Finally

Finding a cyber cafe in the outskirts of Chennai is just as hard as convincing the owner to allow me an extra 2 minutes just so that I can tell you that I still exist and that I will be back sooner than you can say 'unmayava nan pakalapa'.

Hyderabad Blues

In my 50 day stay at Gandhinagar, I hardly got the chance to read newspapers. And so I have been reading overtime here in Mumbai. From the climate conference in Copenhagen to the 'thrilling' confessions of Ajmal Kasab. I even know the names of each of Tiger Woods' mistresses and the amount they plan to sue him for! But the one issue that has hogged the headlines for the past week or so is that for the creation of a separate Telangana state. The premise that smaller states will lead to effective administrative units makes a lot of sense. But where does one draw the line? Mayawati has sent a proposal for the trifurcation of Uttar Pradesh, a state which has already been split once. People in Vidharba want a state for themselves. And then we have Gorkhaland in West Bengal, the most sincere of all the proposals. The North East past of West Bengal is so dissimilar as compared to the rest of the state that separation there is inevitable. I frankly don't have any real opinion on this issue and it matters very little to me as to whether India has 30 states or 50. But I really pity todya's school children as when I was in school I had serious issues remembering the capitals of a mere 25 states.

Miss World 2009

I am not a fan of beauty pageants as such, but yesterday while flipping through channels I caught the live telecast of Miss World 2009. And ten minutes was all I could last. By the time I started watching, they were down to the final seven. And it was the question and answer round. Hardly a minute into it and I was disappointed. I had missed my personal favourite, the swimsuit round. But I still continued watching. Here are some of the answers, given by supposedly the 'cream' of the women species.

Q: If you could bring your family to South Africa, which place would you take them to?

A: I would take them to the zoo! I enjoyed the safari, feeding the giraffe and petting the lions. It was an out of the world experience.

Dude! Not happening. Even my neighbour's kid who just learnt to speak a week back would have given a more sensible answer. Zoos are all over the world. You don't need to get your family all the way to South Africa to visit one!

Here is another one.

Q (addressed to Miss Canada): Why should you be selected Miss World?

A: Miss World should be kind, selfless and compassionate. These qualities have always been part of my upbringing. If I were to be Miss World, I would definitely try to bring about a change in the world.

Kind, selfless and compassionate! Excuse me! And the lady ended up in fourth place. Wasn't much of a surprise though, as some of the judges were former beauty queens themselves.

But the issue doesn't end here. There is this entire growing breed of girls who are highly influenced by this miss world culture. Their answer to what do you want to do in life varies from eliminating poverty to making a difference. How? They don't quite know. But that matters little to them.

One Fine Day

It was just like you told me it would be. Exactly the same. Right down to the minutest detail. The dry heat, sapping out every bit of one's energy. The endless mountain ranges, with trees outlining them. The narrow lanes, dotted with foreigners. Scores of hawkers, peddling their wares. Puppet shows at every other corner. Tiny little houses, spread out as far as the eye could see. It was just like you told me it would be.

And everything there reminded me of you. School children wearing blazers, more as a necessity. Teenagers cycling together in groups. Pretty girls bargaining hard as if their life depended on it. Everything.

You were right. Udaipur is beautiful. I saw all the places that there were to see. The others were busy clicking pictures. I was collecting memories. And recollecting memories. I visited the lake palace too. And felt the same way that you must have. I have made up my mind to stay there one day. Just like you did. Probably that is where our paths would meet again.

I kept my half of the promise and came. But you just weren't there.

My Experiments with Learning

Loads and loads to write about, but I just don't have the time! My weekends are choc-a-bloc. Wrote this article during a training session. We had a 30 minute test and a 150 word limit to stick to. Finally my blogging came into use. So here goes:

Learning is something that doesn't come naturally to me. Be it theoretical knowledge or the finer nuances of life. It is something that I have to struggle with, every single day. This leads me to experiment with the art of learning, which to some, comes as naturally as breathing. Bookish knowledge always proves to be the easier of the two. I divide lengthy answers into points, abbreviate them and thus conquer an entire page with a single word. Life's lessons aren't as easy though. There is a saying that in life, one needs to learn from other people's mistakes, as one wouldn't live long enough to commit them all. That is not the way it works with me! I need to commit the same mistake several times before I finally understand life's incoherent speech.

Post Script: Sorry for the late post. And after 45 days in Ahmedabad, I'm heading for Chennai!!