Pretenses! The very definition says: The act of giving a false appearance. Pretending with intention to deceive.
Another question that really tingles your senses is, why do people put forth false appearances? The reason why i am i am begining it this fashion is.... simple i have absolutely no clue to the same question.
(I was dwelling on this question for some time, which inturn, actually got me into a study of the behavioural patterns of the human race and the believe me it is not a small area to swim in. so cutting short to make it more readable and précis, well atleast trying to, i did happen to chance in on another fellow bloggers article with the same dilemma.)
The use of the word "pretenses" here is perhaps slightly confusing to a modern reader since "pretense", in the modern sense of the word, is the conscious creation of fiction, but in the former sense of the word, as it was borrowed from the French language, it simply meant "claim" or sometimes "belief".
Below are some instances of people not being themselves
a) people are trying their best to create attention
b) people are saying " i will try my best to make it to the party or to that place (where invited)", when they simply cannot make it
c) people pulling in their tummies when a woman walks by
d) people saying good about one person and saying bad the next minute behind their backs
e) people show off in front of people that they like A PERSON but in their hearts of heart they do not
f) people who actually act busy when in reality they aren't
g) people who wish you well when you actually want the inverse to happen
h) people who project a different character when they are infact a totally different person
in this sojourn of mine on earth i strive, and I end this topic with a question hoping, to get an answer for this.
what is it that drives people to change their identity?
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Zephyrs of Change
An idyllic day, simple in its very dawn, splattered with a few errands and queries, one culminating into a full fledged argument, the victory though sweet still has a touch of discomfort. Must be due to the fact that an overdose of high adrenalin tends to raise your blood preassure a notch too high for your comfort. But then the satisfaction is derived on the winning. Well worth the effort and especially if you take into account the benefits of getting something done free. Riding over bumpy roads is bound to give any rider a sore bottom, here being no different.
A couple of hours later i find myself at a friends place and from there over a healthy lunch we hatch a plan of driving down to a forest nearby... the front runners being, coorg, ooty, bandipur, mudumalai, masinagudi, kerala. debating over the financial aspects and ease of accessibility along with the fact of maximum coverage we zero in on masinagudi. Masinagudi, a rusty little village town often poofed about or zipped passed by travellers to Ooty. A town that is generally just a blur out of the window as people whizz past in a hurry to get to ooty with the ocassional car stopping to tank up on goodies and liquids. The drive through masinagudi actually allows you to go through the bandipur forest and added to that you also get to cross the state border. The forest famed for the its abundance of wildlife viz; panthers, leapords, Elephants, Deer, Gaurs and monkeys.
A lot of people actually take this route to enjoy the lush paradise and even get closer to the calls of nature. but rarely does one stop over at this place to actually stay and chill out in.
We coax ourselves to get past the major part of the wait and after a decent enough wait we pack and are all set to go. stacked high on the electronic front we proceed to the jungle. The first hurdle presents itself with the starting itself in the form of a concrete jungle each one of us have come to inhabit so lovingly called the garden city, Bangalore. The traffic strong and the pace hypnotic. Inching our way past the evening rush of the city, turning into by-lanes and through narrow lanes with pot holes the size of truck we finally hit the Mysore highway. The going from there get really smooth and fast.... in no time we reach Mysore.
Reaching Mysore we head to a hotel called parklane, and as the name suggests it is a hotel that has the outside replicated inside. Well atleast thats what it was the last time i went there. Expecting the same the three of us go in only to walk into a lobby suitable for a three star hotel... Well what the hell we still go to the restaurant and i still remember it as the first floor of the previous time. the theme totally changed and the food still cheap. Have our fill both intellectually and nutritionally, guess you must be wondering why. Well, we were there discussing on the after effects of the world economy and why its been happening that way and each one of us trying to explain to the other two his version of the situation. Hilariously i must say time does fly when you are actually engrossed into such matters.
But then again no dinner is complete without dessert, not interms of diet but verbal. This time the issue was smoking in public. we asked for the ashtray only to be told that the premisis cannot be used for smoking and its banned, ridiculously only a few tables down sat a motley group of locales happily enjoying a drag. But what enraged us was that the waiter denied the very fact that they were smoking and said that he could not see it. This clearly got us hot and voices were raised only then did the maitre d' come and tell us that they were locals and they did not want any problems...
