Waka Waka eh eh...

It’s in the air…in the air…annnnnnnnnnnd…catch it!
Eeeks…not the cricket ka catch…the football fever…which most of us already have.


Tsamina mina… Waka waka eh eh…Tsamina mina eh eh...This time for Africa!

And before I continue...

Disclaimer: The author does not hate football and she is no fan either, sorry if her ill knowledge brushes more than three quarters of the worlds hearts.This article is solely out of the effects which the game is right now causing in and around her life, both good and bad funny.She hereby requests the reader to read and kick it away as lightly as possible.

Some questions have popped out of my very curious mind, I have had my share of inescapable encounters during this season, and some things have made me laugh along with the game.I am feeling feverish too!!!

Firstly I do not have any favorite team or player,I happen to know a few names because I get to hear and read about them,frankly some names are beyond my capability of pronunciations.All that I know is that there is the ball behind which all the guys run around to make the goal and then far alone in his den is a guy called the goal keeper ,whose prime duty is not to let this happen,and finally whichever team makes the higher number of goals wins the game.Sounds simple.My apologies,I choose not to know more.

Evenings are usually spent these days at home watching the matches and my ears have the pleasure of hearing the strange and loud bee hum like noise from the stadium, courtesy brother. Many of the crowd’s favourites are not faring well, but then the game is the IT thing happening .And when it is goal time wherever and whatever each one of us is doing all of us rush in front of the television and screech “GOAAAAAAAL” irrespective of the player or the team and he especially at the top of his voice.

Last week he was on a beat around the town searching for a jersey of his favorite team,but before he reached the place where he could get it,that some shop had run out of stock,Paapa kid came back home dejected and disappointed.It was hard to see his face with a smile lost.

The mother is also not far behind,I know she is a cricket fanatic,Kapil Dev being her all time favourite and now her love for football is coming to light,seeing these guys play ”This?This?This is football?Gone are the days of Pele and Maradona!” she remarks and makes her trademark head scratch and walks in back to the kitchen.A happy factor for her this time is her favourite, the lady Shakira with her swirls and swings singing” Waka waka eh eh”, what if we do not make it to the list of teams playing for the cup, we definitely have a signature dance step to our credit, the best greet gesture of the world.Take pride Indians, little things also make us happy.

A three year old girl lives in the opposite apartment who comes knocking at the door sometimes to play with me and guess what I had in store a few days back.She came like always and asked me to put this song on the laptop and there she was ready with folded hands telling”Akka akka, Wakka wakka”.I was too surprised to deny her partnership offer and then we both just swayed along.

There is an another video of the animals playing football.The lions,elephants,giraffe,ostrich,stags,bulls,meerkats,hippos, tortoise and many more.The enjoyment with which they play,very impressive. A lot of work and patience would have gone behind capturing and making those scenes. The monkey does make an expressive referee ;)

So as long as this fever lasts, I will be watching every match possible and singing everyday... 

"Tsamina mina… Waka waka eh eh…Tsamina mina eh eh...This time for Africa!"


-Raksha

An Apple Bite,for all Adams & Eves...

The other day thinking of all the ladies in his life an intellectual man [M1] buzzed…

M1:”Women”

This is all what he had to say! A debate sparked and this is what his world of friends had to say…

F1- Men "opposite"

M1- Strange deposits!

F1 - Some time fixed, recurring, saving deposits:-P, some time damaged deposit!

M2 - And some time non refundable deposit :)

M1 -Interest rate inversely proportional over time???

M3 - Interest rate depends on the deposit scheme.

M2 - For keeping the deposit account running....you have to pay heavy interest.

M4 -They are life time fixed deposits, may be others can give/create better interest but you can’t afford them.

M1 - Any ideas about account closing and withdrawal options so that I can open new account???

M2- Short Term Deposit - You have short time so till then enjoy.

         Long Term Deposit - You have to wait till you relocate from your college / house / city.

         Life Term Deposit - You have no option till death.

         Deposit with High Rate of Interest - You have to keep loosing your money and others will enjoy the beauty.

         If any deposit schemes left out please let me know :)

M1 - Ha Ha, nice advice from the financial expert! What about opening 2 accounts?

