Some strangers are not all that strange rather sweet.

What can put a smile on an average woman’s face? Yes, I am talking about all of us, we are 18 and above making us adults and so woman; employed or unemployed woman. Is it the fact that she has her own personal, customized, long-term/short-term boy friend? Or is it that she just had a hot dark lava chocolate cake with cold vanilla ice cream atop it? Or is it that she bought a new handbag and not just any bag, that will not make an average woman happy; tag in the word ‘branded’ and she will be over whelmed Or is it her new designer shoes or a new Forever 21 top or Ray Ban aviator sunglasses? Well these things and mebbe even more (listing out everything will make you bored for sure, so I stopped) have something in common, they all have I, ME, WE, MINE,OURS labeled over it. It’s either your actions or your friends, families, relatives, boyfriends, colleagues move that end up giving you a smiley face.

What about the other lot who does not have the slightest idea about you or your life, your tastes, your whims and fancies.  Strangers to be precise, complete strangers who by chance have made you smile or rather made your day. Check out some instances I encountered in life:

-       - The person who just opened the door for you to enter or leave, either ways.

-        - The person who abruptly gave you his taxi seeing that you are desperate, alone, scared and its past rush hour.

-      -   Person who just stood up for you and gave you his seat in a public transport during the rush hour.

-       -A random guy who just gave you a 10% or 20% discount on an item that you bought from his shop (smiling part comes when the handsome guy says “Just for you madam”; I know sometimes girl fall for that trick; I did too)

Well the list is endless but many a times I find its MEN who are being loyal, polite and helpful (not the whole of MEN-kind but may be a select few who have been raised by a princess…the social media way of putting it) Its true!!! Just go out and you will understand that only a handful of woman open door for others be it any gender, stand up to give you her seat or even lend you a cab.

Guess that is why woman are more attracted to the opposite sex because they are beautiful in itself; mind, body and soul. Well one of the many reasons…:-P. So for those people who think that you have no one to make you feel wanted and valued, open your eyes and think again. Even if it was for a second, a minute or even an hour if they have achieved to make you smile it is because they think you are worth it. Sometimes when you are down and low and innocent and sweet act like the one mentioned above can make your day and sweep you off.

P.S: This story idea was inspired by a very handsome gentleman in a slick crisp suit who just opened the door for me yesterday while leaving my office along with very many other personal scenes in my life. And when I signaled him to take leave he replied with “No, after you”.  

Have you had any similar instances where any stranger helped you out and made your day.

Take a moment to say THANK YOU!

We homo sapiens, meaning us humans! are the most greediest creatures on earth, we always want more and are often never happy with what we have. We desire, wish and crave for a lot of things which we feel will make us happy! but inside we are still battling and unsure if these "must-needed" things in life will actually make us happy.

 I was just pondering over this thought. We or our kind think a lot; about tomorrow, our past, our future, even our silly dreams and discussions. Let me list out a few thinks which i always wish i had and still try to make it happen (but i am too lazy and come to a halt half way through the line) like a flawless and fair skin, shining, lustrous and long hair, an athlete body structure (well, these are the few important ones, the list is endless)

Well from my list you can witness how much importance is given to my physical appearance. I care about the way i am presented before others (Well, this is the facebook era, i am positive that every one thinks the same and  no one is different). Check out the list, I am sure all of you will have had these few thoughts pass over your mind be it a "he" or a "she".

• A body like Deepika's
• Parneeti chopra like hair
• John Abraham's 6 pack or is it 8 (I aint sure)
• Christiano Ronald's Hairstyle
• Kareena Kapoor's skin tone

Well don't consider the celebrity part of it but at least all of you wish for great hair, great skin and great body without doubt! And if you are gonna say "NO", then i will have to shower you with questions like: why do you spend a lotta time in front of the mirror, at the gym, at the parlour, at shopping malls and many more.

While thinking of perfecting myself, i also happened to think of the few unfortunate ones who are mandatorily separated from society in the name of " Physically Disabled". What do you think they will be praying when GOD send them into this world taking away half of their body parts and half of their confidence? Having to be born with lifeless limbs, defamed body, a mangolian face,ears with no audibility,eyes that cannot see, autism...

We simply do not have answers to why they were chosen to live this way? Why God sent them into this world for others to look upon them with empathy and sympathy?

I don't know! No one knows! God alone has all the answers!

So next time you ask God for a perfect body or wish for an awesome skin, devote that time to "Thank God" for sending you into this world perfectly without any imperfections. We have been very lucky and blessed by Him and never forget that somewhere someone in the extreme corner of the world  has paid the price for what you are now.

