Thin lines...

It is said that there is a very thin line between certain two closely placed aspects on the life line...sometimes it is very hard to really demarcate the two. Some of them I gathered are :

• Think and Worry
• Stress and Tension
• Competition and Rivalry
• Criticism and Jealousy

When you read these terms separately you are sure of their definition. When you put in a careful thought, you really are not sure of the aspect you are referring to at any point in time...

Not clear ?

• Try to figure out if you are stressed or tensed?
• Try to identify if you are thinking or worrying?
• Try to see if you are competing with something/someone or do you have a rivalry situation?
• Are you trying to be a critic or are you being jealous?

Honestly, it is difficult to tell... Give it some thought.. If we manage to keep these two aspects separate, am sure all our professional and personal lives will improve for good.

Use the web reference or any dictionary reference to find the word meaning, but connect with yourself to find out if you can clearly distinguish these thoughts....

This is one of my recently gained insights.

Splash on Job

1. Never make your hobby your job...suddenly, at some point in time, money will seem to matter a lot.
2. Love your job.. If you don't, find ways to love it.. If not, move on.
3. All jobs get interesting with nice managers.
4. The most interesting job can get irritating with a bossy manager.
5. Aim for and work towards perfection in your job, but remember to forgive yourself of your mistakes at work, because no one else will.
6. To love your job, compete with your past record in the same job.
7. To do a thorough job, all you need is the fundamental belief that you can do better than the best.
8. Take time to appreciate the job you have done... often that improves your performance.

Make a difference......

Andhra mess..... Once quiet, but now a noisy little food joint close to my office caters to the IT folks who crowd in during Noon for lunch.

We are a group of friends who frequent this place once or twice a month for sure. We all have different preferences in meal usually. One friend of mine loves peanut powder, another does not have curd, I don't usually take rice, instead ask for extra Rotis, another friend likes to have sugar soon after the usually spicy meal.

Usually we place orders for "All Veg meals" and when the waiter comes over to serve, we give out our preferences.

I never knew that he knew our tastes by heart... He ensured that sugar was kept on the table, extra rotis were brought in, and peanut powder took a place in our table. We are all still amazed about the memory power that this person who serves close to hundred people a day has and how much of an impact it has on us, his valuable customers.

Later when we were talking about it, we realized that a lot of us meet a lot of people in shops who knew our tastes exactly and would give us what we want. These people do not get any rewards or benefits, but just the satisfaction of having done their jobs, rather mastered their jobs...

I cant help thinking about people in high-end jobs who do not really master this art of remembering to think about the other person's interest... still they get paid much more... appreciated much more... cared for much more...

It is the same set of people who fail to recognize the small niceties extended to them by people who have not been fortunate enough in life to be their peers in terms of money and work style.

I think we all should start appreciating the niceties extended by a shop keeper, baker, fruit seller, grocery storekeeper, launderer and other people without whose services our own work life would majorly get affected.

I have seen people complaining about cost for all these services sky-rocketing... Think about it... We all wont mind a reasonable big number as salary hike every year .... :-)

So lets pay due respect and appreciate all those who make our life easy, although be it in a very small way. This will probably make someone's day.....

They say , "Small things make a huge difference most of the times"..

The joy of satisfaction.........

I chanced to visit a village (About 100 km from the city) recently. When I was about to leave, I asked if there is any transport from the village to the nearest town from where I can take another bus to go to the city. The villager was very helpful in directing me to the bus station. There was no bus shelter as such, but from the crowd there, I guessed it should be the bus station.

The villager went on to tell me about the "nice school" ( the only school there), the "main hospital" ( the only health clinic in the village where nurses were always available and doctors come in at a definite time), the regular buses, the future plans to have a doctor's office and house after the ongoing temple construction ( One Crore budget) gets over, and that the village will soon become a town.

The sparkle in his eyes, when he said this, showed how much he loved the place and how satisfied he is in the current promise that the future holds, for the village and its residents. They all were permanent residents, though the children of the households are currently settled in cities and some, even out of India.

The villagers had their own mini vegetable garden and every house had a well. For their shopping needs they took the bus to the nearest town. The bus plies between the town and the village, every two or three hours. So they are very happy to say that they have a means of transport to reach the town. They have a school that had teachers teaching all days and a hospital which as the villager put it, is the best, one could trust for treatments.

I stood there amazed..... It is said, Ignorance is Bliss.. I did not know the context, nor do I want to Google for it now, because I think I understood the context now....

