Nostalgic eateries of Malleshwaram:Bangalore

 All my childhood school summer holidays during 50s & 60s used to be spent in Bangalore. My Grandparents house was situated in South End road, Sheshadripuram (Though it is the starting point of Malleshwaram) near New Krishna Bhavan hotel popularly known as NKB.

Every day, I used to peep into NKB to find the “Today’s Special” placard along with usual eatable items. The combined smell of ‘Dosas’ and ‘Chow Chow’ ( Now called Mixture) used to be felt even from the bus stop outside NKB.  The park in front of the present Mantri Mall used to be the venue for weekly music performance (Orchestra) in the evenings of weekend. Raw mango with chilli-salt & Congress Spiced groundnut’ used to be sold at the entrance for munching in the park.

Sampige road was open for two way traffic and we had to walk until Mallewaram Ground to fetch a taxi or ‘Jhatka’(Tanga) to go anywhere. Right at the Malleswaram circle (now an underpass) in a corner was Radha Bakery (Now place occupied by a book depot). Those days were cool, so all the bakeries used to sell Hot/cold Badam milk. Now, no one sells at the bakery. The size of pastries & buns used to be small enough for a person unlike todays, which can be consumed by 2 or more people. The peculiar fragrance of freshly baked Bread and cakes used to be very tempting even from outside which is totally missing now.

There was a “Madhu Sweet shop” opposite present day ‘Holige Mane’ where hot & fresh loose sweet ‘boondi’ used to be prepared every evening. Going further up the Malleswaram Circle opposite BMTC bus stop was “Hamsa Store” (Building recently demolished).  Often we used to visit Hamsa store for fresh Grape juice. Grape juice was very popular those days. I don’t know why the demand for grape juice has declined now a days.

CTR (Central tiffin room) & Jantha Hotel on 8th cross road were out of bound for us as no body took us to those places and there was no concept of pocket money for we children. We had to be contended with small sized biscuits in the shape of animals like tiger, dog, horse, eagle, cat etc given by grandmother.

While traversing those old path and locations in Malleswaram, the very feeling of those moments of bliss & enjoyment fills the heart.

‘Jaane kahan gaye who din’………….

The Vacant Site

This article is not about investment in a piece of land also called site or a plot. This is a pathetic story about any vacant site located in any residential or commercial area purchased with hard earned money by someone looking forward to construct a dream house in future. Alas, till then the site becomes a battle ground of sort!

The residents of neighboring house surrounding it gets an edge over others as far as convenience of throwing household garbage is concerned. They don’t have to wait for the corporation garbage collector to come calling. They can throw anything and everything from their window of first floor on to the vacant site.

Then there are those maid servants working in various houses and apartments in the locality who on the instructions of their master (read house wives) pack the household garbage in a carry bag and while going to next house on work find nothing amusing to throw the carry bag like a football on the vacant site. Their area of such operation covers several such vacant plots in their jurisdiction.

Not to be left behind, there are so called ‘educated’ class in their two wheeler or swanky car who on their way to office, stop near such vacant site, open the door and there goes the bundle of trash. Such people never look back and speed away their vehicle with lightning speed as if some marathon is going on. Such people if objected, ask us to mind our own business!

If any house or apartment is being renovated in the vicinity of such sites, rest assured the site can come very handy to dump discarded furniture to broken concrete slabs, tiles, fixtures to discarded commode! Those having garden or coconut trees in their compound find it very convenient to throw the huge leaves and coconut shells at the vacant site. Invariably broken garden pots and discarded plants find a place in these vacant sites.

In the last, I will be failing to acknowledge those rag-pickers who with their stick keep spreading all the garbage on the road in search of items valuable to them. In short, vacant sites are a necessity in our life in absence of which all road corners would turn out to be a dumping ground!!

Malaysia-Singapore Calling

Often our local politicians keep talking of making their city like Singapore and in the name of study tour keep going to such places on tax payer’s money but never emulated!. So, the idea of me going to Singapore was always there on back of my mind for a long time. The long cherished dream of visiting Malaysia & Singapore became a reality all of a sudden when 15 family members (all of whom are 50+ except 3) decided and embarked upon 7 days sojourn on 1^st of April 2015 from Bangalore to Malaysia.

Day 1-

 We were picked up by our tour guide Parmeswari, a Malaysian born Tamilian. The airport is 65 Kms from Kuala Lumpur. The climate was cool as it had rained the previous day. Before proceeding straight to famous Genting Hill resort, the bus stopped at Putrajaya for photo shoot at the Malaya King’s palace and Prime Minister’s office/residence followed by Indian breakfast near a lakeside.

In front of Prime Minister's Residence, Putrajaya & Guinness Record certificate for Genting Height Hotel

Genting hill resort is a private resort promoted by a Chinese businessman late Sri Lim Goh Tong at an elevation of 6000 feet above sea level. On the final leg to Genting hills, we took a cable car which is the longest cable car route covering a distance of 3.38 kms. This cable car is fastest in south Asia. It was a breath taking exhilarating experience with thick rain forest below and dense fog playing hide & seek with us inside the cable car. Our stay was at Genting height hotel which has largest number of rooms (6118) in the world, a Guinness world record!The hotel resort complex has everything under one roof one wished for- Gaming station, Casino, shopping malls, snow city, bars & restaurants, amusement rides and above all beautiful panoramic views from the hotel floors.