Apparently the smoking ban goes by the ration card. If you are a local apparently the ban is not effective. Wow, it happens only in India!!!
Putting all that aside we did not want to spoil the whole fun and we carry on to Masinagudi. The path interspersed with good roads, decent roads, bad roads and no roads make for tough driving conditions yet enjoyable. we finally hit the forest and actually manage to catch a pair of wild elephant at close quarters, dont know if tere where any around us but hell the very thought of getting to seeing on is absolutely high on the adrenaline. In no time we hit the border checkpost where we were asked for Rs. 20/- never actually having heard about such an arrangement i enquire as to the reason only to be told its a leaving fee. What?! refusing to buy the story it gets changed to pooja donation, I tell him i dont do pooja and this time it changes to tea money! Wow the stories people go to make a quick buck. We get by not paying anything. after another 30 minutes we hit another check post this time i go and make the mistake of actually picking on an argument with the cop on duty.
The cop claimed to have put up a hoarding some 10 kms back and we claim to not have seen any. this infuriates the cops even more as it now seems that the statement shows him in a bad light. to top it all there goes another friend of mine clicking pictures of the checkpost boards. APparently photography isn't allowed there and below it written in marker pen is the warning for a fine if caught with a trigger happy finger. A lot of coaxing and arguements later we continue on our way to masinagudi. Expecting a long drive we shortly discover that masinagudi is about two stones throw from the checkpost. The town wears a deserted look, but then what do you expect at 3:00am? we continue uncertian of our destination, ooty or masinagudi? A bit of a dilemma at the wee hours of the morning. finally our senses get the better of our adventerous streak and we return back to Masinagudi.
At masinagudi we are greeted with a light drizzle that soon truns into a heavy downpour, heavy enough to take our car with the force of the flow. Knocking at lodges at such an ungodly hour can be unpleasant and added to our woes is the heavy downpour. BRRRRRRR...... a helpful intervention saves the conseirge of a lodge from be mauled to death by my hands. So we go to the place suggested only to be told that another set of stranded travellers have just booked in rendering the lodge full. Enquiring further we are directed to another resort and ther we find refuge from the wrath of nature finally at 4:30 in the morning.
Since our day had already begun we get up from our nap and re-energising ourselves with a hot cuppa tea we move on back to mysore all set to explore the city, zoo, culture and most of all the dussera festivities. Reaching Mysore early noon we head for the zooand to what seems like a three kilometer walk encompassing a varied collection of fauna and flora. as the day comes to an end we are ushered out of the zoo premises and we head to the Mysore Palace all decked up in tune with the festivities. It is really a sight to see. the only downside is the crowd but then again the crowd and the varied crossection of people jostling for a glimpse of the whole works only adds to the fun and the experience of the spirit of celebration...
Getting late we head out of the city and head back to electronic age heady with a healthy dose of heritage and the wild. The holiday rush catching up with us back on our way to Bangalore, we sit and look back on all the small instance that make every journey special and different. The joys, hardships and decisions each playing its own relative part in making a holiday magical.
A couple of hours later i find myself at a friends place and from there over a healthy lunch we hatch a plan of driving down to a forest nearby... the front runners being, coorg, ooty, bandipur, mudumalai, masinagudi, kerala. debating over the financial aspects and ease of accessibility along with the fact of maximum coverage we zero in on masinagudi. Masinagudi, a rusty little village town often poofed about or zipped passed by travellers to Ooty. A town that is generally just a blur out of the window as people whizz past in a hurry to get to ooty with the ocassional car stopping to tank up on goodies and liquids. The drive through masinagudi actually allows you to go through the bandipur forest and added to that you also get to cross the state border. The forest famed for the its abundance of wildlife viz; panthers, leapords, Elephants, Deer, Gaurs and monkeys.
A lot of people actually take this route to enjoy the lush paradise and even get closer to the calls of nature. but rarely does one stop over at this place to actually stay and chill out in.