I said my Thankyou first! Contribute yours as well :-)

Just a thought my dear fellas, let me know what you think about the same!

Love yourself, love your body because you are perfect in your own way, high time you realize it!

Cheers to a happy life you are leading now!

THE NEW AGE STRESS RELIEVER

It has become difficult nowadays to not begin an office day without devouring the sweet juice of the world's latest, cheapest and absolutely free of cost  drug- facebook. This so called e-drug is soo powerful that   surviving without it in this 20th  century is a hard task especially these particular days in a year,  365 days!!! I simply cannot find a reason why i should not log into facebook. The fact that this drug has something interesting to offer or rather our hope of finding a new post, a new pic, or any new update, notification, message, friend request makes you want to glue yourself  to this drug 365 days in a row.

 But i cannot complain, the medicine does work its magic on all office days, it is purely a stress reliever if not a pleasure provider, a time pass agent, an inspirer, a friend and even a life saver at times. But sometimes office days does turn out completely and solely devoted to facebook even if you have work. But the sole idea behind that is to manage facebook, gmail and all your other favorites along with  work.

Now you must be thinking why take all the trouble? Why can't you just focus on your work and finish it off? On that note, let me ask you a counter question but provide me with an honest, honest, honest answer!! How many of you wake up in the morning with this thought in mind, "God! i have to go to that god forsaken place again, s***t humbug @#&*#@^&*!!" If you are doing the same even now, face this horrific truth- YOU DO NOT ENJOY YOUR WORK!

What fun or satisfaction do you get sitting 8 hours or even more  in front of the monitor pondering over accounts, photo shop, excel files, MS word, MS office, graphics, editing, writing and the worst one doing maths (yuck)!!! I do not see the fun part anywhere, all i see is work, work and more work. So if you have planned on replying me with this adjective seen in a lot of resumes (DEDICATION) then i think you are leading a very boring and dull WORK LIFE.

And see the irony of a dedicated worker! They go home in the evening and tell their wife and kids or  family, that they had a tiring day at work and was fully loaded with files and clients. Even if you are working in Microsoft, making your job enjoyable is your duty, no one else will do it for you. If you dont do it you are wasting your own precious time and energy. And to make work more interesting the most socially available and popular option that everyone chooses now is to be on facebook (correct me if i am wrong).

Sorry for those unfortunate ones whose company was smart enough to ban or keep an eye on the employees using facebook or any other social media sites!!!But do not think that we are full time on facebook, we know to manage our time (irrespective of all the time management classes the MBA's had) We know how to balance work and fun. Incorporating fun and work together makes your office day a better day i feel .

In the very limited 24 hrs you get in a day, 10-11 hours you have to spend at office including; getting ready for office,  transportation to office, office working time, getting back home from office plus last one the office hangover. So half a day you stay bored and work dedicately the other 8-9 hours you sleep that leaves you with 4 hours to spent with your family and doing other activity. WOW!! there goes your result for being a dedicated and hard working employee- a loooong boooooring life.

 Some dire hard-core facts about using facebook at office:

• It is a true fact that you get to check, scan and lure deep into facebook during your office hours than when you are at home. 
• You have the general tendency to talk to your friends more on facebook when you are at office and less at home.
• When you initiate a conversation in facebook during office, all your friends will tag along to crack jokes, make fun and laugh at each other. That is the beauty of it.
• Many of your friends think that we are wasting our time doodling around in facebook  lazying around and doing nothing !!! we are definitely not !! its just that we know to work the fun way and we do it in style.
• You easily get your work finished with this thought in mind " after this, i will have a sneak peek into my facebook profile for a break"
• I keep in touch and connect with my friends thanks to facebook at office
• I will always be the first one to comment or like a photo or post (Just out of love for my friend and because i liked the post, i dont think it is very harmful)
• You end up loving office days because its not work alone that you are doing you are also socializing and keeping your friend circle alive.

As the saying goes- you have only one life, live it to the fullest!!! (make sure you do!! dont make way for regrets people!! )
P.S: So to all my friend out there who think that i am full time on facebook atleast i am not invisible rather offline like YOU!! Plus i dont think facebooking is a crime to be hidden. So appearing online  doesnt mean i am facebooking just means that i know how to make my work enjoyable:-D

Let me know if you can relate this with yourself as well

Cheers to work!!!

Smart reading on Smart books.

