Through a haze

Snippet 1 One look at the room and the bathroom in the ashram and I wanted to run out of there and never look back. The place had a look of not just decrepitude but also seemed unsanitary and a tad sad. The only saving grace, after I had spotted an enormous house lizard and made a face at the openly displayed garbage vats,was the resident kitty cat. He was thin as a reed and white as milk with only a head and tail of grey. He lay idling in the courtyard so still that we thought he was no more. But once I petted him and scratchy scratched his pretty little head he squirmed this way and that for more. It followed me across the courtyard and made figure eights around my feet, it jumped onto my friend's lap and made itself cosy. Altogether a tamer cat I have yet to meet. Almost made up for my stay there. Snippet 2 It is difficult to be a non believer and try to blend into masses of devotees. At the Puri Jagannath temple one has to leave footwear far outside and walk barefoot wi...

Snippet 1 After a typical pedal boat ride across the crowded lake, swerving left and right to avoid honeymooners and raucous tourists on their boats...we got off and gingerly headed towards the amusement park style rides surrounding the lake area. Much to my delight my trip-partner was as much a rides enthusiast as I was and we promptly bought tickets and got onto the Tora Tora ride. The ride operator fellow advised that we sit on separate booths and locked us in. We were the only two people on the ride. The view from there was quite pretty but the speed and pattern in which the ride was whirling around allowed for only screaming and gasped expressions of pain as we were plastered to the sides of our respective seats. It was hilarious and painful....my ribs were hurting from too much pressure and my stomach from laughing too much. Just when we were screaming to each other that enough was enough the ride stopped. Even though we were nearly reeling from the experience....my co passen...

Snippet 1:  The Microsoft R&D offices in the Financial District of Hyderabad are the epitome of modernity and the symbol of the city’s cyber-corporate ambitions. Having reached early I was welcomed in by an HR representative of the company and was shown through the halls which were dotted with comfortable couches and seating spaces to the mammoth cafeteria which resembled the mini food court of a shopping mall. After taking trays full of food we made our way through yet more open workspaces and common chill out areas that sported foosball tables, carom tables and ping-pong tables. Also noticed, numerous coffee stations equipped with soft drink machines, coffee and tea dispensing machines, candy and noodles and of course....a microwave. Later, ensconced in her room, which had a fabulous view chatting over breakfast the HR lady told me that the company employs the best software brains of the country and does not blink while providing them handsome pay packages and numerous be...

For a person who likes to travel, it is a great opportunity to be allowed on a day's work to a different city. The whole experience of boarding an early morning flight and reaching a new airport and city might be anathema to some, but to me it is sheer joy. I cannot vouch whether this enthusiasm will remain if I am sent to the same place numerous times or if I'll be as relaxed as I am now if I have something intimidating (like a presentation clad in a saree) to do....but hey analyses apart....this post is not about pessimistic possibilties. The bonus on this trip is the fact that I have literally nothing to do. Doing just one fifth of the total work I do on a given workday at office, it seems as though I will have three hours to explore the city by myself. The opportunity is so unexpected and so exhilerating that I am finding it difficult to plan what to do for those few hours. Should I make my way to a famous minaret or should I head to the huge serene lake that I remember ...

Snippet 1 On the lookout for the famous eatery Martin’s we prowled around the dark by-lanes of Goa on a Saturday evening ...eight women divided into two cars. Ours was the pilot car since I was the one who had called Martin’s ahead of time and booked a table for dinner at 8:30. The man who spoke to me over the phone assured me he would give me directions once I reached a specific area. As agreed I called him when our cars had reached Margao but weirdly enough he could not for the life of him understand which location we were calling from. The directions that followed were hilarious to say the least.... I was asked to go straight ahead and take a right turn at the junction where a road map was pasted on a signboard....go straight ahead till you reach a chicken shop (he said!) and then take a right after the shop and keep going till you reach a railway track....cross the tracks and head straight till you reach a church and then take a left........ after that....get this....ASK SOMEONE...

Imagine a car ride on a bumpy road. The potholes, the speed breakers, the moronic drivers who refuse to obey traffic rules.....imagine it all. Imagine yourself navigating your way through all of that...on and on and on. My days are like that now. I feel tired just to think about the alertness with which I witness my own life. The resilience with which the human spirit bounces back into the fighting ring and takes punches to the face has become an accepted fact though somewhat exhausting. Just last week I was reeling from the news of a gruesome death of an acquaintance. The morbidity and gore associated with the event filled my mind and all I could think of was blood, guts and a life flashing away. Then other events filled my mind...and I concentrated on activities more than thoughts for a while. A state of constant motion (almost Brownian) where I detested sitting still and could not do restful tasks like reading. A need to keep talking to others, to be in their company, to keep my...