Sometimes...

Sometimes we wish to go back in the memory lane.
Sometimes we wish to stare at the vacant plane.

Sometimes all we need is a hug to reassure.
Sometimes we need a kick to push us out of remorse. 

Sometimes we need a company to refurbish the broken role
Sometimes we need a soul to polish our sunken soul.

Sometimes we aren't strong to stand up by self
At times we need that friend to find ourself. 

Don't know what to name it!!

It was 6.30 PM. The moment I stepped out of the vegetable shop .. an eerie feeling hit me.

I was standing in the middle of a new creed of species!! A creed called "Young Software Engineers". Their dresses ranged from perfect formals to torn jeans. A few carrying a laptop bag and others carrying just a lunch box pouch which holds a few Tupperware boxes. The girls in high heels and straightened  hair had their eyes glued to the new smart phones or were busy animatedly talking with their colleague / boy friend.

But one thing was very common among this whole group. They all looked proud. They had a sense of achievement on their face.

That look on their face left me wondering .. What is the real reason behind these proud looking faces. The tasks which they delivered at work .. or the pay check they will be given by the end of the month?

In my 9 years in this software service industry, I have not invented anything.. All I have done is used one or more existing software to provide the service requested by the client. I may have designed a few systems, but they were all created on an existing platform provided.   The pride I had during the college days when I was one among who cleared all papers and had a job after the first semester .. I dont have that pride anymore.. coz I know the backbenchers in my batch are doing much much more better in non-IT fields than what I am right now. And I am proud of them.

So these "Young Software Engineers" .. What makes them so proud?

I have seen a few of them in my previous work place. Occupying cafeteria for hours , coz they do not have a work station allocated, as they are not into project for the last one year!!  I have seen that girl with straightened hair going out of the restroom leaving the toilet seat wet.

Not that I say not being in project is their mistake .. But yet .. The moment they step out of the work place .. this pride sticks to their face.. I still wonder how and why.

Zindagi, Dogs, Politics, Payment, Walk and Ipod

Early morning walk around the lake always prepares me to face the day and all its atrocities.
I was walking with my thoughts pregnant about the movie which I saw yesterday "Zindagi Nah Milegi Dobara".

Something inside me kept repeating these lines from the movie
               Dilon mein tum apni
               Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho
               Toh zinda ho tum
               Nazar mein khwabon ki
               Bijliyan leke chal rahe ho
               Toh zinda ho tum

I usually see a small girl playing with 3 dogs. She must be the daughter of some building construction worker. Today she was missing but the dogs were running around and  barking. That is when I noticed there were 2 new dogs in the locality and these 3 dogs were barking at those 2 intruders displaying territorial threat. In a very strange way this reminded me of politicians and their election speeches. I made a mental mode of using this as an example to explain the concept of "survival of the fittest" to my son as I walked away from that place.

In the midst of the silence around the lake and a fading dog barks.. I heard this man talking very loud on cell phone. His teenage slightly obese daughter accompanies him everyday. Today she was walking a few yards behind him allowing her dad to attend the phone call. I could hear him shouting "Ghar aaoge? Dhamki dhena math. Kya meine payment dhene se inkar kiya?"   I walked past his daughter. I glanced at her to smile as I usually do and noticed her moist eyes.
I could not do much but think of lines from "Zindagi Nah Milegi Dobara" 
              Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
              Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
              Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
              Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya
              Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
              Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
              Duniya mein yunhi hota hai

A realization.. people around me also have life and pain. they are not just lurkers in the movie where me and my family are the main characters. 

And then I saw that handsome lady who jogs in the cricket ground next to lake. She was leaving the ground and I saw her come to the pavement where the bikes are parked.  She then took out her key and started that Thunderbird Big bike. All these days I was thinking that this thunderbird belonged to that bald man who sits on the bench near the lake and smokes!!  That old man in long white kurta over a grey formal trouser was sitting in a different bench and not on the bench near the boat.

