UBC day 16 - Some people, I tell you....

My neighbor “G” had come home to return my bowl in which I had sent her some kheer (pudding) yesterday. I called her in and offered her some dosa that I had made. I know she loves dosa and couldn’t refuse. She settled at the dining table while I made crisp dosas for her. I came out with 3 plates, and setting it on the table, called my help Ashwini to come and join us.

Ashwini pulled a chair and was about to sit down when G let out a gasp. She bent close to my ear, and whispered, “She’s sitting with us?”

I nodded. “She always does.”

“Have you lost it?” she asked me. “How can you ask her to sit with us?”

Ashwini was suddenly uncomfortable and she picked up her plate. “Didi, I’ll sit in the other room,” she said and walked away.

I felt really bad for her. I usually have a late breakfast and it’s kind of a habit now that I have my breakfast with Ashwini every day, once she’s done with the chores. She is a lovely girl and she loves chatting with me telling me about her college and friends. She shares her problems with me, and I teach her English.

I saw her finish her dosa quickly and she left with a silent ‘bye.’

After she had left, I told G that Ashwini must have felt bad.

“What’s there to feel bad?” she said, “She must know her place.”

“I don’t think you must differentiate like that,” I began.

“How can you make her sit at the table with you?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

She didn’t bother to answer.

“And to top it you are serving her hot food in your regular plates.” The stress on hot was not lost on me.

“What????” 

“She doesn’t even have a separate plate?”

I had had enough of that rubbish.

“She works in 3 homes in the morning and then goes to college, G. She is exactly like you and me. If anything separates us, it’s our financial condition. With all the hard work she does, she’s bound to come up in life some day. She’s a lovely girl.”

G wasn’t impressed.

“If my mother-in-law knows this, she will never eat in your house again.” She said as she popped the last piece of dosa in her mouth and stood up to leave even as I wondered if I should give her a piece of my mind.

Some people, I tell you….

UBC day 15- The runaway blog !

My dear Blog,

Where did you disappear? How could you just vanish into thin air just like that? Didn't you realise how much I would panic?  

I wouldn't have known if a couple of friends hadn't called me. "Did you do something to your blog?" one asked me. "Why can't I see your blog?" said another. And I panicked! 

I  had met you just a day before, and I thought everything was fine between us. We didn't even have an argument. So why did you go away like that? Did you know what a harrowing time I had? I tried locating you but you had just left behind one message- "This blog has moved." 

This blog? That's what you think you are to me? This blog? You couldn't even say, Princess I need a break, I'm holidaying in such and such place and I will be back soon? 

Can you imagine what a shocker that was? I logged into my account, and even more shocked to see so many mails from fellow bloggers wanting to know what happened to you. Friends who had streamed in from Indiblogger and Writeupcafe. Friends who watch my space for updates everyday. Friends who follow my blog. I could have cried! 

You mean the world to me my dear blog. Not having you around kills me! Trust me it does! 

But now that you are back I'm really glad and relieved! So no more running away like this, do you get that? 

Forever yours,
Princess.

UBC day 14- The hare and the tortoise revisited!!

So we all know how Mr. Slowpoke Tortoise ran a race with Mr.Smartypants Hare and managed to win it too...because Smarty fell asleep half way through! Overconfidence cost him the race.  But do you know what happened after that?

Well, Mr.Smartypants came home wondering how the lowly tortoise had managed to outrun it in its own game. This was simply not done!  What would the other animals say? He had a reputation to keep... He did not want to be a laughing stock of the whole jungle.

So he went to meet Mr.Slowpoke again and challenged him to another race. He was determined not to fall asleep this time. Mr.Slowpoke saw through Smarty's plan but agreed to run the race nonetheless. He had one condition however....the race would be held in the lake in the middle of the jungle! You see, Smarty was not as smart to see through Slowpoke's game, and hence the race began again. Needless to say, Slowpoke won again as he was on home turf!! 

Smarty was terribly dejected and humiliated, but he refused to give up. He challenged Slowpoke to yet another race, and this time up a hill. He was sure Slowpoke could not win whatever he tried to do. Ha! tricked ya, Slowy, he thought. Tomorrow will be my redemption from the previous losses. 

The next morning, the race began again. Smarty began the difficult ascent up the hill. Slowpoke came all geared up in a red bandana around his head. The bandana's not going to make you win, Slowy, he thought and smiled to himself as he saw Slowpoke struggling to climb even an inch. Halfway through, Smarty nearly jumped out his pants when he saw Slowpoke steadily moving ahead of him! How in the world had he managed to get ahead?  Smarty ran faster than his legs could carry and even as he neared the top, he saw Slowpoke with his red bandana already at the finish line! Smarty almost fainted when he saw this, but being the good sport that he was he shook hands with Slowy and finally, accepted defeat!

So how did Slowy manage to climb the hill, you ask? Well, the night before, he got 3 of his closest friends to tie a red bandana and climb up the hill and position themselves at different positions, and he himself stood at the closest point to the finish line! The bandana was merely an illusion!

Moral of the story? 
No matter how weak you may be, there's always some way out to overcome that and win!!!

Well, that's not the end of the story. Smartypants having found out that Slowpoke was very clever indeed, decided to join hands with him!! At the next cross-jungle race, when all the animals participated, Smarty carried Slowpoke on his shoulders when they raced on land and Slowy carried him on his back when in water, and together they won the race this time!!