M3- Conditions apply. And investment at own risk :-) [Quite true!]

M2 - Need to provide your mobile number like PAN number.Risk is you may get caught for not paying your TAX properly :)

M3 - Experience speaks ;-)

M2 - You will also....wait… [Looks like this guy really has some!]

M5- Looking at this chain, I can’t help but say "Men are behind men!"

M1-What if the account is transferred without knowledge??? Where to lodge complaint??? Where to seek justice??!!!! [And this guy needs some!]

M2- Since you have opted for SHORT TERM DEPOSIT without reading the RED HERRING PROSPECTUS of the Bank, you have no rights to claim back the transferred account. It is treated like "Forfeited shares" when you don't pay the right amount of interest towards the DEPOSIT Account, your account gets AUTOMATICALLY transferred to the PARTY who is ready to pay more INTEREST on the DEPOSIT ACCOUNT..... :)

M3- : D

M1- I wanted a 'current' account but her Dad has put "hedge fund" near the house:(

M6-  Well then,next bank down the street...one too many nowadays!

The debate continues...

If you notice F1 has preferred silence throughout the discussion, who said women do all the talking!;)

* The people in and the above essential debate are not any fiction.

**Copyright of the debate solely rests with M1.

***For information on any deposit schemes contact this blog owner who can deal the matter with the concerned authority and his men for advice.

****Dear M1, no security of deposit or hike in interest until you are sure of where and till when you want your investment! : P

In the Garden of Eden when Adam was ‘alone’ sitting on the log in the middle of the garden drawing little circles in the sand with his toe, God thought “Ah, poor boy,what a sad life!” and sent a suitable helper for him, the lady, Eve. But wait a minute, did he ask her whether she wanted to go there and help him at the first place? Well she was told to go and so did she, happily she did her job.The rules of nature and the world have made women take care of their men, children and everything at home.I believe it is a feminine compulsion which every woman rightfully enjoys doing.Sometimes the ladies do complain,frankly not anyone’s fault. Times have changed and so have the women, and today nothing works according to the beautiful plan God had made.Selfishness, greed, lust, jealousy is all that fills this place.Out of the million problems all men have, something that tops their list as M1 mentioned in the above debate “Women, hmmm…”

The world has skeptical ideas about them,their wishes are way beyond the men’s capabilities to fulfill,and it is invariably tough to make the ladies of their life happy.But a fact that is forgotten is women live in the same world as the men do and see the same sun and night,they do prefer some reality though they are gifted with a power to fantasise, demand and fight for their rights;).You need not always have to buy the lady a beautiful dress or take her out in a limousine for dinner to the best of the restaurants in town to win her heart. Once a husband who fortunately remembered his wife’s birthday decorated every nook and corner of the house with all kinds of flowers on the night before and guess what she had to say in the morning when she woke up”Honey, Thank you soooo very much, they are beauuutiful but who is gonna clean this mess?”.

So what is that the women of the world really want???

Women are wonderful subjects of thesis and research [!!!].So much is written and talked about, a lifetime is not enough to understand them it is said.Vice versa applies for the men.We have people who counsel on relationship issues and help men/women realize what their women/men really want,who actually do a messy good job;).Bless am not doing it here;).But I made a small list after a lot of wishful thinking.It has some really common things of which a few may not be applicable to all,in matter of choices or in order of preferences each one of us is wonderfully different.Treat the lady as any other individual and give her what she needs as a mother,a wife,a sister,a daughter,a colleague,a stranger and a friend.Women are not complex neither are men;they are just born different for everyone’s good.

My free advice to all the Mr.Darcys and Johnny Depps of the world,ask yourselves “What do I want?What is that I can give her?” please do not give up till you find the answers, and when you do,the rest of the mysteries of life are solved automatically.

Here is the list for all the beings of earth, everyone is free to make some additions,deletions or change the order based on their wants and needs and as the situation demands.Choose and live for thyself.

• Love, trust, respect, honesty, encouragement, some chivalry, some bad traits and some pampering.
• Someone who listens to her heart, and a voice that is heard.
• A home, good marriage, sex and children.
• Good work, satisfaction and money.
• Acceptance, acknowledgement and appreciation.
• Independence, to fly like a free bird.
• A chance to be herself.
• A life to live.
• And last but not the least,for all the women a desperate need of the hour-'BREAK'  

                     

And for those who still prefer enjoying the enigma and if this list did not help, no worries.