Am I the only one in this world without this fancy piece of gadget called the "Tablet" by some and "iPad" by others. I used to wonder because everywhere I go, I can spot people using this sleek, slim and stylish electronic device. I can tell you, people do look smart when they sit crosslegged on a public transport with this smart piece of an invention that is now taking the whole world like virus! (Its tablet mania now all over the world), touching it and sliding their finger over it like stealing some yummy whipping soft cream or icing from the cake with a finger (I feel like that when i see pople slide over thier iPads).

 Each and every friend of mine are talking about, hey! i bought a new iPad! or hey! I need to buy a tablet or the worst one Which tablet should i buy? like how am i supposed to know, i dont even have one. All i have is a Blackberry that dont even have a radio...Some blackberry it turned out to be! No live music, no live commentory ....nothing!!. When i bough the phone, i dint have the brains to ask the guy if it has a radio instead i was basking in the glory with my heart almost to my mouth about the fact that , I am the sole owner of a BLACKBERRY now...hmm...no point telling that now, is there? Plus i have not even taken a 3G on my phone or activated my BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) yet. He he..I know what you are thinking now (Why the hell are you using a Black Berry if you cannot misuse (i meant misuse, not use!) the BBM right? I know!! I guess i am quite out of the world)

One i have a wi-fi at home so why do i need internet on my BB plus i have internet at office too. When i bought my BB a year back i had zero friends who owned one. But now i have plenty of friends who own a BB and me, very stingy and too lazy to activate the messenger. To all my pending invitation on BBM, i will be coming live soon:-) (Another shocking factor also, neither do i have facebook on my BB, how cool is that...he hee he)

Ok enough of me! so we were talking about iPads and Tablets! Yeah??

Yes, so bottom line all are attracted and captivated to this 'must- have' piece of "electronic book". Well, it's not a bad thing, the world moves and we have to keep up with it. But another important factor that has come to my notice is that 'smartbook users' use this device smartly as a BOOK. Yup! you heard me right, mostly people use it to READ. So proud of the countless number of people who read on their smartbook or Tablet or iPads. This age-old, popular, common hobby people often refer to has still not died with the arrival of fb, t, Lin,youtube and very many other social platforms.

Three cheers to all of you who still have the habit of reading ;-)

And all thanks to Apple, Samsung, Microsoft etc who have been grately successful in giving the readers the absolute look and feel of an original, handheld, hardbound book. Even if its electronic, a single touch or slide can give you  the  real look and feel of turning the pages of an original book while reading. That is pretty cool.

So even if i do not own a Tablet i am happy that the whole world is keeping up with the latest trends and also making sure that old habits and hobbies dont go astray by giving it the much needed prominence amongst this gadget plethora era :-) Still my BB doesn't have a radio:-(

Cheers to all readers, BB people, iPad people and Tablet peeps.... Keep rocking:-)

P.S:  I am so happy that i spent my office time writing this:-)

A song that will inspire

I was waiting for my train at the metro station listening to music and the song i was hearing to ended and made way for a new track which did not sound familiar and i looked at my mobile to see the artist and the song. My screen showed "Don't give up"- Bruno Mars. Wondering if this new song will be able to impress me or make its way out of my playlist; it suddenly took me by surprise. The very first line captured me like magnet and the rest of the song got even better. The song is very plain, simple, to-the-point and lasted only for a matter of one minute and 58 seconds but it puts a very strong, confident and courageous message into your head, "DON'T GIVE UP".


Check out the video and lyrics here, http://www.directlyrics.com/bruno-mars-dont-give-up-lyrics.html


Songs do have an impact on us but this one just happened to hit me hard, very hard! ( trust me, hear the song and you will say the same). Some time songs like these really help us decide or make up our mind more than advice from elders. Any five- year old can make out the sole idea and the message being tried to convey to the people. It is almost a kiddy song aimed at children but we adults can surely learn a lesson from it.


I learned a great lesson in 1:58 sec, that i must never give up on my driving and keep trying hard and never to quit. Best song ever! Highly recommended. If there is something in your life that you find hard  to achieve, I suggest this song for a little inspiration.


"Don't give up, keep on trying, Don't ever stop, try & try again, you gonna get there"- Courtesy "Don't give up- Bruno Mars"

It is everywhere!

That’s right! You see it all around you, while travelling be it a bus, car or train, driving, walking, jogging, waiting, working, even while sleeping, the activities are endless…Hard to find the common factor that fits all of the above? One more clue…It is small, mostly black, has wires but also comes in wireless now and can be connected to your mobile phones (ring a bell?), Yes!!!  I was talking about the ultimate equipment everyone prefers nowadays to listen to music – “The earphones.”

