Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye to Kya he ...

Yeh Mehlon,Yeh Takhton,Yeh Taajon Ki Duniya,Yeh Insaan Key Dushman Samaajon Ki Duniya,Yeh Doulat Key Bhookhey Riwajon Ki Duniya

... Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye To Kya Hai.

Black and White era of Hindi Movies had best lyricists, best directors, best story writers and best actors. Perhaps then there was no 'star', there were only 'actors' and 'actresses'. Getting into the character was everything for an actor then ... this is why some movies touch us and leave an impact for ever.

One such movie I can think of is undoubtedly Pyaasa. A Guru Dutt contribution to maintream movies in Hindi, a reflection of his intense personality, a portrayal of his talent to make realistic movies.

Vijay, a hungry and discouraged poet has lost everything before even his life has taken off. His love, an ambitious and practical girlfriend has married a rich editor ... his brothers think of him as a liability. In such a distrought state of mind he happens to meet a strange woman 'Gulabo' whom he treats as a human when the rest of the world has treated her inhumanly. He calls her 'his woman' to save her from a harrasing constable, this touches the heart of Gulabo and mind you, this prostitute is an intellect who has always been reading his poetry, who has collected his poetry sold by Vijay's brothers in a rag shop ...

A three hour movie revolves around turbulances in Vijay's life and the selfish means of society, how he eventually vanishes from society and lands up in a hospital where no one recognizes who he is ... meanwhile Gulabo has ahead to the next level of getting Vijay's poetry published ... then at the end Vijay emerges, whom the world had concluded dead ...

Guru Dutt always saw songs as an ongoing sequence which can be best described by the poetry. Usually Saahir Ludhiyanvi provided that poetry. Saahir always saved his best for Guru Dutt’s movies . In the movie the song was visualised as the ultimate achivement of the all time loser, the ragged Poet,the drunkard shunned by society,left by girlfriend,despised by his clan suddenly gets everything he ever strived for.

This was the moment when he looks down at all the people he had ever known and sees only one face which didn’t have Greed and really loved him, ‘the Prostitute’ and then he curses the Society in his own poetic manner as S.D Burman’s tunes pierce your heart and you experience the same pain as ‘Vijay’ and you spill you heart out in the immortal voice Of Mohammad Rafi and leave all the artificial things which consumed you.

If we actually think philosophically, you will agree with these lines, what if we get the world?

Dipawali Then, Dipawali Now.

As a kid I loved 'Dipawali'. A festival on which we were pulled out of our beds at 5 am in the morning, our mother used to apply warm oil on our scalp ... give us a relaxing shikakai bath and feed us lots of delicious food. Dipawali meant oil bath, wearing new frocks and bursting sparklers and crackers. How I loved lights, lamps on our compound wall in Hunsur (near Mysore) and Shimoga.

I still remember how myself and sister Teju used to freak out with very sight of seeing lots of paper scrap in front of our house ... for us, it meant others are seeing how many crackers we have burnt. If we were disappointed, we would actually roll news paper, cut them and throw them in front of our house. As I remember those moments, I instantly get a smile on my face.

When we were in Tumkur ... we would wait for Seema (who was studying MBBS then ... staying in a hostel) ... as only she could get Rs 100 from Daddy for our crackers shopping. We would get handful for each of us, how can I forget how we used to sun dry them on terrace so that it results with effect.

Ofcourse we would suffer seeing our dogs (Tiggy and Twinky) suffer ... our cats would get so scared too. But then somehow I still loved Dipawali.

Today ... Dipawali means nothing but a few SMS wishes, couple of new sarees, trip to sacred land of Mantralaya and a holiday at home listening to unwanted sound of crackers and cribbing about air pollution.

How strange! A girl who once dreamt of buying 'only crackers' for her entire salary or atleast for Rs. 1000 does not even buy a sparkler for Rs. 100. Do we really change so much? Or is it a sign of growing up? Or is it our care and concern for animals?

Lots of difference between my Dipawali then and my Dipawali now ...

Kill only once!

