Ghar ka Mamlaa - Happy Mother's day!

With all due respects to my men friends who 'do' help out their spouses:

-----This is how a Typical day goes for me-----
The Alarm goes off at 6:00am! Being habituated, I roll over and hit the Snooze button, and lo and behold time flies and I wake up eventually @ 7am, a hot cuppa coffee awaiting me and not to mention the hot news(paper i.e.)!
The paper to which I (think I) have the exclusive rights!

The hot coffee is just not enough for me to move my day forward so I demand/request (plead is more like it.. eh?) another cuppa, much to the annoyance of your spouse, who is busy cooking/packing things for our children. either the cuppa or the annoyance helps me to move forward, I & my newspaper go into the exclusive place where no one can disturb you - the toilet! - it is like those "occupy wall street" scene!

And then once I am tired of the news & other things in the bath, I come out expecting a hot breakfast on the table (& another cuppa?) before leaving home 'to conquer the world!' or 'Bringing home the bacon' (which ever suits you!)

The next part is a black box to both (!) - neither we know what they do (soaps!?) nor they know what we do (cuppa?)
Again, once we are back, things go in a similar was - cuppa, occupy TV!, food on the table, (calls? work  i.e.) and a warm bed - which was made up!...

I have recently taken a role change (just like the 'What an Idea' campaign of phone exchange!) and volunteered to take care of the home and baby sit my too-cautious-after-a-sickness-mother.

What I went through the past few days is a reflection of what our spouses go through each and every day!
This view from the inside would also help us demystify the 'Black box' as well!

-----
The alarm goes off at 6am! I still wanted the extra 5mins but I think of how the day is going to pan out!? Coffee, breakfast, lunch, maid etc.etc. and automatically my body moves to the bath for a quick ablution, I open the doors to bring in the fresh air! Suddenly I am worried whether I put in the basket for the milk last night! - Lucikly I did 
The scene in the kitchen was an aftermath of a CBI raid! used and unused food/vessels all over the place!
I obviously forgot to clear the mess after the dinner last night! the sink was stinking 
My loyalty to the IPL & my drink - leading to a late night dinner - has costed me this expensive cleanup!

I also forgot to put the curd & the idli batter into the fridge! the batter foamed over and made a mess of the floor! -  apart from cleaning up this batter matter, it also meant that we are going to have a sour lunch/breakfast! 
I put these into the fridge hoping that the sourness would go away! 


I put the milk & water to boil and bring out the coffee powder, luckily there was just enough powder for today, need to remember to get some today! My thoughts on what the breakfast should be (idili, upma, oats, cereal, etc.) was interrupted by the milk boiling over - @$#@!  another mess!

Finally a fresh cuppa! but not before cleaning up all these mess on hand..


Now for breakfast.
I wanted to make beaten rice upma and check the fridge for some vegetables, I don't remember going to the market in the last couple of days :-(, hence there were none, except for the ever savior root 'Mr.Aloo'!.
what is a upma without some vegetable in it!, my mother says?
we settle down for oats (did i mention I used to hate this? the last few days this has been my savior!)
luckily the milk is ready...so one more bastion conquered!!

I was desperate to check my mails - it is 8am and I haven't even logged in to check my email once !! ridiculous, i should be connected to the virtual world isn't it!?

My thoughts were interrupted my the door bell, and I was greeted by a lady who claimed to be our maid! 
oops! i forgot that our regular maid was on leave for the next few days!
'Big deal' you might think eh!? you are mistaken.

It makes all the deal, the next 1 hour goes by - I had to tell her were the broom, soap, clothes, hangars, etc, was! being new I did not want her to misplace things that are strewn around the house. The old newspapers, mails, clothes, carpets, remotes, all needs to be in the right place. The bed was yet to be done.

Mail not checked yet!

Luckily for me we had a cook! However, telling her what to do was a challenge! you see it is not that my taste buds don't recommend the best, however, it is directly related to what vegetables are there in the fridge! Realization dawns slowly that I should have done some shopping for certain basics - vegetables, salt, rice etc. else you are relegated to having the same Aloo or Bhendi all the time. (Now I understand the subtle messg my wife used to give - by cooking the same stuff again and again!)

