Micro-entrepreneurs

I was just reading about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in India. Suddenly my focus shifted to the rural India where people with their positive approach, proactive thinking and enterprise are just looking for the right kind of opportunity to improve their lives. I came across a story of a woman from an orthodox Muslim family, having six children and a husband without a job. Finally, with the help of microfinance institutions, she set up her own school bag making unit. She is now earning comfortably enough to feed her six children. With the microcredit, microfinance, various non farm sector schemes, the rural women have become micro-entrepreneurs. And then I read a about a rural business school in Maharashtra. Now the women can look forward to technical training and know how on how to start and go about their project. The efforts, the spirit and the burning desire to do something, to move ahead with fervour is all that matters.
How the old adage stands true….”where there is a will, there is a way”.

My little Miss World

I thought that I'll write about the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in this world. Any guesses..well that's my grandma. With her shiny emerald blue eyes and a porcelain complexion, she has always been my Miss World! I remember my friends would come to my place and always remark, yaar, your grandmom is too beautiful. Till today, she enchants me and everybody around her with her beautiful smile and lovely eyes. With her crisp voice and a leader like attitude, I always thought she would have made a great business woman. The confidence with which she speaks English is amazing and she's never ever had any formal training in the language! She's always had thousands of anecdotes that we would listen to with gleaming eyes and eager ears. Today, even with episodes of lapses of memory, with her one liners, she keeps us in splits. She has taught us so many things by simply being what she is. Her petite frame, her tiny little steps, her innocent face, her sweet talks and above all, her warmth makes her the sweetest kid of the home....We all love you grandma!!!

Dussehra

My mother asked me to come along with her to the Dussehra celebrations that had been organised in the adjacent sector. Dussehra always brought some old memories. As kids, we would go to Parade Ground in sector 17 and enjoy the fireworks. I remember watching the 'Jhankis' and can never forget the grand Ravana. He used to be a small time vendor in one of the city markets but on Vijay Dashmi, sitting on a horse, having a huge frame, he would mesmerise people, me being one of them. As we grew up, the charm of Dussehra gradually started declining. It was finally reduced to Dussehra shopping. Till the last couple of years, my sister and I would go and buy something auspicious for our home. The only constant that remained was my father bringing home jalebis. This time, I was literally forced by my mother saying that it'll be a good change from the routine. I agreed, can never say no to my mom. While walking towards the venue, I could see parents and their little kids moving hastily and excitedly towards the fireworks. I pointed towards them and said, Mama, see the parents and the kids, the parents have come because of their kids. She said, 'I am also with my kid'. I couldn't help but smile. I guess, no matter how much we grow, we shall always remain kids for our parents. So, finally we got a seat, amidst a pleasant crowd. The enthusiasm of kids was enchanting. The children were so elated to shake hands with Ravana. Meghnath was the most artistic, he managed to enthrall people by making a stern face and strange eyes. The little kid sitting right next to me, she must be around four, said, Didi, why does Ravana have such bad hair, doesn't he use a shampoo? Again, I could not help smiling, these kids of today, being brought up on plastic money. I guess, why does he ride a horse, where is his car, was coming next. Finally, the time came for Ravana dehan. People started standing on the chairs to catch a glimpse of the sight. There were fireworks and then the finale, effigies of Ravana, Meghdoot and Kumbhkaran, brought to ashes. An old lady, standing next to us, said, finally, its over. Ravana was a very learned man. My mother nodded her head in affirmative. Then, they both agreed in unison and said, yeah, he only made one mistake in his life. I could see the concern on their faces.
Time to leave, but people were not ready to leave the premises. The policemen on duty were not allowing the people to go near the burnt effigies but people stood their waiting. We enquired from one of the women waiting near the last ashes, as to what was this all about. She told us that it was good to take the burnt twigs home, its auspicious. Next question, what do you do with the twigs....she had no answer, said that she herself had heard this from someone. An old policeman overheard and said that maybe it is to ward off evil spirits, but then he himself jokingly added, what about the 'bhoot' that people already have in their homes?? again a question with no answer, I guess. That lady did manage, a burnt branch from the Ravana effigies, it was much more than a twig...Some people worshipped, were bowing their heads in front of the effigies and some touched the feet of the people who had played the part of Ram, Laxman and Hanuman. At the end of the day, it's all faith, I believe. When we reached home, my father was there with his favourite garama garam jalebis. Some constants thankfully never change!