We often notice a lot of hens, their legs tied mercilessly and loaded on a scooter or a cycle ... a journey that makes them die a 1000 times before they reach their destination, a slaughter house ... to actually die!

Then there are sightings of a truck loaded with a lot of under-sized cages, many hens dumped in each cage .. on their journey to several slaughter houses. During such a pathetic journey, these poor hens can't even stand up on their legs .... they are forced to sit in a crumpled state.

How I wish, there was a bit of sensitiveness in people who loaded hens this way ... why are hens dying of pain & suffocation before the actual death by neck slaughter?

Considering these painful un-ethical treatment for animals, will a plate full chicken biryani still taste yummy?

Interesting Colleagues!

Colleagues can't be called as friends or buddies. But certainly they are acquaintences. Some colleagues also turn up as good friends ... it all depends, same taste and similar thoughts can unite people and make them do a better team work. It's almost 12 years since am working ... and I've seen varying types of Colleagues. Today I would like to highlight top 10 colleagues, whom I found to be very interesting. I shall also tell you why I found them interesting ...

1. Name: Vijay Krishnan

Name of Organization where I met him: STG International Limited

Why I found him interesting: He would smile at every individual and say 'Hello', his respect for individuals and his very IIM classy working culture impressed me the most. From him I learnt to respect one and all around, learnt to smile at work place. He was perhaps the most knowledgeable and qualified in that organziation, but had absolutely no head weight!

2. Name: Mohan T M
Name of Organization where I met him: STG International Limited
Why I found him interesting: Simple, Hardworking and Focussed - This was about Mohan. A humble guy from Turuvekere made it big by heading towards California. His plus point was his simplicity. He inspired me to work hard in life.

3. Name: Raji (Rajeshwari)

Name of Organization where I met her: Microcon Internaitonal Limited

Why I found her interesting: Cheerful, herself & happening this was how she was. She spoke her mind and had a great sense of humour. She believed in having fun in life. From her I learnt to 'laugh' and to stay cheered always.

4. Name: Aditya Menon

Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions

Why I found him interesting: He was our boss! Aditya was one of the most genuine persons we can find in this world. He had a golden heart ... to help out anyone who was in need, his talks would impress people and his mind always chased challenges. He was kind, professional and classy. I picked up articulation skills from him. I also saw how someone being at top can still be so humane!

5. Name: Regunathan

Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions
Why I found him interesting: Regu inspires people to live a balanced life. He used to cook when he was a bachelor and had utmost discipline of life. He always cheered friends and worked very hard to deliver modules well on time. From Regu I learnt that simple living, high thinking can be wonderful!

6. Name: Mohan C Nair
Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions

Why I found him interesting: Sense of humour, intellectual discussions and multi-tasking ... these qualities associate with Mohan Nair. He is one of those guys who are technical but posses abilities to manage multiple things at the same time.

7. Name: Anoop

Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions
Why I found him interesting: Extremely friendly & great Customer Support ... Anoop is one of those rarest of rare guys we can find. His working style was very unique ... he was casual in his attitude delivered superb results at work!

8. Name: Karthik Krishnan
Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions

Why I found him interesting: Wit, Brains & a Multi-tasker ... a guy who simple enjoyed and lived every moment! So much can be written about Karthik ... he did everything ... singing to playing keyboard ... coding to desiging software ... badminton to running race ... eating, cracking jokes ... uh karthik, Hats off to you!!!

9. Name: Sujith

Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions
Why I found him interesting: A Cool Worker, does not crave for any attention ... from Sujith I have learnt A LOT. He is a thorough professional who speaks less but delivers more. He is a team player, and takes complete ownership of tasks. It's like if you tell Sujith ... you don't have to follow-up!!

10. Name: Uday Kumar

Name of Organization where I met him: Visual Web Solutions

Why I found him interesting: Talks uncensored ... he is perhaps the most straight forward person I have ever met ... he asks questions without getting diplomatic. He lives simple and thinks very high. An intellect, an avid reader ... he loves travelling. He inspires me in many ways.

Ya Ali ... this song goes on even after it has stopped!

