Yesterday its coming, Saar !!

I picked up a pack of Dharwar pedas today morning at the Nandini outlet.

As I was paying , I asked the attendant – “ aaj ka stock hai ?? ‘

And he beamed at me and replied – 2 Jan ! yesterday its coming, Saar !!

 

Krish..

…. and the Gillette wins again !!

Five weeks of luxuriant growth..

With daily care and two professional  trims ..

We were set for a permanent association.

One fateful evening ..

Three pretty ladies ..

Advise me ..

And right from their hearts ..

And the inevitable happened ..

The Gillette won again !!

Krish..

I can water my money plants – spill free !!

Four weeks of stay at home can be quite challenging!  And especially when you have never  been  used to it .

I have been out of home and on the tours for most parts of  my life .  At age 16  I  went out to college and got into a hostel in a remote campus in Rajasthan  ( BITS, Pilani ) .   After 7 years, I  went straight for a job that made me tour all around India 3-4 times a month.  And it has been the same ever since then  for the past 40 years !

The last 5  years have been even more hectic with alternate weeks to Delhi and sometime even more frequently.

So when I took a  4 week vacation and decided to ‘stay put’ at home all throughout, it was a real challenge – to say the least.

You see,  me and my wife are not accustomed to seeing each other for such long periods of time .   And relationships can get strained and  pretty tense most times .

It appears that when I am away, our home  is peaceful, well organized and beautifully maintained . The sofa set covers remain neat and wrinklefree. The beds are well smoothened throughout the day and the pillows are straightened and  properly placed. The kitchen is clean with absolutely zero traces of cookie crumbs, juice stains, food wrappers,  tea & milk spills . And apparently the kitchen sink is clean and dry most parts of the day instead it being piled with  used plates, mugs and sticky spoons !!

Appears that when I am  travelling, the newspaper is always correctly folded , with all the supplementary sections properly tucked within the main paper and neatly stacked up on the right hand side of the book case.  And  all books & the dictionary are in the proper place with the sliding glass doors properly closed.

And it can go on …  the lights in all the  rooms are switched off , the fan is not running, the curtains & windows are closed except between 7.30 AM to 12 noon, the TV main switch is off and the two remotes are placed on top of the VCR under the TV. The shoe closet is always closed,  All soxes inside the closet or in  the washing machine & definitely NOT  on top of the PC monitor !   The bathroom is always dry, the faucet never dripping, exhaust fan off and NO brown foot prints on the tiled floor !!

You want to hear more ??  the cell phone charger  always in the left draw, the scissors and glue stick and scotch tape and rubber bands and tie wires all well tucked away into the lower draw of our mirrored closet !  The wife could not locate the scissors today morning and to top  it all she had to discover the leaking fevicol  tube  on my side to the bed partially hidden under the pillow.  So we had a minor volcanic eruption to start  off our day !!

How can one be so perfect,  I wonder ??  How can anyone always remember to properly close the book  wirh a book mark and walk all the way across the room and slide it  on the shelf  before  turning off the side lamp for a mid afternoon snooze ??? 

But now,  I have learnt quite a bit. After returning from my morning walk, I always take off my shoes before entering the main hall, dust it first  and then stack it  into the shoe cupboard, peel off my sox and dump it straight into the washing machine, carefully wind up the earphone cord on  my iPod and push it inside the pouch and finally into the draw. I also upturn my jacket and track pants and hang it outside to air !!

And I can decipher all the 4 keys that it takes to lock/unlock our main door and the gate !  I can carefully water all the 3 money plants in our house without flooding our book shelf, our centre table and our vintage granddaddy gramophone !!

But what I have  never been  able to resist is my frequent inspection of our fridge .  While there is really nothing much nowadays , I am a chronic optimist .   There is always some hope that our neighbors have shared  a small cup of  sheera  ( a traditional sweet offering in any Pooja )  or an experimental gulab-jamun coming from my mom-in-law from the next block !  and I have been lucky quite a few times ! and make do with carrots , cucumbers  and sawdust flavored crackers most other times.

And next week I come back to office !!  and even better , I go on a trip to Delhi !!

Yippeee !!!

Krish..

Adaab – Good Morning !!

Once again  !

Walking along  the same route today morning ..

This time a tired looking man ( probably exhausted from an overnight bus journey ) ..

With a red checkered blanket and a heavy staff ..

We met up a couple of meters away from the bus stand

And we exchanged a simple adab gesture !!

And it made my day !!

HOW THE SALAAM (GREETING) BEGAN.