Day 2-

After breakfast, Left Genting heights next day  once again taking the cable car and onward journey by bus to Kuala Lumpur which is about 45 minutes’ drive from Genting. Our first stop was at Batu Caves where all Indian temples of Lord Shiva, Murugan, Vishnu, Hanuman, Ganesha, Shanishwar are situated. A very tall statue of Lord Murugan is situated at the foot of caves and one has to climb steep 300 steps to reach the cave where Murugan temple is situated.

Next on our itinerary was KL Tower which is 420 meters high giving a panoramic view of the city. This is world’s 7^th tallest tower, top most floor being a revolving restaurant. While travelling in the city, we could also see chaotic traffic & traffic violation by two wheelers like going in wrong lane or moving on to footpath during peak hour just like Namma Bangalore!

But looking at the greenery and maintenance all around, I can confirm that our own Bangalore is very far from getting a tag of garden or green city! In fact, inside the city, a portion of forest has been preserved untouched. The day ended at Grand Season Hotel for our night stay.

Day 3-

In the morning visited the famous landmark of Kuala Lumpur ‘Petronas twin towers’. This entire 88 floors tower is constructed with stainless steel and glass. It has car parking for 5400 on 5 level basements. One tower is occupied by the Petronas group of companies while the other is occupied by many multinational companies. There is a sky bridge at 41^st level connecting the two towers while at the 84^th floor is observatory deck for viewing the entire city’s landscape. Afternoon was free for shopping.

Twin Tower of Patronas,Kuala Lumpur

Day 4-

In the morning we were dropped at the bus stand for our onward journey to Singapore by road. It was a 4 & half hour journey including immigration check at the Singapore border. As soon as we crossed the border, we were in Singapore city. This name is derived from India only and it was earlier called Singha-pur (city of Lion) but Britishers named it later to Singapore. Passing through several high rise buildings and greenery all around, we were dropped at the Imperial Grand Hotel in Little India area. In little India, one can feel at home with similar shops & plenty of eateries  from Tamilnadu like Sarvana Bhavan, Komala Vilas, Sangeetha, Anjapaar etc.

Post lunch, we were taken to Merlion plaza where the famous mascot of Singapore stand tall. Merlion is a tall statue of fish cum lion and water gushing out of the lion’s mouth on the bank of river. Later we went for River safari followed by Night safari to enjoy the animals in their natural habitat. One can experience the feel of being under the sea at the ‘Sea Aquarium’ where several kinds of giant mammals & fishes keep moving overhead, of course behind glass panels!

The Merlion, Singapore

Marina Bay sand Hotel, Singapore with Ship like deck on top

Universal Studio

KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur

Batu Cave, Kuala Lumpur

Day 5-

Next day was a full day trip to Sentosa Resort Island with several attractions like Butterfly Park, Cable ride, Madam Tussad’s wax museum, Sea beach side, Segway ride, ropeway slide, 3 D shows and laser show ‘Wings of Fire’ etc. Even full day is not enough to see all the attractions.

Day 6-

Visit to the Universal studio is a star attraction for children & adults alike. There are several breathtaking rides in the Madagascar ride, Jurassic Park, Egypt, Transformers, sci-fi city, water world etc. Steven Spielberg’s conceived special effect section gives the visitor an idea about how special effects are created in disaster movies. The visit to studio ends with a live model a-la Merlyn Munroe greeting every one.

Post lunch was a ride on ‘Singapore flyer’, Asia’s largest giant observation wheel (merry go round) 165 meter high featuring several mini bus size capsules. It can carry 784 passengers at a time. It rotates very slowly (45 minutes to take one round) so that people can enjoy the birds view of the Singapore sky line as well as enjoy the illumination of tall buildings  in the night. Evening was the time for shopping at ‘Mustafa’, a huge 3 block shop in little India area where A to Z items is available 24x7!

Day 7-

On the final half day trip, it was the time to take a tour of city and the river in  what is called ‘Duck tour’, a bus cum boat like vehicle which moves on road as well takes you in the river to show the star hotels, parks and  financial district of Singapore. The last stop was at Sky park observatory deck at the famous Marina Bay Sand Hotel. At the top 57^th floor is a deck in the shape of big ship resting on three towers of the hotel. It has world’s largest rooftop swimming pool with palm trees around. It takes 57 seconds to reach the deck at 57^th floor!

 Like all tours, our tour also came to an end and we arrived back with sweet memories of the politician’s study city-Singapore & Malaysia! Sayonara.

THE URBAN ‘BANDICOOT’

Bandicoot is one of the Rat species, larger in size over the normal rat commonly found in houses and grain shops. These terrestrial species are very active at night and destructive in nature. They destroy cultivated crops; make tunnels beneath the fields, gardens and even the concrete floor making them porous to the extent of sinking the ground, floor or the road. But this article is not about such rats but about the new generation urban bandicoots of Namma Bengaluru. Guess what?

During 50s, 60s & 70s, the city was considered to be a garden city with cool climate, clean roads and healthy environment. With the population explosion and influx of people from other parts of the country, city started losing its sheen giving way for human progress by way of apartments, skyscrapers, vehicles, more & more autos, Meru and OLA taxis on call and above all heap of garbage everywhere. These are all the external bandicoots destroying the city.

