An Hour Of Drive

I got up early, cooked, cleaned, got ready, and we left for office at 9.30 a.m. on the dot. In hopes of reaching early to office, we were to meet only with disappointment.

As usual, for apparently no reason, the signal at Khadki Bazaar was not working. That affected the traffic till almost a kilometer behind. I have just not understood the reason of shutting of traffic signals and manning the traffic manually.

Why can't the right authorities understand that it just does not make sense! With one signal off, there is so much of wastage of time, money, petrol, and an overall increase in the frustration of thousands of drivers. Not to count the extra work the traffic police have to do! It's sheer madness!

And because there is already a bottleneck, everyone just wants to go before the other. No one is ready to stop, allow others to move, or follow traffic rules. Two-wheelers encroach on the footpath, pedestrians cannot walk on the roads, trucks, buses, cars just race to move ahead. Pandemonium!

So today, even after starting at 9.30 a.m., we just did not reach early. It was an hour's drive! The futility of starting early!

Desperately Needing A Break

Working harder than ever for the release on December 15...Getting tired of closed environments...Sick of unhealthy surroundings...Frustrated at the inertia...Wishing to create my own space...Bugged up with unasked for scenes...Desperately needing a break!

At times, life really sucks!

Responsible

When things do not work, I realise I am responsible for them. When I screw up things, I know I am responsible.

But when people don't behave well with me for no apparent reason, but just that I exist...even then am I responsible?

My one action can bring about so many changes. It has changed so many people, it has perhaps broken so many hearts...severed so many relations. Is it after all worth it? More than that...I shall always have this constant gnawing at my heart that it's all my doing.

But what really is the issue? I don't know. I cannot fathom. I cannot understand why it is so difficult to make the other person feel comfortable and loved in a group. I cannot understand why some have not bothered to include me in. Why do some people still prefer a ghetto? What's so disgusting, so bad about me that I get alienated?

Why do I not get enough power, recognition, freedom to do things? Why is everything so unhealthy? What have I done after all? I cannot understand. I cannot make head or tail of some situations.

But in all this, I do feel responsible for making a mess. Or perhaps starting a mess. It's going to be one scar, one guilty feeling that won't be ridden off.

Crappy Day With A Wet End

Started my day today with a fight. Went to office in a rage. Got late. Was stuck in traffic. Got late. Attended a stupid presentation. Did some work. Was irritated the whole day for unnecessary reasons. Got irritated with a colleague and did not even apologise. Started back from work. Found car was not working. Took rickshaw. Reached destination. Heavy downpour had started. Travelled back to office in the rains. Car still not working. Waited at office for some time for rains to stop. They didn't (of course!) Took a rickshaw till the bus stop. No bus was stopping at the right place. Had to walk to get a bus. Finally got the bus. Got down and walked back home.

End result: Dead tired and feeling all the more crappy!

That's life!

Masks May Bring Fame

I generally cannot boast of having any similarities with film stars or high-profile leaders. But this one time, I have my claim to fame. I can claim to have two things that I share with Rupert Grint, the actor playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. We both share arachnophobia. And the more recent one is, I can boast of being an H1N1 swine flu patient, just like him. :D

Yes, I had swine flu for a week since March 25. I was isolated, under medication, and now almost out of it. I completed my medication course on Wednesday, March 31. But I am still suffering from an unprecedented bout of weakness and fatigue. Never before have I felt that frail. But it's all in the game.

What is funny is not that I had swine flu, but how people reacted to the news. The first reaction I heard from people was of shock. Of utter disbelief! It was as if I had caught a dreadful disease, something out of this world! Most thought that it was a dreadful condition to be in, how could I ever contract it, what did I do, and how was I ever to get out of it. I assure you all that swine flu is completely curable. I am a living example. If you can understand the symptoms early enough, take proper precautions, and take regular medicines, you will be out of it in a trice. Well, not literally, but certainly!

When I had the symptoms, and when another of my friend tested positive with H1N1 (with whom I had spent some time together), I had my doubts that I might have contracted H1N1. But the result of the test that I underwent, when out as positive, made the difference. I went into a self-imposed (and rightly so) isolation. I could not meet friends or relatives. Fortunately, my parents weren't affected! Touch wood!

So, I was at home, taking medicines, resting, and also wearing the N95 mask.  It is only now that I appreciate people who have to wear masks at their work. It is so inconvenient to wear that damn irritating thing all day. Believe me, it is hard enough not to meet folks when you are ill (and not get yourself pampered by visiting folks.) And it is worse to sit there all alone in a corner, wearing a mask, feeling all the more tired and dejected. And this is how I also appreciate all my canine friends who are muzzled so that they can't open their mouths. Poor dogs! Here's my "Tails-Up" salute to all of them!

The next time you see such a dog with its mouth all bound up, bless yourself that you haven't been affected by H1N1. And don't forget to bless those little souls too!

So, anyway, here I am, recouperating! I shall soon be in action. Till then, here are some tips that you might want to have a look at:

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1024/90/30681/how-take-swine-flu-precautions.html
http://www.swineflu-india.org/Prevention-and-Precautions-for-Swine-Flu-India.html


Ohh, and one more thing! This is not applicable just to H1N1. It's true of all illnesses. But it's more valid for swine flu, because it is such a contagious disease. Be prepared to recite your story over and over again. Be prepared to retell your story of how and when you got the symptoms, how you dealt with them, how and when you got the test positive, what medicines you are taking, what other precautions you need to take, and the whole history and geography of your illness as many times as you have friends and relatives. No one will be satisfied till they hear it all. Remember, there is no shortcut to fame!

