Month: April 2012
Have you met these people today?
Well, almost everyone feels stressed at the end of the day. Crazy commutes, Pressure to meet deadlines, Family commitment, – but nothing saps your energy like people, their ability to push your buttons, and ‘politics’. Many a person has quit their job because they could not handle the politics, or because someone else’s psyche was far stronger than their own. Or stayed quiet at school or at home – because you just did not want to get into an argument with them. I’ve met a few annoying types – tell me if you’ve met them too!
1. The Do-gooder (DG) : Do not take this term at face value for the do-gooder is not the person who does good things for people. In fact this person has done everything much better than you have! Excerpts from a dialogue between DG and Me:
Me : Sniff! Sniff! I seem to have caught a cold.
DG:You have a cold? Make way, I think I have pneumonia.
Me: I guess its an allergy.. It will go away soon
DG: A wonderful immune system has been genetically handed down by my extremely healthy parents – I will get over my pneumonia faster than you get over your cold.
Me: Okayyy…That’s great! I guess I’m sensitive to pollution – Aaachooo! Must be the dust…
DG: Oh yeah! I’m extremely sensitive too. I have to be extremely careful when I step outside. (what happened to the genes,huh?) My dermatologist says I should not get too much sun, because of my sensitive skin. But I do not get a tan, I just become pink…blah,blah,blah…
Me: @#$%%! …Phew!
The DG is aggressive and annoying, friendly yet competitive and is humble as long as you let them take top-spot. Push them to spot 2 – and…well, why don’t you try it for yourself?
ENERGY DEPLETION – 25 %
2. The No-Helpers (NH) : The no-helpers are not people who do not help you. In fact it is the exact opposite. They are people who do not let you help them. They are people with a gazillion problems, and are NOT (mind you – this is something I’ve learnt out of experience) … NOT looking for a solution. All they want to do is whine, and all they want you to do is make that clucking sound with your tongue and show them some droopy eyes, while at the exact same time – acknowledging their Herculean efforts at battling all of life’s problems.
Excerpts from a dialogue between NH and Me:
NH: Oh! There you are! Did you know my child is flunking Chemistry? And I just do not have the time to help him/her. I am such a bad mother/father.
Me : Oh…do not worry. I’m sure you are a great mom/dad. Just spend a little time over the weekends with your child (Solution 1). I’m sure she will do well.
NH: Over the weekend? Weekend is strictly family time. We try our best to keep it casual and fun! I do not want to be a parent who robs them of their childhood.
Me: Why not stay up longer on a weekday and finish it off (Solution 2) ?
NH: The children need their sleep. And it is so tiring after a day at work. I never get some time for myself!
Me: Why don’t you arrange a tutor for your child? (Solution 3)
NH: Our family does not believe is spoon-feeding the kids. They have to be self-reliant. The right values have to be instilled.
Me: Maybe you should have some kids over and let them study together? (Solution 4)
NH: And clean up after them? No way! Do you think children would ever study anything when they get together?
Me: Why don’t you get off a little early from work twice a week and help your kid? (Solution 5)
NH: With all the projects I’m in charge of? Not easy man…
Me (Having learnt my lesson) : [Clucking sounds with my tongue and drooping myeyes ] – Oh do not worry! You are a great mom/dad. You will figure what is best for your child.
NH: Thank you! You always come up with a solution! Thanks again!
Me: &**^^$@! Phew!
ENERGY DEPLETION – 50%
3. The Rule Follower (RF):
The rule follower is someone who insists on dotting every I and crossing every T, at the worst possible situation for you. Family emergency? The RF insists that you have to fill up every form that you have to, and then will point out that your signatures do not match in the 5 forms you filled out in front of them 5 minutes ago. Accident at office? The RF insists that you send them an e-mail with all the gory details, following which they will ‘forward it to authorities’, ‘follow it up’, ‘will let you know’ and ‘keep you in the loop’! I’m not going to give you a model dialogue for this. I am quite sure we’ve met these ‘smart’ people within whatever minimum time frame we have lived on this planet.