Some questions of life are worth more than their answers.

Period.

-

Raksha Bhat

Strings And Keys

Echoes From A Flight

Am a bird little who knows just to fly and sing

All I own is some voice and a pair of wing

I sail up in the air and on green trees perch

Twigs for a nest, grains for my little one I search

Some day to my home will lead not the way 

My heart does make a little prayer every day

A small wish and a dream with which I live along

If am born again, God do make me my child’s song

For a little more days then I can in this world live

And some more joy I will own to spread and give

I wake up to the tunes of these little friends of mine who visit my window sill in the early mornings, what my alarm clock’s ‘Tring Tring Trinnnnnng’ cannot accomplish these guys can with ease.I stand in the balcony sipping my cup of coffee and listen to them,they bring a beautiful message and brighten up the day.The intricate sounds they make spread ripples in the air,music at its best.And then when there is mere silence in the midnight,when life is under freeze,I wake up sometimes to a strange hum of the insects in pitch dark.I dream of lying down on the grass under an open sky,feel the cold wind and sleep listening to those tunes of the silence.Nature indeed makes our world  a musical place.

Music is one thing which can conquer all ill feelings; we can never hate it. We call it the language without barriers, because it has the power to connect emotions and so also lives.We love it in any genre.It teaches us beyond hearing, it makes us listen to what the world around us has to say, what life has to say.It befriends when we are alone, transcends beyond space and time.Some renderings carry us to a different world, where we are left all for ourselves, where we learn to enjoy,to like,to love.A nice song or a simple note, a little sound in any form always does bring a smile.

Researchers say music can be a very instrumental form of therapy in various disorders and disabilities.Our body and mind work on a special rhythm set by themselves, and however troubled they are music has the capability to soothe and heal and bring the rhythm back.It strikes right where it has to, and when it is worth the attention nothing stops us from liking it and better our mood.

One need not be a master of the notes to appreciate good music, it is simple and easy to please the mind and soul.A strange thing I have noticed, we hear so much of music and so many people singing everywhere, though we might not be learners or experts in the field we can notice the slightest change in tune or in a note which is uneasy or sometimes even a lot pleasing to the ears.We all have experienced it, also the ones without any formal training. 

Music is an art, a science by itself which takes years to excel for those who pursue it, and in today’s world it is highly commercialized too.A lot is heard in every form of media these days, we often fail to differentiate melody from cacophony and like sound in whatever form it is.But in reality some last for a moment and some a day or two, some that touch the heart stay for life.

A little of rock and roll, a little of running around the trees, a little of dance in the rain,a little of brought back memories,some foot tapping,some head banging,some rib tickling,some tear rolling;Whatever it does,we are always just carried along...

Jingalala Jinga:)

-Raksha Bhat

To Appa,With Love

*One out of the hundred frames of my piece of collage which won the first place made during my last year of Med School* 

This was completely new for him.A fatherhood for the first time,he was few months through and like all fathers he was too excited and getting ready to do anything to give a perfect life for his child, his new bundle of joy.All babies love to cry,this one invariably did.But she was a little different,just that she never stopped.

One day after the usual work at office he returned home,as he was about to rest on the chair to read the day’s newspaper he heard his daughter crying,everyone was running around in the house to get things to please her.From milk to gripe water,toys and lullabies everything tried but in vain.She was inconsolable.It was his turn now,he got up from his chair,walked towards the cradle and not knowing what to do gave her a perplexed look .He picked her up in his arms and ran outside the house.He walked on the roads showing her the sky,the trees,the shops,the people and the whole new world.He did not get her in until she stopped crying.After a check up with the doctor later she was found to have a mild ear infection which was causing all the pain and the cry,she could get alright.Some relief for him indeed.      

