Sheila and I just returned from Malaysia after a "hectic" holiday; the first thing I did after entering our flat was to check if my dear "Karuveppilai" was indeed in good shape. To my surprise, it was the plant which withstood our absence well; probably the way it was placed in another vessel with water and cocoanut fibre could have helped.
But I am at a loss to understand how two "Dumb Canes" broke from the base and fell off. Was it due to heavy winds ? Was it because of the pigeons ? Was it because of someone jumping over ? I don't know; but I know I can grow more "Dumb Canes" from the stem of the fallen plants.
In life too, things happen when we do not anticipate....our worst fears do not come true....we have to look for opportunities in both the situations....can I become a better human being...if yes, I am in for an exciting time.
I am sure Sheila will have fresh Karuveppilai for Sambhar from next week...from our Karuveppilai plant...now I have bought two more sisters to the original Karuveppilai plant....they give aroma to our food...while sacrificing themselves....(rather we made them sacrifice for us).....there are such people in our lives too ..
Thank God for this mercy !!!!
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Monday, 19 May 2008
Karuveppilai.....
When we had been to Ashwin's home at Munnirpallam during October, 2007, just after Maya's wedding, I collected a few plants from Sri Ramasamy's garden. Out of the three plants that I collected two have survived the Pune weather so far.
I am really impessed with the Karuveppilai plant. It has grown from about 2 inches to about 10 inches now...I am attached to this plant...I see this plant every day...I water it every day...I have already added cow dung fertilizer which may come for another two or three months. I am worried if the stem takes a turn towards Sun...I am trying to see that it is vertical, not with a bend...of course it is difficult, given that all my plants have to bend to "see" the SUN.
Now I am a worried man.....Sheila and I are going on holidays for six days...who will take care of the Karuveppilai plant?...it needs water everyday...without water, it may die..I don't want to leave my Karuveppilai plant with the watchman...he had killed a few of my plants (by not watering properly) last time when we were off for Maya's wedding for a long period. I cannot give the plant to my neighbours in the building...it is likely that they are also planning their holidays during the week. I checked with Chandra for help...he has advised some methods to keep the soil wet till we come back. I have now decided to flood the pot with water and cover the soil with a plastic sheet to avoid excess evaporation....let me see if this works...
What is so great about the above...why does this subject need a blog post ? To me it is about a relationship...between me and the Karuveppilai plant...I have taken the task of tending the plant till it is on its own...am I doing the right thing ? I will be definitely sad if something bad happens to MY Karuveppilai plant...the subtle relationship warrants that I take all the necessary precautions to ensure that MY Karuveppilai plant does not "feel" bad that it has not been taken care of during my absence.
If I care for the Karuveppilai so much, would I not have cared for my people all these days??? At times questions / doubts are raised if I cared at all or cared when needed ....I know about me and my feelings....but can I ever change perceptions ???...I do my job..and leave the rest to GOD. I would like to "see" a large Karuveppilai tree when I am gone....hope it will remember me at that time.
I am really impessed with the Karuveppilai plant. It has grown from about 2 inches to about 10 inches now...I am attached to this plant...I see this plant every day...I water it every day...I have already added cow dung fertilizer which may come for another two or three months. I am worried if the stem takes a turn towards Sun...I am trying to see that it is vertical, not with a bend...of course it is difficult, given that all my plants have to bend to "see" the SUN.
Now I am a worried man.....Sheila and I are going on holidays for six days...who will take care of the Karuveppilai plant?...it needs water everyday...without water, it may die..I don't want to leave my Karuveppilai plant with the watchman...he had killed a few of my plants (by not watering properly) last time when we were off for Maya's wedding for a long period. I cannot give the plant to my neighbours in the building...it is likely that they are also planning their holidays during the week. I checked with Chandra for help...he has advised some methods to keep the soil wet till we come back. I have now decided to flood the pot with water and cover the soil with a plastic sheet to avoid excess evaporation....let me see if this works...
