DVD Problem

Dada visited Pune this time 11-12th Dec 2011. We went to Purandar fort and this time we reached the top finally after taking the wrong route at first. Dada had brought the dvd of pride & prejudice. He wanted us to see the movie & he would then take it to kolkata to show ma. Sona started watching the movie at 9 pm in the night & had to see it in fast forward. She liked it so much that in the morning before going to school she slipped it under a book & the dvd could not be found when dada searched for it. Finally he left as we were unable to find the cd. Now I have to courier it to him at Kolkata. At least we got to watch the full movie.

Gen

I am presently downloading a book on theory from the internet, and also a movie 'Rajneeti'. Trying to. All I am ever doing on the net nowdays is downloading, no time to read all these heavy duty books . What a waste! But will definitely watch the movie if I get time. So many things to do- buy shoes, get stamp paper and type out format, office work etc etc. I wish I had very little to plan for or do even that would be terrible !

Sounds of Nature

The sounds of nature are beautiful to hear. Water makes a unique sound as it flows. Each type of sound is quite distinctive and from the nature and sound level we can make out the force behind it. Who does not recall the gurgling of a brook as it flows. It evokes the feeling of serenity and beauty. From the tempo of the raindrops beating on the roof of our house we can make out whether it is a gentle drizzle or a heavy downpour. The mighty sound of the waves as they crash on the beach evoke feelings of awe at the grandeur of nature. The rhythmic sound of the waves beating on the beach after a definite interval, unceasingly, timelessly makes us wonder at creation itself. The dripping of a tap, oozing a minute quantity of water after intervals is again a rthymic sound. The overflooded river as it breaches its banks to flood the surrounding areas gives warning much before its happening just as the sound of water being poured into a glass changes as the glass gets filled up, the sound changes.
Similarly the sound of the wind too is distinctive. The gentle breeze which barely ruffles our hair can turn into a fierce gale with force to throw us off track. And then there are the monstrous hurricanes and tornadoes which can make a cacophony and destroy everything in their way with their speed and power.

Strange incident on 11th Feb 2010

A very strange incident happened yesterday. Sona had
gone for the dance class, and I was worried about her as
she was having vertigo problem and had been sent back from
school on Friday and again on tuesday. I was to pick her
up at 6.45pm, but started at 6.15 from the house. As I was
going towards the lift I noticed a pigeon outside the 2nd
manual lift,just beside the door. The lift was operating
and if someone opened the lift door from within (they
would do it unknowingly as they would not know that the
pigeon was outside), the pigeon could be crushed. I tried
to shoo the pigeon but it just stared at me with blank red
eyes. I wondered later whether it was sleepy or not
feeling well as I had not noticed pigeons at that place
before and they usually flew away when they see humans.
Anyway I noted that it was in the recess area beside the
lift and probably would move away if someone opened the
lift from within. While going down the automatic lift I
just remembered that I was carrying a bottle of water
which I could sprinkle to shoo the pigeon. But the lift
was already moving down by this time and I did not come up
again.
When I returned with Sona the pigeon was lying
dead outside the lift. Someone must have opened the lift
door and crushed it. I was exceedingy upset by this
incident, as I felt that if I had just shooed the pigeon
away its life might have been saved.

Last Year 2010

Yesterday(Sunday, 14 Feb) I stubbed the little toe of my right leg very badly and am moving around with a crepe bandage with quite a lot of pain. What poor ma might have gone through for 3 months with her broken hand I can imagine.
Yesterday there was a bomb blast in koregaon park in the german bakery. 9 dead, 40 injured. Pune is also now on the terrorist target list.

Called to the school

On Feb 15th ie Tuesday, Sona went to the school after 4 days as she was suffereing from cold & cough. At 10.30am I got a call from her school. Just seeing the school's name flashing on my mobile gave me that dreaded sinking feeling -worried that she was sick in school again & they were calling me to fetch her. When I answered the call, a lady said in the same familiar tones 'Your child is not feeling well, you must come and get her from school & pay Rs2 for this phone call at the school office please." I asked her "What has happened - is she not feeling well, when Sona herself started speaking. She wanted me to carry her craft project to her in the lunch break( which she had forgotten to take). Though irritated with her for forgetting, I was feeling concerned too, thankful that she was not ill after all. I agreed to bring it to her & she made me promise to do it over phone.
I started for home half hour earlier than lunch time to pick up her craft. It was an enormous box (2feet at least in length), which was going to be a box for wafers. It was very difficult to place it on my scooter, and I was just able to place it in the front with hardly any place to jam my feet in. In this way looking absurd no doubt with a huge box , almost falling off the scooter once or twice, I managed to reach her school. There at the gate the watchman refused to allow me inside or take the item inside himself. I again called up the school office & explained matters to them when the lady instructed the watchman to bring the box inside. It was quite an ordeal!!!
When Sona came home I gave her a talking to & forbade her to call me again to fetch & carry her things to school. 'What would have happened if I had not taken the box to school?', I asked her. "Nothing," she said shrugging her shoulders with an unconcerned expression on her face, " we would all be sitting idly & Miss would give us minus marks. But I want to win the competition for the best wafers box and win the prize for it." Win a prize indeed! What a joke! Once she had the idea that they might give a laptop as a prize for some competition or the other!!!!

