Childhood stories

This one is for you chotu. This is Thank you and tell you "Ek hazroein mein meri behna hai ".

These days on star plus a new serial is about to start -"Ek hazroein mein meri behna hai ".I think if you ask any  two sisters of indian origin they would have sung this song 100 times .Every time I see this promos I get nostalgic thinking of our childhood days .We were just two  sisters happy in our own world with clsoed boundaries where no one else was allowed.We never went to any park or any activity centre or thought of having friends .For us world was  two of us and our mom and dad. Just thought of recalling back those good old days and the things which we as sisters did together.Being elder to mys sister by 4 years I am surprised that how did I live without her for the initail 4 years .To my surprise I dont remember any incident of those initail 4 years .All I remember is my life after she was born.I still have a faint memory of me visiting the hospital the day she was born .I wan envious of her since she was lying beside my mom.So silently I had gone and bitten her thumbs .After that I dont remember how and when did she become an integeral part of my life .These are few things that I remember as a part of my child hood memories

1) I used to call her Chotu as she was younger and she used call me Didu

2)She use to tie my shoe laces ,iron my school dress (lets not talk about child labour here) .

3) We used to create a small tent with a bhagalpuri cream colured cover sheet with a carrom board as one wall and actuall wall as the other wall for the tent .We used to play inside for hours with our dolls and kitchen set.

4)During our summer vaccations we used to cut ,stitch ,draw .Mine creation used to always land in dustbin because by the time I could finish ,I  could find numerous flaws which used to lead me to take drastic step of destroying its existence.My sister with dilligence used to take every task to  completion.

5) For some 2 years I was in hostel at madhupur .She used to keep some hajmola in her fist tigtly secured and used to hand me while leaving .All half melted and crushed  but it was her  love and care that she used to hand it over to me without fail.

6) once we were lying side by side on a cot . I was chewing gum and somehow devil inside me prompted to chew her hair along with the gum .The entire gum got stuck to her hairs and her hair had to be cut .So a bunch of hair used to stand like antenna on her head but still i dont remember anytime did she complain about it.

7)We used to eat together .During our initial years She used to eat less maggi and I used to get larger share .She used give me aloo of samosa to me similarly she used to give me the yolk of egg .But suddenly as few years passed we used to equally divide our maggi.Even a single noodle could not be compromised.She had devloped her negotiation skill .For aloo she needed the outer cover of samosa for yolk she needed the white of egg an I was surprised by my loss.

8) As I grew up and pressure of studies increased .Even getting up for a minute was a waste of time for me so even for  glass of water chotu was there .I needed any book I used to just sit and tell chotu to find out from the book rack and bring it to me .The anatomy diagram of for my Bio lab was drawn by chotu and mummy.I have done my Graduation in Electronics and my sister has done Engg in Electronics .By the time she started her Engg. course she was all ware of all the books for electronics. :-) 

9)We used to skate by throwing talcum powder all over the floor and wipe it before papas's arrival from bank.

10) We used to complete our entire mathematcis syllabus during our summer vacation .(courtsey papa).

11) However good or bad our exams were mummy used to always treat us after our last exam .

12) My sister used to religiously  come and meet me during lunch hours during school days.

13) Even if she had exams ,she used to accompany me if I wanted to eat golgappas though she never used to eat .

These are the few things which I remember for now .I am sure every one will have these kind of stories.Share your child hood stories and relive the past.

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How many more to come ?

If I have to ask you, can you tell what is the cheapest thing available in our country what will be your say ? It is human life.Thanks to the lousy system prevalent in this country.You cannot be very sure that if you are going out of home will you be able to come back safely or not. You never know when Indian mujahidden or HuJI or god knows who will be able to rip apart your life in  a matter of few seconds."What you get is what you accept ".We are accepting the terror and we are getting it.Blast after Blast -it is getting easier for terrorist to accomplish their mission.Our esteemed parliamentarians will sit discuss that under whose leadership the blast was less and under whose blast was more. Sensitive areas like High court doesn't have a CCTV and that too not for months since last 3 years .All the officials wait for a blast to happen and they come in action for a new round of blame game.Delhi police ,PWD and Delhi Government all blaming each other . Now they are coming up with an idea that they have spare cameras available from CWG so that can be installed in HC .To my dismay, were they sleeping since all these days .Ab tak kyun nahi socha ? For every decision they need few hundreds to loose their life .Someone can please ask them then why don't they call all the people of this country at a common place and plant few bombs so that we get rid of these things all for once.At least dying once will be better than to die each and every day .