What is so great about the above...why does this subject need a blog post ? To me it is about a relationship...between me and the Karuveppilai plant...I have taken the task of tending the plant till it is on its own...am I doing the right thing ? I will be definitely sad if something bad happens to MY Karuveppilai plant...the subtle relationship warrants that I take all the necessary precautions to ensure that MY Karuveppilai plant does not "feel" bad that it has not been taken care of during my absence.
If I care for the Karuveppilai so much, would I not have cared for my people all these days??? At times questions / doubts are raised if I cared at all or cared when needed ....I know about me and my feelings....but can I ever change perceptions ???...I do my job..and leave the rest to GOD. I would like to "see" a large Karuveppilai tree when I am gone....hope it will remember me at that time.
Friday, 16 May 2008
When are we going to change ?
This morning I was terribly upset. For the last ten days I have been following with the Insurance fellow for filing my claim for the TV repair. He would say that he would come at 11.30 or 4.30 and would never come. Yesterday when I checked with him he said that he was busy with a major fire in a sub-urban factory. This morning when I called him he said that he was busy with some major claim. He was testing my patience clearly; for a pittance I had to call him ten times and wait indefinitely for his response !!! This is not the only experience for me in the recent past.
My car met with an accident; the insurance took more than 3 months. I had called my insurance officer more than 40 times, sent e:mails many times. The excuse was that the period was "annual closure" period and it was taking time. I got the money finally, but with some cut. Now I am following with the same guy for the rest...every day I get a new excuse.
I have been calling the lawyer for the Housing Society for the last one year, regarding our case against one of our members...now a days she does not pick up my phone...sends an SMS once in a while that things are going as per expectation. But what remains is "countless calls" unanswered.
We have to take Insurance for our building...one of the members suggested a cheaper insurance. I have been following up with him to get a quotation and start the insurance cover....after many follow up calls, I have given up....because he stopped taking my calls.
My experience with the bank officers is the same...they are sweet to you when they need something from you or to trap you in a bad investment. But when you need them...no way you can get them. They are always busy...no call is taken or answered later. No email is acknowledged !!! I see a great future......for the communication industry (more calls means more money to Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone....)
The same is the case with the travel agent...I am at their mercy....here the technique is different. Your call is taken and the sweet voice concurs with you...but nothing happens till you call again.....
There is something wrong somewhere....the caller ID has given some power to people to avoid inconvenient situations....people have become arrogant and inefficient. I am thinking of a good project on the cost of inefficiency, especially the "follow up" cost. India can be far better than what it is today if only we have the decency of immediate response to business calls (and social calls too).....but everyone is busy...that is what they would like us to believe. There does not seem to be any urgency to move....inertia provides people with a "lot of work".....to end up as a "busy bee".
Probably I am unfit for this society....I should not get impatient...(six months is nothing in your life of say 80 years)...things will happen ...don't waste your energy....that is what I am telling myself now.
I am sure this situation will change, when........the Sun rises in the WEST.
My car met with an accident; the insurance took more than 3 months. I had called my insurance officer more than 40 times, sent e:mails many times. The excuse was that the period was "annual closure" period and it was taking time. I got the money finally, but with some cut. Now I am following with the same guy for the rest...every day I get a new excuse.
I have been calling the lawyer for the Housing Society for the last one year, regarding our case against one of our members...now a days she does not pick up my phone...sends an SMS once in a while that things are going as per expectation. But what remains is "countless calls" unanswered.
We have to take Insurance for our building...one of the members suggested a cheaper insurance. I have been following up with him to get a quotation and start the insurance cover....after many follow up calls, I have given up....because he stopped taking my calls.
My experience with the bank officers is the same...they are sweet to you when they need something from you or to trap you in a bad investment. But when you need them...no way you can get them. They are always busy...no call is taken or answered later. No email is acknowledged !!! I see a great future......for the communication industry (more calls means more money to Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone....)
The same is the case with the travel agent...I am at their mercy....here the technique is different. Your call is taken and the sweet voice concurs with you...but nothing happens till you call again.....
