Pinch Of Humor

I have an utter disregard for gadgets,while the whole world around me seems to be smitten by their charm. The complication is that, my work is related to that world of gadgets. So if in case, people start to share my apathy for gadgets, I would actually be right on the roads to joblessness. Now,I see everyone around me having a phone with a music player, a camera, as an internet device as everything… and then I hear the reason for that because people do not have to carry all of these separately.  But, when was the last time we needed all three at the same time? So here is what I have heard a lot of times .. we go for a trip and we did not remember to bring the camera…so I have my phone or my iPad which will help me in taking all my pictures.. really? If you ask me, you were irresponsible in forgetting your camera and the laws of nature say that any irresponsible action should bear with its consequences. People around me look like cranky kids who just think of so...

As a child, I was taught by my parents and other elders to do good to others. Heard stories and generally everywhere one used to get this teaching of being honest, helpful, sharing with others, being friendly etc. Nobody told me that you have to be honest because,  or you have to be helpful because .... And as a kid, we used to listen to our parents and teachers or the books and do as we were told. Now fast forward to a time 30 years from when I was the naive kid. Now each time I help someone or do something which feels inherently good to the conscience, I have to explain myself why I did this. Sample this,  an acquaintance asks for some money. I specifically say acquaintance because the idea is-  you just know that person, not related, not your best friend from college or school, and definitely not your relative.   The first impulse is to help - then we rationalise our approach. Should we help/should we not? What is the benefit? What do I lose? Say you en...

I recently went to my parent's house to stay over for a few weeks. I was meeting them after almost two years. A lot of things changed in these few years. I grew older of course, learnt new things in life and work, met awesome people, visited great places. Life was changing everyday and change was becoming a constant friend for me. During this topsy turvy times when I was expecting a new wave of changes to hit me before life settled down a bit, I took a trip to visit my parents. I met them after two years and the house after 4 years. But when everywhere, the world was changing, time seemed to have stopped still in that house. Everything seemed to be in the same place as they were 4 years back. I touched my mother and she appeared wrinkly. Dad looked frail than the last time l met him. But everything else starting from their smiles to the things and their placements remained the same.My mother seemed to be working in the same kitchen that I grew up in, the dining table was...

Well that’s what I love doing….stereotype. Gives me a pleasure of knowing that I have an edge over others in knowing someone…so yes I can know any one’s  characters based on   the   name, the place   they   came from etc   etc. This beside the fact that the fundamental law of Life Sciences   state   that “Biology is a science of exceptions”….Wait a minute nobody said anything about anthropology …so well I   think I can happily stereotype every human being without violating any laws. Did I just say I can?   Unconditional apologies to everyone.   I have realized through the passage of   years that   every one of us like to do our own study of human races based on the experiences we have. This gives all of   us   the power to understand the whole community, an area and sometimes a whole nation based on the experience with a few individuals. So when   we   meet someone with the same credentials of communit...

Sometime back, my sister was explaining to me the various problems of being a girl. You know the problems of adjusting and sacrificing that girls have to do continually through their lives. I thought, she was talking of some bygone century. But as I was to know later, she, as usual was right. I had heard this many times from many ladies that they will never want to have a girl child, not because they were prejudiced, but they will never like to see their own child go through so much pain as they have gone through. Naïve as I was, I always thought that maybe they are having a tough time. But after marriage and taking over the responsibilities of one’s own house, I could see what they meant.  It meant from being fed, you now have to be the feeder …..not only on time but with quality and within the budget. And the responsibility does not stop there. You not only have to take care of the food but also all the living and non-living things in the house. I was the youngest member in...

When I hear the word mother, I recollect a docile woman, getting up first in the house, getting me ready for school, working in the kitchen most of the times, dressing me up for the parties and telling me stories during the afternoon naps. A woman who liked to write down all the recipes she could get. A woman who liked to knit sweaters for us. She taught me my first alphabet and was my first music teacher. But as we grew up, somewhere she was the one who would bear the brunt of our anger for many things. If she wanted to talk to us and we were studying, we will just say “please don’t disturb”. When we went to college and she would ask 10 times in 3 minutes if we had food or not, we would tell her not to repeat the same thing again and again and she still did. We would scold her for being too friendly with strangers but she would be friends to everyone in the building. There are her morning walk friends , the temple friends, the friends in the shop .. and I am not sure who else…. I am ...

Yes we are the odd balls out. We never plan....or let’s say we plan, but none of them works. Or maybe that’s just an excuse for an imperfect planner. And this lack of planning or organization or order is reflected in all the aspects of our life. For the starters, I was the one in the family to whom every elder in the house will look at, roll their eyes and say “What’s going to happen to her? With no plan, no organization, no discipline, what will she do in her life? What will happen after marriage etc etc “.They have a reason to say so. I had a near perfect sibling and father who are neat, organized in everything that they do. A mother, who is organized in whatever she likes to do. In this family of organized people, I was the odd one out. For instance, my set of documents as compared to my sister’s would always turn out to be random. While I will order the set each time I open it, on reopening they always seemed to be cluttered. A stack of clothes- that I will arrange for half an ho...