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Heyy Thanks all of u.. Made my Diwali a wonderful event..

First to start with our Saturday event at the Surabhi foundation. When I saw from outside it was just another Govt. school with minimal facilities and handful children. I hadnt expected as many volunteers and events, since I am a first timer to such activities. I had a goose skin when I saw you all becoming ones aming the little blessings and playing. There was sheer joy and real Diwali pleasure in all of you including kids. You guys all knew what they wanted. And there they got it.. Singing, dancing, games, sweets, craft and Yeah Crackers!!!... It was wonderful...

Sunday at the RC was a little nerving for me. I was terrified when I saw little girls with little toddlers/infants in their hand. I spoke to Mrs Vasantha who said the number has gone up from 6 to 75 and some girls came back often!!.. I feel they need to be given more counselling and time than just clothes, shoes etc.. And lovely was the time spent with them.. I am glad to be a part of the celebration.

I HAVE to comment about the skills these kids have. Amazing!! I did the same event in office and I Bet my colleagues could not make even 50% close to what these kids did... They sure will envy their artistic skills :)

Thanks Prarthana.. for the Reply request in CAPS.. for the first time I composed a mail in 16 minutes and REPLIED .. :D

Cheers guys.. I will be glad to be part of future events ..

Mamta Click on Photographs to view the pictures.

Are You A Virgin?

Feeling really funny writing this.. Has anybody asked you this question? Are u a virgin? I know u ll laugh. Do u remember anyone asking you this? I guess you would. It’s a mandatory question for guys during the ice-breaking session, at college or at work..Some would get embarrassed and some would feel so proud to disclose their Valery. So sacred is virginity in India. I am not debating the fact that one should (should not) be virgin until marriage. Just remembered how Indians are prepared (not) to lose virginity or even if lost to keep it secret… An average Indian loses his/her virginity at an age of 23.. I didn’t say that- Times of India did. We aren’t too fast, are we ?? But why?? When the biology book says reproduction is equally important as respiration, digestion and metabolism!!! End of reproduction class our teachers NEVER forget to mention, though important for examination, this isn’t as important as eating, drinking and sleeping (literal terms)...In a school like mine which was full of nuns who never would have lost their treasure over anyone (no comments!! ) blessed with a head mistress Mary Lobo, who would start class with a geography chapter and probably end with either a moral science or sex education chapter, we were bound to mentally block ourselves even with the thought of it and live with the nightmare to have had lost it. All I can remember about that lady was – Don’t do anything WRONG. Become something and wait! Look he will be at your door, asking your dad – Sir I WANT TO MARRY YOUR DAUGHTER!! Jeez what dramatic expressions she had. For real we all would go to the same dreamland where she was imagining a handsome, rich guy knocking.. Nope ringing the doorbell… most of the times all of us thinking about the same guy, because it was a girls school and there were very few good looking guys in boys school.(yeah we had St. josephs girls and boys school separate)... It was a warning not just a lesson. I am sure most of the schools have this form of sex education. Even the video they showed was so terribly scary, that anyone who would watch that will give up on the thoughts of having sex. Spooky – some good for nothing movie they played so that we carry the same impression to college too and hate all men. This is just an example. Our surroundings is like that. You watch any bollywood/tollywood/sandalwood movie. Typical story : hero – heroine part because of some reason – they don’t see each other for 10 years – they meet again after 10 years and ting! she hasn’t been seeing anyone yet and still is virgin. Sometimes stories go beyond – she will be married to another man but still would not have had sex with him – still better , she will have a kid with her husband but yet virgin (IVF is popular these days may be!).. The last thing women in Indian film industry would want to lose is virginity(in movies )
Girls also never admit. There was this girl I know who would get high(or pretend to be high) and want to get lucky with any guy available. The next morning when she is all sober, she would want him to say nice things about her. It’s human to want to hear nice things about oneself. After all that, whenever she heard people call her bad, she would cry for having been called by names and had tried commiting suicide once too. In real whether she is virgin or no, people should just call her virgin must be her intention. So virginity is a must tag for girls.
Then comes the guys. I have so many guys saying I will wait for the right woman. Wait for the right woman to make out and what if she turns out to be wrong? Is there a reverse process? But this population is very less compared to the population who would want to prove the peers their real power. For a girl to lose virginity it’s a shame – but for some guys it’s a honor. More early you lose, more better it is for him. I guess this is only limited to a certain age group. When these guys grow up, they turn out to be ‘I will wait for the right woman’ character. I guess so. Its only my assumption..

