December 17th, 2007 by galadriel

A man wearing a t-shirt with a Batman symbol. A woman with an engagement ring. Two giggling high school girls. An old woman with an umbrella. And shivering hands. Father and son, listening to the same song on the cellphone. A drunk. A beautiful woman with tears in her eyes. An African-American mother struggling with a baby in a stroller. A chain smoker. Mafficking college kids. A man and a woman kissing passionately, deeply in love. Ditto for two men. An old couple holding hands, lost in conversation. A hooker with bright red lips. A Chinese guy with an mp3 player. Indian newly-weds. A businessman. A Jewish family. An Armish one. A lecher. A Spanish woman, yelling at her noisy kids. A uniformed guard. You and me. Smiling.

*Everything I have seen in the subway of magical New York.

December 13th, 2007 by galadriel

Continued… Lifted off here.

50. Have you ever saved someone’s life or had your life saved?
Neither. How boring is my life?

51. Make up a definition for the following silly words -
Fruitgoogle: The real expansion of Froogle.
Ambytime: When Ambi (a very Iyengar name) tells you what the time is.
Asscactus: A medical condition. Symptoms are clear from its nomenclature.

52. What was the last thing you made with your own hands?
Pulao. Two days ago.

53. What was your favorite toy as a child?
A blue velvet stuffed monkey.

54. How many TVs are in your house?
In NJ, one. I don’t watch it. In India, one. I don’t watch it.

December 13th, 2007 by galadriel

Sometimes, you know in your head that the things you’re thinking are silly. And you know you’re being stupid by thinking them. Yet, you go on messing up your head because it’s the age-old “fight of the heart and the mind”.

And you need someone to slap you and tell you that you’re being incredibly stupid and you’d better stop acting like someone with an IQ of -2 for your own good. You need someone to say the very same things that your mind tells you, but you’re convinced only because it comes from someone other than you.

You need to be jolted into reality.

December 11th, 2007 by galadriel

On the 11th of December 2007 at 3 in the afternoon, Mr. P.R.Krishnamachari passed away. He was 88.

As I write this, I realize how little I know about him. But I will try and put together as much as I can. I know he served in the Indian Air Force for many years, just after World War II. Then, he got married to Jayalakshmi and decided to settle down. He also realized that being in the Air Force would mean that Jaya and his family would not have the security they needed. So, he sacrificed his career goals and quit the Air Force, putting his family above everything else.

He then joined The Hindu as a journalist. He had a degree in literature that helped him do this. A very bold and outspoken man, he had opinions about a lot of issues. And he made sure his voice was heard. He continued working with The Hindu until he retired. During the course of his career at The Hindu, he encountered many politicians and had many offers to serve under them and enter Tamil Nadu’s political arena. he refused every one of them and considered the dirty game of politics beneath him.

He had 4 children, 3 daughters and one son. All his children are very intelligent and are all very successful in their respective jobs. He made no distinction between his son and daughters and made sure that all of them got their Masters’ degrees. A concept uncommon in those days. He married them all off and they are all very happy. They all have children, who are successful as well. He even attended his grand-daughter’s wedding and played with his great grandson.

He retired when he was 60-ish, but continued to have a very active social life until very recently. He wouldn’t sit at home idle even one day. There was always some place to go, something to be done, something to be taken care of. He never thought of children as children. He always said that they had a mind of their own and it is upto the adults to foster their thinking.

He lived a simple life. He had 3 sets of clothes and he had issues with wearing underwear. He always wore a komanam or a loin cloth because he said the elastic on the new-fangled underwear brands bothered him! He was a voracious reader and was always surrounded by books about politics, the concepts of which boggle the mind.

He had a hip replacement surgery a few months ago, that restricted his movements, preventing him from going out and traveling. A month ago he developed esophageal cancer, that prevented him from eating and speaking. His food intake began to decline and he became bed ridden. Two days ago he completely stopped any food intake and stopped responding to people. This morning, at 4.30 am EST, 3 pm IST, my grandfather P.R.K, as he was fondly called, left us.

He lived a full, satisfying life. May his soul rest in peace. Bye, thatha. I will miss you.

December 10th, 2007 by galadriel

Am I asking for too much if I expect people to be the way I am? Not to say that I am the God of everything, but there are some things that I make sure I do, and I religiously live by them. Unfortunately, people don’t seem to think it’s worth reciprocating. I cannot elaborate here, because I vowed not to make this blog personal and a lot of the people involved follow this blog. I do not mean to offend anybody, I am just reflecting and this blog is my vent to let off some steam.

I have learned that accepting “the gray” is a big part of the great learning process called life. Everything is not good or bad. There are people. And people are selfish. No matter how nice they seem, no matter how polite. They care for no one else but themselves. In many ways that is right too. But being self involved to the point where you believe anything outside your own skin is non-existent, is a little too much, what say? Alright, not to be labeled a hypocrite later on, I know I am not the most selfless person in the world. However, I believe I do have a basic level of whatchamacallit. There certainly are some situations where I do care for others. And yet, when others are in the same situation, they do not even stop to think about me. So then my actions seem futile don’t they?

Unfortunately, there are people who seem to accept these discrepancies in others and have the amazing ability to continue being the wonderful people they are. Such people do make you forget that the world is ugly and everything in it isn’t really what it seems. Such people make you smile so.