Maid Woes

The maids I have had, could really fill 20 pages. Some were efficient, some lazy, some really wierd. But I am thankful to them all for helping me with the household work & child without which I might have had to quit my job long long ago.
First of course there was Shipra. She came when Sona was only 1 year old. Smiling, efficient & capable she is the one Sona till now recalls as the one she was closest to. She was with us for 4 years & I could tide over the period when Sona was so small only because of her efficient help. She was tactful too & not in the habit of doing Idhar ki baten udhar, what with my ma-in -law & mother frequently staying with us at that time. In the end she left rather suddenly. She had got a boyfriend probably & moved off to work in UAE or some place.
Next came Tuli. What a firebrand. She started quarrels soon after coming with my father in law & me as well over petty matters. Barely after 2 months of coming she caught gout and became bedridden. After recovering somewhat we sent her back to Kolkata &her son. I believe her illness was totally feigned, as in the railway station she was walking quite normally. After her came Anjali, the village lady. She was totally clueless about cooking when she came but slowly she picked up the ropes. She was extremely shy & retiring totally dictated to at home with bare bones. The food deprivation she had suffered lifelong was evident by the way she eagerly waited for mealtimes. She did not stay beyond 1 year as her husband did not allow it. After this came Amala Masi - aged bengali widow from Bangladesh. She was a good cook & inveterate talker. She would go on about the trials she suffered in b'desh when during partition they were driven out of there. Such was the condition that they used to hanker for salt to have with their rice. She was very particular about salt & always used to keep a salt cellar with her during meals. She was a great help during my ma in laws cancer treatment in 2004-05, although she was very offended by ma in laws treatment of her during end 05. After this came Shila. She was sent by my ma in law, though from the very beginning I felt she would not be suitable. She worked 10 houses in Kolkata & was so quick in her work that she would complete all my housework in barely 1 hour including cooking and then be fretful of what to do next. She could never sit still for an instant. No wonder barely one week after coming she said she could not continue as she felt 'suffocated' there. Not speaking the language of the place, missing familiar faces & routines she was at a loss. She had come so far to escape her abusive husband, but could not find any solace in the reduced work & increased salary she would get with us. She quit barely 10 days after working with us. Later on she rejoined service with my ma-in -law and her old houses. Some 2-3 years later I heard that she had committed suicide due to her husband's abuse. After this came Namita. She was extremely good cook but quite the worst temper of all the maids. Any cross talk, and she would shut herself in her room & refuse to come out even for her meals. I would then cajole or ask Ma to talk to her for things to normalize. This happened two or three times. The last time She just walked out of the house with her bags without a word. I was left shouting after her & then searching frantically at the railway station for her. In the end I found her at my neighbour's house- she had been cleverly manipulated upon by my neighbour's maid for her own nefarious reasons. Then unable to stay there very long she asked me to book her ticket to Kolkata which I thankfully did & was well rid of her.Last but not least came Sumita masi. My what an eater! She lived only to eat I believe. She was also extremely clever & wily. She made up stories about ghosts in the house & with that pretext started going to church & mosques to get rid of the 'ghosts' troubling her. Scared stiff of the spine chilling stories of her ghosts I decided that I would manage with local maids till it became absolutely essential to have a full time maid.
Hope I can pull on like this for 2 more months.

Egos at home & Office

The most tricky thing that I find to manage are egos - those of my household help at home, my family members, my coworkers and my own. The important thing in any interaction is to keep one's own ego under control & do the right thing by everyone. I have found in most cases that people suffer from overweening egos, try to get their own way without knowing exactly how to get the work done and then injure themselves and other's egos in the process. If I adopt the lookout of boss knows best without exactly knowing then I am bound to get into problems while delegating the work to others.

Earthing Problem

We were having a UPS problem at the office for a long time. The UPS would breakdown at frequent intervals and the service persons would have to be called again and again . The same sorry faces turned up time after time (at least 20 visits in 2 years) and then last of all they had to replace the entire UPS. Then they started blaming the wiring in the place. A high voltage of 90V was found between the ground and neutral. Each time the UPS guy blamed the wiring and the wiring guy blamed the UPS for this. Then an experienced person was at last called in and he found the problem. A new junction box had been installed and here the earth wire had not been connected due to which the voltage was high. He simply connected a wire to the earth point and the problem was solved. Simple!