But I think its mere human or rather Indian to find out if the girl is a virgin. It doesn’t apply for guys I believe. Anyone who asks a girl if she has a boyfriend would have the intention to know if she is virgin as well. It’s a combo question. It’s a combo of “do you have a boyfriend?” with a hidden “are you a virgin” question along. This incident is a must tell when I am talking about losing virginity. I was in school when I went to a far relatives wedding. Wedding was in Sirsi(Karnataka) and the guy was from a village near by. After the wedding we went to the guys house. All the women were shyly whispering into brides and grooms ears something. I am sure it would be a theory class on how to make out. People those days were really innocent, and I am sure this was much needed. I didn’t say anything about that. But the next thing they did was spooky, they have this ritual that the groom should keep some dakshina ( money) under the bed at night. Morning they are not supposed to remove the sheet!! Know the intention??? Yes, just to find out if the lady had bled and was a virgin!!! At that age I could know the intention. Why is everyone inquisitive to know?? Is it such a thing that the whole world has to know? If she hadn’t bled did it mean she wasn’t a virgin? It could also mean they didn’t make love, isn’t it??
I feel weird now after I wrote this, but I really did want to write. Why is everyone want to know this? Any idea?

Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu… That feeling – That lunch just before the examination starts. Nervous and Anxious. Hot Daal, Rice and lemon, so tasty otherwise is now tasting bland. TV is doing its best to grab my attention but fails.. Déjà Vu.. I have felt the same sometime back.. May be when I was in school or college.. It’s the same feeling today..

After two years I appear for the examination. I have prepared well I can say. When they sent me on LOP I did study. But am so nervous. It always happens. I feel I am definitely going to flunk and feel so scared. I did feel it today.. I started my way to examination hall..
I am feeling like a packet moving from source to destination. . The cake I got on New year also looked like a Router to me.. And I stop at the signal next to an auto rickshaw -a yellow rickshaw… I see its number plate… Geez it has an IP address.. Yes it was.. Guess now on all the vehicles will have IP addresses. Network number and Host ID.. He was staring at me wondering why is this girl smiling. May be he was trying to send an ARP packet..
Gawk!!… And I lost my way.. Why did I go to Basaveshwara nagar? A traceroute would have helped.. I curse the traffic- I am getting late. Congestion… Wait.. I need money and I saw so many ATMs on the way. Didn’t stop by any.. Just like that.. 16 , 17, 18 ATMs may be I passed, never stopped by… Some compatibility issue. What if the Server denies my access. ..As I go by the road one more question occurred to me.. What If they ask me the chemical formula of a router?? I haven’t studied that .. Silly I thought then… I am gone insane.

I reach the exam centre only to find an attender and the manager.. I completed the registration. Needed a photograph, which the manager took, and it seemed like the camera didn’t like me. It was staring at me grudgingly and clicked at my scariest expression ever. Bling!! that was the pic which got posted on my certificate. I sit at the computer given to me.. The attender clicked this that and BOOM, my exam started. I felt the mouse was wet..Oops that was my hand sweating.. I read the first question. Wow I know the answer. And then the second and third..wasnt as scary as I thght it would be. I do this everytime.. Nervous like crazy.. After soaking the mouse with sweat for an hour and so, I realized that the terror was over…. I clicked end exam and wow.. I have faired well.. I am sure those two would have heard the sigh I let out.. Ha ha Pappu pass Hogaya.. But commentable was the Déjà vu feeling.. I am sure I have felt the same way sometime before.. Déjà vu….

Insomnia and Me..