We coax ourselves to get past the major part of the wait and after a decent enough wait we pack and are all set to go. stacked high on the electronic front we proceed to the jungle. The first hurdle presents itself with the starting itself in the form of a concrete jungle each one of us have come to inhabit so lovingly called the garden city, Bangalore. The traffic strong and the pace hypnotic. Inching our way past the evening rush of the city, turning into by-lanes and through narrow lanes with pot holes the size of truck we finally hit the Mysore highway. The going from there get really smooth and fast.... in no time we reach Mysore.
Reaching Mysore we head to a hotel called parklane, and as the name suggests it is a hotel that has the outside replicated inside. Well atleast thats what it was the last time i went there. Expecting the same the three of us go in only to walk into a lobby suitable for a three star hotel... Well what the hell we still go to the restaurant and i still remember it as the first floor of the previous time. the theme totally changed and the food still cheap. Have our fill both intellectually and nutritionally, guess you must be wondering why. Well, we were there discussing on the after effects of the world economy and why its been happening that way and each one of us trying to explain to the other two his version of the situation. Hilariously i must say time does fly when you are actually engrossed into such matters.
But then again no dinner is complete without dessert, not interms of diet but verbal. This time the issue was smoking in public. we asked for the ashtray only to be told that the premisis cannot be used for smoking and its banned, ridiculously only a few tables down sat a motley group of locales happily enjoying a drag. But what enraged us was that the waiter denied the very fact that they were smoking and said that he could not see it. This clearly got us hot and voices were raised only then did the maitre d' come and tell us that they were locals and they did not want any problems...
Apparently the smoking ban goes by the ration card. If you are a local apparently the ban is not effective. Wow, it happens only in India!!!
Putting all that aside we did not want to spoil the whole fun and we carry on to Masinagudi. The path interspersed with good roads, decent roads, bad roads and no roads make for tough driving conditions yet enjoyable. we finally hit the forest and actually manage to catch a pair of wild elephant at close quarters, dont know if tere where any around us but hell the very thought of getting to seeing on is absolutely high on the adrenaline. In no time we hit the border checkpost where we were asked for Rs. 20/- never actually having heard about such an arrangement i enquire as to the reason only to be told its a leaving fee. What?! refusing to buy the story it gets changed to pooja donation, I tell him i dont do pooja and this time it changes to tea money! Wow the stories people go to make a quick buck. We get by not paying anything. after another 30 minutes we hit another check post this time i go and make the mistake of actually picking on an argument with the cop on duty.
The cop claimed to have put up a hoarding some 10 kms back and we claim to not have seen any. this infuriates the cops even more as it now seems that the statement shows him in a bad light. to top it all there goes another friend of mine clicking pictures of the checkpost boards. APparently photography isn't allowed there and below it written in marker pen is the warning for a fine if caught with a trigger happy finger. A lot of coaxing and arguements later we continue on our way to masinagudi. Expecting a long drive we shortly discover that masinagudi is about two stones throw from the checkpost. The town wears a deserted look, but then what do you expect at 3:00am? we continue uncertian of our destination, ooty or masinagudi? A bit of a dilemma at the wee hours of the morning. finally our senses get the better of our adventerous streak and we return back to Masinagudi.
At masinagudi we are greeted with a light drizzle that soon truns into a heavy downpour, heavy enough to take our car with the force of the flow. Knocking at lodges at such an ungodly hour can be unpleasant and added to our woes is the heavy downpour. BRRRRRRR...... a helpful intervention saves the conseirge of a lodge from be mauled to death by my hands. So we go to the place suggested only to be told that another set of stranded travellers have just booked in rendering the lodge full. Enquiring further we are directed to another resort and ther we find refuge from the wrath of nature finally at 4:30 in the morning.
Since our day had already begun we get up from our nap and re-energising ourselves with a hot cuppa tea we move on back to mysore all set to explore the city, zoo, culture and most of all the dussera festivities. Reaching Mysore early noon we head for the zooand to what seems like a three kilometer walk encompassing a varied collection of fauna and flora. as the day comes to an end we are ushered out of the zoo premises and we head to the Mysore Palace all decked up in tune with the festivities. It is really a sight to see. the only downside is the crowd but then again the crowd and the varied crossection of people jostling for a glimpse of the whole works only adds to the fun and the experience of the spirit of celebration...
