Choosing the Right Kind

What is the average age for a man to know the difference between Chiroti Rava and Bombay Rava?

Reminds me that there are so many things I'm yet to teach Rishi! 

The Influencers

If two people are being assessed on a scale of 1(L) to 5(H) and both of them are at 4, and if the first one assesses himself as 5 and the second one as 3, what are the chances that their boss will rate the second one better than the first? And do men and women both see it the same way? I mean, is there a chance that a man would vote the first guy better?

I don't know why a Christian should seek validation from a Brahmin for the fact that she's stopped eating chicken, the only non-veg food she consumed. Further, it only elicits a "Oh, is it?" from the Brahmin lady, which sounds like "So what? It's not like now you can enter my born-vegetarians-only club! And as if you can keep away from chicken for long!"

Jumping the Pattern

I love Rangoli. And I've been conditioned from childhood to consider them sacred. That means I avoid stepping on a Rangoli and feel terrible if I happen to. But it's troublesome in Bangalore. Unlike in my native where houses typically have a compound, here houses are right next to the footpath or the road itself, as the case may be. So when I'm walking in a hurry and there is hardly any space to manoeuvre, a Rangoli is the last thing I want to encounter. I typically curse the creator, hop, skip and jump to avoid stepping on it and if no way out, harden my heart and well, move on.

Another strict no-no is stepping on any piece of paper, it being associated with Goddess Saraswati. It's hardwired now. I was watching Sense and Sensibility once and there is this scene where Hugh Grant's character pushes a map under the table using his feet. I flinched badly and it took me a while to get back to the happenings on screen.

But there was an exception to this paper rule in my house and it was Pappa. My mother who would be very severe on us, would just mutter her displeasure when Pappa tossed a paper aside with his foot. He didn't believe much in gods those days so I guess she couldn't reason with him on that. Now he's a believer but I doubt if he's given up the practice.

Baby Pains

My cousin's wife is at my parents' place, undergoing IVF treatment nearby. It's her second attempt and my mother has been accompanying her to the hospital. From what I hear, it's a really painful process in every possible way. She sometimes falls sick just by the fatigue and pain of it. I wonder if she really wants it so badly even now or it's her family. I don't think I would've gone through it. I would've remained childless. No, I wouldn't have adopted either.

There was a time in my teenage years, when I thought I wouldn't be able to bear a child. I didn't know anyone who didn't want a child, so I thought I would refuse marriage. 

Ground Realities

I bought shoes for rainy season today. And it's the end of October. Felt weird but one's got to walk!

But the walk to Bata showroom itself was a tough task. They've dug up the roads everywhere, it was wet and muddy and suddenly it looked like the pavements had vanished. That's quite routine in Bangalore, though; pavements are either absent by design or are usurped by petty shops and houses. So we adjust and substitute main roads for pavements when we can't find them. But today there was a deluge of vehicles too. I was determined to walk so I kept my eyes firmly on what was coming under my feet, miraculously escaped brushing against any vehicle and marched on. It was a feeling of elation when I hit a decent patch of tarred road.

But footpaths are vanishing everywhere, even in small towns. As vehicular density increases, administration is happy to widen the roads at the cost of footpaths. The effects are already being felt in terms of accidents. 

Longfall

It's raining rather indiscriminately and I regret that I ever asked for more rain in the past. What happened to the October rains of my childhood? Dahlias, gentle showers, smell of earth, rainbow and watching them through the wooden grilled long window of my grandmother's place...

What's the future going to be like, if seasons go rogue like this? What are we - humans, flora and fauna -going to do? I always think of mango trees, how confused they must be.

I'm taking off tomorrow, just to catch up with sleep.