Take a walk outside and you can witness the end number of people with this petite device glued to their ears. Music is hard to live without now and has become a vital source of entertainment, the most sought after hobby in resume's and one of the best ways to deviate your mind from something bad (trust me, it really helps). When you are feeling down and low listening to music can really cheer you up and take your mind away from stressed, troubled and awful thoughts. No wonder music became a source of medicine, the so-called Music Therapy.

This free, painless and relaxed therapy does make wonders to please your mind and put you at ease. Have you ever noticed this interesting phenomenon? When you are listening to some of your favorite tracks, you involuntarily close your eyes, picture things and immediately a slight, naughty smile will come on your face -I bet that smile has a lot of story to tell;-) it may be a face, a gesture, an instance, a word, a dialogue, a place, a name, a journey and many more, some of which are very private, personal and close to you and some ‘not-so-private’ ( I couldn’t find a better word, oops). Just like smile, every song and every tune will also have lot of stories to tell and may also remind you of someone or something (You are smiling now, I can see). Wondering how I find out? I do the same (he he)

So no matter how much your parents scold you for listening too much music or your grandparents for fearing that loud music can blast your ear drums, we always find shelter and peace in the soothing arms of music. It calms us just like the soothing wind ruffling your hair and giving you goose bumps while on the beach, park or a field (provided it is a melody, ghazal or light pop). If you are into hard rock and metal…hmm…(I am also a fan of hard rock and metal but at times when listening to it, I feel as if I am thrashing my boss or taking my rage on someone, to be frank).

I started with earphones and ended in music, guess the two are coupled and cannot be separated like lovers (that is such a lame line, and lovers can be separated under certain circumstances, who created this line anyway... hmmm? )

Anyways,  just a thought on music and how it makes me feel. Tell me your take on musicJ

Wish I would grow up soon....

Has this thought ever passed through your mind?

“How old should I become for others, not to obey me but at least to listen or may be even consider my opinion?” (I am sure this thought has passed through some of your minds in your little span of life) and especially if you are the youngest of the herd in your family then I will bet you for a hundred rupees that you have thought about the same.

Well, this similar thought happens to come by my mind, once every time my opinion gets rejected or my folks don’t give an ear to what I say. But everyone gets to smile or be proud of something, right…? Yes, I also get to be proud when my opinion for some reason or other (may be because they thought that it was practically right) gets to be the final decisionJ (may be not always but, Yes quite frequently)

But why can’t they just accept my opinion in the first place!!!  I have come up with a few points which I think may be the reason for my opinion not being considered:

ü  May be they think that 22 is not an average age to make decisions

ü  They might have felt that I have not seen the world enough, made more decisions or faced dramatic situations in life like them (to make more sense in malayalam “nammal kure onam undittilla” compared to them)

ü  Or is it because I act all hyper, lively, playful, crack jokes and make fun that they don’t consider me matured enough to make decisions?

Hmmm…. I think these may be quite a few of the reasons for which my opinion is given a moderate importance. 

What do you think? Do tell me if you have faced the same situation, (I don’t wanna think that I am the only one in this world who thinks about crazy stuff like this)

Share with me if you have also thought at some point of your life this very line, “I wish I would grow up soon” (so that they listen to me for once)

Namesake

My name is Ann, Ann Maria Cleetus. I kinda did not like my name when i was at school due to the fact that it was very long and was divided into three parts, whereas all my other friends had just two parts and was easy to spell out like ‘Aswathy or Chithra or Krishna’. But for me I had to spread out my name like ‘Ann’ space ‘Maria’ space ‘Cleetus’. And if someone asked my name, it was very difficult to say the full thing out and at most instances i had to repeat my name twice for the fact that it was not understood and not clear to the listener.  I don’t know if it was the way I pronounced my name or have they not heard about such a name!Also people tend to call me 'Annmarie' or 'Annmariya' without a space in between and often wrote it wrong as well but that was not who actually i was and hated it when my name got altered.

Things changed when i joined college and i realized saying your full name was not essentially important. Earlier i used to think, what my dad would feel if i did not tag along his name along with mine when someone asked for my name. In college, i would just mention my name as 'Ann', simple and sweet and that's when i started to like it. Since it’s college, i got all weird and funny tags like 'Annakutty','Annammo' and very many other names (hard to put on public…hehehe)etc.

