Men from Mars and Women from Venus

I had this conversation some time ago with H about equality between Men and Women.

H: Why does a woman compete with men on everything?

Me: Why shouldn’t we compete?

H: Women always fight for equality but when it comes to certain things they just keep quiet and do nothing. You (women) always look for exceptions.

Me: Oh, it’s not like that. What do you mean by exceptions? Give me an example

H: Whenever a man and woman enter a room, a woman expects a man to open. Why can’t it be the other way round? Have you ever seen a woman opening the door for men?

Me: It’s not a hard and fast rule that a man has to open the door for woman. Not always a man would do unless he is trying to impress a girl and needs to prove that he is a true gentleman.

H: Fine, what would you say for this? You women have reserved seats in the buses, isn’t it? If you fight for equal rights why can’t we men have equal number of reserved seats?

Me: Well, only few seats in the bus are reserved for us, rest everything is for men. No women would go and ask for a seat if men are sitting there.

H: It’s acceptable for women to take a break from work and look after the family but men can’t do that. If I have to quit my job for couple of years to look after my child, no one would give me a job if tell them I quit because I was looking after my child.

I couldn’t continue my argument after this as I was already late for my cab :-( But actually it put me into thinking, what he said was right.

Contented

Monster Day

AOL celebrates its anniversary every year on 20th May and we call it as “Monster help day”. All AOL employees across the globe render their services for community help. They form groups and the entire day is spent in various places like orphanages, old age homes, eye-camps, serving food for the needy etc. This year I decided to be part of “The refugee home” for a day service. The service included taking 20 kids to Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium. Sharvari, Dhivya (sharu’s daughter) and I reached office at 8:00 A.M and with a bunch of other volunteers we reached the venue in two hours time. Before I narrate the entire day’s event, let me give you a brief introduction about this place:

The refugee home is a home for underprivileged kids, run by a lady called Buella. She has adopted twenty kids and looking after them as her own children. yes, you read it right, I am not kidding. Technically, she has twenty two kids along with her twin boys. Buella mam grew up admiring Mother Theresa and her charity work. She was her role model from her childhood days and always dreamt of doing at least a fraction of what Mother Theresa has done to the society. Buella mam's heart wrenched when she saw kids who were begging on the streets. She even had nightmares when she saw physical abuses with moms who delivered baby girls. Buella mam worked as a teacher till 2007. She quit her job and decided to do something to the society. With the support from her family she started this home for refugees. In the refugee home, we can see kids with different age groups, the youngest being close to two and the oldest being eight years old. She is taking care of all the children with at most care and affection. Her passion for giving life for the underprivileged kids is something significant.

We picked up the kids from their place and headed towards planetarium. On our way to the planetarium the kids entertained us by singing prayers, songs and rhymes. I was refreshed with all my nursery poems, not bad I still remembered all of them. We reached the venue at 11.00 A.M since the show was only at 12:30, we still had one and a half hour. We took the kids inside the park and let them play games (swing, see-saw). While they were playing, we distributed some snacks (biscuits, frooti, chips, and chocolates).What really impressed me was, the moment we gave them to eat, they ate only after the prayers, each one thanked god for that moment. It was simply touching!

The kids really had good time coming out of their home. They thoroughly enjoyed their outing playing with all of us. It was time for us to go for the show; though kids were slightly tired it didn’t show up on their faces, they were excited to watch the show. As this was their first visit to planetarium, they didn’t know what to expect inside. It was dark and with the air conditioners the place was cool inside. They had played some soothing music, after few minutes the lights were turned off. The first thing we saw was the stars all over the place, it was wonderful. The kids started clapping and screaming in joy. The show was for about forty-five minutes, most of them enjoyed the show, but the little ones were so tired they slept off. Once we came out, we played with them for some more time and the kids thanked all of us for the wonderful opportunity given to them from AOL. We took some pictures with all of them. The happiness on each of their face was truly priceless.

We just spent a day with twenty kids and that was tiring. What do we say about Buella mam, who spends every single day with them? My heart ached just listening to the stories about the kid’s background. It takes a lot of courage to step up and do such a great service. I am so glad we have people like Buella mam to do such things without expecting anything. What a selfless service isn’t it?

( Monster helpers at "The refugee home")

(The refugee home family)

(We with the kids)

(Nithya, who just turned three. Her father disowned her because she was a girl child and mom committed suicide out of depression)

(Anupriya, who is the youngest & cutest kid in the home is disowned by her father too for being a girl child)

Observations

We all spend about five minutes in a day in the lifts isn’t it? Not unless if you are fitness conscious or concerned about global warming. Otherwise people like me would completely give an excuse of carrying a laptop or walking with high heels for not using the stairs. We use the lifts everywhere, be it in the office, restaurants, hospitals, shopping malls or apartments. I have made some observations in the little time that I have spent in the lifts.