We live in cities where every lane has a school, every cross road has a hospital and every second lane has a bus stop.We people know so much about what is happening in the world today and we know the ways and means to improve our knowledge, which makes it difficult for us to stay contented and happy.

This villager did not know or is ignorant about the scientific, economic, and social advances outside his own village. So he is not aware of the benefits or qualms that they bring in. Thus he is a happy man.. :-)

The urbanite knows all that he wants, knows the advantages and the 'not-so-good' aspects of the socio-economic-scientific advances, knows that he needs to grow and keep growing, but does not know all that he has. The villager lives a contented life as long as he is alive as he does not know that there is more to what he thinks he has.... it is a bliss that he is ignorant..

When I was still thinking, my watch showed 10:15A.M and the bus came in, just at the promised right time. Not even a minute's delay.. You should have seen the pride of happiness in the villager's eyes!!! that went on to say " That's about the punctuality in my village "... :)

I am not advocating rural life, but I surely would say, it is good to visit these places whenever chance permits, to see what life is like in a village and feel glad for our gifts and learn to be happy from a villager.

Comments do matter...........

This is about how comments can change your life.... :)

It was my first job as a writer... Never written anything except those essays in school and a few technical, sleepy, long winding, sometimes, utterly lifeless essays in college, in the EXAM banner... ( I hate exams, though I was able to perform well in most of them, throughout my academic life.. Thanks to my folks at home.. Studies were rarely a topic of conflict for all of us at home ... I guess that's what made me study without hassles... )

Here I was, working on my first assignment, first paragraph - introduction.......struggling for the golden words to just jump out of my head... ( or is it my keyboard, I have no idea.....). It was just impossible for me to write the first few lines of the document. It was on project management... :) I did not know projects at work as yet, Project management was a far-fetched illusion back then.. :)

My assignment was to write a user guide for a project management software for a client company. That simply means, the client says and you listen.. You cannot take your own sweet time to write your document. It might be your first project but it is his focal interest and your manager has signed you up(!!!!!??!!!!) for the project. First job, First project, First manager, First salary, First image, First impression and all that came in my way so much that I could not get that First line right...

I forgot there will be a First editor also in my writing life.... After one whole day of struggle to write a paragraph which had five lines and all these properties:
- grammatically correct sentences
- meaningful to the business eye
- strictly adherent to the style guide I managed to grasp partially over two the first two days
- simple enough for the reader
- slightly basic for an MBA, still will pass the documentation test any day

My manager introduces my first editor to me and says that he will be editing a paragraph before he got to the book that he was editing that day. The editor said, " I know you would have done a good job, given that you have cleared our stringent recruitment process, but let me have a first look at your work for a few days till you get a first hand grip at writing... " Tired of the repeated firsts that I was facing that day, I left for the day. My editor works in the evenings only.

The next morning, I came in to have a second look at my first paragraph.. All I could see was RED colored comments... All over the page. I never knew you could rip apart 45 words ( average - nine words per line) in about two full pages of comments. Every word had a comment... I did not know how to react... I was beginning to feel, if I ever will qualify as a writer... and then came the best of the lot :) (back then, it was worst, as I was all RED in fury... I hated editors instantly....)

My editor had written this on my document:

Hi Deepa,

I know this page does not find you in the best of your cheers this morning. You must be feeling very upset at my comments all over the document. I also have to appreciate that you have taken all efforts to follow standards and write error-free grammatically correct. None of this is a language error.

Let me tell you, just this once, close all the comments, then you will get a real good grip on writing. Believe me, this situation of having to look at all red marks will not happen again in your writer life, IF and only IF you close all these comments to the best of your satisfaction.

Thanks and Regards
- Your editor

I was all wild that moment... "if none of this is English error, then what have you commented at all??!!!??" and i intended to find out.... I cleaned up the document and left a counter note to the editor saying.. " Thanks a lot....I hope you never get to make such comments again on my document. Some day I intend to learn to read a document to the level of ripping it apart with questions and comments...."

And believe me this changed my way of looking at writing for a profession and till date, I owe my sincere thanks to this editor friend of mine.. :) I am still into writing, because I successfully closed my First set of comments on my First document in my First writing job by my First editor...and such a thing never happened again.. My work still has comments, but never to that extent... I prefer to think that I have improved, though the chances are that my editors do not read my documents with the same eye for detail.

I have taken all the liberty to violate all technical writing rules in this page... :) So please don't look for technical writing standards here :) If you still do, then don't let me know.. :) This blog has only ethical rules :) and nothing else.

