Thursday, January 29, 2009

Say cheese!

I am looking at our Rajasthan pictures and trying to relive the wonderful time we had. Looking at the pictures I am amazed how photogenic my family is! Aai and baba- very natural, they don’t need to do much to look good on camera. Then there is A who is really handsome (ahem..I don’t tell him this often), looks just as handome in his photos. K2 and K3 look mindblowingly beautiful. Even if they are having a bad hair day or are suffering from the so-called burst of pimples on their faces- the pictures look glorious.

Then there’s me. I am quite disappointed at how my pictures don’t do enough justice to me. tch..tch..There are a few pictures of mine, where I am looking at the camera with a scarf covering my face. There are countless pictures where everybody is smiling and looking at the camera and I have closed my eyes or I am looking sideways. Why! I wonder. I mean if K2 and K3 were to be in the arctic region and somebody would want to click their picture, I am sure they would remove their scarves, would even consider removing the sweaters and pose like models.

Some time back we had an official photo shoot at work. The photographer had to keep clicking for a full 5 min before I could get everything right. That is keeping the eyes open, look at the camera and smile. Three things at the same time. Sadly, while I was preoccupied with the three step process, I forgot to look good! So my official profile photo at work looks as if somebody has put a gun to my head and told me a joke. Arrgh!

Returning to our trip pictures, it’s indeed a sad affair. In all my pictures I haven’t shown off the pretty dresses I wore- it’s only my red sweater and blue scarf which hogged the limelight.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Total Gyaan

Sometimes the best advice we give to people is what applies best to us.
I realized this recently when my only advice to everybody around me has been “Relax!”, “That’s alright- don’t fret” and the like. I realized I was the one who badly needs to use my advice. My single point resolution this year is to live in the moment and to relax. Breathe easy.

Towards the end of last year, A and I happened to talk to Dada for about 15 minutes for which we are so grateful. He told us that 90% of population our age is stressed. And most of the times, we are stressed at work because we are not competent enough. So acquiring skills and honing our skill set on a regular basis will reduce our stress level. Not worrying about it.
The second thing he emphasized was time management and not wasting any time. He said when you waste time, your mind carries the guilt and in turns feels stressed. So, don’t waste time.
Again, this is my piece of advice to myself.

Sunday Times Life-Jan 18, 2009 yesterday had a very interesting and inspiring article on “first steps” towards making a difference. The article talked about some really creative and practical ideas which we will all wonder why we didn’t think of earlier?
The coolest one I thought was about this guy who thought about improving literacy by putting same language subtitles on movies. Such a simple idea but how effective it will be in a country like ours with movie buffs spread across everywhere.
My baby step would be to maintain the “Daily Dump”- putting all bio-degradable waste into an earthen pot. Let’s see my success rate.
K3, a couple of years back, took time out of her hectic schedule as a fresh programmer, taught her maid’s daughter. I am sure she would have been an excellent teacher to the kid.

If things are sustained on a long term basis, there is nothing that can’t be done. It’s up to us to decide what we want to build. I will share a story I had read years ago in the RD. There was long winding route to the top of a hill. In springtime, from the top one could see rows and rows of multi colored daffodils across the valley. There was not an inch of barren earth that met the eye. It was the magic of an old woman, who had planted the bulbs over the years to turn the place into a riot of color. When visitors, mesmerized by the spectacular sight, asked her how she did it, her answer was simple and profound.

“One bulb at a time.”