Funny side of childhood :)

Recalling few funny incidents from childhood ;)

- This one was in Banur. We (me and few cousins) used to regularly go to farms and spend a lot of time there, playing . Once me and Ashwini (cousin) were walking back home .We had to walk through farms to get back.Just then we saw a snake passing beside us at some distance :O. We had seen in movies that snakes come after you once you see them and believed it :D We ran and ran and didn't look back till we reached home :D I was carrying some clothes which fell on the way , I didn't even pick them up fearing that the snake might be just behind us and bite us :D

- I don't remember how old I was when this happened.I was in udayagiri and some friend of doddappa and doddamma was staying with us for a day or two. D'mma was in the kitchen and called me to ask uncle (friend) to go take bath since hot water was ready and he had to leave that day. I went and said the same to uncle and came back and told d'mma - " Uncle said they have water at their place and he will take bath in his house itself ". D'mma was now totally confused . She asked me as to whom I called , and I reply - "Nagesh uncle" :D (son of the neighbours :D) .. I had gone all the way to the next house and called him to take bath :D

-This one was in Mysore . Usually after coming back from school , I used to stay in my aunt's house which was close to my house till mom came back from office.I don't remember why , but one fine day I went home directly.I was shocked to see that the house door was not locked , since at that time it ought to be. We used padlock at that time.I thought may be mom has come back soon and rang the bell many times.But no response. I decided that there are burglars inside the house. I started walking back towards aunt's house and met 2 of my friend's on the way. We decided that we have to fight the burglars and started collecting weapons :D I took a big stone , and they took a big stick and a knife. So armed we went to our house.We didn't have any plan in mind as such :D When we reached there , our neighbor saw us in this avatar and asked us what we were upto.When we told her , she laughed heartily and informed us that our parents have changed the padlock to door lock :D We were so disappointed :P

There might be many more and it always makes me laugh whenever I think of these incidents :D Hope I remember more of these so that I can add to the list ;)

Thoughts for the year - 2011

I finally bring back my blog to life , with this one last post for the year ;) Yes , I have done very little here this year , hope to do much more in 2012.

So this is about the year 2011 and my life in 2011 ;) Yes it has been a great year for me , and the days have passed so fast that I feel I have done nothing much in this year :D Just a few highlights of this year :

• Biggest for me : Well my first steps into the next phase of my life started this year . We are expecting our first child early next year :) So most of 2011 has been taking care of myself and the little life within me :)
• My sis finished her graduation and is a working professional now . That is why I say time flies fast :D For me she is still the little kiddo , but now she is grown up, self sufficient and smart lady , proud of you girl!
• Second year of our marriage this year , and while I am writing this we are almost close to third :D It's been a great journey with Sandeep so far and with an addition to our family in few days , I am sure it will just get better :)
• All my friends are still very much in touch and we are having a great time :) Though its true that , this year we are scattered in different places and couldn't meetup much , but still speaking to them often and just knowing that they are there as my great friends makes life much more beautiful :) Thank you friends :)
• Div's Ananya came into this world :) ,Prabha's wedding (couldn't attend) , Krish's engagement , Pavan moving to Singapore , Sneha also expecting almost at the same time as mine - just to note down few things happening with friends :D

Well , not much has happened since it was mostly filled with ups and downs of being pregnant ,visits to doctor , worrying about how the baby might be doing inside , and I know most of next year will be filled with "we and our baby" phase :D But I hope I will be able to do little more in the coming year ;)

Adios 2011 , and welcome 2012 :) Hope you bring lot of happiness and peace with you :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all who happen to stop by my blog :)

Come back yesterday

Why is that I always look back and hope that I could go back in time and live some of the days again?What makes the past so endearing,even when the present is going good?

