A haiku-ish ode to the stunning Bannerghatta National Park

Oh…..that was a perfect day. Here’s how!!

I went with my good pal to the national park, and what a lovely surprise that was. Except the chained mammoths, every little being made me so happy. However, I didn't quite like the condition in which the lovely elephants were kept. they were chained at their ankles and could hardly move. That made me sad :(

But here are a few snaps that I clicked that day!

‘Grizzly-woozly bears’

Living on daydreams
who worries ’bout Monday morning blues
Yummy winter plans

'world wide web'


I like the one that charlotte spins right across my face
Almost everyday
I wince, but hey that doesn’t give me a sore neck

'Big Cats'


Ivory n mud stripes
elegance personified
A face adorning tunes of glory


'Zoo blues'

painted peafowl tap to rhythmic giggles
butterflies paint rainbows

but oh the teary-eyes on chained mammoths – I feel blue

‘Fish’

Cheery colors of spring
Swim by each bend
a fortress cracks

'Deer’

signature of elegance spire up corners of thy head
A stub of a tail n I see thee run
Pure bliss

‘Snake’

Your mystic swivel into the crafted woods
I’m weak in the knees - amazed, petrified
Respect!

celebrating a good week :)

so here's to a fine week after a long long time :)
great work, great work-out ;) n great fun too
so...i took a "let's get cr8ive" break here
made on MS paint - a happy young girl ..... let her be that way!

“India's commonwealth games ignominy makes Pakistan's cricket spot fixing look nirma-washed clean in comparison.!” says Barkha Dutt. I say “So true"

"We understand the concerns of member countries here for participation in CWG, but the situation is under control," says OC General Secretary Lalit Bhanot.
REALLY?

So that big giant bridge collapsing like a Godzilla, on 23 workers, was what - A freak show? Or hadn’t we grabbed enough attention already with (well…let me bullet point them…there are so many)
• Attacks near the gorgeous tourist destination Jama Masjid – this was such a great occasion to advertise India as one of the best tourist destinations in the World. It so is! But, naah ….. they’ll come down with their guns alright and shoot from their goddamned a***s! arggghhhhhh ….. it makes me so angry!
• Dengue – now it’s not them….it’s us. Boy are we filthy? Whose job is it? Just the municipality guys? Or is the CWG OC supposed to clean up behind us every time we cross some place… spitting and littering, n … yeah you name it! Not just any place, even at coveted places this is a phenomenon, and when I try to tell them “Sir, please don’t spit (or litter)” I get that weird stare “are you new around this place?” “yeah, I am! And I’ll make you history if you don’t learn how to behave”, I mutter to myself in disgust, and say “Please don’t litter Sir! It’s not hygienic, n neither pretty, n it’s not really that inconvenient to use the bins lined up right beside you”.
• Filthy and shameful standards of hygiene in the village – so much so that in addition to the crazy frowns we were slapped with an embarrassing clean-up deadline by the CWG authorities. C’mon! And to top it all Mr. Bhanot actually said this “Everyone has different standards about cleanliness. The Westerners have different standards, we have different ones”. I mean c’mon!!
• & then monsoons might mess up the opening ceremony of the CWG 2010 in Delhi! Well, what can be done? Let’s blame the Gods for this.
• Lax in security? Mike Duffy of Seven News (Auatralia’s Channel 7) easily entered the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium with a huge (and strange looking) suitcase full of crude explosives. Wow! But the OC spokesmen said that the test was not done during a security lockdown. Had it been done then, this wouldn’t have happened. So the whole thing is bogus! Well, let’s give you the benefit of doubt this time. But the phenomenon is not quite uncommon in our country - don’t know where else, but definitely not here (http://bellsofdervish.blogspot.com/2008/11/reply-to.html)


Let’s forget the unfinished painting bits, and the wiring and plumbing jobs for some time. Yeah, that’s going to be a wreck too unless we’re planning to hire a magician or two at the last hour, so that the hurried job ends up delivering. We have less than 2 weeks before the opening day and there’s an utter mess around the CWG 2010 event. I wish we could’ve used this to portray a strong political statement about our country. I salute China for pulling off the Beijing Olympics with such élan. Corruption breeds persistent habits you see, and even in an event as grand as this, we ate our hands off feeding ourselves those tainted alms; stealing people’s money! Who’d have thought that that silly bridge would collapse at a spot so difficult to cover for? Hard luck, huh?

