Honking is a sport in India

My trip to Hyderabad confirmed it. It was early morning, there was very little traffic and everyone was following his/her lane and all that. But my cab driver would start honking from 100 mts away as if he is possessed.

I could take it no longer - this guy honking in residential area at 6 in the morning. It reminded me of all the disturbance below my bedroom window when I try to sleep and I politely asked him if he could stop honking so much. The guy was like at this hour nobody follows traffic rules and the villagers come on the road from opposite directions and "agar unko thoda bhi touch hone ka toh main toh mara samjho".

What was really funny was how the guy tried so hard not to honk after that, but I could see his muscles reflexively twitching to honk and it was killing the poor guy to stop himself.

But then anyone who has spent 10 mins on our roads knows: honking is a much loved sport. That is how we entertain ourselves while driving. There is no such thing as 'a reason for honking'. Now, that would be blasphemy.

Su is getting married!

Update on one of my previous posts: "Su wants to get married"

Su is getting married. which is a good thing because she is getting married to a person who truly loves her. Cynical that I am about marriages and relationships, I firmly believe that love and familiarity are the only right reasons to get married.

It was around 8 months back that she called to tell me that Wisdom had proposed to her. Wisdom had been the topic of quite a few of our animated conversations prior to this, so the date was something that was just waiting to happen. But the sudden proposal was totally unexpected and I remember being as excited as a teen girl watching Robert Pattinson in twilight when I heard the news. But the real confirmation was not going to come for a long long time and everyone, including Wisdom, waited for a good 6-7 months.

Now that the d-day is just 2 days away, I am feeling all emotional and genuinely happy. Quite opposite to me, Su has always loved marriages and kids and happy little families who sing and dance together. And I truly truly wish her dream comes true for her.

And I am not feeling bad like last time when my other friends got maried because after marriage Su will live closer to my house in Mumbai. Fun.

Mugged in Mumbai

Light coffee table banter in office with people from a different team. Normal conversation ensues when suddenly one fellow says

You know, I was mugged in Mumbai?

All my life, I have been shouting from rooftops that Mumbai is the safest city in India. So it was quite an embarrassment for me.

The story goes that the guy gets down at the domestic airport, doesnt take the pre-paid cab, gets into one random cab. The cab driver tells him it will take 45 minutes to reach the international airport (?? The distance is around 15 mins). Then in one alley, he stops the cab and asks this guy to pay up Rs.2500. When our guy says he doesnt have this kind of money they ask him to pay up in dollars (HAHA). And even the inside locks are disabled. Our guy throws the notes on the cab driver's face who is distracted by this. Our guy then pulls down the window, reaches for the handle on the outside and escapes.

Now, the twist. It seems there were 2 guys in the cab. WHY? I mean why would you ever sit in a cab which already has an extra person? Doesnt it smell fishy from the word go? Infact, when I came to Bangalore for the first time, even I took a regular cab. After I sat in the cab another guy came and sat with the driver. I opened the door and told him in no uncertain terms that there can be only one person (other than the driver) in this cab. The extra guy got out. Smart eh?

Reminds me, this was one of the earliest lessons that my mom taught us and drilled it into our heads. Wondering if it really saved me from mugging that day and wondering whether I would have behaved in the same way if this was not there in the back of my head.

A solution for crowded prisons - Send one girl back!

In a TOI report:

"How many of your room mates smoke?'' "Do you drink?'' Pamela could take it no more. Hurt and humiliated, she broke down in the over-crowded court, pleading for privacy in the trial.
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The accused, Pragnesh Chhatrada, had come to her apartment to repair a shower. Seeing her alone, he pulled her by the hand and tried to kiss her, Pamela (name changed) told the police.
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What made my blood boil was the remark by the defence lawyer: At one point Prajapati said, "If I were a woman and behaved like her (Pamela), one man would go to jail daily.'' Makes me wonder, what would Mr. Prajapati do that would send one guy to jail daily? hmm... And is it the same person going to jail or different people everyday?

Having said that, even if people would go to jail just by being around Pamela, then they should no? Why blame her?

Dear Salman Khan

Salman Khan is everywhere - news channels, music channels, movie channels, random channels - giving interviews and sound bytes.

Happened to catch one of his interviews on NDTV and (SURPRISE!!) was disgusted at the end of it.

For one question he says that he doesnt care about other people's opinions and what they think of him. he does whatever he feels like because thats "him".

For the next question he says that he imposes a dress code on the women in his life because if someone comments on his girl he'll feel really bad - if he hits them he'll feel bad and if he lets them go he'll feel bad. So to avoid all this he instructs his girlfriends to be covered.

And in the same breath he says that he has no double standards. WTF?

I would like someone to explain to him that doing what you want because thats "you" but not letting another individual do what she wants for whatever reasons is called double standards. Your way of thinking - ofcourse we cant hope to change it at your age. Atleast get yourself a good English teacher.

SC or PETA?

TOI reports that according to a Supreme Court order kicking your daughter-in-law does not amount to cruelty. A divorce threat is fine too. huh?

Now, I am sure, if a dog had gone to PETA and complained that it has been kicked, PETA would have taken up its cause and kicked the ass of whoever kicked the dog.

Just wondering if we can approach PETA? After all, I was taught that human beings are social animals.

Somewhere else came across this quote by Zach Braff on abortion.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of killing unwanted babies, it's just that the idea of letting women make a decision doesn't sit well with me."
He is good looking and funny. He can say that.

history is being written

No No..N Korea is not nuking its beloved friends..I have forgotten my cell phone at home. And I would like to commemorate this historic day with a post.

Since time immemorial, I have been a phone addict. And since I moved to bangalore, the simple device has symbolized great many things in my life, such as - my single point contact to all my fav people, not-so-fav people, my ipod, my watch (I completely stopped wearing watches long time back. As of today, I dont own a single watch!),my trusted alarm, my camera, my repository, my secretary, my batmobile. OK so I exaggerate a bit, but then you get the point.

And today, I am going to go the whole day without it. Its only been an hour and I have already started getting withdrawal symptoms.

While on the topic of cell phones, I have recently got myself an iphone. And I would like to point you to my friend's post on apple products. Little sexist, fun nonetheless.