Still Waters Run Deep....

Last week I performed an Indian classical set at Severndoorg Castle as a part of someone’s independent project. While I went armed with my camera, there was no one to capture from it and the organizer was already planning to capture from her camera. As luck would have it, it ran out of battery midway and later we discovered that the major chunk of the video disappeared- all that remained was a 2-minute clip. It isn’t the first time I remain without tangible output of a memory. It’s no big deal , my mind says.. you yourself said it wasn’t a big deal . But Ah, my heart argues back, I meant not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, the way nothing actually is a big deal. But I did want some videos and photos… after all, I’m gracious enough to take for others and lend my camera for their occasions, so it seems unfair that… You’re beginning to whine , the ever-strict mind interrupts. Why didn’t you ensure it was captured on your camera? It is exhausting having to do everyt...

Aren’t there are some moments in life - funny or awkward situations-, which when we look at as though from outside a TV, seems like we’re watching a sitcom? This post is about some such incidents- coz they’re sure worth preserving, even if just for the laughs. My general clumsiness (which I say is due to not paying attention!!), has caused some really embarrassing moments. From tripping while entering a huge auditorium to bumping into walls which always mysteriously crop up exactly when people are around- I’ve done it all. But the below is among the funniest of them all. When working in singapore, I was eating at the food court in office with a friend. The food was quite nice. But as luck (or lack of grip) would have it, I dropped the spoon onto my shirt- the spoon which had just now been in a bowl of Bhindi Masala dripping with oil and turmeric. Now turmeric is known to love clothes- and never leave it. I had to take immediate action. I went into the washroom and started washi...

I let go and both me and my heart sank. “I’m going down”, I sputtered, water in my mouth and fear in my heart. My feet desperately tried to find the bottom to stand on, though my brain said it was stupid to do that in deep sea. I floundered and tried to reach for the ladder, when I heard him say “hold my hand”. I looked in the direction of the voice. Our eyes met. This was during a trip to Redang Island in Malaysia with friends. The trip involved a lot of snorkeling. And my relationship with water has always been uneasy. My experiences with seemingly innocent rounds of boating have become unintentionally adventurous in the past- precariously balanced narrow boats which rocked with every move, boats with a slow leak where we had to constantly bail out water. Add to this my penchant for watching ship wreck movies in my teens, water was just plain dangerous to me. Yet, given that I didn’t know to swim and the concept of life jackets was nonexistent in boating, I thought my fear was sens...

It has never stopped amazing people close to me, that on being woken up in the morning, I have a perfectly sane conversation with them, assure them that I am awake and will do whatever it is that I’m supposed to be doing and promptly go back into deep slumber without even realizing it. Mom says it’s a total lack of will-power on my part to get up. When this happened again last week, I realized the true reason. It’s due to what I call “Real Dreams”.  Let me illustrate.  Last week, I assured my friend over the phone that I was awake. I then closed my eyes, for what I thought was a few seconds. In those few seconds, I had a dream- and its setting was identical to reality. I was wearing the same clothes, was in the bed I really was in, in the same room I actually was in. And in that dream- I woke up.  In that dream, my flat mate came to my room and so did some strangers- and started sawing my closet door citing repair work.  So in the dream, I was awake. And since we r...

“I need help” I said over the phone. “Oh what happened, tell me”, said my friend, the concern very apparent in his voice. Encouraged, I replied, “Well, I came to the supermarket Mohideen to buy Sugar, but they only have it in large packs. But it seems it will be available in the other supermarket nearby, Al Madina” “Hmm, yeah it will be available there”, replied my friend clearly puzzled as to what help I needed. “Er.. can you   tell me exactly how to go to Al Madina from Mohideen?” I said I was greeted by a volley of almost indecent laughter! Well, I couldn’t blame him. Both the places were about 4 mins from my hostel. I knew to go to both places individually, but just couldn’t figure out the way to go from one to the other! The place is China Cluster, in International City in Dubai. This is where I spent 4.5 months of my GMBA at SP Jain Center of Management. That this incident occurred almost after 3 months into the course didn’t help. My sense of direction has always been a sou...

The cab arrived. We loaded the luggage into it, and after saying fond goodbyes left for the airport. I and two of my classmates were flying back to Mumbai from Dubai for our mini vacation. After an uneventful cab ride, we reached the airport. At the check in counter, I offered a smile to the Chinese guy and asked for a window seat. He smiled back and said, “I will do much better than that ma’am. Our Economy class is full and we’re identifying passengers for upgrading to Business Class. I am putting you in the priority list for upgrading. This boarding pass is for economy class, but just ask the personnel at the boarding counter, he will upgrade it”. I thanked him and left the counter happily. My two friends also got the same priority listing. After this, we finished all the formalities and went towards the Duty Free shopping area. I enjoyed whiffing the various perfume brands- which were beyond my liquidity at the moment and then went to the chocolates and nuts section. I got separate...

“Oh Damn” I cried out in frustration as soon as I saw the email. Nothing could ever go right.  I had had a good night’s sleep and woken up at leisure at 11 am. The next day was to be communication skills assessment on self – introduction. I settled down at 12:30 and started preparing for it. Just when I started, the mail which made me curse came. We were to have the assessment on the same day.. And not the next as originally scheduled. I immediately went into a spate of negativity- why did things always get messed up this way? Muttering to myself, I ordered food and started getting ready for college. The bell rang- and my food came. I paid the money and opened the parcel. I had ordered one stuff paratha which usually came in four pieces. But the parcel was bulky- on counting I found that there were actually eight pieces- two stuff parathas instead of one!! I mentioned this to my room mate. Her spontaneous reaction was, “Wow… you are so lucky- all such good things happen to you...