So many observations in a day!! thats when I realized another thing. Sometimes we are too engrossed or afraid to switch off and look up from our iPhones / iPod to see the reality.  I remembered my Srivats's words "We should switch off the lights to see the stars". 

Yielding to Temptation

I had been wanting you ever since I saw you on TV.

I saw you in the market the other day.

You looked so inviting. I wanted to have you.

Felt guilty, coz I had been loyal all these years. I felt torn.

But I just could not control myself any longer.

You came with a price. But I thought you were worth it.

I had you in my hands. The moment you touched my lips.. eeeekssssssss.. you tasted burnt.

Dear Oreo biscuits .. you suck.

Dear Bourbon Biscuits .. you are always the best. And I love you so

So Whats plan for the weekend?

Did you just ask me that question

Hmm. ok .. So here are my plans.

I am presently planning to go to Switzerland for a skiing resort.
After that I am planning to drive to Denmark to visit the little mermaid.
And yeah, if possible visit the most famous Copenhagen prison too

After Denmark, I am planning to go Netherlands, to run around those green pastures.
May be I will bring you all a few litres of fresh milk.
SMS me if you want me to carry a few litres of foreign cow's milk back to India.

And later if time permits, I would fly to England and walk on the London Bridge and set my watch time based on Big Ben. Then I plan to meet our beloved Queen and maybe I will have breakfast with Prince William and Kate.

Hey hey .. why are you looking so surprised.. Doesn’t that sound great?
Looks like you are still not convinced...OK may be I will change it to visiting NASA. How does this sound.

Guys .. Beware …Before you ask me this question .. ever ever ever again
Even after knowing that all that I may be doing over the weekend is the week's laundry and cleaning my son's shoes and visiting grocery store for next week's preparation.

Beware..

And then don’t look surprised when I tell you my plans to visit Moon for buying a plot.

Work Life Balance .. Gender Equality .. Blah Blah Blah

Let me tell you one big rude truth ..
We are not equal to Men.. And we can never be.
Now Now now .. Don't barge to attack.. Continue reading

What do you want to balance?? Work and life??
And why does this discussion happen only with respect to female crowd??
Doesn't our spouse , brother , male colleague or friend also have the same balance to strike?

Work and Life .. complement each other.

So Ladies .. Listen..

Stop rushing .. You will see
the same moon tonight wherever you go!

Prioritize ..
You can never be in two places at the same time.
So stop cribbing about missing an important meeting while at home.
And stop worrying about not playing book cricket with your son while attending your conference call.

Be present.. 100%
You cannot give anything more than 100%.
Can you fill 2 litre in a 1 litre pepsi bottle? No
But yes you can give 100% for every moment
So be at home or work .. give it 100% for that moment.

Sometimes You are ahead, sometimes You are behind,
The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Dont try too hard .. we are all super Women in our own simple ways.

On the lighter note..

Pray
Pray God for patience
Pray God that your husband finds his lost favorite T-shirt in the the same draw rather than yelling for you
Pray God that your kid finishes his/her breakfast without throwing a tantrum

And now remember we are not equal to men..
We can attain that equality only if we can walk on the street with messed hair .. pot belly and still think we are attractive

Vechchan Da Aapppu

Venue: Balcony, Home.

Time: Afternoon

Raghav: Amma.. Why do these squirrel have those lines on the back??

Me: hmmm .. do you remember, thatha told you Ramayana story?

Raghav: hmmmmm

Me: Where did Rama go to get Seetha and fought with Ravana?

Raghav: SriLanka

Me: good. How did he cross the sea?

Raghav: Monkeys helped him

Me: how did monkeys help him?

Raghav: They carried stones and built a bridge

Me: correct. at that time, there was a one squirrel. This squirrel also wanted to build the bridge. It picked up small stones and helped Rama. Rama was very happy and stroked Squirrel's back with his fingers. the lines on squirrel's back are impressions of Rama's fingers.

Raghav: huh?? Was Rama's hand that dirty???? Hasnt that squirrel taken bath yet?? If I catch hold of that squirrel and wash him with lots of soap will those lines go???