There is another kind of bandicoot markedly visible to everyone whom I call the urban bandicoot namely the BBMP, BESCOM & BWSSB!  They are civic agencies to take care of the city but going by their shoddy work as visible to our eyes, they are nothing short of a bandicoot work. They keep destroying the city roads by digging them round the year. They dug tunnel like holes to lay pipes, cables or sanitary repairs but never bother to restore the road to its original state. The moment one agency finishes the work, another agency starts digging again the same road for some other work.

Just as bandicoot keep hopping from one hole to another, these urban bandicoots keep hoping from one road to the next. Their work is perennial which goes on and on giving no respite to the poor public from inconvenience. There are umpteen numbers of roads which have been dug up several times but are left unattended or not asphalted once the work is over. Like a bandicoot, these urban bandicoots are destroying the remaining beauty of the city.

Unfortunately, no one has yet invented any remedy to get rid of these urban bandicoots and people of the city have to adjust, live and bear with them for many more years to come. God save the city!

STUDY TOUR REPORT LEAKED

Going abroad on study tour is a favorite pastime of all our vigilant Corporators, MLAs & MPs. All of them want their state or city to become Singapore, Dubai or Shanghai. They often go abroad to study how their transport system works efficiently, how are their roads maintained, how their garbage is disposed of etc. It is another matter of discussion that those study tours neither change life in any city in our country nor the reports of such tours are ever made public. Just imagine, what would be the report of a study tour of Indian cities by similar representatives from some other country look like?

Here is a leaked report of such a study tour:-

“India is in real sense a republic country enjoying all the fruits of freedom. They have all the liberties on road. You can walk on middle of the road, cross the road anywhere you like, go into one way from wrong side, stop the vehicle anywhere suddenly without using indicator and jump the traffic signal at ease. Two wheelers go in a zigzag fashion, ride on the footpath in case of traffic jam, no need to give way to ambulances, fire brigade or police vehicles in an emergency. Traders can sell their products on footpaths and shopkeepers can encroach on them as much as possible. Small eateries on footpath are like mini drive in.

Cable operators, telephone, electricity, sewage board and all such civic agencies can dig the roads without any coordination any number of times repeatedly without restoring the road condition to its original state. Roads are beautified with high road humps & deep potholes. The road contractors are given free hand to take their own time to commence and finish the job of laying roads. Inferior quality work ensures regular contract.

People have all the facility for their garbage disposal. They can just throw them at the nearest vacant site, or corner of a road. If not, throw them in the open gutter. People often make use of these facilities while going in a two wheeler or even a car. They carry the garbage in a carry bag and throw on the road side garbage heap without even stopping their vehicle or bothering if anybody is coming from behind. Citizens do not bother about these and accept everything with a ‘Sab chalta hai’ attitude which is exemplary.

There is no restriction on taking out processions and blocking the traffic even on busy roads. Demonstrators can sit on dharna in the midst of the road with full protection from police. They can freely damage the vehicles plying on roads specially Buses, damage buildings, shops, furniture without paying any compensation to anyone. No one is arrested for such vandalism. Sometimes, only under pressure the main leader of such procession is arrested and later honored by the government with a ‘Gallantry award’.

For the elected representatives, regular attendance in the assembly or parliament is not necessary and one can enjoy all the facilities & perks sitting at home or doing their private business. They can even come to assembly or parliament to sleep or watch a video on their mobile while the proceedings go on. They can create ruckus or stage walk out of the parliament or assembly at the drop of a hat. Sometimes, they enjoy fruits of ‘Horse-trading’ after the election staying at star hotels and resorts and come back home with hefty bank balance.

The police are always hand in glove with the politicians and the rich. FIR cannot be lodged easily, rape victims are ridiculed, politicians get VIP treatment for their short stay in jail because they are never convicted for life term, goonda elements can operate their plans sitting inside the four walls of jail and common man can get away with petty offences by paying bribe. Punctuality is given the least importance. Indian time is very much respected and adhered to by one and all.

In short, it would be a fitting tribute to the Indian democracy if such measures are also introduced in our country for the benefit & upliftment of We the people”!!

My Manifesto

General elections are round the corner.There is a mad rush for filing of nomination by all and sundry. I am counting myself one amongst the sundry. When  notorious bootleggers,murderers and scam tainted  can file their nomination, why not me? Forget about my qualifications and antecedents. Ask me what shall I do?  Unlike other political parties, I will  concentrate only on local issues.Here goes my manifesto:-

ROADS- I shall continue and improve upon the methods adopted so far by the civic authorities.. As of now, roads are first laid and thereafter next day  they are dug for laying water pipes or optical cables. Sometimes both the side of road is cut to make way for improved rain water drainage system. I will make the road contractors to execute a guarantee that the roads laid by them will last for at least one month failing which they would be given additional contract to undertake repair work. This would be on the lines of ‘buy one take one free’ scheme. Citizens would be encouraged to go for road cutting in front of their house the very next day of relaying new road. To minimize frequent road accidents, unscientific road humps at all the road intersections will be made mandatory. During my tenure, the accumulated dust and sand on either side of the road will never be removed. Pot holes will never be filled up as it will facilitate in better traffic management and would act like a speed breaker thus saving the additional expenditure on civic authorities. Two wheeler would be allowed to use the remaining footpath if  available  for faster commutation.