Many a times I think about the times in Mysore and want to re-live my those days again.How nice it would be if I can get just one day of those times again..Few days back,when I was in Mysore and was staying at our house.It was around 7 in the evening and we (Myself and Deepu) were on the terrace of the house.I went and sat for sometime in the same spot where I used to when we were actually living there.I felt like I was back in time , and if I go down into the house now , there will be amma cooking in the kitchen , and will call me for dinner :) But then , my thoughts were stopped when Deepu said we will go down.

So , I come back to present , and think that my life has changed so much now.Even if I go down into the house now , I won't find my parents and Yashu there..It's a different aspect that they are there in Bangalore now , and I we keep meeting very often , but still it's not the same..

So , I just wonder , why is that , I always have this feeling that I would want things to be as they were in past , though I am happy and content with my present?The past always has its own charm which makes me re-visit those memories now and then.After some days , I might be yearning for one day of my today's life ;) 

First post for the year 2011

OK , I am back again , after being lazy for many days, to write anything at all. Though there has been many things to write on ,I  have just been too lazy to open the blog and write them all here. Have been convincing myself all these days that I am very busy and I don't have enough or any time for blogging.But that's an excuse as always :P

So what have I been doing all these days ? Well most important and memorable event has been my visit to Finland in peak winter. I say visit cos I was there for just a month , and what an experience it was! My first trip abroad,saw snow for the first time ,experienced temperatures of -25 and around , visited Dayanna in Sweden .. Wow! it all still seems like a dream.. :) . Hope I can visit Europe in summer sometime , and see the other face of it :)

And we celebrated our second wedding anniversary :) We had decided that we will plan a trip and were thinking about the place for the trip. Sandeep suggested that we spend time in Mysore and that was a wonderful idea .We stayed in our Mysore house , roamed in and around Mysore , went to JCE and spent some time there, had yummy churmuri near our house as we used to before.All this made so nostalgic .. I went back in time for 3 days :) On our anniversary , along with doddamma and doddappa , we went to Chamundi hills by climbing the stairs ,and then after climbing down had wonderful breakfast at Kamath :) .And then came back to Bangalore and had anniversary dinner at home with Parents and Yashu :) All in all , it has been wonderful 2 years of wedding bliss for us , and had a great anniversary as well :)

One more highlight to begin the year has been the Mangalore trip with friends.Last year Div shifted to Mangalore , and this Jan Ananya arrived :) So we all went there to introduce ourselves and welcome the new member of TFTs :D Had awesome time with Div , also had a great trip to Sringeri,Horandu,Kudremukha,Udupi and Surathkal beach.Hope to plan and execute more trips this year ;)

So this has been the story so far this year ;) . As of now , just busy with work and home work :D Hope the forthcoming days will be more eventful and full of fun and happiness :) Since I am out of my writing block now , hope I will come up with more posts here :) .

Tagged - Not so crappy Questionnaire :D

I have been tagged by Pavan.  I further tag these people : Yashu , Deepu , Sadhana ,Ashu and Raju :) . So here I go :

What, in your opinion, are the 5 most over-rated things in recent times?

1. Land/site value in Bangalore - literally over-rated :P
2. IT profession
3. common wealth games , IPL
4. Kareena and she being zero size :D (well , thought that I should add something about bollywood , which in itself is over-rated :P)
5. cosmetics(especially these fairness creams) : feel real irritated when I see these fairness cream ads :P

What 3 wishes would you ask if you stumble across a genie on the way to work? (You can only ask for material things. No unrealistic things like perfect wife/husband, world peace etc. No loopholes such as more wishes,more genies etc. No asking money :P)

1. A bath machine , just step in and step out of it (like the machines at security checks ;)) and you emerge clean  :D Yes , I feel very lazy to take bath (BUT I do , daily :D) .
2. easily foldable Pushpaka vimaana - would make daily life much easier in Bangalore :P :D
3. finance and leave approval for my world tour :D
   

What is the one singular deed would you like to do if you were given a chance to go back in time? (apart from Killing Hitler and (guys)one night with Helen of Troy,Cleopatra and all other hot chicks of the past)

1. I would like to see Hampi when it was in all its grandeur :)
2. I would also like to go back ,just a few years back , to see my mom holding, just born me ,in her hands for the first time :))

Tell us 3 things you wish you knew when you turned 18.