Whatever! I have stopped hoping for any +ve externality for the country from CWG now. Seriously, can’t manage it! Then don’t take it! Why taint the face for the country in front of the whole world. I am embarrassed.


Photo courtesy: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d83cb93c-c53f-11df-9563-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

Beral (The Cat) - Jibonananda Das

dedicated to my lovely bunch of kitties at IIMA (D2). I miss them sooo much....n today, when I saw this cat near the coffee shop I so yearned to go back to my dear ones at 'A' and pat them n hear them purr n meow at me :)

The God didn’t impress me this time!!

maybe he was trying too hard :|

“O Yaaron ….. Let’s go” doesn’t work out too well for me. Well I’m a Rahman fan … ‘coz? Well ‘coz he’s simply awesome. I was so looking forward to another massive Rahman hit …… but when I heard this CWG2010 no. for the 1st time….it was like one of those Suman Chatterjee/ Kabir Suman (whatever!!) no.s. Like som1 was trying too hard to give us a power-packed melody that was also a subtle n emphatic message, that would linger on forever (like waka waka ….boy, I loved that no.).

The lyrics especially stab us to death :p Reminds me of the Anu Malik shayiri gimmicks on EKLKBK or Indian Idol. Not Good!

Oh…. I understand the pressure ….. maybe Shakira wasn’t trying this hard to deliver. It just simply worked out like magic….the rawness of the moves, the melody, n the addictive fun …..waka waka will stay on my i-pod for a llllongggg time!
Hmm…… but yeah….I do understand the pressure Rahman babu. Wish you all the best next time :)

I’m sure u’ll set us all on fire again – sometime soon ;)
Cheers!

[photo courtesy AR Rahman fan page on face book http://www.facebook.com/#!/arrahman ]

A self-destructive camaraderie with an alternate reality

Eid Mubarak dear world ….. wish you peace!

Have been super-active today. Dunno what it is … but just completed a pretty energetic and useful 5 hours at work. So what’s the secret? The extremely numb corridors of my office, thanks to the Eid break :D, or did I just jinx the monotone of profligacy with my post last evening?

Whatever it was, I’m happier this way. So… thought of taking a blogging break over lunch… was sooo hungry! And completing the whole truth, I also needed to switch to the more important, right now kind of work. I’ve put that aside…dunno why, but have to get it over with before tomorrow :o

Wow… Believe me that’s a lot! Has it ever happened to you… that you sit down to work on something and all that pops up in your head are thoughts and ideas about another piece of work? They’re like these many interesting and useful z-balls which you know are dear and can’t let go off. So, you end up chasing them, trying to tame them all at once. I tamed one of those other balls which I could’ve left alone for some time.
You get the idea… my life literally needs some serious de-cluttering, well… I guess … Right Now!!

Ugghhhhh … I want to see a movie, I want to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi……
I guess I should pin the meme that’s in here right now…so that I can tame it before I lose it in a host of other ones… which more often than not are the more powerful ones. What am I saying?

Chao!

... and Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
Ganapati Bappa Maurya! Mangal Moorti Mayrya!

There are Days.....

when there’s an ‘oh-so-powerful’ numinous force that makes me glide through a commendable volume of work. I wake up just at the right moment – enough sleep yet enough time to get ready, do yoga, clean up the house, enjoy a leisurely shower, wear an ironed set of clothes, relish over a lovely breakfast of fruits and cereal, and yet get hold of that damned shuttle ;) to office. At office, I surf the net (just enough) and work efficiently – oh, that’s so important! Reach home just in time to catch up with my family over a steaming cup of cha. Freshen up, and go for an hour-long dip in the pool, working out those extra dark chocolates that I love to nibble at. Return, grab a bowl of fruits, chit-chat with ma, help her with dinner stuff, leaf through some work, TV, food, and a cozy sleep. Well, this doesn't happen too often though. Most of my days just sink, with an annoying plop!

So what is it that makes these days work out so differently? Hmm… That’s the worst part … I know what it is…… I procrastinate! Does it happen to you too?