Another fact I noticed about my name was that when they call me ‘Annammo’, they call me with so much love that I can even feel it in their very tone. ‘Ann’ is a very old name originated from Greek or Latin or Hebrew (any one of those)…Oh ya! The meaning of Ann is ‘grace’. I do get complements from people saying that I am graceful:-P (I dunno how much truth there is to that sentence). And I am not sure if a name actually represents a person whom he or she is.

Nowadays, without my provocation friends call me ‘Annammo’ instead of ‘Ann’. It gets surprising when distant friends call me that. I dunno why they call me, may be they find it easier to call or call me out of love (I love you guys then for this reason).

So bottom line even though I used to hate my name when I was a kid now I am really proud to say that I hold a very prestigious, popular and beautiful name, ‘Ann’ . Thank you to all my dear friends because without you guys I don’t know if I would ever come to love my name with a whole heart.


What!!!! your name has a story too....tell me i would like to know? also tell me the meaning of your names, i wish to know:-)


One thing i forgot to tell you and which i feel is more special about my name is that my name is composed of my dad's name, "Cleetus" and my mom's name, "Maria" and funny thing is "Maria"  also happens to be my paternal grandmother's name and maternal grandmother's name:-) ...Now tell me how many of you are lucky to have four names inclined together to form your name...In that case, i am very blessed and lucky to have this as my name. 


If you also happen to have weird combos like this tell me please:-) i do love company:-)

"Calicut,Kasargode" from a Pakistani guy

Is it amazing, shocking or surprising when a grey haired, sweet faced Pakistani asks you "calicut, kasargode?" How often does that happen in your life? Such an incident happened to me yesterday fortunately! 

I was climbing down the stairs swiftly where i suddenly slipped, all thanks to my shoes. Guess its loosing the grip from all the walking i have been doing for two years. How long does your shoe last? Well thankfully i was spared from the embarrassing moment of landing on my bump but yet again i did trip in front of all the ladies. So I quickly glanced through the side of my eyes to check if any one of them witnessed my clumsiness but i didn’t dare to check their expression and went on as if nothing happened( everyone does that right?).

I was at an institute to attend driving lecture sessions and this so called building is situated in the middle of the desert where taxi comes by once in a blue moon. I got out of the institute as soon as possible to beat the mob of impatient people, who will be waiting for their taxis soon. As the 45C blazing sun touched my skin, I realized that I forgot my sun protection at home…..and NO it’s not my sunscreen, it’s my umbrella. Without the mercy of my dear companion, the long wait for the taxi is going to be tiresome ….and just when I thought about it… a taxi came by luckily, I hailed it and got in swiftly to cool myself in the AC.

As usual told the driver the destination (my home) and he asked me the raastha (way). I was like “duh….I don’t know” . It’s embarrassing, I know you are to know the way to your own home but the roads in UAE can be very confusing at times, luckily he found out the way, no wonder he is a taxi driver. No later he asked me about my lecture classes and training lessons for driving and I was quite amazed that a random 45ish -50ish guy  took interest in my driving classes. Well, no harms done I replied giving details about my driving schedule.

The next question was a little touchy; he asked me if I was a PAKISTANI or an INDIAN? I was a bit shaken but i replied with a proud note; " I am an Indian" then came the next question; " South India or North India", i was like he is so partial and replied with "Kerala". His next query startled me and never expected that from a Pakistani chap; "Calicut, Kasargode?" i reverted with kochi and he nodded his head indicating that he is  familiar with kochi. 

Kerala might be familiar to the whole world being called God's own country, the green country, land of house boats, ayurvedic treatments, beaches and many more but the places inside Kerala are still ignorant to many and by 'many' I meant to also include many Indians as well. But this random Pakistani guy who picked me up from my driving institute to drop me home knows the innermost malabar regions of  Kerala! 

He dropped me home but left me something to think about; he might have picked up the name "Calicut and kasargode" from his roommates, colleagues or passengers or may be some other source but the fact that he knows so much about India made me so little in front of him.How many places in Pakistan do i know? Well from the history text i know Harappa and Mohenjodaro exist apart from that i am clueless about the states or even the districts in Pakistan. 

How many places, states or districts are you familiar with in Pakistan? How much do you know about your neighboring country? Do you even know the capital of Pakistan?

The facebook photography trend

I am sure that most of us will have liked a photography page or two on facebook out of the love for the photos posted on the page.  It is difficult nowadays to browse on facebook without avoiding or stepping onto the end number of photography pages that are sprouting up with every passing second. Photography pages of individuals from every corner of the world are the new talk in face book town.

