I'll have another Butter Naan, and a Diet Coke

Few months back i had gone to an Indian Restaurant in Paphos for a friend's farewell. The food was good, a refreshing change from the regular restaurant we go to in Limassol.

One of my dear friends, a bit on the "healthier" side, made an interesting order. We were having 3-4 types of chicken, to which he added, a butter naan and a Diet Coke. The ambiguity did not go unnoticed and immediately we all started pulling his leg. Both his leg and temper being quite strong, the matter was laid to rest there shortly.

Every time i make a new resolve, to go jogging every morning, to join a Gym or in general to get in better shape, it invariably dies down after a couple of days. An old jeans which does not fit or a day at the beach comparing my 1-Pack to other 6-Packs again remind me of my resolve, but that too doesn't last long. Now i am not unfit by any means. I can run 5 Km, play 3 sets of Tennis or 5 sets of Squash easily. But lets just say I am beginning to understand what a "beer belly" means.

Which brings me to the conclusion that I am no different than my dear friend. Fitness, or health, is easier planned, than executed. This kind of hypocrisies somehow seem more accentuated, in otherwise forthright ppl only in matters concerning health. One curbs day and night about things by saying - "it was not in my hand" or "that wasn't under my control". But surely, SELF CONTROL is by far much more important and rather difficult.

This brings me to a couple of interesting thoughts. One could just order chapatis, some vegetables, salad etc at the restaurant (some healthy food) but that would defeat the whole purpose of going to the restaurant, wouldn't it? You could have got that sitting at home instead. At a restaurant, i wanna have butter chicken, naan and a beer right?

As for the quest for health, even though unsuccessful, one just can't give up and stop trying right? I mean ppl take annual memberships at the Gym only to go once a month. But its at least better than not caring at all. The prospect that you may some day get serious is quite cheerful.

So I say "cheers!!!" with a beer mug to my friend with his Diet Coke

Time to go to office?

Who are you??

Ok, before you start thinking along spiritual lines, I am thinking more in terms one's identity and perception. 300 years ago or so, I imagine, that I would have said: "I am a Hindu Brahmin". Identity earlier had more to do with which family you are born, which caste, religion etc. and almost none with what you did, because what you did, was but a consequence of your birth.

This form of identity was highly glorified too, with monarchies dominating the whole of the world. The royal families, however capable or incompetent, were unquestioned rulers. J.R.R.Tolkien has exalted the importance of blood, to unbelievable levels in LOTR. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir to the throne of Isildur". Now the fact that Aragorn was a great warrior, expert ranger, inspiring leader, etc., etc. is completely overshadowed throughout by the fact that he is from the bloodline of Numenor.

Of course with the French Revolution, the Ace now being more powerful than the King, everything has changed. Today, what you are, has everything to do what you have accomplished, what you do for a living and almost nothing to do with your family. People would introduce themselves as Doctors, Engineers, Athletes etc. Today, J.K. Rowling is richer, and I am sure, more admired, than the British Queen. This highlights how talent and achievements define identity today. Of course, the royal families are still adored, but in very few places and I don't think for too long.

Also with the advent of globalization, one has multiple identities. In India, I am a Maharashtrian. Anywhere else in the world, I am an Indian. For the ppl of the occident, I am an Asian. For a caucasian, I am a brown guy. And as for self identity, i am an IT Engineer. Being in a foreign land, have little social life, which translates into plenty of time. So i am sitting here writing this BLOG!

Fly, you fools!

In LOTR, in the mines of Moria, when the fellowship is being chased by the Balrog, Gandalf manages to stop him on the bridge. But, as the Balrog falls, he pulls Gandalf with him into the abyss.

Now Gandalf's last words before falling- "Fly you fools!" seems a really interesting choice to me. This is completely unlike anything you expect Gandalf to say. Why will the kind, old, wise wizard say this?? And these could have been his last words too, in case he died. Why "fools"?
It's shown plenty of times that Gandalf immensely respects Aragorn, thinks very highly of Frodo and loves the hobbits.

This is just another instance where a writer's imagination amazes me. What might have been going on in Tolkien's mind? If he would have used some other words of wisdom, it wouldn't have been worth a second look. But with something different, creative, it becomes legendary. A good story makes a good book. Small things like this make a great book. Hats off to Tolkien!

Planning

Man I've turned 23. It's about time that I start planning to plan for my future plans!

But what could have I done?

This is a standard human response to all accusations. Or - It was not my fault. Shrugging off blame or responsibility seems to be a reflex action for most of us. Of course, the next logical thing to do is to find an escape goat to put the blame on. We find instances of this kind of behavior everyday in sports, politics, office etc.

I was thinking about all this after recounting an incident to my friends. I was at the Sacramento airport waiting for my flight to Minneapolis. A Punjabi lady approached me (I was one of the few brown faces around). She told me that her mother in law was traveling with her daughter to Philadelphia. Her mother in law didn't know any English. So she requested me to guide both of them to the correct gate for the Philadelphia flight at Minneapolis airport. I accepted, feeling proud too, about helping an Indian in a foreign land.

We boarded the aircraft. Another punjabi guy introduced himself to me saying "Tum software wale ho? Hamara to liquor store hai US me". Somehow i felt that my respect for his profession seemed to be the same as his for mine. Anyways, at that time i heard a little commotion at the back of the plane. Then the air hostess came and asked me if i was traveling with the old lady and the kid. I said "Sort of, what's the problem?". She said "The lady does not have a boarding pass for the kid. The kid being 3 yrs old, required a boarding pass." Now i remembered that while checking in the baggage, I had overheard the Punjabi lady say to the airline persons at the counter that her mother in law will travel with the kid on her lap. I reiterated this and the fact that they had made it into the plane with one boarding pass, so why are they being stopped now?

She said that rules are rules, and the lady and the kid will have to disembark. Then for few minutes I tried to explain this to the lady. To my dismay, she did not even know Hindi. My "Liquor Store" friend came to my rescue and explained everything to her in Punjabi. The lady said she had some dollars and was willing to pay for whatever the fine or charges. The Cabin Crew would have none of this and asked her to get off the plane quickly as she was holding up the flight. At last, while leaving, she asked if I could also get down with her and assist her. Now I was in a fix. It was easy telling the daughter in law that I'll help the old lady, but disembarking the flight for that? I also had a connecting flight to Amsterdam from Minneapolis with little gap.

It really wasn't a tough decision, i just said that i am sorry, and told her to call her daughter in law from the airport and sort things out. I felt guilty for a while, remembering the helpless face of the old lady. Added to this, the other Punjabi fellow had started cursing the daughter in law, saying that todays generation conveniently call their parents from India to babysit their kids, but put them in such situations for a few lousy bucks.

Of course, after narrating all this to my friends, i said, "But what could have I done? It wasn't my fault"