10 june 2011

Every time on the emirates flight, I would have some complaint or the other. Last few times it was the menu issue and this time it was the broken seat. Nevertheless my loyalty remains unshaken because my complaints are always sorted out. I can, however, not prevent myself from comparing the services to Calicut (and I don’t know about other destinations in Kerala or India) and some foreign locations of these international flights. The difference is quite palpable.

In all my flights, I wait for the duty free to pass by so that I can get myself a miniature model of the aircraft to add to my collection and let me tell you, I have not been able to get it, in the past so many flights. I never see the duty free shopping wheel by. This time I kept myself alert during the entire flight to know what’s happening. And guess what! There is no duty free cart or chart. An airhostess just walks across the aisle almost whispering duty free. And ofcourse, she didn’t have my stuff. I don’t blame the airlines, perhaps nobody ever shops from the onboard duty free to Calicut. But then I wonder, how many passengers on other international flights shop on board. Yet, don’t the airlines follow the procedures.

This is just one instance and if I start adding there would be many.

I find us solely responsible for this situation. The International community has decided that this is sufficient for us and it is because :

1. We don’t voice back. We never demand our rights. We have accepted that is sufficient for us. We are happy to acquiesce.

And then, there is that false pride part, “what will other’s think of me syndrome”. We are scared to ask for something that is rightfully ours. We are scared of the crew, we are scared of our fellow passengers and when we come home, we are scared of our neighbours. We never ask for the balance from the bus conductors. We never complain against a burnt dish in the restaurant. (And in Calicut) We, ladies, cover heads thinking what the community will say, not because of any religious obligation!

Well, atleast I’m not bothered.

Every time I don’t get my requested menu onboard, I make sure that the crew arranges for one. And as I said earlier, they get it for me. It’s just a matter of asking.

Unless we stop taking ourselves for granted, nobody else will.

2. The second reason – our attitudes, our ego. No sooner does the flight’s wheel touches the runaway, people start unstrapping their seat belts. Over the years I have seen the cabin crew’s reaction changing from requests to be seated to shoutings and screamings to utter desperation. It’s hell of a situation. This time they just sat there, fed up. Rules are not meant for us, atleast in our country. I am the king! Damn this attitude!

This time, a mayhem was created when two people standing in Queue to the ‘Bathroom!’ in the aircraft started fighting over who is to go next. There was no worse an embarrassing situation. Why do we make ourselves so much a joker.

We have been tagged. The species ‘Malabari’(and this applies to all keralites!) and it’s characteristics have been universally declared. It’s a sad state when all our goodness is masked by the Halo effect and when the few exceptions get tagged as well. Perhaps, I too have been stereotyping, but if even me being inside the dough cannot see the grain apart, how can I expect an outsider not to categorise us.

We have been spitting at the sky and don’t we feel it falling back on our faces!

We (and I mean Indians!) have a lot of potential and a lot of success to our credits. Our values and culture is the best in the world. But as it is, vice permeates deeper than virtue. The world is competitive and only the fittest survives. Why give ourselves away with these petty things!

Nostalgia

22 months later, down the same lanes, amidst the same spirit, I try to get a glimpse of the me that was. I try to find my shadow in the milling Bangalore crowd.

Bangalore was still the same. Yet, something was different. Laughing, ecstatic crowd, restaurants and boutiques, malls and multiplexes. Yet, something had changed. It is not the same crowd, or the same buildings. The spirit is the same, the form had changed.

In the distance I could see a group of young girls walking towards me. Happy, vibrant and indeed having a good time. As they walked past me I caught a phrase or two of their conversation. They were just out of college and had just moved into the city with their new job. New found friends, new found independence – they were just celebrating.

Did I get a glimpse of myself in them?

Independence, confidence and a lot of fun times with friends, that is what the city had bestowed upon me.

I walked around A2B and reached ‘Friends’. The familiar aroma of the snacks and tea at A2B filled my nostrils.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiii….."

"AAaaaaaaaa Eeeeeeeeeeeeee"

"Oooooooooooooooooo"

No matter how much we had grown up (Or had we??), we still remain the same young girls who came from different directions to this city to start our lives.

Anu and Sheethu were waiting for me inside.

Lunch was just a formality. We had lots more to catch up.

"Gal, You have lost so much weight!"

"Wow! That’s a pretty dress!"

"And look at you, so stunning!"

Girls are always girls!

But, indeed, the girls had grown up.

"So, How is your hubby doing??"

"Hey, is that your baby’s photo??? Cho Chweeeet!!!!!!!!!"

"How is the wedding preparations going on…"

We never had a dearth for topic anyways!!!

Coming back to the rear gate of Bosch, it felt like any of those ordinary days at work.

Through the gate I could see people still doing their post lunch rounds around the building.

I left Anu and Sheethu there and made my way to the Forum mall. As I walked around the corner, I could see the BOSCH sign on top of the building. A familiar wave of joy swept past me. It just brought to mind our initial days here, when we had our tea on the terrace.

