Origin - Dan Brown

Rating – 4/5

One line for the book: A suspense thriller, which proves how technology can be a double-edged weapon.

About the book: A great computer scientist finds answers to the two most important questions:

• Where do we come from?
• Where are we going?

However, because of a disaster, the discovery is not revealed. The book is about finding answers to these questions in the absence of the scientist (and who is behind stopping the scientist to reveal this information). 

What I love about the book: The attention to detail on art, literature, scientific theories, history, technology, etc. Dan Brown is undoubtedly knowledgeable on a variety of fields.

What I did not like about the book: 

• The climax leaves more questions than answers. 
• The book only talks about the human race. What about plants and other animals?

What I learned from the book:

• Where we come from, and where we are heading (although, contrary to what the book says, I think the prediction may not happen completely for another 100 years).
• Technology is a double-edged weapon.
• Art has a language on its own. 

P.S: I was warned that Dan Brown books are gory and hence, may be disturbing. But I did not find the book that disturbing (in terms of the level of detail given to the violence).

What Goes Around Comes Around

Savithri earns a living as a housekeeper. Her husband, Anand, is a construction worker. They live with her aged parents, father-in-law, and her two school-going children, aged 8 and 10. They save every penny to educate their children and look after the elders in the family.

One day, Anand comes back from work, feeling dismayed. The construction work has been paused for at least two months, owing to the lockdown. Savithri, too, has been asked to stay at home by her employer, Nisha.

Savithri and Anand are anxious about feeding the family. They have been waiting for the month-end to buy some essential groceries for the house. They put a bold face upfront. While they are using this time to spend time with family, the anxiety never goes away.

Finally, it’s the end of the month. Savithri, who has never taken debt in her life, is toying with the idea of asking Nisha for help. She has been working there for seven years, and thinks that Nisha will understand her situation.

She calls up Nisha, but as soon as Nisha answers the call, she just inquires about Nisha’s family and well-being, and hangs up the call. She is unable to bring herself to ask for monetary help.

Nisha is sipping coffee with her husband, Rishi. She tells her husband that Savithri called her in the morning.

‘Is she asking for money?’ Rishi asked immediately.

Rishi, who works has a store manager in a supermarket, is strict with all his workers.  He knows the pulse of a worker, and his motto is that servants and workers must be shown their place; otherwise, they may encash our soft corner for them.

Nisha, who works as a manager in a software company, is strict with her team members, too. However, she is empathetic with her colleagues.

She has not answered Rishi.

‘Nisha, why does your heart melt so easily? Don’t you know how these servants are…’

‘She did not ask for money or any kind of help. She just called up inquiring about us.’

Rishi is confused. He does not think that such a thing is possible.

‘However, I suspect that she wanted to ask for help, but hesitated’, says Nisha.

‘There you go – she deliberately did that, and you begin to melt…’

‘Look, Rishi, I still want to help Savithri.

‘Reason 1: She has been working with us for seven years. She has been loyal and hard-working. She has never bunked work.

‘Reason 2: She works only for us and in a school, which is closed now. I am sure her husband cannot work now either. How do you think she’ll feed her family of seven?

‘Reason 3: We are fortunate enough that we need not worry about our basic needs.

‘Reason 4: Think of it as charity. Instead of dropping this amount in a hundi – I am not sure where that money lands, anyways – I am planning to give this away to someone in need. At least I know that 100 percent of the money is in the right hands.

Rishi is speechless. He feels ashamed that it has not struck him how loyal Savithri has been, and this gesture will only gain more loyalty.

Savithri’s phone beeps, indicating a new message. It’s from Google Pay. She has received her full pay although she has worked for only half the days. Also, there’s a message, stating that she’ll receive her next month’s pay as well at the end of next month.

Savithri has tears of joy and gratitude. She heads to an ATM, saying a hundred thanks to Nisha.

Lock down is revoked now. It’s business as usual. Rishi’s attitude towards the workers in his supermarket has changed now, and he notices a change in their attitude towards him too for the better.

Celebrating a Birthday During the Lock Down

My seven-year-old was teary-eyed when she learned that she would be celebrating her birthday just with her maternal grandparents and sister this time – no friends, no parents, no going out to party – thanks to the lock down. She felt better when Mom assured her that after returning from her vacation, she would have a birthday bash the way she wanted.