Narrated by Abu Hurairah : The Prophet said, "Allâh created Adam in His Image, sixty cubits

(about 30 meters) in height.

When He created him, He said (to him), 'Go and

greet that group of angels sitting there, and listen what they will say in

reply to you, for that will be your greeting and the greeting of your

offspring.'

Adam (went and) said, 'As-Salaamu 'Alaykum (peace be upon

you).'

They replied, 'As-Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullah (Peace and Allâh's

Mercy be on you).'

Krish..

Salam Aleikum !!

Ours is a very conservative middle class South Indian family . And all men have been clean shaven – since generations ..  Probably ever since our early ancestors managed to chop off their beard with a well sharpened  stone axe !

So, moustache, beard, french beard and even  side-burns have been a taboo !

I am the only non conformist and demonstrated my lack of respect for such tradition right since a couple of strands started appearing on my chin…

A sad looking goatee in my teens, a healthier mustache in college and a smart  beard during my post grad days .

However after joining a serious job and then a marriage later on, all of this disappeared .  A moustache though remained for a long time and at times it was luxuriant enough to challenge Graham Gooch, OBE ( the famous English cricketer  ! )

And I tried many times to regrow... over the past many years...  but never could succeed. Too much family pressure and job related challenges guaranteed infant mortality to all my initiatives . Each time my beard growth strategy survived between  15 days to a  max of 45 days before it got guillotined by the Gillette !!

Until  now !!

It has been a 3 week vacation for me and I am sporting a healthy ‘salt-pepper’ beard .

Having been thru all the usual banters , sarcastic comments, warnings, threats and curious looks from neighbors, I can now call myself a survivor !  Many even  thought that I was recovering from some  serious illness and  offered sympathetic nods as I passed them .

Today was ‘payback‘ day !!

During my morning walk, I took one of the routes that pass by a busy bus stand. As I approached a group of early morning travelers I noticed a distinguished looking  old man in spotless white Kurta, a white flowing beard and wearing an embroidered taqiyah ( muslim cap ) .  And  as I got nearer, our eyes met and he instantly pronounced “Salam Aleikum”.

Pleasantly surprised, I returned back the greetings and added ‘ aapka safr acha guzare’ .

I could not have received a better endorsement for my new looks ..

And my beard is here to stay !!

Krish..

Beeyoootiful Weather ! We Have ??

Some more Haikus ...

Have you shrunk your car ??

What to do ?  A4  to Polo …

Really low on Vitamin-M !!

.

Beeyoootiful Weather ! We Have ??

In Bangalore, as I step out for a  chilly refrigerated May morning walk ..

No Way !!  Dilli San !!!

 

Krish..

Whites to War-Paints !!

Indian cricket has come a long way …

From Oval to IPL.

It has changed, transformed, morphed, mutated and trans-mutated !

And Indians have been the key driver for this change.

The CPU :  The leisurely 5-day unlimited over cricket engine has been upgraded to a Multicore. Multi Teraflops, super clocked CPU creating a hi-perfomance real mean machine !!

The Program :  A five day indecisive ordeal has been transformed to a 4 hour Jamboree which guarantees a definite winner, each time  every time  !!

The Display :  Monochrome dull whites to a dazzling riot of hi intensity splash of colors  from a 256 bit palette !!  Check out the wigs and the warpaints ??

The Diversity : Male dominated stern faces audience to exciting ( and excited ) fairer sex…

Co-eds in hot pants and cool shades…

Enthusiastic home makers hosting IPL home parties…

Aunties & Grandmoms fighting for the prime sofa seat in front of the living room TVs…

And of course,  adding color & spice are the specially imported cheer leaders from far away countries !!!

The Optics :  From just two pairs of tired squinting eyes ( of the wicket umpire & the leg umpire )  to a battery of hi-res cameras capturing every movement in the field in real time 3-D !!

The Verdict :  An unimpressive raised single forefinger to multi dimensional  action replays on giant screens building up the anxiety & heartbeats of the 50,000 odd spectators and the billion TV enthusiasts all across the world with  a dramatic announcement of the verdict !! – and sometimes followed by  a hi-intensity Bhangra dance or a sad faced duck waddling across the screen !!

And that’s Indian Cricket in suuumary !!

And I wonder..

If a small bunch of Indian cricket enthusiasts can create such a massive revolution in this game ...

All of us (  the  1 Billion plus youngsters and adults )  have the potential to change the world ??

So here is my call to all you folks ..

Go !  Find the Source Code !!

And we will change this World !!!

Krish..