The ‘Lift operator’:

Some really nice and some totally lost interest in their lives. The only question they have for everyone is “which floor?” He might see you every day for more than three days, but will still ask you, every time you step inside the lift. There are some really nice ones, who would wish you Good morning/evening/night with a wonderful smile on their face. Some behave as if they are doing a favor to you by pressing the buttons. If you are at work, your day starts or ends with this guy.

The 'Starer':

Argh! I hate these people; this could be both men and women. Their motive is to just stare at anyone and everyone who gets into the lift. It doesn’t really matter to them even if you stare back at them. I wonder what they would be thinking in their mind while gazing at someone. It’s really disgusting! They stare at people without even winking.

The 'Assessor':

I wonder if these guys have been hired from someone to evaluate all the people who walks inside the lift. They are not as bad as the starers. All they do is just glance at you from head to toe and analyze the brands of clothes/accessories/footwear. This again could be both men and women. They look back at you again only if they are interested in specific things.





The 'Eluder':

This is the most interesting and often witnessed character in the lift. They try to avoid all possible eye contacts. They even avoid at people whom they know very well. The moment they get inside the lift, they start looking at the buttons or floor indicator at the top or looking at their shoes. Sometimes they will be fiddling with their phones or ipods. Even if they haven’t got any new text messages, they go to their inbox and starts reading the old messages. I wonder if it’s just a way to flaunt their smart phones (HTC, BlackBerry, iPhone or a high end Nokia).

The 'Peskier':

This is mostly the loud mouther. For some reason, they are the only ones who have their cell phone network inside the lifts. The only time they get to socialize with people is while they are inside the lift. They get into a lift , make a call and tell the other person on the phone that the call might disconnect any moment as they are in the lift. Why do they even want to call someone when they know they are getting inside a lift? They are so loud in their talks that everyone gets to know what’s happening in their lives. They don’t care on what people think and even gossip about their bosses in the lift.

The 'Mystic woman':

How often are you stuck with a girl inside the lift who has taken bath in perfume? You might not see such characters often in the office lifts. The girl usually dressed well (heavy make-up) designer clothes/accessories. She walks into the lift with few clicks of her heels and sets the adrenalin rush in men. Don’t be surprised if you see a man missing his floor, in spite of clicking the button. You will even see people going further up just to get those extra glimpses of the mystic woman.

The 'Imperceptible':

These are often the ones who think they are the only ones in the lift. Even if they see people around, they think they are invisible. From the time they walk into the lift their only focus to admire themselves in the mirror. Again this could be both men and women. They are busy setting up their hair, touching up their make-up, wiping off the smudged eyeliners. The worst part is they even look at their teeth to check if any food particles are stuck in between (Grrrr that’s the nastiest thing that can anyone do in the lift). Mind you they do not have any public sense at all.

Image Courtesy : Google 

Two birthdays and a farewell!

Our team (Paid services-PET) is very popular for the team outings/dinners/lunches/potlucks in the entire AOL. Today, we had yet another team lunch. Currently Nitin, Rakshith and I are no longer part of PET team but our hearts will always be with PET. Isn’t it guys? I am sure you will all vouch for me on this.

This was the farewell lunch from Arpita alias Orpita to all of us. Arpita is bidding adieu to the organization for a better career prospects. I know farewells are not a happy occasion but we can always cherish the wonderful moments that we spent together. Thanks for the wonderful lunch at ‘Nukkad’. To top it all, we also celebrated Latha Mami's and Sowmya NS birthdays too. An awesome heavy lunch and chocolate ruffle pastry on the same day (what happens to the productivity-shall we blame it on the food?).

Arpita you’ll only be out of our sights but never be out of our hearts. The last three years that we spent together will always be in our memory. We had wonderful time with you. You are the sweet-little-fun loving-easygoing-hotmirchi-girl of our team. I am feeling bad because you won’t be around to notice my new clothes/accessories. I can’t flaunt them anymore :-( Jokes apart, we will surely miss you. We really appreciate for being a great sport for all the leg pulling sessions. We will also miss the sweets from Kolkatta. Wishing you all the very best for your future endeavors.

(Sorry Maami for the typo error)

(Chocolate facial for a beautiful skin)

Goodbyes are not forever.

Goodbyes are not the end.

They simply mean we'll miss you

Until we meet again!

Bundle of Joy

Yesterday was my cousin B’s house warming ceremony (should I say houses warming ceremony-he has built nine houses). It was nice to meet everyone after a very long time. I decided to go with mom on Saturday, so I can spend more time with everyone. As soon as I reached B’s place, I saw Abhi playing outside. By the way, Abhi is my cousin P’s son. OMG! I can’t tell you how hyper this kid is. He is only a little over a year old and I am totally in awe with this kid. It’s so much fun to spend time with him. His innocent talks make any one fall in love with him. One cute little monster (with his stubbornness), who will make everyone run behind him. The best part is about the way he apologizes to people. He holds both his ears with his hands and very sweetly asks for sorry. The look on his face is indescribable! He can speak just few words, but very eager to learn new things. He will repeat everything what you say to him, it’s so nice to hear him repeat wrongly pronounced words. He can never sit in one place, always running, playing and fighting with everyone. Believe me you don’t need to join any gym or do any sort of exercise if you have him around. The number of times he makes you run behind him itself is a good workout to keep you fit.

