THE COLONY DAYS...

During the mid-80's, my father got transferred to Kolkata.We stayed in my father's official quarters.We had nearly 100 flats in the quarters.Evenings were really looked forward to with so much eagerness and enthusiasm.Now that the summer vacation is going to begin for all our children,I just want to tell you about a cute,funny game that we all played when we were kids.

We had kids ranging from the age group 3 to 18 years.Our colony was very well equipped with a good Badminton Court, Table Tennis table,Carrom and even a Lawn Tennis court.Inspite of all these facilities,we kids enjoyed a different game.It was really a UNIQUE game and till date,I have no idea whose great,innovative brain was behind the "discovery" of such a game that till date,I feel,has no equal.Absolutely indigenous game.No money needed to be spent on a bat or a ball.All we needed was a rusty old FAREX or AMULSPRAY tin.

We had a huge dustbin in our colony.And one of us would dare to go into the stinking bin and try and find out a rusty and crushed tin. My house was on the first floor.Fortunately or unfortunately the kitchen of all the flats faced the playground and sad for us,our moms could keep a constant eye on us.My mother was and still is a "hygiene freak".She used to get totally freaked outwhen she used to see me getting into the dustbin and find a crushed tin.Once I returned home after playing, rest assured,I used to get a DETTOL bath to clean me squeaky clean..Well,going back to the "unique game"..

This game was called as DABBA UDAALA..Well,for the guys bad in Hindi(partially Bombaiyya language),'Dabba' meant a Tin and 'Udaala' meant to make it fly or rather kick it so hard that it would land in the next block,flying..

As usual,the number of kids interested in playing the game,never ever matter.More the merrier.So we used to make two teams.Say Team A and Team B.So,one person from either one team would become the "catcher" or the "denner".We had to draw a circle and keep the tin in the middle of the circle.One guy from the other team would come and throw the Dabba as far as possible.Then the "catcher" would have to go and fetch the Dabba and mind you,walk backwards towards the cirlce.He had to place the Dabba in the circle and close his eyes and start counting upto 100.Meanwhile,the rest of the kids would hide in every nook and corner of the colony.The "catcher"definately had a tough job finding the hidden kids as our colony was huge.In his pursuit of finding the next "catcher",he would roam about blindly.In the meanwhile,if anyone from the other team managed to come and kick the Dabba and scream DABBA UDAALAAAAAAAA, the poor "catcher" had to become the "catcher" all over again..Oh,what fun that game used to be.Still I laugh and smile when I explain this game to my children who are amazed to hear about such indigenous games when they have their own world of iPods,PC games,XBoxes etc.

Seriously guys,which do you feel is more exciting?The outdoor games like these or sitting and playing virtual games?

Please encourage your children to play and revive our old games like Kabbadi,KhoKho,Gilli-Danda,Marbles,Hopscotch,7-Tiles,Hopping and Catching,Dog and The Bone.Did we all not enjoy the games?So ,please encourage your kids to play outdoors.Let them fall,hurt their knees(even today I take immense pride in showing off my scar ridden knees),let them climb the parapet walls.Yes,as parents,we will be a bit wary but let them also get a chance to grow up the same carefree way that we all did..Let us bring back those golden outdoor games alive again...

Till my next blog,tata and cheers...

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY

Hi friends...Wishing all the women around the world, a very Happy Women's Day.

I would like to salute a few women whom I have loved and revered all my life.

Let me start with the most important person in my life...My Amma.I know her only as the most gentle,caring,affectionate,loving person under the sun.As a child,she was always there for my brothers and me.She used to guide us and tell us the difference between the right and wrong.Coming back from school,I always knew my amma would be there to open the door for me with a smile on her face.She not only took care of my brothers and me but also a strict mother-in-law.Not once do I remember her raising her voice against my grandmom, how much ever she tried testing my amma's patience.My father being out of town on official tours for a long period of time,amma used to take care of the things that appa used to take care of when he was in town.Today amma is old,can't see properly but yet whenever I tell her that I am visiting her,she stands in the balcony,waiting for me irrespective of how hot or cold it is outside.If I fail to call her for two days,rest assured I will definately get a call from her on the third day,reminding me that I have forgotten to call her up.Well,every mother on this earth is truly Special and I salute her love and patience...Amma,I love you a lot...