GARBAGE-The residents will be allowed to throw  household garbage on vacant plots and by the side of the road. The garbage bins wherever available will be allowed to act as a nodal point to collect plastic, card board boxes, milk covers and other items to be sold to old newspaper vendor by the urchins and official garbage collectors. They will be free to remove every thing from the bin and spill the remaining unwanted garbage all across the road. In fact to facilitate garbage disposal, people would be encouraged to throw them in  the nearest  storm water drains if vacant plots are not available. As there are no dearth of stray dogs and monkeys in the city, encourage them to roam around your house to feast on the waste foods which are thrown away like a ball by many maidservants on their way home.

WATER SUPPLY- In few of the localities, clean drinking water supply is regular. Steps will be taken to connect them to storm water drains so that entire city gets uniformly the same kind of water as else where. Choked drains would be allowed to overflow on to the roads for an unspecified time. In the mean time digging of the roads would continue all over the city for laying pipes.  Builders will be permitted to dig  as many bore wells as possible to tap last drop of ground water.Water tanker contractors will have free access to such bore wells.

POWER SUPPLY- Uninterrupted power supply to big malls, multiplexes, big show rooms, marriage halls and bungalows of politicians and V VIPs is assured so that people coming from other places feel like being in Singapore as most corporators and politicians dream of. For domestic users, power cut shall continue unabated. For them, use of candles, emergency lamps, invertors etc would be encouraged so as to give a boost to small scale industries. Additional unscheduled power cut would be imposed during examination time for students so that they can go early to bed and rise early! To avoid thefts or accidents on road,street lights will not be switched off during day time.

FLYOVERS/UNDERPASS- The first priority would be given to to connect congested areas like lanes and by lanes of Chickpet, Balepet area with those of city market area by constructing flyover. All the culverts would be converted in to underpass. The flyovers would be constructed in such places where majority of the traffic take the service lane so that flyovers would look clean and broad. Traffic signals on flyovers would be re-introduced. By 2015, no roads should be visible, only flyovers or underpass should remain. Sky walk would be erected in places where there is least likelihood of its use.

Thus, touching upon almost all aspect of life affecting the common men in this manifesto, I propose a big applause for YOU for going through it with so much of patience and expectations.Now, what are you waiting for? Go out & vote but ………wait……think……think  twice and vote. Any vote for me?

Making of CM

A tea vendor sets up a 'chai dhaba' in the capital. People starts flocking to the dhaba for a cup of chai. Immediately a rival sets up another dhaba in the vicinity selling milk with the caption ' Why drink chai to spoil your health when healthy milk is available'.

Finding the rivalry between the two vendors, a common man pitched in and started selling a special drink by mixing half a cup of chai from first vendor with half a cup of milk from the second and named it CM (Chai milk).

CM became instant hit with the masses!

Nation’s shame

It all started with planning commission’s report, that in our country those earning below Rs.32/- per day come under the category of ‘below poverty line’ implying that those earning more are not poor! This created uproar in the parliament as well as in the media. Different views were aired, a Delhi politician claimed that one can have full meals for Rs.12/- whereas one cine star turned M.P. said that Rs.5/- is sufficient in Mumbai to fill the belly. Not to be left behind,  a state chief minister waiting to be the next Prime Minister declared that in his state, those earning Rs.17/- or more cannot be treated as poor. So much concern for the poor! Can there be a bigger shame than this when a small cup of tea cost anything from Rs.7/- to 10/- and even Rs.20/- in Metros!

It is only in our country; these politicians from various states keep going abroad on a study tour to make their city Singapore & Hong Kong but hardly study anything there. These study tours are going on for years but nobody knows about their study report or implementation of their recommendations. These leaders enjoy VIP status with full security and demand all facilities not available to common man. They are even allowed to carry pepper spray & knives inside the parliament and to use them to justify their demands. No security check for them. No doubt, with such instances, the sale of pepper spray must have gone up if not anything else. Black out of parliament proceeding on important issue over TV channels is a new trend.

Prime Minister calls it Nation’s Shame but what about 2G, 3G, CWG, Coal/Granite mining scams and the recent incidence of pepper spray in side parliament or removing of shirts by some MLAs in the UP assembly  adds to the big list of shames. It can happen in this country, one day our media on all the news channels keep harping on death of a VIP’s wife in a 5 star hotel in mysterious circumstances and black out from very next day of reporting further investigative coverage!

It is here legal cases go on & on for decades without any judgment. Mercy petitions of death row convicts are left to gather dust and ultimately courts have to convert their death sentences to life sentence due to inordinate delay. A convicted film star get frequent furlough & extension by jail authorities while a common man’s family suffers in pain without their bread earner getting any such relief for a long time.

We are already burdened with the shame of swamis/ gurus involved in rape or sex scandals on one hand, sports celebrity in batting scandal on the other. Doctors involved in organ trading on one hand, nexus between builders, contractors and civic authorities on the other hand. Where will it all end and how many more shames this country is going to witness? Time can only heal but the scar remains!

New Year Compliments

Come New Year and people start thinking of making resolutions to be broken later. Till a few years back, New Year also used to bring another kind of expectations in the public. Expectations of, collecting New Year Calendars, Diaries and small gifts like key chain, pen, leather purse, fancy bags etc. from shops and Banks.