I love the way he calls my name "So-may akka". I am already missing you Abhi,muaah :-)

Devotion

(Location: Chamundi hills, Mysore)

Sallumania

Last night we had some guests over for dinner. This couple has a two year old daughter MG, who is a hyper active kid. Though their native language is Bengali, MG can converse with us in English, Hindi and Kannada. I really enjoyed playing with her. I had a good time listening to her innocent talks (especially the kannada in a bengali accent).While her parents were busy having dinner, MG was playing with me and in between hooked to watching TV. When she is watching TV, she is so engrossed into it that she ignores everyone around her. Her mother was complaining about her TV addiction. While both of us were chatting about MG, she told me "Ask MG who will she marry when she grow up". I asked her the same. For that she replied “Dabbang Dabbang” and started humming the song. I was baffled with her answer. What it actually meant was, she would marry Salman Khan. Whenever Salman comes on the TV, she would be glued to the TV and won’t move till he is out of her sight. Then MG’s mom told me when she was a teenager she used to say that she would marry Sallu and now her daughter says the same thing. What surprises me the most is about the fan followers for Salman Khan. Look at this, MG's granny used to like Salman, then her mom and now it's her. Will Salman ever get old? How is he still managing to stay young forever? He still woos women of all generation. Though I don’t like him personally, I too have grown up watching his movies. His role in Maine Pyar Kiya as Prem is the only movie which has left a mark in me. I think I’ve watched that movie for about ten times.

Salman, please get married soon, even a two year old wants to get married to you. I know you are the most eligible bachelor in bollywood, who are you still waiting for? It's high time you got to settle down. We are tired of watching you dating every new girl who comes to the industry.

"You have got Mail"

When I was stepping out of the house today, I saw this post-woman in front of my gate. I saw her for the first time. This took me back to my school days. I remember the postman who used to come on a bicycle to drop letters at my residence. For the first time I saw a post-woman today. This lady was wearing a brown saree, carrying a big bag of letters with an umbrella in her hand. The moment I saw her, I was tempted to ask her if I have got any letter. Then I realized I don’t get any letters (hand written) these days, except for credit card statements and phone bills on my home address. I can't even remember when was the last time I even got a hand-written letter from someone. Oh man, I really miss those days when I used to write letters and post it to all of them. I used to go to the post office, stand in the queue to buy stamps and Inland letters. Wherever I used to find the postman, I used to bug him asking if I have got any letters. There were times he used to get irritated and yell at me. Throughout my summer holidays I used to regularly write letters to my friends, cousins and some pen pals (pen-pals, do they still exist?). Along with the letter, I used to send greeting cards for every occasion. I still have some of them carefully saved and do read them once in a while. I remember how I used to hunt for the letter pads with matching envelopes. I used to write letters with all my heart from the pens that would have some fragrance. I wonder if the other person would even smell anything. Anyways that was a typical girly thing. I just can’t stop laughing at this.

After I moved out from school, when I was in college, I got introduced to internet. I created my first email account; I think that was a hotmail account (I don’t even remember the id). I used to send emails to some friends but back then the internet was very expensive (50 Rs per hour). I remember half my pocket money used to go to the cyber cafes. I stopped sending letters and my relationship also deteriorated. The communication medium is so much faster, so much easier and so much casual these days. I don’t think anyone has neither time nor patience to write and post a letter. I feel nostalgic about the postman era. If that had sustained till now, I think we would have had some strong bonding with our loved ones.

Image courtesy : Google

S P A M

Phew! I am sick and tired of spam messages these days. It lands up everywhere, my Gmail, AOL and even on my super duper phone. At least the spams I get on my emails are not as annoying as the ones I get on my phone. Airtel has not considered my request to block those messages. I have atleast complained them for about zillion times. Now I’ve completely given up. Have a look at the weird messages I get:

1. If you love Chennai/Mumbai/Hyd, click I love (city) page for SMS updates on discounts: (Sigh! Why would I have to love a particular city to get the discounts?).
2. Hi, my name is Divya, you had a cute chat with me last time. I am waiting for the same, call me on this number (Do you think I am out of mind to do that).
3. You’ve won 2, 00, 00,000$ on XYZ lucky dip. To avail the money SMS your details including your postal address (Aha I wonder who is the generous soul who is giving away money so easily).
4. Sit at home and earn 30K every month- only paper work. "No Formal education required" (How on earth can anyone earn that much of money with no proper formal education?).
5. My name is Harish. Can I make friendship with you? (Alas! I didn't know that you can make friendship)