Thanks to this most popular and fun filled social media website; facebook, people now have a chance to showcase or display their hidden talents with photography being one among them. Photography pages in facebook have captivated and attracted more ‘likes’, ‘comments’ and ‘reviews’ than any other talent pages like articles, poems, cartoons, sketches etc. Photography is no single entity but has various branches related to it like fashion photography, wedding photography, portraits, models, flora, fauna, insects, vehicles, sports ,edifice and many more the list is endless.

The artists or creative minds behind the construction of this so-called photography page differ from mere amateurs, who created the page to display their passion for photography to professionals who have taken up photography as a means of their daily bread. The photography pages have created quite an impact on the viewers that the very title will grasp the viewers to explore, enjoy and even criticize the masterpiece of the artist. With all due respect to the profession; photography is no child’s play or cake walk.

The success of these photography pages are clearly visible… don’t believe me, here is a solid proof! A well-known, popular, much-shared and highly praised page in facebook has a whooping 1,66,240 likes and counting  (that is like 166K and counting) which is solely owned by a photographer entitled as Hari Menon and titled in facebook as Hari Menon Photography (check it out in facebook and you will know that I am not bluffing.) This person has photographs from every slice of life and his album is endless showcasing beautiful, awe-stricken and jaw dropping photos.

Amateurs, who wish to proclaim a steadfast and vigorous portfolio or a career in photography is now made easy with this open forum and community pages in social media. You get a chance to learn, analyze and observe the pictures absolutely free of cost. And if you wish to know the type of camera used, the kind of shot, the frame, resolution, clarity, focus and other technical details; with facebook you get instant replies and answers to all your queries regarding photography in a nick of a time.

The way an artist see things through a lens is vastly different from the way a normal person view it via the naked eye. The minor and minute facets and details of life which we have overlooked is taken up by the artist and highly applauded and appreciated by us. And that is the irony of it! The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is now more aptly put as “a picture is worth a thousand and million likes” all thanks to facebook. 

Mother's Day or Mother's Days?

                       I wonder why Mother’s Day is celebrated in the whole of March, April and May rather than just a sole day like February 14^th for Valentine’s Day or October31st for Halloween. Are mothers in every corner of the world different? I strongly believe that mothers share the same quality, love, affection, behavior, trust and very many other beautiful adjectives that are common only to them, be it in any part of the world. The real reason behind Mother’s Day is of course to celebrate, honor and admire mothers, their motherhood and the significance of a mother in a family all around the world.

                Then why must the world celebrate Mother’s Day at different dates in different months. Having read a recent article on Yahoo regarding the dates where Mother’s Day is celebrated around the world, I was taken aback by its veracity and here is the proof; if you are in the Middle East then Mother’s Day falls on March 21^st; Russia and Eastern Europe celebrates on March 8^th; for UK, Ireland, Nigeria and Bangladesh it’s on March 18^th; Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Mozambique celebrate on the first Sunday of May; China, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Greece, Canada, Philippines, Switzerland, United States, Italy, Cuba, Cuba and Pakistan and a long list of other countries honor Mother’s Day on second Sunday of May; France, Tunisia, Haiti, Sweden, Morocco and very many other countries celebrate on the last Sunday of May…phew!!! The list is endless with almost 200 countries making up for the entire world.

                     And if you are an Indian but an immigrant in the Middle East, US or UK which day will you choose to honor your mother? Is it going to be March 21^st as it is in the Middle East or the second Sunday of May as in the US and India or March 18^th like in the UK? Hmmm….Something to think about I guess? But whom should we leave the decision to; ourself, the media, stories, history or culture in this state of confusion? Or do we actually need to decide on a single date to express all the love we have for our mother?

                  Being an Indian living in Dubai it was hard for me to decide when to celebrate Mother’s Day but it so happened that I ended up buying her a gift when I got my salary and unfortunately that didn’t fall on any of the proposed dates set to honor Mother’s Day either in Dubai or in India. With all the media, marketing, promotions, advertisements and sales soaring up with every passing minute on Mother’s Day where profit and TRP ratings are all that matters; I guess we daughters and sons are the best people to decide when and how to honor our own mothers. A small peck on her cheek, a “love you, mom”, a hug or a loveable expression or gesture will be more than enough for your mom anytime of the day to tell her how much she means to you.