What was that time the mobile phone was showing? Something past 2 AM? 2.35 I guess.
With Barely one eye open I saw the time and cursed those dogs barking outside. And, a cough came in between to cut the panorama of curses to those stray dogs. Dont they sleep at night? Shouldn't they be sleeping? Gulp! Swallowed some saliva to moisten my dry throat.Why did I become thirsty suddenly? Or did I just realise that I was thirsty? I still can hear them barking at infinity. And that nerve on my left shoulder pulling and hurting to add to the grief of sleepless night. Why dont I sleep? I close my eyes to collect some sleep and Invade. It never comes to me. They bark the whole night, I listen to them and curtly curse them. Another cough and I stretched my arms to give those nerves some comfort, it said just leave it stretched.. I left it. Spondulytis hurts.. Invariably you will get used to the pain. Now one eye started to hurt, since am typing on the phone with one eye open. The light is irritating. I yawn and rub the same eye which is closed. Dogs dont bark anymore?.. Rubbing my eyes again I thought.. When was the last I had a sound sleep without... Yeah its difficult to type with one eye open. I squeezed myself to comfort the shoulder this time. Feels better.Oh.. They had not stopped barking. I can hear the pests.Do they hear my curses? Looking at those stars and moon I have glued on the ceiling for little Amul.. I think.. Why am I up at this hour of night?... Oh Look I have both eyes open now and thinking if its worth writing this at this hour?.. I heard them barking again, fighting hard to restrict any entries to their areas- wish I could refrain from such thoughts. Such thoughts?.. A zero feeling which wakes me at any time it wants, 3am, 4am or 5, comes to me at its wish to wake me up all wide staring at those lifeless plastic stars and moon. With the same feelings I have, even those stare at me sticking to the ceiling. . . Why is no one around me? Loner looks around for assurance.No one. No one around. Whom am I looking for? What if someone was around? The feeling is just yours.. Zero is what you feel, not the ones around.. I pull that soft cushion near and the book on it followed it slyly.. They were quiet and now started barking again..Now more louder? Or is all my attention towards their sound? Dont know...Slowly I will get sleep..Am getting sleep.. Do they know its impossible to ignore such bastards barking through the night?... Asleep.....

"Green Route- Railway Track Trek"

One of the mussssts in Trekkers To Do List has to be the "Green Route- Railway Track Trek".
Sakleshpura is around 220kms from Bangalore and Donigal is 7kms further up in NH48. It runs around NH48 near Donigal, but gradually moves to the south of highway. The track passes through the stations Yedikumeri and Shiribagilu and then crosses the Subramanya road, which connects Subramanya with the NH48 at Gundya.

The journey to Sakleshpura by bus was not a cake walk. The driver was real sleepy despite of the nap break he took when all of us inside the bus were past asleep. On top of that he happily rammed into the divider dozing away to glory. Somehow with several tea breaks we reached (alive!!) to Donigal from where we started our trek. This place must be around 7km away from Sakleshpura and on the NH4.

We forked off from the highway and got into the railway track. A goods train carrying oil tankers from Indian Railway.. From there started the journey. We expected it to rain heavy there, but it was totally dry. Initially took a while for us to get used to be walking on the track having huge boulders, but the legs got used to rhythmic walk.

There were few bridges and tunnels along the way (that’s why we went there for). The bridges were around 20-30ft high invariably and was enough scary for acrophobic. I heard the fish-plates (the metal coverings) which are now there was not there a year ago, so that trekking would have been more adventurous. Only few of the tracks did not have the fish-plates and were sufficiently scary :)

Then were the tunnels there. Longest one being around 543m before Yedikumeri. The tunnels were pitch dark, moist, drippy and we could hear bats screeching. For an Achluophobic (fear of darkness - sorry for the technicality of the term used :P), like me it was definitely a night-mare. All my friends already know it - When I call them at the night for no reason, there should be power cut at my area :)... I tried a couple of tunnels holding my breath and did really want to get the fear out. I tried distracting myself by talking (which otherwise also I do). But didn’t succeed. I still am scared of darkness for sure :(

The experience that definitely has to be quoted which I can never forget was when we were in the 510m long tunnel and a goods train passed by!! Amazing experience it was, its pitch dark inside and narrow spacing of about 4ft between the train and you!!