As a civilian also, I don't think this country has a maturity to deal with these things .The other day I was traveling in a Bus back from office and was eager to get a seat.My Plantar fasciitis ( inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot) dosen't allow me to stand for long .In Volvo's there is a slight humped area between first and second seat .There was a lady standing near the area and a bag was lying in a corner so I thought I will rest my bum assuming that the bag was of that lady and she was not willing to sit .The very
next stop the lady was gone but the bag was still there .Seeing few more ladies in the vicinity  I assumed the owner of the bag as one of them .Gradually all of the women in the vicinity were gone .Now I was scared of an unattended bag which was happily sitting over there .Now It was time to inquire.A lady from some back seat shouted for her possession and assured that she will take it while getting down. I am surprised in such an sensitive time how can someone be so foolish to create such a situation and after so much of chaos also she was not bothered to keep it with her.

Other day I read a news in paper that in some SBI branch in Bangalore a cook had gone to deposit his saving to be sent to his village but poor guy was not aware that pocket was picked .When he tried seeking help from the bank officials he was informed the bank didnt had CCTV since long time.It was just ppor man's money .But do you think our life is safe in country with people having an "chalta hai" attitude. Today is 10 years of 9/11 and there has been not single terror attack and in last 2 years india has witnessed 7 .This a country where home minsiter says its not his responsibilty but the individaul state police should investigate the matter .He explains the woes of a police offcier regime but Dear minister do you have iota of understanding of the fear that a common is going through .Mr Chidamabram is explaing the etiquettes of boarding a bus in a queue but will he explain that why our system is so lousy that 4 threat emails  but we are unable to  find the originating server .The email says that our police will not be able to trace the bomb and if that happens then Shame on us !!!

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Bangalore Calling - Brinda S. Narayan

                                                      

After a long time, I have come across a simple yet unique book from an Indian author that doesn’t talk about IIT’s or IIM's .It is unique in the way how 15 different stories has been created with a common backdrop-Callus, A call centre which attracts youngster with minimal qualification to meet their aspiration of quick money. Interesting part is that the book touches every possible character that a call centre can have from driver, agents, admin, housekeeping trainer to CEO .People working in Call centre will totally relate to

the story and people like us working for IT will relate to the system. It depicts how complex it is to adapt a different culture without loosing your own in a country like India where people come from different part with varied mother tongue, How to live a false identity as a call centre employee, How difficult it is to be polite with impolite customers, what it takes to train people for adapting such culture. How difficult it is to deal with the competition that comes because of similar kind of business running around. There is no wrongs and rights in the story it’s just the situation and different people in different kind of situation.

The beauty of the writing is though the characters are related the backdrop is same still you get to read 15 different stories which are interconnected yet different. The writing is simple and crisp yet well researched so as to match the business to the core .The book manages to keep us engaged Reader will never get bored saying same old story .It is a worthy read to get a feel of corporate culture and what it takes to be a part of it.

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Zoya Factor

"Zoya factor " a novel by Anuja Chauhan, is definitely a candidature for a a Bollywood masala movie and so it has been  been nailed down bynone other than Sharukh's Red Chillies . Spicy,sweet,enjoyable novel .Though at some places I must admit I skipped the match description :-P .Zoya is a young girl in the field of advertisement wherein her job takes her to meet the Indian cricket team. The common link between Zoya and cricket is that zoya was born on the same day when India had won the world cup.Going with the logic that every 3 minutes a child is born there will be many like Zoya born on that day .Viola! Zoya was born at exact precise moment when the last wicket was grounded off and victory had fallen in our lap. Don’t try to find any logic because there is none There is just superstition called as Zoya factor. Zoya's destiny brings her to the breakfast table of Indian cricket team before a match where she mentions that a year back they had a similar breakfast where the team had won the match.So ,Team never looses a match when Zoya shares the breakfast table and to top it all the person whom she kisses turns out to be man of the match ;-)