The Phoenix

In the streets of struggle
he found a little shade
Resting in that warmth
he found some sunshine
Rising in that beauty
he found loads of joy
Dancing in that happiness
he wrote merry songs
Singing those songs
he found his tranquility
In that peace
he found the gem of life

Spectacular

Just a few hours from now, we get to witness a spectacular event, 2007's second total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, this would not be visible in India. The blood moon eclipse is going to be quite a phenomena!!
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/lunar.html
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/2007-08-28/

निशा

आधा चांद , भीनी चांदनी

तारों की हसीं दमक
निशा की सांवली चमक
हलकी सी रौशनी
गहरीं सी छाओं
गहरी चादर
अनसुनी सी आहट

डगमगाता अम्बर
चमकता सितारा
खूबसूरत नज़ारा

और
आधा चांद

Que Sera Sera

It was my uncle's retirement party today. I was thinking how does the word 'retire' feel. Everybody plans for the future, short term plans.....long term plans.....each one of us has a vision for his/her future.....the one scary thought that I usually have.....is will I be what I have promised myself to be?? As the clock ticks on......the reality strikes.....time is less and there is so much to do...
Okay....so you have planned this and that for yourself, you think a lot about it, charter a program for yourself, talk about it daily to your own very self, take a few steps in that direction...... and then suddenly a wave comes in, a wave of calmness, serenity......you tend to go with that, take some rest, your plans could wait for sometime, you think this tide may not be there tomorrow.......let me relish the moment...and then again.........lightening strikes, you get up from your sweet slumber, prepared to fight...prepared to win.......one little achievement in the direction of your dreams, one little accomplishment.....tells you that you are going the right way..........but again......time is less and there is so much to do and loads to learn..........in the words of Robert Frost 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep'
Talking of my Uncle's party, the satisfaction that I saw on his face, the family love that surrounded him, the entire ambience was teething with joy, contentment and the most important ingredient in life, love. When his son surprised him with a bouquet, he was so elated, his eyes were beeming with happiness, and I do not remember seeing him as happy as he was today.
I guess, fulfilling your dreams and aspirations, seeing your children act like as if they were your parents, your spouse standing by your side, saying adieu could be a wonderful feeling. This is what my uncle taught me today. All I can think, at this moment is.... zindagi rocks!

Francais

Apart from my usual city trips on weekends, I have found a new hobby to keep myself busy....started learning a new language..French. It's been a month now and the three hour sessions on Sats and Sundays are turning out to be great.....it's something I look forward to during my weekdays. It's not that I loathed weekends.. like every other person, I love the holidays. Anyways, talking of my French classes.....the first day appeared like my first day in the Univ....new faces and intro. I was amazed to see this lady who was making an effort to come from Barnala every weekend and she had no relatives with whom she could put up in Chandigarh. So, she stays in some PG for two days. Wow! then there were many teenagers..infact there are about ten of them in my batch.....so eager to prove themselves and hilariously naughty. Thankfully, there are some like me...20 somethings, working..... and trying to learn something new.....and I bet French is an interesting language.
It's been quite sometime now and I can understand a bit...mind you..a bit of French ...although there is this problem with the 'ecoutez'...its difficult to understand when French people talk..so when we hear the original French tapes....sometimes you feel lost....I think can't they speak slowly? but then why would that French monsieur and madame listen to me..at home with the French CD's that I have, I have to hear them atleast four to five times to make out their conversation...phew...but I guess...am improving:)
We also had a test...I got 35/40....not tooo bad.....again lost marks in the ecoutez.....that madame in the tape was calling herself 25 and what I heard in that entire conversation was something like 60....she would kill me for that!
When I am in the class, I feel as if I am in my fifth standard again......btw...when we were giving the test..our teacher made it a point to space out everybody in a manner so that nobody could cheat...this teenager adjacent to me asked me to show him a few answers...before the test he had asked everybody around him if they had prepared well for the test.....kinda funny....like an examination hall situation, acting like a student, I showed him a few pages. I wonder if he could see the answers from the distance that he was at....and my madame saw me doing that...
All the people are really cute....and the first day when I told that I was a scientist...I could see a few raised eyebrows...one of the girls said you don't look like a scientist.....I wonder what these kids think of people who study Science....she was quick to add..you look like a college student....a compliment...I guess...compliments like these make you happy. Then as the days are passing by, we are all trying to converse in French...it's all in tatters...we all speak very bad French....accent is pathetic....but there is this one person who has learnt French earlier and this class is a kinda refresher course for him.....he speaks mast French...and we all are in awe of him. The day of our test, we requested our teacher to make him sit in the centre of the class!! but she DID NOT agree....poor us!
Anyways, I saw a movie which had a few French dialogues in it.....and I could understand them.....me happy.....atleast all these days have paid off...
So, Tchao for now.