Finally, the day arrived.

Mom and dad arranged for the party with all the energy they had. Sister and her hubby chimed in. My uncle, too, took out a few minutes from his busy schedule to show up at the right moment, like always. My husband and I, along with a few other close ones, joined via a video call to witness the hungama.

It was heartening to see how much time, effort, and creativity each of them put in to make the little one’s day special. Since there were no gift/cake shops open, everything had to be home-made – the cake, the pudding, the gifts (a greeting card and a bracelet done by my nine-year-old for her sister). 

All in all, it was quite an event, bigger than expected, proved by the broad smiles and excitement shown by the children. Blessed to be part of this family.

Confessions of a Mother

It’s been 20 days since the kids and in-laws have left for a trip. How do I feel?

For the past few years, I wondered if I would ever get a day without having to look at the clock, if I would ever be left alone at home at least for a day, or if I could skip cooking, cleaning, etc.

Finally, that period has came. I feel serenity, joy, and peace of mind in not having to attend to the daily chores. True that I still cook food, clean the house, etc., but I am not obliged to! The point is, I can choose not to! Or I can do it whenever I please.

You can call this mere laziness. The thing is – I still do all these things – on time! The mere thought that I need not do it right away gives me the energy to do it right away.

Read that again.

I still do all the work on time. But, since there’s no obligation for me to do the household chores, I do them with more energy.

And, anyways, cooking food for just me and my husband is like a cake walk – it’s like asking a 5^th grader to answer the question paper of a 1^st grader. I just need 30 minutes to 1 hour to wrap up all my household work – even without the maid.

I know I should be missing my kids now. But I am still unpardonably happy that they are away. You can call me a bad mother, but I feel all mothers deserve a breather like this. I feel blessed that I have one. I feel happier than I would be if I were on a vacation with my close friends because I also have a lot of time to focus on my office work, career, health, and fitness.

Are you guys with me?

A Reflection on Classic Literature

Reading classics is like falling in love.

The first couple of chapters are strange and hard to follow. After you get a hang of the writing style, you inch towards understanding the literature better. When you are not reading the book, you recollect some of the words, and are amazed at how well they were written. It is hard to say when exactly you have begun liking the book, and what exactly you like about the book.

By the time you finish the book, you are left with a peaceful and pleasant feeling. The characters in the book leave a mark in you – most of them are strong and influential.

Blessed are the souls who read classics. I wish I could meet the people behind these books.

P.S: I am currently reading Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy. It’s an 800-page book, and I am still in page 70. And, I am wondering when exactly I have fallen in love with the book. Now, I can’t think of anything other than the book.

Why Farewells are Hard

There’s so much going on at the moment. I feel as if there’s a clock inside me constantly ticking ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ So, I have resorted to penning it down.

Almost everyone in the team knows about my relocation now. But, they have been behaving as if they don’t (because they have been asked to). In a way, this is good – I won’t feel as emotional and nostalgic if they don’t mention anything about the move.

Will I ever find a team as awesome as this one? I am fortunate to work with people who offer sincere advice like a sibling, go out of the way to drop me home on a rainy day, worry about me if I leave office mid-day, hold a door open for me when I sprain my hands, off load my work, and help me before I even realize that I need help. More than anything, these are people who respect me and love me for what I am (including my craziness).

To top it all, Natasha has become as protective as a mother sending her child to a boarding school. It makes me want to hug her.

Leaving this office will be as hard as leaving college. I still remember the day we ate our dinner in silence on the last day of our college. I hope I move on and get busy with my work to overcome this nostalgic feeling.

New Year Resolutions - 2019

A part of my brain is in my pen (now, the keyboard); so, unless I pen down some things, they will not sink in.  

So, here comes my list of new year resolutions:

• Spend more time with kids: My target is at least 30 minutes each day.
• Read/watch work-related content: My target is at least 1 hour per week. And, this means that I’ll have to sacrifice a part of my time reading my all-time favorite classics to reading/watching something useful for my career.
• Improve communication: There’s more to effective communication than just speaking fluently - it is communicating the right thing to the right people at the right time. And, I aim at mastering this skill.
• Stick to my diet and work out: All 12 months of the year – no excuses.
• Learn swimming: Waiting for summer to begin.
• Plan for two vacations: One with the entire family and the other with just my better-half.

