Everyday while I have nothing else to do in the car when I am travelling on the busy roads of Bangalore, I notice innumerable hilarious, sad, frustrating, cute, ugly, cool, useless, lovable, annoying things on my way. Again these things happen only in MY INCREDIBLE BHARAT(I am not RSS suppoter, INCREDIBLE INDIA is a registered trademark so dont want to use that one :P).
After an overwhelming response to "Khushi's dose of the day!!", I have thought of starting a new feed called "Incredible Bharat!!". So here is my first feed!!
08 Jan 2013
Incredible Bharat!!
In India you may not find a hosptial or a school on every nook and corner of the city/villages, but you will definitely find a local Wine shop at every half kilometer all over India. So as usual while driving from my house to office I came across one of the Wine shops. While waiting for the signal to turn green, I noticed something which I find so ironical, hilarious about our Incredible Indians :).
A group of 6-7 village ladies, in sarees and their head covered (pallu) were standing near the counter and enjoying their drinks at 11 in the morning.
"Khane ko paisa ho na ho, daily dose of Daaru is a must!!"
09 Jan 2013
Incredible Bharat!!
While driving to office yesterday, I saw two ladies sitting in sarees behind a guy who was driving a bike. Owing to their lean structure, they sat very comfortably in that limited space. The middle lady seemed a little older and she was continuously talking in loud voice with her paan stained teeth.Strangely, there was no reaction/conversation from the other two people sitting on the bike. I was amused, so I tried to figure out whether she is blabbering to herself! To my amusement, she was talking with two ladies in a bus across the road. Around 50 mts distance from the bike.
We in networking world are devising communication devices everyday for making communication effective and diminishing issues due to distances. Here in our Incredible Bharat, we have such effective communicators, for whom distances and noises from 100 vehicles doesn't matter!! :)
14th Jan 2013
Khushi's dose of the day!! + Incredible Bharat!!
Today morning, Khushi tells me,Khushi : "Mummy we are punjabi right?"
Mummy : "Why? Who told you we are Punjabi? We are all Indians, we are first Indians then because we have slightly different cultures, we call ourselves, Marwari, Punjabi, Marathi, etc. But who told you about Punjabi's?"
Khushi: "Mummy, we celebrated Lohri yesterday and you told Punjabi people celebrate Lohri!"Mummy: "Yes, we did celebrate Lohri. But we also made Undhiya which is a dish made by Gujrati's during Sankranti and we also made Till Laddoo which is made by Maharashtrian's on Sankranti and we also made Sarsoon saag and makki roti made by Punjabi's.And we will also make Sweet pongal which is made by Tamil people.
Similar to the concept of doing a pookalam on the day of Onam and similar to the concept of making Bengali aloo dum and luchi on Durga pooja.
So the crux is, whether we are Marwari's or anybody else doesnt matter. Whatever is fun and whatever we like, we can do it as INDIANS! "
Our kids who are growing up in multi cultural environment are far more culturally aware than what we would have been at their age!! Thanks to the vastness of our Incredible Bharat!!
31st Jan 2013
Incredible Bharat!!
While walking on the footpath near my office, I saw the coconut vendor as usual sitting under the tree on the gate.I noticed his daughter sitting in her school uniform next to him reading a book. His daughter was well groomed with neatly tied plates, clean school uniform and black school shoes and socks.
Then suddenly, I noticed that the coconut vendor I see everyday was wearing a old torn red shirt with extremely dirty pants and a broken hawai chappal. His hair was not oiled and he badly needed a hair cut. He limps with one leg and probably knows no other skill than cutting coconuts. I would have never noticed him if it was not for his daughter who was so contrast to him.
That's how we see contrast everywhere in India. That coconut vendor probably knows only to count till 1000 and he aspires to send his daughter to school in the hope of a better future for her. He is physically challenged but wants his daughter to challenge the world. He is happy with his rags but never want to compromise on her daughters uniform. Tomorrow when his daughter grows up to be another Chanda Kochar or Kiran Mazumdar Shaw or even a small school teacher, how proud that guy would be!! I am so proud of such Indians!! Incredible Bharat!!
12th Feb 2013
Incredible Bharat!!
English is a very funny language by itself. And English in India becomes all the more funny when some very interesting people try to adapt it in their day to day use.
We had an old house maid who used to take care of my mother in law. She was a very restless, aggressive and frustrated soul by nature. So one day, she asked me what should she cook for dinner on phone? I told her u can make anything. And she started replying in a loud voice
" Bhabhi, aap bata do, mera to HEADING kharab ho jata hai sochate sochate! Meri aankhe dukhkar PAINING ho rahi hai, mein ROUNDING marke aati hoon outside se!"
I would have been angry in the normal scenario as I was very busy, but her usage of English made me smile in the middle of the stressful work and I told her I will get food from outside, you relax!
This is just one example of the murder of English language I have come across, there are infinite examples you might have also come across in everyday life. Share if you remember!
20th Feb 2013
As a general practise, I would greet the security guard on the main gate of my office with a smile everyday. Everyday, he would check my car with his so called bomb detection mirror and hide away his face asap. Today, the same security guard was checking my car and since I was in my own world forgot to do the ritual of smiling and greeting him. To my surprise the guard who never seem to recognize my greetings waited infront of my car, gave me a smile and with a welcome gesture showed me the way inside.
The guard might have not recognized my greetings everyday, but when they were missing, the change was noticeable.I think this is why they say "No good gesture done ever goes in vain!" and also "We realize the importance of small things in life when they are gone!"
Now, why have I written this under Incredible Bharat? There is a strong reason to it! Initially I used to find people in US very weird, anybody you pass by, they greet you with a smile and also "Hi/Hello" most of the times. I used to think, "Do we know each other?". Later I realized it is the normal practise of greeting everybody you cross and not doing that is considered impolite.
And on the contrary to that, in our very own Bharat, even if we know each other by our first names, many times people ignore each other on the roads as if they don't exist. I know so many people who might pretend to be your best friend when you meet them one to one, but on the road, if they cross you, they are strangers. Come on guys, it doesnt take any effort to smile and greet people! I dont say you do that to strangers as Americans do, but atleast make the world around you a cheerful place!
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