Precious Evenings

It's so precious to have an evening for oneself. I know what most of us would think - evening 'for' oneself...and what is so precious about it?! But for people like me who don't return from work till after nightfall, evenings are precious.

Every weekend, I try to spend the evening with my friends or family. That is special :-). But occassionally [very occassionally], I get an evening on a weekday. The colours, the smell, the sights, the sounds of evening...precious.

Women dressing up [looking fresh] and going about busy; people tired and returning from work; students returning after bunking class[:-)]; laughter of girls; children playing; teenage boys trying to grow up faster than their ages... what's the good word here - precious.

We used to go to my grandmother's place during the summer vacations. The days used to be hot and humid but the evenings... the evenings were beautiful. The huge temple we used to visit had rows of flower sellers [they are still there]. The smell of jasmine and roses twined with the colours of flowers I do not know the names of, was soothing.

Evenings meant the women in the family freshening up, dressing up, wearing your best clothes and jewellery, getting together with neighbouring girls and women and going to the temple or going for a movie. Either was welcome. The laughter, the clang of bangles and anklets, the swishing of sarees and skirts. Flowers falling in your lap when you sat would enhance the colours of your clothes.

Remnants of those evenings can still be found in these occassional precious evenings. The air still smells crisp. Women still dress up and go to temples in the evenings. The beauty of colours and smells and sights are still there. However, these evenings for people like me are rare... hence, precious!

ITPL Ho!

Ever wonder what to do on a Saturday afternoon when you just have a couple of hours [and no money :-)] and have to be home before dark... there's tons you can do.

Well, what my buddy Vish and I did, a couple of Saturdays ago, was ride to ITPL via Marathahalli. It had rained very light the previous night and the air still had moisture in it. The sun was up but not hurting. We capitalised on it. It was fun. Though all the factory outlets in Marathahalli were very inviting with the sale season still not over [pssst... some shops are offering buy 3 get 4!!!], we did not stop over [reason's in the previous para].

We went straight to ITPL. India Technology Park Ltd. is a tech park [obviously, what else :-) ]. Any number of national and multinational organisations feel proud to have a presence in ITPL. Construction is still in progress. Be prepared for trucks.

Some of the buildings are worth taking a look. To us, the Sri Satya Sai Baba Medical Institute was interesting not only for the good work that is being done there but also because of the beauty of the structure. Personally, I felt that it is inspired by the Vidhan Soudha. But I could be wrong. Whether inspired by Vidhan Soudha or not it is a beautiful structure. If I were a medical student or a doctor working in that building, that building would be reason enough to get up everyday and go to work.

There are quite a few glass buildings screaming "IT". Then there are others that are quiet pretend no one exists around them. What struck me was that each building has character.

There was one more place that interested us [a lot!]. San Engineering & Locomotive's building may not be considered a work of art but what they have outside the building is very interesting. They have... actually have... a steam engine!!!

We're not sure of her age. Not even as to how long she worked, or the trains she pulled, or the people she helped reach their destinations. But she stands there. Her beauty augumented by the flowering bougainvilla behind her.

We took pictures of her and us on her :-) [My ambition as a kid was to be a driver on a steam engine !! Well... I got only this far] One more interesting thing about her is a snake. Probably a water snake but a snake nevertheless. I took a picture of the snake but at Vish's suggestion I took a small video. Some day my kids are going to be soooooo proud of me.

In less than two hours we had a smashing time. I've been told you carry your own party, so true :-)

Dizwell

One of my favourite sites on Oracle - Dizwell Informatics - has been shut out for visitors. This post is not to crib about the "whys" and "oh my Gods!". This post is an attempt to reach the site owner and tell him --

Sir,

Your reason to shut out visitors is valid [though I'm not aware of what happened to result in this and despite reading about it on your site I'm not able to understand it fully]. It's your personal website and the rest of us should have the maturity to respect that.

I want you to know that your site gave me some very good articles to read. Thank you for posting such interesting/informative articles.

Though I tried to reach you to let you know this, there was no way I could. There's not even a page to say thanks.

I hope that some day you will once again share with us your researches on Oracle related matters. I'm not sure if this post will ever reach you, but if it does, I shall be very glad of at least having had the opportunity to thank you.

A God for everyone

Everyone needs a God. I'm not sure if this need arises because we need our wishes to be granted or it is just that we need to gather strength from somewhere beyond ourselves.

A joy, a secret, a wish... so many things can be shared with that someone whose existence we are still debating.