Me: (Vechchan Da Aapppu) now .. will you go wash your hand and have your snacks???

Lesson Learnt:

Never tell stories to kid to explain things which have scientific reasons

I have my ghost in my head

I hear voices
It scolds me when I do wrong
It tells me when I love a song
It divides me from myself
Me and My Contradictions
When I try to make it dead
I become anonymous inside my own head

Reblog dreamer

I had to reblog this.

And .. more interesting fact is that .. Dream did continue when I slept :P

via

Poem - Naive Attempt

I tried editing, re-alligning and adding few words to the poem from "Before Sunrise".. Or in other words .. "Inspired" by Before SunRise :P

Oh Dear..
Do I know you?

You are my delusion angel
In a fantasy parade
In life's dark tunnel
In Deluding vibrant colors

I want to know what you think
I dont want to guess anymore

I know where I came from
Do you have an idea where I am going?

Oh Dear..
You are my delusion angel .. my Future..
Be as pretty as you seem to be

Hierarchy of Employee Needs

While discussing about Employee Empowerment in one of the corporate blogs(HCL) , I realized from the comments that empowerment at work comes out of mutual trust between employee and employer. And the empowerment happens only when each person, employee or the employer,takes up ownership of their respective tasks.

How does this ownership come? When does an individual employee take up the ownership of the tasks he is entrusted to? These questions reminded me of the Maslow's theory which I came across on the net.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs talk about the basic needs of a human being. According to him, the needs of a man starts at the bottom of the pyramid and as & when they get full-filled…he moves on to the upper levels of the pyramid. I tried to bring out a similar hierarchy of needs of an
employee. Employee's basic needs are mapped in this pyramid. The performance of the employee in an organization increases as his needs are fulfilled from the bottom of the pyramid.
Self Actualization:
Maslow describes "self-actualization" as the desire for self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for the individual to become actualized in what he is potentially

The same applies for an employee. Each employee desires to become more and more of what he wants to become. To be more precise the employee wants become technically equipped with more and more of information in the technology he works on. An employer providing this opportunity, of enhancing the employee's knowledge, helps the employee to move up in the
pyramid.

The opportunity can either be training or projects which can bring out the best of each employee.

Safety:
An Employee needs financial security for his own personal and healthy well being. The employer who takes care of these basic needs of an employee, provides psychological support, which takes the mind off the security concerns of the employee.

Physiological Needs
Good healthy physical environments, better facilities provided by employer in the work place, make it the better place to work at. And this era also looks for an eco-friendly green environment.

Esteem
Each human being deserves and demands self respect. The need for recognition, attention is one of the basic necessities of any human being. An employee with low self esteem is always prone to self doubts, leading to less ownership being taken.

Belonging and ownership
1. Now employee has the environment where he can equip himself with knowledge for better performance. With this acquired knowledge he can contribute for the employer's growth. This improves the trust of the employer in his employees.

2. Now employee's security concerns are met by employers by the means of better compensation and medical benefits

3. The physiological needs are met by providing better work friendly physical environment.

4. And the esteem of the employee is kept high by providing required and deserved recognition.

With all these in place, the employee feels at home at the workplace and would efficiently start taking ownership of the tasks he has taken up, as he feels more empowered.

Vechchan Da Aapppu

Venue: Home

Time: 10:30 PM

 

Raghav: Why do we have two iron bars running below the train's wheels.

Me: They are called train tracks. You know na ... we travel by train when we go long distance...

         They lead the train from one station to another.

Raghav: appo Amma.. For even more longer distances we travel by aero planes.. Do we have tracks up in the sky..

Me:  (Vechchan da aapppu) Time up .. Time to Sleep

 

How I lost an arugument!

Venue: Home

Time: 9:45 PM

 

Raghav found two chocolates in fridge. I grabbed them before he could take them

 

Raghav: I want those chocolates

Me: Not Now.  You should have milk before you sleep

Raghav: I will drink milk after eating chocolates

Me: It is not good to eat chocolates before you sleep. You teeth will start decaying.

