Remembering Mark

Mark ( ..May 2020)

 One of the most helpful person I’ve met. He offers to help team members, colleagues,

going out of his way to use his time and effort to make someone’s life comfortable.

A walking talking encyclopedia, you can hear him talk about the science behind a thunderstorm, and also about a Beatles song, and how flying a small aircraft is fun!

His love for Dr Who have had many lunch hour discussions covered with details of the seasons and actors.

The grammar police that he was, could easily lead to many discussions of being functionally correct as well as equal importance to being syntactically correct.

Always a team player, he was one of the best managers one could ask for - ensuring that a work life balance for all around him is achieved.  He would have everyone’s back - “that’s how its done- we watch out for one another in a team”.

He sometimes used to joke “I'm fun to be around. If I had any friends, you could ask!” 

As someone who got to know Mark for a little more than a year,  Its been a wonderful experience to work with and get to know him- the approachable team leader and manager, the good friend and a very good human being.

Mark Pfeiffer- you will definitely be missed.

Jan 2019 / Moments

• Make resolutions to be broken and bent
• Make resolutions to keep , and be proud of.
• Be happy for the saplings that will eagerly surface.
• Don’t miss to Sky gaze 

• Don’t forget that every cloud has a silver lining 
• May there be strength for every day, friends for all seasons.
• May there be people with same wavelength , Otherwise patience to respect the difference in opinions.
• More books to read.
• More cuisines to try.
• More places to explore.
• More reasons to believe.
• More power to overcome fears.
• More patience to be respectful.
• More courage to speak up.
• More  calmness to listen.
• More silence to reflect.
• More sounds of  nature .
• Sunshine for a happy heart and a green thumb .

• Raindrops for the parched and to wash away the tears.
• Know that life lessons only make you stronger .
• Marvel at the unexpected moments of joy.
• Have faith and work for your self.
• Use things and value people .
• Remember to be thankful.
• Know what you can control.
• Know that being happy is more important than convincing others that you are .
• Learn from nature.
• More gardening - dirty hands and happy heart
• Listen to understand.
• Sing aloud , hum along. 

Stop and look around. It's in the journey... Here's to 2019.

Oh Brother

There's this species called brother. 

Someone who is "always there". 

(Of course to get him on the phone sometimes is a task ,because  he's already always on his office phone!)

I've come to realize over the years that the relationship I've shared with my brother is taken for granted...  by me. 

I got to ride his new motorbike.... And got just a stare when I fell off it and pushed it back home. 

Allowing me to try my skills at hair styling on him with a haircut that ended up like a crew cut gone wrong.

Letting me mess up a tee shirt by scribbling on it with paint and then gifting it to him .... Expecting him to wear it. Which of course he did. 

Happiness is when years later, I realize he still has the tee shirt.

Taking me to a movie that I wanted to watch sacrificing his evening out at the chaupati with his friends. 

Being a rather shy and arrogant kid growing up, looking back, it helped me speak to people ,whether it was taking me out with his friends ( only at times) when they went out to eat countless plates of chaat followed by ice cream. 

When I thought I was grown up, I've called him and cried over what I considered was financial troubles. 

Or what I thought was my decision to get married!

Or about the job interview I attended. 

There's never been a time when he seems less interested in what I am saying. 

Even at times when I advise him!

....Or at least I think so. 

If you get him on the phone, first thing he wants to know is "all okay?"

If you ask him to taste a piece of cake you baked it's "all fine". 

Guess the patience and tolerance is built in over years of leading "the pack". A pack we fondly call "4 piece cake club"!

Picture this / January 2016

Gift yourself happiness daily.
Let there be light.

Next New dozen 2016

Reminders for every day.

Looking forward to each day.

• More new movies, some for laughs and some laughable!
• Make resolutions to be broken and bent
• make resolutions to keep , and be proud of
• Spring forward towards summer in a few months.
• Cozy up for the next few winter weeks
• Be happy for the saplings that will eagerly surface
• Enjoy hot chocolate looking forward to summer nights
• Another 12 months of sky gazing 
• Strength for every day, friends for all seasons.
• People with same wavelength , Otherwise patience to respect the difference in options
• More travel plans, more time to implement, better finances to indulge
• More books to read 
• More cuisines to try
• More places to explore
• More reasons to believe
• More power to overcome fears
• More baking
• More patience to be respectful
• Lesser triggers of anger

 Celebrate every day in the next  dozen of months 

Picture This / October 2015

The darkest hour is an opportunity for a glow.
 That glimmer of hope, that chance to grow.

It's about time

Time stands still. Yet waits for no one.

Time is the only healer. Yet there are times you wished some moments never happened. 

Memories of time to cherish clouded by moments that choke you. 

Time can not heal all.  Time can only crowd the memory.  

Yesterday once more

A lot like home.....


Smell of soil after the first summer rain...
  Green grass glittering in the evening sun..
    Sound of rain drops on the roof in harmony with bolts of thunder,
      Warmth of the afternoon breeze ,
            Brightness of the evening sun,
               Chirping of the birds getting back to their nests,
                   Color of the ripened mango 

                 
Sometimes silence, at times sounds , and even noise.
Mostly unnoticed, yet omnipresent. 

Awakening the senses with thoughts of time gone by.

 Feels like yesterday once more.