Forum is always full of people.

Memories about the place can never be contained in a few lines. 33 months of life at Bangalore had revolved around this haven. 'Tharavad' as we lovingly called it.

We were there at every nook and corner of the place. Celebrating every occasion here, including boredom. And even today, I could find myself every where.

I could see us sitting on the pavement outside, laughing and cooing.

I am amongst the crowd milling inside. I am one of those in that bubbly group of youngsters thronging near the entrance. I am one of those single shoppers finding my way through the Brands.

I am one of those bookworms getting my hands on each and every book at Landmark. I am amongst those shoppers moving in and out of Soch.

I am there in that group lounging at Transit and yes I am definitely in the ticket counter at PVR.

After, doing my rounds at Forum, I came down to meet Ghoshettan at the ground floor. Another series of reminiscence.

The breeze still carried the chime of our laughters, the lanes still spoke of our togetherness.

Nostalgia is only when you miss something. I have always felt this spirit within. I have never been away from this fun. The whole world around me, now, might have changed, but I realize that the frame work, the friendships, that held the world around me is still intact. My shadow had never let me.

As we walked along, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the glass panes of the exit.

"Gal, keep up the confidence and spirit. Have a lovely life ahead."

"Adieu."

...

Unread books, bookmarked websites, snoozing reminders, pending friend requests, untold stories, unblogged thoughts...

The list is huge, I know. These are a few of the unkept promises that I could think of at this moment. The list had been growing for quite some time and this moment I start to dust my to-do list.

The Engineer Syndrome

If I say the last few days have been hectic, it would just be an understatement.

4 project presentations in 2 days is the synopsis of the situation.

And Oh, My! did I enjoy it!!! To the hilt!

I attribute it to the engineer in me.

Why the Engineer? Such is the conditioning of an engineering student and that is what gave me that High.

The last minute ppt preparation, report perusal, the 11 th hour project hunt (and I mean quite literally! After almost 2 hours of feasibility study on a project, we decided to change it at 11p.m the day before the presentation) I enjoyed every bit of them.

This is what I call the Engineer- Syndrome, the 11th hour adrenaline rush!

We engineers are known for quite a number of syndromes, and I found I could add this to the list as well. We do things Just In Time and somehow things work and most of the time they work the best! Minimum effort, maximum result, now, that is what I call efficiency!

(May be others do it the same way too, but I found all engineering graduates inevitably belong to this category subjected to a 5% error on my hypothesis)

I remember getting a forward message during my Engineering days(and I find it is being circulated even now!).

You give a 1000 pages book to a lawyer and ask him how many days he would take to finish reading it and he would say may be XX days, You ask the same to a doctor and he would say YY days, You ask the same to an engineer and he would ask, "when is the exam?"

Managing Examz

I have finished the initial set of exams after my first trimester and these are my valuable findings :

1. You can always attempt a management exam , except statistics and accounting, without actually studying for it. All these years of your existence would have given you some insight into the subject to pull it off! There is always an option for new theories. Management is all about innovation.

2. Open-book exams are not really helpful unless you actually know which page (or which book?) to open.

(Blink!).

3. A manager should always update herself with the latest technology.

Mobile phones are out, smart phones are in.

Earlier concept of management : getting work done through people.

Modern existence/survival theory in management : getting work done through Google. (I told you, it's easy to formulate new theories).

4. Group discussions are confined not only to classrooms. Take them beyond classrooms to exam halls.

5. Thank God it's relative grading. Make sure you know everything your neighbour knows.

PS: Note the time I am posting this. Exams can still give you sleepless nights

Just a thought.

It always appears to me that my image in the mirror is different from that in any of my photographs. It could be for the good or for the worse. At some occasions the image in the mirror is better and at some the photos.

But for any one else it is the same. They look the same to me in person as in their photos.

After hours of thought I have come up with many reasons, but the the one I found the closest to my heart is this :

My image in the mirror is the way I see myself, whereas the photograph is somebody else' perception of me!

Photograph is just a moment in the past. It is past tense, but the reflection in the mirror is the present. Even as I analyse it, it has replaced itself with the latest version. My mind is not even given enough time to retain a copy, it has to work on the continuously updating images.

Try it!!

How much do we really know ourselves.

We are the closest to ourselves, yet it's so less that we really know about us. :-(

Don't take my word?Find it out yourselves.

We were given an assignment recently to reflect on our values.

The activity was extremely difficult and confusing.But it has surely got me pondering..

Perhaps you could try it on yourselves too.

Dig deep into yourselves and find out that single value that drives you. Your core value. The value that affects all your decisions and of course your actions.

The game is not over :-)

Then justify your choice of the value with your actions. ie, Give examples of your actions which identifies with your value.

Simple is it? Give a deep and honest shot!

And may be you could share it with me too :-)