Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Happy for you, Bahadur

Now y'all may be wondering who Bahadur is...

My uncle's neighbours have a really BIG house. Except for a small servant's quarter, the ground floor is all for car parking - and they have 4 of them. In that servant quarter lives a genial Nepali by name Bahadur. He is the house watchman. Heck, he is the watchman for all surrounding houses too. See, my uncle is lucky, he gets free service ;-) - well, not that free. When the neighbours are not in station, my aunt serves Bahadur's bfst, food, coffee ....

Bahadur is a genial chap, in his late 40s early 50s (haven't asked, my guess). As soon as I stop the car in front of my uncle's place, he is promptly at the gate saying "Shalam Shaab" in his inimitable style.

Since Feb this year, Bahadur was a very happy man. After all, he was leaving on April 11 to visit his family in Nepal after a gap of 4 years! He'd make it a point to remind everyone how many days were left before he started home. Of course, his employer paid for the trip (by train).

But, when I met my uncle last Sunday, I got to know that Bahadur had indeed left for Nepal, only to be stopped at the border for the last 8-9 days, 'cos of the unrest in his country. I felt really sorry for him - wait four years to see your family and get only as far as the border :(

Luckily for him, the King of Nepal regained senses just in time. I hope Bahadur is now happily reunited with his family. I also wish his employer extends his leave for the duration of the wait at the border.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Loss

Dr.Rajkumar's death, sad as it is, threw up some interesting responses. My sister works for an MNC. Invariably, her colleagues at their partner labs found out the reason for the Thursday off and, one of them sent a group mail expressing "Deep sorrow at your loss".

Dr.Raj, I am one of those who grew up watching you, your movies, old and new. May your soul Rest in Peace.

Oh, and Sripathi, I am not surprised at what TOI did. People who want news, read The New Indian Express or The Hindu.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Woes

Its time for yet another onset of the geek disease. I went fishing for more related information. As usual, wikipedia was the starting point (WebMD is another great resource I refer to). From the info on the sinusitis main page, I diagnosed my ailment as frontal sinusitis. One of the opthalmologists I consulted during one of the more severe attacks said "Its mostly due to your crooked nose". Damn, this is a manufacturing defect!

That isn't my only ailment. I am astigmatic too :-(

Sometimes I wonder, are people with eyesight problems handicapped? Here is another interesting fact: 44% of Japanese suffer from myopia.. so, is half of Japan handicapped?

The last few weeks/months have been especially hectic. Yesterday was the last date for the OLS paper submission. Our paper has a total of 5 authors and one of them aptly categorized the experience as one of "herding cats".

One thing is for sure... this is going to be the norm henceforth and it calls for better time management. In the name of being busy, I am guilty of a few things... not having enough time for my hobby. My biggest regret however is not spending time with friends. Its been a few months since Hari and I spoke at lesiure. Then there used to be the "office gang" which has since broken due to various reasons. Whenever I think of this, I am reminded of Sid's profound dialogue from Dil Chahta Hai.

This has to be remedied. Hopefully, Seema's initiative for the program next weekend is a start.