1. Having pimples is not at all a thing to be worried about and I wouldn't  be giving a damn about it now (when I am 26), I really wish I had known this then , wasted too much time and energy on this :P
2. I need not be nice to people all the time , even to those who were not being nice to me sometimes.
3. I wish I knew that ,i t doesn't matter too much as to what people think about me or my life.

What are the 3 geekiest things about you?

    1.I don't think too much about my appearance , or rather don't work on it much any time before stepping out. I feel really uncomfortable when I am dressed up with jewelery,any kind of cosmetics,etc  , when I do use all that during some rare occasions .
    2.Most of the times , I would prefer reading a book as a pastime rather than watching a movie /shopping.Of course , I don't deny that I enjoy shopping too , to some extent :D
    3.But all in all , I declare that I am not much of a geek , so no more points to add here :P :D
 
Tell us 3 things that make you go “Awwww”

    1.a baby smiling oh  so sweetly and cutely in its sleep :)
    2.photos of my childhood , photos of trips , any photos of my past :)
    3.Whenever I read calvin and hobbes :)

What are the kinds of people you are biased against,possibly unreasonably:

1. people who think that , what they think and how they live ,is  always right and everyone else should follow the same :P
2. Men who talk about girls as if they are some things for display in a exhibition :P I know the excuse that guys give - " That's how guys are " :P
3. people who are too emotional and sentimental in every aspect of life , and are never realistic .

What is that one lie that you absolutely intend to tell your kids?
I wouldn't risk writing it up here :P , of course my kids would be reading my blog :D

What 3 words would a wife say if she is all ready to blast her husband for not remembering their anniversary , and just in nick of time he wishes  (Those tagged can change this question. Answer will remain)
A.J.M (Akkan Just miss)

Which fictional characters do you identify most with?

1. Hobbes
2. Watson :D

The guy sitting on the other side of the bus is giving you the looks. What do you do?

Just ignore him.

Any FFFFUUUUUUU moment happened to you recently?

slippery roads in Finland , making me walk awkwardly all the time :P

What song is playing in your head RIGHT NOW?
Orey manva tu to bavra hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai bavre
Kyun dikhaye sapne tu sote jaagte ...

Indian women and marriage

As usual I was just browsing some blogs , and I came across quite a few of them on the state of Indian women today.

As I am reading them , I have confusing thoughts myself . Do I have the same feelings as they have and do I think in the same direction? So here is this post to sort out my thoughts and feelings in this aspect.I have put few questions to myself and tried to answer those .

But most of my thoughts are based on what is happening around me and not with me , and so I might not be fully right in my views. My opinion is that you can only know the truth and what exactly is one going through , the causes for such a situation ,etc only when YOU have gone through it. Everything else is just an opinion(sometimes biased) and perspective of a person viewing the whole situation from outside.

Here we go :

1.Is feminism one of the main reasons for an increase in divorces?
   - No. In past ( and in present ) too there were lot of marriages which went wrong , but due to many reasons( mostly due to fear of reactions from society ) , the couple adjusted and compromised even though they were not happy with the marriage and lived like unhappy strangers in the same house. I would say though not legally separated , this was a case of divorce too. So it is a good thing that two persons who have decided that they cannot live together get separated and take their own paths.BUT the relationship should be given enough time and chance before it is ended.

2.Regarding marriage being thrust upon a girl
   Yes , this is a big problem. I have experienced this myself and I also see people around me going through this.I would say that getting married is a person's own choice and others have no role to play here and all their opinions,suggestions and advice are unasked for and not welcome ( I think this is something I myself should follow too , and have not done so few times in past ) .And it is high time that parents start realizing that girls should be given enough time and independence for settling down with a life partner. They are mature enough to take care of themselves and can plan their life.But yes , I would say , marriage is a good thing to get into.It is not just responsibility and commitments but also a relationship where in you have someone always with you to support you emotionally and with whom you can share your happiness and sorrows :).