This is My Dad for you, amusingly loving and weirdly possessive.All Dads are! Aren’t they? :)

Till date, he has got all my syrups and tablets right on time in exact dose when I am ill, and sometimes even when I am perfectly fine he comes with them knocking my room door ready to stuff them in my mouth, just to make sure that I do not get ill! Mom says he could not bear the sight of blood while the goldsmith was piercing my ears, he had run a kilometre away and returned only after it was done.There are more funny incidents to cite, his typical ‘Dad’dish things and moments!!!  

He got me the prettiest dolls,the yummiest chocolates.He got me into the best of schools.He taught me to ride the cycle without letting me fall down.He taught me to read books.He loves to hear me say "Appa,am studying";).He gave me everything that I wanted even before I thought of asking him.There were times during those revolting childhood and teenage days when he refused my unreasonable demands,I realize now that it was for my good.He would get angry seeing me and brother fighting,but the hilarious part was when one out of the ten times we would get some little beating,the rest of the times he locked himself in the room with Mr.Bro sitting up on his shoulders.He refused to put him down until he said sorry or stopped crying;and at the end of it all Mr.Dad would end up crying out of anger!God knows what the punishment was and meant for whom!

Three decades and more, working in the same place relentlessly only to see his family happy.He knows not of his wants and needs.I have never seen him go out with his friends or buy anything for himself.His children and wife are his relatives and friends, they mean the world to him.

He is far out of town since the past three years, thanks to his job.He can work insanely for a stretch of twelve hours,he might forget to have lunch but will never forget to make six calls and speak with each of us at home during those twelve hours.I miss him,the Daddy’s girl that I am.And when I feel low I blink away those tears,tears not of joy or sorrow,tears that make me feel that someone is having a hard time out there only to make sure that I do not have to face any.

Like all fathers,he carries his responsibilities with pride.He supports me in every way he can and with him around every situation seems so under control.He dreams of a good life for his children, a life that he never wishes for himself.It takes a great deal of commitment and courage for such selfless love, and for me My Dad is a Champion in his own way.


I do not get to say it often or rather always get away without telling him how much I love him, for there are some relationships which are unconditional,absolutely no demands at all.He has taught me to give more than to ask for,to fight for my stand,to make my way where there is none,to live with dignity,to spread more than smiles,to love without reason.He believes his daughter will make him proud one day.And as life passes by,I only wish to play his role and take my turn to make him happy and give him all the love and life that he has missed which he rightfully deserves.

Love You Appa.

PS1: He often gets fondly jealous of all my guy friends..his another 'Dad'dish thing:P
PS2: I like it!;)


Cheers
Raksha

Tr(Pl)easure Hunt

One noble confession of mine; I sometimes enjoy a little of mysophobia.Call it my desire to see everything sparkling clean or a very rational fear of dirty germs, courtesy microbiology and all the n subjects I study.Even more so, an inherent tendency to catch cold in a snap and go “Achoo” after sniffing a teeny weeny amount of dust.Funny me!

It has been more than a week now that I cleaned my room,AXN time today.Mom was mighty impressed with the idea since she could not bear the sight of papers, pens, markers, pencils, notepads, paperclips, books, books and more books piled up everywhere.[I Am a stationery freak as well!]

Armed with a broom, a bucket of water, a scrub and a spray solution which Mom gave and said it can makes floors and surfaces flawlessly tidy,I entered the Canary Island.It took me an hour to clean the messed up book shelf and get all the Harrisons,Robbins,and the rest of the huge ones straight in the rack.Next was the table where am supposed to sit and read,half the time am studying in the balcony with the sparrows or at the dining table,where I get into those Mother-Daughter conversations and fights with Mom and watch television occasionally often.Quite a concentrated diluted studying,which sometimes works for me.The more the noise the better!The cupboard is usually neat,had a few clothes to pull out and give it to a girl of ten now,a difficult emotional feeling to let your favourite birthday frock go away.Sob.But everything is better when it is put to use,so I gave it to the watchman’s daughter,am happy:)!

Mom came and peeped to see my kharab halath and gave her famous dialogue”I think you need help”.I grinned and shooed her away.She knows when to turn her back and leave me alone when I actually want to be left so, she knows… me was, is and will be a difficult child.