Getting late we head out of the city and head back to electronic age heady with a healthy dose of heritage and the wild. The holiday rush catching up with us back on our way to Bangalore, we sit and look back on all the small instance that make every journey special and different. The joys, hardships and decisions each playing its own relative part in making a holiday magical.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
A tryst with delicate might
Another day dawned late, the after effects of the previous day’s activities still reeling in my mind I start the day uncertain to the chain of events that are yet to be unraveled.
A late start to a beautiful day, uncertainty and boredom the only co-passengers on my ride. Its then that I decide why waste a good day travel a bit more and at least visit the much spoken about National Park at Bannergattha. Having no clue as to whereabouts of the national park I continue down the Bannergattha Road thinking it will lead me to the park automatically. Well I did find out that the park is approximately 40 kms on the outskirts of the city. Other than this my knowledge of the whole area is "ZILCH".
I keep going down the road and I keep going on and on for nearly 60 kms but no sight of the park. Well I guess it must have been due to the much clichéd fact of male genes, for not asking questions that I kept going. After 60kms I swallowed my male pride and asked a passerby as to the directions of the national park. Guess what, in his broken tamil and fluent kannada I get to know that the park is around 23kms behind me.
I go back and find the park. Park my bike and proceed to the ticket counter. As I exit the parking lot I get to a queue and I am like hello where are the ticket booths!!! I ask a lady in front of me if this is the queue to the entry to the zoo. Well as perplexed as I was so was she! The long queue snaked a course along the walls of the national park and the lady in front of me actually finished two ears of corn before we actually got beside the wall. Whew upon entering the park, thinking the worst is over, I discover that I thought too soon. Here I was pushed into a queue, one longer than the one I just got past.
Whew! I am pushed into a pathway just enough to accommodate one adult. This queue actually had me thinking if all this was worth but a call from a friend assured me that no matter what the sight of the cats is worth any queue, stench and pain. After an hour of waiting in the queue I finally get to board a bus bypassing a whole line, around two bus load of people as I was the only single guy there awaiting a glance of the mighty jungle cats. Who else but the biggest cat to be your first sight. The mighty lion as usual resting under the shade provides for the perfect photo session. Hmmm. From then on each sighting only got better. The dosage of the cats just too much, also combined to this is the enthusiasm of the people, going from one side to another. The force in which this happens only wants you to pray god please don’t let the bus tip over to the other side.
Secretly well I did wish the tigers or the lions actually charged the bus to actually liven the whole trip but well that still remains as a wish. Hope someday it does happen!!
We get back to the main park area and from there I head straight to the butterfly conservatory… I know a lot of you will ask what is there in a butterfly conservatory to actually be of any interest. My sentiments exactly but once you enter the conservatory you feel like you have entered a totally different world. The greens combined with the high domed glass roof dotted with conical pods for the butterflies, think they are the pods that serve as the hatchery for the eggs, and the carefree flutter of the delicate butterfly, wow its just too much to explain and something you got to actually see to ever get to know what I am talking about.
Well after a walk with my flutter counterparts in this stage called life I must get back although I would have loved to spend the whole day there, learn more and live amongst them. The concrete jungle beckons me to live another day amidst the concrete blocks with manmade colors, making me want to visit the natural world to enjoy its fruits undisturbed and with a better understanding…
Inexcusable behavior…
Well there comes a time when what you give is what you get. Well I especially should have been aware of this fact better than anyone because it’s a policy that I stick on to religiously.
Then what is it that makes you behave otherwise? Complex as it may seem I think it is what makes us more human otherwise we would have on saints walking around without any human to actually give credit to the proverb, to err is human and to forgive divine…
Well that’s it for now but what the heck still trying to figure out the answer to this problem and I am sure I will update this topic.
Then what is it that makes you behave otherwise? Complex as it may seem I think it is what makes us more human otherwise we would have on saints walking around without any human to actually give credit to the proverb, to err is human and to forgive divine…
Well that’s it for now but what the heck still trying to figure out the answer to this problem and I am sure I will update this topic.