With lunch over i settle down for a relaxing time to watch some ET-now news & get to my mails (!), the door bell rings. in fact it did atleast 10 other time during the day. either for the Iron waali, bill pay for the milk/cable, courier, the security bringing in a circular, the neighbor wanting some sugar, or host of other things! (Now I understand why my wife says she couldn't get a siesta!)

Then the scheduled power cut. dang! there goes my 'Mail checking' opportunity - again!

Process Note: the following did occur to my analytical / professional mind 
- is there any way to optimize this?
- how about out sourcing
- how about replacing?
- can you teach the cook/maid to enhance their performance?
- can I ask the milk/dhobi/cable/maintenance etc. vendors to have online payment enabled so that I can pay it automatically!

I would spare you of the rest of the day's activities :-) 
They were no different - Clothes to be picked up after drying & kept in order, payments to be made, Medication to mother, sudden walk-in of visitors when you are having lunch/dinner & hence needing to figure out how to manage the food, evening Tea, thinking about dinner, going out to buy groceries/vegetables, buying the coffee powder, cutting the vegetables, cleaning the kitchen after dinner, setting the curd, making you bed etc. etc.



Phew! With all these it has been only 1 day! 

The question is:
- Will I be able to do this day on day, week on week, year on year...that too with a smile :-)


The next time my wife asks for an helping hand with either 
- cutting the vegetables, shopping, folding the clothes, making the bed, opening the door, ironing the clothes, cleaning the table after dinner, etc.

I would gladly put down that remote / drink and DO IT!

Hats off to the Ladies who make it a HOME! 

Happy Mothers day!

Don't they deserve a promotion, or a raise - guys !? 
(akshaya thrithiya is around - in case you didn't know!)

3 Lakhs and one stent later!

Human potential knows no bounds...albeit the confidence gets built over the years. Since childhood we are measured, judged, compared, etc. with others. Everything is seen in relative terms.

We in turn end up restricting ourselves by the social mirror and make it a self fulfilling prophecy!

While many live with the same restrictions / mindsets that were imposed years back during their formative years, they do not realize that the goal post is always being shifted; 
Some of us, unlike the elephant, break those shackles by questioning status quo - in order to discover our true potential.

All of us know 'How or why human potential has to be tapped', however I want to share a view on Why/ How it gets sapped! 

Adversity struck my Mother at an early age of 48yrs when she lost her husband.
Being a fiercely independent, staunchly religious, blindly ritualistic and strictly vegetarian lady, she overcame the social pressure and kept herself busy with multitude of things around the house. 

She traveled alone, signed up for a computer class so that she can be in touch with her children (who were abroad), ran a household by herself etc. much to the chagrin of her daughters in law(!) who saw her as competitive.

22 years later things were to change.

April 1st she had an aberration in her heart. We admitted her to a hospital for her treatment. Before we realized we were 3 lakhs short and she had gained a 16mm long stent!

3 Lakhs and 1 stent later - things dramatically took a shift.

Based on the doctors advice of "Less Salt", "No fried things", "No Ghee", "Walk more" "Sleep more" etc. etc. she has completely transformed herself going back to a life full of limitations. 

Now she doesn't bother too much on who comes and goes, what is required in the kitchen, why the phone rang (!), etc. she keeps most of the time to herself with timely medicines and food being served. Of course her religious learnings keep her more busy.

The point that I wish to share is - 

All along in life we have explored our potential, fought against the odds, faced all adversities, in order to be 'Successful' - and suddenly we are in a situation where our physical limitation (of we being Humans) is challenging us?


Would be glad to see your views to bring more clarity to my thoughts...Thanks

Raju

Root vs Derivative:

We are fed with information every moment of our lives, have you ever stopped and wondered whether the information is the right one ?

Let's take an example:
"The American dental association quoted Scientific American research paper suggesting that..." 

is a typical line that we come across.

How much of the information we get is 'hearsay' vs 'real'?

This is what I call it as 'Derivative' information versus 'Root' information !

What I mean by root information is - you got this information from the very source that knew where and when it happened - basically a first hand report!

Whereas - Derivative information is - more of an Hearsay - the information has been passed on through multiple 'reflectors' (apart from the 'Sender'! i.e.) and then reached you. 

