Took the Udyan Express from Raichur to Bangalore on a rainy Saturday night. No, its not a horror story am gonna narrate, just din't know how else to start off... :)
My co-passengers were an amazing lot, each one stoking my ever-so-hyperactive imagination.
1. The 1 girl (1 upper berth), was a fair and short one. She was travelling alone, slept with a towel wrapped over her eyes and nose, and had the "I am oh-so-cool. All men here are trying to act fresh with me. All men are SCUM" look.
2. The 4 guys (2 middle berths) who were going to Bangalore from Pune/Kanpur to start off their careers. They sounded fresh-out-of-college with typical college talk. Trying to sound cool, but without any attitude. The little-town-boys for whom Bangalore was a dream-come-true. They came with 2 confirmed and 2 waitlisted tickets and had to unfortunately take turns lying down
3. The 3 middle-aged men (2 lower berths and 1 side-lower) with their receding hairlines bordered by the black lines of an ill-applied hair dye, the generous kinds who take up the role of guardian angels with panache. They were self-proclaimed guardians, cracking jokes/offering advice and all that without being overly intrusive or getting on our nerves.
4. The 1 aunty in her early 50's (1 side-upper berth). A conservative lady, who probably has to bribe the TC to allot the empty side-upper berth to her. The look on her face was that of a conservative old lady who thinks that the new-generation "kids" are all a good-for-nothing murderous lot. She thinks they talk of nothing but the "forbidden" things, dont know how to talk to others and were definitely on the way to hell. Shutting her eyes tight, she believed would ensure that god knows she was an innocent bystander.
5. The 1 and only me (1 upper berth), looking at the whole show and forming opinions and letting my imagination run wild :)
Trust...
A couple of weeks ago (or was it a couple of months ago), I took an auto, early in the morning (about 7 am) to get to the Majestic bus stand. I was on my way to KGF to meet sis, and the 2.5 hours of bus travel to KGF was definitely one that I would happily avoid. Nonetheless, whenever absolutely necessary, my philosophy was to leave early and come back early.
The autodriver was fairly decent, unlike the ones that I normally (dont know if it happens to everyone) run into....
When we got to the bus stand, the fare was Rs 70 and unfortunately I had a hundred rupee note. Me being his first customer for the day, he had no change too. Scraping together all the change that I had, I could only manage Rs 63.
The auto driver for his part, did run around trying to get change for a 100, asking fellow autodrivers, nearby shops, vendors, but was plain unlucky. Though reluctant, he agreed to accept the Rs. 63 that I had. I could very well understand his apprehensions, being the first fare for the day, he was unhappy at the prospect of accepting lesser than the fare.
I realized that the 7 rupees (70-63) definitely meant more to him than the 30 rupees (100-70) meant to me.
That was when I did something very uncharacteristic, I asked him to take to Rs. 100, and if we ever run into each other again, give me the 30 rupees that he owed. The gratitude evident in his eyes, was worth far more than the 30 rupees any day. Since the guy was from Girinagar (I took the auto there), he took my address (I asked him to give it to Dad in the shop itself) and promised to return it.
Doesn't really matter if people are worth the trust or not, but I definitely felt happy, that I could still trust people the old-fashioned way (something that I had believed was lost in this world).
Neither did I try to find out from Dad, if the guy actually returned the 30 rupees, I am happy with the knowledge that I trusted someone (since I dont think I'll be doing it too often), without wanting to know if that trust was maintained or misused :)
The autodriver was fairly decent, unlike the ones that I normally (dont know if it happens to everyone) run into....
When we got to the bus stand, the fare was Rs 70 and unfortunately I had a hundred rupee note. Me being his first customer for the day, he had no change too. Scraping together all the change that I had, I could only manage Rs 63.
The auto driver for his part, did run around trying to get change for a 100, asking fellow autodrivers, nearby shops, vendors, but was plain unlucky. Though reluctant, he agreed to accept the Rs. 63 that I had. I could very well understand his apprehensions, being the first fare for the day, he was unhappy at the prospect of accepting lesser than the fare.
I realized that the 7 rupees (70-63) definitely meant more to him than the 30 rupees (100-70) meant to me.
That was when I did something very uncharacteristic, I asked him to take to Rs. 100, and if we ever run into each other again, give me the 30 rupees that he owed. The gratitude evident in his eyes, was worth far more than the 30 rupees any day. Since the guy was from Girinagar (I took the auto there), he took my address (I asked him to give it to Dad in the shop itself) and promised to return it.