ENERGY DEPLETION – 75 %
4. The Silent Instigator (SI):
The silent instigator is one who keeps making digs at your progress, your dressing , your performance and your problems. They always get away with their statements because they never ‘mentioned’ you! The SI usually gets a load of their chest thanks to their snide remarks, and usually have their band of ‘Silent Suporters (The SS)’ who laugh and jeer at the remarks, and at all the right places. A creative dialogue to explain my point.
Situation for Harried Me: Reached office late, fight with the elders at home, nagging spouse, non-compliant children, dysfunctional wardrobe, and awful commute. Sounds familiar? This might well be you!
HM: Hey, can you grab me a glass of water?
SI : Some people walk in late and start bossing people around.
SS: [All smiling] 🙂 :):)
HM to another colleague: Could you cover for me this Wednesday? I might have to take my sister-in-law to the hospital?
SI: Walked in late and planning a day off already? Tsk.. tsk . Maybe people should work before they start going on a vacation.
SS: [All smiling] 🙂 :):)
HM : Hey! Would you mind? I’m having a difficult day here!
SI: Did I even talk to you ?I was just minding my own business. Wasn’t I?
SS: Yea.. yes.. you were just doing your own thing!
HM: @$@@^! Aaargh!
ENERGY DEPLETION – 100% (Beep..beep..beep)
There are many more – the Road Rager (RR), The Back-Biter (BB), The Erratic Reactors (ER),The Sycophant Sucker (Ss), Wannabe Loser (WL), and Egomaniaco Inseguro (EI). They are – and I quote a term used by a fellow blogger – ‘Energy Vampires’. Dementors. They suck out the energy and happiness from you constantly. We need to figure out our own Patronus (for the HP followers here) to battle them relentlessly. And it may be in the form of a WorthWhiler (WW) – An expectant child, a committed cause, a dependent grandparent, genuine pet, or just some Inner Peace!
Find your own Patronus and do it soon!
Parents and Children, Life and Death – III
I keep hoping I never find events to give me material for a sequel, but yet it happens…
1. Baby Afreen – Everyone has been talking about battered baby Afreen, whose only fault was that she was born a ‘girl’ – something that was the fault of her chauvinistic father (scientifically/ chromosomo-logically speaking). While her teenaged mother (19 yearsof age) has to undergo the trauma of getting over the incident – I wonder why her parents agreed to marry her to a much older alcoholic, abusive and drug addict husband. Moreover – why did they not bring her back after her abortion? You see, baby Afreen was a twin baby who survived the term of pregnancy only to lose her life 3 months later.
What possesses a man to abuse his own child, put out cigarette stubs on her head and dislocate her neck, poison and smother the child? I am filled with disgust at this person.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/afreen-death-reveals-ugly-face-of-urban-india/247874-3.html
2. Girls let off for killing father – While the first bit of the post dealt with father killing daughter. The second half of the post is about daughters killing their father, who sexually molested them for a long period of time. Finally the girls killed their dad in the presence of their mother (who probably thought it was best for her children) as an act of self defense. The three women did surrender to the law but have been let off under self-defense, even though termed a homicide.
http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/girls-booked-for-killing-molester-dad-let-off/381391.html
I feel sad that the place we call home is no longer safe, the people we hope will protect us from external dangers, are people we have to defend ourselves against, and that gender discrimination still continues to exist. We need to grow up – not intellectually alone, but emotionally and spiritually as well.
World beauties turn desperate housewives ?
I could not help noticing the similarities here. Uncanny coincidence? Or just a tad too much cosmetic surgery? 😉 I leave it to you to decide…
1. Aishwarya Rai & Marcia Cross