Picture this / March-April 2015

"In the practise of tolerance, ones enemy is the best teacher."          - Dalai Lama

 "Tolerance is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength."           - Dalai Lama

Ham and Her

Him : Whiskey ,Nine , Whiskey, Kilo , Over
Her: (....Silence...) Dinner is ready da. Lets eat.
Imagining the white ambassador car speeding away, and the policeman speaking into his walkie talkie " White ambassador, Registration TN5479, on the Ham Highway. BEEF up the security"

Imagination courtesy : Movies (Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi movies)

Her: HAM as much as you like "BEEF"-fore it gets banned.
Him: Zulu, India....
Her: The Zulu tribe is a very ancient one Honey. We Indians are way ahead.
Her: Progressive in our thinking , liberated....
Him : Bravo , Juliet, India....
Her: Ya, Brave men and women...Some men more brave than required. But we will have security "BEEF"ed up for the safety of women. Now that no ones watching the documentary that will incite violence. There is only goodness in the media.
The nation doesn't want to know. We are blinded by the India shining on our faces.
Him: OVER and OUT

No right No wrong

Borrowing a few lines of lyrics from the very famous Frozen song "Let It go" for the current events in India:


As the leader has cries of "Make in India", the Aero show has a good display across the skies in Namma Bengaluru:
"
I am one with the wind and sky
.........
"
While the other "gripping" issue being roasted before the summer sets in, the makers of AIB thinking:
"I don't care
what they're going to say
Let it go , Let it go....
"

The women, on realising that nothing much is being done towards women safety or empowerment say : "Let it go.."
The criminals who know they can break or not even bother about the consequences say : "Let it go.."
The politicians who wait for the next vote bank gathering speeches, treating such issues as trivial say : "Let it go.."


The fervour the government to slash electricity bills for Delhi cannot supersede the safety of the citizens.
The CCTV cameras that refused to set up towards a safer city, only needed a very famous visit to come up overnight and watch over the city.
How a woman has uncertain fears during every day of a normal life. How nice if these lines are true:
" It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!
"

Experiments with Truth

Truth about truth


If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

--Mark Twain

The truth needs so little rehearsal.

--Barbara Kingsolver

Picture This / January 2015

In this year 2015, Move closer towards your destination , but do not miss to enjoy the ride.

Life is made up of the moments in the ride.

Picture this / December 2014

The strongest of all warriors are these two -- Time and Patience.
LEO TOLSTOY, War and Peace

My double star

In observational astronomy, a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through an optical telescope.

This can happen either because the pair forms a binary star, i.e., gravitationally bound to each other in a mutual orbit , or because it is an optical double, a chance alignment of two stars in the sky that lie at different distances.

The weekend viewing of a double star was for me more surreal and less scientific.
It gave me a feeling of the two most important people of my life watching over me. The two I owe my life to , literally also... 

Here's a picture of a double star Albireo that I got after a search on www.  This was the double star that I chanced upon in the clear night sky through the telescope at the observatory.

The “head” of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, Albireo is a beautiful stellar pair, notable because it shows a striking amount of color — one star glows with a deep, yellow hue, while the other appears as a brilliant blue.  

Courtesy: www images

Find yourself

Found this piece of quote so apt in times we feel down under

Courtesy - www search and emilyquotes.com

Listen here

Came across this quote that rings so true:

Gift

The race called "Parent":

With the strength of the mountain, warmth of the summer sun, calm of the quiet sea, generous as nature, they teach us


Patience
    Trust
        Time
            Love
                Pride
                    Joy

 

Metamorphosis

Wondering aloud. ....
Do people change? Or situations change? Or just time ? All or none?

Children, I've heard , have the undistorted understanding of things. What you see is what you get.  As we grow older, with various influences directly or indirectly,  there is a change. Analysis and situation and context is added to the simple thought.

With time , the thoughts and influences change and so does the pattern of life.
Difference of preferences are obvious between two persons 
This can b attributed to their personalities which again maybe influenced by their situations and surrounding and so on.
 

How about differences in preferences for the same person over a period of time? Also notable. Especially in cases where we hear

-" you used to like mango as a child , now what happened?"

- " you enjoyed rock music in school, now your stuck with jazz?"

-"before marriage you used to call me every hour, now you don't even have time to answer my calls":-/
 

And to all the above , the common factor is " look how you have changed". Sometimes change cannot be attributed to the one person who is supposed to have changed. It might be a combination of reasons :
Situations, priorities, context - these change with time and mostly as ones life progresses.


Still wondering aloud. ....
Do people change? Or situations change? Or just time ? All or none?

Eat Pray Eat

The caption for the post doesn't have a typo. It's intended "eat" second time and in that order.

In the places of worship, distribution of food is usually done regularly. Sometimes as customary and mostly commercial to "cater" to the visitors needs.

Different regions all over the world are becoming home away from home for Indians.
Needless to say,  places of worship such as temples are cropping up in many such places and becoming a common meeting and greeting place for families, neighbors, colleagues and friends.
So a quick talk over dosa and coffee or lunch of pulav and raitha would be perfect. What better place than a few feet away from the altar.
Not surprisingly,   the food court is usually as crowded as the area near the altar!

If on a weekend, one ends up little late and just at the closing time of the foodie's altar, then the almighty would understand that the devote is in fact in a puja right now...the "pet Puja".

:)

Bon Apetit

Glossary 
 "Pet" : Hindi word meaning Stomach
 "Puja" : Meaning prayer
 "Raitha" : Salad with cucumber as an accompaniment for pulav.


Image courtesy : www