Ya Ali Rehem Ali ... Ya Ali, Yaar Pe Qurbaan He Sabhin ... Ya Ali Madad Ali ... Ya Ali, Yeh Meri Jaan Yeh Zindagi ...

Am sure most of us have heard this soulful song from the movie 'Gangster'. To me it is more than just a song, it is an interpretation, a saga of love. This song tells us that Love is about Giving ... , it defines love as Self-less.

When I heard this song first, I was stunned to know how intensely a singer can render a song ... definitely Zubeen Garg (Assameese Singer) deserves highest rank score. He proves in this song that singing is not everyone's cup of tea, singing is a task we assign not only to our vocal chord but also to our heart to involve ourselves in the mood of the song passionately. Then the beats, who can deliver supreme recording results other than our youngest music directr Pritam Chakraborty? And this song would have been 'just another song' if it had not had the Syed Quadri's lyrics. He has perfectly matched the mood of the situation, poetry & intensity of love.

I don't think any of songs in recent times have touched my heart like this one has done. It is special and very intense. It is definitely a copy of the more soothing original 'Ya Ghali' from Prince. Arabic version is very soft, very original and it has it's own mood set. But what I liked about Pritam was he made it better in Urdu, adding more pain and passion using the same tune ... sometimes when we copy and make it 'better' than the original, it is worth an effort, right?

Madad Ali, Rehem Ali words are the sayings of Shia Muslim who seek help from Imam Ali, as they believe he is a messenger of Supreme Allah. These words slowly blend with the various aspects of a man's love to his woman. He wants to do everything possible for his love ... even if it means destroying his identity! I am more impressed with the second stanza where Zubeen sings 'Bina Tere na ek pal ho ... na bin tere Kabhi Kal ho ... yeh dil banjaaye pathar ka na isme koyi hulchul ho ..' i nthese lines I identify a man who does not want a life without his lover.

The situation is equally touch if you've watched the movie ... Shiney Ahuja trying to come out of his dreaded gang of gangster forver for his love (Kangana), backdrop is a durgah in Korea ... bloodshed and impressive dialogues by Gulshan Grover ... parallely Kangana dreaming of a new life with an unknown man who is cheating on her ....

Indeed, this song goes on in my mind even after it has stopped! Ya Ali, how beautiful is the feeling of true love ...

Bangalore City - Now and Then ...

Bangalore has always been a special city, a garden city! An old Bangalorean will always recollect those heritage buildings on the streets of MG, Basavangudi or Malleswaram. From cosmopolitan culture to cool climate, Bangalore had everything to offer. And the food ... the concept of 'by two' originated from Bangalore for 'Filter Coffee'! Eating 'designed Masala Dosas' as a part of evening out was also a Bangalore thing! Who can forget 'Darshini' self-service? When I first came to Bangalore, I remember rose gardens in Jayanagar 8th block ... I remember the 'darkness' we experienced before rains at 4 PM itself! I also can't forget those dropping flowers at Jayanagar 4th block BDA complex, and the foot path shopping. Our brief visits to Banashankari or Basavangudi used to be pleasant ... I used to envy kids who actually grew up in Bangalore, reading books at the World Culture Library opposite to Krishna Rao Park. I perhaps missed all that ... everything in Bangalore appeared so fresh, neat and calm ...

Then happened IT! Then the era of ample job opportunities in IT, BT and manufactoring sectors started emerging ... people from all over the country started migrating to Bangalore for it's very 'offering' interms of Job, Cosmo Culture & Climate.

I started noticing heavy streets starting 1994 ... for those days, a few extra vehichles or loaded buses were quite a lot for us to digest. Then came 'buying power' for middle class ... every family wanted to own a car (small or big). So many cars, so many people by 1999! The change in climate of Bangalore was noticable by this time ... lot of dust, pollution and littered streets! Still Bangalore was Bangalore ...

With increase in IT companies and other related Service Industries, In 2000 series of years ... Bangalore became more and more conjusted. Now in 2008, it's almost over. The golden era of Bangalore perhaps is over.