A fortnight before the New Year,  Bank account holders  used to  visit the bank branches just to enquire whether New Year calendars have come or not. Senior citizens used to be very particular to get them first. It was a matter of right to get such compliments. Distribution of such compliments used to be a herculean task for bankers as the supply used to be limited and demand for them hundred folds. Staff members themselves used to lay hands on the chunk of the supply leaving very little for others. It used to be a balancing act for the Branch Manager to please as many customers as possible keeping in view their connections & deposit in their branch. Still, there always used to be more grumbling lot then the happier ones. Senior citizens who are left out used to fight threatening the branch people to withdraw their deposits with the bank! It was difficult to convince them as to how a branch with 1000 accounts can manage with supply of just 100 calendars & 25 diaries! Staff in turn used to look up to their corporate clients for beautiful 12 sheet calendars, sweet box and other compliments.

Such expectations were not confined to banks alone. People from all walk of life while going for shopping invariably used to ask for calendars or compliments at the billing counter. Those days, shopkeepers used to keep many such gifts handy beneath their counters for distribution to discreet customers. Getting a calendar or gift used to like was like winning a lottery!

With the tight economic conditions and rising cost, most of the banks and shops have done away with this practice of distributing calendars or compliments. In fact, one has to pay even for a carry bag while shopping. Also, the practice of hanging calendars in drawing room is gradually fading away. Thanks to features like calendar/to do list/notes etc. in mobile phones, the calendars too are becoming extinct. Now these are used only to see some auspicious day for religious function or marking attendance of housemaid, supply of milk & newspapers. The charm and enthusiasm of collecting more and more number of calendars and diaries on New Year is no more visible. 

We are Law Abiding Citizen!

Prior to our country’s independence, politicians, freedom fighters and citizens alike used to break the laws ignoring the British ‘dikats’ and used to get arrested to go to the jail protesting against the British Raj. Today the entire scenario has changed and ‘We the people’ have become law abiding citizens of India unlike our predecessors.

We sincerely believe that ‘Law will take its own course’ whenever a crime is committed like rape, molestation, tax evasion, traffic violation or even murder. The first thing we do is to go underground to facilitate the police to do their duty of searching in right earnest. In their search, sometimes we take them from Gujarat to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to Haryana at Government expenses giving them an opportunity for sight seeing as well. By chance if they are able to catch us with our pants down, we tell the countrymen that we are not hiding or running away. We are very much here in the country and how strongly we believe in our judiciary which allows the law to take its own course.

As a law abiding citizen, we mow down people sleeping on a footpath and sincerely produce a dummy driver before the law to deal with. In case of rape & molestation, we blame the victim in the name of consensual sex. We do all kinds of illegal querying, constructions of multi stored buildings and shoddy land deals in benami names but when caught, blame the administration or the opposition to frame us in the deal. Being a law abiding citizen, we overcome all these hurdles with right connections at the top.

If we are politicians, it is most likely that we get a chest pain when police come knocking with arrest warrant. We usually get admitted into a hospital much before their arrival. Whenever our political party is defeated in the election, we always take stock of the situation and retrospect as to why and what went wrong but still arrive no where! If caught in ‘horse-trading’ or rigging the votes on camera, we plead not guilty blaming the very media whom they patronize.

We always show our full faith in judiciary but the moment the court verdict goes against us, all our faith and respect vanishes. We are never afraid or ashamed to go to jail because we always come out on bail or pay-roll. Our learned lawyers ensure that the case is dragged on and on. Finally, we go for appeal in higher court.

 No doubt, we have mastered the art of saving our skin through various loopholes in the system. After all, all these loopholes are part of the law and we are abiding citizens of those very laws!

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY 

‘LAW ABIDING YEAR-2014’

It's all in a family relationship

Relationship of any kind is complex in nature. As long as things are fine relationship goes well but it is very difficult to judge or predict when it can turn sour. I am not here to discuss the Behavioral science of human nature. They are far too complex to understand by a common man like me. I have only questions in mind about those relations.

There was a time when three or four generations living harmoniously and happily under one roof. The head of the family was like Godfather who used to command immense respect from each of the family members irrespective of their age. Men folks used to earn, women folks looking after household chores like kitchen, cleaning, looking after children, washing clothes etc. Every thing was shared by all equally. There was no sign of jealousy and back biting.  The head of the family had the last say in every matter of the house and every body used to listen and abide by them without any questions asked! This may be out of respect or fear, nobody bothered.  Every thing was accepted without any grouse, ill-will or opposition from any quarter.

Now, this concept of happy joint family is disappearing barring some business community where all are in the same trade to look after their business interest. The urge to go for greener pasture abroad, onset of education, moving out for jobs, inter caste/ religion marriage, need of privacy and space have all taken its toll on joint family. It has disintegrated to make way for nuclear family concept. Individualism & self centeredness has crept in the minds. While needs of family and their aspirations are going up, lack of time, zeal and initiative are taking its toll on the family relationship.

Gone are the days when during summer holidays, all family members with their children used to assemble in one place to spend quality time with others. Children used to wait for summer holidays months ahead. They all used to have gala time playing, going places, chit chatting and enjoying movies/shopping without any ill feelings towards the other. Even after going back to their respective homes, they used to be in touch with each other by way of letters.

