CASE OF THE MISSING BLUE JACKET

THE CASE OF MISSING BLUE JACKET

There is a proverb in my mother tongue, Tamil. Which means “Anger. Which is like fire if it gets attaches to a person it burns him / her to death “. We had a firsthand experience recently!

We were on a trip from New Jersey to Niagara a few days back. We boarded the bus from N J early in the morning on a bright sunny morning. The bus was full and filled with mostly people from our mother land and a few from China. The tour guide was one Rachel a Chinese lady and a Chinese Driver by name Sunny who looked, more like Jackie Chan was the driver.

The tour guide was finding it very difficult to control our crowd who were never sticking to time at any point, be it a break for tea / coffee or lunch. We were time and again pushed by her to adhere to timings. She then told that Sunny would not do over time and we must stick to our declared timings.

Sunny our driver was one who never adhered to any of the disciplinary things imposed on us like eating / drinking within the bus. He was always busy either on phone or drinking ice tea and what not.

The trip over all was for two days. The first day was very nice and nearly coming to an end. We had great view of the falls and about to board the bus around 9 PM to be transported to the hotel in Buffalo suburb.

Rachel approached me and asked me whether I saw the Jacket of Sunny. I said no. She claimed the he had lost the same in the bus with his keys, credit card etc. I told her to announce this using the public system as everyone had boarded the bus by then.

She liked the suggestion and announced that if anyone had taken the same by mistake to use as the day was pretty cold to return the same. There was no response. Then Sunny took the stage and in his own broken English stated that he was feeling cold and he was also a human being. Therefore we must return the jacket to him immediately.

Still there was no response from any passenger! Then he lost his cool and started his special talk…” Fuc…ing…………………Thieves, this, that…police…this…that .”  He was refusing to start the bus stating saying that he must get the jacket first.

By then I lost my cool and told Rachel to take the bus to the nearest police station as we were not travelling from India to US to steal a jacket. Other members to joined me then stating that the behavior of Sunny was unpalatable.

Then reluctantly Sunny started the bus and for an hour I had the ordeal of listening to his Chinese argument as my seat No. was 1.  with his colleagues in NJ and bosses in NJ. But for “ Chai Ma” which even Thai people use. Other words were nothing but frustration out coming at very high fiery velocity !

We reached our hotel late night and retired.

Next day morning we had to leave at 6.45 AM. I was out walking around 6.35 AM. Sunny landed near the bus with his Blue jacket and all that. I greeted him Good morning which he acknowledged. Then Rachel came to me and told me that Sunny had found the jacket inside the bus in seat No. 17 & 18.

I told her to forget the whole episode and ignore and start the Sunday’s journey with a prayer.

Sunny, who had so much to talk, about all the theories, like someone stealing the jacket and after trying throwing the same in the falls etc. had no face to face anyone of the members !!

OBSESSION......9

KRITHIKA ….2 :-

Oh I am coming after a pretty long gap ! I am sure you would not have forgotten. Life in interior districts of Tamil Nadu is sweet, uncomplicated and a sort of linear in nature. But people like me always want some complications to make the same meaning full and interesting!

After my Post Graduation in Food & Nutrition I was sort of chilling myself in the cocooned environment of home. Good fat food, afternoon naps were the luxuries to indulge. But life was not supposed to be spent that way. That too in a family filled up with successful siblings!

I was trying to figure out what to do with the post graduation in Food Science and Nutrition. One of the options prompted by my elder sister was research abroad. That needed a year or two of preparation in India followed by another PG abroad and then applying for research scholarship. I felt that was not my cup of tea, rather Coffee. You know that I am a coffee addict, that too typical Andhra type darker and less milk - Chicory blended !

Another choice was to get into the wave of IT boom which was engulfing the entire industrial segment. But my current degree and training would never come handy therefore I need to go the Business Process Outsourcing way (BPO), which meant call center and night duties, which was unappealing.

I therefore started shooting applications and resumes to all and sundry in Chennai every day. But apply, apply and no reply was the case as none accepted / acknowledged my posts.  

Meanwhile I turned green out of jealousy as one of my batch mate got a job in a big Food MNC in Chennai. She was a deafer with lesser mark and smartness.( In my humble opinion no one is as mart as me!!).

Meanwhile I was spending time taking tuition to a few children and teaching in a private college in the district headquarters.

When one day I got a call from a new company in Chennai seeking my telephonic interview for the position of Scientific officer I was transformed to cloud 9 !!

WELCOME...HEARTY WELCOME !!!

Welcome ! Hearty Welcome !

No other country in the world has mesmerized me so much as the United States of America! Wow a super power, country which was made and nurtured by immigrants.  A land of opportunity and what not!

Ever since childhood I had nurtured a hope that on e fine day I will step on the soil of America! I was always longing for the same. With the advent Information Technology and related IT enabled fields, in India virtually every household has a couple of family members staying in the US. Youngsters in professional roles and elders in the role of “unpaid baby sitters”!!

Well I got to a chance to land in Washington, for the first time in America from Madagascar on 3^rd May’2017.

We were all scared to death by stories of strict immigration laws, visa issues, unfriendly customs and immigration people etc. Even the airline people were doubly careful as they chose to ensure that the customs forms were all filled properly.

On landing in Washington DC, we were quickly ushered into the immigration counters. The person ensuring proper line up was very jovial and asked us how were doing that morning and how as the flight etc. The immigration officer was also quite cool.  When I complimented him that he was the first foreigner to pronounce my name correctly he was very happy and started eating out of my hand.