Let me look back at them towards the end of the year. Till then, wish me good luck!

Memoirs of the STC Conference

The Journey: Uttering a hundred silent thanks to my manager for nominating me, I headed to the Bangalore airport to attend the much-awaited STC conference. It was relaxing to hang out with a colleague without having to worry about deadlines (both at office and home). As soon as we reached our rooms, we were welcomed by another colleague who had arrived from Hyderabad.

The Stay: So what if the rooms were smaller than expected? The cleanliness of the rooms, the friendliness of the staff, and the yummy, fresh, and healthy breakfast were enough to ensure we had a good stay. It also gave us a good platform to get to know one another and discuss about work too.

The Conference: There were more than 200 technical writers from various domains, experience levels, and ethnicity. Contrary to our belief that only highly experienced people would be presenting at the conference, there were people like us. It made us feel confident that next time we too could come up with an idea or a concept to present. One thing common among all of them was the ever-so-bright smile and warmth in greeting one another. During the two days of the conference, we attended sessions related to xml-based authoring, automation in writing, contextualized writing, and many others – even the sessions that we felt were not relevant to us had some take-aways for us. It was amazing to see the world of technical writing expanding; when I started my career, nobody even knew about our profession. And oh! The food was sumptuous.

The Re-Union: The moment I heard I was going to visit Mumbai, I devised a plan to meet one of my best friends, Mrunal. Being the early bird that I am, the day after conference, I woke up at 5.30, got ready, and saw myself in front of her house at 6.30. Poor thing had just woken up, but was super-thrilled to see me. Munching yummy poha, both of us chit-chatted excitedly, and woke up the rest of the household, who also joined us in our conversation. I told her family how important Mrunal’s role was early in my career.

The Sight-Seeing: The moment I stepped into the city, I fell in love with it. Be it the pollution-free air, the pace at which the city-dwellers moved, the willingness to help and adjust in an over-crowded train, the presence of people 24X7, or the flea markets with unbelievably low prices, the city impressed me. Therefore, it did not take me a lot of time and money for shopping. And oh! how could we return from Mumbai without visiting the Juhu beach? Thanks to the fast-paced world of Mumbai, we did everything that we wanted to do – shopping, sight-seeing, and visiting a friend.

The Return: If at least one thing does not go wrong in a trip, then what’s the thrill? So, we ended up in terminal 1 instead of terminal 2 to board the flight. Luckily, we had enough time to catch a taxi, and reach terminal 2 on time. Oh wait! Is this an airport or the palace of God Indra? It was so picture-perfect that we forgot how much work awaited us back in Bangalore. We just enjoyed the moment sipping kokam sharbat.  

The After-Effect: For the next two days, I was happy, excited, and smiling all the time. I had to tell myself to come out of the ecstasy, and focus on my job. 

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Rating – 5/5

One line for the book: Tragic, yet amusing; Sad, yet sarcastic; Fiction, yet true - Another book that should be part of the curriculum for college students.

About the book:  The animals in a farm gain independence from the human rule after a rebellion. But, the corruption and prejudices between the different kinds of animals lead to one kind dominating all the others, thus erasing the difference between the hardship they find in human supervision and the freedom they gain by the animal rule. History repeats itself when the animals are back to poverty and slavery even after gaining independence. 

The book is a political satire on how the people in power misuse their resources for their benefit. One can easily draw an analogy with India before and after the British rule. If there's one book that our corrupt bureaucrats should read, it is this one. 

What I love about the book: Each and every page, every word of it. It's not a single word less, nor a single word more.

What I did not like about the book: The tragedy.

What I learned from the book:

• Unity is strength.
• One corrupt person in power is like a drop of poison in a pitcher of water. He/she can drastically bring irreversible changes to the society.
• People have a very poor memory, thus giving an opportunity to our leaders to manipulate the facts for their benefit.

How this single word kills our language

These days you hear this word very often. Youngsters find it so “kewl” to use it in their normal conversations. It’s used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and even an interjection! Guess what it is? Correct, it is the f-word.

