Dew

Today : 2nd Jan 2020 Just wished someone a very happy new year and a very beautiful beginning to a new decade.   Day before yesterday night: Bangalore. People were dancing like there was no tomorrow and the energy was unimaginable.   ‘Hey, Happy New Year!’, said someone all covered in scarf and I wished back!! Does not matter who wished, but every one responded. “So what?” Asked my son, sleepy-eyed, tired from the cold night’s new year lighting, dinner, stage show, yelling, running around, and finally when he almost took an oath never to stand near the loud speaker, I looked at the watch. It was 11:30 P.M.   I brought the children upstairs and got them to understand that the noise is okay because people are celebrating the end of this year and the beginning of a brand new year. "So what?" He asked again. My son asks these sensible questions that make you stop on your tracks sometimes.   With what I can claim to be my skill in get...

Happy Birthday! Not the first time, I have felt like asking this question to someone: What does a birthday mean to you? As kids, we were all very excited about birthdays. As time and tide pass by increasing the wear and tear on our bodies and life’s routines with its shocks and surprises, somewhere we lose the thrill of celebrating Birthdays. Of late, I have been observing this in many people over the physical age of 35. In my office today, we had a cake cutting gathering for one of our seniors’ birthday - Senior in terms of age and designation too. People like and respect him for his down-to-earth nature, approachability, elegance, and friendly aura.  After the very thoughtfully done cake was gently cut ( leaving me astonished for the nth time as to why bakers put such a lot of effort on their cake art that quickly goes into the grind of the teeth. I mean, the cakes are so beautiful to be cut, that I always tell my baker friend to be baking cakes with general ici...

I was looking for some answers online. I got answers to most of my questions but then there are few that I am unable to find on google... Over the years, I've got so used .. rather all of us have got so used to googling, that if it is not in Google, it probably is not there is the conclusion for most searches.. I recall a dialogue in Dum Maro Dum where a police officer is asking a question to a 'just-found' informer from the city gangster group. The informer shivers obviously terrified.. The officer says, " Say if you know this person or not.. For everything else there's google ". This dialogue is the best in the movie and seems so right too especially when you are looking for some information online. Just a while ago, after thirty minutes of hard search and research, when I did find partial answer to my query, I logged on to gmail and sincerely wished God had an email address that I can write to for some of my doubts for which Google cannot give me a solution...

Hearty Congratulations... That means it is indeed a beautiful beginning for you this year. Am sure you will do well at work. Whether u like it or not, whether the job is less or more challenging than you expected, whether the people are nice to you or not, whether u like them or not, whether things work your way or not, whether the pay check seems nice or not so great , all said.... this is your first job and the place where you will learn most of all that you probably would need to know about working in a company. - every other job change after this is incremental learning and may not match the lessons in this place... at least that is what most people and I have to share after some changes of jobs. One rule : Try to like it, if not, try to appreciate the lessons. Stay happy and wish you many many successful career leaps, a world of nice network of friends - personal and professional and lot of positive energizers and people with a mind to see you grow - with a smile. Take care and ke...

Hi Readers, I know it is a late wish. There are reasons that we can give of why we do what we do and why we couldn't do what we couldn't, but this year, my resolution has been this: Not to give reasons on why I couldn't do something. So I wont reason out why I couldn't wish you all earlier. Here is wishing you health and wealth, love and luck, joy and cheers, peace and happiness, and countless reasons to smile, this day, year and always. Happy New Year 2011. Thank you all for spending your precious time on my blog when you can. Your readership has been very encouraging in 2010. The frequency of my writing in the second half of last year has been lesser than the first. I am aware of the change and I am hoping to share more of my observations this year. I am looking forward to your continued readership and valuable feedback and healthy discussions on my posts. I wish you, your family and friends lots of happiness this year and always, Best, Dew

The first greeting card from a school friend; The first bouquet of roses from a colleague; The first birthday surprise from a manager; The first day in college hostel; Each of these thoughts and a lot of such special thoughts can rewind your mind's film strip back to so many years of fond thoughts and memories. For the last few days I have been getting back in touch with a lot of my old friends from school, college and summer vacation play mates. Each meeting, each conversation, brings back a lot of thoughts and nice memories from the past. Honestly, nothing seems to have changed between the old friends and me except that we have all grown-up to be taller, stronger ( or weaker, at times) and more responsible. Earlier last week, I caught an old summer vacation play mate on the phone ( how I found out the number is beyond the scope of this post ) and before we knew we were discussing anything and everything under the sun... and when I finally hung up I realized that I had spoken to ...