3.Is marriage a barrier for an woman in her career/studies/any other aspirations?
   No.Not at all.Yes I agree that once married we will have some responsibility towards the family and before taking any decision, we might have to consider a few more aspects ( which we need not if we are single ) , but if our goals are clear and we have a strong will to achieve them and have proper plans in place,marriage is not at all a barrier for achieving any of our dreams.

4.And finally , do I hate being an Indian woman?
   No , I do not hate it as such. But yes , sadly it is true that the state of women in India is far worse than most of the countries.I am not really sure how happy women are in other countries.If I have to speak for myself , I am happy here in India having a loving family supporting me ,studying what I was interested in and also working in an area of my interest.But , yes , it is not the same in all cases , and I have seen lot of women struggling with their day to day lives so much so that after sometime they even forget that they had some ambitions and aspirations for themselves.So to this , I would say , yes it is difficult being an Indian woman, but I for myself, do not hate it.

Below are the blogs about which I was talking about :

http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/feminism-has-gone-to-womens-head-divorce-has-become-like-selling-onions/
http://nirjharani.blogspot.com/2010/10/yes-i-am-single-so.html
http://heyithinkthisway.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/i-hate-being-an-indian-woman/

ಗೃಹಭಂಗ - ಎಸ್.ಎಲ್.ಭೈರಪ್ಪ

ಕೆಲವು ದಿನಗಳ ಹಿಂದಷ್ಟೇ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಓದಿ ಮುಗಿಸಿದೆ.ಇದರ ಕಥೆ,ನಿರೂಪಣೆ,ಪಾತ್ರಗಳು ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಹಿಡಿಸಿತು.ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಓದಬೇಕೆನಿಸಿ,ಪುನಃ ಓದುತಿದ್ದೇನೆ :) . ಹಾಗೆ ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಕೂಡ ಬರೆಯಬೇಕೆನಿಸಿತು.ಇದು ಧಾರಾವಾಹಿಯಾಗಿ ಬರುತ್ತಿತು ಕೂಡ.ಆದರೆ ನಾನು ನೋಡಿಲ್ಲ.

ಈ ಕಥೆ ಶುರುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ , ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗದ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಒಂದು ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ವಿಧವೆ ಗಂಗಮ್ಮ ಹಾಗು ಅವಳ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಗಂಡು ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಪರಿಚಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.ಗಂಗಮ್ಮ ವಾಚಾಳಿ , ಒರಟು ಹೆಂಗಸು.ಬಾಯಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟರೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಮಾತುಗಳೇ.ಮಕ್ಕಳೂ ತಾಯಿಯಂತೆ ಸ್ವಭಾವ.ಯಾರು ಹೇಗಾದರೂ ಕಷ್ಟ ಪಡಲಿ,ತಮಗೆ ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಊಟ,ಕಣ್ತುಂಬ ನಿದ್ದೆಯಾದರೆ ಆಯಿತು.ತಂದೆ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಆಸ್ತಿ ಮಾಡಿಟ್ಟಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆ ತೊಂದರೆ ಏನಿಲ್ಲ.

