Judgmental opinions

Time sometimes stands still Days breeze past You lose count of the days Yet there are moments when suddenly time seems to stand still You revel in the moment Those times when time stands still forms part of your memories Time stood still when we first fall love Time stood still when we first got the news of being appointed for our new job Especially if it was a coveted one Time stood still when the first child was born As we grow older such moments seem to decrease Years breeze on Now time stands still during that rare feeling of awe and reverence on seeing something wondrous As we near the year end we have lost that sensation of time standing still The days this year rushed through And suddenly I realise that 2019 passed by unnoticed I forgot to make resolutions for the new year I forgot what resolutions I had made last year for this year And I doubt if I would have had the ability to fulfill them So I am holding the clock by the hour hand and think of resolutions...

A friend of mine who has purchased a new mobile some time back forgot to twiddle with the settings in the various apps downloaded in the new one This resulted in his birthday being recorded in the default as 1st January And expectedly he has received a shower of birthday greetings from friends He pointed out this error later in the day today but some messages continue to trickle in It has made me realize how shallow we are in greeting others We greet all and sundry by copying and pasting New year greetings, birthday greetings, festival greetings... do we really mean what we say? Are we really happy and wanting to share the joy and happiness of a birthday or a festival? Earlier in the pre-mobile days, pre-facebook days there was no means of being reminded of birthdays We treasured a few people and made it a point to personally greet them on their birthdays We travelled to each others houses to greet people on festive occasions And the greetings were few but more memorable a...

In one of my writings earlier I had written about the importance of communication with our family members I found that many of us rarely speak to our spouses as "people ".... we take them for granted So we don't speak with the same courtesy with our spouse as we speak to others So this brings about a gap in our communication We need to realise that our spouse is another person.... and he or she has feelings of their own.... Like since the wife's job is cooking and taking care of children, the husband cannot do it.... if he does, what will people say? is the refrain Actually people are least bothered... It is only our own thinking I don't want to blame anyone but I feel there has to be more communication about our feelings Like if you get tired while working, you must tell that you are tired and need some help.... not demand help but the correct words will come if you don't speak to your spouse as husband but as another person Request for some help g...

Garbage segregation is important and good practice even for us Every time the garbage collector comes to collect our garbage, we hold a kerchief to our noses and hope he goes away quickly Yet the garbage collector has to tolerate the smell over his full work day And once it goes to the recycling unit, scores of workers have to manually sift through our garbage to segregate it They have to separate the recyclable items from the non-recyclable items Small pieces of plastic like the ones left over from chocolate wrappers, tiny strips cut off from chips and milk packets cannot be recycled and have to be used in landfills Similarly, sanitary napkins and diapers cannot be recycled.... and these are the worst because we wrap soiled napkins into papers and then seal them in plastic bags You can imagine the poor worker handling this bag, opening the wrapper of plastic bag, then the soiled newspaper and finally the days old soiled napkin Hence as conscientious citizens, it is advisab...

A friend has posted an interesting video on his Facebook account It is about what is required now to retain employees in a work place The advisor illustrates his argument that we have been witness three generations of employees in the work place The first generation was our grand parents generation who needed jobs and remained in a work place for their entire life, not out of loyalty but necessity Jobs were scarce then and they needed the job for food than anything else The second generation worked in a job out of necessity for the status that they could enjoy on holding that position And the present generation is difficult to remain loyal to work place unless the employer makes the work place more pleasant to be in Though this can be a good argument for the IT industry, I don't think I agree with it fully The present generation obviously has a lot of choices but it is more dissatisfied with itself Its expectations are more than their capabilities This generation is mor...

We have heard of this statement: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it Effectively, it tells us that we have to be aware of our history That we need to be aware of the mistakes that we have committed in our past and avoid repeating them if the consequences are bad We also take pride in our past, about the history of our country, about human civilization, about our culture Yet we never realise that what we know of our history is what is documented by the people living and experiencing at that period of time We interpret the writing to match our beliefs Is it possible that what we have learnt of our own history is not interpreted correctly? This is the surmise on which a novel I am currently reading based on! Whether it is possible to interpret history in a different way or different context The situation quoted in the novel is about slavery A fictional group is systematically out to interpret slavery in the US as not existent at all It tries to and a...

I remember reading a very interesting book some time ago The title of the book was "It was on fire when I lay down on it" The title depicts a man lying on a bed which was on fire... how did he land up there? He said, it was on fire when I lay down on it! Laughable it is, yet this is the situation many of us end up in We know something isn't going to work, yet we end up on it.... it may be our job, or our marriage... the bed was already on fire when we went to lie on it! There are situations in life that we need to avoid.... yet we fall into the trap knowingly And then complain that our life is full of misery We walk into a job that is frustrating.... we marry an incompatible person.... we get addicted to bad influence... and then we complain or cry that our life is a failure Sometimes it is little things. . Like a making friends with a person who always puts you in trouble.... or getting into a habit like smoking or drinking or gambling And then you feel you ca...