In the example above - 
Derivative 1 - The Dental association is giving information to you
Derivative 2 - The Research paper itself 
Derivative 3 - The paper would have sought inputs from different books, interviews etc.
Derivative 4 - The books (interviewer) in turn would have got the information from somewhere else!!

4+ Derivatives for a single information thread!

And as with all 'communication', there is a Value addition (Distortion really!) that happens at every level.

How many of us ask the first of the Socratic ("The test of three") question  
"Is this the Truth?"

Let's see a few more scenarios:

A  Novel, Article, News - All these are opinions, views, quotes offered by different people as they see the world! sometimes these at best are Claims and may not be facts!

A TV ad - say for cooking oil - stating that that particular oil is good for your heart!

A politician - stating that this party has done so much good to a particular region

A 'god man' (I am intentionally using this word) deciphering the spiritual text to a group - Typically quoting from multiple sources which are already derivatives of some earlier known information!


The question to us is - "Do we take the derivative information and work on it?" or "Try to seek the Root?"

Else,
Are we limited by our nature to keep things simple and not worry about too much details?

Would love to hear your thoughts. 

Raju_the_Seeker

Shaking/Moving while reading - What's the significance!?

Have you observed how a person moves when 
1) (S)He is trying to get something byheart

vs

2) (S)He is enjoying a good music/Song

In (1) above the person shake's/move's his body front to back (imagine a kid sitting on the floor and trying to read up something for the exam!)

and in (2) there is a side wise movement (Imaging someone sitting on the floor and signing or enjoying a Bajan).

Is it a Mind vs Heart connection?

'My Baby'

Finally the wait was over - 'My Baby' was delivered on 16th February 2013 early in the morning at about 4.05am! I had to wait patiently for my brother (who lives in the US) to give me the news!

In fact he was the one to see 'My Baby' first! He gingerly brought it out and handed it over to me.

The moment I saw 'My Baby' I knew 'My Baby' was the best  of the lot that I had ever seen, very sleek, not too  heavy but little over 3.4 pounds! 

You could say that 'My Baby' was born with a silver spoon - because it's look resembled a steel grey feature with a strong body!

The Astro charts which we consulted revealed that 'My Baby' would be the smartest ever as compared to my earlier babies - 'My Baby' would be able to remember a lot of information and be very fast in solving  any instructions that was given (faster than its 2 prior generations)! and in between all the smartness that  'My Baby' displays -  'My Baby' will also be the best audio singer we ever had in this generation!!

The Chart also suggested that 'My Baby''s name should start with an 'A' and should have a 'M' in between! 

You must be thinking that it is too late for me to have another baby!
However, It was a blessing in disguise for me - I was feeling very frustrated after my move from Wipro. You see, Wipro was keeping me busy all these 18 years and used to cater to my every need. 
When I moved out on January 31st I need a companion with whom I could chat, become socially acceptable, watch movies that I wish to watch, get inspired to write more blogs (like these!)...etc.

Decide for yourself if what I have said is true or not! 
Scroll down to see the systemic charts!!
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Name -       Acer Aspire M
Memorey -  6GB
Storage -   500GB with 20GB SSD
Chip -        Intel i5 - 3rd Gen
Dolby Home Theater sound!!
Weight -    1.8 Kgs

My Baby

Pea berry or Plantation? - A matter of choice or ignorance?

Since my childhood I have been a very sincere child and follow instructions very well.
No wonder then that I was given to do many of the chores around the house :-) (familiar?)

One of the chores was to get 'Coffee powder' ground by the local retailer. As with many south Indian household we brew our own coffee with the fresh ground powder (we don't like it the 'instant' way!)

The instruction was very clear 'Pea berry' and 'Plantation' mix 50% each!!

It never dawned on me to ask a very crucial question, until yesterday when my retailer said to me that he has only 'Pea berry' and not the other one! And returned home empty handed!

The crucial question was what do these 2 damn technical terms mean and what difference does it make if I don't have one of them !? Were these a matter of choice or ignorance on how many varieties of coffee is actually available?

The bigger question relevant for us is

Are we doing certain things (& like it!) just because someone else had done it before?
Does this restrict our thought process & hence our progress?

Do share any of your 'Peaberry Plantation' story.

Ciao
Raju