He could not pronounce the ANTANANARIVO name of the capital city of Madagascar where we are living. He said  he had never heard about that city !!

On clearing and collecting the baggage we moved arrival hall No. 1 to meet our daughter which is near Sarrinen Circle. We reached arrival hall 1 and looking here and there and no trace of our daughter.

The place was crowded and there were plenty of unknown faces,  all eagerly awaiting someone on the other known !

 As a baker, I could smell the aroma of freshly baked cookies emanating from somewhere . The crowded hall had three ways to move. On directing my neck to the direction of aroma of cookies I could see a counter with brightly lit sign proclaiming “ MAY I HELP YOU !” in smoothing blue color. There were two volunteers a gentleman and a lady ..both in their late fifties.

We chose to move there and seek help. We were welcomed and we wanted to know the direction for Sarrinen circle. We were advised to use their phone and call our daughter. Then on learning that our daughter was on the way and would take up to twenty minutes we were made to sit comfortably and offered to taste cookies !

We shared the biscuits we were carrying from Madagascar! Then when our daughter called we were guided to the pick up point as there was no parking facility nearby.

We were given tourist maps, brochures for sightseeing and wishes a very happy stay in the United States of America !! We were told that there are four hundred volunteers under TOURISTS & TRAVELERS program to help visitors to America all our the country at important places like this !!

On Womanhood

On womanhood ....  

Though women constitute more or less fifty percent of the total population they are not always treated fairly, though they are called fairer sex etc.

According to Subramanya Bharathi a great Tamil Poet he writes that “To be born as a woman one must have done great penance! “. But in reality situation is far from such an ideal state.

Though there are many religions in India, Hinduism gave great respect for woman during Vedic time. Some of the interesting scripts from Veda are quoted to corroborate the point !

“Where Women are Respected, Gods Rejoice”

According to Manu, where women are respected, Gods are rejoiced.

I am He, you are She;
I am Song, you are Verse,
I am Heaven, you are Earth.
We two shall here together dwell,
becoming parents of children.

"Women must be honored and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands and brothers-in-law, who desire their own welfare." (Manu Smriti III, 55)

“Where women are honored there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honored no sacred rite yields rewards," Manu Smriti (III.56).

"Where the female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers." (Manu Smriti III, 57).

"The houses on which female relations, not being duly honored, pronounce a curse perish completely as if destroyed by magic." (Manu Smriti III, 58)
Mahabharata says "There is no friend like the wife, there is no refuge better than the wife. There is no better ally in the world than the wife in acts undertaken for acquisition of dharmic merit (Shanti Parva 144-16). She is a true wife who is skillful in household affairs. She is a true wife who has borne a son. She is a true wife whose heart is devoted to her lord (husband). She is a true wife who knows none but her lord. The wife is a man’s half. The wife is the first of friends. The wife is the root of religion, profit and desire. The wife is the root of salvation. They that have wives can perform religious acts.”
On Mother :-
Rigveda 6.61.7: O enlightening Mother! You have the potential to destroy the evil. You have a character as pure as gold. You have the potential to destroy the clouds of frustrations and doubt. You are brave and you only aspire for our well being and success! We are indeed blessed!

Yajurveda 6.31: O pure and blessing Mothers! Satisfy our mind, speech, life, eyes, ears, soul and society with nobleness.

Yajurveda 11.68: O Mother! Protect us from infighting. Protect us from violence and hatred. Propel us to conduct noble acts of valor. May we together conduct virtuous acts alone.

So one can safely conclude that the all these issues of medical termination of pregnancies when the fetus is identified as that of a girl, suppression of girl child from getting it rightful share in food, shelter, education and social status are recent inventions to silence the women folk.

Christianity because of its recent evaluation is being perceived as a modern religion keeping women in equal status. Islam on the contrary pays scant attention to the feelings of women because of the interpretation of Shariat their personal law with issues like Triple Talaq etc. looming large in Muslim women’s lives.

But Hinduism on the contrary has always been keeping Women in high esteem and one should feel proud to be Hindu for this great reason.

OBSESSION.......8

ME…2

News about Sudhir’s career move reached me through my mother who was living in Chennai and wanted me back there to take care of my father who was ailing. She had contact with Sudhir’s mother and got the information when she was chatting with her.

I called Sudhir from Africa. He was as usual boasting about this and that of himself ! Calls from Africa especially then were very costly, but one had to put up with that to break ice and get one’s way. After all that egoistic talk he wanted to know how I was doing. I cried my heart out and told him I was in need of a quick and desperate change to be with my parents.

I was advised to send my resume to him. Things fell in place quickly and I had a telephonic interview with Sudhir and same was followed by his Boss. Then an offer letter was faxed to me .

There were issues in getting relived from Africa. Sudhir was very resourceful, he told me to abandon everything and fly. He told me that there would be no need for any relieving letter etc.

 I moved to Chennai. I was charged with the function of setting up my department and build a team to implement company’s policies etc. Thus my search for Scientific Officers began. I was away from Indian industries for nearly five years as I was away from mother land and working Africa. I had to seek help from a few known professionals known to me in and around Chennai.

There were a few candidates recommended by my mother too as she too had a wide circle of friends. I took one candidate like that who was from pharma background.

One of my friends passed on a bunch of resumes which she had received earlier for her office. One of the resume was that of Krithika’s !