Bouquet making

Bouquet of Roses : One of my favorite ways of wishing people. I always thought that Roses brought the best of wishes and expressed all the love in the world... And I know am not the only person who thinks the same.

This rose bouquet was part of a farewell wish. I had asked for a bunch of roses with a few ferns interspersed. The vendor smiled and asked me to choose a color.. I picked Red, as it is the usual routine... pick a color, choose wrapping ( bunch or bouquet), choose fillers ( ferns and other unscented flowers) , select a 'Best wishes' card and then write your name and wish in the little blank space that is available in the card.

The guy set on to work.... Not that I am noticing for the first time, the way bouquets are made, but this time, it was early morning and I was kind of focused on what he was doing, unlike other times, when I would mostly run late for the function that I was attending... So on this day, when I had lots of time before the work day began , I pulled a chair and sat there watching him work on the bunch of roses.

Till date, I had thought that it was just the sender, the bouquet maker's experience and the flowers you choose ( or get ) makes the bouquet look good.... Not really..... I just saw another aspect that made a huge difference... The kind of involvement that the bouquet maker has on the specific bouquet also adds a few points to a perfect bouquet....

If you are not able to see the point.. let me make it clearer... See, for you it is your friend and your dear one.. For the bouquet maker, it is just another customer's job entry. He would have made hundreds of such bouquets and this one may just be one more on the job tray....

This bouquet maker put in the best of efforts .....the extra special care on the satin, the wrap, the dews and the newspaper cover in the end made all the difference....every other bouquet maker might probably do the same... but there is always a difference you see when things are done whole-hearted and as part of a chore....

As I walked back with a beautiful bunch of roses neatly wrapped in a newspaper cover ( not forgetting the appreciation that he owes along with the money) and with a wonderful feeling that you know, if you have ever held a bouquet to gift someone........, I realised, routine jobs need not be boring at all... its the way you see work... :)

This vendor saw my friend's joy when he made the bouquet...he probably saw every customer's friend and the occassion and whatever else his profession involves before he started work.....

Later that day, when my friend's face lit up as she took the bouquet, I said a silent "Thanks" to the bouquet maker, the second "Thanks" for his Job... I was so glad that I had not forgotten to say "Thanks" to him in the morning when he gave me the bouquet.

Never ever fail to appreciate or thank a job well done, however trivial it might be :) is what I learnt that day. It could be a routine job that "Cannot" go wrong, still it is important to acknowledge it, because in effect you are contributing to a better performance in the next to next stereo-typed jobs of the guy, on the same day....

Jaan Pyaari Hai

That's the Hindi equivalent of "Life's dear".... True... We have all realised at one point or other in lives, but almost always we tend to forget it, till we come across another incident from which we chanced to escape by a stroke of luck.

Last week, my friend had to remind me "Jaan Pyaari hai" as we were all being guarded out of our office portals owing to a bomb threat/scare. I was very concerned.....worried.....feeling bad....completely lost.... not because I came to know that it was a bomb scare and that such news can ruin your peace of mind...... but because, I had left my dear hand bag behind at my desk as soon as I heard the announcement.....

It was a busy Friday afternoon at work and I was literally lost in a technical document that I was reading...An announcement voice said: Your attention please. You are requested to leave your work stations immediately and move to the safe zone outside the building.

I picked up my mobile on a reflex and walked out with the others. Little did I realise that it would be a bomb threat and that we would not be coming in for the next five hours. It was after all of us had walked out of the building that we came to know of the threat...

There was this guard ushering all of us to a safer distance. "The road had not been planned for such an emergency traffic", I thought(!!!!) ...I also thought that it was heights of absent mindedness or over confidence ( I couldn't tell which one dominated me that day) that caused the major flaw of life - Not carrying your hand bag when asked to leave the work station!!!!!

My thoughts when I was walking out with my thoughtful friend.....

Bad road - so crowded it is
Bad memory / commonsense - I should have brought my hand bag along
No money - How will I travel tonight?
No tickets - May be I'll take a print out.. How I love the Internet world!!! - I had an e-ticket..:)
No keys - I can ring the bell and some one will open the door..
I have not packed my baggage - That means I can't wear my favorite suit for the weekend plans I had.

