Zombie in the Brain

Why does it happen that we develop a strong dislike for someone just at the first glance? Why do we recollect some strangers easily and not others? What invokes the random thought processes? Wish I had studied the brain rather than the Electrical Engineering for four years. But then all I wanted to do was to get a job...

I read somewhere today that one should cut down on processed food and go for wholegrains instead. But it seems to have triggered an opposite reaction in the brain - I helped myself to two pieces of pizza and half a piece of cake. Then better sense prevailed and I also ate red rice and my usual sambar and curd and everything. May be I shouldn't look at myself in the mirror tomorrow. 

Agni mattu MaLe

Yet another temple got built and inaugurated today, just behind our building and you can imagine how much of peace we would've managed for the past couple of days. Some ladies were using full advantage of the mike even to crack jokes with their friends! For the last three days there has been lunch and dinner for all the 'devotees' and just when all the ceremony got over successfully, it is raining heavily now!! Don't know what all mantras the priests had chanted but they surely seem to have pleased the rain gods. The hot currents have been swiftly replaced by the cool breezes and I'm looking forward to a blissful sleep. If only we had a stream nearby and I could hear even the frogs croak and the crickets chirp, I would be happier...just like the days of yore...

On the Boil

Rishi scored 92nd rank in the state in IMO Round 2 and he was disappointed that he wouldn't get anything - only the first 25 ranks do. Nevertheless, P and him are geared up for the next year but I wonder if he'll be able to sustain the drive. He's into a lot of things of late - he plays tennis thrice a week, goes swimming every other day, plays badminton when he's not playing tennis, doesn't want to miss Mahabharata on TV and I have a secret ambition of making him learn some form of music because he's singing pretty well. And his teacher told us the other day that fourth standard is loaded so much that they themselves are anxious already. Let us see.

Anu will also start with her playschool this year and though I had informed her teacher that she has no background of English whatsoever, we have slowly started to introduce her to some words. She used to hate it in the beginning but now she's treating it like a game and asks us for new words on her own.

Bangalore is boiling and I just don't want to think how May will be. We are travelling in the second half of April but may be this time the temperature difference anywhere will not be too much. It is a given that we will have water shortage soon but the only question is, how bad will it be? Till only two years ago, I used to be annoyed with the fact that it rains in Bangalore anytime and everytime but now I'm praying that it restores back to that situation soon. Even children have been told in the strictest of terms to be careful with water but I hope others are doing the same too. Imagine having water crisis!

I'm in general friendly with the security ladies in the office. The other day I was talking to one of them and she  asked me if I was married. I told her I had two children and she was literally agape and it made me very happy. Do I worry about looking old?

Stages

Mooru Mattondu

Before I forget, Rishi won bronze in his school in IMO round I and made us all happy. He was thoroughly proud of himself for some time, till the next round came in which he says he's done reasonably well. Of course his coach, P, is much happier than the rest of us because it has given him a chance to prove his merit as a teacher. The other two where he didn't focus much, NSO and IEO, haven't given great results, by the way.

The majestic trees in our area were all suddenly looking cut to size and then I realized they were shedding bagful of leaves everyday. But the whole area I walk in the morning is so beautiful now, including the tech park itself - trees are full of pink, yellow, red and purple flowers and I just don't get tired of looking at them. This must be a happy season for the bees too; the other day they swarmed outside our open cafeteria causing panic among the young and old to run with their lunch plates. I heard someone commenting that she had seen such a thing only in Tom and Jerry before!!

Why is it that in our long-service mails, rarely you'll see anyone in formals - people would typically give their holiday photos or something like that and if you see the driver-identification card in the autos, most of them would be decked up in coats and ties?

Finally in my life, I've started putting on some weight and unfortunately, it is manifesting in the wrong places too. After having spent so many years being noticed for being thin, I had hoped that I would spend the rest of my life eating anything I wanted, but my hopes are dashed. Of course I haven't had to change anything so far, not even my dresses, but may be that will come sooner than later.

I think I've also become more irritable these days, because the other day I saw this sticker on the back of a car and got thoroughly annoyed. It said, "I am cute, my Mom is also cute and my Dad is lucky!"

The Catcher Mode

Went to the MalenaDu MeLa the other day and we bought 'todedevu' which was wonderful. I'm so glad there are still people who aren't as lazy as I am and make these things, taking all the trouble, for us to enjoy. It is one of the things I would recommend for anyone to eat at least once in their lives.

How would life be if everybody spoke their mind? I guess it would shock me in the beginning, no doubt, but I would prefer being told that I'm being a snob, I'm being pretentious, hypocritical, useless, careless or whatever else which must often be the case, than just being praised or smiled at all the time. Very few do it to me; Rishi in his limited exposure to my faults, mother for domestic failures, P mostly for all the wrong reasons and M whenever he can. Of course I would like to give my piece of mind to a hell lot of people too.

I hate it when guys shake your hand like a vegetable or something, I mean, limply. It's worse when people extend the hand themselves first only for you to hold it firmly and shake it. May be it's because I'm a lady or something, but for God's sake, I'm not going to eat them up or anything! Treat me like just another human being, damn it!

I attended my first session of OWL and it was very disappointing to say the least. The session was on effective waste management and the speaker from Mumbai was an entrepreneur in that area and I was thinking she would tell us something useful. But by the end of it of all, I only came to know what her father-in-law does, how her mother died, how her last daughter was born and even that she had a big birthmark on her face!! Please!! We all waited that she would come to the point eventually but alas! and finally the conference ended after three hours sharp, not even giving us a chance to ask anything and kind of shocked that we had managed to waste two hours of precious time!

What happens to the turtles in the BTP lake when it gets too dirty? Does someone take them out and put them into a different place or did the old man who was removing the weeds just eat them up? I saw two turtles last week, their backs covered in green dirt, sitting on the tree just above the water but now they are nowhere to be seen.