlet.
They already have one customer waiting!
Graffiti
Saw this graffiti in a local train:
G - Ghosts
I - In
R - Real
L - Life
A - A
B - Boy
C - Can
D - Do
E - Everything
F - For
G - Girl's
H - Heart
Losing without tears
Murali - the chaiwallah outside our office - was in a cheerful mood one day (this was a month back). I asked him the reason. He said he was on TV that morning. On TV? Yes, he said. He had deposited money in a finance co, which had folded up. He was in the crowd outside the finance co office when the TV crew 'interviewed' him.
I wondered how he could smile when he has lost money. I asked him how much he had 'invested'. Less than Rs 10,000 or more? He said: Rs 1.5 lakh.
Books and Lotteries
The people most affected by the ban on lotteries are the small-time vendors. A man who sells Rs 10 books near my office asked me if there was any important news today (journalists are supposed to know everything). I said there was nothing. Then he asked whether there was anything important in the State Assembly. I said no. I asked him why he was so interested in what was happening in the Assembly.
He said he wanted to know whether any decision had been taken on lifting the ban on lotteries. Obviously, selling lotteries is more lucrative than books.
Height of sycophancy
Found on a banner near Thousand Lights in Chennai:
Padaipavar Brahma
Kaapavar Amma
(Creator is Brahma
Protector is Jayalalithaa)
My friends
This is supposed to be my 'trivia' blog, but this is a serious one.
I have very few friends. For me, friendship just develops naturally. I dont go out to 'find' new friends.
Of them, I still have contacts only with Pradeep Nair and 'Shencottah' (as he calls himself in his blog). Both are in Bangalore. Shencottah will be moving soon to Hyderabad soon.
Pradeep is a down-2-earth chap - he didnt have a mobile till recently.
I have met Pradeep's father. A simple man, he will always have some book in his hand. So is Pradeep. He is a book-worm and keeps himself well-informed about the latest developments.
Shencottah is doing some research. He can discuss any subject under the sun. I met him after almost 15 years. He learns violin. I have been to Shencottah's house only once. I do not know much about his parents. But what I know about Shencottah is that he was lucky enough to study in what i regard, as one of the best schools _ the one run by Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam of Swami Chidbhavananda.
In Chennai I have 'Valkannadi'.
One common thread with all of them is that they are all bloggers.
The third - valkannadi (http://valkannadi.blogspot.com) - is my newest friend. Valkannadi is her blog name. She is a Keralite. When we were talking about the Vishu festival, I told her that I had read the meaning of the ritual - why we open our eyes before a mirror and worship our reflection. It is done almost just as a ritual everywhere. Only a few people know the real meaning - she is one of them.
I know people who keep jewels before the mirror so that it 'doubles' before the next Vishu. I was glad that Valkannadi is one of the few who perform the ritual with fully understanding the meaning, which is important.
The next time she surprised me was when she explained the meaning of a sloka and the ritual associated with the sloka. I knew the sloka, and the ritual, but I did not know that the 'why' part of the ritual was associated with the sloka.
The third time was when I told her I would be writing a samskrit exam. Her eyes immediately lit up and wrote a complex (at least for me) grammar table she had studied in school. In school! That was some 20 years ago! I asked her how she remembered it. She said it was because of her teacher who drilled it into her.
Why I say Valkannadi surprised me is because I never thought she would be interested in such things. She would always be seen with some novels. (This proved I am a poor reader of people) I neve knew she would be interested in any other book till she borrowed a book of spiritual wisdom in tamil and finished it in one go.
All the three friends, I believe, have had good guidance - from parents,teachers etc.. I do not know much about Valkannadi, except about her great teacher.
What I want to emphasise here is that parents must take efforts to guide their children. It is of no use banging your head later.
The price hike that wasnt
The paani-puri guys keep changing every ten days. There was a new chap. He seemed quite street-smart. When he gave only five puris instead of six, I asked him why. He said he was new and his 'seth' had asked him to give only five. I knew he was bluffing and asked him the reason for the sudden 'price hike'. He said he didnt know. I asked him to check with his 'seth'. The next day he gave six.
I had a tough time in the bus today. Two teen-aged girls boarded the bus. One of them wore a t-shirt which decided to stay a few inches from her jeans. To compound matters further, she also held the bar above her. A woman who was sitting kept glancing at the men's side to see what we were doing. Later she kept staring at the girl as if she would burn her down. (May be her husband was in the men's side). I got my breath back after she and her friend got down at the Spencers signal.
Pop-corn rain
I went to see Black at Sathyam theatre. Soon after the intervel, pop-corns suddenly rained on us. A couple of girls who were moving in the row behind us with pop-corn cones had stumbled in the dark. Absent-mindedly I brushed a few pop-corns away. I then ate a few. There is no free lunch. But I got free snacks.
Temptation comes closer
Our friendly neighbourhood watch shop has started selling Nokia phones. Earlier I had to go to some showroom far away or at least walk for some time till I reached a Nokia showroom. Now all I have to do is to step out of my office. I am in a dilemma. How do I avoid it?