Doesn't really matter if people are worth the trust or not, but I definitely felt happy, that I could still trust people the old-fashioned way (something that I had believed was lost in this world).
Neither did I try to find out from Dad, if the guy actually returned the 30 rupees, I am happy with the knowledge that I trusted someone (since I dont think I'll be doing it too often), without wanting to know if that trust was maintained or misused :)
One of the toughest decisions I have had to take of late, is to decide the date for the first of my two mandatory certifications. After a lot of deliberations, I came up with Aug-21.
My reasoning does me proud.
It had to be after the Independence day long weekend (any other date was too soon).
Aug-18 (the Monday immediately after the long weekend) was ruled out for the below reasons:
1. If I had not studied, I would have to study over the long weekend, thus spoiling it.
2. If I had already studied (the chances of which were as remote as me being kidnapped by Martians), it would still bother me all through the weekend, thus spoiling it.
The other logical extremity was Aug-22 (the Friday of the same week), but who the hell wants to spoil a Friday by worrying about a certification exam? Fridays are exclusively to look forward to the weekend and spoil yourself silly.
So decided on Aug-21 (Thursday), not too close to the 23-Aug weekend, but yet far away from the long weekend :)
My reasoning does me proud.
It had to be after the Independence day long weekend (any other date was too soon).
Aug-18 (the Monday immediately after the long weekend) was ruled out for the below reasons:
1. If I had not studied, I would have to study over the long weekend, thus spoiling it.
2. If I had already studied (the chances of which were as remote as me being kidnapped by Martians), it would still bother me all through the weekend, thus spoiling it.
The other logical extremity was Aug-22 (the Friday of the same week), but who the hell wants to spoil a Friday by worrying about a certification exam? Fridays are exclusively to look forward to the weekend and spoil yourself silly.
So decided on Aug-21 (Thursday), not too close to the 23-Aug weekend, but yet far away from the long weekend :)
As expectant mother is one person, with whom everyone, right from the inevitable nosy neighbour to the farthest of relatives have an opinion to share.
One of the most exciting opinion of course, is the sex of the yet-to-be-born. But then, I have never ever heard anyone suggesting to the expectant mother (or her in-laws or her poor husband for that matter) that she might be carrying a baby girl...its always the cliched "I am sure its a boy!!!!", so why bother??
One of the most exciting opinion of course, is the sex of the yet-to-be-born. But then, I have never ever heard anyone suggesting to the expectant mother (or her in-laws or her poor husband for that matter) that she might be carrying a baby girl...its always the cliched "I am sure its a boy!!!!", so why bother??
Petrol at 57/litre or 61/litre?
Even though the official price of Petrol in Bangalore is Rs 57, cant really remember when was the last time I actually filled my bike with petrol@ 57/litre.
Every petrol bunk seems to be eternally out of regular unleaded petrol and stocked only with the premium variant, which is over Rs. 61/litre.
So, while on paper the price of petrol is Rs 57/litre, in effect it is Rs. 61/litre?
Every petrol bunk seems to be eternally out of regular unleaded petrol and stocked only with the premium variant, which is over Rs. 61/litre.
So, while on paper the price of petrol is Rs 57/litre, in effect it is Rs. 61/litre?
Friday off...
It all started with our regular lunch at Casa on Thursday...Jaggi told he would take tommorrow (Friday, 1-Aug) off, since it was a Solar eclipse, he dint want to travel during the eclipse, n this n that. I caught onto the idea soon, and was wondering what reason I had, to come to office on Friday. Work was lean, I would definitely not delay a rocket launch by my taking off.
The pros of a four day working week were many, I could sleep till late, generally laze, file my return (yeah, I had not done it :( )...the cons, hmmm...never mind :D
and in less than 30 seconds, my mind was made... I would take Friday off too....after that it was just a matter of letting people know and with an extra spring in my step, left office promptly at 5:15 pm...
and now, here I am, blogging in the middle of the day, just before the much talked about solar eclipse begins :)
The pros of a four day working week were many, I could sleep till late, generally laze, file my return (yeah, I had not done it :( )...the cons, hmmm...never mind :D
and in less than 30 seconds, my mind was made... I would take Friday off too....after that it was just a matter of letting people know and with an extra spring in my step, left office promptly at 5:15 pm...
and now, here I am, blogging in the middle of the day, just before the much talked about solar eclipse begins :)
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