Cheers fellas!

What Went Wrong?

How often do you ask that question to yourself? Once in a lifetime? Several times? Often? Always?

And what do you do when you do not get the answer? Just let it be? Just forget about it? Just believe that you are untouched, unalloyed, completely happy, and ready to take on the world again?

You tend to console yourself that what happened, or is happening is for the best. You feel exhilarated for half an hour; get back your self-confidence, your self-worth for one glorious half-hour. After forgetting about all that happened, at a sudden, unguarded moment you suddenly find yourself asking...

What went wrong?

Reasons Why Things Go Wrong

Murphy's Law:
If anything can go wrong, it will.

Gumperson's Law:
The probability of anything happening is in inverse ratio to its desirability.

Simon's Law:
Everything put together falls apart sooner or later.

The Unspeakable Law:
As soon as you mention something...
...if it's good, it goes away.
...if it's bad, it happens.

Hane's Law:
There is no limit to how bad things can get.

Bedfellow's Rule:
The one who snores will fall asleep first.

Ballance's Law of Relativity:
How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.

Lemar's Parking Postulate:
If you have to park six blocks away, you will find two new parking spaces right in front of the building entrance.

Bell's Theorem:
When a body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Bess's Universal Principles:
1. The telephone will ring when you are outside the door, fumbling for your keys.
2. You will reach it just in time to hear the click of the caller hanging up.

Boob's Law:
You always find something the last place you look.

Law of the Search:
The first place to look for anything is the last place you would expect to find it.

Maryann's Law:
You can always find what you're not looking for.

Lewis's Law:
No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper.

Richard's Complementary Rules of Ownership:
1. If you keep anything long enough you can throw it away.
2. If you thro anything away, you will need it as soon as it is no longer accessible.

Etorre's Observation:
The other line moves faster.

Worker's Dilemma:
1.No matter how much you do, you'll never do enough.
2. What you don't do is always more important than what you do do.

Aigener's Axiom:
No matter how well you perform your job, a superior will seek to modify the results.

Shapiro's Law of Reward:
The one who does the least work will get the most credit.

Seay's Law:
Nothing ever comes out as planned.

Ringwald's Law of Household Geometry:
Any horizontal surface is soon piled up.

Horowitz's Law:
Whenever you turn on the radio, you hear the last few notes of your favourite song.

Zadra's Law of Biomechanics:
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Uplifting Experiences

Ting! The doors open and you hear a cool female voice: "Fourth Floor." People in the corridor rush in just like commuters rushing in to catch the just-arrived local on a platform. And just like a platform that's quickly deserted after the local has left, the corridor is empty.

Cramped inside, you'll barely have space to move. And even if you have, you might feel awkward doing so, ensuring that you don't attract a lot of attention in the closed space. If you see a colleague inside with whom you are not particularly inclined to talk at that moment, you will probably busy yourself in your mobile, watch, papers if you have any in hand, or just pretend that you aren't aware s/he's there with you. If unluckily s/he pings you, you will show your surprise and say a few words to that effect. In reality, you will curse for waiting for the lift and will step out at the next floor even if that wasn't where you wanted to go.

Most of the times, you won't get a ride going up or down when you need it most. That's where nature compensates for your loss of patience and want of exercise. You can almost hear Her say, "Man, you are taking life too easily. Let me put in some obstacles. In any rate, staircases are safer places to move. You'll get more space and can keep moving all the time." You will obviously wait for a long time until one of the cages finally come, typically full. Cursing again, you will run up or down the staircase. And I am 200% sure that the next lift that arrives at your floor is the one that's empty and goes in the direction that you want. But of course, till that time you are halfway up or down your way.

It will so happen that when you wait for a lift for some time, the crowd in the corridor will increase steadily and then when the lift finally arrives, there will be a hustle to catch that blessed cage. Waiters (people waiting for the uplift) will barge in for their emancipation, regardless of their rank, number, or seniority. Youngsters will show their spark of quickness at moving and be right at the end of the cage before you say "May I?" And that's one time again where male-chauvinism is foremost. Ohh, you possibly can't expect men to wait for women, especially pregnant women to catch the elevators. That's old-world gentlemanly behaviour. We are in the modern world now! No one has told them yet that elevation needs high standards.

Finally when you are lucky enough to step in the conveyor, you will get to hear all kinds of conversations. You will get to know the latest score of an ongoing cricket match, lunch plans for the afternoon, movie reviews, critical work issues and their possible solutions, traffic khabar, latest gossip, who's leaving (if you are lucky to have HR folks with your), and even kid-tales if you are (un)lucky enough to get a bunch of working mamas in the lift.

When you go in a lift, remember a few things. First, remember on what floor you are and the floor that you want to go to. Secondly, if you are sleepy, it is better to take the stairs. You will at least shake off your sleep. Because it might just happen that you enter the lift on the fifth floor and keep on pressing the button for the fifth floor when you actually want to reach basement two. If you are lucky, someone will point out: "Madam, yeh fifth floor hi hain!" If you aren't, you might just have to wait for someone else to get in, or till you get back your senses and understand that lifts won't work if you don't make them budge from their floors.

One more thing you ought to watch out for is the direction. It's a universal law that when you are desperately waiting for a lift, the ones going in the opposite direction will all make a stop. None will come that takes you in your direction. Steps are better. They take you up and down at the same time. Staircases also make a healthier option.

Your workplace can be a healthier and curse-free area, if you purposely avoid these iron cages to commute. But then you will also never have such elevating experiences. Ups and downs will always be there. You got to definitely know on which floor you want to get out!

Ting! Ground Floor!