I should have told out aloud one of these mind maps unconsciously, I guess..... I still remember the air of satisfaction and "Come on, get back to your senses " tone my friend had, when she said: Jaan Pyaari Hai Beti :)

The truth of it struck me immediately:

True... How many more times does nature and life has to teach people that sometimes, the very fact that you are alive is in itself a major stroke of luck? ......... while you are spending all your time worrying about what else has gone/ can go wrong, when the chances of your living on any given minute, is by itself a real GIFT :)

Well, it is not that I don't know that "Life is dear", its just that it is easy to forget it very often... :) especially when you know that "Nothing went wrong" ( when by all means it could have ) and it was just a "hoax" ( and didn't happen after all )... and that's when we complain about trivial things.

On another trail of thoughts.... I also realised that luck is not always bad on a bomb scare and if nothing happens to you , your hand bag/wallet is important anyways :)

Beware of Garbage Trucks by David J. Pollay

An interesting forward I received:

Beware of Garbage Trucks by David J. Pollay
************************************************************************************************************************** How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?

Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly he/she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did. So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.'

I began to see garbage trucks. I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.

Teachers and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? You'll be happier Here's my bet.

So.. Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance , TAKE IT!
If it changes your life , LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy... They just promised it would be worth it!

Just do your best!!!!!!

Well, I heard this from my grandma almost always as a kid....

Next, from my parents and sister always....

From my thoughtful friends who say this when they see me all hypertensive at work....

From my managers who say this when they recruit me....

All quotation books have this....
All fiction books prove this....
All non-fiction books speak this....

A few years ago, I remember stopping by a road side board that said:

Even if your job is to sweep roads, do it in the best possible manner that no one else can excel you....- Sir Visweswarayya.

Close to the sign-board, there was a young man sweeping the dried leaves off the road. Noticed that he was doing a flawless job of sweeping... He probably does not even know that his kind of work ( literal sense here ) was being appreciated in the nearest sign-post. I just walked off amazed at the sincerity and sincerely and quietly wished him well and that he lands up in a nice job in life....Didn't have the mind back then to appreciate him out loud, which i should have, I realise now.

"Just do your best!!!" got registered in my mind I would say and is one point that I find myself drawn to.

And from that day on, I really try hard to do a good job of sweeping whenever I had chanced to sweep the floor in my house. :) :) It is quite a tough job on its own and needs its own experience :)

The essence is that every job,whether it requires literacy or no, experience or no, is considered elite or no, is highly paid or no, definitely requires the "Just do your best!!!" attitude... :)

Homo Sapiens

On a day bustling with activity at my work desk, on a casual intranet messenger talk, I mentioned to my friend: "I didn't find time even to look at myself in a mirror"....

Immediately came the response : A human being should not be in such a situation any day... and call it after thought or a reiteration, there was another message saying *NEVER....

I rephrased the sentence as: A human being should NEVER be in such a situation any day...

Now that I know this friend and our English conversations for quite sometime, I could see that the word "human being" is almost new in our conversational vocabulary..... I stopped, read the sentence again and in a minute understood the marvel of the sentence construct...

Only human beings can appreciate ( applies to only people who really appreciate their reflection or at the least understand that mirrors reflect just the way you look) their reflection on mirror.... If you try getting an animal to stand in front of the mirror, the animal is obviously going to think of its own reflection, as that of another animal approaching it.

On the same lines......only human beings can smile.... only human beings can laugh out loud....

Sad that we find many reasons to be busy and not a single reason to free up some time for our folks.....

Sad that we don't find time to even look at ourselves the mirror ( may apply to inner self too, for a psychological pitch :)....

Sad that we don't find enough time to laugh and make merry with close folks....

Sad that we don't really find time to just "Do Nothing".....

Sad that we don't realize how unique and blessed we are, to be the Human Beings we are :)

Stop to think........

Finally, last Saturday I managed tickets to watch the much-hyped Tamil movie, "Shivaji" starring Rajinikanth in one of the seven auditoriums of PVR Cinemas, Bangalore.


We reached the place at about 3:00 O clock, just in time for the 3:10 show. I don't particularly recall when I had become impatient about the delay in a movie theatre... but for the kind of money you pay here, I think I began to expect great service.... which for a start meant meant, screening the movie show on time.


We waited till 3:20 for the "doors of the fort" of Audi - 4 to open and walked on the red carpet (Required????!!!!!???), found the seat and settled with the costly and famous duo of popcorn and coke we had just bought. Could not help thinking about the last time when the popcorn tripped off my hand, scattered all over the carpet...and about how I was sorry about that throughout the show... :)


During the intermission, we stepped out to shell out some more money on a plate of north indian snacks. As we started eating, we realised that we would get late for the second half of the movie if we stood outside the Audi till we finish eating. Every one else in the theatre had their hands full of eatables and paper cups. I was considering starting my own movie theatre for a minute when I understood the intelligence the PVR Cinema proprietors had. This place didn't allow outside food and had costly snacks. No one seemed to have any thought on spending so heavy for a minimal quantity of the eatables that you got. So the theatre made a huge profit, even after you consider the expenses on maintenance... My movie theatre dream got disturbed when 'Shivaji' started talking on the screen.