Words like 'traffic', 'slow down', 'jam', 'sorry I am late', 'ok I'll give a missed call when I reach there' became very coomon ... today attending functions or meeting family and friends are no longer pleasant occasions. Who can travel from Jayanagar to Malleswaram happily to attend a cousin's wedding, it takes about 2 hrs in slow moving traffic ... and when we reach Malleswaram finally, we don't exchange pleasantaries ... but we say 'Oh god, what traffic!' meeting our cousins. It probably takes 20 more minutes for us to hydrate our body, wipe our faces and then see the Groom & Bride.

Everything is changing ... paying excess tax for absolutely no development in city is frustrating for working class. Whether we blame the government or citizens of Bangalore for negligence towards the city, at the end of day we are just 'blaming' and not 'making a difference'.

So how can we make a difference? A very good quesiton that arises in our minds ... I think it's a very tough question to ask ourselves. We can do 'bit' of something to make a 'bit of difference', if not for us ... for the forthcoming generaiton.

We are a 'Cosmo Culture City', yes but we can't be 'only Cosmo'. In my view, uplifting local language is important as remembering our roots. I hardly see Kannadiga's speaking kannada ... either it's 'not cool to speak Kannada' or it is 'lack of realization of importance of mother tongue'! It's strange, when we take a direct flight to Bangalore from Singapore or Bangkok ... all are talking only in English! I am sure 90% of them know Kannada ... but how can they speak Kannada in a International Flight? But if I take a direct flight to Chennai from any internaitonal city, almost all are speaking proudly in their Tamil Language. Isn't it worth praising? So I think, by respecting and valuing our mother tongue ... the forth-coming generation will carry on our Bangalore Culture, both Cosmo and Local.

Also .... how much time does it take to plant and adopt a few trees around our house .... water them and protect them! After all, we need oxygen to breath. There are so many schools and Hospitals that have ground space to plant trees, can't we donate a few tree guarde and honge saplings? Imagine growing trees for our next generation .. they too can feel the breeze of chill air, right?

Cleaning our house is important, also more important is keeping our parks and common areas clean. We must realize throwing plastic is the last thing one should do in environment. It just spoils! Lets not use plastic or throw plastic ... we know we are harming nature.

Concept of Car Pooling or once in a while taking public transport can make HUGE differencce to air pollution. Why don't we attempt?

If we are driving, lets follow rule of traffic ... lets not forget .. there is no shortcut for anything ... not even to overtake someone to prove our ego against them. We are not going to make a big difference by reaching our destination 5 minutes early ... so lets not change lanes or arrogantly drive on roads.

Much more to think and much more to do as Citizens! Voting right candidates who can administer, develop also is very important. With these small steps, Bangalore Now can resemble the Bangalore Then!

Rebellious Young!

Young one's are always cute and young one's are often rebellious.

They always do what is 'not to be done'. When we see kids doing all kinds of naughty stuff we don't usually think this can even happen with ther species, not just human.

My kitten 'Panda' always jumps in the garden much against his mom 'Kitty's' wishes. She likes him play but does not like it when he strays in outer areas or when his game never ends! Panda is rebellious in many ways, he gets into the house and runs everywhere just to get a glimpse of this inside world of his owner ... where-as his mother prompty eats her food and walks out.

A very similar incident happened this morning in my garden ... when I saw this young Maina Bird sitting in the window pane. It was very cute, was not very confident of reflex-flying ... it wanted to spend sometime at lower levels of life ... like a window pane. It was simply rebellious and bold to come down from his nest. After a while when my cat 'mee's it shifts on a hibiscus tree. Then comes his parents, angry and frightened of a situaiton like this .... they are perhaps in their own language scolding the younger one for this rebellious act. They were screaming, yelling and finally the younger one flew to the electricity wire and made it it's base. I was wondering ... like it happens with us, we control the younger one's ... scold them and later console them ... it much be happening in the world of birds too. Questioning, Reasoning, Consoling ... all such emotions do exist in birds, just that we don't watch them or understand what we hear of them.