We pit-stopped by a stream and had our lunch. I should admire the energy few aunties and uncles had (Sorry I don’t remember any names). They walked much faster than we did and had the hot water ready to prepare the ready to eat MTR food packets. We relaxed and had the food there, while another goods train passed by which was so close that my heart literally came to my mouth for the noise it made:-|

Finally we walked to Yedikumeri which was 18km from where we started. This was just a platform and some rooms for the station master. There were two taps around and inside the half-build station was a metal cot for the watchman to sleep. I knew we were camping at a station but the station per my imagination was ABSOLUTELY not this... We walked to a near-by water fall and took shower there. Not one but many leeches bit us mercilessly and had a feast of Bangalore blood. Back to the platform there was no place for us to change!! Arvind the coordinator gave a huge plastic bag and asked us to hide behind it to change!! Gross was the feeling, but we didn’t have a choice.


The pun was when my friend Sayeesha found a baby viper in his sleeping bag. It looked very sane though!! All of us checked our sleeping bags over and over after that. Whatever breed it was the color of it was flamboyant.

Most of the guys got frustrated because it was so frustrated that there was no place to sleep. It was 42 of us and another group was also at the site. Somehow few people found places to sleep and didn’t realize it was too early to hit the sack (It was just 8PM and since there was no activity in that place, it really looked like late night).

Some found dry wood and lit the camp-fire, but clouds did not seem to like it. It started pouring soon as we lit the fire and lit it all off. We had dinner (MTR gets the take) while we waited for the rain to stop. It stopped thankfully and we lit it again. Hooray!! and there it was. We sat around it playing Antakshari and Dumb-charades and the people at the station were really getting annoyed!! J After a few shouting’s from them and keen monitoring from friend Sayeesha who “sshhhhh shhhhhh” every time we made noise - and since the lights were turned off one by one, we had to bid bye to the games n hit the sack.

And to our surprise that was not IT…We had a overly friendly (!!) and obnoxious watch-man who was drunk like a fish who started talking in his own language to all. After all of us went to bed he still wanted to have some more fun so he kept on talking non-sense for a long time till Arvind shouted at him. He threw the backpack which was kept there (and my slip-ons, towel and some other stuff too, for I simply was a spectator - too scared to protest :-|). He left the place and returned with a triumph. Said- it was his place n slept next to the other watch-man who was sleeping on the metal cot. But his non-sense DID continue. Not that I saw but I heard from Arvind that he tried to take out some stuff from some ones bag. I heard a loud thud and whack!!! There he was getting beaten up from Arvind and was thrown out like a dead mouse. So all this added to my adventure trek while I realized it was time to catch the 4.20 am train to Subramanya Road.

We waited for the passenger train to stop. Only 3 bogies were un-reserved and we were 42 in number. Those who were used to travelling in local train in Mumbai could easily get in (So did I) and others could not for one of the bogies was reserved for women. It was not so a cakewalk for us who got inside. The train was overly crowded since it was an auspicious day for God Subramanya, there was no place even to stand. Some good Samaritans gave us some place to sit – some managed to sit on half bum and others stood on one or another half feet. Some things happen for the first time and this was it that 20 of us travelled 60km without tickets :)

We reached Subramanya Road junction and tried contacting the rest who were left back at the Yedikumeri Station. We got through the station master and heard that the batch still was there. Tried calling the bus driver and could not get through. We decided to take the cabs back to Gundya where our bus was parked. Gundya was 30km from Subramanya Road and it took 30 minutes to reach.

It was a real pain to while away time there till others reached. Some of them decided to take a bus back to Bangalore and they did so. Guru and others found a pond around and we spent some time there around. I met a lil new friend – a pup, she was very fond of us and followed us till the bus from where she was. She swam across the pond better than any of us did and had a cozy- warm Praveen’s lap to sleep on.