I got this lovely Valentine's day wish on 13th February night, when I was on a call with friends. It was their four year old daughter who spoke .. Hello Auntie!!! Happy Valentine's day!!!!!!! :) :) So pure and clear, So near and dear.. :) That's all it takes to make some one's day. A sincere wish that sounds straight out of your heart.. Yesterday, when the long day finally dawned and slow moon waned for a lot of love birds on the planet, I was musing about the whole idea of Valentine's day and its present day impacts. My mobile service provider sent me this message two days ago: IMPORTANT - Please note, Normal SMS charges would be applicable on Sunday, 14th Feb 2010. Free/Discounted SMS rates will NOT be applicable on that day. Goes to say that there are a lot of messages expected to fly around in the network and its time to make the Valentine moments special for the organization that supports the service. A similar rule on New Year day has generated about 1 crore r...

Have you attempted to say one line on your birthday that describes your mind state? Here are some of the responses I have heard: Getting too old to celebrate... Getting older... Getting older and getting wiser too... Time to think of wedding... Don't put candles on my cake to remind me how old I am... Time to wear a shorter dress just so I don't feel too old... Don't even ask!!!! Yeah, its just like any other day... Who ever said it is special... How long do you think I must celebrate this day... I am getting older... We are just planning a dinner outing this evening.. Nothing much.. Its just any other day... Yeah, lots have changed, learnt quite a few things.. lost and gained some sense :) Now, that is the usual routine note of responses that we would hear... Yesterday, at office, we were celebrating a friend's birthday. Cake, Samosa and coffee to keep it simple and quick. When the initial round of cake was over people shifted focus to the birthday hero. We wanted to h...

That is from a recent email conversation with a college friend, yesterday. The line made me think.... It is nice to see where life has taken you from whichever point in time to the present. It is exactly three years since I came to Bangalore. It has been an interesting journey so far.. Over the last three years, Some strangers became friends.. Some view points changed.. Some attitudes improved.. Some experiences became lessons.. Professional circles changed.. Pay check changed.. Close friends became closer.. Personal policies remained.. Smiles increased.. This is a very short, generic list that I have written. To be honest, it is interesting to note how life has changed course for us from a point in time till another point in time.. When I did, I could appreciate a lot of things and realized it is important to be thankful for what life brings to us each day. I thought this statement 'See where life takes you..' is very thoughtful, although it was a very casual remark from my fr...

Hello Readers, I wish you and your family a very happy new year. I know this wish must have come in a little earlier in the year, but could not manage to get my space to write down my thoughts till now. Thank you all for all the support that you have extended so far, for my blog and me. Without your comments and readership, I know I could not have reached this far... I am very happy about breaking my own record of the past years in blogging. My blog has seen 104 posts from me in 2009. This is the highest I have posted in the last three and a half years of blogging. Thanks, one and all. I hope to be able to continue to write my thoughts and to receive your comments on my opinions. If there is anything specific that you want to see me writing about, I would like to know your views. Please post a comment on this one to say what else you would like to hear about. If the topic is something I can write about or feel like writing about, I will surely keep it my mind and will write as and when...

Hello People, Christmas Greetings to all of you. I wish you and your family Merry Christmas and a very happy holiday season. Enjoy the moment!!! :) Smile, Dew :)

Onam day - Festival of Colors and Festival of Prosperity dawned colorfully for me at office. We had this Pookalam: Here is my Onam wish for all my readers: Wishing you and your family Health and weath, Joy and happiness, Peace and prosperity, Love and luck, Care and cure, And A multitude of reasons to smile today and always!!!! Happy Onam and Happiness Always, Smile, Dew

I do not write letters these days, ( am sure most of us don't and social networking is in this shape today) and so there is very little chance for me to know that post boxes can actually go missing. They have painted it Red for everyone to see clearly...( Makes me think, should we research on why post boxes are mostly painted in Red? I have seen Blue and Green boxes very rarely.) A bright Saturday.... If mentioning the time of the day would give a better idea, here you go.. It was 12:15 P.M. I had posted a banking form last week through a popular courier service and as it had to happen, it has not got delivered till today, even as I write this post. So I decided to resend it by post. At worst speed, it would still reach its destination in three days. I walked to the nearest stationery store and bought stamps, covers and glue stick. I wrote the address on the envelope right then and headed straight to the bank to get the form. Once done, I sealed my now complete postal cover with th...