After the show got over, with a lot of queries on the worth of the money that the director has spent on the movie, and the craze of the people for the movie I stood up from where I was seated. I stepped onto the paper plate that I had plugged on to the coke holder on my chair, intending to throw it out after the movie. I had no idea when the plate had fallen off.. I trashed the plate and the coke cup at the nearest dustbin, on my way out of the Audi.

In the now, well-lit Audi, it was sad to see that the plates and cups and plastic covers were scattered all over the place.The people in the theatre seemed to be well educated enough to know the importance of keeping a public place clean. Yet, no one bothered about clearing the paper plates and cups after they were done.

Immediately, I recalled the wait outside the theatre that all of us had to put up with ( albeit for ten minutes ) before the movie began and how I hated it. Now I was wondering how many long minutes it would take for the house keeping folks to have this place cleared up before the next screening which was due in ten minutes... They were pretty fast I should say. Still, for the kind of mess the Audi was in, I am sure the next show would have got delayed....

Now I know, there is no point in blaming any delay, for all you know, you or your folks might be the cause for it.... Stop, think and then blame.... :) May be we never will blame anything or anyone if we really stop to think.... :)

Interpretation

Its all about interpretation in communication....

Communication can be a word, deed, expression or just a mail, note or letter.... It's all about how we interpret the message conveyed...

I happened to attend a very interesting session related to technical writing which was presided over by Prof.Dr. Jagadish who is teaching in the Information systems department.

The inaugural speech had this segment on interpretation. Quite an interesting one.

A lady had a discomfort in her chest and was referred to a cardiologist who suggested that she take an EEG ( Its called an Echo test). On the doctor's table, the doctor held a scanner on her chest and was scanning the impressions on the monitor in front of him. He said, "No Thrill"....


The lady, was obviously waiting for a diagnostics and didn't want to hear such a comment. She jumped off the bed, changed quickly and walked out fuming...." I didn't know that this doctor is such an indecent man".


It turned out later that the lady had been referred to the cardiologist because it was suspected that there were problems with the murmur of her heart beat. The unit of murmur in medical jargon was 'Thrill'. The higher the value of 'Thrill', the more problems the heart beats had. So the doctor was just ruling out the possibility of errors in her heart's murmur when he said, " No Thrill".


She didn't wait to hear what would have actually made her glad... :) All because of the wrong interpretation.


You never know what the other person means unless you want to ensure that there is no misunderstanding of facts... Often times, we don't care about this. In emails, in phone calls, in conversations, in meetings, in discussions, and just about any kind of communication.

Forgive for Good

I know this topic seems too much of a strain on your mind.. and very different from my usual writing pieces.

Over the last week, I happened to meet some one online and believe me.... Those 30 minutes of chat on Yahoo messenger with her changed my way of looking at things in life..

It is not what she said that made me think about forgiving people.. it is what I felt made me change my way of looking at things....

Since that day, I am relaxed much more than ever before when it comes to people and their attitudes.. coz, I have learnt to say " These things happen in life " and " It is okay to Forgive..."

Now why do I say 'Forgive for Good' and not just 'FORGIVE'?? That is because, when you forgive, you not only learn that you are No God to Forgive people but also learn that your blood pressure and tension come to a quick control.

This way you no longer brood about why some one did/said something unplesant to you.

In most cases, the same person would be shocked to note that you have actually not taken it as serious as it was supposed to be taken.

In most other cases, if you forgive, you will note that what happened was purely circumstantial and if you were the opponent you would have acted worse or atleast pretty much the same way.

In few other cases , for all you know the other person would not even have realised that you are hurt because of him/her.

Forgiveness makes you realise that you have wasted so much of your energy or tears on something that could have been solved this quickly. Just forgive... You are not God the almighty who is all powerful... So, if you just take off that heavy burden of the past unplesantries from your mind through a simple ' Forgive you' concept, Life would be Beautiful .....every day, every moment.

Birthday Party

What are all the questions that pop up in your mind when you think of a Birthday party?

I'll tell you what all popped up into mine...