I did tell that I was going to update this topic whenever I could figure out what it is that actually provokes us into doing or saying the things we almost always regret right afterwards.
There are times when you actually feel that you have become the worst of yourself. Feeling sometimes that you have opened up a pandora’s box of all your hated traits; your anger, your spite, your condescends. When someone or something provokes you, you instead of smiling and moving along actually take them on.
Once the confrontation is over all you are capable of doing is going back home and spend the rest of your time tossing and turning over thinking of all the things you could have said but end up regretting the thing you said. There may be a few of you out there who would actually argue that it’s a way of getting rid of your temper, calming down, letting your steam out etc etc… it only ends up causing a lot more damage than actually help you blow your steam off…
Well blame it on human behaviour (again it’s so typical isn’t; we always manage to find someone else to put the blame on), like we are all taught to from our infancy… Pun Intended.
Hmmm, you finally realize that when you have the pleasure of saying the things that you mean to say at the moment to mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
60 an hour…
A while back I was riding back in a car with my cuz and grandmother when we had to halt at this very busy traffic signal. Like all busy traffic signal, each a host to several wild but absurd ideas of making a quick buck, this one too had its share of the pie. Well each one of us gets caught in this seemingly harmless waste of time, nonnegotiable, unavoidable and always in the eye of the big belly of law…
Well I know not many would have got it and quite a few will term it a PJ in every sense once the explanation is over….. Okay here goes… I basically took law as the long arm and the cops the big belly as the physique needed to be a cop in India is a big belly… looks like the classification/cadre of the Indian police force is determined by the size of the stomach.
Coming back before I deviate any further, our car windows were knocked on by several vendor, a guy selling sunglass’ of a reputed brand , another selling magazines, a couple of small kids doing a mini but poorly orchestrated show and another with a yellow cloth, apparently its supposed to be for the car windscreen. After rejecting all the above said participants of global marketing and entertainment in about 30 seconds we have the national job of all lazy Indians, Begging.
Off late a new dimension has been added to this scenario. The armless and lame man has already become passé/cliché. Now it’s the turn of the mother. True enough it wasn’t long before a knock made me turn to my side of the window. I look to my cousin and with looks communicate what’s to be done. She nods a refusal and I shake my head at the woman and she carries on.
After she had gone a couple of cars down my sister reveals something that shocks me. Well everybody in the car I must say. Apparently a couple of days back she read in an article in some newspaper, which covered a very weird topic. Apparently the article stated that these women who come to your car knocking for some change is actually not the mother of the child. We were like, WHAT!!!!
After she had gone a couple of cars down my sister reveals something that shocks me. Well everybody in the car I must say. Apparently a couple of days back she read in an article in some newspaper, which covered a very weird topic. Apparently the article stated that these women who come to your car knocking for some change is actually not the mother of the child. We were like, WHAT!!!!
The article went on to state that the city cops had arrested a gang who were giving out babies on hire. The gang ran a crèche for the upper lower class and the lower middle class people the ones where the folks were both bread winners and did not have enough to put their kid in a play school. The gang was exposed, when one day a parent was not feeling well and happened to return early to collect the child and the people at the crèche started making excuses trying to delay the return of the child. Initially the parent accepted the reasons and waited for half an hour but growing weary the parent started getting suspicious and demanded the return of her child. Helpless when the crèche people did not cooperate she sought the help of the police and that’s when they got to the bottom of the whole affair.
Apparently the couple who ran the crèche were renting out the children they were taking care of. Imagine the very thought of a parent travelling in a local bus and while looking out you look into the eyes of your toddler lying limb in the hands of a stranger and think, “poor kid looks so much like my but thank heavens mine is safe in a crèche”. How wrong you are….
Apparently the running rate was Rs. 60 an hour.
Apparently the running rate was Rs. 60 an hour.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Silhouettes on the roof…
Every evening as I walk upon my terrace I get a distinct feeling that I am being watched. Really wish it were the ones out there… but nah!
