Thursday, November 12, 2009

Idiosyncrasies

A boring day, a hectic day, a good –for – nothing day, a bloody shitty day, a fun day, a feel- like- doing- nothing day, there are many days in our lives and we live it all. And who do you think makes the days, the days that they are. God?? Id rather say its the people who we meet everyday.

There are some people who make a lasting impression on our minds or rather our gut by their unfathomable obnoxious behaviours
I met one such character a few months back. He belongs to the HR department of a very reputed Hotel belonging to a renowned group in the Hotel industry, One would expect someone of such profile to have some panache. But it was far from it. After a few initial exhanges, as I offer him my visiting card, he does the most barbaric act that one can ever think of. Apparently, he had just finished his afternoon grub and my card became his tool to dig out all that was stuck between his teeth. As I sat dumbstruck, he went about his task in the most matter of fact way. ‘There goes my identity, there goes my name digging out crap from someone’s plaque filled teeth’, I thought. But alas, I still gather all my wits to offer my card to others too- have to.

Theres another such uncouth who I can think of. This man’s speech is audible only as far as the second word and then metamorph into a whisper- ‘I think it…… s…u….ca…..’, interspersed with an open mouthed cough at regular intervals. ‘Currently there….. go…(cough)… (cough). So it ha….ve….’. Sometimes I get through by lip reading and at other more distressful times I have post- meeting with his junior who hangs on to his seniors lips seems to empathise with my dilemma.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Je Cheoooo- Read On For the Meaning....

We live in a world of heuristics. We humans indeed are cognitive misers. 'Misers' did u say? Yes we fill in the blanks, cover the gaps and bring out our understanding of the world.
I came across this beautiful demonstration of this ‘misery’- ‘The Maid’ wanted to watch television, which she always insists on whenever she feels that she can gradually goad me to put it on. She does this with an amazing tact worthy of being mentioned in Any Self Help book – ’Get Your Own Way in 10 Simple Steps’ – can be a reliable name.
She talks about this thing and that and at the right moment, sometimes in the midst of a sentence blurts it out- ‘Didi TV lagao na’- Ah, not to mention the full set of pearly whites she manifests each time she says this. With all my defenses lowered,I have to put the TV on for her.
Coming back to the point of how we humans make sense of the unstructured information we receive- Music as we all know has its own characteristics. As I put the TV on, it started jarring the song- ‘Paisa phek tamasha dekh……….’ There is a line in the song sung in hip – hop style – ‘Gotta Move ur, gotta move ur body tonight…’
On the given cue, The Maid sings- ‘Go Moova, Go Moova, Go Moova, Baa tui….’. Now The Maid is a cracked vessel when it comes to English. She has studied till 6th grade but has not assimilated any English and any additions will will be leaked out to nothing.
But What the Heck! She enjoyed the music, she sang and I loved it too. So the moment made the two of us happy. Just as I had felt when I heard another street kid sing- ‘Je Cheeooo Cheeeoooo Je Cheooo’ to the tune of the Salman Khan hit- ‘Just Chill!!’
Jai Ho we Indians are Great…

An Ode to My Driving force/s

Inspiration can come from anywhere- Seeing someone else doing what you can do better, Elders admonishing what you should do and what you shouldn’t, a sudden insight that you have not stood by what you said.

For me it was a mix of all these things that motivated me to start a blog or blogging as the popular usage goes. There always was a lingering wish to do it- somehow suppressed by laziness, skepticism, lowered testosterone etc. etc. (well the reasons were many you see). But the ultimate kick on the butt was by a Friend (name withheld for he knows its him I’m talking about). He can talk and talk and talk about himself and his new plans and then suddenly realization dawns upon him that he is being self centered. He asks me to then share about the happenings in my life and here is how the conversation goes-

Friend- Oh Ive been talking only about myself all this while, you tell me what’s happening with you yaar..
Me- Nothing, just the same routine, nothing much yaar. (Thinking- Gosh u sound like you are having marital disturbances, sound cheerful….)
Me- Oh there are many weddings happening next month, will be going home next month. (Bah..)
Friend- Oh really that’s nice…
Me- Yeah (He’s not interested really )
Me- Oh and I’m learning German (Yeah, now that’s a Brownie point)
Friend- I always thought that you have a flair for language, seriously you must start writing…..

And that was just that last push I needed to execute the task that I’ve been pondering for so long.

Of course, there are others who deserve much of the credit – One being my mother and other being my husband. They both have just the right way to get me to do things without being too persistent.