Now when a faster mode of communication like email and Skype is available children have neither interest in bonding nor the time to be in touch barring few of their friends. The love, affection, bonding, closeness of yesteryears are no where visible now. What if they all have grown in age? It is said that ‘Wisdom comes with age’ but here the wisdom seldom works! All such relationship has now boiled down to say just ‘Hello’ or ‘How are you’ when they meet ‘by chance’ and not beyond. Sometimes not even that. They do not have any other matter to talk to. In fact, they don't feel the need to talk!

No serious issues, no differences, no fight, no arguments but still the gulf between them widened silently over a period of time.  If at all there were any unknown issues, not necessarily between them directly, those issues may be pretty old amongst their parents or even grand parents but not even known to children, the spill over continues. The bonding of childhood days becomes very weak and sometimes arrogance & ego overpowers those relations.

Today very often we read and hear that without clinging to the past, one has to move on in life for happiness but does it anyway stops one from wondering as to how in a family these relations become sore leaving several unanswered questions of when, how & why it all went wrong?

Marriage Market

“Mera yaar bana hai dulha, aur phool khile hain dil ke

Arey meri bhi shaadi ho jaye , dua karo sab milke”.

These are the lines of an old Hindi movie of 60s wherein the comedian is seeking blessings to get married early. Now we are in 2013 and situation is similar where many prospective bride grooms are struggling to get a partner of their choice and needing blessings!

 It is said that marriages are made in heaven but now the heaven is falling on bride seekers! It’s becoming extremely difficult to find a suitable match in marriage market. Many of our states like Haryana, Punjab, in North to down south of Tamil Nadu & Karnataka are facing acute shortage of brides. Situation is so alarming in Haryana, it is reported that the brides are being imported from other states irrespective of caste & creed. Down south the situation is no different and certain communities too are feeling the heat. While girls do not want to get married early, boys are getting overage. The days of ‘Khandan ki izzat’ seems to be over as the table has turned and bride side is ruling the marriage market.

 The imbalance of male to female ratio has resulted in Bride side having upper hand in certain community in South India. They are in a commanding position, wanting to know the details of grooms financial status, fixed assets, stability of job etc. even before their first face to face meeting with the counterpart. In certain cases, they also want to know if any aged people are there living with the boy (reasons are obvious). These kinds of enquiries were never in practice a couple of years back.

Not that, this was unexpected. Now, brides are exerting their rights in the bride groom selection. Not all are prepared to tie the knot with a person chosen by their parents simply because he is from known family or respected family. They have their own ideas of their life partner. Education and awareness have made them on equal footing with the counterpart. They want to decide about their own life, career and future. Majority of them are career oriented wanting to go up the ladder. They are in no hurry to get married. Many are in high position of their career and do not want to shoulder additional responsibility of running a family. Even when married, going ‘family way’ becomes a far cry.

 With the change of mindset, they have many other options like Live in relationship or prefer to remain single and later adopt a child. That explains the reason, why so many celebrities are single. Inter caste/ inter religion/ interstate marriages which were taboo a few years back is irrelevant now. In view of the tight marriage market, all options as above are being explored & accepted.

. The whole concept of marriage as an institution is undergoing a drastic change right at the moment. Awareness is the key to change and this wind of change is visible now. This change is for good, better or worse, only time will tell

Filmy Story

Those of you who are exposed to Bollywood movies of yesteryears will agree that films of those days used to be made on expected lines.  In all the family movies, the hero or heroine has to be poor. If hero is from rich family, the heroine would be from poor family or else if hero is poor, heroine has to be rich. Both will never be of same status. They would fall in love and undergo conflict of ‘Ghar ki izzat’ & ‘Samaj kya kahega’ syndrome.

If it is a suspense movie, invariably the heroine’s soul would be in white sari singing the signature song of the movie in the thick of a jungle or around an old haveli where no one lives except a crooked looking watchman with a lantern in one hand & stick in the other. Unlike rich or poor hero/heroine, the soul would never be of our hero. It has to be female only! The hero will be following the white sari clad singing heroine who keeps vanishing behind bushes or would be surrounded by thick white smoke. In all such films, our hero is able to hear the song but can not make out from which direction the sound is coming even though the heroine would be around. For a normal person like us, it is not that difficult to guess the approximate distance and direction of sound in real life. At the end of the song, the heroine vanishes leaving the hero gasping with sweat on his forehead.

Another character of interest in those films is the villain. Not exactly with 6 or 8 packs on his body but will be a chain smoker with wicked looks. He is always eying on the heroine and her father’s property. Invariably, this villain gets a chance to rape the heroine in all the movies. Alas, despite all his muscular body and strength, he is never able to tear heroine’s cloth even after several minutes of struggle. Sometimes his goons chase the heroine but they are not able to run as fast as the heroine (what a shame!). Finally, poor villain gets blow after blow from the hero who arrives at the spot nick of the time to save heroine’s izzat.

Comedian is one more character necessary to carry the film forward. He keeps appearing and disappearing on the screen like filler in newspaper. His job is to make the audience laugh with his antics and buffoonery. It is absolutely not necessary that his character has to have any link with the story. Sometimes his track runs parallel to the main film which used to end when the entire family of both the hero and heroine unites happily.

The End.

