Fun, Humor, Life experiences, Nature, Travel, Food, Work, Silly Verses, Nostalgia, Random Thoughts
I checked WhatsApp on my phone this morning after a few days. In couple of bigger groups I am in there were 100+ unread messages/posts since the last time I had checked. As usual many were forwards and forward of forwards and so forth. Quite a few were video clips and of course no morning is complete without some folks posting Good Morning messages with pictures 🙂 Some interesting, informative, important posts lost in the overall clutter 😦 A thought struck me. WhatsApp is like water!
On the surface there is not much in common between the two. Water is nature’s creation that’s a wonder and WhatsApp is man-made that makes you wonder what was it created for. But then I discerned the similarities!
1) Both are free
2) Both can be shortened to WA
3) Both consumed mainly through pipes, fatter the pipe faster the receipt
4) If not monitored both can easily overflow their containers
5) Just as water gets polluted with release of effluents WhatsApp posts also get polluted by people forwarding posts and adding their own tweaks to make it more “interesting”, the original losing whatever charm it had in the process
6) Both are subject to wanton misusage. Those who have access to either in plenty prone to use it like there is no tomorrow
7) Those with scarce availability dig deeper, quite possibly depriving others of their fair share
8) Unfortunately both end up in a sea of bilge quite often
9) Anything that is free and not properly used eventually comes with a big price for all
What is true for WhatsApp is also true for other social media tools like FB, Twitter etc. What say?
One of the nicest things in the country is the public library system. Becoming a member of local public system is a breeze. Show proof of residence (Driver License/Utility Bill) for library membership and once you receive the library card you are ready to rock n roll! Plenty of books to choose from but I generally get videos. Over the years my reading has been reduced to bite-sized offerings online. Once inside the library I just head straight to the recently returned cart. Not for me the trouble of going through shelves to find the right book or video. My logic for browsing through recent returns is simple. Saves me time, I don’t care for the latest and greatest and if some other library member has found a video worth watching it’s likely to have some appeal. Works almost always and I also get to discover some gems waiting to be enjoyed like the National Geographic/BBC Nature/Disney Nature specials and good movies that have not had a wide release. One cardinal rule I follow religiously follow when I watch videos: The subtitle has to be on always 🙂 If there was a poll for the most well read video watcher of all time I will be a shoo in to win the competition 😀 Sadly there is no such competition 😦 Anyways if one library visit does not result in good yield there is always a next time!
Long live and flourish the public library system and the subtitle industry for the videos!
Another trip down memory lane 🙂 Grew up in a home that was located centrally in the suburb we lived in and easily accessible by public transport or within walking distance for many people. We had many visitors drop by just to say hello or for other specific reasons. Living in a big, crowded city that meant steady stream of visitors on a regular basis. Dad worked as an officer for Indian Government and he was also active as a committee member of local school trying to do his bit of volunteering to give back to society in his own small way. Got to meet an interesting and eclectic group of people, some of them strangers too, as they visited our home. Some folks used to come for a chat about their personal situation and probably just wanted someone to hear them out. If you are patient listener there is always a sob story waiting to be heard 🙂
One group of people were retired Government servants. They would come seeking assistance if their file got stuck in some Government office and needed help in getting the files moving. Dad would speak to the relevant department employee/s to help the folks get the pension due to them. Others looked for help in understanding arcane rules or changes that would affect their pension. They were grateful for whatever help or guidance they got.
Another group of people were those seeking admission to school. Some of them needed admission for their kids because they got transferred in their jobs in the middle of the school year and a word or recommendation could speed up things and/or make the transition smoother. Then there were others who would seek admission after trying in other schools first. It was interesting to hear them say this was their dream school and spin other tales to make their case 😀
The third group of people are the ones I remember the most. Dad was a gazetted officer (similar to a notary in the US) and this position allowed him to certify some documents and photocopies of marksheets. I think this was one level of security to prevent forgery by having an authorized person check the original and certify that the information was correct. I was dad’s trusted lieutenant always enthusiastically whipping out the official stamp and ink pad ready for dad to do the needful. There were some interesting experiences. Dad being interested in education would show me marksheet (result card) of students that had done extremely well and it was very inspiring to see the outstanding results in those pristine marksheets. I recollect one instance when dad refused to certify something that a person wanted. I was kind of surprised and thought why is dad playing so hard and refusing to do his duty of certifying. To my simple mind if anyone came seeking help they had to be helped. After that person had gone I asked my dad the reason. He explained to me that the person wanted certification of low income for some scholarship and it would be wrong to do that without any supporting evidence. Ah, for a moment I forgot that I inherited the desire to help from the way my parents had raised me.
People would show their appreciation for the help received. Once we got a box of milk chocolates from a person who was grateful for a truckload of documents he got certified. I made quick work of those chocolates 😀 My most abiding memory though is of people distributing pedas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peda) to celebrate their kid’s graduation. While some of them were of high quality there were quite a few that were sugary concoctions that were bad imitations of the good stuff. Just as a high quality ice cream has more cream and less ice a good quality peda should have more khoa (dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating) and less sugar. For a while wiping off memories of those bad pedas became a bit of life mission for me 😀 After I started working I used to buy high quality pedas every now and then till those bad memories were consigned to the dustbin of history 😉
Moral of the story: Did you say I like good pedas? True and close 😀 but that’s not the response I was looking for. Being in a position to help is a blessing and helping others in need without expecting anything in return is the best thing anyone can do! Thanks dad (and mom) for teaching the virtues of helping. It’s the greatest gift anyone can get!
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47643456?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Norman Borlaug – True hero, who helped increase crop yield and feed the world. He has a Wisconsin connection too! His ancestors migrated to Dane County, WI, when they moved from Norway 🙂
Men and women think and react different. Nothing like a real life example to prove it though, right? 😉 One example: While having a great meal me and son can tell crappy jokes or watch crime scenes in TV series replete with gore and still enjoy the meal thoroughly 😀 Wife’s instant reaction if that happens is “We are having a meal, can you guys stop please?” or “Switch off the TV, watch after we have had our meal” 😀 Looks like women find such sights, sounds or even thoughts quite disgusting and disturbing while eating but men can delink easily and nothing comes in the way of enjoying a good meal 😀
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_from_Mars,_Women_Are_from_Venus”
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” is title of book by John Gray.
There might have been gray areas when the book was originally written.
Experience tells the gray cells function differently and that’s a truism. What say?
This is the story of how ‘Rimjhim gire saawan’ happened to be my song of choice on wedding day. After a stressful morning of going through the marriage day rituals and before a stressful evening that requires wearing plastic smile during reception it was time for afternoon fun. It was lucky wife’s turn first and she just chorused her way to “Kuch kuch hotha hai’ glory. My turn next. Not the sort to shy away from subjecting others to my bad vocals I gamely accepted the challenge. That was the easy decision. Song choice on the fly was a different matter altogether. First song that came to mind “Koi lautade mere beethay hue din”. Not a good option, FIL would happily send me to Kashi if I sang that song. Next song “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye tho kya hai”. With that song I would be dispatched out of this world. Each song coming to my mind was either sad or not fitting for the occasion. The clock was ticking and I was getting despondent. Then “Rimjhim gire saawan” flashed across my mind. Just to be sure I mentally recollected the lyrics to confirm there was nothing sad or any complaining tone about it. Hooray, it was a lighthearted and romantic song. First battle won! I belted it out with gusto. Wife absolutely loved it! Reason: She had not heard that song before 😀 Few months later I played original KK version and mentioned to her this is the song I sang on wedding day. Her reaction: Priceless! “Oh, really ? This sounds so different”
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