There is something wrong somewhere....the caller ID has given some power to people to avoid inconvenient situations....people have become arrogant and inefficient. I am thinking of a good project on the cost of inefficiency, especially the "follow up" cost. India can be far better than what it is today if only we have the decency of immediate response to business calls (and social calls too).....but everyone is busy...that is what they would like us to believe. There does not seem to be any urgency to move....inertia provides people with a "lot of work".....to end up as a "busy bee".
Probably I am unfit for this society....I should not get impatient...(six months is nothing in your life of say 80 years)...things will happen ...don't waste your energy....that is what I am telling myself now.
I am sure this situation will change, when........the Sun rises in the WEST.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Responsible......Father / husband ????
I am a poor guy with simple ideas about life....but it appears that I have been "irresponsible" throughout, especially as a father and husband.
There are many meanings for "responsible"...here I refer to "chargeable with being the author, cause or occasion of something".
Yes. I am charged, I was charged and will be charged in the future too for being the cause of something......
Even though my father was in a decent position professionally and economically, when I started my professional life I hardly had any money in the bank.... I started my professional life late...because of the years spent on education.
Looking at the present day children, who are excellent in the planning, probably I did not give the kind of life a new wife would have loved to have... probably the life in Prentice was not the one my new wife expected in the US. My resources being meagre, I could not take her around US ... at least when the whole experience of marriage was new... may be I had failed in providing a decent house and life to her after returning to India... I do agree we three (Sheila, Indhu and I) lived along with many dozens of mice in Bhoiguda.... I could not provide her a Gas Stove to cook (it was difficult to get a Gas connection in those days and I did not have the required influence).... I was always poor in money management... so I did not offer many of the luxuries that a young wife would expect from her husband... I have been an "irresponsible" husband..... but I have always been truthful, loving and caring...may be I did not understand certain nuances of early days of marriage. After coming to Pune, our life had changed... I had long hours at the office, including Saturdays.... I longed for rest...so I did not take my wife and children out for sight seeing....instead I liked sleeping on Saturday afternoons and carrying out routines on Sundays...the earnings were just enough to have a decent life and not for luxury.
Since we lived away from our parents, all the LTA went for visiting Chennai, year after year....we did not see many places of interest in India.
Thodarum.....
(This will continue.....I will edit later.... I would like to publish it even though it is not complete as this is something I wrote in June and it may be appropriate alongside the Subrmanian blog)
There are many meanings for "responsible"...here I refer to "chargeable with being the author, cause or occasion of something".
Yes. I am charged, I was charged and will be charged in the future too for being the cause of something......
Even though my father was in a decent position professionally and economically, when I started my professional life I hardly had any money in the bank.... I started my professional life late...because of the years spent on education.
Looking at the present day children, who are excellent in the planning, probably I did not give the kind of life a new wife would have loved to have... probably the life in Prentice was not the one my new wife expected in the US. My resources being meagre, I could not take her around US ... at least when the whole experience of marriage was new... may be I had failed in providing a decent house and life to her after returning to India... I do agree we three (Sheila, Indhu and I) lived along with many dozens of mice in Bhoiguda.... I could not provide her a Gas Stove to cook (it was difficult to get a Gas connection in those days and I did not have the required influence).... I was always poor in money management... so I did not offer many of the luxuries that a young wife would expect from her husband... I have been an "irresponsible" husband..... but I have always been truthful, loving and caring...may be I did not understand certain nuances of early days of marriage. After coming to Pune, our life had changed... I had long hours at the office, including Saturdays.... I longed for rest...so I did not take my wife and children out for sight seeing....instead I liked sleeping on Saturday afternoons and carrying out routines on Sundays...the earnings were just enough to have a decent life and not for luxury.
Since we lived away from our parents, all the LTA went for visiting Chennai, year after year....we did not see many places of interest in India.
Thodarum.....
(This will continue.....I will edit later.... I would like to publish it even though it is not complete as this is something I wrote in June and it may be appropriate alongside the Subrmanian blog)
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