Tiny temples, churches and mosques jostle for space beside traffic filled roads. If it is not a structure where one can stand in and pray then it is a small statue covered enough to protect it from the elements and a little space for the person praying to stand near it. An earthen lamp or a candle declares someone visited; someone prayed.

Faith makes so many things bearable. A pain that cannot be expressed aloud is best alleviated standing before a deity. Just looking at the statue without thinking a single word and believing that the deity understands is medicine enough for the mind and soul.

God created man or man created God is immaterial, what matters is the belief that someone knows, listens, forgives, understands, judges impartially. Someone is there.

"Lakes" in B'lore

Bangalore had some good rains this year. This was invitation to check out the outskirts. My buddies and I decided to take a look and what we found was pleasantly surprising. Reason - there are still plenty of ponds that fill up every time it rains. They are scenic.

In the dry days people use them for all sorts of purposes. Then it rains. Now the ponds assert who they are. And who they are is attracting a lot of attention.

Builders have realised that B'lore is better known for its natural beauty so why spoil it! Two beautiful ponds that we saw had builders queuing up to buy the land around them and turn them into the centrepiece for an apartment complex. A move much more welcome than drying and filling up the ponds and then using them for construction. Of course, the "lake view" apartments/villas will be much costlier than some other place but at least this preserves the water and beauty reserves of B'lore.

One of my cousins has bought land near such a "lake". The builder has taken up the charge of cleaning up the lake and maintaining it. A small amphitheater has been built on one side. A wire wall has been built around the lake so as to prevent kids from falling in. Both these put together gives young children and their families lovely open space as well as safety.

More such endeavours can be seen. Perhaps in the coming years B'lore will once more gain the reputation of being a city of lakes and gardens.

Mannequin

My cab to work passes market areas with shops, people and bad roads in abundance. There is this one particular shop that makes me want to look at it everyday. The shop is itself is obscure. Had it not been for the mannequins one may not notice the shop itself. There are 6 mannequins at the shop entrance; all lined so as to face the road [the road itself is another story :-)].

There is nothing unusually remarkable about the other mannequins either. They are normal, everyday mannequins that wear the shop clothes without any expression. They are lifeless [all mannequins are, I know that :-)]. The one that catches my eye is not what one observes on a normal basis. It has a great body, like all mannequins do. But other than that nothing about it is
"perfect".

Her hair is cropped very short. She is not pretty. Her long arms are kept a little away from the body. A toothless guffaw matches the expression of the arms to say that she is laughing about something. Though I'm not aware of her pet joke, still I never fail to look at her when my cab passes her shop.

I do like to sometimes guess what she might be laughing about [a dumb act you might say!!]. Maybe she is gregarious and is happy about the number of people around her or maybe she is just pepped up about the scene on the road. Whatever the reason, her sense of humour is infectious.

Her sense of dress is also very good. A fact that says the person who dresses her up each day also seems to like her as much as I do. Perhaps, he/she too is trying to guess at her joke.

But my cab does not stop there. It has to go on... and it does. There are other attractions on the way. Then again there is tomorrow...

September clouds

It is a 40 minute ride from home to work. A very long 40 minutes :-) with all the honking and traffic jams. Still there are few moments of respite as long as you avoid looking at the goings on. There are clouds in the sky; lovely September clouds; clean, white, all their dirt and water washed away in the previous months.

It is a huge community up in the sky. Big clouds, flying in the horizon; smaller clouds rushing to join them. Ever expanding, dividing, mutating clouds. Some of them still carrying a little bit of grey in them and looking like they are either trying to stand out or trying very hard to fit in and not succeeding. Still there are lots of clouds in the sky, wherever you look.

Looking at this play in the sky, without realising it, I am seven; running barefoot in the open. The fact that thorns along the way have scratched my feet, and my feet are bleeding, is totally lost on me. All I can see are clouds and feel the crisp September air rushing against me. The sun hangs heavy in the sky, either watching me or watching the clouds, I'm not sure which. All I
know is that I want to run along with the clouds and I'm following my heart's desire. I can afford to do that, I'm only seven :-) and seven year olds are not expected to think beyond running and playing.

I'm brought back to today by a single tear in my eye that does not wish to fall. It brings memories of pains and pleasures since then. A sense of loss and a sense of gain enter the mind simultaneously. Things move on just like those clouds. I wonder if these clouds ever age or do they only mutate!!

The day is bright and the sun hangs heavy in the sky. The air is crisp. Somethings don't change :-)