Feeling old!

Feeling old - just exchanged my motorcycle for a gear-less scooter - also known as a scooty in my country.
I still remember that day when I bought it - thirteen years back it was a frigid Sunday of December when I brought it home. Rajesh rode it back as I didn't know how to ride it. Friends asked for a party - announced to bring your bikes yourself to a McD nearby, and as a result I had to learn riding it on the same day!  It looks like just a day of last week when I was scouting all the bike showrooms around my office - with Tarique taking a test-ride on my behalf! I can clearly remember Naveen telling me not to buy a smaller bike but a bigger one, because I would look smart on that! Dad told me not to buy a motorcycle, whereas Mom simply laughed it off, and told me to buy a black one instead of a red motorcycle. Countless rides - alone, and with friends; in hot-as-hell Noida, and in chilly Shimla; short ones to bring milk, and the longer ones to travel across the city - there are too many to write about it!

Time flies, we get old - move from one phase of life to the other one, and as Goppal Sir puts it - we keep on getting upgrades!

You are not stuck in traffic, but you are traffic yourself.

As a cyclist I don't need music to keep me interested...the mystery that the SUV next to me can turn either side any moment without indicating may even kill me! But still it was fun yesterday when NH2 was blocked by the protesters. Although the traffic was being diverted, but it did create a jam, a pile up of all the vehicles trying to take to the bypass road. So, what did I do - just got down from the bus, unfolded my colourful "tern" and rode on it. It was not exactly a zipping between cars-n-bus due to close extent people like to drive their vehicle to the next one, but still I was moving. The sheer joy of reaching home on time beats everything else.

Got a lot of thumbs up when I was sliding past the cars, some were curious, some were dismissive, some were plain jealous, but I do home that I must have inspired a few more to ride. As they say, you are not stuck in traffic, but you are traffic yourself; so come out and break this deadlock, be free!

That question on dinosaurs!

"You must have seen dinosaur when you were young like me...?" - chirped my li'le-one yesterday. She was watching TV - yes, we've got it now, where it was being explained that these species used to exist long back and are extinct now. 

My reply was an affirmative one - told her that we had a pet one too - a small one, that it  "might" still be around there in the jungle next the little village where I grew up.  Now she's eagerly looking forward to visit that place in her summer holidays.

A simple solution (...again!)

A simple solution (...again!)                                                                                        31-Jul-2013

TV – la Television, although educational, but is a medium which constantly bombards you with advertisements which, needless to say, influence children the most. Fortunately, we have found a solution – things are either for grownups, or she already has it (...it or a close substitute “it”), or is very expensive (...fiscal responsibility in young age, remember...) or in simpler words, requires a lot of money.

But yesterday she found a way for that as well – we were told “I’ll get that when I’ll grow up....the whole bunch of money...errr I’ll take that from you”.

The Monday morning...

The Monday morning...                                                                                                          15-Jul-2013


"No...stay at home with me" - the morning scene today.
"But", I protested, "I need to go my office - I have to work there".
"Work at home - we'll play".
"But they pay me to attend office...money to buy chocolate from Safal".
Her glittering eyes told that she had, indeed, found the solution - and an obvious one on that.
"Come with me for money", she said," we'll go an ATM and not the office".

It was not scripted...

It was not scripted...                                                                                                   27-Jul-2013


Pretty old, pretty lame - a PJ or poor-joke, but it happened today.
All the running around the home,or in fact, an attempt to fly was duly rewarded when she hit something - one of her toys lying on the floor. She didn't fall, but was obviously in some pain. That is what happens in these situations - eyes swollen with tears and her Doctors' kit was handed over to me with a demand for a thorough check-up. I was explained that her left foot is hurt and she's having trouble in walking as she can't lift it up.

"Oh!", I said, "how high does it go now" - it was an obvious effort for her to move foot for around an inch or so.
"...and, how high were you able to lift the same foot earlier?".
Needless to say, but "Doctor" was successful this time too!

It is fun, ain't it?

It is fun, ain't it?                                                                                                                28-Jul-2013

Drawing - not a great artist, or even an artist, but for me it is fun. For my kid, it is double the fun...and when we're doing it together, it is fun-unlimited...we just don't draw, but fight for pencils, eraser and colours as well.
Needless to say that we don't draw much together, but that one hour spent together is the best part of the day.