So from there starts the luck aka Zoya factor and Zoya is officially tied by cricket board to have breakfast with Indian team so as to help them win the world cup. During all this Zoya developes special feeling for the

Captain of Indian team Nikhil Khoda. He has been portrayed as a real tall dark handsome hero. Actually Dhoni to the core from brown toffee skin to boost add . Narration of Nikhil khoda's character is quite good for any female reader to fall for him. Among this love hate relation ship between zoya and nikhil. There are few characters which we can easily relate to our Indian cricket team heros .

will India will win the world cup or will Nikhil use zoya for winning the cup or Zoya factor will end just on the D-Day .Grab the book for answers to all this questions.Overall its a nice masala movie.A little overly priced.

Overall this books give you a peek to Glamour in advertising,Politics in cricket,Love hate relationship and cricket feaver in this country .

Its a good and recommended read .

I will rate it at 3.5/5 .

                                                                                

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Palace of illusion by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

                                                                        

Palace of illusion is a nice concept that Divakaruni thought of bringing it to audiences.

It the modern avatar of one of the most popular epic Mahabharata. The strength of the story is its feminist interpretation of an age old epic. Though the epic is known to reader still while reading the novel the curiosity quotient persists. Since childhood whenever Mahabharata has been discussed I have been coming across Draupadi as a Krtiya.I used to come across incidences where in women were not allowed to keep their long hair loose citing example of Draupadi’s hair which led to the most devastating war of its time .It is quite interesting to get hold of a book which traces Draupadi's life beginning her magical birth from fire to managing her five husbands who have been cheated out of their own kingdom. In all of these you get to see different shades of Draupadi that manages to take the control of household from Kunti, her friendship with Krishna, her secret love for a man who is the greatest enemy of her husbands. All in all it is an entertaining, insightful and suspenseful story. It an old wine in a new bottle which will be enjoyed by all.

My rating 4/5

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Bad Behaviuor by Sheila O'Flanagan

                                                              

This is my first novel of Sheila O'Flanagan and I am happy to say that it did not disappoint me. It has a good story line that can be adapted for a masala movie. The best part was novel has been narrated in a very lucid manner. Incidents being described can be very well be related to our usual lives .How ambitions can get in the way of our life. How we mess up with our present life by clinging to the past.

Two best of friends Darcy and Nieve who have grown up together and share every moment of their life together .Both have a very contrasting character. Darcy is very good with numbers and since childhood she has maintained a low key profile so that her friend Nieve could get ahead easily .But she never thought that Nieve will sweep away her boy friend Aiden as well .Men will be Men if they have more than one option they will try to evaluate them against each other.Otherwsie what could be the reason that Aiden in spite of carrying a ring for Darcy did not give her the ring and finally jilted Darcy for Nieve.Their friendship falls apart and then they don’t talk for ten years. Both get into financial firm with a lot of aspirations. So what happens to Darcy? Does she find a new man? Will she be able to forget Aiden after all first love is hard to forget? In these 10 years they are un aware of happenings in each others life

and all of a sudden Darcy receives a marriage invitation from Nieve and Aiden. Why didn’t they get married for so long Will she go ?Will finally Aiden marry Nieve? Nieve has planned a big fat wedding for which she is banking on her stock optionsso will it turn out to be a good decision to bank on stock market which go from Bull to Bear any time. To get what is there in Darcy's and Nieve's life go grab this book. It is worth enjoying.

Rating : 4/5

Coming up next is   Palace of illusion by Chitra Banarjee Devakuruni,Above Average by Amithabha Bagchi and Battle for Bittora by Anuja Chauhan,Socialite evenings by Shobhaa De ...untill then Good Bye and take care!!

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