Coterie........The Gang

A small group of people with shared interest or tastes are called a ‘Coterie’.  I heard about this word only during Emergency days of 1975 when a close group of 3-4 ministers in the then ruling party suddenly became very powerful. This bunch of powerful people was branded by opposition & the media as ‘Coterie’.  Their dikat became the last word and those who dared to oppose were hounded and either put behind the bars or made to fall in line with them. Freedom of speech took a back seat, censorship of News became order of day, those asked to bend started to crawl and Government officials suddenly got wings to harp on subordinates.

Over a period of time, I could relate to coterie in every sphere of life. Take a look at any office, one can find such coterie working overtime to ensure that their interests are protected. They keep reporting to their higher ups about all the happenings in the office & at their back. Their bondage with higher ups would be so strong that a sincere & honest junior will always be doing the additional work of that coterie. He would be externally patted for the good job but would never be rewarded with timely promotion or posting of their choice.

Writers have their own set of coterie who will be indulging in self promotion at every available platform. They work on premise-‘You praise my work, I shall do yours’. Be it a writer’s meet, book release function , felicitation function (even at their own expenses ) or routine meet, they ensure to hog the limelight  through  media coverage like photo session, interview etc. They work in unison to get  a Government or Literary awards.

Now this business has also entered into social networking sites. From time to time, I have come across comment on Face book like- ‘People expect likes and comments on their post but do not like or comment on other’s posts’, or ‘I am going to undo friendship with those who are not reading or commenting my post’! So, if you are on such social network sites and sending someone friendship request, make sure he is from your inner circle i.e. coterie so that he keeps liking/sharing your posts irrespective of the fact you like it or not otherwise one day, you would be removed from the so called Coterie.

The less said about coterie in any Association, ladies club or temple trust, the better. Unlike other fields, here the members are always divided and self interest becomes the prime goal. Once Shining India was eclipsed…….by the legal & illegal advice of the coterie. Their actions can be disastrous if not handled with care & diligence. If they can create a King or a monster, they can make a pauper as well!

Banks that care…….

There are ‘dada’ type of tenants including shopkeepers who default in paying the monthly rent to the owner of house or shop. Sometimes their arrears run into months fighting with the owner in the court, but can you imagine Government office or public sector organization defaulting in rent payment?

Recently Bangalore civic authority (BBMP) has sealed branches of three Banks and a post office inside a shopping complex for recovery of rent since 2007!Unbelievable? Well these bank branches are of Vijaya Bank (arrears Rs.3.24 crores), S.B.I. (Arrears 63.56 Lacs), Apex Bank (arrears Rs.33 Lacs) and Post Office (arrears Rs.33.54 Lacs). Here is a unique case where banks are chasing the loan defaulters for recovery of their loans and the civic authority chasing the banks to recover arrear rents in default. This is what is called “The fence eating the crops”.

In another development, The Reserve Bank of India is chasing those banks which are violating the KYC (KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER) norms and anti-money laundering norms by slapping hefty fines on the banks! While talking about the banks, who care…. (!), here is another revelation. Don’t think that everything can be foolproof in fully automated/fully computerized bank.Another case where the banks are playing the games played by Dons & bookies!

Other day a depositor got a computer generated ‘Interest paid Certificate’ from the bank for 3 of his fixed deposits even though he held 6 deposit receipts. He had transferred other 3 FDs to other branch of the same bank during the month of November. Interest paid on those three FDRs till the date of transfer (i.e. November) neither appeared in the interest certificate issued by transferor branch nor the transferee branch. 

Isn't this a nice idea to save income tax on interest earned on FDRs by transferring them to other branch midway?

A travel in time (My Interview)

Here is the link to  web magazine friedeye.com which has published the interview on my nostalgic journey .

https://www.friedeye.com/2013/02/a-travel-in-time-in-conversation-with-shri-ram-ayyangar.html

“Shor”- The Noise

 Few years back we were very happy to shift our house from Dr Rajkumar road in Bangalore to a suburb Vidyaranyapura. It was a nightmare to continue stay at Rajkumar road where the traffic is ever increasing with entire road becoming commercial. The sound of all kinds of vehicle were so strong that neither we could hear our family conversation nor watch any programme on TV without any disturbance. In fact, the floor of our house used to vibrate whenever heavy vehicles passed through the road.

 But our joy of shifting was short lived. To our utter disappointment, the vast green fields around  Vidyaranyapura also soon started vanishing and concrete jungle of houses and flats started coming up in all the direction at a very fast pace. With the new residents coming in with their pet dogs and stray dogs arriving in full strength from nowhere completed the corum to disturb others only at a time when somebody wanted peace and rest. How can Street vendors, beggars and ‘Basavannas’(coming with decorated Bull) remain far behind. They all joined together to add to the noise level. If this was not enough, than there are sounds at odd hours of ‘reverse gear siren’ of different tones fitted in cars or people honking near their own house entrance gate till some body opens the gate!

              

Thanks to my daughter & son in law for inviting us to stay with them at California in US. Having heard so much about the cleanliness, pollution free atmosphere there, I was happy to be away from all those noises for some time as long as we stay in US. But it was not to be. Here one can get up from bed on hearing the sound of Lawn mower. Entire lawn area & grass area is cleaned/trimmed with this machine in the morning. After a gap, another person comes with branch cutter who with the mechanized machine cuts & trims the tree branches around the apartment. This is followed by Gas powered riding lawn mower  to collect the cut grass & leaves. 