By 1pm the ones who trekked back reached the bus. It was terrible to see them. They did not have enough food and were tired even to have lunch. We started from Gundya after lunch. Ruthvika lead the underworld Mafia war game and Mafias killed a lot of them over and over despite of doctor’s presence.

Over all the experience was amazing despite of so much of cliché and I am sure as eggs is eggs that all of us had a memorable trek.


This is my side of the story.. I don’t know what happened to those who missed the train and trekked back. I would love to hear their side of the story. Soon :)

(You can see the pics at Yedikumeri Trek Gallery )

I Missed her so much

Capture this moment.. I was waiting for a call from my best friend from school.. had a smile when i saw a new number on my phone, I dont know how to explain wat I am feeling now.. My best friend from school called me up after 10 years.. I always dialed her number (an old 5 digit land line number) with a hope that somebody will pick the call. Trust me.. That was 37107, I used to prefix 2 or 22 or 32 just that one of the combination will work.. Anupama.. yes her name is Anupama.. Now Anupama Raghavendra.. When I saw a friend request on orkut I had a goose-skin.. Nostalgia.. How should I thank Orkut.. I still Have a goose-skin while I am typing this.. All those days came back to me.. The days when we used to go on bicycles to places, talk about everythin on earth, go for long walks along M G Road, I missed her so much... So So Much..

She was here in Bangalore all the time.. I came to Bangalore in 2001, she came in 2002, I stay in Vijayanagar, so does she!!(Perhaps both of us in Chandra Layout) But we never met.. Thats called Destiny...


I am going to Mark this date on calender.. I know I am overly excited.. I dont care... I missed her so much......... Yes I Did...

The Drift

The Drift..

May be it was like a dream come true for me to get into an IT industry. Study between work was such an achievement for me!I was so proud about working while studying. Like my destiny was to get into IT. But I wanted to be secretive about the drift. For anyone who bumped into to my desk seeing the BIG BOOK I was reading and asked me “hey what book is that?”, my answer with a grin was “ahem nothing, just brushing up my knowledge..he he he” as if they were fools not to understand.
Top of that attending interviews was plain pain. It was ridiculous to get up in the morning after working in night shifts. Getting dressed in FORMALS(very difficult to categorise girls clothes into formal and casual, it should be called 'Formal Casuals' and 'Casual Formals'. Did not understand anything? Never mind).
Finally the “the day” came when I was selected.. I could not but believe I was through. After FEW rounds of interviews, and LOTS of rounds of re-thinking, they waved a green flag for my entry into the new company.
The first week at the new work place was a “WEAR ONLY FORMALS” week. For a work place where most of the employees are very conservative, I had to search for salwars and reluctantly wear them. I did not want to go with my anti-fits or skinny jeans though the work place did not restrict on wearing them during the week days. And Hurray, I managed to wear salwars for a week, but failed to look conservative. Why?... My hair!!! It, definitely was off-place. I had this LONG -BROWN- FRIZZY-CURLY hair and I could see most of them staring at me from the corner of their eyes(even girls did!!!) whenever I was around. All gave me that friendly, sweetheart smile and behind they looked at each other with “where did they bring this evil from?” question. Few even called me by name -“Annian”(hindi Aparichit movie) because of hairdo of the hero was identical to mine. One more thing grabbed everyones attention was my nose ring. Not that no girl in the company had her nose pierced, but they did not wear a silver ring like mine. So whoever i spoke to, had got a different version of story about me to tell everyone.
All I had to digest was the fact, that calling by names, mocking or laughing at a newly joined, little weird or “different from others” people is very common in all work places. I always tried to look as “sober” as I could, but looked like it did not work. I did not know for how many did my language was “disgusting” and “discomforting”, but nobody did react for the “informal” words flying from my mouth.
Things(almost) have changed now. Am writing this after exactly a year from when all this happened. U will see me in LONG-BROWN-STRAIGHT Hair, unlike the Annian way. Nose ring is still intact, happily resting over my stout nose and the language is not any better. But definitely the perception of my friends about me has changed. Now I know why mom always wanted my drift.