A young rebellious Maina in every sense reflects qualities like innocence, adventurous, curiousity. It was an episode I watched today and felt no matter what we are, who we are ... as young we rebel and our elders correct us. This must go on ... regardless of the time and era. That is when the incidents can get exciting, if all young one's were obedient all the time ... whats the fun?

Focus on Ourselves!

Today ... I went on thinking 'what makes my day perfect?'. Is it about cooking good food for family and relishing it later at office? Or is it finishing all queued up tasks at office? Or is it a nice evening I get to relax on my sofa watching my favourite song on TV? There could be so many such things that define our day as 'perfect'. Perfection in diet or perfection at work or a perfect relaxing evening, uh?

Sadly, I later conclude .... these are just important elements of our day. A battery of such incidents can perhaps make our day 'Perfect'. It's important to note down what can add value to us, our day and eventually our life. What makes us get balanced in life? This thought can conclude a few things that we may like as a part of our daily routine ... overcoming complexities of day to day situations we may face. A thought like this is nothing but a 'focus' on ourselves. If I focus on myself suddenly ... I get all kinds of thoughts like 'I have to still loose weight', 'I have to get more healthy', 'I have to work better', 'I have to work out everyday', 'I have to get a new cat' or 'I have to go to parlour!'. We have so many things queued up for us, our mind and body. A focus on ourselves can 'polish' our life, I think.

Today I think if I focus on myself .... from my diet to my fitness to my hobbies to my workfront improvements .... I might actually end up having a 'Perfect day'. And life is all about experiencing ... good and bad both, but if we are close to making our day perfect, I bet we can touch most of good experiences through-out ... right?

I am seriously considering balancing my day between many things I like and I have to do. My agenda for this month is 'focus on myself'. A conscious decision to make myself a person with substance. A conscious effort to improve in my efforts and to get better results from myself. I promise, after a month I shall come back and blog if such a conscious decision to focus on myself helped significantly or not ...

Colors of Nature

All of us have a bit of 'artist' within. Be it a delicious dish we make or the way we keep our house ... it's all about art. Art has always inspired us in all it's forms ... pictures, paintings, sculptures, dance, music or drama .... an artist lives all his life in the world of creativity. Capturing colors of life on a Canvas has always been a tough job for me, for my threshold experience in painting.

Still it interests me so much that I can't resist sometimes picking a new canvas board and stroking brushes on it. Last night, a lotus lake landscape was keeping my interests up and high. Thus, when I started this painting I actually felt that it is more than a painting if we think of it. The first step was ofcourse making blocks for lake (water) and the banks of the lake. It was a bit mechanical. Then I stopped looking at the original and my brush strokes started listening to my mind and not my eyes. My mind said ... why not some reflections of floral creepers in the lake? Often stagnant lakes are dense, dirty with beautiful lillies and lotuses. Thus, I introduced some lotuses. Though I painted only white and pink lotuses, they arrayed many shades of colors. The water looked still! I sensed that even a stagnant lake can be so colorful ... it can have shades of green leaves immersed as well as growing upwards ... only dirty water can be a bed for lotuses, right?

When Sun radiates and reflects on the water, new colors associate with water such as yellow and orange, and even white! Banks of lakes are often very messy to walk on ... but when viewed, they look so beautiful, the grass taking the direction of breeze and immersing itself in the lake to fill it's thirst.

There are many colors in nature that we can observe. Nature in all it's form reflect serenity. A close watch on the colors of nature can rejunuvate our mind. Remember, everyday Nature has something to offer us everyday, so watch it everyday and if you can 'capture it' too!

This lotus lake painting I did gave me immense satisfaction, my teacher was definitely my mind that had captured lakes I have watched 'some time back in my life ...', I look forward to be a key observer of Nature if I want to be a true Artist ...

Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti Woh Baarish Ka Paani ...

Today's mornings Rain reminded me of my childhood ... of those cozy malnaad days ... many of those days I spent on those wet wood logs of Hunsoor (near Mysore/Madikeri) reading Amar Chitra Katha.