Every dwelling in Bangalore basically resembles a square or a rectangle and rarely do you actually come upon a weird shaped dwelling. This in-turn allows for one to actually have a pretty decent terrace one that allows for you to take a stroll, dry your laundry or just host that random get together with your buddies. Well sound fascinating doesn’t it the last part especially, who wouldn’t give an arm and leg to actually spend time or rather let ones hair down after a really tensed, or boring, or lackadaisical day.
Hmmm well that’s not really what I am trying to get to here…
The other day I was standing on my balcony, since its elevated it overlooks quite a lots of neighboring flats, each ones roof just a hops away from my balcony. All of a sudden a shadow creeps by one such window and I was like, hey what was that? With your blood urging for that little bit of mystery mixed with fear I watch closely and the shadow moves again. This happen another time and as curiosity got the better of me I watch with sincere concentration…
Any guess’ on what I saw? Well it was a guy on a mobile phone walking up and down his balcony. I go to my roof top and one by one I get to see that every rooftop is dotted by folks on their cell phone… talking to their parents, lovers, friends, business associates, call centers(for help), restaurants, wife, etc.
Each roof had a silhouetted human form doing a similar motion to the guy/girl on the next roof. Each silhouette moving in a very non hurried manner with a carefree bliss catching up on things just before the day winds up… silhouetted in the dusk.
Every dwelling in Bangalore basically resembles a square or a rectangle and rarely do you actually come upon a weird shaped dwelling. This in-turn allows for one to actually have a pretty decent terrace one that allows for you to take a stroll, dry your laundry or just host that random get together with your buddies. Well sound fascinating doesn’t it the last part especially, who wouldn’t give an arm and leg to actually spend time or rather let ones hair down after a really tensed, or boring, or lackadaisical day.
Hmmm well that’s not really what I am trying to get to here…
The other day I was standing on my balcony, since its elevated it overlooks quite a lots of neighboring flats, each ones roof just a hops away from my balcony. All of a sudden a shadow creeps by one such window and I was like, hey what was that? With your blood urging for that little bit of mystery mixed with fear I watch closely and the shadow moves again. This happen another time and as curiosity got the better of me I watch with sincere concentration…
Any guess’ on what I saw? Well it was a guy on a mobile phone walking up and down his balcony. I go to my roof top and one by one I get to see that every rooftop is dotted by folks on their cell phone… talking to their parents, lovers, friends, business associates, call centers(for help), restaurants, wife, etc.
Each roof had a silhouetted human form doing a similar motion to the guy/girl on the next roof. Each silhouette moving in a very non hurried manner with a carefree bliss catching up on things just before the day winds up… silhouetted in the dusk.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A CIRCLE in a SQUARE
Well I was the other day reading an article that appeared in a not too well known but a relatively classy magazine, when I say classy it’s not just in price but in actual content and contributors, each chipping in a little about life in a manner you do not expect from them. (Looks like I am deviating from the t check myself coz I often do it. Guilty as charged.). The article dealt with the plight of manholes in todays world.
The immediate reaction to this is quite predictable. What’s a manhole got to do in this modern era? Well my sentiments exactly and I continued reading. Interestingly enough the article actually managed to show a totally different perspective of the term manhole. These seemingly insignificant obstructions in our daily path are like small windows to a seamy under city that we are connected to but yet know very little about.
These maladjusted manholes add to the chaos of our daily routine in several ways that we rarely comprehend or rather come to realize. It is not very uncommon to notice a manhole stand out like a stub in a carriage. A seemingly innocent bump in the road that turns into a traffic jam, somewhere along the way we have infact become conditioned to accept such minor deterrents with a shrug over the shoulder and say, ”athu saramilla, athindae chittum poiyal mathi”(it not a problem, just go around it). Though seemingly harmless they are and can be cause of grave accidents.
If it is the traffic jams caused by these manholes that is a cause of concern then I think it would be a better idea if you are to look below and into these cavernous network of tunnels that transport the sewage of our city. A jarring truth that hits us in the face is the very fact that we lack planning. It is only the reason of maladjusted drainage do the manhole intrude into the footpath and roads turning out to be the root cause for all our daily problems.
Identifying the manhole is never a problem it nothing but a simple circle in a square.
Identifying the manhole is never a problem it nothing but a simple circle in a square.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)