Most people use it as an “amplifier”. For instance, if you want to say, “I was so shocked” with a lot of emphasis, you would say, “I was so f-word shocked!” Now, if your intention was to put emphasis on how shocked you were, you could use other words viz., devastated, flabbergasted, shaken, dumbfounded, etc.

By using the f-word, we are forgetting our vocabulary. We sound rude and indecent. So, let’s get rid of this offensive word, and respect the English language. 

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Rating – 5/5

One line for the book: Fascinating story with an amazing narration

About the book: The book brings out the way blacks and whites were distinguished back in 1930s.

What I love about the book: The best part of the book is that it is narrated by an eight-year-old girl. So, you see the world from the eyes of a small girl who understands only half the things that she says or hears. I was amazed to see how an eight-year-old could stop a dispute - something that a big group of adults could not do. The book also makes you understand how good parenting and good neighbourhood builds the character of a child.

What I did not like about the book: The tragedy.

What I learned from the book:

• Good parenting and good neighbourhood brings out the best in a child.
• Kids understand things more than what we expect from them. They are the best-behaved beings on earth if we nurture them well.
• Society has prejudice based on one’s caste and colour. 

A Punch on those Honkers

While riding to office today, I found this interesting message on a car:

A powerful message and a tight slap on all those who behave very desperate while on the road... 

Many times I tried to reason with them – why the hell do they honk? I racked up my brain and here are a few logical answers I could think of:

• These honkers assume that everyone else is asleep.
• They think that all the vehicles on the road will magically disappear if they honk.
• They believe that they are going to be the next Bill Gates who loses a billion dollars by losing a minute.

Oh wait! I guess the most logical reason could be that their house is on fire. But, I have a question: how many times should a person honk to cease the fire?

If you too are tired of these annoying, unwelcome, uncultured, uncivilized, brainless people, join the movement: http://www.iwonthonk.com/

'Xtreme' Happiness

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by every moment that takes your breath away! I am happy that my dream of rocking at Xtremezone has finally come true. I am confused where to start from. Should I boast about being the first one in the group to try adventurous sports at the camp or should I talk about the thrill of rappelling? Should I drift away with the memories of camaraderie and bonding with my friends or should I look at the photos for the tenth time? Anyways, the memories are going to stay for a life time without the need for these pictures. Should I complain about the body pains that I had for the next couple of days or should I thank my body for co-operating with me and recovering pretty quick. The hilly breeze, the chilly water, the stony path, the funny group of people, the thrilling adventure are all that make the trip a lifelong memory. The smile on my wouldn't fade away even while writing about the wonderful experience although it’s been a week already.

Who Do You Love The Most?

 ‘Who do you love the most?’ asked Ria.

‘Huh? What do you mean? I love my parents, my hubby, my kids…’ Shree listed out, thinking aloud. After a while she came back to Ria’s question, and asked ‘Why do you ask that? Isn’t it the same for everyone? Who do you love the most, by the way?’

‘I love a special person. I’ll tell you who that is after a while. Coming to your answer, I sort of guessed your answer when I looked at you’, replied Ria.

Shree was surprised to hear that. Shree had joined a new company recently, and Ria was her colleague. They hardly knew each other’s personal lives.

Looking at the confused expression on Shree’s face, Ria began to explain: ‘Ok, let me tell you how I could figure out. You have been staying up till late in the night, perhaps to cater to your kids’ needs. The dark circles around your eyes suggest that.’

Shree sighed. ‘Ya, my kids go to bed only at midnight, and I am completely exhausted by that time.’

‘Yes, and that tells me that you put your kids’ needs, or in this case, their joys before your needs. Let me come to the next point. Your ID card displays a photo of yours that was clicked before your wedding, where you look chubby and cheerful. It is quite different from the face that I see now.  So, this might be because after your wedding you have totally dedicated yourself to your family and you rarely listen to your body’s needs. The scaly skin and the cracks in your feet also suggest the same – that you have put your household needs first. So, I have assumed that you love your family more than you love yourself.’