On our bathroom wall just above the sink is a post it sticker on which is written, "Wake Mimmi up at 6 am" Right next to it is another one on which an arrow is drawn pointing to the first post it and with the words,"Parth, don't touch this post it" Though Meenal is pretty fastidious about cleanliness, these post its have been in place for several years now That's because it was written at a time when my daughter Mrinmayee (Mimmi for short) had just learned writing And though these post it stickers have faded and the writing barely visible, they remain in place tickling our hearts every time we brush our teeth These and several such tokens of our children's childhood serve little doses of happiness into our lives There's a small rag doll named Dora smeared with sketch pen marks of lipstick and kajal at the bottom of our wardrobe that has magical powers to drive away bad dreams and have served their purpose in Mrinmayee's infancy Tiny hand...

We are aware that we must use less plastic That we carry cloth bags for shopping While many of us do this, there are some aspects where we miss the forest for the trees of using less disposable materials and creating a lot of waste So how much waste do we really generate? For that, we need to have an audit - the waste audit So from the 1st of April 2019, I am going to do my own waste audit How do do this - First, be conscious of what we are using and whether we will be creating waste out of it Next, explore ways how to reduce waste As you put the waste in the bin, photograph it on your mobile At the end of the day, make a list of all the waste you have generated Next, try to reduce making this much waste the following day Follow the process every day With the aim to bring this to zero At the end of the month, we will have our waste audit I am begining now And post my findings Some hints: 1. In my house, we get 3 packets of milk every day This is naturally a waste o...

I do often wonder whether my writing is too loquacious! I am sure I am garrulous, but I take care not to write anything that is not interesting to my readers. My readers, I am aware, consists of people in professions as varying as fish in a fish market. Some professions like mine, stink of boredom were I to launch a discourse on! Others, in business, probably make no bones about the greatness of their freedom of movement. While those chained to their shops get fried in bouts of depression about their inability to swim about! And those away from their hometown find themselves as helpless as fish out of water! But being from the same basket of blog-o-sphere, we gel well, in our aquarium of this blogspot!

When I was posted in Mollem, that was before Google and smart phones came into my life, I was a vociferous reader. In one particular novel in the  Queen's English, I came across a word - "abecedarian". I had a Webster's Dictionary and the word wasn't in it. And I spent a week pondering and searching the meaning of the word, and my novel reading got stuck at that point. Until I went to Panaji and purchased a Oxford's Dictionary And the meaning of the word was so elementary that if I had pronounced it correctly, I could have guessed it! Because that was the meaning of the word - elementary! Correctly pronounced as - "A-B-C-D-E-rian"! As simple as A B C D E! Words hence fascinate me! You pronounce them right, roll the word on your tongue, feel it... and the meaning dawns on you. As abecedarian as elementary English!

50 is half of 100 If human life expectancy is 100 years, on your 50th birthday, you are just half way through! Yet, if half way down the line, you are already feeling tired, it is a source of worry. I got the shock of my life even before I reached my half way mark. During my first ever check up, I discovered that I was just at the alarm level of sugar. If my cholesterol level increased even a bit, I would need medication. The doctor prescribed exercise. And I abhorred exercise. I don't want a six-pack, I thought! But I had to go to the gym. And I hated it. I went for a year. With no difference achieved. A year later, my sugar and cholesterol hung at the danger level. Then I started walking. I started with 6000 steps a day, keeping count on my Garmin wristband. Gradually increasing every week Until I averaged 12000 steps a day. And within a period of six months, I almost lost 10 kg weigt  And my cholesterol and sugar decreased to normal levels. My walking has n...

In my opinion, the education system must be targeted at achieving certain goals: 1. Primary Education : To make the student literate in the language, say, English, Marathi, Hindi and Konkani (the mother tongue). 2. Secondary Education : To make the student proficient in the basics of language (grammer), sciences and mathematics. 3. Higher Secondary Education : To identify and recognize the capabilities and interests of the students and guide them accordingly towards those goals in higher education. 4. Professional Courses : To develop expertise in the appropriate fields setting foundation for future targets - either to apply this in the field or to continue higher research. If these targets are set, the marks system/ percentage that we presently follow, rutta (memorisation) become irrelevant. We would only concentrate on grades. For children facing learning difficulties, extra coaching could be given. By the end of each stage, the proficiency in each field would be visib...

I am sitting at a table With a book I open the book Dip into it The table disappears So does the chair And the room I enter a forest Fly with the birds Run with the animals Swim with the fish I finish reading Close the book The table reappears So does tha chair And the room And discover the book inside me!

Life, they said, is a journey and not the destination. And on this journey of life are several vantage points. That sometimes change our destination or our destiny. You begin your journey of life towards one destination. And find that spot of happiness that alters your destination. And you move towards that new destination. Until you are interrupted by that new option. To find love of a spot of happiness that you never knew existed before. And you move towards that new destination. Until 35 years later, you find you were never in search of this new destination. Which is much more than you bargained for. And you discover that this is the heaven that you never aimed for. Such is life! And you worried all along the journey where life would take you! So why worrry where life would take you 10 years hence? Life, as we know it, knows all the answers.

Disclaimer: I am not a Salman Khan or Tarun Tezpal fan nor do I defend the criminal acts that the two have been accused of. I merely wish to point out that are we too harsh on them just because they are celebrities caught on the wrong side of the law? Celebrity crimes somehow brings out the best and worst forms of activism in us. While every celebrity accused of a crime is instantly pronounced guilty by the media followed by each one of us, are we exerting undue pressure on the Judiciary as well? A quick search on the net on punishments meted out to accused in rash and negligent driving causing death in road offences has revealed the following information: A man who knows drinking and driving can cause accident and harm to others, willingly drives, and results in an accident causing the death of an innocent person. The death of the person is caused not by his negligence, but by his willful neglect or recklessness in driving under the influence of alcohol. In criminal cases ther...

A rather convoluted status message by Edward Lopes on the Facebook page of Goa+ , after reading which made me realise here is another India-basher who has no pride in his own country.  Lopes is a Goan settled in Sharjah for over 20 years. I am writing my comments under each paragraph in brackets: Hamara Bharat Mahaan Hai - Great India THE CONFUSED NATION THAT WE ARE... BUT STILL THE COUNTRY IS GREAT! A policeman kills a leopard that is actually attacking a villager, and instead of being felicitated he is booked for the crime of saving a human being, at the insistence, of some Wildlife Organisations. (This occured in Agasaim in Goa a few years ago - the policeman was felicitated, but an offence had also been booked. Under wildlife protection act, every unnatural death of a wild animal is booked as an offence. It does not necessarily mean punishment. It is just a record of wild animal death. And the offence is not booked at the insistence of any wildlife organisa...

The Parsi wedding was better than what I imagined it would be like. I expected a lot of Parsis doing a lot of Parsi stuff speaking Parsi language and that I would be sticking out like a sore thumb in it all. I was pleasantly surprised with the decor and more surprised with the guest list. The male of the Parsi species were in their sparkling white coats and black round hats, pot bellies sticking out proudly. The female of the species were more colourful with no two women wearing similar dresses. The ceremony was Hindu like with a white sheet between bride and groom and the two "priests" (rabbi?) chanting something. The arrival of the bride onto the wedding platform was greeted with somebody hollering "Here comes the bride!" The ceremony was over in a jiffy and the music began with the DJ announcing that the bar was open!! While the men made a bee line for the bar, umpteen varieties of snacks made the rounds. There was tiny mutton samosas, pakodas made of cheese and ...

The six year old twins waiting eagerly on the steps of the hotel room the return of their parents who have been out on the beach since morning could tear anybody’s heart in anguish. For, their parents got drowned in the morning in the waters of Mandovi river on Miramar beach. The children don’t know this and are waiting on the door steps wondering why their parents are out so long. The couple, along with a few of their friends staying in the same hotel had gone for a early morning stroll on the beach. The gentle breeze with white surf of the waves were too tempting for them to dip into the water. They were warned by the hotel staff that the waters were dangerous for swimming, but for them, it seemed an absurd warning. For the water looked so gentle and the beach too shallow. The warnings of the dangers appeared far fetched, and the lure of the beach over powering. Yet, one current of water drew them towards the sea and engulfed them into its womb. By then it was too late. The power of ...

Little things make paradise. God made Goa on the west coast of India and then made the sun set in the west. That was mythology. The rest, they say is history. The Goans made the sunset the best time for worship; the feni the cup of joy, and fish, the offering. Enjoying life to the fullest thus became a way of life. And improvisation followed. So we have eating houses abound where the sand on the beach ends. Every other shop a bar, and eating vegetarian food a sin. And where every other shack on the beach competing gamely for its place on the visitors dinner diary, the best time to filter the best is in the rains. Like every other law abiding Goan (a Delhite once remarked to me that he was amazed when every vehicle in Goa stopped at a red light even when there was no other vehicle at the junction!), Goan fishermen have resigned to the fact that fishes need breeding time and hence don’t go fishing for two months in the rains. So most of the shacks are closed in the rains and only the one...