one a penny

Today, as I was browsing through the city markets, I saw a small kid, a 5 year old child sitting alongside a weighing machine. I thought 'let me get my weight checked' . There was a lady, with her daughter in tow, who was standing on the weighing machine. Both the mother and daughter had a view of their mass into gravity values. and......when the kid asked for two bucks, the lady said that the weighing machine was incorrect, the scales were wrong. The little child, I was amazed to see, tried to adjust the needle of this instrument, brought it to the zero mark and asked the lady to try the machine again. Her daughter pleaded her mother to pay the child. But that female refused to pay the money....two rupees to be precise and just trotted off.
I stood on the machine.....I think the weight was accurate....its been the same for years. Hope to gain some weight someday! Anyways before I digress from the story, I paid the child two bucks, he wanted to pay me back 'one penny'. When I said, never mind, the smile that I saw on his face was incomparable to anything else. I thought what would that little child do with one extra rupree,,,,,but more important what would that affluent looking lady do with that 'one penny'. It is difficult fo me to understand.I suppose it's quite an ardent task to understand or justify this kind of ridiculous and obnoxious behaviour.
I'm sure this lady wouldn't mind paying 50 bucks for a coffee in a coffee shop. Maybe she was saving for the same!

an old aquaintance

This weekend I was on my usual city darshan spree. Walking with the evening breeze is a soothing experience in the North Indian summer courtesy proximity of Chandigarh to the hills. My favourite is the city lake where I tend to go again and again, am never tired of the waters. People walking, jogging, just rushing past you...somehow all this kind of fascinates me. I saw a very old couple there, must be in their late 70's walking hand in hand. They looked beautiful and I could not get my eyes off them. The old gentleman just like any other teenager bought something to eat for his lady. I thought that I had seen them somewhere before.... kept thinking about them. While driving my way back home, their charming faces kept coming back to me. Thankfully, my neurons didn't let me down! I had spotted them about ten years back, when I was a school going kid and had gone for a haircut to a salon. This septuagenarian had accompanied the lady to the parlour. She also had a haircut (much better than mine!), her husband looked at her admiringly and said that she looked good with the new hairstyle. At that time, I thought what a hep couple....this time i said.....what a blessed couple. May God bless them! Amen.

Life in a.....Metro

Metro is a nice movie....a reflection of todays times. Its been a week since I watched Metro and the one person that straightaway comes to my mind is Irrfan Khan. He manages to make you laugh, smile and you are forced to fall in love with him! Kay Kay Menon also leaves an impact in his own way. He belongs to the detest him types....the personality I suppose you would never like to meet in your 'one life' but then you keep on bumping into such characters. If you haven't seen this movie, watch it for Konkona-Irrfan. They are in simple words...sweet! And yes, I'm sure by now, everyone must have relished Metro's soulful music.

The good old videos

Ek anek and Mil sur mera tumhara videos are for my friends born in the 80's. As a kid, I used to enjoy them a lot and till date, these simple videos have a charisma of their own. Watching them brought a smile to my face..ah the days of innocence! I miss them!

