It was dark, the rain pouring like there was no tomorrow. The river, like an angry wife, displayed its tantrums in full flow.
A lone candle cut through the darkness.
The Coracle Man, as he had done always, sat in his filthy hut at the river bank. Sitting at the same desk from where he had awaited patiently for 30 years, for passengers to ferry across the bank.
How long do you keep someone’s business card with you?
Not too long I guess. Most cards get discarded very quickly.
You need to be very creative to register in the mind of the guy before he decides to throw it away… which is a very short period.
The more creative or interesting the card is, the better the chance of making an impact with the card.
Of late, I have needed a few cards. So, I decided to get one done.
I remember having read from my friends blog about a guy who put Google results on his card. He apparently ranked #1 for the keyword and put that on his card.
Using that as a tongue-in-cheek idea, I did my card this way. Perhaps, not very good looking, but it tends to make people curious.
It’s been a while since I blogged.
After quitting from work on Mar 11, things have been very slow. I tried to accomplish too many things and naturally ended up not doing much. Here’s a quick update on things.
Travel:
The only travel I did in this period was a quick trip with wifey to Goa and a visit to my in-laws place, Shimoga.
The plans to travel to Andaman didn’t materialize.
Tomorrow, hopefully if my waitlisted ticket gets confirmed, I will be travelling by train to Sikkim (New Jalpaiguri and then by bus). I have plans to visit Varanasi too, if time permits.
Start-up plans:
The start-up ideas haven’t materialized yet and am finding it hard to decide as to what to pursue. Unlike many people who quit with a particular reason to pursue, I had quit without any reason, but with just an idea to do something new in life. I guess the process of figuring things out could take much longer than I had anticipated. And yes, by far, I had under estimated how soon I would set things rolling.
Today is my last day at Ness.
I enjoyed my stay of over 3.5 years here! I do believe Ness is a pretty good place to work at. Much better than the biggies – Infy’s, Wipro’s, TCS’s, IBM’s of the world.
In a matter of hours, will add to the pool that is confused if they are unemployed or self-employed!
Why do this?
A lengthy answer if you have a bit of time to waste, read about it here.
Where am I headed?
No clue yet! There are a few initial thoughts like I had mentioned in my earlier post.. but too early to discuss them.
Am I scared?
Absolutely yes! I do sometimes feel like being in a circular room trying to figure out a corner! At the same time, if I figure out that there is no corner, I wouldn’t mind dropping the search and returning back to where it all began… another job!
For how long will you look/try before you give up and return?
Haven’t really given that a thought. Perhaps a year. Or 6 months. Or if there is a drop in my net worth. Or if I figure out that there is no corner in the circular room. Actually, no clue!
Have the last 2 months been of any use?
Absolutely! These 2 months have been so worth it that I now believe this could be one of the best decisions of my life even if it is not successful.
That said, not having an offer and having to figure things out is so different from doing the same sitting on a nice job. Like Warren Buffett once said, it’s as different as reading about s** and actually doing it!
**Away until Apr 1**
Finally,… will be away from the blog and social media until at least Apr 1. I have been contributing too much noise to an already cluttered world. You guys are better off without my self-indulgent updates!
So, don’t bother checking for updates for a month or so!
Zainab is raising funds for Sparrow (and is selling a few items listed further below for the purpose).
Am deeply touched by her gesture of selling personal items to raise funds for a cause! Please help her raise the funds!
She intends to raise about 25000 INR (the mail below indicates 10k, but she raised the bar to 25K) and is around halfway there already. Am posting her mail here. You can contact her directly on bawazainab79 AT gmail.com.
Dear all,
SPARROW is a unique archive which hosts women’s histories. It is based in Mumbai. SPARROW was founded by C S Lakshmi, the famous fiction writer. For more details, visit http://www.sparrowonline.org/
I am currently raising money for SPARROW. I have a commitment of Rs. 10,000 to fulfill before the end of February. In order to raise part, all or more than Rs. 10,000, I have decided to sell some of the things I have. I am doing the sale mainly because my own scholarship money has not been released and will not be until March. Else, I would have parted with my scholarship money to make the donation to SPARROW.
I am putting up the following things on sale. Everything is in perfectly good working condition. You can feel free to check the items that interest you by visiting us and confirming it for yourself. The following are the things:
1). Electronic Treadmill – Rs. 15,000 (withdrawn)
2). MP3 player – Rs. 700 - Sold
3). Cycle Helmet – Rs. 300 - Sold
4). Digital Camera – Rs. 3,500 It is a Nikon Coolpix 3700 with 2 lithium batteries, 512 MB and 16 MB SD cards, charger, USB cable and TV-video USB. http://ur1.ca/2pw94 It has excellent audio and video facilities. The dictaphone is absolutely superb!
5). Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard – Rs. 1,800
6). Waist belt water bottle – Rs. 400 - Sold
7). Rohinton Mistry’s “Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firosha Baag” – Rs. 350
8). Amitav Ghosh’s “The Calcutta Chromosome” – Rs. 150
9). Michel Foucault’s “The History of Sexuality” – Volume 1 – Rs. 250
10). Joe Studwell’s “Asian Godfathers – Money and Power in Hong Kong and South East Asia” – Rs. 700
11). Salman Rushdie’s “A Step Across This Line” – Collected Non-fiction- Rs. 300
12). Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” – Rs. 250
13). Pinki Virani’s “Once was a Bombay” – Rs. 200
14). Vikram Kapadia’s “Black with Equal” – Rs. 65
15). Italio Calvino’s “The Road to San Giovanni” – Rs. 200
16). Conical bamboo lampshade woven by basket weavers from the North East – Rs. 500
17). Football – Rs. 350
There might be other things up for sale too. I will keep updating this list as and when.
Cheers,
Zainab
Yethad, Dhordhay, Aapar,… well, neither Greek nor Latin,these are typical Toda names!
One of the earliest settlers of Nilgiris, the ‘Toduvar’ or Todas as they are popularly known are tall and sturdily built people with a unique culture and a phonologically difficult language. A pastoral tribe, these people are (were) lacto vegetarians with the buffalo being the center of almost all activity. It is indeed sad that their number is on the decline… to such extent that it is often said that there are more articles on Todas than their actual numbers!
The most striking feature of a properly attired Toda today is his skillfully embroidered red, black and white shawl (no, not the one worn by the guy on the left… that’s just an ordinary shawl ), worn such that his right shoulder is exposed… the embroidering being done in-house by women. The embroidered shawl is a much sought-after souvenir today!
Living in unique looking half-barrel shaped houses made of bamboo reed, specific grass, rattan cane, etc with a door so small that one would have to squeeze in, these people live (led… as their traditional methods are fast disappearing) a spartan life, just like most other mountain communities.
In the past, they have been known to have practised ‘fraternal polyandry’, where a woman married all the brothers of a family… a practise that could have arisen out of a demand-supply gap with only 3 women per 5 men! Or perhaps their affiliation as ‘Pandav putras’ could explain it partially too. This practise has long been discontinued.
Visit any Toda temple, you will notice a large round shaped stone! Any Toda male who wished to marry had to lift this heavy stone to prove his worthiness to the girl and her family… a practise that has been discontinued 20-30 years back.
Okay, instead of boring you any further, request you to watch this pretty well made documentary in 3 parts on Todas that I found on Youtube. The video appears to jump at places, but neverthless is wonderful!
Enjoy Nilgiris!!!
Ever wondered what the story behind the name ‘Ooty’, the headquarters of Nilgiris, could be? Or why it is also called ‘Udhagamandalam’? Or ‘Ootacamund’?
Now… if you are the inquisitive type who would not sleep before solving a puzzle… don’t blame me for your insomnia!
Remembered this conversation I had with a kid last year in September and thought I will share it with you.
Francis Lobo and I had cycled from Coonoor to Masinagudi via Kalhatty ghat. At Masinagudi, we split and he went to Gudalur while I returned to Ooty. On my way back, I stopped for a break at a teashop in Masinagudi.
While sipping hot tea, I struck a conversation with the hotel owner’s kid.
Me: Do you play games?
Kid: Yes, a lot.
Me: Nice! Which game do you play the most?
Kid: Cricket
Me: Really? Where do you play cricket?
Kid: In my fathers mobile phone!!!
Today, my 11 month old daughter got her ears pierced.
Ear piercing in Indian societies is more rooted in culture and tradition than necessity to the extent that not piercing a (girl) child’s ear draws flak from family members. Every once in a while, a family member would ask us why we haven’t pierced the ears yet. My answer to this question would not have amused them.
I certainly didn’t want to force a piercing operation on my baby. And I certainly don’t buy the old ladies tales of
- piercing increases immunity
- it helps in making the baby fearless (believe me, someone educated told me this)
- piercing early is much easier than when older
- a girl child needs ear piercing to beautify her
Today, I had to give in to the pressure of mom and wife who thought the auspicious day of Vijaya Dasami was special and one of the best days to pierce the child’s ears. It was decided that we go to a traditional guy, the goldsmith and not a doctor. (Don’t ask me if one is better than the other. Also don’t ask me if the latest methods are better than the traditional way).
Once upon a time in 2010, there lived an unnamed puppy.
He was playful and naughty. He liked going out on his own to explore the neighborhood. It gave him a chance to spin tales of his heroic adventures to his 4 siblings. Of course, the mother knew he was spinning tales and warned him not to go alone into this big bad world!!!
But our dude would listen to none, let alone Mom! And off he went again exploring the big bad world of J.P Nagar, .. alone!
His bad luck, it rained that day, heavily! Lightening struck! Streets were filled with water! Every little place was wet!
He lost his way, got wet and was almost in tears.
Heroism turned into fear, fear into helplessness!
His Mom and siblings were nowhere to be seen. He searched and searched and searched… only in vain.
He then fell into a culvert and couldn’t climb out despite all his efforts. All he could do was to wail.