Shree is now looking at Ria as if she’s the Holmes of this generation. Ria smiled at Shree’s expression, and said, ‘It’s not so difficult to deduce these findings. Actually, I too was in a phase like yours. I always wanted to stay on top of my family’s needs. I wanted to become a super Mom. Slowly I realized that I set myself on a wild goose chase. I lost myself in the rat race. I then began listening to my heart. I provided my body with the most nutritious food, sound sleep, nourishment, and care. Surprisingly, my family needs have come down too. I have disciplined the kids to sleep on time. I encourage them to do their things themselves. And, you know what, kids love to manage their stuff themselves. Try and see for yourself. My hubby also gives me some me-time. And the best part is that I have begun re-uniting with my past friends. I also spend some time on my hobbies which I buried long back.’

‘Wow! That’s amazing!’

‘Thanks. My hubby is surprised to see the change in me. He tells me that I look and behave like a college girl now’, giggled Ria.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, do whatever you love to do, and you look and feel much younger. Do you now realize who I love the most?’ winked Ria, leaving Shree with a fresh wave of energy and determination.

Don't Lose Out, Work Out - Rujuta Diwekar

Rating – 4/5

One line for the book: An eye-opener for people who spend hours together in the gym without making any progress.

About the book: The book conveys a very important message: “Don’t work hard, work smart” applies to exercise as well.

What I love about the book: The way Rujuta digs into “Exercise Science” so that we work smart and don’t waste our valuable time or injure ourselves.

What I did not like about the book: A bit too technical for a lay person like me. Maybe I need to revisit this book after spending a couple of months in the gym so that I follow the gym lingo.

What I learned from the book:

• Exercise and physical activity are different. You need both for a fit body.
• You need to be regular with your gym.
• You need to practise both aerobic and anerobic forms of exercise to see the best results. Doing just one of them only damages your tendons, bones, ligaments, and joints.
• Eating right and sleeping well is essential for your body to recover from the damage that the exercise brings upon your body. The damage and then the recovery pays off soon in the form of good health.

Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha - Rujuta Diwekar

Rating – 5/5

One line for the book: This book doesn't just impart knowledge, it creates awareness!

About the book: Is there a woman on earth who doesn't want to have a toned body? But why is it that most of us do not make much progress? Rujuta busts our myths and misconceptions, and throws light on what exactly we need to do.

What I love about the book: By emphasizing on eating right and working out regularly, Rujuta sends a great message: “Looking after themselves is the best thing women can do to themselves and their families”. Very often, women put the needs of their families before their own needs. The book is an eye-opener for all such women who have buried their body’s needs, likes and dislikes while trying to be a super-Mom.

What I did not like about the book: Nothing, really.

What I learned from the book:

•  Looking after yourself is the best and the most important thing in your life.
•  Quite often we take it for granted that pain is a part of a woman’s life. But, the book explains how all the phases of a women’s life: from puberty to pregnancy to menopause, transition smoothly if you eat right and exercise regularly.
•  “Doing it all” is just a myth created only to trap women. If you buy into the idea of managing everything on your own, you are digging your own grave.

In Love With Coorg

Yet another experience to reinforce my belief that exciting things happen to me when I least expect them. A sudden churn of events left me to spend the weekend with hubby, Sweety, Mom, and Dad. While I was wondering how to spend my most valuable free time, hubby suggested that we make a trip to Coorg. I was excited, but the inner voice calmed down my enthu, claiming that I might end up feeling disappointed.

Afterall, how could we plan for such a long drive in just a day’s notice – that too while travelling with an infant?

What happened in the next couple of days took me by awe and thrill. Yes, we finally made it to this beautiful place on Friday.  We spent two days in a home stay, thus ensuring only home-made food for us and for the baby. She too was excited to have come out of the cocoon.

The serenity, the hilly terrain, the sounds of the waterfall, the greenery – these are the things that a camera can never capture. The comfort in being with your loved ones, being cared for, the memories that we created have a permanent place in our minds. I find myself drifting with the hill breeze while typing this. So engrossed were we with the beauty that before we realized it, we were heading back home.

Dedicating this article to my beloved hubby, Mom, and Dad for making this happen. You know how much it means to me to take a break from my routine, and step out of the house for a while.

A few pics from the trip: