Hope and Hype

Bangalore Mumbai-ed the papers scream. But is it really? Sure there's water logging in some areas but nowhere has there been power outage. The problem really has been bad planning. Something the garden city is notorious for. Several layouts have been built in low lying areas abutting tanks or erstwhile tanks. This year there's been more rain than usual making the tanks overflow and the erstwhile tanks fill up. Small wonder then that there's water in several places.

Instead on focussing on the simple explanation, the press is more concerned with pictures of flooding. So much that SO's mother actually called me up to find out if I was ok. Not to be outdone, for the past three days, all those who've had to cross waterlogged areas have been recounting their perilous journeys much like soldiers at the front. "What time did you reach? What time did you leave? How did your bus go?". "Did you see that car that was floating? Did you see how much water there was in XYZ Building?"

:S Do we really have nothing better to talk about? Bangalore is slowly crumbling under the strain of all the people who live in it and we're really only bothered about excess water? The social fabric of this city is disintegrating. Over the past few weeks I've felt more and more amazed at the way Bangaloreans behave. They used to be polite and considerate but now they're only looking after themselves. No more politeness, no more friendliness... what's happening. Not like the spirit is completely dead... yesterday auto drivers were willing to give lifts. But it's getting worse.

Lets see where we are in another year... quite likley under the rubble of a quickly imploding city.

Zara Hatke Zara Bachke

I've lived in this city all my life and have seen it grow from a pleasant little city to a sprawling metropolis that is truly a melting pot. There was a time when at least 90% of the city consisted only of south Indians but now it's no longer so. But that's not the point. I may post at some time or the other about how the number of people have changed the nature and attitude of my city, but not now.

This post is dedicated to the live and let live attitude in my city. Several years ago, when girls first began smoking, no shopkeeper would look shocked if a girl asked him for a cigarette no matter how he actually felt. They were always gracious and polite and if disapproving, silently so. The trend continues. I wanted to buy a bottle of wine from a local wine shop. I'd seen some bottles of imported wine in their window some months ago so went back and enquired. The populous was amazed and anxious to see this curiousity but the shopkeeper acted as though women regularly dropped into his shop to buy alcohol.

In hindsight, I should have known better. The bottle was standing upright in a window. Direct sunlight and no contact with the cork. The wine was oxidised but not too bad. And long live the urban shopkeeper! :)

Oh Yes Again!

I planned to explain the title yesterday but got swamped in a mini-crisis at work. The first test was who I was in my past life. Interestingly the test only asks you for your current profession. Boy was I thrilled to find out I was a ditzy South American poet! I must say, the rest of the tests are also wonderfully flattering.

I like the thought that people love me anyway :)

Oh Yes!

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Ditzy Poet. Where You Lived: Argentina. How You Died: Decapitation.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

Pepperoni Pizza

Robust and dominant. When you go for something, you go full force. You tend to take control of situations easily. And in return, you get a ton of respect.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

I Pod! Do You?

The parents were away on a nice long vacation to the US of A. They visited all our relatives in that part of the world, notably my brother. I was nice enough not to give them a shopping list and wondered what they'd bring me back. Honestly, when they left there was nothing I wanted from there. By the time they returned, I'd found a couple of things. A perfume you don't get here and a Citizen Eco-Drive watch that also you don't get here. So I mailed them but really really late, figuring that they wouldn't be able to get it.

Instead, of their own accord, they bought me an IPod!!! And not just any IPod, the U2 Special Edition! Over the years, I've gotten fonder and fonder of U2 till now I'm convinced that if they ever have a concert in India, I'm there! Another band in that category is Aerosmith. Lets see.... we have time :)

I was checking my personal mail and one one of the lists.. this is what I got:
"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward. - Spanish proverb"

:) I always knew that in a past life I was from that part of the world.. actually yesterday I was listening to a song by Il Divo called Passera and it almost made me cry. I think it was more the voices.. I love male singing voices and these guys are awesome! All along I've liked male tenor, bass and baritone singing voices. I used to like this actor named Mario Lanza who was first a singer. The regular pop/rock singers.... they have words but not 'voices'. The opera singers have voices with a capital V. Their diction sometimes is strange but what voices!!

USA and the UN

The last endless posts have been a bit wrapped up in the personal and I thought it was time to lift myself out of that. I saw 'The Interpreter' recently. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Some of it was a bit far fetched but one thought has stuck in my mind since.

If even one third of the arrangements the movie showed the US making for foreign heads of state visiting the UN is true, the US is doing the world a great favour. We don't realise, kinda take it for granted that our heads of state will be safe but that's not really true. The US arranges security and transport with convoy and helicopter escort (according to the movie) for every visiting dignitary! Imagine how much that costs? I guess I should carefully examine the income and expenditure of the UN before commenting but I presume that the US contributes rather a lot to the effort.

Imagine if they decide to kick the UNHQ out. Where would it go? Which other country would be albe to develop the necessary infrastructure and guarantee the saftey necessary for something like the UNHQ? Off hand, I can't think of even one that might oblige. Not like the US is doing phenomenally well, but it does have the financial stregth to manage this effort, and currently it also has the security might to pull it off. I would probably not take my chances in any other country of the world.

So perhaps, in all the US bashing that we indulge in, we should also thank them for the support they still provide.

Thodi Masti, Thodi Yaari, Thoda Pyar

Jhankaar!!

SO's trip to see me was phenomenal. I usually rave in hyperbole but this was truly awesome. I suddenly realised that I'm el freako. For no good reason I got all hyperactive about him and me and about how I'm not getting to see him. I had my reasons and they were reasonable. And SO saw that, almost with blinding force when he read the last post. (Aside: The use of Angelus there was wrong. Apparently Angelus is a prayer and all I wanted to do was to call on my guaridan angel).

Loving someone is not easy. But then again, nobody said it was. It takes work and commitment and honesty and at times it seemed like I was doing all the work. I've said before somewhere else, or maybe just to a friend, SO's very good with all this cause he can see what the future will be like. Him and me etc. I couldn't, till this weekend.

This year hasn't been good for me relationship wise. It started off ok, cause I was with SO but over the year degenerated into depression. As I just realised this morning, when my emotional state is good, I'm really doing well. I sleep well, I'm able to get up and get to work efficiently, be efficient at work, be efficient at home, etc. When I'm depressed everything falls apart. I don't want to do anything at all. Not work, not house hold stuff, absolutely nothing. I need to watch out for this in myself.

Anyway, early this year it happened once that I didn't know where SO and I were going cause I thought we were heading in a particular direction but it turned out I was further down the road than SO and there was no way for him to catch up or for me to backtrack. That was a couple of weeks before my exams and man was it hard! I was staying in a friend's place and exactly at that time, she was out of town and very busy. Then that got over and I made it back home, got a job and started working and it started again. I didn't know where we were headed and whether we both wanted to reach the same place.

Now.... I know that we want to be together. That conviction is strong enough to make everything happen. In addition, I know that what previously seemed like insurrmountable obstacles are merely roadhumps. The thing is, they're roadhumps for SO and I can't help him over them. This time probably showed him that he doesn't need to do much more than navigate, but we'll see.

Of course, spending time with him showed me what we have. It's been a long time since it was just him and me talking or hanging out and that was really nice. I missed that rather a lot. I don't expect to get a lot more of that but I think now I'll get to meet him at more regular intervals and he'll be less obstructionist ;)