Among all the wanteds and not wanteds I found this little bag in a drawer,opened it and voila …guess what I found…chocolate wrappers,cookie covers, bus tickets,tissue papers,coins,Calvin’s poem,quotes and sketch;),School ID cards,stamps,bills,sea shells,photos,badges,key chains and what not…my priceless junks!I felt like a proud pirate.Giggles burst seeing the things we guys come up with and more so seeing the things I keep,crazy stuff!And those who can guess what all I own in this bag will know how happy it made me feel, the task and my loot!

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate”

          

PS: No Canary Philosophy is complete,will be flying back with more:P

Au revoir...

-Raksha

Buddy smiles and faces,

Candy cakes and braces,

Funny times and places,

All in one life’s rides and races.

Flew And Caught In Paradise!

"Once in a while in the middle of an ordinary story called life, love gives us a fairy tale"-Anonymous

A dream we all girls share.On a moon lit night, a man comes riding on a horse at the doorstep of our castle, bent on his knees he puts that ring on our fingers.Some of us have found him already, some of us are waiting, some feel it is just another dream and have moved on and a few of us really do not want such ones!

In the neighbourhood park, in kindergarten, in high school, in college, at work, on the road, in the bus, in the shop, in the canteen ,under the tree, in the rain;) … here and there we might bump into him anywhere!

Often we tend to like people because we spend time with them and one day we happen to see someone smart and handsome [rare combination!blimme!],and have those ‘Aah, so I wish!’ Cupid struck moments.I have had many mine! But have never asked myself if this was it.

Few years back this someone came not on a horse,hopped in like everyone else.No butterflies flying in the stomach or stars twinkling in the sky,that does not mean I survive with some attitude,of course I have liked my teachers like everyone else[its pretty normal!],and all my guy friends[God they are not my brothers!].They never fill my crush lists.Some I did try to add but then they never matched those parameters.95 pc of us girls want that special him to have ‘a good sense of humour’,well then lets buy ourselves some circus tickets to meet some clowns.Me too wants it,but its ok sometimes when he gets his PMSs too!:)

But with him there was none, life and me have never been the same.Pleasure of  life is to have someone who knows what I am,who appreciates my really little goodness and dislikes my imperfections because I can be better, who can make me cry and who is the only one to make the least effort to bring that smile back on and yet succeed:P.

Here is one magic moment which crushed me for good among those first few times I remember…a few lines written in the past that I read often...

“O my Tweety what shall I do for thee?

Shall I slay a dragon big and old

Or shall I build you a palace of gold

Shall I with gladiators wrest

Or shall I become THE man the best

Just give me a laugh of yours the command

And all these tasks I’ll accomplish with my left hand”

And ever before this…and more since then...I live under this tree…me his paradise flycatcher!:)



Regards,
Raksha

My Pot Of Gold:)

Dreams are sometimes remotely connected to life and its happenings, and I happen to be the kind who can sometimes dream of even pigs flying!

Yesterday night on the way back home from the tuition,head hammered by those dalton weight raindrops falling from the tree, what followed was a ‘very good’ headache [aches are always good, and how bad you feel depends on how well they can hurt you:P].I almost collapsed after dinner, tiredness gives a dreamless sleep they say, but this time it was funny and absurd.

I was walking in some field looking at the sky singing along with the birds and I tripped,found something glittering between the grass blades.It was a pot,a pot of gold, well now why on earth did I find it right there under my feet!What will I do with it??? Money makes your world go round; and you can go round the world with money:P!Sometimes you have it but you do not need it and most of the other times you need it but you do not have it.I actually have a list of things which I want for myself,but with my money!And this was not mine!So I thought let me gift this to someone who needs it and today I woke up and asked all those around my life randomly what they would do with a pot of gold…and these are the answers I got…

“Give it to the goldsmith”

“Give it off to an orphanage”

“Give it to you”

"I will buy a PG seat"

“I neither want the gold nor the pot”

“Hide it in KGF and they will reopen the gold mines”

"Will bury it..it will grow like a plant":P 

Hmm…I will first test if it is really gold:P…and then keep it in a corner of the house tightly sealed...I do not want to spend the money which is not earned by me..ofcourse it wil be there gaping at me tryin to tempt me..but still won’t spend it”

“Nothing”

Gold, of everything they all say we want not

Bless the funny nice people in my happy pot!