I have always believed that a nice wish can change your mood, change your thoughts, and change your way of life.. A birthday is one such occasion, when you get a chance to feel the difference and boost the feel-good factor within. I knew that my phone means so much to me, but never realized it as much as I did today... It is my birthday and this lovely little electronic magic has transmitted so many valuable wishes to me over phone, from far and near and dear... I knew Internet is a fantastic means to stay in touch, but never realized it as much as I did today.... It is my birthday and I have had a chance to receive so many wishes ( thanks to orkut) and most importantly send a thank you message in response. It almost end of the day and I thought I'll take stock of the moments that made me smile today... An early morning SMS wishing me a very happy birthday... All the calls that I received today... All the messages I received today... All the calls I missed and returned today... Al...

For those of you who have struggled a little to find a job, you will probably appreciate this innovative way of job hunt. I was on a city bus on my way to office. My work place is on one of the prime software localities in Bangalore. When I say 'Prime', I mean, there are at least five software complexes, on the same road. Each complex is a huddle of software companies - Dwarfs to Giants. From where I sat, I could clearly read this : Job Wanted : Mobile : 1234567890 ( There was a local mobile number written). It was written with a black marker or sketch pen on the back rest of one of the seats. For a minute my cheers fell, thinking about the back drop of the scene when this might have been written. The unknown job seeker could be coming back from an interview that had just flopped, might have just then lost a job, might have just then resigned from a job, might have just then finished graduation, might have lost hopes of finding jobs through friends/job sites/ corporate career s...

If you bought a pair of new shoes, a new pen, a new watch, a new dress, a new bike, a new car, or a new house, you feel good about it and are generally seen walking around with a sense of satisfaction on your face... Same should apply to new year day and rather the new year month : New hopes, new dreams, new thoughts, new ideas, new wishes, new confidence, and a new self should reflect on your face on New year day and of course be recalled more than once throughout the year. I was going home by sleeper bus on 31st Dec 2008 night and was not quite sure what to expect ( other than a few messages and phone calls from friends who are awake at the hour and whose messages can manage to navigate through the cellular traffic jam at 12:00.A.M) on a new year night in a bus. It was 12:00A.M, finally... I prayed for a quick quiet minute that all should be well this year and said a quick thanks for the past year's experiences and life in general. The bus stopped for a five minute break in a pet...

India must have once been a land where art and architecture, science and commerce, spirituality and hospitality, lived in every mind at work. If not, how do you explain the Mysore Palace in all its grandeur and eye for details, built years ago? The intricate art work, the wooden carvings, stone sculptures, and the paintings tell us so much about the artistic talent prevalent in the olden days. There surely must have been an entire clan well-trained in the art work or may be there were people with in-born talent in art work on various media - Wood, Stone, Canvas, Wall, Metal and Fabric. Makes me wonder - With almost no automation back then, how did people manage to build master pieces without a single blatant flaw? How did people manage to paint segments of a picture in multiple card board/canvas/wood sheets and fit these pieces into a complete beautiful picture on the ceiling of the palace? How do paintings as old as few hundred years stay fresh and alive till date? Has anyone in India...

Well, am not really going to write some content for a school book on what natural calamities mean, but then looks like we'll soon have to add Bomb Blasts and Terrorism to the list of the other disastrous natural calamities..... How else would you explain the terrorism attacks happening in India today? Just like we have no hold on Earthquakes, High-tides, Cyclones, Flood, and Volcanic Eruption, it seems that we have no hold on the Bomb Blasts and Terror attacks that shake the country today. Not a single day goes by without some news of bomb, terror, fire and attack. Every paper and news cast has one of these words on their news item all the time. Children grow up seeing and hearing of these things. We go to a movie theatre and there the situation is worse. Not a single movie in town today is clear of attack and stunts. Don't explain that a commercial movie needs such things to me.....At least once in a while children should get to watch things that meet the standards of their me...

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 pu...

This wish was special and a grand surprise to me on my birthday.. Have been thinking of posting it for quite long now.. Here it is... A year older, A year wiser A year younger in your aspiration, A year younger in your innocence A year more of life and jubilation, A year more of sense and nonsense A year less of your tears that you can forget, A year less of your trials and worries A year added for your good memories and dreams, A year added in your score of good friends A year subtracted from your disappointments, A year subtracted in anger and bad memories A year more of opportunities you can get, A year more of good food and amma's curries... A toast to your new lease agreement with life :) May all happiness and dreams find their way to you. Some thoughts and people bless your lives in a very special way on your very special day.... This poetry is one of them.... Thanks friend. :) :) With due respect to the promise I gave my friend about not disclosing the identity and my own...