2. Sushmita Sen and Teri Hatcher




And to wind up – another Observation of mine…

and ….

Since both were neither world beauties nor desperate housewives -I am going to save that for another post. Ciao! 🙂
Joys of the Earthquake – from India…
A short post after the huge event of the day. The huge earthquake at Aceh, Indonesia – made its presence felt all over the world. While the press and media will have some fodder to feed upon for the next week – I shudder to think of the physical, mental and emotional trauma that the affected people are going through at this time. My prayers and genuine thoughts for people whose lives have turned upside down in an instant. May their lives and mental strength bounce back to normal soon.
That being said – the choice of my title might be rather surprising for many, or even cynical. I am neither advocating it to be a welcome change of scenario from our otherwise monotonous existence nor feigning superficial courage over an event that some term as ‘exciting’, unmindful of the actual destruction caused.
The tremors were felt in Madras at 2.14 pm. What the earthquake warning taught me were some lessons. As I heard many people with their versions of the experience it was quite obvious that the earthquake set things in perspective for many people. When the tremors were first felt – most people encountered :
Self -doubt – They thought they felt giddy, some thought their blood pressure had dropped, some attributed it to low blood sugar levels, some thought their lunch had gone bad, some spoke about bad eyesight as their computer monitors were going crazy, and some thought that another person was pushing them around.
Priority check – Despite everyone running after money, fame, work, politics, gossip – when faced with an event that nature throws at you a.k.a Earthquake / Tsunami, one aspect took precedence over all others – LIFE! People were frantic to save their own lives and check on the status of their loved ones too (which was a little difficult – thanks to congestion and mobile connectivity issues.) People wanted to flee to get to the safety of their families – Work, office, career all took a backseat as each person wanted to safeguard their children, parents, grandparents, pets. The usually uncrowded streets ( between 4-6 pm) , were choked with bumper to bumper traffic with each person trying to outdo the other in their efforts to reach home.
People over materials – Another refreshing point that the tremors uncovered was the lack of importance one gave for their expensive material possessions when actually confronted with a serious issue. When asked to evacuate immediately – most people ran to get out first, leaving behind wallets, expensive cell phones, and other valuable items. Money and material possessions – were actually forgotten for awhile. An instant bond was created as strangers were willing to share phones – so that one may cross check on the safety of family and friends, with others volunteering to post messages on Facebook / Twitter, and some willing to lend some emergency funds to get to a child’s school and pick them up.
These were the joys that the earthquake brought to me. That there is still hope. That there still is a friendly neighbour or colleague. That there is someone who would lend us a helping hand. How good it is to trust. To feel one with the society. And not having to play the self-defense game forever.It is heartening to note that some small joys are still not forgotten and that people still have not yet fully been sucked into the vortex of greed and apathy. I only wish it did not have to be an event of such magnitude to force us face our choices. Here’s to a new life and new thoughts…

Una vida sin hombres!

Una vida sin hombres
Debe tener un fresco nombre
Una vida sin restricciones
Solas las celebraciones
Con Libertad
Y tantas differentes actividades
Una vida sin hermano
Pienso que sera una vida más humano
Libre como un pájaro
Mi niñez el mismo habría sido más claro
La vida sin amante
Será una idea briliante
No más disputes militants
Con esta persona dominante
Un vida sin marido
Después la ceremonia ¿ es él un conocido?
No más barreras
Podemos seguir libremente nuestras carreras
Pero stop! Yo me digo
¿Una vida sin hombres?
!Es sin un entero pronombre!
¿Una vida sin padre?
¿Una vida sin compadre?
¿Una vida sin hermano?
! Y mi niñez habría sido un poco secano!
¿Una vida sin amigo?
! No puede decir “ me importe un higo” !
¿Una vida sin amante?
! Será verdaderamente agonizante!
¿Una vida sin esposo?
!Es nada de estar orgulloso!
¿Qué pienso yo?
¿ Es possible tal vida?
¿Vivir como una huida?
Debemos aprender a coexistir
! O felizidad nos irá eludir!
P.s Perdóneme por errores gramaticales !