ಇಂತಹ ಕುಟುಂಬಕ್ಕೆ ಹಿರಿಯ ಸೊಸೆಯಾಗಿ ಬರುವಳು ನಂಜಮ್ಮ.ಏತಕ್ಕೂ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಿಲ್ಲದ ಗಂಡನ ಶ್ಯಾನುಬೋಗಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಸಹ ತಾನೇ ನಿಭಾಯಿಸಿ ಹೇಗೋ ಸಂಸಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾಳೆ.ತನ್ನ ಗಂಡ ಅತ್ತೆ ಹಾಗು ಮೈದುನರ ದಡ್ಡತನ ಹಾಗು ಸೋಂಬೇರಿತನದಿಂದಾಗಿ ಇದ್ದ ಆಸ್ತಿಯೆಲ್ಲವು ಕಳೆದುಹೋದರೂ ಸಹ ಹೇಗೋ ಕಷ್ಟ ಹಾಗು ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಜೀವನ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಹೀಗೆ ಈ ಕಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ,ಒಂದು ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ದಿನದಿನದ ಊಟಕ್ಕೂ ಸಹ ಪಡಬೇಕಾದ ಕಷ್ಟ , ಗಂಡ ಹೇಗೆ ಇದ್ದರು ಹೊಂದಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲೇಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಿಸ್ತಿತಿ , ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಓಧಿಸಲು ಪಡಬೇಕಾದ ಪಾಡು,  ಮನಸನ್ನು ತಟ್ಟುವಂತೆ ಮೂಡಿಬರುತ್ತವೆ.

ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಷ್ಟಗಳ ಮಧ್ಯೆ , ನಂಜಮ್ಮನ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಪ್ಲೇಗು ರೋಗ ತಗುಲಿ ಮೂರರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ.ನಂತರ ತಾನೇ ಈ ರೋಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬಲಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಾಳೆ.ಇದಿಷ್ಟು ಕಥೆಯ ಬಹಳ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಸಾರಾಂಶ.ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ಎಲ್ಲ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳು ಬಹಳ ನೈಜವಾಗಿವೆ.ಕಥೆಯ ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿವರಣೆ ಬರಿಯ ಕಥೆ ಅನಿಸದೆ , ಯಾವುದೇ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಬಹುದಾದ ಘಟನೆಗಳೇ ಆಗಿವೆ.

ಹೀಗೆ ಓದುತ್ತಿರಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಮನಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ವಿಚಾರ ಬಂದಿತು.ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ನಾನು ನಂಜಮ್ಮನ ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದಿದರೆ ಏನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎಂದು.ತಕ್ಷಣ ಅನಿಸಿದ್ದು "ಇಂತಹ ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಗಂಡನ ಜೊತೆ ಕಂಡಿತ ನಾನು ಇರುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವನನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ನನ್ನ ಜೀವನ ನಾನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ".ಆದರೆ ನನಗೆ ಇದು ಸುಲಭವೆನಿಸಬಹುದು.ಆದರೆ ಆರ್ಥಿಕವಾಗಿ ಸ್ವಾವಲಂಭಿಯಿಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ  ಈ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಚಿಸುವುದೂ ಕಷ್ಟವೇ.ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅಲ್ಲವೇ ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಮಹತ್ವ ಪಡೆಯುವುದು.

ಈ ಕಥೆಯ ಕೊನೆಯ ದೃಶ್ಯ ಮನತಟ್ಟುವಂತಿದೆ.ನಂಜಮ್ಮನ ಕೊನೆಯ ಮಗನನ್ನು ಯಾರೂ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿಯಿಂದ ಸಾಕುವವರು ಇಲ್ಲದೆ, ಊರಿನ ದಾಸಯ್ಯನವರು ತಮ್ಮೊಡನೆ ಕರೆದೊಯ್ಯುತಾರೆ .ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಾಂಬೂಲ ಅಗಿಯುತ್ತ ಮರದಡಿ ಮಲಗಿದ್ದ ನಂಜಮ್ಮನ ಗಂಡ, ತನ್ನ ಮಗನನ್ನು ಯಾರೋ ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಕಂಡೂ ಸಹ,ಬಾಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ತಾಂಬೂಲವನ್ನು ಉಗಿದರೆ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ದಂಡ ಅನಿಸಿ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಮಲಗುವನು.ಇದು ನಂಜಮ್ಮ ತನ್ನ ಜೀವನವಿಡಿ ಪಟ್ಟ ಪಾಡಿಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿ ಹಿಡಿಯುವಂತ ದೃಶ್ಯವಾಗಿದೆ.