Best Friends....

"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend,
as you will always find me yours."

I still remember my first day in MH hostel...Room no C9...Room mate ...Namrita Sharma...In 2-3 days only I realised (I think both of us realised) that we were poles apart...

I was Miss Organized...too spic and span...got up early...never missing even the 1st lecture of the day ...she was just the opposite...The hostlers went for classes in Tees & Salwars with rubber chappals...In contrast I was overdressed...jeans, tees and shoes n socks...

Sometimes she would be sitting in the room with some friends and I would enter...silence...I would always get this feeling that they were laughing at me...

She once was about to enter the room and heard me cribbing about her to one of my friends...she was hurt...but never showed it...

She would make it a point to get up early to go with me for breakfast...wait for me to attend my last lecture so that we could have lunch together...

Now when I think back...I can’t remember when and how the differences just melted away...when we became inseparable friends…it’s going to be 13 years now…and she remains my best friend till date…

I love Chocolates....

"Food for Thought"

by Anonymous

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings,
but shorter tempers;
wider freeways,
but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more,
but have less;
we buy more,
but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses
and smaller families;
more conveniences,
but less time;
we have more knowledge,
but less sense.
There are more experts,
but more problems;
more medicine,
but less wellness.

We talk too much,
love too seldom,
and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living,
but not a life;
we've added years to life,
not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space;
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We have higher incomes, but lower morals;
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of tall men, and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare;
more leisure, but less fun;
more abundance of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of fancier houses, but broken homes.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom;
a time when technology can bring this letter to you,
and a time when you can choose either to make a difference...
or just hit delete.

"Only dead fishes follow the stream"

Fridge Magnets...

I love Fridge magnets...This is one Souvenir I must get back from my travels...apart from all the lovely memories and new friendships…
Should I really keep them on the fridge because this is what their name says? What when the fridge becomes too small? Should I buy a new, bigger fridge?

???

"If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"

~Alexander Pope

Stray Birds

Another upside of the fractured foot is the amount of reading I have been doing these last few days...

Read Rabindranath Tagore's Stray Birds...simple and short verses but with so much depth...(well that is Tagore!!)
It contains thoughts on Nature, Man, and the Environment ...

Imagine yourself sitting by a window where the stray birds of summer sing and fly away...the thoughts are like these stray birds ...however they fly away to come back to you again and again...

Some of the verses that I enjoyed ...I actually enjoyed all...but I think I should leave you to read the them yourself..

6
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.

42
You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I had been waiting long

71
The woodcutter's axe begged for its handle from the tree.
The tree gave it.

113
The hills are like shouts of children who raise their arms,
trying to catch stars.

124
"In the moon thou sendest thy love letters to me," said the night to the sun.
"I leave my answers in tears upon the grass."

135
This rainy evening the wind is restless.
I look at the swaying branches and ponder over the greatness of all things.

A mind all logic is like a knife all blade.
It makes the hand bleed that uses it.

Rabindranath Tagore

My past life analysis!!!

This is what someone had to say about my past life...

"I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation. You were born somewhere in the territory of modern East Australia around the year 1825. Your profession was that of a philosopher and thinker."

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Timid, constrained, quiet person. You had creative talents, which waited until this life to be liberated. Sometimes your environment considered you strange.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
It always seemed to you that your perceptions of the world are somewhat different. Your lesson is to trust your intuition as your best guide in your present life."

Hmmmm...interesting...very interesting...

Timid, constrained, quiet person...looks like I am making up for it in this life...

Sometimes your environment considered you strange ... Doesn't everyone think that the other person is strange (when opinions differ), the situation is strange (when it doesnot go their way)...

Doing our bit

Was going through some school snaps and 2 snaps bought back really fun memories…when school girls did their bit for the environment and society…

Dehra Dun and the hill station of Mussoorie were once abundant in lush green forests and gushing springs. However with so-called economic growth, lime stone mining and felling of trees became common. Limestone quarrying was a lucrative business and as usual in their greed they overdid it …destroying the natural limestone aquifers, causing soil erosion and environmental degradation

There was a court case by the people against the lime stone contractors, which led to closure of many of the mines but the damage had been done…

Every year Welhamites would go for tree plantation …I cant remember the figures of how many trees we planted… but I do remember it was loads…we would start off from school early in the morning with packed lunches and be back quite late…And in a place like Dehra Dun where it rains for 10 months in a year…we invariably got caught in showers…however that did not dampen our spirits …moreover if we reached a certain limit we would get 5 star chocolates (u can see Superna and Radhika waving their chocolates in the snap)…


In 1989 there were severe floods in India…causing loss of life and property…I remember the appeal by our principle Mrs Shanthi Varma. We needed to do something to help them …a decision that we would forego the curd from our lunch and pudding from dinner :-( for a week. The amount saved would be sent for relief operations…
But this did not seem enough…so we planned a sponsored walk… all the girls would get sponsorship @ 100 Rs/km and walk 12 kms from school through the city centre till Rajpur Road…
Since it was a hostel and we came from different parts of the world…it was not so simple…wherein we could just get our parents to sponsor us… we had to get in touch with the industrialists in Dehra Dun…I got my sponsorship from Toyota Cars…

Unusual fishing

Have you ever seen anyone catch or yourself caught fish with bare hands…no nets, no fancy rods….
In Kerala, that is how little boys make some quick money from tourists… We were in a house boat in the backwaters of Kerala and this little boy (not more than 12 years) is waving, screaming to get my attention…when I finally look at him he says…madam…for 5 Rs I will catch fish and show you…He does not even wait for me to agree and jumps into the water…and in a minute he is right next to our boat with a fish in his hand…and the cutest smile that I ever saw…

A White Christmas in Aberdeen – Dec 2004

It’s not that I’d never seen snow before….I studied in Dehra Dun (Doon Valley) and many times when it snowed in Mussorie, the kiddies (Class 1 – 3) would be taken up to Mussorie to see the snowfall…but it was always after the snow had fallen…and not during the snowfall…

Imagine my excitement …one typical morning ( a few days before Christmas) I open the door of my building ….everything is totally white…It was snowing….I could not control the skip in my walk…and as I crossed the road there was this car at the traffic signal covered in snow… I just could not resist….its as if there was music in the air coz skipping along I whiffed off the snow from the car with my hand…The driver looked at me …initially with a lil irritation but I guess happiness showed on my face and he could not help but gimme a smile…

At work too… my colleagues seemed to sense my excitement… someone comes up and says…Manpreet…have you ever made a snowman…its fun…u should try making one in the office garden during lunch time… I look at him… it did sound fun… but I knew everyone would think I was crazy…sensing my apprehension he offers to give me company… but with a lot of difficulty I let sense prevail and tell him its not such a good idea…not a done thing in office… but I made up for that as I went to Duthie Park during the weekend and made a snowman ….

As I was leaving for lunch, another colleague comes up…he’s worried…he wants to tell me to be careful while walking on the snow but at the same time does not want to sound rude and make me feel ignorant and foolish…he’s like…see my shoes…one needs a good grip while walking …especially since after some time the snow becomes very slippery…one should walk slowly and put one’s foot firmly on the ground…(I think all he really wanted to say was …stop hopping and skipping along on the road)

Perfect end to a beautiful day... as I walked out of office that evening …Phut…I got hit by a snow ball …from nowhere…and I was reminded of a Calvin & Hobbes strip …reproduced below

All Calvin and Hobbes images are copyright Bill Watterson