PS:a gold coin from the pot for guessing who answered what:P

Regards

Raksha:)

The Magic Compass

In the journey of life…

A moment…

Everything is picture perfect, the right blue with a tinge of orange in the sky,green leaves of grass swaying with the wind.A light drizzle begins in a minute,a rainbow slides down from behind those clouds,a flock of birds fly and you look up and smile.Your heart feels light and pray God to let the rains forever…

And seconds later…

The clouds are turning coal black, lightning strikes the ground and the thunder claps the air,birds refuse to move out of their nest,the grasses lie dead,you get that sinking feeling and pray God to stop the rains forever…

Aah!Being GOD is not easy!

Moments of confusion are these when we do not know what we have, what we want, what to pick,what to leave.He shows us many paths to walk on,gives us many choices to make and the greatest gift of all,he gives us a magic compass which gives us the power to dream…the strength to perceive…ourselves to believe…and a life to live…and where we go depends on how well and often we use this gift....

"The River of Life has no meaning,no good,no bad,no better,no worse,no love,no hate,no fear,no anger,no joy.The River of Life has no judgement,no expectation.The River of Life just IS"-Jonathan Lockwood Huie.

Regards

Raksha:)

Wishes Wild

A little world of green of my like,where with glee my heart can hike,

Streams which flow sparkling blue,rays of the sun to brace the hue

Stars that shine in the day sky, wings big that can make me fly,

Trees of hope on the earth to plant,a love to breathe for life a grant

Songs of  the birds that I can sing ,a change wee I desire to bring,

Jungles to live like the cubs wild, no fear for me is a nature’s child

A life full that brings cheers lot, many more fond wishes fill my pot,

My Lord knows me,them and all, his blessings reach before I call.

PS:
Calvin,
There is nothing more important than tomorrow:)...for today and always...here are a lines few to keep your spirits high and new...as always...sing along...All the best:)


Love
Tweety

ReWinD RuN

I oddly remember a day during my lower kindergarten,away from home [means away from Amma:)].Appa left me in a strange place,an alien planet to be precise,there was this teacher whose mischief monger son I shall never forget;she used to get him to the school and leave him wandering amidst his victims in the class.He finished our lunch boxes,scribbled on our books,pulled hair and troubles more.And I belonged to the elite category of his hostages always,it was the third day of school I guess,he came near my bag and pulled out my water bottle, poured all the water on my book right under my nose;laughing like a baby hyena he pulled my cheeks and left me red in anger,and the next day….

I was in a different school!Thanks to the tantrum I threw at home that evening and refused to go to the land of the hooligan again,and fortunately Appa  understood his daughter's plight owing to his umpteen transfers!After that there was never a day when I disliked going to school.Me was always a happy girl.Wherever I have landed year after year from kindergarten to high school,all the places are for those fond memories of life.

‘June 1^st’, a day other than our birthday when each one of us looked sparkling tidy and clean,thanks to this list-new school bag,new pencil box,new books,new class,new uniform,new shoes and well… old friends!!!

After those long summer holidays, a lot of us did frown and detest and so wished ‘Ah!God please let the fun stay around ’!Our prayers were heard every time,for we were given a place like home away from home,where we flew like birds in the boundless sky,where we learnt happiness doubles when we share,where we were made what we have become now.

A for Apple…B for…

2+2=

Baa Baa Black sheep…

Simple and easy they seem now but that was what our world was all about.Today we are sophisticated and smart and sadly life’s little pleasures are all spent!

Morning Assembly prayers,the National Anthem,the favorite teacher[first crush;)],the Miiissss and Maaaams,and the Saars,broken pencils,dirty erasers,ruled note books,first ink pen,ice creams and chocolates,PT periods,monthly tests,van uncles,book cricket and more cricket,height 6.10 weight 230 kg clash!!!Gang wars,lunch boxes,ribbons and ties,fake tummy aches, math tables,homework,cycle rides,India maps,public exams,punishments…oldest friends,life and more…nostalgia is all that remains with us.

All in the race,and we know not where we are going.Sometimes it is good to stop and turn around and look at those moments which never fail to make us smile!

So I wish....

-Raksha

PS: Post featured in Bangalore Mirror 14th June 2010