Pune Diary

I went to Pune for a couple of days .....a very interesting experience.
Calm ,clean,open city .....reminiscent of Mumbai in its heydays.Am sure in a few years to come Pune will face the same space crunch as Mumbai.It has similar 1 room flats where the entire family lives.
Met some really nice down to earth people ....I loved the place.
On the first day I went to the famous Ganpati temple and saw lotuses,fishes in the pond .The pond was actuall teeming with fishes .Then in the afternoon after work we had lunch and we ordered a thali- 5 subjis +soup+pappad+rotis + fruit custard.Quite nice ....
I went t Kayani Bakery there and found it too crowded in the afternoon on a  working day! Couldn't buy the shrewberry biscuits from there :(
Then I tried venturing into the Osho Ashram at Koregaon but was told that it was shut down for visitors till the 2nd of jan.I met a gaurd there who had 'Marshall' written on his shirt .He seemed more like a night club bouncer to me . When I told him that he smiled wryly and said that yes his job was similar to that of a bouncer .He had to make sure that none of the 'Indians' troubled the teeming foreigners there.
Close to the Osho Ashram is German bakery , a hit with red robed Osho followers and youngsters.The bakery is now run by a few Napalese . They all have anglisized accents and no time as the bakery does booming business.
The food there is well like the food at other German bakeries....in Paharganj,Leh. The sumptuous desserts and sweet nothings here are however legendary ....had  a really hard time picking up the delectables.
Well i ordered a burger,chips and salad for Rs 100 .The quantity was sufficient for one .....but honestly did'nt enjoy the burger or chips so much....the salad was good . At the end I took home some 5 cookie packs for friends and family.
A revelation of sorts in Pune was the popularity of Raj Thakre and his cronies.While most people did not like his methods....but they agreed with him in principle.The idea of  bringing glory to the grand Marathas...their culture ,their language resonated with them .People found his style attractive and reminiscent of Bal Saheb Thakery in his halcyon days.
Funnily living in Delhi one doesnt feel the same pull of culture or belongingness. Now I think if someone tries to bring Haryanvi language and its roots to the forefront I think I would instantly distance myself from him.Well my ancestors belonged to Haryana but my parents and uncles and aunts were all born in Delhi.There isnt the same kind of cultural identification with any state if you are in Delhi.
Wonder if others feel the same way

Freedom and Lonliness

I am stuck in a job I don't like and nobody really close (read boyfriend) to share my life with....
Sounds familiar?Well what to do, this seems to be the lament of our age.Is it just me or I meet very dissatisfied people.... like there is no happiness in life.
I am currently in transit it seems.I seriously want to work in the social sector in children' education .Then I think that I really am on my own and need money to survive .How does it feel when you know that you have to pay the rent,take care of your future health ,your family (if you end up having one) .Thoughts of nobility take a backseat then.
People say being a woman you have an option,you can get married.Really now!
First you live under you father's domination who can turn you out if you don't 'behave yourself' and then you live under your husband's will.
If one is'nt passionate about the current job then sometimes marriage seems like a short escape but at the end you do need to figure out some way of being at peace,finding out something to do,something that works for you.
So you really are alone in life.The whole concept of 'significant other' maybe a myth after all.People change.The one you end up with after 5 yrs may not be the one you married .
So I guess your happiness and bliss too lies within.

There is something emancipating in 'not behaving yourself' and being turned out.You may get a deeper look at what you want to do beacuse you then faced with reality- you are paying your rent,for your food and everything else.The decision you take maybe practical and wiser.You would be investing in yourself -in worst case scenario fending off for yourself or in a better case taking a practical step for yourself.But it feels great to be free doesn't it.Lonely yes but free too.

Eleanor Rigby

All the lonely people where do all come from,where do they all belong.
How merry is X'mas when you don't have someone to share it with.Its not merry then....its morose. Everybody around you is so piped about it,is going somewhere,planning to go somewhere , shopping, spending time with family or friends and you are well .....alone.
But I will not talking of this loneliness here.I will be talking of the more abject variety.....people who have no-one.When the entire family dies or who have been living away from their family for ages.Again not the 20 somethings for whom such a choice might be emancipating but older people who are either left alone,have no one or may even be estranged from family.
I knew of one such person who worked as a driver at my workplace.He left his family and came to work in Delhi and never went back.He used to live alone .He loved driving and his other passion was drinking(and not at the same time!).At the end of his career when he retired he didn't drive as much and only indulged in the other passion.Within three of months of retiring he fell sick and eventually died.Some of the office people visited him sometimes in the hospital and when he died cremated him as well.Nobody knew where his family was or whom to inform or what to do with his ashed.
At the end he became an unmourned statistic with the Govt of India .

A Nano existence

A natural thing is to talk of how you think your job dwarfs you as a person.Everything around you is abuzz yet there is an emptiness of sorts.Mothers are watching their children grow up in the photos stored in their folders.Marriage plays second fiddle to the primary objectives .Relationships are getting sour and people are moving on and so easily at that.
No one is pausing and  bereaving for the losses ,everything is acceptable .
Divorces,weekend parenting,holiday lovers...anything goes .Everything is getting smaller and shorter- relationships,commitments,longtern goals,vision,sizes,expectations. Short and compact is the more efficient way to go.
I am sounding like a cynic or worse still a great grand aunt but seriously what is happening.How are people taking love for families,friends,children,spouses and lovers  so lightly.
And the best part.....to top it all everyone is miserable about their jobs.Happiness is a thing of the future when one would retire and open a resteraunt,travel,do NGO work, write books,open a small business ....et al.Right now we are just investing for that future.
Don't look anywhere else,look at your life and if you read this share with  me your experiences of a nano existence.