Its 10 am and you want to relax & read newspaper in peace? Wait; here comes a giant size Garbage collection truck with two trunks like hands to collect the apartment garbage  from the dumpsters made of thick iron sheets. As the entire process of emptying the garbage drums through mechanized hands, the sound of lifting & again putting the drums down is enough to give a feel of 100 piece  orchestra all playing in high pitch at a time!.

Here even most of the toys my grandchildren play with are musical. Musicals to keep you awake as only few have volume button! After noon time may be a short nap time but not for real, because it is the time for all airplanes to fly. Being nearer to the NASA research Center their planes & helicopters keep hovering around the area. In between comes a big truck from FedEx or UPS to deliver courier packets. The driver is so used to the vehicle that he drives down the truck even to deliver next door! Around 4 pm comes a giant surveillance plane flying so low that your ear drums can starts vibrating.

Come night and you heave a sigh of relief to go to bed. But wait, there are two ferocious looking cats upstairs who keep playing hide & seek chasing each other all night with their paws sound clearly audible downstairs despite carpeted wooden floor. 

Now tell me, where on this earth can one find a place free from Noise pollution, Antarctica??

Welcome aboard American Airlines

Dream of flying in an American Airlines came too soon when I decided to visit my nieces at San Antonio & Dallas from San Francisco. It was a dream of travelling in a world class flight famous for courtesy & efficiency. More so because we back in India keep blaming our domestic airlines comparing with their counterpart elsewhere in the world.

My flight with South West Airlines, a low cost popular airline to San Antonio was at 4.30 pm sharp. Sharp…..because we also make fun of our sense of timings, The Indian Time! Time passed and it was 4.45 pm when I became restless. There was no sign of my plane arriving. Later, it was announced that the flight is delayed. Just ‘delayed’ no further information about either the cause of delay or expected time of arrival. ‘Sorry, we have no idea’ was the curt reply when enquired. The same reply was forthcoming in this age of fast & furious technological advancement the country boosts of, even after 1 hour (and our techies are dying to work for them)! After an hour, it was known that the plane had some snag at Houston airport and that our flight will take off at 6 pm. The departure time on the display board at the help desk kept on changing from 6.15 to 6.30 from time to time but in the end settled for 6.15 pm. Yes, finally they were sure that the flight would arrive & take off at 6.15.

At last we boarded the plane at 6, greeted by an exhausted not so young air hostess. Unlike India, the boarding pass was taken away at the entry gate and I was not able to locate my seat number inside. I enquired from a steward who was grooming his long hair on the rear side. He gave a surprised look at me and said ‘It’s all free seating like Cinema hall and I can sit anywhere I like’. The flight took off without any customary apology announcement and first thing we were served was a packet of groundnuts & soft drink. Here serving of groundnuts is common whereas back home this item is mostly consumed as time pass by poor people and cinema goers in villages and smaller towns and looked down as foul smelling stuff. Unfortunately, as the day turned out to be, six of the passengers were not served soft drink as the pilot asked them to discontinue serving due to turbulence in air pocket. I was one amongst the six. Its only at the end of journey that pilot announced that the delay was due to snag in the plane due to which the plane had to be replaced and we should not be too worried about the safety as we have already landed safely at the Dallas airport. All the passengers clapped and heaved a sigh of relief.

My real harrowing time started on return journey from Dallas to San Francisco. Here, again I was booked on South West airlines going via El Paso & Phoenix. I was to change plane at El Paso with the same airlines. On reaching El Paso boarded the plane scheduled to fly at 2 pm. Soon after the usual safety drill, the flight failed to take off. Pilot informed that there is some problem with hydraulics and being attended to. All the passengers were seated waiting for about 45 minutes when pilot asked us to deplane. We returned back to the terminal waiting for the plane to be repaired.

El Paso is a desert area on the Mexican border & prone to sand storms. Suddenly, the airport was in midst of a sand storm followed by thick black cloud threatening with bright lightening. In no time, heavy down pour started making the visibility to zero! The announcement of uncertainty of flights taking off made us jittery. One thing was certain, unless the whether becomes clear, no plane would take off.

After some time it was announced that the same plane would now go up to Phoenix only at 6 pm. As I was to travel beyond, they gave me boarding pass for another flight from Phoenix to San Francisco but its departure was at 7 pm from Phoenix. I was assured that the flight would wait till our flight from El Paso reaches Phoenix but that was not to be. It was already 6.30 pm now and there was no announcement about the departure of Phoenix flight. I was sure to miss my flight. I asked the person at the help desk to accommodate me in some other flight so that I can go to San Francisco directly. There was such a flight at 8.15 pm via Las Vegas. They obliged to change the boarding pass and issued for 8.15 pm flight. In the meantime my luggage was transferred from one plane to the other. I had doubt if it would reach with my flight but fortunately it did. Finally, boarded the 8.15 flight via Las Vegas and till then, the other plane to Phoenix had not taken off. I missed watching the desserts of Phoenix but in return could enjoy the colorful lights of Los Vegas which never sleeps.

After, a harrowing time of 6 hours in anxiety touched down at San Francisco safely. The only silver lining of the entire trip was a compensatory voucher offered by the airlines worth $200 for travelling with them again within a year!