center of attraction

Yes, what you see there is dew.

Not rain.

It feels like a year since we have seen a good sunny day around here.. Days upon days of blinding curtain rain and steady-as-Dravid rain and looking as if it is certainly going to rain and a faint misty rain and - you get the drift. You name the type of rain and we have had it, and have had it again for a second, third and fourth helping. In a country which is reeling under drought, I bet there are a lot of exasperated people out there saying "Its not fair! Why, of all places, only in that little industrial town in the middle of nowhere ?"

I certainly echo the same sentiment.

So it feels really nice when little Johnny can go out and play, even if its for only one little morning.

on the japanese bridge

Do you know why the path was left untrodden ?

Well, so do I.

look - Arundhati !

This is in reference to a scene from Devdutt Pattnaik's book - "The Pregnant King"

A big part of the book was about the king trying to conceive a heir; and there were comparisons about "ownership" of women in a marriage which would frankly be outrageous in today's context. However, looking beyond these, the dialogues on "duty"- to everyone around - parents, ancestors, subjects, children, could set one thinking, as also the sections on the difference between right and wrong, given the context. How easy it is to imagine that there could be absolute rights and wrongs - that it would be easy to take decisions in life that could be viewed as either black or white, and not "depends" !

This scene was from the earlier pages of the book - when the difficult decisions had not come into picture yet. There were no promises to pluck the stars either, just the heady phase of strutting off, of exploration, of getting to know.

One way to look at it is Charlie's way: the fewer promises you make, the fewer you would need to break.

too good, too bad

Watched Devdutt Pattanaik's TED talk on youtube. 

Though I do not agree with all his views on how "systems" are anathema to the Indian psyche, I quite liked one quote on impermanence.

(wrt the eternal cycle) :  According to Hindu belief, nothing is permanent. Not even death.

Which does make a case for making life a little more care-free, and not really keep checking for the end.

All I can say that it was good while it lasted.

team building conversation

As usual, the boss was late. Held up by a meeting definitely more important than the project party. 

"Aha ha ! Lovely ! So what do we have here ? Starters ? Capital, capital! What else ?"

"We've had starters, sir; we have drinks coming up. Also, there's pool and table tennis in the room over there. Also, sir, the dance floor opens up in 20 mins!"

"But what are we doing as a team ?" The question was plaintive, almost urgent.

"Oh, we all played volleyball, sir."

"Excellent !"

I've never felt a simple game turn distasteful quite so quickly.

another, memory.

It turns out that some of them understood  a certain four letter word much better than I ever did.

somwhere in Wales

What would you call it,

Unspoilt, hauntingly beautiful ? (original here)

Or, cold and lonely?

It definitely feels to be missing something .. even after I added some lilies to make it more cheerful ..

8"x6" on Canvas. Quite enjoyed experimenting on the new surface, also had fun adding some oil to it . The only problem is it takes forever to dry !