What outfit should I wear for the day?
What time should I reach?
Will I be able to make it to the party on time?
Will many children be there?
Will I get to eat cake?
Will I manage to talk to people and move around in the crowd?
Will I miss the important call that I have been expecting all day, just precisely when the kid is cutting the cake?
Will the kid play with me?
Will I get home before it gets really late?

So many questions just for a Birthday party evening...

I'll tell u, all these were not required at all...

Went in with a bouquet to greet my hosts.. ( I've always felt that in a child's birthday party, it is the parents who have to be appreciated...for all that they are to the kid and to the guests...) Flowers are a way of saying,' I know you are just wonderful'.... :)

I just enjoyed being myself, coz the kids had so much fun in the party that at a point I forgot all my questions...

There was the Birthday Baby - The "Center of Attraction" in party dress.. She was so scared sometimes of every pair of eyes looking at her... So happy sometimes that there are too many people around... The cakes, the people, the music, the baloons, the kids, the gifts,the camera, everything seemed to amuse her....

Then there was a kid messing up with the cake...I am not too sure if i ever enjoyed cakes to that extent in my life till date.. (given that I am very fond of cakes)

Another was busy trying to get into a fight with a Jeans walah...

Another smart kid was trying to teach me how to wear the face mask...I learnt it somehow but could not manage to get the names of all the characters on the different masks...

A NorthIndian Dollie was wearing a Sharara, or whatever you call that Long Skirt and a complicated Top and Dupattah...She was trying to walk so fast that I almost tripped when I tried to catch hold of her....

One five year old danced like no body was around.... Spontaneous dance comes out so well, I tell you.... All of us had fun watching him dance....Honestly, I missed dancing with him, he refused to take me in as a dance partner.... :(

Then there was this Snowfall fun.... One of the party poppers had some stuff that when popped out, looked like snow fall.... You should have seen all the kids dance in the Snow Fall....

Then came the dinner time....

My God.. what effort was it for the parents, to make the kids have a bite...!!!! It was fun watching them eat... :)

Then there was photo Shoot.. People shot snaps to their heart's content...

It was very late when I actually looked at my watch...

I waved bye and jumped into an auto that day..... After my Thanks message to the Hosts, I sat back relaxed.... Was tired of the recurring thought that you can never be a child again.......

My auto stopped at a signal.. One sweet little kid waved 'Hi' from the car that screeched to halt at the same signal. In the Ninety seconds that we got, he was all smiles.... I wondered how and why.. we don't even know each other.. Made me smile and I kept Smiling....

:)

Btw, I wore my favorite dress with no make-up, reached the venue very late due to traffic, ate the cake, spoke to all I knew and made new friends too. The call I expected came the next day, the kid played for minutes with me, and I reached home well in time to sleep well... :)

So afterall, Nothing is as important as being a part of the celebration and having a good time... Everything else will fall in place sooner or later... :)

Dawn - flash

During my visit to Kerala last weekend, I met an old man. I spent few minutes talking to him.

His view point:

All of us work on computers. In a computer, you run anti-virus software that saves your machine from virus related problems. You clear up your folders and arrange files once in a while. If there are files you do not need, you take time to delete them.

If you are taking so much care to keep your computer clean and safe, why not put the same effort to keep your mind safe ?

Your mind is your brain which is equivalent to a computer.

Anything that happens within you is due to the brain and anything that happens outside gets straight into the brain. Now, if you choose to retain only those points that give u knowledge, happiness, confidence and other such positive notes, then 'your computer' will remain healthy. Mental Health leads to physical health and happiness.On the contrary, anything that causes anger, worry, and other such negatives are to be deleted instantly from our minds.

Keep reflecting...

Until the next flash,
Bye

My friend weds..........

Ever been to a wedding where you have the invite but without the girl's name?

That is exactly how i felt when my friend called me up to announce that he is getting married. He has given me the date, the place and said that i am invited for the wedding.

He has also said that I may or may not know her.. may or may not get shocked to see her as his wife...

These were the clues he gave me among others that i am pretty confused about.

The point is, the very idea of attending a wedding knowing that you know both the girl and the guy, but are left with guessing the name of the bride till the date of wedding..is exciting.

My friend is one of the very few who can come up with such strange ideas... strange as it may seem, it is great if you try to imagine one such invite.

I am still wondering if i should go ahead and guess. Why not go for the wedding and then wait for the bride to appear on stage ??

Let's see, will let u know about this experience and whether or not i could crack the Queen Code.