Rain not only brings us fresh moods but also makes us remember those lovely moments we spent in while it rained as kids. First song that comes in my mind 'Woh Kagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish ka Paani' ... how lovely one has written this song and how well Jagjeet Singh has rendered it. I often remember Mummy sending Teju or Seema to call me back home, I would get down carefully from those slippery logs and get back home. If my mom wanted to ensure I reach home before it rains heavily, I would ensure my cats and dogs are warm and dry inside the house. House cats specially needed that attention, they knew they had to get in but still would not rush till I called them myself. Everytime it rained, my Mom would take help of my elder sisters to chop onions very small with many green chillies and make hot 'Uppittu'. We would always crave for second serve, perhaps even today I can't find anyone else who has made 'Uppittu' as tasty as Mummy made. We would enjoy watching it rain through our window, even when it stopped, we enjoyed watching rain drops on those red roses of our garden. Rainy moments were a part of our daily life, all those who have lived in Malnaad will say this. People walk and go to work or school .. rain or no rain. Making paper boats, sometimes special shark boats were equally exciting. Today we have so many other means of getting happy, but can anything be as lovely as those moments of making paper boats with sisters? Can our valley be as green as what we saw as kids after it rained? With increasingly busy life, plastic thrown everywhere, trees cut everywhere and so many tall glass buildings ... will we ever get back our garden city charm back? I wonder!

Rimjhim Gire Saawan is perhaps the best song to listen to on a rainy day ... I look forward to listen to this song today, as no one can touch my heart and create rain-romance mood as Kishore Kumar did.

Small things of daily life ...

Our daily life has to offer us a bit of everything ... be it joy or sad instances. However only the gist of the most impacting instance of a given day we end up remembering on some other day of life. I believe, making a note of small things that bring us 'small happiness’ too helps.
As I woke up today, I realized it was not my cell phone alarm that woke me up. It was actually a Nightingale bird who woke me up. She was singing so beautifully that I could got tempted to hear her with more conscious in me. Her every note of the song represented her happiness upon the sunset and her enthusiasm to start the day. Her song was so soothing for my mind, the same experience one goes through when a classical tune is heard.
Then when I make my coffee, Kitty and Panda say they are hungry. Once they are fed, they give endless entertainment ... playing, scratching, purring and even sometimes sitting in a mud pot and watching our lotus tank. The Aroma of coffee in my nostrils, a blissful moment of watching my cats play and now and then giving attention to nightingale's song made the moment very memorable. Other small birds too made their presence felt as they come and swing on our hibiscus trees ... sucking hibiscus flowers and singing in chorus for the Nightingale.
Every morning is different ... each day the Sun reflects a different shade of yellow as he sets on the sky, each day of summer the nightingale sings a new song ... and every day my cats play a different game. Only we, the people rush to start our routine without relishing these moments. Small things, detailed observations over small things give us so much happiness ... this state of mind can kick-off my day for best results from me. After all, happiness is a state of mind and in our mind when such small happiness gets recorded ... we are bound to feel more refreshed about life!

Tuxi, Tutu, Brownie, Bushy ... My Wonder Cats!