The next important woman in my life..well,she is fast turning into a beautiful woman, is my soft and gentle yet totally totally mature daughter.She is my best friend and confidante. There are times when I am go crazy and she is the one who consoles me and brings me back to normalcy.Her most amazing quality is her capacity to remain calm under any circumstances.I am totally opposite to her.I become totally restless and tensed when things don't go according to my plans or expectations.That is when she reprimands me and calms me down.Well,my sweet daughter,I salute you.You are my Rock of Gibraltar.

Then, I salute MOTHER INDIA. I am proud to be an Indian.As long as we are in our motherland,we crib about population explosion,lack of job opportunities,pollution,water problem,power problem and many more such problems that we create or find a reason to crib about.It is only when we leave our motherland and go abroad that we realise the true value of our own country.Like our mothers,we take our country also too much for granted.Our country has given us so much and I feel time has come for us to give back to our society and people what little we can.VANDE MAATARAM...

And last but not the least, I salute my maid servant without whom life would come to a standstill every morning. Inspite of having her own family to take care of,she knocks on my door every morning,including Sundays.I also salute the lady who sweeps the road in front of our house every day,collects the garbage and keeps the entire road neat and clean.I salute all those ladies, whose husbands are alcoholics and good for nothings and who take care of their families singlehandedly by working day in and day out.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD,I SALUTE YOU.YOU ARE ALL UNIQUE.ENJOY BEING A MOTHER,SISTER,GRANDMOTHER,MOTHER-IN-LAW,AUNT,NIECE,A FRIEND AND ABOVE ALL,ENJOY BEING A WOMAN.

WHAT TO WRITE????

I have not written for quite sometime now.I really don't know what to write about.Sometimes,when I sit and ponder about something to write about,I get hundreds of topics in a flash to write about and when I actually sit in front of the computer and see the box TITLE, my brain goes blank.Why does this happen?

Well,maybe I will write things today that may come into my mind,one after the other.Just want to see how many different directions my thoughts flow.Don't be surprised if there is absolutely no connection between one topic and the next one.

Right now,I am just worried about how to pin my son down to make him study for his fast approaching final exams.Well,he is still in the 6th std.Chota fella as per my mom and my dear ones.They tell me not pressurise him to study from now on itself.But I feel if I fail to instil that sense of responsibility (mind you,not fear) in him, he may never ever get serious in his life.He takes life cool.I appreciate the capacity of some people to take life cool.Under this category,belongs one more person I know ..my daughter..Bindaas attitude.Wish I was like them.Anyways,till the end of March,my poor lungs has to bear the brunt of examinations.How so,you may wonder...Well, you see to make them both study I have to scream and yell to pull them away from TV and PC..So my poor lungs has to work overtime..

You know the next thought that comes into my mind is a thought that might have perhaps made you all a bit angry and perplexed too.Just today I went out to pay my telephone bills, I saw a real big traffic jam on the road that is generally empty during that part of the day. People were getting impatient and honking away to glory.The worst honkers were the YELLOW BOARD cabs.Anyone living in Bangalore will surely know who they are.Well, I could not move an inch on my scooter. Sitting on my scooter and wondering about the reason for this traffic jam, I suddenly remembered that an important politician was going to travel by the same road and so the roads were cordoned off for security reasons.What I don't understand is that if a representative of the public is so scared to travel amidst the junta,why should he or she call himself or herself our representative?Do they have any inkling about the problems that we,the junta ,face when roads are blocked for them to travel,tension free?There might be a patient fighting the battle of life in an ambulance stuck in the middle of the jam or a passenger getting late to catch his train or flight or a candidate getting late for an interview that would make or break his life?These are the thoughts that make me ponder and ultimately,I get no answer and just sigh away.Because these are the hurdles that a common man has to face in the so called "democratic" country.

Last but not the least, why do we crave for winter when it is summer and why do we crave for summer when it is winter and why do we crave for rain when summer too gets on to our nerves?Is there an end to the human beings desires??I wonder.....

till the next blog,cheers and tata...