Raghav: I will brush my teeth

Me: ok.. you should drink milk and also brush your teeth?

Raghav: yes

Me: ok .. Take this .. Only one

Raghav: NOOO.. Twoly Two

 

Next moment .. both chocolates were in his hand.

And I knew I lost an argument

 

Such is Life..

When insults had class

Read this on http://bitsandpieces.us

 

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”

– Winston Churchill

 

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with  great pleasure.”

– Clarence Darrow

 

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”

– William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

 

”I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”

– Groucho Marx

 

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”

– Mark Twain

 

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”

– Oscar Wilde

 

”I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend if you have one.”

– George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second….. if there is one.”

– Winston Churchill to Shaw, in response

 

”I feel so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here.”

– Stephen Bishop

 

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.”

– John Bright

 

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial”

– Irvin S. Cobb

 

”He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.

– Samuel Johnson

 

”He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”

– Paul Keating

 

“He had delusions of adequacy.”

– Walter Kerr

 

“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?”

– Mark Twain

 

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”

– Mae West

 

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”

– Oscar Wilde

 

Woman to Churchill. “If you were my husband, I’d give you poison.”

Churchill replied “If you were my wife, madam, I’d take it.”

Morning Rush

 

Venue:  Home  

 

Time: 9:00 PM

Me: Raghav .. you should try now.

Raghav: No Amma.. it is not coming..

 

Time: 9:30 PM

Me: now.  Will you .. please Raghav now..

Raghav: Amma .. will do it after this game .. one more game .. ok?

 

Time: 10:00 PM

Me: Raghav.. please try now. Try for 2 mins..please

Raghav: Please Amma .. I told you .. I don’t feel like doing it now. Please no

 

Time: 7:00 AM

Me: Raghav..can you try now ..

Raghav:  Amma . I don’t feel like doing it now.. will do it later

Me:  Do you remember you have school today.. will you go to school without doing it

Raghav: I will go to school and then do it..

 

Time :  8:00 AM

Me:  Try for 2 mins Raghav.. if it still doesn’t come.. then ok.. we will do it later. But just try .. for 2 mins please

Raghav:  How many times should I tell you that I don’t feel like doing now… please ma ..

 

 

Venue: Main Road (waiting for school bus)

Time :  8:50 AM

Raghav: AMMMMMMMAAAA..

Me: ??

Raghav: TOILET  

 

 

Hmmm… Life can be cruel at times.

 

 

If Ramayan was on Facebook.... A fwd

 

ya .. well .. Happy New Year!

The “NOW” part of what I wrote holds good even now..

http://phokattimes.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-and-new-year.html

 

Happy Birthday Sri

Believing hear, what you deserve to hear:
Your birthday as my own to me is dear...
But yours gives most; for mine did only lend
Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend.
- Unknown

Happy Happy Birthday Sri

Ennoda phokatttimes blogayum oru bloga madhichchu comment pannara Sri oda Birthday..
Thanks Sri..

Middle age is the only time when we have all five senses at its best performance.
When we are younger, we are slaves to dreams.
And when we are above 60 we are old servants of regrets.

So Sri.. be glad that the candles cost more than the cake..
We are living our dream :)

I am amazed

Do you know anyone who can recount an incident in following ways:

1. In active voice
2. In passive voice
3. In first person's view
4. In second person's view
5. In third person's view
6. Finally conclude in their own view...

I know ...
And I am amazed..

Happy Birthday Kiran

Today is Kiran’s birthday..

I hope he has a good day!

 

Raghav was quite excited about his dad’s birthday.. but dint wish him.

Raghav gave him a big hug and that expressed everything he would have wanted to tell his dad.

 

MIL made puri for breakfast. She also made that yellow alloo sabji, which Kiran likes.

 

I wanted Kiran to buy a pair of new shoes.

But he doesn’t seem to have enough time to go shopping.

 

Happy Birthday Kiran!!