I love you mom:-*

Spelling Mistake! Never a mistake

Have you ever come across sign boards in front of shops reading “juse, briyani, chilly Gowi, coupen, Tiffen, chckn, coffe”? Does it sound strange, curious or just normal? Now for that matter have you had second thoughts of stepping out to another shop or walking in with the judgment that the shops serve “juice, biriyani, chilly Gobi, coupon, Tiffin, chicken, and coffee”? Our brain has the ability to interpret the right words even if it is wrongly written. Henceforth precise spelling is not a necessity when it comes to boards of these kinds as long as the meaning is conveyed.

These kind of boards are usually seen in front of small hotels or dhabhas, where the hotel owners are either less educated or immigrants from other cities having knowledge in one basic language. They cannot afford to spend too much money on hoardings and neon hence they employ other painters or artists to do the job who are equally illiterate. Mostly they write in a way the word is pronounced or they tend to copy other boards which can be either right or wrong. The hotel owners who are devoid of basic education cannot judge what is written on the board or revise it .Hence they position it as it is in front of the shops.

Making a spelling mistake is not the end of the world; provided you have a dictation or you are pursuing a profession as a journalist who tend to live on vocabulary. For them a spelling mistake can cost them their job and wouldn’t want to be played with. According to Shanmukhan, hotel owner, “These signboards can be read and understood by any ten year old child regardless of the mistake in it. Therefore right spelling is not mandatory when people rightly comprehend it. My shop has been here for almost a year and no one has misunderstood ‘juse’, many people come to drink juice here.”

Sometimes you can also witness many letters omitted out on boards. One such board spelt ‘Blutooth’ without an ‘e’, just for the sake of squeezing the word and fitting it in the board. Many a time’s letters go astray because of the lack of space. Even though its done out of necessity, later turns out to be innovative and eye-catching. However, the shop owners are well aware of the mistake in their boards but since it has not affected their sales, the spelling mistake is no antagonist. When enquired why no change is made in the boards knowing it is wrong, one such shop owner, Velmurukan responded with a humble smile “we will change it soon”.

The day of surveillance

It was a very cloudy day, the mountains were barely visible, and the sky was in hesitation to pour or not. But the weather was very pleasant and chilly, making me feel as if I was in Darjeeling. Of course I have never been to Darjeeling, but no harms done. I know Darjeeling could not be as beautiful as our Ettimadai mountain now a days. I boarded the bus to Coimbatore; as usual the radio was on full swing though it was not very audible with the honking of the bus, and the swish of the wind. The bus was a bit crowded, my eyes searched for a seat but looks like the ladies section is all full and the women folk are all tired and sleeping, I stood at the mercy of a pole and was a bit sad as I didn’t get a good outside view.

But I enjoyed observing the facets of people inside the bus and was amazed to see a lady with her incisors in level with her palate, finding it difficult to close her mouth. I quickly came back to my senses when a lady stamped my foot and a stream of pain flashed through my body. It did hurt but when she spread her smile indicating a sorry it felt good and my pain went astray. I had to be victims of three such foot stamps during the course of my journey to Coimbatore but all their smiles healed my pain. Inspecting the sights outside I found that the roads were completely dominated by black and white goats; some were eating posters, some were digging their face inside a coconut shell hastily feeding on their fore limbs. Finally, I got to sit but the comfort lasted only two minutes as I reached our destination.

Like always the streets were busy and we had to hurdle our way out of the mob. It started to drizzle but no one bothered to take their umbrellas all were enjoying the little shower. As it started to pour the dry roads created small polka dots pattern, except where the bus was standing at a halt which was clear but soon filled the empty space as the bus moved. Yellow was a color that caught my eye wherever I turned my head autos, lorries, water tanks, traffic signals, bus, flux boards, posters, even women had a tinge of yellow on their face with the use of ‘manjal’; herbal turmeric powder, also their ‘thali’; wedding thread was yellow in color. Just like Jaipur is called the ‘Pink City’ I felt Tamil Nadu should be called the ‘Yellow City’.

 For the first time I saw live palmistry on the roadside, three green parrots compartmented in a cage and one of it coming out hesitantly and taking a card from the list of spread out cards. The palm reader seems to be a wise guy covered in saffron dhoti having long unclean tangled gray beard and hair  with ‘bhasmakuri’ and ‘kumkum’ on his forehead, his customer was waiting in anxiety to know about his future. I was walking behind a lady and suddenly she turned and came by my side, I noticed she had red lips and teeth with chewing beetle leaves. I felt happy to see the sight of her spitting in the drainage and not on the road, at least one person contributed to keeping the city clean. Having seen a pleasing sight a smile appeared on my face and I continued walking, all through my day I saw lots of green and yellow bananas in pushcarts owned by vendors, it was quite a view of bright green and bright yellow which made me even hungrier.