Always, there is a 'wrong notion' about cats in India. 7 out of 10 say, 'I hate cats ... they bring bad omen, they are selfish' and rest 2 will say, 'yeah cats are ok ... but I love dogs, don't you love dogs?' and there is this 1 last person like me (perhaps) who will say 'Cats are so cuteeeee'. I am not saying everyone in this world should love cats as I do, but definitely I would like to say, respect all animals and have compassion for them. If you don't feel for them, who will?
My passion for cats has been there from the time I started seeing things in this world. There was a 'mother cat' we used to call it 'taayi bekku' gifted to my Dad by his close friend 'Abbas uncle'. She was very dignified, polite and homely. I have been with cats since then. It was always 'Cats first' and 'School next'. Not that I did not have other pets, historically my parents had kept rabits, deers and even leopard cubs. Thanks to my dad's profession, as a Forest Officer he was not only committed to protect trees, he also had compassion for animals - wild or domestic. We had 2 dogs - Tiggy and Twinky ... both of them were so dear to us that loosing them was most bitter experiences. Somewhere, a young me thought 'I can't cry again in my life like this for another dog ... I can't be this emotionally drained for a dog' ... perhaps Tiggy and Twinky remained as the last pet dogs in our lives. I shall cover some other day, a detailed blog on both of these wonderful personalities, both of these wonderful friends I had.
After seeing many different cats like 'biliya' (white one), 'kariya' (black one), 'gunda' (round one) I had almost experienced several cat personalities. After my marriage to Srinath, it was very comforting to realize he too dotes on cats. One of our first cats after our marriage was 'Tuxi' (a short form of name Tuxedo). He was very fat, old and tabby in appearance. He was very dignified and never asked for a cup of milk when I was making Aloo paratha's ... his parience was enduring. Only a few days with us, once we saw him limping with a bit of pain in his leg. After that day, we never found him ... even today, he remains as 'Dignified Cat' we ever had, we think very high of him.
I was looking for a full time cat for our home, thus my search ended when I spotted this white bushy tailed stray cat. He was hungry and happy to see an enthusiastic pet lover like me. I actually walked 200 ft to keep some milk for him from my house. He would gulp milk very fast and run away. This happened almost for about 6 months and finally he entered our house. He did not mind me or Srinath or my in-law touch him too. He was so lovely, so majestic in appearance. He had only one weakness of fearing of others who visited our house. Often he relished curd rice and he ensured we cook rice for him early morning, that too regularly. He chased off almost all other cats who visited our house like 'Tutu' (Tuxi's Two, a look alike of Tuxi) and 'Brownie', a wonderful stray kitten.
Sadly, during one of my trips to Indonesia ... he passed away after he had some injuries. Srinath and my inlaws tried hard to save him, but ... he never returned to die in isolation.
Bushy will remain in our hearts for ever for his strange qualities like 'possessive about his domain', 'gracious and good looking', 'had a passion for a multicolored lady cat' and also 'his love for home cooked curd rice'. My in-law shed tears ... but something in me said, I can't break down .. I must be strong to take this moment of loss.
After we moved into our new house, one fine day Srinath agreed to take me to CUPA, so that we adopt a cat. The feeling was lovely and I wanted a little grown up tom cat. To my surprise, In CUPA, I actually met my dream cat ... my second 'Bushy'. He was beige in color with bushy tail, hungry for love. He had enough good food available there like fish, milk and other grains but what he craved for was 'love and attention'. He hugged me and never left me from that moment. Bushy's home coming brought back our lost happiness ... he was everything, a centre of attraction in our house. Like other cats, he broke an umbrella, a telephone instrument, some crockeries and we praised him for that! He was so creative in his games, we often played hide and seek. I also loved it when he behaved like a kid, pampared with attitude!! Bushy fell in love as he came to his teens with 'kitty', for his love life sake we even adopted Kitty. Bushy and Kitty spent many good moments together ... but like it happens with any other pet, it either disappears or dies, this time ... he disappeared. His loss can never be componsated, for the very personality he was .... so different from other cats. He was emotional, cute, good looking, loving, intelligent, full of attitude and a real fish foodie. Many other cats will come in my life, in future ... but I know for sure ... I can never share the kind of rapport I shared with Bushy - II. Bushy was more than a cat to me ... he loved me endlessly and in my life, he remained number one priority. Bushy ... I hope you are alive and doing well, no one can fill your space. Love you.
Today, we have Kitty and her kitten Panda with us ... life goes on ...

My First Blog 7th May 2008

Well, this is my first blog! I've heard a lot about this .... specially offlate ... supposedly a place where we pen information we have or narrate some of our experiences, etc.
I could not think of a better Blog title than 'Thoughts & Experiences', simply because I am either seeing, feeling or thinking ... all about our thoughts and our experiences. Alas!
I am neither a writer nor a very well read person, I am just passionate about everything good in life. Be it animals (specially cats) or flowers or paintings or music, I love them all. I have a lot to share on things am passionate about, hopefully I do it with this net space/blog.
Today I believe I have found a medium to be creative, a space I ever wanted to put my thoughts and experiences on internet. With this happy note, I end for now ... My First Blog!