धूप

धूप की बारिश में हम घर को चले
मीठे पानी की खूबसूरती को चख कर चले

धूप ने कहा तुम तो छिपते फिरते थे हमसे
आज हमारे आगन में कैसे दिखायी दिये
भोली धूप को समझाया हमने
तुम तो हमारी अज़ीज़ हो
तुम तो हमारे साथ चलती हो
भाव तो उसे देते हैं
जो मेहमान हो
तुम तो जिन्दगी भर का साथ हो

यह सुन कर धूप मुस्करायी
बारिश की बूंदों भी झिल्मिलायी
इन्द्रधनुषी आसमान हुआ
रंगो का समां बना

और हमारा क्या
हम तोह अपने घर को चले
धूप और बारिश दोनो को संग ले चले

Timeless beauty

Beautiful sunset and the morning glory
the two sides of an eternal story

the sun sets, night transcends
peace prevails, time to rest
birds, animals, plants asleep
pristine creatures, so much at ease

the next morning, when the sun rises
wraps in its beauty, the wordly wise
the aroma of flowers, the aura above
tranquility and calmness abound

this is beauty, eternal bliss
soothes the mind, strengthens the soul
if only we have time to spare
the ethereal Nature, has everything to share.

Child's play

Cheerful, happy and sometimes moody
moving randomly, finding spaces
the little child with a mind of his own
follows his heart, into the world unknown

he has no beliefs, no prejudices
I teach him, the ways of the world
don't do this and don't go there
he doesn't listen, he has to play

Go, my child, it's your game
give it your best and never lose faith
whatever is the result at the end of the day
in my eyes, my sweetest child
you'll be a winner, always a winner.

हुजूम

सड़क पर चलता इक आम इन्सान है
हर चहरे के पीछे दास्ताँ है

इस भीड़ में नज़र आती नही शक्सियत हमको
पर हर शक्स अपने आप में इक पहचान है

हर किसी की कहानी है
हर का कोई बयां है
सुनने वाले उसे मिलते नहीं
कथाकार की कमी नहीं

कहनो को इक पन्ना है
हमे तोह लगता है गहरी किताब है

किताब को पड़ने की कोशिश कोई क्यों करे
आख़िर सड़क पर चलता इक आम इन्सान है

Ad shads

Advertisements, ads and ads. Can we imagine our world without them these days? I remember there was a time, read 'good old days' when there used to be a time slot, about five to ten minutes before a TV show or a movie when these ads were aired and we had a choice to view or chew them. Imagine watching one of your favorite flicks, a tear jerking scene in Sweet November and suddenly the omnipresent Amitabh Bachchan shouting 'pappu paas ho gaya' comes out of nowhere...what to do....you want to see Charlize Theron but...alas...the choice is of the sponsors! But all is not that bad..they are anyday far better than the soaps they show on the idiot box. Atleast the ad world is brimming with creativity...attract a viewer by any means..sense or non sense..the layman should remember the product. I think they are aware of the fact that the public memory is short....hence hammer them with ads, ads and same ads after every ten minutes is the 'mantra'.

Well, the mantra works! even I remember quite a few ads. I'll admit at this point that I like the mastercard ad: "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard." And yes, the jingles are better than many of our so called modern filmi songs!

Rudyard Kipling

I just adore the way Rudyard Kipling writes, If is one of his best poems. The other one that I like is called The Lesson. You could read them at http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/kipling_ind.html

मुसाफिर

कुछ इस तरह से हम चलने लगे,
कि रास्ता सवरने लगा

मंजिलें करीब दिखने लगी,
कारवां सिमटने लगा

चलते चलते, राहगीरो को समझा,
हर किसी का कोई ख्वाब है,
हर किसी की कोई तलाश है,
उसे पाने की चाहत में हर कोई बेताब है

चाबी उस हसीन दरवाज़े की
हमने जाना खुद ही हमारे पास है

Earthquakes and Microbes

Recently, there was an earthquake rumour in Chandigarh. It spread like fire. Well, nobody was to blame! As Chandigarh and Delhi lie in Zone iv, these regions are vulnerable to earthquakes. City residents have experienced quite a few of them and had enough reason to panic. I was just reading a news release issued by University of California. What a discovery, microbes, tiny creatures which you can't even see with your naked eyes can help steady buildings against earthquakes!
Read this article in Science Daily at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070222104624.htm

Well, the old adage stands true...good things come in small packages!