While walking I caught a little theft that happened in front of me. A sweet shop in the city; not a very busy one, the employee snatched a ‘rasagula’ from the huge bowl of ‘rasagulas’ and quickly stuffed it into his mouth without anyone seeing. After the act, his eyes scanned around looking for possible suspects and noticed me viewing the whole scene. He turned away his face and didn’t even glance at me again, may be because he felt guilty of the whole situation. Engrossed in thoughts relating to what I witnessed, a swift cold wind blew without warning that ignited my senses and made me feel elated. There were many street vendors selling fruits, vegetables, accessories, snacks, ’bhajis’ but what caught my eye was an old lady who was selling garlands made from jasmine. She is old and draped in a filthy messy sari; her hair is untied and I figured out from the hunch developed on her back that she had been in this position selling garlands for a very long time.

With the drops of water getting heavier and heavier; diverse colors of umbrella sprouted up as protection from the rain. Ladies gnawing ‘panparag’, a guy puffing a cigarette to beat the cold, a girl wearing a handkerchief on her head like a ‘bandana’ ‘to shield her from rain, a traffic police talking to the nearby shop keeper sheltering himself from the down pour, a mad guy, whose dress was covered in filth and soil walking in the rain, talking to himself showing out gestures and actions with his hand to gain attention from others for what reason, no one knows?, a traffic signal which is not operational, I passed by a Muslim church, where many people were inside praying and others taking their ablutions to pray.

I noticed a woman, who was coming towards me, she looked normal but something in her eyes didn’t feel quite right, as I lowered my eyes I observed that her left hand was dangling along as she moved; lifeless, which made me realize how thankful I have to be to God for letting me into this world well-designed. With that gifted thought in mind I walked to the railway station to catch the train back to college.

Thankyou God for being so kind to me

We are Indians, Not English!

Given an assignment to read the book “Becoming Indian, the unfinished revolution of Culture and Identity” by Pawan. K Varma, I didn’t realize the actual benefit behind it. After having read the book I understood how important it is to know about one’s culture and land and give considerable priority to it rather than upholding certain ideas and beliefs which are not ours, but which have been inhabited to us.

The British came and colonized us for more than a hundred years, but still their traits remain with us in our language, dressing, talking, mannerism and to an extent our culture; which we consider as our pride. We give huge importance to the language English be it texting, conversation, e-mail, letters…but it is very rare that we do the same in our mother tongue. Even if we use it, we do mix up English at least in one sentence spoken or else we would never get a satisfaction in front of others. Most of the parents today feel that knowing English is far more important than knowing their own mother tongue. And they take great pride in hearing their child talk in English.

We have to be thankful to the British for empowering us with the language English without which a successful futuristic life in different parts of the country would not have been possible. But their roots were so strong that “Hollywood, English, Pop, Keats, Shakespeare, Shelly” are more preferred than “Bollywood, Carnatic music, Kalidasa, Chanakya”. Many a times, it’s an embarrassing moment, when we talk words and words about history, culture and literature of the British and when it comes to our own country’s history, language and literature all we can do is beat around the bush.

             

The British who came as mere traders ruled our country for almost a century, because of the space and trust we placed on them and our culture of “Atithi Devo Bhava” demands it. Misusing and manipulating it, they had over-shown us with power and control. Britishers used to insult our language, culture, idols, structures, people etc. but now the number of Europeans pouring in every second in the name of tourism is innumerable. The one’s who insulted “Taj Mahal” as ‘bald and indefinite’ now under their own body of scholars selected “Taj Mahal” as one of the seven wonders of the world and  still in line without doubt.

It is sad to know that our Indian history was written by Britishers which we still follow in our schools and colleges. Another funny fact is Indian authors are not given the amount of respect and admiration which we give to European authors. Even in our country dignity and respect goes with those who wear tuxedo, tie, highly polished shoes and high flown English and our inmates are not even cared upon and is considered inferior to the former. It is high time we pay respect to our history, study and know about our culture and literature or else there will appear situations where we will be shunned down by other countries.

Having read the book, realization struck me that “being all English in attitude and conduct; you are making yourself an NRI in your own country.” Let’s thank the English people for their broad mindedness in helping us learn the language and start exploring our own history, language and culture before we forget our “ mother India “ which comprises all.