Moral of the story?? You know it don't you?

***********************************************************************

(P.S- I had heard a version of this as a part of our soft skills training years ago, now when my little one is learning this at school, we came up this version to make learning fun for him!!) 

UBC day 13- Prove that you are not a robot....

I tried to comment on someone's space and this is what I encountered! Undecipherable, unintelligent codes that made me scratch my head in frustration and wonder if all that they had taught us in primary school was a farce...Maybe they should include an extra class in school where they teach you how to decipher this stuff!!

Take a look at some of these codes-

I might just be a robot for all you know. You see, I cannot read the captcha!! For reasons of attracting spam, many sites require me to prove that I am a human enough not to spam. But I fail to see the reason behind it. If I could read the write up, it means I am human right? What more do I need to prove? By the way, I did not know robots also read and commented on things! 

I think it should be named, prove that you are a robot, because only a robot would be able to read all those squiggly-squaggly words and numbers! 

I keep hitting the keys hoping I've got the right word, and after a few tries I've lost all inclination to comment. Enabling comment moderation is a wise thing to do, because it anyway lets you see the comments before you publish them, but getting your readers to go through this unthinkable stuff is torturous. 

Again, I may be wrong.... I am a robot, you see!! 

UBC day 12- Art thou healthy?

I met a close friend last month, and as is the norm, I asked her, “How are you?” fully aware of what the standard reply would be. I was expecting an - ‘I’m fine’ reply but she zapped me by launching into a detailed account of why she wasn’t entirely fine. She began with ‘now that you ask’ and went on to tell me how she had been diagnosed with diabetes and how the stress of not being able to eat what she wanted was getting to her, and ending it but not before letting me know how her health check-ups and medications were eating into her finances.

That got me into thinking what actually defines good health. It brought to my mind the inland letters and postcards (that are completely redundant today!) that I used to write to my cousins and friends beginning with “I trust this letter finds you in the pink of heath and spirits.” Apparently, good health did not just mean being physically healthy, it also meant being healthy in spirits, the meaning of which had not been evident then!

What then comprises ‘good health’?

1.Physical health
Does good health mean being in great shape, being physically active and healthy? You bet it does. So how would you know that you are physically healthy? What a silly question to ask, you may say. You are right partially, because, physical health is the most visible form of being healthy. If you aren’t suffering from any of those life threatening health issues, you are fairly healthy!

But like they say, things are not what they seem to be, you might have to scratch a little below the surface to know what risks you may be prone to in the future, even if you seem quite healthy today. What then is the mantra for good physical health?

1.Get your routine health check-ups done- knowledge is always strength.
2.Eating right  is not rocket science. Our ancestors have been eating healthy forever! You don’t need fancy diets, just eat what your mother and granny always told you to!
3. Exercise and get proper rest- sleep for at least 6 hours if not more and exercise for at least half an hour each day.

2.Mental Health
This is as important as physical health. Stress, anger and hostility form a deadly mixture that is detrimental to the mind and to the body. Stress puts your body into a flight-or-fight mode and the constant pile up of stress never lets the stress hormone drop below ‘crisis’ level in your blood. Most of us are monumentally stressed, but we do not even realize how many tiny, inconsequential stresses keep annoying us every day.

There are many ways to de-stress yourself. Breathing properly is itself a huge stress reliever, but we do not realize that more often than not, we breath incorrectly, taking shallow breaths instead of deep cleansing ones! Take deep breaths, stretch your neck, relax your muscles, and meditate. There are other techniques like, visualizing a peaceful scene, listening to music, getting into a steam bath, spending time with pets, etc. Each one may have their idea of stress-busters, the only thing left to do, is actually getting down to doing THAT!

3.Social health
With the advent of technology, it has become more convenient to keep in touch with friends, you may say. It has become easier to meet each other on ‘Facebook’ rather than face to face! So where does that leave room for social interaction? Remember those times in school and college when unburdening your problems was so simple! You just had to talk to your best friend and Voila! They always had a solution to the most difficult problems! Does the joy of having a heart to heart talk with a few friends compare with posting your pictures in the most exotic place you have visited and getting a hundred comments on it? Is that all conversation is restricted to now?

With the kind of work we do, it becomes difficult to meet friends and relatives every day, but it isn’t impossible, is it? Add a little bit of socializing (and I do not mean partying when I say that!) to your life and you would realize how it adds to your good health!

4.Spiritual heath
I am definitely not hinting at going to astrologers or gurus! Whatever your faith, follow it and apply its essence to your life. If you do not follow any particular faith, accentuate positivity in your life in every way you can. This helps to keep anger, depression, pessimism, anxiousness and fear away from your life and probably also add a few years to it.

5.Financial health
Even if you have managed to take care of all other factors, you may still not be in good health, if your finances continue to trouble you. Whatever your income, whatever your expenditure, plan your finances well. Make saving a habit, it could be by way of mutual funds, fixed deposits or buying gold or land. However small the amount, commit to saving it religiously. It is not for nothing that they say, every tiny drop makes the mighty ocean and every grain of sand makes the vast desert.

So go ahead, pave your own way to “good health”, and the next time someone asks you how you are, make sure you are truly in very “good health”.